The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1897-11-05
PATIENCE.

10 al tNccllellI virtue, ana
one OF those most difficult to acquire.
W oman possesses it in a far greater
degree than man, ard this has been
one OF her compensations for long ages
OF servitude. 1t was necessary to her
to endure or die, and she has learnt to
endure. Yet in the face of all the
difficulties and trials which beset us
, through life, the wrongs and injuries.
the diseases and disappointments which
are incidental to all, patience is essen
tlal to every one, irrespective O: sex.
We admire courage always, but sell
dom admire passive fortitude. But
courage may be mere animal Instinct,
and usually is, whereas patience is
high intellectual. lrality, and is the
fruit of reason or religion. Chaucer
wrote in his "Persones Tale" s.The
Philosophers sayth that patience is the
virtue that sutiereth debonairly all
the outrages of adversitee, and every
wicked word" What armour, then,
can be so etfectual against the disasters
of Fate as this God-like gift of endur-
ing calmly?
The fretful, frssy individual is con-
tempible to others and misery to him
self Whenever woman is destitute
of this most womanly quality of quiet
endurance, nature or educution has
robbed her of Il distinguishing virtue
of her sex, and she becomes one of
those sour and querulous creatures
that are able to drive any man from
house and home unless he has the pa
tience of Job. Its cultivation, there
fore, is of primary Importance, and
should begin at the earliest stage of
life. But when we see how young in
fants are permitted by the indulgence
of foolish mothers to defy them and
their nurses, to struggle and scream
and kick in paroxysms of passion when
ever they are thwarted, and habitual-
ly disobey as they become older,
we need not wonder that they
should grow up without >..ss.enn-
troll and be subject to criminal out
bursts So long as parents neglect
their duties to their offspring, so long
will wretchedness and vice roll on, and
many man whose evil passions con-
troll him would be tempted, if he knew
all, to cure the irrational fondness of
the mother who bore him.
The origin of our word denotes its
meaning: ''Patiens," suffering, or
learning, that is to say, calmly. We
have lost the old English verb 'to pa
tient,' which was in vogue down to
Shakespeare's time "Patient your
self, Madam" says Titus Andronicus.
Ours is 4 sterling, solid word, which
has sustained its Specification for ages,
and has seen good service in the life Of
humanity. The martyrs for philoso-
ply and religion, to say nothing OF
others, gave notable examples Of its
meaning when they cheerfully endured
all the agonies that tyrannous intoler-
ance could inflict upon them. "The
virtue Of the best Pagans," says Lecky
in History Of European Morals"
"was perhaps of as high an order as
that of the best Christians And the
latience Of Pagan philosophers under
persecution was no way inferior to that
of the followers Of the Cross. Both
have proved thousands of times over
how sublimely men and women can
suffer and die when sustained by this
noblest of virtue. "Pound the body
of AnaXarchus for thou dost not pound
his soul,' was said to the tyrant of
Cyprus 10y the philosopher when bray
ed alive in Il stone mortar with iron
hammers to satisfy mean revenge.
Follow & ID, was one of the most
frequently repeated Of Platonic max
inns. ~ God (what God know not)
dwells in every good man." said Epic
tctus. And Marcus Aurelius adds,
Offer to the God that is in thee a
manly being, citizen, 4 soldier at his
post, ready to depart from life as soon
as the trumpet sounds Another
teaching of the Stocs was 'the duty
of the most absolute and unquestion-
ing submission to the DEGREES of Prov
idence." 'To weep, to groan, is to re-
bel, said Seneca. ITO fear, to grieve,
to be angry is to be 4 dcserter," said
Aurclus. "Rcmembcr.' wrote Epict-
etns, himself Il cripple,'' that YOU are
but an actor, acting whatever part the
Master has ordained. If He wishes
You to represent a poor man, do so
heartily; if Il cripple, or a magistrate,
or private man, in each case act your
part with honor. God does not
keep good man in prosperity.
He tries, He Strengthens him,
He prepares him for Himself"
When AnaNagoras, the prcccptor Of
Socrates, Pericles, Euripides, and
many other famous pupils, was con-
demned to death because of scientific
research, he ridiculed the sentence. and
said it had long been pronounced upon
him by Nature. He refused to have
his corpse borne to his own country,
for, said he, ''the road that leads to the
other side of the grave is as long from
one side rs the other" Nor were these