Greenbrier independent. [volume] (Lewisburg, Va. [W. Va.]) 1859-1980, 1896-11-26
Hero Worship.

Having had recent example of
hero worship on the part of some
millions of Americans, it IS not nec-
essary to argue. as Carlysle did, that
hero worship still exists, though it
has taken on a different form from
that which 1t had when pagans wOr-
shipped their great men as GODS
That which we call hero worship
though the last word is not we'll
chosen to express the admiration,
free from superstition, which we be-
stow upon great men-ought to be
maintained.
1t is the expression of our appre-
citation Of great qualities and to
some extent measures our own aspi-
rations for better things. Young
men with warm hearts and lively
imaginations are uplifted by becom-
ing hero worshIpers. They study
the works and deeds of great men
and are insensihly trained to an imi-
tation of their qualities.
But there are all kinds of heroes.
In the age of pagan superstition they
were mythical gods; priests became
the heroes of an advanced age and
in all times kings and soldiers have
been followed or worshiped as he
roes. Even in our own times during
or Immediately following a war the
hero Is brave soldier, and the
world takes no note Of the patient
women who are the chief sufferers
from a conflict of arms.
But in the "piping times of peace'
heroes are made of poets and men
of letters or orators who have the
power to sway great bodies of men
by their eloquence. 1t tis with heroes
of the latter class with whom we are
chiefly concerned in our day, and
we do we'll when we admire and emu.
late them.
Every great moral or intellectual
force which makes its impress upon
the times represents a hero whose
life and works should be studied for
the inspiration they afford. Wor-
ship in the old sense is out of the
question. The Imagination of man
has been brought under the control
of reason, and we no longer think
of hero or genius as being god
or agent of gods. He is man like
ourselves and we are chiefly con-
cerned to know what influences de-
veloped his powers, under what en-.
vironment his genius was developed.
But our curiosity in this respect
will not be fully awakened until our
imagination has pictured him as a
kind of hero, and then we admire or
worship him as something above us.
This rational kind of hero worship
is not to be condemned, but encour.
aged.
Carlyle, who is always an extrem-
ist, finds in it the basis of all relig-
ion and loyalty. Worship Of a
hero" he says, sis transcendant adj
miration Of great man. / say
great men are still admirable | say
there is at bottom nothing else adj
mirable. No nobler feeling than
this of admiration for one higher
than himself dwells in the breast of
man. 1t is to this hour and at all
hours the vivifying influence in
mans life."
The skepticism of the times pre-.
vents us from recognizing living he.
roes, but we have little difficulty In
admiring the heroes who are dead
and around whose memory tradi.
tions begin to cluster. We need the
perspective Of time to soften and
dim the outlines, that our imagina
tion may have room for play, anC
literature preserves for us the story
of their lives and achievements. Tht
young should read those stories ant
gather from hero worship an inspira
tion to pure and noble lives. BaUi
more Sun.