The Crown of Individuality, VIII. Sitting in the Seat of Judgment

The Crown of Individuality. BY WILLIAM GEORGE JORDAN. VIII.— Sitting in the Seat of Judgment. Blindfolded; holding in her left hand a balance; in her right a sword— thus they picture the goddess of Justice. This is satire in symbolism. It seems the work of some cunning cynic, concentrating in a single figure the worst elements of human injustice and grimly labeling it ''Justice." ■ It is worse than a label— it is a libel. This goddess of Justice has her eyes deliberately closed to the facts. She holds ostentatiously on high the scales of justice but never sees their movement. She has her hand tight-pressed on the sword of punishment before even hearing the testimony. She is excluding all evidence but one — hearsay. This is the goddess of Justice that dominates society today. The true Justice should be open-minded, open-eyed, open-eared, open-lipped, open-handed. Serene, free, unhampered by bonds without or ' ;y prejudice within, she should have one object — to discover the truth. Nothing should escape her searching vision; no faintest whisper elude her eager ears; with finest, honest wisdom should she question, and with free unencumbered hands investigate, test, prove. The lamp of truth should throw its dazzling glow of illumination on every trifle of evidence. The balance of judgment should be held rigidly on a support before her, not suspended from — a trembling arm. This seems a higher and truer symbol than— a blind woman, sporting her regalia. * From The Crown of Individuality. Copyright, 1909, by Fleming H. Re veil Company.

THE CROWN OF INDIVIDUALITY. 721 Character is not a simple, uniform product. It cannot be judged as dress-goods— by a yard or so of sample unrolled from a bolt on the counter. It it complex, confused, uncertain, changing, subject to moods that contradict our conclusions. While knowing all this we dare to construct the whole life and character, of one we may have never even met. We build it from a few hints, slurs, idle comments, or the vague rumors or absolute lies of newspaper reports — as scientists reconstruct an unknown prehistoric animal from a few bones. One judges a painting by the full view of the whole canvas; separate, isolated square inches of color are meaningless. Yet we dare to judge our fellowman by single acts and words, misleading glimpses, and deceptive moments of special strain. From these we magnify a mood into a character and an episode into a life. There is entirely too much human judging, too much flippant criticism of the acts of others. Suspicion is permitted to displace evidence, cheap shrewdness to banish charity, prejudice to masquerade as judgment. We imagine, we guess, we speculate — then pass on through the medium of indiscreet speech and idle gossip to what may bring bitterness, sorrow, heartache and injustice to others. The very ones we condemn may be battling nobly under a hail of trial and temptation where we might fall faint in the trenches or, lowering our colors, drop back in hopeless surrender. We have a right to our preferences, our likes and dislikes, our impressions, our opinions, but we should withhold final judgment— as an honest, unprejudiced juryman keeps his verdict in suspense until he has heard and tested all of the evidence. We have no right to let prejudice tyrannize over judgment and kill — the justice of the soul. We may see an act but have no luminous revelations of the motive behind it. We idly condemn the gaiety of some man who has suffered a terrible loss, and term him heartless. Perhaps he laughs only to keep back tears that would gush like a torrent from his heart were he less brave. We criticise the parsimony of some one, when it really means concentrated generosity to some one else. Overgenerous forgiving may seem weakness —when it is the ' 'ninety times nine" of a great nature. Love at its height may seem

722 IMPROVEMENT ERA. indifference. What appears conceit may be only some one's attempt to recover a lost self-confidence he hungers to regain. Some one's fretfulness, or occasional outbursts of temper, may be but sparks of protest from the hidden fires of a sad lifestory, or some bravely-borne illness unknown but to a chosen few. Meanness may in reality be poverty too proud to confess itself. We hear one side of many a story and judge by that alone. We judge often along the line of our least mental resistance. Ignorantly we condemn a man for vanity because we would be vain had we accomplished his work. There is a wide difference between putting yourself in another's place and putting him in yours. The one is an attempt at wisdom; the other a speculation in prejudice. We misinterpret motives, do not know facts, and judge from wrong standards. In the individual life we realize that there are times when everything we do or say misrepresents us. We mean kindness, but somehow the words sound cross, cruel or misleading. Without intending it, we hurt those who are dearest; we regret it, know the sad effect we are creating, yet we blunder on into deeper pitfalls. We may be even too falsely proud to explain. We are all out of key. We are tobogganing down the incline of a mood. We may not understand ourselves and in a spirit of heart-hunger may long for someone sweetly and gently to comprehend us, to see us truly, despite — ourselves and our acts. Knowing this labyrinthic quality in us and even in human nature at its best, let us throw the golden mantle of love, and kindness and justice over every thought of condemnation. How can we judge others harshly when we do not know ourselves and while we suffer so much from the misjudging from others? Let us live in the open sunlight of love, shutting our eyes in charity from adverse judging — just forgetting much, forgiving much. Let us sweetly, sincerely, sympathetically seek in the best side of some one we know — his real, fine, true self. Let us think of the fine flowers and ignore the weeds as temporary invaders. This may prove an inspiration to some one near and dear to us to live up to our ideal of him, to be worthy of the higher levels to which our faith has raised him. Sometimes situations arise between friends that demand rapid

