, 1873-02-16

| N!AAo0AS A4tAc AaA0E fudt Ill AIuuuut OF
insince1ity there is in human speech! In hon
few persona is the tongue an index to the heart
Not to speak Of the "How dye do ?" and Good
| moEning!" which are parroted withouta thought
Of their meaning, or, at least, without thy real
interest in the health or prosperity Of the per
son addressed or it the 'tDear Sir" and "fours
truly" that begin and end letters, IS matter Of
courBe, the hollowness OF which phrases may be
excused On the ground that they sweeten human
intercourse, and prevent the roughest men from
degenerating into absolute boors it ia yet start
ling to reflect how large proportion Of human
| speech is the veriest cant. That men should
! use words the meaning of which they havo mover
weighed, is bad enough hut that they should
habitual1y use words as mere counters OF forms,
is certainly worse. There is hardly class in
society, or relation in which man can be placed
towards man, that does not call into play more
OF less Of language without meaning. The
"damnablo itsration" Of the lawyer in q decla1a-
ton OF assault and battery ia not moro thing Of
form than is the asaevo1ation Of one petitioner
that he "will ever pray" &C., and that
of another that he twill be q thou-
sand times obliged" il you will grant
his request. Who does not know to what IN
amount Of fummery the most t1iAing kindness
done by one person to another often gives occa-
sion to on both sides The one racks the
vocabulary for words and phrases in which ia
express lis pretended gratitude, while, in fact,
he is only kecnly humiliated By having to accept
favor, and the other as eloquontly disclaims
any merit in the grant, which he really grudged.
and will never think OF without feeling that h.
made great sacrifice.
The secret feeling Of many a 'sgreat bene>
factor" loudly praised in the newspapers,
was finely let out by Lord Byron when
he sent four thousand pounds to the
Greeks, and privately informed friend
that be did not think he could
1ceu get Of for less. How many Wedding sad
other presents, and subscriptions to public en-
terprises, are made by those who secretly curfe
the occasion that e1acts them7 With the etezco-
typed ''thanks" and ''grateful acknowledge
ments" Of the shopkeeper all are familiar. 50
with ssthe last, n the "positiye1y the last," and
''the most positively the very last" appearancea
Of the dramatic stars, that shine for five hun,
dred or thousand dollars night; ns nobodyis
deceived by these phrases, it seems hypercttical
to complain Of them, and Jet one can hardly
help sympathizing with the country editor
who denounces Ole Bull because he i8 uov
making farewell tours ''once year," whereas
formerly he made them only s'once in f7a
year," Considering the sameness Of shopkcep-
ers' acknowledgements, one cannot help admiripg
the daring originality Of the Dutch commercial
house OF which Tom Moore tells, that concluded
o letter thus: "Sugars are falling more ana
more every. day; not SO the respect and esteem
with which We ato your obedient servants"
Literary men are 30 won't to weigh their woras
that cant in them seems inexcusab1e; yet wheto
shall re find more OF it than in books, mags-
zines, and newspapers? How many reasons IA
assigned by authors for inaicting their works ol
the public, other than tho true one,-viz., thu
pleaaureof writing, the hope of little distinctions
or. Of little money! How many w1iten
profess to welcome criticism, which tbty
nevertheless ascribe to spite, envy, Jealousy
it it ia unfayorab1e! What is iutrinsicaT1
more deceptive than the npultitudinous "wE7 i.
in which every writer, great and small, hides biz
ty-whether his object bo, as Archdes-
con Hare says, " to pass himself OF unnoticed
ike the 1rishman's bad guinea in handful Of
halt tpence, or to give to the opinions Of bum.
bic individual the weight and gravity OF coun-
I'll? "Who the - is We7" exclaimed ths
slider Kean on reading q scathing criticism
Upon his Hamlet; md the question might
be- pertinently' asked OF many other
E1oneinis una6rae who deliver their Itersrs
Judgments as oracularly rs il they we're lns.l
descendants Of Alinos or Rhadamanthus. Who
,an estimate the diminuton Of power and in au- :
ence that would result, should the ten Thousand
9ditors in the land, who now speak with voice
IT authority, az tho organs OF tho public oTs
party, come down from their thrones, and az
For +1o ,,1a a1o nr1
,gotistic "I?" Who is "I!" the reader might
,1claim, in tones even mora contemptnous than
1ean's. The truth il, 1T" is q nobody. He
only himself. He may be Smith, or
|ones, or Brown,-the 1nerest cipher. He msJ
seigh but hundred pounds, and still
ess morally and intellectually. He may
tand but ive feet in his boots,
nd be in intellect but Tom Thumb. Whoca1es
that such pygmy thinks7 But "we" repre-
ents multitude, an imposing crowd, Il mighty
ssembly, = congress-. or jury of sages; and We
Il quail before the opinions OF the great i've
Ls q writer has we'll said, "sWe hnvs every res !
on to believe that beef will rise to starvation
rices,' is a sentfpent which: when read in
ewBpaper, will make the stoutest stomach t1en.-
le; but substitute an II for the fwe,' and no
ody cares copper for the opinion. It has been
7en said that what terrified Delshazzar was the
and On the wall, because he con1dn't see to :!
HON it belonged; and the same may be said Of
he editorial 'we.' It is the mystery in which,:
involved. that invests it with potency"
It is in the conduct OF political Affairs thst tha
lass Of words Of which ITO have spoken are used
1ost frequently. sir Henry Wotton long aines
edned an ambassador as gentleman sens
broad to lie for the benefit Of his country. II !
.urope, enthusiastically has diplomacy been .s-
ociatod with tricEery, that it is said TalIJEaods
7onderful SUCCESS With the representatives
oreign Courts Was owing largely to his frank
ess and fair dealing, ng,-nobody believing it po% t
ible that he WIS striving for that for which
eemed to be striving. The plain, opeh
tzaightforward way in which hc spon
I and dealt with all public matters, cor
letely puzzled the vulgar minds, NV
ould not dissociate from diplomacy n'
Mysterious devices that distinguish the Dc.
rom the true diplomatist. In the titles ~.
tyles Of address used by Kings and EmDetoEa'
AVE examples OF cant in its most meanings
orms. One sovereign is his Most ch11s1A