The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1906-06-09
POPULARITY.

ufe, It's wisdom. Public opinion is not
always the voice of truth. 1t some
| times hays the greatest of the race,
and has slain them. 1t cruiefied
Christ. Before Christ it killed So
lcrates, than whom there has not been
a nobler man, soul more reverent, or
a mightier thinker. Theodore Parker
said that one man like Socrates would
be worth more to America than many
of our states. Erasmus reverenced So
crates and expressed a wish that he
might be in the list of saints, "for said
he, II am inclined to exc1aim: Sancte
Socrates, ora pro nobis!" Holy Socrates,
pray for us! Here we have a renoWn-
ed free thinker and a light of holy
church praising the canctity of pag
an! The great crowd Of men might
spause little and take it's bearings.
A man makes measure popular,
or the reverse, He says a thing, and
the world Chambers over barbed-Wire
fences to listen. Elsewhere, and by
other tongues, for ages, the world
may have been told the same ideas,
but it had other business to attend to.
John Stuart Mill, whose writings are
out of fashion in these days, said:
1.-THE dictum that truth always tri-
umphs over persecution is one of those
pleasant falsehoods which men repeat
after one another till they pass into
Icommonplaces, but which all experience
lrefutes. History teens with instances
of truth put down. If not suppressed
it may be thrown back for centuries"
The popular man may rediscover 1t, or
otherwise hit upon it, and then his
state, his country, takes it up, follows
him about with loud acclaim, and gives
him all the credit of inventing what he
had really found ready made. When
the popular man puts the seal upon an
idea, by adopting it, the multitudes
proclaim it as great truth which, by
the action, takes on sort of divinity.
Let an unpopular man champion it, and
the multitude derides both him and it,
or buries under serene indifference.
A greatly popular man is quite as
likely to be a danger as savior to
/ his country, History shows that. But
does anybody read history nowadays?
A greatly popular man often unsettles
things. This is esteemed by many as
a noble achievement-until a crash
comes, and then opinion changes
Constitutions, the business and finance
of a country its institutions, its con-
fidence, these are very easily disturbed
by the popular man. Confidence is the
main thing, and, by destroying popular
confidence In other men and things, the
popular man usurps confidence for him
self. Noise is a great aid to popularity,
noise and extravaganza of manner and
/ language. If any one doubts this, let
him watch Congress and note the men
who always draw and please the
crowds. They are not the brainest
men, not the men Of best judgement.
But they attract. Their very exuber-
ances, which would be weaknesses in
business or in professional life, make
for success in public career. 1t is not
an enduring success, but it serves.
This era is, beyond all others, one in
which the dictum that popularity is
not proof Of truth Is most unpopu-
lar. Our popular men are prophets.
To contradict them is sacrilege. Some
Of the greatest figuers of all time, bene-
factors Of races, would be unpopular
now ewere they to reappear Oddly
enough they did not pose as benefac-
tors, nor as prophets BY common
consent George Washington is revered
above all men who have figured in this
country's history, but if his duplicate
could today appear among our eighty
millions 1t Is extremely doubtful that
he could win an election. And yet Wash
ington was trurer exponent Of liberty
whom the millions have run with en-
thusiasm and confidence
1t is not always those who shout the
loudest that have knowledge of, and
love for, constitutional liberty. And
the most popular men are not always
the strongest, nor have they done the
most for humanity. The most endur-
ing works are usually those of men
who are most appreciated after their
activity or death. 1t is not difficult te
set the crowd cheering Men who have
opportunities to study closely the
popular leaders that come and go know
well the arts by which these men
adroitly play upon the emotions and
imaginations of the many. And that
is why extremely popular men and
movements have to face much criti-
cism, a criticism which is quite as
likely to be inspired by patriotic mo-
tives as in any thunderously applaud
led speech, or dead of great acclaim
Popular men may even, and have, in
fact, done quite as much to restrict
liberty as to enlarge it, to endangel
countries as to save them. The peo-
pie often have such confidence in then
that they do not think for themselves
but are content with following wher-
ever their favorites may lead. From
such excuses there is always reaction
The political history of all countries
abounds with such examples. 1t is after
found shat men who have done mos
for liberty Of conscience and thought
have sacrificed most.
Popularity has placed many weak
men in strong places, and strong mer
men in the wrong places, quite as otter
probably, as 1t has placed them rightly
And popular energies are being con-
stantly expended in the work of find
ing the right men and putting them in
to the right places, and then getting
them out again as soon as possible
These are conditions which no rebuke
can effectively chasten They are in