Gold Hill daily news. [volume] (Gold Hill, N.T. [Nev.]) 1863-1882, 1871-04-29
PRAISE

The old and the young, the rich anu
the poor, the learned and the Ignorant,
are all alive to its influence, and stim-
ulated by Its presence. None are SO
LOFTY i'm station, or 10 selt-contained In
shirt, as to Le indifferent to praise
from honest lips. Like all other appe-
titles, this hunger for praise may assume
a yoracious craving that Il unworthy
and debasing. There are those who
live upon it. depend upon 1t, and are
miserable without it. Men whose self
respect is below par, who lack those
firm and solid virtues that command
the approval of their own consciences,
are often willing slaves Of popular
favor, and are dependent for NIL their
satisfaction on the iuctuating and I'M
certain breath Of applause. If they
obtain 1t, they are pulled up with
vanity and giddy with conceit and If
1t Is denied them, they sink into inetti-
cheney and despair. The contempt
which such characters naturally excite
often leads US to the opposite extreme
Of esteeming all praise a poor and
empty bauble, unworthy either be-
stowal or acceptance by wise men, and
valued only by the weak-minded and
frivolous. Some, therefore, wrap them
selves In n cloak of fancied indiffer-
ence; try to desplse and repel any
honest approval that may be awarded
to them, and utterly refuse to bestow
It, even where they knew 1t to be
| richly deserved. They generally sue
coed In the latter better than the for
mer. 1t Is easier to quench the benev-
| client sentiment that loves to give,
| than to eradicate the natural desire
that loves to receive; and we eonse-
quently find many who sternly refrain
from expressing by outward word or
slgu their approval or admiration OF
Others, but scarcely n who has rem
dered himself stoically insensible to
the same tribute. The truth Is that
praise is a natural, honest and graceful
offering to merit In all its various
forms, and one which cannot be denied
without meanness and injustice. 1t Is
a stimulus to action, a spur to endeavor,
a real help to all that Is good and
noble; and while we should scorn to
become dependent upon 1t for a mo-
tive, we should equally scorn to with
hold it where It Is honestly due. There
Is no computing how much real good
Is crushed out Of the world by the
gloomy and selfish spirit that with
holds praise and open approval from
those who deserve It. Children are
frequently injured in this way. Their
faults are freely censured, their accl-
dents roughly blamed but their efforts
to do right and to please too often pass
unnoticed, when a word. Of honest
praise or sympathetic encouragement
would fill the young heart with glad
ness, and noarish the germ of virtue
that Is struggling upward. Employ
ers, who are not slow tn find
fault on occasion, will yet re-
frain from expressing the plea
sure they feel when instances Of
fidelity or energy come under their
view. They know not that by their
apparent indifference they are. doing
all in their power to impair the fidelity
and depress the energy that they might
80 easily have confirmed and increased
by a few sincere expressions OF ap-
proval. So in the family, it is too
common that the husband and wife,
brother and sister, parent and child,
express freely enough d~isplsasurc when
felt, justly or unjustly; but the effort
to give pleasure, the generous self
sacrifice, the cheerful help volunteered
how seldom are they rewarded by
loving thanks and tender appreciation !!
There Is no relation Of life where hon.
est praise, when we'll earned and sim
cerely rendered, will fall to produce
rich fruits of happiness conferred and
virtue strengthened. Praise Is some
times COMPOUNDED with fiattery, but
they are as different as the purest gem
from the basest tiusel jewslry. Praise
is the honest expression Of real feeling,
called forth by something intrinslcally
worthy, and Is always in the heart be-
fore it Is on the lips it is n generous
tribute, an unselflsh and candid ex-
preston of pleasure In what Is good.
Flattery, on the other hand, is a hypo-
critical p~retence of what was never
felt, a base attempt by falsehood to
accomplish some selfish end; and Is
alike degrading to him who stoops to
give It, and to him who cringes to
receive it. They are easily distinguish
able, and are a. far apart In their char
acters as are the sources from which
they spring. Let no one, then, depre-
ciate praise, because he despises fiat
terry. The one is rs noble and generous
rs the other Is despicable and NEAR.
Not unfrequeutly the praise denied the
living Is lavished on the dead. The
words Of love and approval that would
have frightened and gladdened q life,
passed perchance In lonely and unap-
preclated efforts, are poured forth in
useless ~profusion when too late. Many
Of the noblest benefactors the world
has ever known have passed through
life unappreciated and unhonored; and
after they have gone, the words Of
praise that would once have cheered
and strengthened them are upon every
lip. The truly just and generous man
will not wait till death shall wiring out
the praise he owes the living. He will
be quick to recognize and frank to &C.
knowledge every real excellence In