Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1886-12-08

II. Williams, was delivered in the lecture
room Of the Presbyterian Church last
night. The lecturer said
Il Is difficult to give satisfactory an
swer 10 the answer Who are great men
The standard by which greatness IL meas
urcd varies with the information and
worth Of the man pronouncing the judg
ment What one man would call great,
another might regard as hardly above
mcdiocrity
Then men often esteemed great are so
| irnperfectly developed. that they may be
giants in certain qualities Of their nature
and be dwarfs in all the rest. Whether
these are really To be called great, will de-
pend upon the qualities which have this
prominence and the effect they may have
upon other traits OF character.
The surroundings of men, the offices or
positions they fill, have given them a
reputation for greatness, when any OBJ
serving man has seen that small men
have often filled positions Of great promi-
ncnce
Leigh Hunt. speaking of Henry sth
and WOlscy, says: I'VE have said more
about WoIsey than we.intend to say about
Henry 9Th: for the son of the butcher was
great man and his master was only q
king. Henry. born a prince, became a
butcher; Wolsey, butcher, became a
prince. z"
Since II is difficult to pronouce correct
~ upon true greatness. the opinions Of a
few distinguished men may be helpful TO
us. Says Arnold THE spirit of moral
thoughtfulness is the leading clement in
all true greatness Of character.
MY faith, says De Quincy, rs that
a great man may, by rare possibility, be
nm infidel, but an intellect Of the highest
order must build upon Christianity.
Pascal says: Thought makes the great
ness of men.
lie only is great, says Lavatcr, who
has the habit OF greatness: who. after per
forming what none in ten thousand could
accomplish, passes on like Samson and
tells neither father nor mother about IL. "
Machiavelli says: The world Is made
up of three orders of mem namely. those
who perceive with their own powers; those
who perceive when matters are explained
10 them; and those who do not perceive
at all. the first of these are the truly
great men.
Says distinguished author Of our own
country: ut is easy in the world TO live
after the worlds opinions, ii is easy in
solitude to live after your own, but the
great man is he. who, in the midst of the
crowd, keeps with perfect sweetness the
independence of solitude"
The origin of great men is often OBJ
scure. which fact shows that greatness is
not dependent upon any favored condi-
ton in life. Cations tables indicate that
blood has much to do with the develop
ment of greatness,
But many great men of ancient and
modern times had no ancestors who were
distinguished. The Roman historian
tells of distinguished man who rose up
during the Jugurthine war, and said.
AS to high descent, however, let us not
dissemble the fact. An illustrious ances-
try casts ray of splcndor around the vir-
tues of the posscssor: although at the
same time it magnifies the foulness of
every stain with which he is polluted. -
/ have no images, they say, to produce,
and my nobility, If such il can be called.
must be dated from myself. As If it
were more honorable to shade and sully,
like them. the memory Of our progeni-
tors. than to lay the foundation of a name
which was unnoticed before.
The historian of Greece says of Athens:
Her great men stand alenc. None care
TO ask who we've their fathers or whether
they left any sons.
The great Napoleon sent to ask the En-
perOr Of Austria for his daughter In mar
rage The Emperor raplied that he
thought his daughter would consider his
nobility of too recent date, to be suita-
bic match for her. Napoleon replied,
sGo tell your master. the Emperor of
Austria, that the difference between him
and me is this, that my nobility COM
mences in me, and that his ends in him.
To tell the ruling influence in the de
velopment of greatness. is as difficult as
to tell what is the predominating element
in greatness. Some have special apfi-
tude for that which has made them IA
nous. Said man of genius: u cannot
| fiddle. but can make little village
greatcity. He could not fiddle, and prba-
| bly, could not learn TO fiddle, but he could
do something that required greater, mob
Ter effort
How had you the courage. Commo-
dore Perry. said friend, to pass from
your vessel to tho Niagara in an open
boat, in the presence Of the concentrated
fire of the enemy q
why. said Perry. water Is my Gle
ment. have always lived on the water.
have no fear there; but / was once with
Gen. Harrison. on land, in d battle with
the Indians, and when I heard the war
whoop, my hair stood on end. On land
] am the variest coward that ever lived
Washington Irving entered as law
student. but in his 26th year he wrote Of
himself: / felt my own deficiency, and
| despaired of ever succeeding at the bar.
could study anything else rather than
law; and had fatal propensity 70 Bellies
Lettres.
| The family al Disraeli entertained The