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diff --git a/old/13106-8.txt b/old/13106-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b213fa9 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13106-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11395 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, Vol. II +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. II + +Author: Margaret Fuller Ossoli + +Release Date: August 3, 2004 [EBook #13106] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARGARED FULLER, VOL. 2 *** + + + + +Produced by Leah Moser and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +MEMOIRS + +OF + +MARGARET FULLER OSSOLI. + +VOL. II. + + * * * * * + + + 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 sì 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 tè 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 SECOND. + +VI. JAMAICA PLAIN, _By W.H. Channing_ + FIRST IMPRESSIONS + A CLUE + TRANSCENDENTALISM + GENIUS + THE DIAL + THE WOMAN + THE FRIEND + SOCIALISM + CREDO + SELF-SOVEREIGNTY + +VII. NEW YORK. JOURNALS, LETTERS, &c. + LEAVING HOME + THE HIGHLANDS + WOMAN + THE TRIBUNE AND HORACE GREELEY + SOCIETY + +VIII. EUROPE. LETTERS + LONDON + EDINBURGH.--DE QUINCEY + CHALMERS + A NIGHT ON BEN LOMOND + JOANNA BAILLIE.--HOWITTS.--SMITH + CARLYLE + PARIS + RACHEL + FOURIER,--ROUSSEAU + ROME + AMERICANS IN ITALY + THE WIFE AND MOTHER + THE PRIVATE MARRIAGE + AQUILA AND RIETI + CALM AFTER STORM + MARGARET AND HER PEERS + FLORENCE + +IX. HOMEWARD _By W.H. Channing_ + SPRING-TIME + OMENS + THE VOYAGE + THE WRECK + + + + +JAMAICA PLAIN + +BY W.H. CHANNING. + + * * * * * + + "Quando + Lo raggio della grazia, onde s'accende + Verace amore, e che poi cresce amando, + Multiplicato in tè tanto risplende, + Che ti conduce su per quella scala, + U' senza risalir nessun discende, + Qual ti negasse 'l vin della sua fiàla + Por la tua sete, in libertà non fôra, + Se non com' acqua oh' al mar non si cala." + + DANTE. + + + "Weite Welt und breites Leben, + Langer Jahre redlich Streben, + Stets geforscht und stets gegründet, + Nie geschlossen, oft geründet, + Aeltestes bewahrt mit Treue, + Freundlich aufgefasstes Neue, + Heitern Sinn und reine Zwecke: + Nun! man kommt wohl eine Strecke." + + GOETHE. + + + "My purpose holds + To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths + Of all the western stars, until I die. + It may be that the gulfs will wash us down; + It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles." + + TENNYSON. + + + "Remember how august the heart is. It contains the temple not only + of Love but of Conscience; and a whisper is heard from the + extremity of one to the extremity of the other." + + LANDOR + + + "If all the gentlest-hearted friends I knew + Concentred in one heart their gentleness, + That still grew gentler till its pulse was less + For life than pity,--I should yet be slow + To bring my own heart nakedly below + The palm of such a friend, that he should press + My false, ideal joy and fickle woe + Out to full light and knowledge." + + ELIZABETH BARRETT. + + + + +VI. + +JAMAICA PLAIN + + * * * * * + +I. + +FIRST IMPRESSIONS. + + +It was while Margaret was residing at Jamaica Plain, in the summer of +1839, that we first really met as friends, though for several years +previous we had been upon terms of kindest mutual regard. And, as the +best way of showing how her wonderful character opened upon me, the +growth of our acquaintance shall be briefly traced. + +The earliest recollection of Margaret is as a schoolmate of my +sisters, in Boston. At that period she was considered a prodigy of +talent and accomplishment; but a sad feeling prevailed, that she had +been overtasked by her father, who wished to train her like a boy, +and that she was paying the penalty for undue application, in +nearsightedness, awkward manners, extravagant tendencies of thought, +and a pedantic style of talk, that made her a butt for the ridicule +of frivolous companions. Some seasons later, I call to mind seeing, at +the "Commencements" and "Exhibitions" of Harvard University, a girl, +plain in appearance, but of dashing air, who was invariably the centre +of a listening group, and kept their merry interest alive by sparkles +of wit and incessant small-talk. The bystanders called her familiarly, +"Margaret," "Margaret Fuller;" for, though young, she was already +noted for conversational gifts, and had the rare skill of attracting +to her society, not spirited collegians only, but men mature in +culture and of established reputation. It was impossible not to admire +her fluency and fun; yet, though curiosity was piqued as to this +entertaining personage, I never sought an introduction, but, on the +contrary, rather shunned encounter with one so armed from head to foot +in saucy sprightliness. + +About 1830, however, we often met in the social circles of Cambridge, +and I began to observe her more nearly. At first, her vivacity, +decisive tone, downrightness, and contempt of conventional standards, +continued to repel. She appeared too _intense_ in expression, action, +emphasis, to be pleasing, and wanting in that _retenue_ which we +associate with delicate dignity. Occasionally, also, words flashed +from her of such scathing satire, that prudence counselled the keeping +at safe distance from a body so surcharged with electricity. Then, +again, there was an imperial--shall it be said imperious?--air, +exacting deference to her judgments and loyalty to her behests, +that prompted pride to retaliatory measures. She paid slight heed, +moreover, to the trim palings of etiquette, but swept through the +garden-beds and into the doorway of one's confidence so cavalierly, +that a reserved person felt inclined to lock himself up in his +sanctum. Finally, to the coolly-scanning eye, her friendships wore a +look of such romantic exaggeration, that she seemed to walk enveloped +in a shining fog of sentimentalism. In brief, it must candidly be +confessed, that I then suspected her of affecting the part of a Yankee +Corinna. + +But soon I was charmed, unaware, with the sagacity of her sallies, the +profound thoughts carelessly dropped by her on transient topics, +the breadth and richness of culture manifested in her allusions +or quotations, her easy comprehension of new views, her just +discrimination, and, above all, her _truthfulness_. "Truth at all +cost," was plainly her ruling maxim. This it was that made her +criticism so trenchant, her contempt of pretence so quick and stern, +her speech so naked in frankness, her gaze so searching, her whole +attitude so alert. Her estimates of men, books, manners, events, art, +duty, destiny, were moulded after a grand ideal; and she was a severe +judge from the very loftiness of her standard. Her stately deportment, +border though it might on arrogance, but expressed high-heartedness. +Her independence, even if haughty and rash, was the natural action +of a self-centred will, that waited only fit occasion to prove itself +heroic. Her earnestness to read the hidden history of others was +the gauge of her own emotion. The enthusiasm that made her speech +so affluent, when measured by the average scale, was the unconscious +overflow of a poetic temperament. And the ardor of her friends' +affection proved the faithfulness of her love. Thus gradually the mist +melted away, till I caught a glimpse of her real self. We were one +evening talking of American literature,--she contrasting its boyish +crudity, half boastful, half timid, with the tempered, manly equipoise +of thorough-bred European writers, and I asserting that in its mingled +practicality and aspiration might be read bright auguries; when, +betrayed by sympathy, she laid bare her secret hope of what Woman +might be and do, as an author, in our Republic. The sketch was an +outline only, and dashed off with a few swift strokes, but therein +appeared her own portrait, and we were strangers no more. + +It was through the medium of others, however, that at this time I best +learned to appreciate Margaret's nobleness of nature and principle. My +most intimate friend in the Theological School, James Freeman Clarke, +was her constant companion in exploring the rich gardens of German +literature; and from his descriptions I formed a vivid image of her +industry, comprehensiveness, buoyancy, patience, and came to honor +her intelligent interest in high problems of science, her +aspirations after spiritual greatness, her fine æsthetic taste, her +religiousness. By power to quicken other minds, she showed how living +was her own. Yet more near were we brought by common attraction toward +a youthful visitor in our circle, the untouched freshness of whose +beauty was but the transparent garb of a serene, confiding, and +harmonious soul, and whose polished grace, at once modest and naïve, +sportive and sweet, fulfilled the charm of innate goodness of heart. +Susceptible in temperament, anticipating with ardent fancy the lot of +a lovely and refined woman, and morbidly exaggerating her own slight +personal defects, Margaret seemed to long, as it were, to transfuse +with her force this nymph-like form, and to fill her to glowing with +her own lyric fire. No drop of envy tainted the sisterly love, +with which she sought by genial sympathy thus to live in another's +experience, to be her guardian-angel, to shield her from contact with +the unworthy, to rouse each generous impulse, to invigorate thought +by truth incarnate in beauty, and with unfelt ministry to weave bright +threads in her web of fate. Thus more and more Margaret became +an object of respectful interest, in whose honor, magnanimity and +strength I learned implicitly to trust. + +Separation, however, hindered our growing acquaintance, as we both +left Cambridge, and, with the exception of a few chance meetings in +Boston and a ramble or two in the glens and on the beaches of Rhode +Island, held no further intercourse till the summer of 1839, when, as +has been already said, the friendship, long before rooted, grew up and +leafed and bloomed. + + + + +II. + +A CLUE. + + * * * * * + + +I have no hope of conveying to readers my sense of the beauty of our +relation, as it lies in the past with brightness falling on it from +Margaret's risen spirit. It would be like printing a chapter of +autobiography, to describe what is so grateful in memory, +its influence upon one's self. And much of her inner life, as +confidentially disclosed, could not be represented without betraying +a sacred trust. All that can be done is to open the outer courts, and +give a clue for loving hearts to follow. To such these few sentences +may serve as a guide. + + 'When I feel, as I do this morning, the poem of existence, I + am repaid for all trial. The bitterness of wounded affection, + the disgust at unworthy care, the aching sense of how far + deeds are transcended by our lowest aspirations, pass away as + I lean on the bosom of Nature, and inhale new life from her + breath. Could but love, like knowledge, be its own reward!' + + 'Oftentimes I have found in those of my own sex more + gentleness, grace, and purity, than in myself; but seldom the + heroism which I feel within my own breast. I blame not those + who think the heart cannot bleed because it is so strong; + but little they dream of what lies concealed beneath the + determined courage. Yet mine has been the Spartan sternness, + smiling while it hides the wound. I long rather for the + Christian spirit, which even on the cross prays, "Father, + forgive them," and rises above fortitude to heavenly + satisfaction.' + + * * * * * + + 'Remember that only through aspirations, which sometimes + make me what is called unreasonable, have I been enabled to + vanquish unpropitious circumstances, and save my soul alive.' + + * * * * * + + 'All the good I have ever done has been by calling on every + nature for its highest. I will admit that sometimes I have + been wanting in gentleness, but never in tenderness, nor in + noble faith.' + + * * * * * + + 'The heart which hopes and dares is also accessible to terror, + and this falls upon it like a thunderbolt. It can never defend + itself at the moment, it is so surprised. There is no defence + but to strive for an equable temper of courageous submission, + of obedient energy, that shall make assault less easy to the + foe. + + '_This_ is the dart within the heart, as well as I can tell + it:--At moments, the music of the universe, which daily I am + upheld by hearing, seems to stop. I fall like a bird when the + sun is eclipsed, not looking for such darkness. The sense of + my individual law--that lamp of life--flickers. I am repelled + in what is most natural to me. I feel as, when a suffering + child, I would go and lie with my face to the ground, to sob + away my little life.' + + * * * * * + + 'In early years, when, though so frank as to the thoughts of + the mind, I put no heart confidence in any human being, my + refuge was in my journal. I have burned those records of my + youth, with its bitter tears, and struggles, and aspirations. + Those aspirations were high, and have gained only broader + foundations and wider reach. But the leaves had done their + work. For years to write there, instead of speaking, had + enabled me to soothe myself; and the Spirit was often my + friend, when I sought no other. Once again I am willing to + take up the cross of loneliness. Resolves are idle, but the + anguish of my soul has been, deep. It will not be easy to + profane life by rhetoric.' + + * * * * * + + 'I woke thinking of the monks of La Trappe;--how could they + bear their silence? When the game of life was lost for me, in + youthful anguish I knew well the desire for that vow; but if + I had taken it, my heart would have burned out my physical + existence long ago.' + + * * * * * + + 'Save me from plunging into the depths to learn the worst, or + from being led astray by the winged joys of childish feeling. + I pray for truth in proportion as there is strength to + receive.' + + * * * * * + + 'My law is incapable of a charter. I pass all bounds, and + cannot do otherwise. Those whom it seems to me I am to meet + again in the Ages, I meet, soul to soul, now. I have no + knowledge of any circumstances except the degree of affinity.' + + * * * * * + + 'I feel that my impatient nature needs the dark days. I would + learn the art of limitation, without compromise, and act out + my faith with a delicate fidelity. When loneliness becomes too + oppressive, I feel Him drawing me nearer, to be soothed by + the smile of an All-Intelligent Love. He will not permit + the freedom essential to growth to be checked. If I can give + myself up to Him, I shall not be too proud, too impetuous, + neither too timid, and fearful of a wound or cloud.' + + + + +III. + +TRANSCENDENTALISM. + + * * * * * + + +The summer of 1839 saw the full dawn of the Transcendental movement in +New England. The rise of this enthusiasm was as mysterious as that +of any form of revival; and only they who were of the faith +could comprehend how bright was this morning-time of a new hope. +Transcendentalism was an assertion of the inalienable integrity of +man, of the immanence of Divinity in instinct. In part, it was a +reaction against Puritan Orthodoxy; in part, an effect of renewed +study of the ancients, of Oriental Pantheists, of Plato and the +Alexandrians, of Plutarch's Morals, Seneca and Epictetus; in part, the +natural product of the culture of the place and time. On the somewhat +stunted stock of Unitarianism,--whose characteristic dogma was trust +in individual reason as correlative to Supreme Wisdom,--had been +grafted German Idealism, as taught by masters of most various +schools,--by Kant and Jacobi, Fichte and Novalis, Schelling and Hegel, +Schleiermacher and De Wette, by Madame de Stael, Cousin, Coleridge, +and Carlyle; and the result was a vague yet exalting conception of the +godlike nature of the human spirit. Transcendentalism, as viewed by +its disciples, was a pilgrimage from the idolatrous world of creeds +and rituals to the temple of the Living God in the soul. It was a +putting to silence of tradition and formulas, that the Sacred Oracle +might be heard through intuitions of the single-eyed and pure-hearted. +Amidst materialists, zealots, and sceptics, the Transcendentalist +believed in perpetual inspiration, the miraculous power of will, and a +birthright to universal good. He sought to hold communion face to face +with the unnameable Spirit of his spirit, and gave himself up to the +embrace of nature's beautiful joy, as a babe seeks the breast of a +mother. To him the curse seemed past; and love was without fear. "All +mine is thine" sounded forth to him in ceaseless benediction, from +flowers and stars, through the poetry, art, heroism of all ages, in +the aspirations of his own genius, and the budding promise of the +time. His work was to be faithful, as all saints, sages, and lovers +of man had been, to Truth, as the very Word of God. His maxims +were,--"Trust, dare and be; infinite good is ready for your asking; +seek and find. All that your fellows can claim or need is that you +should become, in fact, your highest self; fulfil, then, your +ideal." Hence, among the strong, withdrawal to private study and +contemplation, that they might be "alone with the Alone;" solemn +yet glad devotedness to the Divine leadings in the inmost will; calm +concentration of thought to wait for and receive wisdom; dignified +independence, stern yet sweet, of fashion and public opinion; honest +originality of speech and conduct, exempt alike from apology or +dictation, from servility or scorn. Hence, too, among the weak, +whimsies, affectation, rude disregard of proprieties, slothful +neglect of common duties, surrender to the claims of natural appetite, +self-indulgence, self-absorption, and self-idolatry. + +By their very posture of mind, as seekers of the new, the +Transcendentalists were critics and "come-outers" from the old. +Neither the church, the state, the college, society, nor even reform +associations, had a hold upon their hearts. The past might be well +enough for those who, without make-belief, could yet put faith in +common dogmas and usages; but for them the matin-bells of a new day +were chiming, and the herald-trump of freedom was heard upon the +mountains. Hence, leaving ecclesiastical organizations, political +parties, and familiar circles, which to them were brown with drought, +they sought in covert nooks of friendship for running waters, and +fruit from the tree of life. The journal, the letter, became of +greater worth than the printed page; for they felt that systematic +results were not yet to be looked for, and that in sallies of +conjecture, glimpses and flights of ecstasy, the "Newness" lifted +her veil to her votaries. Thus, by mere attraction of affinity, grew +together the brotherhood of the "Like-minded," as they were pleasantly +nicknamed by outsiders, and by themselves, on the ground that no two +were of the same opinion. The only password of membership to this +association, which had no compact, records, or officers, was a hopeful +and liberal spirit; and its chance conventions were determined merely +by the desire of the caller for a "talk," or by the arrival of some +guest from a distance with a budget of presumptive novelties. Its +"symposium" was a pic-nic, whereto each brought of his gains, as he +felt prompted, a bunch of wild grapes from the woods, or bread-corn +from his threshing-floor. The tone of the assemblies was cordial +welcome for every one's peculiarity; and scholars, farmers, mechanics, +merchants, married women, and maidens, met there on a level of +courteous respect. The only guest not tolerated was intolerance; +though strict justice might add, that these "Illuminati" were as +unconscious of their special cant as smokers are of the perfume of +their weed, and that a professed declaration of universal independence +turned out in practice to be rather oligarchic. + +Of the class of persons most frequently found at these meetings +Margaret has left the following sketch:-- + + '"I am not mad, most noble Festus," was Paul's rejoinder, as + he turned upon his vulgar censor with the grace of a courtier, + the dignity of a prophet, and the mildness of a saint. But + many there are, who, adhering to the faith of the soul with + that unusual earnestness which the world calls "mad," can + answer their critics only by the eloquence of their characters + and lives. Now, the other day, while visiting a person whose + highest merit, so far as I know, is to save his pennies, I was + astounded by hearing him allude to some of most approved worth + among us, thus: "You know _we_ consider _those men_ insane." + + 'What this meant, I could not at first well guess, so + completely was my scale of character turned topsy-turvy. But + revolving the subject afterward, I perceived that WE was + the multiple of Festus, and THOSE MEN of Paul. All the + circumstances seemed the same as in that Syrian hall; for the + persons in question were they who cared more for doing good + than for fortune and success,--more for the one risen from + the dead than for fleshly life,--more for the Being in whom we + live and move than for King Agrippa. + + 'Among this band of candidates for the mad-house, I found + the young poet who valued insight of nature's beauty, and the + power of chanting to his fellow-men a heavenly music, above + the prospect of fortune, political power, or a standing in + fashionable society. At the division of the goods of this + earth, he was wandering like Schiller's poet. But the + difference between American and German regulations would seem + to be, that in Germany the poet, when not "with Jove," is left + at peace on earth; while here he is, by a self-constituted + police, declared "mad." + + 'Another of this band was the young girl who, early taking a + solemn view of the duties of life, found it difficult to + serve an apprenticeship to its follies. She could not turn her + sweetness into "manner," nor cultivate love of approbation at + the expense of virginity of heart. In so called society she + found no outlet for her truest, fairest self, and so preferred + to live with external nature, a few friends, her pencil, + instrument, and books. She, they say, is "mad." + + 'And he, the enthusiast for reform, who gives away fortune, + standing in the world, peace, and only not life, because + bigotry is now afraid to exact the pound of flesh as well as + the ducats,--he, whose heart beats high with hopes for the + welfare of his race, is "mad." + + 'And he, the philosopher, who does not tie down his + speculation to the banner of the day, but lets the wings + of his thought upbear him where they will, as if they were + stronger and surer than the balloon let off for the amusement + of the populace,--he must be "mad." Off with him to the moon! + that paradise of noble fools, who had visions of possibilities + too grand and lovely for this sober earth. + + 'And ye, friends, and lovers, who see, through all the films + of human nature, in those you love, a divine energy, worthy of + creatures who have their being in very God, ye, too, are "mad" + to think they can walk in the dust, and yet shake it from + their feet when they come upon the green. These are no winged + Mercuries, no silver-sandalled Madonnas. Listen to "the + world's" truth and soberness, and we will show you that your + heart would be as well placed in a hospital, as in these + air-born palaces. + + 'And thou, priest, seek thy God among the people, and not in + the shrine. The light need not penetrate thine own soul. + Thou canst catch the true inspiration from the eyes of thy + auditors. Not the Soul of the World, not the ever-flowing + voice of nature, but the articulate accents of practical + utility, should find thy ear ever ready. Keep always among + men, and consider what they like; for in the silence of thine + own breast will be heard the voices that make men "mad." Why + shouldst thou judge of the consciousness of others by thine + own? May not thine own soul have been made morbid, by retiring + too much within? If Jesus of Nazareth had not fasted and + prayed so much alone, the devil could never have tempted + him; if he had observed the public mind more patiently and + carefully, he would have waited till the time was ripe, and + the minds of men prepared for what he had to say. He would + thus have escaped the ignominious death, which so prematurely + cut short his "usefulness." Jewry would thus, gently, soberly, + and without disturbance, have been led to a better course. + + '"Children of this generation!"--ye Festuses and Agrippas!--ye + are wiser, we grant, than "the children of light;" yet we + advise you to commend to a higher tribunal those whom much + learning, or much love, has made "mad." For if they stay here, + almost will they persuade even you!' + +Amidst these meetings of the Transcendentalists it was, that, after +years of separation, I again found Margaret. Of this body she was +member by grace of nature. Her romantic freshness of heart, her +craving for the truth, her self-trust, had prepared her from childhood +to be a pioneer in prairie-land; and her discipline in German schools +had given definite form and tendency to her idealism. Her critical +yet aspiring intellect filled her with longing for germs of positive +affirmation in place of the chaff of thrice-sifted negation; while her +æsthetic instinct responded in accord to the praise of Beauty as the +beloved heir of Good and Truth, whose right it is to reign. On the +other hand, strong common-sense saved her from becoming visionary, +while she was too well-read as a scholar to be caught by conceits, and +had been too sternly tried by sorrow to fall into fanciful effeminacy. +It was a pleasing surprise to see how this friend of earlier days was +acknowledged as a peer of the realm, in this new world of thought. +Men,--her superiors in years, fame and social position,--treated +her more with the frankness due from equal to equal, than the +half-condescending deference with which scholars are wont to adapt +themselves to women. They did not talk down to her standard, nor +translate their dialect into popular phrase, but trusted to her +power of interpretation. It was evident that they prized her verdict, +respected her criticism, feared her rebuke, and looked to her as an +umpire. Very observable was it, also, how, in side-talks with her, +they became confidential, seemed to glow and brighten into their best +mood, and poured out in full measure what they but scantily hinted in +the circle at large. + + + + +IV. + +GENIUS. + + * * * * * + + +It was quite a study to watch the phases through which Margaret +passed, in one of these assemblies. There was something in the air +and step with which she chose her place in the company, betokening +an instinctive sense, that, in intellect, she was of blood royal and +needed to ask no favors. And then she slowly gathered her attention +to take in the significance of the scene. Near-sighted and habitually +using an eye-glass, she rapidly scanned the forms and faces, pausing +intently where the expression of particular heads or groups suggested +thought, and ending her survey with some apt home-thrust to her next +neighbors, as if to establish full _rapport_, and so to become a +medium for the circulating life. Only when thus in magnetic relations +with all present, by a clear impress of their state and place, did +she seem prepared to rise to a higher stage of communion. Then she +listened, with ear finely vibrating to every tone, with all +capacities responsive in sympathy, with a swift and ductile power of +appreciation, that made her feel to the quick the varying moods of +different speakers, and yet the while with coolest self-possession. +Now and then a slight smile, flickering over her countenance, as +lightning plays on the surface of a cloud, marked the inward process +whereby she was harmonizing in equilibrium opposing thoughts. And, +as occasion offered, a felicitous quotation, pungent apothegm, or +symbolic epithet, dropped unawares in undertone, showed how swiftly +scattered rays were brought in her mind to a focus. + +When her turn came, by a graceful transition she resumed the subject +where preceding speakers had left it, and, briefly summing up their +results, proceeded to unfold her own view. Her opening was deliberate, +like the progress of some massive force gaining its momentum; but as +she felt her way, and moving in a congenial element, the sweep of her +speech became grand. The style of her eloquence was sententious, +free from prettiness, direct, vigorous, charged with vitality. +Articulateness, just emphasis and varied accent, brought out most +delicate shades and brilliant points of meaning, while a rhythmical +collocation of words gave a finished form to every thought. She was +affluent in historic illustration and literary allusion, as well as +in novel hints. She knew how to concentrate into racy phrases the +essential truth gathered from wide research, and distilled with +patient toil; and by skilful treatment she could make green again the +wastes of common-place. Her statements, however rapid, showed breadth +of comprehension, ready memory, impartial judgment, nice analysis of +differences, power of penetrating through surfaces to realities, fixed +regard to central laws and habitual communion with the Life of +life. Critics, indeed, might have been tempted to sneer at a certain +oracular grandiloquence, that bore away her soberness in moments of +elation; though even the most captious must presently have smiled at +the humor of her descriptive touches, her dexterous exposure of +folly and pretension, the swift stroke of her bright wit, her shrewd +discernment, promptitude, and presence of mind. The reverential, +too, might have been pained at the sternness wherewith popular men, +measures, and established customs, were tried and found guilty, at +her tribunal; but even while blaming her aspirations as rash, +revolutionary and impractical, no honest conservative could fail +to recognize the sincerity of her aim. And every deep observer of +character would have found the explanation of what seemed vehement +or too high-strung, in the longing of a spirited woman to break every +trammel that checked her growth or fettered her movement. + +In conversations like these, one saw that the richness of Margaret's +genius resulted from a rare combination of opposite qualities. To her +might have been well applied the words first used as describing George +Sand: "Thou large-brained Woman, and large-hearted Man." She blended +in closest union and swift interplay feminine receptiveness with +masculine energy. She was at once impressible and creative, +impulsive and deliberate, pliant in sympathy yet firmly self-centred, +confidingly responsive while commanding in originality. By the vivid +intensity of her conceptions, she brought out in those around their +own consciousness, and, by the glowing vigor of her intellect, roused +into action their torpid powers. On the other hand, she reproduced a +truth, whose germ had just been imbibed from others, moulded after her +own image and quickened by her own life, with marvellous rapidity. And +the presence of congenial minds so stimulated the prolific power of +her imagination, that she was herself astonished at the fresh beauty +of her new-born thoughts. 'There is a mortifying sense,' she writes, + + 'of having played the Mirabeau after a talk with a circle + of intelligent persons. They come with a store of acquired + knowledge and reflection, on the subject in debate, about + which I may know little, and have reflected less; yet, by + mere apprehensiveness and prompt intuition, I may appear their + superior. Spontaneously I appropriate all their material, and + turn it to my own ends, as if it was my inheritance from + a long train of ancestors. Rays of truth flash out at the + moment, and they are startled by the light thrown over their + familiar domain. Still they are gainers, for I give them new + impulse, and they go on their way rejoicing in the bright + glimpses they have caught. I should despise myself, if I + purposely appeared thus brilliant, but I am inspired as by a + power higher than my own.' + +All friends will bear witness to the strict fidelity of this sketch. +There were seasons when she seemed borne irresistibly on to the verge +of prophecy, and fully embodied one's notion of a sibyl. + +Admirable as Margaret appeared in public, I was yet more affected by +this peculiar mingling of impressibility and power to influence, +when brought within her private sphere. I know not how otherwise +to describe her subtle charm, than by saying that she was at once a +clairvoyante and a magnetizer. She read another's bosom-secret, and +she imparted of her own force. She interpreted the cipher in the +talisman of one's destiny, that he had tried in vain to spell alone; +by sympathy she brought out the invisible characters traced by +experience on his heart; and in the mirror of her conscience he might +see the image of his very self, as dwarfed in actual appearance, or +developed after the divine ideal. Her sincerity was terrible. In her +frank exposure no foible was spared, though by her very reproof she +roused dormant courage and self-confidence. And so unerring seemed +her insight, that her companion felt as if standing bare before a +disembodied spirit, and communicated without reserve thoughts and +emotions, which, even to himself, he had scarcely named. + +This penetration it was that caused Margaret to be so dreaded, in +general society, by superficial observers. They, who came nigh +enough to test the quality of her spirit, could not but perceive how +impersonal was her justice; but, contrasted with the dead flat of +conventional tolerance, her candor certainly looked rugged and sharp. +The frivolous were annoyed at her contempt of their childishness, the +ostentatious piqued at her insensibility to their show, and the decent +scared lest they should be stripped of their shams; partisans were +vexed by her spurning their leaders; and professional sneerers,--civil +in public to those whom in private they slandered,--could not pardon +the severe truth whereby she drew the sting from their spite. Indeed, +how could so undisguised a censor but shock the prejudices of the +moderate, and wound the sensibilities of the diffident; how but enrage +the worshippers of new demi-gods in literature, art and fashion, whose +pet shrines she demolished; how but cut to the quick, alike by silence +or by speech, the self-love of the vain, whose claims she ignored? +So gratuitous, indeed, appeared her hypercriticism, that I could not +refrain from remonstrance, and to one of my appeals she thus replied: + + 'If a horror for the mania of little great men, so prevalent + in this country,--if aversion to the sentimental exaggerations + to which so many minds are prone,--if finding that most men + praise, as well as blame, too readily, and that overpraise + desecrates the lips and makes the breath unworthy to blow the + coal of devotion,--if rejection of the ----s and ----s, from + a sense that the priestess must reserve her pæans for + Apollo,--if untiring effort to form my mind to justice and + revere only the superlatively good, that my praise might be + praise; if this be to offend, then have I offended.' + + + + +V. + +THE DIAL. + + * * * * * + + +Several talks among the Transcendentalists, during the autumn of 1839, +turned upon the propriety of establishing an organ for the expression +of freer views than the conservative journals were ready to welcome. +The result was the publication of the "Dial," the first number of +which appeared early in the summer of 1840, under the editorship of +Margaret, aided by R.W. Emerson and George Ripley. How moderate were +her own hopes, in regard to this enterprise, is clearly enough shown +by passages from her correspondence. + + '_Jamaica Plain, 22d March, 1840._ * * * I have a great deal + written, but, as I read it over, scarce a word seems pertinent + to the place or time. When I meet people, it is easy to + adapt myself to them; but when I write, it is into another + world,--not a better one, perhaps, but one with very + dissimilar habits of thought to this wherein I am + domesticated. How much those of us, who have been formed by + the European mind, have to unlearn, and lay aside, if we would + act here! I would fain do something worthily that belonged to + the country where I was born, but most times I fear it may not + be. + + 'What others can do,--whether all that has been said is the + mere restlessness of discontent, or there are thoughts really + struggling for utterance,--will be tested now. A perfectly + free organ is to be offered for the expression of individual + thought and character. There are no party measures to be + carried, no particular standard to be set up. A fair, calm + tone, a recognition of universal principles, will, I hope, + pervade the essays in every form. I trust there will be a + spirit neither of dogmatism nor of compromise, and that + this journal will aim, not at leading public opinion, but at + stimulating each man to judge for himself, and to think more + deeply and more nobly, by letting him see how some minds are + kept alive by a wise self-trust. We must not be sanguine as + to the amount of talent which will be brought to bear on this + publication. All concerned are rather indifferent, and there + is no great promise for the present. We cannot show high + culture, and I doubt about vigorous thought. But we shall + manifest free action as far as it goes, and a high aim. + It were much if a periodical could be kept open, not to + accomplish any outward object, but merely to afford an avenue + for what of liberal and calm thought might be originated among + us, by the wants of individual minds.' * * + + * * * * * + + '_April 19, 1840._--Things go on pretty well, but doubtless + people will be disappointed, for they seem to be looking for + the Gospel of Transcendentalism. It may prove as Jouffroy + says it was with the successive French ministries: "The public + wants something positive, and, seeing that such and such + persons are excellent at fault-finding, it raises them to be + rulers, when, lo! they have no noble and full Yea, to match + their shrill and bold Nay, and so are pulled down again." Mr. + Emerson knows best what he wants; but he has already said it + in various ways. Yet, this experiment is well worth trying; + hearts beat so high, they must be full of something, and here + is a way to breathe it out quite freely. It is for dear New + England that I want this review. For myself, if I had wished + to write a few pages now and then, there were ways and means + enough of disposing of them. But in truth I have not much to + say; for since I have had leisure to look at myself, I find + that, so far from being an original genius, I have not yet + learned to think to any depth, and that the utmost I have + done in life has been to form my character to a certain + consistency, cultivate my tastes, and learn to tell the truth + with a little better grace than I did at first. For this the + world will not care much, so I shall hazard a few critical + remarks only, or an unpretending chalk sketch now and then, + till I have learned to do something. There will be beautiful + poesies; about prose we know not yet so well. We shall be the + means of publishing the little Charles Emerson left as a mark + of his noble course, and, though it lies in fragments, all who + read will be gainers.' + + * * * * * + + '1840.--Since the Revolution, there has been little, in + the circumstances of this country, to call out the higher + sentiments. The effect of continued prosperity is the same + on nations as on individuals,--it leaves the nobler faculties + undeveloped. The need of bringing out the physical resources + of a vast extent of country, the commercial and political + fever incident to our institutions, tend to fix the eyes of + men on what is local and temporary, on the external advantages + of their condition. The superficial diffusion of knowledge, + unless attended by a correspondent deepening of its sources, + is likely to vulgarize rather than to raise the thought of a + nation, depriving them of another sort of education through + sentiments of reverence, and leading the multitude to believe + themselves capable of judging what they but dimly discern. + They see a wide surface, and forget the difference between + seeing and knowing. In this hasty way of thinking and living + they traverse so much ground that they forget that not the + sleeping railroad passenger, but the botanist, the geologist, + the poet, really see the country, and that, to the former, + "a miss is as good as a mile." In a word, the tendency + of circumstances has been to make our people superficial, + irreverent, and more anxious to get a living than to live + mentally and morally. This tendency is no way balanced by the + slight literary culture common here, which is mostly English, + and consists in a careless reading of publications of the day, + having the same utilitarian tendency with our own proceedings. + The infrequency of acquaintance with any of the great fathers + of English lore marks this state of things. + + 'New England is now old enough,--some there have leisure + enough,--to look at all this; and the consequence is a violent + reaction, in a small minority, against a mode of culture that + rears such fruits. They see that political freedom does not + necessarily produce liberality of mind, nor freedom in church + institutions--vital religion; and, seeing that these changes + cannot be wrought from without inwards, they are trying to + quicken the soul, that they may work from within outwards. + Disgusted with the vulgarity of a commercial aristocracy, they + become radicals; disgusted with the materialistic working of + "rational" religion, they become mystics. They quarrel with + all that is, because it is not spiritual enough. They would, + perhaps, be patient if they thought this the mere sensuality + of childhood in our nation, which it might outgrow; but they + think that they see the evil widening, deepening,--not only + debasing the life, but corrupting the thought, of our people, + and they feel that if they know not well what should be done, + yet that the duty of every good man is to utter a protest + against what is done amiss. + + 'Is this protest undiscriminating? are these opinions crude? + do these proceedings threaten to sap the bulwarks on which men + at present depend? I confess it all, yet I see in these men + promise of a better wisdom than in their opponents. Their hope + for man is grounded on his destiny as an immortal soul, and + not as a mere comfort-loving inhabitant of earth, or as a + subscriber to the social contract. It was not meant that the + soul should cultivate the earth, but that the earth should + educate and maintain the soul. Man is not made for society, + but society is made for man. No institution can be good which + does not tend to improve the individual. In these principles + I have confidence so profound, that I am not afraid to trust + those who hold them, despite their partial views, imperfectly + developed characters, and frequent want of practical sagacity. + I believe, if they have opportunity to state and discuss + their opinions, they will gradually sift them, ascertain their + grounds and aims with clearness, and do the work this country + needs. I hope for them as for "the leaven that is hidden in + the bushel of meal, till all be leavened." The leaven is not + good by itself, neither is the meal; let them combine, and we + shall yet have bread. + + 'Utopia it is impossible to build up. At least, my hopes for + our race on this one planet are more limited than those of + most of my friends. I accept the limitations of human nature, + and believe a wise acknowledgment of them one of the best + conditions of progress. Yet every noble scheme, every poetic + manifestation, prophesies to man his eventual destiny. And + were not man ever more sanguine than facts at the moment + justify, he would remain torpid, or be sunk in sensuality. It + is on this ground that I sympathize with what is called the + "Transcendental party," and that I feel their aim to be the + true one. They acknowledge in the nature of man an arbiter for + his deeds,--a standard transcending sense and time,--and + are, in my view, the true utilitarians. They are but at the + beginning of their course, and will, I hope, learn how to make + use of the past, as well as to aspire for the future, and to + be true in the present moment. + + 'My position as a woman, and the many private duties which + have filled my life, have prevented my thinking deeply on + several of the great subjects which these friends have at + heart. I suppose, if ever I become capable of judging, I shall + differ from most of them on important points. But I am not + afraid to trust any who 'are true, and in intent noble, with + their own course, nor to aid in enabling them to express their + thoughts, whether I coincide with them or not. + + 'On the subject of Christianity, my mind is clear. If Divine, + it will stand the test of any comparison. I believe the reason + it has so imperfectly answered to the aspirations of its + Founder is, that men have received it on external grounds. I + believe that a religion, thus received, may give the life + an external decorum, but will never open the fountains of + holiness in the soul. + + 'One often thinks of Hamlet as the true representative of + idealism in its excess. Yet if, in his short life, man be + liable to some excess, should we not rather prefer to have + the will palsied like Hamlet, by a deep-searching tendency and + desire for poetic perfection, than to have it enlightened + by worldly sagacity, as in the case of Julius Cæsar, or made + intense by pride alone, as in that of Coriolanus? + + 'After all, I believe it is absurd to attempt to speak on + these subjects within the limits of a letter. I will try to + say what I mean in print some day. Yet one word as to "the + material," in man. Is it not the object of all philosophy, + as well as of religion and poetry, to prevent its prevalence? + Must not those who see most truly be ever making statements + of the truth to combat this sluggishness, or worldliness? + What else are sages, poets, preachers, born to do? Men go an + undulating course,--sometimes on the hill, sometimes in the + valley. But he only is in the right who in the valley forgets + not the hill-prospect, and knows in darkness that the sun will + rise again. That is the real life which is subordinated to, + not merged in, the ideal; he is only wise who can bring the + lowest act of his life into sympathy with its highest thought. + And this I take to be the one only aim of our pilgrimage here. + I agree with those who think that no true philosophy will try + to ignore or annihilate the material part of man, but will + rather seek to put it in its place, as servant and minister to + the soul.' + + + + +VI. + +THE WOMAN. + + * * * * * + + +In 1839 I had met Margaret upon the plane of intellect. In the summer +of 1840, on my return from the West, she was to be revealed in a new +aspect. + +It was a radiant and refreshing morning, when I entered the parlor of +her pleasant house, standing upon a slope beyond Jamaica Plain to the +south. She was absent at the moment, and there was opportunity to look +from the windows on a cheerful prospect, over orchards and meadows, +to the wooded hills and the western sky. Presently Margaret appeared, +bearing in her hand a vase of flowers, which she had been gathering in +the garden. After exchange of greetings, her first words were of the +flowers, each of which was symbolic to her of emotion, and associated +with the memory of some friend. I remember her references only to the +Daphne Odora, the Provence Rose, the sweet-scented Verbena, and the +Heliotrope; the latter being her chosen emblem, true bride of the sun +that it is. + +From flowers she passed to engravings hanging round the room. 'Here,' +said she, 'are Dante and Beatrice. + + "Approach, and know that I am Beatrice. + The power of ancient love was strong within me." + + 'She is beautiful enough, is not she, for that higher moment? + But Dante! Yet who could paint a Dante,--and Dante in heaven? + They give but his shadow, as he walked in the forest-maze of + earth. Then here is the Madonna del Pesce; not divine, like + the Foligno, not deeply maternal, like the Seggiola, not + the beätified "Mother of God" of the Dresden gallery, but + graceful, and "not too bright and good for human nature's + daily food." And here is Raphael himself, the young seer of + beauty, with eyes softly contemplative, yet lit with central + fires,' &c. + +There were gems, too, and medallions and seals, to be examined, each +enigmatical, and each blended by remembrances with some fair hour of +her past life. + +Talk on art led the way to Greece and the Greeks, whose mythology +Margaret was studying afresh. She had been culling the blooms of that +poetic land, and could not but offer me leaves from her garland. She +spoke of the statue of Minerva-Polias, cut roughly from an olive-tree, +yet cherished as the heaven-descended image of the most sacred shrine, +to which was due the Panathenaic festival. + + 'The less ideal perfection in the figure, the greater the + reverence of the adorer. Was not this because spiritual + imagination makes light of results, and needs only a germ whence + to unfold Olympic splendors?' + +She spoke of the wooden column, left standing from the ruins of the +first temple to Juno, amidst the marble walls of the magnificent fane +erected in its place:-- + + 'This is a most beautiful type, is not it, of the manner in + which life's earliest experiences become glorified by our + perfecting destiny?' + + 'In the temple of Love and the Graces, one Grace bore a rose, + a second a branch of myrtle, a third dice;--who can read that + riddle? + + '"Better is it," said Appollonius, "on entering a small shrine + to find there a statue of gold and ivory, than in a large + temple to behold only a coarse figure of terra cotta." How + often, after leaving with disgust the so-called great affairs + of men, do we find traces of angels' visits in quiet scenes of + home. + + 'The Hours and the Graces appear as ornaments on all thrones + and shrines, except those of Vulcan and Pluto. Alas for us, + when we become so sunk in utilitarian toil as to be blind to + the beauty with which even common cares are daily wreathed!' + +And so on and on, with myth and allusion. + +Next, Margaret spoke of the friends whose generosity had provided +the decorations on her walls, and the illustrated books for her +table,--friends who were fellow-students in art, history, or +science,--friends whose very life she shared. Her heart seemed full +to overflow with sympathy for their joys and sorrows, their special +trials and struggles, their peculiar tendencies of character and +respective relations. The existence of each was to her a sacred +process, whose developments she watched with awe, and whose leadings +she reverently sought to aid. She had scores of pretty anecdotes +to tell, sweet bowers of sentiment to open, significant lessons of +experience to interpret, and scraps of journals or letters to read +aloud, as the speediest means of introducing me to her chosen circle. +There was a fascinating spell in her piquant descriptions, and a +genial glow of sympathy animated to characteristic movement the +figures, who in varying pantomime replaced one another on the theatre +of her fancy. Frost-bound New England melted into a dreamland of +romance beneath the spice-breeze of her Eastern narrative. Sticklers +for propriety might have found fault at the freedom with which she +confided her friends' histories to one who was a comparative stranger +to them; but I could not but note how conscientiousness reined in her +sensibilities and curbed their career, as they reached the due bounds +of privacy. She did but realize one's conception of the transparent +truthfulness that will pervade advanced societies of the future, where +the very atmosphere shall be honorable faith. + +Nearer and nearer Margaret was approaching a secret throned in her +heart that day; and the preceding transitions were but a prelude of +her orchestra before the entrance of the festal group. Unconsciously +she made these preparations for paying worthy honors to a high +sentiment. She had lately heard of the betrothal of two of her +best-loved friends; and she wished to communicate the graceful story +in a way that should do justice to the facts and to her own feelings. +It was by a spontaneous impulse of her genius, and with no voluntary +foreshaping, that she had grouped the previous tales; but no drama +could have been more artistically constructed than the steps whereby +she led me onward to the denouement; and the look, tone, words, +with which she told it, were fluent with melody as the song of an +improvisatrice. + +Scarcely had she finished, when, offering some light refreshment,--as +it was now past noon,--she proposed a walk in the open air. She led +the way to Bussey's wood, her favorite retreat during the past year, +where she had thought and read, or talked with intimate friends. We +climbed the rocky path, resting a moment or two at every pretty point, +till, reaching a moss-cushioned ledge near the summit, she seated +herself. For a time she was silent, entranced in delighted communion +with the exquisite hue of the sky, seen through interlacing boughs +and trembling leaves, and the play of shine and shadow over the wide +landscape. But soon, arousing from her reverie, she took up the thread +of the morning's talk. My part was to listen; for I was absorbed in +contemplating this, to me, quite novel form of character. It has +been seen how my early distaste for Margaret's society was gradually +changed to admiration. Like all her friends, I had passed through an +avenue of sphinxes before reaching the temple. But now it appeared +that thus far I had never been admitted to the adytum. + +As, leaning on one arm, she poured out her stream of thought, turning +now and then her eyes full upon me, to see whether I caught her +meaning, there was leisure to study her thoroughly. Her temperament +was predominantly what the physiologists would call nervous-sanguine; +and the gray eye, rich brown hair and light complexion, with the +muscular and well-developed frame, bespoke delicacy balanced by vigor. +Here was a sensitive yet powerful being, fit at once for rapture or +sustained effort, intensely active, prompt for adventure, firm for +trial. She certainly had not beauty; yet the high arched dome of the +head, the changeful expressiveness of every feature, and her whole +air of mingled dignity and impulse, gave her a commanding charm. +Especially characteristic were two physical traits. The first was a +contraction of the eyelids almost to a point,--a trick caught from +near-sightedness,--and then a sudden dilation, till the iris seemed to +emit flashes;--an effect, no doubt, dependent on her highly-magnetized +condition. The second was a singular pliancy of the vertebræ and +muscles of the neck, enabling her by a mere movement to denote each +varying emotion; in moments of tenderness, or pensive feeling, its +curves were swan-like in grace, but when she was scornful or indignant +it contracted, and made swift turns like that of a bird of prey. +Finally, in the animation, yet _abandon_ of Margaret's attitude and +look, were rarely blended the fiery force of northern, and the soft +languor of southern races. + +Meantime, as I was thus, through her physiognomy, tracing the outlines +of her spiritual form, she was narrating chapters from the book of +experience. How superficially, heretofore, had I known her! We had met +chiefly as scholars. But now I saw before me one whose whole life +had been a poem,--of boundless aspiration and hope almost wild in its +daring,--of indomitable effort amidst poignant disappointment,--of +widest range, yet persistent unity. Yes! here was a poet in deed, a +true worshipper of Apollo, who had steadfastly striven to brighten and +make glad existence, to harmonize all jarring and discordant strings, +to fuse most hard conditions and cast them in a symmetric mould, to +piece fragmentary fortunes into a mosaic symbol of heavenly order. +Here was one, fond as a child of joy, eager as a native of the tropics +for swift transition from luxurious rest to passionate excitement, +prodigal to pour her mingled force of will, thought, sentiment, into +the life of the moment, all radiant with imagination, longing for +communion with artists of every age in their inspired hours, fitted by +genius and culture to mingle as an equal in the most refined circles +of Europe, and yet her youth and early womanhood had passed away +amid the very decent, yet drudging, descendants of the prim Puritans. +Trained among those who could have discerned her peculiar power, and +early fed with the fruits of beauty for which her spirit pined, she +would have developed into one of the finest lyrists, romancers and +critics, that the modern literary world has seen. This she knew; and +this tantalization of her fate she keenly felt. + +But the tragedy of Margaret's history was deeper yet. Behind the poet +was the woman,--the fond and relying, the heroic and disinterested +woman. The very glow of her poetic enthusiasm was but an outflush of +trustful affection; the very restlessness of her intellect was +the confession that her heart had found no home. A "book-worm," "a +dilettante," "a pedant," I had heard her sneeringly called; but now it +was evident that her seeming insensibility was virgin pride, and her +absorption in study the natural vent of emotions, which had met +no object worthy of life-long attachment. At once, many of her +peculiarities became intelligible. Fitfulness, unlooked-for changes of +mood, misconceptions of words and actions, substitution of fancy +for fact,--which had annoyed me during the previous season, as +inconsistent in a person of such capacious judgment and sustained +self-government,--were now referred to the morbid influence of +affections pent up to prey upon themselves. And, what was still more +interesting, the clue was given to a singular credulousness, by +which, in spite of her unusual penetration, Margaret might be led away +blindfold. As this revelation of her ardent nature burst upon me, and +as, rapidly recalling the past, I saw how faithful she had kept to her +high purposes,--how patient, gentle, and thoughtful for others, how +active in self-improvement and usefulness, how wisely dignified she +had been,--I could not but bow to her in reverence. + +We walked back to the house amid a rosy sunset, and it was with no +surprise that I heard her complain of an agonizing nervous headache, +which compelled her at once to retire, and call for assistance. As +for myself, while going homeward, I reflected with astonishment on the +unflagging spiritual energy with which, for hour after hour, she +had swept over lands and seas of thought, and, as my own excitement +cooled, I became conscious of exhaustion, as if a week's life had been +concentrated in a day. + +The interview, thus hastily sketched, may serve as a fair type of our +usual intercourse. Always I found her open-eyed to beauty, fresh for +wonder, with wings poised for flight, and fanning the coming breeze of +inspiration. Always she seemed to see before her, + + "A shape all light, which with one hand did fling + Dew on the earth, as if she were the dawn, + And the invisible rain did ever sing + A silver music on the mossy lawn." + +Yet more and more distinctly did I catch a plaintive tone of sorrow +in her thought and speech, like the wail of an Æolian harp heard at +intervals from some upper window. She had never met one who could love +her as she could love; and in the orange-grove of her affections +the white, perfumed blossoms and golden fruit wasted away unclaimed. +Through the mask of slight personal defects and ungraceful manners, +of superficial hauteur and egotism, and occasional extravagance of +sentiment, no equal had recognized the rare beauty of her spirit. She +was yet alone. + +Among her papers remains this pathetic petition:-- + + 'I am weary of thinking. I suffer great fatigue from living. + Oh God, take me! take me wholly! Thou knowest that I love none + but Thee. All this beautiful poesy of my being lies in Thee. + Deeply I feel it. I ask nothing. Each desire, each passionate + feeling, is on the surface only; inmostly Thou keepest me + strong and pure. Yet always to be thus going out into moments, + into nature, and love, and thought! Father, I am weary! + Reassume me for a while, I pray Thee. Oh let me rest awhile in + Thee, Thou only Love! In the depth of my prayer I suffer much. + Take me only awhile. No fellow-being will receive me. I cannot + pause; they will not detain me by their love. Take me awhile, + and again I will go forth on a renewed service. It is not that + I repine, my Father, but I sink from want of rest, and none + will shelter me. Thou knowest it all. Bathe me in the living + waters of Thy Love.' + + + + +VII. + +THE FRIEND. + + * * * * * + + +Yet, conscious as she was of an unfulfilled destiny, and of an +undeveloped being, Margaret was no pining sentimentalist. The gums +oozing from wounded boughs she burned as incense in her oratory; but +in outward relations she was munificent with sympathy. + + 'Let me be, Theodora, a bearer of heavenly gifts to my + fellows,' + +is written in her journals, and her life fulfilled the aspiration. +The more one observed her, the more surprising appeared the variety, +earnestness, and constancy of her friendships. Far and wide reached +her wires of communication, and incessant was the interchange of +messages of good-will. She was never so preoccupied and absorbed as +to deny a claimant for her affectionate interest; she never turned +her visitors back upon themselves, mortified and vexed at being +misunderstood. With delicate justice she appreciated the special +form, force, tendency of utterly dissimilar characters and her heart +responded to every appeal alike of humblest suffering or loftiest +endeavor. In the plain, yet eloquent phrase of the backwoodsman, "the +string of her door-latch was always out," and every wayfarer was free +to share the shelter of her roof, or a seat beside her hearth-stone. +Or, rather, it might be said, in symbol of her wealth of spirit, her +palace, with its galleries of art, its libraries and festal-halls, +welcomed all guests who could enjoy and use them. + +She was, indeed, The Friend. This was her vocation. She bore at her +girdle a golden key to unlock all caskets of confidence. Into +whatever home she entered she brought a benediction of truth, justice, +tolerance, and honor; and to every one who sought her to confess, or +seek counsel, she spoke the needed word of stern yet benignant wisdom. +To how many was the forming of her acquaintance an era of renovation, +of awakening from sloth, indulgence or despair, to heroic mastery of +fate, of inward serenity and strength, of new-birth to real self-hood, +of catholic sympathies, of energy consecrated to the Supreme Good. +Thus writes to her one who stands among the foremost in his own +department: "What I am I owe, in large measure, to the stimulus you +imparted. You roused my heart with high hopes; you raised my aims from +paltry and vain pursuits to those which tasked and fed the soul; +you inspired me with a great ambition, and made me see the worth +and meaning of life; you awakened in me confidence in my own powers, +showed me my special and distinct ability, and quickened my individual +consciousness by intelligent sympathy with tendencies and feelings +which I but half understood; you gave me to myself. This is a most +benign influence to exercise, and for it, above all other benefits, +gratitude is due. Therefore have you an inexhaustible bank of +gratitude to draw from. Bless God that he has allotted to you such a +ministry." + +The following extracts from her letters will show how profusely +Margaret poured out her treasures upon her friends; but they reveal, +too, the painful processes of alchemy whereby she transmuted her lead +into gold. + + 'Your idea of friendship apparently does not include + intellectual intimacy, as mine does, but consists of mutual + esteem and spiritual encouragement. This is the thought + represented, on antique gems and bas-reliefs, of the meeting + between God and Goddess, I find; for they rather offer one + another the full flower of being, than grow together. As in + the figures before me, Jupiter, king of Gods and men, meets + Juno, the sister and queen, not as a chivalric suppliant, but + as a stately claimant; and she, crowned, pure, majestic, holds + the veil aside to reveal herself to her august spouse.' + + * * * * * + + 'How variously friendship is represented in literature! + Sometimes the two friends kindle beacons from afar to apprize + one another that they are constant, vigilant, and each + content in his several home. Sometimes, two pilgrims, they go + different routes in service of the same saint, and remember + one another as they give alms, learn wisdom, or pray in + shrines along the road. Sometimes, two knights, they bid + farewell with mailed hand of truth and honor all unstained, + as they ride forth on their chosen path to test the spirit of + high emprise, and free the world from wrong,--to meet again + for unexpected succor in the hour of peril, or in joyful + surprise to share a frugal banquet on the plat of greensward + opening from forest glades. Sometimes, proprietors of two + neighboring estates, they have interviews in the evening to + communicate their experiments and plans, or to study together + the stars from an observatory; if either is engaged he simply + declares it; they share enjoyments cordially; they exchange + praise or blame frankly; in citizen-like good-fellowship they + impart their gains. + + 'All these views of friendship are noble and beautiful, yet + they are not enough for our manifold nature. Friends should + be our incentives to Right, yet not only our guiding, but our + prophetic stars. To love by sight is much, to love by faith + is more; together they make up the entire love, without which + heart, mind, and soul cannot be alike satisfied. Friends + should love not merely for the absolute worth of each to the + other, but on account of a mutual fitness of character. They + are not merely one another's priests or gods, but ministering + angels, exercising in their part the same function as the + Great Soul does in the whole,--of seeing the perfect through + the imperfect, nay, creating it there. Why am I to love my + friend the less for any obstruction in his life? Is not that + the very time for me to love most tenderly, when I must see + his life in despite of seeming? When he shows it to me I can + only admire; I do not give myself, I am taken captive. + + 'But how shall I express my meaning? Perhaps I can do so from + the tales of chivalry, where I find what corresponds far more + thoroughly with my nature, than in these stoical statements. + The friend of Amadis expects to hear prodigies of valor of + the absent Preux, but if he be mutilated in one of his first + battles, shall he be mistrusted by the brother of his soul, + more than if he had been tested in a hundred? If Britomart + finds Artegall bound in the enchanter's spell, can she + doubt therefore him whom she has seen in the magic glass? A + Britomart does battle in his cause, and frees him from the + evil power, while a dame of less nobleness might sit and watch + the enchanted sleep, weeping night and day, or spur on her + white palfrey to find some one more helpful than herself. + These friends in chivalry are always faithful through the dark + hours to the bright. The Douglas motto, "tender and true," + seems to me most worthy of the strongest breast. To borrow + again from Spencer, I am entirely satisfied with the fate of + the three brothers. I could not die while there was yet life + in my brother's breast. I would return from the shades and + nerve him with twofold life for the fight. I could do it, for + our hearts beat with one blood. Do you not see the truth and + happiness of this waiting tenderness? The verse-- + + "Have I a lover + Who is noble and free, + I would he were nobler + Than to love me,"-- + + does not come home to my heart, though _this_ does:-- + + "I could not love thee, sweet, so much, + Loved I not honor more." + + * * * '_October 10th, 1840._--I felt singular pleasure in + seeing you quote Hood's lines on "Melancholy." I thought + nobody knew and loved his serious poems except myself, and + two or three others, to whom I imparted them.[A] Do you like, + also, the ode to Autumn, and-- + + "Sigh on, sad heart, for love's eclipse"? + + It was a beautiful time when I first read these poems. I was + staying in Hallowell, Maine, and could find no books that I + liked, except Hood's poems. You know how the town is built, + like a terraced garden on the river's bank; I used to go every + afternoon to the granite quarry which crowns these terraces, + and read till the sunset came casting its last glory on the + opposite bank. They were such afternoons as those in September + and October, clear, soft, and radiant. Nature held nothing + back. 'Tis many years since, and I have never again seen the + Kennebec, but remember it as a stream of noble character. It + was the first river I ever sailed up, realizing all which that + emblem discloses of life. Greater still would the charm have + been to sail downward along an unknown stream, seeking not a + home, but a ship upon the ocean.' + + * * * * * + + '_Newbury, Oct. 18, 1840._--It rained, and the day was pale + and sorrowful, the thick-fallen leaves even shrouded the + river. We went out in the boat, and sat under the bridge. The + pallid silence, the constant fall of the rain and leaves, were + most soothing, life had been for many weeks so crowded with + thought and feeling, pain and pleasure, rapture and care. + Nature seemed gently to fold us in her matron's mantle. On + such days the fall of the leaf does not bring sadness, only + meditation. Earth seemed to loose the record of past summer + hours from her permanent life, as lightly, and spontaneously, + as the great genius casts behind him a literature,--the + Odyssey he has outgrown. In the evening the rain ceased, the + west wind came, and we went out in the boat again for some + hours; indeed, we staid till the last clouds passed from the + moon. Then we climbed the hill to see the full light in solemn + sweetness over fields, and trees, and river. + + 'I never enjoyed anything more in its way than the three + days alone with ---- in her boat, upon the little river. + Not without reason was it that Goethe limits the days of + intercourse to _three_, in the Wanderjahre. If you have lived + so long in uninterrupted communion with any noble being, and + with nature, a remembrance of man's limitations seems to call + on Polycrates to cast forth his ring. She seemed the very + genius of the scene, so calm, so lofty, and so secluded. I + never saw any place that seemed to me so much like home. The + beauty, though so great, is so unobtrusive. + + 'As we glided along the river, I could frame my community far + more naturally and rationally than ----. A few friends should + settle upon the banks of a stream like this, planting their + homesteads. Some should be farmers, some woodmen, others + bakers, millers, &c. By land, they should carry to one another + the commodities; on the river they should meet for society. At + sunset many, of course, would be out in their boats, but they + would love the hour too much ever to disturb one another. I + saw the spot where we should discuss the high mysteries that + Milton speaks of. Also, I saw the spot where I would invite + select friends to live through the noon of night, in silent + communion. When we wished to have merely playful chat, or talk + on politics or social reform, we would gather in the mill, and + arrange those affairs while grinding the corn. What a happy + place for children to grow up in! Would it not suit little + ---- to go to school to the cardinal flowers in her boat, + beneath the great oak-tree? I think she would learn more than + in a phalanx of juvenile florists. But, truly, why has such a + thing never been? One of these valleys so immediately suggests + an image of the fair company that might fill it, and live so + easily, so naturally, so wisely. Can we not people the banks + of some such affectionate little stream? I distrust ambitious + plans, such as Phalansterian organizations! + + '---- is quite bent on trying his experiment. I hope he may + succeed; but as they were talking the other evening, I + thought of the river, and all the pretty symbols the tide-mill + presents, and felt if I could at all adjust the economics to + the more simple procedure, I would far rather be the miller, + hoping to attract by natural affinity some congenial baker, + "und so weiter." However, one thing seems sure, that many + persons will soon, somehow, somewhere, throw off a part, at + least, of these terrible weights of the social contract, and + see if they cannot lie more at ease in the lap of Nature. I + do not feel the same interest in these plans, as if I had a + firmer hold on life, but I listen with much pleasure to the + good suggestions.' + + * * * * * + + '_Oct. 19th, 1840._ ---- was here. Generally I go out of + the room when he comes, for his great excitability makes + me nervous, and his fondness for detail is wearisome. But + to-night I was too much fatigued to do anything else, and + did not like to leave mother; so I lay on the sofa while she + talked with him. + + 'My mind often wandered, yet ever and anon, as I listened + again to him, I was struck with admiration at the + compensations of Nature. Here is a man, isolated from his + kind beyond any I know, of an ambitious temper and without an + object of tender affections and without a love or a friend. I + don't suppose any mortal, unless it be his aged mother, cares + more for him than we do,--scarce any value him so much. The + disease, which has left him, in the eyes of men, a scathed and + blighted tree, has driven him back to Nature, and she has not + refused him sympathy. I was surprised by the refinement of + his observations on the animals, his pets. He has carried + his intercourse with them to a degree of perfection we rarely + attain with our human friends. There is no misunderstanding + between him and his dogs and birds; and how rich has been the + acquaintance in suggestion! Then the flowers! I liked to + hear him, for he recorded all their pretty ways,--not like a + botanist, but a lover. His interview with the Magnolia of Lake + Pontchartrain was most romantic. And what he said of the + Yuca seems to me so pretty, that I will write it down, though + somewhat more concisely than he told it:-- + + '"I had kept these plants of the Yuca Filamentosa six or seven + years, though they had never bloomed. I knew nothing of them, + and had no notion of what feelings they would excite. Last + June I found in bud the one which had the most favorable + exposure. A week or two after, another, which was more in the + shade, put out flower-buds, and I thought I should be able to + watch them, one after the other; but, no! the one which was + most favored waited for the other, and both flowered together + at the full of the moon. This struck me as very singular, but + as soon as I saw the flower by moonlight I understood it. This + flower is made for the moon, as the Heliotrope is for the sun, + and refuses other influences or to display her beauty in any + other light. + + '"The first night I saw it in flower, I was conscious of a + peculiar delight, I may even say rapture. Many white flowers + are far more beautiful by day; the lily, for instance, with + its firm, thick leaf, needs the broadest light to manifest its + purity. But these transparent leaves of greenish white, which + look dull in the day, are melted by the moon to glistening + silver. And not only does the plant not appear in its destined + hue by day, but the flower, though, as bell-shaped, it cannot + quite close again after having once expanded, yet presses its + petals together as closely as it can, hangs down its little + blossoms, and its tall stalk seems at noon to have reared + itself only to betray a shabby insignificance. Thus, too, + with the leaves, which have burst asunder suddenly like the + fan-palm to make way for the stalk,--their edges in the day + time look ragged and unfinished, as if nature had left them + in a hurry for some more pleasing task. On the day after + the evening when I had thought it so beautiful, I could not + conceive how I had made such a mistake. + + '"But the second evening I went out into the garden again. In + clearest moonlight stood my flower, more beautiful than ever. + The stalk pierced the air like a spear, all the little bells + had erected themselves around it in most graceful array, with + petals more transparent than silver, and of softer light + than the diamond. Their edges were clearly, but not sharply + defined. They seemed to have been made by the moon's rays. The + leaves, which had looked ragged by day, now seemed fringed by + most delicate gossamer, and the plant might claim with pride + its distinctive epithet of Filamentosa. I looked at it till + my feelings became so strong that I longed to share it. The + thought which filled my mind was that here we saw the type of + pure feminine beauty in the moon's own flower. I have since + had further opportunity of watching the Yuca, and verified + these observations, that she will not flower till the full + moon, and chooses to hide her beauty from the eye of day." + + 'Might not this be made into a true poem, if written out + merely as history of the plant, and no observer introduced? + How finely it harmonizes with all legends of Isis, Diana, &c.! + It is what I tried to say in the sonnet,-- + + Woman's heaven, + Where palest lights a silvery sheen diffuse. + + 'In tracing these correspondences, one really does take hold + of a Truth, of a Divine Thought.' * * + + * * * * * + + '_October 25th, 1840._--This week I have not read any book, + nor once walked in the woods and fields. I meant to give its + days to setting outward things in order, and its evenings to + writing. But, I know not how it is, I can never simplify my + life; always so many ties, so many claims! However, soon the + winter winds will chant matins and vespers, which may make my + house a cell, and in a snowy veil enfold me for my prayer. + If I cannot dedicate myself this time, I will not expect it + again. Surely it should be! These Carnival masks have crowded + on me long enough, and Lent must be at hand. * * + + '---- and ---- have been writing me letters, to answer which + required all the time and thought I could give for a day or + two. ----'s were of joyful recognition, and so beautiful I + would give much to show them to you. ----'s have singularly + affected me. They are noble, wise, of most unfriendly + friendliness. I don't know why it is, I always seem to myself + to have gone so much further with a friend than I really have. + Just as at Newport I thought ---- met me, when he did not, and + sang a joyful song which found no echo, so here ---- asks me + questions which I thought had been answered in the first days + of our acquaintance, and coldly enumerates all the charming + qualities which make it impossible for him to part with me! + He scolds me, though in the sweetest and solemnest way. I will + not quote his words, though their beauty tempts me, for they + do not apply, they do not touch ME. + + 'Why is it that the religion of my nature is so much hidden + from my peers? why do they question me, who never question + them? why persist to regard as a meteor an orb of assured + hope? Can no soul know me wholly? shall I never know the deep + delight of gratitude to any but the All-Knowing? I shall + wait for ---- very peaceably, in reverent love as ever; but I + cannot see why he should not have the pleasure of knowing now + a friend, who has been "so tender and true."' + + * * * * * + + '---- was here, and spent twenty-four hours in telling me a + tale of deepest tragedy. Its sad changes should be written out + in Godwin's best manner: such are the themes he loved, as did + also Rousseau. Through all the dark shadows shone a pure + white ray, one high, spiritual character, a man, too, and of + advanced age. I begin to respect men more,--I mean actual men. + What men may be, I know; but the men of to-day have seemed to + me of such coarse fibre, or else such poor wan shadows! + + '---- had scarcely gone, when ---- came and wished to spend + a few hours with me. I was totally exhausted, but I lay down, + and she sat beside me, and poured out all her noble feelings + and bright fancies. There was little light in the room, and + she gleamed like a cloud + + --"of pearl and opal," + + and reminded me more than ever of + + --"the light-haired Lombardess + Singing a song of her own native land," + + to the dying Correggio, beside the fountain. + + 'I am astonished to see how much Bettine's book is to all + these people. This shows how little courage they have had to + live out themselves. She really brings them a revelation. The + men wish they had been loved by Bettine; the girls wish to + write down the thoughts that come, and see if just such a book + does not grow up. ----, however, was one of the few who do not + over-estimate her; she truly thought Bettine only publishes + what many burn. Would not genius be common as light, if men + trusted their higher selves?' + + * * * * * + + 'I heard in town that ---- is a father, and has gone to see + his child. This news made me more grave even than such news + usually does; I suppose because I have known the growth of + his character so intimately. I called to mind a letter he had + written me of what we had expected of our fathers. The ideal + father, the profoundly wise, provident, divinely tender and + benign, he is indeed the God of the human heart. How solemn + this moment of being called to prepare the way, to _make way_ + for another generation! What fulfilment does it claim in + the character of a man, that he should be worthy to be a + father!--what purity of motive, what dignity, what knowledge! + When I recollect how deep the anguish, how deeper still the + want, with which I walked alone in hours of childish passion, + and called for a Father, often saying the word a hundred + times, till stifled by sobs, how great seems the duty that + name imposes! Were but the harmony preserved throughout! Could + the child keep learning his earthly, as he does his heavenly + Father, from all best experience of life, till at last it were + the climax: "I am the Father. Have ye seen me?--ye have seen + the Father." But how many sons have we to make one father? + Surely, to spirits, not only purified but perfected, this + must appear the climax of earthly being,--a wise and worthy + parentage. Here I always sympathize with Mr. Alcott. He views + the relation truly.' + + * * * * * + + '_Dec. 3, 1840._ ---- bids me regard her "as a sick child;" + and the words recall some of the sweetest hours of existence. + My brother Edward was born on my birth-day, and they said he + should be my child. But he sickened and died just as the bud + of his existence showed its first bright hues. He was some + weeks wasting away, and I took care of him always half the + night. He was a beautiful child, and became very dear to me + then. Still in lonely woods the upturned violets show me the + pleading softness of his large blue eyes, in those hours when + I would have given worlds to prevent his suffering, and + could not. I used to carry him about in my arms for hours; it + soothed him, and I loved to feel his gentle weight of helpless + purity upon my heart, while night listened around. At last, + when death came, and the soul took wing like an overtasked + bird from his sweet form, I felt what I feel now. Might I free + ----, as that angel freed him! + + 'In daily life I could never hope to be an unfailing fountain + of energy and bounteous love. My health is frail; my earthly + life is shrunk to a scanty rill; I am little better than an + aspiration, which the ages will reward, by empowering me to + incessant acts of vigorous beauty. But now it is well with me + to be with those who do not suffer overmuch to have me suffer. + It is best for me to serve where I can better bear to fall + short. I could visit ---- more nobly than in daily life, + through the soul of our souls. When she named me her + Priestess, that name made me perfectly happy. Long has been my + consecration; may I not meet those I hold dear at the altar? + How would I pile up the votive offerings, and crowd the fires + with incense? Life might be full and fair; for, in my own way, + I could live for my friends.' * * + + * * * * * + + '_Dec. 8th, 1840._--My book of amusement has been the Evenings + of St. Petersburg. I do not find the praises bestowed on it at + all exaggerated. Yet De Maistre is too logical for me. I only + catch a thought here and there along the page. There is a + grandeur even in the subtlety of his mind. He walks with + a step so still, that, but for his dignity, it would be + stealthy, yet with brow erect and wide, eye grave and deep. He + is a man such as I have never known before.' * * + + 'I went to see Mrs. Wood in the Somnambula. Nothing could + spoil this opera, which expresses an ecstasy, a trance of + feeling, better than anything I ever heard. I have loved every + melody in it for years, and it was happiness to listen to + the exquisite modulations as they flowed out of one another, + endless ripples on a river deep, wide and strewed with + blossoms. I never have known any one more to be loved than + Bellini. No wonder the Italians make pilgrimages to his grave. + In him thought and feeling flow always in one tide; he never + divides himself. He is as melancholy as he is sweet; yet his + melancholy is not impassioned, but purely tender.' + + * * * * * + + '_Dec. 15, 1840._--I have not time to write out as I should + this sweet story of Melissa, but here is the outline:-- + + 'More than four years ago she received an injury, which caused + her great pain in the spine, and went to the next country + town to get medical advice. She stopped at the house of a poor + blacksmith, an acquaintance only, and has never since been + able to be moved. Her mother and sister come by turns to take + care of her. She cannot help herself in any way, but is as + completely dependent as an infant. The blacksmith and his + wife gave her the best room in their house, have ever since + ministered to her as to a child of their own, and, when people + pity them for having to bear such a burthen, they say, "It is + none, but a blessing." + + 'Melissa suffers all the time, and great pain. She cannot + amuse or employ herself in any way, and all these years has + been as dependent on others for new thoughts, as for daily + cares. Yet her mind has deepened, and her character refined, + under those stern teachers, Pain and Gratitude, till she has + become the patron saint of the village, and the muse of + the village school-mistress. She has a peculiar aversion to + egotism, and could not bear to have her mother enlarge upon + her sufferings. + + '"Perhaps it will pain the lady to hear that," said the mild, + religious sufferer, who had borne all without a complaint. + + "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth." The poor are the + generous: the injured, the patient and loving. + + All that ---- said of this girl was in perfect harmony with + what De Maistre says of the saint of St. Petersburg, who, + almost devoured by cancer, when, asked, "Quelle est la + premiere grace que vous demanderez a Dieu, ma chére enfant, + lorsque vous serez devant lui?" she replied, "Je lui + demanderai pour mes bienfaiteurs la grace de Paimer autant que + je l'aime." + + 'When they were lamenting for her, "Je ne suis pas, dit elle, + aussi malheureuse que vous le croyez; Dieu me fait la grace de + ne peuser, qu'a lui."' * * + + 'Next of Edith. Tall, gaunt, hard-favored was this candidate + for the American calendar; but Bonilacia might be her name. + From her earliest years she had valued all she knew, only as + she was to teach it again. Her highest ambition was to be the + school-mistress; her recreation to dress the little ragged + things, and take care of them out of school hours. She had + some taste for nursing the grown-up, but this was quite + subordinate to her care of the buds of the forest. Pure, + perfectly beneficent, lived Edith, and never thought of any + thing or person, but for its own sake. When she had attained + midway the hill of life, she happened to be boarding in the + house with a young farmer, who was lost in admiration of her + lore. How he wished he, too, could read! "What, can't you + read? O, let me teach you!"--"You never can; I was too + thick-skulled to learn even at school. I am sure I never + could now." But Edith was not to be daunted by any fancies + of incapacity, and set to work with utmost zeal to teach this + great grown man the primer. She succeeded, and won his heart + thereby. He wished to requite the raising him from the night + of ignorance, as Howard and Nicholas Poussin did the kind ones + who raised them from the night of the tomb, by the gift of his + hand. Edith consented, on condition that she might still keep + school. So he had his sister come to "keep things straight." + Edith and he go out in the morning,--he to his field, she to + her school, and meet again at eventide, to talk, and plan and, + I hope, to read also. + + 'The first use Edith made of her accession of property + through her wedded estate, was to give away all she thought + superfluous to a poor family she had long pitied, and + to invite a poor sick woman to her "spare chamber." + Notwithstanding a course like this, her husband has grown + rich, and proves that the pattern of the widow's cruse was not + lost in Jewry. + + 'Edith has become the Natalia of the village, as is Melissa + its "Schöne Seele."' + + * * * * * + + '_Dec., 22, 1840._--"Community" seems dwindling to a point, + and I fancy the best use of the plan, as projected thus far, + will prove the good talks it has caused here, upon principles. + I feel and find great want of wisdom in myself and the others. + We are not ripe to reconstruct society yet. O Christopher + Columbus! how art thou to be admired, when we see how other + men go to work with their lesser enterprises! ---- knows + deepest what he wants, but not well how to get it. ---- has a + better perception of means, and less insight as to principles; + but this movement has done him a world of good. All should + say, however, that they consider this plan as a mere + experiment, and are willing to fail. I tell them that they are + not ready till they can say that. ---- says he can bear to be + treated unjustly by all concerned,--which is much. He is too + sanguine, as it appears to me, but his aim is worthy, and, + with his courage and clear intellect, his experiment will not, + at least to him, be a failure.' + + * * * * * + + '_Feb. 19, 1841._--Have I never yet seen so much as _one_ of + my spiritual family? The other night they sat round me, so + many who have thought they loved, or who begin to love me. + I felt myself kindling the same fire in all their souls. + I looked on each, and no eye repelled me. Yet there was no + warmth for me on all those altars. Their natures seemed deep, + yet there was 'not one from which I could draw the living + fountain. I could only cheat the hour with them, prize, + admire, and pity. It was sad; yet who would have seen sadness + in me? * * + + 'Once I was almost all intellect; now I am almost all feeling. + Nature vindicates her rights, and I feel all Italy glowing + beneath the Saxon crust. This cannot last long; I shall burn + to ashes if all this smoulders here much longer. I must die if + I do not burst forth in genius or heroism. + + 'I meant to have translated the best passages of "Die + Gunderode,"--which I prefer to Bettine's correspondence with + Goethe. The two girls are equal natures, and both in earnest. + Goethe made a puppet-show, for his private entertainment, + of Bettine's life, and we wonder she did not feel he was not + worthy of her homage. Gunderode is to me dear and admirable, + Bettine only interesting. Gunderode is of religious grace, + Bettine the fulness of instinctive impulse; Gunderode is the + ideal, Bettine nature; Gunderode throws herself into the river + because the world is all too narrow, Bettine lives and + follows out every freakish fancy, till the enchanting child + degenerates into an eccentric and undignified old woman. There + is a medium somewhere. Philip Sidney found it; others had it + found for them by fate.' + + * * * * * + + '_March_ 29. 1841.--* * Others have looked at society with far + deeper consideration than I. I have felt so unrelated to this + sphere, that it has not been hard for me to be true. Also, I + do not believe in Society. I feel that every man must struggle + with these enormous ills, in some way, in every age; in that + of Moses, or Plato, or Angelo, as in our own. So it has not + moved me much to see my time so corrupt, but it would if I + were in a false position. + + '---- went out to his farm yesterday, full of cheer, as + one who doeth a deed with sincere good will. He has shown + a steadfastness and earnestness of purpose most grateful to + behold. I do not know what their scheme will ripen to; at + present it does not deeply engage my hopes. It is thus far + only a little better way than others. I doubt if they will get + free from all they deprecate in society.' + + * * * * * + + '_Paradise Farm, Newport, July, 1841._--Here are no deep + forests, no stern mountains, nor narrow, sacred valleys; but + the little white farm-house looks down from its gentle + slope on the boundless sea, and beneath the moon, beyond the + glistening corn-fields, is heard the endless surge. All + around the house is most gentle and friendly, with many + common flowers, that seem to have planted themselves, and + the domestic honey-suckle carefully trained over the little + window. Around are all the common farm-house sounds,--the + poultry making a pleasant recitative between the carols of + singing birds; even geese and turkeys are not inharmonious + when modulated by the diapasons of the beach. The orchard of + very old apple-trees, whose twisted forms tell of the glorious + winds that have here held revelry, protects a little homely + garden, such as gives to me an indescribable refreshment, + where the undivided vegetable plots and flourishing young + fruit-trees, mingling carelessly, seem as if man had dropt the + seeds just where he wanted the plants, and they had sprung up + at once. The family, too, look, at first glance, well-suited + to the place,--homely, kindly, unoppressed, of honest pride + and mutual love, not unworthy to look out upon the far-shining + sea. + + 'Many, many sweet little things would I tell you, only they + are so very little. I feel just now as if I could live and die + here. I am out in the open air all the time, except about two + hours in the early morning. And now the moon is fairly gone + late in the evening. While she was here, we staid out, too. + Everything seems sweet here, so homely, so kindly; the old + people chatting so contentedly, the young men and girls + laughing together in the fields,--not vulgarly, but in the + true kinsfolk way,--little children singing in the house and + beneath the berry-bushes. The never-ceasing break of the + surf is a continual symphony, calming the spirits which this + delicious air might else exalt too much. Everything on the + beach becomes a picture; the casting the seine, the ploughing + the deep for seaweed. This, when they do it with horses, is + prettiest of all; but when you see the oxen in the surf, you + lose all faith in the story of Europa, as the gay waves tumble + in on their lazy sides. The bull would be a fine object on the + shore, but not, not in the water. Nothing short of a dolphin + will do! Late to-night, from the highest Paradise rocks, + seeing ---- wandering, and the horsemen careering on the + beach, so spectrally passing into nature, amid the pale, + brooding twilight, I almost thought myself in the land of + souls! + + 'But in the morning it is life, all cordial and common. This + half-fisherman, half-farmer life seems very favorable to + manliness. I like to talk with the fishermen; they are not + boorish, not limited, but keen-eyed, and of a certain rude + gentleness. Two or three days ago I saw the sweetest picture. + There is a very tall rock, one of the natural pulpits, at one + end of the beach. As I approached, I beheld a young fisherman + with his little girl; he had nestled her into a hollow of the + rock, and was standing before her, with his arms round her, + and looking up in her face. Never was anything so pretty. I + stood and stared, country fashion; and presently he scrambled + up to the very top with her in his arms. She screamed a little + as they went, but when they were fairly up on the crest of the + rock, she chuckled, and stretched her tiny hand over his neck, + to go still further. Yet, when she found he did not wish it, + she leaned against his shoulder, and he sat, feeling himself + in the child like that exquisite Madonna, and looking out over + the great sea. Surely, the "kindred points of heaven and home" + were known in his breast, whatever guise they might assume. + + 'The sea is not always lovely and bounteous, though generally, + since we have been here, she has beamed her bluest. The night + of the full moon we staid out on the far rocks. The afternoon + was fair: the sun set nobly, wrapped in a violet mantle, + which he left to the moon, in parting. She not only rose red, + lowering, and of impatient attitude, but kept hiding her head + all the evening with an angry, struggling movement. ---- + said, "This is not Dian;" and I replied, "No; now we see the + Hecate." But the damp, cold wind came sobbing, and the waves + began wailing, too, till I was seized with a feeling of + terror, such as I never had before, even in the darkest, and + most treacherous, rustling wood. The moon seemed sternly to + give me up to the dæmons of the rock, and the waves to mourn + a tragic chorus, till I felt their cold grasp. I suffered + so much, that I feared we should never get home without some + fatal catastrophe. Never was I more relieved than when, as we + came up the hill, the moon suddenly shone forth. It was ten + o'clock, and here every human sound is hushed, and lamp put + out at that hour. How tenderly the grapes and tall corn-ears + glistened and nodded! and the trees stretched out their + friendly arms, and the scent of every humblest herb was like a + word of love. The waves, also, at that moment put on a silvery + gleam, and looked most soft and regretful. That was a real + voice from nature.' + + * * * * * + + '_February_, 1842.--I am deeply sad at the loss of little + Waldo, from whom I hoped more than from almost any living + being. I cannot yet reconcile myself to the thought that the + sun shines upon the grave of the beautiful blue-eyed boy, and + I shall see him no more. + + 'Five years he was an angel to us, and I know not that any + person was ever more the theme of thought to me. As I walk the + streets they swarm with apparently worthless lives, and the + question will rise, why he, why just he, who "bore within + himself the golden future," must be torn away? His father + will meet him again; but to me he seems lost, and yet that is + weakness. I _must_ meet that which he represented, since I + so truly loved it. He was the only child I ever saw, that I + sometimes wished I could have called mine. + + 'I loved him more than any child I ever knew, as he was of + nature more fair and noble. You would be surprised to know how + dear he was to my imagination. I saw him but little, and it + was well; for it is unwise to bind the heart where there is + no claim. But it is all gone, and is another of the lessons + brought by each year, that we are to expect suggestions only, + and not fulfilments, from each form of beauty, and to regard + them merely as Angels of The Beauty.' + + * * * * * + + '_June, 1842._--Why must children be with perfect people, any + more than people wait to be perfect to be friends? The secret + is,--is it not?--for parents to feel and be willing their + children should know that they are but little older than + themselves: only a class above, and able to give them some + help in learning their lesson. Then parent and child keep + growing together, in the same house. Let them blunder as we + blundered. God is patient for us; why should not we be for + them? Aspiration teaches always, and God leads, by inches. A + perfect being would hurt a child no less than an imperfect.' + + * * * * * + + 'It always makes my annoyances seem light, to be riding about + to visit these fine houses. Not that I am intolerant towards + the rich, but I cannot help feeling at such times how much + characters require the discipline of difficult circumstances. + To say nothing of the need the soul has of a peace and courage + that cannot be disturbed, even as to the intellect, how can + one be sure of not sitting down in the midst of indulgence to + pamper tastes alone, and how easy to cheat one's self with the + fancy that a little easy reading or writing is quite work. + I am safer; I do not sleep on roses. I smile to myself, when + with these friends, at their care of me. I let them do as they + will, for I know it will not last long enough to spoil me.' + + * * * * * + + 'I take great pleasure in talking with Aunt Mary.[B] Her + strong and simple nature checks not, falters not. Her + experience is entirely unlike mine, as, indeed, is that of + most others whom I know. No rapture, no subtle process, no + slow fermentation in the unknown depths, but a rill struck out + from the rock, clear and cool in all its course, the still, + small voice. She says the guide of her life has shown itself + rather as a restraining, than an impelling principle. I like + her life, too, as far as I see it; it is dignified and true.' + + * * * * * + + '_Cambridge, July_, 1842.