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diff --git a/old/13105-8.txt b/old/13105-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b77b9fe --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13105-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11369 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, Vol. I +by Margaret Fuller Ossoli + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, Vol. I + +Author: Margaret Fuller Ossoli + +Release Date: August 3, 2004 [EBook #13105] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARGARET FULLER, VOL. 1 *** + + + + +Produced by Leah Moser and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +MEMOIRS + +OF + +MARGARET FULLER OSSOLI + +VOL. I. + + * * * * * + + Only a learned and a manly soul + I purposed her, that should with even powers + The rock, the spindle, and the shears control + Of Destiny, and spin her own free hours. + + BEN JONSON. + + + Però che ogni diletto nostro e doglia + Sta in si e nò saper, voler, potere; + Adunque quel sol può, che col dovere + Ne trae la ragion fuor di sua soglia. + + Adunque tu, lettor di queste note, + S' a te vuoi esser buono, e agli altri caro, + Vogli sempre poter quel che tu debbi. + + LEONARDO DA VINCI + + + + +BOSTON: +PHILLIPS, SAMPSON AND COMPANY. +MDCCCLVII. + + + + + Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, + + BY R.F. FULLER, + + In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District + of Massachusetts. + + + Stereotyped by HOBART & ROBBINS; + NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE + FOUNDRY BOSTON. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS +FOR +VOLUME FIRST. + + +I. YOUTH. AUTOBIOGRAPHY + PARENTS + DEATH IN THE HOUSE + OVERWORK + THE WORLD OF BOOKS + FIRST FRIEND + SCHOOL-LIFE + SELF-CULTURE + +II. CAMBRIDGE, _By J.F. Clarke_ + FRIENDSHIP + CONVERSATION.--SOCIAL INTERCOURSE + STUDIES + CHARACTER.--AIMS AND IDEAS OF LIFE + +III. GROTON AND PROVIDENCE. LETTERS AND JOURNALS + SAD WELCOME HOME + OCCUPATIONS + MISS MARTINEAU + ILLNESS + DEATH OF HER FATHER + TRIAL + BIRTH-DAY + DEATH IN LIFE + LITERATURE + FAREWELL TO GROTON + WINTER IN BOSTON + PROVIDENCE + SCHOOL EXPERIENCES + PERSONS + ART + FANNY KEMBLE + MAGNANIMITY + SPIRITUAL LIFE + FAREWELL TO SUMMER + +IV. CONCORD, _By R.W. Emerson_ + ARCANA + DÆMONOLOGY + TEMPERAMENT + SELF-ESTEEM + BOOKS + CRITICISM + NATURE + ART + LETTERS + FRIENDSHIP + PROBLEMS OF LIFE + WOMAN, OR ARTIST? + HEROISM + TRUTH + ECSTASY + CONVERSATION + +V. BOSTON, _By R.W. Emerson_ + CONVERSATIONS ON THE FINE ARTS + + + + +YOUTH. + +AUTOBIOGRAPHY. + + * * * * * + + "Aus Morgenduft gewebt und Sonnenklarheit + Der Dichtung Schleir aus der Hand der Wahrheit." + + GOETHE. + + + "The million stars which tremble + O'er the deep mind of dauntless infancy." + + TENNYSON. + + + "Wie leicht ward er dahin gefragen, + Was war dem Glücklichen zu schwer! + Wie tanzte vor des Lebens Wagen + Die luftige Begleitung her! + Die Liebe mit dem süssen Lohne, + Das Glück mit seinem gold'nen Kranz, + Der Ruhm mit seiner Sternenkrone, + Die Wahrheit in der Sonne Glanz." + + SCHILLER + + + What wert thou then? A child most infantine, + Yet wandering far beyond that innocent age, + In all but its sweet looks and mien divine; + Even then, methought, with the world's tyrant rage + A patient warfare thy young heart did wage, + When those soft eyes of scarcely conscious thought + Some tale, or thine own fancies, would engage + To overflow with tears, or converse fraught + With passion o'er their depths its fleeting light had wrought.' + + SHELLE + + + "And I smiled, as one never smiles but once; + Then first discovering my own aim's extent, + Which sought to comprehend the works of God. + And God himself, and all God's intercourse + With the human mind." + + BROWNING. + + + + +I. + +YOUTH. + + * * * * * + + + 'Tieck, who has embodied so many Runic secrets, explained to + me what I have often felt toward myself, when he tells of + the poor changeling, who, turned from the door of her adopted + home, sat down on a stone and so pitied herself that she wept. + Yet me also, the wonderful bird, singing in the wild forest, + has tempted on, and not in vain.' + +Thus wrote Margaret in the noon of life, when looking back through +youth to the "dewy dawn of memory." She was the eldest child of +Timothy Fuller and Margaret Crane, and was born in Cambridge-Port, +Massachusetts, on the 23d of May, 1810. + +Among her papers fortunately remains this unfinished sketch of youth, +prepared by her own hand, in 1840, as the introductory chapter to an +autobiographical romance. + + + + +PARENTS. + + + 'My father was a lawyer and a politician. He was a man largely + endowed with that sagacious energy, which the state of New + England society, for the last half century, has been so well + fitted to develop. His father was a clergyman, settled as + pastor in Princeton, Massachusetts, within the bounds of whose + parish-farm was Wachuset. His means were small, and the great + object of his ambition was to send his sons to college. As a + boy, my father was taught to think only of preparing himself + for Harvard University, and when there of preparing himself + for the profession of Law. As a Lawyer, again, the ends + constantly presented were to work for distinction in the + community, and for the means of supporting a family. To be an + honored citizen, and to have a home on earth, were made the + great aims of existence. To open the deeper fountains of + the soul, to regard life here as the prophetic entrance to + immortality, to develop his spirit to perfection,--motives + like these had never been suggested to him, either by + fellow-beings or by outward circumstances. The result was a + character, in its social aspect, of quite the common sort. + A good son and brother, a kind neighbor, an active man of + business--in all these outward relations he was but one of + a class, which surrounding conditions have made the majority + among us. In the more delicate and individual relations, he + never approached but two mortals, my mother and myself. + + 'His love for my mother was the green spot on which he + stood apart from the common-places of a mere bread-winning, + bread-bestowing existence. She was one of those fair and + flower-like natures, which sometimes spring up even beside the + most dusty highways of life--a creature not to be shaped into + a merely useful instrument, but bound by one law with the blue + sky, the dew, and the frolic birds. Of all persons whom I + have known, she had in her most of the angelic,--of that + spontaneous love for every living thing, for man, and beast, + and tree, which restores the golden age.' + + + + +DEATH IN THE HOUSE. + + + 'My earliest recollection is of a death,--the death of a + sister, two years younger than myself. Probably there is a + sense of childish endearments, such as belong to this tie, + mingled with that of loss, of wonder, and mystery; but these + last are prominent in memory. I remember coming home and + meeting our nursery-maid, her face streaming with tears. That + strange sight of tears made an indelible impression. I realize + how little I was of stature, in that I looked up to this + weeping face;--and it has often seemed since, that--full-grown + for the life of this earth, I have looked up just so, at times + of threatening, of doubt, and distress, and that just so has + some being of the next higher order of existences looked down, + aware of a law unknown to me, and tenderly commiserating the + pain I muse endure in emerging from my ignorance. + + 'She took me by the hand and led me into a still and dark + chamber,--then drew aside the curtain and showed me my sister. + I see yet that beauty of death! The highest achievements of + sculpture are only the reminder of its severe sweetness. Then + I remember the house all still and dark,--the people in their + black clothes and dreary faces,--the scent of the newly-made + coffin,--my being set up in a chair and detained by a gentle + hand to hear the clergyman,--the carriages slowly going, the + procession slowly doling out their steps to the grave. But + I have no remembrance of what I have since been told I + did,--insisting, with loud cries, that they should not put the + body in the ground. I suppose that my emotion was spent at + the time, and so there was nothing to fix that moment in my + memory. + + 'I did not then, nor do I now, find any beauty in these + ceremonies. What had they to do with the sweet playful child? + Her life and death were alike beautiful, but all this sad + parade was not. Thus my first experience of life was one of + death. She who would have been the companion of my life was + severed from me, and I was left alone. This has made a + vast difference in my lot. Her character, if that fair face + promised right, would have been soft, graceful and lively: it + would have tempered mine to a gentler and more gradual course. + + + + +OVERWORK. + + + 'My father,--all whose feelings were now concentred on + me,--instructed me himself. The effect of this was so far good + that, not passing through the hands of many ignorant and weak + persons as so many do at preparatory schools, I was put at + once under discipline of considerable severity, and, at the + same time, had a more than ordinarily high standard presented + to me. My father was a man of business, even in literature; he + had been a high scholar at college, and was warmly attached + to all he had learned there, both from the pleasure he had + derived in the exercise of his faculties and the associated + memories of success and good repute. He was, beside, well read + in French literature, and in English, a Queen Anne's man. He + hoped to make me the heir of all he knew, and of as much more + as the income of his profession enabled him to give me + means of acquiring. At the very beginning, he made one + great mistake, more common, it is to be hoped, in the last + generation, than the warnings of physiologists will permit + it to be with the next. He thought to gain time, by bringing + forward the intellect as early as possible. Thus I had tasks + given me, as many and various as the hours would allow, and + on subjects beyond my age; with the additional disadvantage + of reciting to him in the evening, after he returned from his + office. As he was subject to many interruptions, I was often + kept up till very late; and as he was a severe teacher, both + from his habits of mind and his ambition for me, my feelings + were kept on the stretch till the recitations were over. Thus + frequently, I was sent to bed several hours too late, with + nerves unnaturally stimulated. The consequence was a premature + development of the brain, that made me a "youthful prodigy" by + day, and by night a victim of spectral illusions, nightmare, + and somnambulism, which at the time prevented the harmonious + development of my bodily powers and checked my growth, while, + later, they induced continual headache, weakness and nervous + affections, of all kinds. As these again re-acted on the + brain, giving undue force to every thought and every feeling, + there was finally produced a state of being both too active + and too intense, which wasted my constitution, and will bring + me,--even although I have learned to understand and regulate + my now morbid temperament,--to a premature grave. + + 'No one understood this subject of health then. No one knew + why this child, already kept up so late, was still unwilling + to retire. My aunts cried out upon the "spoiled child, the + most unreasonable child that ever was,--if brother could but + open his eyes to see it,--who was never willing to go to bed." + They did not know that, so soon as the light was taken away, + she seemed to see colossal faces advancing slowly towards her, + the eyes dilating, and each feature swelling loathsomely as + they came, till at last, when they were about to close upon + her, she started up with a shriek which drove them away, but + only to return when she lay down again. They did not know + that, when at last she went to sleep, it was to dream of + horses trampling over her, and to awake once more in fright; + or, as she had just read in her Virgil, of being among trees + that dripped with blood, where she walked and walked and could + not get out, while the blood became a pool and plashed over + her feet, and rose higher and higher, till soon she dreamed it + would reach her lips. No wonder the child arose and walked in + her sleep, moaning all over the house, till once, when they + heard her, and came and waked her, and she told what she had + dreamed, her father sharply bid her "leave off thinking of + such nonsense, or she would be crazy,"--never knowing that he + was himself the cause of all these horrors of the night. Often + she dreamed of following to the grave the body of her mother, + as she had done that of her sister, and woke to find the + pillow drenched in tears. These dreams softened her heart too + much, and cast a deep shadow over her young days; for then, + and later, the life of dreams,--probably because there was in + it less to distract the mind from its own earnestness,--has + often seemed to her more real, and been remembered with more + interest, than that of waking hours. + + 'Poor child! Far remote in time, in thought, from that + period, I look back on these glooms and terrors, wherein I was + enveloped, and perceive that I had no natural childhood.' + + + + +BOOKS. + + + 'Thus passed my first years. My mother was in delicate health, + and much absorbed in the care of her younger children. In the + house was neither dog nor bird, nor any graceful animated form + of existence. I saw no persons who took my fancy, and real + life offered no attraction. Thus my already over-excited mind + found no relief from without, and was driven for refuge from + itself to the world of books. I was taught Latin and English + grammar at the same time, and began to read Latin at six years + old, after which, for some years, I read it daily. In this + branch of study, first by my father, and afterwards by a + tutor, I was trained to quite a high degree of precision. + I was expected to understand the mechanism of the language + thoroughly, and in translating to give the thoughts in as + few well-arranged words as possible, and without breaks + or hesitation,--for with these my father had absolutely no + patience. + + 'Indeed, he demanded accuracy and clearness in everything: + you must not speak, unless you can make your meaning perfectly + intelligible to the person addressed; must not express a + thought, unless you can give a reason for it, if + required; must not make a statement, unless sure of all + particulars--such were his rules. "But," "if," "unless," "I am + mistaken," and "it may be so," were words and phrases excluded + from the province where he held sway. Trained to great + dexterity in artificial methods, accurate, ready, with entire + command of his resources, he had no belief in minds that + listen, wait, and receive. He had no conception of the subtle + and indirect motions of imagination and feeling. His influence + on me was great, and opposed to the natural unfolding of my + character, which was fervent, of strong grasp, and disposed to + infatuation, and self-forgetfulness. He made the common prose + world so present to me, that my natural bias was controlled. I + did not go mad, as many would do, at being continually roused + from my dreams. I had too much strength to be crushed,--and + since I must put on the fetters, could not submit to let them + impede my motions. My own world sank deep within, away from + the surface of my life; in what I did and said I learned to + have reference to other minds. But my true life was only the + dearer that it was secluded and veiled over by a thick curtain + of available intellect, and that coarse, but wearable stuff + woven by the ages,--Common Sense. + + 'In accordance with this discipline in heroic common sense, + was the influence of those great Romans, whose thoughts and + lives were my daily food during those plastic years. The + genius of Rome displayed itself in Character, and scarcely + needed an occasional wave of the torch of thought to show its + lineaments, so marble strong they gleamed in every light. Who, + that has lived with those men, but admires the plain force of + fact, of thought passed into action? They take up things with + their naked hands. There is just the man, and the block he + casts before you,--no divinity, no demon, no unfulfilled + aim, but just the man and Rome, and what he did for Rome. + Everything turns your attention to what a man can become, + not by yielding himself freely to impressions, not by letting + nature play freely through him, but by a single thought, + an earnest purpose, an indomitable will, by hardihood, + self-command, and force of expression. Architecture was the + art in which Rome excelled, and this corresponds with the + feeling these men of Rome excite. They did not grow,--they + built themselves up, or were built up by the fate of Rome, as + a temple for Jupiter Stator. The ruined Roman sits among + the ruins; he flies to no green garden; he does not look to + heaven; if his intent is defeated, if he is less than he meant + to be, he lives no more. The names which end in "_us_," seem + to speak with lyric cadence. That measured cadence,--that + tramp and march,--which are not stilted, because they indicate + real force, yet which seem so when compared with any other + language,--make Latin a study in itself of mighty influence. + The language alone, without the literature, would give one the + _thought_ of Rome. Man present in nature, commanding nature + too sternly to be inspired by it, standing like the rock + amid the sea, or moving like the fire over the land, either + impassive, or irresistible; knowing not the soft mediums or + fine flights of life, but by the force which he expresses, + piercing to the centre. + + 'We are never better understood than when we speak of a "Roman + virtue," a "Roman outline." There is somewhat indefinite, + somewhat yet unfulfilled in the thought of Greece, of Spain, + of modern Italy; but ROME! it stands by itself, a clear Word. + The power of will, the dignity of a fixed purpose is what + it utters. Every Roman was an emperor. It is well that the + infallible church should have been founded on this rock, that + the presumptuous Peter should hold the keys, as the conquering + Jove did before his thunderbolts, to be seen of all the world. + The Apollo tends flocks with Admetus; Christ teaches by the + lonely lake, or plucks wheat as he wanders through the fields + some Sabbath morning. They never come to this stronghold; they + could not have breathed freely where all became stone as + soon as spoken, where divine youth found no horizon for its + all-promising glance, but every thought put on, before it + dared issue to the day in action, its _toga virilis_. + + 'Suckled by this wolf, man gains a different complexion from + that which is fed by the Greek honey. He takes a noble bronze + in camps and battle-fields; the wrinkles of council well + beseem his brow, and the eye cuts its way like the sword. The + Eagle should never have been used as a symbol by any other + nation: it belonged to Rome. + + 'The history of Rome abides in mind, of course, more than the + literature. It was degeneracy for a Roman to use the pen; his + life was in the day. The "vaunting" of Rome, like that of the + North American Indians, is her proper literature. A man rises; + he tells who he is, and what he has done; he speaks of his + country and her brave men; he knows that a conquering god is + there, whose agent is his own right hand; and he should end + like the Indian, "I have no more to say." + + 'It never shocks us that the Roman is self-conscious. + One wants no universal truths from him, no philosophy, no + creation, but only his life, his Roman life felt in every + pulse, realized in every gesture. The universal heaven takes + in the Roman only to make us feel his individuality the more. + The Will, the Resolve of Man!--it has been expressed,--fully + expressed! + + 'I steadily loved this ideal in my childhood, and this is the + cause, probably, why I have always felt that man must know how + to stand firm on the ground, before he can fly. In vain for + me are men more, if they are less, than Romans. Dante was far + greater than any Roman, yet I feel he was right to take the + Mantuan as his guide through hell, and to heaven. + + 'Horace was a great deal to me then, and is so still. Though + his words do not abide in memory, his presence does: serene, + courtly, of darting hazel eye, a self-sufficient grace, and + an appreciation of the world of stern realities, sometimes + pathetic, never tragic. He is the natural man of the world; he + is what he ought to be, and his darts never fail of their + aim. There is a perfume and raciness, too, which makes life a + banquet, where the wit sparkles no less that the viands were + bought with blood. + + 'Ovid gave me not Rome, nor himself, but a view into the + enchanted gardens of the Greek mythology. This path I + followed, have been following ever since; and now, life half + over, it seems to me, as in my childhood, that every thought + of which man is susceptible, is intimated there. In those + young years, indeed, I did not see what I now see, but loved + to creep from amid the Roman pikes to lie beneath this great + vine, and see the smiling and serene shapes go by, woven from + the finest fibres of all the elements. I knew not why, at that + time,--but I loved to get away from the hum of the forum, and + the mailed clang of Roman speech, to these shifting shows of + nature, these Gods and Nymphs born of the sunbeam, the wave, + the shadows on the hill. + + 'As with Rome I antedated the world of deeds, so I lived in + those Greek forms the true faith of a refined and intense + childhood. So great was the force of reality with which these + forms impressed me, that I prayed earnestly for a sign,--that + it would lighten in some particular region of the heavens, or + that I might find a bunch of grapes in the path, when I went + forth in the morning. But no sign was given, and I was left a + waif stranded upon the shores of modern life! + + 'Of the Greek language, I knew only enough to feel that the + sounds told the same story as the mythology;--that the law + of life in that land was beauty, as in Rome it was a stern + composure. I wish I had learned as much of Greece as of + Rome,--so freely does the mind play in her sunny waters, where + there is no chill, and the restraint is from within out; for + these Greeks, in an atmosphere of ample grace, could not be + impetuous, or stern, but loved moderation as equable life + always must, for it is the law of beauty. + + 'With these books I passed my days. The great amount of study + exacted of me soon ceased to be a burden, and reading became a + habit and a passion. The force of feeling, which, under other + circumstances, might have ripened thought, was turned to learn + the thoughts of others. This was not a tame state, for the + energies brought out by rapid acquisition gave glow enough. I + thought with rapture of the all-accomplished man, him of the + many talents, wide resources, clear sight, and omnipotent + will. A Cæsar seemed great enough. I did not then know that + such men impoverish the treasury to build the palace. I kept + their statues as belonging to the hall of my ancestors, and + loved to conquer obstacles, and fed my youth and strength for + their sake. + + * * * * * + + 'Still, though this bias was so great that in earliest years I + learned, in these ways, how the world takes hold of a powerful + nature, I had yet other experiences. None of these were + deeper than what I found in the happiest haunt of my childish + years,--our little garden. Our house, though comfortable, + was very ugly, and in a neighborhood which I detested,--every + dwelling and its appurtenances having a _mesquin_ and huddled + look. I liked nothing about us except the tall graceful elms + before the house, and the dear little garden behind. Our back + door opened on a high flight of steps, by which I went down + to a green plot, much injured in my ambitious eyes by the + presence of the pump and tool-house. This opened into a little + garden, full of choice flowers and fruit-trees, which was my + mother's delight, and was carefully kept. Here I felt at home. + A gate opened thence into the fields,--a wooden gate made of + boards, in a high, unpainted board wall, and embowered in the + clematis creeper. This gate I used to open to see the sunset + heaven; beyond this black frame I did not step, for I liked to + look at the deep gold behind it. How exquisitely happy I + was in its beauty, and how I loved the silvery wreaths of my + protecting vine! I never would pluck one of its flowers at + that time, I was so jealous of its beauty, but often since I + carry off wreaths of it from the wild-wood, and it stands in + nature to my mind as the emblem of domestic love. + + 'Of late I have thankfully felt what I owe to that garden, + where the best hours of my lonely childhood were spent. Within + the house everything was socially utilitarian; my books told + of a proud world, but in another temper were the teachings of + the little garden. There my thoughts could lie callow in the + nest, and only be fed and kept warm, not called to fly or sing + before the time. I loved to gaze on the roses, the violets, + the lilies, the pinks; my mother's hand had planted them, and + they bloomed for me. I culled the most beautiful. I looked at + them on every side. I kissed them, I pressed them to my bosom + with passionate emotions, such as I have never dared express + to any human being. An ambition swelled my heart to be as + beautiful, as perfect as they. I have not kept my vow. Yet, + forgive, ye wild asters, which gleam so sadly amid the fading + grass; forgive me, ye golden autumn flowers, which so strive + to reflect the glories of the departing distant sun; and ye + silvery flowers, whose moonlight eyes I knew so well, forgive! + Living and blooming in your unchecked law, ye know nothing of + the blights, the distortions, which beset the human being; + and which at such hours it would seem that no glories of free + agency could ever repay! + + * * * * * + + 'There was, in the house, no apartment appropriated to the + purpose of a library, but there was in my father's room a + large closet filled with books, and to these I had free access + when the task-work of the day was done. Its window overlooked + wide fields, gentle slopes, a rich and smiling country, whose + aspect pleased without much occupying the eye, while a range + of blue hills, rising at about twelve miles distance, allured + to reverie. "Distant mountains," says Tieck, "excite the + fancy, for beyond them we place the scene of our Paradise." + Thus, in the poems of fairy adventure, we climb the rocky + barrier, pass fearless its dragon caves, and dark pine + forests, and find the scene of enchantment in the vale behind. + My hopes were never so definite, but my eye was constantly + allured to that distant blue range, and I would sit, lost in + fancies, till tears fell on my cheek. I loved this sadness; + but only in later years, when the realities of life had taught + me moderation, did the passionate emotions excited by seeing + them again teach how glorious were the hopes that swelled my + heart while gazing on them in those early days. + + 'Melancholy attends on the best joys of a merely ideal life, + else I should call most happy the hours in the garden, the + hours in the book closet. Here were the best French writers + of the last century; for my father had been more than half a + Jacobin, in the time when the French Republic cast its glare + of promise over the world. Here, too, were the Queen Anne + authors, his models, and the English novelists; but among + them I found none that charmed me. Smollett, Fielding, and the + like, deal too broadly with the coarse actualities of life. + The best of their men and women--so merely natural, with the + nature found every day--do not meet our hopes. Sometimes the + simple picture, warm with life and the light of the common + sun, cannot fail to charm,--as in the wedded love of + Fielding's Amelia,--but it is at a later day, when the mind is + trained to comparison, that we learn to prize excellence like + this as it deserves. Early youth is prince-like: it-will bend + only to "the king, my father." Various kinds of excellence + please, and leave their impression, but the most commanding, + alone, is duly acknowledged at that all-exacting age. + + 'Three great authors it was my fortune to meet at this + important period,--all, though of unequal, yet congenial + powers,--all of rich and wide, rather than aspiring + genius,--all free to the extent of the horizon their eye took + in,--all fresh with impulse, racy with experience; never to + be lost sight of, or superseded, but always to be apprehended + more and more. + + 'Ever memorable is the day on which I first took a volume of + SHAKSPEARE in my hand to read. It was on a Sunday. + + '--This day was punctiliously set apart in our house. We had + family prayers, for which there was no time on other days. Our + dinners were different, and our clothes. We went to church. My + father put some limitations on my reading, but--bless him for + the gentleness which has left me a pleasant feeling for the + day!--he did not prescribe what was, but only what was _not_, + to be done. And the liberty this left was a large one. "You + must not read a novel, or a play;" but all other books, the + worst, or the best, were open to me. The distinction was + merely technical. The day was pleasing to me, as relieving me + from the routine of tasks and recitations; it gave me freer + play than usual, and there were fewer things occurred in its + course, which reminded me of the divisions of time; still the + church-going, where I heard nothing that had any connection + with my inward life, and these rules, gave me associations + with the day of empty formalities, and arbitrary restrictions; + but though the forbidden book or walk always seemed more + charming then, I was seldom tempted to disobey.-- + + 'This Sunday--I was only eight years old--I took from the + book-shelf a volume lettered SHAKSPEARE. It was not the first + time I had looked at it, but before I had been deterred from + attempting to read, by the broken appearance along the page, + and preferred smooth narrative. But this time I held in my + hand "Romeo and Juliet" long enough to get my eye fastened to + the page. It was a cold winter afternoon. I took the book to + the parlor fire, and had there been 'seated an hour or two, + when my father looked up and asked what I was reading so + intently. "Shakspeare," replied the child, merely raising her + eye from the page. "Shakspeare,--that won't do; that's no book + for Sunday; go put it away and take another." I went as I was + bid, but took no other. Returning to my seat, the unfinished + story, the personages to whom I was but just introduced, + thronged and burnt my brain. I could not bear it long; such a + lure it was impossible to resist. I went and brought the book + again. There were several guests present, and I had got half + through the play before I again attracted attention. "What + is that child about that she don't hear a word that's said to + her?" quoth my aunt. "What are you reading?" said my father. + "Shakspeare" was again the reply, in a clear, though somewhat + impatient, tone. "How?" said my father angrily,--then + restraining himself before his guests,--"Give me the book and + go directly to bed." + + 'Into my little room no care of his anger followed me. Alone, + in the dark, I thought only of the scene placed by the + poet before my eye, where the free flow of life, sudden and + graceful dialogue, and forms, whether grotesque or fair, + seen in the broad lustre of his imagination, gave just what + I wanted, and brought home the life I seemed born to live. + My fancies swarmed like bees, as I contrived the rest of the + story;--what all would do, what say, where go. My confinement + tortured me. I could not go forth from this prison to ask + after these friends; I could not make my pillow of the dreams + about them which yet I could not forbear to frame. Thus was + I absorbed when my father entered. He felt it right, before + going to rest, to reason with me about my disobedience, shown + in a way, as he considered, so insolent. I listened, but could + not feel interested in what he said, nor turn my mind + from what engaged it. He went away really grieved at my + impenitence, and quite at a loss to understand conduct in me + so unusual. + + '--Often since I have seen the same misunderstanding between + parent and child,--the parent thrusting the morale, the + discipline, of life upon the child, when just engrossed by + some game of real importance and great leadings to it. That is + only a wooden horse to the father,--the child was careering to + distant scenes of conquest and crusade, through a country of + elsewhere unimagined beauty. None but poets remember + their youth; but the father who does not retain poetical + apprehension of the world, free and splendid as it stretches + out before the child, who cannot read his natural history, and + follow out its intimations with reverence, must be a tyrant in + his home, and the purest intentions will not prevent his doing + much to cramp him. Each new child is a new Thought, and has + bearings and discernings, which the Thoughts older in date + know not yet, but must learn.-- + + 'My attention thus fixed on Shakspeare, I returned to him + at every hour I could command. Here was a counterpoise to my + Romans, still more forcible than the little garden. My author + could read the Roman nature too,--read it in the sternness of + Coriolanus, and in the varied wealth of Cæsar. But he viewed + these men of will as only one kind of men; he kept them in + their place, and I found that he, who could understand the + Roman, yet expressed in Hamlet a deeper thought. + + 'In CERVANTES, I found far less productive talent,--'indeed, + a far less powerful genius,--but the same wide wisdom, a + discernment piercing the shows and symbols of existence, yet + rejoicing in them all, both for their own life, and as signs + of the unseen reality. Not that Cervantes philosophized,--his + genius was too deeply philosophical for that; he took things + as they came before him, and saw their actual relations and + bearings. Thus the work he produced was of deep meaning, + though he might never have expressed that meaning to himself. + It was left implied in the whole. A Coleridge comes and calls + Don Quixote the pure Reason, and Sancho the Understanding. + Cervantes made no such distinctions in his own mind; but he + had seen and suffered enough to bring out all his faculties, + and to make him comprehend the higher as well as the lower + part of our nature. Sancho is too amusing and sagacious to + be contemptible; the Don too noble and clear-sighted towards + absolute truth, to be ridiculous. And we are pleased to see + manifested in this way, how the lower must follow and serve + the higher, despite its jeering mistrust and the stubborn + realities which break up the plans of this pure-minded + champion. + + 'The effect produced on the mind is nowise that described by + Byron:-- + + "Cervantes smiled Spain's chivalry away," &c. + + 'On the contrary, who is not conscious of a sincere reverence + for the Don, prancing forth on his gaunt steed? Who would not + rather be he than any of the persons who laugh at him?--Yet + the one we would wish to be is thyself, Cervantes, + unconquerable spirit! gaining flavor and color like wine from + every change, while being carried round the world; in whose + eye the serene sagacious laughter could not be dimmed by + poverty, slavery, or unsuccessful authorship. Thou art to us + still more the Man, though less the Genius, than Shakspeare; + thou dost not evade our sight, but, holding the lamp to thine + own magic shows, dost enjoy them with us. + + 'My third friend was MOLIÉRE, one very much lower, both in + range and depth, than the-others, but, as far as he goes, of + the same character. Nothing secluded or partial is there about + his genius,--a man of the world, and a man by himself, as he + is. It was, indeed, only the poor social world of Paris that + he saw, but he viewed it from the firm foundations of + his manhood, and every lightest laugh rings from a clear + perception, and teaches life anew. + + 'These men were all alike in this,--they loved the _natural + history_ of man. Not what he should be, but what he is, + was the favorite subject of their thought. Whenever a noble + leading opened to the eye new paths of light, they rejoiced; + but it was never fancy, but always fact, that inspired them. + They loved a thorough penetration of the murkiest dens, and + most tangled paths of nature; they did not spin from the + desires of their own special natures, but reconstructed the + world from materials which they collected on every side. Thus + their influence upon me was not to prompt me to follow out + thought in myself so much as to detect it everywhere, for each + of these men is not only a nature, but a happy interpreter of + many natures. They taught me to distrust all invention which + is not based on a wide experience. Perhaps, too, they taught + me to overvalue an outward experience at the expense of inward + growth; but all this I did not appreciate till later. + + 'It will be seen that my youth was not unfriended, since those + great minds came to me in kindness. A moment of action in + one's self, however, is worth an age of apprehension through + others; not that our deeds are better, but that they produce + a renewal of our being. I have had more productive moments and + of deeper joy, but never hours of more tranquil pleasure than + those in which these demi-gods visited me,--and with a smile + so familiar, that I imagined the world to be full of such. + They did me good, for by them a standard was early given + of sight and thought, from which I could never go back, and + beneath which I cannot suffer patiently my own life or that of + any friend to fall. They did me harm, too, for the child + fed with meat instead of milk becomes too soon mature. + Expectations and desires were thus early raised, after which I + must long toil before they can be realized. How poor the scene + around, how tame one's own existence, how meagre and faint + every power, with these beings in my mind! Often I must cast + them quite aside in order to grow in my small way, and not + sink into despair. Certainly I do not wish that instead of + these masters I had read baby books, written down to children, + and with such ignorant dulness that they blunt the senses and + corrupt the tastes of the still plastic human being. But I do + wish that I had read no books at all till later,--that I had + lived with toys, and played in the open air. Children should + not cull the fruits of reflection and observation early, but + expand in the sun, and let thoughts come to them. They should + not through books antedate their actual experiences, but + should take them gradually, as sympathy and interpretation are + needed. With me, much of life was devoured in the bud. + + + + +FIRST FRIEND. + + + 'For a few months, this bookish and solitary life was invaded + by interest in a living, breathing figure. At church, I used + to look around with a feeling of coldness and disdain, which, + though I now well understand its causes, seems to my wiser + mind as odious as it was unnatural. The puny child sought + everywhere for the Roman or Shakspeare figures, and she was + met by the shrewd, honest eye, the homely decency, or the + smartness of a New England village on Sunday. There was + beauty, but I could not see it then; it was not of the kind I + longed for. In the next pew sat a family who were my especial + aversion. There were five daughters, the eldest not above + four-and-twenty,--yet they had the old fairy, knowing + look, hard, dry, dwarfed, strangers to the All-Fair,--were + working-day residents in this beautiful planet. They looked + as if their thoughts had never strayed beyond the jobs of the + day, and they were glad of it. Their mother was one of those + shrunken, faded patterns of woman who have never done anything + to keep smooth the cheek and dignify the brow. The father + had a Scotch look of shrewd narrowness, and entire + self-complacency. I could not endure this family, whose + existence contradicted all my visions; yet I could not forbear + looking at them. + + 'As my eye one day was ranging about with its accustomed + coldness, and the proudly foolish sense of being in a shroud + of thoughts that were not their thoughts, it was arrested by + a face most fair, and well-known as it seemed at first + glance,--for surely I had met her before and waited for her + long. But soon I saw that she was a new apparition foreign to + that scene, if not to me. Her dress,--the arrangement of + her hair, which had the graceful pliancy of races highly + cultivated for long,--the intelligent and full picture of + her eye, whose reserve was in its self-possession, not in + timidity,--all combined to make up a whole impression, which, + though too young to understand, I was well prepared to feel. + + 'How wearisome now appears that thorough-bred _millefleur_ + beauty, the distilled result of ages of European culture! Give + me rather the wild heath on the lonely hill-side, than such a + rose-tree from the daintily clipped garden. But, then, I had + but tasted the cup, and knew not how little it could satisfy; + more, more, was all my cry; continued through years, till I + had been at the very fountain. Indeed, it was a ruby-red, + a perfumed draught, and I need not abuse the wine because I + prefer water, but merely say I have had enough of it. Then, + the first sight, the first knowledge of such a person was + intoxication. + + 'She was an English lady, who, by a singular chance, was cast + upon this region for a few months. Elegant and captivating, + her every look and gesture was tuned to a different pitch + from anything I had ever known. She was in various ways + "accomplished," as it is called, though to what degree I + cannot now judge. She painted in oils;--I had never before + seen any one use the brush, and days would not have been too + long for me to watch the pictures growing beneath her hand. + She played the harp; and its tones are still to me the heralds + of the promised land I saw before me then. She rose, she + looked, she spoke; and the gentle swaying motion she made + all through life has gladdened memory, as the stream does the + woods and meadows. + + 'As she was often at the house of one of our neighbors, and + afterwards at our own, my thoughts were fixed on her with all + the force of my nature. It was my first real interest in my + kind, and it engrossed me wholly. I had seen her,--I should + see her,--and my mind lay steeped in the visions that flowed + from this source. My task-work I went through with, as I have + done on similar occasions all my life, aided by pride that + could not bear to fail, or be questioned. Could I cease from + doing the work of the day, and hear the reason sneeringly + given,--"Her head is so completely taken up with ---- that + she can do nothing"? Impossible. + + 'Should the first love be blighted, they say, the mind loses + its sense of eternity. All forms of existence seem fragile, + the prison of time real, for a god is dead. Equally true is + this of friendship. I thank Heaven that this first feeling was + permitted its free flow. The years that lay between the woman + and the girl only brought her beauty into perspective, and + enabled me to see her as I did the mountains from my window, + and made her presence to me a gate of Paradise. That which + she was, that which she brought, that which she might have + brought, were mine, and over a whole region of new life I + ruled proprietor of the soil in my own right. + + 'Her mind was sufficiently unoccupied to delight in my warm + devotion. She could not know what it was to me, but the light + cast by the flame through so delicate a vase cheered and + charmed her. All who saw admired her in their way; but she + would lightly turn her head from their hard or oppressive + looks, and fix a glance of full-eyed sweetness on the child, + who, from a distance, watched all her looks and motions. She + did not say much to me--not much to any one; she spoke in her + whole being rather than by chosen words. Indeed, her proper + speech was dance or song, and what was less expressive did + not greatly interest her. But she saw much, having in its + perfection the woman's delicate sense for sympathies and + attractions. We walked in the fields, alone. Though others + were present, her eyes were gliding over all the field and + plain for the objects of beauty to which she was of kin. + She was not cold to her seeming companions; a sweet courtesy + satisfied them, but it hung about her like her mantle that she + wore without thinking of it; her thoughts were free, for these + civilized beings can really live two lives at the same moment. + With them she seemed to be, but her hand was given to the + child at her side; others did not observe me, but to her I + was the only human presence. Like a guardian spirit she led + me through the fields and groves, and every tree, every bird + greeted me, and said, what I felt, "She is the first angel of + your life." + + 'One time I had been passing the afternoon with her. She + had been playing to me on the harp, and I sat listening in + happiness almost unbearable. Some guests were announced. She + went into another room to receive them, and I took up her + book. It was Guy Mannering, then lately published, and the + first of Scott's novels I had ever seen. I opened where her + mark lay, and read merely with the feeling of continuing our + mutual existence by passing my eyes over the same page where + hers had been. It was the description of the rocks on the + sea-coast where the little Harry Bertram was lost. I had never + seen such places, and my mind was vividly stirred to + imagine them. The scene rose before me, very unlike reality, + doubtless, but majestic and wild. I was the little Harry + Bertram, and had lost her,--all I had to lose,--and sought her + vainly in long dark caves that had no end, plashing through + the water; while the crags beetled above, threatening to fall + and crush the poor child. Absorbed in the painful vision, + tears rolled down my cheeks. Just then she entered with light + step, and full-beaming eye. When she saw me thus, a soft cloud + stole over her face, and clothed every feature with a lovelier + tenderness than I had seen there before. She did not question, + but fixed on me inquiring looks of beautiful love. I laid my + head against her shoulder and wept,--dimly feeling that I + must lose her and all,--all who spoke to me of the same + things,--that the cold wave must rush over me. She waited till + my tears were spent, then rising, took from a little box a + bunch of golden amaranths or everlasting flowers, and gave + them to me. They were very fragrant. "They came," she said, + "from Madeira." These flowers stayed with me seventeen years. + "Madeira" seemed to me the fortunate isle, apart in the blue + ocean from all of ill or dread. Whenever I saw a sail passing + in the distance,--if it bore itself with fulness of beautiful + certainty,--I felt that it was going to Madeira. Those + thoughts are all gone now. No Madeira exists for me now,--no + fortunate purple isle,--and all these hopes and fancies are + lifted from the sea into the sky. Yet I thank the charms that + fixed them here so long,--fixed them till perfumes like those + of the golden flowers were drawn from the earth, teaching me + to know my birth-place. + + 'I can tell little else of this time,--indeed, I remember + little, except the state of feeling in which I lived. For I + _lived_, and when this is the case, there is little to tell in + the form of thought. We meet--at least those who are true + to their instincts meet--a succession of persons through our + lives, all of whom have some peculiar errand to us. There is + an outer circle, whose existence we perceive, but with whom we + stand in no real relation. They tell us the news, they act + on us in the offices of society, they show us kindness and + aversion; but their influence does not penetrate; we are + nothing to them, nor they to us, except as a part of the + world's furniture. Another circle, within this, are dear and + near to us. We know them and of what kind they are. They are + to us not mere facts, but intelligible thoughts of the divine + mind. We like to see how they are unfolded; we like to meet + them and part from them: we like their action upon us and the + pause that succeeds and enables us to appreciate its quality. + Often we leave them on our path, and return no more, but we + bear them in our memory, tales which have been told, and whose + meaning has been felt. + + 'But yet a nearer group there are, beings born under the same + star, and bound with us in a common destiny. These are not + mere acquaintances, mere friends, but, when we meet, are + sharers of our very existence. There is no separation; the + same thought is given at the same moment to both,--indeed, + it is born of the meeting, and would not otherwise have been + called into existence at all. These not only know themselves + more, but _are_ more for having met, and regions of their + being, which would else have laid sealed in cold obstruction, + burst into leaf and bloom and song. + + 'The times of these meetings are fated, nor will either party + be able ever to meet any other person in the same way. Both + seem to rise at a glance into that part of the heavens where + the word can be spoken, by which they are revealed to one + another and to themselves. The step in being thus gained, can + never be lost, nor can it be re-trod; for neither party will + be again what the other wants. They are no longer fit to + interchange mutual influence, for they do not really need + it, and if they think they do, it is because they weakly pine + after a past pleasure. + + 'To this inmost circle of relations but few are admitted, + because some prejudice or lack of courage has prevented the + many from listening to their instincts the first time they + manifested themselves. If the voice is once disregarded + it becomes fainter each time, till, at last, it is wholly + silenced, and the man lives in this world, a stranger to its + real life, deluded like the maniac who fancies he has attained + his throne, while in reality he is on a bed of musty straw. + Yet, if the voice finds a listener and servant the first time + of speaking, it is encouraged to more and more clearness. Thus + it was with me,--from no merit of mine, but because I had the + good fortune to be free enough to yield to my impressions. + Common ties had not bound me; there were no traditionary + notions in my mind; I believed in nothing merely because + others believed in it; I had taken no feelings on trust. Thus + my mind was open to their sway. + + 'This woman came to me, a star from the east, a morning star, + and I worshipped her. She too was elevated by that worship, + and her fairest self called out. To the mind she brought + assurance that there was a region congenial with its + tendencies and tastes, a region of elegant culture and + intercourse, whose object, fulfilled or not, was to gratify + the sense of beauty, not the mere utilities of life. In our + relation she was lifted to the top of her being. She had known + many celebrities, had roused to passionate desire many hearts, + and became afterwards a wife; but I do not believe she ever + more truly realized her best self than towards the lonely + child whose heaven she was, whose eye she met, and whose + possibilities she predicted. "He raised me," said a woman + inspired by love, "upon the pedestal of his own high thoughts, + and wings came at once, but I did not fly away. I stood there + with downcast eyes worthy of his love, for he had made me so." + + 'Thus we do always for those who inspire us to expect from + them the best. That which they are able to be, they become, + because we demand it of them. "We expect the impossible--and + find it." + + 'My English friend went across the sea. She passed into her + former life, and into ties that engrossed her days. But she + has never ceased to think of me. Her thoughts turn forcibly + back to the child who was to her all she saw of the really + New World. On the promised coasts she had found only cities, + careful men and women, the aims and habits of ordinary life + in her own land, without that elegant culture which she, + probably, over-estimated, because it was her home. But in the + mind of the child she found the fresh prairie, the untrodden + forests for which she had longed. I saw in her the storied + castles, the fair stately parks and the wind laden with + tones from the past, which I desired to know. We wrote to one + another for many years;--her shallow and delicate epistles did + not disenchant me, nor did she fail to see something of the + old poetry in my rude characters and stammering speech. But we + must never meet again. + + 'When this friend was withdrawn I fell into a profound + depression. I knew not how to exert myself, but lay bound hand + and foot. Melancholy enfolded me in an atmosphere, as joy had + done. This suffering, too, was out of the gradual and natural + course. Those who are really children could not know such + love, or feel such sorrow. "I am to blame," said my father, + "in keeping her at home so long merely to please myself. She + needs to be with other girls, needs play and variety. She does + not seem to me really sick, but dull rather. She eats nothing, + you say. I see she grows thin. She ought to change the scene." + + 'I was indeed _dull_. The books, the garden, had lost all + charm. I had the excuse of headache, constantly, for not + attending to my lessons. The light of life was set, and every + leaf was withered. At such an early age there are no back or + side scenes where the mind, weary and sorrowful, may retreat. + Older, we realize the width of the world more, and it is not + easy to despair on any point. The effort at thought to which + we are compelled relieves and affords a dreary retreat, like + hiding in a brick-kiln till the shower be over. But then all + joy seemed to have departed with my friend, and the emptiness + of our house stood revealed. This I had not felt while I every + day expected to see or had seen her, or annoyance and dulness + were unnoticed or swallowed up in the one thought that clothed + my days with beauty. But now she was gone, and I was roused + from habits of reading or reverie to feel the fiery temper of + the soul, and to learn that it must have vent, that it would + not be pacified by shadows, neither meet without consuming + what lay around it. I avoided the table as much as possible, + took long walks and lay in bed, or on the floor of my room. + I complained of my head, and it was not wrong to do so, for + a sense of dulness and suffocation, if not pain, was there + constantly. + + 'But when it was proposed that I should go to school, that was + a remedy I could not listen to with patience for a moment. The + peculiarity of my education had separated me entirely from + the girls around, except that when they were playing at active + games, I would sometimes go out and join them. I liked violent + bodily exercise, which always relieved my nerves. But I had + no success in associating with them beyond the mere play. Not + only I was not their school-mate, but my book-life and lonely + habits had given a cold aloofness to my whole expression, and + veiled my manner with a hauteur which turned all hearts away. + Yet, as this reserve was superficial, and rather ignorance + than arrogance, it produced no deep dislike. Besides, the + girls supposed me really superior to themselves, and did not + hate me for feeling it, but neither did they like me, nor wish + to have me with them. Indeed, I had gradually given up all + such wishes myself; for they seemed to me rude, tiresome, and + childish, as I did to them dull and strange. This experience + had been earlier, before I was admitted to any real + friendship; but now that I had been lifted into the life of + mature years, and into just that atmosphere of European life + to which I had before been tending, the thought of sending me + to school filled me with disgust. + + 'Yet what could I tell my father of such feelings? I resisted + all I could, but in vain. He had no faith in medical aid + generally, and justly saw that this was no occasion for its + use. He thought I needed change of scene, and to be roused + to activity by other children. "I have kept you at home," he + said, "because I took such pleasure in teaching you myself, + and besides I knew that you would learn faster with one who + is so desirous to aid you. But you will learn fast enough + wherever you are, and you ought to be more with others of your + own age. I shall soon hear that you are better, I trust."' + + + + +SCHOOL-LIFE. + + +The school to which Margaret was sent was that of the Misses Prescott, +in Groton, Massachusetts. And her experience there has been described +with touching truthfulness by herself, in the story of "Mariana."[A] + + 'At first her school-mates were captivated with her ways; her + love of wild dances and sudden song, her freaks of passion + and of wit. She was always new, always surprising, and, for a + time, charming. + + 'But after a while, they tired of her. She could never be + depended on to join in their plans, yet she expected them, + to follow out hers with their whole strength. She was very + loving, even infatuated in her own affections, and exacted + from those who had professed any love for her the devotion she + was willing to bestow. + + 'Yet there was a vein of haughty caprice in her character, + and a love of solitude, which made her at times wish to retire + apart, and at these times she would expect to be entirely + understood, and let alone, yet to be welcomed back when she + returned. She did not thwart others in their humors, but she + never doubted of great indulgence from them. + + 'Some singular habits she had, which, when new, charmed, but, + after acquaintance, displeased her companions. She had + by nature the same habit and power of excitement that is + described in the spinning dervishes of the East. Like them + she would spin until all around her were giddy, while her + own brain, instead of being disturbed, was excited to great + action. Pausing, she would declaim, verses of others, or her + own, or act many parts, with strange catchwords and burdens, + that seemed to act with mystical power on her own fancy, + sometimes stimulating her to convulse the hearers with + laughter, sometimes to melt them to tears. When her power + began to languish, she would spin again till fired to + re-commence her singular drama, into which she wove figures + from the scenes of her earlier childhood, her companions, and + the dignitaries she sometimes saw, with fantasies unknown to + life, unknown to heaven or earth. + + 'This excitement, as may be supposed, was not good for her. It + usually came on in the evening, and often spoiled her sleep. + She would wake in the night, and cheat her restlessness by + inventions that teased, while they sometimes diverted her + companions. + + 'She was also a sleep-walker; and this one trait of her case + did somewhat alarm her guardians, who, otherwise, showed the + profound ignorance as to this peculiar being, usual in the + overseeing of the young. They consulted a physician, who said + she would outgrow it, and prescribed a milk diet. + + 'Meantime, the fever of this ardent and too early stimulated + nature was constantly increased by the restraints and narrow + routine of the boarding school. She was always devising means + to break in upon it. She had a taste--which would have seemed + ludicrous to her mates, if they had not felt some awe of her, + from the touch of genius and power that never left her--for + costume and fancy dresses. There was always some sash twisted + about her, some drapery, something odd in the arrangement of + her hair and dress; so that the methodical preceptress dared + not let her go out without a careful scrutiny and remodelling, + whose soberizing effects generally disappeared the moment she + was in the free air. + + 'At last a vent was assured for her in private theatricals. + Play followed play, and in these and the rehearsals, she found + entertainment congenial with her. The principal parts, as + a matter of course, fell to her lot; most of the good + suggestions and arrangements came from her: and, for a time, + she ruled mostly, and shone triumphant. + + 'During these performances, the girls had heightened their + bloom with artificial red; this was delightful to them, it was + something so out of the way. But Mariana, after the plays were + over, kept her carmine saucer on the dressing-table, and put + on her blushes, regularly as the morning. When stared and + jeered at, she at first said she did it because she thought it + made her look pretty; but, after a while, she became petulant + about it,--would make no reply to any joke, but merely kept up + the habit. + + 'This irritated the girls, as all eccentricity does the world + in general, more than vice or malignity. They talked it over + among themselves till they were wrought up to a desire of + punishing, once for all, this sometimes amusing, but so often + provoking non-conformist. And having obtained leave of the + mistress, they laid, with great glee, a plan, one evening, + which was to be carried into execution next day at dinner. + + 'Among Mariana's irregularities was a great aversion to the + meal-time ceremonial,--so long, so tiresome, she found it, to + be seated at a certain moment, and to wait while each one + was served, at so large a table, where there was scarcely any + conversation; and from day to day it became more heavy to + sit there, or go there at all; often as possible she excused + herself on the ever-convenient plea of headache, and was + hardly ever ready when the dinner-bell rang. + + 'To-day the summons found her on the balcony, but gazing on + the beautiful prospect. I have heard her say afterwards, that + she had scarcely in her life been so happy,--and she was one + with whom happiness was a still rapture. It was one of the + most blessed summer days; the shadows of great white clouds + empurpled the distant hills for a few moments, only to leave + them more golden; the tall grass of the wide fields waved in + the softest breeze. Pure blue were the heavens, and the same + hue of pure contentment was in the heart of Mariana. + + 'Suddenly on her bright mood jarred the dinner-bell. At first + rose her usual thought, I will not, cannot go; and then the + _must_, which daily life can always enforce, even upon the + butterflies and birds, came, and she walked reluctantly to + her room. She merely changed her dress, and never thought of + adding the artificial rose to her cheek. + + 'When she took her seat in the dining-hall, and was asked if + she would be helped, raising her eyes, she saw the person + who asked her was deeply rouged, with a bright glaring + spot, perfectly round, on either cheek. She looked at the + next,--same apparition! She then slowly passed her eyes down + the whole line, and saw the same, with a suppressed smile + distorting every countenance. Catching the design at once, she + deliberately looked along her own side of the table, at every + schoolmate in turn; every one had joined in the trick. The + teachers strove to be grave, but she saw they enjoyed the + joke. The servants could not suppress a titter. + + 'When Warren Hastings stood at the bar of Westminster + Hall,--when the Methodist preacher walked through a line + of men, each of whom greeted him with a brickbat or rotten + egg,--they had some preparation for the crisis, though it + might be very difficult to meet it with an impassible brow. + Our little girl was quite unprepared to find herself in the + midst of a world which despised her, and triumphed in her + disgrace. + + 'She had ruled like a queen, in the midst of her companions; + she had shed her animation through their lives, and loaded + them with prodigal favors, nor once suspected that a popular + favorite might not be loved. Now she felt that she had been + but a dangerous plaything in the hands of those whose hearts + she never had doubted. + + 'Yet the occasion found her equal to it, for Mariana had the + kind of spirit which, in a better cause, had made the Roman + matron truly say of her death-wound, "It is not painful, + Poetus." She did not blench,--she did not change countenance. + She swallowed her dinner with apparent composure. She made + remarks to those near her, as if she had no eyes. + + 'The wrath of the foe, of course, rose higher, and the moment + they were freed from the restraints of the dining room, they + all ran off, gayly calling, and sarcastically laughing, with + backward glances, at Mariana, left alone. + + 'Alone she went to her room, locked the door, and threw + herself on the floor in strong convulsions. These had + sometimes threatened her life, in earlier childhood, but of + later years she had outgrown them. School-hours came, and she + was not there. A little girl, sent to her door, could get no + answer. The teachers became alarmed, and broke it open. Bitter + was their penitence, and that of her companions, at the state + in which they found her. For some hours terrible anxiety was + felt, but at last nature, exhausted, relieved herself by a + deep slumber. + + 'From this Mariana arose an altered being. She made no reply + to the expressions of sorrow from her companions, none to the + grave and kind, but undiscerning, comments of her teacher. She + did not name the source of her anguish, and its poisoned + dart sank deeply in. This was the thought which stung her + so:--"What, not one, not a single one, in the hour of trial, + to take my part? not one who refused to take part against me?" + Past words of love, and caresses, little heeded at the time, + rose to her memory, and gave fuel to her distempered heart. + Beyond the sense of burning resentment at universal perfidy, + she could not get. And Mariana, born for love, now hated all + the world. + + 'The change, however, which these feelings made in her conduct + and appearance, bore no such construction to the careless + observer. Her gay freaks were quite gone, her wildness, her + invention. Her dress was uniform, her manner much subdued. Her + chief interest seemed to be now in her studies, and in music. + Her companions she never sought; but they, partly from uneasy, + remorseful feelings, partly that they really liked her much + better now that she did not puzzle and oppress them, sought + her continually. And here the black shadow comes upon her + life, the only stain upon the history of Mariana. + + 'They talked to her, as girls having few topics naturally + do, of one another. Then the demon rose within her, and + spontaneously, without design, generally without words of + positive falsehood, she became a genius of discord amongst + them. She fanned those flames of envy and jealousy which a + wise, true word from a third person will often quench forever; + and by a glance, or seemingly light reply, she planted the + seeds of dissension, till there was scarcely a peaceful + affection, or sincere intimacy, in the circle where she lived, + and could not but rule, for she was one whose nature was to + that of the others as fire to clay. + + 'It was at this time that I came to the school, and first + saw Mariana. Me she charmed at once, for I was a sentimental + child, who, in my early ill health, had been indulged in + reading novels, till I had no eyes for the common. It was not, + however, easy to approach her. Did I offer to run and fetch + her handkerchief, she was obliged to go to her room, and would + rather do it herself. She did not like to have people turn + over for her the leaves of the music-book as she played. Did I + approach my stool to her feet, she moved away as if to give me + room. The bunch of wild flowers, which I timidly laid beside + her plate, was left untouched. After some weeks, my desire to + attract her notice really preyed upon me; and one day, meeting + her alone in the entry, I fell upon my knees, and, kissing her + hand, cried "O, Mariana, do let me love you, and try to love + me a little!" But my idol snatched away her hand, and laughing + wildly, ran into her room. After that day, her manner to me + was not only cold, but repulsive, and I felt myself scorned. + + 'Perhaps four months had passed thus, when, one afternoon, it + became obvious that something more than common was brewing. + Dismay and mystery were written in many faces of the older + girls; much whispering was going on in corners. + + 'In the evening, after prayers, the principal bade us stay; + and, in a grave, sad voice, summoned forth Mariana to answer + charges to be made against her. + + 'Mariana stood up and leaned against the chimney-piece. Then + eight of the older girls came forward, and preferred + against her charges,--alas! too well founded, of calumny and + falsehood. + + 'At first, she defended herself with self-possession and + eloquence. But when she found she could no more resist the + truth, she suddenly threw herself down, dashing her head with + all her force against the iron hearth, on which a fire was + burning, and was taken up senseless. + + 'The affright of those present was great. Now that they had + perhaps killed her, they reflected it would have been as + well if they had taken warning from the former occasion, and + approached very carefully a nature so capable of any extreme. + After a while she revived, with a faint groan, amid the sobs + of her companions. I was on my knees by the bed, and held her + cold hand. One of those most aggrieved took it from me, to beg + her pardon, and say, it was impossible not to love her. She + made no reply. + + 'Neither that night, nor for several days, could a word be + obtained from her, nor would she touch food; but, when it was + presented to her, or any one drew near from any cause, she + merely turned away her head, and gave no sign. The teacher saw + that some terrible nervous affection had fallen upon her--that + she grew more and more feverish. She knew not what to do. + + 'Meanwhile, a new revolution had taken place in the mind of + the passionate but nobly-tempered child. All these months + nothing but the sense of injury had rankled in her heart. + She had gone on in one mood, doing what the demon prompted, + without scruple, and without fear. + + 'But at the moment of detection, the tide ebbed, and the + bottom of her soul lay revealed to her eye. How black, how + stained, and sad! Strange, strange, that she had not seen + before the baseness and cruelty of falsehood, the loveliness + of truth! Now, amid the wreck, uprose the moral nature, which + never before had attained the ascendant. "But," she thought, + "too late sin is revealed to me in all its deformity, and + sin-defiled, I will not, cannot live. The main-spring of life + is broken." + + 'The lady who took charge of this sad child had never well + understood her before, but had always looked on her with great + tenderness. And now love seemed,--when all around were in the + greatest distress, fearing to call in medical aid, fearing + to do without it,--to teach her where the only balm was to be + found that could heal the wounded spirit. + + 'One night she came in, bringing a calming draught. Mariana + was sitting as usual, her hair loose, her dress the same robe + they had put on her at first, her eyes fixed vacantly upon the + whited wall. To the proffers and entreaties of her nurse, she + made no reply. + + 'The lady burst into tears, but Mariana did not seem even to + observe it. + + 'The lady then said, "O, my child, do not despair; do not + think that one great fault can mar a whole life! Let me trust + you; let me tell you the griefs of my sad life. I will tell + you, Mariana, what I never expected to impart to any one." + + 'And so she told her tale. It was one of pain, of shame, borne + not for herself, but for one near and dear as herself. Mariana + knew the dignity and reserve of this lady's nature. She had + often admired to see how the cheek, lovely, but no longer + young, mantled with the deepest blush of youth, and the blue + eyes were cast down at any little emotion. She had understood + the proud sensibility of her character. She fixed her eyes on + those now raised to hers, bright with fast-falling tears. She + heard the story to the end, and then, without saying a word, + stretched out her hand for the cup. + + 'She returned to life, but it was as one who had passed + through the valley of death. The heart of stone was quite + broken in her,--the fiery will fallen from flame to coal. When + her strength was a little restored, she had all her companions + summoned, and said to them,--"I deserved to die, but a + generous trust has called me back to life. I will be worthy of + it, nor ever betray the trust, or resent injury more. Can you + forgive the past?" + + 'And they not only forgave, but, with love and earnest tears, + clasped in their arms the returning sister. They vied with one + another in offices of humble love to the humbled one; and + let it be recorded, as an instance of the pure honor of which + young hearts are capable, that these facts, known to some + forty persons, never, so far as I know, transpired beyond + those walls. + + 'It was not long after this that Mariana was summoned home. + She went thither a wonderfully instructed being, though in + ways those who had sent her forth to learn little dreamed of. + + 'Never was forgotten the vow of the returning prodigal. + Mariana could not _resent_, could not _play false._ The + terrible crisis, which she so early passed through, probably + prevented the world from hearing much of her. A wild fire was + tamed in that hour of penitence at the boarding-school, such + as has oftentimes wrapped court and camp in a destructive + glow.' + + +[Footnote A: Summer on the Lakes, p. 81.] + + + + +SELF-CULTURE. + + +Letters written to the beloved teacher, who so wisely befriended +Margaret in her trial-hour, will best show how this high-spirited girl +sought to enlarge and harmonize her powers. + + '_Cambridge, July 11, 1825._--Having excused myself from + accompanying my honored father to church, which I always do in + the afternoon, when possible, I devote to you the hours + which Ariosto and Helvetius ask of my eyes,--as, lying on my + writing-desk, they put me in mind that they must return this + week to their owner. + + 'You keep me to my promise of giving you some sketch of my + pursuits. I rise a little before five, walk an hour, and then + practise on the piano, till seven, when we breakfast. Next + I read French,--Sismondi's Literature of the South of + Europe,--till eight, then two or three lectures in Brown's + Philosophy. About half-past nine I go to Mr. Perkins's school + and study Greek till twelve, when, the school being dismissed, + I recite, go home, and practise again till dinner, at two. + Sometimes, if the conversation is very agreeable, I lounge + for half an hour over the dessert, though rarely so lavish of + time. Then, when I can, I read two hours in Italian, but I + am often interrupted. At six, I walk, or take a drive. Before + going to bed, I play or sing, for half an hour or so, to make + all sleepy, and, about eleven, retire to write a little while + in my journal, exercises on what I have read, or a series of + characteristics which I am filling up according to advice. + Thus, you see, I am learning Greek, and making acquaintance + with metaphysics, and French and Italian literature. + + '"How," you will say, "can I believe that my indolent, + fanciful, pleasure-loving pupil, perseveres in such a course?" + I feel the power of industry growing every day, and, besides + the all-powerful motive of ambition, and a new stimulus + lately given through a friend, I have learned to believe that + nothing, no! not perfection, is unattainable. I am determined + on distinction, which formerly I thought to win at an easy + rate; but now I see that long years of labor must be given to + secure even the "_succès de societé_,"--which, however, shall + never content me. I see multitudes of examples of persons + of genius, utterly deficient in grace and the power of + pleasurable excitement. I wish to combine both. I know the + obstacles in my way. I am wanting in that intuitive tact and + polish, which nature has bestowed upon some, but which I + must acquire. And, on the other hand, my powers of intellect, + though sufficient, I suppose, are not well disciplined. Yet + all such hindrances may be overcome by an ardent spirit. If I + fail, my consolation shall be found in active employment.' + + * * * * * + + '_Cambridge, March 5, 1826._--Duke Nicholas is to succeed + the Emperor Alexander, thus relieving Europe from the + sad apprehension of evil to be inflicted by the brutal + Constantine, and yet depriving the Holy Alliance of its very + soul. We may now hope more strongly for the liberties of + unchained Europe; we look in anxious suspense for the issue of + the struggle of Greece, the result of which seems to depend on + the new autocrat. I have lately been reading Anastasius, the + Greek Gil Bias, which has excited and delighted me; but I do + not think you like works of this cast. You did not like my + sombre and powerful Ormond,--though this is superior to Ormond + in every respect; it translates you to another scene, hurls + you into the midst of the burning passions of the East, whose + vicissitudes are, however, interspersed by deep pauses of + shadowy reflective scenes, which open upon you like the + green watered little vales occasionally to be met with in the + burning desert. There is enough of history to fix profoundly + the attention, and prevent you from revolting from scenes + profligate and terrific, and such characters as are never to + be met with in our paler climes. How delighted am I to read + a book which can absorb me to tears and shuddering,--not + by individual traits of beauty, but by the spirit of + adventure,--happiness which one seldom enjoys after childhood + in this blest age, so philosophic, free, and enlightened to + a miracle, but far removed from the ardent dreams and soft + credulity of the world's youth. Sometimes I think I would give + all our gains for those times when young and old gathered in + the feudal hall, listening with soul-absorbing transport to + the romance of the minstrel, unrestrained and regardless + of criticism, and when they worshipped nature, not as + high-dressed and pampered, but as just risen from the bath.' + + '_Cambridge, May 14, 1826._--I am studying Madame de Stael, + Epictetus, Milton, Racine, and Castiliain ballads, with great + delight. There's an assemblage for you. Now tell me, had + you rather be the brilliant De Stael or the useful + Edgeworth?--though De Stael is useful too, but it is on the + grand scale, on liberalizing, regenerating principles, and has + not the immediate practical success that Edgeworth has. I met + with a parallel the other day between Byron and Rousseau, and + had a mind to send it to you, it was so excellent.' + + * * * * * + + '_Cambridge, Jan. 10, 1827._--As to my studies, I am engrossed + in reading the elder Italian poets, beginning with Berni, + from whom I shall proceed to Pulci and Politian. I read very + critically. Miss Francis[A] and I think of reading Locke, as + introductory to a course of English metaphysics, and then De + Stael on Locke's system. Allow me to introduce this lady + to you as a most interesting woman, in my opinion. She is a + natural person,--a most rare thing in this age of cant and + pretension. Her conversation is charming,--she brings all her + powers to bear upon it; her style is varied, and she has a + very pleasant and spirited way of thinking. I should judge, + too, that she possesses peculiar purity of mind. I am going to + spend this evening with her, and wish you were to be with us.' + + * * * * * + + '_Cambridge, Jan. 3, 1828._--I am reading Sir William Temple's + works, with great pleasure. Such enlarged views are rarely to + be found combined with such acuteness and discrimination. His + style, though diffuse, is never verbose or overloaded, but + beautifully expressive; 'tis English, too, though he was an + accomplished linguist, and wrote much and well in. French, + Spanish, and Latin. The latter he used, as he says of the + Bishop of Munster, (with whom he corresponded in that tongue,) + "more like a man of the court and of business than a scholar." + He affected not Augustan niceties, but his expressions are + free and appropriate. I have also read a most entertaining + book, which I advise you to read, (if you have not done so + already,) Russell's Tour in Germany. There you will find more + intelligent and detailed accounts than I have seen anywhere of + the state of the German universities, Viennese court, secret + associations, Plica Polonica, and other very interesting + matters. There is a minute account of the representative + government given to his subjects by the Duke of Weimar. I have + passed a luxurious afternoon, having been in bed from dinner + till tea, reading Rammohun Roy's book, and framing dialogues + aloud on every argument beneath the sun. Really, I have + not had my mind so exercised for months; and I have felt a + gladiatorial disposition lately, and don't enjoy mere light + conversation. The love of knowledge is prodigiously kindled + within my soul of late; I study much and reflect more, and + feel an aching wish for some person with whom I might talk + fully and openly. + + 'Did you ever read the letters and reflections of Prince de + Ligne, the most agreeable man of his day? I have just had it, + and if it is new to you, I recommend it as an agreeable book + to read at night just before you go to bed. There is much + curious matter concerning Catharine II.'s famous expedition + into Taurida, which puts down some of the romantic stories + prevalent on that score, but relates more surprising + realities. Also it gives much interesting information about + that noble philosopher, Joseph II., and about the Turkish + tactics and national character.' + + * * * * * + + '_Cambridge, Jan. 1830_.--You need not fear to revive painful + recollections. I often think of those sad experiences. True, + they agitate me deeply. But it was best so. They have had a + most powerful effect on my character. I tremble at whatever + looks like dissimulation. The remembrance of that evening + subdues every proud, passionate impulse. My beloved supporter + in those sorrowful hours, your image shines as fair to my + mind's eye as it did in 1825, when I left you with my heart + overflowing with gratitude for your singular and judicious + tenderness. Can I ever forget that to your treatment in that + crisis of youth I owe the true life,--the love of Truth and + Honor?' + + +[Footnote A: Lydia Maria Child.] + + + + +LIFE IN CAMBRIDGE. + +BY JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. + + * * * * * + + + "Extraordinary, generous seeking." + + GOETHE. + + + "Through, brothers, through,--this be + Our watchword in danger or sorrow, + Common clay to its mother dust, + All nobleness heavenward!" + + THEODORE KOERNER. + + + "Thou friend whose presence on my youthful heart + Fell, like bright Spring upon some herbless plain; + How beautiful and calm and free thou wert + In thy young wisdom, when the mortal chain + Of custom thou didst burst and rend in twain, + And walk as free as light the clouds among!" + + SHELLY. + + "There are not a few instances of that conflict, known also to + the fathers, of the spirit with the flesh, the inner with the + outer man, of the freedom of the will with the necessity of + nature, the pleasure of the individual with the conventions + of society, of the emergency of the case with the despotism + of the rule. It is this, which, while it makes the interest + of life, makes the difficulty of living. It is a struggle, + indeed, between unequal powers,--between the man, who is a + conscious moral person, and nature, or events, or bodies of + men, which either want personality or unity; and hence the + man, after fearful and desolating war, sometimes rises on + the ruins of all the necessities of nature and all the + prescriptions of society. But what these want in personality + they possess in number, in recurrency, in invulnerability. The + spirit of man, an agent indeed of curious power and boundless + resource, but trembling with sensibilities, tender and + irritable, goes out against the inexorable conditions of + destiny, the lifeless forces of nature, or the ferocious + cruelty of the multitude, and long before the hands are weary + or the invention exhausted, the heart may be broken in the + warfare." + + N.A. REVIEW, Jan., 1817, article "_Dichtung und Wahrheit_." + + + + +II. + +CAMBRIDGE + + * * * * * + + +The difficulty which we all feel in describing our past intercourse +and friendship with Margaret Fuller, is, that the intercourse was so +intimate, and the friendship so personal, that it is like making a +confession to the public of our most interior selves. For this noble +person, by her keen insight and her generous interest, entered into +the depth of every soul with which she stood in any real relation. +To print one of her letters, is like giving an extract from our own +private journal. To relate what she was to us, is to tell how she +discerned elements of worth and beauty where others could only have +seen what was common-place and poor; it is to say what high hopes, +what generous assurance, what a pure ambition, she entertained on our +behalf,--a hope and confidence which may well be felt as a rebuke to +our low attainments and poor accomplishments. + +Nevertheless, it seems due to this great soul that those of us who +have been blessed and benefited by her friendship should be willing +to say what she has done for us,--undeterred by the thought that to +reveal her is to expose ourselves. + +My acquaintance with Sarah Margaret Fuller began in 1829. We both +lived in Cambridge, and from that time until she went to Groton to +reside, in 1833, I saw her, or heard from her, almost every day. There +was a family connection, and we called each other cousin.[A] During +this period, her intellect was intensely active. With what eagerness +did she seek for knowledge! What fire, what exuberance, what reach, +grasp, overflow of thought, shone in her conversation! She needed a +friend to whom to speak of her studies, to whom to express the ideas +which were dawning and taking shape in her mind. She accepted me for +this friend, and to me it was a gift of the gods, an influence like no +other. + +For the first few months of our acquaintance, our intercourse was +simply that of two young persons seeking entertainment in each other's +society. Perhaps a note written at this time will illustrate the +easy and graceful movement of her mind in this superficial kind of +intercourse. + + '_March 16th, 1830. Half-past six, morning_.--I have + encountered that most common-place of glories, sunrise, (to + say naught of being praised and wondered at by every member of + the family in succession,) that I might have leisure to answer + your note even as you requested. I thank you a thousand times + for "The Rivals."[B] Alas!! I must leave my heart in the book, + and spend the livelong morning in reading to a sick lady from + some amusing story-book. I tell you of this act of (in my + professedly unamiable self) most unwonted charity, for three + several reasons. Firstly, and foremostly, because I think + that you, being a socialist by vocation, a sentimentalist + by nature, and a Channingite from force of circumstances and + fashion, will peculiarly admire this little self-sacrifice + exploit. Secondly, because 'tis neither conformable to the + spirit of the nineteenth century, nor the march of mind, that + those churlish reserves should be kept up between _the right + and left hands_, which belonged to ages of barbarism and + prejudice, and could only have been inculcated for their use. + Thirdly, and lastly, the true ladylike reason,--because I + would fain have my correspondent enter into and sympathize + with my feelings of the moment. + + 'As to the relationship; 'tis, I find, on inquiry, by no means + to be compared with that between myself and ----; of course, + the intimacy cannot be so great. But no matter; it will enable + me to answer your notes, and you will interest my imagination + much more than if I knew you better. But I am exceeding + legitimate note-writing limits. With a hope that this epistle + may be legible to your undiscerning eyes, I conclude, + + 'Your cousin only thirty-seven degrees removed, + + 'M.' + +The next note which I shall give was written not many days after, +and is in quite a different vein. It is memorable to me as laying +the foundation of a friendship which brought light to my mind, which +enlarged my heart, and gave elevation and energy to my aims and +purposes. For nearly twenty years, Margaret remained true to the +pledges of this note. In a few years we were separated, but our +friendship remained firm. Living in different parts of the +country, occupied with different thoughts and duties, making other +friends,--sometimes not seeing nor hearing from each other for +months,--we never met without my feeling that she was ready to be +interested in all my thoughts, to love those whom I loved, to watch +my progress, to rebuke my faults and follies, to encourage within me +every generous and pure aspiration, to demand of me, always, the best +that I could be or do, and to be satisfied with no mediocrity, no +conformity to any low standard. + +And what she thus was to me, she was to many others. Inexhaustible +in power of insight, and with a good-will "broad as ether," she could +enter into the needs, and sympathize with the various excellences, of +the greatest variety of characters. One thing only she demanded of +all her friends,--that they should have some "extraordinary generous +seeking,"[C] that they should not be satisfied with the common routine +of life,--that they should aspire to something higher, better, holier, +than they had now attained. Where this element of aspiration existed, +she demanded no originality of intellect, no greatness of soul. If +these were found, well; but she could love, tenderly and truly, where +they were not. But for a worldly character, however gifted, she felt +and expressed something very like contempt. At this period, she had +no patience with self-satisfied mediocrity. She afterwards learned +patience and unlearned contempt; but at the time of which I write, +she seemed, and was to the multitude, a haughty and supercilious +person,--while to those whom she loved, she was all the more gentle, +tender and true. + +Margaret possessed, in a greater degree than any person I ever knew, +the power of so magnetizing others, when she wished, by the power of +her mind, that they would lay open to her all the secrets of their +nature. She had an infinite curiosity to know individuals,--not the +vulgar curiosity which seeks to find out the circumstances of their +outward lives, but that which longs to understand the inward springs +of thought and action in their souls. This desire and power both +rested on a profound conviction of her mind in the individuality of +every human being. A human being, according to her faith, was not +the result of the presence and stamp of outward circumstances, but an +original _monad_, with a certain special faculty, capable of a certain +fixed development, and having a profound personal unity, which the +ages of eternity might develop, but could not exhaust. I know not +if she would have stated her faith in these terms, but some such +conviction appeared in her constant endeavor to see and understand the +germinal principle, the special characteristic, of every person whom +she deemed worthy of knowing at all. Therefore, while some +persons study human nature in its universal laws, and become great +philosophers, moralists and teachers of the race,--while others study +mankind in action, and, seeing the motives and feelings by which +masses are swayed, become eminent politicians, sagacious leaders, +and eminent in all political affairs,--a few, like Margaret, study +character, and acquire the power of exerting profoundest influence on +individual souls. + +I had expressed to her my desire to know something of the history of +her mind,--to understand her aims, her hopes, her views of life. In a +note written in reply, she answered me thus:-- + + 'I cannot bring myself to write you what you wished. You would + be disappointed, at any rate, after all the solemn note of + preparation; the consciousness of this would chill me now. + Besides, I cannot be willing to leave with you such absolute + _vagaries_ in a tangible, examinable shape. I think of your + after-smiles, of your colder moods. But I will tell you, when + a fitting opportunity presents, all that can interest you, and + perhaps more. And excuse my caution. I do not profess, I may + not dare, to be generous in these matters.' + +To this I replied to the effect that, "in my coldest mood I could +not criticize words written in a confiding spirit;" and that, at all +events, she must not expect of me a confidence which she dared not +return. This was the substance of a note to which Margaret thus +replied:-- + + 'I thank you for your note. Ten minutes before I received it, + I scarcely thought that anything again would make my stifled + heart throb so warm a pulse of pleasure. Excuse my cold + doubts, my selfish arrogance,--you will, when I tell you that + this experiment has before had such uniform results; those + who professed to seek my friendship, and whom, indeed, I have + often truly loved, have always learned to content themselves + with that inequality in the connection which I have never + striven to veil. Indeed, I have thought myself more valued and + better beloved, because the sympathy, the interest, were all + on my side. True! such regard could never flatter my pride, + nor gratify my affections, since it was paid not to myself, + but to the need they had of me; still, it was dear and + pleasing, as it has given me an opportunity of knowing and + serving many lovely characters; and I cannot see that there is + anything else for me to do on earth. And I should rejoice + to cultivate generosity, since (see that _since_) affections + gentler and more sympathetic are denied me. + + 'I would have been a true friend to you; ever ready to solace + your pains and partake your joy as far as possible. Yet + I cannot but rejoice that I have met a person who could + discriminate and reject a proffer of this sort. Two years ago + I should have ventured to proffer you friendship, indeed, + on seeing such an instance of pride in you; but I have gone + through a sad process of feeling since, and those emotions, + so necessarily repressed, have lost their simplicity, their + ardent beauty. _Then_, there was nothing I might not have + disclosed to a person capable of comprehending, had I ever + seen such an one! Now there are many voices of the soul which + I imperiously silence. This results not from any particular + circumstance or event, but from a gradual ascertaining of + realities. + + 'I cannot promise you any limitless confidence, but I _can_ + promise that no timid caution, no haughty dread shall prevent + my telling you the truth of my thoughts on any subject we may + have in common. Will this satisfy you? Oh let it! suffer me to + know you.' + +In a postscript she adds, 'No other cousin or friend of any style is +to see this note.' So for twenty years it has lain unseen, but for +twenty years did we remain true to the pledges of that period. And now +that noble heart sleeps beneath the tossing Atlantic, and I feel no +reluctance in showing to the world this expression of pure youthful +ardor. It may, perhaps, lead some wise worldlings, who doubt the +possibility of such a relation, to reconsider the grounds of their +scepticism; or, if not that, it may encourage some youthful souls, +as earnest and eager as ours, to trust themselves to their hearts' +impulse, and enjoy some such blessing as came to us. + +Let me give extracts from other notes and letters, written by +Margaret, about the same period. + + '_Saturday evening, May 1st_, 1830.--The holy moon and + merry-toned wind of this night woo to a vigil at the open + window; a half-satisfied interest urges me to live, love and + perish! in the noble, wronged heart of Basil;[D] my Journal, + which lies before me, tempts to follow out and interpret + the as yet only half-understood musings of the past week. + Letter-writing, compared with any of these things, takes the + ungracious semblance of a duty. I have, nathless, after a two + hours' reverie, to which this resolve and its preliminaries + have formed excellent warp, determined to sacrifice this + hallowed time to you. + + 'It did not in the least surprise me that you found it + impossible at the time to avail yourself of the confidential + privileges I had invested you with. On the contrary, I + only wonder that we should ever, after such gage given and + received, (not by a look or tone, but by letter,) hold any + frank communication. Preparations are good in life, prologues + ruinous. I felt this even before I sent my note, but could + not persuade myself to consign an impulse so embodied, to + oblivion, from any consideration of expediency.' * * + + * * * * * + + '_May 4th_, 1830.--* * I have greatly wished to see among + us such a person of genius as the nineteenth century can + afford--_i.e._, one who has tasted in the morning of existence + the extremes of good and ill, both imaginative and real. I had + imagined a person endowed by nature with that acute sense of + Beauty, (_i.e._, Harmony or Truth,) and that vast capacity + of desire, which give soul to love and ambition. I had wished + this person might grow up to manhood alone (but not alone in + crowds); I would have placed him in a situation so retired, + so obscure, that he would quietly, but without bitter sense of + isolation, stand apart from all surrounding him. I would have + had him go on steadily, feeding his mind with congenial love, + hopefully confident that if he only nourished his existence + into perfect life, Fate would, at fitting season, furnish an + atmosphere and orbit meet for his breathing and exercise. I + wished he might adore, not fever for, the bright phantoms + of his mind's creation, and believe them but the shadows of + external things to be met with hereafter. After this steady + intellectual growth had brought his powers to manhood, so far + as the ideal can do it, I wished this being might be launched + into the world of realities, his heart glowing with the + ardor of an immortal toward perfection, his eyes searching + everywhere to behold it; I wished he might collect into one + burning point those withering, palsying convictions, which, in + the ordinary routine of things, so gradually pervade the + soul; that he might suffer, in brief space, agonies of + disappointment commensurate with his unpreparedness + and confidence. And I thought, thus thrown back on the + representing pictorial resources I supposed him originally + to possess, with such material, and the need he must feel + of using it, such a man would suddenly dilate into a form + of Pride, Power, and Glory,--a centre, round which asking, + aimless hearts might rally,--a man fitted to act as + interpreter to the one tale of many-languaged eyes! + + 'What words are these! Perhaps you will feel as if I sought + but for the longest and strongest. Yet to my ear they do but + faintly describe the imagined powers of such a being.' + +Margaret's home at this time was in the mansion-house formerly +belonging to Judge Dana,--a large, old-fashioned building, since taken +down, standing about a quarter of a mile from the Cambridge Colleges, +on the main road to Boston. The house stood back from the road, on +rising ground, which overlooked an extensive landscape. It was always +a pleasure to Margaret to look at the outlines of the distant hills +beyond the river, and to have before her this extent of horizon and +sky. In the last year of her residence in Cambridge, her father moved +to the old Brattle place,--a still more ancient edifice, with large, +old-fashioned garden, and stately rows of Linden trees. Here Margaret +enjoyed the garden walks, which took the place of the extensive view. + +During these five years her life was not diversified by events, +but was marked by an inward history. Study, conversation, society, +friendship, and reflection on the aim and law of life, made up her +biography. Accordingly, these topics will constitute the substance +of this chapter, though sometimes, in order to give completeness to +a subject, we may anticipate a little, and insert passages from the +letters and journals of her Groton life. + + +[Footnote A: I had once before seen Margaret, when we were both +children about five years of age. She made an impression on my mind +which was never effaced, and I distinctly recollect the joyful child, +with light flowing locks and bright face, who led me by the hand down +the back-steps of her house into the garden. This was when her father +lived in Cambridgeport, in a house on Cherry street, in front of +which still stand some handsome trees, planted by him in the year of +Margaret's birth.] + +[Footnote B: "The Rivals" was a novel I had lent her,--if I remember +right, by the author of "The Collegians;" a writer who in those days +interested us not a little.] + +[Footnote C: These words of Goethe, which I have placed among the +mottoes at the beginning of this chapter, were written by Margaret on +the first page of a richly gilt and bound blank book, which she gave +to me, in 1832, for a private journal. The words of Körner are also +translated by herself, and were given to me about the same time.] + +[Footnote D: The hero of a novel she was reading.] + + + + +I. + +FRIENDSHIP. + + + "Friendly love perfecteth mankind." + + BACON. + + + "To have found favor in thy sight + Will still remain + A river of thought, that full of light + Divides the plain." + + MILNES. + + "Cui potest vita esse vitalis, (ut ait Ennius,) quæ non in + amici mutatâ benevolentiâ requiescat?"--CICERO. + + * * * * * + + +It was while living at Cambridge that Margaret commenced several of +those friendships which lasted through her life, and which were the +channels for so large a part of her spiritual activity. In giving some +account of her in these relations, there is only the alternative of a +prudent reserve which omits whatever is liable to be misunderstood, or +a frank utterance which confides in the good sense and right feeling +of the reader. By the last course, we run the risk of allowing our +friend to be misunderstood; but by the first we make it certain that +the most important part of her character shall not be understood at +all. I have, therefore, thought it best to follow, as far as I can, +her own ideas on this subject, which I find in two of her letters to +myself. The first is dated, Groton, Jan. 8th, 1839. I was at that time +editing a theological and literary magazine, in the West, and this +letter was occasioned by my asking her to allow me to publish therein +certain poems, and articles of hers, which she had given me to read. + + 'And I wish now, as far as I can, to give my reasons for what + you consider absurd squeamishness in me. You may not acquiesce + in my view, but I think you will respect it _as_ mine and be + willing to act upon it so far as I am concerned. + + 'Genius seems to me excusable in taking the public for a + confidant. Genius is universal, and can appeal to the common + heart of man. But even here I would not have it too direct. + I prefer to see the thought or feeling made universal. How + different the confidence of Goethe, for instance, from that of + Byron! + + 'But for us lesser people, who write verses merely as vents + for the overflowings of a personal experience, which in every + life of any value craves occasionally the accompaniment of the + lyre, it seems to me that all the value of this utterance is + destroyed by a hasty or indiscriminate publicity. The moment + I lay open my heart, and tell the fresh feeling to any one who + chooses to hear, I feel profaned. + + 'When it has passed into experience, when the flower has gone + to seed, I don't care who knows it, or whither they wander. I + am no longer it,--I stand on it. I do not know whether this + is peculiar to me, or not, but I am sure the moment I cease + to have any reserve or delicacy about a feeling, it is on the + wane. + + 'About putting beautiful verses in your Magazine, I have no + feeling except what I should have about furnishing a room. I + should not put a dressing-case into a parlor, or a book-case + into a dressing-room, because, however good things in + their place, they were not in place there. And this, not in + consideration of the public, but of my own sense of fitness + and harmony.' + +The next extract is from a letter written to me in 1842, after a +journey which we had taken to the White Mountains, in the company of +my sister, and Mr. and Mrs. Farrar. During this journey Margaret had +conversed with me concerning some passages of her private history and +experience, and in this letter she asks me to be prudent in speaking +of it, giving her reasons as follows:-- + + '_Cambridge, July 31, 1842._--... I said I was happy in having + no secret. It is my nature, and has been the tendency of my + life, to wish that all my thoughts and deeds might lie, as + the "open secrets" of Nature, free to all who are able to + understand them. I have no reserves, except intellectual + reserves; for to speak of things to those who cannot receive + them is stupidity, rather than frankness. But in this case, + I alone am not concerned. Therefore, dear James, give heed + to the subject. You have received a key to what was before + unknown of your friend; you have made use of it, now let it + be buried with the past, over whose passages profound and + sad, yet touched with heaven-born beauty, "let silence stand + sentinel."' + +I shall endeavor to keep true to the spirit of these sentences in +speaking of Margaret's friendships. Yet not to speak of them in +her biography would be omitting the most striking feature of her +character. It would be worse than the play of Hamlet with Hamlet +omitted. Henry the Fourth without Sully, Gustavus Adolphus without +Oxenstiern, Napoleon without his marshals, Socrates without his +scholars, would be more complete than Margaret without her friends. +So that, in touching on these private relations, we must be +everywhere "bold," yet not "too bold." The extracts will be taken +indiscriminately from letters written to many friends. + +The insight which Margaret displayed in finding her friends, the +magnetism by which she drew them toward herself, the catholic range +of her intimacies, the influence which she exercised to develop the +latent germ of every character, the constancy with which she clung +to each when she had once given and received confidence, the delicate +justice which kept every intimacy separate, and the process of +transfiguration which took place when she met any one on this mountain +of Friendship, giving a dazzling lustre to the details of common +life,--all these should be at least touched upon and illustrated, to +give any adequate view of her in these relations. + +Such a prejudice against her had been created by her faults of manner, +that the persons she might most wish to know often retired from her +and avoided her. But she was "sagacious of her quarry," and never +suffered herself to be repelled by this. She saw when any one +belonged to her, and never rested till she came into possession of her +property. I recollect a lady who thus fled from her for several years, +yet, at last, became most nearly attached to her. This "wise sweet" +friend, as Margaret characterized her in two words, a flower hidden +in the solitude of deep woods, Margaret saw and appreciated from the +first. + +See how, in the following passage, she describes to one of her friends +her perception of character, and her power of attracting it, when only +fifteen years old. + + '_Jamaica Plains, July, 1840_.--Do you remember my telling + you, at Cohasset, of a Mr. ---- staying with us, when I was + fifteen, and all that passed? Well, I have not seen him since, + till, yesterday, he came here. I was pleased to find, that, + even at so early an age, I did not overrate those I valued. + He was the same as in memory; the powerful eye dignifying an + otherwise ugly face; the calm wisdom, and refined observation, + the imposing _manière d'être_, which anywhere would give him + an influence among men, without his taking any trouble, or + making any sacrifice, and the great waves of feeling that + seemed to rise as an attractive influence, and overspread his + being. He said, nothing since his childhood had been so marked + as his visit to our house; that it had dwelt in his thoughts + unchanged amid all changes. I could have wished he had never + returned to change the picture. He looked at me continually, + and said, again and again, he should have known me anywhere; + but O how changed I must be since that epoch of pride and + fulness! He had with him his son, a wild boy of five years + old, all brilliant with health and energy, and with the same + powerful eye. He said,--You know I am not one to confound + acuteness and rapidity of intellect with real genius; but he + is for those an extraordinary child. He would astonish you, + but I look deep enough into the prodigy to see the work of an + extremely nervous temperament, and I shall make him as dull + as I can. "_Margaret_," (pronouncing the name in the same + deliberate searching way he used to do,) "I love him so well, + I will try to teach him moderation. If I can help it, he shall + not feed on bitter ashes, nor try these paths of avarice and + ambition." It made me feel very strangely to hear him talk so + to my old self. What a gulf between! There is scarce a fibre + left of the haughty, passionate, ambitious child he remembered + and loved. I felt affection for him still; for his character + was formed then, and had not altered, except by ripening and + expanding! But thus, in other worlds, we shall remember our + present selves.' + +Margaret's constancy to any genuine relation, once established, was +surprising. If her friends' _aim_ changed, so as to take them out of +her sphere, she was saddened by it, and did not let them go without a +struggle. But wherever they continued "true to the original standard," +(as she loved to phrase it) her affectionate interest would follow +them unimpaired through all the changes of life. The principle of this +constancy she thus expresses in a letter to one of her brothers:-- + + 'Great and even _fatal_ errors (so far as this life is + concerned) could not destroy my friendship for one in whom I + am sure of the kernel of nobleness.' + +She never formed a friendship until she had seen and known this germ +of good; and afterwards judged conduct by this. To this germ of good, +to this highest law of each individual, she held them true. But never +did she act like those who so often judge of their friend from some +report of his conduct, as if they had never known him, and allow +the inference from a single act to alter the opinion formed by an +induction from years of intercourse. From all such weakness Margaret +stood wholly free. + +I have referred to the wide range of Margaret's friendships. Even at +this period this variety was very apparent. She was the centre of +a group very different from each other, and whose only affinity +consisted in their all being polarized by the strong attraction of her +mind,--all drawn toward herself. Some of her friends were young, gay +and beautiful; some old, sick or studious. Some were children of the +world, others pale scholars. Some were witty, others slightly dull. +But all, in order to be Margaret's friends, must be capable of seeking +something,--capable of some aspiration for the better. And how did she +glorify life to all! all that was tame and common vanishing away in +the picturesque light thrown over the most familiar things by her +rapid fancy, her brilliant wit, her sharp insight, her creative +imagination, by the inexhaustible resources of her knowledge, and the +copious rhetoric which found words and images always apt and always +ready. Even then she displayed almost the same marvellous gift of +conversation which afterwards dazzled all who knew her,--with more +perhaps of freedom, since she floated on the flood of our warm +sympathies. Those who know Margaret only by her published writings +know her least; her notes and letters contain more of her mind; but it +was only in conversation that she was perfectly free and at home. + +Margaret's constancy in friendship caused her to demand it in others, +and thus she was sometimes exacting. But the pure Truth of her +character caused her to express all such feelings with that freedom +and simplicity that they became only as slight clouds on a serene sky, +giving it a tenderer beauty, and casting picturesque shades over the +landscape below. From her letters to different friends I select a few +examples of these feelings. + + 'The world turns round and round, and you too must needs be + negligent and capricious. You have not answered my note; you + have not given me what I asked. You do not come here. Do not + you act so,--it is the drop too much. The world seems not only + turning but tottering, when my kind friend plays such a part.' + + * * * * * + + 'You need not have delayed your answer so long; why not at + once answer the question I asked? Faith is not natural to + me; for the love I feel to others is not in the idleness of + poverty, nor can I persist in believing the best; merely to + save myself pain, or keep a leaning place for the weary + heart. But I should believe you, because I have seen that your + feelings are strong and constant; they have never disappointed + me, when closely scanned.' + + * * * * * + + '_July 6, 1832._--I believe I behaved very badly the other + evening. I did not think so yesterday. I had been too + surprised and vexed to recover very easily, but to-day my + sophistries have all taken wing, and I feel that nothing + good could have made me act with such childish petulance and + bluntness towards one who spoke from friendly emotions. Be + at peace; I will astonish you by my repose, mildness, and + self-possession. No, that is silly; but I believe it cannot + be right to be on such terms with any one, that, on the least + vexation, I indulge my feelings at his or her expense. We will + talk less, but we shall be very good friends still, I hope. + Shall not we?' + +In the last extract, we have an example of that genuine humility, +which, being a love of truth, underlaid her whole character, +notwithstanding its seeming pride. She could not have been great as +she was, without it.[A] + + '_December 19th, 1829._--I shall always be glad to have you + come to me when saddened. The melancholic does not misbecome + you. The lights of your character are _wintry_. They are + generally inspiriting, life-giving, but, if perpetual, would + glare too much on the tired sense; one likes sometimes a + cloudy day, with its damp and warmer breath,--its gentle, + down-looking shades. Sadness in some is intolerably ungraceful + and oppressive; it affects one like a cold rainy day in + June or September, when all pleasure departs with the sun; + everything seems out of place and irrelative to the time; the + clouds are fog, the atmosphere leaden,--but 'tis not so with + you.' + +Of her own truthfulness to her friends, which led her frankly to speak +to them of their faults or dangers, her correspondence gives constant +examples. + +The first is from a letter of later date than properly belongs to this +chapter, but is so wholly in her spirit of candor that I insert it +here. It is from a letter written in 1843. + + 'I have been happy in the sight of your pure design, of the + sweetness and serenity of your mind. In the inner sanctuary we + met. But I shall say a few blunt words, such as were frequent + in the days of intimacy, and, if they are needless, you + will let them fall to the ground. Youth is past, with its + passionate joys and griefs, its restlessness, its vague + desires. You have chosen your path, you have rounded out your + lot, your duties are before you. _Now_ beware the mediocrity + that threatens middle age, its limitation of thought and + interest, its dulness of fancy, its too external life, and + mental thinness. Remember the limitations that threaten + every professional man, only to be guarded against by great + earnestness and watchfulness. So take care of yourself, and + let not the intellect more than the spirit be quenched. + + * * * * * + + 'It is such a relief to me to be able to speak to you upon a + subject which I thought would never lie open between us. Now + there will be no place which does not lie open to the light. I + can always say what I feel. And the way in which you took it, + so like yourself, so manly and noble, gives me the assurance + that I shall have the happiness of seeing in you that + symmetry, that conformity in the details of life with the + highest aims, of which I have sometimes despaired. How much + higher, dear friend, is "the mind, the music breathing from + the" _life_, than anything we can say! Character is higher + than intellect; this I have long felt to be true; may we both + live as if we knew it. + + * * 'I hope and believe we may be yet very much to each other. + Imperfect as I am, I feel myself not unworthy to be a true + friend. Neither of us is unworthy. In few natures does such + love for the good and beautiful survive the ruin of all + youthful hopes, the wreck of all illusions.' + + * * * * * + + 'I supposed our intimacy would terminate when I left + Cambridge. Its continuing to subsist is a matter of surprise + to me. And I expected, ere this, you would have found some + Hersilia, or such-like, to console you for losing your + Natalia. See, my friend, I am three and twenty. I believe + in love and friendship, but I cannot but notice that + circumstances have appalling power, and that those links which + are not riveted by situation, by _interest_, (I mean, not mere + worldly interest, but the instinct of self-preservation,) + may be lightly broken by a chance touch. I speak not in + misanthropy, I believe + + "Die Zeit ist schlecht, doch giebts noch grosse Herzen." + + 'Surely I maybe pardoned for aiming at the same results with + the chivalrous "gift of the Gods." I cannot endure to be one + of those shallow beings who can never get beyond the primer of + experience,--who are ever saying,-- + + "Ich habe geglaubt, _nun glaube ich erst recht_, + Und geht es auch wunderlich, geht es auch schlecht, + Ich bleibe in glaubigen Orden." + + Yet, when you write, write freely, and if I don't like what + you say, let me say so. I have ever been frank, as if I + expected to be intimate with you good three-score years and + ten. I am sure we shall always esteem each other. I have that + much faith.' + + * * * * * + + '_Jan_. 1832.--All that relates to--must be interesting to + me, though I never voluntarily think of him now. The apparent + caprice of his conduct has shaken my faith, but not destroyed + my hope. That hope, if I, who have so mistaken others, may + dare to think I know myself, was never selfish. It is painful + to lose a friend whose knowledge and converse mingled so + intimately with the growth of my mind,--an early friend to + whom I was all truth and frankness, seeking nothing but equal + truth and frankness in return. But this evil may be borne; the + hard, the lasting evil was to learn to distrust my own heart, + and lose all faith in my power of knowing others. In this + letter I see again that peculiar pride, that contempt of the + forms and shows of goodness, that fixed resolve to be anything + but "like unto the Pharisees," which were to my eye such happy + omens. Yet how strangely distorted are all his views! The + daily influence of his intercourse with me was like the breath + he drew; it has become a part of him. Can he escape from + himself? Would he be unlike all other mortals? His feelings + are as false as those of Alcibiades. He influenced me, and + helped form me to what I am. Others shall succeed him. Shall + I be ashamed to owe anything to friendship? But why do I + talk?--a child might confute him by defining the term _human + being_. He will gradually work his way into light; if too late + for our friendship, not, I trust, too late for his own peace + and honorable well-being. I never insisted on being the + instrument of good to him. I practised no little arts, no! + not to effect the good of the friend I loved. I have prayed to + Heaven, (surely we are sincere when doing that,) to guide him + in the best path for him, however far from me that path might + lead. The lesson I have learned may make me a more useful + friend, a more efficient aid to others than I could be to him; + yet I hope I shall not be denied the consolation of knowing + surely, one day, that all which appeared evil in the companion + of happy years was but error.' + + * * * * * + + 'I think, since you have seen so much of my character, that + you must be sensible that any reserves with those whom I call + my friends, do not arise from duplicity, but an instinctive + feeling that I could not be understood. I can truly say that I + wish no one to overrate me; undeserved regard could give me no + pleasure; nor will I consent to practise charlatanism, either + in friendship or anything else.' + + * * * * * + + 'You ought not to think I show a want of generous confidence, + if I sometimes try the ground on which I tread, to see if + perchance it may return the echoes of hollowness.' + + * * * * * + + 'Do not cease to respect me as formerly. It seems to me that I + have reached the "parting of the ways" in my life, and all the + knowledge which I have toiled to gain only serves to show me + the disadvantages of each. None of those who think themselves + my friends can aid me; each, careless, takes the path to which + present convenience impels; and all would smile or stare, + could they know the aching and measureless wishes, the sad + apprehensiveness, which make me pause and strain my almost + hopeless gaze to the distance. What wonder if my present + conduct should be mottled by selfishness and incertitude? + Perhaps you, who _can_ make your views certain, cannot + comprehend me; though you showed me last night a penetration + which did not flow from sympathy. But this I may say--though + the glad light of hope and ambitious confidence, which has + vitalized my mind, should be extinguished forever, I will not + in life act a mean, ungenerous, or useless part. Therefore, + let not a slight thing lessen your respect for me. If you feel + as much pain as I do, when obliged to diminish my respect for + any person, you will be glad of this assurance. I hope you + will not think this note in the style of a French novel.' + + +[Footnote A: According to Dryden's beautiful statement-- + + 'For as high turrets, in their airy sweep + Require foundations, in proportion deep + And lofty cedars as far upward shoot + As to the nether heavens they drive the root; + So low did her secure foundation lie, + She was not humble, but humility.'] + + + + +POWER OF CIRCUMSTANCES. + + + 'Do you remember a conversation we had in the garden, one + starlight evening, last summer, about the incalculable power + which outward circumstances have over the character? You would + not sympathize with the regrets I expressed, that mine had not + been formed amid scenes and persons of nobleness and beauty, + eager passions and dignified events, instead of those secret + trials and petty conflicts which make my transition state so + hateful to my memory and my tastes. You then professed the + faith which I resigned with such anguish,--the faith which + a Schiller could never attain,--a faith in the power of the + human will. Yet now, in every letter, you talk to me of the + power of circumstances. You tell me how changed you are. Every + one of your letters is different from the one preceding, and + all so altered from your former self. For are you not leaving + all our old ground, and do you not apologize to me for all + your letters? Why do you apologize? I think I know you very, + very well; considering that we are both human, and have the + gift of concealing our thoughts with words. Nay, further--I do + not believe you will be able to become anything which I cannot + understand. I know I can sympathize with all who feel and + think, from a Dryfesdale up to a Max Piccolomini. You say, + you have become a machine. If so, I shall expect to find you a + grand, high-pressure, wave-compelling one--requiring plenty + of fuel. You must be a steam-engine, and move some majestic + fabric at the rate of thirty miles an hour along the broad + waters of the nineteenth century. None of your pendulum + machines for me! I should, to be sure, turn away my head if I + should hear you tick, and mark the quarters of hours; but the + buzz and whiz of a good large life-endangerer would be + music to mine ears. Oh, no! sure there is no danger of your + requiring to be set down quite on a level, kept in a still + place, and wound up every eight days. Oh no, no! you are not + one of that numerous company, who + + --"live and die, + Eat, drink, wake, sleep between, + Walk, talk like clock-work too, + So pass in order due, + Over the scene, + To where the past--_is_ past, + The future--nothing yet," &c. &c. + + But we must all be machines: you shall be a + steam-engine;--shall be a mill, with extensive + water-privileges,--and I will be a spinning jenny. No! + upon second thoughts, I will not be a machine. I will be an + instrument, not to be confided to vulgar hands,--for instance, + a chisel to polish marble, or a whetstone to sharpen steel!' + +In an unfinished tale, Margaret has given the following studies of +character. She is describing two of the friends of the hero of her +story. Unquestionably the traits here given were taken from life, +though it might not be easy to recognize the portrait of any +individual in either sketch. Yet we insert it here to show her own +idea of this relation, and her fine feeling of the action and reaction +of these subtle intimacies. + + 'Now, however, I found companions, in thought, at least One, + who had great effect on my mind, I may call Lytton. He was + as premature as myself; at thirteen a man in the range of his + thoughts, analyzing motives, and explaining principles, when + he ought to have been playing cricket, or hunting in the + woods. The young Arab, or Indian, may dispense with mere play, + and enter betimes into the histories and practices of manhood, + for all these are, in their modes of life, closely connected + with simple nature, and educate the body no less than the + mind; but the same good cannot be said of lounging lazily + under a tree, while mentally accompanying Gil Blas through his + course of intrigue and adventure, and visiting with him the + impure atmosphere of courtiers, picaroons, and actresses. + This was Lytton's favorite reading; his mind, by nature subtle + rather than daring, would in any case have found its food in + the now hidden workings of character and passion, the by-play + of life, the unexpected and seemingly incongruous relations + to be found there. He loved the natural history of man, not + religiously, but for entertainment. What he sought, he found, + but paid the heaviest price. All his later days were poisoned + by his subtlety, which made it impossible for him to look at + any action with a single and satisfied eye. He tore the buds + open to see if there were no worm sheathed in the blushful + heart, and was so afraid of overlooking some mean possibility, + that he lost sight of virtue. Grubbing like a mole beneath + the surface of earth, rather than reading its living language + above, he had not faith enough to believe in the flower, + neither faith enough to mine for the gem, and remains at + penance in the limbo of halfnesses, I trust not forever. + Then all his characteristics wore brilliant hues. He was very + witty, and I owe to him the great obligation of being the + first and only person who has excited me to frequent and + boundless gayety. The sparks of his wit were frequent, slight + surprises; his was a slender dart, and rebounded easily to + the hand. I like the scintillating, arrowy wit far better than + broad, genial humor. The light metallic touch pleases me. + When wit appears as fun and jollity, she wears a little of the + Silenus air;--the Mercurial is what I like. + + 'In later days,--for my intimacy with him lasted many + years,--he became the feeder of my intellect. He delighted to + ransack the history of a nation, of an art or a science, and + bring to me all the particulars. Telling them fixed them in + his own memory, which was the most tenacious and ready I + have ever known; he enjoyed my clear perception as to their + relative value, and I classified them in my own way. As he was + omnivorous, and of great mental activity, while my mind was + intense, though rapid in its movements, and could only give + itself to a few things of its own accord, I traversed on the + wings of his effort large demesnes that would otherwise have + remained quite unknown to me. They were not, indeed, seen to + the same profit as my own province, whose tillage I knew, and + whose fruits were the answer to my desire; but the fact of + seeing them at all gave a largeness to my view, and a candor + to my judgment. I could not be ignorant how much there was I + did not know, nor leave out of sight the many sides to every + question, while, by the law of affinity, I chose my own. + + 'Lytton was not loved by any one. He was not positively hated, + or disliked; for there was nothing which the general mind + could take firm hold of enough for such feelings. Cold, + intangible, he was to play across the life of others. A + momentary resentment was sometimes felt at a presence which + would not mingle with theirs; his scrutiny, though not + hostile, was recognized as unfeeling and impertinent, and his + mirth unsettled all objects from their foundations. But he + was soon forgiven and forgotten. Hearts went not forth to + war against or to seek one who was a mere experimentalist and + observer in existence. For myself, I did not love, perhaps, + but was attached to him, and the attachment grew steadily, for + it was founded, not on what I wanted of him, but on his truth + to himself. His existence was a real one; he was not without a + pathetic feeling of his wants, but was never tempted to supply + them by imitating the properties of any other character. He + accepted the law of his being, and never violated it. This + is next best to the nobleness which transcends it. I did not + disapprove, even when I disliked, his acts. + + 'Amadin, my other companion, was as slow and deep of feeling, + as Lytton was brilliant, versatile, and cold. His temperament + was generally grave, even to apparent dulness; his eye gave + little light, but a slow fire burned in its depths. His was a + character not to be revealed to himself, or others, except by + the important occasions of life. Though every day, no doubt, + deepened and enriched him, it brought little that he could + show or recall. But when his soul, capable of religion, + capable of love, was moved, all his senses were united in the + word or action that followed, and the impression made on you + was entire. I have scarcely known any capable of such true + manliness as he. His poetry, written, or unwritten, was the + experience of life. It lies in few lines, as yet, but not one + of them will ever need to be effaced. + + 'Early that serious eye inspired in me a trust that has never + been deceived. There was no magnetism in him, no lights + and shades that could stir the imagination; no bright ideal + suggested by him stood between the friend and his self. As the + years matured that self, I loved him more, and knew him as + he knew himself, always in the present moment; he could never + occupy my mind in absence.' + +Another of her early friends, Rev. F.H. Hedge, has sketched his +acquaintance with her in the following paper, communicated by him for +these memoirs. Somewhat older than Margaret, and having enjoyed +an education at a German university, his conversation was full of +interest and excitement to her. He opened to her a whole world +of thoughts and speculations which gave movement to her mind in a +congenial direction. + + * * * * * + +"My acquaintance with Margaret commenced in the year 1823, at +Cambridge, my native place and hers. I was then a member of Harvard +College, in which my father held one of the offices of instruction, +and I used frequently to meet her in the social circles of which the +families connected with the college formed the nucleus. Her father, at +this time, represented the county of Middlesex in the Congress of the +United States. + +"Margaret was then about thirteen,--a child in years, but so +precocious in her mental and physical developments, that she passed +for eighteen or twenty. Agreeably to this estimate, she had her place +in society, as a lady full-grown. + +"When I recall her personal appearance, as it was then and for ten or +twelve years subsequent to this, I have the idea of a blooming girl +of a florid complexion and vigorous health, with a tendency to +robustness, of which she was painfully conscious, and which, with +little regard to hygienic principles, she endeavored to suppress or +conceal, thereby preparing for herself much future suffering. With +no pretensions to beauty then, or at any time, her face was one that +attracted, that awakened a lively interest, that made one desirous +of a nearer acquaintance. It was a face that fascinated, without +satisfying. Never seen in repose, never allowing a steady perusal +of its features, it baffled every attempt to judge the character by +physiognomical induction. You saw the evidence of a mighty force, but +what direction that force would assume,--whether it would determine +itself to social triumphs, or to triumphs of art,--it was impossible +to divine. Her moral tendencies, her sentiments, her true and +prevailing character, did not appear in the lines of her face. She +seemed equal to anything, but might not choose to put forth her +strength. You felt that a great possibility lay behind that brow, but +you felt, also, that the talent that was in her might miscarry through +indifference or caprice. + +"I said she had no pretensions to beauty. Yet she was not plain. She +escaped the reproach of positive plainness, by her blond and abundant +hair, by her excellent teeth, by her sparkling, dancing, busy eyes, +which, though usually half closed from near-sightedness, shot piercing +glances at those with whom she conversed, and, most of all, by the +very peculiar and graceful carriage of her head and neck, which all +who knew her will remember as the most characteristic trait in her +personal appearance. + +"In conversation she had already, at that early age, begun to +distinguish herself, and made much the same impression in society that +she did in after years, with the exception, that, as she advanced +in life, she learned to control that tendency to sarcasm,--that +disposition to 'quiz,'--which was then somewhat excessive. It +frightened shy young people from her presence, and made her, for a +while, notoriously unpopular with the ladies of her circle. + +"This propensity seems to have been aggravated by unpleasant +encounters in her school-girl experience. She was a pupil of Dr. Park, +of Boston, whose seminary for young ladies was then at the height of a +well-earned reputation, and whose faithful and successful endeavors +in this department have done much to raise the standard of female +education among us. Here the inexperienced country girl was exposed +to petty persecutions from the dashing misses of the city, who pleased +themselves with giggling criticisms not inaudible, nor meant to be +inaudible to their subject, on whatsoever in dress and manner fell +short of the city mark. Then it was first revealed to her young heart, +and laid up for future reflection, how large a place in woman's world +is given to fashion and frivolity. Her mind reacted on these attacks +with indiscriminate sarcasms. She made herself formidable by her wit, +and, of course, unpopular. A root of bitterness sprung up in her which +years of moral culture were needed to eradicate. + +"Partly to evade the temporary unpopularity into which she had fallen, +and partly to pursue her studies secure from those social avocations +which were found unavoidable in the vicinity of Cambridge and Boston, +in 1824 or 5 she was sent to Groton, where she remained two years in +quiet seclusion. + +"On her return to Cambridge, in 1826, I renewed my acquaintance, and +an intimacy was then formed, which continued until her death. The +next seven years, which were spent in Cambridge, were years of +steady growth, with little variety of incident, and little that was +noteworthy of outward experience, but with great intensity of the +inner life. It was with her, as with most young women, and with most +young men, too, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five, a period +of preponderating sentimentality, a period of romance and of dreams, +of yearning and of passion. She pursued at this time, I think, no +systematic study, but she read with the heart, and was learning more +from social experience than from books. + +"I remember noting at this time a trait which continued to be a +prominent one through life,--I mean, a passionate love for the +beautiful, which comprehended all the kingdoms of nature and art. I +have never known one who seemed to derive such satisfaction from the +contemplation of lovely forms. + +"Her intercourse with girls of her own age and standing was frank and +excellent. Personal attractions, and the homage which they received, +awakened in her no jealousy. She envied not their success, though +vividly aware of the worth of beauty, and inclined to exaggerate her +own deficiencies in that kind. On the contrary, she loved to draw +these fair girls to herself, and to make them her guests, and was +never so happy as when surrounded, in company, with such a bevy. This +attraction was mutual, as, according to Goethe, every attraction is. +Where she felt an interest, she awakened an interest. Without +flattery or art, by the truth and nobleness of her nature, she won +the confidence, and made herself the friend and intimate, of a large +number of young ladies,--the belles of their day,--with most of whom +she remained in correspondence during the greater part of her life. + +"In our evening re-unions she was always conspicuous by the brilliancy +of her wit, which needed but little provocation to break forth in +exuberant sallies, that drew around her a knot of listeners, and made +her the central attraction of the hour. Rarely did she enter a company +in which she was not a prominent object. + +"I have spoken of her conversational talent. It continued to develop +itself in these years, and was certainly her most decided gift. +One could form no adequate idea of her ability without hearing her +converse. She did many things well, but nothing so well as she talked. +It is the opinion of all her friends, that her writings do her very +imperfect justice. For some reason or other, she could never deliver +herself in print as she did with her lips. She required the stimulus +of attentive ears, and answering eyes, to bring out all her power. She +must have her auditory about her. + +"Her conversation, as it was then, I have seldom heard equalled. It +was not so much attractive as commanding. Though remarkably fluent +and select, it was neither fluency, nor choice diction, nor wit, nor +sentiment, that gave it its peculiar power, but accuracy of statement, +keen discrimination, and a certain weight of judgment, which +contrasted strongly and charmingly with the youth and sex of the +speaker. I do not remember that the vulgar charge of talking 'like +a book' was ever fastened upon her, although, by her precision, she +might seem to have incurred it. The fact was, her speech, though +finished and true as the most deliberate rhetoric of the pen, had +always an air of spontaneity which made it seem the grace of the +moment,--the result of some organic provision that made finished +sentences as natural to her as blundering and hesitation are to +most of us. With a little more imagination, she would have made an +excellent improvisatrice. + +"Here let me say a word respecting the character of Margaret's mind. +It was what in woman is generally called a masculine mind; that is, +its action was determined by ideas rather than by sentiments. And yet, +with this masculine trait, she combined a woman's appreciation of the +beautiful in sentiment and the beautiful in action. Her intellect was +rather solid than graceful, yet no one was more alive to grace. She +was no artist,--she would never have written an epic, or romance, or +drama,--yet no one knew better the qualities which go to the making +of these; and though catholic as to kind, no one was more rigorously +exacting as to quality. Nothing short of the best in each kind would +content her. + +"She wanted imagination, and she wanted productiveness. She wrote with +difficulty. Without external pressure, perhaps, she would never have +written at all. She was dogmatic, and not creative. Her strength was +in characterization and in criticism. Her _critique_ on Goethe, in +the second volume of the Dial, is, in my estimation, one of the best +things she has written. And, as far as it goes, it is one of the best +criticisms extant of Goethe. + +"What I especially admired in her was her intellectual sincerity. Her +judgments took no bribe from her sex or her sphere, nor from custom +nor tradition, nor caprice. She valued truth supremely, both for +herself and others. The question with her was not what should be +believed, or what ought to be true, but what _is_ true. Her yes and +no were never conventional; and she often amazed people by a cool and +unexpected dissent from the common-places of popular acceptation." + + * * * * * + +Margaret, we have said, saw in each of her friends the secret interior +capability, which might become hereafter developed into some special +beauty or power. By means of this penetrating, this prophetic insight, +she gave each to himself, acted on each to draw out his best nature, +gave him an ideal out of which he could draw strength and liberty hour +by hour. Thus her influence was ever ennobling, and each felt that in +her society he was truer, wiser, better, and yet more free and happy, +than elsewhere. The "dry light" which Lord Bacon loved, she never +knew; her light was life, was love, was warm with sympathy and a +boundless energy of affection and hope. Though her love flattered and +charmed her friends, it did not spoil them, for they knew her perfect +truth. They knew that she loved them, not for what she imagined, +but for what she saw, though she saw it only in the germ. But as the +Greeks beheld a Persephone and Athene in the passing stranger, and +ennobled humanity into ideal beauty, Margaret saw all her friends thus +idealized. She was a balloon of sufficient power to take us all up +with her into the serene depth of heaven, where she loved to float, +far above the low details of earthly life. Earth lay beneath us as a +lovely picture,--its sounds came up mellowed into music. + +Margaret was, to persons younger than herself, a Makaria and Natalia. +She was wisdom and intellectual beauty, filling life with a charm and +glory "known to neither sea nor land." To those of her own age she +was sibyl and seer,--a prophetess, revealing the future, pointing the +path, opening their eyes to the great aims only worthy of pursuit +in life. To those older than herself she was like the Euphorion +in Goethe's drama, child of Faust and Helen,--a wonderful union +of exuberance and judgment, born of romantic fulness and classic +limitation. They saw with surprise her clear good-sense balancing her +now of sentiment and ardent courage. They saw her comprehension of +both sides of every question, and gave her their confidence, as to one +of equal age, because of so ripe a judgment. + +But it was curious to see with what care and conscience she kept her +friendships distinct. Her fine practical understanding, teaching +her always the value of limits, enabled her to hold apart all her +intimacies, nor did one ever encroach on the province of the other. +Like a moral Paganini, she played always on a single string, drawing +from each its peculiar music,--bringing wild beauty from the slender +wire, no less than from the deep-sounding harp string. Some of her +friends had little to give her when compared with others; but I never +noticed that she sacrificed in any respect the smaller faculty to the +greater. She fully realized that the Divine Being makes each part +of this creation divine, and that He dwells in the blade of grass as +really if not as fully as in the majestic oak which has braved the +storm for a hundred years. She felt in full the thought of a poem +which she once copied for me from Barry Cornwall, which begins thus:-- + + "She was not fair, nor full of grace, + Nor crowned with thought, nor aught beside + No wealth had she of mind or face, + To win our love, or gain our pride,-- + No lover's thought her heart could touch,-- + No poet's dream was round her thrown; + And yet we miss her--ah, so much! + Now--she has flown." + +I will close this section of Cambridge Friendship with the two +following passages, the second of which was written to some one +unknown to me: + + 'Your letter was of cordial sweetness to me, as is ever the + thought of our friendship,--that sober-suited friendship, of + which the web was so deliberately and well woven, and which + wears so well. + + * * * * * + + 'I want words to express the singularity of all my past + relations; yet let me try. + + 'From a very early age I have felt that I was not born to the + common womanly lot. I knew I should never find a being who + could keep the key of my character; that there would be none + on whom I could always lean, from whom I could always learn; + that I should be a pilgrim and sojourner on earth, and that + the birds and foxes would be surer of a place to lay the head + than I. You understand me, of course; such beings can only + find their homes in hearts. All material luxuries, all the + arrangements of society, are mere conveniences to them. + + 'This thought, all whose bearings I did not, indeed, + understand, affected me sometimes with sadness, sometimes + with pride. I mourned that I never should have a thorough + experience of life, never know the full riches of my being; I + was proud that I was to test myself in the sternest way, that + I was always to return to myself, to be my own priest, + pupil, parent, child, husband, and wife. All this I did not + understand as I do now; but this destiny of the thinker, and + (shall I dare to say it?) of the poetic priestess, sibylline, + dwelling in the cave, or amid the Lybian sands, lay yet + enfolded in my mind. Accordingly, I did not look on any of the + persons, brought into relation with me, with common womanly + eyes. + + 'Yet, as my character is, after all, still more feminine than + masculine, it would sometimes happen that I put more emotion + into a state than I myself knew. I really was capable or + attachment, though it never seemed so till the hour of + separation. And if a connexion was torn up by the roots, the + soil of my existence showed an unsightly wound, which long + refused to clothe itself in verdure. + + 'With regard to yourself, I was to you all that I wished to + be. I knew that I reigned in your thoughts in my own way. + And I also lived with you more truly and freely than with any + other person. We were truly friends, but it was not friends + as men are friends to one another, or as brother and sister. + There was, also, that pleasure, which may, perhaps, be termed + conjugal, of finding oneself in an alien nature. Is there any + tinge of love in this? Possibly! At least, in comparing it + with my relation to--, I find _that_ was strictly fraternal. + I valued him for himself. I did not care for an influence over + him, and was perfectly willing to have one or fifty rivals in + his heart. * * + + * * 'I think I may say, I never loved. I but see my possible + life reflected on the clouds. As in a glass darkly, I have + seen what I might feel as child, wife, mother, but I have + never really approached the close relations of life. A sister + I have truly been to many,--a brother to more,--a fostering + nurse to, oh how many! The bridal hour of many a spirit, when + first it was wed, I have shared, but said adieu before the + wine was poured out at the banquet. And there is one I always + love in my poetic hour, as the lily looks up to the star from + amid the waters; and another whom I visit as the bee visits + the flower, when I crave sympathy. Yet those who live would + scarcely consider that I am among the living,--and I am + isolated, as you say. + + 'My dear--, all is well; all has helped me to decipher the + great poem of the universe. I can hardly describe to you the + happiness which floods my solitary hours. My actual life is + yet much clogged and impeded, but I have at last got me + an oratory; where I can retire and pray. With your letter, + vanished a last regret. You did not act or think unworthily. + It is enough. As to the cessation of our confidential inter + course, circumstances must have accomplished that long ago; my + only grief was that you should do it with your own free will, + and for reasons that I thought unworthy. I long to honor you, + to be honored by you. Now we will have free and noble thoughts + of one another, and all that is best of our friendship shall + remain.' + + + + +II. + +CONVERSATION.