The Shasta courier., 1856-01-12
sLin Lead. :. Fortune.


It will be recollected that one OF Sir Walter
Scott's savings was that Whatever might be
said about luck, it is skill that leads to fortune
There cen be no doubt OF this as genera pri'-
ciple. Few self.indulgent and athletic men DO
well in any time of life. The skllliu, the ac- @
tive, and the steadily perseverlns' usuahy
carry off the prizes which turn III the wneei oi
fortune AT the same Time, some'i..ne uuc 80
circumstances as well as to the Power which
wisely controls human destiny. Praciicaiiy'
however. the thing 10 borne in mind is-thai me
young are bound to exercise all proper means 10
secure improvement in their condition lhat
with a fair share of ambition, prudence and
meriorious skill, il may be possible to attain
station Of eminence-that is fortune, tnou?n
perhaps, not without corresponding resPohsioii-
tiles and care-we present the following com-
pendious list of distinguished men who rose
from humble aud obscure circumstance:
lFsop, Publius Syrus, Terance and Epetetus
all distinguished men in ancient times-were
serfs at the outset in life.
Protagoras, a Greek philosopher, was at first
a common porter. -
Cleanihes, another philosopher, was pusIllst
and also supported himself at first by drawing
water aud carrying burdens.
The late Professor Heyne, OF GotinGen, enc
of the greatest classical scholars of his own or
any her age, the son of poor weaver,
and for many years had to struggle with The
most depressing poverty. The efforts oil TINS
excellent man of genius appear to have been
greater and more prorracted than those of any
other record; but he was finally rewarded
with the highest honors
Bandoccin, one of the learned men OF the SIX
teenth century, was the son OF a shoemaker aud
worked many years at the same business.
Gelli, a celebrated Italian writer, began life
as IA tailor, and although he rose to eminence III
literature. never forgot his original profession,
which he took great pleasure in mentioning in
his lectures
The elder Opie whose talent for painting was
well appreciated. was originally working car
penter in Cornwall and was discovered by DR..
Wolcott-otherwise Peter Pindar-working as
a sawyer at the bottom of a saw-pit
Abbot, Archbishop of Canterbury who -four
ished in the sixteenth century, and distin-
guished himself by opposing schemes of Charles
l.. the son of clo,h-maker at Guildford
Akenside, the author of g Pleasures of lmag-
ination,' was the son of butcher in Newcastle
upon the Tyne.
DAlemberi, the French Mathematician,
left at the steps of a church by his parents, and
brought up by poor woman a foundling yet
arrived at great celebrity, and never forgot or
abandoned his nurse
Ammemius Succhophorus, founder of the mys-
tic Philosophy at Alexandria, was born in pow
eriy, and originally earned his substance by car
ryng sacks of wheat-whence the latter part of
his name.
Amyot, French author of some celebrity for
his version of Plutarch, lived in the sixteenth
century, and was at first poor to be unable
to afford any candles oil TO assist his studies,
which he had to carry on by freight, and all the
sustenance his parents could afford him was
loaf of bread weekly.