Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1871-01-05

ron THE DEAF AND DUMB AND TnE BLIND.
Persons who are fond of playin
at croquet have often found tht
it is not the easiest thing in til
world to send a ball straightthroug
an arch. A failure to go throug
the first arch christens the luckles
player with the title Of "boohy"
and il in all the affairs Of life
failure to put things through prop
erly should be visited with u simi
lar penalty, what a multitude 0
boobies we should see.
In croquet the ball is often driy
en- from its vantage ground by til,
happy shot Of an antagonist, anC
sent whirling away to fearful dis
lance. All you can DO under sucl
circumstances is TO knock facl
again as fast as possible. Yol
know full well that you are accom-
pljshing nothing. You are merely
getting ready to do something, jus
asthousands Of other folks are whC
are pounding away in vain at
tempt to get where they can strike
d blow that will tell.
Your antagonist, meanwhile, goes
straight ahead toward the painted
post, contact with which is victory
and every time your turn comes
take a mischievous pleasure in re,
minding you, with uplifted" fore.
finger tIRt "yE' are knocking Jo'
poationR "
The World is a croquet-ground
on large scale. It's full Of play
ers whose chief business seems to
be toknock other peoples balls one
side, and send their own ahead. =
But, mind you, they do not avow
this purpos as the croquet-player
does. They do not let everybody
see what they are driving at. They
seem ofttimes to be aiming at one
thing, when the real prize Of their
life is a very different &ne. Not
unfrequently they striRe well-di-
rected blows, calculated to give
things an impulse in the direction
of right Duty seems to be the
goal they are making for; and yet,
if you could only look within, you
might find that duty and usefulness
were only balls for them to put their
foot on, while striking for purely
selfish end. In short, while seem
ing to be earnest workers for no
Bile purpose, they are, in fact, sim
ply knocking for position"
There are plenty of restiessspir-
its who want what they never
ought to have, and who are willing
to do almost anything to accom-
plish their purposes.
The croquet,player send his ball
too far, perchance, and then has to
knock it back to where he started,
and begin again, You shall see
men who commit themselves to
movements that seem to be gather
ing power and popularity, on the
topmost wave Of which they hope
to rise to preferment. But let a re-
vulsion in public opinion take
place, let current events so shape
themselves shat their impassioned
Iutterances no longer reflect the
popular opinion. and they at once
comprehend that they have gone
too far. Therefore, they make haste
to 60 back to the point from which
they started For, like crabs, they
can 90 backward or forward with
equal facility; and as, like crabs,
their faces point in the same diIec-
ton as at first, they can very plausi-
bly, claim that they have not chang
ed their course at all, But they
will recede from every high posi-
ton they have taken as surly as
the tides will ebb, and a good deal
faster,
The inference with regard to
such persons is that theil fiery zeal
was not hot enough to stand the
wet blanket of q vigorous opposi-
tion They were not going to be
martys to princiI le, or suffers for
the sake of an idea. They were
only "knocking for position
OF all the men in the world,
your thoroughbred politician
knows best just how to drive the
balls, and just when to strike them;
and lie ought to, for he has an nn-
limited amount of practice. 1t
were uncharitable to denounce all |
men who hold office as timeservers
but for every man who ought to be |
in office, and who could honor his |
office, there are a hundred who are !
sighing for political preferment
without a single qualification forit.
A noted demagogue once came /
out early in the season with let
ter, expressly disclaiming all inten-
tion to be a candidate, and assuring /
the dear public that on no account
whatever could he so far overcome
his love for agricultural pursuits
and his repugnance to the cares
and strifes Of political life as to ac-
cept a nomination.
Said one who knew him Of old;
~ see by the papers that the Hon.
Mr.. So and So is fshingNfor nom
nation at the coming convention
mo, indeed" said the party to
whom this remark was addressed'
''he has positively refused to allow
his name to be used" "Ah! sald
the other man; athen be sure that
Inn