The mirror., 1894-06-21
JUDGE NOT.


"Judge not that ye be not judged
The originator of that maxim looked
quite into the soul of things. How
easy it is to return an indictment
against fellow mortal. How we'll the
most of us like to wrap around our
selves the ermine of self-righteousness
and sit in Judgment. But bye and bye
some keen analist of human conduct
comes along, perchance, and shows us
that our robes are mOth-eaten, and then
we feel as Bobbie Burns felt when he
said:
%, would some power the giftie gle us.
To see ourselves as itherS see us.
1t would fra many blunder free us,
And foolish notions.
What airs in grace and dress would lea us
And e'en DEVOTION
"Our vision seems much clearer when
surveying our brother or sister,, says
the Santa Cruz (Cal.,) New Charter
''than when turned inward upon our
selves. If either of us are bad, you're
the fellow. Do you remember how
angry old David got when the prophet
told him of the great wrong done some
eve lamb of Israel's flock by certain
man? How dumbfounded David Was
when the prophet pointed his finger at
him and said: Thou art the man.
eff you would like to see an assump-
ton of self-righteousness and mock
cry of justice you ought to attend a
police court in a great city. Now they
are bringing in bunch of fallen girls.
Behold the look Of austere virtue on
the faces Of the court officers. Let the
vestal virgins come in and take notes.
They can get pointers from these court
officers; so can Satan. Railroad the
poor girls through, ye officers of the
law, before they tell what they know
about you.
"Thank God 1 am not like other men,
said the Pharisee. God be merciful to
me a sinner, said the publican. I'll
take my chance with the publican every
time. When you find man OF a wom-
an coldly uncharitable for the short
cOmings of others, you may be sure
that they themselves are guilty of
about all the sins except the one great
sin of being found out. There are lots
OF people going around with their pock
cts full of rocks to fling at other sim
ners, who would have mighty rocky
road to travel if their own sins were all
unveiled.
"The best of us cannot afford to be
merciless or uncharitable. We ourselves
have not passed the supreme test Of
character None of us know just how
the Highest grades sins. Forgive us
our debts as we forgive our debtors,
was pretty good prayer. Men and
women are about what heredity, envi-
ronment, associations, education or the
lack of it, make them. We do not hang
people because they have the scrofula
or consumption. Yet when you get
below the surface of things, and learn
how thieves and murderers and other
criminals are made and developed,
you'll learn that mental and moral dis
eases, like physical diseases, have a
cause, and that the victims of these
weaknesses are to be pitied rather than
blamed. Society is justified in isolat-
ing person diseased with leprosy, but
society would never be justified in any
harsh treatment of the leper beyond
what is necessary for it's own protect
ion. So with criminals; they should be
restrained, not abused. Prisons should
be reformatories, not hells. Court Off
cials should be philosophers and philan-
thropists, not fends and inquisitors
Society should deal with causes as we'll
as results. II certain things produce
vices and crimes, then certain things
should cease to exist. If starvation
wages tempt young girls into prosti-
tuition, then we should enact system
where young girls cannot be so tempted.
If herding people together in big tene-
ment houses destroys the sense of deli
cacy and decency, then giveus system
in which everybody will have COM
Portable home of their own, and SO on
to the end of the chapter"