St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1873-10-24
says I'd be sure to make it personal
matter. I'm afraid he is right.
Honor.

Honor is very different thing from
honesty. There are men who scrupu
lously pay their notes of hand who ar,
utterly deficient in the nice sense o
personal dignity which we call honor
l ct III the necessary commerce of life
the dealings of men and women will
each other in business and in friendship
there can he no perfect or satisfactory
issues where honor is not regnant. Let
lis illustrate by reference to some every
day matters.
You are Il guest in the family of /;
friend. Being guest you are admitted
INTO the privacies of the home. The
members of the household go on in theil
ordinary way in your presence, thus
paying you the highest compliment in
their power by making you one of them
selves. Now if yOu go from them and
afterwards i'll your own home or in Soci-
ETY. make their idioSyncrasies the theme
of yonr conversation, tell of.the ill-tem-
per of this one, the parsimOny of that.
and the oddities of third, you are in
plain words cishcnorable You were
trusted in the unspOken confidence OF
friendship, and you have violated a
trust. Ladies' maids and Wallets some
times do this i'll print with regard to the
great people whom they have served,
and their revelations are interesting
reading to Il class like-mindcd with
themselves. 1t seems to lis that neither
ladies nor gentlemen, however, would
care to penetrate guarded interiors
10y such doors ais these.
The literary disputes that so frequent
~ arise concerning the authorship of
popular poems or brochures would he
impossible, We're all members of the
literary craft filled with the sense of
honor which ought to inspire those who
make and color public opinion. Unfor-
tunately the histories of contested au-
thorShip reveal il very dark page in this
part of human nature, and the conscious
plagiarlsms of authors who need not
steal in order to he readable are among
the ineXplicable mysteries of life.
In the training of children from the
very first, by precept and 10y thrice
powerful example, the principle of
honor should he strengthened. They
should he taught never to listen to con
versation not meant for them. never to
speak unkindly of any one. never to
TRES piss on dllptntl IlEnlS. some
times this white flower of honor grows
spontaneously from strange soils. but
ottencr it needs cultivation. \ gentle
man not long since. while waiting at :;
railway station, hought paper from il
ragged mite of Il boy. 1t happened to
hc IL paper that he had read. aud us he
had asked. We will say. for the Times.
and been given the TibHnG, he said :
My boy. this WAS not the paper asked
Nou tnr. ] have read this: but you may
keep the five cents. and here is youl
paper back" \ few moments passed
and the ears We're just moving of when
the little fellow rushed in. shouted.
"llcrcS Your five cents sold il. Sir.
and jumped Oft. as ncwSboNS do. at the
peril of his life. The feeling that made
that boy give back the five cents to Il
stranger WAS the feeling of honor.
1t would he curious to study the diff
| fcrent standards of honor among differ
cnt classes of people if it were not rath-
cr apart from the purpose of this article.
Thus among Schoolhols certain things
are regarded as diShonorahle and who
ever lntringcS upon their WnwIittrn code
is speedily sent to coventry. In the
army there is Il well understood though
not specially described theory of honor.
and whoever trcSpaSScS against II L. III
army parlance guilty of conduct umhe
coming IAN officer and Il gentleman"
In business and in society. wherever
people are brought into contact. there
are strong intangible rules which can
not he safely broken through. which
are stronger because intangible. and
which depend for their maintenance
almost entirely upon the sentiment of
manly honor.-H Hearth and Homc