--A letter at Providence would have + been like manna in the wilderness. I came into the very midst + of the fuss,[C] and, tedious as it was at the time, I am glad + to have seen it. I shall in future be able to believe real, + what I have read with a dim disbelief of such times and + tendencies. There is, indeed, little good, little cheer, in + what I have seen: a city full of grown-up people as wild, as + mischief-seeking, as full of prejudice, careless slander, + and exaggeration, as a herd of boys in the play-ground of the + worst boarding-school. Women whom I have seen, as the + domestic cat, gentle, graceful, cajoling, suddenly showing + the disposition, if not the force, of the tigress. I thought I + appreciated the monstrous growths of rumor before, but I + never did. The Latin poet, though used to a court, has faintly + described what I saw and heard often, in going the length of + a street. It is astonishing what force, purity and wisdom it + requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods. These + absurdities, of course, are linked with good qualities, + with energy of feeling, and with a love of morality, though + narrowed and vulgarized by the absence of the intelligence + which should enlighten. I had the good discipline of trying + to make allowance for those making none, to be charitable + to their want of charity, and cool without being cold. But + I don't know when I have felt such an aversion to my + environment, and prayed so earnestly day by day,--"O, Eternal! + purge from my inmost heart this hot haste about ephemeral + trifles," and "keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins; + let them not have dominion over me." + + 'What a change from the almost vestal quiet of "Aunt Mary's" + life, to all this open-windowed, open-eyed screaming of + "poltroon," "nefarious plan," "entire depravity," &c. &c.' + + * * * * * + + _'July, 1842. Boston_.--I have been entertaining the girls + here with my old experiences at Groton. They have been very + fresh in my mind this week. Had I but been as wise in such + matters then as now, how easy and fair I might have made the + whole! Too late, too late to live, but not too late to think! + And as that maxim of the wise Oriental teaches, "the Acts of + this life shall be the Fate of the next."' + + * * * 'I would have my friends tender of me, not because I am + frail, but because I am capable of strength;--patient, because + they see in me a principle that must, at last, harmonize all + the exuberance of my character. I did not well understand what + you felt, but I am willing to admit that what you said of my + "over-great impetuosity" is just. You will, perhaps, feel it + more and more. It may at times hide my better self. When it + does, speak, I entreat, as harshly as you feel. Let me be + always sure I know the worst I believe you will be thus just, + thus true, for we are both servants of Truth.' + + * * * * * + + '_August, 1842. Cambridge._--Few have eyes for the pretty + little features of a scene. In this, men are not so good + as boys. Artists are always thus young; poets are; but the + pilgrim does not lay aside his belt of steel, nor the merchant + his pack, to worship the flowers on the fountain's brink. I + feel, like Herbert, the weight of "business to be done," but + the bird-like particle would skim and sing at these sweet + places. It seems strange to leave them; and that we do so, + while so fitted to live deeply in them, shows that beauty is + the end but not the means. + + 'I have just been reading the new poems of Tennyson. Much has + he thought, much suffered, since the first ecstasy of so fine + an organization clothed all the world with rosy light. He has + not suffered himself to become a mere intellectual voluptuary, + nor the songster of fancy and passion, but has earnestly + revolved the problems of life, and his conclusions are calmly + noble. In these later verses is a still, deep sweetness; + how different from the intoxicating, sensuous melody of his + earlier cadence! I have loved him much this time, and taken + him to heart as a brother. One of his themes has long been + my favorite,--the last expedition of Ulysses,--and his, like + mine, is the Ulysses of the Odyssey, with his deep romance of + wisdom, and not the worldling of the Iliad. How finely marked + his slight description of himself and of Telemachus. In Dora, + Locksley Hall, the Two Voices, Morte D'Arthur, I find my own + life, much of it, written truly out.' + + * * * * * + + _Concord, August 25. 1842._--Beneath this roof of peace, + beneficence, and intellectual activity, I find just the + alternation of repose and satisfying pleasure that I need. * * + * + + 'Do not find fault with the hermits and scholars. The true text + is:-- + + "Mine own Telemachus + He does his work--I mine." + + 'All do the work, whether they will or no; but he is "mine + own Telemachus" who does it in the spirit of religion, never + believing that the last results can be arrested in any one + measure or set of measures, listening always to the voice of + the Spirit,--and who does this more than ----? + + 'After the first excitement of intimacy with him,--when I + was made so happy by his high tendency, absolute purity, the + freedom and infinite graces of an intellect cultivated much + beyond any I had known,--came with me the questioning season. + I was greatly disappointed in my relation to him. I was, + indeed, always called on to be worthy,--this benefit was sure + in our friendship. But I found no intelligence of my best + self; far less was it revealed to me in new modes; for not + only did he seem to want the living faith which enables one to + discharge this holiest office of a friend, but he absolutely + distrusted me in every region of my life with which he was + unacquainted. The same trait I detected in his relations + with others. He had faith in the Universal, but not in the + Individual Man: he met men, not as a brother, but as a critic. + Philosophy appeared to chill instead of exalting the poet. + + 'But now I am better acquainted with him. His "accept" + is true; the "I shall learn," with which he answers every + accusation, is no less true. No one can feel his limitations, + in fact, more than he, though he always speaks confidently + from his present knowledge as all he has yet, and never + qualifies or explains. He feels himself "shut up in a crystal + cell," from which only "a great love or a great task could + release me," and hardly expects either from what remains in + this life. But I already see so well how these limitations + have fitted him for his peculiar work, that I can no longer + quarrel with them; while from his eyes looks out the angel + that must sooner or later break every chain. Leave him in his + cell affirming absolute truth; protesting against humanity, + if so he appears to do; the calm observer of the courses of + things. Surely, "he keeps true to his thought, which is the + great matter." He has already paid his debt to his time; how + much more he will give we cannot know; but already I feel how + invaluable is a cool mind, like his, amid the warring elements + around us. As I look at him more by his own law, I understand + him better; and as I understand him better, differences melt + away. My inmost heart blesses the fate that gave me birth in + the same clime and time, and that has drawn me into such a + close bond with him as, it is my hopeful faith, will never be + broken, but from sphere to sphere ever more hallowed. * * * + + 'What did you mean by saying I had imbibed much of his way + of thought? I do indeed feel his life stealing gradually into + mine; and I sometimes think that my work would have been more + simple, and my unfolding to a temporal activity more rapid and + easy, if we had never met. But when I look forward to eternal + growth, I am always aware that I am far larger and deeper for + him. His influence has been to me that of lofty assurance and + sweet serenity. He says, I come to him as the European to the + Hindoo, or the gay Trouvére to the Puritan in his steeple hat. + Of course this implies that our meeting is partial. I present + to him the many forms of nature and solicit with music; he + melts them all into spirit and reproves performance with + prayer. When I am with God alone, I adore in silence. With + nature I am filled and grow only. With most men I bring words + of now past life, and do actions suggested by the wants of + their natures rather than my own. But he stops me from doing + anything, and makes me think.' + + * * * * * + + _October_, 1842 * * To me, individually, Dr. Channing's + kindness was great; his trust and esteem were steady, though + limited, and I owe him a large debt of gratitude. + + 'His private character was gentle, simple, and perfectly + harmonious, though somewhat rigid and restricted in its + operations. It was easy to love, and a happiness to know him, + though never, I think, a source of the highest social pleasure + to be with him. His department was ethics; and as a literary + companion, he did not throw himself heartily into the works of + creative genius, but looked, wherever he read, for a moral. In + criticism he was deficient in "individuality," if by that + the phrenologists mean the power of seizing on the peculiar + meanings of special forms. I have heard it said, that, under + changed conditions, he might have been a poet. He had, indeed, + the poetic sense of a creative spirit working everywhere. Man + and nature were living to him; and though he did not yield to + sentiment in particulars he did in universals. But his mind + was not recreative, or even representative. + + 'He was deeply interesting to me as having so true a respect + for woman. This feeling in him was not chivalrous; it was not + the sentiment of an artist; it was not the affectionateness of + the common son of Adam, who knows that only her presence can + mitigate his loneliness; but it was a religious reverence. To + him she was a soul with an immortal destiny. Nor was there at + the bottom of his heart one grain of masculine assumption. He + did not wish that Man should protect her, but that God should + protect her and teach her the meaning of her lot. + + 'In his public relations he is to be regarded not only as a + check upon the evil tendencies of his era, but yet more as a + prophet of a better age already dawning as he leaves us. In + his later days he filled yet another office of taking the + middle ground between parties. Here he was a fairer figure + than ever before. His morning prayer was, "Give me more light; + keep my soul open to the light;" and it was answered. He + steered his middle course with sails spotless and untorn. He + was preserved in a wonderful degree from the prejudices of his + own past, the passions of the present, and the exaggerations + of those who look forward to the future. In the writings + where, after long and patient survey, he sums up the evidence + on both sides, and stands umpire, with the judicial authority + of a pure intent, a steadfast patience, and a long experience, + the mild wisdom of age is beautifully tempered by the + ingenuous sweetness of youth. These pieces resemble charges + to a jury; they have always been heard with affectionate + deference, if not with assent, and have, exerted a purifying + influence.' * * + + * * * * * + + '_November, 1842._--When souls meet direct and all secret + thoughts are laid open, we shall need no forbearance, no + prevention, no care-taking of any kind. Love will be pure + light, and each action simple,--too simple to be noble. But + there will not be always so much to pardon in ourselves and + others. Yesterday we had at my class a conversation on Faith. + Deeply true things were said and felt. But to-day the virtue + has gone out of me; I have accepted all, and yet there will + come these hours of weariness,--weariness of human nature + in myself and others. "Could ye not watch one hour?" Not one + faithfully through! * * To speak with open heart and "tongue + affectionate and true,"--to enjoy real repose and the + consciousness of a thorough mutual understanding in the + presence of friends when we do meet, is what is needed. That + being granted, I do believe I should not wish any surrender of + time or thought from a human being. But I have always a sense + that I cannot meet or be met _in haste_; as ---- said he could + not look at the works of art in a chance half-hour, so cannot + I thus rudely and hastily turn over the leaves of any mind. In + peace, in stillness that permits the soul to flow, beneath the + open sky, I would see those I love.' + + +[Footnote A: This was some years before their reprint in this country, +it should be noticed.] + +[Footnote B: Miss Rotch, of New Bedford.] + +[Footnote C: The Dorr rebellion.] + + + + +VIII. + +SOCIALISM. + + * * * * * + + +In the preceding extracts will have been noticed frequent reference +to the Association Movement, which, during the winter of 1840-41, was +beginning to appear simultaneously at several points in New England. +In Boston and its vicinity several friends, for whose characters +Margaret felt the highest honor, and with many of whose views, +theoretic and practical, she accorded, were earnestly considering +the possibility of making such industrial, social, and educational +arrangements, as would simplify economies, combine leisure for study +with healthful and honest toil, avert unjust collisions of caste, +equalize refinements, awaken generous affections, diffuse courtesy, +and sweeten and sanctify life as a whole. Chief among these was the +Rev. George Ripley, who, convinced by his experience in a faithful +ministry, that the need was urgent for a thorough application of the +professed principles of Fraternity to actual relations, was about +staking his all of fortune, reputation, position, and influence, in +an attempt to organize a joint-stock community at Brook Farm. How +Margaret was inclined to regard this movement has been already +indicated. While at heart sympathizing with the heroism that prompted +it, in judgment she considered it premature. But true to her noble +self, though regretting the seemingly gratuitous sacrifice of her +friends, she gave them without stint the cheer of her encouragement +and the light of her counsel. She visited them often; entering +genially into their trials and pleasures, and missing no chance to +drop good seed in every furrow upturned by the ploughshare or softened +by the rain. In the secluded yet intensely animated circle of these +co-workers I frequently met her during several succeeding years, +and rejoice to bear testimony to the justice, magnanimity, wisdom, +patience, and many-sided good-will, that governed her every thought +and deed. The feelings with which she watched the progress of this +experiment are thus exhibited in her journals:-- + + 'My hopes might lead to Association, too,--an association, if + not of efforts, yet of destinies. In such an one I live with + several already, feeling that each one, by acting out his own, + casts light upon a mutual destiny, and illustrates the thought + of a mastermind. It is a constellation, not a phalanx, to + which I would belong.' + + * * * * * + + 'Why bind oneself to a central or any doctrine? How much + nobler stands a man entirely unpledged, unbound! Association + may be the great experiment of the age, still it is only an + experiment. It is not worth while to lay such stress on it; + let us try it, induce others to try it,--that is enough.' + + * * * * * + + 'It is amusing to see how the solitary characters tend + to outwardness,--to association,--while the social and + sympathetic ones emphasize the value of solitude,--of + concentration,--so that we hear from each the word which, from + his structure, we least expect.' + + * * * * * + + 'On Friday I came to Brook Farm. The first day or two here + is desolate. You seem to belong to nobody--to have a right + to speak to nobody; but very soon you learn to take care of + yourself, and then the freedom of the place is delightful. + + 'It is fine to see how thoroughly Mr. and Mrs. R. act out, in + their own persons, what they intend. + + 'All Saturday I was off in the woods. In the evening we had + a general conversation, opened by me, upon Education, in its + largest sense, and on what we can do for ourselves and others. + I took my usual ground: The aim is perfection; patience the + road. The present object is to give ourselves and others a + tolerable chance. Let us not be too ambitious in our hopes + as to immediate results. Our lives should be considered as a + tendency, an approximation only. Parents and teachers + expect to do too much. They are not legislators, but only + interpreters to the next generation. Soon, very soon, does the + parent become merely the elder brother of his child;--a little + wiser, it is to be hoped. ---- differed from me as to some + things I said about the gradations of experience,--that "to + be brought prematurely near perfect beings would chill and + discourage." He thought it would cheer and console. He spoke + well,--with a youthful nobleness. ---- said "that the most + perfect person would be the most impersonal"--philosophical + bull that, I trow--"and, consequently, would impede us least + from God." Mr. R. spoke admirably on the nature of loyalty. + The people showed a good deal of the _sans-culotte_ tendency + in their manners,--throwing themselves on the floor, yawning, + and going out when they had heard enough. Yet, as the majority + differ from me, to begin with,--that being the reason this + subject was chosen,--they showed, on the whole, more respect + and interest than I had expected. As I am accustomed to + deference, however, and need it for the boldness and animation + which my part requires, I did not speak with as much force as + usual. Still, I should like to have to face all this; it would + have the same good effects that the Athenian assemblies had on + the minds obliged to encounter them. + + 'Sunday. A glorious day;--the woods full of perfume. I was out + all the morning. In the afternoon, Mrs. R. and I had a talk. + I said my position would be too uncertain here, as I could not + work. ---- said:--"They would all like to work for a person of + genius. They would not like to have this service claimed from + them, but would like to render it of their own accord." "Yes," + I told her; "but where would be my repose, when they were + always to be judging whether I was worth it or not. It would + be the same position the clergyman is in, or the wandering + beggar with his harp. Each day you must prove yourself anew. + You are not in immediate relations with material things." + + 'We talked of the principles of the community. I said I had + not a right to come, because all the confidence in it I had + was as an _experiment_ worth trying, and that it was a part of + the great wave of inspired thought. ---- declared they none of + them had confidence beyond this; but they seem to me to have. + Then I said, "that though I entirely agreed about the dignity + of labor, and had always wished for the present change, yet + I did not agree with the principle of paying for services by + time;[A] neither did I believe in the hope of excluding evil, + for that was a growth of nature, and one condition of the + development of good." We had valuable discussion on these + points. + + 'All Monday morning in the woods again. Afternoon, out with + the drawing party; I felt the evils of want of conventional + refinement, in the impudence with which one of the girls + treated me. She has since thought of it with regret, I notice; + and, by every day's observation of me, will see that she ought + not to have done it.' + + * * * * * + + 'In the evening, a husking in the barn. Men, women, and + children, all engaged. It was a most picturesque scene, only + not quite light enough to bring it out fully. I staid and + helped about half an hour, then took a long walk beneath the + stars.' + + * * * * * + + 'Wednesday. I have been too much absorbed to-day by others, + and it has made me almost sick. Mrs. ---- came to see me, + and we had an excellent talk, which occupied nearly all the + morning. Then Mrs. ---- wanted to see me, but after a few + minutes I found I could not bear it, and lay down to rest. + Then ---- came. Poor man;--his feelings and work are wearing + on him. He looks really ill now. Then ---- and I went to walk + in the woods. I was deeply interested in all she told me. If + I were to write down all she and four other married women have + confided to me, these three days past, it would make a cento, + on one subject, in five parts. Certainly there should be some + great design in my life; its attractions are so invariable.' + + * * * * * + + 'In the evening, a conversation on Impulse. The reason for + choosing this subject is the great tendency here to advocate + spontaneousness, at the expense of reflection. It was a much + better conversation than the one before. None yawned, for + none came, this time, from mere curiosity. There were about + thirty-five present, which is a large enough circle. Many + engaged in the talk. I defended nature, as I always do;--the + spirit ascending through, not superseding, nature. But in the + scale of Sense, Intellect, Spirit, I advocated to-night + the claims of Intellect, because those present were rather + disposed to postpone them. On the nature of Beauty we had + good talk. ---- spoke well. She seemed in a much more reverent + humor than the other night, and enjoyed the large plans of the + universe which were unrolled. ----, seated on the floor, with + the light falling from behind on his long gold locks, made, + with sweet, serene aspect, and composed tones, a good exposé + of his way of viewing things.' + + * * * * * + + 'Saturday. Well, good-by, Brook Farm. I know more about this + place than I did when I came; but the only way to be qualified + for a judge of such an experiment would be to become an + active, though unimpassioned, associate in trying it. Some + good things are proven, and as for individuals, they are + gainers. Has not ---- vied, in her deeds of love, with "my + Cid," and the holy Ottilia? That girl who was so rude to me + stood waiting, with a timid air, to bid me good-by. Truly, the + soft answer turneth away wrath. + + 'I have found myself here in the amusing position of a + conservative. Even so is it with Mr. R. There are too many + young people in proportion to the others. I heard myself + saying, with a grave air, "Play out the play, gentles." Thus, + from generation to generation, rises and falls the wave.' + +Again, a year afterward, she writes:-- + + 'Here I have passed a very pleasant week. The tone of the + society is much sweeter than when I was here a year ago. There + is a pervading spirit of mutual tolerance and gentleness, with + great sincerity. There is no longer a passion for grotesque + freaks of liberty, but a disposition, rather, to study and + enjoy the liberty of law. The great development of mind and + character observable in several instances, persuades me + that this state of things affords a fine studio for the + soul-sculptor. To a casual observer it may seem as if there + was not enough of character here to interest, because there + are no figures sufficiently distinguished to be worth painting + for the crowd; but there is enough of individuality in free + play to yield instruction; and one might have, from a few + months' residence here, enough of the human drama to feed + thought for a long time.' + +Thus much for Margaret's impressions of Brook Farm and its inmates. +What influence she in turn exerted on those she met there, may be seen +from the following affectionate tribute, offered by one of the young +girls alluded to in the journal:-- + + "Would that I might aid even slightly, in doing justice to the + noble-hearted woman whose departure we must all mourn. But I feel + myself wholly powerless to do so; and after I explain what my + relation to her was, you will understand how this can be, without + holding me indolent or unsympathetic. + + "When I first met Miss Fuller, I had already cut from my moorings, + and was sailing on the broad sea of experience, conscious that I + possessed unusual powers of endurance, and that I should meet with + sufficient to test their strength. She made no offer of guidance, + and once or twice, in the succeeding year, alluded to the fact + that she 'had never helped me.' This was in a particular sense, of + course, for she helped all who knew her. She was interested in my + rough history, but could not be intimate, in any just sense, with + a soul so unbalanced, so inharmonious as mine then was. For my + part, I reverenced her. She was to me the embodiment of wisdom and + tenderness. I heard her converse, and, in the rich and varied + intonations of her voice, I recognized a being to whom every shade + of sentiment was familiar. She knew, if not by experience then by + no questionable intuition, how to interpret the inner life of + every man and woman; and, by interpreting, she could soothe and + strengthen. To her, psychology was an open book. When she came to + Brook Farm, it was my delight to wait on one so worthy of all + service,--to arrange her late breakfast in some remnants of + ancient China, and to save her, if it might be, some little + fatigue or annoyance, during each day. After a while she seemed to + lose sight of my more prominent and disagreeable peculiarities, + and treated me with affectionate regard." + +Being a confirmed Socialist, I often had occasion to discuss with +Margaret the problems involved in the "Combined Order" of life; and +though unmoved by her scepticism, I could not but admire the sagacity, +foresight, comprehensiveness, and catholic sympathy with which she +surveyed this complicated subject. Her objections, to be sure, were of +the usual kind, and turned mainly upon two points,--the difficulty of +so allying labor and capital as to secure the hoped-for coöperation, +and the danger of merging the individual in the mass to such degree +as to paralyze energy, heroism, and genius; but these objections were +urged in a way that brought out her originality and generous hopes. +There was nothing abject, timid, or conventional in her doubts. The +end sought she prized; but the means she questioned. Though pleased +in listening to sanguine visions of the future, she was slow to credit +that an organization by "Groups and Series" would yield due incentive +for personal development, while ensuring equilibrium through exact and +universal justice. She felt, too, that Society was not a machine to be +put together and set in motion, but a living body, whose breath must +be Divine inspiration, and whose healthful growth is only hindered +by forcing. Finally, while longing as earnestly as any Socialist for +"Liberty and Law made one in living union," and assured in faith that +an era was coming of "Attractive Industry" and "Harmony," she +was still for herself inclined to seek sovereign independence in +comparative isolation. Indeed, at this period, Margaret was in spirit +and in thought preëminently a Transcendentalist. + + +[Footnote A: This was a transitional arrangement only.] + + + + +IX. + +CREDO. + + * * * * * + + +In regard to Transcendentalism again, there was reason to rejoice +in having found a friend, so firm to keep her own ground, while so +liberal to comprehend another's stand-point, as was Margaret. She +knew, not only theoretically, but practically, how endless are the +diversities of human character and of Divine discipline, and she +reverenced fellow-spirits too sincerely ever to wish to warp them to +her will, or to repress their normal development. She was stern but +in one claim, that each should be faithful to apparent leadings of the +Truth; and could avow widest differences of conviction without feeling +that love was thereby chilled, or the hand withheld from cordial +aid. Especially did she render service by enabling one,--through her +blended insight, candor, and clearness of understanding,--to see in +bright reflection his own mental state. + +It would be doing injustice to a person like Margaret, always more +enthusiastic than philosophical, to attribute to her anything like a +system of theology; for, hopeful, reverent, aspiring, and free from +scepticism, she felt too profoundly the vastness of the universe and +of destiny ever to presume that with her span rule she could measure +the Infinite. Yet the tendency of her thoughts can readily be traced +in the following passages from note-books and letters:-- + + 'When others say to me, and not without apparent ground, that + "the Outward Church is a folly which keeps men from enjoying + the communion of the Church Invisible, and that in the desire + to be helped by, and to help others, men lose sight of the + only sufficient help, which they might find by faithful + solitary intentness of spirit," I answer it is true, and the + present deadness and emptiness summon us to turn our thoughts + in that direction. Being now without any positive form of + religion, any unattractive symbols, or mysterious rites, we + are in the less danger of stopping at surfaces, of accepting + a mediator instead of the Father, a sacrament instead of the + Holy Ghost. And when I see how little there is to impede + and bewilder us, I cannot but accept,--should it be for many + years,--the forlornness, the want of fit expression, the + darkness as to what is to be expressed, even that characterize + our time. + + 'But I do not, therefore, as some of our friends do, believe + that it will always be so, and that the church is tottering to + its grave, never to rise again. The church was the growth of + human nature, and it is so still. It is but one result of the + impulse which makes two friends clasp one another's hands, + look into one another's eyes at sight of beauty, or the + utterance of a feeling of piety. So soon as the Spirit has + mourned and sought, and waited long enough to open new depths, + and has found something to express, there will again be + a Cultus, a Church. The very people, who say that none is + needed, make one at once. They talk with, they write to one + another. They listen to music, they sustain themselves with + the poets; they like that one voice should tell the thoughts + of several minds, one gesture proclaim that the same life is + at the same moment in many breasts. + + 'I am myself most happy in my lonely Sundays, and do not feel + the need of any social worship, as I have not for several + years, which I have passed in the same way. Sunday is to me + priceless as a day of peace and solitary reflection. To all + who will, it may be true, that, as Herbert says:-- + + "Sundays the pillars are + On which Heaven's palace arched lies; + The other days fill up the space + And hollow room with vanities;" + + and yet in no wise "vanities," when filtered by the Sunday + crucible. After much troubling of the waters of my life, a + radiant thought of the meaning and beauty of earthly existence + will descend like a healing angel. The stillness permits me + to hear a pure tone from the One in All. But often I am not + alone. The many now, whose hearts, panting for truth and + love, have been made known to me, whose lives flow in the same + direction as mine, and are enlightened by the same star, are + with me. I am in church, the church invisible, undefiled by + inadequate expression. Our communion is perfect; it is that + of a common aspiration; and where two or three are gathered + together in one region, whether in the flesh or the spirit, + He will grant their request. Other communion would be a + happiness,--to break together the bread of mutual thought, to + drink the wine of loving life,--but it is not necessary. + + 'Yet I cannot but feel that the crowd of men whose pursuits + are not intellectual, who are not brought by their daily walk + into converse with sages and poets, who win their bread from + an earth whose mysteries are not open to them, whose worldly + intercourse is more likely to stifle than to encourage the + sparks of love and faith in their breasts, need on that + day quickening more than repose. The church is now rather a + lecture-room than a place of worship; it should be a school + for mutual instruction. I must rejoice when any one, who lays + spiritual things to heart, feels the call rather to mingle + with men, than to retire and seek by himself. + + 'You speak of men going up to worship by "households," &c. + Were the actual family the intellectual family, this might be; + but as social life now is, how can it? Do we not constantly + see the child, born in the flesh to one father, choose in the + spirit another? No doubt this is wrong, since the sign does + not stand for the thing signified, but it is one feature of + the time. How will it end? Can families worship together till + it does end? + + * * * * * + + 'I have let myself be cheated out of my Sunday, by going to + hear Mr. ----. As he began by reading the first chapter + of Isaiah, and the fourth of John's Epistle, I made mental + comments with pure delight. "Bring no more vain oblations." + "Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." "We + know that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because he hath + given us of the Spirit." Then pealed the organ, full of + solemn assurance. But straightway uprose the preacher to deny + mysteries, to deny the second birth, to deny influx, and to + renounce the sovereign gift of insight, for the sake of what + he deemed a "_rational_" exercise of will. As he spoke I could + not choose but deny him all through, and could scarce refrain + from rising to expound, in the light of my own faith, the + words of those wiser Jews which had been read. Was it not a + sin to exchange friendly greeting as we parted, and yet tell + him no word of what was in my mind? + + 'Still I saw why he looked at things as he did. The old + religionists did talk about "grace, conversion," and the like, + technically, without striving to enter into the idea, till + they quite lost sight of it. Undervaluing the intellect, they + became slaves of a sect, instead of organs of the Spirit. This + Unitarianism has had its place. There was a time for asserting + "the dignity of human nature," and for explaining total + depravity into temporary inadequacy,--a time to say that the + truths of _essence_, if simplified at all in statement from + their infinite variety of existence, should be spoken of as + One, rather than Three, though that number, if they would only + let it reproduce itself simply, is of highest significance. + Yet the time seems now to have come for reinterpreting the old + dogmas. For one I would now preach the Holy Ghost as zealously + as they have been preaching Man, and faith instead of the + understanding, and mysticism instead &c. But why go on? It + certainly is by no means useless to preach. In my experience + of the divine gifts of solitude, I had forgotten what might + be done in this other way. That crowd of upturned faces, + with their look of unintelligent complacency! Give tears and + groans, rather, if there be a mixture of physical excitement + and bigotry. Mr. ---- is heard because, though he has not + entered into the secret of piety, he wishes to be heard, + and with a good purpose,--can make a forcible statement, and + kindle himself with his own thoughts. How many persons must + there be who cannot worship alone, since they are content with + so little! Can none wake the spark that will melt them, till + they take beautiful forms? Were one to come now, who could + purge us with fire, how would these masses glow and be + clarified! + + 'Mr. ---- made a good suggestion:--"Such things could not be + said in the open air." Let men preach for the open air, and + speak now thunder and lightning, now dew and rustling leaves. + Yet must the preacher have the thought of his day before he + can be its voice. None have it yet; but some of our friends, + perhaps, are nearer than the religious world at large, because + neither ready to dogmatize, as if they had got it, nor content + to stop short with mere impressions and presumptuous hopes. I + feel that a great truth is coming. Sometimes it seems as if + we should have it among us in a day. Many steps of the Temple + have been ascended, steps of purest alabaster, and of shining + jasper, also of rough-brick, and slippery moss-grown stone. We + shall reach what we long for, since we trust and do not fear, + for our God knows not fear, only reverence, and his plan is + All in All.' + + * * * * * + + 'Who can expect to utter an absolutely pure and clear tone on + these high subjects? Our earthly atmosphere is too gross to + permit it. Yet, a severe statement has rather an undue charm + for me, as I have a nature of great emotion, which loves free + abandonment. I am ready to welcome a descending Moses, come + to turn all men from idolatries. For my priests have been very + generally of the Pagan greatness, revering nature and seeking + excellence, but in the path of progress, not of renunciation. + The lyric inspirations of the poet come very differently on + the ear from the "still, small voice." They are, in fact, all + one revelation; but one must be at the centre to interpret it. + To that centre I have again and again been drawn, but my large + natural life has been, as yet, but partially transfused with + spiritual consciousness. I shun a premature narrowness, and + bide my time. But I am drawn to look at natures who take a + different way, because they seem to complete my being for me. + They, too, tolerate me in my many phases for the same reason, + probably. It pleased me to see, in one of the figures by which + the Gnostics illustrated the progress of man, that Severity + corresponded to Magnificence.' + + * * * * * + + 'In my quiet retreat, I read Xenophon, and became more + acquainted with his Socrates. I had before known only + the Socrates of Plato, one much more to my mind. Socrates + conformed to the Greek Church, and it is evident with a + sincere reverence, because it was the growth of the _national_ + mind. He thought best to stand on its platform, and to + illustrate, though with keen truth, by received forms. This + was his right way, as his influence was naturally private, for + individuals who could in some degree respond to the teachings + of his dæmon; he knew the multitude would not understand him. + But it was the other way that Jesus took, preaching in the + fields, and plucking ears of corn on the Sabbath.' + + * * * * * + + 'Is it my defect of spiritual experience, that while that + weight of sagacity, which is the iron to the dart of genius, + is needful to satisfy me, the undertone of another and a + deeper knowledge does not please, does not command me? Even in + Handel's Messiah, I am half incredulous, half impatient, + when the sadness of the second part comes to check, before + it interprets, the promise of the first; and the strain, "Was + ever sorrow like to his sorrow," is not for me, as I have + been, as I am. Yet Handel was worthy to speak of Christ. The + great chorus, "Since by man came death, by man came also the + resurrection of the dead; for as in Adam all die, even so in + Christ shall all be made alive," if understood in the + large sense of every man his own Saviour, and Jesus only + representative of the way all must walk to accomplish our + destiny, is indeed a worthy gospel.' + + * * * * * + + 'Ever since ---- told me how his feelings had changed towards + Jesus, I have wished much to write some sort of a Credo, out + of my present state, but have had no time till last night. I + have not satisfied myself in the least, and have written + very hastily, yet, though not full enough to be true, this + statement is nowhere false to me. + + * * * 'Whatever has been permitted by the law of being, must + be for good, and only in time not good. We trust, and are led + forward by experience. Light gives experience of outward life, + faith of inward life, and then we discern, however faintly, + the necessary harmony of the two. The moment we have broken + through an obstruction, not accidentally, but by the aid of + faith, we begin to interpret the Universe, and to apprehend + why evil is permitted. Evil is obstruction; Good is + accomplishment. + + 'It would seem that the Divine Being designs through man + to express distinctly what the other forms of nature only + intimate, and that wherever man remains imbedded in nature, + whether from sensuality, or because he is not yet awakened to + consciousness, the purpose of the whole remains unfulfilled. + Hence our displeasure when Man is not in a sense above + Nature. Yet, when he is not so closely bound with all other + manifestations, as duly to express their Spirit, we are also + displeased. He must be at once the highest form of Nature, and + conscious of the meaning she has been striving successively to + unfold through those below him. Centuries pass; whole races + of men are expended in the effort to produce one that shall + realize this Ideal, and publish Spirit in the human form. Here + and there is a degree of success. Life enough is lived through + a man, to justify the great difficulties attendant on the + existence of mankind. And then throughout all realms of + thought vibrates the affirmation, "This is my beloved Son, in + whom I am well pleased." + + 'I do not mean to lay an undue stress upon the position and + office of man merely because I am of his race, and understand + best the scope of his destiny. The history of the earth, the + motions of the heavenly bodies, suggest already modes of being + higher than ours, and which fulfil more deeply the office of + interpretation. But I do suppose man's life to be the rivet in + one series of the great chain, and that all higher existences + are analogous to his. Music suggests their mode of being, and, + when carried up on its strong wings, we foresee how the + next step in the soul's ascension shall interpret man to the + universe, as he now interprets those forms beneath himself. * * + + 'The law of Spirit is identical, whether displaying itself as + genius, or as piety, but its modes of expression are distinct + dialects. All souls desire to become the fathers of souls, as + citizens, legislators, poets, artists, sages, saints; and, + so far as they are true to the law of their incorruptible + essence, they are all Anointed, all Emanuel, all Messiah; but + they are all brutes and devils so far as subjected to the law + of corruptible existence. + + 'As wherever there is a tendency a form is gradually evolved, + as its Type,--so is it the law of each class and order of + human thoughts to produce a form which shall be the visible + representation of its aim and strivings, and stand before it + as its King. This effort to produce a kingly type it was, that + clothed itself with power as Brahma or Osiris, that gave laws + as Confucius or Moses, that embodied music and eloquence in + the Apollo. This it was that incarnated itself, at one time as + Plato, at another as Michel Angelo, at another as Luther, &c. + Ever seeking, it has produced Ideal after Ideal of the beauty, + into which mankind is capable of being developed; and one + of the highest, in some respects the very highest, of these + kingly types, was the life of Jesus of Nazareth. + + 'Few believe more in his history than myself, and it is very + dear to me. I believe, in my own way, in the long preparation + of ages for his coming, and the truth of prophecy that + announced him. I see a necessity, in the character of Jesus, + why Abraham should have been the founder of his nation, Moses + its lawgiver, and David its king and poet. I believe in the + genesis of the patriarchs, as given in the Old Testament. I + believe in the prophets,--that they foreknew not only what + their nation longed for, but what the development of universal + Man requires,--a Redeemer, an Atoner, a Lamb of God, taking + away the sins of the world. I believe that Jesus came when the + time was ripe, and that he was peculiarly a messenger and Son + of God. I have nothing to say in denial of the story of his + birth; whatever the actual circumstances were, he was born of + a Virgin, and the tale expresses a truth of the soul. I have + no objection to the miracles, except where they do not + happen to please one's feelings. Why should not a spirit, + so consecrate and intent, develop new laws, and make matter + plastic? I can imagine him walking the waves, without any + violation of my usual habits of thought. He could not remain + in the tomb, they say; certainly not,--death is impossible to + such a being. He remained upon earth; most true, and all who + have met him since on the way, have felt their hearts burn + within them. He ascended to heaven; surely, how could it be + otherwise? + + 'Would I could express with some depth what I feel as to + religion in my very soul; it would be a clear note of calm + assurance. But for the present this must suffice with regard + to Christ. I am grateful here, as everywhere, when Spirit + bears fruit in fulness; it attests the justice of aspiration, + it kindles faith, it rebukes sloth, it enlightens resolve. + But so does a beautiful infant. Christ's life is only one + modification of the universal harmony. I will not loathe + sects, persuasions, systems, though I cannot abide in them one + moment, for I see that by most men they are still needed. To + them their banners, their tents; let them be Fire-worshippers, + Platonists, Christians; let them live in the shadow of past + revelations. But, oh, Father of our souls, the One, let me + seek Thee! I would seek Thee in these forms, and in proportion + as they reveal Thee, they teach me to go beyond themselves. + I would learn from them all, looking only to Thee! But let me + set no limits from the past, to my own soul, or to any soul. + + 'Ages may not produce one worthy to loose the shoes of + the Prophet of Nazareth; yet there will surely be another + manifestation of that Word which was in the beginning. And all + future manifestations will come, like Christianity, "not to + destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfil." The very + greatness of this manifestation demands a greater. As an + Abraham called for a Moses, and a Moses for a David, so does + Christ for another Ideal. We want a life more complete and + various than that of Christ. We have had a Messiah to teach + and reconcile; let us now have a Man to live out all the + symbolical forms of human life, with the calm beauty of a + Greek God, with the deep consciousness of a Moses, with the + holy love and purity of Jesus.' + + + + +X. + +SELF-SOVEREIGNTY. + + * * * * * + + +To one studying the signs of the times, it was quite instructive to +watch the moods of a mind so sensitive as Margaret's; for her delicate +meter indicated in advance each coming change in the air-currents of +thought. But I was chiefly interested in the processes whereby she was +gaining harmony and unity. The more one studied her, the more plainly +he saw that her peculiar power was the result of fresh, fervent, +exhaustless, and indomitable affections. The emotive force in her, +indeed, was immense in volume, and most various in tendency; and it +was wonderful to observe the outward equability of one inwardly so +impassioned. + +This was, in fact, the first problem to be solved in gaining +real knowledge of her commanding character: "How did a person, +by constitution so impetuous, become so habitually serene?" +In temperament Margaret seemed a Bacchante,[A] prompt for wild +excitement, and fearless to tread by night the mountain forest, with +song and dance of delirious mirth; yet constantly she wore the laurel +in token of purification, and, with water from fresh fountains, +cleansed the statue of Minerva. Stagnancy and torpor were intolerable +to her free and elastic impulses; a brilliant fancy threw over each +place and incident Arcadian splendor; and eager desire, with energetic +purposes, filled her with the consciousness of large latent life: +and yet the lower instincts were duly subordinated to the higher, and +dignified self-control ordered her deportment. Somehow, according to +the doctrine of the wise Jacob Boehme, the fierce, hungry fire had +met in embrace the meek, cool water, and was bringing to birth +the pleasant light-flame of love. The transformation, though not +perfected, was fairly begun. + +Partly I could see how this change had been wrought. Ill health, pain, +disappointment, care, had tamed her spirits. A wide range through +the romantic literature of ancient and modern times had exalted +while expending her passions. In the world of imagination, she had +discharged the stormful energy which would have been destructive in +actual life. And in thought she had bound herself to the mast while +sailing past the Sirens. Through sympathy, also, from childhood, with +the tragi-comedy of many lives around her, she had gained experience +of the laws and limitations of providential order. Gradually, too, she +had risen to higher planes of hope, whence opened wider prospects of +destiny and duty. More than all, by that attraction of opposites +which a strong will is most apt to feel, she had sought, as chosen +companions, persons of scrupulous reserve, of modest coolness, +and severe elevation of view. Finally, she had been taught, by a +discipline specially fitted to her dispositions, to trust the leadings +of the Divine Spirit. The result was, that at this period Margaret had +become a Mystic. Her prisoned emotions found the freedom they pined +for in contemplation of nature's exquisite harmonies,--in poetic +regards of the glory that enspheres human existence, when seen as a +whole from beyond the clouds,--and above all in exultant consciousness +of life ever influent from the All-Living. + +A few passages from, her papers will best illustrate this proneness to +rapture. + + 'My tendency is, I presume, rather to a great natural than + to a deep religious life. But though others may be more + conscientious and delicate, few have so steady a faith in + Divine Love. I may be arrogant and impetuous, but I am never + harsh and morbid. May there not be a mediation, rather than a + conflict, between piety and genius? Greek and Jew, Italian and + Saxon, are surely but leaves on one stern, at last.' + + * * * * * + + 'I am in danger of giving myself up to experiences till + they so steep me in ideal passion that the desired goal is + forgotten in the rich present. Yet I think I am learning how + to use life more wisely.' + + * * * * * + + 'Forgive me, beautiful ones, who earlier learned the harmony + of your beings,--with whom eye, voice, and hand are already + true to the soul! Forgive me still some "lispings and + stammerings of the passionate age." Teach me,--me, also,--to + utter my paean in its full sweetness. These long lines are + radii from one centre; aid me to fill the circumference. Then + each moment, each act, shall be true. The pupil has found the + carbuncle,[B] but knows not yet how to use it day by day. But + "though his companions wondered at the pupil, the master loved + him." He loves me, my friends. Do ye trust me. Wash the tears + and black stains from the records of my life by the benignity + of a true glance; make each discord harmony, by striking + again the key-note; forget the imperfect interviews, burn the + imperfect letters, till at last the full song bursts forth, + the key-stone is given from heaven to the arch, the past is + all pardoned and atoned for, and we live forever in the Now.' + * * + + * * * * * + + 'Henceforth I hope I shall not write letters thus full of + childish feeling; for in feeling I am indeed a child, and the + least of children. Soon I must return into the Intellect, for + _there_ in sight, at least, I am a man, and could write the + words very calmly and in steadfast flow. But, lately, the + intellect has been so subordinated to the soul, that I am + not free to enter the Basilikon, and plead and hear till I am + called. But let me not stay too long in this Sicilian valley, + gathering my flowers, for "night cometh."' + + * * * * * + + 'The other evening, while hearing the Creation, in the music + of "There shoots the healing plant," I felt what I would ever + feel for suffering souls. Somewhere in nature is the Moly, the + Nepenthe, desired from the earliest ages of mankind. No wonder + the music dwelt so exultingly on the passage:-- + + "In native worth and honor clad." + + Yes; even so would I ever see man. I will wait, and never + despair, through all the dull years.' + + * * * * * + + 'I am "too fiery." Even so. Ceres put her foster child in the + fire because she loved him. If they thought so before, will + they not far more now? Yet I wish to be seen as I am, and + would lose all rather than soften away anything. Let my + friends be patient and gentle, and teach me to be so. I never + promised any one patience or gentleness, for those beautiful + traits are not natural to me; but I would learn them. Can I + not?' + + * * * * * + + 'Of all the books, and men, and women, that have touched me + these weeks past, what has most entered my soul is the music + I have heard,--the masterly expression from that violin; the + triumph of the orchestra, after the exploits on the piano; + Braham, in his best efforts, when he kept true to the dignity + of art; the Messiah, which has been given on two successive + Sundays, and the last time in a way that deeply expressed its + divine life; but above all, Beethoven's seventh symphony. What + majesty! what depth! what tearful sweetness! what victory! + This was truly a fire upon an altar. There are a succession + of soaring passages, near the end of the third movement, which + touch me most deeply. Though soaring, they hold on with a + stress which almost breaks the chains of matter to the hearer. + O, how refreshing, after polemics and philosophy, to soar thus + on strong wings! Yes, Father, I will wander in dark ways with + the crowd, since thou seest best for me to be tied down. + But only in thy free ether do I know myself. When I read + Beethoven's life, I said, "I will never repine." When I heard + this symphony, I said, "I will triumph." + + * * * * * + + 'To-day I have finished the life of Raphael, by Quatremere de + Quincy, which has so long engaged me. It scarce goes deeper + than a _catalogue raisonnée_, but is very complete in its way. + I could make all that splendid era alive to me, and inhale the + full flower of the Sanzio. Easily one soars to worship these + angels of Genius. To venerate the Saints you must well nigh be + one. + + 'I went out upon the lonely rock which commands so delicious + a panoramic view. A very mild breeze had sprung up after the + extreme heat. A sunset of the melting kind was succeeded by a + perfectly clear moon-rise. Here I sat, and thought of Raphael. + I was drawn high up in the heaven of beauty, and the mists + were dried from the white plumes of contemplation.'#/ + + 'Only by emotion do we know thee, Nature. To lean upon thy + heart, and feel its pulses vibrate to our own;--that is + knowledge, for that is love, the love of infinite beauty, of + infinite love. Thought will never make us be born again. + + 'My fault is that I think I feel _too much_. O that my friends + would teach me that "simple art of not too much!" How can I + expect them to bear the ceaseless eloquence of my nature?' + + * * * * * + + 'Often it has seemed that I have come near enough to the + limits to see what they are. But suddenly arises afar the Fata + Morgana, and tells of new Sicilies, of their flowery valleys + and fields of golden grain. Then, as I would draw near, my + little bark is shattered on the rock, and I am left on the + cold wave. Yet with my island in sight I do not sink.' + + * * * * * + + 'I look not fairly to myself, at the present moment. If noble + growths are always slow, others may ripen far worthier fruit + than is permitted to my tropical heats and tornadoes. Let me + clasp the cross on my breast, as I have done a thousand times + before.' + + 'Let me but gather from the earth one full-grown fragrant flower; + Within my bosom let it bloom through, its one blooming hour; + Within my bosom let it die, and to its latest breath + My own shall answer, "Having lived, I shrink not now from death." + It is this niggard halfness that turns my heart to stone; + 'T is the cup seen, not tasted, that makes the infant moan. + For once let me press firm my lips upon the moment's brow, + For once let me distinctly feel I am all happy now, + And bliss shall seal a blessing upon that moment's brow.' + + 'I was in a state of celestial happiness, which lasted a great + while. For months I was all radiant with faith, and love, + and life. I began to be myself. Night and day were equally + beautiful, and the lowest and highest equally holy. Before, it + had seemed as if the Divine only gleamed upon me; but then it + poured into and through me a tide of light. I have passed down + from the rosy mountain, now; but I do not forget its pure air, + nor how the storms looked as they rolled beneath my feet. I + have received my assurance, and if the shadows should lie upon + me for a century, they could never make me forgetful of the + true hour. Patiently I bide my time.' + +The last passage describes a peculiar illumination, to which Margaret +often referred as the period when her earthly being culminated, and +when, in the noon-tide of loving enthusiasm, she felt wholly at one +with God, with Man, and the Universe. It was ever after, to her, +an earnest that she was of the Elect. In a letter to one of her +confidential female friends, she thus fondly looks back to this +experience on the mount of transfiguration:-- + + 'You know how, when the leadings of my life found their + interpretation, I longed to share my joy with those I prized + most; for I felt that if they could but understand the past we + should meet entirely. They received me, some more, some less, + according to the degree of intimacy between our natures. But + now I have done with the past, and again move forward. The + path looks more difficult, but I am better able to bear its + trials. We shall have much communion, even if not in the + deepest places. I feel no need of isolation, but only of + temperance in thought and speech, that the essence may not + evaporate in words, but grow plenteous within. The Life will + give me to my own. I am not yet so worthy to love as some + others are, because my manifold nature is not yet harmonized + enough to be faithful, and I begin, to see how much it was the + want of a pure music in me that has made the good doubt me. + Yet have I been true to the best light I had, and if I am so + now much will be given. + + 'During my last weeks of solitude I was very happy, and all + that had troubled me became clearer. The angel was not weary + of waiting for Gunhilde, till she had unravelled her mesh of + thought, and seeds of mercy, of purification, were planted + in the breast. Whatever the past has been, I feel that I have + always been reading on and on, and that the Soul of all souls + has been patient in love to mine. New assurances were given + me, that if I would be faithful and humble, there was no + experience that would not tell its heavenly errand. If + shadows have fallen, already they give way to a fairer if more + tempered light; and for the present I am so happy that the + spirit kneels. + + 'Life, is richly worth living, with its continual revelations + of mighty woe, yet infinite hope: and I take it to my breast. + Amid these scenes of beauty, all that is little, foreign, + unworthy, vanishes like a dream. So shall it be some time + amidst the Everlasting Beauty, when true joy shall begin and + never cease.' + +Filled thus as Margaret was with ecstasy, she was yet more than +willing,--even glad,--to bear her share in the universal sorrow. Well +she knew that pain must be proportioned to the fineness and fervor of +her organization; that the very keenness of her sensibility exposed +her to constant disappointment or disgust; that no friend, however +faithful, could meet the demands of desires so eager, of sympathies +so absorbing. Contrasted with her radiant visions, how dreary looked +actual existence; how galling was the friction of petty hindrances; +how heavy the yoke of drudging care! Even success seemed failure, +when measured by her conscious aim; and experience had brought out to +consciousness excesses and defects, which humbled pride while shaming +self-confidence. But suffering as she did with all the intensity of so +passionate a nature, Margaret still welcomed the searching discipline. +'It is only when Persephone returns from lower earth that she weds +Dyonysos, and passes from central sadness into glowing joy,' she +writes. And again: 'I have no belief in beautiful lives; we are born +to be mutilated; and the blood must flow till in every vein its place +is supplied by the Divine ichor.' And she reiterates: 'The method of +Providence with me is evidently that of "cross-biassing," as Herbert +hath it. In a word, to her own conscience and to intimate friends she +avowed, without reserve, that there was in her 'much rude matter that +needed to be spiritualized.' Comment would but weaken the pathos of +the following passages, in which so plainly appears a once wilful +temper striving, with child-like faith, to obey:-- + + 'I have been a chosen one; the lesson of renunciation was + early, fully taught, and the heart of stone quite broken + through. The Great Spirit wished to leave me no refuge but + itself. Convictions have been given, enough to guide me many + years if I am steadfast. How deeply, how gratefully I feel + this blessing, as the fabric of others' hopes are shivering + round me. Peace will not always flow thus softly in my life; + but, O, our Father! how many hours has He consecrated to + Himself. How often has the Spirit chosen the time, when no ray + came from without, to descend upon the orphan life!' + + * * * * * + + 'A humbler, tenderer spirit! Yes, I long for it. But how to + gain it? I see no way but prayerfully to bend myself to meet + the hour. Let friends be patient with me, and pardon some + faint-heartedness. The buds will shiver in the cold air when + the sheaths drop. It will not be so long. The word "Patience" + has been spoken; it shall be my talisman. A nobler courage + will be given, with gentleness and humility. My conviction is + clear that all my troubles are needed, and that one who has + had so much light thrown upon the path, has no excuse for + faltering steps.' + + * * * * * + + 'Could we command enthusiasm; had we an interest with the gods + which would light up those sacred fires at will, we should be + even seraphic in our influences. But life, if not a complete + waste of wearisome hours, must be checkered with them; and I + find that just those very times, when I feel all glowing and + radiant in the happiness of receiving and giving out again the + divine fluid, are preludes to hours of languor, weariness, and + paltry doubt, born of--- + + "The secret soul's mistrust + To find her fair ethereal wings + Weighed down by vile, degraded dust." + + 'To this, all who have chosen or been chosen to a life of + thought must submit. Yet I rejoice in my heritage. Should I + venture to complain? Perhaps, if I were to reckon up the hours + of bodily pain, those passed in society with which I could + not coalesce, those of ineffectual endeavor to penetrate the + secrets of nature and of art, or, worse still, to reproduce + the beautiful in some way for myself, I should find they + far outnumbered those of delightful sensation, of full and + soothing thought, of gratified tastes and affections, and of + proud hope. Yet these last, if few, how lovely, how rich in + presage! None, who have known them, can in their worst estate + fail to hope that they may be again upborne to higher, purer + blue.' + + * * * * * + + 'As I was steeped in the divine tenth book of the Republic, + came ----'s letter, in which he so insultingly retracts his + engagements. I finished the book obstinately, but could get + little good of it; then went to ask comfort of the descending + sun in the woods and fields. What a comment it was on the + disparity between my pursuits and my situation to receive + such a letter while reading that book! However, I will not let + life's mean perplexities blur from my eye the page of Plato; + nor, if natural tears must be dropt, murmur at a lot, which, + with all its bitterness, has given time and opportunity to + cherish an even passionate love for Truth and Beauty.' + + * * * * * + + 'Black Friday it has been, and my heart is well nigh wearied + out. Shall I never be able to act and live with persons of + views high as my own? or, at least, with some steadiness of + feeling for me to calculate upon? Ah, me! what woes within and + without; what assaults of folly; what mean distresses; and, + oh, what wounds from cherished hands! Were ye the persons who + should stab thus? Had I, too, the Roman right to fold my + robe about me decently, and breathe the last sigh! The last! + Horrible, indeed, should sobs, deep as these, be drawn to all + eternity. But no; life could not hold out for more than one + lease of sorrow. This anguish, however, will be wearied out, + as I know by experience, alas! of how many such hours.' + + * * * * * + + 'I am reminded to-day of the autumn hours at Jamaica Plain, + where, after arranging everything for others that they wanted + of me, I found myself, at last, alone in my still home, where + everything, for once, reflected my feelings. It was so still, + the air seemed full of spirits. How happy I was! with what + sweet and solemn happiness! All things had tended to a crisis + in me, and I was in a higher state, mentally and spiritually, + than I ever was before or shall be again, till death shall + introduce me to a new sphere. I purposed to spend the winter + in study and self-collection, and to write constantly. I + thought I should thus be induced to embody in beautiful + forms all that lay in my mind, and that life would ripen into + genius. But a very little while these fair hopes bloomed; and, + since I was checked then, I do never expect to blossom forth + on earth, and all postponements come naturally. At that time + it seemed as if angels left me. Yet, now, I think they still + are near. Renunciation appears to be entire, and I quite + content; yet, probably, 't is no such thing, and that work is + to be done over and over again.' + + * * * * * + + 'Do you believe our prayers avail for one another? and that + happiness is good for the soul? Pray, then, for me, that I may + have a little peace,--some green and flowery spot, 'mid which + my thoughts may rest; yet not upon fallacy, but only upon + something genuine. I am deeply homesick, yet where is that + home? If not on earth, why should we look to heaven? I would + fain truly live wherever I must abide, and bear with full + energy on my lot, whatever it is. He, who alone knoweth, + will affirm that. I have tried to work whole-hearted from an + earnest faith. Yet my hand is often languid, and my heart is + slow. I would be gone; but whither? I know not; if I cannot + make this spot of ground yield the corn and roses, famine must + be my lot forever and ever, surely.' + + * * * * * + + 'I remember how at a similar time of perplexity, when there + were none to counsel, hardly one to sympathize, and when the + conflicting wishes of so many whom I loved pressed the aching + heart on every side, after months of groping and fruitless + thought, the merest trifle precipitated the whole mass; all + became clear as crystal, and I saw of what use the tedious + preparation had been, by the deep content I felt in the + result.' + + * * * * * + + 'Beethoven! Tasso! It is well to think of you! What sufferings + from baseness, from coldness! How rare and momentary were the + flashes of joy, of confidence and tenderness, in these noblest + lives! Yet could not their genius be repressed. The Eternal + Justice lives. O, Father, teach the spirit the meaning of + sorrow, and light up the generous fires of love and hope and + faith, without which I cannot live!' + + * * * * * + + 'What signifies it that Thou dost always give me to drink more + deeply of the inner fountains? And why do I seek a reason for + these repulsions and strange arrangements of my mortal lot, + when I always gain from them a deeper love for all men, and a + deeper trust in Thee? Wonderful are thy ways! But lead me the + darkest and the coldest as Thou wilt.' + + * * * * * + + 'Please, good Genius of my life, to make me very patient, + resolute, gentle, while no less ardent; and after having tried + me well, please present, at the end of some thousand years + or so, a sphere of congenial and consecutive labors; of + heart-felt, heart-filling wishes carried out into life on + the instant; of aims obviously, inevitably proportioned to my + highest nature. Sometime, in God's good time, let me live as + swift and earnest as a flash of the eye. Meanwhile, let me + gather force slowly, and drift along lazily, like yonder + cloud, and be content to end in a few tears at last.' + + * * * * * + + 'To-night I lay on the sofa, and saw how the flame shot up + from beneath, through the mass of coal that had been + piled above. It shot up in wild beautiful jets, and then + unexpectedly sank again, and all was black, unsightly and + forlorn. And thus, I thought, is it with my life at present. + Yet if the fire beneath persists and conquers, that black dead + mass will become all radiant, life-giving, fit for the altar + or the domestic hearth. Yes, and it shall be so.' + + * * * * * + + 'My tendency at present is to the deepest privacy. Where can I + hide till I am given to myself? Yet I love the others more and + more. When they are with me I must give them the best from + my scrip. I see their infirmities, and would fain heal them, + forgetful of my own! But am I left one moment alone, then, a + poor wandering pilgrim, but no saint, I would seek the shrine, + and would therein die to the world. Then if from the poor + relics some miracles might be wrought, that should be for my + fellows. Yet some of the saints were able to work in their + generation, for they had renounced all!' + + * * * * * + + 'Forget, if you can, all of petulant or overstrained that may + have displeased you in me, and commend me in your prayers to + my best self. When, in the solitude of the spirit, comes upon + you some air from the distance, a breath of aspiration, of + faith, of pure tenderness, then believe that the Power which + has guided me so faithfully, emboldens my thoughts to frame a + prayer for you.' + + * * * * * + + 'Beneath all pain inflicted by Nature, be not only serene, but + more; let it avail thee in prayer. Put up, at the moment of + greatest suffering, a prayer; not for thy own escape, but + for the enfranchisement of some being dear to thee, and the + Sovereign Spirit will accept thy ransom.' + + * * * * * + + 'Strive, strive, my soul, to be innocent; yes! beneficent. + Does any man wound thee? not only forgive, but Work into thy + thought intelligence of the kind of pain, that thou mayest + never inflict it on another spirit. Then its work is done; it + will never search thy whole nature again. O, love much, and be + forgiven!' + + * * * * * + + 'No! we cannot leave society while one clod remains unpervaded + by divine life. We cannot live and grow in consecrated earth, + alone. Let us rather learn to stand up like the Holy Father, + and with extended arms bless the whole world.' + + * * * * * + + 'It will be happiness indeed, if, on passing this first stage, + we are permitted, in some degree, to alleviate the ills of + those we love,--to lead them on a little way; to aid them when + they call. Often it seems to me, it would be sweet to feel + that I had certainly conferred one benefit. All my poor little + schemes for others are apparently blighted, and now, as ever, + I am referred to the Secular year for the interpretation of my + moments.' + +In one of Margaret's manuscripts is found this beautiful +symbol:--'There is a species of Cactus, from whose outer bark, if +torn by an ignorant person, there exudes a poisonous liquid; but the +natives, who know the plant, strike to the core, and there find a +sweet, refreshing juice, that renews their strength.' Surely the +preceding extracts prove that she was learning how to draw life-giving +virtue from the very heart of evil. No superficial experience of +sorrow embittered her with angry despair; but through profound +acceptance, she sought to imbibe, from every ill, peace, purity and +gentleness. + + * * * * * + +The two fiery trials through which she had been made to pass, and +through which she was yet to pass again and again,--obstruction to +the development of her genius, and loneliness of heart,--were the very +furnace needed to burn the dross from her gold, till it could fitly +image the Heavenly Refiner. By inherited traits, and indiscreet +treatment, self-love had early become so excessive that only severest +discipline could transmute it to disinterestedness. Pity for her own +misfortunes had, indeed, taught her to curb her youthful scorn +for mediocrity, and filled her with considerateness and delicate +sensibility. Constant experience, too, of the wonderful modes whereby +her fate was shaped by overruling mercy, had chastened her love of +personal sway, and her passion for a commanding career; and +Margaret could humble herself,--did often humble herself,--with an +all-resigning contrition, that was most touching to witness in one +naturally so haughty. Of this the following letter to a valued friend +gives illustration:-- + + 'I ought, I know, to have laid aside my own cares and griefs, + been on the alert for intelligence that would gratify you, + and written letters such as would have been of use and given + pleasure to my wise, tender, ever faithful friend. But no; I + first intruded on your happiness with my sorrowful epistles, + and then, because you did not seem to understand my position, + with sullen petulance I resolved to write no more. Nay, worse; + I tried to harden my heart against you, and felt, "If you + cannot be all, you shall be nothing." + + 'It was a bad omen that I lost the locket you gave me, which + I had constantly worn. Had that been daily before my eyes, + to remind me of all your worth,--of the generosity with which + you, a ripe and wise character, received me to the privileges + of equal friendship; of the sincerity with which you reproved + and the love with which you pardoned my faults; of how much + you taught me, and bore with from me,--it would have softened + the flint of my heart, and I should have relaxed from my + isolation. + + 'How shall I apologize for feelings which I now recognize as + having been so cold, so bitter and unjust? I can only say + I have suffered greatly, till the tone of my spirits seems + destroyed. Since I have been at leisure to realize how very + ill I have been, under what constant pain and many annoyances + I have kept myself upright, and how, if I have not done + my work, I have learned my lesson to the end, I should be + inclined to excuse myself for every fault, except this neglect + and ingratitude against friends. Yet, if you can forgive, I + will try to forgive myself, and I do think I shall never so + deeply sin again.' + +Yet, though thus frank to own to herself and to her peers her errors, +Margaret cherished a trust in her powers, a confidence in her destiny, +and an ideal of her being, place and influence, so lofty as to be +extravagant. In the morning-hour and mountain-air of aspiration, her +shadow moved before her, of gigantic size, upon the snow-white vapor. + +In accordance with her earnest charge, 'Be true as Truth to me,' I +could not but expose this propensity to self-delusion; and her answer +is her best explanation and defence:-- + + 'I protest against your applying to me, even in your + most transient thought, such an epithet as "determined + exaggeration." Exaggeration, if you will; but not determined. + No; I would have all open to the light, and would let my + boughs be pruned, when they grow rank and unfruitful, even if + I felt the knife to the quick of my being. Very fain would I + have a rational modesty, without self-distrust; and may + the knowledge of my failures leaven my soul, and check its + intemperance. If you saw me wholly, you would not, I think, + feel as you do; for you would recognize the force, that + regulates my life and tempers the ardor with an eventual + calmness. You would see, too, that the more I take my flight + in poetical enthusiasm, the stronger materials I bring back + for my nest. Certainly I am nowise yet an angel; but neither + am I an utterly weak woman, and far less a cold intellect. + God is rarely afar off. Exquisite nature is all around. Life + affords vicissitudes enough to try the energies of the human + will. I can pray, I can act, I can learn, I can constantly + immerse myself in the Divine Beauty. But I also need to + love my fellow-men, and to meet the responsive glance of my + spiritual kindred.' + +Again, she says:-- + + 'I like to hear you express your sense of my defects. The + word "arrogance" does not, indeed, appear to me to be just; + probably because I do not understand what you mean. But in due + time I doubtless shall; for so repeatedly have you used it, + that it must stand for something real in my large and rich, + yet irregular and unclarified nature. But though I like to + hear you, as I say, and think somehow your reproof does me + good, by myself, I return to my native bias, and feel as if + there was plenty of room in the universe for my faults, and + as if I could not spend time in thinking of them, when so + many things interest me more. I have no defiance or coldness, + however, as to these spiritual facts which I do not know; + but I must follow my own law, and bide my time, even if, like + Oedipus, I should return a criminal, blind and outcast, to + ask aid from the gods. Such possibilities, I confess, give + me great awe; for I have more sense than most, of the tragic + depths that may open suddenly in the life. Yet, believing in + God, anguish cannot be despair, nor guilt perdition. I feel + sure that I have never wilfully chosen, and that my life has + been docile to such truth as was shown it. In an environment + like mine, what may have seemed too lofty or ambitious in + my character was absolutely needed to keep the heart from + breaking and enthusiasm from extinction.' + +Such Egoism as this, though lacking the angel grace of +unconsciousness, has a stoical grandeur that commands respect. Indeed, +in all that Margaret spoke, wrote, or did, no cynic could detect the +taint of meanness. Her elation came not from opium fumes of vanity, +inhaled in close chambers of conceit, but from the stimulus of +sunshine, fresh breezes, and swift movement upon the winged steed of +poesy. Her existence was bright with romantic interest to herself. +There was an amplitude and elevation in her aim, which were worthy, as +she felt, of human honor and of heavenly aid; and she was buoyed up +by a courageous good-will, amidst all evils, that she knew would have +been recognized as heroic in the chivalric times, when "every morning +brought a noble chance." Neither was her self-regard of an engrossing +temper. On the contrary, the sense of personal dignity taught her +the worth of the lowliest human being, and her intense desire for +harmonious conditions quickened a boundless compassion for the +squalid, downcast, and drudging multitude. She aspired to live in +majestic fulness of benignant and joyful activity, leaving a track of +light with every footstep; and, like the radiant Iduna, bearing to +man the golden apples of immortality, she would have made each meeting +with her fellows rich with some boon that should never fade, but +brighten in bloom forever. + +This characteristic self-esteem determined the quality of Margaret's +influence, which was singularly penetrating, and most beneficent where +most deeply and continuously felt. Chance acquaintance with her, like +a breath from the tropics, might have prematurely burst the buds of +feeling in sensitive hearts, leaving after blight and barrenness. +Natures, small in compass and of fragile substance, might have been +distorted and shattered by attempts to mould themselves on her grand +model. And in her seeming unchartered impulses,--whose latent law was +honorable integrity,--eccentric spirits might have found encouragement +for capricious license. Her morbid subjectivity, too, might, by +contagion, have affected others with undue self-consciousness. +And, finally, even intimate friends might have been tempted, by +her flattering love, to exaggerate their own importance, until they +recognized that her regard for them was but one niche in a Pantheon +at whose every shrine she offered incense. But these ill effects were +superficial accidents. The peculiarity of her power was to make all +who were in concert with her feel the miracle of existence. She lived +herself with such concentrated force in the moments, that she was +always effulgent with thought and affection,--with conscience, +courage, resource, decision, a penetrating and forecasting wisdom. +Hence, to associates, her presence seemed to touch even common scenes +and drudging cares with splendor, as when, through the scud of +a rain-storm, sunbeams break from serene blue openings, crowning +familiar things with sudden glory. By manifold sympathies, yet central +unity, she seemed in herself to be a goodly company, and her words +and deeds imparted the virtue of a collective life. So tender was her +affection, that, like a guardian genius, she made her friends' souls +her own, and identified herself with their fortunes; and yet, so pure +and high withal was her justice, that, in her recognition of their +past success and present claims, there came a summons for fresh +endeavor after the perfect. The very thought of her roused manliness +to emulate the vigorous freedom, with which one was assured, that +wherever placed she was that instant acting; and the mere mention +of her name was an inspiration of magnanimity, and faithfulness, and +truth. + + '"Sincere has been their striving; great their love," + +'is a sufficient apology for any life,' wrote Margaret; and how +preëminently were these words descriptive of herself. Hers was indeed + + "The equal temper of heroic hearts, + Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will, + To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." + +This indomitable aspiration found utterance in the following verses, +on + + 'SUB ROSA CRUX. + + 'In times of old, as we are told, + When men more childlike at the feet + Of Jesus sat than now, + A chivalry was known, more bold + Than ours, and yet of stricter vow, + And worship more complete. + + 'Knights of the Rosy Cross! they bore + Its weight within the breast, but wore + Without the sign, in glistening ruby bright. + The gall and vinegar they drank alone, + But to the world at large would only own + The wine of faith, sparkling with rosy light. + + 'They knew the secret of the sacred oil, + Which, poured upon the prophet's head, + Could keep him wise and pure for aye, + Apart from all that might distract or soil; + With this their lamps they fed, + Which burn in their sepulchral shrines, + Unfading night and day. + + 'The pass-word now is lost + To that initiation full and free; + Daily we pay the cost + Of our slow schooling for divine degree. + We know no means to feed an undying lamp, + Our lights go out in every wind and damp. + + 'We wear the cross of Ebony and Gold, + Upon a dark back-ground a form of light, + A heavenly hope within a bosom cold, + A starry promise in a frequent night; + And oft the dying lamp must trim again, + For we are conscious, thoughtful, striving men. + + 'Yet be we faithful to this present trust, + Clasp to a heart resigned this faithful Must; + Though deepest dark our efforts should enfold, + Unwearied mine to find the vein of gold; + Forget not oft to waft the prayer on high;-- + The rosy dawn again shall fill the sky. + + 'And by that lovely light all truth revealed,-- + The cherished forms, which sad distrust concealed, + Transfigured, yet the same, will round us stand, + The kindred angels of a faithful band; + Ruby and ebon cross then cast aside, + No lamp more needed, for the night has died. + + '"Be to the best thou knowest ever true," + Is all the creed. + Then be thy talisman of rosy hue, + Or fenced with thorns, that wearing, thou must bleed, + Or, gentle pledge of love's prophetic view, + The faithful steps it will securely lead. + + 'Happy are all who reach that distant shore, + And bathe in heavenly day; + Happiest are those who high the banner bore, + To marshal others on the way, + Or waited for them, fainting and way-worn, + By burthens overborne.' + + +[Footnote A: This sentence was written before I was aware that +Margaret, as will be seen hereafter, had used the same symbol to +describe Madame Sand. The first impulse, of course, when I discovered +this coincidence, was to strike out the above passage; yet, on second +thought, I have retained it, as indicating an actual resemblance +between these two grand women. In Margaret, however, the benediction +of their noble-hearted sister, Elizabeth Barrett, had already been +fulfilled; for she to "woman's claim" had ever joined + +"the angel-grace +Of a pure genius sanctified from blame."] + +[Footnote B: Novalis.] + + + + +NEW YORK. + +JOURNALS, LETTERS, &c. + + * * * * * + + "How much, preventing God, how much. I owe + To the defences thou hast round me set! + Example, Custom, Fear, Occasion slow,-- + These scorned bondsmen were my parapet. + I dare not peep over this parapet, + To gauge with glance the roaring gulf below, + The depths of sin to which I had descended, + Had not these me against myself defended." + + "Di tè, finor, chiesto non hai severa + Ragione a tè; di sua virtù non cade + Sospetto in cor conscio a se stesso." + + ALFIERI. + + + "He that lacks time to mourn, lacks time to mend; + Eternity mourns that. 'Tis an ill cure + For life's worst ills, to have no time to feel them. + Where sorrow's held intrusive, and turned out, + There wisdom, will not enter, nor true power, + Nor aught that dignifies humanity." + + TAYLOR. + + + "That time of year thou may'st in me behold, + When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang + Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, + Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. + In me thou seest the twilight of such day, + As after sunset fadeth in the west; + Which by and by black night doth take away,-- + Death's second self, that seals up all in rest. + In me thou seest the glowing of such fire, + That on the ashes of his youth doth lie; + As the death-bed whereon it must expire, + Consumed with that which it was nourished by." + + SHAKSPEARE. [Sonnet lxxiii.] + + + "Aber zufrieden mit stillerem Ruhme, + Brechen die Frauen des Augenblick's Blume, + Nähren sie sorgsam mit liebendem Fleiss, + Freier in ihrem gebundenen Wirken, + Reicher als er in des Wissens Bezirken + Und in der Dichtung unendlichem Kreiz." + + SCHILLER. + + + "Not like to like, but like in difference; + Yet in the long years liker must they grow,-- + The man be more of woman, she of man; + He gain in sweetness and in moral height, + Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world; + She mental breadth, nor fail in childward care; + More as the double-natured poet each; + Till at the last she set herself to man, + Like perfect music unto noble words." + + TENNYSON. + + + + +VII. + +NEW YORK + + * * * * * + +LEAVING HOME. + + +Incessant exertion in teaching and writing, added to pecuniary +anxieties and domestic cares, had so exhausted Margaret's energy, in +1844, that she felt a craving for fresh interests, and resolved to +seek an entire change of scene amid freer fields of action. + +'The tax on my mind is such,' she writes, + + 'and I am so unwell, that I can scarcely keep up the spring of + my spirits, and sometimes fear that I cannot go through with + the engagements of the winter. But I have never stopped yet + in fulfilling what I have undertaken, and hope I shall not be + compelled to now. How farcical seems the preparation needed to + gain a few moments' life; yet just so the plant works all the + year round for a few days' flower.' + +But in brighter mood she says, again:-- + + 'I congratulate myself that I persisted, against every + persuasion, in doing all I could last winter; for now I am and + shall be free from debt, and I look on the position of debtor + with a dread worthy of some respectable Dutch burgomaster. + My little plans for others, too, have succeeded; our small + household is well arranged, and all goes smoothly as a + wheel turns round. Mother, moreover, has learned not to + be over-anxious when I suffer, so that I am not obliged to + suppress my feelings when it is best to yield to them. Thus, + having more calmness, I feel often that a sweet serenity is + breathed through every trifling duty. I am truly grateful for + being enabled to fulfil obligations which to some might seem + humble, but which to me are sacred.' + +And in mid-summer comes this pleasant picture:-- + + 'Every day, I rose and attended to the many little calls which + are always on me, and which have been more of late. Then, + about eleven, I would sit down to write, at my window, close + to which is the apple-tree, lately full of blossoms, and now + of yellow birds. Opposite me was Del Sarto's Madonna; behind + me Silenus, holding in his arms the infant Pan. I felt very + content with my pen, my daily bouquet, and my yellow birds. + About five I would go out and walk till dark; then would + arrive my proofs, like crabbed old guardians, coming to tea + every night. So passed each day. The 23d of May, my birth-day, + about one o'clock, I wrote the last line of my little book;[A] + then I went to Mount Auburn, and walked gently among the + graves.' + +As the brothers had now left college, and had entered or were entering +upon professional and commercial life, while the sister was married, +and the mother felt calls to visit in turn her scattered children, it +was determined to break up the "Home." 'As a family,' Margaret writes, + + 'we are henceforth to be parted. But though for months I had + been preparing for this separation, the last moments were very + sad. Such tears are childish tears, I know, and belie a deeper + wisdom. It is foolish in me to be so anxious about my family. + As I went along, it seemed as if all I did was for God's sake; + but if it had been, could I now thus fear? My relations to + them are altogether fair, so far as they go. As to their being + no more to me than others of my kind, there is surely a mystic + thrill betwixt children of one mother, which can never cease + to be felt till the soul is quite born anew. The earthly + family is the scaffold whereby we build the spiritual one. The + glimpses we here obtain of what such relations should be are + to me an earnest that the family is of Divine Order, and not a + mere school of preparation. And in the state of perfect being + which we call Heaven, I am assured that family ties will + attain to that glorified beauty of harmonious adaptation, + which stellar groups in the pure blue typify.' + +Margaret's admirable fidelity, as daughter and sister,--amidst her +incessant literary pursuits, and her far-reaching friendships,--can be +justly appreciated by those only who were in her confidence; but from +the following slight sketches generous hearts can readily infer what +was the quality of her home-affections. + + 'Mother writes from Canton that my dear old grandmother is + dead. I regret that you never saw her. She was a picture of + primitive piety, as she sat holding the "Saint's Rest" in her + hand, with her bowed, trembling figure, and her emphatic nods, + and her sweet blue eyes. They were bright to the last, though + she was ninety. It is a great loss to mother, who felt a large + place warmed in her heart by the fond and grateful love of + this aged parent.' + + 'We cannot be sufficiently grateful for our mother,--so so + fair a blossom of the white amaranth; truly to us a mother + in this, that we can venerate her piety. Our relations to her + have known no jar. Nothing vulgar has sullied them; and in + this respect life has been truly domesticated. Indeed, when I + compare my lot with others, it seems to have had a more than + usual likeness to home; for relations have been as noble + as sincerity could make them, and there has been a frequent + breath of refined affection, with its sweet courtesies. Mother + thanks God in her prayers for "all the acts of mutual love + which have been permitted;" and looking back, I see that these + have really been many. I do not recognize this, as the days + pass, for to my desires life would be such a flower-chain of + symbols, that what is done seems very scanty, and the thread + shows too much. + + 'She has just brought me a little bouquet. Her flowers have + suffered greatly by my neglect, when I would be engrossed + by other things in her absences. But, not to be disgusted or + deterred, whenever she can glean one pretty enough, she brings + it to me. Here is the bouquet,--a very delicate rose, with its + half-blown bud, heliotrope, geranium, lady-pea, heart's-ease; + all sweet-scented flowers! Moved by their beauty, I wrote a + short note, to which this is the reply. Just like herself![B] + + '"I should not love my flowers if they did not put forth all + the strength they have, in gratitude for your preserving care, + last winter, and your wasted feelings over the unavoidable + effects of the frost, that came so unexpectedly to nip their + budding beauties. I appreciate all you have done, knowing + at what cost any plant must be nourished by one who sows in + fields more precious than those opened, in early life, to my + culture. One must have grown up with flowers, and found joy + and sweetness in them, amidst disagreeable occupations, to + take delight in their whole existence as I do. They have long + had power to bring me into harmony with the Creator, and to + soothe almost any irritation. Therefore I understand your love + for these beautiful things, and it gives me real pleasure to + procure them for you. + + '"You have done everything that the most affectionate and + loving daughter could, under all circumstances. My faith in + your generous desire to increase my happiness is founded on + the knowledge I have gained of your disposition, through your + whole life. I should ask your sympathy and aid, whenever it + could be available, knowing that you would give it first to + me. Waste no thought on neglected duties. I know of none. + Let us pursue our appointed paths, aiding each other in rough + places; and if I live to need the being led by the hand, + I always feel that you will perform this office wisely and + tenderly. We shall ever have perfect peace between us. Yours, + in all love."' + +Margaret adds:-- + + 'It has been, and still is, hard for me to give up the thought + of serenity, and freedom from toil and care, for mother, + in the evening of a day which has been all one work of + disinterested love. But I am now confident that she will learn + from every trial its lesson; and if I cannot be her protector, + I can be at least her counsellor and soother.' + +From the less private parts of Margaret's correspondence with the +younger members of the family, some passages may be selected, as +attesting her quick and penetrating sympathy, her strict truth, +and influential wisdom. They may be fitly prefaced by these few but +emphatic words from a letter of one of her brothers:-- + + "I was much impressed, during my childhood, at Groton, with + an incident that first disclosed to me the tenderness of + Margaret's character. I had always viewed her as a being + of different nature from myself, to whose altitudes of + intellectual life I had no thought of ascending. She had been + absent during the winter, and on her return asked me for some + account of my experiences. Supposing that she could not enter + into such insignificant details, I was not frank or warm in + my confidence, though I gave no reason for my reserve; and the + matter had passed from my mind, when our mother told me that + Margaret had shed tears, because I seemed to heed so little + her sisterly sympathy. 'Tears from one so learned,' thought I, + 'for the sake of one so inferior!' Afterwards, my heart opened + to her, as to no earthly friend. + + "The characteristic trait of Margaret, to which all + her talents and acquirements were subordinate, was + sympathy,--universal sympathy. She had that large intelligence + and magnanimity which enabled her to comprehend the struggles + and triumphs of every form of character. Loving all about her, + whether rich or poor, rude or cultivated, as equally formed + after a Divine Original, with an equal birth-right of immortal + growth, she regarded rather their aspirations than their + accomplishments. And this was the source of her marvellous + influence. Those who had never thought of their own destiny, + nor put faith in their own faculties, found in her society not + so much a display of her gifts, as surprising discoveries of + their own. She revealed to them the truth, that all can be + noble by fidelity to the highest self. She appreciated, with + delicate tenderness, each one's peculiar trials, and, while + never attempting to make the unhappy feel that their miseries + were unreal, she pointed out the compensations of their + lot, and taught them how to live above misfortune. She had + consolation and advice for every one in trouble, and wrote + long letters to many friends, at the expense not only of + precious time, but of physical pain. + + "When now, with the experience of a man, I look back upon her + wise guardianship over our childhood, her indefatigable labors + for our education, her constant supervision in our family + affairs, her minute instructions as to the management of + multifarious details, her painful conscientiousness in every + duty; and then reflect on her native inaptitude and even + disgust for practical affairs, on her sacrifice,--in the + very flower of her genius,--of her favorite pursuits, on her + incessant drudgery and waste of health, on her patient + bearing of burdens, and courageous conflict with difficult + circumstances, her character stands before me as heroic." + +It was to this brother that Margaret wrote as follows:-- + + 'It is a great pleasure to me to give you this book; both that + I have a brother whom I think worthy to value it, and that + I can give him something worthy to be valued more and more + through all his life. Whatever height we may attain in + knowledge, whatever facility in the expression of thoughts, + will only enable us to do more justice to what is drawn + from so deep a source of faith and intellect, and arrayed, + oftentimes, in the fairest hues of nature. Yet it may not be + well for a young mind to dwell too near one tuned to so high + a pitch as this writer, lest, by trying to come into concord + with him, the natural tones be overstrained, and the strings + weakened by untimely pressure. Do not attempt, therefore, to + read this book through, but keep it with you, and when the + spirit is fresh and earnest turn to it. It is full of the + tide-marks of great thoughts, but these can be understood + by one only who has gained, by experience, some knowledge of + these tides. The ancient sages knew how to greet a brother who + had consecrated his life to thought, and was never disturbed + from his purpose by a lower aim. But it is only to those + perfected in purity that Pythagoras can show a golden thigh. + + 'One word as to your late readings. They came in a timely way + to admonish you, amidst mere disciplines, as to the future + uses of such disciplines. But systems of philosophy are mere + pictures to him, who has not yet learned how to systematize. + From an inward opening of your nature these knowledges must + begin to be evolved, ere you can apprehend aught beyond + their beauty, as revealed in the mind of another. Study in a + reverent and patient spirit, blessing the day that leads you + the least step onward. Do not ride hobbies. Do not hasten + to conclusions. Be not coldly sceptical towards any thinker, + neither credulous of his views. A man, whose mind is full of + error, may give us the genial sense of truth, as a tropical + sun, while it rears crocodiles, yet ripens the wine of the + palm-tree. + + 'To turn again to my Ancients: while they believed in + self-reliance with a force little known in our day, they + dreaded no pains of initiation, but fitted themselves for + intelligent recognition of the truths on which our being is + based, by slow gradations of travel, study, speech, silence, + bravery, and patience. That so it may be with you, dear ----, + hopes your sister and friend.' + +A few extracts from family letters written at different times, and +under various conditions, may be added. + + 'I read with great interest the papers you left with me. The + picture and the emotions suggested are genuine. The youthful + figure, no doubt, stands portress at the gate of Infinite + Beauty; yet I would say to one I loved as I do you, do not + waste these emotions, nor the occasions which excite them. + There is danger of prodigality,--of lavishing the best + treasures of the breast on objects that cannot be the + permanent ones. It is true, that whatever thought is awakened + in the mind becomes truly ours; but it is a great happiness + to owe these influences to a cause so proportioned to our + strength as to grow with it. I say this merely because I + fear that the virginity of heart which I believe essential + to feeling a real love, in all its force and purity, may + be endangered by too careless excursions into the realms of + fancy.' + + * * * * * + + 'It is told us, we should pray, "lead us not into temptation;" + and I agree. Yet I think it cannot be, that, with a good + disposition, and the means you have had to form your mind and + discern a higher standard, your conduct or happiness can be + so dependent on circumstances, as you seem to think. I never + advised your taking a course which would blunt your finer + powers and I do not believe that winning the means of + pecuniary independence need do so. I have not found that it + does, in my own case, placed at much greater disadvantage than + you are. I have never considered, either, that there was + any misfortune in your lot. Health, good abilities, and a + well-placed youth, form a union of advantages possessed by + few, and which leaves you little excuse for fault or failure. + And so to your better genius and the instruction of the One + Wise, I commend you.' + + * * * * * + + 'It gave me great pleasure to get your last letter, for these + little impromptu effusions are the genuine letters. I rejoice + that man and nature seem harmonious to you, and that the heart + beats in unison with the voices of Spring. May all that is + manly, sincere, and pure, in your wishes, be realized! Obliged + to live myself without the sanctuary of the central relations, + yet feeling I must still not despair, nor fail to profit by + the precious gifts of life, while "leaning upon our Father's + hand," I still rejoice, if any one can, in the true temper, + and with well-founded hopes, secure a greater completeness of + earthly existence. This fortune is as likely to be yours, as + any one's I know. It seems to me dangerous, however, to meddle + with the future. I never lay my hand on it to grasp it with + impunity.' + + * * * * * + + 'Of late I have often thought of you with strong yearnings of + affection and desire to see you. It would seem to me, also, + that I had not devoted myself to you enough, if I were not + conscious that by any more attention to the absent than I have + paid, I should have missed the needed instructions from the + present. And I feel that any bond of true value will endure + necessary neglect.' + + * * * * * + + 'There is almost too much of bitter mixed in the cup of life. + You say religion is a mere sentiment with you, and that if + you are disappointed in your first, your very first hopes and + plans, you do not know whether you shall be able to act well. + I do not myself see how a reflecting soul can endure the + passage through life, except by confidence in a Power that + must at last order all things right, and the resolution that + it shall not be our own fault if we are not happy,--that we + will resolutely deserve to be happy. There are many bright + glimpses in life, many still hours; much worthy toil, some + deep and noble joys; but, then, there are so many, and such + long, intervals, when we are kept from all we want, and must + perish but for such thoughts.' + + * * * * * + + 'You need not fear, dear ----, my doing anything to chill + you. I am only too glad of the pure happiness you so sweetly + describe. I well understand what you say of its invigorating + you for every enterprise. I was always sure it would be so + with me,--that resigned, I could do well, but happy I could + do excellently. Happiness must, with the well-born, expand + the generous affections towards all men, and invigorate one to + deserve what the gods have given.' + +Margaret's charities and courtesies were not limited to her kindred. +She fell, at once, into agreeable relations with her domestics, +became their confidant, teacher, and helper, studied their characters, +consulted their convenience, warned them of their dangers or +weaknesses, and rejoiced to gratify their worthy tastes; and, in +return, no lady could receive, from servants, more punctual or hearty +attendance. She knew how to command and how to persuade, and her +sympathy was perfect. They felt the power of her mind, her hardy +directness, prompt judgment, decision and fertility of resource, and +liked to aid one who knew so well her own wants. 