Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1878-03-23
Concerning Dull People,

A dull man can make very little of
himself his acquaintances can make of
him what they like; and to be discrcetly
dull is to meet large portion of the
social requirements. Very few have anv
notion OF the extent TO which discreet
dullness is employed in society. 1t ia
never 50 called, but passes current as
tact, delicacy, worldly knowledge, intel
Iect, sagacity, discrimination, Difference,
modeaty, and sundry other nice. desirable
qualities. Who are the best liked, the
most praised, tie greatest favorite3 in
general society? The famous, the gifted,
selt'sacrificing, the learned, the brilliant ?
Not they. The famous are envied the
gifted are criticised; the eselfsacriicing are
miJudged; the learned are pronounced
wearisome the brilliant excite opposi-
ton. AS rule, it is the discreetly dull
who carry off and wear the social lau.
els They are not envied or criticised or
misjudged; they are not wearisome;
they are not opposed. Like neutral tints,
they wear well because they are incon.
spicuous, and for the same reason they
are restiul. They fit into other and very
different natures; they seiten asperities
by difiusing spirit of commonplace,
which is believed to be a compound oi
gentleness and harmony; they keep down
intensity and aggression by giving these
nothing to act upon, by negatively de.
stroying their motive for exercise. Hav-
ing no individuality of their own
they are apt to restrain in others
the individuality which by active
assertion hurts the symmetry and
conformity essential to wel.reeulated
circles.
Even when dullness is without discre.
tion, it is valued and valuable part of
society. The majority of persons must
be duh by the economy of nature. Dull
ness is to society what background is to
a picture paradoxical as it may seem, |
it imparts tone and character for the |
whole; sets off the figures, necessarily |
few, occupying the foreground, and |
shows them to advantage. Consequently,
people who count themselves clever
among these are inevitably many of the
dull, and not few of the dullest-can |
not find fault with those they consider
less clever, because TO these they
owe both their eminence and reputa.
tion Indeed the clever rarely offer
any open objection to the dull. Tney
may have lofty sort of pity for them
but they are apt to be patient and chari.
table with them, from The absence of anv
feeling OF jealosy Or rivaly, and from a
secret consciousness that the dull are
their desirable tolls
Our inextinguishable selfloye, our
irrepIes'ible egotism, prevents any and
every one OF us from thinking that we
are, or Can be, dull. We may not sup
pose ourselves 10 he brilliant or clever
exactly but we are pretty certain to
hold the opinion that dullness of
any kind does not belong to rs,
and to be cOmforted as TO our per-
,onality by some reason, theory or
Illusion evolved from within. But
the recognition of dullness as a social
agent and really benof cient principle
las tendency to render us tolerant aud
and without tolerance and
catholicism, society, Notwithstanding
can never be what it should.
such recognition, too prevents us from
nordinate ambition, from feyerish desire
% sCintiIlste, from over,indulgeDce of
,gOtiem in society which are so often its
,ane. Remembering that the dull have
heir place, and serve their purpose, we
AN more easily practice the seIf-restraint
md moderation which social duty should
'njoin. Having, With such remem-
france less fearoi being regarded dull our
elves, we shall be more apt to cdItivate
he repose in which our society is often
o sadly deficient New York Times.