Osage Valley banner. (Tuscumbia, Miller County, Mo.) 1879-1881, 1880-04-29
Responsibility for others.

!
for others which js SO important an
element in the whole STRUCTURE of the
worlds life; and unwillingness to
assume ones proper duties in the line
OF this responsibility is a direct and
accurate measure of the self-seeking or
the nlental and moral inoapa0ity nom
which it springs. We must DO fespon-
sib!e for others in one way or another,
whether we will or not. Mutual priyi-
lege and mutual duty unite in making
one man the Representative Of, and TO a
certain extent the substitute for, other
mon, no matter what be his station in
! life. No one is so great rs TO avoid this
responsibility, which grows heavier and
heavier with tho increasing power OF
the individual upon whom IL falls; and
on the other hand, no human being is
so humble as not to be responsible for
the words and deeds, and even the
spiritual welfare, of somebody else.
This world is a social world, in which.
by Gods plain ordering, L is simply
impossible for any person 10 throw off,
though he may evade or deny, his con-
slant duty toward other persons IA
duty which is not q whit lessened by
the equally plain fact that mans moral
nature is self-controled, and that the
punishment for sin falls upon the in
diyidual sinner, however sorely he may
have been tempted or misled by those
who ought to have stood in position of
responsibility toward him. ,.--,
Those who are well aware that they
stand in representative and RESPONSE
bic position toward others-in that Of
a parent, AN employer, teacher,
leader. or other place of direct man
agement and trust--seldom appreciate
the full burden of their duties. 1t is
not enough to recognize, in general
way, the fact that they have q Solemn
duty or "sacred trust" They
ought also to go from general to par
ticulars 10 consider just how and when
they are responsible for the acts and
the welfare of those TO whom they
stand in any position Of leadership.
But If those who kpOtD their RESPONSE
bility, without fully appreciating and
obeying it. are thus negligent, much
more are those who, not being in an
official or parental or otherwise evil
dent, position of trust, never stop TO
think that they have any duties as in
huencing, and therefore leading and
being responsible for, those with whom
they como in contact. In one way or
another, all men are leaders, so long as
they remain among the number of ra-
tional and independent beings. We
may be perfectly sure that some one
will remember our ill-consideredw words;
that some one will treasure MP the
memory of our bad deeds; that the
pattern which we set, from our most
trivial act 10 the whole fabric of our
lives, will certainly be taken as model
by persons who are younger or weaker
than we, or by those who, of stronger
character than ours, are yet willing to
try TO excuse their own shortcomings
by an expressed or implied, g. He did 1t,
and so j will. We do not need to 90
into the consideration of the vast and
vaguely defined, but appallingly real.
domain OF unconscious influence, in
order to discover the fact that no man
can live unto himself. If we win but
open our eyes upon the life Immediate
" around us, il we will believe the
spoken and unspoken testimony which
comes to us, if we will remember--and
apply TO our treatment of Otbers-hOw
much we ourselves have been infIu-
enced by those who, as leaders or ex-
emplars, have responsibly nodded our
own lives and characters, we shall not
long remain in doubt as TO the extent
and the gravity of our individual duty
Ia this matter.
II any one is desirous of beginning
TO regulate his life more strictly in It's
relations of responsibility for others, he
may make awholosome commencement
by paying more rigid attention 30 the
character OF the persons whom he in
PRODUCES or conducts TO the society of
Others. A mere personal introduction
ought to be, and is held to be by the
true gentleman or gentlewoman, an act
of grave social sponsorship, in which
ones own character Is involved. Then.
too, we should regard as a not less sacred
thing the giving of a letter Of introduce
ton or recommendation. for letter
has more fixed permanence than q
spoken word, and never should be
given heedlessly. Persons who would
not willingly utter lie, on steal their
friends money, too often write a full
some falsehood, In the guise of letter
Of commendation, and thereby steal
what has vastly more than money
yalua-the confidence and the happi-
ness Of him 10 whom the letter is sent.
Far fewer would be the number Of lost
friendships and OF wasted Influences, If
we more fully recognized the ever
present duty, and privilege Of our per-
soual responsibility for others, in all its
degrees, from the least to the greatest.
RS. s. Times.
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