Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1914-11-19
FAILURE IN LIFE is .INEXCUSABLE.
EVEN FOR THE ORDINARY MAN
Handcaps Overcome by the Worlds MnEvey Man Qualified
for Some Form of Success-The Will Power the
Factor-Whining Is the Voice of Cowardce
nv IosEPH H. opELL

C1R WALTER SCOTT and Lord Byro
~ were both cripples, and Sir walter wrot
much Of his best work when writhing ii
pain; Alexander II. Stephens, the brillian
Southern leader and one OF the most power
full and convincing men who ever sat in th
United States Congress, was twisted an,
gnarled and unable to walk step. while tn,
country was ringing with his eloquence
Nelson. with only one eve and one arm
broke Napoleon's power upon the sea;
Parkman, the historian, almost blind
and chronic invalid blind Herreshoff de-
signed the neetest and most graceful yachts
/ that ever sailed the ocean; Fawcett, Eng
! lands most famous Postmaster General, was
totally blind through an accident in youth;
! Galileo continued his Investigations long
| after sight failed, and Milton wrote Para
disc Lost" with light denied; Doctor John
! son was a hypochondriac and Tom Hood a
victim of chronic melancholia; Bunyan was
In jail when he composed the "Pilgrlm's
Progress" so were sir Walter Raleigh when
he wrote the History of the World" and
William Penn when he chronicled the Fruits
of Solitude
!. Richard Baxter who spent most of his
time alternating between a sick bed and
prison, nevertheless gave to the world 1876
ponderous volumes; Darwin, the apostle of
evolution, could not work more than two
hours day; James Watt, the father of the
steam engine, was so frail and fragile from
disease that he could work only in snatches
between attacks; Doctor Kane, the most
intrepid of explorers and travellers, made
his terrible Journeys, even his famous dash
for the North Pole, when crippled with
rheumatism and in momentary danger of
death from heart disease; Robert Louis
Stevenson did all of his finest writing after
he doomed to die of consumption-when
he could not write he dictated, when he dare
not speak for fear of bringing on a hemor-
rhage he still dictated his fingers in the
deaf and dumb alphabet Thomas Spencer
Baynes, the editor of the Encyclopedia
Britannica" accomplished his monumental
task with only the half OF one lung;
Beethoven composed some of his noblest
music when deaf and unable to hear note,
and Edison, the wizard of electricity, is like
wise very deaf; Francis Huber, the Swiss
naturalist, became celebrated entomologist
and writer upon natural history after becom-
ing totally blind; John Richard Green wrote
his History of the English People" upon his
deathbed, his friends averring that only his
indomitable will kept him alive to It's close;
Cecil Rhodes was sent out to Africa to die
of an incurable disease, but before he obeyed
the summons he carved an empire out of the |!
Dark Continent and made himself one of the |
richest men in the world; Lord Roberts as
a young man was considered too delicate to
live, but by the utmost self-care and har-
vesting of strength he gave England more
than go years Of invaluable military service;
General Pau with only one arm, is valiantly
the right wing of the allied
army in France; julius Caesar the world
conqueror, was an epileptic, and throughout |
his marvellous campaigns his life was never
worth an hours purchase; Helen Rellar,
leaf, blind and speechless has brought the
American people as scholars to her feet.
Most of the worlds greatest achievements
nave been won against terrible Odds What
nen chafe against as a curb was intended
Is spur To win under a handicap is more
glorious than to win under any other con-
litions. The weak man surrenders to his
and becomes weaker; the intrin-
icalIy strong man looks upon his frailty as
mother incentive to success; an indomitable !
pirit transforms = liability into an asset
Iany a battle has been won by an army
more than half shot to pieces-the work of
eroes. This world is place for people
( less spirit. No one can read such a list
Z achievements by handicapped men as has
cen given above without being shamed into
Hence and whipped into action, unless he
as the heart of a craven and the will OF
,orm. The manned. the broken, the dis
bled the diseased and the physically inca
acItated have accomplished history's most
otable deeds. Our Ills ana ailments. our {