Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 6, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 January 1919 — NO DISGRACE TO FEEL FEAR [ARTICLE]

NO DISGRACE TO FEEL FEAR

One Result of. War Has Been Saner Idea of What Constitutes -- Real Bravery. •r, „ - '■— An English observer callp attention to the fact that our worldwar ha« destroyed the fear of being afraid. tiereTOlOre, tv -wwt u tiqufty, the one qualityinsisted oa in the soldier was that he should be fearless and the more, cahously so the better. The faintest tremor of timidity was a black mark against the most respondent knight as well as the lowliest. bowman or halbardier, and the schooling for war was an utter defiance of the personal risk. This theory held, as many will remember, even till the, period, of the Boer war, when the British suffered so severely In officers because it was held cowardly for a commander to seek cover. Sfen. then' as now, felt fear, for that Is one of dgsh’s attributes and, indeed, is one of -the most valuable of human possessions. since fear is our protection front dangers and harms innumerable. We fear wild beasts to avoid them, snakes ami spiders to .Increase ( our attention, storms and tempests that we may prepare means of escape from them. So it was only in battle P that chivalry insisted that man should be without fear, or pretend to be. With the coming of new warfare,' however, ail lands at once came to a more sane understanding and the old physical bravery has given place to moral resolution. The man who now enters the hell of shell fire, of hurled flames and deadly gases, no longer attempts to fool himself into the be-, lief that he Is not afraid.- He know* full well and only a stupid nature could avoid the knowledge that the human Is at the mercy of forces a million times beyond his own ability The old knight might really believe he was able to unhorse all the enemies that rode against him and therefore might conceivably be without fear, but how can a soldier feel that way when facing modern weapons of destruction? Therefore, it is no longer a disgrace to feel fear or to admit it; the only disgrace is to allow fear to prevent one doing his duty. How much liner fiber Is needed for this new defiance !