Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1902-09-20
YOUR SENSE OF DUTY
CULTIVATE IT TO THE EXTREME
Lli;i- O. TCGR AGILITY.

consider the statement that Il sense o.
duty is the foundation Of real educa
ton and the basis o. success. What
ever has been achieved of real impor
lance in the word has been based up
on Il sense OF duty. Religion itself /:
founded upon duty. ana its main teach
ingS deal with questions of duty--thC
duty Of men AMI women toward eacf
other and toward their Creator.
ChildrenS minds will be strength
ened, their work i2a.ic easier and theiI
ambition stimulated if they can be
made to feel toward duty that it is
not repulSive. Int that it offers an OPP
portunity for achievement, an oppor-
tunity for every individual to prove his
worth and that lie deserves TO succeed.
If duty can be stroHcly developed in
the mind of a youn" child the effect
will remain thrCu"h We and make that
child's existence vSt+n'.
Parents should impress upon their
children-and yoUr': people should i'm
press upon themselves the fact that a
ly and at the same time most woman
ly of qualities.
The average small boy thinks that
there is something 80 I" about Il duti.
full boy. He should be taught that
what made Washington a fighter and
Lincoln great among his fellows was
nothing else than sense of duty to
their country.
What makes fireman brave is a
sense Of duty. \ sense OF duty Is at
the foundation CT every effort made to
provide for children, to meet the obli-
cations of life honestly.
The German philosopher Fichte, as
admirable moral character as the
world has known. eXempities as per
fectly as any the beauty Of life in
spired by sense Of duty, and it is
life which may be well studied by
those engaged in shaping the charac-
ter Of the young.
The very keynote Of his philosophical
system was based on duty. "Unscre
Welt ist daS verSinnlichte Material I'M
serer PLIGHT" said he.
This idea-that our world is but the
material incarnation of our duty-he
taught, and, what is more, he practiced
what he preached.
One preacher who practices his
preachings thoroughly is worth many
of the other kind, no matter how elo-
Quent the others. And Fichte prac-
ticed his beliefs. When he was poor
and young tutor, he set a good ex-
ample to every teacher. AS tutor he
made his living. but he knew that his
duty to the child intrusted to him was
the principal thing. He knew also
that every child is really formed in
character and morals by the influence |
of its parents.
Fichte kept journal devoted to the /
attitude of his employers toward their /
child-hiS pupil. Every week he told /
them the mistakes they had made and |
held them accountable for spelling the |
child through fiattery. too much kind
ness, i'll judged severity or in what
ever way. Strange to say, the parents
put up with this for two
whole years, so great was their ad-
niratiOn for the young tutors moral
character.
Duty we'll ingrained in the soul will
Keep a man on the right path in easy
lines and in hard times. Fichte Is
quoted here because no man better
han he proves the power of a sense
# duty. In small things duty guided
lin. and it guided him at the end.
He was just past the half century Of
lis age and had been glOriously sue
,essful. He had been called to the
hair of philosophy at Berlin, and no
eacher Of truth had ever been more
owed or more admired. On a certain
lay he was to lecture, and he had chO-
en- Duty for his subject. His coun-
ry was at war and threatened with
INVASION and absolute humiliation Of
Ter liberties
Fichte, who had talked much of the
title duties Of life, talked on this day
# mans duty to his country. The
ound Of drums calling for conscriDts
frequently interrupted his lecture. He
old the listening young man that each
mans duty is TO lend his individual |
trength and life to his country in
ime of danger. 1t was marvellous
ddreSs, and it ended well.
For at the close he said to his great
rOwd Of admiring students: This
curse of lectures will be suspended |
ntil the end Of the campaign. We
hall resume them in free country or
lie in the attempt to recover her free
om."
Fichte left his lecture platform to en-
st as Il simple soldier and. needless
} say. his students followed his exam
lie in crowds That was at the be-
inning of the campaign Of 1913, but
ne example is good enough to last un-
i now and for many hundred years
} come. a year later. aged ffty-two.
G died He caught the fever while :
airing for those afflicted. among others /,
Or his own wife. who had gone with !,
he army as nurse.
Make duty n strong part Of your 4
bids or your pupils moral educa-
on. A sense Of duty impels men to
ruggle on and do their best even in
lie face Of failure; a sense Of duty i'm /
els the successful man to make good
Sc Of his success. The hideOus. emp
z, selfish lives Of the self indulgent
ass are based upon utter lack Of the
,nse Of duty. LIN the education Of q
lild moral teachings should come q
rst; in a child's mental equipment
oral qualities should be first consid- >
ed. BY example. precept, argument q =
I'd through history impress upon your = =
lildren the fact that without a sense =
duty they are unworthy Of the OPP " y
,rtunitles that life offers to men In =.
is world. New York Journal u
Lucky. .
mo use O. talkin'," said Mr.. Erastus =
lnkley, dat brother O. mine is a g
fohfu Iuolv man he ollfc hoe mon.