charles wagner - courage (1903)

7/27/2019 Charles Wagner - Courage (1903)

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The original of this book is inthe Cornell University Library.

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http://www.archive.org/details/cu31 924029201 007


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Cornell University LibraryBJ1533.C8 W13 1903Courage by Charles Wagner.

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COURAGEBY m;M:LL

CHARLES WAGNER\AUTHOR OF " YOUTH

^

NEW YORKDODD, MEAD AND COMPANY

1903


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Copyright, 189^,By Dodd, Mead and Company.

All Rights Reserved.

Kntonsitg ?3tes8:John WitsoN and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A.


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FOREWORD.After having read my book called "Youth"

some of my friends, chiefly young persons, re-quested me to write a shorter work on the samesubject; one which could easily be carried aboutand read, and which, above all, should contain afew necessary suggestionsfor a working ideal.

In theface of such a demand it was not possi-ble for me to offer as an excuse the trouble itwould give me. While trying to do what wasasked of me, however, Ihave endeavoured to repeatmyself as little as possible. The present volumeis not, therefore, a summary of" Youth.^' It is anew work, which has its individual characterand aim. T trust it may receive as warm a wel-come as its predecessor.

C. W.


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TO MY YOUNG READERS.

I KNOW you as if I were yourself, Ihave only to close my eyes to see myselfat your age, living, hoping, seeking, lov-ing, erring. Think, then, when you open,this book, that you are meeting a friend afew years older than yourself. He is likeyou, only somewhat more mature and witha wider horizon. He is so interested inyou that he would gladly become, at in'tervals, the table at which you write, theanvil on which you strike, the tree be-neath which you rest to think or weep, inorder to penetrate more profoundly intoyour mind.

These lines are not written for any par-ticular class of young people. I havesought to speak of those things which are


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viii TO MY YOUNG READERS.common to all, being day by day moreconvinced that the nature of man is every-where identical. However, I have notbeen able to avoid thinking rather moreespecially of those whose morning wasgloomy and whose youth was hard.

Goethe declares in his idealised historyof his life that " what we desire in ouryouth we possess abundantly in our oldage." An astonishing saying, and onewhich seems inconsistent with truth ; butif we look at it more closely, such is notthe case. Man, indeed, applies himselfwith ardour to the pursuit of that whichhe desires ; and, whether his ambition benoble or the reverse, it is seldom that hedoes not end by fulfilling it, in part atleast.Our life is eventually stamped by our

ideal. No one, therefore, can watch thetendency of his desires too carefully.What we most often lack in youth is theknowledge of what it is wisest to desire.To wish for vain things is to take a will-


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TO MY YOUNG READERS, ixo'-the-wisp for our guide along the road.How many of us have wandered in thisway after these uncertain lanthorns, whichpromised happiness and but led us intothe swamps!

I should like to make you desire thethings that are real, that are worth beingloved and acquired by stress and toil ; andamong all these things there is nothing tobe compared with force. Force is itself avirtue; and by virtue I understand everypower that excites in us intenser life, andjoy, and hope.The history of ancient Greece tells us of

a young man brought up among women,dressed in the garments of women, fromwhom, by reason of their timorous solici-tude, they sought to hide the fact that hewas a man. But one day the trumpet callto war was sounded in his presence. Atonce all the artificial trappings of hiseffeminate education fell, and his true soulstood revealed. Our every-day existenceoften has the effect of making us forget


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X TO MY YOUNG READERS.who we are. It smothers us, according toour lot, beneath sparkling gewgaws or sor-did rags, either of which are unworthy ofus. But there are calls which awake thesoul ; may this book accomplish this pur-pose for you !

I should like to sound in your ears aclarion call that would fire your heart. Ishould like to reveal to you a vision offorce, of benevolence, of consecrated man-liness, after which it would be impossiblefor you to be satisfied with enervatingpleasure, or to give yourself up to barrendiscouragement. Let us hope that mywish may be fulfilled, both for your ownsake and for the sake of those who loveyou ! And now I pray for inspiration andpower from on high, that I may be grantedthe power to speak to you the word oflife.

C. WAGNER.All-Saints Day, 1893.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.HOW TO ACQUIRE FORCE.

To live ; that is the great thing. In order to live well,one must have above all a good store of energy.The vanity of other advantages in the absence ofenergy. The pre-eminence of moral force over allother force. Physical courage and soul courage.Moral power the object of both our admiration andregret ; it is the thing we are most lacking in . 21-29

CHAPTER II.THE VALUE OF LIFE.

In order to attain moral power we must go to thesources whence it springs. The object of this bookis to point out some of these sources. The ideal ^one forms of life is one of the most important fac-tors. A respect for life is a source of power. Manacquires greater resolution in proportion as he dis-covers his capacity and sees clearly his goal. Eachone of us is a hope of humanity, a hope of God ; andour object is to become a power that makes for jus-tice. The essential dogma is to believe in life ; thegreatest heresy consists in a lack of hope . . 33-42


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xii TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER III.OBEDIENCE.

Obedience is essential in order to appreliend the ob-ject of life. It is a source of moral force. Misun-derstanding on the subject of obedience. It is notservitude: it is the mother of liberty. The partthat tradition and authority play in the beginningof life. The law, external at first, and then foundto reside within one's self. Liberty consists in as-sociating one's will with the law whjch is at the bot-tom of all things. Blind obedience and respect forthe individual conscience. Impersonality of con-science. Voluntary service. This is the proclama-tion of solidarity, and its most powerful instrument.Resignation 43-SS

CHAPTER IV.SIMPLICITY.

The aim of a vulgar ambition is to separate one's selffrom the whole in order to conquer a privilegedplace for one's self. This ambition is the source ofweakness and abasement. There is another ambi-tion, and the only noble one, which results from theconviction that human progress consists in growingbetter. He who knows this remains simple. Truegrandeur is for him something within himself. Be-lieving that our strength comes to us from our roots,he remains in contact with the robust life of thepeople 59-66


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TABLE OF CONTENTS, xiii

CHAPTER V.THE INWARD WATCH.The r61e vigilance plays in the world. The enemy:

it is everything that weakens life, and hinders usfrom becoming what we ought to be. False secur-ity. The evil within us : each one carries withinhimself a power that can destroy him. The strug-gles of the soul; their necessity. Vigilance in-creased by a sense of responsibility. We are notalone to be considered. Each one is the guardianof his neighbour's interests.

The inward judge. Men of conscience, and men wholive for the gallery. Retirement and prayer. Lostbattles. The vanquished and the wounded. Clem-ency and pardon. To have been conquered is alsosometimes a source of strength 69-78

CHAPTER VI.HEROIC EDUCATION.

Nihil mirari. Admiration, and the spirit that carpsand mocks. We live by respect, and we die byscoffing : let us drive out the scoffer

Heroes : their role of pioneers and beginners. It isthanks to their enthusiasm that their influencereaches us.

The power of example.Obscure heroism. If the pessimists are right, societywould have been shipwrecked long ago. The goodof which we are not cognisant counterbalancesthe evil which we know only too well. Seek thegood! 81-91


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xiv TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VII.DIFFICULT BEGINNINGS.

Youth which suffers. Difficulties of the material andspiritual order. The school of poverty; what itteaches us. Those who have suffered and strug-gled are the strength of the world. The dangersto which a too easy youth is exposed. Voluntarypoverty 95-108

CHAPTER VIII.EFFORT AND WORK.

Man fears effort as if it were an enemy, when it ishis best friend. Effort is not only a sign of life,but a source of life.

Work. Grave mistakes on the subject of work. Itmust not be considered only as a means of liveli-hood, or as marketable article. Fatal consequencesof the mean ideas prevalent on the subject of work.Work is the organ by means of which man assimi-lates life in the largest sense of the word. Thosewho do not work shut themselves off from life.Cherished work. Fac et spera 111-124

CHAPTER IX.FAITHFULNESS.

Chaotic lives: lost lives. Let us have unity in ourlives. The perpetual temptation offered by cir-cumstances. A struggle for stability. Man is atraveller who yearns for his native land.


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TABLE OF CONTENTS. xvSteadfast characters and fickle characters. The lov-

ers of change. The depreciation of a man's word.Honesty. Sunday morality and every-day morality.Duplicity of life 127-137

CHAPTER X.GAIETY.

The radiance of good. Dismal morality. Throwaside all air of gloom. Courageous gaiety and itstriumphs. The successless work of the sulky 141-148

CHAPTER XI.MANLY HONOUR.

