Georgetown weekly news., 1855-03-29
No Pleasing Everybody.

Some persons live under the delusion that
it is possible to please everybody Accord
ingly they never venture to express an opin-
ion Of their own, till they learn what those
Of their new acquaintances may be. When
they deScern tins, they praise those whom
they dislike; censure the friends who have
stood by them for years; go into raptures
over things which they secretly dctest, and
abuse without stint, habits, ideas, and mat
ters Of taste, which they have been accus-
toned to worship. Like the chameleon
they take their hues from their company. and
change appearances as often as they change
acquaintance.
Such persons sacrifice selfrespect, the
convictions Of conscience, anything and
everything to the temporary purpose of the
hour. To be popular for moment even
with the people whom they really cannot
esteem, they are willing to play the hare-
quin, or the fool, if not worse. And what
do they gain by it? Merely the gratiGoa-
ton OF a miserable vanity, which is as un-
womany in one sex as it is unmanv in tie
other; which might be pardoned in children,
but can never even be pIIiated in adults;
and which, feeding on itself, spreads cancer
like till the whole moral system is infected.
and the victims become torment to them
selves, and the laughing-st0ck of all who
know them.
Far be it from us to assert that people
ought to be churlish. On the contrary. DO
liteness is not only due to every one We
meet, but it is Of vast importance in ones
fortune in life. A gracious smile thaws the
most bearish, while a curt reply olIends even
| the most charitable. The famous Duke 0
Mar boryugl Dotoriously owed his greatness
| quite as much to bis amenity Of manner as
to his skill in diplomacy, his wisdom in Par
lament, or his generalship at the head ofhis
armies. But the determination to be affable
must not be confounded with the desire tc
| please everybody. True politeness is not
! mean subSerYience. The one is the cOyen.
tional way Of expressing good feeling, thl
other IS the base practice Of Stimulating false
! opinions The one gives to others what ouI
common humanity dictates as their due. tht
other axes from ourselves what we cannot
part with without disgrace. The one is
decorous for the most independent soul, the
other involves a degradation unworthy OF
any but slave. 70 be affable to all is as
healthy to ones own nature as it is agree
able to those whom we meet But to at
tempt to please everybody only offtnds al
at last, as well as infinitely belittle ourselves.
The one elevates, the other lowers. The
one makes friends, the other alienateS them
We have said that the attempt to please
everybody ends in offending all. Few
things irritate people more than to find that
they have been duped. 1t is Impossible for
one of your social chamelions, no matter
how adroitly they endeavor to conceal their
bvpocracv, to carry on the game Of decep-
ton without being discovered at last. Ac-
ouaintances will begin to compare notes :;
will find that each Las been abused in turn
and will unite to visit with their vengeance
the poor fool who has thought to caiole
them. 1t is far better, even as a matter of
policy, to be frank and firm, rather than sub-
seryient and sneaking. True politeness is
not necessarily incompatible with opposi-
tion to friend or acquaintance. 1t was
said Of that renowned Duke, to whom we
have already referred, that he could refuse a
man more graciously than others even grant
ed requests His example proves that affa-
bllty OF manner can be successfully united
with independence of thought and behav-
iour. Philadelphia Ledger.