The Austin weekly statesman. (Austin, Tex.) 1883-1898, 1895-06-20

inventions, have become famous, were
men of genius. No error is so common,
and on close examination none so palpa-
BILE. Those who have reaped, who reap
now, and who shall continue to reap sue
cess in life are not usually geniuses, but
men of good judgment, energy and appli-
cation. 1T is no cause for Encouragement
II your talents be mediocre. IT'S matter
of congratulation that the occupations of
life are composed of minute details and
he who does best is he who masters every
detail, no matter how minute. True,
there are few names that stand out in
history and justly they were called
geniuses, but the works of lasting good,
that live thro' n the changes of condi-
tons, of culture and of civilization, are
those known to have been long and slow
in execution, They are not the spasmodic
creations or conceptions of genius, and
II they were, what would the conceptions
have amounted to had not the author of
the work had the patience and industry
to execute and formulate his work? In
an art gallery each picture and each statue
is monument of patience and of industry.
and these instantaneous productions of
genius, are they carelessly thrown off as
genius likes and even for others to think
| it does? If you think So visit the artists
studio or the sculptor's and notice with
how much carefulness and particularly
| adept strokes is given here, or n dash of
color there, and yet we are told an be-
lieve, that genius only can be great Great
| ness is inseparable from labor, and he who
| labors earnestly, judiciously and perse-
veringly for fixed and definite purpose
seldom has occasion to complain that the
world is inapreciative, or that the fates
are not propitious.
| -,
| desire to be man worthy of praise and
hit for any station in life, do not forget
| that every accomplishment is the reward
| OF labor; that versatility bespeaks hours
| of research and application, and that
nothing comes without desire expressed
| in earnest labor.
The characters that live longest in his
| tory, that commend themselves most
strongly to one for emulation and for dis
| tinction, are those that were unselfish in
nature and pure in purpose. SO mutually
tons Of life, 4" so u thoroughly tho gSI,
identified are the interests of all, whether
| engaged in aggrarian or professional pur-
suits, that there is no room, no place no
demand for distinctively selfish DISPOSE
tons. Indirectly the world recognizes the
| fact that only those who contribute TO
human advancement and human good,
deserve worldly recognition, and a life
dominated by selfish motives, struggling
| only for personal ACKNOWLEDGEMENT and
personal renown finds no place in the
chronicles of the historian, elicts no praise,
nor sympathy from the world. Ostracism
and repatriation are not worse conditions
| than that of living out of sympathy and
| out of touch with the time and the people
! Temporal prosperity may bless a few Of
| this class-but what is wealth or the
precarious and uncertain position that
wealth commands, compared with the
| consciousness of having done some act
perfected some invention, modelled some
frame Of polity or of government that
will conduce to human progress brighten
individual life or spread and secure univer-
sal peace.
There are duties in life that we owe
others higher than those we owe our
selves, and the recognition and perfor
nance of these duties sequaliZe the man
or betray the coward. Why is the name
of Washington so dear to every American;
that of Davis, of Lee and of Jackson to
every Southerner? During the struggles
Of the revolution did Washington endure
the fatgues and hardships Of winter war
fare, expose himself to the charge of trea
son by the British, sacrifice his fortune
and dedicated his time to the leadership If
the American cause, that there might he
one Washington in history. Did Davis,
Lee and Jacksonville greatest triumvirate
the world. ever knew, who planned like
Turenne, and executed like Ney, who
know no sympathy in battle but shed
tears over lost comrades afterwards
engage in the bloodiest struggle ever
I written of, that distinction, honor and
eternal fame might be theirs? Thrice
blessed and UNNECESSARILY honored is our
country, pure and virtuOus indeed must be
the whole race of the American people,
when in times of national distress of sec
tionalism and fraternal strife, men of such
quiet temper, of domestic tastes and
purity Of purpose volunteer TO engage in
the grewsome deeds of war, for principle
and for country! Since American history
began but one name sullies page, and II
in a life of Il century but one more dis
honors country what conclusion can only
be drawn of the domestic and polidcal
life of so great Il people, eXemplltled in the
lives of its founders and cOnseryat0rS!
Such men embody our idea of men-men
who fight for freedoms cause, for right
and for the establishment and perpetual
ton of free institutions. Then in nation
so prolific of great men can any one, young
or old fail to join in the universal desire
not to immortalize himself or to perpetuate
his name, but to contribute each his own
quota to the stability Of our governmental
and educational institutions, and by so do
ing prove himself worthy of the name OF
man and of American.
The battles Of life are not all fought on
open fields. There are victories ana de-
feats, charges and retreats, assayage ana
impetuous as the charges Of the Three
Hundred to which there are no witnesses
in which no bugle call is heard. Tell me
not that quiet and peaceful Is life, when
HI, / nN
a Yorktown. My friends, have you never
| felt the surge of hostile ambitions when
right is battling for supremacy? and when
the strife is ended and right triumphant,
hero more distinguished? But the
| result of the resort to arms
| is not always the establishment
of right; many and dear are the princi-
pies, sacred and hallOwed the causes,
that have fallen on CORY fields; weary, dis
consulate and detected the soldier when
y