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Article CERTAIN FORMS OF UNCHARITABLE NESS. Page 1 of 2 Article CERTAIN FORMS OF UNCHARITABLE NESS. Page 1 of 2 →
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Certain Forms Of Uncharitable Ness.
CERTAIN FORMS OF UNCHARITABLE NESS .
THE subject of Chanty has been worn tolerably threadbare , and there is no little difficulty in finding anything to say on it which has not already been said , possibly on many , many occasions before . We dare say the remarks which follow have the misfortune to have been addressed times without number to a Masonic public .
Nevertheless , they appear to us to be not wholly unreasonable just now , when we are entering on a New Year , and are pi'esumably anxious to regard everything and everybody in as favourable a light as possible . Just now we are supposed to have rubbed off all old scores . Differences
which may have risen with others are forgotten , and we are starting on our career afresh , with hearty good wishes for every one . This , we believe , is the correct theory which prevails as to our duty at this particular season ; and certainly eating and drinking about half-a-dozen times as much as
is good for them , and clanking glasses with , and addressing little complimentary speeches to , their neighbours at the festive board may be accepted as formal evidence that Englishmen in general , and Masons in particular , fulfil their duty admirably , and that everybody is in love witb
everybody else . But though the theory is pretty universally observed in the letter , we have our doubts about the spirit of many who make the most show of having it . We have our doubts about their sincerity . The pretty things they say sound well , but in too many instances they are
but a passing creation of the brain , and as snch are valueless . "My dear Sir , lam so delighted to see yon , " says our neighbour Tomkins , and off he rushes to his wife , to enable her to receive the unexpected guest with the proper amount of cheerfulness and alacrity . With her , however ,
he speaks his mind candidly . " Why , hang it , there ' s that fellow Jones just dropped in , and making himself at home —a man , of all others , I abominate ; but , of course we must do the civil . " The wife acquiesces , but the civil thing is done , and Jones and Tomkins go on paying each
other all the compliments they can think of , and in about the same spirit . Each knows the other is only playing a part , and the only thing real about the affair is the sense of greater or less admiration they entertain towards each other in proportion as they are more or less successful in
their acting . This being so , of course no very serious amount of harm is done ; that is , no deep-seated injury to the feelings of society is caused by this fashionable hypocrisy , but we question if it improves the morality . Of course , we do not blame Jones and Tomkins for greeting
each other civilly , chatting more or less familiarly , according to the extent and duration of their acquaintance , and making neat little speeches about each other ' s merits . We are expected to do something of this kind , or in a very brief time we shall find we have earned for ourselves a
somewhat unenviable character for rudeness . What we do blame them for , and that seriously , is the attempt they make to give an air of reality to what is merely a matter of form . We are very properly expected to be civil and obliging towards our neighbours , but we are not required
to be so in the superlative degree . We would rather see people sincerely indifferent about each other ' s welfare than fei gn to be so overwhelmingly anxious . We would rather
that men , when they meet together , should , as it were , let each other know that what they say in the way of compliment is merely conventional , instead of attempting to delude one another into a belief of its sincerity . There is
Certain Forms Of Uncharitable Ness.
no hypocrisy in observing the forms of civility , any more than in wearing a chimneypot hat in Regent-street , or a swallowtail coat for evening dress , but there is a vast deal in trying to persuade people you mean what you say . Jones knew quite as well as Tomkins that the latter ' s
compliments were meaningless ; and Tomkins would have stood better before the public had he been somewhat less impressive in his manner , or , as we have expressed it once before , moro sincerely indifferent , and let it be seen that the pretty things he uttered were uttered as part of a certain ceremonial which fashion had ordained should he
observed by people on receiving and dismissing visitors . Just now , especially , there is an abundance of complimentary language being bandied about among people , and everybody is in ecstasies of rejoicing over their nei ghbour ' s good fortune , but we fear there is little meaning iu it , and
that Society is only offering up its annual sacrifice of humbus : on the altar of Fashion . Though we are far from wishing to think uncharitably of others , we can adopt no
other conclusion than this , and we imagine the world would go on pretty much the same , and , perhaps , a good deal better , if people were a little less zealous in the cause of hypocrisy .
