The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-07-11
HOBBIES.

large number OF men and women whose Tim
is not taken up by absorbing occupations
would either commit suicide or die of shee
WEAKNESS and ennui. Abolish hobbies, an
one-half the commerce of civilized countrie
would perish. Most men pursue their every
day occupations with more regularity thai
enthusiasm, but whenever they have o chanc
to ride their favorite hobby.horses. tn
amount of cheerful endurance, and the I'm
tagging interest displayed BY them consi
tute one of the most beautiful sights 10
mortal eyes to dwell upon. The explanation
Of this fact is, that while circumstances
often drive men into a profession. it il
inclination and choice which mount
them upon their respective hobbies
Hence it follows that the hobby is often SC
different from the calling, and that the calling
Of one man is the hobby of another, and uice
vrsa. The hobby of the great Cardinal
Richelieu was tragedy, and ne felt more fiat
tered whenever told that his wretched Pyran,.
was superior to Comedies Cid than by the
highest encomiums justly bestowed upon his
wonderful achievements as q statesman
Angling was Paleys hobby, and he felt hap
pier in watching the writings of gudgeon
than in catching a rival controversialist be-
tween the horns Of philosophical dilemma.
Louis XIV had great pretensions as .
dancer, and his astute successor Louis XVIII
delighted in the composition of amatory
verses and Horatian epigrams. Nero's I'D
ding and King James's polemical war
fare against the use of tobacco are familiar
illustrations of regal hobby horses. and the
well-known hankering Of our American Chic
Magistrate after miscellaneous gifts, may be
sharitably construed as an extraordinary de-
velopment of hobbyism. Phil Sheridan's
hobby is the capture of imaginary banditti.
and Ben Buffers the collection of choice
specimens Of silver plate, while his musical
Lieutenant Neal BOWS attention was conferred
upon the acquisition of pianos Of European
workmanship.
Lowells weakness for " brass tacks" is the
most notable trait Of that carpet-bag Solon's
character, and Beecher's monomania for
promiscuous kissing, paroxysmal or religious,
is also case in point
Bat the privilege of riding hobby is not
confined to great men, as everybody's ex-
perience will at once suggest. For instance,
ono mans hobby is books which he never
reads. He spends his life and all his superflu-
Gus cash in the collection of volumes of which
he never peruses more than the title pages.
His shelves are grooming beneath the cru
dition of all ages and countries. He gloats
over the possession of the rarest works, and
will travel great distances for the mere chance
Of purchasing unique specimen to add to
his collection. It would take him century
10 spell over what he has already accumu-
lated; but he never dreams of such thing
he reads the catalogue, the inventory of his
riches, and nothing else. Every addition to
that is an addition to his satisfaction, because
it is an additional grace to his hobby.
Another mans hobby is pictures His mind
is profoundly impressed with the glories of
art, the mysterious gloom Of Rembrandt,
the savageness of Salvador Rosa, the ''cor-
regiosity of Corregio." He dreams Of the
old masters, and haunts the shops of the pic ]
ture dealers, and hangs about the auction
rooms. He is learned in oils and varnishes
and knows all about Raphael, an ''original"
Of which hangs in his parlor. He breakfasts
with Holbein, dimes with Rubens, sups with |
yandyke and goes to bed with Claude Lor-
rains He is never taken inf course not! |
The hobby Of third man is autography. |
He sees charm in the handwriting Of illus |
irious persons superior to anything else that |
ever belonged to them. His treasures are |
scraps of paper, old letters. blank
leaves torn from old books, or ranked en-
velopes that once enclosed an invitation to
dinner from George the Fourth, or an order
Of George Washington on his house butler
Sor q dozen Of Madeira.
A fourth rides the musical hobby, and goes
nerrily through the world to the sound of
fddle, and flute, and horn, and double bass.
He puffs and scrapes, and blows and thumps
away the days of his years upon all manner
Of instruments, and his mouth is full Of Mo-
Fart, and Beethoven, and Haydn. and Schu.
mann, and Wagner and Mendelssohn, and |
Rubinstein, and Rossini, and Donizstti, and
Verdi, and his whole life is one song; and
when at last he sinks into eternal silence, it
b with the blessed hope of . joyful da capo
in the land of celestial harmony.
A fifth goes crazy over the triumphs of
Morphy, and devotes his life to the chess.
board. These are the aristocratic, the thor
sughbred hobby-horses, which imply Ger.
iain amount of intellectual culture and vigor
IN the riders thereof but we once knew in
Paris, two gentlemen of leisure and fortune,
one Of which had a costly gold, or silver. or
jewel mounted cane for every day Of the year,
whilst the other had gathered pipes Of every
shape, material and value from all the coun-
tries where smoking is practiced.
This catalogue of hobbies might be
swelled ad iiyinitosm. there being quite as
many as there are dversities in the minds of
individuals. Pearls, diamonds and rubies are
the expensive hobbies of those who can afford
10 mount them. An English millionnaire's