San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1895-11-03
A WISE HYPOCRISY.

1t is accepted That mo man is
hero to his valet" but it is not yet
decided whether this is the fault
of the valet or the virtue of the
master. The sentiment itself is one
of those half truths that are catchy
in expression and correct only by
accident. 1t is only another form
of the old saw that Familiarity
breeds contempt" that "clouds
afar seem black or gray, closely
seen they all are gray" They all
assume to teach that the individu-
al, no matter how exalted in char
acter or genius, seems compare
lively commonplace to those who
are familiar with him.
What a merciful provision of ma
ture that this is so, else what q
strain the ordinary mortal would
feel when in the presence Of the ex-
traordinary. In fact it is by no
means certain that the extra Or
binary man has the advantage.
1t is a blessed relief to be able to
go through life without attract
ing attention. The man who
placards himself for notice, like
the advertising sandwich, has no
real conception OF the luxury Of
passing through the. world incog.
1t is only the very young man
and the very green man and the
very conceited man who wants to
have the observation the world
There is growing impression
that every man has a ftter right
to himself than any d fe else has
z1s t hi in impression Strengthens the
man feels that he has right to
shield himself from impertinent
observation. In this\ day Of inter
view and Juggling Of private affairs
into the light Of the big public, a
man must watch himself carefully
or he will be turned INSIDE out for
the benefit of his curious fellows.
II any good end was t& be answered
by this inverting Of himself
there might be some )sense in sub
mitting to it, but the end Is evil,
only evil and that con tinually.
Under these conditions, when he
meets Paul Pry on Every corner,
a wise man has no alternative but
to take to himself q wise hypo-
crisy as garment and be to the
curious the thing that he is not
The world has had it's fling at its
Jekylls and Hydes, but blessed is
the man who can play double
part in this world, not harmfully
but innocently and for the laud-
able purpose of keeping his truer
self from being trodden under foot
OF swine.
Curiosity, not legitimate enquiry,
but impertinent, meddlesome, pry-
ing curiosity, is the vice OF this
present, and yet 1t is christened in.
telligent investigation. The man
who resists the attempt to invade
the sanctity of his life, or his per-
son, or his family resists the evil
and is to be commended for his
courage and virtue. II he has to
play the hypocrite in order to
throw these detectives off the scent,
then let him wisely cultivate this
gift. II he has to lie in order to
deceive them, then it is q virtue for
him thus to lie and he should do it
scientifically.
The old heather philosophers had
the bulge on the modern moralist
in this matter, and the wisest OF
them taught that while it was
mean and unworthy and ignoble to
lie craftily or for gain, it was wise
and proper to lie for the accom-
plishment of good and to save the
innocent from harm. This is get
ting to be largely the sentiment of
this present. 1t has long been ac-
cepted in the world OF diplomacy
as the thing to deceive the other
diplomat, and when the old Iron
chancellor OF Germany took the
other tack and came out fstfooted
with what he wante 49,
Astonlshment Of thd
woela. And yet Bisui