The Tipton advertiser. [volume] (Tipton, Cedar Co., Iowa) 1856-1962, 1858-03-06
90 MN UNICA TED.
A Touch at the TOuchy.

through book and pulpit, of offensive
peoplt-that is, people who being of .
rude or malicious disposition, frequently
give ofenscto their neighbors and friends
1t strikes me that the remark. thrown
out upon such persons are in great
measure uncalled for and uscless-for i,
SO happens that scarcely ever met an
offensive person. If writer's and preacl
ers were to direct little of their thun-
der against o6ense taking people, they
would, I appreheud, be doing useful.ser
vice. In the days when there was a gen
eral roughness of manners and lack of re
finement, there was, l suppose, hardly
such thing as taking offense at ALL If
there was rudencss on the one side, there
was good hunor on the other, and thus sui
king and 6reing-up were neither of them
hardly known. 1t was only when We be-
came such very nice "ladies and gentle
men, as scarcely ever to utter word out
of joint, or fail in one Of the formalities
Of society, that we began to be so much
pcstered with intimations that great Of
fense had been taken at us for something
which we had said or done, or something
which We had failed to say or do In the
beds of roses on which most Of the peo-
pie pass their days, a single crumpled
leaf is enough to give them pain Bow
to them upon the street with little less
than your usual Aexurc, fail to go and
converse with them at crowded evening
party, and they go home full of resent
mcnt at the slight you have put upon
them. (Then commences the first lesson
of neighborly talking.) Pass them over
in your invitations for dinner or soiree
and they will assail you as hoartless
person, and it may be cause sufficient to
them effectually, and throw
cloud oyer their behavior towards you for
a long time to come. Much worse if they
should hear of some half jocular remark
you had made upon them, not quite re
spocttul in its tendency then hurrah
affording you any opportunity
for explanation or apology, they seal a
vow of eternal resentment against you,
run they must, leave their household
affairs to tell their neighbors; or, what is
quite as bad, withdraw into a cold abstrac-
tion which it is vain for you to try to
penetrate Confirmed offeuse takers are
so exceedingly dissagreeable as acquaint-
ances, that few care much for their soci
ETY., or feel any great concern when they
give symptoms of having taken umbrage-
We pass them over as unfortunateI, and
quickly cease to think of them 1t is
chiefly in circles of relationship they be-
come seriously annoying, for then they
cannot be SO readily dismissed from con-
sdcration. The mischief they do in such
circles by their exigent tempers, their
reclamations against imaginary ill.usage,
and raising little cabals and factions
against every one who displeases them,
is enormous. If you will analyze the
character Of confirmed offense taker, |
you will almost always find an nordinate
self-love at the bottom of it. Such per
sons never get the attention and consid-
Grafton they think their due, and deem
all about them as engaged in conspiracy
against them; when they themselves are
more truly IN conspiracy to torment So
ciety and themselves The source of their |
lnfrmity is revealed by converse fact,
namely, their extraordinary liability to
think favorably of all who will pay them
court, not even excepting the most silly !
and worthless. 1t is equally demonstra-
ted by another attendant circumstance,
that they instinctively shrink from the
of all honest and peaceful per-
sons. In short, offense takers, in gener-
ii, are about the most contemplate peo,
pie one meets with, as unfortunately they
ire not far from being the most mischie-
gous. There is such thing, of course
rs occasional offense taking by worthy
people. | would speak of this as an er-
ror into which the most amiable humani-
W may fall; but | must also take leave TO
warn all my friends against it as a very
yrievous and dangerous one which they
nay well take some pains to avoid Oc-
,upy yourselves with household affairs and
you will find no time to spare in talking
If neighbors, County does not agree with
,ity gossiping;" please think of it reader.
When we smell rose, it is to imbibe
,he sweetness of its odor. We likewise
ook for everything that is amiable from
woman; but rest assured that whatever
ire her natural good qualities, they may
become ob,iterated. Let such facts put
as on our guard against giving way to
resentment until we have been fully as
'ured that offense was really meant, and
ind that an opportunity for repentance
1as been neglected by the offender and
,ven then let the sense of irritation be
within the narrowest limits
possible. And finally, my readers, try
md remember that if the other side were