The gold leaf., 1893-12-07
Character Versus Reputation.

The following is partial synopsis of
the address by Mr.. T. 7. Hicks, delivered
before the Y. M. Z. A. Sunday afternoon,
November 10Th. In justice to the gentle
man we desire to say that this repor does
not do him or the subject he so ably and
entertainingly handled full credit. His
address had to be heard to be fully under
stood and appreciated.
The subject OF this hour, Character vs..
Reputation, is not of MY choosing; and
after some reflection l have concluded that
there is less difference between character
and reputation than is implied in the
statement, character versus reputation.
The difference between the two is about
as great as is the error of the old saying.
The voice of the people is the voice of
God" Character is defined to be " The
sum of qualities which distinguish one
person from another, while reputation is
the character attributed to person.
Character Is; Reputation seems to be. 1t is
a fact not generally known that our last
Legislature adopted as a motto for the
State of North Carolina and ordered it to
be engraved upon the Great Seal OF the
State the Latin phrase, esse guam radera: to
be rather than to seem to be. So it is the
motto and expressed desire of every citl-
zen of the State. that in our every word
and act the real and the true shall be put
forward. The primitive idea conveyed by
| the word character was that it was dis
| tinctive mark by which person or thing
| was known. 1t has come to mean de-
cided qualities" These decided qualities
or characters are either good or bad; but
there are persons in the world and in Hen,
| dersOn who have no decided qualities,
a 'good for nothing sort, who will read
| lily agree with you in whatever sentiment
you express, who have no opinions OF their
owE, who drift about upon every wind OF
| n ofri,, wit, fl,n moi
These are people Of mo character: l
long to have all my decided qualities
good; but though the opinion may be er-
| rOneOus, it seems to me that l would pre-
fer bad qualities tono qualities. 1tamountS
to the same thing. AS no news is good
news" so "no character" is bad character.
God in His written law says of such:
know thy works; that thou art neither cold
nor hot. l would thou vert cold OF hot;
| SO then because thou art lukewarm and
neither cold nor hot, will spew thee out
Of my mouth"
Mark we'll the definitions: Sum of the
qualities The sum is the aggregate or
total of all the parts. Every act in ones
| life is an item or figure in the column that
forms the completed character Our - hu, u,
, jeopardy and the scale turns upon the
! truthfulness of his statement, allows the
| ma jOrity sentiment of ones neIghbOrS to
be given in evidence of his character. and
we have come to teel and think that one
| ought to pass muster at the final roll call
if most of his dOings in life are good; but
Just as the sum total of no column OF fig
| ureS in our earthly arithmetic is correct If
any figure be omitted in the addition, SO in
the heavenly reckoning will it be that " he
who keeps the whole law and OfendS IN
one point is guilty of all.
"How careful then ought we to live,
With what religious fear,
Who such a strict account must give
OF our behavior here"
The shrewd observer is able to read
character not only in what we consider
the important and decisive acts of our
lives, but also in our casual conversations,
in the character of our associations. the
many and various expressions of counte
nance and the eye, the appearance OF the
face, the streets, the stores, the character
of the places freQuented as we'll as the
homes and companions kept. Your pres
ence here to-day to some extent, marks
your characters as Y. NJ. G A. men. A mar
can not remain in town Or neighbOrhood
! two months without his real character be
coming known to the more intelligent cit
r liens and it he is endeayOring to deceive
, the public by seeming rather than being h'
, may be sure his sin will find him out
The wise will soon learn his real charac
ter and later all will know it. PIesiden
Lincoln once said in substance: " Amos
3 anybody can deceive all the people par
{ of the time, and Almost anybody can de
e ceive part of the people all the time, bu
no one can deceive all the people all tn
- | time" A great poet makes one of hi
. human blood decleare. when he had trie'
I in vain to wash it off, "Will all grea
: Neptune's ocean wash this blood clea
: from my hands? No, this my hand woul
( rather the multitudinOus seas incarnadine
# making the green ones red