New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-03-02


strone. learned or eloquent, with trumpet Oh
his own and lungs of leather quite able 10
sound il. He has a proclivity to print. IL
thrills him TO see his name in the newspapers
and the monthly magazines; he writes verses,
lectures. acts tragedy or comedy, paints pic
tures. walks thousand miles in thousand
hours. dresses more artisticaly. plays billiards
more lnfallibly sings more sweetly, converses
more charmingly than most OF MS iehow-
creatures; may be, he breaches to congre-
CATION as large as small army; possibly ne
raises the best pigs or peaches OF the
season, or becomes insolvent Tor an lncredipie
amount of money, or makes an exhlDiuoh VI
himself in the House of Representatives, or Is
the patriarch of small town and holds all
the rural offices. He is not neutrality-suspicious.
famous, celebrated, respected, notorlous-it Is
all one to him. The condition OF his content
is to be talked about-what men say OIL MIN
is of less Importance. Sometimes he lives ana
breathes upon the merit of dead ancestor
like the young Pennsylvania Quaker VINO IN
formed Mr.. Dickens that bis grandfather In
vented the celebrated Cold Pressed Castor
Oil. What we call vanity, conceit, self-suf-
ficiency, very frequently is no more than
desire to do something well Tor
the sake of the worlds approval. but
in estimating men OF the stamp WHICH
we have indicated, it is impossible not TO feel
that we are dealing with the second-rate and
the mediocre. This restless desire OF dlstnc-
ton is something much lower Ito use Robert
Halls words) than "a delicate senslbility to
" character sober desire of reputation,
"wish to possess the esteem of the wise and
g." eoodn 1t is an infrmity shared by the king
on his throne and the clown of the circus, by
the erudite and the uneducated, by the mighty
and the mean-but it is still an infirmlty.
1t is a little notifying, considering now
much we make of famOusness, to discover
how easily it may be secured in an age Oh
newspapers. Almost anybody may be much
spoken of and widely heralded if he is WILL
ing to pay advertising prices, and has SUI
fcient persistence. The public journals, how
ever are quite at the mercy ot thooe WHO
burn to be known. However the columns
may be watched or tended the p0mpous, the
pushing or the pertinacious Will break down
all barriers, and get into them, although ne
may be compelled to commit suicide, moral
or physical, to accomplish his purpose. what
ono sheet declines another is glad to have;
and whoever is much talked about is neces-
sarily put into print as a matter OF intelli-
pencc to which the OmnivOrOus readers OF a
newspaper are entitled for their money. IL
onv obscure man burning to be ilustrious
shall happen to read these lines, we bid him
to be of good cheer. What with crime III all
its varieties, folly in all Its phases, the worlds
love OF the odd, the novel, and the amusing,
and the ease with which he may attach him.
self to even important affairs, to be the fly on
the coach wheel, it shall go hard with him II
he do not have his name Ia everyb0dys
mouth for an eternity of nine days. IL tnere
were offices to insure nOtOriety, we do not
think that the premium would be very high
There is a quality of character called Com
mon Sense, and we suspect that those who
have modicum of it are learning in these
scandal teeming DAYS how gracious thing it
is to be utterly unknown. To vary the old
quotation. we may say that the post OF pleasure
is private one. It isn't everybody who rel
ishes being the subject of universal chatter,
of miles upon miles of leading articles, of jests
in the bOudOir and the barrOom. 1t isn't
everybody who cares to be dis cussed and dis
sected by the lawyer first, then by the jour-
nails, and at last by the whole population. 1t
isn't everybody who could find himself perpet-
ualy printed and not go mad. There is
coarse familiarity which a gentleman will not
submit to if he can help himself; he shrnks
even from a strange hand laid upon his coat
sleeve as a proclamation of his person. and
he snubs his fellOw-traveer in the railway
cars who pushes the crOsS-eXaminatiOn too
closely. Every man should regard himself
somewhat as a king, and should keep within
the hedge of his personal divinity. Lord of
"himself though not of lands" sings one poet
"My mind to me a kingdom is" sings an
other. There is dignity which is quite con-
sstent with poverty, and which may be equally
maintained in either fortune. There is per-
sonal sacredness which should not be disre-
garded by another without our just resent
ment. The delicate mind shrinks from any
invasion of its domain, and III ct arms resists
the trespass But SO many people to-day are
at large, not merely naked, but without even
their skins, that perhaps a mans ownership of
himself-long disputed in the court of public
opini0n-is at last to be utterly abrOgated. In
such case we shall still have plenty of
EgOsm, but the royal and respectable 81
Myself" will be banished forever.