The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1920-02-12

much entertainment.
THE LAW Of JUDGING
BY Rev.;S. 7. Simpson
Therefore all things whatsoever We
would that men should do to you, do
We even so to them: for this is the law
and the prophets
A painter was commanded to sketch
the Monarch. In one Of his great bat
ties he had been struck with the
sword upon the forehead, and a very
large scar had been left on the right
temple. The painter, who was mast
er-hand in his art, sketched him lean
ing on his elbow, with his fhkger COW
ering the scar on his forehead; and SO
the likeness of the king was taken,
but without the scar. Let us put the
finger Of charity upon the scar Of our
fallen brother as we look at him, what
ever it may be, the finger of tender
and forbearing charity. and see, in
spite of it and under it the image Of
our "elder Brother" not withstanding.
:. When the absent are spoken of,
some will speak GOLD Of them, some
SILVER, some IRON, some LEAD
and some always speak DIRT; for
they have a natural affection toward
what is evil, and think it shows pene-
tration in them. As cat watching
for mice does not look up though an
elephant goes by, SO they are SO busy
"mousing' for defects that they let
great excellences in others pass them
unnoticed. Il is not only unC Christian
to make beads Of others faults and
tell them over every day, it is infer
nal Beecher says; IF yeu want to
know how the Devil feels, You do
know. II you are such as pne. The
srientals are not far a1niss when they
affirm The rascal, thinking from
his point Of view, concludes that all
the world are rascals too"
q Our right to Judge others is great
" limited when we remember our
own faults The 'beam" or splinter"
in thine own eye" makes our judg-
ment unreliable. Our judgment of 9TH
ers is often unjust, because we do not
know the facts. Any right Judgment
must be based on knowledge Of the
facts. But usually, all that we have
to 60 by in our judgment is some ex-
ternal appearance Of things, or even
but rumor, or hearsay, or re-
ports that are mostly inferences and
gu6sses Of a reporter and often handed
down several times before reaching
us. On such worthless impressions
men pass the most severe judgments
on their fellow-men. Even with best
intentions there are few persons who
can state case exactly as it is. In
view Of all these well known tenden-
cies Of men, perfectly safe rule is
never to credit nor repeat any harm
full report about fellow mortal. The
chances Of being : party to falsehood
and injustice are as ten to one, Or .
to one, and that risk no true
man can afford to take.
y Or even n,--as rarely can happen
we have all the facts, even then we
are not usually competent to Judge.
our fellowmen. We still may be very
far from knowing what all the facts
mean. The most damaging facts may
not mean bad intentions. And il they
mean bad intentions, we cannot say
what the provacations were, nor
temptation resisted. Some men who
finally break out in sin may reserve
more credit because Of their long
struggle against it, than sonfe others
who never were tempted in the same
way at all Then there Are the physi-
cal inheritances Of men, the way they
have been trained in their youth, and
. thousand factors and circumstances
that no one else knows anything
about.
The spirit Of LOVE Brought into
our individual relations will not be-
looking for faalts ins nsothers. Il will, on
the other hand, try to see all the good
In others, and help men who are at
fault, who are wrong and mean, by
gentle forebearance and kindly
speech.
We never know how 70 be properly
charitable 10 another until W. think of
him, as y fellow-siin inner until We con
slider out of our own hard experience
how fierce and strong il the moral
struggle every man must wage ~ sub
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