The herald., 1894-06-17
AN IMPRESSIVE LESSON.

sylvania, points very instructive NOR al
and adorns melancholy tale. The gentle
man who, in this instance, showed him
self far more ooursgeous-if courage it
may be caled-than Hamlet, while in
no sense a remarkable man, neverthe.
less had very peculiar career. While
still very young he wrote book against
the Roman Catholic church which was
perhaps the most extraordinary produc-
ton in the line of sophomore imbecility
that every proceeded from the pen of
mortal man. 1t was written imme-
diately following upon the great Know
Nothing upheaval of 1S54-55. 1t not
only showed that the young man was
identified with that peculiar political
fad so fatal to the careers OF many
promising and aspiring politicians
that the most extraordinary develop
ment of the provincial sophomore had
been turned loose on the world that our
literary effort was in the line OF the ex-
tremist who loved the "Sesquipe daEa
uerba." He would have nothing to do
with anything that was not clothed in
words of Learned length aud thunder
ing sound" Such an unspeaka0e far
rago as was embodied in this book had
never been heard OF before.
As to literary style, the learned Quin-
lillian has remarked that the man who,
before thirty, is not characterized by a
tumid and bombastic msnnerism, will
never achieve distinction in letters,
while he who does not slow down after
that age is hopeless, as well. Tom
Bayne was not as big fool as this book
made him out to be. As he grew older
he developed terror of his mental
| progeny. The country recovered HUH
its bigoted religious craze. and the Irish,
representing the foreign-born and Ro-
man Catholic elements, had knocked
the murderous crowds OF "blood tubs"
and other rufians out. Bill Poole sank
into an ignoble grave, unwept, union
ored and unsung. The decent and chv-
slrous people OF America, represented
by Governor Henry A. Wise, OF Vir-
| GINA, came to the front, and everybody
who had belonged to the Ozark Ian
tern" party was forever thereafter very
anxious to keep the fact dark.
Poor Bayne then began to experience
the poignancy of the feeling embodied in
the sentiment, "Oh that mine enemy
would write a book" He, unfortunate
wight, had written one All his ener-
gies for years we're thenceforward CEN
tered on buying up copies of the work
that had chronicled his bigotry and his
sdolescent faults of style. He was stung
alike, as his intelligence matured, by his
intolerance and by the turgid and ex-
quisitely ridiculous literary style IL
which he had embodied his vicious pO-
liticsl ideas.
Having been called to the bar, he
showed considerable evidences of for
enaic ability. He hattered himself with
the idea that he had bought up all the
copies of his work that had not besn de
stroyed. Every now and then his sou
was perturbed by the production OF STRAY
copies of his foolish book that were pre-
sented to him in the shape of blaokmail
Very shortly his case was complicste;
by his marriage to very accomplished
Roman Catholic young lady, the daugh
ter OF Mr.. Smith of the celebrated firm
of Hostetter & Smith, who brought him
in addition to many charms of person
and mind, millions Of dollars, His anx
iety, great before, to destroy every veat
ige of his wretchsd book, was naturally
redoubled. Probably no man ever suf
fered 80 intensely from q mistake O
early youth as he.
What the circumstances were tina
led him to take his life we do not
know. His political career seemed t
be reliably assured, for he voluntarily
, resigned his seat in congress, to which
he had been repeatedly elected, and oil
, which he had practically lien. The
same abnormal impulses which mad
him commit his original vsgary doubt
less led him TO the disastrous Culmina
ton of his career.
J There is Lesson in the life of Thoma
NJ. Bayne that should be deeply studied
hnu bhnI ~ Vile Pol HSu'oi JNAOStOu
The air Just now is rife with stories re
] lating to the American Protective asso
citation, which is another name for tn
old Know-Nothing organization. N
Democrat or man of sense should eve
permit himself to be connected wit
such an organization. BY doing so b
+ starts out to prescribe somebody else
and is sure TO be prescribed, in his turn
) Trsnsitory movements disappear will
, the rapidity which characterizes tn
, melting of the dews under the risen sun
, but there ia nothing transitory in tn
effects of injudicious proscripiive move
ments. The persons who are to be III
J victims OF these mslign efforts have lon
memories. as is right they should.
is q highly inyidious thing. in IRE