--SOCIAL INTERCOURSE. + + + "Be thou what thou singly art, and personate only thyself. + Swim smoothly in the stream of thy nature, and live but one + man." + + SIR THOMAS BROWNE. + + + "Ah, how mournful look in letters + Black on white, the words to me, + Which from lips of thine cast fetters + Bound the heart, or set It free." + + GOETHE, _translated by J.S. Dwight_. + + + "Zu erfinden, zu beschliessen, + Bleibe, Kunstler, oft allein; + Deines Wirkes zu geniessen + Eile freudig zum Verein, + Hier im Ganzen schau erfahre + Deines eignes Lebenslauf, + Und die Thaten mancher Jahre + Gehn dir in dem Nachbar auf." + + GOETHE, _Artist's Song_. + + * * * * * + + +When I first knew Margaret, she was much in society, but in a circle +of her own,--of friends whom she had drawn around her, and whom she +entertained and delighted by her exuberant talent. Of those belonging +to this circle, let me recall a few characters. + +The young girls whom Margaret had attracted were very different from +herself, and from each other. From Boston, Charlestown, Roxbury, +Brookline, they came to her, and the little circle of companions would +meet now in one house, and now in another, of these pleasant towns. +There was A----, a dark-haired, black-eyed beauty, with clear olive +complexion, through which the rich blood flowed. She was bright, +beauteous, and cold as a gem,--with clear perceptions of character +within a narrow limit,--enjoying society, and always surrounded with +admirers, of whose feelings she seemed quite unconscious. While they +were just ready to die of unrequited love, she stood untouched as +Artemis, scarcely aware of the deadly arrows which had flown from her +silver bow. I remember that Margaret said, that Tennyson's little poem +of the skipping-rope must have been written for her,--where the lover +expressing his admiration of the fairy-like motion and the light grace +of the lady, is told-- + + "Get off, or else my skipping-rope + Will hit you in the eye." + +Then there was B----, the reverse of all this,--tender, susceptible, +with soft blue eyes, and mouth of trembling sensibility. How sweet +were her songs, in which a single strain of pure feeling ever reminded +me of those angel symphonies,-- + + "In all whose music, the pathetic minor + Our ears will cross--" + +and when she sang or spoke, her eyes had often the expression of one +looking _in_ at her thought, not _out_ at her companion. + +Then there was C----, all animated and radiant with joyful interest +in life,--seeing with ready eye the beauty of Nature and of +Thought,--entering with quick sympathy into all human interest, taking +readily everything which belonged to her, and dropping with sure +instinct whatever suited her not. Unknown to her was struggle, +conflict, crisis; she grew up harmonious as the flower, drawing +nutriment from earth and air,--from "common things which round us +lie," and equally from the highest thoughts and inspirations. + +Shall I also speak of D----, whose beauty had a half-voluptuous +character, from those ripe red lips, those ringlets overflowing the +well-rounded shoulders, and the hazy softness of those large eyes? +Or of E----, her companion, beautiful too, but in a calmer, purer +style,--with eye from which looked forth self-possession, truth and +fortitude? Others, well worth notice, I must not notice now. + +But among the young men who surrounded Margaret, a like variety +prevailed. One was to her interesting, on account of his quick, +active intellect, and his contempt for shows and pretences; for his +inexhaustible wit, his exquisite taste, his infinitely varied stores +of information, and the poetic view which he took of life, painting +it with Rembrandt depths of shadow and bursts of light. Another she +gladly went to for his compact, thoroughly considered views of God and +the world,--for his culture, so much more deep and rich than any other +we could find here,--for his conversation, opening in systematic +form new fields of thought. Yet men of strong native talent, and rich +character, she also liked well to know, however deficient in culture, +knowledge, or power of utterance. Each was to her a study, and she +never rested till she had found the bottom of every mind,--till she +had satisfied herself of its capacity and currents,--measuring it with +her sure line, as + + --"All human wits + Are measured, but a few." + +It was by her singular gift of speech that she cast her spells and +worked her wonders in this little circle. Full of thoughts and full +of words; capable of poetic improvisation, had there not been a slight +overweight of a tendency to the tangible and real; capable of clear, +complete, philosophic statement, but for the strong tendency to life +which melted down evermore in its lava-current the solid blocks of +thought; she was yet, by these excesses, better fitted for the arena +of conversation. Here she found none adequate for the equal encounter; +when she laid her lance in rest, every champion must go down before +it. How fluent her wit, which, for hour after hour, would furnish best +entertainment, as she described scenes where she had lately been, +or persons she had lately seen! Yet she readily changed from gay to +grave, and loved better the serious talk which opened the depths of +life. Describing a conversation in relation to Christianity, with a +friend of strong mind, who told her he had found, in this religion, +a home for his best and deepest thoughts, she says--' Ah! what a +pleasure 'to meet with such a daring, yet realizing, mind as his!' +But her catholic taste found satisfaction in intercourse with persons +quite different from herself in opinions and tendencies, as the +following letter, written in her twentieth year, will indicate: + + * * * * * + + 'I was very happy, although greatly restrained by the + apprehension of going a little too far with these persons of + singular refinement and settled opinions. + + 'However, I believe I did pretty well, though I did make one + or two little mistakes, when most interested; but I was not + so foolish as to try to retrieve them. One occasion more + particularly, when Mr. G----, after going more fully into + his poetical opinions than I could have expected, stated his + sentiments: first, that Wordsworth had, in truth, guided, or, + rather, completely vivified the poetry of this age; secondly, + that 't was his influence which had, in reality, given all his + better individuality to Byron. He recurred again and again + to this opinion, _con amore_, and seemed to wish much for an + answer; but I would not venture, though 'twas hard for me + to forbear, I knew so well what I thought. Mr. G----'s + Wordsworthianism, however, is excellent; his beautiful + simplicity of taste, and love of truth, have preserved him + from any touch of that vague and imbecile enthusiasm, which + has enervated almost all the exclusive and determined admirers + of the great poet whom I have known in these parts. His + reverence, his feeling, are thoroughly intelligent. Everything + in his mind is well defined; and his horror of the vague, and + false, nay, even (suppose another horror here, for grammar's + sake) of the startling and paradoxical, have their beauty. + I think I could know Mr. G---- long, and see him perpetually, + without any touch of satiety; such variety is made by the very + absence of pretension, and the love of truth. I found much + amusement in leading him to sketch the scenes and persons + which Lockhart portrays in such glowing colors, and which he, + too, has seen with the _eye of taste_, but how different!' + + * * * * * + +Our friend was well aware that her _forte_ was in conversation. Here +she felt at home. Here she felt her power, and the excitement which +the presence of living persons brought, gave all her faculties full +activity 'After all,' she says, in a letter, + + 'this writing is mighty dead. Oh, for my dear old Greeks, who + talked everything--not to shine as in the Parisian saloons, + but to learn, to teach, to vent the heart, to clear the mind!' + +Again, in 1832:-- + + 'Conversation is my natural element. I need to be called + out, and never think alone, without imagining some companion. + Whether this be nature or the force of circumstances, I know + not; it is my habit, and bespeaks a second-rate mind.' + +I am disposed to think, much as she excelled in general conversation, +that her greatest mental efforts were made in intercourse with +individuals. All her friends will unite in the testimony, that +whatever they may have known of wit and eloquence in others, they have +never seen one who, like her, by the conversation of an hour or two, +could not merely entertain and inform, but make an epoch in one's +life. We all dated back to this or that conversation with Margaret, in +which we took a complete survey of great subjects, came to some clear +view of a difficult question, saw our way open before us to a higher +plane of life, and were led to some definite resolution or purpose +which has had a bearing on all our subsequent career. For Margaret's +conversation turned, at such times, to life,--its destiny, its duty, +its prospect. With comprehensive glance she would survey the past, and +sum up, in a few brief words, its results; she would then turn to +the future, and, by a natural order, sweep through its chances and +alternatives,--passing ever into a more earnest tone, into a more +serious view,--and then bring all to bear on the present, till its +duties grew plain, and its opportunities attractive. Happy he who can +lift conversation, without loss of its cheer, to the highest uses! +Happy he who has such a gift as this, an original faculty thus +accomplished by culture, by which he can make our common life rich, +significant and fair,--can give to the hour a beauty and brilliancy +which shall make it eminent long after, amid dreary years of level +routine! + +I recall many such conversations. I remember one summer's day, in +which we rode together, on horseback, from Cambridge to Newton,--a day +all of a piece, in which my eloquent companion helped me to understand +my past life, and her own,--a day which left me in that calm repose +which comes to us, when we clearly apprehend what we ought to do, and +are ready to attempt it. I recall other mornings when, not having seen +her for a week or two, I would walk with her for hours, beneath the +lindens or in the garden, while we related to each other what we had +read in our German studies. And I always left her astonished at the +progress of her mind, at the amount of new thoughts she had garnered, +and filled with a new sense of the worth of knowledge, and the value +of life. + +There were other conversations, in which, impelled by the strong +instinct of utterance, she would state, in words of tragical pathos, +her own needs and longings,--her demands on life,--the struggles of +mind, and of heart,--her conflicts with self, with nature, with +the limitations of circumstances, with insoluble problems, with an +unattainable desire. She seemed to feel relief from the expression of +these thoughts, though she gained no light from her companion. Many +such conversations I remember, while she lived in Cambridge, and one +such in Groton; but afterwards, when I met her, I found her mind risen +above these struggles, and in a self-possessed state which needed no +such outlet for its ferment. + +It is impossible to give any account of _these_ conversations; but +I add a few scraps, to indicate, however slightly, something of her +ordinary manner. + + 'Rev. Mr. ---- preached a sermon on TIME. But what business + had he to talk about time? We should like well to hear the + opinions of a great man, who had made good use of time; but + not of a little man, who had not used it to any purpose. I + wished to get up and tell him to speak of something which he + knew and felt.' + + + * * * * * + 'The best criticism on those sermons which proclaim so loudly + the dignity of human nature was from our friend E.S. She said, + coming out from Dr. Channing's church, that she felt fatigued + by the demands the sermon made on her, and would go home + and read what Jesus said,--"_Ye are of more value than many + sparrows." That_ she could bear; it did not seem exaggerated + praise.' + + * * * * * + + 'The Swedenborgians say, "that is _Correspondence_," and the + phrenologists, "that it is _Approbativeness,_" and so think + they know all about it. It would not be so, if we could be + like the birds,--make one method, and then desert it, and make + a new one,--as they build their nests.' + + * * * * * + + 'As regards crime, we cannot understand what we have not + _already_ felt;--thus, all crimes have formed part of our + minds. We do but recognize one part of ourselves in the worst + actions of others. When you take the subject in this light, + do you not incline to consider the capacity for action as + something widely differing from the experience of a feeling?' + + * * * * * + + 'How beautiful the life of Benvenuto Cellini! How his + occupations perpetually impelled to thought,--to gushings of + thought naturally excited!' + + * * * * * + + 'Father lectured me for looking satirical when the man of + Words spake, and so attentive to the man of Truth,--that is, + of God.' + +Margaret used often to talk about the books which she and I were +reading. + + GODWIN. 'I think you will be more and more satisfied with + Godwin. He has fully lived the double existence of man, and he + casts the reflexes on his magic mirror from a height where + no object in life's panorama can cause one throb of delirious + hope or grasping ambition. At any rate, if you study him, you + may know all he has to tell. He is quite free from vanity, and + conceals not miserly any of his treasures from the knowledge + of posterity. + + M'LLE. D'ESPINASSE. 'I am swallowing by gasps that _cauldrony_ + beverage of selfish passion and morbid taste, the letters + of M'lle D'Espinasse. It is good for me. How odious is the + abandonment of passion, such as this, unshaded by pride or + delicacy, unhallowed by religion,--a selfish craving only; + every source of enjoyment stifled to cherish this burning + thirst. Yet the picture, so minute in its touches, is true as + death. I should not like Delphine now.' + +Events in life, apparently trivial, often seemed to her full of mystic +significance, and it was her pleasure to turn such to poetry. On one +occasion, the sight of a passion-flower, given by one lady to another, +and then lost, appeared to her so significant of the character, +relation, and destiny of the two, that it drew from her lines of +which two or three seem worth preserving, as indicating her feeling of +social relations. + + 'Dear friend, my heart grew pensive when I saw + The flower, for thee so sweetly set apart, + By one whose passionless though tender heart + Is worthy to bestow, as angels are, + By an unheeding hand conveyed away, + To close, in unsoothed night, the promise of its day. + + * * * * * + + 'The mystic flower read in thy soul-filled eye + To its life's question the desired reply, + But came no nearer. On thy gentle breast + It hoped to find the haven of its rest; + But in cold night, hurried afar from thee, + It closed its once half-smiling destiny. + + 'Yet thus, methinks, it utters as it dies,-- + "By the pure truth of those calm, gentle eyes + Which saw my life should find its aim in thine, + I see a clime where no strait laws confine. + In that blest land where _twos_ ne'er know a _three_, + Save as the accord of their fine sympathy, + O, best-loved, I will wait for thee!"' + + + + +III. + +STUDIES. + + + "Nur durch das Morgenthor des Schönen + Drangst du in der Erkenntniss Land; + An höhen Glanz sich zu gewöhnen + Uebt sich, am Reize der Verstand. + Was bei dem Saitenklang der Musen + Mit süssem Beben dich, durchdrang, + Erzog die Kraft in deinem Busen, + Die sich dereinst zum Weltgeist schwang." + + SCHILLER. + + + "To work, with heart resigned and spirit strong; + Subdue, with patient toil, life's bitter wrong, + Through Nature's dullest, as her brightest ways, + We will march onward, singing to thy praise." + + E.S., _in the Dial_. + + + "The peculiar nature of the scholar's occupation consists in + this,--that science, and especially that side of it from + which he conceives of the whole, shall continually burst forth + before him in new and fairer forms. Let this fresh spiritual + youth never grow old within him; let no form become fixed + and rigid; let each sunrise bring him new joy and love in his + vocation, and larger views of its significance." + + FICHTE. + + * * * * * + + +Of Margaret's studies while at Cambridge, I knew personally only of +the German. She already, when I first became acquainted with her, had +become familiar with the masterpieces of French, Italian and +Spanish literature. But all this amount of reading had not made her +"deep-learned in books and shallow in herself;" for she brought to +the study of most writers "a spirit and genius equal or superior."--so +far, at least, as the analytic understanding was concerned. Every +writer whom she studied, as every person whom she knew, she placed in +his own class, knew his relation to other writers, to the world, to +life, to nature, to herself. Much as they might delight her, they +never swept her away. She breasted the current of their genius, as a +stately swan moves up a stream, enjoying the rushing water the more +because she resists it. In a passionate love-struggle she wrestled +thus with the genius of De Staël, of Rousseau, of Alfieri, of +Petrarch. + +The first and most striking element in the genius of Margaret was the +clear, sharp understanding, which keenly distinguished between things +different, and kept every thought, opinion, person, character, in +its own place, not to be confounded with any other. The god Terminus +presided over her intellect. She knew her thoughts as we know each +other's faces; and opinions, with most of us so vague, shadowy, and +shifting, were in her mind substantial and distinct realities. Some +persons see distinctions, others resemblances; but she saw both. No +sophist could pass on her a counterfeit piece of intellectual money; +but also she recognized the one pure metallic basis in coins of +different epochs, and when mixed with a very ruinous alloy. This gave +a comprehensive quality to her mind most imposing and convincing, +as it enabled her to show the one Truth, or the one Law, manifesting +itself in such various phenomena. Add to this her profound faith in +truth, which made her a Realist of that order that thoughts to her +were things. The world of her thoughts rose around her mind as a +panorama,--the sun-in the sky, the flowers distinct in the foreground, +the pale mountain sharply, though faintly, cutting the sky with its +outline in the distance,--and all in pure light and shade, all in +perfect perspective. + +Margaret began to study German early in 1832. Both she and I were +attracted towards this literature, at the same time, by the wild +bugle-call of Thomas Carlyle, in his romantic articles on Richter, +Schiller, and Goethe, which appeared in the old Foreign Review, the +Edinburgh Review, and afterwards in the Foreign Quarterly. + +I believe that in about three months from the time that Margaret +commenced German, she was reading with ease the masterpieces of its +literature. Within the year, she had read Goethe's Faust, Tasso, +Iphigenia, Hermann and Dorothea, Elective Affinities, and Memoirs; +Tieck's William Lovel, Prince Zerbino, and other works; Körner, +Novalis, and something of Richter; all of Schiller's principal dramas, +and his lyric poetry. Almost every evening I saw her, and heard an +account of her studies. Her mind opened under this influence, as the +apple-blossom at the end of a warm week in May. The thought and the +beauty of this rich literature equally filled her mind and fascinated +her imagination. + + * * * * * + +But if she studied books thus earnestly, still more frequently did she +turn to the study of men. Authors and their personages were not ideal +beings merely, but full of human blood and life. So living men +and women were idealized again, and transfigured by her rapid +fancy,--every trait intensified, developed, ennobled. Lessing says +that "The true portrait painter will paint his subject, flattering him +as art ought to flatter,--painting the face not as it actually is, +but as creation designed, omitting the imperfections arising from the +resistance of the material worked in." Margaret's portrait-painting +intellect treated persons in this way. She saw them as God designed +them,--omitting the loss from wear and tear, from false position, from +friction of untoward circumstances. If we may be permitted to take +a somewhat transcendental distinction, she saw them not as they +_actually_ were, but as they _really_ were. This accounts for her +high estimate of her friends,--too high, too flattering, indeed, but +justified to her mind by her knowledge of their interior capabilities. + + * * * * * + +The following extract illustrates her power, even at the age of +nineteen, of comprehending the relations of two things lying far apart +from each other, and of rising to a point of view which could overlook +both:-- + + 'I have had,--while staying a day or two in Boston,--some of + Shirley's, Ford's, and Hey wood's plays from the Athenæum. + There are some noble strains of proud rage, and intellectual, + but most poetical, all-absorbing, passion. One of the finest + fictions I recollect in those specimens of the Italian + novelists,--which you, I think, read when I did,--noble, where + it illustrated the Italian national spirit, is ruined by the + English novelist, who has transplanted it to an uncongenial + soil; yet he has given it beauties which an Italian eye could + not see, by investing the actors with deep, continuing, truly + English affections.' + + * * * * * + +The following criticism on some of the dialogues of Plato, (dated June +3d, 1833,) in a letter returning the book, illustrates her downright +way of asking world-revered authors to accept the test of plain common +sense. As a finished or deliberate opinion, it ought not to be read; +for it was not intended as such, but as a first impression hastily +sketched. But read it as an illustration of the method in which her +mind worked, and you will see that she meets the great Plato modestly, +but boldly, on human ground, asking him for satisfactory proof of all +that he says, and treating him as a human being, speaking to human +beings. + + '_June_ 3, 1833.--I part with Plato with regret. I could have + wished to "enchant myself," as Socrates would say, with + him some days longer. Eutyphron is excellent. Tis the best + specimen I have ever seen of that mode of convincing. There is + one passage in which Socrates, as if it were _aside_,--since + the remark is quite away from the consciousness of + Eutyphron,--declares, "qu'il aimerait incomparablement mieux + des principes fixes et inébranlables à l'habilité de Dédale + avec les tresors de Tantale." I delight to hear such things + from those whose lives have given the right to say them. For + 'tis not always true what Lessing says, and I, myself, once + thought,-- + + "F.--Von was fur Tugenden spricht er denn? + MINNA.----Er spricht von keiner; denn ihn fehlt keine." + + For the mouth sometimes talketh virtue from the overflowing of + the heart, as well as love, anger, &c. + + '"Crito" I have read only once, but like it. I have not got it + in my heart though, so clearly as the others. The "Apology" + I deem only remarkable for the noble tone of sentiment, and + beautiful calmness. I was much affected by Phaedo, but think + the argument weak in many respects. The nature of abstract + ideas is clearly set forth; but there is no justice in + reasoning, from their existence, that our souls have lived + previous to our present state, since it was as easy for the + Deity to create at once the idea of beauty within us, as the + sense which brings to the soul intelligence that it exists in + some outward shape. He does not clearly show his opinion of + what the soul is; whether eternal _as_ the Deity, created + _by_ the Deity, or how. In his answer to Simmias, he takes + advantage of the general meaning of the words harmony, + discord, &c. The soul might be a result, without being a + harmony. But I think too many things to write, and some I have + not had time to examine. Meanwhile I can think over parts, and + say to myself, "beautiful," "noble," and use this as one of my + enchantments.' + + * * * * * + + 'I send two of your German books. It pains me to part with + Ottilia. I wish we could learn books, as we do pieces of + music, and repeat them, in the author's order, when taking a + solitary walk. But, now, if I set out with an Ottilia, this + wicked fairy association conjures up such crowds of less + lovely companions, that I often cease to feel the influence of + the elect one. I don't like Goethe so well as Schiller now. + I mean, I am not so happy in reading him. That perfect wisdom + and _merciless_ nature seems cold, after those seducing + pictures of forms more beautiful than truth. Nathless, I + should like to read the second part of Goethe's Memoirs, if + you do not use it now.' + + * * * * * + + 1832.--I am thinking how I omitted to talk a volume to you + about the "Elective Affinities." Now I shall never say half of + it, for which I, on my own account, am sorry. But two or three + things I would ask:-- + + 'What do you think of Charlotte's proposition, that the + accomplished pedagogue must be tiresome in society? + + 'Of Ottilia's, that the afflicted, and ill-educated, are + oftentimes singled out by fate to instruct others, and her + beautiful reasons why? + + 'And what have you thought of the discussion touching graves + and monuments? + + 'I am now going to dream of your sermon, and of Ottilia's + china-asters. Both shall be driven from my head to-morrow, + for I go to town, allured by despatches from thence, promising + much entertainment. Woe unto them if they disappoint me! + + 'Consider it, I pray you, as the "nearest duty" to answer my + questions, and not act as you did about the sphinx-song.' + + * * * * * + + 'I have not anybody to speak to, that does not talk + common-place, and I wish to talk about such an uncommon + person,--about Novalis! a wondrous youth, and who has only + written one volume. That is pleasant! I feel as though I could + pursue my natural mode with him, get acquainted, then make my + mind easy in the belief that I know all that is to be known. + And he died at twenty-nine, and, as with Körner, your feelings + may be single; you will never be called upon to share his + experience, and compare his future feelings with his present. + And his life was so full and so still. + + Then it is a relief, after feeling the immense superiority of + Goethe. It seems to me as if the mind of Goethe had embraced + the universe. I have felt this lately, in reading his lyric + poems. I am enchanted while I read. He comprehends every + feeling I have ever had so perfectly, expresses it so + beautifully: but when I shut the book, it seems as if I had + lost my personal identity; all my feelings linked with such + an immense variety that belong to beings I had thought so + different. What can I bring? There is no answer in my mind, + except "It is so," or "It will be so," or "No doubt such and + such feel so." Yet, while my judgment becomes daily more + tolerant towards others, the same attracting and repelling + work is going on in my feelings. But I persevere in reading + the great sage, some part of every day, hoping the time will + come, when I shall not feel so overwhelmed, and leave off this + habit of wishing to grasp the whole, and be contented to learn + a little every day, as becomes a pupil. + + 'But now the one-sidedness, imperfection, and glow, of a mind + like that of Novalis, seem refreshingly human to me. I have + wished fifty times to write some letters giving an account, + first, of his very pretty life, and then of his one volume, + as I re-read it, chapter by chapter. If you will pretend to + be very much interested, perhaps I will get a better pen, and + write them to you.' * * + + + + +NEED OF COMMUNION. + + + '_Aug_. 7, 1832.--I feel quite lost; it is so long since I + have talked myself. To see so many acquaintances, to talk + so many words, and never tell my mind completely on any + subject--to say so many things which do not seem called out, + makes me feel strangely vague and movable. + + ''Tis true, the time is probably near when I must live alone, + to all intents and purposes,--separate entirely my acting from + my thinking world, take care of my ideas without aid,--except + from the illustrious dead,--answer my own questions, correct + my own feelings, and do all that hard work for myself. How + tiresome 'tis to find out all one's self-delusion! I thought + myself so very independent, because I could conceal some + feelings at will, and did not need the same excitement as + other young characters did. And I am not independent, nor + never shall be, while I can get anybody to minister to me. But + I shall go where there is never a spirit to come, if I call + ever so loudly. + + 'Perhaps I shall talk to you about Körner, but need not write. + He charms me, and has become a fixed star in the heaven of + my thought; but I understand all that he excites perfectly. + I felt very '_new_ about Novalis,--"the good Novalis," as + you call him after Mr. Carlyle. He is, indeed, _good_, most + enlightened, yet most pure; every link of his experience + framed--no, _beaten_--from the tried gold. + + 'I have read, thoroughly, only two of his pieces, "Die + Lehrlinge zu Sais," and "Heinrich von Ofterdingen." From the + former I have only brought away piecemeal impressions, but the + plan and treatment of the latter, I believe, I understand. It + describes the development of poetry in a mind; and with this + several other developments are connected. I think I shall tell + you all I know about it, some quiet time after your return, + but if not, will certainly keep a Novalis-journal for you some + favorable season, when I live regularly for a fort night.' + + * * * * * + + '_June_, 1833.--I return Lessing. I could hardly get through + Miss Sampson. E. Galeotti is good in the same way as + Minna. Well-conceived and sustained characters, interesting + situations, but never that profound knowledge of human nature, + those minute beauties, and delicate vivifying traits, which + lead on so in the writings of some authors, who may be + nameless. I think him easily followed; strong, but not deep.' + + * * * * * + + '_May_, 1833.--_Groton_.--I think you are wrong in applying + your artistical ideas to occasional poetry. An epic, a drama, + must have a fixed form in the mind of the poet from the first; + and copious draughts of ambrosia quaffed in the heaven of + thought, soft fanning gales and bright light from the outward + world, give muscle and bloom,--that is, give life,--to this + skeleton. But all occasional poems must be moods, and can a + mood have a form fixed and perfect, more than a wave of the + sea?' + + * * * * * + + 'Three or four afternoons I have passed very happily at my + beloved haunt in the wood, reading Goethe's "Second Residence + in Rome." Your pencil-marks show that you have been before me. + I shut the book each time with an earnest desire to live as + he did,--always to have some engrossing object of pursuit. + I sympathize deeply with a mind in that state. While mine is + being used up by ounces, I wish pailfuls might be poured into + it. I am dejected and uneasy when I see no results from my + daily existence, but I am suffocated and lost when I have not + the bright feeling of progression.' * * + + * * * * * + + 'I think I am less happy, in many respects, than you, but + particularly in this. You can speak freely to me of all your + circumstances and feelings, can you not? It is not possible + for me to be so profoundly frank with any earthly friend. Thus + my heart has no proper home; it only can prefer some of its + visiting-places to others; and with deep regret I realize that + I have, at length, entered on the concentrating stage of + life. It was not time. I had been too sadly cramped. I had not + learned enough, and must always remain imperfect. Enough! I am + glad I have been able to say so much.' + + * * * * * + + 'I have read nothing,--to signify,--except Goethe's "Campagne + in Frankreich." Have you looked through it, and do you + remember his intercourse with the Wertherian Plessing? That + tale pained me exceedingly. We cry, "help, help," and there is + no help--in man at least. How often I have thought, if I could + see Goethe, and tell him my state of mind, he would support + and guide me! He would be able to understand; he would show + me how to rule circumstances, instead of being ruled by them; + and, above all, he would not have been so sure that all would + be for the best, without our making an effort to act out the + oracles; he would have wished to see me what Nature intended. + But his conduct to Plessing and Ohlenschlager shows that to + him, also, an appeal would have been vain.' + + 'Do you really believe there is anything "all-comprehending" + but religion? Are not these distinctions imaginary? Must not + the philosophy of every mind, or set of minds, be a system + suited to guide them, and give a home where they can bring + materials among which to accept, reject, and shape at + pleasure? Novalis calls those, who harbor these ideas, + "unbelievers;" but hard names make no difference. He says with + disdain, "To _such_, philosophy is only a system which will + spare them the trouble of reflecting." Now this is just + my case. I _do_ want a system which shall suffice to my + character, and in whose applications I shall have faith. I + do not wish to _reflect_ always, if reflecting must be always + about one's identity, whether "_ich_" am the true "_ich_" &c. + I wish to arrive at that point where I can trust myself, and + leave off saying, "It seems to me," and boldly feel, It _is_ + so TO ME. My character has got its natural regulator, my heart + beats, my lips speak truth, I can walk alone, or offer my arm + to a friend, or if I lean on another, it is not the debility + of sickness, but only wayside weariness. This is the + philosophy _I_ want; this much would satisfy _me_. + + 'Then Novalis says, "Philosophy is the art of discovering the + place of truth in every encountered event and circumstance, to + attune all relations to truth." + + 'Philosophy is peculiarly home-sickness; an over-mastering + desire to be at home. + + 'I think so; but what is there _all-comprehending_; + eternally-conscious, about that?' + + * * * * * + + '_Sept.,_ 1832.--"Not see the use of metaphysics?" A moderate + portion, taken at stated intervals, I hold to be of much + use as discipline of the faculties. I only object to them as + having an absorbing and anti-productive tendency. But 'tis not + always so; may not be so with you. Wait till you are two years + older, before you decide that 'tis your vocation. Time + enough at six-and-twenty to form yourself into a metaphysical + philosopher. The brain does not easily get too dry for + _that_. Happy you, in these ideas which give you a tendency to + optimism. May you become a proselyte to that consoling faith. + I shall never be able to follow you, but shall look after you + with longing eyes.' + + * * * * * + + '_Groton._--Spring has come, and I shall see you soon. If + I could pour into your mind all the ideas which have passed + through mine, you would be well entertained, I think, for + three or four days. But no hour will receive aught beyond its + own appropriate wealth. + + 'I am at present engaged in surveying the level on which the + public mind is poised. I no longer lie in wait for the + tragedy and comedy of life; the rules of its _prose_ engage my + attention. I talk incessantly with common-place people, full + of curiosity to ascertain the process by which materials, + apparently so jarring and incapable of classification, get + united into that strange whole, the American public. I have + read all Jefferson's letters, the North American, the daily + papers, &c., without end. H. seems to be weaving his Kantisms + into the American system in a tolerably happy manner.' + + * * * * * + + * * 'George Thompson has a voice of uncommon compass and + beauty; never sharp in its highest, or rough and husky in its + lowest, tones. A perfect enunciation, every syllable round + and energetic; though his manner was the one I love best, + very rapid, and full of eager climaxes. Earnestness in every + part,--sometimes impassioned earnestness,--a sort of "Dear + friends, believe, _pray_ believe, I love you, and you MUST + believe as I do" expression, even in the argumentative parts. + I felt, as I have so often done before, if I were a man, the + gift I would choose should be that of eloquence. That power of + forcing the vital currents of thousands of human hearts into + ONE current, by the constraining power of that most delicate + instrument, the voice, is so intense,--yes, I would prefer it + to a more extensive fame, a more permanent influence.' + + 'Did I describe to you my feelings on hearing Mr. Everett's + eulogy on Lafayette? No; I did not. That was exquisite. + The old, hackneyed story; not a new anecdote, not a single + reflection of any value; but the manner, the _manner_^ the + delicate inflections of voice, the elegant and appropriate + gesture, the sense of beauty produced by the whole, which + thrilled us all to tears, flowing from a deeper and purer + source than that which answers to pathos. This was fine; but + I prefer the Thompson manner. Then there is Mr. Webster's, + unlike either; simple grandeur, nobler, more impressive, less + captivating. I have heard few fine speakers; I wish I could + hear a thousand. + + Are you vexed by my keeping the six volumes of your Goethe? + I read him very little either; I have so little time,--many + things to do at home,--my three children, and three pupils + besides, whom I instruct. + + 'By the way, I have always thought all that was said about + the anti-religious tendency of a classical education to be + old wives' tales. But their puzzles about Virgil's notions + of heaven and virtue, and his gracefully-described gods and + goddesses, have led me to alter my opinions; and I suspect, + from reminiscences of my own mental history, that if all + governors do not think the same 't is from want of that + intimate knowledge of their pupils' minds which I naturally + possess. I really find it difficult to keep their _morale_ + steady, and am inclined to think many of my own sceptical + sufferings are traceable to this source. I well remember what + reflections arose in my childish mind from a comparison of the + Hebrew history, where every moral obliquity is shown out with + such naïveté, and the Greek history, full of sparkling deeds + and brilliant sayings, and their gods and goddesses, the + types of beauty and power, with the dazzling veil of flowery + language and poetical imagery cast over their vices and + failings.' + + * * * * * + + 'My own favorite project, since I began seriously to entertain + any of that sort, is six historical tragedies; of which I have + the plans of three quite perfect. However, the attempts I + have made on them have served to show me the vast difference + between conception and execution. Yet I am, though abashed, + not altogether discouraged. My next favorite plan is a series + of tales illustrative of Hebrew history. The proper junctures + have occurred to me during my late studies on the historical + books of the Old Testament. This task, however, requires + a thorough and imbuing knowledge of the Hebrew manners and + spirit, with a chastened energy of imagination, which I am as + yet far from possessing. But if I should be permitted peace + and time to follow out my ideas, I have hopes. Perhaps it is + a weakness to confide to you embryo designs, which never may + glow into life, or mock me by their failure.' + + * * * * * + + 'I have long had a suspicion that no mind can systematize its + knowledge, and carry on the concentrating processes, without + some fixed opinion on the subject of metaphysics. But that + indisposition, or even dread of the study, which you may + remember, has kept me from meddling with it, till lately, in + meditating on the life of Goethe, I thought I must get some + idea of the history of philosophical opinion in Germany, that + I might be able to judge of the influence it exercised upon + his mind. I think I can comprehend him every other way, and + probably interpret him satisfactorily to others,--if I can get + the proper materials. When I was in Cambridge, I got Fichte + and Jacobi; I was much interrupted, but some time and earnest + thought I devoted. Fichte I could not understand at all; + though the treatise which I read was one intended to be + popular, and which he says must compel (_bezwingen_) to + conviction. Jacobi I could understand in details, but not in + system. It seemed to me that his mind must have been moulded + by some other mind, with which I ought to be acquainted, in + order to know him well,--perhaps Spinoza's. Since I came home, + I have been consulting Buhle's and Tennemann's histories of + philosophy, and dipping into Brown, Stewart, and that class of + books.' + + * * * * * + + 'After I had cast the burden of my cares upon you, I rested, + and read Petrarch for a day or two. But that could not last. + I had begun to "take an account of stock," as Coleridge calls + it, and was forced to proceed. He says few persons ever did + this faithfully, without being dissatisfied with the result, + and lowering their estimate of their supposed riches. With + me it has ended in the most humiliating sense of poverty; and + only just enough pride is left to keep your poor friend off + the parish. As it is, I have already asked items of several + besides yourself; but, though they have all given what they + had, it has by no means answered my purpose; and I have laid + their gifts aside, with my other hoards, which gleamed so + fairy bright, and are now, in the hour of trial, turned into + mere slate-stones. I am not sure that even if I do find the + philosopher's stone, I shall be able to transmute them into + the gold they looked so like formerly. It will be long before + I can give a distinct, and at the same time concise, account + of my present state. I believe it is a great era. I am + thinking now,--really thinking, I believe; certainly it seems + as if I had never done so before. If it does not kill me, + something will come of it. Never was my mind so active; and + the subjects are God, the universe, immortality. But shall I + be fit for anything till I have absolutely re-educated myself? + Am I, can I make myself, fit to write an account of half a + century of the existence of one of the master-spirits of this + world? It seems as if I had been very arrogant to dare + to think it; yet will I not shrink back from what I have + undertaken,--even by failure I shall learn much.' + + * * * * * + + 'I am shocked to perceive you think I am _writing_ the life of + Goethe. No, indeed! I shall need a great deal of preparation + before I shall have it clear in my head, I have taken a great + many notes; but I shall not begin to write it, till it all + lies mapped out before me. I have no materials for ten years + of his life, from the time he went to Weimar, up to the + Italian journey. Besides, I wish to see the books that have + been written about him in Germany, by friend or foe. I wish to + look at the matter from all sides. New lights are constantly + dawning on me; and I think it possible I shall come out from + the Carlyle view, and perhaps from yours, and distaste you, + which will trouble me. + + * * 'How am I to get the information I want, unless I go to + Europe? To whom shall I write to choose my materials? I have + thought of Mr. Carlyle, but still more of Goethe's friend, Von + Muller. I dare say he would be pleased at the idea of a life + of G. written in this hemisphere, and be very willing to help + me. If you have anything to tell me, you will, and not mince + matters. Of course, my impressions of Goethe's works cannot be + influenced by information I get about his _life_; but, as + to this latter, I suspect I must have been hasty in my + inferences. I apply to you without scruple. There are subjects + on which men and women usually talk a great deal, but apart + from one another. You, however, are well aware that I am very + destitute of what is commonly _called_ modesty. With regard to + this, how fine the remark of our present subject: "Courage + and modesty are virtues which every sort of society reveres, + because they are virtues which cannot be counterfeited; also, + they are known by the _same hue_." When that blush does not + come naturally to my face, I do not drop a veil to make people + think it is there. All this may be very unlovely, but it is + _I_.' + + + + +CHANNING ON SLAVERY. + + + 'This is a noble work. So refreshing its calm, benign + atmosphere, after the pestilence-bringing gales of the day. It + comes like a breath borne over some solemn sea which separates + us from an island of righteousness. How valuable is it to have + among us a man who, standing apart from the conflicts of the + herd, watches the principles that are at work, with a truly + paternal love for what is human, and may be permanent; ready + at the proper point to give his casting-vote to the cause of + Right! The author has amplified on the grounds of his faith, + to a degree that might seem superfluous, if the question had + not become so utterly bemazed and bedarkened of late. After + all, it is probable that, in addressing the public at large, + it is _not_ best to express a thought in as few words as + possible; there is much classic authority for diffuseness.' + + + + +RICHTER. + + + _Groton_.--'Ritcher says, the childish heart vies in the + height of its surges with the manly, only is not furnished + with _lead_ for sounding them. + + 'How thoroughly am I converted to the love of Jean Paul, and + wonder at the indolence or shallowness which could resist + so long, and call his profuse riches want of system! What a + mistake! System, plan, there is, but on so broad a basis that + I did not at first comprehend it. In every page I am forced to + pencil. I will make me a book, or, as he would say, bind me a + bouquet from his pages, and wear it on my heart of hearts, and + be ever refreshing my wearied inward sense with its exquisite + fragrance. I must have improved, to love him as I do.' + + + + +IV. + +CHARACTER.--AIMS AND IDEAS OF LIFE. + + + "O friend, how flat and tasteless such a life! + Impulse gives birth to impulse, deed to deed, + Still toilsomely ascending step by step, + Into an unknown realm of dark blue clouds. + What crowns the ascent? Speak, or I go no further. + I need a goal, an aim. I cannot toil, + _Because the steps are here_ in their ascent + Tell me THE END, or I sit still and weep." + + "NATURLICHE TOCHTER," + + _Translated by Margaret._ + + + "And so he went onward, ever onward, for twenty-seven + years--then, indeed, he had gone far enough." + + GOETHE'S _words concerning Schiller_ + + * * * * * + + +I would say something of Margaret's inward condition, of her aims and +views in life, while in Cambridge, before closing this chapter of +her story. Her powers, whether of mind, heart, or will, have been +sufficiently indicated in what has preceded. In the sketch of her +friendships and of her studies, we have seen the affluence of her +intellect, and the deep tenderness of her woman's nature. We have seen +the energy which she displayed in study and labor. + +But to what _aim_ were these powers directed? Had she any clear view +of the demands and opportunities of life, any definite plan, any high, +pure purpose? This is, after all, the test question, which detects the +low-born and low-minded wearer of the robe of gold,-- + + "Touch them inwardly, they smell of copper." + +Margaret's life _had an aim_, and she was, therefore, essentially a +moral person, and not merely an overflowing genius, in whom "impulse +gives birth to impulse, deed to deed." This aim was distinctly +apprehended and steadily pursued by her from first to last. It was a +high, noble one, wholly religious, almost Christian. It gave dignity +to her whole career, and made it heroic. + +This aim, from first to last, was SELF-CULTURE. If she ever was +ambitious of knowledge and talent, as a means of excelling others, and +gaining fame, position, admiration,--this vanity had passed before +I knew her, and was replaced by the profound desire for a full +development of her whole nature, by means of a full experience of +life. + +In her description of her own youth, she says, 'VERY EARLY I KNEW THAT +THE ONLY OBJECT IN LIFE WAS TO GROW.' This is the passage:-- + + 'I was now in the hands of teachers, who had not, since they + came on the earth, put to themselves one intelligent question + as to their business here. Good dispositions and employment + for the heart gave a tone to all they said, which was + pleasing, and not perverting. They, no doubt, injured those + who accepted the husks they proffered for bread, and believed + that exercise of memory was study, and to know what others + knew, was the object of study. But to me this was all + penetrable. I had known great living minds.--I had seen how + they took their food and did their exercise, and what their + objects were. _Very early I knew that the only object in + life was to grow_. I was often false to this knowledge, in + idolatries of particular objects, or impatient longings for + happiness, but I have never lost sight of it, have always been + controlled by it, and this first gift of thought has never + been superseded by a later love.' + +In this she spoke truth. The good and the evil which flow from this +great idea of self-development she fully realized. This aim of life, +originally self-chosen, was made much more clear to her mind by the +study of Goethe, the great master of this school, in whose unequalled +eloquence this doctrine acquires an almost irresistible beauty and +charm. + +"Wholly religious, and almost Christian," I said, was this aim. It +was religious, because it recognized something divine, infinite, +imperishable in the human soul,--something divine in outward nature +and providence, by which the soul is led along its appointed way. It +was almost Christian in its superiority to all low, worldly, vulgar +thoughts and cares; in its recognition of a high standard of duty, and +a great destiny for man. In its strength, Margaret was enabled to do +and bear, with patient fortitude, what would have crushed a soul not +thus supported. Yet it is not the highest aim, for in all its forms, +whether as personal improvement, the salvation of the soul, or ascetic +religion, it has at its core a profound selfishness. Margaret's soul +was too generous for any low form of selfishness. Too noble to +become an Epicurean, too large-minded to become a modern ascetic, the +defective nature of her rule of life, showed itself in her case, +only in a certain supercilious tone toward "the vulgar herd," in the +absence (at this period) of a tender humanity, and in an idolatrous +hero-worship of genius and power. Afterward, too, she may have +suffered from her desire for a universal human experience, and an +unwillingness to see that we must often be content to enter the +Kingdom, of Heaven halt and maimed,--that a perfect development here +must often be wholly renounced. + +But how much better to pursue with devotion, like that of Margaret, an +imperfect aim, than to worship with lip-service, as most persons do, +even though it be in a loftier temple, and before a holier shrine! +With Margaret, the doctrine of self-culture was a devotion to which +she sacrificed all earthly hopes and joys,--everything but manifest +duty. And so her course was "onward, ever onward," like that of +Schiller, to her last hour of life. + + Burned in her cheek with ever deepening fire + The spirit's YOUTH, which never passes by;-- + The COURAGE which, though worlds in hate conspire, + Conquers, at last, their dull hostility;-- + The lofty FAITH, which, ever mounting higher, + Now presses on, now waiteth patiently,-- + With which the good tends ever to his goal, + With which day finds, at last, the earnest soul. + +But this high idea which governed our friend's life, brought her +into sharp conflicts, which constituted the pathos and tragedy of her +existence,--first with her circumstances, which seemed so inadequate +to the needs of her nature,--afterwards with duties to relatives and +friends,--and, finally, with the law of the Great Spirit, whose will +she found it so hard to acquiesce in. + +The circumstances in which Margaret lived appeared to her life a +prison. She had no room for utterance, no sphere adequate; her powers +were unemployed. With what eloquence she described this want of a +field! Often have I listened with wonder and admiration, satisfied +that she exaggerated the evil, and yet unable to combat her rapid +statements. Could she have seen in how few years a way would open +before her, by which she could emerge into an ample field,--how soon +she would find troops of friends, fit society, literary occupation, +and the opportunity of studying the great works of art in their own +home,--she would have been spared many a sharp pang. + +Margaret, like every really earnest and deep nature, felt the +necessity of a religious faith as the foundation of character. The +first notice which I find of her views on this point is contained +in the following letter to one of her youthful friends, when only +nineteen:-- + + * * * * * + + 'I have hesitated much whether to tell you what you ask about + my religion. You are mistaken! I have not formed an opinion. + I have determined not to form settled opinions at present. + Loving or feeble natures need a positive religion, a visible + refuge, a protection, as much in the passionate season of + youth as in those stages nearer to the grave. But mine is + not such. My pride is superior to any feelings I have yet + experienced: my affection is strong admiration, not the + necessity of giving or receiving assistance or sympathy. When + disappointed, I do not ask or wish consolation,--I wish to + know and feel my pain, to investigate its nature and its + source; I will not have my thoughts diverted, or my feelings + soothed; 'tis therefore that my young life is so singularly + barren of illusions. I know, I feel the time must come when + this proud and impatient heart shall be stilled, and turn from + the ardors of Search and Action, to lean on something above. + But--shall I say it?--the thought of that calmer era is to me + a thought of deepest sadness; so remote from my present being + is that future existence, which still the mind may conceive. + I believe in Eternal Progression. I believe in a God, a + Beauty and Perfection to which I am to strive all my life for + assimilation. From these two articles of belief, I draw the + rules by which I strive to regulate my life. But, though I + reverence all religions as necessary to the happiness of man, + I am yet ignorant of the religion of Revelation. Tangible + promises! well defined hopes! are things of which I do not + _now_ feel the need. At present, my soul is intent on this + life, and I think of religion as its rule; and, in my opinion, + this is the natural and proper course from youth to age. What + I have written is not hastily concocted, it has a meaning. I + have given you, in this little space, the substance of many + thoughts, the clues to many cherished opinions. 'Tis a subject + on which I rarely speak. I never said so much but once before. + I have here given you all I know, or think, on the most + important of subjects--could you but read understandingly!' + + * * * * * + +I find, in her journals for 1833, the following passages, expressing +the religious purity of her aspirations at that time:-- + + 'Blessed Father, nip every foolish wish in blossom. Lead me + _any way_ to truth and goodness; but if it might be, I would + not pass from idol to idol. Let no mean sculpture deform + a mind disorderly, perhaps ill-furnished, but spacious and + life-warm. Remember thy child, such as thou madest her, and + let her understand her little troubles, when possible, oh, + beautiful Deity!' + + * * * * * + + '_Sunday morning_.--Mr.--preached on the nature of our duties, + social and personal. The sweet dew of truth penetrated + my heart like balm. He pointed out the various means of + improvement, whereby the humblest of us may be beneficent + at last. How just, how nobly true,--how modestly, yet firmly + uttered,--his opinions of man,--of time,--of God! + + 'My heart swelled with prayer. I began to feel hope that time + and toil might strengthen me to despise the "vulgar parts + of felicity," and live as becomes an immortal creature. I am + sure, quite sure, that I am getting into the right road. Oh, + lead me, my Father! root out false pride and selfishness from + my heart; inspire me with virtuous energy, and enable me + to improve every talent for the eternal good of myself and + others.' + +A friend of Margaret, some years older than herself, gives me the +following narrative:-- + +"I was," says she, in substance, "suffering keenly from a severe +trial, and had secluded myself from all my friends, when Margaret, a +girl of twenty, forced her way to me. She sat with me, and gave me her +sympathy, and, with most affectionate interest, sought to draw me away +from my gloom. As far as she was able, she gave me comfort. But as my +thoughts were then much led to religious subjects, she sought to learn +my religious experience, and listened to it with great interest. I +told her how I had sat in darkness for two long years, waiting for the +light, and in full faith that it would come; how I had kept my soul +patient and quiet,--had surrendered self-will to God's will,--had +watched and waited till at last His great mercy came in an infinite +peace to my soul. Margaret was never weary of asking me concerning +this state, and said, 'I would gladly give all my talents and +knowledge for such an experience as this.' + +"Several years after," continues this friend, "I was travelling with +her, and we sat, one lovely night, looking at the river, as it rolled +beneath the yellow moonlight. We spoke again of God's light in the +soul, and I said--'Margaret! has that light dawned on _your_ soul?' +She answered, 'I think it has. But, oh! it is so glorious that I fear +it will not be permanent, and so precious that I dare not speak of it, +lest it should be gone.' + +"That was the whole of our conversation, and I did not speak to her +again concerning it." + + * * * * * + +Before this time, however, during her residence at Cambridge, she +seemed to reach the period of her existence in which she descended +lowest into the depths of gloom. She felt keenly, at this time, the +want of a home for her heart. Full of a profound tendency toward life, +capable of an ardent love, her affections were thrown back on her +heart, to become stagnant, and for a while to grow bitter there; Then +it was that she felt how empty and worthless were all the attainments +and triumphs of the mere intellect; then it was that "she went about +to cause her heart to despair of all the labor she had taken under the +sun." Had she not emerged from this valley of the shadow of death, and +come on to a higher plane of conviction and hope, her life would have +been a most painful tragedy. But, when we know how she passed on and +up, ever higher and higher, to the mountain-top, leaving one by one +these dark ravines and mist-shrouded valleys, and ascending to where +a perpetual sunshine lay, above the region of clouds, and was able +to overlook with eagle glance the widest panorama,--we can read, +with sympathy indeed, but without pain, the following extracts from a +journal:-- + + 'It was Thanksgiving day, (Nov., 1831,) and I was obliged to + go to church, or exceedingly displease my father. I almost + always suffered much in church from a feeling of disunion with + the hearers and dissent from the preacher; but to-day, more + than ever before, the services jarred upon me from their + grateful and joyful tone. I was wearied out with mental + conflicts, and in a mood of most childish, child-like + sadness. I felt within myself great power, and generosity, + and tenderness; but it seemed to me as if they were all + unrecognized, and as if it was impossible that they should + be used in life. I was only one-and-twenty; the past was + worthless, the future hopeless; yet I could not remember ever + voluntarily to have done a wrong thing, and my aspiration + seemed very high. I looked round the church, and envied all + the little children; for I supposed they had parents who + protected them, so that they could never know this strange + anguish, this dread uncertainty. I knew not, then, that none + could have any father but God. I knew not, that I was not + the only lonely one, that I was not the selected Oedipus, the + special victim of an iron law. I was in haste for all to be + over, that I might get into the free air. * * + + 'I walked away over the fields as fast as I could walk. This + was my custom at that time, when I could no longer bear the + weight of my feelings, and fix my attention on any pursuit; + for I do believe I never voluntarily gave way to these + thoughts one moment. The force I exerted I think, even now, + greater than I ever knew in any other character. But when I + could bear myself no longer, I walked many hours, till the + anguish was wearied out, and I returned in a state of prayer. + To-day all seemed to have reached its height. It seemed as if + I could never return to a world in which I had no place,--to + the mockery of humanities. I could not act a part, nor seem + to live any longer. It was a sad and sallow day of the late + autumn. Slow processions of sad clouds were passing over a + cold blue sky; the hues of earth were dull, and gray, and + brown, with sickly struggles of late green here and there; + sometimes a moaning gust of wind drove late, reluctant leaves + across the path;--there was no life else. In the sweetness of + my present peace, such days seem to me made to tell man the + worst of his lot; but still that November wind can bring a + chill of memory. + + 'I paused beside a little stream, which I had envied in the + merry fulness of its spring life. It was shrunken, voiceless, + choked with withered leaves. I marvelled that it did not quite + lose itself in the earth. There was no stay for me, and I went + on and on, till I came to where the trees were thick about + a little pool, dark and silent. I sat down there. I did not + think; all was dark, and cold, and still. Suddenly the sun + shone out with that transparent sweetness, like the last smile + of a dying lover, which it will use when it has been unkind + all a cold autumn day. And, even then, passed into my thought + a beam from its true sun, from its native sphere, which has + never since departed from me. I remembered how, a little + child. I had stopped myself one day on the stairs, and asked, + how came I here? How is it that I seem to be this Margaret + Fuller? What does it mean? What shall I do about it? I + remembered all the times and ways in which the same thought + had returned. I saw how long it must be before the soul can + learn to act under these limitations of time and space, and + human nature; but I saw, also, that it MUST do it,--that + it must make all this false true,--and sow new and immortal + plants in the garden of God, before it could return again. I + saw there was no self; that selfishness was all folly, and + the result of circumstance; that it was only because I thought + self real that I suffered; that I had only to live in the idea + of the ALL, and all was mine. This truth came to me, and I + received it unhesitatingly; so that I was for that hour taken + up into God. In that true ray most of the relations of earth + seemed mere films, phenomena. * * + + 'My earthly pain at not being recognized never went deep after + this hour. I had passed the extreme of passionate sorrow; and + all check, all failure, all ignorance, have seemed temporary + ever since. When I consider that this will be nine years ago + next November, I am astonished that I have not gone on faster + since; that I am not yet sufficiently purified to be taken + back to God. Still, I did but touch then on the only haven + of Insight. You know what I would say. I was dwelling in the + ineffable, the unutterable. But the sun of earth set, and it + grew dark around; the moment came for me to go. I had never + been accustomed to walk alone at night, for my father was very + strict on that subject, but now I had not one fear. When I + came back, the moon was riding clear above the houses. I went + into the churchyard, and there offered a prayer as holy, if + not as deeply true, as any I know now; a prayer, which perhaps + took form as the guardian angel of my life. If that word in + the Bible, Selah, means what gray-headed old men think it + does, when they read aloud, it should be written here,--Selah! + + 'Since that day, I have never more been completely engaged in + self; but the statue has been emerging, though slowly, from + the block. Others may not see the promise even of its pure + symmetry, but I do, and am learning to be patient. I shall be + all human yet; and then the hour will come to leave humanity, + and live always in the pure ray. + + 'This first day I was taken up; but the second time the Holy + Ghost descended like a dove. I went out again for a day, but + this time it was spring. I walked in the fields of Groton. + But I will not describe that day; its music still sounds + too sweetly near. Suffice it to say, I gave it all into our + Father's hands, and was no stern-weaving Fate more, but one + elected to obey, and love, and at last know. Since then I have + suffered, as I must suffer again, till all the complex be + made simple, but I have never been in discord with the grand + harmony.' + + + + +GROTON AND PROVIDENCE. + +LETTERS AND JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + + "What hath not man sought out and found, + But his dear God? Who yet his glorious love + Embosoms in us, mellowing the ground + With showers, and frosts, with love and awe." + + HERBERT. + + + "No one need pride himself upon Genius, for it is the free-gift + of God; but of honest Industry and true devotion to his + destiny any man may well be proud; indeed, this thorough, + integrity of purpose is itself the Divine Idea in its most + common form, and no really honest mind is without communion + with God" + + FICHTE. + + + "God did anoint thee with his odorous oil, + To wrestle, not to reign; and he assigns + All thy tears over, like pure crystallines, + For younger fellow-workers of the soil + To wear for amulets. So others shall + Take patience, labor, to their hearts and hands, + From thy hands, and thy heart, and thy brave cheer, + And God's grace fructify through thee to all." + + ELIZABETH B. BARRETT. + + + "While I was restless, nothing satisfied, + Distrustful, most perplexed--yet felt somehow + A mighty power was brooding, taking shape + Within me; and this lasted till one night + When, as I sat revolving it and more, + A still voice from without said,--'Seest thou not, + Desponding child, whence came defeat and loss? + Even from thy strength.'" + + BROWNING. + + + + +III. + +GROTON AND PROVIDENCE. + + * * * * * + + + 'Heaven's discipline has been invariable to me. The seemingly + most pure and noble hopes have been blighted; the seemingly + most promising connections broken. The lesson has been + endlessly repeated: "Be humble, patient, self-sustaining; hope + only for occasional aids; love others, but not engrossingly, + for by being much alone your appointed task can best be done!" + What a weary work is before me, ere that lesson shall be fully + learned! Who shall wonder at the stiff-necked, and rebellious + folly of young Israel, bowing down to a brute image, though + the prophet was bringing messages from the holy mountain, + while one's own youth is so obstinately idolatrous! Yet will + I try to keep the heart with diligence, nor ever fear that the + sun is gone out because I shiver in the cold and dark!' + +Such was the tone of resignation in which Margaret wrote from Groton, +Massachusetts, whither, much to her regret, her father removed in the +spring of 1833. Extracts from letters and journals will show how stern +was her schooling there, and yet how constant was her faith, that + + "God keeps a niche + In heaven to hold our idols! And albeit + He breaks them to our faces, and denies + That our close kisses should impair their white, + I know we shall behold them raised, complete, + The dust shook from their beauty,--glorified, + New Memnons singing in the great God-light." + + + + +SAD WELCOME HOME. + + + '_Groton, April_ 25, 1833.--I came hither, summoned by the + intelligence, that our poor--had met with a terrible accident. + I found the dear child,--who had left me so full of joy and + eagerness, that I thought with a sigh, not of envy, how happy + he, at least, would be here,--burning with fever. He had + expected me impatiently, and was very faint lest it should not + be "Margaret" who had driven up. I confess I greeted our + new home with a flood of bitter tears. He behaves with great + patience, sweetness, and care for the comfort of others. This + has been a severe trial for mother, fatigued, too, as she was, + and full of care; but her conduct is angelic. I try to find + consolation in all kinds of arguments, and to distract my + thoughts till the precise amount of injury is surely known. + I am not idle a moment. When not-with--, in whose room I sit, + sewing, and waiting upon him, or reading aloud a great part of + the day, I solace my soul with Goethe, and follow his guidance + into realms of the "Wahren, Guten, and Schönen."' + + + + +OCCUPATIONS. + + + '_May_, 1833.--As to German, I have done less than I hoped, so + much had the time been necessarily broken up. I have with + me the works of Goethe which I have not yet read, and am + now engaged upon "Kunst and Alterthum," and "Campagne in + Frankreich." I still prefer Goethe to any one, and, as I + proceed, find more and more to learn, and am made to feel that + my general notion of his mind is most imperfect, and needs + testing and sifting. + + 'I brought your beloved Jean Paul with me, too. I cannot yet + judge well, but think we shall not be intimate. His infinitely + variegated, and certainly most exquisitely colored, web + fatigues attention. I prefer, too, wit to humor, and daring + imagination to the richest fancy. Besides, his philosophy + and religion seem to be of the sighing sort, and, having some + tendency that way myself, I want opposing force in a favorite + author. Perhaps I have spoken unadvisedly; if so, I shall + recant on further knowledge.' + +And thus recant she did, when familiar acquaintance with the genial +and sagacious humorist had won for him her reverent love. + + + + +RICHTER. + + + 'Poet of Nature! Gentlest of the wise, + Most airy of the fanciful, most keen + Of satirists!--thy thoughts, like butterflies, + Still near the sweetest scented flowers have been + With Titian's colors thou canst sunset paint, + With Raphael's dignity, celestial love; + With Hogarth's pencil, each deceit and feint + Of meanness and hypocrisy reprove; + + Canst to devotion's highest flight sublime + Exalt the mind, by tenderest pathos' art, + Dissolve, in purifying tears, the heart, + Or bid it, shuddering, recoil at crime; + The fond illusions of the youth and maid, + At which so many world-formed sages sneer, + When by thy altar-lighted torch displayed, + Our natural religion must appear. + All things in thee tend to one polar star, + Magnetic all thy influences are!' + + 'Some murmur at the "want of system" in Richter's writings. + + 'A labyrinth! a flowery wilderness! + Some in thy "slip-boxes" and "honey-moons" + Complain of--_want of order_, I confess, + But not of _system_ in its highest sense. + Who asks a guiding clue through this wide mind, + In love of Nature such will surely find. + In tropic climes, live like the tropic bird, + Whene'er a spice-fraught grove may tempt thy stay; + Nor be by cares of colder climes disturbed-- + No frost the summer's bloom shall drive away; + Nature's wide temple and the azure dome + Have plan enough, for the free spirit's home!' + + 'Your Schiller has already given me great pleasure. I have + been reading the "Revolt in the Netherlands" with intense + interest, and have reflected much upon it. The volumes are + numbered in my little book-case, and as the eye runs over + them, I thank the friendly heart that put all this genius and + passion within my power. + + 'I am glad, too, that you thought of lending me "Bigelow's + Elements." I have studied the Architecture attentively, till + I feel quite mistress of it all. But I want more engravings, + Vitruvius, Magna Græcia, the Ionian Antiquities, &c. + Meanwhile, I have got out all our tours in Italy. Forsyth, + a book I always loved much, I have re-read with increased + pleasure, by this new light. Goethe, too, studied architecture + while in Italy; so his books are full of interesting + information; and Madame De Stael, though not deep, is + tasteful.' + + * * * * * + + 'American History! Seriously, my mind is regenerating as to + my country, for I am beginning to appreciate the United States + and its great men. The violent antipathies,--the result of an + exaggerated love for, shall I call it by so big a name as + the "poetry of being?"--and the natural distrust arising from + being forced to hear the conversation of half-bred men, all + whose petty feelings were roused to awkward life by the paltry + game of local politics,--are yielding to reason and calmer + knowledge. Had I but been educated in the knowledge of such + men as Jefferson, Franklin, Rush! I have learned now to know + them partially. And I rejoice, if only because my father and + I can have so much in common on this topic. All my other + pursuits have led me away from him; here he has much + information and ripe judgment. But, better still, I hope to + feel no more that sometimes despairing, sometimes insolently + contemptuous, feeling of incongeniality with my time and + place. Who knows but some proper and attainable object of + pursuit may present itself to the cleared eye? At any rate, + wisdom is good, if it brings neither bliss nor glory.' + + * * * * * + + _March_, 1834.--Four pupils are a serious and fatiguing charge + for one of my somewhat ardent and impatient disposition. + Five days in the week I have given daily lessons in three + languages, in Geography and History, besides many other + exercises on alternate days. This has consumed often eight, + always five hours of my day. There has been, also, a great + deal of needle-work to do, which is now nearly finished, so + that I shall not be obliged to pass my time about it when + everything looks beautiful, as I did last summer. We have + had very poor servants, and, for some time past, only one. + My mother has been often ill. My grandmother, who passed the + winter with us, has been ill. Thus, you may imagine, as I am + the only grown-up daughter, that my time has been considerably + taxed. + + 'But as, sad or merry, I must always be learning, I laid + down a course of study at the beginning of winter, comprising + certain subjects, about which I had always felt deficient. + These were the History and Geography of modern Europe, + beginning the former in the fourteenth century; the Elements + of Architecture; the works of Alfieri, with his opinions + on them; the historical and critical works of Goethe and + Schiller, and the outlines of history of our own country. + + 'I chose this time as one when I should have nothing to + distract or dissipate my mind. I have nearly completed this + course, in the style I proposed,--not minute or thorough. I + confess,--though I have had only three evenings in the week, + and chance hours in the day, for it. I am very glad I + have undertaken it, and feel the good effects already. + Occasionally, I try my hand at composition, but have not + completed anything to my own satisfaction. I have sketched + a number of plans, but if ever accomplished, it must be in a + season of more joyful energy, when my mind has been renovated, + and refreshed by change of scene or circumstance. My + translation of Tasso cannot be published at present, if 'it + ever is.' + + * * * * * + + 'My object is to examine thoroughly, as far as my time + and abilities will permit, the evidences of the Christian + Religion. I have endeavored to get rid of this task as much + and as long as possible; to be content with superficial + notions, and, if I may so express it, to adopt religion as a + matter of taste. But I meet with infidels very often; two + or three of my particular friends are deists; and their + arguments, with distressing sceptical notions of my own, are + haunting me forever. I must satisfy myself; and having once + begun, I shall go on as far as I can. + + 'My mind often swells with thoughts on these subjects, which + I long to pour out on some person of superior calmness and + strength, and fortunate in more accurate knowledge. I should + feel such a quieting reaction. But, generally, it seems best + that I should go through these conflicts alone. The process + will be slower, more irksome, more distressing, but the + results will be my own, and I shall feel greater confidence in + them.' + + + +MISS MARTINEAU. + + + In the summer of 1835, Margaret found a fresh stimulus to + self-culture in the society of Miss Martineau, whom she met + while on a visit at Cambridge, in the house of her friend, + Mrs. Farrar. How animating this intercourse then was to her, + appears from her journals. + + Miss Martineau received me so kindly as to banish all + embarrassment at once. We had some talk about "Carlyleism," + and I was not quite satisfied with the ground she took, but + there was no opportunity for full discussion. I wished to + give myself wholly up to receive an impression of her. What + shrewdness in detecting various shades of character! Yet, what + she said of Hannah More and Miss Edgeworth, grated upon my + feelings.' + +Again, later:-- + + 'I cannot conceive how we chanced upon the subject of our + conversation, but never shall I forget what she said. It has + bound me to her. In that hour, most unexpectedly to me, + we passed the barrier that separates acquaintance from + friendship, and I saw how greatly her heart is to be valued.' + +And again:-- + + 'We sat together close to the pulpit. I was deeply moved by + Mr.--'s manner of praying for "our friends," and I put up this + prayer for my companion, which I recorded, as it rose in my + heart: "Author of good, Source of all beauty and holiness, + thanks to Thee for the purifying, elevating communion that I + have enjoyed with this beloved and revered being. Grant, that + the thoughts she has awakened, and the bright image of her + existence, may live in my memory, inciting my earth-bound + spirit to higher words and deeds. May her path be guarded + and blessed. May her noble mind be kept firmly poised in its + native truth, unsullied by prejudice or error, and strong to + resist whatever outwardly or inwardly shall war against its + high vocation. May each day bring to this generous seeker new + riches of true philosophy and of Divine Love. And, amidst + all trials, give her to know and feel that Thou, the + All-sufficing, art with her, leading her on through eternity + to likeness of Thyself." + + * * * * * + + 'I sigh for an intellectual guide. Nothing but the sense of + what God has done for me, in bringing me nearer to himself, + saves me from despair. With what envy I looked at Flaxman's + picture of Hesiod sitting at the feet of the Muse! How blest + would it be to be thus instructed in one's vocation! Anything + would I do and suffer, to be sure that, when leaving earth, I + should not be haunted with recollections of "aims unreached, + occasions lost." I have hoped some friend would do,--what + none has ever yet done,--comprehend me wholly, mentally, and + morally, and enable me better to comprehend myself. I have had + some hope that Miss Martineau might be this friend, but cannot + yet tell. She has what I want,--vigorous reasoning powers, + invention, clear views of her objects,--and she has been + trained to the best means of execution. Add to this, that + there are no strong intellectual sympathies between us, such + as would blind her to my defects.' + + * * * * * + + 'A delightful letter from Miss Martineau. I mused long upon + the noble courage with which she stepped forward into life, + and the accurate judgment with which she has become acquainted + with its practical details, without letting her fine + imagination become tamed. I shall be cheered and sustained, + amidst all fretting and uncongenial circumstances, by + remembrance of her earnest love of truth and ardent faith.' + + + + +ILLNESS + + + 'A terrible feeling in my head, but kept about my usual + avocations. Read Ugo Foscolo's Sepolcri, and Pindemonti's + answer, but could not relish either, so distressing was the + weight on the top of the brain; sewed awhile, and then went + out to get warm, but could not, though I walked to the very + end of Hazel-grove, and the sun was hot upon me. Sat down, + and, though seemingly able to think with only the lower part + of my head, meditated literary plans, with full hope that, if + I could command leisure, I might do something good. It seemed + as if I should never reach home, as I was obliged to sit down + incessantly. + + 'For nine long days and nights, without intermission, all was + agony,--fever and dreadful pain in my head. Mother tended me + like an angel all that time, scarcely ever leaving me, night + or day. My father, too, habitually so sparing in tokens of + affection, was led by his anxiety to express what he felt + towards me in stronger terms than he had ever used in the + whole course of my life. He thought I might not recover, + and one morning, coming into my room, after a few moments' + conversation, he said: "My dear, I have been thinking of + you in the night, and I cannot remember that you have any + _faults_. You have defects, of course, as all mortals have, + but I do not know that you have a single fault." These + words,--so strange from him, who had scarce ever in my + presence praised me, and who, as I knew, abstained from praise + as hurtful to his children,--affected me to tears at the + time, although I could not foresee how dear and consolatory + this extravagant expression of regard would very soon become. + The family were deeply moved by the fervency of his prayer + of thanksgiving, on the Sunday morning when I was somewhat + recovered; and to mother he said, "I have no room for a + painful thought now that our daughter is restored." + + 'For myself, I thought I should die; but I was calm, and + looked to God without fear. When I remembered how much + struggle awaited me if I remained, and how improbable it + was that any of my cherished plans would bear fruit, I felt + willing to go. But Providence did not so will it. A much + darker dispensation for our family was in store.' + + + + +DEATH OF HER FATHER. + + + 'On the evening of the 30th of September, 1835, my father was + seized with cholera, and on the 2d of October, was a corpse. + For the first two days, my grief, under this calamity, was + such as I dare not speak of. But since my father's head + is laid in the dust, I feel an awful calm, and am becoming + familiar with the thoughts of being an orphan. I have prayed + to God that duty may now be the first object, and self set + aside. May I have light and strength to do what is right, in + the highest sense, for my mother, brothers, and sister. * * + + 'It has been a gloomy week, indeed. The children have all been + ill, and dearest mother is overpowered with sorrow, fatigue, + and anxiety. I suppose she must be ill too, when the + children recover. I shall endeavor to keep my mind steady, by + remembering that there is a God, and that grief is but for a + season. Grant, oh Father, that neither the joys nor sorrows + of this past year shall have visited my heart in vain! Make me + wise and strong for the performance of immediate duties, and + ripen me, by what means Thou seest best, for those which lie + beyond. + + 'My father's image follows me constantly. Whenever I am in + my room, he seems to open the door, and to look on me with a + complacent, tender smile. What would I not give to have it + in my power, to make that heart once more beat with joy! The + saddest feeling is the remembrance of little things, in which + I have fallen short of love and duty. I never sympathized in + his liking for this farm, and secretly wondered how a mind + which had, for thirty years, been so widely engaged in the + affairs of men, could care so much for trees and crops. + But now, amidst the beautiful autumn days, I walk over the + grounds, and look with painful emotions at every little + improvement. He had selected a spot to place a seat where + I might go to read alone, and had asked me to visit it. I + contented myself with "When you please, father;" but we never + went! What would I not now give, if I had fixed a time, and + shown more interest! A day or two since, I went there. The + tops of the distant blue hills were veiled in delicate autumn + haze; soft silence brooded over the landscape; on one side, a + brook gave to the gently sloping meadow spring-like verdure; + on the other, a grove,--which he had named for me,--lay softly + glowing in the gorgeous hues of October. It was very sad. + May this sorrow give me a higher sense of duty in the + relationships which remain. + + 'Dearest mother is worn to a shadow. Sometimes, when I look on + her pale face, and think of all her grief, and the cares and + anxieties which now beset her, I am appalled by the thought + that she may not continue with us long. Nothing sustains me + now but the thought that God, who saw fit to restore me to + life when I was so very willing to leave it,--more so, perhaps + than I shall ever be again,--must have some good work for me + to do.' + + * * * * * + + '_Nov. 3, 1835_.--I thought I should be able to write ere now, + how our affairs were settled, but that time has not come + yet. My father left no will, and, in consequence, our path + is hedged in by many petty difficulties. He has left less + property than we had anticipated, for he was not fortunate in + his investments in real estate. There will, however, be enough + to maintain my mother, and educate the children decently. I + have often had reason to regret being of the softer sex, + and never more than now. If I were an eldest son, I could be + guardian to my brothers and sister, administer the estate, + and really become the head of my family. As it is, I am very + ignorant of the management and value of property, and of + practical details. I always hated the din of such affairs, and + hoped to find a life-long refuge from them in the serene world + of literature and the arts. But I am now full of desire to + learn them, that I may be able to advise and act, where it + is necessary. The same mind which has made other attainments, + can, in time, compass these, however uncongenial to its nature + and habits.' + + * * * * * + + 'I shall be obliged to give up selfishness in the end. May + God enable me to see the way clear, and not to let down + the intellectual, in raising the moral tone of my mind. + Difficulties and duties became distinct the very night after + my father's death, and a solemn prayer was offered then, that + I might combine what is due to others with what is due to + myself. The spirit of that prayer I shall constantly endeavor + to maintain. What ought to be done for a few months to come is + plain, and, as I proceed, the view will open.' + + + + +TRIAL. + + +The death of her father brought in its train a disappointment as keen +as Margaret could well have been called on to bear. For two years +and more she had been buoyed up to intense effort by the promise of +a visit to Europe, for the end of completing her culture. And as the +means of equitably remunerating her parents for the cost of such +a tour, she had faithfully devoted herself to the teaching of the +younger members of the family. Her honored friends, Professor and Mrs. +Farrar, who were about visiting the Old World, had invited her to be +their companion; and, as Miss Martineau was to return to England in +the ship with them, the prospect before her was as brilliant with +generous hopes as her aspiring imagination could conceive. But now, in +her journal of January 1, 1836, she writes:-- + + 'The New-year opens upon me under circumstances inexpressibly + sad. I must make the last great sacrifice, and, apparently, + for evil to me and mine. Life, as I look forward, presents a + scene of struggle and privation only. Yet "I bate not a jot of + heart," though much "of hope." My difficulties are not to + be compared with those over which many strong souls have + triumphed. Shall I then despair? If I do, I am not a strong + soul.' + +Margaret's family treated her, in this exigency, with the grateful +consideration due to her love, and urgently besought her to take the +necessary means, and fulfil her father's plan. But she could not +make up her mind to forsake them, preferring rather to abandon her +long-cherished literary designs. Her struggles and her triumph thus +appear in her letters:-- + + '_January 30, 1836_.--I was a great deal with Miss Martineau, + while in Cambridge, and love her more than ever. She is to + stay till August, and go to England with Mr. and Mrs. Farrar. + If I should accompany them I shall be with her while in + London, and see the best literary society. If I should go, + you will be with mother the while, will not you?[A] Oh, + dear E----, you know not how I fear and tremble to come to + a decision. My temporal all seems hanging upon it, and the + prospect is most alluring. A few thousand dollars would make + all so easy, so safe. As it is, I cannot tell what is coming + to us, for the estate will not be settled when I go. I pray to + God ceaselessly that I may decide wisely.' + + * * * * * + + '_April 17th, 1836_.--If I am not to go with you I shall + be obliged to tear my heart, by a violent effort, from its + present objects and natural desires. But I shall feel the + necessity, and will do it if the life-blood follows through + the rent. Probably, I shall not even think it best to + correspond with you at all while you are in Europe. Meanwhile, + let us be friends indeed. The generous and unfailing love + which you have shown me during these three years, when I + could be so little to you, your indulgence for my errors and + fluctuations, your steady faith in my intentions, have + done more to shield and sustain me than any other earthly + influence. If I must now learn to dispense with feeling them + constantly near me, at least their remembrance can never, + never be less dear. I suppose I ought, instead of grieving + that we are soon to be separated, now to feel grateful for + an intimacy of extraordinary permanence, and certainly of + unstained truth and perfect freedom on both sides. + + 'As to my feelings, I take no pleasure in speaking of them; + but I know not that I could give you a truer impression of + them, than by these lines which I translate from the German of + Uhland. They are entitled "JUSTIFICATION." + + "Our youthful fancies, idly fired, + The fairest visions would embrace; + These, with impetuous tears desired, + Float upward into starry space; + Heaven, upon the suppliant wild, + Smiles down a gracious _No_!--In vain + The strife! Yet be consoled, poor child, + For the wish passes with the pain. + + But when from such idolatry + The heart has turned, and wiser grown, + In earnestness and purity + Would make a nobler plan its own,-- + Yet, after all its zeal and care, + Must of its chosen aim despair,-- + Some bitter tears may be forgiven + By _Man_, at least,--_we trust, by Heaven_."' + + +[Footnote A: Her eldest brother.] + + + + +BIRTH-DAY. + + + '_May 23d, 1836_.--I have just been reading Goethe's + Lebensregel. It is easy to say "Do not trouble yourself with + useless regrets for the past; enjoy the present, and leave the + future to God." But it is _not_ easy for characters, which + are by nature neither _calm_ nor _careless_, to act upon these + rules. I am rather of the opinion of Novalis, that "Wer sich + der hochsten Lieb ergeben Genest von ihnen Wunden nie." + + 'But I will endeavor to profit by the instructions of the + great philosopher who teaches, I think, what Christ did, to + use without overvaluing the world. + + 'Circumstances have decided that I must not go to Europe, and + shut upon me the door, as I think, forever, to the scenes I + could have loved. Let me now try to forget myself, and act + for others' sakes. What I can do with my pen, I know not. At + present, I feel no confidence or hope. The expectations so + many have been led to cherish by my conversational powers, I + am disposed to deem ill-founded. I do not think I can produce + a valuable work. I do not feel in my bosom that confidence + necessary to sustain me in such undertakings,--the confidence + of genius. But I am now but just recovered from bodily + illness, and still heart-broken by sorrow and disappointment. + I may be renewed again, and feel differently. If I do not + soon, I will make up my mind to teach. I can thus get money, + which I will use for the benefit of my dear, gentle, suffering + mother,--my brothers and sister. This will be the greatest + consolation to me, at all events.' + + + + +DEATH IN LIFE. + + + 'The moon tempted me out, and I set forth for a house at + no great distance. The beloved south-west was blowing; the + heavens were flooded with light, which could not diminish the + tremulously pure radiance of the evening star; the air was + full of spring sounds, and sweet spring odors came up from + the earth. I felt that happy sort of feeling, as if the soul's + pinions were budding. My mind was full of poetic thoughts, and + nature's song of promise was chanting in my heart. + + 'But what a change when I entered that human dwelling! I will + try to give you an impression of what you, I fancy, have + never come in contact with. The little room--they have but + one--contains a bed, a table, and some old chairs. A single + stick of wood burns in the fire-place. It is not needed now, + but those who sit near it have long ceased to know what spring + is. They are all frost. Everything is old and faded, but at + the same time as clean and carefully mended as possible. For + all they know of pleasure is to get strength to sweep those + few boards, and mend those old spreads and curtains. That sort + of self-respect they have, and it is all of pride their many + years of poor-tith has left them. + + 'And there they sit,--mother and daughter! In the mother, + ninety years have quenched every thought and every feeling, + except an imbecile interest about her daughter, and the sort + of self-respect I just spoke of. Husband, sons, strength, + health, house and lands, all are gone. And yet these losses + have not had power to bow that palsied head to the grave. + Morning by morning she rises without a hope, night by night + she lies down vacant or apathetic; and the utmost use she can + make of the day is to totter three or four times across the + floor by the assistance of her staff. Yet, though we wonder + that she is still permitted to cumber the ground, joyless and + weary, "the tomb of her dead self," we look at this dry leaf, + and think how green it once was, and how the birds sung to it + in its summer day. + + 'But can we think of spring, or summer, or anything joyous + or really life-like, when we look at the daughter?--that + bloodless effigy of humanity, whose care is to eke out this + miserable existence by means of the occasional doles of those + who know how faithful and good a child she has been to that + decrepit creature; who thinks herself happy if she can be + well enough, by hours of patient toil, to perform those menial + services which they both require; whose talk is of the price + of pounds of sugar, and ounces of tea, and yards of flannel; + whose only intellectual resource is hearing five or six + verses of the Bible read every day,--"my poor head," she says, + "cannot bear any more;" and whose only hope is the death to + which she has been so slowly and wearily advancing, through + many years like this. + + 'The saddest part is, that she does _not wish_ for death. She + clings to this sordid existence. Her soul is now so habitually + enwrapt in the meanest cares, that if she were to be lifted + two or three steps upward, she would not know what to do with + life; how, then, shall she soar to the celestial heights? + Yet she ought; for she has ever been good, and her narrow and + crushing duties have been performed with a self-sacrificing + constancy, which I, for one, could never hope to equal. + + 'While I listened to her,--and I often think it good for me + to listen to her patiently,--the expressions you used in your + letter, about "drudgery," occurred to me. I remember the time + when I, too, deified the "soul's impulses." It is a noble + worship; but, if we do not aid it by a just though limited + interpretation of what "Ought" means, it will degenerate into + idolatry. For a time it was so with me, and I am not yet good + enough to love the _Ought_. + + 'Then I came again into the open air, and saw those + resplendent orbs moving so silently, and thought that they + were perhaps tenanted, not only by beings in whom I can see + the germ of a possible angel, but by myriads like this poor + creature, in whom that germ is, so far as we can see, blighted + entirely, I could not help saying, "O my Father! Thou, whom + we are told art all Power, and also all Love, how canst Thou + suffer such even transient specks on the transparence of + Thy creation? These grub-like lives, undignified even by + passion,--these life-long quenchings of the spark divine.--why + dost Thou suffer them? Is not Thy paternal benevolence + impatient till such films be dissipated?" + + 'Such questionings once had power to move my spirit deeply; + now, they but shade my mind for an instant. I have faith in a + glorious explanation, that shall make manifest perfect justice + and perfect wisdom.' + + + + +LITERATURE. + + +Cut off from access to the scholars, libraries, lectures, galleries of +art, museums of science, antiquities, and historic scenes of Europe, +Margaret bent her powers to use such opportunities of culture as she +could command in her solitary country-home. Journals and letters thus +bear witness to her zeal:-- + + 'I am having one of my "intense" times, devouring book after + book. I never stop a minute, except to talk with mother, + having laid all little duties on the shelf for a few days. + Among other things, I have twice read through the life of Sir + J. Mackintosh; and it has suggested so much to me, that I + am very sorry I did not talk it over with you. It is quite + gratifying, after my late chagrin, to find Sir James, with + all his metaphysical turn, and ardent desire to penetrate it, + puzzling so over the German philosophy, and particularly what + I was myself troubled about, at Cambridge,--Jacobi's letters + to Fichte. + + 'Few things have ever been written more discriminating or more + beautiful than his strictures upon the Hindoo character, his + portrait of Fox, and his second letter to Robert Hall, after + his recovery from derangement. Do you remember what he says of + the want of brilliancy in Priestley's moral sentiments? Those + remarks, though slight, seem to me to show the quality of his + mind more decidedly than anything in the book. That so much + learning, benevolence, and almost unparalleled fairness of + mind, should be in a great measure lost to the world, for want + of earnestness of purpose, might impel us to attach to the + latter attribute as much importance as does the wise uncle in + Wilhelm Meister.' + + * * * * * + + 'As to what you say of Shelley, it is true that the unhappy + influences of early education prevented his ever attaining + clear views of God, life, and the soul. At thirty, he was + still a seeker,--an experimentalist. But then his should not + be compared with such a mind as ----'s, which, having no such + exuberant fancy to tame, nor various faculties to develop, + naturally comes to maturity sooner. Had Shelley lived twenty + years longer, I have no doubt he would have become a fervent + Christian, and thus have attained that mental harmony which + was necessary to him. It is true, too, as you say, that we + always feel a melancholy imperfection in what he writes. But I + love to think of those other spheres in which so pure and rich + a being shall be perfected; and I cannot allow his faults + of opinion and sentiment to mar my enjoyment of the vast + capabilities, and exquisite perception of beauty, displayed + everywhere in his poems.' + + * * * * * + + '_March 17, 1836_.--I think Herschel will be very valuable to + me, from the slight glance I have taken of it, and I thank Mr. + F.; but do not let him expect anything of me because I have + ventured on a book so profound as the Novum Organum. I have + been examining myself with severity, intellectually as well as + morally, and am shocked to find how vague and superficial is + all my knowledge. I am no longer surprised that I should + have appeared harsh and arrogant in my strictures to one who, + having a better-disciplined mind, is more sensible of the + difficulties in the way of really knowing and doing anything, + and who, having more Wisdom, has more Reverence too. All that + passed at your house will prove very useful to me; and I trust + that I am approximating somewhat to that genuine humility + which is so indispensable to true regeneration. But do not + speak of this to--, for I am not yet sure of the state of my + mind.' + + * * * * * + + '1836.--I have, for the time, laid aside _De Stael_ and + _Bacon_, for _Martineau_ and _Southey_. I find, with delight, + that the former has written on the very subjects I wished most + to talk out with her, and probably I shall receive more from + her in this way than by personal intercourse,--for I think + more of her character when with her, and am stimulated through + my affections. As to Southey, I am steeped to the lips in + enjoyment. I am glad I did not know this poet earlier; for I + am now just ready to receive his truly exalting influences in + some degree. I think, in reading, I shall place him next to + Wordsworth. I have finished Herschel, and really believe I + am a little wiser. I have read, too, Heyne's letters + twice, Sartor Resartus once, some of Goethe's late diaries, + Coleridge's Literary Remains, and drank a great deal from + Wordsworth. By the way, do you know his "Happy Warrior"? I + find my insight of this sublime poet perpetually deepening.' + + * * * * * + + 'Mr. ---- says the Wanderjahre is "_wise._" It must be + presumed so; and yet one is not satisfied. I was perfectly so + with my manner of interpreting the Lehrjahre; but this sequel + keeps jerking my clue, and threatens to break it. I do not + know our Goethe yet. I have changed my opinion about his + religious views many times. Sometimes I am tempted to think + that it is only his wonderful knowledge of human nature which + has excited in me such reverence for his philosophy, and that + no worthy fabric has been elevated on this broad foundation. + Yet often, when suspecting that I have found a huge gap, the + next turning it appears that it was but an air-hole, and + there is a brick all ready to stop it. On the whole, though + my enthusiasm for the Goetherian philosophy is checked, my + admiration for the genius of Goethe is in nowise lessened, and + I stand in a sceptical attitude, ready to try his philosophy, + and, if needs must, play the Eclectic.' + + 'Did I write that a kind-hearted neighbor, fearing I might + be _dull_, sent to offer me the use of a _book-caseful_ of + Souvenirs, Gems, and such-like glittering ware? I took a two + or three year old "Token," and chanced on a story, called the + "Gentle Boy," which I remembered to have heard was written by + somebody in Salem. It is marked by so much grace and delicacy + of feeling, that I am very desirous to know the author, whom I + take to be a lady.' * * + + 'With regard to what you say about the American Monthly, my + answer is, I would gladly sell some part of my mind for lucre, + to get the command of time; but I will not sell my soul: that + is, I am perfectly willing to take the trouble of writing for + money to pay the seamstress; but I am _not_ willing to have + what I write mutilated, or what I ought to say dictated to + suit the public taste. You speak of my writing about Tieck. It + is my earnest wish to interpret the German authors of whom + I am most fond to such Americans as are ready to receive. + Perhaps some might sneer at the notion of my becoming a + teacher; but where I love so much, surely I might inspire + others to love a little; and I think this kind of culture + would be precisely the counterpoise required by the + utilitarian tendencies of our day and place. My very + imperfections may be of value. While enthusiasm is yet fresh, + while I am still a novice, it may be more easy to communicate + with those quite uninitiated, than when I shall have attained + to a higher and calmer state of knowledge. I hope a periodical + may arise, by and by, which may think me worthy to furnish a + series of articles on German literature, giving room enough + and perfect freedom to say what I please. In this case, I + should wish to devote at least eight numbers to Tieck, and + should use the Garden of Poesy, and my other translations. + + 'I have sometimes thought of translating his Little Red Riding + Hood, for children. If it could be adorned with illustrations, + like those in the "Story without an End," it would make a + beautiful little book; but I do not know that this could be + done in Boston. There is much meaning that children could not + take in; but, as they would never discover this till able + to receive the whole, the book corresponds exactly with my + notions of what a child's book should be. + + 'I should like to begin the proposed series with a review of + Heyne's letters on German Literature, which afford excellent + opportunity for some preparatory hints. My plans are so + undecided for several coming months, that I cannot yet tell + whether I shall have the time and tranquillity needed to write + out the whole course, though much tempted by the promise of + perfect liberty. I could engage, however, to furnish at + least two articles on Novalis and Körner. I trust you will be + interested in my favorite Körner. Great is my love for both of + them. But I wish to write something which shall not only _be_ + free from exaggeration, but which shall _seem_ so, to those + unacquainted with their works. + + 'I have so much reading to go through with this month, that + I have but few hours for correspondents. I have already + discussed five volumes in German, two in French, three in + English, and not without thought and examination. + + 'Tell--that I read "Titan" by myself, in the afternoons and + evenings of about three weeks. She need not be afraid to + undertake it. Difficulties of detail may, perhaps, not be + entirely conquered without a master or a good commentary, but + she could enjoy all that is most valuable alone. I should be + very unwilling to read it with a person of narrow or unrefined + mind; for it is a noble work, and fit to raise a reader into + that high serene of thought where pedants cannot enter.' + + + + +FAREWELL TO GROTON. + + + 'The place is beautiful, in its way, but its scenery is too + tamely smiling and sleeping. My associations with it are most + painful. There darkened round us the effects of my father's + ill-judged exchange,--ill-judged, so far at least as regarded + himself, mother, and me,--all violently rent from the habits + of our former life, and cast upon toils for which we were + unprepared: there my mother's health was impaired, and mine + destroyed; there my father died; there were undergone the + miserable perplexities of a family that has lost its head; + there I passed through the conflicts needed to give up all + which my heart had for years desired, and to tread a path + for which I had no skill, and no-call, except that it must be + trodden by some one, and I alone was ready. Wachuset and + the Peterboro' hills are blended in my memory with hours of + anguish as great as I am capable of suffering. I used to look + at them towering to the sky, and feel that I, too, from birth, + had longed to rise, and, though for the moment crushed, was + not subdued. + + 'But if those beautiful hills, and wide, rich fields, saw this + sad lore well learned, they also saw some precious lessons + given in faith, fortitude, self-command, and unselfish love. + There too, in solitude, the mind acquired more power of + concentration, and discerned the beauty of strict method; + there too, more than all, the heart was awakened to sympathize + with the ignorant, to pity the vulgar, to hope for the + seemingly worthless, and to commune with the Divine Spirit of + Creation, which cannot err, which never sleeps, which will + not permit evil to be permanent, nor its aim of beauty in the + smallest particular eventually to fail.' + + + + +WINTER IN BOSTON. + + +In the autumn of 1836 Margaret went to Boston, with the two-fold +design of teaching Latin and French in Mr. Alcott's school, which +was then highly prosperous, and of forming classes of young ladies in +French, German, and Italian. + +Her view of Mr. Alcott's plan of education was thus hinted in a +journal, one day, after she had been talking with him, and trying to +place herself in his mental position:-- + + _Mr. A._ 'O for the safe and natural way of Intuition! I + cannot grope like a mole in the gloomy passages of experience. + To the attentive spirit, the revelation contained in books + is only so far valuable as it comments upon, and corresponds + with, the universal revelation. Yet to me, a being social + and sympathetic by natural impulse, though recluse and + contemplative by training and philosophy, the character and + life of Jesus have spoken more forcibly than any fact recorded + in human history. This story of incarnate Love has given me + the key to all mysteries, and showed me what path should be + taken in returning to the Fountain of Spirit. Seeing that + other redeemers have imperfectly fulfilled their tasks, I + have sought a new way. They all, it seemed to me, had tried + to influence the human being at too late a day, and had laid + their plans too wide. They began with men; I will begin + with babes. They began with the world; I will begin with the + family. So I preach the Gospel of the Nineteenth Century.' + + _M_. 'But, preacher, you make _three_ mistakes. + + 'You do not understand the nature of Genius or creative power. + + 'You do not understand the reaction of matter on spirit. + + 'You are too impatient of the complex; and, not enjoying + variety in unity, you become lost in abstractions, and cannot + illustrate your principles.' + +On the other hand, Mr. Alcott's impressions of Margaret were thus +noted in his diaries:-- + + "She is clearly a person given to the boldest speculation, and + of liberal and varied acquirements. Not wanting in imaginative + power, she has the rarest good sense and discretion. She + adopts the Spiritual Philosophy, and has the subtlest + perception of its bearings. She takes large and generous views + of all subjects, and her disposition is singularly catholic. + The blending of sentiment and of wisdom in her is most + remarkable; and her taste is as fine as her prudence. I think + her the most brilliant talker of the day. She has a quick + and comprehensive wit, a firm command of her thoughts, and a + speech to win the ear of the most cultivated." + +In her own classes Margaret was very successful, and thus in a letter +sums up the results:-- + + 'I am still quite unwell, and all my pursuits and propensities + have a tendency to make my head worse. It is but a bad + head,--as bad as if I were a great man! I am not entitled to + so bad a head by anything I have done; but I flatter myself it + is very interesting to suffer so much, and a fair excuse for + not writing pretty letters, and saying to my friends the good + things I think about them. + + 'I was so desirous of doing all I could, that I took a great + deal more upon myself than I was able to bear. Yet now that + the twenty-five weeks of incessant toil are over, I rejoice in + it all, and would not have done an iota less. I have fulfilled + all my engagements faithfully; have acquired more power of + attention, self-command, and fortitude; have acted in life as + I thought I would in my lonely meditations; and have gained + some knowledge of means. Above all,--blessed be the Father + of our spirits!