The prison mirror. [volume] (Stillwater, Minn.) 1887-1894, 1889-11-21
Friends and Enemies.

CHoy 20. we nave all known men whom
we could never take liking to although we
could give no definite reason for dislikng-
them; men who make a bad impression,
among all with whom they come in con-
we instinctively dislike, but rather of those,
whose general appearance and first acquaint-
ance impress us favOrably. We meet man,
who is good entertainer, seemingly gen.
tleman in every respect. and whose con-
verse and manners are all that we can wish
for. He is to all appearance what we
would like in companion; but for some
reason his conversation and company begin
to pail on u.s. not in the sense that he is i'm,
sipid, on the contrary he is too interesting at
times, leans considerably to egotism. and
causes us to feel by some unaccountable
means, that he is untrustwOrthy and treach-
erOus. We are very often ashamed of this
for the reason that we cannot explain it,
But it is within us. if we cannot reason it.
out we still are governed by it. and we can.
no longer look upon our acquaintance as a.
friend. The question now is what causes
this feeling? Sometimes an action of such
taken; and just as often we can see no
wrong action in the life of such man al
though we may know him for years. In
either case our estimate of him will always
remain the same; we may treat him in a
formal. friendly manner, but we can never
be confidential with him; we will never
seek such a one when we need solacing
words; we can never depend ON him to aid
us in any difficulty.
1t would seem, therefore, that we all
have the occult power of discerning between
the good and the bad in our telOwmen, pro-
vided we have sufficient time to mature our
thoughts. In this respect it may be men-
toned that the business of the confidence
man would not be very remunerative were
it not that his schemes are always so.
planned as to demand instant action on the
part Of his intended victim. For eXample::
the granger who is approached on a train.
by college chum of his sons" and asked
to accommodate Mr. Chum by advancing
some ready cash on a draft or bond would
not do so if he had reasonable length of
time to consider the matter-hiS unSOphs-
ticated greenness and gullibilty to the con-
trary. The necessity of immediate action,
in such cases is the key to the confidence
mans success.
Those men whose cOuntenance so wildly
depicts their character as to give us repul
sive feeling towards them on first sight. are
comparatively harmless; that is, we are on
our guard against them. hence will leave
no opportunity whereby they may openly
deceive US. 1t is the inSinuating, oily
tOngued class we must battle against; those
whom we have mentioned as making good
impression upon first acquaintance are the
ones we must contend with. Very often
our generosity and good nature will cause
col f~'
nance towards this class. We will usually
find that the innate power which decides
us in such cases is generally reliable 1t is
a power which does not deal with material
circumstances. but seems to sink into the
minds of others and be affected for good or
bad by the soul secrets drawn therefrOm.
1t is not in keeping with true manliness to-
search out the faults of others, while pass
ing over their good qualities: but when our
inner self finds something radically wrong
in another. we must heed the warning thus
given us. Individually. the writer can re-
collect several men he has come in contact
with and. though he was really anxious to
have them as friends and could see nothing
bad in them. felt an adherence for them
that could not and cannot yet be overcome.
He may be wrong. but the power that
warns him against such men has proved
trustworthy thus far. and if its warnings
had been more closely followed in the past,
his condition would have been different to-
day.
TO discern between our friends and en-
emies, between those who mean well and
those of opposite intentions. is a necessity,
both for our protection and with the pos.
sible view of changing those of evil intent
into honorable men. But we must always be
as charitable as possible in our judgment
and weigh carefully the pros and cons be-
fore deciding against fellowman. Even
though the infallible judge that is within
us all decides against a man, we should
still be willing to risk slight loss if by so