The evening Republican., 1902-06-26

41uNO VohuO1Uu VAGLAOA va FSAS 49,
the land of the living yet or not"
I'VE used to have great times IN
the old school days. Do you remem-
ber the fights we used to havea And
by the way have forgiven you for
that little mean trick you played on
me when we were boys.o But"
said the other man las ] remember
it you. were wholly to blame" 1t
Was this way, / said this, and You
replied, thus, and then did SO and
so mot at all said the other You
yourself started the rumpus and
were guilty of the meanness to
which you refer" "You lie" said
the other. And SO the meddling
fools nswed the quarrel, 80 to
speak at the old stand, and they
parted enemies, though they had
been friends, at a distance for 40
years.
The sin of meddling is almost an
universal sin. The meddling fool is
not lonely. He is in plenty of com.
pany if not good company. The
narrower his vision the broader be-
comes his interest in other mems
business. He does not stop to
think that be breaks the ninth coIp.
mandment with his meddling, he wl6o
is not to bear false witness against
his neighbor, is set also for the de-
Tense of his neighbours character,
and this he cannot fulfill whilemed-
ding with his neighbor's business.
He may break the sixth command
ment, for many . quarrel leads to
murder, and many meddling leads
to a quarrel. He breaks the eighth
commandment, by his meddling for
he often robs his neigbor of that
which is his highest poss ,ssion-his
good name.
1t is silly to be a meddler, for
quarrels never result in serious g ood
of any sort. It is ungentlemanly to
meddle for a gentleman has finer
qualities AMI will exhibit them. It
is ignorant to bs a msddler, for if a
man or woman knew better they
would quit it. Only low bred peo-
pie engage in such low devices. It
is sinful to be meddler, for that
which offends my brother is as GER
tainly a sin as that which offends
God.
When you find the meddler-don't
shoot him, just shun him il he be a
confirmed meddler. Take the ad-
vice of the old fox to the cub, and
learn that the best trick is ito keep
out of his way" Perhaps the best
way to decrease the number of med
ding fools in this world is to quit
meddling yourself. Let's be honest
now, don't we all meddle little!
Look for the medller-in the mir
ror and tell him to his face to mend
his ways Give him such a plain
talking to, as will help to save both
him and you. Never sympathize
with him, Discourage meddling as
you would discourage smallpox and
keep out of the range of both.
The trouble with a meddling fool
Is. that he always involves some
other person, and that is double
sin. A business man Of Wilmington,
asked me this question the other day.
IL 1t a greater sin to cheat your
neighbor than 1t Is to cheat yourself9
! answered at once: "lt isa greater
sin to cheat your neighbor, because
ia that case you cheat two men, YOUR
self and him.
You cheat yourself Of manhood
and integrity and honesty. and you
cheat him OF the material goods of
this world. In cheating yourself one
man is Involved; 10 cheating him, tH o
men are cheated.
II only wa could get the meddler to
see this what advance would be
made toward his redemption. The
only cure for the man who has SO
little TO do in this life that he hourly
turns his thoughts in On himself is
If possible, to got him to change his
vision.
Do you remember the story of
"Beautiful Joe' the poor manned
dog whose master cut his ears off
close to his head and then his tail
close to his body? And do you recall
the minister's wife into whose hon.
Joe afterward came? How she taught
her wealthy member, Mrs. Montague
the lesson Of unseltishness, by telling
her how she developed unseI6shness
in her own boys. They were like
ordinary boys (rnlnister's boys) each
living for himself. Selling the apple
from his brothers. hand, refusing the
loan ofhisknifeg grabbing his brothers
book, and other such playful things
which are the essence OF seltishEess.
She solved the problem by giving
them work to do for others. She
went to town one day and bought one
Of the boys pair Of jack rabbits,
for another canary, for another. a
dog, and said as she brought the m
In "noV boys they are yours, take
care of them. y
And right royalty and gladly did
they set about it. Instead of run
ming the streets after school, they
were working in the back yard on
the rabbit pen OF gathering seeds
for the bird, or teaching the dog
new trick, and they hadn't time to
quarrel with themselves because
their time was occupied IN caring
for their pets. The only cure for
the meddler is to give him some
thing more valuable to do. Lead
him to see the need of others and
teach him that the highest privilege