The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1912-09-20
DUTY
By EUGENE McSPEDDEN.

Some one has said, | believe, tina
mother, home and heaven are the thret
most beautiful or dear words in the Eng
llsh language. But however deeply W,
may enshrine the love of home anC
mother within our heart of hearts, th'
word duty, it seems to me, should stanC
next to the word heaven in the yocab
ulary of every real man or woman
Behold thy father and I have sough1
thee sorrowing," said Mary. "Wist ye
not, replied Jesus, that I must be
about my Fathers business?" Duty
before mother with Christ. Duty ought
to be the supreme thing under heaven
that appeals to every man. Each man
is born into the world to do but one
thing simply his duty. Every one
that does his duty through life, then,
however lowly his work may be, fulfills
the Creators purpose in creating him,
and consequently is a preeminent sue
cess. The voice of duty, therefore, is
clearly the voice of God, and ought to
be needed at whatever sacrifice of pres
ent pleasure or desire.
AS the voice of duty is that of duty,
her path can lead only to one final goal
that of ones highest blessedness. So
duty, while her voice may sometimes
seem stern and harsh, and her pathway
may often be rugged, is really divine
emlssary that would lead us in ways of
our greatest usefulness here and to our
highest happiness hereafter. Words
worth expressed great truth in these
lines of his splendid ode to duty:
Stern Lawgiver yet thou dost wear
The Godhead's most benignant grace"
But how may one know his duty in
life? A proper sense of moral duties
depends primarily upon proper moral
and intellectual training and develop
ment. The Hindoo mother filings her
infant to the sacred Gangees through
false sense of duty. "Canabalism of
jhe New Zealanders, :" says The Marvel
ous Story Of Man, seems to be a part
of their religious faith. " The natives
If the FIJI Islands believe that it is
heir duty to kill their parents when
hey begin to grow old to deliver them
rom the calamity, as they deem it, of
Id age. We know how all this differs
rom the enlightened and christian ideal l
t moral duty. So it is plain that a cor {
ect sense of duty or moral obligation !
epends largely upon right intellectual G
nd moral culture. Hence the impor- e
'nce ofgiving the young, and even the h
Id, the full advantage of such culture
Among thoroughly enlightened peo- o
e, however, | believe that sense of 81
lty respecting ones life work, or mis- b
on, depends not alone on individual le
lucation, but largely upon natural en- NJ
or gifts. Nearly every civil p'
cd man of fairly normal powers of IL
ind, l think, is especially gifted by Is
lture for some special life work. And ht
nature cannot be at strife with her. IS
If, she is very apt to plant desire in 10
e's consciousness to do precisely that oi
'rk for which she has the better en- an
wed him. The bent of ones mind. lo
ones natural inclination, then, re- '
ectIng his vocation, when supported co
honest intentions, is apt to be very we
e guide to duty. So one is certain tn
be the happiest in doing his duty, pa
der normal conditions. But ones OF
of life may be such, or
demands of the world or friends pal
h upon him, that he cannot follow the
natural desire in choosing his work see
mission without violating his judg- or
ut or conscience as to what seems IT
1t. Then indeed he ought to follow am
science and reason, for certainly. if tho
Y have been properly tutored, they dill
e higher and more directly divine dai
norlty than mere natural desire. her
then indeed may the voice of duty enn
n harsh and unkind, and she may not
lire the sacrifice of much that one TAX,
Is dear, but her reward of self-ap- con
patton, of increasing manhood and shat
power, and of hope for the endless ther
re, may even be greater because of of
sacrifice. But however that may teno
luty once known should be obeyed; from
ler's, as l have said, is the voice of mad
whether she speaks through ma But
conscience or reason. call
} civilized man is born unto the good
to be idle. The idler, whether hum
lper or a millionaire, is a very rest the |
biped in the economy of human exalt
ty. He takes up less room, how shou