Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1871-11-30
EATON OHIO, THURSDAY NOVEMBER 80, 1871

EATON, OF
done, went up stairs and quietly seat
ed myself at table"
And what did you say to your
wife2"
Nothing"
"In your place, should have wrung
her neck" : rGlEsIr,.. t-s.-r-.
The apothecary smiled silly.
"That same night" he replied, af-
ter supper, went down again into the
laboratory. Fatigue and weariness of
mind forbade my continuing my labor
L sat down in that arm chair and fell
asleep. On awaking at one o'clock
in the morning, saw that the candle
had gone out; but the rays of a star
broke through the grating, and reflect
ed the metallic plate at the far end of
the cellar. While my attention was
fixed on this luminous spot, l was
thinking of my wife; 1 felt impelled
to correct her; a thousand little home
discomforts passed through my head /;
1 fell off to sleep again. The next day
all was forgotten, till, happening to cast
my eyes on the plate, 1 saw there
what 2-my dream of the past night i'm
printed on it with striking truthful
ness my wife, the dining-room, the
clock on the chimney, the windows at
the back, the little yard beyond-n1y
househould interior to the smallest de-
tails. Only fancy played in the scene
to certain extent 1 was about to adj
minister correction to Madame
Schnaps ! ..i .s.. .......t-
"Imagine my enthusiasm. 1 speedily
conceived my spy-glass. compre-
hended that the brain of man is like
the eye of the fly, an optical insttu-
ment with a thousand faucets that
whatever is reflected in it may come
from it by refraction, and imprint it
self upon chemical substance, the Sc
cret of which had discovered.
"Thus, dear Doctor, all your pas
sious, all your desires, all your
thoughts, form themselves in this spy
glass. You improyise better by look
than by speech, you materialize instan-
taneously the intellectual world moving
within your mind"
This discovery seemed to me miracu-
lous.
Master Schnaps - extraordinary
man l'' cried, s" suffer me to embrace
you. Greater than the pyramid of
Cheops, your memory will descend
through the coming ages, and shine in
the future like star of the first mag
nitude. But beg of you to enhghten
me on one point. How can you inject
doses of philosophy, or of any other
science ?'
" In this manner" replied Schnaps,
highly fattered by my compliments
d" but first allow me to place before you
some general considerations of the
highest interest. You may have re-
marked, Benedum, that great philoso-
pliers, great mathematicians, great
poets, and generally all great ideologists,
end Scoffed at during their
lives, dishonored, despised, and some
times even hunted like wild beasts,
they become, after their death, the prey
of a certain class of individuals known
under the name of practical men. A
great deal of beautiful sentiment has
been written, during the last three
thousand years, against this use of
genius. by mediocrity but that does
not prevent things going on, at the
present time, exactly as they went on
crates, and many other celebrated
ideologists they persecute, they kill
them,' safe to make for themselves
regulations, and to coin money out of
their discoveries All this is passably
melancholy and distressing, L admit,
Doctor but at bottom nothing is more
simple and l will even say more natural.
For an idea to succeed in this world, it
must have the support of the masses.
Now the masses, who don't know how
to raise themselves to the light of the
pure ideal, admirably understand the
ideal materialized, that is to say, fact
This is the sole source of the pretended
power of practical men over over ideo.
-1ogues. Those fellows are rich, power
full, they govern the world, statutes are
erected to them. Why ?-because they
set it down to imbecility that any poor
devil of great man should ever die OF
hunger in garret. Is that true, yes OF
mop"
&" It's positive, Master Schnaps.'
"Well," continued the apothecary
with an ironical smile, "my spy-glass
will suppress the practical men and re
store to the ideologues the superiority
which is their due; it will materializt
ideas, and put them in direct commu
nication with the masses Let us sup
pose, for example, that 1 wish to take {
| lavement in metaphysics l apply my
eye to the lens. You read Kant to me
and in the proportion and to the exten
| to which hear you, and his reasonin;
enters my head, will it pass forth from
my eyes, and print itself upon the pre-
pared plate it will ematerialize itself
take bodily form see it, it is real
positive; l can have no doubt of its ex
istence, since it is recognized by m,
senses; and this result is obtained b
my lavement."
While Schnaps was explaining to III
this great mystery, furious desire t
possess the spy-glass seized on me-"
" Ny dear friend," l said to him, "
hope you will make several of thes
spy glasses. Such discovery belong
to entire humanity"
"To humanity!' he cried; Il shoI:l
like to know what humanity has don
for mel 1t has treated me as a mac
man, it has compelled me to live wit
an insupportable wife, it would hav
left me to die of starvation, like 6
many other inventors, if l had not ha
the resource of selling drugs"
"But you will obtain public conside
ation-universal esteem and admir
ton
"What do l care for the admiratio
of heap of idiots ?" cried the apoth
cary. "Take away from them the di
coveries of Gutenberg, Galileo, Newtol
and Volta, and there would be nothin