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.