The herald., 1895-08-13
|TRE 1IMID MAN'S ERRORS
Cause Him a Great Deal Of
Suffering
BUT THE TYPICAL AMERICAN.
Is Marvelously ResourcefuI and Pulls
Through
But Timld Men Do Not as Rule Arouse the
Noble Absorbing Passion In Women.
Il 10 Said

We are timid at all times, but some men
seem born especially timid and grow more
SO the longer they live. Unless they make
bold stand against their inclinations IN
this respect, they are not likely to increase
their little stock of self esteem, and they
are fortunate II they gain livelihood.
The writer has cause to remember one oi
his attacks Of timidity He had embarked,
not too wisely, in stock exchange specu.
lation with an acquaintance. That same
evening he hurried to the latter's house
and said he was so tortured by anxiety
that he would like to be out of the enter.
prise Tho other laughed and said that he
would take all the risks If he might have
all the profits. He there and then guaran-
teed the writer against loss, on condition
that he would be satisfied with the return
Of his original Investment. The result was
that the timid man stood where he was,
and the other made so per cent ON the pur.
chase.
Unless he struggles hard against his in.
stincts, tho 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 IA
there he is safe and snug for life. He
makes no allowance for tho accidents OF
existence just because it frightens him to
imagine they may occur to him. And so
when, through no fault Of his own, he Is
thrown out of employment, 1t is as If the
world We're suddenly turned upside down.
Contrast him with the typical American
whose determination and resource are mar.
velous to some of the rest Of us. This gen.
tleman, having failed as printer, turns
hopefully to farm, and IL that also woes
out badly consoles himself with the
thought that hc 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
ever made In my career was a downward
step. l was getting R120 q year, but
liked not the faint prospects Of that Office.
therefore Joined Messrs. B. on &70 a
year." Thirty years afterward this gen.
tleman was "Messrs. B." himself,
with thousands year income. The thing
for the timid man to do is to impress upon
himself one important truth. He fancies
that he is quite extraordinarily timid and
humble; that hardly any one can be found
so unfortunately endowed But it is MOTH
ing of the kind. The majority of men are
innately timid. Call it supremely cautious,
you are undoubtedly timid, other men i'm
mediately assume an air of audacity,
which deceives you If it does not deceive
themselves. A certain brave man who
lived for years among the Maoris, before
they were anything like civilized, says Of
courage: II don't believe in 1t at all nor
ever did, but there is something far better,
which has carried me through several scri-
Gus scrnpes with eclat and safety-I mean
the appearance Of courage. II you havs
this, you may drive the world before you"
This Is comforting and more than plaus-
ible Experience confirms the truth of 1t.
So do Lord Wolseley and other men who
have had to do with soldiers in time OF
battle. So, too, does Emerson, the quiet
thinker and unraveler of the tangled roots
of tho 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 timrd
man, not yet enlightened about bis neigh
bors, to bo worth much, perhaps millions,
perhaps the premiership in England.
The unenlightened timid man Is over.
whelmed with fear when he 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 see it, he may have his
profit as we'll as his momentary loss. As
Ernest Renan reminds us, "He who can
commit blunders with impunity Is always
certain to succeed
rO,,ohieb roo1 tn cucCouc though and
not the one to be Immediately recommend
ed If an easier offers.
AS may bo supposed, upon a fair knowl-
edge Of feminine nature, with women the
timid man is likely to win no great regard.
They may love him, of course, especially
the stronger among them, who see in him
their ordained complement and mate. But
nothing Is less likely to induce in them
the noble absorbing passion which the 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 small cockerel try
ing to nestle under the wings of q sOme'
what assuming hen. 1t may be comforta-
BILE for him, but it certainly isn't dignified.
If men are to be deceived by the appear
ance of courage in other men, 1t ought not
to be difficult for a man to deceive wom-
an also Nor is there anything very shame
full about such deceit, for 1t 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 the phan.
toms.
"It's just the jumping in that 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 hero because he declined to bs
deferred by his physical disinclination foE
a sudden plunge into cold, dirty water.
Otherwise he would have been coward.
Household Words.
From an Orthodox Standpoint.
In thu oast truth Is 1YnrYthinQ, man A