The Iowa plain dealer. [volume] (New Oregon, Howard County, Iowa) 1867-1895, 1885-02-26
THE AGE o. MELANCHOLY.


4he Closet Skelston-Horrlble, Thosgh
fssssbly 1nasinasy, Convictions.
Medical TinsexI
The prevalence Of melancholia, mild
or intense, amongst the cultivated
classes, and especially amongst cdu-
Gated and reflective men, in these days,
would, thsre are good grounds for
believing, seem portentous could it
only be faithfully set forth. Could
the secrets Of some case-bo0ks be re-
vealcd it would be found that men in
high places, professional men in active
employment, business men in prosper
GUS circumstances, literary men who
are dcllghting the world with their wit
and genius. artists who are Illuminating
life with glowing cdors, students who
are gaining prizes and distinctions,
tradesmen who have climbed to success
on the ruin-lcaps OF competition, and
idlers who have only to amusc them
selves, are all visited by melancholy, re-
Eraled only to their doctors and some
times to their domestic circle, which
darkens existence as with terrible storm
clouds now and then, or rob il persist
emily Of brightness. reducing it to u mo-
notonous lcadcn gloom. Behind many
''shining morning face tllcrs is deep,
dull wretchedness; under many q stOlid
exterior there is racking, mental misery.
A curious yet familiar sight it is to see
the mask suddenly cast aside in the con-
sulting-room, and tho face that but .
minute ago was cheerful or serene
gathering into an expression OF suffer-
ing or despair as tho skeleton in tho
cupboard Ii disclosed. We arc all meet
ing In daily life victims Of morbid
melancholy, whom We should as soon
suspect Of being afflicted with smallpox
or janduicc, but who are even in our
presence struggling beneath q load Of
It, and who, when VIC leave them, sink
nigh exhausted by the efforts required
for its c0nccalmcnt.
Could wc in invisible cOmpanionship
follow homo that friend who has de-
lighted US 1T the dinner table BY his
brilliant conversation, We should per-
haps SEQ him throw himself in his chair,
in his dark study, and sit for hours, alb
sorbed in vague, dismal thought. Could
we thus pursue the Judge who has won
our admiration in court by the logical
precision and ethical pr0prioty with
which he has distinguished the ofYenses
Of the criminals brought before him, we
should perhaps lind him pacing the floor
Of his bedroom and wringing his hands
under the horrible, il fictitious, c0nyic-
tion that he is himself more guilty and
STEPPED In sin than the wrctches he has
sent to penal scrvitude. Could We
keep watch over that popular nrca0hey
who has stirred Us by his fervid words,
aud strengthened tho foundations ol
our faith BY his confident dogmatism,
We should observe him, perhaps, toss
ing sleepless and distressed throughout
the livelong night, haunted BY doubts
and pcrplexitics, and by the incesSant
whispering Of y0ice which asks:
We're if not be ter mot to be,
Than live 80 full IT misery!
Could We In disembodimcnt remain !,
little with that good physician who hal
just given us such sound advice and
urged us to fight against the despon
dency for which wc have consulted him
We would perceive him, perhaps - sool
Is he has dismissed his patients, hurry
on to the house Of = brother practitioner
and pour forth in his ear, with tremul
0us anxiety, y descriptions af tho hope
less disease from which no conceiyei
himself to be suffering. aud which ex
ist only In his hypochondriac fancy.