The Emporia news. [volume] (Emporia, Kan.) 1859-1881, 1869-01-22
THE VIRTUE OF PERSISTENCE.
BY HoRAcE GREELY.

are born with loftier capacities, quicker
perceptions, happier mental cOnstitu-
tions, than others; get think what is
best in a human intellect is not capacity
but tendency. Of the three decidedly
most gifted and brilliant Young men j
have known, one died in poor house,
of dett4funs treDaenS; another sunk in
to an early grave, respected, but also a
victim of alcoholic stimulation and a
third, though hardly thirty, is to-day a
vagabOnd and q cumberer of the
ground. to whom it would be unsafe to
lend dollar. All these had not merely
brilliant capacities-they really achiev-
ed decided success in their better days
they could be industrious and efficient
| If they wouId, and for months at time
were so; but they had not the true
purpose, or they could not have faIter-
ed and fallen as Sthey did. Had they
lived less to self and more to human
good, they would never have been thus
deserted by their guardian angels.
l know there is a small class of whom
the world says, 'They see to the heart
of things by intuition; they are poets
from impulse only; orators, statesmen,
critics, sages, because nature would
have it So" / beg leave to doubt that
men of this stamp are whit more
abundant than white crows. / know
there are enough who take pleasure
and pride in surprising the public with
prOdigies of easy and rapid achieve
ments-who would have us believe
that they have thrown off their epic a
canto per day, and can write you their
quire of clever epigrams or sOnnets
before dinner. Now, do not question
the facility of rapid and brilliant exc
cution, as the result Of past study and
requirement; in fact, l know of such
instances; but look at VirgiPs four
| lines per day-written that day to be
read through all future time; consider
how Demosthenes made himself an
orator against host of natural impedi-
ments; examine fac SimiIe of man.
uscript page of Byron's poems, and
mark the numerous eraSures and inter-
lineations, arguing slow composition
and puzzled brain, and note well that
| the man who writes a poem, a sermon,
an elaborate review, an Grafton in a
day, has been many years acquiring
that facility, and you will agree with
me that the vulgar superstition that
some are so gifted by nature that they
may achieve distinction without effort,
is contradicted by a thousand facts
where it seems to be sustained by one.
My sometime friend, who persisted
miserably of delirium tremenS, often
affected to write without labor; yet
happen to know, from his intimate
family connections, that he repeatedly
shut himself up for months and devoted
his whole energies to study. In these
periods of Information the sparkling
effusions which he seemed to dash off
ianprOmptu, after his return to society,
had essentially their origin.
At all events, be sure there is no
Chance in the universe, and, when we
say there is, we can truly mean only
that VIC are ignorant of the cause and
effect in that instance. All things are
governed by Law, from the falling of
an avalanche to the growth of violet.
"Sire," said an envious courtier, to
whom Louis XIV was praising one of
his generals, who had just achieved a
brilliant triumph, ''Sire, Marshall Will
ars is very lucky" Lucky, sir"
promptly responded the grand mon
argue, 'Marshall Villars lucky did
you say? No, sir! he is a great deal
more than thatl"
A true and noble success is within
the reach of every human being who
rightly apprehends and will diligently
seek it. 1t may very well be quite
other than the aspirant meditates-it
may even seem defeat to the superficial
observer-but God still reigns, and no
1
really defeated. If five thousand aspire
to fill the Presidential chair, it is very
certain that all cannot have precisely
that outward and visible stamp of sue
cess they covet; but, were they fifty
thousand, and their aspiration rather
essential than circumstancial, to en-
tighten aud bless their countrymen
rather than rule them, there is ample
work and scope for them all. One
l.. i a. Il
to loathe Incidence, frivolity, display
and vice, and love industry, sobriety
modesty and virtue, while another
inculcates the same lessons only in {
narrow, secluded neighborhood, un
praised, unsung, unchronicled, save il
the books of the recording angel. The
scope of influence in these two cases il
different, but the measure of essentia
success is the same. Whoever has learn
ed to find delight in doing good, and il
nothing inconsistent therewith-to d;
whatever good is within his reach, ant
not repine that his opportunities ar
such only as Heaven has been pleaset
f to vouchsafe him-can never esteem
his life failure. Should sickness o
casualty confine him for year
to a bed of suffering and depend
encc, he Will thenceforth radiate a GLOW
of heartfelt resignation, of benign hu
mility, of. grateful piety, whereof tn
influence will be diffused more widel
and enduringly than he could have i'm
agined. In the ever-proceeding wal
fare of Good against Evil, Right agains
Wrong, Truth against Error, there cd
be no real defeat, no absolute discomfit
n ure-only postpOnement, repalse, an
the ill-success of a misdirected attac
e AN unwisely planned manoeuvre. /
that great contest, whoever plants him
self firmly on the side of Good is allie
: with all the moral forces of the uni
verse, and is certain of ultimate tn
umph. The evil and the base, the sell
ish and the sycophantic, may seem
/. flourish for a season; but their verdur
soon passes away and is forgotten
leaving the good to stand forth like til
eVergreens of the forest in White
when the Summer foliage whic
dwarfed and obscured them lies shriN
elcd at their feet. Happy they VIII
learn in childhood, and treasul
through after trials and temptation
/ the grand lesson of the age-the philoI
ophy of living to noble ends.
The celebrated artesian well of
Louis is now at depth of nearly thre
thousand five hundred feet, and is sti
going downward and onward, workin
its way to China. No one knows whe
the chase will be abandoned ; it has bee
kept up-oP rather down day an
night for two years and more, at the III
very lively pace of three feet per da
Possibly it may have become matte
of pride with the county authorities
do one of two things-either find ths
water or strike daylight on the 9th,
side. In the latter event the tube migl
easily and probably be converted int
a pneumatic tube for the happy dispate
of small parcels between US and the G
y lestials.
"Amelia, for thee-yes, at thy con
mand, I'd tear the eternal firmamel