Chapter 28 - Page 2

been in the house, for, by keeping the
end of it in his hand, like the bight of a rope, he might always
have suthin' tangible to cling to. He told me, as a great secret,
that he was fairly tired of rummaging among his thoughts for the
knowledge necessary to understand what was going on, and that he had
finally concluded to put himself, for the rest of the session, under
the convoy of a God-like. He had been looking out for a fit fugleman
of this sort, and he had pretty much determined to follow the signal
of the great God-like of the Parpendic'lars, like the rest of them,
for it would occasion less confusion in the ranks, and enable him to
save himself a vast deal of trouble in making up his mind. He didn't
know, on the whole, but eight dollars a day might give a living
profit, provided he could throw all the thinking on his God-like,
and turn his attention to suthin' else; he thought of writing his
v'y'ges, for he understood that anything from foreign parts took
like wild-fire in Leaplow; and if they didn't take, he could always
project charts for a living.

Perhaps it will be necessary to explain what Noah meant by saying
that he thought of engaging a God-like. The reader has had some
insight into the nature of one set of political leaders in Leaplow,
who are known by the name of the Most Patriotic Patriots. These
persons, it is scarcely necessary to say, are always with the
majority, or in a situation to avail themselves of the evolutions of
the little wheel. Their great rotatory principle keeps them pretty
constantly in motion, it is true; but while there is a centrifugal
force to maintain this action, great care has been had to provide a
centripetal counterpoise, in order to prevent them from bolting out
of the political orbit. It is supposed to be owing to this
peculiarity in their party organizations, that your Leaplow patriot
is so very remarkable for going round and round a subject, without
ever touching it.

As an offset to this party arrangement, the Perpendiculars have
taken refuge in the God-likes. A God-like, in Leaplow politics, in
some respects resembles a saint in the Catholic calendar; that is to
say, he is canonized, after passing through a certain amount of
temptation and vice with a whole skin; after having his cause
pleaded for a certain number of years before the high authorities of
his party; and, usually, after having had a pretty good taste of
purgatory. Canonization attained, however, all gets to be plain
sailing with him. He is spared, singular as it may appear, even a
large portion of his former "wear and tear" of brains, as Noah had
termed it, for nothing puts one so much at liberty in this respect,
as to have full powers to do all the thinking.