The true hero is he who unites the two qualities. The physical element is
the more plentiful. For one man who will count the cost of sacrifice and,
having counted it, pay the price with unfaltering heart, there are many who
will answer the sudden call to meet peril with swift defiance. The courage
that snatches a comrade from under the guns of the enemy or a child from
the flames is, happily, not uncommon. It is inspired by an impulse that
takes men out of themselves and by a certain spirit of challenge to fate
that every one with a sporting instinct loves to take. But the act of the
sailor of the _Formidable_ was a much bigger thing. Here was no thrill of
gallantry and no sporting risk. He dealt in cold certainties: the boat and
safety; the ship and death; his life or the other's. And he thought of his
comrade's old parents at home and chose death.

It was a great end. I wonder whether you or I would be capable of it. I
would give much to feel that I could answer in the affirmative--that I
could take my stand on the spiritual plane of that unknown sailor.




ON SPENDTHRIFTS


While every one, I suppose, agrees that Lady Ida Sitwell richly deserves
her three months' imprisonment, there are many who will have a sneaking
pity for her. And that not because she is a woman of family who will suffer
peculiar tortures from prison life. On the contrary, I have no doubt that a
spell of imprisonment is just what she needs. In fact, it is what most of
us need, especially most of those who live a life of luxurious idleness. To
be compelled to get up early, to clean your cell, to wear plain clothes, to