Year: 1870

Political economy is the basis of


all good government. The wisest


men of all ages have brought to


bear upon this subject the


| Here | was interrupted and informed


that a stranger wished to see me down at
the door | went and confronted him,


and asked to know his business, strug-


Cling all the time to keep tight rein on
my seething political economy IDEAS, and
not let them break away from me or get


tangled in their harness. And privately
| ! wished the stranger was in the bottom
| of the canal with cargo of wheat on top
! of him. | was all in fever, but he was
cold. He said he was sorry to disturb
| me, but as he was passing he noticed that
| ! needed some lightning rods. | said,
| es, yes-go on-what about it?' lie
| said there was nothing about 1t, in par
ticular-nothing except he would like to
put them up for me. am new to house
keeping; have been used to hotels and
boarding-houses all my life. Like any
! body else Of similar experience, | try to
appear (to strangers) to be an Old house
keeper; consequently | said in an off
hand way that had been intending for
| some time to have six or eight lightning


rods put up, but The stranger
started. and looked inquiringly at me, but
! was serene | thought that if l
Glanced to make any mistakes he would
not catch me by my countenance. lie
said he would rather have my custom
than any mans in town. | said all right,
and started off to wrestle with my great
subject again, when he called me back
and said it would be necessary. to know
exactly how many points" | wanted put
up, what parts of the house | wanted
| them on, and what quality of rod l pre-
ferred 1t was close quarters for a man
not used to the exigencies of housekeep-
ing, but | went through creditably, and
he probably never suspected that | was
a novice | told him to put up eight
points" and put them all on the roof,
and use the best quality of rod He said
he could furnish the "plain" article, at 20
cents Il foot "coppered" 25 cents /; zinc
plated spiral twist" at 30 cents, that
would stop a streak of lightning any
time, no matter where it was bound, and


'render its errand harmless and its
further progress apocryphaL" l said
apocryphal was no slouch of a word, ema-
mating from the source it did, but philO-
logy aside l liked the spiral-twist and
would take the brand. Then he said he
could make two hundred and fifty feet
answer but to do it right, and make the
best job in town of it, and attract the ad-
miration of the just and unjust alike and
compel all parties to say they never saw
"a more symmetrical and hypothetical dis
play of lightning-rods since they were
born, he supposed he really couldn't get
along without four hundred, though he
was not vindictive and trusted he was
willing to try l said go ahead and use
four hundred and make any kind of IA job
he pleased out of it, but let me get back
to my work. So got rid of him at last
and now, after half an hour spent in get
ting my train of political economy


thoughts coupled together again, | am
ready to go on once more.


richest treasures of their genus,
their experience of life, and their
learning. The great lights of com
mercial jurisprudence, international


confraternity, and biological dcvia-
ton, of all ages, all civilizations,
and all nationalitics, from Zoroastcr
down to Horace Greeley, have


Here l was interrupted again and


required to go down and confer further
with that lightning rod man. l hurried
| off, boiling and surging with prodigious
! thoughts wombed in words of such


majesty that each one of them was in
| Of 1n1,1
that might be fifteen minutes passing a


given point, and once more l confronted


him-he so calm and sweet, so hot and


frcnzied. He was standing in the con


templative attitude of the Colossus OF
Rhodes, with one foot on my infant
| tuberose and the other among my panscs,


his hands on his hips, his hat-brm tilted


forward, one eye shut and the other


gazing critically and admiringly in the


direction of my. principal chimney. He


said now there was state of things tC


make man glad to be alive; and added


Il leave it to yoa if you ever saw any


thing more delriously picturesque than


eight lightning-rods on one chimney"


said had no present recollection of any


thing that transcribed it. He said that


in his opinion nothing on this earth but


Niagara Falls was superior to it in the
| way of natural scenery. All that was


needed now, he verify believed, to MAKE


my house "A perfect balm to the eye, was


to kind Of touch up the other chimneys Il


little and thus add to the generous cou1


TnH soothing uniformity of achieve


ment which would allay the excitemen


naturally consequent upon the first coul


Petat" l asked him if he learned to tall
out of a book, and if l could borrow
anywhere. lie smiled pleasantly, AM
said that his manner Of speaking was no
taught in books, and that nothing bu


familiarity with lightning could enable