The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1901-09-11
llver. Was It that shame ? II

'Fcl. was u that q shame Z? n
should be Franklin now.
Well, gained my case in that do.
oate-at least my father did, for bo
trained me. | gained it over Nanoloon
and Washington and jefferson and
Shakespeare and Newton and DENIES.
themes and others and am SUI nroud
10 recall the victory. But the fact re-
mains that there is no greatest man.
mere Is the greatest orator, the
greatest philosopher and poet and
preacher and statesman and general
ana discovcrer and inventor and painter
and sculptor, but each ofthesc is GREAT
est only in his own profession. Ont
side OF that most of great men were
weak ana childish and some of them
corrupt. Lord Bacon was perhaps the
greatest writer on political economy
ana public morals, but he accented
DrlDcS While on the bench and publicly
confessed 1t, and was dep scd au,
lhcd $4,000 and sent TO prison. pope
says OF hm that he was The wlscst
brightest and mcancst mankind. Sir
Isaac Newton was so absent minded
That it made him appear ridiculous.
Whcn the fire bmncd him he called
his servant and told him To move i,
patk. III dl not occur TO him that he
couid move back himself. His ravorlto
cat came into his room through a hole
IN the bottom of the door. Whc, she
had live kittens he ordered five smaller
holcs cut tor them to pass in and out.
Icrah ColNurn was no doub, fin,
greatest natural mathematician who
ever lived. When he was 10 wears OLD
he could multiply any number of
numerals IN his head and give the an
swer instantly, but he was ulmos, an
ldlol about other things, and when Or
years Old lost his faculty in figures.
Inc admirable Crichlon when iG wears
olu was the most learned classical
scholar III Europe and could converse
lluenlly in twenty languages, but could
not DO il sum in The simple rule of
three. Goldsmith had no superior as
Il writer OF pure English, both In prose
and poetry, but he couldn't utter "A
respectable sentence in conversation.
Dr. johnson said of him: He wrote
IKE an angel and talked like a parrot
John Wesley was very urcul preach.
or and writer Uf sacred hymns, but
~ "''' hoI NISt tHouSn 10 .OOSe Il
good wife nor great enough to subduc
and keep her after he had chosen.
hen she left him he said: 81 did
not iorsakc her, | did not dismiss
her. l Will not recall her." Pctuchio
u'd not tame his Kate that way. Lord
byion was an unprinclplcd rake.
Nap Icon left ii dark cloud over his
lame by divorcing Josephine. In fact
almost every great genus had some
defect or some foul blot in the make
up of his character.
Our Heavenly Father did not choose
10 create one perfect man or woman,
not one. Just think what faculties it
would require in man to be as great
an orator as Dcmosthcncs of w. bstcr,
rs g,cat poet as Milton or Shakes
pcare, a great philosopher rs Plato
or Socrates, us great n preacher as
Wesley or jonathan Edwards, as great
composer rs Mozart, OF Beethoven,
as great n painter as Raphael or
Michael Angelo, as great an astr0nom.
er as Newton or Calico or us grca,
general and patriot as Washington
wouldn't he be Il wonderful man? If
there was such man and nc could
live on and on the world wouldn't need
kings or almiCs, for he would rule il
wisely and well aud all the people
would say amen.
BILL ARP.