Montgomery County sentinel., 1889-12-13
CRITICISM AND CHARACTER.


The commendation of the truly good is a
most worthy object of desire, for they dis
tinctly resemble God and so approximate
the correctness OF his judgments. Finite
ness of intellect and lncompleteness of moral
character forbid an exact equation. Only
an entirely perfect being, possessing com
prehensive and accurate knowledge OF every
determining influence and cause could rem
der n correspOndently positive and just de-
cision. But this will not affect the general
value of an opinion held by and concerning
beings all whose faculties are sub bject in com
mon to the same law of limitation. The ap
proximate result of intending virtue and
fairness aimed at in the heart and mind of
uprightness procures to every approbatory
sentence the highest merit attaching to any
Judgment of mortality. What largely con.
tributes to the endurance, the courage, and
complacency of loyal and true spirits is the
certainty of attaining finally to the majority.
For, openly and joyiully expressed, at the
present, is the sympathy and endorsement
of the good and, though concealed, even
strenuously denied, and the denial support
ed by hostile action, the very worst and
vilest of men secretly justify and admire the
principles which actuate and the faith which
sustains men honest, sincere and pure.
With mind the habitat Of all that opposes
goodness and truth in character divine or
human, there lies concealed this weakness {:
| Against it God, goodness, and its least be-
trayed and besotted self are leagued. The
| angels in heaven and their faint likenesses,
Just persons, rejoice in unison when any one
of these is conquered by the power of con-
crete truth--the ever appealing sentiment
convincingly demonstrated and its verify
enforced in tangible, patent deeds And
| this addition TO moral forces proceeds in
L ~ !, h,,f IN mi m
| larged, and then, again, diminished-but
everywhere, at all times, strength in right
| principles is cumulative. One who sets out
| intelligently, courageously, even defiantly,
to assert and maintain this attitude, is as
certain to secure the voices OF all right
| minded men, as nature is certain to OBEY
the fiat and the laws of its Creator For the
rest, fine author has truly said "Examine
| but the size of peoples sense, and the con-
dition Of their understanding, and you Will
not be fond of popularity, nor afraid OF cen
sure, nor sOlicitous what judgment they may
| form of you, who know not how to judge
rightly of themselves" Nothing can be more
absurd, and nothing more reveals the apti-
tude for self deception, than that peccable
mortal should assume the prerogative OF alb
| solute judgment on the frailtes of men con-
| fessedly their superiors in all that goes to
make up an admirable character. In the
| eyes of such diminutive critics peccadilloes
assume the proportions of mortal sin; and
he whose fastdious taste laboriously strains
! out from his drink an almost microscopic
gnat consumes camel without any sort OF
inconvenience Of degutition. He whose re-
fined sense of fitness requires him to "sweep
the cobwebs out of the sky" without pre-
judice to conscience permits whole fiocks OF
unclean birds TO build nests in his hair.
"You are very black" said the Kettle to the
Pot. "Some men, whom You and | know
to be mean, and to be fatterers ard para
sites, and to be inexorably hard and cruel
in their own private circles, will surely pull
long face tomorrow, and say, 'Oh the
mans SO cynical
A strong reason for despsing gratuitous
expressions of the worlds opinion is the
| imperfect estimate of the facts governing
the case. Success or failure is the basis oi
the worlds c0mmendation or dispraise
But apparent success is not uniformly
graduated to the measure Of ability. This
is not plain to men who apply the auto
matte theory to the administration of the
universe, following the lead of the French
philosophes of the eighteenth century,