Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1882-01-14
The Sheer.
From the Philadelphia Ledger.

From the Philadelphia Ledger.
There are some things that exert an immense
power in the world without seeming to have
anything in themselves to warrant it. The
effect seems wholly disproportionate to the
cause We see changes wrought in peoples
plans and conduct, Important enough to have
sprung from some weighty reason, and when
we trace them back we find them produced by
something so petty and trivial that We can
hardly realize the connection. Such an intiu-
ence IN human life is he s1lesr In itself it is
L significant and worthless. lt has in it neither
argument nor reason, 1t appeals neither to the
authority of long tried usage nor the conviction
OF new found truth. 1t contains neither dig
nifty, sincerity nor sympathy. 1t is founded on
no serious regard for right conduct no right
eous displeasure against misdoing; it is indeed
utterly destitute of a single benevolent emotion
or p single kindly desire. Whatever be the
enemy which it attacks, it never comes out into
luii or Iar fight but seCretey sends its poisoned
darts to rankle and tester as they may.
One would think that an agency so worthless
IN Itself and so corrupt in it's methods must fall
into helpless and hopeless stelility; that a cause
50 barren of intelligence or good motive must
also be barren of results. Yet there is hardly in
the world more despotC tyrant or one that is
obeyed with more slayish subsection than the
unTeasOnlng and cruel sheer. No one uphoids
or openly approves it, yet every one bows to it
i'll secret fear. 1t holds multitudes from doing
what their better Judgment enforces and in
duceS them to do what their good sense fOrbids
1t draws tight the chains OF cOnyentiOnality and
STILES the breath of new or advanced thought
1t poisOns friendship and affection and withers
up some Of the best feelings of the human heart
1t ills weak minds with shame at what should
be Their glory, and strong ones with sorrow at
the hurt that conscience thus receives.
FIVE inquire into the things which are usu-
ally snecred at. we shall find them to be mostly
such as straightforward sincerity and honest
duty would commend. One of the most COM
mon OF these is the practice Of economy. Not
the pInGhings that extreme poverty imposes.
but the frugaty that ensures honesty and Tree
Com from pecuniary care, is the theme Of many
thouTntleSS and baneiul sneer. Whatever be
the income, or the habitual style of living there
Is always temptation TO oyelstep its bounds
and this is what so often brings grief and ruin
III It's train Yet the prudent man ard still
oitener the prudent woman who resists this
temptation is frequently the victim of q cruel
sheer by the members of IL set or CLIQUE A last
year j costume, q faded carpet. y less luxuriant
banquet than usual, smaller donation than is
expected, fetrenchment in business expenses,
or any other piece OF economy, however need
iui. is sufficient to call forth the contemptuous
shrus That says SO little but that means SO
much The dread Of this scornful disdain is
what draws muititudes Of people into expenses
tbat they cannot afford, brings upon them
countless miseries from which they can find no
escape. and sometimes even plunges them into
the still deep slough Of dishonesty and crime.
ECONOMY, however ID not the only virtue that
Is Slapped by the derisyc sncer. Hardly any
@ocd ana ster inc quality escapes its venom. 1t
does not attack the strong who are firm in priu-
cIple aud assured in Character but sends its
shafts INTO the weak, the wayerIng the tempted.
The boy who is obede to his mother and loyal
10 ms teacher, OF pulctlllously truthful in xprd
and deed, may have these virtues put to a cru
cial test by the scoif and jeer OF an unscrupu-
lOus payfeilOw. The young man who begins
lie with al earnest resolution to be faithful to
his employer and true TO his conscience will
meet with many laugh of ridcule for his So
called strctness from companions who have no
SUCH aspirations. The poor victim Of ntemDer-
ance, trying hard to resist the fatal cup, has
more than his own appetite to battle with: he
must also brave the .sibes and filings Of his late
boon companions Every effort to turn from
any vice. or to break up any evil habit, Is thus
hanpered, and not unfrequentIy defeated b. the
taunts and sneers OF those who arc left behind
Opinions and beliefs OF every kind and on
every subject are often treated with q sheer by
those VINO do not STARE them or cannot fathOm
them. 1t is not necessary that they be proved
untrue Or injurious; it is sufficient that they
are out Of the range of ordinary thinking, or
that they are held by an antagonstic party sect
or clique 70 doom them to this petty persecu-
ton. MIR, Barrett, an English writer Speaking
OF this kind of ridicule, says: at is a very
Danie quickly OF arguments, neither fish
hesh nor fowl q man knows not where to have
IT.. II he think he have seized it in vital
point, it glidea, impcrceptihly. like a proteus.
from bis grasp. and mochs him in an altered
shape. And even at last when forced to reveal
itscit IN Its true nature, new difficulty arises
Tor how can argument avail against an opno-
nent that refuses to argue? How can reasoning
cause conviction when its very authority is de-
MED? We cannot confute sneer, because it
has not sense enough TO be confuted We nav
strike at it with all our might but our sHo ord
passes through empty air. and cur opponent
Vansshes in the flash of all epgram."
There is, indeed no defense that can with
any reason, be set up for this practice 10 good
thing that can even be supposed to come out of
1t. 1t Is worthless when employed against what
Is evil and much worse than worthless when
employed, as it usually is, against good habits
and right conduct. Let us guard against its
first approach and beware Of it's insidious in
iuence.