'Around my path,' she +writes, + + 'how much humble love continually flows. These every-day and + lowly friends never forget my wishes, never censure my + whims, make no demands on me, and load me with gifts and + uncomplaining service. Though sometimes forgetful of their + claims, I try to make it up when we do meet, and I trust give + little pain as I pass along this world.' + +Even in extreme cases of debasement she found more to admire than to +contemn, and won the confidence of the fallen by manifesting her real +respect. "There was in my family," writes a friend, "a very handsome +young girl, who had been vicious in her habits, and so enamored of +one of her lovers, that when he deserted her, she attempted to drown +herself. She was rescued, and some good people were eager to reform +her life. While she was engaged in housework for us, Margaret saw her, +and one day asked ---- if she could not help her. ---- replied: 'No! +for should I begin to talk with her, I should show my consciousness of +her history so much as to be painful.' Margaret was very indignant at +this weakness. Said she, + + 'This girl is taken away, you know, from all her objects of + interest, and must feel her life vacant and dreary. Her mind + should be employed; she should be made to feel her powers.' + +It was plain that if Margaret had been near her, she would have +devoted herself at once to her education and reestablishment." + +About the time of breaking up their home, Margaret thus expressed, to +one of her brothers, her hopes and plans. + + 'You wish, dear ----, that I was not obliged to toil and spin, + but could live, for a while, like the lilies. I wish so, + too, for life has fatigued me, my strength is little, and the + present state of my mind demands repose and refreshment, + that it may ripen some fruit worthy of the long and deep + experiences through which I have passed. I do not regret that + I have shared the labors and cares of the suffering million, + and have acquired a feeling sense of the conditions under + which the Divine has appointed the development of the human. + Yet, if our family affairs could now be so arranged, that I + might be tolerably tranquil for the next six or eight years, + I should go out of life better satisfied with the page I have + turned in it, than I shall if I must still toil on. A noble + career is yet before me, if I can be unimpeded by cares. I + have given almost all my young energies to personal relations; + but, at present, I feel inclined to impel the general stream + of thought. Let my nearest friends also wish that I should now + take share in more public life.' + + +[Footnote A: Summer on the Lakes.] + +[Footnote B: The editor must offer as excuse for printing, without +permission asked, this note, found carefully preserved among +Margaret's papers, that he knew no other way of so truly indicating +the relation between mother and daughter. This lily is eloquent of the +valley where it grew. W.H.C.] + + + + +THE HIGHLANDS. + + +Seeking thus, at once, expansion and rest in new employments, Margaret +determined, in the autumn of 1844, to accept a liberal offer of +Messrs. Greeley and McElrath, to become a constant contributor to the +New York Tribune. But before entering upon her new duties, she found +relaxation, for a few weeks, amid the grand scenery of the Hudson. In +October, she writes from Fishkill Landing:-- + + 'Can I find words to tell you how I enjoy being here, + encircled by the majestic beauty of these mountains? I felt + regret, indeed, in bidding farewell to Boston, so many + marks of affection were shown me at the last, and so many + friendships, true if imperfect, were left behind. But now I am + glad to feel enfranchized in the society of Nature. I have a + well-ordered, quiet house to dwell in, with nobody's humors + to consult but my own. From my windows I see over the tops of + variegated trees the river, with its purple heights beyond, + and a few moments' walk brings me to the lovely shore, where + sails are gliding continually by, and the huge steamers sweep + past with echoing tread, and a train of waves, whose rush + relieves the monotone of the ripples. In the country behind us + are mountain-paths, and lonely glens, with gurgling streams, + and many-voiced water-falls. And over all are spread the + gorgeous hues of autumn.' + +And again:-- + + '"From the brain of the purple mountain" flows forth cheer + to my somewhat weary mind. I feel refreshed amid these bolder + shapes of nature. Mere gentle and winning landscapes are not + enough. How I wish my birth had been cast among the sources + of the streams, where the voice of hidden torrents is heard + by night, and the eagle soars, and the thunder resounds in + prolonged peals, and wide blue shadows fall like brooding + wings across the valleys! Amid such scenes, I expand and feel + at home. All the fine days I spend among the mountain passes, + along the mountain brooks, or beside the stately river. I + enjoy just the tranquil happiness I need in communion with + this fair grandeur.' + +And, again:-- + + 'The boldness, sweetness, and variety here, are just what + I like. I could pass the autumn in watching the exquisite + changes of light and shade on the heights across the river. + How idle to pretend that one could live and write as well amid + fallow flat fields! This majesty, this calm splendor, could + not but exhilarate the mind, and make it nobly free and + plastic.' + +These few weeks among the Highlands,--spent mostly in the open air, +under October's golden sunshine, the slumberous softness of the Indian +summer, or the brilliant, breezy skies of November,--were an important +era for Margaret. She had-- + + "lost the dream of Doing + And the other dream of Done; + The first spring in the pursuing, + The first pride in the Begun, + First recoil from incompleteness in the face of what is won." + +But she was striving, also, to use her own words, 'to be patient to +the very depths of the heart, to expect no hasty realizations, not to +make her own plan her law of life, but to learn the law and plan of +God.' She adds, however:-- + + 'What heaven it must be to have the happy sense of + accomplishing something, and to feel the glow of action + without exhausted weariness! Surely the race would have worn + itself out by corrosion, if men in all ages had suffered, as + we now do, from the consciousness of an unattained Ideal.' + +Extracts from journals will best reveal her state of mind. + + 'I have a dim consciousness of what the terrible experiences + must be by which the free poetic element is harmonized with + the spirit of religion. In their essence and their end these + are one, but rarely in actual existence. I would keep what + was pure and noble in my old native freedom, with that + consciousness of falling below the best convictions which now + binds me to the basest of mankind, and find some new truth + that shall reconcile and unite them. Once it seemed to + me, that my heart was so capable of goodness, my mind of + clearness, that all should acknowledge and claim me as a + friend. But now I see that these impulses were prophetic of a + yet distant period. The "intensity" of passion, which so often + unfits me for life, or, rather, for _life here_, is to + be moderated, not into dulness or languor, but a gentler, + steadier energy.' + + 'The stateliest, strongest vessel must sometimes be brought + into port to rent. If she will not submit to be fastened to + the dock, stripped of her rigging, and scrutinized by unwashed + artificers, she may spring a leak when riding most proudly + on the subject wave. Norway fir nor English oak can resist + forever the insidious assaults of the seemingly conquered + ocean. The man who clears the barnacles from the keel is more + essential than he who hoists the pennant on the lofty mast.' + + * * * * * + + 'A week of more suffering than I have had for a long + time,--from Sunday to Sunday,--headache night and day! And not + only there has been no respite, but it has been fixed in one + spot--between the eyebrows!--what does that promise?--till it + grew real torture. Then it has been depressing to be able to + do so little, when there was so much I had at heart to do. + It seems that the black and white guardians, depicted on the + Etrurian monuments, and in many a legend, are always fighting + for my life. Whenever I have any cherished purpose, either + outward obstacles swarm around, which the hand that would be + drawing beautiful lines must be always busy in brushing away, + or comes this great vulture, and fastens his iron talons on + the brain. + + 'But at such times the soul rises up, like some fair child in + whom sleep has been mistaken for death, a living flower in + the dark tomb. He casts aside his shrouds and bands, rosy and + fresh from the long trance, undismayed, not seeing how to get + out, yet sure there is a way. + + 'I think the black jailer laughs now, hoping that while I + want to show that Woman can have the free, full action of + intellect, he will prove in my own self that she has not + physical force to bear it. Indeed, I am too poor an example, + and do wish I was bodily strong and fair. Yet, I will not be + turned from the deeper convictions.' + + 'Driven from home to home, as a Renouncer, I gain the poetry + of each. Keys of gold, silver, iron, lead, are in my casket. + Though no one loves me as I would be loved, I yet love many + well enough to see into their eventual beauty. Meanwhile, I + have no fetters, and when one perceives how others are bound + in false relations, this surely should be regarded as a + privilege. And so varied have been my sympathies, that this + isolation will not, I trust, make me cold, ignorant, nor + partial. My history presents much superficial, temporary + tragedy. The Woman in me kneels and weeps in tender rapture; + the Man in me rushes forth, but only to be baffled. Yet the + time will come, when, from the union of this tragic king and + queen, shall be born a radiant sovereign self.' + + * * * * * + + 'I have quite a desire to try my powers in a narrative poem; + but my head teems with plans, of which there will be time + for very few only to take form. Milton, it is said, made + for himself a list of a hundred subjects for dramas, and the + recorder of the fact seems to think this many. I think it very + few, so filled is life with innumerable themes.' + + * * * * * + + '_Sunday Evening._--I have employed some hours of the day, + with great satisfaction, in copying the Poet's Dreams from the + Pentameron of Landor. I do not often have time for such slow, + pleasing labor. I have thus imprinted the words in my mind, so + that they will often recur in their original beauty. + + 'I have added three sonnets of Petrarca, all written after the + death of Laura. They are among his noblest, all pertinent to + the subject, and giving three aspects of that one mood. The + last lines of the last sonnet are a fit motto for Boccaccio's + dream. + + 'In copying both together, I find the prose of the Englishman + worthy of the verse of the Italian. It is a happiness to see + such marble beauty in the halls of a contemporary. + + 'How fine it is to see the terms "onesto," "gentile," used in + their original sense and force. + + 'Soft, solemn day! + Where earth and heaven together seem to meet, + I have been blest to greet + From human thought a kindred sway; + In thought these stood + So near the simple Good, + That what we nobleness and honor call, + They viewed as honesty, the common dower of all.' + +Margaret was reading, in these weeks, the Four Books of Confucius, +the Desatir, some of Taylor's translations from the Greek, a work on +Scandinavian Mythology, Moehler's Symbolism, Fourier's Noveau Monde +Industriel, and Landor's Pentameron,--but she says, in her journal, + + 'No book is good enough to read in the open air, among these + mountains; even the best seem partial, civic, limiting, + instead of being, as man's voice should be, a tone higher than + nature's.' + +And again:-- + + 'This morning came ----'s letter, announcing Sterling's + death:-- + + '"Weep for Dedalus all that is fairest." + + 'The news was very sad: Sterling did so earnestly wish to do + a man's work, and had done so small a portion of his own. This + made me feel how fast my years are flitting by, and nothing + done. Yet these few beautiful days of leisure I cannot resolve + to give at all to work. I want absolute rest, to let the mind + lie fallow, to keep my whole nature open to the influx of + truth.' + +At this very time, however, she was longing to write with full freedom +and power. 'Formerly,' she says, + + 'the pen did not seem to me an instrument capable of + expressing the spirit of a life like mine. An enchanter's + mirror, on which, with a word, could be made to rise all + apparitions of the universe, grouped in new relations; a magic + ring, that could transport the wearer, himself invisible, into + each region of grandeur or beauty; a divining-rod, to tell + where lie the secret fountains of refreshment; a wand, to + invoke elemental spirits;--only such as these seemed fit to + embody one's thought with sufficient swiftness and force. In + earlier years I aspired to wield the sceptre or the lyre; for + I loved with wise design and irresistible command to mould + many to one purpose, and it seemed all that man could desire + to breathe in music and speak in words, the harmonies of the + universe. But the golden lyre was not given to my hand, and I + am but the prophecy of a poet. Let me use, then, the slow pen. + I will make no formal vow to the long-scorned Muse; I assume + no garland; I dare not even dedicate myself as a novice; I + can promise neither patience nor energy:--but I will court + excellence, so far as an humble heart and open eye can merit + it, and, if I may gradually grow to some degree of worthiness + in this mode of expression, I shall be grateful.' + + + + +WOMAN. + + +It was on "Woman in the Nineteenth Century" that Margaret was now +testing her power as a writer. 'I have finished the pamphlet,' she +writes, 'though the last day it kept spinning out beneath my hand. +After taking a long walk, early one most exhilarating morning, I sat +down to work, and did not give it the last stroke till near nine in +the evening. Then I felt a delightful glow, as if I had put a good +deal of my true life in it, and as if, should I go away now, the +measure of my foot-print would be left on the earth.' + +A few extracts from her manuscripts upon this subject may be of +interest, as indicating the spirit and aim with which she wrote:-- + + 'To those of us who hate emphasis and exaggeration, who + believe that whatever is good of its kind is good, who shrink + from love of excitement and love of sway, who, while ready for + duties of many kinds, dislike pledges and bonds to any,--this + talk about "Woman's Sphere," "Woman's Mission," and all such + phrases as mark the present consciousness of an impending + transition from old conventions to greater freedom, are most + repulsive. And it demands some valor to lift one's head amidst + the shower of public squibs, private sneers, anger, scorn, + derision, called out by the demand that women should be put on + a par with their brethren, legally and politically; that they + should hold property not by permission but by right, and that + they should take an active part in all great movements. But + though, with Mignon, we are prompted to characterize heaven as + the place where + + "Sie fragen nicht nach Mann nie Weib," + + yet it is plain that we must face this agitation; and beyond + the dull clouds overhead hangs in the horizon Venus, as + morning-star, no less fair, though of more melting beauty, + than the glorious Jupiter, who shares with her the watch. + + * * * * * + + 'The full, free expression of feeling must be rare, for this + book of Bettina Brentano's to produce such an effect. Men who + have lived in the society of women all their days, seem never + before to have dreamed of their nature; they are filled with + wonderment and delight at these revelations, and because + they see the woman, fancy her a genius. But in truth her + inspiration is nowise extraordinary; and I have letters from + various friends, lying unnoticed in my portfolio, which are + quite as beautiful. For one, I think that these veins of gold + should pass in secret through the earth, inaccessible to all + who will not take the trouble to mine for them. I do not like + Bettina for publishing her heart, and am ready to repeat to + her Serlo's reproof to Aurelia.' + + * * * * * + + 'How terrible must be the tragedy of a woman who awakes to + find that she has given herself wholly to a person for whom + she is not eternally fitted! I cannot look on marriage as on + the other experiments of life: it is the one grand type that + should be kept forever sacred. There are two kinds of love + experienced by high and rich souls. The first seeks, according + to Plato's myth, another half, as being not entire in itself, + but needing a kindred nature to unlock its secret chambers + of emotion, and to act with quickening influence on all its + powers, by full harmony of senses, affections, intellect, + will; the second is purely ideal, beholding in its object + divine perfection, and delighting in it only in degree as + it symbolizes the essential good. But why is not this love + steadily directed to the Central Spirit, since in no form, + however suggestive in beauty, can God be fully revealed? + Love's delusion is owing to one of man's most godlike + qualities,--the earnestness with which he would concentrate + his whole being, and thus experience the Now of the I Am. + Yet the noblest are not long deluded; they love really the + Infinite Beauty, though they may still keep before them a + human form, as the Isis, who promises hereafter a seat at the + golden tables. How high is Michel Angelo's love, for instance, + compared with Petrarch's! Petrarch longs, languishes; and + it is only after the death of Laura that his muse puts on + celestial plumage. But Michel always soars; his love is a + stairway to the heavens. + + * * * * * + + 'Might not we women do something in regard to this Texas + Annexation project? I have never felt that I had any call to + take part in public affairs before; but this is a great + moral question, and we have an obvious right to express our + convictions. I should like to convene meetings of the women + everywhere, and take our stand. + + * * * * * + + 'Had Christendom but been true to its standard, while + accommodating its modes of operation to the calls of + successive times, woman would now have not only equal _power_ + with man,--for of that omnipotent nature will never permit + her to be defrauded,--but a _chartered_ power, too fully + recognized to be abused. Indeed, all that is wanting is, that + man should prove his own freedom by making her free. Let + him abandon conventional restriction, as a vestige of that + Oriental barbarity which confined woman to a seraglio. Let + him trust her entirely, and give her every privilege already + acquired for himself,--elective franchise, tenure of property, + liberty to speak in public assemblies, &c. + + 'Nature has pointed out her ordinary sphere by the + circumstances of her physical existence. She cannot wander + far. If here and there the gods send their missives through + women, as through men, let them speak without remonstrance. + In no age have men been able wholly to hinder them. A Deborah + must always be a spiritual mother in Israel; a Corinna may + be excluded from the Olympic games, yet all men will hear her + song, and a Pindar sit at her feet. It is man's fault that + there ever were Aspasias and Ninons. These exquisite forms + were intended for the shrines of virtue. + + 'Neither need men fear to lose their domestic deities. Woman + is born for love, and it is impossible to turn her from + seeking it. Men should deserve her love as an inheritance, + rather than seize and guard it like a prey. Were they noble, + they would strive rather not to be loved too much, and to turn + her from idolatry to the true, the only Love. Then, children + of one Father, they could not err, nor misconceive one + another. + + 'Society is now so complex, that it is no longer possible to + educate woman merely as woman; the tasks which come to her + hand are so various, and so large a proportion of women are + thrown entirely upon their own resources. I admit that this + is not their state of perfect development; but it seems as + if heaven, having so long issued its edict in poetry and + religion, without securing intelligent obedience, now + commanded the world in prose, to take a high and rational + view. The lesson reads to me thus:-- + + 'Sex, like rank, wealth, beauty, or talent, is but an accident + of birth. As you would not educate a soul to be an aristocrat, + so do not to be a woman. A general regard to her usual sphere + is dictated in the economy of nature. You need never enforce + these provisions rigorously. Achilles had long plied the + distaff as a princess, yet, at first sight of a sword, he + seized it. So with woman, one hour of love would teach her + more of her proper relations, than all your formulas and + conventions. Express your views, men, of what you _seek_ in + woman: thus best do you give them laws. Learn, women, what you + should _demand_ of men: thus only can they become themselves. + Turn both from the contemplation of what is merely phenomenal + in your existence, to your permanent life as souls. Man, do + not prescribe how the Divine shall display itself in woman. + Woman, do not expect to see all of God in man. Fellow-pilgrims + and helpmeets are ye, Apollo and Diana, twins of one heavenly + birth, both beneficent, and both armed. Man, fear not to yield + to woman's hand both the quiver and the lyre; for if her urn + be filled with light, she will use both to the glory of + God. There is but one doctrine for ye both, and that is the + doctrine of the SOUL. + +Thus, in communion with the serene loveliness of mother-earth, and +inspired with memories of Isis and Ceres, of Minerva and Freia, and +all the commanding forms beneath which earlier ages symbolized their +sense of the Divine Spirit in woman, Margaret cherished visions of the +future, and responded with full heart to the poet's prophecy:-- + + "Then comes the statelier Eden back to men; + Then reign the world's great bridals, chaste and calm; + Then springs the crowning race of human-kind." + +It was but after the usual order of our discordant life,--where +Purgatory lies so nigh to Paradise,--that she should thence be +summoned to pass a Sunday with the prisoners at Sing-Sing. This was +the period when, in fulfilment of the sagacious and humane counsels of +Judge Edmonds, a system of kind discipline, combined with education, +was in practice at that penitentiary, and when the female department +was under the matronly charge of Mrs. E.W. Farnum, aided by Mrs. +Johnson, Miss Bruce, and other ladies, who all united sisterly +sympathy with energetic firmness. Margaret thus describes her +impressions:-- + + 'We arrived on Saturday evening, in such resplendent + moonlight, that we might have mistaken the prison for a + palace, had we not known but too well what those massive walls + contained. + + 'Sunday morning we attended service in the chapel of the male + convicts. They listened with earnest attention, and many were + moved to tears. I never felt such sympathy with an audience + as when, at the words "Men and brethren," that sea of faces, + marked with the scars of every ill, were upturned, and the + shell of brutality burst apart at the touch of love. I + knew that at least heavenly truth would not be kept out by + self-complacence and dependence on good appearances. + + 'After twelve at noon, all are confined in their cells, that + the keepers may have rest from their weekly fatigue. But I was + allowed to have some of the women out to talk with, and the + interview was very pleasant. They showed the natural aptitude + of the sex for refinement. These women were among the + so-called worst, and all from the lowest haunts of vice. Yet + nothing could have been more decorous than their conduct, + while it was also frank; and they showed a sensibility + and sense of propriety, which would not have disgraced any + society. All passed, indeed, much as in one of my Boston + classes. I told them I was writing about Woman; and, as my + path had been a favored one, I wanted to gain information from + those who had been tempted and afflicted. They seemed to + reply in the same spirit in which I asked. Several, however, + expressed a wish to see me alone, as they could then say + _all_, which they could not bear to before one another. I + shall go there again, and take time for this. It is very + gratifying to see the influence these few months of gentle and + intelligent treatment have had upon these women; indeed, it is + wonderful.' + +So much were her sympathies awakened by this visit, that she rejoiced +in the opportunity, soon after offered, of passing Christmas with +these outcasts, and gladly consented to address the women in their +chapel. "There was," says one present, "a most touching tenderness, +blended with dignity, in her air and tone, as, seated in the desk, she +looked round upon her fallen sisters, and begun: 'To me the pleasant +office has been given, of 'wishing you a happy Christmas.' A +simultaneous movement of obeisance rippled over the audience, with +a murmured 'Thank you;' and a smile was spread upon those sad +countenances, like sunrise sparkling on a pool." A few words from this +discourse,--which was extemporaneous, but of which she afterward made +an imperfect record,--will show the temper in which she spoke:-- + + 'I have passed other Christmas days happily, but never felt + as now, how fitting it is that this festival should come among + the snows and chills of winter; for, to many of you, I + trust, it is the birth-day of a higher life, when the sun of + good-will is beginning to return, and the evergreen of hope + gives promise of the eternal year. * * * + + 'Some months ago, we were told of the riot, the license, and + defying spirit which made this place so wretched, and the + conduct of some now here was such that the world said:--"Women + once lost are far worse than abandoned men, and cannot be + restored." But, no! It is not so! I know my sex better. It is + because women have so much feeling, and such a rooted respect + for purity, that they seem so shameless and insolent, when + they feel that they have erred and that others think ill of + them. They know that even the worst of men would like to see + women pure as angels, and when they meet man's look of scorn, + the desperate passion that rises is a perverted pride, which + might have been their guardian angel. Might have been! Rather + let me say, which may be; for the great improvement so rapidly + wrought here gives us all warm hopes. * * * + + 'Be not in haste to leave these walls. Yesterday, one of you, + who was praised, replied, that "if she did well she hoped that + efforts would be made to have her pardoned." I can feel the + monotony and dreariness of your confinement, but I entreat + you to believe that for many of you it would be the greatest + misfortune to be taken from here too soon. You know, better + than I can, the temptations that await you in the world; and + you must now perceive how dark is the gulf of sin and sorrow, + towards which they would hurry you. Here, you have friends + indeed; friends to your better selves; able and ready to + help you. Born of unfortunate marriages, inheriting dangerous + inclinations, neglected in childhood, with bad habits and bad + associates, as certainly must be the case with some of you, + how terrible will be the struggle when you leave this shelter! + O, be sure that you are fitted to triumph over evil, before + you again expose yourselves to it! And, instead of wasting + your time and strength in vain wishes, use this opportunity to + prepare yourselves for a better course of life, when you are + set free. * * * + + 'When I was here before, I was grieved by hearing several of + you say, "I will tell you what you wish to know, if I can be + alone with you; but not before the other prisoners; for, if + they know my past faults, they will taunt me with them." O, + never do that! To taunt the fallen is the part of a fiend. And + you! you were meant by Heaven to become angels of sympathy and + love. It says in the Scripture: "Their angels do always behold + in heaven the face of my Father." So was it with you in your + childhood; so is it now. Your angels stand forever there to + intercede for you; and to you they call to be gentle and good. + Nothing can so grieve and discourage those heavenly friends as + when you mock the suffering. It was one of the highest praises + of Jesus, "The bruised reed he will not break." Remember that, + and never insult, where you cannot aid, a companion. * * * + + 'Let me warn you earnestly against acting insincerely, and + appearing to wish to do right for the sake of approbation + I know you must prize the good opinion of your friendly + protectors; but do not buy it at the cost of truth. Try to be, + not to seem. Only so far as you earnestly wish to do right for + the sake of right, can you gain a principle that will sustain + you hereafter; and that is what we wish, not fair appearances + now. A career can never be happy that begins with falsehood. + Be inwardly, outwardly true; then you will never be weakened + or hardened by the consciousness of playing a part; and if, + hereafter, the unfeeling or thoughtless give you pain, or + take the dreadful risk of pushing back a soul emerging + from darkness, you will feel the strong support of a good + conscience. * * * + + 'And never be discouraged; never despond; never say, "It is + too late." Fear not, even if you relapse again and again. Many + of you have much to contend with. Some may be so faulty, by + temperament or habit, that they can never on this earth lead a + wholly fair and harmonious life, however much they strive. + Yet do what you can. If in one act,--for one day,--you can do + right, let that live like a point of light in your memory; for + if you have done well once you can again. If you fall, do + not lie grovelling; but rise upon your feet once more, and + struggle bravely on. And if aroused conscience makes you + suffer keenly, have patience to bear it. God will not let you + suffer more than you need to fit you for his grace. At the + very moment of your utmost pain, persist to seek his aid, and + it will be given abundantly. Cultivate this spirit of prayer. + I do not mean agitation and excitement, but a deep desire for + truth, purity, and goodness, and you will daily learn how near + He is to every one of 'us.'' + +These fragments, from a hasty report transcribed when the impressions +of the hour had grown faint, give but a shadow of the broad good +sense, hearty fellow-feeling, and pathetic hopefulness, which made so +effective her truly womanly appeal. + +This intercourse with the most unfortunate of her sex, and a desire +to learn more of the causes of their degradation, and of the means +of restoring them, led Margaret, immediately on reaching New York, to +visit the various benevolent institutions, and especially the prisons +on Blackwell's Island. And it was while walking among the beds of the +lazar-house,--mis-called "hospital,"--which then, to the disgrace +of the city, was the cess-pool of its social filth, that an incident +occurred, as touching as it was surprising to herself. A woman was +pointed out who bore a very bad character, as hardened, sulky, and +impenetrable. She was in bad health and rapidly failing. Margaret +requested to be left alone with her; and to her question, 'Are you +'willing to die?' the woman answered, "Yes;" adding, with her usual +bitterness, "not on religious grounds, though." 'That is well,--to +understand yourself,' was Margaret's rejoinder. She then began to +talk with her about her health, and her few comforts, until the +conversation deepened in interest. At length, as Margaret rose to +go, she said: 'Is there not anything I can do 'for you?' The woman +replied: "I should be glad if you will pray with me." + +The condition of these wretched beings was brought the more home to +her heart, as the buildings were directly in sight from Mr. Greeley's +house, at Turtle Bay, where Margaret, on her arrival, went to reside. +'Seven hundred females,' she writes, + + 'are now confined in the Penitentiary opposite this point. + We can pass over in a boat in a few minutes. I mean to visit, + talk, and read with them. I have always felt great interest in + those women who are trampled in the mud to gratify the brute + appetites of men, and wished that I might be brought naturally + into contact with them. Now I am.' + + + + +THE TRIBUNE AND HORACE GREELEY. + + +It was early in December of 1844 that Margaret took up her abode +with Mr. and Mrs. Greeley, in a spacious old wooden mansion, somewhat +ruinous, but delightfully situated on the East River, which she thus +describes:-- + + 'This place is, to me, entirely charming; it is so completely + in the country, and all around is so bold and free. It is two + miles or more from the thickly settled parts of New York, but + omnibuses and cars give me constant access to the city, and, + while I can readily see what and whom I will, I can command + time and retirement. Stopping on the Haarlem road, you enter + a lane nearly a quarter of a mile long, and going by a small + brook and pond that locks in the place, and ascending a + slightly rising ground, get sight of the house, which, + old-fashioned and of mellow tint, fronts on a flower-garden + filled with shrubs, large vines, and trim box borders. On + both sides of the house are beautiful trees, standing fair, + full-grown, and clear. Passing through a wide hall, you come + out upon a piazza, stretching the whole length of the house, + where one can walk in all weathers; and thence by a step or + two, on a lawn, with picturesque masses of rocks, shrubs + and trees, overlooking the East River. Gravel paths lead, by + several turns, down the steep bank to the water's edge, where + round the rocky point a small bay curves, in which boats are + lying. And, owing to the currents, and the set of the tide, + the sails glide sidelong, seeming to greet the house as + they sweep by. The beauty here, seen by moonlight, is truly + transporting. I enjoy it greatly, and the _genius loci_ + receives me as to a home.' + +Here Margaret remained for a year and more, writing regularly for the +Tribune. And how high an estimate this prolonged and near acquaintance +led her to form for its Editor, will appear from a few passages in her +letters:-- + + 'Mr. Greeley is a man of genuine excellence, honorable, + benevolent, and of an uncorrupted disposition. He is + sagacious, and, in his way, of even great abilities. In modes + of life and manner he is a man of the people, and of the + American people.' And again:--Mr. Greeley is in many ways + very interesting for me to know. He teaches me things, which + my own influence on those, who have hitherto approached me, + has prevented me from learning. In our business and friendly + relations, we are on terms of solid good-will and mutual + respect. With the exception of my own mother, I think him the + most disinterestedly generous person I have ever known.' + +And later she writes:-- + + 'You have heard that the Tribune Office was burned to the + ground. For a day I thought it must make a difference, but it + has served only to increase my admiration for Mr. Greeley's + smiling courage. He has really a strong character.' + +On the other side, Mr. Greeley thus records his recollections of his +friend:-- + + "My first acquaintance with Margaret Fuller was made through + the pages of 'The Dial.' The lofty range and rare ability + of that work, and its un-American richness of culture and + ripeness of thought, naturally filled the 'fit audience, + though few,' with a high estimate of those who were known + as its conductors and principal writers. Yet I do not now + remember that any article, which strongly impressed me, was + recognized as from the pen of its female editor, prior to the + appearance of 'The Great Lawsuit,' afterwards matured into the + volume more distinctively, yet not quite accurately, entitled + 'Woman in the Nineteenth Century.' I think this can hardly + have failed to make a deep impression on the mind of every + thoughtful reader, as the production of an original, vigorous, + and earnest mind. 'Summer on the Lakes,' which appeared some + time after that essay, though before its expansion into + a book, struck me as less ambitious in its aim, but more + graceful and delicate in its execution; and as one of the + clearest and most graphic delineations, ever given, of the + Great Lakes, of the Prairies, and of the receding + barbarism, and the rapidly advancing, but rude, repulsive + semi-civilization, which were contending with most unequal + forces for the possession of those rich lands. I still + consider 'Summer on the Lakes' unequalled, especially in its + pictures of the Prairies and of the sunnier aspects of Pioneer + life. + + "Yet, it was the suggestion of Mrs. Greeley,--who had spent + some weeks of successive seasons in or near Boston, and who + had there made the personal acquaintance of Miss Fuller, and + formed a very high estimate and warm attachment for her,--that + induced me, in the autumn of 1844, to offer her terms, which + were accepted, for her assistance in the literary department + of the Tribune. A home in my family was included in the + stipulation. I was myself barely acquainted with her, when she + thus came to reside with us, and I did not fully appreciate + her nobler qualities for some months afterward. Though we + were members of the same household, we scarcely met save at + breakfast; and my time and thoughts were absorbed in duties + and cares, which left me little leisure or inclination for the + amenities of social intercourse. Fortune seemed to delight + in placing us two in relations of friendly antagonism,--or + rather, to develop all possible contrasts in our ideas and + social habits. She was naturally inclined to luxury and a good + appearance before the world. My pride, if I had any, delighted + in bare walls and rugged fare. She was addicted to strong tea + and coffee, both which I rejected and contemned, even in the + most homoeopathic dilutions: while, my general health being + sound, and hers sadly impaired, I could not fail to find in + her dietetic habits the causes of her almost habitual illness; + and once, while we were still barely acquainted, when she + came to the breakfast-table with a very severe headache, I was + tempted to attribute it to her strong potations of the Chinese + leaf the night before. She told me quite frankly that she + 'declined being lectured on the food or beverage she saw fit + to take;' which was but reasonable in one who had arrived + at her maturity of intellect and fixedness of habits. So + the subject was thenceforth tacitly avoided between us; but, + though words were suppressed, looks and involuntary gestures + could not so well be; and an utter divergency of views on this + and kindred themes created a perceptible distance between us. + + "Her earlier contributions to the Tribune were not her best, + and I did not at first prize her aid so highly as I afterwards + learned to do. She wrote always freshly, vigorously, but not + always clearly; for her full and intimate acquaintance with + continental literature, especially German, seemed to have + marred her felicity and readiness of expression in her mother + tongue. While I never met another woman who conversed more + freely or lucidly, the attempt to commit her thoughts to paper + seemed to induce a singular embarrassment and hesitation. She + could write only when in the vein; and this needed often to be + waited for through several days, while the occasion sometimes + required an immediate utterance. The new book must be reviewed + before other journals had thoroughly dissected and discussed + it, else the ablest critique would command no general + attention, and perhaps be, by the greater number, unread. That + the writer should wait the flow of inspiration, or at least + the recurrence of elasticity of spirits and relative health of + body, will not seem unreasonable to the general reader; but + to the inveterate hack-horse of the daily press, accustomed to + write at any time, on any subject, and with a rapidity + limited only by the physical ability to form the requisite + pen-strokes, the notion of waiting for a brighter day, or a + happier frame of mind, appears fantastic and absurd. He would + as soon think of waiting for a change in the moon. Hence, + while I realized that her contributions evinced rare + intellectual wealth and force, I did not value them as I + should have done had they been written more fluently and + promptly. They often seemed to make their appearance 'a day + after the fair.' + + "One other point of tacit antagonism between us may as well be + noted. Margaret was always a most earnest, devoted champion + of the Emancipation of Women, from their past and present + condition of inferiority, to an independence on Men. She + demanded for them the fullest recognition of Social and + Political Equality with the rougher sex; the freest access to + all stations, professions, employments, which are open to any. + To this demand I heartily acceded. It seemed to me, however, + that her clear perceptions of abstract right were often + overborne, in practice, by the influence of education and + habit; that while she demanded absolute equality for Woman, + she exacted a deference and courtesy from men to women, _as_ + women, which was entirely inconsistent with that requirement. + In my view, the equalizing theory can be enforced only by + ignoring the habitual discrimination of men and women, as + forming separate _classes_, and regarding all alike as simply + _persons_,--as human beings. So long as a lady shall deem + herself in need of some gentleman's arm to conduct her + properly out of a dining or ball-room,--so long as she shall + consider it dangerous or unbecoming to walk half a mile alone + by night,--I cannot see how the 'Woman's Rights' theory + is ever to be anything more than a logically defensible + abstraction. In this view Margaret did not at all concur, + and the diversity was the incitement to much perfectly + good-natured, but nevertheless sharpish sparring between us. + Whenever she said or did anything implying the usual demand + of Woman on the courtesy and protection of Manhood, I was apt, + before complying, to look her in the face and exclaim with + marked emphasis,--quoting from her 'Woman in the Nineteenth + Century,'--'LET THEM BE SEA-CAPTAINS IF THEY WILL!' Of course, + this was given and received as raillery, but it did not tend + to ripen our intimacy or quicken my esteem into admiration. + Though no unkind word ever passed between us, nor any approach + to one, yet we two dwelt for months under the same roof, as + scarcely more than acquaintances, meeting once a day at a + common board, and having certain business relations with + each other. Personally, I regarded her rather as my wife's + cherished friend than as my own, possessing many lofty + qualities and some prominent weaknesses, and a good deal + spoiled by the unmeasured flattery of her little circle of + inordinate admirers. For myself, burning no incense on any + human shrine, I half-consciously resolved to 'keep my eye beam + clear,' and escape the fascination which she seemed to exert + over the eminent and cultivated persons, mainly women, who + came to our out-of-the-way dwelling to visit her, and who + seemed generally to regard her with a strangely Oriental + adoration. + + "But as time wore on, and I became inevitably better and + better acquainted with her, I found myself drawn, almost + irresistibly, into the general current. I found that her + faults and weaknesses were all superficial and obvious to the + most casual, if undazzled, observer. They rather dwindled than + expanded upon a fuller knowledge; or rather, took on new and + brighter aspects in the light of her radiant and lofty soul. I + learned to know her as a most fearless and unselfish champion + of Truth and Human Good at all hazards, ready to be their + standard-bearer through danger and obloquy, and, if need be, + their martyr. I think few have more keenly appreciated + the material goods of life,--Rank, Riches, Power, Luxury, + Enjoyment; but I know none who would have more cheerfully + surrendered them all, if the well-being of our Race could + thereby have been promoted. I have never met another in whom + the inspiring hope of Immortality was so strengthened into + profoundest conviction. She did not _believe_ in our future + and unending existence,--she _knew_ it, and lived ever in the + broad glare of its morning twilight. With a limited income + and liberal wants, she was yet generous beyond the bounds of + reason. Had the gold of California been all her own, she would + have disbursed nine tenths of it in eager and well-directed + efforts to stay, or at least diminish, the flood of human + misery. And it is but fair to state, that the liberality she + evinced was fully paralleled by the liberality she experienced + at the hands of others. Had she needed thousands, and made + her wants known, she had friends who would have cheerfully + supplied her. I think few persons, in their pecuniary + dealings, have experienced and evinced more of the better + qualities of human nature than Margaret Fuller. She seemed to + inspire those who approached her with that generosity which + was a part of her nature. + + "Of her writings I do not purpose to speak critically. I think + most of her contributions to the Tribune, while she remained + with us, were characterized by a directness, terseness, + and practicality, which are wanting in some of her earlier + productions. Good judges have confirmed my own opinion, that, + while her essays in the Dial are more elaborate and ambitious, + her reviews in the Tribune are far better adapted to win the + favor and sway the judgment of the great majority of readers. + But, one characteristic of her writings I feel bound to + commend,--their absolute truthfulness. She never asked how + this would sound, nor whether that would do, nor what would be + the effect of saying anything; but simply, 'Is it the truth? + Is it such as the public should know?' And if her judgment + answered, 'Yes,' she uttered it; no matter what turmoil it + might excite, nor what odium it might draw down on her + own head. Perfect conscientiousness was an unfailing + characteristic of her literary efforts. Even the severest + of her critiques,--that on Longfellow's Poems,--for which + an impulse in personal pique has been alleged, I happen with + certainty to know had no such origin. When I first handed her + the book to review, she excused herself, assigning the wide + divergence of her views of Poetry from those of the author and + his school, as her reason. She thus induced me to attempt the + task of reviewing it myself. But day after day sped by, and + I could find no hour that was not absolutely required for + the performance of some duty that _would not_ be put off, nor + turned over to another. At length I carried the book back to + her in utter despair of ever finding an hour in which even to + look through it; and, at my renewed and earnest request, she + reluctantly undertook its discussion. The statement of these + facts is but an act of justice to her memory. + + "Profoundly religious,--though her creed was, at once, very + broad and very short, with a genuine love for inferiors in + social position, whom she was habitually studying, by her + counsel and teachings, to elevate and improve,--she won + the confidence and affection of those who attracted her, by + unbounded sympathy and trust. She probably knew the cherished + secrets of more hearts than any one else, because she freely + imparted her own. With a full share both of intellectual and + of family pride, she preëminently recognized and responded to + the essential brotherhood of all human kind, and needed but to + know that a fellow-being required her counsel or assistance, + to render her, riot merely willing, but eager to impart it. + Loving ease, luxury, and the world's good opinion, she stood + ready to renounce them all, at the call of pity or of duty. + I think no one, not radically averse to the whole system of + domestic servitude, would have treated servants, of whatever + class, with such uniform and thoughtful consideration,--a + regard which wholly merged their factitious condition in their + antecedent and permanent humanity. I think few servants ever + lived weeks with her, who were not dignified and lastingly + benefited by her influence and her counsels. They might be + at first repelled, by what seemed her too stately manner and + exacting disposition, but they soon learned to esteem and love + her. + + "I have known few women, and scarcely another maiden, who had + the heart and the courage to speak with such frank compassion, + in mixed circles, of the most degraded and outcast portion of + the sex. The contemplation of their treatment, especially + by the guilty authors of their ruin, moved her to a calm and + mournful indignation, which she did not attempt to suppress + nor control. Others were willing to pity and deplore; Margaret + was more inclined to vindicate and to redeem. She did not + hesitate to avow that on meeting some of these abused, unhappy + sisters, she had been surprised to find them scarcely fallen + morally below the ordinary standard of Womanhood,--realizing + and loathing their debasement; anxious to escape it; and only + repelled by the sad consciousness that for them sympathy and + society remained only so long as they should persist in + the ways of pollution. Those who have read her 'Woman,' may + remember some daring comparisons therein suggested between + these Pariahs of society and large classes of their + respectable sisters; and that was no fitful expression,--no + sudden outbreak,--but impelled by her most deliberate + convictions. I think, if she had been born to large fortune, a + house of refuge for all female outcasts desiring to return to + the ways of Virtue, would have been one of her most cherished + and first realized conceptions. + + "Her love of children was one of her most prominent + characteristics. The pleasure she enjoyed in their society + was fully counterpoised by that she imparted. To them she was + never lofty, nor reserved, nor mystical; for no one had ever + a more perfect faculty for entering into their sports, their + feelings, their enjoyments. She could narrate almost any + story in language level to their capacities, and in a manner + calculated to bring out their hearty and often boisterously + expressed delight. She possessed marvellous powers of + observation and imitation or mimicry; and, had she been + attracted to the stage, would have been the first actress + America has produced, whether in tragedy or comedy. Her + faculty of mimicking was not needed to commend her to the + hearts of children, but it had its effect in increasing the + fascinations of her genial nature and heartfelt joy in their + society. To amuse and instruct them was an achievement for + which she would readily forego any personal object; and her + intuitive perception of the toys, games, stories, rhymes, + &c., best adapted to arrest and enchain their attention, was + unsurpassed. Between her and my only child, then living, who + was eight months old when she came to us, and something over + two years when she sailed for Europe, tendrils of affection + gradually intertwined themselves, which I trust Death has not + severed, but rather multiplied and strengthened. She became + his teacher, playmate, and monitor; and he requited her with a + prodigality of love and admiration. + + "I shall not soon forget their meeting in my office, after + some weeks' separation, just before she left us forever. His + mother had brought him in from the country and left him asleep + on my sofa, while she was absent making purchases, and he had + rolled off and hurt himself in the fall, waking with the shock + in a phrensy of anger, just before Margaret, hearing of his + arrival, rushed into the office to find him. I was vainly + attempting to soothe him as she entered; but he was running + from one end to the other of the office, crying passionately, + and refusing to be pacified. She hastened to him, in perfect + confidence that her endearments would calm the current of his + feelings,--that the sound of her well-remembered voice would + banish all thought of his pain,--and that another moment would + see him restored to gentleness; but, half-wakened, he did not + heed her, and probably did not even realize who it was that + caught him repeatedly in her arms and tenderly insisted that + he should restrain himself. At last she desisted in + despair; and, with the bitter tears streaming down her face, + observed:--'Pickie, many friends have treated me unkindly, + but no one had ever the power to cut me to the heart, as you + have!' Being thus let alone, he soon came to himself, and + their mutual delight in the meeting was rather heightened by + the momentary estrangement. + + "They had one more meeting; their last on earth! 'Aunty + Margaret' was to embark for Europe on a certain day, and + 'Pickie' was brought into the city to bid her farewell. + They met this time also at my office, and together we thence + repaired to the ferry-boat, on which she was returning to her + residence in Brooklyn to complete her preparations for the + voyage. There they took a tender and affecting leave of each + other. But soon his mother called at the office, on her way to + the departing ship, and we were easily persuaded to accompany + her thither, and say farewell once more, to the manifest + satisfaction of both Margaret and the youngest of her devoted + friends. Thus they parted, never to meet again in time. She + sent him messages and presents repeatedly from Europe; and he, + when somewhat older, dictated a letter in return, which was + joyfully received and acknowledged. When the mother of our + great-souled friend spent some days with us nearly two years + afterward, 'Pickie' talked to her often and lovingly of 'Aunty + Margaret,' proposing that they two should 'take a boat and go + over and see her,'--for, to his infantile conception, the low + coast of Long Island, visible just across the East River, + was that Europe to which she had sailed, and where she was + unaccountably detained so long. Alas! a far longer and more + adventurous journey was required to reunite those loving + souls! The 12th of July, 1849, saw him stricken down, from + health to death, by the relentless cholera; and my letter, + announcing that calamity, drew from her a burst of passionate + sorrow, such as hardly any bereavement but the loss of a + very near relative could have impelled. Another year had just + ended, when a calamity, equally sudden, bereft a wide circle + of her likewise, with her husband and infant son. Little did I + fear, when I bade her a confident Good-by, on the deck of her + outward-bound ship, that the sea would close over her earthly + remains, ere we should meet again; far less that the light + of my eyes and the cynosure of my hopes, who then bade her + a tenderer and sadder farewell, would precede her on the dim + pathway to that 'Father's house,' whence is no returning! Ah, + well! God is above all, and gracious alike in what he conceals + and what he discloses;--benignant and bounteous, as well when + he reclaims as when he bestows. In a few years, at farthest, + our loved and lost ones will welcome us to their home." + +Favorably as Mr. Greeley speaks of Margaret's articles in the Tribune, +it is yet true that she never brought her full power to bear upon +them; partly because she was too much exhausted by previous over-work, +partly because it hindered her free action to aim at popular effect. +Her own estimate of them is thus expressed:-- + + 'I go on very moderately, for my strength is not great, and + I am connected with one who is anxious that I should not + overtask it. Body and mind, I have long required rest and + mere amusement, and now obey Nature as much as I can. If + she pleases to restore me to an energetic state, she will + by-and-by; if not, I can only hope this world will not turn + me out of doors too abruptly. I value my present position very + much, as enabling me to speak effectually some right words to + a large circle; and, while I can do so, am content.' + +Again she says,-- + + 'I am pleased with your sympathy about the Tribune, for I + do not find much among my old friends. They think I ought to + produce something excellent, while I am satisfied to aid + in the great work of popular education. I never regarded + literature merely as a collection of exquisite products, but + rather as a means of mutual interpretation. Feeling that many + are reached and in some degree helped, the thoughts of every + day seem worth noting, though in a form that does not inspire + me.' + +The most valuable of her contributions, according to her own judgment, +were the Criticisms on Contemporary Authors in Europe and America. A +few of these were revised in the spring of 1846, and, in connection +with some of her best articles selected from the Dial, Western +Messenger, American Monthly, &c., appeared in two volumes of Wiley and +Putnam's Library of American Books, under the title of PAPERS ON ART +AND LITERATURE. + + + + +SOCIETY. + + +Heralded by her reputation, as a scholar, writer, and talker, and +brought continually before the public by her articles in the Tribune, +Margaret found a circle of acquaintance opening before her, as wide, +various, and rich, as time and inclination permitted her to know. +Persons sought her in her country retreat, attracted alike by idle +curiosity, desire for aid, and respectful sympathy. She visited freely +in several interesting families in New York and Brooklyn: occasionally +accepted invitations to evening parties, and often met, at the +somewhat celebrated _soirées_ of Miss Lynch, the assembled authors, +artists, critics, wits, and _dilettanti_ of New York. As was +inevitable, also, for one of such powerful magnetic influence, liberal +soul and broad judgment, she once again became, as elsewhere she had +been, a confidant and counsellor of the tempted and troubled; and her +geniality, lively conversation, and ever fresh love, gave her a home +in many hearts. But the subdued tone of her spirits at this period led +her to prefer seclusion. + +Of her own social habits she writes:-- + + 'It is not well to keep entirely apart from the stream of + common life; so, though I never go out when busy, nor keep + late hours, I find it pleasanter and better to enter somewhat + into society. I thus meet with many entertaining acquaintance, + and some friends. I can never, indeed, expect, in America, or + in this world, to form relations with nobler persons than I + have already known; nor can I put my heart into these new ties + as into the old ones, though probably it would still respond + to commanding excellence. But my present circle satisfies + my wants. As to what is called "good society," I am wholly + indifferent. I know several women, whom I like very much, + and yet more men. I hear good music, which answers my social + desires better than any other intercourse can; and I love + four or five interesting children, in whom I always find more + genuine sympathy than in their elders.' + +Of the impression produced by Margaret on those who were but slightly +acquainted with her, some notion may be formed from the following +sketch:-- + + "In general society, she commanded respect rather than + admiration All persons were curious to see her, and in full + rooms her fine head and spiritual expression at once marked + her out from the crowd; but the most were repelled by what + seemed conceit, pedantry, and a harsh spirit of criticism, + while, on her part, she appeared to regard those around her + as frivolous, superficial, and conventional. Indeed, I must + frankly confess, that we did not meet in pleasant relations, + except now and then, when the lifting of a veil, as it were, + revealed for a moment the true life of each. Yet I was fond of + looking at her from a distance, and defending her when silly + people were inclined to cavil at her want of feminine graces. + Then I would say, 'I would like to be an artist now, that I + might paint, not the care-worn countenance and the uneasy air + of one seemingly out of harmony with the scene about her, but + the soul that sometimes looks out from under those large lids. + Michel Angelo would have made her a Sibyl.' I remember I was + surprised to find her height no greater; for her writings had + always given me an impression of magnitude. Thus I studied + though I avoided her, admitting, the while, proudly and + joyously, that she was a woman to reverence. A trifling + incident, however, gave me the key to much in her character, + of which, before, I had not dreamed. It was one evening, after + a Valentine party, where Frances Osgood, Margaret Fuller, and + other literary ladies, had attracted some attention, that, + as we were in the dressing-room preparing to go home, I + heard Margaret sigh deeply. Surprised and moved, I said, + 'Why?'--'Alone, as usual,' was her pathetic answer, followed + by a few sweet, womanly remarks, touching as they were + beautiful. Often, after, I found myself recalling her look and + tone, with tears in my eyes; for before I had regarded her as + a being cold, and abstracted, if not scornful." + +Cold, abstracted, and scornful! About this very time it was that +Margaret wrote in her journal:-- + + 'Father, let me not injure my fellows during this period of + repression. I feel that when we meet my tones are not so sweet + as I would have them. O, let me not wound! I, who know so well + how wounds can burn and ache, should not inflict them. Let my + touch be light and gentle. Let me keep myself uninvaded, but + let me not fail to be kind and tender, when need is. Yet I + would not assume an overstrained poetic magnanimity. Help + me to do just right, and no more. O, make truth profound and + simple in me!' + +Again:-- + + 'The heart bleeds,--faith almost gives way, to see man's + seventy years of chrysalis. Is it not too long? Enthusiasm + must struggle fiercely to burn clear amid these fogs. In what + little, low, dark cells of care and prejudice, without + one soaring thought or melodious fancy, do poor + mortals--well-intentioned enough, and with religious + aspiration too--forever creep. And yet the sun sets to-day as + gloriously bright as ever it did on the temples of Athens, and + the evening star rises as heavenly pure as it rose on the + eye of Dante. O, Father! help me to free my fellows from the + conventional bonds whereby their sight is holden. By purity + and freedom let me teach them justice.' + +And yet again:-- + + 'There comes a consciousness that I have no real hold on + life,--no real, permanent connection with any soul. I seem a + wandering Intelligence, driven from spot to spot, that I may + learn all secrets, and fulfil a circle of knowledge. This + thought envelopes me as a cold atmosphere. I 'do not see how I + shall go through this destiny. I can, if it is mine; but I do + not feel that I can.' + +Casual observers mistook Margaret's lofty idealism for personal pride; +but thus speaks one who really knew her:--"You come like one of the +great powers of nature, harmonizing with all beauty of the soul or +of the earth. You cannot be discordant with anything that is true and +deep. I thank God for the noble privilege of being recognized by so +large, tender, and radiant a soul as thine." + + + + +EUROPE. + +LETTERS + + + "I go to prove my soul. + I see my way, as birds their trackless way. + In some time, God's good time, I shall arrive + He guides me and the bird. In his good time!" + + BROWNING. + + + "One, who, if He be called upon to face + Some awful moment, to which Heaven has joined + Great issues, good or bad for human kind, + Is happy as a lover, and attired + With sudden brightness, like a man inspired; + And, through the heat of conflict, keeps the law + In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw." + + WORDSWORTH. + + + "Italia! Italia! O tu cui feo la sorte + Dono infelice di bellezza, ond' hai + Funesta dote d' infiniti guai, + Che in fronte scritti per gran doglia porte. + Deh, fossi tu men bella, ò almen píù forte!" + + FILICAJA. + + + "Oh, not to guess it at the first. + But I did guess it,--that is, I divined, + Felt by an instinct how it was;--why else + Should I pronounce you free from all that heap + Of sins, which had been irredeemable? + I felt they were not yours." + + BROWNING. + + + "Nests there are many of this very year, + Many the nests are, which the winds shall shake, + The rains run through and other birds beat down + Yours, O Aspasia! rests against the temple + Of heavenly love, and, thence inviolate, + It shall not fall this winter, nor the next." + + LANDOR. + + + "Lift up your heart upon the knees of God, + Losing yourself, your smallness and your darkness + In His great light, who fills and moves the world, + Who hath alone the quiet of perfect motion." + + STERLING. + + + + +VIII. + +EUROPE + + * * * * * + + +[It has been judged best to let Margaret herself tell the story of her +travels. In the spring of 1846, her valued friends, Marcus Spring and +lady, of New York, had decided to make a tour in Europe, with their +son, and they invited Miss Fuller to accompany them. An arrangement +was soon made on such terms as she could accept, and the party sailed +from Boston in the "Cambria," on the first of August. The following +narrative is made up of letters addressed by her to various +correspondents. Some extracts, describing distinguished persons whom +she saw, have been borrowed from her letters to the New York Tribune.] + + + + +TO MRS. MARGARET FULLER. + + +_Liverpool, Aug_. 16, 1846. + +My dear Mother:-- + +The last two days at sea passed well enough, as a number of agreeable +persons were introduced to me, and there were several whom I knew +before. I enjoyed nothing on the sea; the excessively bracing air so +affected me that I could not bear to look at it. The sight of land +delighted me. The tall crags, with their breakers and circling +sea-birds; then the green fields, how glad! We had a very fine day to +come ashore, and made the shortest passage ever known. The stewardess +said, "Any one who complained this time tempted the Almighty." I did +not complain, but I could hardly have borne another day. I had no +appetite; but am now making up for all deficiencies, and feel already +a renovation beginning from the voyage; and, still more, from freedom +and entire change of scene. + +We came here Wednesday, at noon; next day we went to Manchester; the +following day to Chester; returning here Saturday evening. + +On Sunday we went to hear James Martineau; were introduced to him, +and other leading persons. The next day and evening I passed in the +society of very pleasant people, who have made every exertion to give +me the means of seeing and learning; but they have used up all my +strength. + + + + +LONDON. + +TO C.S. + + +As soon as I reached England, I found how right we were in supposing +there was elsewhere a greater range of interesting character among the +men, than with us. I do not find, indeed, any so valuable as three or +four among the most marked we have known; but many that are strongly +individual, and have a fund of hidden life. + +In Westmoreland, I knew, and have since been seeing in London, a man, +such as would interest you a good deal; Mr. Atkinson. He is sometimes +called the "prince of the English mesmerisers;" and he has the fine +instinctive nature you may suppose from that. He is a man of about +thirty; in the fulness of his powers; tall, and finely formed, with +a head for Leonardo to paint; mild and composed, but powerful and +sagacious; he does not think, but perceives and acts. He is intimate +with artists, having studied architecture himself as a profession; but +has some fortune on which he lives. Sometimes stationary and acting +in the affairs of other men; sometimes wandering about the world and +learning; he seems bound by no tie, yet looks as if he had relatives +in every place. + +I saw, also, a man,--an artist,--severe and antique in his spirit; he +seemed burdened by the sorrows of aspiration; yet very calm, as secure +in the justice of fate. What he does is bad, but full of a great +desire. His name is David Scott. I saw another,--a pupil of De la +Roche,--very handsome, and full of a voluptuous enjoyment of nature: +him I liked a little in a different way. + +By far the most beauteous person I have seen is Joseph Mazzini. If you +ever see Saunders' "People's Journal," you can read articles by him +that will give you some notion of his mind, especially one on his +friends, headed "Italian Martyrs." He is one in whom holiness has +purified, but somewhat dwarfed the man. + + * * * * * + +Our visit to Mr. Wordsworth was fortunate. He is seventy-six; but his +is a florid, fair old age. He walked with us to all his haunts about +the house. Its situation is beautiful, and the "Rydalian Laurels" are +magnificent. Still, I saw abodes among the hills that I should have +preferred for Wordsworth; more wild and still more romantic. The fresh +and lovely Rydal Mount seems merely the retirement of a gentleman, +rather than the haunt of a poet. He showed his benignity of +disposition in several little things, especially in his attentions to +a young boy we had with us. This boy had left the circus, exhibiting +its feats of horsemanship, in Ambleside, "for that day only," at his +own desire to see Wordsworth; and I feared he would be dissatisfied, +as I know I should have been at his age, if, when called to see +a poet, I had found no Apollo flaming with youthful glory, +laurel-crowned, and lyre in hand; but, instead, a reverend old man +clothed in black, and walking with cautious step along the level +garden-path. However, he was not disappointed; and Wordsworth, in his +turn, seemed to feel and prize a congenial nature in this child. + +Taking us into the house, he showed us the picture of his sister, +repeating with much expression some lines of hers, and those so famous +of his about her, beginning "Five years," &c.; also, his own picture, +by Inman, of whom he spoke with esteem. I had asked to see a picture +in that room, which has been described in one of the finest of his +later poems. A hundred times had I wished to see this picture, yet +when seen was not disappointed by it. The light was unfavorable, but +it had a light of its own,-- + + "whose mild gleam + Of beauty never ceases to enrich + The common light." + +Mr. Wordsworth is fond of the hollyhock; a partiality scarcely +deserved by the flower, but which marks the simplicity of his tastes. +He had made a long avenue of them, of all colors, from the crimson +brown to rose, straw-color, and white, and pleased himself with having +made proselytes to a liking for them, among his neighbors. + +I never have seen such magnificent fuchsias as at Ambleside, and there +was one to be seen in every cottage-yard. They are no longer here +under the shelter of the green-house, as with us, and as they used to +be in England. The plant, from its grace and finished elegance, being +a great favorite of mine, I should like to see it as frequently and of +as luxuriant growth at home, and asked their mode of culture, which +I here mark down for the benefit of all who may be interested. Make +a bed of bog-earth and sand; put down slips of the fuchsia, and give +them a great deal of water; this is all they need. People leave them +out here in winter, but perhaps they would not bear the cold of our +Januaries. + +Mr. Wordsworth spoke with more liberality than we expected of the +recent measures about the Corn-laws, saying that "the principle +was certainly right, though whether existing interests had been as +carefully attended to as was right, he was not prepared to say," &c. +His neighbors were pleased to hear of his speaking thus mildly, and +hailed it as a sign that he was opening his mind to more light on +these subjects. They lament that his habits of seclusion keep him +ignorant of the real wants of England and the world. Living in this +region, which is cultivated by small proprietors, where there is +little poverty, vice, or misery, he hears not the voice which cries so +loudly from other parts of England, and will not be stilled by sweet, +poetic suasion, or philosophy, for it is the cry of men in the jaws of +destruction. + +It was pleasant to find the reverence inspired by this great and pure +mind warmest near home. Our landlady, in heaping praises upon him, +added, constantly, "and Mrs. Wordsworth, too." "Do the people here," +said I, "value Mr. Wordsworth most because he is a celebrated writer?" +"Truly, madam," said she, "I think it is because he is so kind a +neighbor." + + "True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home." + + + + +EDINBURGH.----DE QUINCEY. + + +At Edinburgh we were in the wrong season, and many persons we most +wished to see were absent. We had, however, the good fortune to find +Dr. Andrew Combe, who received us with great kindness. I was impressed +with great and affectionate respect, by the benign and even temper of +his mind, his extensive and accurate knowledge, accompanied by a large +and intelligent liberality. Of our country he spoke very wisely and +hopefully. + + * * * * * + +I had the satisfaction, not easily attainable now, of seeing De +Quincey for some hours, and in the mood of conversation. As one +belonging to the Wordsworth and Coleridge constellation (he, too, +is now seventy years of age), the thoughts and knowledge of Mr. De +Quincey lie in the past, and oftentimes he spoke of matters now become +trite to one of a later culture. But to all that fell from his lips, +his eloquence, subtle and forcible as the wind, full and gently +falling as the evening dew, lent a peculiar charm. He is an admirable +narrator; not rapid, but gliding along like a rivulet through a green +meadow, giving and taking a thousand little beauties not absolutely +required to give his story due relief, but each, in itself, a separate +boon. + +I admired, too, his urbanity; so opposite to the rapid, slang, +Vivian-Greyish style, current in the literary conversation of the +day. "Sixty years since," men had time to do things better and more +gracefully. + + + + +CHALMERS. + + +With Dr. Chalmers we passed a couple of hours. He is old now, but +still full of vigor and fire. We had an opportunity of hearing a +fine burst of indignant eloquence from him. "I shall blush to my very +bones," said he, "if the _Chaarrch_" (sound these two _rrs_ with +as much burr as possible, and you will get an idea of his mode of +pronouncing that unweariable word,) "if the Chaarrch yield to the +storm." He alluded to the outcry now raised by the Abolitionists +against the Free Church, whose motto is, "Send back the money;" i.e., +the money taken from the American slaveholders. Dr. C. felt, that +if they did not yield from conviction, they must not to assault. +His manner in speaking of this gave me a hint of the nature of his +eloquence. He seldom preaches now. + + * * * * * + +A Scottish gentleman told me the following story:--Burns, still only +in the dawn of his celebrity, was invited to dine with one of the +neighboring so-called gentry, unhappily quite void of true gentle +blood. On arriving, he found his plate set in the servants' room. +After dinner, he was invited into a room where guests were assembled, +and, a chair being placed for him at the lower end of the board, a +glass of wine was offered, and he was requested to sing one of his +songs for the entertainment, of the company. He drank off the wine, +and thundered forth in reply his grand song "For a' that and a' that," +and having finished his prophecy and prayer, nature's nobleman left +his churlish entertainers to hide their heads in the home they had +disgraced. + + + + +A NIGHT ON BEN LOMOND. + + +At Inversnaid, we took a boat to go down Loch Lomond, to the little +inn of Rowardennan, from which the ascent is made of Ben Lomond. We +found a day of ten thousand, for our purpose; but, unhappily, a large +party had come with the sun, and engaged all the horses, so that if we +went, it must be on foot. This was something of an enterprise for me, +as the ascent is four miles, and toward the summit quite fatiguing. +However, in the pride of newly-gained health and strength, I was +ready, and set forth with Mr. S. alone. We took no guide, and the +people of the house did not advise us to take one, as they ought. + +On reaching the peak, the sight was one of beauty and grandeur such as +imagination never painted. You see around you no plain ground, but on +every side constellations, or groups of hills, exquisitely dressed in +the soft purple of the heather, amid which gleam the lakes, like eyes +that tell the secrets of the earth, and drink in those of the heavens. +Peak beyond peak caught from the shifting light all the colors of +the prism, and, on the furthest, angel companies seemed hovering in +glorious white robes. + +About four o'clock we began our descent. Near the summit, the traces +of the path are not distinct, and I said to Mr. S., after a while, +that we had lost it. He said he thought that was of no consequence; +we could find our way down. I said I thought it was, as the ground was +full of springs that were bridged over in the pathway. He accordingly +went to look for it, and I stood still, because I was so tired I did +not like to waste any labor. + +Soon he called to me that he had found it, and I followed in the +direction where he seemed to be. But I mistook, overshot it, and saw +him no more. In about ten minutes I became alarmed, and called him +many times. It seems, he on his side shouted also, but the brow of +some hill was between us, and we neither saw nor heard one another. I +then thought I would make the best of my way down, and I should +find him when I arrived. But, in doing so, I found the justice of my +apprehension about the springs, so soon as I got to the foot of the +hills; for I would sink up to my knees in bog, and must go up the +hills again, seeking better crossing places. Thus I lost much time. +Nevertheless, in the twilight, I saw, at last, the lake, and the inn +of Rowardennan on its shore. + +Between me and it, lay, direct, a high heathery hill, which I +afterwards found is called "The Tongue," because hemmed in on three +sides by a water-course. It looked as if, could I only get to the +bottom of that, I should be on comparatively level ground. I +then attempted to descend in the water-course, but, finding that +impracticable, climbed on the hill again, and let myself down by the +heather, for it was very steep, and full of deep holes. With great +fatigue, I got to the bottom, but when I was about to cross the +water-course there, I felt afraid, it looked so deep in the dim +twilight. I got down as far as I could by the root of a tree, and +threw down a stone. It sounded very hollow, and I was afraid to jump. +The shepherds told me afterwards, if I had, I should probably have +killed myself, it was so deep, and the bed of the torrent full of +sharp stones. + +I then tried to ascend the hill again, for there was no other way to +get off it; but soon sank down utterly exhausted. When able to get up +again, and look about me, it was completely dark. I saw, far below me, +a light, that looked about as big as a pin's head, that I knew to be +from the inn at Rowardennan, but heard no sound except the rush of the +waterfall, and the sighing of the night wind. + +For the first few minutes after I perceived I had come to my night's +lodging, such as it was, the circumstance looked appalling. I was very +lightly clad, my feet and dress were very wet, I had only a little +shawl to throw round me, and the cold autumn wind had already come, +and the night mist was to fall on me, all fevered and exhausted as I +was. I thought I should not live through the night, or, if I did, I +must be an invalid henceforward. I could not even keep myself warm by +walking, for, now it was dark, it would be too dangerous to stir. My +only chance, however, lay in motion, and my only help in myself; and +so convinced was I of this, that I did keep in motion the whole of +that long night, imprisoned as I was on such a little perch of that +great mountain. + +For about two hours, I saw the stars, and very cheery and +companionable they looked; but then the mist fell, and I saw nothing +more, except such apparitions as visited Ossian, on the hill-side, +when he went out by night, and struck the bosky shield, and called to +him the spirits of the heroes, and the white-armed maids, with their +blue eyes of grief. To me, too, came those visionary shapes. Floating +slowly and gracefully, their white robes would unfurl from the great +body of mist in which they had been engaged, and come upon me with a +kiss pervasively cold as that of death. Then the moon rose. I could +not see her, but her silver light filled the mist. Now I knew it was +two o'clock, and that, having weathered out so much of the night, I +might the rest; and the hours hardly seemed long to me more. + +It may give an idea of the extent of the mountain, that, though I +called, every now and then, with all my force, in case by chance some +aid might be near, and though no less than twenty men, with their +dogs, were looking for me, I never heard a sound, except the rush of +the waterfall and the sighing of the night wind, and once or twice +the startling of the grouse in the heather. It was sublime indeed,--a +never-to-be-forgotten presentation of stern, serene realities. At last +came the signs of day,--the gradual clearing and breaking up; some +faint sounds from I know not what; the little flies, too, arose from +their bed amid the purple heather, and bit me. Truly they were very +welcome to do so. But what was my disappointment to find the mist so +thick, that I could see neither lake nor inn, nor anything to guide +me. I had to go by guess, and, as it happened, my Yankee method served +me well. I ascended the hill, crossed the torrent, in the waterfall, +first drinking some of the water, which was as good at that time as +ambrosia. I crossed in that place, because the waterfall made steps, +as it were, to the next hill. To be sure, they were covered with +water, but I was already entirely wet with the mist, so that it +did not matter. I kept on scrambling, as it happened, in the right +direction, till, about seven, some of the shepherds found me. The +moment they came, all my feverish strength departed, and they carried +me home, where my arrival relieved my friends of distress far greater +than I had undergone; for I had my grand solitude, my Ossianic +visions, and the pleasure of sustaining myself; while they had only +doubt, amounting to anguish, and a fruitless search through the night. + +Entirely contrary to my forebodings, I only suffered for this a few +days, and was able to take a parting look at my prison, as I went +down the lake, with feelings of complacency. It was a majestic-looking +hill, that Tongue, with the deep ravines on either side, and the +richest robe of heather I have anywhere seen. + +Mr. S. gave all the men who were looking for me a dinner in the +barn, and he and Mrs. S. ministered to them; and they talked of +Burns,--really the national writer, and known by them, apparently, +as none other is,--and of hair-breadth 'scapes by flood and fell. +Afterwards they were all brought up to see me, and it was gratifying +to note the good breeding and good feeling with which they deported +themselves. Indeed, this adventure created quite an intimate feeling +between us and the people there. I had been much pleased before, +in attending one of their dances, at the genuine independence and +politeness of their conduct. They were willing to dance their Highland +flings and strathspeys, for our amusement, and did it as naturally and +as freely as they would have offered the stranger the best chair. + + + + +JOANNA BAILLIE.--HOWITTS.--SMITH. + + +I have mentioned with satisfaction seeing some persons who illustrated +the past dynasty in the progress of thought here: Wordsworth, Dr. +Chalmers, De Quincey, Andrew Combe. With a still higher pleasure, +because to one of my own sex, whom I have honored almost above any, +I went to pay my court to Joanna Baillie. I found on her brow, not, +indeed, a coronal of gold; but a serenity and strength undimmed and +unbroken by the weight of more than fourscore years, or by the scanty +appreciation which her thoughts have received. We found her in her +little calm retreat, at Hampstead, surrounded by marks of love and +reverence from distinguished and excellent friends. Near her was the +sister, older than herself, yet still sprightly and full of active +kindness, whose character and their mutual relations she has, in one +of her last poems, indicated with such a happy mixture of sagacity, +humor, and tender pathos, and with so absolute a truth of outline. + + * * * * * + +Mary and William Howitt are the main support of the People's Journal. +I saw them several times at their cheerful and elegant home. In Mary +Howitt, I found the same engaging traits of character we are led +to expect from her books for children. At their house, I became +acquainted with Dr. Southwood Smith, the well-known philanthropist. +He is at present engaged in the construction of good tenements, +calculated to improve the condition of the working people. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Paris, Nov. 16, 1846._--I meant to write on my arrival in London, six +weeks ago; but as it was not what is technically called "the season," +I thought I had best send all my letters of introduction at once, that +I might glean what few good people I could. But more than I expected +were in town. These introduced others, and in three days I was engaged +in such a crowd of acquaintance, that I had hardly time to dress, and +none to sleep, during all the weeks I was in London. + +I enjoyed the time extremely. I find myself much in my element in +European society. It does not, indeed, come up to my ideal, but so +many of the encumbrances are cleared away that used to weary me in +America, that I can enjoy a freer play of faculty, and feel, if not +like a bird in the air, at least as easy as a fish in water. + +In Edinburgh, I met Dr. Brown. He is still quite a young man, but with +a high ambition, and, I should think, commensurate powers. But all is +yet in the bud with him. He has a friend, David Scott, a painter, +full of imagination, and very earnest in his views of art. I had some +pleasant hours with them, and the last night which they and I passed +with De Quincey, a real grand _conversazione_, quite in the Landor +style, which lasted, in full harmony, some hours. + + + + +CARLYLE. + + +Of the people I saw in London, you will wish me to speak first of the +Carlyles. Mr. C. came to see me at once, and appointed an evening to +be passed at their house. That first time, I was delighted with him. +He was in a very sweet humor,--full of wit and pathos, without being +overbearing or oppressive. I was quite carried away with the rich flow +of his discourse; and the hearty, noble earnestness of his personal +being brought back the charm which once was upon his writing, before I +wearied of it. I admired his Scotch, his way of singing his great full +sentences, so that each one was like the stanza of a narrative ballad. +He let me talk, now and then, enough to free my lungs and change my +position, so that I did not get tired. That evening, he talked of the +present state of things in England, giving light, witty sketches +of the men of the day, fanatics and others, and some sweet, homely +stories he told of things he had known of the Scotch peasantry. Of you +he spoke with hearty kindness; and he told, with beautiful feeling, a +story of some poor farmer, or artisan, in the country, who on Sunday +lays aside the cark and care of that dirty English world, and sits +reading the Essays, and looking upon the sea. + +I left him that night, intending to go out very often to their +house. I assure you there never was anything so witty as Carlyle's +description of ---- ----. It was enough to kill one with laughing. +I, on my side, contributed a story to his fund of anecdote on this +subject, and it was fully appreciated. Carlyle is worth a thousand of +you for that;--he is not ashamed to laugh, when he is amused, but goes +on in a cordial human fashion. + +The second time, Mr. C. had a dinner-party, at which was a witty, +French, flippant sort of man, author of a History of Philosophy, and +now writing a Life of Goethe, a task for which he must be as unfit as +irreligion and sparkling shallowness can make him. But he told stories +admirably, and was allowed sometimes to interrupt Carlyle a little, +of which one was glad, for, that night, he was in his more acrid +mood; and, though much more brilliant than on the former evening, +grew wearisome to me, who disclaimed and rejected almost everything he +said. + +For a couple of hours, he was talking about poetry, and the whole +harangue was one eloquent proclamation of the defects in his own mind. +Tennyson wrote in verse because the schoolmasters had taught him that +it was great to do so, and had thus, unfortunately, been turned from +the true path for a man. Burns had, in like manner, been turned from +his vocation. Shakspeare had not had the good sense to see that +it would have been better to write straight on in prose;--and such +nonsense, which, though amusing enough at first, he ran to death after +a while. The most amusing part is always when he comes back to some +refrain, as in the French Revolution of the _sea-green_. In this +instance, it was Petrarch and _Laura_, the last word pronounced with +his ineffable sarcasm of drawl. Although he said this over +fifty times, I could not ever help laughing when _Laura_ would +come,--Carlyle running his chin out, when he spoke it, and his eyes +glancing till they looked like the eyes and beak of a bird of prey. +Poor Laura! Lucky for her that her poet had already got her safely +canonized beyond the reach of this Teufelsdrockh vulture. + +The worst of hearing Carlyle is that you cannot interrupt him. I +understand the habit and power of haranguing have increased very much +upon him, so that you are a perfect prisoner when he has once got hold +of you. To interrupt him is a physical impossibility. If you get a +chance to remonstrate for a moment, he raises his voice and bears +you down. True, he does you no injustice, and, with his admirable +penetration, sees the disclaimer in your mind, so that you are not +morally delinquent; but it is not pleasant to be unable to utter it. +The latter part of the evening, however, he paid us for this, by a +series of sketches, in his finest style of railing and raillery, of +modern French literature, not one of them, perhaps, perfectly just, +but all drawn with the finest, boldest strokes, and, from his point of +view, masterly. All were depreciating, except that of Béranger. Of him +he spoke with perfect justice, because with hearty sympathy. + +I had, afterward, some talk with Mrs. C., whom hitherto I had only +_seen_, for who can speak while her husband is there? I like her very +much;--she is full of grace, sweetness, and talent. Her eyes are sad +and charming. * * * + +After this, they went to stay at Lord Ashburton's, and I only saw +them once more, when they came to pass an evening with us. Unluckily, +Mazzini was with us, whose society, when he was there alone, I enjoyed +more than any. He is a beauteous and pure music; also, he is a dear +friend of Mrs. C.; but his being there gave the conversation a turn to +"progress" and ideal subjects, and C. was fluent in invectives on +all our "rose-water imbecilities." We all felt distant from him, and +Mazzini, after some vain efforts to remonstrate, became very sad. Mrs. +C. said to me, "These are but opinions to Carlyle; but to Mazzini, who +has given his all, and helped bring his friends to the scaffold, in +pursuit of such subjects, it is a matter of life and death." + +All Carlyle's talk, that evening, was a defence of mere +force,--success the test of right;--if people would not behave well, +put collars round their necks;--find a hero, and let them be his +slaves, &c. It was very Titanic, and anti-celestial. I wish the last +evening had been more melodious. However, I bid Carlyle farewell with +feelings of the warmest friendship and admiration. We cannot feel +otherwise to a great and noble nature, whether it harmonize with our +own or not. I never appreciated the work he has done for his age +till I saw England. I could not. You must stand in the shadow of that +mountain of shams, to know how hard it is to cast light across it. + +Honor to Carlyle! _Hoch!