How to Get on in the World | Page 4

of John Knox, Carlyle says, with
characteristic force: "Honor to all the brave and true; everlasting honor
to John Knox, one of the truest of the true! That, in the moment while
he and his cause, amid civil broils, in convulsion and confusion, were
still but struggling for life, he sent the schoolmaster forth to all comers,
and said, 'Let the people be taught;' this is but one, and, indeed, an
inevitable and comparatively inconsiderable item in his great message
to men. This message, in its true compass, was, 'Let men know that
they are men; created by God, responsible to God; whose work in any
meanest moment of time what will last through eternity.'
. . . This great message Knox did deliver, with a man's voice and
strength, and found a people to believe him. Of such an achievement,
were it to be made once only, the results are immense. Thought, in such
a country, may change its form, but cannot go out; the country has
attained majority; thought, and a certain spiritual manhood, ready for
all work that man can do, endures there. The Scotch national, character
originated in many circumstances; first of all, in the Saxon stuff there
was to work on; but next, and beyond all else except that, in the
Presbyterian Gospel of John Knox."
Washington left behind him, as one of the greatest treasures of his
country, the example of a stainless life--of a great, honest, pure, and
noble character--a model for his nation to form themselves by in all

time to come. And in the case of Washington, as in so many other great
leaders of men, his greatness did not so much consist in his intellect,
his skill and his genius, as in his honor, his integrity, his truthfulness,
his high and controlling sense of duty--in a word, in his genuine
nobility of character.
Men such as these are the true life-blood of the country to which they
belong. They elevate and uphold it, fortify and ennoble it, and shed a
glory over it by the example of life and character which they have
bequeathed. "The names and memories of great men," says an able
writer, "are the dowry of a nation. Widowhood, overthrow, desertion,
even slavery cannot take away from her this sacred inheritance . . .
Whenever national life begins to quicken . . . the dead heroes rise in the
memories of men, and appear to the living to stand by in solemn
spectatorship and approval. No country can be lost which feels herself
overlooked by such glorious witnesses. They are the salt of the earth, in
death as well as in life. What they did once, their descendants have still
and always a right to do after them; and their example lives in their
country, a continual stimulant and encouragement for him who has the
soul to adopt it."
It would be well for every young man, eager for success and anxious to
form a character that will achieve it, to commit to memory the advice
of Bishop Middleton:
Persevere against discouragements. Keep your temper. Employ leisure
in study, and always have some work in hand. Be punctual and
methodical in business, and never procrastinate. Never be in a hurry.
Preserve self-possession, and do not be talked out of a conviction. Rise
early, and be an economist of time. Maintain dignity without the
appearance of pride; manner is something with everybody, and
everything with some. Be guarded in discourse, attentive, and slow to
speak. Never acquiesce in immoral or pernicious opinions.
Be not forward to assign reasons to those who have no right to ask.
Think nothing in conduct unimportant or indifferent. Rather set than
follow examples. Practice strict temperance; and in all your
transactions remember the final account.

CHAPTER III
HOME INFLUENCES.
"A careful preparation is half the battle." Everything depends on a good
start and the right road. To retrace one's steps is to lose not only time
but confidence. "Be sure you are right then go ahead" was the motto of
the famous frontiersman, Davy Crockett, and it is one that every young
man can adopt with safety.
Bear in mind there is often a great distinction between character and
reputation. Reputation is what the world believes us for the time;
character is what we truly are. Reputation and character may be in
harmony, but they frequently are as opposite as light and darkness.
Many a scoundrel has had a reputation for nobility, and men of the
noblest characters have had reputations that relegated them to the ranks
of the depraved, in their day and generation.
It is most desirable to have a good reputation. The good opinion of our
associates and acquaintances is not to be despised, but every man
should see to it that