The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-06-01
TIE POLICY OF OAHDOR.

~ believe that the best course which any
member of this House can adopt when NJ
fiacs that an inadvertence has occurred, OF
that he has committed an error, is frankly &c
ayov il and to throw himself on the IN.
diligence of the House"
So said Col. Makins in the House OF Com
mons, April Is, in the course OF debate on
petition which he had presented without due
caution and without making himself &C.
auainted with its tenor and language. The
petition reflected upon the Speaker OF the
House. The apology was received with
| cheers.
| Upon reading the remark quoted above it
| occurred to Us, as often before, that the best
amend for any blunder is prompt &C
knowledgment When one does or says what
he finds to be wrong, there are several lines
of procedure open to him. If very proud Of
always being in the right, he will use all his
extended information, his varied learning,
his fine rhetoric and his impressive elocution
in proving that he is right, in spite OF the fact
that he knows that he is wrong. If he be-
longs to the great and growing clan who bow
the knee to discretion rather than to valor,
he viii say little and do nothing in the way Of
reparation or confession. but wait in patience
for the whole matter to blow over and be for
gotten. Those who value personal COM
fort more than the correspondence be-
tween words and facts, will draw
largely upon their imaginations for excuses.
and will hold up to the offended party asched-
ule of extemporized facts to account for their
deed or declaration. The brave blusterer
will make haste to assume the attitude of the
party offended and severely to rebuke and ar
raign the real sufferer, according to the prec-
edent set in the celebrated case reported by
Esop, Wolf We Lamb, in which the tres
passer assumed the attitude of plaintiff in .
water suit in which the innocent and in
jured defendant was badly wooded. But
there is way better than that of the sneak,
the blusterer, the special pleader, or the bully
to deal with blunderer, and that is to con.
fess it. recognize it, tally it, and let it 60 into
the general account for what it is worth,
more or less.
When mistake has been made all inter-
ested should know it at once. The fire that
you have thrown into your neighbours prem
ises may be put out without damage, if he is
told of the danger. A wrong statement about
neighbours business standing may be
prevented from doing harm if promptly cor
rected. A hasty and foolish word may cease
to provoke bitterne ss and strife if apologized
for with prompt candor. A soft answer turns
away wrath, and SO does q wise and true
answer. When the heart is in the right place
the man who does an injury will hurry to
rectify it. Henry Clay, it is said, was once
struck by an angered barrister, in the old
courthouse at Lexington, but the assailant
instantly expressed his sorrow for the act with
tears and the most earnest words Of contri-
ton, Offering in addition to his apology to
give any satisfaction.
Mr.. Clay in tone and manner peculiar to
himself, magnanimously answered: "You
feel about this, am sure, as o gentleman
ought to feel. Let it end" Thus by little
candor duel was avoided, with its possibly
fatal consequences. And 80 would end nine
in ten of the quarrels which arise among the
more decent class of men if those who blum
der were wise and liberal enough to admit
their errors without delay.
No man is SO respected by his neighbors as
he who is the first to detect and proclaim his
own blunders. II have just lost q great
BATTLE" wrote King Frederick to his Council
of State, "and it was entirely my own fault.
Prussians believed on him, and their faith
was his strength. People can afford to be
truthful and candid much oftener than they
dream. and in any right view of their own in
terests they can not afford to be otherwise.
How and to what extent "open confess
sion is good for the soul our physiological
will not allow us to determine; but.
for the mind, it is always good and wholesome
TO follow, to acknowledge, and to love the
truth and to adhere to it, to conform to it, to
hold it in reverence at all times and every
where.