a thing after having treated the
client with such distinction, he turned with a wink of his eye, and
said: 'That is the way to work them. You don't know the world yet.
Wait till you get on in the world; it will teach you how to handle
them.'

"That young man had become thoroughly saturated with the opinion that
Ferrers, in "Ernest Maltravers," is the type to be imitated--a
character of crafty cunning, playing on the weaknesses of men. He had
gotten his opinion from the apparent success of the tricks and sharp
practises of the law. He had not seen the broader horizon above which
only those who are as good as they are capable ever rise.

"It was a fatal method for _him_. He finally failed. It was a fatal
method for at least two young students upon whom his ideals and
influences fell with determining power."

Of course; and it is a fatal view of life for any young man to get.
The young man who comes out from the ennobling influence of the
American mother will not take this view if the world does not compel
him to do so. The world, then, should not applaud any feat of
smartness or cunning on the part of the young man. It should not wink
its eye and pat him on the shoulder and say, "That was very 'smooth,'
very 'smooth' indeed; I congratulate you."

The young man confronts the world with mingled courage and timidity.
It is so vast. It seems so unconquerable. And yet he has been taught
to believe that if he meets it with a high fearlessness he will
conquer. That is what his mother taught him. Out of this thought and
his nervous timidity combined comes what appears to the world to be a
senseless courage, a foolish daring. He is very much afraid; he wants
to make the world think he is not afraid; he has been told to put up a
bold front--and men think him rash and adventurous. He is not--he is
only trying to keep you from seeing how scared he is.

In the campaign of 1898 a young man with all of these qualities, and
gifted with considerable oratorical power, was seeking an opportunity
to get a little hearing. He had just graduated from college, had
opened a law office, had never had the shadow or substance of a
client, but he had that fresh confidence and the ability back of it
which the world neglects until, finally, it is forced to accept it.

I secured for him an invitation to make some speeches in a neighboring
State. He was delighted. He went, but returned wounded in spirit by
the heedlessness of the State Committee