A laugh followed, when he exclaimed: "Do you doubt it? I assure you, if I were not convinced of my ability to reach the national capital, as a representative, within the next three years, I would leave college this very day!' Therefore, instead of being one of the "foiled potentialities" or possibilities of which the world is so full; instead of being merely a "subjunctive hero," who always might, could, would, or should, do great things, but whose not doing great things is what nobody can understand, let every man be in the imperative mood, and do that of which his talents are indicative. If this lesson of self-help is once learned and acted on, every man will be able to discover within himself the elements and capacities of usefulness and honor. CALIFORNI SELF-RELIANCE. ΙΟΙ SELF-RELIANCE. "Sure, he that made us with such large discourse, -SHAKESPERE. FTER the age of maturity has been reached, one should learn to think for and rely upon himself, and learn to be guided by his own conclusions; but before this can be done with entire safety, one must learn to think correctly, and reason soundly. While a too great intellectual dependence, on the one hand, is productive of mental weakness and servility, a too great intellectual confidence, on the other, is sure to lead into rashness and folly. It would be dangerous advice to give any young man, to say: "Think for yourself, and follow out your own ideas, right or wrong; for one of the most besetting sins of a youthful mind is that of ignoring the past, and rejecting the counsels of the aged. Every man who has reached the age of forty can look back and see how foolish, and rash, and headstrong he was when the hot, wild impulses of youth and early manhood were burning like fire in his heart and bones; when he felt he could do anything, and knew as well what was good for him as those by whom he was surrounded. Where a man is confident at twenty, he is quite likely to be cautious at forty; where he was sure he was right at twenty-five, he is more than likely to be mistrustful and timid at forty-five or fifty. One difficulty about over-confidence with immature minds in early life is, that they are very liable to mistake imaginings and fancies for sound reasoning and solid fact. IMAGINATION. Never is the imagination more active or more deceptive than in the fresh morning of life. This faculty of the mind seems to be the first to develop. Even in childhood its power is great, and a little later on it becomes well-nigh supreme among the mental forces. And very few realize what an arch and gay deceiver this intellectual sprite and trickster is among men. Sir Walter Scott exclaims in "Rokeby:" "Woe to the youth whom fancy gains, And another old poet adds: "Subtle opinion, Working in man's decayed faculties, Whereon we ground a thousand lies." Then Shakespere culminates the accusation by declaring that "the lunatic, the lover, and the poet are of imagination all compact." Therefore, when young men and maidens become susceptible to the influences of the tender passion; when they begin to read (and to write, if they can) sentimental poetry; when the world looks all bright and fascinating to them; when every power of body and mind is intensely alive and eager for distinction, and the spirit thirsts for activity and glory, it will hardly be safe for them to follow out blindly their own ideas, or to trust too much to their own independent thought and judgment. The advice of older and cooler heads should never be contemptuously thrown aside at such a period of life. There comes a time, however, sooner or later in human experience, when all persons are compelled to think and act for themselves. SELF-CONCEIT. "This self-conceit is a most dangerous elf. He who doth trust too much unto himself If we were called upon to describe an intellectual devil, with horns, and hoofs, and tail arrayed, whose very presence was like blasting mildew upon the mind and heart, whose looks destroyed, and whose breath benumbed, we should say his name was Self-Conceit.// When this habit of mind becomes confirmed and settled, the man or woman might as well be dead as alive, so far as doing good or being successful is concerned. There is no intellectual disease, no malady of the brain to be compared with it for deadliness of nature. It makes one disagreeable to all around; it turns him into a laughing-stock; it destroys the power of all true thought and right action; it creates a false world out of a real one. No man can be respected, or be useful, or amount to anything in the world, if he bears the character of a conceited coxcomb. Any so-called independence of thought, therefore, which leads to this evil, we most thoroughly deprecate and abominate. But a wholesome fear of this mild form of lunacy need not deter any one from trying, to the utmost of his capacity, to be original in thought, and ingenious in methods and aims. It need not, and must not, lead any one to be afraid to think for himself, or to seek to carry out his ideas in all legitimate ways, and to a reasonable extent. Indeed, after one has thoroughly and conscientiously endeavored, by all means within his reach, to ascertain the absolute truth and the best possible way, he must then be true to his own matured convictions and ideas, whether these prove to be in harmony with the convictions and ideas of others or not. But there is a world of difference between being rash, headstrong, self-conceited, uppish, and indolent, and being firm, intelligent, thoughtful, persistent, ingenious, and wise. THE PRESENT AGE. This age of the world is in many respects unlike past ages, and calls for different measures and plans. The world is rushing on at a fearful rate of speed, and he who would keep up with his fellows must learn to think quickly, be fertile in expedient, be shrewd, active and wise, and able to travel fast. We fully coincide with another when he says: "The days when a man could get rich by plodding on, without enter |