_ Although in the wine with which we drink +this health, I, for one, must mingle the despised "rose-water." + +And now, having to your eye shown the defects of my own mind, in the +sketch of another, I will pass on more lowly,--more willing to be +imperfect,--since Fate permits such noble creatures, after all, to +be only this or that. It is much if one is not only a crow or +magpie;--Carlyle is only a lion. Some time we may, all in full, be +intelligent and humanly fair. + + + + +CARLYLE, AGAIN. + + +_Paris, Dec, 1846._--Accustomed to the infinite wit and exuberant +richness of his writings, his talk is still an amazement and +a splendor scarcely to be faced with steady eyes. He does not +converse;--only harangues. It is the usual misfortune of such marked +men,--happily not one invariable or inevitable,--that they cannot +allow other minds room to breathe, and show themselves in their +atmosphere, and thus miss the refreshment and instruction which the +greatest never cease to need from the experience of the humblest. +Carlyle allows no one a chance, but bears down all opposition, not +only by his wit and onset of words, resistless in their sharpness as +so many bayonets, but by actual physical superiority,--raising his +voice, and rushing on his opponent with a torrent of sound. This is +not in the least from unwillingness to allow freedom to others. On the +contrary, no man would more enjoy a manly resistance to his thought. +But it is the habit of a mind accustomed to follow out its own +impulse, as the hawk its prey, and which knows not how to stop in +the chase. Carlyle, indeed, is arrogant and overbearing; but in his +arrogance there is no littleness,--no self-love. It is the heroic +arrogance of some old Scandinavian conqueror;--it is his nature, and +the untamable energy that has given him power to crush the dragons. +You do not love him, perhaps, nor revere; and perhaps, also, he would +only laugh at you if you did; but you like him heartily, and like to +see him the powerful smith, the Siegfried, melting all the old iron +in his furnace till it glows to a sunset red, and burns you, if you +senselessly go too near. He seems, to me, quite isolated,--lonely as +the desert,--yet never was a man more fitted to prize a man, could he +find one to match his mood. He finds them, but only in the past. +He sings, rather than talks. He pours upon you a kind of satirical, +heroical, critical poem, with regular cadences, and generally, near +the beginning, hits upon some singular epithet, which serves as a +_refrain_ when his song is full, or with which, as with a knitting +needle, he catches up the stitches, if he has chanced, now and then, +to let fall a row. For the higher kinds of poetry he has no sense, +and his talk on that subject is delightfully and gorgeously absurd. He +sometimes stops a minute to laugh at it himself, then begins anew with +fresh vigor; for all the spirits he is driving before him seem to him +as Fata Morgana, ugly masks, in fact, if he can but make them turn +about; but he laughs that they seem to others such dainty Ariels. +His talk, like his books, is full of pictures; his critical strokes +masterly. Allow for his point of view, and his survey is admirable. +He is a large subject. I cannot speak more or wiselier of him now, nor +needs it;--his works are true, to blame and praise him,--the Siegfried +of England,--great and powerful, if not quite invulnerable, and of a +might rather to destroy evil, than legislate for good. + +Of Dr. Wilkinson I saw a good deal, and found him a substantial +person,--a sane, strong, and well-exercised mind,--but in the last +degree unpoetical in its structure. He is very simple, natural, and +good; excellent to see, though one cannot go far with him; and he +would be worth more in writing, if he could get time to write, than in +personal intercourse. He may yet find time;--he is scarcely more than +thirty. Dr. W. wished to introduce me to Mr. Clissold, but I had not +time; shall find it, if in London again. Tennyson was not in town. + +Browning has just married Miss Barrett, and gone to Italy. I may meet +them there. Bailey is helping his father with a newspaper! His wife +and child (Philip Festus by name) came to see me. I am to make them a +visit on my return. Marston I saw several times, and found him full +of talent. That is all I want to say at present;--he is a delicate +nature, that can only be known in its own way and time. I went to see +his "Patrician's Daughter." It is an admirable play for the stage. At +the house of W.J. Fox, I saw first himself, an eloquent man, of great +practical ability, then Cooper, (of the "Purgatory of Suicides,") and +others. + +My poor selection of miscellanies has been courteously greeted in +the London journals. Openings were made for me to write, had I but +leisure; it is for that I look to a second stay in London, since +several topics came before me on which I wished to write and publish +_there_. + + * * * * * + +I became acquainted with a gentleman who is intimate with all the +English artists, especially Stanfield and Turner, but was only able to +go to his house once, at this time. Pictures I found but little time +for, yet enough to feel what they are now to be to me. I was only at +the Dulwich and National Galleries and Hampton Court. Also, have seen +the Vandykes, at Warwick; but all the precious private collections +I was obliged to leave untouched, except one of Turner's, to which I +gave a day. For the British Museum, I had only one day, which I spent +in the Greek and Egyptian Rooms, unable even to look at the vast +collections of drawings, &c. But if I live there a few months, I shall +go often. O, were life but longer, and my strength greater! Ever I am +bewildered by the riches of existence, had I but more time to open +the oysters, and get out the pearls. Yet some are mine, if only for a +necklace or rosary. + + + + +PARIS. + +TO HER MOTHER. + + +_Paris, Dec. 26, 1846._--In Paris I have been obliged to give a +great deal of time to French, in order to gain the power of speaking, +without which I might as usefully be in a well as here. That has +prevented my doing nearly as much as I would. Could I remain six +months in this great focus of civilized life, the time would be all +too short for my desires and needs. + +My Essay on American Literature has been translated into French, and +published in "La Revue Indépendante," one of the leading journals of +Paris; only, with that delight at manufacturing names for which the +French are proverbial, they put, instead of _Margaret_, _Elizabeth_. +Write to ----, that aunt Elizabeth has appeared unexpectedly before +the French public! She will not enjoy her honors long, as a future +number, which is to contain a notice of "Woman in the Nineteenth +Century," will rectify the mistake. + +I have been asked, also, to remain in correspondence with La Revue +Indépendante, after my return to the United States, which will be very +pleasant and advantageous to me. + +I have some French acquaintance, and begin to take pleasure in them, +now that we can hold intercourse more easily. Among others, a Madame +Pauline Roland I find an interesting woman. She is an intimate friend +of Béranger and of Pierre Leroux. + +We occupy a charming suite of apartments, Hotel Rougement, Boulevard +Poissonière. It is a new hotel, and has not the arched gateways and +gloomy court-yard of the old mansions. My room, though small, is very +pretty, with the thick, flowered carpet and marble slabs; the French +clock, with Cupid, of course, over the fireplace, in which burns a +bright little wood fire; the canopy bedstead, and inevitable large +mirror; the curtains, too, are thick and rich, the closet, &c., +excellent, the attendance good. But for all this, one pays dear. We do +not find that one can live _pleasantly_ at Paris for little money; and +we prefer to economize by a briefer stay, if at all. + + + + +TO E.H. + + +_Paris, Jan. 18, 1847,_ and _Naples, March 17, 1847._--You wished to +hear of George Sand, or, as they say in Paris, "Madame Sand." I find +that all we had heard of her was true in the outline; I had supposed +it might be exaggerated. She had every reason to leave her husband,--a +stupid, brutal man, who insulted and neglected her. He afterwards gave +up their child to her for a sum of money. But the love for which she +left him lasted not well, and she has had a series of lovers, and I +am told has one now, with whom she lives on the footing of combined +means, independent friendship! But she takes rank in society like a +man, for the weight of her thoughts, and has just given her daughter +in marriage. Her son is a grown-up young man, an artist. Many women +visit her, and esteem it an honor. Even an American here, and with +the feelings of our country on such subjects, Mrs. ----, thinks of her +with high esteem. She has broken with La Mennais, of whom she was once +a disciple. + +I observed to Dr. François, who is an intimate of hers, and loves and +admires her, that it did not seem a good sign that she breaks with her +friends. He said it was not so with her early friends; that she has +chosen to buy a chateau in the region where she passed her childhood, +and that the people there love and have always loved her dearly. She +is now at the chateau, and, I begin to fear, will not come to town +before I go. Since I came, I have read two charming stories recently +written by her. Another longer one she has just sold to _La Presse_ +for fifteen thousand francs. She does not receive nearly as much +for her writings as Balzac, Dumas, or Sue. She has a much greater +influence than they, but a less circulation. + +She stays at the chateau, because the poor people there were suffering +so much, and she could help them. She has subscribed _twenty thousand +francs_ for their relief, in the scarcity of the winter. It is a great +deal to earn by one's pen: a novel of several volumes sold for only +fifteen thousand francs, as I mentioned before. * * * + +At last, however, she came; and I went to see her at her house, +Place d'Orleans. I found it a handsome modern residence. She had not +answered my letter, written about a week before, and I felt a little +anxious lest she should not receive me; for she is too much the mark +of impertinent curiosity, as well as too busy, to be easily accessible +to strangers. I am by no means timid, but I have suffered, for the +first time in France, some of the torments of _mauvaise honte_, enough +to see what they must be to many. + +It is the custom to go and call on those to whom you bring letters, +and push yourself upon their notice; thus you must go quite ignorant +whether they are disposed to be cordial. My name is always murdered +by the foreign servants who announce me. I speak very bad French; +only lately have I had sufficient command of it to infuse some of my +natural spirit in my discourse. This has been a great trial to me, +who am eloquent and free in my own tongue, to be forced to feel my +thoughts struggling in vain for utterance. + +The servant who admitted me was in the picturesque costume of a +peasant, and, as Madame Sand afterward told me, her god-daughter, +whom she had brought from her province. She announced me as "_Madame +Salere,_" and returned into the ante-room to tell me. "_Madame says +she does not know you_" I began to think I was doomed to a rebuff, +among the crowd who deserve it. However, to make assurance sure, I +said, "Ask if she has not received a letter from me." As I spoke, +Madame S. opened the door, and stood looking at me an instant. Our +eyes met. I never shall forget her look at that moment. The doorway +made a frame for her figure; she is large, but well-formed. She was +dressed in a robe of dark violet silk, with a black mantle on her +shoulders, her beautiful hair dressed with the greatest taste, her +whole appearance and attitude, in its simple and lady-like dignity, +presenting an almost ludicrous contrast to the vulgar caricature idea +of George Sand. Her face is a very little like the portraits, but +much finer; the upper part of the forehead and eyes are beautiful, +the lower, strong and masculine, expressive of a hardy temperament and +strong passions, but not in the least coarse; the complexion olive, +and the air of the whole head Spanish, (as, indeed, she was born at +Madrid, and is only on one side of French blood.) All these details +I saw at a glance; but what fixed my attention was the expression of +_goodness_, nobleness, and power, that pervaded the whole,--the truly +human heart and nature that shone in the eyes. As our eyes met, she +said, "_C'est vous_" and held out her hand. I took it, and went into +her little study; we sat down a moment, then I said, "_Il me fait de +bien de vous voir_" and I am sure I said it with my whole heart, for +it made me very happy to see such a woman, so large and so developed +a character, and everything that _is_ good in it so _really_ good. I +loved, shall always love her. + +She looked away, and said, "_Ah! vous m'avez écrit une lettre +charmante_" This was all the preliminary of our talk, which then went +on as if we had always known one another. She told me, before I went +away, that she was going that very day to write to me; that when +the servant announced me she did not recognize the name, but after +a minute it struck her that it might be _La dame Americaine,_ as +the foreigners very commonly call me, for they find my name hard +to remember. She was very much pressed for time, as she was then +preparing copy for the printer, and, having just returned, there were +many applications to see her, but she wanted me to stay then, saying, +"It is better to throw things aside, and seize the present moment." I +staid a good part of the day, and was very glad afterwards, for I did +not see her again uninterrupted. Another day I was there, and saw +her in her circle. Her daughter and another lady were present, and a +number of gentlemen. Her position there was of an intellectual woman +and good friend,--the same as my own in the circle of my acquaintance +as distinguished from my intimates. Her daughter is just about to +be married. It is said, there is no congeniality between her and her +mother; but for her son she seems to have much love, and he loves and +admires her extremely. I understand he has a good and free character, +without conspicuous talent. + +Her way of talking is just like her writing,--lively, picturesque, +with an undertone of deep feeling, and the same skill in striking the +nail on the head every now and then with a blow. + +We did not talk at all of personal or private matters. I saw, as one +sees in her writings, the want of an independent, interior life, but +I did not feel it as a fault, there is so much in her of her kind. +I heartily enjoyed the sense of so rich, so prolific, so ardent a +genius. I liked the woman in her, too, very much; I never liked a +woman better. + +For the rest I do not care to write about it much, for I cannot, in +the room and time I have to spend, express my thoughts as I would; but +as near as I can express the sum total, it is this. S---- and others +who admire her, are anxious to make a fancy picture of her, and +represent her as a Helena (in the Seven Chords of the Lyre); all whose +mistakes are the fault of the present state of society. But to me the +truth seems to be this. She has that purity in her soul, for she +knows well how to love and prize its beauty; but she herself is +quite another sort of person. She needs no defence, but only to be +understood, for she has bravely acted out her nature, and always with +good intentions. She might have loved one man permanently, if she +could have found one contemporary with her who could interest and +command her throughout her range; but there was hardly a possibility +of that, for such a person. Thus she has naturally changed the +objects of her affection, and several times. Also, there may have been +something of the Bacchante in her life, and of the love of night and +storm, and the free raptures amid which roamed on the mountain-tops +the followers of Cybele, the great goddess, the great mother. But she +was never coarse, never gross, and I am sure her generous heart has +not failed to draw some rich drops from every kind of wine-press. When +she has done with an intimacy, she likes to break it off suddenly, and +this has happened often, both with men and women. Many calumnies upon +her are traceable to this cause. + +I forgot to mention, that, while talking, she _does_ smoke all the +time her little cigarette. This is now a common practice among ladies +abroad, but I believe originated with her. + +For the rest, she holds her place in the literary and social world +of France like a man, and seems full of energy and courage in it. I +suppose she has suffered much, but she has also enjoyed and done much, +and her expression is one of calmness and happiness. I was sorry to +see her _exploitant_ her talent so carelessly. She does too much, and +this cannot last forever; but "Teverino" and the "Mare au Diable," +which she has lately published, are as original, as masterly in truth, +and as free in invention, as anything she has done. + +Afterwards I saw Chopin, not with her, although he lives with her, and +has for the last twelve years. I went to see him in his room with one +of his friends. He is always ill, and as frail as a snow-drop, but an +exquisite genius. He played to me, and I liked his talking scarcely +less. Madame S. loved Liszt before him; she has thus been intimate +with the two opposite sides of the musical world. Mickiewicz says, +"Chopin talks with spirit, and gives us the Ariel view of the +universe. Liszt is the eloquent _tribune_ to the world of men, a +little vulgar and showy certainly, but I like the tribune best." It is +said here, that Madame S. has long had only a friendship for Chopin, +who, perhaps, on his side prefers to be a lover, and a jealous lover; +but she does not leave him, because he needs her care so much, when +sick and suffering. About all this, I do not know; you cannot know +much about anything in France, except what you see with your two eyes. +Lying is ingrained in "_la grande nation_" as they so plainly show no +less in literature than life. + + + + +RACHEL. + + +In France the theatre is living; you see something really good, and +good throughout. Not one touch of that stage-strut and vulgar bombast +of tone, which the English actor fancies indispensable to scenic +illusion, is tolerated here. For the first time in my life, I saw +something represented in a style uniformly good, and should have found +sufficient proof, if I had needed any, that all men will prefer what +is good to what is bad, if only a fair opportunity for choice +be allowed. When I came here, my first thought was to go and see +Mademoiselle Rachel. I was sure that in her I should find a true +genius. I went to see her seven or eight times, always in parts that +required great force of soul, and purity of taste, even to conceive +them, and only once had reason to find fault with her. On one single +occasion, I saw her violate the harmony of the character, to produce +effect at a particular moment; but, almost invariably, I found her +a true artist, worthy Greece, and worthy at many moments to have her +conceptions immortalized in marble. + +Her range even in high tragedy is limited. She can only express the +darker passions, and grief in its most desolate aspects. Nature has +not gifted her with those softer and more flowery attributes, that +lend to pathos its utmost tenderness. She does not melt to tears, or +calm or elevate the heart by the presence of that tragic beauty that +needs all the assaults of fate to make it show its immortal sweetness. +Her noblest aspect is when sometimes she expresses truth in some +severe shape, and rises, simple and austere, above the mixed elements +around her. On the dark side, she is very great in hatred and revenge. +I admired her more in Phèdre than in any other part in which I +saw her; the guilty love inspired by the hatred of a goddess was +expressed, in all its symptoms, with a force and terrible naturalness, +that almost suffocated the beholder. After she had taken the poison, +the exhaustion and paralysis of the system,--the sad, cold, calm +submission to Fate,--were still more grand. + +I had heard so much about the power of her eye in one fixed look, and +the expression she could concentrate in a single word, that the utmost +results could only satisfy my expectations. It is, indeed, something +magnificent to see the dark cloud give out such sparks, each one fit +to deal a separate death; but it was not that I admired most in her. +It was the grandeur, truth, and depth of her conception of each part, +and the sustained purity with which she represented it. + +The French language from her lips is a divine dialect; it is stripped +of its national and personal peculiarities, and becomes what any +language must, moulded by such a genius, the pure music of the heart +and soul. I never could remember her tone in speaking any word; it +was too perfect; you had received the thought quite direct. Yet, had +I never heard her speak a word, my mind would be filled by her +attitudes. Nothing more graceful can be conceived, nor could the +genius of sculpture surpass her management of the antique drapery. + +She has no beauty, except in the intellectual severity of her outline, +and she bears marks of race, that will grow stronger every year, +and make her ugly at last. Still it will be a _grandiose_, gypsy, +or rather Sibylline ugliness, well adapted to the expression of some +tragic parts. Only it seems as if she could not live long; she expends +force enough upon a part to furnish out a dozen common lives. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Paris, Jan_. 18, 1847.--I can hardly tell you what a fever consumes +me, from sense of the brevity of my time and opportunity. Here I +cannot sleep at night, because I have been able to do so little in +the day. Constantly I try to calm my mind into content with small +achievements, but it is difficult. You will say, it is not so mightily +worth knowing, after all, this picture and natural history of Europe. +Very true; but I am so constituted that it pains me to come away, +having touched only the glass over the picture. + +I am assiduous daily at the Academy lectures, picture galleries, +Chamber of Deputies,--last week, at the court and court ball. So far +as my previous preparation enabled me, I get something from all these +brilliant shows,--thoughts, images, fresh impulse. But I need, +to initiate me into various little secrets of the place and +time,--necessary for me to look at things to my satisfaction,--some +friend, such as I do not find here. My steps have not been fortunate +in Paris, as they were in England. No doubt, the person exists here, +whose aid I want; indeed, I feel that it is so; but we do not meet, +and the time draws near for me to depart. + +French people I find slippery, as they do not know exactly what to +make of me, the rather as I have not the command of their language. +_I_ see _them_, their brilliancy, grace, and variety, the thousand +slight refinements of their speech and manner, but cannot meet them +in their way. My French teacher says, I speak and act like an Italian, +and I hope, in Italy, I shall find myself more at home. + +I had, the other day, the luck to be introduced to Béranger, who is +the only person beside George Sand I cared very particularly to see +here. I went to call on La Mennais, to whom I had a letter. I found +him in a little study; his secretary was writing in a large room +through which I passed. With him was a somewhat citizen-looking, but +vivacious elderly man, whom I was, at first, sorry to see, having +wished for half an hour's undisturbed visit to the Apostle of +Democracy. But those feelings were quickly displaced by joy, when he +named to me the great national lyrist of France, the great Béranger. +I had not expected to see him at all, for he is not to be seen in any +show place; he lives in the hearts of the people, and needs no homage +from their eyes. I was very happy, in that little study, in the +presence of these two men, whose influence has been so real and +so great. Béranger has been much to me,--his wit, his pathos, and +exquisite lyric grace. I have not received influence from La Mennais, +but I see well what he has been, and is, to Europe. + + + + +TO LA MENNAIS. + + +Monsieur:-- + +As my visit to you was cut short before I was quite satisfied, it +was my intention to seek you again immediately; although I felt some +scruples at occupying your valuable time, when I express myself so +imperfectly in your language. But I have been almost constantly ill +since, and now am not sure of finding time to pay you my respects +before leaving Paris for Italy. In case this should be impossible, I +take the liberty to write, and to present you two little volumes of +mine. It is only as a tribute of respect. I regret that they do not +contain some pieces of mine which might be more interesting to you, +as illustrative of the state of affairs in our country. Some such will +find their place in subsequent numbers. These, I hope, you will, +if you do not read them, accept kindly as a salutation from our +hemisphere. Many there delight to know you as a great apostle of +the ideas which are to be our life, if Heaven intends us a great +and permanent life. I count myself happy in having seen you, and +in finding with you Béranger, the genuine poet, the genuine man of +France. I have felt all the enchantment of the lyre of Béranger; +have paid my warmest homage to the truth and wisdom adorned with such +charms, such wit and pathos. It was a great pleasure to see himself. +If your leisure permits, Monsieur, I will ask a few lines in reply. +I should like to keep some words from your hand, in case I should not +look upon you more here below; and am always, with gratitude for the +light you have shed on so many darkened spirits, + +Yours, most respectfully, + +MARGARET FULLER. + + * * * * * + +_Paris, Jan_., 1847.--I missed hearing M. Guizot, (I am sorry for it,) +in his speech on the Montpensier marriage. I saw the little Duchess, +the innocent or ignorant topic of all this disturbance, when presented +at court. She went round the circle on the arm of the queen. Though +only fourteen, she looks twenty, but has something fresh, engaging, +and girlish about her. + +I attended not only at the presentation, but at the ball given at +the Tuileries directly after. These are fine shows, as the suite of +apartments is very handsome, brilliantly lighted,--the French ladies +surpassing all others in the art of dress; indeed, it gave me much +pleasure to see them. Certainly there are many ugly ones; but they are +so well dressed, and have such an air of graceful vivacity, that +the general effect was of a flower-garden. As often happens, several +American women were among the most distinguished for positive beauty; +one from Philadelphia, who is by many persons considered the prettiest +ornament of the dress circle at the Italian opera, was especially +marked by the attention of the king. However, these ladies, even if +here a long time, do not attain the air and manner of French +women. The magnetic fluid that envelops them is less brilliant and +exhilarating in its attractions. + +Among the crowd wandered Leverrier, in the costume of Academician, +looking as if he had lost, not found, his planet. French _savants_ are +more generally men of the world, and even men of fashion, than those +of other climates; but, in his case, he seemed not to find it easy to +exchange the music of the spheres for the music of fiddles. + +Speaking of Leverrier leads to another of my disappointments. I +went to the Sorbonne to hear him lecture, not dreaming that the old +pedantic and theological character of those halls was strictly kept up +in these days of light. An old guardian of the inner temple seeing me +approach, had his speech all ready, and, manning the entrance, said, +with a disdainful air, before we had time to utter a word, "Monsieur +may enter if he pleases, but madame must remain here" (_i.e._, in +the court-yard). After some exclamations of surprise, I found an +alternative in the Hotel de Clugny, where I passed an hour very +delightfully, while waiting for my companion. + +I was more fortunate in hearing Arago, and he justified all my +expectations. Clear, rapid, full, and equal, his discourse is worthy +its celebrity, and I felt repaid for the four hours one is obliged to +spend in going, in waiting, and in hearing, for the lecture begins at +half past one, and you must be there before twelve to get a seat, so +constant and animated is his popularity. + +I was present on one good occasion, at the Academy,--the day that M. +Rémusat was received there, in the place of Royer Collard. I looked +down, from one of the tribunes, upon the flower of the celebrities of +France; that is to say, of the celebrities which are authentic, _comme +il faut_. Among them were many marked faces, many fine heads; but, +in reading the works of poets, we always fancy them about the age of +Apollo himself, and I found with pain some of my favorites quite old, +and very unlike the company on Parnassus, as represented by Raphael. +Some, however, were venerable, even noble to behold. + +The poorer classes have suffered from hunger this winter. All signs of +this are kept out of sight in Paris. A pamphlet called "The Voice of +Famine," stating facts, though in a tone of vulgar and exaggerated +declamation, was suppressed as soon as published. While Louis Philippe +lives, the gases may not burst up to flame, but the need of radical +measures of reform is strongly felt in France; and the time will come, +before long, when such will be imperatively demanded. + + + + +FOURIER. + + +The doctrines of Fourier are making progress, and wherever they +spread, the necessity of some practical application of the precepts of +Christ, in lieu of the mummeries of a worn-out ritual, cannot fail +to be felt. The more I see of the terrible ills which infest the body +politic of Europe, the more indignation I feel at the selfishness +or stupidity of those in my own country who oppose an examination +of these subjects,--such as is animated by the hope of prevention. +Educated in an age of gross materialism, Fourier is tainted by its +faults; in attempts to reorganize society, he commits the error of +making soul the result of health of body, instead of body the clothing +of soul; but his heart was that of a genuine lover of his kind, of a +philanthropist in the sense of Jesus; his views are large and noble; +his life was one of devout study on these subjects, and I should pity +the person who, after the briefest sojourn in Manchester and Lyons, +the most superficial acquaintance with the population of London and +Paris, could seek to hinder a study of his thoughts, or be wanting in +reverence for his purposes. + + + + +ROUSSEAU. + + +To the actually so-called Chamber of Deputies, I was indebted for a +sight of the manuscripts of Rousseau treasured in their library. I saw +them and touched them,--those manuscripts just as he has celebrated +them, written on the fine white paper, tied with ribbon. Yellow and +faded age has made them, yet at their touch I seemed to feel the fire +of youth, immortally glowing, more and more expansive, with which his +soul has pervaded this century. He was the precursor of all we most +prize. True, his blood was mixed with madness, and the course of his +actual life made some _detours_ through villanous places; but his +spirit was intimate with the fundamental truths of human nature, and +fraught with prophecy. There is none who has given birth to more life +for this age; his gifts are yet untold; they are too present with us; +but he who thinks really must often think with Rousseau, and learn him +ever more and more. Such is the method of genius,--to ripen fruit for +the crowd by those rays of whose heat they complain. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Naples, March_ 15, 1847.--Mickiewicz, the Polish poet, first +introduced the Essays to acquaintance in Paris. I did not meet him +anywhere, and, as I heard a great deal of him which charmed me, I sent +him your poems, and asked him to come and see me. He came, and I +found in him the man I had long wished to see, with the intellect and +passions in due proportion for a full and healthy human being, with a +soul constantly inspiring. Unhappily, it was a very short time before +I came away. How much time had I wasted on others which I might have +given to this real and important relation. + +After hearing music from Chopin and Neukomm, I quitted Paris on the +25th February, and came, _via_ Chalons, Lyons, Avignon, (where I waded +through melting snow to Laura's tomb,) Arles, to Marseilles; thence, +by steamer, to Genoa, Leghorn, and Pisa. Seen through a cutting wind, +the marble palaces, the gardens, the magnificent water-view of Genoa, +failed to charm. Only at Naples have I found _my_ Italy. Between +Leghorn and Naples, our boat was run into by another, and we only just +escaped being drowned. + + + + +ROME. + + +_Rome, May_, 1847.--Of the fragments of the great time, I have now +seen nearly all that are treasured up here. I have as yet nothing of +consequence to say of them. Others have often given good hints as +to how they _look_. As to what they _are_, it can only be known by +approximating to the state of soul out of which they grew. They are +many and precious; yet is there not so much of high excellence as +I looked for. They will not float the heart on a boundless sea of +feeling, like the starry night on our Western Prairies. Yet I love +much to see the galleries of marbles, even where there are not many +separately admirable, amid the cypresses and ilexes of Roman villas; +and a picture that is good at all, looks best in one of these old +palaces. I have heard owls hoot in the Colosseum by moonlight, and +they spoke more to the purpose than I ever heard any other voice on +that subject. I have seen all the pomps of Holy Week in St. Peter's, +and found them less imposing than an habitual acquaintance with the +church itself, with processions of monks and nuns stealing in, now and +then, or the swell of vespers from some side chapel. The ceremonies of +the church have been numerous and splendid, during our stay, and they +borrow unusual interest from the love and expectation inspired by the +present pontiff. He is a man of noble and good aspect, who has set his +heart on doing something solid for the benefit of man. A week or +two ago, the Cardinal Secretary published a circular, inviting +the departments to measures which would give the people a sort of +representative council. Nothing could seem more limited than this +improvement, but it was a great measure for Rome. At night, the +Corso was illuminated, and many thousands passed through it in a +torch-bearing procession, on their way to the Quirinal, to thank the +Pope, upbearing a banner on which the edict was printed. + + + + +TO W.H.C. + + +_Rome, May_ 7, 1847.--I write not to you about these countries, of the +famous people I see, of magnificent shows and places. All these things +are only to me an illuminated margin on the text of my inward life. +Earlier, they would have been more. Art is not important to me now. +I like only what little I find that is transcendently good, and even +with that feel very familiar and calm. I take interest in the state +of the people, their manners, the state of the race in them. I see +the future dawning; it is in important aspects Fourier's future. But +I like no Fourierites; they are terribly wearisome here in Europe; the +tide of things does not wash through them as violently as with us, and +they have time to run in the tread-mill of system. Still, they serve +this great future which I shall not live to see. I must be born again. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Florence, June_ 20, 1847.--I have just come hither from Rome. Every +minute, day and night, there is something to be seen or done at Rome, +which we cannot bear to lose. We lived on the Corso, and all night +long, after the weather became fine, there was conversation or music +before my window. I never seemed really to sleep while there, and now, +at Florence, where there is less to excite, and I live in a more quiet +quarter, I feel as if I needed to sleep all the time, and cannot rest +as I ought, there is so much to do. + +I now speak French fluently, though not correctly, yet well enough +to make my thoughts avail in the cultivated society here, where it +is much spoken. But to know the common people, and to feel truly in +Italy, I ought to speak and understand the spoken Italian well, and +I am now cultivating this sedulously. If I remain, I shall have, for +many reasons, advantages for observation and enjoyment, such as are +seldom permitted to a foreigner. + +I forgot to mention one little thing rather interesting. At the +_Miserere_ of the Sistine chapel, I sat beside Goethe's favorite +daughter-in-law, Ottilia, to whom I was introduced by Mrs. Jameson. + + + + +TO R.F.F. + + +_Florence, July_ 1, 1847.--I do not wish to go through Germany in +a hurried way, and am equally unsatisfied to fly through Italy; and +shall, therefore, leaving my companions in Switzerland, take a servant +to accompany me, and return hither, and hence to Rome for the autumn, +perhaps the winter. I should always suffer the pain of Tantalus +thinking of Rome, if I could not see it more thoroughly than I have +as yet even begun to; for it was all _outside_ the two months, just +finding out where objects were. I had only just begun to know them, +when I was obliged to leave. The prospect of returning presents many +charms, but it leaves me alone in the midst of a strange land. + +I find myself happily situated here, in many respects. The Marchioness +Arconati Visconti, to whom I brought a letter from a friend of hers +in France, has been good to me as a sister, and introduced me to many +interesting acquaintance. The sculptors, Powers and Greenough, I have +seen much and well. Other acquaintance I possess, less known to fame, +but not less attractive. + +Florence is not like Rome. At first, I could not bear the change; yet, +for the study of the fine arts, it is a still richer place. Worlds of +thought have risen in my mind; some time you will have light from all. + + * * * * * + +_Milan, Aug_. 9, 1847.--Passing from Florence, I came to Bologna. A +woman should love Bologna, for there has the intellect of woman been +cherished. In their Certosa, they proudly show the monument to Matilda +Tambreni, late Greek professor there. In their anatomical hall, is the +bust of a woman, professor of anatomy. In art, they have had Properzia +di Rossi, Elisabetta Sirani, Lavinia Fontana, and delight to give +their works a conspicuous place. In other cities, the men alone have +their Casino dei Nobili, where they give balls and conversazioni. +Here, women have one, and are the soul of society. In Milan, also, I +see, in the Ambrosian Library, the bust of a female mathematician. + + + + +TO HER MOTHER. + + +_Lago di Garda, Aug_. 1, 1847.--Do not let what I have written disturb +you as to my health. I have rested now, and am as well as usual. This +advantage I derive from being alone, that, if I feel the need of it, I +can stop. + +I left Venice four days ago; have seen well Vicenza, Verona, Mantua, +and am reposing, for two nights and a day, in this tranquil room which +overlooks the beautiful Lake of Garda. The air is sweet and pure, and +I hear no noise except the waves breaking on the shore. + +I think of you a great deal, especially when there are flowers. +Florence was all flowers. I have many magnolias and jasmines. I always +wish you could see them. The other day, on the island of San Lazaro, +at the Armenian Convent, where Lord Byron used to go, I thought of +you, seeing the garden full of immense oleanders in full bloom. One +sees them everywhere at Venice. + + + + +TO HER TRAVELLING COMPANIONS AFTER PARTING. + + +_Milan, Aug_. 9, 1847.--I remained at Venice near a week after your +departure, to get strong and tranquil again. Saw all the pictures, +if not enough, yet pretty well. My journey here was very profitable. +Vicenza, Verona, Mantua, I saw really well, and much there is to see. +Certainly I had learned more than ever in any previous ten days of my +existence, and have formed an idea of what is needed for the study of +art in these regions. But, at Brescia, I was taken ill with fever. +I cannot tell you how much I was alarmed when it seemed to me it +was affecting my head. I had no medicine; nothing could I do except +abstain entirely from food, and drink cold water. The second day, I +had a bed made in a carriage, and came on here. I am now pretty well, +only very weak. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Milan, Aug. 10, 1847._--Since writing you from Florence, I have +passed the mountains; two full, rich days at Bologna; one at Ravenna; +more than a fortnight at Venice, intoxicated with the place, and with +Venetian art, only to be really felt and known in its birth-place. +I have passed some hours at Vicenza, seeing mainly the Palladian +structures; a day at Verona,--a week had been better; seen Mantua, +with great delight; several days in Lago di Garda,--truly happy +days there; then, to Brescia, where I saw the Titians, the exquisite +Raphael, the Scavi, and the Brescian Hills. I could charm you by +pictures, had I time. + +To-day, for the first time, I have seen Manzoni. Manzoni has spiritual +efficacy in his looks; his eyes glow still with delicate tenderness, +as when he first saw Lucia, or felt them fill at the image of Father +Cristoforo. His manners are very engaging, frank, expansive; every +word betokens the habitual elevation of his thoughts; and (what you +care for so much) he says distinct, good things; but you must not +expect me to note them down. He lives in the house of his fathers, in +the simplest manner. He has taken the liberty to marry a new wife for +his own pleasure and companionship, and the people around him do not +like it, because she does not, to their fancy, make a good pendant to +him. But I liked her very well, and saw why he married her. They asked +me to return often, if I pleased, and I mean to go once or twice, for +Manzoni seems to like to talk with me. + + * * * * * + +_Rome, Oct., 1847._--Leaving Milan, I went on the Lago Maggiore, and +afterward into Switzerland. Of this tour I shall not speak here; it +was a little romance by itself. + +Returning from Switzerland, I passed a fortnight on the Lake of +Como, and afterward visited Lugano. There is no exaggeration in the +enthusiastic feeling with which artists and poets have viewed these +Italian lakes. The _"Titan"_ of Richter, the _"Wanderjahre"_ of +Goethe, the Elena of Taylor, the pictures of Turner, had not prepared +me for the visions of beauty that daily entranced the eyes and heart +in those regions. To our country, Nature has been most bounteous, but +we have nothing in the same class that can compare with these lakes, +as seen under the Italian heaven. As to those persons who have +pretended to discover that the effects of light and atmosphere were +no finer than they found in our own lake scenery, I can only say +that they must be exceedingly obtuse in organization,--a defect not +uncommon among Americans. + +Nature seems to have labored to express her full heart in as many ways +as possible, when she made these lakes, moulded and planted their +shores. Lago Maggiore is grandiose, resplendent in its beauty; the +view of the Alps gives a sort of lyric exaltation to the scene. Lago +di Garda is so soft and fair on one side,--the ruins of ancient +palaces rise softly with the beauties of that shore; but at the other +end, amid the Tyrol, it is so sublime, so calm, so concentrated in its +meaning! Como cannot be better described in generals than in the words +of Taylor:-- + +"Softly sublime, profusely fair" + +Lugano is more savage, more free in its beauty. I was on it in a high +gale; there was little danger, just enough to exhilarate; its waters +wild, and clouds blowing across its peaks. I like the boatmen on these +lakes; they have strong and prompt character; of simple features, +they are more honest and manly than Italian men are found in the +thoroughfares; their talk is not so witty as that of the Venetian +gondoliers, but picturesque, and what the French call _incisive._ Very +touching were some of their histories, as they told them to me, while +pausing sometimes on the lake. Grossi gives a true picture of such +a man in his family relations; the story may be found in "Marco +Visconti." + +On this lake, I met Lady Franklin, wife of the celebrated navigator. +She has been in the United States, and showed equal penetration and +candor in remarks on what she had seen there. She gave me interesting +particulars as to the state of things in Van Diemen's Land, where she +passed seven years, when her husband was in authority there. + + + + +TO C.S. + + +_Lake of Como, Aug_. 22, 1847.--Rome was much poisoned to me. But, +after a time, its genius triumphed, and I became absorbed in its +proper life. Again I suffered from parting, and have since resolved to +return, and pass at least a part of the winter there. People may write +and prate as they please of Rome, they cannot convey thus a portion of +its spirit. The whole heart must be yielded up to it. It is something +really transcendent, both spirit and body. Those last glorious nights, +in which I wandered about amid the old walls and columns, or sat by +the fountains in the Piazza del Popolo, or by the river, were worth an +age of pain,--only one hates pain in Italy. + +Tuscany I did not like as well. It is a great place to study the +history of character and art. Indeed, there I did really begin to +study, as well as gaze and feel. But I did not like it. Florence is +more in its spirit like Boston, than like an Italian city. I knew +a good many Italians, but they were busy and intellectual, not like +those I had known before. But Florence is full of really good, great +pictures. There first I saw some of the great masters. Andrea del +Sarto, in particular, one sees only there, and he is worth much. His +wife, whom he always paints, and for whom he was so infatuated, has +some bad qualities, and in what is good a certain wild nature or +_diablerie_. + +Bologna is truly an Italian city, one in which I should like to live; +full of hidden things, and its wonders of art are very grand. The +Caracci and their friends had vast force; not much depth, but enough +force to occupy one a good while,--and Domenichino, when good at all, +is very great. + +Venice was a dream of enchantment; _there_ was no disappointment. +Art and life are one. There is one glow of joy, one deep shade of +passionate melancholy; Giorgione, as a man, I care more for now than +any of the artists, though he had no ideas. + +In the first week, floating about in a gondola, I seemed to find +myself again. + +I was not always alone in Venice, but have come through the fertile +plains of Lombardy, seen the lakes Garda and Maggiore, and a part of +Switzerland, alone, except for occasional episodes of companionship, +sometimes romantic enough. + +In Milan I stayed a while, and knew some radicals, young, and +interested in ideas. Here, on the lake, I have fallen into contact +with some of the higher society,--duchesses, marquises, and the like. +My friend here is Madame Arconati, Marchioness Visconti. I have +formed connection with a fair and brilliant Polish lady, born Princess +Radzivill. It is rather pleasant to come a little on the traces of +these famous histories; also, both these ladies take pleasure in +telling me of spheres so unlike mine, and do it well. + +The life here on the lake is precisely what we once imagined as being +so pleasant. These people have charming villas and gardens on the +lake, adorned with fine works of art. They go to see one another in +boats. You can be all the time in a boat, if you like; if you want +more excitement, or wild flowers, you climb the mountains. I have been +here for some time, and shall stay a week longer. I have found soft +repose here. Now, I am to return to Rome, seeing many things by the +way. + + + + +TO R.F.F. + + +_Florence, Sept_. 25, 1847.--I hope not to want a further remittance +for a long time. I shall not, if I can settle myself at Rome so as +to avoid spoliation. That is very difficult in this country. I have +suffered from it already. The haste, the fatigue, the frequent illness +in travelling, have tormented me. At Rome I shall settle myself for +five months, and make arrangements to the best of my judgment, and +with counsel of experienced friends, and have some hope of economy +while there; but am not sure, as much more vigilance than I can +promise is needed against the treachery of servants and the cunning of +landlords. + +You are disappointed by my letter from Rome. But I did not feel equal +then to speaking of the things of Rome, and shall not, till better +acquaintance has steadied my mind. It is a matter of conscience with +me not to make use of crude impressions, and what they call here +"coffee-house intelligence," as travellers generally do. I prefer +skimming over the surface of things, till I feel solidly ready to +write. + +Milan I left with great regret, and hope to return. I knew there a +circle of the aspiring youth, such as I have not in any other city. +I formed many friendships, and learned a great deal. One of the young +men, Guerrieri by name, (and of the famous Gonzaga family,) I really +love. He has a noble soul, the quietest sensibility, and a brilliant +and ardent, though not a great, mind. He is eight-and-twenty. After +studying medicine for the culture, he has taken law as his profession. +His mind and that of Hicks, an artist of our country now here, a +little younger, are two that would interest you greatly. Guerrieri +speaks no English; I speak French now as fluently as English, but +incorrectly. To make use of it, I ought to have learned it earlier. + +Arriving here, Mr. Mozier, an American, who from a prosperous merchant +has turned sculptor, come hither to live, and promises much excellence +in his profession, urged me so much to his house, that I came. At +first, I was ill from fatigue, and staid several days in bed; but his +wife took tender care of me, and the quiet of their house and regular +simple diet have restored me. As soon as I have seen a few things +here, I shall go to Rome. On my way, I stopped at Parma,--saw the +works of Correggio and Parmegiano. I have now seen what Italy contains +most important of the great past; I begin to hope for her also a +great future,--the signs have improved so much since I came. I am most +fortunate to be here at this time. + +Interrupted, as always. How happy I should be if my abode at Rome +would allow some chance for tranquil and continuous effort. But I dare +not hope much, from the difficulty of making any domestic arrangements +that can be relied on. The fruit of the moment is so precious, that I +must not complain. I learn much; but to do anything with what I learn +is, under such circumstances, impossible. Besides, I am in great need +of repose; I am almost inert from fatigue of body and spirit. + + + + +TO E.H. + + +_Florence, Sept.,_ 1847.--I cannot even begin to speak of the +magnificent scenes of nature, nor the works of art, that have raised +and filled my mind since I wrote from Naples. Now I begin to be in +Italy! but I wish to drink deep of this cup before I speak my enamored +words. Enough to say, Italy receives me as a long-lost child, and I +feel myself at home here, and if I ever tell anything about it, you +will hear something real and domestic. Among strangers I wish most to +speak to you of my friend the Marchioness A. Visconti, a Milanese. She +is a specimen of the really high-bred lady, such as I have not known. +Without any physical beauty, the grace and harmony of her manners +produce all the impression of beauty. She has also a mind strong, +clear, precise, and much cultivated. She has a modest nobleness that +you would dearly love. She is intimate with many of the first men. She +seems to love me much, and to wish I should have whatever is hers. I +take great pleasure in her friendship. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Rome, Oct_. 28, 1847.--I am happily settled for the winter, quite by +myself, in a neat, tranquil apartment in the Corso, where I see all +the motions of Rome,--in a house of loving Italians, who treat me +well, and do not interrupt me, except for service. I live alone, eat +alone, walk alone, and enjoy unspeakably the stillness, after all the +rush and excitement of the past year. + +I shall make no acquaintance from whom I do not hope a good deal, +as my time will be like pure gold to me this winter; and, just for +happiness, Rome itself is sufficient. + +To-day is the last of the October feasts of the Trasteverini. I have +been, this afternoon, to see them dancing. This morning I was out, +with half Rome, to see the Civic Guard manoeuvring in that great field +near the tomb of Cecilia Metella, which is full of ruins. The effect +was noble, as the band played the Bolognese march, and six thousand +Romans passed in battle array amid these fragments of the great time. + + + + +TO R.F.F. + + +_Rome, Oct_. 29, 1847.--I am trying to economize,--anxious to keep +the Roman expenses for six months within the limits of four hundred +dollars. Rome is not as cheap a place as Florence, but then I would +not give a pin to live in Florence. + +We have just had glorious times with the October feasts, when all the +Roman people were out. I am now truly happy here, quiet and familiar; +no longer a staring, sight-seeing stranger, riding about finely +dressed in a coach to see muses and sibyls. I see these forms now in +the natural manner, and am contented. + +Keep free from false ties; they are the curse of life. I find myself +so happy here, alone and free. + + + + +TO M.S. + + +_Rome, Oct_. 1847.--I arrived in Rome again nearly a fortnight ago, +and all mean things were forgotten in the joy that rushed over me like +a flood. Now I saw the true Rome. I came with no false expectations, +and I came to live in tranquil companionship, not in the restless +impertinence of sight-seeing, so much more painful here than anywhere +else. + +I had made a good visit to Vicenza; a truly Italian town, with much to +see and study. But all other places faded away, now that I again saw +St. Peter's, and heard the music of the fountains. + +The Italian autumn is not as beautiful as I expected, neither in the +vintage of Tuscany nor here. The country is really sere and brown; but +the weather is fine, and these October feasts are charming. Two days I +have been at the Villa Borghese. There are races, balloons, and, above +all, the private gardens open, and good music on the little lake. + + + + +TO ----. + + +_Rome, morning of the 17th Nov_., 1847.--It seems great folly to send +the enclosed letter. I have written it in my nightly fever. All day +I dissipate my thoughts on outward beauty. I have many thoughts, +happiest moments, but as yet I do not have even this part in a +congenial way. I go about in a coach with several people; but English +and Americans are not at home here. Since I have experienced the +different atmosphere of the European mind, and been allied with it, +nay, mingled in the bonds of love, I suffer more than ever from that +which is peculiarly American or English. I should like to cease from +hearing the language for a time. Perhaps I should return to it; but +at present I am in a state of unnatural divorce from what I was most +allied to. + +There is a Polish countess here, who likes me much. She has been very +handsome, still is, in the style of the full-blown rose. She is a +widow, very rich, one of the emancipated women, naturally vivacious, +and with talent. This woman _envies me_; she says, "How happy you are; +so free, so serene, so attractive, so self-possessed!" I say not a +word, but I do not look on myself as particularly enviable. A little +money would have made me much more so; a little money would have +enabled me to come here long ago, and find those that belong to me, or +at least try my experiments; then my health would never have sunk, nor +the best years of my life been wasted in useless friction. Had I money +now,--could I only remain, take a faithful servant, and live alone, +and still see those I love when it is best, that would suit me. It +seems to me, very soon I shall be calmed, and begin to enjoy. + + + + +TO HER MOTHER. + + +_Rome, Dec_. 16, 1847.--My life at Rome is thus far all I hoped. +I have not been so well since I was a child, nor so happy ever, as +during the last six weeks. I wrote you about my home; it continues +good, perfectly clean, food wholesome, service exact. For all this I +pay, but not immoderately. I think the sum total of my expenses here, +for six months, will not exceed four hundred and fifty dollars. + +My _marchesa_, of whom I rent my rooms, is the greatest liar I ever +knew, and the most interested, heartless creature. But she thinks it +for her interest to please me, as she sees I have a good many persons +who value me; and I have been able, without offending her, to make it +understood that I do not wish her society. Thus I remain undisturbed. + +Every Monday evening, I receive my acquaintance. I give no +refreshment, but only light the saloon, and decorate it with fresh +flowers, of which I have plenty still. How I wish _you_ could see +them! + +Among the frequent guests are known to you Mr. and Mrs. Cranch, Mr. +and Mrs. Story. Mr. S. has finally given up law, for the artist's +life. His plans are not matured, but he passes the winter at Rome. + +On other evenings, I do not receive company, unless by appointment. I +spend them chiefly in writing or study. I have now around me the books +I need to know Italy and Rome. I study with delight, now that I can +verify everything. The days are invariably fine, and each day I am out +from eleven till five, exploring some new object of interest, often at +a great distance. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Rome, Dec_. 20, 1847.--Nothing less than two or three years, free +from care and forced labor, would heal all my hurts, and renew my +life-blood at its source. Since Destiny will not grant me that, I hope +she will not leave me long in the world, for I am tired of keeping +myself up in the water without corks, and without strength to swim. +I should like to go to sleep, and be born again into a state where my +young life should not be prematurely taxed. + +Italy has been glorious to me, and there have been hours in which I +received the full benefit of the vision. In Rome, I have known some +blessed, quiet days, when I could yield myself to be soothed and +instructed by the great thoughts and memories of the place. But those +days are swiftly passing. Soon I must begin to exert myself, for +there is this incubus of the future, and none to help me, if I am not +prudent to face it. So ridiculous, too, this mortal coil,--such small +things! + +I find how true was the lure that always drew me towards Europe. It +was no false instinct that said I might here find an atmosphere to +develop me in ways I need. Had I only come ten years earlier! Now +my life must be a failure, so much strength has been wasted on +abstractions, which only came because I grew not in the right soil. +However, it is a less failure than with most others, and not worth +thinking twice about. Heaven has room enough, and good chances in +store, and I can live a great deal in the years that remain. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Rome, Dec_. 20, 1847.--I don't know whether you take an interest in +the present state of things in Italy, but you would if you were +here. It is a fine time to see the people. As to the Pope, it is as +difficult here as elsewhere to put new wine into old bottles, and +there is something false as well as ludicrous in the spectacle of the +people first driving their princes to do a little justice, and then +_evviva-ing_ them at such a rate. This does not apply to the Pope; he +is a real great heart, a generous man. The love for him is genuine, +and I like to be within its influence. It was his heart that gave the +impulse, and this people has shown, to the shame of English and other +prejudice, how unspoiled they were at the core, how open, nay, how +wondrous swift to answer a generous appeal! + +They are also gaining some education by the present freedom of the +press and of discussion. I should like to write a letter for England, +giving my view of the present position of things here. + + * * * * * + +_Rome, October_ 18, 1847.--In the spring, when I came to Rome, the +people were in the intoxication of joy at the first serious measures +of reform taken by the Pope. I saw with pleasure their childlike joy +and trust. Still doubts were always present whether this joy was not +premature. From the people themselves the help must come, and not +from the princes. Rome, to resume her glory, must cease to be an +ecclesiastical capital. Whilst I sympathized with the warm love of the +people, the adulation of leading writers, who were willing to take +all from the prince of the Church as a gift and a bounty, instead +of steadily implying that it was the right of the people, was very +repulsive to me. Passing into Tuscany, I found the liberty of the +press just established. The Grand Duke, a well-intentioned, though +dull, man, had dared to declare himself an Italian prince. I arrived +in Florence too late for the great fête of the 12th September, +in honor of the grant of the National Guard, but the day was made +memorable by the most generous feeling on all sides. Some days before +were passed by reconciling all strifes, composing all differences +between cities, districts, and individuals. On that day they all +embraced in sign of this; exchanged banners as a token that they would +fight for one another. + + + + +AMERICANS IN ITALY. + + +The Americans took their share in this occasion, and Greenough,--one +of the few Americans who, living in Italy, takes the pains to know +whether it is alive or dead, who penetrates beyond the cheats of +tradesmen, and the cunning of a mob corrupted by centuries of slavery, +to know the real mind, the vital blood of Italy,--took a leading part. +I am sorry to say that a large portion of my countrymen here take +the same slothful and prejudiced view as the English, and, after many +years' sojourn, betray entire ignorance of Italian literature and +Italian life beyond what is attainable in a month's passage through +the thoroughfares. However, they did show, this time, a becoming +spirit, and erected the American Eagle where its cry ought to be heard +from afar. Crawford, here in Rome, has had the just feeling to join +the Guard, and it is a real sacrifice for an artist to spend time +on the exercises; but it well becomes the sculptor of Orpheus. In +reference to what I have said of many Americans in Italy, I will only +add that they talk about the corrupt and degenerate state of Italy as +they do about that of our slaves at home. They come ready trained to +that mode of reasoning which affirms, that, because men are degraded +by bad institutions, they are not fit for better. I will only add +some words upon the happy augury I draw from the wise docility of +the people. With what readiness they listened to wise counsel and the +hopes of the Pope that they would give no advantage to his enemies at +a time when they were so fevered by the knowledge that conspiracy +was at work in their midst! That was a time of trial. On all these +occasions of popular excitement their conduct is like music, in such +order, and with such union of the melody of feeling with discretion +where to stop; but what is wonderful is that they acted in the same +manner on that difficult occasion. The influence of the Pope here is +without bounds; he can always calm the crowd at once. But in Tuscany, +where they have no such one idol, they listened in the same way on a +very trying occasion. The first announcement of the regulation for the +Tuscan National Guard terribly disappointed the people. They felt that +the Grand Duke, after suffering them to demonstrate such trust and joy +on this feast of the 12th, did not really trust, on his side; that he +meant to limit them all he could; they felt baffled, cheated; hence +young men in anger tore down at once the symbols of satisfaction and +respect; but the leading men went among the people, begged them to be +calm, and wait till a deputation had seen the Grand Duke. The people +listened at once to men who, they were sure, had at heart their best +good--waited; the Grand Duke became convinced, and all ended without +disturbance. If the people continue to act thus, their hopes cannot be +baffled. + +The American in Europe would fain encourage the hearts of these +long-oppressed nations, now daring to hope for a new era, by reciting +triumphant testimony from the experience of his own country. But we +must stammer and blush when we speak of many things. I take pride +here, that I may really say the liberty of the press works well, and +that checks and balances naturally evolve from it, which suffice to +its government. I may say, that the minds of our people are alert, +and that talent has a free chance to rise. It is much. But dare I +say, that political ambition is not as darkly sullied as in other +countries? Dare I say, that men of most influence in political life +are those who represent most virtue, or even intellectual power? Can +I say, our social laws are generally better, or show a nobler insight +into the wants of man and woman? I do indeed say what I believe, that +voluntary association for improvement in these particulars will be the +grand means for my nation to grow, and give a nobler harmony to the +coming age. Then there is this cancer of slavery, and this wicked war +that has grown out of it. How dare I speak of these things here? I +listen to the same arguments against the emancipation of Italy, that +are used against the emancipation of our blacks; the same arguments in +favor of the spoliation of Poland, as for the conquest of Mexico. + +How it pleases me here to think of the Abolitionists! I could never +endure to be with them at home; they were so tedious, often so narrow, +always so rabid and exaggerated in their tone. But, after all, they +had a high motive, something eternal in their desire and life; and, if +it was not the only thing worth thinking of, it was really something +worth living and dying for, to free a great nation from such a blot, +such a plague. God strengthen them, and make them wise to achieve +their purpose! + +I please myself, too, with remembering some ardent souls among the +American youth, who, I trust, will yet expand and help to give soul to +the huge, over-fed, too-hastily-grown-up body. May they be constant! +"Were man but constant, he were perfect." It is to the youth that Hope +addresses itself. But I dare not expect too much of them. I am not +very old; yet of those who, in life's morning, I saw touched by +the light of a high hope, many have seceded. Some have become +voluptuaries; some mere family men, who think it is quite life enough +to win bread for half a dozen people, and treat them decently; others +are lost through indolence and vacillation. Yet some remain constant. + + "I have witnessed many a shipwreck, yet still beat noble hearts." + + * * * * * + +_Rome, January, 1848_.--As one becomes domesticated here, ancient and +modern Rome, at first so jumbled together, begin to separate. You see +where objects and limits anciently were. When this happens, one feels +first truly at ease in Rome. Then the old kings, the consuls, the +tribunes, the emperors, the warriors of eagle sight and remorseless +beak, return for us, and the toga-clad procession finds room to sweep +across the scene; the seven hills tower, the innumerable temples +glitter, and the Via Sacra swarms with triumphal life once more. + + * * * * * + +_Rome, Jan. 12, 1848._--In Rome, here, the new Council is inaugurated, +and the elections have given tolerable satisfaction. Twenty-four +carriages had been lent by the princes and nobles, at the request of +the city, to convey the councillors. Each deputy was followed by +his target and banner. In the evening, there was a ball given at the +Argentine. Lord Minto was there, Prince Corsini, now senator, the +Torlonias, in uniform of the Civic Guard, Princess Torlonia, in a +sash of their colors given her by the Civic Guard, which she waved in +answer to their greetings. But the beautiful show of the evening was +the _Trasteverini_ dancing the _Saltarello_ in their most beautiful +costume. I saw them thus to much greater advantage than ever before. +Several were nobly handsome, and danced admirably. The _saltarello_ +enchants me; in this is really the Italian wine, the Italian sun. + +The Pope, in receiving the councillors, made a speech, intimating that +he meant only to improve, not to _reform_ and should keep things safe +locked with the keys of St. Peter. + +I was happy the first two months of my stay here, seeing all the great +things at my leisure. But now, after a month of continuous rain, Rome +is no more Rome. The atmosphere is far worse than that of Paris. It +is impossible to walk in the thick mud. The ruins, and other great +objects, always solemn, appear terribly gloomy, steeped in black rain +and cloud; and my apartment, in a street of high houses, is dark all +day. The bad weather may continue all this month and all next. If I +could use the time for work, I should not care; but this climate makes +me so ill, I can do but little. + + + + +TO C.S. + + +_Rome, Jan_. 12, 1848.--My time in Lombardy and Switzerland was a +series of beautiful pictures, dramatic episodes, not without some +original life in myself. When I wrote to you from Como, I had a +peaceful season. I floated on the lake with my graceful Polish +countess, hearing her stories of heroic sorrow; or I walked in the +delicious gardens of the villas, with many another summer friend. Red +banners floated, children sang and shouted, the lakes of Venus and +Diana glittered in the sun. The pretty girls of Bellaggio, with their +coral necklaces, brought flowers to the "American countess," and +"hoped she would be as happy as she deserved." Whether this cautious +wish is fulfilled, I know not, but certainly I left all the glitter of +life behind at Como. + +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. + +Leaving Milan, I had a brilliant day in Parma. I had not known +Correggio before; he deserves all his fame. I stood in the parlor +of the Abbess, the person for whom all was done, and Paradise seemed +opened by the nymph, upon her car of light, and the divine children +peeping through the vines. Sweet soul of love! I should weary of you, +too; but it was glorious that day. + +I had another good day, too, crossing the Apennines. The young +crescent moon rose in orange twilight, just as I reached the highest +peak. I was alone on foot; I heard no sound; I prayed. + +At Florence, I was very ill. For three weeks, my life hung upon +a thread. The effect of the Italian climate on my health is not +favorable. I feel as if I had received a great injury. I am tired +and woe-worn; often, in the bed, I wish I could weep my life away. +However, they brought me gruel, I took it, and after a while rose up +again. In the time of the vintage, I went alone to Sienna. This is a +real untouched Italian place. This excursion, and the grapes, restored +me at that time. + +When I arrived in Rome, I was at first intoxicated to be here. The +weather was beautiful, and many circumstances combined to place me in +a kind of passive, childlike well-being. That is all over now, and, +with this year, I enter upon a sphere of my destiny so difficult, that +I, at present, see no way out, except through the gate of death. It +is useless to write of it; you are at a distance and cannot help +me;--whether accident or angel will, I have no intimation. I have no +reason to hope I shall not reap what I have sown, and do not. Yet how +I shall endure it I cannot guess; it is all a dark, sad enigma. The +beautiful forms of art charm no more, and a love, in which there is +all fondness, but no help, flatters in vain. I am all alone; nobody +around me sees any of this. My numerous friendly acquaintances are +troubled if they see me ill, and who so affectionate and kind as Mr. +and Mrs. S.? + + + + +TO MADAME ARCONATI. + + +_Rome, Jan_. 14, 1848.--What black and foolish calumnies are these +on Mazzini! It is as much for his interest as his honor to let things +take their course, at present. To expect anything else, is to suppose +him base. And on what act of his life dares any one found such an +insinuation? I do not wonder that you were annoyed at his manner +of addressing the Pope; but to me it seems that he speaks as he +should,--near God and beyond the tomb; not from power to power, but +from soul to soul, without regard to temporal dignities. It must be +admitted that the etiquette, Most Holy Father, &c., jars with this. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Rome, March_ 14, 1848.--Mickiewicz is with me here, and will remain +some time; it was he I wanted to see, more than any other person, in +going back to Paris, and I have him much better here. France itself +I should like to see, but remain undecided, on account of my health, +which has suffered so much, this winter, that I must make it the +first object in moving for the summer. One physician thinks it will of +itself revive, when once the rains have passed, which have now lasted +from 16th December to this day. At present, I am not able to leave the +fire, or exert myself at all. + + * * * * * + +In all the descriptions of the Roman Carnival, the fact has been +omitted of daily rain. I felt, indeed, ashamed to perceive it, when no +one else seemed to, whilst the open windows caused me convulsive cough +and headache. The carriages, with their cargoes of happy women dressed +in their ball dresses and costumes, drove up and down, even in the +pouring rain. The two handsome _contadine_, who serve me, took off +their woollen gowns, and sat five hours at a time, in the street, in +white cambric dresses, and straw hats turned up with roses. I never +saw anything like the merry good-humor of these people. I should +always be ashamed to complain of anything here. But I had always +looked forward to the Roman Carnival as a time when I could play too; +and it even surpassed my expectations, with its exuberant gayety and +innocent frolic, but I was unable to take much part. The others threw +flowers all day, and went to masked balls all night; but I went out +only once, in a carriage, and was more exhausted with the storm of +flowers and sweet looks than I could be by a storm of hail. I went +to the German Artists' ball, where were some pretty costumes, and +beautiful music; and to the Italian masked ball, where interest lies +in intrigue. + +I have scarcely gone to the galleries, damp and cold as tombs; or to +the mouldy old splendor of churches, where, by the way, they are +just wailing over the theft of St. Andrew's head, for the sake of +the jewels. It is quite a new era for this population to plunder the +churches; but they are suffering terribly, and Pio's municipality +does, as yet, nothing. + + + + +TO W.H.C. + + +_Rome, March 29, 1848._--I have been engrossed, stunned almost, by the +public events that have succeeded one another with such rapidity +and grandeur. It is a time such as I always dreamed of, and for long +secretly hoped to see. I rejoice to be in Europe at this time, and +shall return possessed of a great history. Perhaps I shall be called +to act. At present, I know not where to go, what to do. War is +everywhere. I cannot leave Rome, and the men of Rome are marching out +every day into Lombardy. The citadel of Milan is in the hands of my +friends, Guerriere, &c., but there may be need to spill much blood yet +in Italy. France and Germany are riot in such a state that I can go +there now. A glorious flame burns higher and higher in the heart of +the nations. + + * * * * * + +The rain was constant through the Roman winter, falling in torrents +from 16th December to 19th March. Now the Italian heavens wear again +their deep blue, the sun is glorious, the melancholy lustres are +stealing again over the Campagna, and hundreds of larks sing unwearied +above its ruins. Nature seems in sympathy with the great events that +are transpiring. How much has happened since I wrote!--the resistance +of Sicily, and the revolution of Naples; now the fall of Louis +Philippe; and Metternich is crushed in Austria. I saw the Austrian +arms dragged through the streets here, and burned in the Piazza del +Popolo. The Italians embraced one another, and cried, _miracolo, +Providenza!_ the Tribune Ciccronachio fed the flame with fagots; Adam +Mickiewicz, the great poet of Poland, long exiled from his country, +looked on; while Polish women brought little pieces that had +been scattered in the street, and threw into the flames. When the +double-headed eagle was pulled down from the lofty portal of the +Palazzo di Venezia, the people placed there, in its stead, one of +white and gold, inscribed with the name, ALTA ITALIA; and instantly +the news followed, that Milan, Venice, Modena, and Parma, were driving +out their tyrants. These news were received in Rome with indescribable +rapture. Men danced, and women wept with joy along the street. The +youths rushed to enrol themselves in regiments to go to the frontier. +In the Colosseum, their names were received. + + * * * * * + +_Rome, April 1, 1848._-Yesterday, on returning from Ostia, I find the +official news, that the Viceroy Ranieri has capitulated at Verona; +that Italy is free, independent, and one. I trust this will prove no +April foolery. It seems too good, too speedy a realization of hope. + + * * * * * + +_Rome, April 30, 1848._--It is a time such as I always dreamed of; and +that fire burns in the hearts of men around me which can keep me warm. +Have I something to do here? or am I only to cheer on the warriors, +and after write the history of their deeds? The first is all I have +done yet, but many have blessed me for my sympathy, and blest me by +the action it impelled. + +My private fortunes are dark and tangled; my strength to govern them +(perhaps that I am enervated by this climate) much diminished. I have +thrown myself on God, and perhaps he will make my temporal state very +tragical. I am more of a child than ever, and hate suffering more than +ever, but suppose I shall live with it, if it must come. + +I did not get your letter, about having the rosary blessed for ----, +before I left Rome, and now, I suppose, she would not wish it, as none +can now attach any value to the blessing of Pius IX. Those who loved +him can no longer defend him. It has become obvious, that those +first acts of his in the papacy were merely the result of a kindly, +good-natured temperament; that he had not thought to understand their +bearing, nor force to abide by it. He seems quite destitute of moral +courage. He is not resolute either on the wrong or right side. First, +he abandoned the liberal party; then, yielding to the will of the +people, and uniting, in appearance, with a liberal ministry, he let +the cardinals betray it, and defeat the hopes of Italy. He cried +peace, peace! but had not a word of blame for the sanguinary acts of +the King of Naples, a word of sympathy for the victims of Lombardy. +Seizing the moment of dejection in the nation, he put in this +retrograde ministry; sanctioned their acts, daily more impudent: let +them neutralize the constitution he himself had given; and when the +people slew his minister, and assaulted him in his own palace, he +yielded anew; he dared not die, or even run the slight risk,--for +only by accident could he have perished. His person as a Pope is still +respected, though his character as a man is despised. All the people +compare him with Pius VII. saying to the French, "Slay me if you will; +I _cannot_ yield," and feel the difference. + +I was on Monte Cavallo yesterday. The common people were staring at +the broken windows and burnt door of the palace where they have so +often gone to receive a blessing, the children playing, "_Sedia +Papale. Morte ai Cardinali, e morte al Papa!_" + +The men of straw are going down in Italy everywhere; the real men +rising into power. Montanelli, Guerazzi, Mazzini, are real men; their +influence is of character. Had we only been born a little later! +Mazzini has returned from his seventeen years' exile, "to see what he +foresaw." He has a mind far in advance of his times, and yet Mazzini +sees not all. + + * * * * * + +_Rome, May_ 7, 1848.--Good and loving hearts will be unprepared, and +for a time must suffer much from the final dereliction of Pius IX. +to the cause of freedom. After the revolution opened in Lombardy, +the troops of the line were sent thither; the volunteers rushed to +accompany them, the priests preached the war as a crusade, the Pope +blessed the banners. The report that the Austrians had taken and +hung as a brigand one of the Roman Civic Guard,--a well-known artist +engaged in the war of Lombardy,--roused the people; and they went to +the Pope, to demand that he should declare war against the Austrians. +The Pope summoned a consistory, and then declared in his speech that +he had only intended local reforms; that he regretted the misuse +that had been made of his name; and wound up by lamenting the war +as offensive to the spirit of religion. A momentary stupefaction, +followed by a passion of indignation, in which the words _traitor_ and +_imbecile_ were heard, received this astounding speech. The Pope was +besieged with deputations, and, after two days' struggle, was obliged +to place the power in the hands of persons most opposed to him, and +nominally acquiesce in their proceedings. + + + + +TO R.W.E. (_in London_). + + +_Rome, May 19, 1848._--I should like to return with you, but I have +much to do and learn in Europe yet. I am deeply interested in this +public drama, and wish to see it _played out_. Methinks I have _my +part_ therein, either as actor or historian. + +I cannot marvel at your readiness to close the book of European +society. The shifting scenes entertain poorly. The flux of thought and +feeling leaves some fertilizing soil; but for me, few indeed are the +persons I should wish to see again; nor do I care to push the inquiry +further. The simplest and most retired life would now please me, only +I would not like to be confined to it, in case I grew weary, and +now and then craved variety, for exhilaration. I want some scenes +of natural beauty, and, imperfect as love is, I want human beings to +love, as I suffocate without. For intellectual stimulus, books would +mainly supply it, when wanted. + +Why did you not try to be in Paris at the opening of the Assembly? +There were elements worth scanning. + + + + +TO R.F.F. + + +_Rome, May 20, 1848._--My health is much revived by the spring here, +as gloriously beautiful as the winter was dreary. We know nothing +of spring in our country. Here the soft and brilliant weather is +unbroken, except now and then by a copious shower, which keeps +everything fresh. The trees, the flowers, the bird-songs are in +perfection. I have enjoyed greatly my walks in the villas, where the +grounds are of three or four miles in extent, and like free nature in +the wood-glades and still paths; while they have an added charm in the +music of their many fountains, and the soft gleam, here and there, of +sarcophagus or pillar. + +I have been a few days at Albano, and explored its beautiful environs +alone, to much greater advantage than I could last year, in the +carriage with my friends. + +I went, also, to Frascati and Ostia, with an English family, who had +a good carriage, and were kindly, intelligent people, who could not +disturb the Roman landscape. + +Now I am going into the country, where I can live very cheaply, even +keeping a servant of my own, without which guard I should not venture +alone into the unknown and wilder regions. + +I have been so disconcerted by my Roman winter, that I dare not plan +decisively again. The enervating breath of Rome paralyzes my body, but +I know and love her. The expression, "City of the Soul," designates +her, and her alone. + + + + +TO MADAME ARCONATI. + + +_Rome, May 27, 1848._--This is my last day at Rome. I have been +passing several days at Subiaco and Tivoli, and return again to the +country to-morrow. These scenes of natural beauty have filled my +heart, and increased, if possible, my desire that the people who have +this rich inheritance may no longer be deprived of its benefits by bad +institutions. + +The people of Subiaco are poor, though very industrious, and +cultivating every inch of ground, with even English care and +neatness;--so ignorant and uncultivated, while so finely and strongly +made by Nature. May God grant now, to this people, what they need! + +An illumination took place last night, in honor of the "Illustrious +Gioberti." He is received here with great triumph, his carriage +followed with shouts of "_Viva Gioberti, morte ai Jesuiti!_" which +must be pain to the many Jesuits, who, it is said, still linger +here in disguise. His triumphs are shared by Mamiani and Orioli, +self-trumpeted celebrities, self-constituted rulers of the Roman +states,--men of straw, to my mind, whom the fire already kindled will +burn into a handful of ashes. + +I sit in my obscure corner, and watch the progress of events. It is +the position that pleases me best, and, I believe, the most favorable +one. Everything confirms me in my radicalism; and, without any desire +to hasten matters, indeed with surprise to see them rush so like a +torrent, I seem to see them all tending to realize my own hopes. + +My health and spirits now much restored, I am beginning to set down +some of my impressions. I am going into the mountains, hoping there to +find pure, strengthening air, and tranquillity for so many days as to +allow me to do something. + + + + +TO R.F. F----. + + +_Rieti, July 1, 1848._--Italy is as beautiful as even I hoped, and +I should wish to stay here several years, if I had a moderate fixed +income. One wants but little money here, and can have with it many +of the noblest enjoyments. I should have been very glad if fate would +allow me a few years of congenial life, at the end of not a few of +struggle and suffering. But I do not hope it; my fate will be the same +to the close,--beautiful gifts shown, and then withdrawn, or offered +on conditions that make acceptance impossible. + + + + +TO MADAME ARCONATI. + + +_Corpus Domini, June_ 22, 1848.--I write such a great number of +letters, having not less than a hundred correspondents, that it seems, +every day, as if I had just written to each. There is no one, surely, +this side of the salt sea, with whom I wish more to keep up the +interchange of thought than with you. + +I believe, if you could know my heart as God knows it, and see +the causes that regulate my conduct, you would always love me. But +already, in absence, I have lost, for the present, some of those +who were dear to me, by failure of letters, or false report. After +sorrowing much about a falsehood told me of a dearest friend, I found +his letter at Torlonia's, which had been there ten months, and, duly +received, would have made all right. There is something fatal in my +destiny about correspondence. + +But I will say no more of this; only the loss of that letter to you, +at such an unfortunate time,--just when I most wished to seem the +loving and grateful friend I was,--made me fear it might be my destiny +to lose you too. But if any cross event shall do me this ill turn on +earth, we shall meet again in that clear state of intelligence which +men call heaven. + +I see by the journals that you have not lost Montanelli. That noble +mind is still spared to Italy. The Pope's heart is incapable of +treason; but he has fallen short of the office fate assigned him. + +I am no bigoted Republican, yet I think that form of government will +eventually pervade the civilized world. Italy may not be ripe for it +yet, but I doubt if she finds peace earlier; and this hasty annexation +of Lombardy to the crown of Sardinia seems, to me, as well as I can +judge, an act unworthy and unwise. Base, indeed, the monarch, if it +was needed, and weak no less than base; for he was already too far +engaged in the Italian cause to retire with honor or wisdom. + +I am here, in a lonely mountain home, writing the narrative of my +European experience. To this I devote great part of the day. Three or +four hours I pass in the open air, on donkey or on foot. When I have +exhausted this spot, perhaps I shall try another. Apply as I may, it +will take three months, at least, to finish my book. It grows upon me. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Rieti, July_ 11, 1848.--Once I had resolution to face my difficulties +myself, and try to give only what was pleasant to others; but now that +my courage has fairly given way, and the fatigue of life is beyond my +strength, I do not prize myself, or expect others to prize me. + +Some years ago, I thought you very unjust, because you did not lend +full faith to my spiritual experiences; but I see you were quite +right. I thought I had tasted of the true elixir, and that the want +of daily bread, or the pangs of imprisonment, would never make me a +complaining beggar. A widow, I expected still to have the cruse full +for others. Those were glorious hours, and angels certainly visited +me; but there must have been too much earth,--too much taint of +weakness and folly, so that baptism did not suffice. I know now those +same things, but at present they are words, not living spells. + +I hear, at this moment, the clock of the Church del Purgatorio +telling noon in this mountain solitude. Snow yet lingers on these +mountain-tops, after forty days of hottest sunshine, last night broken +by a few clouds, prefatory to a thunder storm this morning. It has +been so hot here, that even the peasant in the field says, "_Non porro +píù resistere_," and slumbers in the shade, rather than the sun. I +love to see their patriarchal ways of guarding the sheep and tilling +the fields. They are a simple race. Remote from the corruptions of +foreign travel, they do not ask for money, but smile upon and bless me +as I pass,--for the Italians love me; they say I am so "_simpatica._" +I never see any English or Americans, and now think wholly in Italian: +only the surgeon who bled me, the other day, was proud to speak a +little French, which he had learned at Tunis! The ignorance of this +people is amusing. I am to them a divine visitant,--an instructive +Ceres,--telling them wonderful tales of foreign customs, and even +legends of the lives of their own saints. They are people whom I could +love and live with. Bread and grapes among them would suffice me. + + + + +TO HER MOTHER. + + +_Rome, Nov_. 16, 1848.--* * * Of other circumstances which complicate +my position I cannot write. Were you here, I would confide in you +fully, and have more than once, in the silence of the night, recited +to you those most strange and romantic chapters in the story of my sad +life. At one time when I thought I might die, I empowered a person, +who has given me, as far as possible to him, the aid and sympathy of +a brother, to communicate them to you, on his return to the United +States. But now I think we shall meet again, and I am sure you will +always love your daughter, and will know gladly that in all events she +has tried to aid and striven never to injure her fellows. In earlier +days, I dreamed of doing and being much, but now am content with the +Magdalen to rest my plea hereon, "_She has loved much_." + +You, loved mother, keep me informed, as you have, of important facts, +_especially_ the _worst_. The thought of you, the knowledge of your +angelic nature, is always one of my greatest supports. Happy those who +have such a mother! Myriad instances of selfishness and corruption of +heart cannot destroy the confidence in human nature. + +I am again in Rome, situated for the first time entirely to my mind. +I have but one room, but large; and everything about the bed so +gracefully and adroitly disposed that it makes a beautiful parlor, and +of course I pay much less. I have the sun all day, and an excellent +chimney. It is very high and has pure air, and the most beautiful view +all around imaginable. Add, that I am with the dearest, delightful +old couple one can imagine, quick, prompt, and kind, sensible and +contented. Having no children, they like to regard me and the Prussian +sculptor, my neighbor, as such; yet are too delicate and too busy ever +to intrude. In the attic, dwells a priest, who insists on making +my fire when Antonia is away. To be sure, he pays himself for his +trouble, by asking a great many questions. The stories below are +occupied by a frightful Russian princess with moustaches, and a +footman who ties her bonnet for her; and a fat English lady, with a +fine carriage, who gives all her money to the church, and has made for +the house a terrace of flowers that would delight you. Antonia has +her flowers in a humble balcony, her birds, and an immense black +cat; always addressed by both husband and wife as "Amoretto," (little +love!) + +The house looks out on the Piazza Barberini, and I see both that +palace and the Pope's. The scene to-day has been one of terrible +interest. The poor, weak Pope has fallen more and more under the +dominion of the cardinals, till at last all truth was hidden from his +eyes. He had suffered the minister, Rossi, to go on, tightening the +reins, and, because the people preserved a sullen silence, he thought +they would bear it. Yesterday, the Chamber of Deputies, illegally +prorogued, was opened anew. Rossi, after two or three most unpopular +measures, had the imprudence to call the troops of the line to defend +him, instead of the National Guard. On the 14th, the Pope had invested +him with the privileges of a Roman citizen: (he had renounced his +country when an exile, and returned to it as ambassador of Louis +Philippe.) This position he enjoyed but one day. Yesterday, as he +descended from his carriage, to enter the Chamber, the crowd +howled and hissed; then pushed him, and, as he turned his head in +consequence, a sure hand stabbed him in the back. He said no word, +but died almost instantly in the arms of a cardinal. The act was +undoubtedly the result of the combination of many, from the dexterity +with which it was accomplished, and the silence which ensued. Those +who had not abetted beforehand seemed entirely to approve when done. +The troops of the line, on whom he had relied, remained at their +posts, and looked coolly on. In the evening, they walked the streets +with the people, singing, "Happy the hand which rids the world of a +tyrant!" Had Rossi lived to enter the Chamber, he would have seen the +most terrible and imposing mark of denunciation known in the history +of nations,--the whole house, without a single exception, seated on +the benches of opposition. The news of his death was received by the +deputies with the same cold silence as by the people. For me, I never +thought to have heard of a violent death with satisfaction, but this +act affected me as one of terrible justice. + +To-day, all the troops and the people united and went to the Quirinal +to demand a change of measures. They found the Swiss Guard drawn out, +and the Pope dared not show himself. They attempted to force the door +of his palace, to enter his presence, and the guard fired. I saw a man +borne by wounded. The drum beat to call out the National Guard. The +carriage of Prince Barberini has returned with its frightened inmates +and liveried retinue, and they have suddenly barred up the court-yard +gate. Antonia, seeing it, observes, "Thank Heaven, we are poor, we +have nothing to fear!" This is the echo of a sentiment which will soon +be universal in Europe. + +Never feel any apprehensions for my safety from such causes. There +are those who will protect me, if necessary, and, besides, I am on the +conquering side. These events have, to me, the deepest interest. These +days are what I always longed for,--were I only free from private +care! But, when the best and noblest want bread to give to the cause +of liberty, I can just not demand _that_ of them; their blood they +would give me. + +You cannot conceive the enchantment of this place. So much I suffered +here last January and February, I thought myself a little weaned; but, +returning, my heart swelled even to tears with the cry of the poet:-- + + "O, Rome, _my_ country, city of the soul!" + +Those have not lived who have not seen Rome. Warned, however, by the +last winter, I dared not rent my lodgings for the year. I hope I am +acclimated. I have been through what is called the grape-cure, much +more charming, certainly, than the water-cure. At present I am very +well; but, alas! because I have gone to bed early, and done very +little. I do not know if I can maintain any labor. As to my life, I +think that it is not the will of Heaven it should terminate very +soon. I have had another strange escape. I had taken passage in the +diligence to come to Rome; two rivers were to be passed,--the Turano +and the Tiber,--but passed by good bridges, and a road excellent when +not broken unexpectedly by torrents from the mountains. The diligence +sets out between three and four in the morning, long before light. +The director sent me word that the Marchioness Crispoldi had taken for +herself and family a coach extraordinary, which would start two +hours later, and that I could have a place in that, if I liked; so I +accepted. The weather had been beautiful, but, on the eve of the day +fixed for my departure, the wind rose, and the rain fell in torrents. +I observed that the river which passed my window was much swollen, +and rushed with great violence. In the night, I heard its voice still +stronger, and felt glad I had not to set out in the dark. I rose with +twilight, and was expecting my carriage, and wondering at its delay, +when I heard, that the great diligence, several miles below, had +been seized by a torrent; the horses were up to their necks in water, +before any one dreamed of the danger. The postilion called on all the +saints, and threw himself into the water. The door of the diligence +could not be opened, and the passengers forced themselves, one after +another, into the cold water,--dark too. Had I been there I had fared +ill; a pair of strong men were ill after it, though all escaped with +life. + +For several days, there was no going to Rome; but, at last, we set +forth in two great diligences, with all the horses of the route. For +many miles, the mountains and ravines were covered with snow; I seemed +to have returned to my own country and climate. Few miles passed, +before the conductor injured his leg under the wheel, and I had the +pain of seeing him suffer all the way, while "Blood of Jesus," "Souls +of Purgatory," was the mildest beginning of an answer to the jeers of +the postilions upon his paleness. We stopped at a miserable +osteria, in whose cellar we found a magnificent remain of Cyclopean +architecture,--as indeed in Italy one is paid at every step, for +discomfort or danger, by some precious subject of thought. We +proceeded very slowly, and reached just at night a solitary little +inn, which marks the site of the ancient home of the Sabine virgins, +snatched away to become the mothers of Rome. We were there saluted +with the news that the Tiber, also, had overflowed its banks, and it +was very doubtful if we could pass. But what else to do? There were no +accommodations in the house for thirty people, or even for three, and +to sleep in the carriages, in that wet air of the marshes, was a more +certain danger than to attempt the passage. So we set forth; the moon, +almost at the full, smiling sadly on the ancient grandeurs, then half +draped in mist, then drawing over her face a thin white veil. As we +approached the Tiber, the towers and domes of Rome could be seen, +like a cloud lying low on the horizon. The road and the meadows, alike +under water, lay between us and it, one sheet of silver. The horses +entered; they behaved nobly; we proceeded, every moment uncertain if +the water would not become deep; but the scene was beautiful, and I +enjoyed it highly. I have never yet felt afraid when really in the +presence of danger, though sometimes in its apprehension. + +At last we entered the gate; the diligence stopping to be examined, I +walked to the gate of Villa Ludovisi, and saw its rich shrubberies of +myrtle, and its statues so pale and eloquent in the moonlight. + +Is it not cruel that I cannot earn six hundred dollars a year, living +here? I could live on that well, now I know Italy. Where I have been, +this summer, a great basket of grapes sells for one cent!--delicious +salad, enough for three or four persons, one cent,--a pair of +chickens, fifteen cents. Foreigners cannot live so, but I could, now +that I speak the language fluently, and know the price of everything. +Everybody loves, and wants to serve me, and I cannot earn this pitiful +sum to learn and do what I want. + +Of course, I wish to see America again; but in my own time, when I am +ready, and not to weep over hopes destroyed and projects unfulfilled. + +My dear friend, Madame Arconati, has shown me generous love;--a +_contadina_, whom I have known this summer, hardly less. Every Sunday, +she came in her holiday dress,--beautiful corset of red silk richly +embroidered, rich petticoat, nice shoes and stockings, and handsome +coral necklace, on one arm an immense basket of grapes, in the other +a pair of live chickens, to be eaten by me for her sake, ("_per amore +mio_,") and wanted no present, no reward; it was, as she said, "for +the honor and pleasure of her acquaintance." The old father of the +family never met me but he took off his hat and said, "Madame, it +is to me a _consolation_ to see you." Are there not sweet flowers of +affection in life, glorious moments, great thoughts?--why must they be +so dearly paid for? + +Many Americans have shown me great and thoughtful kindness, and none +more so than W. S---- and his wife. They are now in Florence, but +may return. I do not know whether I shall stay here or not; shall be +guided much by the state of my health. + +All is quieted now in Rome. Late at night the Pope had to yield, but +not till the door of his palace was half burnt, and his confessor +killed. This man, Parma, provoked his fate by firing on the people +from a window. It seems the Pope never gave order to fire; his guard +acted from a sudden impulse of their own. The new ministry chosen are +little inclined to accept. It is almost impossible for any one to act, +unless the Pope is stripped of his temporal power, and the hour +for that is not yet quite ripe; though they talk more and more of +proclaiming the Republic, and even of calling my friend Mazzini. + +If I came home at this moment, I should feel as if forced to leave my +own house, my own people, and the hour which I had always longed for. +If I do come in this way, all I can promise is to plague other people +as little as possible. My own plans and desires will be postponed to +another world. + +Do not feel anxious about me. Some higher power leads me through +strange, dark, thorny paths, broken at times by glades opening down +into prospects of sunny beauty, into which I am not permitted to +enter. If God disposes for us, it is not for nothing. This I can say, +my heart is in some respects better, it is kinder and more humble. +Also, my mental acquisitions have certainly been great, however +inadequate to my desires. + + + + +TO M.S. + + +_Rome, Nov._ 23, 1848.--Mazzini has stood alone in Italy, on a sunny +height, far above the stature of other men. He has fought a great +fight against folly, compromise, and treason; steadfast in his +convictions, and of almost miraculous energy to sustain them, is he. +He has foes; and at this moment, while he heads the insurrection in +the Valtellina, the Roman people murmur his name, and long to call him +here. + +How often rings in my ear the consolatory word of Körner, after many +struggles, many undeceptions, "Though the million suffer shipwreck, +yet noble hearts survive!" + +I grieve to say, the good-natured Pio has shown himself utterly +derelict, alike without resolution to abide by the good or the ill. He +is now abandoned and despised by both parties. The people do not trust +his word, for they know he shrinks from the danger, and shuts the +door to pray quietly in his closet, whilst he knows the cardinals are +misusing his name to violate his pledges. The cardinals, chased from +Rome, talk of electing an anti-Pope; because, when there was danger, +he has always yielded to the people, and they say he has overstepped +his prerogative, and broken his papal oath. No one abuses him, for it +is felt that in a more private station he would have acted a kindly +part; but he has failed of so high a vocation, and balked so noble a +hope, that no one respects him either. Who would have believed, a year +ago, that the people would assail his palace? I was on Monte Cavallo +yesterday, and saw the broken windows, the burnt doors, the walls +marked by shot, just beneath the loggia, on which we have seen him +giving the benediction. But this would never have happened, if his +guard had not fired first on the people. It is true it was without his +order, but, under a different man, the Swiss would never have dared to +incur such a responsibility. + +Our old acquaintance, Sterbini, has risen to the ministry. He has +a certain influence, from his consistency and independence, but has +little talent. + +Of me you wish to know; but there is little I can tell you at this +distance. I have had happy hours, learned much, suffered much, and +outward things have not gone fortunately with me. I have had glorious +hopes, but they are overclouded now, and the future looks darker than +ever, indeed, quite impossible to my steps. I have no hope, unless +that God will show me some way I do not know of now; but I do not wish +to trouble you with more of this. + + + + +TO W.S. + + +_Rome, Dec_. 9, 1848.--As to Florence itself, I do not like it, with +the exception of the galleries and churches, and Michel Angelo's +marbles. I do not like it, for the reason you _do_, because it seems +like home. It seems a kind of Boston to me,--the same good and the +same ill; I have had enough of both. But I have so many dear friends +in Boston, that I must always wish to go there sometimes; and there +are so many precious objects of study in Florence, that a stay of +several months could not fail to be full of interest. Still, the +spring must be the time to be in Florence; there are so many charming +spots to visit in the environs, much nearer than those you go to +in Rome, within scope of an afternoon's drive. I saw them only when +parched with sun and covered with dust. In the spring they must be +very beautiful. + + * * * * * + +_December_, 1848.--I felt much what you wrote, "_if it were well with +my heart_." How seldom it is that a mortal is permitted to enjoy a +paradisaical scene, unhaunted by some painful vision from the past +or the future! With me, too, dark clouds of care and sorrow have +sometimes blotted out the sunshine. I have not lost from my side an +only sister, but have been severed from some visions still so dear, +they looked almost like hopes. The future seems too difficult for me. +I have been as happy as I could, and I feel that this summer, as last, +had I been with my country folks, the picture of Italy would not have +been so lively to me. Now I have been quite off the beaten track of +travel, have seen, thought, spoken, dreamed only what is Italian. I +have learned much, received many strong and clear impressions. While +among the mountains, I was for a good while quite alone, except for +occasional chat with the contadine, who wanted to know if Pius IX. was +not _un gran carbonaro!_--a reputation which he surely ought to have +forfeited by this time. About me they were disturbed: "_E sempre sola +soletta_," they said, "_eh perche?