St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-01-31
EVERYBODY IS CRAZY,
History Does Not Furnish a
Single Character That
/ Hasn't a Flemish.
Washington's Neglect Of q
Cold and Jefferson's Mis-
cradle Finances.
Horace Greeley's Foolish Po-
litical Ambition Cost Him
His Life.
Faults Of Adam and NOAH
Big Men Of the Past and
Their Weak Points.

understand the matter that there is a
point in every character where serious
mental lmperfectiou. il not absolute in
sanity, crops out. On one subject, it is
held, all men are little off the track,
and that under certain propitious cir
cumstances this fact stands out as an
unattired verify, says the Pittsburg Dis
patch. These idiosyncratic peculiarities
mark the men of every age, from the
very earliest dawn of intelligent history
down to these wonderful prolific times
in which we live.
1t is merciful dispensation of Provi-
dence that the pOssessOr of this cratic
quality OF mind or manner is often alto
gether unconscious of his possessions
Other men can see what he is blind to,
and, though Robert Burns may say,
Wad some power the giftie gle us
To see oursels rs ithers see us.
1t is probably far better that we should
sometimes remain in ignorance. Both
friends and enemies look upon US with
distorted vision. The former magnify
our good qualities till they are enor-
mouSly elongated and broadened. while
the latter minimize them until they can
not be seen with anything less powerful
than Lisk telescope. Our proposition
is that the majority of men either lack
a balance wheel or possess very imper-
feet ones.
Adam Wasn't Balanced
Adam was the first man. and, as he
was the original pattern, direct from
the great MaSterhand, 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
manifestations of accurate judgment,
but so weak-minded was he that
he readily succumbed to the
wIles of weak woman. His
appetite got the best of him. Nearly
every man thinks he would have acted
differently, and vet, placed in the same
position, there is every reason to be-
lieve we should all have longed for a
taste of the delicious fruit which would
make one wise. What fool Adam was.
and what an arrant coward to charge it
a moral failure, is there any wonder
that he has inoculated his descendants?
Adams balance wheel, if he had one,
was in very poor condition; very I'M
perfect indeed.
The next man who stands out embossed
more than his fellows upon the page of
history is Noah. But Noah was not a
prohibitionist. AS soon as he got out of
the ark We find that he got drunk and
disoIderly. and i'll all probability he
would have been arrested at once If the
officers of the law had not all been
drowned. Here was pretty piece of
business for an exemplary man to be
engaged in. There never was time in
lctn Thn n fin,r
could have been so easily enforced as
when the ark rested on Mount Ararat,
and fear there never will be so grand
all opportunity again. Does it seem Pc
culiar that Noah should have taken
liquor with him into the ark?
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 for him. Speculation
must, however. be necessarily some
what wild in this connection. What we
have to do with is the fact that the old
man got as drunk as lord as soon as he
got ashore. From that time to this the
majority of seafaring men follow his
example. Noah was a good man. but
his balance wheel was all askew. Some
OF our modern statesmen, am told,
men who have covered themselves with
glory, have INDUCED, and even do in
dulge. in the pOSt-deluglan act of their
maritime father.
All Had a Screw Loose.
The patriarchs of old were all more OF
less tinged with Inconsistencies of some
kind or other. One of the best proofs
of the authenticity of the Bible is the
fact that the weaknesses as well as the
virtues of men are recorded. Jacob
was growler. Job, noted for patience,
cursed the day of his birth and accused
God of cruelty and oppression. David,
the sublime poet, at one time
rebelled against the Lord and
called all men who did not subscribe
to his idea 'liars." 1t is true
he afterwards repented and made the
excuse that he was sin haste" when he
said ''all men are liars" Even Elijah
doubted and prayed for death. Jere-
miah asked the Lord if he was to be to
Him las liar and as waters that fall"
This is pretty rough language to use,
but if Hebrew scholars are right he did
use 1t. In this synopsis have we not a
pretty picture of great men who made
shipwreck of consistency?
The case seems to grow strong on the
side of the proposition that all men are
off the track somewhere.
1t almost seems like sin to speak of
the immortal George Washington in
such connection as this, especially at
a time when we have all been filled
with patriotism, ETC., in celebrating the
grand achievements in which he took
so noble part. Considering his facili-
ties. averaging all the circum-
stances and weighing the environ
ments in the scales of cold COM
mon sense, no greater man ever lived
10 hn Vlal f1t
farmer. a pretty smart surveyor and a
wonderful commander. He was so
punctual and precise in all his move
mentS that it was almost crime in his
sight for any one to be five minutes
late. He guided the armies of the
United States against the tyrant foe and
brought victory out of what the world
looked upon as inevitable defeat. He
steered the ship of state through the
rocks and snags and quicksands of the
formulatIve period.
Even Washington Was Off
And yet George Washington was lack
ing in discretion. Impartial history,
when the glamour of military renown
shall have become misty with the pass
ing centuries, will undoubtedly reveal
much that today is hidden. For our
purpose one point of lack of Judgment
VIII ouiASC. LIS QCdli was TIC QSudlly.
Catching a cold Dec. IL, 1893, III rain
Storm he took no pains to treat it
until he was beyond the reach of
medical skill. Said he: Let it go as
it came" The doctors bed him mot
fguratively or financially, which, to-
gether with the cold, soon carried him
off. He was sixty-eight, but he should
have lived to eighty. OF course, he
might have done so had it not been for
the doctors and their lances. but 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
immortal document which shook the
thrones of Europe and makes them
tremble today. was not in all respects
man of perfect balance. Jefferson could
twist the lions tail and tie a knot in it
as we'll as any man living He conducted
the government among the lines of
rigid simplicity, but before he died he