, 1875-02-13

men. and all men viii be benefited
thereby
The idea is very pleasing, and the
course of reasoning, to practical mind,
I Is very brief. II truth would be such Il
glorious thing for an age, II would be an
excellent thing in a man; if an excellent
thing in a man il would be a delightful
trait Of character in woman.
When you hear that certain neigh
Dor of yours is living example Of this
great virtue, you think II would be de
/ lightful TO meet her. From what you
! have heard Of her she must be an eXtraOr-
binary wonan. Her admirers tell you
| that she is one of the modern SpaTtans,
one who will let no considerations of
! friendship or hatred Swerye her from the
path Of duty and truth; that an enemy
/ has nothing 10 lose from her perfect
| iruthfUlncss: that a friend has every
thing to gain from H. So you are in
( trUduced 10 her You were not especial
/ " pleased; but then it is impossible 10
{ form an opinion at first sight, People
who are Of any account do not usually
show of well One cannot expect TO be
[ dazzled by creature OF such sterling
worth But YOU think pleasant things of
I the times when you shall be admitted
INTO the inner sanctuary of her friend
/ ship and be strengthened and sweet
/ ened BY association with such 8 strong,
pure nature.
/ She redeems her promise to call on
YOU, and YOU admit her into your parlOr-
/ The carpet and wallpaper have a de-
Cided antipathy toward each other. You
/ knew it long ago, but did not think you
/ could afford either TO tear down the one
/ or throw away the other 1t has been an
/ cyesOre 10 you from the first; but you
I tranquilize yourself by the sweet delu
! sion that no one else viii notice it. When
/ the bell rings you pull the curtains down
( in the daytime ami turn the gas a little
/ lower in the evening. Your neighbor
over the way called She had the repu-
raiion of possessing exquisite taste and
unlimited means Of gratifying H. You
/ felt little uneasy; but she was so en-
| tcrtaining that curtains and carpet were
/ both forgotten. Your ncighbOr on the
( left called. You knew her pretty well by
/ reputation, and her reputation was that
of a hypocTite. You hadn't the slightest
doubt but that She would tell the next
person she met that you had hOTrid taste;
( and your rooms were as gloomy as
cavern but she only spoke to YOU of the
pleasure she experienced from finding
your house cool and dark, so reStfll to
the eyes and SO refreshing. So you read
lily yielded to the flattery and rather en-
joyed the visit When that truthful
woman came you knew that the tortures
of the lnquisition would be pOWerless to
al l. to-
that you would want to contradict; but
then she informs you that you have
made a bad selection of colors in the
room; that a carpet that cost half of
what that one did would be much more
suitable for your room, if the colors were
only in harmony with the wallS and cur
tains; that the practice of sitting in
halt-darkencd room is very injurious to
the eyes. You knew all this before, but
it never annoyed you 50 much as now,
and all your anticipated pleasure from
the visit Is gone.
You return the call. She tells YOU
that you laughed too loud, but, then,
you were having good tins and forgot
yourself for a moment only. She sees
all the defects in your toilet, and tells
you Of each of them You always knew
that true friend is one who tells YOU
your faults. Ii was your first copy, com
menced with an enormous \, in YOUR
| first COpy-book; it was the theme of
/ your last essay at school; ii was the
cornerstone Of all your Spanish castles
/ dedicated 10 friendship in after wears
/ but somehow you are not quite prepared
to enjoy the reality as you thought you
/ should, and you leave The house, leaving
all your mirth within; no danger of
/ laughing too loud now The world has
suddenly grown very disagreeable and
/ gloomy, and you 20 home out of humor
/ with yourself and everybody else
/ Go shopping with her, you don't like
/ the goods shown you, but make some
tlmid excuse for not purchasing. She
| tells the salesman that his goods are en-
tirely too high; she could buy the same
article at one-third the price over the
way; ;hat he had better get in Il new
stock of goods, for he had actually moth /
ing worth carrying home. So YOU meek |
ly follow her from the store, feeling that
the salesman regards you as his natural !
enemy for causing him 10 receive unde- !
served insult, and that she regards YOU
as an arch-hypocrite for not telling the !
full truth about the matter in the arst
place.
Invite her TO tea, she will tell YOU that
there is heavy streak in your cake |
You wanted it extra nice, and nut in too |
much butter; but she sees only that |
heavy streak, and pays no attention to /
the other side OF the question. She asks |
your friend If her cousin is keeping any /
stralghter now, and gives her views of |!
such conduct rs he INDUCES in. You |
look all sorts at her; she proceeds, moth /
ing daunted. You a!terward remon- |
Sirate with her. In vain YOU tell her that |
your other friend is not responsible for |
the sins of her family, even unto the |
third and fourth generation; but she ut /
terry cruShes YOU by saying that she |
speaks only the truth-nO one should be /
ashamed Of that You call on some one !
to play You probably knew that the 1
girl was not finished muSician-more |
than likely not half-tiniShed one; but |
she Is kindly little body, who likes to /
play, and would feel hurt if she were not /
asked tc do 50. After the usual prelimi- /
narles she consents, and naturally ex,
poets little praise. II would not require !
much Of an effort to thank her and praise /
the piece q little; but YOUR truth-telling .
friend tells her that the music is alto |
gether too difficult for her; that she is
sadly in need Of practice; and a whole
days pleasure is marred for one whowas
trying 10 please Others. You wonder
how ii happens that people who pride
themselves in saying just what they
think, never think anything pleasant. You
regret that all persons who DO say kindly
things are deceiyers; but you rather like
them best, with all their faults. You
come 10 the conclusion tha; philosophers,
who, as rule, live some hundreds of
years hence, are not always the safest,
ana by no means the pleasantest. guides
Tor the present The theories that look