Frederick wandered among the camp-fires at night, and sat down
with one group after another of his men. He never dreamed of equality,
nor did the rude soldiers. The king was greatest; the men were his
comrades, and all were bound to serve the Fatherland--the sovereign by
offering sage guidance, the men by following to the death. No company of
men ever yet did worthy work in the world when the notion of equality
was tried in practice; and no kind of effort, for evil or for good, ever
came to anything so long as those who tried did not recognize the rule
of the strongest or wisest. Even the scoundrel buccaneers of the Spanish
Main could not carry on their fiendish trade without sinking the notion
of equality, and the simple Quakers, the Society of Friends, with all
their straitened ideas, have been constantly compelled to recognize one
head of their body, even though they gave him no distinctive title. Our
business is to see that every man has his due as far as possible, and
not more than his due. The superior must perceive what is the degree of
deference which must be rendered to the inferior; the inferior must put
away envy and covetousness, and must learn to bestow, without servility,
reverence and obedience where reverence and obedience may be rightfully
offered.
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