In his essay on William Pitt, Macaulay says, "The correctness of his private life added much to the dignity of his public character." He might have added, "and to the efficiency of his public life." No one whose private life is base and vile can be a true public servant. He may seem to do things that possess some value, but in the outcome there is something faulty, —his own fault, perhaps, breaking out in some form.
A man's private life gives a flavor to all his public life. What he does, takes on the quality of what he is. There is no escape from this. We sometimes think a man's brilliancy, his sociability, his standing, his by-plays of favor, his generous qualities, will make his public career a success, and so it may for a time, but watch him; see him soon fade away, and his works turn to ashes or be forgotten.
The four corners of the things that stand in a community or nation are justice, unselfishness, candor, and purity; and the structure gets these from the man who builds it. The people would better look to these qualities when building their public edifice.
