The weekly Union times. [volume] (Union C.H., South Carolina) 1871-1894, 1889-04-05
Do Right, Though the Heavens Fall
"They are slaves who fear to speak
To the fallen and the wcak,
They are slaves who dare not be
In The right with tpo or three.

They are slaves who dare not be
In The right with fco or three.
There are slaves yet, of many kinds
Slaves to erivolus fashions, obsolete customs
and public opinion, (thst bug-bear to so
very many souls bound by the narrow hori-
zen of what tho world, or Mrs. Grundy
may thiuk or say. OF course there are
certain proprieties and established customs
to be always observed, but my homely talk
has nothing to do with this. Any man or
woman with average intelligence can easily
settle in his or her mind what is proper
course Of action 10 be observed when deal
Jog with gcneraiites; but when IL comes to
dealing man with man, brother with
irother, here is where we run aground.
WhCSG men and women dare not always
do %. SySe soul whispers is right. HUI
man u SSSin general is not 30 bad; if un-
trame.edT II follows the dictates of con-
science; but there are 80 many intricate
springs set in motion when weak soul at
tempts to follow q particular line Of action,
involving what he feels to be right, and
what on the other hand, the world may say.
What may be right for me my friend, may
be wrong for you, according to our mental
status. or the talents God has given us.
But whatever you feel within your soul is
right, dare do that. Let the world and its
slaves say what may. Do what God whis-
pers to your conscience is right, aud leave
the result in His hands. paddle your own
canoe" is good and trite old saying
Many of US women do need to give il
more careful consideration.
Right actions spring from right motives.
II then the fountain head is pure the bal
ance Of the strenm will be pure; dut how
often are good actions encrusted and hidden
from q fear Of the world. If one could
fenn anIf al hsa 49,, To-
the millennium would not seem 20 distant.
great many, from desire to be popular,
or on the side with the majority, do vio-
lence often to conscience. striving to per-
suade themselves that might makes right"
forgetting "they are slaves who dare not be
in the right with two or three" Fer my
part | have most unqualified contempt for
any such wishy .washy character, and my
next strongest feeling i, pity.
Some persons with every element aud
qual;fc alton for q noble character allow
their whole moral structure to be warped
md almost ruined by this fault. They give
this defect or character every namc but
the right one, and that is downright cow
ardice They call it refinement, oonsi iera-
tion for the feelings of others and policy,
&c. We'll, policy is q good thing, when not
carried too far, and when combined with
kind christian tact maGing US TO know
when to say the right thing in the right way
aud In the right place, is better still, for
we have all been made to feel at times, we
had least our pearls before swine - but
when there is too much policy mixed up
with tact, it becomes 90 palpably weak, and
then the least discerning can readily fathom
the motive and thai, after all, is SELF ag.
randizment, and self gloriication! If we
wish to do anything good in this world now
ia 10 Wn fra
but once. Only one life is given us here.
Let us be up and doing. Let us try to
make the circumscribed sphere in which
we live, little better for our having lived.
"They are slaves who dare not speak, to
the fallen aud the weak
To illustrate: Suppose we know some
poor sister whose good name and reputation
has been smirched and blaekened by the
vile tongue of rumor-that hydra-headed,
"they say" We, in our own minds are
convinced Of her innocence and purity.
Let us seek this unfortunate one. Make
her feel by a sympathetic Look kindly
pressure of the hand that we believe in
her still, though there are others So careful
tc pluck the "mo,o from neighbors eye,
and regard not the beam that is in their
own" We mast have ohter and better
evidence of her worthlessncss than "they
say before we can believe her 80 de-
praved "To the pure all things are pure"
and when we sec any one SO ready to i'm
pute evil TO others the suggestion very
naturally forces itself on our minds, the
detractor is not immaculate! Would not
kindness and sympathy do more for tho un.
fortunate, even though she had sinncd,
than drawing aside of our skirts, tilt Of
the nose, or II lifting of the eyes in pious
horror
oh ~, g.
the hard bitter things in life. There seems
such an utter lack Of sympathy for one of
their own sex in distress. In one sense, ex-
clusiveness of this kind does them honor
but am persuaded it springs more from q
lack OF sympathy than any fear Of contami-
nation. n brother may be in trouble-I do
not mean brother by the ties of blood-we
are all brothers and sisters in one sense.
Why wait for one of the same sex to sho
him kindly sympathy and point him the
right way? Men have not the fine keen in
tuition OF a woman, and in most cases were
he TO 60 wi ith the best Of intentions, nine
men out of ten would make sad bungle of
, the matter, and instead of pouring oil on
the troubled waters of the erring ones soul,
would leave him with the conviction that
his feet were too deep in the mire TO ever
hope to reach dry land. la dealing with the
-erring great many men lack that fine tact
which requires such delicate handling that
God seems to have reserved il almost ex-
clusvely TO q few gooi women
Man will stop and argue and his first
thought is apt TO be, "Am | my brothers
keeper ~ "lIavc l not as much as can
do to keep my own feet in the straight and
narrow way" All ! when we stop to
reason this way, we make short work of it,
SO far as our erring brother is concerned
forgetting "tbere is moro Joy in heaven
over one sinner that repentetb, than the
ninety and nine which nee no repentance"
If we could only SEQ into the hearts Of
others, read there the sacred and holy
thoughts and the intense craving we all
have for sympathy we would feel only kind
npss and pity, whore we now only condemn.
All, in this hard, bitter, struggling world,
with its tecming millions Of aching hearts,
Why can we not feel more sympathy, and