THE CROWN OF INDIVIDUALITY. 723 judgment and action. Then should we check off the items carefully, considering truly botn sides of the ledger of our experience. Before pronouncing sentence let us see if in our hearts we honestly believe our verdict fair, just and true. Let us be assured it is justice— not prejudice, pique, temper, disappointment, distorted gossip, or aught else that is eclipsing the justice of our judgment. Our justice, if such there be, may change bitterly the life of both. One of the hardest lessons of life is to learn not to judge. Perhaps m'nety per cent of the adverse criticism, comment and judging of humanity is unnecessary and serves no useful purpose. It is not our business. It is simply our mere impertinent meddling in the affairs of others, without even a hope of being helpful or useful. It is often what we would most quickly resent — were the situations reversed. There are times in every life when we mud judge, when we should judge, and when it is vitally important that we should judge wisely and justly. There are those closely associated with us in love, friendship or business — where it may be important for us to understand their words, their acts, their motives, and their emotions in so far as they affect ours. The very attitude of not judging until it becomes necessary gives ever dignity, calmness, poise, and fineness to these enforced judgments. The judgment that has been dulled by constant misuse, like a razor that has been used to sharpen pencils, is of little value in real need. The wisest judgment means the best head co-operating with the best heart. It is kind, honest, charitable — seeking truth, not the verifying of a prejudice. It says ever, in prefacing its conclusions on the evidence. "As it seems to me," "If I understand it aright," "So far as I have been able to reason it," "Unless I am mistaken," or similar phrases. These represent the suspended judgment — with no tone of absolute finality. They show a willingness to modify the verdict, to soften the sentence, or to order a new trial if new evidence, new illumination, or new interpretation can be produced. Only through sympathy can character be rightly understood. Intolerance and prejudice poison judgment. Even our worst ene-

724 IMPRO VEMENT ERA . mies are not as bad as we think them. When Apelles, the Greek painter, ma*de a portrait of Alexander, King of Macedon, he painted the monarch with his finger on a scar received in battle so that the disfigurement was not evident. Let us not point out the scars on the lives and characters of those around us, but let the kindly finger of charity gently obscure them. To kill the judgment habit where it is unnecessary, we must silence expression, but we must do more — we must learn not to think severe judgment even if not spoken. If we do judge severely in our thought it colors our acts and our attitude. When tempted to judge let us ask — "is it necessary?" When hearing gossip let us ask — "What are your proofs?" We should stifle our own criticisms and silence those of others. In judging others let us have courage to say, not coldly and uncaring but from the depths of human love and sympathy — "I really cannot tell. I do not know." There is an Oriental legend thaJ, one day, Christ, wandering through the streets of Jerusalem, came suddenly on an idle crowd of jeerers over the dead body of a dog. Each spoke contemptuously, each condemning some phase, each, contributing some meanness to add to the cruel merriment. Christ stood silent for a moment, and then, pointing to the open mouth of the dead dog, said — "Ah, but no pearls are whiter than his teeth." This spirit of seeking ever the best side in our daily living would absolutely transform it. (The next article in this series, "The Inspiration of Possiblities," will appear in the July number of the Era.) Trust in God. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright. — Ps. 20: 7, 8.

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Photo by Symons ELDER RUDGER CLAWSON. Chosen April 7, 1910, to succeed Elder Charles W. Penrose as President of the European Mission; born, Salt Lake City, March 1, 1857; chosen President of the Box Elder Stake of Zion February 5, 1888; called, ordained and sustained a member of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, October, 1898.