The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1871-06-24
EcoMMuNIcATED.]
Sycophants.

Ihefe Is great thing | have seen j;
great evil among men, and j write
1t is sycophancy, boot-licking or iawn-
ing. 1t is SO universal that | have ex-
claimed i'll my madness, "All men arc
sycophants." There are men who live
and succeed by bold action There arc
others, and they are the great mass, who
live aud succeed by no bold thought,
boldly executed, hut by constant, sys-
tematic, uuwearied course Of flwning to
the bold aud the active. They become
the hangers,on, the menials, the slaves
of the bold ones. Their sycophancy is
the means of their being employed, and
the price of the patronage they enjoy
Frequently the sycophants are better
Informed, more prudent aud cautious
than their patrons; and they are skill
full in their fawnipg, knowing how to
praise and to hatter This is one, aud
the commonest phase of sycophancy.
But there arc others not only do the
bold and successful secure arouud them
like coterte of iawners. The old aud
antiquated representatives, of departed
greatness, and of exploded ideas, receive
constant tribute of fawning fattery, even
from the successful II is so sweet to
fa,ter those we dsem s,,1c,ie.r nr acci
dentally better, socially or By position
and so sweet to receive their notice as
the reward for the mean, stopping fawn.
ing.
1t is so sweet that men cannot resist
its indulgence. There are men who
really would prefer employing some of
these, whom they basely admit to be
superiors, to do their business though it
would not be wei done than to employ
younger, newer, less known men who
would do their work better 1t is so
sweet 10 talk with and walk with these
great ones. How i,npolitic, and how
base the admission Of interiority There
are men who will read book or an ar
ticle written By some known person, and
really imagine to enjoy it more than an
able book or article from newer pen.
The maxim, at matters not so much
what is said, rs who says it, is derived
from and based upon this mean trait Of
poor human nature. And this maxim
is false in philosophy. A good thing.
true thing, is good and true never mind
who says it, Sentiments like actions are
good or bad in themselves without re-
ference to who says or does them Aye
the notion is carried out by these syco-
plants. They actually set to think that
an act is good aud all right in one man
which would be wrong and Criminal in
another. This then is the great evil of
sycophnncy. Its natural and certain
tendency is to come from praising mcu
to praising sentiments and actions of
'h"rn NO" We COMA tn i"don nf all
things by this false, base test. Syco.
plants arc the worst of men They arc
false, they arc treacherous, they are
cowardly. Syeophaney leads to any
crime Let man be imbucd with its
spirit aud let it become the actuating
moti:o of his life, and he is ready to do
anything. lie may have generous and
noble aud true instincts, but they are
crushed and trodden down by this base
vice. lie will compromise friends, fam
lily, himself to toady to his supcriors In
the first place, thero is the admission of
inferiority of Limsclfhis sons and daugli.
ters to the great and superior. How
base aDd unmanly and craven He is
Is ready to lie, to perjure himself, to for
get every holy and right instinct in his
base seryitude. ! would rather a hun.
dred times have TO deal with the open
enemy than with friend addicted to
this habit. Who can rely upon
sycophaut? +? | allude to this. evil, as one
SO common that it is not notieed, but
how deadly is it
Let us in our better moments, cry it
down, expose it, crush it Man in his
better nature, must dcspse its votaries.
We all admire the manly nobility of in
dependence of thought Right aud
wrong are known TO all Let them not
be perverted hy this hideous practice.