Birmingham age-herald., 1895-08-03
TIMID MEMS ERRORS.
THEY SUFFER A GREAT DEAL FROM
 A MISTAKEN NOTION.

ously RegnurcefuI-Timid Men Do Not
 Often Arouse the Noble Absorbing Pas
 sion In Women.
 Wo arc timid at all times, but some men seem born especially timid and grow more so the longer they live. Unless they make a bold stand against their inclinations in this respect, they are not likely to increase their little stock of self esteem, and they arc fortunate if they gain livelihood.
 Tho writer has cause to remember one of his attacks of timidity. He had embarked, not too wisely, in a stock exchange specu lation with an acquaintance. That samo evening he hurried to the latter's house and said ho was so tortured by anxiety that he would like to bo out of the enter prise. The other laughed aud said that he would take all tho risks if ho might have all tho profits. He there and then gilaran- tced the writer against loss, on condition that he would be satisfied with the return of his original investment. Tho result was that tho timid man stood where he was and tl.e other made 90 per cent on tho pur- chase.
 Unless he struggles hard against his in- stincts, the timid man is bound to have to suffer deal of despair, if only in the earn ing of bread and cheese. He is apt to get into groove and think that because he is there he is safe and snug for life. He makes no allowance for the accidents of existence just because it fri9htens him to imagine they may occur to him. And so when, through no fault of his own, he is thrown out of employment, it is as if the world were suddenly turned upside down.
 Contrast him with tho typical American whose determination and resource arc mar vicious to some of the rest of us. This gon- tleman, having failed as a printer, turns hopefully to farm, and if that also works out badly consoles himself with the thought that he is cut out for trade and straightway takes shop
 We once knew a city magnate who ten dered us words of great comfort upon oc- casion My boy, he said, "the best step l ever made in my career was a downward step. I was getting 9120 year, but liked not the faint prospects of that office. l therefore joined Mcssrs. B. on gro year" Thirty years afterward this gen. tlcman was "Messrs. B." himself, with thousands year income. Tho thing for the timid man to de Is to impress upon himself one important truth. He fancies that he is quito extraordinarily timid and humble; that hardly any ono can be found so unfortunately endowed Hut it is noth- ing of the kind. The majority of men are innately timid. Call supremely cautious, if you will. Percciving, however, that you arc undoubtedly timid, other men i'm mcdiatcly assume an air of audacity, which dcceives you if it docs not deceive themselves A certain brave man who lived for years among the Maoris, before they were anything like civilized, says of Ia, f at a1l ever did, but there is something far better, which has carried mo through several seri- ous scrapes with eclat and safety-I mean the appearance of courage. If you have this, you may drive tho world before you"
 This is comforting and more than plaus- ible Experience confirms the truth of it. So do Lord Wolsolcy and other men who have had to do with soldiers in time of battle. So, too, does Emerson, the quiet thinker and unravelcr of the tangled roots of the mind.
 "Always do what you are afraid to do," says Emerson, quoting some one else. And again: Every man is actually weak and apparently strong. To himself he seems weak, to others formidable. You are afraid of Grim, but Grim also is afraid of you"
 Words like these ought to the timid man, not yet enlightened about his neigh bors, to be worth much, perhaps millions, perhaps the premiership in England.
 Tho unenlightened timid man is over whelmed with fear when ho does some- thing that seems likely to land him in difficulties He would rather hide his head in bag than face the trouble. But here, also, if we will only sec it, he may have his profit as well as his momentary loss AS Ernest Renan reminds us, 'He who can commit bunders with impunity is always certain to succeed"
 A roughish road to success, though, and not the one to be immediately recommend ed if an easier offers.
 As may be supposed, upon fair knowl- edge of feminine nature, with women tho timid man is likely to win no great regard. They may love him, of course, especially the stronger among them, who sec in him their ordained complement and mate. But nothing is less likely to induce in them the noble absorbing passion which tho best of women oftentimes feel for the bold and determined man.
 The timid man who tries to be content ed with his inborn timidity looks, when suitably married, like a small cockerel try ing to nestle under the wings of some- what assuming hen. It may be comforta-
 
 ble for him, but it certainly isn't dignified.
 If men are to be deceived by the appear ance of courage in other meu, it ought not to be difficult for a man to deceive wom- an also. Nor is there anything very shame ful about such deceit, for it is only by constant practice of it that we can get near to the real virtue of courage, of which at first our efforts at valor are but tho phan- toms.
 '.It's just the jumping in that I didn't like the first time, " a man who had been the means of saving four persons from drowning in canals at different times said to the writer.
 He was a hero because he declined to be deterred by his physical disinclination for a sudden plunge into cold, dirty water. Otherwise he would have been a coward. -Household Words.
 From an Orthodox Standpoint.
 In the east truth is everything, man is nothing. It must not be popularized or