Marshall County Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1856-1878, 1871-11-23
The Ornniscient Man.


Every one we presume, knows Iaa
who knows everybody. By affinity, il
not by blood, he is own brother to the\
man who knows everything; but he is \
vastly more entertaining and companion
able fellow He is bound to be clever
and agreeable, and above all things, sym
pathetic, or he would not know every
body. To know many people argues the
possession of several excellent qualities
such as tact, amiability, unselfshness,
magnetism A man may have these, t9
be sure, and yet not know everybody. ID
do that he must have a sort of genius,
genius for oooiabili.y This is not per
haps 2 lofty gift, but VIC LIQUID say not
rare one; but under most circumstances it
Is a pleasant one.
The man who knows everybody differs
in one respect from the man who knows
everything; he is not a dispenser OF what
goes under the head of useful information;
he is not eternally setting his fellow men
right in the matter of statistics, history,
geography, and philology. He is not
necessarily well read man his gossip is
not born of books people, and not things,
arc his speciality. He is generally per-
son of middle age, for his knowledge is a
kind which is gained by time and expert
ence; has travelled much indeed, he is
travelling perpetually. The Wandering
Jew of the legend is not nlore uneasy
spirit. You will find him-we are speak
ing of the American type-at Baden in
the hight of the season, and after the
season is over, he is smoking chiboque
in Constantinople he is stopping tem-
porarily at the best hotel in London; he
is at every Unknown watering place in
the world he's on all the trains and
steamboats, going everywhere, and never
misses being passenger in every old
stage coach that is numbering along some
out-of-the-way road. If chance lakes you
to an unheard- of horse hotel in the
loneliest part of New England or in
Southern States, you will find the man
VITO knows everybody sitting on the
porch, waiting for you as if by ap
pointment. He is. the first person that
salutes you on your arrival at Yokohama.
If you were cast, like Robinson Crusoe,
on an uninhabited island, you would dis
cover his footprints on the beach before
you had time to dine upon those tooth
some varieties of mollusks which always
throw themselves providentiallF and with
remarkable precision at the feet of ship
wrecked mariners.
As general thing he is pleasant per
son TO meet. His varied knowledge of
all your friends and their antecedents rem
der him especially agreeable if you en-
t counter him in foreign land. To say he
is like letter from home is to describe
him feebly. He is like whole post Of
: flee of letters. By virtue of his familiarity
5 with persons and affairs connected with
| your own sphere, he becomes in few
, minutes an old friend of twenty years
standing. But though he is communica-
e tive to the last degree, and seemingly u
e open as daylight, certain sort of mys
l. terry invariably attaches itself to him. Il
: is not clear how he has had the time ant
e opportunity to know such multitude q
}, people A man in mercantile or profes
j. sional life is necessarily brought in con
| tact with numerous persons; but, afte
i. all, he moves in a narrow circle; he i
e constantly meeting the same or the sam
kind of man. He does not get out of hi
set. Like the society of small town
the society of the great world is divide'
into cliQues, innumerable circles revoly
ing around each other. Now the ma
~ who knows everybody, does not appear /
be under the same limitation as othe
folks. He has managed somehow to swim
=, around many circles, counting his acqualr
g tanccs in every grade of life, from tn
humblest to the highest. Our friend
not to be confronted for instant with til
;, social bore who thrusts himself in every
- where and is only tolerated The ma
:. who knows everybody is welcome. Ant
= indeed he deserves to be cherished II
", is proof that human nature is better tha
= We think it is. He either sees it wit
cleverer eyes than other men. or else /
. brings to the study heart full of Chri
tian charity. He knows everybody, an
is not disgusted. PhiladelphiG Comme
cia