The Washington herald., 1908-04-16
THE oPTIMIST.

The other day the optimist quoted the
lines from Ripling-
And no one shall work for money. and no one shall
work for fame,
and thought about the line has brought
the question whether. after all. any one
does really do his work in the world for
the sake Of fame Il is hard to imagine
"a man deliberately setting out 20 win
fame. For the bright eyes Of one he
loves, for money. for position, for ease
these things are tangible, and a man may
well suffer for their winning, but fame
What is the end Of fameY It's but to fill
certain portion Of uncertain pager.
Some liken it to climbing up a hill
Whose summit, Ike all hills, is lost in yapor;
For this men write speak, preach. and heroes XIII.
Aud bards bum what they cal their midnight
taper.
TO have when the original is dust.
name, q stretched picture and worse bust.
So wrote Byron, who, In spite Of his
many faults. did some work in the
world; strove valiantly for a cause ne
believed to be just, and strove without
thinking Of himself at all. and. certainly.
not Of fame
/ cannot conceive Of a MAJ giving up
his life for the sake of fame, which, at
the best, is largely a matter Of accident
or, perhaps. we had better say of fortune.
As Montaigne pointed out
To Whist TO Caesar and Alexander own the in
nBite grandeur Of their Fenown bat to fortune
Row many men has She extingsished in The BE-
SHINING Of their uTogress Of whom Ee have &c
hhoHledge who brought much courage 10 the
Wofh as they. If their adverse hap had not carried
them on in the first SALLY Of their amst Among
So many and 50 great dangers do not remember
% have anywhere read that Caesar vas even
wounded a thousand have fallen IN less dangers
thaa the least of these he vent through A great
many brave actions must be expected 10 Be per
formed without witness, for one that CONES %
some notice. man is not always al the top q a
breach. or az the head IF an amy in sight of his
ge,sTai as upon the platform. He Is often srTTised
DetEeen the hedge and ditch: he must nIn the
hazard Of his life against a heDroost: he must dis
lodge Tour rascally musketeers out # q barn; he
must Ircs out single from bis party, as necessity
arises. and meet adventures alone.
Thus 1t is that Montaigne points out
70 us what a chance this matter Of glory
or fame is. I mean. Of course. as regards
the individual himself Robert Louis
Stevenson recalls the story Of the four
marines who were left behind on a de-
serted island TO die because there was no
room in the boat They were soldiers.
they said, and il was their business to
die, and as their comrades pulled away
they stood upon the beach, gave three
cheers. and cried. Sod bless the Kingr'
It is for that brave spirit they showed
in the final moment that their names
have been handed down to fame: but you
may be sure that when these privates of
marines gave that cheer and faced death
with eQuanimity they had mighty little
thought that We should be writing about
them to-day. or that death was any the
less bitter 70 them because their names
were enrolled on the list Of the world $
brave
Sometimes the brave men who have
Won fame have declared that that was
their object Nelson at Trafalgar with
his Victory. or Westminster Abbey" is
not so pleasant a hero 20 contemplate
as the man who at the Nile cried, while
men were dying all about him, This IS
warm work. But. mind you. would not
be elsewhere for sands" No cne car
believe he was thinking OF fame then,
There was good work TO be done, and
he was there 70 do il, as even on the
desert island the four marines had work
/ 20 do-to stay behind and die-and die
it with a song in their hearts
No. the reason things are done IN this
world Is because people want TO do them
You could not drive a hero 10 his task
Doubtless those Grecian slaves of old
who fought sometimes chained 10 the
seats OF their galleys, fought nobIy and
well. and died gallantly; but we have not
/ heard Of any heroes among them.
Some people have taste for literature
and they write books and win measure
of fame; others have a facility in Jug,
Cling money about Sc that il increas ses
10 vast sums and they win some sort OF
fame thereby. others like 70 paint or dC
sculpture or make newspapers, but yoJ
can be quite sure that none of these set,
about his work with any thought Of fam,
in his head or heart It is the work tha'
counts only. whether that work be fght
ing. or writing, or making love! The de
sire and the determination to do is IN,
only road 70 fame and the work Is nor,
Important than the gQaIl