The Maryville times. (Maryville, Tenn.) 1884-1944, 1891-03-11
HARSH JUDGMENT.

Pick the Beam from Your Own Eye, Then
the Mote from Your Brothers Eye.
That kind of man is comparatively
rare who has learned to be as severe
upon his own errors as upon those Of
others. Indeed, with some people, the
main proof that they have conscience
is furnished by their indignant cutlery
against their neighbours sins. They de-
clare quite confidently that this is a
wicked world, and that it is growing
worse every day, but seem oblivious Of
the fact that they are part and parcel Of
it, and that their harsh judgments are
certainly not helping to hasten the mil
lennium.
When we speak of criticism we nearly
always think of blame as necessarily
involved in it. But the critic is
the Judge, and his Office is by no
means destroyed by verdict which
is complimentary. 1t seems SO
much easier, however, to attack
mans faults than to praise his virtues;
SO much more exhilarating to prove that
he is wrong, than heartily to commend
him for setting out toward the right.
And yet that critic ceases to deserve
the name who estimates individual
character by it's weakest and worse
manifestations. There is in all of us q
curious mixture of good and evil, OF
nobility and meanness At times we
may be put little lower than the angels
at other times but little higher than the
fiends. But he who would ascertain oul
real caliber must not commit the crue
barbarity of vivisection He must take
the whole current of the life, and try
to determine towards what quarter it il
flowing. ia, d.
1t would be unwise to speak lightly O.
what seems to any man an obligation
yet that seemingly righteous impuls,
called "a sense of duty has to answer
sometimes for a good many foolish ant
hurtful things. One of its most of
fensive exhibitions takes the form of ,
kind of anonymous surgery which il
eager to remove the mote out of you
eye without letting you know whom t.
thank for the benefaction. ''Youl
friend" your well-wisher," ''youl
brother in Christ" lone who prays fol
you"-these are some of the disguise!
under which these reformers work
Perhaps they mean well; but cowardly
act is always an evil one, and wher
what is called "a sense of duty" prompt.
in that direction, it is high time to con
slider whether the impulse is not more
devilish than Divine.
1t frequently happens that the un
generous critic hits no one half SO hart
as he does himself. He has not reck
oned on the recoil of the gun with
which he is SO ready to bring dowr
others. For instance, man goes into
a strange city and connects himself
with a certain church. After being IL
it some years, he raises the complaint
that the people are unfriendly, and tina
during the whole long period of his at
tendance no one has ever spoken a wore
to him. Now it is quite possible tha
something may be wrong with tn
church, but there is certainly some
thing wrong about the man who thu
finds fault with it. The reproacl
of the protracted silence works boil
ways. If no one has spoken to him, i
follows that he, too, has spoken to n,
one. Perhaps if the members of tn,
church had reached higher state o
grace, they might have been able a
length to overcome his extraordinar,
reticence; but if he had thrown himsel
with any good will into the church
work, then, whatever were its imper
fections, such state of things woul,
be utterly impossible. An iceberg viii
lower the temperature eveh of the Gal
stream. ~
1t might be thought that a man VIII
was conscious of some faults in himsel
would neither have the desire nor tn
leisure to give much attention to tn
faults of others. But this does no
seem to be the case. While he neve
spoke of wrongdoing as thong
it were a trifing thing. tn
most tender, compassionate heart i
the world was the heart Q