The Camden weekly journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1853-1861, 1853-05-17
4 Sflefteb Gale.
LOOK AT THE BRIGHT SIDE.
BY T. S. A r T II L II.

BY T. S. A II Ill R
How rarely is an absent one mentioned with
recommendation, that q fault of character is not
Immediately set forth to qualify the good i'm.
pressions. Mr.. A. is man of fine
talents, YOU say; and forthwith is responded,
20. YES, man of fine talents, but lie has no
< control over his passions. q. Mr.. B-- is a
man of excellent principles But is an
swered Il don't like some of his practices
sMr. G is kind father and husband.
"But if all / have heard be true, he is not over
nice in regard to his word And, ten chances
to one, if the, commendation is not forgotten,
while the disparaging declarations find prom-
nent place in the memories of all. who heard
them, and color their estimation of A,
= b aud c.. ~
1t is remarked by Swedenborg, that when
ever the angels come to any one, they explore
him in search of good. They see not his evil,
but his good qualities, and attaching themselves
to these. excite them into useful activities
Were they to see only the mahs evils, they
would recede from him., for they could not
conjoin themselves TO these; and thus man
wouli be left unaided, to be 'borne down by
the powers ot evil.
II, then, we would help our fe!l"w-men to
rise above what is false and evil in his cilarac.
ter. let US turn our eyes, as far As possible away
from his faults, and fix them steadily upon his
good qualities. We shall tt:eh aid him in the
upward movement, and give external power
to the good he rea'sy'possesses. and now, by
way of illustration.
A Young man, named Westfe|d, was the
subject of conversation between three or four
persons. One of these, a Mr.. Hartman, had
met Westfeld only recently. The first impress
sion formed OF his ctarac' er WAS quite far"ra
BILE, and he expressed himself accordingly. L"
his surprise and pain, one OF the company re-
Market:
cYes. Wcstfeld is clever enough in his way
but-" AID he shrugged his shoulders, aud
looked world OF m. stcry.
"Notfnrce of cha actrr," said another.
81 have never liked the way he treated MIR.
Green" said third. ''it shows, TO nay mind,
defect of principle. The oums "tan is well
earush in his way. suppose, aud "ou'dn
say word against him for the world, hut
AMI he shrugged his shoulders Alb, how
much wrong has been done to character, and
worldly prospects, by singe shrug
From no lip present came even the smallest
word in favor of the ."u"g man No one
spoke OF the disadvantages against winch he
had struggled successfully, norpnrt,ayed si"-
gle virtue of the many he possessed. NO one
looked at the brighter qualities of his mind
Aud why Poor, weak buman nature ! Quick
to,nark evils and nddefects, but slow to acknowl-
edge what is good in the ueighb"r. Prone to
hatter SELF yet Offering only cxlorted praise at
the shrine of auothers merit. How low art
thou fallen!
A few evenings after the little conversation
we have mentioned Mr.. Hartman "aS thrown
in company with WestfeId. The latter, re.
men,beriny his fist Interview with this gentle
man, whose position in society was one OF
standing and influence, met him again with .
lively glow of satisfaction, hich showed itself
in countenancn and manner. But the few dis
parauing words spoken against tteyounS man,
had poisoned the mind Of Mr. Hartn,a'I; and.
instead of meeting him with the frank cordI-
alty he expected, he received him with cold
repul>e.
Disappointed and mortified, Wes1fied turn.
ed from the man towards whom warm feelings
and hopeful thoughts had been going forth for
many days, and, in little while, quietly re-
tired from company. in nningling with which
he had promised himself both pleasure and
profit.
"That hope blasted"T exclaimed the young
man, striking his hands together, while sha'
dow of intense pain darkened his countenance
He was now alone, having returned to his
chamber for selfcommunion.
There existed, at this time, an important crl-
sis in the young mans affairs. He was clerk
on a very muderate salary. His own wants
were few, and thes. his salary would have am,
ply supplied but widowed mother and
young sister locked to him as their only sup
port To sustain all, was beyond his ability
aud, much to his anxiety and deep discourage
ment, he found himself falling int" debt His
offence towards Mr.. Green, which had be n
alluded to as involving something wrong on his
part, was nothing more nor less than leaving
his service for that Of another man, who made
small advance in his salary-a thing which
the former positively refused to do. He bad
been with Mr.. Green from his boyhood up and,
somehow or other, Mr. Green imagined that
he possesscd certain claims to his continued
service. and when the fact Of Westfield's hav-
inc left him was alluded to, gave to others the
impression that he was badly used in the mat
ter. He did not mean to inJure the young
man: but he had heen valuable; the loss fret.
ted him and produced unkind feelings
these found relic in words. Sells mess pre-
vented him from seeing, as he ought to have
seen, the bright side of Westfe'ds character
and so he injured him by throwing shade"
m, h;c uonA Damn