This is one of the most prevalent forms of that want of real charity which exists amongst men . Another is the wonderful zeal which some persons manifest in attributing motives to others . A . is going to town for a short holiday , and immediately there are a dozen reasons assigned for the
visit . He has gone to consult a physician , or he is lookino * out for a wife , or he has quarrelled with his grandmother , there being , as a matter of fact , no special reason whatever for the visit . Or it may be he would rather have something done six months hence than now , and people say at
once he is hard-up , or that a fortune is in store for him presently , or that he is currying favour in certain quarters and would like to see how he gets along before making his venture . In this case too , there is , in all probability , no reason assignable , and the person who would be the most
astonished to hear that he was hard-up , or aAvaiting fortune , or currying favour , would be the hero of the romance himself . Again , A . calls on B ., and immediately there are , if not a thousand and one reasons , at all events a good baker ' s dozen of them , assigned for this trifling fact . People take
very good care in all these cases that the reasons are of an uncomplimentary character . They imagine , we presume , there would be no fun in attributing a reasonable or decent motive for this or that particular act of another person . In other words , there is no end to the evil thoughts which
people insist on indulging in at others' expense , and all the while when they come in personal contact with them , they are hearty and apparently sincere in what they say . Ib would be more charitable if people would quietly abstain from assigning their own reasons for the condnct of others ,
but in such case the quidnuncs would find themselves in a difficulty , with their occupation entirely gone , and the possibility of picking up au ill-natured rumour or shave entirely out of the question . A third form of uncharitableness is the facility with
which people provide reasons for every trifling little occurrence in a man ' s life . Thus , he has a sli ght cold or cough ; he grazes his knuckles , or sprains his ankle ,- he stays away from his Lodge ; or he is an hour or two later than
usual m reaching home ; and , forthwith , there is every kind of . 'iaister rumour afloat to explain this simple fact . The cold or cough is explained by the fact of his constantly returning home late at night , or rather earl y in the morning ; he grazed his knuckles in a fight , or sprained
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Certain Forms Of Uncharitable Ness.
CERTAIN FORMS OF UNCHARITABLE NESS .
THE subject of Chanty has been worn tolerably threadbare , and there is no little difficulty in finding anything to say on it which has not already been said , possibly on many , many occasions before . We dare say the remarks which follow have the misfortune to have been addressed times without number to a Masonic public .
Nevertheless , they appear to us to be not wholly unreasonable just now , when we are entering on a New Year , and are pi'esumably anxious to regard everything and everybody in as favourable a light as possible . Just now we are supposed to have rubbed off all old scores . Differences
which may have risen with others are forgotten , and we are starting on our career afresh , with hearty good wishes for every one . This , we believe , is the correct theory which prevails as to our duty at this particular season ; and certainly eating and drinking about half-a-dozen times as much as
is good for them , and clanking glasses with , and addressing little complimentary speeches to , their neighbours at the festive board may be accepted as formal evidence that Englishmen in general , and Masons in particular , fulfil their duty admirably , and that everybody is in love witb
everybody else . But though the theory is pretty universally observed in the letter , we have our doubts about the spirit of many who make the most show of having it . We have our doubts about their sincerity . The pretty things they say sound well , but in too many instances they are
but a passing creation of the brain , and as snch are valueless . "My dear Sir , lam so delighted to see yon , " says our neighbour Tomkins , and off he rushes to his wife , to enable her to receive the unexpected guest with the proper amount of cheerfulness and alacrity . With her , however ,
he speaks his mind candidly . " Why , hang it , there ' s that fellow Jones just dropped in , and making himself at home —a man , of all others , I abominate ; but , of course we must do the civil . " The wife acquiesces , but the civil thing is done , and Jones and Tomkins go on paying each
other all the compliments they can think of , and in about the same spirit . Each knows the other is only playing a part , and the only thing real about the affair is the sense of greater or less admiration they entertain towards each other in proportion as they are more or less successful in
their acting . This being so , of course no very serious amount of harm is done ; that is , no deep-seated injury to the feelings of society is caused by this fashionable hypocrisy , but we question if it improves the morality . Of course , we do not blame Jones and Tomkins for greeting
each other civilly , chatting more or less familiarly , according to the extent and duration of their acquaintance , and making neat little speeches about each other ' s merits . We are expected to do something of this kind , or in a very brief time we shall find we have earned for ourselves a
somewhat unenviable character for rudeness . What we do blame them for , and that seriously , is the attempt they make to give an air of reality to what is merely a matter of form . We are very properly expected to be civil and obliging towards our neighbours , but we are not required
to be so in the superlative degree . We would rather see people sincerely indifferent about each other ' s welfare than fei gn to be so overwhelmingly anxious . We would rather
that men , when they meet together , should , as it were , let each other know that what they say in the way of compliment is merely conventional , instead of attempting to delude one another into a belief of its sincerity . There is
Certain Forms Of Uncharitable Ness.
