The True Citizen, How To Become One | Page 9

free people can be
governed.--C. B. Yonge
There is no fear for any child who is frank with his father and
mother.--Buskin
Candor and frankness are so closely akin to each other that we may
properly study them together. Each of these words has an interesting

origin. "Candor" comes from a Latin word meaning "to be white";
while "frankness" is derived from the name of the Franks, who were a
powerful German tribe honorably distinguished for their love of
freedom and their scorn of a lie. A candid man is one who is disposed
to think and judge according to truth and justice, and without partiality
or prejudice; while the one word frank is used to express anything that
is generous, straightforward and free.
Candor is a virtue which is everywhere commended, though not quite
so prevalent in the world as might be expected. There are doctors who
never tell a patient they can make nothing of his case, or that it is one
which requires the attention of a specialist. There are lawyers who
never assure a client that it is hopeless for him to expect to gain his suit.
And so, in all trades and professions, candor is as rare as it is good.
The lack of a simple and straightforward statement of such facts as are
in our possession, often leads to serious misunderstanding and
sometimes to serious loss.
Frankness is a combination of truthfulness and courage. Its usefulness
depends largely on its association with other qualities and
circumstances; but to be frank is simply to dare to be truthful. There are
many men who would scorn to tell a lie, who are destitute of frankness
because they hesitate to face the consequences of perfect openness of
speech or conduct.
An Irishman, who had neglected to thatch his cottage, was one day
asked by a gentleman with whom he was conversing, "Did it rain
yesterday?" Instead of making a direct and candid reply, he sought to
hide his fault, which he supposed had been discovered; and the
conversation proceeded as follows. "Did it rain yesterday?" asked his
friend. "Is it yesterday you mean?" was the reply. "Yes, yesterday."
"Please your honor, I wasn't at the bog at all yesterday,--wasn't I after
setting my potatoes?" "My good friend, I don't know what you mean
about the bog; I only asked you whether it rained yesterday?" "Please
your honor, I couldn't get a car and horse any way, to draw home my
little straw, or I'd have the house thatched long ago." "Cannot you give
me a plain answer to this plain question--Did it rain yesterday?" "Oh

sure, I wouldn't go to tell your honor a lie about the matter. Sorrah
much it rained yesterday after twelve o'clock, barring a few showers."
Of course there will be no difficulty in seeing that such a conversation
could not be entirely satisfactory to either party.
The virtue we are now recommending is in daily and hourly demand,
and of high and priceless value. But here also we must beware of
counterfeits. A smooth outward manner, a countenance clothed with
perpetual smiles, and an address distinguished by gentleness and
insinuation, may be assumed for selfish ends. A truly candid man is
neither carried away by ungenerous suspicion, nor by a weak
acceptance of the views of others; and the whole constitution of his
mind must be entirely changed before he can become capable of deceit.
Frankness has often been counterfeited by mere bluster. A couple of
striking examples of this fact are brought into view in the recently
published "Life and Letters of Charles Darwin," in which, speaking of
his childhood, Mr. Darwin says: "One little event has fixed itself very
firmly in my mind, and I hope it has done so from my conscience
having been afterward sorely troubled by it. It is curious as showing
that apparently I was interested at this early age in the variability of
plants! I told another little boy that I could produce variously colored
primroses by watering them with certain colored fluids, which was of
course a monstrous fable, and has never been tried by me. I may here
also confess that as a little boy I was much given to inventing
deliberate falsehoods, and this was always done for the sake of causing
excitement. For instance, I once gathered much valuable fruit from my
father's trees and hid it in the shrubbery, and then ran in breathless
haste to spread the news that I had discovered a hoard of stolen fruit."
Mr. Darwin also relates the following incident, as illustrating the lack
of truthfulness and candor on the part of another: "I must have been a
very simple fellow when I first went to school. A boy of the name of
Garnett took me into