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Show OICUKGK PR AS CIS TRAI!T-MAD-MA5f AUD tLEPllA.M. It seems that George Francis Train has been declared a madman, and that he i to be sent to a madhouse. This remarkable man ought not to pass away from civilirilion without suitable recogui'ion. . Personally, there is no "nicer fellow." as the phrase goes, thau is Mr. Train. (Social, polished, pol-ished, humane, active, bhrewd, enterprising; enter-prising; "lull as is an egg of meat," of ideas wide and comprehensive; centrifugal cen-trifugal and centripetal in his organization organi-zation at once an earthquake, a storm, a rainbow and a lileboat; tho father of all. sorts of sohemes in railways, "Credit Mobiliers," and the like; a poet and lecturer; a devotee; a politician; a journalist; a presidential candidate; the hero of the Cotumunidts; tho daring dar-ing spirit of the Internationale; soaring soar-ing for ever and ever, on wax wings, in a tempest of his own creating the foe of tyrants, and of priests, and of sectarian creeds; the friend of the people; the hero of dungeons, cis-and trans-Atlantic; the Daniel who boldly enters the den of the British Lion, with a sprig of shamrock as a maeio talisman in his martyr hand; the Ho-ratii Ho-ratii and Curatii (both in one) who fought the latter end of the Prussian and French war on "his own hook," running amuok between tho hostile lines, reckless of blood and treasure, and finally subsiding only at tho base of the fallen oolumo Veodome; a modern mod-ern oru.iader, who flies, in complete mail, hither and yonder with almost tho speed of thought, heralding bis approach, noting his departure by squibs, telegrams and epigrams, all instiootwith a revolutionary niagoot- ism; a oreation of world-wide notoriety huoh in part, is Mr. Train, who has remained for months in the Tombs, resolutely refusing bail or even freedom at his own recognizance; who has been a voluntary martyr in "Murderers' Row,"eating and drinking prison fare, shivering within oold and damp walls; the possessor of wealth enough to afford him Johannisbergor and truffles, and as varied a menu as a prince need covet for his daiy fare. Whether mad or sane, this man presents to the world tho embodiment of Radicalism of all sorts. There is point in all ho says or does; and there is great wisdom and forecast in many of his utterances. His intuitions early probod all lately disoovcrod public rot- 1 tennesF. Statesmen and journalists will find themselves in Train's r?ar in most of the fruitions and developments of the present hour Ho is no madder in bis line than is Mr. Wendell Phillips Phil-lips in his speciality. Train has "out under Phillips and that is the only difference in this respect between thoso two great men. Train is aRadi-oal aRadi-oal who ouiherod's Phillips, and even the martyr Brown, whose soul still "marches on." Mr. Train shoots his pebbles, David-like, David-like, at all sorts of giants. Mainly he is at war in behalf of workingmen and tho freedom of tho press. Uo would like to hang a few capitalists to tho lamp posts, and to burn tho Christian religion as interpreted by the priests at the stake. Mr. Train wou'd com-munize com-munize Puris and New York. And yet he is by no mrans a Jack Gude agrarian. Bo would unhold law. That is to say the law as interpreted by Mr. TratD. Mr. Train is not entombed liko the prisoner of Chillon. He is not a Bon-nivard. Bon-nivard. He walked into tho Tomb? in Pickwickian fashion rather. He published extracts from the Oid Testament, Tes-tament, with such Bctsatioual headings head-ings as to bring himself within tho law regulating obacone litei a u,to i, e,, in the opinion of the authorities. In effeot, he pleaded guilty to this charge. But Mr. Train so molded his plea (which ho framed in these words "Guilty of publishing the Bible.") as, in his opinion, to give him an opportunity to aek the verdict of a jury as to the fact of the obscenity of the Old Testament. Such an issue would have made Mr. Train a Religious Elephant. And that would have rounded the man's ambition. He had been a political elephant, a railroad rail-road elephant, a Eenian elephant, a Communistic elephant, an Internationale Internation-ale elephant, an epigram olephant and a telegram elephant. Now, it would have been a "big thing," as poor Mr. Lincoln used to say, if Mr. TraiaoouUl only have managed to become tho centre cen-tre of a religious excitement which would have oonvulsed tho world on the iB6ue Is the Biblo obsoeno ? L.ike Alexander the Great, and Na- Eoleon. and Julius Cxaar, and the ittle Napoleon, and many others, Mr. Train went too far. We fear that his sun is setting. Personally, we part from him with regret. If he goes to the madhouse, he cannot remain there long. Mr. Train, if he preserves his health, will develop some phase of oharaoter yot hidden within tho depths of his bouI, whioh will some day demonstrate de-monstrate to mankind that it it the keepers and superintendents of madhouses, mad-houses, and not the crazy-celled inmates, in-mates, who are lunatics, The madhouse, mad-house, if Train goes there, will catoh both a tartar and an elephant. Leslie's Les-lie's Illustrated Newspaper. |