The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1889-10-13
TIE GRUMBLER.

parts OF the country. Not a letter date(
in the mountains but refers to him
there is not boarding house in any sc
cluded valley, however remote, which
has not been troubled with him, and h,
is at all the seaside resorts from Maini
to Virginia. lie crossed the ocean I'm
steamer last week, and patronized al
the leading lines, making seven yoy
ages at once. Aud like the electric cur
rent on the patent circuit, he went boil
ways at once, arriving in Europe and
America on the same day, alike discom
posed and disheyeled with each 70, age
Some men are disturbed only with the
east wind, but this man is afflicted from
whichever quarter comes the breeze
Everything he eats threatens him with
dyspepsia. He breads a calm in the
world Of sensations, and he has still
greater horror Of exciting news. He is
ever wishing that whole CLASSES Of peo-
PIE, whom he denounces. were put out
of being. but he cannot bear the sight
Of sable, and processes to sickcn at the
mention of hearse.
II the shrill cricket chirps in the wall
he denOuHces the disturbance in a
querulous tone; but when the very air
is at rest, and not sound as loud as an
insect's hum falls on the ear, he is de-
pressed with the silence, and longs for
the old monotony, II lie listens 20 a
speaker with a didactic style and a
hu mdrum voice he punctuates every
sentence uttered with the signs Of his
WEAKNESS; and when he hears an ora
tor with more viyaciCus delivery he
wonders that any one can be charmed
with such empty rhetoric.
The seasons in their rounds do not
change his chronic discomfort. He frets
at the heat of summer; he greets the
first chill of autumn with an indignant
shudder, he sees nothing hut decay
and desolation in the Frightening hues
of the autumn leaf; he means in the
rigor Of winter, and the beauty and
brightness of the returning spring are
suggestive TO him only of the coming
miasma. He is expecting rheumatic
pains with every snowfall, and breads
hay fever with the June roses. The
breath Of new m0wn fields il 10 him
breeder Of malaria, AMI the ripening
fruit is only indicative If gripes and
the cholera. If it rains be mutters
about the deluge, and when it 10 dry
he growls at the thought of barrenness.
Ii the fields yield an overlooking
abundance, the low prices and the waste
fill him with gloom; if the harvest is
scarty and the fruit-trees are empty,
he talks Of famine and want.
One would suppose that full mouth
would choke the expressions of his dis
content, but no amount Of prosperity
can cure his inyetcrate habit. Fill his
Golfers with the most LAWS hand and
he finds added occasion for discomfort.
Ii Is SO much more TO care for, and care
is WEAKNESS e. the sh. Az his riches
augment he has increased apprehension
Of the burglar, the cheat and the des
poiIer. Ho mOurns that there are SO
many unprOfita BILE investments, and
that the rate Of usance for capital areso
little rewarding. He criticises the as
pect Of every fayoring ministry, and IS
not satisfied with the most sconsiderate
method in which fortune can present
her favor. And when losses come and
the boards begin to melt, and ventures
turn out amiss, and quests for riches go
astray, the dsquiet is not rebuked, but
increases with each new disappoint-
ment. He denounces Fortune as a
fickle Jade who rewards her most faith |
full devotees with an empty larder.
One of the worst characteristics of |
this spirit is that it manifests its dis
content alike with the direct results Of
human agencies and the outcome Of
ministries that are divine. The grum-
bier might be pardoned some of his
with the administration
of his fellows, even when they are do
ing their best. To err in conduct is
human, and mans judgement Of others
is never infallible. But 10 visit with his
the dispensations of the
Great Ruler and to find fault with the |
orderings of the Supreme betoken an
irreverence for which there is no ex
cuse, 1t is true he does not shake his |
fist defiaDtly toward the brooding heay-
ems, and in direct terms accuse his
Maker of wrong or folly, but this
is the logical Interpretation of
both the thought in his heart
and the word on his lip. 1t
is the rank and open r,bellioQ
of the subject agains. the will to which
he owes a cheerful submission.
1t would take more than our present
space to paint the full-length portrait OF
the chronic grumbler. We have given
this brief outline of his Likeness for
what we trust may prove useful pur-
pose. There is not one Of our readers
but will agree with us that the spirit
thus portrayed is worthy of the seyerest
condemnation. And yet I've ask pardon
for this plalnness of speech there is
not, we venture to say, an individual
among them all who does not, at times,
If not habtually, give way to the
temper. IL Is iusidiouS
in its growth, and often becomes
quite stalwart before We suspect our
selves Of possessing it. We have had
several months Of clouded skies and