The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1880-09-05
MOTIVES AND ACTS.
BY GAsKELL.

= How few there are who, in the
;, Opposition engendered by political or
It religious strife, ean give justice to
g another VINO happy differs from them
u selves Reason has but little part to
= play 10 such judgments and the srdor
shown Is rather that begotten OF par
tizan zsal, than the offspring OF in
tegrity and virtue. And while de-
mandlng the fullest confidence in our
own unsel6sh and upright intentions,
We refuse to accord to others the
same purity of design.
1t Is rather hard on Cur common
human nature that this should be 90.
That in seeking for the primary
motives OF actions performed by
Others, ~e seek first ID an impure
source their conception We claim
honesty ami purity ourselves; why
not grant it 10 olhers? As minds
differ IN calibre, IN culture and in |
sentiment. so are opinions and aC-
tioLs varied, " ho shall take it upon |
hinseli to say what is right, except in
his own Individual Case? Ii is far too |
much like the old-time PharisRic
utterance, 81 am boiler than thou"
to obtain lasting power and sway in
the iconoclastic age. We all firmly
believe 10 our own theories and by
gentle teaching may instill our ideas
into the minds OF many others, but
have va the right, or are we true to
liberal enlightenment when We stig-
MATHS those who honestly differ from
Us, unvirtuous, designing and un-
truthful? Would We in turn accent
their dIctum regarding ourselves and
our opinions? No; We certainly would
not, yet We seldom snalyzs our preju-
dices sufficiently to see the substra-
tum OF self conceit and ignorance
that really form the foundations of
our dislike.
The fact of change OF opinion, or
OF profession, does not always suppose
a departure from virtue, but is often
really an advance of a peculiar know
ledge Of which We ourselves are alone
cognizant. We are individually re-.
sponsible for this change and if a
mistake is made, it Is ofiener an
error of judgment than intsntion.
The major portion of mankind are
honest and truthful, and none but
those wicked themselves, or the fana
tically ignorant, look upon them as
Otherwise. He who looks upon his
brother through the dark and gloomy
hues Of his Own distempered mind,
foTgets, or ia ignorant Of the fact,
that the cloud he sees is owing more
to the imperfect JDs of his own
vision than to the inherent evil of
the acts committed, and that the
motives displayed, or the source o1i-
ginsting them may, for ought We
know, be pure as light.
Omnipotence alone can judge truth
fully OF the motives that actuste
human being, aud Omnipotence will
reward or punish, more in accord
ance with motives than acts. Though
this may seem to trench closely upon
the Jesuitioal dictum, "the end jnsti-
fies the means" yet to cur minds.
understood, it does not.
Evil can never result in good to the
one in whose heart it originates,
though it possibly may to others on
whom 1t may have bearing. The
mere conception OF evil Thoughts, "a
we'll as performance OF evil acts, is
Injurious to the soul from whence
hey spring. The CRIME of sin once
marked upon the spotless page Of an
immortal soul is ever afterwards inef-
acable whatever lines va may in
line trace upon it. or whatever
ltonement we may afterwards make.
Unless memory fails in her duty the
recollection of a misstep ever sur
'ives; sometimes doing good as a
andmaTk and warning to greater
but ever as source of
regret and SORROW.
Perhaps as good an illustration of
he importance Of motives; the neoes-
ity ofjudging more from them than
rom acts, as to the deserving of an
is case put In answer to
correspondent in the New York
Ledger, now more than twenty years
Igo. We cannot give the exact
words. as We never saw them again,
,ut We may give the idea. The
question was asked whether man
hould be rewarded or punished for
motives, or for acts, and the answer
vas something like this: Suppole two
persons were to take passage on
steamer from Liverpool to New York.
They we're dear friends and each one
Eould do all he could for the other.
ipadsertence and accident,
me of them falls overheard. The
,ther, anxious for his friends safety.
Ieizes the frat thing to his hand, q
plank, and casts it into the sea.
aWkwarduess it strikes his
friend and kills him. His intention,
Or motive, was to 90 We, his act kills.
Will he be Judged murderer on that
Reverse the case and sup
pose two deadly enemies to take pas
.age on the same steamer. One OF
hem Iails overheard aud the other
seeing a chance OF killing him and
having it attributed to accident,
,eizes a plank and cssts it over the
vessels side fully intending to strike
and drown bis enemy. Through his
agkwardra.s. he luckily misses him,
the drowning man grasps the plank,
keeps himself ah1at until help sr.
rives and he ia say ed. Shall ne be
rewarded for saving the life OF that