The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1872-06-05
CANDOR

Behold my entry lOr To-Day
Is In The "happy" column.
CANDOR-
From the London Saturday Review.]
There are, in spite of all proper platltudes
to the contrary, a good many virtues whlch
are more offensive than vices. we can 1or-
give man for being habitual drunkard, or
even for habtual ly Ing, but il is terribly diff-
cult to forgive him for systematic punctuality
and early rising. The whole group Of virtues
of which those practices are generally symp-
tomato is of an offensive caste, Probably
their possessOrs are 30 we'll aware that tDelr
habits are generally considered insulting 10
their neigh6ors, that they wrap themselves IN
more than the ordinary pomp OF seil-rlSate
BUSINESS. Tney are obliged TO wear good
thick armor to protect themselves from tue
odium due to their uusocial excellencles. The
taste for such observances grows 0y lndul-
gence As the first glass OF brandy Is ire
quentiy the ruin of the unfortunate man In
whom q turn for 6lpsomania is latent, 30 the
delight Of rising one morning and gloryipg in
Imagination or er millions OF ones recumoent
fellow-creatures is 50 keen that the downward
step Is rapidly followed by others. The man
who would be agreeable to mankind should
guardY dYsgainst the first lapse into virtue. AS q
rule, the taste is acquired at an early period OF
life. before the full consequences OF unsWerv-
Ing morality are appreciated. 1t is prevalent
among those excellent and oppressive young
men who, at later period, rejoice In the pos
session of high moral sense. A little
knot of sympathetic youths gather at q
university; they divide the various talents
and virtues among themselves with the con.
fdence OF youthful Alexanders partitloning
the world among their followers; and II the
priegish element happens to be powerful they
affect what used TO be called earnestness-a
term which, as we believe, is now becoming
utterly obsolete. It means profound con.
vIction that the earnest person regulates all
his actions according to lofty moral code;
same thing, that a lofty moral code Is sure
to Justify whatever he does. The duller mem-
bers Of the body have to content themselves
with aggravated forms OF punctuality, pecuni-
osity and other small virtues; the cleVerer
probably succeed In imposing upon the world
at large, which Is always willing to joip In
chorus OF vigorc ns laudation, aud develop INTO
lors They are 80 elaborately scrupuous that
whatever they do has peculiar grace, and
those actions which would be considered as
Jobs or time-servlng In the worldly have tne
moral flavor In their mouths, which gives 10
aay cavlI distinct air OF profanity. Tae
world Is said to be censorlous, and to be TOO
ready to suspect good men Of having touch
ale more often surprised, We must confess,
at the readiness with which mans own vaiu.
alton of his merits Is generally acceptedi but
It. is true that certain smoulderlng disposltion
10 revolt is frequently generated by these IRE
pressibly virtuous persons:
There is one virtue which Is frequently al
fectsd by men OF this kind. They are given
to insisting, with ostentatious humility, upon
their admirable candor. The objections 10
this quality In private lie are pretty generally
understood. It means disposition 10 tell a
friend of his faults, not because you want to
annoy him, which is pardona6le, out because
you are anxious to dc him good, which, as
need hardly be said, is intolerable. The char
acter Is tempting one for purposes OF hctlon,
and has been pretty we'll worked out by novel;
lists and piaywrighls. They, Indeed, generally
fall into The error of representing the practice
as piece of conscious hypocrisy. Sheer tells
Sir Fretful Plaglary OF the criticisms Whlch
have been directed against him with the COM
paratively innocent motive of deriving amuse-
ment from the irrlta6ity OF MS acqqalnlianGe S
The more frequent character III real lie Is tne
man who really thinks that bis unpleasant
Information will improve his victim. He has
been so much accustomed to think OF
himself as kind Of voluntary missionary TO
the misguided mass of his fellow-cfeatnres,
that he falls into the natural error Of believing
good advice TO be sometimes useful: he mas
adopted the pleasing deluslon, that to tell
man to walk due south Ia not the most pro6a-
ble means Of starting him toward the North
Pole. It requires unusual force OF synpa-
thetic imagination to understand the straHge
transactions to which any sentiment Will pc
subjected when 1t is transferred from your
own mind to that OF another person; and sym
pathetic Imagination Is precisely The quality
In which gentleman excusaoy absorbed IN
the contemplation of his own virtues Is apt to
be deficient. There Ia another forrl OF the
virtue, however, which Is defended upon
more refined principles, and which Is,
perhaps, not Without Its merits when
it is genuine-that, namely, which Is
called Intellectual candor. The genuine
ouslity is as useful as 1t Ia rare. Nobody
can read much of the controversial litera-
ture of the day without perceiving that, as
genepal rule, each side confines Itself 10 tne
study Of Its own literature. We. should not
see confident opinion about matters IN Wnicn
the ablest men are at variance, commended as
a virtue In those who are totally unable 10 ap-
preciate the first conditions OF the problems
at issue, where 1t not that each party general
" forms q little world Of its own, and is as
Incapable of appreciating the state OF mlnd
of its opponents as OF entering Into the pre-
judices Of the inhabitants Of the moon. MIR.
Mill somewhere strongly recommends the
practice of steadily reading the works OF
our aQC8gOllSt5, anu uo ueo h'ioSh 6'Sn
some excellent examples OF the advantage of
the practice. 1t has, perhaps, one recommen-
dalton which Its advocates did not directly
contemplate. A Radical, for example, who
only reads Radical literature Is apt to become
doubtful of his own convictions when ne on.
serves how many of the stupdest and most
ignorant of mankind entertain them as firmly
az himself. It Is necessary, In order to restore
his selccomplacency, that he should plunge
for a time Into the hostile literature; he will
he repaid for the first shock of natural antipa-
thy by the discovery That folly and stupidity
are not confined to any one side OF any ques-
ton. The frame of mind which is generated
by many-Sided studies is certainly desirable
one. and It Ia frequently described by the name
of candor. But there is kind Of bastard
Imitation of the same virtue which Is far more
common. and by no means so estimable.
whole stock of comclonplaces has been accu-
muiated by the dealers In this commodity
about theological and political questions.
They are fond of talking about the falsehood
of extremes, and have summary mode OF
settling all controversies by striking balance
between the most remote opinions. There is
TO be said for the ultra Democrat,
and something for the bigoted Reactionist. Go
half Way between the two, and you cannot fall
of being In the right. In aesthetic and philo-
sophicaI questions the same kind OF opinion
calls Itself eclectlcism, and 1t s Infinitely COM
Portable for people who dislike the RESPONSE
bllity of striking out an original line for them
selves. The doctrine commends Itself very
strongly to the earnest-mlnded person gene
rally. He Is anxious to recognize everything
whirhis put forward with due solemnity, and, 4
\ --i- .f... htvo,olf ot a nonrral nO1nt hntWeeQ