Charles City intelligencer. [volume] (Charles City, Floyd County, Iowa) 1864-1866, 1865-02-16
Fidelity to Engagements.

/ One OF the most annoying ClrcuW-
stances to an Eastern man, on settling
in the West, is the faithlessness of
Western people in regard to their
promises. This is an evil which calls
loudly for correction. We can name
citizens of Floyd county with whom
we will have no dealings whatever,
because having broken their promise
and deceived us in one instance we
will not give them an opportunity to
disappoint us again. As newly set
tied neighborhoods progress in years,
in many instances, a stronger mutual
interest is produced and the evil we
speak of is gradually reformed.
Individuals who make promises
which they never inted to perform,
who enter into engagements knowing
that they cannot fulfill them, or who
proffer kindnesses, designing at the
same time merely to deceive, ought to
be made to know and feel that they
have trihed with and lost their friends;
that they have insulted and thus en-
FILTERED their acquaintance that they
have wantonly played with and thus
sacrificed their own reputation. An
experienced merchant will never,
among his neighbors, solicit favor
without intending and determining to
redeem the obligation at the appointed
time. Any other course, he is aware,
would be fatal to him for the future.
The young, who are just beginning
life, and who consequently have char
acters to establish, should exercise the
utmost caution. They should never
undertake more than they feel able to
accomplish-they should never prom
Use more than they can achieve. A
policy of this kind, firmly determined
upon and steadily adhered to is calcu-
lated to have an effect not only for the
time, but upon the character for life.
There is nothing more important
than confidence between man and man.
1t is bond Of priceless value. But
this confidence can only be established
by knowledge Of the nature, the dis
position and the principles, and by
practical illustration in acts rather
than words. .--
There are individuals in the commu-
nifty in whom the fullest faith is felt
by all who enjoy the pleasure Of their
acquaintance, nay, by many strangers.
Any sum of money confded to their
care is regarded as perfectly safe any
trust that they undertake is sure to be
discharged with the utmost fidelity !;
any statement they may make is re-
ceived with the utmost confidence.
They may have their imperfections,
their prejudices, likes and dislikes, but
they are truthful and trustworthy. In
moments of difficulty they are always
consulted. They are appealed to as
arbiters, and their opinion is trusted
in as one of reason, integrity and JUS
tice.
Such character is indeed to be en-
We'd and emulated. 1t constitutes a
bright and shining example to society,
and while it is source of consolation
to its possessor, it forms beacon and
an incentive to the virtuous, the high.
minded and the honorable. "He can
be depended upon-he is a man Of his
word-what he says is reliable" These
are expressions and endorsements to
which the young should look with con-
fidence as the noblest reward in life.
When fidelity becomes habit, the
path is not only an easy one to follow,
but it is sweetened and frightened
with many flowers.