New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1885-11-22
SILENCE AS A WEAPON.


Unfair n copy Oh IN los great picture OF the
Archanyol Michel ths titls IA quotation from tho
Apo:alyp3s) ruas 'tars: Michlel AMI his Angels
fight with the DraEoa."-| Michael ct angel eus
prelinbantur cum draccue." The two figures
conquer.ng saint and prostrate fend-aro the only
onos to be seen in the engraving.
Tns pers,niicatioa OF spiritual force as
agent in the bsttle-the invisible Reserve between
tho two visible ducllists-plts into high imagina-
tive form truth which crowds u' with lesser
impressions at every turn Of lifo. The primitive
Instnct Of pan or dspletsura is t. SEEK excessive
expression. The wild beast roIr4. The child croA
Ths savage howls Tha ), ni-civItzci RACES, rants
vitaperltoA 4 thoroughly cultivated woman
does not lose her temp,r. gentl>m never
scolls As we rise IN tho line of deyclopmont we
rise in the vauo of what We call sclf-dscpline as
distinct from thu discipline coming from outside ~
self. There is no faculty gven to the race which
is snch a hydromctcr of the specific gravity Of
personal civilization tho faculty OF human
speech.
it takes us long tins to find this ont for
ourselves, and it b5l)ngs to tho class OF things
which fow of Us learn by tradition Parent and
teacher and book 90 for little at hrst with the
centrifugal truths which have to work from within
outward. The oentrpetal forces must be content
to leave this as it is and to bilc their time and
know their place. Man seldom knows how indi-
vdual ho 10; or what IS moro important. he does
not know how individual the Other man IL. 1t has
been we'll said that we ara like the ultimate atoms
of the universe which never do. but only seem to
touch.
Take this matter of saying not saying what we
feel think-the simplest, one would hncyG
the most complex ono finds. Our habits OF OK
preston are tho result of ancestral urgoncles, OF
intricate environments. Of tsmperamental devia-
tions of a dozen compulsory influences yet perhaps
most of us are we'll along in life before we bring rs
much consciousness to the Square inch to WORK
upon these habits we do upon the other vital
constituents of character. That silence is ono OF
the great human forces comes to DO understood
slowly. 1t may be called of the mddle-age
truths Perhaps we must be tie victims of it before
we can be the agents of it. Perhaps we must
suffer from it before we vauo it, As has been said
OF happiness:
How natural ia JOY. nv heart
How easy after sOrrow.'
So 1t is-how natural!-to speak. va begin by
being natural Whom hurt. we weep.
When We arc angered. we rave. When we are
glad. we laugh. we sing. When attracted.
we trust BY and by the invisible law begins to
bind us down. and the lips OF life are locked to i'm
pulses and to much of molly truth therein les
As years drive u wo forget even to remember how
much that IS. The MeXicans are wise no whisper
over the cradle OF the born babe: Child, thou
art born to suffer- endure aud hold thy peace"
The defensive power of silence is perhaps the one
wo observe least carefully, because II Is tho
subie,t. In the friction and passion and function
OF daily life. what n weapon IS a mute tongue You
fud fault with tho coffee, tho weather tho furnace,
the baby. Your lt,lo jet OF ill-nature splutters
up into tho surcharged mir of tired household, like
a match on the elge OF gasoline tank. You
expect-and deSrvo-an explosion. suppose none
followsi The spark flares. goes out with sizzle
followed by blankness which gives yod the sense
Of having m ode an Intellectual fa,co. You arc mot
by sweet or singing silence as tho case mas be.
Her eyes give You ono blessed or bittor look; but
hor lips Jotray hor not Nobody an, yers back"
You arc left beating tao ar with An Idls BLADE.
You are humiliatei like man whose challenge Is
unaccsDtei through scorn. Your modification -
her yotory-livlneY noble or humanly mean a.
chance, tho spirit b,hind IT, She Is silent through
g.ntleno. or through spite Either boats In the
one case YOU are ashamed II yourself; IN the othcr
Won would not much mind brins ashamed of her
but ia either shs has struck you With a thrust
" hich you cannot parry. You 60 down before the
invisible third in tho visible duol: the strong
spiritual force which consists in not saying It.
Your friend misundo,stlnls yoI or you think he
misunder,tanis you: it cannot bs too veil remen
bcred that it Is the same thing. practically. Time.
trouble change the ebb anl loS Of moods. tho
counter-currcnts Of other peoples ntronr tho fo<'
OF distance tho blun er, Of tn" rust
of srplrat on 50 nothing -roue, between tao
pervason Of ono Ito by another which Is tho iirst
con litIon of active as distinct from Dormant
frien ship Perm lp3 YOU arc a oaSor. ardent sort
OF person. loving strongly an steIlly and ready
to say 50: with lltllo to conceal. aui not accu,-
tonsd 10 conceal II; ap. to be spont1 lcous rather
than sulicn. AMI to at rather than to brooL The
little neglect tho sm all unknln's'. thj untlm'iy
inpltian - wa, sh tako3 yOu by surprise. you are
either too rash, or too true. to overlook. You
sneak Wnon that frat all bat mPcrcoptible
growing away bog.ns. that IN oment whom
one step over the tiny strand,
80 narrow. ~ sIIth. thLt ,;l together
On either brink We - hand ia hanI,"
that ,trang, instant whom yolr friend first wi tn
held III, sympttny from what you know or believed
to be your acute neol that honr when he Vas
bored by your hsaia"hc. or nm erfAtol your heart
ache that day when he WIS in li;rent 10 your
sucre,s IN business or WHOM he sIowel tho mixed
motive that in ANY but u friend would have almost
: .ened like a faint .oi envy or whom ho Withdrew
from your failure or your despair tnat gong out OF
the heat, touch on which faithful years hal
taught yOd TO lean or when he saemel UNCONSCIOUS
OF your longing to sacrifice your interest TO hs; or
forget al OF whero you hal sp'nt yolrse Tor his
sake:. or willing to listen TO anothor's interpreta-
ton Of you, or able to discuss yolr fault with
third or - blunt to your condition that no could
cho,s. An emergency wherein 70 chde you for n
tribe; or could select hourOl exhaustion or agony
TO ask OF you an impossible service WHOM this first
mist an IN 5cry mes 10 Try an established friend
ship pcrhlp, Won ars not pru lent onou&h. or
unfathful eaoug 10 keep stlll Iou speak. lou arc
met 10y "A reserve which turns all tho currents Of
y0nr soul back upon itself Your direct question IL
eyadcl. Your candid lottor is not answered. or II
answered lis puIport Is ignored. ionr friend writes
of the weather, thc concert, the family. stocks,
Egyptian politics or religion. llo has hurt yon
more than YOU know how to bear. and he asks II