The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1917-08-07

q ing bravely with a smile and song
not with the air Of hidden martyr, we
would keep UP the "morale'-the most
important essential to success-but it is
/ so hard to do.
| Patience is a virtue,
| Catch it If you can.
You'll find it sometimes in mere woman
But never in-rnere man."
Now, whether we have it naturally OF
not, we have got to acquire it now for
of all times wartime is the time for
patience; the men in training, the sol
diers in the camps behind the fighting
line, the boys in the trenches waiting for
the word to advance, all have to prac-
tice patience; but most of all, those at
home who are waiting for news of the
men "at the 'front.' must possess their
souls in patience"
Some people have a very false IDEA
that patience is an attribute which in
dictates weakness, but on the other hand,
it belongs exclusively to the strong; 1t
is the virtue which requires the great
est moral strength and few there be
who possess it.
"All things come to him who waits, .
is an old saying which, while very true
does not really convey much because
waiting alone will not get things for
Won. perseverance must be added to wait
ing to make the perfect combination
fo, either without the other is inef-
fectual.
OF course, there will be those who Will
dissent from this idea and excla1m that
perseverance is quite sufficient, but Is
it? If we go on and on with the most
perfect of "stick-to-it-iveness," but from
time to time getting into fuses. giving
way to storms of Impotence, we fritter
away much Of what we have gained and
slip back a considerable way along the
difficult road we are travelling
1t is a psychological fact that bursts
of temper and Impotence disturb the
workings of our bodies; that constant in
diligence of that kind actually cause dl-
gestive troubles and nobody can do
effective work along any line when
physically unfit. Then, too, each out
burst disturbs the mind, breaks up the
continuity of thought, necessitating con-
siderable effort to bring ones self back
to normal and trudge along the conven-
tional path.
The advice to make haste slowly is
the soundest of sound doctrine, if we
only have the strength to put it into
practice; when we are prone to be car
ried away by our impulses to rush into
new paths, to take up work for which
we are really unsuited, just because the
thing lies next is SO slow and shows
little result is so unspectacular, we
should stop and use a little patience.
Mahomet said that patience is the key
to contentment;" he might, with almost
equal truth, have twisted it around and
said that contentment is the key to
patience.
Some years ago, before the war broke
out, all the more serious reviews, even
those which were professedly nonre
ligious, were remarking the wave of
and consequent unrest
which was swooping over England. Now
we read of the extraordinary return to
the spiritual, that tough "Tommies''
believe that they see the angels fighting
for them, that st. George is visioned rid
ing in their midst, that Jeanne d Arc and
ST Genevieve are with the hosts of
France, and million similar legends;
and simultaneously we may remark tina
instead of the heaving unrest of a few
years ago England is pulling together,
in harmony. enduring privations
without complaint and showing won |
derful example of national patience
If the war teaches us that lesson it |
be nice to the Japs just for virtue |
sake, she has learned in some % years |
relationship that the orientals |
are reciprocative people and that their |
trade and good will are pleasant things |
to have