The Milan exchange. (Milan, Gibson County, Tenn.) 1874-1978, 1880-05-20
Self.Help.


There is no truth more worthy of be-
! inc continually presented to the Young
and established in their heart s than that
the very best kind of help Is self-help.
We are all inclined to e,kaggerate the
| importance of the help 20 be obtained
from others and to un'derrate that which
! comes from within. Conscientious par
ents and teachers undertake to do so
much for the children that there is but
little left for the children to do for them
selves. They form and direct their
minds, guide and control their actions,
mold and shape their destinies so
largely, that the young insensibly ac-
quire the habit of leaning upon the
strength and judgment of others, and
do not develop the power of standing
upright in their own. The same thing
may be observed in relations which have
other inequalities besides those of age.
The poor lean against the rich, the idle
and shiftless against the industrious and
prOvident, the awkward and slow against
the skillful and capable, the dull and in
different against the bright and enthuSi-
astlc. Those who are conscious of in
feriority, instead of being spurred on to
extra exertions, seem TO take it for
granted that some one else is to make
up their deficiencies, and what they can
not, or think they cannot do for them
selves, they have right to expect others
to do for them.
Now all this has a show of justice,
and involves principle which society
can never afford to lose. Sympathy,
! that great bond of social union, de-
mands that burdens shall be shared,
sorrows relieved, weakness assisted, iD-
capacity led. The spirit of human
! brotherhood teaches us all to help one
another and he who learns not its les
sons forfeits all its blessings. But the
mistake we make is in imagining that
the only way to do this is by continually
| bestowing something upon others. We
are Just now beginning to appreciate
that almsgiving is the very poorest kind
! of benevOlence, more frequently injuU-
| ing than beneGting the recipient.
/ But we have not yet learned to ex-
/ tend this truth 20 other things be-
sides pecuniary help. Whatever is
| done for people has a tendency to weak
en- their power to do it for them
! selves. The mother who makes herself
a slave to her children's wants, supply
! ing by her incessant labor that which
they could easily obtain by their own,
does injustice not only to herself but
to them. She withdraws from them the
natural stimulus to eXertiOn, deprives
them of the healthy influence of in
dustry and encourages within them
willingness to be dependent. The
teacher who smOoths away all difficult
ties for his pupils, solving for them their
hardest problems, and allowing his own
thinking to take the place OF theirs, is
really enfeebling their mental powers
instead of developing them, and forfeit
inc the best ends of their education. In
the same way, when any one, plying an
Impractical worker, takes his task out
of his hand and does it for him, the re-
lief he gives is temp orary and insigniti-
cant, while the injury he inflicts on his
self-reliance is permanent and cOnsid-
cradle.
Many persons think thatthe law holds
in its grasp all moral responsibility
that as are the wisdom and power of
the Government so will be the charac-
ter and value of the people. 1t is true
that these two usually correspond, but
it is rather the Government thai is made
from the elements of the people than
the people from thu Government. No
Government can rise in moral status
much above the average of the nation
over whom it rules, and its chief strength
lies in the perfect liberty which it &C
cords to each individual to work out for
himself whatever is in him. All pat
ronage, all favoritism, all gratuitous
charity is enervating in the extreme,
while that Government which merely
removes barriers, withdraws hindrances
and clears the way for self-reliant effort
will, of necessity, be the strongest, its
power lying in the ability, Independence
and character of its people.
To encourage in everyway self-help
should then be the aim of all philan-
thropy, of all education, of all domestic
training, of all national rule. Individ-
ual independence of thought and action
is the finest product that benevolence
can produce. 1t is a shallow and mis-
taken idea that the spirit of helpfulness
necessitates the spirit of dependence.
He who is selfish in his kindness, who
thinks much of the thanks and gratitude
he is to win, may prefer to offer gratu-
tiles and to make dependents; but the
truly generous man who has the gOoG
of others sincerely at heart will rejoice
so to direct his efforts as to enable them
to help themselves and to taste the
sweets of independence. Let us not
only encourage self-help in others but
value it for ourselves as the most pre-
cious of all things. 1t is habit easily
acquired to look to almost ANYTHING
outside of ourselves for strength al
happiness. We lean upon parents,
teachers, friends, systems, OppOrtuni-
ties, promises, anything sooner than
upon our own resOlute purposes, patient
perseverance, untlagging industry and
answering honesty. We depreciate
our own powers and eXaggerate the
ability of others to assist us. Yet the
fact is that no one, however able and
however willing, can do for us one 1.-THE
of what we can do for ourselves. They
can but open doors for us, we alone can
enter. If we are ever to amount to any
thing in our lives, it must be through
individual determination and action; if
we are to have any mental power, it
must be through individual thought; if
we are to attain any moral elevation OF
character, it can only be through the
patient and earnest culture of the indi-
vidual conscience. So long as we lean
upon some one else's wisdom or strength
or superiority, so long as we depend
upon fortunate surroundings, or ad-
vantageous openings, or good intluen-