Anti-slavery bugle. [volume] (New-Lisbon, Ohio) 1845-1861, 1854-11-04
miscellaneous.
GREAT MEN.
THEIR DARK AND LIGHT SIDES.

@ 49, 49, ''Nhf "NAANh NAAAN NAhb I 10
scarcely possible to obtain a true delineutiOn Of q
character. To judge by pure reason, and not "
feeling, is so worry difficult, that it belongs only 70
u perfect being. Feeling is II weakness; an amia-
BILE weakness sometimes, sometimes nOt--but still
q weakncss-rcason is not Il weakness, it is power.
w all possess the feeling in greater perfection than
tho reason for weakness rather than strength is
the characteristic of our nature.
We love n character with our feelings, and we
have n character with our feelings. We draw the
character with our reason; but, then, our reason is
always in the pay OF our feelings. 1t is a servilo
thing, reason, an unprincplel thing; a sort of dog
that will obey any master. Ii love prevail, reason
will back it and support it with its logic or its
sophistry; IT matters not which. Ii the logic sui-
flee, 50 much the better but if the logic be feeble,
then s~Ophistry is employed. If hatred prevail. it
isjust the same the reason obcys the predominant
feeling, aud helps to do good or evil, just as a dog
will obey his master, and help him either to save
life and property or to take them.
Hence the portraits Of men are mover fairly
drawn. II the men are party-nlen, they are
drawn black by one set Of artists, and white
by another--'traisht by ono and crooked by
another. In the eyes of one class of our ponula.
ton, Queen Mary is Bloody Mary )" in the eyes
Of another, she il saint Mary" One regards
Dominic, the monk, as an asalssin-a cold-blUoded
murderer another says prayers to him as a god,
and chauntS his praises in the sanctuary. 1t is
feeling that inspires such dclineations of charac-
ter the reason that sketches is in the pay of q
passion.
Thus we are all bewilderod and led astrav bv
extrayagances. 1t is offensive to the sense of jus
tice to hear extravugant praise as extravaCant
blame. Shakespeare is lauded as n sort of god.
Even Sir john Failstaff is a popular fayorite his
very crimes are forgotten in the mirth or the
paunch that euyelups them. Homer, Virgil, Hor-
ace, Alexander, Cesar, Socrates. Plato, Raphael,
Michael Angelo, Luther, Calvin, Bacon, Crom-
well, Robespiorre, Napoleon, Wellington, Burns,
and Byron, are all more or less falsifed blythe
feeling that prompts the intellect to delincate them
unless they be represented with n dark and light
side. Every man is Il sort Of planet. The sun
shines ON one side Of his character, whilst the
moon and stars only illuminate the other.
Moreover, all great men have not only a dark
side, but that side is generally very dark. 1t
would be jet black in the greatest Of men. Such
a man would be both a white man and niger.
Like Bacon, our great philosopher he would be.
The greatest, wisest, mcanest, of mankind"
Some simpletons have found fault with us for
finding fault with Shakespeare yet those very
faults Uf Shakespeare constitute the sphere of his
hberty-that liberty which gave free scope to his
genins, and broke the letters that bound it to the
prevailing fashion. Without this, his genius would
have been tame, and his muse little heard Of
Twas the same with Byron he was am emancipa.
ted. Independent mind, that cared very little wheth.
er 1t gave offence or not: SO also vast with Burns
The reckleSsness Of these men was their strength
and thus the dark features Of their characters be.
came the black coal that was kindied, and that
6'N"N' ~ nv NV VI EtiluS
\ man cannot be great in this world without
doing mischief in ome form or other. A great
warrior must do incalculable mischief. He is Il
destroyer OF life and property; he pillages cities,
desOlates helds, makes women widows, and chill
dren orphans; he mangles, mutilates, impoycrish.
ers. lie is II ravenOus beast amongst men. Yet.
even amidst this accumulation of dark vices. CLEAN
forth rays OF pure Fight and goodness, which by
dwelling on them alone, and forgetting the Other
qualities, represent him as Il messenger of Heaven
n pn,rA-antnftrn e Ill.,. ~ =
such n man as their Messiah. Their standard of
perfection is a god-deyil! Nor are they unlike the
rest of mankind III this respect every people in
the world has represented its beau-ideal in this
light and dark manner, like the planet we live
on.