Is honour a different thing for men and women ? Weare pleased to believe that honour for a man con-sists, above all, of courage ; and for this reason Ibeseech him to remain pure. Respect for himselfis a school of energy. Despite the difficulty itpresents, chastity is the only acceptable ideal. Dif-ference between monachal chastity and the chas-tity I would recommend. We must not despiseNature, but follow her and respect her. Thesources of life are confided to the guardianship ofman. Noblesse oblige. Love is the brother ofcourage. Any deed contrary to true love is sulliedwith cowardice. True love is the source of strength,joy, and poetry 151-161


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xvi TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XII.THE FEEBLE.

The social function of the infirm : they are a perpet-ual reminder of the brotherhood of man.

The feeble stand as an eloquent protest against theright of the strongest, and refute this right. Thepower of the unarmed. The strong confoundedby the weak.

The feeble one masters in the knowledge of suffering.You who are strong go and take lessons of him.

The feeble as comforters. In suffering lies the sal-vation of the world 165-173

CHAPTER XIII.FEAR.

Barbarism and refined civilisation are the chosenmilieu of fear. Fear is the basest slavery. Thosewho take advantage of fear.A morality founded on fear. The fear of conse-quences is the beginning of immorality.

The fear of ridicule.The struggle against fear. Its kingdom is within us.Means to combat it. Small means. Great means.Love is the secret of true courage. He alone knowshow to live and enjoy life who is ready at all timesto sacrifice himself through love 177-189


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TABLE OF CONTENTS. xvii

CHAPTER XIV.THE STRUGGLE.

Concerning the use of energy. To live is to act, andto act is to struggle. There are various kinds ofstruggles. The struggle for existence cannot be thelaw of humanity, because the object of humanity isnot existence, but justice. A man makes his great-est struggle for his greatest good.

War. Very different meanings of this word. Wecan neither entirely approve of it, nor entirely con-demn it.In the fullest meaning of the word, the struggle will

last as long as the world endures. The beauty ofthe struggle for justice. Its dominant character-istic is loyalty. Down with the weapons of cun-ning ! A loyal conflict is one of the most strikingforms of collaboration 193-206

CHAPTER XV.THE SPIRIT OF DEFENCE.

Defence is not a right, but a duty. Vengeance anddefence. Just defence is impersonal.

Non-resistance. Christ as interpreted by Tolstoi.What we must think of the word: do not resistevil. It indicates the spirit of defence ; but Christhimself did not interpret it literally.

The arms of gentleness.Those who say: "Let us mind our own business,""Do unto others as you would they should do unto

you."Defence of the weak, the absent, and the dead 209-221


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xvili TABLE OF CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVI.THE HEALING POWER OF BENEFICENCE.

A helpful energy. Those who wound, and those whoheal. The tradition of pity on earth. We mustlearn this tradition when we are young. Youth andsuffering. The consoling power of youth. Begood, my child 225-231

CHAPTER XVII.SURSUM CORDA.

What a man is 235-237


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HOW TO ACQUIRE FORCE.


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Those who live are those who struggle ; are thoseWhose high resolves fill soul and eyes ; who, urgedBy noble destiny, ascend the slopes,Or walk with pensive mien, absorbed in hopesOf ends sublime, having before their eyesSome holy task or some great love to serve.Victor Hugo.


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COURAGE.CHAPTER I.

HOW TO ACQUIRE FORCE.The chief concern of every living creature is

to live. To live as well, as fully as possible,is our primordial instinct, the eternal springwhich is hidden beneath all our fleeting aspira-tions. It is the motive power which drives theworld. Everything obeys it: the blade of wheatpiercing through the earth, and greeting the sunfor the first time; the little chicken just freedfrom the shell ; the child opening its young soulto the influences of life on every side. It is truethat man sometimes says that life is an evil,and that it would be better if it were not. Thisdoes not hinder the continuance of life; thisdoes not stop the great invisible impulse whichmakes for existence ; this does not destroy the


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22 COURAGE.germs of the earth, nor the prodigious fecundityof the ocean. Life is : this is the chief fact ofthe universe ; and the vast majority of beingsnot only accept it, but cling to it with transportor despair.

It is not enough, however, to live. From onepoint of view it is even a matter of indifferencethe important thing is to live well. The ques-tion of living well or badly does not exist forthose creatures who are guided by vague in-stincts, and who could not do otherwise thanthey do. On the other hand, this question isof paramount importance to man. An ant isan ant because it was born so; it fulfils itsfunction, does its work, and occupies its place.It requires something more than to be born tobecome a man. For the man, his birth is butthe beginning of a long and laborious develop-ment; and the development depends in parton himself, on the end which he has in view,on the enterprises which he undertakes. Inconsequence, there comes a time for each of uswhen it is well for us to consider what ends weshould pursue, and how we should make use ofthe life we have received. Otherwise we run


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HOW TO ACQUIRE FORCE. 23the risk of losing it, or of dissipating it at ran-dom; and this cannot be a matter of indiffer-ence to any one. In reality, each man giveshis life and expends his vitality for the thingthat seems to him worth the while. He shouldbe disposed, therefore, to enlighten himself ona point so important to him as this : " What isthe thing which is of greatest value to man?"In order to live well, what must one possessbefore everything else? As for me I do nothesitate to reply that the most important thingto acquire is force ; and that a man needs powerabove all things in order to live.One may have bread to eat, amusements, joy, one may possess every advantage of fortune

and of person : without force one becomes theplaything of circumstances, the slave of thebread one eats, of the woman one loves, of thewealth that one possesses.One may have intelligence and penetration,

profound knowledge of men and things: with-out force his learning renlains unprofitable, andhis best idea but an unproductive seed.One may have a conscience to distinguish

subtly between good and evil : without force we


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24 COURAGE.leave the world to the wicked, government tothe unjust, and all our conscience only servesto make us sigh over the evils we are powerlessto attack and to overcome.On the other hand, you may be poor, de-

prived of amusement, disinherited by natureand fortune: with force you will transformthese evils into good, these hardships intoadvantages, these enemies into allies. Youmay have but a limited education and smallacquaintance y/ith men and things: with forceyou will know how to make use of this rudi-mentary knowledge, and you will put intopractice what little you know; you will ap-ply the whole of your earnest life to the reali-sation of a few ideas which the curious andsubtle would have pondered for a morn-ing, and then abandoned only to dally withothers. And, thanks to these few principlesfollowed with perseverance, you will makeyour impression like the Macedonian pha-lanx, which, though small in number and sim-ple in equipment, conquered the immensearmy of the Persians, who were gorgeous butpusillanimous.


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HOW TO ACQUIRE FORCE. 25If you have a conscience which is dull, but

on the whole upright, unpractised in subtleanalysis and showing you every shade of goodand every refined distortion of evil, but a liv-ing, unflinching conscience, if, in a word, youhave force and the indomitable persistence ofthose who desire that good should prevail andevil disappear, you will become a stronghold ofjustice, and a battering-ram for the fortressesof evil. You will become a steady and redoubt-able power, which will fly towards its goal likea bullet without stopping for anything on itsway.How will it be if you combine intelligence

and learning, conscience and material resources,and place all these at the service of yourenergy? Energy is the queen of the world.Even benevolence, love, grace, everything thatis charming or admirable, is of less value thanenergy. What is languid grace, love withoutcourage, a feeble benevolence? Brilliant vices;nothing more.Energy is the power of powers. When Icompare it to that which is by the consent of

many called Force, and which they claim to be


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26 COURAGE.a superior principle, I am struck by the absolutepre-eminence of energy.^What can force alone do? Can the horns of

a bull check intelligence? Can the tooth of alion rend the truth? Can prisons fetter liberty?Does the mouth of a cannon thunder louderthan public opinion and the voice of justice?No; and just so brute force is of no availagainst moral force. Where the latter beginsthe other ends. There is only one impregnablefortress, and that is a courageous heart. Wecan never fully describe all the radiance thatshines forth from one solitary act of spiritualfreedom. Every one who is a man tremblesat the sight, for he feels that he has come incontact with the invisible world.The night is black on the ocean; there are

no stars, and the compass is wandering fromthe pole. The storm rages, and the sea runshigh. There seems but chaos and a mighty

' M. Comte says, " La Force, proprement dite, c'est ce quiregit les actes, sans regler les volontes." If this definitionbe adopted, it would make a distinction between " force " and" power." Power extends to volitions as well as to operations,to mind as well as matter j but in English we also speak ofForce as physical, vital, and mental.


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HOW TO ACQUIRE FORCE. 2/conflict of the elements. Now and then a flashof lightning reveals for a moment all this wildgrandeur. What can be greater?

