Bluefield evening leader. [volume] (Bluefield, W. Va.) 1906-1911, 1906-07-25
THE TRUE QUALITY
OF COURAGE.
MANNING POLLOCK THE PLAY.
WRIGHT DiscoCRsEs wIra
CLEvERNEss AND Much
THCTH.

Claiming Pollock. the man who
drrmatixed The Pit" might have
made farle as a writer Of esssNs and
epigrams- had he not gone To novel
writing and play writing Of late
ne has been running series OF clev-
er. but somewhat iconoclastic. arti-
cles in his theatrical magazine. the
Show. This Is what he says on cour-
age
Courage. as Il Is commonly un-
derstood. is quality possessed by
some men and all dogs. Most people
confound courage with fearlessn ess.
This is fallacy. No one can SO
courageous who Is not afraid. 10
credit man with bravery when he
has not been frightened is like prais-
lug woman for being silent when
she was asleep The inability To he
alarmed argues pnly stupidity. and
abundance OF nerve merely absenc,
or nerves. The man who does not
fear was nothing 10 gain by flight
and nothing TO lose by standing his
ground. SO that he deserves respect
neither for not doing the one nor
FOR doing the other
Fearlessness presupposes absence
or imagination and of senslbnitv. The
nearer Il man comes TO being u brute
The farther he is from feeling phys
ical lain. There is no merit in MOI
trying TO escape What cannot effect
one. Nobody would eulogize ships
StewTrd because wasn't seasick.
"A certain commanding officer
/ during the course OF battle accused
his odiutant OF vnwardice You're
scared captain. hc said. You know
YOU are" You bot replied the ad
iutant And II you were as badly
scared as am you'd be ten miles il
the rear
Physical conraee IS the lowest at
tribute OF human Kind The ability {,
face death imperturbably Is not NOR,
characteristic OF heroes than o.
criminals. The men most notable foi
bravery are least notable for brains
John l.. Sullivan once stood i'm rim
two hours while another pugilist bat
'ered his body. No amount of none,
would have induced Keats or Shelle,
TO do that. Either would have beer
lagonized at the thought OF such pun
ishment
Courage was ms essential in tn,
days when every man was his owl
law. II was necessary part OF time
In which the only way TO get tn,
better OF an opponent was 10 brair
him. Now we realize that the use q
the stone bludgeon as primitive Na
ture gave the mule strong hind leg
with which TO do his fighting, becaus,
IL didn't give him any intellect. Mer
who require brute force to get aheac
require it for the same reason.
Much heroism is that In nam,
only If a good swimmer jumps
into the river to rescue drowninf
man he does 1t because he knows n,
can get out again; ~ bad swimmer
does the same thing he does IL be
cause he hasn't sense enough to stol
on the bank There aren't any two
ways about IT, Your life saver +.
sure or his ability or he is a chump.
Certain kinds OF courage are akin
l IN fuQauifv nh, oo,,.,,sa - ....-.-
dom Is ono: martial courago is an
other. Every soldier is terribn
frightened i'm battle until he become,
Indifferent or crazy The braves
soldiers in war arc the NOSE worth
less rapscallions in peace. Anybod,
can be heroic TO music SAYS Bernart
| shaw. The courage 10 rage and xii
Is cheap. I have an English bulI ter
rior who is full Of that brand oi
courage. bat hc lets ms groom thrash
him all the same
The only kind Of courage that
Is real IS The Kind that nobody re-,
Ognizes II Is q stanchness Of The soui
The woman who gives up the lov a
living and settles down 20 face q
barren future with blind father f.
q brave woman The man who work.
day and night and night and da,
FOR the success that evades him IS
% brave man The dlpsomaniac who
gets drunk once year when he
wants 10 got drunk 30 times is r. hc.
rO
"Tho most Courageous man ever
met was soldier ln the army Of
salvador Hc was fghing for hone
less cause. ho knew that his death
would seriously Inconvenience his
old mother he understood the gon-
eral idea NJ cowardico and hc wa.
brave enough 10 run away"