The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-09-23
Gpfl.iHg 5State SnirnaI.
DIGNITY IN DEFEAT.

which men feel in the struggles for as
tendency in politics, might be saved by re
membering that "all men cannot be grea
at once." Members of the same part,
strive for even Insignificant places with .
zeal, energy, and expenditure of time anc
means, out of all proportion to the ohiec
sought to be gained. Failure brings disap
pointment proportionate to the effort, anc
sense of personal wrong, because theil
claims have not been duly appreciated by
their fellows.
AT this time when nominations are being
made for offices, and for each Office there
are several disappointed aspirants, it is es-
pecially appropriate to recall this succession
in honors and good fortune, which seems to
be one of the organic laws of the social
world.
The misfortune of our party seems to be
that the offices at its disposal arc very few.
while the number of men who are capable
of filling them well, or who esteem them
selves SO, is very large. And so "thougb
many are called but few are chosen.n The
law of succession in success should be con-
ISOLATION to the disappointed.
To such we say, 'bide your time. and
indulge in no vain bewailing, or in prophe-
cies of defeat, which your indifference or
secret opposition will help fulfil, and which
will bring loss of personal power and self
respect, that you can never regain. Sink
all sense of personal wrong in the s'great-
ness of the STRIFE" Possess your soul
with all the strength of the great cause for
which we are fighting. Remember the
great host of its heroes and martyrs, who,
in prisons and on the battlefield, gave up
their lives for its success, the thousands
who, worthier than we, "died and made no
sign," and sleep in unknown graves all over
this Southern land.
Remember the great host of widows and
orphans who gave their precious loved ones
to the cause i'll which you are fighting to-
day. Call from the past its mighty and
majestic shades; from the future, the un-
counted myriads of its coming generations.
who are to be blessed or cursed by your
fidelity or treason, and lift yourself above
the low level of selfshrepinings, to the high
er plane of unselfish devotion to your coun-
ry,and your race. Let disappointment stim-
ulate you to more thorough preparation for
future responsibilities, by faithful dis
charge of present duties, and wider and
deeper range of study and culture. He who
can turn away from the caucus or conven-
ton, where he hoped to receive honorable
attestatlon OF the esteem of his fell
lows, with no bitter blood, with no secret
wishes of defeat for his successful rival.
with no threats of faction, and faithfully
perform his duty to the party, has achieved
and won grand triumph, more valuable
than any office in the world. There is no
prouder moment for any human soul than
that in which, seeing the object of his high
est hopes and aspirations, borne from it on
the receding tide, it turns calmly away, and
bends cheerfully to its appointed task.
Such souls will snatch victory from fate.
Their ultimate triumph is forever sure. |
Crushed for the moment by corrupt dema-
gogues, trampled under foot by combined
mediocrity, their worth and genius is sure
of ultimate recognition. Their sweet and
healthful life survives, and blossoms out |
into radiant flowers and harvests of golden
fruit, which win the approval of God and
the grateful recognition of men.
Let no man, who is incapable Of self
sacrificing devotion, expect to find satislac-
ton of soul III political strife. lie who
enlists in this war must expect to encounter
hardship, to endure undeserved reproach,
to suffer misrepresentation and ingrattude,
to give place to the less deserving. He.
must expect to see the multitude
swayed for the moment by the newest
or by selfish demagogues,
and the best and noblest for the moment
overslaughed by the excited crowd, who fail
to comprehend him, or tricked out of well
earned honors by conspiring knaves. That
is the common fate of all men who seek in
politics a field of honorable preferment, and
he who does not expect it, knows nothing of
the conditions upon which he enters the
arena.