Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1859-08-20
From the Springfield Republican.
PreRchings upon Popular Proverbs.
nY TIMOTHY rIrooNR.-aNuNHEK rMrNrr.rNo.

BY TIMOTHY rfrcoNB.ANUNBER TWENTY-FIVE.
"AnOiut villain and he will prick you prick villain,
aud he win aDoint you"
"Give a rogue an inch and he will take an ELL
'TIe who lies down with dogs gOts up with aeas."
Good men never make anything by treat
ing rascals as equals. A conscious villa in
who is treated as an equal by an honest
man who is conscious of bis villany, recog-
nizes the man at once as a coward, and
treats him accordingly. Treated as an in
ferior, bad man becomes polite at once
or plays defantly the bully and the black
guard that be is. We may go the world
over without finding any man who, in bis
own soul, knows his place so well as a very
bad man and there is no way of securing
his respect so easily as by giving him to
understand that he is understood and ap.
preciated at his true value. Bow to him,
and treat him like gentleman, and he
founders and swaggers in the respectable
ty conferred upon him. But him, or show
him in any way that he is known and des-
pissed, and be becomes respectful and de-
cent, nine times in ten. There is no social
or Christian relation 10 which good and bad
men are equals, aud any good man who,
for any cownrdly reason, is willing toignore
the distinction, commits crime against So
cety and against Christianity, and secures
to himself the contempt Of those to whom
he defers. Anont "a villain, and he will
prick you prick villain, and he will a.
noint you.
/ know of no whip SO effectual in its
power when held over the back of al unprin-
cpled man as social prescription. The
worst men save in exceptional cases of brutal
selfabandonment, have longing for re-
spectability. 1t is hard thing for any
man to walk through the streets, and meet
amoug respectable men noaght but stony
faces, and to know that those faces are set
simply against his sins. 1t is a hard thing
for the worst men to feel that all good
hearts and all decent hearths are shut a.
gainst them, because their entrance would
be regarded as a contamination. So these
men strive to cheat us into respecting them
by the assumption of false names, or en-
deavor to purchase respect and position
by exhibitions of public spirit. The pro-
fessional gambler, who is simply a eech
upon the social body-who gets his living
without earning it, and wins the wealth of
| others by games of chance-the most heart
less, ruthless, and mischievous of men
calls himself sporting man, and loves to
be called sporting man. He would be
much obliged to society if it would never
with his name Tn fact be would be will
ling to sacrifice little something for the
public good if by so doing he could keep
his chin above water.
Again, give rogue an inch, and he
will take an ELL Any favor shown to such
men as these is an essential license for fur
ther sin. They want coHntenance, and
they seek it in many ways. If they can
create party for themselves, or manage
to secure among men nOminally Tespecta-
BILE apologists and defenders, they are de-
| lighted, and feel themselves safer in their
schemes and operations. We have only
the rope that holds them to decency. The
moment recognize a well known scoundrel
as an equal, that moment descend to his
standard of morality or immortality, assist to
lower the general standard of respectable
ty, and furnish to him new point of de
parture from which he may plunge into fur
ther scoundrelism. The fact is that no man
who preys upon society for a livelihood, or
habitually engages in practices which COM
promise social purity and good order, can
by possibility be gentleman ; and no
gentleman can deal with such man on an
equality, or eat of his dainties, or accept
of bis company or his favors, without COM
promising his position as gentleman.
He who lies down with dogs gets up
with heas. When a decent man lowers
his standard of respectability so far that
he can consort with foe to society and
morality, he damages himself beyond cure,
in most instances Confounding moral
distinctions and compromising with sin are
dangerous operations. In the measure by
which decent man confers reSpectabilty
upon rascal, does the rascal transfer re-
proach to him. The act is one which chan
geS beth parties for the worse. A respect
able man who comes to look with degree
of complacency upon one whoghas no title
to respectability, is morally damaged. He
becomes weaker man, more open to temp
tation, and more liable to fall. The prince
ly gamblers of New York and Washington
understand this principle thoroughly, and
initiate all their victims by bringing them
into communion with rascality over their
costly viandS and their abundant wines &
cigars. There is no communion between
the two classes. There is not even debata-
BILE ground The distinction is heaven-wide
on its very face
have stated these facts, FIRST, because
they are true and should be made useful /;
aud, second, because they introduce me to,
and assist to illustrate, principle not suf-
6ciently recognize in the contacts and
contests of truth with falsehood in the
moral and religious world. 1t will be re-
membered-for the occurrence was re-
cent one-that champion of slavery and
an opponent of slavery met in an American
city as disputants or wranglers upon this
question. II slavery were only political
question, discussion like this might be
legitimate, though it might not be very use
fnl. But it is recognized everywhere as
not only political but q moral question,
l enter upon no discussion Of this question,
because il is not relevant to my present
purpose, but say that to the opponent Of
slavery the right of every man to life, lib
| Al ~ 10 oalf