Daily State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis, Ind.) 1861-1865, 1865-09-09
DAILY SENTINEL
SATURDAY MORNING. SEPTEMBER ..


oSs o. more Jul o. Instructive Nmninf tnan lts
social or sympathetic tendencies. While il i
An old and inspired maxim that lin the multi
tuds Of counselors there il safety" IL 10 far from
being true that there Is safety in a multitude Of
sectors There are verv many csses an vfteh
men act with much moro reason by themselves
than in a mass Indeed there is very little rea-
son IN crowd, whatever may be the occasion OF
ita gathering. When massed together men
seem often TO surrender their reason and TO be
governed altogether By sympathy A sort Of
insanity seircs upon them, which IL communities
Z tsl vth wonderful rapidly from person 10 per-
son, and AZ times rolls Ike vast wave over The
multitude. drowning reflection and investing ell
rifh common seHsinent or impulse fsr which
no one or the rnas can give any sensible reason.
We have Often seen such wave Of sympathy
passing over assembly, first communicated
By the persuasive eloquencs Of some warm
hearted bat not wise headed orator. Ii IL
very difficult, sometimes quite impossible,
for the person thus a1ected TO give
Ally account OF the way in which they
came TO feel a. they do. We once heard a ven
ersbls clergyman relate case which occurred in
Virginia, illustrating the unaccountable nature Of
this power Of human sympathy. In a time Of
religious excitement q celebrated pulpit orator
was to preach az a certain church ia the county,
when q great crowd assembled and filed the
y hou<e. Two old tsbacco planters went. out Of
curiosity. 20 hear him, but were too late TO get
near the door, where they could not see the
preacher or hear a word. they were soon absorbed
In conversation about the crops and the markets.
As the services proceeded and the preacher warm
8 Cd up sith bis discourse, the congregation inside
we're deeply affected The tide Of sympathy roll
sd on toward the door. The two tobacco plant
ers suspended their conversation, aud presently
The tears were rolling down their cheeks and they
we're as deeply moved az any who had been list
ening - the preachers eloquence and vet be
had not communicated 70 them one single senti-
ment- They were moved by sympathy, and 90
powerfully that they would have joined the
congregation in anything they might have chosen
TO do.
This principle Of our nature has its serious and
It's ludierOus aspects. Sometimes il is operated
on for good; sometimes, and we fear much of
toner. for evil. IL is exhibited in various forms :
somstimes in panic sometimes in : mob some
times in Wild frenzy, aud then again in some
pitiable but ludierous msnis which overspreads
community. In these latter cases il has its ogi-
gin IN some conventional delusion OF excitement
which no one would think Of deiendiag by him
sell IN his sober moments We have all laughed
over the cases which Mr CULVER in his travels
met with in the great Academy of Lagado, in the
isle OF Laputa; the case Of the man Who had been
eight years engaged upon project for extracting
sunceams from cucumbers. which we're TO be put
in Walls. hermetically sealed and opened to warm
nv eteteo sheAo IA uioIt iutitutut Mtdtuefs
that of the architect who cortrived plan for
building houses by beginning al toe top and
building downward TO the foundation. II We
were 10 meet With such cases sirgly We should
call the deluded mortas insane, bat whole
communities sometimes become Just as insane,
and are carried away by ideas aDd impulses
which are as wild "a eithe. OF the above The
taiip mania which prevailed in Holland
10 the early part Of the seventeenth
century scarcely less unre 8sonable than
extracting sunboams from cucnmbers II sprang
up IN the year 1894 and speedily infected the
whole kingdom. The prices OF tulips rose 80
high that one person was known 10 invest bis
whole fortune of 100 900 forms (abou: $50, OOO)
IN the purchase OF forty roots A writer emu.
nerated the following articles which could be
bought for one tulip root: Two casks OF wheat
four casks OF rye, four fat oxen, EIGHT TAT swine
twelve fat sheep, two hogghsads vi vine, four
tons OF beer, tgo tons OF butter, one thousand
pounds o! cheese, complete bed, suit of
clothes. and silver drinking cup the whole
valued az q 500 forms Some very amusing
anecdotes related OF this epidemic 4 wealthy
merchant, who priied himself not a little on lis
rare tulips, received on one occasion in.elli
genre Of very valuable consignment Of ner-
chandise from the Leyant, brought 70 him by
sailor VINO came TO the counting room. The mer-
chaht, TO reward the sailor for bringing the news
presented him with Ene herring, a fish AZ that
time highly esteemed, and Of which the sailor
happened to be exceedingly fond The sailor had
slso, as II appears, 4 great psrtiality Tor
onions, and seeing a small root. very like an
onion, lying on the counter of the rich trader
and thinking u would be more appropriate as
relish for has herring than lying amolg silks
and satins, he very slyly slipped il into his
pocket. without q thought that IL would ever be
missed, or that it could be of any value to any
ore but himself BE got OF with his prize and
proceeded TO the quay 10 eat his breakfast
Hardly had be leit the counting room before the
merchant missed bis valuable seHBer augustus.
one Of the most expensive Of toilet roots, worth
some 1000 forms. The whole establishment
vas instantly reused To tho search and il had
been continued for some time before any one
thought OF the sailor The poor merchant has
tened after him, and tue sailor, Who aimed at 10
concealrient, was found quietly eating the last
morsel OF his onion, dreaming that the cost |
OF bis breakfast would have kept ships crew
10 provisions for many twelvemonth The |
poor fellow kept ia prison several months /
for his grand larceny, but he could never restore
the tulip root Oh course such a mania could /
not last long, any more than the rage for nsOrus |
musfesutts, which was such prevailing epidemic /
IN this country about thirty years ago aud which
was quite as ridiculous as the tulip mania, al |
though not quite 80 violent in is attacks The |
fictitious value OF tulips soon came down and /
Holland experienced & financial crisis in eonse- |
quence. The stOekj obbers saved themselves. but |
the people Tisvh been so unwise as TO stake /
Their Al upon mere whim we're ruined The /
Dutch still place high value upon tulips but !
they have not been seized second time with
such mania. Ii was all the result of that
strange pow er of sympathy which 80 often moves
masses with common impulse We have our
panics at tie present day in the money market
IN times of danger; have lad them ON The |
battle held. when all reason has fed from the
minds OF men, and when they have acted like
lcnatics, or even worse than lunaiics like herd
OF unreasoning animals. ready to be driven
hither and thtber, as some cry of supposed dan
ger, or the will OF some sane but evil disposed
person might direct. The history of the Missis
sippi echeme Of John Law OF is rise and nyo |
gress. and collapse. is familiar least 10 all our
commercial readers. Rehabilitation swept alon,.
with il all classes aud sven. away their for
tunes also. everybody was anxious 10 invest. /
he house OF Law was crowded with persons of
rank. eeelesiastlcs, bankers, merchants. trades
men, who seemed anxious only 70 give him
their money. Oae day the Prince Regent. men
nonng in the presence of Able Dubois and some
Others whom he met that he was desirous of find
ing come lady OF toe rank OF duchess 10 attend
upon his daughter AZ Modena. and adding. !
but do not know where 70 fld
one, the Able replied, Il can tell YOU shsre
TO lind every duchess in France You have
only TO 60 to Mr.. Laws. and YOU will see them.
every one IN his antechambs." Nackav in bis