The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1873-09-28
gHE MORNINGS STAR AND SUNDAY SEPYEM6I
Irritating Virtues. !

~ Irritating Virtues. -
Axiom. tho utility and the advantages of (
,nnctnal;ty there can be no manner OF
9onbt. Time is q commodity as strictly
i;m;ted in quantity as coal itself-at least
"a far as each individual is concerned-
and whatever tends, as punctuaiipy aoes, "
economic time, is, Of course, good thing.
Rnt II ia good only "a a means to an end, y,
not as an end in itself, and there are sone
neonIe who do not cultivate punctuanty
for the saving of time, but rather oevo.e
their time to the cultivation OF p9nStuan.
ty. In fact, it may be observed ;l't tb q
practice of this minor virtue, are people
Who have more time on their hands than
they know what to do with; who when
they have punctualiy swallowed men
breakfasts, have nothing on earth TO oecu-
the approach of the luncheon hour. 70
snch people, any event which breaks the
mouotony of the day is an important epoch
lust az to travellers in the desert the meres1
sand -hillock in the distance is an interest,"
Ing feature in the landscape. 1t is POSI-
tive godsend them. 1t gives them some
thing to do and something to think oi-of'
perhaps it would be more correct to say,
excites a certain mental motion which may
be considered kind Of rudimentary. form
of thinking. And yet, forsooth, these peo-
ple must give themselves prodiglors airs
, Of virtue, and crow over all creation, be-
5 cause they never miss train, fail IN an
Q appointment, or are late for any thing, as
: if this precious punctuality of theirs were
3 acquired by severe selfdenial, ana prao-
tised solely from a stern sense OF u4ss'
Q Punctuality is by no means the only
0 minor virtue which can be irritating In
: this way. That particular variety OF the
: virtue of orderliuess which women
o plorify under the name of "tidiness," IL a
most excellent thing in its way, " A sweet
, |
r, cultivated in moderation !; but who has
D. not proaned under it's oppressiveness In the
l. house of the unco tidy 2 Who does no. o.,
10 know the house where the maxim, =
e, place for every thing, and every thing II !
seems CO wy to the religio loci to MAKE
j. use of INV Jung; where books are no
3, ,neau5 - be read, but to radiate symme
40 trically from the centre of the drawing
g room table where when you take a cnal
gree you take a liberty also; where tn
end and purpose Of every article is appar
ently to wear cover OF some SOFT, an
.st tue making Of covers for things is tn!
~. main occupation of the females OF the fami
70. lyf In their full perfection perhaps sue
n curiosities of provincial middle-class life
~. The great worshipers of tidiness, as an en-
~ in itself are people like George. Eliot
lly Dodson aud Tullivers-people with Whol
It'll it is an article of religion to have " pes
,ce things" reserved for some dimly- contenl
,er plated occasion in the remote future. 81
ms the Dodson and Tulliver calihre OF mind
in not confined to any one stratum or lorna
ti.n ton in the social system. Ii Is simply
]. variety of the one dead mind, an order
l6. MUD by no means spaiseiy distIioute,
the and apt to be irritating if You are brougi
ro into too close contract with it. The un
corn is very we'll in heraldry, where
Att has on one side of shield all to himsel
me bat he must have been an abomi uao
of nuisance in the Ark with that obstrusl'
re- horn of his. In much the same way on
tn idead people are nuisances In societ
il They cannot keep their one idea out
rcb their neighbors' eyes and ribs, and tn
eat are by no means least exasperatlng VIII
cea- they and their idea are of q dull, commo
ex. place nature; as in the case with those W
are, make minor virtue of tidiness. Wi
,ey. the same sort of people, cleanliness, also,
the apt TO degenerate into MINOR VlFSa1 -
nh as a.minor virtue it is all the more aggraV
. of ting, because there is no saying any TIN
ice against it. Except in the case of old 6
NOR aud beggars, and one or two 9th
objects of purely aesthetic interest, 1t
impossible to have too much cleanllne
and, any one assuming and parading 1T
a virtue, holds a perfectly unassailable 7
arts sition. This is what makes it such
ons. vorite with woman more especially W
.tise those who pride themselves on keeping
s4g5 tso Sea and
reed dncing him to wholesome sense of
It q feebleness and inferiority, there is moth
it is feminine ingenuity has discovered IA
ring effective than that instr tuition which Ia
arms the form of q general cleaning, scrubbi
rten and putting up things to rlghts.-Sdt
tics, day Rerietc.
Iabie -------'.1n.---------
dis. new manner of catching rats is excit
me great interest among the returning kouseh