New-York tribune., 1906-07-15
By Bliss Carm a n

ID y u \ ~ d III III
zA SAN
>7s&Sk ~ We
thing was made ready had they hesitated on the
brink of action above all had they lost them
selves in absent musing the moment of their deS-
tiny would have passed them by, and the web
of life would have slipped through their fingers
unmodified by any desire of theirs. Not so
have the efficient masters of fate dealt with
this delicate fabric of existence Their great
desiring crippled by no incertitude nor inde-
CisiOn of mind nor by any fumblng in execution.
For the strong time can be inappropriate,
one age preferable to another. He takes his
place in our modern world as gladly as he would
have in the world of Archimedes, and finds in it
just wide scope for all his powers. He IS too
busy bringing his ideals to pass, to think much of
a fabulous antiquity. 1t is he who will make the
pOmp of emperors ridiculous" and Splendidly prove
the rich sufiCiency of the passing hour. This
morning is a dominion wide enough for all his
dreams of conquest, and this evening will be
too small for his triumphal reward. He graSpS the
SCepter of success with eager a hand ever bar
barian conqueror reached forth above his fellows,
and he has never misgiving about the excellence
and value of the world the delghtfulness of life.
Ancient Heroes Had Help of Gods
A ND yet between ancient and modern heroism
there must always remain difference. To the
men of old it was given to contend against terrOrS
and expressions, always with the fOrtifying COnsOla
ton that the gods to aid them In
large measure that consolation has been withdrawn
from ourselves, and many to-day must carry
on his fight with no ghCstly company to help him,
no unseen captain to approve The cold apprOba-
ton of his lonely conscience must often be the only
sanction he find for hours of unremitting strain
and days of unmeasured endurance. Let grief or
accident or misfortune any disaster fall upon
him, and there is no friendly, attentive palpable
divinity ready with sOlaCe and cheer.
The men who died at Marathon were supported
by friendships with the gods. Anyone of them
may have beheld his protective deity face to face
and received encouragement in living words The
fresh imagination of that youthful age peopled
wood and plain with radiant preSenceS superhuInan
and benign, and derived from these divine appari-
tlOnS daily fund of courage and hope. In that
simple, childish and lovely earth, the gods of war
and love, of harvest and chase and freSide, were
lndubltable and potent to Mans faith relied
upon them and suffered no disluson He might
give all his heart to their worship without reserva-
ton, and be sure of protective guardianship in
return. If doubt asSaied him, it was only of his
own unwOrthIneSS, never of the virtue or recti-
tude of his gods. His strength his valor his sue
cess, were all traCeabe to them; his fate was in
their hands from day dav; and into their keeping
at last his being resigned.
So II was for ages. Only the names and attributes
OF godhead changed with changing races and lands
and times. The integrity of the divine was IN
challenged. Man 5 faith remained undistraCted and
uni1npa1red. Then came knowledge with knowl-
edge came curiosity and the scientific spirit and
skeptlClSm; and with skeptiCism came the r1,+ting
away of myth and fable and much sinDleness Of
heart Until to-day, while faith remains it is
grounded IN the reaSOnabeneSS of truth the faSCina
tlon OF beauty the generous eXuberanCe of the
loving heart rather than IN the atteSted revelations