Virginia citizen. (Irvington, Va.) 1891-1921, 1904-10-14

N"S Mig among the kings. | wOuld
Infinitely prefer to be the founder OF
race than the degenerate offsprinU
or noble sire who bravely worked
his way from nothing To the pinnacle
OF fame This practical world of every.
day lie does not ask who was your IA
ther, who was your grandmother but
who are your
But. though we would depounca a.,
pretentious pride OF birth. we wonId
go further than this. We would do.
nounce the arrogant pride of many
men ana women who seem 20 have &C
complished something in life. IL we
are honest we must admit that such
successes rs 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 10 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 disgracefu, in
selves airs of superiority.
circumstances Make Men.
Circumstances make men just the
same as men make circumstances.
When l was lately thinking upon this
theme my eye involuntarily wandered
down q country road to big white
barn where livery is kept and horses
n fn1 H,n Aor %
these horses young man was work
Ing. Who is he? He is a young man
who for years has wanted TO be law
yer. But he is the oldest son of large
family OF children. Ills father was a
farmer In the east There that fathers
health broke down. and he had to come
TO 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 an 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 n public liv-
cry. If you and had been In that old
est boys place would we not have done
just the same as he did? 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 n man
m II or 1T
he said: NO man who is worth saving
can ever be drowned In the troubled
sea OF life. No matter how 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 is always true. l believe that
there may come time when a young
man, like young colt. can be beaten
too much and his spirit will be gone.
1 beleve 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
er TO assume superiority over those
who might have succeeded as we'll as or
better than we have done IL their on
portunities and equipment bad been
equal TO ours.
Men Sometimes Make Circumstances.
Men make circumstances? Not al
ways. Some time ago when seated in
a railroad train I read n newspaper
article in reference to one OF the noto-
rious pugflists OF the country. This
article went something like this: "aIr
So-and-so will never amount to any,
thing again in the roped arena. Why?
Because be has been twice whipped. A
man Is like q dog: when he has been
beaten enough 10 find that some one
else Is his master his nerve Is forever
gone" How true in life is thatw /
said to myself. Then 1 pictured that
noble dog OF Jack London's in his
Call OF the Wild" He was n big. low
able. brave dog. but no sooner was he
sent north than he was dubbed until
his spirit was broken. What theuP
He whined and whimpered like
frightened puppy. So some men, noble
men, brave men i'm their youth, become
failures as middle aged men. Why?
Because they are battered and pounded
by struggle after struggle aud defeat
AFTER defeat They are halted In their
progress through life by obstacles prac-
ucalIy impossible to overcome until at
last their courage and nerve and fight
ing manhood practically ooze away.
y man, be not pulled up In your own
conceit on account OF your seeming
triumphs In life. You and I In a sense
have both succeeded not because we
are smarter than all men, but because
GOD has given to us chances of sue
cess which he has withheld from men
who were just as smart and Just ms dill
igent and brave and as conscientious
as ever we have been.
Arrogant pride is making necklaces
OF diamonds to reflect her own shriy-
eled and emaciated form. She carries
around with her a looking glass be-
cause she thinks her blood is blue" In
stead OF red, her face more beautiful
and her eyes more intelligent than all
other physiognomies. She never tires
OF watching her own countenance. Her
smile Is sweetest when she is praising
CANT pride admires her own looks and
her own brain more than those of the
people around her. she has often no
right TO gather the lilies OF innocence
10 wear as bouquet on her corsage.
In her heart there may be the germs of
evn and a cruelty as fierce as that
which impelled the women of France
Ia the revolution to surround the gull
lotine and gloat over the execution of
victims as guiltless as themselves. I
md that, as rule. she thinks that her |
own garments are the clinging robes of |
an angel. pure and spotiess, while the |
garments of her fellow human crea-
lures are the rags and tatters of a re-
pentant or an unrepentant prodigal.
All Were Gentlemen.
Ii is too often forgotten that ar
rogance and pride are sins In them |
selves. The lofty spirit which boasts
that 1t is free from the guilt of Others
and holds aloof from the repentant sim