Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1901-11-29
LUCK OF FIRST-BORN.
OCCASIONALLY A LATE Conner
ACQUIRES FAME
The Majority of the Worlds Distinc-
fions Are Shared Between the First
and Second Sons, the Lions Share
Going TO the First Born.

The law Is by no means alone In IA
voring the first born Of family and
comparatively neglecting later comers,
for a careful examination Of the biog-
raphies of our most eminent men will
prove that quite preponderating num-
Der Of them owe their fame largely to
the fact that they made their entry
into the world in advance Of their
brothers and sisters, says London Tit
Bits.
To such an extent does this appear
to be the case that, If dozen names
Of distinguished men are taken at ran
dom, It would be quite safe to assert
that four of them Tor possibly five) are
first sons; of the remainder three are
second sons, while younger sons, rang
ing from number three downward, must
be content with dividing the small
amount of celebrity among them.
Occasionally very late conner ac-
Quires fame, but the odds are all
against him. Thus, Benjamin Frank
lin, the great natural philosopher and
politician, had no fewer than thirteen
brothers and sisters in front Of him.
Sir Richard Arkwright, the famous in
ventor, was the thirteenth child OF his
parents, and Sir Joshua Reynolds was
number seven In his family
But by far the majority OF the
worlds distinctions are shared between
first and second sons, the lions share
going to the first born.
Fame In the world of letters has gone
in quite undue proportions to the eldest
born. If we may take Dante, Goethe,
Shakespeare and Milton as the four
greatest names in the history Of the
worlds literature we shall find that all
four, with the exception Of Shakespeare
the greatest, it is true, of them all
were eldest sons.
This privilege of the first born Is
claimed for Shelley and Byron and
Heine, and in modern times, to mention
names without regard to relative mer-
1t, by Ruskin, Max Muller, Lecky, Prof
Jebb, Sir Lewis Morris, Frederick Har.
rison, Sir John Lubbock, Sir George
l. 1
too numerous to mention.
Confucius and Mohammed, Talley
rand, Rossini, Charlemagne, Luther
and Raphael were all eldest sons; az
also are such eminent statesmen of to
day as Mr.. A. J. Balfour, Mr.. Cham
berlain, Mr. Broderick, Lords Rose
berry and Goschen and Mr.. John Nor
ley.
Among the great soldiers we have
Lord WoIseley and Lord Kitchener
among lawyers Sir Francis Jeune ant
Sir Edward Clarke; in the church, thu
late Bishop of London, and on the stag
Sir Henry Irving.
OF famous second sons the list Is dis
tinguished If comparatively short, TO
we find such giants Of the past al
Michael Angelo and Beethoven; tn,
Pope, Garibafdi and Pascal; Wallac,
and Sheridan; John Wesley and Mon
/ taigne. Of famous statesmen of ou
/ own time we have Sir William Har
court and Mr.. Asquith, as well as LORI
Salisbury, to mention only thre
names.
/ The list of second sons contains
great soldier in Sir Redvers Butler, al
eminent Judge in Lord Alverstone, still
better known as Sir Richard Webster
clever actor in Mr.. Beerbohm Tree
an artist in Mr. Phil May, and men o
! letters in Grant Allen and Sir Edwi
Arnold.
Nor are the third sons by any mean
to be despised in point of quality, a
| though the number is relatively yer
small.
They include the greatest soldier Q
modern times, the Duke of Wellington
the greatest author Of any time, Shal
speare, and the most famous fictio
writer of the last century. Sir Waite
Scott.
Voltaire was third son, and so wer
C. ]. Fox, the famous statesman an
orator, Lord Lytton and Sir Robel
Walpole, while Lord Halsbury ha
proved that a third son can fill wit
distinction the highest place in the Law
and the late Sir Walter Besant that b
can win laurels in the field of letters.
oDlTAINsc cMAKEC