Year: 1869

From the earliest ages, lack OF
courage has been esteemed a just
cause for scorn, whilst true bravery
has invariably called forth admira-
ton, and oftentimes been the means
of comforting upon its inheritor
such good things Of this earth as
had not otherwise fallen to his lot.
There is, in the present day, as
much respect paid to manly fear
lessncss as in the boasted days of
chivalry, when men went forth to
tourney or Eattle trusting only in
the strength Of their good right arm,
and unaided by that "villainous
saltpetre'' since "digged from the
bowels of the earth" Modern
science has, indeed, changed the
method, but left unaltered the pow
er which actuates and controls the
heroic actions of men.


It would be extremely difficult, if
not impossible, to establish rule,
or set Of rules, that would serve as
a test Of courage. Constitutional
peculiarities, or the defects of an
unfortunate education, would inev-
itably intervene and cause the seal
Of cowardice to be affixed where, in
many cases at least, it was totally
undeserved. A gentleman of my
acquaintance, of undoubted bravery,
cool, prompt, and decided in time
of danger, is thrown into agonies of
terror in the presence of q common
rat! This palpable cowardice
would he ludicrous, in view of its
cause, we've it not for the evident
reality of the distress and abhor-
renee which the sight of the animal
creates in him. Yet 1 have known
the same gentleman to perform
deeds requiring more courage and
nerve, than would have been neces-
sary for the destruction of gener-
alton Of rodents. An unwise and
unjust method of punishment in
youth was the cause of this singular
exhibition Of fear.


Instances can be multiplied be-
yond number, to show that the
causes of terror in one person will
produce no effect upon another. and
vice versa; whilst both may be men
who are, in the true sense Of the
word, courageous. One could
scarcely accuse a man of cowardice,
who, after leading forlorn hope.
should scream at the sight of a
spider.


To those whose minds are more
or less tinctured with superstition,
whatever partakes Of the supernat-
ural, even in the slightest degree, is
apt to produce feeling of timidity
which nothing earthly would be
able to call forth. .....
Some years ago / conceived the
idea, that the remarkable GOODNESS
and absence Of emotion with which
many men face death, might, per
haps, be attributable less to real
courage than to what may be called
a paralysis of feeling-a numbness
of the brain, as it were, that pre-
vents the horror Of the situation
from being rightly appreciated
An event in my own life, lately oc-
curing, has fully convinced me that
there is truth in this supposition
1 shall relate it, leaving my readers
to judge of the merits Of the case.


The winter of 1S-was an exceed
ingly severe one; nothing like il
had been known within the memory
of that reliable authority, the ''old-
est inhabitant.'' Snow whitened
the ground early in the seasons, and
the keen north winds, aided by
frequent flurries of sleet and hail
prevented the rays of the sun from
affecting it materially. 1t was a
hard season for the poor, rendered
doubly so from the fact that the
almost utter prostration of business
had thrown hundreds of working
men out of employment, and driven
many to acts of dishonesty. The
grave penalties of the law lost their
terrors, when compared with the
yet more grave dangers of starva-
tion.


l had been spending several
weeks in small town of western
Pennsylvania, and it was in this
place, on one Of the bitterest nights