The Washington herald., 1910-10-16
SUNDAY. OCTOBER Is. 1910.
WORKING FOR FAME.

Where no one Sau Work ior money ana no one
shall work for fame
But each for the jos OF the working"
We doubt very seriously whether any
man ever deliberately set out 20 do any
work or. indeed, any separate action, just
for the sake OF fame For the bright
eyes OF danger. for money. for the smile
OF approval from loved ones, for ease
these motives are tangible. and a man
might well suffer for any Of them. but
fame
what is the end Of flmeg lis but "a an
certain portion II uncertain paper;
Some lisen il 10 climbing up a hill.
Whose summit like all hills is Lost in vapor:
For this men write speak preach. and heroes xiii
And bards burn what they call their midnight
taper
To have, when the original Is dust
name. Vretched picture. and worse bust"
SO wrote Lord Byron In cynical mood
who, in spite Of his vanlties and his
frailties, yet did some worthy work In
the world, strove vanantly for cause he
believed TO be just; strove without think
ing OF himself at all. and certainly not
at ali Of fame.
II is difhcult 10 conceive Of a man Civ
ing up his life in the hope Of fame
which, after all is largely a matter OF
accidental circumstance trick OF for
tune. As Montaigne pointed out:
ITO what do Caesar and Alexander
owe the Infinite grandeur of their renown
but 10 fOrtune2 How many men has she
eXtingushed i'm the beginning OF their
progress, Of whom we have no knoWl-
edge, who brought as much courage to
the work as they. if their adverse hap
had not carried them down in the first
sally Of their arms? Among so many
and so great dangers I do not remember
10 have anywhere read that Caesar was
ever wounded. thousand have fallen in
less dangers than the least OF these he
went through. \ great many brave ac-
tons must be expected 10 be performed
without witness or one that comes 10
some notice. man is not always at the
top Of a breach or at the head Of an
army in sight Of his general, as upon
the platform. He Is often surprised be-
tween the hedge and the ditch he must
run the hazard OF his life against a hem
ToOst: he must dislOdge four rascally
q Z n
out singly from his party as necessity
arises and meet adventures alone"
How clearly that sets forth what a
matter OF chance this thing of winning
fame Is. Robert Louis Stevenson recalls
the story Of the four British marines
who were left behind on desert island
because there was no more room in the
boat and some had TO be left that others
might be saved. They were soldiers. they
said, and it was their trade, their bust
ness. TO die; and as their comrades pulled
away the four marines stood upon the
beach and gave them parting cheer and
cried. God save the King"
II is for that brave and lofty spirit
these soldiers showed that their names
and their story have been handed down
in history and fame; but we may be
quite sure that when these privates gave
their cheer and faced death with equa-
nimity, they had mighty little thought
or care that We should be writing about
them to-day; nor would il have made
death any less bitter 10 them had they
realized then that their names were to
be enrolled on the list Of the worlds
brave.
II is true that certain Of our heroes
have declared that they strove for fame
Nelson at Trafalgar. with his Give me
victory or Westminster Abbey"' is hardly
so pleasing an historical figure as the
man who, on the Nile. cried. while death
was in the very air, This is warm
work. but. mind you. would not be
anywhere else for thousands No one
can believe that he had fame in his mind
then. He was working Just for the JOY
or the working" There was work to be
done al the battle Of the Nile. and Mel
desert island those four marines found
work TO their hands-and did it with a
cheer on their lips
No; the reason things get themselves
done in this world of ours Is because men
and women want TO do them No one
could drive hero 10 his task-he must
bound toward il, moved by an heroic i'm
pulse and a sense OF Joy. Doubtless
those wretched Grecian slaves Of old who
were forced to fight chained to the seats
Of their galleys fought nobly and WELL
and died gallantly-but If any heroes
were developed in the process history
does not record Aem
Some men have a taste for literature
and they write books and win some small
measure or fame; others have a facility
in conjuring with large sums of money
so that 1t increases 10 a vast fortune, and
they win some sort OF fame thereby. 9th
ers Ike TO paint or carve sculptures. OF
make newspapers. but you may be quite
sure that not one of these craftsmen sets
about his work with any thought OF
fame in his head or his heart.
II Is the work that counts only: whether
that work be lighting or writing or max