Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1904-10-13
best cobbler Of his time in all this re-


tons. or the Goulds, or the Armours,
or the Swifts, or the Letters, or tho
Otises spring from Either In the last
generation or few generations back
you can find their ancestors keeping
butcher shop or working ms clerks or
digging as farmers or 80 poor that they
had to borrow money to get their start
in life In their chosen career Now.
my nristocratic friends. II the most
honored names in nll history are for
the greater part names first heard Of
in the annals Of the poor and the drst
bearers Of which were born In poverty
and obscurity, why should you hold
your heads 80 high? Because your IA
Their or grandfather happened to do
something that made his name ia
nous is that any reason why you
should consider yourself above your
fellow men when you have accomplish
ed absolutely nothing for mankind'
The pride Of birth IL among the silliest
and the most baseless Of oil kinds Of
pride, for. though some of us may
have the blood Of n great man flowing
in our veins, all of us without excep-
ton have the blood Of hundreds Of OBJ
scure ancestors minglng In our ar
terics, from whom We are just as much
| descended as We 81" from him who
was king among the kings. / would
infinitely prefer to be tho founder Of
race than the degenerate offspring
OF a noble sire who bravely worked
his way from nothing to the pinnacle
OF fame. This practical world Of every
day life does not ask who was your ia
Their, who WAS your grandmother, but
who are your
Rut, though we would denounce the
pretentious pride Of birth. we would
20 further than this. We would de-
nounce the arrogant pride Of many
men and women who seem to have &C
complished something In life. If we
are honest we must admit that such
successes MS we have achieved have
been due in no small degree to fortui-
tous combinations Of circumstances OF
which we have taken advantage and
not exclusively to our own merits. We
have no right TO take all the credit to
ourselves or to despise others who
have not had the opportunities which
have helped US in the race Many Of
them have been hindered by poverty
or lack of educational facilities or i'll
/ health, and we show disgraceful in.
gratitude TO Providence II we give our
selves airs Of superiority.
Circumstances Make Men.
/ Circunsta make men Just the
same ms men make circumstances.
When was lately thinking upon this
theme my eye Involuntary wandered
down n country road to a big white
barn where a livery is kept and horses
are rented for the day. About one of
these horses a young man was work
ing Who is he? He is young man
who for years has wanted to be Il law
yer. But he Is the oldest son of large
family Of children. His father was
farmer in the east. There that fathers
health broke down. and he had to come
10 California climate or he must die.
He bought some land here. After
awhile two years Of drought came on,
and he was ruined. Then that father
was confined three years in m inva
lids bed. Then that oldest son had to
spring into the breach. He Is there yet
In the breach. The bread Of his moth
err. his father and the children was for
years dependent upon that Oldest boy
and his work. The horses Of the farm
were merely changed during the
drought into the horses OF a public liv-
cry. IF you and I had been In that old
est boys place would we not have done
just the same as he didi Would we be
where we are today!
James A. Garfield once seemed TO
preach the doctrine that there are no
difficulties IN life too great for man
to overcome In one Of his addresses
| be said: NO man who is worth saving
can ever be drowned In the troubled
sea of life No matter bow far It Is
from shore, pitch him overheard and
he will at least be able to swim ashore"
am not sure that statement Of Gar
fields Ia always true | believe that
there may come time when young
man. Ike a young colt, can be beaten
too much and his spirit will be gone.
believe that young man may have
too many obstacles TO overcome until
at last he will lose his energy and he
will cease to struggle any more. In
| any case. IT becomes us all TO consider
how much Of our success Is due to the
advantages we have enjoyed and new
or to assume superiority over those
who might have succeeded as well as or
better than we have done " their op-
portunities and equipment had been
equal to ours.
Men Sometimes Make Circum stances.
/ Men make circumstances? Not al
ways. Some time ago when seated In
a railroad train I read newspaper
article In reference TO one OF the noto-
rious pugilists OF the country. This
article went something Ike this: "Mr.
so-snd so will never amount to any
thing again in the roped arena Why2
Because he has been twice whipped. A
man Is like dog; when he has been
beaten enough to find that some one
else is his master his nerve Is forever
gone" How true In life is that" I
said to myself. Then I pictured that
noble dog Of Jack London's In his
Call Of the Wild" He was a big, low
able, brave dog but no sooner was be
sent north than he was dubbed until
his spirit was broken What then
He whined and whfmDered like a