Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-07-06
ALL A, BIT INSANE.
History Doesn't Furnish a Character
That Hasn't Blemish,
THE FAULTS OF ADAM AND NOAH.
Washington's Neglect Of Cold and Jefrsr.
sons Bad Finances.
ALL HAD A SCREW LOOSE SOMEWHERE
WRITTEN FOR THE D1sPArcH.

| 1t Is asserted by those who pretend to
understand the matter, that there is point
in every character where serious mental
| imperfection if not absolute insanity crops
out. On one subject, it is held, all men are
little off the track, and that under certain
propitious circumstances this fact stands
out as an unattired verify. These idiosyn-
cratic peculiarities mark the men OF every
age from the very earliest dawn of intelli-
gent history down to these wonderful pro-
litic times in which we live.
1t is a mercIfuI dispensation of ProVi-
dence that the possessoI of this erratic quail
ity of mind or manner is often altogether
unconscious of mis- possessions. Other men
can see what he is blind to, and though
Robert Burns may say:
Wad some power the giftie gle ~
To see oursels as ithers see US,
it is probably far better that we should
sometimes remain in ignorance. Both
friends and enemies look upon US with dis
torted vision. The former magnifv our good
qualities till they are enormously elongated
and broadened, while the latter minimize them
until they cannot be seen with anything less
powerful than Lisk telescope. Our PROPOSE
tlopls that tie majority OF men either lack a
Adam wasn't Balanced.
Adam was the first man, and as he was tha
original pattern direct from the great Master
hand one would think he should have been
perfect, and yet he was lacking In balance OF
character. He did some wonderful things
among others naming the birds and animals
after God created them, and gave other mani
festations of accurate Judgment, but so
weak minded was he that he readily sue
cumbed to the wiles of a weak woman. HIS
appetite got the best of him. Nearly every
man thinks he would have acted differently,
and yet, placed in the same position, there is
every reason to believe we should all have
longed Tor taste OF the delicious fruit which
would make one wise. What fool Adam was,
and what an arrant coward to charge it all
upon woman. If the first man was a moral
failure, is there any wonder that he has inocu-
lated his descendants. Adams balance wheel,
II he had one, was in very poor condition; very
imperfect indeed.
The next man who stands out embossed mora
than his fellows upon the page of history Is
Noah. But Noah was not Prohibitionlst
As soon as he got out of the ark we find that
he got drunk and disorderly and in all proba-
Dlllry he would have been arrested at once if
the officers of the law had not all been
drowned. Hero was pretty piece Of business
tor an exemplary man to be engaged in. There
never was time in the worlds history when
prohibition could have been so easily
enforced as when the ark rested on
Mount Ararat and 1 fear there never
VIII be so grand an opportunity again. Does ID
not seem peculiar that N Noah should have taken
liquor with him into the ark2 1t may Just be
possible that he found skin of wine in the
mud somewhere as soon as he landed, and the
temptation was too strong far him. Specula-
tion must, however, be necessarily somewhat
wild In this connection. What we have to do
with is the fact fhat the old man got as drunk
as lord as soon as he got ashore. From that
time to this the majority of seafaring men fol.
low his example. Noah was a good man but
ms balance-wheel was all askew. Some Of our
modern statesmen, am told, men who have
covered themselves with glory, have INDUCED,
and even do indulge, in the postdelugian act Of
their maritime father.
All Had n Screw Loose.
The patriarchs of old were all more or less
tinged with Inconsistencies of some Epd or
other. One of the best proofs of the Sashen-
ticity Of the Bible is the fact that the weak
nesses as well as the virtues of men are re-
corded. Jacob was growler, Moses was a
murderer and disobeyed God. Job. noted for
patience. cursed the day of his birth and ac-
cused God Of cruelty and oppression David,
the sublime poet, at one time rebelled against
the Lord and called all men who did not sub
scribe to his idea "liars." It is true he
afterward repented and nads the excuse that
he was in haste" when he said "all men are
liars" Even Elijah doubted and prayed for
death. Jeremiah asked the Lord If be was to be
to Him 'as liar and as waters that fail" This Is
scholars are right he did use it. In tAiS synopsis
have We not pretty picture of great men who
made shipWreck of consistency? The case
seems 10 grow strong on the side of our prOpo-
siIion that all men are of the track somewbara
IL almost seems ike Sin to speak of the i'm.
mortal George Washington IN such a conuec.
