Perrysburg journal. (Perrysburg, Wood Co., O. [Ohio]) 186?-1965, 1872-06-21
Eccentric Characters.

Eccentric Characters.
THE greatest men that history records
have not been without their little weak
nesses, somewhat llattering to humanity.
because proving them to be simply men,
and not demi gods. Thus, Sir Walter
Raleigh, in his best days, was a consum-
mate dandy, and it is said appeared at
court with six thousand dollars worth of
diamonds in his shoes, while his sword
hilt and baldric were studded with pre-
cious stones of great value. Bruyere,
whose written lines were all aglow with
poetry and wit, was coarse, heavy, and
vulgarly stupid in society, and, as con-
temporary declares, was in consequence
the subject of many a practical Joke.
Next there occurs to us the great philoso-
pher, Descartes, who had a perfect pas
sion for wigs, not unlike Sir Richard
Steele, who would sometimes spend forty
guineas on black peruke. Corneille, the
French Shakespeare, spoke in language so
ungrammatical as to mortify his friends
constantly, while his conversation was the
acme of stupidity. What was said of Des.
cartes might apply also to him, viz. that
he had received mis- intellectual wealth
from nature in solid bars, not in current
coin. Who ever thinks of Goldsmith
without calling up that irrepressible
peach-colored coat 1t is as immortal as
its master, and one never forgets the Ger
man flute that fed and lodged the itinerant
in his wanderings over half of Europe.
Yet the man who wrote "The Deserted
Village" Citizen of the World" etc,
couldn't talk" it was said, "any more
than parrot"
According to johnson, Pope had such
a high opinion of himself as 10 think he
was one of the pivots of the system of
the world; the little, deformed satirist
was pride personified Vanity builds its
nest and matches its brood in high places
Napoleon prided himself on the smallness
of his hands and feet. Sir Walter Scott
was prouder of being Sheriff of Selkirk-
shire than of his reputation as the author
of Waverley. Byron was vain to excess; ;
vaiD OF his genius, his rank, and vain
even of MS vices. What contrasts pre-
sent themselves, as the panorama of the
mind unrolls the imprint of memory!
Dryden, the illustrious poet, was yet all
that he described himself to be- "Slow in
conversation, dull in humOr, saturnine,
and reserved" The trite saying, that no
man is hero to his own valet, has abun
dant Illustration. The Count de Gram
mont once surprised Cardinal Richelieu
jumping with his servant to see which
could leap the highest, and by joining in
the ridiculous sport, and permitting the
Cardinal to beat him by few inches, he
gained his fixed friendship and great po-
lltical preferment Salvador Rosa was
1ul! OF fun and frOlic, often playing in i'm
promptu comedies, and was more than
once detected by his friends in the streets
OF Rome dressed as a mountebank Me-
dlocrity is ever voluble, and genius oft
enest reticent. Addison's conversational
deficiencies are well known, nor was the
great master of English literature himself
Ignorant of the fact, as he used to declare
that he had good bank at home, but
didn't carry small change with him.
The favorite recreation of Petavius, the
learned Jesuit, was, after application to
study and writing for hours, to twirl his
chair steadily for five or ten minutes.
That profound divine, Samuel Clark, after
becoming weary over his books, would
often place the chairs and tables in row,
and be discovered jumping over them
consecutively hack and forth. Cujas, the
famous lawyer, studied lying on the floor
with his books about him. Odd enough
most certainly are the fancies of genius
Splnoza took strange and absorbing de-
light in seeing spiders fight, returning to
thls strange amusement frequently during
the day, while a singular contrast and
yet partial resemblance was seen in Maglia-
becchi, the famous librarian of the Duke
OF Tuscany. He was passionately fond
of spiders, fed and protected them, had
his rooms filed with them, and would not
permit them to be disturbed. He was
profound student, yet hourly returned to
his strange pets as a relaxation and
amusement. Moses Mendelssohn, called
the Jewish Socrates, passed hours to.
gether counting the tiles on a neighbor-
ing roof, IAN occupation which he found
very composing and quieting, mentally
and physically Cowper, while prey
to the deepest melancholy, sort of mono
mania, indeed, wrote that famous bur
lesque, John Gilpin, and passed his leis-
ure hours in making bird-cages and breed
ing rabbits.
Nina, the justly famous Swiss painter,
always had room full of cats, and one
upon his shoulder while drawing. Even
DR.. johnson, the blunt old philosopher,
petted his cat constantly, and kept it with
him at night, when "he made it quite
comfortable at the foot of the bed" On
the contrary, it will be remembered that
Henry Ill, of France, could not remain
in the room with cat. Sometimes the
idiosyncrasies of great men are repulsive;
Ior instance, Goethe, the noblest German
of them all, had tondness for snakes,
and petted tame adder, while at the
same time he had most unaccountable
aversion to dogs, which was exhibited
whenever he saw one. Erasmus, the pro
found scholar and philosopher, was terri
fed, and would almost faint at the sight
OF fish. Thomson's greatest delight
was to saunter into his garden and eat
ripe peaches off the trellises, with his
hands in his pockets, an inVariable prac-
tice in the fruit season; and Gray said he
should like to pass his life on sofa, read
ing French novels. The cynical but pro
found Rochefoucauld sought inspiration
in raw onions, and our own
Choate, like DR.. Shaw, the naturalist,
would drink ten cups of strong
tea at a sitting. Thackeray felt so
sensitive at the diminutve character of
his nose that he never forgot to present
full face TO you when talking, aud on all
occasions to prevent exposing his profile.
Lamb suffered so as to nearly tumble
over his half-ultered sentences, yet the
pen of Eta glided like a fairy wand as it
recorded the lines now so tenderly
cherished
Cromwell, who was said TO "liye upon