_" + +Later, I made one of those accidental acquaintances, such as I have +spoken of to you in my life of Lombardy, which may be called romantic: +two brothers, elderly men, the last of a very noble family, formerly +lords of many castles, still of more than one; both unmarried, men of +great polish and culture. None of the consequences ensued that would +in romances: they did not any way adopt me, nor give me a casket of +diamonds, nor any of their pictures, among which were originals +by several of the greatest masters, nor their rich cabinets, nor +miniatures on agate, nor carving in wood and ivory. They only showed +me their things, and their family archives of more than a hundred +volumes, (containing most interesting documents about Poland, where +four of their ancestors were nuncios,) manuscript letters from Tasso, +and the like. With comments on these, and legendary lore enough to +furnish Cooper or Walter Scott with a thousand romances, they enriched +me; unhappily, I shall never have the strength or talent to make due +use of it. I was sorry to leave them, for now I have recrossed the +frontier into the Roman States. I will not tell you where,--I know +not that I shall ever tell where,--these months have been passed. The +great Goethe hid thus in Italy; "Then," said he, "I did indeed feel +alone,--when no former friend could form an _idea_ where I was." Why +should not ---- and I enjoy this fantastic luxury of _incognito_ also, +when we can so much more easily? + +I will not name the place, but I will describe it. The rooms are +spacious and airy; the loggia of the sleeping room is rude, but it +overhangs a lovely little river, with its hedge of willows. Opposite +is a large and rich vineyard; on one side a ruined tower, on the other +an old casino, with its avenues of cypress, give human interest to the +scene. A cleft amid the mountains full of light leads on the eye to a +soft blue peak, very distant. At night the young moon trembles in the +river, and its soft murmur soothes me to sleep; it needs, for I have +had lately a bad attack upon the nerves, and been obliged to stop +writing for the present. I think I shall stay here some time, though I +suppose there are such sweet places all over Italy, if one only looks +for one's self. Poor, beautiful Italy! how she has been injured of +late! It is dreadful to see the incapacity and meanness of those to +whom she had confided the care of her redemption. + +I have thus far passed this past month of fine weather most +delightfully in revisiting my haunts of the autumn before. Then, too, +I was uncommonly well and strong; it was the golden period of my Roman +life. The experience what long confinement may be expected after, from +the winter rains, has decided me _never_ to make my hay when the sun +shines: _i.e._, to give no fine day to books and pens. + +The places of interest I am nearest now are villas Albani and +Ludovisi, and Santa Agnese, St. Lorenzo, and the vineyards near Porta +Maggiore. I have passed one day in a visit to Torre dei Schiavi +and the neighborhood, and another on Monte Mario, both Rome and the +Campagna-day golden in the mellowest lustre of the Italian sun. * * * +But to you I may tell, that I always go with Ossoli, the most +congenial companion I ever had for jaunts of this kind. We go out in +the morning, carrying the roast chestnuts from Rome; the bread and +wine are found in some lonely little osteria; and so we dine; and +reach Rome again, just in time to see it, from a little distance, +gilded by the sunset. + +This moon having been so clear, and the air so warm, we have visited, +on successive evenings, all the places we fancied: Monte Cavallo, now +so lonely and abandoned,--no lights there but moon and stars,--Trinità +de' Monti, Santa Maria Maggiore, and the Forum. So now, if the rain +must come, or I be driven from Rome, I have all the images fair and +fresh in my mind. + +About public events, why remain ignorant? Take a daily paper in the +house. The Italian press has recovered from the effervescence of +childish spirits;--you can now approximate to the truth from its +reports. There are many good papers now in Italy. Whatever represents +the Montanelli ministry is best for you. That gives the lead now. I +see good articles copied from the "Alba." + + + + +TO MADAME ARCONATI. + + +_Rome, Feb. 5_, 1849.--I am so delighted to get your letter, that I +must answer on the instant. I try with all my force to march straight +onwards,--to answer the claims of the day; to act out my feeling as +seems right at the time, and not heed the consequences;--but in my +affections I am tender and weak; where I have really loved, a barrier, +a break, causes me great suffering. I read in your letter that I am +still dear to you as you to me. I always felt, that if we had passed +more time together,--if the intimacy, for which there was ground in +the inner nature, had become consolidated,--no after differences of +opinion or conduct could have destroyed, though they might interrupt +its pleasure. But it was of few days' standing,--our interviews much +interrupted. I felt as if I knew you much better than you could me, +because I had occasion to see you amid your various and habitual +relations. I was afraid you might change, or become indifferent; now I +hope not. + +True, I have written, shall write, about the affairs of Italy, what +you will much dislike, if ever you see it. I have done, may do, +many things that would be very unpleasing to you; yet there _is_ a +congeniality, I dare to say, pure, and strong, and good, at the bottom +of the heart, far, far deeper than these differences, that would +always, on a real meeting, keep us friends. For me, I could never have +but one feeling towards you. + +Now, for the first time, I enjoy a full communion with the spirit of +Rome. Last winter, I had here many friends; now all are dispersed, +and sometimes I long to exchange thoughts with a friendly circle; but +generally I am better content to live thus:--the impression made by +all the records of genius around is more unbroken; I begin to be very +familiar with them. The sun shines always, when last winter it never +shone. I feel strong; I can go everywhere on foot. I pass whole days +abroad; sometimes I take a book, but seldom read it:--why should I, +when every stone talks? + +In spring, I shall go often out of town. I have read "La Rome +Souterraine" of Didier, and it makes me wish to see Ardea and Nettuno. +Ostia is the only one of those desolate sites that I know yet. I study +sometimes Niebuhr, and other books about Rome, but not to any great +profit. + +In the circle of my friends, two have fallen. One a person of great +wisdom, strength, and calmness. She was ever to me a most tender +friend, and one whose sympathy I highly valued. Like you by nature +and education conservative, she was through thought liberal. With no +exuberance or passionate impulsiveness herself, she knew how to allow +for these in others. The other was a woman of my years, of the most +precious gifts in heart and genius. She had also beauty and fortune. +She died at last of weariness and intellectual inanition. She never, +to any of us, her friends, hinted her sufferings. But they were +obvious in her poems, which, with great dignity, expressed a resolute +but most mournful resignation. + + + + +TO R.F.F. + + +_Rome, Feb_. 23, 1849.--It is something if one can get free foot-hold +on the earth, so as not to be jostled out of hearing the music, if +there should be any spirits in the air to make such. + +For my part, I have led rather too lonely a life of late. Before, it +seemed as if too many voices of men startled away the inspirations; +but having now lived eight months much alone, I doubt that good has +come of it, and think to return, and go with others for a little. I +have realized in these last days the thought of Goethe,--"He who would +in loneliness live, ah! he is soon alone. Each one loves, each one +lives, and leaves him to his pain." I went away and hid, all summer. +Not content with that, I said, on returning to Rome, I must be busy +and receive people little. They have taken me at my word, and hardly +one comes to see me. Now, if I want play and prattle, I shall have to +run after them. It is fair enough that we all, in turn, should be made +to feel our need of one another. + +Never was such a winter as this. Ten weeks now of unbroken sunshine +and the mildest breezes. Of course, its price is to be paid. The +spring, usually divine here, with luxuriant foliage and multitudinous +roses, will be all scorched and dusty. There is fear, too, of want of +food for the poor Roman state. + +I pass my days in writing, walking, occasional visits to the +galleries. I read little, except the newspapers; these take up an hour +or two of the day. I own, my thoughts are quite fixed on the daily +bulletin of men and things. I expect to write the history, but because +it is so much in my heart. If you were here, I rather think you would +be impassive, like the two most esteemed Americans I see. They do not +believe in the sentimental nations. Hungarians, Poles, Italians, are +too demonstrative for them, too fiery, too impressible. They like +better the loyal, slow-moving Germans: even the Russian, with his +dog's nose and gentlemanly servility, pleases them better than _my_ +people. There is an antagonism of race. + + + + +TO E.S. + + +_Rome, June_ 6, 1849.--The help I needed was external, practical. I +knew myself all the difficulties and pains of my position; they were +beyond present relief; from sympathy I could struggle with them, but +had not life enough left, afterwards, to be a companion of any worth. +To be with persons generous and refined, who would not pain; who +would sometimes lend a helping hand across the ditches of this strange +insidious marsh, was all I could have now, and this you gave. + +On Sunday, from our loggia, I witnessed a terrible, a real battle. It +began at four in the morning: it lasted to the last gleam of light. +The musket-fire was almost unintermitted; the roll of the cannon, +especially from St. Angelo, most majestic. As all passed at Porta San +Pancrazio and Villa Pamfili, I saw the smoke of every discharge, the +flash of the bayonets; with a glass could see the men. Both French and +Italians fought with the most obstinate valor. The French could +not use their heavy cannon, being always driven away by the legions +Garibaldi and ----, when trying to find positions for them. The loss +on our side is about three hundred killed and wounded; theirs must +be much greater. In one casino have been found seventy dead bodies +of theirs. I find the wounded men at the hospital in a transport of +indignation. The French soldiers fought so furiously, that they think +them false as their general, and cannot endure the remembrance of +their visits, during the armistice, and talk of brotherhood. You will +have heard how all went:--how Lesseps, after appearing here fifteen +days as _plenipotentiary_, signed a treaty not dishonorable to Rome; +then Oudinot refused to ratify it, saying, _the plenipotentiary +had surpassed his powers_: Lesseps runs back to Paris, and Oudinot +attacks:--an affair alike infamous for the French from beginning to +end. The cannonade on one side has continued day and night, (being +full moon,) till this morning; they seeking to advance or take other +positions, the Romans firing on them. The French throw rockets into +the town: one burst in the court-yard of the hospital, just as I +arrived there yesterday, agitating the poor sufferers very much; they +said they did not want to die like mice in a trap. + + + + +TO M.S. + + +_Rome, March_ 9, 1849.--Last night, Mazzini came to see me. You will +have heard how he was called to Italy, and received at Leghorn like +a prince, as he is; unhappily, in fact, the only one, the only great +Italian. It is expected, that, if the republic lasts, he will be +President. He has been made a Roman citizen, and elected to the +Assembly; the labels bearing, in giant letters, "_Giuseppe Mazzini, +cittadino Romano_," are yet up all over Rome. He entered by night, on +foot, to avoid demonstrations, no doubt, and enjoy the quiet of his +own thoughts, at so great a moment. The people went under his windows +the next night, and called him out to speak; but I did not know about +it. Last night, I heard a ring; then somebody speak my name; the voice +struck upon me at once. He looks more divine than ever, after all +his new, strange sufferings. He asked after all of you. He stayed two +hours, and we talked, though rapidly, of everything. He hopes to come +often, but the crisis is tremendous, and all will come on him; since, +if any one can save Italy from her foes, inward and outward, it will +be he. But he is very doubtful whether this be possible; the foes are +too many, too strong, too subtle. Yet Heaven helps sometimes. I only +grieve I cannot aid him; freely would I give my life to aid him, only +bargaining for a quick death. I don't like slow torture. I fear that +it is in reserve for him, to survive defeat. True, he can never be +utterly defeated; but to see Italy bleeding, prostrate once more, will +be very dreadful for him. + +He has sent me tickets, twice, to hear him speak in the Assembly. It +was a fine, commanding voice. But, when he finished, he looked very +exhausted and melancholy. He looks as if the great battle he had +fought had been too much for his strength, and that he was only +sustained by the fire of the soul. + +All this I write to you, because you said, when I was suffering at +leaving Mazzini,--"You will meet him in heaven." This I believe will +be, despite all my faults. + +[In April, 1849, Margaret was appointed, by the "Roman Commission +for the succor of the wounded," to the charge of the hospital of the +_Fate-Bene Fratetti_; the Princess Belgioioso having charge of the one +already opened. The following is a copy of the original letter +from the Princess, which is written in English, announcing the +appointment.] + +_Comitato di Soccorso Pei Feriti_, } +April 30, 1849. } + +Dear Miss Fuller:-- + +You are named Regolatrice of the Hospital of the _Fate-Rene Fratelli_. +Go there at twelve, if the alarm bell has not rung before. When you +arrive there, you will receive all the women coming for the wounded, +and give them your directions, so that you are sure to have a certain +number of them night and day. + +May God help us. +CHRISTINE TRIVULZE, +of Belgioioso. +Miss Fuller, Piazza Barberini, No. 60. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Rome, June_ 10, 1849.--I received your letter amid the round of +cannonade and musketry. It was a terrible battle fought here from the +first till the last light of day. I could see all its progress from my +balcony. The Italians fought like lions. It is a truly heroic spirit +that animates them. They make a stand here for honor and their +rights, with little ground for hope that they can resist, now they are +betrayed by France. + +Since the 30th April, I go almost daily to the hospitals, and, +though I have suffered,--for I had no idea before, how terrible +gunshot-wounds and wound-fever are,--yet I have taken pleasure, and +great pleasure, in being with the men; there is scarcely one who is +not moved by a noble spirit. Many, especially among the Lombards, +are the flower of the Italian youth. When they begin to get better, I +carry them books and flowers; they read, and we talk. + +The palace of the Pope, on the Quirinal, is now used for +convalescents. In those beautiful gardens, I walk with them,--one with +his sling, another with his crutch. The gardener plays off all his +water-works for the defenders of the country, and gathers flowers for +me, their friend. + +A day or two since, we sat in the Pope's little pavilion, where he +used to give private audience. The sun was going gloriously down over +Monte Mario, where gleamed the white tents of the French light-horse +among the trees. The cannonade was heard at intervals. Two bright-eyed +boys sat at our feet, and gathered up eagerly every word said by the +heroes of the day. It was a beautiful hour, stolen from the midst of +ruin and sorrow; and tales were told as full of grace and pathos as in +the gardens of Boccaccio, only in a very different spirit,--with noble +hope for man, with reverence for woman. + +The young ladies of the family, very young girls, were filled with +enthusiasm for the suffering, wounded patriots, and they wished to +go to the hospital to give their services. Excepting the three +superintendents, none but married ladies were permitted to serve +there, but their services were accepted. Their governess then wished +to go too, and, as she could speak several languages, she was admitted +to the rooms of the wounded soldiers, to interpret for them, as the +nurses knew nothing but Italian, and many of these poor men were +suffering, because they could not make their wishes known. Some are +French, some German, and many Poles. Indeed, I am afraid it is too +true that there were comparatively but few Romans among them. This +young lady passed several nights there. + +Should I never return,--and sometimes I despair of doing so, it seems +so far off, so difficult, I am caught in such a net of ties here,--if +ever you know of my life here, I think you will only wonder at the +constancy with which I have sustained myself; the degree of profit to +which, amid great difficulties, I have put the time, at least in the +way of observation. Meanwhile, love me all you can; let me feel, that, +amid the fearful agitations of the world, there are pure hands, with +healthful, even pulse, stretched out toward me, if I claim their +grasp. + +I feel profoundly for Mazzini; at moments I am tempted to say, "Cursed +with every granted prayer,"--so cunning is the dæmon. He is become +the inspiring soul of his people. He saw Rome, to which all his hopes +through life tended, for the first time as a Roman citizen, and to +become in a few days its ruler. He has animated, he sustains her to a +glorious effort, which, if it fails, this time, will not in the age. +His country will be free. Yet to me it would be so dreadful to cause +all this bloodshed, to dig the graves of such martyrs. + +Then Rome is being destroyed; her glorious oaks; her villas, haunts of +sacred beauty, that seemed the possession of the world forever,--the +villa of Raphael, the villa of Albani, home of Winkelmann, and +the best expression of the ideal of modern Rome, and so many other +sanctuaries of beauty,--all must perish, lest a foe should level his +musket from their shelter. _I_ could not, could not! + +I know not, dear friend, whether I ever shall get home across that +great ocean, but here in Rome I shall no longer wish to live. O, Rome, +_my_ country! could I imagine that the triumph of what I held dear was +to heap such desolation on thy head! + +Speaking of the republic, you say, do not I wish Italy had a great +man? Mazzini is a great man. In mind, a great poetic statesman; in +heart, a lover; in action, decisive and full of resource as Cæsar. +Dearly I love Mazzini. He came in, just as I had finished the first +letter to you. His soft, radiant look makes melancholy music in my +soul; it consecrates my present life, that, like the Magdalen, I may, +at the important hour, shed all the consecrated ointment on his head. +There is one, Mazzini, who understands thee well; who knew thee no +less when an object of popular fear, than now of idolatry; and who, if +the pen be not held too feebly, will help posterity to know thee too. + + + + +TO W.H.C. + + +_Rome, July_ 8, 1849.--I do not yet find myself tranquil and recruited +from the painful excitements of these last days. But, amid the ruined +hopes of Rome, the shameful oppressions she is beginning to suffer, +amid these noble, bleeding martyrs, my brothers, I cannot fix my +thoughts on anything else. + +I write that you may assure mother of my safety, which in the last +days began to be seriously imperilled. Say, that as soon as I can find +means of conveyance, without an expense too enormous, I shall go again +into the mountains. There I shall find pure, bracing air, and I hope +stillness, for a time. Say, she need feel no anxiety, if she do not +hear from me for some time. I may feel indisposed to write, as I do +now; my heart is too full. + +Private hopes of mine are fallen with the hopes of Italy. I have +played for a new stake, and lost it. Life looks too difficult. But +for the present I shall try to wave all thought of self and renew my +strength. + +After the attempt at revolution in France failed, could I have +influenced Mazzini, I should have prayed him to capitulate, and yet I +feel that no honorable terms can be made with such a foe, and that the +only way is _never_ to yield; but the sound of the musketry, the sense +that men were perishing in a hopeless contest, had become too terrible +for my nerves. I did not see Mazzini, the last two weeks of the +republic. When the French entered, he walked about the streets, to +see how the people bore themselves, and then went to the house of +a friend. In the upper chamber of a poor house, with his life-long +friends,--the Modenas,--I found him. Modena, who abandoned not only +what other men hold dear,--home, fortune, peace,--but also endured, +without the power of using the prime of his great artist-talent, a +ten years' exile in a foreign land; his wife every way worthy of +him,--such a woman as I am not. + +Mazzini had suffered millions more than I could; he had borne his +fearful responsibility; he had let his dearest friends perish; he had +passed all these nights without sleep; in two short months, he had +grown old; all the vital juices seemed exhausted; his eyes were all +blood-shot; his skin orange; flesh he had none; his hair was mixed +with white: his hand was painful to the touch; but he had never +flinched, never quailed; had protested in the last hour against +surrender; sweet and calm, but full of a more fiery purpose than ever; +in him I revered the hero, and owned myself not of that mould. + +You say truly, I shall come home humbler. God grant it may be entirely +humble! In future, while more than ever deeply penetrated with +principles, and the need of the martyr spirit to sustain them, I will +ever own that there are few worthy, and that I am one of the least. + +A silken glove might be as good a gauntlet as one of steel, but I, +infirm of mood, turn sick even now as I think of the past. + + * * * * * + +_July_, 1849.--I cannot tell you what I endured in leaving Rome; +abandoning the wounded soldiers; knowing that there is no provision +made for them, when they rise from the beds where they have been +thrown by a noble courage, where they have suffered with a noble +patience. Some of the poorer men, who rise bereft even of the right +arm,--one having lost both the right arm and the right leg,--I could +have provided for with a small sum. Could I have sold my hair, or +blood from my arm, I would have done it. Had any of the rich Americans +remained in Rome, they would have given it to me; they helped nobly at +first, in the service of the hospitals, when there was far less need; +but they had all gone. What would I have given that I could have +spoken to one of the Lawrences, or the Phillipses; they could and +would have saved the misery. These poor men are left helpless in +the power of a mean and vindictive foe. You felt so oppressed in the +slave-states; imagine what I felt at seeing all the noblest youth, all +the genius of this dear land, again enslaved. + + + + +TO W.H.C. + + +_Rieti, Aug_. 28, 1849.--You say, you are glad I have had this great +opportunity for carrying out my principles. Would it were so! I found +myself inferior in courage and fortitude to the occasion. I knew not +how to bear the havoc and anguish incident to the struggle for these +principles. I rejoiced that it lay not with me to cut down the trees, +to destroy the Elysian gardens, for the defence of Rome; I do not know +that I could have done it. And the sight of these far nobler growths, +the beautiful young men, mown down in their stately prime, became too +much for me. I forget the great ideas, to sympathize with the poor +mothers, who had nursed their precious forms, only to see them +all lopped and gashed. You say, I sustained them; often have they +sustained my courage: one, kissing the pieces of bone that were so +painfully extracted from his arm, hanging them round his neck to be +worn as the true relics of to-day; mementoes that he also had done and +borne something for his country and the hopes of humanity. One fair +young man, who is made a cripple for life, clasped my hand as he saw +me crying over the spasms I could not relieve, and faintly cried, +"Viva l'Italia." "Think only, _cara bona donna_" said a poor wounded +soldier, "that I can always wear my uniform on _festas_, just as it is +now, with the holes where the balls went through, for a memory." "God +is good; God knows," they often said to me, when I had not a word to +cheer them. + + + + +THE WIFE AND MOTHER.[A] + + +Beneath the ruins of the Roman Republic, how many private fortunes +were buried! and among these victims was Margaret. In that +catastrophe, were swallowed up hopes sacredly cherished by her through +weary months, at the risk of all she most prized. + +Soon after the entrance of the French, she wrote thus, to the resident +Envoy of the United States: + +My dear Mr. Cass,--I beg you to come and see me, and give me your +counsel, and, if need be, your aid, to get away from Rome. From what +I hear this morning, I fear we may be once more shut up here; and I +shall die, to be again separated from what I hold most dear. There +are, as yet, no horses on the way we want to go, or we should post +immediately. + +You may feel, like me, sad, in these last moments, to leave this +injured Rome. So many noble hearts I abandon here, whose woes I have +known! I feel, if I could not aid, I might soothe. But for my child, I +would not go, till some men, now sick, know whether they shall live or +die. + + * * * * * + +Her child! Where was he? In RIETI,--at the foot of the Umbrian +Apennines,--a day's journey to the north-east of Rome. Thither +Margaret escaped with her husband, and thence she wrote the following +letter: + +Dearest Mother,--I received your letter a few hours before leaving +Rome. Like all of yours, it refreshed me, and gave me as much +satisfaction as anything could, at that sad time. Its spirit is +of eternity, and befits an epoch when wickedness and perfidy so +impudently triumph, and the best blood of the generous and honorable +is poured out like water, seemingly in vain. + +I cannot tell you what I suffered to abandon the wounded to the care +of their mean foes; to see the young men, that were faithful to their +vows, hunted from their homes,--hunted like wild beasts; denied a +refuge in every civilized land. Many of those I loved are sunk to the +bottom of the sea, by Austrian cannon, or will be shot. Others are in +penury, grief, and exile. May God give due recompense for all that has +been endured! + +My mind still agitated, and my spirits worn out, I have not felt like +writing to any one. Yet the magnificent summer does not smile quite +in vain for me. Much exercise in the open air, living much on milk +and fruit, have recruited my health, and I am regaining the habit of +sleep, which a month of nightly cannonade in Rome had destroyed. + + * * * * * + +Receiving, a few days since, a packet of letters from America, I +opened them with more feeling of hope and good cheer, than for a long +time past. The first words that met my eye were these, in the hand of +Mr. Greeley:--"Ah, Margaret, the world grows dark with us! You grieve, +for Rome is fallen;--I mourn, for Pickie is dead." + +I have shed rivers of tears over the inexpressibly affecting letter +thus begun. One would think I might have become familiar enough with +images of death and destruction; yet somehow the image of Pickie's +little dancing figure, lying, stiff and stark, between his parents, +has made me weep more than all else. There was little hope he could do +justice to himself, or lead a happy life in so perplexed a world; +but never was a character of richer capacity,--never a more charming +child. To me he was most dear, and would always have been so. Had he +become stained with earthly faults, I could never have forgotten what +he was when fresh from the soul's home, and what he was to me when my +soul pined for sympathy, pure and unalloyed. + +The three children I have seen who were fairest in my eyes, and gave +most promise of the future, were Waldo, Pickie, Hermann Clarke;--all +nipped in the bud. Endless thoughts has this given me, and a resolve +to seek the realization of all hopes and plans elsewhere, which +resolve will weigh with me as much as it can weigh before the silver +cord is finally loosed. Till then, Earth, our mother, always finds +strange, unexpected ways to draw us back to her bosom,--to make us +seek anew a nutriment which has never failed to cause us frequent +sickness. + + * * * * * + +This brings me to the main object of my present letter,--a piece +of intelligence about myself, which I had hoped I might be able +to communicate in such a way as to give you _pleasure_. That I +cannot,--after suffering much in silence with that hope,--is like the +rest of my earthly destiny. + +The first moment, it may cause you a pang to know that your eldest +child might long ago have been addressed by another name than yours, +and has a little son a year old. + +But, beloved mother, do not feel this long. I do assure you, that it +was only great love for you that kept me silent. I have abstained a +hundred times, when your sympathy, your counsel, would have been most +precious, from a wish not to harass you with anxiety. Even now I would +abstain, but it has become necessary, on account of the child, for us +to live publicly and permanently together; and we have no hope, in +the present state of Italian affairs, that we can do it at any better +advantage, for several years, than now. + +My husband is a Roman, of a noble but now impoverished house. His +mother died when he was an infant, his father is dead since we met, +leaving some property, but encumbered with debts, and in the present +state of Rome hardly available, except by living there. He has +three older brothers, all provided for in the Papal service,--one as +Secretary of the Privy Chamber, the other two as members of the Guard +Noble. A similar career would have been opened to him, but he embraced +liberal principles, and, with the fall of the Republic, has lost +all, as well as the favor of his family, who all sided with the Pope. +Meanwhile, having been an officer in the Republican service, it was +best for him to leave Rome. He has taken what little money he had, +and we plan to live in Florence for the winter. If he or I can get +the means, we shall come together to the United States, in the +summer;--earlier we could not, on account of the child. + +He is not in any respect such a person as people in general would +expect to find with me. He had no instructor except an old priest, +who entirely neglected his education; and of all that is contained +in books he is absolutely ignorant, and he has no enthusiasm of +character. On the other hand, he has excellent practical sense; has +been a judicious observer of all that passed before his eyes; has a +nice sense of duty, which, in its unfailing, minute activity, may +put most enthusiasts to shame; a very sweet temper, and great native +refinement. His love for me has been unswerving and most tender. I +have never suffered a pain that he could relieve. His devotion, when +I am ill, is to be compared only with yours. His delicacy in trifles, +his sweet domestic graces, remind me of E----. In him I have found a +home, and one that interferes with no tie. Amid many ills and +cares, we have had much joy together, in the sympathy with natural +beauty,--with our child,--with all that is innocent and sweet. + +I do not know whether he will always love me so well, for I am +the elder, and the difference will become, in a few years, more +perceptible than now. But life is so uncertain, and it is so necessary +to take good things with their limitations, that I have not thought it +worth while to calculate too curiously. + +However my other friends may feel, I am sure that _you_ will love +him very much, and that he will love you no less. Could we all live +together, on a moderate income, you would find peace with us. Heaven +grant, that, on returning, I may gain means to effect this object. +He, of course, can do nothing, while we are in the United States, but +perhaps I can; and now that my health is better, I shall be able to +exert myself, if sure that my child is watched by those who love him, +and who are good and pure. + + * * * * * + +What shall I say of my child? All might seem hyperbole, even to my +dearest mother. In him I find satisfaction, for the first time, to the +deep wants of my heart. Yet, thinking of those other sweet ones fled, +I must look upon him as a treasure only lent. He is a fair child, with +blue eyes and light hair; very affectionate, graceful, and sportive. +He was baptized, in the Roman Catholic Church, by the name of Angelo +Eugene Philip, for his father, grandfather, and my brother. He +inherits the title of marquis. + +Write the name of my child in your Bible, ANGELO OSSOLI, _born +September_ 5, 1848. God grant he may live to see you, and may prove +worthy of your love! + +More I do not feel strength to say. You can hardly guess how all +attempt to express something about the great struggles and experiences +of my European life enfeebles me. When I get home,--if ever I do,--it +will be told without this fatigue and excitement. I trust there will +be a little repose, before entering anew on this wearisome conflict. + +I had addressed you twice,--once under the impression that I should +not survive the birth of my child; again during the siege of Rome, the +father and I being both in danger. I took Mrs. Story, and, when she +left Rome, Mr. Cass, into my confidence. Both were kind as sister +and brother. Amid much pain and struggle, sweet, is the memory of +the generous love I received from William and Emelyn Story, and their +uncle. They helped me gently through a most difficult period. Mr. +Cass, also, who did not know me at all, has done everything possible +for me. + + * * * * * + +A letter to her sister fills out these portraits of her husband and +child. + + * * * * * + +About Ossoli[B] I do not like to say much, as he is an exceedingly +delicate person. He is not precisely reserved, but it is not natural +to him to talk about the objects of strong affection. I am sure he +would not try to describe me to his sister, but would rather she would +take her own impression of me; and, as much as possible, I wish to +do the same by him. I presume that, to many of my friends, he will +be nothing, and they will not understand that I should have life in +common with him. But I do not think he will care;--he has not the +slightest tinge of self-love. He has, throughout our intercourse, been +used to my having many such ties. He has no wish to be anything to +persons with whom he does not feel spontaneously bound, and when I am +occupied, is happy in himself. But some of my friends and my family, +who will see him in the details of practical life, cannot fail to +prize the purity and simple strength of his character; and, should +he continue to love me as he has done, his companionship will be an +inestimable blessing to me. I say _if_, because all human affections +are frail, and I have experienced too great revulsions in my own, not +to know it. Yet I feel great confidence in the permanence of his love. +It has been unblemished so far, under many trials; especially as I +have been more desponding and unreasonable, in many ways, than I ever +was before, and more so, I hope, than I ever shall be again. But at +all such times, he never had a thought except to sustain and cheer me. +He is capable of the sacred love,--the love passing that of woman. He +showed it to his father, to Rome, to me. Now he loves his child in the +same way. I think he will be an excellent father, though he could not +speculate about it, nor, indeed, about anything. + +Our meeting was singular,--fateful, I may say. Very soon he offered me +his hand through life, but I never dreamed I should take it. I loved +him, and felt very unhappy to leave him; but the connection seemed so +every way unfit, I did not hesitate a moment. He, however, thought +I should return to him, as I did. I acted upon a strong impulse, and +could not analyze at all what passed in my mind. I neither rejoice +nor grieve;--for bad or for good, I acted out my character Had I never +connected myself with any one, my path was clear; now it is all +hid; but, in that case, my development must have been partial. As +to marriage, I think the intercourse of heart and mind may be fully +enjoyed without entering into this partnership of daily life. Still, +I do not find it burdensome. The friction that I have seen mar so much +the domestic happiness of others does not occur with us, or, at least, +has not occurred. Then, there is the pleasure of always being at hand +to help one another. + +Still, the great novelty, the immense gain, to me, is my relation with +my child. I thought the mother's heart lived in me before, but it did +not;--I knew nothing about it. Yet, before his birth, I dreaded it. +I thought I should not survive: but if I did, and my child did, was I +not cruel to bring another into this terrible world? I could not, at +that time, get any other view. When he was born, that deep melancholy +changed at once into rapture: but it did not last long. Then came the +prudential motherhood. I grew a coward, a care-taker, not only for the +morrow, but, impiously faithless, for twenty or thirty years ahead. +It seemed very wicked to have brought the little tender thing into +the midst of cares and perplexities we had not feared in the least +for ourselves. I imagined everything;--he was to be in danger of +every enormity the Croats were then committing upon the infants +of Lombardy;--the house would be burned over his head; but, if he +escaped, how were we to get money to buy his bibs and primers? Then +his father was to be killed in the fighting, and I to die of my cough, +&c. &c. + +During the siege of Rome, I could not see my little boy. What I +endured at that time, in various ways, not many would survive. In the +burning sun, I went, every day, to wait, in the crowd, for letters +about him. Often they did not come. I saw blood that had streamed on +the wall where Ossoli was. I have a piece of a bomb that burst close +to him. I sought solace in tending the suffering men; but when I +beheld the beautiful fair young men bleeding to death, or mutilated +for life, I felt the woe of all the mothers who had nursed each to +that full flower, to see them thus cut down. I felt the _consolation_, +too,--for those youths died worthily. I was a Mater Dolorosa, and I +remembered that she who helped Angelino into the world came from the +sign of the Mater Dolorosa. I thought, even if he lives, if he comes +into the world at this great troubled time, terrible with perplexed +duties, it may be to die thus at twenty years, one of a glorious +hecatomb, indeed, but still a sacrifice! It seemed then I was willing +he should die. + + * * * * * + +Angelino's birth-place is thus sketched: + +My baby saw mountains when he first looked forward into the world. +RIETI,--not only an old classic town of Italy, but one founded by what +are now called the Aborigines,--is a hive of very ancient dwellings +with red brown roofs, a citadel and several towers. It is in a +plain, twelve miles in diameter one way, not much less the other, and +entirely encircled with mountains of the noblest form. Casinos and +hermitages gleam here and there on their lower slopes. This plain is +almost the richest in Italy, and full of vineyards. Rieti is near the +foot of the hills on one side, and the rapid Velino makes almost the +circuit of its walls, on its way to Terni. I had my apartment shut out +from the family, on the bank of this river, and saw the mountains, as +I lay on my restless couch. There was a piazza, too, or, as they call +it here, a loggia, which hung over the river, where I walked most of +the night, for I could not sleep at all in those months. In the wild +autumn storms, the stream became a roaring torrent, constantly lit up +by lightning flashes, and the sound of its rush was very sublime. I +see it yet, as it swept away on its dark green current the heaps of +burning straw which the children let down from the bridge. Opposite +my window was a vineyard, whose white and purple clusters were my food +for three months. It was pretty to watch the vintage,--the asses and +wagons loaded with this wealth of amber and rubies,--the naked boys, +singing in the trees on which the vines are trained, as they cut the +grapes,--the nut-brown maids and matrons, in their red corsets and +white head-clothes, receiving them below, while the babies and little +children were frolicking in the grass. + +In Rieti, the ancient Umbrians were married thus. In presence of +friends, the man and maid received together the gifts of fire and +water; the bridegroom then conducted to his house the bride. At the +door, he gave her the keys, and, entering, threw behind him nuts, as a +sign that he renounced all the frivolities of boyhood. + +I intend to write all that relates to the birth of Angelino, in a +little book, which I shall, I hope, show you sometime. I have begun +it, and then stopped;--it seemed to me he would die. If he lives, I +shall finish it, before the details are at all faded in my mind. Rieti +is a place where I should have liked to have him born, and where I +should like to have him now,--but that the people are so wicked. They +are the most ferocious and mercenary population of Italy. I did not +know this, when I went there, and merely expected to be solitary and +quiet among poor people. But they looked on the "Marchioness" as an +ignorant _Inglese_, and they fancy all _Inglesi_ have wealth untold. +Me they were bent on plundering in every way. They made me suffer +terribly in the first days. + + +[Footnote A: The first part of this chapter is edited by R.W.E.; the +remainder by W.H.C.] + +[Footnote B: Giovanni Angelo Ossoli.] + + + + +THE PRIVATE MARRIAGE. + + +The high-minded friend, spoken of with such grateful affection by +Margaret, in her letter to her mother, thus gracefully narrates the +romance of her marriage; and the narrative is a noble proof of the +heroic disinterestedness with which, amidst her own engrossing trials, +Margaret devoted herself to others. Mrs. Story writes as follows:-- + + "During the month of November, 1847, we arrived in Rome, + purposing to spend the winter there. At that time, Margaret + was living in the house of the Marchesa ----, in the Corso, + _Ultimo Piano_. Her rooms were pleasant and cheerful, with + a certain air of elegance and refinement, but they had not + a sunny exposure, that all-essential requisite for health, + during the damp Roman winter. Margaret suffered from ill + health this winter, and she afterwards attributed it mainly + to the fact, that she had not the sun. As soon as she heard of + our arrival, she stretched forth a friendly, cordial hand, and + greeted us most warmly. She gave us great assistance in our + search for convenient lodgings, and we were soon happily + established near her. Our intercourse was henceforth most + frequent and intimate, and knew no cloud nor coldness. Daily + we were much with her, and daily we felt more sensible of the + worth and value of our friend. To me she seemed so unlike what + I had thought her to be in America, that I continually said, + 'How have I misjudged you,--you are not at all such a person + as I took you to be.' To this she replied, 'I am not the + same person, but in many respects another;--my life has new + channels now, and how thankful I am that I have been able to + come out into larger interests,--but, partly, you did not know + me at home in the true light.' It was true, that I had not + known her much personally, when in Boston; but through her + friends, who were mine also, I had learned to think of her + as a person on intellectual stilts, with a large share of + arrogance, and little sweetness of temper. How unlike to + this was she now!--so delicate, so simple, confiding, and + affectionate; with a true womanly heart and soul, sensitive + and generous, and, what was to me a still greater surprise, + possessed of so broad a charity, that she could cover with its + mantle the faults and defects of all about her. + + "We soon became acquainted with the young Marquis Ossoli, and + met him frequently at Margaret's rooms. He appeared to be of + a reserved and gentle nature, with quiet, gentleman-like + manners, and there was something melancholy in the expression + of his face, which made one desire to know more of him. In + figure, he was tall, and of slender frame, with dark hair + and eyes; we judged that he was about thirty years of age, + possibly younger. Margaret spoke of him most frankly, and soon + told us the history of her first acquaintance with him, which, + as nearly as I can recall, was as follows:-- + + "She went to hear vespers, the evening of 'Holy Thursday,' + soon after her first coming to Rome, in the spring of 1847, at + St. Peter's. She proposed to her companions that some place + in the church should be designated, where, after the services, + they should meet,--she being inclined, as was her custom + always in St. Peter's, to wander alone among the different + chapels. When, at length, she saw that the crowd was + dispersing, she returned to the place assigned, but could not + find her party. In some perplexity, she walked about, with her + glass carefully examining each group. Presently, a young man + of gentlemanly address came up to her, and begged, if she were + seeking any one, that he might be permitted to assist her; and + together they continued the search through all parts of the + church. At last, it became evident, beyond a doubt, that her + party could no longer be there, and, as it was then quite + late, the crowd all gone, they went out into the piazza to + find a carriage, in which she might go home. In the piazza, in + front of St. Peter's, generally may be found many carriages; + but, owing to the delay they had made, there were then none, + and Margaret was compelled to walk, with her stranger friend, + the long distance between the Vatican and the Corso. At + this time, she had little command of the language for + conversational purposes, and their words were few, though + enough to create in each a desire for further knowledge and + acquaintance. At her door, they parted, and Margaret, finding + her friends already at home, related the adventure." + +This chance meeting at vesper service in St. Peter's prepared the +way for many interviews; and it was before Margaret's departure for +Venice, Milan, and Como, that Ossoli first offered her his hand, and +was refused. Mrs. Story continues:-- + + "After her return to Rome, they met again, and he became her + constant visitor; and as, in those days, Margaret watched with + intense interest the tide of political events, his mind was + also turned in the direction of liberty and better government. + Whether Ossoli, unassisted, would have been able to emancipate + himself from the influence of his family and early education, + both eminently conservative and narrow, may be a question; but + that he did throw off the shackles, and espouse the cause of + Roman liberty with warm zeal, is most certain. Margaret had + known Mazzini in London, had partaken of his schemes for the + future of his country, and was taking every pains to inform + herself in regard to the action of all parties, with a view + to write a history of the period. Ossoli brought her every + intelligence that might be of interest to her, and busied + himself in learning the views of both parties, that she might + be able to judge the matter impartially. + + "Here I may say, that, in the estimation of most of those who + were in Italy at this time, the loss of Margaret's history + and notes is a great and irreparable one. No one could have + possessed so many avenues of direct information from both + sides. While she was the friend and correspondent of Mazzini, + and knew the springs of action of his party; through her + husband's family and connections, she knew the other view; so + that, whatever might be the value of her deductions, her facts + could not have been other than of highest worth. Together, + Margaret and Ossoli went to the meetings of either side; and + to her he carried all the flying reports of the day, such as + he had heard in the café, or through his friends. + + "In a short time, we went to Naples, and Margaret, in the + course of a few months, to Aquila and Rieti. Meanwhile, we + heard from her often by letter, and wrote to urge her to join + us in our villa at Sorrento. During this summer, she wrote + constantly upon her history of the Italian movement, for which + she had collected materials through the past winter. We did + not again meet, until the following spring, March, 1849, when + we went from Florence back to Rome. Once more we were with + her, then, in most familiar every-day intercourse, and as at + this time a change of government had taken place,--the Pope + having gone to Molo di Gaeta.--we watched with her the great + movements of the day. Ossoli was now actively interested on + the liberal side; he was holding the office of captain in the + _Guardia Civica_, and enthusiastically looking forward to the + success of the new measures. + + "During the spring of 1849, Mazzini came to Rome. He went at + once to see Margaret, and at her rooms met Ossoli. After this + interview with Mazzini, it was quite evident that they had + lost something of the faith and hopeful certainty with which + they had regarded the issue, for Mazzini had discovered + the want of singleness of purpose in the leaders of the + Provisional Government. Still zealously Margaret and Ossoli + aided in everything the progress of events; and when it was + certain that the French had landed forces at Civita Vecchia, + and would attack Rome, Ossoli took station with his men on the + walls of the Vatican gardens, where he remained faithfully + to the end of the attack. Margaret had, at the same time, the + entire charge of one of the hospitals, and was the assistant + of the Princess Belgioioso, in charge of '_dei Pellegrini_,' + where, during the first day, they received seventy wounded + men, French and Romans. + + "Night and day, Margaret was occupied, and, with the princess, + so ordered and disposed the hospitals, that their conduct was + truly admirable. All the work was skilfully divided, so + that there was no confusion or hurry and, from the chaotic + condition in which these places had been left by the + priests,--who previously had charge of them,--they brought + them to a state of perfect regularity and discipline. Of money + they had very little, and they were obliged to give their time + and thoughts, in its place. From the Americans in Rome, they + raised a subscription for the aid of the wounded of either + party; but, besides this, they had scarcely any means to use. + I have walked through the wards with Margaret, and seen how + comforting was her presence to the poor suffering men. 'How + long will the Signora stay?' 'When will the Signora come + again?' they eagerly asked. For each one's peculiar tastes she + had a care: to one she carried books; to another she told the + news of the day; and listened to another's oft-repeated tale + of wrongs, as the best sympathy she could give. They raised + themselves up on their elbows, to get the last glimpse of her + as she was going away. There were some of the sturdy fellows + of Garibaldi's Legion there, and to them she listened, as they + spoke with delight of their chief, of his courage and + skill; for he seemed to have won the hearts of his men in a + remarkable manner. + + "One incident I may as well narrate in this connection. It + happened, that, some time before the coming of the French, + while Margaret was travelling quite by herself, on her + return from a visit to her child, who was out at nurse in the + country, she rested for an hour or two at a little wayside + _osteria_. While there, she was startled by the _padrone_, + who, with great alarm, rushed into the room, and said, 'We + are quite lost! here is the Legion Garibaldi! These men always + pillage, and, if we do not give all up to them without pay, + they will kill us.' Margaret looked out upon the road, and + saw that it was quite true, that the legion was coming + thither with all speed. For a moment, she said, she felt + uncomfortably; for such was the exaggerated account of the + conduct of the men, that she thought it quite possible that + they would take her horses, and so leave her without the means + of proceeding on her journey. On they came, and she determined + to offer them a lunch at her own expense; having faith that + gentleness and courtesy was the best protection from injury. + Accordingly, as soon as they arrived, and rushed boisterously + into the _osteria_, she rose, and said to the _padrone_, 'Give + these good men wine and bread on my account; for, after their + ride, they must need refreshment.' Immediately, the noise and + confusion subsided; with respectful bows to her, they seated + themselves and partook of the lunch, giving her an account of + their journey. When she was ready to go, and her _vettura_ was + at the door, they waited upon her, took down the steps, + and assisted her with much gentleness and respectfulness of + manner, and she drove off, wondering how men with such natures + could have the reputation they had. And, so far as we could + gather, except in this instance, their conduct was of a most + disorderly kind. + + "Again, on another occasion, she showed how great was her + power over rude men. This was when two _contadini_ at Rieti, + being in a violent quarrel, had rushed upon each other with + knives. Margaret was called by the women bystanders, as the + Signora who could most influence them to peace. She went + directly up to the men, whose rage was truly awful to behold, + and, stepping between them, commanded them to separate. They + parted, but with such a look of deadly revenge, that Margaret + felt her work was but half accomplished. She therefore sought + them out separately, and talked with each, urging forgiveness; + it was long, however, before she could see any change of + purpose, and only by repeated conversations was it, that she + brought about her desire, and saw them meet as friends. After + this, her reputation as peace-maker was great, and the women + in the neighborhood came to her with long tales of trouble, + urging her intervention. I have never known anything more + extraordinary than this influence of hers over the passion and + violence of the Italian character. Repeated instances come + to my mind, when a look from her has had more power to quiet + excitement, than any arguments and reasonings that could be + brought to bear upon the subject. Something quite superior and + apart from them, the people thought her, and yet knew her as + the gentle and considerate judge of their vices. + + "I may also mention here, that Margaret's charities, according + to her means, were larger than those of any other whom I ever + knew. At one time, in Rome, while she lived upon the simplest, + slenderest fare, spending only some ten or twelve cents a day + for her dinner, she lent, unsolicited, her last fifty dollars + to an artist, who was then in need. That it would ever be + returned to her, she did not know; but the doubt did not + restrain the hand from giving. In this instance, it was soon + repaid her; but her charities were not always towards the most + deserving. Repeated instances of the false pretences, under + which demands for charity are made, were known to her after + she had given to unworthy objects; but no experience of this + sort ever checked her kindly impulse to give, and being once + deceived taught her no lesson of distrust. She ever listened + with ready ear to all who came to her in any form of distress. + Indeed, to use the language of another friend, 'the prevalent + impression at Rome, among all who knew her, was, that she was + a mild saint and a ministering angel.' + + "I have, in order to bring in these instances of her influence + on those about her, deviated from my track. We return to the + life she led in Rome during the attack of the French, and her + charge of the hospitals, where she spent daily some seven or + eight hours, and, often, the entire night. Her feeble frame + was a good deal shaken by so uncommon a demand upon her + strength, while, at the same time, the anxiety of her mind was + intense. I well remember how exhausted and weary she was; + how pale and agitated she returned to us after her day's and + night's watching; how eagerly she asked for news of Ossoli, + and how seldom we had any to give her, for he was unable to + send her a word for two or three days at a time. Letters + from the country there were few or none, as the communication + between Rieti and Rome was cut off. + + "After one such day, she called me to her bedside, and said + that I must consent, for her sake, to keep the SECRET she was + about to confide. Then she told me of her marriage; where her + child was, and where he was born; and gave me certain papers + and parchment documents which I was to keep; and, in the event + of her and her husband's death, I was to take the boy to her + mother in America, and confide him to her care, and that of + her friend, Mrs. ----. + + "The papers thus given me, I had perfect liberty to read; but + after she had told me her story, I desired no confirmation of + this fact, beyond what her words had given. One or two of the + papers she opened, and we together read them. One was written + on parchment, in Latin, and was a certificate, given by the + priest who married them, saying that Angelo Eugene Ossoli was + the legal heir of whatever title and fortune should come to + his father. To this was affixed his seal, with those of the + other witnesses, and the Ossoli crest was drawn in full + upon the paper. There was also a book, in which Margaret had + written the history of her acquaintance and marriage with + Ossoli, and of the birth of her child. In giving that to + me, she said, 'If I do not survive to tell this myself to my + family, this book will be to them invaluable. Therefore keep + it for them. If I live, it will be of no use, for my word will + be all that they will ask.' I took the papers, and locked them + up. Never feeling any desire to look into them, I never did; + and as she gave them to me, I returned them to her, when I + left Rome for Switzerland. + + "After this, she often spoke to me of the necessity there + had been, and still existed, for her keeping her marriage + a secret. At the time, I argued in favor of her making it + public, but subsequent events have shown me the wisdom of her + decision. The _explanation_ she gave me of the secret marriage + was this: + + "They were married in December, soon after,--as I think, + though I am not positive,--the death of the old Marquis + Ossoli. The estate he had left was undivided, and the two + brothers, attached to the Papal household, were to be the + executors. This patrimony was not large, but, when fairly + divided, would bring to each a little property,--an income + sufficient, with economy, for life in Rome. Everyone knows, + that law is subject to ecclesiastical influence in Rome, and + that marriage with a Protestant would be destructive to all + prospects of favorable administration. And beside being + of another religious faith, there was, in this case, the + additional crime of having married a liberal,--one who had + publicly interested herself in radical views. Taking the two + facts together, there was good reason to suppose, that, if the + marriage were known, Ossoli must be a beggar, and a banished + man, under the then existing government; while, by waiting a + little, there was a chance,--a fair one, too,--of an honorable + post under the new government, whose formation every one was + anticipating. Leaving Rome, too, at that time, was deserting + the field wherein they might hope to work much good, and where + they felt that they were needed. Ossoli's brothers had + long before begun to look jealously upon him. Knowing his + acquaintance with Margaret, they feared the influence she + might exert over his mind in favor of liberal sentiments, and + had not hesitated to threaten him with the Papal displeasure. + Ossoli's education had been such, that it certainly argues an + uncommon elevation of character, that he remained so firm and + single in his political views, and was so indifferent to the + pecuniary advantages which his former position offered, since, + during many years, the Ossoli family had been high in favor + and in office, in Rome, and the same vista opened for his own + future, had he chosen to follow their lead. The Pope left + for Molo di Gaeta, and then came a suspension of all legal + procedure, so that the estate was never divided, before we + left Italy, and I do not know that it has ever been. + + "Ossoli had the feeling, that, while his own sister and family + could not be informed of his marriage, no others should know + of it; and from day to day they hoped on for the favorable + change which should enable them to declare it. Their child was + born; and, for his sake, in order to defend him, as Margaret + said, from the stings of poverty, they were patient waiters + for the restored law of the land. Margaret felt that she + would, at any cost to herself, gladly secure for her child a + condition above want; and, although it was a severe trial,--as + her letters to us attest,--she resolved to wait, and hope, + and keep her secret. At the time when she took me into her + confidence, she was so full of anxiety and dread of some + shock, from which she might not recover, that it was + absolutely necessary to make it known to some friend. She + was living with us at the time, and she gave it to me. Most + sacredly, but timidly, did I keep her secret; for, all the + while, I was tormented with a desire to be of active service + to her, and I was incapacitated from any action by the + position in which I was placed. + + "Ossoli's post was one of considerable danger, he being in one + of the most exposed places; and, as Margaret saw his wounded + and dying comrades, she felt that another shot might take him + from her, or bring him to her care in the hospital. Eagerly + she watched the carts, as they came up with their suffering + loads, dreading that her worst fears might be confirmed. No + argument of ours could persuade Ossoli to leave his post to + take food or rest. Sometimes we went to him, and carried a + concealed basket of provisions, but he shared it with so many + of his fellows, that his own portion must have been almost + nothing. Haggard, worn, and pale, he walked over the Vatican + grounds with us, pointing out, now here, now there, where some + poor fellow's blood sprinkled the wall; Margaret was with us, + and for a few moments they could have an anxious talk about + their child. + + "To get to the child, or to send to him, was quite impossible, + and for days they were in complete ignorance about him. At + length, a letter came; and in it the nurse declared that + unless they should immediately send her, in advance-payment, a + certain sum of money, she would altogether abandon Angelo. It + seemed, at first, impossible to forward the money, the road + was so insecure, and the bearer of any parcel was so likely + to be seized by one party or the other, and to be treated as + a spy. But finally, after much consideration, the sum was sent + to the address of a physician, who had been charged with the + care of the child. I think it did reach its destination, and + for a while answered the purpose of keeping the wretched woman + faithful to her charge." + + + + +AQUILA AND RIETI. + + +Extracts from Margaret's and Ossoli's letters will guide us more into +the heart of this home-tragedy, so sanctified with holy hope, sweet +love, and patient heroism. They shall be introduced by a passage from +a journal written many years before. + + "My Child! O, Father, give me a bud on my tree of life, so scathed + by the lightning and bound by the frost! Surely a being born + wholly of my being, would not let me lie so still and cold in + lonely sadness. This is a new sorrow; for always, before, I have + wanted a superior or equal, but now it seems that only the feeling + of a parent for a child could exhaust the richness of one's soul. + All powerful Nature, how dost thou lead me into thy heart and + rebuke every factitious feeling, every thought of pride, which has + severed me from the Universe! How did I aspire to be a pure flame, + ever pointing upward on the altar! But these thoughts of + consecration, though true to the time, are false to the whole. + There needs no consecration to the wise heart for all is pervaded + by One Spirit, and the Soul of all existence is the Holy of + Holies. I thought ages would pass, before I had this parent + feeling, and then, that the desire would rise from my fulness of + being. But now it springs up in my poverty and sadness. I am well + aware that I ought not to be so happy. I do not deserve to be well + beloved in any way, far less as the mother by her child. I am too + rough and blurred an image of the Creator, to become a bestower of + life. Yet, if I refuse to be anything else than my highest self, + the true beauty will finally glow out in fulness." + +At what cost, were bought the blessings so long pined for! Early in +the summer of 1848, Margaret left Rome for Aquila, a small, old town, +once a baronial residence, perched among the mountains of Abruzzi. She +thus sketches her retreat:-- + + "I am in the midst of a theatre of glorious, snow-crowned + mountains, whose pedestals are garlanded with the olive and + mulberry, and along whose sides run bridle-paths, fringed with + almond groves and vineyards. The valleys are yellow with saffron + flowers; the grain fields enamelled with the brilliant blue + corn-flower and red poppy. They are of intoxicating beauty, and + like nothing in America. The old genius of Europe has so mellowed + even the marbles here, that one cannot have the feeling of holy + virgin loneliness, as in the New World. The spirits of the dead + crowd me in most solitary places. Here and there, gleam churches + or shrines. The little town, much ruined, lies on the slope of a + hill, with the houses of the barons gone to decay, and unused + churches, over whose arched portals are faded frescoes, with the + open belfry, and stone wheel-windows, always so beautiful. Sweet + little paths lead away through the fields to convents,--one of + Passionists, another of Capuchins; and the draped figures of the + monks, pacing up and down the hills, look very peaceful. In the + churches still open, are pictures, not by great masters, but of + quiet, domestic style, which please me much, especially one of the + Virgin offering her breast to the child Jesus. There is often + sweet music in these churches; they are dressed with fresh + flowers, and the incense is not oppressive, so freely sweeps + through them the mountain breeze." + +Here Margaret remained but a month, while Ossoli was kept fast by +his guard duties in Rome. "_Addio, tutto caro_," she writes; "I shall +receive you with the greatest joy, when you can come. If it were +only possible to be nearer to you! for, except the good air and the +security, this place does not please me." And again:--"How much I +long to be near you! You write nothing of yourself, and this makes me +anxious and sad. Dear and good! I pray for thee often, now that it +is all I can do for thee. We must hope that Destiny will at last +grow weary of persecuting. Ever thy affectionate." Meantime Ossoli +writes:--"Why do you not send me tidings of yourself, every post-day? +since the post leaves Aquila three times a week. I send you journals +or letters every time the post leaves Rome. You should do the same. +Take courage, and thus you will make me happier also; and you can +think how sad I must feel in not being near you, dearest, to care for +all your wants." + +By the middle of July, Margaret could bear her loneliness no longer, +and, passing the mountains, advanced to Rieti, within the frontier of +the Papal States. Here Ossoli could sometimes visit her on a Sunday, +by travelling in the night from Rome. "Do not fail to come," writes +Margaret. "I shall have your coffee warm. You will arrive early, and +I can see the diligence pass the bridge from my window." But now +threatened a new trial, terrible under the circumstances, yet met with +the loving heroism that characterized all her conduct. The civic guard +was ordered to prepare for marching to Bologna. Under date of August +17th, Ossoli writes:--"_Mia Cara!_ How deplorable is my state! I have +suffered a most severe struggle. If your condition were other than it +is, I could resolve more easily; but, in the present moment, I cannot +leave you! Ah, how cruel is Destiny! I understand well how much you +would sacrifice yourself for me, and am deeply grateful; but I cannot +yet decide." Margaret is alone, without a single friend, and not only +among strangers, but surrounded by people so avaricious, cunning, +and unscrupulous, that she has to be constantly on the watch to avoid +being fleeced; she is very poor, and has no confidant, even in Rome, +to consult with; she is ill, and fears death in the near crisis; yet +thus, with true Roman greatness, she counsels her husband:--"It seems, +indeed, a marvel how all things go contrary to us! That, just at this +moment, you should be called upon to go away. But do what is for your +honor. If honor requires it, go. I will try to sustain myself. I +leave it to your judgment when to come,--if, indeed, you can ever come +again! At least, we have had some hours of peace together, if now +it is all over. Adieu, love; I embrace thee always, and pray for thy +welfare. Most affectionately, adieu." + + * * * * * + +From this trial, however, she was spared. Pio Nono hesitated to send +the civic guard to the north of Italy. Then Margaret writes:--"On our +own account, love, I shall be most grateful, if you are not obliged to +go. But how unworthy, in the Pope! He seems now a man without a heart. +And that traitor, Charles Albert! He will bear the curse of all future +ages. Can you learn particulars from Milan? I feel sad for our poor +friends there; how much they must suffer! * * * I shall be much more +tranquil to have you at my side, for it would be sad to die alone, +without the touch of one dear hand. Still, I repeat what I said in my +last; if duty prevents you from coming, I will endeavor to take +care of myself." Again, two days later, she says:--"I feel, love, a +profound sympathy with you, but am not able to give perfectly wise +counsel. It seems to me, indeed, the worst possible moment to take +up arms, except in the cause of duty, of honor; for, with the Pope +so cold, and his ministers so undecided, nothing can be well or +successfully done. If it is possible for you to wait for two or three +weeks, the public state will be determined,--as will also mine,--and +you can judge more calmly. Otherwise, it seems to me that I ought to +say nothing. Only, if you go, come here first. I must see you once +more. Adieu, dear. Our misfortunes are many and unlooked for. Not +often does destiny demand a greater price for some happy moments. Yet +never do I repent of our affection; and for thee, if not for me, I +hope that life has still some good in store. Once again, adieu! May +God give thee counsel and help, since they are not in the power of thy +affectionate Margherita." + +On the 5th of September, Ossoli was "at her side," and together, with +glad and grateful hearts, they welcomed their boy; though the father +was compelled to return the next day to Rome. Even then, however, a +new chapter of sorrows was opening. By indiscreet treatment, Margaret +was thrown into violent fever, and became unable to nurse her child. +Her waiting maid, also, proved so treacherous, that she was forced to +dismiss her, and wished "never to set eyes on her more;" and the +family, with whom she was living, displayed most detestable meanness. +Thus helpless, ill, and solitary, she could not even now enjoy the +mother's privilege. Yet she writes cheerfully:--"My present nurse is a +very good one, and I feel relieved. We must have courage but it is a +great care, alone and ignorant, to guard an infant in its first days +of life. He is very pretty for his age; and, without knowing what name +I intended giving him, the people in the house call him _Angiolino_, +because he is so lovely." Again:--"He is so dear! It seems to me, +among all disasters and difficulties, that if he lives and is well, he +will become a treasure for us two, that will compensate us for +everything." And yet again:--"This ---- is faithless, like the rest. +Spite of all his promises, he will not bring the matter to inoculate +Nino, though, all about us, persons are dying with small-pox. I cannot +sleep by night, and I weep by day, I am so disgusted; but you are too +far off to help me. The baby is more beautiful every hour. He is worth +all the trouble he causes me,--poor child that I am,--alone here, and +abused by everybody." + +Yet new struggles; new sorrows! Ossoli writes:-- + +"Our affairs must be managed with the utmost caution imaginable, since +my thought would be to keep the baby out of Rome for the sake of +greater secrecy, if only we can find a good nurse who will take care +of him like a mother." To which Margaret replies:--"He is always so +charming, how can I ever, ever leave him! I wake in the night,--I look +at him. I think: Ah, it is impossible! He is so beautiful and good, I +could die for him!" Once more:--"In seeking rooms, do not pledge me to +remain in Rome, for it seems to me, often, I cannot stay long without +seeing the boy. He is so dear, and life seems so uncertain. It is +necessary that I should be in Rome a month, at least, to write, and +also to be near you. But I must be free to return here, if I feel too +anxious and suffering for him. O, love! how difficult is life! But +thou art good! If it were only possible to make thee happy!" And, +finally, "Signora speaks very highly of ----, the nurse of Angelo, +and says that her aunt is an excellent woman, and that the brothers +are all good. Her conduct pleases me well. This consoles me a little, +in the prospect of leaving my child, if that is necessary." + +So, early in November, Ossoli came for her, and they returned +together. In December, however, Margaret passed a week more with her +darling, making two fatiguing and perilous journeys, as snows had +fallen on the mountains, and the streams were much swollen by the +rains. And then, from the combined motives of being near her husband, +watching and taking part in the impending struggle of liberalism, +earning support by her pen, preparing her book, and avoiding +suspicion, she remained for three months in Rome. "How many nights I +have passed," she writes, "entirely in contriving possible means, by +which, through resolution and effort on my part, that one sacrifice +could be avoided. But it was impossible. I could not take the nurse +from her family; I could not remove Angelo, without immense difficulty +and risk. It is singular, how everything has worked to give me more +and more sorrow. Could I but have remained in peace, cherishing the +messenger dove, I should have asked no more, but should have felt +overpaid for all the pains and bafflings of my sad and broken life." +In March, she flies back to Rieti, and finds "our treasure in the best +of health, and plump, though small. When first I took him in my arms, +he made no sound, but leaned his head against my bosom, and kept it +there, as if he would say, How could you leave me? They told me, that +all the day of my departure he would not be comforted, always looking +toward the door. He has been a strangely precocious infant, I think, +through sympathy with me, for I worked very hard before his birth, +with the hope that all my spirit might be incarnated in him. In +that regard, it may have been good for him to be with these more +instinctively joyous natures. I see that he is more serene, is less +sensitive, than when with me, and sleeps better. The most solid +happiness I have known has been when he has gone to sleep in my arms. +What cruel sacrifices have I made to guard my secret for the present, +and to have the mode of disclosure at my own option! It will, indeed, +be just like all the rest, if these sacrifices are made in vain." + + * * * * * + +At Rieti, Margaret rested till the middle of April, when, returning +once more to Rome, she was, as we have seen, shut up within the +beleagured city. + +The siege ended, the anxious mother was free to seek her child once +more, in his nest among the mountains. Her fears had been but too +prophetic. "Though the physician sent me reassuring letters," she +writes, "I yet often seemed to hear Angelino calling to me amid the +roar of the cannon, and always his tone was of crying. And when I +came, I found mine own fast waning to the tomb! His nurse, lovely and +innocent as she appeared, had betrayed him, for lack of a few _scudi_! +He was worn to a skeleton; his sweet, childish grace all gone! +Everything I had endured seemed light to what I felt when I saw him +too weak to smile, or lift his wasted little hand. Now, by incessant +care, we have brought him back,--who knows if that be a deed of +love?--into this hard world once more. But I could not let him go, +unless I went with him; and I do hope that the cruel law of my life +will, at least, not oblige us to be separated. When I saw his first +returning smile,--that poor, wan, feeble smile!--and more than four +weeks we watched him night and day, before we saw it,--new resolution +dawned in my heart. I resolved to live, day by day, hour by hour, for +his dear sake. So, if he is only treasure lent,--if he too must go, as +sweet Waldo, Pickie, Hermann, did,--as all _my_ children do!--I shall +at least have these days and hours with him." + +How intolerable was this last blow to one stretched so long on the +rack, is plain from Margaret's letters. "I shall never again," she +writes, "be perfectly, be religiously generous, so terribly do I need +for myself the love I have given to other sufferers. When you read +this, I hope your heart will be happy; for I still like to know that +others are happy,--it consoles me." Again her agony wrung from +her these bitter words,--the bitterest she ever uttered,--words of +transient madness, yet most characteristic:--"Oh God! help me, is +all my cry. Yet I have little faith in the Paternal love I need, so +ruthless or so negligent seems the government of this earth. I feel +calm, yet sternly, towards Fate. This last plot against me has been +so cruelly, cunningly wrought, that I shall never acquiesce. I submit, +because useless resistance is degrading, but I demand an explanation. +I see that it is probable I shall never receive one, while I live +here, and suppose I can bear the rest of the suspense, since I have +comprehended all its difficulties in the first moments. Meanwhile, +I live day by day, though not on manna." But now comes a sweeter, +gentler strain:--"I have been the object of great love from the +noble and the humble; I have felt it towards both. Yet I am _tired +out_,--tired of thinking and hoping,--tired of seeing men err and +bleed. I take interest in some plans,--Socialism for instance,--but +the interest is shallow as the plans. These are needed, are even +good; but man will still blunder and weep, as he has done for so many +thousand years. Coward and footsore, gladly would I creep into some +green recess, where I might see a few not unfriendly faces, and where +not more wretches should come than I could relieve. Yes! I am weary, +and faith soars and sings no more. Nothing good of me is left except +at the bottom of the heart, a melting tenderness:--'She loves much.'" + + + + +CALM AFTER STORM. + + +Morning rainbows usher in tempests, and certainly youth's romantic +visions had prefigured a stormy day of life for Margaret. But there +was yet to be a serene and glowing hour before the sun went down. +Angelo grew strong and lively once more; rest and peace restored her +elasticity of spirit, and extracts from various letters will show in +what tranquil blessedness, the autumn and winter glided by. After a +few weeks' residence at Rieti, the happy three journeyed on, by way +of Perugia, to Florence, where they arrived at the end of September. +Thence, Margaret writes:-- + +It was so pleasant at Perugia! The pure mountain air is such perfect +elixir, the walks are so beautiful on every side, and there is so much +to excite generous and consoling feelings! I think the works of the +Umbrian school are never well seen except in their home;--they suffer +by comparison with works more rich in coloring, more genial, more full +of common life. The depth and tenderness of their expression is lost +on an observer stimulated to a point out of their range. Now, I can +prize them. We went every morning to some church rich in pictures, +returning at noon for breakfast. After breakfast, we went into the +country, or to sit and read under the trees near San Pietro. Thus I +read Nicolo di' Lapi, a book unenlivened by a spark of genius, but +interesting, to me, as illustrative of Florence. + +Our little boy gained strength rapidly there;--every day he was able +to go out with us more. He is now full of life and gayety. We hope he +will live, and grow into a stout man yet. + +Our journey here was delightful;--it is the first time I have seen +Tuscany when the purple grape hangs garlanded from tree to tree. We +were in the early days of the vintage: the fields were animated by men +and women, some of the latter with such pretty little bare feet, and +shy, soft eyes, under the round straw hat. They were beginning to cut +the vines, but had not done enough to spoil any of the beauty. + +Here, too, I feel better pleased than ever before. Florence seems so +cheerful and busy, after ruined Rome, I feel as if I could forget the +disasters of the day, for a while, in looking on the treasures she +inherits. + + * * * * * + +To-day we have been out in the country, and found a little chapel, +full of _contadine,_ their lovers waiting outside the door. They +looked charming in their black veils,--the straw hat hanging on the +arm,--with shy, glancing eyes, and cheeks pinched rosy by the cold; +for it is cold here as in New England. On foot, we have explored a +great part of the environs; and till now I had no conception of +their beauty. When here before, I took only the regular drives, as +prescribed for all lady and gentlemen travellers. This evening we +returned by a path that led to the banks of the Arno. The Duomo, with +the snowy mountains, were glorious in the rosy tint and haze, +just before sunset. What a difference it makes to come home to a +child!--how it fills up all the gaps of life, just in the way that is +most consoling, most refreshing! Formerly, I used to feel sad at that +hour; the day had not been nobly spent, I had not done my duty to +myself and others, and I felt so lonely! Now I never feel lonely; for, +even if my little boy dies, our souls will remain eternally united. +And I feel _infinite_ hope for him,--hope that he will serve God +and man more loyally than I have done; and, seeing how full he is +of life,--how much he can afford to throw away,--I feel the +inexhaustibleness of nature, and console myself for my own +incapacities. + + * * * * * + +_Florence, Oct. 14, 1849._--Weary in spirit, with the deep +disappointments of the last year, I wish to dwell little on these +things for the moment, but seek some consolation in the affections. +My little boy is quite well now, and I often am happy in seeing how +joyous and full of activity he seems. Ossoli, too, feels happier here. +The future is full of difficulties for us, but, having settled our +plans for the present, we shall set it aside while we may. "Sufficient +for the day is the evil thereof;" and if the good be not always +sufficient, in our case it is; so let us say grace to our dinner of +herbs. + + * * * * * + +_Florence, Nov. 7._--Dearest Mother,--Of all your endless acts and +words of love, never was any so dear to me as your last letter;--so +generous, so sweet, so holy! What on earth is so precious as a +mother's love; and who has a mother like mine! + +I was thinking of you and my father, all that first day of October, +wishing to write, only there was much to disturb me that day, as the +police were threatening to send us away. It is only since I have had +my own child that I have known how much I always failed to do what I +might have done for the happiness of you both; only since I have +seen so much of men and their trials, that I have learned to prize my +father as he deserved; only since I have had a heart daily and hourly +testifying to me its love, that I have understood, too late, what it +was for you to be deprived of it. It seems to me as if I had never +sympathized with you as I ought, or tried to embellish and sustain +your life, as far as is possible, after such an irreparable wound. + +It will be sad for me to leave Italy, uncertain of return. Yet when +I think of you, beloved mother; of brothers and sisters, and many +friends, I wish to come. Ossoli is perfectly willing. He leaves in +Rome a sister, whom he dearly loves. His aunt is dying now. He will +go among strangers; but to him, as to all the young Italians, America +seems the land of liberty. He hopes, too, that a new revolution will +favor return, after a number of years, and that then he may find +really a home in Italy. All this is dark;--we can judge only for the +present moment. The decision will rest with me, and I shall wait +till the last moment, as I always do, that I may have all the reasons +before me. + +I thought, to-day, ah, if she could only be with us now! But who knows +how long this interval of peace will last? I have learned to +prize such, as the halcyon prelude to the storm. It is now about a +fortnight, since the police gave us leave to stay, and we feel safe +in our little apartment. We have no servant except the nurse, with +occasional aid from the porter's wife, and now live comfortably so, +tormented by no one, helping ourselves. In the evenings, we have a +little fire now;--the baby sits on his stool between us. He makes me +think how I sat on mine, in the chaise, between you and father. He is +exceedingly fond of flowers;--he has been enchanted, this evening, by +this splendid Gardenia, and these many crimson flowers that were given +me at Villa Correggi, where a friend took us in his carriage. It was a +luxury, this ride, as we have entirely renounced the use of a carriage +for ourselves. How enchanted you would have been with that villa! It +seems now as if, with the certainty of a very limited income, we could +be so happy! But I suppose, if we had it, one of us would die, or the +baby. Do not you die, my beloved mother;--let us together have some +halcyon moments, again, with God, with nature, with sweet childhood, +with the remembrance of pure trust and good intent; away from perfidy +and care, and the blight of noble designs. + +Ossoli wishes you were here, almost as much as I. When there is +anything really lovely and tranquil, he often says, "Would not '_La +Madre_' like that?" He wept when he heard your letter. I never saw +him weep at any other time, except when his father died, and when the +French entered Rome. He has, I think, even a more holy feeling about +a mother, from having lost his own, when very small. It has been a +life-long want with him. He often shows me a little scar on his face, +made by a jealous dog, when his mother was caressing him as an infant. +He prizes that blemish much. + + * * * * * + +_Florence, December_ 1, 1849.--I do not know what to write about the +baby, he changes so much,--has so many characters. He is like me in +that, for his father's character is simple and uniform, though not +monotonous, any more than are the flowers of spring flowers of the +valley. Angelino is now in the most perfect rosy health,--a very gay, +impetuous, ardent, but sweet-tempered child. He seems to me to have +nothing in common with his first babyhood, with its ecstatic smiles, +its exquisite sensitiveness, and a distinction in the gesture and +attitudes that struck everybody. His temperament is apparently changed +by taking the milk of these robust women. He is now come to quite a +knowing age,--fifteen months. + +In the morning, as soon as dressed, he signs to come into our room; +then draws our curtain with his little dimpled hand, kisses me rather +violently, pats my face, laughs, crows, shows his teeth, blows like +the bellows, stretches himself, and says "_bravo_." Then, having shown +off all his accomplishments, he expects, as a reward, to be tied in +his chair, and have his playthings. These engage him busily, but still +he calls to us to sing and drum, to enliven the scene. Sometimes he +summons me to kiss his hand, and laughs very much at this. Enchanting +is that baby-laugh, all dimples and glitter,--so strangely arch and +innocent! Then I wash and dress him. That is his great time. He makes +it last as long as he can, insisting to dress and wash me the while, +kicking, throwing the water about, and full of all manner of tricks, +such as, I think, girls never dream of. Then comes his walk;--we have +beautiful walks here for him, protected by fine trees, always warm in +mid-winter. The bands are playing in the distance, and children of +all ages are moving about, and sitting with their nurses. His walk and +sleep give me about three hours in the middle of the day. + +I feel so refreshed by his young life, and Ossoli diffuses such a +power and sweetness over every day, that I cannot endure to think yet +of our future. Too much have we suffered already, trying to command +it. I do not feel force to make any effort yet. I suppose that very +soon now I must do something, and hope I shall feel able when the time +comes. My constitution seems making an effort to rally, by dint of +much sleep. I had slept so little, for a year and a half, and, after +the birth of the child, I had such anxiety and anguish when separated +from him, that I was consumed as by nightly fever. The last two +months at Rome would have destroyed almost any woman. Then, when I +went to him, he was so ill, and I was constantly up with him at night, +carrying him about. Now, for two months, we have been tranquil. We +have resolved to enjoy being together as much as we can, in this brief +interval,--perhaps all we shall ever know of peace. It is very sad we +have no money, we could be so quietly happy a while. I rejoice in +all Ossoli did; but the results, in this our earthly state, are +disastrous, especially as my strength is now so impaired. This much I +hope, in life or death, to be no more separated from Angelino. + +Last winter, I made the most vehement efforts at least to redeem the +time, hoping thus good for the future. But, of at least two volumes +written at that time, no line seems of any worth. I had suffered much +constraint,--much that was uncongenial, harassing, even torturing, +before; but this kind of pain found me unprepared;--the position of a +mother separated from her only child is too frightfully unnatural. + + * * * * * + +The Christmas holidays interest me now, through my child, as they +never did for myself. I like to go out to watch the young generation +who will be his contemporaries. On Monday, we went to the _Caseine_. +After we had taken the drive, we sat down on a stone seat in the sunny +walk, to see the people pass;--the Grand Duke and his children; +the elegant Austrian officers, who will be driven out of Italy when +Angelino is a man; Princess Demidoff; Harry Lorrequer; an absurd brood +of fops; many lovely children; many little frisking dogs, with their +bells, &c. The sun shone brightly on the Arno; a barque moved gently +by; all seemed good to the baby. He laid himself back in my arms, +smiling, singing to himself, and dancing his feet. I hope he will +retain some trace in his mind of the perpetual exhilarating picture of +Italy. It cannot but be important in its influence while yet a child, +to walk in these stately gardens, full of sculpture, and hear the +untiring music of the fountains. + +Christmas-eve we went to the Annunziata, for midnight mass. Though the +service is not splendid here as in Rome, we yet enjoyed it;--sitting +in one of the side chapels, at the foot of a monument, watching +the rich crowds steal gently by, every eye gleaming, every gesture +softened by the influence of the pealing choir, and the hundred silver +lamps swinging their full light, in honor of the abused Emanuel. + +But far finest was it to pass through the Duomo. No one was there. +Only the altars were lit up, and the priests, who were singing, could +not be seen by the faint light. The vast solemnity of the interior +is thus really felt. The hour was worthy of Brunelleschi. I hope he +walked there so. The Duomo is more divine than St. Peter's, and worthy +of genius pure and unbroken. St. Peter's is, like Rome, a mixture of +sublimest heaven with corruptest earth. I adore the Duomo, though no +place can now be to me like St. Peter's, where has been passed the +splendidest part of my life. My feeling was always perfectly regal, on +entering the piazza of St. Peter's. No spot on earth is worthier the +sunlight;--on none does it fall so fondly. + + * * * * * + +You ask me, how I employ myself here. I have been much engaged in +writing out my impressions, which will be of worth so far as correct. +I am anxious only to do historical justice to facts and persons; but +there will not, so far as I am aware, be much thought, for I believe +I have scarce expressed what lies deepest in my mind. I take no pains, +but let the good genius guide my pen. I did long to lead a simple, +natural life, _at home_, learning of my child, and writing only when +imperatively urged by the need of utterance; but when we were forced +to give up the hope of subsisting on a narrow independence, without +tie to the public, we gave up the peculiar beauty of our lives, and I +strive no more. I only hope to make good terms with the publishers. + +Then, I have been occupied somewhat in reading Louis Blanc's Ten +Years, Lamartine's Girondists, and other books of that class, which +throw light on recent transactions. + +I go into society, too, somewhat, and see several delightful persons, +in an intimate way. The Americans meet twice a week, at the house of +Messrs. Mozier and Chapman, and I am often present, on account of +the friendly interest of those resident here. With our friends, the +Greenoughs, I have twice gone to the opera. Then I see the Brownings +often, and love and admire them both, more and more, as I know them +better. Mr. Browning enriches every hour I pass with him, and is +a most cordial, true, and noble man. One of my most highly prized +Italian friends, also, Marchioness Arconati Visconti, of Milan, is +passing the winter here, and I see her almost every day. + + * * * * * + +My love for Ossoli is most pure and tender, nor has any one, except my +mother or little children, loved me so genuinely as he does. To some, +I have been obliged to make myself known; others have loved me with a +mixture of fancy and enthusiasm, excited by my talent at embellishing +life. But Ossoli loves me from simple affinity;--he loves to be +with me, and to serve and soothe me. Life will probably be a severe +struggle, but I hope I shall be able to live through all that is +before us, and not neglect my child or his father. He has suffered +enough since we met;--it has ploughed furrows in his life. He has +done all he could, and cannot blame himself. Our outward destiny looks +dark, but we must brave it as we can. I trust we shall always feel +mutual tenderness, and Ossoli has a simple, childlike piety, that will +make it easier for him. + + + + +MARGARET AND HER PEERS. + + +Pure and peaceful as was the joy of Margaret's Florence winter, it was +ensured and perfected by the fidelity of friends, who hedged around +with honor the garden of her home. She had been called to pass through +a most trying ordeal, and the verdict of her peers was heightened +esteem and love. With what dignified gratitude she accepted this +well-earned proof of confidence, will appear from the following +extracts. + + + + +TO MRS. E.S. + + +Thus far, my friends have received news that must have been an +unpleasant surprise to them, in a way that, _á moi_, does them great +honor. None have shown littleness or displeasure, at being denied my +confidence while they were giving their own. Many have expressed the +warmest sympathy, and only one has shown a disposition to transgress +the limit I myself had marked, and to ask questions. With her, I +think, this was because she was annoyed by what people said, and +wished to be able to answer them. I replied to her, that I had +communicated already all I intended, and should not go into +detail;--that when unkind things were said about me, she should let +them pass. Will you, dear E----, do the same? I am sure your affection +for me will prompt you to add, that you feel confident whatever I +have done has been in a good spirit, and not contrary to _my_ ideas +of right. For the rest, you will not admit for me,--as I do not for +myself,--the rights of the social inquisition of the United States to +know all the details of my affairs. If my mother is content; if Ossoli +and I are content; if our child, when grown up, shall be content; that +is enough. You and I know enough of the United States to be sure that +many persons there will blame whatever is peculiar. The lower-minded +persons, everywhere, are sure to think that whatever is mysterious +must be bad. But I think there will remain for me a sufficient number +of friends to keep my heart warm, and to help me earn my bread;--that +is all that is of any consequence. Ossoli seems to me more lovely and +good every day; our darling child is well now, and every day more gay +and playful. For his sake I shall have courage; and hope some good +angel will show us the way out of our external difficulties. + + + + +TO W.W.S. + + +It was like you to receive with such kindness the news of my marriage. +A less generous person would have been displeased, that, when we had +been drawn so together,--when we had talked so freely, and you had +shown towards me such sweet friendship,--I had not told you. Often did +I long to do so, but I had, for reasons that seemed important, made +a law to myself to keep this secret as rigidly as possible, up to a +certain moment. That moment came. Its decisions were not such as I had +hoped; but it left me, at least, without that painful burden, which +I trust never to bear again. Nature keeps so many secrets, that I +had supposed the moral writers exaggerated the dangers and plagues of +keeping them; but they cannot exaggerate. All that can be said about +mine is, that I at least acted out, with, to me, tragic thoroughness, +"The wonder, a woman keeps a secret." As to my not telling _you_, I +can merely say, that I was keeping the information from my family and +dearest friends at home; and, had you remained near me a very little +later, you would have been the very first person to whom I should have +spoken, as you would have been the first, on this side of the water, +to whom I should have written, had I known where to address you. Yet +I hardly hoped for your sympathy, dear W----. I am very glad if I +have it. May brotherly love ever be returned unto you in like measure. +Ossoli desires his love and respect to be testified to you both. + + + + +TO THE MARCHIONESS VISCONTI ARCONATI. + + +Reading a book called "The Last Days of the Republic in Rome," I see +that my letter, giving my impressions of that period, may well have +seemed to you strangely partial. If we can meet as once we did, +and compare notes in the same spirit of candor, while making mutual +allowance for our different points of view, your testimony and +opinions would be invaluable to me. But will you have patience with my +democracy,--my revolutionary spirit? Believe that in thought I am more +radical than ever. The heart of Margaret you know,--it is always the +same. Mazzini is immortally dear to me--a thousand times deafer for +all the trial I saw made of him in Rome;--dearer for all he suffered. +Many of his brave friends perished there. We who, less worthy, +survive, would fain make up for the loss, by our increased devotion +to him, the purest, the most disinterested of patriots, the most +affectionate of brothers. You will not love me less that I am true to +him. + +Then, again, how will it affect you to know that I have united my +destiny with that of an obscure young man,--younger than myself; a +person of no intellectual culture, and in whom, in short, you will +see no reason for my choosing; yet more, that this union is of long +standing; that we have with us our child, of a year old, and that it +is only lately I acquainted my family with the fact? + +If you decide to meet with me as before, and wish to say something +about the matter to your friends, it will be true to declare that +there have been pecuniary reasons for this concealment. But _to +you_, in confidence, I add, this is only half the truth; and I cannot +explain, or satisfy my dear friend further. I should wish to meet +her independent of all relations, but, as we live in the midst of +"society," she would have to inquire for me now as Margaret Ossoli. +That being done, I should like to say nothing more on the subject. + +However you may feel about all this, dear Madame Arconati, you will +always be the same in my eyes. I earnestly wish you may not feel +estranged; but, if you do, I would prefer that you should act upon it. +Let us meet as friends, or not at all. In all events, I remain ever +yours, + +MARGARET. + + + + +TO THE MARCHIONESS VISCONTI ARCONATI. + + +My loved friend,--I read your letter with greatest content. I did not +know but that there might seem something offensively strange in the +circumstances I mentioned to you. Goethe says, "There is nothing men +pardon so little as singular conduct, for which no reason is given;" +and, remembering this, I have been a little surprised at the even +increased warmth of interest with which the little American society of +Florence has received me, with the unexpected accessories of husband +and child,--asking no questions, and seemingly satisfied to find me +thus accompanied. With you, indeed, I thought it would be so, because +you are above the world; only, as you have always walked in the beaten +path, though with noble port, and feet undefiled, I thought you might +not like your friends to be running about in these blind alleys. It +glads my heart, indeed, that you do not care for this, and that we may +meet in love. + +You speak of our children. Ah! dear friend, I do, indeed, feel we +shall have deep sympathy there. I do not believe mine will be a +brilliant child, and, indeed, I see nothing peculiar about him. Yet he +is to me a source of ineffable joys,--far purer, deeper, than anything +I ever felt before,--like what Nature had sometimes given, but more +intimate, more sweet. He loves me very much; his little heart clings +to mine. I trust, if he lives, to sow there no seeds which are not +good, to be always growing better for his sake. Ossoli, too, will be +a good father. He has very little of what is called intellectual +development, but unspoiled instincts, affections pure and constant, +and a quiet sense of duty, which, to me,--who have seen much of the +great faults in characters of enthusiasm and genius,--seems of highest +value. + +When you write by post, please direct "Marchesa Ossoli," as all the +letters come to that address. I did not explain myself on that point. +The fact is, it looks to me silly for a radical like me to be carrying +a title; and yet, while Ossoli is in his native land, it seems +disjoining myself from him, not to bear it. It is a sort of thing that +does not naturally belong to me, and, unsustained by fortune, is but a +_souvenir_ even for Ossoli. Yet it has appeared to me, that for him +to drop an inherited title would be, in some sort, to acquiesce in +his brothers' disclaiming him, and to abandon a right he may passively +wish to maintain for his child. How does it seem to you? I am not +very clear about it. If Ossoli should drop the title, it would be +a suitable moment to do so on becoming an inhabitant of Republican +America. + + + + +TO MRS. C.T. + + +What you say of the meddling curiosity of people repels me, it is so +different here. When I made my appearance with a husband and a child +of a year old, nobody did the least act to annoy me. All were most +cordial; none asked or implied questions. Yet there were not a few who +might justly have complained, that, when they were confiding to me +all their affairs, and doing much to serve me, I had observed absolute +silence to them. Others might, for more than one reason, be displeased +at the choice I made. All have acted in the kindliest and most refined +manner. An Italian lady, with whom I was intimate,--who might be +qualified in the Court Journal, as one of the highest rank, sustained +by the most scrupulous decorum,--when I wrote, "Dear friend, I am +married; I have a child. There are particulars, as to my reasons for +keeping this secret, I do not wish to tell. This is rather an odd +affair; will it make any difference in our relations?"