The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1867-08-24
Recollections of an Absent Man,

I JUt lulSldhcS llllO NuiCl tuoSt WHO dT'
afflicted with what is called 'absence o
mind" continually fall. l call it al
affiiction, for it really is one; I; and it il
also disease which if left to itself, viii
/ increase till its encroachments paral
we all other faculties Of the mind. l wa;
once conspicuous among all my friends
for this unfortunate disposition o
mind. How it grew upon ME canno
tell: On looking back perceive thai
there were indications of it in my earli
est childhood. / was fond of building
castles in the air, of dwelling in imagin
alton upon scenes and events which ha(
no reality in them. l coniured up, &
world of my own; l peopled it witt
characters of my own creating; dwell
in kind of fairy land far away from til,
life which surrounded me; liked to b,
alone and to be left to myself, unmolest
ed by contact either with other chill
dren or my elders. In my walks ]
would keep aloof from all my compan
ions and attendants, and converse in {
language almost of my own with i'm
aginary companions and associates.
was called ungenial, odd, eccentric
morose, idle, and dreamy; but all these
hard names could not take me out ol
myself. was living an inner life that
had no sympathy with and Lo counter
part in the realities around me. Chill.
dreH have n wonderful talent for ill.,
vestipg things, places, and people with
charms and qualities they do not pos
sess, and can with marvellous
facility convert their dearest friends
into cruel stepmo' hers and gigantic
ogres; aut then they need the compau-
lonship of others in order to effect this
transformation, which is so complete
and, in certain sense, so real, that ter
ror and anxiety are accurately depicted
when any of these awful parsonage,
assume an aspect of wrath. Wi h me it
was different. needed no companion.
ship; avoided it, and my earthly par
adlse was shared by no familiar friend
that had any existence. would retire
to some corner by myself To dream
away my young life. AT the time was
not myself aware that was unlike 9th
er children, though / was painfully
conscious of being bored when was
compelled TO associate with those of
my own age; and whenever the ordeal
was over, | rushed off with increased
delight to my corner, where, magician
like summoned into my presence the
creatures of my imagination. The
same habit continued in after years,
though necessarily with more interrup-
tior and with considerable change in
the subject of my day-dreams. was a
puzzle to my masters, for was not de-
ticient in ability, and yet l never did
myself justice, for my thoughts were Of
ten miles away from the matter which
ought to have engaged them. AS time
went on the habit became more and
more confirmed and was noted amongst
all my fellows as the best man of their
acquaintance. There is nothing more
fatal to young man than TO be cousid-
cred eccentric. The character for &C.
centricity interferes with his success,
while il at the same time conveys a
tacit dispensatIon from the performance
of duties which are supposed TO be in
cumbent upon all who are of rational
mind and this exemption tends to con-
firm a pernicious habit, while it dis
qualities him in the opinion of all prac-
| tical men for any occupation or office
which requires promptitude, accuracy,
and energy of thought and will. From
never taking much interest i'll the
events of the day became at last scarce
ly cognizant of those features and
peculiarities which constitute the diff
ference between existing things. was
| in some respects like q blind man, the
eye of my mind being blinded to much
that was observable to men of the
meanest capacity and only by a pain
full effort that | could concentrate my
attention upon any given subject. Like
man who has accustomed himself to
the dark, and to whom ray of light
becomes positively painful, l actually
suffered acutely from the exertiOn
which was required of Inc when i had
to consider and decide upon any mat
ter of business. The ordinary duties OF
landed proprietor were distasteful to
me, inasmuch as they interrupted my
day-drear1s; and even those which
were not devoid of interest were neg
lected by my forgetfulness and utter
incapacity for business. If / made an
appointment was more likely to forget
it than not, or, with vague impression
that had bound myself to do some
thing at given time and place, set OF
in a wrong direction long after the ap-
pointed time. If an important letter
had to be written, and l had, after
much difficulty, accomplished the un-
welcome task, was sure to carry the
letter in my pocket for two or three
days; or if two letters We're written on
the same day l infallibly put them into
their wrong envelopes. In short, if a
mistake could be madesI was sure
to. make it; and as time went on
| found that my friends were al
ways trying to provide against my
mistakes by taking me and my affairs
under their especial care and protec-
ton.
can we'll remmember an absurd and
amusing instance which accurred, and
which will serve TO show how "absence
of mind" had grown upon me. lhad not
been at all we'll, and for some days was
not allowed to leave my room, in which
took the simple meals that were al
lowed to me. Instead ofdinner was
only allowed tea in the evening, with q
moderate supply of tsast. On the Occa-
sion to which Irefer my mother and
sister had gone down to dinner after
having satisfied themselve that l had
every thing that wanted. Left alone
by the fire with my teapot and kettle,
which "murmured its fairy song" Oh
the hob, began to dream as usual, till
/ remembered that ought to pour some
of the boiling water into the teapot
This l did very properly, and then
again subsidized into my dreamy exist
ence, from which i was presently reused
BY theentrancs of one of my sisters
bearing in her hand aplateful of pud
ding which was great favorite Of
mine. She started, screamed, and near
ly dropped the plate at seeing me.
Tom" she exclaimed, "what have
you donST ..- ri-
"Done' Ifdonei what I" i respond
ed and what had done had not
touched my tea, had not moved since
poured the water into the teapot; but
the cause of my sisters alarm was SCOT
made clear when she directed my at
tention to the fact that had made
teapot and kettle change places. The
silver teapot was simmering hal
on the hob and half on the
fire, discolored and spoilt, and the
kettle was on the tableoloth, on, which