The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1880-03-27
PUBLIC MANIAS.

walking one day i'll his garden with hi-
chaplain. and startling that functinnar,
With the query whether he did not be-
rye it possible for whole communt
10 g. maI IN :: mass. As this must hav.
been before the first French Revolution.
the suggestion OF the good Bishop has all
the more the merit Of originality. Has
any philosopher undertaken to explain
this propensity of men and women to be-
come suddenly excited upon the same
subject. albeit it may be one of no par
ficular Importance? Anybody who has
wed long enough can remember hun.
tired REPRESENTATIVES, for fiddler and
sometimes for a singer. now for a preach
"r. perhaps. and then for some pla'
lille the fashions of dress are forever
,''ming and going. We are Stain, n,tl-
ing new. but good rationale of these
semi-lunacieS would be a novelty indeed.
and not without its moral value. There
was craze about niger melodies -
rhiS 'et'ic Llil'pidi SeleilaleIS were
organized. when everybody was singing
"Lubly Rosy" and trying to Jump jim,
Crow" There was an insanity abun,
iiddling. when Ole Bull came over for his
first visit, and people who did not know
the bridge of violin from c sharp.
crowded and .iostled and showed and
howled about the ticket office. and paid
any price for seats. There was an euua
lunacy to hear Jenny Lind. Before that
there was an importunate passion to see
1.-THE divine Fanny dance. Long be
fore that there was an inordinate longing
to hear John Newland Maflit preach
And before that-but never mind. We
are getting too near the Middle Ages
and before We know it. NAV, unless W
take good care. be writing Il powerful
and learned article on the Crusades.
After the spelling mania. four or five
years ago. the public mind seemed dis
posed to rest. With occasional lapses il,
the direction of rowing contests nr We
'ocipedes, it held itself prett, WILL to-
;ether. until the great question of tn,
ability of the human legs tn achieve p-
!e>trian miracles came up Ia craze again
the poor public. This Went IN for some
time. tempered by Y slows. and 'ec
non for old crockcrf. And then
course the reader knewS what we al.
IRVING at--theU came that box of littf,
blocks with Il. % %" etc, up,n
their innocent faces; that puzzle which
II present aSitateS the intellect of tn.
and. and threatens to deprive the land
ratellect altogether. If ANYBODY sup
loses that VT are about to present a clea,
Ild definite solution OF the problem Ii,
little knows us, and especially he litt!,
Knows the drearf hours which We hav,
passed not III wrestling with the inevit;-
lie blockade, but in seeing others tryin.
. do it, All. those looks Of eager inter
st. All! those faces Tiled with the bit
t'rness OF disappointment, INV Il smile
If hope. now Il stare ol blank amazement
when the trial ended With IA" "13."
''15. Then fresh diSa:rangements, new
>tarts. long and patient cndeavor. the
predeStinate failure, another shutting.
Fhere must be some mistake about the
>hnrtness of human life. There must be
mother mistake about the value of time.
Fhe Latin proverb has it that Labor
,vercomes all difficulties. There is ap-
rarently some mistake about that also.
Patience is a virtue Nobody likes to
Ne baked or batl!ed. Nobody having
Undertaken anything likes to fail. More
aver. there are a plenty of pc pie who
encourage the vagaries of this mystery
by declaring boldly that it has been
solved, and that they themselves have
solved it. The number of those who
: very large. The task. we observe. has
usually been accomplished in strict seclu
sion. when nobody was by TO witness the
victory. There must be something in
the presence of spectators which is fatal
to repetition of the feat. The conquer
MS We're alone when that thrilling COM
hination. ''13. :. T." ''1a." was before
them. thing of beauty and Joy for the
present.
Napoleon used to spend long hours in
playing endless games of soHtaire with
the cards, in being beaten by them and
in beating them. Would he have been
equally patient with the Game OF Fiji
teen? Perhaps he would have said at
'nce. "C'est impossible" aud flung the
whole apparatus of distracting bother
INTO the firc.-.N. 7. TrbaaG.