Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1881-04-28
Mlistellamenns &eading,
THE VALUE OF A GOOD CHARACTER.

THE VALUE OF A GOOD CHARACTER.
Character is that assemblage of nors
!, qualities that are inwrought into the yer
warp and woof of ones nature and life, Will
reputation is garment that public opnio
enrobes one in, whether he likes the style Q
it or not Character is the product of on
own agency. Reputation is the estimation i
which we are held BY those with whom we as
sociate.
Now, one of the chief advantages of goo
character comes from the fact that man
reputation largely reflects it. Men do no
generally believe this. They think they cal
hide, for instance, q foul, leprous heart unde
the garb of polite and attractive manner
that they can be crooked and perverse il
their intentions and yet pass for very goot
and proper people; that they can form 1
reputation for purity and virtue, when thei
Imagination is Sour mud swamp" as Car
lyle would say, where all kinds of ugly
loathsome desires and reptile thoughts hatch
crawl, hiss and sting! that, in short, they Cal
pass for 6ne.looking solid trees, when they art
decayed and hollow from the top to the bot
tom.
Never was there a greater delusion. NJ
such masquerading Of character ever wa
successfully played, nor ever can be-. There
never was man that lived FIVE years in s
community that was not generally appraised
at all he was worth.
A bad character pass itself off for gooC
one AS well might foul stencil try anc
pass itself off as grateful perfume. A bac
character will stain through all rosewood
amiabilities, mahoganized manners, and show
the vulgar weed.
No one ever did or could "steal the livery
Of heaven to serve the devil in,' but what ii
was soon discovered that the garment did moi
6t him or he did not know how to wear it nat
urally.
Reputation, then, is the shadow Of charac.
ter, and the shadow cannot long impose up
on any one unless it is the reflection of real
and substantial worthness. And then, a
good moral character is one that will always
redeem bad reputation. 1t will sometimes
happen that men will get bad reputation
when they do not deserve it. There are few
men who have driven their plans Of business
and ambition over the rough world and not
got little splashed with mud.
One glance at the stage horses and driver
and you can tell the condition of the roads.
So men will bear the marks Of hard strug-
giles they have had to encounter on their way
to place and power. To some extent this
is unavoidable.
There is your stern, positive man, who
possesses the pluck and grit, and indepen-
dence to hurl unpalatable facts and disa,
greeable truths through the subterfuges and
duplicities of political platforms, and bigotry
of the church and the tinseled shams of go.
ciety.
Think you be will have an easy time of it =?
Why, the whole kennel of pruderes, cheats
and frauds will begin to bark and bite. Men
will 90 deliberately to work to crush him
under some deadfall of destruction and lies.
The reader is very lucky, who in the world of
labor, skill and invention has never met q
rival that has tried to drive him over by
BaH aH atHaRFtb H pRa ng this hs; sought
his track. l"' o'''' oSs''" wv.
Who has never felt the lash Of the scurri
lous tongue? Who has never had bis best
motives suspiciously scrutinized? But you
may settle it as rule that no mans reputa-
tion can be seriously hurt for great length
of time so long as his character is sound and
good. ;. -,
A locomotive may run over it, but it will
be as 1.-the and supple the next day as if moth
ing had happened But if the character is
bad the slightest jar may dash the reputa-
ton into thousand atoms. A man who
is enshrined in the conscious purity OF his de-
sires, the rectitude of his acts and Intentions,
can never be badly wounded. Keen-edged
lies and calumnies may make the blood fly
from his reputation, and people who do not
know his worth may think he will soon bleed
to death, and marvel to see how quickly the
wound heals. His character is healthy.
A good character can never be seriously
hurt ono man was ever hopelessly wrecked
on social breakers but who deserved to be.
A good character can swim the ocean in a
storm, while bad character, water logged
and barnacled, would sink in the still waters
of harbor.- Watchman.