The morning call., 1892-07-31
RULLOcKS METHOD

Al the age of 2S Mr.. Robert Bullock had
come 10 the conclusion that life was ex-
tremely commonplace and unbeautiful, and
il is perhaps needless to add that most of
the inhabitants Of the suburb where he
lived agreed with him. But MI. Robert
Bullock aid not submit like the rest of
them, TO be merely discontented aud re-
signed over the discovery. as over matter
which might not be altered by any means,
but heroicaly set himself to work to find a
method whereby some little beauty might
tanned.
save had the privilege of intimacy with
Robert Bullock from boyhood, and am
,ach admirer of his character, and |
60 this account of him that others, out
.sof the suburb at all events, may be
= ght possibly TO think Of him as do.
had ali read attentively and some of
rs had secretly contributed carefully writ
ten .e,ters concerning the questions, Is
life worth livng?" us marriage failure"
The decay OF ehivalry." and the slavery
of drink" when the method made It's grad
ual appearance. Those questions had a
great deal to do with the development of IT,,
as had also course Of romantic and senti-
mental literature. But chiefly Don
QuiXote" was responsible. And / may as
well say at once that MIR. Robert Bullock
again. with various amendments. correc-
tons and reflections, adapting it as nearly
as might be TO the setting provided by a
Government office. London suburb, and q
daily Journey from one to the other and
back again in secoud-class carriage on the
enthusiastically one of which would, one
would suppose, have alone supplied in
snpeTable difficulties to the most determined
idealist. But there were also divers others.
In the first place there was the obstacle of
hi hot laa~.N fuNr
Bob" Bullock? Did that not alone con-
denim him to tie yulgarest of lives? Thin
why aid he not change II, or at least INSIST
on being addressed as Robertp | may give
the reason he gave me, as affordlng an in
sight into his character:
Il cid ask myself seriously once whether
Ishould not change it; but | decided not
to do SO, because II seemed TO he less beau
tiful TO attach some new name with a less
forbidding sound TO myself than 10 eXer-
else my courage in retaining one of which
have no reason 10 be ashamed, either for
my fathers sake or my own. l am ashamed
of ever having contemplated a change. 1t
was windmill | was very nearly Induced
TO tilt at"
may, however, remark that Bob did not
give this reason 10 the world at that time or
he might have just possibly escaped the fur
Their addition 10 his burden of the prefix of
''Sludger" 'SlUdger Bob being the objec-
ionable title by which he was alluded 10 in
one day IN Webster's Dictionary that a
"5ludger" is an instrument for boring in
s!uSge UT Qu.cksand. and the combination
OF ideas rendered 1t 10 the minds of the
initiated not wholly inapplicabe. Though
its precise significance was not known in
the suburb generally It was recognized as
more or less opprobrious, and. on account
IF its phonetic suggeStiveness of all that
Bob was not. sufficiently appropriate.
Another obstacle lay in his physique,
-.
order, and gave rise, on the method becOm-
lug known, TO the name Of Sancho PanZa.
Wh,ch perhaps was not so hard To be borne,
&c was decidedly tubby, and any one more
unlike the ideal Don it were hard 10 con-
ceiVe He certainly parted with the mt
tOn-chop whiskeTs he had cultivated tin
then as businesslike, but after many trials
II different pOod elike varieties of beard
ana nustache, siDgy or in com bination he
took to shaving clean, and this owing TO
the fulness and ruddiness OF his counte-
nance, reduced the similarity 10 minimum.
Yet another impeachment arose from the
opposition OF his family. which took the
form of unmerciui chaff They were of
the ultTa-commonplace class, and more in
clined 10 make fun out OF him for want of
more exciting causes than the whole of the
rest Of the street-n0, park-put together
But lie OveTcame them al, after fashion.
BE was never tired of obtaining nay agree
ment 10 the proposition that "the most
commonplace life can be rendered beauti-
tul by the living OF IT. L had heard some
thing Ike this said before, OF course, but
never with so much conviction, and have
seen & conviction evidenced by practice SO
well and continuously. He used 70 declare
that a; first 1t gave bin great trouble con-
siantly to remember that there was beau
tlful way of eating his meals; that a dis
Unrt pleasure is TO he gained from such
small abntgatiOns as going without a piece
OF toast or an egg at breakfast when there
vas the slightest possibility of their not
being ennuEh II be dld not. This kind Of
small latitude would have been offensive
d. ne had not been so very m0cn IN earnest
and so uuselfsssertiVe. AS it was, great
many Ie1ple thought him affected and
typOeTitical, and lie was neither.
He wonld declare that Don QuiXote was
bF no means ridiculous; that the character
had indeed beer burlesQued and caTicatured.
but that the true Don QuXote underneath
lie pantomime wTappings was most admir-
able and worthy Of imitation; and that
hose who did not sympathZe with his aims
lad been led astTay by the absurd eXtraVa-
gance of the deeds to which he was de.
.eTibed as deVot!ng his energies. / re-
marked that Don QaiX0te exciies COMPASS
ii0n nowadays aud not ridieule alone; upon
which be replied that he was glad to hear
r. but people DC moi confess as much prac-
ideally, and that if the spirit Of the don
we're little more prevalent it would be the
peter for the world. He set out to make it
4
oefall
And first he resolved that no slang should
ihencefnTth pass his lips. and utterly re-
used 10 consider an AmericanZed or other
wise perverted vocabulary necessary for
expressing his sentiments; nor did ne allow
hat the struggle and hurry of the present
lay gives no time for the display of the
thousand and one ciyiitieS so commonly
ilurred over in modern tsuburban) society,"
de acknowledged with regret that lie at
Tacted remark and amusement on account
81 the punctIllO which he introduced into
ais behavior toward his own family in the
matter OF ufferlng chairs and rising In their
presence ana putting Goals on, and gener-
ally acting as if they were other peoples
people Instead of his own. He became very
careful as to his dress and the occasions
8hen he smoked, and altogether proceeded
to hnesse TO an extraordinary degree. Life
was not too short for sDch things, and the
interest the proceedings gave to X rendered
II Infinitely more agreeable. lie maintained
tnat Inc guinness ana moDot0Dy OF OrdI-
nary home life is mainly due TO the neglect
u The opportunities afforded by il for little
1eyOtlons and attentions. that people look
externally Instead Of internally for the
means TO make il pleasant. He called 10
my remembrance the beautiful Susan Win
stanley's rejection Of Der lover for making
difference between his conduct toward
herself and hOusemaid. and the caseof the
Grand AOnaroue, who took of his hat pro-
miscuously, and various others. We had a
long discussion once on this observance. /
mad remarked sHat the common-sense view
0f the matter was that q man is called upon
IL take of his hat 10 any woman with whom
he is brought into contact no is Incapable
IF approaching the attention to which be
answered that, even were it aekno lodged
that some women are so incapable, the diff
,uitles OF drawing the line between those
who can and cannot appreciate the attenti
would he so tremendous as TO justify any one
10 declining to make dispaTaging discrim-
inati0n on that ground alnne; that the
act was due 10 all. Even to the
crossing SWEEPER, on giving her a
penny, regardless OF her nsobrety at the
time?" Even to her. he replied. And he