St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1872-04-12
1T Don't Mean Me"

1T Don't Mean Me"
1t is rather amusing. in looking about
in society. to see how much people
think of themselves. or in other words
how apt they are to regard themselves.
free from fault. Men and women min
gle in the walks of life. and are con
Stantly discovering faults in each other,
but how seldom does any one acknoWl-
edge the possession of an error or fault
The pulpit. platform and press are
every day pointing out gricvuu> short
coming>. and showing up lcgionS of cX-
iSting evils. but where among the thou
sands of hearers or readers can one bc
found who will frankly plead guilty to
the same.
Let us. in imagination. 90 into one
of our churches ON Il Sabbath day: Il
large congregation Is present. and an
able. cloqucnt speaker is rNpnunding
the Gospel. and making some fnrcihle
applications of the words contained in
Holy Writ to his hearers. His discourse
il full of pungent thru>tS at the ungnd-
illness of the age. and the delinquency
of professors i'll regard To their duties.
while each sentence contains umJucS-
tiouahlc truths concerning the degcm-
eracy nt the church. The congregation
appears exceedingly well pleased with
the speakers remarks. if we can Judge
from til" significant glance. which "rc
exchanged during the services. and up
on leaving the house of worship we may
hear such expressions as. That was il
capital discourse" YES. indeed. 50 full
of Keen thru>ts at sill. More than one
got hit this afternoon. That j. Il
fact: | don't see how certain parties
could hold up their heads" These re
marks are made with an air of perfect
consciousness of being guiltleSS of any
of he faults enumerated 10y the preach
cr. We are quite sure never to hear
one say. "Wcll. got pretty well hit
this afternoon and we should hc very
much surprised to hear one of the con
grcgltion say that he should have been
glad Ia have covered his face durin"
the service. In fact. all agree that it
WIS Il most searching. truthful sermon.
and very acceptable. hut lit don't mean
me.
Again. we will visit Il lecture room.
where one of the popular lecturers *
holding forth. Perhaps it may he John
B. Cough. in his inimitahle drlinratiun>
of human nature. \ollry after VollcN
of his keen sarcasm and WithrIing de
uuuciatiun is aimed 1T foil and wick
rdnr>>. and his shafts of Wit and Wis
dom are hurled rcmnrSclN among the
audience. each sentence being applaud
ed To the echo. But are there ANY per
SONS present Who clap their hands with
delight hrc.ru>r they are raped over
the kmucklc> l. there Il Nuun" man
present VIII" i c"mNulsrd with laughter
because in some nt the speaker caIic;i-
lures he i prr>oma1cd l. there Il
Young lady present who calls him
">rlcndid for the reason that she SAW
herself held up to view i'll the mirror of
ridiculc No indeed. There will hc
WimkS and motions. IS much aS to say.
THAT coat Tits such and such Il one
pretty nicely nearly every one pres
cnt will adapt these tigUratiNr garments
to different Individuals. and all are en-
incntly gratiiicd because lit don't mean
me.
Once more some celebrated author
publishes book. the pages of which
glcam and sparkle like ii mine of dia-
Ii'l'H Ni''i w l''~i'l''iN WI human ii''
tWc. Characters are drawn 50 NiNidly
that we seem to see the persons pass
ing i'll review before us. Fraud. dcccp-
tion. mtempcrancc. ScliiShncS>. cXtraN-
agancc. and IL host of kindred sins. are
faithfully Skctchcd in such IL manner
that the work is sought after 10y thou
sands of readers. and admired by all.
Let us listen t" il group of those whu
have pcrllSed the book. How cntlusi-
;lStic they become over the heroes and
hcroineS: how often we hear il said. Il
can see such persons every day.; but
with all the delight expressed. how
many of the readers find their pen por-
traits in the pages Should we really
he so enamorcd of Il story if We rccog-
niZed ourselves in the character whose
faults are 50 plainly pictured 1t may
he that the lash falls so directly upon
our shoulders sometimes that we vince
a little. but we are quite apt To see
some one else who is smarting triile
more kecnly, and with IL feeling of fore
ed selt-congratulation we make our
selves believe that, after all. lit don't
mean me.
We find in the standard magazines OF
liit Al' 'S iI'ih l'iN WI 'N ~
rienced men, holding up to view the
mistakes made by too confident mer-
camille pcrsOnages, i'll launching into
commercial waters without chart, COM
pass or ballast: numberless examples
are cited to warn young adventures
not to crowd on to much sail, and much
sound advice is given. which. if needed,
would save many il young man from
the stain of bankruptcy; but the pages
are conned i'll complacent frame OF
mind, and the neighbor over the way is
singled out as the one who might he
benefited by that article, which is com
mended lis an admirable essay, and is
laid down with the exclamation, "1hdj
don't mean me-"
at don't mean me" is one of the most
arrant humbugs of the day. 1t has lull-
ed thousands into "a false security i'll the
social, commercial, religious and pOlit,
ical relations of life. Not that every
man or woman is IA knave; by no means
but so long as the world stands will
man be imperfect, and these imperfec-
tions should never be. ignored, but