AN EXPERIMENT IN MODESTY
One afternoon toward the end of my trip I made a mistake--for which I am
now duly thankful. Through weariness, or carelessness or over-confidence
or a human desire to talk frankly to somebody, I dropped my pose of the
Affable Stranger and freely admitted to an American whom I had engaged
in conversation that I was gathering material for a book. I also went as
far as to indicate the nature of my investigations. At once he assumed
an attitude of helpfulness. All that he knew about the subject of
international relations was at my disposal--and he knew a surprising lot
of things that were of no importance. You meet men of this kind wherever
new books are discussed--or any kind of human achievement. Parasitic
helpers attach themselves to every kind of work from farming to
statesmanship. In fact this characteristic must be universal, for Fabre
has a passage on it in his description of scarabs. When one of them
finds a treasure others help him in just that way. I am being explicit
on the point, for the theme of this chapter is modesty as it affects the
relations between countries. Being somewhat modest in my claims to
modesty I feel competent to discuss the matter with the necessary
intellectual aloofness.
"The trouble with Canadians," said the candid and helpful American, "is
that they are too cocky!"
That made me tingle to my last pin-feather, but fortunately I am of
Scotch ancestry and the obvious witty retort did not flash back
instantly. In fact I was rather dazed, but somewhere deep down in my
consciousness I felt the need of taking the criticism in a friendly
spirit, for if a man starts out to promote harmonious relations he must
not be quick to take offence. Not knowing what else to do I smiled
affably, which was quite in keeping with the rôle I was playing.
Evidently my smile had the proper blend of modesty and humble enquiry,
for my mentor at once fluffed up his feathers and proceeded:
"As a matter of fact we get along much better with the English than we
do with you."
That gave me a flash of insight. Evidently this man had never fathomed
the deep guile of much English modesty. The course for me to pursue was
clear. At once I became a shrinking violet. As a matter of fact there
have been times when I have wanted to knock a man down for being half as
modest as I must have looked at that moment. But the effect on the
American was all that the most Machiavellian subtlety could desire. It
would hardly have been surprising if wings had sprouted on his shoulders
and he had flapped them and crowed.
"The fact of the matter is that Canada is still a colony of Great
Britain and not a nation, and no amount of boasting or assertion to the
contrary will change the actual status."
Wholesome truth this, but not to be borne patiently were it not for the
rising tide of laughter within. Every moment the American was becoming
more and more cocky and exhibiting the very quality he was condemning in
Canadians. The temptation to egg him on was irresistible.
"Still," I ventured modestly, "it would be kind in Americans to overlook
this youthful folly of ours. At the present time there is a growing
bitterness between the two countries that may become serious unless a
great deal of wise tolerance is shown."
"Oh, it can't become serious. Perhaps it might a hundred years from now,
when Canada may have a population approaching ours, but just now--" And
he made a large "shoo fly!" gesture that dismissed the whole matter as
unworthy of consideration.
There was no question about it. I must go away from there or there would
be an explosion that would reduce my gravity to a total loss. And when
I finally got away from the flood of kindly candor that was sweeping
over me I got the finest thrill of all.
I had mastered the art of that exasperating English modesty that had
always been my despair! This was more than an intellectual triumph! It
was balm to a bruised and wounded spirit!
One time in my salad days two London club-men entertained me kindly and
provoked me to entertain them. By making the customary modest
deprecatory remarks about Great Britain, they induced me to unbosom
myself with honest candor. After two months at the seat of the Empire I
felt competent to tell them many things that were amiss. And being a
native-born Canadian I was able to astonish them (my word!) with my
accounts of the resources and possibilities of Canada. Almost twenty
years later I admit freely that most of my criticisms and boasts have
been proven true, but that is not the point. The point is that those two
Englishmen got me to turn myself inside out for their amusement, but it
was not until I had suffered several more experiences with English
modesty that the truth dawned on me with humiliating force. Knowing how
they must have chuckled over my expansiveness afterwards, I used to
writhe every time I thought of it. Sometimes in the stillness of the
night I would remember the incident and be tempted to jump from bed,
dress, hunt up those Englishmen, and beat them with a coarse colonial
directness. But now the hurt is healed. Having had that American at my
mercy--as the chauffeur of the borrowed car would say, "I owned him for
a few minutes"--I felt a new sense of power in expressing national
egotism and meeting it. Come to think of it, Canada must have a national
status or I could not have achieved it--but let that pass. Ever since
meeting the charge of national "cockiness" with modesty, I have been in
the mood to wave my hand at those two Englishmen through the mists of
memory and confess a bond of Imperial brotherhood. I have proven that
on occasion I can be as modest as they are.
But pshaw! what am I doing? I am boasting about my modesty! That is the
trouble with even the most excellent virtues! They must be practised in
moderation. True modesty is the crowning grace of high achievement. But
conscious modesty is an offence to all who are forced to endure it.
However, there is a test of modesty which may be worth having in mind.
When the rewards of achievement are within reach, if you find the modest
person shrinking in the limelight and taking everything he can lay his
hands on, you may appraise his modesty at its true worth.
All who feel that their withers have been wrung by this chapter are at
liberty to think this out in its varied implications and apply it as
they choose.