Rensselaer Republican, Volume 13, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 October 1880 — A Good Name. [ARTICLE]

A Good Name.

A good name is above all price. Have you not found it so young men, yon whose well-known virtues nave placed you in a position which you occupy with feelings of commendable pride? And whose Lme has been the target of envious tongnes, have you not seen 8 good name to be a breastplate that is impervious to the jpoisoned shafts of calumny ? Gold and talent; what are these without character? A light to render darkness visible; a gilding which by contrast makes the more revolting? Cherish it then, all ye who possess it; guard it carefully; for depend upon it this purity once tarnished, the most unwearying effort will hardly restore it to its pristine lustre. Let it attend you through the journey of life, crowning your days with peace and happiness. The rectitude which’won’it will engrave upon your face a letter of recommendation to people of every nation and tongue. Ana when the treasure is no longer needful to you, it shall descend to yonr posterity, a legacy with which millions would not bear to lie compared. You who are just on the stepping stone to active life. Remember the value of a godd name. Be it your) constant endeavor to earn it for yourself, in the only practicable way —by pursuing the path of undeviating integrity. Let all your intercourse with your fellow creatures be marked by such conduct as you need not blush to see recorded before the eyes of a congregated world; such as will never cause any to blush for their connection with you. A good name is a laurel wreath for the brow of its possessor, but a bad name is a swift footed pestilence to follow with ita scathing influence where ever it goes.