The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1893-09-15

chief directors had been greatly impressed
with the 60 ahead manner and zeal of the
young parson, and concluding that he was
possessed of the qualities that would make
him a frs: rate railroad official proposed his
hamA. The contest was close. Beecher lost
by one vote. Now suppose for moment
That he had been successful. He would have
gone ahead in his calling, and the ii and er-
ergy and vital industry which were prominent
among his qualities would rapidly, uqles
honably, have forced him to the fros,.
Ami ii",n, sru" ing as the west grew moth
ilIs uider heaven could have kept him out OF
politics, and tire large probabilities are thai
he woul,. l.ate become foremost figure in
national councils, with seat III The senate
aid Foss lblya home in the White House. 1t
was little thing That switched him. One
vote settled the III .tter. As it was. with B cecil
er, so unqueslonab'y it is with multitudes of
men less conspicuous
Not many years ago humble ish.Ameri-
can worker was sticking type in the composing
room of neighboring city. The newspaper
was not very succ, ssful then. Its editor died.
None of the reporters seemed quite up to the
mark, and the proprietor nervous, fdzety
man allowed things to drift. The reporters
printed What they pleased. Several paragraphs
pertinent, timely, evncing thought. were writ
ten by compositor aud handed in to the pro-
prietor, yho publshei them. They attracted
attention.. lie asked him to write more. In
little while Thomas Ki6s Ella became the
editor Of the Brooklyn Eagle, which ere he
died was one opthe five chief newspaper prop
critics in the country. If the editor of that pa
per had continued his work, Kinsella would
have remained in the composing room, instead
of which he left his case, entered the sane
tum, formed political and financial alliances,
went to congress and died a comparatively
wealthy and very generally esteemed citizen
of that great town.
1t was the purest incident of an accident
| that secured for him commanding position
and wide felt influence in affairs. What
| nonsense it would be to say that Garfield
when he was driving horses on a towpath b ad
| any idea, any programme, the end of which
was the presidency Of the United -States. 1t
was chance, accident, which gave him oppor-
tunity after opportunity and it was an irdus-
| trious, honest utilization of the chance aud of
| the opportunity which advanced him step BY
step, but even there see how he was favored
by circumstances.
Tho story is familiar to you all Twenty
thousand people were packed in the great as
semblage hall in Chicago. Ten thousand Of
them cheered. themselves hoarse over the
name OF Grant, while the other ten thousand
enfeavored to drown the noise made by hur-
railing and 'cIapping and cheering for Blaine
Now, if Grants friends had been the stronger
in the convention, there would have been no
Garfield, or Blaine's friends had sufficient
strength to carry the day Garfield would have
been nowhere. Tue happy accident was that
there was a divided convention, so far as
Lhose names were concerned, and the compro-
mise was Garfieid's opportunity.
That's my point. 1t is not that Garfield
was not cImpetent, not that he wasn't subse-
q,Iently elected, not that he couldn't fill the
bill, but that whatever might have b,en his
desire, ambitions, hopes, it was ro.hing but
the bitter, relentlese fight between the frieuds
OF Blaine and Grant that gave him the oppor-
tunity. We are apt, when arguing matters,
to utilize illustrations, drawn from conspicu-
GUS realms, but this opportunity, this chance,
this acciderf: obtains just as absolutely in
your life and mine as. iir the experience of can
tidates fOi the presiden cy,' as in the ongoinss
ofgenerals upon the field. Ii is not what The
H. h.!ly-"riFe $ call high life alone. but an
:, a sxi>i.'',r' in the constant struggle in
III, !. mankind tld Themselves.