The Pascagoula democrat-star. (Pascagoula, Miss.) 1878-1920, 1895-07-05
COMMUNE WITH YOUR
SELF.
New York Times.

New York Times.
Enter into thv closet, and when thou has
shut the door.-Matthew, vi, 6.
Very few men put themselves under
a microscope and look at their souls
with the sharp eye Of critical analy-
sis.
Self-cXamination Is a prime duty,
but duty which we either neglect
altogether or perform with reluctance.
The consequence is that a great
many of us have yet to make our own
acquaintance. tt'
To use blundering hit of rhetoric
in order to illustrate this statement
our estimte Of ourselves is so differ
ent from what we really are that we
could pass ourselves on the highway
without nod of recognition.
If we knew yourselves thoroughly
we should work with more economy
of energy and to far better purpose.
If we knew what we are best adapt
ed to do, and had an-inventOry of the
mental and moral material in our
possession to do it with, there would
be fewer sighs and less heart break
| ing.
Calm, quiet, relentless self-eXamna-
tioh, however, is the most irksome
task which we ever set ourselves; and
we gladly avail ourselves of every ex-
cuse 20 avoid it.
The simple truth is we have lurk-
ing suspicion that We are not as large
or as faithful or aS strong or as noble
as we would like to think ourselves,
and we rather fear to look into the
matter lest our suspicious should be
c0rroberated.
We enjoy the fiattery or the impul-
Sive praise of our friends and try to
persuade ourselves that the praise or
the fattery is deserved.
In word, it is a universal fault
that we prefer to see ourselves through
"A magnifying glass, and have no desire
to know the exact truth.
When a contractor undertakes to
build a house is first business is to
find out whether the necessary tim
ber and stone are within reach. He
has the plan Of the house always in
mind, and so knows what he must do
and what he has to do it with. Each
of his laborers has tool chest, and.if
any one should apply for work not
having the proper tools,'Or not know
ing how to use them, he would be
treated with scOrnful contempt. In
practical life, when one wishes to earn
his living, he must know his trade
and have at hand the instruments
which alone can make him an ayaila-
BILE artisan. Nothing could be more
absurd than for man to apply for
work as a carpenter or a mason who
was ignorant of his ability to do what
he is to be paid wages for doing.
The same rule applies when we are
engaged in building character. The
wise man is a student. He knows
what elements 60 to make up a char
acter, and whether he is in possession
of those elements, or, II not, whether
1t is possible to develop them, and
whether character is worth the sac
rilces which must be made In order
to construct 1t. All this self-examln.
alton is equipment, and when he has
reached his conclusions he can work
intelllgently and successfully.
II he is a foolish man-and most OF
us are foolish in this respectable
neither knows much about the mate
rial In his own soul, with which he Is
to shape his life, and as consequence
has no deaniteness Of purpose and
wastes his energies, for II he begins
with ignorance he is apt to end with
disappointment.
See the wrecked lives scattered
along the shores of times What more
pathetic picture can be conceived than
that Of a man who has made the worst
of himself? His early hopes and am
billions, like the timbers Of o stranded
vessel, lie bleaching n the sun. The
waves that break ON beach SOUND
like q dirge, and you can hear 10 the
air the tolling Of the bells. Why has
this misfortune befallen9 ? In most
cases because he had no high aim, and
was governed by impulse rather than
conviction. II he had known himself
more accurately his life would not be
: the tragedy II Is.
What can we do, then, to keep our