Evening star., 1932-04-18
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRAcEWELL.

Napoleonics, some one has called
Their plan of action in life is to keep
other people continually on the defen-
sive.
Thev utilize, often unconsciously, the
great Napoleon's maxim about the de-
STABILITY OF keeping the offensive.
The best defense, he said, is a good
offensive.
Getting the jump on the other fel-
low" it is called commonly.
In the broad processes OF everyday
living this little game Is mostly played
with words.
The idea is to put the worst possible
else says, so that he will rush to defend
himself against sentiments forced upon
him.
Let us take a real instance and see
how the thing works out.
1t Is very interesting.
books.
Il am reading So-and-So," says one,
with a rolling of the eyes. Il can
scarcely wait to go on with 1t, 1t Is so
beautifully done"
DO you know why you like 1t so
well2" asks the other.
Silence greets this remark.
II the lady had known, Of course, she
would have said so. But, not knowing,
she very wisely kept silent.
The gentleman who wrote that
book" went on the other, has used
scores of sentences from the journals of
the great man about whom he wrote.
"In finding his book great. therefore,
you are praising the subject of this
biography, who really wrote half Of the
book himself many years ago. The
writer of the volume has simply made a
very clever and ingenious mosaic"
And what do you think the lady re-
piled?
You would be a babe in the wood in
respect to these tactics, dear reader, II
you thought for a second that she ex-
pressed any surprise or gave any one
time to see that the whole thing was
news to her.
Being an expert Nspoleonic, she i'm
mediately carried the attack to the
enemy.
And what's wrong with that?" she
bristled.
Not having said that there was any,
thing wrong with it at all the other
Immediately recognized the old game of
carrying the battle of on a false
scent.
An argument had been created, and
he had very neatly been placed in a
position he had neither made nor
chosen-that of declaring that there
was something wrong with the use of
another mans very words, word for
word, without so much as a single foot
note or explanatory paragraph.
Let us see what the lady in the case
had done.
BY creating an argument where there
was no argument she had kept any by
stander-except of unusual shrewd-
ness-from realizing that she had never
read the 10 or II bulky journals of the
great man.
She thus made it unnecessary for her
to offer her thanks to the other for his
information. She carefully refrained
from giving him credit for q decent
motive for his remarks-that of the
interest Of a booklover in books and of
a decent man in the truth-and set him
up on the instant as making a charge
which he had not intended to make.
But where there is so much smoke
there must be some fire. as the old say
ing puts it. This episode started the
other to thinking.
These Napoleonics always operate on
the same old plan.
They bristle up to defend whatever
they sense is wrong. usually in them
selves, and thus often go on to defend
what is wrong in others. They give
themselves away.
X
No wonder the lady liked the book
about the Great Man
The Great Man practically wrote it!