Bloomington herald. [volume] (Bloomington, I. T. [Iowa]) 1840-1849, 1843-10-06
{. THIS COLD"
n ms. xLrzABErH OAK SMITH.

Calami,ies Of any kind, coming singiy,
challenge sympathy. and coincidence but
where the same thing is general, all sucn
advantages are lost. Whatever the III
NAV be, the individual may bear it alone.
He can hope for no commissioning glance
of the eye, giving warrant Tor lresn
groan, no condoling tone of voice where's
by his own sinks justified in a fainter
treble, no housewife tale Of a similar ex-
perience deluding him into making his
complaint known Alas! he must bear
his grief alone, for his neighbors are In
tent upon nursing their own.
Every body knows that solitary cold
is a thing attended with some eclat, (par>
don dear reader, the anti. English phrase,
it was accidentally There is the surprise
Of eyery one-the wonder how in the
world you could get it: Did you damp
your feet! Did you. sit in a draft Of air!
Did you walk in the moonlight with Miss
Diaway! Did your nigh. cap slip from
its allegiance! Dear me, it is so strange
how you got such cold! Then comes
the pepper tea, the boneset, the pennyroy-
al, the sage tea, one and all, the bath, the
flannels, the comforters, the coaxings, the
pityings, the hurryings; your cough can
dy, liquorlce, gum-Arabic, every thing is
in requisi!ion. Dear me! cold is
great affair!
But this is cold 'alone in its glory
Let but the scene change, set whole
population 10 sneeze, TO cough, 10 toss
with fever. and all this pet,ing is at an end.
so you've got this cold.' and laugh re-
wards your unconscious appeal to sympa-
thy. You sneeze. and your neighbours
eyes sparkle with delight; you cough, he
rubs his hands with chuckle of pleasure.
Not half SO bad, sir, as had it, yours is
nothing a. al!-why p. If you are
wise you will escape the detail. Who
cared for particular pain, when every
body is having the like! Why. misery
is nothing if.shared with thousand; give
me the solitary pang-the grief apart, the
especial sorrow.
cannot abide these epidemics. 1t is
wrestling democracy from its rightful
channel. 1t is killing sympathy; it is do
ing away the sentiment Of a grief.
There is but step from the sublime
to the ridiculous" so said Napoleon
Isn't there something sublime in the idea
of a hundred thousand people in the city
of New York, all coughing in concert!-
But then for the details:
"sparkling and bright, in liquid light"
The author would have been anything
but Aattered at the voice that got thus far,
and was stopped short by fit Of cough
ing.
"On the Banks of the Al
That cough; it was the death of the
song, and the incipient love was expelled
| with it.
Why will not people be wise! Let
the epidemic have its day; but poetry,
sentiment, all the luxuries Of being upon
the shelf and quietly submit to the fa,es,
recognize the dire necessity, and if they
| will, in memory Of the past, walk in star
light, (happily, the moon is invisible,
| and quote poetry, let them be content
with the following:
"Coughing in shady grove
Sat my Juliana;
Lozenges gave my love,
Epicacuanna."
Talk of the inconvenience of 'this cold,
in matters Of sentiment; why. this is
nothing to the positive evil endured by
the vendors of all kinds. The newsboys
hardly lift up their voices If an unlucky
wight essays, Sunday Mer-." just 10
try the material of his lungs, s,raigh.way
wheeling laugh echoes on every side
from his brothers in calamity.
Strawberries was able to detect ut
tered in voice as if coming from the folds
of blanket.
three cents basket, ma'am.' The
boy looked spira,ed. Not so much i'll as
mortified distressed. It's great thing
to have benevolen. face. Beggar chill,
dren detect il in the street, and ask you
for pennies. Poor women implorine
aims will make the number of children
five instead Of six. as they have told your
neighbor for smaller 6b will do for you
Children tell you all their little trials, and
even the dog will soon look wishfully in
your face when suffering from neglect OIL
his master
It's great thing to have benevolen,
face; itbecomes key to the heart of 9th
ers. You learn humanity naturally. east.
Iy. without going out in search of its at
tributes.
"Three cents basket, Ma'am and he
poured the delicious fruit into the receiv
er.
looked at the child, and one momep,
his eyes rested upon my face. His sym.
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