--my aims are the same as they were in the + happiest flight of youthful fancy. I have learned too, at + last, to rejoice in all past pain, and to see that my spirit + has been judiciously tempered for its work. In future I may + sorrow, but can I ever despair? + + 'The beginning of the winter was forlorn. I was always ill; + and often thought I might not live, though the work was but + just begun. The usual disappointments, too, were about me. + Those from whom aid was expected failed, and others who aided + did not understand my aims. Enthusiasm for the things loved + best fled when I seemed to be buying and selling them. I + could not get the proper point of view, and could not keep a + healthful state of mind. Mysteriously a gulf seemed to have + opened between me and most intimate friends, and for the + first time for many years I was entirely, absolutely, alone. + Finally, my own character and designs lost all romantic + interest, and I felt vulgarized, profaned, forsaken,--though + obliged to smile brightly and talk wisely all the while. But + these clouds at length passed away. + + 'And now let me try to tell you what has been done. To one + class I taught the German language, and thought it good + success, when, at the end of three months, they could read + twenty pages of German at a lesson, and very well. This + class, of course, was not interesting, except in the way of + observation and analysis of language. + + 'With more advanced pupils I read, in twenty-four weeks, + Schiller's Don Carlos, Artists, and Song of the Bell, besides + giving a sort of general lecture on Schiller; Goethe's Hermann + and Dorothea, Goetz von Berlichingen, Iphigenia, first part of + Faust,--three weeks of thorough study this, as valuable to me + as to them,--and Clavigo,--thus comprehending samples of + all his efforts in poetry, and bringing forward some of his + prominent opinions; Lessing's Nathan, Minna, Emilia Galeotti; + parts of Tieck's Phantasus, and nearly the whole first volume + of Richter's Titan. + + 'With the Italian class, I read parts of Tasso, Petrarch--whom + they came to almost adore,--Ariosto, Alfieri, and the whole + hundred cantos of the Divina Commedia, with the aid of the + fine Athenæum copy, Flaxman's designs, and all the best + commentaries. This last piece of work was and will be truly + valuable to myself. + + 'I had, besides, three private pupils, Mrs. ----, who became + very attractive to me, ----, and little ----, who had not + the use of his eyes. I taught him Latin orally, and read + the History of England and Shakspeare's historical plays in + connection. This lesson was given every day for ten weeks, and + was very interesting, though very fatiguing. The labor in Mr. + Alcott's school was also quite exhausting. I, however, loved + the children, and had many valuable thoughts suggested, and + Mr. A.'s society was much to me. + + 'As you may imagine, the Life of Goethe is not yet written; + but I have studied and thought about it much. It grows in + my mind with everything that does grow there. My friends in + Europe have sent me the needed books on the subject, and I + am now beginning to work in good earnest. It is very possible + that the task may be taken from me by somebody in England, or + that in doing it I may find myself incompetent; but I go on in + hope, secure, at all events, that it will be the means of the + highest culture.' + +In addition to other labors, Margaret translated, one evening every +week, German authors into English, for the gratification of Dr. +Channing; their chief reading being in De Wette and Herder. + + 'It was not very pleasant,' she writes, 'for Dr. C. takes in + subjects more deliberately than is conceivable to us feminine + people, with our habits of ducking, diving, or flying for + truth. Doubtless, however, he makes better use of what he + gets, and if his sympathies were livelier he would not view + certain truths in so steady a light. But there is much more + talking than reading; and I like talking with him. I do not + feel that constraint which some persons complain of, but + am perfectly free, though less called out than by other + intellects of inferior power. I get too much food for thought + from him, and am not bound to any tiresome formality of + respect on account of his age and rank in the world of + intellect. He seems desirous to meet even one young and + obscure as myself on equal terms, and trusts to the elevation + of his thoughts to keep him in his place.' + +She found higher satisfaction still in his preaching:-- + + 'A discourse from Dr. C. on the spirituality of man's nature. + This was delightful! I came away in the most happy, hopeful, + and heroic mood. The tone of the discourse was so dignified, + his manner was so benignant and solemnly earnest, in his voice + there was such a concentration of all his force, physical and + moral, to give utterance to divine truth, that I felt purged + as by fire. If some speakers feed intellect more, Dr. C. feeds + the whole spirit. O for a more calm, more pervading faith + in the divinity of my own nature! I am so far from being + thoroughly tempered and seasoned, and am sometimes so + presumptuous, at others so depressed. Why cannot I lay more to + heart the text, "God is never in a hurry: let man be patient + and confident"? + + + + +PROVIDENCE. + + +In the spring of 1837, Margaret received a very favorable offer to +become a principal teacher in the Greene Street School, at Providence, +R.I. + + 'The proposal is, that I shall teach the elder girls my + favorite branches, for four hours a day,--choosing my own + hours, and arranging the course,--for a thousand dollars a + year, if, upon trial, I am well enough pleased to stay. This + would be independence, and would enable me to do many slight + services for my family. But, on the other hand, I am not sure + that I shall like the situation, and am sanguine that, by + perseverance, the plan of classes in Boston might be carried + into full effect. Moreover, Mr. Ripley,--who is about + publishing a series of works on Foreign Literature,--has + invited me to prepare the "Life of Goethe," on very + advantageous terms. This I should much prefer. Yet when the + thousand petty difficulties which surround us are considered, + it seems unwise to relinquish immediate independence.' + +She accepted, therefore, the offer which promised certain means of +aiding her family, and reluctantly gave up the precarious, though +congenial, literary project. + + + + +SCHOOL EXPERIENCES. + + + 'The new institution of which I am to be "Lady Superior" was + dedicated last Saturday. People talk to me of the good I am to + do; but the last fortnight has been so occupied in the task of + arranging many scholars of various ages and unequal training, + that I cannot yet realize this new era. * * + + 'The gulf is vast, wider than I could have conceived possible, + between me and my pupils; but the sight of such deplorable + ignorance, such absolute burial of the best powers, as I find + in some instances, makes me comprehend, better than before, + how such a man as Mr. Alcott could devote his life to renovate + elementary education. I have pleasant feelings when I see that + a new world has already been opened to them. * * + + 'Nothing of the vulgar feeling towards teachers, too often to + be observed in schools, exists towards me. The pupils seem + to reverence my tastes and opinions in all things; they are + docile, decorous, and try hard to please; they are in awe of + my displeasure, but delighted whenever permitted to associate + with me on familiar terms. As I treat them like ladies, they + are anxious to prove that they deserve to be so treated. * * + + 'There is room here for a great move in the cause of + education, and if I could resolve on devoting five or six + years to this school, a good work might, doubtless, be + done. Plans are becoming complete in my mind, ways and means + continually offer, and, so far as I have tried them, they + succeed. I am left almost as much at liberty as if no other + person was concerned. Some sixty scholars are more or less + under my care, and many of them begin to walk in the new paths + pointed out. General activity of mind, accuracy in processes, + constant looking for principles, and search after the good and + the beautiful, are the habits I strive to develop. * * + + 'I will write a short record of the last day at school. For + a week past I have given the classes in philosophy, rhetoric, + history, poetry, and moral science, short lectures on the true + objects of study, with advice as to their future course; and + to-day, after recitation, I expressed my gratification that + the minds of so many had been opened to the love of good and + beauty. + + 'Then came the time for last words. First, I called into the + recitation room the boys who had been under my care. They are + nearly all interesting, and have showed a chivalric feeling in + their treatment of me. People talk of women not being able to + govern boys; but I have always found it a very easy task. + He must be a coarse boy, indeed, who, when addressed in a + resolute, yet gentle manner, by a lady, will not try to merit + her esteem. These boys have always rivalled one another in + respectful behavior. I spoke a few appropriate words to each, + mentioning his peculiar errors and good deeds, mingling some + advice with more love, which will, I hope, make it remembered. + We took a sweet farewell. With the younger girls I had a + similar interview.' + + 'Then I summoned the elder girls, who have been my especial + charge. I reminded them of the ignorance in which some of them + were found, and showed them how all my efforts had necessarily + been directed to stimulating their minds,--leaving undone + much which, under other circumstances, would have been deemed + indispensable. I thanked them for the favorable opinion of + my government which they had so generally expressed, but + specified three instances in which I had been unjust. I + thanked them, also, for the moral beauty of their conduct, + bore witness that an appeal to conscience had never failed, + and told them of my happiness in having the faith thus + confirmed, that young persons can be best guided by addressing + their highest nature. I declared my consciousness of having + combined, not only in speech but in heart, tolerance and + delicate regard for the convictions of their parents, with + fidelity to my own, frankly uttered. I assured them of my true + friendship, proved by my never having cajoled or caressed + them into good. Every word of praise had been earned; all + my influence over them was rooted in reality; I had never + softened nor palliated their faults; I had appealed, not to + their weakness, but to their strength; I had offered to them, + always, the loftiest motives, and had made every other end + subordinate to that of spiritual growth. With a heartfelt + blessing, I dismissed them; but none stirred, and we all sat + for some moments, weeping. Then I went round the circle and + bade each, separately, farewell.' + + + + +PERSONS. + + +Margaret's Providence journals are made extremely piquant and +entertaining, by her life-like portraiture of people and events; and +every page attests the scrupulous justice with which she sought +to penetrate through surfaces to reality, and, forgetting personal +prejudices, to apply universally the test of truth. A few sketches +of public characters may suffice to show with what sagacious, +all-observing eyes, she looked about her. + + 'At the whig caucus, I heard TRISTAM BURGESS,--"The old + bald Eagle!" His baldness increases the fine effect of his + appearance, for it seems as if the locks had retreated, that + the contour of his very strongly marked head might be revealed + to every eye. His _personnel_, as well as I could see, was + fitted to command respect rather than admiration. He is a + venerable, not a beautiful old man. + + 'He is a rhetorician,--if I could judge from this sample; + style in woven and somewhat ornate, matter frequently wrought + up to a climax, manner rather declamatory, though strictly + that of a gentleman and a scholar. One art in his oratory + was, no doubt, very effective, before he lost force and + distinctness of voice. I allude to his way,--after + having reasoned a while, till he has reached the desired + conclusion,--of leaning forward, with hands reposing but + figure very earnest, and communicating, confidentially as it + were, the result to the audience. The impression produced + in former days, when those low, emphatic passages could be + distinctly heard, must have been very strong. Yet there is too + much apparent trickery in this, to bear frequent repetition. + His manner is well adapted for argument, and for the + expression either of satire or of chivalric sentiment.' + + * * * * * + + 'Mr. JOHN NEAL addressed my girls on the destiny and vocation + of Woman in this country. He gave, truly, a _manly_ view, + though not the view of common men, and it was pleasing to + watch his countenance, where energy is animated by genius. He + then spoke to the boys, in the most noble and liberal spirit, + on the exercise of political rights. If there is one among + them who has the germ of a truly independent man, too generous + to become a party tool, and with soul enough to think, as well + as feel, for himself, those words were not spoken in vain. He + was warmed up into giving a sketch of his boyhood. It was + an eloquent narrative, and is ineffaceably impressed on my + memory, with every look and gesture of the speaker. What gave + chief charm to this history was its fearless ingenuousness. It + was delightful to note the impression produced by his magnetic + genius and independent character. + + 'In the evening we had a long conversation upon Woman, + Whigism, modern English Poets, Shakspeare,--and, in + particular, Richard the Third,--about which we had actually + a fight. Mr. Neal does not argue quite fairly, for he uses + reason while it lasts, and then helps himself out with wit, + sentiment and assertion. I should quarrel with his definitions + upon almost every subject, but his fervid eloquence, + brilliancy, endless resource, and ready tact, give him great + advantage. There was a sort of exaggeration and coxcombry in + his talk; but his lion-heart, and keen sense of the ludicrous, + alike in himself as in others, redeem them. I should not like + to have my motives scrutinized as he would scrutinize them, + for I prefer rather to disclose them myself than to be found + out; but I was dissatisfied in parting from this remarkable + man before having seen him more thoroughly. + + * * * * * + + 'Mr. WHIPPLE addressed the meeting at length. His presence is + not imposing, though his face is intellectual. It is difficult + to look at him, for you cannot be taken prisoner by his + eye, while, _en revanche_, he can look at you as long as he + pleases; and, as usual, with one who can get the better of his + auditors, he does not call out the best in them. His gestures + are remarkably fine, free, graceful, and expressive. He has + no natural advantages of voice,--for it is without compass, + depth, sweetness,--and has none of the winning tones which + reach the inmost soul, and none of the tones of passionate + energy, which raise you out of your own world into the + speaker's. But his modulation is smooth, measured, dignified, + though occasionally injured by too elaborate a swell, and his + enunciation is admirable. + + 'His theme was one which has been so thoroughly discussed + that novelty was not to be looked for; but his method and + arrangement were excellent, though parts were too much + expanded, and the whole might well have been condensed. There + were many felicitous popular hits. The humorous touches were + skilful, and the illustrations on a broad scale good, though + in single images he failed. Altogether, there was a pervading + air of ease and mastery, which showed him fit to be a leader + of the flock. Though not a man of the Webster class, he is + among the first of the second class of men who apply their + powers to practical purposes,--and that is saying much.' + + * * * * * + + 'I went to hear JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY, one of the most + distinguished and influential, it is said, of the English + Quakers. He is a thick-set, beetle-browed man, with a + well-to-do-in-the-world air of pious stolidity. I was + grievously disappointed; for Quakerism has at times looked + lovely to me, and I had expected at least a spiritual + exposition of its doctrines from the brother of Mrs. Fry. But + his manner was as wooden as his matter, and had no merit but + that of distinct elocution. His sermon was a tissue of texts, + illy selected, and worse patched together, in proof of the + assertion that a belief in the Trinity is the one thing + needful, and that reason, unless manacled by a creed, is the + one thing dangerous. His figures were paltry, his thoughts + narrowed down, and his very sincerity made corrupt by + spiritual pride. One could not but pity his notions of the + Holy Ghost, and his bat-like fear of light. His Man-God seemed + to be the keeper of a mad-house, rather than the informing + Spirit of all spirits. After finishing his discourse, Mr. G. + sang a prayer, in a tone of mingled shout and whine, and then + requested his audience to sit a while in devout meditation. + For one, I passed the interval in praying for him, that the + thick film of self-complacency might be removed from the eyes + of his spirit, so that he might no more degrade religion.' + + * * * * * + + 'Mr. HAGUE is of the Baptist persuasion, and is very popular + with his own sect. He is small, and carries his head erect; + he has a high and intellectual, though not majestic, + forehead; his brows are lowering and, when knit in indignant + denunciation, give a thunderous look to the countenance, and + beneath them flash, sparkle, and flame,--for all that may be + said of light in rapid motion is true of them,--his dark eyes. + Hazel and blue eyes with their purity, steadfastness, subtle + penetration and radiant hope, may persuade and win, but + black is the color to command. His mouth has an equivocal + expression, but as an orator perhaps he gains power by the air + of mystery this gives. + + 'He has a very active intellect, sagacity and elevated + sentiment; and, feeling strongly that God is love, can never + preach without earnestness. His power comes first from his + glowing vitality of temperament. While speaking, his every + muscle is in action, and all his action is towards one object. + There is perfect _abandon_. He is permeated, overborne, by + his thought. This lends a charm above grace, though incessant + nervousness and heat injure his manner. He is never violent, + though often vehement; pleading tones in his voice redeem him + from coarseness, even when most eager; and he throws himself + into the hearts of his hearers, not in weak need of sympathy, + but in the confidence of generous emotion. His second + attraction is his individuality. He speaks direct from the + conviction of his spirit, without temporizing, or artificial + method. His is the "unpremeditated art," and therefore + successful. He is full of intellectual life; his mind has not + been fettered by dogmas, and the worship of beauty finds + a place there. I am much interested in this truly animated + being.' + + * * * * * + + 'Mr. R.H. DANA has been giving us readings in the English + dramatists, beginning with Shakspeare. The introductory was + beautiful. After assigning to literature its high place in + the education of the human soul, he announced his own view + in giving these readings: that he should never pander to a + popular love of excitement, but quietly, without regard to + brilliancy or effect, would tell what had struck him in + these poets; that he had no belief in artificial processes + of acquisition or communication, and having never learned + anything except through love, he had no hope of teaching any + but loving spirits, &c. All this was arrayed in a garb of + most delicate grace; but a man of such genuine refinement + undervalues the cannon-blasts and rockets which are needed + to rouse the attention of the vulgar. His naïve gestures, + the rapt expression of his face, his introverted eye, and the + almost childlike simplicity of his pathos, carry one back into + a purer atmosphere, to live over again youth's fresh emotions. + I greatly enjoyed his readings in Hamlet, and have reviewed + in connection what Goethe and Coleridge have said. Both have + successfully seized on the main points in the character of + Hamlet, and Mr. D. took nearly the same range. His views of + Ophelia, however, are unspeakably more just than are those of + Serlo in Wilhelm Meister. I regret that the whole course is + not to be on Shakspeare, for I should like to read with him + all the plays. + + 'I never have met with a person of finer perceptions. He + leaves out nothing; though he over-refines on some passages. + He has the most exquisite taste, and freshens the souls of his + hearers with ever new beauty. He is greatly indebted to the + delicacy of his physical organization for the delicacy of his + mental appreciation. But when he has told you what _he_ + likes, the pleasure of intercourse is over: for he is a man of + prejudice more than of reason, and though he can make a lively + _exposé_ of his thoughts and feelings, he does not justify + them. In a word, Mr. Dana has the charms and the defects + of one whose object in life has been to preserve his + individuality unprofaned.' + + + + +ART. + + +While residing at Providence, and during her visits to Boston, in her +vacations, Margaret's mind was opening more and more to the charms of +art. + + 'The Ton-Kunst, the Ton-Welt, give me now more stimulus than + the written Word; for music seems to contain everything in + nature, unfolded into perfect harmony. In it the _all_ and + _each_ are manifested in most rapid transition; the spiral and + undulatory movement of beautiful creation is felt throughout, + and, as we listen, thought is most clearly, because most + mystically, perceived. * * + + 'I have been to hear Neukomm's Oratorio of David. It is to + music what Barry Cornwall's verses and Talfourd's Ion are + to poetry. It is completely modern, and befits an age of + consciousness. Nothing can be better arranged as a drama; the + parts are in excellent gradation, the choruses are grand and + effective, the composition, as a whole, brilliantly imposing. + Yet it was dictated by taste and science only. Where are the + enrapturing visions from the celestial world which shone down + upon Haydn and Mozart; where the revelations from the depths + of man's nature, which impart such passion to the symphonies + of Beethoven; where, even, the fascinating fairy land, gay + with delight, of Rossini? O, Genius! none but thee shall + make our hearts and heads throb, our cheeks crimson, our + eyes overflow, or fill our whole being with the serene joy of + faith.' * * + + 'I went to see Vandenhoff twice, in Brutus and Virginius. + Another fine specimen of the conscious school; no inspiration, + yet much taste. Spite of the thread-paper Tituses, the + chambermaid Virginias, the washerwoman Tullias, and the + people, made up of half a dozen chimney-sweeps, in carters' + frocks and red nightcaps, this man had power to recall a + thought of the old stately Roman, with his unity of will and + deed. He was an admirable _father_, that fairest, noblest + part,--with a happy mixture of dignity and tenderness, + blending the delicate sympathy of the companion with the calm, + wisdom of the teacher, and showing beneath the zone of duty + a heart that has not forgot to throb with youthful love. This + character,--which did actual fathers know how to be, they + would fulfil the order of nature, and image Deity to their + children,--Vandenhoff represented sufficiently, at least, to + call up the beautiful ideal.' + + + + +FANNY KEMBLE. + + + 'When in Boston, I saw the Kembles twice,--in "Much ado about + Nothing," and "The Stranger." The first night I felt much + disappointed in Miss K. In the gay parts a coquettish, courtly + manner marred the wild mirth and wanton wit of Beatrice. Yet, + in everything else, I liked her conception of the part; and + where she urges Benedict to fight with Claudio, and where she + reads Benedict's sonnet, she was admirable. But I received no + more pleasure from Miss K.'s acting out the part than I have + done in reading it, and this disappointed me. Neither did + I laugh, but thought all the while of Miss K.,--how very + graceful she was, and whether this and that way of rendering + the part was just. I do not believe she has comic power within + herself, though tasteful enough to comprehend any part. So + I went home, vexed because my "heart was not full," and my + "brain not on fire" with enthusiasm. I drank my milk, and went + to sleep, as on other dreary occasions, and dreamed not of + Miss Kemble. + + 'Next night, however, I went expectant, and all my soul was + satisfied. I saw her at a favorable distance, and she looked + beautiful. And as the scene rose in interest, her attitudes, + her gestures, had the expression which an Angelo could give + to sculpture. After she tells her story,--and I was almost + suffocated by the effort she made to divulge her sin and + fall,--she sunk to the earth, her head bowed upon her knee, + her white drapery falling in large, graceful folds about this + broken piece of beautiful humanity, _crushed_ in the very + manner so well described by Scott when speaking of a far + different person, "not as one who intentionally stoops, + kneels, or prostrates himself to excite compassion, but like a + man borne down on all sides by the pressure of some invisible + force, which crushes him to the earth without power of + resistance." A movement of abhorrence from me, as her + insipid confidante turned away, attested the triumph of the + poet-actress. Had not all been over in a moment, I believe + I could not have refrained from rushing forward to raise the + fair frail being, who seemed so prematurely humbled in her + parent dust. I burst into tears; and, with the stifled, + hopeless feeling of a real sorrow, continued to weep till the + very end; nor could I recover till I left the house. + + 'That is genius, which could give such life to this play; for, + if I may judge from other parts, it is defaced by inflated + sentiments, and verified by few natural touches. I wish I had + it to read, for I should like to recall her every tone and + look.' + + * * * * * + + 'I have been studying Flaxman and Retzsch. How pure, how + immortal, the language of Form! Fools cannot fancy they + fathom its meaning; witless _dillettanti_ cannot degrade it by + hackneyed usage; none but genius can create or reproduce it. + Unlike the colorist, he who expresses his thought in form is + secure as man can be against the ravages of time.' + + * * * * * + + 'I went to the Athenæum in an agonizing conflict of mind, when + some high influence was needed to rouse me from the state + of sickly sensitiveness, which, much as I despise, I cannot + wholly conquer. How soothing it was to feel the blessed power + of the Ideal world, to be surrounded, once more with the + records of lives poured out in embodying thought in beauty! + I seemed to breathe my native atmosphere, and smoothed my + ruffled pinions.' + + * * * * * + + 'No wonder God made a world to express his thought. Who, that + has a soul for beauty, does not feel the need of creating, and + that the power of creation alone can satisfy the spirit? When + I thus reflect, the Artist seems the only fortunate man. Had I + but as much creative genius as I have apprehensiveness!' + + * * * * * + + 'How transcendently lovely was the face of one young angel by + Raphael! It was the perfection of physical, moral, and mental + life. Variegated wings, of pinkish-purple touched with green, + like the breasts of doves, and in perfect harmony with the + complexion, spring from the shoulders upwards, and against + them leans the divine head. The eye seems fixed on the centre + of being, and the lips are gently parted, as if uttering + strains of celestial melody.' + + * * * * * + + 'The head of Aspasia was instinct with the voluptuousness of + intellect. From the eyes, the cheek, the divine lip, one might + hive honey. Both the Loves were exquisite: one, that zephyr + sentiment which visits all the roses of life; the other, the + Amore Greco, may be fitly described in these words of Landor: + "There is a gloom in deep love, as in deep water; there is a + silence in it which suspends the foot, and the folded arms and + the dejected head are the images it reflects. No voice shakes + its surface; the Muses themselves approach it with a tardy and + a timid step, with a low and tremulous and melancholy song."' + + * * * * * + + 'The Sibyl I understood. What grace in that beautiful oval! + what apprehensiveness in the eye! Such is female Genius; it + alone understands the God. The Muses only sang the praises of + Apollo; the Sibyls interpreted his will. Nay, she to whom it + was offered, refused the divine union, and preferred remaining + a satellite to being absorbed into the sun. You read in the + eye of this one, and the observation is confirmed by the + low forehead, that the secret of her inspiration lay in the + passionate enthusiasm of her nature, rather than in the ideal + perfection of any faculty. + + * * * * * + + 'A Christ, by Raphael, that I saw the other night, brought + Christianity more home to my heart, made me more long to + be like Jesus, than ever did sermon. It is from one of the + Vatican frescoes. The Deity,--a stern, strong, wise man, of + about forty-five, in a square velvet cap, truly the Jewish + God, inflexibly just, yet jealous and wrathful,--is at the + top of the picture, looking with a gaze of almost frowning + scrutiny down into his world. A step below is the Son. + Stately angelic shapes kneel near him in dignified + adoration,--brothers, but not peers. A cloud of more ecstatic + seraphs floats behind the Father. At the feet of the Son is + the Holy Ghost, the Heavenly Dove. In the description, by a + connoisseur, of this picture, read to me while I was looking + at it, it is spoken of as in Raphael's first manner, cold, + hard, trammeled. But to me how did that face proclaim the + Infinite Love! His head is bent back, as if seeking to + behold the Father. His attitude expresses the need of adoring + something higher, in order to keep him at his highest. What + sweetness, what purity, in the eyes! I can never express it; + but I felt, when looking at it, the beauty of reverence, of + self-sacrifice, to a degree that stripped the Apollo of his + beams.' + + + + +MAGNANIMITY. + + +Immediately after reading Miss Martineau's book on America, Margaret +felt bound in honor to write her a letter, the magnanimity of which is +brought out in full relief, by contrast with the expressions already +given of her affectionate regard. Extracts from this letter, recorded +in her journals, come here rightfully in place:-- + + 'On its first appearance, the book was greeted by a volley + of coarse and outrageous abuse, and the nine days' wonder + was followed by a nine days' hue-and-cry. It was garbled, + misrepresented, scandalously ill-treated. This was all of + no consequence. The opinion of the majority you will find + expressed in a late number of the North American Review. I + should think the article, though ungenerous, not more so than + great part of the critiques upon your book. + + 'The minority may be divided into two classes: The one, + consisting of those who knew you but slightly, either + personally, or in your writings. These have now read your + book; and, seeing in it your high ideal standard, genuine + independence, noble tone of sentiment, vigor of mind and + powers of picturesque description, they value your book very + much, and rate you higher for it. + + 'The other comprises those who were previously aware of these + high qualities,--and who, seeing in a book to which they + had looked for a lasting monument to your fame, a degree + of presumptuousness, irreverence, inaccuracy, hasty + generalization, and ultraism on many points, which they did + not expect, lament the haste in which you have written, and + the injustice which you have consequently done to so important + a task, and to your own powers of being and doing. To this + class I belong. + + 'I got the book as soon as it came out,--long before I + received the copy endeared by your handwriting,--and + devoted myself to reading it. I gave myself up to my natural + impressions, without seeking to ascertain those of others. + Frequently I felt pleasure and admiration, but more frequently + disappointment, sometimes positive distaste. + + 'There are many topics treated of in this book of which I am + not a judge; but I do pretend, even where I cannot criticize + in detail, to have an opinion as to the general tone of + thought. When Herschel writes his Introduction to Natural + Philosophy, I cannot test all he says, but I cannot err about + his fairness, his manliness, and wide range of knowledge. When + Jouffroy writes his lectures, I am not conversant with all his + topics of thought, but I can appreciate his lucid style and + admirable method. When Webster speaks on the currency, I do + not understand the subject, but I do understand his mode of + treating it, and can see what a blaze of light streams from + his torch. When Harriet Martineau writes about America, I + often cannot test that rashness and inaccuracy of which I hear + so much, but I can feel that they exist. A want of soundness, + of habits of patient investigation, of completeness, of + arrangement, are felt throughout the book; and, for all + its fine descriptions of scenery, breadth of reasoning, and + generous daring, I cannot be happy in it, because it is not + worthy of my friend, and I think a few months given to ripen + it, to balance, compare, and mellow, would have made it so. * * + + 'Certainly you show no spirit of harshness towards this + country in general. I think your tone most kindly. But many + passages are deformed by intemperance of epithet. * * Would + your heart, could you but investigate the matter, approve such + overstatement, such a crude, intemperate tirade as you have + been guilty of about Mr. Alcott,--a true and noble man, + a philanthropist, whom a true and noble woman, also a + philanthropist, should have delighted to honor; whose + disinterested and resolute efforts, for the redemption of poor + humanity, all independent and faithful minds should sustain, + since the "broadcloth" vulgar will be sure to assail them; a + philosopher, worthy of the palmy times of ancient Greece; + a man whom Carlyle and Berkely, whom you so uphold, would + delight to honor; a man whom the worldlings of Boston hold + in as much horror as the worldlings of ancient Athens did + Socrates. They smile to hear their verdict confirmed from + the other side of the Atlantic, by their censor, Harriet + Martineau. + + 'I do not like that your book should be an abolition book. You + might have borne your testimony as decidedly as you pleased; + but why leaven the whole book with it? This subject haunts us + on almost every page. It _is_ a great subject, but your book + had other purposes to fulfil. + + 'I have thought it right to say all this to you, since I felt + it. I have shrunk from the effort, for I fear that I must + lose you. Not that I think all authors are like Gil Bias' + archbishop. No; if your heart turns from me, I shall still + love you, still think you noble. I know it must be so trying + to fail of sympathy, at such a time, where we expect it. And, + besides, I felt from the book that the sympathy between us is + less general than I had supposed, it was so strong on several + points. It is strong enough for me to love you ever, and I + could no more have been happy in your friendship, if I had not + spoken out now.' + + + + +SPIRITUAL LIFE. + + + 'You question me as to the nature of the benefits conferred + upon me by Mr. E.'s preaching. I answer, that his influence + has been more beneficial to me than that of any American, and + that from him I first learned what is meant by an inward life. + Many other springs have since fed the stream of living waters, + but he first opened the fountain. That the "mind is its own + place," was a dead phrase to me, till he cast light upon + my mind. Several of his sermons stand apart in memory, like + landmarks of my spiritual history. It would take a volume to + tell what this one influence did for me. But perhaps I shall + some time see that it was best for me to be forced to help + myself.' + + * * * * * + + 'Some remarks which I made last night trouble me, and I cannot + fix my attention upon other things till I have qualified them. + I suffered myself to speak in too unmeasured terms, and my + expressions were fitted to bring into discredit the religious + instruction which has been given me, or which I have sought. + + 'I do not think "all men are born for the purpose of unfolding + beautiful ideas;" for the vocation of many is evidently the + culture of affections by deeds of kindness. But I do think + that the vocations of men and women differ, and that those who + are forced to act out of their sphere are shorn of inward and + outward brightness. + + 'For myself, I wish to say, that, if I am in a mood of + darkness and despondency, I nevertheless consider such a mood + unworthy of a Christian, or indeed of any one who believes in + the immortality of the soul. No one, who had steady faith + in this and in the goodness of God, could be otherwise than + cheerful. I reverence the serenity of a truly religious mind + so much, that I think, if I live, I may some time attain to + it. + + 'Although I do not believe in a Special Providence regulating + outward events, and could not reconcile such a belief with + what I have seen of life, I do not the less believe in the + paternal government of a Deity. That He should visit the souls + of those who seek Him seems to me the nobler way to conceive + of his influence. And if there were not some error in my way + of seeking, I do not believe I should suffer from languor or + deadness on spiritual subjects, at the time when I have most + need to feel myself at home there. To find this error is my + earnest wish; and perhaps I am now travelling to that end, + though by a thorny road. It is a mortification to find so + much yet to do; for at one time the scheme of things seemed + so clear, that, with Cromwell, I might say, "I was once in + grace." With my mind I prize high objects as much as then: + it is my heart which is cold. And sometimes I fear that the + necessity of urging them on those under my care dulls my sense + of their beauty. It is so hard to prevent one's feelings from + evaporating in words.' + + * * * * * + + '"The faint sickness of a wounded heart." How frequently + do these words of Beckford recur to my mind! His prayer, + imperfect as it is, says more to me than many a purer + aspiration. It breathes such an experience of impassioned + anguish. He had everything,--health, personal advantages, + almost boundless wealth, genius, exquisite taste, culture; he + could, in some way, express his whole being. Yet well-nigh he + sank beneath the sickness of the wounded heart; and solitude, + "country of the unhappy," was all he craved at last. + + 'Goethe, too, says he has known, in all his active, wise, and + honored life, no four weeks of happiness. This teaches me on + the other side; for, like Goethe, I have never given way to + my feelings, but have lived active, thoughtful, seeking to + be wise. Yet I have long days and weeks of heartache; and + at those times, though I am busy every moment, and cultivate + every pleasant feeling, and look always upwards to the pure + ideal region, yet this ache is like a bodily wound, whose + pain haunts even when it is not attended to, and disturbs the + dreams of the patient who has fallen asleep from exhaustion. + + 'There is a German in Boston, who has a wound in his breast, + received in battle long ago. It never troubles him, except + when he sings, and then, if he gives out his voice with much + expression, it opens, and cannot, for a long time, be stanched + again. So with me: when I rise into one of those rapturous + moods of thought, such as I had a day or two since, my wound + opens again, and all I can do is to be patient, and let it + take its own time to skin over. I see it will never do more. + Some time ago I thought the barb was fairly out; but no, the + fragments rankle there still, and will, while there is any + earth attached to my spirit. Is it not because, in my pride, I + held the mantle close, and let the weapon, which some friendly + physician might have extracted, splinter in the wound?' + + * * * * * + + '_Sunday, July_, 1838.--I partook, for the first time, of the + Lord's Supper. I had often wished to do so, but had not been + able to find a clergyman,--from whom I could be willing to + receive it,--willing to admit me on my own terms. Mr. H---- + did so; and I shall ever respect and value him, if only for + the liberality he displayed on this occasion. It was the + Sunday after the death of his wife, a lady whom I truly + honored, and should, probably, had we known one another + longer, have also loved. She was the soul of truth and honor; + her mind was strong, her reverence for the noble and beautiful + fervent, her energy in promoting the best interests of those + who came under her influence unusual. She was as full of wit + and playfulness as of goodness. Her union with her husband + was really one of mind and heart, of mutual respect and + tenderness; likeness in unlikeness made it strong. I wished + particularly to share in this rite on an occasion so suited to + bring out its due significance.' + + + + +FAREWELL TO SUMMER. + + + 'The Sun, the Moon, the Waters, and the Air, + The hopeful, holy, terrible, and fair, + All that is ever speaking, never spoken, + Spells that are ever breaking, never broken, + Have played upon my soul; and every string + Confessed the touch, which once could make it ring + Celestial notes. And still, though changed the tone, + Though damp and jarring fall the lyre hath known + It would, if fitly played, its deep notes wove + Into one tissue of belief and love, + Yield melodies for angel audience meet, + And pæans fit Creative Power to greet. + O injured lyre! thy golden frame is marred, + No garlands deck thee, no libations poured + Tell to the earth the triumphs of thy song; + No princely halls echo thy strains along. + But still the strings are there; and, if they break, + Even in death rare melody will make, + Might'st thou once more be tuned, and power be given + To tell in numbers all thou canst of heaven!' + + + + +VISITS TO CONCORD. + +BY R.W. EMERSON. + + + + +EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM MADAME ARCONATI TO R.W. EMERSON. + + +Je n'ai point rencontré, dans ma vie, de femme plus noble; ayant +autant de sympathie pour ses semblables, et dont l'esprit fut plus +vivifiant. Je me suis tout de suite sentie attirée par elle. Quand je +fis sa connoissance, j'ignorais que ce fut une femme remarquable. + + + + +IV. + +VISITS TO CONCORD. + + * * * * * + + +I became acquainted with Margaret in 1835. Perhaps it was a year +earlier that Henry Hedge, who had long been her friend, told me of +her genius and studies, and loaned me her manuscript translation of +Goethe's Tasso. I was afterwards still more interested in her, by the +warm praises of Harriet Martineau, who had become acquainted with her +at Cambridge, and who, finding Margaret's fancy for seeing me, took a +generous interest in bringing us together. I remember, during a week +in the winter of 1835-6, in which Miss Martineau was my guest, she +returned again and again to the topic of Margaret's excelling genius +and conversation, and enjoined it on me to seek her acquaintance: +which I willingly promised. I am not sure that it was not in Miss +Martineau's company, a little earlier, that I first saw her. And I +find a memorandum, in her own journal, of a visit, made by my brother +Charles and myself, to Miss Martineau, at Mrs. Farrar's. It was not, +however, till the next July, after a little diplomatizing in billets +by the ladies, that her first visit to our house was arranged, and +she came to spend a fortnight with my wife. I still remember the first +half-hour of Margaret's conversation. She was then twenty-six years +old. She had a face and frame that would indicate fulness and tenacity +of life. She was rather under the middle height; her complexion was +fair, with strong fair hair. She was then, as always, carefully and +becomingly dressed, and of ladylike self-possession. For the rest, her +appearance had nothing prepossessing. Her extreme plainness,--a trick +of incessantly opening and shutting her eyelids,--the nasal tone of +her voice,--all repelled; and I said to myself, we shall never +get far. It is to be said, that Margaret made a disagreeable first +impression on most persons, including those who became afterwards her +best friends, to such an extreme that they did not wish to be in the +same room with her. This was partly the effect of her manners, which +expressed an overweening sense of power, and slight esteem of others, +and partly the prejudice of her fame. She had a dangerous reputation +for satire, in addition to her great scholarship. The men thought she +carried too many guns, and the women did not like one who despised +them. I believe I fancied her too much interested in personal history; +and her talk was a comedy in which dramatic justice was done to +everybody's foibles. I remember that she made me laugh more than I +liked; for I was, at that time, an eager scholar of ethics, and had +tasted the sweets of solitude and stoicism, and I found something +profane in the hours of amusing gossip into which she drew me, and, +when I returned to my library, had much to think of the crackling of +thorns under a pot. Margaret, who had stuffed me out as a philosopher, +in her own fancy, was too intent on establishing a good footing +between us, to omit any art of winning. She studied my tastes, piqued +and amused me, challenged frankness by frankness, and did not conceal +the good opinion of me she brought with her, nor her wish to please. +She was curious to know my opinions and experiences. Of course, it was +impossible long to hold out against such urgent assault. She had +an incredible variety of anecdotes, and the readiest wit to give an +absurd turn to whatever passed; and the eyes, which were so plain at +first, soon swam with fun and drolleries, and the very tides of joy +and superabundant life. + +This rumor was much spread abroad, that she was sneering, +scoffing, critical, disdainful of humble people, and of all but +the intellectual. I had heard it whenever she was named. It was a +superficial judgment. Her satire was only the pastime and necessity of +her talent, the play of superabundant animal spirits. And it will be +seen, in the sequel, that her mind presently disclosed many moods and +powers, in successive platforms or terraces, each above each, that +quite effaced this first impression, in the opulence of the following +pictures. + +Let us hear what she has herself to say on the subject of +tea-table-talk, in a letter to a young lady, to whom she was already +much attached:-- + + I am repelled by your account of your party. It is beneath you + to amuse yourself with active satire, with what is vulgarly + called quizzing. When such a person as ---- chooses to throw + himself in your way, I sympathize with your keen perception of + his ridiculous points. But to laugh a whole evening at vulgar + nondescripts,--is that an employment for one who was born + passionately to love, to admire, to sustain truth? This would + be much more excusable in a chameleon like me. Yet, whatever + may be the vulgar view of my character, I can truly say, I + know not the hour in which I ever looked for the ridiculous. + It has always been forced upon me, and is the accident of my + existence. I would not want the sense of it when it comes, for + that would show an obtuseness of mental organization; but, on + peril of my soul, I would not move an eyelash to look for it.' + +When she came to Concord, she was already rich in friends, rich in +experiences, rich in culture. She was well read in French, Italian, +and German literature. She had learned Latin and a little Greek. But +her English reading was incomplete; and, while she knew Molière, and +Rousseau, and any quantity of French letters, memoirs, and novels, and +was a dear student of Dante and Petrarca, and knew German books more +cordially than any other person, she was little read in Shakspeare; +and I believe I had the pleasure of making her acquainted with +Chaucer, with Ben Jonson, with Herbert, Chapman, Ford, Beaumont and +Fletcher, with Bacon, and Sir Thomas Browne. I was seven years her +senior, and had the habit of idle reading in old English books, and, +though riot much versed, yet quite enough to give me the right to +lead her. She fancied that her sympathy and taste had led her to an +exclusive culture of southern European books. + +She had large experiences. She had been a precocious scholar at Dr. +Park's school; good in mathematics and in languages. Her father, whom +she had recently lost had been proud of her, and petted her. She had +drawn at Cambridge, numbers of lively young men about her. She had had +a circle of young women who were devoted to her, and who described her +as "a wonder of intellect, who had yet no religion." She had drawn +to her every superior young man or young woman she had met, and whole +romances of life and love had been confided, counselled, thought, and +lived through, in her cognizance and sympathy. + +These histories are rapid, so that she had already beheld many +times the youth, meridian, and old age of passion. She had, besides, +selected, from so many, a few eminent companions, and already felt +that she was not likely to see anything more beautiful than her +beauties, anything more powerful and generous than her youths. She had +found out her own secret by early comparison, and knew what power to +draw confidence, what necessity to lead in every circle, belonged of +right to her. Her powers were maturing, and nobler sentiments were +subliming the first heats and rude experiments. She had outward +calmness and dignity. She had come to the ambition to be filled with +all nobleness. + +Of the friends who surrounded her, at that period, it is neither easy +to speak, nor not to speak. A life of Margaret is impossible without +them, she mixed herself so inextricably with her company; and when +this little book was first projected, it was proposed to entitle it +"Margaret and her Friends," the subject persisting to offer itself in +the plural number. But, on trial, that form proved impossible, and it +only remained that the narrative, like a Greek tragedy, should suppose +the chorus always on the stage, sympathizing and sympathized with by +the queen of the scene. + +Yet I remember these persons as a fair, commanding troop, every one +of them adorned by some splendor of beauty, of grace, of talent, or +of character, and comprising in their band persons who have since +disclosed sterling worth and elevated aims in the conduct of life. + +Three beautiful women,--either of whom would have been the fairest +ornament of Papanti's Assemblies, but for the presence of the +other,--were her friends. One of these early became, and long +remained, nearly the central figure in Margaret's brilliant circle, +attracting to herself, by her grace and her singular natural +eloquence, every feeling of affection, hope, and pride. + +Two others I recall, whose rich and cultivated voices in song +were,--one a little earlier, the other a little later,--the joy of +every house into which they came; and, indeed, Margaret's taste for +music was amply gratified in the taste and science which several +persons among her intimate friends possessed. She was successively +intimate with two sisters, whose taste for music had been opened, by a +fine and severe culture, to the knowledge and to the expression of all +the wealth of the German masters. + +I remember another, whom every muse inspired, skilful alike with the +pencil and the pen, and by whom both were almost contemned for their +inadequateness, in the height and scope of her aims. + + 'With her,' said Margaret, 'I can talk of anything. She is + like me. She is able to look facts in the face. We enjoy the + clearest, widest, most direct communication. She may be no + happier than ----, but she will know her own mind too clearly + to make any great mistake in conduct, and will learn a deep + meaning from her days.' + + 'It is not in the way of tenderness that I love ----. I prize + her always; and this is all the love some natures ever know. + And I also feel that I may always expect she will be with me. + I delight to picture to myself certain persons translated, + illuminated. There are a few in whom I see occasionally the + future being piercing, promising,--whom I can strip of all + that masks their temporary relations, and elevate to their + natural position. Sometimes I have not known these persons + intimately,--oftener I have; for it is only in the deepest + hours that this light is likely to break out. But some of + those I have best befriended I cannot thus portray, and very + few men I can. It does not depend at all on the beauty of + their forms, at present; it is in the eye and the smile, that + the hope shines through. I can see exactly how ---- will look: + not like this angel in the paper; she will not bring flowers, + but a living coal, to the lips of the singer; her eyes will + not burn as now with smothered fires, they will be ever + deeper, and glow more intensely; her cheek will be smooth, but + marble pale; her gestures nobly free, but few.' + +Another was a lady who was devoted to landscape-painting, and who +enjoyed the distinction of being the only pupil of Allston, and who, +in her alliance with Margaret, gave as much honor as she received, by +the security of her spirit, and by the heroism of her devotion to her +friend. Her friends called her "the perpetual peace-offering," and +Margaret says of her,--'She is here, and her neighborhood casts the +mildness and purity too of the moonbeam on the else parti-colored +scene.' + +There was another lady, more late and reluctantly entering Margaret's +circle, with a mind as high, and more mathematically exact, drawn by +taste to Greek, as Margaret to Italian genius, tempted to do homage +to Margaret's flowing expressive energy, but still more inclined and +secured to her side by the good sense and the heroism which Margaret +disclosed, perhaps not a little by the sufferings which she addressed +herself to alleviate, as long as Margaret lived. Margaret had a +courage in her address which it was not easy to resist. She called +all her friends by their Christian names. In their early intercourse +I suppose this lady's billets were more punctiliously worded +than Margaret liked; so she subscribed herself, in reply, 'Your +affectionate "Miss Fuller."' When the difficulties were at length +surmounted, and the conditions ascertained on which two admirable +persons could live together, the best understanding grew up, and +subsisted during her life. In her journal is a note:-- + + 'Passed the morning in Sleepy Hollow, with ----. What fine, + just distinctions she made! Worlds grew clearer as we + talked. I grieve to see her fine frame subject to such rude + discipline. But she truly said, "I am not a failed experiment; + for, in the bad hours, I do not forget what I thought in the + better."' + +None interested her more at that time, and for many years after, than +a youth with whom she had been acquainted in Cambridge before he left +the University, and the unfolding of whose powers she had watched with +the warmest sympathy. He was an amateur, and, but for the exactions +not to be resisted of an _American_, that is to say, of a commercial, +career,--his acceptance of which she never ceased to regard as an +apostasy,--himself a high artist. He was her companion, and, though +much younger, her guide in the study of art. With him she examined, +leaf by leaf, the designs of Raphael, of Michel Angelo, of Da Vinci, +of Guercino, the architecture of the Greeks, the books of Palladio, +the Ruins, and Prisons of Piranesi; and long kept up a profuse +correspondence on books and studies in which they had a mutual +interest. And yet, as happened so often, these literary sympathies, +though sincere, were only veils and occasions to beguile the time, so +profound was her interest in the character and fortunes of her friend. + +There was another youth, whom she found later, of invalid habit, which +had infected in some degree the tone of his mind, but of a delicate +and pervasive insight, and the highest appreciation for genius in +letters, arts, and life. Margaret describes 'his complexion as clear +in its pallor, and his eye steady.' His turn of mind, and his habits +of life, had almost a monastic turn,--a jealousy of the common +tendencies of literary men either to display or to philosophy. +Margaret was struck with the singular fineness of his perceptions, +and the pious tendency of his thoughts, and enjoyed with him his proud +reception, not as from above, but almost on equal ground, of Homer and +Æschylus, of Dante and Petrarch, of Montaigne, of Calderon, of Goethe. +Margaret wished, also, to defend his privacy from the dangerous +solicitations to premature authorship:-- + + 'His mind should be approached close by one who needs its + fragrance. All with him leads rather to glimpses and insights, + than to broad, comprehensive views. Till he needs the public, + the public does not need him. The lonely lamp, the niche, the + dark cathedral grove, befit him best. Let him shroud himself + in the symbols of his native ritual, till he can issue forth + on the wings of song.' + +She was at this time, too, much drawn also to a man of poetic +sensibility, and of much reading,--which he took the greatest pains to +conceal,--studious of the art of poetry, but still more a poet in his +conversation than in his poems,--who attracted Margaret by the flowing +humor with which he filled the present hour, and the prodigality with +which he forgot all the past. + + 'Unequal and uncertain,' she says, 'but in his good moods, + of the best for a companion, absolutely abandoned to the + revelations of the moment, without distrust or check of any + kind, unlimited and delicate, abundant in thought, and free of + motion, he enriches life, and fills the hour.' + + 'I wish I could retain ----'s talk last night. It was + wonderful; it was about all the past experiences frozen down + in the soul, and the impossibility of being penetrated by + anything. "Had I met you," said he, "when I was young!--but + now nothing can penetrate." Absurd as was what he said, on + one side, it was the finest poetic-inspiration on the other, + painting the cruel process of life, except where genius + continually burns over the stubble fields. + + "Life," he said, "is continually eating us up." He said, "Mr. + E. is quite wrong about books. He wants them all good; now I + want many bad. Literature is not merely a collection of gems, + but a great system of interpretation." He railed at me as + artificial. "It don't strike me when you are alone with me," + he says; "but it does when others are present. You don't + follow out the fancy of the moment; you converse; you have + treasured thoughts to tell; you are disciplined,--artificial." + I pleaded guilty, and observed that I supposed that it must + be so with one of any continuity of thought, or earnestness + of character. "As to that," says he, "I shall not like you the + better for your excellence. I don't know what is the matter. + I feel strongly attracted towards you; but there is a drawback + in my mind,--I don't know exactly what. You will always be + wanting to grow forward; now I like to grow backward, too. You + are too ideal. Ideal people anticipate their lives; and they + make themselves and everybody around them restless, by always + being beforehand with themselves." + + 'I listened attentively; for what he said was excellent. + Following up the humor of the moment, he arrests admirable + thoughts on the wing. But I cannot but see, that what they say + of my or other obscure lives is true of every prophetic, of + every tragic character. And then I like to have them make me + look on that side, and reverence the lovely forms of nature, + and the shifting moods, and the clinging instincts. But I must + not let them disturb me. There is an only guide, the voice in + the heart, that asks, "Was thy wish sincere? If so, thou canst + not stray from nature, nor be so perverted but she will make + thee true again." I must take my own path, and learn from + them all, without being paralyzed for the day. We need great + energy, faith, and self-reliance to endure to-day. My age + may not be the best, my position may be bad, my character + ill-formed; but Thou, oh Spirit! hast no regard to aught but + the seeking heart; and, if I try to walk upright, wilt guide + me. What despair must he feel, who, after a whole life passed + in trying to build up himself, resolves that it would have + been far better if he had kept still as the clod of the + valley, or yielded easily as the leaf to every breeze! A path + has been appointed me. I have walked in it as steadily as I + could. I am what I am; that which I am not, teach me in the + others. I will bear the pain of imperfection, but not of + doubt. E. must not shake me in my worldliness, nor ---- in the + fine motion that has given me what I have of life, nor this + child of genius make me lay aside the armor, without which I + had lain bleeding on the field long since; but, if they can + keep closer to nature, and learn to interpret her as souls, + also, let me learn from them what I have not.' + +And, in connection with this conversation, she has copied the +following lines which this gentleman addressed to her:-- + + "TO MARGARET. + + I mark beneath thy life the virtue shine + That deep within the star's eye opes its day; + I clutch the gorgeous thoughts thou throw'st away + From the profound unfathomable mine, + And with them this mean common hour do twine, + As glassy waters on the dry beach play. + And I were rich as night, them to combine + With, my poor store, and warm me with thy ray. + From the fixed answer of those dateless eyes + I meet bold hints of spirit's mystery + As to what's past, and hungry prophecies + Of deeds to-day, and things which are to be; + Of lofty life that with the eagle flies, + And humble love that clasps humanity." + +I have thus vaguely designated, among the numerous group of her +friends, only those who were much in her company, in the early years +of my acquaintance with her. + +She wore this circle of friends, when I first knew her, as a necklace +of diamonds about her neck. They were so much to each other, that +Margaret seemed to represent them all, and, to know her, was to +acquire a place with them. The confidences given her were their best, +and she held them to them. She was an active, inspiring companion and +correspondent, and all the art, the thought, and the nobleness in New +England, seemed, at that moment, related to her, and she to it. She +was everywhere a welcome guest. The houses of her friends in town +and country were open to her, and every hospitable attention eagerly +offered. Her arrival was a holiday, and so was her abode. She stayed a +few days, often a week, more seldom a month, and all tasks that could +be suspended were put aside to catch the favorable hour, in walking, +riding, or boating, to talk with this joyful guest, who brought wit, +anecdotes, love-stories, tragedies, oracles with her, and, with her +broad web of relations to so many fine friends, seemed like the queen +of some parliament of love, who carried the key to all confidences, +and to whom every question had been finally referred. + +Persons were her game, specially, if marked by fortune, or character, +or success;--to such was she sent. She addressed them with a +hardihood,--almost a haughty assurance,--queen-like. Indeed, they fell +in her way, where the access might have seemed difficult, by +wonderful casualties; and the inveterate recluse, the coyest maid, the +waywardest poet, made no resistance, but yielded at discretion, as if +they had been waiting for her, all doors to this imperious dame. +She disarmed the suspicion of recluse scholars by the absence of +bookishness. The ease with which she entered into conversation made +them forget all they had heard of her; and she was infinitely less +interested in literature than in life. They saw she valued earnest +persons, and Dante, Petrarch, and Goethe, because they thought as she +did, and gratified her with high portraits, which she was everywhere +seeking. She drew her companions to surprising confessions. She was +the wedding-guest, to whom the long-pent story must be told; and +they were not less struck, on reflection, at the suddenness of the +friendship which had established, in one day, new and permanent +covenants. She extorted the secret of life, which cannot be told +without setting heart and mind in a glow; and thus had the best of +those she saw. Whatever romance, whatever virtue, whatever impressive +experience,--this came to her; and she lived in a superior circle; for +they suppressed all their common-place in her presence. + +She was perfectly true to this confidence. She never confounded +relations, but kept a hundred fine threads in her hand, without +crossing or entangling any. An entire intimacy, which seemed to make +both sharers of the whole horizon of each others' and of all truth, +did not yet make her false to any other friend; gave no title to the +history that an equal trust of another friend had put in her keeping. +In this reticence was no prudery and no effort. For, so rich her +mind, that she never was tempted to treachery, by the desire of +entertaining. The day was never long enough to exhaust her opulent +memory; and I, who knew her intimately for ten years,--from July, +1836, till August, 1846, when she sailed for Europe,--never saw her +without surprise at her new powers. + +Of the conversations above alluded to, the substance was whatever was +suggested by her passionate wish for equal companions, to the end +of making life altogether noble. With the firmest tact she led +the discourse into the midst of their daily living and working, +recognizing the good-will and sincerity which each man has in his +aims, and treating so playfully and intellectually all the points, +that one seemed to see his life _en beau_, and was flattered by +beholding what he had found so tedious in its workday weeds, shining +in glorious costume. Each of his friends passed before him in the +new light; hope seemed to spring under his feet, and life was worth +living. The auditor jumped for joy, and thirsted for unlimited +draughts. What! is this the dame, who, I heard, was sneering and +critical? this the blue-stocking, of whom I stood in terror and +dislike? this wondrous woman, full of counsel, full of tenderness, +before whom every mean thing is ashamed, and hides itself; this new +Corinne, more variously gifted, wise, sportive, eloquent, who seems to +have learned all languages, Heaven knows when or how,--I should think +she was born to them,--magnificent, prophetic, reading my life at her +will, and puzzling me with riddles like this, 'Yours is an example of +a destiny springing from character:' and, again, 'I see your destiny +hovering before you, but it always escapes from you.' + +The test of this eloquence was its range. It told on children, and on +old people; on men of the world, and on sainted maids. She could hold +them all by her honeyed tongue. A lady of the best eminence, whom +Margaret occasionally visited, in one of our cities of spindles, +speaking one day of her neighbors, said, "I stand in a certain awe of +the moneyed men, the manufacturers, and so on, knowing that they will +have small interest in Plato, or in Biot; but I saw them approach +Margaret, with perfect security, for she could give them bread that +they could eat." Some persons are thrown off their balance when in +society; others are thrown on to balance; the excitement of company, +and the observation of other characters, correct their biases. +Margaret always appeared to unexpected advantage in conversation +with a large circle. She had more sanity than any other; whilst, in +private, her vision was often through colored lenses. + +Her talents were so various, and her conversation so rich and +entertaining, that one might talk with her many times, by the parlor +fire, before he discovered the strength which served as foundation to +so much accomplishment and eloquence. But, concealed under flowers and +music, was the broadest good sense, very well able to dispose of all +this pile of native and foreign ornaments, and quite able to work +without them. She could always rally on this, in every circumstance, +and in every company, and find herself on a firm footing of equality +with any party whatever, and make herself useful, and, if need be, +formidable. + +The old Anaximenes, seeking, I suppose, for a source sufficiently +diffusive, said, that Mind must be _in the air_, which, when all men +breathed, they were filled with one intelligence. And when men have +larger measures of reason, as Æsop, Cervantes, Franklin, Scott, they +gain in universality, or are no longer confined to a few associates, +but are good company for all persons,--philosophers, women, men of +fashion, tradesmen, and servants. Indeed, an older philosopher +than Anaximenes, namely, language itself, had taught to distinguish +superior or purer sense as _common_ sense. + +Margaret had, with certain limitations, or, must we say, _strictures_, +these larger lungs, inhaling this universal element, and could speak +to Jew and Greek, free and bond, to each in his own tongue. The +Concord stage-coachman distinguished her by his respect, and the +chambermaid was pretty sure to confide to her, on the second day, her +homely romance. + +I regret that it is not in my power to give any true report of +Margaret's conversation. She soon became an established friend and +frequent inmate of our house, and continued, thenceforward, for years, +to come, once in three or four months, to spend a week or a fortnight +with us. She adopted all the people and all the interests she found +here. Your people shall be my people, and yonder darling boy I shall +cherish as my own. Her ready sympathies endeared her to my wife and my +mother, each of whom highly esteemed her good sense and sincerity. +She suited each, and all. Yet, she was not a person to be suspected of +complaisance, and her attachments, one might say, were chemical. + +She had so many tasks of her own, that she was a very easy guest to +entertain, as she could be left to herself, day after day, without +apology. According to our usual habit, we seldom met in the forenoon. +After dinner, we read something together, or walked, or rode. In the +evening, she came to the library, and many and many a conversation was +there held, whose details, if they could be preserved, would justify +all encomiums. They interested me in every manner;--talent, memory, +wit, stern introspection, poetic play, religion, the finest personal +feeling, the aspects of the future, each followed each in full +activity, and left me, I remember, enriched and sometimes astonished +by the gifts of my guest. Her topics were numerous, but the cardinal +points of poetry, love, and religion, were never far off. She was a +student of art, and, though untravelled, knew, much better than most +persons who had been abroad, the conventional reputation of each of +the masters. She was familiar with all the field of elegant criticism +in literature. Among the problems of the day, these two attracted +her chiefly, Mythology and Demonology; then, also, French Socialism, +especially as it concerned woman; the whole prolific family of +reforms, and, of course, the genius and career of each remarkable +person. + +She had other friends, in this town, beside those in my house. A lady, +already alluded to, lived in the village, who had known her longer +than I, and whose prejudices Margaret had resolutely fought down, +until she converted her into the firmest and most efficient of +friends. In 1842, Nathaniel Hawthorne, already then known to the world +by his Twice-Told Tales, came to live in Concord, in the "Old Manse," +with his wife, who was herself an artist. With these welcomed persons +Margaret formed a strict and happy acquaintance. She liked their +old house, and the taste which had filled it with new articles of +beautiful form, yet harmonized with the antique furniture left by the +former proprietors. She liked, too, the pleasing walks, and rides, and +boatings, which that neighborhood commanded. + +In 1842, William Ellery Channing, whose wife was her sister, built +a house in Concord, and this circumstance made a new tie and another +home for Margaret. + + + + +ARCANA. + + +It was soon evident that there was somewhat a little pagan about her; +that she had some faith more or less distinct in a fate, and in a +guardian genius; that her fancy, or her pride, had played with +her religion. She had a taste for gems, ciphers, talismans, omens, +coincidences, and birth-days. She had a special love for the planet +Jupiter, and a belief that the month of September was inauspicious +to her. She never forgot that her name, Margarita, signified a pearl. +'When I first met with the name Leila,' she said, 'I knew, from the +very look and sound, it was mine; I knew that it meant night,--night, +which brings out stars, as sorrow brings out truths.' Sortilege she +valued. She tried _sortes biblicæ_, and her hits were memorable. I +think each new book which interested her, she was disposed to put +to this test, and know if it had somewhat personal to say to her. As +happens to such persons, these guesses were justified by the event. +She chose carbuncle for her own stone, and when a dear friend was to +give her a gem, this was the one selected. She valued what she had +somewhere read, that carbuncles are male and female. The female casts +out light, the male has his within himself. 'Mine,' she said, 'is the +male.' And she was wont to put on her carbuncle, a bracelet, or some +selected gem, to write letters to certain friends. One of her friends +she coupled with the onyx, another in a decided way with the amethyst. +She learned that the ancients esteemed this gem a talisman to dispel +intoxication, to give good thoughts and understanding 'The Greek +meaning is _antidote against drunkenness_.' She characterized +her friends by these stones, and wrote to the last mentioned, the +following lines:-- + + 'TO ----. + + 'Slow wandering on a tangled way, + To their lost child pure spirits say:-- + The diamond marshal thee by day, + By night, the carbuncle defend, + Heart's blood of a bosom friend. + On thy brow, the amethyst, + Violet of purest earth, + When by fullest sunlight kissed, + Best reveals its regal birth; + And when that haloed moment flies, + Shall keep thee steadfast, chaste, and wise.' + +Coincidences, good and bad, _contretemps_, seals, ciphers, mottoes, +omens, anniversaries, names, dreams, are all of a certain importance +to her. Her letters are often dated on some marked anniversary of her +own, or of her correspondent's calendar. She signalized saints' days, +"All-Souls," and "All-Saints," by poems, which had for her a mystical +value. She remarked a preëstablished harmony of the names of her +personal friends, as well as of her historical favorites; that +of Emanuel, for Swedenborg; and Rosencrantz, for the head of the +Rosicrucians. 'If Christian Rosencrantz,' she said, 'is not a made +name, the genius of the age interfered in the baptismal rite, as in +the cases of the archangels of art, Michael and Raphael, and in giving +the name of Emanuel to the captain of the New Jerusalem. _Sub rosa +crux_, I think, is the true derivation, and not the chemical one, +generation, corruption, &c.' In this spirit, she soon surrounded +herself with a little mythology of her own. She had a series of +anniversaries, which she kept. Her seal-ring of the flying Mercury +had its legend. She chose the _Sistrum_ for her emblem, and had it +carefully drawn with a view to its being engraved on a gem. And I +know not how many verses and legends came recommended to her by this +symbolism. Her dreams, of course, partook of this symmetry. The same +dream returns to her periodically, annually, and punctual to its +night. One dream she marks in her journal as repeated for the fourth +time:-- + + 'In C., I at last distinctly recognized the figure of the + early vision, whom I found after I had left A., who led me, + on the bridge, towards the city, glittering in sunset, but, + midway, the bridge went under water. I have often seen in her + face that it was she, but refused to believe it.' + +She valued, of course, the significance of flowers, and chose emblems +for her friends from her garden. + + 'TO ----, WITH HEARTSEASE. + + 'Content, in purple lustre clad, + Kingly serene, and golden glad, + No demi-hues of sad contrition, + No pallors of enforced submission;-- + Give me such content as this, + And keep awhile the rosy bliss.' + + + + +DÆMONOLOGY. + + +This catching at straws of coincidence, where all is geometrical, +seems the necessity of certain natures. It, is true, that, in every +good work, the particulars are right, and, that every spot of light on +the ground, under the trees, is a perfect image of the sun. Yet, for +astronomical purposes, an observatory is better than an orchard; and +in a universe which is nothing but generations, or an unbroken suite +of cause and effect, to infer Providence, because a man happens to +find a shilling on the pavement just when he wants one to spend, is +puerile, and much as if each of us should date his letters and notes +of hand from his own birthday, instead of from Christ's or the king's +reign, or the current Congress. These, to be sure, are also, at first, +petty and private beginnings, but, by the world of men, clothed with a +social and cosmical character. + +It will be seen, however, that this propensity Margaret held with +certain tenets of fate, which always swayed her, and which Goethe, +who had found room and fine names for all this in his system, had +encouraged; and, I may add, which her own experiences, early and late, +seemed strangely to justify. + +Some extracts, from her letters to different persons, will show how +this matter lay in her mind. + + '_December 17, 1829_.--The following instance of beautiful + credulity, in Rousseau, has taken my mind greatly. This remote + seeking for the decrees of fate, this feeling of a destiny, + casting its shadows from the very morning of thought, is the + most beautiful species of idealism in our day. 'Tis finely + manifested in Wallenstein, where the two common men sum up + their superficial observations on the life and doings of + Wallenstein, and show that, not until this agitating crisis, + have they caught any idea of the deep thoughts which shaped + that hero, who has, without their feeling it, moulded _their_ + existence. + + '"Tasso," says Rousseau, "has predicted my misfortunes. Have + you remarked that Tasso has this peculiarity, that you cannot + take from his work a single strophe, nor from any strophe + a single line, nor from any line a single word, without + disarranging the whole poem? Very well! take away the strophe + I speak of, the stanza has no connection with those that + precede or follow it; it is absolutely useless. _Tasso + probably wrote it involuntarily, and without comprehending it + himself_." + + 'As to the impossibility of taking from Tasso without + disarranging the poem, &c., I dare say 'tis not one whit more + justly said of his, than, of any other narrative poem. _Mais, + n'importe_, 'tis sufficient if Rousseau believed this. I found + the stanza in question; admire its meaning beauty. + + 'I hope you have Italian enough to appreciate the singular + perfection in expression. If not, look to Fairfax's Jerusalem + Delivered, Canto 12, Stanza 77; but Rousseau says these lines + have no connection with what goes before, or after; _they are + preceded_, stanza 76, by these three lines, which he does not + think fit to mention.' + + * * * * * + + "Misero mostro d'infelice amore; + Misero mostro a cui sol pena è degna + Dell' immensa impietà, la vita indegna." + + "Vivrò fra i miei tormenti e fra le cure, + Mie giuste furie, forsennato errante. + Paventerò l'ombre solinghe e scure, + Che l'primo error mi recheranno avante + E del sol che scoprì le mie sventure, + A schivo ed in orrore avrò il sembiante. + Temerò me medesmo; e da me stesso + Sempre fuggendo, avrò me sempre appresso." + + LA GERUSALEMME: LIBERATA, C. XII. 76, 77. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + + '_Dec._12, 1843.--When Goethe received a letter from Zelter, + with a handsome superscription, he said. "Lay that aside; it + is Zelter's true hand-writing. Every man has a dæmon, who is + busy to confuse and limit his life. No way is the action of + this power more clearly shown, than in the hand-writing. On + this occasion, the evil influences have been evaded; the mood, + the hand, the pen and paper have conspired to let our friend + write truly himself." + + 'You may perceive, I quote from memory, as the sentences + are anything but Goethean; but I think often of this little + passage. With me, for weeks and months, the dæmon works his + will. Nothing succeeds with me. I fall ill, or am otherwise + interrupted. At these times, whether of frost, or sultry + weather, I would gladly neither plant nor reap,--wait for + the better times, which sometimes come, when I forget that + sickness is ever possible; when all interruptions are upborne + like straws on the full stream of my life, and the words that + accompany it are as much in harmony as sedges murmuring near + the bank. Not all, yet not unlike. But it often happens, that + something presents itself, and must be done, in the bad time; + nothing presents itself in the good: so I, like the others, + seem worse and poorer than I am.' + +In another letter to an earlier friend, she expatiates a little. + + 'As to the Dæmoniacal, I know not that I can say to you + anything more precise than you find from Goethe. There are + no precise terms for such thoughts. The word _instinctive_ + indicates their existence. I intimated it in the little piece + on the Drachenfels. It may be best understood, perhaps, by a + symbol. As the sun shines from the serene heavens, dispelling + noxious exhalations, and calling forth exquisite thoughts + on the surface of earth in the shape of shrub or flower, so + gnome-like works the fire within the hidden caverns and secret + veins of earth, fashioning existences which have a longer + share in time, perhaps, because they are not immortal in + thought. Love, beauty, wisdom, goodness are intelligent, but + this power moves only to seize its prey. It is not necessarily + either malignant or the reverse, but it has no scope beyond + demonstrating its existence. When conscious, self-asserting, + it becomes (as power working for its own sake, unwilling to + acknowledge love for its superior, must) the devil. That is + the legend of Lucifer, the star that would not own its + centre. Yet, while it is unconscious, it is not devilish, only + dæmoniac. In nature, we trace it in all volcanic workings, in + a boding position of lights, in whispers of the wind, which + has no pedigree; in deceitful invitations of the water, in the + sullen rock, which never shall find a voice, and in the shapes + of all those beings who go about seeking what they may devour. + We speak of a mystery, a dread; we shudder, but we approach + still nearer, and a part of our nature listens, sometimes + answers to this influence, which, if not indestructible, is at + least indissolubly linked with the existence of matter. + + 'In genius, and in character, it works, as you say, + instinctively; it refuses to be analyzed by the understanding, + and is most of all inaccessible to the person who possesses + it. We can only say, I have it, he has it. You have seen it + often in the eyes of those Italian faces you like. It is most + obvious in the eye. As we look on such eyes, we think on + the tiger, the serpent, beings who lurk, glide, fascinate, + mysteriously control. For it is occult by its nature, and if + it could meet you on the highway, and be familiarly known as + an acquaintance, could not exist. The angels of light do not + love, yet they do not insist on exterminating it. + + 'It has given rise to the fables of wizard, enchantress, and + the like; these beings are scarcely good, yet not necessarily + bad. Power tempts them. They draw their skills from the dead, + because their being is coeval with that of matter, and matter + is the mother of death.' + +In later days, she allowed herself sometimes to dwell sadly on the +resistances which she called her fate, and remarked, that 'all life +that has been or could be natural to me, is invariably denied.' + +She wrote long afterwards:-- + + 'My days at Milan were not unmarked. I have known some happy + hours, but they all lead to sorrow, and not only the cups of + wine, but of milk, seem drugged with poison, for me. It does + not seem to be my fault, this destiny. I do not court these + things,--they come. I am a poor magnet, with power to be + wounded by the bodies I attract.' + + + + +TEMPERAMENT. + + +I said that Margaret had a broad good sense, which brought her near to +all people. I am to say that she had also a strong temperament, which +is that counter force which makes individuality, by driving all the +powers in the direction of the ruling thought or feeling, and, when it +is allowed full sway, isolating them. These two tendencies were always +invading each other, and now one and now the other carried the day. +This alternation perplexes the biographer, as it did the observer. +We contradict on the second page what we affirm on the first: and I +remember how often I was compelled to correct my impressions of her +character when living; for after I had settled it once for all that +she wanted this or that perception, at our next interview she would +say with emphasis the very word. + +I think, in her case, there was something abnormal in those obscure +habits and necessities which we denote by the word Temperament. In the +first days of our acquaintance, I felt her to be a foreigner,--that, +with her, one would always be sensible of some barrier, as if in +making up a friendship with a cultivated Spaniard or Turk. She had a +strong constitution, and of course its reactions were strong; and +this is the reason why in all her life she has so much to say of her +_fate_. She was in jubilant spirits in the morning, and ended the day +with nervous headache, whose spasms, my wife told me, produced total +prostration. She had great energy of speech and action, and seemed +formed for high emergencies. + +Her life concentrated itself on certain happy days, happy hours, happy +moments. The rest was a void. She had read that a man of letters must +lose many days, to work well in one. Much more must a Sappho or a +sibyl. The capacity of pleasure was balanced by the capacity of pain. +'If I had wist!--' she writes, 'I am a worse self-tormentor than +Rousseau, and all my riches are fuel to the fire. My beautiful lore, +like the tropic clime, hatches scorpions to sting me. There is a +verse, which Annie of Lochroyan sings about her ring, that torments my +memory, 'tis so true of myself.' + +When I found she lived at a rate so much faster than mine, and which +was violent compared with mine, I foreboded rash and painful crises, +and had a feeling as if a voice cried, _Stand from under!_--as if, a +little further on, this destiny was threatened with jars and reverses, +which no friendship could avert or console. This feeling partly wore +off, on better acquaintance, but remained latent; and I had always +an impression that her energy was too much a force of blood, and +therefore never felt the security for her peace which belongs to more +purely intellectual natures. She seemed more vulnerable. For the +same reason, she remained inscrutable to me; her strength was not my +strength,--her powers were a surprise. She passed into new states of +great advance, but I understood these no better. It were long to tell +her peculiarities. Her childhood was full of presentiments. She was +then a somnambulist. She was subject to attacks of delirium, and, +later, perceived that she had spectral illusions. When she was twelve, +she had a determination of blood to the head. 'My parents,' she said, + + 'were much mortified to see the fineness of my complexion + destroyed. My own vanity was for a time severely wounded; but + I recovered, and made up my mind to be bright and ugly.' + +She was all her lifetime the victim of disease and pain. She read and +wrote in bed, and believed that she could understand anything better +when she was ill. Pain acted like a girdle, to give tension to her +powers. A lady, who was with her one day during a terrible attack of +nervous headache, which made Margaret totally helpless, assured me +that Margaret was yet in the finest vein of humor, and kept those who +were assisting her in a strange, painful excitement, between +laughing and crying, by perpetual brilliant sallies. There were other +peculiarities of habit and power. When she turned her head on one +side, she alleged she had second sight, like St. Francis. These traits +or predispositions made her a willing listener to all the uncertain +science of mesmerism and its goblin brood, which have been rife in +recent years. + +She had a feeling that she ought to have been a man, and said of +herself, 'A man's ambition with a woman's heart, is an evil lot.' In +some verses which she wrote 'To the Moon,' occur these lines:-- + + 'But if I steadfast gaze upon thy face, + A human secret, like my own, I trace; + For, through the woman's smile looks the male eye.' + +And she found something of true portraiture in a disagreeable novel of +Balzac's, "_Le Livre Mystique_," in which an equivocal figure exerts +alternately a masculine and a feminine influence on the characters of +the plot. + +Of all this nocturnal element in her nature she was very conscious, +and was disposed, of course, to give it as fine names as it would +carry, and to draw advantage from it. 'Attica,' she said to a friend, +'is your province, Thessaly is mine: Attica produced the marble +wonders, of the great geniuses; but Thessaly is the land of magic.' + + 'I have a great share of Typhon to the Osiris, wild rush and + leap, blind force for the sake of force.' + + * * * * * + + 'Dante, thou didst not describe, in all thy apartments of + Inferno, this tremendous repression of an existence half + unfolded; this swoon as the soul was ready to be born.' + + * * * * * + + 'Every year I live, I dislike routine more and more, though I + see that society rests on that, and other falsehoods. The + more I screw myself down to hours, the more I become expert at + giving out thought and life in regulated rations,--the more I + weary of this world, and long to move upon the wing, without + props and sedan chairs.' + + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + + '_Dec._ 26, 1839.--If you could look into my mind just now, + you would send far from you those who love and hate. I am + on the Drachenfels, and cannot get off; it is one of my + naughtiest moods. Last Sunday, I wrote a long letter, + describing it in prose and verse, and I had twenty minds to + send it you as a literary curiosity; then I thought, this + might destroy relations, and I might not be able to be calm + and chip marble with you any more, if I talked to you in + magnetism and music; so I sealed and sent it in the due + direction. + + 'I remember you say, that forlorn seasons often turn out + the most profitable. Perhaps I shall find it so. I have been + reading Plato all the week, because I could not write. I hoped + to be tuned up thereby. I perceive, with gladness, a keener + insight in myself, day by day; yet, after all, could not make + a good statement this morning on the subject of beauty.' + +She had, indeed, a rude strength, which, if it could have been +supported by an equal health, would have given her the efficiency of +the strongest men. As it was, she had great power of work. The account +of her reading in Groton is at a rate like Gibbon's, and, later, that +of her writing, considered with the fact that writing was not grateful +to her, is incredible. She often proposed to her friends, in the +progress of intimacy, to write every day. 'I think less than a daily +offering of thought and feeling would not content me, so much seems +to pass unspoken.' In Italy, she tells Madame Arconati, that she has +'more than a hundred correspondents;' and it was her habit there to +devote one day of every week to those distant friends. The facility +with which she assumed stints of literary labor, which veteran feeders +of the press would shrink from,--assumed and performed,--when her +friends were to be served, I have often observed with wonder, and +with fear, when I considered the near extremes of ill-health, and +the manner in which her life heaped itself in high and happy moments, +which were avenged by lassitude and pain. + + 'As each task comes,' she said, 'I borrow a readiness from its + aspect, as I always do brightness from the face of a friend. + Yet, as soon as the hour is past, I sink.' + +I think most of her friends will remember to have felt, at one time +or another, some uneasiness, as if this athletic soul craved a larger +atmosphere than it found; as if she were ill-timed and mis-mated, +and felt in herself a tide of life, which compared with the slow +circulation of others as a torrent with a rill. She found no full +expression of it but in music. Beethoven's Symphony was the only right +thing the city of the Puritans had for her. Those to whom music has a +representative value, affording them a stricter copy of their inward +life than any other of the expressive arts, will, perhaps, enter into +the spirit which dictated the following letter to her patron saint, on +her return, one evening, from the Boston Academy of Music. + + + + + +TO BEETHOVEN. + + + '_Saturday Evening. 25th Nov._, 1843. + + 'My only friend, + + 'How shall I thank thee for once more breaking the chains of + my sorrowful slumber? My heart beats. I live again, for I feel + that I am worthy audience for thee, and that my being would be + reason enough for thine. + + 'Master, my eyes are always clear. I see that the universe is + rich, if I am poor. I see the insignificance of my sorrows. In + my will, I am not a captive; in my intellect, not a slave. Is + it then my fault that the palsy of my affections benumbs my + whole life? + + 'I know that the curse is but for the time. I know what the + eternal justice promises. But on this one sphere, it is sad. + Thou didst say, thou hadst no friend but thy art. But that one + is enough. I have no art, in which to vent the swell of a soul + as deep as thine, Beethoven, and of a kindred frame. Thou wilt + not think me presumptuous in this saying, as another might. + I have always known that thou wouldst welcome and know me, as + would no other who ever lived upon the earth since its first + creation. + + 'Thou wouldst forgive me, master, that I have not been true to + my eventual destiny, and therefore have suffered on every side + "the pangs of despised love." Thou didst the same; but thou + didst borrow from those errors the inspiration of thy genius. + Why is it not thus with me? Is it because, as a woman, I + am bound by a physical-law, which prevents the soul from + manifesting itself? Sometimes the moon seems mockingly to say + so,--to say that I, too, shall not shine, unless I can find a + sun. O, cold and barren moon, tell a different tale! + + 'But thou, oh blessed master! dost answer all my questions, + and make it my privilege to be. Like a humble wife to the + sage, or poet, it is my triumph that I can understand and + cherish thee: like a mistress, I arm thee for the fight: like + a young daughter, I tenderly bind thy wounds. Thou art to me + beyond compare, for thou art all I want. No heavenly sweetness + of saint or martyr, no many-leaved Raphael, no golden + Plato, is anything to me, compared with thee. The infinite + Shakspeare, the stern Angelo, Dante,--bittersweet like + thee,--are no longer seen in thy presence. And, beside these + names, there are none that could vibrate in thy crystal + sphere. Thou hast all of them, and that ample surge of life + besides, that great winged being which they only dreamed of. + There is none greater than Shakspeare; he, too, is a god; but + his creations are successive; thy _fiat_ comprehends them all. + + 'Last summer, I met thy mood in nature, on those wide + impassioned plains flower and crag-bestrown. There, the tide + of emotion had rolled over, and left the vision of its smiles + and sobs, as I saw to-night from thee. + + 'If thou wouldst take me wholly to thyself--! I am lost in + this world, where I sometimes meet angels, but of a different + star from mine. Even so does thy spirit plead with all + spirits. But thou dost triumph and bring them all in. + + 'Master, I have this summer envied the oriole which had even + a swinging nest in the high bough. I have envied the least + flower that came to seed, though that seed were strown to the + wind. But I envy none when I am with thee.' + + + + +SELF-ESTEEM. + + +Margaret at first astonished and repelled us by a complacency that +seemed the most assured since the days of Scaliger. She spoke, in the +quietest manner, of the girls she had formed, the young men who owed +everything to her, the fine companions she had long ago exhausted. In +the coolest way, she said to her friends, 'I now know all the people +worth knowing in America, and I find no intellect comparable to my +own.' In vain, on one occasion, I professed my reverence for a youth +of genius, and my curiosity in his future,--'O no, she was intimate +with his mind,' and I 'spoiled him, by overrating him.' Meantime, +we knew that she neither had seen, nor would see, his subtle +superiorities. + +I have heard, that from the beginning of her life, she idealized +herself as a sovereign. She told--she early saw herself to be +intellectually superior to those around her, and that for years she +dwelt upon the idea, until she believed that she was not her +parents' child, but an European princess confided to their care. She +remembered, that, when a little girl, she was walking one day under +the apple trees with such an air and step, that her father pointed her +out to her sister, saying, _Incedit regina._ And her letters sometimes +convey these exultations, as the following, which was written to +a lady, and which contained Margaret's translation of Goethe's +"Prometheus." + + To ----. + + 1838.--Which of us has not felt the questionings expressed in + this bold fragment? Does it not seem, were we gods, or could + steal their fire, we would make men not only happier, but + free,--glorious? Yes, my life is strange; thine is strange. We + are, we shall be, in this life, mutilated beings, but there + is in my bosom a faith, that I shall see the reason; a glory, + that I can endure to be so imperfect; and a feeling, ever + elastic, that fate and time shall have the shame and the + blame, if I am mutilated. I will do all I can,--and, if one + cannot succeed, there is a beauty in martyrdom. + + Your letters are excellent. I did not mean to check your + writing, only I thought that you might wish a confidence + that I must anticipate with a protest. But I take my natural + position always: and the more I see, the more I feel that it + is regal. Without throne, sceptre, or guards, still a queen. + +It is certain that Margaret occasionally let slip, with all the +innocence imaginable, some phrase betraying the presence of a rather +mountainous ME, in a way to surprise those who knew her good +sense. She could say, as if she were stating a scientific fact, in +enumerating the merits of somebody, 'He appreciates _me_.' There +was something of hereditary organization in this, and something of +unfavorable circumstance in the fact, that she had in early life no +companion, and few afterwards, in her finer studies; but there was +also an ebullient sense of power, which she felt to be in her, which +as yet had found no right channels. I remember she once said to me, +what I heard as a mere statement of fact, and nowise as unbecoming, +that 'no man gave such invitation to her mind as to tempt her to a +full expression; that she felt a power to enrich her thought with such +wealth and variety of embellishment as would, no doubt, be tedious to +such as she conversed with.' + +Her impatience she expressed as she could. 'I feel within myself,' she +said, + + 'an immense force, but I cannot bring it out. It may sound + like a joke, but I do feel something corresponding to that + tale of the Destinies falling in love with Hermes.' + +In her journal, in the summer of 1844, she writes:-- + + 'Mrs. Ware talked with me about education,--wilful + education,--in which she is trying to get interested. I talk + with a Goethean moderation on this subject, which rather + surprises her and ----, who are nearer the entrance of the + studio. I am really old on this subject. In near eight years' + experience, I have learned as much as others would in eighty, + from my great talent at explanation, tact in the use of + means, and immediate and invariable power over the minds of + my pupils. My wish has been, to purify my own conscience, when + near them; give clear views of the aims of this life; show + them where the magazines of knowledge lie; and leave the rest + to themselves and the Spirit, who must teach and help them to + self-impulse. I told Mrs. W. it was much if we did not injure + them; if they were passing the time in a way that was _not + bad_, so that good influences have a chance. Perhaps people + in general must expect greater outward results, or they would + feel no interest.' + +Again: + + 'With the intellect I always have, always shall, overcome; but + that is not the half of the work. The life, the life! O, my + God! shall the life never be sweet?' + +I have inquired diligently of those who saw her often, and in +different companies, concerning her habitual tone, and something like +this is the report:--In conversation, Margaret seldom, except as a +special grace, admitted others upon an equal ground with herself. She +was exceedingly tender, when she pleased to be, and most cherishing +in her influence; but to elicit this tenderness, it was necessary to +submit first to her personally. When a person was overwhelmed by +her, and answered not a word, except, "Margaret, be merciful to me, a +sinner," then her love and tenderness would come like a seraph's, +and often an acknowledgment that she had been too harsh, and even a +craving for pardon, with a humility,--which, perhaps, she had caught +from the other. But her instinct was not humility,--that was always an +afterthought. + +This arrogant tone of her conversation, if it came to be the subject +of comment, of course, she defended, and with such broad good nature, +and on grounds of simple truth, as were not easy to set aside. She +quoted from Manzoni's _Carmagnola_, the lines:-- + + "Tolga il ciel che alcuno + Piu altamente di me pensi ch'io stesso." + +"God forbid that any one should conceive more highly of me than +I myself." Meantime, the tone of her journals is humble, tearful, +religious, and rises easily into prayer. + +I am obliged to an ingenious correspondent for the substance of the +following account of this idiosyncrasy:-- + + Margaret was one of the few persons who looked upon life as an + art, and every person not merely as an artist, but as a work + of art. She looked upon herself as a living statue, which + should always stand on a polished pedestal, with right + accessories, and under the most fitting lights. She would have + been glad to have everybody so live and act. She was annoyed + when they did not, and when they did not regard her from the + point of view which alone did justice to her. No one could + be more lenient in her judgments of those whom she saw to be + living in this light. Their faults were to be held as "the + disproportions of the ungrown giant." But the faults of + persons who were unjustified by this ideal, were odious. + Unhappily, her constitutional self-esteem sometimes blinded + the eyes that should have seen that an idea lay at the bottom + of some lives which she did not quite so readily comprehend as + beauty; that truth had other manifestations than those which + engaged her natural sympathies; that sometimes the soul + illuminated only the smallest arc--of a circle so large that + it was lost in the clouds of another world. + +This apology reminds me of a little speech once made to her, at his +own house, by Dr. Channing, who held her in the highest regard: "Miss +Fuller, when I consider that you are and have all that Miss ---- has +so long wished for, and that you scorn her, and that she still admires +you,--I think her place in heaven will be very high." + +But qualities of this kind can only be truly described by the +impression they make on the bystander; and it is certain that her +friends excused in her, because she had a right to it, a tone which +they would have reckoned intolerable in any other. Many years since, +one of her earliest and fastest friends quoted Spenser's sonnet as +accurately descriptive of Margaret:-- + + "Rudely thou wrongest my dear heart's desire, + In finding fault with her too portly pride; + The thing which I do most in her admire + Is of the world unworthy most envied. + For, in those lofty looks is close implied + Scorn of base things, disdain of foul dishonor, + Threatening rash eyes which gaze on her so wide + That loosely they ne dare to look upon her: + Such pride is praise, such portliness is honor, + That boldened innocence bears in her eyes; + And her fair countenance, like a goodly banner, + Spreads in defiance of all enemies. + Was never in this world aught worthy tried, + Without a spark of some self-pleasing pride." + + + + +BOOKS. + + +She had been early remarked for her sense and sprightliness, and for +her skill in school exercises. Now she had added wide reading, and +of the books most grateful to her. She had read the Italian poets +by herself, and from sympathy. I said, that, by the leading part +she naturally took, she had identified herself with all the elegant +culture in this country. Almost every person who had any distinction +for wit, or art, or scholarship, was known to her; and she was +familiar with the leading books and topics. There is a kind of +undulation in the popularity of the great writers, even of the first +rank. We have seen a recent importance given to Behmen and Swedenborg; +and Shakspeare has unquestionably gained with the present generation. +It is distinctive, too, of the taste of the period,--the new vogue +given to the genius of Dante. An edition of Cary's translation, +reprinted in Boston, many years ago, was rapidly sold; and, for the +last twenty years, all studious youths and maidens have been reading +the Inferno. Margaret had very early found her way to Dante, and from +a certain native preference which she felt or fancied for the Italian +genius. The following letter, though of a later date, relates to these +studies:-- + + TO R.W.E. + + '_December_, 1842.--When you were here, you seemed to think I + might perhaps have done something on the _Vita Nuova_; and the + next day I opened the book, and considered how I could do + it. But you shall not expect that, either, for your present + occasion. When I first mentioned it to you, it was only as a + piece of Sunday work, which I thought of doing for you alone; + and because it has never seemed to me you entered enough into + the genius of the Italian to apprehend the mind, which has + seemed so great to me, and a star unlike, if not higher than + all the others in our sky. Else, I should have given you + the original, rather than any version of mine. I intended to + translate the poems, with which it is interspersed, into plain + prose. Milnes and Longfellow have tried each their power at + doing it in verse, and have done better, probably, than I + could, yet not well. But this would not satisfy me for the + public. Besides, the translating Dante is a piece of literary + presumption, and challenges a criticism to which I am not sure + that I am, as the Germans say, _gewachsen_. Italian, as well + as German, I learned by myself, unassisted, except as to the + pronunciation. I have never been brought into connection + with minds trained to any severity in these kinds of elegant + culture. I have used all the means within my reach, but my not + going abroad is an insuperable defect in the technical part + of my education. I was easily capable of attaining excellence, + perhaps mastery, in the use of some implements. Now I know, + at least, _what I do not know_, and I get along by never + voluntarily going beyond my depth, and, when called on to do + it, stating my incompetency. At moments when I feel tempted to + regret that I could not follow out the plan I had marked + for myself, and develop powers which are not usual here, I + reflect, that if I had attained high finish and an easy range + in these respects, I should not have been thrown back on my + own resources, or known them as I do. But Lord Brougham should + not translate Greek orations, nor a maid-of-all-work attempt + such a piece of delicate handling as to translate the _Vita + Nuova_.' + +Here is a letter, without date, to another correspondent: + + 'To-day, on reading over some of the sonnets of Michel Angelo, + I felt them more than usual. I know not why I have not read + them thus before, except that the beauty was pointed out to me + at first by another, instead of my coming unexpectedly upon + it of myself. All the great writers, all the persons who have + been dear to me, I have found and chosen; they have not been + proposed to me. My intimacy with them came upon me as natural + eras, unexpected and thrice dear. Thus I have appreciated, but + not been able to feel, Michel Angelo as a poet. + + 'It is a singular fact in my mental history, that, while I + understand the principles and construction of language much + better than formerly, I cannot read so well _les langues + méridionales_. I suppose it is that I am less _méridionale_ + myself. I understand the genius of the north better than I + did.' + +Dante, Petrarca, Tasso, were her friends among the old poets,--for to +Ariosto she assigned a far lower place,--Alfieri and Manzoni, among +the new. But what was of still more import to her education, she had +read German books, and, for the three years before I knew her, almost +exclusively,--Lessing, Schiller, Richter, Tieck, Novalis, and, above +all, GOETHE. It was very obvious, at the first intercourse with her, +though her rich and busy mind never reproduced undigested reading, +that the last writer,--food or poison,--the most powerful of all +mental reagents,--the pivotal mind in modern literature,--for all +before him are ancients, and all who have read him are moderns,--that +this mind had been her teacher, and, of course, the place was filled, +nor was there room for any other. She had that symptom which appears +in all the students of Goethe,--an ill-dissembled contempt of all +criticism on him which they hear from others, as if it were totally +irrelevant; and they are themselves always preparing to say the right +word,--a _prestige_ which is allowed, of course, until they do +speak: when they have delivered their volley, they pass, like their +foregoers, to the rear. + +The effect on Margaret was complete. She was perfectly timed to it. +She found her moods met, her topics treated, the liberty of thought +she loved, the same climate of mind. Of course, this book superseded +all others, for the time, and tinged deeply all her thoughts. The +religion, the science, the Catholicism, the worship of art, the +mysticism and dæmonology, and withal the clear recognition of moral +distinctions as final and eternal, all charmed her; and Faust, and +Tasso, and Mignon, and Makaria, and Iphigenia, became irresistible +names. It was one of those agreeable historical coincidences, perhaps +invariable, though not yet registered, the simultaneous appearance +of a teacher and of pupils, between whom exists a strict affinity. +Nowhere did Goethe find a braver, more intelligent, or more +sympathetic reader. About the time I knew her, she was meditating +a biography of Goethe, and did set herself to the task in 1837. She +spent much time on it, and has left heaps of manuscripts, which are +notes, transcripts, and studies in that direction. But she wanted +leisure and health to finish it, amid the multitude of projected works +with which her brain teemed. She used great discretion on this point, +and made no promises. In 1839, she published her translation of +Eckermann, a book which makes the basis of the translation of +Eckermann since published in London, by Mr. Oxenford. In the Dial, +in July, 1841, she wrote an article on Goethe, which is, on many +accounts, her best paper. + + + + +CRITICISM. + + +Margaret was in the habit of sending to her correspondents, in lieu of +letters, sheets of criticism on her recent readings. From such quite +private folios, never intended for the press, and, indeed, containing +here and there names and allusions, which it is now necessary to veil +or suppress, I select the following notices, chiefly of French books. +Most of these were addressed to me, but the three first to an earlier +friend. + + 'Reading Schiller's introduction to the Wars of the League, + I have been led back to my old friend, the Duke of Sully, + and his charming king. He was a man, that Henri! How gay and + graceful seems his unflinching frankness! He wore life + as lightly as the feather in his cap. I have become much + interested, too, in the two Guises, who had seemed to me mere + intriguers, and not of so splendid abilities, when I was less + able to appreciate the difficulties they daily and hourly + combated. I want to read some more books about them. Do you + know whether I could get Matthieu, or de Thou, or the Memoirs + of the House of Nevers? + + 'I do not think this is a respectable way of passing my + summer, but I cannot help it. + + 'I never read any life of Molière. Are the facts very + interesting? You see clearly in his writing what he was: a + man not high, not poetic; but firm, wide, genuine, whose + clearsightedness only made him more noble. I love him well + that he could see without showing these myriad mean faults of + the social man, and yet make no nearer approach to misanthropy + than his Alceste. These witty Frenchmen. Rabelais, Montaigne, + Molière, are great as were their marshals and _preux + chevaliers_; when the Frenchman tries to be poetical, + he becomes theatrical, but he can be romantic, and also + dignified, maugre shrugs and snuff-boxes.' + + * * * * * + + '_Thursday Evening_.--Although I have been much engaged these + two days. I have read Spiridion twice. I could have wished + to go through it the second time more at leisure, but as I am + going away, I thought I would send it back, lest it should be + wanted before my return. + + 'The development of the religious sentiment being the same as + in Hélene, I at first missed the lyric effusion of that work, + which seems to me more and more beautiful, as I think of it + more. This, however, was a mere prejudice, of course, as the + thought here is poured into a quite different mould, and I was + not troubled by it on a second reading. + + 'Again, when I came to look at the work by itself, I thought + the attempt too bold. A piece of character-painting does not + seem to be the place for a statement of these wide and high + subjects. For here the philosophy is not merely implied in the + poetry and religion, but assumes to show a face of its own. + And, as none should meddle with these matters who are not in + earnest, so, such will prefer to find the thought of a teacher + or fellow-disciple expressed as directly and as bare of + ornament as possible. + + 'I was interested in De Wette's Theodor, and that learned and + (_on dit_) profound man seemed to me so to fail, that I did + not finish the book, nor try whether I could believe the + novice should ever arrive at manly stature. + + 'I am not so clear as to the scope and bearing of this + book, as of that. I suppose if I were to read Lamennais, or + L'Erminier, I should know what they all want or intend. And + if you meet with _Les paroles d'un Croyant_, I will beg you to + get it for me, for I am more curious than ever. I had supposed + the view taken by these persons in France, to be the same with + that of Novalis and the German Catholics, in which I have + been deeply interested. But from this book, it would seem to + approach the faith of some of my friends here, which has been + styled Psychotheism. And the gap in the theoretical fabric is + the same as with them. I read with unutterable interest the + despair of Alexis in his Eclectic course, his return to the + teachings of external nature, his new birth, and consequent + appreciation of poetry and music. But the question of Free + Will,--how to reconcile its workings with necessity and + compensation,--how to reconcile the life of the heart with + that of the intellect,--how to listen to the whispering breeze + of Spirit, while breasting, as a man should, the surges of the + world,--these enigmas Sand and her friends seem to have solved + no better than M.F. and her friends. + + 'The practical optimism is much the same as ours, except that + there is more hope for the masses--soon. + + 'This work is written with great vigor, scarce any faltering + on the wing. The horrors are disgusting, as are those of every + writer except Dante. Even genius should content itself in + dipping the pencil in cloud and mist. The apparitions of + Spiridion are managed with great beauty. As in Hélene, as in + Novalis, I recognized, with delight, the eye that gazed, the + ear that listened, till the spectres came, as they do to the + Highlander on his rocky couch, to the German peasant on his + mountain. How different from the vulgar eye which looks, but + never sees! Here the beautiful apparition advances from the + solar ray, or returns to the fountain of light and truth, as + it should, when eagle eyes are gazing. + + 'I am astonished at her insight into the life of thought. She + must know it through some man. Women, under any circumstances, + can scarce do more than dip the foot in this broad and deep + river; they have not strength to contend with the current. + Brave, if they do not delicately shrink from the cold water. + No Sibyls have existed like those of Michel Angelo; those + of Raphael are the true brides of a God, but not themselves + divine. It is easy for women to be heroic in action, but when + it comes to interrogating God, the universe, the soul, and, + above all, trying to live above their own hearts, they dart + down to their nests like so many larks, and, if they cannot + find them, fret like the French Corinne. Goethe's Makaria + was born of the stars. Mr. Flint's Platonic old lady a _lusus + naturæ_, and the Dudevant has loved a philosopher. + + 'I suppose the view of the present state of Catholicism no way + exaggerated. Alexis is no more persecuted than Abelard was, + and is so, for the same reasons. From the examinations of the + Italian convents in Leopold's time, it seems that the grossest + materialism not only reigns, but is taught and professed in + them. And Catholicism loads and infects as all dead forms do, + however beautiful and noble during their lives.' * * + + + + +GEORGE SAND, AGAIN. + + + '1839.--When I first knew George Sand, I thought I found tried + the experiment I wanted. I did not value Bettine so much; + she had not pride enough for me; only now when I am sure of + myself, would I pour out my soul at the feet of another. In + the assured soul it is kingly prodigality; in one which cannot + forbear, it is mere babyhood. I love _abandon_ only when + natures are capable of the extreme reverse. I knew Bettine + would end in nothing, when I read her book. I knew she could + not outlive her love. + + 'But in _Les Sept Cordes de la Lyre_, which I read first, I + saw the knowledge of the passions, and of social institutions, + with the celestial choice which rose above them. I loved + Hélene, who could so well hear the terrene voices, yet keep + her eye fixed on the stars. That would be my wish, also, to + know all, then choose; I ever revered her, for I was not sure + that I could have resisted the call of the Now, could have + left the spirit, and gone to God. And, at a more ambitious + age, I could not have refused the philosopher. But I hoped + from her steadfastness, and I thought I heard the last tones + of a purified life:--Gretchen, in the golden cloud, raised + above all past delusions, worthy to redeem and upbear the wise + man, who stumbled into the pit of error while searching for + truth. + + 'Still, in _André_, and in _Jacques_, I traced the same high + morality of one who had tried the liberty of circumstance + only to learn to appreciate the liberty of law, to know that + license is the foe of freedom. And, though the sophistry of + passion in these books disgusted me, flowers of purest hue + seemed to grow upon the dank and dirty ground. I thought she + had cast aside the slough of her past life, and began a new + existence beneath the sun of a true Ideal. + + 'But here (in the _Lettres d'un Voyageur_) what do I see? An + unfortunate bewailing her loneliness, bewailing her mistakes, + writing for money! She has genius, and a manly grasp of mind, + but not a manly heart! Will there never be a being to combine + a mail's mind and woman's heart, and who yet finds life too + rich to weep over? Never? + + 'When I read in _Leone Lioni_ the account of the jeweller's + daughter's life with her mother, passed in dress and in + learning to be looked at when dressed, _avec un front + impassible_, it reminded me exceedingly of ----, and her + mother. What a heroine she would be for Sand! She has the same + fearless softness with Juliet, and a sportive _naïveté_, a + mixture of bird and kitten, unknown to the dupe of Lioni. + + 'If I were a man, and wished a wife, as many do, merely as an + ornament, or silken toy, I would take ---- as soon as any I + know. Her fantastic, impassioned, and mutable nature would + yield an inexhaustible amusement. She is capable of the most + romantic actions;--wild as the falcon, and voluptuous as the + tuberose,--yet she has not in her the elements of romance, + like a deeper and less susceptible nature. My cold and + reasoning E., with her one love lying, perhaps, never to be + unfolded, beneath such sheaths of pride and reserve, would + make a far better heroine. + + 'Both these characters are natural, while S. and T. are + _naturally factitious_, because so imitative, and her mother + differs from Juliet and her mother, by the impulse a single + strong character gave them. Even at this distance of time, + there is a slight but perceptible taste of iron in the water. + + 'George Sand disappoints me, as almost all beings have, + especially since I have been brought close to her person + by the _Lettres d'un Voyageur_. Her remarks on Lavater seem + really shallow, and hasty, _à la mode du genre feménin_. No + self-ruling Aspasia she, but a frail woman mourning over a + lot. Any peculiarity in her destiny seems accidental. She is + forced to this and that, to earn her bread forsooth! + + 'Yet her style,--with what a deeply smouldering fire it + burns!--not vehement, but intense, like Jean Jacques.' + + + + +ALFRED DE VIGNY. + + + '_Sept._, 1839. + + '"La harpe tremble encore, et la flûte soupire." + + 'Sometimes we doubt this, and think the music has finally + ceased, so sultry still lies the air around us, or only + disturbed by the fife and drum of talent, calling to the + parade-ground of social life. The ear grows dull. + + '"Faith asks her daily bread, + And Fancy is no longer fed." + + 'So materialistic is the course of common life, that we _ask + daily_ new Messiahs from literature and art, to turn us from + the Pharisaic observance of law, to the baptism of spirit. But + stars arise upon our murky sky, and the flute _soupire_ from + the quarter where we least expect it. + + '_La jeune France_! I had not believed in this youthful + pretender. I thought she had no pure blood in her veins, no + aristocratic features in her face, no natural grace in her + gait. I thought her an illegitimate child of the generous, but + extravagant youth of Germany. I thought she had been left at + the foundling hospital, as not worth a parent's care, and that + now, grown up, she was trying to prove at once her parentage + and her charms by certificates which might be headed, Innocent + Adultery, Celestial Crime, &c. + + 'The slight acquaintance I had with Hugo, and company, did not + dispel these impressions. And I thought Chateaubriand (far too + French for my taste also,) belonged to _l'ancien régime_, and + that Béranger and Courier stood apart. Nodier, Paul de Kock, + Sue, Jules Janin, I did not know, except through the absurd + reports of English reviewers; Le Maistre and Lamennais, as + little. + + 'But I have now got a peep at this galaxy. I begin to divine + the meaning of St. Simonianism, Cousinism, and the movement + which the same causes have produced in belles-lettres. I + perceive that _la jeune France_ is the legitimate, though far + younger sister of Germany; taught by her, but not born of her, + but of a common mother. I see, at least begin to see, what + she has learned from England, and what the bloody rain of + the revolution has done to fertilize her soil, naturally too + light. + + 'Blessed be the early days when I sat at the feet of Rousseau, + prophet sad and stately as any of Jewry! Every onward movement + of the age, every downward step into the solemn depths of my + own soul, recalls thy oracles, O Jean Jacques! But as these + things only glimmer upon me at present, clouds of rose and + amber, in the perspective of a long, dim woodland glade, which + I must traverse if I would get a fair look at them from the + hill-top,--as I cannot, to say sooth, get the works of these + always working geniuses, but by slow degrees, in a country + that has no heed of them till her railroads and canals are + finished,--I need not jot down my petty impressions of the + movement writers. I wish to speak of one among them, aided, + honored by them, but not of them. He is to _la jeune France_ + rather the herald of a tourney, or the master of ceremonies + at a patriotic festival, than a warrior for her battles, or an + advocate to win her cause. + + 'The works of M. de Vigny having come in my way, I have read + quite through this thick volume. + + 'I read, a year since, in the London and Westminster, + an admirable sketch of Armand Carrel. The writer speaks + particularly of the use of which Carrel's experience of + practical life had been to him as an author; how it had + tempered and sharpened the blade of his intellect to the + Damascene perfection. It has been of like use to de Vigny, + though not in equal degree. + + 'De Vigny _passed_,--but for manly steadfastness, he would + probably say _wasted_,--his best years in the army. He is now + about forty; and we have in this book the flower of these best + years. It is a night-blooming Cereus, for his days were passed + in the duties of his profession. These duties, so tiresome and + unprofitable in time of peace, were the ground in which the + seed sprang up, which produced these many-leaved and calm + night-flowers. + + 'The first portion of this volume, _Servitude et Grandeurs + Militaires_, contains an account of the way in which he + received his false tendency. Cherished on the "wounded + knees" of his aged father, he listened to tales of the great + Frederic, whom the veteran had known personally. After an + excellent sketch of the king, he says: "I expatiate here, + almost in spite of myself, because this was the first great + man whose portrait was thus drawn for me at home,--a portrait + after nature,--and because my admiration of him was the first + symptom of my useless love of arms,--the first cause of one of + the most complete delusions of my life." This admiration + for the great king remained so lively in his mind, that even + Bonaparte in his gestures seemed to him, in later days, a + plagiarist. + + 'At the military school, "the drum stifled the voices of our + masters, and the mysterious voices of books seemed to us cold + and pedantic. Tropes and logarithms seemed to us only steps to + mount to the star of the Legion of Honor,--the fairest star of + heaven to us children." + + '"No meditation could keep long in chains heads made + constantly giddy by the noise of cannon and bells for the _Te + Deum_. When one of our former comrades returned to pay us a + visit in uniform, and his arm in a scarf, we blushed at + our books, and threw them at the heads of our teachers. Our + teachers were always reading us bulletins from the _grande + armée_, and our cries of _Vive l'Empereur_ interrupted Tacitus + and Plato. Our preceptors resembled heralds of arms, our study + halls barracks, and our examinations reviews." + + 'Thus was he led into the army; and, he says, "It was only + very late, that I perceived that my services were one long + mistake, and that I had imported into a life altogether + active, a nature altogether contemplative." + + 'He entered the army at the time of Napoleon's fall, and, + like others, wasted life in waiting for war. For these young + persons could not believe that peace and calm were possible to + France; could not believe that she could lead any life but one + of conquest. + + 'As De Vigny was gradually undeceived, he says: "Loaded with + an ennui which I did not dream of in a life I had so ardently + desired, it became a necessity to me to detach myself by night + from the vain and tiresome tumult of military days. From these + nights, in which I enlarged in silence the knowledge I had + acquired from our public and tumultuous studies, proceeded + my poems and books. From these days, there remain to me these + recollections, whose chief traits I here assemble around one + idea. For, not reckoning for the glory of arms, either on + the present or future, I sought it in the souvenirs of my + comrades. My own little adventures will not serve, except + as frame to those pictures of the military life, and of + the manners of our armies, all whose traits are by no means + known." + + 'And thus springs up, in the most natural manner, this little + book on the army. + + 'It has the truth, the delicacy, and the healthiness of a + production native to the soil; the merit of love-letters, + journals, lyric poems, &c., written without any formal + intention of turning life into a book, but because the writer + could not help it. What, more than anything else, engaged the + attention of De Vigny, was the false position of two beings + towards a factitious society: the soldier, now that standing + armies are the mode, and the poet, now that Olympic games + or pastimes are not the mode. He has treated the first best, + because with profounder _connoissance du fait_. For De Vigny + is not a poet; he has only an eye to perceive the existence + of these birds of heaven. But in few ways, except their own + broken harp-tone's thrill, have their peculiar sorrows and + difficulties been so well illustrated. The character of the + soldier, with its virtues and faults, is portrayed with such + delicacy, that to condense would ruin. The peculiar reserve, + the habit of duty, the beauty of a character which cannot look + forward, and need not look back, are given with distinguished + finesse. + + 'Of the three stories which adorn this part of the book, + _Le Cachet Rouge_ is the loveliest, _La Canne au Jonc_ the + noblest. Never was anything more sweetly naïve than parts of + _Le Cachet Rouge_. _La pauvre petite femme_, she was just such + a person as my ----. And then the farewell injunctions,--_du + pauvre petite maré_,--the nobleness and the coarseness of + the poor captain. It is as original as beautiful, _c'est dire + beaucoup_. In _La Canne au Jonc_, Collingwood, who embodies + the high feeling of duty, is taken too raw out of a book,--his + letters to his daughters. But the effect on the character of + _le Capitaine Renaud_, and the unfolding of his interior life, + are done with the spiritual beauty of Manzoni. + + '_Cinq-Mars_ is a romance in the style of Walter Scott. It + is well brought out, figures in good relief, lights well + distributed, sentiment high, but nowhere exaggerated, + knowledge exact, and the good and bad of human nature painted + with that impartiality which becomes a man, and a man of the + world. All right, no failure anywhere; also, no wonderful + success, no genius, no magic. It is one of those works which + I should consider only excusable as the amusement of leisure + hours; and, though few could write it, chiefly valuable to the + writer. + + 'Here he has arranged, as in a bouquet, what he knew,--and a + great deal it is,--of the time of Louis XIII., as he has of + the Regency in "La Marechale d'Ancre,"--a much finer work, + indeed one of the best-arranged and finished modern dramas. + The Leonora Galigai is better than anything I have seen in + Victor Hugo, and as good as Schiller. Stello is a bolder + attempt. It is the history of three poets,--Gilbert, André + Chenier, Chatterton. He has also written a drama called + Chatterton, inferior to the story here. The "marvellous boy" + seems to have captivated his imagination marvellously. In + thought, these productions are worthless; for taste, beauty of + sentiment, and power of description, remarkable. His advocacy + of the poets' cause is about as effective and well-planned + as Don Quixote's tourney with the wind-mill. How would you + provide for the poet _bon homme_ De Vigny?--from a joint-stock + company Poet's Fund, or how? + + 'His translation of Othello, which I glanced at, is good for a + Frenchman. + + 'Among his poems, La Frégate, La Sérieuse, Madame de Soubise, + and Dolorida, please me especially. The last has an elegiac + sweetness and finish, which are rare. It also makes a perfect + gem of a cabinet picture. Some have a fine strain of natural + melody, and give you at once the key-note of the situation, as + this:-- + + '"J'aime le son du cor le soir, au fond des bois, + Soit qu'il chante," &c. + + And + + '"Qu'il est doux, qu'il est doux d'ecouter les histoires + Des histoires du temps passe + Quand les branches des arbres sont noires, + Quand la neige est essaisse, et charge un sol glacé, + Quand seul dans un ciel pâle un peuplier s'élance, + Quand sous le manteau blanc qui vient de le cacher + L'immobile corbeau sur l'arbre se balance + Comme la girouette au bout du long clocher." + + 'These poems generally are only interesting as the leisure + hours of an interesting man. + + 'De Vigny writes in an excellent style; soft, fresh, + deliberately graceful. Such a style is like fine manners; + you think of the words select, appropriate, rather than + distinguished, or beautiful. De Vigny is a perfect gentleman; + and his refinement is rather that of the gentleman than that + of the poets whom he is so full of. In character, he looks + naturally at those things which interest the man of honor + and the man of taste. But for literature, he would have + known nothing about the poets. He should be the elegant + and instructive companion of social, not the priest or the + minstrel of solitary hours. + + 'Neither has he logic or grasp with his reasoning powers, + though of this, also, he is ambitious. Observation is his + forte. To see, and to tell with grace, often with dignity and + pathos, what he sees, is his proper vocation. Yet, where he + fails, he has too much tact and modesty to be despised; and + we cannot enough admire the absence of faults in a man whose + ambition soared so much beyond his powers, and in an age and + a country so full of false taste. He is never seduced into + sentimentality, paradox, violent contrast, and, above all, + never makes the mistake of confounding the horrible with the + sublime. Above all, he never falls into the error, common + to merely elegant minds, of painting leading minds "_en + gigantesque_." His Richelieu and his Bonaparte are treated + with great calmness, and with dignified ease, almost as + beautiful as majestic superiority. + + 'In this volume is contained all that is on record of the + inner life of a man of forty years. How many suns, how many + rains and dews, to produce a few buds and flowers, some sweet, + but not rich fruit! We cannot help demanding of the man of + talent that he should be like "the orange tree, that busy + plant." But, as Landor says, "He who has any thoughts of any + worth can, and probably will, afford to let the greater part + lie fallow." + + 'I have not made a note upon De Vigny's notions of abnegation, + which he repeats as often as Dr. Channing the same watch-word + of self-sacrifice. It is that my views are not yet matured, + and I can have no judgment on the point.' + + + + +BÉRANGER. + + + '_Sept._, 1839.--I have lately been reading some of Béranger's + _chansons_. The hour was not propitious. I was in a mood the + very reverse of Roger Bontemps, and beset with circumstances + the most unsuited to make me sympathize with the prayer-- + + '"Pardonnez la gaieté + De ma philosophie;" + + yet I am not quite insensible to their wit, high sentiment, + and spontaneous grace. A wit that sparkles all over the ocean + of life, a sentiment that never puts the best foot forward, + but prefers the tone of delicate humor, to the mouthings of + tragedy; a grace so aerial, that it nowhere requires the aid + of a thought, for in the light refrains of these productions, + the meaning is felt as much as in the most pointed lines. + Thus, in "Les Mirmidons," the refrain-- + + '"Mirmidons, race féconde, + Mirmidons + Enfin nous commandons, + Jupiter livre le monde, + Aux mirmidons, aux mirmidons, (bis.)" + + 'The swarming of the insects about the dead lion is expressed + as forcibly as in the most sarcastic passage of the chanson. + In "La Faridondaine" every sound is a witticism, and levels + to the ground a bevy of what Byron calls "garrison people." + "Halte là! ou la système des interpretations" is equally + witty, though there the form seems to be as much in the + saying, as in the comic melody of sound. + + 'In "Adieux à la Campagne," "Souvenirs du Peuple," "La Déesse + de la Liberté," "La Convoi de David," a melancholy pathos + breathes, which touches the heart the more that it is + so unpretending. "Ce n'est plus Lisette," "Mon Habit," + "L'Indépendant," "Vous vieillirez, O ma belle Maitresse," a + gentle graceful sadness wins us. In "Le Dieu des Bonnes Gens," + "Les Etoiles qui filent," "Les Conseils de Lise," "Treize à + Table," a noble dignity is admired, while such as "La Fortune" + and "La Métempsycose" are inimitable in their childlike + playfulness. "Ma Vocation" I have had and admired for many + years. He is of the pure ore, a darling fairy changling of + great mother Nature; the poet of the people, and, therefore, + of all in the upper classes sufficiently intelligent and + refined to appreciate the wit and sentiment of the people. + But his wit is so truly French in its lightness and sparkling, + feathering vivacity, that one like me, accustomed to the + bitterness of English tonics, suicidal November melancholy, + and Byronic wrath of satire, cannot appreciate him at once. + But when used to the gentler stimuli, we like them best, + and we also would live awhile in the atmosphere of music and + mirth, content if we have "bread for to-day, and hope for + to-morrow." + + 'There are fine lines in his "Cinq Mai;" the sentiment is as + grand as Manzoni's, though not sustained by the same majestic + sweep of diction, as,-- + + '"Ce rocher repousse l'espérance, + L'Aigle n'est plus dans le secret des dieux, + Il fatiguait la victoire à le suivre, + Elle était lasse: il ne l'attendit pas." + + 'And from "La Gérontocratie, ou les infiniment petits:" + + '"Combien d'imperceptibles êtres, + De petits jésuites bilieux! + De milliers d'autres petits prêtres, + Lui portent de petits bons dieux." + + 'But wit, poet, man of honor, tailor's grandson and fairy's + favorite, he must speak for himself, and the best that can be + felt or thought of him cannot be said in the way of criticism. + I will copy and keep a few of his songs. I should like to keep + the whole collection by me, and take it up when my faith in + human nature required the gentlest of fortifying draughts. + + 'How fine his answer to those who asked about the "de" before + his name!-- + + '"Je suis vilain, + Vilain, vilain," &c. + J'honore une race commune, + Car, sensible, quoique malin, + Je n'ai flatté que l'infortune." + + 'In a note to "Couplets on M. Laisney, _imprimeur à Peronne_," + he says: "It was in his printing-house that I was put to + prentice; not having been able to learn orthography, he + imparted to me the taste for poetry, gave me lessons in + versification, and corrected my first essays." + + 'Of Bonaparte,-- + + '"Un conquérant, dans sa fortune altière, + Se fit un jeu des sceptres et des lois, + Et de ses pieds on peut voir la poussière + Empreinte encore sur le bandeau des rois." + + 'I admire, also, "Le Violon brisé," for its grace and + sweetness. How fine Béranger on Waterloo!-- + + '"Its name shall never sadden verse of mine."' + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + + '_Niagara, 1st June, 1843_.--I send you a token, made by + the hands of some Seneca Indian lady. If you use it for a + watch-pocket, hang it, when you travel, at the head of your + bed, and you may dream of Niagara. If you use it for a + purse, you can put in it alms for poets and artists, and the + subscription-money you receive for Mr. Carlyle's book. His + book, as it happened, you gave me as a birthday gift, and you + may take this as one to you; for, on yours, was W.'s birthday, + J.'s wedding-day, and the day of ----'s death, and we set out + on this journey. Perhaps there is something about it on the + purse. The "number five which nature loves," is repeated on + it. + + 'Carlyle's book I have, in some sense, read. It is witty, full + of pictures, as usual. I would have gone through with it, if + only for the sketch of Samson, and two or three bits of fun + which happen to please me. No doubt it may be of use to rouse + the unthinking to a sense of those great dangers and sorrows. + But how open is he to his own assault. He rails himself out of + breath at the short-sighted, and yet sees scarce a step before + him. There is no valuable doctrine in his book, except the + Goethean, _Do to-day the nearest duty_. Many are ready for + that, could they but find the way. This he does not show. His + proposed measures say nothing. Educate the people. That cannot + be done by books, or voluntary effort, under these paralyzing + circumstances. Emigration! According to his own estimate of + the increase of population, relief that way can have very + slight effect. He ends as he began; as he did in Chartism. + Everything is very bad. You are fools and hypocrites, or you + would make it better. I cannot but sympathize with him about + hero-worship; for I, too, have had my fits of rage at the + stupid irreverence of little minds, which also is made a + parade of by the pedantic and the worldly. Yet it is a + good sign. Democracy is the way to the new aristocracy, as + irreligion to religion. By and by, if there are great + men, they will not be brilliant exceptions, redeemers, but + favorable samples of their kind. + + 'Mr. C.'s tone is no better than before. He is not loving, nor + large; but he seems more healthy and gay. + + 'We have had bad weather here, bitterly cold. The place is + what I expected: it is too great and beautiful to agitate or + surprise: it satisfies: it does not excite thought, but fully + occupies. All is calm; even the rapids do not hurry, as we see + them in smaller streams. The sound, the sight, fill the senses + and the mind. + + 'At Buffalo, some ladies called on us, who extremely regretted + they could not witness our emotions, on first seeing Niagara. + "Many," they said, "burst into tears; but with those of most + sensibility, the hands become cold as ice, and they would not + mind if buckets of cold water were thrown over them!"' + + + + +NATURE. + + +Margaret's love of beauty made her, of course, a votary of nature, but +rather for pleasurable excitement than with a deep poetic feeling. +Her imperfect vision and her bad health were serious impediments +to intimacy with woods and rivers. She had never paid,--and it is a +little remarkable,--any attention to natural sciences. She neither +botanized, nor geologized, nor dissected. Still she delighted in short +country rambles, in the varieties of landscape, in pastoral country, +in mountain outlines, and, above all, in the sea-shore. At Nantasket +Beach, and at Newport, she spent a month or two of many successive +summers. She paid homage to rocks, woods, flowers, rivers, and the +moon. She spent a good deal of time out of doors, sitting, perhaps, +with a book in some sheltered recess commanding a landscape. She +watched, by day and by night, the skies and the earth, and believed +she knew all their expressions. She wrote in her journal, or in her +correspondence, a series of "moonlights," in which she seriously +attempts to describe the light and scenery of successive nights of +the summer moon. Of course, her raptures must appear sickly and +superficial to an observer, who, with equal feeling, had better powers +of observation. + +Nothing is more rare than a talent to describe landscape, and, +especially, skyscape, or cloudscape, although a vast number of +letters, from correspondents between the ages of twenty and thirty, +are filled with experiments in this kind. Margaret, in her turn, made +many vain attempts, and, to a lover of nature, who knows that +every day has new and inimitable lights and shades, one of these +descriptions is as vapid as the raptures of a citizen arrived at his +first meadow. Of course, he is charmed, but, of course, he cannot tell +what he sees, or what pleases him. Yet Margaret often speaks with a +certain tenderness and beauty of the impressions made upon her. + + TO ----. + + '_Fishkill, 25 Nov., 1844_.--You would have been happy as I + have been in the company of the mountains. They are companions + both bold and calm. They exhilarate and they satisfy. To live, + too, on the bank of the great river so long, has been the + realization of a dream. Though I have been reading and + thinking, yet this has been my life.' + +'After they were all in bed,' she writes from the "Manse," in Concord, + + 'I went out, and walked till near twelve. The moonlight filled + my heart. These embowering elms stood in solemn black, the + praying monastics of this holy night; full of grace, in every + sense; their life so full, so hushed; not a leaf stirred.' + + * * * * * + + 'You say that nature does not keep her promise; but, surely, + she satisfies us now and then for the time. The drama is + always in progress, but here and there she speaks out a + sentence, full in its cadence, complete in its structure; it + occupies, for the time, the sense and the thought. We have no + care for promises. Will you say it is the superficialness of + my life, that I have known hours with men and nature, that + bore their proper fruit,--all present ate and were filled, and + there were taken up of the fragments twelve baskets full? Is + it because of the superficial mind, or the believing heart, + that I can say this?' + + * * * * * + + 'Only through emotion do we know thee, Nature! We lean upon + thy breast, and feel its pulses vibrate to our own. That is + knowledge, for that is love. Thought will never reach it.' + + + + +ART. + + +There are persons to whom a gallery is everywhere a home. In this +country, the antique is known only by plaster casts, and by drawings. +The BOSTON ATHENÆUM,--on whose sunny roof and beautiful chambers may +the benediction of centuries of students rest with mine!--added to +its library, in 1823, a small, but excellent museum of the antique +sculpture, in plaster;--the selection being dictated, it is said, by +no less an adviser than Canova. The Apollo, the Laocoon, the Venuses, +Diana, the head of the Phidian Jove, Bacchus, Antinous, the Torso +Hercules, the Discobolus, the Gladiator Borghese, the Apollino,--all +these, and more, the sumptuous gift of Augustus Thorndike. It is much +that one man should have power to confer on so many, who never saw +him, a benefit so pure and enduring. + +To these were soon added a heroic line of antique busts, and, at last, +by Horatio Greenough, the Night and Day of Michel Angelo. Here was old +Greece and old Italy brought bodily to New England, and a verification +given to all our dreams and readings. It was easy to collect, from the +drawing-rooms of the city, a respectable picture-gallery for a summer +exhibition. This was also done, and a new pleasure was invented for +the studious, and a new home for the solitary. The Brimmer donation, +in 1838, added a costly series of engravings, chiefly of the French +and Italian museums, and the drawings of Guercino, Salvator Rosa, and +other masters. The separate chamber in which these collections were at +first contained, made a favorite place of meeting for Margaret and a +few of her friends, who were lovers of these works. + +First led perhaps by Goethe, afterwards by the love she herself +conceived for them, she read everything that related to Michel Angelo +and Raphael. She read, pen in hand, Quatremère de Quincy's lives of +those two painters, and I have her transcripts and commentary before +me. She read Condivi, Vasari, Benvenuto Cellini, Duppa, Fuseli, and +Von Waagen,--great and small. Every design of Michel, the four volumes +of Raphael's designs, were in the rich portfolios of her most intimate +friend. 