, 1862-08-02
oilytongue Doublefaoe.

1t is a fortunate circumstance for any
person to be able to examine thing from
zenith and nadir at the same time For
tunate, say, because you may avoid any
and all harsh feelings which are sometimes
consequent upon animated discussion and
besides, you may be every ones friend, or
every ones enemy, as the case may be.
Mr.. Doubleface wishes to be thought
very good kind Of man. He wishes to con-
ciliate everybody; so he perfectly agrees
to whatever you may choose to say, and
you might as we'll attempt to hold an eel
as to set him in corner His tongue is
smooth and soft, and plays without the
least friction, hence the name Oilytongue;
and as he has two faces, he is called Double
face. There is a certain resemblance be-
tween Mr.. Doubleface and Mr.. Negative;
but the likeness extends only very short
distance; for, while both are most admira-
bic listeners, Mr.. Negative stands ready to
swallow everything as greedily as a poor
box would a half-pence-it is not in any
speculative sense. Mr.. Doubleface listens
to you to ascertain if he cannot make some
capital out of the variations you are max
ing. He is never more rejoiced than when
by his insinuations he may be able to
worm out of you some secret. Are you
unfortunate enough to incur LapSuS I'm
guae, he seizes upon it as a black hawk
would upon a dove; and is very careful to
gather up any fragments which may be
scattered about, and lest he may lose some
thing important, he frequently makes some
addition Of his own. He is a very watch
Ell h !
we'll as the incomings and outgoings of his
neighbors, are most carefully observed.
Every tit-bit of scandal, gossip and small
talk, are as eagerly sought after by him as
gold by the miser.
How carefully he treasures up every
thing calculated to blast character and ru-
in reputation. How he revels when sus-
picion points her venomed finger at some
hapless victim How eagerly, yet ingen-
iously, he fans the flame; and if the
person falls beneath the poisoned arrow,
he gloats over it with as much satisfaction
es a hyena over a corpse How soft and
silvery is his voice How courteous and
deferential is his manners How insinua-
ting his habits His countenance glows
with smiles as radiant as those of an an
gel of paradise. With what charming
grace he holds boquet of fragrant flowers
to your face, and at the same time with
hellish malignity, plunges the dagger at
your back He fawns around you like
brother; yet watches you with the eye of
serpent He takes your hand as a friend,
but stirgs you as scorpion. He profess
ses an interest in your welfare, yet raises
up enemies to oppose you. He beckons
you toward him, yet fills the path in which
you must tread with thorns. He cele-
brates your fame to your face, and blasts
your character when absent from you. He
extols your virtues in your presence, and
flches your reputation as remorselessly as
a dog would bone. In fact, of all living
things, the most repulsive, disgusting and
diabolic is the Doubleface. If his Satanic
Majesty has an agent on Garth, it is he If
vice and depravity have patron saint, he
is one. Hypocrisy, it has cursed the
world. Deceit, it has annihilated mans
confidence in man. Perfdy, it has immo-
lated upon the altar of destruction the
very friend it professed to love, and the as
sociate it avOwed ever to cherish. Treach-
cry, what has it not done 1t has broken
up-the foundations of society; turned broth
er against brother; beaten out the brain of
its country, and gorged itself upon its
blood. 1t is the keystone in the arch of
everything detestable. 'Tis the deadly
miasma which poisons society.
Yet we find the Doubleface everywhere.
We see him in our legislative halls, the
most clamorous for the protection of the
public virtue; and while he holds in one
hand speech denounciug corruptions, he
takes a bribe with the other. We find him
in the sacred desk expounding the truths of
the gospel, yet with heart reeking with
blasphemy and teeming with iniquity. We
find him in that army called forth by the
Goddess of Liberty for the protection of
her temple; and while he knows it was
only built by the toll and anguish, suffer-
ing and death of his progenitors, he proves
recreant to the teachings of his YOUTH in
sensible to the glories of the past, which
gather around him like guardian angels to
bear him safely in the pathway of honor,
deaf to the warning of Mount Vernon
He only remembers Cain and Arnold, and
brands himself with infamy Give us ev-
er the presence of frank honesty, though
his own words may scar and burn, rather
than the smirking countenance though cor
rupt heart of the detested Doubleface.