I tion as tniS, especlally al time when we have
all been nlled with patriotism ETC., in celebrate
ing the grand achievements in which he took
SO noDlo part Considering his facilities,
aVeraSlng all the Circumstances, and weighing
On 1A7rf IN p fho -,
sense, no greater man ever lived than he. He
was good citizen, q fair farmer, 4 pretty
smart surveyor and a wonderful COM
mander. He was so punctual and precise in
all his movements that it was almost a crime in
his sight for anyone to be five minutes late.
He guided the armies Of the United States
against the tyrant foe. and brought victory ous
of what the world looked upon as inevitable
defeat. He steered the ship Of state through
the rocks and snags and Quicksands Of the
period.
Even Washington Was on:
And yet George Washington was lacking In
discretion. Impartial history, when the
glamour Of military renown shall have become
misty with the passing centuries. will und0ubt-
edly reveal much that to-day is hidden. For
our purpose one point Of lack of Judgment will
suffice His death was the penalty. Catching
q cold on December II, 1899, in a rain storm he
took no pains to treat it until he was beyond
the reach of medical skill. Said he: Let is
go as it came" The doctors bled him (not
tiguratively or financially but actually, which,
together with the cold. soon carried him of.
He was SO. but he should have lived to so. OF
course he might have done SO had it not been
for the doctors and their l2nces, but a little
care on his part, and little surrender TO the
better Judgment OF Martha at first. and he
would probably have been spared for years.
Thomas jefferson, the author Of that i'm
mortal document which shook the thrones OF
Europe and makes them tremble to-day, was
not in all respects man of perfect balance.
Jefferson could twist the lions tail and tie .
knot in it as well as any man living. He con-
Quoted the Government along the lines OF
rigid simplicity, but before he died he
made pitiable bungle OF his own
finances. He went down the western
slope of life worried and troubled about money
matters So embarl assed did he become that
he was empowered by the Legislature to dis
pose of his property by lottery; u Is true the
project was not carried out, but SO prohigats
y az he in his expenditures at Monticello that
he deemed heroic methods OF procedure neces-
sary 10 adjust matters: Jenersonian sim
rraiity ostentatious otherwise, showed that
he lacked IN his balance wheel. He passed
away in mis- S4th year, on the Atm day Of July,
1925 lust 80 years after the Declaration Of In
iaDa3dence his lack Of Judgment making him
! Comparatively poor man.
More Modern Great Men.
To disturb the sacred ashes of Abraham
Lincoln with the Keen blade Of criticism in
probably bad form. but there were people who
hought that his everlasting stories savored
omewhat of clownishness at times. Until New
York shall build Grants monument he ought
o be exempt from criticism. perhaps, but what
poor fnancier be was in comparison to his
ood qualities as a soldier and President
Iorace Greeley was an exemplifcation of the
act We are trying to establish. His foolishIy
Yeak ambition cost him his life and brought
hadow across the horizon of its
ne Of the best Americans that
yer nreathed: He was giant physically.
1oraliy and intellectually. do not believe be
inned as charged, but be was indiscreet He
allied IN judgment at point where a clergy.
pan should De as sound as concrete.
There are respects in which James g. Blaine
aight be improved. Grover Cleveland failed
q some things, and even President Harrison
7ould make more friends II he had lIttls
aore OF the sacoharins quality about him
'hus we might go on interminably
started out TO prove that perfection Of char
cter existed in ffaf ina exf,, hav