Brave Men and Women: Their Struggles, Failures, and Triumphs

Part 1

BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN

THEIR STRUGGLES, FAILURES, AND TRIUMPHS.

O.E. FULLER, A.M.

"Find out what you are fitted for; work hard at that one thing, and keep a brave, honest heart."

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COPYRIGHT By O.E. FULLER 1884 All rights reserved.

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PREFACE

Struggle, failure, triumph: while triumph is the thing sought, struggle has its joy, and failure is not without its uses.

"It is not the goal," says Jean Paul, "but the course which makes us happy." The law of life is what a great orator affirmed of oratory--"Action, action, action!" As soon as one point is gained, another, and another presents itself.

"It is a mistake," says Samuel Smiles, "to suppose that men succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failure." He cites, among others, the example of Cowper, who, through his diffidence and shyness, broke down when pleading his first cause, and lived to revive the poetic art in England; and that of Goldsmith, who failed in passing as a surgeon, and yet wrote the "Deserted Village" and the "Vicar of Wakefield." Even when one turns to no new course, how many failures, as a rule, mark the way to triumph, and brand into life, as with a hot iron, the lessons of defeat!

The brave man or the brave woman is one who looks life in the eye, and says: "God helping me, I am going to realize the best possibilities of my nature, by calling into action the beneficent laws which govern and determine the development of each individual member of the race." And the failures of such a person are the jewels of triumph; that triumph which is certain in the sight of heaven, if not in the eyes of men.

"Brave Men and Women," the title of this volume, is used in a double sense, as referring not only to those whose words and deeds are here recorded, or cited as examples, but also to all who read the book, and are striving after the riches of character.

Some of the sketches and short papers are anonymous, and have been adapted for use in these pages. Where the authorship is known, and the productions have been given verbatim, the source, if not the pen of the editor, has been indicated. Thanks are due to the press, and to those who have permitted the use of copyrighted matter.

In conclusion, the editor lays little claim to originality--save in the metrical pieces, and in the use he has made of material. His aim has simply been to form a sort of mosaic or variegated picture of the Brave Life--the life which recognizes the Divine Goodness in all things, striving through good report and evil report, and in manifold ways, which one is often unqualified to judge, to attain to the life of Him who is "the light of the world."

THE AUTHOR.

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CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.--HIS FAME STILL CLIMBING TO HEAVEN--WHAT HE HAD DONE AT FIFTY-TWO--POOR RICHARD'S ADDRESS

CHAPTER II.

DEFENCE OF A GREAT MAN.--WAS DR. FRANKLIN MEAN?--JAMES PARTON'S ANSWER

CHAPTER III.

SIR WALTER SCOTT AND HIS MOTHER.--THE MOTHER'S EDUCATION--THE SON'S TRAINING--DOMESTIC LOVE AND SOCIAL DUTIES

CHAPTER IV.

ABIGAIL ADAMS.--THE WIFE OF OUR SECOND PRESIDENT--THE MOTHER OF OUR SIXTH

CHAPTER V.

TWO NEIGHBORS.--WHAT THEY GOT OUT OF LIFE

Part 2

CHAPTER VI.

HORACE GREELEY.--THE MOLDER OF PUBLIC OPINION--THE BRAVE JOURNALIST

CHAPTER VII.

WENDELL PHILLIPS.--THE TIMES WHEN HE APPEARED--"WHO IS THIS FELLOW?"--A FLAMING ADVOCATE OF LIBERTY--LIBERTY OF SPEECH AND THOUGHT--POWER TO DISCERN THE RIGHT--THE MOB-BEATEN HERO TRIUMPHANT

CHAPTER VIII.

MARY WORDSWORTH.--THE KINDLY WIFE OF THE GREAT POET

CHAPTER IX.

MADAME MALIBRAN.--HER CAREER AS A SINGER--KINDNESS OF HEART

CHAPTER X.

GARFIELD MAXIMS.--GATHERED FROM HIS SPEECHES, ADDRESSES, LETTERS, ETC.

CHAPTER XI.

WHAT I CARRIED TO COLLEGE.--A REMINISCENCE AT FORTY--PICTURES OF RURAL LIFE

CHAPTER XII.

SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.--HEROISM ON THE GREAT DEEP--A MARTYR OF THE POLAR SEA

CHAPTER XIII.

