The University daily. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 18??-????, 1883-06-11
] HUMAN PERVERSITY.
By ]. i. NJ cUTcHEoN.

ture there il q mysterious something
known as perversity. # Is that dis
! position manifest il many that
causes them to refuse to do what
they ought to and what they are
commanded, and prompts them to do
| what they ought not and what they
are forbidden. We are, al Of Us,
more or less mules; some much more,
except il auricular appendages; some
much less, save in indomitable
stubbornness. Hazlitt says, "All we
seem to think of, is to manage mat
tiers SO as to do as little good and
plague and disappoint as many peo-
pie as possible Milton sings Of
Satan, convinced Of his wrong, ''The
fend replied not overcome with rage,
but like mad steed refined, went
proudly a chr ping bis iron curb. &
a certain man prayed God to start
him right, as there Wonld be no
changing him afterWard. A man
may be positive, decided, determined,
assert his right to himself, his liberty
in thought and action and not be
peryerse. But he is perverse when
reason and conscience dictate the
course to pursue, and he follows
what is Numerically opposite. VA
The first exhibition Of perversity
is found around tie Preside It be-
gins withthe child and grows with
its growth. Command a child to do
anything with no higher motive than
to show authority, and its innate
manliness. impels it to an obstinate
refusal. Forbid it to NEEDLE, for the
mere sake Of making it yield obedi-
ence, and it will open the box, though
it has to sneeze for the next half
hour. When we bring under tribute
our memories we can recall many a
log cabin within whose rugged walls
there exists more of this abominable
spirit than this hall can contain with
impunity. f~~.7
But Of all the perverse creatures
! il q househ6fd q peryerse husband Is
the means rpI he lolest, tbe s,ost
cynicaI anil imipal, Sore Of them
are noble hen too, Industrious,
thrifty, successful gathering. in
abundant harvests, touching with
their magic fingers and transmitting
into gold; but they have an apathy
for affection and perjury Of heart.
Their wives approach them bringing
every token of love that woman's de-
votion can bring. Yet these stoical
men resist all such advances and
hurl back upon these sanity women
the purest and most unsel6sh love
on earth. These heart-wrung women,
sinking beneath the rebounding load,
become as cold as their husbands,
or they fade away like the blushing
rose of summer, Desolate and drearyt
they try again and again to creep
into the hearts Of their husbands;
but foiled in this, they fall back
upon themselves and 60 down beneath
their own weight. There are men
who take e very tenderness their wives
bring them, and trample it under
their feet without SO much as tasting
it, and without a look of graft
tude in their eyes. Hard, cold, thin
blooded,. white-livered, contemplate
curmudgeous, they are, all of them.
/ For downright, deyilish perversity'
the school. roomis the worst place.
Here the centrifugal force exceeds
the power Of gravity. With any
radius you please, describe a circle,
start the boys around it and the last
one Of them will fly off 1T i tangent.
Treasured in my memory like some
evil dream is the lowering cloud that
about two years ago hung over our
college, and spent its fury, upon the
rebellious @sophs," the distinguished
class of '83. More tangible and more