The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-04-08
Popularity versns Principle.

ltIou FIAbit w ~ paostSI
gods" For the man or woman whose
supreme aim in life Is personal popu-
larity, this is the first and great cou-
lnandment. These few words consti-
tute an entire system OF mundane
ethics worthy to be inscribed in letters
of gold over every portal to worldly
recognition and success. To set at
naught the law Of the land brings ju-
dicial punishment: to defy the ruling
fashion or opinion In to invoke q PEN
lalty vet more severe-social ostracism.
No task can be more thankless than
that of the individual who arraigns ex-
listing customs or opinions, even
though, by reason of such arrangement
these customs and opinions are grad
uaily reformed. To protest Is to be I'M
popular; to oppose the established or.
der In suicide or worldly fortune. ease
and happiness. When Curtis threw
himself into the yawning gulf to save
his country, that act deprived him
personally Of any country to save or
lose.
Ones secret opinions are ones own,
but policy dictates that. IL unpopular,
they be cherished. Wherever agreat
soul utters it's thought, there Is Golgo-
tha," says Heinrich Heine. 1t Is not
lGolgothas, 1t Is nice, sunshiny, conf
Portable places the natural man seeks
In this world.
The safest place Ii IN the fence.
"Keep out of the melee" says worldly
prudence. The non-committal man Is
al ways ut an advantage. In every dis
pute he IL chosen umpire. That sup
posed bulwark of free institutions, trial
by jury. recognizes this fact. That
"intelligent juror" upon whom such
precious stores Of legal lore and elo-
quence are lavished In our courts Of
Justice, who Is called TO decide such
momentous questions, has had his
present greatness thrust upon him by
simply declaring on oath that he has
formed no opinion whatever on the
matter at issue.
Next to that golden silence 80 vaunt-
ed by Carlyle, nothing so well serves
the purpose of the seeker after popular
ity as o small collection Of innocent
little explosives. Real words are weak
In comparison with "Oh!" "Ah!' 'In-
deedw uttered with the appropriate
information. A judicious use Of these
and similar intersection may extricate
the person who seeks to remain nom
committal from the most perplexing
dilemma. They bridge over the yawn-
Ing chasm Of vacuity, help u to avoid
the Sylla OF ~partisanship on the one
hand and the Charybdis ofindiference
on the other. These insignificant syl.
liable. may convey worlds of meaning
and yet prove harmless to him who
! utters them.
Becoming all things to all men and
saying fiattering things TO everybody,
are twin arts In which the profession
ally popular man must be q ~virtuoso.
One can be urbauity itself to those he
ut heart despises. my dear sir, l am
charmed to see you; you shsll be hang
I'd In half hour" said In mis- blandest
accents o royal governor Of colonial
Virginia to the leader Of . rebellion
| whom he ut last succeeded In captur-
ing.
Treat the worst of men, II he chances
To occupy an exalted position, as II he
was an angel of light, Is u OF the
wisest maxims of worldly prudence.
I"When In Rome do az the Romans do"
Is another. Custom, use and fashion
Iare only different expressions Of the
ruling taste. To deviate from them II
to set ones self up as o target for neg
lect and ridicule. One whose chief
ambition Is to please. must be careful
not to deviate n jot from the con.
ventional standards. Were he Adonis
in beauty, u Solomon In wisdom, or q
Bsyard In chivalry, he could not safely
venture on an outre hat or coat. The
william Is seldom suspected until he has
won some repute for good qualities,
ner IL condemned at the first glance,
and soon learns that he would better
violate q law of the decalogue than q
social canon.
The great German author, Jean Paul.
when a struggling student ut Leipzig
University, was ignominiously thrust
out of q small summer cottage he had
rented In q garden of the city suburb
because unable 10 afford the expense OF
q daily hair-dresser, he bad the courage
| to dispense with the queue universally
| worn by gentlemen Of that day.
"De gustibus non est disputaDtum"
Ia d maxim old and trite. Conven.
tional laws are by no means like those
of the Modes and Persians, and yet for
the time being their sovereignty Ii alb
s0lute. The private citizen whom the
civil law has made neither judge, jury
man nor eaecutioner, exercises the
functions Of all three in a case Of social
lderelictIon. There Is no tyranny like
that Of custom.
One who.e highest earthly aim il to
| please, must bow IN abjrct submission
Ito this tyranny. He can afford no
Isacrifice, small or great. He will no
more seek to lead In q new fashion
than In q g reform.
The connoisseur in the arts of popu-
larity has no end of friends. He care
fully studies human nature, and pays
due tribute to It's weaknesses. TO him
Language Ii given not to express, but to
conceal his thoughts. In visiting even
the most Indifferent family, he inquiries
with an air of a~ffectiOnate ice after
the net of each member, whether II be
q pet child, a pet kitten, or a pet neural
gia. He knows that flattery to be eff
fective need be only judiciously ap-
piled; he has the tart to conceal his
art." He is sure to extol the dullest
child of the household rs the brightest,
to address the young daughter, whose
murders of music are most shocking,
az q conueisseur, and the IN who dab
bles In decorative horrors ~ an artist.
This adept in the art Of pleasing guages
and graduates his praises according to
the idiOsyncrasies Of each person, pay
ing due regard to the fitness of time
and place.