The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1874-02-12
For the CITIZEN.
Rehexns calls unon SYIYanus.

henGAus Cribs upon OglNaAANSs
Mr.. EDITOR This thing will not DO.
Sylvanus won't 'set right if he can
help it, under any circumstances That
fact is plain. / set him right in my
former paper, gave him lump of su-
gar, that che is honest and writes
WELL" but still he is not happy and he
won't set. He takes the sugar
well enough, but then he stiffens him
self baek-unruly yOuth-sprawls out
his limbs and makes figure of himself
in spite of all efforts TO prevent it. Has
Syivanus acquired this habit, or was he
born with it?
will waste as little of your valuable
space as possible, but Sylvanus must be
set right His friends require it at our
hands. As you and your readers know
1 explained over and over again the
part of SpOfford's lecture wherein Syl-
vanus failed to catch or comprehend
the import, yet he falls back into the
same old errors and goes of in the same
blind path that leads nowhere, just as
he did on the former occasion. viii
in brief try it again.
I quoted the words of the lecture as
follows 'eThe man who is VirtuOus
from the force of habit alone, is like a
Dutch clock" etc, and when he dies the
| inscription on his monument should be,
EFHere lie the remains of a human ma
chine" SylYanus now quotes this and
says, 81 think Refiexus has done injus-
/ tice to the speaker by his manner OF
stating the proposition. He makes it
| appear that there are men who are Ytr-
tuous not only from force of habit, but
| from force of habit alone" Is it posi-
! BILE that Sylyanus or anyone else can IN
derstand from this language-this clear
| ~ 10 L
/ er therein affirmed, or ever dreamed Of
| afIirmhde--- lIat there Is virtue-any
/ virtue whateyer-in the man who il
virtuous from the ''force of habit alone.
| Has SyiVanus ono comprehension of ;
paradox in expression or IN the use o
4 language? Theheavy bolts of the speaker
| thrOughout'the lecture were all hurled a
/ those sham virtues which he described al
| the products Ofhabit, and were in fact M
virtues at all. 1t was the sham article
that passes in the world as virtue tina
the speaker demolished. The genuine ar
| ticle, where ever found, was nevel
placed on higher throne, or set before
an audience in more eloquent or beau
tiful pictures than in that lecture. Blu
Sylvanus closes his eyes against all this
He can only see, viii only look at tn,
performance of certain actions, cata
lOgued as good, and these comprehend
all that virtue Is, or means, in his ap
prehensiOn. Can he not see that VIRTUE
requires a deeper soil than this ? Tina
it must spring from the force of Low
and charity in the heart, and flow from
thence, unadulterated with any othe
force, or it viii be only "a sounding
brass and a tinkling symbal." How doe
Sylvanus read his Bible? and does h
remember how st. Paul handles tn
question, "And though bestOw all m!
goods to feed the poor, and though
give my body to be burned and hav
not charity, it profits me nothing.
That great Apostle seems to think tina
virtue consists in something else
rooted and grounded in something els
than in the performance of certain
actions catalOgued as good, hOweVe
great and good they may seem to be
Evidently, he had but small respect 70
the o1tside of the platter.
Sylvanus goes over his old trac
about habit not being natural, but &C
quired, and this costs effort, ergo, ther
, is virtue somewhere in the business.
explained this in my former paper, am
| cannot go over it again. If the broa
! intellect of Sylvanus can see nOthin
3 more involved in loindtng up a Dutcl
. clock, than he can see in the fact tina
the clock runs after being wound VI
then cannot help him. / simply ad
wise our Lyceum Lecturers never, here
, after to illustrate a character by Dute
clock if they do not wish Sylvanus
middle the figure.
/ / have been at a loss heretofore to sc
what has been the matter with SylYanu
and the thing that so troubles him. Blu
the secret slips out at last. Here is tn
slender cuticle" that the keen lance c
the lecturer touched. Sylvanus says
"If we see good acts we have no RICH
TO infer they are not genuinely good, es
= peciaIly if they are consistent with eac
, other, and with the life of the one VIII
performs them" That is the dOctrin,
is it? and does SylYanus think he learn
. led it in the school of the Prophets, O
did he absorb it from the Ethics c
modern Christendom Keep the Outsid
of the platter clean, and no one shal
ask questions about the inside, or spea
of virtue that lies deeper than thi
visible crust. Or did Sylvanus get tina
fine doctrine from the speech OF a Ger
tain very pious Pharisee of old on
, memorable occasion? If so, here is tn
j answer made then, and it will answe
! now: "rhou blind Pharisee, cleans
first that which is within the cup an
, platter, that the outside of them ma
/ MnALE
+ sepulchres which indeed appear beau
tiful outward, but are within full {
, dead mems bones and all uncleannes
Even so,also We Outwardly appear RICH
eOus unto men, but within ye are fun {
= hypocricy and iniquity." Then a certai
o lawyer spoke up and said, 'Master, thu
! | saying, thou reproachest us also" I'll
Master said, ''WOe unto you also, '
. lawyers - Now if Sylvanus had bee
there imagine the speech he would haY
made. "See, our lives and actions al
all right and consistent after the stric
est sect of the Pharisees, and who
this carpenters son this babbler frOl
Galilee, that dares TO come here and IA
fer that we are not all rightly and T,
= Viles us in our own high ways of virtue
4 Away with him away with hint!
Q But my space is out. | have now 5,
Sylvanus right again, and moreover
propose to keep him ''set straight
. He may sprawl his limbs about betwee
: times but he is bound to set. And sha
not so far forget my selfrespect eithe
i or the dignity of my readers, as 70 rs
= how far he has travelled i'm the path
z virtue, or TO hint that he has on his ey
lids one of the "crowlin fertile" immol
talized by Burns, or that he has an
wincglass hemipterdRSw about h
person. 1 shall leave all that Deautifu
field of thought and reflection open f
> him. lie occupies it first, and as b
taste and talents seem to run in that d
. rection, ! certainly will not disturb hin
Ina his possession. l Will only say tn;
= whether or not he is the boy in the coo
story-that he tells so beautifully, and
such fine taste-that he Is now engage
in shooting at coon in very high TIRE
indeed, when every body knows there
no coon except in his own "hemiopia
{ vision"
Pulaski, East Hill. REFLEXUs.
a Word or Two.