A great reformer, like Luther, appears on the
stage of history with a corresponding bipolarity OF
character. Read him with friendly feelings. as il
you were a soldier in the ranks which lie led on tc
victory, and you see him all faith, sincerity, devo-
ton, and self sacrifice. Read him as an enemy.
and you see him full Of bitterness, uncharitable
ness, inexorableness, and ruthlessness. In the
one case he is the friend of religion, in the othe,
case its destroyer; in the one case he appears
as the destroyer of evil, in the other as only
the destroyer of the peace and harmony of soci
ETY.. His private history supplies sufficient ma.
terlnl for the delineatUr of character to repre,
sent hlm only us Il hero or hend. His enemie,
have selected the dark side of his character for his
likeness, and his friends have selected the Light
lNN N"-A u u lIOlllC5 IL IUll lace NOllu reveal
them both. But who can draw the full face of n
great mania man who has inpassioned society? La.
ther was the son OF Il wOOdnan, a man Of the axe;
and the son only translated the axe Of his father
into Il higher meaning. lie cut down PRINCIPLES
as his father cut down trees and he mazda the
hearts OF some to bound with Joy, and Of others TO
SINK with fear and misery, with every stroke that
he gave. How is it possible to dellncate such n
man fairly to the feelings of all classes of men.
unless you represent him rs light ON one side, and
dark, very dark, on the other.
All true greatness has n work Of destruction In
do; Tor evil is abundantin the world, and the rrent
mission OF man, in this life, is to destroy that evil.
The great men are tine leaders of the armies of
destruction; but the great mission Of man is also
the construction Of good, and the great men are
the leaders VI the armies construction. They are
therefore. both destrOyers and builders. This is
the reason OF the double aspect of their character.
Were the great man perfect, he would destroy
the EVIL alone, and construct the good alone. lie
would not destroy men, cities, and fields, but he
would destroy ignorance, immortality and tyranni-
cal institutions and mOnUpOlies. lie would not
construct forts, organize armies, and build powder
magazines, but he would harmoniSe society and
bind its parts together in everlasting peace. Yet
not being perfect he cannot do this. Nevertheless.
being in himself an image Of greatness, the true
aspects must deyelope themselves, and he marches
into society with the sword in one hand and the olive
branch in the other. With the sword he cuts. and he
makes ~blunders; for in cutting, he too frequently des-
'!oyS ne same oiJect; ana IN reconcIling, he rcOn-
Giles real enemies in the mask Of friendship.
lie does his best, no doubt, but, being an inner
feet man, he must commit blunders, and these blum
ders are great mischieIs-the greater the man, too,
the greater the mischief when he makes a mistake.
A great poet, like Byron, detests hypocrisy; he
iashes 1T: In doing so he suffers himself irTever-
emily or inconsiderately to lash religion itself; for
he forgets or throws aside the decorum of speech
his very recllossness gives Icint, and wit and
humoF to his words. In the boldness and indie.
pendence of his impassioned mind, he commits
them to paper, and stereotypes them forever. Per
haps, as he understood the words, they were per.
fectly justiicable; they were neither profane no,
blasphemous in the temple of his ilnagination ; but
being transferred to the mind Of another, and di.
vested of that halo of inspiration with which they
appeared to the author himself, they actually be-
come an active cause Of corruption to succeeding
gen erations. 1t is not every man who can read 4
book as the author understands il, or wishes il 10
be read. II is not eyerH mind that cnn nurn ~.