EARNESTNESS. It contains the true secret of nearly all the wonderful successes which have astonished the world. It solves the problem of nearly all the heroes whose achievements are recorded on the pages of history, and whose names will live forever in the remembrance of mankind. In all past time, how few individuals do we find, who have risen to any considerable distinction, and gained an enduring reputation, and become truly great, and have left their mark upon the age in which they lived, who were not EARNEST MEN. 3. One of the most prolific of living writers, whose books astonish us by the vast research and varied learning which they display, was once asked how, in the midst of the duties of a laborious profession, he had been able to accomplish so much. He replied, -"By being a whole man to one thing at a time,”—in other words, by being an earnest man. The celebrated Charles James Fox1 once said, that "no man ever went successfully through with any great enterprise, whose earnestness did not amount almost to enthusiasm." There are so many ob stacles in the way of any great achievement, that none but the earnest and enthusiastic will persevere, and hold on to its final accomplishment. The irresolute, the timid, the phlegmatic, after a few faint efforts, will give up in despair. 4. It would be easy to furnish examples of the practical power of earnestness almost indefinitely. The world is full of them. Look at Christopher Columbus. Consider the disheartening difficulties and vexatious delays he had to encounter, the doubts of the skeptical, the sneers of the learned, the cavils of the cautious, and the opposition, or at least the indifference, of nearly all. And then the dangers of an untried, unexplored ocean. Is it by any means probable he would have persevered, had he not possessed that earnest enthusiasm, which was characteristic of the great discoverer'? 5. What mind can conceive or tongue can tell the great results which have followed, and will continue to follow in all coming time, from what this single individual accomplished? A new continent has been discovered; nations planted, whose wealth and power already begin to eclipse those of the Old World, and whose empires stretch far away beneath the setting sun. Institutions of learning, liberty, and religion, have been established on the broad basis of equal rights to all. It is true, America might have been discovered by what we call some fortunate accident. But, in all probability, it would have remained unknown for centuries, had not some earnest man, like Columbus, arisen, whose adventurous spirit would be roused, rather than repressed, by difficulty and danger. 6. John Howard, the philanthropist, is another remarkable illustration of the power of intense earnestness joined with great decision of character. "He spent his whole life in taking the gauge of human misery,”-in visiting prisons and penitentiaries, and the abodes of poverty and wretchedness. He sought to alleviate human suffering wherever he found it, to ameliorate the condition of the degraded, the distressed, and the unfortunate, by all the means in his power. In the prosecution of his object, difficulties did not discourage, nor did dangers appall him. He traveled repeatedly on foot over most of Europe, submitting to almost every hardship and privation; and we are told that the existence of the plague, even, did not deter him from visiting any place where he thought suffering humanity could be benefited by his presence. 7. Sir William Jones,2 who acquired the knowledge of twenty-eight different languages, when asked how his wonderful attainments in almost every branch of learning had been made, was accustomed to reply," Only by industry and regular application." And Newton, whose scientific discoveries will ever continue to delight and astonish mankind, ascribed his success, not to superior genius, but to superior industry, to the habit and power he had acquired of holding his mind steadily, and for a long time, to the study of an involved and difficult subject. "The discovery of gravitation, the grand secret of the universe, was not whispered in his ear by an oracle. It did not visit him in a morning dream. It did not fall into his idle lap, a windfall from the clouds. But he reached it by selfdenying toil,- by midnight study, - by the large command of accurate science, and by bending all his powers in one direction, and keeping them thus bent." 8. So, in every occupation of life requiring intellectual, or even physical exertion, earnestness is an essential element of success. Without it, a man may have the strength of Hercules, or the mind of Newton, and yet accomplish nothing. He may live, and die, and yet leave behind him neither name nor memorial. Was there ever a man, of any trade or profession, eminently successful, who did not apply himself in earnest to his business'? Every poet, whose Muse has clothed "Whate'er the heart of man admires and loves whose breathing thoughts and winged words have thrilled the world, from the blind old bard* of Scio to the modern Homer, "whose soul was like a star, and dwelt apart," has been an earnest man. Every orator, whose burning * Homer. See p. 106. eloquence has swayed listening thousands, just as the forest is swayed by the summer's wind, has been an earnest man. 6 4 9. Demosthenes was in earnest when he poured forth his fervid Philippics in ancient Athens. Paul was in earnest, when, reasoning of righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to come, Felix trembled before him. Sheridan 5 was in earnest at the trial of Hastings, when all parties were held chained and spell-bound by his eloquence. Brougham was in earnest, when, as we are told, "he thundered and lightened in the House of Commons, until the knights of the shire absolutely clung to the benches for support, the ministers cowered behind the speaker's chair for shelter, and the voting members started from their slumbers in the side galleries, as if the last trumpet were ringing in their ears." And so of our own Ames and Henry. They were in earnest, when, seeking to arouse their countrymen to united resistance of British oppression, they assured them that they "could almost hear the clanking of their chains;" "that the blood of their sons should fatten their cornfields, and the war-whoop of the Indian should waken the sleep of the cradle." And because they were in earnest, their words were words of fire. 10. Earnestness was the true secret of Whitefield's 9 wonderful eloquence. He won the admiration of the skeptical Hume,10 not by his logic or his learning, but by his fervid, earnest eloquence. David Garrick, the celebrated actor, was once asked, by a clergyman, why the speaking of actors produced so much greater effect than that of clergymen. "Because," said Garrick, "we utter fiction as if it were truth, while you utter truth as if it were fiction;" thus clearly implying that earnestness is the very soul of all effective eloquence. THER LESSON LVIII. INCENTIVES TO CULTURE. R. F. TROWBRIDGE.* HERE is no talent, like method; and no accomplishment that man can possess, like perseverance. They will overcome every obstacle; and there is no position which a young man may not hope to win or secure, when, guided by these principles, he sets out upon the great highway of life. In after years, the manners and habits of the man are not so readily adapted to any prescribed course to which they have been unaccustomed. But in youth the habit of system, method, and industry, is as easily formed as others; and the benefits and enjoyments which result from it, are more than the wealth and honors which they always secure. 2. Industry or idleness are habits, each as easily acquired as the other, but infinitely different in their results. The steady action of the one is a continuous source of gratification and enjoyment; the painful solicitudes and uncertainties of the other dwarf the intellect, and vitiate the heart. Either becomes habitual without effort, and the habit becomes fixed ere we are aware of its presence. 3. A man does not know in what path his ambition may lead him, until he has enlightened his mind by reading, by thought, and observation. In our country, he is taught by custom and by example to look about him while yet a youth, and study the chances for success as they may arise around him. He is too liable to fall into a listless habit of waiting for some fortuitous circumstance to occur, by which he may make sudden wealth, or spring to an enviable position, without the ordinary labors to secure them. |