The Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1837-1867, 1861-04-19
Nominations.
BY Timothy TitcOmb.
CIIArTER II.


which is best in man is faith in other men,
In truth, believe that no man can lose hi
faith in men and women, and remain as goot
a man as he was before the loss Better eyi
dence that a man is rotten in some portion o.
his character, or rotten clean through hi.
character cannot be found than real or pre-
tended loss of faith in his fellows When a
young man tells me that he has no doubt tha,
certain persons, publicly reputcd to be good
take sly drinks in their own closets. and de-
scend into grosSer indulgencies when in
strange places tnat the best men are hypo-
critics; that there is no such thing as woman
i virtue and that appetite and seltishncss
outweigh everywhere principle and manly
honor, know that nineiy-nine times in a
hundred. he finds reason in his own heart
and life for his declarations | know that he
simply wishes to maintain a certain degree of
sef-reSpect. and that he finds no way to do
this save by bringing everybody around him
down to his own level. y man who has lost
his virtue, and is still suffering under the
blows of conscience, is very 10th TO believe
that there is any virtue in the world
Yet there are circumstances in which faith
in humanity is lost, without fault, though
never without damage, OF the part of the To-
ser and very sad cases they are. rcmem-
Der an abused, broken-hearted and tCrsaken
wife. who declared to ne her belief that her
husband w,.S no worse than other men (pieas-
ant for ne, wasn't it ?l--that there was not a
man in the world who could withstand temp
taiion, or who would have done differently
from her husband under the same crcum-
stances. Why VAS this She had loved
this man with all the devotion Of which her
warm wOmanS heart was capable she had
respected him as az embodiment Of all man
~ qualities. he had impersonacd her dcuU
jdeQl. If ht-the peerless, the prince-could
fall, and t0rSahe and forget, who would not 3?
He who had once been 70 her the nobest
and best man III the world, could never be-
come worse than the rest of the world. Now
one OF the toulest wrongs and one OF the
deepest injuries which this man had inflicted
upon his wife was the destruction of her faith
il men. He had not only blotteO. out her
t4.,h in him, but he mad b!otted out her faith
ia humanity, AID. Of course, her faith in her
self. Nhat safeguards If her own virtue fell
Wien her faith N man was DESTROYED. she
did not KNOW but. in her innermost CON
sc.9u>HtsS. she must have grown careless q.
herself possibly l,suerate,
Hardy a month passes hy in winch we do
not hear ofsonle de..!ca,ion. some l,nse from,
integrity by man who, through many wears
of business life, hal maintained an untal-
ni>hed reputation. | have halt Il dozen such
cases in ny memory now. and DO not know
what 70 make Of them. When | see = char
ac,ef standing to-day above all rcar0ach
culn,actpd th!ousi. many yr!r, Of n...,,. .
honest, Christian living, over,hrowu to-mor-
row, and troddcn in the mire. am shocked.
Ii such men fall, where are we to look for
those who WI not II such men, VI In wor-
thy natures. and long practice OF virtue, and
myriad motives ior tnc maintenance OF al
unspotted character, yield TO temptation, and
are suddenly ovtrthrown. "hat rraStn have
to suppose that my partner. my brother, my
Se.t shall escape am scared, and crow
cautious and suspicious.
i'ld YOU ever thlnk that tiere IS one .ndl-
vr!Ga.. al 'e">t' III tAe woiIc-ihat possibly
there are ten mdi'luuals, possibly one nun
dred' PoNs!n-! h!oEc-"no btleNt that you
are as 4 man or woman, Just as nearly
right aN you can DC JIG! Yea ever ttInk
tha. there are people VINO pm Their iath to
yon, Who believe IN you, WHO trust YOU, ana
that among those people your own reputation
is identified with The reputation o! the race !?
| care 40, how humble 4 man may be. there
are always those who trust in him. Think
OF the tfG>t which family of children re-
pose in their parents, and Of the faith which
the parents have IL Their children. EcN
humble The parents may be-very untrust-
worthy moral guides and Judges and au
thoritics mt if they were angels, with the
light Of heaven in their eyes. they would not
be more con'idtd in and relied upon by the
little ones who cling to their knees. SO, at
all ages, we garner our faith in individuals !;
Il, so, all men and women, howcvcr humble
and unworthy they may be, become the OBJ
iects and recipients Of this faith.
Now, if there bc ten men and women who
have yarntrtd their faith il mc.-who believe
n me. through and ,Lrough-and whose
faith in all humanity would be sadly shocked
# should fall and prove to them that their
confidence had been entirely MISPLACED. then
hold for those ten Dersons the renutation
Of H.. human race III my hands. If ycu. nv
reader. have attracted to yourself the honest
faith Of thousand hearts. then YOU hold in
YOUR hands, for those hearts, the good name
of humanity Upon the shoulders of each
man in the community there rests great re-
sponsbility lie has not only his own repu-
taton to take care Of. bu; he has the reputa-
ton OF his race Ii all mankind arc to BE-
thought more meanly of by mankind. to be
less trusted and less loved, because | have
been untrue though nv untrLtl touch bu,
one person directly, | commit great crime
against nv race. Yet this crime is nothing
by the side of that which commit against
those who have trusted in mo. II iniures