Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1883-08-03
MAN As A CIRCrS GOER.

MAN As A CIRCrS GOER.
Man is by nature circus-goer. In this
respect there is no great dividing line like
that which separates the pie-eaters from the
rest of the human race. That mysterious
entity the proprietor of a circus can, with
the great moralist, with extensive view
survey mankind from China to Peru" and
safely count the entire human race as hi:
victims. There is something irresistiby
fascinating about his show, and whether We
will or no. when the fatal day comes around
we find ourselves within the magic walls Of
canvas. The road thither is as easy as that
is said to be which leads to the unmention'
able place. Weeks before the advent OF
the show all the bill-boards and dead walls
suddenly blossom in circus postcrs-mar.
vellous works of art in which the bright.
est colors of the rainbow and some
unknown in heaven or earth contend for the
mastery. In these the robust Imagination OF
the artist and the powerful genius OF the CIR
cus's literary man have full sweep, and the
result is the most gorgeous English, and de.
linealions of animals compared with which
those tremendous beasts seen by Daniel and
John in their awful visions shrink into insig.
nifcance Then does the bosom of the small
boy palptate with joy, and the sterner breast
Of him OF ripper years undergo serener but
yet pcrceptiblc Utilization.
The weeks of preliminary suspense como
and so, and ut last the day of days arrives.
Then indeed does man proudly vindca,c his
claim to be considered circus. going ami NAL.
His first dissipation is to watch the gaudy
procession us it wends its barbaric way
through the principal streets. The male
and female of his species with their offspring
of both sexes block the sidewalks, aud, like
the sacred poet, are "astonished with the
view and lost to wonder Then do they fol.
low the processions convolutions ''volumi-
nous and vast" untilits latest member is lost
to sight (hough to memory DEAR behind the
canvas. And then, as surely as the whirl
pool engulfs the unwary swimmer, so surely
doSo tiC tiIhCt-oCllCl WubOu huoOlD Vic II.
nancial resources of the crowd.
Andyet this going to the circus is, like q
second marriage, triumph of hope over ex.
peri ence. With each circus painful discrcp
ancy is detected between the glowing prom.
ses upon the billboard and their fulflmeni
within the tent. The homeward road is.
like the tropical country hitherto allud-
ed to, paved with good intentions, for the
great majority register solemn vow tc
never attend another circus. And yet, such
is the frailty of poor human nature each re-
curing circus finds us perched upon it,
hard seats, gazing with starting eyes upon
the disappointing wonders of the ring. 1t is
with circus-going as it is with sin. One sir
is always followed by q long procession OF
others. Thus he who smokes cigarettes, natu.
rally takes to dog-cart as his second steT
in iniquity, and finally crowns his villainy
by riding bicycle. He who once goei
to circus is lost forever. Its fatal fascina
ton never loses its power over him. The
circus marks him for its own. He may
even so far degenerate from his primeva
condition of innocence as TO become al
habitual attendant upon the insidious and de
lusive side show.
But We prefer not to dwell upon so dark
side of the human character. When, as W,
before SAID, the day and til,
circus arrive, man is cmphaticall.
there. lie is there multifariously, as it were
lieis there as an infant muling in his moth
er's tired and perspiring arms and making
colossal nuisance OF himself in diver
and sundry ways. or course under the cir
cumstancas he is not himself responsible TO
his attendance, and his presence Can not
In after years, when he runs for office, b.
imputed to HIM as crime. Man further ap
pears as the small but terrible boy, some
times under legitimate circumstances will
his relatives Gt is a notorious fact that at
circus 1t requires an entire family of adults I,
take care OF single boy-a curious socio
logical phenomenon which we commend t
the thoughtful attention of the Concord
philosophers), and often by furtiv,
and perilous journey under an unguardet
corner of the canvas. He appears in til,
touching character of lover, and fills up tn
internal economy of the dear one with tn
baleful peanut and the seductive gingerbread,
and the next day the imagination shuddcr
us it contemplates the amount OF dyspeps
lying around loose in the rural districts. Ii
short, he appears in all his characters AM
the circus audience is microcosm.
1t was Oliver Wendell Holmes we believe
who discovered that the memories OF the pas
could be brought to mind by no sense 81
wildly as by that OF SMELL The odor o
lilacs, say, takes us back in an instant I,
the old home where the lilac at the doc
scattered its fragrance on the breezes O
Spring In the long-past aud never
returning time. So does the pene
trating odor of the menaserie, II one has any
sort OF ability as a smeller, carry one bacl
through a long procession Of circuses Rob
iuson's and Lent's and Dan Rce's and hos