The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1881-03-29

LKESHUAG, &$M4rch ~, 1851.
Editor F7oridian: / cannot withhold an
expression OF my qualification n the authqita-
tive anncuncement that the charges which had
been prs1srred against the Chief Justice of our
State had no basis IN truth. ,sS
One OF the most depIorabie signs of the dis
trustful disposition of modern society 10 the
readiness with which any rumor detrimental to
the character of ouI fellow beings gains credence.
There are motives and causes and unavoidable
accidents that very of,en precipitate sus into q
csnjuncture of affairs out of the usual order and
monotony Of ordinary occurrences. The suspi-
cious mind, on the alert for anything that would
serve as hook TO hang q doubt upon, al once
puts the worst coloring possible upon his neigh
boris action, and gloats over the prospect of
making human being miserable by unwarranted
or illegitimate suspicious
Charity, common sense the logical sequences
that unbiased minds draw from the past and the
present, the unrelabiliiy Of circumstantial evil
dence, the indignant protest of the slandered are
OF little avail to the mind determined 10 be
prejudiced, and selfsatisfed by the illusions Of
evil thinking. Not without potent cause were
the evil tongues silenced when the Saviour ad
monished them, "Hc that is without sin among
you let him cast the first stone"
Ii is always best, at least il is more in accord
ance with the spirit of charitable heart, to
think well of cur neghbors instead Of evil, and
not set our judgments against the unfailing YER
diets of a wise and merciful Providence
man Of true manhood is not like the great
mass of mankind who "sec a little, presume .
doo it,por To he He
prefers to proceed with circumspecton and pru-
dence, that he may not put a reproach upon his
neighbor, willingly subscribing TO that rule of
the ancient heathen-"I am so far from lightly
believing what one man says against another
that will not easily believe what man says
against himself will always allow him second
thoughts, and many times counsel too" Modern
Christian $50 called) where is Thy blush?
l think that this prurient disrust of our fellow
beings may be attributed in part to religionists
whose lives are so inconsistent with their pro-
LESSONS. 1t is this class of people, Of whom
there are many nowadays, that undermines
the confidence Of man in man, not only 10 the
detrment of the most vital int crest of society,
but, what is far worse, the disparagement of the
Christian religion. | mean those men, Mr.. Edi-
tor, who nominally accept Gods precepts, but,
instead of conforming their lives thereto, follow
in the wicked ways of the world those men who
belong to the church while they remain in part
nership with the devil those men whose lips are
sweetened with piety while their hands are foul
with wrong doing; these men, whether in the
church or out Of it, who pretend to believe in
the awful sanctions and penalties of the divine
law, yet in reality scorn them as though they
were mere shams. !,
Example is more powerful than profession
and when q man processes belief in doctrine
which he does not practice he is but stumbling
block in the path of wayfarers, and is under
mining the precious fabric of business and social
society, the chief cornerstone of which is conf
dence
Then, how important il is for the good of So
cieiy that we should all realize what il is we pro-
fess in morals or religion; that we should illus
trate it by our practice that we should show it
not by cant and 1ummery, but as an actually
and controlling power.
Suppose that religion or sound morals, instead
of being put to shame in the house Gifts friends,
were the governing force therein? Would there
not then be visible transformation in the COM
munlty? Would not wickedness be turned back
would not rreligion hide itself, would not all the
would not the devil be dumbfounded? If this
cannot be DONE then alas for the pretences of
so-called religion, and for those virtues that
ought to lie and do lie at the foundation of all
we'll regulated communities j.