New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-05-13
MY MISERY.

The long rains and the sudden plunge into
Summer weather in the present week nave
not hrlped us to escape the lassltude anu
nausea and general miscrabeness that belong
TO brain and body in April. Spring we may
iump. but not the Spring fever. 1t Is high
time we had made up our minds to tins peren-
NAL misery rs inevitable. English poets,
who seem to have hybernated with the bears
during Winter, and have come forth lean and
vigorous to the dawnng Spring, or have slept
with the daifodils until May breczes woke
them together to fresh life, are never tired OF
singing the renewal of Spring to themselves,
its strength, its gayety, the vital fire III rising
SAP or quickencd blood; "the roses bud, the
birds pair, the young mans fancy turns 10
Z" thoughts of love - and we go on echolng
the hacilncyed talk year after year. despite
the aching heads aud bilious skins ana
sick stomachs which Spring breezes invariably
bring to u.s. No doubt, Nature herself c0uld
adopt all that outgush, if she pleased, WIN
regard to vital fire and gayety. Nc ohe mas
had nothing to do all Winter but loaf ana
invite her soul to q merry making In spring
Corn and naples and dandelions have just
had their holiday; it would be but poor
story indeed if they did not go to work now
with some show of spirit But az for us men
and women we have not been ALTERNATING.
Whatever solid or hurried work an American
does in the year is usually packed into the
months between September and May. 1t Is
the pressed, close season OF trade, Oh 'he
courts. of journalism, lecturing, and scholar
ship. The amusemcnts, hot Indoor ana SUM-
ulating, are more of a drain on the nervous
system than relief; the food (for people who
did fc.D has been of a rich, bilious, and IN
digestible sort, and for people who did not
make eating a habit, the lack OF 1t has not
been highly conducive to strength or joyous
| ness.
SO it comes about that just at the point
when we ought to be reaching the end OF the
long lob and sitting down at least for a
| nooningr-when we drag ourselves out OF bed
in the morning fathers, housekeepers and school
| boys, our jaws sallow, our tempers irritable,
hot and cold shiyers creeping down our backs
in the absurdcst fashion-Spring comes dane
ing ND this way fower-crowned and Tobed III
green with her wind buses and pipe of birds
and waving banners, and public opinion calls
ont upon Us to be gay. If we could go out to
the fields to make friends with this be-praised
! young beauty, we might be healthy II not gay.
| But in front of the shverlng bodies and
rasped brains are the Spring trade to open,
and the Summer city elections to look after,
and the house to clean, and trousers and jackets
and bonnets TO buy for Jane and Dick and
| Bobl There is not mother OF a family III
the whole inland country whose soul does not
groan responsive to this lamentatiOn The
! truth il. we have deckcd and vailed and
crowned this nauseous and ill-tempcred season
| long enough, following the traditions OF our
English neghbors. We may as well look her
smarcly in the face and see what gifts she
carries for us, if we do not deal rightly with
her Malaria and measles and ague and typhoid
are some of the May blossoms which In the
damp soil this year promise to bear plenty OF
| fruit by August. Seriously, not only tho sea
son but our own bodies must be humosed ii
We would not have q worse thing than Spring
fever come upon IFS. Simply because of the
old belief that man as well as the plant was
stirred with fresh life at this time of the year.
instead OF having reached the ebb of exhaus-
ton, we urge ourselves, our wives and chill
dren, and the very cattle within our gates, to
| double exertiOns.
Instead, let us make haste slowly over these
coming weeks. We shall find use enough in
the July and August heats for any supertuous
vitality we may store up. If the baby sleeps
until noon, darken the room and keep quiet.
If Bob and Joe play truant to the woods, ask
no indiscreet questions about school. If the
new house is smoky, or the bills are unpaid,
if matters at Washington have not been to our
liking let us yet possess our souls in patience.
Gentle Spring is an enemy which will need all
our strength if we would come out of her
handling any lustier in body or healthier in
brain than the ghost of Hamlet's father.
Under the title Of An Atheists Funeral he
| yondop S,,n nrll;sbae an occornt of the bnral Of