Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1876-03-30

merits or owners renders US liable n :.
Vulnerable evils and disappoiutmea.aa.
Even the ridicule which is certain =. 70
directed to a mans overweening estirna.e
OF himself is something worth escanIao
and this is the smallest evil which rasrI;,,
from the illusion. A person who tb;rhs
very much more highly of his intellectnsI
powers or his social importance than bis
neighbors and friends, will, Of cnuraa
fall into all kinds of miscalculation ~
speeding his future. A just estimate -
ourselves puts US on level, so 10 spesE
with others, and prevents us from diln;ns
ourselves by supposiag that they wifi
make more Of US than they really intend
TO make. a calm and just opinion Of
ones own capabilities and ATTRACTIONS i {.
indeed, one OF the most important conaj,
tons OF intimate and beneficial social
union.
Other advantages, of no less important
if of less tangible kind, to be derived
from this practice may be found in the
large increase OF moral power which il
brings TO the adopter of it. For ii seems
clear thet person who has sought :.
train himself in accurate judgment in re-
lation to an object which presents The
greatest temptations to superficial ard
stronger when called on to pass judgment
on less perplexing objects The habit Of
Judging ones self impartially is pIainIv
the best guarantee for the careful and
conscientious estimation of others. Rv
a patient cultivation of this art OF sell.
appreciation, there will be developed a
power of self-restraint and degree If
sobriety and conscientious fidelity in
forming judgment which cannot tail 10
display themselves in all the utteranres
of daily lite. And this increased con
scientiousness in judging is not the only
moral gain which this habit will bring n
It's cultivator. A faithful consderafion
Of our own moral claims in the light of
our inner life is not only likely u make
US careful when called on TO judge o,h 4
efs, but will also supply us with material
for framing the judgment. For other
mems conduct has, after all, To be inter.
preted hy our own feelings and experience
and unless we have accustomed ourselves
to reflect very carefully on the springs Of
our own conduct, we shall often miss the
real clue To the actions of others. The
more we have tried to detect and weigh in
the moral balance the ingredients OF our
own character, the better fitted we shall be
to understand and do justice to the com
plexity ola human action when it happens
10 be another's.
Finally, it may be remarked that the
practice OF estimating ones self carefully
and accurately will serve to render one
much more tolerant in judging OF others
There is natural bias TO condemn Others
lust as there is natural bias to approve
ourselves, anG the cultivation of severe
self-restraint in estimating ourselves will
tend to counteract the first bias no less
than the second. For, TO have gained a
just and adequate insight into our own
characters, with their defects as well as
their merits, is to have placed ourselves
on lower pedestal in relation to Others,
and so to have raised others proportion
ately. Not only so, but the clear recog-
milton of personal incompleteness which
a rigid selfvaluation necessitates, will
temper ones feelings toward anOther's
fault by suggesting the possibility Of our
own lapse into it. In this way the most
conscientious judge of his own character
will become the most ready recOgniZcr Of
the naturelness of moral error. AnOthers
demerit will appear Understandable u
human, and SO less shocking, to such
one, because it can be brought into a con- Il
ceivable relation to his own motives and
impulses.
There is, however, one characteristic
danger in this habit of judicial selt-sCru-
tiny which needs to be pointed out. We
refer to the possibility OF conscientious
performance Of this task developing Ger.
tain unhealthy degree of anxiety with re.
spect TO ones self All reflection on self,
if carried very far, is apt to pass into NOR
bid self-consciousness, and the moral in
vestigation of ones own conduct and
character has often led as the history of
religious asceticism abundantly shows, to
the most miserable form of this self-cOn-
seriousness. Wise concern passes into
morbid anxiety, and then the person is
afflicted with constant fears respecting his
real desert. When this state of mind is
fully developed, the wretched subject OF
ii is unable to see any good in himself,
and discerns demerit where others per
haps find the highest worth. Many OF US
probably have, in the course OF our OBJ 4
servations, met with some sad illustration
of this morbid form of conscientiousnesS
in reference to individual character. Yet,
happily, we may look upon such a gloomy
condition OF spirit rs exceptional, and due
To certain latent tendencies of individual
temperament. In the vast majority OF Il
cases the habit Of searching selfscrutiny 1
is attended with little if any risk OF nouT-
ishing this unhealthy anxiety, and its et-
feet can safely be regarded as exclusively
beneficial. -L0ndop C0rnltSU Magazine.