San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1886-12-03
cAR1cAruRs BuRLEsQUE
Misplaced When they are Aimed a
Deceased Great Men.

reach Of the dullest faculty; the coarSest
clown. with hammer in his hand, might
chip the nose of every statue and bust
In the Vatican, and stand grinnlng at the
effect OF his work. Because wit is an eX-
qulsite product of high powers, we are
I not therefore forced TO admit the sadly
confused inference Of the mOnOtOnous
lester that he is establishing his superb
ority over every less facetious person
and over every topic on which ne Is X
nOrant or inBenslDle, by being uneasy
! until he has distorted 1t In the small
cracked mirror which he carries about
with him as Joking apparatus. This
! Is what | cali dtbasing the moral cur
rpncy, lowering the value OF every IN
| spiring fact and tradition, so that IL viii
! command less and less Of the spiritual
| products, the generous motives which
| spiritual the charm and elevation OF our
second eXistenCe-the something be-
| sides bread by which man sustains MS
soul alive. '-GeOrge Elliott.
What George Elliott apprehended
might happen, has taken place, under
what may be Gruthfuily termed, aggTa-
waited circumstances, and characters,
that ought to have been cn5hrlned in
the hearts ola grateful people, and in
vested with a sort of sanCtity, have been
made themes for the ridicule OF class
of vulgar Writings that Grub street
would have Indignantly repudiat,d and
speWed out. The humOr OF Addison and
Steele had all the rACiness and flavor
peculiar to genuine humOr, and was not
the result of a play upon words Of pur-
Notwithstanding words, OF or eNag-
geratiOn. But the humOr Of Addison
and Steele has gone out OF fashion ana
now has few admirers. lhe humOr Of
the descent day isrudiCGIly different
What now constitutes humOT? Tine
brOadest farce and the widest eX-
aggeTatiOn passes as the cream OF humOr
and COnyulscs men with laughter
"PpcK's Bad Boy IL considered the
acme of humOT. Another form OF humOr
is the covering Of the great men OF the
preceding aye with nlppant THlcuIe.
What was humOT in former times has
degcnerated into downright burlesque,
and what is worse. this Ourlesque close
ly apprOXimates Vulgarity and Is tlnged
with irreyercnCe,
MI admirarl is an unObjeCtiOnable
maxim when it is applied, in the sense
in which Horace applied It, that is, TO
the traUpings and tinselry of wealth,
but il is untrue as well as Danetul, when
it Is applied to the huTd-earnud char
nc ers OF great men Admiration for the
characters Of great men, long since
Wondering IN their graves, and occupy
ing inches n the temple OF Fame, Is
spur TO generous ambition and begets
ltudable spirit of emulation. SENSIBLE
itv to worth and eX ellenCe is In 1t self
no small merit aud is to men what the
sheet anchor is 10 the tempest-tOst ship
off of lee shore.
alexander, the great, WAS fired and
stimulated by the deeds Of Achilles, az
they are portrayed by Homer, TO The
achievement of brilliant deeds of arms.
Caesar declared that the achievements
of Alexander would not suffer him to
sleep, they awOke within his breast the
spirit of interchangeable emulation aud
fired all the energies of his nature.
Napoleon had Alexander and Caesar
constantly in his mind Homer, Virgil
and Horace have been tue fountain of
inspiration to hundreds of poets and
will continue TO be to the end of time.
Phidias has made hundreds OF sCulptOrs
through the admiration felt for his ge-
Mus. Every orator that has won the
admiration of mankind was fired by his
intense admiration Of DemOsthenes and
Cicero to put forth all the energies Of
the branches OF science and art.
The characters and fame OF the
great men of bye gone ages
is rich seed bed Of noble
efforts and brilliant success. ana
that being so, they should not be de-
graded in the public estimation. by the
burlesque Of vulgar witlingS and dirt
daubers.
The Bible has not escaped the bur
lesQue epidemic affecting the country.
The biblical characters have be, bur-
lesQued time and again. The fact can
not be disguised, that the spirit of the
present age is exclusively utiiltarian
and realistic, and consequently, irreYer-
ent and icOnOClastic. 1t regards nothing
as sacred. lt reverences nothing; unCOn-
sCiOusly, !he POsitiVism OF Compile
that Man is God" seems to have per-
cOlated into the minds Of a large proper
ton of the people of the United States.
Doubling ThOmases and Careless GalliOs
appear to be destined to be In the ma
jOrity at no remote period.
1t has both panied and mortified me
to see the events and scenes of the life
Of George Washington, seized upon by
the tiends of burlesque. The cha TaCter
OF Washington should be sacred in the
estimation of every American. The an
mails of history furnish no parallel to his
character.
If his care er fell short OF the careers
of Alexander, Caesar and Napoleon in
brill1ancy and eventfulness, il far snr-
passed them In usefulness and in purity
of patriotism. Reverence and venera-
ton. are due from Americans TO the
name and character OF George Wash
ingtOn. He should occupy Il niche in
their hearts. No person seeks to ridi-
cule and burlesque those for whom he
ChPriShes feelings of generation and adj
miratiOn. On the contrary, he resents
with Indignation any attempt 10 cast
ridicule upon them. for the reason that
1t tends TO degrade them in the public
estimation. Ii is superfuOus to say that
the Writings who attempt to ridiCule
and burlesque the character of George
Washington feel no admiration or reVer-
ence for his character. An Athenian
voted TO ostraCise Aristides, and gave as
his reason for so voting, that he was tired
OF hearing him called Aristides, the Just
and could the motives of the Writings,
who dicule and burlesque Washington,
be dragged from the recesses of their
hearts into the light'O day lit might turn
out that they only sought to avenge the
humiliation which his superior excel
lenCe OocasiOned them. Dwarfs delight
TO pic * flaws in giants.
The Writings have exhausted their
powers of rIdiCule and buresque upon
the anecdote about WashingtOn's chop
ping the cherry tree with his Ratchet,
and. by so doing, have indirectly as
sailed love OF truth. They never fail to
grind ont from their dull brain-mills
some ridiculous and burlesquing remarks
at each anniversary of his birthday.
Ihe "fatheT of his country" is now al