The well-balanced life must embrace the whole round of human interests, responsibilities, gratifications. Bell's oration emphasizes commitment to success that is both good and lasting. So much in Bell's perspective strikes me favorably that I hesitate to suggest oversights in his vision. I imagine that a number of you have heard of William Tecumseh Sherman because of his exploits as a Civil War general, and I anticipate that at least a few would recognize the name of John Sherman for his prominence as an early Republican leader or influence on national financial policy that continues to the present. Remarkably, though, even if you read the numerous biographies, books, and other writings devoted to the careers of these two brothers, you would scarcely realize that they came from a family with four other brothers and five sisters, let alone that these siblings, or other family members, shaped their lives and interests in any consequential fashion.
Serendipity often steers research.
I wrote a proposal to explore the lives of these men in Des Moines and was rewarded with a grant. The money paid for two weeks subsistence in Des Moines while I conducted intensive research in property and newspaper records as well as a follow-up trip to pursue leads generated by a close reading of the voluminous surviving correspondence between John and William Tecumseh Sherman. This research revealed much that was surprising, enlightening, and unsettling. James in mercantile pursuits, Lampson P. as a newspaper publisher and government official, and Hoyt as a banker and insurance company officer. I found that at best these accounts contained kernels of truth covered with layers of sugarcoating.