The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1867-09-10

faitA ~ &AtbN NaFAAts "A ~ hAE FeNAAtsN
u ihe heroic IN mems appFebensions =
Men DO not usually stop 70 consider
whether tho thing is possible or not-
T'hey dream that Il IA II forms their
iaucy Il not their actual philosophical
belief You shall not hnd q single man
iE history who has not been canoDized
hy the hearts ol the people who was not
supposed 10 be disinterested in his be-
novuience. There are men who are lie-
roes by reason ~ courage; there have
been Ten thousand snch heroes; but
ihcy have sunk down aud gone hike the
grass, season after season. A man may
have wisdom. capacity and courage; but
be does not become hero that gene
rations enbalm and refuse TO JET die un-
less ho is supposed 70 set irom disin-
lerested considerations. A man that
acts from mUtsses az soi6shnens 80 not
regarded as hero.
/ think il 20 be one oi the most af-
fcciing testimonies II human life that
men know themselves 10 be selfish and
defend selfshness, and think they may
be and must be- selfish Seldom 10 men
give any credit, except upon long proof,
for being disinterestedly benevolent -
And yet the most selfish men, low and
base minded men, these men who do
not believe in each other, aud do not be-
lieye that the motives which actnate men
are other thar elhsh. look out for and
long 10 ind fomebody that IL unselfish.
And where there is found some man
who seems TO act not for himself, but
for his fellow-men, aud who shows the
highest wisdom, the truest courage,
and the nollest virtue, not for what
they viii bring To him, all men bow
down and worship him. and say "The
gods have come among u.s. You do
not hear man called divine unless he
has acted for other people, and not for
himself, under the inspiration Of real,
dislnterested benevolence The mo-
ment you find history going back like a
gauger 10 test man, the moment the
hero or much-renowned man is exhum-
cd or brought down from his high place
and il il found that he acted from sin
ister motives, all through his life, that
moment down goes his crown and his
reputation. There is something in men
that longs TO see essential kindness-un-
selfshness s--disinterested benevolence;
and though they do not see much of it,
for the reason that there is not much
TO see, they are always drifting about it,
and supplying by imagination what is
lacking that they may have this concep-
tion IN q concrete form. The human
heart longs to see, not in God alone,
but in men, in beings Of like passions
with itself, the attainment or this hero
ic quality, Of true diinterested beneyo-
lence. Faith in it is the very ground Of
hope. No man, think, believes In any
human quality the germs and possible
ties are not in himself. II you hear a man
saying "There il no man living that
does not lie; there is no mar living but
what must lie. that man confesses him
self to be har. Ii man says "There
is not pure man on earth, nor a pure
woman. nor can there be, that man is q
witness against himself The possible
ity Of the existence Of the quality Of
goodness may be recognized by very
wicked men. A man may say: Il am
bad enough, but thele are good men
there is such thing as being true, and
pure, and honest, and right, though
nm neither" A selfish man may say
Il have this fault, though there are men
who have it not; there is snch thing
as unselfshness" And it is this faith
| Of a man that indicates the germ in him
Of the quality itself of goodness or un'
seliishness. Our hope that there will
be higher style Of benevolent action
Is in thisthat there is an almost ami
versal faith that there is a possibility 0
IT. When / hear man say, "Ohl al
men, and women too, are corrupt al
ways, all through. and always will be
it Is very well to have fables, and littl,
stories, and imaginary virtues, but ihes'
are only matters fancy; there is no re
ality inthcm when | hear a man talk il
that way, / make up my mind that ther
is no hope for him, A man that doe
not believe in goodness cannot be good
A man that smells corruption in every
body has it in himself, and that is wha
he smells II II the faith in man tha
there is snch a quality that gives hop
that tic quality may yet have develop
ment by nourishing and education
and That it may, BY the inspiration Of
mighher power than human yolition
assert itself aud become strong. Bc,ch
r