Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1882-07-28
FSTs1USlASNi.
igs Virtues And lts Defects

Like fire, enthusiasm might be de-
scnbed as "a good servant but II bad
master. Enthusiastic persons are apt
to be disturbed by their quieter brethren
who share Talleyrand's dislike to 'hop
dc Ze!e III any cause. And yet what a
blank would be left in the world if all en-
thusiasm were banished from it. The
calm Judging, sober-miuded man, WHO
can never be stirred to strong emotion, is
doubtless n wise and safe acquaintance,
but is apt to become an extremely tedious
one. An "impartial " historian is gen
eially very dull reading.
When johnson said that he liked "a
good hnter,' lie doubtless intended to
convey n protest against the coorless,
amiable characters who are capable of
neither strong affections nor strong dis
like; who cannot he stirred to anger bv
sight of wrong doing, nor to admiration
by knowledge Of deeds of heroism, who
pass through life without experiencing
half the troubles OF their more sensitive
neighbors, and generally attain to an ex-
treme old age. Fontencllc was m exam
pie Of this kind Of persons; and lie him
self attributed his unusual length of life
The attained the age of ninety-four) to the
fact that she never laughed and never
cried" Most people are familiar with
the story OF the friend who came to visit
him when the serrdnt was about to give
directions regarding the dressing of n
dish of early asparagus.
Fontenelle invited his visitor to share
the delicacy, and finding that he preferred
the asparagus cooked without oil, di-
rected the cook to prepare half of the
bundle to his friends taste, half to his
own. Scarcely, however, had the cook
quilted the apartment, than the visitor
fell down in n fit and expired This
tragic occurrence did not 81 disturb the
easy-going philosopher MS to make him
forget his dinner. He ran promptly to
the door and called to the servant, &c My
poor friend the abbe is dead. You can
dress all the asparagus with oil" Fon-
tenelle was not solitary example of this
equanimity of temper; nature peculiar
ly irritating to more excitable persons,
who do not scruple TO attribute the phil
osopher's calm to the selfishness Of the
philosophers disposition.
Enthusiastic people often commit great
absurdities, bnt are certainly more Iowa
BILE individuals than the intensely reason
able man, whose heart never overrules
his head. Most of MS would prefer our
OF the fair Quakeress, who, when asked
by youthful friend if she could "give
him her love-" demurely replied, "Yea,
John, l give my love to all our mem.
bers. but l am afraid that thee is getting
more than thy due share" Whether for
good or for evil, enthusiasm would seem
to be on the wane in the present day. 1t
is decidedly out of fashion. Centuries
ago "repose Of manner was not char.
noteristic of :" the class OF We're dc We're"
What We should now term childish
exhibition Of emotion was looked upon
with respect,
Great kings were not ashamed Of giving
way to public bursts of fury, rarely be-
held save in lunatic asylums. Philip dc
Confines relates, quite as matter OF
course, how the Duke of Burgundy was
wont to yield to the widest outbursts of
passion, if opposed or thwarted; and mp.
pears to have thought none the worse Of
him for these outbreaks. How constant
ly do we read of death or injury inflicted
on their nearest and dearest by men in
capable of self-control, and how lenient-
ly their age judged these fits of Berser-
ker fury. They were equally outspoken
in their repentance To walk in process.
sion publicly acknowledging their crimes
was as little humiliating to king or noble
as to fall into fits of mad passion.
Mail-clad warriors embraced in public;
to shed tears readily was looked upon as
mark of sanctity, the "donum iachry-
mar,em" coveted by pious monks. Tie
strangest VOWS were made, the widest
projects undertaken by acute and talent
ed men, in an age when enthusiasm was
respected and encouraged. There is n
dark side to the enthusiasm Of our ances-
tors. 1t frequently led them into acts of
cruelty and bigotry Godfrey tde Bou-
illon, that pearl Of chiyalry, permitted an
indiscriminate massacre of women and
children at the taking of Jerusalem, in
1899, which would have eternally sullied
the fame Of modern general; but which
was considered praisworthy in his age,
because the victims were Paynims. Pious
men sent their religious opponents to the
stake.
The same enthusiasm that prompted
men to sacrifice themselves for cause, q
principle, made them pitiless regarding
their adversarios. To be tolerant was to
be an inhdel 1T heart. Occasionally,
even in the middle ages, we come across
instances Of the calmly practical temper
ament that is not to be disturbed from
the steady pursuit Of self-interest by any
gusts OF enthusiasm. When Bertrand
du Guesclin led sort o. crusade against
the King Of Granada in 1885, he applied