Two pictures may be put before the believer in luck as an element in
success. The one is Monte Carlo--where the Goddess Fortune is chiefly
worshipped--steeped in almost perpetual sunshine, piled in castellated
masses against its hills, gaining the sense of the illimitable from the
blue horizon of the Mediterranean--a shining land meant for clean
exercise and repose. Yet there youth is only seen in its depravity,
while old age flocks to the central gambling hell to excite or mortify
its jaded appetites by playing a game it is bound to lose.

Here you may see in their decay the people who believe in luck, steeped
in an atmosphere of smoke and excitement, while beauty of Nature or the
pursuits of health call to them in vain. Three badly lighted tennis
courts compete with thirty splendidly furnished casino rooms. But of
means for obtaining the results of exercise without the exertion there
is no end. The Salle des Bains offers to the fat and the jaded the hot
bath, the electric massage, and all the mechanical instruments for
restoring energy. Modern science and art combine to outdo the
attractions of the baths of Imperial Rome.

In far different surroundings from these were born the careers of the
living captains of modern industry and finance--Inchcape, Pirrie,
Cowdray, Leverhulme, or McKenna. These men believed in industry, not in
fortune, and in judgment rather than in chance. The youth of this
generation will do well to be guided by their example, and follow their
road to success. Not by the worship of the Goddess of Luck were the
great fortunes established or the great reputations made.

It is natural and right for youth to hope, but if hope turns to a belief
in luck, it becomes a poison to the mind. The youth of England has
before it a splendid opportunity, but let it remember always that