The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1871-03-02
Personal ReeOlIectiOns OF Distinguish
ed Men.
BY THE .'FAT coNTRIBUToR."

Myonly recollection Of DemOstheEes
is his attempting to speak a piece at
district exhibition when he was boy,
and breaking down. He was reciting
the familiar lines:
s.You scarce expect one OF my age,
To speak in public on the stage;
And IL chance TO fall below
DemOsthenes--
At this point he hesitated, put the
corner Of his apron to his eve, burst
into tears and sat down, totally over
come by the allusiOn to himself and
BY the novelty of the situation. Cic-
ero, who was a lad at the same school,
made fun Of DemOsthenes, asking him,
derisiyely, if he hadn't better 60 and
hire out for an orator.
was with Julius Cesar when he
passed the RubicOn. He held a good
hand. and I told him he had better or
der it up, but he passed. The result
is we'll known; he lost the game.
Alexander tine Great and myself were
schOolmates. We were brought up
little girls together. Heused to amuse
himself, 1 remember, by smashing up
all the globes there were in school,
ALau LllEu Ell hON Al anu EAF OCL441g
there were no more worlds to conquer.
I happened to be with him when he
cut the GOrdian Knot. Many others
had tried in vain TO do it. 1t was
"knot for JO." Smart Aleek came
along and cut it the first time trying,
with patent cOrn-cutter.
Nero had one of the most sensitive
organizations 7 ever knew, and keen
/ " sympathized with human woes.
have seen him sit in the ampitheater
at Rome and weep bitterly when cap
tives were torn in pieces by wild
beasts. 1t is a base slander to say he
fiddled while Rome was burning. He
belonged to a fire-engine company,
and l saw him working at the brakes
myself. Some one saw him as he
helped to breaker down, and in the
excitement of the moment thought he
was fiddling, and so reported.
knew Shakespeare as long 9gO as
when he tended store for the Merchant
of Venice, and sold the Prints of Den
mark by the yard. He was an honest
lad with the yard-stick, giving Meas
ure for Measure. He always wanted
to be an actor, and was perpetually
quoting Shakespeare to customers
People used to leer at him for it; /
have even seen the King Lear. Shaks-
peare only laughed, and said they
were making Much Ado About Moth
ing, adding, "yOu can have it As You
Like It."
He was fond of the ladies, and pop
UIar scandal assOciating his name with
/ certain Merry Wives of Windsor, his
employer raised such Tempest about
his ears that he ran away and Joined
a variety company. He made his
debut as first grave-digger in OthellO.
DiOgenes was one of the most &C.
centric men / ever knew. His moth
| er was a washerwOman and he lived in
her tub, except on wash days, when
/ she had to use it to make living for
hirn. Although he gets a good deal
of credit nowadays for having lived
in tub, he didn't at the time of it,
The neighbOrs used to call him lazy
shiftless fellow, lOlling around in a
tub, talking philosophy to a lot of 9th
1 er gOOd-fOr-nOthings, instead of work
ing for a living.
4 good deal has been said about his
going around the streets of Athens
with a lantern "tO find man.
saw him at the time. He wanted to
/ find q man to stand treat. The
/ greatest remark of his that has been
preserved, was when he said: "If /
could Alexander the Great, had rath-
er Di-Ogenes ~
Columbus was a mild, sweet dispO-
sitiOned, but exceedingly thoughtful
boy, as 1 remember him at school,
When we boys were out playing, he
would sit and weep for hours over the
I Incompetence of the maps of the
period. He felt as though something
was wanting. He wasn't satisfied
with three-quarters of a globe, such
as were employed in the schools at
that time. He pined for the other
quarter. I recOllect his borrowing
quarter of me on two or three Occa'
i sions.
He used to tell US we were cont
nent O1tt, somewhere, and that when
he got big enough he meant to ruI
Z aWsIy TrUTu frUrTc5 go On Lile cana
and discover it; but we only laughed
at HIM, little thinking he would give
his name to the State Capitol of Ohio,
! l lost all traces of Christopher until
years afterward, when the telegraph
/ brought the announcement of his hav-
ing discovered America, which, up tC
that time, had successfully eluded the
most persistent efforts of our best dis
| Icoverers.- Cincinnati Tines.