Democratic messenger. [volume] (Snow Hill, Md.) 1869-1973, 1905-05-27

bly, If person harbors i'll will toward
another he will focu; his vision simply
and entirely upon the evil which man
does and not upon the good he is capa-
Bile of doing and has done He is like
ranchman or a farmer who peevishly
goes forth and with his ax hews down
a whole orchard merely because the
San Jose scale honcycombs a few trees.
He is like Il lapidary who throws away
a valuable jewel because he has found
one flaw In IL. Because Of some
fault OF character, because of some
weakness of nature, because of some
Ecanness. because of some poor. little,
petty. fault finding disposition or some
deprecatory jealousy in the makeup of
your friend you are ready to turn your
back upon him and let the future part
you as the waves of the sea separate
the new hemisphere from the old.
Only First ORense.
One offense Is often sufficient to
break up u lifetime of friendship.
What Is the matter. Mr.. So-and-so?"
l ask. Has any one done you an in
jury? You look angry enough to make
somebody suffer-" .'Well, should say
So you answer. You know my old
friend, John Newman. We have been
for years the closest of associates. We
grew up together as boys. We have
had many business dealings in COM
mon. Some months ago he came to
me and said: Harry, have fine herd
Of cattle out In western Kansas. /
want you to help me weather the win
ter through l lent him $500. He has
not only lost every cent of 1t, but as
far as I can make out he lied to me
about the cattle. He never owned a
horn or hoof. He squandered my
money I'm Wall street" lis that so?
What are you going to do?" Moth
ing" you answer. What can do ex-
cept contemptuously leave him alone?'
Yes. you can do that il you will. But
failed you before? grant that he was
not truthful. I grant that he did not
do right. Put are you going to let that
one act. that one sin. blot out the five
hundred good deeds he has done you
In the past and the five hundred good
deeds he would do for you in the fu-
ture II you would only forgive him
this once and give him another chance?
Because Il gun misses fire once or
twice or thrice shall the hunter throw
1t aside as useless? Yet that Is the
way some of us deal with those who
have done us wrong. Suppose you
were In the position Of very dear
took young man into his employ and
made him his right hand man In the
business He confided to him his most
treasured secrets and purposes. One
day that young man. under great
temptation. betrayed my friend. He
tried to start rival business and to
entice away all his clerks and steal his
employers agencies. He failed. What
would you do under such conditions?
For the one error, the one mistake.
would you blind your eyes to many
years of faithful service? LET not the
sun go down upon your wrath" You
had right to he angry for a little
while. III one sense. you had a right
to strike back. But do not bear that
grudge any longer. Forget and for
give" is the meaning of the Pauline
Home Rules Waterloo.
But the danger of harboring resent
ment is not limited to the breaking of
friendships; we may suffer 1t to preju-
dice las against good causes. Try as
hard as we will, We must and do asS0-
ciate the success or the failure of the
onward movements of great principles
and causes with the personalities Of
our friends and neighbors. When
Charles Stewart Parnell was dethroned
from the respect and affections of his
colleagues the Irish cause Of home rule
met its Waterloo. Home rule was de-
feated at the time when the palm Of
victory was about to be grasped by the
outreaching hands of its advocates.
When Mark Antony loved his sinful
Egyptian enchantresS more than he
loved Rome. then the mightieSt war
chieftain who ever trod in the foot
ers fee his standards. even as the birds
OF the forests seek the shelter of their
nests before the tempest blasts of the
onsweeping tornado. When Mirabeau
breathed his last and was thought to
be untrue by his henchmen. then the
royalists' cause was defeated in
France. and the guillotine had to be
drenched with the blood of a Marie
Antoinette and q Louis XVI. Say
what you may, every man naturally
represents II cause or a principle apart
from his personality. When you bear
grudges against men you bear grudges
against causes. When you divorce your
affections from individuals you lose
your fidelity to the causes and move
ments which those men. in more than
one sense. may typify.
Let me illustrate. Why are you pref
udiced against the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ: You are not bad. You
believe In Jesus as your Saviour. You
were reared in Il Christian home Some
of the best and nappicst rc:ollections
fs, 80 Inv