What can be greater?I will tell you : in the midst of this darkness,

suspended over these black abysses, an intrepidpilot holds the helm. This man is greater thanthe ocean and the tempest.Here is a poor old woman, almost infirm. Her

youth was passed in the midst of ease, even ofhonour. She was surrounded and guarded ; shewas happy in her family life, and had knownthe happiness of being loved. Life smiled ather ; but the Fates passed by her and strippedher of all. Not only is she poor to-day butsolitary ; more than that, she has been deserted, but she is by no means embittered. Sherarely speaks of herself When you ask her toconfide to you her griefs, she turns the conver-sation to inquire after the fate of others. Inher eyes, dimmed with age, on her wrinkledbrow, in the clasp of her little thin hand, thereis such an expression of benevolence that eventhe most unhappy derives some salutary com-fort. I do not know exactly what I experience,


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28 COURAGE.or why, neither do I know the source fromwhich this life draws its strength; but I feelcertain that in this weakened body, withinthese four bare walls, there dwells a powerbefore which all that is usually called great andstrong in this world fades into insignificance.In this instance the courage seems more ex-alted than in the sailor of a moment ago, forthe very reason that, looked at externally, theman was stronger than the woman. There isa moral courage which shines forth from thevery absence of all resources of a materialnature; but no matter what the degree or con-ditions, an exhibition of moral force brings usinto the presence of a power which is not to becompared to any other.Thank God, the sense of moral grandeur is

not dead among us ! Among so many fallensovereignties this one at least has remainedstanding in universal esteem. Alas ! Whyshould our admiration for it be mingled withbitter regrets? We yearn for it as a sick per-son yearns for health, an exile for his country.A secret sorrow, a poignant homesickness,creeps into our adoration. What is most lack-


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HOW TO ACQUIRE FORCE. 29ing to our time is the deep and serene calmwhich brings strength to the soul. Favouredin so many ways, we are poor and mean incharacter. Our moral fibre seems weakenedand this is the reason why at times our civilisedsociety seems to me like one of those beautifulships which science, art, and industry have fittedwith marvellous machines and sumptuous ar-rangements for comfort, but which in the mid-dle of the ocean unexpectedly runs out of coal;and then the magnificent ship is nothing morethan a waif, at the mercy of the winds andwaves.

Let us, then, before everything lay up a goodstore of motive force.


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II.

THE VALUE OF LIFE.


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For in Him we live and move and have our being: ascertain also of your own poets have said, For we are alsohis offspring.Acts of the Apostles.We walk by faith and not by sight. Saint Paul.


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CHAPTER 11.THE VALUE OF LIFE.

Moral force is not culled idly, like a flowerfrom a hedge ; it must be acquired laboriously,and sometimes must be mined, like coal, fromthe darkest depths. I shall indicate a few ofthe sources whence it springs.One of these sources is the elevated ideal one

forms of life. We are all somewhat indifferentabout life, because we are so perpetually broughtin contact with it; it no longer surprises us:just as certain mountaineers become insensibleto the beauty of their native place, as the resultof having it constantly before their eyes,^ andmust leave their country and return to it asstrangers in order to be struck by its pictur-esqueness and grandeur.So it becomes necessary for us to rediscover,

as if it were a novelty, the thing that we seemto have known for so long. This is not easy

3


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34 COURAGE.to do. Although the majority of men lookwithout seeing, they are not eager that oneshould point out to them what they shouldsee. The things about them, and near them,leave them cold; and this disdain for whatis near is but the reflection of the poor ideathey have of their own life. Doubtless eachman has a pride, a foolish pride, in beinghimself rather than some one else; but thispride arises from and is nourished by whatis mediocre in us. The sense of true dignityis infinitely rare.Proud as we are of our superficial individu-

ality, we lack that pride which comes from therespect one should feel for one's deeper natureand yet this is the sentiment which is the sourceof strength. The man who perceives what he isworth is in a much better condition morallythan one who depreciates himself.Who will give us that freshness of impression

which will enable us to see all things as if wesaw them for the first time? Such a one wouldmake us feel in contemplating the humblestflowers what I might call tlie bewilderment oflife.


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THE VALUE OF LIFE. 35And this we must have known. We must

have stood, if only for an instant, on thethreshold of the infinite, and have received,as in a vision, the revelation of all that isprecious, rich, and unfathomable in every soul,and in all human life. Then only can weperceive the value of life, and love it andcherish it.When the young man, in a moment which he

can never forget, receives the revelation of hisfatherland, with its history, its griefs and gran-deur, some holy change takes place in him. Heis born again to a new life ; the idea of patriotismenters into his heart and ennobles him. Fromthat moment he is capable of great deeds andof great suffering for the country whose child heis. Steeped like steel in a bath which increaseshis strength tenfold, and transformed so that herespects himself as he does his flag, he hasgrown to be more than an individual: he hasbecome part of a whole.An analogous transformation takes place in

the man who has received the revelation of hishuman dignity. He is baptised anew in thefountain of life; he returns to his source; he


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36 COURAGE.measures and appreciates how many heroicactions, patient sorrows, humble hopes, andinfinite efforts have gone into this human Hfewhich he inherits. The soul of centuries haspassed into his soul. The great hope whichanimated and sustained all this painful develop-ment of humanity during unmeasured time hasbreathed upon him. He has met on his paththe Will which decreed that the world was, andthat men were, and he has bowed to this Will.He comprehends, and this is the very essenceof faith, that each man is a hope of humanity,a hope of God. Henceforth he will no longerrely on his own resources alone; he will havebehind him all the impulse of the centuries, allthe succour of eternity.

Oh, how culpable are those who depreciatehumanity and vilify man, who take pleasure inrolling him in the mud ! How their foolish prideblinds those who talk as if they had countedthe stars, numbered the sands of the sea, pene-trated the secret of life, reached the bottom ofall things, only to find nothingness ! Theyinsult the hope that shines on the brow of youththey extinguish the fire of his regard, and ex-


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THE VALUE OF LIFE. 37haust the force of his heart, soil its purity, andteach him to despise life. They commit thecrime of crimes; they disgust man with hisdestiny when a profound sentiment for thisdestiny is the only thing capable of sustaininghim, encouraging him and consoling him inthe midst of its inexplicable hardships, myste-ries, and temptations.The man who is penetrated with a sense of

the dignity of life carries this sentiment intoall the details of his action and experience.These details do not seem to him indifferent orinsignificant; he refers them to the whole.When one feels that an apparently insignifi-cant action contributes towards the realizationor hindrance of a great work, one's entire con-duct is influenced. And it is an unfailingcomfort in every difficulty, great or little, toknow that the humblest effort is bound upin the complete work; that nothing and noone is forgotten or lost; that there are alwaysa thousand reasons for taking courage; andthat those are the least deceived who are themost hopeful.

I quote here a few lines which were not writ-


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38 COURAGE.ten by a believer, but which have a greatervalue as testimony on that account :

"Physical ills and moral ills, the sufferings of thesoul and of the senses, the success of the wicked, thehumiliation of the just, all these things would stillbe supportable if one perceived the law and economyof them, and divined a providence behind them.The believer rejoices in his sores ; he takes pleasurein the injustice and violence of his enemies ; even hismistakes and crimes do not deprive him of hope.But in a world where the light of faith is extinguished,evil and suffering lose their significance, and seem tobe only so many odious jokes and sinister farces. . . .There is no other key to the world but faith. Andthis is but too true ! " *

If one were to ask me to state briefly for himthe object of human life, I should answer: Theend of everything is manifest in itself. This endis to become all that it can become, in conform-ing, with all the power of love, to the eternaldesign which seeks to be fulfilled through itMan is created to become more and more of aman, to sustain his life and, what comes to thesame thing to help others to sustain theirs ina normal growth. Now, the normal growth de-

' Anatole France, Le Temps, February 4, 1893.


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THE VALUE OF LIFE. 39mands the development of the whole being physical, intellectual, and moral in a harmo-.nious reciprocity.Man, then, is created to live on the earth a

true and just existence, and to combat every-thing that stands in the way of this. Humanaffairs find their culminating point in justice,which is the supreme harmony. One might saythat the end of man was to become a powerthat makes for justice. To believe in life is tobelieve that it is a struggle in which the victorywill belong to justice. It is for us, then, to armourselves, to fight, and to suffer, if need be, butnever to lose courage.And afterwards? The Afterwards, like the

Before, belongs to the Will which created lifeand man ; it alone knows the secret of the worldand it must desire that that which is near to usshould seem more important than that which isdistant, because our responsibility is greater.The path of man is so made that he can seedistinctly only what is beneath his feet, whilenone the less he must follow the direction thatleads him to the Beyond. We must not loseourselves in the contemplation of this Beyond,


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40 COURAGE.under pain of forgetting to live; nor forget itentirely, under pain of forgetting why we live.Man has need

" To realise, in striving, that his mortal toilInto the infinite is borne ; that there it stands.While with the present hour eternity clasps hands."

