Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1905-06-01

The secret of moral ascendency rests
with those who rule with simplicity.
They soften by the spirit the harshness
Of the fact. Their authority Is not in
shoulder straps, titles or disciplinary
measures They make use Of neither
ferule nor threats, yet they achieve ev-
erything. Why2 Because we feel that
they are themselves ready for every
thing That which confers upon man
the right to demand Of another the sac
rifice of his time, his money, his pas
sions, even his life, Is not only that he
IL resolved upon all these sacrifices
himself, but that he has made them In
advance. In the command of man
animated by this spirit of remuneration
there is n mysterious force which com
municates itself to him who is to obey
and helps him do his duty.
In all the provinces Of human actlvi-
ty there are chiefs who inspire,
strengthen, magnetic their soldiers;
under their direction the troops do
prodigies. With them one feels himself
capable OF any effort, ready to go
through fire, as the saying has 1t, and
II he goes II is with enthusiasm.
But the pride OF the exalted Is not the
only pride; there is also the pride Of
the humble-this arrogance Of under
lings, TT pendant to that OF the great.
The root Of these two prides Is the
same. 1t Is not alone that lofty and
imperious being, the man who says,
II am the law," that provokes insur-
rection by his very attitude; 1t is also
that pigheaded subaltcrn who will not
admit that there Is anything beyond
his knowledge.
There, are really many people who
find all superiority Irritating. For them
every piece of advice Is an offense, ev-
cry criticism an imposition, every order
nm outrage on their liberty They would
not know how to submit to rule To
respect anything or anybody would
seem to them mental alteration.
They say to people after their fashion,
Beyond us there is nothing"
To the family OF the proud belong also
those difficult and representative PEG
pie who In humble life find that their
superlors never do them fitting honor,
whom the best and most kindly do not
succeed in satisfying and who 20 about
their duties with the mir of a martyr.
At bottom these disaffected minds have
too much misplaced self respect They
do not know how to fill their place sim
ply, but complIcate their life and that
Of others by unreasonable demands
and morbid suspicious.
When one takes the trouble to study
men ut short range he Is surprised to
find that pride has so many lurking
places among those who are by com
mon consent called the humble. SO
powerful Is this vice that 1t arrives Mt
forming round those who live In the
most modest circumstances n wall
which isolutcs them from their neigh
bors. There they are, intrenched, bar
ricaded with their ambitions and their
contcmpts, Us inaccessible as the pow
erful OF earth behind their arlstocratic
prcjudices. Obscure or illustrious,
pride wraps itself In its dark royalty
of enmity to the human race. 1t Is the
same in misery and in high places
solitary and impotent, on guard against
everybody, embroiling everything. And
the last word about II Is always this
IL there is SO much hostility and ha-
tired between different classes of men
Il Is due less to exterior conditions than
to an interior fatality. Conflicting In
terests and differences of situation dig
bitches between us, il Is true but pride
transforms the bitches into CULTS, and
In reality 1t Is pride alone which cries
from brink 10 brink, There is nothing
In common between you and us!'
We have not finished with pride, but
II is impossible to picture 1t under all
Its forms feel most resentful against
appropriates that. We owe our knowl-
edge to our fellows, as we do our riches
and power 1t is social force which
ought to be OF service TO everybody,
and II can only be so when those who
know remain sympathetically near to
those who know not. When knowl-
edge is turned into tool for ambition
II destroys itself
And what shall we say OF the pride
OF good men? For 1t exists and makes
even virtue hateful. The just who re
pent them OF the evil others do remain
in brotherhood and social rectitude.
But the just who despise others for
their faults and misdeeds cut them
selves OF from humanity, and their
goodness. descended to the rank OF an
ornament for their vanity. becomes
like those riches which kindness does
not inform. like authority untempered