Gloucester County Democrat., 1905-02-02

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 it, and
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 this arrogance of under
lings. fit pendant to that of the great
The root of these two prides is the
same. 1t is not alone that lofty and
imperous being the man who says,
Il am the law" that provokes insur-
rection by his very attitude; it is also
that pigheaded 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 adyice 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 othe family of the proud belong also
those difficult and supersensitive 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 martyr.
At bottom these disaffeeted minds have
too much misplaced self respect They
do not know how to fill their place sim
ply, but complieate their life and that
OF others by unreasonable demands
and morbid suspicious
Wien 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
which isolates them from their neigh
bors There they are, intrenched, bar
ricaded with their ambitions and their
contempts. as inaccessible as the pow
erful of earth behind their aristoeratic
prejudiees. 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 iInpotent. on guard against
everybody. embroiling everything And
the last word about it is always this:
If there is so much hostility and ha-
/ tired between different classes of men
| it is due less to exterior conditions than
to an interior fatality. Conflicting in
terests and differences of situation dig
! bitches between us. it is true. but pride
transforms the bitches into CULTS, and
in reality it is pride alone which cries
from brink to brink. There is nothing
in common between you and u.s.
We have not finished with pride, but
it is impossible to picture it under all
it's FORMS feel most resentful against
it when it NEEDLES with knowledge and
approprates that We owe our knowl-
edge to our fellows, as we do our riches
and power. 1t is a social force which
ought to be of service to everybody,
and it can only be 50 when those who
hllOM IGti4A4H DCNk "
those who know not When knowl-
| edge is turned into a tool for ambition
it destroys itself
And what shall we say Of the pride
of good men? For it 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 off 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
by the spirit of obedience. Like proud
wealth and arrogant power super
cilious virtue also is detestable. 1t
! fosters in man traits and an attitude
provocative Of know not what The
sight of it repels instead of attracting,
and those whom it delgns to distin-
guish with its benefits feel as though
they had been slapped in the face.
To resume and conclude. it is an error
to think that our advantages, what
ever they are, sheuld be put to the
service OF our ranity. Each Of them
constitutes for aim who enjoys it an
obligation and not reason for vain
glory Material wealth, power, knowl-
edge. gifts of the heart and mind, be
come so much cause for discord when
they serve to nourish pride. They re
main benefcent only 50 long as they
are the source of modesty in those who
I possess them.
Let us be humble if we have great
possessions. for that proves that we
are great debtors. All that man has
he owes to some one. and are we sure
of being able to pay our debts?
Let US be humble if we sit in high
places and hold the fate of others in
our hands. for no clear sighted man
aan foil +o l.n sa11Silain af l1nfitnpSS for.