Muscatine weekly journal. [volume] (Muscatine, Iowa) 185?-1890, 1859-04-29
THE EASIEST THING IN THE World.

Y
How slow is the world to learn that
the talent to find fault is the cheapest
and most common Of gifts, and yet,
just as Diogenes snarled himself i'm
mortal, hundreds since his day have
achieved sort Of fame by finding fault
with what they could neither have exc
cuted nor conceived people who, driv-
en- from every lineament Of the whole
figure, desperately object to the set of
the slipper at last, and triumph more
over the detection Of blemish, than
they would at the discovery Of an hun
dred beauties.
The sculptor when he placed his
beautiful work in the market place,
with the request that each passer-by
would note thereon what seemed faulty
to him, and also what he considered
admirable, met a fate that has many
parallels in this age Of print. A Gre
clan dis6gured the nose because it was
Roman a Roman battered the lip be-
cause it was Grecian a gladiator de-
molished an eye, and boor mutilated
the bust; and when the sculptor came
to profit by the teachings Of tho people,
he found the beautiful creation that had
rounded into life beneath the delicate
touches of his graver, dethroned from
its pedestal, u heap Of mis-shapen frag-
ments. AS he sadly gathered them up,
he learned that while demolition is the
pastime Of the many, the design and
the execution are the labor of the few.
Not beauty had one of all his critics
noted, for when they had done with
finding fault there was nothing Of the
statue left for admiration.
Could these words of Cozzens be in
scribed in letters Of gold in galleries Of
art, and libraries, and the retreat Of
the student-inscribed and practically
believed, the world would be quite as
wise and a great deal happier: "To
comprehend and demonstrate that a
thing is not beautiful, is an ordinary
pleasure, an ungrateful task but to
: discern a beautiful thing, to be pene-
trated with its beauty, to make it evil
dent, and make others participate in its
sentiment, is an exquisite joy, gen.
> erous task. Admiration is. for him
who feels it. at once a happiness and
, an honor. tits happiness to feel keen
7 ly what is beautiful; it is an honor to
/ know how to recognize it. Admiration
, is the sign Of an elevated reason served
! by noble heart. 1t is above small
criticism, that is skeptical and power
less; but it is the soul Of a larger crit
icism, criticism that is productive.
t 1t is, thus to speak, the divine part Of
taste.-Chicago Journal.
ETIQUETTE AT THE TABLE.-Accord-
ing to the most modern rules of able
,, etiquette, says the Springfield Repub-
Acan, it is considered vulgar to take
soup or fish twice; and a pretty fair
reason for not being helped to these
: articles twice, at full table, is, be-
cause by so doing, a great part Of the
company are kept waiting for the Sec
, ond course, which is spelling as it were,
, to the great annoyance Of those whose
: hospitality is being enjoyed. The sell
' fish greatness, therefore, Of so doing,
constitutes its vulgarity. At family
dinner it is Of less Importance. New
! ef TO "eA a knife to convey food to the
mouth is rule familiar to oil and g.
very decent and lcoeoahle one. A fork
.. or spoon, and nothing else is to DO
used for feeding, the knife being en-
ployed only for cutting. As general
rule, knife or fork should not be used
! in helping any one at the table when a
spoon will answer the same purpose.
It is not decorous to press people to
! eat more than they appear to desire, or
to insist upon their tasting any partic-
ular dish. Ladies should never dine
with their gloves on, unless their hands
are not fit to be seen. An attempt at
conversation while the mouth is full, is
not at all agreeable. The knife and
, fork should not be held upright in the
hands, but sloping and when no long
er to be used, they should be placed
parallel with each other on the plate.
!, 1t is polite to use the napkin before
and after eating.
DON'T TATTLE.-What need it con-
: Germ you if John Shocks is counting
,, Sally Johnson? They are undoubtedly
, rational beings, and can conduct their
. love- affairs in becoming manner, and
without any Of your interference. Or,
what if Emma Ward got new dress :?
, 1t is probably paid for, and certainly
, costs you nothing. Why, then, need
you interest yourself so deeply about
it? What if the principal merchant in
the place has become insolvent :? You
are not among his creditors, and, for
Heavens sake, why don't you let the
man have a little enjoyment Sup
pose Dorcas Swift goes to dancing
school? 1t costs you nothing, and as
she has frail constitution little ex-
ercise Of this kind may benefit her
health. This intermeddling with the
affairs Of others to the neglect Of their
own, is becoming entirely too preva-
lent with certain class everywhere.
How BEANS CLIMB A PoLE.-Prof.
Brewer, Of Washington College, Pa,
communicates to the american Jour-
nal of Science and .4rt the result Of
some experiments made by him on
climbing vines-the hop, the bean, and
the morning glory. He finds that they
will climb around transparent glass
pipe just as we'll as anything else, and
that thew are most ardent in their EN-