Cleveland morning leader. [volume] (Cleveland [Ohio]) 1854-1865, 1861-03-18
A PRfvarE No4E IRON o5R FR1END SMITH

ERs.-I am fond Of strolling about town. and
hunting out odd hooks and corners which
are not generally considered 10 be desirable
places to frequent, either on matters Pur--
tanning tObgJness or to plePspYe. I,spppose
that this fancy of mine is akin 10 Chat which
Affects these persons who give fabulous sums
for a black-letter folio, or a coin, or medal
| Of equally fabulous age. Experience, how
ever, has taught me that can learn some
thing Of human nature worth knowing from
any source, however, humble. OF. common
place. Men are very like those curious
blades Of striped grass, which children
amuse themselves with; endeavoring to fad
two which are precisely similar; but il al
ways happens that one has stripe more, or
less, broader or narrower stripe, than an
other. But between humanity and grass
there is one material difference, inasrnnch
as the one remains Just as Nature made it,
while the other covers isself with a veil of
deceits, and assumptions, and formalities
which entirely change is external appear
ance, and which it is necessary to remove
before, you can discover what is hidden be-
meath. If you happen to live in an oil
nefgbbOrhoOd, you Wili understand me when
I say that .''surfaee indications" do net al
ways prove the presence of the OleagdnOus
Auid beneath although it often happens
that q shreWd speculator will 50 take advan-
tage of these appearances that hewil bring
i. II
It is not, however, in the lower walks of
life that "the proper stUdYOf ,manI1ind'' can
be pursued to the best advantage, The
nearer we approach to the hard, toilsome lot
which is, suppose the normal condition of
the best Of US, the more We find of the cal
and the less of the artificial; and the artificial
it is which best developes the secret Of the
man. As general rule people may be
considered to be most deficient in those very
qualities which they most assume, and the
cause of the assumption is to be found in the
fact that they are themselves aware Of the
deficiency. When you hear a young man !
(such an one as have in my mind this very |
minute) expatiate upon his admiration for
the beautiful an art, or in nature, you may |
at once take it for granted that there is very |
little of the true enthusiasm about him, and
that he is thinking a great deal noreof his
own fine speeches, than of the text from
which he breaches. It is your greatest |
boaster who is the most arrant coward the
world over; and he who is telling yoJ lies |
seldom fails to call upon Jupiter to vii ness
that he speaks true. SOFT happens hht as
I walk up the Boulevards and zee Eezbuge |
approaching me, with his hat drawn over
his forehead, his eyes bent upon the earth,
his walk slow and uncertain, I say to my
self; ''Ah, my friend, yen are not at ali that
absorbed being for which you would pass.
1t is not the weight Of the brain within nor
Of the thought which oppresses it, that
brings ybuf chin Upon your breast. But
you are cOngratulating yourself that the
world does not discover your cheat, and are
muttering how wise they think me-"
I, who know Nezrouge, know also that
were he to lay aside Gae mantle of d kceit /
which covers his real nature, the chknge
would he laluidzt "a kfkst % from the stkadY
going catapiller to the Haunting, butterfly.
he WdohilstOpAt tlIsHHeP window; he wpuld
peep slyly at every pretty face that Passes;
he would applaud vociferously at every mis-
cradle flittle Atdgs e6rhedy9 On pantoml lme,
like a schOolboy in vacation. +, II 1.shOuld
dstth iiim5aV I did tlb Rther day, playing
the part Of an Interested spectator upO4 the
eseasign pEsseaninss battlseqPoH the street,
he would not look foolish and stalk of with
a counterfeit sqno froi3, as though hef had
gOttedf into Id q unPleaslht siittddaEio4 sblsly
through mental abstraction. No, no, Nez-
rouge, it viii not dol You may, perhaps,
deceige many, buVgoE cannot deceivk all,
know that you are but the type of elass
which s6ohef Or later is always expos Id
Remember the fable, in which AEres Emu
nte6a8its showing that there Wss nothing
Of the lion but bis skin. Fl