The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1876-08-10
The Popular Capacity for Scandal.

ever makes of itself, is in its greedy
credulity touching all reports of the mis-
demeanors of good men. # a man stand
| high as moral force in the community;
if he stand as the rebuker and denouncer
of social and political sin; if he be
looked up to by considerable number
of people as an example Of virtue; if the
whole power of his life be in high and
pure direction if his personality and in
huence render any allegation against his
character most improbable, then most
readily does any such allegation find
eager believers. 1t matters not from
what source the slander may come.
Multitudes will be influenced by report
against good mans character from one
who would not be believed under oath in
any matter involving the pecuniary in
terest of fifty cents. The slanderer may
be notoriously base-may be panderer
to. the worst passions and the lowest vices
may be shameless sinner against
social virtue be q notorious liar,
drunkard, Gbertine, or q harlot-all
this matters nothing. The engine that
throws the mud is not regarded. The
white object at which the foul discharges
are aimed is only seen, and the delight
of'the bystanders and lookers-on is meas
;ured by the success Of the stain sought to
HE inflicted. ;t.:f2i5s
l. As between the worldling and the man
who processes to be guided and controlled
lby Christian motives, all this is natural
enough. The man bound up in his self
lish and. sensual delights, who sees
| Christian fall. or hears the report that he
| has' fallen is naturally eomforted that
after Iall. men are alike-that no one of
them no mattar how much he NAV pro.
fess q better chan fenother. II is quite
essential to his comfort that he cherish
land fortify himsalf. in this conviction.
a when anv. .great gacandal arises in
ouarters where he has fonnd himself and
his course of lifa condemned. he listens
a,;th readx ears and Il nnmistakably glad.
Wa say ia r inlattural however base and
Imaiignsnt; Il NAV be: but when people
profasaine 30 be Christians-shrug their
yirtuOur shouldera and shake their feeble
Iheads. whi,s q foul scandal touches
yitaIly the character Of one of their own
members. and menaces the extinction Of
an influence higher or humber, by which
the world is made better, we hang our
heads with shame, or raise them with In
di0nst;on TT such q thing as this is
natI,raI Il proves lust one thing. viz, that
these men are hypocrites. There is no
man Christian or Pagan. who can rejoice
IN the faintest degree over the fall of any
other man from rectitude, without being
q scamp at heart. All this readiness to
believe evil of Others, especially of
those who have been reputed to- be emf
nentiv cood ia an evidence of conecious
nrocI;y;tHy Ri to vice that finds comfort in
Eminent cononan;onshin l'73'' = i''
There is no better test of purity and
goodness than reluctance to think evil of
one's ne,ehbor. and utter incapacity to
belieye an evil report against good men
| except upon the. most trustworthy testi-
mony. Alas. that this large and lovely
cborsctar ia IN rare. "But it is only with
! thoae who nossess this charity that men
| aac,,sad of a;ns aoainst society have an
i aruaI chance with those accused, under
The forms of law. of crime. Every man
4 hronoht to trial by crime is presumed to
he innocent untii he is proved guilty;
but with the world at large, every man
slandered is presumed to be guilty until
| he proves himself innocent, and even
j then IL takes the liberty of doubling the
| tost;monv. Every man who reioices in
a scandal thereby adyertises the fact of
/ his own untrustworthiness, and every
! mon who "a NAMED by it and refuses to
| he impressed by it unconsciously reveals
his own purity. BE cannot believe a
bad thing done by one whom he regards
| as q good man, simply because he knows
Ihe would not do it himself. he gives
credit to others for that virtue which is
unconsciously in his own possession,
while the base men around him, whether
Christian "a name or not, withhold that
| credit because they cannot believe in the
i existence of virtue which they con-
sciously have not. When the Master
uttered the words, "Let him that is with.
out sin among you cast a stone at her."
The knew that none but conscious de-
|linouents would have the disposition to
| do 90; and when, under this rebuke,
eyery fierce accuser retired overwhelmed,
he. the sinless, wrote the woman's crime
| in the sand for heavenly rains to eface.
4 IF he could do this in case ofguilt not
disputed. it certainly becomes his follow
| ers to stand together around every oneof
their number whom malice or revenge
assa,ls mlsG sli AZ" i;so,''1 ~ o - 49, -
Waoie i.e gi1ess s4M' sT ,f;,a,.noos ,tG. ond ron.
In q WorlI ,ua .h.u " auarv .n1oa ,ooJ a sorce is
oenSles S " s'n n.s;s ~nes - I he ;sslonsly cher.
;s nIsuea aau ~, Is ,dsa ~ there is no choice
esa sneu, ana "a % AZ mo,s % hene6cient mower
@ easa'e o,,anS @uS .Ss,sctsr ~ ts This is not only
sosI ,ssui. al the hest forces Of
as n,siT:s u;s;".t;o~ % Int M T. ia the builder of