2QO THE ADDRESSES, LECTURES ETC., OF 



should have the advantage of an elaborate school education. No 

 man or woman either should ever consider him or herself out of 

 school, and it is through advantages such as are offered by the 

 Midland Institute, that the means are afforded of continuing the 

 educational process near your homes, and without much expense or 

 difficulty of any kind. 



Let no one of you suppose that his early training or natural 

 ability is unequal to the task of making a career in life. Goethe, 

 that man of wonderful insight into the working of the human 

 mind, says : 



" Was man sich in der Jugend wiinscht, 

 Hat man hn Alter in Fiille." 



Or, translated, 



" What you desire in youth, 

 Mature age will give you in abundance." 



At first sight this expression seems to involve almost an 

 absurdity, and it is necessary to interpret the " desire " of youth 

 to mean, not simply a vague sentiment or wish to be looked up to 

 in after life, or to drive about in easy carriages, but a determina- 

 tion to leave no stone unturned, and let no opportunity go past 

 that may advance yon towards the well-defined object of your 

 ambition. With a firm resolution almost every difficulty in your 

 way will recede before you ; disappointments you will have, and 

 they are most desirable, because they are the real teachers in 

 practical life, only you must not allow yourself to be discouraged 

 but rather to be strengthened by them, in your determination to 

 succeed. 



A fond mother has sometimes come to me with a doleful story 

 that her son, " an excellent young man," had tried several things 

 in life and had always failed, through some untoward circumstance, 

 but that she felt sure he would succeed if I would only give him a 

 trial in my own particular pursuits. On some occasions I have 

 perhaps yielded to such representations, but found that the 

 " excellent young man," though commencing with a certain vigour, 

 soon tired of the new occupation when he approached its difficulties. 

 He could not realise the fact that the secret of success lies, not in 

 the avoidance of, but in the victory over, difficulties that each 



