New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1898-06-18
HEROES AND COWA RDS.

The little incident ut Key West hotel 'he
other evening. when Captain Miller OF tho Mer-
rImac nj first expostulatcd with and thee
crushncly rcbuked concclted young cynic for
decrvInc the yalor Of Lieutenant Hobson ana
his men is worthy Of something moro 'han
passlng notice as one Of the signs of the times
Donbtlcss It IS one Of the signs OF all times
For il there were heroes before Agamemnon
tboro were also towards. who sought, Ike this
Key West fellow, to masl: their own meanness
Of spirit by denying nobility Of splri' 10 al
otber, So the legendary Vivien cloaked the
wounds Of loss with lies.
OBTAINING and defacing. till she left
Not even LancclOt brave. nor Gaahan cieAh'
So "Kreutzer Sonata" Tolstol. devoid or love
Of home and country. rails upon all such love
in others ms mortal sin SO those VINO nave
no faith I'm America and American INSTITUTIONS
oppose and Willy every brave proposition TOT
maintaining those institutions and for running
the Nations nobest destiny. They would pct
ure all men ms mean and petty souls. sordid ana
selfish with nerves that never thrill ana pulses
that never quicken, with never an unsellsh
motive nor a generous ambition, with dlich
water in their veins instead of blood, and with
no purpose In life but to WELD tho muck rake
md 10 plod on in the track Of dreary common
place.
II IS a libel upon humanity. We may not re-
peat to oil who utter It the grim advice OF Cap
tain Miller 10 the Key West cad, for the sea Is
worthy Of better usage than that OF drowning
pond Moreover II would not be followed, as
II WAS not In that case for, while suicide IS the
resort Of towards. II yet involves too much OF
courage for the supreme cowardicc Of tho moral
mo,lusk Nor is il necessary. We can endure
them The herosm that fInchcs before no foe
will not alnch before their cynlc sncerS. The
objective consciousness Of moral greatness Is
undisturbed by the subjective consciousness or
moral pcttincss Your hero is modest unmind-
full OF self. apprccIatve Of others your coward
Is vain. splf-conscious and blind To others
virtues. He secs not tho sunshine. but only III"
shadows that II casts. though there are mill
ion million times more sunshine than shadow
I'm the world And that Is true In man
spirit as in the natural world There were hun
areds of quiet undemonstratlvc men aboard
the feet eager 20 20 with Hohson and risk their
live. against fearful odds for the welfare of the
Iathcrland and there was just one spiritual
whlllct at 4 Key West hotel who sncered IT and
rcvilcd them.
That proportion. II Is 10 he believed holds
good. The great masses Of this Nation believe
in This Nation. and have The courage OF their
belief They do not believe the founders OF
This Republic lied when they set forth the pol
icy that should lead 20 It's imperial destiny.
They do not believe that Jefferson and Adams
were either knavcs or fools when they fixed
our policy toward Cuba; or Webster and Mar
cy when they nNrd our policy toward Hawaii;
or Nick inley. when he m0nfully sets out, In
The funcss Of time. TO consummate that pol
Icy They do not believe that n Nation as rich
and great and powerful ms this after having
received md enjoyed the incommcnSurable
blessings OF opportunity and acquisition that
have fallen to its lot. should basely shrink from
assuming the responsibilities which those bless
ings logically entail. They may 500 danger, but
they shrink not from IT, They may 500 bur
Gcns, but they stoop to lift them And they do
80 not through vaInglorlousness. nor through
covctousncss Of wealth, nor through lust Of
power: but through n generous devotion 10 the
right os God gives them TO see the right, and
through a faith in the Nation and in It's destiny
triumphant over all their fears. II was the
SPIRIT Of the heroes OF the Mcrrlmac that made
the Thirteen Colonies an independent Nation
and stretched its limits from the Atlantic 10
the Pacific. and ii is the same spirit That to-
day seeks 10 extend our dominion 10 its natural
and logical fulness in the Pacific seas. 1t was
the spirit of their dctractor and calumnlator
that sought TO bctrny West Point and that re-
sisted the acquisition Of the transmississippi
domain and II IS tho same spirit that now
strives to balk fulhlment OF the Nations dcs-
tiny. That Is the concrete moral OF that Key
West episode.