ELIZABETH ESTAUGH.--A QUAKER COURTSHIP IN WHICH SHE WAS THE PRINCIPAL ACTOR

CHAPTER XIV.

"CHINESE" GORDON.--IN THE TRENCHES OF THE CRIMEA--PUTS DOWN THE GREAT TAIPING REBELLION IN CHINA, IN 1863-4--HERO OF THE SOUDAN--BEARDS THE MEN-STEALERS IN THEIR STRONGHOLDS AND MAKES THE PEOPLE LOVE HIM

CHAPTER XV.

MEN'S WIVES.--BITS OF COMMON SENSE AND WISDOM ON A GREAT SUBJECT

CHAPTER XVI.

WOMEN'S HUSBANDS.--WHAT THE "BREAD-WINNERS" LIKE IN THEIR WIVES--A LITTLE CONSTITUTIONAL OPPOSITION

CHAPTER XVII.

JOHN PLOUGHMAN.--WHAT HE SAYS ABOUT RELIGIOUS GRUMBLERS--GOOD NATURE AND FIRMNESS, ETC.

CHAPTER XVIII.

CAROLINE LUCRETIA HERSCHEL.--A NOBLE, SELF-SACRIFICING WOMAN

CHAPTER XIX.

PESTIFEROUS LITERATURE.--THE PRINTING PRESS--THE FLOOD OF IMPURE AND LOATHSOME LITERATURE, ETC.

Part 3

CHAPTER XX.

SATISFIED.--AND OTHER POEMS

CHAPTER XXI.

HEROES OF SCIENCE.--MICHAEL FARADAY--SIR WILLIAM SIEMENS--M. PASTEUR

CHAPTER XXII.

MY UNCLE TOBY.--ONE OF THE BEAUTIFUL CREATIONS OF A GREAT GENIUS

CHAPTER XXIII.

STEPHEN GIRARD.--THE NAPOLEON OF MERCHANTS--HIS LIFE SUCCESSFUL, AND YET A FAILURE

CHAPTER XXIV.

DISAPPOINTMENTS.--PLEASURE AFTER PAIN--PAIN AFTER PLEASURE

CHAPTER XXV.

THE THREE KINGS.--AN OLD STORY IN A NEW LIGHT

CHAPTER XXVI.

FLORENCE NIGHTINGALE.--THE HEROINE OF THE CRIMEA

CHAPTER XXVII.

SHY PEOPLE.--HAWTHORNE--WASHINGTON, IRVING, AND OTHERS--MADAME RECAMIER

CHAPTER XXVIII.

JOHN MARSHALL.--IN THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMY--His MARRIAGE--LAW LECTURES--AT THE BAR--His INTELLECTUAL POWERS--ON THE BENCH

CHAPTER XXIX.

A NOBLE MOTHER.--How SHE TRAINED HERSELF, AND EDUCATED HER BOYS

CHAPTER XXX.

THE CARE OF THE BODY.--WHAT DR. SARGENT, OF THE HARVARD GYMNASIUM, SAYS ABOUT IT--POINTS FOR PARENTS, TEACHERS, AND PUPILS

CHAPTER XXXI.

SAINT CECILIA.--THE PATRONESS OF MUSIC--MYTHS CONCERNING THE ORIGIN OF MUSIC--ITS RELATION TO WORK AND BLESSEDNESS

CHAPTER XXXII.

THOMAS DE QUINCEY.--A LIFE OF WONDER AND WARNING

CHAPTER XXXIII.

A VISION OF TIME.--NEW YEAR'S EVE

Part 4

CHAPTER XXXIV.

JOHN BUNYAN.--FROM DARKNESS TO LIGHT

CHAPTER XXXV.

MADAME ROLAND.--THE MOST REMARKABLE WOMAN OF THE FRENCH REVOLUTION--THE IPHIGENIA OF FRANCE

CHAPTER XXXVI.

CHEERFUL AND BRAVE.--THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON--SIR WALTER RALEIGH--XENOPHON--CÆSAR--NELSON, ETC.

CHAPTER XXXVII.

HAROLD.--THE LAST SAXON KING OF ENGLAND

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

PETER COOPER.--THE LESSONS OF A LONG AND USEFUL LIFE

CHAPTER XXXIX.