--answered, +"What difference can it make, except that I shall love you more, now +that we can sympathize as mothers?" Her first visit here was to me: +she adopted at once Ossoli and the child to her love. + +---- wrote me that ---- was a little hurt, at first, that I did not +tell him, even in the trying days of Rome, but left him to hear it, as +he unluckily did, at the _table d'hôte_ in Venice; but his second +and prevailing thought was regret that he had not known it, so as to +soothe and aid me,--to visit Ossoli at his post,--to go to the child +in the country. Wholly in that spirit was the fine letter he wrote +me, one of my treasures. The little American society have been most +cordial and attentive; one lady, who has been most intimate with me, +dropped a tear over the difficulties before me, but she said, "Since +you have seen fit to take the step, all your friends have to do, now, +is to make it as easy for you as they can." + + + + +TO MRS. E.S. + + +I am glad to have people favorably impressed, because I feel lazy and +weak, unequal to the trouble of friction, or the pain of conquest. +Still, I feel a good deal of contempt for those so easily disconcerted +or reässured. I was not a child; I had lived in the midst of that New +England society, in a way that entitled me to esteem, and a favorable +interpretation, where there was doubt about my motives or actions. I +pity those who are inclined to think ill, when they might as well have +inclined the other way. However, let them go; there are many in the +world who stand the test, enough to keep us from shivering to death. I +am, on the whole, fortunate in friends whom I can truly esteem, and +in whom I know the kernel and substance of their being too well to be +misled by seemings. + + + + +TO MRS. C.T. + + +I had a letter from my mother, last summer, speaking of the fact, that +she had never been present at the marriage of one of her children. A +pang of remorse came as I read it, and I thought, if Angelino dies,[A] +I will not give her the pain of knowing that I have kept this secret +from her;--she shall hear of this connection, as if it were something +new. When I found he would live, I wrote to her and others. It half +killed me to write those few letters, and yet, I know, many are +wondering that I did not write more, and more particularly. My mother +received my communication in the highest spirit. She said, she was +sure a first object with me had been, now and always, to save her +pain. She blessed us. She rejoiced that she should not die feeling +there was no one left to love me with the devotion she thought I +needed. She expressed no regret at our poverty, but offered her feeble +means. Her letter was a noble crown to her life of disinterested, +purifying love. + +[Footnote A: This was when Margaret found Nino so ill at Rieti.] + + + + +FLORENCE. + + +The following notes respecting Margaret's residence in Florence were +furnished to the editors by Mr. W.H. Hurlbut. + +I passed about six weeks in the city of Florence, during the months of +March and April, 1850. During the whole of that time Madame Ossoli was +residing in a house at the corner of the Via della Misericordia and +the Piazza Santa Maria Novella. This house is one of those large, well +built modern houses that show strangely in the streets of the stately +Tuscan city. But if her rooms were less characteristically Italian, +they were the more comfortable, and, though small, had a quiet, +home-like air. Her windows opened upon a fine view of the beautiful +Piazza; for such was their position, that while the card-board façade +of the church of Sta. Maria Novella could only be seen at an angle, +the exquisite Campanile rose fair and full against the sky. She +enjoyed this most graceful tower very much, and, I think, preferred it +even to Giotto's noble work. Its quiet religious grace was grateful to +her spirit, which seemed to be yearning for peace from the cares that +had so vexed and heated the world about her for a year past. + +I saw her frequently at these rooms, where, surrounded by her books +and papers, she used to devote her mornings to her literary labors. +Once or twice I called in the morning, and found her quite immersed +in manuscripts and journals. Her evenings were passed usually in +the society of her friends, at her own rooms, or at theirs. With the +pleasant circle of Americans, then living in Florence, she was on the +best terms, and though she seemed always to bring with her her own +most intimate society, and never to be quite free from the company of +busy thoughts, and the cares to which her life had introduced her, +she was always cheerful, and her remarkable powers of conversation +subserved on all occasions the kindliest, purposes of good-will in +social intercourse. + +The friends with whom she seemed to be on the terms of most sympathy, +were an Italian lady, the Marchesa Arconati Visconti,[A]--the +exquisite sweetness of whose voice interpreted, even to those who knew +her only as a transient acquaintance, the harmony of her nature,--and +some English residents in Florence, among whom I need only name Mr. +and Mrs. Browning, to satisfy the most anxious friends of Madame +Ossoli that the last months of her Italian life were cheered by all +the light that communion with gifted and noble natures could afford. + +The Marchesa Arconati used to persuade Madame Ossoli to occasional +excursions with her into the environs of Florence, and she passed some +days of the beautiful spring weather at the villa of that lady. + +Her delight in nature seemed to be a source of great comfort and +strength to her. I shall not easily forget the account she gave me, on +the evening of one delicious Sunday in April, of a walk which she had +taken with her husband in the afternoon of that day, to the hill of +San Miniato. The amethystine beauty of the Apennines,--the +cypress trees that sentinel the way up to the ancient and deserted +church,--the church itself, standing high and lonely on its hill, +begirt with the vine-clad, crumbling walls of Michel Angelo,--the +repose of the dome-crowned city in the vale below,--seemed to have +wrought their impression with peculiar force upon her mind that +afternoon. On their way home, they had entered the conventual church +that stands half way up the hill, just as the vesper service was +beginning, and she spoke of the simple spirit of devotion that filled +the place, and of the gentle wonder with which, to use her own words, +the "peasant women turned their glances, the soft dark glances of +the Tuscan peasant's eyes," upon the strangers, with a singular +enthusiasm. She was in the habit of taking such walks with her +husband, and she never returned from one of them, I believe, without +some new impression of beauty and of lasting truth. While her +judgment, intense in its sincerity, tested, like an _aqua regia_, the +value of all facts that came within her notice, her sympathies +seemed, by an instinctive and unerring action, to transmute all her +experiences instantly into permanent treasures. + +The economy of the house in which she lived afforded me occasions +for observing the decisive power, both of control and of consolation, +which she could exert over others. Her maid,--an impetuous girl of +Rieti, a town which rivals Tivoli as a hot-bed of homicide,--was +constantly involved in disputes with a young Jewess, who occupied the +floor above Madame Ossoli. On one occasion, this Jewess offered the +maid a deliberate and unprovoked insult. The girl of Rieti, snatching +up a knife, ran up stairs to revenge herself after her national +fashion. The porter's little daughter followed her and, running +into Madame Ossoli's rooms, besought her interference. Madame Ossoli +reached the apartment of the Jewess, just in time to interpose between +that beetle-browed lady and her infuriated assailant. Those who +know the insane license of spirit which distinguishes the Roman +mountaineers, will understand that this was a position of no slight +hazard. The Jewess aggravated the danger of the offence by the +obstinate maliciousness of her aspect and words. Such, however, was +Madame Ossoli's entire self-possession and forbearance, that she was +able to hold her ground, and to remonstrate with this difficult pair +of antagonists so effectually, as to bring the maid to penitent tears, +and the Jewess to a confession of her injustice, and a promise of +future good behavior. + +The porter of the house, who lived in a dark cavernous hole on the +first floor, was slowly dying of a consumption, the sufferings of +which were imbittered by the chill dampness of his abode. His hollow +voice and hacking cough, however, could not veil the grateful accent +with which he uttered any allusion to Madame Ossoli. He was so close +a prisoner to his narrow, windowless chamber, that when I inquired for +Madame Ossoli he was often obliged to call his little daughter, before +he could tell me whether Madame was at home, or not; and he always +tempered the official uniformity of the question with some word +of tenderness. Indeed, he rarely pronounced her name; sufficiently +indicating to the child whom it was that I was seeking, by the +affectionate epithet he used, "_Lita! e la cara Signora in casa_?" + +The composure and force of Madame Ossoli's character would, indeed, +have given her a strong influence for good over any person with whom +she was brought into contact; but this influence must have been even +extraordinary over the impulsive and ill-disciplined children of +passion and of sorrow, among whom she was thrown in Italy. + +Her husband related to me once, with a most reverent enthusiasm, some +stories of the good she had done in Rieti, during her residence there. +The Spanish troops were quartered in that town, and the dissipated +habits of the officers, as well as the excesses of the soldiery, kept +the place in a constant irritation. Though overwhelmed with cares and +anxieties, Madame Ossoli found time and collectedness of mind enough +to interest herself in the distresses of the towns-people, and to pour +the soothing oil of a wise sympathy upon their wounded and indignant +feelings. On one occasion, as the Marchese told me, she undoubtedly +saved the lives of a family in Rieti, by inducing them to pass over +in silence an insult offered to one of them by an intoxicated Spanish +soldier,--and, on another, she interfered between two brothers, +maddened by passion, and threatening to stain the family hearth with +the guilt of fratricide.[B] + +Such incidents, and the calm tenor of Madame Ossoli's confident +hopes.--the assured faith and unshaken bravery, with which she met and +turned aside the complicated troubles, rising sometimes into absolute +perils, of their last year in Italy,--seemed to have inspired her +husband with a feeling of respect for her, amounting to reverence. +This feeling, modifying the manifest tenderness with which he hung +upon her every word and look, and sought to anticipate her simplest +wishes, was luminously visible in the air and manner of his +affectionate devotion to her. + +The frank and simple recognition of his wife's singular nobleness, +which he always displayed, was the best evidence that his own nature +was of a fine and noble strain. And those who knew him best, are, I +believe, unanimous in testifying that his character did in no respect +belie the evidence borne by his manly and truthful countenance, to +its warmth and its sincerity. He seemed quite absorbed in his wife and +child. I cannot remember ever to have found Madame Ossoli alone, on +those evenings when she remained at home. Her husband was always with +her. The picture of their room rises clearly on my memory. A small +square room, sparingly, yet sufficiently furnished, with polished +floor and frescoed ceiling,--and, drawn up closely before the cheerful +fire, an oval table, on which stood a monkish lamp of brass, with +depending chains that support quaint classic cups for the olive +oil. There, seated beside his wife, I was sure to find the Marchese, +reading from some patriotic book, and dressed in the dark brown, +red-corded coat of the Guardia Civica, which it was his melancholy +pleasure to wear at home. So long as the conversation could be carried +on in Italian, he used to remain, though he rarely joined in it to any +considerable degree; but if a number of English and American visitors +came in, he used to take his leave and go to the Café d'Italia, +being very unwilling, as Madame Ossoli told me, to impose any seeming +restraint, by his presence, upon her friends, with whom he was unable +to converse. For the same reason, he rarely remained with her at +the houses of her English or American friends, though he always +accompanied her thither, and returned to escort her home. + +I conversed with him so little that I can hardly venture to make any +remarks on the impression which I received from his conversation, +with regard to the character of his mind. Notwithstanding his general +reserve and curtness of speech, on two or three occasions he showed +himself to possess quite a quick and vivid fancy, and even a certain +share of humor. I have heard him tell stories remarkably well. One +tale, especially, which related to a dream he had in early life, about +a treasure concealed in his father's house, which was thrice repeated, +and made so strong an impression on his mind as to induce him to +batter a certain panel in the library almost to pieces, in vain, but +which received something like a confirmation from the fact, that a +Roman attorney, who rented that and other rooms from the family, after +his father's death, grew suddenly and unaccountably rich,--I remember +as being told with great felicity and vivacity of expression. + +His recollections of the trouble and the dangers through which he +had passed with his wife seemed to be overpoweringly painful. On one +occasion, he began to tell me a story of their stay in the mountains: +He had gone out to walk, and had unconsciously crossed the +Neapolitan frontier. Suddenly meeting with a party of the Neapolitan +_gendarmerie_, he was called to account for his trespass, and being +unable to produce any papers testifying to his loyalty, or +the legality of his existence, he was carried off, despite his +protestations, and lodged for the night in a miserable guard-house, +whence he-was taken, next morning, to the head-quarters of the officer +commanding in the neighborhood. Here, matters might have gone badly +with him, but for the accident that he had upon his person a business +letter directed to himself as the Marchese Ossoli. A certain abbé, the +regimental chaplain, having once spent some time in Rome, recognized +the name as that of an officer in the Pope's Guardia Nobile,[C] +whereupon, the Neapolitan officers not only ordered him to be +released, but sent him back, with many apologies, in a carriage, and +under an armed escort, to the Roman territory. When he reached this +part of his story, and came to his meeting with Madame Ossoli, +the remembrance of her terrible distress during the period of his +detention so overcame him, that he was quite unable to go on. + +Towards their child he manifested an overflowing tenderness, and most +affectionate care. + +Notwithstanding the intense contempt and hatred which Signore Ossoli, +in common with all the Italian liberals, cherished towards the +ecclesiastical body, he seemed to be a very devout Catholic. He used +to attend regularly the vesper service, in some of the older and +quieter churches of Florence; and, though I presume Madame Ossoli +never accepted in any degree the Roman Catholic forms of faith, she +frequently accompanied him on these occasions. And I know that she +enjoyed the devotional influences of the church ritual, as performed +in the cathedral, and at Santa Croce, especially during the +Easter-week. + +Though condemned by her somewhat uncertain position at Florence,[D] +as well as by the state of things in Tuscany at that time, to a +comparative inaction, Madame Ossoli never seemed to lose in the least +the warmth of her interest in the affairs of Italy, nor did she bate +one jot of heart or hope for the future of that country. She was much +depressed, however, I think, by the apparent apathy and prostration +of the Liberals in Tuscany; and the presence of the Austrian troops in +Florence was as painful and annoying to her, as it could have been +to any Florentine patriot. When it was understood that Prince +Lichtenstein had requested the Grand Duke to order a general +illumination in honor of the anniversary of the battle of Novara, +Madame Ossoli, I recollect, was more moved, than I remember on +any other occasion to have seen her. And she used to speak very +regretfully of the change which had come over the spirit of Florence, +since her former residence there. Then all was gayety and hope. Bodies +of artisans, gathering recruits as they passed along, used to form +themselves into choral bands, as they returned from their work at the +close of the day, and filled the air with the chants of liberty. Now, +all was a sombre and desolate silence. + +Her own various cares so occupied Madame Ossoli that she seemed to be +very much withdrawn from the world of art. During the whole time of my +stay in Florence, I do not think she once visited either of the Grand +Ducal Galleries, and the only studio in which she seemed to feel any +very strong interest, was that of Mademoiselle Favand, a lady whose +independence of character, self-reliance, and courageous genius, could +hardly have failed to attract her congenial sympathies. + +But among all my remembrances of Madame Ossoli, there are none more +beautiful or more enduring than those which recall to me another +person, a young stranger, alone and in feeble health, who found, in +her society, her sympathy, and her counsels, a constant atmosphere of +comfort and of peace. Every morning, wild-flowers, freshly gathered, +were laid upon her table by the grateful hands of this young man; +every evening, beside her seat in her little room, his mild, pure face +was to be seen, bright with a quiet happiness, that must have bound +his heart by no weak ties to her with whose fate his own was so +closely to be linked. + +And the recollection of such benign and holy influences breathed upon +the human hearts of those who came within her sphere, will not, I +trust, be valueless to those friends, in whose love her memory is +enshrined with more immortal honors than the world can give or take +away. + + +[Footnote A: Just before I left Florence, Madame Ossoli showed me a +small marble figure of a child, playing among flowers or vine leaves, +which, she said, was a portrait of the child of Madame Arconati, +presented to her by that lady. I mention this circumstance, because I +have understood that a figure answering this description was recovered +from the wreck of the Elizabeth.] + +[Footnote B: The circumstances of this story, perhaps, deserve to +be recorded. The brothers were two young men, the sons and the +chief supports of Madame Ossoli's landlord at Rieti. They were both +married,--the younger one to a beautiful girl, who had brought him no +dowry, and who, in the opinion of her husband's family, had not shown +a proper disposition to bear her share of the domestic burdens and +duties. The bickerings and disputes which resulted from this state +of affairs, on one unlucky day, took the form of an open and violent +quarrel. The younger son, who was absent from home when the conflict +began, returned to find it at its height, and was received by his wife +with passionate tears, and by his relations with sharp recriminations. +His brother, especially, took it upon himself to upbraid him, in the +name of all his family, for bringing into their home-circle such a +firebrand of discord. Charges and counter charges followed in rapid +succession, and hasty words soon led to blows. From blows the appeal +to the knife was swiftly made, and when Madame Ossoli, attracted by +the unusual clamor, entered upon the scene of action, she found that +blood had been already drawn, and that the younger brother was only +restrained from following up the first assault by the united force of +all the females, who hung about him, while the older brother, grasping +a heavy billet of wood, and pale with rage, stood awaiting his +antagonist. Passing through the group of weeping and terrified women, +Madame Ossoli made her way up to the younger brother and, laying her +hand upon his shoulder, asked him to put down his weapon and listen to +her. It was in vain that he attempted to ignore her presence. Before +the spell of her calm, firm, well-known voice, his fury melted away. +She spoke to him again, and besought him to show himself a man, and +to master his foolish and wicked rage. With a sudden impulse, he flung +his knife upon the ground, turned to Madame Ossoli, clasped and kissed +her hand, and then running towards his brother, the two met in a +fraternal embrace, which brought the threatened tragedy to a joyful +termination.] + +[Footnote C: It will be understood, that this officer was the +Marchese's older brother, who still adheres to the Papal cause.] + +[Footnote D: She believed herself to be, and I suppose really +was, under the surveillance of the police during her residence in +Florence.] + + + + +HOMEWARD. + +BY W.H. CHANNING + + * * * * * + + Last, having thus revealed all I could love + And having received all love bestowed on it, + I would die: so preserving through my course + God full on me, as I was full on men: + And He would grant my prayer--"I have gone through + All loveliness of life; make more for me, + If not for men,--or take me to Thyself, + Eternal, Infinite Love!" + + BROWNING. + + + Till another open for me + In God's Eden-land unknown, + With an angel at the doorway, + White with gazing at His Throne; + And a saint's voice in the palm-trees, singing,--"ALL IS LOST, and _won_." + + ELIZABETH BARRETT. + + + La ne venimmo: e lo scaglión primaio + Bianco marmo éra si pulito e terso, + Ch'io mi specchiava in esso, qual io paio. + Era 'l secondo tinto, píù che pérso, + D'una petrina ruvida ed arsiccia, + Crepata per lo lungo e per traverso. + Lo terzo, che di sopra s'ammassiccia, + Pôrfido mi parea si fiammegiante, + Come sangue che fuor di vena spiccia. + Sopra questa teneva ambo le piante + L' angel di Dio, sedendo in su la soglia, + Che mi sembiava pietra di diamante. + Per li tre gradi su di buona voglia + Mi trasse 'l daca mio, dicendo, chiodi + Umilmente che 'l serráme scioglia. + + DANTE. + + + Che luce è questa, e qual nuova beltate? + Dicean tra lor; perch' abito si adorno + Dal mondo errante a quest 'alto soggiorno + Non sail mai in tutta questa etàte. + Ella contenta aver cangiato albergo, + Si paragona pur coi più perfetti. + + PETRARCA. + + + + +IX. + +HOMEWARD + +SPRING-TIME. + + +Spring, bright prophet of God's eternal youth, herald forever +eloquent of heaven's undying joy, has once more wrought its miracle of +resurrection on the vineyards and olive-groves of Tuscany, and touched +with gently-wakening fingers the myrtle and the orange in the gardens +of Florence. The Apennines have put aside their snowy winding-sheet, +and their untroubled faces salute with rosy gleams of promise the new +day, while flowers smile upward to the serene sky amid the grass and +grain fields, and fruit is swelling beneath the blossoms along the +plains of Arno. "The Italian spring," writes Margaret, "is as good as +Paradise. Days come of glorious sunshine and gently-flowing airs, that +expand the heart and uplift the whole nature. The birds are twittering +their first notes of love; the ground is enamelled with anemones, +cowslips, and crocuses; every old wall and ruin puts on its festoon +and garland; and the heavens stoop daily nearer, till the earth is +folded in an embrace of light, and her every pulse beats music." + +"This world is indeed a sad place, despite its sunshine, birds, and +crocuses. But I never felt as happy as now, when I always find the +glad eyes of my little boy to welcome me. I feel the tie between him +and me so real and deep-rooted, that even death shall not part us. So +sweet is this unimpassioned love, it knows no dark reactions, it +does not idealize, and cannot be daunted by the faults of its object. +Nothing but a child can take the worst bitterness out of life, and +break the spell of loneliness. I shall not be alone in other worlds, +whenever Eternity may call me." + +And now her face is turned homeward. "I am homesick," she had written +years before, "but where is that HOME?" + + + + +OMENS. + + "My heart is very tired,--my strength is low,-- + My hands are full of blossoms plucked before, + Held dead within them till myself shall die." + + ELIZABETH BARRETT. + + +Many motives drew Margaret to her native land: heart-weariness at the +reaction in Europe; desire of publishing to best advantage the book +whereby she hoped at once to do justice to great principles and brave +men, and to earn bread for her dear ones and herself; and, above all, +yearning to be again among her family and earliest associates. "I +go back," she writes, "prepared for difficulties; but it will be a +consolation to be with my mother, brothers, sister, and old friends, +and I find it imperatively necessary to be in the United States, for +a while at least, to make such arrangements with the printers as may +free me from immediate care. I did think, at one time, of coming alone +with Angelino, and then writing for Ossoli to come later, or returning +to Italy; knowing that it will be painful for him to go, and that +there he must have many lonely hours. But he is separated from his old +employments and natural companions, while no career is open for him at +present. Then, I would not take his child away for several months; for +his heart is fixed upon him as fervently as mine. And, again, it would +not only be very strange and sad to be so long without his love +and care, but I should be continually solicitous about his welfare. +Ossoli, indeed, cannot but feel solitary at first, and I am much more +anxious about his happiness than my own. Still, he will have our boy, +and the love of my family, especially of my mother, to cheer him, and +quiet communings with nature give him pleasure so simple and profound, +that I hope he will make a new life for himself, in our unknown +country, till changes favor our return to his own. I trust, that we +shall find the means to come together, and to remain together." + +Considerations of economy determined them, spite of many misgivings, +to take passage in a merchantman from Leghorn. "I am suffering," she +writes, "as never before, from the horrors of indecision. Happy +the fowls of the air, who do not have to think so much about their +arrangements! The barque _Elizabeth_ will take us, and is said to be +an uncommonly good vessel, nearly new, and well kept. We may be two +months at sea, but to go by way of France would more than double the +expense. Yet, now that I am on the point of deciding to come in her, +people daily dissuade me, saying that I have no conception of what +a voyage of sixty or seventy days will be in point of fatigue +and suffering; that the insecurity, compared with packet-ships or +steamers, is great; that the cabin, being on deck, will be terribly +exposed, in case of a gale, &c., &c. I am well aware of the proneness +of volunteer counsellors to frighten and excite one, and have +generally disregarded them. But this time I feel a trembling +solicitude on account of my child, and am doubtful, harassed, almost +ill." And again, under date of April 21, she says: "I had intended, +if I went by way of France, to take the packet-ship _'Argo_,' from +Havre; and I had requested Mrs. ---- to procure and forward to me some +of my effects left at Paris, in charge of Miss F----, when, taking +up _Galignani_, my eye fell on these words: 'Died, 4th of April, Miss +F----; 'and, turning the page, I read, 'The wreck of the _Argo_,'--a +somewhat singular combination! There were notices, also, of the loss +of the fine English steamer _Adelaide_, and of the American packet +_John Skiddy._ Safety is not to be secured, then, by the wisest +foresight. I shall embark more composedly in our merchant-ship, +praying fervently, indeed, that it may not be my lot to lose my boy +at sea, either by unsolaced illness, or amid the howling waves; or, if +so, that Ossoli, Angelo, and I may go together, and that the anguish +may be brief." + +Their state-rooms were taken, their trunks packed, their preparations +finished, they were just leaving Florence, when letters came, which, +had they reached her a week earlier, would probably have induced them +to remain in Italy. But Margaret had already by letter appointed a +rendezvous for the scattered members of her family in July; and she +would not break her engagements with the commander of the barque. It +was destined that they were to sail,--to sail in the _Elizabeth_, to +sail then. And, even in the hour of parting, clouds, whose tops were +golden in the sunshine, whose base was gloomy on the waters, beckoned +them onward. "Beware of the sea," had been a singular prophecy, given +to Ossoli when a boy, by a fortune-teller, and this was the first ship +he had ever set his foot on. More than ordinary apprehensions of risk, +too, hovered before Margaret. "I am absurdly fearful," she writes, +"and various omens have combined to give me a dark feeling. I am +become indeed a miserable coward, for the sake of Angelino. I fear +heat and cold, fear the voyage, fear biting poverty. I hope I shall +not be forced to be as brave for him, as I have been for myself, and +that, if I succeed to rear him, he will be neither a weak nor a bad +man. But I love him too much! In case of mishap, however, I shall +perish with my husband and my child, and we may be transferred to +some happier state." And again: "I feel perfectly willing to stay my +threescore years and ten, if it be thought I need so much tuition from +this planet; but it seems to me that my future upon earth will soon +close. It may be terribly trying, but it will not be so very long, +now. God will transplant the root, if he wills to rear it into +fruit-bearing." And, finally: "I have a vague expectation of some +crisis,--I know not what. But it has long seemed, that, in the year +1850, I should stand on a plateau in the ascent of life, where I +should be allowed to pause for a while, and take more clear and +commanding views than ever before. Yet my life proceeds as regularly +as the fates of a Greek tragedy, and I can but accept the pages as +they turn." * * + + * * * * * + +These were her parting words:-- + + "_Florence, May 14, 1850._--I will believe, I shall be welcome + with my treasures,--my husband and child. For me, I long so much + to see you! Should anything hinder our meeting upon earth, think + of your daughter, as one who always wished, at least, to do her + duty, and who always cherished you, according as her mind opened + to discover excellence. + + "Give dear love, too, to my brothers; and first to my eldest, + faithful friend! Eugene; a sister's love to Ellen; love to my kind + and good aunts, and to my dear cousin. E.,--God bless them! + + "I hope we shall be able to pass some time together yet, in this + world. But, if God decrees otherwise,--here and HEREAFTER,--my + dearest mother, + + "Your loving child, MARGARET." + + + + +THE VOYAGE.[A] + + +The seventeenth of May, the day of sailing, came, and the _Elizabeth_ +lay waiting for her company. Yet, even then, dark presentiments +so overshadowed Margaret, that she passed one anxious hour more in +hesitation, before she could resolve to go on board. But Captain Hasty +was so fine a model of the New England seaman, strong-minded, prompt, +calm, decided, courteous; Mrs. Hasty was so refined, gentle, and +hospitable; both had already formed so warm an attachment for the +little family, in their few interviews at Florence and Leghorn; +Celeste Paolini, a young Italian girl, who had engaged to render +kindly services to Angelino, was so lady-like and pleasing; their only +other fellow-passenger, Mr. Horace Sumner, of Boston, was so obliging +and agreeable a friend; and the good ship herself looked so trim, +substantial, and cheery, that it seemed weak and wrong to turn back. +They embarked; and, for the first few days, all went prosperously, +till fear was forgotten. Soft breezes sweep them tranquilly over the +smooth bosom of the Mediterranean; Angelino sits among his heaps of +toys, or listens to the seraphine, or leans his head with fondling +hands upon the white goat, who is now to be his foster-parent, or in +the captain's arms moves to and fro, gazing curiously at spars and +rigging, or watches with delight the swelling canvass; while, under +the constant stars, above the unresting sea, Margaret and Ossoli +pace the deck of their small ocean-home, and think of storms left +behind,--perhaps of coming tempests. + +But now Captain Hasty fell ill with fever, could hardly drag himself +from his state-room to give necessary orders, and lay upon the bed or +sofa, in fast-increased distress, though glad to bid Nino good-day, to +kiss his cheek, and pat his hand. Still, the strong man grew weaker, +till he could no longer draw from beneath the pillow his daily friend, +the Bible, though his mind was yet clear to follow his wife's voice, +as she read aloud the morning and evening chapter. But alas for the +brave, stout seaman! alas for the young wife, on almost her first +voyage! alas for crew! alas for company! alas for the friends of +Margaret! The fever proved to be confluent small-pox, in the most +malignant form. The good commander had received his release from +earthly duty. The _Elizabeth_ must lose her guardian. With calm +con-[Transcriber's note: A word appears to be missing here.] +authorities refused permission for any one to land, and directed that +the burial should be made at sea. As the news spread through the port, +the ships dropped their flags half-mast, and at sunset, towed by the +boat of a neighboring frigate, the crew of the _Elizabeth_ bore the +body of their late chief, wrapped in the flag of his nation, to its +rest in deep water. Golden twilight flooded the western sky, and +shadows of high-piled clouds lay purple on the broad Atlantic. In that +calm, summer sunset funeral, what eye foresaw the morning of horror, +of which it was the sad forerunner? + +At Gibraltar, they were detained a week by adverse winds, but, on the +9th of June, set sail again. The second day after, Angelino sickened +with the dreadful malady, and soon became so ill, that his life was +despaired of. His eyes were closed, his head and face swollen out of +shape, his body covered with eruption. Though inexperienced in the +disease, the parents wisely treated their boy with cooling drinks, and +wet applications to the skin; under their incessant care, the fever +abated, and, to their unspeakable joy, he rapidly recovered. Sobered +and saddened, they could again hope, and enjoy the beauty of the calm +sky and sea. Once more Nino laughs, as he splashes in his morning +bath, and playfully prolongs the meal, which the careful father has +prepared with his own hand, or, if he has been angered, rests his head +upon his mother's breast, while his palm is pressed against her cheek, +as, bending down, she sings to him; once more, he sits among his toys, +or fondles and plays with the white-haired goat, or walks up and down +in the arms of the steward, who has a boy of just his age, at home, +now waiting to embrace him; or among the sailors, with whom he is a +universal favorite, prattles in baby dialect as he tries to imitate +their cry, to work the pumps, and pull the ropes. Ossoli and Sumner, +meanwhile, exchange alternate lessons in Italian and English. And +Margaret, among her papers, gives the last touches to her book on +Italy, or with words of hope and love comforts like a mother the +heart-broken widow. Slowly, yet peacefully, pass the long summer days, +the mellow moonlit nights; slowly, and with even flight, the good +Elizabeth, under gentle airs from the tropics, bears them safely +onward. Four thousand miles of ocean lie behind; they are nearly home. + + + + +THE WRECK. + + "There are blind ways provided, the foredone + Heart-weary player in this pageant world + Drops out by, letting the main masque defile + By the conspicuous portal:--I am through, + Just through." + + BROWNING. + + +On Thursday, July 18th, at noon, the Elizabeth was off the Jersey +coast, somewhere between Cape May and Barnegat; and, as the weather +was thick, with a fresh breeze blowing from the east of south, +the officer in command, desirous to secure a good offing, stood +east-north-east. His purpose was, when daylight showed the highlands +of Neversink, to take a pilot, and run before the wind past Sandy +Hook. So confident, indeed, was he of safety, that he promised his +passengers to land them early in the morning at New York. With this +hope, their trunks were packed, the preparations made to greet their +friends, the last good-night was spoken, and with grateful hearts +Margaret and Ossoli put Nino to rest, for the last time, as they +thought, on ship-board,--for the last time, as it was to be, on earth! + +By nine o'clock, the breeze rose to a gale, which every hour increased +in violence, till at midnight it became a hurricane. Yet, as the +Elizabeth was new and strong, and as the commander, trusting to an +occasional cast of the lead, assured them that they were not nearing +the Jersey coast,--which alone he dreaded,--the passengers remained in +their state-rooms, and caught such uneasy sleep as the howling storm +and tossing ship permitted. Utterly unconscious, they were, even then, +amidst perils, whence only by promptest energy was it possible to +escape. Though under close-reefed sails, their vessel was making way +far more swiftly than any one on board had dreamed of; and for hours, +with the combined force of currents and the tempest, had been driving +headlong towards the sand-bars of Long Island. About four o'clock, on +Friday morning, July 19th, she struck,--first draggingly, then hard +and harder,--on Fire Island beach. + +The main and mizzen masts were at once cut away; but the heavy marble +in her hold had broken through her bottom, and she bilged. Her bow +held fast, her stern swung round, she careened inland, her broadside +was bared to the shock of the billows, and the waves made a clear +breach over her with every swell. The doom of the poor Elizabeth was +sealed now, and no human power could save her. She lay at the mercy of +the maddened ocean. + +At the first jar, the passengers, knowing but too well its fatal +import, sprang from their berths. Then came the cry of "Cut away," +followed by the crash of falling timbers, and the thunder of the seas, +as they broke across the deck. In a moment more, the cabin skylight +was dashed in pieces by the breakers, and the spray, pouring down like +a cataract, put out the lights, while the cabin door was wrenched from +its fastenings, and the waves swept in and out. One scream, one only, +was heard from Margaret's state-room; and Sumner and Mrs. Hasty, +meeting in the cabin, clasped hands, with these few but touching +words: "We must die." "Let us die calmly, then." "I hope so, Mrs. +Hasty." It was in the gray dusk, and amid the awful tumult, that the +companions in misfortune met. The side of the cabin to the leeward had +already settled under water; and furniture, trunks, and fragments of +the skylight were floating to and fro; while the inclined position of +the floor made it difficult to stand; and every sea, as it broke +over the bulwarks, splashed in through the open roof. The windward +cabin-walls, however, still yielded partial shelter, and against it, +seated side by side, half leaning backwards, with feet braced upon +the long table, they awaited what next should come. At first. Nino, +alarmed at the uproar, the darkness, and the rushing water, while +shivering with the wet, cried passionately; but soon his mother, +wrapping him in such garments as were at hand and folding him to her +bosom, sang him to sleep. Celeste too was in an agony of terror, till +Ossoli, with soothing words and a long and fervent prayer, restored +her to self-control and trust. Then calmly they rested, side by side, +exchanging kindly partings and sending messages to friends, if any +should survive to be their bearer. Meanwhile, the boats having been +swamped or carried away, and the carpenter's tools washed overboard, +the crew had retreated to the top-gallant forecastle; but, as the +passengers saw and heard nothing of them, they supposed that the +officers and crew had deserted the ship, and that they were left +alone. Thus passed three hours. + +At length, about seven, as there were signs that the cabin would soon +break up, and any death seemed preferable to that of being crushed +among the ruins, Mrs. Hasty made her way to the door, and, looking +out at intervals between the seas as they swept across the vessel +amidships, saw some one standing by the foremast. His face was toward +the shore. She screamed and beckoned, but her voice was lost amid the +roar of the wind and breakers, and her gestures were unnoticed. Soon, +however, Davis, the mate, through the door of the forecastle caught +sight of her, and, at once comprehending the danger, summoned the men +to go to the rescue. At first none dared to risk with him the perilous +attempt; but, cool and resolute, he set forth by himself, and now +holding to the bulwarks, now stooping as the waves combed over, +he succeeded in reaching the cabin. Two sailors, emboldened by his +example, followed. Preparations were instantly made to conduct the +passengers to the forecastle, which, as being more strongly built and +lying further up the sands, was the least exposed part of the ship. +Mrs. Hasty volunteered to go the first. With one hand clasped by +Davis, while with the other each grasped the rail, they started, a +sailor moving close behind. But hardly had they taken three steps, +when a sea broke loose her hold, and swept her into the hatch-way. +"Let me go," she cried, "your life is important to all on board." +But cheerily, and with a smile,[B] he answered, "Not quite yet;" and, +seizing in his teeth her long hair, as it floated past him, he caught +with both hands at some near support, and, aided by the seaman, set +her once again upon her feet. A few moments more of struggle brought +them safely through. In turn, each of the passengers was helped thus +laboriously across the deck, though, as the broken rail and cordage +had at one place fallen in the way, the passage was dangerous and +difficult in the extreme. Angelino was borne in a canvas bag, +slung round the neck of a sailor. Within the forecastle, which was +comparatively dry and sheltered, they now seated themselves, and, +wrapped in the loose overcoats of the seamen, regained some warmth. +Three times more, however, the mate made his way to the cabin; once, +to save her late husband's watch, for Mrs. Hasty; again for some +doubloons, money-drafts, and rings in Margaret's desk; and, finally, +to procure a bottle of wine and a drum of figs for their refreshment. +It was after his last return, that Margaret said to Mrs. Hasty, +"There still remains what, if I live, will be of more value to me than +anything," referring, probably, to her manuscript on Italy; but it +seemed too selfish to ask their brave preserver to run the risk again. + +There was opportunity now to learn their situation, and to discuss +the chances of escape. At the distance of only a few hundred yards, +appeared the shore,--a lonely waste of sand-hills, so far as could +be seen through the spray and driving rain. But men had been early +observed, gazing at the wreck, and, later, a wagon had been drawn +upon the beach. There was no sign of a life-boat, however, or of any +attempt at rescue; and, about nine o'clock, it was determined that +some one should try to land by swimming, and, if possible, get help. +Though it seemed almost sure death to trust one's self to the surf, a +sailor, with a life-preserver, jumped overboard, and, notwithstanding +a current drifting him to leeward, was seen to reach the shore. +A second, with the aid of a spar, followed in safety; and Sumner, +encouraged by their success, sprang over also; but, either struck by +some piece of the wreck, or unable to combat with the waves, he sank. +Another hour or more passed by; but though persons were busy gathering +into carts whatever spoil was stranded, no life-boat yet appeared; +and, after much deliberation, the plan was proposed,--and, as it was +then understood, agreed to,--that the passengers should attempt to +land, each seated upon a plank, and grasping handles of rope, while +a sailor swam behind. Here, too, Mrs. Hasty was the first to venture, +under the guard of Davis. Once and again, during their passage, the +plank was rolled wholly over, and once and again was righted, with its +bearer, by the dauntless steersman; and when, at length, tossed by +the surf upon the sands, the half-drowned woman still holding, as in +a death-struggle, to the ropes, was about to be swept back by the +undertow, he caught her in his arms, and, with the assistance of a +bystander, placed her high upon the beach. Thus twice in one day had +he perilled his own life to save that of the widow of his captain, +and even over that dismal tragedy his devotedness casts one gleam of +light. + +Now came Margaret's turn. But she steadily refused to be separated +from Ossoli and Angelo. On a raft with them, she would have boldly +encountered the surf, but alone she would not go. Probably, she had +appeared to assent to the plan for escaping upon planks, with the view +of inducing Mrs. Hasty to trust herself to the care of the best man on +board; very possibly, also, she had never learned the result of their +attempt, as, seated within the forecastle, she could not see the +beach. She knew, too, that if a life-boat could be sent, Davis was one +who would neglect no effort to expedite its coming. While she was +yet declining all persuasions, word was given from the deck, that +the life-boat had finally appeared. For a moment, the news lighted up +again the flickering fire of hope. They might yet be saved,--be saved +together! Alas! to the experienced eyes of the sailors it too soon +became evident that there was no attempt to launch or man her. The +last chance of aid from shore, then, was gone utterly. They must rely +on their own strength, or perish. And if ever they were to escape, +the time had come; for, at noon, the storm had somewhat lulled; but +already the tide had turned, and it was plain that the wreck could not +hold together through another flood. In this emergency, the commanding +officer, who until now had remained at his post, once more appealed +to Margaret to try to escape,--urging that the ship would inevitably +break up soon; that it was mere suicide to remain longer; that he did +not feel free to sacrifice the lives of the crew, or to throw away +his own; finally, that he would himself take Angelo, and that sailors +should go with Celeste, Ossoli, and herself. But, as before, Margaret +decisively declared that she would not be parted from her husband or +her child. The order was then given to "save themselves," and all +but four of the crew jumped over, several of whom, together with the +commander, reached shore alive, though severely bruised and wounded by +the drifting fragments. There is a sad consolation in believing that, +if Margaret judged it to be impossible that the _three_ should escape, +she in all probability was right. It required a most rare, combination +of courage, promptness and persistency, to do what Davis had done +for Mrs. Hasty. We may not conjecture the crowd of thoughts which +influenced the lovers, the parents, in this awful crisis; but +doubtless one wish was ever uppermost,--that, God willing, the last +hour might come for ALL, if it must come for _one_. + +It was now past three o'clock, and as, with the rising tide, the gale +swelled once more to its former violence, the remnants of the barque +fast yielded to the resistless waves. The cabin went by the board, the +after-parts broke up, and the stem settled out of sight. Soon, too, +the forecastle was filled with water, and the helpless little band +were driven to the deck, where they clustered round the foremast. +Presently, even this frail support was loosened from the hull, and +rose and fell with every billow. It was plain to all that the final +moment drew swiftly nigh. Of the four seamen who still stood by the +passengers, three were as efficient as any among the crew of the +Elizabeth. These were the steward, carpenter, and cook. The fourth was +an old sailor, who, broken down by hardships and sickness, was going +home to die. These men were once again persuading Margaret, Ossoli +and Celeste to try the planks, which they held ready in the lee of +the ship, and the steward, by whom Nino was so much beloved, had just +taken the little fellow in his arms, with the pledge that he would +save him or die, when a sea struck the forecastle, and the foremast +fell, carrying with it the deck, and all upon it. The steward and +Angelino were washed upon the beach, both dead, though warm, some +twenty minutes after. The cook and carpenter were thrown far upon the +foremast, and saved themselves by swimming. Celeste and Ossoli caught +for a moment by the rigging, but the next wave swallowed them up. +Margaret sank at once. When last seen, she had been seated at the foot +of the foremast, still clad in her white night-dress, with her hair +fallen loose upon her shoulders. It was over,--that twelve hours' +communion, face to face, with Death! It was over! and the prayer was +granted, "that Ossoli, Angelo, and I, may go together, and that the +anguish may be brief!" + + * * * * * + +A passage from the journal of a friend of Margaret, whom the news +of the wreck drew at once to the scene, shall close this mournful +story:-- + + "The hull of the Elizabeth, with the foremast still bound to + it by cordage, lies so near the shore, that it seems as if + a dozen oar-strokes would carry a boat alongside. And as one + looks at it glittering in the sunshine, and rocking gently in + the swell, it is hard to feel reconciled to our loss. Seven + resolute men might have saved every soul on board. I know how + different was the prospect on that awful morning, when the + most violent gale that had visited our coast for years, drove + the billows up to the very foot of the sand-hills, and when + the sea in foaming torrents swept across the beach into the + bay behind. Yet I cannot but reluctantly declare my judgment, + that this terrible tragedy is to be attributed, so far + as human agency is looked at, to our wretched system, or + _no-system_, of life-boats. The life-boat at Fire Island + light-house, three miles distant only, was not brought to the + beach till between twelve and one o'clock, more than eight + hours after the Elizabeth was stranded, and more than six + hours after the wreck could easily have been seen. When + the life-boat did finally come, the beachmen could not be + persuaded to launch or man her. And even the mortar, by which + a rope could and should have been thrown on board, was not + once fired. A single lesson like this might certainly suffice + to teach the government, insurance companies, and humane + societies, the urgent need, that to every life-boat should + be attached ORGANIZED CREWS, stimulated to do their work + faithfully, by ample pay for actual service, generous + salvage-fees for cargoes and persons, and a pension to + surviving friends where life is lost. * * * + + "No trace has yet been found of Margaret's manuscript on + Italy, though the denials of the wreckers as to having seen + it, are not in the least to be depended on. For, greedy + after richer spoil, they might well have overlooked a mass of + written paper; and, even had they kept it, they would be slow + to give up what would so clearly prove their participation + in the heartless robbery, that is now exciting such universal + horror and indignation. Possibly it was washed away before + reaching the shore, as several of the trunks, it is said, were + open and empty, when thrown upon the beach. But it is sad to + think, that very possibly the brutal hands of pirates may have + tossed to the winds, or scattered on the sands, pages so rich + with experience and life. The only papers of value saved, were + the love-letters of Margaret and Ossoli.[C] + + "It is a touching coincidence, that the only one of Margaret's + treasures which reached the shore, was the lifeless form of + Angelino. When the body, stripped of every rag by the waves, + was rescued from the surf, a sailor took it reverently in + his arms, and, wrapping it in his neckcloth, bore it to the + nearest house. There, when washed, and dressed in a child's + frock, found in Margaret's trunk, it was laid upon a bed; and + as the rescued seamen gathered round their late playfellow and + pet, there were few dry eyes in the circle. Several of them + mourned for Nino, as if he had been their own; and even the + callous wreckers were softened, for the moment, by a sight + so full of pathetic beauty. The next day, borne upon their + shoulders in a chest, which one of the sailors gave for a + coffin, it was buried in a hollow among the sand heaps. As I + stood beside the lonely little mound, it seemed that never + was seen a more affecting type of orphanage. Around, wiry + and stiff, were scanty spires of beach-grass; near by, + dwarf-cedars, blown flat by wintry winds, stood like grim + guardians; only at the grave-head a stunted wild-rose, wilted + and scraggy, was struggling for existence. Thoughts came + of the desolate childhood of many a little one in this hard + world; and there was joy in the assurance, that Angelo was + neither motherless nor fatherless, and that Margaret and + her husband were not childless in that New World, which so + suddenly they had entered together. + + "To-morrow, Margaret's mother, sister, and brothers will + remove Nino's body to New England." + + * * * * * + +Was this, then, thy welcome home? A howling hurricane, the pitiless +sea, wreck on a sand-bar, an idle life-boat, beach-pirates, and not +one friend! In those twelve hours of agony, did the last scene appear +but as the fitting close for a life of storms, where no safe haven +was ever in reach; where thy richest treasures were so often stranded; +where even the dearest and nearest seemed always too far off, or just +too late, to help. + +Ah, no! not so. The clouds were gloomy on the waters, truly; but their +tops were golden in the sun. It was in the Father's House that welcome +awaited thee. + + "Glory to God! to God! he saith, + Knowledge by suffering entereth, + And Life is perfected by Death." + + +[Footnote A: The following account is as accurate, even in minute +details, as conversation with several of the survivors enabled me to +make it.--W.H.C.] + +[Footnote B: Mrs. Hasty's own words while describing the incident.] + +[Footnote C: The letters from which extracts were quoted in the +previous chapter.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, +Vol. II, by Margaret Fuller Ossoli + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARGARED FULLER, VOL. 2 *** + +***** This file should be named 13106-8.txt or 13106-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/1/0/13106/ + +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/13106-8.zip b/old/13106-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e6c8631 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13106-8.zip diff --git a/old/13106.txt b/old/13106.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..3d2bfdb --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13106.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11395 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, Vol. II +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. II + +Author: Margaret Fuller Ossoli + +Release Date: August 3, 2004 [EBook #13106] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARGARED FULLER, VOL. 2 *** + + + + +Produced by Leah Moser and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + +MEMOIRS + +OF + +MARGARET FULLER OSSOLI. + +VOL. II. + + * * * * * + + + 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 SECOND. + +VI. JAMAICA PLAIN, _By W.H. Channing_ + FIRST IMPRESSIONS + A CLUE + TRANSCENDENTALISM + GENIUS + THE DIAL + THE WOMAN + THE FRIEND + SOCIALISM + CREDO + SELF-SOVEREIGNTY + +VII. NEW YORK. JOURNALS, LETTERS, &c. + LEAVING HOME + THE HIGHLANDS + WOMAN + THE TRIBUNE AND HORACE GREELEY + SOCIETY + +VIII. EUROPE. LETTERS + LONDON + EDINBURGH.--DE QUINCEY + CHALMERS + A NIGHT ON BEN LOMOND + JOANNA BAILLIE.--HOWITTS.--SMITH + CARLYLE + PARIS + RACHEL + FOURIER,--ROUSSEAU + ROME + AMERICANS IN ITALY + THE WIFE AND MOTHER + THE PRIVATE MARRIAGE + AQUILA AND RIETI + CALM AFTER STORM + MARGARET AND HER PEERS + FLORENCE + +IX. HOMEWARD _By W.H. Channing_ + SPRING-TIME + OMENS + THE VOYAGE + THE WRECK + + + + +JAMAICA PLAIN + +BY W.H. CHANNING. + + * * * * * + + "Quando + Lo raggio della grazia, onde s'accende + Verace amore, e che poi cresce amando, + Multiplicato in te tanto risplende, + Che ti conduce su per quella scala, + U' senza risalir nessun discende, + Qual ti negasse 'l vin della sua fiala + Por la tua sete, in liberta non fora, + Se non com' acqua oh' al mar non si cala." + + DANTE. + + + "Weite Welt und breites Leben, + Langer Jahre redlich Streben, + Stets geforscht und stets gegruendet, + Nie geschlossen, oft geruendet, + Aeltestes bewahrt mit Treue, + Freundlich aufgefasstes Neue, + Heitern Sinn und reine Zwecke: + Nun! man kommt wohl eine Strecke." + + GOETHE. + + + "My purpose holds + To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths + Of all the western stars, until I die. + It may be that the gulfs will wash us down; + It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles." + + TENNYSON. + + + "Remember how august the heart is. It contains the temple not only + of Love but of Conscience; and a whisper is heard from the + extremity of one to the extremity of the other." + + LANDOR + + + "If all the gentlest-hearted friends I knew + Concentred in one heart their gentleness, + That still grew gentler till its pulse was less + For life than pity,--I should yet be slow + To bring my own heart nakedly below + The palm of such a friend, that he should press + My false, ideal joy and fickle woe + Out to full light and knowledge." + + ELIZABETH BARRETT. + + + + +VI. + +JAMAICA PLAIN + + * * * * * + +I. + +FIRST IMPRESSIONS. + + +It was while Margaret was residing at Jamaica Plain, in the summer of +1839, that we first really met as friends, though for several years +previous we had been upon terms of kindest mutual regard. And, as the +best way of showing how her wonderful character opened upon me, the +growth of our acquaintance shall be briefly traced. + +The earliest recollection of Margaret is as a schoolmate of my +sisters, in Boston. At that period she was considered a prodigy of +talent and accomplishment; but a sad feeling prevailed, that she had +been overtasked by her father, who wished to train her like a boy, +and that she was paying the penalty for undue application, in +nearsightedness, awkward manners, extravagant tendencies of thought, +and a pedantic style of talk, that made her a butt for the ridicule +of frivolous companions. Some seasons later, I call to mind seeing, at +the "Commencements" and "Exhibitions" of Harvard University, a girl, +plain in appearance, but of dashing air, who was invariably the centre +of a listening group, and kept their merry interest alive by sparkles +of wit and incessant small-talk. The bystanders called her familiarly, +"Margaret," "Margaret Fuller;" for, though young, she was already +noted for conversational gifts, and had the rare skill of attracting +to her society, not spirited collegians only, but men mature in +culture and of established reputation. It was impossible not to admire +her fluency and fun; yet, though curiosity was piqued as to this +entertaining personage, I never sought an introduction, but, on the +contrary, rather shunned encounter with one so armed from head to foot +in saucy sprightliness. + +About 1830, however, we often met in the social circles of Cambridge, +and I began to observe her more nearly. At first, her vivacity, +decisive tone, downrightness, and contempt of conventional standards, +continued to repel. She appeared too _intense_ in expression, action, +emphasis, to be pleasing, and wanting in that _retenue_ which we +associate with delicate dignity. Occasionally, also, words flashed +from her of such scathing satire, that prudence counselled the keeping +at safe distance from a body so surcharged with electricity. Then, +again, there was an imperial--shall it be said imperious?--air, +exacting deference to her judgments and loyalty to her behests, +that prompted pride to retaliatory measures. She paid slight heed, +moreover, to the trim palings of etiquette, but swept through the +garden-beds and into the doorway of one's confidence so cavalierly, +that a reserved person felt inclined to lock himself up in his +sanctum. Finally, to the coolly-scanning eye, her friendships wore a +look of such romantic exaggeration, that she seemed to walk enveloped +in a shining fog of sentimentalism. In brief, it must candidly be +confessed, that I then suspected her of affecting the part of a Yankee +Corinna. + +But soon I was charmed, unaware, with the sagacity of her sallies, the +profound thoughts carelessly dropped by her on transient topics, +the breadth and richness of culture manifested in her allusions +or quotations, her easy comprehension of new views, her just +discrimination, and, above all, her _truthfulness_. "Truth at all +cost," was plainly her ruling maxim. This it was that made her +criticism so trenchant, her contempt of pretence so quick and stern, +her speech so naked in frankness, her gaze so searching, her whole +attitude so alert. Her estimates of men, books, manners, events, art, +duty, destiny, were moulded after a grand ideal; and she was a severe +judge from the very loftiness of her standard. Her stately deportment, +border though it might on arrogance, but expressed high-heartedness. +Her independence, even if haughty and rash, was the natural action +of a self-centred will, that waited only fit occasion to prove itself +heroic. Her earnestness to read the hidden history of others was +the gauge of her own emotion. The enthusiasm that made her speech +so affluent, when measured by the average scale, was the unconscious +overflow of a poetic temperament. And the ardor of her friends' +affection proved the faithfulness of her love. Thus gradually the mist +melted away, till I caught a glimpse of her real self. We were one +evening talking of American literature,--she contrasting its boyish +crudity, half boastful, half timid, with the tempered, manly equipoise +of thorough-bred European writers, and I asserting that in its mingled +practicality and aspiration might be read bright auguries; when, +betrayed by sympathy, she laid bare her secret hope of what Woman +might be and do, as an author, in our Republic. The sketch was an +outline only, and dashed off with a few swift strokes, but therein +appeared her own portrait, and we were strangers no more. + +It was through the medium of others, however, that at this time I best +learned to appreciate Margaret's nobleness of nature and principle. My +most intimate friend in the Theological School, James Freeman Clarke, +was her constant companion in exploring the rich gardens of German +literature; and from his descriptions I formed a vivid image of her +industry, comprehensiveness, buoyancy, patience, and came to honor +her intelligent interest in high problems of science, her +aspirations after spiritual greatness, her fine aesthetic taste, her +religiousness. By power to quicken other minds, she showed how living +was her own. Yet more near were we brought by common attraction toward +a youthful visitor in our circle, the untouched freshness of whose +beauty was but the transparent garb of a serene, confiding, and +harmonious soul, and whose polished grace, at once modest and naive, +sportive and sweet, fulfilled the charm of innate goodness of heart. +Susceptible in temperament, anticipating with ardent fancy the lot of +a lovely and refined woman, and morbidly exaggerating her own slight +personal defects, Margaret seemed to long, as it were, to transfuse +with her force this nymph-like form, and to fill her to glowing with +her own lyric fire. No drop of envy tainted the sisterly love, +with which she sought by genial sympathy thus to live in another's +experience, to be her guardian-angel, to shield her from contact with +the unworthy, to rouse each generous impulse, to invigorate thought +by truth incarnate in beauty, and with unfelt ministry to weave bright +threads in her web of fate. Thus more and more Margaret became +an object of respectful interest, in whose honor, magnanimity and +strength I learned implicitly to trust. + +Separation, however, hindered our growing acquaintance, as we both +left Cambridge, and, with the exception of a few chance meetings in +Boston and a ramble or two in the glens and on the beaches of Rhode +Island, held no further intercourse till the summer of 1839, when, as +has been already said, the friendship, long before rooted, grew up and +leafed and bloomed. + + + + +II. + +A CLUE. + + * * * * * + + +I have no hope of conveying to readers my sense of the beauty of our +relation, as it lies in the past with brightness falling on it from +Margaret's risen spirit. It would be like printing a chapter of +autobiography, to describe what is so grateful in memory, +its influence upon one's self. And much of her inner life, as +confidentially disclosed, could not be represented without betraying +a sacred trust. All that can be done is to open the outer courts, and +give a clue for loving hearts to follow. To such these few sentences +may serve as a guide. + + 'When I feel, as I do this morning, the poem of existence, I + am repaid for all trial. The bitterness of wounded affection, + the disgust at unworthy care, the aching sense of how far + deeds are transcended by our lowest aspirations, pass away as + I lean on the bosom of Nature, and inhale new life from her + breath. Could but love, like knowledge, be its own reward!' + + 'Oftentimes I have found in those of my own sex more + gentleness, grace, and purity, than in myself; but seldom the + heroism which I feel within my own breast. I blame not those + who think the heart cannot bleed because it is so strong; + but little they dream of what lies concealed beneath the + determined courage. Yet mine has been the Spartan sternness, + smiling while it hides the wound. I long rather for the + Christian spirit, which even on the cross prays, "Father, + forgive them," and rises above fortitude to heavenly + satisfaction.' + + * * * * * + + 'Remember that only through aspirations, which sometimes + make me what is called unreasonable, have I been enabled to + vanquish unpropitious circumstances, and save my soul alive.' + + * * * * * + + 'All the good I have ever done has been by calling on every + nature for its highest. I will admit that sometimes I have + been wanting in gentleness, but never in tenderness, nor in + noble faith.' + + * * * * * + + 'The heart which hopes and dares is also accessible to terror, + and this falls upon it like a thunderbolt. It can never defend + itself at the moment, it is so surprised. There is no defence + but to strive for an equable temper of courageous submission, + of obedient energy, that shall make assault less easy to the + foe. + + '_This_ is the dart within the heart, as well as I can tell + it:--At moments, the music of the universe, which daily I am + upheld by hearing, seems to stop. I fall like a bird when the + sun is eclipsed, not looking for such darkness. The sense of + my individual law--that lamp of life--flickers. I am repelled + in what is most natural to me. I feel as, when a suffering + child, I would go and lie with my face to the ground, to sob + away my little life.' + + * * * * * + + 'In early years, when, though so frank as to the thoughts of + the mind, I put no heart confidence in any human being, my + refuge was in my journal. I have burned those records of my + youth, with its bitter tears, and struggles, and aspirations. + Those aspirations were high, and have gained only broader + foundations and wider reach. But the leaves had done their + work. For years to write there, instead of speaking, had + enabled me to soothe myself; and the Spirit was often my + friend, when I sought no other. Once again I am willing to + take up the cross of loneliness. Resolves are idle, but the + anguish of my soul has been, deep. It will not be easy to + profane life by rhetoric.' + + * * * * * + + 'I woke thinking of the monks of La Trappe;--how could they + bear their silence? When the game of life was lost for me, in + youthful anguish I knew well the desire for that vow; but if + I had taken it, my heart would have burned out my physical + existence long ago.' + + * * * * * + + 'Save me from plunging into the depths to learn the worst, or + from being led astray by the winged joys of childish feeling. + I pray for truth in proportion as there is strength to + receive.' + + * * * * * + + 'My law is incapable of a charter. I pass all bounds, and + cannot do otherwise. Those whom it seems to me I am to meet + again in the Ages, I meet, soul to soul, now. I have no + knowledge of any circumstances except the degree of affinity.' + + * * * * * + + 'I feel that my impatient nature needs the dark days. I would + learn the art of limitation, without compromise, and act out + my faith with a delicate fidelity. When loneliness becomes too + oppressive, I feel Him drawing me nearer, to be soothed by + the smile of an All-Intelligent Love. He will not permit + the freedom essential to growth to be checked. If I can give + myself up to Him, I shall not be too proud, too impetuous, + neither too timid, and fearful of a wound or cloud.' + + + + +III. + +TRANSCENDENTALISM. + + * * * * * + + +The summer of 1839 saw the full dawn of the Transcendental movement in +New England. The rise of this enthusiasm was as mysterious as that +of any form of revival; and only they who were of the faith +could comprehend how bright was this morning-time of a new hope. +Transcendentalism was an assertion of the inalienable integrity of +man, of the immanence of Divinity in instinct. In part, it was a +reaction against Puritan Orthodoxy; in part, an effect of renewed +study of the ancients, of Oriental Pantheists, of Plato and the +Alexandrians, of Plutarch's Morals, Seneca and Epictetus; in part, the +natural product of the culture of the place and time. On the somewhat +stunted stock of Unitarianism,--whose characteristic dogma was trust +in individual reason as correlative to Supreme Wisdom,--had been +grafted German Idealism, as taught by masters of most various +schools,--by Kant and Jacobi, Fichte and Novalis, Schelling and Hegel, +Schleiermacher and De Wette, by Madame de Stael, Cousin, Coleridge, +and Carlyle; and the result was a vague yet exalting conception of the +godlike nature of the human spirit. Transcendentalism, as viewed by +its disciples, was a pilgrimage from the idolatrous world of creeds +and rituals to the temple of the Living God in the soul. It was a +putting to silence of tradition and formulas, that the Sacred Oracle +might be heard through intuitions of the single-eyed and pure-hearted. +Amidst materialists, zealots, and sceptics, the Transcendentalist +believed in perpetual inspiration, the miraculous power of will, and a +birthright to universal good. He sought to hold communion face to face +with the unnameable Spirit of his spirit, and gave himself up to the +embrace of nature's beautiful joy, as a babe seeks the breast of a +mother. To him the curse seemed past; and love was without fear. "All +mine is thine" sounded forth to him in ceaseless benediction, from +flowers and stars, through the poetry, art, heroism of all ages, in +the aspirations of his own genius, and the budding promise of the +time. His work was to be faithful, as all saints, sages, and lovers +of man had been, to Truth, as the very Word of God. His maxims +were,--"Trust, dare and be; infinite good is ready for your asking; +seek and find. All that your fellows can claim or need is that you +should become, in fact, your highest self; fulfil, then, your +ideal." Hence, among the strong, withdrawal to private study and +contemplation, that they might be "alone with the Alone;" solemn +yet glad devotedness to the Divine leadings in the inmost will; calm +concentration of thought to wait for and receive wisdom; dignified +independence, stern yet sweet, of fashion and public opinion; honest +originality of speech and conduct, exempt alike from apology or +dictation, from servility or scorn. Hence, too, among the weak, +whimsies, affectation, rude disregard of proprieties, slothful +neglect of common duties, surrender to the claims of natural appetite, +self-indulgence, self-absorption, and self-idolatry. + +By their very posture of mind, as seekers of the new, the +Transcendentalists were critics and "come-outers" from the old. +Neither the church, the state, the college, society, nor even reform +associations, had a hold upon their hearts. The past might be well +enough for those who, without make-belief, could yet put faith in +common dogmas and usages; but for them the matin-bells of a new day +were chiming, and the herald-trump of freedom was heard upon the +mountains. Hence, leaving ecclesiastical organizations, political +parties, and familiar circles, which to them were brown with drought, +they sought in covert nooks of friendship for running waters, and +fruit from the tree of life. The journal, the letter, became of +greater worth than the printed page; for they felt that systematic +results were not yet to be looked for, and that in sallies of +conjecture, glimpses and flights of ecstasy, the "Newness" lifted +her veil to her votaries. Thus, by mere attraction of affinity, grew +together the brotherhood of the "Like-minded," as they were pleasantly +nicknamed by outsiders, and by themselves, on the ground that no two +were of the same opinion. The only password of membership to this +association, which had no compact, records, or officers, was a hopeful +and liberal spirit; and its chance conventions were determined merely +by the desire of the caller for a "talk," or by the arrival of some +guest from a distance with a budget of presumptive novelties. Its +"symposium" was a pic-nic, whereto each brought of his gains, as he +felt prompted, a bunch of wild grapes from the woods, or bread-corn +from his threshing-floor. The tone of the assemblies was cordial +welcome for every one's peculiarity; and scholars, farmers, mechanics, +merchants, married women, and maidens, met there on a level of +courteous respect. The only guest not tolerated was intolerance; +though strict justice might add, that these "Illuminati" were as +unconscious of their special cant as smokers are of the perfume of +their weed, and that a professed declaration of universal independence +turned out in practice to be rather oligarchic. + +Of the class of persons most frequently found at these meetings +Margaret has left the following sketch:-- + + '"I am not mad, most noble Festus," was Paul's rejoinder, as + he turned upon his vulgar censor with the grace of a courtier, + the dignity of a prophet, and the mildness of a saint. But + many there are, who, adhering to the faith of the soul with + that unusual earnestness which the world calls "mad," can + answer their critics only by the eloquence of their characters + and lives. Now, the other day, while visiting a person whose + highest merit, so far as I know, is to save his pennies, I was + astounded by hearing him allude to some of most approved worth + among us, thus: "You know _we_ consider _those men_ insane." + + 'What this meant, I could not at first well guess, so + completely was my scale of character turned topsy-turvy. But + revolving the subject afterward, I perceived that WE was + the multiple of Festus, and THOSE MEN of Paul. All the + circumstances seemed the same as in that Syrian hall; for the + persons in question were they who cared more for doing good + than for fortune and success,--more for the one risen from + the dead than for fleshly life,--more for the Being in whom we + live and move than for King Agrippa. + + 'Among this band of candidates for the mad-house, I found + the young poet who valued insight of nature's beauty, and the + power of chanting to his fellow-men a heavenly music, above + the prospect of fortune, political power, or a standing in + fashionable society. At the division of the goods of this + earth, he was wandering like Schiller's poet. But the + difference between American and German regulations would seem + to be, that in Germany the poet, when not "with Jove," is left + at peace on earth; while here he is, by a self-constituted + police, declared "mad." + + 'Another of this band was the young girl who, early taking a + solemn view of the duties of life, found it difficult to + serve an apprenticeship to its follies. She could not turn her + sweetness into "manner," nor cultivate love of approbation at + the expense of virginity of heart. In so called society she + found no outlet for her truest, fairest self, and so preferred + to live with external nature, a few friends, her pencil, + instrument, and books. She, they say, is "mad." + + 'And he, the enthusiast for reform, who gives away fortune, + standing in the world, peace, and only not life, because + bigotry is now afraid to exact the pound of flesh as well as + the ducats,--he, whose heart beats high with hopes for the + welfare of his race, is "mad." + + 'And he, the philosopher, who does not tie down his + speculation to the banner of the day, but lets the wings + of his thought upbear him where they will, as if they were + stronger and surer than the balloon let off for the amusement + of the populace,--he must be "mad." Off with him to the moon! + that paradise of noble fools, who had visions of possibilities + too grand and lovely for this sober earth. + + 'And ye, friends, and lovers, who see, through all the films + of human nature, in those you love, a divine energy, worthy of + creatures who have their being in very God, ye, too, are "mad" + to think they can walk in the dust, and yet shake it from + their feet when they come upon the green. These are no winged + Mercuries, no silver-sandalled Madonnas. Listen to "the + world's" truth and soberness, and we will show you that your + heart would be as well placed in a hospital, as in these + air-born palaces. + + 'And thou, priest, seek thy God among the people, and not in + the shrine. The light need not penetrate thine own soul. + Thou canst catch the true inspiration from the eyes of thy + auditors. Not the Soul of the World, not the ever-flowing + voice of nature, but the articulate accents of practical + utility, should find thy ear ever ready. Keep always among + men, and consider what they like; for in the silence of thine + own breast will be heard the voices that make men "mad." Why + shouldst thou judge of the consciousness of others by thine + own? May not thine own soul have been made morbid, by retiring + too much within? If Jesus of Nazareth had not fasted and + prayed so much alone, the devil could never have tempted + him; if he had observed the public mind more patiently and + carefully, he would have waited till the time was ripe, and + the minds of men prepared for what he had to say. He would + thus have escaped the ignominious death, which so prematurely + cut short his "usefulness." Jewry would thus, gently, soberly, + and without disturbance, have been led to a better course. + + '"Children of this generation!"--ye Festuses and Agrippas!--ye + are wiser, we grant, than "the children of light;" yet we + advise you to commend to a higher tribunal those whom much + learning, or much love, has made "mad." For if they stay here, + almost will they persuade even you!' + +Amidst these meetings of the Transcendentalists it was, that, after +years of separation, I again found Margaret. Of this body she was +member by grace of nature. Her romantic freshness of heart, her +craving for the truth, her self-trust, had prepared her from childhood +to be a pioneer in prairie-land; and her discipline in German schools +had given definite form and tendency to her idealism. Her critical +yet aspiring intellect filled her with longing for germs of positive +affirmation in place of the chaff of thrice-sifted negation; while her +aesthetic instinct responded in accord to the praise of Beauty as the +beloved heir of Good and Truth, whose right it is to reign. On the +other hand, strong common-sense saved her from becoming visionary, +while she was too well-read as a scholar to be caught by conceits, and +had been too sternly tried by sorrow to fall into fanciful effeminacy. +It was a pleasing surprise to see how this friend of earlier days was +acknowledged as a peer of the realm, in this new world of thought. +Men,--her superiors in years, fame and social position,--treated +her more with the frankness due from equal to equal, than the +half-condescending deference with which scholars are wont to adapt +themselves to women. They did not talk down to her standard, nor +translate their dialect into popular phrase, but trusted to her +power of interpretation. It was evident that they prized her verdict, +respected her criticism, feared her rebuke, and looked to her as an +umpire. Very observable was it, also, how, in side-talks with her, +they became confidential, seemed to glow and brighten into their best +mood, and poured out in full measure what they but scantily hinted in +the circle at large. + + + + +IV. + +GENIUS. + + * * * * * + + +It was quite a study to watch the phases through which Margaret +passed, in one of these assemblies. There was something in the air +and step with which she chose her place in the company, betokening +an instinctive sense, that, in intellect, she was of blood royal and +needed to ask no favors. And then she slowly gathered her attention +to take in the significance of the scene. Near-sighted and habitually +using an eye-glass, she rapidly scanned the forms and faces, pausing +intently where the expression of particular heads or groups suggested +thought, and ending her survey with some apt home-thrust to her next +neighbors, as if to establish full _rapport_, and so to become a +medium for the circulating life. Only when thus in magnetic relations +with all present, by a clear impress of their state and place, did +she seem prepared to rise to a higher stage of communion. Then she +listened, with ear finely vibrating to every tone, with all +capacities responsive in sympathy, with a swift and ductile power of +appreciation, that made her feel to the quick the varying moods of +different speakers, and yet the while with coolest self-possession. +Now and then a slight smile, flickering over her countenance, as +lightning plays on the surface of a cloud, marked the inward process +whereby she was harmonizing in equilibrium opposing thoughts. And, +as occasion offered, a felicitous quotation, pungent apothegm, or +symbolic epithet, dropped unawares in undertone, showed how swiftly +scattered rays were brought in her mind to a focus. + +When her turn came, by a graceful transition she resumed the subject +where preceding speakers had left it, and, briefly summing up their +results, proceeded to unfold her own view. Her opening was deliberate, +like the progress of some massive force gaining its momentum; but as +she felt her way, and moving in a congenial element, the sweep of her +speech became grand. The style of her eloquence was sententious, +free from prettiness, direct, vigorous, charged with vitality. +Articulateness, just emphasis and varied accent, brought out most +delicate shades and brilliant points of meaning, while a rhythmical +collocation of words gave a finished form to every thought. She was +affluent in historic illustration and literary allusion, as well as +in novel hints. She knew how to concentrate into racy phrases the +essential truth gathered from wide research, and distilled with +patient toil; and by skilful treatment she could make green again the +wastes of common-place. Her statements, however rapid, showed breadth +of comprehension, ready memory, impartial judgment, nice analysis of +differences, power of penetrating through surfaces to realities, fixed +regard to central laws and habitual communion with the Life of +life. Critics, indeed, might have been tempted to sneer at a certain +oracular grandiloquence, that bore away her soberness in moments of +elation; though even the most captious must presently have smiled at +the humor of her descriptive touches, her dexterous exposure of +folly and pretension, the swift stroke of her bright wit, her shrewd +discernment, promptitude, and presence of mind. The reverential, +too, might have been pained at the sternness wherewith popular men, +measures, and established customs, were tried and found guilty, at +her tribunal; but even while blaming her aspirations as rash, +revolutionary and impractical, no honest conservative could fail +to recognize the sincerity of her aim. And every deep observer of +character would have found the explanation of what seemed vehement +or too high-strung, in the longing of a spirited woman to break every +trammel that checked her growth or fettered her movement. + +In conversations like these, one saw that the richness of Margaret's +genius resulted from a rare combination of opposite qualities. To her +might have been well applied the words first used as describing George +Sand: "Thou large-brained Woman, and large-hearted Man." She blended +in closest union and swift interplay feminine receptiveness with +masculine energy. She was at once impressible and creative, +impulsive and deliberate, pliant in sympathy yet firmly self-centred, +confidingly responsive while commanding in originality. By the vivid +intensity of her conceptions, she brought out in those around their +own consciousness, and, by the glowing vigor of her intellect, roused +into action their torpid powers. On the other hand, she reproduced a +truth, whose germ had just been imbibed from others, moulded after her +own image and quickened by her own life, with marvellous rapidity. And +the presence of congenial minds so stimulated the prolific power of +her imagination, that she was herself astonished at the fresh beauty +of her new-born thoughts. 'There is a mortifying sense,' she writes, + + 'of having played the Mirabeau after a talk with a circle + of intelligent persons. They come with a store of acquired + knowledge and reflection, on the subject in debate, about + which I may know little, and have reflected less; yet, by + mere apprehensiveness and prompt intuition, I may appear their + superior. Spontaneously I appropriate all their material, and + turn it to my own ends, as if it was my inheritance from + a long train of ancestors. Rays of truth flash out at the + moment, and they are startled by the light thrown over their + familiar domain. Still they are gainers, for I give them new + impulse, and they go on their way rejoicing in the bright + glimpses they have caught. I should despise myself, if I + purposely appeared thus brilliant, but I am inspired as by a + power higher than my own.' + +All friends will bear witness to the strict fidelity of this sketch. +There were seasons when she seemed borne irresistibly on to the verge +of prophecy, and fully embodied one's notion of a sibyl. + +Admirable as Margaret appeared in public, I was yet more affected by +this peculiar mingling of impressibility and power to influence, +when brought within her private sphere. I know not how otherwise +to describe her subtle charm, than by saying that she was at once a +clairvoyante and a magnetizer. She read another's bosom-secret, and +she imparted of her own force. She interpreted the cipher in the +talisman of one's destiny, that he had tried in vain to spell alone; +by sympathy she brought out the invisible characters traced by +experience on his heart; and in the mirror of her conscience he might +see the image of his very self, as dwarfed in actual appearance, or +developed after the divine ideal. Her sincerity was terrible. In her +frank exposure no foible was spared, though by her very reproof she +roused dormant courage and self-confidence. And so unerring seemed +her insight, that her companion felt as if standing bare before a +disembodied spirit, and communicated without reserve thoughts and +emotions, which, even to himself, he had scarcely named. + +This penetration it was that caused Margaret to be so dreaded, in +general society, by superficial observers. They, who came nigh +enough to test the quality of her spirit, could not but perceive how +impersonal was her justice; but, contrasted with the dead flat of +conventional tolerance, her candor certainly looked rugged and sharp. +The frivolous were annoyed at her contempt of their childishness, the +ostentatious piqued at her insensibility to their show, and the decent +scared lest they should be stripped of their shams; partisans were +vexed by her spurning their leaders; and professional sneerers,--civil +in public to those whom in private they slandered,--could not pardon +the severe truth whereby she drew the sting from their spite. Indeed, +how could so undisguised a censor but shock the prejudices of the +moderate, and wound the sensibilities of the diffident; how but enrage +the worshippers of new demi-gods in literature, art and fashion, whose +pet shrines she demolished; how but cut to the quick, alike by silence +or by speech, the self-love of the vain, whose claims she ignored? +So gratuitous, indeed, appeared her hypercriticism, that I could not +refrain from remonstrance, and to one of my appeals she thus replied: + + 'If a horror for the mania of little great men, so prevalent + in this country,--if aversion to the sentimental exaggerations + to which so many minds are prone,--if finding that most men + praise, as well as blame, too readily, and that overpraise + desecrates the lips and makes the breath unworthy to blow the + coal of devotion,--if rejection of the ----s and ----s, from + a sense that the priestess must reserve her paeans for + Apollo,--if untiring effort to form my mind to justice and + revere only the superlatively good, that my praise might be + praise; if this be to offend, then have I offended.' + + + + +V. + +THE DIAL. + + * * * * * + + +Several talks among the Transcendentalists, during the autumn of 1839, +turned upon the propriety of establishing an organ for the expression +of freer views than the conservative journals were ready to welcome. +The result was the publication of the "Dial," the first number of +which appeared early in the summer of 1840, under the editorship of +Margaret, aided by R.W. Emerson and George Ripley. How moderate were +her own hopes, in regard to this enterprise, is clearly enough shown +by passages from her correspondence. + + '_Jamaica Plain, 22d March, 1840._ * * * I have a great deal + written, but, as I read it over, scarce a word seems pertinent + to the place or time. When I meet people, it is easy to + adapt myself to them; but when I write, it is into another + world,--not a better one, perhaps, but one with very + dissimilar habits of thought to this wherein I am + domesticated. How much those of us, who have been formed by + the European mind, have to unlearn, and lay aside, if we would + act here! I would fain do something worthily that belonged to + the country where I was born, but most times I fear it may not + be. + + 'What others can do,--whether all that has been said is the + mere restlessness of discontent, or there are thoughts really + struggling for utterance,--will be tested now. A perfectly + free organ is to be offered for the expression of individual + thought and character. There are no party measures to be + carried, no particular standard to be set up. A fair, calm + tone, a recognition of universal principles, will, I hope, + pervade the essays in every form. I trust there will be a + spirit neither of dogmatism nor of compromise, and that + this journal will aim, not at leading public opinion, but at + stimulating each man to judge for himself, and to think more + deeply and more nobly, by letting him see how some minds are + kept alive by a wise self-trust. We must not be sanguine as + to the amount of talent which will be brought to bear on this + publication. All concerned are rather indifferent, and there + is no great promise for the present. We cannot show high + culture, and I doubt about vigorous thought. But we shall + manifest free action as far as it goes, and a high aim. + It were much if a periodical could be kept open, not to + accomplish any outward object, but merely to afford an avenue + for what of liberal and calm thought might be originated among + us, by the wants of individual minds.' * * + + * * * * * + + '_April 19, 1840._--Things go on pretty well, but doubtless + people will be disappointed, for they seem to be looking for + the Gospel of Transcendentalism. It may prove as Jouffroy + says it was with the successive French ministries: "The public + wants something positive, and, seeing that such and such + persons are excellent at fault-finding, it raises them to be + rulers, when, lo! they have no noble and full Yea, to match + their shrill and bold Nay, and so are pulled down again." Mr. + Emerson knows best what he wants; but he has already said it + in various ways. Yet, this experiment is well worth trying; + hearts beat so high, they must be full of something, and here + is a way to breathe it out quite freely. It is for dear New + England that I want this review. For myself, if I had wished + to write a few pages now and then, there were ways and means + enough of disposing of them. But in truth I have not much to + say; for since I have had leisure to look at myself, I find + that, so far from being an original genius, I have not yet + learned to think to any depth, and that the utmost I have + done in life has been to form my character to a certain + consistency, cultivate my tastes, and learn to tell the truth + with a little better grace than I did at first. For this the + world will not care much, so I shall hazard a few critical + remarks only, or an unpretending chalk sketch now and then, + till I have learned to do something. There will be beautiful + poesies; about prose we know not yet so well. We shall be the + means of publishing the little Charles Emerson left as a mark + of his noble course, and, though it lies in fragments, all who + read will be gainers.' + + * * * * * + + '1840.--Since the Revolution, there has been little, in + the circumstances of this country, to call out the higher + sentiments. The effect of continued prosperity is the same + on nations as on individuals,--it leaves the nobler faculties + undeveloped. The need of bringing out the physical resources + of a vast extent of country, the commercial and political + fever incident to our institutions, tend to fix the eyes of + men on what is local and temporary, on the external advantages + of their condition. The superficial diffusion of knowledge, + unless attended by a correspondent deepening of its sources, + is likely to vulgarize rather than to raise the thought of a + nation, depriving them of another sort of education through + sentiments of reverence, and leading the multitude to believe + themselves capable of judging what they but dimly discern. + They see a wide surface, and forget the difference between + seeing and knowing. In this hasty way of thinking and living + they traverse so much ground that they forget that not the + sleeping railroad passenger, but the botanist, the geologist, + the poet, really see the country, and that, to the former, + "a miss is as good as a mile." In a word, the tendency + of circumstances has been to make our people superficial, + irreverent, and more anxious to get a living than to live + mentally and morally. This tendency is no way balanced by the + slight literary culture common here, which is mostly English, + and consists in a careless reading of publications of the day, + having the same utilitarian tendency with our own proceedings. + The infrequency of acquaintance with any of the great fathers + of English lore marks this state of things. + + 'New England is now old enough,--some there have leisure + enough,--to look at all this; and the consequence is a violent + reaction, in a small minority, against a mode of culture that + rears such fruits. They see that political freedom does not + necessarily produce liberality of mind, nor freedom in church + institutions--vital religion; and, seeing that these changes + cannot be wrought from without inwards, they are trying to + quicken the soul, that they may work from within outwards. + Disgusted with the vulgarity of a commercial aristocracy, they + become radicals; disgusted with the materialistic working of + "rational" religion, they become mystics. They quarrel with + all that is, because it is not spiritual enough. They would, + perhaps, be patient if they thought this the mere sensuality + of childhood in our nation, which it might outgrow; but they + think that they see the evil widening, deepening,--not only + debasing the life, but corrupting the thought, of our people, + and they feel that if they know not well what should be done, + yet that the duty of every good man is to utter a protest + against what is done amiss. + + 'Is this protest undiscriminating? are these opinions crude? + do these proceedings threaten to sap the bulwarks on which men + at present depend? I confess it all, yet I see in these men + promise of a better wisdom than in their opponents. Their hope + for man is grounded on his destiny as an immortal soul, and + not as a mere comfort-loving inhabitant of earth, or as a + subscriber to the social contract. It was not meant that the + soul should cultivate the earth, but that the earth should + educate and maintain the soul. Man is not made for society, + but society is made for man. No institution can be good which + does not tend to improve the individual. In these principles + I have confidence so profound, that I am not afraid to trust + those who hold them, despite their partial views, imperfectly + developed characters, and frequent want of practical sagacity. + I believe, if they have opportunity to state and discuss + their opinions, they will gradually sift them, ascertain their + grounds and aims with clearness, and do the work this country + needs. I hope for them as for "the leaven that is hidden in + the bushel of meal, till all be leavened." The leaven is not + good by itself, neither is the meal; let them combine, and we + shall yet have bread. + + 'Utopia it is impossible to build up. At least, my hopes for + our race on this one planet are more limited than those of + most of my friends. I accept the limitations of human nature, + and believe a wise acknowledgment of them one of the best + conditions of progress. Yet every noble scheme, every poetic + manifestation, prophesies to man his eventual destiny. And + were not man ever more sanguine than facts at the moment + justify, he would remain torpid, or be sunk in sensuality. It + is on this ground that I sympathize with what is called the + "Transcendental party," and that I feel their aim to be the + true one. They acknowledge in the nature of man an arbiter for + his deeds,--a standard transcending sense and time,--and + are, in my view, the true utilitarians. They are but at the + beginning of their course, and will, I hope, learn how to make + use of the past, as well as to aspire for the future, and to + be true in the present moment. + + 'My position as a woman, and the many private duties which + have filled my life, have prevented my thinking deeply on + several of the great subjects which these friends have at + heart. I suppose, if ever I become capable of judging, I shall + differ from most of them on important points. But I am not + afraid to trust any who 'are true, and in intent noble, with + their own course, nor to aid in enabling them to express their + thoughts, whether I coincide with them or not. + + 'On the subject of Christianity, my mind is clear. If Divine, + it will stand the test of any comparison. I believe the reason + it has so imperfectly answered to the aspirations of its + Founder is, that men have received it on external grounds. I + believe that a religion, thus received, may give the life + an external decorum, but will never open the fountains of + holiness in the soul. + + 'One often thinks of Hamlet as the true representative of + idealism in its excess. Yet if, in his short life, man be + liable to some excess, should we not rather prefer to have + the will palsied like Hamlet, by a deep-searching tendency and + desire for poetic perfection, than to have it enlightened + by worldly sagacity, as in the case of Julius Caesar, or made + intense by pride alone, as in that of Coriolanus? + + 'After all, I believe it is absurd to attempt to speak on + these subjects within the limits of a letter. I will try to + say what I mean in print some day. Yet one word as to "the + material," in man. Is it not the object of all philosophy, + as well as of religion and poetry, to prevent its prevalence? + Must not those who see most truly be ever making statements + of the truth to combat this sluggishness, or worldliness? + What else are sages, poets, preachers, born to do? Men go an + undulating course,--sometimes on the hill, sometimes in the + valley. But he only is in the right who in the valley forgets + not the hill-prospect, and knows in darkness that the sun will + rise again. That is the real life which is subordinated to, + not merged in, the ideal; he is only wise who can bring the + lowest act of his life into sympathy with its highest thought. + And this I take to be the one only aim of our pilgrimage here. + I agree with those who think that no true philosophy will try + to ignore or annihilate the material part of man, but will + rather seek to put it in its place, as servant and minister to + the soul.' + + + + +VI. + +THE WOMAN. + + * * * * * + + +In 1839 I had met Margaret upon the plane of intellect. In the summer +of 1840, on my return from the West, she was to be revealed in a new +aspect. + +It was a radiant and refreshing morning, when I entered the parlor of +her pleasant house, standing upon a slope beyond Jamaica Plain to the +south. She was absent at the moment, and there was opportunity to look +from the windows on a cheerful prospect, over orchards and meadows, +to the wooded hills and the western sky. Presently Margaret appeared, +bearing in her hand a vase of flowers, which she had been gathering in +the garden. After exchange of greetings, her first words were of the +flowers, each of which was symbolic to her of emotion, and associated +with the memory of some friend. I remember her references only to the +Daphne Odora, the Provence Rose, the sweet-scented Verbena, and the +Heliotrope; the latter being her chosen emblem, true bride of the sun +that it is. + +From flowers she passed to engravings hanging round the room. 