The Camden weekly journal. [volume] (Camden, South-Carolina) 1853-1861, 1853-11-08


To sec ourselves others see us.
There are few members of the human family
who are not more or less self deceived. In ma
ny cases it is we'll that it is so. 1t is well to
imagine the experience of couditon of con-
tentnent, comfort, and happiness even it it should
not exist How rarely, indeed, do individuals
who are frighttully plain or hon'ely, really re-
cognise the fact. On the contrary, many who
are so circumstanced, believe they are quite
models of physical beauty, and contemplate
themselves with a degree Of vanity and self
complacency that makes them perfectly happy.
Where ignorance is bliss, It's folly to be wise
This, although not true in the general sense, Is
assuredly SO in certain cases. Fortunately, per-
haps, t2r many Of us, cannot see ourselves us
Others see us. The spots Oh the sun OF charac-
ter are not visible to our eyes. Our very defects
of person become so familiar that we lose sight
OF them, SO to speak, and thus they give us no
uneasipess or annoyance. Others see them, but
we do not, and hence the aphori>m we have quo
ted is pithy and applicable. We ehave more than
once in our rambles, met with an individual ap-
parenty thirty years of age, who. although one
Of the most insignificant and commonplace OF
mortals, obviously fnces himself a Perfect
Adonis; and thus with cane in one hand, and
and a pocket handkerchief in the other, he may
be seen wandering slowly through our f.>hiona-
Tie promenaCles, ever and anon glancing at his
person, evidently satisfied with himself and
happy in the conccit that he is the envy Of the
one sex, and the admiration Of others. 1t is Il
harmless deluson. and it would bc cruel to de-
stroy it. Nevertheless, the poor sim. Teton is
sadly selftleceived. But the most universal Spc
cies of self deception to Which poor mortals are
liable, is that which induces them to lclieve that
thev can play two characters before their fellow
creatures-in other words, that they can seem to
he ore thing, and in fact be the very reverse, and
vet no one discover it. They dcIulc themselves
with the notion that they possess peculiar III
intelligence, of which othels are deprived; that
they ca do certain things privately, secretly, and
escape observation. The hypocrte Is especially
character of this kind. But he goes further
than ordinary men, and endcavorS to deceive the
Almighty, or at least strives to persuade himself
into the belief that deliberate r;l>caty will he
overlooked by the Great Jud Sc Of the quick aud
the dead, if perpetrated under the mask Of re-
lirion, or with the nominal but not real Object
of promoting the welfare of society. It. is anu
sing sometimes to hear individual, address 9th
crs, as if on some public question, but with SCI
fshness so distinct and pal pabIe, that 1t seems
like an insult to attelnpt-a game Of deception
so transparent. In cases of this kind, llowever
it is the speaker who is deceived, aud not the
listener. The former fancics that his words COLI
ccal his thoughts, when, in fact the mask is so
thin that it is seen through at once. But all are
more or less deceived at times, and perhaps vii
nrv 1t is pleasant to indulge in an agreeable
dcllsion. and therefore we would not have the
vel withdrawn and the reality made bare. Bet
ter, we argue, to live Oh thus, than be made
miserable by discovering the truth. How many
men deceive themselves i'll relation to the real
nature of their pecuniary circumstances They
persuade themselves that they are quite rich
when in fact they are the very reverse. but
worse, they live in conformity with the dc'usion,
and thus step by step, involve themselves i'll
wretchedness and ruin. Occasionally Il glimpse
of truth will flash across their minds but they
will repeI it with a sort of Indignation; and by
calculating their effects at twice their real value
they will make balance sheet just to suit their
purposes. And when, too, things can 90 on no
longer and the avalanche of debt and response
bHty comes rushing down upon them, they are,
or assume to be, overwhelmed with aStohlSh-
ment, and cannot discover the cause. They had
deceived themselves so long, and with such An
extraordinary degree of pertinacitv, that they
could scarcely recognise the fact, even in the hour
of adversely. But there are others again, who
are in the other extreme. They can count their
fortunes By thousands and tens of thousands, have
enough and to spare-yet they labor under the
constant apprehension of want. Some calami-
ty seems to impcnd over them, and thus they
toll on year after year, ever saving and accunu-
lating, until at last, relnorsclcss Death, as if I'M
patient for his prey, strikes them into the grave.
There are few of us who do not deceive our
selves into the belief, that we are much better,
in a moral sense, than we really are We are
much more liberal and benevolent in theory than
in practice We manifest the livclrst sympathy
for the suffering of our fellow creatures in mo,ris
rather than deels We arc constantly making
mental reservations and promises, but alas there
the matter too often ends. We are indebted to
this friend for a courtesy, and to that for kind
ness, and we determine to rcciprocatc at the first
opportunity. But the auspicions moment is per-
mittcd to pass by, and the affair Is forgotten.
We deceive ourselves daily and hourly. We
charre upon others faults and errors that exist
only in ourselves, and we discover blcmisheS and
defects without making due allowance for cdu-
cation, association, example and the power OF
circumstances. In too many cases we decide ac-
cordng to passion, prejudice, and sclf.lnt"rcst,
and then persuade ourselves that the Judgment
deed, is not more or less scI:dcccivcd? Look