Year: 1877

We believe it was Benjamin Franklin


who stated that he was once following 3


companion through a dark passage in a
house strange to him, and coming to a


low door his guide called back to him,


"Stoop a little" The admonitioI came


toa late, and a severe blow upon the
forehead was the result The occur


renee was taken as text, years alter


ward, for the purpose of illustrating the
folly of a stiff, unyielding, obstinate
spirit in our dealings with fellow men.


Not day passes but what we see this


truth illustrated in actual occurrence,


sometimes very forcibly. One such


forcible illustration came to our knowl


edge last week Two men, driving two


horse wagons, met in a narrow alley


where it was impossible to pass. Each
claimed that he entered the alley first,
and neither would give an inch. Both


planted themselves firmly on their
"rights" as tree American citizens, and
manfully did they stand up for them. 1t
was four o'clock in the afternoon when
they met, and at nine clock they were
still there, standing up for their
rights" How much longer the contest
lasted we are unable to say. but during
the night sometime the rights" OF one
or the other had to give way. as the alley
was vacant in the morning.


tree once stood upon the line be
tween two farms. IL was worth ten
dollars, perhaps There was a dispute
about the exact location OF the line, and
the owners OF both farms claimed that
tree. One day. in the absence of one OF
the men. the other cut the tree and
hauled il of Next day be was sued for
fNn hn tHssI ~.
surveys were ordered, aud before the
case was fnally decided it had cost these
men FIVE hundred dollars each We
talked with both OF the litigants. fre
quently. about the folly of the contest
but without effect. lt was not the value
OF the tree they cared about. They were
acting on principle, and both declared
to US more than once that they would
have their rights" il it took the last
cent they possessed.


We knew two brothers once living on
adjoining farms, who fell out about
some trifling matter, aud Tor thirty years
they never spoke to each other. Along
the line between the two farms two sep
arate line fences were maintained. aud
for thirty long years both these men
stood up for their rights" even at the
sacrifice of the dearest earthly ties and
the highest type of earthly enjoyment
On the deathb-d of the younger brother
a reconciliation was effected. and in the
explanations which followed they dis
covered that one little misunderstood
ing bad caused all the trouble. A few
words spoken in the proper spirit would
have made everything right. but they
were too proud to speak them. and
thirty years of most unnatural estrsnge-
ment was the result


Instances could be multiplied. They
are occurring every day, and each OF our
readers can call them up from his own
experience. An analysis OF all these dit
fculties between man and man demon
strates the utter folly of this idea of
standing up for ones right where no
principle OF concience or duty is involved
1t is not only wrong, but it is costly. IL
supports a vast army OF lawyers. judges
and officers at an annual expense oil
twice the national debt, all of which
could be saved by a little mutual con-
cession and forbearance, and without
the sacrifice of single principle of right
"Stoop little" as you go through life,
and thus avoid many hard rap.