New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-05-29
( CLEiR CASE.

There is a citizen of Kingston. in this state,
who believes himself TO be the homehest man
In the world. and because of that conviction Is
resolved to commit suicide at the earliest pos
sible moment His neighbors regard this pur-
pose as n sure indication of mental deranSe-
ment and accordingly are taking steps TO nave
their unfortunate fellow-townsman declared Il
lunatic and put under physical restraint. Iheir
diagnosis is undoubtedly correct and their acton
merciful In the first place. their friends sup
position that he is the foremost man alive in re-
spect 10 LONELINESS is in Itself strong evidence
that his reason has been dethr0ned Consider
ing The stupendous possibilities OF the human
race. numbering by the most conservative es'l-
mates more than twelve hundred millions OF
individuals. no man is warranted in assigning
TO himself the maximum Of ugness. He might
as well assume that he is tho most beautiful OF
his sex To appropriate such a distinction is
practically to proclaim delusion and invite
anxious thoughts of what may happen next.
But far more important as an indication or
insanity than the Kingston mans gratuitous
assumption is the purpose which 1t has inspired
We assert without fea" of contradiction by any
person in the full possession OF his senses that
IL this unhappy Kingstonian actually were what
he thinks himself to be- but what in all human
probability he is not. his pre-emnence would
afford not the faiittest vcstige Of reason for
voluntary departure from this life. History
records multitude of cases In which man
mental and moral stature has seemed TO be en-
HANGED by his extreme LONELINESS. There was
Chief Justice Shaw, OF Massachusetts. for ex-
ample of whom it was said on very high author
i,v that he was regarded with the same feelings
with which the Hndoo contemplates his idol
1--WE know" said his euiogiSt, that he Is ugly
but we feel that he is great" Consider the case
OF Oliver Wendell Holmes, who accomplished
all that he undertook with marvellous dexterity
and whom all the world loved. That utterly
sane and delightful man knew well. and cheer
fully admitted that he was far below the aver
age of good looks. Hear him:
love sweet features. will own
That should like, myself.
To my portrait on wall
Or bust upon shelf;
But Nature sometimes makes one up
OF such sad odds and ends,
II really might be quite as well
flushed up among ones friends.
There Is not n trace Of gloom in that confess
sion. but merely an amiable intmation that
personal ugliness Is n distinction which good
taste would never parade. There too, was
Henry Clay. whose lineaments illustrated very
nearly all the imperfectlons Of which the hui
man cOuntenance is capable, but who inspired
such profound devotion among men that many
of them Wept over the defeat of his ambition,
while no woman Of his time considered her posi-
ton in society absolutely unassailable unless the
illustrious Kcntuckan had kissed her. not neces-
sarily for publication, but as guarantee OF
good faith.
There is no need Of multiplying examples.
II is evident that the good and intelligent peo-
pie of Kingston do well 10 move for the In
generation Of their fellow-ciiizen. If his be-
lief that he IS the uglest man in existence had
led him to take extraordinary precautions for
the preservation Of his life. it might be attributed
TO colossal vanity. and that would not neces-
sary make him the proper object of n writ de
unatico but the fell design which he cherishcs
in consequence of that belief Is conclusive proof
that he Is not I'll to be al large.