286 A Forgotten Maxim 



Much of that which is best and highest in national 

 character is made up of glorious memories and tra- 

 ditions. The fight well fought, the life honorably 

 lived, the death bravely met those count for more 

 in building a high and fine type of temper in a na- 

 tion than any possible success in the stock market, 

 than any possible prosperity in commerce or manu- 

 factures. A rich banker may be a valuable and use- 

 ful citizen, but not a thousand rich bankers can 

 leave to the country such a heritage as Farragut 

 left, when, lashed in the rigging of the Hartford, 

 he forged past the forts and over the unseen death 

 below, to try his wooden stem against the ironclad 

 hull of the great Confederate ram. The people of 

 some given section of our country may be better off 

 because a shrewd and wealthy man has built up 

 therein a great manufacturing business, or has ex- 

 tended a line of railroad past its doors; but the 

 whole nation is better, the whole nation is braver, 

 because Gushing pushed his little torpedo-boat 

 through the darkness to sink beside the sinking 

 Albemarle. 



Every feat of heroism makes us forever indebted 

 to the man who performed it. All daring and 

 courage, all iron endurance of misfortune, all de- 

 votion to the ideal of honor and the glory of the 

 flag, make for a finer and nobler type of manhood. 

 It is not only those who do and dare and endure that 

 are benefited ; but also the countless thousands who 

 are not themselves called upon to face the peril, to 

 show the strength, or to win the reward. All of us 



