The Durham daily globe. (Durham, N.C.) 1889-1894, 1892-05-09
RARELY COMBINED.
PHYSICAL AND MORAL COURAGE Sell
DOM FOUND IN ONE PERSON.

Meaning of Physical Courage-Its Re-
wards and Demands-Loftier Motive of
Moral Courage and the Injury That 1t
often Brings Upon It's Possessor.
1t is a rare thing to meet a person,
either man or woman, WHO combines In
one both physical and moral courage.
Mental courage is a frequent thlng-to
dare to have opinions, to dare to follow
out their consequences in ones mind
and its absence is always pitiable where
1.-The poor heart would fain deny, but
dare not" But moral courage Is a far
rarer quality, and is as much higher
than physical courage as the soul Is
higher than the body. Physical courage
is indeed the co1nmOnest Of the virtues.
Most soldiers have it who go into battle;
most mothers have it as they approach
the great gates of maternity; the child
has it who goes to bed in the dark; the
boy who challenges the bigger boy to
fight; the girl who drives the cattle
home.
1t is true there is something that passes
for physical courage which is not that
at all, and which, if it is not exactly
moral courage either, Is q courage that
deserves q name Of its own-a disregard
of ones lower self, a pride of ones loft
tier self, that is far nObler than any mere
fearlessness, which a dog can share
and that is the experience Of a deadly
terror before any act, but the doing
it nevertheless, cOncealing the terror
and achieving the result. There is the
hcroism in that which takes one to the
stake.
Physical courage is apt to demand APP
plause, but moral courage leaves every
consideration but truth in the back
ground, and is more likely to bring one
ostracism than admiration. With moral
courage one speaks ones mind, IN goes
forward to ones conception Of duty, II
trca1s ones chosen way without the
thought, and SO without the fear, of con-
sequences, or even if with the fear, still
trcads it just the same.
One does not pause to measure the
possible effect upon ones self. One does
and says what right and the moment re-
quire. One is not intimidated by the
frown, the brutal word, the threat, the
blow, the probable loss Of prestige, the
force Of any CDE;rary opinion, public OF
private, the possible deprivation Of office
or of position. One has what has long
been known as the courage Of ones con-
victions, and does what one thinks is
right or best OF ven only expedient.
without regard to fear or favor.
The moral courage that dares to con
tradict the village bully dares no less to
tell a king that he is in the wrong:
darcs to arrest the wretch who, whip in
hand, abuses his beast-bcing more
beast than the other; dares, too, to
shield the culprit from the strong arm,
to interpOse ones self between the vic
tim and the OppressOr, whether the vic
tim be a child in school or a whole peo-
pie; dares always to resist tyranny. 1t
las been physical courage of course
that has fought the great battles If the
world-battles, probably, that the world
could as we'll have done without had ar
bitratiOn been knOWn-but it is moral
courage that has instigatcd and carried
forward every reform, and done away
with every oppression that has already
vanished.
After all, moral courage does more
for lis pOsSessOr than for any one else.
The brutcs Of the field have physical
courage, but the other belongs only
among the altitudes-lifts and expands
the soul that has it and that uses it. and
makes it,-one darcs to think, only a lit
tie lower titan the angels. They that
have it never know when they are beat
en-; III fact, they cannot be beaten. They
return to the attack withall the pristine
vigor Of the first onset, with all the
force that first impciled them.
Women, with their feeble bodies and
insufficient means of protection or of as
sault, are VIGOROUSLY deficient in ami
NAL courage, that valiant courage and
Undaunted spirit more than in woman
commonly is seem" but they are just as
VIGOROUSLY rich in the opposite direc-
ton, and possessed Of great moral cour-
age-that Is, the women Of the nObler
sort. 1t is they that uphold the hands
of others, they that never faltcr in their
purpose, they that will die for their
love or their belief-nOt they alone, but
they in the greater number. And it is
they that, by handing this trait down to
their sons, will lift the race constantly
to greater heights of righteous will and
strength.-Harper's Bazaar.
EunEarians in This Country.