Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-10-14
DUTY.

Duty lies close to the hand,
Not what we wish or desire,
Not that to which we aspire.
Oft we cannot understand
Why, when abroad in the land,
Full of adventurous fire,
Duty lies close to the hand.
Duty lies close. ito the heart.
Not the fair dreams Of an hour,
Thrilling, compelling in power,
Pleading the world is our mart,
Urging us on to take part,
Crushing life's tenderest flower,
Duty lies close to the heart.
l-LOuIS WINTER, in Town and Coun-
try.
often our line of duty perplexes us,
and so long as we give a hearing to our
desires or out passions it will grow
more and more perplexing, but whenever
we determine to follow duty regardless
of the other things which beset us, we
will secure clear vision and the satisfac-
ton of retaining our ownself-esteem.
l hold that we owe a great deal to
ourselves, our individual self. The AL
mighty has made us all individuals and
while no man liVeth to himself he is the
/ only one man who is absolutely respon-
sible to himself. 1t is the cimplest
thing in the world to understand, be-.
cause we are never required to stand
1 for anothers performance unless we
choose so to do.
No man dieth to himself, yet he is
| likewise able to live to himself as an
individual, and unless he is born feeble
minded he is recognized as a person re-
| SponSible to society and to God for all
the deeds done in the body.
Hence duty is the recognized law for
all honorable and upright persons in
their daily walk and conversation and
with their associates.
Therefore, a mans word is supposed to
be his bond so long as he tells the truth
and stands by his obligations. When
| he gets his consent to cheat and de-
fraud he does a greater injury to him
self, no matter how much he wrongs his
fellow-man, than he does to anybody
else.
! Why? Because he has disobeyed the
call of duty and failed to make good In
his treatment of himself. He has black
ened the man made in Gods image, and
dragged himself down to low degree in
reputation.
Character and reputation differ very
widely in the last analysis. Your char
acter is what you are; your reputation is
what outsiders think you are, and when
you fail in duty to your character, you
may hide ii from your neighbors and
even your family. Nevertheless, you have
failed in the highest duty known to hu-
man kind; in this blackening your own
nature and destroying your respect for
yourself.
Duty is hard, because II is inf1exible.
Theer is but one code of morals for duty,
and that is embraced in one word. hon
esty"
Honesty is the synonym of duty. and
the person who is honest however he
may be MISTAKEN has the right to respect
himself and his own motives.
For instance, read of a man who con-
nived with his business partner to wreck
their business and one agreed to run
away, apparently with the loot, the 9TH
er stayed behind and ran the business
through a bankrupt court. When the
stay-at-home passed through bankrupt
cy, he bloomed out as a Spectator in
real estate. He was full of money. but
absolutely despised by those who knew
the facts
He was a marked man. although he
lived high and sported luxurious living.
Every piece of property that he bought
unto himself was listed with the agents
Of those he had defrauded, and had rob-
bed of their money or effects. Like a
sleuth hound the watch was continually
over his business affairs, and when he
died, they were still on his track, keep
ing up with that ill-gotten money. Loath-
ed and despised those whom he had
wronged and who tracked him never did
him half the harm that he had done to
his own poor self by outraging his duty
to himself