The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-12-26


dent for argument. The great stumbling
block to us all is our passions and these
added to bad judgment send our reason
whrlng into space. Our pride, that pas
sion of pain and pusillanimity. is assaiIed.
and we resent it with blows or scurrOus
retaliations. vituperations and what not.
Do we benefit ourselves by this course of
action? ASsuredly not, for in doing so we
condescend to level ourselves with our op-
pOnent to whatever degree that may be.
Suppose your assailant is unjust and to-
tally, or in part, wrong. brawl and a
broken head is a poor doctor. Or suppose
his accusation is just, or partly So does not
| cool Judgment on our part entitle him to a
manly apology or retractiOn. or both? And
will not our conscience acQuit his to a far
greater degree than to add further injury?
Decidedly it will; and it is in this cOmpensa-
ton to our feelings that we have righted
our own wrong doings. smOthered our baser
nature and brought to the surface the i'm
pulse not only to do right but to advance
our own interest i'm the estimation of our
selves and all who know us.
| Ones actions are often mScOnstrued,
Unjust motives are often attributed; and
who knows this better than he who has
a knowledge of what is right and strives to
dO it? 1t is only those who travel the same
| road you do. that know the rutS and StumpS
| you have to climb over, who can appreciate
| your efforts and cOnStrue your motives
| rightly. There are some natures from
which it would seem the scars of time and
the turmoil of the world have totally Obit-
Grated every impulse of good. every instinct
of that which is noble and true. They are
naturally endowed with ordinary intelli-
gence. which has been more or less devel-
Oped by education. but have become tainted
and unclean by contact with the by ways of
a delusive portion of humanity. But be-
cause they are in this condition is it just to
conclude they are past redemption? If
there be merit in philanthropy. then these
are the subjects for it's zeal. when we say
philanthropy we dO not mean that article
which is kept and adapted for ornament by
| theorists only. but the practical sOrt-a
kind that, when it sees person of either
sex standing on the outskirts of society
reeking with the filth of the dirty ditch and
moral leprOsy, will hold towards him a
hand: lead him to a stream of clear water,
as it were. and if his trembling and doubt
full hand is unable to purge himself of his
filth. lend him helping hand to do so. The
application of charity is in itself of little
benefit to very many who need assistance.
1t is the manner of the application which
obtains for it the merit it should derive. A
man of ordinary intelligence will easily
discriminate between false and a true APP
plication Of this much abused and heavenly
virtue, and if it be bestowed in spirit of
pride and cOndescenSiOn more harm than
good is done the recipient: and no virtue at
taches to the donor. Again, should we be
so unjust as to suppose that one may be-
come so hardened in vice as to be totally
| depraved? The most hardened sinner has
feeling for his fellow in distress, and
would share his last crust with the hungry;
divide his clothing in the chill and frost O.
winter; rescue life in jeopardy. and symf
pathiZeS more or less with any distressing
circumstances. Is not this evidence of vr
tue not totally destroyed? Sages have writ
ten and still declare the germ OF virtue is
engrafted in the soul. and, like the soul,
lives forever. If it is uncultivated it cannot
Increase. It will. as time rolls on, become
covered up deeper and deeper until it would
seem it could not exist in some characters;
| but it is there nevertheless. like the virgin
gold living far down below the crust of
the earth's surface and can be reached only
by patient labor and when once uncovered.
the pain of our labor is richly rewarded by
viewing the gittering prize we sought. The
highest to the lowest in the scale of society
are not free from some probable misfortune
that leaves jagged scar on the face oft
times. and let it be of whatever character
it will the cicatrice does not destroy the
body, unless it be mortal. nor the soul.
And vet that scar is landmark on the
ocean of life at which the finger of pity or
scOrn is pointed. which sears and scorches
sensibilities of the object like redhOt iron.
| If men who discuss these questions of So
cial vices and depravity of the human race
would practically apply their theories in a
truly Christian spirit they would soon as
certain the true course to pursue to attain