New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-05-28
Courage and Death.

Mr.. Lionel A. Tollemache has in ths Jan. |
uary number of the F0rtnighhy long arti. |
Gle on Courage and Death" which con- |
taius some thoughts and many illustrations
of interest, inquiring how far physical fear
and how far what may be called moral fear |
ia q chief ingredient in the fear Of death. |
"Moral courage is not, he considers, OF |
necessity laudable. Lady Macbeth's cOur- |
q ge and that Of Louis Napoleon when he |
planned the coup d'etat were atrociousiy |
immoral, yet they were forms OF moral |
courage it that is the only alter
native to physical. Aenophon dis
claimed this dubious kind OF cour- |
a0e. When being charged with cowardice |
for refusing to gamble, he said he was the |
greatest coward in the world, for he was
afraid to do what was wrong. Not 60 late
dignatary of the Church of England, nick.
named "Presence of Mind" from his own
story of how, when he had gone boating
with friend who fell overheard and threat
ened to overset the boat by his etrugglee to
get into it again, ''providentially" having
brought his umbrella with him. "had the
presence of mind to strike him two or three
hard blows over the knuckles. He let 60
his hold and sank. The boat rishted itself,
and We were saved.
The hybrid courage of q physical sort,
that can 80 easily exist without moral cOur-
age, is easily illustrated. Almost every sane
suicide has it. Sir William Eyre, when
Governor of Jamaica, was not wanting in
what q soldier understands as courage, but
lost his head in q panic. The slaves OF the
Seythians are instanced, who, after long
and indecisive war with their masters,
admitted when the latter cast away
their swords and took whips. Remark.
able men have displayed less physical
courage than was expected OF them.
Turenne sometimes felt great nervous ex'
element at the beginning OF Q battle;
Condo was much agitated in his first cam
nsien: Frederick the Great at Molwitz gave
little promise of ever becoming soldier.
Allowance must, however, be made for
generals, since, while the private soldier
has but to shut his eyes to danger and con-
front it with the courage of the dog, the
General must have skilled courage, must
have two selves-Oue of deliberatiOn, that
calculates the exact amount OF danger TO
his troops; the other that in action grasses
the calculation, from his mind. Nelson,
when young, asked, what is fear!
never saw it," But Charles ". speaking
from q commanders point of view, when
he saw q tombstone inscribed, Here lies
man who never knew fear" observed:
Then he never snutfed candle with his
fingers"
Are artists, and especially orators, pecu.
liarly liable to the sensation OF pam anu
fear, and whyl Peel died from inability to
endure an operation less sensitive man
might have borne. Wilberforcs was de-
scribed by his surgeon as bundle OF
nerves. As rule they are painfully aAxi-
GUS about their speeches.. Sir William Fol
lett's hand was wet with anxiety before
he rose to lead in q great case.
Each of Lord Derby's speeches cost
him two sleepless nights-one while
he was thinking what he should say,
1ovn Ant I'M
might have said better Cicero, like De-
mosthenes, wanted courage in arms and
was nervous even in the full current of his
speech. Pitt was sometimes afraid to make
| y sneech lest he should lose selfcommand
anu betray State secrets. GiorRio Bends,
| the musician, when his wife died rushed to
| the piano to express his grief, and becoming
| interested in the airs he was originating
forgot all about her death, and went In .
nnzzled manner to consult her when , Scr
want interrupted him to ask how the event
should be communicated to the neighbOrs.
1t is impossible to allow for extreme
sensitiyeness of any kind. There is no
painometer, and courage is of all things
most capricious. Egyptians make great
| ado about q trifing operation, but submit
without q murmur when An arm or limb
has to be amputated. So Psrmenitus, hins
| of Egypt, wept when his servants were, by
order of Cambyses, led to death, though he
| had seen his son executed without q tear,
"because the lesser sorrow admitted OF
| weeping, but his grief for his son was too
| deep for tears" Giving vent to grief, men
| tai or bodily, is often for some use-at
least, is better than bottling it up. Pre-
lessor Sedgwick, having dislocated his
shoulder, was ordered by his surgeons to
| the hero. Epicurus not only permitted but
urged his wise men to cry out In the midst
! of torments. This commentator, however,
| ia to be limited to harmless expressions OF
| grief the ldct,mB names OF the Romans,
the ..tears, idle tears OF the English poet.
| Other signs of sorrow can not be approved.
| BiOn, seeing q mOurner tear his halr, ASKED,
| "Does this man think badness remedy
| for grietl" Natives of the East show re-
markable courage in the immediate prospect
| of inevitable calamity. The case is recorded
| of three Sepoys awaiting execution, each
with a plate OF rice before him. The fret
was dragged away ere he had finished bis
ration; the second appropriated what ne
| had left, and ate as fast as he could till his
turn came, and the third, eating with I'M
abated appetite, finished his mess and the
| beuuests Of his two friends ere his time ar
| rived. One sided fortitude this, for the
SepOys were too patient to be brave.
Generally, among both beasts and men,
| the higher the organization the greater the
sensitiyeness. Brutal deeds aud punish
ments of earlier days should not be meas
ured by the standard of modern suffering
for probably our fOrefathers were by nature
less sensitive to pain than we are, and Ger
| tainly were more Injured to it. Among the
violent Door, who are remarkable for what
they bear as we'll as what they intilct,
roughness may be associated with tough.
ness. They have, too, wonderful way OF
making light of severe accidents to them
selves, even after these have just befailen
them, as when recently DevOnshire saw
yer, giving an exhibition OF his skill before
his employer, sawed of his hand. His first
act was to apologize for his awk wardness.
| A great philosopher has observed that
presence of mind ia best tried by sudden
and uncertain perils, to Withstand which
courage must have become q second nature
This is why dread of assassination has &C
often thrown brave men off their balance
1t acts in opposite ways. Some men, al
Cromw well and Cent?, it makes moody ane
suspicious; others, as Caesar, Wellington
ana Henry w., only appear to avoid think
refusing to think of it at all. Caesar hat
rather suffer death once than live always il
fear of it and neglected all the precautionl
! that might have insured his safety; Henry
Nv. said, HE who fears death will under
take nothing against me; he who despise!
his own life will always be master of mine.'
This aphorism is fallacious though plausible
since, if given risks of failure and execu
ton will daunt the average assassin. thu
increase of either or both Of them will dete
almost every assassin.
1t may be roughly said that the physioa
terrors of death are constant, the mora
terrors variable. Though the ancients, be
; ing used to pain and suffering, were proba
bly, less sensitive to the sung of dealt
/ khas AZ inn IND