The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1881-02-20

his wife, and afterwards desert her' Sh'
was probably most trying and aggravatnl
and deserved all she got-she could not hay'
been congenial, nor appreciative; then why
not put her out of his life, why allow her tC
clog that trsnscendant genius, on account o
which we must make every allowance posi-
bic for the evil that was in him. Colc.idge
another intellectual giant, a man of thou. ht
poet, philosopher, theologian-not many
have done more to form and stimulate The
mind of the age than no. But, alas hi
frailties were almost as conspicuous az hi,
virtues. Would that they had never beer
revealed In our opinion no one needs tt
be more charitably judged..--..than he-
no one moro tenderly treated. IL
his case lite whitewash is not ohjoc
tionable. Poor Edgar A. Poe has been more
sssiduously whitawashed and sblackwashed
than any. Still, in our opinion, no deserves
more COMMUNICATION than censure. Pocu--
liarly constituted and organized, his genius
was without question, and it would have
been better to bury some of his faults in oh
livion than to drag and parade them before
the gaze of an unsympathetic and unAppre.
C alive public. 1t is one Of the bitter penal
ties of greatness that the foibles and defects
that pass unnoticed and unremarked in or
diuaru indi,;1ual, ,,ust Ia tL.,,. I,.f,.. a. -
public eye, exposed AMI commented upon
freely and without remorso. And there are
many details in the lives of all, the great rs
well rs the small that would be all the bet
tor buried in oblivion. The great ire not
intallible, md thor biographers would
do vol to omit some things, and the
public would DO rs well satisfied. At loost it
would bo more merci,ul. And We are to' in
the book Of books, 10 lean to tue side Of
mercy. Amongst oil the rest, an attempt
has been made TO whiiewesh tho Roman
emperor whose name has been a synonym
for ull that is wicked aud cruel he who
amused himself with Bidding while Rome
was burning. As Il plea that he WAS no.
totally deprayed, il has been urged that be
was fond of music. Well, what then? lie
once ldll.d a man because i. was thought
that this man could sing better than himself
and the wretch who could fldle while his
city was burning will surely never 10 re-
habiliSatfd on account Of his musical attain
ments. But sfterall, what end is attained in
dwelling on the lrailties and foibIes of gqniur?
II is not necessary to tell the whole truth
always, although nothing should be told that
is not true. Where Is tho man or
woman found in human mould who
Is absolutely perfect, and sluneth not
mt ALP 10 every piece of M role
staluary thore is some speck or flaw. We
need not search too industriously to find it
How, then, can VIC expect mortal men 10 be
perfect? "You that are without gin. cast
The first stone" 1t is incumbent upon the
honest biogrspher to hint ut the faults Of his
hero, but it is not needful that he should
Iinger over every fault, and magnify it, aud
look for itas with microscope, and make
The most of ii after he has found it; that is
IN outrage that any generous mind would
rosonl. Let VA have something left to rev.
,rence, and it Is better TO err on the charita-
Ole side, even though We should get an over
lose of moral wbtewash.