'I have been very happy,' she writes, 'with four hundred and +seventy designs of Raphael in my possession for a week.' + + * * * * * + +These fine entertainments were shared with many admirers, and, as I +now remember them, certain months about the years 1839, 1840, seem +colored with the genius of these Italians. Our walls were hung with +prints of the Sistine frescoes; we were all petty collectors; and +prints of Correggio and Guercino took the place, for the time, of +epics and philosophy. + +In the summer of 1839, Boston was still more rightfully adorned with +the Allston Gallery; and the sculptures of our compatriots Greenough, +and Crawford, and Powers, were brought hither. The following lines +were addressed by Margaret to the Orpheus:-- + + 'CRAWFORD'S ORPHEUS. + + 'Each Orpheus must to the abyss descend, + For only thus the poet can be wise,-- + Must make the sad Persephone his friend, + And buried love to second life arise; + Again his love must lose, through too much love, + Must lose his life by living life too true; + For what he sought below has passed above, + Already done is all that he would do; + Must tune all being with his single lyre; + Must melt all rocks free from their primal pain, + Must search all nature with his one soul's fire; + Must bind anew all forms in heavenly chain: + If he already sees what he must do, + Well may he shade his eyes from the far-shining view.' + +Margaret's love of art, like that of most cultivated persons in this +country, was not at all technical, but truly a sympathy with the +artist, in the protest which his work pronounced on the deformity +of our daily manners; her co-perception with him of the eloquence +of form; her aspiration with him to a fairer life. As soon as her +conversation ran into the mysteries of manipulation and artistic +effect, it was less trustworthy. I remember that in the first times +when I chanced to see pictures with her, I listened reverently to +her opinions, and endeavored to see what she saw. But, on several +occasions, finding myself unable to reach it, I came to suspect my +guide, and to believe, at last, that her taste in works of art, though +honest, was not on universal, but on idiosyncratic, grounds. As it has +proved one of the most difficult problems of the practical astronomer +to obtain an achromatic telescope, so an achromatic eye, one of the +most needed, is also one of the rarest instruments of criticism. + +She was very susceptible to pleasurable stimulus, took delight in +details of form, color, and sound. Her fancy and imagination were +easily stimulated to genial activity, and she erroneously thanked the +artist for the pleasing emotions and thoughts that rose in her mind. +So that, though capable of it, she did not always bring that highest +tribunal to a work of art, namely, the calm presence of greatness, +which only greatness in the object can satisfy. Yet the opinion was +often well worth hearing on its own account, though it might be wide +of the mark as criticism. Sometimes, too, she certainly brought to +beautiful objects a fresh and appreciating love; and her written +notes, especially on sculpture, I found always original and +interesting. Here are some notes on the Athenæum Gallery of Sculpture, +in August, 1840, which she sent me in manuscript:-- + + 'Here are many objects worth study. There is Thorwaldsen's + Byron. This is the truly beautiful, the ideal Byron. This head + is quite free from the got-up, caricatured air of disdain, + which disfigures most likenesses of him, as it did himself + in real life; yet sultry, stern, all-craving, all-commanding. + Even the heavy style of the hair, too closely curled for + grace, is favorable to the expression of concentrated life. + While looking at this head, you learn to account for the grand + failure in the scheme of his existence. The line of the cheek + and chin are here, as usual, of unrivalled beauty. + + 'The bust of Napoleon is here also, and will naturally be + named, in connection with that of Byron, since the one in + letters, the other in arms, represented more fully than any + other the tendency of their time; more than any other gave it + a chance for reaction. There was another point of resemblance + in the external being of the two, perfectly corresponding with + that of the internal, a sense of which peculiarity drew on + Byron some ridicule. I mean that it was the intention of + nature, that neither should ever grow fat, but remain a + Cassius in the commonwealth. And both these heads are taken + while they were at an early age, and so thin as to be still + beautiful. This head of Napoleon is of a stern beauty. A head + must be of a style either very stern or very chaste, to make + a deep impression on the beholder; there must be a great force + of will and withholding of resources, giving a sense of depth + below depth, which we call sternness; or else there must be + that purity, flowing as from an inexhaustible fountain through + every lineament, which drives far off or converts all baser + natures. Napoleon's head is of the first description; it is + stern, and not only so, but ruthless. Yet this ruthlessness + excites no aversion; the artist has caught its true character, + and given us here the Attila, the instrument of fate to serve + a purpose not his own. While looking on it, came full to mind + the well-known lines,-- + + '"Speak gently of his crimes: + Who knows, Scourge of God, but in His eyes, those crimes + Were virtues?" + + His brows are tense and damp with the dews of thought. In that + head you see the great future, careless of the black and white + stones; and even when you turn to the voluptuous beauty of the + mouth, the impression remains so strong, that Russia's + snows, and mountains of the slain, seem the tragedy that must + naturally follow the appearance of such an actor. You turn + from him, feeling that he is a product not of the day, but of + the ages, and that the ages must judge him. + + 'Near him is a head of Ennius, very intellectual; self-centred + and self-fed; but wrung and gnawed by unceasing thoughts. + + 'Yet, even near the Ennius and Napoleon, our American men look + worthy to be perpetuated in marble or bronze, if it were only + for their air of calm, unpretending sagacity. If the young + American were to walk up an avenue lined with such effigies, + he might not feel called to such greatness as the strong Roman + wrinkles tell of, but he must feel that he could not live an + idle life, and should nerve himself to lift an Atlas weight + without repining or shrinking. + + 'The busts of Everett and Allston, though admirable as + every-day likenesses, deserved a genius of a different order + from Clevenger. Clevenger gives the man as he is at the + moment, but does not show the possibilities of his existence. + Even thus seen, the head of Mr. Everett brings back all the + age of Pericles, so refined and classic is its beauty. The + two busts of Mr. Webster, by Clevenger and Powers, are the + difference between prose,--healthy and energetic prose, + indeed, but still prose,--and poetry. Clevenger's is such as + we see Mr. Webster on any public occasion, when his genius + is not called forth. No child could fail to recognize it in + a moment. Powers' is not so good as a likeness, but has the + higher merit of being an ideal of the orator and statesman at + a great moment. It is quite an American Jupiter in its eagle + calmness of conscious power. + + 'A marble copy of the beautiful Diana, not so spirited as + the Athenæum cast. S. C---- thought the difference was one of + size. This work may be seen at a glance; yet does not tire + one after survey. It has the freshness of the woods, and of + morning dew. I admire those long lithe limbs, and that column + of a throat. The Diana is a woman's ideal of beauty; its + elegance, its spirit, its graceful, peremptory air, are what + we like in our own sex: the Venus is for men. The sleeping + Cleopatra cannot be looked at enough; always her sleep seems + sweeter and more graceful, always more wonderful the drapery. + A little Psyche, by a pupil of Bartolini, pleases us much thus + far. The forlorn sweetness with which she sits there, crouched + down like a bruised butterfly, and the languid tenacity of + her mood, are very touching. The Mercury and Ganymede with + the Eagle, by Thorwaldsen, are still as fine as on first + acquaintance. Thorwaldsen seems the grandest and simplest of + modern sculptors. There is a breadth in his thought, a freedom + in his design, we do not see elsewhere. + + 'A spaniel, by Gott, shows great talent, and knowledge of the + animal. The head is admirable; it is so full of playfulness + and of doggish knowingness.' + +I am tempted, by my recollection of the pleasure it gave her, to +insert here a little poem, addressed to Margaret by one of her +friends, on the beautiful imaginative picture in the gallery of 1840, +called "The Dream." + + "A youth, with gentle brow and tender cheek, + Dreams in a place so silent, that no bird, + No rustle of the leaves his slumbers break; + Only soft tinkling from the stream is heard, + As in bright little waves it comes to greet + The beauteous One, and play upon his feet. + + "On a low bank, beneath the thick shade thrown, + Soft gleams over his brown hair are flitting, + His golden plumes, bending, all lovely shone; + It seemed an angel's home where he was sitting, + Erect, beside, a silver lily grew, + And over all the shadow its sweet beauty threw. + + "Dreams he of life? O, then a noble maid + Toward him floats, with eyes of starry light, + In richest robes all radiantly arrayed, + To be his ladye and his dear delight. + Ah no! the distance shows a winding stream; + No lovely ladye moves, no starry eyes do gleam. + + "Cold is the air, and cold the mountains blue; + The banks are brown, and men are lying there, + Meagre and old; O, what have they to do + With joyous visions of a youth so fair? + He must not ever sleep as they are sleeping, + Onward through life he must be ever sweeping. + + "Let the pale glimmering distance pass away; + Why in the twilight art thou slumbering there? + Wake, and come forth into triumphant day; + Thy life and deeds must all be great and fair. + Canst thou not from the lily learn true glory, + Pure, lofty, lowly?--such should be thy story. + + "But no! thou lovest the deep-eyéd Past, + And thy heart clings to sweet remembrances; + In dim cathedral aisles thou'lt linger last, + And fill thy mind with flitting fantasies. + But know, dear One, the world is rich to-day, + And the unceasing God gives glory forth alway." + +I have said she was never weary of studying Michel Angelo and Raphael; +and here are some manuscript "notes," which she sent me one day, +containing a clear expression of her feeling toward each of these +masters, after she had become tolerably familiar with their designs, +as far as prints could carry her:-- + + 'On seeing such works as these of Michel Angelo, we feel the + need of a genius scarcely inferior to his own, which should + invent some word, or some music, adequate to express our + feelings, and relieve us from the Titanic oppression. + + '"Greatness," "majesty," "strength,"--to these words we had + before thought we attached their proper meaning. But now we + repent that they ever passed our lips. Created anew by the + genius of this man, we would create language anew, and give + him a word of response worthy his sublime profession of faith. + Could we not at least have reserved "godlike" for him? + For never till now did we appreciate the primeval vigor of + creation, the instant swiftness with which thought can pass + to deed; never till now appreciate the passage, "Let there be + light, and there was light," which, be grateful, Michel! was + clothed in human word before thee. + + 'One feels so repelled and humbled, on turning from Raphael + to his contemporary, that I could have hated him as a Gentile + Choragus might hate the prophet Samuel. Raphael took us to his + very bosom, as if we had been fit for disciples,-- + + '"Parting with smiles the hair upon the brow, + And telling me none ever was preferred" + + 'This man waves his serpent wand over me, and beauty's self + seems no better than a golden calf! + + 'I could not bear M. De Quincy for intimating that the + archangel Michel could be jealous; yet I can easily see + that he might have given cause, by undervaluing his divine + contemporary. Raphael was so sensuous, so lovely and loving. + All undulates to meet the eye, glides or floats upon the + soul's horizon, as soft as is consistent with perfectly + distinct and filled-out forms. The graceful Lionardo might see + his pictures in moss; the beautiful Raphael on the cloud, + or wave, or foliage; but thou, Michel, didst look straight + upwards to the heaven, and grasp and bring thine down from the + very sun of invention. + + 'How Raphael revels in the image! His life is all reproduced; + nothing was abstract or conscious. Pantheism, Polytheism, + Greek god of Beauty, Apollo Musagetes,--what need of life + beyond the divine work? "I paint," said he, "from an idea that + comes into my mind." + + 'But thou, Michel, didst not only feel but see the divine + Ideal. Thine is the conscious monotheism of Jewry. Like thy + own Moses, even on the mount of celestial converse, thou didst + ask thy God to show now his face, and didst write his words, + not in the alphabet of flowers, but on stone tables. + + 'It is, indeed, the two geniuses of Greece and Jewry, which + are reproduced in these two men. Thaumaturgus nature saw fit + to wait but a very few years before using these moulds again, + in smaller space. Would you read the Bible aright? look at + Michel; the Greek Mythology? look at Raphael. Would you know + how the sublime coëxists with the beautiful, or the beautiful + with the sublime? would you see power and truth regnant on the + one side, with beauty and love harmonious and ministrant, + but subordinate; or would you look at the other aspect of + Deity?--study here. Would you open all the founts of marvel, + admiration, and tenderness?--study both. + + 'One is not higher than the other; yet I am conscious of a + slight rebuke from Michel, for having so poured out my soul at + the feet of his brother angel. He seems to remind of Mr. E.'s + view, and ask, "Why did you not question whether there was not + aught else? why not reserve some inaccessible stronghold for + me? why did you unlock the floodgates of the mind to such + tides of emotion?" But there is no reality or permanence in + this; it is only a reminder that the feminine part of human + nature must not be dominant. + + 'The prophets of Michel Angelo excite all my admiration at the + man capable of giving to such a physique an expression which + commands it. The soul is worthily lodged in these powerful + frames; and she has the ease and dignity of one accustomed to + command, and to command servants able to obey her hests. + Who else could have so animated such forms, that they are + imposing, but never heavy? The strong man is made so majestic + by his office, that you scarcely feel how strong he is. The + wide folds of the drapery, the breadth of light and shade, are + great as anything in + + "the large utterance of the early gods." + + 'How they read,--these prophets and sibyls! Never did the + always-baffled, always reäspiring hope of the finite to + compass the infinite find such expression, except in the + _sehnsucht_ of music. They are buried in the volume. They + cannot believe that it has not somewhere been revealed, the + word of enigma, the link between the human and divine, matter + and spirit. Evidently, they hope to find it on the very next + page. I have always thought, that clearly enough did nature + and the soul's own consciousness respond to the craving for + immortality. I have thought it great weakness to need the + voucher of a miracle, or of any of those direct interpositions + of a divine power, which, in common parlance, are alone styled + revelation. When the revelations of nature seemed to me so + clear, I had thought it was the weakness of the heart, or + the dogmatism of the understanding, which had such need of + _a book_. But in these figures of Michel, the highest power + seizes upon a scroll, hoping that some other mind may have + dived to the depths of eternity for the desired pearl, + and enable him, without delay, consciously to embrace the + Everlasting Now. + + 'How fine the attendant intelligences! So youthful and fresh, + yet so strong. Some merely docile and reverent, others eager + for utterance before the thought be known,--so firm is the + trust in its value, so great the desire for sympathy. Others + so brilliant in the attention of the inquiring eye, so + intelligent in every feature, that they seem to divine the + whole, before they hear it. + + 'Zachariah is much the finer of the two prophets. + + 'Of the sibyls, the _Cumæa_ would be disgusting, from her + overpowering strength in the feminine form, if genius had not + made her tremendous. Especially the bosom gives me a feeling + of faintness and aversion I cannot express. The female breast + looks made for the temple of sweet and chaste thoughts, while + this is so formed as to remind you of the lioness in her lair, + and suggest a word which I will not write. + + 'The _Delphica_ is even beautiful, in Michel's fair, + calm, noble style, like the mother and child asleep in the + _Persica_, and _Night_ in the casts I have just seen. + + 'The _Libica_ is also more beautiful than grand. Her adjuncts + are admirable. The elder figure, in the lowest pannel,--with + what eyes of deep experience, and still unquenched enthusiasm, + he sits meditating on the past! The figures at top are fiery + with genius, especially the melancholy one, worthy to lift any + weight, if he did but know how to set about it. As it is, all + his strength may be wasted, yet he no whit the less noble. + + 'But the _Persica_ is my favorite above all. She is the + true sibyl. All the grandeur of that wasted frame comes from + within. The life of thought has wasted the fresh juices of the + body, and hardened the sere leaf of her cheek to parchment; + every lineament is sharp, every tint tarnished; her face is + seamed with wrinkles,--usually as repulsive on a woman's + face as attractive on a man. We usually feel, on looking at + a woman, as if Nature had given them their best dower, and + Experience could prove little better than a step-dame. But + here, her high ambition and devotion to the life of thought + gives her the masculine privilege of beauty in advancing + years. Read on, hermitess of the world! what thou seekest is + not there, yet thou dost not seek in vain. + + 'The adjuncts to this figure are worthy of it. On the right, + below, those two divine sleepers, redeeming human nature, and + infolding expectation in a robe of pearly sheen. Here is the + sweetness of strength,--honey to the valiant; on the other + side, its awfulness,--meat to the strong man. His sleep is + more powerful than the waking of myriads of other men. What + will he do when he has recruited his strength in this night's + slumber? What wilt thou sing of it, wild-haired child of the + lyre? + + 'I admire the heavy fall of the sleeper's luxuriant hair, + which reminds one of the final shutting down of night upon a + sullen twilight. + + 'The other figures, too, are full of augury, sad but + life-like, in its poetry. On the shield, how perfectly is the + expression of being struck home to the heart given! I wish I + could have that shield, in some shape. Only a single blow + was needed; the hand was sure, the breast shrinking, but + unresisting. Die, child of my affection, child of my old age! + Let the blood follow to the hilt, for it is the sword of the + Lord! + + 'In looking again, this shield is on the _Libica_, and that of + the _Persica_ represents conquest, not sacrifice. + + 'Over all these figures broods the spirit of prophecy. You + see their sternest deed is under the theocratic form. There is + pride in action, but no selfism in these figures. + + 'When I first came to Michel, I clung to the beautiful + Raphael, and feared his Druidical axe. But now, after the + sibyls of Michel, it is unsafe to look at those of Raphael; + for they seem weak, which is not so, only seems so, beside the + sterner ideal. + + 'The beauty of composition here is great, and you feel that + Michel's works are looked at fragment-wise in comparison. Here + the eye glides along so naturally, does so easily justice to + each part.' + + + + +LETTERS. + + +I fear the remark already made on that susceptibility to details +in art and nature which precluded the exercise of Margaret's sound +catholic judgment, must be extended to more than her connoisseurship. +She _had_ a sound judgment, on which, in conversation, she could fall +back, and anticipate and speak the best sense of the largest company. +But, left to herself, and in her correspondence, she was much the +victim of Lord Bacon's _idols of the cave_, or self-deceived by her +own phantasms. I have looked over volumes of her letters to me and +others. They are full of probity, talent, wit, friendship, charity, +and high aspiration. They are tainted with a mysticism, which to me +appears so much an affair of constitution, that it claims no more +respect than the charity or patriotism of a man who has dined well, +and feels better for it. One sometimes talks with a genial _bon +vivant_, who looks as if the omelet and turtle have got into his eyes. +In our noble Margaret, her personal feeling colors all her judgment +of persons, of books, of pictures, and even of the laws of the world. +This is easily felt in ordinary women, and a large deduction is +civilly made on the spot by whosoever replies to their remark. But +when the speaker has such brilliant talent and literature as Margaret, +she gives so many fine names to these merely sensuous and subjective +phantasms, that the hearer is long imposed upon, and thinks so precise +and glittering nomenclature cannot be of mere _muscae volitantes_, +phoenixes of the fancy, but must be of some real ornithology, hitherto +unknown to him. This mere feeling exaggerates a host of trifles into a +dazzling mythology. But when one goes to sift it, and find if there be +a real meaning, it eludes search. Whole sheets of warm, florid writing +are here, in which the eye is caught by "sapphire," "heliotrope," +"dragon," "aloes," "Magna Dea," "limboes," "stars," and "purgatory," +but can connect all this, or any part of it, with no universal +experience. + +In short, Margaret often loses herself in sentimentalism. That +dangerous vertigo nature in her case adopted, and was to make +respectable. As it sometimes happens that a grandiose style, like that +of the Alexandrian Platonists, or like Macpherson's Ossian, is more +stimulating to the imagination of nations, than the true Plato, or +than the simple poet, so here was a head so creative of new colors, +of wonderful gleams,--so iridescent, that it piqued curiosity, and +stimulated thought, and communicated mental activity to all who +approached her; though her perceptions were not to be compared to her +fancy, and she made numerous mistakes. Her integrity was perfect, and +she was led and followed by love, and was really bent on truth, but +too indulgent to the meteors of her fancy. + + + + +FRIENDSHIP. + + "Friends she must have, but in no one could find + A tally fitted to so large a mind." + + +It is certain that Margaret, though unattractive in person, and +assuming in manners, so that the girls complained that "she put upon +them," or, with her burly masculine existence, quite reduced them to +satellites, yet inspired an enthusiastic attachment. I hear from one +witness, as early as 1829, that "all the girls raved about Margaret +Fuller," and the same powerful magnetism wrought, as she went on, from +year to year, on all ingenuous natures. The loveliest and the highest +endowed women were eager to lay their beauty, their grace, the +hospitalities of sumptuous homes, and their costly gifts, at her feet. +When I expressed, one day, many years afterwards, to a lady who +knew her well, some surprise at the homage paid her by men in +Italy,--offers of marriage having there been made her by distinguished +parties,--she replied: "There is nothing extraordinary in it. Had she +been a man, any one of those fine girls of sixteen, who surrounded +her here, would have married her: they were all in love with her, she +understood them so well." She had seen many persons, and had entire +confidence in her own discrimination of characters. She saw and +foresaw all in the first interview. She had certainly made her own +selections with great precision, and had not been disappointed. When +pressed for a reason, she replied, in one instance, + + 'I have no good reason to give for what I think of ----. It + is a dæmoniacal intimation. Everybody at ---- praised her, but + their account of what she said gave me the same unfavorable + feeling. This is the first instance in which I have not had + faith, if you liked a person. Perhaps I am wrong now; perhaps, + if I saw her, a look would give me a needed clue to her + character, and I should change my feeling. Yet I have never + been mistaken in these intimations, as far as I recollect. I + hope I am now.' + +I am to add, that she gave herself to her friendships with an +entireness not possible to any but a woman, with a depth possible +to few women. Her friendships, as a girl with girls, as a woman with +women, were not unmingled with passion, and had passages of romantic +sacrifice and of ecstatic fusion, which I have heard with the ear, but +could not trust my profane pen to report. There were, also, the ebbs +and recoils from the other party,--the mortal unequal to converse +with an immortal,--ingratitude, which was more truly incapacity, the +collapse of overstrained affections and powers. At all events, it is +clear that Margaret, later, grew more strict, and values herself with +her friends on having the tie now "redeemed from all search after +Eros." So much, however, of intellectual aim and activity mixed with +her alliances, as to breathe a certain dignity and myrrh through them +all. She and her friends are fellow-students with noblest moral aims. +She is there for help and for counsel. 'Be to the best thou knowest +ever true!' is her language to one. And that was the effect of her +presence. Whoever conversed with her felt challenged by the strongest +personal influence to a bold and generous life. To one she wrote,-- + + 'Could a word from me avail you, I would say, that I have firm + faith that nature cannot be false to her child, who has shown + such an unalterable faith in her piety towards her.' + + * * * * * + + 'These tones of my dear ----'s lyre are of the noblest. Will + they sound purely through her experiences? Will the variations + be faithful to the theme? Not always do those who most + devoutly long for the Infinite, know best how to modulate + their finite into a fair passage of the eternal Harmony. + + 'How many years was it the cry of my spirit,-- + + "Give, give, ye mighty Gods! + Why do ye thus hold back?"-- + + and, I suppose, all noble young persons think for the time + that they would have been more generous than the Olympians. + But when we have learned the high lesson _to deserve_,--that + boon of manhood,--we see they esteemed us too much, to give + what we had not earned.' + +The following passages from her journal and her letters are +sufficiently descriptive, each in its way, of her strong affections. + + 'At Mr. G.'s we looked over prints, the whole evening, in + peace. Nothing fixed my attention so much as a large engraving + of Madame Recamier in her boudoir. I have so often thought + over the intimacy between her and Madame De Stael. + + 'It is so true that a woman may be in love with a woman, and + a man with a man. I like to be sure of it, for it is the same + love which angels feel, where-- + + '"Sie fragen nicht nach Mann und Weib." + + 'It is regulated by the same law as that of love between + persons of different sexes; only it is purely intellectual and + spiritual. Its law is the desire of the spirit to realize a + whole, which makes it seek in another being what it finds not + in itself. Thus the beautiful seek the strong, and the strong + the beautiful; the mute seeks the eloquent, &c.; the butterfly + settles always on the dark flower. Why did Socrates love + Alcibiades? Why did Körner love Schneider? How natural is the + love of Wallenstein for Max; that of De Stael for De Recamier; + mine for ----. I loved ----, for a time, with as much passion + as I was then strong enough to feel. Her face was always + gleaming before me; her voice was always echoing in my ear; + all poetic thoughts clustered round the dear image. This love + was a key which unlocked for me many a treasure which I still + possess; it was the carbuncle which cast light into many of + the darkest caverns of human nature. She loved me, too, though + not so much, because her nature was "less high, less grave, + less large, less deep." But she loved more tenderly, less + passionately. She loved me, for I well remember her suffering + when she first could feel my faults, and knew one part of the + exquisite veil rent away; how she wished to stay apart, and + weep the whole day. + + * * * * * + + 'I do not love her now with passion, but I still feel towards + her as I can to no other woman. I thought of all this as I + looked at Madame Recamier.' + + * * * * * + + TO R.W.E. + + '_7th Feb., 1843._--I saw the letter of your new friend, and + liked it much; only, at this distance, one could not be sure + whether it was the nucleus or the train of a comet, that + lightened afar. The daemons are not busy enough at the births + of most men. They do not give them individuality deep enough + for truth to take root in. Such shallow natures cannot resist + a strong head; its influence goes right through them. It is + not stopped and fermented long enough. But I do not understand + this hint of hesitation, because you have many friends + already. We need not economize, we need not hoard these + immortal treasures. Love and thought are not diminished by + diffusion. In the widow's cruse is oil enough to furnish light + for all the world.' + + * * * * * + + TO R.W.E. + + '_15th March, 1842._--It is to be hoped, my best one, that the + experiences of life will yet correct your vocabulary, and that + you will not always answer the burst of frank affection by the + use of such a word as "flattery." + + 'Thou knowest, O all-seeing Truth! whether that hour is base + or unworthy thee, in which the heart turns tenderly towards + some beloved object, whether stirred by an apprehension of its + needs, or of its present beauty, or of its great promise; when + it would lay before it all the flowers of hope and love, would + soothe its weariness as gently as might the sweet south, and + _flatter_ it by as fond an outbreak of pride and devotion + as is seen on the sunset clouds. Thou knowest whether + these promptings, whether these longings, be not truer than + intellectual scrutiny of the details of character; than cold + distrust of the exaggerations even of heart. What we hope, + what we think of those we love, is true, true as the fondest + dream of love and friendship that ever shone upon the childish + heart. + + 'The faithful shall yet meet a full-eyed love, ready as + profound, that never needs turn the key on its retirement, or + arrest the stammering of an overweening trust.' + + * * * * * + + TO ---- + + 'I wish I could write you often, to bring before you the + varied world-scene you cannot so well go out to unfold for + yourself. But it was never permitted me, even where I wished + it most. But the forest leaves fall unseen, and make a soil on + which shall be reared the growths and fabrics of a nobler era. + This thought rounds off each day. Your letter was a little + golden key to a whole volume of thoughts and feelings. I + cannot make the one bright drop, like champagne in ice, + but must pour a full gush, if I speak at all, and not think + whether the water is clear either.' + +With this great heart, and these attractions, it was easy to add daily +to the number of her friends. With her practical talent, her counsel +and energy, she was pretty sure to find clients and sufferers enough, +who wished to be guided and supported. 'Others,' she said, 'lean on +this arm, which I have found so frail. Perhaps it is strong enough to +have drawn a sword, but no better suited to be used as a _bolt_, than +that of Lady Catharine Douglas, of loyal memory.' She could not make a +journey, or go to an evening party, without meeting a new person, who +wished presently to impart his history to her. Very early, she had +written to ----, 'My museum is so well furnished, that I grow lazy +about collecting new specimens of human nature.' She had soon enough +examples of the historic development of rude intellect under the first +rays of culture. But, in a thousand individuals, the process is much +the same; and, like a professor too long pent in his college, she +rejoiced in encountering persons of untutored grace and strength, and +felt no wish to prolong the intercourse when culture began to have +its effect I find in her journal a characteristic note, on receiving a +letter on books and speculations, from one whom she had valued for his +heroic qualities in a life of adventure:-- + + 'These letters of ---- are beautiful, and moved me deeply. It + looks like the birth of a soul. But I loved _thee_, fair, rich + _earth_,--and all that is gone forever. This that comes now, + we know in much farther stages. Yet there is silver sweet in + the tone, generous nobility in the impulses.' + + * * * * * + + 'Poor Tasso in the play offered his love and service too + officiously to all. They all rejected it, and declared him + mad, because he made statements too emphatic of his feelings. + If I wanted only ideal figures to think about, there are those + in literature I like better than any of your living ones. + But I want far more. I want habitual intercourse, cheer, + inspiration, tenderness. I want these for myself; I want to + impart them. I have done as Timon did, for these last eight + years. My early intercourses were more equal, because more + natural. Since I took on me the vows of renunciation, I have + acted like a prodigal. Like Timon, I have loved to give, + perhaps not from beneficence, but from restless love. Now, + like Fortunatus, I find my mistresses will not thank me for + fires made of cinnamon; rather they run from too rich an odor. + What shall I do? not curse, like him, (oh base!) nor dig my + grave in the marge of the salt tide. Give an answer to my + questions, dæmon! Give a rock for my feet, a bird of peaceful + and sufficient song within my breast! I return to thee, my + Father, from the husks that have been offered me. But I return + as one who meant not to leave Thee.' + +Of course, she made large demands on her companions, and would soon +come to sound their knowledge, and guess pretty nearly the range of +their thoughts. There yet remained to command her constancy, what she +valued more, the quality and affection proper to each. But she could +rarely find natures sufficiently deep and magnetic. With her sleepless +curiosity, her magnanimity, and her diamond-ring, like Annie of +Lochroyan's, to exchange for gold or for pewter, she might be pardoned +for her impatient questionings. To me, she was uniformly generous; but +neither did I escape. Our moods were very different; and I remember, +that, at the very time when I, slow and cold, had come fully to +admire her genius, and was congratulating myself on the solid good +understanding that subsisted between us, I was surprised with hearing +it taxed by her with superficiality and halfness. She stigmatized our +friendship as commercial. It seemed, her magnanimity was not met, but +I prized her only for the thoughts and pictures she brought me;--so +many thoughts, so many facts yesterday,--so many to-day;--when there +was an end of things to tell, the game was up: that, I did not +know, as a friend should know, to prize a silence as much as a +discourse,--and hence a forlorn feeling was inevitable; a poor +counting of thoughts, and a taking the census of virtues, was the +unjust reception so much love found. On one occasion, her grief broke +into words like these: 'The religious nature remained unknown to you, +because it could not proclaim itself, but claimed to be divined. The +deepest soul that approached you was, in your eyes, nothing but a +magic lantern, always bringing out pretty shows of life.' + +But as I did not understand the discontent then,--of course, I cannot +now. It was a war of temperaments, and could not be reconciled by +words; but, after each party had explained to the uttermost, it was +necessary to fall back on those grounds of agreement which remained +and leave the differences henceforward in respectful silence. The +recital may still serve to show to sympathetic persons the true lines +and enlargements of her genius. It is certain that this incongruity +never interrupted for a moment the intercourse, such as it was, that +existed between us. + +I ought to add here, that certain mental changes brought new questions +into conversation. In the summer of 1840, she passed into certain +religious states, which did not impress me as quite healthy, or likely +to be permanent; and I said, "I do not understand your tone; it seems +exaggerated. You are one who can afford to speak and to hear the +truth. Let us hold hard to the common-sense, and let us speak in the +positive degree." + +And I find, in later letters from her, sometimes playful, sometimes +grave allusions to this explanation. + + 'Is ---- there? Does water meet water?--no need of wine, + sugar, spice, or even a _soupçon_ of lemon to remind of a + tropical climate? I fear me not. Yet, dear positives, believe + me superlatively yours, MARGARET.' + +The following letter seems to refer, under an Eastern guise, and with +something of Eastern exaggeration of compliment too, to some such +native sterilities in her correspondent:--- + + * * * * * + + TO R.W.E. + + '_23d Feb., 1840._--I am like some poor traveller of the + desert, who saw, at early morning, a distant palm, and toiled + all day to reach it. All day he toiled. The unfeeling sun shot + pains into his temples; the burning air, filled with sand, + checked his breath; he had no water, and no fountain sprung + along his path. But his eye was bright with courage, for he + said, "When I reach the lonely palm, I will lie beneath its + shade. I will refresh myself with its fruit. Allah has reared + it to such a height, that it may encourage the wandering, and + bless and sustain the faint and weary." But when he reached + it, alas! it had grown too high to shade the weary man at its + foot. On it he saw no clustering dates, and its one draught of + wine was far beyond his reach. He saw at once that it was so. + A child, a bird, a monkey, might have climbed to reach it. A + rude hand might have felled the whole tree; but the full-grown + man, the weary man, the gentle-hearted, religious man, was no + nearer to its nourishment for being close to the root; yet he + had not force to drag himself further, and leave at once the + aim of so many fond hopes, so many beautiful thoughts. So he + lay down amid the inhospitable sands. The night dews pierced + his exhausted frame; the hyena laughed, the lion roared, in + the distance; the stars smiled upon him satirically from their + passionless peace; and he knew they were like the sun, as + unfeeling, only more distant. He could not sleep for + famine. With the dawn he arose. The palm stood as tall, as + inaccessible, as ever; its leaves did not so much as rustle an + answer to his farewell sigh. On and on he went, and came, at + last, to a living spring. The spring was encircled by tender + verdure, wild fruits ripened near, and the clear waters + sparkled up to tempt his lip. The pilgrim rested, and + refreshed himself, and looked back with less pain to the + unsympathizing palm, which yet towered in the distance. + + 'But the wanderer had a mission to perform, which must have + forced him to leave at last both palm and fountain. So on and + on he went, saying to the palm, "Thou art for another;" and to + the gentle waters, "I will return." + + 'Not far distant was he when the sirocco came, and choked with + sand the fountain, and uprooted the fruit-trees. When years + have passed, the waters will have forced themselves up again + to light, and a new oasis will await a new wanderer. Thou, + Sohrab, wilt, ere that time, have left thy bones at Mecca. + Yet the remembrance of the fountain cheers thee as a blessing; + that of the palm haunts thee as a pang. + + 'So talks the soft spring gale of the Shah Nameh. Genuine + Sanscrit I cannot write. My Persian and Arabic you love not. + Why do I write thus to one who must ever regard the deepest + tones of my nature as those of childish fancy or worldly + discontent?' + + + + +PROBLEMS OF LIFE. + + +Already, too, at this time, each of the main problems of human life +had been closely scanned and interrogated by her, and some of them had +been much earlier settled. A worshipper of beauty, why could not she +also have been beautiful?--of the most radiant sociality, why should +not she have been so placed, and so decorated, as to have led the +fairest and highest? In her journal is a bitter sentence, whose +meaning I cannot mistake: 'Of a disposition that requires the most +refined, the most exalted tenderness, without charms to inspire +it:--poor Mignon! fear not the transition through death; no penal +fires can have in store worse torments than thou art familiar with +already.' + +In the month of May, she writes:-- + + 'When all things are blossoming, it seems so strange not to + blossom too; that the quick thought within cannot remould its + tenement. Man is the slowest aloes, and I am such a shabby + plant, of such coarse tissue. I hate not to be beautiful, when + all around is so.' + +Again, after recording a visit to a family, whose taste and culture, +united to the most liberal use of wealth, made the most agreeable of +homes, she writes: + + 'Looking out on the wide view, I felt the blessings of my + comparative freedom. I stand in no false relations. Who else + is so happy? Here are these fair, unknowing children envying + the depth of my mental life. They feel withdrawn by sweet + duties from reality. Spirit! I accept; teach me to prize and + use whatsoever is given me.' + + 'At present,' she writes elsewhere, 'it skills not. I am able + to take the superior view of life, and my place in it. But I + know the deep yearnings of the heart and the bafflings of time + will be felt again, and then I shall long for some dear hand + to hold. But I shall never forget that my curse is nothing, + compared with that of those who have entered into those + relations, but not made them real; who only _seem_ husbands, + wives, and friends.' + + 'I remain fixed to be, without churlishness or coldness, as + much alone as possible. It is best for me. I am not fitted to + be loved, and it pains me to have close dealings with those + who do not love, to whom my feelings are "strange." Kindness + and esteem are very well. I am willing to receive and bestow + them; but these alone are not worth feelings such as mine. And + I wish I may make no more mistakes, but keep chaste for mine + own people.' + +There is perhaps here, as in a passage of the same journal quoted +already, an allusion to a verse in the ballad of the Lass of +Lochroyan:-- + + "O yours was gude, and gude enough, + But aye the best was mine; + For yours was o' the gude red gold, + But mine o' the diamond fine." + + 'There is no hour of absolute beauty in all my past, though + some have been made musical by heavenly hope, many dignified + by intelligence. Long urged by the Furies, I rest again in + the temple of Apollo. Celestial verities dawn constellated as + thoughts in the Heaven of my mind. + + 'But, driven from home to home, as a renouncer, I get the + picture and the poetry of each. Keys of gold, silver, iron, + and lead, are in my casket. No one loves me; but I love many a + good deal, and see, more or less, into their eventual beauty. + Meanwhile, I have no fetter on me, no engagement, and, as I + look on others,--almost every other,--can I fail to feel this + a great privilege? I have nowise tied my hands or feet; yet + the varied calls on my sympathy have been such, that I hope + not to be made partial, cold, or ignorant, by this isolation. + I have no child; but now, as I look on these lovely children + of a human birth, what low and neutralizing cares they + bring with them to the mother! The children of the muse + come quicker, and have not on them the taint of earthly + corruption.' + +Practical questions in plenty the days and months brought her to +settle,--questions requiring all her wisdom, and sometimes more than +all. None recurs with more frequency, at one period, in her journals, +than the debate with herself, whether she shall make literature a +profession. Shall it be woman, or shall it be artist? + + + + +WOMAN, OR ARTIST? + + +Margaret resolved, again and again, to devote herself no more to these +disappointing forms of men and women, but to the children of the muse. +'The _dramatis personæ_' she said, 'of my poems shall henceforth be +chosen from the children of immortal Muse. I fix my affections no +more on these frail forms.' But it was vain; she rushed back again to +persons, with a woman's devotion. + +Her pen was a non-conductor. She always took it up with some disdain, +thinking it a kind of impiety to attempt to report a life so warm and +cordial, and wrote on the fly-leaf of her journal,-- + + '"_Scrivo sol per sfogar' l'interno_."' + + 'Since you went away,' she said, 'I have thought of many + things I might have told you, but I could not bear to be + eloquent and poetical. It is a mockery thus to play the artist + with life, and dip the brush in one's own heart's blood. One + would fain be no more artist, or philosopher, or lover, or + critic, but a soul ever rushing forth in tides of genial + life.' + + * * * * * + + '_26 Dec., 1842._--I have been reading the lives of Lord + Herbert of Cherbury, and of Sir Kenelm Digby. These splendid, + chivalrous, and thoughtful Englishmen are meat which my + soul loveth, even as much as my Italians. What I demand of + men,--that they could act out all their thoughts,--these have. + They are lives;--and of such I do not care if they had as many + faults as there are days in the year,--there is the energy + to redeem them. Do you not admire Lord Herbert's two poems on + life, and the conjectures concerning celestial life? I keep + reading them.' + + * * * * * + + 'When I look at my papers, I feel as if I had never had a + thought that was worthy the attention of any but myself; and + 'tis only when, on talking with people, I find I tell them + what they did not know, that my confidence at all returns.' + + * * * * * + + 'My verses,--I am ashamed when I think there is scarce a line + of poetry in them,--all rhetorical and impassioned, as Goethe + said of De Stael. However, such as they are, they have + been overflowing drops from the somewhat bitter cup of my + existence.' + + * * * * * + + 'How can I ever write with this impatience of detail? I shall + never be an artist; I have no patient love of execution; I + am delighted with my sketch, but if I try to finish it, I am + chilled. Never was there a great sculptor who did not love to + chip the marble.' + + * * * * * + + 'I have talent and knowledge enough to furnish a dwelling for + friendship, but not enough to deck with golden gifts a Delphi + for the world.' + + * * * * * + + 'Then a woman of tact and brilliancy, like me, has an undue + advantage in conversation with men. They are astonished at our + instincts. They do not see where we got our knowledge; and, + while they tramp on in their clumsy way, we wheel, and fly, + and dart hither and thither, and seize with ready eye all the + weak points, like Saladin in the desert. It is quite another + thing when we come to write, and, without suggestion from + another mind, to declare the positive amount of thought that + is in us. Because we seemed to know all, they think we can + tell all; and, finding we can tell so little, lose faith in + their first opinion of us, _which, nathless, was true_.' + +And again: + + 'These gentlemen are surprised that I write no better, because + I talk so well. But I have served a long apprenticeship to + the one, none to the other. I shall write better, but never, I + think, so well as I talk; for then I feel inspired. The means + are pleasant; my voice excites me, my pen never. I shall not + be discouraged, nor take for final what they say, but sift + from it the truth, and use it. I feel the strength to dispense + with all illusions. I will stand steady, and rejoice in the + severest probations.' + + * * * * * + + 'What a vulgarity there seems in this writing for the + multitude! We know not yet, have not made ourselves known to + a single soul, and shall we address those still more unknown? + Shall we multiply our connections, and thus make them still + more superficial? + + 'I would go into the crowd, and meet men for the day, to help + them for the day, but for that intercourse which most becomes + us. Pericles, Anaxagoras, Aspasia, Cleone, is circle wide + enough for me. I should think all the resources of my nature, + and all the tribute it could enforce from external nature, + none too much to furnish the banquet for this circle. + + 'But where to find fit, though few, representatives for all + we value in humanity? Where obtain those golden keys to the + secret treasure-chambers of the soul? No samples are perfect. + We must look abroad into the wide circle, to seek a little + here, and a little there, to make up our company. And is not + the "prent book" a good beacon-light to tell where we wait the + bark?--a reputation, the means of entering the Olympic game, + where Pindar may perchance be encountered? + + 'So it seems the mind must reveal its secret; must reproduce. + And I have no castle, and no natural circle, in which I might + live, like the wise Makaria, observing my kindred the stars, + and gradually enriching my archives. Makaria here must go + abroad, or the stars would hide their light, and the archive + remain a blank. + + 'For all the tides of life that flow within me, I am dumb and + ineffectual, when it comes to casting my thought into a form. + No old one suits me. If I could invent one, it seems to me the + pleasure of creation would make it possible for me to write. + What shall I do, dear friend? I want force to be either a + genius or a character. One should be either private or public. + I love best to be a woman; but womanhood is at present too + straitly-bounded to give me scope. At hours, I live truly as + a woman; at others, I should stifle; as, on the other hand, I + should palsy, when I would play the artist.' + + + + +HEROISM. + + +These practical problems Margaret had to entertain and to solve the +best way she could. She says truly, 'there was none to take up her +burden whilst she slept.' But she was formed for action, and addressed +herself quite simply to her part. She was a woman, an orphan, +without beauty, without money; and these negatives will suggest what +difficulties were to be surmounted where the tasks dictated by her +talents required the good-will of "good society," in the town where +she was to teach and write. But she was even-tempered and erect, and, +if her journals are sometimes mournful, her mind was made up, her +countenance beamed courage and cheerfulness around her. Of personal +influence, speaking strictly,--an efflux, that is, purely of mind and +character, excluding all effects of power, wealth, fashion, beauty, or +literary fame,--she had an extraordinary degree; I think more than any +person I have known. An interview with her was a joyful event. Worthy +men and women, who had conversed with her, could not forget her, but +worked bravely on in the remembrance that this heroic approver had +recognized their aims. She spoke so earnestly, that the depth of the +sentiment prevailed, and not the accidental expression, which might +chance to be common. Thus I learned, the other day, that, in a copy +of Mrs. Jameson's Italian Painters, against a passage describing +Correggio as a true servant of God in his art, above sordid ambition, +devoted to truth, "one of those superior beings of whom there are so +few;" Margaret wrote on the margin, 'And yet all might be such.' The +book lay long on the table of the owner, in Florence, and chanced to +be read there by a young artist of much talent. "These words," said +he, months afterwards, "struck out a new strength in me. They revived +resolutions long fallen away, and made me set my face like a flint." + +But Margaret's courage was thoroughly sweet in its temper. She accused +herself in her youth of unamiable traits, but, in all the later years +of her life, it is difficult to recall a moment of malevolence. The +friends whom her strength of mind drew to her, her good heart held +fast; and few persons were ever the objects of more persevering +kindness. Many hundreds of her letters remain, and they are alive with +proofs of generous friendship given and received. + +Among her early friends, Mrs. Farrar, of Cambridge, appears to have +discovered, at a critical moment in her career, the extraordinary +promise of the young girl, and some false social position into which +her pride and petulance, and the mistakes of others, had combined to +bring her, and she set herself, with equal kindness and address, to +make a second home for Margaret in her own house, and to put her on +the best footing in the agreeable society of Cambridge. She busied +herself, also, as she could, in removing all superficial blemishes +from the gem. In a well-chosen travelling party, made up by Mrs. +Farrar, and which turned out to be the beginning of much happiness by +the friendships then formed, Margaret visited, in the summer of 1835, +Newport, New York, and Trenton Falls; and, in the autumn, made the +acquaintance, at Mrs. F.'s house, of Miss Martineau, whose friendship, +at that moment, was an important stimulus to her mind. + +Mrs. Farrar performed for her, thenceforward, all the offices of an +almost maternal friendship. She admired her genius, and wished that +all should admire it. She counselled and encouraged her, brought to +her side the else unsuppliable aid of a matron and a lady, sheltered +her in sickness, forwarded her plans with tenderness and constancy, +to the last. I read all this in the tone of uniform gratitude and love +with which this lady is mentioned in Margaret's letters. Friendships +like this praise both parties; and the security with which people of +a noble disposition approached Margaret, indicated the quality of her +own infinite tenderness. A very intelligent woman applied to her what +Stilling said of Goethe: "Her heart, which few knew, was as great as +her mind, which all knew;" and added, that, "in character, Margaret +was, of all she had beheld, the largest woman, and not a woman who +wished, to be a man." Another lady added, "She never disappointed you. +To any one whose confidence she had once drawn out, she was thereafter +faithful. She could talk of persons, and never gossip; for she had a +fine instinct that kept her from any reality, and from any effect of +treachery." I was still more struck with the remark that followed. +"Her life, since she went abroad, is wholly unknown to me; but I have +an unshaken trust that what Margaret did she can defend." + +She was a right brave and heroic woman. She shrunk from no duty, +because of feeble nerves. Although, after her father died, the +disappointment of not going to Europe with Miss Martineau and Mrs. +Farrar was extreme, and her mother and sister wished her to take +her portion of the estate and go; and, on her refusal, entreated the +interference of friends to overcome her objections; Margaret would not +hear of it, and devoted herself to the education of her brothers and +sisters, and then to the making a home for the family. She was exact +and punctual in money matters, and maintained herself, and made her +full contribution to the support of her family, by the reward of her +labors as a teacher, and in her conversation classes. I have a letter +from her at Jamaica Plain, dated November, 1840, which begins, + + 'This day I write you from my own hired house, and am full of + the dignity of citizenship. Really, it is almost happiness. + I retain, indeed, some cares and responsibilities; but these + will sit light as feathers, for I can take my own time for + them. Can it be that this peace will be mine for five whole + months? At any rate, five days have already been enjoyed.' + +Here is another, written in the same year:-- + + 'I do not wish to talk to you of my ill-health, except that I + like you should know when it makes me do anything badly, since + I wish you to excuse and esteem me. But let me say, once for + all, in reply to your letter, that you are mistaken if you + think I ever wantonly sacrifice my health. I have learned + that we cannot injure ourselves without injuring others; and + besides, that we have no right; for ourselves are all we know + of heaven. I do not try to domineer over myself. But, unless + I were sure of dying, I cannot dispense with making some + exertion, both for the present and the future. There is no + mortal, who, if I laid down my burden, would take care of + it while I slept. Do not think me weakly disinterested, or, + indeed, disinterested at all.' + +Every one of her friends knew assuredly that her sympathy and aid +would not fail them when required. She went, from the most joyful of +all bridals, to attend a near relative during a formidable surgical +operation. She was here to help others. As one of her friends writes, +'She helped whoever knew her.' She adopted the interests of humble +persons, within her circle, with heart-cheering warmth, and her ardor +in the cause of suffering and degraded women, at Sing-Sing, was as +irresistible as her love of books. She had, many years afterwards, +scope for the exercise of all her love and devotion, in Italy, but +she came to it as if it had been her habit and her natural sphere. The +friends who knew her in that country, relate, with much surprise, +that she, who had all her lifetime drawn people by her wit, should +recommend herself so highly, in Italy, by her tenderness and large +affection. Yet the tenderness was only a face of the wit; as before, +the wit was raised above all other wit by the affection behind it. +And, truly, there was an ocean of tears always, in her atmosphere, +ready to fall. + +There was, at New York, a poor adventurer, half patriot, half +author, a miserable man, always in such depths of distress, with +such squadrons of enemies, that no charity could relieve, and no +intervention save him. He believed Europe banded for his destruction, +and America corrupted to connive at it. Margaret listened to these +woes with such patience and mercy, that she drew five hundred dollars, +which had been invested for her in a safe place, and put them in those +hapless hands, where, of course, the money was only the prey of new +rapacity, to be bewailed by new reproaches. When one of her friends +had occasion to allude to this, long afterwards, she replied:-- + + 'In answer to what you say of ----, I wish, indeed, the little + effort I made for him had been wiselier applied. Yet these are + not the things one regrets. It will not do to calculate too + closely with the affectionate human impulse. We must consent + to make many mistakes, or we should move too slow to help our + brothers much. I am sure you do not regret what you spent on + Miani, and other worthless people. As things looked then, it + would have been wrong not to have risked the loss.' + + + + +TRUTH. + + +But Margaret crowned all her talents and virtues with a love of truth, +and the power to speak it. In great and in small matters, she was +a woman of her word, and gave those who conversed with her the +unspeakable comfort that flows from plain dealing. Her nature was +frank and transparent, and she had a right to say, as she says in her +journal:-- + + 'I have the satisfaction of knowing, that, in my counsels, I + have given myself no air of being better than I am.' + +And again:-- + + 'In the chamber of death, I prayed in very early years, "Give + me truth; cheat me by no illusion." O, the granting of this + prayer is sometimes terrible to me! I walk over the burning + ploughshares, and they sear my feet. Yet nothing but truth + will do; no love will serve that is not eternal, and as large + as the universe; no philanthropy in executing whose behests + I myself become unhealthy; no creative genius which bursts + asunder my life, to leave it a poor black chrysalid behind. + And yet this last is too true of me.' + +She describes a visit made in May, 1844, at the house of some +valued friends in West Roxbury, and adds: 'We had a long and deep +conversation, happy in its candor. Truth, truth, thou art the great +preservative! Let free air into the mind, and the pestilence cannot +lurk in any corner.' + +And she uses the following language in an earnest letter to another +friend:-- + + 'My own entire sincerity, in every passage of life, gives me a + right to expect that I shall be met by no unmeaning phrases or + attentions.' + + * * * * * + + 'Reading to-day a few lines of ----, I thought with + refreshment of such lives as T.'s, and V.'s, and W.'s, so + private and so true, where each line written is really the + record of a thought or a feeling. I hate poems which are + a melancholy monument of culture for the sake of being + cultivated, not of growing.' + +Even in trifles, one might find with her the advantage and the +electricity of a little honesty. I have had from an eye-witness a note +of a little scene that passed in Boston, at the Academy of Music. +A party had gone early, and taken an excellent place to hear one of +Beethoven's symphonies. Just behind them were soon seated a young lady +and two gentlemen, who made an incessant buzzing, in spite of bitter +looks cast on them by the whole neighborhood, and destroyed all the +musical comfort. After all was over, Margaret leaned across one seat, +and catching the eye of this girl, who was pretty and well-dressed, +said, in her blandest, gentlest voice, "May I speak with you one +moment?" "Certainly," said the young lady, with a fluttered, pleased +look, bending forward. "I only wish to say," said Margaret, "that I +trust, that, in the whole course of your life, you will not suffer so +great a degree of annoyance as you have inflicted on a large party of +lovers of music this evening." This was said with the sweetest air, as +if to a little child, and it was as good as a play to see the change +of countenance which the young lady exhibited, who had no replication +to make to so Christian a blessing. + +On graver occasions, the same habit was only more stimulated; and I +cannot remember certain passages which called it into play, without +new regrets at the costly loss which our community sustains in the +loss of this brave and eloquent soul. + +People do not speak the truth, not for the want of not knowing +and preferring it, but because they have not the organ to speak it +adequately. It requires a clear sight, and, still more, a high spirit, +to deal with falsehood in the decisive way. I have known several +honest persons who valued truth as much as Peter and John, but, when +they tried to speak it, _they_ grew red and black in the face instead +of Ananias, until, after a few attempts, they decided that aggressive +truth was not their vocation, and confined themselves thenceforward +to silent honesty, except on rare occasions, when either an extreme +outrage, or a happier inspiration, loosened their tongue. But a soul +is now and then incarnated, whom indulgent nature has not afflicted +with any cramp or frost, but who can speak the right word at the right +moment, qualify the selfish and hypocritical act with its real name, +and, without any loss of serenity, hold up the offence to the purest +daylight. Such a truth-speaker is worth more than the best police, and +more than the laws or governors; for these do not always know their +own side, but will back the crime for want of this very truth-speaker +to expose them. That is the theory of the newspaper,--to supersede +official by intellectual influence. But, though the apostles establish +the journal, it usually happens that, by some strange oversight, +Ananias slips into the editor's chair. If, then, we could be provided +with a fair proportion of truth-speakers, we could very materially and +usefully contract the legislative and the executive functions. Still, +the main sphere for this nobleness is private society, where so +many mischiefs go unwhipped, being out of the cognizance of law, +and supposed to be nobody's business. And society is, at all times, +suffering for want of judges and headsmen, who will mark and lop these +malefactors. + +Margaret suffered no vice to insult her presence, but called the +offender to instant account, when the law of right or of beauty was +violated. She needed not, of course, to go out of her way to find the +offender, and she never did, but she had the courage and the skill to +cut heads off which were not worn with honor in her presence. Others +might abet a crime by silence, if they pleased; she chose to clear +herself of all complicity, by calling the act by its name. + +It was curious to see the mysterious provocation which the mere +presence of insight exerts in its neighborhood. Like moths about a +lamp, her victims voluntarily came to judgment: conscious persons, +encumbered with egotism; vain persons, bent on concealing some +mean vice; arrogant reformers, with some halting of their own; the +compromisers, who wished to reconcile right and wrong;--all came and +held out their palms to the wise woman, to read their fortunes, and +they were truly told. Many anecdotes have come to my ear, which show +how useful the glare of her lamp proved in private circles, and what +dramatic situations it created. But these cannot be told. The valor +for dragging the accused spirits among his acquaintance to the stake +is not in the heart of the present writer. The reader must be content +to learn that she knew how, without loss of temper, to speak with +unmistakable plainness to any party, when she felt that the truth or +the right was injured. For the same reason, I omit one or two +letters, most honorable both to her mind and heart, in which she felt +constrained to give the frankest utterance to her displeasure. Yet I +incline to quote the testimony of one witness, which is so full and so +pointed, that I must give it as I find it. + +"I have known her, by the severity of her truth, mow down a crop of +evil, like the angel of retribution itself, and could not sufficiently +admire her courage. A conversation she had with Mr. ----, just before +he went to Europe, was one of these things; and there was not a +particle of ill-will in it, but it was truth which she could not help +seeing and uttering, nor he refuse to accept. + +"My friends told me of a similar verdict, pronounced upon Mr. ----, at +Paris, which they said was perfectly tremendous. They themselves +sat breathless; Mr. ---- was struck dumb; his eyes fixed on her with +wonder and amazement, yet gazing too with an attention which seemed +like fascination. When she had done, he still looked to see if she was +to say more, and when he found she had really finished, he arose, took +his hat, said faintly, 'I thank you.' and left the room. He afterwards +said to Mr. ----, 'I never shall speak ill of her. She has done me +good.' And this was the greater triumph, for this man had no theories +of impersonality, and was the most egotistical and irritable of +self-lovers, and was so unveracious, that one had to hope in charity +that his organ for apprehending truth was deficient." + + + + +ECSTASY. + + +I have alluded to the fact, that, in the summer of 1840, Margaret +underwent some change in the tone and the direction of her thoughts, +to which she attributed a high importance. I remember, at an earlier +period, when in earnest conversation with her, she seemed to have +that height and daring, that I saw she was ready to do whatever she +thought; and I observed that, with her literary riches, her invention +and wit, her boundless fun and drollery, her light satire, and the +most entertaining conversation in America, consisted a certain +pathos of sentiment, and a march of character, threatening to arrive +presently at the shores and plunge into the sea of Buddhism and +mystical trances. The literature of asceticism and rapturous piety was +familiar to her. The conversation of certain mystics, who had appeared +in Boston about this time, had interested her, but in no commanding +degree. But in this year, 1840, in which events occurred which +combined great happiness and pain for her affections, she remained for +some time in a sort of ecstatic solitude. She made many attempts +to describe her frame of mind to me, but did not inspire me with +confidence that she had now come to any experiences that were profound +or permanent. She was vexed at the want of sympathy on my part, and +I again felt that this craving for sympathy did not prove the +inspiration. There was a certain restlessness and fever, which I did +not like should deceive a soul which was capable of greatness. But +jets of magnanimity were always natural to her; and her aspiring +mind, eager for a higher and still a higher ground, made her gradually +familiar with the range of the mystics, and, though never herself laid +in the chamber called Peace, never quite authentically and originally +speaking from the absolute or prophetic mount, yet she borrowed from +her frequent visits to its precincts an occasional enthusiasm, which +gave a religious dignity to her thought. + + 'I have plagues about me, but they don't touch me now. I thank + nightly the benignant Spirit, for the unaccustomed serenity in + which it enfolds me. + + '---- is very wretched; and once I could not have helped + taking on me all his griefs, and through him the griefs of his + class; but now I drink only the wormwood of the minute, and + that has always equal parts,--a drop of sweet to a drop + of bitter. But I shall never be callous, never unable to + understand _home-sickness_. Am not I, too, one of the band who + know not where to lay their heads? Am I wise enough to hear + such things? Perhaps not; but happy enough, surely. For that + Power which daily makes me understand the value of the little + wheat amid the field of tares, and shows me how the kingdom of + heaven is sown in the earth like a grain of mustard-seed, is + good to me, and bids me call unhappiness happy.' + + * * * * * + + TO ---- + + '_March_, 1842.--My inward life has been more rich and deep, + and of more calm and musical flow than ever before. It seems + to me that Heaven, whose course has ever been to cross-bias + me, as Herbert said, is no niggard in its compensations. I + have indeed been forced to take up old burdens, from which I + thought I had learned what they could teach; the pen has been + snatched from my hand just as I most longed to use it; I have + been forced to dissipate, when I most wished to concentrate; + to feel the hourly presence of others' mental wants, when, it + seemed, I was just on the point of satisfying my own. But a + new page is turned, and an era begun, from which I am not yet + sufficiently remote to describe it as I would. I have lived a + life, if only in the music I have heard, and one development + seemed to follow another therein, as if bound together by + destiny, and all things were done for me. All minds, all + scenes, have ministered to me. Nature has seemed an + ever-open secret; the Divine, a sheltering love; truth, an + always-springing fountain; and my soul more alone, and less + lonely, more hopeful, patient, and, above all, more gentle and + humble in its living. New minds have come to reveal themselves + to me, though I do not wish it, for I feel myself inadequate + to the ties already formed. I have not strength or time to + meet the thoughts of those I love already. But these new have + come with gifts too fair to be refused, and which have cheered + my passive mind.' + + * * * * * + + '_June_, 1844.--Last night, in the boat, I could not help + thinking, each has something, none has enough. I fear to want + them all; and, through ages, if not forever, promises and + beckons the life of reception, of renunciation. Passing every + seven days from one region to the other, the maiden grows + weary of _packing the trunk_, yet blesses Thee, O rich God!' + +Her letters at this period betray a pathetic alternation of feeling, +between her aspiring for a rest in the absolute Centre, and her +necessity of a perfect sympathy with her friends. She writes to one of +them:-- + + 'What I want, the word I crave, I do not expect to hear from + the lips of man. I do not wish to be, I do not wish to have, + a _mediator_; yet I cannot help wishing, when I am with you, + that some tones of the longed-for music could be vibrating + in the air around us. But I will not be impatient again; for, + though I am but as I am, I like not to feel the eyes I have + loved averted.' + + + + +CONVERSATION. + + +I have separated and distributed as I could some of the parts which +blended in the rich composite energy which Margaret exerted during the +ten years over which my occasional interviews with her were scattered. +It remains to say, that all these powers and accomplishments +found their best and only adequate channel in her conversation;--a +conversation which those who have heard it, unanimously, as far as +I know, pronounced to be, in elegance, in range, in flexibility, +and adroit transition, in depth, in cordiality, and in moral +aim, altogether admirable; surprising and cheerful as a poem, and +communicating its own civility and elevation like a charm to all +hearers. She was here, among our anxious citizens, and frivolous +fashionists, as if sent to refine and polish her countrymen, and +announce a better day. She poured a stream of amber over the endless +store of private anecdotes, of bosom histories, which her wonderful +persuasion drew forth, and transfigured them into fine fables. Whilst +she embellished the moment, her conversation had the merit of being +solid and true. She put her whole character into it, and had the power +to inspire. The companion was made a thinker, and went away quite +other than he came. The circle of friends who sat with her were not +allowed to remain spectators or players, but she converted them into +heroes, if she could. The muse woke the muses, and the day grew bright +and eventful. Of course, there must be, in a person of such sincerity, +much variety of aspect, according to the character of her company. +Only, in Margaret's case, there is almost an agreement in the +testimony to an invariable power over the minds of all. I conversed +lately with a gentleman who has vivid remembrances of his interviews +with her in Boston, many years ago, who described her in these +terms:--"No one ever came so near. Her mood applied itself to the mood +of her companion, point to point, in the most limber, sinuous, vital +way, and drew out the most extraordinary narratives; yet she had a +light sort of laugh, when all was said, as if she thought she could +live over that revelation. And this sufficient sympathy she had for +all persons indifferently,--for lovers, for artists, and beautiful +maids, and ambitious young statesmen, and for old aunts, and +coach-travellers. Ah! she applied herself to the mood of her +companion, as the sponge applies itself to water." The description +tallies well enough with my observation. I remember she found, one +day, at my house, her old friend Mr. ----, sitting with me. She looked +at him attentively, and hardly seemed to know him. In the afternoon, +he invited her to go with him to Cambridge. The next, day she said to +me, 'You fancy that you know--. It is too absurd; you have never seen +him. When I found him here, sitting like a statue, I was alarmed, +and thought him ill. You sit with courteous, _un_confiding smile, and +suppose him to be a mere man of talent. He is so with you. But the +moment I was alone with him, he was another creature; his manner, so +glassy and elaborate before, was full of soul, and the tones of +his voice entirely different.' And I have no doubt that she saw +expressions, heard tones, and received thoughts from her companions, +which no one else ever saw or heard from the same parties, and that +her praise of her friends, which seemed exaggerated, was her exact +impression. We were all obliged to recall Margaret's testimony, when +we found we were sad blockheads to other people. + +I find among her letters many proofs of this power of disposing +equally the hardest and the most sensitive people to open their +hearts, on very short acquaintance. Any casual rencontré, in a +walk, in a steamboat, at a concert, became the prelude to unwonted +confidences. + + * * * * * + + 1843.--'I believe I told you about one new man, a Philistine, + at Brook Farm. He reproved me, as such people are wont, for my + little faith. At the end of the first meeting in the hall, he + seemed to me perfectly hampered in his old ways and technics, + and I thought he would not open his mind to the views of + others for years, if ever. After I wrote, we had a second + meeting, by request, on personal relations; at the end of + which, he came to me, and expressed delight, and a feeling + of new light and life, in terms whose modesty might have done + honor to the wisest.' + + * * * * * + + 'This afternoon we met Mr. ---- in his wood; and he sat down + and told us the story of his life, his courtship, and painted + the portraits of his father and mother with most amusing + naïveté. He says:--"How do you think I offered myself? I never + had told Miss ---- that I loved her; never told her she was + handsome; and I went to her, and said, 'Miss ----, I've come + to offer myself; but first I'll give you my character. I'm + very poor; you'll have to work: I'm very cross and irascible; + you'll have everything to bear: and I've liked many other + pretty girls. Now what do you say?' and she said, 'I'll have + you:' and she's been everything to me." + + '"My mother was a Calvinist, very strict, but she was always + reading 'Abelard and Eloisa,' and crying over it. At sixteen + I said to her: 'Mother, you've brought me up well; you've kept + me strict. Why don't I feel that regeneration they talk of? + why an't I one of the elect?' And she talked to me about the + potter using his clay as he pleased; and I said: 'Mother, God + is not a potter: He's a perfect being; and he can't treat the + vessels he makes, anyhow, but with perfect justice, or he's no + God. So I'm no Calvinist.'"' + + * * * * * + +Here is a very different picture:-- + + '---- has infinite grace and shading in her character: a + springing and tender fancy, a Madonna depth of meditative + softness, and a purity which has been unstained, and keeps her + dignified even in the most unfavorable circumstances. She was + born for the love and ornament of life. I can scarcely + forbear weeping sometimes, when I look on her, and think what + happiness and beauty she might have conferred. She is as yet + all unconscious of herself, and she rather dreads being with + me, because I make her too conscious. She was on the point, + at ----, of telling me all she knew of herself; but I saw + she dreaded, while she wished, that I should give a local + habitation and a name to what lay undefined, floating before + her, the phantom of her destiny; or rather lead her to give + it, for she always approaches a tragical clearness when + talking with me.' + + * * * * * + + '---- has been to see us. But it serves not to know such + a person, who perpetually defaces the high by such strange + mingling with the low. It certainly is not pleasant to hear of + God and Miss Biddeford in a breath. To me, this hasty attempt + at skimming from the deeps of theosophy is as unpleasant as + the rude vanity of reformers. Dear Beauty! where, where, amid + these morasses and pine barrens, shall we make thee a temple? + where find a Greek to guard it,--clear-eyed, deep-thoughted, + and delicate enough to appreciate the relations and gradations + which nature always observes?' + +An acute and illuminated woman, who, in this age of indifferentism, +holds on with both hands to the creed of the Pilgrims, writes of +Margaret, whom she saw but once:--"She looked very sensible, but as +if contending with ill health and duties. She lay, all the day +and evening, on the sofa, and catechized me, who told my literal +traditions, like any old bobbin-woman." + +I add the testimony of a man of letters, and most competent observer, +who had, for a long time, opportunities of daily intercourse with +her:-- + +"When I knew Margaret, I was so young, and perhaps too much disposed +to meet people on my own ground, that I may not be able to do justice +to her. Her nature was so large and receptive, so sympathetic +with youth and genius, so aspiring, and withal so womanly in her +understanding, that she made her companion think more of himself, and +of a common life, than of herself. She was a companion as few +others, if indeed any one, have been. Her heart was underneath her +intellectualness, her mind was reverent, her spirit devout; a thinker +without dryness; a scholar without pedantry. She could appreciate the +finest thoughts, and knew the rich soil and large fields of beauty +that made the little vase of otto. With her unusual wisdom and +religious spirit, she seemed like the priestess of the youth, opening +to him the fields of nature; but she was more than a priestess, a +companion also. As I recall her image, I think she may have been too +intellectual, and too conscious of intellectual relation, so that she +was not sufficiently self-centred on her own personality; and hence +something of a duality: but I may not be correct in this impression." + + + + +CONVERSATIONS IN BOSTON. + +BY R.W. EMERSON. + + +"Do not scold me; they are guests of my eyes. Do not frown,--they want +no bread; they are guests of my words." + +TARTAR ECLOGUES + + + + +V. + +CONVERSATIONS IN BOSTON. + + * * * * * + + +In the year 1839, Margaret removed from Groton, and, with her mother +and family, took a house at Jamaica Plain, five miles from Boston. In +November of the next year the family removed to Cambridge, and rented +a house there, near their old home. In 1841, Margaret took rooms for +the winter in town, retaining still the house in Cambridge. And from +the day of leaving Groton, until the autumn of 1844, when she removed +to New York, she resided in Boston, or its immediate vicinity. Boston +was her social centre. There were the libraries, galleries, and +concerts which she loved; there were her pupils and her friends; and +there were her tasks, and the openings of a new career. + +I have vaguely designated some of the friends with whom she was on +terms of intimacy at the time when I was first acquainted with her. +But the range of her talents required an equal compass in her society; +and she gradually added a multitude of names to the list. She knew +already all the active minds at Cambridge; and has left a record of +one good interview she had with Allston. She now became intimate +with Doctor Channing, and interested him to that point in some of her +studies, that, at his request, she undertook to render some selections +of German philosophy into English for him. But I believe this attempt +was soon abandoned. She found a valuable friend in the late Miss Mary +Rotch, of New Bedford, a woman of great strength of mind, connected +with the Quakers not less by temperament than by birth, and possessing +the best lights of that once spiritual sect. At Newport, Margaret +had made the acquaintance of an elegant scholar, in Mr. Calvert, of +Maryland. In Providence, she had won, as by conquest, such a homage +of attachment, from young and old, that her arrival there, one day, on +her return from a visit to Bristol, was a kind of ovation. In Boston, +she knew people of every class,--merchants, politicians, scholars, +artists, women, the migratory genius, and the rooted capitalist,--and, +amongst all, many excellent people, who were every day passing, by new +opportunities, conversations, and kind offices, into the sacred circle +of friends. The late Miss Susan Burley had many points of attraction +for her, not only in her elegant studies, but also in the deep +interest which that lady took in securing the highest culture for +women. She was very well read, and, avoiding abstractions, knew how +to help herself with examples and facts. A friendship that proved +of great importance to the next years was that established with Mr. +George Ripley; an accurate scholar, a man of character, and of eminent +powers of conversation, and already then deeply engaged in plans of an +expansive practical bearing, of which the first fruit was the little +community which nourished for a few years at Brook Farm. Margaret +presently became connected with him in literary labors, and, as long +as she remained in this vicinity, kept up her habits of intimacy with +the colonists of Brook Farm. At West-Roxbury, too, she knew and prized +the heroic heart, the learning and wit of Theodore Parker, whose +literary aid was, subsequently, of the first importance to her. +She had an acquaintance, for many years,--subject, no doubt, to +alternations of sun and shade,--with Mr. Alcott. There was much +antagonism in their habitual views, but each learned to respect the +genius of the other. She had more sympathy with Mr. Alcott's English +friend, Charles Lane, an ingenious mystic, and bold experimenter in +practical reforms, whose dexterity and temper in debate she frankly +admired, whilst his asceticism engaged her reverence. Neither could +some marked difference of temperament remove her from the beneficent +influences of Miss Elizabeth Peabody, who, by her constitutional +hospitality to excellence, whether mental or moral, has made her +modest abode for so many years the inevitable resort of studious feet, +and a private theatre for the exposition of every question of letters, +of philosophy, of ethics, and of art. + +The events in Margaret's life, up to the year 1840, were few, and not +of that dramatic interest which readers love. Of the few events of her +bright and blameless years, how many are private, and must remain so. +In reciting the story of an affectionate and passionate woman, the +voice lowers itself to a whisper, and becomes inaudible. A woman +in our society finds her safety and happiness in exclusions and +privacies. She congratulates herself when she is not called to +the market, to the courts, to the polls, to the stage, or to the +orchestra. Only the most extraordinary genius can make the career of +an artist secure and agreeable to her. Prescriptions almost invincible +the female lecturer or professor of any science must encounter; and, +except on points where the charities which are left to women as their +legitimate province interpose against the ferocity of laws, with us a +female politician is unknown. Perhaps this fact, which so dangerously +narrows the career of a woman, accuses the tardiness of our civility, +and many signs show that a revolution is already on foot. + +Margaret had no love of notoriety, or taste for eccentricity, to goad +her, and no weak fear of either. Willingly she was confined to the +usual circles and methods of female talent. She had no false shame. +Any task that called out her powers was good and desirable. She wished +to live by her strength. She could converse, and teach, and write. She +took private classes of pupils at her own house. She organized, with +great success, a school for young ladies at Providence, and gave +four hours a day to it, during two years. She translated Eckermann's +Conversations with Goethe, and published in 1839. In 1841, she +translated the Letters of Gunderode and Bettine, and published them as +far as the sale warranted the work. In 1843, she made a tour to Lake +Superior and to Michigan, and published an agreeable narrative of it, +called "Summer on the Lakes." + +Apparently a more pretending, but really also a private and friendly +service, she edited the "Dial," a quarterly journal, for two years +from its first publication in 1840. She was eagerly solicited to +undertake the charge of this work, which, when it began, concentrated +a good deal of hope and affection. It had its origin in a club of +speculative students, who found the air in America getting a little +close and stagnant; and the agitation had perhaps the fault of being +too secondary or bookish in its origin, or caught not from primary +instincts, but from English, and still more from German books. The +journal was commenced with much hope, and liberal promises of many +coöperators. But the workmen of sufficient culture for a poetical and +philosophical magazine were too few; and, as the pages were filled +by unpaid contributors, each of whom had, according to the usage and +necessity of this country, some paying employment, the journal did not +get his best work, but his second best. Its scattered writers had +not digested their theories into a distinct dogma, still less into a +practical measure which the public could grasp; and the magazine was +so eclectic and miscellaneous, that each of its readers and writers +valued only a small portion of it. For these reasons it never had a +large circulation, and it was discontinued after four years. But the +Dial betrayed, through all its juvenility, timidity, and conventional +rubbish, some sparks of the true love and hope, and of the piety to +spiritual law, which had moved its friends and founders, and it was +received by its early subscribers with almost a religious welcome. +Many years after it was brought to a close, Margaret was surprised in +England by very warm testimony to its merits; and, in 1848, the writer +of these pages found it holding the same affectionate place in many +a private bookshelf in England and Scotland, which it had secured at +home. Good or bad, it cost a good deal of precious labor from those +who served it, and from Margaret most of all. As editor, she received +a compensation for the first years, which was intended to be two +hundred dollars _per annum_, but which, I fear, never reached even +that amount. + +But it made no difference to her exertion. She put so much heart into +it that she bravely undertook to open, in the Dial, the subjects which +most attracted her; and she treated, in turn, Goethe, and Beethoven, +the Rhine and the Romaic Ballads, the Poems of John Sterling, and +several pieces of sentiment, with a spirit which spared no labor; and, +when the hard conditions of journalism held her to an inevitable day, +she submitted to jeopardizing a long-cherished subject, by treating it +in the crude and forced article for the month. I remember, after she +had been compelled by ill health to relinquish the journal into my +hands, my grateful wonder at the facility with which she assumed the +preparation of laborious articles, that might have daunted the most +practised scribe. + +But in book or journal she found a very imperfect expression of +herself, and it was the more vexatious, because she was accustomed +to the clearest and fullest. When, therefore, she had to choose an +employment that should pay money, she consulted her own genius, as +well as the wishes of a multitude of friends, in opening a class +for conversation. In the autumn of 1839, she addressed the following +letter, intended for circulation, to Mrs. George Ripley, in which her +general design was stated:-- + + 'My dear friend:--The advantages of a weekly meeting, for + conversation, might be great enough to repay the trouble of + attendance, if they consisted only in supplying a point of + union to well-educated and thinking women, in a city which, + with great pretensions to mental refinement, boasts, at + present, nothing of the kind, and where I have heard many, of + mature age, wish for some such means of stimulus and cheer, + and those younger, for a place where they could state their + doubts and difficulties, with a hope of gaining aid from the + experience or aspirations of others. And, if my office were + only to suggest topics, which would lead to conversation of + a better order than is usual at social meetings, and to + turn back the current when digressing into personalities or + common-places, so that what is valuable in the experience of + each might be brought to bear upon all, I should think the + object not unworthy of the effort. + + 'But my ambition goes much further. It is to pass in review + the departments of thought and knowledge, and endeavor to + place them in due relation to one another in our minds. To + systematize thought, and give a precision and clearness in + which our sex are so deficient, chiefly, I think, because + they have so few inducements to test and classify what they + receive. To ascertain what pursuits are best suited to us, in + our time and state of society, and how we may make best use of + our means for building up the life of thought upon the life of + action. + + 'Could a circle be assembled in earnest, desirous to answer + the questions,--What were we born to do? and how shall we do + it?--which so few ever propose to themselves till their best + years are gone by, I should think the undertaking a noble one, + and, if my resources should prove sufficient to make me its + moving spring, I should be willing to give to it a large + portion of those coming years, which will, as I hope, be my + best. I look upon it with no blind enthusiasm, nor unlimited + faith, but with a confidence that I have attained a distinct + perception of means, which, if there are persons competent to + direct them, can supply a great want, and promote really high + objects. So far as I have tried them yet, they have met with + success so much beyond my hopes, that my faith will not easily + be shaken, nor my earnestness chilled. Should I, however, be + disappointed in Boston, I could hardly hope that such a plan + could be brought to bear on general society, in any other city + of the United States. But I do not fear, if a good beginning + can be made. I am confident that twenty persons cannot be + brought together from better motives than vanity or pedantry, + to talk upon such subjects as we propose, without finding + in themselves great deficiencies, which they will be very + desirous to supply. + + 'Should the enterprise fail, it will be either from + incompetence in me, or that sort of vanity in them which wears + the garb of modesty. On the first of these points, I need not + speak. I cannot be supposed to have felt so much the wants of + others, without feeling my own still more deeply. And, from + the depth of this feeling, and the earnestness it gave, such + power as I have yet exerted has come. Of course, those who are + inclined to meet me, feel a confidence in me, and should they + be disappointed, I shall regret it not solely or most on my + own account. I have not given my gauge without measuring my + capacity to sustain defeat. For the other, I know it is very + hard to lay aside the shelter of vague generalities, the art + of coterie criticism, and the "delicate disdains" of _good + society_, and fearlessly meet the light, even though it flow + from the sun of truth. Yet, as, without such generous courage, + nothing of value can be learned or done, I hope to see many + capable of it; willing that others should think their sayings + crude, shallow, or tasteless, if, by such unpleasant means, + they may attain real health and vigor, which need no aid from + rouge or candle-light, to brave the light of the world. + + 'Since I saw you, I have been told of persons who are desirous + to join the class, "if only they need not talk." I am so sure + that the success of the whole depends on conversation being + general, that I do not wish any one to come, who does not + intend, if possible, to take an active part. No one will be + forced, but those who do not talk will not derive the same + advantages with those who openly state their impressions, and + can consent to have it known that they learn by blundering, as + is the destiny of man here below. And general silence, or side + talks, would paralyze me. I should feel coarse and misplaced, + were I to harangue over-much. In former instances, I have been + able to make it easy and even pleasant, to twenty-five out of + thirty, to bear their part, to question, to define, to state, + and examine opinions. If I could not do as much now, I should + consider myself as unsuccessful, and should withdraw. But I + shall expect communication to be effected by degrees, and to + do a great deal myself at the first meetings. My method has + been to open a subject,--for instance, Poetry, as expressed + in-- + + External Nature; + The life of man; + Literature; + The fine arts; + or, The history of a nation to be studied in-- + Its religious and civil institutions; + Its literature and arts; + The characters of its great men; + + and, after as good a general statement as I know how to make, + select a branch of the subject, and lead others to give their + thoughts upon it. When they have not been successful in verbal + utterance of their thoughts, I have asked them to attempt it + in writing. At the next meeting, I would read these "skarts + of pen and ink" aloud, and canvass their adequacy, without + mentioning the names of the writers. I found this less + necessary, as I proceeded, and my companions attained greater + command both of thought and language; but for a time it was + useful, and may be now. Great advantage in point of discipline + may be derived from even this limited use of the pen. + + 'I do not wish, at present, to pledge myself to any course + of subjects. Generally, I may say, they will be such as + literature and the arts present in endless profusion. Should a + class be brought together, I should wish, first, to ascertain + our common ground, and, in the course of a few meetings, + should see whether it be practicable to follow out the design + in my mind, which, as yet, would look too grand on paper. + + 'Let us see whether there will be any organ, before noting + down the music to which it may give breath.' + +Accordingly, a class of ladies assembled at Miss Peabody's rooms, in +West Street, on the 6th November, 1839. Twenty-five were present, and +the circle comprised some of the most agreeable and intelligent women +to be found in Boston and its neighborhood. The following brief report +of this first day's meeting remains:-- + + 'Miss Fuller enlarged, in her introductory conversation, on + the topics which she touched in her letter to Mrs. Ripley. + + 'Women are now taught, at school, all that men are; they run + over, superficially, even _more_ studies, without being really + taught anything. When they come to the business of life, they + find themselves inferior, and all their studies have not given + them that practical good sense, and mother wisdom, and wit, + which grew up with our grandmothers at the spinning-wheel. + But, with this difference; men are called on, from a very + early period, to reproduce all that they learn. Their college + exercises, their political duties, their professional studies, + the first actions of life in any direction, call on them to + put to use what they have learned. But women learn without any + attempt to reproduce. Their only reproduction is for purposes + of display. + + 'It is to supply this defect,' Miss Fuller said, 'that these + conversations have been planned. She was not here to teach; + but she had had some experience in the management of such a + conversation as was now proposed; she meant to give her view + on each subject, and provoke the thoughts of others. + + 'It would be best to take subjects on which we know words, and + have vague impressions, and compel ourselves to define those + words. We should have, probably, mortifications to suffer; + but we should be encouraged by the rapid gain that comes from + making a simple and earnest effort for expression.' + +Miss Fuller had proposed the Grecian Mythology as the subject of the +first conversations, and now gave her reasons for the choice. + + 'It is quite separated from all exciting local subjects. It is + serious, without being solemn, and without excluding any mode + of intellectual action; it is playful, as well as deep. It + is sufficiently wide, for it is a complete expression of the + cultivation of a nation. It is objective and tangible. It is, + also, generally known, and associated with all our ideas of + the arts. + + 'It originated in the eye of the Greek. He lived out of doors: + his climate was genial, his senses were adapted to it. He was + vivacious and intellectual, and personified all he beheld. He + _saw_ the oreads, naiads, nereids. Their forms, as poets and + painters give them, are the very lines of nature humanized, as + the child's eye sees faces in the embers or in the clouds. + + 'Other forms of the mythology, as Jupiter, Juno, Apollo, + are great instincts, or ideas, or facts of the internal + constitution, separated and personified.' + +After exhibiting their enviable mental health, and rebutting the +cavils of some of the speakers,--who could not bear, in Christian +times, by Christian ladies, that heathen Greeks should be +envied,--Miss Fuller declared, + + 'that she had no desire to go back, and believed we have the + elements of a deeper civilization; yet, the Christian was in + its infancy; the Greek in its maturity; nor could she look + on the expression of a great nation's intellect, as + insignificant. These fables of the Gods were the result of + the universal sentiments of religion, aspiration, intellectual + action, of a people, whose political and æsthetic life had + become immortal; and we must leave off despising, if we would + begin to learn.' + +The reporter closes her account by saying:--"Miss Fuller's thoughts +were much illustrated, and all was said with the most captivating +address and grace, and with beautiful modesty. The position in which +she placed herself with respect to the rest, was entirely ladylike, +and companionable. She told what she intended, the earnest purpose +with which she came, and, with great tact, indicated the indiscretions +that might spoil the meeting." + +Here is Margaret's own account of the first days. + + TO R.W.E. + + '_25th Nov._, 1839.--My class is prosperous. I was + so fortunate as to rouse, at once, the tone of simple + earnestness, which can scarcely, when once awakened, cease to + vibrate. All seem in a glow, and quite as receptive as I wish. + They question and examine, yet follow leadings; and thoughts, + not opinions, have ruled the hour every time. There are + about twenty-five members, and every one, I believe, full of + interest. The first time, ten took part in the conversation; + the last, still more. Mrs. ---- came out in a way that + surprised me. She seems to have shaken off a wonderful number + of films. She showed pure vision, sweet sincerity, and much + talent. Mrs. ---- ---- keeps us in good order, and takes care + that Christianity and morality are not forgotten. The first + day's topic was, the genealogy of heaven and earth; then the + Will, (Jupiter); the Understanding, (Mercury): the second + day's, the celestial inspiration of genius, perception, and + transmission of divine law, (Apollo); the terrene inspiration, + the impassioned abandonment of genius, (Bacchus). Of the + thunderbolt, the caduceus, the ray, and the grape, having + disposed as well as might be, we came to the wave, and the + sea-shell it moulds to Beauty, and Love her parent and her + child. + + 'I assure you, there is more Greek than Bostonian spoken at + the meetings; and we may have pure honey of Hymettus to give + you yet.' + +To another friend she wrote:-- + + 'The circle I meet interests me. So even devoutly thoughtful + seems their spirit, that, from the very first, I took my + proper place, and never had the feeling I dreaded, of display, + of a paid Corinne. I feel as I would, truly a teacher and a + guide. All are intelligent; five or six have talent. But I am + never driven home for ammunition; never put to any expense; + never truly called out. What I have is always enough; though I + feel how superficially I am treating my subject.' + +Here is an extract from the letter of a lady, who joined the class, +for the first time, at the eighth meeting, to her friend in New +Haven:-- + + "Christmas made a holiday for Miss Fuller's class, but it met + on Saturday, at noon. As I sat there, my heart overflowed with + joy at the sight of the bright circle, and I longed to have + you by my side, for I know not where to look for so much + character, culture, and so much love of truth and beauty, in + any other circle of women and girls. The names and faces would + not mean so much to you as to me, who have seen more of the + lives, of which they are the sign. Margaret, beautifully + dressed, (don't despise that, for it made a fine picture,) + presided with more dignity and grace than I had thought + possible. The subject was Beauty. Each had written her + definition, and Margaret began with reading her own. This + called forth questions, comments, and illustrations, on all + sides. The style and manner, of course, in this age, are + different, but the question, the high point from which it + was considered, and the earnestness and simplicity of the + discussion, as well as the gifts and graces of the speakers, + gave it the charm of a Platonic dialogue. There was no + pretension or pedantry in a word that was said. The tone of + remark and question was simple as that of children in a school + class; and, I believe, every one was gratified." + +The conversations thus opened proceeded with spirit and success. +Under the mythological forms, room was found for opening all the +great questions, on which Margaret and her friends wished to converse. +Prometheus was made the type of Pure Reason; Jupiter, of Will; Juno, +the passive side of the same, or Obstinacy; Minerva, Intellectual +Power, Practical Reason; Mercury, Executive Power, Understanding; +Apollo was Genius, the Sun; Bacchus was Geniality, the Earth's answer. +"Apollo and Bacchus were contrasted," says the reporter. "Margaret +unfolded her idea of Bacchus. His whole life was triumph. Born from +fire; a divine frenzy; the answer of the earth to the sun,--of the +warmth of joy to the light of genius. He is beautiful, also; not +severe in youthful beauty, like Apollo; but exuberant,--liable to +excess. She spoke of the fables of his destroying Pentheus, &c., and +suggested the interpretations. This Bacchus was found in Scripture. +The Indian Bacchus is glowing; he is the genial apprehensive power; +the glow of existence; mere joy." + +Venus was Grecian womanhood, instinctive; Diana, chastity; Mars, +Grecian manhood, instinctive. Venus made the name for a conversation +on Beauty, which was extended through four meetings, as it brought in +irresistibly the related topics of poetry, genius, and taste. Neptune +was Circumstance; Pluto, the Abyss, the Undeveloped; Pan, the glow +and sportiveness and music of Nature; Ceres, the productive power of +Nature; Proserpine, the Phenomenon. + +Under the head of Venus, in the fifth conversation, the story of Cupid +and Psyche was told with fitting beauty, by Margaret; and many fine +conjectural interpretations suggested from all parts of the room. +The ninth conversation turned on the distinctive qualities of poetry, +discriminating it from the other fine arts. Rhythm and Imagery, it +was agreed, were distinctive. An episode to dancing, which the +conversation took, led Miss Fuller to give the thought that lies +at the bottom of different dances. Of her lively description the +following record is preserved:-- + + 'Gavottes, shawl dances, and all of that kind, are intended + merely to exhibit the figure in as many attitudes as possible. + They have no character, and say nothing, except, Look! how + graceful I am! + + 'The minuet is conjugal; but the wedlock is chivalric. Even + so would Amadis wind slow, stately, calm, through the mazes of + life, with Oriana, when he had made obeisances enough to win + her for a partner. + + 'English, German, Swiss, French, and Spanish dances all + express the same things, though in very different ways. Love + and its life are still the theme. + + 'In the English country dance, the pair who have chosen one + another, submit decorously to the restraints of courtship + and frequent separations, cross hands, four go round, down + outside, in the most earnest, lively, complacent fashion. If + they join hands to go down the middle, and exhibit their + union to all spectators, they part almost as soon as meet, + and disdain not to give hands right and left to the most + indifferent persons, like marriage in its daily routine. + + 'In the Swiss, the man pursues, stamping with energy, marking + the time by exulting flings, or snapping of the fingers, in + delighted confidence of succeeding at last; but the maiden + coyly, demurely, foots it round, yet never gets out of the + way, intending to be won. + + 'The German asks his _madchen_ if she will, with him, for an + hour forget the cares and common-places of life in a tumult + of rapturous sympathy, and she smiles with Saxon modesty her + _Ja_. He sustains her in his arms; the music begins. At first, + in willing mazes they calmly imitate the planetary orbs, but + the melodies flow quicker, their accordant hearts beat + higher, and they whirl at last into giddy raptures, and + dizzy evolutions, which steal from life its free-will and + self-collection, till nothing is left but mere sensation. + + 'The French couple are somewhat engaged with one another, but + almost equally so with the world around them. They think it + well to vary existence with plenty of coquetry and display. + First, the graceful reverence to one another, then to + their neighbors. Exhibit your grace in the _chassé_,--made + apparently solely for the purpose of _déchasséing_;--then + civil intimacy between the ladies, in _la chaine_, then a + decorous promenade of partners, then right and left with + all the world, and balance, &c. The quadrille also offers + opportunity for talk. Looks and sympathetic motions are not + enough for our Parisian friends, unless eked out by words. + + 'The impassioned bolero and fandango are the dances for me. + They are not merely loving, but living; they express the sweet + Southern ecstasy at the mere gift of existence. These persons + are together, they live, they are beautiful; how can they + say this in sufficiently plain terms?--I love, I live, I + am beautiful!--I put on my festal dress to do honor to my + happiness; I shake my castanets, that my hands, too, may be + busy; I _felice,--felicissima_!' + +This first series of conversations extended to thirteen, the class +meeting once a week at noon, and remaining together for two hours. The +class were happy, and the interest increased. A new series of thirteen +more weeks followed, and the general subject of the new course was +"the Fine Arts." A few fragmentary notes only of these hours have been +shown me, but all those who bore any part in them testify to their +entire success. A very competent witness has given me some interesting +particulars:-- + +"Margaret used to come to the conversations very well dressed, and, +altogether, looked sumptuously. She began them with an exordium, in +which she gave her leading views; and those exordiums were excellent, +from the elevation of the tone, the ease and flow of discourse, and +from the tact with which they were kept aloof from any excess, and +from the gracefulness with which they were brought down, at last, to a +possible level for others to follow. She made a pause, and invited the +others to come in. Of course, it was not easy for every one to venture +her remark, after an eloquent discourse, and in the presence of twenty +superior women, who were all inspired. But whatever was said, Margaret +knew how to seize the good meaning of it with hospitality, and to make +the speaker feel glad, and not sorry, that she had spoken. She showed +herself thereby fit to preside at such meetings, and imparted to the +susceptible a wonderful reliance on her genius." + +In her writing she was prone to spin her sentences without a sure +guidance, and beyond the sympathy of her reader. But in discourse, she +was quick, conscious of power, in perfect tune with her company, and +would pause and turn the stream with grace and adroitness, and with +so much spirit, that her face beamed, and the young people came away +delighted, among other things, with "her beautiful looks." When +she was intellectually excited, or in high animal spirits, as often +happened, all deformity of features was dissolved in the power of the +expression. So I interpret this repeated story of sumptuousness of +dress, that this appearance, like her reported beauty, was simply an +effect of a general impression of magnificence made by her genius, and +mistakenly attributed to some external elegance; for I have been told +by her most intimate friend, who knew every particular of her conduct +at that time, that there was nothing of special expense or splendor in +her toilette. + +The effect of the winter's work was happiest. Margaret was made +intimately known to many excellent persons.[A] In this company of +matrons and maids, many tender spirits had been set in ferment. A new +day had dawned for them; new thoughts had opened; the secret of life +was shown, or, at least, that life had a secret. They could not forget +what they had heard, and what they had been surprised into saying. +A true refinement had begun to work in many who had been slaves +to trifles. They went home thoughtful and happy, since the steady +elevation of Margaret's aim had infused a certain unexpected greatness +of tone into the conversation. It was, I believe, only an expression +of the feeling of the class, the remark made, perhaps at the next +year's course, by a lady of eminent powers, previously by no means +partial to Margaret, and who expressed her frank admiration on leaving +the house:--"I never heard, read of, or imagined a conversation at all +equal to this we have now heard." + +The strongest wishes were expressed, on all sides, that the +conversations should be renewed at the beginning of the following +winter. Margaret willingly consented; but, as I have already +intimated, in the summer and autumn of 1840, she had retreated to some +interior shrine, and believed that she came into life and society with +some advantage from this devotion. + +Of this feeling the new discussion bore evident traces. Most of the +last year's class returned, and new members gave in their names. The +first meeting was holden on the twenty-second of November, 1840. By +all accounts it was the best of all her days. I have again the notes, +taken at the time, of the excellent lady at whose house it was +held, to furnish the following sketch of the first and the following +meetings. I preface these notes by an extract from a letter of +Margaret. + + TO W.H.C. + + '_Sunday, Nov. 8th, 1840_.--On Wednesday I opened with my + class. It was a noble meeting. I told them the great changes + in my mind, and that I could not be sure they would be + satisfied with me now, as they were when I was in deliberate + possession of myself. I tried to convey the truth, and though + I did not arrive at any full expression of it, they all, with + glistening eyes, seemed melted into one love. Our relation + is now perfectly true, and I do not think they will ever + interrupt me. ---- sat beside me, all glowing; and the moment + I had finished, she began to speak. She told me afterwards, + she was all kindled, and none there could be strangers to her + more. I was really delighted by the enthusiasm of Mrs. ----. I + did not expect it. All her best self seemed called up, and she + feels that these meetings will be her highest pleasure. ----, + too, was most beautiful. I went home with Mrs. F., and had a + long attack of nervous headache. She attended anxiously on me, + and asked if it would be so all winter. I said, if it were I + did not care; and truly I feel just now such a separation from + pain and illness,--such a consciousness of true life, while + suffering most,--that pain has no effect but to steal some of + my time.' + + +[Footnote A: A friend has furnished me with the names of so many of +the ladies as she recollects to have met, at one or another time, at +these classes. Some of them were perhaps only occasional members. +The list recalls how much talent, beauty, and worth were at that time +constellated here:-- + +Mrs. George Bancroft, Mrs. Barlow, Miss Burley, Mrs. L.M. Child, Miss +Mary Channing, Miss Sarah Clarke, Mrs. E.P. Clark, Miss Dorr, Mrs. +Edwards, Mrs. R.W. Emerson, Mrs. Farrar, Miss S.J. Gardiner, Mrs. R.W. +Hooper, Mrs. S. Hooper, Miss Haliburton, Miss Howes, Miss E. Hoar, +Miss Marianne Jackson, Mrs. T. Lee, Miss Littlehale, Mrs. E.G. Loring, +Mrs. Mack, Mrs. Horace Mann, Mrs. Newcomb, Mrs. Theodore Parker, Miss +E.P. Peabody, Miss S. Peabody, Mrs. S. Putnam, Mrs. Phillips, Mrs. +Josiah Quincy, Miss B. Randall, Mrs. Samuel Ripley, Mrs. George +Ripley, Mrs. George Russell, Miss Ida Russell, Mrs. Frank Shaw, Miss +Anna B. Shaw, Miss Caroline Sturgis, Miss Tuckerman, Miss Maria White, +Mrs. S.G. Ward, Miss Mary Ward, Mrs. W. Whiting.] + + + + +CONVERSATIONS ON THE FINE ARTS. + + + "Miss Fuller's fifth conversation was pretty much a monologue + of her own. The company collected proved much larger than any + of us had anticipated: a chosen company,--several persons from + homes out of town, at considerable inconvenience; and, in one + or two instances, fresh from extreme experiences of joy and + grief,--which Margaret felt a very grateful tribute to her. + She knew no one came for experiment, but all in earnest love + and trust, and was moved by it quite to the heart, which threw + an indescribable charm of softness over her brilliancy. It is + sometimes said, that women never are so lovely and enchanting + in the company of their own sex, merely, but it requires the + other to draw them out. Certain it is that Margaret never + appears, when I see her, either so brilliant and deep in + thought, or so desirous to please, or so modest, or so + heart-touching, as in this very party. Well, she began to say + how gratifying it was to her to see so many come, because all + knew why they came,--that it was to learn from each other and + ourselves the highest ends of life, where there could be no + excitements and gratifications of personal ambition, &c. She + spoke of herself, and said she felt she had undergone changes + in her own mind since the last winter, as doubtless we all + felt we had done; that she was conscious of looking at all + things less objectively,--more from the law with which she + identified herself. This, she stated, was the natural + progress of our individual being, when we did not hinder + its development, to advance from objects to law, from the + circumference of being, where we found ourselves at our birth, + to the centre. + + "This advance was enacted poesy. We could not, in our + individual lives, amid the disturbing influences of other + wills, which had as much right to their own action as we to + ours, enact poetry entirely; the discordant, the inferior, the + prose, would intrude, but we should always keep in mind that + poetry of life was not something aside,--a path that might or + might not be trod,--it was the only path of the true soul; + and prose you may call the deviation. We might not always + be poetic in life, but we might and should be poetic in our + thought and intention. The fine arts were one compensation for + the necessary prose of life. The man who could not write his + thought of beauty in his life,--the materials of whose life + would not work up into poetry,--wrote it in stone, drew it on + canvas, breathed it in music, or built it in lofty rhyme. In + this statement, however, she guarded her meaning, and said + that to seek beauty was to miss it often. We should only seek + to live as harmoniously with the great laws as our social and + other duties permitted, and solace ourselves with poetry and + the fine arts." + +I find a further record by the same friendly scribe, which seems a +second and enlarged account of the introductory conversation, or else +a sketch of the course of thought which ran through several meetings, +and which very naturally repeated occasionally the same thoughts. I +give it as I find it:-- + + "She then recurred to the last year's conversations; and, + first, the Grecian mythologies, which she looked at as + symbolical of a deeper intellectual and æsthetic life than + we were wont to esteem it, when looking at it from a narrow + religious point of view. We had merely skimmed along the + deeper study. She spoke of the conversations on the different + part played by Inspiration and Will in the works of man, and + stated the different views of inspiration,--how some had felt + it was merely perception; others apprehended it as influx upon + the soul from the soul-side of its being. Then she spoke of + the conversation upon poesy as the ground of all the fine + arts, and also of the true art of life; it being not merely + truth, not merely good, but the beauty which integrates + both. On this poesy, she dwelt long, aiming to show how + life,--perfect life,--could be the only perfect manifestation + of it. Then she spoke of the individual as surrounded, + however, by _prose_,--so we may here call the manifestation of + the temporary, in opposition to the eternal, always trenching + on it, and circumscribing and darkening. She spoke of the + acceptance of this limitation, but it should be called by the + right name, and always measured; and we should inwardly cling + to the truth that poesy was the natural life of the soul; and + never yield inwardly to the common notion that poesy was a + luxury, out of the common track; but maintain in word and + life that prose carried the soul out of its track; and then, + perhaps, it would not injure us to walk in these by-paths, + when forced thither. She admitted that prose was the necessary + human condition, and quickened our life indirectly by + necessitating a conscious demand on the source of life. + In reply to a remark I made, she very strongly stated the + difference between a poetic and a _dilettante_ life, and + sympathized with the sensible people who were tired of hearing + all the young ladies of Boston sighing like furnace after + being beautiful. Beauty was something very different from + prettiness, and a microscopic vision missed the grand whole. + The fine arts were our compensation for not being able to live + out our poesy, amid the conflicting and disturbing forces of + this moral world in which we are. In sculpture, the heights to + which our being comes are represented; and its nature is such + as to allow us to leave out all that vulgarizes,--all that + bridges over to the actual from the ideal. She dwelt long upon + sculpture, which seems her favorite art. That was grand, when + a man first thought to engrave his idea of man upon a stone, + the most unyielding and material of materials,--the backbone + of this phenomenal earth,--and, when he did not succeed, + that he persevered; and so, at last, by repeated efforts, the + Apollo came to be. + + "But, no; music she thought the greatest of arts,--expressing + what was most interior,--what was too fine to be put into any + material grosser than air; conveying from soul to soul the + most secret motions of feeling and thought. This was the only + fine art which might be thought to be nourishing now. The + others had had their day. This was advancing upon a higher + intellectual ground. + + "Of painting she spoke, but not so well. She seemed to think + painting worked more by illusion than sculpture. It involved + more prose, from its representing more objects. She said + nothing adequate about _color_. + + "She dwelt upon the histrionic art as the most complete, its + organ being the most flexible and powerful. + + "She then spoke of life, as the art, of which these all were + beautiful symbols; and said, in recurring to her opinions + expressed last winter, of Dante and Wordsworth, that she had + taken another view, deeper, and more in accordance with + some others which were then expressed. She acknowledged + that Wordsworth had done more to make all men poetical, than + perhaps any other; that he was the poet of reflection; that + where he failed to poetize his subject, his simple faith + intimated to the reader a poetry that he did not find in the + book. She admitted that Dante's Narrative was instinct with + the poetry concentrated often in single words. She uttered her + old heresies about Milton, however, unmodified. + + "I do not remember the transition to modern poetry and Milnes; + but she read (very badly indeed) the Legendary Tale. + + "We then had three conversations upon Sculpture, one of which + was taken up very much in historical accounts of the sculpture + of the ancients, in which color was added to form, and which + seemed to prove that they were not, after all, sufficiently + intellectual to be operated on by form exclusively. The + question, of course, arose whether there was a modern + sculpture, and why not. This led us to speak of the Greek + sculpture as growing naturally out of their life and religion, + and how alien it was to our life and to our religion. The + Swiss lion, carved by Thorwaldsen out of the side of a + mountain rock, was described as a natural growth. Those who + had seen it described it; and Mrs. ---- spoke of it. She was + also led to the story of her acquaintance with Thorwaldsen, + and drew tears from many eyes with her natural eloquence. + + "Mrs. C. asked, if sculpture could express as well as painting + the idea of immortality. + + "Margaret thought the Greek art expressed immortality as much + as Christian art, but did not throw it into the future, by + preëminence. They expressed it in the present, by casting out + of the mortal body every expression of infirmity and decay. + The idealization of the human form makes a God. The fact that + man can conceive and express this perfection of being, is as + good a witness to immortality, as the look of aspiration in + the countenance of a Magdalen. + + "It is quite beyond the power of my memory to recall all + the bright utterances of Margaret, in these conversations on + Sculpture. It was a favorite subject with her. Then came two + or three conversations on Painting, in which it seemed to be + conceded that color expressed passion, whilst sculpture more + severely expressed thought: yet painting did not exclude the + expression of thought, or sculpture that of feeling,--witness + Niobe,--but it must be an universal feeling, like the maternal + sentiment." + + * * * * * + + "_March 22, 1841_.--The question of the day was, What is life? + + "Let us define, each in turn, our idea of living. Margaret did + not believe we had, any of us, a distinct idea of life. + + "A.S. thought so great a question ought to be given for a + written definition. 'No,' said Margaret, 'that is of no use. + When we go away to think of anything, we never do think. We + all talk of life. We all have some thought now. Let us tell + it. C----, what is life?' + + "C---- replied,--'It is to laugh, or cry, according to our + organization.' + + "'Good,' said Margaret, 'but not grave enough. Come, what is + life? I know what I think; I want you to find out what you + think.' + + "Miss P. replied,--'Life is division from one's principle of + life in order to a conscious reörganization. We are cut up by + time and circumstance, in order to feel our reproduction of + the eternal law.' + + "Mrs. E.,--'We live by the will of God, and the object of life + is to submit,' and went on into Calvinism. + + "Then came up all the antagonisms of Fate and Freedom. + + "Mrs. H. said,--'God created us in order to have a perfect + sympathy from us as free beings.' + + "Mrs. A.B. said she thought the object of life was to attain + absolute freedom. At this Margaret immediately and visibly + kindled. + + "C.S. said,--'God creates from the fulness of life, and + cannot but create; he created us to overflow, without being + exhausted, because what he created, necessitated new creation. + It is not to make us happy, but creation is his happiness and + ours.' + + "Margaret was then pressed to say what she considered life to + be. + + "Her answer was so full, clear, and concise, at once, that + it cannot but be marred by being drawn through the scattering + medium of my memory. But here are some fragments of her + satisfying statement. + + "She began with God as Spirit, Life, so full as to create and + love eternally, yet capable of pause. Love and creativeness + are dynamic forces, out of which we, individually, as + creatures, go forth bearing his image, that is, having within + our being the same dynamic forces, by which we also add + constantly to the total sum of existence, and shaking off + ignorance, and its effects, and by becoming more ourselves, + i.e., more divine;--destroying sin in its principle, we attain + to absolute freedom, we return to God, conscious like himself, + and, as his friends, giving, as well as receiving, felicity + forevermore. In short, we become gods, and able to give the + life which we now feel ourselves able only to receive. + + "On Saturday morning, Mrs. L.E. and Mrs. E.H. were present, + and begged Margaret to repeat the statement concerning life, + with which she closed the last conversation. Margaret said she + had forgotten every word she said. She must have been inspired + by a good genius, to have so satisfied everybody.--but the + good genius had left her. She would try, however, to say what + she thought, and trusted it would resemble what she had said + already. She then went into the matter, and, true enough, she + did not use a single word she used before." + +The fame of these conversations spread wide through all families and +social circles of the ladies attending, and the golden report they +gave, led to a proposal, that Margaret should undertake an evening +class, of four or five lessons, to which gentlemen should also be +admitted. This was put in effect, in the course of the winter, and +I had myself the pleasure of assisting at one--the second--of these +soirées. The subject was Mythology, and several gentlemen took part +in it. Margaret spoke well,--she could not otherwise,--but I remember +that she seemed encumbered, or interrupted, by the headiness or +incapacity of the men, whom she had not had the advantage of training, +and who fancied, no doubt, that, on such a question, they, too, must +assert and dogmatize. + +But, how well or ill they fared, may still be known; since the same +true hand which reported for the Ladies' Class, drew up, at the time, +the following note of the Evenings of Mythology. My distance from +town, and engagements, prevented me from attending again. I was told +that on the preceding and following evenings the success was more +decisive. + + "Margaret's plan, in these conversations, was a very noble + one, and, had it been seconded, as she expected, they would + have been splendid. She thought, that, by admitting gentlemen, + who had access, by their classical education, to the whole + historical part of the mythology, her own comparative + deficiency, as she felt it, in this part of learning, would be + made up; and that taking her stand on the works of art, which + were the final development in Greece of these multifarious + fables, the whole subject might be swept from zenith to + nadir. But all that depended on others entirely failed. Mr. W. + contributed some isolated facts,--told the etymology of names, + and cited a few fables not so commonly known as most; but, + even in the point of erudition, which Margaret did not + profess, on the subject, she proved the best informed of the + party, while no one brought an idea, except herself. + + "Her general idea was, that, upon the Earth-worship and + Sabæanism of earlier ages, the Grecian genius acted to + humanize and idealize, but, still, with some regard to the + original principle. What was a seed, or a root, merely, in the + Egyptian mind, became a flower in Greece,--Isis, and Osiris, + for instance, are reproduced in Ceres and Proserpine, with + some loss of generality, but with great gain of beauty; + Hermes, in Mercury, with only more grace of form, though with + great loss of grandeur; but the loss of grandeur was also an + advance in philosophy, in this instance, the brain in the hand + being the natural consequence of the application of Idea to + practice,--the Hermes of the Egyptians. + + "I do not feel that the class, by their apprehension of + Margaret, do any justice to the scope and depth of her views. + They come,--myself among the number,--I confess,--to be + entertained; but she has a higher purpose. She, amid all her + infirmities, studies and thinks with the seriousness of one + upon oath, and there has not been a single conversation this + winter, in either class, that had not in it the spirit which + giveth life. Just in proportion to the importance of + the subject, does she tax her mind, and say what is most + important; while, of necessity, nothing is reported from + the conversations but her brilliant sallies, her occasional + paradoxes of form, and, sometimes, her impatient reacting + upon dulness and frivolity. In particular points, I know, some + excel her; in particular departments I sympathize more with + some other persons; but, take her as a whole, she has the most + to bestow on others by conversation of any person I have ever + known. I cannot conceive of any species of vanity living in + her presence. She distances all who talk with her. + + "Mr. E. only served to display her powers. With his sturdy + reiteration of his uncompromising idealism, his absolute + denial of the fact of human nature, he gave her opportunity + and excitement to unfold and illustrate her realism and + acceptance of conditions. What is so noble is, that her + realism is transparent with idea,--her human nature is the + germ of a divine life. She proceeds in her search after the + unity of things, the divine harmony, not by exclusion, as Mr. + E. does, but by comprehension,--and so, no poorest, saddest + spirit, but she will lead to hope and faith. I have thought, + sometimes, that her acceptance of evil was _too great_,--that + her theory of the good to be educed proved too much. But in a + conversation I had with her yesterday, I understood her better + than I had done. 'It might never be sin to us, at the moment,' + she said, 'it must be an excess, on which conscience puts the + restraint.'" + +The classes thus formed were renewed in November of each year, until +Margaret's removal to New York, in 1844. But the notes of my principal +reporter fail me at this point. Afterwards, I have only a few sketches +from a younger hand. In November, 1841, the class numbered from +twenty-five to thirty members: the general subject is stated as +"Ethics." And the influences on Woman seem to have been discussed +under the topics of the Family, the School, the Church, Society, and +Literature. In November, 1842, Margaret writes that the meetings have +been unusually spirited, and congratulates herself on the part taken +in them by Miss Burley, as 'a presence so positive as to be of great +value to me.' The general subject I do not find. But particular +topics were such as these:--"Is the ideal first or last; divination +or experience?" "Persons who never awake to life in this world." +"Mistakes;" "Faith;" "Creeds;" "Woman;" "Dæmonology;" "Influence;" +"Catholicism" (Roman); "The Ideal." + +In the winter of 1843-4, the general subject was "Education." Culture, +Ignorance, Vanity, Prudence, Patience, and Health, appear to have +been the titles of conversations, in which wide digressions, and much +autobiographic illustration, with episodes on War, Bonaparte, Goethe, +and Spinoza, were mingled. But the brief narrative may wind up with a +note from Margaret on the last day. + + '_28th April, 1844_.--It was the last day with my class. How + noble has been my experience of such relations now for six + years, and with so many and so various minds! Life is worth + living, is it not? + + 'We had a most animated meeting. On bidding me good-bye, they + all, and always, show so much good-will and love, that I feel + I must really have become a friend to them. I was then loaded + with beautiful gifts, accompanied with those little delicate + poetic traits, of which I should delight to tell you, if we + were near. Last came a beautiful bouquet, passion-flower, + heliotrope, and soberer blooms. Then I went to take my repose + on C----'s sofa, and we had a most serene afternoon together.' + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, +Vol. I, by Margaret Fuller Ossoli + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARGARET FULLER, VOL. 1 *** + +***** This file should be named 13105-8.txt or 13105-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/1/0/13105/ + +Produced by Leah Moser and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/old/13105-8.zip b/old/13105-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..b34333c --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13105-8.zip diff --git a/old/13105.txt b/old/13105.