Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1870-02-19
srANpAaDs OF noaA1 nRaIr.

STANDARDS OF 4O6AL MERIT.
There is nothing OIL which men differ
more radically than in their ideas Of
the merit due their various actions.
There are many whose estimation of.
their own character is wholly derived
from the opinions of others. If they
stand we'll with their associates, they
look upon themselves withcomplacency
and satisfaction, and only when they
see the cold look of distrust, and the
pointed finger of suspicion, do they
begin to doubt their own PROJECTIONS.
Their reputation is the mirror by which
they fashion their life, and the only in
dex they possess of their. character.
But other and higher orders of men are
ruled not from without, but from
within. They have a personal sense
Of responsibility that can in no way be
affected by the worlds opinion, and.
their aim is to be what the former class
only desire to appear. Among these
We sometimes find a few who love the
right so completely, that they forget
themselves and their own efforts, and
are absorbed in the good objects they
labor to accomplish. Martineau says
"we a do nothing well until we
learn our worth, nothing best until we
forget it." And this may partly ac-
count for the vastly different degrees
in which men who seem to be equally
virtuous, esteem themselves. Merit is
a word, which, though in common use,
is yet employed for widely different
purposes. Some think the common
and universally acknowledged duties
of honesty and veracity are meritori-
GUS and that to fulfill contracts and
promises are actions worthy Of
praise. But while defections from
these plain obligations are grossly
r~eprehensiblc, their observance cannot
he said to be m%eritorious. We do not
consider that n man who abstains from
murder or theft, has therefore earned
the applause Of society, neither can
any simple compliance with the rights
of others claim more than the honor
due to justice. Neither can the due
restraint of the appetites and passions
be esteemed in themselves m%eritori-
Gus. The man who cannot govern his
own physical nature has not yet
reached a high grade Of humanity.
The regulation Of personal habits
brings its own reward, and their
neglect its own punishment so evil
IDENTIFY, that the simple abstinence
from excess cannot truly merit APP
plause. When any Of these plain
duties seem to claim commentator, it
is rather that the temptations are so
great rs to demand UNUSUAL force of
character to overcome them, and thus
it Is that the positive energy and not
the negative abstinence that Is justly
honored. And yet there is real merit
in the world and its essential charac-
teristics are easily discovered. Where
we see men in their relations with
others not only giving their just due,
but. exceeding all acknowledged
rights, and sacrificing their OWL conf
fort to promote another's-where more
is offered than could be claimed, and
self is forgotten in b~enevolence, there
we may justly admit merit to exist.
Every such act, to maintain its charac-
ter, must Of course be spontaneous and
voluntary. All compulsory goodness
has lost its chief essence, and is
valueless in its intrinsic nature. So
are all outwardly good deeds that
spring from secret motives of self
interest or deslre for applause. Though
others may be deceived and shower
praise, the act itself is intrinsically
mercenary, and contains no element of
merit. Any action, to be truly and III
herently meritorious, must exceed the
limits Of mere justice, and be purely
spontaneous and ~unselflsh in motive.
Those who magnify every act of simple
rectitude into 4 merit, and those who
deny n meritorious character to any
human action, are equally dista1ie1fom
the truth. Man occupies a middle
ground. His duties to his fellow men
are all included in the IL great sphere
of duty to the Creator. In this view
10 merit can be claimed, for directly
any noble thing becomes possible to us
it Is thus revealed to us rs q duty to
perform and a trust to fulfill. But, In
the social world, in estimating actions
by any human standard, we may justly
pronounce those meritorious that over
step the limits Of rights that can be
claimed, and, coming from pure mo-
tives, gladly reach forward to promote
in every way the welfare and happi-
ness of mankind.