'Here,' +said she, 'are Dante and Beatrice. + + "Approach, and know that I am Beatrice. + The power of ancient love was strong within me." + + 'She is beautiful enough, is not she, for that higher moment? + But Dante! Yet who could paint a Dante,--and Dante in heaven? + They give but his shadow, as he walked in the forest-maze of + earth. Then here is the Madonna del Pesce; not divine, like + the Foligno, not deeply maternal, like the Seggiola, not + the beaetified "Mother of God" of the Dresden gallery, but + graceful, and "not too bright and good for human nature's + daily food." And here is Raphael himself, the young seer of + beauty, with eyes softly contemplative, yet lit with central + fires,' &c. + +There were gems, too, and medallions and seals, to be examined, each +enigmatical, and each blended by remembrances with some fair hour of +her past life. + +Talk on art led the way to Greece and the Greeks, whose mythology +Margaret was studying afresh. She had been culling the blooms of that +poetic land, and could not but offer me leaves from her garland. She +spoke of the statue of Minerva-Polias, cut roughly from an olive-tree, +yet cherished as the heaven-descended image of the most sacred shrine, +to which was due the Panathenaic festival. + + 'The less ideal perfection in the figure, the greater the + reverence of the adorer. Was not this because spiritual + imagination makes light of results, and needs only a germ whence + to unfold Olympic splendors?' + +She spoke of the wooden column, left standing from the ruins of the +first temple to Juno, amidst the marble walls of the magnificent fane +erected in its place:-- + + 'This is a most beautiful type, is not it, of the manner in + which life's earliest experiences become glorified by our + perfecting destiny?' + + 'In the temple of Love and the Graces, one Grace bore a rose, + a second a branch of myrtle, a third dice;--who can read that + riddle? + + '"Better is it," said Appollonius, "on entering a small shrine + to find there a statue of gold and ivory, than in a large + temple to behold only a coarse figure of terra cotta." How + often, after leaving with disgust the so-called great affairs + of men, do we find traces of angels' visits in quiet scenes of + home. + + 'The Hours and the Graces appear as ornaments on all thrones + and shrines, except those of Vulcan and Pluto. Alas for us, + when we become so sunk in utilitarian toil as to be blind to + the beauty with which even common cares are daily wreathed!' + +And so on and on, with myth and allusion. + +Next, Margaret spoke of the friends whose generosity had provided +the decorations on her walls, and the illustrated books for her +table,--friends who were fellow-students in art, history, or +science,--friends whose very life she shared. Her heart seemed full +to overflow with sympathy for their joys and sorrows, their special +trials and struggles, their peculiar tendencies of character and +respective relations. The existence of each was to her a sacred +process, whose developments she watched with awe, and whose leadings +she reverently sought to aid. She had scores of pretty anecdotes +to tell, sweet bowers of sentiment to open, significant lessons of +experience to interpret, and scraps of journals or letters to read +aloud, as the speediest means of introducing me to her chosen circle. +There was a fascinating spell in her piquant descriptions, and a +genial glow of sympathy animated to characteristic movement the +figures, who in varying pantomime replaced one another on the theatre +of her fancy. Frost-bound New England melted into a dreamland of +romance beneath the spice-breeze of her Eastern narrative. Sticklers +for propriety might have found fault at the freedom with which she +confided her friends' histories to one who was a comparative stranger +to them; but I could not but note how conscientiousness reined in her +sensibilities and curbed their career, as they reached the due bounds +of privacy. She did but realize one's conception of the transparent +truthfulness that will pervade advanced societies of the future, where +the very atmosphere shall be honorable faith. + +Nearer and nearer Margaret was approaching a secret throned in her +heart that day; and the preceding transitions were but a prelude of +her orchestra before the entrance of the festal group. Unconsciously +she made these preparations for paying worthy honors to a high +sentiment. She had lately heard of the betrothal of two of her +best-loved friends; and she wished to communicate the graceful story +in a way that should do justice to the facts and to her own feelings. +It was by a spontaneous impulse of her genius, and with no voluntary +foreshaping, that she had grouped the previous tales; but no drama +could have been more artistically constructed than the steps whereby +she led me onward to the denouement; and the look, tone, words, +with which she told it, were fluent with melody as the song of an +improvisatrice. + +Scarcely had she finished, when, offering some light refreshment,--as +it was now past noon,--she proposed a walk in the open air. She led +the way to Bussey's wood, her favorite retreat during the past year, +where she had thought and read, or talked with intimate friends. We +climbed the rocky path, resting a moment or two at every pretty point, +till, reaching a moss-cushioned ledge near the summit, she seated +herself. For a time she was silent, entranced in delighted communion +with the exquisite hue of the sky, seen through interlacing boughs +and trembling leaves, and the play of shine and shadow over the wide +landscape. But soon, arousing from her reverie, she took up the thread +of the morning's talk. My part was to listen; for I was absorbed in +contemplating this, to me, quite novel form of character. It has +been seen how my early distaste for Margaret's society was gradually +changed to admiration. Like all her friends, I had passed through an +avenue of sphinxes before reaching the temple. But now it appeared +that thus far I had never been admitted to the adytum. + +As, leaning on one arm, she poured out her stream of thought, turning +now and then her eyes full upon me, to see whether I caught her +meaning, there was leisure to study her thoroughly. Her temperament +was predominantly what the physiologists would call nervous-sanguine; +and the gray eye, rich brown hair and light complexion, with the +muscular and well-developed frame, bespoke delicacy balanced by vigor. +Here was a sensitive yet powerful being, fit at once for rapture or +sustained effort, intensely active, prompt for adventure, firm for +trial. She certainly had not beauty; yet the high arched dome of the +head, the changeful expressiveness of every feature, and her whole +air of mingled dignity and impulse, gave her a commanding charm. +Especially characteristic were two physical traits. The first was a +contraction of the eyelids almost to a point,--a trick caught from +near-sightedness,--and then a sudden dilation, till the iris seemed to +emit flashes;--an effect, no doubt, dependent on her highly-magnetized +condition. The second was a singular pliancy of the vertebrae and +muscles of the neck, enabling her by a mere movement to denote each +varying emotion; in moments of tenderness, or pensive feeling, its +curves were swan-like in grace, but when she was scornful or indignant +it contracted, and made swift turns like that of a bird of prey. +Finally, in the animation, yet _abandon_ of Margaret's attitude and +look, were rarely blended the fiery force of northern, and the soft +languor of southern races. + +Meantime, as I was thus, through her physiognomy, tracing the outlines +of her spiritual form, she was narrating chapters from the book of +experience. How superficially, heretofore, had I known her! We had met +chiefly as scholars. But now I saw before me one whose whole life +had been a poem,--of boundless aspiration and hope almost wild in its +daring,--of indomitable effort amidst poignant disappointment,--of +widest range, yet persistent unity. Yes! here was a poet in deed, a +true worshipper of Apollo, who had steadfastly striven to brighten and +make glad existence, to harmonize all jarring and discordant strings, +to fuse most hard conditions and cast them in a symmetric mould, to +piece fragmentary fortunes into a mosaic symbol of heavenly order. +Here was one, fond as a child of joy, eager as a native of the tropics +for swift transition from luxurious rest to passionate excitement, +prodigal to pour her mingled force of will, thought, sentiment, into +the life of the moment, all radiant with imagination, longing for +communion with artists of every age in their inspired hours, fitted by +genius and culture to mingle as an equal in the most refined circles +of Europe, and yet her youth and early womanhood had passed away +amid the very decent, yet drudging, descendants of the prim Puritans. +Trained among those who could have discerned her peculiar power, and +early fed with the fruits of beauty for which her spirit pined, she +would have developed into one of the finest lyrists, romancers and +critics, that the modern literary world has seen. This she knew; and +this tantalization of her fate she keenly felt. + +But the tragedy of Margaret's history was deeper yet. Behind the poet +was the woman,--the fond and relying, the heroic and disinterested +woman. The very glow of her poetic enthusiasm was but an outflush of +trustful affection; the very restlessness of her intellect was +the confession that her heart had found no home. A "book-worm," "a +dilettante," "a pedant," I had heard her sneeringly called; but now it +was evident that her seeming insensibility was virgin pride, and her +absorption in study the natural vent of emotions, which had met +no object worthy of life-long attachment. At once, many of her +peculiarities became intelligible. Fitfulness, unlooked-for changes of +mood, misconceptions of words and actions, substitution of fancy +for fact,--which had annoyed me during the previous season, as +inconsistent in a person of such capacious judgment and sustained +self-government,--were now referred to the morbid influence of +affections pent up to prey upon themselves. And, what was still more +interesting, the clue was given to a singular credulousness, by +which, in spite of her unusual penetration, Margaret might be led away +blindfold. As this revelation of her ardent nature burst upon me, and +as, rapidly recalling the past, I saw how faithful she had kept to her +high purposes,--how patient, gentle, and thoughtful for others, how +active in self-improvement and usefulness, how wisely dignified she +had been,--I could not but bow to her in reverence. + +We walked back to the house amid a rosy sunset, and it was with no +surprise that I heard her complain of an agonizing nervous headache, +which compelled her at once to retire, and call for assistance. As +for myself, while going homeward, I reflected with astonishment on the +unflagging spiritual energy with which, for hour after hour, she +had swept over lands and seas of thought, and, as my own excitement +cooled, I became conscious of exhaustion, as if a week's life had been +concentrated in a day. + +The interview, thus hastily sketched, may serve as a fair type of our +usual intercourse. Always I found her open-eyed to beauty, fresh for +wonder, with wings poised for flight, and fanning the coming breeze of +inspiration. Always she seemed to see before her, + + "A shape all light, which with one hand did fling + Dew on the earth, as if she were the dawn, + And the invisible rain did ever sing + A silver music on the mossy lawn." + +Yet more and more distinctly did I catch a plaintive tone of sorrow +in her thought and speech, like the wail of an AEolian harp heard at +intervals from some upper window. She had never met one who could love +her as she could love; and in the orange-grove of her affections +the white, perfumed blossoms and golden fruit wasted away unclaimed. +Through the mask of slight personal defects and ungraceful manners, +of superficial hauteur and egotism, and occasional extravagance of +sentiment, no equal had recognized the rare beauty of her spirit. She +was yet alone. + +Among her papers remains this pathetic petition:-- + + 'I am weary of thinking. I suffer great fatigue from living. + Oh God, take me! take me wholly! Thou knowest that I love none + but Thee. All this beautiful poesy of my being lies in Thee. + Deeply I feel it. I ask nothing. Each desire, each passionate + feeling, is on the surface only; inmostly Thou keepest me + strong and pure. Yet always to be thus going out into moments, + into nature, and love, and thought! Father, I am weary! + Reassume me for a while, I pray Thee. Oh let me rest awhile in + Thee, Thou only Love! In the depth of my prayer I suffer much. + Take me only awhile. No fellow-being will receive me. I cannot + pause; they will not detain me by their love. Take me awhile, + and again I will go forth on a renewed service. It is not that + I repine, my Father, but I sink from want of rest, and none + will shelter me. Thou knowest it all. Bathe me in the living + waters of Thy Love.' + + + + +VII. + +THE FRIEND. + + * * * * * + + +Yet, conscious as she was of an unfulfilled destiny, and of an +undeveloped being, Margaret was no pining sentimentalist. The gums +oozing from wounded boughs she burned as incense in her oratory; but +in outward relations she was munificent with sympathy. + + 'Let me be, Theodora, a bearer of heavenly gifts to my + fellows,' + +is written in her journals, and her life fulfilled the aspiration. +The more one observed her, the more surprising appeared the variety, +earnestness, and constancy of her friendships. Far and wide reached +her wires of communication, and incessant was the interchange of +messages of good-will. She was never so preoccupied and absorbed as +to deny a claimant for her affectionate interest; she never turned +her visitors back upon themselves, mortified and vexed at being +misunderstood. With delicate justice she appreciated the special +form, force, tendency of utterly dissimilar characters and her heart +responded to every appeal alike of humblest suffering or loftiest +endeavor. In the plain, yet eloquent phrase of the backwoodsman, "the +string of her door-latch was always out," and every wayfarer was free +to share the shelter of her roof, or a seat beside her hearth-stone. +Or, rather, it might be said, in symbol of her wealth of spirit, her +palace, with its galleries of art, its libraries and festal-halls, +welcomed all guests who could enjoy and use them. + +She was, indeed, The Friend. This was her vocation. She bore at her +girdle a golden key to unlock all caskets of confidence. Into +whatever home she entered she brought a benediction of truth, justice, +tolerance, and honor; and to every one who sought her to confess, or +seek counsel, she spoke the needed word of stern yet benignant wisdom. +To how many was the forming of her acquaintance an era of renovation, +of awakening from sloth, indulgence or despair, to heroic mastery of +fate, of inward serenity and strength, of new-birth to real self-hood, +of catholic sympathies, of energy consecrated to the Supreme Good. +Thus writes to her one who stands among the foremost in his own +department: "What I am I owe, in large measure, to the stimulus you +imparted. You roused my heart with high hopes; you raised my aims from +paltry and vain pursuits to those which tasked and fed the soul; +you inspired me with a great ambition, and made me see the worth +and meaning of life; you awakened in me confidence in my own powers, +showed me my special and distinct ability, and quickened my individual +consciousness by intelligent sympathy with tendencies and feelings +which I but half understood; you gave me to myself. This is a most +benign influence to exercise, and for it, above all other benefits, +gratitude is due. Therefore have you an inexhaustible bank of +gratitude to draw from. Bless God that he has allotted to you such a +ministry." + +The following extracts from her letters will show how profusely +Margaret poured out her treasures upon her friends; but they reveal, +too, the painful processes of alchemy whereby she transmuted her lead +into gold. + + 'Your idea of friendship apparently does not include + intellectual intimacy, as mine does, but consists of mutual + esteem and spiritual encouragement. This is the thought + represented, on antique gems and bas-reliefs, of the meeting + between God and Goddess, I find; for they rather offer one + another the full flower of being, than grow together. As in + the figures before me, Jupiter, king of Gods and men, meets + Juno, the sister and queen, not as a chivalric suppliant, but + as a stately claimant; and she, crowned, pure, majestic, holds + the veil aside to reveal herself to her august spouse.' + + * * * * * + + 'How variously friendship is represented in literature! + Sometimes the two friends kindle beacons from afar to apprize + one another that they are constant, vigilant, and each + content in his several home. Sometimes, two pilgrims, they go + different routes in service of the same saint, and remember + one another as they give alms, learn wisdom, or pray in + shrines along the road. Sometimes, two knights, they bid + farewell with mailed hand of truth and honor all unstained, + as they ride forth on their chosen path to test the spirit of + high emprise, and free the world from wrong,--to meet again + for unexpected succor in the hour of peril, or in joyful + surprise to share a frugal banquet on the plat of greensward + opening from forest glades. Sometimes, proprietors of two + neighboring estates, they have interviews in the evening to + communicate their experiments and plans, or to study together + the stars from an observatory; if either is engaged he simply + declares it; they share enjoyments cordially; they exchange + praise or blame frankly; in citizen-like good-fellowship they + impart their gains. + + 'All these views of friendship are noble and beautiful, yet + they are not enough for our manifold nature. Friends should + be our incentives to Right, yet not only our guiding, but our + prophetic stars. To love by sight is much, to love by faith + is more; together they make up the entire love, without which + heart, mind, and soul cannot be alike satisfied. Friends + should love not merely for the absolute worth of each to the + other, but on account of a mutual fitness of character. They + are not merely one another's priests or gods, but ministering + angels, exercising in their part the same function as the + Great Soul does in the whole,--of seeing the perfect through + the imperfect, nay, creating it there. Why am I to love my + friend the less for any obstruction in his life? Is not that + the very time for me to love most tenderly, when I must see + his life in despite of seeming? When he shows it to me I can + only admire; I do not give myself, I am taken captive. + + 'But how shall I express my meaning? Perhaps I can do so from + the tales of chivalry, where I find what corresponds far more + thoroughly with my nature, than in these stoical statements. + The friend of Amadis expects to hear prodigies of valor of + the absent Preux, but if he be mutilated in one of his first + battles, shall he be mistrusted by the brother of his soul, + more than if he had been tested in a hundred? If Britomart + finds Artegall bound in the enchanter's spell, can she + doubt therefore him whom she has seen in the magic glass? A + Britomart does battle in his cause, and frees him from the + evil power, while a dame of less nobleness might sit and watch + the enchanted sleep, weeping night and day, or spur on her + white palfrey to find some one more helpful than herself. + These friends in chivalry are always faithful through the dark + hours to the bright. The Douglas motto, "tender and true," + seems to me most worthy of the strongest breast. To borrow + again from Spencer, I am entirely satisfied with the fate of + the three brothers. I could not die while there was yet life + in my brother's breast. I would return from the shades and + nerve him with twofold life for the fight. I could do it, for + our hearts beat with one blood. Do you not see the truth and + happiness of this waiting tenderness? The verse-- + + "Have I a lover + Who is noble and free, + I would he were nobler + Than to love me,"-- + + does not come home to my heart, though _this_ does:-- + + "I could not love thee, sweet, so much, + Loved I not honor more." + + * * * '_October 10th, 1840._--I felt singular pleasure in + seeing you quote Hood's lines on "Melancholy." I thought + nobody knew and loved his serious poems except myself, and + two or three others, to whom I imparted them.[A] Do you like, + also, the ode to Autumn, and-- + + "Sigh on, sad heart, for love's eclipse"? + + It was a beautiful time when I first read these poems. I was + staying in Hallowell, Maine, and could find no books that I + liked, except Hood's poems. You know how the town is built, + like a terraced garden on the river's bank; I used to go every + afternoon to the granite quarry which crowns these terraces, + and read till the sunset came casting its last glory on the + opposite bank. They were such afternoons as those in September + and October, clear, soft, and radiant. Nature held nothing + back. 'Tis many years since, and I have never again seen the + Kennebec, but remember it as a stream of noble character. It + was the first river I ever sailed up, realizing all which that + emblem discloses of life. Greater still would the charm have + been to sail downward along an unknown stream, seeking not a + home, but a ship upon the ocean.' + + * * * * * + + '_Newbury, Oct. 18, 1840._--It rained, and the day was pale + and sorrowful, the thick-fallen leaves even shrouded the + river. We went out in the boat, and sat under the bridge. The + pallid silence, the constant fall of the rain and leaves, were + most soothing, life had been for many weeks so crowded with + thought and feeling, pain and pleasure, rapture and care. + Nature seemed gently to fold us in her matron's mantle. On + such days the fall of the leaf does not bring sadness, only + meditation. Earth seemed to loose the record of past summer + hours from her permanent life, as lightly, and spontaneously, + as the great genius casts behind him a literature,--the + Odyssey he has outgrown. In the evening the rain ceased, the + west wind came, and we went out in the boat again for some + hours; indeed, we staid till the last clouds passed from the + moon. Then we climbed the hill to see the full light in solemn + sweetness over fields, and trees, and river. + + 'I never enjoyed anything more in its way than the three + days alone with ---- in her boat, upon the little river. + Not without reason was it that Goethe limits the days of + intercourse to _three_, in the Wanderjahre. If you have lived + so long in uninterrupted communion with any noble being, and + with nature, a remembrance of man's limitations seems to call + on Polycrates to cast forth his ring. She seemed the very + genius of the scene, so calm, so lofty, and so secluded. I + never saw any place that seemed to me so much like home. The + beauty, though so great, is so unobtrusive. + + 'As we glided along the river, I could frame my community far + more naturally and rationally than ----. A few friends should + settle upon the banks of a stream like this, planting their + homesteads. Some should be farmers, some woodmen, others + bakers, millers, &c. By land, they should carry to one another + the commodities; on the river they should meet for society. At + sunset many, of course, would be out in their boats, but they + would love the hour too much ever to disturb one another. I + saw the spot where we should discuss the high mysteries that + Milton speaks of. Also, I saw the spot where I would invite + select friends to live through the noon of night, in silent + communion. When we wished to have merely playful chat, or talk + on politics or social reform, we would gather in the mill, and + arrange those affairs while grinding the corn. What a happy + place for children to grow up in! Would it not suit little + ---- to go to school to the cardinal flowers in her boat, + beneath the great oak-tree? I think she would learn more than + in a phalanx of juvenile florists. But, truly, why has such a + thing never been? One of these valleys so immediately suggests + an image of the fair company that might fill it, and live so + easily, so naturally, so wisely. Can we not people the banks + of some such affectionate little stream? I distrust ambitious + plans, such as Phalansterian organizations! + + '---- is quite bent on trying his experiment. I hope he may + succeed; but as they were talking the other evening, I + thought of the river, and all the pretty symbols the tide-mill + presents, and felt if I could at all adjust the economics to + the more simple procedure, I would far rather be the miller, + hoping to attract by natural affinity some congenial baker, + "und so weiter." However, one thing seems sure, that many + persons will soon, somehow, somewhere, throw off a part, at + least, of these terrible weights of the social contract, and + see if they cannot lie more at ease in the lap of Nature. I + do not feel the same interest in these plans, as if I had a + firmer hold on life, but I listen with much pleasure to the + good suggestions.' + + * * * * * + + '_Oct. 19th, 1840._ ---- was here. Generally I go out of + the room when he comes, for his great excitability makes + me nervous, and his fondness for detail is wearisome. But + to-night I was too much fatigued to do anything else, and + did not like to leave mother; so I lay on the sofa while she + talked with him. + + 'My mind often wandered, yet ever and anon, as I listened + again to him, I was struck with admiration at the + compensations of Nature. Here is a man, isolated from his + kind beyond any I know, of an ambitious temper and without an + object of tender affections and without a love or a friend. I + don't suppose any mortal, unless it be his aged mother, cares + more for him than we do,--scarce any value him so much. The + disease, which has left him, in the eyes of men, a scathed and + blighted tree, has driven him back to Nature, and she has not + refused him sympathy. I was surprised by the refinement of + his observations on the animals, his pets. He has carried + his intercourse with them to a degree of perfection we rarely + attain with our human friends. There is no misunderstanding + between him and his dogs and birds; and how rich has been the + acquaintance in suggestion! Then the flowers! I liked to + hear him, for he recorded all their pretty ways,--not like a + botanist, but a lover. His interview with the Magnolia of Lake + Pontchartrain was most romantic. And what he said of the + Yuca seems to me so pretty, that I will write it down, though + somewhat more concisely than he told it:-- + + '"I had kept these plants of the Yuca Filamentosa six or seven + years, though they had never bloomed. I knew nothing of them, + and had no notion of what feelings they would excite. Last + June I found in bud the one which had the most favorable + exposure. A week or two after, another, which was more in the + shade, put out flower-buds, and I thought I should be able to + watch them, one after the other; but, no! the one which was + most favored waited for the other, and both flowered together + at the full of the moon. This struck me as very singular, but + as soon as I saw the flower by moonlight I understood it. This + flower is made for the moon, as the Heliotrope is for the sun, + and refuses other influences or to display her beauty in any + other light. + + '"The first night I saw it in flower, I was conscious of a + peculiar delight, I may even say rapture. Many white flowers + are far more beautiful by day; the lily, for instance, with + its firm, thick leaf, needs the broadest light to manifest its + purity. But these transparent leaves of greenish white, which + look dull in the day, are melted by the moon to glistening + silver. And not only does the plant not appear in its destined + hue by day, but the flower, though, as bell-shaped, it cannot + quite close again after having once expanded, yet presses its + petals together as closely as it can, hangs down its little + blossoms, and its tall stalk seems at noon to have reared + itself only to betray a shabby insignificance. Thus, too, + with the leaves, which have burst asunder suddenly like the + fan-palm to make way for the stalk,--their edges in the day + time look ragged and unfinished, as if nature had left them + in a hurry for some more pleasing task. On the day after + the evening when I had thought it so beautiful, I could not + conceive how I had made such a mistake. + + '"But the second evening I went out into the garden again. In + clearest moonlight stood my flower, more beautiful than ever. + The stalk pierced the air like a spear, all the little bells + had erected themselves around it in most graceful array, with + petals more transparent than silver, and of softer light + than the diamond. Their edges were clearly, but not sharply + defined. They seemed to have been made by the moon's rays. The + leaves, which had looked ragged by day, now seemed fringed by + most delicate gossamer, and the plant might claim with pride + its distinctive epithet of Filamentosa. I looked at it till + my feelings became so strong that I longed to share it. The + thought which filled my mind was that here we saw the type of + pure feminine beauty in the moon's own flower. I have since + had further opportunity of watching the Yuca, and verified + these observations, that she will not flower till the full + moon, and chooses to hide her beauty from the eye of day." + + 'Might not this be made into a true poem, if written out + merely as history of the plant, and no observer introduced? + How finely it harmonizes with all legends of Isis, Diana, &c.! + It is what I tried to say in the sonnet,-- + + Woman's heaven, + Where palest lights a silvery sheen diffuse. + + 'In tracing these correspondences, one really does take hold + of a Truth, of a Divine Thought.' * * + + * * * * * + + '_October 25th, 1840._--This week I have not read any book, + nor once walked in the woods and fields. I meant to give its + days to setting outward things in order, and its evenings to + writing. But, I know not how it is, I can never simplify my + life; always so many ties, so many claims! However, soon the + winter winds will chant matins and vespers, which may make my + house a cell, and in a snowy veil enfold me for my prayer. + If I cannot dedicate myself this time, I will not expect it + again. Surely it should be! These Carnival masks have crowded + on me long enough, and Lent must be at hand. * * + + '---- and ---- have been writing me letters, to answer which + required all the time and thought I could give for a day or + two. ----'s were of joyful recognition, and so beautiful I + would give much to show them to you. ----'s have singularly + affected me. They are noble, wise, of most unfriendly + friendliness. I don't know why it is, I always seem to myself + to have gone so much further with a friend than I really have. + Just as at Newport I thought ---- met me, when he did not, and + sang a joyful song which found no echo, so here ---- asks me + questions which I thought had been answered in the first days + of our acquaintance, and coldly enumerates all the charming + qualities which make it impossible for him to part with me! + He scolds me, though in the sweetest and solemnest way. I will + not quote his words, though their beauty tempts me, for they + do not apply, they do not touch ME. + + 'Why is it that the religion of my nature is so much hidden + from my peers? why do they question me, who never question + them? why persist to regard as a meteor an orb of assured + hope? Can no soul know me wholly? shall I never know the deep + delight of gratitude to any but the All-Knowing? I shall + wait for ---- very peaceably, in reverent love as ever; but I + cannot see why he should not have the pleasure of knowing now + a friend, who has been "so tender and true."' + + * * * * * + + '---- was here, and spent twenty-four hours in telling me a + tale of deepest tragedy. Its sad changes should be written out + in Godwin's best manner: such are the themes he loved, as did + also Rousseau. Through all the dark shadows shone a pure + white ray, one high, spiritual character, a man, too, and of + advanced age. I begin to respect men more,--I mean actual men. + What men may be, I know; but the men of to-day have seemed to + me of such coarse fibre, or else such poor wan shadows! + + '---- had scarcely gone, when ---- came and wished to spend + a few hours with me. I was totally exhausted, but I lay down, + and she sat beside me, and poured out all her noble feelings + and bright fancies. There was little light in the room, and + she gleamed like a cloud + + --"of pearl and opal," + + and reminded me more than ever of + + --"the light-haired Lombardess + Singing a song of her own native land," + + to the dying Correggio, beside the fountain. + + 'I am astonished to see how much Bettine's book is to all + these people. This shows how little courage they have had to + live out themselves. She really brings them a revelation. The + men wish they had been loved by Bettine; the girls wish to + write down the thoughts that come, and see if just such a book + does not grow up. ----, however, was one of the few who do not + over-estimate her; she truly thought Bettine only publishes + what many burn. Would not genius be common as light, if men + trusted their higher selves?' + + * * * * * + + 'I heard in town that ---- is a father, and has gone to see + his child. This news made me more grave even than such news + usually does; I suppose because I have known the growth of + his character so intimately. I called to mind a letter he had + written me of what we had expected of our fathers. The ideal + father, the profoundly wise, provident, divinely tender and + benign, he is indeed the God of the human heart. How solemn + this moment of being called to prepare the way, to _make way_ + for another generation! What fulfilment does it claim in + the character of a man, that he should be worthy to be a + father!--what purity of motive, what dignity, what knowledge! + When I recollect how deep the anguish, how deeper still the + want, with which I walked alone in hours of childish passion, + and called for a Father, often saying the word a hundred + times, till stifled by sobs, how great seems the duty that + name imposes! Were but the harmony preserved throughout! Could + the child keep learning his earthly, as he does his heavenly + Father, from all best experience of life, till at last it were + the climax: "I am the Father. Have ye seen me?--ye have seen + the Father." But how many sons have we to make one father? + Surely, to spirits, not only purified but perfected, this + must appear the climax of earthly being,--a wise and worthy + parentage. Here I always sympathize with Mr. Alcott. He views + the relation truly.' + + * * * * * + + '_Dec. 3, 1840._ ---- bids me regard her "as a sick child;" + and the words recall some of the sweetest hours of existence. + My brother Edward was born on my birth-day, and they said he + should be my child. But he sickened and died just as the bud + of his existence showed its first bright hues. He was some + weeks wasting away, and I took care of him always half the + night. He was a beautiful child, and became very dear to me + then. Still in lonely woods the upturned violets show me the + pleading softness of his large blue eyes, in those hours when + I would have given worlds to prevent his suffering, and + could not. I used to carry him about in my arms for hours; it + soothed him, and I loved to feel his gentle weight of helpless + purity upon my heart, while night listened around. At last, + when death came, and the soul took wing like an overtasked + bird from his sweet form, I felt what I feel now. Might I free + ----, as that angel freed him! + + 'In daily life I could never hope to be an unfailing fountain + of energy and bounteous love. My health is frail; my earthly + life is shrunk to a scanty rill; I am little better than an + aspiration, which the ages will reward, by empowering me to + incessant acts of vigorous beauty. But now it is well with me + to be with those who do not suffer overmuch to have me suffer. + It is best for me to serve where I can better bear to fall + short. I could visit ---- more nobly than in daily life, + through the soul of our souls. When she named me her + Priestess, that name made me perfectly happy. Long has been my + consecration; may I not meet those I hold dear at the altar? + How would I pile up the votive offerings, and crowd the fires + with incense? Life might be full and fair; for, in my own way, + I could live for my friends.' * * + + * * * * * + + '_Dec. 8th, 1840._--My book of amusement has been the Evenings + of St. Petersburg. I do not find the praises bestowed on it at + all exaggerated. Yet De Maistre is too logical for me. I only + catch a thought here and there along the page. There is a + grandeur even in the subtlety of his mind. He walks with + a step so still, that, but for his dignity, it would be + stealthy, yet with brow erect and wide, eye grave and deep. He + is a man such as I have never known before.' * * + + 'I went to see Mrs. Wood in the Somnambula. Nothing could + spoil this opera, which expresses an ecstasy, a trance of + feeling, better than anything I ever heard. I have loved every + melody in it for years, and it was happiness to listen to + the exquisite modulations as they flowed out of one another, + endless ripples on a river deep, wide and strewed with + blossoms. I never have known any one more to be loved than + Bellini. No wonder the Italians make pilgrimages to his grave. + In him thought and feeling flow always in one tide; he never + divides himself. He is as melancholy as he is sweet; yet his + melancholy is not impassioned, but purely tender.' + + * * * * * + + '_Dec. 15, 1840._--I have not time to write out as I should + this sweet story of Melissa, but here is the outline:-- + + 'More than four years ago she received an injury, which caused + her great pain in the spine, and went to the next country + town to get medical advice. She stopped at the house of a poor + blacksmith, an acquaintance only, and has never since been + able to be moved. Her mother and sister come by turns to take + care of her. She cannot help herself in any way, but is as + completely dependent as an infant. The blacksmith and his + wife gave her the best room in their house, have ever since + ministered to her as to a child of their own, and, when people + pity them for having to bear such a burthen, they say, "It is + none, but a blessing." + + 'Melissa suffers all the time, and great pain. She cannot + amuse or employ herself in any way, and all these years has + been as dependent on others for new thoughts, as for daily + cares. Yet her mind has deepened, and her character refined, + under those stern teachers, Pain and Gratitude, till she has + become the patron saint of the village, and the muse of + the village school-mistress. She has a peculiar aversion to + egotism, and could not bear to have her mother enlarge upon + her sufferings. + + '"Perhaps it will pain the lady to hear that," said the mild, + religious sufferer, who had borne all without a complaint. + + "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth." The poor are the + generous: the injured, the patient and loving. + + All that ---- said of this girl was in perfect harmony with + what De Maistre says of the saint of St. Petersburg, who, + almost devoured by cancer, when, asked, "Quelle est la + premiere grace que vous demanderez a Dieu, ma chere enfant, + lorsque vous serez devant lui?" she replied, "Je lui + demanderai pour mes bienfaiteurs la grace de Paimer autant que + je l'aime." + + 'When they were lamenting for her, "Je ne suis pas, dit elle, + aussi malheureuse que vous le croyez; Dieu me fait la grace de + ne peuser, qu'a lui."' * * + + 'Next of Edith. Tall, gaunt, hard-favored was this candidate + for the American calendar; but Bonilacia might be her name. + From her earliest years she had valued all she knew, only as + she was to teach it again. Her highest ambition was to be the + school-mistress; her recreation to dress the little ragged + things, and take care of them out of school hours. She had + some taste for nursing the grown-up, but this was quite + subordinate to her care of the buds of the forest. Pure, + perfectly beneficent, lived Edith, and never thought of any + thing or person, but for its own sake. When she had attained + midway the hill of life, she happened to be boarding in the + house with a young farmer, who was lost in admiration of her + lore. How he wished he, too, could read! "What, can't you + read? O, let me teach you!"--"You never can; I was too + thick-skulled to learn even at school. I am sure I never + could now." But Edith was not to be daunted by any fancies + of incapacity, and set to work with utmost zeal to teach this + great grown man the primer. She succeeded, and won his heart + thereby. He wished to requite the raising him from the night + of ignorance, as Howard and Nicholas Poussin did the kind ones + who raised them from the night of the tomb, by the gift of his + hand. Edith consented, on condition that she might still keep + school. So he had his sister come to "keep things straight." + Edith and he go out in the morning,--he to his field, she to + her school, and meet again at eventide, to talk, and plan and, + I hope, to read also. + + 'The first use Edith made of her accession of property + through her wedded estate, was to give away all she thought + superfluous to a poor family she had long pitied, and + to invite a poor sick woman to her "spare chamber." + Notwithstanding a course like this, her husband has grown + rich, and proves that the pattern of the widow's cruse was not + lost in Jewry. + + 'Edith has become the Natalia of the village, as is Melissa + its "Schoene Seele."' + + * * * * * + + '_Dec., 22, 1840._--"Community" seems dwindling to a point, + and I fancy the best use of the plan, as projected thus far, + will prove the good talks it has caused here, upon principles. + I feel and find great want of wisdom in myself and the others. + We are not ripe to reconstruct society yet. O Christopher + Columbus! how art thou to be admired, when we see how other + men go to work with their lesser enterprises! ---- knows + deepest what he wants, but not well how to get it. ---- has a + better perception of means, and less insight as to principles; + but this movement has done him a world of good. All should + say, however, that they consider this plan as a mere + experiment, and are willing to fail. I tell them that they are + not ready till they can say that. ---- says he can bear to be + treated unjustly by all concerned,--which is much. He is too + sanguine, as it appears to me, but his aim is worthy, and, + with his courage and clear intellect, his experiment will not, + at least to him, be a failure.' + + * * * * * + + '_Feb. 19, 1841._--Have I never yet seen so much as _one_ of + my spiritual family? The other night they sat round me, so + many who have thought they loved, or who begin to love me. + I felt myself kindling the same fire in all their souls. + I looked on each, and no eye repelled me. Yet there was no + warmth for me on all those altars. Their natures seemed deep, + yet there was 'not one from which I could draw the living + fountain. I could only cheat the hour with them, prize, + admire, and pity. It was sad; yet who would have seen sadness + in me? * * + + 'Once I was almost all intellect; now I am almost all feeling. + Nature vindicates her rights, and I feel all Italy glowing + beneath the Saxon crust. This cannot last long; I shall burn + to ashes if all this smoulders here much longer. I must die if + I do not burst forth in genius or heroism. + + 'I meant to have translated the best passages of "Die + Gunderode,"--which I prefer to Bettine's correspondence with + Goethe. The two girls are equal natures, and both in earnest. + Goethe made a puppet-show, for his private entertainment, + of Bettine's life, and we wonder she did not feel he was not + worthy of her homage. Gunderode is to me dear and admirable, + Bettine only interesting. Gunderode is of religious grace, + Bettine the fulness of instinctive impulse; Gunderode is the + ideal, Bettine nature; Gunderode throws herself into the river + because the world is all too narrow, Bettine lives and + follows out every freakish fancy, till the enchanting child + degenerates into an eccentric and undignified old woman. There + is a medium somewhere. Philip Sidney found it; others had it + found for them by fate.' + + * * * * * + + '_March_ 29. 1841.--* * Others have looked at society with far + deeper consideration than I. I have felt so unrelated to this + sphere, that it has not been hard for me to be true. Also, I + do not believe in Society. I feel that every man must struggle + with these enormous ills, in some way, in every age; in that + of Moses, or Plato, or Angelo, as in our own. So it has not + moved me much to see my time so corrupt, but it would if I + were in a false position. + + '---- went out to his farm yesterday, full of cheer, as + one who doeth a deed with sincere good will. He has shown + a steadfastness and earnestness of purpose most grateful to + behold. I do not know what their scheme will ripen to; at + present it does not deeply engage my hopes. It is thus far + only a little better way than others. I doubt if they will get + free from all they deprecate in society.' + + * * * * * + + '_Paradise Farm, Newport, July, 1841._--Here are no deep + forests, no stern mountains, nor narrow, sacred valleys; but + the little white farm-house looks down from its gentle + slope on the boundless sea, and beneath the moon, beyond the + glistening corn-fields, is heard the endless surge. All + around the house is most gentle and friendly, with many + common flowers, that seem to have planted themselves, and + the domestic honey-suckle carefully trained over the little + window. Around are all the common farm-house sounds,--the + poultry making a pleasant recitative between the carols of + singing birds; even geese and turkeys are not inharmonious + when modulated by the diapasons of the beach. The orchard of + very old apple-trees, whose twisted forms tell of the glorious + winds that have here held revelry, protects a little homely + garden, such as gives to me an indescribable refreshment, + where the undivided vegetable plots and flourishing young + fruit-trees, mingling carelessly, seem as if man had dropt the + seeds just where he wanted the plants, and they had sprung up + at once. The family, too, look, at first glance, well-suited + to the place,--homely, kindly, unoppressed, of honest pride + and mutual love, not unworthy to look out upon the far-shining + sea. + + 'Many, many sweet little things would I tell you, only they + are so very little. I feel just now as if I could live and die + here. I am out in the open air all the time, except about two + hours in the early morning. And now the moon is fairly gone + late in the evening. While she was here, we staid out, too. + Everything seems sweet here, so homely, so kindly; the old + people chatting so contentedly, the young men and girls + laughing together in the fields,--not vulgarly, but in the + true kinsfolk way,--little children singing in the house and + beneath the berry-bushes. The never-ceasing break of the + surf is a continual symphony, calming the spirits which this + delicious air might else exalt too much. Everything on the + beach becomes a picture; the casting the seine, the ploughing + the deep for seaweed. This, when they do it with horses, is + prettiest of all; but when you see the oxen in the surf, you + lose all faith in the story of Europa, as the gay waves tumble + in on their lazy sides. The bull would be a fine object on the + shore, but not, not in the water. Nothing short of a dolphin + will do! Late to-night, from the highest Paradise rocks, + seeing ---- wandering, and the horsemen careering on the + beach, so spectrally passing into nature, amid the pale, + brooding twilight, I almost thought myself in the land of + souls! + + 'But in the morning it is life, all cordial and common. This + half-fisherman, half-farmer life seems very favorable to + manliness. I like to talk with the fishermen; they are not + boorish, not limited, but keen-eyed, and of a certain rude + gentleness. Two or three days ago I saw the sweetest picture. + There is a very tall rock, one of the natural pulpits, at one + end of the beach. As I approached, I beheld a young fisherman + with his little girl; he had nestled her into a hollow of the + rock, and was standing before her, with his arms round her, + and looking up in her face. Never was anything so pretty. I + stood and stared, country fashion; and presently he scrambled + up to the very top with her in his arms. She screamed a little + as they went, but when they were fairly up on the crest of the + rock, she chuckled, and stretched her tiny hand over his neck, + to go still further. Yet, when she found he did not wish it, + she leaned against his shoulder, and he sat, feeling himself + in the child like that exquisite Madonna, and looking out over + the great sea. Surely, the "kindred points of heaven and home" + were known in his breast, whatever guise they might assume. + + 'The sea is not always lovely and bounteous, though generally, + since we have been here, she has beamed her bluest. The night + of the full moon we staid out on the far rocks. The afternoon + was fair: the sun set nobly, wrapped in a violet mantle, + which he left to the moon, in parting. She not only rose red, + lowering, and of impatient attitude, but kept hiding her head + all the evening with an angry, struggling movement. ---- + said, "This is not Dian;" and I replied, "No; now we see the + Hecate." But the damp, cold wind came sobbing, and the waves + began wailing, too, till I was seized with a feeling of + terror, such as I never had before, even in the darkest, and + most treacherous, rustling wood. The moon seemed sternly to + give me up to the daemons of the rock, and the waves to mourn + a tragic chorus, till I felt their cold grasp. I suffered + so much, that I feared we should never get home without some + fatal catastrophe. Never was I more relieved than when, as we + came up the hill, the moon suddenly shone forth. It was ten + o'clock, and here every human sound is hushed, and lamp put + out at that hour. How tenderly the grapes and tall corn-ears + glistened and nodded! and the trees stretched out their + friendly arms, and the scent of every humblest herb was like a + word of love. The waves, also, at that moment put on a silvery + gleam, and looked most soft and regretful. That was a real + voice from nature.' + + * * * * * + + '_February_, 1842.--I am deeply sad at the loss of little + Waldo, from whom I hoped more than from almost any living + being. I cannot yet reconcile myself to the thought that the + sun shines upon the grave of the beautiful blue-eyed boy, and + I shall see him no more. + + 'Five years he was an angel to us, and I know not that any + person was ever more the theme of thought to me. As I walk the + streets they swarm with apparently worthless lives, and the + question will rise, why he, why just he, who "bore within + himself the golden future," must be torn away? His father + will meet him again; but to me he seems lost, and yet that is + weakness. I _must_ meet that which he represented, since I + so truly loved it. He was the only child I ever saw, that I + sometimes wished I could have called mine. + + 'I loved him more than any child I ever knew, as he was of + nature more fair and noble. You would be surprised to know how + dear he was to my imagination. I saw him but little, and it + was well; for it is unwise to bind the heart where there is + no claim. But it is all gone, and is another of the lessons + brought by each year, that we are to expect suggestions only, + and not fulfilments, from each form of beauty, and to regard + them merely as Angels of The Beauty.' + + * * * * * + + '_June, 1842._--Why must children be with perfect people, any + more than people wait to be perfect to be friends? The secret + is,--is it not?--for parents to feel and be willing their + children should know that they are but little older than + themselves: only a class above, and able to give them some + help in learning their lesson. Then parent and child keep + growing together, in the same house. Let them blunder as we + blundered. God is patient for us; why should not we be for + them? Aspiration teaches always, and God leads, by inches. A + perfect being would hurt a child no less than an imperfect.' + + * * * * * + + 'It always makes my annoyances seem light, to be riding about + to visit these fine houses. Not that I am intolerant towards + the rich, but I cannot help feeling at such times how much + characters require the discipline of difficult circumstances. + To say nothing of the need the soul has of a peace and courage + that cannot be disturbed, even as to the intellect, how can + one be sure of not sitting down in the midst of indulgence to + pamper tastes alone, and how easy to cheat one's self with the + fancy that a little easy reading or writing is quite work. + I am safer; I do not sleep on roses. I smile to myself, when + with these friends, at their care of me. I let them do as they + will, for I know it will not last long enough to spoil me.' + + * * * * * + + 'I take great pleasure in talking with Aunt Mary.[B] Her + strong and simple nature checks not, falters not. Her + experience is entirely unlike mine, as, indeed, is that of + most others whom I know. No rapture, no subtle process, no + slow fermentation in the unknown depths, but a rill struck out + from the rock, clear and cool in all its course, the still, + small voice. She says the guide of her life has shown itself + rather as a restraining, than an impelling principle. I like + her life, too, as far as I see it; it is dignified and true.' + + * * * * * + + '_Cambridge, July_, 1842.--A letter at Providence would have + been like manna in the wilderness. I came into the very midst + of the fuss,[C] and, tedious as it was at the time, I am glad + to have seen it. I shall in future be able to believe real, + what I have read with a dim disbelief of such times and + tendencies. There is, indeed, little good, little cheer, in + what I have seen: a city full of grown-up people as wild, as + mischief-seeking, as full of prejudice, careless slander, + and exaggeration, as a herd of boys in the play-ground of the + worst boarding-school. Women whom I have seen, as the + domestic cat, gentle, graceful, cajoling, suddenly showing + the disposition, if not the force, of the tigress. I thought I + appreciated the monstrous growths of rumor before, but I + never did. The Latin poet, though used to a court, has faintly + described what I saw and heard often, in going the length of + a street. It is astonishing what force, purity and wisdom it + requires for a human being to keep clear of falsehoods. These + absurdities, of course, are linked with good qualities, + with energy of feeling, and with a love of morality, though + narrowed and vulgarized by the absence of the intelligence + which should enlighten. I had the good discipline of trying + to make allowance for those making none, to be charitable + to their want of charity, and cool without being cold. But + I don't know when I have felt such an aversion to my + environment, and prayed so earnestly day by day,--"O, Eternal! + purge from my inmost heart this hot haste about ephemeral + trifles," and "keep back thy servant from presumptuous sins; + let them not have dominion over me." + + 'What a change from the almost vestal quiet of "Aunt Mary's" + life, to all this open-windowed, open-eyed screaming of + "poltroon," "nefarious plan," "entire depravity," &c. &c.' + + * * * * * + + _'July, 1842. Boston_.--I have been entertaining the girls + here with my old experiences at Groton. They have been very + fresh in my mind this week. Had I but been as wise in such + matters then as now, how easy and fair I might have made the + whole! Too late, too late to live, but not too late to think! + And as that maxim of the wise Oriental teaches, "the Acts of + this life shall be the Fate of the next."' + + * * * 'I would have my friends tender of me, not because I am + frail, but because I am capable of strength;--patient, because + they see in me a principle that must, at last, harmonize all + the exuberance of my character. I did not well understand what + you felt, but I am willing to admit that what you said of my + "over-great impetuosity" is just. You will, perhaps, feel it + more and more. It may at times hide my better self. When it + does, speak, I entreat, as harshly as you feel. Let me be + always sure I know the worst I believe you will be thus just, + thus true, for we are both servants of Truth.' + + * * * * * + + '_August, 1842. Cambridge._--Few have eyes for the pretty + little features of a scene. In this, men are not so good + as boys. Artists are always thus young; poets are; but the + pilgrim does not lay aside his belt of steel, nor the merchant + his pack, to worship the flowers on the fountain's brink. I + feel, like Herbert, the weight of "business to be done," but + the bird-like particle would skim and sing at these sweet + places. It seems strange to leave them; and that we do so, + while so fitted to live deeply in them, shows that beauty is + the end but not the means. + + 'I have just been reading the new poems of Tennyson. Much has + he thought, much suffered, since the first ecstasy of so fine + an organization clothed all the world with rosy light. He has + not suffered himself to become a mere intellectual voluptuary, + nor the songster of fancy and passion, but has earnestly + revolved the problems of life, and his conclusions are calmly + noble. In these later verses is a still, deep sweetness; + how different from the intoxicating, sensuous melody of his + earlier cadence! I have loved him much this time, and taken + him to heart as a brother. One of his themes has long been + my favorite,--the last expedition of Ulysses,--and his, like + mine, is the Ulysses of the Odyssey, with his deep romance of + wisdom, and not the worldling of the Iliad. How finely marked + his slight description of himself and of Telemachus. In Dora, + Locksley Hall, the Two Voices, Morte D'Arthur, I find my own + life, much of it, written truly out.' + + * * * * * + + _Concord, August 25. 1842._--Beneath this roof of peace, + beneficence, and intellectual activity, I find just the + alternation of repose and satisfying pleasure that I need. * * + * + + 'Do not find fault with the hermits and scholars. The true text + is:-- + + "Mine own Telemachus + He does his work--I mine." + + 'All do the work, whether they will or no; but he is "mine + own Telemachus" who does it in the spirit of religion, never + believing that the last results can be arrested in any one + measure or set of measures, listening always to the voice of + the Spirit,--and who does this more than ----? + + 'After the first excitement of intimacy with him,--when I + was made so happy by his high tendency, absolute purity, the + freedom and infinite graces of an intellect cultivated much + beyond any I had known,--came with me the questioning season. + I was greatly disappointed in my relation to him. I was, + indeed, always called on to be worthy,--this benefit was sure + in our friendship. But I found no intelligence of my best + self; far less was it revealed to me in new modes; for not + only did he seem to want the living faith which enables one to + discharge this holiest office of a friend, but he absolutely + distrusted me in every region of my life with which he was + unacquainted. The same trait I detected in his relations + with others. He had faith in the Universal, but not in the + Individual Man: he met men, not as a brother, but as a critic. + Philosophy appeared to chill instead of exalting the poet. + + 'But now I am better acquainted with him. His "accept" + is true; the "I shall learn," with which he answers every + accusation, is no less true. No one can feel his limitations, + in fact, more than he, though he always speaks confidently + from his present knowledge as all he has yet, and never + qualifies or explains. He feels himself "shut up in a crystal + cell," from which only "a great love or a great task could + release me," and hardly expects either from what remains in + this life. But I already see so well how these limitations + have fitted him for his peculiar work, that I can no longer + quarrel with them; while from his eyes looks out the angel + that must sooner or later break every chain. Leave him in his + cell affirming absolute truth; protesting against humanity, + if so he appears to do; the calm observer of the courses of + things. Surely, "he keeps true to his thought, which is the + great matter." He has already paid his debt to his time; how + much more he will give we cannot know; but already I feel how + invaluable is a cool mind, like his, amid the warring elements + around us. As I look at him more by his own law, I understand + him better; and as I understand him better, differences melt + away. My inmost heart blesses the fate that gave me birth in + the same clime and time, and that has drawn me into such a + close bond with him as, it is my hopeful faith, will never be + broken, but from sphere to sphere ever more hallowed. * * * + + 'What did you mean by saying I had imbibed much of his way + of thought? I do indeed feel his life stealing gradually into + mine; and I sometimes think that my work would have been more + simple, and my unfolding to a temporal activity more rapid and + easy, if we had never met. But when I look forward to eternal + growth, I am always aware that I am far larger and deeper for + him. His influence has been to me that of lofty assurance and + sweet serenity. He says, I come to him as the European to the + Hindoo, or the gay Trouvere to the Puritan in his steeple hat. + Of course this implies that our meeting is partial. I present + to him the many forms of nature and solicit with music; he + melts them all into spirit and reproves performance with + prayer. When I am with God alone, I adore in silence. With + nature I am filled and grow only. With most men I bring words + of now past life, and do actions suggested by the wants of + their natures rather than my own. But he stops me from doing + anything, and makes me think.' + + * * * * * + + _October_, 1842 * * To me, individually, Dr. Channing's + kindness was great; his trust and esteem were steady, though + limited, and I owe him a large debt of gratitude. + + 'His private character was gentle, simple, and perfectly + harmonious, though somewhat rigid and restricted in its + operations. It was easy to love, and a happiness to know him, + though never, I think, a source of the highest social pleasure + to be with him. His department was ethics; and as a literary + companion, he did not throw himself heartily into the works of + creative genius, but looked, wherever he read, for a moral. In + criticism he was deficient in "individuality," if by that + the phrenologists mean the power of seizing on the peculiar + meanings of special forms. I have heard it said, that, under + changed conditions, he might have been a poet. He had, indeed, + the poetic sense of a creative spirit working everywhere. Man + and nature were living to him; and though he did not yield to + sentiment in particulars he did in universals. But his mind + was not recreative, or even representative. + + 'He was deeply interesting to me as having so true a respect + for woman. This feeling in him was not chivalrous; it was not + the sentiment of an artist; it was not the affectionateness of + the common son of Adam, who knows that only her presence can + mitigate his loneliness; but it was a religious reverence. To + him she was a soul with an immortal destiny. Nor was there at + the bottom of his heart one grain of masculine assumption. He + did not wish that Man should protect her, but that God should + protect her and teach her the meaning of her lot. + + 'In his public relations he is to be regarded not only as a + check upon the evil tendencies of his era, but yet more as a + prophet of a better age already dawning as he leaves us. In + his later days he filled yet another office of taking the + middle ground between parties. Here he was a fairer figure + than ever before. His morning prayer was, "Give me more light; + keep my soul open to the light;" and it was answered. He + steered his middle course with sails spotless and untorn. He + was preserved in a wonderful degree from the prejudices of his + own past, the passions of the present, and the exaggerations + of those who look forward to the future. In the writings + where, after long and patient survey, he sums up the evidence + on both sides, and stands umpire, with the judicial authority + of a pure intent, a steadfast patience, and a long experience, + the mild wisdom of age is beautifully tempered by the + ingenuous sweetness of youth. These pieces resemble charges + to a jury; they have always been heard with affectionate + deference, if not with assent, and have, exerted a purifying + influence.' * * + + * * * * * + + '_November, 1842._--When souls meet direct and all secret + thoughts are laid open, we shall need no forbearance, no + prevention, no care-taking of any kind. Love will be pure + light, and each action simple,--too simple to be noble. But + there will not be always so much to pardon in ourselves and + others. Yesterday we had at my class a conversation on Faith. + Deeply true things were said and felt. But to-day the virtue + has gone out of me; I have accepted all, and yet there will + come these hours of weariness,--weariness of human nature + in myself and others. "Could ye not watch one hour?" Not one + faithfully through! * * To speak with open heart and "tongue + affectionate and true,"--to enjoy real repose and the + consciousness of a thorough mutual understanding in the + presence of friends when we do meet, is what is needed. That + being granted, I do believe I should not wish any surrender of + time or thought from a human being. But I have always a sense + that I cannot meet or be met _in haste_; as ---- said he could + not look at the works of art in a chance half-hour, so cannot + I thus rudely and hastily turn over the leaves of any mind. In + peace, in stillness that permits the soul to flow, beneath the + open sky, I would see those I love.' + + +[Footnote A: This was some years before their reprint in this country, +it should be noticed.] + +[Footnote B: Miss Rotch, of New Bedford.] + +[Footnote C: The Dorr rebellion.] + + + + +VIII. + +SOCIALISM. + + * * * * * + + +In the preceding extracts will have been noticed frequent reference +to the Association Movement, which, during the winter of 1840-41, was +beginning to appear simultaneously at several points in New England. +In Boston and its vicinity several friends, for whose characters +Margaret felt the highest honor, and with many of whose views, +theoretic and practical, she accorded, were earnestly considering +the possibility of making such industrial, social, and educational +arrangements, as would simplify economies, combine leisure for study +with healthful and honest toil, avert unjust collisions of caste, +equalize refinements, awaken generous affections, diffuse courtesy, +and sweeten and sanctify life as a whole. Chief among these was the +Rev. George Ripley, who, convinced by his experience in a faithful +ministry, that the need was urgent for a thorough application of the +professed principles of Fraternity to actual relations, was about +staking his all of fortune, reputation, position, and influence, in +an attempt to organize a joint-stock community at Brook Farm. How +Margaret was inclined to regard this movement has been already +indicated. While at heart sympathizing with the heroism that prompted +it, in judgment she considered it premature. But true to her noble +self, though regretting the seemingly gratuitous sacrifice of her +friends, she gave them without stint the cheer of her encouragement +and the light of her counsel. She visited them often; entering +genially into their trials and pleasures, and missing no chance to +drop good seed in every furrow upturned by the ploughshare or softened +by the rain. In the secluded yet intensely animated circle of these +co-workers I frequently met her during several succeeding years, +and rejoice to bear testimony to the justice, magnanimity, wisdom, +patience, and many-sided good-will, that governed her every thought +and deed. The feelings with which she watched the progress of this +experiment are thus exhibited in her journals:-- + + 'My hopes might lead to Association, too,--an association, if + not of efforts, yet of destinies. In such an one I live with + several already, feeling that each one, by acting out his own, + casts light upon a mutual destiny, and illustrates the thought + of a mastermind. It is a constellation, not a phalanx, to + which I would belong.' + + * * * * * + + 'Why bind oneself to a central or any doctrine? How much + nobler stands a man entirely unpledged, unbound! Association + may be the great experiment of the age, still it is only an + experiment. It is not worth while to lay such stress on it; + let us try it, induce others to try it,--that is enough.' + + * * * * * + + 'It is amusing to see how the solitary characters tend + to outwardness,--to association,--while the social and + sympathetic ones emphasize the value of solitude,--of + concentration,--so that we hear from each the word which, from + his structure, we least expect.' + + * * * * * + + 'On Friday I came to Brook Farm. The first day or two here + is desolate. You seem to belong to nobody--to have a right + to speak to nobody; but very soon you learn to take care of + yourself, and then the freedom of the place is delightful. + + 'It is fine to see how thoroughly Mr. and Mrs. R. act out, in + their own persons, what they intend. + + 'All Saturday I was off in the woods. In the evening we had + a general conversation, opened by me, upon Education, in its + largest sense, and on what we can do for ourselves and others. + I took my usual ground: The aim is perfection; patience the + road. The present object is to give ourselves and others a + tolerable chance. Let us not be too ambitious in our hopes + as to immediate results. Our lives should be considered as a + tendency, an approximation only. Parents and teachers + expect to do too much. They are not legislators, but only + interpreters to the next generation. Soon, very soon, does the + parent become merely the elder brother of his child;--a little + wiser, it is to be hoped. ---- differed from me as to some + things I said about the gradations of experience,--that "to + be brought prematurely near perfect beings would chill and + discourage." He thought it would cheer and console. He spoke + well,--with a youthful nobleness. ---- said "that the most + perfect person would be the most impersonal"--philosophical + bull that, I trow--"and, consequently, would impede us least + from God." Mr. R. spoke admirably on the nature of loyalty. + The people showed a good deal of the _sans-culotte_ tendency + in their manners,--throwing themselves on the floor, yawning, + and going out when they had heard enough. Yet, as the majority + differ from me, to begin with,--that being the reason this + subject was chosen,--they showed, on the whole, more respect + and interest than I had expected. As I am accustomed to + deference, however, and need it for the boldness and animation + which my part requires, I did not speak with as much force as + usual. Still, I should like to have to face all this; it would + have the same good effects that the Athenian assemblies had on + the minds obliged to encounter them. + + 'Sunday. A glorious day;--the woods full of perfume. I was out + all the morning. In the afternoon, Mrs. R. and I had a talk. + I said my position would be too uncertain here, as I could not + work. ---- said:--"They would all like to work for a person of + genius. They would not like to have this service claimed from + them, but would like to render it of their own accord." "Yes," + I told her; "but where would be my repose, when they were + always to be judging whether I was worth it or not. It would + be the same position the clergyman is in, or the wandering + beggar with his harp. Each day you must prove yourself anew. + You are not in immediate relations with material things." + + 'We talked of the principles of the community. I said I had + not a right to come, because all the confidence in it I had + was as an _experiment_ worth trying, and that it was a part of + the great wave of inspired thought. ---- declared they none of + them had confidence beyond this; but they seem to me to have. + Then I said, "that though I entirely agreed about the dignity + of labor, and had always wished for the present change, yet + I did not agree with the principle of paying for services by + time;[A] neither did I believe in the hope of excluding evil, + for that was a growth of nature, and one condition of the + development of good." We had valuable discussion on these + points. + + 'All Monday morning in the woods again. Afternoon, out with + the drawing party; I felt the evils of want of conventional + refinement, in the impudence with which one of the girls + treated me. She has since thought of it with regret, I notice; + and, by every day's observation of me, will see that she ought + not to have done it.' + + * * * * * + + 'In the evening, a husking in the barn. Men, women, and + children, all engaged. It was a most picturesque scene, only + not quite light enough to bring it out fully. I staid and + helped about half an hour, then took a long walk beneath the + stars.' + + * * * * * + + 'Wednesday. I have been too much absorbed to-day by others, + and it has made me almost sick. Mrs. ---- came to see me, + and we had an excellent talk, which occupied nearly all the + morning. Then Mrs. ---- wanted to see me, but after a few + minutes I found I could not bear it, and lay down to rest. + Then ---- came. Poor man;--his feelings and work are wearing + on him. He looks really ill now. Then ---- and I went to walk + in the woods. I was deeply interested in all she told me. If + I were to write down all she and four other married women have + confided to me, these three days past, it would make a cento, + on one subject, in five parts. Certainly there should be some + great design in my life; its attractions are so invariable.' + + * * * * * + + 'In the evening, a conversation on Impulse. The reason for + choosing this subject is the great tendency here to advocate + spontaneousness, at the expense of reflection. It was a much + better conversation than the one before. None yawned, for + none came, this time, from mere curiosity. There were about + thirty-five present, which is a large enough circle. Many + engaged in the talk. I defended nature, as I always do;--the + spirit ascending through, not superseding, nature. But in the + scale of Sense, Intellect, Spirit, I advocated to-night + the claims of Intellect, because those present were rather + disposed to postpone them. On the nature of Beauty we had + good talk. ---- spoke well. She seemed in a much more reverent + humor than the other night, and enjoyed the large plans of the + universe which were unrolled. ----, seated on the floor, with + the light falling from behind on his long gold locks, made, + with sweet, serene aspect, and composed tones, a good expose + of his way of viewing things.' + + * * * * * + + 'Saturday. Well, good-by, Brook Farm. I know more about this + place than I did when I came; but the only way to be qualified + for a judge of such an experiment would be to become an + active, though unimpassioned, associate in trying it. Some + good things are proven, and as for individuals, they are + gainers. Has not ---- vied, in her deeds of love, with "my + Cid," and the holy Ottilia? That girl who was so rude to me + stood waiting, with a timid air, to bid me good-by. Truly, the + soft answer turneth away wrath. + + 'I have found myself here in the amusing position of a + conservative. Even so is it with Mr. R. There are too many + young people in proportion to the others. I heard myself + saying, with a grave air, "Play out the play, gentles." Thus, + from generation to generation, rises and falls the wave.' + +Again, a year afterward, she writes:-- + + 'Here I have passed a very pleasant week. The tone of the + society is much sweeter than when I was here a year ago. There + is a pervading spirit of mutual tolerance and gentleness, with + great sincerity. There is no longer a passion for grotesque + freaks of liberty, but a disposition, rather, to study and + enjoy the liberty of law. The great development of mind and + character observable in several instances, persuades me + that this state of things affords a fine studio for the + soul-sculptor. To a casual observer it may seem as if there + was not enough of character here to interest, because there + are no figures sufficiently distinguished to be worth painting + for the crowd; but there is enough of individuality in free + play to yield instruction; and one might have, from a few + months' residence here, enough of the human drama to feed + thought for a long time.' + +Thus much for Margaret's impressions of Brook Farm and its inmates. +What influence she in turn exerted on those she met there, may be seen +from the following affectionate tribute, offered by one of the young +girls alluded to in the journal:-- + + "Would that I might aid even slightly, in doing justice to the + noble-hearted woman whose departure we must all mourn. But I feel + myself wholly powerless to do so; and after I explain what my + relation to her was, you will understand how this can be, without + holding me indolent or unsympathetic. + + "When I first met Miss Fuller, I had already cut from my moorings, + and was sailing on the broad sea of experience, conscious that I + possessed unusual powers of endurance, and that I should meet with + sufficient to test their strength. She made no offer of guidance, + and once or twice, in the succeeding year, alluded to the fact + that she 'had never helped me.' This was in a particular sense, of + course, for she helped all who knew her. She was interested in my + rough history, but could not be intimate, in any just sense, with + a soul so unbalanced, so inharmonious as mine then was. For my + part, I reverenced her. She was to me the embodiment of wisdom and + tenderness. I heard her converse, and, in the rich and varied + intonations of her voice, I recognized a being to whom every shade + of sentiment was familiar. She knew, if not by experience then by + no questionable intuition, how to interpret the inner life of + every man and woman; and, by interpreting, she could soothe and + strengthen. To her, psychology was an open book. When she came to + Brook Farm, it was my delight to wait on one so worthy of all + service,--to arrange her late breakfast in some remnants of + ancient China, and to save her, if it might be, some little + fatigue or annoyance, during each day. After a while she seemed to + lose sight of my more prominent and disagreeable peculiarities, + and treated me with affectionate regard." + +Being a confirmed Socialist, I often had occasion to discuss with +Margaret the problems involved in the "Combined Order" of life; and +though unmoved by her scepticism, I could not but admire the sagacity, +foresight, comprehensiveness, and catholic sympathy with which she +surveyed this complicated subject. Her objections, to be sure, were of +the usual kind, and turned mainly upon two points,--the difficulty of +so allying labor and capital as to secure the hoped-for cooeperation, +and the danger of merging the individual in the mass to such degree +as to paralyze energy, heroism, and genius; but these objections were +urged in a way that brought out her originality and generous hopes. +There was nothing abject, timid, or conventional in her doubts. The +end sought she prized; but the means she questioned. Though pleased +in listening to sanguine visions of the future, she was slow to credit +that an organization by "Groups and Series" would yield due incentive +for personal development, while ensuring equilibrium through exact and +universal justice. She felt, too, that Society was not a machine to be +put together and set in motion, but a living body, whose breath must +be Divine inspiration, and whose healthful growth is only hindered +by forcing. Finally, while longing as earnestly as any Socialist for +"Liberty and Law made one in living union," and assured in faith that +an era was coming of "Attractive Industry" and "Harmony," she +was still for herself inclined to seek sovereign independence in +comparative isolation. Indeed, at this period, Margaret was in spirit +and in thought preeminently a Transcendentalist. + + +[Footnote A: This was a transitional arrangement only.] + + + + +IX. + +CREDO. + + * * * * * + + +In regard to Transcendentalism again, there was reason to rejoice +in having found a friend, so firm to keep her own ground, while so +liberal to comprehend another's stand-point, as was Margaret. She +knew, not only theoretically, but practically, how endless are the +diversities of human character and of Divine discipline, and she +reverenced fellow-spirits too sincerely ever to wish to warp them to +her will, or to repress their normal development. She was stern but +in one claim, that each should be faithful to apparent leadings of the +Truth; and could avow widest differences of conviction without feeling +that love was thereby chilled, or the hand withheld from cordial +aid. Especially did she render service by enabling one,--through her +blended insight, candor, and clearness of understanding,--to see in +bright reflection his own mental state. + +It would be doing injustice to a person like Margaret, always more +enthusiastic than philosophical, to attribute to her anything like a +system of theology; for, hopeful, reverent, aspiring, and free from +scepticism, she felt too profoundly the vastness of the universe and +of destiny ever to presume that with her span rule she could measure +the Infinite. Yet the tendency of her thoughts can readily be traced +in the following passages from note-books and letters:-- + + 'When others say to me, and not without apparent ground, that + "the Outward Church is a folly which keeps men from enjoying + the communion of the Church Invisible, and that in the desire + to be helped by, and to help others, men lose sight of the + only sufficient help, which they might find by faithful + solitary intentness of spirit," I answer it is true, and the + present deadness and emptiness summon us to turn our thoughts + in that direction. Being now without any positive form of + religion, any unattractive symbols, or mysterious rites, we + are in the less danger of stopping at surfaces, of accepting + a mediator instead of the Father, a sacrament instead of the + Holy Ghost. And when I see how little there is to impede + and bewilder us, I cannot but accept,--should it be for many + years,--the forlornness, the want of fit expression, the + darkness as to what is to be expressed, even that characterize + our time. + + 'But I do not, therefore, as some of our friends do, believe + that it will always be so, and that the church is tottering to + its grave, never to rise again. The church was the growth of + human nature, and it is so still. It is but one result of the + impulse which makes two friends clasp one another's hands, + look into one another's eyes at sight of beauty, or the + utterance of a feeling of piety. So soon as the Spirit has + mourned and sought, and waited long enough to open new depths, + and has found something to express, there will again be + a Cultus, a Church. The very people, who say that none is + needed, make one at once. They talk with, they write to one + another. They listen to music, they sustain themselves with + the poets; they like that one voice should tell the thoughts + of several minds, one gesture proclaim that the same life is + at the same moment in many breasts. + + 'I am myself most happy in my lonely Sundays, and do not feel + the need of any social worship, as I have not for several + years, which I have passed in the same way. Sunday is to me + priceless as a day of peace and solitary reflection. To all + who will, it may be true, that, as Herbert says:-- + + "Sundays the pillars are + On which Heaven's palace arched lies; + The other days fill up the space + And hollow room with vanities;" + + and yet in no wise "vanities," when filtered by the Sunday + crucible. After much troubling of the waters of my life, a + radiant thought of the meaning and beauty of earthly existence + will descend like a healing angel. The stillness permits me + to hear a pure tone from the One in All. But often I am not + alone. The many now, whose hearts, panting for truth and + love, have been made known to me, whose lives flow in the same + direction as mine, and are enlightened by the same star, are + with me. I am in church, the church invisible, undefiled by + inadequate expression. Our communion is perfect; it is that + of a common aspiration; and where two or three are gathered + together in one region, whether in the flesh or the spirit, + He will grant their request. Other communion would be a + happiness,--to break together the bread of mutual thought, to + drink the wine of loving life,--but it is not necessary. + + 'Yet I cannot but feel that the crowd of men whose pursuits + are not intellectual, who are not brought by their daily walk + into converse with sages and poets, who win their bread from + an earth whose mysteries are not open to them, whose worldly + intercourse is more likely to stifle than to encourage the + sparks of love and faith in their breasts, need on that + day quickening more than repose. The church is now rather a + lecture-room than a place of worship; it should be a school + for mutual instruction. I must rejoice when any one, who lays + spiritual things to heart, feels the call rather to mingle + with men, than to retire and seek by himself. + + 'You speak of men going up to worship by "households," &c. + Were the actual family the intellectual family, this might be; + but as social life now is, how can it? Do we not constantly + see the child, born in the flesh to one father, choose in the + spirit another? No doubt this is wrong, since the sign does + not stand for the thing signified, but it is one feature of + the time. How will it end? Can families worship together till + it does end? + + * * * * * + + 'I have let myself be cheated out of my Sunday, by going to + hear Mr. ----. As he began by reading the first chapter + of Isaiah, and the fourth of John's Epistle, I made mental + comments with pure delight. "Bring no more vain oblations." + "Every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God." "We + know that we dwell in Him, and He in us, because he hath + given us of the Spirit." Then pealed the organ, full of + solemn assurance. But straightway uprose the preacher to deny + mysteries, to deny the second birth, to deny influx, and to + renounce the sovereign gift of insight, for the sake of what + he deemed a "_rational_" exercise of will. As he spoke I could + not choose but deny him all through, and could scarce refrain + from rising to expound, in the light of my own faith, the + words of those wiser Jews which had been read. Was it not a + sin to exchange friendly greeting as we parted, and yet tell + him no word of what was in my mind? + + 'Still I saw why he looked at things as he did. The old + religionists did talk about "grace, conversion," and the like, + technically, without striving to enter into the idea, till + they quite lost sight of it. Undervaluing the intellect, they + became slaves of a sect, instead of organs of the Spirit. This + Unitarianism has had its place. There was a time for asserting + "the dignity of human nature," and for explaining total + depravity into temporary inadequacy,--a time to say that the + truths of _essence_, if simplified at all in statement from + their infinite variety of existence, should be spoken of as + One, rather than Three, though that number, if they would only + let it reproduce itself simply, is of highest significance. + Yet the time seems now to have come for reinterpreting the old + dogmas. For one I would now preach the Holy Ghost as zealously + as they have been preaching Man, and faith instead of the + understanding, and mysticism instead &c. But why go on? It + certainly is by no means useless to preach. In my experience + of the divine gifts of solitude, I had forgotten what might + be done in this other way. That crowd of upturned faces, + with their look of unintelligent complacency! Give tears and + groans, rather, if there be a mixture of physical excitement + and bigotry. Mr. ---- is heard because, though he has not + entered into the secret of piety, he wishes to be heard, + and with a good purpose,--can make a forcible statement, and + kindle himself with his own thoughts. How many persons must + there be who cannot worship alone, since they are content with + so little! Can none wake the spark that will melt them, till + they take beautiful forms? Were one to come now, who could + purge us with fire, how would these masses glow and be + clarified! + + 'Mr. ---- made a good suggestion:--"Such things could not be + said in the open air." Let men preach for the open air, and + speak now thunder and lightning, now dew and rustling leaves. + Yet must the preacher have the thought of his day before he + can be its voice. None have it yet; but some of our friends, + perhaps, are nearer than the religious world at large, because + neither ready to dogmatize, as if they had got it, nor content + to stop short with mere impressions and presumptuous hopes. I + feel that a great truth is coming. Sometimes it seems as if + we should have it among us in a day. Many steps of the Temple + have been ascended, steps of purest alabaster, and of shining + jasper, also of rough-brick, and slippery moss-grown stone. We + shall reach what we long for, since we trust and do not fear, + for our God knows not fear, only reverence, and his plan is + All in All.' + + * * * * * + + 'Who can expect to utter an absolutely pure and clear tone on + these high subjects? Our earthly atmosphere is too gross to + permit it. Yet, a severe statement has rather an undue charm + for me, as I have a nature of great emotion, which loves free + abandonment. I am ready to welcome a descending Moses, come + to turn all men from idolatries. For my priests have been very + generally of the Pagan greatness, revering nature and seeking + excellence, but in the path of progress, not of renunciation. + The lyric inspirations of the poet come very differently on + the ear from the "still, small voice." They are, in fact, all + one revelation; but one must be at the centre to interpret it. + To that centre I have again and again been drawn, but my large + natural life has been, as yet, but partially transfused with + spiritual consciousness. I shun a premature narrowness, and + bide my time. But I am drawn to look at natures who take a + different way, because they seem to complete my being for me. + They, too, tolerate me in my many phases for the same reason, + probably. It pleased me to see, in one of the figures by which + the Gnostics illustrated the progress of man, that Severity + corresponded to Magnificence.' + + * * * * * + + 'In my quiet retreat, I read Xenophon, and became more + acquainted with his Socrates. I had before known only + the Socrates of Plato, one much more to my mind. Socrates + conformed to the Greek Church, and it is evident with a + sincere reverence, because it was the growth of the _national_ + mind. He thought best to stand on its platform, and to + illustrate, though with keen truth, by received forms. This + was his right way, as his influence was naturally private, for + individuals who could in some degree respond to the teachings + of his daemon; he knew the multitude would not understand him. + But it was the other way that Jesus took, preaching in the + fields, and plucking ears of corn on the Sabbath.' + + * * * * * + + 'Is it my defect of spiritual experience, that while that + weight of sagacity, which is the iron to the dart of genius, + is needful to satisfy me, the undertone of another and a + deeper knowledge does not please, does not command me? Even in + Handel's Messiah, I am half incredulous, half impatient, + when the sadness of the second part comes to check, before + it interprets, the promise of the first; and the strain, "Was + ever sorrow like to his sorrow," is not for me, as I have + been, as I am. Yet Handel was worthy to speak of Christ. The + great chorus, "Since by man came death, by man came also the + resurrection of the dead; for as in Adam all die, even so in + Christ shall all be made alive," if understood in the + large sense of every man his own Saviour, and Jesus only + representative of the way all must walk to accomplish our + destiny, is indeed a worthy gospel.' + + * * * * * + + 'Ever since ---- told me how his feelings had changed towards + Jesus, I have wished much to write some sort of a Credo, out + of my present state, but have had no time till last night. I + have not satisfied myself in the least, and have written + very hastily, yet, though not full enough to be true, this + statement is nowhere false to me. + + * * * 'Whatever has been permitted by the law of being, must + be for good, and only in time not good. We trust, and are led + forward by experience. Light gives experience of outward life, + faith of inward life, and then we discern, however faintly, + the necessary harmony of the two. The moment we have broken + through an obstruction, not accidentally, but by the aid of + faith, we begin to interpret the Universe, and to apprehend + why evil is permitted. Evil is obstruction; Good is + accomplishment. + + 'It would seem that the Divine Being designs through man + to express distinctly what the other forms of nature only + intimate, and that wherever man remains imbedded in nature, + whether from sensuality, or because he is not yet awakened to + consciousness, the purpose of the whole remains unfulfilled. + Hence our displeasure when Man is not in a sense above + Nature. Yet, when he is not so closely bound with all other + manifestations, as duly to express their Spirit, we are also + displeased. He must be at once the highest form of Nature, and + conscious of the meaning she has been striving successively to + unfold through those below him. Centuries pass; whole races + of men are expended in the effort to produce one that shall + realize this Ideal, and publish Spirit in the human form. Here + and there is a degree of success. Life enough is lived through + a man, to justify the great difficulties attendant on the + existence of mankind. And then throughout all realms of + thought vibrates the affirmation, "This is my beloved Son, in + whom I am well pleased." + + 'I do not mean to lay an undue stress upon the position and + office of man merely because I am of his race, and understand + best the scope of his destiny. The history of the earth, the + motions of the heavenly bodies, suggest already modes of being + higher than ours, and which fulfil more deeply the office of + interpretation. But I do suppose man's life to be the rivet in + one series of the great chain, and that all higher existences + are analogous to his. Music suggests their mode of being, and, + when carried up on its strong wings, we foresee how the + next step in the soul's ascension shall interpret man to the + universe, as he now interprets those forms beneath himself. * * + + 'The law of Spirit is identical, whether displaying itself as + genius, or as piety, but its modes of expression are distinct + dialects. All souls desire to become the fathers of souls, as + citizens, legislators, poets, artists, sages, saints; and, + so far as they are true to the law of their incorruptible + essence, they are all Anointed, all Emanuel, all Messiah; but + they are all brutes and devils so far as subjected to the law + of corruptible existence. + + 'As wherever there is a tendency a form is gradually evolved, + as its Type,--so is it the law of each class and order of + human thoughts to produce a form which shall be the visible + representation of its aim and strivings, and stand before it + as its King. This effort to produce a kingly type it was, that + clothed itself with power as Brahma or Osiris, that gave laws + as Confucius or Moses, that embodied music and eloquence in + the Apollo. This it was that incarnated itself, at one time as + Plato, at another as Michel Angelo, at another as Luther, &c. + Ever seeking, it has produced Ideal after Ideal of the beauty, + into which mankind is capable of being developed; and one + of the highest, in some respects the very highest, of these + kingly types, was the life of Jesus of Nazareth. + + 'Few believe more in his history than myself, and it is very + dear to me. I believe, in my own way, in the long preparation + of ages for his coming, and the truth of prophecy that + announced him. I see a necessity, in the character of Jesus, + why Abraham should have been the founder of his nation, Moses + its lawgiver, and David its king and poet. I believe in the + genesis of the patriarchs, as given in the Old Testament. I + believe in the prophets,--that they foreknew not only what + their nation longed for, but what the development of universal + Man requires,--a Redeemer, an Atoner, a Lamb of God, taking + away the sins of the world. I believe that Jesus came when the + time was ripe, and that he was peculiarly a messenger and Son + of God. I have nothing to say in denial of the story of his + birth; whatever the actual circumstances were, he was born of + a Virgin, and the tale expresses a truth of the soul. I have + no objection to the miracles, except where they do not + happen to please one's feelings. Why should not a spirit, + so consecrate and intent, develop new laws, and make matter + plastic? I can imagine him walking the waves, without any + violation of my usual habits of thought. He could not remain + in the tomb, they say; certainly not,--death is impossible to + such a being. He remained upon earth; most true, and all who + have met him since on the way, have felt their hearts burn + within them. He ascended to heaven; surely, how could it be + otherwise? + + 'Would I could express with some depth what I feel as to + religion in my very soul; it would be a clear note of calm + assurance. But for the present this must suffice with regard + to Christ. I am grateful here, as everywhere, when Spirit + bears fruit in fulness; it attests the justice of aspiration, + it kindles faith, it rebukes sloth, it enlightens resolve. + But so does a beautiful infant. Christ's life is only one + modification of the universal harmony. I will not loathe + sects, persuasions, systems, though I cannot abide in them one + moment, for I see that by most men they are still needed. To + them their banners, their tents; let them be Fire-worshippers, + Platonists, Christians; let them live in the shadow of past + revelations. But, oh, Father of our souls, the One, let me + seek Thee! I would seek Thee in these forms, and in proportion + as they reveal Thee, they teach me to go beyond themselves. + I would learn from them all, looking only to Thee! But let me + set no limits from the past, to my own soul, or to any soul. + + 'Ages may not produce one worthy to loose the shoes of + the Prophet of Nazareth; yet there will surely be another + manifestation of that Word which was in the beginning. And all + future manifestations will come, like Christianity, "not to + destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfil." The very + greatness of this manifestation demands a greater. As an + Abraham called for a Moses, and a Moses for a David, so does + Christ for another Ideal. We want a life more complete and + various than that of Christ. We have had a Messiah to teach + and reconcile; let us now have a Man to live out all the + symbolical forms of human life, with the calm beauty of a + Greek God, with the deep consciousness of a Moses, with the + holy love and purity of Jesus.' + + + + +X. + +SELF-SOVEREIGNTY. + + * * * * * + + +To one studying the signs of the times, it was quite instructive to +watch the moods of a mind so sensitive as Margaret's; for her delicate +meter indicated in advance each coming change in the air-currents of +thought. But I was chiefly interested in the processes whereby she was +gaining harmony and unity. The more one studied her, the more plainly +he saw that her peculiar power was the result of fresh, fervent, +exhaustless, and indomitable affections. The emotive force in her, +indeed, was immense in volume, and most various in tendency; and it +was wonderful to observe the outward equability of one inwardly so +impassioned. + +This was, in fact, the first problem to be solved in gaining +real knowledge of her commanding character: "How did a person, +by constitution so impetuous, become so habitually serene?" +In temperament Margaret seemed a Bacchante,[A] prompt for wild +excitement, and fearless to tread by night the mountain forest, with +song and dance of delirious mirth; yet constantly she wore the laurel +in token of purification, and, with water from fresh fountains, +cleansed the statue of Minerva. Stagnancy and torpor were intolerable +to her free and elastic impulses; a brilliant fancy threw over each +place and incident Arcadian splendor; and eager desire, with energetic +purposes, filled her with the consciousness of large latent life: +and yet the lower instincts were duly subordinated to the higher, and +dignified self-control ordered her deportment. Somehow, according to +the doctrine of the wise Jacob Boehme, the fierce, hungry fire had +met in embrace the meek, cool water, and was bringing to birth +the pleasant light-flame of love. The transformation, though not +perfected, was fairly begun. + +Partly I could see how this change had been wrought. Ill health, pain, +disappointment, care, had tamed her spirits. A wide range through +the romantic literature of ancient and modern times had exalted +while expending her passions. In the world of imagination, she had +discharged the stormful energy which would have been destructive in +actual life. And in thought she had bound herself to the mast while +sailing past the Sirens. Through sympathy, also, from childhood, with +the tragi-comedy of many lives around her, she had gained experience +of the laws and limitations of providential order. Gradually, too, she +had risen to higher planes of hope, whence opened wider prospects of +destiny and duty. More than all, by that attraction of opposites +which a strong will is most apt to feel, she had sought, as chosen +companions, persons of scrupulous reserve, of modest coolness, +and severe elevation of view. Finally, she had been taught, by a +discipline specially fitted to her dispositions, to trust the leadings +of the Divine Spirit. The result was, that at this period Margaret had +become a Mystic. Her prisoned emotions found the freedom they pined +for in contemplation of nature's exquisite harmonies,--in poetic +regards of the glory that enspheres human existence, when seen as a +whole from beyond the clouds,--and above all in exultant consciousness +of life ever influent from the All-Living. + +A few passages from, her papers will best illustrate this proneness to +rapture. + + 'My tendency is, I presume, rather to a great natural than + to a deep religious life. But though others may be more + conscientious and delicate, few have so steady a faith in + Divine Love. I may be arrogant and impetuous, but I am never + harsh and morbid. May there not be a mediation, rather than a + conflict, between piety and genius? Greek and Jew, Italian and + Saxon, are surely but leaves on one stern, at last.' + + * * * * * + + 'I am in danger of giving myself up to experiences till + they so steep me in ideal passion that the desired goal is + forgotten in the rich present. Yet I think I am learning how + to use life more wisely.' + + * * * * * + + 'Forgive me, beautiful ones, who earlier learned the harmony + of your beings,--with whom eye, voice, and hand are already + true to the soul! Forgive me still some "lispings and + stammerings of the passionate age." Teach me,--me, also,--to + utter my paean in its full sweetness. These long lines are + radii from one centre; aid me to fill the circumference. Then + each moment, each act, shall be true. The pupil has found the + carbuncle,[B] but knows not yet how to use it day by day. But + "though his companions wondered at the pupil, the master loved + him." He loves me, my friends. Do ye trust me. Wash the tears + and black stains from the records of my life by the benignity + of a true glance; make each discord harmony, by striking + again the key-note; forget the imperfect interviews, burn the + imperfect letters, till at last the full song bursts forth, + the key-stone is given from heaven to the arch, the past is + all pardoned and atoned for, and we live forever in the Now.' + * * + + * * * * * + + 'Henceforth I hope I shall not write letters thus full of + childish feeling; for in feeling I am indeed a child, and the + least of children. Soon I must return into the Intellect, for + _there_ in sight, at least, I am a man, and could write the + words very calmly and in steadfast flow. But, lately, the + intellect has been so subordinated to the soul, that I am + not free to enter the Basilikon, and plead and hear till I am + called. But let me not stay too long in this Sicilian valley, + gathering my flowers, for "night cometh."' + + * * * * * + + 'The other evening, while hearing the Creation, in the music + of "There shoots the healing plant," I felt what I would ever + feel for suffering souls. Somewhere in nature is the Moly, the + Nepenthe, desired from the earliest ages of mankind. No wonder + the music dwelt so exultingly on the passage:-- + + "In native worth and honor clad." + + Yes; even so would I ever see man. I will wait, and never + despair, through all the dull years.' + + * * * * * + + 'I am "too fiery." Even so. Ceres put her foster child in the + fire because she loved him. If they thought so before, will + they not far more now? Yet I wish to be seen as I am, and + would lose all rather than soften away anything. Let my + friends be patient and gentle, and teach me to be so. I never + promised any one patience or gentleness, for those beautiful + traits are not natural to me; but I would learn them. Can I + not?' + + * * * * * + + 'Of all the books, and men, and women, that have touched me + these weeks past, what has most entered my soul is the music + I have heard,--the masterly expression from that violin; the + triumph of the orchestra, after the exploits on the piano; + Braham, in his best efforts, when he kept true to the dignity + of art; the Messiah, which has been given on two successive + Sundays, and the last time in a way that deeply expressed its + divine life; but above all, Beethoven's seventh symphony. What + majesty! what depth! what tearful sweetness! what victory! + This was truly a fire upon an altar. There are a succession + of soaring passages, near the end of the third movement, which + touch me most deeply. Though soaring, they hold on with a + stress which almost breaks the chains of matter to the hearer. + O, how refreshing, after polemics and philosophy, to soar thus + on strong wings! Yes, Father, I will wander in dark ways with + the crowd, since thou seest best for me to be tied down. + But only in thy free ether do I know myself. When I read + Beethoven's life, I said, "I will never repine." When I heard + this symphony, I said, "I will triumph." + + * * * * * + + 'To-day I have finished the life of Raphael, by Quatremere de + Quincy, which has so long engaged me. It scarce goes deeper + than a _catalogue raisonnee_, but is very complete in its way. + I could make all that splendid era alive to me, and inhale the + full flower of the Sanzio. Easily one soars to worship these + angels of Genius. To venerate the Saints you must well nigh be + one. + + 'I went out upon the lonely rock which commands so delicious + a panoramic view. A very mild breeze had sprung up after the + extreme heat. A sunset of the melting kind was succeeded by a + perfectly clear moon-rise. Here I sat, and thought of Raphael. + I was drawn high up in the heaven of beauty, and the mists + were dried from the white plumes of contemplation.'