The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1870-05-22

INV ORLEAMA eeAx. May a. lsso.
tF~ ths Morning Star s.A CasAelio Messenger.l
sHoox3oLoosAH;
OR, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS BLANKET.
Who has not met, somewhere and anywhere,
ut any hour Of the day, the Man-with- the
or Skookbo Loosahs From sum
ss q he be &. %s
everywhere and nowhere, up and down, in the
middle Of and oil around the city, a. If en-
dOwed with the gift of ubiquity. Whence comes
and he win give you some shallow or. queer
sort of answer, if not some hard and bitter
words Of wrathfnl blame. But WHIST is all that
IDLE talk to this strange and stoio parsonage
ASK again, putting moro stress on your query,
and the ever stirring and bantering people will
say, "Who is that man, and why is he not
busy, like us, about some useful workl Ours
and sweat to earn. Why has he alone the full
frnition of the dolce far mienteS We want no
lazy drone in our social hive" Yet in spite of
al they may say, the Man-with,the-B Black
Bile through the luxurious and commercial
city, showing himself the same absent dreamer
in. the most attractive circle Of choice company
sne in the common mart of life and hustle.
n In the apt aud striking language of Carlyle,
let us give sketch of his personal appearance:
"Does the reader sec himf rather likely
figure, think; stands some fve-seven, or
nified. sixty years old hair and beard are get
ting gray. 1 figure of sufficient impressive
ness-not lovely to the man-milliner species,
nor pretending to be SO; massive build !;
considerable blunt aqueline proportions; strict,
jet copions lips, full of all tremulous sensi-
lilities, and also, il need were, of ferceness
call them stern-looking from under those
erTggy bfows, as if in Hfe-sorrow, and yet not
thinking sorrow on the whole, right noble
ion-faee aud hero-face aud to me royal
enough. such, or nearly such. is Shookbo-
Loosah. &. ,
The thoughtful man of leisure and lore, SO
unknown and ill-judged that unoccupied, I'M
1t all hours, annoys the over-tasked slaves of
business; he is to them an corresponding
anomaly, an ambulating enigma, q puzz!ing
riddle, q monstrous sphinx staring. at them
with mysterious eyes; q perfect nuisance, in
the shape Of an apparent human creature es-
srayed in the midst of their busting life. His
black blanket is to them what the torreadors
scarlet mantle is to the goaded bull: But why
should he pay any heed to those silly pratlers
Of a relentless and revengefnl world Has he
not the right to have his own ways and whlms,
- they will have theirsf Is the gaudy show
and praiseworthy than the naughty display of
bomerio poverty All! better, q thousand
aimes better, the oddness of this stern philoso-
eeptIicities, than the routine of the mimical
and slavish balloons of fashion, or the change
inl mood of the world-serving puppets! Away
with all such genteel and emasculated breed OF
well bred tops and strict observers of the
tedious ceremonial of aristocratic pride and
manners! Undoubtedly his unalterable char
acter shocks this VOLATILE aud luxnrlQus race
His obstipacy, unsocial habits, blunt frank
ness, everything in him, disagrees with the
heartless courtesies, tho jargon or vocabulary
of fashion, those terms and phrases perpetually
to be learnt and repeated. His undressed
beard, neither perfumed nor curled,
When unadorned. adorned the most
the roughness of his voice and wildness of his
look, his very best qualities, all in him seems
- them repulsive. He cannot relish the trivial
ase yancies of dull coxcombs, squabbling imps,
has all the egotistical pride and pecuiarities of
an nntamed intellect, and preserves the un-
asohsn unity of his original character.
There are some who dare say, sportingiy:
He smokes like Spanish fisherman, drinks
Ike o French trooper, and swears like West
afn steamboat captain, albeit he goes to church,
kneels down, aud prays like child or wo-
man" Well, what then 7 In that is he with
out many illustrious or opulent peers, oldish
and yonngish, models and imitators, leaders
and followers, all initiates in the bacchic mys-
hear laughing devil shout, in the name of
these whited sepulchres, Hang him in n bot
ale, like cat, and shoot at him, and he that
hits him let him be clapped on the shoulder
AS the solitary bird of Jove is bullied by the
fashionable bats, the-lion -teased by the buzz
zing flies, the wild buffalo by thickcning
swarms of mosquitoes the huge iron-clad
crocodile by the orchestra of croaking frogs;~
and, as the king of the mountain, the king of
she prairies, or the king of the dismal swamp,
seems to wonder at the rashness of his nnmer-
cas- assailants, SO the stern Man with-the-Black-
Blanket stares silently ut his petty challengers
with dsdainfnl astonishmept and plying mag
Aanimity. Wrapped up in his black blanket,
which hs sometimes lays aside for q reddish
gray one, he walks proudly along the streets,
Needless of the astonished and inqnisitive
crowd. What has he to do with the vapid talk
Of senseless and objectless idlerss He is be-
yond the reach of their pointlcss 1lings and
blunt arrows; or, if wounded, turning upon
shem like lnaddened bull, and with Il single
below he forthwith silences the chrping
legions of innocuous grasshoppers.
Who, then, is this singular personage9 He
is u scholar, like the great and good Alexander
nimitry; be- is n true poet and IL fine wit he
knows Greek and Latin; he reads German,
Spanish s;iiii Hebrew; he speaks and writes
English well and yet he is us poor and ragged
as were of old Homer or Cameons. One who is
very little skilled in physiognomy might mis-
take him for d homeless vagabond, an escaped
inmate of some madhouse, or "a disguised po
hseman-a very egregious mistake indeed
Bst if the hair Drained inhabitants of another
srates, he might teach them a useful lesson.
The language of this wit and sdraf't, often
pathcr loose and unretined, may dreadfully
ahock puritnnic ears, and put the blush to their
marble checks; Yet the stern brow of many
xsaye and virtuous matrons mil ht withstand
IL all, without blushipg or feeling their dig
nEty compromised, though inward conscious
aens might have smarted for q moment.
We have. been told that he is from snch
neSnantic place as the Choctaws have named
Rea5 -ka, from which woody recess and flow
er7 bewer-he occasionally sallies forth and
49, SO nit xypfh tntr and