Santa Fe daily New Mexican., 1897-12-22

HIS MERIT MUST BE JUDGED BY THE
KIND OF HIS SUCCESS.

kllND OF t1i0 SUCCESS.
From an Address Delivered by Ex-Presi-
dent Grover Cleveland on Commemora-
tion Day at Princeton University Friday
Oct. 2e.
hope | may be tolerated in the an
nonnoement that | propose to submit on
this occasion some simple reflections
has been so much said of him at random
and he has been so often presented as
an altogether wonderful being that it is
not strange if there exists i'll some quar-
ters an entire misapprehension of the
manner of his creation and an exagger
ated idea of his nature and mission A
romantic and sentimental glamour has
enveloped him, magnifying his proper
tions and causing him to appear much
larger and in every way greater than
other men, and the notion seems to be
current that his size and greatness are
the direct results of the frowns of for
tune which deprived him of educational
advantages and doomed him to travel
to success by road rugged with obsta-
cles and difficulties OF course in this
view success is necessary factor in the
existence of this self made man, for un-
less he accomplishes something not al
together commonplace and usual he is
deemed unworthy of the name. Indeed
it ought not to surprise US to find that
success alone, if reached after fierce
struggle with difficulties and disadvan-
tages, should lead by familiarity and
easy association to sort of hazy con-
ception that these difficulties and dis
advantages were not merely incidents
but positive aids to such success.
desire here to explicitly and EN-
phatically express my respect and ad-
miration for those who have won hon
orable success in spite OF discouraging
surroundings and who have made them
selves great and useful in their day and
generation through the sheer force Of
indomitable will and courage. Nothing
can be more noble and heroic than their
struggles and nothing can be more i'll
spring and valuable than their exam
pie and achievements, and whatever
may be their measure of success their
willingness to undergo hardships to
win it demonstrates that they have in
their nature the fiber and lasting quail
ties that make strong men.
But while we thus pay deserved
tribute to true manliness we by no
means admit tho fanciful notion that
the difficulties that stood in the way Of
| these self made men were essential to
their success They were obstacles
which they overcame, and thus won
distil ction and honor. Thousands of
others have been discouraged by these
same obstacles and found an appropri-
ate place among dullards and drones 1t
is true that many eager men have laid
the foundations of future usefulness
and greatness in study between the
hours of their labor for bread and by
the light Of Il pine knot or open fire.
place. but many others have spent the
same time not more prohtably than in
careless, sleepy Incidence and have by
the same light undermined their men
tai and moral health with vile books
and oompanionship and in learning the
first lessons i'll vice.
We have all seen handsome and quite
elaborately carved articles or trinkets
which We're made entirely with pock-
etknife. AS curiosities they challenge
our interest because of the ingenuity
of their construction with such sim
pie tool, but we do not regard them as
more useful for that reason, nor do we
for moment suppose that the pocket
knife was essential to their construc-
tion or that their beauty or merit would
have been diminished by the use Of
more effective and suitable TOOLS
1t is well to remember too, in con-
sidering those who succeed, notwith-
standing difficulties, that not all sue
cesses, even though SO gained. are of
that useful and elevating kind that
should excite our admiration. The
churlish ourmudgeon who by sharp
practices and avaricious dealing has
amassed fortune should not be per-
mitted to cajole us by boasting of his
early priyations and sordid self denial.
We are at liberty to resent in any case
the attempt to cover multitude Of sins
with the cloak of the self made man
by playing upon our regard for the
worth and labor that conquer useful
and honorable career, nor should the
successful political hack be allowed to
distract attention from damaged char
aoter by parading his humble origin,
his lack Of early advantages and the
struggles of his boyhood as independent
and sufficient proofs that he is entitled
to our suffrage
The truth is the merit of the success
full man who has struggled with diff
culties and disadvantages must be
judged by the kind Of success he has
achieved, by the use he makes Of it
and by its effect upon his character and
life, Ii his success is clean and whole.
some, if he uses it to make his fellows
better and happier and if he faithfully
responds to all the obligations of lib.
eral, public spirited and useful citizen,
his struggles should adj immensely to
the honor and consideration he deserves.
II, OH the other hand, his success is
OF the grasping sortlid kind, if he
clutches it closely for his selfish graft
fication and if with success he is bank.
rupt in character, sordidly mean, use
less as citizen or OF evil influence in
his relations with his fellow men, his
struggles should not save him from con.
tempt. Those included in either Of these
classes may in the ordinary acceptation
be termed self made men, but it is quite
evident that there are so called self
made men not worth the making.
Hard rf wild RuRhlnos