The weekly Thibodaux sentinel and journal of the 8th Senatorial District. [volume] (Thibodaux, Lna. [i.e. La.]) 1875-1898, 1883-09-15
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
observations ga ,cise Man on the
Fortunes Of Queens and Bridges.

Fortunes Of Queens and Bridges.
1.-THE day of death is better than the
day Of ones birth" -E~cclesiaete> vii. l.
Dearly beloved, some six,y.fnur
years ago, some time on the 2t,h Of
May, Or. according to English obser-
q Of the present day, amy Or alLtlie
time between last Thursday and next
Monday, Victoria Alexandria, Queen
Of the United Kingdom Of Great Britain
and Ireland was born. It was the ON
~ thing she ever did without first hav
ing heI own wishes consulted. And
all the subjects Of the Queen, not full
members Of tho American Land League,
remember the day to observe it with
feastiug aud drinking. while ut times
they wonder what nigh: have ha. ,pen
ed had Victoria never been born.
AZ . nation We pay very little atten
ton tn the birthdays Of our rulers aud
great men, because the terms are not
syn0nymous. All, 10. There are some
Governors 10 this broad land Who would
not be great though they lived u th"u-
sand years aud weighed q ton. There
are sOne members Of Congress who
could not tell q vaocinatiOniscar from u
birthmark. Aud there are members If
the Legislature who are not positive
just when they were born. Hence with
Us b day Of the statesman's birth il
OF little Importance aud III how many
instances il it true that the day of the
politicians death is better for the coun
try than the day Of his birth. Oh, vast
" better.
If, at a certain hour, iu all the public
schools Of the United States the ques
ton were suddenly asked, '.When wa.
the President born !" there would
probably ensue u silence 80 pro-
found that one might hear u :.gum drop.
No man knoweth the natal day Of Sam
uel Tilden outside the record pages Of
the family Bible, aud in some we'll in
formed Democratic circles it is even be
iieved that john Kelly never was born,
but that he "growed." Aud oft as they
think Of him, with rising sigh they
wish that he would quit it. In our fav"
red land birthday parties are enjoyed
almost exclusively by children. As
the boy grows into manhOsd birthdays
interest him less than days Of grace
and rent days , and his sister. hating
" or three years at the nineteenth
mile post on her way to womanhood,
and ~encamping three or four more ut
the twenty-third and finally locating n
homestead claim and settling perma
nentIy at the twenty ninth. t0rsets
that there ever was such u ~frivolity as
> birthday. No one appears to have
been born save the Queen. aud she was
born in Washington AMI Canada on the
24th aud in London % the 28th and out
in the county u the 26th May. In
some years she is born on the same
day. but this year the anniversary ex
tends over four days and doesn't reach
O'D0novan Rossa even then.
BITTER SWEET.
Birthday festivities 10 the olden days
were not altogether joyous to all the
participants. In Genssis II. 20, We
read :
"And it came to pass the third day,
which was Phsraoh's birthday, that lie
made . feast unto all his servants :
and he lifted up the head Of his butler
and Of the chief baker among his SER
wants.
There is . ringing joyousuess in all
THE, until it appaers a little further OF
that the chief butler was restored to his
ONCE, dignities and p~erquisites without
the embarrassing formality OF u civil
service examination, but when the head
Of tho chief baker was "li:ted up''
among the servants the rest Of the bak-
er did0't appear to catch GU very we'll.
he missed connection about the fret
c~ervical vertebra. For it seemed unto
Pharaoh that ''the day Of death was
better than the day of ones birth,'' and
the chief baker was the one. And
again, Matthew xiv. 6:
"Bat when Herod's birthday was
kept, the daughter of Herodias danced
before them and pleased Herod."
And to show how happy he was she
sent and beheaded John in the prison.
and the head Of the murdered Baptist
was given to the fascinating damssl
who had danced to kill. A ghastly
birthday|souvenir.
But royalty is but a poor, weak thing
in these degenerate days-a feeble imi
tatioD of its ancient glory aud power.
suppose l might pay my own way to
London and dance before the Queen IN
til l couldn't lift another foot and l
couldn't get anybody's head chopped
of save my own. l will not try it. Ny
motives might be misunderstood and
my classical rendition of the racket
misunderstood.
WHEREFORE. BELOVED.
But why should ":he day of DEATH