EDITOR'S TABLE. 



275 



Many who had signed the remonstrance 

 now signed the petition, so that the 

 consent of the village to the measure 

 proposed was regarded as practically 

 unanimous. 



But there was an active party in favor 

 of the boys, who were determined that 

 they should not be interfered with in 

 their amusement, and so the selectmen 

 played into the hands of this party by 

 excluding all bicycles, large and small, 

 from the sidewalks, well knowing that 

 this step would cause such irritation as 

 to defeat itself. The consequence was 

 that the order of exclusion was rescind- 

 ed, and all bicycles, large and small, 

 were once more allowed to run freely 

 on the sidewalks, except in the small 

 portion of the village occupied by the 

 stores, hotel, and bank. 



The gentleman, a distinguished pro- 

 fessor of Columbia College, who moved 

 in the matter, attempted to arouse pub- 

 lic sentiment upon the subject, and, as 

 there was no newspaper printed iu the 

 village, he posted up a handbill with a 

 list of thirteen accidents, and cases of 

 serious annoyance, that had occurred ; 

 and shortly after posted up ten addi- 

 tional cases, signed with his well-known 

 initials, to show by facts that the prac- 

 tice resisted was really a dangerous one. 

 These posters were removed by the 

 selectmen. He then printed a letter, 

 stating the case fully, and giving an 

 account of twenty accidents, and placed 

 a copy in every box in the village 

 post-office, addressed to the chief resi- 

 dents. One was also sent to the edit- 

 or of the " Springfield Eepublican," 

 who made a notice of it, and one hun- 

 dred copies of his paper were distrib- 

 uted in the village, all of which failed 

 to produce any effect. 



Now, our interest in this matter is 

 purely scientific. We take the data, 

 find their explanation, and draw con- 

 clusions respecting the true grade of 

 Stockbridge society. ^ 



The facts in a sentence are simply 

 these : Half a dozen boys, in the pur- 



suit of a selfish gratification, persist in 

 violating the rights of citizens, and this 

 conduct is sustained by the community 

 which yet acknowledges the outrage. 



And how is it to be explained ? By 

 the indifference of the people to the 

 subject as a matter of right and wrong ; 

 or a laxity of moral sense. The gen- 

 tleman who moved in the matter, and 

 should have been regarded as a public 

 benefactor, was not supported, but was 

 condemned for his action. Of course, 

 when such an issue was once raised, 

 there was tenfold necessity to put down 

 the openly immoral party ; but the 

 raising of the issue only cowed their 

 opponents, and disclosed the absence 

 of moral backbone in the Stockbridge 

 character. " It was really such a petty 

 matter, such small business, to be med- 

 dling with the enjoyments of the dear 

 boys ! " from which we get an idea of 

 the quality of Stockbridge ethics, which 

 is far too much the American sort. 

 Small trespasses are to be tolerated, and 

 only outrages that comport with the 

 scale of American ideas are to be rep- 

 robated. Abuses that have in them 

 something of the breadth of the conti- 

 nent or the length of the Mississippi, or 

 the bigness of the national debt, are 

 worthy to excite indignation ; but mere 

 sidewalk offenses nonsense ! 



It is to be presumed, of course, that 

 Stockbridge education conforms to the 

 standard of its public opinion. The 

 boys are sent to school, and taught 

 book -lessons in morality, including sen- 

 sitiveness to the rightful claims of oth- 

 ers, and especially solicitude for the 

 weak and helpless, and then they take 

 lessons in the out-of-door practical 

 morality of running over baby-car- 

 riages, upsetting old people, and dis- 

 turbing everybody, because the side- 

 walk is a little nicer than the street for 

 bicycle riding. 



From all of which we may fairly 

 infer the grade of Stockbridge civili- 

 zation. Its people may be refined and 

 educated, affluent, polished, and devo- 



