The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-04-05

4 tain that some OF his family and lrlenhs
would die; he was certain to encounter
the spotted death" or smallpox; he
was under the almost absolute control
of his feudal lord, who could practically
| demand from him life, service. property,
and the life and liberty of his family;
! he was likely to be killed by maraudins
| feudal lords, who might he stronger
than his legal owner; he had wild
beasts to encounter If he happened to be
| living outside the cities, and robbers to
fear if he lived in town, and then, be-
sides all thai, he had a hundred thou
| sand superstitions, more powerful than
the fear of death or injury from physi-
| cal causes. He believed in ghosts; he
believed in witches; he had faith in the
evil eye; he was sure that were wolves,
nocturnal demons, and other uncanny
things existed and were lurking around
in the dark ready to scare him to death ;
he believed devoutly in hoodoos, though
| the word had not yet been invented.
Altogether, 1t must have taken consid-
era BILE courage for the average man, six
or eight hundred years ago, to arise in
|
work.
To the student of history the question
| inevitably suggests itself: How far did
| the man of the past actually believe in
| these things? Was he imaginative
| enough to realize his dangers. unless
they were wildly pictured to him? If
| he had realized them. could he have
al a Mi hai in n 10 pf
nervous prostration? The chances are
that he was not capable of so exercising
his imagination.
| Certain it is that the exceptional man
of those days, on occasion, showed a
most superior quality of courage. When
the torture was a common method of
extorting information or treasure. in
the feudal castle or kings palace, there
was still occasionally victim who re-
| fused to yield TO its persuasions. The
vast majority of the people, however.
did yield, and, moreover, they submit
ted to almost every injustice rather
than encounter the displeasure of their
rulers. That was natural. 1t is not
necessary to suppose that human cour-
age has deteriorated because torture is
not used nowadays. The fortitude
shown by persons during the torments
of disease or by the victims of a rail-
way accident often compare favorably
with anything described in the records
c the martyrs.
The courage of the average man, in
fact. is probably greater than it was in
the Middle Ages. We have lost the I'M
thinking bravery of fanaticism, but we
have gained the cool courage of ordered
and disciplined intelligence. The
chances are that modern army could
defeat the saders, even without
modern appliances, simply through the
force of discipline and GOODNESS. In SO
far as the average person is brought to
realize the greatness and nobility Of
self-control, calmness. and presence of
mind under trying conditions, the
standard of courage will be raised.
The mob is now. as ever. lower than
the individual in courage, as in thought
and self control. A crowd is hardly
stronger than It's weakest element. In
glancing over the average audience at
a theatre 1t is impossible not TO realize
that these hundreds or thousands of
well-dressed, smiling and amiable men
and women could be transformed by
sudden panic into a horde of Wild
beasts. But we have made a a advance
in this: That the instinct of order and
self-control has been so far developed
that in the majority of such cases
few persons who keep cool and deter
mined, if they seize the earliest oppor-
tunity, can control the crowd. This
would have been impossible in an age
a few centuries nearer barbarism.
There have been cases in which the ac-
tors on the stage. by their calmness and
presence of mind, have kept off a panic
when flames We're actually visible.
There have been other cases in which
two or three determined men, shouting
assurances that all was right, have
sverted a threatened commotion which
would have crushed out scores of lives.
It is above all important that the in
telligent people of today should realize
the necessity of seIf-control and
bravery-not foolhardy recklessness.
but determined courage-and should in
culcate that ideal in their children.
That is what makes the difference be-
tween the civilized and the haIf-civil-
lied man.