The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1895-02-05

Qufse him 20 buckle on tho barness OF
war, and meet his coNntry's enemies In
bloody and deadly strife. outif ne Is q
physical coward, he is utterly unquai-
fled for such service. AS Lees army
was getting into position for the battle
OF Malvern Hill, a private soldier APP
preached his colonel, and said, Sir, i
am constrained 70 make a very dis.
graceful confession. / love the cause
OF the South, and am ready TO lay all
my earthly possessions upon its altar,
but 10 face her enemies In battle Is for
me o physical impossibility. | am "a
coward, Make me cook, or nurse, or
teamster, or anything that will take
me away from danger, and | will be
loyal and faithful, but IL you command
me to fight, | will surely run ut the
first fire OF the first gun.% The officer,
believing him to be sincere, ordered
him to go to the req and assist inlthe
cooking OF food for the regiment. He
had not long been engaged in his new
vocation when u bomshell exploded
near him, and so frightened him, that
he forsook his post and ran away into
a distant wood, where he hid himself
until the battle was over. Many a man
has locked himself up in closet, or hid
himself under the bed, while his brave
wife, with candle in n hand and pis-
t0l in the other, went through the
house 10 search of q burglar, Such
men may be intellectually strong, and
morally pure, but their lack of physi-
cal manhood units them for much of
the noblest work OF life, and degrades
them in the esteem of those who are
congnizant OF their weakness.
The absence of physical courage is
not always traceable to heredity. but
( often to u lack Of conformity to physi-
cal law. Some of the most consum-
maze towards | have found among the
children of the bravo. n child is rear
ed like u hot house plant-that sell
dom touches fresh air and sunshine
that is never allowed to "a in the
forest, to look upon the rugged things
OF nature, and know something of
h%ardships and danger when he reaches
manhood will be as timid rs his timid
mother, and shrink from every duty
that involves the least peril or strug-
gle. He will be a mere grown.up ba-
by, or rather IL grown-up BOBBY.
The best defense that can be made
of certain l~atter-day college sports, is
not that they promote aoboy's health
and develop his muscle, hut that they
educate him away from fear, and give
him nerve for the duties and conflicts
that await him in maturer life. We
should have II supreme contempt for
the professional slugger. The man
who cultitates muscle aud sinew for
gambling purposes, is not half SO noble
as the average bulldog. Aud the peo-
pie who glorify him arc still more de-
generate. But the man who under
stands the natural connection be-
tween physical - >rh and physical
courage ri more SubStle
]connecti and thethese and ali the
ION oetw3ms of strength and
msnor ana hneB covets bravery as Il
~ means nr ano 6lishing lofty and no
10 bic -, "c1s worthy Of our pro-
rs foundest reyo"
,e y nov To speak of thinking
II com. 70 courage of original, indie,
cndentIonest Investigations. y man
n NAV "a everlastingly and never
tbi55k 4Ie may pack his Mid with
bistncal facts and the thoughts of
+ me,and never have II thought of his
nv,f There are whole regiments Of
r/ple about us who know modern
philosophy from DE Carries to Hege!.
out have V attempted Il rational
IeXplanation of q solitary phenomena
of mind or matter.
You have opinions, but how did YOU
get them? BY creation or by adop-
ton? Are not your opinions upon
every subject merely the opinions that
are current in the circle in which YOU
move? Are not the views which you
hold on every living question in Il
great degree traditional? You say
you are Il democrat. How came o to
be Il democrat: The probability is
that you have received your democrat
tc principles as an inheritance. Your
father and your grandfather were
democrats, and you feel that Il loving
loyalty to their memory requires you
to be Il democrat. That is c%owardicc.
1t is only cowardice, but a false con-
ception of iilial fealty. The truest
honor that YOU can bestow upon the
memory OF your parents would be Il
thorough investigation of their Cpin-
ions with the determination to adopt
them, If true. and to ~repudiatc them
If false.
You have certain opinions upon re-
ligious subjects. How did you get
them? Are they the products of your
own mind Are they the results of
your W careful, thorough, faithful in
vestigation? Or did you get them
from your parents? Do you not hold
them more as IL tribut to your ancestors,
than from any intelligent and deep
conviction Of their correctness ? If
the latter be true. you are not only
C|narSeaDlc with cOYardlce but of Il
false and foolish devotion to those
whose memory you desire to honor.
Theret4ro other men who show
themselves to befntellectual towards
by Il slavish conformity to public
opinion. Their Investigations consist
simply in finding IN what the majority
OF the people Of their own community
and commonwealth think upon u
rent issues. In Maine they would be
republicans, in. Texas democrats, and
in North Carolina populists. In Mas
sachnsetts they would be C~ongrega-
tionalists, in New York Episcopalians,
in Tennessee Methodists, and in
Georgia Baptists. You may call that
conservatism, but its true name is
cowardice. The ouly reason that some
men in this State can give for being
Baptists, is that there are so many of
them, and they all love to vote. When
a certain Georgia legislator was asked
what were the prevailing geological
formations of his country, he replied
" To the best OF my knowledge and
belief they are Baptist" have no
fellowship for the Baptists whose
opinions are shaped merely by the in
tluence OF numbers, and who assumes
that truth is always On the side of the
majority. No man can be II Baptist
has not the courage to think for
IN 400 md tN 90, 80. --l ii /