Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1876-06-03
CONINiUNICATED.
SERMON ON THE HALFSHELL
BIZ DEACON DI0GENES.
PRIDE.

Ofall the causes which conspire Ia blind
Mans erring Judgment, and mh>guide
the mind,
What the weak head with strongest bias
rules,
Is pride, the never failing vice of fools,
What ever nature has in worth denied,
She gives in large recruits of needless
pride.
Brethren: Ia the worlds great So
cial nursery there floulishes many an Ill
weed, which if permitted to remain,
will impede the growth OF better plants
one of these is pride. We do not
mean that innate pride which is the
possession Of every true man, which
preserves his good name and honor.
and causes him to keep his face washed,
hair com5ed, clothes clean, as well rs
his character-this is true pride, we
shall discourse of the false stuff.
The bogus article is extensively pos
sessed nova days. and some are so
proud OF their possession that they are
constantly exhibiting it. When we
see an individual thus displaying false
pride, we heed it as notice that he
has somewhere in his head an extensive
suit of vacant rooms, which should be
Immediately occupied by common
sense.
False pride is displayed in many
wavs, and is not confined 10 any par
ticular station in life; it effects the poor
as well as the rich. We have known
women TO stitch, stitch, stitch. all the
weary day, screened behind a curtain
for fear the world might see them work,
who ate no more than torpid toad, and
invested every dime of their hard earned
wages in fashionable dresses, and leav
ing at home an empty trunk and an
empty larder, will ape the style OF their
aristocratic neighbors, aud elevate their
nasal knobs at meeting working wo-
man, while patch on pair of breecl es
honestly earned ard honorably soiled, is
considered badge of human disgrace.
A character such rs this is constantly
seeking the association Of the rich, and
would sooner be seen in the questiona-
bic company Of the wealthy, than with
the respectable poor.
There is another class-those whose
riches have taken wing and flown away.
Though as poor in this worlds goods
as a Hotteutot, deprived of every pos
session save false pride, they still love
the scent of the aristocratic cod fish, and
would sooner fondle rich neighbor's
poodle dog than civilly address hard
listed working man on the sidewalk.
There is another set, my brethren; IT
is those who in many instances, having
no visible means of support, have all
their pride invested in an ancestor, who
perhaps was millionaire; captain OF
militia in the Mohawk war; was init.
mately acquainted with Gen. Jackson,
or married a Gescendcnt of Pocahontas
or Moll Pitcher. These individuals, un.
fortunately, were born in the wrong
country, as they deserve to be TITLED
and supported at public expense. They
are constantly boastng OF blood and
pedigree, and when we hear the boast
ings of such animals, if we would notice
particularly their "points" and waste
time TO trace their pedigree, we would
often find that they are frequently OF
that species Of animal having dispro-
portionate length Of ears.
Again there are others, whose pecn-
mary circumstances are fortunate, and
who entertain a false pride by reason
thereof They believe that money makes
the man. They nave an exclusive cir.
Gle Of their own, and deem it a great
condescension 10 iamiliarly address a
poverty stricken brother, who perhaps
well remembers when his mother took
in washing and his father was head boss
of mule team.
How blinded we become by false
pride. 1t is the bane of society, and an
individual effected thereby will always
share wise mans pity il not contempt,
for true nobility was never conferred by
blood or wealth, but in being what
God intended us to be, honest and fear
less in the right; holding in contempt
the pride puffed fool who without any
sense oil merit of his own, fails TO appre-
ciate it in others.
Brethren, it is useless for us 10 hope
for the coming of a social millennium,
when false pride will cease to be. True
pride, as old as man, vas basely cOun-
terfeited as soon as il was manufactured,
and will continue TO he conDterteited
until the angel standing with one foot
on the sea and the other on land, shall
proclaim that time is no more, while
Gabriel blows a grand finale from his
horn.
Brethren Iet rs sing