Wyandot County Republican. [volume] (Upper Sandusky, Ohio) 1869-1903, 1871-04-06
Perseverance.

IT is an old subject, but one which can
not be too frequently forced upon the at
tention of the young. They should be
made to realize that perseverance and sue
cess are synonymous terms; that no mat
ter how suspicious may be their surround
ings, they can never achieve emineDce
without perseverance, and that with it
they can attain eminence however adverse
may be the circumstances of their lot.
The lad who forms the habit of overcom-
ing difficulties becomes the man who grap-
Piles with circumstances, boldly confronts
sll obstacles, real and imaginary, and by
the momentum of his asserted will, as il
were, is carried forward 10 success; or, as
Montaigne declared three hundred years
ago, mans power and determination TO
push forward increases with opposition,
Just rs 1.-THE fire burns with greater fury
when cold comes to mix with It
Perseverance often recompeHses for lack
of native ability. DR.. Arnold whose long
experience with youth at Rugby enabled
him to speak with authority, declared that
" the difference between one boy and an
other consists not SO much in talent as in
energy :" Samuel Smiles adds: Provided
the Ounce has persistency and application
he will inevitably lead the cleverer fellow
without those qualities" Dean Swift,
LII. SudAluCict ANCntOAr 00oAA SAoA NJ
Isaac Barrow, Chatterton, and Goldsmith,
are signal illustrations of what persons
with moderate abilities can attain to by
acquiring habits of perseverance in boy
hood. Walter Scott and the brilliant
Sheridan were both looked upon as ounces
in school. In fact so much depends upon
perseverance that Voltaire, Diderot, Dis
raeli the elder, and others, have argued
that this faculty was genius itself.
While this may be q rather
sweeping assertion, every boy and girl
should be taught that perseverance and
energy will do for them what genius can
not The possession Of genius is of no
value without the perseverance to make it
available. "As for the talk, wrote Wash
ington Irving, about modest merit being
neglected, it is too often a can't term. by
which indolent and irresolute men seek to
lay their want of success at the door OF
the public. Well matured and well disci-
plined talent is always sure of market
provided il exerts ITSELF but II must not
cover at home and expect TO be sought
for"
The reputation of being plucky, deter
mined, and indefatigable, is of estinable
value. 1t often dispels at the start oppo-
sition to ones undertakings which would
otherwise be formidable The very fact
that an enterprise has been undertaken by
some individuals is a sufficient guarantee
to the public that it will go through.
Without stopping tc make further IN
quiries, the people invest their money in
it, with their implicit confidence that it
will yield handsome returns The public
sometimes confer a coveted boon upon an
individual out of pure admiration for his
perseverance in grasping after it. This is
frequently the case in political life. Six
teen times Marcus Morton ran for Gov
ernor of Massachusetts, without being
elected; finally the Opposition contending
voted for him on the sixteenth trial in
1s40, and he was chosen by one majority.
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