The news and herald. (Winnsboro, S.C.) 1877-1900, 1879-04-24
Rub Your Glasses.

Are the eyes OF any OF our readers at that
stage when, from long use, they need assis.
lance in their more difficult works Nc
blame to the eyes What other instrument
is there which SO well cndurcs the strain OF
, half ccnturys continuous work2 For II
is somewhere near life's fifticth year that
this stage is reached by the eyes. Are you
not little awkward in the use of the new
Instruments You hold out a good while,
| till it was question ut length of arm, al
most rs much as shortncss of sight. Do
not you feel as if you ought to makca little
explanatory statement before you produce
| 1t, for the first time, in company2 You
have been, just to save your eyes, "using
glasses" i'll private, your wife perhaps, or
your husband, rcsenting it as piece of af-
fcctation, and kindly pooh pooing the idea
OF age making them necessary to you. But
they arc necessary; and it will be u great
relief to you when you arc known to use
them, and their appearance evokes neither
surprise nor comment. But that is neither
here nor there. We refer to the new cx-
pcricncc in using the glasses, and its most
valuable suggcstivcncss. You find now
and then that type is indistinct the objects
arc dim or blurred; the eye does not de-
fine; and you learn TO take Off the glasses,
and with the clean pocket handkerchief
clear the lenses, and 10! the lines grow
sharp, and the vision is distinct. 1t is easy
for you and me, friend to perform this me-
chanical process; but there Is its counter
part in the minds eye, which is more i'm
portant and immensely more difficult In
this thing we Can see the want III ollr neigh
boris glasses more readily than in our own;
so we shall look to theirs. All men have
their weaknesses, all except you and I, dear
reader, and few of our most intimate
friends. Let us look for our facts where
they can be found.
Some mon, for cXamplc-not of course,
in our sct-have prcjudces, through which
they look. Somehow they have what they
facetiously call judgments on certain mat
tcrs, and nothing will Shake their judg-
mcnts.. TO be sure, the Judgment came be-
fore the argument. They arc the very re-
verse Of the honest and candid criminal
who, when asked, Guilty or not guilty2"
naivcly said, "IIow can tell till l hear the
evidence9" They see all that appcrtans
to these matters through coloring or confus-
ing matter. They should rub their glasses.
We can sec that, but they do not for, as
some one shrewdly says, what is sight or
observation to a good sound prejudicc2
Self-lovc dulls the minds perceptions, es-
pecially if wounded. The wounded part is
always abnormally sensitive. Men do not
like their class to be censurcd. You and l
do not like-beg pardon-other men do not
like the connections of anything or anybody
that strikes, or has struck, or might, could,
or would, strike Mt them. The Stafford
shire boor--the story is familiar, but vener-
ablc-killed the unoffending gosling on the
roadside. The farmers wife resented it,
and demanded, 'Why2"- whoi, :"
was the reply, ''did goosc-chick's father
nibble OLE" It is dangerous for any gos-
ling to be connected with al ancestor that
has obeycd native instinct and 'nibblcd"
Doors Oh the roadside Present enjoyment
has the same obscuring tendencies. You
and read "Billiards" on window, and
we have visions that are not pleasant of
gambling, drinking, hapless homes, Sun
plcasantness, wasted lives, and gloomy
deaths. But those fine young fellows in
side, with their coats off, under the shaded
lamps, they see nothing of these horrors.
They think you and me 'fogics, and only
for poltcncss' sake would call us "old
women"