4 Address. 



could ever have accomplished as much. It is a question whether 

 man could have been made outright as we now find him. As well 

 can we imagine God to have made the rocks outright with all the 

 marks of the ages upon them, to deceive us. A boy once said to his 

 father, "Can God do anything ! Can he make a two year-old colt in 

 a minute ?" It was difficult for the father to show how God could 

 make a colt two years old. 



Let us now consider a few facts showing the advantages which 

 country boys have over city boys. Some of you may remember the 

 paper, showing the disadvantages of city boys, and the advantages of 

 country boys, which I had published some time ago. In this paper 

 it was shown that most of the leading men of Springfield were either 

 born in the country or in small villages. Some may think that the 

 list was unfairly made out, or they may think the case of Springfield 

 exceptional. In regard to the first objection I will say that I made 

 out the list as fairly as I could. I selected the leading merchants, 

 lawyers, bankers and teachers. The selection was such that in the 

 majority of cases I could have made no exceptions. Whether Spring- 

 field is an exceptional city is not so easily answered, but I have evi- 

 dence that it is not. In the city of Sandusky four-fifths of the lead- 

 ing men have had more or less of farm life or training. Some argue 

 that the larger cities, such as Chicago and Boston, would show a dif- 

 ferent result, and that some of the boys raised in Springfield and 

 Sandusky might be found occupying places of prominence in the great 

 cities. But investigation, so far as it has been made, does not sup- 

 port this theory. A New York merchant recently stated that of the 

 successful business men of New York, fully seven tenths came from 

 the country. It is also well to recollect that not one of the twenty- 

 one presidents of the United States was born in a city. Farms are 

 the places to raise boys. If this statement is so, there is no better 

 test than that of success. Perhaps it is not true. The majority of 

 successful men came from the farms. But what is success ? The 

 answer might be, material success, the outstripping of competitors. 

 The great characteristic of the men I have described is power. They 

 have great physical power and firmness of will. They are almost al- 

 ways men of great pertinacity. The bulldog element is strong in them. 

 They often have other important characteristics, such as clearness of 

 judgment ; nevertheless, the more I think, the more am I convinced 

 that strenuonsness of will is wanting. Frugality, especially in the 

 financial world, is a second nature to such men as we have mentioned. 

 Their wants are few. Even when they are wealthy, their personal 

 requirements are simple, although they may allow their families to be 

 extravagant. This faculty helped to give them an early start in life. 

 Few men accomplish much who do not begin to save while they are 

 young. It has been said by millionaires that it is harder to save the 

 first $1,000 than a $1,000,000. For the young fellow who has to be- 

 gin in a small way and encounters constant temptations to spend, it 

 is no easy task to save $1,000. To sum up, the central qualities nec- 

 essary for success are physical vigor, strength of will and frugality. 

 Country young men are more likely to possess these qualities than 



