Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1871-08-12
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"a bASAA y
worthy Of censure. The law interposes
Its strong arm to punish glaring viola
tious Of right. Public opinion goes
still further and rebukes many positive
wrongs which ate beyond the cogniz-
ance Of the law. In closer social life,
where intimacy reveals more OF the in
tricacy of character, and the damaging
effects Of sin, justice becomes more ex-
acting In her demands. But these
standards are necessarily limited to
positive outward evil, sins Of commits
sion, actual deeds which violate mani
fest rights and produce marked inju-
rious results. They overlook the
smaller and moro secret germs in
which evil has Its source, the petty
faults, the sins Of omission, the failures
to perform. These are generally inap-
probable except to individual expert
ence and conscience, and because they
are passed BY In the estimate Of others,
the offenders also incline to treat them
lightly themselves. Yet In reality they
are the seeds of all the evils that af1ict
the world, the germs which, If not
crushed, spring up into the vices that
society censures, and the crimes which
the law Furnishes. In n sense, there
Is no such thing as negative fault.
Moral nature, as much as physical,
"abhors a vacuum, "and the non-per-
Torrance Of a duty Is an actual and
positive wrong'done both to the indi-
vidual and to society. No character
can be a moral void, no life can be q
nullity, no hour can be improbable
yet harmless. All persons are con-
stantly doing either actual good or &C
tual evil, either advancing or retro
grading, either benefting or injurlng
the world. The saying, IF he does
no good, at least he does no HARM" is
practically a delusion. The stream
that simply stops flowing Immediately
begins to corrupt, to throw off poison
Gus mlasma, and breed disease and
death. 10 the man who only ceases
to act, who indolently negleots his
daily duty, or retires from the strife
between self-indulgence and self-con-
quest, who grows weary Of effort and
tired Of selt-denial, and simply let's
himself drift, instead Of breasting the
waves, who sinks into listless inaction,
instead of rising into vigorous life,
directly begins to grow morbid and
stagnant In his own soul, and mischiev-
Gus In his influence on others. There
are some whose chief aim seems to be
to attain to a state Of blissful inaction.
All exertion they regard as a painful
but needful means to IN Interior end,
when the highest happiness shall con-
sist in the absence Of any necessity for
labor. They utterly fall to compre-
bend that the chief source Of happiness
lies in the full activity Of all their
powers, and that in proportion as they
fall into disuse, life becomes meagre,
insipid, and empty Of results to them
selves or others. There are few who
maintain n perfectly healthy industry,
who, without over-working, yet take
care Of the remnants Of life, and let
none run to waste. The right appor-
tionment Of time, recognizing the
claims of daily labor, Of mental I'M
provement, of recreation, Of beneyo-
lence and Of social intercourse, and
giving to each its due proportion, is
one Of the most delicate and important
Of all responsibilities. There are many
other negative faults, lightly held, but
in~calculable in their results. One Of
these is the simple omission to express
the gratitude, sympathy or affection
that naturally arises In the heart. 1t
seems a little thing, and yet much hap
piness Is thus sacrificed. If we but re-
call the pleasure that has filled our
own hearts when such utterances were
sincerely given, andhow much strength
and encouragement they have afforded,
we shall no longer deny them to others.
The non-pertormance Of a right thing
Is In itself a wrong. There are many
habits insensibly acquired from falling
to appreciate their character. Glut-
tony and drunkenness are justly des-
pissed, but the habit Of over-eating, and
of using various s~timulants, Is 81 COM
mon that few think Of It as q moral
wrong. Yet 1t obscures the mind. dulls
the brain and diminishes the strength.
It Is a fault Of which only the individ-
ual himself can be conscious, yet he Is
none the less culpable II he voluntarily
persist In a practice which In any
measure impairs his power and eff
cheney. In like manner, the fretful or
morose temper that embitters life, the
small envyings and jealousles that
crush affection, the meanness that shell
tiers itself under the name Of economy,
and the extravaganza that calls itself
l~iberality, the petty frauds, unfair ad-
vantages and small deceits, which are
seeds Of dishonesty and falsehood-
these and many other faults which are
generally deemed too triflng to con-
denim, too unimportant to conquer, are
In reality the sources Of most Of the
evil that affiicts the world, the moths
who silently but surely eat into the
fabric Of character, cutting through vir-
tuous principles thread by thread, and
by their petty but continual rayages,
destroying at length all manhood. All
life Is but the development Of the germs
within us. In their earliest growth
they are easily nourished, easily crush
ed, but when once developed in stature
and firmly rooted in the breast, they
unite in establishing a character for
good or for evil that 1t Is hardto change.