The comet. (Johnson City, Tenn.) 1884-1916, 1888-08-09

IN the poltlcal world, great many
strange and mysterious things fall
under our observation, and we not
unfrequently speak OF them as chap
hazard" "chance" destiny or the
turning up of die in the gambling
freaks of nature" When the truth
is, that from the cradle of the politi-
cal world are many we'll defined paths
by which the objects Of our praise
and adoration-the remarkable men |
of destiny-have, by interchangeable
strength, energy and perseverance,
climbed from the lowest depth to the
Hottest height. Few men, indeed,
have greatness thurst upon them.
There is no excellence without
great labor, No wealth or victory ev-
er garlanded the brow ofhim who was
not in the contest, 1t takes Napo-
leans to cross the Alps and C@sar's to
cross the Rubicons. We should not
be Respondent and gloomy and die
hyppochondryacs, felodeces or mani
acs if our lots are humble and obscure
because we live in country where
obscurity is no crime, and poverty is
no disgrace. We should be all the
more thankful because poverty is the
cradle OF genius" and obscurity, the
birthplace of the great and renown-
ed. Little did the father of Abraham
Lincoln dream that the little ragged
barefooted boy that sat whiting on q
nail keg, as their rude raft hoated
down the Ohio river, was afterwards
to be President of the United States.
Little did the careless passerby think
that the great awkard youth he saw
splitting rails in the woods OF Ken
lucky was someday, to break the
shackles from the limbs OF 100000
slaves. No doubt his fond mother Of
ten looked upon him with fearful eyes
because she was too poor to educate
him and make him great and use.
full man. And yet this lad over
whose humble and obscure lot she
wept, was destined to climb to the
highest round in the ladder of nation
al fame. Our own Andrew johnson
was bound apprentice to a tailor OF
Greenville. Garfield earned his first
money driving a canal boat, aud Hen
ry Clay, whose eloquence afterwards
shook the political world from center
to circumference, used the barnfool
as his restrum and delivered his mai
den speeches to an audience OF dumb
brutes. Thus we find path from tn,
howell to the palace and from OBSCURE
ty to renown. Perhaps some mother
in this audience tonight, rocks tn
future president OF this great nation
but remember, fond mother, tina
hope is ever mingled with fear an,
i, that from the cradle to another patl
leading to crime, to prison, to tn
scaffold, and peahaps around the tin,
neck, of your darling boy, wher
hangs the chain of love and the brigh
, hopes and anticipations of futur
years, the hangman's moose is doome
q to tighten. Ali none but Heave
! knows whether that smiling, innc
? cent babe you so fondly pillow upo
> your bosom, and dream swee
| dreams of his bright future, is /
q be Garfield or Guiteau. But, drol
/ ping tear of sympathy On the pr,
4 mature graves of those who have III
fortunately trod the paths leadin
3 down to degradation and death an
o turning our eyes once more toward th
= innumerable roads leading up to fam
!. and honor, we are made to exclain
: Oh man what art thou that God
>. mindful OF thee. Why allow dar
y clouds of melancholy to hover aroun
- your heart, because you are unknow
E to fame and fortune. When from I'll
4 rudest log cabin in the darkest fore
"a of obscurity, isa path to, the marb
q halls of wealth and distinction. WI
weep over Eden's lost purity and ha
v piness, when, IRON the great ire
!. doors of hell is a path to the pear
il gates ofparadise. Why shrink BAD
q in chilling horror from the untroddt
!. gloom that hovers over this yawnir
:, chas m of dissolution when the eve
Il to-be-adored God OF the I'm VERSE b
t. placed, even to the very lips OF dyil
e man, the cup Of the water OF eyerlal
o ing life.
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