The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1909-05-18

force have qualified them to take respon-
sibility and to be leaders of men. 1t is
men OF this kind who inspire the respect
and confidence of those with whom they
are associated and of those over whom
they are placed. They are able to keep
great numbers of men working together
harmoniously, each at his allotted task,
but all working for the successful opera
ton Of a great railway system. One rea-
son why they are able to do this is be-
cause every man on the road feels that
the man at the top knows what to do
and how to do it, and will do it at the
right time. When he took his feet into
battle against the combined French and
Spanish fleets off Cape Trafalgar, Lord
Nelson ran up at the masthead the sig
nal: England expects every man to do
his duty" Every man did his duty be-
cause every man in the fleet knew that
Lord Nelson was doing his duty, and
every one of them was confident that
Lord Nelson knew just what to do and
when to do it.
The boy who is good ball player is not
only one who can hit the ball and hit it
hard, but one who can stand in front of
a liner hot from the bat and take it
without flinching. In other words, he
must have courage. Just as in ball
game, so in anything we do, courage is
essential to success. By courage | mean
not only physical courage, but moral
courage. Some men and boys are so
physically and mentally constituted that
they do not know what fear is in the
sense of being afraid of physical injury
A brave action by such an one entities
him to less credit than should be given
to one who feels fear and yet goes ahead
and does his duty because it is the right
thing to do. This higher type of courage
is illustrated by a story that I read dur
ing the Spanish war about a young lieu
tenant just out of West Point, scarcely
more than boy, who in the absence of
the captain and first lieutenant, was COM
manding his company. Before going into
battle in Cuba he confessed to a friend
that he was very badly frightened, but
he went into the fight at the head of his
men, and no one in the army behaved
more bravely than he Moral courage
such as this is far superior to any mere
physical courage 1t Is the highest type
of human virtue. 1t may be said to en-
brace all the virtues, for the man or boy
who has the courage to do the thing that
is right, simply because it is right will
seldom do anything that is wrong. The
wrong things that he does will generally
be the result of errors of Judgment, but
If he has this moral courage in the very
highest degree he will correct such errors
as soon as he finds out that he was
wrong. You will find out that 1t is often
very difficult for man to admit that he
has made a mistake and that for him to
do so and to endeavor as far as possible
to undo the results of his error often re-
quires the highest form of courage
The man or boy who lives up to the
highest standard of moral courage and
who does right things because they are
right, will not only be industrious in
school and in his work. but will be truth
full and honest He will respect the rights
and property of others. He will neilner
defraud nor injure a felow-man himself
nor will he give his approval to any one
who does so. There are persons who
would not defraud or injure an Individual
and yet would not hesitate to defraud or
injure a corporation. Yet a corporation,
such as railway company, is but an as
ISOLATION of persons-in the eye of the
law it is a person, and its property and
its rights are just as sacred under the
law, and should be held as sacred by all
men, as are the property and rights of
any individual
In your school life you do not find it
difficult to do the right thing when all
OF your fellow-students are doing the
same thing. The difficulty comes, and
your moral courage is tried when you
stand out and refuse to join your fellows
In some boyish prank because it would
be a violation of the rules and would be
wrong If you hold out you run the risk
of making yourself unpopular but If you
stand fast in a manly way you will not
only maintain your own self-respect, but
even some of your associates who may
jeer you will secretly respect you. You
will find it so In after life. You will find
that to do the right thing because 1t is
right, and to advocate right policies be-
cause they are right, will often put you
in opposition to some of your friends and
neighbors and will make you, for the
time, unpopular, but in the end all right
thinking people will admire your cour-
age and even though they may not agree
with you will honor you.
wise man named Seneca, who lived in
ancient Rome many hundred years ago.
writing of this kind of courage, said
"A generous and clear-sighted young
man will take 1t for happiness to rcoun-
ter ill-fortune. 1t is nothing for man
to hold up his head in a calm; but TO
maintain his post when all others have
quilted their ground, and there to stand
upright, where other men are beaten
down--this is divine and praiseworthy."