Conclusion. Do what you should, what yourhigher interest and that of others requires thatyou should do, and then be content, and confideyourself to Him who knows why the worldsrevolve ! The fundamental dogma is belief inlife ; the supreme heresy is a lack of hope.


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III.

OBEDIENCK


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Travellers, go say to Sparta that we died here in obe-dience to her holy laws. Inscription at Thermopylce.

It is dangerous to act contrary to your own conscience.. . . Here I am. I cannot do otherwise. May God helpme !Luther, at the Diet of Worms.A democracy whose citizens possessed not manly char-

acters and robust bodies would be condemned to obscuredecay and shameful eclipse ; but a democracy in whichthe license of unbridled wills threatened to disturb thesocial harmony and the established order of law, wouldbe exposed to fatal outbreaks of violence and to disrup-tion by anarchy. P. PoiNCARRfi, Minister of PublicInstruction.


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CHAPTER III.OBEDIENCE.

The first requisite to the realisation of the ^object of life is obedience. I know that thisword is understood by few: almost every oneregards it as the name of an enemy, It isespecially repugnant to young ears; and manythink that it is more hated at the present timethan by preceding generations. It seems thatno one will obey nowadays, either at home, orat school, or in the army, or in the atelier, oranywhere. It may be that a certain flagrantindocility makes us appear more opposed toobedience than our ancestors. At bottom, how-ever, I believe that we are brought face to facewith a permanent contrariety of human nature,a contrariety which is but the caricature of alegitimate instinct, the instinct of liberty.There is innate in us an obstinate tendency tobe ourselves, and to guard ourselves from


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44 COURAGE.exterior influences. Servitude seems to us thelowest of ignominies, and we confound obedi-ence with servitude. To obey, we think, isto capitulate and degrade ourselves. I havenever been able to see children who wouldlet their hard little heads be pulverised ratherthan bend them beneath a yoke without anemotion of secret pride. Their case is veryserious, doubtless, but when one examines itcarefully it may appear in another light. Oftenthey are but misled, and are defending them-selves against their friends, and resistingtheir saviours. They think that they mustguard their moral integrity, and, in fact, it isowing to this noble sentiment that so manyresources are often found in these obstinateheads if one succeeds in enlightening them.One who, while young, would allow himselfto be flayed rather than yield, can become apower for good on reaching maturity. I amnot pleading here the cause of the obstinateand presumptuous, who know better than theirmasters or parents, and with whom it is a de-testable point of honour never to accept advicefrom any one ; but I wish to encourage a feeling


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OBEDIENCE. 45of hope on the score of certain misunderstoodyoung persons who excite great anxieties.

After which I maintain as a principle that theonly way to escape servitude is through obedi-ence, and tliat there is no purer source ofstrength. Obedience is the indispensable con-dition of a good life and liberty; in a certainsense one might say that obedience is liberty.I shall try to explain.

In everything there is an eternal law which itis important to discover, and to which we mustconform. Outside of this law there are onlyanomalies, accidents, and destruction. Thereare laws according to which one drives a car-riage, laws for the cultivation of plants, lawsfor the revolution of the planets, laws for thedevelopment of human life. He who does notknow them, and will not conform to them,renders himself liable to the most painful les-sons and to the most fatal errors. These lawsare as yet only known in part. One of thegreat labours of humanity is to discover themand the one among us who, by his activity andperseverance, has succeeded in discoveringsome one of them is justly considered a bene-


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46 COURAGE.factor. All the experiences of the past, oftenhard ones, constitute for us a treasure whichwe could not have gained by our own exertionsalone. It is given to no man to live his life asif he were the first man; consequently at thebeginning of hfe we receive from the hands ofothers the rules of conduct to which we mustconform. This is an advantage for us ratherthan ill treatment. There is no danger to ourdignity in following the rule tested by so manygenerations, or in avowing openly that we areless wise than all of our ancestors combined.Docility and obedience, then, are excellent con-ditions under which to acquire the wisdomhumanity has to teach us, and excellent allieswith which to reinforce our personal experi-ence. The man who misunderstands the partwhich tradition plays in his development makesthe most stupid mistake, and deprives himselfby his own act of the most valuable aid. Thisneed not prevent each individual and each newgeneration from examining into the patrimonyleft him by his ancestors. On the contrary,the only way to value this legacy justly, andto make use of what is good in it, is to receiveit with deference.


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OBEDIENCE. 47Obedience is not only the means of augment-

ing our strength by all the aid of the past, butit is a still better means of helping us in generalto apprehend law, law which governs indi-vidual will and caprice. It is the source of allorder. Between law and fantasy there can beno compromise; we must choose one or theother. He who does not obey law gives him-self up to Caprice. To make my meaningplainer, I will compare the individual will, whichgoverns itself according to law, to the needlewhich turns to the north, and the will governedby caprice to the weather-cock. The manwithout law is the plaything of his impulses, hisdesires, his passions. The pilot would imperilhis vessel, life, and goods in steering by theweather-vane, while he will brave all the forcesof the winds and waves in order the better tofollow the route indicated by the compass.Which is freer, he who allows himself to be

tossed hither and thither by the waves, or he,who with them or against them, if need be,holds his steadfast way towards the goal?

There are many men, however, who mistakethe most obvious slavery for liberty, and whose


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48 COURAGE.independence consists in following their desires.This error is even so universal that it hindersthe majority of men from seeing clearly intotheir own conduct.There is but one path of safety through life,

and that is the one marked out by law. Atthe beginning of life, law is exterior to us ; weare taught it. Sometimes it hurts us, and werevolt; but he who can endure these firstshocks through the help of obedience hasserved part of his apprenticeship to Hberty.He learns at first to conform to the exteriorlaw, and finally through experience he learnsthat this law has its foundation within him-self, and that when he thought he was submit-ting to others, he was but obeying the dictatesof his inmost being.Once in possession of this inward guidance,he becomes emancipated from all external com-

mandment, and from all human tutelage. Hewas a child ; he has become a man, a free man,and master of himself Liberty consists in con-forming your will to the law which is at thefoundation of everything. All who know not aninward law, august and inflexible, raised above


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OBEDIENCE. 49all the caprices of the individual or of themasses, are ripe for servitude. Obedience, then,is liberty.

What has just been said shows sufficientlywhat kind of obedience I would recommend.It is necessary, however, to attack and destroyone kind of obedience which is an unworthycaricature of the other. I wish to speak ofthat obedience which consists in placing one'sintelligence and conscience in the hands ofanother, and becoming a passive instrument.No one has the right either to demand or ac-cord this obedience; it is a crime. We knowit, moreover, by its fruits. In the place of en-couraging and fortifying one's initiative powers,it stifles them; instead of forming the con-science, it deforms it. It destroys the indi-viduality, ruins the character, and renders theman incapable of governing himself. Thisobedience is not the mother of liberty, but ofservitude, the great purveyor of spiritual death.It takes the place of the inward law. It is thisobedience which has fostered in the world the

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OBEDIENCE. 5like the law, is impersonal. It is the mostintimate part of man, while, at the same time,it is the part most independent of him.

It is a deplorable error, or else an interesteddeception, to pretend that respect for the indi-vidual conscience leads to social disruption, andto the fanatic reign of personal desire. A manof conscience is not a force delivered over tothe hap-hazard sway of his caprices: he is aforce under control, but not controlled by thehand of man nor against his will. He hasvoluntarily submitted to the eternal law.

I know I am touching here on one of thepoints of ceaseless contention, but we must notweary of returning to it. Our life depends onthe way in which we understand and practiseobedience. Do not let us be deterred, there-fore, in our line of conduct, either by the apos-tles of disorder who cry out against tyrannywhenever obedience is mentioned, or by theupholders of authority to whom the idea offree obedience is nonsense. To those who aresincerely seeking the way, I should sayTake ten men of whom each one wishes to

command and none to obey. Take ten who


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52 COURAGE.will blindly obey a chief. Take ten who obeythrough conviction. In no matter what actionor struggle, the first ten will exhibit this infe-riority, that their efforts will not be concerted.The second ten will act in concert, but theywill be like so many inert forces held togetherby an exterior bond, and guided by an outsideforce ; enthusiasm will be lacking. The lastten will act together, and with enthusiasm ; theywill march to their end like one mass, but aliving mass, carried along not by the exerciseof any exterior will, but by the innate actionof all their wills combined, and by their uniteddetermination. Between these ten men andthe others no comparison is possible. Theirstrength has not its equal in the world.

