Mexico Missouri message., 1905-05-11
Copyright, 1901, bu Mcclure, Phatps q Co.

One must have lived in schools, In
workshops, in the army, in government
offices, he must have closely followed
the relations between masters and
servants, have observed n little every
where where the supremacy of man
exercises itself over man, to form any
idea Of the injury done by those who
use power arrogantly. OF every free
soul they make slave soul, which is
tD say the soul of n rebel. And it ap-
pears that this result, with its social
disaster is most certain when he who
commands is least removed from the
station Of him who Obeys. The most
implacable tyrant is the tyrant himself
| under authority. Foremcn and over
secrs put more violence into their deal
lnGs than superintendent and employ
Crs. The corporal is generally harsher
than the colonel. In certain families
! where madam has not much more cd
ucation than her maid the relations be-
tween them are those of the convict
and his wardcr Anl woe everywhere
to him who falls into the hands Of q
subaltcrn drunk with his authority!
We forget that the first duty of him
| who exercises power is humility.
Haughtiness Is not authority. IT is not
we who are the law; the law is over
our hEuls. We only interpret it, but to
make It valid in the eyes Of others we
must first be subject to it ourselves.
To command and TO obey in the society
OF men are, after all, but two forms of
the same virtue-yoluntary servitude
If you are not obcyed, It is generally
because you have not yourself obeyed
! first.
The secret Of moral asCcndency rests
with those who rule with simplicity.
They soften by the spirit the harshncss
of the fact. Their authority Is not in
shoulder straps, titles or disciplinary
measures. They make use of neither
ferulc nor threats, yet they achieve cv-
crything. Why? Because we feel that
they are themselves ready for every
thing. That which Confcrs upon man
the right to demand OF another the sac
riiice Of his time, his money, his pas
sions, even his life, is not only that he
Is 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 Il mysterious force which COM
municatCs itself TO him who is to obey
and helps him do his duty.
In all the provinces Of human actiyl-
~ there are chiefs who inspire,
strengthen, magnetic their soldiers;
under their direction the troops do
prodigics. With them one feels himself
capable Of any effort, ready to go
through fire, rs the saying has it, ana
If he goes it is with enthusiasm.
But the pride of the exalted is not the
only pride; there is also the pride of
the humble-thls arrogance Of under
lings, fit pendant TO that OF the great.
Tho root of these two brides is the
same II Is not alone that lofty and
impcrloUs being, the man who SAYS,
Il am the law" that provokes insur-
rectlon by his very attitude; it is also
that pighcaded subaltern 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
an outrage on their liberty. They would
not know how TO submit to rule. To
respect anything or anybody would
seem TO them a 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 supersensitlye peo-
pie who in humble life find that their
superiors never do them fitting honor,
whom the best and most kindly do not
succeed In satisfying and who go about
their duties with the air 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 at 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 It arrives at
forming round those who live in the
most modest circumstances a wall