The Washington herald., 1913-03-16


to people Of a much higher place in life and
in a sense make them his prey. although in
no such disastrous a sense as in the case
where he furnished bad food TO those who
could not help themselves.
Such men as this have a highly mixed
morality. or lack OF any moral sense at all,
combined often with a great ambition which
helps them into many an advancement of a
sort that a truly honest man would scorn.
They pay q price. however. for in reality
they always remain black sheep to the people
whom II Is often their most intense desire
to please. They get the spoils of war. but
rarely any Of the true rewards OF life
II Il such men that fill their lives with
ghosts long before tie full span Of years is
reached Their keenest satisfactions have
10 be Of the passing moment. Even II they
feel no remorse. they yet can get no pleasure
in thinking Of the past. man Of much d.
luted moral sense may be ever so cailous. and
yet have uncomfortable moments when he
has TO think OF the disastrous consequences
TO others his advancements have cost.
At the best It is a nasty thing in a mans
life for him to have to realize that he has
defacef many a fair thing that his hands
have led him TO do things reprehsnstbly i'm
as barbarous as that of those ancient heather
men of might who made skulls the foundation
Of their dwelling place because they were
utterly without what civilization calls moral
feelings There will be many a eaartng skull
IN such a mans hfe. and II IS likely to face
him or shine over his head when he Is trying
hardest to he - nice to be a somebody.
&
Futile Attempts to Win Respect.
There Is no more futile and often no more
arduous effort than that which some OF these
men make TO set themselves right and 10 win
the high respect Of men Not long ago man
Of essentially vulgar Efe, with none Of the
refinement that a truly moral life brings.
summoned to hin-his money had brought
him a place from which he could issue com
handsome who was fearless free lance
among writer's. This writer went tearlessly.
although he knew that he had offended the
man of great place. The man OF power. in
stead OF being fearless, WAS too fearful to
chastise him.
On the great mans desk lay the article
with glaring headlines. which spoke the tru,
about himself II defined something that he
could not DO. although no man ought to hold
the place his money and not his worth had
bought him having such a disability. There
Is nothing SO essential to the position he
nOlCS as the thlnS tndt is 50 utterly DeNpnG
him. He knows IT. He would co his duty II
he could. for through the doing he could best
make the display of the millions he possesses
HIS lack Of moral guide. while It may not
have lead him TO do things reprehensibiy I'M
moral, has shut him cut eternally from the
privileges that a highly honest but yet unre-
fined man might enjoy.
There are no more really wretohed men in
he fhap u-hO oh aip .t,F 20
success. They can no more fill a great posi-
ton than a skeleton in armor can fll his
space. They can get but the shadow Of what
they desire: the substance they never can
have.
There Is nothing so sensitive in this world
as human relations. A man who does not At
himself for these by building his life on the
fundamental moralities of the world is as
genuine an outcast as though he had been
driven out from society like a leper. His
tragedy is that he must remain where his real
isolation is emphasized by his exclusion from
what he most desires. He may profess scorn
for those who reject him, but men of this sort
are universally thin skinned They cannot
dispense with the approval Of others espe-
cfally since they really have not their own,
The man who had part and lot in the selling
OF the bad meat processes to scorn the per-
son whose approval he would give his soul TO
secure. No matter how much praise another
may give this latter person he is always
ready with a but" His fastidious instincts
have been smutted by behavior which is
worlds away from the truly fastidious. that
for the thing that might have been his had
his conduct been different he processes TO feel
the utmost contempt. He is thoroughly dis
honest in this profession as in other things.
Matthew Arnold says with terrible sioomi-
ness In reference to moral rules that " the
mass of mankind have neither force OF intel
lect enough to apprehend them clearly as
ideas. nor force Of character enough to follow
them strictly as laws"
This seems hard saying, but 1t is undoubt
edly true that mems moral lapses begin and
often become habitual before their intelli-
gence has gained force or power, and so their
characters have been undermined before
truly formed. But 'it is never too late to
mend ones morals. If there is the slightest
will to do so.