** *

Having said this, no one can misinterpret myintentions in what follows : Obedience is theproclamation by the individual of the great factof solidarity. To refuse to obey is to withdrawfrom the whole, to proclaim oneself superior tothe organism, or to form within it a foreignelement. There is no more serious schism than


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OBEDIENCE. 53this ; in reality the effort is vain. Absolute dis-obedience would be an entire disruption of thebonds which unite humanity ; it would be suicidal.For him who places himself without the pale ofhumanity, nothing remains but annihilation.

Obedience, on the contrary, is the voluntaryavowal of the dependence of the individual uponsociety," it procures for him all the strength ofunion. The more absolute this obedience is,the more admirable it is.There are times when, through reason and

conscience, a man should consent to become amere automatic subaltern and obey the com-mand; but this is not reducing oneself to amachine. It is practising solidarity; it is real-ising that there is something greater than thegreat, which is worthy of every abnegationand self-sacrifice. There is a humble and ob-scure courage which is more difficult and ofmore value than the most brilliant exhibitionsof personal valour, and this courage consists ineffacing oneself Among all kinds of energythis virtue succeeds in binding men together;it unites the members of a society as cementholds together the stones of a wall, and makesit one compact mass. By means of it, the in-


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54 COURAGE.dividual becomes the community; not thestupid crowd that follows a master like a flockof sheep, but a disciplined army which has onesoul, and which can, according to the occasion,resist like a rock, or advance like a torrentThe highest manifestation of life has alwaysconsisted in association governed by rules, andgrounded on voluntary obedience; the best ofthose who have lived on earth have been thosealso who have understood to its full extent thehappiness of losing themselves in the life ofothers, and in mingling their souls with thesoul of the harmonious throng.

In the face of this demonstration of the all-powerful virtue of obedience, what becomes ofthe spirit of insubordination wherein each onedisputes the password, criticises the law, andmakes himself chief ? What is attained bythe exhibition of its impotence, its sterility, itsincapacity to make ten men walk abreast, buta reductio ad absurdum, furnishing us with theproof that there is no safety but in obedience,however much it may displease those who hatethe word ! I fear for a young man who doesnot obey his superiors, who cannot unite withhis equals for some common action, who will


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OBEDIENCE. 55not march in the ranks, conform to a rule, andbear the yoke with that inward pride which isthe sign of a courageous heart.

* *The school of obedience is a good source

from which to draw another kind of courage.This is no longer the courage of combat, nor ofindividual or collective effort, but it is that moredifficult kind, of endurance and resignation.

It is necessary that man should accustom him-self early to what is disagreeable. If he doesnot learn this, little by little, in the encounters ofhis will with wills that are stronger, and againstwhich it is vain to strive, life, alas ! will teachit to him and perhaps so suddenly that thelesson may crush him. Resignation is one ofthe forces of suffering humanity. Let us lay upa supply of it in the morning of life, when wehave least need of it. We know that storesmust be laid up before they are needed. Inwinter it is too late to fill the barn, and a gen-eral must not wait to exercise his troops tillthe moment when the enemy appears.


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IV.

SIMPLICITY.


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By two wings a man is lifted up from things earthlynamely, by Simplicity and Purity. Imitation of JesuiChrist.

Do not despise your condition in life ; for therein youmust act, suffer, and conquer. H. J. Amiel.


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CHAPTER IV.SIMPLICITY.

Have you ambition? No? Well, then, ac-quire it! But let me tell you what kind, forall kinds are not good. First, I am going torisk astonishing and repelling you by describ-ing a vulgar ambition. Very old men havetold me that it was good to shake youngtrees.For the majority of men, the object of their

ambition is to rise; to rise, to become otherthan they are, to get away from their surround-ings, to uproot themselves from their nativesoil ; to rise, to be greater than those who sur-round them, to overtop them by a head, by acubit or more if possible ; to be distinguished,not to be like everybody else; to eat, dress,speak differently from others; to make them-selves conspicuous, in fact, if only by a badge,a stripe, a bit of ribbon. This begins in the


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6o COURAGE.class-room, where the object is to be first, andcontinues through life. It is absurd.Of what good is it to rise, to be first, to be

richer, to be more conspicuous by your dress,or your badges, if the human individual envel-oped in these brilliant trappings is of no valuein itself? Ambitious persons sacrifice realityto appearance. The more they are puffed upthe more hollow and empty they are. I seethem generally oblivious of their beginning,ashamed of their original poverty, of thehumble occupation which they first engagedin. Many of them hide their origin, and donot like to have their parents spoken of be-cause they were simple people of obscure con-dition. They have the souls of deserters. Ifit be their ambition which has bred these senti-ments, this is enough to condemn it Theirambition is puerile, foolish, vain, superficial,and above all inhuman.

Is it humane for one's happiness to consistin rising above another man and humiliatinghim, perhaps crushing him beneath one's feet ?Is it humane to attach a value to what onepossesses only when one is the sole possessor?


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SIMPLICITY. 6What is this manner of man who so closelyresembles the wolf? In this way one comesfinally to regard life itself as a quarry whenceto snatch the largest piece of meat after fight-ing tooth and nail. The strongest and themost courageous is he who can fight best andget most for himself; and after he has workedhard, that is, conquered and bled his neigh-bours, he is proclaimed chief, and the othersenvy him. They would like to be in hisplace.

Is this the strength and greatness of man ? Fie,then ! In that case I do not wi^h to be great.The competition, the prizes, the competitors,and their methods, are all equally repugnantto me. If to kill and devour one another forthe sake of riches, power, and distinction, behuman life, I would rather be the first to beeaten than continue to gaze at such a spectacle.But there is another life. I would hold it up

to you as the object of your ambition; itsdominant quality is simplicity. It developsgenerosity and courage to the same extent asthe first begets cowardice and meanness.

This simplicity consists in the lack of show in


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SIMPLICITY. 63man depends on the worth of the substancewhich rnakes up his moral being.The man whose moral fibre is firm and fine

will be what he ought to be, whatever his sta-tion, and he will think less of changing thisthan of fulfilling his duties, iVccording to theoccasion he will know how to command with-put pride, or obey without seryiUty. The samequalities are requisite to make a good masterand a good servant, a good chief and a goodsoldier. !|Before everything else they are men,and they know the significance of the word,He who does not feel this is a nonentity every-where, and he who realises it is everyvyhere theequal of every one.

This is what I call the simplicity of the heartwhence springs the simplicity of life, of taste,of manners- This simplicity is alscs the highestdignity, the most genuin nobility, the greatestforce,A simple man does not wish to rise bycutting himself off from his stock, to isolatehimself by seeking to escj^pe from the commonlaw. He knows too well that he draws hisstreijgth from his ropts^ He remains forever


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64 COURAGE.in contact with the healthy, broad earth whencewe all are sprung, with life that is normal andnot complicated.He does not refine his table or his furniture,

his language or his ideas. If it has been givento him to rise a few degrees, he glories ratherin his origin than in what he has acquired. Inheart he remains always with the lowly. Hedoes not forget ; he is loyal, and keeps in touchwith them.You may be sure that somewhere in his house

there is a corner where he guards the cherishedsouvenirs of his past, and that he preserves cer-tain patriarchal customs which nothing couldmake him renounce. Hence his strength, hishealth, his happiness, the secret of his as-cendancy over others.When he commands he is sure to be obeyed,for he possesses the charm; and if he requires

the accomplishment of something difficult, hissubordinates know that it is not because he isignorant of the difficulty and effort which itwill cost, but because he has achieved it him-self, and could do so again.

Nothing makes a man greater than this in'


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SIMPLICITY. 6Snate nobility under a simple aspect. It will beto the eternal honour of great democracies thatthey have furnished numerous examples of suchadmirable lives ; and the truth which such livesproclaim is so manifest that even in societiesfounded on absolutism, where external appear-ance counts for much more, there has neverbeen any lasting dominion, personal influence,or power over men's souls, without the presenceof this simplicity.

