Manliness

MANLINESS. BY JOSEPH H. WARD. "Show thyself a man."—I Kings 2: 2. This was a part of the royal David's dying charge to Solomon, his son. The monarch minstrel was about to be gathered to his fathers. The crown he had already placed upon the head of his youngest son, and as he stood with one foot in the grave, and one upon the crumbling shores of time, he enjoined, with all a father's solicitude, the performance of those duties, and the observance of those rules which were well calculated to make his government perpetual and his name illustrious. He exhorted him to show himself—not a statesman merely—not a monarch meiely—but a man —possessing the generous impulses of a man, and displaying a manly nature in all his intercourse with men. In our times, there are various and contradictory opinions cherished as to what constitutes a manly course. It is not every one that wears a human form that can claim to be a man, in the fullest sense of that term. They suppose themselves to be men, indeed, and regard their own course as worthy of imitation. The gambler has his code of honor, the duelist has his code of honor. Napoleon was an honorable man, in his way, and the world ascribed to him many great and noble qualities. He fought well and conquered well. His banner waved in triumph over many a bloody field, he was, doubtless, a splendid general and a brilliant emperor; but the child who wandered over the battlefield, after his most triumphant charge, and wet with water the lips of the dying soldier there, was far more exalted in the scale of being, than was the plumed and epauleted chieftain. Nelson was a skilful officer, and died, as the world says, "in

MANLINESS. 297 all his glory." In the history of naval heroes his name stands in the front rank. But the poor sailor, who, a few months since, in a distant city, braved the fire and at the risk of his own life saved a mother's only child, gained a truer glory to my mind than ever shone around the distinguished admiral. The true object of life has scarcely begun to be understood. In past ages men have been attracted by the glitter and show of conquest, and worldly predominance. They have pursued the phantom, while the real and the substantial have been sacrificed. What, then, are the elements of true manliness? Wealth is not one. In a multitude of cases the possessor of the largest fortune has been found to have views and feelings not at all in proportion to themagnitude of his wealth. There is a contingency about riches which has nothing to do with intellectual greatness or moral worth. Birth and blood do not constitute true manliness. Royal veins are found to flow with plebeian streams, and crime and duplicity as often disgrace the palace of the monarch, as the cabin of the peasant, Nero's heart swelled with the blood of emperors. Rome acknowledged him as her sovereign. Over all the known world his banner waved. But was Nero a man, in the full sense of that term? No! True he ate and slept like other men,—he wore the human form, but aside from this he moved through the earth like a demon, smiting its flowers and withering its verdure. When he died, a great incubus was removed from the crushed form of humanity, and she uttered thanksgiving that he was gone. On the other hand, we have known men in whose veins not a drop of princeiy blood was flowing, come forth from their humble abodes to startle the world with the brilliancy of their lives, wake up the race to noble deeds, and produce a wonderful change in society. Intellect does not make a man. I admit the power of intellect, its superiority over wealth, physical power or brute force; but a mere intellectualist is not a man. The possession of intellect shows that one is fitted to be a man; the use of that intellect shows how much he is a man. Among the mighty intellects of the earth might be mentioned the name of the historian Gibbon. He was one of the world's most distinguished writers. But Gibbon was a skeptic, and with his grand history. The Decline and Fall of the

298 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Roman Empire, will be found artful insinuations that tend to undermine man's faith in God. Ernest Renan, was another of those mighty intellects, but all perverted. To many, towering intellect may become a curse to all who come within its baneful influence. How, then, can an individual show himself to be a man? One of the surest indications of manliness is to show an earnest wish for the good of others. The mission of young men, in this age, is to meet those evils which have crept in upon society, and to arrest, if possible, the tide of vice which is sweeping through the world. Now, I hold the opinion that our young men have never taken that position in regard to vice that it is their duty to occupy. There is no class of persons capable of accomplishing more than our young men. And, I ask, has this prospect nothing attractive to you,my boy? Is there no music to your ears in the song of the mother over her reformed son? Is there no charm to you in the willing step of the prodigal, as he returns to the home of his youth? We sustain certain relations to the whole human family. We are children of one common parent. The child of Erin, as he comes in rags and poverty to our shores, the wild Karen as he rushes from his dark jungle ready for blood, the hunted Indian,^ and the proudest child of civilization, are all members of the human race. God has created us with a feeling of relationship and sympathy for even the most degraded individual of the race, which we do not feel for a member of the brute creation. He has designed that we should be mutual helpers and assistants, and has placed us in a position of mutual dependence. The young man has no right to shirk the responsibility, until virtue is respected and vice hated, until labor receives its due reward, until honest men are respected, whatever their pecuniary circumstances, and until general intelligence is characteristic of the people. And now, my son, have I aroused your manly feelings, or strengthened your purpose to do good? If so, well. Let your heart be strong for high and holy deeds, and be determined to be more than a slave, who toils by day, a^id lies down to sleep at night forgetful of his kin, his country, and his God. Salt Lake City, Ltah.