Trench and camp., 1919-01-23


which has become almost a
proverb because, like all
good proverbs, it expresses a
great human truth. This phrase
is "Noblesse Oblige." It meant
once that nobility of station
high social position-imposed on
ats holder certain duties and OBJ
legations, such as mercy toward
others, chivalry toward women,
courtesy toward strangers-in
short, the behavior of a gentle
man, or, as we shorten it, of a
gentleman.
This "noblesse" was that of So
cial station. But there are other
kinds of nobility, that are less a
matter of chance and more last
ing. One of the chief of these is
the elevation of a man that
comes from having discharged
his duty strongly and well in a
noble enterprise. When a man
has risen to the heights of self
forgetfulness and self-sacrifce
that have made him part and
parcel of the eternal forces that
secure right and justice for his
fellow-men, he has laid upon
himself obligations which his
self-respect will never let him ig-
more or forget. When you have
reached the elevation of partici-
patton in a noble enterprise,
many things that were formerly
at your level are now beneath
you, and you would have to de-
scend to return to them.
What are the enterprises that
have ennobled men on earth :?
They are, from the one which
ended on the Cross down through
history to the mission of the
lion-hearted priest to the Lepers'
island, enterprises that called for
suffering and death, but which
have lifted those who suffered
and sacrificed to a position of no
bility from which nothing can
detract.
Their Memory Imperishable
Those Greeks at Thermopylae who
calmly combed their long hair before
the very face of Death, and then died
in throwing back the barbarian wave
from their native land, have lived in
history and song for two thousand
years, and will live on for centuries
to come.
The Roman guard who stood to his
post under the fiery rain from Vesu-
vius, furnishing an example of dis
cipline and composure that quieted
the panic-stricken crowds surging by
to safety, though his name is un-
known, holds an exalted position
among men forever. Wherever his
what Rome" meant.
History is reckoned from one and
another of these great enterprises. In
1892, a GenOese, amidst suffering and
terror-stricken companions, carried
out tremendous enterprise. 1t was
not that he discovered more dirt
anu SJOu0 anu trees on 0drLn Cnau
anyone had ever known about before.
He really opened up for the human
race New World to inhabit, thus
providing the Old World with place
of refuge where oppressed men could
slip away and begin life anew and
unfettered by uncomfortable conditions
Of poverty and unfreedom.
Amidst the sufferings of Valley
Forge, three centuries later, the sol
diers of Washington wrought out an
enterprise that resulted in these Uni
ted States, with all the freedom of
life and thought that first excited the
envy of the world, and then inspired
their imitation.
History Is dated from such enter
prises. Our abbreviations, "B. c."
and "a. d." are merely the dating of
all history from the death of one
great Pioneer, who fought what
looked to be a losing battle, also
but one that turned out to be a re-
sounding victory. We all know that
modern times date from the Discov-
cry of America. Another great date
is 1889, that of the French Revolu-
YT- - "YYWH AATN