Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-01-02
A MANS CHARACTER
MAY LINK HEMISPHERES
II Is the Sum of Habits--Every Activity
Goes Into Its Making Bankrupts
Whose Known Integrity Saved Them.
Walter Scott and "Honest Abe"
Rr Joseph II onEI.1.

BY JOSEPH II. ODELL
TToRACE GREELEY once said, Fame Is
i a vapor, popularity an accident; riches
take wings; those who cheer today may curse
tomorrow; only one thing endures-charac-
ter" MY road" said Canning must be
through character to power; / will try no
other course, and am sanguine enough to
believe that the course though not perhaps,
| the quickest, is the surest" Colonel Roose-
welt sums It up "The chief factor in any
! mans success or failure must be his own
| character"
Character is the essential self. strip man
of all titles, honors, clothes wealth, rank, or
whatever is artificial, and that which re-
mains is character. Many things Of an ex-
ternal nature may aid man In reaching sue
cess but the one essential, that which over
comes obstacles and beats down opposition,
the power that is the equivalent of PERSONAL
ity is the character that one has acquired.
Sir Walter Scott, through his connection
with unreliable business house, had his
fortune suddenly swept away. It was known
that he possessed vast ability and that by
tireless industry he might recover his lost
position. His creditors met to talk 1t over
Their chances Of saving anything from the
wreck were very slight. A few of them were
for pressing Sir Walter into bankruptcy and
snatching what they could of his personal
property. But those who knew the great
Scotchman best asserted that his character
would bring both him and them through.
GIVE him a chance they said, land Sir
Walter will find way to meet his obliga-
tions" They gave him the chance simply
and only on the ground of character. In
course of time he retrieved his ruined fortune
enriched the world with wealth of noble
literature and died amid the love and homage
of his fellows.
Stronger Than Diplomacy
Cyrus w. Field, in laying the Atlantic
cable, found himself in difficulties so vast
and critical that for years the project hung
in the balance and almost every one predicted
defeat The task took 1s years; Fields per-
sonal fortune was sunk in the enterprise; one
by one his friends and staunchest supporters
were removed by death; the Civil War broke |
out and England and America were not on |
the best of terms money became almost i'm |
possible to obtain; yet, in spite of all, Field !
succeeded His character was so esteemed
that even when men had the gravest doubts
of the success of his plans, they nevertheless
them, because they believed in the
man. What governmental diplomacy could
not DOWN the confidence of the British ma
IlOn--plelQ ulQ Dy SneeT SITeHBJn OF CndTdC-
ter. 1t may be said, without undue exaggera-
ton, that the character of one man linked the
two hemispheres.
Ulysses s. Grant, the idol of the nation,
found himself bankrupt and in broken health
when nothing but honor and ease should have
been his lot But he had one asset-char-
lcter. The whole world believed in him and
cheered him with reverence and trust as he
AZ oil in, md N In retrieya his |
position.
The late fnancier, ]. Pierpont Morgan, testi-
led before the United States Senate that
character is the best of collateral and the
foundation of credit. 1t was said that the
Duke of wellington did his duty as naturally
rs horse eats hay, and 1t was also said that
f Lincoln gave his promise to any one it
vas surer of being carried out than any act
If Congress ever passed.
Character is not something born with
nan or conferred upon him at a given mo-
nent. 1t is the sum of ones habits, the total
If ones mental, moral and physical activi-
les. Everything we feel or think or do builds
something into our system Take a man at
my moment of his life and examine him and
,ou will find that he is the truthful history
# his entire past-not a thought or deed has
,een lost If you could separate him into
lis component parts, as we separate the ele-
nents of a chemical compound you would
,e surprised to see that not even the tiniest
.ctivity of all his years has been missed or
orgotten.
Lincoln's Best Investment
In 1882, when 20 years of age Abraham Lin
oln fell badly into debt as the result of a
nercantile adventure that ended disastrously.
he shame and sense of responsibility dark
ned his life. He spent the next II years in
aging creditors. "I had no way of specu-