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Heroes in Peace The 6th William Penn Lecture, May 9, 1920 By: John Haynes Holmes (1879-1964) |
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HEROES IN PEACE [Illustration: John Haynes Holmes' signature.] 1920
Walter H. Jenkins, Printer
Philadelphia
This is the sixth of the series of lectures known as the WILLIAM PENN
LECTURES. They are supported by the Young Friends' Movement of
Philadelphia Yearly Meeting, which was organized on Fifth month 13th,
1916, at Race Street Meeting House in Philadelphia, for the purpose of
closer fellowship, for the strengthening of such association and the
interchange of experience, of loyalty to the ideals of the Society of
Friends, and for the preparation by such common ideals for more
effective work through the Society of Friends for the growth of the
Kingdom of God on earth. The name of William Penn has been chosen because he was a Great
Adventurer, who in fellowship with his friends started in his youth on
the holy experiment of endeavoring "to live out the laws of Christ in
every thought and word and deed," that these might become the laws and
habits of the State. John Haynes Holmes, of the Community Church, New York City, delivered
this sixth lecture on "Heroes in Peace," at Race Street Meeting House,
on Fifth month 9th, 1920. Philadelphia, 1920.
Heroes in Peace
In an essay published some years ago on Thomas Carlyle's famous book,
Heroes and Hero Worship , Prof. MacMechan, a well known student of
literature in England, makes the following observation: "In 1840, 'hero'
meant, most probably, to nine Englishmen out of every ten, a general
officer who had served in the Peninsula, or taken part in the last great
fight with Napoleon, and who dined year after year with the Duke at
Apsley House on the anniversary of Waterloo. To most people 'hero' means
simply 'soldier,' and implies a human soul greatly daring and greatly
enduring." What Prof. MacMechan here tells us about the Englishman of 1840 is
equally true of the Englishman of today is true, indeed, of all
peoples in all ages of history. Heroism has nearly always been taken to
imply physical courage; physical courage has always found its most
terrible and dramatic expression in warfare; and, therefore, by a
natural association of ideas, the hero has come to be identified with
the soldier. When we think of heroes, we almost instinctively find
ourselves thinking of armored champions of Greece and Rome, who were
helped to immortality by Plutarch, whom Emerson calls "the doctor and
historian of heroism"; of King Arthur, and his knights of the Round
Table; of Harold and his men of iron on the field of Hastings; of the
Crusaders, who marched to the East with the sword in the one hand and
the crucifix in the other, to wrest the holy city from the profaning
clutch of the hated Moslem. Or, coming down to the more modern times,
if we speak of heroism to the Frenchman, he thinks of the first Emperor
and the old guard which "dies but never surrenders"; to the Italian, he
hails the names of Garibaldi and the Thousand; to the Englishman, he
acclaims the "thin red line of heroes" who held the field of Waterloo,
conquered India and Egypt, and recently defended the Empire from the
onslaughts of the Germans. And the same thing holds true of the
American! To you and to me, the word "hero" means George Washington and
the ragged Continentals who starved and froze amid the snowdrifts of
Valley Forge; Commodore Perry and the sailors who shattered the British
fleet upon the waters of Lake Erie; General Grant and the boys in blue
who fought and conquered General Lee and the equally heroic boys in
gray. The national heroes of all countries are soldiers. Walk the
streets of any city in any land, and everywhere you will see statues of
military chieftains, as though these were the only heroes the world had
ever produced who were worthy of commemorative monuments. "To most
people," as Prof. MacMechan has well said, "'hero' means simply
soldier"; or, if we be enlightened enough now and then to extend this
title to men who have achieved fame in other walks of life, it is
because we see in them some analogy to the warrior... Continue reading book >>
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