Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1891-05-20
THE PLAUSIBLE PERSON.
The plausible person Is very trying
average humanity.

20 average humanity.
He is never in the wrong; that's the
worst of him-he is never taken at a
disadvantage, or ''found OUT" wher-
ever he is, and whatever he Is doing,
he can always account for himself; and
the most suspicious circumstances
somehow invariably rebound to his
credit as soon as he begins to explain
them to us. He does things that would
cover another man with shame and ig-
nom1ny; and he not only does them
with impunity, but with positive ad-
vantage to his reputation; mud thrown
at him may stick, but it entirely fails
to soil his spotless garment; on the con-
trary, ii is at once transformed, as 1T
were, and becomes a veritable adorn-
ment-an added grace, instead of a
ca1se of humiliation. Who can wonder
tn 1t merely average humanity should
resent this and long-oh, SO earnestly
to put the plausible person in the
wrong, Just for once in his life? If
this could be done, he would surely be
less aggressively right for the rest of
his days, and a far pleasanter and more
agreeable companion in consequence.
The plausible person may be selfish
we do not say that he is necessarily
selfish, but he may be so-but in him
selfishness will appear rather as vir-
tue than vice; rather a character
assumed for the benefit of his fellow
men than the mans natural disposition.
Thus, when he pushes before weaker
brother, and grasps some advantage for
which the other was feebly striving, he
somehow succeeds IN convincing us-so
far as logic can convince-that it is for
that others good, and to spare him an
access of prosperity that might be his
ruin.
Sometimes we find our hero-or our
heroine, for plausibility is byno means
confined to the sterner sex-is of an
indolent turn of mind. He keeps very
quiet, while others perform his duties
for him; sitting down with a pleased
smile, while those about him run to
and fro attending to a thousand and
one matters which he has neglected,
though they were clearly in his
province. But If you hope to rouse
him to an acknowledgement of his
shortcomings by pointing thus out to
him, you will find yourself bitterly
mistaken; he will tell You that he only
does it to please them, and at a great
sacrifice of inclination on his part; that
no one knows what it costs HIM to leave
to others those SIMPLE duties which he
would far rather discharge himself, but
that he has never been in the habit of
making his own inclination his guide,
or of considering it in his rule of life.
Moreover, if he himself did everything
always, no one else would ever be
capable of doing anything; and, in
short, that "whetever is, so far as he
is concerned, els right" Under which
circumstances, you will soon find your
self compelled to retire from the un-
equal contest with such dignity as you
may; for who can argue to any profit
with such plausible elf-sufficiency as
this?
When the plausible person is of the
gentler sex how infinitely annoying she
can be. In youth or in age, in poverty
or in wealth, the plausible woman is
alike aggravating-witha a difference, of
course, but a difference not of kind
but of degree. Take plausible wash
erwoman, for instance; is there any
thing on earth so irritating or so I'M
assailable? Securely entrenched be-
hind her sOapsuds-themselve no
winter than her own spotless conscience
she defies criticism, and has a ready
explanation for every mysterious dis
appearance from "the wash" Do you
charge her with the limpness of your
collars, the dampness of your linen, she
has her answer ready, and, whatever it
may be, it is sure to be an unlnswer-
able one, for Is she not a plausible
person, and therefore justly entitled to
the last word? You may know her ex-
planation is really no explanation at all /;
that her plausible statement is q care
fully "got-up" lie-or such "mangled"
version of the truth as to be changed
past all recognition-but you cannot
prove this; you cannot prove that your
tablecloth hadn't hole in it when you
committed it to her tender mercies, or
that your stockings have been washed
a dozen times before without chang ng
color.
You cannot prove, either, that she
uses unprincipled chemical prepare
tions to the tightening of her labors at
the wash-tub and the destruction of
your wardrobe; but though the plausi-
BILE washerwoman disproves it conclu-
sively, you do not believe her; though
ShS hio lllc liSb NOiu, yOuIS Is HOb tue
silence OF conviction, but OF exhaus-
ton.
The plausible person revels in do
mestic service; as general" she burns
our meat, serves up our potatoes as
hard as cannon-balls, and drops onions
into our jam; she moves about the dust,
but does not remove 1t. But for all
these things she has her reasons, and
she can justify each and all of them
plausibly enough-to our manifold dis
Trade, too, offers a vast
field for the exercise of the plausible
peculiar gifts, nor are they
without their uses-and abuses-in the
learned professions and the world of
literature and art. In science, again,
the plausible person enjoys great op-
portunities for Distinguishing himself,
while philanthrophy, it seems, if treat
ed Judiciously, may be turned to good
account; in fact, anywhere and every
where the plausible person may find
sphere, not exactly of usefulness 1--WE
can hardly venture to suggest that,
but of general activity and aggressive
ness; nor does there appear to be any
lack of candidates willing and able to
supply the necessary qualifications for
it.
He Was Stranger.