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4141fd9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13105.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11369 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, Vol. I +by Margaret Fuller Ossoli + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, Vol. I + +Author: Margaret Fuller Ossoli + +Release Date: August 3, 2004 [EBook #13105] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARGARET FULLER, VOL. 1 *** + + + + +Produced by Leah Moser and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +MEMOIRS + +OF + +MARGARET FULLER OSSOLI + +VOL. I. + + * * * * * + + Only a learned and a manly soul + I purposed her, that should with even powers + The rock, the spindle, and the shears control + Of Destiny, and spin her own free hours. + + BEN JONSON. + + + Pero che ogni diletto nostro e doglia + Sta in si e no saper, voler, potere; + Adunque quel sol puo, che col dovere + Ne trae la ragion fuor di sua soglia. + + Adunque tu, lettor di queste note, + S' a te vuoi esser buono, e agli altri caro, + Vogli sempre poter quel che tu debbi. + + LEONARDO DA VINCI + + + + +BOSTON: +PHILLIPS, SAMPSON AND COMPANY. +MDCCCLVII. + + + + + Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, + + BY R.F. FULLER, + + In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District + of Massachusetts. + + + Stereotyped by HOBART & ROBBINS; + NEW ENGLAND TYPE AND STEREOTYPE + FOUNDRY BOSTON. + + + + +TABLE OF CONTENTS +FOR +VOLUME FIRST. + + +I. YOUTH. AUTOBIOGRAPHY + PARENTS + DEATH IN THE HOUSE + OVERWORK + THE WORLD OF BOOKS + FIRST FRIEND + SCHOOL-LIFE + SELF-CULTURE + +II. CAMBRIDGE, _By J.F. Clarke_ + FRIENDSHIP + CONVERSATION.--SOCIAL INTERCOURSE + STUDIES + CHARACTER.--AIMS AND IDEAS OF LIFE + +III. GROTON AND PROVIDENCE. LETTERS AND JOURNALS + SAD WELCOME HOME + OCCUPATIONS + MISS MARTINEAU + ILLNESS + DEATH OF HER FATHER + TRIAL + BIRTH-DAY + DEATH IN LIFE + LITERATURE + FAREWELL TO GROTON + WINTER IN BOSTON + PROVIDENCE + SCHOOL EXPERIENCES + PERSONS + ART + FANNY KEMBLE + MAGNANIMITY + SPIRITUAL LIFE + FAREWELL TO SUMMER + +IV. CONCORD, _By R.W. Emerson_ + ARCANA + DAEMONOLOGY + TEMPERAMENT + SELF-ESTEEM + BOOKS + CRITICISM + NATURE + ART + LETTERS + FRIENDSHIP + PROBLEMS OF LIFE + WOMAN, OR ARTIST? + HEROISM + TRUTH + ECSTASY + CONVERSATION + +V. BOSTON, _By R.W. Emerson_ + CONVERSATIONS ON THE FINE ARTS + + + + +YOUTH. + +AUTOBIOGRAPHY. + + * * * * * + + "Aus Morgenduft gewebt und Sonnenklarheit + Der Dichtung Schleir aus der Hand der Wahrheit." + + GOETHE. + + + "The million stars which tremble + O'er the deep mind of dauntless infancy." + + TENNYSON. + + + "Wie leicht ward er dahin gefragen, + Was war dem Gluecklichen zu schwer! + Wie tanzte vor des Lebens Wagen + Die luftige Begleitung her! + Die Liebe mit dem suessen Lohne, + Das Glueck mit seinem gold'nen Kranz, + Der Ruhm mit seiner Sternenkrone, + Die Wahrheit in der Sonne Glanz." + + SCHILLER + + + What wert thou then? A child most infantine, + Yet wandering far beyond that innocent age, + In all but its sweet looks and mien divine; + Even then, methought, with the world's tyrant rage + A patient warfare thy young heart did wage, + When those soft eyes of scarcely conscious thought + Some tale, or thine own fancies, would engage + To overflow with tears, or converse fraught + With passion o'er their depths its fleeting light had wrought.' + + SHELLE + + + "And I smiled, as one never smiles but once; + Then first discovering my own aim's extent, + Which sought to comprehend the works of God. + And God himself, and all God's intercourse + With the human mind." + + BROWNING. + + + + +I. + +YOUTH. + + * * * * * + + + 'Tieck, who has embodied so many Runic secrets, explained to + me what I have often felt toward myself, when he tells of + the poor changeling, who, turned from the door of her adopted + home, sat down on a stone and so pitied herself that she wept. + Yet me also, the wonderful bird, singing in the wild forest, + has tempted on, and not in vain.' + +Thus wrote Margaret in the noon of life, when looking back through +youth to the "dewy dawn of memory." She was the eldest child of +Timothy Fuller and Margaret Crane, and was born in Cambridge-Port, +Massachusetts, on the 23d of May, 1810. + +Among her papers fortunately remains this unfinished sketch of youth, +prepared by her own hand, in 1840, as the introductory chapter to an +autobiographical romance. + + + + +PARENTS. + + + 'My father was a lawyer and a politician. He was a man largely + endowed with that sagacious energy, which the state of New + England society, for the last half century, has been so well + fitted to develop. His father was a clergyman, settled as + pastor in Princeton, Massachusetts, within the bounds of whose + parish-farm was Wachuset. His means were small, and the great + object of his ambition was to send his sons to college. As a + boy, my father was taught to think only of preparing himself + for Harvard University, and when there of preparing himself + for the profession of Law. As a Lawyer, again, the ends + constantly presented were to work for distinction in the + community, and for the means of supporting a family. To be an + honored citizen, and to have a home on earth, were made the + great aims of existence. To open the deeper fountains of + the soul, to regard life here as the prophetic entrance to + immortality, to develop his spirit to perfection,--motives + like these had never been suggested to him, either by + fellow-beings or by outward circumstances. The result was a + character, in its social aspect, of quite the common sort. + A good son and brother, a kind neighbor, an active man of + business--in all these outward relations he was but one of + a class, which surrounding conditions have made the majority + among us. In the more delicate and individual relations, he + never approached but two mortals, my mother and myself. + + 'His love for my mother was the green spot on which he + stood apart from the common-places of a mere bread-winning, + bread-bestowing existence. She was one of those fair and + flower-like natures, which sometimes spring up even beside the + most dusty highways of life--a creature not to be shaped into + a merely useful instrument, but bound by one law with the blue + sky, the dew, and the frolic birds. Of all persons whom I + have known, she had in her most of the angelic,--of that + spontaneous love for every living thing, for man, and beast, + and tree, which restores the golden age.' + + + + +DEATH IN THE HOUSE. + + + 'My earliest recollection is of a death,--the death of a + sister, two years younger than myself. Probably there is a + sense of childish endearments, such as belong to this tie, + mingled with that of loss, of wonder, and mystery; but these + last are prominent in memory. I remember coming home and + meeting our nursery-maid, her face streaming with tears. That + strange sight of tears made an indelible impression. I realize + how little I was of stature, in that I looked up to this + weeping face;--and it has often seemed since, that--full-grown + for the life of this earth, I have looked up just so, at times + of threatening, of doubt, and distress, and that just so has + some being of the next higher order of existences looked down, + aware of a law unknown to me, and tenderly commiserating the + pain I muse endure in emerging from my ignorance. + + 'She took me by the hand and led me into a still and dark + chamber,--then drew aside the curtain and showed me my sister. + I see yet that beauty of death! The highest achievements of + sculpture are only the reminder of its severe sweetness. Then + I remember the house all still and dark,--the people in their + black clothes and dreary faces,--the scent of the newly-made + coffin,--my being set up in a chair and detained by a gentle + hand to hear the clergyman,--the carriages slowly going, the + procession slowly doling out their steps to the grave. But + I have no remembrance of what I have since been told I + did,--insisting, with loud cries, that they should not put the + body in the ground. I suppose that my emotion was spent at + the time, and so there was nothing to fix that moment in my + memory. + + 'I did not then, nor do I now, find any beauty in these + ceremonies. What had they to do with the sweet playful child? + Her life and death were alike beautiful, but all this sad + parade was not. Thus my first experience of life was one of + death. She who would have been the companion of my life was + severed from me, and I was left alone. This has made a + vast difference in my lot. Her character, if that fair face + promised right, would have been soft, graceful and lively: it + would have tempered mine to a gentler and more gradual course. + + + + +OVERWORK. + + + 'My father,--all whose feelings were now concentred on + me,--instructed me himself. The effect of this was so far good + that, not passing through the hands of many ignorant and weak + persons as so many do at preparatory schools, I was put at + once under discipline of considerable severity, and, at the + same time, had a more than ordinarily high standard presented + to me. My father was a man of business, even in literature; he + had been a high scholar at college, and was warmly attached + to all he had learned there, both from the pleasure he had + derived in the exercise of his faculties and the associated + memories of success and good repute. He was, beside, well read + in French literature, and in English, a Queen Anne's man. He + hoped to make me the heir of all he knew, and of as much more + as the income of his profession enabled him to give me + means of acquiring. At the very beginning, he made one + great mistake, more common, it is to be hoped, in the last + generation, than the warnings of physiologists will permit + it to be with the next. He thought to gain time, by bringing + forward the intellect as early as possible. Thus I had tasks + given me, as many and various as the hours would allow, and + on subjects beyond my age; with the additional disadvantage + of reciting to him in the evening, after he returned from his + office. As he was subject to many interruptions, I was often + kept up till very late; and as he was a severe teacher, both + from his habits of mind and his ambition for me, my feelings + were kept on the stretch till the recitations were over. Thus + frequently, I was sent to bed several hours too late, with + nerves unnaturally stimulated. The consequence was a premature + development of the brain, that made me a "youthful prodigy" by + day, and by night a victim of spectral illusions, nightmare, + and somnambulism, which at the time prevented the harmonious + development of my bodily powers and checked my growth, while, + later, they induced continual headache, weakness and nervous + affections, of all kinds. As these again re-acted on the + brain, giving undue force to every thought and every feeling, + there was finally produced a state of being both too active + and too intense, which wasted my constitution, and will bring + me,--even although I have learned to understand and regulate + my now morbid temperament,--to a premature grave. + + 'No one understood this subject of health then. No one knew + why this child, already kept up so late, was still unwilling + to retire. My aunts cried out upon the "spoiled child, the + most unreasonable child that ever was,--if brother could but + open his eyes to see it,--who was never willing to go to bed." + They did not know that, so soon as the light was taken away, + she seemed to see colossal faces advancing slowly towards her, + the eyes dilating, and each feature swelling loathsomely as + they came, till at last, when they were about to close upon + her, she started up with a shriek which drove them away, but + only to return when she lay down again. They did not know + that, when at last she went to sleep, it was to dream of + horses trampling over her, and to awake once more in fright; + or, as she had just read in her Virgil, of being among trees + that dripped with blood, where she walked and walked and could + not get out, while the blood became a pool and plashed over + her feet, and rose higher and higher, till soon she dreamed it + would reach her lips. No wonder the child arose and walked in + her sleep, moaning all over the house, till once, when they + heard her, and came and waked her, and she told what she had + dreamed, her father sharply bid her "leave off thinking of + such nonsense, or she would be crazy,"--never knowing that he + was himself the cause of all these horrors of the night. Often + she dreamed of following to the grave the body of her mother, + as she had done that of her sister, and woke to find the + pillow drenched in tears. These dreams softened her heart too + much, and cast a deep shadow over her young days; for then, + and later, the life of dreams,--probably because there was in + it less to distract the mind from its own earnestness,--has + often seemed to her more real, and been remembered with more + interest, than that of waking hours. + + 'Poor child! Far remote in time, in thought, from that + period, I look back on these glooms and terrors, wherein I was + enveloped, and perceive that I had no natural childhood.' + + + + +BOOKS. + + + 'Thus passed my first years. My mother was in delicate health, + and much absorbed in the care of her younger children. In the + house was neither dog nor bird, nor any graceful animated form + of existence. I saw no persons who took my fancy, and real + life offered no attraction. Thus my already over-excited mind + found no relief from without, and was driven for refuge from + itself to the world of books. I was taught Latin and English + grammar at the same time, and began to read Latin at six years + old, after which, for some years, I read it daily. In this + branch of study, first by my father, and afterwards by a + tutor, I was trained to quite a high degree of precision. + I was expected to understand the mechanism of the language + thoroughly, and in translating to give the thoughts in as + few well-arranged words as possible, and without breaks + or hesitation,--for with these my father had absolutely no + patience. + + 'Indeed, he demanded accuracy and clearness in everything: + you must not speak, unless you can make your meaning perfectly + intelligible to the person addressed; must not express a + thought, unless you can give a reason for it, if + required; must not make a statement, unless sure of all + particulars--such were his rules. "But," "if," "unless," "I am + mistaken," and "it may be so," were words and phrases excluded + from the province where he held sway. Trained to great + dexterity in artificial methods, accurate, ready, with entire + command of his resources, he had no belief in minds that + listen, wait, and receive. He had no conception of the subtle + and indirect motions of imagination and feeling. His influence + on me was great, and opposed to the natural unfolding of my + character, which was fervent, of strong grasp, and disposed to + infatuation, and self-forgetfulness. He made the common prose + world so present to me, that my natural bias was controlled. I + did not go mad, as many would do, at being continually roused + from my dreams. I had too much strength to be crushed,--and + since I must put on the fetters, could not submit to let them + impede my motions. My own world sank deep within, away from + the surface of my life; in what I did and said I learned to + have reference to other minds. But my true life was only the + dearer that it was secluded and veiled over by a thick curtain + of available intellect, and that coarse, but wearable stuff + woven by the ages,--Common Sense. + + 'In accordance with this discipline in heroic common sense, + was the influence of those great Romans, whose thoughts and + lives were my daily food during those plastic years. The + genius of Rome displayed itself in Character, and scarcely + needed an occasional wave of the torch of thought to show its + lineaments, so marble strong they gleamed in every light. Who, + that has lived with those men, but admires the plain force of + fact, of thought passed into action? They take up things with + their naked hands. There is just the man, and the block he + casts before you,--no divinity, no demon, no unfulfilled + aim, but just the man and Rome, and what he did for Rome. + Everything turns your attention to what a man can become, + not by yielding himself freely to impressions, not by letting + nature play freely through him, but by a single thought, + an earnest purpose, an indomitable will, by hardihood, + self-command, and force of expression. Architecture was the + art in which Rome excelled, and this corresponds with the + feeling these men of Rome excite. They did not grow,--they + built themselves up, or were built up by the fate of Rome, as + a temple for Jupiter Stator. The ruined Roman sits among + the ruins; he flies to no green garden; he does not look to + heaven; if his intent is defeated, if he is less than he meant + to be, he lives no more. The names which end in "_us_," seem + to speak with lyric cadence. That measured cadence,--that + tramp and march,--which are not stilted, because they indicate + real force, yet which seem so when compared with any other + language,--make Latin a study in itself of mighty influence. + The language alone, without the literature, would give one the + _thought_ of Rome. Man present in nature, commanding nature + too sternly to be inspired by it, standing like the rock + amid the sea, or moving like the fire over the land, either + impassive, or irresistible; knowing not the soft mediums or + fine flights of life, but by the force which he expresses, + piercing to the centre. + + 'We are never better understood than when we speak of a "Roman + virtue," a "Roman outline." There is somewhat indefinite, + somewhat yet unfulfilled in the thought of Greece, of Spain, + of modern Italy; but ROME! it stands by itself, a clear Word. + The power of will, the dignity of a fixed purpose is what + it utters. Every Roman was an emperor. It is well that the + infallible church should have been founded on this rock, that + the presumptuous Peter should hold the keys, as the conquering + Jove did before his thunderbolts, to be seen of all the world. + The Apollo tends flocks with Admetus; Christ teaches by the + lonely lake, or plucks wheat as he wanders through the fields + some Sabbath morning. They never come to this stronghold; they + could not have breathed freely where all became stone as + soon as spoken, where divine youth found no horizon for its + all-promising glance, but every thought put on, before it + dared issue to the day in action, its _toga virilis_. + + 'Suckled by this wolf, man gains a different complexion from + that which is fed by the Greek honey. He takes a noble bronze + in camps and battle-fields; the wrinkles of council well + beseem his brow, and the eye cuts its way like the sword. The + Eagle should never have been used as a symbol by any other + nation: it belonged to Rome. + + 'The history of Rome abides in mind, of course, more than the + literature. It was degeneracy for a Roman to use the pen; his + life was in the day. The "vaunting" of Rome, like that of the + North American Indians, is her proper literature. A man rises; + he tells who he is, and what he has done; he speaks of his + country and her brave men; he knows that a conquering god is + there, whose agent is his own right hand; and he should end + like the Indian, "I have no more to say." + + 'It never shocks us that the Roman is self-conscious. + One wants no universal truths from him, no philosophy, no + creation, but only his life, his Roman life felt in every + pulse, realized in every gesture. The universal heaven takes + in the Roman only to make us feel his individuality the more. + The Will, the Resolve of Man!--it has been expressed,--fully + expressed! + + 'I steadily loved this ideal in my childhood, and this is the + cause, probably, why I have always felt that man must know how + to stand firm on the ground, before he can fly. In vain for + me are men more, if they are less, than Romans. Dante was far + greater than any Roman, yet I feel he was right to take the + Mantuan as his guide through hell, and to heaven. + + 'Horace was a great deal to me then, and is so still. Though + his words do not abide in memory, his presence does: serene, + courtly, of darting hazel eye, a self-sufficient grace, and + an appreciation of the world of stern realities, sometimes + pathetic, never tragic. He is the natural man of the world; he + is what he ought to be, and his darts never fail of their + aim. There is a perfume and raciness, too, which makes life a + banquet, where the wit sparkles no less that the viands were + bought with blood. + + 'Ovid gave me not Rome, nor himself, but a view into the + enchanted gardens of the Greek mythology. This path I + followed, have been following ever since; and now, life half + over, it seems to me, as in my childhood, that every thought + of which man is susceptible, is intimated there. In those + young years, indeed, I did not see what I now see, but loved + to creep from amid the Roman pikes to lie beneath this great + vine, and see the smiling and serene shapes go by, woven from + the finest fibres of all the elements. I knew not why, at that + time,--but I loved to get away from the hum of the forum, and + the mailed clang of Roman speech, to these shifting shows of + nature, these Gods and Nymphs born of the sunbeam, the wave, + the shadows on the hill. + + 'As with Rome I antedated the world of deeds, so I lived in + those Greek forms the true faith of a refined and intense + childhood. So great was the force of reality with which these + forms impressed me, that I prayed earnestly for a sign,--that + it would lighten in some particular region of the heavens, or + that I might find a bunch of grapes in the path, when I went + forth in the morning. But no sign was given, and I was left a + waif stranded upon the shores of modern life! + + 'Of the Greek language, I knew only enough to feel that the + sounds told the same story as the mythology;--that the law + of life in that land was beauty, as in Rome it was a stern + composure. I wish I had learned as much of Greece as of + Rome,--so freely does the mind play in her sunny waters, where + there is no chill, and the restraint is from within out; for + these Greeks, in an atmosphere of ample grace, could not be + impetuous, or stern, but loved moderation as equable life + always must, for it is the law of beauty. + + 'With these books I passed my days. The great amount of study + exacted of me soon ceased to be a burden, and reading became a + habit and a passion. The force of feeling, which, under other + circumstances, might have ripened thought, was turned to learn + the thoughts of others. This was not a tame state, for the + energies brought out by rapid acquisition gave glow enough. I + thought with rapture of the all-accomplished man, him of the + many talents, wide resources, clear sight, and omnipotent + will. A Caesar seemed great enough. I did not then know that + such men impoverish the treasury to build the palace. I kept + their statues as belonging to the hall of my ancestors, and + loved to conquer obstacles, and fed my youth and strength for + their sake. + + * * * * * + + 'Still, though this bias was so great that in earliest years I + learned, in these ways, how the world takes hold of a powerful + nature, I had yet other experiences. None of these were + deeper than what I found in the happiest haunt of my childish + years,--our little garden. Our house, though comfortable, + was very ugly, and in a neighborhood which I detested,--every + dwelling and its appurtenances having a _mesquin_ and huddled + look. I liked nothing about us except the tall graceful elms + before the house, and the dear little garden behind. Our back + door opened on a high flight of steps, by which I went down + to a green plot, much injured in my ambitious eyes by the + presence of the pump and tool-house. This opened into a little + garden, full of choice flowers and fruit-trees, which was my + mother's delight, and was carefully kept. Here I felt at home. + A gate opened thence into the fields,--a wooden gate made of + boards, in a high, unpainted board wall, and embowered in the + clematis creeper. This gate I used to open to see the sunset + heaven; beyond this black frame I did not step, for I liked to + look at the deep gold behind it. How exquisitely happy I + was in its beauty, and how I loved the silvery wreaths of my + protecting vine! I never would pluck one of its flowers at + that time, I was so jealous of its beauty, but often since I + carry off wreaths of it from the wild-wood, and it stands in + nature to my mind as the emblem of domestic love. + + 'Of late I have thankfully felt what I owe to that garden, + where the best hours of my lonely childhood were spent. Within + the house everything was socially utilitarian; my books told + of a proud world, but in another temper were the teachings of + the little garden. There my thoughts could lie callow in the + nest, and only be fed and kept warm, not called to fly or sing + before the time. I loved to gaze on the roses, the violets, + the lilies, the pinks; my mother's hand had planted them, and + they bloomed for me. I culled the most beautiful. I looked at + them on every side. I kissed them, I pressed them to my bosom + with passionate emotions, such as I have never dared express + to any human being. An ambition swelled my heart to be as + beautiful, as perfect as they. I have not kept my vow. Yet, + forgive, ye wild asters, which gleam so sadly amid the fading + grass; forgive me, ye golden autumn flowers, which so strive + to reflect the glories of the departing distant sun; and ye + silvery flowers, whose moonlight eyes I knew so well, forgive! + Living and blooming in your unchecked law, ye know nothing of + the blights, the distortions, which beset the human being; + and which at such hours it would seem that no glories of free + agency could ever repay! + + * * * * * + + 'There was, in the house, no apartment appropriated to the + purpose of a library, but there was in my father's room a + large closet filled with books, and to these I had free access + when the task-work of the day was done. Its window overlooked + wide fields, gentle slopes, a rich and smiling country, whose + aspect pleased without much occupying the eye, while a range + of blue hills, rising at about twelve miles distance, allured + to reverie. "Distant mountains," says Tieck, "excite the + fancy, for beyond them we place the scene of our Paradise." + Thus, in the poems of fairy adventure, we climb the rocky + barrier, pass fearless its dragon caves, and dark pine + forests, and find the scene of enchantment in the vale behind. + My hopes were never so definite, but my eye was constantly + allured to that distant blue range, and I would sit, lost in + fancies, till tears fell on my cheek. I loved this sadness; + but only in later years, when the realities of life had taught + me moderation, did the passionate emotions excited by seeing + them again teach how glorious were the hopes that swelled my + heart while gazing on them in those early days. + + 'Melancholy attends on the best joys of a merely ideal life, + else I should call most happy the hours in the garden, the + hours in the book closet. Here were the best French writers + of the last century; for my father had been more than half a + Jacobin, in the time when the French Republic cast its glare + of promise over the world. Here, too, were the Queen Anne + authors, his models, and the English novelists; but among + them I found none that charmed me. Smollett, Fielding, and the + like, deal too broadly with the coarse actualities of life. + The best of their men and women--so merely natural, with the + nature found every day--do not meet our hopes. Sometimes the + simple picture, warm with life and the light of the common + sun, cannot fail to charm,--as in the wedded love of + Fielding's Amelia,--but it is at a later day, when the mind is + trained to comparison, that we learn to prize excellence like + this as it deserves. Early youth is prince-like: it-will bend + only to "the king, my father." Various kinds of excellence + please, and leave their impression, but the most commanding, + alone, is duly acknowledged at that all-exacting age. + + 'Three great authors it was my fortune to meet at this + important period,--all, though of unequal, yet congenial + powers,--all of rich and wide, rather than aspiring + genius,--all free to the extent of the horizon their eye took + in,--all fresh with impulse, racy with experience; never to + be lost sight of, or superseded, but always to be apprehended + more and more. + + 'Ever memorable is the day on which I first took a volume of + SHAKSPEARE in my hand to read. It was on a Sunday. + + '--This day was punctiliously set apart in our house. We had + family prayers, for which there was no time on other days. Our + dinners were different, and our clothes. We went to church. My + father put some limitations on my reading, but--bless him for + the gentleness which has left me a pleasant feeling for the + day!--he did not prescribe what was, but only what was _not_, + to be done. And the liberty this left was a large one. "You + must not read a novel, or a play;" but all other books, the + worst, or the best, were open to me. The distinction was + merely technical. The day was pleasing to me, as relieving me + from the routine of tasks and recitations; it gave me freer + play than usual, and there were fewer things occurred in its + course, which reminded me of the divisions of time; still the + church-going, where I heard nothing that had any connection + with my inward life, and these rules, gave me associations + with the day of empty formalities, and arbitrary restrictions; + but though the forbidden book or walk always seemed more + charming then, I was seldom tempted to disobey.-- + + 'This Sunday--I was only eight years old--I took from the + book-shelf a volume lettered SHAKSPEARE. It was not the first + time I had looked at it, but before I had been deterred from + attempting to read, by the broken appearance along the page, + and preferred smooth narrative. But this time I held in my + hand "Romeo and Juliet" long enough to get my eye fastened to + the page. It was a cold winter afternoon. I took the book to + the parlor fire, and had there been 'seated an hour or two, + when my father looked up and asked what I was reading so + intently. "Shakspeare," replied the child, merely raising her + eye from the page. "Shakspeare,--that won't do; that's no book + for Sunday; go put it away and take another." I went as I was + bid, but took no other. Returning to my seat, the unfinished + story, the personages to whom I was but just introduced, + thronged and burnt my brain. I could not bear it long; such a + lure it was impossible to resist. I went and brought the book + again. There were several guests present, and I had got half + through the play before I again attracted attention. "What + is that child about that she don't hear a word that's said to + her?" quoth my aunt. "What are you reading?" said my father. + "Shakspeare" was again the reply, in a clear, though somewhat + impatient, tone. "How?" said my father angrily,--then + restraining himself before his guests,--"Give me the book and + go directly to bed." + + 'Into my little room no care of his anger followed me. Alone, + in the dark, I thought only of the scene placed by the + poet before my eye, where the free flow of life, sudden and + graceful dialogue, and forms, whether grotesque or fair, + seen in the broad lustre of his imagination, gave just what + I wanted, and brought home the life I seemed born to live. + My fancies swarmed like bees, as I contrived the rest of the + story;--what all would do, what say, where go. My confinement + tortured me. I could not go forth from this prison to ask + after these friends; I could not make my pillow of the dreams + about them which yet I could not forbear to frame. Thus was + I absorbed when my father entered. He felt it right, before + going to rest, to reason with me about my disobedience, shown + in a way, as he considered, so insolent. I listened, but could + not feel interested in what he said, nor turn my mind + from what engaged it. He went away really grieved at my + impenitence, and quite at a loss to understand conduct in me + so unusual. + + '--Often since I have seen the same misunderstanding between + parent and child,--the parent thrusting the morale, the + discipline, of life upon the child, when just engrossed by + some game of real importance and great leadings to it. That is + only a wooden horse to the father,--the child was careering to + distant scenes of conquest and crusade, through a country of + elsewhere unimagined beauty. None but poets remember + their youth; but the father who does not retain poetical + apprehension of the world, free and splendid as it stretches + out before the child, who cannot read his natural history, and + follow out its intimations with reverence, must be a tyrant in + his home, and the purest intentions will not prevent his doing + much to cramp him. Each new child is a new Thought, and has + bearings and discernings, which the Thoughts older in date + know not yet, but must learn.-- + + 'My attention thus fixed on Shakspeare, I returned to him + at every hour I could command. Here was a counterpoise to my + Romans, still more forcible than the little garden. My author + could read the Roman nature too,--read it in the sternness of + Coriolanus, and in the varied wealth of Caesar. But he viewed + these men of will as only one kind of men; he kept them in + their place, and I found that he, who could understand the + Roman, yet expressed in Hamlet a deeper thought. + + 'In CERVANTES, I found far less productive talent,--'indeed, + a far less powerful genius,--but the same wide wisdom, a + discernment piercing the shows and symbols of existence, yet + rejoicing in them all, both for their own life, and as signs + of the unseen reality. Not that Cervantes philosophized,--his + genius was too deeply philosophical for that; he took things + as they came before him, and saw their actual relations and + bearings. Thus the work he produced was of deep meaning, + though he might never have expressed that meaning to himself. + It was left implied in the whole. A Coleridge comes and calls + Don Quixote the pure Reason, and Sancho the Understanding. + Cervantes made no such distinctions in his own mind; but he + had seen and suffered enough to bring out all his faculties, + and to make him comprehend the higher as well as the lower + part of our nature. Sancho is too amusing and sagacious to + be contemptible; the Don too noble and clear-sighted towards + absolute truth, to be ridiculous. And we are pleased to see + manifested in this way, how the lower must follow and serve + the higher, despite its jeering mistrust and the stubborn + realities which break up the plans of this pure-minded + champion. + + 'The effect produced on the mind is nowise that described by + Byron:-- + + "Cervantes smiled Spain's chivalry away," &c. + + 'On the contrary, who is not conscious of a sincere reverence + for the Don, prancing forth on his gaunt steed? Who would not + rather be he than any of the persons who laugh at him?--Yet + the one we would wish to be is thyself, Cervantes, + unconquerable spirit! gaining flavor and color like wine from + every change, while being carried round the world; in whose + eye the serene sagacious laughter could not be dimmed by + poverty, slavery, or unsuccessful authorship. Thou art to us + still more the Man, though less the Genius, than Shakspeare; + thou dost not evade our sight, but, holding the lamp to thine + own magic shows, dost enjoy them with us. + + 'My third friend was MOLIERE, one very much lower, both in + range and depth, than the-others, but, as far as he goes, of + the same character. Nothing secluded or partial is there about + his genius,--a man of the world, and a man by himself, as he + is. It was, indeed, only the poor social world of Paris that + he saw, but he viewed it from the firm foundations of + his manhood, and every lightest laugh rings from a clear + perception, and teaches life anew. + + 'These men were all alike in this,--they loved the _natural + history_ of man. Not what he should be, but what he is, + was the favorite subject of their thought. Whenever a noble + leading opened to the eye new paths of light, they rejoiced; + but it was never fancy, but always fact, that inspired them. + They loved a thorough penetration of the murkiest dens, and + most tangled paths of nature; they did not spin from the + desires of their own special natures, but reconstructed the + world from materials which they collected on every side. Thus + their influence upon me was not to prompt me to follow out + thought in myself so much as to detect it everywhere, for each + of these men is not only a nature, but a happy interpreter of + many natures. They taught me to distrust all invention which + is not based on a wide experience. Perhaps, too, they taught + me to overvalue an outward experience at the expense of inward + growth; but all this I did not appreciate till later. + + 'It will be seen that my youth was not unfriended, since those + great minds came to me in kindness. A moment of action in + one's self, however, is worth an age of apprehension through + others; not that our deeds are better, but that they produce + a renewal of our being. I have had more productive moments and + of deeper joy, but never hours of more tranquil pleasure than + those in which these demi-gods visited me,--and with a smile + so familiar, that I imagined the world to be full of such. + They did me good, for by them a standard was early given + of sight and thought, from which I could never go back, and + beneath which I cannot suffer patiently my own life or that of + any friend to fall. They did me harm, too, for the child + fed with meat instead of milk becomes too soon mature. + Expectations and desires were thus early raised, after which I + must long toil before they can be realized. How poor the scene + around, how tame one's own existence, how meagre and faint + every power, with these beings in my mind! Often I must cast + them quite aside in order to grow in my small way, and not + sink into despair. Certainly I do not wish that instead of + these masters I had read baby books, written down to children, + and with such ignorant dulness that they blunt the senses and + corrupt the tastes of the still plastic human being. But I do + wish that I had read no books at all till later,--that I had + lived with toys, and played in the open air. Children should + not cull the fruits of reflection and observation early, but + expand in the sun, and let thoughts come to them. They should + not through books antedate their actual experiences, but + should take them gradually, as sympathy and interpretation are + needed. With me, much of life was devoured in the bud. + + + + +FIRST FRIEND. + + + 'For a few months, this bookish and solitary life was invaded + by interest in a living, breathing figure. At church, I used + to look around with a feeling of coldness and disdain, which, + though I now well understand its causes, seems to my wiser + mind as odious as it was unnatural. The puny child sought + everywhere for the Roman or Shakspeare figures, and she was + met by the shrewd, honest eye, the homely decency, or the + smartness of a New England village on Sunday. There was + beauty, but I could not see it then; it was not of the kind I + longed for. In the next pew sat a family who were my especial + aversion. There were five daughters, the eldest not above + four-and-twenty,--yet they had the old fairy, knowing + look, hard, dry, dwarfed, strangers to the All-Fair,--were + working-day residents in this beautiful planet. They looked + as if their thoughts had never strayed beyond the jobs of the + day, and they were glad of it. Their mother was one of those + shrunken, faded patterns of woman who have never done anything + to keep smooth the cheek and dignify the brow. The father + had a Scotch look of shrewd narrowness, and entire + self-complacency. I could not endure this family, whose + existence contradicted all my visions; yet I could not forbear + looking at them. + + 'As my eye one day was ranging about with its accustomed + coldness, and the proudly foolish sense of being in a shroud + of thoughts that were not their thoughts, it was arrested by + a face most fair, and well-known as it seemed at first + glance,--for surely I had met her before and waited for her + long. But soon I saw that she was a new apparition foreign to + that scene, if not to me. Her dress,--the arrangement of + her hair, which had the graceful pliancy of races highly + cultivated for long,--the intelligent and full picture of + her eye, whose reserve was in its self-possession, not in + timidity,--all combined to make up a whole impression, which, + though too young to understand, I was well prepared to feel. + + 'How wearisome now appears that thorough-bred _millefleur_ + beauty, the distilled result of ages of European culture! Give + me rather the wild heath on the lonely hill-side, than such a + rose-tree from the daintily clipped garden. But, then, I had + but tasted the cup, and knew not how little it could satisfy; + more, more, was all my cry; continued through years, till I + had been at the very fountain. Indeed, it was a ruby-red, + a perfumed draught, and I need not abuse the wine because I + prefer water, but merely say I have had enough of it. Then, + the first sight, the first knowledge of such a person was + intoxication. + + 'She was an English lady, who, by a singular chance, was cast + upon this region for a few months. Elegant and captivating, + her every look and gesture was tuned to a different pitch + from anything I had ever known. She was in various ways + "accomplished," as it is called, though to what degree I + cannot now judge. She painted in oils;--I had never before + seen any one use the brush, and days would not have been too + long for me to watch the pictures growing beneath her hand. + She played the harp; and its tones are still to me the heralds + of the promised land I saw before me then. She rose, she + looked, she spoke; and the gentle swaying motion she made + all through life has gladdened memory, as the stream does the + woods and meadows. + + 'As she was often at the house of one of our neighbors, and + afterwards at our own, my thoughts were fixed on her with all + the force of my nature. It was my first real interest in my + kind, and it engrossed me wholly. I had seen her,--I should + see her,--and my mind lay steeped in the visions that flowed + from this source. My task-work I went through with, as I have + done on similar occasions all my life, aided by pride that + could not bear to fail, or be questioned. Could I cease from + doing the work of the day, and hear the reason sneeringly + given,--"Her head is so completely taken up with ---- that + she can do nothing"? Impossible. + + 'Should the first love be blighted, they say, the mind loses + its sense of eternity. All forms of existence seem fragile, + the prison of time real, for a god is dead. Equally true is + this of friendship. I thank Heaven that this first feeling was + permitted its free flow. The years that lay between the woman + and the girl only brought her beauty into perspective, and + enabled me to see her as I did the mountains from my window, + and made her presence to me a gate of Paradise. That which + she was, that which she brought, that which she might have + brought, were mine, and over a whole region of new life I + ruled proprietor of the soil in my own right. + + 'Her mind was sufficiently unoccupied to delight in my warm + devotion. She could not know what it was to me, but the light + cast by the flame through so delicate a vase cheered and + charmed her. All who saw admired her in their way; but she + would lightly turn her head from their hard or oppressive + looks, and fix a glance of full-eyed sweetness on the child, + who, from a distance, watched all her looks and motions. She + did not say much to me--not much to any one; she spoke in her + whole being rather than by chosen words. Indeed, her proper + speech was dance or song, and what was less expressive did + not greatly interest her. But she saw much, having in its + perfection the woman's delicate sense for sympathies and + attractions. We walked in the fields, alone. Though others + were present, her eyes were gliding over all the field and + plain for the objects of beauty to which she was of kin. + She was not cold to her seeming companions; a sweet courtesy + satisfied them, but it hung about her like her mantle that she + wore without thinking of it; her thoughts were free, for these + civilized beings can really live two lives at the same moment. + With them she seemed to be, but her hand was given to the + child at her side; others did not observe me, but to her I + was the only human presence. Like a guardian spirit she led + me through the fields and groves, and every tree, every bird + greeted me, and said, what I felt, "She is the first angel of + your life." + + 'One time I had been passing the afternoon with her. She + had been playing to me on the harp, and I sat listening in + happiness almost unbearable. Some guests were announced. She + went into another room to receive them, and I took up her + book. It was Guy Mannering, then lately published, and the + first of Scott's novels I had ever seen. I opened where her + mark lay, and read merely with the feeling of continuing our + mutual existence by passing my eyes over the same page where + hers had been. It was the description of the rocks on the + sea-coast where the little Harry Bertram was lost. I had never + seen such places, and my mind was vividly stirred to + imagine them. The scene rose before me, very unlike reality, + doubtless, but majestic and wild. I was the little Harry + Bertram, and had lost her,--all I had to lose,--and sought her + vainly in long dark caves that had no end, plashing through + the water; while the crags beetled above, threatening to fall + and crush the poor child. Absorbed in the painful vision, + tears rolled down my cheeks. Just then she entered with light + step, and full-beaming eye. When she saw me thus, a soft cloud + stole over her face, and clothed every feature with a lovelier + tenderness than I had seen there before. She did not question, + but fixed on me inquiring looks of beautiful love. I laid my + head against her shoulder and wept,--dimly feeling that I + must lose her and all,--all who spoke to me of the same + things,--that the cold wave must rush over me. She waited till + my tears were spent, then rising, took from a little box a + bunch of golden amaranths or everlasting flowers, and gave + them to me. They were very fragrant. "They came," she said, + "from Madeira." These flowers stayed with me seventeen years. + "Madeira" seemed to me the fortunate isle, apart in the blue + ocean from all of ill or dread. Whenever I saw a sail passing + in the distance,--if it bore itself with fulness of beautiful + certainty,--I felt that it was going to Madeira. Those + thoughts are all gone now. No Madeira exists for me now,--no + fortunate purple isle,--and all these hopes and fancies are + lifted from the sea into the sky. Yet I thank the charms that + fixed them here so long,--fixed them till perfumes like those + of the golden flowers were drawn from the earth, teaching me + to know my birth-place. + + 'I can tell little else of this time,--indeed, I remember + little, except the state of feeling in which I lived. For I + _lived_, and when this is the case, there is little to tell in + the form of thought. We meet--at least those who are true + to their instincts meet--a succession of persons through our + lives, all of whom have some peculiar errand to us. There is + an outer circle, whose existence we perceive, but with whom we + stand in no real relation. They tell us the news, they act + on us in the offices of society, they show us kindness and + aversion; but their influence does not penetrate; we are + nothing to them, nor they to us, except as a part of the + world's furniture. Another circle, within this, are dear and + near to us. We know them and of what kind they are. They are + to us not mere facts, but intelligible thoughts of the divine + mind. We like to see how they are unfolded; we like to meet + them and part from them: we like their action upon us and the + pause that succeeds and enables us to appreciate its quality. + Often we leave them on our path, and return no more, but we + bear them in our memory, tales which have been told, and whose + meaning has been felt. + + 'But yet a nearer group there are, beings born under the same + star, and bound with us in a common destiny. These are not + mere acquaintances, mere friends, but, when we meet, are + sharers of our very existence. There is no separation; the + same thought is given at the same moment to both,--indeed, + it is born of the meeting, and would not otherwise have been + called into existence at all. These not only know themselves + more, but _are_ more for having met, and regions of their + being, which would else have laid sealed in cold obstruction, + burst into leaf and bloom and song. + + 'The times of these meetings are fated, nor will either party + be able ever to meet any other person in the same way. Both + seem to rise at a glance into that part of the heavens where + the word can be spoken, by which they are revealed to one + another and to themselves. The step in being thus gained, can + never be lost, nor can it be re-trod; for neither party will + be again what the other wants. They are no longer fit to + interchange mutual influence, for they do not really need + it, and if they think they do, it is because they weakly pine + after a past pleasure. + + 'To this inmost circle of relations but few are admitted, + because some prejudice or lack of courage has prevented the + many from listening to their instincts the first time they + manifested themselves. If the voice is once disregarded + it becomes fainter each time, till, at last, it is wholly + silenced, and the man lives in this world, a stranger to its + real life, deluded like the maniac who fancies he has attained + his throne, while in reality he is on a bed of musty straw. + Yet, if the voice finds a listener and servant the first time + of speaking, it is encouraged to more and more clearness. Thus + it was with me,--from no merit of mine, but because I had the + good fortune to be free enough to yield to my impressions. + Common ties had not bound me; there were no traditionary + notions in my mind; I believed in nothing merely because + others believed in it; I had taken no feelings on trust. Thus + my mind was open to their sway. + + 'This woman came to me, a star from the east, a morning star, + and I worshipped her. She too was elevated by that worship, + and her fairest self called out. To the mind she brought + assurance that there was a region congenial with its + tendencies and tastes, a region of elegant culture and + intercourse, whose object, fulfilled or not, was to gratify + the sense of beauty, not the mere utilities of life. In our + relation she was lifted to the top of her being. She had known + many celebrities, had roused to passionate desire many hearts, + and became afterwards a wife; but I do not believe she ever + more truly realized her best self than towards the lonely + child whose heaven she was, whose eye she met, and whose + possibilities she predicted. "He raised me," said a woman + inspired by love, "upon the pedestal of his own high thoughts, + and wings came at once, but I did not fly away. I stood there + with downcast eyes worthy of his love, for he had made me so." + + 'Thus we do always for those who inspire us to expect from + them the best. That which they are able to be, they become, + because we demand it of them. "We expect the impossible--and + find it." + + 'My English friend went across the sea. She passed into her + former life, and into ties that engrossed her days. But she + has never ceased to think of me. Her thoughts turn forcibly + back to the child who was to her all she saw of the really + New World. On the promised coasts she had found only cities, + careful men and women, the aims and habits of ordinary life + in her own land, without that elegant culture which she, + probably, over-estimated, because it was her home. But in the + mind of the child she found the fresh prairie, the untrodden + forests for which she had longed. I saw in her the storied + castles, the fair stately parks and the wind laden with + tones from the past, which I desired to know. We wrote to one + another for many years;--her shallow and delicate epistles did + not disenchant me, nor did she fail to see something of the + old poetry in my rude characters and stammering speech. But we + must never meet again. + + 'When this friend was withdrawn I fell into a profound + depression. I knew not how to exert myself, but lay bound hand + and foot. Melancholy enfolded me in an atmosphere, as joy had + done. This suffering, too, was out of the gradual and natural + course. Those who are really children could not know such + love, or feel such sorrow. "I am to blame," said my father, + "in keeping her at home so long merely to please myself. She + needs to be with other girls, needs play and variety. She does + not seem to me really sick, but dull rather. She eats nothing, + you say. I see she grows thin. She ought to change the scene." + + 'I was indeed _dull_. The books, the garden, had lost all + charm. I had the excuse of headache, constantly, for not + attending to my lessons. The light of life was set, and every + leaf was withered. At such an early age there are no back or + side scenes where the mind, weary and sorrowful, may retreat. + Older, we realize the width of the world more, and it is not + easy to despair on any point. The effort at thought to which + we are compelled relieves and affords a dreary retreat, like + hiding in a brick-kiln till the shower be over. But then all + joy seemed to have departed with my friend, and the emptiness + of our house stood revealed. This I had not felt while I every + day expected to see or had seen her, or annoyance and dulness + were unnoticed or swallowed up in the one thought that clothed + my days with beauty. But now she was gone, and I was roused + from habits of reading or reverie to feel the fiery temper of + the soul, and to learn that it must have vent, that it would + not be pacified by shadows, neither meet without consuming + what lay around it. I avoided the table as much as possible, + took long walks and lay in bed, or on the floor of my room. + I complained of my head, and it was not wrong to do so, for + a sense of dulness and suffocation, if not pain, was there + constantly. + + 'But when it was proposed that I should go to school, that was + a remedy I could not listen to with patience for a moment. The + peculiarity of my education had separated me entirely from + the girls around, except that when they were playing at active + games, I would sometimes go out and join them. I liked violent + bodily exercise, which always relieved my nerves. But I had + no success in associating with them beyond the mere play. Not + only I was not their school-mate, but my book-life and lonely + habits had given a cold aloofness to my whole expression, and + veiled my manner with a hauteur which turned all hearts away. + Yet, as this reserve was superficial, and rather ignorance + than arrogance, it produced no deep dislike. Besides, the + girls supposed me really superior to themselves, and did not + hate me for feeling it, but neither did they like me, nor wish + to have me with them. Indeed, I had gradually given up all + such wishes myself; for they seemed to me rude, tiresome, and + childish, as I did to them dull and strange. This experience + had been earlier, before I was admitted to any real + friendship; but now that I had been lifted into the life of + mature years, and into just that atmosphere of European life + to which I had before been tending, the thought of sending me + to school filled me with disgust. + + 'Yet what could I tell my father of such feelings? I resisted + all I could, but in vain. He had no faith in medical aid + generally, and justly saw that this was no occasion for its + use. He thought I needed change of scene, and to be roused + to activity by other children. "I have kept you at home," he + said, "because I took such pleasure in teaching you myself, + and besides I knew that you would learn faster with one who + is so desirous to aid you. But you will learn fast enough + wherever you are, and you ought to be more with others of your + own age. I shall soon hear that you are better, I trust."' + + + + +SCHOOL-LIFE. + + +The school to which Margaret was sent was that of the Misses Prescott, +in Groton, Massachusetts. And her experience there has been described +with touching truthfulness by herself, in the story of "Mariana."[A] + + 'At first her school-mates were captivated with her ways; her + love of wild dances and sudden song, her freaks of passion + and of wit. She was always new, always surprising, and, for a + time, charming. + + 'But after a while, they tired of her. She could never be + depended on to join in their plans, yet she expected them, + to follow out hers with their whole strength. She was very + loving, even infatuated in her own affections, and exacted + from those who had professed any love for her the devotion she + was willing to bestow. + + 'Yet there was a vein of haughty caprice in her character, + and a love of solitude, which made her at times wish to retire + apart, and at these times she would expect to be entirely + understood, and let alone, yet to be welcomed back when she + returned. She did not thwart others in their humors, but she + never doubted of great indulgence from them. + + 'Some singular habits she had, which, when new, charmed, but, + after acquaintance, displeased her companions. She had + by nature the same habit and power of excitement that is + described in the spinning dervishes of the East. Like them + she would spin until all around her were giddy, while her + own brain, instead of being disturbed, was excited to great + action. Pausing, she would declaim, verses of others, or her + own, or act many parts, with strange catchwords and burdens, + that seemed to act with mystical power on her own fancy, + sometimes stimulating her to convulse the hearers with + laughter, sometimes to melt them to tears. When her power + began to languish, she would spin again till fired to + re-commence her singular drama, into which she wove figures + from the scenes of her earlier childhood, her companions, and + the dignitaries she sometimes saw, with fantasies unknown to + life, unknown to heaven or earth. + + 'This excitement, as may be supposed, was not good for her. It + usually came on in the evening, and often spoiled her sleep. + She would wake in the night, and cheat her restlessness by + inventions that teased, while they sometimes diverted her + companions. + + 'She was also a sleep-walker; and this one trait of her case + did somewhat alarm her guardians, who, otherwise, showed the + profound ignorance as to this peculiar being, usual in the + overseeing of the young. They consulted a physician, who said + she would outgrow it, and prescribed a milk diet. + + 'Meantime, the fever of this ardent and too early stimulated + nature was constantly increased by the restraints and narrow + routine of the boarding school. She was always devising means + to break in upon it. She had a taste--which would have seemed + ludicrous to her mates, if they had not felt some awe of her, + from the touch of genius and power that never left her--for + costume and fancy dresses. There was always some sash twisted + about her, some drapery, something odd in the arrangement of + her hair and dress; so that the methodical preceptress dared + not let her go out without a careful scrutiny and remodelling, + whose soberizing effects generally disappeared the moment she + was in the free air. + + 'At last a vent was assured for her in private theatricals. + Play followed play, and in these and the rehearsals, she found + entertainment congenial with her. The principal parts, as + a matter of course, fell to her lot; most of the good + suggestions and arrangements came from her: and, for a time, + she ruled mostly, and shone triumphant. + + 'During these performances, the girls had heightened their + bloom with artificial red; this was delightful to them, it was + something so out of the way. But Mariana, after the plays were + over, kept her carmine saucer on the dressing-table, and put + on her blushes, regularly as the morning. When stared and + jeered at, she at first said she did it because she thought it + made her look pretty; but, after a while, she became petulant + about it,--would make no reply to any joke, but merely kept up + the habit. + + 'This irritated the girls, as all eccentricity does the world + in general, more than vice or malignity. They talked it over + among themselves till they were wrought up to a desire of + punishing, once for all, this sometimes amusing, but so often + provoking non-conformist. And having obtained leave of the + mistress, they laid, with great glee, a plan, one evening, + which was to be carried into execution next day at dinner. + + 'Among Mariana's irregularities was a great aversion to the + meal-time ceremonial,--so long, so tiresome, she found it, to + be seated at a certain moment, and to wait while each one + was served, at so large a table, where there was scarcely any + conversation; and from day to day it became more heavy to + sit there, or go there at all; often as possible she excused + herself on the ever-convenient plea of headache, and was + hardly ever ready when the dinner-bell rang. + + 'To-day the summons found her on the balcony, but gazing on + the beautiful prospect. I have heard her say afterwards, that + she had scarcely in her life been so happy,--and she was one + with whom happiness was a still rapture. It was one of the + most blessed summer days; the shadows of great white clouds + empurpled the distant hills for a few moments, only to leave + them more golden; the tall grass of the wide fields waved in + the softest breeze. Pure blue were the heavens, and the same + hue of pure contentment was in the heart of Mariana. + + 'Suddenly on her bright mood jarred the dinner-bell. At first + rose her usual thought, I will not, cannot go; and then the + _must_, which daily life can always enforce, even upon the + butterflies and birds, came, and she walked reluctantly to + her room. She merely changed her dress, and never thought of + adding the artificial rose to her cheek. + + 'When she took her seat in the dining-hall, and was asked if + she would be helped, raising her eyes, she saw the person + who asked her was deeply rouged, with a bright glaring + spot, perfectly round, on either cheek. She looked at the + next,--same apparition! She then slowly passed her eyes down + the whole line, and saw the same, with a suppressed smile + distorting every countenance. Catching the design at once, she + deliberately looked along her own side of the table, at every + schoolmate in turn; every one had joined in the trick. The + teachers strove to be grave, but she saw they enjoyed the + joke. The servants could not suppress a titter. + + 'When Warren Hastings stood at the bar of Westminster + Hall,--when the Methodist preacher walked through a line + of men, each of whom greeted him with a brickbat or rotten + egg,--they had some preparation for the crisis, though it + might be very difficult to meet it with an impassible brow. + Our little girl was quite unprepared to find herself in the + midst of a world which despised her, and triumphed in her + disgrace. + + 'She had ruled like a queen, in the midst of her companions; + she had shed her animation through their lives, and loaded + them with prodigal favors, nor once suspected that a popular + favorite might not be loved. Now she felt that she had been + but a dangerous plaything in the hands of those whose hearts + she never had doubted. + + 'Yet the occasion found her equal to it, for Mariana had the + kind of spirit which, in a better cause, had made the Roman + matron truly say of her death-wound, "It is not painful, + Poetus." She did not blench,--she did not change countenance. + She swallowed her dinner with apparent composure. She made + remarks to those near her, as if she had no eyes. + + 'The wrath of the foe, of course, rose higher, and the moment + they were freed from the restraints of the dining room, they + all ran off, gayly calling, and sarcastically laughing, with + backward glances, at Mariana, left alone. + + 'Alone she went to her room, locked the door, and threw + herself on the floor in strong convulsions. These had + sometimes threatened her life, in earlier childhood, but of + later years she had outgrown them. School-hours came, and she + was not there. A little girl, sent to her door, could get no + answer. The teachers became alarmed, and broke it open. Bitter + was their penitence, and that of her companions, at the state + in which they found her. For some hours terrible anxiety was + felt, but at last nature, exhausted, relieved herself by a + deep slumber. + + 'From this Mariana arose an altered being. She made no reply + to the expressions of sorrow from her companions, none to the + grave and kind, but undiscerning, comments of her teacher. She + did not name the source of her anguish, and its poisoned + dart sank deeply in. This was the thought which stung her + so:--"What, not one, not a single one, in the hour of trial, + to take my part? not one who refused to take part against me?" + Past words of love, and caresses, little heeded at the time, + rose to her memory, and gave fuel to her distempered heart. + Beyond the sense of burning resentment at universal perfidy, + she could not get. And Mariana, born for love, now hated all + the world. + + 'The change, however, which these feelings made in her conduct + and appearance, bore no such construction to the careless + observer. Her gay freaks were quite gone, her wildness, her + invention. Her dress was uniform, her manner much subdued. Her + chief interest seemed to be now in her studies, and in music. + Her companions she never sought; but they, partly from uneasy, + remorseful feelings, partly that they really liked her much + better now that she did not puzzle and oppress them, sought + her continually. And here the black shadow comes upon her + life, the only stain upon the history of Mariana. + + 'They talked to her, as girls having few topics naturally + do, of one another. Then the demon rose within her, and + spontaneously, without design, generally without words of + positive falsehood, she became a genius of discord amongst + them. She fanned those flames of envy and jealousy which a + wise, true word from a third person will often quench forever; + and by a glance, or seemingly light reply, she planted the + seeds of dissension, till there was scarcely a peaceful + affection, or sincere intimacy, in the circle where she lived, + and could not but rule, for she was one whose nature was to + that of the others as fire to clay. + + 'It was at this time that I came to the school, and first + saw Mariana. Me she charmed at once, for I was a sentimental + child, who, in my early ill health, had been indulged in + reading novels, till I had no eyes for the common. It was not, + however, easy to approach her. Did I offer to run and fetch + her handkerchief, she was obliged to go to her room, and would + rather do it herself. She did not like to have people turn + over for her the leaves of the music-book as she played. Did I + approach my stool to her feet, she moved away as if to give me + room. The bunch of wild flowers, which I timidly laid beside + her plate, was left untouched. After some weeks, my desire to + attract her notice really preyed upon me; and one day, meeting + her alone in the entry, I fell upon my knees, and, kissing her + hand, cried "O, Mariana, do let me love you, and try to love + me a little!" But my idol snatched away her hand, and laughing + wildly, ran into her room. After that day, her manner to me + was not only cold, but repulsive, and I felt myself scorned. + + 'Perhaps four months had passed thus, when, one afternoon, it + became obvious that something more than common was brewing. + Dismay and mystery were written in many faces of the older + girls; much whispering was going on in corners. + + 'In the evening, after prayers, the principal bade us stay; + and, in a grave, sad voice, summoned forth Mariana to answer + charges to be made against her. + + 'Mariana stood up and leaned against the chimney-piece. Then + eight of the older girls came forward, and preferred + against her charges,--alas! too well founded, of calumny and + falsehood. + + 'At first, she defended herself with self-possession and + eloquence. But when she found she could no more resist the + truth, she suddenly threw herself down, dashing her head with + all her force against the iron hearth, on which a fire was + burning, and was taken up senseless. + + 'The affright of those present was great. Now that they had + perhaps killed her, they reflected it would have been as + well if they had taken warning from the former occasion, and + approached very carefully a nature so capable of any extreme. + After a while she revived, with a faint groan, amid the sobs + of her companions. I was on my knees by the bed, and held her + cold hand. One of those most aggrieved took it from me, to beg + her pardon, and say, it was impossible not to love her. She + made no reply. + + 'Neither that night, nor for several days, could a word be + obtained from her, nor would she touch food; but, when it was + presented to her, or any one drew near from any cause, she + merely turned away her head, and gave no sign. The teacher saw + that some terrible nervous affection had fallen upon her--that + she grew more and more feverish. She knew not what to do. + + 'Meanwhile, a new revolution had taken place in the mind of + the passionate but nobly-tempered child. All these months + nothing but the sense of injury had rankled in her heart. + She had gone on in one mood, doing what the demon prompted, + without scruple, and without fear. + + 'But at the moment of detection, the tide ebbed, and the + bottom of her soul lay revealed to her eye. How black, how + stained, and sad! Strange, strange, that she had not seen + before the baseness and cruelty of falsehood, the loveliness + of truth! Now, amid the wreck, uprose the moral nature, which + never before had attained the ascendant. "But," she thought, + "too late sin is revealed to me in all its deformity, and + sin-defiled, I will not, cannot live. The main-spring of life + is broken." + + 'The lady who took charge of this sad child had never well + understood her before, but had always looked on her with great + tenderness. And now love seemed,--when all around were in the + greatest distress, fearing to call in medical aid, fearing + to do without it,--to teach her where the only balm was to be + found that could heal the wounded spirit. + + 'One night she came in, bringing a calming draught. Mariana + was sitting as usual, her hair loose, her dress the same robe + they had put on her at first, her eyes fixed vacantly upon the + whited wall. To the proffers and entreaties of her nurse, she + made no reply. + + 'The lady burst into tears, but Mariana did not seem even to + observe it. + + 'The lady then said, "O, my child, do not despair; do not + think that one great fault can mar a whole life! Let me trust + you; let me tell you the griefs of my sad life. I will tell + you, Mariana, what I never expected to impart to any one." + + 'And so she told her tale. It was one of pain, of shame, borne + not for herself, but for one near and dear as herself. Mariana + knew the dignity and reserve of this lady's nature. She had + often admired to see how the cheek, lovely, but no longer + young, mantled with the deepest blush of youth, and the blue + eyes were cast down at any little emotion. She had understood + the proud sensibility of her character. She fixed her eyes on + those now raised to hers, bright with fast-falling tears. She + heard the story to the end, and then, without saying a word, + stretched out her hand for the cup. + + 'She returned to life, but it was as one who had passed + through the valley of death. The heart of stone was quite + broken in her,--the fiery will fallen from flame to coal. When + her strength was a little restored, she had all her companions + summoned, and said to them,--"I deserved to die, but a + generous trust has called me back to life. I will be worthy of + it, nor ever betray the trust, or resent injury more. Can you + forgive the past?" + + 'And they not only forgave, but, with love and earnest tears, + clasped in their arms the returning sister. They vied with one + another in offices of humble love to the humbled one; and + let it be recorded, as an instance of the pure honor of which + young hearts are capable, that these facts, known to some + forty persons, never, so far as I know, transpired beyond + those walls. + + 'It was not long after this that Mariana was summoned home. + She went thither a wonderfully instructed being, though in + ways those who had sent her forth to learn little dreamed of. + + 'Never was forgotten the vow of the returning prodigal. + Mariana could not _resent_, could not _play false._ The + terrible crisis, which she so early passed through, probably + prevented the world from hearing much of her. A wild fire was + tamed in that hour of penitence at the boarding-school, such + as has oftentimes wrapped court and camp in a destructive + glow.' + + +[Footnote A: Summer on the Lakes, p. 81.] + + + + +SELF-CULTURE. + + +Letters written to the beloved teacher, who so wisely befriended +Margaret in her trial-hour, will best show how this high-spirited girl +sought to enlarge and harmonize her powers. + + '_Cambridge, July 11, 1825._--Having excused myself from + accompanying my honored father to church, which I always do in + the afternoon, when possible, I devote to you the hours + which Ariosto and Helvetius ask of my eyes,--as, lying on my + writing-desk, they put me in mind that they must return this + week to their owner. + + 'You keep me to my promise of giving you some sketch of my + pursuits. I rise a little before five, walk an hour, and then + practise on the piano, till seven, when we breakfast. Next + I read French,--Sismondi's Literature of the South of + Europe,--till eight, then two or three lectures in Brown's + Philosophy. About half-past nine I go to Mr. Perkins's school + and study Greek till twelve, when, the school being dismissed, + I recite, go home, and practise again till dinner, at two. + Sometimes, if the conversation is very agreeable, I lounge + for half an hour over the dessert, though rarely so lavish of + time. Then, when I can, I read two hours in Italian, but I + am often interrupted. At six, I walk, or take a drive. Before + going to bed, I play or sing, for half an hour or so, to make + all sleepy, and, about eleven, retire to write a little while + in my journal, exercises on what I have read, or a series of + characteristics which I am filling up according to advice. + Thus, you see, I am learning Greek, and making acquaintance + with metaphysics, and French and Italian literature. + + '"How," you will say, "can I believe that my indolent, + fanciful, pleasure-loving pupil, perseveres in such a course?" + I feel the power of industry growing every day, and, besides + the all-powerful motive of ambition, and a new stimulus + lately given through a friend, I have learned to believe that + nothing, no! not perfection, is unattainable. I am determined + on distinction, which formerly I thought to win at an easy + rate; but now I see that long years of labor must be given to + secure even the "_succes de societe_,"--which, however, shall + never content me. I see multitudes of examples of persons + of genius, utterly deficient in grace and the power of + pleasurable excitement. I wish to combine both. I know the + obstacles in my way. I am wanting in that intuitive tact and + polish, which nature has bestowed upon some, but which I + must acquire. And, on the other hand, my powers of intellect, + though sufficient, I suppose, are not well disciplined. Yet + all such hindrances may be overcome by an ardent spirit. If I + fail, my consolation shall be found in active employment.' + + * * * * * + + '_Cambridge, March 5, 1826._--Duke Nicholas is to succeed + the Emperor Alexander, thus relieving Europe from the + sad apprehension of evil to be inflicted by the brutal + Constantine, and yet depriving the Holy Alliance of its very + soul. We may now hope more strongly for the liberties of + unchained Europe; we look in anxious suspense for the issue of + the struggle of Greece, the result of which seems to depend on + the new autocrat. I have lately been reading Anastasius, the + Greek Gil Bias, which has excited and delighted me; but I do + not think you like works of this cast. You did not like my + sombre and powerful Ormond,--though this is superior to Ormond + in every respect; it translates you to another scene, hurls + you into the midst of the burning passions of the East, whose + vicissitudes are, however, interspersed by deep pauses of + shadowy reflective scenes, which open upon you like the + green watered little vales occasionally to be met with in the + burning desert. There is enough of history to fix profoundly + the attention, and prevent you from revolting from scenes + profligate and terrific, and such characters as are never to + be met with in our paler climes. How delighted am I to read + a book which can absorb me to tears and shuddering,--not + by individual traits of beauty, but by the spirit of + adventure,--happiness which one seldom enjoys after childhood + in this blest age, so philosophic, free, and enlightened to + a miracle, but far removed from the ardent dreams and soft + credulity of the world's youth. Sometimes I think I would give + all our gains for those times when young and old gathered in + the feudal hall, listening with soul-absorbing transport to + the romance of the minstrel, unrestrained and regardless + of criticism, and when they worshipped nature, not as + high-dressed and pampered, but as just risen from the bath.' + + '_Cambridge, May 14, 1826._--I am studying Madame de Stael, + Epictetus, Milton, Racine, and Castiliain ballads, with great + delight. There's an assemblage for you. Now tell me, had + you rather be the brilliant De Stael or the useful + Edgeworth?--though De Stael is useful too, but it is on the + grand scale, on liberalizing, regenerating principles, and has + not the immediate practical success that Edgeworth has. I met + with a parallel the other day between Byron and Rousseau, and + had a mind to send it to you, it was so excellent.' + + * * * * * + + '_Cambridge, Jan. 10, 1827._--As to my studies, I am engrossed + in reading the elder Italian poets, beginning with Berni, + from whom I shall proceed to Pulci and Politian. I read very + critically. Miss Francis[A] and I think of reading Locke, as + introductory to a course of English metaphysics, and then De + Stael on Locke's system. Allow me to introduce this lady + to you as a most interesting woman, in my opinion. She is a + natural person,--a most rare thing in this age of cant and + pretension. Her conversation is charming,--she brings all her + powers to bear upon it; her style is varied, and she has a + very pleasant and spirited way of thinking. I should judge, + too, that she possesses peculiar purity of mind. I am going to + spend this evening with her, and wish you were to be with us.' + + * * * * * + + '_Cambridge, Jan. 3, 1828._--I am reading Sir William Temple's + works, with great pleasure. Such enlarged views are rarely to + be found combined with such acuteness and discrimination. His + style, though diffuse, is never verbose or overloaded, but + beautifully expressive; 'tis English, too, though he was an + accomplished linguist, and wrote much and well in. French, + Spanish, and Latin. The latter he used, as he says of the + Bishop of Munster, (with whom he corresponded in that tongue,) + "more like a man of the court and of business than a scholar." + He affected not Augustan niceties, but his expressions are + free and appropriate. I have also read a most entertaining + book, which I advise you to read, (if you have not done so + already,) Russell's Tour in Germany. There you will find more + intelligent and detailed accounts than I have seen anywhere of + the state of the German universities, Viennese court, secret + associations, Plica Polonica, and other very interesting + matters. There is a minute account of the representative + government given to his subjects by the Duke of Weimar. I have + passed a luxurious afternoon, having been in bed from dinner + till tea, reading Rammohun Roy's book, and framing dialogues + aloud on every argument beneath the sun. Really, I have + not had my mind so exercised for months; and I have felt a + gladiatorial disposition lately, and don't enjoy mere light + conversation. The love of knowledge is prodigiously kindled + within my soul of late; I study much and reflect more, and + feel an aching wish for some person with whom I might talk + fully and openly. + + 'Did you ever read the letters and reflections of Prince de + Ligne, the most agreeable man of his day? I have just had it, + and if it is new to you, I recommend it as an agreeable book + to read at night just before you go to bed. There is much + curious matter concerning Catharine II.'s famous expedition + into Taurida, which puts down some of the romantic stories + prevalent on that score, but relates more surprising + realities. Also it gives much interesting information about + that noble philosopher, Joseph II., and about the Turkish + tactics and national character.' + + * * * * * + + '_Cambridge, Jan. 1830_.--You need not fear to revive painful + recollections. I often think of those sad experiences. True, + they agitate me deeply. But it was best so. They have had a + most powerful effect on my character. I tremble at whatever + looks like dissimulation. The remembrance of that evening + subdues every proud, passionate impulse. My beloved supporter + in those sorrowful hours, your image shines as fair to my + mind's eye as it did in 1825, when I left you with my heart + overflowing with gratitude for your singular and judicious + tenderness. Can I ever forget that to your treatment in that + crisis of youth I owe the true life,--the love of Truth and + Honor?' + + +[Footnote A: Lydia Maria Child.] + + + + +LIFE IN CAMBRIDGE. + +BY JAMES FREEMAN CLARKE. + + * * * * * + + + "Extraordinary, generous seeking." + + GOETHE. + + + "Through, brothers, through,--this be + Our watchword in danger or sorrow, + Common clay to its mother dust, + All nobleness heavenward!" + + THEODORE KOERNER. + + + "Thou friend whose presence on my youthful heart + Fell, like bright Spring upon some herbless plain; + How beautiful and calm and free thou wert + In thy young wisdom, when the mortal chain + Of custom thou didst burst and rend in twain, + And walk as free as light the clouds among!" + + SHELLY. + + "There are not a few instances of that conflict, known also to + the fathers, of the spirit with the flesh, the inner with the + outer man, of the freedom of the will with the necessity of + nature, the pleasure of the individual with the conventions + of society, of the emergency of the case with the despotism + of the rule. It is this, which, while it makes the interest + of life, makes the difficulty of living. It is a struggle, + indeed, between unequal powers,--between the man, who is a + conscious moral person, and nature, or events, or bodies of + men, which either want personality or unity; and hence the + man, after fearful and desolating war, sometimes rises on + the ruins of all the necessities of nature and all the + prescriptions of society. But what these want in personality + they possess in number, in recurrency, in invulnerability. The + spirit of man, an agent indeed of curious power and boundless + resource, but trembling with sensibilities, tender and + irritable, goes out against the inexorable conditions of + destiny, the lifeless forces of nature, or the ferocious + cruelty of the multitude, and long before the hands are weary + or the invention exhausted, the heart may be broken in the + warfare." + + N.A. REVIEW, Jan., 1817, article "_Dichtung und Wahrheit_." + + + + +II. + +CAMBRIDGE + + * * * * * + + +The difficulty which we all feel in describing our past intercourse +and friendship with Margaret Fuller, is, that the intercourse was so +intimate, and the friendship so personal, that it is like making a +confession to the public of our most interior selves. For this noble +person, by her keen insight and her generous interest, entered into +the depth of every soul with which she stood in any real relation. +To print one of her letters, is like giving an extract from our own +private journal. To relate what she was to us, is to tell how she +discerned elements of worth and beauty where others could only have +seen what was common-place and poor; it is to say what high hopes, +what generous assurance, what a pure ambition, she entertained on our +behalf,--a hope and confidence which may well be felt as a rebuke to +our low attainments and poor accomplishments. + +Nevertheless, it seems due to this great soul that those of us who +have been blessed and benefited by her friendship should be willing +to say what she has done for us,--undeterred by the thought that to +reveal her is to expose ourselves. + +My acquaintance with Sarah Margaret Fuller began in 1829. We both +lived in Cambridge, and from that time until she went to Groton to +reside, in 1833, I saw her, or heard from her, almost every day. There +was a family connection, and we called each other cousin.[A] During +this period, her intellect was intensely active. With what eagerness +did she seek for knowledge! What fire, what exuberance, what reach, +grasp, overflow of thought, shone in her conversation! She needed a +friend to whom to speak of her studies, to whom to express the ideas +which were dawning and taking shape in her mind. She accepted me for +this friend, and to me it was a gift of the gods, an influence like no +other. + +For the first few months of our acquaintance, our intercourse was +simply that of two young persons seeking entertainment in each other's +society. Perhaps a note written at this time will illustrate the +easy and graceful movement of her mind in this superficial kind of +intercourse. + + '_March 16th, 1830. Half-past six, morning_.--I have + encountered that most common-place of glories, sunrise, (to + say naught of being praised and wondered at by every member of + the family in succession,) that I might have leisure to answer + your note even as you requested. I thank you a thousand times + for "The Rivals."[B] Alas!! I must leave my heart in the book, + and spend the livelong morning in reading to a sick lady from + some amusing story-book. I tell you of this act of (in my + professedly unamiable self) most unwonted charity, for three + several reasons. Firstly, and foremostly, because I think + that you, being a socialist by vocation, a sentimentalist + by nature, and a Channingite from force of circumstances and + fashion, will peculiarly admire this little self-sacrifice + exploit. Secondly, because 'tis neither conformable to the + spirit of the nineteenth century, nor the march of mind, that + those churlish reserves should be kept up between _the right + and left hands_, which belonged to ages of barbarism and + prejudice, and could only have been inculcated for their use. + Thirdly, and lastly, the true ladylike reason,--because I + would fain have my correspondent enter into and sympathize + with my feelings of the moment. + + 'As to the relationship; 'tis, I find, on inquiry, by no means + to be compared with that between myself and ----; of course, + the intimacy cannot be so great. But no matter; it will enable + me to answer your notes, and you will interest my imagination + much more than if I knew you better. But I am exceeding + legitimate note-writing limits. With a hope that this epistle + may be legible to your undiscerning eyes, I conclude, + + 'Your cousin only thirty-seven degrees removed, + + 'M.' + +The next note which I shall give was written not many days after, +and is in quite a different vein. It is memorable to me as laying +the foundation of a friendship which brought light to my mind, which +enlarged my heart, and gave elevation and energy to my aims and +purposes. For nearly twenty years, Margaret remained true to the +pledges of this note. In a few years we were separated, but our +friendship remained firm. Living in different parts of the +country, occupied with different thoughts and duties, making other +friends,--sometimes not seeing nor hearing from each other for +months,--we never met without my feeling that she was ready to be +interested in all my thoughts, to love those whom I loved, to watch +my progress, to rebuke my faults and follies, to encourage within me +every generous and pure aspiration, to demand of me, always, the best +that I could be or do, and to be satisfied with no mediocrity, no +conformity to any low standard. + +And what she thus was to me, she was to many others. Inexhaustible +in power of insight, and with a good-will "broad as ether," she could +enter into the needs, and sympathize with the various excellences, of +the greatest variety of characters. One thing only she demanded of +all her friends,--that they should have some "extraordinary generous +seeking,"[C] that they should not be satisfied with the common routine +of life,--that they should aspire to something higher, better, holier, +than they had now attained. Where this element of aspiration existed, +she demanded no originality of intellect, no greatness of soul. If +these were found, well; but she could love, tenderly and truly, where +they were not. But for a worldly character, however gifted, she felt +and expressed something very like contempt. At this period, she had +no patience with self-satisfied mediocrity. She afterwards learned +patience and unlearned contempt; but at the time of which I write, +she seemed, and was to the multitude, a haughty and supercilious +person,--while to those whom she loved, she was all the more gentle, +tender and true. + +Margaret possessed, in a greater degree than any person I ever knew, +the power of so magnetizing others, when she wished, by the power of +her mind, that they would lay open to her all the secrets of their +nature. She had an infinite curiosity to know individuals,--not the +vulgar curiosity which seeks to find out the circumstances of their +outward lives, but that which longs to understand the inward springs +of thought and action in their souls. This desire and power both +rested on a profound conviction of her mind in the individuality of +every human being. A human being, according to her faith, was not +the result of the presence and stamp of outward circumstances, but an +original _monad_, with a certain special faculty, capable of a certain +fixed development, and having a profound personal unity, which the +ages of eternity might develop, but could not exhaust. I know not +if she would have stated her faith in these terms, but some such +conviction appeared in her constant endeavor to see and understand the +germinal principle, the special characteristic, of every person whom +she deemed worthy of knowing at all. Therefore, while some +persons study human nature in its universal laws, and become great +philosophers, moralists and teachers of the race,--while others study +mankind in action, and, seeing the motives and feelings by which +masses are swayed, become eminent politicians, sagacious leaders, +and eminent in all political affairs,--a few, like Margaret, study +character, and acquire the power of exerting profoundest influence on +individual souls. + +I had expressed to her my desire to know something of the history of +her mind,--to understand her aims, her hopes, her views of life. In a +note written in reply, she answered me thus:-- + + 'I cannot bring myself to write you what you wished. You would + be disappointed, at any rate, after all the solemn note of + preparation; the consciousness of this would chill me now. + Besides, I cannot be willing to leave with you such absolute + _vagaries_ in a tangible, examinable shape. I think of your + after-smiles, of your colder moods. But I will tell you, when + a fitting opportunity presents, all that can interest you, and + perhaps more. And excuse my caution. I do not profess, I may + not dare, to be generous in these matters.' + +To this I replied to the effect that, "in my coldest mood I could +not criticize words written in a confiding spirit;" and that, at all +events, she must not expect of me a confidence which she dared not +return. This was the substance of a note to which Margaret thus +replied:-- + + 'I thank you for your note. Ten minutes before I received it, + I scarcely thought that anything again would make my stifled + heart throb so warm a pulse of pleasure. Excuse my cold + doubts, my selfish arrogance,--you will, when I tell you that + this experiment has before had such uniform results; those + who professed to seek my friendship, and whom, indeed, I have + often truly loved, have always learned to content themselves + with that inequality in the connection which I have never + striven to veil. Indeed, I have thought myself more valued and + better beloved, because the sympathy, the interest, were all + on my side. True! such regard could never flatter my pride, + nor gratify my affections, since it was paid not to myself, + but to the need they had of me; still, it was dear and + pleasing, as it has given me an opportunity of knowing and + serving many lovely characters; and I cannot see that there is + anything else for me to do on earth. And I should rejoice + to cultivate generosity, since (see that _since_) affections + gentler and more sympathetic are denied me. + + 'I would have been a true friend to you; ever ready to solace + your pains and partake your joy as far as possible. Yet + I cannot but rejoice that I have met a person who could + discriminate and reject a proffer of this sort. Two years ago + I should have ventured to proffer you friendship, indeed, + on seeing such an instance of pride in you; but I have gone + through a sad process of feeling since, and those emotions, + so necessarily repressed, have lost their simplicity, their + ardent beauty. _Then_, there was nothing I might not have + disclosed to a person capable of comprehending, had I ever + seen such an one! Now there are many voices of the soul which + I imperiously silence. This results not from any particular + circumstance or event, but from a gradual ascertaining of + realities. + + 'I cannot promise you any limitless confidence, but I _can_ + promise that no timid caution, no haughty dread shall prevent + my telling you the truth of my thoughts on any subject we may + have in common. Will this satisfy you? Oh let it! suffer me to + know you.' + +In a postscript she adds, 'No other cousin or friend of any style is +to see this note.' So for twenty years it has lain unseen, but for +twenty years did we remain true to the pledges of that period. And now +that noble heart sleeps beneath the tossing Atlantic, and I feel no +reluctance in showing to the world this expression of pure youthful +ardor. It may, perhaps, lead some wise worldlings, who doubt the +possibility of such a relation, to reconsider the grounds of their +scepticism; or, if not that, it may encourage some youthful souls, +as earnest and eager as ours, to trust themselves to their hearts' +impulse, and enjoy some such blessing as came to us. + +Let me give extracts from other notes and letters, written by +Margaret, about the same period. + + '_Saturday evening, May 1st_, 1830.--The holy moon and + merry-toned wind of this night woo to a vigil at the open + window; a half-satisfied interest urges me to live, love and + perish! in the noble, wronged heart of Basil;[D] my Journal, + which lies before me, tempts to follow out and interpret + the as yet only half-understood musings of the past week. + Letter-writing, compared with any of these things, takes the + ungracious semblance of a duty. I have, nathless, after a two + hours' reverie, to which this resolve and its preliminaries + have formed excellent warp, determined to sacrifice this + hallowed time to you. + + 'It did not in the least surprise me that you found it + impossible at the time to avail yourself of the confidential + privileges I had invested you with. On the contrary, I + only wonder that we should ever, after such gage given and + received, (not by a look or tone, but by letter,) hold any + frank communication. Preparations are good in life, prologues + ruinous. I felt this even before I sent my note, but could + not persuade myself to consign an impulse so embodied, to + oblivion, from any consideration of expediency.' * * + + * * * * * + + '_May 4th_, 1830.--* * I have greatly wished to see among + us such a person of genius as the nineteenth century can + afford--_i.e._, one who has tasted in the morning of existence + the extremes of good and ill, both imaginative and real. I had + imagined a person endowed by nature with that acute sense of + Beauty, (_i.e._, Harmony or Truth,) and that vast capacity + of desire, which give soul to love and ambition. I had wished + this person might grow up to manhood alone (but not alone in + crowds); I would have placed him in a situation so retired, + so obscure, that he would quietly, but without bitter sense of + isolation, stand apart from all surrounding him. I would have + had him go on steadily, feeding his mind with congenial love, + hopefully confident that if he only nourished his existence + into perfect life, Fate would, at fitting season, furnish an + atmosphere and orbit meet for his breathing and exercise. I + wished he might adore, not fever for, the bright phantoms + of his mind's creation, and believe them but the shadows of + external things to be met with hereafter. After this steady + intellectual growth had brought his powers to manhood, so far + as the ideal can do it, I wished this being might be launched + into the world of realities, his heart glowing with the + ardor of an immortal toward perfection, his eyes searching + everywhere to behold it; I wished he might collect into one + burning point those withering, palsying convictions, which, in + the ordinary routine of things, so gradually pervade the + soul; that he might suffer, in brief space, agonies of + disappointment commensurate with his unpreparedness + and confidence. And I thought, thus thrown back on the + representing pictorial resources I supposed him originally + to possess, with such material, and the need he must feel + of using it, such a man would suddenly dilate into a form + of Pride, Power, and Glory,--a centre, round which asking, + aimless hearts might rally,--a man fitted to act as + interpreter to the one tale of many-languaged eyes! + + 'What words are these! Perhaps you will feel as if I sought + but for the longest and strongest. Yet to my ear they do but + faintly describe the imagined powers of such a being.' + +Margaret's home at this time was in the mansion-house formerly +belonging to Judge Dana,--a large, old-fashioned building, since taken +down, standing about a quarter of a mile from the Cambridge Colleges, +on the main road to Boston. The house stood back from the road, on +rising ground, which overlooked an extensive landscape. It was always +a pleasure to Margaret to look at the outlines of the distant hills +beyond the river, and to have before her this extent of horizon and +sky. In the last year of her residence in Cambridge, her father moved +to the old Brattle place,--a still more ancient edifice, with large, +old-fashioned garden, and stately rows of Linden trees. Here Margaret +enjoyed the garden walks, which took the place of the extensive view. + +During these five years her life was not diversified by events, +but was marked by an inward history. Study, conversation, society, +friendship, and reflection on the aim and law of life, made up her +biography. Accordingly, these topics will constitute the substance +of this chapter, though sometimes, in order to give completeness to +a subject, we may anticipate a little, and insert passages from the +letters and journals of her Groton life. + + +[Footnote A: I had once before seen Margaret, when we were both +children about five years of age. She made an impression on my mind +which was never effaced, and I distinctly recollect the joyful child, +with light flowing locks and bright face, who led me by the hand down +the back-steps of her house into the garden. This was when her father +lived in Cambridgeport, in a house on Cherry street, in front of +which still stand some handsome trees, planted by him in the year of +Margaret's birth.] + +[Footnote B: "The Rivals" was a novel I had lent her,--if I remember +right, by the author of "The Collegians;" a writer who in those days +interested us not a little.] + +[Footnote C: These words of Goethe, which I have placed among the +mottoes at the beginning of this chapter, were written by Margaret on +the first page of a richly gilt and bound blank book, which she gave +to me, in 1832, for a private journal. The words of Koerner are also +translated by herself, and were given to me about the same time.] + +[Footnote D: The hero of a novel she was reading.] + + + + +I. + +FRIENDSHIP. + + + "Friendly love perfecteth mankind." + + BACON. + + + "To have found favor in thy sight + Will still remain + A river of thought, that full of light + Divides the plain." + + MILNES. + + "Cui potest vita esse vitalis, (ut ait Ennius,) quae non in + amici mutata benevolentia requiescat?"--CICERO. + + * * * * * + + +It was while living at Cambridge that Margaret commenced several of +those friendships which lasted through her life, and which were the +channels for so large a part of her spiritual activity. In giving some +account of her in these relations, there is only the alternative of a +prudent reserve which omits whatever is liable to be misunderstood, or +a frank utterance which confides in the good sense and right feeling +of the reader. By the last course, we run the risk of allowing our +friend to be misunderstood; but by the first we make it certain that +the most important part of her character shall not be understood at +all. I have, therefore, thought it best to follow, as far as I can, +her own ideas on this subject, which I find in two of her letters to +myself. The first is dated, Groton, Jan. 8th, 1839. I was at that time +editing a theological and literary magazine, in the West, and this +letter was occasioned by my asking her to allow me to publish therein +certain poems, and articles of hers, which she had given me to read. + + 'And I wish now, as far as I can, to give my reasons for what + you consider absurd squeamishness in me. You may not acquiesce + in my view, but I think you will respect it _as_ mine and be + willing to act upon it so far as I am concerned. + + 'Genius seems to me excusable in taking the public for a + confidant. Genius is universal, and can appeal to the common + heart of man. But even here I would not have it too direct. + I prefer to see the thought or feeling made universal. How + different the confidence of Goethe, for instance, from that of + Byron! + + 'But for us lesser people, who write verses merely as vents + for the overflowings of a personal experience, which in every + life of any value craves occasionally the accompaniment of the + lyre, it seems to me that all the value of this utterance is + destroyed by a hasty or indiscriminate publicity. The moment + I lay open my heart, and tell the fresh feeling to any one who + chooses to hear, I feel profaned. + + 'When it has passed into experience, when the flower has gone + to seed, I don't care who knows it, or whither they wander. I + am no longer it,--I stand on it. I do not know whether this + is peculiar to me, or not, but I am sure the moment I cease + to have any reserve or delicacy about a feeling, it is on the + wane. + + 'About putting beautiful verses in your Magazine, I have no + feeling except what I should have about furnishing a room. I + should not put a dressing-case into a parlor, or a book-case + into a dressing-room, because, however good things in + their place, they were not in place there. And this, not in + consideration of the public, but of my own sense of fitness + and harmony.' + +The next extract is from a letter written to me in 1842, after a +journey which we had taken to the White Mountains, in the company of +my sister, and Mr. and Mrs. Farrar. During this journey Margaret had +conversed with me concerning some passages of her private history and +experience, and in this letter she asks me to be prudent in speaking +of it, giving her reasons as follows:-- + + '_Cambridge, July 31, 1842._--... I said I was happy in having + no secret. It is my nature, and has been the tendency of my + life, to wish that all my thoughts and deeds might lie, as + the "open secrets" of Nature, free to all who are able to + understand them. I have no reserves, except intellectual + reserves; for to speak of things to those who cannot receive + them is stupidity, rather than frankness. But in this case, + I alone am not concerned. Therefore, dear James, give heed + to the subject. You have received a key to what was before + unknown of your friend; you have made use of it, now let it + be buried with the past, over whose passages profound and + sad, yet touched with heaven-born beauty, "let silence stand + sentinel."' + +I shall endeavor to keep true to the spirit of these sentences in +speaking of Margaret's friendships. Yet not to speak of them in +her biography would be omitting the most striking feature of her +character. It would be worse than the play of Hamlet with Hamlet +omitted. Henry the Fourth without Sully, Gustavus Adolphus without +Oxenstiern, Napoleon without his marshals, Socrates without his +scholars, would be more complete than Margaret without her friends. +So that, in touching on these private relations, we must be +everywhere "bold," yet not "too bold." The extracts will be taken +indiscriminately from letters written to many friends. + +The insight which Margaret displayed in finding her friends, the +magnetism by which she drew them toward herself, the catholic range +of her intimacies, the influence which she exercised to develop the +latent germ of every character, the constancy with which she clung +to each when she had once given and received confidence, the delicate +justice which kept every intimacy separate, and the process of +transfiguration which took place when she met any one on this mountain +of Friendship, giving a dazzling lustre to the details of common +life,--all these should be at least touched upon and illustrated, to +give any adequate view of her in these relations. + +Such a prejudice against her had been created by her faults of manner, +that the persons she might most wish to know often retired from her +and avoided her. But she was "sagacious of her quarry," and never +suffered herself to be repelled by this. She saw when any one +belonged to her, and never rested till she came into possession of her +property. I recollect a lady who thus fled from her for several years, +yet, at last, became most nearly attached to her. This "wise sweet" +friend, as Margaret characterized her in two words, a flower hidden +in the solitude of deep woods, Margaret saw and appreciated from the +first. + +See how, in the following passage, she describes to one of her friends +her perception of character, and her power of attracting it, when only +fifteen years old. + + '_Jamaica Plains, July, 1840_.--Do you remember my telling + you, at Cohasset, of a Mr. ---- staying with us, when I was + fifteen, and all that passed? Well, I have not seen him since, + till, yesterday, he came here. I was pleased to find, that, + even at so early an age, I did not overrate those I valued. + He was the same as in memory; the powerful eye dignifying an + otherwise ugly face; the calm wisdom, and refined observation, + the imposing _maniere d'etre_, which anywhere would give him + an influence among men, without his taking any trouble, or + making any sacrifice, and the great waves of feeling that + seemed to rise as an attractive influence, and overspread his + being. He said, nothing since his childhood had been so marked + as his visit to our house; that it had dwelt in his thoughts + unchanged amid all changes. I could have wished he had never + returned to change the picture. He looked at me continually, + and said, again and again, he should have known me anywhere; + but O how changed I must be since that epoch of pride and + fulness! He had with him his son, a wild boy of five years + old, all brilliant with health and energy, and with the same + powerful eye. He said,--You know I am not one to confound + acuteness and rapidity of intellect with real genius; but he + is for those an extraordinary child. He would astonish you, + but I look deep enough into the prodigy to see the work of an + extremely nervous temperament, and I shall make him as dull + as I can. "_Margaret_," (pronouncing the name in the same + deliberate searching way he used to do,) "I love him so well, + I will try to teach him moderation. If I can help it, he shall + not feed on bitter ashes, nor try these paths of avarice and + ambition." It made me feel very strangely to hear him talk so + to my old self. What a gulf between! There is scarce a fibre + left of the haughty, passionate, ambitious child he remembered + and loved. I felt affection for him still; for his character + was formed then, and had not altered, except by ripening and + expanding! But thus, in other worlds, we shall remember our + present selves.' + +Margaret's constancy to any genuine relation, once established, was +surprising. If her friends' _aim_ changed, so as to take them out of +her sphere, she was saddened by it, and did not let them go without a +struggle. But wherever they continued "true to the original standard," +(as she loved to phrase it) her affectionate interest would follow +them unimpaired through all the changes of life. The principle of this +constancy she thus expresses in a letter to one of her brothers:-- + + 'Great and even _fatal_ errors (so far as this life is + concerned) could not destroy my friendship for one in whom I + am sure of the kernel of nobleness.' + +She never formed a friendship until she had seen and known this germ +of good; and afterwards judged conduct by this. To this germ of good, +to this highest law of each individual, she held them true. But never +did she act like those who so often judge of their friend from some +report of his conduct, as if they had never known him, and allow +the inference from a single act to alter the opinion formed by an +induction from years of intercourse. From all such weakness Margaret +stood wholly free. + +I have referred to the wide range of Margaret's friendships. Even at +this period this variety was very apparent. She was the centre of +a group very different from each other, and whose only affinity +consisted in their all being polarized by the strong attraction of her +mind,--all drawn toward herself. Some of her friends were young, gay +and beautiful; some old, sick or studious. Some were children of the +world, others pale scholars. Some were witty, others slightly dull. +But all, in order to be Margaret's friends, must be capable of seeking +something,--capable of some aspiration for the better. And how did she +glorify life to all! all that was tame and common vanishing away in +the picturesque light thrown over the most familiar things by her +rapid fancy, her brilliant wit, her sharp insight, her creative +imagination, by the inexhaustible resources of her knowledge, and the +copious rhetoric which found words and images always apt and always +ready. Even then she displayed almost the same marvellous gift of +conversation which afterwards dazzled all who knew her,--with more +perhaps of freedom, since she floated on the flood of our warm +sympathies. Those who know Margaret only by her published writings +know her least; her notes and letters contain more of her mind; but it +was only in conversation that she was perfectly free and at home. + +Margaret's constancy in friendship caused her to demand it in others, +and thus she was sometimes exacting. But the pure Truth of her +character caused her to express all such feelings with that freedom +and simplicity that they became only as slight clouds on a serene sky, +giving it a tenderer beauty, and casting picturesque shades over the +landscape below. From her letters to different friends I select a few +examples of these feelings. + + 'The world turns round and round, and you too must needs be + negligent and capricious. You have not answered my note; you + have not given me what I asked. You do not come here. Do not + you act so,--it is the drop too much. The world seems not only + turning but tottering, when my kind friend plays such a part.' + + * * * * * + + 'You need not have delayed your answer so long; why not at + once answer the question I asked? Faith is not natural to + me; for the love I feel to others is not in the idleness of + poverty, nor can I persist in believing the best; merely to + save myself pain, or keep a leaning place for the weary + heart. But I should believe you, because I have seen that your + feelings are strong and constant; they have never disappointed + me, when closely scanned.' + + * * * * * + + '_July 6, 1832._--I believe I behaved very badly the other + evening. I did not think so yesterday. I had been too + surprised and vexed to recover very easily, but to-day my + sophistries have all taken wing, and I feel that nothing + good could have made me act with such childish petulance and + bluntness towards one who spoke from friendly emotions. Be + at peace; I will astonish you by my repose, mildness, and + self-possession. No, that is silly; but I believe it cannot + be right to be on such terms with any one, that, on the least + vexation, I indulge my feelings at his or her expense. We will + talk less, but we shall be very good friends still, I hope. + Shall not we?' + +In the last extract, we have an example of that genuine humility, +which, being a love of truth, underlaid her whole character, +notwithstanding its seeming pride. She could not have been great as +she was, without it.[A] + + '_December 19th, 1829._--I shall always be glad to have you + come to me when saddened. The melancholic does not misbecome + you. The lights of your character are _wintry_. They are + generally inspiriting, life-giving, but, if perpetual, would + glare too much on the tired sense; one likes sometimes a + cloudy day, with its damp and warmer breath,--its gentle, + down-looking shades. Sadness in some is intolerably ungraceful + and oppressive; it affects one like a cold rainy day in + June or September, when all pleasure departs with the sun; + everything seems out of place and irrelative to the time; the + clouds are fog, the atmosphere leaden,--but 'tis not so with + you.' + +Of her own truthfulness to her friends, which led her frankly to speak +to them of their faults or dangers, her correspondence gives constant +examples. + +The first is from a letter of later date than properly belongs to this +chapter, but is so wholly in her spirit of candor that I insert it +here. It is from a letter written in 1843. + + 'I have been happy in the sight of your pure design, of the + sweetness and serenity of your mind. In the inner sanctuary we + met. But I shall say a few blunt words, such as were frequent + in the days of intimacy, and, if they are needless, you + will let them fall to the ground. Youth is past, with its + passionate joys and griefs, its restlessness, its vague + desires. You have chosen your path, you have rounded out your + lot, your duties are before you. _Now_ beware the mediocrity + that threatens middle age, its limitation of thought and + interest, its dulness of fancy, its too external life, and + mental thinness. Remember the limitations that threaten + every professional man, only to be guarded against by great + earnestness and watchfulness. So take care of yourself, and + let not the intellect more than the spirit be quenched. + + * * * * * + + 'It is such a relief to me to be able to speak to you upon a + subject which I thought would never lie open between us. Now + there will be no place which does not lie open to the light. I + can always say what I feel. And the way in which you took it, + so like yourself, so manly and noble, gives me the assurance + that I shall have the happiness of seeing in you that + symmetry, that conformity in the details of life with the + highest aims, of which I have sometimes despaired. How much + higher, dear friend, is "the mind, the music breathing from + the" _life_, than anything we can say! Character is higher + than intellect; this I have long felt to be true; may we both + live as if we knew it. + + * * 'I hope and believe we may be yet very much to each other. + Imperfect as I am, I feel myself not unworthy to be a true + friend. Neither of us is unworthy. In few natures does such + love for the good and beautiful survive the ruin of all + youthful hopes, the wreck of all illusions.' + + * * * * * + + 'I supposed our intimacy would terminate when I left + Cambridge. Its continuing to subsist is a matter of surprise + to me. And I expected, ere this, you would have found some + Hersilia, or such-like, to console you for losing your + Natalia. See, my friend, I am three and twenty. I believe + in love and friendship, but I cannot but notice that + circumstances have appalling power, and that those links which + are not riveted by situation, by _interest_, (I mean, not mere + worldly interest, but the instinct of self-preservation,) + may be lightly broken by a chance touch. I speak not in + misanthropy, I believe + + "Die Zeit ist schlecht, doch giebts noch grosse Herzen." + + 'Surely I maybe pardoned for aiming at the same results with + the chivalrous "gift of the Gods." I cannot endure to be one + of those shallow beings who can never get beyond the primer of + experience,--who are ever saying,-- + + "Ich habe geglaubt, _nun glaube ich erst recht_, + Und geht es auch wunderlich, geht es auch schlecht, + Ich bleibe in glaubigen Orden." + + Yet, when you write, write freely, and if I don't like what + you say, let me say so. I have ever been frank, as if I + expected to be intimate with you good three-score years and + ten. I am sure we shall always esteem each other. I have that + much faith.' + + * * * * * + + '_Jan_. 1832.--All that relates to--must be interesting to + me, though I never voluntarily think of him now. The apparent + caprice of his conduct has shaken my faith, but not destroyed + my hope. That hope, if I, who have so mistaken others, may + dare to think I know myself, was never selfish. It is painful + to lose a friend whose knowledge and converse mingled so + intimately with the growth of my mind,--an early friend to + whom I was all truth and frankness, seeking nothing but equal + truth and frankness in return. But this evil may be borne; the + hard, the lasting evil was to learn to distrust my own heart, + and lose all faith in my power of knowing others. In this + letter I see again that peculiar pride, that contempt of the + forms and shows of goodness, that fixed resolve to be anything + but "like unto the Pharisees," which were to my eye such happy + omens. Yet how strangely distorted are all his views! The + daily influence of his intercourse with me was like the breath + he drew; it has become a part of him. Can he escape from + himself? Would he be unlike all other mortals? His feelings + are as false as those of Alcibiades. He influenced me, and + helped form me to what I am. Others shall succeed him. Shall + I be ashamed to owe anything to friendship? But why do I + talk?--a child might confute him by defining the term _human + being_. He will gradually work his way into light; if too late + for our friendship, not, I trust, too late for his own peace + and honorable well-being. I never insisted on being the + instrument of good to him. I practised no little arts, no! + not to effect the good of the friend I loved. I have prayed to + Heaven, (surely we are sincere when doing that,) to guide him + in the best path for him, however far from me that path might + lead. The lesson I have learned may make me a more useful + friend, a more efficient aid to others than I could be to him; + yet I hope I shall not be denied the consolation of knowing + surely, one day, that all which appeared evil in the companion + of happy years was but error.' + + * * * * * + + 'I think, since you have seen so much of my character, that + you must be sensible that any reserves with those whom I call + my friends, do not arise from duplicity, but an instinctive + feeling that I could not be understood. I can truly say that I + wish no one to overrate me; undeserved regard could give me no + pleasure; nor will I consent to practise charlatanism, either + in friendship or anything else.' + + * * * * * + + 'You ought not to think I show a want of generous confidence, + if I sometimes try the ground on which I tread, to see if + perchance it may return the echoes of hollowness.' + + * * * * * + + 'Do not cease to respect me as formerly. It seems to me that I + have reached the "parting of the ways" in my life, and all the + knowledge which I have toiled to gain only serves to show me + the disadvantages of each. None of those who think themselves + my friends can aid me; each, careless, takes the path to which + present convenience impels; and all would smile or stare, + could they know the aching and measureless wishes, the sad + apprehensiveness, which make me pause and strain my almost + hopeless gaze to the distance. What wonder if my present + conduct should be mottled by selfishness and incertitude? + Perhaps you, who _can_ make your views certain, cannot + comprehend me; though you showed me last night a penetration + which did not flow from sympathy. But this I may say--though + the glad light of hope and ambitious confidence, which has + vitalized my mind, should be extinguished forever, I will not + in life act a mean, ungenerous, or useless part. Therefore, + let not a slight thing lessen your respect for me. If you feel + as much pain as I do, when obliged to diminish my respect for + any person, you will be glad of this assurance. I hope you + will not think this note in the style of a French novel.' + + +[Footnote A: According to Dryden's beautiful statement-- + + 'For as high turrets, in their airy sweep + Require foundations, in proportion deep + And lofty cedars as far upward shoot + As to the nether heavens they drive the root; + So low did her secure foundation lie, + She was not humble, but humility.'] + + + + +POWER OF CIRCUMSTANCES. + + + 'Do you remember a conversation we had in the garden, one + starlight evening, last summer, about the incalculable power + which outward circumstances have over the character? You would + not sympathize with the regrets I expressed, that mine had not + been formed amid scenes and persons of nobleness and beauty, + eager passions and dignified events, instead of those secret + trials and petty conflicts which make my transition state so + hateful to my memory and my tastes. You then professed the + faith which I resigned with such anguish,--the faith which + a Schiller could never attain,--a faith in the power of the + human will. Yet now, in every letter, you talk to me of the + power of circumstances. You tell me how changed you are. Every + one of your letters is different from the one preceding, and + all so altered from your former self. For are you not leaving + all our old ground, and do you not apologize to me for all + your letters? Why do you apologize? I think I know you very, + very well; considering that we are both human, and have the + gift of concealing our thoughts with words. Nay, further--I do + not believe you will be able to become anything which I cannot + understand. I know I can sympathize with all who feel and + think, from a Dryfesdale up to a Max Piccolomini. You say, + you have become a machine. If so, I shall expect to find you a + grand, high-pressure, wave-compelling one--requiring plenty + of fuel. You must be a steam-engine, and move some majestic + fabric at the rate of thirty miles an hour along the broad + waters of the nineteenth century. None of your pendulum + machines for me! I should, to be sure, turn away my head if I + should hear you tick, and mark the quarters of hours; but the + buzz and whiz of a good large life-endangerer would be + music to mine ears. Oh, no! sure there is no danger of your + requiring to be set down quite on a level, kept in a still + place, and wound up every eight days. Oh no, no! you are not + one of that numerous company, who + + --"live and die, + Eat, drink, wake, sleep between, + Walk, talk like clock-work too, + So pass in order due, + Over the scene, + To where the past--_is_ past, + The future--nothing yet," &c. &c. + + But we must all be machines: you shall be a + steam-engine;--shall be a mill, with extensive + water-privileges,--and I will be a spinning jenny. No! + upon second thoughts, I will not be a machine. I will be an + instrument, not to be confided to vulgar hands,--for instance, + a chisel to polish marble, or a whetstone to sharpen steel!' + +In an unfinished tale, Margaret has given the following studies of +character. She is describing two of the friends of the hero of her +story. Unquestionably the traits here given were taken from life, +though it might not be easy to recognize the portrait of any +individual in either sketch. Yet we insert it here to show her own +idea of this relation, and her fine feeling of the action and reaction +of these subtle intimacies. + + 'Now, however, I found companions, in thought, at least One, + who had great effect on my mind, I may call Lytton. He was + as premature as myself; at thirteen a man in the range of his + thoughts, analyzing motives, and explaining principles, when + he ought to have been playing cricket, or hunting in the + woods. The young Arab, or Indian, may dispense with mere play, + and enter betimes into the histories and practices of manhood, + for all these are, in their modes of life, closely connected + with simple nature, and educate the body no less than the + mind; but the same good cannot be said of lounging lazily + under a tree, while mentally accompanying Gil Blas through his + course of intrigue and adventure, and visiting with him the + impure atmosphere of courtiers, picaroons, and actresses. + This was Lytton's favorite reading; his mind, by nature subtle + rather than daring, would in any case have found its food in + the now hidden workings of character and passion, the by-play + of life, the unexpected and seemingly incongruous relations + to be found there. He loved the natural history of man, not + religiously, but for entertainment. What he sought, he found, + but paid the heaviest price. All his later days were poisoned + by his subtlety, which made it impossible for him to look at + any action with a single and satisfied eye. He tore the buds + open to see if there were no worm sheathed in the blushful + heart, and was so afraid of overlooking some mean possibility, + that he lost sight of virtue. Grubbing like a mole beneath + the surface of earth, rather than reading its living language + above, he had not faith enough to believe in the flower, + neither faith enough to mine for the gem, and remains at + penance in the limbo of halfnesses, I trust not forever. + Then all his characteristics wore brilliant hues. He was very + witty, and I owe to him the great obligation of being the + first and only person who has excited me to frequent and + boundless gayety. The sparks of his wit were frequent, slight + surprises; his was a slender dart, and rebounded easily to + the hand. I like the scintillating, arrowy wit far better than + broad, genial humor. The light metallic touch pleases me. + When wit appears as fun and jollity, she wears a little of the + Silenus air;--the Mercurial is what I like. + + 'In later days,--for my intimacy with him lasted many + years,--he became the feeder of my intellect. He delighted to + ransack the history of a nation, of an art or a science, and + bring to me all the particulars. Telling them fixed them in + his own memory, which was the most tenacious and ready I + have ever known; he enjoyed my clear perception as to their + relative value, and I classified them in my own way. As he was + omnivorous, and of great mental activity, while my mind was + intense, though rapid in its movements, and could only give + itself to a few things of its own accord, I traversed on the + wings of his effort large demesnes that would otherwise have + remained quite unknown to me. They were not, indeed, seen to + the same profit as my own province, whose tillage I knew, and + whose fruits were the answer to my desire; but the fact of + seeing them at all gave a largeness to my view, and a candor + to my judgment. I could not be ignorant how much there was I + did not know, nor leave out of sight the many sides to every + question, while, by the law of affinity, I chose my own. + + 'Lytton was not loved by any one. He was not positively hated, + or disliked; for there was nothing which the general mind + could take firm hold of enough for such feelings. Cold, + intangible, he was to play across the life of others. A + momentary resentment was sometimes felt at a presence which + would not mingle with theirs; his scrutiny, though not + hostile, was recognized as unfeeling and impertinent, and his + mirth unsettled all objects from their foundations. But he + was soon forgiven and forgotten. Hearts went not forth to + war against or to seek one who was a mere experimentalist and + observer in existence. For myself, I did not love, perhaps, + but was attached to him, and the attachment grew steadily, for + it was founded, not on what I wanted of him, but on his truth + to himself. His existence was a real one; he was not without a + pathetic feeling of his wants, but was never tempted to supply + them by imitating the properties of any other character. He + accepted the law of his being, and never violated it. This + is next best to the nobleness which transcends it. I did not + disapprove, even when I disliked, his acts. + + 'Amadin, my other companion, was as slow and deep of feeling, + as Lytton was brilliant, versatile, and cold. His temperament + was generally grave, even to apparent dulness; his eye gave + little light, but a slow fire burned in its depths. His was a + character not to be revealed to himself, or others, except by + the important occasions of life. Though every day, no doubt, + deepened and enriched him, it brought little that he could + show or recall. But when his soul, capable of religion, + capable of love, was moved, all his senses were united in the + word or action that followed, and the impression made on you + was entire. I have scarcely known any capable of such true + manliness as he. His poetry, written, or unwritten, was the + experience of life. It lies in few lines, as yet, but not one + of them will ever need to be effaced. + + 'Early that serious eye inspired in me a trust that has never + been deceived. There was no magnetism in him, no lights + and shades that could stir the imagination; no bright ideal + suggested by him stood between the friend and his self. As the + years matured that self, I loved him more, and knew him as + he knew himself, always in the present moment; he could never + occupy my mind in absence.' + +Another of her early friends, Rev. F.H. Hedge, has sketched his +acquaintance with her in the following paper, communicated by him for +these memoirs. Somewhat older than Margaret, and having enjoyed +an education at a German university, his conversation was full of +interest and excitement to her. He opened to her a whole world +of thoughts and speculations which gave movement to her mind in a +congenial direction. + + * * * * * + +"My acquaintance with Margaret commenced in the year 1823, at +Cambridge, my native place and hers. I was then a member of Harvard +College, in which my father held one of the offices of instruction, +and I used frequently to meet her in the social circles of which the +families connected with the college formed the nucleus. Her father, at +this time, represented the county of Middlesex in the Congress of the +United States. + +"Margaret was then about thirteen,--a child in years, but so +precocious in her mental and physical developments, that she passed +for eighteen or twenty. Agreeably to this estimate, she had her place +in society, as a lady full-grown. + +"When I recall her personal appearance, as it was then and for ten or +twelve years subsequent to this, I have the idea of a blooming girl +of a florid complexion and vigorous health, with a tendency to +robustness, of which she was painfully conscious, and which, with +little regard to hygienic principles, she endeavored to suppress or +conceal, thereby preparing for herself much future suffering. With +no pretensions to beauty then, or at any time, her face was one that +attracted, that awakened a lively interest, that made one desirous +of a nearer acquaintance. It was a face that fascinated, without +satisfying. Never seen in repose, never allowing a steady perusal +of its features, it baffled every attempt to judge the character by +physiognomical induction. You saw the evidence of a mighty force, but +what direction that force would assume,--whether it would determine +itself to social triumphs, or to triumphs of art,--it was impossible +to divine. Her moral tendencies, her sentiments, her true and +prevailing character, did not appear in the lines of her face. She +seemed equal to anything, but might not choose to put forth her +strength. You felt that a great possibility lay behind that brow, but +you felt, also, that the talent that was in her might miscarry through +indifference or caprice. + +"I said she had no pretensions to beauty. Yet she was not plain. She +escaped the reproach of positive plainness, by her blond and abundant +hair, by her excellent teeth, by her sparkling, dancing, busy eyes, +which, though usually half closed from near-sightedness, shot piercing +glances at those with whom she conversed, and, most of all, by the +very peculiar and graceful carriage of her head and neck, which all +who knew her will remember as the most characteristic trait in her +personal appearance. + +"In conversation she had already, at that early age, begun to +distinguish herself, and made much the same impression in society that +she did in after years, with the exception, that, as she advanced +in life, she learned to control that tendency to sarcasm,--that +disposition to 'quiz,'--which was then somewhat excessive. It +frightened shy young people from her presence, and made her, for a +while, notoriously unpopular with the ladies of her circle. + +"This propensity seems to have been aggravated by unpleasant +encounters in her school-girl experience. She was a pupil of Dr. Park, +of Boston, whose seminary for young ladies was then at the height of a +well-earned reputation, and whose faithful and successful endeavors +in this department have done much to raise the standard of female +education among us. Here the inexperienced country girl was exposed +to petty persecutions from the dashing misses of the city, who pleased +themselves with giggling criticisms not inaudible, nor meant to be +inaudible to their subject, on whatsoever in dress and manner fell +short of the city mark. Then it was first revealed to her young heart, +and laid up for future reflection, how large a place in woman's world +is given to fashion and frivolity. Her mind reacted on these attacks +with indiscriminate sarcasms. She made herself formidable by her wit, +and, of course, unpopular. A root of bitterness sprung up in her which +years of moral culture were needed to eradicate. + +"Partly to evade the temporary unpopularity into which she had fallen, +and partly to pursue her studies secure from those social avocations +which were found unavoidable in the vicinity of Cambridge and Boston, +in 1824 or 5 she was sent to Groton, where she remained two years in +quiet seclusion. + +"On her return to Cambridge, in 1826, I renewed my acquaintance, and +an intimacy was then formed, which continued until her death. The +next seven years, which were spent in Cambridge, were years of +steady growth, with little variety of incident, and little that was +noteworthy of outward experience, but with great intensity of the +inner life. It was with her, as with most young women, and with most +young men, too, between the ages of sixteen and twenty-five, a period +of preponderating sentimentality, a period of romance and of dreams, +of yearning and of passion. She pursued at this time, I think, no +systematic study, but she read with the heart, and was learning more +from social experience than from books. + +"I remember noting at this time a trait which continued to be a +prominent one through life,--I mean, a passionate love for the +beautiful, which comprehended all the kingdoms of nature and art. I +have never known one who seemed to derive such satisfaction from the +contemplation of lovely forms. + +"Her intercourse with girls of her own age and standing was frank and +excellent. Personal attractions, and the homage which they received, +awakened in her no jealousy. She envied not their success, though +vividly aware of the worth of beauty, and inclined to exaggerate her +own deficiencies in that kind. On the contrary, she loved to draw +these fair girls to herself, and to make them her guests, and was +never so happy as when surrounded, in company, with such a bevy. This +attraction was mutual, as, according to Goethe, every attraction is. +Where she felt an interest, she awakened an interest. Without +flattery or art, by the truth and nobleness of her nature, she won +the confidence, and made herself the friend and intimate, of a large +number of young ladies,--the belles of their day,--with most of whom +she remained in correspondence during the greater part of her life. + +"In our evening re-unions she was always conspicuous by the brilliancy +of her wit, which needed but little provocation to break forth in +exuberant sallies, that drew around her a knot of listeners, and made +her the central attraction of the hour. Rarely did she enter a company +in which she was not a prominent object. + +"I have spoken of her conversational talent. It continued to develop +itself in these years, and was certainly her most decided gift. +One could form no adequate idea of her ability without hearing her +converse. She did many things well, but nothing so well as she talked. +It is the opinion of all her friends, that her writings do her very +imperfect justice. For some reason or other, she could never deliver +herself in print as she did with her lips. She required the stimulus +of attentive ears, and answering eyes, to bring out all her power. She +must have her auditory about her. + +"Her conversation, as it was then, I have seldom heard equalled. It +was not so much attractive as commanding. Though remarkably fluent +and select, it was neither fluency, nor choice diction, nor wit, nor +sentiment, that gave it its peculiar power, but accuracy of statement, +keen discrimination, and a certain weight of judgment, which +contrasted strongly and charmingly with the youth and sex of the +speaker. I do not remember that the vulgar charge of talking 'like +a book' was ever fastened upon her, although, by her precision, she +might seem to have incurred it. The fact was, her speech, though +finished and true as the most deliberate rhetoric of the pen, had +always an air of spontaneity which made it seem the grace of the +moment,--the result of some organic provision that made finished +sentences as natural to her as blundering and hesitation are to +most of us. With a little more imagination, she would have made an +excellent improvisatrice. + +"Here let me say a word respecting the character of Margaret's mind. +It was what in woman is generally called a masculine mind; that is, +its action was determined by ideas rather than by sentiments. And yet, +with this masculine trait, she combined a woman's appreciation of the +beautiful in sentiment and the beautiful in action. Her intellect was +rather solid than graceful, yet no one was more alive to grace. She +was no artist,--she would never have written an epic, or romance, or +drama,--yet no one knew better the qualities which go to the making +of these; and though catholic as to kind, no one was more rigorously +exacting as to quality. Nothing short of the best in each kind would +content her. + +"She wanted imagination, and she wanted productiveness. She wrote with +difficulty. Without external pressure, perhaps, she would never have +written at all. She was dogmatic, and not creative. Her strength was +in characterization and in criticism. Her _critique_ on Goethe, in +the second volume of the Dial, is, in my estimation, one of the best +things she has written. And, as far as it goes, it is one of the best +criticisms extant of Goethe. + +"What I especially admired in her was her intellectual sincerity. Her +judgments took no bribe from her sex or her sphere, nor from custom +nor tradition, nor caprice. She valued truth supremely, both for +herself and others. The question with her was not what should be +believed, or what ought to be true, but what _is_ true. Her yes and +no were never conventional; and she often amazed people by a cool and +unexpected dissent from the common-places of popular acceptation." + + * * * * * + +Margaret, we have said, saw in each of her friends the secret interior +capability, which might become hereafter developed into some special +beauty or power. By means of this penetrating, this prophetic insight, +she gave each to himself, acted on each to draw out his best nature, +gave him an ideal out of which he could draw strength and liberty hour +by hour. Thus her influence was ever ennobling, and each felt that in +her society he was truer, wiser, better, and yet more free and happy, +than elsewhere. The "dry light" which Lord Bacon loved, she never +knew; her light was life, was love, was warm with sympathy and a +boundless energy of affection and hope. Though her love flattered and +charmed her friends, it did not spoil them, for they knew her perfect +truth. They knew that she loved them, not for what she imagined, +but for what she saw, though she saw it only in the germ. But as the +Greeks beheld a Persephone and Athene in the passing stranger, and +ennobled humanity into ideal beauty, Margaret saw all her friends thus +idealized. She was a balloon of sufficient power to take us all up +with her into the serene depth of heaven, where she loved to float, +far above the low details of earthly life. Earth lay beneath us as a +lovely picture,--its sounds came up mellowed into music. + +Margaret was, to persons younger than herself, a Makaria and Natalia. +She was wisdom and intellectual beauty, filling life with a charm and +glory "known to neither sea nor land." To those of her own age she +was sibyl and seer,--a prophetess, revealing the future, pointing the +path, opening their eyes to the great aims only worthy of pursuit +in life. To those older than herself she was like the Euphorion +in Goethe's drama, child of Faust and Helen,--a wonderful union +of exuberance and judgment, born of romantic fulness and classic +limitation. They saw with surprise her clear good-sense balancing her +now of sentiment and ardent courage. They saw her comprehension of +both sides of every question, and gave her their confidence, as to one +of equal age, because of so ripe a judgment. + +But it was curious to see with what care and conscience she kept her +friendships distinct. Her fine practical understanding, teaching +her always the value of limits, enabled her to hold apart all her +intimacies, nor did one ever encroach on the province of the other. +Like a moral Paganini, she played always on a single string, drawing +from each its peculiar music,--bringing wild beauty from the slender +wire, no less than from the deep-sounding harp string. Some of her +friends had little to give her when compared with others; but I never +noticed that she sacrificed in any respect the smaller faculty to the +greater. She fully realized that the Divine Being makes each part +of this creation divine, and that He dwells in the blade of grass as +really if not as fully as in the majestic oak which has braved the +storm for a hundred years. She felt in full the thought of a poem +which she once copied for me from Barry Cornwall, which begins thus:-- + + "She was not fair, nor full of grace, + Nor crowned with thought, nor aught beside + No wealth had she of mind or face, + To win our love, or gain our pride,-- + No lover's thought her heart could touch,-- + No poet's dream was round her thrown; + And yet we miss her--ah, so much! + Now--she has flown." + +I will close this section of Cambridge Friendship with the two +following passages, the second of which was written to some one +unknown to me: + + 'Your letter was of cordial sweetness to me, as is ever the + thought of our friendship,--that sober-suited friendship, of + which the web was so deliberately and well woven, and which + wears so well. + + * * * * * + + 'I want words to express the singularity of all my past + relations; yet let me try. + + 'From a very early age I have felt that I was not born to the + common womanly lot. I knew I should never find a being who + could keep the key of my character; that there would be none + on whom I could always lean, from whom I could always learn; + that I should be a pilgrim and sojourner on earth, and that + the birds and foxes would be surer of a place to lay the head + than I. You understand me, of course; such beings can only + find their homes in hearts. All material luxuries, all the + arrangements of society, are mere conveniences to them. + + 'This thought, all whose bearings I did not, indeed, + understand, affected me sometimes with sadness, sometimes + with pride. I mourned that I never should have a thorough + experience of life, never know the full riches of my being; I + was proud that I was to test myself in the sternest way, that + I was always to return to myself, to be my own priest, + pupil, parent, child, husband, and wife. All this I did not + understand as I do now; but this destiny of the thinker, and + (shall I dare to say it?) of the poetic priestess, sibylline, + dwelling in the cave, or amid the Lybian sands, lay yet + enfolded in my mind. Accordingly, I did not look on any of the + persons, brought into relation with me, with common womanly + eyes. + + 'Yet, as my character is, after all, still more feminine than + masculine, it would sometimes happen that I put more emotion + into a state than I myself knew. I really was capable or + attachment, though it never seemed so till the hour of + separation. And if a connexion was torn up by the roots, the + soil of my existence showed an unsightly wound, which long + refused to clothe itself in verdure. + + 'With regard to yourself, I was to you all that I wished to + be. I knew that I reigned in your thoughts in my own way. + And I also lived with you more truly and freely than with any + other person. We were truly friends, but it was not friends + as men are friends to one another, or as brother and sister. + There was, also, that pleasure, which may, perhaps, be termed + conjugal, of finding oneself in an alien nature. Is there any + tinge of love in this? Possibly! At least, in comparing it + with my relation to--, I find _that_ was strictly fraternal. + I valued him for himself. I did not care for an influence over + him, and was perfectly willing to have one or fifty rivals in + his heart. * * + + * * 'I think I may say, I never loved. I but see my possible + life reflected on the clouds. As in a glass darkly, I have + seen what I might feel as child, wife, mother, but I have + never really approached the close relations of life. A sister + I have truly been to many,--a brother to more,--a fostering + nurse to, oh how many! The bridal hour of many a spirit, when + first it was wed, I have shared, but said adieu before the + wine was poured out at the banquet. And there is one I always + love in my poetic hour, as the lily looks up to the star from + amid the waters; and another whom I visit as the bee visits + the flower, when I crave sympathy. Yet those who live would + scarcely consider that I am among the living,--and I am + isolated, as you say. + + 'My dear--, all is well; all has helped me to decipher the + great poem of the universe. I can hardly describe to you the + happiness which floods my solitary hours. My actual life is + yet much clogged and impeded, but I have at last got me + an oratory; where I can retire and pray. With your letter, + vanished a last regret. You did not act or think unworthily. + It is enough. As to the cessation of our confidential inter + course, circumstances must have accomplished that long ago; my + only grief was that you should do it with your own free will, + and for reasons that I thought unworthy. I long to honor you, + to be honored by you. Now we will have free and noble thoughts + of one another, and all that is best of our friendship shall + remain.' + + + + +II. + +CONVERSATION.