West Virginia freeman. (Parkersburg, W. Va.) 1881-1886, 1882-03-01
"HONOR AND FAME"
IAN Essay, delivered before Belpre Lodge, l..
90. F., by Frank Ames, and by the Lodge
requested for publication.


of honor held by many, make it a
living and highly proper subject
to be talked and written about.
Fame and honor are often associ-
ated in the mind as identical; and
from this association erroneous i'm
pressions spring; hence, many as
piring young men in their race for
fame, in their eager desire to win
the plaudits of their countrymen,
find too late that they have taken
the shadow for the substance.
Talent and genius may enable
one to rank among the famous,
while acts Of dishonor mark the
whole course of his life Lord Ba-
con, Napoleon, Francis Bacon, Hen
ry VIII, all have wide spread
fame, but in our opinion none of
these men had the one. essential
element, the sine qua non, of honor
Fame is external, honor has her
seat within the breast.
We otter hear of different roads
to honor, as though there were more
than one. Some deem wealth the
only passport, others brilliant
military record, and others long
line of illustrious ancestors. None
of these alone entitle a man to
honor.
Genius and talent enter largely
into the aggregate of qualifications
that win for man true honor; but
without virtue, without true manly
worth, without excellence Of char
acter, they avail nothing.
Ofjustice, which the human mind can frame;
Intent each lurking frailty to disciaim,
And guard the way of life from all offense,
Supposed or done"
True honor, as defined by Cicero,
is the concurrent appreciation of
good men; those only being fit to
give true praise, who are them
selves praiseworthy. Anciently,
the Romans worshiped virtue and
honor as Gods. They built two
temples, which were so seated that
none could enter the Temple of
Honor without passing through the
Temple of Virtue.
Again :.."You are a p.ebeian, said
a patrician to Cicero. II am a pie
beian," said the eloquent Roman,
"the nobility of my family begins
with me, thatof yours will end with
you"
| hold no man deserves to be
crowned with honor whose life is a
failure; and he who lives only to
eat and drink and accumulate mon
ey is a failure. The world is no
better for his coming in it. He
never wipes tear from a sad face
never kindles fire upon a frozen
hearth. Irepeat with emphasis, he
is a failure. There is no flesh in his
heart; he worships no God but
gold.
Honor is too often sought among
royal personages, or military heroes,
while it's highest and most beauti-
full type may be found in the sover-
eign's most abject subject, or in the
rank and file which the military
hero leads to battle.
Sir Philip Sidney, wounded, and
parched with thirst on the field of
battle said, when water was offered
him, "Give it to this soldier; he
needs it worse than l." This act
throws about his name a halo of
glory brighter and more enduring
than clusters about Wellington or
Napoleon. Some in this room,
perhaps have, amid the smoke and
carnage of battle, witnessed acts as
NOBLE and Acknowledgements that
shine all the brighter, because they
will remain forever unsung Many
a hero has sunk into an unknown
grave, on whose brow honor's crow n
would unblushingly sit.
In the lowly walks of life are to
be found honor's people. For,
Honor and shame from no conditions rise
Act well your part; there all the honor lies"
Gray in his Elegy, gives most
beautiful utterance to our thought
"Perhaps in this neglected spot is laid
Some heart once fragrant with celestial fire
Hands that the rod of Empire might have
swayed,
Or walked to ecstacy the living Tyre.
Full many gem of purest ray serene,
The dark, unfathomed caves of ocean bear:
Full many flower is born to blush unseen,
And waste its sweetness on the desert air."