The Washington herald., 1909-10-28
A FEW WORDS ON VANITY

From Alexander Smiths Dream Harp
Zach man is the most important thing
/ IN the world 10 himself: but why IS he TO
himself so important? Simply because he
Is a personality with capacities Of pleas
ure, OF pain. who can be hurt, who can be
! pleased, who can be disappointed. who
labors and expects his hire, in whose con-
/ sciousness. In fact, for the time being.
the whole universe lives. He IS. and
everything else Is relative Confined TO
his own personality. making it his tower
/ OF outlook. from which only ne caTSIrvey
the outer world. he naturally enough iorms
a rather high estimate Of its value. of its
dignity Of its intrinsic worth. Thit high
estimate is useful in so far as II Makes
his condition pleasant, and tor rather
our proneness 20 form tive are accus-
toned 10 call vanity.
Vanity-which really helps 10 keen the
race alive-has been treated harshly by
the moralists and satirists 1t does not
quite deserve the hard names it has been
called. Il Undergraduates everything a
man says or does. but II Undergraduates
for useful purpose II It is always an
alloy in the pure gold OF virtue. Il at least
does the service OF an aliOy-makmg the
precious metal workable, Nature gave
man his powers. appetites. aspirations.
and along with these a pan Of incense,
which fumes from the birth Of conscious
ness to its decease. making the best part
Of life rapture. and the worst part endur-
able.
But for vanity the race would have
died out long ago. There are some men
whose lives seem 10 us as undesirable
as the lives OF toads or serpents; yet
these men breathe in tolerable content
and satisfaction. A man receives the
shocks Of life on the buffer OF his vanity.
Vanity acts as his second and bottle
holder IN the worlds prize ring. and il
fights him WELL bringing him smilinelv
up TO time after the fercest knock-down
blows. Vanity is 20 a man what the oily
secretion is TO a bird, with which II
sleeks and adjusts the plumage RULED by
whatever causes. Vanity Is not only IN
strumental in keeping a man alive and in
heart, but, in its lighter manifestations.
It IS the great sweetener Of social ex-
istence. II Is the creator OF dress
and fashion; II is the inventor OF forms
and ceremonies; 90 Il we are indebted for
al our traditions OF clyllity. For vanity
In its idler moments is benevolent, is as
willing 10 give pleasure as TO take II. and
accepts as sufficient reward for its services
kind word or an approving smile. It
delights to bask in the sunshine OF appro-
baton.
As each man is to himself the most I'm
portant thing in the world. each man IS
an egotist in HIS thinking. IN his desires,
in his fears. Il does not, however, follow
that each man must be an egotist-as the
word is popularity understood-in his
speech. But even although this were the
case, the world would be divided into
cyclists. likable and unlikable There are
two kinds Of egotism q triding vain
glorious kind. a mere burning OF personal
incense. in which the man is at once
altar, priest, censor, and divinity; a kind
which deals with the accidents and wrap
pages Of the speaker, his eQuipages, his
riches, his family, his servants, his fur
niture, and array. The other kind has no
faint Of self-aggrandizement.b but is root
ed in the faculties OF love and humor;
and this latter kind Is never offensive,
because It includes others, and knows no
sCOrn Of exclusiveness. The one is the
offspring Of a narrow and administrative
personality; the other Of a large and
genial one