THINGS AND THOUGHTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2690, 4 October 1905, Page 87

THINGS AND THOUGHTS.

By Joiix C'hiustte.

— A Perennial Proviso. —

It is riLjlit that people should chjrct to what is objectionable m each other. YTeie they not to do &o there v ould be no check on mean characters and vicious natuics. But tli. -re i<- another justification for angti in this, connection — namely, the ceitain.v that the necessity for objecting to v. hat is objectionable in another's chaiactor or conduct tends to" hinder us from seeing and appieciatmg wha is good in the offender. In this way we are prevented from perceiving much that may be morally beautiful, and from gelling into an adequate relationship with truth. Perhaps w,° should lie superior to these hindrances ; but to be so we would, it seems, have to get rid of our mortal natures. It is. theiefc.ie. l-eally in the interest of truth anc beauty that w-e act when we object t£ selfishness, foolishness, meanness, vice, and lnhurnnnity in each other; yet when we do £0 selfishly, foolishly, meanh , viciously, or inlnimnnly n?, b«yond doubt, play the part of the officious knave who fumes about the mote in his brother's eve. but i»noies

the beam in his o\\ n

— A Common Failing. —

All men claim to be above criticism. Tfco pio<">f of this is thst every man resents it, or at lepst thinks it - out of placi- or uncalled-for with respect to him-cli He to whom this dots not applj- is, b\ vuive of the fact, not an ordinary man ; ha to whom it dc.. j .s is an ordinary man, however high he may stand in his own estimation.

— Self-r.evelation. —

Every time we say that such-and-such a thing is of no interest to us we are more or less conscious of saying that it is a thing of no importance ; but what we really do in the matter is disclose the narrowr,?ss of our sympathy and the capaciousness of cur conceit.

— A Critic's Qualifications. —

You can judge nothing from the outside, and yet a true judgment need not be' expected, either, from the person who is, so to speak, a habitual dweller within this or that institution, theory, system, or manifestation of things. An outsider of adequate culture and with an open mmd — a mind full of sympathy and fr?e from prejudice — is needed ; but. having come from without, he must also stand within — ■ see a thing from its own heart, and in accordance with its own nature and purpose — before he can be expected to be able to pass judgment upon it. All this postulates in the critic a mental equipment, a moral consecration, without which neither he nor his work can be of any account, except as a sample of what comes of conceit and ineompetency. Yet it is chiefly of such samples that criticism, so-called, is constituted, for in the critic-, high calling, n-i elsewhere, "Fools rush in where ansrc> fear to tread."

— Loofrrs.—

'"Loafer" is a hateful word, for reason that the person it describes is raori ■ hateful still. He exists, however, in many varieties. It may be said that every man who gets the comforts or necessaries of life without an effort more or kes conducive to the well-being of all who are engaged in producing the wealth of the community is a loafer. This definition probably embracesmany who would indignantly resent the term if applied to them. Still it is substantially accurate, though in its -prhnitivh and more limited sense "loafer" meant t man who went up and' down the country looking for work and praying to heaves that he might not find it. However, loafers in any sense should not be toterated by society- It ip true that no man should lack food or shelter in a civilised land ; yet neither should any hale man receive them unlrss he earns them — if the opportunity to do so exists — either voluntarily or under legal compulsion.. In fact, the loafer has a right to live only when he ceases to be a loa±er. While he flourishes in that character he flourishes' at the expense of the honest workers ir the ommunity that tolerates him. Therefore, let him not be tolerated, but. by some means or other, be disciplined into a man who does work equivalent in value to at least his own food, clothing, and shelter ; though, of coiu'se. he should <do much mors than this in order to contribute to the . wealth and well-being of the community without whose countenance and co-opera-tion his existence would be a solitary, sordid, and sorry affair.

— TLv? Eternal Foreigner.—

Genius is the world's eternal foreigner, the inevitable disturber of convention — the upholders of which, in all ages and countries, are only too ready to emulate the simple savage whose perennial impulse is to launch a spear or heave a brick at the foreigner's head.

— P&eudo-Criticisin. —

There are many kinds of pseudo-criticism, but the most preposterous is that which finds fault with anyone who does not attempt or achieve something that is outside the sphere of his taLent, or apart from the purpose he has in hand. Has this man — the true critic asks himself — has this man handled something which is vital— < that has its roots in truth, — and has he done so to ihe fullest extant of his own talent, and in keeping with a comprehensive conception of his subject? Judicially to point out how fai? and why and whert he has succeeded, or how far and wlrf. and where he has failed — that is criticism 1 ; all else is drivel or impertinence.

— Dream and Reality. —

Two brothers, the -eldest pnd tho youngest of the family, weve ill. One night the eldest dieamt a dream. He uas walking down one of the shrubbery pat hi at Ochteriyre, in Perthshire, Scotland.. First, he met two of the Miss Marrays, who weie in deep mourning, and then the tall, soldierly figure of Sir William Keith Mm ray himsel "Both the ladies looked l fiydly in pulsing, but said nothing. Sii?

iWilliam also wore mourning, and his features were covered ' with an inscrutable solemnity ; indeed, he had then been dead for ' some time, though ' tba dreamer had lhad no knowledge of that fact. So the hoy walked on through the shrubberies and woods,- and at last reached the lakeside. As he gained it the' lake became a sea. A ship was close- to the shore. He ifaoarded the ship, which then began to iplunge away through the waves ; he himself being at the^right or starboard bow, land his little brother at -the left (where <he then made his first appearance as one h of- the' characters, in the dream). "The .Vessel kept plunging, and very soon both i brothers were overboard in the turbid fhe elder strove hard and long i ,to reach the younger; but it was impossible, .and he 6aw the little white face and .outstretched baby hands disappear for ever. >tßy- this -time the 'ship had vanished, and the elder brother himself landed on a desolate rocky shore, \'With nothing but sodden 7 peat bogs ■ and * stunted ,heath' stretching away landward. That was the dream. Two days later the little brother actually * died. , The elder- brother, however; surviv'edTo" find, "many a time aftef : wards;-' that desolate shore and the interminable "peat bogs' were types of his own- - life; *"~_ln witness ' whereof,' he who dreamt the dr,eam J and knew the reality tells the tale.' .