Bedford inquirer. [volume] (Bedford, Pa.) 1857-1884, 1870-05-13
NEED OF OPPORTUNITY.

When man fails in an enterprise hev
prone is his fcllowman to ascribe his want
OF success to a lack of the qualities reqaisite
70 overcome the natural ilppedirnents that
ile in the way of all men. And vet nearly
every one knows how far such an assufnp-
tion is from the truth. 2or nearly every
one can recall acquaintance possessed Of
every qualification for surmounsing the or.
dinary difficulties that beset the rath of adj
Fancement who throughout their whole lives
are unable to make headEay. they have
skull, industry, knowledge and prudence,
and, after all, cannot rise above the level Of
the general mass. Say what We nav. des.
tiny has more to do in shaping the csreers
OF men than men themselves have. Hmm
no other reasonable hypothesis caa the
marked difference observable in the measure
OF reward meted out to men be accounted
Tor Nor, as mighs las ceacsivess, does this
tdoa IMPLY preordination. * oilsy assn,nss
that the order of events. or what is bettor
the relation Of means to suds is such thai
Only portion, and that small one, of man.
KIND can obtain a chance to success Tn
other Eords, that the chances of fa;lpra
greatly outnumber the chances of suaooss n
all departments of human endcayor II
proves nothing to the contrary to cite
che instances, of the merchant The
manufacturer, or the professional man who
has risen in the same place and by the same
lnstrumentality that witnessed the wrecL or
predecessor. Circumstances NAV have
differed IN the Que case from what they were
10 the other, want Of patronage, perfidous
friends, unfortunate investments. domestic
affections, accidents, may haze been the
common lot OF one, while ceaseless- prosper.
ItY attended the footsteps of his successor
Men may embrace but they cannot make
opportunity; that is beyond the power Of
the most powerful. They can only seize it
as 1t is presented, and for him who stands
not near as it passes swiftly by there is naught
to do but delve as cheerfuIly as he NAV, in
The humble sphere that fate has assigned
him.
One man becomes rich and great, while
o"O'hci equsly capable, equally deserving.
continues poor aud lowly, because opportu-
mty was ever within reach of the first, and
never or rarely within reach or sight of the
second. Had Stewart sunk his patrimony
OF ten thousand dollars in his first venture
on Broadway, his palaces would not be the
marval Of lat street to-day, vet would he
have been inherently the greatest merchant
otthem AL Grant at Galena was an hum
bic citizen Grant at the White House and
In history is at the summit of terrestrial
greatness. But for the war the world would
not know his name, yet would he have been
no less great soldier than now.
He who is persistent, provideut and prac-
teal will do better than he who is laekingin
these qualifications, but without the aid
that comes from specisl opportunity no man,
however gifted viii achieve what Is called
success Tue vanity, therefore, that springs
from the consciousness Of successful effort
like the notion that failure implies ineficien-
cy partial or total always, has but a slight
foundation to rest pon.-Iat!ustriaE Amer
icdp.