Milford chronicle., 1904-10-14


home Of the founder Of the great Thav
family of the western part of Pennsyl
vania he began to boast of his grea
family connections. Then he turne,
to the richest and most hOnored maI
of Pittsburg and said From what aris
docratic head did your family spring
Mr. ThawY With that William ThaW
answered: "Aly ances Rrs. for the most
part, were plain. honest folks. Nv
own coat of arms. however. is a shoe.
makers last, for my father was the
best cobbler of his time in all this re
! gion"
s Ssstl2st9';.s
Where did the great Adams family.
or the Beechers, or the Van Cortlands.
or the Van Rensselaers, or the Hamil-
tons. or the Goulds. or the Armours.
| or the Swifts, or the Letters, or the
| Otises spring from: Either in the last
generation or a few generations back
you can find their ancestors keeping a
butcher shop or working as clerks or
digging as farmers or so poor that they
had to borrow money TO get their start
in life in their chosen career. Now.
my aristOcratic friends, If the most
honored names in all history are for
the greater part names first heard Of
in the annals of the poor and the first
bearers of which were born in poverty
and Obscurity, why should you hold
your heads so high? Because your fa.
ther 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 is among the silliest
and the most baseless of all kinds of |
pride, for, though some of US may |
have the blood Of a great man flowing
In our veins, all of us without exceD
ton have the blood Of hundreds of oh
scure ancestors mingling in our ar
teries, from whom we are just as mucl
descended as we are from him who
was king among the kings. I would
infinitely prefer to be the founder OF
/ race than the degenerate offsprin.
If Il noble sire who brayely worked
lis way from nothing to the pinnacle
If fame. This practical world of every.
lay life does not ask who was your fl
her. who was your grandmother, but
who are you:
But, though we would denounce the r
retentious pride of birth, we would G
o further than this. We would de I
ounce the arrogant pride of many $
len and women who seem to have nc. +
omplished something in life. If we :
re honest we must admit that such q
as we have achieved have n
cen due in no small degree to fortui. +
)us combinations of circumstances of Il
'hich we have taken advantage and ii
OF exclusively to our own merits. We II
ave no right to take all the credit to h
lrselyes or to despise others who II
ave not had the opportunities which ~
ave helped us in the race. Many of II
lem have been hindered by poverty II
: lack of educational facilities or i'll hi
salth, and we show disgracefu in OF
attitude to Providence if we give our n,
Ives airs of superiority. h,
make men lust the pr
me as men make circumstances. tn
lien l was lately thinkin. upon this IN
enc my eye involuntarily wandered tt
wn a country road to a big white 70
IN where a livery is kept and horses in
e rented for the day. About one of Pl
ese horses young man was work lie
NNhn 10 hn9 n fey I
10 for years has wanted to be a law ize
r. But he is the oldest son of a large lif,
nily of children. His father was a yo
'mer in the east. There that fathers .mC
llth broke down. and he had to come tui
California climate or he must die. CHI
bought some land here. After TO
lille two years of drought came on. of
he was ruined. Then that father lik,
s confined three years in an inva- lon
$ bed. Then that oldest son had to VIII
ing into the breach. He is there vet tbr
the breach. The bread of his moth =
his father and the children was for mo
rs dependent upon that oldest boy loci
his work. The horses of the farm of
re merely changed during the rho
usut mo 'ne horses OF public liv- mis-
If you and had been in that old Of
boys place would we not have done nv
the same as he did? Would we be scr,
ere we are today? mic,
lmes A. Garfield once seemed TO the,
lch the doctrine that there are no dea
culties in life too great for a man core
overcome. In one of his addresses Las
said: NO man who is worth saving bee;
ever be drowned in the troubled mad
of life. No matter how far it is tim,
n shore, pitch him overheard and ont
will at least he able to swim ashore" "y
n not sure that statement of Gar pbo
rs is always true l believe that bau
e may come a time when a young bvn,
/, like young colt. can be beaten brr,
much and his spirit will be gone. sent
lieve that a young man may have one
many obstacles to overcome until is ~,
lst he will lose his energy and he evan
cease to struggle any more In inst
case, it becomes us all to consider serv
much of our success is due to the INN,
90 4.