The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-01-17
consistency, Thou art a Jewel"
From The Charleston Nev, and Courier.

consistency, Thou art Jewel"
From, the Charleston Ne,U, and Courier.
The conductof MIR. Murray. of Ander-
son, the editor of tho ANDERSON INTEL
LIGENCER in advocating the amendment
of the Railroad law Of 1882, is virulently
criticised by the Greenville Me,cs. Mr..
Murray was one of the foremost suppor-
tiers of the law of 1882, and his change
of position, it is estimated, is due to other
reasons than desire to serve his con-
stituents to The best of his ability. The
member from Anderson needs no assis-
tance, and is we'll able to meet his crit.
les; but it is not out of place to say that
Mr.. Murray is an indefatigable worker
in the Legislature, that he is fearless in
expressing his opinions and pertinacious
in enforcing them, and that no one who
knows anything of him, in private and
public life, would dream of suspecting
him of base motive in his conduct as
Representative. We grant that he is, at
times, irritating and annoying, but his
faults of manner grow less as he ages
and ripens. Mr.. Murray is as honest as
he il earnest, and we consider him one of
the rising men in the State-a man too
young, also, to have had any connection
NTH the war, and free from the preudi-
ces which, more or less, affect the feelings
Of those who shared the glory and the
sorrow of the men who wore the grey.
Honesty of purpose and sincerity Of
speech being conceded, it is foolish in
the extreme to twit men with inconsist-
ency because they change their opinions.
Both English and American history are
full of instances of change of opinion,
and consequently of action, on subjects
of far-reaching Importance. Sir Robert
Peel, the leader of Protectionist party,
became the advocate of Free trade. The
champion for the greater part of his life
of the exclusion of Roman Catholics
from Parliament, he yielded at last to "a
moral necessity" and supported the Re
lief bill. Mr.. Gladstone, who was an
ardent Tory in his youth, became, in
manhood, Wing, and is now an adyan.
ced Liberal. MI. Disraeli, Red Re.
publican in his college days, rose to dis
tinction as the leader Of the country
squires. In our own country, Calhoun,
Webster and Clay changed or modified
their opinions as the necessity arose.
The Democratic party it7elf can appreci.
ate tho logic of events. In 1868 the
National Democratic Convention declar-
ed the Reconstruction Acts "unconstitu-
tional, revolutionary and void" and in
1872 the Convention pledged itself to
"oppose any reepening of the questions
settled By the thirteenth, fourteenth, and
fifteenth amendments to the Constitu.
ton" and has acquielced in the Recon.
struction laws ever since. In truth, If
there must be no change of opinion, as
the result of experience and reflection,
every law on the statute.book would be
like the laws of the Medes and Persisns;
and whosoever had once announced an
opinion would be constrained to hold it
always, no matter how unjust, or unrea-
sonable, or injurious the course of time
might prove it to be.
We have little patience with those who
have so blind confidence in their own
wisdom and forekuowledge that they re-
fuse to admit even the possibility of any
fdllotlOu it1 phCA OPih'oso WI Guy oASySS"
Such person, as Wbately says, "prides
himself on what he calls his consistency
ON his never changing his opinions or
plans; which, as long as man is fallible
and circumstances change, is the wisdom
of one either too dull to detect bis mis-.
takes, or too obstinate to own them"
The whole truth is put in few words by
the same writer: "It is a mere idle dec.
lamation about consistency to represent it
as disgrace to man to confess himself
wiser to-day than yesterday" There is
true consistency in varying the means to
secure the unity of the end. Come what
may, and in scorn of consequence, each
should do what seems right and best at
the time. The public, if they have any
interest in the matter, will have no diff
Guilty in distinguishing changes Of con-
duct which are the result of fickleness
and thoughtlessnc,s from changes which
are the result of study aud inquiry and
the comparison of theory with practice.