The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1893-02-04
Butts. LIS. end Barriars.


At dinner given in town not long since.
the talk about the table dritted into a dis
cussion OF certain books on metaphysics
which within q few years had made deep
impression on many minds. Some one was
| speaking of the quality Of the authors
work, of its peculiar value as preparation
for an understanding of subtler subjects
which subsequent writers along his lines
had expounded. The beautiful woman who
! sat near the host looked up and said: ''You
DO not mean you find anything of value
IN that man2 His tone is 80 irritating to
me, l can't understand Ruybod VS.
liking him." This ended the discussion of the
man; for the talk, as 1t always must among
people careful not to destroy by dispute the
charm of dinner when it runs upon a snag
Of disagreement, swept easily about into
another and a different channel The next
day, however. the beautiful woman called
upon the interrupted speaker. "Ihave lain
awake half the night" she said. thinking
OF what l did. 1t was so stupid in me to
speak In that way. ! contributed nothing
to the discussion, and I shut away from
myself an opportunity 20 widen.my knowl-
edge In new directiotl." t~'-t7F
u his shutting away OF opportunities from
| ourselves is sin of which the majority of
us are guilty, though few Of us, like the
lady at dinner, are so wide awake spiritu-
ally as to perceive our fault We are, IN
deed, for the most part, much buster in
throwing up barriers about ourselves, in
closing avenues through which wider
knowledge and perception are approaching,
than we are in Kidding ourselves of those
oiogs to progress which Inheritance has be-
queathed and environment helped to bind
about our feet.
Untimely criticism Is barrier shutting
out affection from us, and spontaneity
Don't wriggle your feet so, my son. says
the critical father to boy vibrant with en-
thusiasm. The correction could have
waited and the boy, with damDsued ardor,
turns away, telling his next story sewhere
while the father some day wonders why
boys are sealed books TO their elders
where did you buy that dreadful cravat?n
Mary says to John, In the midst of his cheer
full salutation, when he is just about TO tell
her of bit of good fortune. "Such silly
sentimentalitylp says John, with q shrug OF
Indifference, to Mary, at some new thought
springiDg out OF her heart, dewy I'm fresh
ness as a newly plucked rose And John
and Mary each grow to mourn the fact that
the best Of the other sheds its fragrance
else where.
There are hundred other barriers-the
dwelling on material cares, the wanton dis
regard of social amenities. the sensitive
ness to personal peculiarities. "Her voice
worries me; can't listen" says some one
OF another who is speaking pearls of wis
dom. Then there are all the butts and ifs
OF everyday life, with which we rake to-
gether all our past experience and
present condition, making Of them bull
warks no remedy can pierce-"If
| were only sure" "If you only
knew" "But you can never understand
But you do not know how peculiar my
condition is, IF l were only situated as
you are, perhaps" We hear these almost
every time we proffer helm or hold ont a
promise to the weak, the suffering, aud the
troubled, and unless we are strong in pur-
pose, poised above encouragement, we are
apt to fec away diSmayed. For no one
wants TO fight an individual with one hand
In order to bestow a gift with the other.