The Portland daily press., 1879-04-26
Naturally enough the most conspicuous of


nght-workers was fanatic. All good causes
have had their enthusiasts and bigots.
Honore de Balzac carried the use of the
small hours to- an extreme, as he went to ex-
tremes in all things he undertook. There
were not enough of them for him. He made
an artificial darkness, and built him.
sslf a room where no ray Of sunlight
could penetrate. He undertook to do
away with latitude, and to introduce into
France the long days and nights of the frig-
Id zone. He would shut himself up in his
darkened room, aud keep his candles burning
for months, and there compose. Then, tie
romance done, he would come out into the
sun and sleep or Idle about for other months.
lie was melancholy illustration OF the false
hood of extremes. No man should sit nm
more than one night at time, When dav
breaks he should seek his bed, and do no Ia
Dor until night falls again. If he disregards
this rule of conduct he will kill himself as
Balzac did. And even while his strength and
brain hold his performances will be as un-
natural and unsatisfactory as a theatrical
"matinee." He is dsobeying the laws of
nature, forsaking the middle way, giving
himself up to excesses. Let us visit him
with severest condemnation.
-Balzac, of course, had TO depend on 9TH
er strength than his own to make his artifi.
cial nights. To his honor be it said be
Stunned that coarsest instrument which men
have made use of to quicken their wits and
concentrate into day,-or better night-the
power that should be spread over a week, and
he had recourse to the finest, the most deli
cate Of all stimulants. However we may
condemn his judgment we cannot refuse to
approve his taste. He found in coffee an in
spiration greater and finer and more equabe
than he could find in wine. He selected the
choicest of all the stimulants that man has
ever used to spur iaded brain. The deli
cate intoxication of it is as far removed from
the wild delirium of alcohol or the indolent
china. Coffee, as Pope long ago discovered,
makes the politician wise
And see through all things with his half-shut eyes,"
and offers equal benefit to the poet. 1t is the
only stimulant that has given a religion to
the world. Under its influence conquering
race overran three-fourths of the old world
and carried its flags to the walls of Belgrade
and the plains of Tours. The splendid Cal
iphates of Bagdad and Cordova were based
on coffee-bags-that is, If we drop into the
Buckle line of thought, we can ass ume they
were and argue that modern civilization
spraDg from coffee-berry. 1t has been
urged, and Yorick heartily believes In the
theory, that the black broth of the Spartans
was coffee. 1t is certain that the most bril-
liant of modern nations is addicted to the use
of the Arabian bean, and that under the lead
of the greatest of coffee drinkers the French
"tri-color made the tour of the world" If
the French have fallen from their high estate
1t is because they have trifed with the sacred
gift and introduced to their dinner-tables the
gloria, cup of coffee made coarse and
strange by base and alien dash of alcohol.
The nation that debases coffee deserves to be
conquered by the Germans, and should ex-
pect no sympathy from civilized peoples.
France merits her fate.
But he who wishes to enjoy the night,
and really loves it, will have 10 recourse to
stimulants of any kind. 1t his eyslids need
propping up it is time he closed them.
Sleep is not to be put aside. She is shy and
suspicious and without even spice of CO.
quetry. She will come to your arms and
give her favors with unse6sh prodigality if
you but eagerly and unreservedly welcome
her. But beware how you trihe with her.
She will not be carelessly put aside. The
| Care Charmer is not to be neglected nor re-
huffed with impunity, and the tired eye-lids
may WOO her in vain that have once refused
to be beguled by her soft touch. This may
| be set down as a rule of conduct: He who
cannot keep awake on cold water should 90
| to bed.
Yorick does not say that a cup of
coffee followed by good pipe, is inadmis-
sible at any hour of the day or
night. Coffee indeed is the only drink
that goes well with tobacco. The luxurious,
East found that out long ago. The West has
| yet to learn the lesson, though there be Occ-
dentals who know that the depth. of delight
| is 10 be found in alternate sip and puff.
As the cup grows cool sooner than the tobac-
co-p;pe one must smoke long after he ceases
drinking. But SO good is coffee the memory
of it will linger as long as the tobacco burns.
And right here Yorick wishes to enter pro-
test against the idea commonly held by peo.
pie and vehemently advanced by some "tem-
perance'' advocates that smoking leads to
drinking" alcoholic beverages. No reformed
man." no one who has ever been subject to
the dangerous fascination OF alcohol, will tell
you that. For it is not true. The topper
who has ever learned to love tobacco usually
likes to smoke after he drinks-he usually
likes to smoke after he does anything. But
pipe of tobacco never induces desire Tor
liquor. The man who says it does may be
Set down as man who doesn't know what
he is talking about. A little book heretofore
quoted by Yorick. "The History and My stery
OF Puffing," says: s'To enter into the true
relish of cigar no drinks should be allowed;
and even coffee, the only assimilating bever-
age, should be sparinsly INDUCED in." That
is the testimony of sincere lover OF the great
plant!
with the vigil pipe in the watches of the
night. But he should take coffee as he
would marry woman, because he loves her
and not for what she will bring. Coffee
which is drunk merely to keep one awake
resents the base use to VIII ch it is put and
becomes foe. The legend of Caucasus is an
ancient illustration of this truth. Prone
theus stole fire from heaven to keep his cof-
fee-pot boiling. He fell into over-indulgence
and drank so much coffee to keep him awake
while he gave Zeus an earful, that he disor-
dered his liver. Hence the fiue myth Of the
vulture-perhaps Yorick should say eagle
the nature Of the bird is getting to be a party
question, an issue between those eminent men
Mr.. Hoar and Mr.. Lamar. Whatever the
bird was, the moral is evident: Don't drink
400 much coffee.
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