Southern standard. (McMinnville, Tenn.) 1879-current, 1889-12-07
Sunday RtaatHs,
EDITED BY REV. F. L. LEEPER.
John Ploughman's Talk About Faults

He who boasts of being perfect is
perfect in folly. ! have been a good
deal up and down in the world, and
| never did see perfect horse or a
perfect man, and l never shall till
two Sundays come together. You
cannot get white -four out of a coal
SACK. nor perfection out of human
nature; he who looks for it had bet
ter look for sugar in the sea. The
old saying is, "Lifeless, faultless."
Of dead men we should say moths
ing but good; but as for the living,
they are all tarred more or less with
the black brush, and half an eye can
see 1t. Every head has a soft place
in 1t, and every heart has its black
drop. Every rose has its prickles,
and every day its night. Even the
sun shows spots, and the skies are
darkened with clouds. Nobody is so
wise but he has folly enough to stock
stall at Vanity Fair. Where l
could not see the fools cap, I have
nevertheless heard the bells jingle.
AS there is no sunshine without
shadows,so is all humanity mixed up
with more or less evil; even poor
law-guardians have their little fail
ings, and parish beadles are not Who'll
ly of heavenly nature. The best
wine has its lees. All mems faults
are not written on their foreheads,
and it's quite as well that they are
not, or hats would need very wide
brims; yet as sure as eggs are eggs,
faults of some kind nestle in every
mans bosom. There's no telling
when mans sins may show them
selves, for hares pop out of the ditch
just when you are not looking for
them. A horse that is weak in the
legs may not stumble for a mile or
two, but it is in him, and the rider
had better hold him up well. The
tabby cat is not tapping milk just
now, but let the dairy door open and
we will see if she is not as bad a thief
as the kitten. There's fire in the
flint as cool as it looks; wait till the
steel gets knock at it, and you will
see. Everybody can read the riddle,
but it is not everybody that will re-
member to keep his gunpower out of
the way of the candle.
If we would always recollect that
we live among men who are imper-
feet, we should not be in such a fever
when we find out our friends fail
ings; what's rotten will rend, and
cracked pots will leak. Blessed is
he who expects nothing of poor flesh
and blood, for he shall never be dis
appointed. The best of men are men
at the best and the best wax will
melt.
1t is good horse that never stumbles,
And good wife that never grumbles.
But surely such horses and wives
are only found in the FOOLS paradise,
where dumplings grow on trees. In
this wicked world the straightest
timber has knots in it, and the clean
est field of wheat has its share OF
weeds. The most careful driver one
day upsets the cart, the cleverest
cook spills a little broth, and as |
know to my sorrow a very decent
ploughman will now and then break
the plough, and often make a crook
ed furrOw. 1t is foolish to turn off a
tried friend because of a failing OF
two, for you may get rid of a one
eyed nag and buy blind one. Being
all of us full of faults, we ought tC
keep two bears, and learn to bear and
fOrbear with one another. Since We
all live in glass houses, we should
none of us throw stones. Every
body laughs when the saucepan says
to the kettle, "How black you arer
Other mems imperfections show oul
imperfections, for one sheep is much
like another; and if there's an apple
in my neighbours eye, there is NJ
doubt one in mine. We ought to ust
our neighbors as looking-glasses tC
see our own faults in, Iand mend il
ourselves what we see in them.
l have no patience with those whC
poke their noses into every mans
house to smell out his faults, and pu
on magnifying glasses to discover
their neighbors' flaws; such folks
had better look at home; they nigh
see the devil where they little eX
pected. What we wish to see We
shall see or think we see. Faults ar,
always thick where love is thin. A
white COW is all black if your eyt
chooses tO mako If SO IF we sniff