no hypocrisy in observing the forms of civility , any more than in wearing a chimneypot hat in Regent-street , or a swallowtail coat for evening dress , but there is a vast deal in trying to persuade people you mean what you say . Jones knew quite as well as Tomkins that the latter ' s
compliments were meaningless ; and Tomkins would have stood better before the public had he been somewhat less impressive in his manner , or , as we have expressed it once before , moro sincerely indifferent , and let it be seen that the pretty things he uttered were uttered as part of a certain ceremonial which fashion had ordained should he
observed by people on receiving and dismissing visitors . Just now , especially , there is an abundance of complimentary language being bandied about among people , and everybody is in ecstasies of rejoicing over their nei ghbour ' s good fortune , but we fear there is little meaning iu it , and
that Society is only offering up its annual sacrifice of humbus : on the altar of Fashion . Though we are far from wishing to think uncharitably of others , we can adopt no
other conclusion than this , and we imagine the world would go on pretty much the same , and , perhaps , a good deal better , if people were a little less zealous in the cause of hypocrisy .
This is one of the most prevalent forms of that want of real charity which exists amongst men . Another is the wonderful zeal which some persons manifest in attributing motives to others . A . is going to town for a short holiday , and immediately there are a dozen reasons assigned for the
visit . He has gone to consult a physician , or he is lookino * out for a wife , or he has quarrelled with his grandmother , there being , as a matter of fact , no special reason whatever for the visit . Or it may be he would rather have something done six months hence than now , and people say at
once he is hard-up , or that a fortune is in store for him presently , or that he is currying favour in certain quarters and would like to see how he gets along before making his venture . In this case too , there is , in all probability , no reason assignable , and the person who would be the most
astonished to hear that he was hard-up , or aAvaiting fortune , or currying favour , would be the hero of the romance himself . Again , A . calls on B ., and immediately there are , if not a thousand and one reasons , at all events a good baker ' s dozen of them , assigned for this trifling fact . People take
very good care in all these cases that the reasons are of an uncomplimentary character . They imagine , we presume , there would be no fun in attributing a reasonable or decent motive for this or that particular act of another person . In other words , there is no end to the evil thoughts which
people insist on indulging in at others' expense , and all the while when they come in personal contact with them , they are hearty and apparently sincere in what they say . Ib would be more charitable if people would quietly abstain from assigning their own reasons for the condnct of others ,
but in such case the quidnuncs would find themselves in a difficulty , with their occupation entirely gone , and the possibility of picking up au ill-natured rumour or shave entirely out of the question . A third form of uncharitableness is the facility with
which people provide reasons for every trifling little occurrence in a man ' s life . Thus , he has a sli ght cold or cough ; he grazes his knuckles , or sprains his ankle ,- he stays away from his Lodge ; or he is an hour or two later than
usual m reaching home ; and , forthwith , there is every kind of . 'iaister rumour afloat to explain this simple fact . The cold or cough is explained by the fact of his constantly returning home late at night , or rather earl y in the morning ; he grazed his knuckles in a fight , or sprained