Brave Men and Women

A free download from http://www.dertz.in



Brave Men and Women

The Project Gutenberg EBook of Brave Men and Women, by O.E.
Fuller This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and
with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: Brave Men and Women Their Struggles, Failures, And Triumphs
Author: O.E. Fuller
Release Date: November 3, 2004 [EBook #13942]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BRAVE
MEN AND WOMEN ***

Produced by Kevin Handy, John Hagerson, and the the PG Online
Distributed Proofreading Team

BRAVE MEN AND WOMEN

THEIR STRUGGLES, FAILURES, AND TRIUMPHS.
BY
O.E. FULLER, A.M.
"_Find out what you are fitted for; work hard at that one thing, and
keep a brave, honest heart_."
* * * * *
COPYRIGHT By O.E. FULLER 1884 All rights reserved.
* * * * *

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.
* * * * *

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

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