Some Cranks and their Crotchets 409 



not to foresee such cases. Of course we can't call 

 a man a fool to his face. In a catalogue which 

 marshals the quick along with the dead some heed 

 must be paid to the amenities of life. Pray get 

 and bring me all those cards." 



By the time they arrived a satisfactory solution 

 of the difficulty had suggested itself. I told the 

 assistant simply to scratch out " Insane," and put 

 " Eccentric " instead. For while the harsh Latin 

 epithet would of course infuriate Messrs. Dumm- 

 kopf, Smallwit & Co., it might be doubted if their 

 feelings would be hurt by the milder Greek word. 

 Some people of their stripe, to whom notoriety is 

 the very breath of their nostrils, would consider it 

 a mark of distinction to be called eccentric. At 

 all events, the harshness would be delicately veiled 

 under a penumbra of ambiguity. 



Thus the class Eccentric Literature was estab- 

 lished in our catalogue, and there it has remained, 

 while the books in the library have increased from 

 a hundred thousand to half a million. Once or 

 twice, I am told, has some disgusted author uttered 

 a protest, but the quiet of Gore Hall has not been 

 disturbed thereby. Care is needed in treating 

 such a subject, and my rule was that no amount 

 of mere absurdity, no extremity of dissent from 

 generally received opinions, should consign a book 



