The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1864-02-13
Singular MonomanIa.

DIR "X.," (Which Is the short for Char
ley Blanchard) who writes for the Ottawa
wa Republican, presents such a singular
ease of mental idiosy as to be really
worthy of notice. Within the last two
wears he has been the subject of at least
three distinct attacks of monomania; yet
he passed through two of them and may
pass through the third, without getting
into the insane asylum. About year and
half ago (shortly after the proclamation
Of freedom was issued) he was taken with
"nigger on the brain" No matter what
he talked or wrote about, he lugged in the
everlasting niger Such Sinking at,
such blubbsring and yearning over the
poor son. Of Ham was perhaps seen in no
other case, in these days when the subjects
Of the same disorder are 70 frightfully nu-
merous There is no telling where it
would have ended, but for fortutious &C
eurrence. This was the appearance in
print of the letter of Judge Cation to Gov.
! Seymour. 1t will Be remembered tina. in
that letter Judge c. said something about
mules. Now there is no denying that the
association Of mules with the grave nation
al subjects discussed by Judge C. partook
somewhat Of the ludicrous. But it turned
out any thing but joke to Charley. His
capacious mind. obliyions to tho joke,
fastened on the singular quadruped, and
for We know not how many months Char.
ley was the victim of a violent attack of
mule on the BRAIN A curious piece of
] literature-some 80 or 40 closely printed
pages, We believe-was the harmless re-
suit of this attack, when happily, some new
excitement intervening, 1t appears to have
passed Off
That new excitement, strange to tell,
was John IIise and now then We have
daily presented in cur streets tho curious
phenomenon of a man affected with a
mental disorder which can only be cor
rectly described as "Hise on the brain"
On the stump, off THE stump-in church
or in our bar rooms-In handbills and
newspapers, Charley with all the rage as
well as pertnacious craiziness of Walter
Savage, keeps up his idiotic lampeon of
John Hise. Iiise raises gooseberries, ergo
uise ii a rascal Hise is in debt, ergo Hise is
is secessionist; Hise has vineyard, ergo
Iise IS 4 thief, and so On.
Physiologi.ts hold, we believe, that a
strong, well balanced mind, taxing hold
of any science or subject, as speciality,
can pursue it with safety and profit by ur-
gins research to depths unattainable save
/ by such self-devotioa. But what may
! thus be invigoratlng to strong minds,
is death to weak ones, such csnccntI alton
| of thought generally resulting to the latter
in mental disease or monomania. Some
minds are so weak that the contemplation
Of a single subject for few weeks or even
days consecutively, leads to the disorder.
We fear Charley is in the last category.
Were we to treat the subject seriously,
however, we should say to ~" that TO
our mind he is very foolish Hise is Il
man known TO nearly every voter in La
c'tI4c SUMS GHcHi!Ss, akd
many devoted friends "" and old
Hampton may do their best, and they can
neither make an additional enemy to IIise,
| nor weaa from him a single friend The
most they can do is to knit his friends to
him more closely. But *" is a young
man with fair prospects before him
| While he will yet fad occasion to realize
| that it is very convenient as well as pleas
ant to have friends, let US say to him, tina:
nothing is surer than that in his senssless
and purely malicious hounding Of John
iIise ne is sowing the seed for plentiful
crep OF enemIes, and these he will find 1t is
not very pleasant o. desirable to have
| Baying at the moon may be pleasant pas
| time to cur, but sometimes people are
annoyed by the barking, and the puppy
| finds at last to his sorrow that people can
/ kick.