The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1895-09-20
SORROWS OF The STUPID.
Though .o, Gcncrn!ly Realized They Are
| Very Real.

Thourh Tot Gcnrrnlly Hcaltned They are
Very Real.
We have been hearing lately OF ths
"-urse u n.oHcc.," but we might with
.ruAl russ e.Iarge on the curse OF stu
r,i''v- not 10 use so strong word,
"" van say the mlscrles Of stupidity. In
.hs age Of philanthropy we are for ever
heug exhorted about the rights of the
v~onged. Let us now bewal the sor-
r,v> OF the stupid! There Is no doubt
that. though not generally recognized.
tine, are very real. stupid people are
.r,uble both to themselves and to
Others. They can no more help being
S.:n in mind than an invalid can help
beng weak in body But whereas the
sch man Is generally deluged with SYM
ruhy in his woes, and very often ends
Nv growing proud of his maladles as be-
stnwnS a sort OF personal distinction on
hlm the poor stupid. an equally inno-
can; victim, feels ashamed Jf his dull
n~es. and Is looked down upon for the
sarie defect. OF course he would not
Ike his friends to say so In so many
words, 81 am very sorry for you for
hang so dull; It must be a great trial to
yo'i," but ne suffers adj the same from
q lack Of sympathy, and from the feel
ing .hat he Is thought little OF, for what
ne cannot help. And perhaps all the
ums he is trying to carry on the busi-
ness Of life under adverse conditions as
braveiy as .he invalid who makes an eff
fort to do his duty despite his bodily
weakness. The latter almost invafa-
bly, receives a full need Of praise. Not
50 the other. And therefore we hereby
desire to say word in advocacy Of our
poor, dull friend, and cry "BravoW to
the creaky little vessel that fights Its
way onward in the teeth of wind and
wave.
But stupidity Is such large word. and
is applied TO the deficiencies OF so many
species OF its victims, that we must try
to distinguish between them a little.
Paradoxlcal as 1t may sound, the worst
cases of Vt do not deamnd the most SYM
pathy There are people in the world
who are too stupid to know that they
are stupid. and therefore not sensitive
about their defects. They are as those
born blind. never Knowing the pleasures
which sight bestows. We have all met
them from time to time. people without
an idea In their heads. who see no more
ou. OF their dull unimaginatlve eyes as
they stare out into the world, than the
m ost bare and obvious facts; to whom
| life Is Ike a narrow room containing
| Just the furniture necessary for exist
ence. but with no view worth mentlon-
| ing out Of window. Circumstances make
| comparatively little difference to them.
| Send them round the world and show
| them the nine wonders of II. and they
| will come back as dull as when they
| set out. And yet, tresome as they are.
we cannot help feeling sorry for them.
| They may be unconscious of their loss,
| but 1t makes the world very unlnter-
| estng place for them. And times do oc-
! cur when the fact of 1t makes them thor
| oughly Ill at ease and uncomfortable, as
any one will know who has observed a
really stupid person, who has strayed.
| accidentally as 1t were, into a circle Of
brilliant takers. He feels nonplussed
| and sllenced by the thrust and parry,
| the repartees, and the play of the satire
| that go on around him. He cannot make
| or. what the rest are all driving at. He
takes the ironical remarks literally, and.
| II he speaks at all, expresses his ponder
Gus dissent He looks bored at the jokes.
| and annoyed with the jokers. II ap-
| pealed to. he has nothing to say. In =
word, he feels thoroughly "out Of IT,
| and that Is a sensation that none can
enjoy. And his mind must be dark with
| an utter density OF dullness IL he does
not perceive with pang his own stupid
| ity.
| Certainly poor Miss Bates, in Miss
| Austen's Emma" was aware Of hers
upon occasion, as at the silent party on
| Boxhill, when In desperation Frank
Churchill proposed that the company
should say ''one thing very clever. -. .
two things moderately clever, or three
things very dull indeed" Three
things very dun indeed That will just
| do for me, you know. 1 shall be sure to
say three duh things as soon as ever I
| open my mouth. sha'n't II" Emma could
not resist. "Ah. ma'am, but there may
be difficulty Pardon me. but you will
be limited as to the number-only three
at once" Miss Bates is not quick
| enough to catch her meaning at first
but when she does. her gentle and we'll
merited reproof to Emma for her lmper-
tinence, and her slight blush as she
spoke showed that though "lt could not
anger, it could pain her" II must make
myself very disagreeable. or she would
| not have said suoh a thing to an old
friend" she says. If talkative stupidity
Is wearlsome, like Miss Bates's, or Mrs.
| Aliens in "Northdnger Abbey"-that
worthy woman who reiterates the same
poor remark over and over again, like
the note Of a cuckoo-mum stupidity La
equally trying. The stolid folk who sit
and sit and say nothing-who require
all topics to be supplied. and drop them
as soon as started; the sort of people
who take out their knitting at con-
cert, and click away at their needles
through the noblest or the most pathetic
strains of music-lie heavy on our souls.
But then, as they miss so much Of the
sparkle of life, we must try to be sorry
for them too.-London Spectator.