The suburban citizen., 1901-09-28
THE LUCK oE ElRsT.soRN.
But Younger Brothers Make a Good
Showing.

But Younger Brothers Make a Good
Showing.
The law is by no means alone in ia
voring the first born of a family and
comparatively neglectlng later comers,
for careful examination Of the bio
graphies of our most eminent men
will prove that quite a preponderating
number Of them owe their fame large
ly to the fact that they made their en-
try into the world in advance Of their
brothers and sisters.
To such an extent does this appear
to be the case that, if a dozen names
of distinguished men are taken at ran.
dom, it would be quite safe to assert
that four of them Tor possibly fve)
are first sons; Of the remainder three
are second sons, while younger sons,
ranging from number three down
ward, must be content with dividing
the small amount Of celebrity among
them.
Occasionally a very late conner ac-
qulres 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 be-
tween 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. II 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-werc eldest sons.
This privilege of the first born is
claimed for Shelley and Byron and
Heine, and in modern times, to men
tion names without regard to relative
merit, by Ruskin, Max Muller, Lecky,
Professor Jebb, Sir Lewis Morris,
Frederick Harrison, Sir John Lubbock,
Sir George Trevelyan, Mr.. Pinero and
others far too numerous to mention.
Confucius and Mohammed, Talley-
rand, Rossni, Charlemagne, Luther
and Raphael were all eldest sons; as
also are such eminent statesmen of
to-day as Mr.. A. ]. Balfour Mr. Cham.
berlain, Mr.. Brodrick, Lords Rosebery
and GOschen and Mr. John Morley.
Among great soldiers we have Lord
Wolseley and Lord Kitchener; among
lawyers Sir Francis Jeune and Sir
Edward Clarke; in the church, the late
Bishop Of London, and on the stage
Sir Henry Irving.
OF famous second sons the list is
| distinguished if comparatively short,
for we find such giants of the past as
Michael Angelo and Beethoven; the
Pope, Garibaldi and Pascal; Wallace
and Sheridan; John Wesley and Mon
taigne. OF famous statesmen of our
own time we have Sir William Har-
court and Mr.. Asquith, as well as
ANAh PdAl9bhAJi " lhCltIOLl Cuiy luLGe
| names.
The list Of second sons contains a
great soldier in Sir Redvers Butler, an
eminent judge in Lord Alverstone,
still better known as Sir Richard
Webster; a clever actor in Mr.. Beer
bohm Tree; an artist in Mr.. Phil May,
| and men Of letters in Grant Allen and
| Sir Edwin Arnold.
Nor are the third sons by any means
to be despised in point Of quality, al
though the number is relatively very
small
They include the greatest soldier OF
modern times, the Duke of Yelling
ton; the greatest author Of any time,
Shakespeare, and the most ia
nous fiction writer of the last CEN
tury, Sir Walter Scott
Voltaire was a third son, and SO
were G. j. Fox, the famous statesmen
and orator, Lord Lytton and Sir Rob-
ert Walpole, while Lord Halsbury has
proved that a third son can fill with
distinction the highest place in the
law, and the late Sir Walter Besant
that he can win laurels in the field Of
| lpttarq Mt nifg