The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1916-08-18
FRENCH DECLARE MENTAL DE-
vELOPMENT HAS NOT LESS
ENED BRAVERY.
HEROISM SHOWN In WAY
Soldiers Of To-day Are Just as OAR
ING as Were the Heroes of
Antiquity.

andeT fire has drawn some INTEREST,"
ing contributions from DR.. Charles
Richet of the French Institute, and
the Able Moreaux, director of the
Borges Observatory.
DR.. Richet is of the opinion that
fear and courage must be considered
separately, that the former exists in
certain temperaments alongside the
latter, that man may be unable to
control the terrifying effect of a
dangerous situation upon his physi-
cal faculties and yet stand his ground
in the face of almost certain death
through the exercise of his will.
These men he considers the bravest
Of all. I'D
Among the soldiers who hold their
ground under murderous fire there
are always some who are afraid and
others who are not, says DR.. Richet,
but all prove their bravery by still
being there; the towards have
ded.
Considering the whole war, taxi
ing into account the atrocious feat
ures that have developed here and
there, and with all allowance made
for occasional weaknesses, DR.. Rich
ct considers that the soldiers have
shown heroism that justifies a great
deal of pride on the part of the pres
ent generation, in spite of the belief
that seemed to- prevail before the
great, conflict that intellectual de-
VeIopment, with progress in science,
letters and arts, while ennobiing
the mind, had diminished personal
courage.
Tho question was frequently dis
cussed as to whether the delicate
and subtle culture of later years was
not going to produce a tame-spirit-
ed and effeminate generation, pre-
rerring welIbeing to arduous effort
aud Incapable of comprehending the
beauty of sacrifice. 1t is exactly the
contrary that has been demonstrat-
sd, according to DR.. Richet; the most
cultivated and refined of the young
men of France and Great Britain hav-
ing been those who have shown the
greatest bravery. Students of the
Sorbonne and other French universe
ties, students of Elton, oxford and
Cambridge. set the example.
Ranks With Ancient Heroes.
These are the men, DR.. Richet
says, who have shown most courage
In its simplest form; that is to say,
BY supreme contempt for death, and
that contempt, he concludes, is not
the result of philosophical refec-
ton. bur is simply the spontaneous
manifestation of inherent bravery.
Never, even among the heroes OF
antiquity in the times of Leonidas,
Spartacus or Hannibal, according to
DR.. Richet, was there shown so
much of this kind of abnegation and
so much tranquil self-sacrifce-su-
preme courage-as in the present
conflict.
As to the men who are naturally
braverand take supreme risks without
recurring an effort of the will to
overcome fear, DR.. Richet gives diff
ferent reasons, the first of which Is
that some of them do not believe in
danger; they imagine that they are
lnyulnerabIe-tha they have a
ldcky star; that they are surround
I'd by sort of optimistic fatality that
gives them a feeling of security. In
other cases these naturally brave
men, even when they believe in dan
ger. are not inundated by 1t be-
cause they have in their own minds
already made the sacrifice of their
life; ouce that conclusion reached
10 die or to be wounded is something
that does not torment them.
others, and perhaps the great ma
iority, are neither those who believe
In their lucky star; they are men
who see before them other more
powerful images than that of death,
SUCH dA the ldlutIldhuB oSilHC VI u@ty'
If nonOr, renown of the regiment,
ambition to earn praise or promotion,
pride at being admired by ones COM
rades and shame at being taken for
a coward. In nearly all these cases
the idea of death and danger disap-
pears and the soldier is brave with
out effort. He forgets every risk
rhat he is taking in the presence of
ghe image that he has in his mind.
Solitude Test.
The number of these naturally
brave men is notably larger in day
light and in the presence of com
handing officers and comrades than
at night on sentry duty or on soil
tary missions that no witness will be
able to recount. Men who acquit