The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-08-14
Tact,

One may have all the virtues, and pos.
sess all the enGowments which comes
from the benign accidents of wealth and
lineage, and yet want the one thing which
| will MAKE his life happy and successful.
! One of .ne curious things about such q
bereavement is, that the person whom
Nature has so impoverished hardly ever,
and perhaps never, knows exactly what
it is"-as that renowned ethical philoso.
pher, Josh Billings, would put it-"that
ails him." He is a man of business, we
will suppose, and is strictly truthful and
upright; he fulfills all his engagements
to the very letter; he is puuctual, and
not over exacting; but he does not have
the art to please. He lacks, in short,
tact. The stranger who comes to trade
with him, if he is merchant, may like
the quality OF his goods, and may not
dislike his prices but tie situation,
nevertheless, will become uncomfortable
in due time !; and before he knows the
casual customer, whom dealer with
little tack would have easily retained,
goes across the street TO fill his subsequent
order.
We all know tho preacher WHO lacks
this lubricating quality, and who rants
about matters that iritate persons rather
than establish principles, ard who very
soon comes to grief in bis parish. He
has been scattering dynamite in the most
careless possible way, and wonders why
anybody is hurt, and doesn't hear any.
thing but the rebound from the explo-
sion.
To the politician, tact means often q
positive and Indispensable capital in
trade. 1t far supersedes talent when it
stands alone by itself /, is not proba-
BILE that there is single human natur
as is the politicians He must know
everybody, and know their dispositions
as we'll. And the very successful ones
manage to do this, and to enter into the
various interests which engage different
men with au ease and alacrity that reach
the very summit Of art, while the absence
Of art is never doubted, or the skill Of
the thing is not expected. The politician
who has tact does not let it desert him
The day after the election.
Tho want of tact in "a lawyer will
often lose him his case, no matter how
well read he is in the law pertaining 10
it Before jury, the gifts Of adroitly
putting thing so as TO chime with the
feelings and prejudiccs of twelve differ
ent men is all important. Itgiycs to the
lawyer who adds to respectable talents
this power, consnn!nate influence.
Tact in studying the feelings and pc.
culiarities Of his patients is )ne of the
prime requisites Of physician. He can
not successfully minister to their ailments
unless be thoroughly understands their
inmost mental peculiarities aud succeeds
in humoring them. He will know the
English of piaceJo and the value of bread
pills and, In certain cases-in most
cases, in fact-he will keep the thought
of danger in abeyance.
But after all, there is no place where
tact is not needed. Its usefulness in the
daily, general relations of lifo is para
mount. 1t carries for i,s possessor
gentle, unconscious pc suasion with it.
He will make his way without seeming
to know how he has made it. We can
remember one person after another who
is afflicted with an almost ludicrous ab.
sence of this quality, and who is perpet.
ually in Mrs. Partington's dilemma
said she never opened her mouth with
out putting her foot in it. If some visi.
tor arrives who has lately had near rel.
tive hung, the object of the gallows will
be at once introduced and expntiated
upon with peculiar JUNCTION anu persis.
teDce. The wrong topic is always in.
troduced by the ill-arranged individuals,
and is sure to be discussed in the most
ill.timed and NAL apropos way.-Me
Hour.