--SOCIAL INTERCOURSE. + + + "Be thou what thou singly art, and personate only thyself. + Swim smoothly in the stream of thy nature, and live but one + man." + + SIR THOMAS BROWNE. + + + "Ah, how mournful look in letters + Black on white, the words to me, + Which from lips of thine cast fetters + Bound the heart, or set It free." + + GOETHE, _translated by J.S. Dwight_. + + + "Zu erfinden, zu beschliessen, + Bleibe, Kunstler, oft allein; + Deines Wirkes zu geniessen + Eile freudig zum Verein, + Hier im Ganzen schau erfahre + Deines eignes Lebenslauf, + Und die Thaten mancher Jahre + Gehn dir in dem Nachbar auf." + + GOETHE, _Artist's Song_. + + * * * * * + + +When I first knew Margaret, she was much in society, but in a circle +of her own,--of friends whom she had drawn around her, and whom she +entertained and delighted by her exuberant talent. Of those belonging +to this circle, let me recall a few characters. + +The young girls whom Margaret had attracted were very different from +herself, and from each other. From Boston, Charlestown, Roxbury, +Brookline, they came to her, and the little circle of companions would +meet now in one house, and now in another, of these pleasant towns. +There was A----, a dark-haired, black-eyed beauty, with clear olive +complexion, through which the rich blood flowed. She was bright, +beauteous, and cold as a gem,--with clear perceptions of character +within a narrow limit,--enjoying society, and always surrounded with +admirers, of whose feelings she seemed quite unconscious. While they +were just ready to die of unrequited love, she stood untouched as +Artemis, scarcely aware of the deadly arrows which had flown from her +silver bow. I remember that Margaret said, that Tennyson's little poem +of the skipping-rope must have been written for her,--where the lover +expressing his admiration of the fairy-like motion and the light grace +of the lady, is told-- + + "Get off, or else my skipping-rope + Will hit you in the eye." + +Then there was B----, the reverse of all this,--tender, susceptible, +with soft blue eyes, and mouth of trembling sensibility. How sweet +were her songs, in which a single strain of pure feeling ever reminded +me of those angel symphonies,-- + + "In all whose music, the pathetic minor + Our ears will cross--" + +and when she sang or spoke, her eyes had often the expression of one +looking _in_ at her thought, not _out_ at her companion. + +Then there was C----, all animated and radiant with joyful interest +in life,--seeing with ready eye the beauty of Nature and of +Thought,--entering with quick sympathy into all human interest, taking +readily everything which belonged to her, and dropping with sure +instinct whatever suited her not. Unknown to her was struggle, +conflict, crisis; she grew up harmonious as the flower, drawing +nutriment from earth and air,--from "common things which round us +lie," and equally from the highest thoughts and inspirations. + +Shall I also speak of D----, whose beauty had a half-voluptuous +character, from those ripe red lips, those ringlets overflowing the +well-rounded shoulders, and the hazy softness of those large eyes? +Or of E----, her companion, beautiful too, but in a calmer, purer +style,--with eye from which looked forth self-possession, truth and +fortitude? Others, well worth notice, I must not notice now. + +But among the young men who surrounded Margaret, a like variety +prevailed. One was to her interesting, on account of his quick, +active intellect, and his contempt for shows and pretences; for his +inexhaustible wit, his exquisite taste, his infinitely varied stores +of information, and the poetic view which he took of life, painting +it with Rembrandt depths of shadow and bursts of light. Another she +gladly went to for his compact, thoroughly considered views of God and +the world,--for his culture, so much more deep and rich than any other +we could find here,--for his conversation, opening in systematic +form new fields of thought. Yet men of strong native talent, and rich +character, she also liked well to know, however deficient in culture, +knowledge, or power of utterance. Each was to her a study, and she +never rested till she had found the bottom of every mind,--till she +had satisfied herself of its capacity and currents,--measuring it with +her sure line, as + + --"All human wits + Are measured, but a few." + +It was by her singular gift of speech that she cast her spells and +worked her wonders in this little circle. Full of thoughts and full +of words; capable of poetic improvisation, had there not been a slight +overweight of a tendency to the tangible and real; capable of clear, +complete, philosophic statement, but for the strong tendency to life +which melted down evermore in its lava-current the solid blocks of +thought; she was yet, by these excesses, better fitted for the arena +of conversation. Here she found none adequate for the equal encounter; +when she laid her lance in rest, every champion must go down before +it. How fluent her wit, which, for hour after hour, would furnish best +entertainment, as she described scenes where she had lately been, +or persons she had lately seen! Yet she readily changed from gay to +grave, and loved better the serious talk which opened the depths of +life. Describing a conversation in relation to Christianity, with a +friend of strong mind, who told her he had found, in this religion, +a home for his best and deepest thoughts, she says--' Ah! what a +pleasure 'to meet with such a daring, yet realizing, mind as his!' +But her catholic taste found satisfaction in intercourse with persons +quite different from herself in opinions and tendencies, as the +following letter, written in her twentieth year, will indicate: + + * * * * * + + 'I was very happy, although greatly restrained by the + apprehension of going a little too far with these persons of + singular refinement and settled opinions. + + 'However, I believe I did pretty well, though I did make one + or two little mistakes, when most interested; but I was not + so foolish as to try to retrieve them. One occasion more + particularly, when Mr. G----, after going more fully into + his poetical opinions than I could have expected, stated his + sentiments: first, that Wordsworth had, in truth, guided, or, + rather, completely vivified the poetry of this age; secondly, + that 't was his influence which had, in reality, given all his + better individuality to Byron. He recurred again and again + to this opinion, _con amore_, and seemed to wish much for an + answer; but I would not venture, though 'twas hard for me + to forbear, I knew so well what I thought. Mr. G----'s + Wordsworthianism, however, is excellent; his beautiful + simplicity of taste, and love of truth, have preserved him + from any touch of that vague and imbecile enthusiasm, which + has enervated almost all the exclusive and determined admirers + of the great poet whom I have known in these parts. His + reverence, his feeling, are thoroughly intelligent. Everything + in his mind is well defined; and his horror of the vague, and + false, nay, even (suppose another horror here, for grammar's + sake) of the startling and paradoxical, have their beauty. + I think I could know Mr. G---- long, and see him perpetually, + without any touch of satiety; such variety is made by the very + absence of pretension, and the love of truth. I found much + amusement in leading him to sketch the scenes and persons + which Lockhart portrays in such glowing colors, and which he, + too, has seen with the _eye of taste_, but how different!' + + * * * * * + +Our friend was well aware that her _forte_ was in conversation. Here +she felt at home. Here she felt her power, and the excitement which +the presence of living persons brought, gave all her faculties full +activity 'After all,' she says, in a letter, + + 'this writing is mighty dead. Oh, for my dear old Greeks, who + talked everything--not to shine as in the Parisian saloons, + but to learn, to teach, to vent the heart, to clear the mind!' + +Again, in 1832:-- + + 'Conversation is my natural element. I need to be called + out, and never think alone, without imagining some companion. + Whether this be nature or the force of circumstances, I know + not; it is my habit, and bespeaks a second-rate mind.' + +I am disposed to think, much as she excelled in general conversation, +that her greatest mental efforts were made in intercourse with +individuals. All her friends will unite in the testimony, that +whatever they may have known of wit and eloquence in others, they have +never seen one who, like her, by the conversation of an hour or two, +could not merely entertain and inform, but make an epoch in one's +life. We all dated back to this or that conversation with Margaret, in +which we took a complete survey of great subjects, came to some clear +view of a difficult question, saw our way open before us to a higher +plane of life, and were led to some definite resolution or purpose +which has had a bearing on all our subsequent career. For Margaret's +conversation turned, at such times, to life,--its destiny, its duty, +its prospect. With comprehensive glance she would survey the past, and +sum up, in a few brief words, its results; she would then turn to +the future, and, by a natural order, sweep through its chances and +alternatives,--passing ever into a more earnest tone, into a more +serious view,--and then bring all to bear on the present, till its +duties grew plain, and its opportunities attractive. Happy he who can +lift conversation, without loss of its cheer, to the highest uses! +Happy he who has such a gift as this, an original faculty thus +accomplished by culture, by which he can make our common life rich, +significant and fair,--can give to the hour a beauty and brilliancy +which shall make it eminent long after, amid dreary years of level +routine! + +I recall many such conversations. I remember one summer's day, in +which we rode together, on horseback, from Cambridge to Newton,--a day +all of a piece, in which my eloquent companion helped me to understand +my past life, and her own,--a day which left me in that calm repose +which comes to us, when we clearly apprehend what we ought to do, and +are ready to attempt it. I recall other mornings when, not having seen +her for a week or two, I would walk with her for hours, beneath the +lindens or in the garden, while we related to each other what we had +read in our German studies. And I always left her astonished at the +progress of her mind, at the amount of new thoughts she had garnered, +and filled with a new sense of the worth of knowledge, and the value +of life. + +There were other conversations, in which, impelled by the strong +instinct of utterance, she would state, in words of tragical pathos, +her own needs and longings,--her demands on life,--the struggles of +mind, and of heart,--her conflicts with self, with nature, with +the limitations of circumstances, with insoluble problems, with an +unattainable desire. She seemed to feel relief from the expression of +these thoughts, though she gained no light from her companion. Many +such conversations I remember, while she lived in Cambridge, and one +such in Groton; but afterwards, when I met her, I found her mind risen +above these struggles, and in a self-possessed state which needed no +such outlet for its ferment. + +It is impossible to give any account of _these_ conversations; but +I add a few scraps, to indicate, however slightly, something of her +ordinary manner. + + 'Rev. Mr. ---- preached a sermon on TIME. But what business + had he to talk about time? We should like well to hear the + opinions of a great man, who had made good use of time; but + not of a little man, who had not used it to any purpose. I + wished to get up and tell him to speak of something which he + knew and felt.' + + + * * * * * + 'The best criticism on those sermons which proclaim so loudly + the dignity of human nature was from our friend E.S. She said, + coming out from Dr. Channing's church, that she felt fatigued + by the demands the sermon made on her, and would go home + and read what Jesus said,--"_Ye are of more value than many + sparrows." That_ she could bear; it did not seem exaggerated + praise.' + + * * * * * + + 'The Swedenborgians say, "that is _Correspondence_," and the + phrenologists, "that it is _Approbativeness,_" and so think + they know all about it. It would not be so, if we could be + like the birds,--make one method, and then desert it, and make + a new one,--as they build their nests.' + + * * * * * + + 'As regards crime, we cannot understand what we have not + _already_ felt;--thus, all crimes have formed part of our + minds. We do but recognize one part of ourselves in the worst + actions of others. When you take the subject in this light, + do you not incline to consider the capacity for action as + something widely differing from the experience of a feeling?' + + * * * * * + + 'How beautiful the life of Benvenuto Cellini! How his + occupations perpetually impelled to thought,--to gushings of + thought naturally excited!' + + * * * * * + + 'Father lectured me for looking satirical when the man of + Words spake, and so attentive to the man of Truth,--that is, + of God.' + +Margaret used often to talk about the books which she and I were +reading. + + GODWIN. 'I think you will be more and more satisfied with + Godwin. He has fully lived the double existence of man, and he + casts the reflexes on his magic mirror from a height where + no object in life's panorama can cause one throb of delirious + hope or grasping ambition. At any rate, if you study him, you + may know all he has to tell. He is quite free from vanity, and + conceals not miserly any of his treasures from the knowledge + of posterity. + + M'LLE. D'ESPINASSE. 'I am swallowing by gasps that _cauldrony_ + beverage of selfish passion and morbid taste, the letters + of M'lle D'Espinasse. It is good for me. How odious is the + abandonment of passion, such as this, unshaded by pride or + delicacy, unhallowed by religion,--a selfish craving only; + every source of enjoyment stifled to cherish this burning + thirst. Yet the picture, so minute in its touches, is true as + death. I should not like Delphine now.' + +Events in life, apparently trivial, often seemed to her full of mystic +significance, and it was her pleasure to turn such to poetry. On one +occasion, the sight of a passion-flower, given by one lady to another, +and then lost, appeared to her so significant of the character, +relation, and destiny of the two, that it drew from her lines of +which two or three seem worth preserving, as indicating her feeling of +social relations. + + 'Dear friend, my heart grew pensive when I saw + The flower, for thee so sweetly set apart, + By one whose passionless though tender heart + Is worthy to bestow, as angels are, + By an unheeding hand conveyed away, + To close, in unsoothed night, the promise of its day. + + * * * * * + + 'The mystic flower read in thy soul-filled eye + To its life's question the desired reply, + But came no nearer. On thy gentle breast + It hoped to find the haven of its rest; + But in cold night, hurried afar from thee, + It closed its once half-smiling destiny. + + 'Yet thus, methinks, it utters as it dies,-- + "By the pure truth of those calm, gentle eyes + Which saw my life should find its aim in thine, + I see a clime where no strait laws confine. + In that blest land where _twos_ ne'er know a _three_, + Save as the accord of their fine sympathy, + O, best-loved, I will wait for thee!"' + + + + +III. + +STUDIES. + + + "Nur durch das Morgenthor des Schoenen + Drangst du in der Erkenntniss Land; + An hoehen Glanz sich zu gewoehnen + Uebt sich, am Reize der Verstand. + Was bei dem Saitenklang der Musen + Mit suessem Beben dich, durchdrang, + Erzog die Kraft in deinem Busen, + Die sich dereinst zum Weltgeist schwang." + + SCHILLER. + + + "To work, with heart resigned and spirit strong; + Subdue, with patient toil, life's bitter wrong, + Through Nature's dullest, as her brightest ways, + We will march onward, singing to thy praise." + + E.S., _in the Dial_. + + + "The peculiar nature of the scholar's occupation consists in + this,--that science, and especially that side of it from + which he conceives of the whole, shall continually burst forth + before him in new and fairer forms. Let this fresh spiritual + youth never grow old within him; let no form become fixed + and rigid; let each sunrise bring him new joy and love in his + vocation, and larger views of its significance." + + FICHTE. + + * * * * * + + +Of Margaret's studies while at Cambridge, I knew personally only of +the German. She already, when I first became acquainted with her, had +become familiar with the masterpieces of French, Italian and +Spanish literature. But all this amount of reading had not made her +"deep-learned in books and shallow in herself;" for she brought to +the study of most writers "a spirit and genius equal or superior."--so +far, at least, as the analytic understanding was concerned. Every +writer whom she studied, as every person whom she knew, she placed in +his own class, knew his relation to other writers, to the world, to +life, to nature, to herself. Much as they might delight her, they +never swept her away. She breasted the current of their genius, as a +stately swan moves up a stream, enjoying the rushing water the more +because she resists it. In a passionate love-struggle she wrestled +thus with the genius of De Stael, of Rousseau, of Alfieri, of +Petrarch. + +The first and most striking element in the genius of Margaret was the +clear, sharp understanding, which keenly distinguished between things +different, and kept every thought, opinion, person, character, in +its own place, not to be confounded with any other. The god Terminus +presided over her intellect. She knew her thoughts as we know each +other's faces; and opinions, with most of us so vague, shadowy, and +shifting, were in her mind substantial and distinct realities. Some +persons see distinctions, others resemblances; but she saw both. No +sophist could pass on her a counterfeit piece of intellectual money; +but also she recognized the one pure metallic basis in coins of +different epochs, and when mixed with a very ruinous alloy. This gave +a comprehensive quality to her mind most imposing and convincing, +as it enabled her to show the one Truth, or the one Law, manifesting +itself in such various phenomena. Add to this her profound faith in +truth, which made her a Realist of that order that thoughts to her +were things. The world of her thoughts rose around her mind as a +panorama,--the sun-in the sky, the flowers distinct in the foreground, +the pale mountain sharply, though faintly, cutting the sky with its +outline in the distance,--and all in pure light and shade, all in +perfect perspective. + +Margaret began to study German early in 1832. Both she and I were +attracted towards this literature, at the same time, by the wild +bugle-call of Thomas Carlyle, in his romantic articles on Richter, +Schiller, and Goethe, which appeared in the old Foreign Review, the +Edinburgh Review, and afterwards in the Foreign Quarterly. + +I believe that in about three months from the time that Margaret +commenced German, she was reading with ease the masterpieces of its +literature. Within the year, she had read Goethe's Faust, Tasso, +Iphigenia, Hermann and Dorothea, Elective Affinities, and Memoirs; +Tieck's William Lovel, Prince Zerbino, and other works; Koerner, +Novalis, and something of Richter; all of Schiller's principal dramas, +and his lyric poetry. Almost every evening I saw her, and heard an +account of her studies. Her mind opened under this influence, as the +apple-blossom at the end of a warm week in May. The thought and the +beauty of this rich literature equally filled her mind and fascinated +her imagination. + + * * * * * + +But if she studied books thus earnestly, still more frequently did she +turn to the study of men. Authors and their personages were not ideal +beings merely, but full of human blood and life. So living men +and women were idealized again, and transfigured by her rapid +fancy,--every trait intensified, developed, ennobled. Lessing says +that "The true portrait painter will paint his subject, flattering him +as art ought to flatter,--painting the face not as it actually is, +but as creation designed, omitting the imperfections arising from the +resistance of the material worked in." Margaret's portrait-painting +intellect treated persons in this way. She saw them as God designed +them,--omitting the loss from wear and tear, from false position, from +friction of untoward circumstances. If we may be permitted to take +a somewhat transcendental distinction, she saw them not as they +_actually_ were, but as they _really_ were. This accounts for her +high estimate of her friends,--too high, too flattering, indeed, but +justified to her mind by her knowledge of their interior capabilities. + + * * * * * + +The following extract illustrates her power, even at the age of +nineteen, of comprehending the relations of two things lying far apart +from each other, and of rising to a point of view which could overlook +both:-- + + 'I have had,--while staying a day or two in Boston,--some of + Shirley's, Ford's, and Hey wood's plays from the Athenaeum. + There are some noble strains of proud rage, and intellectual, + but most poetical, all-absorbing, passion. One of the finest + fictions I recollect in those specimens of the Italian + novelists,--which you, I think, read when I did,--noble, where + it illustrated the Italian national spirit, is ruined by the + English novelist, who has transplanted it to an uncongenial + soil; yet he has given it beauties which an Italian eye could + not see, by investing the actors with deep, continuing, truly + English affections.' + + * * * * * + +The following criticism on some of the dialogues of Plato, (dated June +3d, 1833,) in a letter returning the book, illustrates her downright +way of asking world-revered authors to accept the test of plain common +sense. As a finished or deliberate opinion, it ought not to be read; +for it was not intended as such, but as a first impression hastily +sketched. But read it as an illustration of the method in which her +mind worked, and you will see that she meets the great Plato modestly, +but boldly, on human ground, asking him for satisfactory proof of all +that he says, and treating him as a human being, speaking to human +beings. + + '_June_ 3, 1833.--I part with Plato with regret. I could have + wished to "enchant myself," as Socrates would say, with + him some days longer. Eutyphron is excellent. Tis the best + specimen I have ever seen of that mode of convincing. There is + one passage in which Socrates, as if it were _aside_,--since + the remark is quite away from the consciousness of + Eutyphron,--declares, "qu'il aimerait incomparablement mieux + des principes fixes et inebranlables a l'habilite de Dedale + avec les tresors de Tantale." I delight to hear such things + from those whose lives have given the right to say them. For + 'tis not always true what Lessing says, and I, myself, once + thought,-- + + "F.--Von was fur Tugenden spricht er denn? + MINNA.----Er spricht von keiner; denn ihn fehlt keine." + + For the mouth sometimes talketh virtue from the overflowing of + the heart, as well as love, anger, &c. + + '"Crito" I have read only once, but like it. I have not got it + in my heart though, so clearly as the others. The "Apology" + I deem only remarkable for the noble tone of sentiment, and + beautiful calmness. I was much affected by Phaedo, but think + the argument weak in many respects. The nature of abstract + ideas is clearly set forth; but there is no justice in + reasoning, from their existence, that our souls have lived + previous to our present state, since it was as easy for the + Deity to create at once the idea of beauty within us, as the + sense which brings to the soul intelligence that it exists in + some outward shape. He does not clearly show his opinion of + what the soul is; whether eternal _as_ the Deity, created + _by_ the Deity, or how. In his answer to Simmias, he takes + advantage of the general meaning of the words harmony, + discord, &c. The soul might be a result, without being a + harmony. But I think too many things to write, and some I have + not had time to examine. Meanwhile I can think over parts, and + say to myself, "beautiful," "noble," and use this as one of my + enchantments.' + + * * * * * + + 'I send two of your German books. It pains me to part with + Ottilia. I wish we could learn books, as we do pieces of + music, and repeat them, in the author's order, when taking a + solitary walk. But, now, if I set out with an Ottilia, this + wicked fairy association conjures up such crowds of less + lovely companions, that I often cease to feel the influence of + the elect one. I don't like Goethe so well as Schiller now. + I mean, I am not so happy in reading him. That perfect wisdom + and _merciless_ nature seems cold, after those seducing + pictures of forms more beautiful than truth. Nathless, I + should like to read the second part of Goethe's Memoirs, if + you do not use it now.' + + * * * * * + + 1832.--I am thinking how I omitted to talk a volume to you + about the "Elective Affinities." Now I shall never say half of + it, for which I, on my own account, am sorry. But two or three + things I would ask:-- + + 'What do you think of Charlotte's proposition, that the + accomplished pedagogue must be tiresome in society? + + 'Of Ottilia's, that the afflicted, and ill-educated, are + oftentimes singled out by fate to instruct others, and her + beautiful reasons why? + + 'And what have you thought of the discussion touching graves + and monuments? + + 'I am now going to dream of your sermon, and of Ottilia's + china-asters. Both shall be driven from my head to-morrow, + for I go to town, allured by despatches from thence, promising + much entertainment. Woe unto them if they disappoint me! + + 'Consider it, I pray you, as the "nearest duty" to answer my + questions, and not act as you did about the sphinx-song.' + + * * * * * + + 'I have not anybody to speak to, that does not talk + common-place, and I wish to talk about such an uncommon + person,--about Novalis! a wondrous youth, and who has only + written one volume. That is pleasant! I feel as though I could + pursue my natural mode with him, get acquainted, then make my + mind easy in the belief that I know all that is to be known. + And he died at twenty-nine, and, as with Koerner, your feelings + may be single; you will never be called upon to share his + experience, and compare his future feelings with his present. + And his life was so full and so still. + + Then it is a relief, after feeling the immense superiority of + Goethe. It seems to me as if the mind of Goethe had embraced + the universe. I have felt this lately, in reading his lyric + poems. I am enchanted while I read. He comprehends every + feeling I have ever had so perfectly, expresses it so + beautifully: but when I shut the book, it seems as if I had + lost my personal identity; all my feelings linked with such + an immense variety that belong to beings I had thought so + different. What can I bring? There is no answer in my mind, + except "It is so," or "It will be so," or "No doubt such and + such feel so." Yet, while my judgment becomes daily more + tolerant towards others, the same attracting and repelling + work is going on in my feelings. But I persevere in reading + the great sage, some part of every day, hoping the time will + come, when I shall not feel so overwhelmed, and leave off this + habit of wishing to grasp the whole, and be contented to learn + a little every day, as becomes a pupil. + + 'But now the one-sidedness, imperfection, and glow, of a mind + like that of Novalis, seem refreshingly human to me. I have + wished fifty times to write some letters giving an account, + first, of his very pretty life, and then of his one volume, + as I re-read it, chapter by chapter. If you will pretend to + be very much interested, perhaps I will get a better pen, and + write them to you.' * * + + + + +NEED OF COMMUNION. + + + '_Aug_. 7, 1832.--I feel quite lost; it is so long since I + have talked myself. To see so many acquaintances, to talk + so many words, and never tell my mind completely on any + subject--to say so many things which do not seem called out, + makes me feel strangely vague and movable. + + ''Tis true, the time is probably near when I must live alone, + to all intents and purposes,--separate entirely my acting from + my thinking world, take care of my ideas without aid,--except + from the illustrious dead,--answer my own questions, correct + my own feelings, and do all that hard work for myself. How + tiresome 'tis to find out all one's self-delusion! I thought + myself so very independent, because I could conceal some + feelings at will, and did not need the same excitement as + other young characters did. And I am not independent, nor + never shall be, while I can get anybody to minister to me. But + I shall go where there is never a spirit to come, if I call + ever so loudly. + + 'Perhaps I shall talk to you about Koerner, but need not write. + He charms me, and has become a fixed star in the heaven of + my thought; but I understand all that he excites perfectly. + I felt very '_new_ about Novalis,--"the good Novalis," as + you call him after Mr. Carlyle. He is, indeed, _good_, most + enlightened, yet most pure; every link of his experience + framed--no, _beaten_--from the tried gold. + + 'I have read, thoroughly, only two of his pieces, "Die + Lehrlinge zu Sais," and "Heinrich von Ofterdingen." From the + former I have only brought away piecemeal impressions, but the + plan and treatment of the latter, I believe, I understand. It + describes the development of poetry in a mind; and with this + several other developments are connected. I think I shall tell + you all I know about it, some quiet time after your return, + but if not, will certainly keep a Novalis-journal for you some + favorable season, when I live regularly for a fort night.' + + * * * * * + + '_June_, 1833.--I return Lessing. I could hardly get through + Miss Sampson. E. Galeotti is good in the same way as + Minna. Well-conceived and sustained characters, interesting + situations, but never that profound knowledge of human nature, + those minute beauties, and delicate vivifying traits, which + lead on so in the writings of some authors, who may be + nameless. I think him easily followed; strong, but not deep.' + + * * * * * + + '_May_, 1833.--_Groton_.--I think you are wrong in applying + your artistical ideas to occasional poetry. An epic, a drama, + must have a fixed form in the mind of the poet from the first; + and copious draughts of ambrosia quaffed in the heaven of + thought, soft fanning gales and bright light from the outward + world, give muscle and bloom,--that is, give life,--to this + skeleton. But all occasional poems must be moods, and can a + mood have a form fixed and perfect, more than a wave of the + sea?' + + * * * * * + + 'Three or four afternoons I have passed very happily at my + beloved haunt in the wood, reading Goethe's "Second Residence + in Rome." Your pencil-marks show that you have been before me. + I shut the book each time with an earnest desire to live as + he did,--always to have some engrossing object of pursuit. + I sympathize deeply with a mind in that state. While mine is + being used up by ounces, I wish pailfuls might be poured into + it. I am dejected and uneasy when I see no results from my + daily existence, but I am suffocated and lost when I have not + the bright feeling of progression.' * * + + * * * * * + + 'I think I am less happy, in many respects, than you, but + particularly in this. You can speak freely to me of all your + circumstances and feelings, can you not? It is not possible + for me to be so profoundly frank with any earthly friend. Thus + my heart has no proper home; it only can prefer some of its + visiting-places to others; and with deep regret I realize that + I have, at length, entered on the concentrating stage of + life. It was not time. I had been too sadly cramped. I had not + learned enough, and must always remain imperfect. Enough! I am + glad I have been able to say so much.' + + * * * * * + + 'I have read nothing,--to signify,--except Goethe's "Campagne + in Frankreich." Have you looked through it, and do you + remember his intercourse with the Wertherian Plessing? That + tale pained me exceedingly. We cry, "help, help," and there is + no help--in man at least. How often I have thought, if I could + see Goethe, and tell him my state of mind, he would support + and guide me! He would be able to understand; he would show + me how to rule circumstances, instead of being ruled by them; + and, above all, he would not have been so sure that all would + be for the best, without our making an effort to act out the + oracles; he would have wished to see me what Nature intended. + But his conduct to Plessing and Ohlenschlager shows that to + him, also, an appeal would have been vain.' + + 'Do you really believe there is anything "all-comprehending" + but religion? Are not these distinctions imaginary? Must not + the philosophy of every mind, or set of minds, be a system + suited to guide them, and give a home where they can bring + materials among which to accept, reject, and shape at + pleasure? Novalis calls those, who harbor these ideas, + "unbelievers;" but hard names make no difference. He says with + disdain, "To _such_, philosophy is only a system which will + spare them the trouble of reflecting." Now this is just + my case. I _do_ want a system which shall suffice to my + character, and in whose applications I shall have faith. I + do not wish to _reflect_ always, if reflecting must be always + about one's identity, whether "_ich_" am the true "_ich_" &c. + I wish to arrive at that point where I can trust myself, and + leave off saying, "It seems to me," and boldly feel, It _is_ + so TO ME. My character has got its natural regulator, my heart + beats, my lips speak truth, I can walk alone, or offer my arm + to a friend, or if I lean on another, it is not the debility + of sickness, but only wayside weariness. This is the + philosophy _I_ want; this much would satisfy _me_. + + 'Then Novalis says, "Philosophy is the art of discovering the + place of truth in every encountered event and circumstance, to + attune all relations to truth." + + 'Philosophy is peculiarly home-sickness; an over-mastering + desire to be at home. + + 'I think so; but what is there _all-comprehending_; + eternally-conscious, about that?' + + * * * * * + + '_Sept.,_ 1832.--"Not see the use of metaphysics?" A moderate + portion, taken at stated intervals, I hold to be of much + use as discipline of the faculties. I only object to them as + having an absorbing and anti-productive tendency. But 'tis not + always so; may not be so with you. Wait till you are two years + older, before you decide that 'tis your vocation. Time + enough at six-and-twenty to form yourself into a metaphysical + philosopher. The brain does not easily get too dry for + _that_. Happy you, in these ideas which give you a tendency to + optimism. May you become a proselyte to that consoling faith. + I shall never be able to follow you, but shall look after you + with longing eyes.' + + * * * * * + + '_Groton._--Spring has come, and I shall see you soon. If + I could pour into your mind all the ideas which have passed + through mine, you would be well entertained, I think, for + three or four days. But no hour will receive aught beyond its + own appropriate wealth. + + 'I am at present engaged in surveying the level on which the + public mind is poised. I no longer lie in wait for the + tragedy and comedy of life; the rules of its _prose_ engage my + attention. I talk incessantly with common-place people, full + of curiosity to ascertain the process by which materials, + apparently so jarring and incapable of classification, get + united into that strange whole, the American public. I have + read all Jefferson's letters, the North American, the daily + papers, &c., without end. H. seems to be weaving his Kantisms + into the American system in a tolerably happy manner.' + + * * * * * + + * * 'George Thompson has a voice of uncommon compass and + beauty; never sharp in its highest, or rough and husky in its + lowest, tones. A perfect enunciation, every syllable round + and energetic; though his manner was the one I love best, + very rapid, and full of eager climaxes. Earnestness in every + part,--sometimes impassioned earnestness,--a sort of "Dear + friends, believe, _pray_ believe, I love you, and you MUST + believe as I do" expression, even in the argumentative parts. + I felt, as I have so often done before, if I were a man, the + gift I would choose should be that of eloquence. That power of + forcing the vital currents of thousands of human hearts into + ONE current, by the constraining power of that most delicate + instrument, the voice, is so intense,--yes, I would prefer it + to a more extensive fame, a more permanent influence.' + + 'Did I describe to you my feelings on hearing Mr. Everett's + eulogy on Lafayette? No; I did not. That was exquisite. + The old, hackneyed story; not a new anecdote, not a single + reflection of any value; but the manner, the _manner_^ the + delicate inflections of voice, the elegant and appropriate + gesture, the sense of beauty produced by the whole, which + thrilled us all to tears, flowing from a deeper and purer + source than that which answers to pathos. This was fine; but + I prefer the Thompson manner. Then there is Mr. Webster's, + unlike either; simple grandeur, nobler, more impressive, less + captivating. I have heard few fine speakers; I wish I could + hear a thousand. + + Are you vexed by my keeping the six volumes of your Goethe? + I read him very little either; I have so little time,--many + things to do at home,--my three children, and three pupils + besides, whom I instruct. + + 'By the way, I have always thought all that was said about + the anti-religious tendency of a classical education to be + old wives' tales. But their puzzles about Virgil's notions + of heaven and virtue, and his gracefully-described gods and + goddesses, have led me to alter my opinions; and I suspect, + from reminiscences of my own mental history, that if all + governors do not think the same 't is from want of that + intimate knowledge of their pupils' minds which I naturally + possess. I really find it difficult to keep their _morale_ + steady, and am inclined to think many of my own sceptical + sufferings are traceable to this source. I well remember what + reflections arose in my childish mind from a comparison of the + Hebrew history, where every moral obliquity is shown out with + such naivete, and the Greek history, full of sparkling deeds + and brilliant sayings, and their gods and goddesses, the + types of beauty and power, with the dazzling veil of flowery + language and poetical imagery cast over their vices and + failings.' + + * * * * * + + 'My own favorite project, since I began seriously to entertain + any of that sort, is six historical tragedies; of which I have + the plans of three quite perfect. However, the attempts I + have made on them have served to show me the vast difference + between conception and execution. Yet I am, though abashed, + not altogether discouraged. My next favorite plan is a series + of tales illustrative of Hebrew history. The proper junctures + have occurred to me during my late studies on the historical + books of the Old Testament. This task, however, requires + a thorough and imbuing knowledge of the Hebrew manners and + spirit, with a chastened energy of imagination, which I am as + yet far from possessing. But if I should be permitted peace + and time to follow out my ideas, I have hopes. Perhaps it is + a weakness to confide to you embryo designs, which never may + glow into life, or mock me by their failure.' + + * * * * * + + 'I have long had a suspicion that no mind can systematize its + knowledge, and carry on the concentrating processes, without + some fixed opinion on the subject of metaphysics. But that + indisposition, or even dread of the study, which you may + remember, has kept me from meddling with it, till lately, in + meditating on the life of Goethe, I thought I must get some + idea of the history of philosophical opinion in Germany, that + I might be able to judge of the influence it exercised upon + his mind. I think I can comprehend him every other way, and + probably interpret him satisfactorily to others,--if I can get + the proper materials. When I was in Cambridge, I got Fichte + and Jacobi; I was much interrupted, but some time and earnest + thought I devoted. Fichte I could not understand at all; + though the treatise which I read was one intended to be + popular, and which he says must compel (_bezwingen_) to + conviction. Jacobi I could understand in details, but not in + system. It seemed to me that his mind must have been moulded + by some other mind, with which I ought to be acquainted, in + order to know him well,--perhaps Spinoza's. Since I came home, + I have been consulting Buhle's and Tennemann's histories of + philosophy, and dipping into Brown, Stewart, and that class of + books.' + + * * * * * + + 'After I had cast the burden of my cares upon you, I rested, + and read Petrarch for a day or two. But that could not last. + I had begun to "take an account of stock," as Coleridge calls + it, and was forced to proceed. He says few persons ever did + this faithfully, without being dissatisfied with the result, + and lowering their estimate of their supposed riches. With + me it has ended in the most humiliating sense of poverty; and + only just enough pride is left to keep your poor friend off + the parish. As it is, I have already asked items of several + besides yourself; but, though they have all given what they + had, it has by no means answered my purpose; and I have laid + their gifts aside, with my other hoards, which gleamed so + fairy bright, and are now, in the hour of trial, turned into + mere slate-stones. I am not sure that even if I do find the + philosopher's stone, I shall be able to transmute them into + the gold they looked so like formerly. It will be long before + I can give a distinct, and at the same time concise, account + of my present state. I believe it is a great era. I am + thinking now,--really thinking, I believe; certainly it seems + as if I had never done so before. If it does not kill me, + something will come of it. Never was my mind so active; and + the subjects are God, the universe, immortality. But shall I + be fit for anything till I have absolutely re-educated myself? + Am I, can I make myself, fit to write an account of half a + century of the existence of one of the master-spirits of this + world? It seems as if I had been very arrogant to dare + to think it; yet will I not shrink back from what I have + undertaken,--even by failure I shall learn much.' + + * * * * * + + 'I am shocked to perceive you think I am _writing_ the life of + Goethe. No, indeed! I shall need a great deal of preparation + before I shall have it clear in my head, I have taken a great + many notes; but I shall not begin to write it, till it all + lies mapped out before me. I have no materials for ten years + of his life, from the time he went to Weimar, up to the + Italian journey. Besides, I wish to see the books that have + been written about him in Germany, by friend or foe. I wish to + look at the matter from all sides. New lights are constantly + dawning on me; and I think it possible I shall come out from + the Carlyle view, and perhaps from yours, and distaste you, + which will trouble me. + + * * 'How am I to get the information I want, unless I go to + Europe? To whom shall I write to choose my materials? I have + thought of Mr. Carlyle, but still more of Goethe's friend, Von + Muller. I dare say he would be pleased at the idea of a life + of G. written in this hemisphere, and be very willing to help + me. If you have anything to tell me, you will, and not mince + matters. Of course, my impressions of Goethe's works cannot be + influenced by information I get about his _life_; but, as + to this latter, I suspect I must have been hasty in my + inferences. I apply to you without scruple. There are subjects + on which men and women usually talk a great deal, but apart + from one another. You, however, are well aware that I am very + destitute of what is commonly _called_ modesty. With regard to + this, how fine the remark of our present subject: "Courage + and modesty are virtues which every sort of society reveres, + because they are virtues which cannot be counterfeited; also, + they are known by the _same hue_." When that blush does not + come naturally to my face, I do not drop a veil to make people + think it is there. All this may be very unlovely, but it is + _I_.' + + + + +CHANNING ON SLAVERY. + + + 'This is a noble work. So refreshing its calm, benign + atmosphere, after the pestilence-bringing gales of the day. It + comes like a breath borne over some solemn sea which separates + us from an island of righteousness. How valuable is it to have + among us a man who, standing apart from the conflicts of the + herd, watches the principles that are at work, with a truly + paternal love for what is human, and may be permanent; ready + at the proper point to give his casting-vote to the cause of + Right! The author has amplified on the grounds of his faith, + to a degree that might seem superfluous, if the question had + not become so utterly bemazed and bedarkened of late. After + all, it is probable that, in addressing the public at large, + it is _not_ best to express a thought in as few words as + possible; there is much classic authority for diffuseness.' + + + + +RICHTER. + + + _Groton_.--'Ritcher says, the childish heart vies in the + height of its surges with the manly, only is not furnished + with _lead_ for sounding them. + + 'How thoroughly am I converted to the love of Jean Paul, and + wonder at the indolence or shallowness which could resist + so long, and call his profuse riches want of system! What a + mistake! System, plan, there is, but on so broad a basis that + I did not at first comprehend it. In every page I am forced to + pencil. I will make me a book, or, as he would say, bind me a + bouquet from his pages, and wear it on my heart of hearts, and + be ever refreshing my wearied inward sense with its exquisite + fragrance. I must have improved, to love him as I do.' + + + + +IV. + +CHARACTER.--AIMS AND IDEAS OF LIFE. + + + "O friend, how flat and tasteless such a life! + Impulse gives birth to impulse, deed to deed, + Still toilsomely ascending step by step, + Into an unknown realm of dark blue clouds. + What crowns the ascent? Speak, or I go no further. + I need a goal, an aim. I cannot toil, + _Because the steps are here_ in their ascent + Tell me THE END, or I sit still and weep." + + "NATURLICHE TOCHTER," + + _Translated by Margaret._ + + + "And so he went onward, ever onward, for twenty-seven + years--then, indeed, he had gone far enough." + + GOETHE'S _words concerning Schiller_ + + * * * * * + + +I would say something of Margaret's inward condition, of her aims and +views in life, while in Cambridge, before closing this chapter of +her story. Her powers, whether of mind, heart, or will, have been +sufficiently indicated in what has preceded. In the sketch of her +friendships and of her studies, we have seen the affluence of her +intellect, and the deep tenderness of her woman's nature. We have seen +the energy which she displayed in study and labor. + +But to what _aim_ were these powers directed? Had she any clear view +of the demands and opportunities of life, any definite plan, any high, +pure purpose? This is, after all, the test question, which detects the +low-born and low-minded wearer of the robe of gold,-- + + "Touch them inwardly, they smell of copper." + +Margaret's life _had an aim_, and she was, therefore, essentially a +moral person, and not merely an overflowing genius, in whom "impulse +gives birth to impulse, deed to deed." This aim was distinctly +apprehended and steadily pursued by her from first to last. It was a +high, noble one, wholly religious, almost Christian. It gave dignity +to her whole career, and made it heroic. + +This aim, from first to last, was SELF-CULTURE. If she ever was +ambitious of knowledge and talent, as a means of excelling others, and +gaining fame, position, admiration,--this vanity had passed before +I knew her, and was replaced by the profound desire for a full +development of her whole nature, by means of a full experience of +life. + +In her description of her own youth, she says, 'VERY EARLY I KNEW THAT +THE ONLY OBJECT IN LIFE WAS TO GROW.' This is the passage:-- + + 'I was now in the hands of teachers, who had not, since they + came on the earth, put to themselves one intelligent question + as to their business here. Good dispositions and employment + for the heart gave a tone to all they said, which was + pleasing, and not perverting. They, no doubt, injured those + who accepted the husks they proffered for bread, and believed + that exercise of memory was study, and to know what others + knew, was the object of study. But to me this was all + penetrable. I had known great living minds.--I had seen how + they took their food and did their exercise, and what their + objects were. _Very early I knew that the only object in + life was to grow_. I was often false to this knowledge, in + idolatries of particular objects, or impatient longings for + happiness, but I have never lost sight of it, have always been + controlled by it, and this first gift of thought has never + been superseded by a later love.' + +In this she spoke truth. The good and the evil which flow from this +great idea of self-development she fully realized. This aim of life, +originally self-chosen, was made much more clear to her mind by the +study of Goethe, the great master of this school, in whose unequalled +eloquence this doctrine acquires an almost irresistible beauty and +charm. + +"Wholly religious, and almost Christian," I said, was this aim. It +was religious, because it recognized something divine, infinite, +imperishable in the human soul,--something divine in outward nature +and providence, by which the soul is led along its appointed way. It +was almost Christian in its superiority to all low, worldly, vulgar +thoughts and cares; in its recognition of a high standard of duty, and +a great destiny for man. In its strength, Margaret was enabled to do +and bear, with patient fortitude, what would have crushed a soul not +thus supported. Yet it is not the highest aim, for in all its forms, +whether as personal improvement, the salvation of the soul, or ascetic +religion, it has at its core a profound selfishness. Margaret's soul +was too generous for any low form of selfishness. Too noble to +become an Epicurean, too large-minded to become a modern ascetic, the +defective nature of her rule of life, showed itself in her case, +only in a certain supercilious tone toward "the vulgar herd," in the +absence (at this period) of a tender humanity, and in an idolatrous +hero-worship of genius and power. Afterward, too, she may have +suffered from her desire for a universal human experience, and an +unwillingness to see that we must often be content to enter the +Kingdom, of Heaven halt and maimed,--that a perfect development here +must often be wholly renounced. + +But how much better to pursue with devotion, like that of Margaret, an +imperfect aim, than to worship with lip-service, as most persons do, +even though it be in a loftier temple, and before a holier shrine! +With Margaret, the doctrine of self-culture was a devotion to which +she sacrificed all earthly hopes and joys,--everything but manifest +duty. And so her course was "onward, ever onward," like that of +Schiller, to her last hour of life. + + Burned in her cheek with ever deepening fire + The spirit's YOUTH, which never passes by;-- + The COURAGE which, though worlds in hate conspire, + Conquers, at last, their dull hostility;-- + The lofty FAITH, which, ever mounting higher, + Now presses on, now waiteth patiently,-- + With which the good tends ever to his goal, + With which day finds, at last, the earnest soul. + +But this high idea which governed our friend's life, brought her +into sharp conflicts, which constituted the pathos and tragedy of her +existence,--first with her circumstances, which seemed so inadequate +to the needs of her nature,--afterwards with duties to relatives and +friends,--and, finally, with the law of the Great Spirit, whose will +she found it so hard to acquiesce in. + +The circumstances in which Margaret lived appeared to her life a +prison. She had no room for utterance, no sphere adequate; her powers +were unemployed. With what eloquence she described this want of a +field! Often have I listened with wonder and admiration, satisfied +that she exaggerated the evil, and yet unable to combat her rapid +statements. Could she have seen in how few years a way would open +before her, by which she could emerge into an ample field,--how soon +she would find troops of friends, fit society, literary occupation, +and the opportunity of studying the great works of art in their own +home,--she would have been spared many a sharp pang. + +Margaret, like every really earnest and deep nature, felt the +necessity of a religious faith as the foundation of character. The +first notice which I find of her views on this point is contained +in the following letter to one of her youthful friends, when only +nineteen:-- + + * * * * * + + 'I have hesitated much whether to tell you what you ask about + my religion. You are mistaken! I have not formed an opinion. + I have determined not to form settled opinions at present. + Loving or feeble natures need a positive religion, a visible + refuge, a protection, as much in the passionate season of + youth as in those stages nearer to the grave. But mine is + not such. My pride is superior to any feelings I have yet + experienced: my affection is strong admiration, not the + necessity of giving or receiving assistance or sympathy. When + disappointed, I do not ask or wish consolation,--I wish to + know and feel my pain, to investigate its nature and its + source; I will not have my thoughts diverted, or my feelings + soothed; 'tis therefore that my young life is so singularly + barren of illusions. I know, I feel the time must come when + this proud and impatient heart shall be stilled, and turn from + the ardors of Search and Action, to lean on something above. + But--shall I say it?--the thought of that calmer era is to me + a thought of deepest sadness; so remote from my present being + is that future existence, which still the mind may conceive. + I believe in Eternal Progression. I believe in a God, a + Beauty and Perfection to which I am to strive all my life for + assimilation. From these two articles of belief, I draw the + rules by which I strive to regulate my life. But, though I + reverence all religions as necessary to the happiness of man, + I am yet ignorant of the religion of Revelation. Tangible + promises! well defined hopes! are things of which I do not + _now_ feel the need. At present, my soul is intent on this + life, and I think of religion as its rule; and, in my opinion, + this is the natural and proper course from youth to age. What + I have written is not hastily concocted, it has a meaning. I + have given you, in this little space, the substance of many + thoughts, the clues to many cherished opinions. 'Tis a subject + on which I rarely speak. I never said so much but once before. + I have here given you all I know, or think, on the most + important of subjects--could you but read understandingly!' + + * * * * * + +I find, in her journals for 1833, the following passages, expressing +the religious purity of her aspirations at that time:-- + + 'Blessed Father, nip every foolish wish in blossom. Lead me + _any way_ to truth and goodness; but if it might be, I would + not pass from idol to idol. Let no mean sculpture deform + a mind disorderly, perhaps ill-furnished, but spacious and + life-warm. Remember thy child, such as thou madest her, and + let her understand her little troubles, when possible, oh, + beautiful Deity!' + + * * * * * + + '_Sunday morning_.--Mr.--preached on the nature of our duties, + social and personal. The sweet dew of truth penetrated + my heart like balm. He pointed out the various means of + improvement, whereby the humblest of us may be beneficent + at last. How just, how nobly true,--how modestly, yet firmly + uttered,--his opinions of man,--of time,--of God! + + 'My heart swelled with prayer. I began to feel hope that time + and toil might strengthen me to despise the "vulgar parts + of felicity," and live as becomes an immortal creature. I am + sure, quite sure, that I am getting into the right road. Oh, + lead me, my Father! root out false pride and selfishness from + my heart; inspire me with virtuous energy, and enable me + to improve every talent for the eternal good of myself and + others.' + +A friend of Margaret, some years older than herself, gives me the +following narrative:-- + +"I was," says she, in substance, "suffering keenly from a severe +trial, and had secluded myself from all my friends, when Margaret, a +girl of twenty, forced her way to me. She sat with me, and gave me her +sympathy, and, with most affectionate interest, sought to draw me away +from my gloom. As far as she was able, she gave me comfort. But as my +thoughts were then much led to religious subjects, she sought to learn +my religious experience, and listened to it with great interest. I +told her how I had sat in darkness for two long years, waiting for the +light, and in full faith that it would come; how I had kept my soul +patient and quiet,--had surrendered self-will to God's will,--had +watched and waited till at last His great mercy came in an infinite +peace to my soul. Margaret was never weary of asking me concerning +this state, and said, 'I would gladly give all my talents and +knowledge for such an experience as this.' + +"Several years after," continues this friend, "I was travelling with +her, and we sat, one lovely night, looking at the river, as it rolled +beneath the yellow moonlight. We spoke again of God's light in the +soul, and I said--'Margaret! has that light dawned on _your_ soul?' +She answered, 'I think it has. But, oh! it is so glorious that I fear +it will not be permanent, and so precious that I dare not speak of it, +lest it should be gone.' + +"That was the whole of our conversation, and I did not speak to her +again concerning it." + + * * * * * + +Before this time, however, during her residence at Cambridge, she +seemed to reach the period of her existence in which she descended +lowest into the depths of gloom. She felt keenly, at this time, the +want of a home for her heart. Full of a profound tendency toward life, +capable of an ardent love, her affections were thrown back on her +heart, to become stagnant, and for a while to grow bitter there; Then +it was that she felt how empty and worthless were all the attainments +and triumphs of the mere intellect; then it was that "she went about +to cause her heart to despair of all the labor she had taken under the +sun." Had she not emerged from this valley of the shadow of death, and +come on to a higher plane of conviction and hope, her life would have +been a most painful tragedy. But, when we know how she passed on and +up, ever higher and higher, to the mountain-top, leaving one by one +these dark ravines and mist-shrouded valleys, and ascending to where +a perpetual sunshine lay, above the region of clouds, and was able +to overlook with eagle glance the widest panorama,--we can read, +with sympathy indeed, but without pain, the following extracts from a +journal:-- + + 'It was Thanksgiving day, (Nov., 1831,) and I was obliged to + go to church, or exceedingly displease my father. I almost + always suffered much in church from a feeling of disunion with + the hearers and dissent from the preacher; but to-day, more + than ever before, the services jarred upon me from their + grateful and joyful tone. I was wearied out with mental + conflicts, and in a mood of most childish, child-like + sadness. I felt within myself great power, and generosity, + and tenderness; but it seemed to me as if they were all + unrecognized, and as if it was impossible that they should + be used in life. I was only one-and-twenty; the past was + worthless, the future hopeless; yet I could not remember ever + voluntarily to have done a wrong thing, and my aspiration + seemed very high. I looked round the church, and envied all + the little children; for I supposed they had parents who + protected them, so that they could never know this strange + anguish, this dread uncertainty. I knew not, then, that none + could have any father but God. I knew not, that I was not + the only lonely one, that I was not the selected Oedipus, the + special victim of an iron law. I was in haste for all to be + over, that I might get into the free air. * * + + 'I walked away over the fields as fast as I could walk. This + was my custom at that time, when I could no longer bear the + weight of my feelings, and fix my attention on any pursuit; + for I do believe I never voluntarily gave way to these + thoughts one moment. The force I exerted I think, even now, + greater than I ever knew in any other character. But when I + could bear myself no longer, I walked many hours, till the + anguish was wearied out, and I returned in a state of prayer. + To-day all seemed to have reached its height. It seemed as if + I could never return to a world in which I had no place,--to + the mockery of humanities. I could not act a part, nor seem + to live any longer. It was a sad and sallow day of the late + autumn. Slow processions of sad clouds were passing over a + cold blue sky; the hues of earth were dull, and gray, and + brown, with sickly struggles of late green here and there; + sometimes a moaning gust of wind drove late, reluctant leaves + across the path;--there was no life else. In the sweetness of + my present peace, such days seem to me made to tell man the + worst of his lot; but still that November wind can bring a + chill of memory. + + 'I paused beside a little stream, which I had envied in the + merry fulness of its spring life. It was shrunken, voiceless, + choked with withered leaves. I marvelled that it did not quite + lose itself in the earth. There was no stay for me, and I went + on and on, till I came to where the trees were thick about + a little pool, dark and silent. I sat down there. I did not + think; all was dark, and cold, and still. Suddenly the sun + shone out with that transparent sweetness, like the last smile + of a dying lover, which it will use when it has been unkind + all a cold autumn day. And, even then, passed into my thought + a beam from its true sun, from its native sphere, which has + never since departed from me. I remembered how, a little + child. I had stopped myself one day on the stairs, and asked, + how came I here? How is it that I seem to be this Margaret + Fuller? What does it mean? What shall I do about it? I + remembered all the times and ways in which the same thought + had returned. I saw how long it must be before the soul can + learn to act under these limitations of time and space, and + human nature; but I saw, also, that it MUST do it,--that + it must make all this false true,--and sow new and immortal + plants in the garden of God, before it could return again. I + saw there was no self; that selfishness was all folly, and + the result of circumstance; that it was only because I thought + self real that I suffered; that I had only to live in the idea + of the ALL, and all was mine. This truth came to me, and I + received it unhesitatingly; so that I was for that hour taken + up into God. In that true ray most of the relations of earth + seemed mere films, phenomena. * * + + 'My earthly pain at not being recognized never went deep after + this hour. I had passed the extreme of passionate sorrow; and + all check, all failure, all ignorance, have seemed temporary + ever since. When I consider that this will be nine years ago + next November, I am astonished that I have not gone on faster + since; that I am not yet sufficiently purified to be taken + back to God. Still, I did but touch then on the only haven + of Insight. You know what I would say. I was dwelling in the + ineffable, the unutterable. But the sun of earth set, and it + grew dark around; the moment came for me to go. I had never + been accustomed to walk alone at night, for my father was very + strict on that subject, but now I had not one fear. When I + came back, the moon was riding clear above the houses. I went + into the churchyard, and there offered a prayer as holy, if + not as deeply true, as any I know now; a prayer, which perhaps + took form as the guardian angel of my life. If that word in + the Bible, Selah, means what gray-headed old men think it + does, when they read aloud, it should be written here,--Selah! + + 'Since that day, I have never more been completely engaged in + self; but the statue has been emerging, though slowly, from + the block. Others may not see the promise even of its pure + symmetry, but I do, and am learning to be patient. I shall be + all human yet; and then the hour will come to leave humanity, + and live always in the pure ray. + + 'This first day I was taken up; but the second time the Holy + Ghost descended like a dove. I went out again for a day, but + this time it was spring. I walked in the fields of Groton. + But I will not describe that day; its music still sounds + too sweetly near. Suffice it to say, I gave it all into our + Father's hands, and was no stern-weaving Fate more, but one + elected to obey, and love, and at last know. Since then I have + suffered, as I must suffer again, till all the complex be + made simple, but I have never been in discord with the grand + harmony.' + + + + +GROTON AND PROVIDENCE. + +LETTERS AND JOURNALS. + + * * * * * + + + "What hath not man sought out and found, + But his dear God? Who yet his glorious love + Embosoms in us, mellowing the ground + With showers, and frosts, with love and awe." + + HERBERT. + + + "No one need pride himself upon Genius, for it is the free-gift + of God; but of honest Industry and true devotion to his + destiny any man may well be proud; indeed, this thorough, + integrity of purpose is itself the Divine Idea in its most + common form, and no really honest mind is without communion + with God" + + FICHTE. + + + "God did anoint thee with his odorous oil, + To wrestle, not to reign; and he assigns + All thy tears over, like pure crystallines, + For younger fellow-workers of the soil + To wear for amulets. So others shall + Take patience, labor, to their hearts and hands, + From thy hands, and thy heart, and thy brave cheer, + And God's grace fructify through thee to all." + + ELIZABETH B. BARRETT. + + + "While I was restless, nothing satisfied, + Distrustful, most perplexed--yet felt somehow + A mighty power was brooding, taking shape + Within me; and this lasted till one night + When, as I sat revolving it and more, + A still voice from without said,--'Seest thou not, + Desponding child, whence came defeat and loss? + Even from thy strength.'" + + BROWNING. + + + + +III. + +GROTON AND PROVIDENCE. + + * * * * * + + + 'Heaven's discipline has been invariable to me. The seemingly + most pure and noble hopes have been blighted; the seemingly + most promising connections broken. The lesson has been + endlessly repeated: "Be humble, patient, self-sustaining; hope + only for occasional aids; love others, but not engrossingly, + for by being much alone your appointed task can best be done!" + What a weary work is before me, ere that lesson shall be fully + learned! Who shall wonder at the stiff-necked, and rebellious + folly of young Israel, bowing down to a brute image, though + the prophet was bringing messages from the holy mountain, + while one's own youth is so obstinately idolatrous! Yet will + I try to keep the heart with diligence, nor ever fear that the + sun is gone out because I shiver in the cold and dark!' + +Such was the tone of resignation in which Margaret wrote from Groton, +Massachusetts, whither, much to her regret, her father removed in the +spring of 1833. Extracts from letters and journals will show how stern +was her schooling there, and yet how constant was her faith, that + + "God keeps a niche + In heaven to hold our idols! And albeit + He breaks them to our faces, and denies + That our close kisses should impair their white, + I know we shall behold them raised, complete, + The dust shook from their beauty,--glorified, + New Memnons singing in the great God-light." + + + + +SAD WELCOME HOME. + + + '_Groton, April_ 25, 1833.--I came hither, summoned by the + intelligence, that our poor--had met with a terrible accident. + I found the dear child,--who had left me so full of joy and + eagerness, that I thought with a sigh, not of envy, how happy + he, at least, would be here,--burning with fever. He had + expected me impatiently, and was very faint lest it should not + be "Margaret" who had driven up. I confess I greeted our + new home with a flood of bitter tears. He behaves with great + patience, sweetness, and care for the comfort of others. This + has been a severe trial for mother, fatigued, too, as she was, + and full of care; but her conduct is angelic. I try to find + consolation in all kinds of arguments, and to distract my + thoughts till the precise amount of injury is surely known. + I am not idle a moment. When not-with--, in whose room I sit, + sewing, and waiting upon him, or reading aloud a great part of + the day, I solace my soul with Goethe, and follow his guidance + into realms of the "Wahren, Guten, and Schoenen."' + + + + +OCCUPATIONS. + + + '_May_, 1833.--As to German, I have done less than I hoped, so + much had the time been necessarily broken up. I have with + me the works of Goethe which I have not yet read, and am + now engaged upon "Kunst and Alterthum," and "Campagne in + Frankreich." I still prefer Goethe to any one, and, as I + proceed, find more and more to learn, and am made to feel that + my general notion of his mind is most imperfect, and needs + testing and sifting. + + 'I brought your beloved Jean Paul with me, too. I cannot yet + judge well, but think we shall not be intimate. His infinitely + variegated, and certainly most exquisitely colored, web + fatigues attention. I prefer, too, wit to humor, and daring + imagination to the richest fancy. Besides, his philosophy + and religion seem to be of the sighing sort, and, having some + tendency that way myself, I want opposing force in a favorite + author. Perhaps I have spoken unadvisedly; if so, I shall + recant on further knowledge.' + +And thus recant she did, when familiar acquaintance with the genial +and sagacious humorist had won for him her reverent love. + + + + +RICHTER. + + + 'Poet of Nature! Gentlest of the wise, + Most airy of the fanciful, most keen + Of satirists!--thy thoughts, like butterflies, + Still near the sweetest scented flowers have been + With Titian's colors thou canst sunset paint, + With Raphael's dignity, celestial love; + With Hogarth's pencil, each deceit and feint + Of meanness and hypocrisy reprove; + + Canst to devotion's highest flight sublime + Exalt the mind, by tenderest pathos' art, + Dissolve, in purifying tears, the heart, + Or bid it, shuddering, recoil at crime; + The fond illusions of the youth and maid, + At which so many world-formed sages sneer, + When by thy altar-lighted torch displayed, + Our natural religion must appear. + All things in thee tend to one polar star, + Magnetic all thy influences are!' + + 'Some murmur at the "want of system" in Richter's writings. + + 'A labyrinth! a flowery wilderness! + Some in thy "slip-boxes" and "honey-moons" + Complain of--_want of order_, I confess, + But not of _system_ in its highest sense. + Who asks a guiding clue through this wide mind, + In love of Nature such will surely find. + In tropic climes, live like the tropic bird, + Whene'er a spice-fraught grove may tempt thy stay; + Nor be by cares of colder climes disturbed-- + No frost the summer's bloom shall drive away; + Nature's wide temple and the azure dome + Have plan enough, for the free spirit's home!' + + 'Your Schiller has already given me great pleasure. I have + been reading the "Revolt in the Netherlands" with intense + interest, and have reflected much upon it. The volumes are + numbered in my little book-case, and as the eye runs over + them, I thank the friendly heart that put all this genius and + passion within my power. + + 'I am glad, too, that you thought of lending me "Bigelow's + Elements." I have studied the Architecture attentively, till + I feel quite mistress of it all. But I want more engravings, + Vitruvius, Magna Graecia, the Ionian Antiquities, &c. + Meanwhile, I have got out all our tours in Italy. Forsyth, + a book I always loved much, I have re-read with increased + pleasure, by this new light. Goethe, too, studied architecture + while in Italy; so his books are full of interesting + information; and Madame De Stael, though not deep, is + tasteful.' + + * * * * * + + 'American History! Seriously, my mind is regenerating as to + my country, for I am beginning to appreciate the United States + and its great men. The violent antipathies,--the result of an + exaggerated love for, shall I call it by so big a name as + the "poetry of being?"--and the natural distrust arising from + being forced to hear the conversation of half-bred men, all + whose petty feelings were roused to awkward life by the paltry + game of local politics,--are yielding to reason and calmer + knowledge. Had I but been educated in the knowledge of such + men as Jefferson, Franklin, Rush! I have learned now to know + them partially. And I rejoice, if only because my father and + I can have so much in common on this topic. All my other + pursuits have led me away from him; here he has much + information and ripe judgment. But, better still, I hope to + feel no more that sometimes despairing, sometimes insolently + contemptuous, feeling of incongeniality with my time and + place. Who knows but some proper and attainable object of + pursuit may present itself to the cleared eye? At any rate, + wisdom is good, if it brings neither bliss nor glory.' + + * * * * * + + _March_, 1834.--Four pupils are a serious and fatiguing charge + for one of my somewhat ardent and impatient disposition. + Five days in the week I have given daily lessons in three + languages, in Geography and History, besides many other + exercises on alternate days. This has consumed often eight, + always five hours of my day. There has been, also, a great + deal of needle-work to do, which is now nearly finished, so + that I shall not be obliged to pass my time about it when + everything looks beautiful, as I did last summer. We have + had very poor servants, and, for some time past, only one. + My mother has been often ill. My grandmother, who passed the + winter with us, has been ill. Thus, you may imagine, as I am + the only grown-up daughter, that my time has been considerably + taxed. + + 'But as, sad or merry, I must always be learning, I laid + down a course of study at the beginning of winter, comprising + certain subjects, about which I had always felt deficient. + These were the History and Geography of modern Europe, + beginning the former in the fourteenth century; the Elements + of Architecture; the works of Alfieri, with his opinions + on them; the historical and critical works of Goethe and + Schiller, and the outlines of history of our own country. + + 'I chose this time as one when I should have nothing to + distract or dissipate my mind. I have nearly completed this + course, in the style I proposed,--not minute or thorough. I + confess,--though I have had only three evenings in the week, + and chance hours in the day, for it. I am very glad I + have undertaken it, and feel the good effects already. + Occasionally, I try my hand at composition, but have not + completed anything to my own satisfaction. I have sketched + a number of plans, but if ever accomplished, it must be in a + season of more joyful energy, when my mind has been renovated, + and refreshed by change of scene or circumstance. My + translation of Tasso cannot be published at present, if 'it + ever is.' + + * * * * * + + 'My object is to examine thoroughly, as far as my time + and abilities will permit, the evidences of the Christian + Religion. I have endeavored to get rid of this task as much + and as long as possible; to be content with superficial + notions, and, if I may so express it, to adopt religion as a + matter of taste. But I meet with infidels very often; two + or three of my particular friends are deists; and their + arguments, with distressing sceptical notions of my own, are + haunting me forever. I must satisfy myself; and having once + begun, I shall go on as far as I can. + + 'My mind often swells with thoughts on these subjects, which + I long to pour out on some person of superior calmness and + strength, and fortunate in more accurate knowledge. I should + feel such a quieting reaction. But, generally, it seems best + that I should go through these conflicts alone. The process + will be slower, more irksome, more distressing, but the + results will be my own, and I shall feel greater confidence in + them.' + + + +MISS MARTINEAU. + + + In the summer of 1835, Margaret found a fresh stimulus to + self-culture in the society of Miss Martineau, whom she met + while on a visit at Cambridge, in the house of her friend, + Mrs. Farrar. How animating this intercourse then was to her, + appears from her journals. + + Miss Martineau received me so kindly as to banish all + embarrassment at once. We had some talk about "Carlyleism," + and I was not quite satisfied with the ground she took, but + there was no opportunity for full discussion. I wished to + give myself wholly up to receive an impression of her. What + shrewdness in detecting various shades of character! Yet, what + she said of Hannah More and Miss Edgeworth, grated upon my + feelings.' + +Again, later:-- + + 'I cannot conceive how we chanced upon the subject of our + conversation, but never shall I forget what she said. It has + bound me to her. In that hour, most unexpectedly to me, + we passed the barrier that separates acquaintance from + friendship, and I saw how greatly her heart is to be valued.' + +And again:-- + + 'We sat together close to the pulpit. I was deeply moved by + Mr.--'s manner of praying for "our friends," and I put up this + prayer for my companion, which I recorded, as it rose in my + heart: "Author of good, Source of all beauty and holiness, + thanks to Thee for the purifying, elevating communion that I + have enjoyed with this beloved and revered being. Grant, that + the thoughts she has awakened, and the bright image of her + existence, may live in my memory, inciting my earth-bound + spirit to higher words and deeds. May her path be guarded + and blessed. May her noble mind be kept firmly poised in its + native truth, unsullied by prejudice or error, and strong to + resist whatever outwardly or inwardly shall war against its + high vocation. May each day bring to this generous seeker new + riches of true philosophy and of Divine Love. And, amidst + all trials, give her to know and feel that Thou, the + All-sufficing, art with her, leading her on through eternity + to likeness of Thyself." + + * * * * * + + 'I sigh for an intellectual guide. Nothing but the sense of + what God has done for me, in bringing me nearer to himself, + saves me from despair. With what envy I looked at Flaxman's + picture of Hesiod sitting at the feet of the Muse! How blest + would it be to be thus instructed in one's vocation! Anything + would I do and suffer, to be sure that, when leaving earth, I + should not be haunted with recollections of "aims unreached, + occasions lost." I have hoped some friend would do,--what + none has ever yet done,--comprehend me wholly, mentally, and + morally, and enable me better to comprehend myself. I have had + some hope that Miss Martineau might be this friend, but cannot + yet tell. She has what I want,--vigorous reasoning powers, + invention, clear views of her objects,--and she has been + trained to the best means of execution. Add to this, that + there are no strong intellectual sympathies between us, such + as would blind her to my defects.' + + * * * * * + + 'A delightful letter from Miss Martineau. I mused long upon + the noble courage with which she stepped forward into life, + and the accurate judgment with which she has become acquainted + with its practical details, without letting her fine + imagination become tamed. I shall be cheered and sustained, + amidst all fretting and uncongenial circumstances, by + remembrance of her earnest love of truth and ardent faith.' + + + + +ILLNESS + + + 'A terrible feeling in my head, but kept about my usual + avocations. Read Ugo Foscolo's Sepolcri, and Pindemonti's + answer, but could not relish either, so distressing was the + weight on the top of the brain; sewed awhile, and then went + out to get warm, but could not, though I walked to the very + end of Hazel-grove, and the sun was hot upon me. Sat down, + and, though seemingly able to think with only the lower part + of my head, meditated literary plans, with full hope that, if + I could command leisure, I might do something good. It seemed + as if I should never reach home, as I was obliged to sit down + incessantly. + + 'For nine long days and nights, without intermission, all was + agony,--fever and dreadful pain in my head. Mother tended me + like an angel all that time, scarcely ever leaving me, night + or day. My father, too, habitually so sparing in tokens of + affection, was led by his anxiety to express what he felt + towards me in stronger terms than he had ever used in the + whole course of my life. He thought I might not recover, + and one morning, coming into my room, after a few moments' + conversation, he said: "My dear, I have been thinking of + you in the night, and I cannot remember that you have any + _faults_. You have defects, of course, as all mortals have, + but I do not know that you have a single fault." These + words,--so strange from him, who had scarce ever in my + presence praised me, and who, as I knew, abstained from praise + as hurtful to his children,--affected me to tears at the + time, although I could not foresee how dear and consolatory + this extravagant expression of regard would very soon become. + The family were deeply moved by the fervency of his prayer + of thanksgiving, on the Sunday morning when I was somewhat + recovered; and to mother he said, "I have no room for a + painful thought now that our daughter is restored." + + 'For myself, I thought I should die; but I was calm, and + looked to God without fear. When I remembered how much + struggle awaited me if I remained, and how improbable it + was that any of my cherished plans would bear fruit, I felt + willing to go. But Providence did not so will it. A much + darker dispensation for our family was in store.' + + + + +DEATH OF HER FATHER. + + + 'On the evening of the 30th of September, 1835, my father was + seized with cholera, and on the 2d of October, was a corpse. + For the first two days, my grief, under this calamity, was + such as I dare not speak of. But since my father's head + is laid in the dust, I feel an awful calm, and am becoming + familiar with the thoughts of being an orphan. I have prayed + to God that duty may now be the first object, and self set + aside. May I have light and strength to do what is right, in + the highest sense, for my mother, brothers, and sister. * * + + 'It has been a gloomy week, indeed. The children have all been + ill, and dearest mother is overpowered with sorrow, fatigue, + and anxiety. I suppose she must be ill too, when the + children recover. I shall endeavor to keep my mind steady, by + remembering that there is a God, and that grief is but for a + season. Grant, oh Father, that neither the joys nor sorrows + of this past year shall have visited my heart in vain! Make me + wise and strong for the performance of immediate duties, and + ripen me, by what means Thou seest best, for those which lie + beyond. + + 'My father's image follows me constantly. Whenever I am in + my room, he seems to open the door, and to look on me with a + complacent, tender smile. What would I not give to have it + in my power, to make that heart once more beat with joy! The + saddest feeling is the remembrance of little things, in which + I have fallen short of love and duty. I never sympathized in + his liking for this farm, and secretly wondered how a mind + which had, for thirty years, been so widely engaged in the + affairs of men, could care so much for trees and crops. + But now, amidst the beautiful autumn days, I walk over the + grounds, and look with painful emotions at every little + improvement. He had selected a spot to place a seat where + I might go to read alone, and had asked me to visit it. I + contented myself with "When you please, father;" but we never + went! What would I not now give, if I had fixed a time, and + shown more interest! A day or two since, I went there. The + tops of the distant blue hills were veiled in delicate autumn + haze; soft silence brooded over the landscape; on one side, a + brook gave to the gently sloping meadow spring-like verdure; + on the other, a grove,--which he had named for me,--lay softly + glowing in the gorgeous hues of October. It was very sad. + May this sorrow give me a higher sense of duty in the + relationships which remain. + + 'Dearest mother is worn to a shadow. Sometimes, when I look on + her pale face, and think of all her grief, and the cares and + anxieties which now beset her, I am appalled by the thought + that she may not continue with us long. Nothing sustains me + now but the thought that God, who saw fit to restore me to + life when I was so very willing to leave it,--more so, perhaps + than I shall ever be again,--must have some good work for me + to do.' + + * * * * * + + '_Nov. 3, 1835_.--I thought I should be able to write ere now, + how our affairs were settled, but that time has not come + yet. My father left no will, and, in consequence, our path + is hedged in by many petty difficulties. He has left less + property than we had anticipated, for he was not fortunate in + his investments in real estate. There will, however, be enough + to maintain my mother, and educate the children decently. I + have often had reason to regret being of the softer sex, + and never more than now. If I were an eldest son, I could be + guardian to my brothers and sister, administer the estate, + and really become the head of my family. As it is, I am very + ignorant of the management and value of property, and of + practical details. I always hated the din of such affairs, and + hoped to find a life-long refuge from them in the serene world + of literature and the arts. But I am now full of desire to + learn them, that I may be able to advise and act, where it + is necessary. The same mind which has made other attainments, + can, in time, compass these, however uncongenial to its nature + and habits.' + + * * * * * + + 'I shall be obliged to give up selfishness in the end. May + God enable me to see the way clear, and not to let down + the intellectual, in raising the moral tone of my mind. + Difficulties and duties became distinct the very night after + my father's death, and a solemn prayer was offered then, that + I might combine what is due to others with what is due to + myself. The spirit of that prayer I shall constantly endeavor + to maintain. What ought to be done for a few months to come is + plain, and, as I proceed, the view will open.' + + + + +TRIAL. + + +The death of her father brought in its train a disappointment as keen +as Margaret could well have been called on to bear. For two years +and more she had been buoyed up to intense effort by the promise of +a visit to Europe, for the end of completing her culture. And as the +means of equitably remunerating her parents for the cost of such +a tour, she had faithfully devoted herself to the teaching of the +younger members of the family. Her honored friends, Professor and Mrs. +Farrar, who were about visiting the Old World, had invited her to be +their companion; and, as Miss Martineau was to return to England in +the ship with them, the prospect before her was as brilliant with +generous hopes as her aspiring imagination could conceive. But now, in +her journal of January 1, 1836, she writes:-- + + 'The New-year opens upon me under circumstances inexpressibly + sad. I must make the last great sacrifice, and, apparently, + for evil to me and mine. Life, as I look forward, presents a + scene of struggle and privation only. Yet "I bate not a jot of + heart," though much "of hope." My difficulties are not to + be compared with those over which many strong souls have + triumphed. Shall I then despair? If I do, I am not a strong + soul.' + +Margaret's family treated her, in this exigency, with the grateful +consideration due to her love, and urgently besought her to take the +necessary means, and fulfil her father's plan. But she could not +make up her mind to forsake them, preferring rather to abandon her +long-cherished literary designs. Her struggles and her triumph thus +appear in her letters:-- + + '_January 30, 1836_.--I was a great deal with Miss Martineau, + while in Cambridge, and love her more than ever. She is to + stay till August, and go to England with Mr. and Mrs. Farrar. + If I should accompany them I shall be with her while in + London, and see the best literary society. If I should go, + you will be with mother the while, will not you?[A] Oh, + dear E----, you know not how I fear and tremble to come to + a decision. My temporal all seems hanging upon it, and the + prospect is most alluring. A few thousand dollars would make + all so easy, so safe. As it is, I cannot tell what is coming + to us, for the estate will not be settled when I go. I pray to + God ceaselessly that I may decide wisely.' + + * * * * * + + '_April 17th, 1836_.--If I am not to go with you I shall + be obliged to tear my heart, by a violent effort, from its + present objects and natural desires. But I shall feel the + necessity, and will do it if the life-blood follows through + the rent. Probably, I shall not even think it best to + correspond with you at all while you are in Europe. Meanwhile, + let us be friends indeed. The generous and unfailing love + which you have shown me during these three years, when I + could be so little to you, your indulgence for my errors and + fluctuations, your steady faith in my intentions, have + done more to shield and sustain me than any other earthly + influence. If I must now learn to dispense with feeling them + constantly near me, at least their remembrance can never, + never be less dear. I suppose I ought, instead of grieving + that we are soon to be separated, now to feel grateful for + an intimacy of extraordinary permanence, and certainly of + unstained truth and perfect freedom on both sides. + + 'As to my feelings, I take no pleasure in speaking of them; + but I know not that I could give you a truer impression of + them, than by these lines which I translate from the German of + Uhland. They are entitled "JUSTIFICATION." + + "Our youthful fancies, idly fired, + The fairest visions would embrace; + These, with impetuous tears desired, + Float upward into starry space; + Heaven, upon the suppliant wild, + Smiles down a gracious _No_!--In vain + The strife! Yet be consoled, poor child, + For the wish passes with the pain. + + But when from such idolatry + The heart has turned, and wiser grown, + In earnestness and purity + Would make a nobler plan its own,-- + Yet, after all its zeal and care, + Must of its chosen aim despair,-- + Some bitter tears may be forgiven + By _Man_, at least,--_we trust, by Heaven_."' + + +[Footnote A: Her eldest brother.] + + + + +BIRTH-DAY. + + + '_May 23d, 1836_.--I have just been reading Goethe's + Lebensregel. It is easy to say "Do not trouble yourself with + useless regrets for the past; enjoy the present, and leave the + future to God." But it is _not_ easy for characters, which + are by nature neither _calm_ nor _careless_, to act upon these + rules. I am rather of the opinion of Novalis, that "Wer sich + der hochsten Lieb ergeben Genest von ihnen Wunden nie." + + 'But I will endeavor to profit by the instructions of the + great philosopher who teaches, I think, what Christ did, to + use without overvaluing the world. + + 'Circumstances have decided that I must not go to Europe, and + shut upon me the door, as I think, forever, to the scenes I + could have loved. Let me now try to forget myself, and act + for others' sakes. What I can do with my pen, I know not. At + present, I feel no confidence or hope. The expectations so + many have been led to cherish by my conversational powers, I + am disposed to deem ill-founded. I do not think I can produce + a valuable work. I do not feel in my bosom that confidence + necessary to sustain me in such undertakings,--the confidence + of genius. But I am now but just recovered from bodily + illness, and still heart-broken by sorrow and disappointment. + I may be renewed again, and feel differently. If I do not + soon, I will make up my mind to teach. I can thus get money, + which I will use for the benefit of my dear, gentle, suffering + mother,--my brothers and sister. This will be the greatest + consolation to me, at all events.' + + + + +DEATH IN LIFE. + + + 'The moon tempted me out, and I set forth for a house at + no great distance. The beloved south-west was blowing; the + heavens were flooded with light, which could not diminish the + tremulously pure radiance of the evening star; the air was + full of spring sounds, and sweet spring odors came up from + the earth. I felt that happy sort of feeling, as if the soul's + pinions were budding. My mind was full of poetic thoughts, and + nature's song of promise was chanting in my heart. + + 'But what a change when I entered that human dwelling! I will + try to give you an impression of what you, I fancy, have + never come in contact with. The little room--they have but + one--contains a bed, a table, and some old chairs. A single + stick of wood burns in the fire-place. It is not needed now, + but those who sit near it have long ceased to know what spring + is. They are all frost. Everything is old and faded, but at + the same time as clean and carefully mended as possible. For + all they know of pleasure is to get strength to sweep those + few boards, and mend those old spreads and curtains. That sort + of self-respect they have, and it is all of pride their many + years of poor-tith has left them. + + 'And there they sit,--mother and daughter! In the mother, + ninety years have quenched every thought and every feeling, + except an imbecile interest about her daughter, and the sort + of self-respect I just spoke of. Husband, sons, strength, + health, house and lands, all are gone. And yet these losses + have not had power to bow that palsied head to the grave. + Morning by morning she rises without a hope, night by night + she lies down vacant or apathetic; and the utmost use she can + make of the day is to totter three or four times across the + floor by the assistance of her staff. Yet, though we wonder + that she is still permitted to cumber the ground, joyless and + weary, "the tomb of her dead self," we look at this dry leaf, + and think how green it once was, and how the birds sung to it + in its summer day. + + 'But can we think of spring, or summer, or anything joyous + or really life-like, when we look at the daughter?--that + bloodless effigy of humanity, whose care is to eke out this + miserable existence by means of the occasional doles of those + who know how faithful and good a child she has been to that + decrepit creature; who thinks herself happy if she can be + well enough, by hours of patient toil, to perform those menial + services which they both require; whose talk is of the price + of pounds of sugar, and ounces of tea, and yards of flannel; + whose only intellectual resource is hearing five or six + verses of the Bible read every day,--"my poor head," she says, + "cannot bear any more;" and whose only hope is the death to + which she has been so slowly and wearily advancing, through + many years like this. + + 'The saddest part is, that she does _not wish_ for death. She + clings to this sordid existence. Her soul is now so habitually + enwrapt in the meanest cares, that if she were to be lifted + two or three steps upward, she would not know what to do with + life; how, then, shall she soar to the celestial heights? + Yet she ought; for she has ever been good, and her narrow and + crushing duties have been performed with a self-sacrificing + constancy, which I, for one, could never hope to equal. + + 'While I listened to her,--and I often think it good for me + to listen to her patiently,--the expressions you used in your + letter, about "drudgery," occurred to me. I remember the time + when I, too, deified the "soul's impulses." It is a noble + worship; but, if we do not aid it by a just though limited + interpretation of what "Ought" means, it will degenerate into + idolatry. For a time it was so with me, and I am not yet good + enough to love the _Ought_. + + 'Then I came again into the open air, and saw those + resplendent orbs moving so silently, and thought that they + were perhaps tenanted, not only by beings in whom I can see + the germ of a possible angel, but by myriads like this poor + creature, in whom that germ is, so far as we can see, blighted + entirely, I could not help saying, "O my Father! Thou, whom + we are told art all Power, and also all Love, how canst Thou + suffer such even transient specks on the transparence of + Thy creation? These grub-like lives, undignified even by + passion,--these life-long quenchings of the spark divine.--why + dost Thou suffer them? Is not Thy paternal benevolence + impatient till such films be dissipated?" + + 'Such questionings once had power to move my spirit deeply; + now, they but shade my mind for an instant. I have faith in a + glorious explanation, that shall make manifest perfect justice + and perfect wisdom.' + + + + +LITERATURE. + + +Cut off from access to the scholars, libraries, lectures, galleries of +art, museums of science, antiquities, and historic scenes of Europe, +Margaret bent her powers to use such opportunities of culture as she +could command in her solitary country-home. Journals and letters thus +bear witness to her zeal:-- + + 'I am having one of my "intense" times, devouring book after + book. I never stop a minute, except to talk with mother, + having laid all little duties on the shelf for a few days. + Among other things, I have twice read through the life of Sir + J. Mackintosh; and it has suggested so much to me, that I + am very sorry I did not talk it over with you. It is quite + gratifying, after my late chagrin, to find Sir James, with + all his metaphysical turn, and ardent desire to penetrate it, + puzzling so over the German philosophy, and particularly what + I was myself troubled about, at Cambridge,--Jacobi's letters + to Fichte. + + 'Few things have ever been written more discriminating or more + beautiful than his strictures upon the Hindoo character, his + portrait of Fox, and his second letter to Robert Hall, after + his recovery from derangement. Do you remember what he says of + the want of brilliancy in Priestley's moral sentiments? Those + remarks, though slight, seem to me to show the quality of his + mind more decidedly than anything in the book. That so much + learning, benevolence, and almost unparalleled fairness of + mind, should be in a great measure lost to the world, for want + of earnestness of purpose, might impel us to attach to the + latter attribute as much importance as does the wise uncle in + Wilhelm Meister.' + + * * * * * + + 'As to what you say of Shelley, it is true that the unhappy + influences of early education prevented his ever attaining + clear views of God, life, and the soul. At thirty, he was + still a seeker,--an experimentalist. But then his should not + be compared with such a mind as ----'s, which, having no such + exuberant fancy to tame, nor various faculties to develop, + naturally comes to maturity sooner. Had Shelley lived twenty + years longer, I have no doubt he would have become a fervent + Christian, and thus have attained that mental harmony which + was necessary to him. It is true, too, as you say, that we + always feel a melancholy imperfection in what he writes. But I + love to think of those other spheres in which so pure and rich + a being shall be perfected; and I cannot allow his faults + of opinion and sentiment to mar my enjoyment of the vast + capabilities, and exquisite perception of beauty, displayed + everywhere in his poems.' + + * * * * * + + '_March 17, 1836_.--I think Herschel will be very valuable to + me, from the slight glance I have taken of it, and I thank Mr. + F.; but do not let him expect anything of me because I have + ventured on a book so profound as the Novum Organum. I have + been examining myself with severity, intellectually as well as + morally, and am shocked to find how vague and superficial is + all my knowledge. I am no longer surprised that I should + have appeared harsh and arrogant in my strictures to one who, + having a better-disciplined mind, is more sensible of the + difficulties in the way of really knowing and doing anything, + and who, having more Wisdom, has more Reverence too. All that + passed at your house will prove very useful to me; and I trust + that I am approximating somewhat to that genuine humility + which is so indispensable to true regeneration. But do not + speak of this to--, for I am not yet sure of the state of my + mind.' + + * * * * * + + '1836.--I have, for the time, laid aside _De Stael_ and + _Bacon_, for _Martineau_ and _Southey_. I find, with delight, + that the former has written on the very subjects I wished most + to talk out with her, and probably I shall receive more from + her in this way than by personal intercourse,--for I think + more of her character when with her, and am stimulated through + my affections. As to Southey, I am steeped to the lips in + enjoyment. I am glad I did not know this poet earlier; for I + am now just ready to receive his truly exalting influences in + some degree. I think, in reading, I shall place him next to + Wordsworth. I have finished Herschel, and really believe I + am a little wiser. I have read, too, Heyne's letters + twice, Sartor Resartus once, some of Goethe's late diaries, + Coleridge's Literary Remains, and drank a great deal from + Wordsworth. By the way, do you know his "Happy Warrior"? I + find my insight of this sublime poet perpetually deepening.' + + * * * * * + + 'Mr. ---- says the Wanderjahre is "_wise._" It must be + presumed so; and yet one is not satisfied. I was perfectly so + with my manner of interpreting the Lehrjahre; but this sequel + keeps jerking my clue, and threatens to break it. I do not + know our Goethe yet. I have changed my opinion about his + religious views many times. Sometimes I am tempted to think + that it is only his wonderful knowledge of human nature which + has excited in me such reverence for his philosophy, and that + no worthy fabric has been elevated on this broad foundation. + Yet often, when suspecting that I have found a huge gap, the + next turning it appears that it was but an air-hole, and + there is a brick all ready to stop it. On the whole, though + my enthusiasm for the Goetherian philosophy is checked, my + admiration for the genius of Goethe is in nowise lessened, and + I stand in a sceptical attitude, ready to try his philosophy, + and, if needs must, play the Eclectic.' + + 'Did I write that a kind-hearted neighbor, fearing I might + be _dull_, sent to offer me the use of a _book-caseful_ of + Souvenirs, Gems, and such-like glittering ware? I took a two + or three year old "Token," and chanced on a story, called the + "Gentle Boy," which I remembered to have heard was written by + somebody in Salem. It is marked by so much grace and delicacy + of feeling, that I am very desirous to know the author, whom I + take to be a lady.' * * + + 'With regard to what you say about the American Monthly, my + answer is, I would gladly sell some part of my mind for lucre, + to get the command of time; but I will not sell my soul: that + is, I am perfectly willing to take the trouble of writing for + money to pay the seamstress; but I am _not_ willing to have + what I write mutilated, or what I ought to say dictated to + suit the public taste. You speak of my writing about Tieck. It + is my earnest wish to interpret the German authors of whom + I am most fond to such Americans as are ready to receive. + Perhaps some might sneer at the notion of my becoming a + teacher; but where I love so much, surely I might inspire + others to love a little; and I think this kind of culture + would be precisely the counterpoise required by the + utilitarian tendencies of our day and place. My very + imperfections may be of value. While enthusiasm is yet fresh, + while I am still a novice, it may be more easy to communicate + with those quite uninitiated, than when I shall have attained + to a higher and calmer state of knowledge. I hope a periodical + may arise, by and by, which may think me worthy to furnish a + series of articles on German literature, giving room enough + and perfect freedom to say what I please. In this case, I + should wish to devote at least eight numbers to Tieck, and + should use the Garden of Poesy, and my other translations. + + 'I have sometimes thought of translating his Little Red Riding + Hood, for children. If it could be adorned with illustrations, + like those in the "Story without an End," it would make a + beautiful little book; but I do not know that this could be + done in Boston. There is much meaning that children could not + take in; but, as they would never discover this till able + to receive the whole, the book corresponds exactly with my + notions of what a child's book should be. + + 'I should like to begin the proposed series with a review of + Heyne's letters on German Literature, which afford excellent + opportunity for some preparatory hints. My plans are so + undecided for several coming months, that I cannot yet tell + whether I shall have the time and tranquillity needed to write + out the whole course, though much tempted by the promise of + perfect liberty. I could engage, however, to furnish at + least two articles on Novalis and Koerner. I trust you will be + interested in my favorite Koerner. Great is my love for both of + them. But I wish to write something which shall not only _be_ + free from exaggeration, but which shall _seem_ so, to those + unacquainted with their works. + + 'I have so much reading to go through with this month, that + I have but few hours for correspondents. I have already + discussed five volumes in German, two in French, three in + English, and not without thought and examination. + + 'Tell--that I read "Titan" by myself, in the afternoons and + evenings of about three weeks. She need not be afraid to + undertake it. Difficulties of detail may, perhaps, not be + entirely conquered without a master or a good commentary, but + she could enjoy all that is most valuable alone. I should be + very unwilling to read it with a person of narrow or unrefined + mind; for it is a noble work, and fit to raise a reader into + that high serene of thought where pedants cannot enter.' + + + + +FAREWELL TO GROTON. + + + 'The place is beautiful, in its way, but its scenery is too + tamely smiling and sleeping. My associations with it are most + painful. There darkened round us the effects of my father's + ill-judged exchange,--ill-judged, so far at least as regarded + himself, mother, and me,--all violently rent from the habits + of our former life, and cast upon toils for which we were + unprepared: there my mother's health was impaired, and mine + destroyed; there my father died; there were undergone the + miserable perplexities of a family that has lost its head; + there I passed through the conflicts needed to give up all + which my heart had for years desired, and to tread a path + for which I had no skill, and no-call, except that it must be + trodden by some one, and I alone was ready. Wachuset and + the Peterboro' hills are blended in my memory with hours of + anguish as great as I am capable of suffering. I used to look + at them towering to the sky, and feel that I, too, from birth, + had longed to rise, and, though for the moment crushed, was + not subdued. + + 'But if those beautiful hills, and wide, rich fields, saw this + sad lore well learned, they also saw some precious lessons + given in faith, fortitude, self-command, and unselfish love. + There too, in solitude, the mind acquired more power of + concentration, and discerned the beauty of strict method; + there too, more than all, the heart was awakened to sympathize + with the ignorant, to pity the vulgar, to hope for the + seemingly worthless, and to commune with the Divine Spirit of + Creation, which cannot err, which never sleeps, which will + not permit evil to be permanent, nor its aim of beauty in the + smallest particular eventually to fail.' + + + + +WINTER IN BOSTON. + + +In the autumn of 1836 Margaret went to Boston, with the two-fold +design of teaching Latin and French in Mr. Alcott's school, which +was then highly prosperous, and of forming classes of young ladies in +French, German, and Italian. + +Her view of Mr. Alcott's plan of education was thus hinted in a +journal, one day, after she had been talking with him, and trying to +place herself in his mental position:-- + + _Mr. A._ 'O for the safe and natural way of Intuition! I + cannot grope like a mole in the gloomy passages of experience. + To the attentive spirit, the revelation contained in books + is only so far valuable as it comments upon, and corresponds + with, the universal revelation. Yet to me, a being social + and sympathetic by natural impulse, though recluse and + contemplative by training and philosophy, the character and + life of Jesus have spoken more forcibly than any fact recorded + in human history. This story of incarnate Love has given me + the key to all mysteries, and showed me what path should be + taken in returning to the Fountain of Spirit. Seeing that + other redeemers have imperfectly fulfilled their tasks, I + have sought a new way. They all, it seemed to me, had tried + to influence the human being at too late a day, and had laid + their plans too wide. They began with men; I will begin + with babes. They began with the world; I will begin with the + family. So I preach the Gospel of the Nineteenth Century.' + + _M_. 'But, preacher, you make _three_ mistakes. + + 'You do not understand the nature of Genius or creative power. + + 'You do not understand the reaction of matter on spirit. + + 'You are too impatient of the complex; and, not enjoying + variety in unity, you become lost in abstractions, and cannot + illustrate your principles.' + +On the other hand, Mr. Alcott's impressions of Margaret were thus +noted in his diaries:-- + + "She is clearly a person given to the boldest speculation, and + of liberal and varied acquirements. Not wanting in imaginative + power, she has the rarest good sense and discretion. She + adopts the Spiritual Philosophy, and has the subtlest + perception of its bearings. She takes large and generous views + of all subjects, and her disposition is singularly catholic. + The blending of sentiment and of wisdom in her is most + remarkable; and her taste is as fine as her prudence. I think + her the most brilliant talker of the day. She has a quick + and comprehensive wit, a firm command of her thoughts, and a + speech to win the ear of the most cultivated." + +In her own classes Margaret was very successful, and thus in a letter +sums up the results:-- + + 'I am still quite unwell, and all my pursuits and propensities + have a tendency to make my head worse. It is but a bad + head,--as bad as if I were a great man! I am not entitled to + so bad a head by anything I have done; but I flatter myself it + is very interesting to suffer so much, and a fair excuse for + not writing pretty letters, and saying to my friends the good + things I think about them. + + 'I was so desirous of doing all I could, that I took a great + deal more upon myself than I was able to bear. Yet now that + the twenty-five weeks of incessant toil are over, I rejoice in + it all, and would not have done an iota less. I have fulfilled + all my engagements faithfully; have acquired more power of + attention, self-command, and fortitude; have acted in life as + I thought I would in my lonely meditations; and have gained + some knowledge of means. Above all,--blessed be the Father + of our spirits!