Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1901-05-03
ESSEX County grrala.
FRIDAY. MAY >, 1901.
1.-The Fault is not in our Stars,
but in Ourselves"

but in Ourselves"
One of the most natural aud perhaps
in some sense uecessitous iuclinations
that mortals have is to charge their mis-
fortunes and troubles TO chance or for
tune. 1t is very seldom that a man runs
into troubles or difficulties of which he
is not the proximate cause himself. 1t
can almost always be traced to some
thing he has done without which the
trouble would not have occurred. We
can go still farther and say that great
portion of all the trouble is intrinsicallv
in the person himself, in the conditions
of his own mind or body, and in the
logical result of his own practices, habits
or principles. But as long as a wise
ruler itself is arraigned to answer for
our miSfortunes it is natural that they
should also be attributed to our rulers,
our ministers, our lawmakers, and all
Others on whom. the responsibility rests
to keep the crowd moral and happy.
But the great trouble in legislation,
morals, ethics and religion is not so
much in the articles themselves as in the
use of them. \ minister may be as patient
as job, as sympathetic as Peter or as
strong as Paul, and do giant work in the
pulpit, but if he has three or four lead
ing members in his church that shrink
from the personal peril of taking hand
III the execution of some unpopular law,
or studies weekdays and Sundays to in
vent schemes to get other peoples money
instead of earning it themselves, or are
secretly immoral during the week and
wonderfully sorry for it on Sunday. what
good will all the efforts of the minister
do? And nobody can and in any event
nobody will get to the church past such
efficient and consistent pickets of wick
edness All this skirmishing and saying
we mustn't criticise certain representa-
tives of moral or religious sentiment
because OF the example won't prevent
men saying if your church influences
were what you claim for them they
would do something to prevent good
Christians lying and crawling into holes
to get rid of their taxes and RESPONSE
bilites as citizens.
The legislature may enact laws even
perfect i'll wisdom and theory, but it is
not the enactment of a law that accom-
pllShes anything except as it manufac-
lures something for use. If laws are
not applied to communities, to men in.
to the regulation of their
conduct and intercourse with each other
1t Is OF no consequence whether they are
good or bad. If man steals 100000
out OF a bank why he is criminal, and
he ought to be branded as such and pun
lshed; but the accessories ought not to
so free. If the guardians of the bank
Tor years have been furnished with posi-.
lions they have converted into sinecures
or into political sop and been permitted
20 use them as such the trouble is in
nose individual practices and not in any
,heory connected with the subject They
lave quietly and with almost criminal
negligence suffered opportunities, which
'ould have easily been discovered, for
he bank thief to go off with his plum
Ter. Ot course the principal in the .
rlme is the latter, but he is hardly ever
accessories, chief of which is
oclety. The money is gradually alb :,
tracted from the bank, it furnishes the
ulplt style, the style is attractive and
oclety bows to it; a liberal contribution )
made to the church and religion pats !,
ne offender patronizingly and encour-
ges him on his way politicians heartily
rect him, and all assume that this
lyle, assumption and aristocratic pose
real substantial responsibility and .
onesty. Now if there was less assump-
ION and less apotheosis practiced to- -
ards 1t, and more real honest inyesti- .
alton, Judgment and application of :,
gal, moral and religious principles to >,
ally life there would be less trouble
nd criminality. ::