The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-09-11
Without II, Says an Authority, Mon
Would Soon Become Social
Outcasts.
It Is Essential to Human Progress
Civilization and Race
Perpetuity.
Tha gourco Of History Can Be Traced to 1t
The Difference Between Vanity
and S~slf-C0ncsit.

Kind, ~ universally conceueu 70 DO q WehA-
ness. ii not a defect, says julius Henri
Browne. In other words, what everybody
possessss, and should be conscious of pos
sessing, everybody condemns, often in I'M
sparing terms. But vanity, X not recog-
nizsd as a virtue, is at least a necessity.
No ono could live, and, indeed, no one tries
to live, without it. II is as essential to in
dividual advancement. to human progress,
to civilization, as to the perpetuity of the
race. Really, 1t is not so much vanity it
self, which ia censuxed as it's manifestation.
To have it in full force, and yet to hide It
sdroitly, is one OF the finest of fne secular
arts. The sin Of this, Is Of 10 many world
~ things. would appear to consist IN dis
covery. To have in private IL veniai; to De
found out is objectionable. But why should
we be ashamed of or disavow vanity. when
IL is our common heritage, and when IT -
productive of good results? What We need
is that it shall be 10 regulated that 1t NAL
boar desirable fruit. The name hurts it; it
sounds feeble, and a triie vulgar. Re
christen it; call IL ~sslf-love, which 10 its
equivalent, and you lend it Q certain impor-
tance, il not distinction. Sslf-love has a
very wide meaning and various intsrprsta-
|tlOuSs uO6t -
cued that a self-loving man has not, and
cannot have, love for anybody else; that he
must be completely, rspulsivsly selfish; that
the external world 10 related to him only
through his hard and monstrous egotism.
But is there any such man, outside OF moral
theories and the shocking doctrins OF total
depravity2 Men are never half so bad a.
they are represented, or as We like to believe
in our misanthropic moods. Sslf-love may
be low or high, mean or generous, dsRrad-
ing or slevating. All depends on ito quail
ity and degree. The self-loys that ID little,
narrow, absorbing, ia allied to gross selfish
ness, and is characteristic of ignobls mi nds.
The sslf-love that 10 modest. moderate, re-
Elective, critical, beRets sslf-rsspect, proper
yrids, sense of responsibility and obliga-
ton. It inheres in the Hottest, the gentlest,
the most conscientious spirits; it 10 the
fertile mother, the world over, of high
thoughts and noble deeds. The spring OF all
human action, tho source of history. may
be directly traced to self-love--to vanity if
sou prefer-in some of its protean forms.
Without it life would DO stuntsd; the world
would ~stagnats. What great, glorious or
disintorestsd action or career il not due to
TO do good for tho sake Of good. It is the
ideal excellence, and has been attributed to
angels by mystics and theoloRians, who
considered man incapable of it. But doing
good for goods sake must come from a
superior kind Of vanity. Ne one could love
good OF do good unless it's contemplation
and performance gave him pleasure OF a
subtle sort--the pleasure that is INSOFAR
able from and a part Of vanity: 1t is not
in humanity to do habitually what we hate,
or what costs us paln. Our lives, It We are
our inclinations, and suoh current is ever in
the current of self love. Why. then, should
ws decry vanity, name it AZ we may, since
it is the cause and promoter OF
the best that is in us? 1t may be
that il bad. for all weakness is bad;
but we should labor to roprsss the species of
vanity which We feel to DO weak. as an aid
to the development of vanity of the higher
kind. by thus substituting ono for the
other, by a steady process of elimination
and aocrstion, we build up and strengthen
what we understand as character. 1t is the
petty, sordid vanity, commonly supposed
10 stand for all vanity, which provokes con-
tempt and reproof. A man who talks of
what he eats, of what he wears. of the triass
tina occupy him, AS if they were Of conse-
quence, il thus vain. Hs is deeply inter.
ested in such insipidities because they per-
tain to his personality, which is moment
GUS to him, however insignificant to others.
Such vanity, strictly %concsit, is tiresome
HnQ re[ellant whenever anu WnoT6Vcr ols-
played. Vanity proper strikes a loftier
key. It is generally defined as a trait that
makes us wish the esteem of others. and
this definition is usually accented as cor
rect. Who can hope to gain the esteem of
others by boring them about interminable
details of emptiness by suggestions
of frivolous egotism? But such
esteem in a compensation any
OF as might seek with care and pains,
provided We are not too intent and solicit
Gus therefor. Vanity should never be graf
flied at the expense of worthy pride. That
commandment should always be borne in
mind. Imagine, if you can, q man without
vanity, and you have the likeness Of a bar
barian. Vanity moves and molda us through
every stage Of tanners and morals. from
the first to tho last of our development.
Through il We adapt ourselves to our asso-
ciatss; we are confederate, courteous, kind;
being aware that such treatment il grateful
to receive AZ we'll A. to give. Without van
ity We should be nc better than Doors, and
our boorishness would soon make us social
outcasts. Vanity Yields rs inward light and
outward grace. 1t is similar to sympathy
in explaining character and teaching char
itableness. To a certain extent it enablea
US to carry put the golden rule, inoiting uH
to do to others as We would wish them to
do to US, in major not less than minor af-
fairs. What il good breeding but vanity
turned outward, its principles applied to
our NeiQhbors?