Rogue River courier. (Grants Pass, Or.) 1886-1927, 1902-11-27
SINCERITY.
The Corner stone of Character-Ap-
piled TO Some OF the Different
Phases of Life.

Sincerity, IL not the crowning orna'
ment, is at least the corner stone Of
character. Give man every other yir-
tue, and woman every other charm. if
sincerity be wanting they are poor in
deed; we cannot trust them: we do not
want them for our friends. The in
sincere man is not whole. lie is
broken into fragments. and these frag-
ments are not consistent with each
other. We do not know which Of these
inconsistent pieces Of himself we shall
find in any given case. A friend Of
what we do not ordinarily say of one
another in polite society, remarked:
"Prof. A has the unfortunate habit
of presenting different aspects Of a mat
ter 20 different persons" The insin-
cere man presents different aspects Of
himself to different persons and to the
same person at different times. Sin
cerity, on the contrary, is wholeness,
unity, consistency, conference. The
secret of it is we'll set forth by Goethe:
hnCItNtI llou ART bt all NHtIt.
Industrial sincerity consists in put
ting ones whole self into whatever one
undertakes. What is worth doing at
all is worth doing well.
Social sincerity requires us to say
nothing to one person, or of one per-
son, which, so far as the tone and tenn
per and spirit of IT is concerned, we
would not be willing that all persons
should hear. 1t permits us to say moth
ing behind ones back we would not
dare to say to his face While it would
not exclude all criticism of other people,
itwould lift it to kindly, courteous and
courageous level.
Moral sincerity goes deeper still, and
cherishes no thoughts, imaginntions, or
desires which we could not talk over
with our father. coniidc to our mother.
or publicly avow before the face and
eyes of all men. 1t tolcratCs no darl
secret corners of consciousness into
which one sneaks away to hold dis
graceful rcycis with himself, unfit to
see the light 1t permits no single ap-
petite or passion of our nature to sci
up on its own account; recognizing
with Plato that all vice and Injustice is
this rising up of part of the soul
against the whole soul" II insists that
the self rs whole shall be represented
in and realized through the particular
appetite or passion; or else that in the
ittf Of . I. 4.
the partial aud Temporary appetite or
passion shall be rcpressed, The i.oral
man, from this point of view. is the man
whose whole self is present in each act;
who is "all there" in each appetite or
passion which he consents to crafty
at all.
Deepest Of all, religious sincerity de-
mands that we bring to God every
thing or nothing We may not come 10
church with our fine sentiments for Our
Saviour and oar high hopcs Df Heaven
alone. There is tl!i hard. .diMgrpcable
duty we have been shrinking and post
pouing. Sincerity says: Bring that
along, or else stay away yourself That
is part OF you; and until you bring
that part this place is no place for the
rest OF you. You must have both or
neither: Christ and the duty; Heaven
and the task well done, or else the devil
and your lazincss; your shrinkiAr. and
the hell it deserves" As Jesus pat it:
III thou rrmcmbcrcst that thy brother
hath aughtagainst thee, leave there thy