The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1894-10-10
Wednesday, October 10, 1894
Getting Mad at the Wrong Time.

w CuAVoOUy SSoSOSA ASS ASS
Getting Mad at the Wrong Time.
In the old-fashioned Latin Reader
there was this brief sentence from Ho-
race, given in the early exercises for
translation, "Ira furor brevis est, -
,"Anger is q temporary madness" ;" 1t
is in popular recognition of this truth
that man who is very angry is called
"mad." The idea seems to be that the
temporary madness Is result of an
ger. and not that anger is caused by
. insanity. The Bible, both in the Old
Testament and in the New, seems to
suggest that anger is not in itself sim
fui. but that it Is liable to lead to sin.
David's injunction Tin Psalm a: 3, Sep
tuagint and Rev. marg.),"Be ye an
gry and sin not" is emphasized by
Paul (Eph. |: 26) in the same words /;
as though Psalmist and Apostle would
say, Although you may be righteously
angry, have care lest you act unright-
eously in your anger. And, in &C
cordance with this idea, it may be
said, in popular phrase, eff you must
KCU auRIy3 VI oioW 1louhScSy PASn y WA
time for it )" or, "It may be right for
you to get mad, you mustn't get MAD
at the wrong time"
If strong and right-minded man
sees gross act of injustice, or hor-
rible crime, being committed, his
whole nature may be fired with holy
indignation against the wrong, and he
may seek to put an end to that evil-do-
ing, In such q case he is righteously
angry, without sin. But if his anger
goes out in personal vindictiveness to-
ward the wrong-doer instead of against
the wrong as the wrong, he is angry
unrighteously; and if he delays his
anger until the wrong is righted, and
then gives way to violence, he Is mad
from his anger at wrong time; and
there is no excuse for it. Yet men, III
Guiding women, are more likely to be
angry, and show resultant madness, at
the wrong time than at the right; and
it were worth our while to understand
this danger as one of the imminent
perils of all of US.
Gleason, the e-trainer, gained
and has taught many a lesson In his
experience with horses that have a
practical bearing on wise dealing with
men. Speaking of the mistaken ways
of the drivers of skittish or vicious
horses, he says that when horse Ia
afraid of a locomotive on track he is
to cross, or Of q Tapping banner above
his head on city street, it is the COM
mon custom with drivers, to urge the
horse forward by words of enticement,
more or less wisely spoken, until the
barrier is passed, and then to whip the
horse violently because he was fright
ened on the other eide of that barrier.
This is an illustration Of getting mad
at the wrong time. AS Gleason says
ON this point, the horse is in this way
taught to believe that, If he passes a
barrier at which he hesitates, he Is
sure of q whipping after he is beyond
it. Going ahead when he is frightened
Is therefore connected, In his mind,
with incurring a whipping; and there
is an added inducement with him to
hold back persistently, the next time,
in the face of such a barrier. =
The same idea was forced into the
little child's mind when she said she
"didn't want to be good !" and 1t was
found, on inquiry, that her school
teacher bad told her, every time she
gave her q whipping, that 1t was Ito
make her good" IF q child or horse
gets the idea that the whipping comes
as q necessary accompaniment of do
ing good or Of getting good, the desire
for good will be minified in the mind
of child or horse. And getting mad at
horse or child at the wrong time is
very likely to implant this idea. .
In telling the story of steamboat
excursion on the Connecticut River,
for the benefit of the poor boys and
girls of the city, The Hartfort Courant
gave q striking illustration of this get
ting mad at the wrong time. The
steamer had returned to its dock at the
close of the day, and the hundreds of
happy children were coming ashore,
to be met by their companions or men,
bers of their families, who had gath
cred to give them welcome. When
nearly all had left the steamer, moth
ier, who had been watching .anxiously
for her little boy, began to weep and to
wall violently, over her dear Jimmy"
who had been "drownded," >" and there.
fore had not come back again. Police
men and bystanders tried vainly to
comfort and reassure the disconsolate
mother; but she was not to be COM
forted. Jimmy" was the "best boy
of the whole lot," and he alone was
the lost one. Thecaptain of the steam
er came to her rescue, assuring her that
no boy had been lost overheard -; and
he proposed to her to follow him in a
search for her missing son. Still wall
ing piteously, without a ray of hope in
her heart, the sad mother followed
the captain in the search, until, under
asettee on the promenade deck, "Jim-
my" was found fast asleep, after his
long days outing. Seeing the boy
alive and we'll, as be was drawn from
under the settee, his mother instantly
found relief from her doubt and fear
in burst of Indignation over the fact
that she had been made to suffer 80 !;
and, holding Jimmy" with one arm,
as she jerked and shook him, she began
to box.his ears and slap his shoulders
with her available hand, in token of
her indignation. AS The Courant
pithilyTp Tphrased 1t, Jimmy realized
now that his picnic was over, and that
he was in the bosom of his family
once more"
How many a boy suffers similarly
from his fathers or his mothers get
ting mad at the wrong time, in some