Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1859-06-25
From Reynolds Miscellany.
The Art of Not Hearing.

Inc ArJ OF MOI bearing.
The art of not hearing should be taught in
every wcll-iegulatcd family. 1t is full ms
importantto domestic happiness as a culti-
waited ear, tor which so much money and
time arc expended. There are so many things
which it is painful to heal--mony which We
ought not to hear-vcry many which if
heard, will disturb the temper, corrupt sim
plicity and modcsty, detract from content
mont and happiness; that every one should
be educated to take in or shut out sounds
according to their pleasure
1T man falls into Il violent passion, and
calls NE all manner of names, the first word
shuts my ears, and hear no more If in
my quiet voyage of life. find myself caught
in one of those domestic whirlwinds Of scold.
ing, shut my cars, as n sailor would furl
ms SAILS, anu making all tight, scud before
the gale. IL II hot and restless man begins
to lnliame my feelings, consider whut mis-
chief these fiery sparks may do in the maya
zine below where my temper is kept, and in
stantly close the door.
Does gadding, misunderstanding fellow
negin to iulorm me what people are saving
about me, down drops tic portcullis of my
car anu he cannot get in any farther. Does
the collector of n peighborhOod's scandal ask
my ear MS warehouse, it instinctyoy shuts
up. Some people seem anxious to hear eve
rything that will We; and annoy them. Ifit
is hinted that any one has spoken evil Of
them they set about searching the matter,
and finding out. fall the petty things said
of ono by needless or ill-naturcd idlcrs were
to bo brought home to him, he would become
a mere walking pincushion, stuck full of
sharp remarks. | should as soon thank a
man Tor emptying upon my bed II bushcl of
hettieS or scttrS loose swarm of ants in
my chamber, or raising pungcnt dust IN
my house generally, us to bring in upon me
AL the tattle OF careless or spitcful people
II you would bo happy, when among good
men, open your cars; when among bad, Shut
them. And as the throat has muscular ar
rangcmcnt by which it takes care of the nil
passages of It's own record, SO the cars should
bc trained to an automatic dulncss of hear
ing! 1t Is not worth while TO hear what
your servants say when they are angry; what
your chlldron say after thcy have slammed
'he door; what your ncighhors say about
| your children; what Your rivals say about
your business, your dress, or your ahairs.
This art of not hearing, though untaucht
III the schools, is by no means unknown. or
unpractiScd i'll society. j have noticed that
| weil-bred woman never hears nm impcrti-
nont or vulgar remark. y kind of discreet
deafness saves one from many insults from
much blame, from not little apparent con
nivancc i'll diShonorable conversation.
There are two doors inside my cars--a
right-hand door leading to the heart, and n
leit-hand door, with broad and steep pas
sage out into tho open air This last door
receives all ughncSs, profanity, vulcnYitv.
misunderstanding. which suddenly find them
selves outside of me. JudiciUus teachers
and indnlgcnt parents save young urchins n
world OF trouble by convenient deafness
| Bankers and moncy-lcnders often arc cx-
trcmely hard of hearing, when unsafe bor-
rowers arc impOrtunutc. Incvcr hcnr n man
who runs after me in tho street bawlng my
| name at the top of his voice. nor persons
that talk evil of those who arc absent nor
those who give me unasked advice about my
own atiuirs; nor those who talk largely IL
bout things of which they arc ignorant.
If there are sounds Of Kindness, of mirth,
OF love, open fly my cars! But temper, or
harshness, or hatred, or vulgarity, or fattc-
| ry, shut them. If YOU keep YOUR garden
gate shut, your flowers and fruit will be safe.
If you keep your door closed. no thief will
run off with your silver; and if you keep
/ your ears shut, your heart will lose neither
its howers nor its treasures.
! Po1soNING.--A horrible POISONING case
has just come to light at Montague, Sussex
County, ~ j. A Doctor, named Wickham,
induced man named Cote to have his
wife's life insured, and as she was to be
confined in short time, they arranged tlat
! she should be poisoned during her sickness,
and that the insurance money should be
divided between them, Dr. Wickham, how
ever, chanccd not to be present when she
| was cvoGncd, and another physician was
called in, who left the mother and child do.
! ing well. In about Il week Wickham call
ed, and took occasion to administer some
thing to the woman who died in twenty
minutes afterwards After she had been
buried it trauspired, through the inyesti-
CATION OF the Insurance Company, that
Wickham had given her large quantity
of arsenic. The husband confessed the
whole transaction. Wickhuin, ut last ac-
counts, was it large. Icb
NoTnING can be more instructive TO thin
ker than tho manner III which the devil is
pcrsoniicd to some good people, who seem to
! have rather too good knowledge of him for
| their comfort, X worthy farmer, at ooun-
| try meeting for the relation of the religious
I experience of its members, said lie had been
severely tried by young dovil. Said lie ::
lilo come last night and set down on the
side of my bed, and grinDed ut me as I was
| saying my prayers h6 wasn't the, old devil.
dear brethren, but q little young one, that
| would weigh about forty pounds lie sot
down on the side Of the bed. and could Just
see his tail and huts u stickin; out under his
cl9ak; it was terrible cold that night, and he
looked ns tho they took good care on him
| tn hum had agood chance to look at him,
but went on prayin' he didn't frighten me
bit Id seen his, daddy before; 30 looked
out of n corner of MY eye, and could see his
ieetle horns they werojust begnnin' to start
like a little bull calf; thoy wasn't more thun
t%o inches long, but they looked as tho they
might got to- be tayPiblo pokerish some day y