The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1903-08-27

II NR. G. B. NJ, a breezy advocate
M Of noise, has lately attempted
Hv to prove that patriotism
founded on the love of truth
and justice is greatly inferior to pa
triotism engendered by ebullient en-
thusiasm-emotional insanity, If you
please. He falls into. 80 many errors
that to comment upon them severally
in writing, would require reams OF pa
per, and far more time than is at my
disposal Both his premises and his
conclusions are faulty, and his chain OF
reasoning is as full of flaws as partly
decayed and insect inhabited trunk OF
q tree is full of holes. He indulges in
personal abuse, which, but for one
thing, would leave unmentioned alto
sether: He charges me with pessimism
which charge is altogether unwar-
ranted. am an optimist, and don't
care euss who knows it. In my opti-
mistic views / 60 to such an extremity
rs to try to convince myself there is
hope even for Mr.. NJ, and that before
the number of years have passed over
his head that are accredited to Methu-
selah of old, he will have learned to be
fair-minded, and to think straight. Of
course. am not so obtuse as to fail to
perceiye the almost immeasurable dis
tanee between his present and the
wished for condition of mind-but let
ms hope for the best!
Mr.. IA. begins his article by calling
our aJtenJiOn tU tue fact tilat noisy,
clustering patriotism (9) is excusable
ON the ground that it is tribute to
the glorious lives of such men as
Washington, Jefferson, Franklin, Ad-
ans and Lincoln. Let us ask: Were
these men noisy patriots? Did they,
with heads tilted back, with vanity de-
picted on their countenances, strut
aboutIike cocks on dunghills, shouting
~We are it"? Did they belittle other
nations OF exalt their own regardless OF
truth? Is it not rather fact they
were more given to pointing out their
eountry's faults, and to rectifying those
faults, than to exaggerating their eoun-
try's virtuesY Does not history teach
as they were men of humbleness OF
spirit and free from vainglOrious
boasting? And If we mean to honor
the memory of these true patriots
would it not be well to initiate them
and walk in their footsteps? Patriots
of their type are not ruled by mob en-
thusiasm: loyalty to truth and honor
desire for the common good of all; anc
determination to bring about the ma
tion's lasting welfare, are charateris
ties of the noble, single-hearted patriot
And the staggering braggart wht
dares not give expression to the little
truth there is in his moral makeup
who considers his country great be
cause HE happens to live in it, can NJ
more understand the spirit of true pa
triotism, as manifested in the saying
and doings of the five great men abov'
mentioned, than can the Carib; who Cal
count upto ten only, understand tn
mental process by which astronomer
calculate the parallax of star.
Leaving unnoticed fine display o
pyroteehnic abuse of the writer, W
next come to that part of Mr.. M
learned dissertation in which he dc
grades patriotism to the level of th
most sordid commercialism. Mr.. N
seems to think-if he thinks at al
which is doubtfui-that the very quir
tessence of patriotism is reached whe
we advertise our country as a me-
chant advertises the excellencies Of hi
wares. Shall we parade our virtues b.
fore the eyes of admiring, or enviou
nations, and at the same time CAREFUL
hide all our faults from them-thr
representing ourselves as differer
from what we really areP Or shall v
adopt the methods Of quacks, who u.
vertise their nostrums in every avail
BILE paper and magazinep Or would
suit Mr.. Ms notion of patriotism be
ter If we stoop to the means adopte
by the aGet Rich Quick advertiser