Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1906-06-29
FAULT FINDING.


-as many would like to nave it pos
sible-to know what is said of him
behind his back. One day he would
90 about in a glow of self esteem,
and the next he would be bowed an
der miserable sense of misappre-
hension and disgust. 1t would have
been impossible for him to put this
and that together and strike an
average" The fact is, there is a
strange human tendency to take the
present friend into present conf
dence With strong natures this
tendency proves often a stumbling
block; with weak natures it amounts
to fickleness.
Never employ yourself to discover
the faults of others-look to your
own. You had better find out one of
your own faults than ten of your
neighbours. When a thing does not
suit you think of some pleasant quail
| ity in it. There is nothing SO bad as
it might be. Whenever you catch
yourself in faultfnding remark, say
some approving one in the same
breath, and you will soon be cured.
Some of the best of US have too many
intirmities to answer for, says Dean
Swift, we ought not to be too severe
upon those of others; and, therefore,
if our brother is in trouble, we ought
to help him without inquiring over
seriously what produced it. True
worth does not exult in the faults of
others; as true refinement turns away
from grossness and deformity, IN
stead of being tempted to indulge III
an unmanly triumph over it.
~
SECRET SOCIETIES.
What is the moral effect of Free
Masonry, Odd Fellowship, Knights
of Labor and the numerous secl ct
societies upon the home? Solomon,
the wise man, said: Discover not d
secret to another, and he had good
reasons for laying such an injunction,
for in his time. as at the present,
there were people too much disposed
to tell all they knew. One half the
trouble in every community, comes
| from the fact that so many people
have not the capacity to keep their
mouths shut. We have two ears but
only one tongue which is sugges tive
of th.. fact that we should hear more
than We tell By the power of Sc
cret divuIged, families, churches,
neighbors and even nations fly apart.
By the power of secret kept, great
charities, refornatOry movements
and christian enterprises may be adj
vanced. 1t is an often discussed
question whether associations that
do not have their work with closed
doors, and admit their members with
pass words, and greet each other
with a secret grip are lightor wrong.
Our answer is that it depends entire
ly upon the object for which they
meet. III it is to pass the hours in
j revelry and obscene talk, on to plot
trouble to the state, then we say
with an emphasis that it is wrong
But, where the object is the improve
ment OF the mind, the, enlargement
Of. the heart, the defense OF the gov
ernment, then we say with just as
much emphasis that they are u bles-
Using. There is no need that those
who plan for right over wrong should
publish to the world their inten-
/ tons. Secrecy of plot and execution
are wrong only when the object and
ends are nefarious. Every family is
i a secret society, every business firm
and every banking institution. The
men who have no capacity to keep 6
secret are unfit for positions of trust
anywhere Secret societies have
done incalcuIable good. One society
gave for the relief of their sick in
1873, in this country $I,49D, 274
Some of the secret societies have
poured a very heaven Of sunshine
and benediction into the home oil
suffering. Some of them are foun
ded i'll fidelity to good citizenship
and the Bible. Christ has given us
a rule by which we may Judge. not
only all individuals. but all secret So
cieties. by their fruits We shall
know them. Bad societies make
bad men. Good societies make good
men, A bad man will not stay in
a god society and good man viii
not stay ina bad society. Test these
societies by two or three rules. Their
influence on home. That wife soon
loses her influence over her husband
who looks upon all evening absence
as an assault on domesticlty. That
| wife who becomes jealous of her hus-
band S attention to art, or literature,
or religion, or charity is breaking
| her own scepter of conjugal power
| But let no man sacrifice home life tC
secret society life, as some do. Some
men are as genial as angels at the
society room and as ugly as sin al
home.