All really great characters have remained sim-ple in some direction. Is it not better worth thewhile to strive for these heights than to be car-ried along the beaten track where the multitudesswarm ?The dangers which are to be encountered

along the path of ordinary ambition are thesame for all. No class of society is exempt;for it is not enough to be of humble station tolove simplicity, and one may belong to thehigher classes without rejoicing in luxury. Theimportant thing is the spirit. I know somevery rich people who are exceedingly simple,and by no means pleasure-loving or proud, andI know some poor people who dream of noth-

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66 COURAGE.ing but grandeur, an easy life and amusements.Great is their disdain of simplicity; they havea horror of it. Their hatred of work is pas-sionate, and what displeases them in the life oftheir more fortunate neighbours is that theycannot change places with them. To accom-plish this they would do anything. Woe tohim who is possessed by the ideal of an effemi-nate and enervating existence which is to con-sist only in strange sights, disturbing sensa-tions and excitement ! Moral gangrene has setin, and will devour him slowly, undermining allthe living forces that are in him. Before longhe will confound the good with well-being, andwill come to look upon all privation and effortas a disgrace. From this to selling himself forsmall riches is but a step. A race of slavesare these frantic runners, chasing after For-tune's chariot to pick up the crumbs which fallfrom it. It is of little consequence whencethey spring, what their names are, what theiiranks, opinions, beliefs. There is one expres-sion which describes them all: they are thedregs of humanity.


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V.

THE INWARD WATCH.


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Keep thy heart with all diligence ; for out of it are theissues of life. Proverbs.


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CHAPTER V.THE INWARD WATCH.

Vigilance is one of the most interestingfunctions of civilised society. It is organisedwherever there is any property to guard; foreverything that exists has its enemies, and tosecure its safety we must be ever on the alert.Round the universe the sentinel watches, andwe hear constantly warnings and cries of alarm.Those who sleep are disarmed, unprotected;they fall a prey.However little we may know ourselves, we

know our enemies. Every one of us has them.The enemies of which I speak are all thosecauses of weakness and abasement which hinderus from being what we ought to be, and fromfulfilling the object of our lives. In time of warthe gravest danger is to have men in the ranksor the forts who sympathise with the enemy.I do not hesitate to say that this critical situa-tion exists for every man, and that our constant


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JO COURAGE.peril arises from the fact that the enemy hasspies within the place. Each man has withinhim a power that can destroy him. Withoutthe inward watch the best will be lost. I amnot one of those who cry out in alarm at everymoment. By dint of saying, " Take care !these perpetual alarmists destroy your confi-dence ; but blindness and false assurance differfrom confidence. Confidence is a great goodfalse assurance is one form of cowardice. Vi-rility exacts that a man should take accountof danger, should face it, and take measuresagainst it.

Heredity, predisposition, and circumstances,which are so many sources of weakness, engen-der different tendencies and defects, accordingto the individual. The friction which thesedefects cause in our development is felt throughour whole system. It is only necessary for onevicious habit to become established and expandin order to throw the whole mind out of balance.Then efforts, qualities, even virtues, are neutra-lised. There is a terrible fatality in evil. Aman has no need to have all the vices combined,and to be lacking in every virtue, to lose his


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THE INWARD WATCH. 71equilibrium," and founder. There are no water-tight compartments in the inward life.

It is the great grief of every man who lovesthe good to feel within himself the possibilityof evil. To love all that is noblest and bestin life, to be ready to struggle and suffer forjustice, and yet to see that, under certain cir-cumstances, one would be capable of actionsdestructive of all one loved ; to understand thatit is possible to demolish, and that often onlytoo quickly, all that one has spent years andmuch generous enthusiasm in building up ; tocondemn sincerely, and without a shadow ofhypocrisy, certain ways of living, talking, andacting, and to be guilty of them oneself at othermoments ; to be the same man who detests thething and does it; to find oneself in the posi-tion of condemning and hating oneself; to haveto struggle against oneself, this is indeed adifficult situation ! ' How well we understandSaint Paul when he cries : " For the good thatI would, I do not ; but the evil which I wouldnot, that I do."And yet this is inevitable. No character was

ever formed except by this internal warfare and


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72 COURAGE.in the midst of these battles of the soul. The bestare those who suffer the most ; their pure eyessee with greater clearness the contrast betweenwhat they are and what they ought to be. Butif the elect of mankind are thus tried, shaken,cast amidst these gloomy struggles, and obligedto hold themselves armed in the breach, thenecessity of vigilance becomes the more evidentfor us ordinary mortals. I should say to everyyoung man entering life, " Keep watch on your-self, know yourself, and distrust yourself." Maythe step of the guardian who wakes resound,night and day, about the citadel of your lifeAnd may this guardian not be like those dogswho neither bark nor bite, and who are silentfor certain privileged persons. May this guardbe incorruptible, and, if need be, cry to you,as the famous soldier to the Little Corporal," You cannot pass ! "

In order to increase our vigilance it is neces-sary to sharpen our sense of responsibility.Let us often try to picture to ourselves all thesuffering and hope which is bound up in eachof our lives, and let us say to ourselves that it


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THE INWARD WATCH. 73depends on us whether this suffering and hopebe lost or not. If our own interest is not suffi-cient to make us careful, let us think of theinterest of others. If we can say to ourselvesthat in remaining at our post, in being true,just, honest, pure, in returning good for evil, indrying tears, in arousing the discouraged, wedo good, and that in neglecting our duties, onthe contrary, we work for the ruin, the anguish,the perdition of others, what reasons havewe to watch ! Everything that is confided toour hands is at stake ! These are considerationswhich ought to be capable of taking hold of us,and of keeping us in that attentive and resolutecondition of mind which we call alert. Wetremble and we feel courageous at the sametime. It gives to us that indelible sign ofdignity which we see in the soldier who is onguard.Why shrink from responsibility? Can we

buy this great honour at too dear a price? Lethim who is afraid listen to this : Do you knowwhat degradation means to a soldier? It is tosee his rank, his decorations, his epaulettes,torn from him ; to see these signs of his former


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74 COURAGE.value thrown at his feet! What is death incomparison with this dishonour? It is true thatin the future this unfortunate soldier can sleephe will never again mount guard; he will nolonger cry, " To arms ; here is the enemy ! "he will never again make an assault nor hearthe bullets whistling round him; he will haveno more responsibility. Very well ; to declarethat a man is irresponsible is to degrade himDeath were better.The practice of vigilance creates in a man

the habit of a conscious life, and the need ofreviewing his deeds before his conscience. Tobe able to respect himself and remain in accordwith this inner judge is his supreme desire ; hisgreatest fear is to be chastised and branded bythis same judge. In this fact lies the secret ofall morality. The difference between a goodman and one who is not, is simple : the first isa man of conscience, the second is a man wholives for the gallery. For the second, it isof little consequence whether the judge withinhim condemns him or acquits him ; it has beenlong since he consulted him. His judge is thepublic; he watches himself only when it is


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THE INWARD WATCH. 75looking at him. As soon as he is alone, he isconscious of no restraint, no law. What disdaina man who lives for the gallery must have forhimself! This perpetual actor attaches a greatervalue to the judgment of the least of his spec-tators than to his own judgment, and the manwhom he esteems the least in the world ishimself. When he is alone, he thinks that thereis no one there; and he does not see, poorman, that it is as if he said, " I or no one, itis all the same thing." Alas ! from a certainpoint of view he is right ; for of what value inthe moral world is a creature who is capable ofever5^hing, provided that no one sees him ?We cannot be reminded too often of thenecessity of an inward life. Two of the condi-tions of its development are meditation andsolitude. When the noise of the world isstilled, and the dust of the human conflict isdissipated, the inward voice awakes, and theeyes of the soul discern all things more clearly.We must often retire into solitude, the moreso as we are only alone there in appearance;for it is there that we encounter those whom Ishall call our invisible allies; our comforting


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^6 COURAGE.memories, and those loved figures who encour-age and sustain us.Above all, we shall there indulge in prayer

if we have the good fortune to know the valueof it. When a man prays, he communes withhis source ; he rests from the flux of the worldin the beneficent calm of the eternal ; he restoresand purifies himself; and perhaps he will neverrealise more clearly that he is not alone than inthis solitude. Prayer is the sanctified retreatof the soul, the peaceful and elevated fortresswhich nothing can attack, where he leaves be-hind him all his sufferings, all his struggles, alldangers; where he takes refuge in absolutesecurity. O Prayer, what source of strengthcan be compared to thee, and how can a sol-dier mount guard with greater courage thanwhen he feels himself guarded by Him whowatches always

I cannot stop here without adding a fewwords for the vanquished. Who has never beenconquered? Who has never stumbled? Whohas never fallen? Oh, the lost battles, themorrows of defeats, the frightful awakenings


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THE INWARD WATCH. 1"]after a mistaken sense of security ! Never scoffat a dead man, even though his death was dueto a lack of vigilance ! How do you know howyou will die ? Never despair of those who fall,beaten and wounded, but who still live ! Thisis the time to run to their succour, to raisethem, to bind them, to care for them. Everymoral fall is frequently as much the result ofaccident as of mistake; and even if there hasbeen error, this error points out the path ofduty to those who remain standing, just as theweakness of the feeble creates duties for thestrong. The best men have felt and propa-gated a sentiment of tenderness for those whohave been vanquished in their moral strugglesperhaps the memory of their own defeats havemade them more indulgent for those of others.In the life of each person there come criticalperiods, sometimes veritable moral maladies.One is not the same person as in days ofhealth; weakened, wounded, they have need,above all, of intelligent care. Youth, especially,is subject to these perilous crises when every-thing depends on the treatment. He who nowwalks with a firm step can tell you that at cer-tain moments on the way little was needed to


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78 COURAGE.send him astray forever. This is, then, theplace to recognise that pardon and clemency-are powers of the first order. In this world,so full of suflfering, struggles, and vicissitudes,man aspires after goodness as after a source oflife. He who does not know how to pardon,and who does not recognise that he himselfoften has need of it, is either a hypocrite orpossesses a hard heart. It was not in vain thatthe Just among the just, the Great Captain whostruggled so valiantly against iniquity, anddealt such formidable blows to the wicked, in-sisted so strongly on pardon, and showed somuch pity to the fallen.

