The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1889-07-18

height Of his fame, the artist wished TO con-
ceal his scars and tone down the express
sion Of his course and harsh features, but
he angrily told the artist, paint me 40 !
am" We can understand how foolish it
would have been to have allowed the art
ist to 60 on with his WITHDRAWING, for
the gray hairs, harsh expression, wrinkles
and rugged features, with the scanned
and SCARED face, told q; more eloquent
story Of the man and his LIES work, than
anything written by the most gifted poet
or historian.
Have you ever observed the spplica-
ton Of the kind Of whitewash Webster
defines, as, TO make white, TO give . fair
external appearance? A great poet has
truly said,
I'm law, what plea so tainted and corrupt,
But, being seasoned with = gracious voice,
ODScurcS the enOW 81 eSV
Almost every newspaper you pick up
will give an account Of some person, who,
by embezzliDg the funds placed in his
trust, has broaght ruin upon hundreds OF
individuals. II would seem that ''even
handed justice" would require such low,
designing villains to be severely punish
ed; but no, some lawyer is obtained who
is skilled in the art Of metaphorical
whitewashing, whose plea, 'being season
cd with 4 gracious voice, does, indeed,
obscure the show Of evil" 20 that what q
short time before appeared to be the
blacklist Of crimes, with few strokes Of
the brush, has been made to assume quite
another and reputable appearance.
or whitewash on political matters ]
must speak briefly, for / know little OF
nothing about politlcs-that il, politics a.
the term is used by politicians; and per-
haps it might be said with propriety that
. lack Of knowledge in that respect il no
great disadvantage. However that may
be, one must admit, after . careful OBJ
servation, that whitewashing 10 IN art not
entirely unknown to politicians Of to-day.
Indeed, I have heard it limited that poll
ticians who wish TO be successful require
an application OF whitewash whenever
election comes round. No doubt for the
same reason that whitowash il applied to
the furnished walls, for time soils men %
we'll as walls, especially where politics
are concerned.
In one OF the late Minneapolis papers
my attention was attracted by an article
entitled, ITO Whitewash the Doctor"
As / was interested in the subject Of
whitewash / naturally read the article.
/ learned that q certain doctor, who for
some time has been experimenting an
insane asylum in the State Of Minnee ota,
had known OF murder and several other
offenses committed in the asylum, and
concealed them from the public, his only
excuse being that they had escaped his
mind. Under these circumstances he
and his assistants we're discharged by
the Governor OF the State. Now it seems
that the doctor is very influential poll
tician, SO party Of his friends are now
doing their best to have him exonerated,
or rather, as the paper very aptly puts it,
ITO Whitewash the Doctor" At the
writing OF this it still remains to be seen
whether his friends will be successful or
not, but il half what the papers contain
is true. one would hope for the honor Of
humanity, that the party meet with utter
failure; but great are the possibilities Of
whitewash.
It's power and effects were known GEN.
turtles ago, as is shown in the Bible, when
Christ said to the smooth and polished
scribes and Pharisees, who were really q
kind OF politicians, Woe unto you,
scribes and Pharisees, bypocrites! for ye
make clean the outside Of the cup and Of
the platter, but within they are full of ex-
tortion and excess" And again: Woe
unto You, scribes and Pharisees, hypo-
critics! for ye are like unto whited sepul-
cheers, which indeed appear beautiful
outward, but are within full Of dead
mems bones and all uncleanness.' =
Though these words were spoken many
centuries ago. yet are there not people to
day Just like those scribes and Phariseee,
who give their whole attention to the
outside of the cup and platter to the Mt
ter neglect Of the inside? / think q very
useful and instructive Lesson may be
learned from these things.
One who wishes to make success Of
the study Of mankind must be able to see
through the coat OF whitewash to the
real man beneath, and be able to detect
the false from the true. But how often
people are estimated merely by their ex-
terror, the elegance of the dress and man.
ner, and those people who are 90 deficient
as to have their confidence won by such
persons often are 'tsadder and wiser
men,"
In conclusion, it occurs to me that the
story Of Portia and her lovers in THE
Merchant OF Venice" clearly illustrates
the idea which have attempted to por-
tray in these pages. You will remember
that her father at his death left three
caskets, one Of gold, one silver, and one
lead. one OF which contained q picture Of
Portia. In his will he stated that those
who should seek her hand, should. under
certain conditions, choose one Of the cas-
kets, and, il he was successful in choosing
the one that contained her portrait, he
should become her husband. We know
the fate Of those whose Judgment in
choosing was controlled merely by the
external appearance OF the caskets. They