Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1888-12-28

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and time, with indomtable resolution, with
sleepless energy, with endless tenacity Of
purpose, are simply irresistible and do
not know single case, either as regards
small or great things, in which an English
boy has determined to accomplish this or
that and has failed
BOYS WHO SUCCEEDED.
There was once in Harrow school very
poor boy, the son Of a small tradesman in
| Harrow, who was very much hurt by
thoughtless taunts about the poverty Of his
family and he used 10 say. Never mind
| intend before | die TO ride in a coach and
four, not a very noble ambition. But,
long before Dr. Parr died he had become
the greatest scholar of his age, and habit
ually rode in a coach and four When
Warren Hastings was a boy, he used to
grieve at the fact that his family had lost
their paternal estate at Daylesford and to
say, 81 will buy that back" He grew up
to be the great proconsul Of the age He
bought back the estate and he died at
Daylesford. 1 had the honor Of knowing
Mr.. George Moore. You may remember
that he came to London as poor, un.
known, unbefriended Cumberland lad
! When he entered great commercial es-
tabhshment, his ambition was, 81 intend to
marry my masters daughter and become
my masters partner Both those things
he accomplished. He not only became a
very wealthy man, but, what was infinite.
| ly better, man Of great service to his gen
GRAFTON. About sixty years ago there was
boy Of Jewish extraction a clerk i'm a So
licitor's office and, to the intense amuse-
ment of his companions, he used to say, 81
intend to be Prime Minister OF England
And, in spite Of scorn, he became Prime
l. II =
Disraeli. Ninety years ago there was a
boy in Staifordshre who had been told ex-
actly what am telling you,-that any boy
who determined to be this or that could be:
and he said, ''If that be true, | will test it
and | am determined that | will be Prime
Minister of England" That boy became
Prime Minister, and his name was Robert
Peel. Some fifty years ago there was a
very rude and ungainly looking boy who
seemed as if all his limbs were out of Joint
When seven years old, he was shoeless and
penniless, at seventeen was driving a canal
boat, at twenty was a rail-splitter, at TWEEN
ty-two was at the head of a small shop
which was very unsuccessful, but used to
amuse his comrades by saying, Never
mind | intend to become President Of the
United States" His name was Abraham
Lincoln. 1t is dogged that does it, and it
IL.
ures, Lincoln thought he would take TO the
law. He bought law book and. after
breakfast he used to 20 out and sit under
tree, aud, with his legs higher than his
head, move round the tree in the shade
from morn to dewy eve. In that way, he
mastered the law book and in time he be
came one Of the greatest of the modern
Presidents Of America
Nfr tNt,tt- I4t,,tt rt,,..tr,r, ,.-, ~
The same thing which has happened in
these instances, the same career, is open
TO every one of you boys, if only you have
the will and pay the price. which is imdom
liable resolution and sleepless tenacity Of
purpose. Try the experiment and if you
succeed, and | am not in my grave | hope
you will write and tell me- assure
you you cannot and will not fail. But
do not wish to put before you merely this
poor and vain and unsatisfactory ideal of
merely earthly success. 1t would not nee
essarily make you happy or more use
tul. want much rather to point you,
not to these inch high dignities because
after all, the extent to which one of us diff
fers from another in life is in Gods sight
no more than the tenth of an inch bv which
one blade of grass towers over its neigh !
bor-l want rather TO point YOU to those
eternal heights of moral and spiritual ex-
cellence which every one of YOU should try
to reach. do not know whether many Of
you Will become great men some of YOU,
| hope, for the good of your country. will
but every one of you may become what is
infinitely better-a true gentleman, a true
Christian truly good man, and. as we
used to say at Harrow, "a profitable mem
Der of the church and commonwealth and
hereafter partaker of the immortal glory
Of the resurrection" That is the end and
height which | earnestly entreat you all to
reach.
BE HONEST FIRST.
You know the old story of how Sir Wal
ter Raleigh wrote with diamond on a
window
"Fain would climb, but that fear to fall"
and Queen Elizabeth wrote under it,
IF thy heart fail thee, do not climb at all"
| want every one of you to climb as high
as ever you can, but, in all your clmbings,
make sure of climbing above the vulgar
standard. vulgar conventional habits. An
American wit, in proposing a toast, once
said the youth of his country reminded
him of the three degrees of comparison.
First, they tried to get on then they tried
to get honor and then they tried to get
honest. | want you to reverse those mat
ters, and TO determine at all costs, first of
all, to be honest and then, please God,
you may get honor, and get on Another
inscription, written by an unhappy princess,
was, "Oh, keep me innocent make others
great Keep innocence, and do the thing
that is right for that shall bring a man
peace at the last, | want you to get be-
hind those words failure and success"
Remember that some of the most brilliant
successes in the world are, in reality, the
most complete and absolute failures. No
man, however miserable may seem to be
his fortune can be failure if he has been
true to the eternal laws of righteousness
and no man, however brilliant his fortune,
can be a success if he has been false to his
country, to his honor, or to his God.