--my aims are the same as they were in the + happiest flight of youthful fancy. I have learned too, at + last, to rejoice in all past pain, and to see that my spirit + has been judiciously tempered for its work. In future I may + sorrow, but can I ever despair? + + 'The beginning of the winter was forlorn. I was always ill; + and often thought I might not live, though the work was but + just begun. The usual disappointments, too, were about me. + Those from whom aid was expected failed, and others who aided + did not understand my aims. Enthusiasm for the things loved + best fled when I seemed to be buying and selling them. I + could not get the proper point of view, and could not keep a + healthful state of mind. Mysteriously a gulf seemed to have + opened between me and most intimate friends, and for the + first time for many years I was entirely, absolutely, alone. + Finally, my own character and designs lost all romantic + interest, and I felt vulgarized, profaned, forsaken,--though + obliged to smile brightly and talk wisely all the while. But + these clouds at length passed away. + + 'And now let me try to tell you what has been done. To one + class I taught the German language, and thought it good + success, when, at the end of three months, they could read + twenty pages of German at a lesson, and very well. This + class, of course, was not interesting, except in the way of + observation and analysis of language. + + 'With more advanced pupils I read, in twenty-four weeks, + Schiller's Don Carlos, Artists, and Song of the Bell, besides + giving a sort of general lecture on Schiller; Goethe's Hermann + and Dorothea, Goetz von Berlichingen, Iphigenia, first part of + Faust,--three weeks of thorough study this, as valuable to me + as to them,--and Clavigo,--thus comprehending samples of + all his efforts in poetry, and bringing forward some of his + prominent opinions; Lessing's Nathan, Minna, Emilia Galeotti; + parts of Tieck's Phantasus, and nearly the whole first volume + of Richter's Titan. + + 'With the Italian class, I read parts of Tasso, Petrarch--whom + they came to almost adore,--Ariosto, Alfieri, and the whole + hundred cantos of the Divina Commedia, with the aid of the + fine Athenaeum copy, Flaxman's designs, and all the best + commentaries. This last piece of work was and will be truly + valuable to myself. + + 'I had, besides, three private pupils, Mrs. ----, who became + very attractive to me, ----, and little ----, who had not + the use of his eyes. I taught him Latin orally, and read + the History of England and Shakspeare's historical plays in + connection. This lesson was given every day for ten weeks, and + was very interesting, though very fatiguing. The labor in Mr. + Alcott's school was also quite exhausting. I, however, loved + the children, and had many valuable thoughts suggested, and + Mr. A.'s society was much to me. + + 'As you may imagine, the Life of Goethe is not yet written; + but I have studied and thought about it much. It grows in + my mind with everything that does grow there. My friends in + Europe have sent me the needed books on the subject, and I + am now beginning to work in good earnest. It is very possible + that the task may be taken from me by somebody in England, or + that in doing it I may find myself incompetent; but I go on in + hope, secure, at all events, that it will be the means of the + highest culture.' + +In addition to other labors, Margaret translated, one evening every +week, German authors into English, for the gratification of Dr. +Channing; their chief reading being in De Wette and Herder. + + 'It was not very pleasant,' she writes, 'for Dr. C. takes in + subjects more deliberately than is conceivable to us feminine + people, with our habits of ducking, diving, or flying for + truth. Doubtless, however, he makes better use of what he + gets, and if his sympathies were livelier he would not view + certain truths in so steady a light. But there is much more + talking than reading; and I like talking with him. I do not + feel that constraint which some persons complain of, but + am perfectly free, though less called out than by other + intellects of inferior power. I get too much food for thought + from him, and am not bound to any tiresome formality of + respect on account of his age and rank in the world of + intellect. He seems desirous to meet even one young and + obscure as myself on equal terms, and trusts to the elevation + of his thoughts to keep him in his place.' + +She found higher satisfaction still in his preaching:-- + + 'A discourse from Dr. C. on the spirituality of man's nature. + This was delightful! I came away in the most happy, hopeful, + and heroic mood. The tone of the discourse was so dignified, + his manner was so benignant and solemnly earnest, in his voice + there was such a concentration of all his force, physical and + moral, to give utterance to divine truth, that I felt purged + as by fire. If some speakers feed intellect more, Dr. C. feeds + the whole spirit. O for a more calm, more pervading faith + in the divinity of my own nature! I am so far from being + thoroughly tempered and seasoned, and am sometimes so + presumptuous, at others so depressed. Why cannot I lay more to + heart the text, "God is never in a hurry: let man be patient + and confident"? + + + + +PROVIDENCE. + + +In the spring of 1837, Margaret received a very favorable offer to +become a principal teacher in the Greene Street School, at Providence, +R.I. + + 'The proposal is, that I shall teach the elder girls my + favorite branches, for four hours a day,--choosing my own + hours, and arranging the course,--for a thousand dollars a + year, if, upon trial, I am well enough pleased to stay. This + would be independence, and would enable me to do many slight + services for my family. But, on the other hand, I am not sure + that I shall like the situation, and am sanguine that, by + perseverance, the plan of classes in Boston might be carried + into full effect. Moreover, Mr. Ripley,--who is about + publishing a series of works on Foreign Literature,--has + invited me to prepare the "Life of Goethe," on very + advantageous terms. This I should much prefer. Yet when the + thousand petty difficulties which surround us are considered, + it seems unwise to relinquish immediate independence.' + +She accepted, therefore, the offer which promised certain means of +aiding her family, and reluctantly gave up the precarious, though +congenial, literary project. + + + + +SCHOOL EXPERIENCES. + + + 'The new institution of which I am to be "Lady Superior" was + dedicated last Saturday. People talk to me of the good I am to + do; but the last fortnight has been so occupied in the task of + arranging many scholars of various ages and unequal training, + that I cannot yet realize this new era. * * + + 'The gulf is vast, wider than I could have conceived possible, + between me and my pupils; but the sight of such deplorable + ignorance, such absolute burial of the best powers, as I find + in some instances, makes me comprehend, better than before, + how such a man as Mr. Alcott could devote his life to renovate + elementary education. I have pleasant feelings when I see that + a new world has already been opened to them. * * + + 'Nothing of the vulgar feeling towards teachers, too often to + be observed in schools, exists towards me. The pupils seem + to reverence my tastes and opinions in all things; they are + docile, decorous, and try hard to please; they are in awe of + my displeasure, but delighted whenever permitted to associate + with me on familiar terms. As I treat them like ladies, they + are anxious to prove that they deserve to be so treated. * * + + 'There is room here for a great move in the cause of + education, and if I could resolve on devoting five or six + years to this school, a good work might, doubtless, be + done. Plans are becoming complete in my mind, ways and means + continually offer, and, so far as I have tried them, they + succeed. I am left almost as much at liberty as if no other + person was concerned. Some sixty scholars are more or less + under my care, and many of them begin to walk in the new paths + pointed out. General activity of mind, accuracy in processes, + constant looking for principles, and search after the good and + the beautiful, are the habits I strive to develop. * * + + 'I will write a short record of the last day at school. For + a week past I have given the classes in philosophy, rhetoric, + history, poetry, and moral science, short lectures on the true + objects of study, with advice as to their future course; and + to-day, after recitation, I expressed my gratification that + the minds of so many had been opened to the love of good and + beauty. + + 'Then came the time for last words. First, I called into the + recitation room the boys who had been under my care. They are + nearly all interesting, and have showed a chivalric feeling in + their treatment of me. People talk of women not being able to + govern boys; but I have always found it a very easy task. + He must be a coarse boy, indeed, who, when addressed in a + resolute, yet gentle manner, by a lady, will not try to merit + her esteem. These boys have always rivalled one another in + respectful behavior. I spoke a few appropriate words to each, + mentioning his peculiar errors and good deeds, mingling some + advice with more love, which will, I hope, make it remembered. + We took a sweet farewell. With the younger girls I had a + similar interview.' + + 'Then I summoned the elder girls, who have been my especial + charge. I reminded them of the ignorance in which some of them + were found, and showed them how all my efforts had necessarily + been directed to stimulating their minds,--leaving undone + much which, under other circumstances, would have been deemed + indispensable. I thanked them for the favorable opinion of + my government which they had so generally expressed, but + specified three instances in which I had been unjust. I + thanked them, also, for the moral beauty of their conduct, + bore witness that an appeal to conscience had never failed, + and told them of my happiness in having the faith thus + confirmed, that young persons can be best guided by addressing + their highest nature. I declared my consciousness of having + combined, not only in speech but in heart, tolerance and + delicate regard for the convictions of their parents, with + fidelity to my own, frankly uttered. I assured them of my true + friendship, proved by my never having cajoled or caressed + them into good. Every word of praise had been earned; all + my influence over them was rooted in reality; I had never + softened nor palliated their faults; I had appealed, not to + their weakness, but to their strength; I had offered to them, + always, the loftiest motives, and had made every other end + subordinate to that of spiritual growth. With a heartfelt + blessing, I dismissed them; but none stirred, and we all sat + for some moments, weeping. Then I went round the circle and + bade each, separately, farewell.' + + + + +PERSONS. + + +Margaret's Providence journals are made extremely piquant and +entertaining, by her life-like portraiture of people and events; and +every page attests the scrupulous justice with which she sought +to penetrate through surfaces to reality, and, forgetting personal +prejudices, to apply universally the test of truth. A few sketches +of public characters may suffice to show with what sagacious, +all-observing eyes, she looked about her. + + 'At the whig caucus, I heard TRISTAM BURGESS,--"The old + bald Eagle!" His baldness increases the fine effect of his + appearance, for it seems as if the locks had retreated, that + the contour of his very strongly marked head might be revealed + to every eye. His _personnel_, as well as I could see, was + fitted to command respect rather than admiration. He is a + venerable, not a beautiful old man. + + 'He is a rhetorician,--if I could judge from this sample; + style in woven and somewhat ornate, matter frequently wrought + up to a climax, manner rather declamatory, though strictly + that of a gentleman and a scholar. One art in his oratory + was, no doubt, very effective, before he lost force and + distinctness of voice. I allude to his way,--after + having reasoned a while, till he has reached the desired + conclusion,--of leaning forward, with hands reposing but + figure very earnest, and communicating, confidentially as it + were, the result to the audience. The impression produced + in former days, when those low, emphatic passages could be + distinctly heard, must have been very strong. Yet there is too + much apparent trickery in this, to bear frequent repetition. + His manner is well adapted for argument, and for the + expression either of satire or of chivalric sentiment.' + + * * * * * + + 'Mr. JOHN NEAL addressed my girls on the destiny and vocation + of Woman in this country. He gave, truly, a _manly_ view, + though not the view of common men, and it was pleasing to + watch his countenance, where energy is animated by genius. He + then spoke to the boys, in the most noble and liberal spirit, + on the exercise of political rights. If there is one among + them who has the germ of a truly independent man, too generous + to become a party tool, and with soul enough to think, as well + as feel, for himself, those words were not spoken in vain. He + was warmed up into giving a sketch of his boyhood. It was + an eloquent narrative, and is ineffaceably impressed on my + memory, with every look and gesture of the speaker. What gave + chief charm to this history was its fearless ingenuousness. It + was delightful to note the impression produced by his magnetic + genius and independent character. + + 'In the evening we had a long conversation upon Woman, + Whigism, modern English Poets, Shakspeare,--and, in + particular, Richard the Third,--about which we had actually + a fight. Mr. Neal does not argue quite fairly, for he uses + reason while it lasts, and then helps himself out with wit, + sentiment and assertion. I should quarrel with his definitions + upon almost every subject, but his fervid eloquence, + brilliancy, endless resource, and ready tact, give him great + advantage. There was a sort of exaggeration and coxcombry in + his talk; but his lion-heart, and keen sense of the ludicrous, + alike in himself as in others, redeem them. I should not like + to have my motives scrutinized as he would scrutinize them, + for I prefer rather to disclose them myself than to be found + out; but I was dissatisfied in parting from this remarkable + man before having seen him more thoroughly. + + * * * * * + + 'Mr. WHIPPLE addressed the meeting at length. His presence is + not imposing, though his face is intellectual. It is difficult + to look at him, for you cannot be taken prisoner by his + eye, while, _en revanche_, he can look at you as long as he + pleases; and, as usual, with one who can get the better of his + auditors, he does not call out the best in them. His gestures + are remarkably fine, free, graceful, and expressive. He has + no natural advantages of voice,--for it is without compass, + depth, sweetness,--and has none of the winning tones which + reach the inmost soul, and none of the tones of passionate + energy, which raise you out of your own world into the + speaker's. But his modulation is smooth, measured, dignified, + though occasionally injured by too elaborate a swell, and his + enunciation is admirable. + + 'His theme was one which has been so thoroughly discussed + that novelty was not to be looked for; but his method and + arrangement were excellent, though parts were too much + expanded, and the whole might well have been condensed. There + were many felicitous popular hits. The humorous touches were + skilful, and the illustrations on a broad scale good, though + in single images he failed. Altogether, there was a pervading + air of ease and mastery, which showed him fit to be a leader + of the flock. Though not a man of the Webster class, he is + among the first of the second class of men who apply their + powers to practical purposes,--and that is saying much.' + + * * * * * + + 'I went to hear JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY, one of the most + distinguished and influential, it is said, of the English + Quakers. He is a thick-set, beetle-browed man, with a + well-to-do-in-the-world air of pious stolidity. I was + grievously disappointed; for Quakerism has at times looked + lovely to me, and I had expected at least a spiritual + exposition of its doctrines from the brother of Mrs. Fry. But + his manner was as wooden as his matter, and had no merit but + that of distinct elocution. His sermon was a tissue of texts, + illy selected, and worse patched together, in proof of the + assertion that a belief in the Trinity is the one thing + needful, and that reason, unless manacled by a creed, is the + one thing dangerous. His figures were paltry, his thoughts + narrowed down, and his very sincerity made corrupt by + spiritual pride. One could not but pity his notions of the + Holy Ghost, and his bat-like fear of light. His Man-God seemed + to be the keeper of a mad-house, rather than the informing + Spirit of all spirits. After finishing his discourse, Mr. G. + sang a prayer, in a tone of mingled shout and whine, and then + requested his audience to sit a while in devout meditation. + For one, I passed the interval in praying for him, that the + thick film of self-complacency might be removed from the eyes + of his spirit, so that he might no more degrade religion.' + + * * * * * + + 'Mr. HAGUE is of the Baptist persuasion, and is very popular + with his own sect. He is small, and carries his head erect; + he has a high and intellectual, though not majestic, + forehead; his brows are lowering and, when knit in indignant + denunciation, give a thunderous look to the countenance, and + beneath them flash, sparkle, and flame,--for all that may be + said of light in rapid motion is true of them,--his dark eyes. + Hazel and blue eyes with their purity, steadfastness, subtle + penetration and radiant hope, may persuade and win, but + black is the color to command. His mouth has an equivocal + expression, but as an orator perhaps he gains power by the air + of mystery this gives. + + 'He has a very active intellect, sagacity and elevated + sentiment; and, feeling strongly that God is love, can never + preach without earnestness. His power comes first from his + glowing vitality of temperament. While speaking, his every + muscle is in action, and all his action is towards one object. + There is perfect _abandon_. He is permeated, overborne, by + his thought. This lends a charm above grace, though incessant + nervousness and heat injure his manner. He is never violent, + though often vehement; pleading tones in his voice redeem him + from coarseness, even when most eager; and he throws himself + into the hearts of his hearers, not in weak need of sympathy, + but in the confidence of generous emotion. His second + attraction is his individuality. He speaks direct from the + conviction of his spirit, without temporizing, or artificial + method. His is the "unpremeditated art," and therefore + successful. He is full of intellectual life; his mind has not + been fettered by dogmas, and the worship of beauty finds + a place there. I am much interested in this truly animated + being.' + + * * * * * + + 'Mr. R.H. DANA has been giving us readings in the English + dramatists, beginning with Shakspeare. The introductory was + beautiful. After assigning to literature its high place in + the education of the human soul, he announced his own view + in giving these readings: that he should never pander to a + popular love of excitement, but quietly, without regard to + brilliancy or effect, would tell what had struck him in + these poets; that he had no belief in artificial processes + of acquisition or communication, and having never learned + anything except through love, he had no hope of teaching any + but loving spirits, &c. All this was arrayed in a garb of + most delicate grace; but a man of such genuine refinement + undervalues the cannon-blasts and rockets which are needed + to rouse the attention of the vulgar. His naive gestures, + the rapt expression of his face, his introverted eye, and the + almost childlike simplicity of his pathos, carry one back into + a purer atmosphere, to live over again youth's fresh emotions. + I greatly enjoyed his readings in Hamlet, and have reviewed + in connection what Goethe and Coleridge have said. Both have + successfully seized on the main points in the character of + Hamlet, and Mr. D. took nearly the same range. His views of + Ophelia, however, are unspeakably more just than are those of + Serlo in Wilhelm Meister. I regret that the whole course is + not to be on Shakspeare, for I should like to read with him + all the plays. + + 'I never have met with a person of finer perceptions. He + leaves out nothing; though he over-refines on some passages. + He has the most exquisite taste, and freshens the souls of his + hearers with ever new beauty. He is greatly indebted to the + delicacy of his physical organization for the delicacy of his + mental appreciation. But when he has told you what _he_ + likes, the pleasure of intercourse is over: for he is a man of + prejudice more than of reason, and though he can make a lively + _expose_ of his thoughts and feelings, he does not justify + them. In a word, Mr. Dana has the charms and the defects + of one whose object in life has been to preserve his + individuality unprofaned.' + + + + +ART. + + +While residing at Providence, and during her visits to Boston, in her +vacations, Margaret's mind was opening more and more to the charms of +art. + + 'The Ton-Kunst, the Ton-Welt, give me now more stimulus than + the written Word; for music seems to contain everything in + nature, unfolded into perfect harmony. In it the _all_ and + _each_ are manifested in most rapid transition; the spiral and + undulatory movement of beautiful creation is felt throughout, + and, as we listen, thought is most clearly, because most + mystically, perceived. * * + + 'I have been to hear Neukomm's Oratorio of David. It is to + music what Barry Cornwall's verses and Talfourd's Ion are + to poetry. It is completely modern, and befits an age of + consciousness. Nothing can be better arranged as a drama; the + parts are in excellent gradation, the choruses are grand and + effective, the composition, as a whole, brilliantly imposing. + Yet it was dictated by taste and science only. Where are the + enrapturing visions from the celestial world which shone down + upon Haydn and Mozart; where the revelations from the depths + of man's nature, which impart such passion to the symphonies + of Beethoven; where, even, the fascinating fairy land, gay + with delight, of Rossini? O, Genius! none but thee shall + make our hearts and heads throb, our cheeks crimson, our + eyes overflow, or fill our whole being with the serene joy of + faith.' * * + + 'I went to see Vandenhoff twice, in Brutus and Virginius. + Another fine specimen of the conscious school; no inspiration, + yet much taste. Spite of the thread-paper Tituses, the + chambermaid Virginias, the washerwoman Tullias, and the + people, made up of half a dozen chimney-sweeps, in carters' + frocks and red nightcaps, this man had power to recall a + thought of the old stately Roman, with his unity of will and + deed. He was an admirable _father_, that fairest, noblest + part,--with a happy mixture of dignity and tenderness, + blending the delicate sympathy of the companion with the calm, + wisdom of the teacher, and showing beneath the zone of duty + a heart that has not forgot to throb with youthful love. This + character,--which did actual fathers know how to be, they + would fulfil the order of nature, and image Deity to their + children,--Vandenhoff represented sufficiently, at least, to + call up the beautiful ideal.' + + + + +FANNY KEMBLE. + + + 'When in Boston, I saw the Kembles twice,--in "Much ado about + Nothing," and "The Stranger." The first night I felt much + disappointed in Miss K. In the gay parts a coquettish, courtly + manner marred the wild mirth and wanton wit of Beatrice. Yet, + in everything else, I liked her conception of the part; and + where she urges Benedict to fight with Claudio, and where she + reads Benedict's sonnet, she was admirable. But I received no + more pleasure from Miss K.'s acting out the part than I have + done in reading it, and this disappointed me. Neither did + I laugh, but thought all the while of Miss K.,--how very + graceful she was, and whether this and that way of rendering + the part was just. I do not believe she has comic power within + herself, though tasteful enough to comprehend any part. So + I went home, vexed because my "heart was not full," and my + "brain not on fire" with enthusiasm. I drank my milk, and went + to sleep, as on other dreary occasions, and dreamed not of + Miss Kemble. + + 'Next night, however, I went expectant, and all my soul was + satisfied. I saw her at a favorable distance, and she looked + beautiful. And as the scene rose in interest, her attitudes, + her gestures, had the expression which an Angelo could give + to sculpture. After she tells her story,--and I was almost + suffocated by the effort she made to divulge her sin and + fall,--she sunk to the earth, her head bowed upon her knee, + her white drapery falling in large, graceful folds about this + broken piece of beautiful humanity, _crushed_ in the very + manner so well described by Scott when speaking of a far + different person, "not as one who intentionally stoops, + kneels, or prostrates himself to excite compassion, but like a + man borne down on all sides by the pressure of some invisible + force, which crushes him to the earth without power of + resistance." A movement of abhorrence from me, as her + insipid confidante turned away, attested the triumph of the + poet-actress. Had not all been over in a moment, I believe + I could not have refrained from rushing forward to raise the + fair frail being, who seemed so prematurely humbled in her + parent dust. I burst into tears; and, with the stifled, + hopeless feeling of a real sorrow, continued to weep till the + very end; nor could I recover till I left the house. + + 'That is genius, which could give such life to this play; for, + if I may judge from other parts, it is defaced by inflated + sentiments, and verified by few natural touches. I wish I had + it to read, for I should like to recall her every tone and + look.' + + * * * * * + + 'I have been studying Flaxman and Retzsch. How pure, how + immortal, the language of Form! Fools cannot fancy they + fathom its meaning; witless _dillettanti_ cannot degrade it by + hackneyed usage; none but genius can create or reproduce it. + Unlike the colorist, he who expresses his thought in form is + secure as man can be against the ravages of time.' + + * * * * * + + 'I went to the Athenaeum in an agonizing conflict of mind, when + some high influence was needed to rouse me from the state + of sickly sensitiveness, which, much as I despise, I cannot + wholly conquer. How soothing it was to feel the blessed power + of the Ideal world, to be surrounded, once more with the + records of lives poured out in embodying thought in beauty! + I seemed to breathe my native atmosphere, and smoothed my + ruffled pinions.' + + * * * * * + + 'No wonder God made a world to express his thought. Who, that + has a soul for beauty, does not feel the need of creating, and + that the power of creation alone can satisfy the spirit? When + I thus reflect, the Artist seems the only fortunate man. Had I + but as much creative genius as I have apprehensiveness!' + + * * * * * + + 'How transcendently lovely was the face of one young angel by + Raphael! It was the perfection of physical, moral, and mental + life. Variegated wings, of pinkish-purple touched with green, + like the breasts of doves, and in perfect harmony with the + complexion, spring from the shoulders upwards, and against + them leans the divine head. The eye seems fixed on the centre + of being, and the lips are gently parted, as if uttering + strains of celestial melody.' + + * * * * * + + 'The head of Aspasia was instinct with the voluptuousness of + intellect. From the eyes, the cheek, the divine lip, one might + hive honey. Both the Loves were exquisite: one, that zephyr + sentiment which visits all the roses of life; the other, the + Amore Greco, may be fitly described in these words of Landor: + "There is a gloom in deep love, as in deep water; there is a + silence in it which suspends the foot, and the folded arms and + the dejected head are the images it reflects. No voice shakes + its surface; the Muses themselves approach it with a tardy and + a timid step, with a low and tremulous and melancholy song."' + + * * * * * + + 'The Sibyl I understood. What grace in that beautiful oval! + what apprehensiveness in the eye! Such is female Genius; it + alone understands the God. The Muses only sang the praises of + Apollo; the Sibyls interpreted his will. Nay, she to whom it + was offered, refused the divine union, and preferred remaining + a satellite to being absorbed into the sun. You read in the + eye of this one, and the observation is confirmed by the + low forehead, that the secret of her inspiration lay in the + passionate enthusiasm of her nature, rather than in the ideal + perfection of any faculty. + + * * * * * + + 'A Christ, by Raphael, that I saw the other night, brought + Christianity more home to my heart, made me more long to + be like Jesus, than ever did sermon. It is from one of the + Vatican frescoes. The Deity,--a stern, strong, wise man, of + about forty-five, in a square velvet cap, truly the Jewish + God, inflexibly just, yet jealous and wrathful,--is at the + top of the picture, looking with a gaze of almost frowning + scrutiny down into his world. A step below is the Son. + Stately angelic shapes kneel near him in dignified + adoration,--brothers, but not peers. A cloud of more ecstatic + seraphs floats behind the Father. At the feet of the Son is + the Holy Ghost, the Heavenly Dove. In the description, by a + connoisseur, of this picture, read to me while I was looking + at it, it is spoken of as in Raphael's first manner, cold, + hard, trammeled. But to me how did that face proclaim the + Infinite Love! His head is bent back, as if seeking to + behold the Father. His attitude expresses the need of adoring + something higher, in order to keep him at his highest. What + sweetness, what purity, in the eyes! I can never express it; + but I felt, when looking at it, the beauty of reverence, of + self-sacrifice, to a degree that stripped the Apollo of his + beams.' + + + + +MAGNANIMITY. + + +Immediately after reading Miss Martineau's book on America, Margaret +felt bound in honor to write her a letter, the magnanimity of which is +brought out in full relief, by contrast with the expressions already +given of her affectionate regard. Extracts from this letter, recorded +in her journals, come here rightfully in place:-- + + 'On its first appearance, the book was greeted by a volley + of coarse and outrageous abuse, and the nine days' wonder + was followed by a nine days' hue-and-cry. It was garbled, + misrepresented, scandalously ill-treated. This was all of + no consequence. The opinion of the majority you will find + expressed in a late number of the North American Review. I + should think the article, though ungenerous, not more so than + great part of the critiques upon your book. + + 'The minority may be divided into two classes: The one, + consisting of those who knew you but slightly, either + personally, or in your writings. These have now read your + book; and, seeing in it your high ideal standard, genuine + independence, noble tone of sentiment, vigor of mind and + powers of picturesque description, they value your book very + much, and rate you higher for it. + + 'The other comprises those who were previously aware of these + high qualities,--and who, seeing in a book to which they + had looked for a lasting monument to your fame, a degree + of presumptuousness, irreverence, inaccuracy, hasty + generalization, and ultraism on many points, which they did + not expect, lament the haste in which you have written, and + the injustice which you have consequently done to so important + a task, and to your own powers of being and doing. To this + class I belong. + + 'I got the book as soon as it came out,--long before I + received the copy endeared by your handwriting,--and + devoted myself to reading it. I gave myself up to my natural + impressions, without seeking to ascertain those of others. + Frequently I felt pleasure and admiration, but more frequently + disappointment, sometimes positive distaste. + + 'There are many topics treated of in this book of which I am + not a judge; but I do pretend, even where I cannot criticize + in detail, to have an opinion as to the general tone of + thought. When Herschel writes his Introduction to Natural + Philosophy, I cannot test all he says, but I cannot err about + his fairness, his manliness, and wide range of knowledge. When + Jouffroy writes his lectures, I am not conversant with all his + topics of thought, but I can appreciate his lucid style and + admirable method. When Webster speaks on the currency, I do + not understand the subject, but I do understand his mode of + treating it, and can see what a blaze of light streams from + his torch. When Harriet Martineau writes about America, I + often cannot test that rashness and inaccuracy of which I hear + so much, but I can feel that they exist. A want of soundness, + of habits of patient investigation, of completeness, of + arrangement, are felt throughout the book; and, for all + its fine descriptions of scenery, breadth of reasoning, and + generous daring, I cannot be happy in it, because it is not + worthy of my friend, and I think a few months given to ripen + it, to balance, compare, and mellow, would have made it so. * * + + 'Certainly you show no spirit of harshness towards this + country in general. I think your tone most kindly. But many + passages are deformed by intemperance of epithet. * * Would + your heart, could you but investigate the matter, approve such + overstatement, such a crude, intemperate tirade as you have + been guilty of about Mr. Alcott,--a true and noble man, + a philanthropist, whom a true and noble woman, also a + philanthropist, should have delighted to honor; whose + disinterested and resolute efforts, for the redemption of poor + humanity, all independent and faithful minds should sustain, + since the "broadcloth" vulgar will be sure to assail them; a + philosopher, worthy of the palmy times of ancient Greece; + a man whom Carlyle and Berkely, whom you so uphold, would + delight to honor; a man whom the worldlings of Boston hold + in as much horror as the worldlings of ancient Athens did + Socrates. They smile to hear their verdict confirmed from + the other side of the Atlantic, by their censor, Harriet + Martineau. + + 'I do not like that your book should be an abolition book. You + might have borne your testimony as decidedly as you pleased; + but why leaven the whole book with it? This subject haunts us + on almost every page. It _is_ a great subject, but your book + had other purposes to fulfil. + + 'I have thought it right to say all this to you, since I felt + it. I have shrunk from the effort, for I fear that I must + lose you. Not that I think all authors are like Gil Bias' + archbishop. No; if your heart turns from me, I shall still + love you, still think you noble. I know it must be so trying + to fail of sympathy, at such a time, where we expect it. And, + besides, I felt from the book that the sympathy between us is + less general than I had supposed, it was so strong on several + points. It is strong enough for me to love you ever, and I + could no more have been happy in your friendship, if I had not + spoken out now.' + + + + +SPIRITUAL LIFE. + + + 'You question me as to the nature of the benefits conferred + upon me by Mr. E.'s preaching. I answer, that his influence + has been more beneficial to me than that of any American, and + that from him I first learned what is meant by an inward life. + Many other springs have since fed the stream of living waters, + but he first opened the fountain. That the "mind is its own + place," was a dead phrase to me, till he cast light upon + my mind. Several of his sermons stand apart in memory, like + landmarks of my spiritual history. It would take a volume to + tell what this one influence did for me. But perhaps I shall + some time see that it was best for me to be forced to help + myself.' + + * * * * * + + 'Some remarks which I made last night trouble me, and I cannot + fix my attention upon other things till I have qualified them. + I suffered myself to speak in too unmeasured terms, and my + expressions were fitted to bring into discredit the religious + instruction which has been given me, or which I have sought. + + 'I do not think "all men are born for the purpose of unfolding + beautiful ideas;" for the vocation of many is evidently the + culture of affections by deeds of kindness. But I do think + that the vocations of men and women differ, and that those who + are forced to act out of their sphere are shorn of inward and + outward brightness. + + 'For myself, I wish to say, that, if I am in a mood of + darkness and despondency, I nevertheless consider such a mood + unworthy of a Christian, or indeed of any one who believes in + the immortality of the soul. No one, who had steady faith + in this and in the goodness of God, could be otherwise than + cheerful. I reverence the serenity of a truly religious mind + so much, that I think, if I live, I may some time attain to + it. + + 'Although I do not believe in a Special Providence regulating + outward events, and could not reconcile such a belief with + what I have seen of life, I do not the less believe in the + paternal government of a Deity. That He should visit the souls + of those who seek Him seems to me the nobler way to conceive + of his influence. And if there were not some error in my way + of seeking, I do not believe I should suffer from languor or + deadness on spiritual subjects, at the time when I have most + need to feel myself at home there. To find this error is my + earnest wish; and perhaps I am now travelling to that end, + though by a thorny road. It is a mortification to find so + much yet to do; for at one time the scheme of things seemed + so clear, that, with Cromwell, I might say, "I was once in + grace." With my mind I prize high objects as much as then: + it is my heart which is cold. And sometimes I fear that the + necessity of urging them on those under my care dulls my sense + of their beauty. It is so hard to prevent one's feelings from + evaporating in words.' + + * * * * * + + '"The faint sickness of a wounded heart." How frequently + do these words of Beckford recur to my mind! His prayer, + imperfect as it is, says more to me than many a purer + aspiration. It breathes such an experience of impassioned + anguish. He had everything,--health, personal advantages, + almost boundless wealth, genius, exquisite taste, culture; he + could, in some way, express his whole being. Yet well-nigh he + sank beneath the sickness of the wounded heart; and solitude, + "country of the unhappy," was all he craved at last. + + 'Goethe, too, says he has known, in all his active, wise, and + honored life, no four weeks of happiness. This teaches me on + the other side; for, like Goethe, I have never given way to + my feelings, but have lived active, thoughtful, seeking to + be wise. Yet I have long days and weeks of heartache; and + at those times, though I am busy every moment, and cultivate + every pleasant feeling, and look always upwards to the pure + ideal region, yet this ache is like a bodily wound, whose + pain haunts even when it is not attended to, and disturbs the + dreams of the patient who has fallen asleep from exhaustion. + + 'There is a German in Boston, who has a wound in his breast, + received in battle long ago. It never troubles him, except + when he sings, and then, if he gives out his voice with much + expression, it opens, and cannot, for a long time, be stanched + again. So with me: when I rise into one of those rapturous + moods of thought, such as I had a day or two since, my wound + opens again, and all I can do is to be patient, and let it + take its own time to skin over. I see it will never do more. + Some time ago I thought the barb was fairly out; but no, the + fragments rankle there still, and will, while there is any + earth attached to my spirit. Is it not because, in my pride, I + held the mantle close, and let the weapon, which some friendly + physician might have extracted, splinter in the wound?' + + * * * * * + + '_Sunday, July_, 1838.--I partook, for the first time, of the + Lord's Supper. I had often wished to do so, but had not been + able to find a clergyman,--from whom I could be willing to + receive it,--willing to admit me on my own terms. Mr. H---- + did so; and I shall ever respect and value him, if only for + the liberality he displayed on this occasion. It was the + Sunday after the death of his wife, a lady whom I truly + honored, and should, probably, had we known one another + longer, have also loved. She was the soul of truth and honor; + her mind was strong, her reverence for the noble and beautiful + fervent, her energy in promoting the best interests of those + who came under her influence unusual. She was as full of wit + and playfulness as of goodness. Her union with her husband + was really one of mind and heart, of mutual respect and + tenderness; likeness in unlikeness made it strong. I wished + particularly to share in this rite on an occasion so suited to + bring out its due significance.' + + + + +FAREWELL TO SUMMER. + + + 'The Sun, the Moon, the Waters, and the Air, + The hopeful, holy, terrible, and fair, + All that is ever speaking, never spoken, + Spells that are ever breaking, never broken, + Have played upon my soul; and every string + Confessed the touch, which once could make it ring + Celestial notes. And still, though changed the tone, + Though damp and jarring fall the lyre hath known + It would, if fitly played, its deep notes wove + Into one tissue of belief and love, + Yield melodies for angel audience meet, + And paeans fit Creative Power to greet. + O injured lyre! thy golden frame is marred, + No garlands deck thee, no libations poured + Tell to the earth the triumphs of thy song; + No princely halls echo thy strains along. + But still the strings are there; and, if they break, + Even in death rare melody will make, + Might'st thou once more be tuned, and power be given + To tell in numbers all thou canst of heaven!' + + + + +VISITS TO CONCORD. + +BY R.W. EMERSON. + + + + +EXTRACT FROM A LETTER FROM MADAME ARCONATI TO R.W. EMERSON. + + +Je n'ai point rencontre, dans ma vie, de femme plus noble; ayant +autant de sympathie pour ses semblables, et dont l'esprit fut plus +vivifiant. Je me suis tout de suite sentie attiree par elle. Quand je +fis sa connoissance, j'ignorais que ce fut une femme remarquable. + + + + +IV. + +VISITS TO CONCORD. + + * * * * * + + +I became acquainted with Margaret in 1835. Perhaps it was a year +earlier that Henry Hedge, who had long been her friend, told me of +her genius and studies, and loaned me her manuscript translation of +Goethe's Tasso. I was afterwards still more interested in her, by the +warm praises of Harriet Martineau, who had become acquainted with her +at Cambridge, and who, finding Margaret's fancy for seeing me, took a +generous interest in bringing us together. I remember, during a week +in the winter of 1835-6, in which Miss Martineau was my guest, she +returned again and again to the topic of Margaret's excelling genius +and conversation, and enjoined it on me to seek her acquaintance: +which I willingly promised. I am not sure that it was not in Miss +Martineau's company, a little earlier, that I first saw her. And I +find a memorandum, in her own journal, of a visit, made by my brother +Charles and myself, to Miss Martineau, at Mrs. Farrar's. It was not, +however, till the next July, after a little diplomatizing in billets +by the ladies, that her first visit to our house was arranged, and +she came to spend a fortnight with my wife. I still remember the first +half-hour of Margaret's conversation. She was then twenty-six years +old. She had a face and frame that would indicate fulness and tenacity +of life. She was rather under the middle height; her complexion was +fair, with strong fair hair. She was then, as always, carefully and +becomingly dressed, and of ladylike self-possession. For the rest, her +appearance had nothing prepossessing. Her extreme plainness,--a trick +of incessantly opening and shutting her eyelids,--the nasal tone of +her voice,--all repelled; and I said to myself, we shall never +get far. It is to be said, that Margaret made a disagreeable first +impression on most persons, including those who became afterwards her +best friends, to such an extreme that they did not wish to be in the +same room with her. This was partly the effect of her manners, which +expressed an overweening sense of power, and slight esteem of others, +and partly the prejudice of her fame. She had a dangerous reputation +for satire, in addition to her great scholarship. The men thought she +carried too many guns, and the women did not like one who despised +them. I believe I fancied her too much interested in personal history; +and her talk was a comedy in which dramatic justice was done to +everybody's foibles. I remember that she made me laugh more than I +liked; for I was, at that time, an eager scholar of ethics, and had +tasted the sweets of solitude and stoicism, and I found something +profane in the hours of amusing gossip into which she drew me, and, +when I returned to my library, had much to think of the crackling of +thorns under a pot. Margaret, who had stuffed me out as a philosopher, +in her own fancy, was too intent on establishing a good footing +between us, to omit any art of winning. She studied my tastes, piqued +and amused me, challenged frankness by frankness, and did not conceal +the good opinion of me she brought with her, nor her wish to please. +She was curious to know my opinions and experiences. Of course, it was +impossible long to hold out against such urgent assault. She had +an incredible variety of anecdotes, and the readiest wit to give an +absurd turn to whatever passed; and the eyes, which were so plain at +first, soon swam with fun and drolleries, and the very tides of joy +and superabundant life. + +This rumor was much spread abroad, that she was sneering, +scoffing, critical, disdainful of humble people, and of all but +the intellectual. I had heard it whenever she was named. It was a +superficial judgment. Her satire was only the pastime and necessity of +her talent, the play of superabundant animal spirits. And it will be +seen, in the sequel, that her mind presently disclosed many moods and +powers, in successive platforms or terraces, each above each, that +quite effaced this first impression, in the opulence of the following +pictures. + +Let us hear what she has herself to say on the subject of +tea-table-talk, in a letter to a young lady, to whom she was already +much attached:-- + + I am repelled by your account of your party. It is beneath you + to amuse yourself with active satire, with what is vulgarly + called quizzing. When such a person as ---- chooses to throw + himself in your way, I sympathize with your keen perception of + his ridiculous points. But to laugh a whole evening at vulgar + nondescripts,--is that an employment for one who was born + passionately to love, to admire, to sustain truth? This would + be much more excusable in a chameleon like me. Yet, whatever + may be the vulgar view of my character, I can truly say, I + know not the hour in which I ever looked for the ridiculous. + It has always been forced upon me, and is the accident of my + existence. I would not want the sense of it when it comes, for + that would show an obtuseness of mental organization; but, on + peril of my soul, I would not move an eyelash to look for it.' + +When she came to Concord, she was already rich in friends, rich in +experiences, rich in culture. She was well read in French, Italian, +and German literature. She had learned Latin and a little Greek. But +her English reading was incomplete; and, while she knew Moliere, and +Rousseau, and any quantity of French letters, memoirs, and novels, and +was a dear student of Dante and Petrarca, and knew German books more +cordially than any other person, she was little read in Shakspeare; +and I believe I had the pleasure of making her acquainted with +Chaucer, with Ben Jonson, with Herbert, Chapman, Ford, Beaumont and +Fletcher, with Bacon, and Sir Thomas Browne. I was seven years her +senior, and had the habit of idle reading in old English books, and, +though riot much versed, yet quite enough to give me the right to +lead her. She fancied that her sympathy and taste had led her to an +exclusive culture of southern European books. + +She had large experiences. She had been a precocious scholar at Dr. +Park's school; good in mathematics and in languages. Her father, whom +she had recently lost had been proud of her, and petted her. She had +drawn at Cambridge, numbers of lively young men about her. She had had +a circle of young women who were devoted to her, and who described her +as "a wonder of intellect, who had yet no religion." She had drawn +to her every superior young man or young woman she had met, and whole +romances of life and love had been confided, counselled, thought, and +lived through, in her cognizance and sympathy. + +These histories are rapid, so that she had already beheld many +times the youth, meridian, and old age of passion. She had, besides, +selected, from so many, a few eminent companions, and already felt +that she was not likely to see anything more beautiful than her +beauties, anything more powerful and generous than her youths. She had +found out her own secret by early comparison, and knew what power to +draw confidence, what necessity to lead in every circle, belonged of +right to her. Her powers were maturing, and nobler sentiments were +subliming the first heats and rude experiments. She had outward +calmness and dignity. She had come to the ambition to be filled with +all nobleness. + +Of the friends who surrounded her, at that period, it is neither easy +to speak, nor not to speak. A life of Margaret is impossible without +them, she mixed herself so inextricably with her company; and when +this little book was first projected, it was proposed to entitle it +"Margaret and her Friends," the subject persisting to offer itself in +the plural number. But, on trial, that form proved impossible, and it +only remained that the narrative, like a Greek tragedy, should suppose +the chorus always on the stage, sympathizing and sympathized with by +the queen of the scene. + +Yet I remember these persons as a fair, commanding troop, every one +of them adorned by some splendor of beauty, of grace, of talent, or +of character, and comprising in their band persons who have since +disclosed sterling worth and elevated aims in the conduct of life. + +Three beautiful women,--either of whom would have been the fairest +ornament of Papanti's Assemblies, but for the presence of the +other,--were her friends. One of these early became, and long +remained, nearly the central figure in Margaret's brilliant circle, +attracting to herself, by her grace and her singular natural +eloquence, every feeling of affection, hope, and pride. + +Two others I recall, whose rich and cultivated voices in song +were,--one a little earlier, the other a little later,--the joy of +every house into which they came; and, indeed, Margaret's taste for +music was amply gratified in the taste and science which several +persons among her intimate friends possessed. She was successively +intimate with two sisters, whose taste for music had been opened, by a +fine and severe culture, to the knowledge and to the expression of all +the wealth of the German masters. + +I remember another, whom every muse inspired, skilful alike with the +pencil and the pen, and by whom both were almost contemned for their +inadequateness, in the height and scope of her aims. + + 'With her,' said Margaret, 'I can talk of anything. She is + like me. She is able to look facts in the face. We enjoy the + clearest, widest, most direct communication. She may be no + happier than ----, but she will know her own mind too clearly + to make any great mistake in conduct, and will learn a deep + meaning from her days.' + + 'It is not in the way of tenderness that I love ----. I prize + her always; and this is all the love some natures ever know. + And I also feel that I may always expect she will be with me. + I delight to picture to myself certain persons translated, + illuminated. There are a few in whom I see occasionally the + future being piercing, promising,--whom I can strip of all + that masks their temporary relations, and elevate to their + natural position. Sometimes I have not known these persons + intimately,--oftener I have; for it is only in the deepest + hours that this light is likely to break out. But some of + those I have best befriended I cannot thus portray, and very + few men I can. It does not depend at all on the beauty of + their forms, at present; it is in the eye and the smile, that + the hope shines through. I can see exactly how ---- will look: + not like this angel in the paper; she will not bring flowers, + but a living coal, to the lips of the singer; her eyes will + not burn as now with smothered fires, they will be ever + deeper, and glow more intensely; her cheek will be smooth, but + marble pale; her gestures nobly free, but few.' + +Another was a lady who was devoted to landscape-painting, and who +enjoyed the distinction of being the only pupil of Allston, and who, +in her alliance with Margaret, gave as much honor as she received, by +the security of her spirit, and by the heroism of her devotion to her +friend. Her friends called her "the perpetual peace-offering," and +Margaret says of her,--'She is here, and her neighborhood casts the +mildness and purity too of the moonbeam on the else parti-colored +scene.' + +There was another lady, more late and reluctantly entering Margaret's +circle, with a mind as high, and more mathematically exact, drawn by +taste to Greek, as Margaret to Italian genius, tempted to do homage +to Margaret's flowing expressive energy, but still more inclined and +secured to her side by the good sense and the heroism which Margaret +disclosed, perhaps not a little by the sufferings which she addressed +herself to alleviate, as long as Margaret lived. Margaret had a +courage in her address which it was not easy to resist. She called +all her friends by their Christian names. In their early intercourse +I suppose this lady's billets were more punctiliously worded +than Margaret liked; so she subscribed herself, in reply, 'Your +affectionate "Miss Fuller."' When the difficulties were at length +surmounted, and the conditions ascertained on which two admirable +persons could live together, the best understanding grew up, and +subsisted during her life. In her journal is a note:-- + + 'Passed the morning in Sleepy Hollow, with ----. What fine, + just distinctions she made! Worlds grew clearer as we + talked. I grieve to see her fine frame subject to such rude + discipline. But she truly said, "I am not a failed experiment; + for, in the bad hours, I do not forget what I thought in the + better."' + +None interested her more at that time, and for many years after, than +a youth with whom she had been acquainted in Cambridge before he left +the University, and the unfolding of whose powers she had watched with +the warmest sympathy. He was an amateur, and, but for the exactions +not to be resisted of an _American_, that is to say, of a commercial, +career,--his acceptance of which she never ceased to regard as an +apostasy,--himself a high artist. He was her companion, and, though +much younger, her guide in the study of art. With him she examined, +leaf by leaf, the designs of Raphael, of Michel Angelo, of Da Vinci, +of Guercino, the architecture of the Greeks, the books of Palladio, +the Ruins, and Prisons of Piranesi; and long kept up a profuse +correspondence on books and studies in which they had a mutual +interest. And yet, as happened so often, these literary sympathies, +though sincere, were only veils and occasions to beguile the time, so +profound was her interest in the character and fortunes of her friend. + +There was another youth, whom she found later, of invalid habit, which +had infected in some degree the tone of his mind, but of a delicate +and pervasive insight, and the highest appreciation for genius in +letters, arts, and life. Margaret describes 'his complexion as clear +in its pallor, and his eye steady.' His turn of mind, and his habits +of life, had almost a monastic turn,--a jealousy of the common +tendencies of literary men either to display or to philosophy. +Margaret was struck with the singular fineness of his perceptions, +and the pious tendency of his thoughts, and enjoyed with him his proud +reception, not as from above, but almost on equal ground, of Homer and +AEschylus, of Dante and Petrarch, of Montaigne, of Calderon, of Goethe. +Margaret wished, also, to defend his privacy from the dangerous +solicitations to premature authorship:-- + + 'His mind should be approached close by one who needs its + fragrance. All with him leads rather to glimpses and insights, + than to broad, comprehensive views. Till he needs the public, + the public does not need him. The lonely lamp, the niche, the + dark cathedral grove, befit him best. Let him shroud himself + in the symbols of his native ritual, till he can issue forth + on the wings of song.' + +She was at this time, too, much drawn also to a man of poetic +sensibility, and of much reading,--which he took the greatest pains to +conceal,--studious of the art of poetry, but still more a poet in his +conversation than in his poems,--who attracted Margaret by the flowing +humor with which he filled the present hour, and the prodigality with +which he forgot all the past. + + 'Unequal and uncertain,' she says, 'but in his good moods, + of the best for a companion, absolutely abandoned to the + revelations of the moment, without distrust or check of any + kind, unlimited and delicate, abundant in thought, and free of + motion, he enriches life, and fills the hour.' + + 'I wish I could retain ----'s talk last night. It was + wonderful; it was about all the past experiences frozen down + in the soul, and the impossibility of being penetrated by + anything. "Had I met you," said he, "when I was young!--but + now nothing can penetrate." Absurd as was what he said, on + one side, it was the finest poetic-inspiration on the other, + painting the cruel process of life, except where genius + continually burns over the stubble fields. + + "Life," he said, "is continually eating us up." He said, "Mr. + E. is quite wrong about books. He wants them all good; now I + want many bad. Literature is not merely a collection of gems, + but a great system of interpretation." He railed at me as + artificial. "It don't strike me when you are alone with me," + he says; "but it does when others are present. You don't + follow out the fancy of the moment; you converse; you have + treasured thoughts to tell; you are disciplined,--artificial." + I pleaded guilty, and observed that I supposed that it must + be so with one of any continuity of thought, or earnestness + of character. "As to that," says he, "I shall not like you the + better for your excellence. I don't know what is the matter. + I feel strongly attracted towards you; but there is a drawback + in my mind,--I don't know exactly what. You will always be + wanting to grow forward; now I like to grow backward, too. You + are too ideal. Ideal people anticipate their lives; and they + make themselves and everybody around them restless, by always + being beforehand with themselves." + + 'I listened attentively; for what he said was excellent. + Following up the humor of the moment, he arrests admirable + thoughts on the wing. But I cannot but see, that what they say + of my or other obscure lives is true of every prophetic, of + every tragic character. And then I like to have them make me + look on that side, and reverence the lovely forms of nature, + and the shifting moods, and the clinging instincts. But I must + not let them disturb me. There is an only guide, the voice in + the heart, that asks, "Was thy wish sincere? If so, thou canst + not stray from nature, nor be so perverted but she will make + thee true again." I must take my own path, and learn from + them all, without being paralyzed for the day. We need great + energy, faith, and self-reliance to endure to-day. My age + may not be the best, my position may be bad, my character + ill-formed; but Thou, oh Spirit! hast no regard to aught but + the seeking heart; and, if I try to walk upright, wilt guide + me. What despair must he feel, who, after a whole life passed + in trying to build up himself, resolves that it would have + been far better if he had kept still as the clod of the + valley, or yielded easily as the leaf to every breeze! A path + has been appointed me. I have walked in it as steadily as I + could. I am what I am; that which I am not, teach me in the + others. I will bear the pain of imperfection, but not of + doubt. E. must not shake me in my worldliness, nor ---- in the + fine motion that has given me what I have of life, nor this + child of genius make me lay aside the armor, without which I + had lain bleeding on the field long since; but, if they can + keep closer to nature, and learn to interpret her as souls, + also, let me learn from them what I have not.' + +And, in connection with this conversation, she has copied the +following lines which this gentleman addressed to her:-- + + "TO MARGARET. + + I mark beneath thy life the virtue shine + That deep within the star's eye opes its day; + I clutch the gorgeous thoughts thou throw'st away + From the profound unfathomable mine, + And with them this mean common hour do twine, + As glassy waters on the dry beach play. + And I were rich as night, them to combine + With, my poor store, and warm me with thy ray. + From the fixed answer of those dateless eyes + I meet bold hints of spirit's mystery + As to what's past, and hungry prophecies + Of deeds to-day, and things which are to be; + Of lofty life that with the eagle flies, + And humble love that clasps humanity." + +I have thus vaguely designated, among the numerous group of her +friends, only those who were much in her company, in the early years +of my acquaintance with her. + +She wore this circle of friends, when I first knew her, as a necklace +of diamonds about her neck. They were so much to each other, that +Margaret seemed to represent them all, and, to know her, was to +acquire a place with them. The confidences given her were their best, +and she held them to them. She was an active, inspiring companion and +correspondent, and all the art, the thought, and the nobleness in New +England, seemed, at that moment, related to her, and she to it. She +was everywhere a welcome guest. The houses of her friends in town +and country were open to her, and every hospitable attention eagerly +offered. Her arrival was a holiday, and so was her abode. She stayed a +few days, often a week, more seldom a month, and all tasks that could +be suspended were put aside to catch the favorable hour, in walking, +riding, or boating, to talk with this joyful guest, who brought wit, +anecdotes, love-stories, tragedies, oracles with her, and, with her +broad web of relations to so many fine friends, seemed like the queen +of some parliament of love, who carried the key to all confidences, +and to whom every question had been finally referred. + +Persons were her game, specially, if marked by fortune, or character, +or success;--to such was she sent. She addressed them with a +hardihood,--almost a haughty assurance,--queen-like. Indeed, they fell +in her way, where the access might have seemed difficult, by +wonderful casualties; and the inveterate recluse, the coyest maid, the +waywardest poet, made no resistance, but yielded at discretion, as if +they had been waiting for her, all doors to this imperious dame. +She disarmed the suspicion of recluse scholars by the absence of +bookishness. The ease with which she entered into conversation made +them forget all they had heard of her; and she was infinitely less +interested in literature than in life. They saw she valued earnest +persons, and Dante, Petrarch, and Goethe, because they thought as she +did, and gratified her with high portraits, which she was everywhere +seeking. She drew her companions to surprising confessions. She was +the wedding-guest, to whom the long-pent story must be told; and +they were not less struck, on reflection, at the suddenness of the +friendship which had established, in one day, new and permanent +covenants. She extorted the secret of life, which cannot be told +without setting heart and mind in a glow; and thus had the best of +those she saw. Whatever romance, whatever virtue, whatever impressive +experience,--this came to her; and she lived in a superior circle; for +they suppressed all their common-place in her presence. + +She was perfectly true to this confidence. She never confounded +relations, but kept a hundred fine threads in her hand, without +crossing or entangling any. An entire intimacy, which seemed to make +both sharers of the whole horizon of each others' and of all truth, +did not yet make her false to any other friend; gave no title to the +history that an equal trust of another friend had put in her keeping. +In this reticence was no prudery and no effort. For, so rich her +mind, that she never was tempted to treachery, by the desire of +entertaining. The day was never long enough to exhaust her opulent +memory; and I, who knew her intimately for ten years,--from July, +1836, till August, 1846, when she sailed for Europe,--never saw her +without surprise at her new powers. + +Of the conversations above alluded to, the substance was whatever was +suggested by her passionate wish for equal companions, to the end +of making life altogether noble. With the firmest tact she led +the discourse into the midst of their daily living and working, +recognizing the good-will and sincerity which each man has in his +aims, and treating so playfully and intellectually all the points, +that one seemed to see his life _en beau_, and was flattered by +beholding what he had found so tedious in its workday weeds, shining +in glorious costume. Each of his friends passed before him in the +new light; hope seemed to spring under his feet, and life was worth +living. The auditor jumped for joy, and thirsted for unlimited +draughts. What! is this the dame, who, I heard, was sneering and +critical? this the blue-stocking, of whom I stood in terror and +dislike? this wondrous woman, full of counsel, full of tenderness, +before whom every mean thing is ashamed, and hides itself; this new +Corinne, more variously gifted, wise, sportive, eloquent, who seems to +have learned all languages, Heaven knows when or how,--I should think +she was born to them,--magnificent, prophetic, reading my life at her +will, and puzzling me with riddles like this, 'Yours is an example of +a destiny springing from character:' and, again, 'I see your destiny +hovering before you, but it always escapes from you.' + +The test of this eloquence was its range. It told on children, and on +old people; on men of the world, and on sainted maids. She could hold +them all by her honeyed tongue. A lady of the best eminence, whom +Margaret occasionally visited, in one of our cities of spindles, +speaking one day of her neighbors, said, "I stand in a certain awe of +the moneyed men, the manufacturers, and so on, knowing that they will +have small interest in Plato, or in Biot; but I saw them approach +Margaret, with perfect security, for she could give them bread that +they could eat." Some persons are thrown off their balance when in +society; others are thrown on to balance; the excitement of company, +and the observation of other characters, correct their biases. +Margaret always appeared to unexpected advantage in conversation +with a large circle. She had more sanity than any other; whilst, in +private, her vision was often through colored lenses. + +Her talents were so various, and her conversation so rich and +entertaining, that one might talk with her many times, by the parlor +fire, before he discovered the strength which served as foundation to +so much accomplishment and eloquence. But, concealed under flowers and +music, was the broadest good sense, very well able to dispose of all +this pile of native and foreign ornaments, and quite able to work +without them. She could always rally on this, in every circumstance, +and in every company, and find herself on a firm footing of equality +with any party whatever, and make herself useful, and, if need be, +formidable. + +The old Anaximenes, seeking, I suppose, for a source sufficiently +diffusive, said, that Mind must be _in the air_, which, when all men +breathed, they were filled with one intelligence. And when men have +larger measures of reason, as AEsop, Cervantes, Franklin, Scott, they +gain in universality, or are no longer confined to a few associates, +but are good company for all persons,--philosophers, women, men of +fashion, tradesmen, and servants. Indeed, an older philosopher +than Anaximenes, namely, language itself, had taught to distinguish +superior or purer sense as _common_ sense. + +Margaret had, with certain limitations, or, must we say, _strictures_, +these larger lungs, inhaling this universal element, and could speak +to Jew and Greek, free and bond, to each in his own tongue. The +Concord stage-coachman distinguished her by his respect, and the +chambermaid was pretty sure to confide to her, on the second day, her +homely romance. + +I regret that it is not in my power to give any true report of +Margaret's conversation. She soon became an established friend and +frequent inmate of our house, and continued, thenceforward, for years, +to come, once in three or four months, to spend a week or a fortnight +with us. She adopted all the people and all the interests she found +here. Your people shall be my people, and yonder darling boy I shall +cherish as my own. Her ready sympathies endeared her to my wife and my +mother, each of whom highly esteemed her good sense and sincerity. +She suited each, and all. Yet, she was not a person to be suspected of +complaisance, and her attachments, one might say, were chemical. + +She had so many tasks of her own, that she was a very easy guest to +entertain, as she could be left to herself, day after day, without +apology. According to our usual habit, we seldom met in the forenoon. +After dinner, we read something together, or walked, or rode. In the +evening, she came to the library, and many and many a conversation was +there held, whose details, if they could be preserved, would justify +all encomiums. They interested me in every manner;--talent, memory, +wit, stern introspection, poetic play, religion, the finest personal +feeling, the aspects of the future, each followed each in full +activity, and left me, I remember, enriched and sometimes astonished +by the gifts of my guest. Her topics were numerous, but the cardinal +points of poetry, love, and religion, were never far off. She was a +student of art, and, though untravelled, knew, much better than most +persons who had been abroad, the conventional reputation of each of +the masters. She was familiar with all the field of elegant criticism +in literature. Among the problems of the day, these two attracted +her chiefly, Mythology and Demonology; then, also, French Socialism, +especially as it concerned woman; the whole prolific family of +reforms, and, of course, the genius and career of each remarkable +person. + +She had other friends, in this town, beside those in my house. A lady, +already alluded to, lived in the village, who had known her longer +than I, and whose prejudices Margaret had resolutely fought down, +until she converted her into the firmest and most efficient of +friends. In 1842, Nathaniel Hawthorne, already then known to the world +by his Twice-Told Tales, came to live in Concord, in the "Old Manse," +with his wife, who was herself an artist. With these welcomed persons +Margaret formed a strict and happy acquaintance. She liked their +old house, and the taste which had filled it with new articles of +beautiful form, yet harmonized with the antique furniture left by the +former proprietors. She liked, too, the pleasing walks, and rides, and +boatings, which that neighborhood commanded. + +In 1842, William Ellery Channing, whose wife was her sister, built +a house in Concord, and this circumstance made a new tie and another +home for Margaret. + + + + +ARCANA. + + +It was soon evident that there was somewhat a little pagan about her; +that she had some faith more or less distinct in a fate, and in a +guardian genius; that her fancy, or her pride, had played with +her religion. She had a taste for gems, ciphers, talismans, omens, +coincidences, and birth-days. She had a special love for the planet +Jupiter, and a belief that the month of September was inauspicious +to her. She never forgot that her name, Margarita, signified a pearl. +'When I first met with the name Leila,' she said, 'I knew, from the +very look and sound, it was mine; I knew that it meant night,--night, +which brings out stars, as sorrow brings out truths.' Sortilege she +valued. She tried _sortes biblicae_, and her hits were memorable. I +think each new book which interested her, she was disposed to put +to this test, and know if it had somewhat personal to say to her. As +happens to such persons, these guesses were justified by the event. +She chose carbuncle for her own stone, and when a dear friend was to +give her a gem, this was the one selected. She valued what she had +somewhere read, that carbuncles are male and female. The female casts +out light, the male has his within himself. 'Mine,' she said, 'is the +male.' And she was wont to put on her carbuncle, a bracelet, or some +selected gem, to write letters to certain friends. One of her friends +she coupled with the onyx, another in a decided way with the amethyst. +She learned that the ancients esteemed this gem a talisman to dispel +intoxication, to give good thoughts and understanding 'The Greek +meaning is _antidote against drunkenness_.' She characterized +her friends by these stones, and wrote to the last mentioned, the +following lines:-- + + 'TO ----. + + 'Slow wandering on a tangled way, + To their lost child pure spirits say:-- + The diamond marshal thee by day, + By night, the carbuncle defend, + Heart's blood of a bosom friend. + On thy brow, the amethyst, + Violet of purest earth, + When by fullest sunlight kissed, + Best reveals its regal birth; + And when that haloed moment flies, + Shall keep thee steadfast, chaste, and wise.' + +Coincidences, good and bad, _contretemps_, seals, ciphers, mottoes, +omens, anniversaries, names, dreams, are all of a certain importance +to her. Her letters are often dated on some marked anniversary of her +own, or of her correspondent's calendar. She signalized saints' days, +"All-Souls," and "All-Saints," by poems, which had for her a mystical +value. She remarked a preestablished harmony of the names of her +personal friends, as well as of her historical favorites; that +of Emanuel, for Swedenborg; and Rosencrantz, for the head of the +Rosicrucians. 'If Christian Rosencrantz,' she said, 'is not a made +name, the genius of the age interfered in the baptismal rite, as in +the cases of the archangels of art, Michael and Raphael, and in giving +the name of Emanuel to the captain of the New Jerusalem. _Sub rosa +crux_, I think, is the true derivation, and not the chemical one, +generation, corruption, &c.' In this spirit, she soon surrounded +herself with a little mythology of her own. She had a series of +anniversaries, which she kept. Her seal-ring of the flying Mercury +had its legend. She chose the _Sistrum_ for her emblem, and had it +carefully drawn with a view to its being engraved on a gem. And I +know not how many verses and legends came recommended to her by this +symbolism. Her dreams, of course, partook of this symmetry. The same +dream returns to her periodically, annually, and punctual to its +night. One dream she marks in her journal as repeated for the fourth +time:-- + + 'In C., I at last distinctly recognized the figure of the + early vision, whom I found after I had left A., who led me, + on the bridge, towards the city, glittering in sunset, but, + midway, the bridge went under water. I have often seen in her + face that it was she, but refused to believe it.' + +She valued, of course, the significance of flowers, and chose emblems +for her friends from her garden. + + 'TO ----, WITH HEARTSEASE. + + 'Content, in purple lustre clad, + Kingly serene, and golden glad, + No demi-hues of sad contrition, + No pallors of enforced submission;-- + Give me such content as this, + And keep awhile the rosy bliss.' + + + + +DAEMONOLOGY. + + +This catching at straws of coincidence, where all is geometrical, +seems the necessity of certain natures. It, is true, that, in every +good work, the particulars are right, and, that every spot of light on +the ground, under the trees, is a perfect image of the sun. Yet, for +astronomical purposes, an observatory is better than an orchard; and +in a universe which is nothing but generations, or an unbroken suite +of cause and effect, to infer Providence, because a man happens to +find a shilling on the pavement just when he wants one to spend, is +puerile, and much as if each of us should date his letters and notes +of hand from his own birthday, instead of from Christ's or the king's +reign, or the current Congress. These, to be sure, are also, at first, +petty and private beginnings, but, by the world of men, clothed with a +social and cosmical character. + +It will be seen, however, that this propensity Margaret held with +certain tenets of fate, which always swayed her, and which Goethe, +who had found room and fine names for all this in his system, had +encouraged; and, I may add, which her own experiences, early and late, +seemed strangely to justify. + +Some extracts, from her letters to different persons, will show how +this matter lay in her mind. + + '_December 17, 1829_.--The following instance of beautiful + credulity, in Rousseau, has taken my mind greatly. This remote + seeking for the decrees of fate, this feeling of a destiny, + casting its shadows from the very morning of thought, is the + most beautiful species of idealism in our day. 'Tis finely + manifested in Wallenstein, where the two common men sum up + their superficial observations on the life and doings of + Wallenstein, and show that, not until this agitating crisis, + have they caught any idea of the deep thoughts which shaped + that hero, who has, without their feeling it, moulded _their_ + existence. + + '"Tasso," says Rousseau, "has predicted my misfortunes. Have + you remarked that Tasso has this peculiarity, that you cannot + take from his work a single strophe, nor from any strophe + a single line, nor from any line a single word, without + disarranging the whole poem? Very well! take away the strophe + I speak of, the stanza has no connection with those that + precede or follow it; it is absolutely useless. _Tasso + probably wrote it involuntarily, and without comprehending it + himself_." + + 'As to the impossibility of taking from Tasso without + disarranging the poem, &c., I dare say 'tis not one whit more + justly said of his, than, of any other narrative poem. _Mais, + n'importe_, 'tis sufficient if Rousseau believed this. I found + the stanza in question; admire its meaning beauty. + + 'I hope you have Italian enough to appreciate the singular + perfection in expression. If not, look to Fairfax's Jerusalem + Delivered, Canto 12, Stanza 77; but Rousseau says these lines + have no connection with what goes before, or after; _they are + preceded_, stanza 76, by these three lines, which he does not + think fit to mention.' + + * * * * * + + "Misero mostro d'infelice amore; + Misero mostro a cui sol pena e degna + Dell' immensa impieta, la vita indegna." + + "Vivro fra i miei tormenti e fra le cure, + Mie giuste furie, forsennato errante. + Paventero l'ombre solinghe e scure, + Che l'primo error mi recheranno avante + E del sol che scopri le mie sventure, + A schivo ed in orrore avro il sembiante. + Temero me medesmo; e da me stesso + Sempre fuggendo, avro me sempre appresso." + + LA GERUSALEMME: LIBERATA, C. XII. 76, 77. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + + '_Dec._12, 1843.--When Goethe received a letter from Zelter, + with a handsome superscription, he said. "Lay that aside; it + is Zelter's true hand-writing. Every man has a daemon, who is + busy to confuse and limit his life. No way is the action of + this power more clearly shown, than in the hand-writing. On + this occasion, the evil influences have been evaded; the mood, + the hand, the pen and paper have conspired to let our friend + write truly himself." + + 'You may perceive, I quote from memory, as the sentences + are anything but Goethean; but I think often of this little + passage. With me, for weeks and months, the daemon works his + will. Nothing succeeds with me. I fall ill, or am otherwise + interrupted. At these times, whether of frost, or sultry + weather, I would gladly neither plant nor reap,--wait for + the better times, which sometimes come, when I forget that + sickness is ever possible; when all interruptions are upborne + like straws on the full stream of my life, and the words that + accompany it are as much in harmony as sedges murmuring near + the bank. Not all, yet not unlike. But it often happens, that + something presents itself, and must be done, in the bad time; + nothing presents itself in the good: so I, like the others, + seem worse and poorer than I am.' + +In another letter to an earlier friend, she expatiates a little. + + 'As to the Daemoniacal, I know not that I can say to you + anything more precise than you find from Goethe. There are + no precise terms for such thoughts. The word _instinctive_ + indicates their existence. I intimated it in the little piece + on the Drachenfels. It may be best understood, perhaps, by a + symbol. As the sun shines from the serene heavens, dispelling + noxious exhalations, and calling forth exquisite thoughts + on the surface of earth in the shape of shrub or flower, so + gnome-like works the fire within the hidden caverns and secret + veins of earth, fashioning existences which have a longer + share in time, perhaps, because they are not immortal in + thought. Love, beauty, wisdom, goodness are intelligent, but + this power moves only to seize its prey. It is not necessarily + either malignant or the reverse, but it has no scope beyond + demonstrating its existence. When conscious, self-asserting, + it becomes (as power working for its own sake, unwilling to + acknowledge love for its superior, must) the devil. That is + the legend of Lucifer, the star that would not own its + centre. Yet, while it is unconscious, it is not devilish, only + daemoniac. In nature, we trace it in all volcanic workings, in + a boding position of lights, in whispers of the wind, which + has no pedigree; in deceitful invitations of the water, in the + sullen rock, which never shall find a voice, and in the shapes + of all those beings who go about seeking what they may devour. + We speak of a mystery, a dread; we shudder, but we approach + still nearer, and a part of our nature listens, sometimes + answers to this influence, which, if not indestructible, is at + least indissolubly linked with the existence of matter. + + 'In genius, and in character, it works, as you say, + instinctively; it refuses to be analyzed by the understanding, + and is most of all inaccessible to the person who possesses + it. We can only say, I have it, he has it. You have seen it + often in the eyes of those Italian faces you like. It is most + obvious in the eye. As we look on such eyes, we think on + the tiger, the serpent, beings who lurk, glide, fascinate, + mysteriously control. For it is occult by its nature, and if + it could meet you on the highway, and be familiarly known as + an acquaintance, could not exist. The angels of light do not + love, yet they do not insist on exterminating it. + + 'It has given rise to the fables of wizard, enchantress, and + the like; these beings are scarcely good, yet not necessarily + bad. Power tempts them. They draw their skills from the dead, + because their being is coeval with that of matter, and matter + is the mother of death.' + +In later days, she allowed herself sometimes to dwell sadly on the +resistances which she called her fate, and remarked, that 'all life +that has been or could be natural to me, is invariably denied.' + +She wrote long afterwards:-- + + 'My days at Milan were not unmarked. I have known some happy + hours, but they all lead to sorrow, and not only the cups of + wine, but of milk, seem drugged with poison, for me. It does + not seem to be my fault, this destiny. I do not court these + things,--they come. I am a poor magnet, with power to be + wounded by the bodies I attract.' + + + + +TEMPERAMENT. + + +I said that Margaret had a broad good sense, which brought her near to +all people. I am to say that she had also a strong temperament, which +is that counter force which makes individuality, by driving all the +powers in the direction of the ruling thought or feeling, and, when it +is allowed full sway, isolating them. These two tendencies were always +invading each other, and now one and now the other carried the day. +This alternation perplexes the biographer, as it did the observer. +We contradict on the second page what we affirm on the first: and I +remember how often I was compelled to correct my impressions of her +character when living; for after I had settled it once for all that +she wanted this or that perception, at our next interview she would +say with emphasis the very word. + +I think, in her case, there was something abnormal in those obscure +habits and necessities which we denote by the word Temperament. In the +first days of our acquaintance, I felt her to be a foreigner,--that, +with her, one would always be sensible of some barrier, as if in +making up a friendship with a cultivated Spaniard or Turk. She had a +strong constitution, and of course its reactions were strong; and +this is the reason why in all her life she has so much to say of her +_fate_. She was in jubilant spirits in the morning, and ended the day +with nervous headache, whose spasms, my wife told me, produced total +prostration. She had great energy of speech and action, and seemed +formed for high emergencies. + +Her life concentrated itself on certain happy days, happy hours, happy +moments. The rest was a void. She had read that a man of letters must +lose many days, to work well in one. Much more must a Sappho or a +sibyl. The capacity of pleasure was balanced by the capacity of pain. +'If I had wist!--' she writes, 'I am a worse self-tormentor than +Rousseau, and all my riches are fuel to the fire. My beautiful lore, +like the tropic clime, hatches scorpions to sting me. There is a +verse, which Annie of Lochroyan sings about her ring, that torments my +memory, 'tis so true of myself.' + +When I found she lived at a rate so much faster than mine, and which +was violent compared with mine, I foreboded rash and painful crises, +and had a feeling as if a voice cried, _Stand from under!_--as if, a +little further on, this destiny was threatened with jars and reverses, +which no friendship could avert or console. This feeling partly wore +off, on better acquaintance, but remained latent; and I had always +an impression that her energy was too much a force of blood, and +therefore never felt the security for her peace which belongs to more +purely intellectual natures. She seemed more vulnerable. For the +same reason, she remained inscrutable to me; her strength was not my +strength,--her powers were a surprise. She passed into new states of +great advance, but I understood these no better. It were long to tell +her peculiarities. Her childhood was full of presentiments. She was +then a somnambulist. She was subject to attacks of delirium, and, +later, perceived that she had spectral illusions. When she was twelve, +she had a determination of blood to the head. 'My parents,' she said, + + 'were much mortified to see the fineness of my complexion + destroyed. My own vanity was for a time severely wounded; but + I recovered, and made up my mind to be bright and ugly.' + +She was all her lifetime the victim of disease and pain. She read and +wrote in bed, and believed that she could understand anything better +when she was ill. Pain acted like a girdle, to give tension to her +powers. A lady, who was with her one day during a terrible attack of +nervous headache, which made Margaret totally helpless, assured me +that Margaret was yet in the finest vein of humor, and kept those who +were assisting her in a strange, painful excitement, between +laughing and crying, by perpetual brilliant sallies. There were other +peculiarities of habit and power. When she turned her head on one +side, she alleged she had second sight, like St. Francis. These traits +or predispositions made her a willing listener to all the uncertain +science of mesmerism and its goblin brood, which have been rife in +recent years. + +She had a feeling that she ought to have been a man, and said of +herself, 'A man's ambition with a woman's heart, is an evil lot.' In +some verses which she wrote 'To the Moon,' occur these lines:-- + + 'But if I steadfast gaze upon thy face, + A human secret, like my own, I trace; + For, through the woman's smile looks the male eye.' + +And she found something of true portraiture in a disagreeable novel of +Balzac's, "_Le Livre Mystique_," in which an equivocal figure exerts +alternately a masculine and a feminine influence on the characters of +the plot. + +Of all this nocturnal element in her nature she was very conscious, +and was disposed, of course, to give it as fine names as it would +carry, and to draw advantage from it. 'Attica,' she said to a friend, +'is your province, Thessaly is mine: Attica produced the marble +wonders, of the great geniuses; but Thessaly is the land of magic.' + + 'I have a great share of Typhon to the Osiris, wild rush and + leap, blind force for the sake of force.' + + * * * * * + + 'Dante, thou didst not describe, in all thy apartments of + Inferno, this tremendous repression of an existence half + unfolded; this swoon as the soul was ready to be born.' + + * * * * * + + 'Every year I live, I dislike routine more and more, though I + see that society rests on that, and other falsehoods. The + more I screw myself down to hours, the more I become expert at + giving out thought and life in regulated rations,--the more I + weary of this world, and long to move upon the wing, without + props and sedan chairs.' + + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + + '_Dec._ 26, 1839.--If you could look into my mind just now, + you would send far from you those who love and hate. I am + on the Drachenfels, and cannot get off; it is one of my + naughtiest moods. Last Sunday, I wrote a long letter, + describing it in prose and verse, and I had twenty minds to + send it you as a literary curiosity; then I thought, this + might destroy relations, and I might not be able to be calm + and chip marble with you any more, if I talked to you in + magnetism and music; so I sealed and sent it in the due + direction. + + 'I remember you say, that forlorn seasons often turn out + the most profitable. Perhaps I shall find it so. I have been + reading Plato all the week, because I could not write. I hoped + to be tuned up thereby. I perceive, with gladness, a keener + insight in myself, day by day; yet, after all, could not make + a good statement this morning on the subject of beauty.' + +She had, indeed, a rude strength, which, if it could have been +supported by an equal health, would have given her the efficiency of +the strongest men. As it was, she had great power of work. The account +of her reading in Groton is at a rate like Gibbon's, and, later, that +of her writing, considered with the fact that writing was not grateful +to her, is incredible. She often proposed to her friends, in the +progress of intimacy, to write every day. 'I think less than a daily +offering of thought and feeling would not content me, so much seems +to pass unspoken.' In Italy, she tells Madame Arconati, that she has +'more than a hundred correspondents;' and it was her habit there to +devote one day of every week to those distant friends. The facility +with which she assumed stints of literary labor, which veteran feeders +of the press would shrink from,--assumed and performed,--when her +friends were to be served, I have often observed with wonder, and +with fear, when I considered the near extremes of ill-health, and +the manner in which her life heaped itself in high and happy moments, +which were avenged by lassitude and pain. + + 'As each task comes,' she said, 'I borrow a readiness from its + aspect, as I always do brightness from the face of a friend. + Yet, as soon as the hour is past, I sink.' + +I think most of her friends will remember to have felt, at one time +or another, some uneasiness, as if this athletic soul craved a larger +atmosphere than it found; as if she were ill-timed and mis-mated, +and felt in herself a tide of life, which compared with the slow +circulation of others as a torrent with a rill. She found no full +expression of it but in music. Beethoven's Symphony was the only right +thing the city of the Puritans had for her. Those to whom music has a +representative value, affording them a stricter copy of their inward +life than any other of the expressive arts, will, perhaps, enter into +the spirit which dictated the following letter to her patron saint, on +her return, one evening, from the Boston Academy of Music. + + + + + +TO BEETHOVEN. + + + '_Saturday Evening. 25th Nov._, 1843. + + 'My only friend, + + 'How shall I thank thee for once more breaking the chains of + my sorrowful slumber? My heart beats. I live again, for I feel + that I am worthy audience for thee, and that my being would be + reason enough for thine. + + 'Master, my eyes are always clear. I see that the universe is + rich, if I am poor. I see the insignificance of my sorrows. In + my will, I am not a captive; in my intellect, not a slave. Is + it then my fault that the palsy of my affections benumbs my + whole life? + + 'I know that the curse is but for the time. I know what the + eternal justice promises. But on this one sphere, it is sad. + Thou didst say, thou hadst no friend but thy art. But that one + is enough. I have no art, in which to vent the swell of a soul + as deep as thine, Beethoven, and of a kindred frame. Thou wilt + not think me presumptuous in this saying, as another might. + I have always known that thou wouldst welcome and know me, as + would no other who ever lived upon the earth since its first + creation. + + 'Thou wouldst forgive me, master, that I have not been true to + my eventual destiny, and therefore have suffered on every side + "the pangs of despised love." Thou didst the same; but thou + didst borrow from those errors the inspiration of thy genius. + Why is it not thus with me? Is it because, as a woman, I + am bound by a physical-law, which prevents the soul from + manifesting itself? Sometimes the moon seems mockingly to say + so,--to say that I, too, shall not shine, unless I can find a + sun. O, cold and barren moon, tell a different tale! + + 'But thou, oh blessed master! dost answer all my questions, + and make it my privilege to be. Like a humble wife to the + sage, or poet, it is my triumph that I can understand and + cherish thee: like a mistress, I arm thee for the fight: like + a young daughter, I tenderly bind thy wounds. Thou art to me + beyond compare, for thou art all I want. No heavenly sweetness + of saint or martyr, no many-leaved Raphael, no golden + Plato, is anything to me, compared with thee. The infinite + Shakspeare, the stern Angelo, Dante,--bittersweet like + thee,--are no longer seen in thy presence. And, beside these + names, there are none that could vibrate in thy crystal + sphere. Thou hast all of them, and that ample surge of life + besides, that great winged being which they only dreamed of. + There is none greater than Shakspeare; he, too, is a god; but + his creations are successive; thy _fiat_ comprehends them all. + + 'Last summer, I met thy mood in nature, on those wide + impassioned plains flower and crag-bestrown. There, the tide + of emotion had rolled over, and left the vision of its smiles + and sobs, as I saw to-night from thee. + + 'If thou wouldst take me wholly to thyself--! I am lost in + this world, where I sometimes meet angels, but of a different + star from mine. Even so does thy spirit plead with all + spirits. But thou dost triumph and bring them all in. + + 'Master, I have this summer envied the oriole which had even + a swinging nest in the high bough. I have envied the least + flower that came to seed, though that seed were strown to the + wind. But I envy none when I am with thee.' + + + + +SELF-ESTEEM. + + +Margaret at first astonished and repelled us by a complacency that +seemed the most assured since the days of Scaliger. She spoke, in the +quietest manner, of the girls she had formed, the young men who owed +everything to her, the fine companions she had long ago exhausted. In +the coolest way, she said to her friends, 'I now know all the people +worth knowing in America, and I find no intellect comparable to my +own.' In vain, on one occasion, I professed my reverence for a youth +of genius, and my curiosity in his future,--'O no, she was intimate +with his mind,' and I 'spoiled him, by overrating him.' Meantime, +we knew that she neither had seen, nor would see, his subtle +superiorities. + +I have heard, that from the beginning of her life, she idealized +herself as a sovereign. She told--she early saw herself to be +intellectually superior to those around her, and that for years she +dwelt upon the idea, until she believed that she was not her +parents' child, but an European princess confided to their care. She +remembered, that, when a little girl, she was walking one day under +the apple trees with such an air and step, that her father pointed her +out to her sister, saying, _Incedit regina._ And her letters sometimes +convey these exultations, as the following, which was written to +a lady, and which contained Margaret's translation of Goethe's +"Prometheus." + + To ----. + + 1838.--Which of us has not felt the questionings expressed in + this bold fragment? Does it not seem, were we gods, or could + steal their fire, we would make men not only happier, but + free,--glorious? Yes, my life is strange; thine is strange. We + are, we shall be, in this life, mutilated beings, but there + is in my bosom a faith, that I shall see the reason; a glory, + that I can endure to be so imperfect; and a feeling, ever + elastic, that fate and time shall have the shame and the + blame, if I am mutilated. I will do all I can,--and, if one + cannot succeed, there is a beauty in martyrdom. + + Your letters are excellent. I did not mean to check your + writing, only I thought that you might wish a confidence + that I must anticipate with a protest. But I take my natural + position always: and the more I see, the more I feel that it + is regal. Without throne, sceptre, or guards, still a queen. + +It is certain that Margaret occasionally let slip, with all the +innocence imaginable, some phrase betraying the presence of a rather +mountainous ME, in a way to surprise those who knew her good +sense. She could say, as if she were stating a scientific fact, in +enumerating the merits of somebody, 'He appreciates _me_.' There +was something of hereditary organization in this, and something of +unfavorable circumstance in the fact, that she had in early life no +companion, and few afterwards, in her finer studies; but there was +also an ebullient sense of power, which she felt to be in her, which +as yet had found no right channels. I remember she once said to me, +what I heard as a mere statement of fact, and nowise as unbecoming, +that 'no man gave such invitation to her mind as to tempt her to a +full expression; that she felt a power to enrich her thought with such +wealth and variety of embellishment as would, no doubt, be tedious to +such as she conversed with.' + +Her impatience she expressed as she could. 'I feel within myself,' she +said, + + 'an immense force, but I cannot bring it out. It may sound + like a joke, but I do feel something corresponding to that + tale of the Destinies falling in love with Hermes.' + +In her journal, in the summer of 1844, she writes:-- + + 'Mrs. Ware talked with me about education,--wilful + education,--in which she is trying to get interested. I talk + with a Goethean moderation on this subject, which rather + surprises her and ----, who are nearer the entrance of the + studio. I am really old on this subject. In near eight years' + experience, I have learned as much as others would in eighty, + from my great talent at explanation, tact in the use of + means, and immediate and invariable power over the minds of + my pupils. My wish has been, to purify my own conscience, when + near them; give clear views of the aims of this life; show + them where the magazines of knowledge lie; and leave the rest + to themselves and the Spirit, who must teach and help them to + self-impulse. I told Mrs. W. it was much if we did not injure + them; if they were passing the time in a way that was _not + bad_, so that good influences have a chance. Perhaps people + in general must expect greater outward results, or they would + feel no interest.' + +Again: + + 'With the intellect I always have, always shall, overcome; but + that is not the half of the work. The life, the life! O, my + God! shall the life never be sweet?' + +I have inquired diligently of those who saw her often, and in +different companies, concerning her habitual tone, and something like +this is the report:--In conversation, Margaret seldom, except as a +special grace, admitted others upon an equal ground with herself. She +was exceedingly tender, when she pleased to be, and most cherishing +in her influence; but to elicit this tenderness, it was necessary to +submit first to her personally. When a person was overwhelmed by +her, and answered not a word, except, "Margaret, be merciful to me, a +sinner," then her love and tenderness would come like a seraph's, +and often an acknowledgment that she had been too harsh, and even a +craving for pardon, with a humility,--which, perhaps, she had caught +from the other. But her instinct was not humility,--that was always an +afterthought. + +This arrogant tone of her conversation, if it came to be the subject +of comment, of course, she defended, and with such broad good nature, +and on grounds of simple truth, as were not easy to set aside. She +quoted from Manzoni's _Carmagnola_, the lines:-- + + "Tolga il ciel che alcuno + Piu altamente di me pensi ch'io stesso." + +"God forbid that any one should conceive more highly of me than +I myself." Meantime, the tone of her journals is humble, tearful, +religious, and rises easily into prayer. + +I am obliged to an ingenious correspondent for the substance of the +following account of this idiosyncrasy:-- + + Margaret was one of the few persons who looked upon life as an + art, and every person not merely as an artist, but as a work + of art. She looked upon herself as a living statue, which + should always stand on a polished pedestal, with right + accessories, and under the most fitting lights. She would have + been glad to have everybody so live and act. She was annoyed + when they did not, and when they did not regard her from the + point of view which alone did justice to her. No one could + be more lenient in her judgments of those whom she saw to be + living in this light. Their faults were to be held as "the + disproportions of the ungrown giant." But the faults of + persons who were unjustified by this ideal, were odious. + Unhappily, her constitutional self-esteem sometimes blinded + the eyes that should have seen that an idea lay at the bottom + of some lives which she did not quite so readily comprehend as + beauty; that truth had other manifestations than those which + engaged her natural sympathies; that sometimes the soul + illuminated only the smallest arc--of a circle so large that + it was lost in the clouds of another world. + +This apology reminds me of a little speech once made to her, at his +own house, by Dr. Channing, who held her in the highest regard: "Miss +Fuller, when I consider that you are and have all that Miss ---- has +so long wished for, and that you scorn her, and that she still admires +you,--I think her place in heaven will be very high." + +But qualities of this kind can only be truly described by the +impression they make on the bystander; and it is certain that her +friends excused in her, because she had a right to it, a tone which +they would have reckoned intolerable in any other. Many years since, +one of her earliest and fastest friends quoted Spenser's sonnet as +accurately descriptive of Margaret:-- + + "Rudely thou wrongest my dear heart's desire, + In finding fault with her too portly pride; + The thing which I do most in her admire + Is of the world unworthy most envied. + For, in those lofty looks is close implied + Scorn of base things, disdain of foul dishonor, + Threatening rash eyes which gaze on her so wide + That loosely they ne dare to look upon her: + Such pride is praise, such portliness is honor, + That boldened innocence bears in her eyes; + And her fair countenance, like a goodly banner, + Spreads in defiance of all enemies. + Was never in this world aught worthy tried, + Without a spark of some self-pleasing pride." + + + + +BOOKS. + + +She had been early remarked for her sense and sprightliness, and for +her skill in school exercises. Now she had added wide reading, and +of the books most grateful to her. She had read the Italian poets +by herself, and from sympathy. I said, that, by the leading part +she naturally took, she had identified herself with all the elegant +culture in this country. Almost every person who had any distinction +for wit, or art, or scholarship, was known to her; and she was +familiar with the leading books and topics. There is a kind of +undulation in the popularity of the great writers, even of the first +rank. We have seen a recent importance given to Behmen and Swedenborg; +and Shakspeare has unquestionably gained with the present generation. +It is distinctive, too, of the taste of the period,--the new vogue +given to the genius of Dante. An edition of Cary's translation, +reprinted in Boston, many years ago, was rapidly sold; and, for the +last twenty years, all studious youths and maidens have been reading +the Inferno. Margaret had very early found her way to Dante, and from +a certain native preference which she felt or fancied for the Italian +genius. The following letter, though of a later date, relates to these +studies:-- + + TO R.W.E. + + '_December_, 1842.--When you were here, you seemed to think I + might perhaps have done something on the _Vita Nuova_; and the + next day I opened the book, and considered how I could do + it. But you shall not expect that, either, for your present + occasion. When I first mentioned it to you, it was only as a + piece of Sunday work, which I thought of doing for you alone; + and because it has never seemed to me you entered enough into + the genius of the Italian to apprehend the mind, which has + seemed so great to me, and a star unlike, if not higher than + all the others in our sky. Else, I should have given you + the original, rather than any version of mine. I intended to + translate the poems, with which it is interspersed, into plain + prose. Milnes and Longfellow have tried each their power at + doing it in verse, and have done better, probably, than I + could, yet not well. But this would not satisfy me for the + public. Besides, the translating Dante is a piece of literary + presumption, and challenges a criticism to which I am not sure + that I am, as the Germans say, _gewachsen_. Italian, as well + as German, I learned by myself, unassisted, except as to the + pronunciation. I have never been brought into connection + with minds trained to any severity in these kinds of elegant + culture. I have used all the means within my reach, but my not + going abroad is an insuperable defect in the technical part + of my education. I was easily capable of attaining excellence, + perhaps mastery, in the use of some implements. Now I know, + at least, _what I do not know_, and I get along by never + voluntarily going beyond my depth, and, when called on to do + it, stating my incompetency. At moments when I feel tempted to + regret that I could not follow out the plan I had marked + for myself, and develop powers which are not usual here, I + reflect, that if I had attained high finish and an easy range + in these respects, I should not have been thrown back on my + own resources, or known them as I do. But Lord Brougham should + not translate Greek orations, nor a maid-of-all-work attempt + such a piece of delicate handling as to translate the _Vita + Nuova_.' + +Here is a letter, without date, to another correspondent: + + 'To-day, on reading over some of the sonnets of Michel Angelo, + I felt them more than usual. I know not why I have not read + them thus before, except that the beauty was pointed out to me + at first by another, instead of my coming unexpectedly upon + it of myself. All the great writers, all the persons who have + been dear to me, I have found and chosen; they have not been + proposed to me. My intimacy with them came upon me as natural + eras, unexpected and thrice dear. Thus I have appreciated, but + not been able to feel, Michel Angelo as a poet. + + 'It is a singular fact in my mental history, that, while I + understand the principles and construction of language much + better than formerly, I cannot read so well _les langues + meridionales_. I suppose it is that I am less _meridionale_ + myself. I understand the genius of the north better than I + did.' + +Dante, Petrarca, Tasso, were her friends among the old poets,--for to +Ariosto she assigned a far lower place,--Alfieri and Manzoni, among +the new. But what was of still more import to her education, she had +read German books, and, for the three years before I knew her, almost +exclusively,--Lessing, Schiller, Richter, Tieck, Novalis, and, above +all, GOETHE. It was very obvious, at the first intercourse with her, +though her rich and busy mind never reproduced undigested reading, +that the last writer,--food or poison,--the most powerful of all +mental reagents,--the pivotal mind in modern literature,--for all +before him are ancients, and all who have read him are moderns,--that +this mind had been her teacher, and, of course, the place was filled, +nor was there room for any other. She had that symptom which appears +in all the students of Goethe,--an ill-dissembled contempt of all +criticism on him which they hear from others, as if it were totally +irrelevant; and they are themselves always preparing to say the right +word,--a _prestige_ which is allowed, of course, until they do +speak: when they have delivered their volley, they pass, like their +foregoers, to the rear. + +The effect on Margaret was complete. She was perfectly timed to it. +She found her moods met, her topics treated, the liberty of thought +she loved, the same climate of mind. Of course, this book superseded +all others, for the time, and tinged deeply all her thoughts. The +religion, the science, the Catholicism, the worship of art, the +mysticism and daemonology, and withal the clear recognition of moral +distinctions as final and eternal, all charmed her; and Faust, and +Tasso, and Mignon, and Makaria, and Iphigenia, became irresistible +names. It was one of those agreeable historical coincidences, perhaps +invariable, though not yet registered, the simultaneous appearance +of a teacher and of pupils, between whom exists a strict affinity. +Nowhere did Goethe find a braver, more intelligent, or more +sympathetic reader. About the time I knew her, she was meditating +a biography of Goethe, and did set herself to the task in 1837. She +spent much time on it, and has left heaps of manuscripts, which are +notes, transcripts, and studies in that direction. But she wanted +leisure and health to finish it, amid the multitude of projected works +with which her brain teemed. She used great discretion on this point, +and made no promises. In 1839, she published her translation of +Eckermann, a book which makes the basis of the translation of +Eckermann since published in London, by Mr. Oxenford. In the Dial, +in July, 1841, she wrote an article on Goethe, which is, on many +accounts, her best paper. + + + + +CRITICISM. + + +Margaret was in the habit of sending to her correspondents, in lieu of +letters, sheets of criticism on her recent readings. From such quite +private folios, never intended for the press, and, indeed, containing +here and there names and allusions, which it is now necessary to veil +or suppress, I select the following notices, chiefly of French books. +Most of these were addressed to me, but the three first to an earlier +friend. + + 'Reading Schiller's introduction to the Wars of the League, + I have been led back to my old friend, the Duke of Sully, + and his charming king. He was a man, that Henri! How gay and + graceful seems his unflinching frankness! He wore life + as lightly as the feather in his cap. I have become much + interested, too, in the two Guises, who had seemed to me mere + intriguers, and not of so splendid abilities, when I was less + able to appreciate the difficulties they daily and hourly + combated. I want to read some more books about them. Do you + know whether I could get Matthieu, or de Thou, or the Memoirs + of the House of Nevers? + + 'I do not think this is a respectable way of passing my + summer, but I cannot help it. + + 'I never read any life of Moliere. Are the facts very + interesting? You see clearly in his writing what he was: a + man not high, not poetic; but firm, wide, genuine, whose + clearsightedness only made him more noble. I love him well + that he could see without showing these myriad mean faults of + the social man, and yet make no nearer approach to misanthropy + than his Alceste. These witty Frenchmen. Rabelais, Montaigne, + Moliere, are great as were their marshals and _preux + chevaliers_; when the Frenchman tries to be poetical, + he becomes theatrical, but he can be romantic, and also + dignified, maugre shrugs and snuff-boxes.' + + * * * * * + + '_Thursday Evening_.--Although I have been much engaged these + two days. I have read Spiridion twice. I could have wished + to go through it the second time more at leisure, but as I am + going away, I thought I would send it back, lest it should be + wanted before my return. + + 'The development of the religious sentiment being the same as + in Helene, I at first missed the lyric effusion of that work, + which seems to me more and more beautiful, as I think of it + more. This, however, was a mere prejudice, of course, as the + thought here is poured into a quite different mould, and I was + not troubled by it on a second reading. + + 'Again, when I came to look at the work by itself, I thought + the attempt too bold. A piece of character-painting does not + seem to be the place for a statement of these wide and high + subjects. For here the philosophy is not merely implied in the + poetry and religion, but assumes to show a face of its own. + And, as none should meddle with these matters who are not in + earnest, so, such will prefer to find the thought of a teacher + or fellow-disciple expressed as directly and as bare of + ornament as possible. + + 'I was interested in De Wette's Theodor, and that learned and + (_on dit_) profound man seemed to me so to fail, that I did + not finish the book, nor try whether I could believe the + novice should ever arrive at manly stature. + + 'I am not so clear as to the scope and bearing of this + book, as of that. I suppose if I were to read Lamennais, or + L'Erminier, I should know what they all want or intend. And + if you meet with _Les paroles d'un Croyant_, I will beg you to + get it for me, for I am more curious than ever. I had supposed + the view taken by these persons in France, to be the same with + that of Novalis and the German Catholics, in which I have + been deeply interested. But from this book, it would seem to + approach the faith of some of my friends here, which has been + styled Psychotheism. And the gap in the theoretical fabric is + the same as with them. I read with unutterable interest the + despair of Alexis in his Eclectic course, his return to the + teachings of external nature, his new birth, and consequent + appreciation of poetry and music. But the question of Free + Will,--how to reconcile its workings with necessity and + compensation,--how to reconcile the life of the heart with + that of the intellect,--how to listen to the whispering breeze + of Spirit, while breasting, as a man should, the surges of the + world,--these enigmas Sand and her friends seem to have solved + no better than M.F. and her friends. + + 'The practical optimism is much the same as ours, except that + there is more hope for the masses--soon. + + 'This work is written with great vigor, scarce any faltering + on the wing. The horrors are disgusting, as are those of every + writer except Dante. Even genius should content itself in + dipping the pencil in cloud and mist. The apparitions of + Spiridion are managed with great beauty. As in Helene, as in + Novalis, I recognized, with delight, the eye that gazed, the + ear that listened, till the spectres came, as they do to the + Highlander on his rocky couch, to the German peasant on his + mountain. How different from the vulgar eye which looks, but + never sees! Here the beautiful apparition advances from the + solar ray, or returns to the fountain of light and truth, as + it should, when eagle eyes are gazing. + + 'I am astonished at her insight into the life of thought. She + must know it through some man. Women, under any circumstances, + can scarce do more than dip the foot in this broad and deep + river; they have not strength to contend with the current. + Brave, if they do not delicately shrink from the cold water. + No Sibyls have existed like those of Michel Angelo; those + of Raphael are the true brides of a God, but not themselves + divine. It is easy for women to be heroic in action, but when + it comes to interrogating God, the universe, the soul, and, + above all, trying to live above their own hearts, they dart + down to their nests like so many larks, and, if they cannot + find them, fret like the French Corinne. Goethe's Makaria + was born of the stars. Mr. Flint's Platonic old lady a _lusus + naturae_, and the Dudevant has loved a philosopher. + + 'I suppose the view of the present state of Catholicism no way + exaggerated. Alexis is no more persecuted than Abelard was, + and is so, for the same reasons. From the examinations of the + Italian convents in Leopold's time, it seems that the grossest + materialism not only reigns, but is taught and professed in + them. And Catholicism loads and infects as all dead forms do, + however beautiful and noble during their lives.' * * + + + + +GEORGE SAND, AGAIN. + + + '1839.--When I first knew George Sand, I thought I found tried + the experiment I wanted. I did not value Bettine so much; + she had not pride enough for me; only now when I am sure of + myself, would I pour out my soul at the feet of another. In + the assured soul it is kingly prodigality; in one which cannot + forbear, it is mere babyhood. I love _abandon_ only when + natures are capable of the extreme reverse. I knew Bettine + would end in nothing, when I read her book. I knew she could + not outlive her love. + + 'But in _Les Sept Cordes de la Lyre_, which I read first, I + saw the knowledge of the passions, and of social institutions, + with the celestial choice which rose above them. I loved + Helene, who could so well hear the terrene voices, yet keep + her eye fixed on the stars. That would be my wish, also, to + know all, then choose; I ever revered her, for I was not sure + that I could have resisted the call of the Now, could have + left the spirit, and gone to God. And, at a more ambitious + age, I could not have refused the philosopher. But I hoped + from her steadfastness, and I thought I heard the last tones + of a purified life:--Gretchen, in the golden cloud, raised + above all past delusions, worthy to redeem and upbear the wise + man, who stumbled into the pit of error while searching for + truth. + + 'Still, in _Andre_, and in _Jacques_, I traced the same high + morality of one who had tried the liberty of circumstance + only to learn to appreciate the liberty of law, to know that + license is the foe of freedom. And, though the sophistry of + passion in these books disgusted me, flowers of purest hue + seemed to grow upon the dank and dirty ground. I thought she + had cast aside the slough of her past life, and began a new + existence beneath the sun of a true Ideal. + + 'But here (in the _Lettres d'un Voyageur_) what do I see? An + unfortunate bewailing her loneliness, bewailing her mistakes, + writing for money! She has genius, and a manly grasp of mind, + but not a manly heart! Will there never be a being to combine + a mail's mind and woman's heart, and who yet finds life too + rich to weep over? Never? + + 'When I read in _Leone Lioni_ the account of the jeweller's + daughter's life with her mother, passed in dress and in + learning to be looked at when dressed, _avec un front + impassible_, it reminded me exceedingly of ----, and her + mother. What a heroine she would be for Sand! She has the same + fearless softness with Juliet, and a sportive _naivete_, a + mixture of bird and kitten, unknown to the dupe of Lioni. + + 'If I were a man, and wished a wife, as many do, merely as an + ornament, or silken toy, I would take ---- as soon as any I + know. Her fantastic, impassioned, and mutable nature would + yield an inexhaustible amusement. She is capable of the most + romantic actions;--wild as the falcon, and voluptuous as the + tuberose,--yet she has not in her the elements of romance, + like a deeper and less susceptible nature. My cold and + reasoning E., with her one love lying, perhaps, never to be + unfolded, beneath such sheaths of pride and reserve, would + make a far better heroine. + + 'Both these characters are natural, while S. and T. are + _naturally factitious_, because so imitative, and her mother + differs from Juliet and her mother, by the impulse a single + strong character gave them. Even at this distance of time, + there is a slight but perceptible taste of iron in the water. + + 'George Sand disappoints me, as almost all beings have, + especially since I have been brought close to her person + by the _Lettres d'un Voyageur_. Her remarks on Lavater seem + really shallow, and hasty, _a la mode du genre femenin_. No + self-ruling Aspasia she, but a frail woman mourning over a + lot. Any peculiarity in her destiny seems accidental. She is + forced to this and that, to earn her bread forsooth! + + 'Yet her style,--with what a deeply smouldering fire it + burns!--not vehement, but intense, like Jean Jacques.' + + + + +ALFRED DE VIGNY. + + + '_Sept._, 1839. + + '"La harpe tremble encore, et la flute soupire." + + 'Sometimes we doubt this, and think the music has finally + ceased, so sultry still lies the air around us, or only + disturbed by the fife and drum of talent, calling to the + parade-ground of social life. The ear grows dull. + + '"Faith asks her daily bread, + And Fancy is no longer fed." + + 'So materialistic is the course of common life, that we _ask + daily_ new Messiahs from literature and art, to turn us from + the Pharisaic observance of law, to the baptism of spirit. But + stars arise upon our murky sky, and the flute _soupire_ from + the quarter where we least expect it. + + '_La jeune France_! I had not believed in this youthful + pretender. I thought she had no pure blood in her veins, no + aristocratic features in her face, no natural grace in her + gait. I thought her an illegitimate child of the generous, but + extravagant youth of Germany. I thought she had been left at + the foundling hospital, as not worth a parent's care, and that + now, grown up, she was trying to prove at once her parentage + and her charms by certificates which might be headed, Innocent + Adultery, Celestial Crime, &c. + + 'The slight acquaintance I had with Hugo, and company, did not + dispel these impressions. And I thought Chateaubriand (far too + French for my taste also,) belonged to _l'ancien regime_, and + that Beranger and Courier stood apart. Nodier, Paul de Kock, + Sue, Jules Janin, I did not know, except through the absurd + reports of English reviewers; Le Maistre and Lamennais, as + little. + + 'But I have now got a peep at this galaxy. I begin to divine + the meaning of St. Simonianism, Cousinism, and the movement + which the same causes have produced in belles-lettres. I + perceive that _la jeune France_ is the legitimate, though far + younger sister of Germany; taught by her, but not born of her, + but of a common mother. I see, at least begin to see, what + she has learned from England, and what the bloody rain of + the revolution has done to fertilize her soil, naturally too + light. + + 'Blessed be the early days when I sat at the feet of Rousseau, + prophet sad and stately as any of Jewry! Every onward movement + of the age, every downward step into the solemn depths of my + own soul, recalls thy oracles, O Jean Jacques! But as these + things only glimmer upon me at present, clouds of rose and + amber, in the perspective of a long, dim woodland glade, which + I must traverse if I would get a fair look at them from the + hill-top,--as I cannot, to say sooth, get the works of these + always working geniuses, but by slow degrees, in a country + that has no heed of them till her railroads and canals are + finished,--I need not jot down my petty impressions of the + movement writers. I wish to speak of one among them, aided, + honored by them, but not of them. He is to _la jeune France_ + rather the herald of a tourney, or the master of ceremonies + at a patriotic festival, than a warrior for her battles, or an + advocate to win her cause. + + 'The works of M. de Vigny having come in my way, I have read + quite through this thick volume. + + 'I read, a year since, in the London and Westminster, + an admirable sketch of Armand Carrel. The writer speaks + particularly of the use of which Carrel's experience of + practical life had been to him as an author; how it had + tempered and sharpened the blade of his intellect to the + Damascene perfection. It has been of like use to de Vigny, + though not in equal degree. + + 'De Vigny _passed_,--but for manly steadfastness, he would + probably say _wasted_,--his best years in the army. He is now + about forty; and we have in this book the flower of these best + years. It is a night-blooming Cereus, for his days were passed + in the duties of his profession. These duties, so tiresome and + unprofitable in time of peace, were the ground in which the + seed sprang up, which produced these many-leaved and calm + night-flowers. + + 'The first portion of this volume, _Servitude et Grandeurs + Militaires_, contains an account of the way in which he + received his false tendency. Cherished on the "wounded + knees" of his aged father, he listened to tales of the great + Frederic, whom the veteran had known personally. After an + excellent sketch of the king, he says: "I expatiate here, + almost in spite of myself, because this was the first great + man whose portrait was thus drawn for me at home,--a portrait + after nature,--and because my admiration of him was the first + symptom of my useless love of arms,--the first cause of one of + the most complete delusions of my life." This admiration + for the great king remained so lively in his mind, that even + Bonaparte in his gestures seemed to him, in later days, a + plagiarist. + + 'At the military school, "the drum stifled the voices of our + masters, and the mysterious voices of books seemed to us cold + and pedantic. Tropes and logarithms seemed to us only steps to + mount to the star of the Legion of Honor,--the fairest star of + heaven to us children." + + '"No meditation could keep long in chains heads made + constantly giddy by the noise of cannon and bells for the _Te + Deum_. When one of our former comrades returned to pay us a + visit in uniform, and his arm in a scarf, we blushed at + our books, and threw them at the heads of our teachers. Our + teachers were always reading us bulletins from the _grande + armee_, and our cries of _Vive l'Empereur_ interrupted Tacitus + and Plato. Our preceptors resembled heralds of arms, our study + halls barracks, and our examinations reviews." + + 'Thus was he led into the army; and, he says, "It was only + very late, that I perceived that my services were one long + mistake, and that I had imported into a life altogether + active, a nature altogether contemplative." + + 'He entered the army at the time of Napoleon's fall, and, + like others, wasted life in waiting for war. For these young + persons could not believe that peace and calm were possible to + France; could not believe that she could lead any life but one + of conquest. + + 'As De Vigny was gradually undeceived, he says: "Loaded with + an ennui which I did not dream of in a life I had so ardently + desired, it became a necessity to me to detach myself by night + from the vain and tiresome tumult of military days. From these + nights, in which I enlarged in silence the knowledge I had + acquired from our public and tumultuous studies, proceeded + my poems and books. From these days, there remain to me these + recollections, whose chief traits I here assemble around one + idea. For, not reckoning for the glory of arms, either on + the present or future, I sought it in the souvenirs of my + comrades. My own little adventures will not serve, except + as frame to those pictures of the military life, and of + the manners of our armies, all whose traits are by no means + known." + + 'And thus springs up, in the most natural manner, this little + book on the army. + + 'It has the truth, the delicacy, and the healthiness of a + production native to the soil; the merit of love-letters, + journals, lyric poems, &c., written without any formal + intention of turning life into a book, but because the writer + could not help it. What, more than anything else, engaged the + attention of De Vigny, was the false position of two beings + towards a factitious society: the soldier, now that standing + armies are the mode, and the poet, now that Olympic games + or pastimes are not the mode. He has treated the first best, + because with profounder _connoissance du fait_. For De Vigny + is not a poet; he has only an eye to perceive the existence + of these birds of heaven. But in few ways, except their own + broken harp-tone's thrill, have their peculiar sorrows and + difficulties been so well illustrated. The character of the + soldier, with its virtues and faults, is portrayed with such + delicacy, that to condense would ruin. The peculiar reserve, + the habit of duty, the beauty of a character which cannot look + forward, and need not look back, are given with distinguished + finesse. + + 'Of the three stories which adorn this part of the book, + _Le Cachet Rouge_ is the loveliest, _La Canne au Jonc_ the + noblest. Never was anything more sweetly naive than parts of + _Le Cachet Rouge_. _La pauvre petite femme_, she was just such + a person as my ----. And then the farewell injunctions,--_du + pauvre petite mare_,--the nobleness and the coarseness of + the poor captain. It is as original as beautiful, _c'est dire + beaucoup_. In _La Canne au Jonc_, Collingwood, who embodies + the high feeling of duty, is taken too raw out of a book,--his + letters to his daughters. But the effect on the character of + _le Capitaine Renaud_, and the unfolding of his interior life, + are done with the spiritual beauty of Manzoni. + + '_Cinq-Mars_ is a romance in the style of Walter Scott. It + is well brought out, figures in good relief, lights well + distributed, sentiment high, but nowhere exaggerated, + knowledge exact, and the good and bad of human nature painted + with that impartiality which becomes a man, and a man of the + world. All right, no failure anywhere; also, no wonderful + success, no genius, no magic. It is one of those works which + I should consider only excusable as the amusement of leisure + hours; and, though few could write it, chiefly valuable to the + writer. + + 'Here he has arranged, as in a bouquet, what he knew,--and a + great deal it is,--of the time of Louis XIII., as he has of + the Regency in "La Marechale d'Ancre,"--a much finer work, + indeed one of the best-arranged and finished modern dramas. + The Leonora Galigai is better than anything I have seen in + Victor Hugo, and as good as Schiller. Stello is a bolder + attempt. It is the history of three poets,--Gilbert, Andre + Chenier, Chatterton. He has also written a drama called + Chatterton, inferior to the story here. The "marvellous boy" + seems to have captivated his imagination marvellously. In + thought, these productions are worthless; for taste, beauty of + sentiment, and power of description, remarkable. His advocacy + of the poets' cause is about as effective and well-planned + as Don Quixote's tourney with the wind-mill. How would you + provide for the poet _bon homme_ De Vigny?--from a joint-stock + company Poet's Fund, or how? + + 'His translation of Othello, which I glanced at, is good for a + Frenchman. + + 'Among his poems, La Fregate, La Serieuse, Madame de Soubise, + and Dolorida, please me especially. The last has an elegiac + sweetness and finish, which are rare. It also makes a perfect + gem of a cabinet picture. Some have a fine strain of natural + melody, and give you at once the key-note of the situation, as + this:-- + + '"J'aime le son du cor le soir, au fond des bois, + Soit qu'il chante," &c. + + And + + '"Qu'il est doux, qu'il est doux d'ecouter les histoires + Des histoires du temps passe + Quand les branches des arbres sont noires, + Quand la neige est essaisse, et charge un sol glace, + Quand seul dans un ciel pale un peuplier s'elance, + Quand sous le manteau blanc qui vient de le cacher + L'immobile corbeau sur l'arbre se balance + Comme la girouette au bout du long clocher." + + 'These poems generally are only interesting as the leisure + hours of an interesting man. + + 'De Vigny writes in an excellent style; soft, fresh, + deliberately graceful. Such a style is like fine manners; + you think of the words select, appropriate, rather than + distinguished, or beautiful. De Vigny is a perfect gentleman; + and his refinement is rather that of the gentleman than that + of the poets whom he is so full of. In character, he looks + naturally at those things which interest the man of honor + and the man of taste. But for literature, he would have + known nothing about the poets. He should be the elegant + and instructive companion of social, not the priest or the + minstrel of solitary hours. + + 'Neither has he logic or grasp with his reasoning powers, + though of this, also, he is ambitious. Observation is his + forte. To see, and to tell with grace, often with dignity and + pathos, what he sees, is his proper vocation. Yet, where he + fails, he has too much tact and modesty to be despised; and + we cannot enough admire the absence of faults in a man whose + ambition soared so much beyond his powers, and in an age and + a country so full of false taste. He is never seduced into + sentimentality, paradox, violent contrast, and, above all, + never makes the mistake of confounding the horrible with the + sublime. Above all, he never falls into the error, common + to merely elegant minds, of painting leading minds "_en + gigantesque_." His Richelieu and his Bonaparte are treated + with great calmness, and with dignified ease, almost as + beautiful as majestic superiority. + + 'In this volume is contained all that is on record of the + inner life of a man of forty years. How many suns, how many + rains and dews, to produce a few buds and flowers, some sweet, + but not rich fruit! We cannot help demanding of the man of + talent that he should be like "the orange tree, that busy + plant." But, as Landor says, "He who has any thoughts of any + worth can, and probably will, afford to let the greater part + lie fallow." + + 'I have not made a note upon De Vigny's notions of abnegation, + which he repeats as often as Dr. Channing the same watch-word + of self-sacrifice. It is that my views are not yet matured, + and I can have no judgment on the point.' + + + + +BERANGER. + + + '_Sept._, 1839.--I have lately been reading some of Beranger's + _chansons_. The hour was not propitious. I was in a mood the + very reverse of Roger Bontemps, and beset with circumstances + the most unsuited to make me sympathize with the prayer-- + + '"Pardonnez la gaiete + De ma philosophie;" + + yet I am not quite insensible to their wit, high sentiment, + and spontaneous grace. A wit that sparkles all over the ocean + of life, a sentiment that never puts the best foot forward, + but prefers the tone of delicate humor, to the mouthings of + tragedy; a grace so aerial, that it nowhere requires the aid + of a thought, for in the light refrains of these productions, + the meaning is felt as much as in the most pointed lines. + Thus, in "Les Mirmidons," the refrain-- + + '"Mirmidons, race feconde, + Mirmidons + Enfin nous commandons, + Jupiter livre le monde, + Aux mirmidons, aux mirmidons, (bis.)" + + 'The swarming of the insects about the dead lion is expressed + as forcibly as in the most sarcastic passage of the chanson. + In "La Faridondaine" every sound is a witticism, and levels + to the ground a bevy of what Byron calls "garrison people." + "Halte la! ou la systeme des interpretations" is equally + witty, though there the form seems to be as much in the + saying, as in the comic melody of sound. + + 'In "Adieux a la Campagne," "Souvenirs du Peuple," "La Deesse + de la Liberte," "La Convoi de David," a melancholy pathos + breathes, which touches the heart the more that it is + so unpretending. "Ce n'est plus Lisette," "Mon Habit," + "L'Independant," "Vous vieillirez, O ma belle Maitresse," a + gentle graceful sadness wins us. In "Le Dieu des Bonnes Gens," + "Les Etoiles qui filent," "Les Conseils de Lise," "Treize a + Table," a noble dignity is admired, while such as "La Fortune" + and "La Metempsycose" are inimitable in their childlike + playfulness. "Ma Vocation" I have had and admired for many + years. He is of the pure ore, a darling fairy changling of + great mother Nature; the poet of the people, and, therefore, + of all in the upper classes sufficiently intelligent and + refined to appreciate the wit and sentiment of the people. + But his wit is so truly French in its lightness and sparkling, + feathering vivacity, that one like me, accustomed to the + bitterness of English tonics, suicidal November melancholy, + and Byronic wrath of satire, cannot appreciate him at once. + But when used to the gentler stimuli, we like them best, + and we also would live awhile in the atmosphere of music and + mirth, content if we have "bread for to-day, and hope for + to-morrow." + + 'There are fine lines in his "Cinq Mai;" the sentiment is as + grand as Manzoni's, though not sustained by the same majestic + sweep of diction, as,-- + + '"Ce rocher repousse l'esperance, + L'Aigle n'est plus dans le secret des dieux, + Il fatiguait la victoire a le suivre, + Elle etait lasse: il ne l'attendit pas." + + 'And from "La Gerontocratie, ou les infiniment petits:" + + '"Combien d'imperceptibles etres, + De petits jesuites bilieux! + De milliers d'autres petits pretres, + Lui portent de petits bons dieux." + + 'But wit, poet, man of honor, tailor's grandson and fairy's + favorite, he must speak for himself, and the best that can be + felt or thought of him cannot be said in the way of criticism. + I will copy and keep a few of his songs. I should like to keep + the whole collection by me, and take it up when my faith in + human nature required the gentlest of fortifying draughts. + + 'How fine his answer to those who asked about the "de" before + his name!-- + + '"Je suis vilain, + Vilain, vilain," &c. + J'honore une race commune, + Car, sensible, quoique malin, + Je n'ai flatte que l'infortune." + + 'In a note to "Couplets on M. Laisney, _imprimeur a Peronne_," + he says: "It was in his printing-house that I was put to + prentice; not having been able to learn orthography, he + imparted to me the taste for poetry, gave me lessons in + versification, and corrected my first essays." + + 'Of Bonaparte,-- + + '"Un conquerant, dans sa fortune altiere, + Se fit un jeu des sceptres et des lois, + Et de ses pieds on peut voir la poussiere + Empreinte encore sur le bandeau des rois." + + 'I admire, also, "Le Violon brise," for its grace and + sweetness. How fine Beranger on Waterloo!-- + + '"Its name shall never sadden verse of mine."' + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + + '_Niagara, 1st June, 1843_.--I send you a token, made by + the hands of some Seneca Indian lady. If you use it for a + watch-pocket, hang it, when you travel, at the head of your + bed, and you may dream of Niagara. If you use it for a + purse, you can put in it alms for poets and artists, and the + subscription-money you receive for Mr. Carlyle's book. His + book, as it happened, you gave me as a birthday gift, and you + may take this as one to you; for, on yours, was W.'s birthday, + J.'s wedding-day, and the day of ----'s death, and we set out + on this journey. Perhaps there is something about it on the + purse. The "number five which nature loves," is repeated on + it. + + 'Carlyle's book I have, in some sense, read. It is witty, full + of pictures, as usual. I would have gone through with it, if + only for the sketch of Samson, and two or three bits of fun + which happen to please me. No doubt it may be of use to rouse + the unthinking to a sense of those great dangers and sorrows. + But how open is he to his own assault. He rails himself out of + breath at the short-sighted, and yet sees scarce a step before + him. There is no valuable doctrine in his book, except the + Goethean, _Do to-day the nearest duty_. Many are ready for + that, could they but find the way. This he does not show. His + proposed measures say nothing. Educate the people. That cannot + be done by books, or voluntary effort, under these paralyzing + circumstances. Emigration! According to his own estimate of + the increase of population, relief that way can have very + slight effect. He ends as he began; as he did in Chartism. + Everything is very bad. You are fools and hypocrites, or you + would make it better. I cannot but sympathize with him about + hero-worship; for I, too, have had my fits of rage at the + stupid irreverence of little minds, which also is made a + parade of by the pedantic and the worldly. Yet it is a + good sign. Democracy is the way to the new aristocracy, as + irreligion to religion. By and by, if there are great + men, they will not be brilliant exceptions, redeemers, but + favorable samples of their kind. + + 'Mr. C.'s tone is no better than before. He is not loving, nor + large; but he seems more healthy and gay. + + 'We have had bad weather here, bitterly cold. The place is + what I expected: it is too great and beautiful to agitate or + surprise: it satisfies: it does not excite thought, but fully + occupies. All is calm; even the rapids do not hurry, as we see + them in smaller streams. The sound, the sight, fill the senses + and the mind. + + 'At Buffalo, some ladies called on us, who extremely regretted + they could not witness our emotions, on first seeing Niagara. + "Many," they said, "burst into tears; but with those of most + sensibility, the hands become cold as ice, and they would not + mind if buckets of cold water were thrown over them!"' + + + + +NATURE. + + +Margaret's love of beauty made her, of course, a votary of nature, but +rather for pleasurable excitement than with a deep poetic feeling. +Her imperfect vision and her bad health were serious impediments +to intimacy with woods and rivers. She had never paid,--and it is a +little remarkable,--any attention to natural sciences. She neither +botanized, nor geologized, nor dissected. Still she delighted in short +country rambles, in the varieties of landscape, in pastoral country, +in mountain outlines, and, above all, in the sea-shore. At Nantasket +Beach, and at Newport, she spent a month or two of many successive +summers. She paid homage to rocks, woods, flowers, rivers, and the +moon. She spent a good deal of time out of doors, sitting, perhaps, +with a book in some sheltered recess commanding a landscape. She +watched, by day and by night, the skies and the earth, and believed +she knew all their expressions. She wrote in her journal, or in her +correspondence, a series of "moonlights," in which she seriously +attempts to describe the light and scenery of successive nights of +the summer moon. Of course, her raptures must appear sickly and +superficial to an observer, who, with equal feeling, had better powers +of observation. + +Nothing is more rare than a talent to describe landscape, and, +especially, skyscape, or cloudscape, although a vast number of +letters, from correspondents between the ages of twenty and thirty, +are filled with experiments in this kind. Margaret, in her turn, made +many vain attempts, and, to a lover of nature, who knows that +every day has new and inimitable lights and shades, one of these +descriptions is as vapid as the raptures of a citizen arrived at his +first meadow. Of course, he is charmed, but, of course, he cannot tell +what he sees, or what pleases him. Yet Margaret often speaks with a +certain tenderness and beauty of the impressions made upon her. + + TO ----. + + '_Fishkill, 25 Nov., 1844_.--You would have been happy as I + have been in the company of the mountains. They are companions + both bold and calm. They exhilarate and they satisfy. To live, + too, on the bank of the great river so long, has been the + realization of a dream. Though I have been reading and + thinking, yet this has been my life.' + +'After they were all in bed,' she writes from the "Manse," in Concord, + + 'I went out, and walked till near twelve. The moonlight filled + my heart. These embowering elms stood in solemn black, the + praying monastics of this holy night; full of grace, in every + sense; their life so full, so hushed; not a leaf stirred.' + + * * * * * + + 'You say that nature does not keep her promise; but, surely, + she satisfies us now and then for the time. The drama is + always in progress, but here and there she speaks out a + sentence, full in its cadence, complete in its structure; it + occupies, for the time, the sense and the thought. We have no + care for promises. Will you say it is the superficialness of + my life, that I have known hours with men and nature, that + bore their proper fruit,--all present ate and were filled, and + there were taken up of the fragments twelve baskets full? Is + it because of the superficial mind, or the believing heart, + that I can say this?' + + * * * * * + + 'Only through emotion do we know thee, Nature! We lean upon + thy breast, and feel its pulses vibrate to our own. That is + knowledge, for that is love. Thought will never reach it.' + + + + +ART. + + +There are persons to whom a gallery is everywhere a home. In this +country, the antique is known only by plaster casts, and by drawings. +The BOSTON ATHENAEUM,--on whose sunny roof and beautiful chambers may +the benediction of centuries of students rest with mine!--added to +its library, in 1823, a small, but excellent museum of the antique +sculpture, in plaster;--the selection being dictated, it is said, by +no less an adviser than Canova. The Apollo, the Laocoon, the Venuses, +Diana, the head of the Phidian Jove, Bacchus, Antinous, the Torso +Hercules, the Discobolus, the Gladiator Borghese, the Apollino,--all +these, and more, the sumptuous gift of Augustus Thorndike. It is much +that one man should have power to confer on so many, who never saw +him, a benefit so pure and enduring. + +To these were soon added a heroic line of antique busts, and, at last, +by Horatio Greenough, the Night and Day of Michel Angelo. Here was old +Greece and old Italy brought bodily to New England, and a verification +given to all our dreams and readings. It was easy to collect, from the +drawing-rooms of the city, a respectable picture-gallery for a summer +exhibition. This was also done, and a new pleasure was invented for +the studious, and a new home for the solitary. The Brimmer donation, +in 1838, added a costly series of engravings, chiefly of the French +and Italian museums, and the drawings of Guercino, Salvator Rosa, and +other masters. The separate chamber in which these collections were at +first contained, made a favorite place of meeting for Margaret and a +few of her friends, who were lovers of these works. + +First led perhaps by Goethe, afterwards by the love she herself +conceived for them, she read everything that related to Michel Angelo +and Raphael. She read, pen in hand, Quatremere de Quincy's lives of +those two painters, and I have her transcripts and commentary before +me. She read Condivi, Vasari, Benvenuto Cellini, Duppa, Fuseli, and +Von Waagen,--great and small. Every design of Michel, the four volumes +of Raphael's designs, were in the rich portfolios of her most intimate +friend. 