The Columbus journal., 1882-09-27
The Best Side.

Everybody has a best side, and every
body has an uglyside; ONE people have
several ugly sides. There are those so
amiable or so well trained, or SO self
contained that they rarely show Jagged
ness on any side. But these are rare.
The ideal gentleman never forgets what
Is due to himself, never fOrgets what Is
due to others. So of the ideal lady. We
do sometimes find these ideal person
ages in real life, but rarely. Ordinary
people make up, or try to, for coarse
ness in the kitchen by refinement in the
parlor, and are more courteous to their
betters than is dine. that they may atone
for scant courtesy to their interiors, or
those they deem such. There are very
few natures so purged, SO disciplined,
50 chastened by religion, or any other
force, that upon greater or less provo
cation the unhallowed passion within
them will not glare forth from their
eyes, crimson in their cheeks, tremble
in their limbs, culver in their voices or
Rnaw silently at their vitals. For with
in us all slumber or lie in ambush wait
ing . favorable opportunity to spring
forth at least ten deadly sins forbidden
in the Decalogue. However perfectly
on may seem outwardly to conform to
the requirements of high morality and
lofty virtue, where lives the human be-
ing but daily needs to utter the petition,
ssLead US not into temptation, out de-
liver us from evil" but needs to smite
upon his breast and exclaim, "'God be
merciful to me, a %sinner?"
Alike beneath the polished exterior of
conventional courtesy and the rough
exterior of ''no manners at all" is the
oeaseless conflict of passion, interest,
duty, ambition, conscience, waging; in
my iady's elegant boudoir, and in the
attic devoted to mental servants. The
conflict is one, though in different parts
of the field, one under velvet and calico,
under broadclcth and jeans.
No appetite or passion OF the human
mind or body is in itself wrong. Every
one was planted there by the 5enefcent
Creator for the good of the possessor,
and, rightly INDUCED and exercised, re-
suits in good. But without the posi-
bility of vice there can be no virtue.
The greatest men that have lived have
been men of large appetites and pas
sions, who have brought them under
control, who have harnessed them to the
chariot of reason, subjugated them to
the yoke, made them obedient to check
and rein. We have inspired authority
for the fact that even the Spotless One
was "tempted in all parts like as we
are"
1t is not strange that hearts burning
with hate, infiamed with resentment,
torn by conflicting passion, or wearied
by sorrow, by ill-health, by batfled
hopes and disappointed expectations,
should sometimes unconsciously or
carelessly permit the gaze of the passer-
by. With such hearts We are coming
into more or less intimate contact all
the time, and how to make that contact
kindly and helpful is q question always
important to the lover of his kind. We
MAJ exaggerate the woes of others by
our bearing and manner, or Wa may
sOOthe, restrain, heal the wounded
heart. We are all our ''brother's keeper"
whether he accept the trust OF not. If
we reject it, we too may hear the voice
of his blood crying to God from the
ground.
III IlDlIiti CUiitlludllS Ctlicu vi W
come into most intimate contact
with the various members of her house.
hold, to compose disputes, to harmonic
conflicting interests, to sOOthe per-
turbed spirits, to help them that have
lost control of themselves TO regain it,
to help those who have never gained
control of themselves to acquire it, to
subdue the refractory, to guide the I'M
ruly, to disipline the disObedient, to
distil from all the various complex eie-
mentS thrown into her crucible that di-
vine essence we call Home. She, and
she only, who ~sedulously, from principle
and by habit, cuitivates that which is
nOblest and best in herself can call out
that which is noblest and best in those
around her. Only by depressing and
overcoming that in herself which is evil
can she compel and secure the repres-
sion and restraint of that which is evil
in those under her guardian care. She
is the mirror in which her household
will glass themselves. As she is, such
will they unconsciously shape them
selves. The showing of her best side to
them will infallibly compel them to show
their best side TO her. And how can she do
those she cloves and would serve a greater
kindness than by habitually calling out
the best there is in them?
1t Is wise to seek the companionship
of individuals who put Us on our best
behavior, who call out the best i'm
pulses and aspirations and PURPOSES
within us, and to avoid those who
kindle or quicken our consciousness of
lower and baser impulses. Solitude is
infinitely better than bad companion
ship. But with the multitude of cheap
reprints of our best authors one never