The Hartford herald., 1878-03-27


rather than suffer wo-s. than msrtyrdor
in = school h"use, under an ignorant,
pre,ish, petty tyrsnt
His troubles in this way we're no, OF
long duration, for he soon grew large
enough for errsnd boy. pillow boy, and
every other kind Of hoy that ia used in a
large family on q farm, in which occu
patton he remained until of age. In the
meantime. howcver. he had during Sun
days. rainy dave. aud at night. seated on
the hearth. and with the aid of kindling
wo"d, read and siudied every useful
book he could Law his hands on; and
thus with the exception ot two months
aid at n grammar school. he had become
pretty thoroughly acquainted with an
cient aud modern history. mental unI
moral philosophy. English grammar
geometry. trigonometry and practical
surveying, all 10y his own exertions lie
does not recite these facts in II boasting
way hut TO encourage youth to surmount
any difficulty that stands in the wny Of
acquiring at least = useful education.
The greatest ulunder OF our lives is
sometimes committed in selecting our
calling. and occupations of lite The
writer. perhaps. committed this blunder
in selecting the Law ~ q profession. lie
has thought that be could understand the
difficult and obstIure points Of legal
question a. we'll a. most men-thst he
could draw a. clear legal distinctions as
mo.t men, and draft the plesdines in
court and re-ort 10 the proper form of
action as we'll as msioriiy OF the mem
bers of the bar. Yet with all these quail.
ifcatio"s as lawyer. he. in spite of
every effort. failed in every attempt at .
public SPEECH the proper word to eI-
press the idea, wss always in wash, or.
out>of-p'sce; embarrassment en-urd, and
failure WAS the result
The writer had a. much patriotism
aud desire TO contribute to the public
good as most yourg men of his age; and
devoted much study to the theory OF
government, bnt was always too modest !
Tor perhaps too proud the reader may
term it) 10 thrust his claims on the pub
lie tor political preferment lie had al |
ways admired the Washiugtonisn theory
to nntter seek or decline Office lie would
have ielt himself as much disgrsced in !
thrusting himself on the people % .
candidate. and begging their votes. a. to |
have been tramp and asked their char
ity. Hence it WAS he never became q
candidate before the people E'r sny Office (,
Of honor or profit, aud during his whole /!
life has only filled such Offices ss were
thrust upon him without solicitation. the |,
du,irs of which most always required
industry. investigation and determi- |
nation of purpose. and it is useless to |
say that in the faithful discharge Of any |
Office whatever. otiens- is given TO come |
one, vet the writer can look back upon |
no derelicrion OF duty in any official act |
he ever performed
From his hovhood he WAS always an |
admirer of Henry CT y: in fact he al |
meet learned to read in p"urirg over his
sprerhes in Congress in early dsys. and
generally concurred in the views OF the
"big party, and the policy OF the pro-
teciive system until the American mans
ufacturer no longer needed protection,
but had become the sgrressnr. instead
Of suppliant for help
For short time he was fooled into the
Know No'hing party, from tie belief
that its real object WAS To break down
party strife and party corruption. in fact
TO slip The halter from old political heads
aud party leaders. ard call honest. seu-
s;hlr. and pure men TO office, regardless
Of previous condition. stripe, or (par,y)
colnr. To his great surprise aud morti-
hcation. however, the doors of the lodges
were thrown open to every one who
old masters. with whips and hslters in
hand, ready TO mount and drive the car
ni State. aud the general scramble that
ensued for office di-gusted and drove
from the party most OF its original mem.
here; aud the whole attempt at reform
proved worse than farce
Unfitted by nature alike for party
leader or party hack, he has Cor years
sbstainrd from party strife. which
serves but to lead to scrambles for Office.
regardless of the true question "is he
honest -? is he capable r and substitutes
availability as the only qualification Tor
Office.
Whilst the logic of events (Which at
last is the true test OF the correctness of
human judgment-) has sometimes proved
that he was mistaken in results. He il
sorry to find that h,s prediction of other
events have been fully filled and that
the present deplorsble state of our county
WAS fully fore-hadosed and predicted by
the writer years ago. and worst OF all.
little hope Of improvement under the
present state OF society.
IL would not be proper for anyone to
attempt I" give their moral or social
standing in society. The TACT is. that go
many persons seem TO have formed such
incorrect opinions of their own standing
that it may be we'll questioned whether
anyone sees his own character in its
proper light. and then sgsin whether the