There would be no fear for the future of the country if we
were sure to have in the great office of President a succession
of Benjamin Harrisons.
This fault of his is a fault apt to beset good and honest
men, especially when they are under the burden of great anxieties
and cares. Such men at such times are intent upon the object
to be accomplished. They are not thinking of personal considerations,
of making friends or allies, or of the impression they are
making for themselves upon mankind. But they need to learn
a lesson. It is a lesson which many of them learn very late
in life, that many a good cause has been jeopardized or lost
by this infirmity of men who are leaders on the righteous
side. There is written on the walls of one of the great English
schools a legend which I suppose has been there for seven
hundred years: "Manners Makyth Man." It is a curious fact,
however, that this legend illustrates a portrait of a pig.
But while public men ought to be made to see how great a thing
this is, the people ought to learn how little a thing it is--
how insignificant are these foibles, irritable temper, habits
of personal discourtesy, impatience, even vanity and self-
confidence, compared with the great things that concern the
character, the welfare, and the glory of the State.
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