Let us conclude, then : the pass-word is, " BeVigilant ! " If, in spite of all, an accident over-takes you, or even some serious disaster, letthere be no panic, no aseless regrets. Pickyourself up, reorganise your resources, coveryour retreat, in order that the lost battle maynot be turned into a rout. The best armiesare those that do not become demoralised bydefeat. For the man who knows how to profitby the lesson, to have been vanquished is oft-times a source of strength.


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HEROIC EDUCATION.


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I am not to be pitied, Monseigneur ; I die in the per-formance of my duty. It is you who are to be pitied,you who are in arms against your prince, your country,your vows. Bayard's dying response to the ConnHablede Bourbon.

Happy are the nations whose sacred sources of enthu-siasm are not exhausted. L. Enault.


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CHAPTER VI.HEROIC EDUCATION.

The old stoics had this saying among them-selves, Nihil mirari, " Do not be aston-ished at anything." The sense of it is plain;it means that we must not allow ourselves to beoverawed by men or things, to be frightened ordisconcerted. A man should retain his self-possession, and be master of himself, amid allthe impressions that he receives. This is cer-tainly a good rule. It is in happy contrastwith the fickleness of our moods and the neurotictendencies of the times. Such a maxim is likea soothing and refreshing bath; after it, one'seyes are clearer, one's arms stronger, one's stepmore alert. Let us often repeat to ourselvesthis old saying which has reassured and sus-tained the courage of so many, and which ful-filled, for those whose device it was, the officeof a sure and steadfast friend, who took them

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82 COURAGE.by the hand in the hour of trouble, and said,"Be calm, have courage, be wise, and all willcome out right ! "There is another way of translating the adage

against which I wish to protest, precisely be-cause it is so common. Our contemporariesadopt the Nihil mirari, but they translate it," Let us admire nothing." If those who con-form to the rule thus modified were old men,I should not permit myself to attack them. Ishould say to myself, " They are tired of lifeto their old organs everything seems old ; theyhave lost the faculty of admiring, as they havelost their sense of hearing, or the capacity tosleep, or the appetite of twenty." Such is notthe case, however. Those who undertake toadmire nothing are young men. To admireanything seems to them humiliating. It is allvery well for children to open their eyes wideand stare at men and things with that seriousand surprised air, which shows that they be-lieve what they see. One must leave that kindof emotion in the nursery, with one's petticoats,one's last doll, and all the forgotten toys ofone's tender years. A man must not admire


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HEROIC EDUCATION. 83anything. Nothing should surprise or excitehim. To admire is to be a dupe, to let one-self be taken in. A serious young man shouldnot put himself in the ridiculous position of" swallowing " anything. To be able to saysolemnly, in every situation : " Oh, I know thatthat 's an old story ; " to be tired of everythingbefore having experienced anything, this isthe pose of your young man. Among his com-rades he who admires the least passes for thestrongest-minded, and is almost sure to be themost admired ; for if it be a servile attitude ofmind to feel admiration, to be admired is oneof the noblest delights of life. 'Thus a spirit hasspread among youth, and in the schools andateliers, whose ideal is to have no ideal. Fromthis to respecting nothing and no one is buta step.This spirit of belittling and scoffing is the

order of the day; and one of the manifesta-tions of this unfortunate tendency is that wemeet together more willingly to cry down athing than to honour an illustrious memory,or to do homage to a great citizen. To mymind, one of the worst misfortunes that can


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84 COURAGE.happen to you when you are young is to beinoculated with this spirit of which I speak. Ifthere be anything which is not young, it is thisspirit. To feel respect shows the quality of ayoung man, as the bouquet of the wine showsfrom which province it came. Thus, whereverI discover an absence of respect, I say to my-self, "That smells of vinegar." We must getrid of this tendency. It is a source of weak-ness, of decrepitude. It is an enemy, and oneof the most dangerous.We live through respect, and we perishthrough scoffing. Plato banished musiciansfrom his republic because he wrongly believedthat music enervated man's courage. As forme, I declare war against this spirit of mockeryI wish that it might be hunted down, and exter-minated, like those parasites which are nour-ished in our marrow and blood. Let us chasethe scoffer; and, on the other hand, let uscherish admiration, respect, and enthusiasm inall their forms, as among the elements of ahealthy morality, and the source of strongwills. All that I have to say on this subjectI shall try to say under the heading of HeroicEducation.


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HEROIC EDUCATION. 85What is a hero ? He is a man of larger stature

than his fellows, who has lived an intenser andwider human life than the majority; a beingwho concentrates in his mind and heart theaspirations of a whole epoch, and gives thempowerful expression ; or it may be that he is aman who appears above the crowd to accom-plish one deed, but one so great, so fine, that itimmortalises him.When we study the history of humanity, we

see heroes appearing at the beginning of everygreat movement. Their example is contagioussome virtue emanates from them and takespossession of others. It is their privilege toarouse enthusiasm, hope, and light. They arethe saviours of hopeless times, the guides indark days, the pioneers of the future, the pureand noble victims who die for justice and truth,in order to pave the way for them. But whatinfluence would they have without the respect,admiration, and enthusiasm which they excitein us? It is by dint of admiring them that webecome capable of profiting by their virtues.What is true of the hero, is true of everythingthat is heroic, to no matter what degree. Every-


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HEROIC EDUCATION. 89ical priests, bribed officers, dishonest employees,men without conscience, women without mod-esty, homes that are disunited, ungrateful chil-dren, depraved young people, we should longsince have been buried beneath our ownruins.Where is this good, of which I speak, to be

found ? We must seek for it. Those who seekfor it and are capable of seeing it, will find it.I urge many young people to investigate thisunknown region. They will discover many salu-tary herbs which will serve them as elixirs.The truth is, that no one has any idea of thenumber of good people who live about us. The

amount of suffering patiently borne, the injuriespardoned, the sacrifices made, the disinterestedefforts, are impossible to count. It is a worldfull of unknown splendours, like the profoundgrottoes lighted by the marvellous lamp ofAladdin. These are the reserves of the futurethese are the silent streams that run beneath theearth, and without which the sources of goodwould long since have become exhausted, andthe world have returned to barbarism. Happyis he who can explore the sacred depths ! At


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go COURAGE.first, one feels profane, small, out of place.There are people of such a simple benevolence,of such natural disinterestedness, that one feelspoor and unworthy beside them ; but this is agrief which is salutaiy, a humiliation whichexalts us. What can be better for a youngman than to feel himself small and inferior inthe presence of truth, of abnegation, and of puregoodness? If he is troubled, moved, bewildered,downcast ; if he weeps ; if his life, when com-pared with those which he sees about him, seemsto him like a childish sketch by the side of acanvas of a great master, so much the betterfor him. This humility is a proof in his favour,and places him at once in the path of progress.They say that young nightingales, whose voicesare not yet formed, are very unhappy whenthey come into the presence of those olderbirds who fill the nights of summer with theirmusic. When they hear them, they cease tosing, and remain silent for a long time. Thisis neither from a spirit of envy nor ill temper;but the ideal presented to them bewilders anddisturbs them. They listen, they are intoxicated


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HEROIC EDUCATION. 91by the melody, and while thinking, perhaps, intheir little bird brains,

" I can never hope to equal thee 1

they become so inspired that they end bysinging in their turn.

Hail to the good listener!


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VII.

DIFFICULT BEGINNINGS.


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I was born like a weed between two paving-stones ofParis. MiCHELET.Per angusta ad augusta.


