South American States to Develop along their interest of civilization that the present States in the two Americas should develop along their own lines, and however desirable it is that many of them should receive European own Lines immigration, it is highly undesirable that any of them should be under European control. Ibid. No nation can achieve real greatness if its people are not both essentially moral and essentially manly; both sets of qualities are necessary. It is an admirable thing to possess refinement and cultivation, but the price is too dear if they must be paid for at the cost of the rugged fighting qualities which make a man able to do a man's work in the world, and which make his heart beat with that kind of love of country which is shown not only in readiness to try to make her civic life better, but also to stand up manfully for her when her honor and influence are at stake in a dispute with a foreign power. A heavy responsibility rests on the educated man. It is a double discredit to him to go wrong, whether his shortcomings take the form of shirking his every-day civic duties, or of abandonment of the nation's rights in a foreign quarrel. Morality and Manliness of Two Kinds We need not concern ourselves with the Americans emigré educated man, the American who deliberately takes up his permanent abode abroad, whether in London or Paris; he is usually a man of weak character, unfitted to do good work either abroad or at home, who does what he can for his country by relieving it of his presence. But the case is otherwise with the American who stays at home, and tries to teach the youth of his country to disbelieve in the country's rights, as against other countries, and to regard it as the sign of an enlightened spirit to decry the assertion of those rights by force of arms.-Ibid. What Undoubtedly in every progressive society there must be a certain sacrifice of individuals, so that there must be a certain proportion of failures in every generation; but the actual facts of life prove beyond shadow of doubt that the extent of this sacrifice has nothing to do with the rapidity or worth of the progress. The nations that make most progress may do so at the expense of ten or fifteen individuals out of a hundred, whereas the nations that make least progress, or even go backwards, may sacrifice almost every man out of the hundred.-Ibid. Should It is an evil thing for any man of educa- Education tion to forget that education should in- Intensify tensify patriotism, and that patriotism must Patriotism not only be shown by striving to do good to the country from within, but by readiness to uphold its interests and honor, at any cost, when menaced from without.-Ibid. We are a great peaceful nation; a nation of merchants and manufacturers, of farmers and mechanics; a nation of working-men, who labor incessantly with head or hand. It is idle to talk of such a nation ever being led into a course of wanton aggression or conflict with military powers by the possession of a sufficient navy.-Ibid. A Great Peaceful Nation It is foolish to look at the future with blind and careless optimism; quite as foolish as to gaze at it only through the dun-colored mists that surround the preachers of pessimism. It is always best to look facts squarely in the face, without blinking them, and to remember that, as has been well said, in the long run even the most uncomfortable truth is a safer companion than the pleasantest falsehood.-Ibid. Look Facts Squarely in the Face One's Every decent Englishman is devoted to his country, first, last, and all the time. An Englishman may or may not dislike America, but he is invariably for England and against America when any question arises between them; and I heartily respect him for so being. Let our own people of the partially colonial type copy this peculiarity and it will be much to their credit.—Ibid. Think Whether the future holds good or evil for us does not, it is true, alter our duty in the present. We must stand up valiantly in the fight for righteousness and wisdom as we see them, and must let the event turn out as it may. Nevertheless, even though there is little use in pondering over the future, most men of intelligence do ponder over it at times, and if we think of it at all, it is well to think clearly.-Ibid. The White The whole civilization of the future owes a debt of gratitude greater than can be expressed in words to that democratic policy which has kept the temperate zones of the new and the newest worlds a heritage for the white people.-Ibid. Useless SelfSacrifice The habit of useful self-sacrifice may be Useful and developed by civilization in a great society as well as by military training in a regiment. The habit of useless self-sacrifice may also, unfortunately, be developed; and those who practise it are but one degree less noxious than the individuals who sacrifice good people to bad.-Ibid. of Asceticism All religions, and all forms of religions, in The Harm which the principle of asceticism receives any marked development are positively antagonistic to the development of the social organism. They are against its interests. Ibid. Well Love of order, ability to fight well and Fight Well breed well, capacity to subordinate the in- and Breed terests of the individual to the interests of the community, these and similar rather humdrum qualities go to make up the sum of social efficiency. The race that has them is sure to overturn the race whose members have brilliant intellects, but who are cold and selfish and timid, who do not breed well or fight well, and who are not capable of disinterested love of the community.-Ibid. |