'I have been very happy,' she writes, 'with four hundred and +seventy designs of Raphael in my possession for a week.' + + * * * * * + +These fine entertainments were shared with many admirers, and, as I +now remember them, certain months about the years 1839, 1840, seem +colored with the genius of these Italians. Our walls were hung with +prints of the Sistine frescoes; we were all petty collectors; and +prints of Correggio and Guercino took the place, for the time, of +epics and philosophy. + +In the summer of 1839, Boston was still more rightfully adorned with +the Allston Gallery; and the sculptures of our compatriots Greenough, +and Crawford, and Powers, were brought hither. The following lines +were addressed by Margaret to the Orpheus:-- + + 'CRAWFORD'S ORPHEUS. + + 'Each Orpheus must to the abyss descend, + For only thus the poet can be wise,-- + Must make the sad Persephone his friend, + And buried love to second life arise; + Again his love must lose, through too much love, + Must lose his life by living life too true; + For what he sought below has passed above, + Already done is all that he would do; + Must tune all being with his single lyre; + Must melt all rocks free from their primal pain, + Must search all nature with his one soul's fire; + Must bind anew all forms in heavenly chain: + If he already sees what he must do, + Well may he shade his eyes from the far-shining view.' + +Margaret's love of art, like that of most cultivated persons in this +country, was not at all technical, but truly a sympathy with the +artist, in the protest which his work pronounced on the deformity +of our daily manners; her co-perception with him of the eloquence +of form; her aspiration with him to a fairer life. As soon as her +conversation ran into the mysteries of manipulation and artistic +effect, it was less trustworthy. I remember that in the first times +when I chanced to see pictures with her, I listened reverently to +her opinions, and endeavored to see what she saw. But, on several +occasions, finding myself unable to reach it, I came to suspect my +guide, and to believe, at last, that her taste in works of art, though +honest, was not on universal, but on idiosyncratic, grounds. As it has +proved one of the most difficult problems of the practical astronomer +to obtain an achromatic telescope, so an achromatic eye, one of the +most needed, is also one of the rarest instruments of criticism. + +She was very susceptible to pleasurable stimulus, took delight in +details of form, color, and sound. Her fancy and imagination were +easily stimulated to genial activity, and she erroneously thanked the +artist for the pleasing emotions and thoughts that rose in her mind. +So that, though capable of it, she did not always bring that highest +tribunal to a work of art, namely, the calm presence of greatness, +which only greatness in the object can satisfy. Yet the opinion was +often well worth hearing on its own account, though it might be wide +of the mark as criticism. Sometimes, too, she certainly brought to +beautiful objects a fresh and appreciating love; and her written +notes, especially on sculpture, I found always original and +interesting. Here are some notes on the Athenaeum Gallery of Sculpture, +in August, 1840, which she sent me in manuscript:-- + + 'Here are many objects worth study. There is Thorwaldsen's + Byron. This is the truly beautiful, the ideal Byron. This head + is quite free from the got-up, caricatured air of disdain, + which disfigures most likenesses of him, as it did himself + in real life; yet sultry, stern, all-craving, all-commanding. + Even the heavy style of the hair, too closely curled for + grace, is favorable to the expression of concentrated life. + While looking at this head, you learn to account for the grand + failure in the scheme of his existence. The line of the cheek + and chin are here, as usual, of unrivalled beauty. + + 'The bust of Napoleon is here also, and will naturally be + named, in connection with that of Byron, since the one in + letters, the other in arms, represented more fully than any + other the tendency of their time; more than any other gave it + a chance for reaction. There was another point of resemblance + in the external being of the two, perfectly corresponding with + that of the internal, a sense of which peculiarity drew on + Byron some ridicule. I mean that it was the intention of + nature, that neither should ever grow fat, but remain a + Cassius in the commonwealth. And both these heads are taken + while they were at an early age, and so thin as to be still + beautiful. This head of Napoleon is of a stern beauty. A head + must be of a style either very stern or very chaste, to make + a deep impression on the beholder; there must be a great force + of will and withholding of resources, giving a sense of depth + below depth, which we call sternness; or else there must be + that purity, flowing as from an inexhaustible fountain through + every lineament, which drives far off or converts all baser + natures. Napoleon's head is of the first description; it is + stern, and not only so, but ruthless. Yet this ruthlessness + excites no aversion; the artist has caught its true character, + and given us here the Attila, the instrument of fate to serve + a purpose not his own. While looking on it, came full to mind + the well-known lines,-- + + '"Speak gently of his crimes: + Who knows, Scourge of God, but in His eyes, those crimes + Were virtues?" + + His brows are tense and damp with the dews of thought. In that + head you see the great future, careless of the black and white + stones; and even when you turn to the voluptuous beauty of the + mouth, the impression remains so strong, that Russia's + snows, and mountains of the slain, seem the tragedy that must + naturally follow the appearance of such an actor. You turn + from him, feeling that he is a product not of the day, but of + the ages, and that the ages must judge him. + + 'Near him is a head of Ennius, very intellectual; self-centred + and self-fed; but wrung and gnawed by unceasing thoughts. + + 'Yet, even near the Ennius and Napoleon, our American men look + worthy to be perpetuated in marble or bronze, if it were only + for their air of calm, unpretending sagacity. If the young + American were to walk up an avenue lined with such effigies, + he might not feel called to such greatness as the strong Roman + wrinkles tell of, but he must feel that he could not live an + idle life, and should nerve himself to lift an Atlas weight + without repining or shrinking. + + 'The busts of Everett and Allston, though admirable as + every-day likenesses, deserved a genius of a different order + from Clevenger. Clevenger gives the man as he is at the + moment, but does not show the possibilities of his existence. + Even thus seen, the head of Mr. Everett brings back all the + age of Pericles, so refined and classic is its beauty. The + two busts of Mr. Webster, by Clevenger and Powers, are the + difference between prose,--healthy and energetic prose, + indeed, but still prose,--and poetry. Clevenger's is such as + we see Mr. Webster on any public occasion, when his genius + is not called forth. No child could fail to recognize it in + a moment. Powers' is not so good as a likeness, but has the + higher merit of being an ideal of the orator and statesman at + a great moment. It is quite an American Jupiter in its eagle + calmness of conscious power. + + 'A marble copy of the beautiful Diana, not so spirited as + the Athenaeum cast. S. C---- thought the difference was one of + size. This work may be seen at a glance; yet does not tire + one after survey. It has the freshness of the woods, and of + morning dew. I admire those long lithe limbs, and that column + of a throat. The Diana is a woman's ideal of beauty; its + elegance, its spirit, its graceful, peremptory air, are what + we like in our own sex: the Venus is for men. The sleeping + Cleopatra cannot be looked at enough; always her sleep seems + sweeter and more graceful, always more wonderful the drapery. + A little Psyche, by a pupil of Bartolini, pleases us much thus + far. The forlorn sweetness with which she sits there, crouched + down like a bruised butterfly, and the languid tenacity of + her mood, are very touching. The Mercury and Ganymede with + the Eagle, by Thorwaldsen, are still as fine as on first + acquaintance. Thorwaldsen seems the grandest and simplest of + modern sculptors. There is a breadth in his thought, a freedom + in his design, we do not see elsewhere. + + 'A spaniel, by Gott, shows great talent, and knowledge of the + animal. The head is admirable; it is so full of playfulness + and of doggish knowingness.' + +I am tempted, by my recollection of the pleasure it gave her, to +insert here a little poem, addressed to Margaret by one of her +friends, on the beautiful imaginative picture in the gallery of 1840, +called "The Dream." + + "A youth, with gentle brow and tender cheek, + Dreams in a place so silent, that no bird, + No rustle of the leaves his slumbers break; + Only soft tinkling from the stream is heard, + As in bright little waves it comes to greet + The beauteous One, and play upon his feet. + + "On a low bank, beneath the thick shade thrown, + Soft gleams over his brown hair are flitting, + His golden plumes, bending, all lovely shone; + It seemed an angel's home where he was sitting, + Erect, beside, a silver lily grew, + And over all the shadow its sweet beauty threw. + + "Dreams he of life? O, then a noble maid + Toward him floats, with eyes of starry light, + In richest robes all radiantly arrayed, + To be his ladye and his dear delight. + Ah no! the distance shows a winding stream; + No lovely ladye moves, no starry eyes do gleam. + + "Cold is the air, and cold the mountains blue; + The banks are brown, and men are lying there, + Meagre and old; O, what have they to do + With joyous visions of a youth so fair? + He must not ever sleep as they are sleeping, + Onward through life he must be ever sweeping. + + "Let the pale glimmering distance pass away; + Why in the twilight art thou slumbering there? + Wake, and come forth into triumphant day; + Thy life and deeds must all be great and fair. + Canst thou not from the lily learn true glory, + Pure, lofty, lowly?--such should be thy story. + + "But no! thou lovest the deep-eyed Past, + And thy heart clings to sweet remembrances; + In dim cathedral aisles thou'lt linger last, + And fill thy mind with flitting fantasies. + But know, dear One, the world is rich to-day, + And the unceasing God gives glory forth alway." + +I have said she was never weary of studying Michel Angelo and Raphael; +and here are some manuscript "notes," which she sent me one day, +containing a clear expression of her feeling toward each of these +masters, after she had become tolerably familiar with their designs, +as far as prints could carry her:-- + + 'On seeing such works as these of Michel Angelo, we feel the + need of a genius scarcely inferior to his own, which should + invent some word, or some music, adequate to express our + feelings, and relieve us from the Titanic oppression. + + '"Greatness," "majesty," "strength,"--to these words we had + before thought we attached their proper meaning. But now we + repent that they ever passed our lips. Created anew by the + genius of this man, we would create language anew, and give + him a word of response worthy his sublime profession of faith. + Could we not at least have reserved "godlike" for him? + For never till now did we appreciate the primeval vigor of + creation, the instant swiftness with which thought can pass + to deed; never till now appreciate the passage, "Let there be + light, and there was light," which, be grateful, Michel! was + clothed in human word before thee. + + 'One feels so repelled and humbled, on turning from Raphael + to his contemporary, that I could have hated him as a Gentile + Choragus might hate the prophet Samuel. Raphael took us to his + very bosom, as if we had been fit for disciples,-- + + '"Parting with smiles the hair upon the brow, + And telling me none ever was preferred" + + 'This man waves his serpent wand over me, and beauty's self + seems no better than a golden calf! + + 'I could not bear M. De Quincy for intimating that the + archangel Michel could be jealous; yet I can easily see + that he might have given cause, by undervaluing his divine + contemporary. Raphael was so sensuous, so lovely and loving. + All undulates to meet the eye, glides or floats upon the + soul's horizon, as soft as is consistent with perfectly + distinct and filled-out forms. The graceful Lionardo might see + his pictures in moss; the beautiful Raphael on the cloud, + or wave, or foliage; but thou, Michel, didst look straight + upwards to the heaven, and grasp and bring thine down from the + very sun of invention. + + 'How Raphael revels in the image! His life is all reproduced; + nothing was abstract or conscious. Pantheism, Polytheism, + Greek god of Beauty, Apollo Musagetes,--what need of life + beyond the divine work? "I paint," said he, "from an idea that + comes into my mind." + + 'But thou, Michel, didst not only feel but see the divine + Ideal. Thine is the conscious monotheism of Jewry. Like thy + own Moses, even on the mount of celestial converse, thou didst + ask thy God to show now his face, and didst write his words, + not in the alphabet of flowers, but on stone tables. + + 'It is, indeed, the two geniuses of Greece and Jewry, which + are reproduced in these two men. Thaumaturgus nature saw fit + to wait but a very few years before using these moulds again, + in smaller space. Would you read the Bible aright? look at + Michel; the Greek Mythology? look at Raphael. Would you know + how the sublime coexists with the beautiful, or the beautiful + with the sublime? would you see power and truth regnant on the + one side, with beauty and love harmonious and ministrant, + but subordinate; or would you look at the other aspect of + Deity?--study here. Would you open all the founts of marvel, + admiration, and tenderness?--study both. + + 'One is not higher than the other; yet I am conscious of a + slight rebuke from Michel, for having so poured out my soul at + the feet of his brother angel. He seems to remind of Mr. E.'s + view, and ask, "Why did you not question whether there was not + aught else? why not reserve some inaccessible stronghold for + me? why did you unlock the floodgates of the mind to such + tides of emotion?" But there is no reality or permanence in + this; it is only a reminder that the feminine part of human + nature must not be dominant. + + 'The prophets of Michel Angelo excite all my admiration at the + man capable of giving to such a physique an expression which + commands it. The soul is worthily lodged in these powerful + frames; and she has the ease and dignity of one accustomed to + command, and to command servants able to obey her hests. + Who else could have so animated such forms, that they are + imposing, but never heavy? The strong man is made so majestic + by his office, that you scarcely feel how strong he is. The + wide folds of the drapery, the breadth of light and shade, are + great as anything in + + "the large utterance of the early gods." + + 'How they read,--these prophets and sibyls! Never did the + always-baffled, always reaespiring hope of the finite to + compass the infinite find such expression, except in the + _sehnsucht_ of music. They are buried in the volume. They + cannot believe that it has not somewhere been revealed, the + word of enigma, the link between the human and divine, matter + and spirit. Evidently, they hope to find it on the very next + page. I have always thought, that clearly enough did nature + and the soul's own consciousness respond to the craving for + immortality. I have thought it great weakness to need the + voucher of a miracle, or of any of those direct interpositions + of a divine power, which, in common parlance, are alone styled + revelation. When the revelations of nature seemed to me so + clear, I had thought it was the weakness of the heart, or + the dogmatism of the understanding, which had such need of + _a book_. But in these figures of Michel, the highest power + seizes upon a scroll, hoping that some other mind may have + dived to the depths of eternity for the desired pearl, + and enable him, without delay, consciously to embrace the + Everlasting Now. + + 'How fine the attendant intelligences! So youthful and fresh, + yet so strong. Some merely docile and reverent, others eager + for utterance before the thought be known,--so firm is the + trust in its value, so great the desire for sympathy. Others + so brilliant in the attention of the inquiring eye, so + intelligent in every feature, that they seem to divine the + whole, before they hear it. + + 'Zachariah is much the finer of the two prophets. + + 'Of the sibyls, the _Cumaea_ would be disgusting, from her + overpowering strength in the feminine form, if genius had not + made her tremendous. Especially the bosom gives me a feeling + of faintness and aversion I cannot express. The female breast + looks made for the temple of sweet and chaste thoughts, while + this is so formed as to remind you of the lioness in her lair, + and suggest a word which I will not write. + + 'The _Delphica_ is even beautiful, in Michel's fair, + calm, noble style, like the mother and child asleep in the + _Persica_, and _Night_ in the casts I have just seen. + + 'The _Libica_ is also more beautiful than grand. Her adjuncts + are admirable. The elder figure, in the lowest pannel,--with + what eyes of deep experience, and still unquenched enthusiasm, + he sits meditating on the past! The figures at top are fiery + with genius, especially the melancholy one, worthy to lift any + weight, if he did but know how to set about it. As it is, all + his strength may be wasted, yet he no whit the less noble. + + 'But the _Persica_ is my favorite above all. She is the + true sibyl. All the grandeur of that wasted frame comes from + within. The life of thought has wasted the fresh juices of the + body, and hardened the sere leaf of her cheek to parchment; + every lineament is sharp, every tint tarnished; her face is + seamed with wrinkles,--usually as repulsive on a woman's + face as attractive on a man. We usually feel, on looking at + a woman, as if Nature had given them their best dower, and + Experience could prove little better than a step-dame. But + here, her high ambition and devotion to the life of thought + gives her the masculine privilege of beauty in advancing + years. Read on, hermitess of the world! what thou seekest is + not there, yet thou dost not seek in vain. + + 'The adjuncts to this figure are worthy of it. On the right, + below, those two divine sleepers, redeeming human nature, and + infolding expectation in a robe of pearly sheen. Here is the + sweetness of strength,--honey to the valiant; on the other + side, its awfulness,--meat to the strong man. His sleep is + more powerful than the waking of myriads of other men. What + will he do when he has recruited his strength in this night's + slumber? What wilt thou sing of it, wild-haired child of the + lyre? + + 'I admire the heavy fall of the sleeper's luxuriant hair, + which reminds one of the final shutting down of night upon a + sullen twilight. + + 'The other figures, too, are full of augury, sad but + life-like, in its poetry. On the shield, how perfectly is the + expression of being struck home to the heart given! I wish I + could have that shield, in some shape. Only a single blow + was needed; the hand was sure, the breast shrinking, but + unresisting. Die, child of my affection, child of my old age! + Let the blood follow to the hilt, for it is the sword of the + Lord! + + 'In looking again, this shield is on the _Libica_, and that of + the _Persica_ represents conquest, not sacrifice. + + 'Over all these figures broods the spirit of prophecy. You + see their sternest deed is under the theocratic form. There is + pride in action, but no selfism in these figures. + + 'When I first came to Michel, I clung to the beautiful + Raphael, and feared his Druidical axe. But now, after the + sibyls of Michel, it is unsafe to look at those of Raphael; + for they seem weak, which is not so, only seems so, beside the + sterner ideal. + + 'The beauty of composition here is great, and you feel that + Michel's works are looked at fragment-wise in comparison. Here + the eye glides along so naturally, does so easily justice to + each part.' + + + + +LETTERS. + + +I fear the remark already made on that susceptibility to details +in art and nature which precluded the exercise of Margaret's sound +catholic judgment, must be extended to more than her connoisseurship. +She _had_ a sound judgment, on which, in conversation, she could fall +back, and anticipate and speak the best sense of the largest company. +But, left to herself, and in her correspondence, she was much the +victim of Lord Bacon's _idols of the cave_, or self-deceived by her +own phantasms. I have looked over volumes of her letters to me and +others. They are full of probity, talent, wit, friendship, charity, +and high aspiration. They are tainted with a mysticism, which to me +appears so much an affair of constitution, that it claims no more +respect than the charity or patriotism of a man who has dined well, +and feels better for it. One sometimes talks with a genial _bon +vivant_, who looks as if the omelet and turtle have got into his eyes. +In our noble Margaret, her personal feeling colors all her judgment +of persons, of books, of pictures, and even of the laws of the world. +This is easily felt in ordinary women, and a large deduction is +civilly made on the spot by whosoever replies to their remark. But +when the speaker has such brilliant talent and literature as Margaret, +she gives so many fine names to these merely sensuous and subjective +phantasms, that the hearer is long imposed upon, and thinks so precise +and glittering nomenclature cannot be of mere _muscae volitantes_, +phoenixes of the fancy, but must be of some real ornithology, hitherto +unknown to him. This mere feeling exaggerates a host of trifles into a +dazzling mythology. But when one goes to sift it, and find if there be +a real meaning, it eludes search. Whole sheets of warm, florid writing +are here, in which the eye is caught by "sapphire," "heliotrope," +"dragon," "aloes," "Magna Dea," "limboes," "stars," and "purgatory," +but can connect all this, or any part of it, with no universal +experience. + +In short, Margaret often loses herself in sentimentalism. That +dangerous vertigo nature in her case adopted, and was to make +respectable. As it sometimes happens that a grandiose style, like that +of the Alexandrian Platonists, or like Macpherson's Ossian, is more +stimulating to the imagination of nations, than the true Plato, or +than the simple poet, so here was a head so creative of new colors, +of wonderful gleams,--so iridescent, that it piqued curiosity, and +stimulated thought, and communicated mental activity to all who +approached her; though her perceptions were not to be compared to her +fancy, and she made numerous mistakes. Her integrity was perfect, and +she was led and followed by love, and was really bent on truth, but +too indulgent to the meteors of her fancy. + + + + +FRIENDSHIP. + + "Friends she must have, but in no one could find + A tally fitted to so large a mind." + + +It is certain that Margaret, though unattractive in person, and +assuming in manners, so that the girls complained that "she put upon +them," or, with her burly masculine existence, quite reduced them to +satellites, yet inspired an enthusiastic attachment. I hear from one +witness, as early as 1829, that "all the girls raved about Margaret +Fuller," and the same powerful magnetism wrought, as she went on, from +year to year, on all ingenuous natures. The loveliest and the highest +endowed women were eager to lay their beauty, their grace, the +hospitalities of sumptuous homes, and their costly gifts, at her feet. +When I expressed, one day, many years afterwards, to a lady who +knew her well, some surprise at the homage paid her by men in +Italy,--offers of marriage having there been made her by distinguished +parties,--she replied: "There is nothing extraordinary in it. Had she +been a man, any one of those fine girls of sixteen, who surrounded +her here, would have married her: they were all in love with her, she +understood them so well." She had seen many persons, and had entire +confidence in her own discrimination of characters. She saw and +foresaw all in the first interview. She had certainly made her own +selections with great precision, and had not been disappointed. When +pressed for a reason, she replied, in one instance, + + 'I have no good reason to give for what I think of ----. It + is a daemoniacal intimation. Everybody at ---- praised her, but + their account of what she said gave me the same unfavorable + feeling. This is the first instance in which I have not had + faith, if you liked a person. Perhaps I am wrong now; perhaps, + if I saw her, a look would give me a needed clue to her + character, and I should change my feeling. Yet I have never + been mistaken in these intimations, as far as I recollect. I + hope I am now.' + +I am to add, that she gave herself to her friendships with an +entireness not possible to any but a woman, with a depth possible +to few women. Her friendships, as a girl with girls, as a woman with +women, were not unmingled with passion, and had passages of romantic +sacrifice and of ecstatic fusion, which I have heard with the ear, but +could not trust my profane pen to report. There were, also, the ebbs +and recoils from the other party,--the mortal unequal to converse +with an immortal,--ingratitude, which was more truly incapacity, the +collapse of overstrained affections and powers. At all events, it is +clear that Margaret, later, grew more strict, and values herself with +her friends on having the tie now "redeemed from all search after +Eros." So much, however, of intellectual aim and activity mixed with +her alliances, as to breathe a certain dignity and myrrh through them +all. She and her friends are fellow-students with noblest moral aims. +She is there for help and for counsel. 'Be to the best thou knowest +ever true!' is her language to one. And that was the effect of her +presence. Whoever conversed with her felt challenged by the strongest +personal influence to a bold and generous life. To one she wrote,-- + + 'Could a word from me avail you, I would say, that I have firm + faith that nature cannot be false to her child, who has shown + such an unalterable faith in her piety towards her.' + + * * * * * + + 'These tones of my dear ----'s lyre are of the noblest. Will + they sound purely through her experiences? Will the variations + be faithful to the theme? Not always do those who most + devoutly long for the Infinite, know best how to modulate + their finite into a fair passage of the eternal Harmony. + + 'How many years was it the cry of my spirit,-- + + "Give, give, ye mighty Gods! + Why do ye thus hold back?"-- + + and, I suppose, all noble young persons think for the time + that they would have been more generous than the Olympians. + But when we have learned the high lesson _to deserve_,--that + boon of manhood,--we see they esteemed us too much, to give + what we had not earned.' + +The following passages from her journal and her letters are +sufficiently descriptive, each in its way, of her strong affections. + + 'At Mr. G.'s we looked over prints, the whole evening, in + peace. Nothing fixed my attention so much as a large engraving + of Madame Recamier in her boudoir. I have so often thought + over the intimacy between her and Madame De Stael. + + 'It is so true that a woman may be in love with a woman, and + a man with a man. I like to be sure of it, for it is the same + love which angels feel, where-- + + '"Sie fragen nicht nach Mann und Weib." + + 'It is regulated by the same law as that of love between + persons of different sexes; only it is purely intellectual and + spiritual. Its law is the desire of the spirit to realize a + whole, which makes it seek in another being what it finds not + in itself. Thus the beautiful seek the strong, and the strong + the beautiful; the mute seeks the eloquent, &c.; the butterfly + settles always on the dark flower. Why did Socrates love + Alcibiades? Why did Koerner love Schneider? How natural is the + love of Wallenstein for Max; that of De Stael for De Recamier; + mine for ----. I loved ----, for a time, with as much passion + as I was then strong enough to feel. Her face was always + gleaming before me; her voice was always echoing in my ear; + all poetic thoughts clustered round the dear image. This love + was a key which unlocked for me many a treasure which I still + possess; it was the carbuncle which cast light into many of + the darkest caverns of human nature. She loved me, too, though + not so much, because her nature was "less high, less grave, + less large, less deep." But she loved more tenderly, less + passionately. She loved me, for I well remember her suffering + when she first could feel my faults, and knew one part of the + exquisite veil rent away; how she wished to stay apart, and + weep the whole day. + + * * * * * + + 'I do not love her now with passion, but I still feel towards + her as I can to no other woman. I thought of all this as I + looked at Madame Recamier.' + + * * * * * + + TO R.W.E. + + '_7th Feb., 1843._--I saw the letter of your new friend, and + liked it much; only, at this distance, one could not be sure + whether it was the nucleus or the train of a comet, that + lightened afar. The daemons are not busy enough at the births + of most men. They do not give them individuality deep enough + for truth to take root in. Such shallow natures cannot resist + a strong head; its influence goes right through them. It is + not stopped and fermented long enough. But I do not understand + this hint of hesitation, because you have many friends + already. We need not economize, we need not hoard these + immortal treasures. Love and thought are not diminished by + diffusion. In the widow's cruse is oil enough to furnish light + for all the world.' + + * * * * * + + TO R.W.E. + + '_15th March, 1842._--It is to be hoped, my best one, that the + experiences of life will yet correct your vocabulary, and that + you will not always answer the burst of frank affection by the + use of such a word as "flattery." + + 'Thou knowest, O all-seeing Truth! whether that hour is base + or unworthy thee, in which the heart turns tenderly towards + some beloved object, whether stirred by an apprehension of its + needs, or of its present beauty, or of its great promise; when + it would lay before it all the flowers of hope and love, would + soothe its weariness as gently as might the sweet south, and + _flatter_ it by as fond an outbreak of pride and devotion + as is seen on the sunset clouds. Thou knowest whether + these promptings, whether these longings, be not truer than + intellectual scrutiny of the details of character; than cold + distrust of the exaggerations even of heart. What we hope, + what we think of those we love, is true, true as the fondest + dream of love and friendship that ever shone upon the childish + heart. + + 'The faithful shall yet meet a full-eyed love, ready as + profound, that never needs turn the key on its retirement, or + arrest the stammering of an overweening trust.' + + * * * * * + + TO ---- + + 'I wish I could write you often, to bring before you the + varied world-scene you cannot so well go out to unfold for + yourself. But it was never permitted me, even where I wished + it most. But the forest leaves fall unseen, and make a soil on + which shall be reared the growths and fabrics of a nobler era. + This thought rounds off each day. Your letter was a little + golden key to a whole volume of thoughts and feelings. I + cannot make the one bright drop, like champagne in ice, + but must pour a full gush, if I speak at all, and not think + whether the water is clear either.' + +With this great heart, and these attractions, it was easy to add daily +to the number of her friends. With her practical talent, her counsel +and energy, she was pretty sure to find clients and sufferers enough, +who wished to be guided and supported. 'Others,' she said, 'lean on +this arm, which I have found so frail. Perhaps it is strong enough to +have drawn a sword, but no better suited to be used as a _bolt_, than +that of Lady Catharine Douglas, of loyal memory.' She could not make a +journey, or go to an evening party, without meeting a new person, who +wished presently to impart his history to her. Very early, she had +written to ----, 'My museum is so well furnished, that I grow lazy +about collecting new specimens of human nature.' She had soon enough +examples of the historic development of rude intellect under the first +rays of culture. But, in a thousand individuals, the process is much +the same; and, like a professor too long pent in his college, she +rejoiced in encountering persons of untutored grace and strength, and +felt no wish to prolong the intercourse when culture began to have +its effect I find in her journal a characteristic note, on receiving a +letter on books and speculations, from one whom she had valued for his +heroic qualities in a life of adventure:-- + + 'These letters of ---- are beautiful, and moved me deeply. It + looks like the birth of a soul. But I loved _thee_, fair, rich + _earth_,--and all that is gone forever. This that comes now, + we know in much farther stages. Yet there is silver sweet in + the tone, generous nobility in the impulses.' + + * * * * * + + 'Poor Tasso in the play offered his love and service too + officiously to all. They all rejected it, and declared him + mad, because he made statements too emphatic of his feelings. + If I wanted only ideal figures to think about, there are those + in literature I like better than any of your living ones. + But I want far more. I want habitual intercourse, cheer, + inspiration, tenderness. I want these for myself; I want to + impart them. I have done as Timon did, for these last eight + years. My early intercourses were more equal, because more + natural. Since I took on me the vows of renunciation, I have + acted like a prodigal. Like Timon, I have loved to give, + perhaps not from beneficence, but from restless love. Now, + like Fortunatus, I find my mistresses will not thank me for + fires made of cinnamon; rather they run from too rich an odor. + What shall I do? not curse, like him, (oh base!) nor dig my + grave in the marge of the salt tide. Give an answer to my + questions, daemon! Give a rock for my feet, a bird of peaceful + and sufficient song within my breast! I return to thee, my + Father, from the husks that have been offered me. But I return + as one who meant not to leave Thee.' + +Of course, she made large demands on her companions, and would soon +come to sound their knowledge, and guess pretty nearly the range of +their thoughts. There yet remained to command her constancy, what she +valued more, the quality and affection proper to each. But she could +rarely find natures sufficiently deep and magnetic. With her sleepless +curiosity, her magnanimity, and her diamond-ring, like Annie of +Lochroyan's, to exchange for gold or for pewter, she might be pardoned +for her impatient questionings. To me, she was uniformly generous; but +neither did I escape. Our moods were very different; and I remember, +that, at the very time when I, slow and cold, had come fully to +admire her genius, and was congratulating myself on the solid good +understanding that subsisted between us, I was surprised with hearing +it taxed by her with superficiality and halfness. She stigmatized our +friendship as commercial. It seemed, her magnanimity was not met, but +I prized her only for the thoughts and pictures she brought me;--so +many thoughts, so many facts yesterday,--so many to-day;--when there +was an end of things to tell, the game was up: that, I did not +know, as a friend should know, to prize a silence as much as a +discourse,--and hence a forlorn feeling was inevitable; a poor +counting of thoughts, and a taking the census of virtues, was the +unjust reception so much love found. On one occasion, her grief broke +into words like these: 'The religious nature remained unknown to you, +because it could not proclaim itself, but claimed to be divined. The +deepest soul that approached you was, in your eyes, nothing but a +magic lantern, always bringing out pretty shows of life.' + +But as I did not understand the discontent then,--of course, I cannot +now. It was a war of temperaments, and could not be reconciled by +words; but, after each party had explained to the uttermost, it was +necessary to fall back on those grounds of agreement which remained +and leave the differences henceforward in respectful silence. The +recital may still serve to show to sympathetic persons the true lines +and enlargements of her genius. It is certain that this incongruity +never interrupted for a moment the intercourse, such as it was, that +existed between us. + +I ought to add here, that certain mental changes brought new questions +into conversation. In the summer of 1840, she passed into certain +religious states, which did not impress me as quite healthy, or likely +to be permanent; and I said, "I do not understand your tone; it seems +exaggerated. You are one who can afford to speak and to hear the +truth. Let us hold hard to the common-sense, and let us speak in the +positive degree." + +And I find, in later letters from her, sometimes playful, sometimes +grave allusions to this explanation. + + 'Is ---- there? Does water meet water?--no need of wine, + sugar, spice, or even a _soupcon_ of lemon to remind of a + tropical climate? I fear me not. Yet, dear positives, believe + me superlatively yours, MARGARET.' + +The following letter seems to refer, under an Eastern guise, and with +something of Eastern exaggeration of compliment too, to some such +native sterilities in her correspondent:--- + + * * * * * + + TO R.W.E. + + '_23d Feb., 1840._--I am like some poor traveller of the + desert, who saw, at early morning, a distant palm, and toiled + all day to reach it. All day he toiled. The unfeeling sun shot + pains into his temples; the burning air, filled with sand, + checked his breath; he had no water, and no fountain sprung + along his path. But his eye was bright with courage, for he + said, "When I reach the lonely palm, I will lie beneath its + shade. I will refresh myself with its fruit. Allah has reared + it to such a height, that it may encourage the wandering, and + bless and sustain the faint and weary." But when he reached + it, alas! it had grown too high to shade the weary man at its + foot. On it he saw no clustering dates, and its one draught of + wine was far beyond his reach. He saw at once that it was so. + A child, a bird, a monkey, might have climbed to reach it. A + rude hand might have felled the whole tree; but the full-grown + man, the weary man, the gentle-hearted, religious man, was no + nearer to its nourishment for being close to the root; yet he + had not force to drag himself further, and leave at once the + aim of so many fond hopes, so many beautiful thoughts. So he + lay down amid the inhospitable sands. The night dews pierced + his exhausted frame; the hyena laughed, the lion roared, in + the distance; the stars smiled upon him satirically from their + passionless peace; and he knew they were like the sun, as + unfeeling, only more distant. He could not sleep for + famine. With the dawn he arose. The palm stood as tall, as + inaccessible, as ever; its leaves did not so much as rustle an + answer to his farewell sigh. On and on he went, and came, at + last, to a living spring. The spring was encircled by tender + verdure, wild fruits ripened near, and the clear waters + sparkled up to tempt his lip. The pilgrim rested, and + refreshed himself, and looked back with less pain to the + unsympathizing palm, which yet towered in the distance. + + 'But the wanderer had a mission to perform, which must have + forced him to leave at last both palm and fountain. So on and + on he went, saying to the palm, "Thou art for another;" and to + the gentle waters, "I will return." + + 'Not far distant was he when the sirocco came, and choked with + sand the fountain, and uprooted the fruit-trees. When years + have passed, the waters will have forced themselves up again + to light, and a new oasis will await a new wanderer. Thou, + Sohrab, wilt, ere that time, have left thy bones at Mecca. + Yet the remembrance of the fountain cheers thee as a blessing; + that of the palm haunts thee as a pang. + + 'So talks the soft spring gale of the Shah Nameh. Genuine + Sanscrit I cannot write. My Persian and Arabic you love not. + Why do I write thus to one who must ever regard the deepest + tones of my nature as those of childish fancy or worldly + discontent?' + + + + +PROBLEMS OF LIFE. + + +Already, too, at this time, each of the main problems of human life +had been closely scanned and interrogated by her, and some of them had +been much earlier settled. A worshipper of beauty, why could not she +also have been beautiful?--of the most radiant sociality, why should +not she have been so placed, and so decorated, as to have led the +fairest and highest? In her journal is a bitter sentence, whose +meaning I cannot mistake: 'Of a disposition that requires the most +refined, the most exalted tenderness, without charms to inspire +it:--poor Mignon! fear not the transition through death; no penal +fires can have in store worse torments than thou art familiar with +already.' + +In the month of May, she writes:-- + + 'When all things are blossoming, it seems so strange not to + blossom too; that the quick thought within cannot remould its + tenement. Man is the slowest aloes, and I am such a shabby + plant, of such coarse tissue. I hate not to be beautiful, when + all around is so.' + +Again, after recording a visit to a family, whose taste and culture, +united to the most liberal use of wealth, made the most agreeable of +homes, she writes: + + 'Looking out on the wide view, I felt the blessings of my + comparative freedom. I stand in no false relations. Who else + is so happy? Here are these fair, unknowing children envying + the depth of my mental life. They feel withdrawn by sweet + duties from reality. Spirit! I accept; teach me to prize and + use whatsoever is given me.' + + 'At present,' she writes elsewhere, 'it skills not. I am able + to take the superior view of life, and my place in it. But I + know the deep yearnings of the heart and the bafflings of time + will be felt again, and then I shall long for some dear hand + to hold. But I shall never forget that my curse is nothing, + compared with that of those who have entered into those + relations, but not made them real; who only _seem_ husbands, + wives, and friends.' + + 'I remain fixed to be, without churlishness or coldness, as + much alone as possible. It is best for me. I am not fitted to + be loved, and it pains me to have close dealings with those + who do not love, to whom my feelings are "strange." Kindness + and esteem are very well. I am willing to receive and bestow + them; but these alone are not worth feelings such as mine. And + I wish I may make no more mistakes, but keep chaste for mine + own people.' + +There is perhaps here, as in a passage of the same journal quoted +already, an allusion to a verse in the ballad of the Lass of +Lochroyan:-- + + "O yours was gude, and gude enough, + But aye the best was mine; + For yours was o' the gude red gold, + But mine o' the diamond fine." + + 'There is no hour of absolute beauty in all my past, though + some have been made musical by heavenly hope, many dignified + by intelligence. Long urged by the Furies, I rest again in + the temple of Apollo. Celestial verities dawn constellated as + thoughts in the Heaven of my mind. + + 'But, driven from home to home, as a renouncer, I get the + picture and the poetry of each. Keys of gold, silver, iron, + and lead, are in my casket. No one loves me; but I love many a + good deal, and see, more or less, into their eventual beauty. + Meanwhile, I have no fetter on me, no engagement, and, as I + look on others,--almost every other,--can I fail to feel this + a great privilege? I have nowise tied my hands or feet; yet + the varied calls on my sympathy have been such, that I hope + not to be made partial, cold, or ignorant, by this isolation. + I have no child; but now, as I look on these lovely children + of a human birth, what low and neutralizing cares they + bring with them to the mother! The children of the muse + come quicker, and have not on them the taint of earthly + corruption.' + +Practical questions in plenty the days and months brought her to +settle,--questions requiring all her wisdom, and sometimes more than +all. None recurs with more frequency, at one period, in her journals, +than the debate with herself, whether she shall make literature a +profession. Shall it be woman, or shall it be artist? + + + + +WOMAN, OR ARTIST? + + +Margaret resolved, again and again, to devote herself no more to these +disappointing forms of men and women, but to the children of the muse. +'The _dramatis personae_' she said, 'of my poems shall henceforth be +chosen from the children of immortal Muse. I fix my affections no +more on these frail forms.' But it was vain; she rushed back again to +persons, with a woman's devotion. + +Her pen was a non-conductor. She always took it up with some disdain, +thinking it a kind of impiety to attempt to report a life so warm and +cordial, and wrote on the fly-leaf of her journal,-- + + '"_Scrivo sol per sfogar' l'interno_."' + + 'Since you went away,' she said, 'I have thought of many + things I might have told you, but I could not bear to be + eloquent and poetical. It is a mockery thus to play the artist + with life, and dip the brush in one's own heart's blood. One + would fain be no more artist, or philosopher, or lover, or + critic, but a soul ever rushing forth in tides of genial + life.' + + * * * * * + + '_26 Dec., 1842._--I have been reading the lives of Lord + Herbert of Cherbury, and of Sir Kenelm Digby. These splendid, + chivalrous, and thoughtful Englishmen are meat which my + soul loveth, even as much as my Italians. What I demand of + men,--that they could act out all their thoughts,--these have. + They are lives;--and of such I do not care if they had as many + faults as there are days in the year,--there is the energy + to redeem them. Do you not admire Lord Herbert's two poems on + life, and the conjectures concerning celestial life? I keep + reading them.' + + * * * * * + + 'When I look at my papers, I feel as if I had never had a + thought that was worthy the attention of any but myself; and + 'tis only when, on talking with people, I find I tell them + what they did not know, that my confidence at all returns.' + + * * * * * + + 'My verses,--I am ashamed when I think there is scarce a line + of poetry in them,--all rhetorical and impassioned, as Goethe + said of De Stael. However, such as they are, they have + been overflowing drops from the somewhat bitter cup of my + existence.' + + * * * * * + + 'How can I ever write with this impatience of detail? I shall + never be an artist; I have no patient love of execution; I + am delighted with my sketch, but if I try to finish it, I am + chilled. Never was there a great sculptor who did not love to + chip the marble.' + + * * * * * + + 'I have talent and knowledge enough to furnish a dwelling for + friendship, but not enough to deck with golden gifts a Delphi + for the world.' + + * * * * * + + 'Then a woman of tact and brilliancy, like me, has an undue + advantage in conversation with men. They are astonished at our + instincts. They do not see where we got our knowledge; and, + while they tramp on in their clumsy way, we wheel, and fly, + and dart hither and thither, and seize with ready eye all the + weak points, like Saladin in the desert. It is quite another + thing when we come to write, and, without suggestion from + another mind, to declare the positive amount of thought that + is in us. Because we seemed to know all, they think we can + tell all; and, finding we can tell so little, lose faith in + their first opinion of us, _which, nathless, was true_.' + +And again: + + 'These gentlemen are surprised that I write no better, because + I talk so well. But I have served a long apprenticeship to + the one, none to the other. I shall write better, but never, I + think, so well as I talk; for then I feel inspired. The means + are pleasant; my voice excites me, my pen never. I shall not + be discouraged, nor take for final what they say, but sift + from it the truth, and use it. I feel the strength to dispense + with all illusions. I will stand steady, and rejoice in the + severest probations.' + + * * * * * + + 'What a vulgarity there seems in this writing for the + multitude! We know not yet, have not made ourselves known to + a single soul, and shall we address those still more unknown? + Shall we multiply our connections, and thus make them still + more superficial? + + 'I would go into the crowd, and meet men for the day, to help + them for the day, but for that intercourse which most becomes + us. Pericles, Anaxagoras, Aspasia, Cleone, is circle wide + enough for me. I should think all the resources of my nature, + and all the tribute it could enforce from external nature, + none too much to furnish the banquet for this circle. + + 'But where to find fit, though few, representatives for all + we value in humanity? Where obtain those golden keys to the + secret treasure-chambers of the soul? No samples are perfect. + We must look abroad into the wide circle, to seek a little + here, and a little there, to make up our company. And is not + the "prent book" a good beacon-light to tell where we wait the + bark?--a reputation, the means of entering the Olympic game, + where Pindar may perchance be encountered? + + 'So it seems the mind must reveal its secret; must reproduce. + And I have no castle, and no natural circle, in which I might + live, like the wise Makaria, observing my kindred the stars, + and gradually enriching my archives. Makaria here must go + abroad, or the stars would hide their light, and the archive + remain a blank. + + 'For all the tides of life that flow within me, I am dumb and + ineffectual, when it comes to casting my thought into a form. + No old one suits me. If I could invent one, it seems to me the + pleasure of creation would make it possible for me to write. + What shall I do, dear friend? I want force to be either a + genius or a character. One should be either private or public. + I love best to be a woman; but womanhood is at present too + straitly-bounded to give me scope. At hours, I live truly as + a woman; at others, I should stifle; as, on the other hand, I + should palsy, when I would play the artist.' + + + + +HEROISM. + + +These practical problems Margaret had to entertain and to solve the +best way she could. She says truly, 'there was none to take up her +burden whilst she slept.' But she was formed for action, and addressed +herself quite simply to her part. She was a woman, an orphan, +without beauty, without money; and these negatives will suggest what +difficulties were to be surmounted where the tasks dictated by her +talents required the good-will of "good society," in the town where +she was to teach and write. But she was even-tempered and erect, and, +if her journals are sometimes mournful, her mind was made up, her +countenance beamed courage and cheerfulness around her. Of personal +influence, speaking strictly,--an efflux, that is, purely of mind and +character, excluding all effects of power, wealth, fashion, beauty, or +literary fame,--she had an extraordinary degree; I think more than any +person I have known. An interview with her was a joyful event. Worthy +men and women, who had conversed with her, could not forget her, but +worked bravely on in the remembrance that this heroic approver had +recognized their aims. She spoke so earnestly, that the depth of the +sentiment prevailed, and not the accidental expression, which might +chance to be common. Thus I learned, the other day, that, in a copy +of Mrs. Jameson's Italian Painters, against a passage describing +Correggio as a true servant of God in his art, above sordid ambition, +devoted to truth, "one of those superior beings of whom there are so +few;" Margaret wrote on the margin, 'And yet all might be such.' The +book lay long on the table of the owner, in Florence, and chanced to +be read there by a young artist of much talent. "These words," said +he, months afterwards, "struck out a new strength in me. They revived +resolutions long fallen away, and made me set my face like a flint." + +But Margaret's courage was thoroughly sweet in its temper. She accused +herself in her youth of unamiable traits, but, in all the later years +of her life, it is difficult to recall a moment of malevolence. The +friends whom her strength of mind drew to her, her good heart held +fast; and few persons were ever the objects of more persevering +kindness. Many hundreds of her letters remain, and they are alive with +proofs of generous friendship given and received. + +Among her early friends, Mrs. Farrar, of Cambridge, appears to have +discovered, at a critical moment in her career, the extraordinary +promise of the young girl, and some false social position into which +her pride and petulance, and the mistakes of others, had combined to +bring her, and she set herself, with equal kindness and address, to +make a second home for Margaret in her own house, and to put her on +the best footing in the agreeable society of Cambridge. She busied +herself, also, as she could, in removing all superficial blemishes +from the gem. In a well-chosen travelling party, made up by Mrs. +Farrar, and which turned out to be the beginning of much happiness by +the friendships then formed, Margaret visited, in the summer of 1835, +Newport, New York, and Trenton Falls; and, in the autumn, made the +acquaintance, at Mrs. F.'s house, of Miss Martineau, whose friendship, +at that moment, was an important stimulus to her mind. + +Mrs. Farrar performed for her, thenceforward, all the offices of an +almost maternal friendship. She admired her genius, and wished that +all should admire it. She counselled and encouraged her, brought to +her side the else unsuppliable aid of a matron and a lady, sheltered +her in sickness, forwarded her plans with tenderness and constancy, +to the last. I read all this in the tone of uniform gratitude and love +with which this lady is mentioned in Margaret's letters. Friendships +like this praise both parties; and the security with which people of +a noble disposition approached Margaret, indicated the quality of her +own infinite tenderness. A very intelligent woman applied to her what +Stilling said of Goethe: "Her heart, which few knew, was as great as +her mind, which all knew;" and added, that, "in character, Margaret +was, of all she had beheld, the largest woman, and not a woman who +wished, to be a man." Another lady added, "She never disappointed you. +To any one whose confidence she had once drawn out, she was thereafter +faithful. She could talk of persons, and never gossip; for she had a +fine instinct that kept her from any reality, and from any effect of +treachery." I was still more struck with the remark that followed. +"Her life, since she went abroad, is wholly unknown to me; but I have +an unshaken trust that what Margaret did she can defend." + +She was a right brave and heroic woman. She shrunk from no duty, +because of feeble nerves. Although, after her father died, the +disappointment of not going to Europe with Miss Martineau and Mrs. +Farrar was extreme, and her mother and sister wished her to take +her portion of the estate and go; and, on her refusal, entreated the +interference of friends to overcome her objections; Margaret would not +hear of it, and devoted herself to the education of her brothers and +sisters, and then to the making a home for the family. She was exact +and punctual in money matters, and maintained herself, and made her +full contribution to the support of her family, by the reward of her +labors as a teacher, and in her conversation classes. I have a letter +from her at Jamaica Plain, dated November, 1840, which begins, + + 'This day I write you from my own hired house, and am full of + the dignity of citizenship. Really, it is almost happiness. + I retain, indeed, some cares and responsibilities; but these + will sit light as feathers, for I can take my own time for + them. Can it be that this peace will be mine for five whole + months? At any rate, five days have already been enjoyed.' + +Here is another, written in the same year:-- + + 'I do not wish to talk to you of my ill-health, except that I + like you should know when it makes me do anything badly, since + I wish you to excuse and esteem me. But let me say, once for + all, in reply to your letter, that you are mistaken if you + think I ever wantonly sacrifice my health. I have learned + that we cannot injure ourselves without injuring others; and + besides, that we have no right; for ourselves are all we know + of heaven. I do not try to domineer over myself. But, unless + I were sure of dying, I cannot dispense with making some + exertion, both for the present and the future. There is no + mortal, who, if I laid down my burden, would take care of + it while I slept. Do not think me weakly disinterested, or, + indeed, disinterested at all.' + +Every one of her friends knew assuredly that her sympathy and aid +would not fail them when required. She went, from the most joyful of +all bridals, to attend a near relative during a formidable surgical +operation. She was here to help others. As one of her friends writes, +'She helped whoever knew her.' She adopted the interests of humble +persons, within her circle, with heart-cheering warmth, and her ardor +in the cause of suffering and degraded women, at Sing-Sing, was as +irresistible as her love of books. She had, many years afterwards, +scope for the exercise of all her love and devotion, in Italy, but +she came to it as if it had been her habit and her natural sphere. The +friends who knew her in that country, relate, with much surprise, +that she, who had all her lifetime drawn people by her wit, should +recommend herself so highly, in Italy, by her tenderness and large +affection. Yet the tenderness was only a face of the wit; as before, +the wit was raised above all other wit by the affection behind it. +And, truly, there was an ocean of tears always, in her atmosphere, +ready to fall. + +There was, at New York, a poor adventurer, half patriot, half +author, a miserable man, always in such depths of distress, with +such squadrons of enemies, that no charity could relieve, and no +intervention save him. He believed Europe banded for his destruction, +and America corrupted to connive at it. Margaret listened to these +woes with such patience and mercy, that she drew five hundred dollars, +which had been invested for her in a safe place, and put them in those +hapless hands, where, of course, the money was only the prey of new +rapacity, to be bewailed by new reproaches. When one of her friends +had occasion to allude to this, long afterwards, she replied:-- + + 'In answer to what you say of ----, I wish, indeed, the little + effort I made for him had been wiselier applied. Yet these are + not the things one regrets. It will not do to calculate too + closely with the affectionate human impulse. We must consent + to make many mistakes, or we should move too slow to help our + brothers much. I am sure you do not regret what you spent on + Miani, and other worthless people. As things looked then, it + would have been wrong not to have risked the loss.' + + + + +TRUTH. + + +But Margaret crowned all her talents and virtues with a love of truth, +and the power to speak it. In great and in small matters, she was +a woman of her word, and gave those who conversed with her the +unspeakable comfort that flows from plain dealing. Her nature was +frank and transparent, and she had a right to say, as she says in her +journal:-- + + 'I have the satisfaction of knowing, that, in my counsels, I + have given myself no air of being better than I am.' + +And again:-- + + 'In the chamber of death, I prayed in very early years, "Give + me truth; cheat me by no illusion." O, the granting of this + prayer is sometimes terrible to me! I walk over the burning + ploughshares, and they sear my feet. Yet nothing but truth + will do; no love will serve that is not eternal, and as large + as the universe; no philanthropy in executing whose behests + I myself become unhealthy; no creative genius which bursts + asunder my life, to leave it a poor black chrysalid behind. + And yet this last is too true of me.' + +She describes a visit made in May, 1844, at the house of some +valued friends in West Roxbury, and adds: 'We had a long and deep +conversation, happy in its candor. Truth, truth, thou art the great +preservative! Let free air into the mind, and the pestilence cannot +lurk in any corner.' + +And she uses the following language in an earnest letter to another +friend:-- + + 'My own entire sincerity, in every passage of life, gives me a + right to expect that I shall be met by no unmeaning phrases or + attentions.' + + * * * * * + + 'Reading to-day a few lines of ----, I thought with + refreshment of such lives as T.'s, and V.'s, and W.'s, so + private and so true, where each line written is really the + record of a thought or a feeling. I hate poems which are + a melancholy monument of culture for the sake of being + cultivated, not of growing.' + +Even in trifles, one might find with her the advantage and the +electricity of a little honesty. I have had from an eye-witness a note +of a little scene that passed in Boston, at the Academy of Music. +A party had gone early, and taken an excellent place to hear one of +Beethoven's symphonies. Just behind them were soon seated a young lady +and two gentlemen, who made an incessant buzzing, in spite of bitter +looks cast on them by the whole neighborhood, and destroyed all the +musical comfort. After all was over, Margaret leaned across one seat, +and catching the eye of this girl, who was pretty and well-dressed, +said, in her blandest, gentlest voice, "May I speak with you one +moment?" "Certainly," said the young lady, with a fluttered, pleased +look, bending forward. "I only wish to say," said Margaret, "that I +trust, that, in the whole course of your life, you will not suffer so +great a degree of annoyance as you have inflicted on a large party of +lovers of music this evening." This was said with the sweetest air, as +if to a little child, and it was as good as a play to see the change +of countenance which the young lady exhibited, who had no replication +to make to so Christian a blessing. + +On graver occasions, the same habit was only more stimulated; and I +cannot remember certain passages which called it into play, without +new regrets at the costly loss which our community sustains in the +loss of this brave and eloquent soul. + +People do not speak the truth, not for the want of not knowing +and preferring it, but because they have not the organ to speak it +adequately. It requires a clear sight, and, still more, a high spirit, +to deal with falsehood in the decisive way. I have known several +honest persons who valued truth as much as Peter and John, but, when +they tried to speak it, _they_ grew red and black in the face instead +of Ananias, until, after a few attempts, they decided that aggressive +truth was not their vocation, and confined themselves thenceforward +to silent honesty, except on rare occasions, when either an extreme +outrage, or a happier inspiration, loosened their tongue. But a soul +is now and then incarnated, whom indulgent nature has not afflicted +with any cramp or frost, but who can speak the right word at the right +moment, qualify the selfish and hypocritical act with its real name, +and, without any loss of serenity, hold up the offence to the purest +daylight. Such a truth-speaker is worth more than the best police, and +more than the laws or governors; for these do not always know their +own side, but will back the crime for want of this very truth-speaker +to expose them. That is the theory of the newspaper,--to supersede +official by intellectual influence. But, though the apostles establish +the journal, it usually happens that, by some strange oversight, +Ananias slips into the editor's chair. If, then, we could be provided +with a fair proportion of truth-speakers, we could very materially and +usefully contract the legislative and the executive functions. Still, +the main sphere for this nobleness is private society, where so +many mischiefs go unwhipped, being out of the cognizance of law, +and supposed to be nobody's business. And society is, at all times, +suffering for want of judges and headsmen, who will mark and lop these +malefactors. + +Margaret suffered no vice to insult her presence, but called the +offender to instant account, when the law of right or of beauty was +violated. She needed not, of course, to go out of her way to find the +offender, and she never did, but she had the courage and the skill to +cut heads off which were not worn with honor in her presence. Others +might abet a crime by silence, if they pleased; she chose to clear +herself of all complicity, by calling the act by its name. + +It was curious to see the mysterious provocation which the mere +presence of insight exerts in its neighborhood. Like moths about a +lamp, her victims voluntarily came to judgment: conscious persons, +encumbered with egotism; vain persons, bent on concealing some +mean vice; arrogant reformers, with some halting of their own; the +compromisers, who wished to reconcile right and wrong;--all came and +held out their palms to the wise woman, to read their fortunes, and +they were truly told. Many anecdotes have come to my ear, which show +how useful the glare of her lamp proved in private circles, and what +dramatic situations it created. But these cannot be told. The valor +for dragging the accused spirits among his acquaintance to the stake +is not in the heart of the present writer. The reader must be content +to learn that she knew how, without loss of temper, to speak with +unmistakable plainness to any party, when she felt that the truth or +the right was injured. For the same reason, I omit one or two +letters, most honorable both to her mind and heart, in which she felt +constrained to give the frankest utterance to her displeasure. Yet I +incline to quote the testimony of one witness, which is so full and so +pointed, that I must give it as I find it. + +"I have known her, by the severity of her truth, mow down a crop of +evil, like the angel of retribution itself, and could not sufficiently +admire her courage. A conversation she had with Mr. ----, just before +he went to Europe, was one of these things; and there was not a +particle of ill-will in it, but it was truth which she could not help +seeing and uttering, nor he refuse to accept. + +"My friends told me of a similar verdict, pronounced upon Mr. ----, at +Paris, which they said was perfectly tremendous. They themselves +sat breathless; Mr. ---- was struck dumb; his eyes fixed on her with +wonder and amazement, yet gazing too with an attention which seemed +like fascination. When she had done, he still looked to see if she was +to say more, and when he found she had really finished, he arose, took +his hat, said faintly, 'I thank you.' and left the room. He afterwards +said to Mr. ----, 'I never shall speak ill of her. She has done me +good.' And this was the greater triumph, for this man had no theories +of impersonality, and was the most egotistical and irritable of +self-lovers, and was so unveracious, that one had to hope in charity +that his organ for apprehending truth was deficient." + + + + +ECSTASY. + + +I have alluded to the fact, that, in the summer of 1840, Margaret +underwent some change in the tone and the direction of her thoughts, +to which she attributed a high importance. I remember, at an earlier +period, when in earnest conversation with her, she seemed to have +that height and daring, that I saw she was ready to do whatever she +thought; and I observed that, with her literary riches, her invention +and wit, her boundless fun and drollery, her light satire, and the +most entertaining conversation in America, consisted a certain +pathos of sentiment, and a march of character, threatening to arrive +presently at the shores and plunge into the sea of Buddhism and +mystical trances. The literature of asceticism and rapturous piety was +familiar to her. The conversation of certain mystics, who had appeared +in Boston about this time, had interested her, but in no commanding +degree. But in this year, 1840, in which events occurred which +combined great happiness and pain for her affections, she remained for +some time in a sort of ecstatic solitude. She made many attempts +to describe her frame of mind to me, but did not inspire me with +confidence that she had now come to any experiences that were profound +or permanent. She was vexed at the want of sympathy on my part, and +I again felt that this craving for sympathy did not prove the +inspiration. There was a certain restlessness and fever, which I did +not like should deceive a soul which was capable of greatness. But +jets of magnanimity were always natural to her; and her aspiring +mind, eager for a higher and still a higher ground, made her gradually +familiar with the range of the mystics, and, though never herself laid +in the chamber called Peace, never quite authentically and originally +speaking from the absolute or prophetic mount, yet she borrowed from +her frequent visits to its precincts an occasional enthusiasm, which +gave a religious dignity to her thought. + + 'I have plagues about me, but they don't touch me now. I thank + nightly the benignant Spirit, for the unaccustomed serenity in + which it enfolds me. + + '---- is very wretched; and once I could not have helped + taking on me all his griefs, and through him the griefs of his + class; but now I drink only the wormwood of the minute, and + that has always equal parts,--a drop of sweet to a drop + of bitter. But I shall never be callous, never unable to + understand _home-sickness_. Am not I, too, one of the band who + know not where to lay their heads? Am I wise enough to hear + such things? Perhaps not; but happy enough, surely. For that + Power which daily makes me understand the value of the little + wheat amid the field of tares, and shows me how the kingdom of + heaven is sown in the earth like a grain of mustard-seed, is + good to me, and bids me call unhappiness happy.' + + * * * * * + + TO ---- + + '_March_, 1842.--My inward life has been more rich and deep, + and of more calm and musical flow than ever before. It seems + to me that Heaven, whose course has ever been to cross-bias + me, as Herbert said, is no niggard in its compensations. I + have indeed been forced to take up old burdens, from which I + thought I had learned what they could teach; the pen has been + snatched from my hand just as I most longed to use it; I have + been forced to dissipate, when I most wished to concentrate; + to feel the hourly presence of others' mental wants, when, it + seemed, I was just on the point of satisfying my own. But a + new page is turned, and an era begun, from which I am not yet + sufficiently remote to describe it as I would. I have lived a + life, if only in the music I have heard, and one development + seemed to follow another therein, as if bound together by + destiny, and all things were done for me. All minds, all + scenes, have ministered to me. Nature has seemed an + ever-open secret; the Divine, a sheltering love; truth, an + always-springing fountain; and my soul more alone, and less + lonely, more hopeful, patient, and, above all, more gentle and + humble in its living. New minds have come to reveal themselves + to me, though I do not wish it, for I feel myself inadequate + to the ties already formed. I have not strength or time to + meet the thoughts of those I love already. But these new have + come with gifts too fair to be refused, and which have cheered + my passive mind.' + + * * * * * + + '_June_, 1844.--Last night, in the boat, I could not help + thinking, each has something, none has enough. I fear to want + them all; and, through ages, if not forever, promises and + beckons the life of reception, of renunciation. Passing every + seven days from one region to the other, the maiden grows + weary of _packing the trunk_, yet blesses Thee, O rich God!' + +Her letters at this period betray a pathetic alternation of feeling, +between her aspiring for a rest in the absolute Centre, and her +necessity of a perfect sympathy with her friends. She writes to one of +them:-- + + 'What I want, the word I crave, I do not expect to hear from + the lips of man. I do not wish to be, I do not wish to have, + a _mediator_; yet I cannot help wishing, when I am with you, + that some tones of the longed-for music could be vibrating + in the air around us. But I will not be impatient again; for, + though I am but as I am, I like not to feel the eyes I have + loved averted.' + + + + +CONVERSATION. + + +I have separated and distributed as I could some of the parts which +blended in the rich composite energy which Margaret exerted during the +ten years over which my occasional interviews with her were scattered. +It remains to say, that all these powers and accomplishments +found their best and only adequate channel in her conversation;--a +conversation which those who have heard it, unanimously, as far as +I know, pronounced to be, in elegance, in range, in flexibility, +and adroit transition, in depth, in cordiality, and in moral +aim, altogether admirable; surprising and cheerful as a poem, and +communicating its own civility and elevation like a charm to all +hearers. She was here, among our anxious citizens, and frivolous +fashionists, as if sent to refine and polish her countrymen, and +announce a better day. She poured a stream of amber over the endless +store of private anecdotes, of bosom histories, which her wonderful +persuasion drew forth, and transfigured them into fine fables. Whilst +she embellished the moment, her conversation had the merit of being +solid and true. She put her whole character into it, and had the power +to inspire. The companion was made a thinker, and went away quite +other than he came. The circle of friends who sat with her were not +allowed to remain spectators or players, but she converted them into +heroes, if she could. The muse woke the muses, and the day grew bright +and eventful. Of course, there must be, in a person of such sincerity, +much variety of aspect, according to the character of her company. +Only, in Margaret's case, there is almost an agreement in the +testimony to an invariable power over the minds of all. I conversed +lately with a gentleman who has vivid remembrances of his interviews +with her in Boston, many years ago, who described her in these +terms:--"No one ever came so near. Her mood applied itself to the mood +of her companion, point to point, in the most limber, sinuous, vital +way, and drew out the most extraordinary narratives; yet she had a +light sort of laugh, when all was said, as if she thought she could +live over that revelation. And this sufficient sympathy she had for +all persons indifferently,--for lovers, for artists, and beautiful +maids, and ambitious young statesmen, and for old aunts, and +coach-travellers. Ah! she applied herself to the mood of her +companion, as the sponge applies itself to water." The description +tallies well enough with my observation. I remember she found, one +day, at my house, her old friend Mr. ----, sitting with me. She looked +at him attentively, and hardly seemed to know him. In the afternoon, +he invited her to go with him to Cambridge. The next, day she said to +me, 'You fancy that you know--. It is too absurd; you have never seen +him. When I found him here, sitting like a statue, I was alarmed, +and thought him ill. You sit with courteous, _un_confiding smile, and +suppose him to be a mere man of talent. He is so with you. But the +moment I was alone with him, he was another creature; his manner, so +glassy and elaborate before, was full of soul, and the tones of +his voice entirely different.' And I have no doubt that she saw +expressions, heard tones, and received thoughts from her companions, +which no one else ever saw or heard from the same parties, and that +her praise of her friends, which seemed exaggerated, was her exact +impression. We were all obliged to recall Margaret's testimony, when +we found we were sad blockheads to other people. + +I find among her letters many proofs of this power of disposing +equally the hardest and the most sensitive people to open their +hearts, on very short acquaintance. Any casual rencontre, in a +walk, in a steamboat, at a concert, became the prelude to unwonted +confidences. + + * * * * * + + 1843.--'I believe I told you about one new man, a Philistine, + at Brook Farm. He reproved me, as such people are wont, for my + little faith. At the end of the first meeting in the hall, he + seemed to me perfectly hampered in his old ways and technics, + and I thought he would not open his mind to the views of + others for years, if ever. After I wrote, we had a second + meeting, by request, on personal relations; at the end of + which, he came to me, and expressed delight, and a feeling + of new light and life, in terms whose modesty might have done + honor to the wisest.' + + * * * * * + + 'This afternoon we met Mr. ---- in his wood; and he sat down + and told us the story of his life, his courtship, and painted + the portraits of his father and mother with most amusing + naivete. He says:--"How do you think I offered myself? I never + had told Miss ---- that I loved her; never told her she was + handsome; and I went to her, and said, 'Miss ----, I've come + to offer myself; but first I'll give you my character. I'm + very poor; you'll have to work: I'm very cross and irascible; + you'll have everything to bear: and I've liked many other + pretty girls. Now what do you say?' and she said, 'I'll have + you:' and she's been everything to me." + + '"My mother was a Calvinist, very strict, but she was always + reading 'Abelard and Eloisa,' and crying over it. At sixteen + I said to her: 'Mother, you've brought me up well; you've kept + me strict. Why don't I feel that regeneration they talk of? + why an't I one of the elect?' And she talked to me about the + potter using his clay as he pleased; and I said: 'Mother, God + is not a potter: He's a perfect being; and he can't treat the + vessels he makes, anyhow, but with perfect justice, or he's no + God. So I'm no Calvinist.'"' + + * * * * * + +Here is a very different picture:-- + + '---- has infinite grace and shading in her character: a + springing and tender fancy, a Madonna depth of meditative + softness, and a purity which has been unstained, and keeps her + dignified even in the most unfavorable circumstances. She was + born for the love and ornament of life. I can scarcely + forbear weeping sometimes, when I look on her, and think what + happiness and beauty she might have conferred. She is as yet + all unconscious of herself, and she rather dreads being with + me, because I make her too conscious. She was on the point, + at ----, of telling me all she knew of herself; but I saw + she dreaded, while she wished, that I should give a local + habitation and a name to what lay undefined, floating before + her, the phantom of her destiny; or rather lead her to give + it, for she always approaches a tragical clearness when + talking with me.' + + * * * * * + + '---- has been to see us. But it serves not to know such + a person, who perpetually defaces the high by such strange + mingling with the low. It certainly is not pleasant to hear of + God and Miss Biddeford in a breath. To me, this hasty attempt + at skimming from the deeps of theosophy is as unpleasant as + the rude vanity of reformers. Dear Beauty! where, where, amid + these morasses and pine barrens, shall we make thee a temple? + where find a Greek to guard it,--clear-eyed, deep-thoughted, + and delicate enough to appreciate the relations and gradations + which nature always observes?' + +An acute and illuminated woman, who, in this age of indifferentism, +holds on with both hands to the creed of the Pilgrims, writes of +Margaret, whom she saw but once:--"She looked very sensible, but as +if contending with ill health and duties. She lay, all the day +and evening, on the sofa, and catechized me, who told my literal +traditions, like any old bobbin-woman." + +I add the testimony of a man of letters, and most competent observer, +who had, for a long time, opportunities of daily intercourse with +her:-- + +"When I knew Margaret, I was so young, and perhaps too much disposed +to meet people on my own ground, that I may not be able to do justice +to her. Her nature was so large and receptive, so sympathetic +with youth and genius, so aspiring, and withal so womanly in her +understanding, that she made her companion think more of himself, and +of a common life, than of herself. She was a companion as few +others, if indeed any one, have been. Her heart was underneath her +intellectualness, her mind was reverent, her spirit devout; a thinker +without dryness; a scholar without pedantry. She could appreciate the +finest thoughts, and knew the rich soil and large fields of beauty +that made the little vase of otto. With her unusual wisdom and +religious spirit, she seemed like the priestess of the youth, opening +to him the fields of nature; but she was more than a priestess, a +companion also. As I recall her image, I think she may have been too +intellectual, and too conscious of intellectual relation, so that she +was not sufficiently self-centred on her own personality; and hence +something of a duality: but I may not be correct in this impression." + + + + +CONVERSATIONS IN BOSTON. + +BY R.W. EMERSON. + + +"Do not scold me; they are guests of my eyes. Do not frown,--they want +no bread; they are guests of my words." + +TARTAR ECLOGUES + + + + +V. + +CONVERSATIONS IN BOSTON. + + * * * * * + + +In the year 1839, Margaret removed from Groton, and, with her mother +and family, took a house at Jamaica Plain, five miles from Boston. In +November of the next year the family removed to Cambridge, and rented +a house there, near their old home. In 1841, Margaret took rooms for +the winter in town, retaining still the house in Cambridge. And from +the day of leaving Groton, until the autumn of 1844, when she removed +to New York, she resided in Boston, or its immediate vicinity. Boston +was her social centre. There were the libraries, galleries, and +concerts which she loved; there were her pupils and her friends; and +there were her tasks, and the openings of a new career. + +I have vaguely designated some of the friends with whom she was on +terms of intimacy at the time when I was first acquainted with her. +But the range of her talents required an equal compass in her society; +and she gradually added a multitude of names to the list. She knew +already all the active minds at Cambridge; and has left a record of +one good interview she had with Allston. She now became intimate +with Doctor Channing, and interested him to that point in some of her +studies, that, at his request, she undertook to render some selections +of German philosophy into English for him. But I believe this attempt +was soon abandoned. She found a valuable friend in the late Miss Mary +Rotch, of New Bedford, a woman of great strength of mind, connected +with the Quakers not less by temperament than by birth, and possessing +the best lights of that once spiritual sect. At Newport, Margaret +had made the acquaintance of an elegant scholar, in Mr. Calvert, of +Maryland. In Providence, she had won, as by conquest, such a homage +of attachment, from young and old, that her arrival there, one day, on +her return from a visit to Bristol, was a kind of ovation. In Boston, +she knew people of every class,--merchants, politicians, scholars, +artists, women, the migratory genius, and the rooted capitalist,--and, +amongst all, many excellent people, who were every day passing, by new +opportunities, conversations, and kind offices, into the sacred circle +of friends. The late Miss Susan Burley had many points of attraction +for her, not only in her elegant studies, but also in the deep +interest which that lady took in securing the highest culture for +women. She was very well read, and, avoiding abstractions, knew how +to help herself with examples and facts. A friendship that proved +of great importance to the next years was that established with Mr. +George Ripley; an accurate scholar, a man of character, and of eminent +powers of conversation, and already then deeply engaged in plans of an +expansive practical bearing, of which the first fruit was the little +community which nourished for a few years at Brook Farm. Margaret +presently became connected with him in literary labors, and, as long +as she remained in this vicinity, kept up her habits of intimacy with +the colonists of Brook Farm. At West-Roxbury, too, she knew and prized +the heroic heart, the learning and wit of Theodore Parker, whose +literary aid was, subsequently, of the first importance to her. +She had an acquaintance, for many years,--subject, no doubt, to +alternations of sun and shade,--with Mr. Alcott. There was much +antagonism in their habitual views, but each learned to respect the +genius of the other. She had more sympathy with Mr. Alcott's English +friend, Charles Lane, an ingenious mystic, and bold experimenter in +practical reforms, whose dexterity and temper in debate she frankly +admired, whilst his asceticism engaged her reverence. Neither could +some marked difference of temperament remove her from the beneficent +influences of Miss Elizabeth Peabody, who, by her constitutional +hospitality to excellence, whether mental or moral, has made her +modest abode for so many years the inevitable resort of studious feet, +and a private theatre for the exposition of every question of letters, +of philosophy, of ethics, and of art. + +The events in Margaret's life, up to the year 1840, were few, and not +of that dramatic interest which readers love. Of the few events of her +bright and blameless years, how many are private, and must remain so. +In reciting the story of an affectionate and passionate woman, the +voice lowers itself to a whisper, and becomes inaudible. A woman +in our society finds her safety and happiness in exclusions and +privacies. She congratulates herself when she is not called to +the market, to the courts, to the polls, to the stage, or to the +orchestra. Only the most extraordinary genius can make the career of +an artist secure and agreeable to her. Prescriptions almost invincible +the female lecturer or professor of any science must encounter; and, +except on points where the charities which are left to women as their +legitimate province interpose against the ferocity of laws, with us a +female politician is unknown. Perhaps this fact, which so dangerously +narrows the career of a woman, accuses the tardiness of our civility, +and many signs show that a revolution is already on foot. + +Margaret had no love of notoriety, or taste for eccentricity, to goad +her, and no weak fear of either. Willingly she was confined to the +usual circles and methods of female talent. She had no false shame. +Any task that called out her powers was good and desirable. She wished +to live by her strength. She could converse, and teach, and write. She +took private classes of pupils at her own house. She organized, with +great success, a school for young ladies at Providence, and gave +four hours a day to it, during two years. She translated Eckermann's +Conversations with Goethe, and published in 1839. In 1841, she +translated the Letters of Gunderode and Bettine, and published them as +far as the sale warranted the work. In 1843, she made a tour to Lake +Superior and to Michigan, and published an agreeable narrative of it, +called "Summer on the Lakes." + +Apparently a more pretending, but really also a private and friendly +service, she edited the "Dial," a quarterly journal, for two years +from its first publication in 1840. She was eagerly solicited to +undertake the charge of this work, which, when it began, concentrated +a good deal of hope and affection. It had its origin in a club of +speculative students, who found the air in America getting a little +close and stagnant; and the agitation had perhaps the fault of being +too secondary or bookish in its origin, or caught not from primary +instincts, but from English, and still more from German books. The +journal was commenced with much hope, and liberal promises of many +cooeperators. But the workmen of sufficient culture for a poetical and +philosophical magazine were too few; and, as the pages were filled +by unpaid contributors, each of whom had, according to the usage and +necessity of this country, some paying employment, the journal did not +get his best work, but his second best. Its scattered writers had +not digested their theories into a distinct dogma, still less into a +practical measure which the public could grasp; and the magazine was +so eclectic and miscellaneous, that each of its readers and writers +valued only a small portion of it. For these reasons it never had a +large circulation, and it was discontinued after four years. But the +Dial betrayed, through all its juvenility, timidity, and conventional +rubbish, some sparks of the true love and hope, and of the piety to +spiritual law, which had moved its friends and founders, and it was +received by its early subscribers with almost a religious welcome. +Many years after it was brought to a close, Margaret was surprised in +England by very warm testimony to its merits; and, in 1848, the writer +of these pages found it holding the same affectionate place in many +a private bookshelf in England and Scotland, which it had secured at +home. Good or bad, it cost a good deal of precious labor from those +who served it, and from Margaret most of all. As editor, she received +a compensation for the first years, which was intended to be two +hundred dollars _per annum_, but which, I fear, never reached even +that amount. + +But it made no difference to her exertion. She put so much heart into +it that she bravely undertook to open, in the Dial, the subjects which +most attracted her; and she treated, in turn, Goethe, and Beethoven, +the Rhine and the Romaic Ballads, the Poems of John Sterling, and +several pieces of sentiment, with a spirit which spared no labor; and, +when the hard conditions of journalism held her to an inevitable day, +she submitted to jeopardizing a long-cherished subject, by treating it +in the crude and forced article for the month. I remember, after she +had been compelled by ill health to relinquish the journal into my +hands, my grateful wonder at the facility with which she assumed the +preparation of laborious articles, that might have daunted the most +practised scribe. + +But in book or journal she found a very imperfect expression of +herself, and it was the more vexatious, because she was accustomed +to the clearest and fullest. When, therefore, she had to choose an +employment that should pay money, she consulted her own genius, as +well as the wishes of a multitude of friends, in opening a class +for conversation. In the autumn of 1839, she addressed the following +letter, intended for circulation, to Mrs. George Ripley, in which her +general design was stated:-- + + 'My dear friend:--The advantages of a weekly meeting, for + conversation, might be great enough to repay the trouble of + attendance, if they consisted only in supplying a point of + union to well-educated and thinking women, in a city which, + with great pretensions to mental refinement, boasts, at + present, nothing of the kind, and where I have heard many, of + mature age, wish for some such means of stimulus and cheer, + and those younger, for a place where they could state their + doubts and difficulties, with a hope of gaining aid from the + experience or aspirations of others. And, if my office were + only to suggest topics, which would lead to conversation of + a better order than is usual at social meetings, and to + turn back the current when digressing into personalities or + common-places, so that what is valuable in the experience of + each might be brought to bear upon all, I should think the + object not unworthy of the effort. + + 'But my ambition goes much further. It is to pass in review + the departments of thought and knowledge, and endeavor to + place them in due relation to one another in our minds. To + systematize thought, and give a precision and clearness in + which our sex are so deficient, chiefly, I think, because + they have so few inducements to test and classify what they + receive. To ascertain what pursuits are best suited to us, in + our time and state of society, and how we may make best use of + our means for building up the life of thought upon the life of + action. + + 'Could a circle be assembled in earnest, desirous to answer + the questions,--What were we born to do? and how shall we do + it?--which so few ever propose to themselves till their best + years are gone by, I should think the undertaking a noble one, + and, if my resources should prove sufficient to make me its + moving spring, I should be willing to give to it a large + portion of those coming years, which will, as I hope, be my + best. I look upon it with no blind enthusiasm, nor unlimited + faith, but with a confidence that I have attained a distinct + perception of means, which, if there are persons competent to + direct them, can supply a great want, and promote really high + objects. So far as I have tried them yet, they have met with + success so much beyond my hopes, that my faith will not easily + be shaken, nor my earnestness chilled. Should I, however, be + disappointed in Boston, I could hardly hope that such a plan + could be brought to bear on general society, in any other city + of the United States. But I do not fear, if a good beginning + can be made. I am confident that twenty persons cannot be + brought together from better motives than vanity or pedantry, + to talk upon such subjects as we propose, without finding + in themselves great deficiencies, which they will be very + desirous to supply. + + 'Should the enterprise fail, it will be either from + incompetence in me, or that sort of vanity in them which wears + the garb of modesty. On the first of these points, I need not + speak. I cannot be supposed to have felt so much the wants of + others, without feeling my own still more deeply. And, from + the depth of this feeling, and the earnestness it gave, such + power as I have yet exerted has come. Of course, those who are + inclined to meet me, feel a confidence in me, and should they + be disappointed, I shall regret it not solely or most on my + own account. I have not given my gauge without measuring my + capacity to sustain defeat. For the other, I know it is very + hard to lay aside the shelter of vague generalities, the art + of coterie criticism, and the "delicate disdains" of _good + society_, and fearlessly meet the light, even though it flow + from the sun of truth. Yet, as, without such generous courage, + nothing of value can be learned or done, I hope to see many + capable of it; willing that others should think their sayings + crude, shallow, or tasteless, if, by such unpleasant means, + they may attain real health and vigor, which need no aid from + rouge or candle-light, to brave the light of the world. + + 'Since I saw you, I have been told of persons who are desirous + to join the class, "if only they need not talk." I am so sure + that the success of the whole depends on conversation being + general, that I do not wish any one to come, who does not + intend, if possible, to take an active part. No one will be + forced, but those who do not talk will not derive the same + advantages with those who openly state their impressions, and + can consent to have it known that they learn by blundering, as + is the destiny of man here below. And general silence, or side + talks, would paralyze me. I should feel coarse and misplaced, + were I to harangue over-much. In former instances, I have been + able to make it easy and even pleasant, to twenty-five out of + thirty, to bear their part, to question, to define, to state, + and examine opinions. If I could not do as much now, I should + consider myself as unsuccessful, and should withdraw. But I + shall expect communication to be effected by degrees, and to + do a great deal myself at the first meetings. My method has + been to open a subject,--for instance, Poetry, as expressed + in-- + + External Nature; + The life of man; + Literature; + The fine arts; + or, The history of a nation to be studied in-- + Its religious and civil institutions; + Its literature and arts; + The characters of its great men; + + and, after as good a general statement as I know how to make, + select a branch of the subject, and lead others to give their + thoughts upon it. When they have not been successful in verbal + utterance of their thoughts, I have asked them to attempt it + in writing. At the next meeting, I would read these "skarts + of pen and ink" aloud, and canvass their adequacy, without + mentioning the names of the writers. I found this less + necessary, as I proceeded, and my companions attained greater + command both of thought and language; but for a time it was + useful, and may be now. Great advantage in point of discipline + may be derived from even this limited use of the pen. + + 'I do not wish, at present, to pledge myself to any course + of subjects. Generally, I may say, they will be such as + literature and the arts present in endless profusion. Should a + class be brought together, I should wish, first, to ascertain + our common ground, and, in the course of a few meetings, + should see whether it be practicable to follow out the design + in my mind, which, as yet, would look too grand on paper. + + 'Let us see whether there will be any organ, before noting + down the music to which it may give breath.' + +Accordingly, a class of ladies assembled at Miss Peabody's rooms, in +West Street, on the 6th November, 1839. Twenty-five were present, and +the circle comprised some of the most agreeable and intelligent women +to be found in Boston and its neighborhood. The following brief report +of this first day's meeting remains:-- + + 'Miss Fuller enlarged, in her introductory conversation, on + the topics which she touched in her letter to Mrs. Ripley. + + 'Women are now taught, at school, all that men are; they run + over, superficially, even _more_ studies, without being really + taught anything. When they come to the business of life, they + find themselves inferior, and all their studies have not given + them that practical good sense, and mother wisdom, and wit, + which grew up with our grandmothers at the spinning-wheel. + But, with this difference; men are called on, from a very + early period, to reproduce all that they learn. Their college + exercises, their political duties, their professional studies, + the first actions of life in any direction, call on them to + put to use what they have learned. But women learn without any + attempt to reproduce. Their only reproduction is for purposes + of display. + + 'It is to supply this defect,' Miss Fuller said, 'that these + conversations have been planned. She was not here to teach; + but she had had some experience in the management of such a + conversation as was now proposed; she meant to give her view + on each subject, and provoke the thoughts of others. + + 'It would be best to take subjects on which we know words, and + have vague impressions, and compel ourselves to define those + words. We should have, probably, mortifications to suffer; + but we should be encouraged by the rapid gain that comes from + making a simple and earnest effort for expression.' + +Miss Fuller had proposed the Grecian Mythology as the subject of the +first conversations, and now gave her reasons for the choice. + + 'It is quite separated from all exciting local subjects. It is + serious, without being solemn, and without excluding any mode + of intellectual action; it is playful, as well as deep. It + is sufficiently wide, for it is a complete expression of the + cultivation of a nation. It is objective and tangible. It is, + also, generally known, and associated with all our ideas of + the arts. + + 'It originated in the eye of the Greek. He lived out of doors: + his climate was genial, his senses were adapted to it. He was + vivacious and intellectual, and personified all he beheld. He + _saw_ the oreads, naiads, nereids. Their forms, as poets and + painters give them, are the very lines of nature humanized, as + the child's eye sees faces in the embers or in the clouds. + + 'Other forms of the mythology, as Jupiter, Juno, Apollo, + are great instincts, or ideas, or facts of the internal + constitution, separated and personified.' + +After exhibiting their enviable mental health, and rebutting the +cavils of some of the speakers,--who could not bear, in Christian +times, by Christian ladies, that heathen Greeks should be +envied,--Miss Fuller declared, + + 'that she had no desire to go back, and believed we have the + elements of a deeper civilization; yet, the Christian was in + its infancy; the Greek in its maturity; nor could she look + on the expression of a great nation's intellect, as + insignificant. These fables of the Gods were the result of + the universal sentiments of religion, aspiration, intellectual + action, of a people, whose political and aesthetic life had + become immortal; and we must leave off despising, if we would + begin to learn.' + +The reporter closes her account by saying:--"Miss Fuller's thoughts +were much illustrated, and all was said with the most captivating +address and grace, and with beautiful modesty. The position in which +she placed herself with respect to the rest, was entirely ladylike, +and companionable. She told what she intended, the earnest purpose +with which she came, and, with great tact, indicated the indiscretions +that might spoil the meeting." + +Here is Margaret's own account of the first days. + + TO R.W.E. + + '_25th Nov._, 1839.--My class is prosperous. I was + so fortunate as to rouse, at once, the tone of simple + earnestness, which can scarcely, when once awakened, cease to + vibrate. All seem in a glow, and quite as receptive as I wish. + They question and examine, yet follow leadings; and thoughts, + not opinions, have ruled the hour every time. There are + about twenty-five members, and every one, I believe, full of + interest. The first time, ten took part in the conversation; + the last, still more. Mrs. ---- came out in a way that + surprised me. She seems to have shaken off a wonderful number + of films. She showed pure vision, sweet sincerity, and much + talent. Mrs. ---- ---- keeps us in good order, and takes care + that Christianity and morality are not forgotten. The first + day's topic was, the genealogy of heaven and earth; then the + Will, (Jupiter); the Understanding, (Mercury): the second + day's, the celestial inspiration of genius, perception, and + transmission of divine law, (Apollo); the terrene inspiration, + the impassioned abandonment of genius, (Bacchus). Of the + thunderbolt, the caduceus, the ray, and the grape, having + disposed as well as might be, we came to the wave, and the + sea-shell it moulds to Beauty, and Love her parent and her + child. + + 'I assure you, there is more Greek than Bostonian spoken at + the meetings; and we may have pure honey of Hymettus to give + you yet.' + +To another friend she wrote:-- + + 'The circle I meet interests me. So even devoutly thoughtful + seems their spirit, that, from the very first, I took my + proper place, and never had the feeling I dreaded, of display, + of a paid Corinne. I feel as I would, truly a teacher and a + guide. All are intelligent; five or six have talent. But I am + never driven home for ammunition; never put to any expense; + never truly called out. What I have is always enough; though I + feel how superficially I am treating my subject.' + +Here is an extract from the letter of a lady, who joined the class, +for the first time, at the eighth meeting, to her friend in New +Haven:-- + + "Christmas made a holiday for Miss Fuller's class, but it met + on Saturday, at noon. As I sat there, my heart overflowed with + joy at the sight of the bright circle, and I longed to have + you by my side, for I know not where to look for so much + character, culture, and so much love of truth and beauty, in + any other circle of women and girls. The names and faces would + not mean so much to you as to me, who have seen more of the + lives, of which they are the sign. Margaret, beautifully + dressed, (don't despise that, for it made a fine picture,) + presided with more dignity and grace than I had thought + possible. The subject was Beauty. Each had written her + definition, and Margaret began with reading her own. This + called forth questions, comments, and illustrations, on all + sides. The style and manner, of course, in this age, are + different, but the question, the high point from which it + was considered, and the earnestness and simplicity of the + discussion, as well as the gifts and graces of the speakers, + gave it the charm of a Platonic dialogue. There was no + pretension or pedantry in a word that was said. The tone of + remark and question was simple as that of children in a school + class; and, I believe, every one was gratified." + +The conversations thus opened proceeded with spirit and success. +Under the mythological forms, room was found for opening all the +great questions, on which Margaret and her friends wished to converse. +Prometheus was made the type of Pure Reason; Jupiter, of Will; Juno, +the passive side of the same, or Obstinacy; Minerva, Intellectual +Power, Practical Reason; Mercury, Executive Power, Understanding; +Apollo was Genius, the Sun; Bacchus was Geniality, the Earth's answer. +"Apollo and Bacchus were contrasted," says the reporter. "Margaret +unfolded her idea of Bacchus. His whole life was triumph. Born from +fire; a divine frenzy; the answer of the earth to the sun,--of the +warmth of joy to the light of genius. He is beautiful, also; not +severe in youthful beauty, like Apollo; but exuberant,--liable to +excess. She spoke of the fables of his destroying Pentheus, &c., and +suggested the interpretations. This Bacchus was found in Scripture. +The Indian Bacchus is glowing; he is the genial apprehensive power; +the glow of existence; mere joy." + +Venus was Grecian womanhood, instinctive; Diana, chastity; Mars, +Grecian manhood, instinctive. Venus made the name for a conversation +on Beauty, which was extended through four meetings, as it brought in +irresistibly the related topics of poetry, genius, and taste. Neptune +was Circumstance; Pluto, the Abyss, the Undeveloped; Pan, the glow +and sportiveness and music of Nature; Ceres, the productive power of +Nature; Proserpine, the Phenomenon. + +Under the head of Venus, in the fifth conversation, the story of Cupid +and Psyche was told with fitting beauty, by Margaret; and many fine +conjectural interpretations suggested from all parts of the room. +The ninth conversation turned on the distinctive qualities of poetry, +discriminating it from the other fine arts. Rhythm and Imagery, it +was agreed, were distinctive. An episode to dancing, which the +conversation took, led Miss Fuller to give the thought that lies +at the bottom of different dances. Of her lively description the +following record is preserved:-- + + 'Gavottes, shawl dances, and all of that kind, are intended + merely to exhibit the figure in as many attitudes as possible. + They have no character, and say nothing, except, Look! how + graceful I am! + + 'The minuet is conjugal; but the wedlock is chivalric. Even + so would Amadis wind slow, stately, calm, through the mazes of + life, with Oriana, when he had made obeisances enough to win + her for a partner. + + 'English, German, Swiss, French, and Spanish dances all + express the same things, though in very different ways. Love + and its life are still the theme. + + 'In the English country dance, the pair who have chosen one + another, submit decorously to the restraints of courtship + and frequent separations, cross hands, four go round, down + outside, in the most earnest, lively, complacent fashion. If + they join hands to go down the middle, and exhibit their + union to all spectators, they part almost as soon as meet, + and disdain not to give hands right and left to the most + indifferent persons, like marriage in its daily routine. + + 'In the Swiss, the man pursues, stamping with energy, marking + the time by exulting flings, or snapping of the fingers, in + delighted confidence of succeeding at last; but the maiden + coyly, demurely, foots it round, yet never gets out of the + way, intending to be won. + + 'The German asks his _madchen_ if she will, with him, for an + hour forget the cares and common-places of life in a tumult + of rapturous sympathy, and she smiles with Saxon modesty her + _Ja_. He sustains her in his arms; the music begins. At first, + in willing mazes they calmly imitate the planetary orbs, but + the melodies flow quicker, their accordant hearts beat + higher, and they whirl at last into giddy raptures, and + dizzy evolutions, which steal from life its free-will and + self-collection, till nothing is left but mere sensation. + + 'The French couple are somewhat engaged with one another, but + almost equally so with the world around them. They think it + well to vary existence with plenty of coquetry and display. + First, the graceful reverence to one another, then to + their neighbors. Exhibit your grace in the _chasse_,--made + apparently solely for the purpose of _dechasseing_;--then + civil intimacy between the ladies, in _la chaine_, then a + decorous promenade of partners, then right and left with + all the world, and balance, &c. The quadrille also offers + opportunity for talk. Looks and sympathetic motions are not + enough for our Parisian friends, unless eked out by words. + + 'The impassioned bolero and fandango are the dances for me. + They are not merely loving, but living; they express the sweet + Southern ecstasy at the mere gift of existence. These persons + are together, they live, they are beautiful; how can they + say this in sufficiently plain terms?--I love, I live, I + am beautiful!--I put on my festal dress to do honor to my + happiness; I shake my castanets, that my hands, too, may be + busy; I _felice,--felicissima_!' + +This first series of conversations extended to thirteen, the class +meeting once a week at noon, and remaining together for two hours. The +class were happy, and the interest increased. A new series of thirteen +more weeks followed, and the general subject of the new course was +"the Fine Arts." A few fragmentary notes only of these hours have been +shown me, but all those who bore any part in them testify to their +entire success. A very competent witness has given me some interesting +particulars:-- + +"Margaret used to come to the conversations very well dressed, and, +altogether, looked sumptuously. She began them with an exordium, in +which she gave her leading views; and those exordiums were excellent, +from the elevation of the tone, the ease and flow of discourse, and +from the tact with which they were kept aloof from any excess, and +from the gracefulness with which they were brought down, at last, to a +possible level for others to follow. She made a pause, and invited the +others to come in. Of course, it was not easy for every one to venture +her remark, after an eloquent discourse, and in the presence of twenty +superior women, who were all inspired. But whatever was said, Margaret +knew how to seize the good meaning of it with hospitality, and to make +the speaker feel glad, and not sorry, that she had spoken. She showed +herself thereby fit to preside at such meetings, and imparted to the +susceptible a wonderful reliance on her genius." + +In her writing she was prone to spin her sentences without a sure +guidance, and beyond the sympathy of her reader. But in discourse, she +was quick, conscious of power, in perfect tune with her company, and +would pause and turn the stream with grace and adroitness, and with +so much spirit, that her face beamed, and the young people came away +delighted, among other things, with "her beautiful looks." When +she was intellectually excited, or in high animal spirits, as often +happened, all deformity of features was dissolved in the power of the +expression. So I interpret this repeated story of sumptuousness of +dress, that this appearance, like her reported beauty, was simply an +effect of a general impression of magnificence made by her genius, and +mistakenly attributed to some external elegance; for I have been told +by her most intimate friend, who knew every particular of her conduct +at that time, that there was nothing of special expense or splendor in +her toilette. + +The effect of the winter's work was happiest. Margaret was made +intimately known to many excellent persons.[A] In this company of +matrons and maids, many tender spirits had been set in ferment. A new +day had dawned for them; new thoughts had opened; the secret of life +was shown, or, at least, that life had a secret. They could not forget +what they had heard, and what they had been surprised into saying. +A true refinement had begun to work in many who had been slaves +to trifles. They went home thoughtful and happy, since the steady +elevation of Margaret's aim had infused a certain unexpected greatness +of tone into the conversation. It was, I believe, only an expression +of the feeling of the class, the remark made, perhaps at the next +year's course, by a lady of eminent powers, previously by no means +partial to Margaret, and who expressed her frank admiration on leaving +the house:--"I never heard, read of, or imagined a conversation at all +equal to this we have now heard." + +The strongest wishes were expressed, on all sides, that the +conversations should be renewed at the beginning of the following +winter. Margaret willingly consented; but, as I have already +intimated, in the summer and autumn of 1840, she had retreated to some +interior shrine, and believed that she came into life and society with +some advantage from this devotion. + +Of this feeling the new discussion bore evident traces. Most of the +last year's class returned, and new members gave in their names. The +first meeting was holden on the twenty-second of November, 1840. By +all accounts it was the best of all her days. I have again the notes, +taken at the time, of the excellent lady at whose house it was +held, to furnish the following sketch of the first and the following +meetings. I preface these notes by an extract from a letter of +Margaret. + + TO W.H.C. + + '_Sunday, Nov. 8th, 1840_.--On Wednesday I opened with my + class. It was a noble meeting. I told them the great changes + in my mind, and that I could not be sure they would be + satisfied with me now, as they were when I was in deliberate + possession of myself. I tried to convey the truth, and though + I did not arrive at any full expression of it, they all, with + glistening eyes, seemed melted into one love. Our relation + is now perfectly true, and I do not think they will ever + interrupt me. ---- sat beside me, all glowing; and the moment + I had finished, she began to speak. She told me afterwards, + she was all kindled, and none there could be strangers to her + more. I was really delighted by the enthusiasm of Mrs. ----. I + did not expect it. All her best self seemed called up, and she + feels that these meetings will be her highest pleasure. ----, + too, was most beautiful. I went home with Mrs. F., and had a + long attack of nervous headache. She attended anxiously on me, + and asked if it would be so all winter. I said, if it were I + did not care; and truly I feel just now such a separation from + pain and illness,--such a consciousness of true life, while + suffering most,--that pain has no effect but to steal some of + my time.' + + +[Footnote A: A friend has furnished me with the names of so many of +the ladies as she recollects to have met, at one or another time, at +these classes. Some of them were perhaps only occasional members. +The list recalls how much talent, beauty, and worth were at that time +constellated here:-- + +Mrs. George Bancroft, Mrs. Barlow, Miss Burley, Mrs. L.M. Child, Miss +Mary Channing, Miss Sarah Clarke, Mrs. E.P. Clark, Miss Dorr, Mrs. +Edwards, Mrs. R.W. Emerson, Mrs. Farrar, Miss S.J. Gardiner, Mrs. R.W. +Hooper, Mrs. S. Hooper, Miss Haliburton, Miss Howes, Miss E. Hoar, +Miss Marianne Jackson, Mrs. T. Lee, Miss Littlehale, Mrs. E.G. Loring, +Mrs. Mack, Mrs. Horace Mann, Mrs. Newcomb, Mrs. Theodore Parker, Miss +E.P. Peabody, Miss S. Peabody, Mrs. S. Putnam, Mrs. Phillips, Mrs. +Josiah Quincy, Miss B. Randall, Mrs. Samuel Ripley, Mrs. George +Ripley, Mrs. George Russell, Miss Ida Russell, Mrs. Frank Shaw, Miss +Anna B. Shaw, Miss Caroline Sturgis, Miss Tuckerman, Miss Maria White, +Mrs. S.G. Ward, Miss Mary Ward, Mrs. W. Whiting.] + + + + +CONVERSATIONS ON THE FINE ARTS. + + + "Miss Fuller's fifth conversation was pretty much a monologue + of her own. The company collected proved much larger than any + of us had anticipated: a chosen company,--several persons from + homes out of town, at considerable inconvenience; and, in one + or two instances, fresh from extreme experiences of joy and + grief,--which Margaret felt a very grateful tribute to her. + She knew no one came for experiment, but all in earnest love + and trust, and was moved by it quite to the heart, which threw + an indescribable charm of softness over her brilliancy. It is + sometimes said, that women never are so lovely and enchanting + in the company of their own sex, merely, but it requires the + other to draw them out. Certain it is that Margaret never + appears, when I see her, either so brilliant and deep in + thought, or so desirous to please, or so modest, or so + heart-touching, as in this very party. Well, she began to say + how gratifying it was to her to see so many come, because all + knew why they came,--that it was to learn from each other and + ourselves the highest ends of life, where there could be no + excitements and gratifications of personal ambition, &c. She + spoke of herself, and said she felt she had undergone changes + in her own mind since the last winter, as doubtless we all + felt we had done; that she was conscious of looking at all + things less objectively,--more from the law with which she + identified herself. This, she stated, was the natural + progress of our individual being, when we did not hinder + its development, to advance from objects to law, from the + circumference of being, where we found ourselves at our birth, + to the centre. + + "This advance was enacted poesy. We could not, in our + individual lives, amid the disturbing influences of other + wills, which had as much right to their own action as we to + ours, enact poetry entirely; the discordant, the inferior, the + prose, would intrude, but we should always keep in mind that + poetry of life was not something aside,--a path that might or + might not be trod,--it was the only path of the true soul; + and prose you may call the deviation. We might not always + be poetic in life, but we might and should be poetic in our + thought and intention. The fine arts were one compensation for + the necessary prose of life. The man who could not write his + thought of beauty in his life,--the materials of whose life + would not work up into poetry,--wrote it in stone, drew it on + canvas, breathed it in music, or built it in lofty rhyme. In + this statement, however, she guarded her meaning, and said + that to seek beauty was to miss it often. We should only seek + to live as harmoniously with the great laws as our social and + other duties permitted, and solace ourselves with poetry and + the fine arts." + +I find a further record by the same friendly scribe, which seems a +second and enlarged account of the introductory conversation, or else +a sketch of the course of thought which ran through several meetings, +and which very naturally repeated occasionally the same thoughts. I +give it as I find it:-- + + "She then recurred to the last year's conversations; and, + first, the Grecian mythologies, which she looked at as + symbolical of a deeper intellectual and aesthetic life than + we were wont to esteem it, when looking at it from a narrow + religious point of view. We had merely skimmed along the + deeper study. She spoke of the conversations on the different + part played by Inspiration and Will in the works of man, and + stated the different views of inspiration,--how some had felt + it was merely perception; others apprehended it as influx upon + the soul from the soul-side of its being. Then she spoke of + the conversation upon poesy as the ground of all the fine + arts, and also of the true art of life; it being not merely + truth, not merely good, but the beauty which integrates + both. On this poesy, she dwelt long, aiming to show how + life,--perfect life,--could be the only perfect manifestation + of it. Then she spoke of the individual as surrounded, + however, by _prose_,--so we may here call the manifestation of + the temporary, in opposition to the eternal, always trenching + on it, and circumscribing and darkening. She spoke of the + acceptance of this limitation, but it should be called by the + right name, and always measured; and we should inwardly cling + to the truth that poesy was the natural life of the soul; and + never yield inwardly to the common notion that poesy was a + luxury, out of the common track; but maintain in word and + life that prose carried the soul out of its track; and then, + perhaps, it would not injure us to walk in these by-paths, + when forced thither. She admitted that prose was the necessary + human condition, and quickened our life indirectly by + necessitating a conscious demand on the source of life. + In reply to a remark I made, she very strongly stated the + difference between a poetic and a _dilettante_ life, and + sympathized with the sensible people who were tired of hearing + all the young ladies of Boston sighing like furnace after + being beautiful. Beauty was something very different from + prettiness, and a microscopic vision missed the grand whole. + The fine arts were our compensation for not being able to live + out our poesy, amid the conflicting and disturbing forces of + this moral world in which we are. In sculpture, the heights to + which our being comes are represented; and its nature is such + as to allow us to leave out all that vulgarizes,--all that + bridges over to the actual from the ideal. She dwelt long upon + sculpture, which seems her favorite art. That was grand, when + a man first thought to engrave his idea of man upon a stone, + the most unyielding and material of materials,--the backbone + of this phenomenal earth,--and, when he did not succeed, + that he persevered; and so, at last, by repeated efforts, the + Apollo came to be. + + "But, no; music she thought the greatest of arts,--expressing + what was most interior,--what was too fine to be put into any + material grosser than air; conveying from soul to soul the + most secret motions of feeling and thought. This was the only + fine art which might be thought to be nourishing now. The + others had had their day. This was advancing upon a higher + intellectual ground. + + "Of painting she spoke, but not so well. She seemed to think + painting worked more by illusion than sculpture. It involved + more prose, from its representing more objects. She said + nothing adequate about _color_. + + "She dwelt upon the histrionic art as the most complete, its + organ being the most flexible and powerful. + + "She then spoke of life, as the art, of which these all were + beautiful symbols; and said, in recurring to her opinions + expressed last winter, of Dante and Wordsworth, that she had + taken another view, deeper, and more in accordance with + some others which were then expressed. She acknowledged + that Wordsworth had done more to make all men poetical, than + perhaps any other; that he was the poet of reflection; that + where he failed to poetize his subject, his simple faith + intimated to the reader a poetry that he did not find in the + book. She admitted that Dante's Narrative was instinct with + the poetry concentrated often in single words. She uttered her + old heresies about Milton, however, unmodified. + + "I do not remember the transition to modern poetry and Milnes; + but she read (very badly indeed) the Legendary Tale. + + "We then had three conversations upon Sculpture, one of which + was taken up very much in historical accounts of the sculpture + of the ancients, in which color was added to form, and which + seemed to prove that they were not, after all, sufficiently + intellectual to be operated on by form exclusively. The + question, of course, arose whether there was a modern + sculpture, and why not. This led us to speak of the Greek + sculpture as growing naturally out of their life and religion, + and how alien it was to our life and to our religion. The + Swiss lion, carved by Thorwaldsen out of the side of a + mountain rock, was described as a natural growth. Those who + had seen it described it; and Mrs. ---- spoke of it. She was + also led to the story of her acquaintance with Thorwaldsen, + and drew tears from many eyes with her natural eloquence. + + "Mrs. C. asked, if sculpture could express as well as painting + the idea of immortality. + + "Margaret thought the Greek art expressed immortality as much + as Christian art, but did not throw it into the future, by + preeminence. They expressed it in the present, by casting out + of the mortal body every expression of infirmity and decay. + The idealization of the human form makes a God. The fact that + man can conceive and express this perfection of being, is as + good a witness to immortality, as the look of aspiration in + the countenance of a Magdalen. + + "It is quite beyond the power of my memory to recall all + the bright utterances of Margaret, in these conversations on + Sculpture. It was a favorite subject with her. Then came two + or three conversations on Painting, in which it seemed to be + conceded that color expressed passion, whilst sculpture more + severely expressed thought: yet painting did not exclude the + expression of thought, or sculpture that of feeling,--witness + Niobe,--but it must be an universal feeling, like the maternal + sentiment." + + * * * * * + + "_March 22, 1841_.--The question of the day was, What is life? + + "Let us define, each in turn, our idea of living. Margaret did + not believe we had, any of us, a distinct idea of life. + + "A.S. thought so great a question ought to be given for a + written definition. 'No,' said Margaret, 'that is of no use. + When we go away to think of anything, we never do think. We + all talk of life. We all have some thought now. Let us tell + it. C----, what is life?' + + "C---- replied,--'It is to laugh, or cry, according to our + organization.' + + "'Good,' said Margaret, 'but not grave enough. Come, what is + life? I know what I think; I want you to find out what you + think.' + + "Miss P. replied,--'Life is division from one's principle of + life in order to a conscious reoerganization. We are cut up by + time and circumstance, in order to feel our reproduction of + the eternal law.' + + "Mrs. E.,--'We live by the will of God, and the object of life + is to submit,' and went on into Calvinism. + + "Then came up all the antagonisms of Fate and Freedom. + + "Mrs. H. said,--'God created us in order to have a perfect + sympathy from us as free beings.' + + "Mrs. A.B. said she thought the object of life was to attain + absolute freedom. At this Margaret immediately and visibly + kindled. + + "C.S. said,--'God creates from the fulness of life, and + cannot but create; he created us to overflow, without being + exhausted, because what he created, necessitated new creation. + It is not to make us happy, but creation is his happiness and + ours.' + + "Margaret was then pressed to say what she considered life to + be. + + "Her answer was so full, clear, and concise, at once, that + it cannot but be marred by being drawn through the scattering + medium of my memory. But here are some fragments of her + satisfying statement. + + "She began with God as Spirit, Life, so full as to create and + love eternally, yet capable of pause. Love and creativeness + are dynamic forces, out of which we, individually, as + creatures, go forth bearing his image, that is, having within + our being the same dynamic forces, by which we also add + constantly to the total sum of existence, and shaking off + ignorance, and its effects, and by becoming more ourselves, + i.e., more divine;--destroying sin in its principle, we attain + to absolute freedom, we return to God, conscious like himself, + and, as his friends, giving, as well as receiving, felicity + forevermore. In short, we become gods, and able to give the + life which we now feel ourselves able only to receive. + + "On Saturday morning, Mrs. L.E. and Mrs. E.H. were present, + and begged Margaret to repeat the statement concerning life, + with which she closed the last conversation. Margaret said she + had forgotten every word she said. She must have been inspired + by a good genius, to have so satisfied everybody.--but the + good genius had left her. She would try, however, to say what + she thought, and trusted it would resemble what she had said + already. She then went into the matter, and, true enough, she + did not use a single word she used before." + +The fame of these conversations spread wide through all families and +social circles of the ladies attending, and the golden report they +gave, led to a proposal, that Margaret should undertake an evening +class, of four or five lessons, to which gentlemen should also be +admitted. This was put in effect, in the course of the winter, and +I had myself the pleasure of assisting at one--the second--of these +soirees. The subject was Mythology, and several gentlemen took part +in it. Margaret spoke well,--she could not otherwise,--but I remember +that she seemed encumbered, or interrupted, by the headiness or +incapacity of the men, whom she had not had the advantage of training, +and who fancied, no doubt, that, on such a question, they, too, must +assert and dogmatize. + +But, how well or ill they fared, may still be known; since the same +true hand which reported for the Ladies' Class, drew up, at the time, +the following note of the Evenings of Mythology. My distance from +town, and engagements, prevented me from attending again. I was told +that on the preceding and following evenings the success was more +decisive. + + "Margaret's plan, in these conversations, was a very noble + one, and, had it been seconded, as she expected, they would + have been splendid. She thought, that, by admitting gentlemen, + who had access, by their classical education, to the whole + historical part of the mythology, her own comparative + deficiency, as she felt it, in this part of learning, would be + made up; and that taking her stand on the works of art, which + were the final development in Greece of these multifarious + fables, the whole subject might be swept from zenith to + nadir. But all that depended on others entirely failed. Mr. W. + contributed some isolated facts,--told the etymology of names, + and cited a few fables not so commonly known as most; but, + even in the point of erudition, which Margaret did not + profess, on the subject, she proved the best informed of the + party, while no one brought an idea, except herself. + + "Her general idea was, that, upon the Earth-worship and + Sabaeanism of earlier ages, the Grecian genius acted to + humanize and idealize, but, still, with some regard to the + original principle. What was a seed, or a root, merely, in the + Egyptian mind, became a flower in Greece,--Isis, and Osiris, + for instance, are reproduced in Ceres and Proserpine, with + some loss of generality, but with great gain of beauty; + Hermes, in Mercury, with only more grace of form, though with + great loss of grandeur; but the loss of grandeur was also an + advance in philosophy, in this instance, the brain in the hand + being the natural consequence of the application of Idea to + practice,--the Hermes of the Egyptians. + + "I do not feel that the class, by their apprehension of + Margaret, do any justice to the scope and depth of her views. + They come,--myself among the number,--I confess,--to be + entertained; but she has a higher purpose. She, amid all her + infirmities, studies and thinks with the seriousness of one + upon oath, and there has not been a single conversation this + winter, in either class, that had not in it the spirit which + giveth life. Just in proportion to the importance of + the subject, does she tax her mind, and say what is most + important; while, of necessity, nothing is reported from + the conversations but her brilliant sallies, her occasional + paradoxes of form, and, sometimes, her impatient reacting + upon dulness and frivolity. In particular points, I know, some + excel her; in particular departments I sympathize more with + some other persons; but, take her as a whole, she has the most + to bestow on others by conversation of any person I have ever + known. I cannot conceive of any species of vanity living in + her presence. She distances all who talk with her. + + "Mr. E. only served to display her powers. With his sturdy + reiteration of his uncompromising idealism, his absolute + denial of the fact of human nature, he gave her opportunity + and excitement to unfold and illustrate her realism and + acceptance of conditions. What is so noble is, that her + realism is transparent with idea,--her human nature is the + germ of a divine life. She proceeds in her search after the + unity of things, the divine harmony, not by exclusion, as Mr. + E. does, but by comprehension,--and so, no poorest, saddest + spirit, but she will lead to hope and faith. I have thought, + sometimes, that her acceptance of evil was _too great_,--that + her theory of the good to be educed proved too much. But in a + conversation I had with her yesterday, I understood her better + than I had done. 'It might never be sin to us, at the moment,' + she said, 'it must be an excess, on which conscience puts the + restraint.'" + +The classes thus formed were renewed in November of each year, until +Margaret's removal to New York, in 1844. But the notes of my principal +reporter fail me at this point. Afterwards, I have only a few sketches +from a younger hand. In November, 1841, the class numbered from +twenty-five to thirty members: the general subject is stated as +"Ethics." And the influences on Woman seem to have been discussed +under the topics of the Family, the School, the Church, Society, and +Literature. In November, 1842, Margaret writes that the meetings have +been unusually spirited, and congratulates herself on the part taken +in them by Miss Burley, as 'a presence so positive as to be of great +value to me.' The general subject I do not find. But particular +topics were such as these:--"Is the ideal first or last; divination +or experience?" "Persons who never awake to life in this world." +"Mistakes;" "Faith;" "Creeds;" "Woman;" "Daemonology;" "Influence;" +"Catholicism" (Roman); "The Ideal." + +In the winter of 1843-4, the general subject was "Education." Culture, +Ignorance, Vanity, Prudence, Patience, and Health, appear to have +been the titles of conversations, in which wide digressions, and much +autobiographic illustration, with episodes on War, Bonaparte, Goethe, +and Spinoza, were mingled. But the brief narrative may wind up with a +note from Margaret on the last day. + + '_28th April, 1844_.--It was the last day with my class. How + noble has been my experience of such relations now for six + years, and with so many and so various minds! Life is worth + living, is it not? + + 'We had a most animated meeting. On bidding me good-bye, they + all, and always, show so much good-will and love, that I feel + I must really have become a friend to them. I was then loaded + with beautiful gifts, accompanied with those little delicate + poetic traits, of which I should delight to tell you, if we + were near. Last came a beautiful bouquet, passion-flower, + heliotrope, and soberer blooms. Then I went to take my repose + on C----'s sofa, and we had a most serene afternoon together.' + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, +Vol. I, by Margaret Fuller Ossoli + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARGARET FULLER, VOL. 1 *** + +***** This file should be named 13105.txt or 13105.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/1/0/13105/ + +Produced by Leah Moser and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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