ILLUSIONS.--"THEREFORE TRUST TO THY HEART AND WHAT THE WORLD CALLS ILLUSIONS"

CHAPTER XL.

PHILLIPS BROOKS.--At Home

CHAPTER XLI.

ST. JOHN AND THE ROBBER.--A LEGEND OF THE FIRST CENTURY

CHAPTER XLII.

JOHN PLOUGHMAN AGAIN.--THE PITH AND MARROW OF CERTAIN OLD PROVERBS

CHAPTER XLIII.

HENRY WILSON.--FROM THE SHOEMAKER'S BENCH TO THE CHAIR OF VICE-PRESIDENT

CHAPTER XLIV.

JOAN OF ARC.--THE PEASANT MAIDEN WHO DELIVERED HER COUNTRY AND BECAME A MARTYR IN ITS CAUSE

CHAPTER XLV.

THE SONG OF WORK.--MANY PHASES AND MANY EXAMPLES

CHAPTER XLVI.

ALVAN S. SOUTHWORTH.--CROSSING THE NUBIAN DESERT

CHAPTER XLVII.

A FORBIDDEN TOPIC.--WHICH SOME PEOPLE PERSIST IN INTRODUCING

Part 5

CHAPTER XLVIII.

IDA LEWIS WILSON.--THE GRACE DARLING OF AMERICA

CHAPTER XLIX.

RACHEL JACKSON.--THE WIFE OF OUR SEVENTH PRESIDENT

CHAPTER L.

DISCONTENTED GIRLS.--ONE PANACEA FOR THEM--AND ONE REFUGE

CHAPTER LI.

THE VOICE IN RAMAH.--"RACHEL WEEPING FOR HER CHILDREN, AND WOULD NOT BE COMFORTED BECAUSE THEY WERE NOT"

CHAPTER LII.

LA FAYETTE.--THE FRIEND AND DEFENDER OF LIBERTY ON TWO CONTINENTS

CHAPTER LIII.

LYDIA SIGOURNEY.--THE LESSON OF A USEFUL AND BEAUTIFUL LIFE

CHAPTER LIV.

OLD AGE AND USEFULNESS.--THE GLORY OF BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN

CHAPTER LV.

RHYMES AND CHIMES.--SUITABLE FOR AUTOGRAPH ALBUMS

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BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.

(BORN 1706--DIED 1790.)

HIS FAME STILL CLIMBING TO HEAVEN--WHAT HE HAD DONE AT FIFTY-TWO--POOR RICHARD'S ADDRESS.

The late Judge Black was remarkable not only for his wit and humor, which often enlivened the dry logic of law and fact, but also for flashes of unique eloquence. In presenting a certain brief before the United States Supreme Court he had occasion to animadvert upon some of our great men. Among other things he said, as related to the writer by one who heard him: "The colossal name of Washington is growing year by year, and the fame of Franklin is still climbing to heaven," accompanying the latter words by such a movement of his right hand that not one of his hearers failed to see the immortal kite quietly bearing the philosopher's question to the clouds. It was a point which delivered the answer. In the life of every great man there is likewise a point which delivers the special message which he was born to publish to the world. Biography is greatly simplified when it confines itself chiefly to that one point. What does the reader, who has his own work to do, care for a great multitude of details which are not needed for the setting of the picture? To the point is the cry of our busy life.

Benjamin Franklin is here introduced to the reader

AT FIFTY-TWO.

What had he done at that age to command more than ordinary respect and admiration?

I. Born in poverty and obscurity, in which he passed his early years; with no advantages of education in the schools of his day, after he entered his teens; under the condition of daily toil for his bread; he had carried on, in spite of all obstacles, the process of self-education through books and observation, and become in literature and science, as well as in the practical affairs of every-day life, the best informed man in America.

II. Apprenticed to a printer in his native Boston, at thirteen; a journeyman in Philadelphia at seventeen; working at the case in London at nineteen; back to the Quaker City, and set up for himself at twenty-six; he had long since mastered all the details of a great business, prepared to put his hand to any thing, from the trundling of paper through the streets on a wheel-barrow to the writing of editorials and pamphlets, and had earned for himself a position as the most prosperous printer and publisher in the colonies.

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