, 1880-03-21
MEDDLERs AND THEIR VICTIMS.

] Lou more eXaSperatlng than medQllns, Wha
ever may be the intentions Of the meddlel
They may spring from a sincere desire to b.
Of benefit, Or they may arise from mere vu]
gar curiosity, for curiosity is always vulgar
human nature always resents 1t US an II
yasion Of personal rights, and the nos
which inserts itself into the affairs Of it
ne1ghbor nearly always carries away som
external sign Of the neighbours protest. TIL
nose may even fancy it is doing the neighbo
a benefit and may be innocent Of any offense
and yet this does not mitigate the force 0
the tweak it receives. There are variou
forms Of this mcddlesomeness, the worst 0
! all being that practiccd by the curious busy
body. Her mission is to interfere with tn
domestic economies, to pry into the affairs O
the household, to observe who comes in AM
! who goes out, tu watch the deliveries ol
| goods at the door, upon favorable occasions
| to invade the house on various pre-
texts, criticfse the furniture and the pictures,
make suggestions as to the management Of
! the children, bring gossip from other houses
and gather gossip to take away, to furtivcly
examine contents of closets aud drawers,
| when the opportunity offers slip into the
kitchen and question servants, raise dssatis-
! faction in their minds by intimating how much
this one gets and how handsomely that one
is treated, Investigate warIrobes, aud III ge,l-
eral interfere and ply into everything in the
house. Hardly less exasperating Is the gos-
slper, whose interference is not less active
because it Is Indirect Gossip needs no
foundation Of fact. It arrives at its decisions
BY Inference, and it, matters little whether
the premises are true OF false. 1t can invent
the most elaborate ;fctions upon the very
tlinnest Of material. The victim Of gossip
is usually person who has no oppor-
tunity to retaliate, and whose chief de-
sire is to be let alone;. a quiet,
unpretentious person, who never medd1es
with the affairs of others, and yet is made
the constant butt OF small talk. rumor. and
malicious tattle. The more resoutely he
may strive to keep his purposes to himself,
the more persistently they are discussed, and
the more courageously also, because the VIC
tim has no way Of yindication OF resentment
even. There is another sort Of interference,
which comes in the way Of advice. The in
tention may be entirely charitable, and the
adviser. may be infuencedby sincere motive
to benefit the unwilling recipient It takes
various shapes, sometimes IN business way,
sometimes in social suggestions, more fre-
Quently in the persistent devotion of benev-
olent old ladies ito hayward youth OF both
sexes, in the 1nntter of Informing them how
much better things were done when they
were children. There is no question
that the youth of to-day needs adj
vice from its seniors, but, unfortu-
nately, there are too many Of the seniors
who make it a kind of professional duty to
Interfere with everything that young people
do, bringing them up with round turn at
every step, the result Of which either is, that
the youth gradually becomes weak and
docile nonentity or q headstrong, fractious,
passionate rcmonstrant, who ultimately kicks
himself clear out Of the harness anu runs
away. These disastrous results come from
the ignoring of personal rights, an idea
which is very strong in youth,-as we'll as Of
liberty of Judgment and action, which every
young person likes to exercise. They do not
like authority even in those who have the
right to exercise it; still less do they like it
in outsiders, who, as they fancy, have no
right to exercise it at all. There is no form
which meddlesomeness can take that
does not meet with violent remon-
STRANGE or resentment, and yet probably
there is no form of social Irritation
which has more laudable motives behind 1t.
The misfortune is,that it becomes kind of
habit, exercised so long and so persistently |
that it fails to make the proper discrimina- |
lions as to the urgency of the situation or the !
propriety Of its exercise. Its principal cause |
If aggravation is its utter ignoring Of per
sonal rights and its assumption of personal !
authority. Because a does not act as B
would, therefore B assumes to advise or
neddle with a without once considering |
that A thinks he has the right to act SO.
Every person has certain peculiarities, GER
ain methods Of enjoyment, certain habits Of
lis own to which he claims undisputel right
md any interference with which he will al
Ways resent. The cases are very rare where
| person has sufficiently philosophlc tenn
to let such interference have no
fleet upon him. There may be cases where
man is rushing upon his ruin, or is acting
II such manner MS to interfere with So
iety, and in such cases meddlesomeness is
roper; but, as a rule, it only provokes
toAnAe3 oAooSEo AC4CG VPpooALAoA1 &A4tA
'lunges everything into confusion, and
eallyo thwarts the efforts of benevolent
eople who are bent upon doing good. Pos
IDLY in some distant utopian phase of
oclety there : may come a time
Then the meddler will have moth
lg to do, but at present there is little
respect of the suppression Of this most
ggravating and irritating bore. He will
robably continue his work though he gets
o thanks for IT, and lnterpose himself in
thers' affairs in!which he has no interest,"
zen though he meets the fate Of the go-be~
ween who manifested an interest in the
uarrel between the husband and wife and
7ceiyed joint pummeling from them for
is pains. The only remedy is to cultivate
acid, philosophical disposi ton that pays no
gard to interference, letting it pass by as {
le idle wind. It is useless to attempt to t
tppress it, for the despair Of the situation is,
at while nearly every one Is disposed to
sent meddlesoueness with Ills or her af- n
irs, nearly every one feels called upon to /
eddie with the affairs Of others.
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THE SECRET OF HIHILIsM.