Year: 1870

with impunity He then figured up an
estimate, and said that about eight more
rods scattered about my roof would about
| fix me right, and he guessed five hundred
| feet of stuff would do it; and added that
the first eight had got little the start of
| him, so to speak, and used up a mere
trifie of material more than he had calcu-
lated on-a hundred feet or along there
| said was in a dreadful hurry, and
wished we could get this business perma-
nently mapped out so that could go on
with my work. Ee said: Il could have
put up those eight rods, and marched off
about my busincss-some men acOuld
have done it. But no, said to myself
| this man is stranger to me and l will
die before I'll wrong him; there amt
lightning-rods enough on that house, and
for one I'll never stDnout of my tracks
till Eve done as weed be done by, and
told him so. Stra4s..> my duty is accom-
plished; if the recaltftrant and dephlo-
CYSTIC messenger of heaven strikes your
-" "Thcre, now, there" said, ''put
on the other eight-add five hundred feet
of spiral twist-do anything and every
thing you want to do; but calm your
sufferings and try to keep your feelings
where you can reach them with the
dictionary. Meanwhile, if we understand
each other now, l will go to work again"
l think have been sitting here Il full
hour, this time, trying to get back to
where was when my train of thought
was broken up by the last interruption,
but believe have accomplished it at
last and may adventure to proceed again.
wrestled with this great subject, and
the greatest among them have found
it worthy adversary and one that
always comes up fresh and smiling
after every throw. The great Con-
fucius said that he would rather be
a profound political economist than
chief of police; Cicero frequently
said that political economy was the
grandest consummation that the
human mind was capable ofconsum-
ing and even our own Greeley has
said vaguely but forcibly that


Here the lghtning-rod man sent up
another call for me | went down in
state of mind bordering on impatencc.
He said he would rather have died than
interrupted me, but when he was employ
ed to do job, and that job was expected
to be done in clean, workmanllke man
ner, and when it was finished and fatigue
urged him to seek the rest and recreation
he stood so much in need of, and he was
about to do it, but looked up and saw at
glance that all the circulation had been
little out, and if thunder storm were
to come up and that house which he felt
a personal interest in stood there with
nothing on earth to protect it but sixteen
lightning rods Let us have peace!"
| shriekcd "Put up a hundred and fifty!
Put some on the kitchen. Put Il dozen
on the barn. Put a couple on the COW.
put one on the cook.-scatter them all
over the prosecuted place till it looks like
a zinc plated, spiral-twisted, silver-mount-
ed cane brake! Move. Use up all the
material you can get your hands on, and
when YOU run out of lightning rods put up
ram-rods, cam-rods, stairrods, piston
rods-unything that will pander to your
dismal appetite for ARTIFICIAL scenery and
bring respite to my raging brain and
healing to my laceratcd soul" Wholly
unmoyed-furthcr than to smile sweetly-
this iron being simply turned back his
wristbands laintiiy and said he would
now proceed to hump himself" Wel
all that was nearly three hours ago. 1t
is questionable whether am calm enough
vet to write on the noble theme of politi-
cal economy, but cannot resist the de
sire to try, for it is the one subject that
is nearest to my heart and dearest to my
brain of all this worlds philosophy


Political economy is heavens best
boon to man" When the loose but
gifted Byron lay i'll his Venetian
exile, he observed that if it could
be granted him to 20 back and live
his misspent life over again, he
would give his lucid aud unintoXl-
Gated Intervals to the composition,
not of frivolous rhymes, but Of
essays upon political economy.
Washington loved this exquisite
science; such names as Baker, Beck
with, Judson, Smith, are imperisha-
bly, linked with it; and even i'm
pcrial Homer, in the ninth book of
the Had, has said:


Fiat iustitia, ruat ca,lum,