Ashtabula weekly telegraph. [volume] (Ashtabula, Ohio) 1853-1873, 1873-01-04
Popular Capacity for Scandals

Ore Of the most siddcning and humilinling
| exhibitions which human nature ever makes
0i itself Is in its greedy creduiiy touching nll
| reports Of the niisdemeanOfs oi good men. ~
man stand high rs y rnoal force In commit
/ nity if he stands - the rrbuker and dPnOuneer
" social and political Elm II he he looked up
tp 10y any cOn'id liable number Of people ~
/ an xnmple Oi virtue " the whole trend and
power of his lif. bc IN high and pure direc-
| ton; If personality and Influence render any
allegation against his character most imprOba.
! blr. tben most readily does any such allegation
! find eager believers. II matters mol from what
sIurce the Islander may csfne. Muliiludcs will
be Influenced by report against good mans
Character ifDm one VINO would mol De believed
unGer oath IN any matter involving the p~cunil
afy interest of fiiy cents The sianderer may
/ be Botpripusiy bass-Hay be panderrr iO the
wOisi passiDBs and the lowest yicrs-may br
q shameless sinner against social yiriut-may
he thief notorious liar, drunkard, lib
| rTtinr, or baTlOt-all this ma'ier nothing.
| The engine that throws the mud Is not regard
ed. The white object nj which the foul dis
charges are aimed is only seen and the delight
| Of the by-standers and lOOkers-On is measured
by the success Of the stain sought TO be inflicted.
| As between the worldling aud the man who
pr0icsses 10 be guided aud controlled by Chris
tan motives, all this is natural enough. The
man bound up in bis selfish and sensual de-
| lights who sees a christian fall, or beHrs The
report thai he has iallen, is NATURALLY comloried
in The belief that. after all, men are aiike-that
no one of them, huwtv much he may profess,
is better than another II is quite essential TO
his comfort that he cherish and fOrtify himself
in tlii> conviction. So, when any great scan
dal aTi5es in quarters " here he has found him
self and his course Of life condemned he listens
with ready cars, and is uun istaksbly glad.
We say this is natural, however base aud ma
lignanl it may be; but when people repulrd
] ttn le ia ig ri riSfia
shrug their virtuous shoulders and shake their
iecbe heads, while a foul scandal touches vi
tally the character of one OF their number, and
menaces the extinguishment of an influence
higher or humbler by whch the world is
made bett,r, We hnhg our heads with shame,
or False them with indignation. Ifsuch thing
"a this isnaidral, il proves just Dpr thing. viz,
ilIai thesr men are hypucriits. There IS nn
man, Chrsiiin or Pagan, VINO can rejoice in the
iaintcst degree over the repnied tall of any
other man from Tectitude, without being at
heart n scamp, All this readiness TO believe
evil Of others, especially Ot those who have
been repuicd To te eminenty good, is All evil
dcrce of conscious weakness under temptation,
or 0i conscious procliviy 10 vice that finds
comfort in eminent cOmpaniOnsliip,
There is no better test of purity and true
goodness Than reluctance 10 think evil of ones
nrghbOr and absolute incapacty to believe
an evil report about gUud men except upon
this large and lovely charity is so rare But
ii is only with those who pOssrss this charity
that men accused of sins against society have
AN equal chance with those accused, under The
forms OF law of crime. Every man brought
10 Trial Tor crime is presumed 10 be innocent
until he is proved to be guilty; but. with the
world at large, every man slandrrcd il prpsum-
I'd 10 be guilty until he proves himself to be
innocent, and even then il takes the liberty of
doubling the testimony. Every man who re-
joires in a scandal thereby adveriisrs the fact
of his own untrustworihiness; aud every man
who is panied hy Ii, and rciuses 10 be impress
ed by H., unconsciously reveals his own purify.
| He cannot believe Il had thing done 10y one
whom he regards rs good man. simply be-
cause he knows he will not do it himself. He
| gives credit To others for virtue that Is Con
scinusly in his Iwn Possession, while the base
men around him. whether Christian in name
or not, withhold the credit because they can
not believe in the existence of a virtue of
which they are consciously empty. When the
Master uttered the words, Let him that is
without sin among you first cast stone Al
/ her" lie knew that none but conscious delin-
quents would have the disposition To do So (;
and when, under this rebUke, every fierce accu-
ser retired overwhelmed He the sinless. wrote
the wonians crime il. the sand for the heaven
ly raius to eiface. II He could do this in
case ot guilt not disputed. il certainly becomes
his followers TO stand together around every
one Of their number whom malice or revenge
assails with ISLANDERS To which his or her Whole
| lie gives the lie
| In II world full OF Influences and tendencis
Ia evil, where every good fnrce is needed, and
needs To be icaluusly cherished and guarded.
/ there Is no chuicer Treasure and no more beHif
iceni power than Il sound character. This is
not only the highest result ulall the best forces
ufuur civilization, but il j. the builder ofthose
/ forces in society aud the State Society can
not afford To have IL Wasted or tles ruycd aud
| its instinct of self preservation demands that il
shall not be suffered There is nothing So sen
| sitive and nothing 50 sicrrd as character; and
every tender charity, ald loyal friendship. and
chivarous affection, aud manly sentiment and
| impulse, ought iO intrfuch themselves around
every true character in the community So thor
uusilly that breath oi ca'umny shall he ms
harmless us an ide wind. Ii they cannot do
this, then no man is sac who refuses to make
terms with the devil, and he is a, liberty to pick
his victims where he will.
j. q. Holland; Scrijher's for January.
That looks very much as if aimed at the
Blooklyn scandal.