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96 COURAGE.forces, and succumbs ; and their name is legionfor whom this beginning lasts forever ! If thepoet Lenau says somewhere,

" My heart is given to the dear dead,"I can say that mine belongs to all these suffer-ing young lives. Their anxieties, their struggles,their servitude, the injustice under which theysuffer, the blows that strike them, inflict onme a permanent wound. There is not one oftheir causes which I do not espouse, not oneof their miseries which I do not feel, notone of their hopes which I do not greet withtransport; and it is precisely for this reasonthat I would be to them, if only in a feebleway, a messenger of comfort.

Everything is not to be regretted in the mis-fortunes which we endure ; the essential thingis that we seek to derive from them some profitfor our inward life. In this case, they mayfortify us ; and if we say that certain contrarie-ties and privations hinder us from living, it istrue, but only in part. Whence are sprungthe best men? They come from the land ofgreat sorrows and great tribulations. The paths


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DIFFICULT BEGINNINGS. 97which lead to great heights are almost alwaysobscure in the beginning. The easy grades arefor those who descend ; the stony paths andsteeps for those who mount. The past, by itsacquired inertia, runs easily. It is a man arriv^,who has his carriage and horses; but he drivestowards the end as a funeral towards the ceme-tery. The future, on the contrary, advances onfoot, and sometimes drags itself along on itsknees.

Force, light. Justice, benevolence, progress, all these things come to us from those whohave suffered. There are few good workmenwho have not passed through long years ofapprenticeship. When they tell you their his-tory, you find that they have had to submit tohard words, blows, accidents, poverty; but youwill also find that all these things, instead ofdiscouraging them, stimulated them, enlightenedthem, formed them. It is only by means ofhard blows of the hammer and chisel that ablock of marble, whence a statue is to spring,is reduced. Man cannot perfect himself other-wise ; and if he has stuff in him, if the seed begood, there is no need to fear the blows re-

7


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98 COURAGE.ceived, or the corners chipped away. Evenevil may be turned into good. I know emi-nent men who have great tenderness for youngpeople and show much indulgence for them.Why? Because they have been ill-treated them-selves, because they have divined in weepingthe value of gentle words. Gladly they say tothemselves, " I have suffered too much frominjustice not to try to spare others." Suchlessons are well worth the pain they havecost!

The difficulties which many encounter intheir families from the character of their rela-tives, from the defects or vices with which theyare surrounded, often darken their first stepsin life. In every class of society are foundchildren and young people neglected by thosewho should guide them, abandoned to them-selves or to hired guardians, deprived of ten-derness at the age when they have most needof it, lacking amusements, and incessantly re-buffed by cross words. Many have their livescomplicated by the scandalous examples ofthose whose mission it should be to lead them


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DIFFICULT BEGINNINGS. 99aright They have neither that filial respectnor tenderness, which it is so sweet to feel, toguard them from the errors of youth. Theirfathers and mothers teach them precisely thething which they should avoid, and their un-fortunate ideal consists in not resembling theirparents.

I think of those who have Buffered earlylosses, of the orphans whose very name excitessympathy in the world. For one who findsmoral support, how many are crushed by thisabandonment! Far from the warmth of thenest, they go through life accompanied alwaysby a shadow. Who can count the struggles,the unknown tears, the secret anguish of somany young people? Who will seek them outin their loneliness?

There is a large class of young people forwhom the greatest danger springs from theirtemperament. While others follow the rightway without great difficulty, they have tostruggle against evil inclinations, uncontrolledimpulses, and humiliating penalties. Their con-duct often resembles the gait of a furious pairof horses, who make their driver sweat blood.


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DIFFICULT BEGINNINGS. loileaders of all human thought have, almost with-out exception, passed through them. Whatwould become of humanity without theseschools of suffering?

What makes these beginnings difficult aboveall else is poverty. I do not mean pauperism,nor that dark want which is without hope orhelp, wherein certain portions of society dragout a miserable existence, and of which I canonly say this: it is a public shame, a diseasewhich we must attack, relieve, seek to root out.It would be criminal to imagine that from thisdepraved milieu, where moral and materialdegradation are confounded, any force of char-acter could spring. We must admit, however,that this hideous poverty is the exception. Itis the sink wherein the social refuse, engen-dered by our carelessness and vices, falls.There is another poverty. I refer to that to

which one is reduced by illness, idleness, orperhaps the early death of parents, and whichoften creates such terrible situations. Or, again,I mean that poverty which simply consistsin being reduced to the barest necessities of


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I02 COURAGE.life, and wherein one does not know to-daywhat one will have to-morrow. It is an honestand interesting kind of poverty, which is oftenconcealed, and which is only known to thosewho have experienced it. It is indeed a hardcondition for the development of youth. Toeat until one is satisfied is rare. One has alodging, but it is narrow and sombre. Every-thing is limited, even the air, if one lives inthe city. This poverty seems to be a sort ofslavery, judged from the thousand restrictionswhich it imposes on our movements ; and noone is so sensitive to this restraint as youth.Want is not the hardest thing to bear in pov-

erty, but rather the offences against the moralorder to which it subjects us, and the indignitiesto which we must submit. I appeal to all thosewho have had to suffer for their daily bread earlyin life, and who have taken their degree inbitterness and contumely. Poverty is not whatcertain idyllic conceptions have represented itto be. It is a crown of thorns ; but I hastento add that everything depends on the browwhich wears it.

Those who wear it as a burden and disgrace


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DIFFICULT BEGINNINGS. 103hate it, and only find in it a lesson of degrada-tion, bitterness, and envy. I do not condemnthem ; and if I plead extenuating circumstances,my plea can easily be turned into an accusationagainst those who are seated comfortably inthe tribunal to judge them. I like better tothink of those who bear their poverty cheer-fully, and finally come to love it, as one lovesthe dreary beauty of one's native soil, disin-herited by nature. These men are the strengthof the world.

I have walked through the country of povertyas through a land of marvels. I have travelledthrough it, not as a tourist, but as a native, ini-tiated into the secrets of the place, an enemyof the highways, a guest of unknown cornersand I have found the little flowers of thesewoods and fields more beautiful than all thedehcate flora of rich gardens and hot-houses.Such is the poverty of humble people whoare sober and laborious, economic and gener-ous ; the poverty of the workman who is proudof his state ; the poverty of peasants and sail-ors who envy no one ; the poverty of studentswho have only a bed, a table, and a few loved


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104 COURAGE.books, but who live on the heights, and feelthemselves richer than the masters of theworld ; the poverty of artists, not of those whoknow no other ambition but money, but ofthose who love beauty, and with whom theideal is a passion ; the poverty of scientific in-vestigators, who forget the hour that passes,and the pleasure that calls, and, like hunters,follow the steep paths and precipices after thefascinating trail of the unknown; the povertyof the thinkers tormented by the infinite, solv-ing the problems of the world and those of thesoul, which are greater than of the world ; thepoverty of those who are persecuted for truthand justice, but whom nothing can move be-cause they fear nothing but cowardice

I can never tire of admiring this kind of pov-erty. I remember in thinking of these difficultbeginnings that Christ was poor, that Homerwas poor, that Spinoza was poor, that Lutherwas poor, that Franklin was poor, that the mostexalted experiences of Claude Bernard came tohim in a damp cellar of the College de France,and that the paternal house of Pasteur was alittle farm in the Jura.


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DIFFICULT BEGINNINGS. lOJAfter seeing these instances accumulate be-

neath my eyes, I almost tremble for thosewhose life is easy. I fear for their energy inthe absence of effort; for their liberty, becauseof the hard servitude which the conventionali-ties and prejudices of the world lay upon them.I fear for their heart, which for want of suffer-ing may never know pity; for their judgmentwhich may be warped and deceived by outwardappearances. It is better to bring up childrenin the workshops than before the shop win-dows ; for in the workshops they see the labourof man, while in the windows they only seethe result, and the temptation to forget thelabourer is great. It is a pity to forget thepeasant while eating our bread, the wood-cutterwhile warming ourselves before the logs. Thisis a temptation which I fear for those who havebeen brought up in luxury. These, too, in theirway, have their difificult beginnings. I am oftenstruck by this, and would give them thisadvice: Seek suffering; submit to labour.Go and do your work in the world of the hum-ble, and renounce for a while your privileges,which are but so many perils. Become poor


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I06 COURAGE.from choice. It is not the same thing as to bepoor from necessity, but it is nevertheless some-thing. If life calls you to command, woe toyou, and to them who are confided to you, ifyou have not first obeyed, sweated, groanedbeneath the burden ! No man should sendanother under fire, not having been there him-self! And from the young people I turn tothe fathers of

charles wagner - courage (1903)

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