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Among the more eminent of eminent men stands Edward Everett in the
annals of American history. We do not give his history to show how he
struggled through privations, overcoming all obstacles, until victory at last
crowned his efforts, as so many of our great men have been obliged to do,
but we do delineate his achievements to illustrate what hard work will do,
provided a man has ability to develop. Yes, to show what hard work will do.
But some will say, 'Well, that does sound well, but I guess if Edward
Everett had been an ordinary man no amount of hard work would have
made him the Edward Everett of history'; another may say, 'That's so, it is
foolish to argue as you do, and hold up such men as examples, intimating
that their success is the result of hard work'; and still another may say, 'Say
what you will, you cannot gain-say the factor of opportunities, of 'luck,' if
you choose to so designate it.'
We do not gain-say anything; we simply point to history; read for
yourself. Take eminent men, read their lives, and see if seven-tenths, at
least, of our great men did not acquire success through their own effort.
Read carefully and see if they did not largely MAKE their own
opportunities. True, all cannot be Everetts or Clays, but by extraordinary
effort and careful thought, any one will better his or her condition. Sickness
may come, they will be the better prepared. Losses will be more easily met
and discharged. No man ever succeeded by waiting for something to turn
up. The object of this work is not to make people delude themselves by any
conceited ideas, but to encourage, to inspire, to enkindle anew the fires of
energy laying dormant. The point is, it is not a 'slumbering genius' within
people that it is our desire to stimulate, but a 'slumbering energy.' We are
content that others should take care of the 'genius'; we are satisfied that any
influence, no matter from what source it comes, that will awaken dormant
energies will do the world more good than ten times the same amount of
influence trying to prove that we are fore ordained to be somebody or
nobody.
Mr. Everett was a man who fully comprehended and appreciated this fact.
All great men understand that it is the making the most of one's talents that
makes the most of our chances which absolutely tells. Rufus Choate
believed in hard work. When some one said to him that a certain fine
achievement was the result of accident, he exclaimed: "Nonsense. You
might as well drop the Greek alphabet on the ground and expect to pick up
the Illiad." Mr. Beecher has well said that every idle man has to be
supported by some industrious man. Hard labor prevents hard luck. Fathers
should teach their children that if any one will not work neither shall he
attain success. Let us magnify our calling and be happy, but strive to
progress. As before said, Mr. Everett fully understood all this and great men
innumerable could be quoted in support of this doctrine.
The year 1794 must ever be memorable, as the year in which Mr. Everett
was ushered into the world, in which he was to figure as so prominent a
factor. We have written a long preamble, but it is hoped that the reader has
taken enough interest thus far to fully take in the points which we have
endeavored to make, and it is further hoped that such being the case, the
reader will, by the light of those ideas, read and digest the wonderful
character before us.
Undoubtedly Everett possessed one of the greatest minds America has
ever produced, but if he had rivaled Solomon in natural ability, he could not
have entered Harvard College as a student at the age of thirteen had he not
been an indefatigable worker, and will any man delude himself into the
belief that he could have graduated from such a school at the age of only
seventeen, and at the head of his class, had he not exercised tremendous
energy. Still further do any of the readers who chance to read this volume
think that he was picked up bodily and placed in the ministerial chair
vacated by the gifted Buckminister when he was only nineteen because he
was lucky? A city preacher at nineteen! Occupying one of the first pulpits
in the land at nineteen! "Why, he was gifted." Of course he was, and he was
a tremendous worker. Thus was his success enhanced.
At twenty he was appointed to a Greek professorship in Harvard College,
and qualified himself by travel in Europe for four years. During that time he
acquired that solid information concerning the history and principles of law,
and of the political systems of Europe, which formed the foundation of that
broad statesmanship for which he was afterward distinguished. During his
residence in Europe his range of study embraced the ancient classics, the
modern languages, the history and principles of the civil and public law,
and a comprehensive examination of the existing political systems of
Europe. He returned home, and from that time until his death he was
recognized as one of the greatest orators of his time. In 1825 to 1835 he was
a distinguished member of the national congress. He then served three
successive terms as governor of Massachusetts. In 1814 he was appointed
minister to the English court. It was an important mission, for the relations
of his government with that of England, then wore a grave aspect. His
official career in London was a marked success. His personal
accomplishments made him a friend and favorite with the leading men and
families of England. After this he was sent as a commissioner to China, and
after his return from abroad, he was at once chosen President of Harvard
College.
He entered upon the duties of this new office with his characteristic
energy and enthusiasm, but ill-health compelled his resignation at the end of
three years. Upon the death of his bosom friend, Daniel Webster, he was
appointed to succeed to Webster's position at the head of President
Fillmore's cabinet. Before the close of his duties as Secretary of State, he
was chosen by the Massachusetts State Legislature to a seat in the National
Senate. Once more overwork compelled his withdrawal from active
responsibility, and in May, 1854, under the advice of his physician, he
resigned his seat. But he was content to remain idle only a few months
when he entered with great zeal upon a new enterprise.
The project of purchasing Mount Vernon and beautifying it as a memento
of esteem to the 'Nation's father' attracted his attention, and his efforts in
behalf of the association to raise money for the above-named object netted
over $100,000, besides his valuable time, and paying his own expenses. He
afterwards raised many more thousands of dollars for the benefit of
numerous charitable societies and objects. Emerging from private life at the
opening of the civil war he gave himself incessantly to the defense of the
Union. He died on the 14th of January, 1865, and was mourned throughout
the whole North. Eulogies innumerable were called forth by the death of
this intellectual phenomenon of the nineteenth century.
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