The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1870-06-19
[For the Morning Star and Catholic Messenger. |
TAMMANY, THE SAGE.

[For the Morning Star and Catholic Messengsr.I
TAMMANY, THE SAGE.
Reader mine, will you follow mo through
many strange places unexplored and unffe-
quented but by the wild, roaming beasts,
crossing many weedy paths and devious tracks
of uncivilized and lusty hunters, and detecting,
now aud then, the half-obliterated vestiges Of
some hardy travellers who have ventured be-
fore us in these primeval regions of nature :
dusty y streets, iithy CUTTERS full Of sssgnast
water, it's noisy tumult of busy men, its harsh
dscord of heavy rolling wheels and hard
stamping. of horse. hoofs. Let us be off at
once, as if just set free, after o long and pain
full captivity in Goddess Babylon. Oh, how
good it is to flee from the crowded mart of
mammon- worshipers and political wranglers,
atmosphere all fraught with the fragrant and
invigorating effluvia of the forest and the
prairie, waited by the ever tanning breeze that
comes from the neighboring beautiful, azure
DO you behold, gentle reader, not far from
the green spot we are standing now upon, q
small and low hut, embosomed in the tall
weeds that grow luxuriantly around it, waving
to and fro as the breeze passes lightly over
them Z In that sequestered nook, aud beneath
that humble roof, lonely and quietly, lived,
lond ago, old Tammany, the Sage. His hair
and beard had grown as hoary % the thick
moss that hung over his head from the branches
of an oak tree he had planted to shade his re-
mote dwelling. Some say that he was q French
times; others, that the Indians claimed him
as ono of their own pure blood; but the
greater number regarded him as the con of .
his original condition was yelled 10 mystery,
as that of some among the greatest personagcs.
He had been baptized by Q saiutly Carmelite
monk, and ever since had preserved unsoiled
home was of difficult access, his visitors having
to wend their way through thickets, brakes
and briars. and not without sprinkling the
their wounded feet, not few had come TO enjoy
the wise conversation of this selfeducated and
venerable anchoret,. attracted as much by the
moral Improvement and scientific proficiency.
None had ever returned home unrequited and
not bettered. Every one looked upon him as
nos by the slow process of the Roman Courts,
but by the enthusiastic proclamation Of the
admitting people: Vor popaH, cor dol. His
name and title have been given to piCtnresque
In him something of the anstere ruggedness of
st. John the- Baptist, whose laundering elo-
quence shook the incestuous throne Of Herod,
ners, who were to be the murderers of God.
Old Tammany, in his tanned savageness, had
always proven himself o true PHILOSOPHERS, Of
an affable and subdued temper, we'll disciplined
by long sorrow and severe trials; for he had
had, very often, to bear with the tedious and
vexations loquacity of impertinent intruders.
emerging from the neighboring towns, and
these being, too, of tho most csuilised species,
that very species known rs having, In all
times, put to the severest test the meekness
and forbearance of saints.
Among the things he praised and valued the
most, were silence, solitude, repose prayer and
contemplation. His remarkable philosophy
might be summed up in the following apoph-
thegmatic sentence "few books, few words and
few Deeds" He would often repeat: LIE
bien ne fait pas de bruis, ct lie bruit fait pas
lie bien,"-no noise is to be made out of good,
and NO good out of noise. He could not listen,
without being q little ruffied, to the noisy
talk about active numbers, tumultuous ma
jOrities, headlOpg multtudes, voluminous
writings and endless speeches. mo number"
would he affirm, with digniaed tranquility,
can equal in beauty, strength and fecundity,
the great unity. All varieties, all multiplied
ties, all numbers, all scattered rays must be
brought back to, and reconnected with, their
principle and law of universal harmony aud
| order. The most powerful agents in nature
are the most Silent, invisible and mysterious /:
grads Of ssings and ssnss 80 Give
| the few, give me the one, to work out wonders,
in silence and secrecy. Behold the eagle
soars alone, aud swallows fly in focks. Away
with turbulent and resbless mRiorities, unlees
| subjected to the One Chief Ruler. Genius is
unique, and mediocrity 10 commonplace. Soius
| sapif solus regnat. Ask not, then, of what use
parched earth, the hidden flower blooominR in
the dreary waste, the invisible fluid winging
| its flight along the wire that 10 stretched from
ocean to ocean: they are each fraught with
| life and thought and love! They fulfill their
| divine destiny. None Of Gods creations are
creations apart, they are part of q whole.
1t is related that once many curious visitors
had gathered around his rustic abode-stPange-
| ly-costumed hunters, Spanish fishermen with
| swarthy faces and brswny limbs, siy-looking,
| far wandering sons of YaDkeedom; and be-
sides, know not how. perhaps drawn by of
fetal duty, come of the most Jealous, active
and hard-working members of the Catholic
priesthood had made the way hither, and
! stood aloof in anxious expectation: O fit andi.
dience for the eloquent old Sage. who began,
! in slow but clear tone, his highly philosop hi-
| cal and ascetic, although not unrhetorical,
| hon,ily, which he did not pretend to give as
| new or original, j n form OF substance.
| Where God is concerned. much worship
comes out of few thoughts. His n,agnificence
in our conceptions is not in the richness of de-
| tails, but in the vastnsss of solitary grandeur
| set in immense space. like the consultations of
the Southern seas. Thus we may adore the
secret life of our Lord out of sight of all His
creatures, hidden frOm the first, hidden now,
forever hidden. To love 10 better than 10
know. Indeed, it is itself q higher kno wIedge.
Love shuns publicity. The secret Of the