Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1888-04-06

/ metaphysics of this subject, we Will have
few moments talk about fate and luck. We
speak of a lucky fellow, meaning by that
man who is fortunate, and yet luck may be
! good or Ill, the one quite as frequently as the
other. If we mean by luck, however, an oft
recurrence along the line of help or him
drance, without special effort, work, thought,
exertion on the part of him to whom the
luck, good or evil, comes, why not believe in
| it7 Some people go through life bathed in
sunshine perpetually, others walk forever in
vale Of tears and the shadow of the high
mountain, impossible, ungetoverable.
Some men, sunny natured, easy tempered,
lazy, good for nothing fellows, to whom a
thought would be novelty, and an exercise
| a curiosity, find every door open at their APP
proach, and banquets spread with every
imaginable and conceivable delicacy, with
nothing to interfere with the ongoing of their
| pleasure from the rising of the sun to the
/ going down thereof, while other men, care
| full, brooding, ever plodding earnestly, con-
scientiousy along first this road, then the
other, meet a continuity of disappointment
and disaster, which absolutely enshrouds
them in gloom that is never penetrated by
a ray of hope confronted ever by disappoint-
ment until the closing scene wipes them
J from the face of the earth into the blackness
of darkness impenetrable
1t viii not be gravely argued that birth
has nothing to do with mans chances in life.
l remember, when began to work in 1860,
thinking that of all the men in the world
whose chances envied, there were but two
whose opportunities were seriously any better
than mine They were Albert Edward,
Prince of Wales, whose progress through the
| provinces and the states / was then chron-
| icling for The New York Times and young
Jim Bennett, whose father was then editor
and proprietor of the great journal with
which his name was synonymous. Do you
mean to tell me that young Bennett didn't
have O better opportunity for professional
renown than any other young man about to
embrace that noblest profession, journalisma
| Did the Prince of Wales have no ampler
scope than the other young men born in the
British dominionl OF course, birth and social
| position and pecuniary status have much to
do with mans opportunities, but when we
discuss broad questions we must look with
wide vision; we must not confine our illus
trations to extremes, but must take the aver
age.
The average man is poor, the great major
1 ity very poor. If it be fact, and it unques-
tionably is, that of every 100 young men
who go into mercantile life ninety-five fail
before they are 30 years Of age, and of the
! other five, three get on fairly well, one makes
! a profound impression in his sphere and one
alone becomes phenomenal, standing head
and shoulders above his fellows in all the
world, where comes in the matter of lucka
Where is the exceptionl Isn't it fact that
the great multitude toll and suffer through
/ the blasts of winter and in the torridities of
summer for barely enough to keep themselves
| from starving and to cover their nakedness
! from the jibes and sneerings Of the worldl
/ tell you temperament decides almost
everything. What would seem to one
luck, of the most grewsome nature, appears
to another on a similar plane of life simply
an unhappy incident, temporary in its
nature not lasting in its effect. Some men.
worth 100000, groan over the luck of their
neighbor who is worth e1,0O0000, while an
other man who can honestly say 81 am
worth today 100000" is so overwhelmed
with recognition of his independence, of the
| power in his hand to do good among the
suffering and the sick and the tired and the
weary Of earth, that he can find no words
sufficiently rotund with which to express his
satisfaction, his content, his delight.
Some people say, "Whatever is to be viii
be. If / am fated to be rich / viii have
money, and if am fated to be poor won't
hanged viii never be drowned, so whatever
comes take it because have got to. I didn't
ask to come here Now that's silly. In the
first place don't know whether you asked to
come here or not Neither do you
That two and two added together are fated
to make four, yes, but are you fatedg Is
| there any compulsion that forces you to put
one two under another twol If you stub
your toe you fall. But why stub your toe?
IL you hack your finger with knife, blood
viii flow, but why hack your fingerg You
may assume that you are fated to be rich
What difference does your assumption makeg
In order to be rich you must be industrious,
saving, self-sacrifcing, methodical. indus
trious. Those factors enter largely into the
| problem Of success in life, and if those factors
are properly grouped in your case you will
be rich. It is a very rare combination, this
honesty Of purpose, this continuity of in
dustFy, this intelligent direction, but il you
have them the result is certain, and If you
have them and do rot use them the result
then Is equally certain. You cannot raise
fgs on thistle tree or thistIes on fig tree,
and You cannot bring disgrace upon honor,
nor can you crown dishonesty with integrity
/ know man who las lost an eye, who has
| broken an arm twice, who was shot through
his right lung, and whenever anything hap
pens 70 him, he says: TT Is Just nv luck. y
Ny friend Of the many accidents is O pecuI-
iarly constituted individual. Had be looked
| he wouldn't have fallen down the hatohway
That he was shot through the right lung was
due to bis presence upon the field of battle.
That he lost his eye IS attributable to tho fact
that when he dashed his little pile Of powder
he didn't shield his face, and yet he says, as
accident after accident occurs, 1T is just my
/ luck
II Is just his stupidity.
| And when you gay that it Is Jay G0ulds
luck. or it is Vanderbilt's lack, or it is the
luck Of this. that and the other, you at
tribute to some unseen potentiaIity results
which might much better Be attributed to
the natural f0rcinRs Of perfectly wAII uusrf-