Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1873-01-02
Ghildreu's department.
tt)risin;.
SELF.MADE MEN.

It is a remarkable fact that the great ma
jority of those men who have done most for
their fellow men, and won for themselves i'm
mortal honors, were the sons of poor men.
Such men were what are known, the world
over, by the name Of selfmade men. Why
such boys often make great and useful men,
whilst the sons of the rich most frequently
turn out worthless spendthrifts, is worthy of
careful investigation. 1t cannot be said
that it is because the poor are born with bet
ter brains than the rich neither is it because
the poor are born with a moral nature supe-
rior to that of the rich. The reason we con-
ceive to be in the circumstances by which
the two classes of the human family are sur.
rounded. Naturally, man is lazy and in
dolent creature. He has to be forced to
move or he will fold his hands in idleness.
The mind and body require exercise that they
may be developed. Without exercise the
innate energies of the mind grow weak and
languid, and the muscles of the body become
soft and delicate. The sons of the rich are
under no necessity to press their minds and
muscles into vigorous action, and hence they
are not prepared in mind and body for any
great effort. The truth is, the education of
the poor is often more thorough than is the
education of the rich. The children of the
poor, from the cradle, are trained to grapple
with realties-things which have Il practical
existence whilst the offspring of the rich are
often permitted to grow up in the most pro-
found ignorance of men and things. Their
thoughts are idle dreams, and their physical
labors are struggles with shadows. If it be
asked who rules the world? we reply, self
made men. IF it is further asked who has
always ruled, and who will continue to rule
it in the future? we answer again, self
made men.
In practical point Of view it is important
to consider more particularly from what class
of society selfmade men spring. We have
already said that they are the sons of the
poor but we do not mean that they are the
sons of the squalidly poor. From this class
they usually do not spring. In society there
are three classes of individuals. The inde-
pendently rich, the horribly poor and mid.
die class. The first mentioned class look
upon effort of any kind as disgrace; the
second is made up of creatures frequently so
morally degraded that nothing but the clam
mornings of hunger and thirst can move them
to physical effort; and mental effort they nev-
er put FORTH Only in exceptional cases does
great statesmen or distinguished inventor,
or an illustrious general, or learned philos-
opher crop out from the ranks of the indepen'
dently rich, or the squalidly poor. From
the middle class spring all, or nearly ALL the
selfmade men-the men who rule the world.
The sons of those who hold the plow or throw
the sledge or push the plane, are the boys who
are in few years to be great and illustrous
in the walks of human life The boy who is
permitted to pass through his minorage with
out graphing with some difficulties, both
physical and mental, will, in all probability,
pass the remainder of his days on earth wor.
thy of no higher epithet than drone, and final.
ly, 90 down to the grave having done but
little harm and no good. Selfmade men are
those who are taught to think with their
brains and work with their hands in youth.
The idle boy, whether he be the son of rich
or a poor man, must lay aside his lazy habits
and 20 to work, or he never will become q
selfmade man. The great characteristic of
a selfmade man is that he is and always has
been and always will be great worker.