The Portland daily press., 1895-05-18

BILE material mind was forging weapons
of habit and stability that were t. carve
for lasting years the name of Alvin
| Adams.
| Within easy distance of this hum BILE
| farm rose hfonadnock, towering, gigan-
| tic, the highest point of land for miles
around, says a writer In the Chicago
Tribune. There was grandeur in this
noble Landmark not to be found in any,
thing else that stirred an awakening ap-
| probation in the lads breast. 1t stood
| for strength, as the storms shivered their
| flashing javelins against it's rugged
| breast. 1t stood for advancement. when,
with the stars of night still shining, it
caught the first beams of the rising SUI
and proudly heralded the coming day.
And when some mighty mystery
| breathed upon it, and it became clothed
in the glorious marvel Ct spring and the
successive seasons, it stood for love of
God and all his wonderful works. And
into the mind Of the young orphan boy
these lessons sunk firm and Deep
The next stepping stone was a couple
of books-Watts on "The Mind" and
The Understanding" by Locke-two
| ponderous things; but reading matter
was scarce, and perhaps, too. just here,
an inheritance of educational ancestry
came to his age, for he was of the his
toric Adams family. whose ancestor,
Henry Adams, was one of the settlers of
| Braintree, Mass, in i64l, and his moth
| er was Phoebe Hoar, a relative of Sam
| uel Hoar of Concord, Mass. Be this as
it may, these books gave him the settled
purpose of acquiring knowledge and of
| being and doing something in the brief
span of human lifetime. The founda-
tion was already laid in a practical COM
mon school education. But from out
that unknown charmed world, upon
whose portals Monadnock stood like a
mighty sentinel, came echoes of other
lives; Henry Clay, in the pinnacle of
his fame; Daniel Webster, whom Dart
mouth College proudly claimed as foster
child. Night after night the lad kneYt
at the little window of the RATED cham
ber, watching with quiokening pulses
the star-crowned crest of Monadnock,
that seemed to beckon and point to the
world beyond.
| The little seed, stirring and swelling
with something within itself, will push
from its dark, earth-enveloped cell up
ward to the light. AS surely the unal-
terra BILE decree had been written on this
human soul, and at the age of 16 Alvin
Adams left his brothers. farm and went
forth into the world, friendIess and un-
known.
| If, instead of recorded actions suto.
matically displayed like waxwork on
wheels, biographies of men were made
up of thoughts, emotions, and ali tbe
tangible influences that go to make ur
human life, what wonderful rendipp wt
sho uld have! What advancement, what
inspirationsl We could measure on,
milestones by their milestones; our fears.
our exaltations, and our prayers. We
ave at this period of Alvin Adams life
no other record than that he found a
clerkship in a hotel at Woodstock, where
he remained four years, winning friends
| by his modest geniality, his earnestness
of purpose, and his answering truth.
| At the end of that time wider oppor-
tunity presented. The farmers of Ver-
mont would be very glad of an oppor-
tunity of sending their butter and eggs
to Boston and receiving their equivalent
in merchandise. Young Alvin applied
to his brother for team OF horses and
light wagon with which he might take
advantage of this chance. as his own
frugal salary had barely furnished him
decent clothing and educational books.
The brother, with the hard wisdom OF
e1perence that will ft the nlnety-mne
oas nor the hundredth man, could not
Asnafs ths/ssanl FROM als swa saEm.wc-1 q