ATTAINABLE IDEALS. 48 



all America — these are necessarily special distinc- 

 tions which can fall to the lot only of a single man 

 in each generation, and each such man must hiui- 

 self be born, to start with, in possession of very 

 excej)tional and unusual endowments, of greater 

 or less genuine importance, according to the par- 

 ticular distinction aimed at. 



It has often struck us, in reading the numerous 

 biographies of so-called "successful men"whicli 

 are put forth in thousa.ids of copies b}' well-mean- 

 ing people, that this original and obvious distinc- 

 tion was too often systematically slurred over and 

 so obscured. "Look at John Gibson!" the work- 

 ing stone-mason is patronizingly advised. " He 

 was only a common stone-cutter like you ; and yet 

 he rose to be the greatest of all modern English 

 sculptors." True; but then it is forgotten that 

 he started by being John Gibson, and that, if a 

 hundred average hard-working and intelligent 

 journeyman stone-cutters were to go to Rome on 

 foot and study scul[)ture and work their fingers to 

 the bone all their lives long, the chances against 

 any one of them ever turning out a tinted Venus 

 or a Psyche and the Zephyrs would be practically 

 almost infinite. "Look at Abraham Lincoln!" 

 the American farm-bo}' is affectionately counselled. 

 "He was only a connnon laborer like you; and 

 yet he rose to be President of the United States, 

 and to guide his country safely through the very 



