Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1904-12-29
CHAPTER V.

| w they call our attention to
some pigeon on the roof Civ
ing food to its little one or some
coachman down in the street who is
abusing his horse Sometimes they
even maliciously propose one of those
alarming questions that put the minds
| Of parents ON the rack; all this to di-
| vert attention from the distressing
| topic fear that In the face of duty
we are big children, and when that is
| the theme seek subterfuges to distract
u.s.
| The first sophism consists In asking
ourselves II there Is such a thing as
| duty In the abstract, or IL this word
does not cover one of the numerous IL
lusions of our forefathers; for duty,
In truth, supposes liberty, and the ques-
ton of liberty leads us into metaphys-
| les. How can we talk of liberty so
long as this grave problem Of free will
| Is not solved? theoretically there Is
no objection to this, and II life were
theory and we were here to work out
a complete system of the universe 1t
would be absurd to concern ourselves
with duty until we had clarified the
subject of liberty. determined its con-
| ditions, fixed its limits,
| But life Is not theory. In this ques-
ton Of practical morality, as in the
others, life has preceded hypothesis,
| and there Is no room to believe that
she ever yields it place. This liberty
| relative, admit, like everything we
| are acquainted with, for that matter
this duty whose existence we question
| Is none the less the basis Of all the
| judgments we pass upon ourselves and
| our fellow men. We hold each other
| to a certain extent responsible for our
deeds and exploits.
| The most ardent theorist, once cut
side of his theory, scruples not whit
,e approve or disapprove the acts of
| ethers, to take measures against his
| enemies, TO appeal to the generosity
| and Justice Of those he would dissuade
| from an unworthy step. One can no
more rid himself of the notion of NOR
al obligation than of that Qf time or
space, and as surely as we must re-
.ign ourselves to walking before we
know how to define this space through
which we move and this time that
| measures our movements, so surely
must we submit to moral obligation be-
| fore having put our finger on its deep
| hidden roots Moral law dominates
| man whether he respects or defies 1t.
See how 1t is In everyday life-each
| one is ready to cast his stone at him
| who neglects plain duty even II he
| aliege that he has not yet arrived at
| philosophic certitude. Everybody viii
I s1y to him, and with excellent reason:
fSir, we are men before everything.
First play your part. do your duty as
| citizen, father, son. After that you
shall return to the course Of your med
itations,"
However, let us be well understood.
! We should not wish TO turn any one
away from scrupulous research into
the foundations of morality. No
thought which leads men to concern
themselves once more with these grave
questions could be useless or indiffer-
ent We simply challenge the thinker
ia ilnd u way to wait TIL he has un-
sarthed these foundations before he
does an act Of humanity, Of honesty
or dishonesty, Of yalor or cowardice.
And most of all do we wish to formu-
late n reply for all the inslncore who
have never tried to philosophize and for
ourselves when we would offor our
II>state OF philosophic doubt in Justifica-
ton OF our practical omissions. From
the simple fact that we are men, be-
fore all theorizing, positive or negative
about duty, we have the peremptory
law 70 conduct ourselves like men.
There Ia no gettinS c,l c..t of it,
Du' ultle knows the resources OF
tbe human heart who counts on the
effect of such reply. 1t matters not
that Il Is itself unanswerable III can
not keep other questions from arising
The sum of our pretexts for eVadlng
duty IL equal to the sum OF the sanas
of the sea or the stars Of heaven.
we take refuge, then, behind duty
that IL obscure, difficult, contradictory
And these are certainly words 10 can
M painful memories. To be man OF
duty and to question ones route, grope
I'm the dark, feel oneself torn between
the contrary solicitations Of conflicting
calls. or, again, to face duty gigantic,
overwhelming, beyond our strength
what is harder! And such things nap
pen. We would neither deny nor con
test the tragedy In certain situations OF
the anguish of certain lives. And yoi
duty rarely has to make itself plain
across such conflicting circumstances
or to be struck out from the tortured
mind Ike lightning from storm
cloud. Such formidable shocks are ex'
ceptlonal. Well for us II we stand
stanch when they comel But II no one
is astonlshed that oaks are uprooted
by the whIrlwlnd, that wayfarei
/, stumbles ut night on an unknown road
or that soldier caught between two
fires is vanquished, no more should ht
condemn without appeal those who
have been worsted In almost superhu
man moral conflicts. To succumb un
der the force of numbers or obstacles
has never been counted disgrace.
SO my weapons are Mt the service OF
those who intrench themselves behint
the impregnable rampant OF duty IL
defined, complicated or contradictory
, But II Is not that which occupies me
today; It Is of plain-I had almost salC
easy-duty that / wish to speak.
We have yearly three or four higl
feast days and many ordinary ones
There are likewise some very great ant
dark combats to wage, but beside these
Is the multitude OF plain and simple
, duties. Now, while In the great en-
counters our equipment Is generally
adequate, 1t is precisely In the LITTLE
emergencies that we are found want
ing. without fear of being misled bJ
a parndoxical form Of thought, | af
firm, then, that the essential thing /
to fulfill our simple duties and exercise
: elementary justice. In general, those
who lose their souls do so not because
they fail TO rise to difficult duty, bu
because they neglect TO perform tina
which Is simple. Let us illustrate this
truth.
lie who tries TO penetrate into th'
humble underworld Of society Is no
slow TO discover great misery. physlca
and moral. And the closer he looks
the greater number of unfortunate
does he discover, till In the end till
, assembly OF the wretched appears e
= him like n great black world, In whos'
| prouan,o fha fndiyfdual and hlg means