#/ + + 'Only by emotion do we know thee, Nature. To lean upon thy + heart, and feel its pulses vibrate to our own;--that is + knowledge, for that is love, the love of infinite beauty, of + infinite love. Thought will never make us be born again. + + 'My fault is that I think I feel _too much_. O that my friends + would teach me that "simple art of not too much!" How can I + expect them to bear the ceaseless eloquence of my nature?' + + * * * * * + + 'Often it has seemed that I have come near enough to the + limits to see what they are. But suddenly arises afar the Fata + Morgana, and tells of new Sicilies, of their flowery valleys + and fields of golden grain. Then, as I would draw near, my + little bark is shattered on the rock, and I am left on the + cold wave. Yet with my island in sight I do not sink.' + + * * * * * + + 'I look not fairly to myself, at the present moment. If noble + growths are always slow, others may ripen far worthier fruit + than is permitted to my tropical heats and tornadoes. Let me + clasp the cross on my breast, as I have done a thousand times + before.' + + 'Let me but gather from the earth one full-grown fragrant flower; + Within my bosom let it bloom through, its one blooming hour; + Within my bosom let it die, and to its latest breath + My own shall answer, "Having lived, I shrink not now from death." + It is this niggard halfness that turns my heart to stone; + 'T is the cup seen, not tasted, that makes the infant moan. + For once let me press firm my lips upon the moment's brow, + For once let me distinctly feel I am all happy now, + And bliss shall seal a blessing upon that moment's brow.' + + 'I was in a state of celestial happiness, which lasted a great + while. For months I was all radiant with faith, and love, + and life. I began to be myself. Night and day were equally + beautiful, and the lowest and highest equally holy. Before, it + had seemed as if the Divine only gleamed upon me; but then it + poured into and through me a tide of light. I have passed down + from the rosy mountain, now; but I do not forget its pure air, + nor how the storms looked as they rolled beneath my feet. I + have received my assurance, and if the shadows should lie upon + me for a century, they could never make me forgetful of the + true hour. Patiently I bide my time.' + +The last passage describes a peculiar illumination, to which Margaret +often referred as the period when her earthly being culminated, and +when, in the noon-tide of loving enthusiasm, she felt wholly at one +with God, with Man, and the Universe. It was ever after, to her, +an earnest that she was of the Elect. In a letter to one of her +confidential female friends, she thus fondly looks back to this +experience on the mount of transfiguration:-- + + 'You know how, when the leadings of my life found their + interpretation, I longed to share my joy with those I prized + most; for I felt that if they could but understand the past we + should meet entirely. They received me, some more, some less, + according to the degree of intimacy between our natures. But + now I have done with the past, and again move forward. The + path looks more difficult, but I am better able to bear its + trials. We shall have much communion, even if not in the + deepest places. I feel no need of isolation, but only of + temperance in thought and speech, that the essence may not + evaporate in words, but grow plenteous within. The Life will + give me to my own. I am not yet so worthy to love as some + others are, because my manifold nature is not yet harmonized + enough to be faithful, and I begin, to see how much it was the + want of a pure music in me that has made the good doubt me. + Yet have I been true to the best light I had, and if I am so + now much will be given. + + 'During my last weeks of solitude I was very happy, and all + that had troubled me became clearer. The angel was not weary + of waiting for Gunhilde, till she had unravelled her mesh of + thought, and seeds of mercy, of purification, were planted + in the breast. Whatever the past has been, I feel that I have + always been reading on and on, and that the Soul of all souls + has been patient in love to mine. New assurances were given + me, that if I would be faithful and humble, there was no + experience that would not tell its heavenly errand. If + shadows have fallen, already they give way to a fairer if more + tempered light; and for the present I am so happy that the + spirit kneels. + + 'Life, is richly worth living, with its continual revelations + of mighty woe, yet infinite hope: and I take it to my breast. + Amid these scenes of beauty, all that is little, foreign, + unworthy, vanishes like a dream. So shall it be some time + amidst the Everlasting Beauty, when true joy shall begin and + never cease.' + +Filled thus as Margaret was with ecstasy, she was yet more than +willing,--even glad,--to bear her share in the universal sorrow. Well +she knew that pain must be proportioned to the fineness and fervor of +her organization; that the very keenness of her sensibility exposed +her to constant disappointment or disgust; that no friend, however +faithful, could meet the demands of desires so eager, of sympathies +so absorbing. Contrasted with her radiant visions, how dreary looked +actual existence; how galling was the friction of petty hindrances; +how heavy the yoke of drudging care! Even success seemed failure, +when measured by her conscious aim; and experience had brought out to +consciousness excesses and defects, which humbled pride while shaming +self-confidence. But suffering as she did with all the intensity of so +passionate a nature, Margaret still welcomed the searching discipline. +'It is only when Persephone returns from lower earth that she weds +Dyonysos, and passes from central sadness into glowing joy,' she +writes. And again: 'I have no belief in beautiful lives; we are born +to be mutilated; and the blood must flow till in every vein its place +is supplied by the Divine ichor.' And she reiterates: 'The method of +Providence with me is evidently that of "cross-biassing," as Herbert +hath it. In a word, to her own conscience and to intimate friends she +avowed, without reserve, that there was in her 'much rude matter that +needed to be spiritualized.' Comment would but weaken the pathos of +the following passages, in which so plainly appears a once wilful +temper striving, with child-like faith, to obey:-- + + 'I have been a chosen one; the lesson of renunciation was + early, fully taught, and the heart of stone quite broken + through. The Great Spirit wished to leave me no refuge but + itself. Convictions have been given, enough to guide me many + years if I am steadfast. How deeply, how gratefully I feel + this blessing, as the fabric of others' hopes are shivering + round me. Peace will not always flow thus softly in my life; + but, O, our Father! how many hours has He consecrated to + Himself. How often has the Spirit chosen the time, when no ray + came from without, to descend upon the orphan life!' + + * * * * * + + 'A humbler, tenderer spirit! Yes, I long for it. But how to + gain it? I see no way but prayerfully to bend myself to meet + the hour. Let friends be patient with me, and pardon some + faint-heartedness. The buds will shiver in the cold air when + the sheaths drop. It will not be so long. The word "Patience" + has been spoken; it shall be my talisman. A nobler courage + will be given, with gentleness and humility. My conviction is + clear that all my troubles are needed, and that one who has + had so much light thrown upon the path, has no excuse for + faltering steps.' + + * * * * * + + 'Could we command enthusiasm; had we an interest with the gods + which would light up those sacred fires at will, we should be + even seraphic in our influences. But life, if not a complete + waste of wearisome hours, must be checkered with them; and I + find that just those very times, when I feel all glowing and + radiant in the happiness of receiving and giving out again the + divine fluid, are preludes to hours of languor, weariness, and + paltry doubt, born of--- + + "The secret soul's mistrust + To find her fair ethereal wings + Weighed down by vile, degraded dust." + + 'To this, all who have chosen or been chosen to a life of + thought must submit. Yet I rejoice in my heritage. Should I + venture to complain? Perhaps, if I were to reckon up the hours + of bodily pain, those passed in society with which I could + not coalesce, those of ineffectual endeavor to penetrate the + secrets of nature and of art, or, worse still, to reproduce + the beautiful in some way for myself, I should find they + far outnumbered those of delightful sensation, of full and + soothing thought, of gratified tastes and affections, and of + proud hope. Yet these last, if few, how lovely, how rich in + presage! None, who have known them, can in their worst estate + fail to hope that they may be again upborne to higher, purer + blue.' + + * * * * * + + 'As I was steeped in the divine tenth book of the Republic, + came ----'s letter, in which he so insultingly retracts his + engagements. I finished the book obstinately, but could get + little good of it; then went to ask comfort of the descending + sun in the woods and fields. What a comment it was on the + disparity between my pursuits and my situation to receive + such a letter while reading that book! However, I will not let + life's mean perplexities blur from my eye the page of Plato; + nor, if natural tears must be dropt, murmur at a lot, which, + with all its bitterness, has given time and opportunity to + cherish an even passionate love for Truth and Beauty.' + + * * * * * + + 'Black Friday it has been, and my heart is well nigh wearied + out. Shall I never be able to act and live with persons of + views high as my own? or, at least, with some steadiness of + feeling for me to calculate upon? Ah, me! what woes within and + without; what assaults of folly; what mean distresses; and, + oh, what wounds from cherished hands! Were ye the persons who + should stab thus? Had I, too, the Roman right to fold my + robe about me decently, and breathe the last sigh! The last! + Horrible, indeed, should sobs, deep as these, be drawn to all + eternity. But no; life could not hold out for more than one + lease of sorrow. This anguish, however, will be wearied out, + as I know by experience, alas! of how many such hours.' + + * * * * * + + 'I am reminded to-day of the autumn hours at Jamaica Plain, + where, after arranging everything for others that they wanted + of me, I found myself, at last, alone in my still home, where + everything, for once, reflected my feelings. It was so still, + the air seemed full of spirits. How happy I was! with what + sweet and solemn happiness! All things had tended to a crisis + in me, and I was in a higher state, mentally and spiritually, + than I ever was before or shall be again, till death shall + introduce me to a new sphere. I purposed to spend the winter + in study and self-collection, and to write constantly. I + thought I should thus be induced to embody in beautiful + forms all that lay in my mind, and that life would ripen into + genius. But a very little while these fair hopes bloomed; and, + since I was checked then, I do never expect to blossom forth + on earth, and all postponements come naturally. At that time + it seemed as if angels left me. Yet, now, I think they still + are near. Renunciation appears to be entire, and I quite + content; yet, probably, 't is no such thing, and that work is + to be done over and over again.' + + * * * * * + + 'Do you believe our prayers avail for one another? and that + happiness is good for the soul? Pray, then, for me, that I may + have a little peace,--some green and flowery spot, 'mid which + my thoughts may rest; yet not upon fallacy, but only upon + something genuine. I am deeply homesick, yet where is that + home? If not on earth, why should we look to heaven? I would + fain truly live wherever I must abide, and bear with full + energy on my lot, whatever it is. He, who alone knoweth, + will affirm that. I have tried to work whole-hearted from an + earnest faith. Yet my hand is often languid, and my heart is + slow. I would be gone; but whither? I know not; if I cannot + make this spot of ground yield the corn and roses, famine must + be my lot forever and ever, surely.' + + * * * * * + + 'I remember how at a similar time of perplexity, when there + were none to counsel, hardly one to sympathize, and when the + conflicting wishes of so many whom I loved pressed the aching + heart on every side, after months of groping and fruitless + thought, the merest trifle precipitated the whole mass; all + became clear as crystal, and I saw of what use the tedious + preparation had been, by the deep content I felt in the + result.' + + * * * * * + + 'Beethoven! Tasso! It is well to think of you! What sufferings + from baseness, from coldness! How rare and momentary were the + flashes of joy, of confidence and tenderness, in these noblest + lives! Yet could not their genius be repressed. The Eternal + Justice lives. O, Father, teach the spirit the meaning of + sorrow, and light up the generous fires of love and hope and + faith, without which I cannot live!' + + * * * * * + + 'What signifies it that Thou dost always give me to drink more + deeply of the inner fountains? And why do I seek a reason for + these repulsions and strange arrangements of my mortal lot, + when I always gain from them a deeper love for all men, and a + deeper trust in Thee? Wonderful are thy ways! But lead me the + darkest and the coldest as Thou wilt.' + + * * * * * + + 'Please, good Genius of my life, to make me very patient, + resolute, gentle, while no less ardent; and after having tried + me well, please present, at the end of some thousand years + or so, a sphere of congenial and consecutive labors; of + heart-felt, heart-filling wishes carried out into life on + the instant; of aims obviously, inevitably proportioned to my + highest nature. Sometime, in God's good time, let me live as + swift and earnest as a flash of the eye. Meanwhile, let me + gather force slowly, and drift along lazily, like yonder + cloud, and be content to end in a few tears at last.' + + * * * * * + + 'To-night I lay on the sofa, and saw how the flame shot up + from beneath, through the mass of coal that had been + piled above. It shot up in wild beautiful jets, and then + unexpectedly sank again, and all was black, unsightly and + forlorn. And thus, I thought, is it with my life at present. + Yet if the fire beneath persists and conquers, that black dead + mass will become all radiant, life-giving, fit for the altar + or the domestic hearth. Yes, and it shall be so.' + + * * * * * + + 'My tendency at present is to the deepest privacy. Where can I + hide till I am given to myself? Yet I love the others more and + more. When they are with me I must give them the best from + my scrip. I see their infirmities, and would fain heal them, + forgetful of my own! But am I left one moment alone, then, a + poor wandering pilgrim, but no saint, I would seek the shrine, + and would therein die to the world. Then if from the poor + relics some miracles might be wrought, that should be for my + fellows. Yet some of the saints were able to work in their + generation, for they had renounced all!' + + * * * * * + + 'Forget, if you can, all of petulant or overstrained that may + have displeased you in me, and commend me in your prayers to + my best self. When, in the solitude of the spirit, comes upon + you some air from the distance, a breath of aspiration, of + faith, of pure tenderness, then believe that the Power which + has guided me so faithfully, emboldens my thoughts to frame a + prayer for you.' + + * * * * * + + 'Beneath all pain inflicted by Nature, be not only serene, but + more; let it avail thee in prayer. Put up, at the moment of + greatest suffering, a prayer; not for thy own escape, but + for the enfranchisement of some being dear to thee, and the + Sovereign Spirit will accept thy ransom.' + + * * * * * + + 'Strive, strive, my soul, to be innocent; yes! beneficent. + Does any man wound thee? not only forgive, but Work into thy + thought intelligence of the kind of pain, that thou mayest + never inflict it on another spirit. Then its work is done; it + will never search thy whole nature again. O, love much, and be + forgiven!' + + * * * * * + + 'No! we cannot leave society while one clod remains unpervaded + by divine life. We cannot live and grow in consecrated earth, + alone. Let us rather learn to stand up like the Holy Father, + and with extended arms bless the whole world.' + + * * * * * + + 'It will be happiness indeed, if, on passing this first stage, + we are permitted, in some degree, to alleviate the ills of + those we love,--to lead them on a little way; to aid them when + they call. Often it seems to me, it would be sweet to feel + that I had certainly conferred one benefit. All my poor little + schemes for others are apparently blighted, and now, as ever, + I am referred to the Secular year for the interpretation of my + moments.' + +In one of Margaret's manuscripts is found this beautiful +symbol:--'There is a species of Cactus, from whose outer bark, if +torn by an ignorant person, there exudes a poisonous liquid; but the +natives, who know the plant, strike to the core, and there find a +sweet, refreshing juice, that renews their strength.' Surely the +preceding extracts prove that she was learning how to draw life-giving +virtue from the very heart of evil. No superficial experience of +sorrow embittered her with angry despair; but through profound +acceptance, she sought to imbibe, from every ill, peace, purity and +gentleness. + + * * * * * + +The two fiery trials through which she had been made to pass, and +through which she was yet to pass again and again,--obstruction to +the development of her genius, and loneliness of heart,--were the very +furnace needed to burn the dross from her gold, till it could fitly +image the Heavenly Refiner. By inherited traits, and indiscreet +treatment, self-love had early become so excessive that only severest +discipline could transmute it to disinterestedness. Pity for her own +misfortunes had, indeed, taught her to curb her youthful scorn +for mediocrity, and filled her with considerateness and delicate +sensibility. Constant experience, too, of the wonderful modes whereby +her fate was shaped by overruling mercy, had chastened her love of +personal sway, and her passion for a commanding career; and +Margaret could humble herself,--did often humble herself,--with an +all-resigning contrition, that was most touching to witness in one +naturally so haughty. Of this the following letter to a valued friend +gives illustration:-- + + 'I ought, I know, to have laid aside my own cares and griefs, + been on the alert for intelligence that would gratify you, + and written letters such as would have been of use and given + pleasure to my wise, tender, ever faithful friend. But no; I + first intruded on your happiness with my sorrowful epistles, + and then, because you did not seem to understand my position, + with sullen petulance I resolved to write no more. Nay, worse; + I tried to harden my heart against you, and felt, "If you + cannot be all, you shall be nothing." + + 'It was a bad omen that I lost the locket you gave me, which + I had constantly worn. Had that been daily before my eyes, + to remind me of all your worth,--of the generosity with which + you, a ripe and wise character, received me to the privileges + of equal friendship; of the sincerity with which you reproved + and the love with which you pardoned my faults; of how much + you taught me, and bore with from me,--it would have softened + the flint of my heart, and I should have relaxed from my + isolation. + + 'How shall I apologize for feelings which I now recognize as + having been so cold, so bitter and unjust? I can only say + I have suffered greatly, till the tone of my spirits seems + destroyed. Since I have been at leisure to realize how very + ill I have been, under what constant pain and many annoyances + I have kept myself upright, and how, if I have not done + my work, I have learned my lesson to the end, I should be + inclined to excuse myself for every fault, except this neglect + and ingratitude against friends. Yet, if you can forgive, I + will try to forgive myself, and I do think I shall never so + deeply sin again.' + +Yet, though thus frank to own to herself and to her peers her errors, +Margaret cherished a trust in her powers, a confidence in her destiny, +and an ideal of her being, place and influence, so lofty as to be +extravagant. In the morning-hour and mountain-air of aspiration, her +shadow moved before her, of gigantic size, upon the snow-white vapor. + +In accordance with her earnest charge, 'Be true as Truth to me,' I +could not but expose this propensity to self-delusion; and her answer +is her best explanation and defence:-- + + 'I protest against your applying to me, even in your + most transient thought, such an epithet as "determined + exaggeration." Exaggeration, if you will; but not determined. + No; I would have all open to the light, and would let my + boughs be pruned, when they grow rank and unfruitful, even if + I felt the knife to the quick of my being. Very fain would I + have a rational modesty, without self-distrust; and may + the knowledge of my failures leaven my soul, and check its + intemperance. If you saw me wholly, you would not, I think, + feel as you do; for you would recognize the force, that + regulates my life and tempers the ardor with an eventual + calmness. You would see, too, that the more I take my flight + in poetical enthusiasm, the stronger materials I bring back + for my nest. Certainly I am nowise yet an angel; but neither + am I an utterly weak woman, and far less a cold intellect. + God is rarely afar off. Exquisite nature is all around. Life + affords vicissitudes enough to try the energies of the human + will. I can pray, I can act, I can learn, I can constantly + immerse myself in the Divine Beauty. But I also need to + love my fellow-men, and to meet the responsive glance of my + spiritual kindred.' + +Again, she says:-- + + 'I like to hear you express your sense of my defects. The + word "arrogance" does not, indeed, appear to me to be just; + probably because I do not understand what you mean. But in due + time I doubtless shall; for so repeatedly have you used it, + that it must stand for something real in my large and rich, + yet irregular and unclarified nature. But though I like to + hear you, as I say, and think somehow your reproof does me + good, by myself, I return to my native bias, and feel as if + there was plenty of room in the universe for my faults, and + as if I could not spend time in thinking of them, when so + many things interest me more. I have no defiance or coldness, + however, as to these spiritual facts which I do not know; + but I must follow my own law, and bide my time, even if, like + Oedipus, I should return a criminal, blind and outcast, to + ask aid from the gods. Such possibilities, I confess, give + me great awe; for I have more sense than most, of the tragic + depths that may open suddenly in the life. Yet, believing in + God, anguish cannot be despair, nor guilt perdition. I feel + sure that I have never wilfully chosen, and that my life has + been docile to such truth as was shown it. In an environment + like mine, what may have seemed too lofty or ambitious in + my character was absolutely needed to keep the heart from + breaking and enthusiasm from extinction.' + +Such Egoism as this, though lacking the angel grace of +unconsciousness, has a stoical grandeur that commands respect. Indeed, +in all that Margaret spoke, wrote, or did, no cynic could detect the +taint of meanness. Her elation came not from opium fumes of vanity, +inhaled in close chambers of conceit, but from the stimulus of +sunshine, fresh breezes, and swift movement upon the winged steed of +poesy. Her existence was bright with romantic interest to herself. +There was an amplitude and elevation in her aim, which were worthy, as +she felt, of human honor and of heavenly aid; and she was buoyed up +by a courageous good-will, amidst all evils, that she knew would have +been recognized as heroic in the chivalric times, when "every morning +brought a noble chance." Neither was her self-regard of an engrossing +temper. On the contrary, the sense of personal dignity taught her +the worth of the lowliest human being, and her intense desire for +harmonious conditions quickened a boundless compassion for the +squalid, downcast, and drudging multitude. She aspired to live in +majestic fulness of benignant and joyful activity, leaving a track of +light with every footstep; and, like the radiant Iduna, bearing to +man the golden apples of immortality, she would have made each meeting +with her fellows rich with some boon that should never fade, but +brighten in bloom forever. + +This characteristic self-esteem determined the quality of Margaret's +influence, which was singularly penetrating, and most beneficent where +most deeply and continuously felt. Chance acquaintance with her, like +a breath from the tropics, might have prematurely burst the buds of +feeling in sensitive hearts, leaving after blight and barrenness. +Natures, small in compass and of fragile substance, might have been +distorted and shattered by attempts to mould themselves on her grand +model. And in her seeming unchartered impulses,--whose latent law was +honorable integrity,--eccentric spirits might have found encouragement +for capricious license. Her morbid subjectivity, too, might, by +contagion, have affected others with undue self-consciousness. +And, finally, even intimate friends might have been tempted, by +her flattering love, to exaggerate their own importance, until they +recognized that her regard for them was but one niche in a Pantheon +at whose every shrine she offered incense. But these ill effects were +superficial accidents. The peculiarity of her power was to make all +who were in concert with her feel the miracle of existence. She lived +herself with such concentrated force in the moments, that she was +always effulgent with thought and affection,--with conscience, +courage, resource, decision, a penetrating and forecasting wisdom. +Hence, to associates, her presence seemed to touch even common scenes +and drudging cares with splendor, as when, through the scud of +a rain-storm, sunbeams break from serene blue openings, crowning +familiar things with sudden glory. By manifold sympathies, yet central +unity, she seemed in herself to be a goodly company, and her words +and deeds imparted the virtue of a collective life. So tender was her +affection, that, like a guardian genius, she made her friends' souls +her own, and identified herself with their fortunes; and yet, so pure +and high withal was her justice, that, in her recognition of their +past success and present claims, there came a summons for fresh +endeavor after the perfect. The very thought of her roused manliness +to emulate the vigorous freedom, with which one was assured, that +wherever placed she was that instant acting; and the mere mention +of her name was an inspiration of magnanimity, and faithfulness, and +truth. + + '"Sincere has been their striving; great their love," + +'is a sufficient apology for any life,' wrote Margaret; and how +preeminently were these words descriptive of herself. Hers was indeed + + "The equal temper of heroic hearts, + Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will, + To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield." + +This indomitable aspiration found utterance in the following verses, +on + + 'SUB ROSA CRUX. + + 'In times of old, as we are told, + When men more childlike at the feet + Of Jesus sat than now, + A chivalry was known, more bold + Than ours, and yet of stricter vow, + And worship more complete. + + 'Knights of the Rosy Cross! they bore + Its weight within the breast, but wore + Without the sign, in glistening ruby bright. + The gall and vinegar they drank alone, + But to the world at large would only own + The wine of faith, sparkling with rosy light. + + 'They knew the secret of the sacred oil, + Which, poured upon the prophet's head, + Could keep him wise and pure for aye, + Apart from all that might distract or soil; + With this their lamps they fed, + Which burn in their sepulchral shrines, + Unfading night and day. + + 'The pass-word now is lost + To that initiation full and free; + Daily we pay the cost + Of our slow schooling for divine degree. + We know no means to feed an undying lamp, + Our lights go out in every wind and damp. + + 'We wear the cross of Ebony and Gold, + Upon a dark back-ground a form of light, + A heavenly hope within a bosom cold, + A starry promise in a frequent night; + And oft the dying lamp must trim again, + For we are conscious, thoughtful, striving men. + + 'Yet be we faithful to this present trust, + Clasp to a heart resigned this faithful Must; + Though deepest dark our efforts should enfold, + Unwearied mine to find the vein of gold; + Forget not oft to waft the prayer on high;-- + The rosy dawn again shall fill the sky. + + 'And by that lovely light all truth revealed,-- + The cherished forms, which sad distrust concealed, + Transfigured, yet the same, will round us stand, + The kindred angels of a faithful band; + Ruby and ebon cross then cast aside, + No lamp more needed, for the night has died. + + '"Be to the best thou knowest ever true," + Is all the creed. + Then be thy talisman of rosy hue, + Or fenced with thorns, that wearing, thou must bleed, + Or, gentle pledge of love's prophetic view, + The faithful steps it will securely lead. + + 'Happy are all who reach that distant shore, + And bathe in heavenly day; + Happiest are those who high the banner bore, + To marshal others on the way, + Or waited for them, fainting and way-worn, + By burthens overborne.' + + +[Footnote A: This sentence was written before I was aware that +Margaret, as will be seen hereafter, had used the same symbol to +describe Madame Sand. The first impulse, of course, when I discovered +this coincidence, was to strike out the above passage; yet, on second +thought, I have retained it, as indicating an actual resemblance +between these two grand women. In Margaret, however, the benediction +of their noble-hearted sister, Elizabeth Barrett, had already been +fulfilled; for she to "woman's claim" had ever joined + +"the angel-grace +Of a pure genius sanctified from blame."] + +[Footnote B: Novalis.] + + + + +NEW YORK. + +JOURNALS, LETTERS, &c. + + * * * * * + + "How much, preventing God, how much. I owe + To the defences thou hast round me set! + Example, Custom, Fear, Occasion slow,-- + These scorned bondsmen were my parapet. + I dare not peep over this parapet, + To gauge with glance the roaring gulf below, + The depths of sin to which I had descended, + Had not these me against myself defended." + + "Di te, finor, chiesto non hai severa + Ragione a te; di sua virtu non cade + Sospetto in cor conscio a se stesso." + + ALFIERI. + + + "He that lacks time to mourn, lacks time to mend; + Eternity mourns that. 'Tis an ill cure + For life's worst ills, to have no time to feel them. + Where sorrow's held intrusive, and turned out, + There wisdom, will not enter, nor true power, + Nor aught that dignifies humanity." + + TAYLOR. + + + "That time of year thou may'st in me behold, + When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang + Upon those boughs which shake against the cold, + Bare ruined choirs, where late the sweet birds sang. + In me thou seest the twilight of such day, + As after sunset fadeth in the west; + Which by and by black night doth take away,-- + Death's second self, that seals up all in rest. + In me thou seest the glowing of such fire, + That on the ashes of his youth doth lie; + As the death-bed whereon it must expire, + Consumed with that which it was nourished by." + + SHAKSPEARE. [Sonnet lxxiii.] + + + "Aber zufrieden mit stillerem Ruhme, + Brechen die Frauen des Augenblick's Blume, + Naehren sie sorgsam mit liebendem Fleiss, + Freier in ihrem gebundenen Wirken, + Reicher als er in des Wissens Bezirken + Und in der Dichtung unendlichem Kreiz." + + SCHILLER. + + + "Not like to like, but like in difference; + Yet in the long years liker must they grow,-- + The man be more of woman, she of man; + He gain in sweetness and in moral height, + Nor lose the wrestling thews that throw the world; + She mental breadth, nor fail in childward care; + More as the double-natured poet each; + Till at the last she set herself to man, + Like perfect music unto noble words." + + TENNYSON. + + + + +VII. + +NEW YORK + + * * * * * + +LEAVING HOME. + + +Incessant exertion in teaching and writing, added to pecuniary +anxieties and domestic cares, had so exhausted Margaret's energy, in +1844, that she felt a craving for fresh interests, and resolved to +seek an entire change of scene amid freer fields of action. + +'The tax on my mind is such,' she writes, + + 'and I am so unwell, that I can scarcely keep up the spring of + my spirits, and sometimes fear that I cannot go through with + the engagements of the winter. But I have never stopped yet + in fulfilling what I have undertaken, and hope I shall not be + compelled to now. How farcical seems the preparation needed to + gain a few moments' life; yet just so the plant works all the + year round for a few days' flower.' + +But in brighter mood she says, again:-- + + 'I congratulate myself that I persisted, against every + persuasion, in doing all I could last winter; for now I am and + shall be free from debt, and I look on the position of debtor + with a dread worthy of some respectable Dutch burgomaster. + My little plans for others, too, have succeeded; our small + household is well arranged, and all goes smoothly as a + wheel turns round. Mother, moreover, has learned not to + be over-anxious when I suffer, so that I am not obliged to + suppress my feelings when it is best to yield to them. Thus, + having more calmness, I feel often that a sweet serenity is + breathed through every trifling duty. I am truly grateful for + being enabled to fulfil obligations which to some might seem + humble, but which to me are sacred.' + +And in mid-summer comes this pleasant picture:-- + + 'Every day, I rose and attended to the many little calls which + are always on me, and which have been more of late. Then, + about eleven, I would sit down to write, at my window, close + to which is the apple-tree, lately full of blossoms, and now + of yellow birds. Opposite me was Del Sarto's Madonna; behind + me Silenus, holding in his arms the infant Pan. I felt very + content with my pen, my daily bouquet, and my yellow birds. + About five I would go out and walk till dark; then would + arrive my proofs, like crabbed old guardians, coming to tea + every night. So passed each day. The 23d of May, my birth-day, + about one o'clock, I wrote the last line of my little book;[A] + then I went to Mount Auburn, and walked gently among the + graves.' + +As the brothers had now left college, and had entered or were entering +upon professional and commercial life, while the sister was married, +and the mother felt calls to visit in turn her scattered children, it +was determined to break up the "Home." 'As a family,' Margaret writes, + + 'we are henceforth to be parted. But though for months I had + been preparing for this separation, the last moments were very + sad. Such tears are childish tears, I know, and belie a deeper + wisdom. It is foolish in me to be so anxious about my family. + As I went along, it seemed as if all I did was for God's sake; + but if it had been, could I now thus fear? My relations to + them are altogether fair, so far as they go. As to their being + no more to me than others of my kind, there is surely a mystic + thrill betwixt children of one mother, which can never cease + to be felt till the soul is quite born anew. The earthly + family is the scaffold whereby we build the spiritual one. The + glimpses we here obtain of what such relations should be are + to me an earnest that the family is of Divine Order, and not a + mere school of preparation. And in the state of perfect being + which we call Heaven, I am assured that family ties will + attain to that glorified beauty of harmonious adaptation, + which stellar groups in the pure blue typify.' + +Margaret's admirable fidelity, as daughter and sister,--amidst her +incessant literary pursuits, and her far-reaching friendships,--can be +justly appreciated by those only who were in her confidence; but from +the following slight sketches generous hearts can readily infer what +was the quality of her home-affections. + + 'Mother writes from Canton that my dear old grandmother is + dead. I regret that you never saw her. She was a picture of + primitive piety, as she sat holding the "Saint's Rest" in her + hand, with her bowed, trembling figure, and her emphatic nods, + and her sweet blue eyes. They were bright to the last, though + she was ninety. It is a great loss to mother, who felt a large + place warmed in her heart by the fond and grateful love of + this aged parent.' + + 'We cannot be sufficiently grateful for our mother,--so so + fair a blossom of the white amaranth; truly to us a mother + in this, that we can venerate her piety. Our relations to her + have known no jar. Nothing vulgar has sullied them; and in + this respect life has been truly domesticated. Indeed, when I + compare my lot with others, it seems to have had a more than + usual likeness to home; for relations have been as noble + as sincerity could make them, and there has been a frequent + breath of refined affection, with its sweet courtesies. Mother + thanks God in her prayers for "all the acts of mutual love + which have been permitted;" and looking back, I see that these + have really been many. I do not recognize this, as the days + pass, for to my desires life would be such a flower-chain of + symbols, that what is done seems very scanty, and the thread + shows too much. + + 'She has just brought me a little bouquet. Her flowers have + suffered greatly by my neglect, when I would be engrossed + by other things in her absences. But, not to be disgusted or + deterred, whenever she can glean one pretty enough, she brings + it to me. Here is the bouquet,--a very delicate rose, with its + half-blown bud, heliotrope, geranium, lady-pea, heart's-ease; + all sweet-scented flowers! Moved by their beauty, I wrote a + short note, to which this is the reply. Just like herself![B] + + '"I should not love my flowers if they did not put forth all + the strength they have, in gratitude for your preserving care, + last winter, and your wasted feelings over the unavoidable + effects of the frost, that came so unexpectedly to nip their + budding beauties. I appreciate all you have done, knowing + at what cost any plant must be nourished by one who sows in + fields more precious than those opened, in early life, to my + culture. One must have grown up with flowers, and found joy + and sweetness in them, amidst disagreeable occupations, to + take delight in their whole existence as I do. They have long + had power to bring me into harmony with the Creator, and to + soothe almost any irritation. Therefore I understand your love + for these beautiful things, and it gives me real pleasure to + procure them for you. + + '"You have done everything that the most affectionate and + loving daughter could, under all circumstances. My faith in + your generous desire to increase my happiness is founded on + the knowledge I have gained of your disposition, through your + whole life. I should ask your sympathy and aid, whenever it + could be available, knowing that you would give it first to + me. Waste no thought on neglected duties. I know of none. + Let us pursue our appointed paths, aiding each other in rough + places; and if I live to need the being led by the hand, + I always feel that you will perform this office wisely and + tenderly. We shall ever have perfect peace between us. Yours, + in all love."' + +Margaret adds:-- + + 'It has been, and still is, hard for me to give up the thought + of serenity, and freedom from toil and care, for mother, + in the evening of a day which has been all one work of + disinterested love. But I am now confident that she will learn + from every trial its lesson; and if I cannot be her protector, + I can be at least her counsellor and soother.' + +From the less private parts of Margaret's correspondence with the +younger members of the family, some passages may be selected, as +attesting her quick and penetrating sympathy, her strict truth, +and influential wisdom. They may be fitly prefaced by these few but +emphatic words from a letter of one of her brothers:-- + + "I was much impressed, during my childhood, at Groton, with + an incident that first disclosed to me the tenderness of + Margaret's character. I had always viewed her as a being + of different nature from myself, to whose altitudes of + intellectual life I had no thought of ascending. She had been + absent during the winter, and on her return asked me for some + account of my experiences. Supposing that she could not enter + into such insignificant details, I was not frank or warm in + my confidence, though I gave no reason for my reserve; and the + matter had passed from my mind, when our mother told me that + Margaret had shed tears, because I seemed to heed so little + her sisterly sympathy. 'Tears from one so learned,' thought I, + 'for the sake of one so inferior!' Afterwards, my heart opened + to her, as to no earthly friend. + + "The characteristic trait of Margaret, to which all + her talents and acquirements were subordinate, was + sympathy,--universal sympathy. She had that large intelligence + and magnanimity which enabled her to comprehend the struggles + and triumphs of every form of character. Loving all about her, + whether rich or poor, rude or cultivated, as equally formed + after a Divine Original, with an equal birth-right of immortal + growth, she regarded rather their aspirations than their + accomplishments. And this was the source of her marvellous + influence. Those who had never thought of their own destiny, + nor put faith in their own faculties, found in her society not + so much a display of her gifts, as surprising discoveries of + their own. She revealed to them the truth, that all can be + noble by fidelity to the highest self. She appreciated, with + delicate tenderness, each one's peculiar trials, and, while + never attempting to make the unhappy feel that their miseries + were unreal, she pointed out the compensations of their + lot, and taught them how to live above misfortune. She had + consolation and advice for every one in trouble, and wrote + long letters to many friends, at the expense not only of + precious time, but of physical pain. + + "When now, with the experience of a man, I look back upon her + wise guardianship over our childhood, her indefatigable labors + for our education, her constant supervision in our family + affairs, her minute instructions as to the management of + multifarious details, her painful conscientiousness in every + duty; and then reflect on her native inaptitude and even + disgust for practical affairs, on her sacrifice,--in the + very flower of her genius,--of her favorite pursuits, on her + incessant drudgery and waste of health, on her patient + bearing of burdens, and courageous conflict with difficult + circumstances, her character stands before me as heroic." + +It was to this brother that Margaret wrote as follows:-- + + 'It is a great pleasure to me to give you this book; both that + I have a brother whom I think worthy to value it, and that + I can give him something worthy to be valued more and more + through all his life. Whatever height we may attain in + knowledge, whatever facility in the expression of thoughts, + will only enable us to do more justice to what is drawn + from so deep a source of faith and intellect, and arrayed, + oftentimes, in the fairest hues of nature. Yet it may not be + well for a young mind to dwell too near one tuned to so high + a pitch as this writer, lest, by trying to come into concord + with him, the natural tones be overstrained, and the strings + weakened by untimely pressure. Do not attempt, therefore, to + read this book through, but keep it with you, and when the + spirit is fresh and earnest turn to it. It is full of the + tide-marks of great thoughts, but these can be understood + by one only who has gained, by experience, some knowledge of + these tides. The ancient sages knew how to greet a brother who + had consecrated his life to thought, and was never disturbed + from his purpose by a lower aim. But it is only to those + perfected in purity that Pythagoras can show a golden thigh. + + 'One word as to your late readings. They came in a timely way + to admonish you, amidst mere disciplines, as to the future + uses of such disciplines. But systems of philosophy are mere + pictures to him, who has not yet learned how to systematize. + From an inward opening of your nature these knowledges must + begin to be evolved, ere you can apprehend aught beyond + their beauty, as revealed in the mind of another. Study in a + reverent and patient spirit, blessing the day that leads you + the least step onward. Do not ride hobbies. Do not hasten + to conclusions. Be not coldly sceptical towards any thinker, + neither credulous of his views. A man, whose mind is full of + error, may give us the genial sense of truth, as a tropical + sun, while it rears crocodiles, yet ripens the wine of the + palm-tree. + + 'To turn again to my Ancients: while they believed in + self-reliance with a force little known in our day, they + dreaded no pains of initiation, but fitted themselves for + intelligent recognition of the truths on which our being is + based, by slow gradations of travel, study, speech, silence, + bravery, and patience. That so it may be with you, dear ----, + hopes your sister and friend.' + +A few extracts from family letters written at different times, and +under various conditions, may be added. + + 'I read with great interest the papers you left with me. The + picture and the emotions suggested are genuine. The youthful + figure, no doubt, stands portress at the gate of Infinite + Beauty; yet I would say to one I loved as I do you, do not + waste these emotions, nor the occasions which excite them. + There is danger of prodigality,--of lavishing the best + treasures of the breast on objects that cannot be the + permanent ones. It is true, that whatever thought is awakened + in the mind becomes truly ours; but it is a great happiness + to owe these influences to a cause so proportioned to our + strength as to grow with it. I say this merely because I + fear that the virginity of heart which I believe essential + to feeling a real love, in all its force and purity, may + be endangered by too careless excursions into the realms of + fancy.' + + * * * * * + + 'It is told us, we should pray, "lead us not into temptation;" + and I agree. Yet I think it cannot be, that, with a good + disposition, and the means you have had to form your mind and + discern a higher standard, your conduct or happiness can be + so dependent on circumstances, as you seem to think. I never + advised your taking a course which would blunt your finer + powers and I do not believe that winning the means of + pecuniary independence need do so. I have not found that it + does, in my own case, placed at much greater disadvantage than + you are. I have never considered, either, that there was + any misfortune in your lot. Health, good abilities, and a + well-placed youth, form a union of advantages possessed by + few, and which leaves you little excuse for fault or failure. + And so to your better genius and the instruction of the One + Wise, I commend you.' + + * * * * * + + 'It gave me great pleasure to get your last letter, for these + little impromptu effusions are the genuine letters. I rejoice + that man and nature seem harmonious to you, and that the heart + beats in unison with the voices of Spring. May all that is + manly, sincere, and pure, in your wishes, be realized! Obliged + to live myself without the sanctuary of the central relations, + yet feeling I must still not despair, nor fail to profit by + the precious gifts of life, while "leaning upon our Father's + hand," I still rejoice, if any one can, in the true temper, + and with well-founded hopes, secure a greater completeness of + earthly existence. This fortune is as likely to be yours, as + any one's I know. It seems to me dangerous, however, to meddle + with the future. I never lay my hand on it to grasp it with + impunity.' + + * * * * * + + 'Of late I have often thought of you with strong yearnings of + affection and desire to see you. It would seem to me, also, + that I had not devoted myself to you enough, if I were not + conscious that by any more attention to the absent than I have + paid, I should have missed the needed instructions from the + present. And I feel that any bond of true value will endure + necessary neglect.' + + * * * * * + + 'There is almost too much of bitter mixed in the cup of life. + You say religion is a mere sentiment with you, and that if + you are disappointed in your first, your very first hopes and + plans, you do not know whether you shall be able to act well. + I do not myself see how a reflecting soul can endure the + passage through life, except by confidence in a Power that + must at last order all things right, and the resolution that + it shall not be our own fault if we are not happy,--that we + will resolutely deserve to be happy. There are many bright + glimpses in life, many still hours; much worthy toil, some + deep and noble joys; but, then, there are so many, and such + long, intervals, when we are kept from all we want, and must + perish but for such thoughts.' + + * * * * * + + 'You need not fear, dear ----, my doing anything to chill + you. I am only too glad of the pure happiness you so sweetly + describe. I well understand what you say of its invigorating + you for every enterprise. I was always sure it would be so + with me,--that resigned, I could do well, but happy I could + do excellently. Happiness must, with the well-born, expand + the generous affections towards all men, and invigorate one to + deserve what the gods have given.' + +Margaret's charities and courtesies were not limited to her kindred. +She fell, at once, into agreeable relations with her domestics, +became their confidant, teacher, and helper, studied their characters, +consulted their convenience, warned them of their dangers or +weaknesses, and rejoiced to gratify their worthy tastes; and, in +return, no lady could receive, from servants, more punctual or hearty +attendance. She knew how to command and how to persuade, and her +sympathy was perfect. They felt the power of her mind, her hardy +directness, prompt judgment, decision and fertility of resource, and +liked to aid one who knew so well her own wants. 'Around my path,' she +writes, + + 'how much humble love continually flows. These every-day and + lowly friends never forget my wishes, never censure my + whims, make no demands on me, and load me with gifts and + uncomplaining service. Though sometimes forgetful of their + claims, I try to make it up when we do meet, and I trust give + little pain as I pass along this world.' + +Even in extreme cases of debasement she found more to admire than to +contemn, and won the confidence of the fallen by manifesting her real +respect. "There was in my family," writes a friend, "a very handsome +young girl, who had been vicious in her habits, and so enamored of +one of her lovers, that when he deserted her, she attempted to drown +herself. She was rescued, and some good people were eager to reform +her life. While she was engaged in housework for us, Margaret saw her, +and one day asked ---- if she could not help her. ---- replied: 'No! +for should I begin to talk with her, I should show my consciousness of +her history so much as to be painful.' Margaret was very indignant at +this weakness. Said she, + + 'This girl is taken away, you know, from all her objects of + interest, and must feel her life vacant and dreary. Her mind + should be employed; she should be made to feel her powers.' + +It was plain that if Margaret had been near her, she would have +devoted herself at once to her education and reestablishment." + +About the time of breaking up their home, Margaret thus expressed, to +one of her brothers, her hopes and plans. + + 'You wish, dear ----, that I was not obliged to toil and spin, + but could live, for a while, like the lilies. I wish so, + too, for life has fatigued me, my strength is little, and the + present state of my mind demands repose and refreshment, + that it may ripen some fruit worthy of the long and deep + experiences through which I have passed. I do not regret that + I have shared the labors and cares of the suffering million, + and have acquired a feeling sense of the conditions under + which the Divine has appointed the development of the human. + Yet, if our family affairs could now be so arranged, that I + might be tolerably tranquil for the next six or eight years, + I should go out of life better satisfied with the page I have + turned in it, than I shall if I must still toil on. A noble + career is yet before me, if I can be unimpeded by cares. I + have given almost all my young energies to personal relations; + but, at present, I feel inclined to impel the general stream + of thought. Let my nearest friends also wish that I should now + take share in more public life.' + + +[Footnote A: Summer on the Lakes.] + +[Footnote B: The editor must offer as excuse for printing, without +permission asked, this note, found carefully preserved among +Margaret's papers, that he knew no other way of so truly indicating +the relation between mother and daughter. This lily is eloquent of the +valley where it grew. W.H.C.] + + + + +THE HIGHLANDS. + + +Seeking thus, at once, expansion and rest in new employments, Margaret +determined, in the autumn of 1844, to accept a liberal offer of +Messrs. Greeley and McElrath, to become a constant contributor to the +New York Tribune. But before entering upon her new duties, she found +relaxation, for a few weeks, amid the grand scenery of the Hudson. In +October, she writes from Fishkill Landing:-- + + 'Can I find words to tell you how I enjoy being here, + encircled by the majestic beauty of these mountains? I felt + regret, indeed, in bidding farewell to Boston, so many + marks of affection were shown me at the last, and so many + friendships, true if imperfect, were left behind. But now I am + glad to feel enfranchized in the society of Nature. I have a + well-ordered, quiet house to dwell in, with nobody's humors + to consult but my own. From my windows I see over the tops of + variegated trees the river, with its purple heights beyond, + and a few moments' walk brings me to the lovely shore, where + sails are gliding continually by, and the huge steamers sweep + past with echoing tread, and a train of waves, whose rush + relieves the monotone of the ripples. In the country behind us + are mountain-paths, and lonely glens, with gurgling streams, + and many-voiced water-falls. And over all are spread the + gorgeous hues of autumn.' + +And again:-- + + '"From the brain of the purple mountain" flows forth cheer + to my somewhat weary mind. I feel refreshed amid these bolder + shapes of nature. Mere gentle and winning landscapes are not + enough. How I wish my birth had been cast among the sources + of the streams, where the voice of hidden torrents is heard + by night, and the eagle soars, and the thunder resounds in + prolonged peals, and wide blue shadows fall like brooding + wings across the valleys! Amid such scenes, I expand and feel + at home. All the fine days I spend among the mountain passes, + along the mountain brooks, or beside the stately river. I + enjoy just the tranquil happiness I need in communion with + this fair grandeur.' + +And, again:-- + + 'The boldness, sweetness, and variety here, are just what + I like. I could pass the autumn in watching the exquisite + changes of light and shade on the heights across the river. + How idle to pretend that one could live and write as well amid + fallow flat fields! This majesty, this calm splendor, could + not but exhilarate the mind, and make it nobly free and + plastic.' + +These few weeks among the Highlands,--spent mostly in the open air, +under October's golden sunshine, the slumberous softness of the Indian +summer, or the brilliant, breezy skies of November,--were an important +era for Margaret. She had-- + + "lost the dream of Doing + And the other dream of Done; + The first spring in the pursuing, + The first pride in the Begun, + First recoil from incompleteness in the face of what is won." + +But she was striving, also, to use her own words, 'to be patient to +the very depths of the heart, to expect no hasty realizations, not to +make her own plan her law of life, but to learn the law and plan of +God.' She adds, however:-- + + 'What heaven it must be to have the happy sense of + accomplishing something, and to feel the glow of action + without exhausted weariness! Surely the race would have worn + itself out by corrosion, if men in all ages had suffered, as + we now do, from the consciousness of an unattained Ideal.' + +Extracts from journals will best reveal her state of mind. + + 'I have a dim consciousness of what the terrible experiences + must be by which the free poetic element is harmonized with + the spirit of religion. In their essence and their end these + are one, but rarely in actual existence. I would keep what + was pure and noble in my old native freedom, with that + consciousness of falling below the best convictions which now + binds me to the basest of mankind, and find some new truth + that shall reconcile and unite them. Once it seemed to + me, that my heart was so capable of goodness, my mind of + clearness, that all should acknowledge and claim me as a + friend. But now I see that these impulses were prophetic of a + yet distant period. The "intensity" of passion, which so often + unfits me for life, or, rather, for _life here_, is to + be moderated, not into dulness or languor, but a gentler, + steadier energy.' + + 'The stateliest, strongest vessel must sometimes be brought + into port to rent. If she will not submit to be fastened to + the dock, stripped of her rigging, and scrutinized by unwashed + artificers, she may spring a leak when riding most proudly + on the subject wave. Norway fir nor English oak can resist + forever the insidious assaults of the seemingly conquered + ocean. The man who clears the barnacles from the keel is more + essential than he who hoists the pennant on the lofty mast.' + + * * * * * + + 'A week of more suffering than I have had for a long + time,--from Sunday to Sunday,--headache night and day! And not + only there has been no respite, but it has been fixed in one + spot--between the eyebrows!--what does that promise?--till it + grew real torture. Then it has been depressing to be able to + do so little, when there was so much I had at heart to do. + It seems that the black and white guardians, depicted on the + Etrurian monuments, and in many a legend, are always fighting + for my life. Whenever I have any cherished purpose, either + outward obstacles swarm around, which the hand that would be + drawing beautiful lines must be always busy in brushing away, + or comes this great vulture, and fastens his iron talons on + the brain. + + 'But at such times the soul rises up, like some fair child in + whom sleep has been mistaken for death, a living flower in + the dark tomb. He casts aside his shrouds and bands, rosy and + fresh from the long trance, undismayed, not seeing how to get + out, yet sure there is a way. + + 'I think the black jailer laughs now, hoping that while I + want to show that Woman can have the free, full action of + intellect, he will prove in my own self that she has not + physical force to bear it. Indeed, I am too poor an example, + and do wish I was bodily strong and fair. Yet, I will not be + turned from the deeper convictions.' + + 'Driven from home to home, as a Renouncer, I gain the poetry + of each. Keys of gold, silver, iron, lead, are in my casket. + Though no one loves me as I would be loved, I yet love many + well enough to see into their eventual beauty. Meanwhile, I + have no fetters, and when one perceives how others are bound + in false relations, this surely should be regarded as a + privilege. And so varied have been my sympathies, that this + isolation will not, I trust, make me cold, ignorant, nor + partial. My history presents much superficial, temporary + tragedy. The Woman in me kneels and weeps in tender rapture; + the Man in me rushes forth, but only to be baffled. Yet the + time will come, when, from the union of this tragic king and + queen, shall be born a radiant sovereign self.' + + * * * * * + + 'I have quite a desire to try my powers in a narrative poem; + but my head teems with plans, of which there will be time + for very few only to take form. Milton, it is said, made + for himself a list of a hundred subjects for dramas, and the + recorder of the fact seems to think this many. I think it very + few, so filled is life with innumerable themes.' + + * * * * * + + '_Sunday Evening._--I have employed some hours of the day, + with great satisfaction, in copying the Poet's Dreams from the + Pentameron of Landor. I do not often have time for such slow, + pleasing labor. I have thus imprinted the words in my mind, so + that they will often recur in their original beauty. + + 'I have added three sonnets of Petrarca, all written after the + death of Laura. They are among his noblest, all pertinent to + the subject, and giving three aspects of that one mood. The + last lines of the last sonnet are a fit motto for Boccaccio's + dream. + + 'In copying both together, I find the prose of the Englishman + worthy of the verse of the Italian. It is a happiness to see + such marble beauty in the halls of a contemporary. + + 'How fine it is to see the terms "onesto," "gentile," used in + their original sense and force. + + 'Soft, solemn day! + Where earth and heaven together seem to meet, + I have been blest to greet + From human thought a kindred sway; + In thought these stood + So near the simple Good, + That what we nobleness and honor call, + They viewed as honesty, the common dower of all.' + +Margaret was reading, in these weeks, the Four Books of Confucius, +the Desatir, some of Taylor's translations from the Greek, a work on +Scandinavian Mythology, Moehler's Symbolism, Fourier's Noveau Monde +Industriel, and Landor's Pentameron,--but she says, in her journal, + + 'No book is good enough to read in the open air, among these + mountains; even the best seem partial, civic, limiting, + instead of being, as man's voice should be, a tone higher than + nature's.' + +And again:-- + + 'This morning came ----'s letter, announcing Sterling's + death:-- + + '"Weep for Dedalus all that is fairest." + + 'The news was very sad: Sterling did so earnestly wish to do + a man's work, and had done so small a portion of his own. This + made me feel how fast my years are flitting by, and nothing + done. Yet these few beautiful days of leisure I cannot resolve + to give at all to work. I want absolute rest, to let the mind + lie fallow, to keep my whole nature open to the influx of + truth.' + +At this very time, however, she was longing to write with full freedom +and power. 'Formerly,' she says, + + 'the pen did not seem to me an instrument capable of + expressing the spirit of a life like mine. An enchanter's + mirror, on which, with a word, could be made to rise all + apparitions of the universe, grouped in new relations; a magic + ring, that could transport the wearer, himself invisible, into + each region of grandeur or beauty; a divining-rod, to tell + where lie the secret fountains of refreshment; a wand, to + invoke elemental spirits;--only such as these seemed fit to + embody one's thought with sufficient swiftness and force. In + earlier years I aspired to wield the sceptre or the lyre; for + I loved with wise design and irresistible command to mould + many to one purpose, and it seemed all that man could desire + to breathe in music and speak in words, the harmonies of the + universe. But the golden lyre was not given to my hand, and I + am but the prophecy of a poet. Let me use, then, the slow pen. + I will make no formal vow to the long-scorned Muse; I assume + no garland; I dare not even dedicate myself as a novice; I + can promise neither patience nor energy:--but I will court + excellence, so far as an humble heart and open eye can merit + it, and, if I may gradually grow to some degree of worthiness + in this mode of expression, I shall be grateful.' + + + + +WOMAN. + + +It was on "Woman in the Nineteenth Century" that Margaret was now +testing her power as a writer. 'I have finished the pamphlet,' she +writes, 'though the last day it kept spinning out beneath my hand. +After taking a long walk, early one most exhilarating morning, I sat +down to work, and did not give it the last stroke till near nine in +the evening. Then I felt a delightful glow, as if I had put a good +deal of my true life in it, and as if, should I go away now, the +measure of my foot-print would be left on the earth.' + +A few extracts from her manuscripts upon this subject may be of +interest, as indicating the spirit and aim with which she wrote:-- + + 'To those of us who hate emphasis and exaggeration, who + believe that whatever is good of its kind is good, who shrink + from love of excitement and love of sway, who, while ready for + duties of many kinds, dislike pledges and bonds to any,--this + talk about "Woman's Sphere," "Woman's Mission," and all such + phrases as mark the present consciousness of an impending + transition from old conventions to greater freedom, are most + repulsive. And it demands some valor to lift one's head amidst + the shower of public squibs, private sneers, anger, scorn, + derision, called out by the demand that women should be put on + a par with their brethren, legally and politically; that they + should hold property not by permission but by right, and that + they should take an active part in all great movements. But + though, with Mignon, we are prompted to characterize heaven as + the place where + + "Sie fragen nicht nach Mann nie Weib," + + yet it is plain that we must face this agitation; and beyond + the dull clouds overhead hangs in the horizon Venus, as + morning-star, no less fair, though of more melting beauty, + than the glorious Jupiter, who shares with her the watch. + + * * * * * + + 'The full, free expression of feeling must be rare, for this + book of Bettina Brentano's to produce such an effect. Men who + have lived in the society of women all their days, seem never + before to have dreamed of their nature; they are filled with + wonderment and delight at these revelations, and because + they see the woman, fancy her a genius. But in truth her + inspiration is nowise extraordinary; and I have letters from + various friends, lying unnoticed in my portfolio, which are + quite as beautiful. For one, I think that these veins of gold + should pass in secret through the earth, inaccessible to all + who will not take the trouble to mine for them. I do not like + Bettina for publishing her heart, and am ready to repeat to + her Serlo's reproof to Aurelia.' + + * * * * * + + 'How terrible must be the tragedy of a woman who awakes to + find that she has given herself wholly to a person for whom + she is not eternally fitted! I cannot look on marriage as on + the other experiments of life: it is the one grand type that + should be kept forever sacred. There are two kinds of love + experienced by high and rich souls. The first seeks, according + to Plato's myth, another half, as being not entire in itself, + but needing a kindred nature to unlock its secret chambers + of emotion, and to act with quickening influence on all its + powers, by full harmony of senses, affections, intellect, + will; the second is purely ideal, beholding in its object + divine perfection, and delighting in it only in degree as + it symbolizes the essential good. But why is not this love + steadily directed to the Central Spirit, since in no form, + however suggestive in beauty, can God be fully revealed? + Love's delusion is owing to one of man's most godlike + qualities,--the earnestness with which he would concentrate + his whole being, and thus experience the Now of the I Am. + Yet the noblest are not long deluded; they love really the + Infinite Beauty, though they may still keep before them a + human form, as the Isis, who promises hereafter a seat at the + golden tables. How high is Michel Angelo's love, for instance, + compared with Petrarch's! Petrarch longs, languishes; and + it is only after the death of Laura that his muse puts on + celestial plumage. But Michel always soars; his love is a + stairway to the heavens. + + * * * * * + + 'Might not we women do something in regard to this Texas + Annexation project? I have never felt that I had any call to + take part in public affairs before; but this is a great + moral question, and we have an obvious right to express our + convictions. I should like to convene meetings of the women + everywhere, and take our stand. + + * * * * * + + 'Had Christendom but been true to its standard, while + accommodating its modes of operation to the calls of + successive times, woman would now have not only equal _power_ + with man,--for of that omnipotent nature will never permit + her to be defrauded,--but a _chartered_ power, too fully + recognized to be abused. Indeed, all that is wanting is, that + man should prove his own freedom by making her free. Let + him abandon conventional restriction, as a vestige of that + Oriental barbarity which confined woman to a seraglio. Let + him trust her entirely, and give her every privilege already + acquired for himself,--elective franchise, tenure of property, + liberty to speak in public assemblies, &c. + + 'Nature has pointed out her ordinary sphere by the + circumstances of her physical existence. She cannot wander + far. If here and there the gods send their missives through + women, as through men, let them speak without remonstrance. + In no age have men been able wholly to hinder them. A Deborah + must always be a spiritual mother in Israel; a Corinna may + be excluded from the Olympic games, yet all men will hear her + song, and a Pindar sit at her feet. It is man's fault that + there ever were Aspasias and Ninons. These exquisite forms + were intended for the shrines of virtue. + + 'Neither need men fear to lose their domestic deities. Woman + is born for love, and it is impossible to turn her from + seeking it. Men should deserve her love as an inheritance, + rather than seize and guard it like a prey. Were they noble, + they would strive rather not to be loved too much, and to turn + her from idolatry to the true, the only Love. Then, children + of one Father, they could not err, nor misconceive one + another. + + 'Society is now so complex, that it is no longer possible to + educate woman merely as woman; the tasks which come to her + hand are so various, and so large a proportion of women are + thrown entirely upon their own resources. I admit that this + is not their state of perfect development; but it seems as + if heaven, having so long issued its edict in poetry and + religion, without securing intelligent obedience, now + commanded the world in prose, to take a high and rational + view. The lesson reads to me thus:-- + + 'Sex, like rank, wealth, beauty, or talent, is but an accident + of birth. As you would not educate a soul to be an aristocrat, + so do not to be a woman. A general regard to her usual sphere + is dictated in the economy of nature. You need never enforce + these provisions rigorously. Achilles had long plied the + distaff as a princess, yet, at first sight of a sword, he + seized it. So with woman, one hour of love would teach her + more of her proper relations, than all your formulas and + conventions. Express your views, men, of what you _seek_ in + woman: thus best do you give them laws. Learn, women, what you + should _demand_ of men: thus only can they become themselves. + Turn both from the contemplation of what is merely phenomenal + in your existence, to your permanent life as souls. Man, do + not prescribe how the Divine shall display itself in woman. + Woman, do not expect to see all of God in man. Fellow-pilgrims + and helpmeets are ye, Apollo and Diana, twins of one heavenly + birth, both beneficent, and both armed. Man, fear not to yield + to woman's hand both the quiver and the lyre; for if her urn + be filled with light, she will use both to the glory of + God. There is but one doctrine for ye both, and that is the + doctrine of the SOUL. + +Thus, in communion with the serene loveliness of mother-earth, and +inspired with memories of Isis and Ceres, of Minerva and Freia, and +all the commanding forms beneath which earlier ages symbolized their +sense of the Divine Spirit in woman, Margaret cherished visions of the +future, and responded with full heart to the poet's prophecy:-- + + "Then comes the statelier Eden back to men; + Then reign the world's great bridals, chaste and calm; + Then springs the crowning race of human-kind." + +It was but after the usual order of our discordant life,--where +Purgatory lies so nigh to Paradise,--that she should thence be +summoned to pass a Sunday with the prisoners at Sing-Sing. This was +the period when, in fulfilment of the sagacious and humane counsels of +Judge Edmonds, a system of kind discipline, combined with education, +was in practice at that penitentiary, and when the female department +was under the matronly charge of Mrs. E.W. Farnum, aided by Mrs. +Johnson, Miss Bruce, and other ladies, who all united sisterly +sympathy with energetic firmness. Margaret thus describes her +impressions:-- + + 'We arrived on Saturday evening, in such resplendent + moonlight, that we might have mistaken the prison for a + palace, had we not known but too well what those massive walls + contained. + + 'Sunday morning we attended service in the chapel of the male + convicts. They listened with earnest attention, and many were + moved to tears. I never felt such sympathy with an audience + as when, at the words "Men and brethren," that sea of faces, + marked with the scars of every ill, were upturned, and the + shell of brutality burst apart at the touch of love. I + knew that at least heavenly truth would not be kept out by + self-complacence and dependence on good appearances. + + 'After twelve at noon, all are confined in their cells, that + the keepers may have rest from their weekly fatigue. But I was + allowed to have some of the women out to talk with, and the + interview was very pleasant. They showed the natural aptitude + of the sex for refinement. These women were among the + so-called worst, and all from the lowest haunts of vice. Yet + nothing could have been more decorous than their conduct, + while it was also frank; and they showed a sensibility + and sense of propriety, which would not have disgraced any + society. All passed, indeed, much as in one of my Boston + classes. I told them I was writing about Woman; and, as my + path had been a favored one, I wanted to gain information from + those who had been tempted and afflicted. They seemed to + reply in the same spirit in which I asked. Several, however, + expressed a wish to see me alone, as they could then say + _all_, which they could not bear to before one another. I + shall go there again, and take time for this. It is very + gratifying to see the influence these few months of gentle and + intelligent treatment have had upon these women; indeed, it is + wonderful.' + +So much were her sympathies awakened by this visit, that she rejoiced +in the opportunity, soon after offered, of passing Christmas with +these outcasts, and gladly consented to address the women in their +chapel. "There was," says one present, "a most touching tenderness, +blended with dignity, in her air and tone, as, seated in the desk, she +looked round upon her fallen sisters, and begun: 'To me the pleasant +office has been given, of 'wishing you a happy Christmas.' A +simultaneous movement of obeisance rippled over the audience, with +a murmured 'Thank you;' and a smile was spread upon those sad +countenances, like sunrise sparkling on a pool." A few words from this +discourse,--which was extemporaneous, but of which she afterward made +an imperfect record,--will show the temper in which she spoke:-- + + 'I have passed other Christmas days happily, but never felt + as now, how fitting it is that this festival should come among + the snows and chills of winter; for, to many of you, I + trust, it is the birth-day of a higher life, when the sun of + good-will is beginning to return, and the evergreen of hope + gives promise of the eternal year. * * * + + 'Some months ago, we were told of the riot, the license, and + defying spirit which made this place so wretched, and the + conduct of some now here was such that the world said:--"Women + once lost are far worse than abandoned men, and cannot be + restored." But, no! It is not so! I know my sex better. It is + because women have so much feeling, and such a rooted respect + for purity, that they seem so shameless and insolent, when + they feel that they have erred and that others think ill of + them. They know that even the worst of men would like to see + women pure as angels, and when they meet man's look of scorn, + the desperate passion that rises is a perverted pride, which + might have been their guardian angel. Might have been! Rather + let me say, which may be; for the great improvement so rapidly + wrought here gives us all warm hopes. * * * + + 'Be not in haste to leave these walls. Yesterday, one of you, + who was praised, replied, that "if she did well she hoped that + efforts would be made to have her pardoned." I can feel the + monotony and dreariness of your confinement, but I entreat + you to believe that for many of you it would be the greatest + misfortune to be taken from here too soon. You know, better + than I can, the temptations that await you in the world; and + you must now perceive how dark is the gulf of sin and sorrow, + towards which they would hurry you. Here, you have friends + indeed; friends to your better selves; able and ready to + help you. Born of unfortunate marriages, inheriting dangerous + inclinations, neglected in childhood, with bad habits and bad + associates, as certainly must be the case with some of you, + how terrible will be the struggle when you leave this shelter! + O, be sure that you are fitted to triumph over evil, before + you again expose yourselves to it! And, instead of wasting + your time and strength in vain wishes, use this opportunity to + prepare yourselves for a better course of life, when you are + set free. * * * + + 'When I was here before, I was grieved by hearing several of + you say, "I will tell you what you wish to know, if I can be + alone with you; but not before the other prisoners; for, if + they know my past faults, they will taunt me with them." O, + never do that! To taunt the fallen is the part of a fiend. And + you! you were meant by Heaven to become angels of sympathy and + love. It says in the Scripture: "Their angels do always behold + in heaven the face of my Father." So was it with you in your + childhood; so is it now. Your angels stand forever there to + intercede for you; and to you they call to be gentle and good. + Nothing can so grieve and discourage those heavenly friends as + when you mock the suffering. It was one of the highest praises + of Jesus, "The bruised reed he will not break." Remember that, + and never insult, where you cannot aid, a companion. * * * + + 'Let me warn you earnestly against acting insincerely, and + appearing to wish to do right for the sake of approbation + I know you must prize the good opinion of your friendly + protectors; but do not buy it at the cost of truth. Try to be, + not to seem. Only so far as you earnestly wish to do right for + the sake of right, can you gain a principle that will sustain + you hereafter; and that is what we wish, not fair appearances + now. A career can never be happy that begins with falsehood. + Be inwardly, outwardly true; then you will never be weakened + or hardened by the consciousness of playing a part; and if, + hereafter, the unfeeling or thoughtless give you pain, or + take the dreadful risk of pushing back a soul emerging + from darkness, you will feel the strong support of a good + conscience. * * * + + 'And never be discouraged; never despond; never say, "It is + too late." Fear not, even if you relapse again and again. Many + of you have much to contend with. Some may be so faulty, by + temperament or habit, that they can never on this earth lead a + wholly fair and harmonious life, however much they strive. + Yet do what you can. If in one act,--for one day,--you can do + right, let that live like a point of light in your memory; for + if you have done well once you can again. If you fall, do + not lie grovelling; but rise upon your feet once more, and + struggle bravely on. And if aroused conscience makes you + suffer keenly, have patience to bear it. God will not let you + suffer more than you need to fit you for his grace. At the + very moment of your utmost pain, persist to seek his aid, and + it will be given abundantly. Cultivate this spirit of prayer. + I do not mean agitation and excitement, but a deep desire for + truth, purity, and goodness, and you will daily learn how near + He is to every one of 'us.'' + +These fragments, from a hasty report transcribed when the impressions +of the hour had grown faint, give but a shadow of the broad good +sense, hearty fellow-feeling, and pathetic hopefulness, which made so +effective her truly womanly appeal. + +This intercourse with the most unfortunate of her sex, and a desire +to learn more of the causes of their degradation, and of the means +of restoring them, led Margaret, immediately on reaching New York, to +visit the various benevolent institutions, and especially the prisons +on Blackwell's Island. And it was while walking among the beds of the +lazar-house,--mis-called "hospital,"--which then, to the disgrace +of the city, was the cess-pool of its social filth, that an incident +occurred, as touching as it was surprising to herself. A woman was +pointed out who bore a very bad character, as hardened, sulky, and +impenetrable. She was in bad health and rapidly failing. Margaret +requested to be left alone with her; and to her question, 'Are you +'willing to die?' the woman answered, "Yes;" adding, with her usual +bitterness, "not on religious grounds, though." 'That is well,--to +understand yourself,' was Margaret's rejoinder. She then began to +talk with her about her health, and her few comforts, until the +conversation deepened in interest. At length, as Margaret rose to +go, she said: 'Is there not anything I can do 'for you?' The woman +replied: "I should be glad if you will pray with me." + +The condition of these wretched beings was brought the more home to +her heart, as the buildings were directly in sight from Mr. Greeley's +house, at Turtle Bay, where Margaret, on her arrival, went to reside. +'Seven hundred females,' she writes, + + 'are now confined in the Penitentiary opposite this point. + We can pass over in a boat in a few minutes. I mean to visit, + talk, and read with them. I have always felt great interest in + those women who are trampled in the mud to gratify the brute + appetites of men, and wished that I might be brought naturally + into contact with them. Now I am.' + + + + +THE TRIBUNE AND HORACE GREELEY. + + +It was early in December of 1844 that Margaret took up her abode +with Mr. and Mrs. Greeley, in a spacious old wooden mansion, somewhat +ruinous, but delightfully situated on the East River, which she thus +describes:-- + + 'This place is, to me, entirely charming; it is so completely + in the country, and all around is so bold and free. It is two + miles or more from the thickly settled parts of New York, but + omnibuses and cars give me constant access to the city, and, + while I can readily see what and whom I will, I can command + time and retirement. Stopping on the Haarlem road, you enter + a lane nearly a quarter of a mile long, and going by a small + brook and pond that locks in the place, and ascending a + slightly rising ground, get sight of the house, which, + old-fashioned and of mellow tint, fronts on a flower-garden + filled with shrubs, large vines, and trim box borders. On + both sides of the house are beautiful trees, standing fair, + full-grown, and clear. Passing through a wide hall, you come + out upon a piazza, stretching the whole length of the house, + where one can walk in all weathers; and thence by a step or + two, on a lawn, with picturesque masses of rocks, shrubs + and trees, overlooking the East River. Gravel paths lead, by + several turns, down the steep bank to the water's edge, where + round the rocky point a small bay curves, in which boats are + lying. And, owing to the currents, and the set of the tide, + the sails glide sidelong, seeming to greet the house as + they sweep by. The beauty here, seen by moonlight, is truly + transporting. I enjoy it greatly, and the _genius loci_ + receives me as to a home.' + +Here Margaret remained for a year and more, writing regularly for the +Tribune. And how high an estimate this prolonged and near acquaintance +led her to form for its Editor, will appear from a few passages in her +letters:-- + + 'Mr. Greeley is a man of genuine excellence, honorable, + benevolent, and of an uncorrupted disposition. He is + sagacious, and, in his way, of even great abilities. In modes + of life and manner he is a man of the people, and of the + American people.' And again:--Mr. Greeley is in many ways + very interesting for me to know. He teaches me things, which + my own influence on those, who have hitherto approached me, + has prevented me from learning. In our business and friendly + relations, we are on terms of solid good-will and mutual + respect. With the exception of my own mother, I think him the + most disinterestedly generous person I have ever known.' + +And later she writes:-- + + 'You have heard that the Tribune Office was burned to the + ground. For a day I thought it must make a difference, but it + has served only to increase my admiration for Mr. Greeley's + smiling courage. He has really a strong character.' + +On the other side, Mr. Greeley thus records his recollections of his +friend:-- + + "My first acquaintance with Margaret Fuller was made through + the pages of 'The Dial.' The lofty range and rare ability + of that work, and its un-American richness of culture and + ripeness of thought, naturally filled the 'fit audience, + though few,' with a high estimate of those who were known + as its conductors and principal writers. Yet I do not now + remember that any article, which strongly impressed me, was + recognized as from the pen of its female editor, prior to the + appearance of 'The Great Lawsuit,' afterwards matured into the + volume more distinctively, yet not quite accurately, entitled + 'Woman in the Nineteenth Century.' I think this can hardly + have failed to make a deep impression on the mind of every + thoughtful reader, as the production of an original, vigorous, + and earnest mind. 'Summer on the Lakes,' which appeared some + time after that essay, though before its expansion into + a book, struck me as less ambitious in its aim, but more + graceful and delicate in its execution; and as one of the + clearest and most graphic delineations, ever given, of the + Great Lakes, of the Prairies, and of the receding + barbarism, and the rapidly advancing, but rude, repulsive + semi-civilization, which were contending with most unequal + forces for the possession of those rich lands. I still + consider 'Summer on the Lakes' unequalled, especially in its + pictures of the Prairies and of the sunnier aspects of Pioneer + life. + + "Yet, it was the suggestion of Mrs. Greeley,--who had spent + some weeks of successive seasons in or near Boston, and who + had there made the personal acquaintance of Miss Fuller, and + formed a very high estimate and warm attachment for her,--that + induced me, in the autumn of 1844, to offer her terms, which + were accepted, for her assistance in the literary department + of the Tribune. A home in my family was included in the + stipulation. I was myself barely acquainted with her, when she + thus came to reside with us, and I did not fully appreciate + her nobler qualities for some months afterward. Though we + were members of the same household, we scarcely met save at + breakfast; and my time and thoughts were absorbed in duties + and cares, which left me little leisure or inclination for the + amenities of social intercourse. Fortune seemed to delight + in placing us two in relations of friendly antagonism,--or + rather, to develop all possible contrasts in our ideas and + social habits. She was naturally inclined to luxury and a good + appearance before the world. My pride, if I had any, delighted + in bare walls and rugged fare. She was addicted to strong tea + and coffee, both which I rejected and contemned, even in the + most homoeopathic dilutions: while, my general health being + sound, and hers sadly impaired, I could not fail to find in + her dietetic habits the causes of her almost habitual illness; + and once, while we were still barely acquainted, when she + came to the breakfast-table with a very severe headache, I was + tempted to attribute it to her strong potations of the Chinese + leaf the night before. She told me quite frankly that she + 'declined being lectured on the food or beverage she saw fit + to take;' which was but reasonable in one who had arrived + at her maturity of intellect and fixedness of habits. So + the subject was thenceforth tacitly avoided between us; but, + though words were suppressed, looks and involuntary gestures + could not so well be; and an utter divergency of views on this + and kindred themes created a perceptible distance between us. + + "Her earlier contributions to the Tribune were not her best, + and I did not at first prize her aid so highly as I afterwards + learned to do. She wrote always freshly, vigorously, but not + always clearly; for her full and intimate acquaintance with + continental literature, especially German, seemed to have + marred her felicity and readiness of expression in her mother + tongue. While I never met another woman who conversed more + freely or lucidly, the attempt to commit her thoughts to paper + seemed to induce a singular embarrassment and hesitation. She + could write only when in the vein; and this needed often to be + waited for through several days, while the occasion sometimes + required an immediate utterance. The new book must be reviewed + before other journals had thoroughly dissected and discussed + it, else the ablest critique would command no general + attention, and perhaps be, by the greater number, unread. That + the writer should wait the flow of inspiration, or at least + the recurrence of elasticity of spirits and relative health of + body, will not seem unreasonable to the general reader; but + to the inveterate hack-horse of the daily press, accustomed to + write at any time, on any subject, and with a rapidity + limited only by the physical ability to form the requisite + pen-strokes, the notion of waiting for a brighter day, or a + happier frame of mind, appears fantastic and absurd. He would + as soon think of waiting for a change in the moon. Hence, + while I realized that her contributions evinced rare + intellectual wealth and force, I did not value them as I + should have done had they been written more fluently and + promptly. They often seemed to make their appearance 'a day + after the fair.' + + "One other point of tacit antagonism between us may as well be + noted. Margaret was always a most earnest, devoted champion + of the Emancipation of Women, from their past and present + condition of inferiority, to an independence on Men. She + demanded for them the fullest recognition of Social and + Political Equality with the rougher sex; the freest access to + all stations, professions, employments, which are open to any. + To this demand I heartily acceded. It seemed to me, however, + that her clear perceptions of abstract right were often + overborne, in practice, by the influence of education and + habit; that while she demanded absolute equality for Woman, + she exacted a deference and courtesy from men to women, _as_ + women, which was entirely inconsistent with that requirement. + In my view, the equalizing theory can be enforced only by + ignoring the habitual discrimination of men and women, as + forming separate _classes_, and regarding all alike as simply + _persons_,--as human beings. So long as a lady shall deem + herself in need of some gentleman's arm to conduct her + properly out of a dining or ball-room,--so long as she shall + consider it dangerous or unbecoming to walk half a mile alone + by night,--I cannot see how the 'Woman's Rights' theory + is ever to be anything more than a logically defensible + abstraction. In this view Margaret did not at all concur, + and the diversity was the incitement to much perfectly + good-natured, but nevertheless sharpish sparring between us. + Whenever she said or did anything implying the usual demand + of Woman on the courtesy and protection of Manhood, I was apt, + before complying, to look her in the face and exclaim with + marked emphasis,--quoting from her 'Woman in the Nineteenth + Century,'--'LET THEM BE SEA-CAPTAINS IF THEY WILL!' Of course, + this was given and received as raillery, but it did not tend + to ripen our intimacy or quicken my esteem into admiration. + Though no unkind word ever passed between us, nor any approach + to one, yet we two dwelt for months under the same roof, as + scarcely more than acquaintances, meeting once a day at a + common board, and having certain business relations with + each other. Personally, I regarded her rather as my wife's + cherished friend than as my own, possessing many lofty + qualities and some prominent weaknesses, and a good deal + spoiled by the unmeasured flattery of her little circle of + inordinate admirers. For myself, burning no incense on any + human shrine, I half-consciously resolved to 'keep my eye beam + clear,' and escape the fascination which she seemed to exert + over the eminent and cultivated persons, mainly women, who + came to our out-of-the-way dwelling to visit her, and who + seemed generally to regard her with a strangely Oriental + adoration. + + "But as time wore on, and I became inevitably better and + better acquainted with her, I found myself drawn, almost + irresistibly, into the general current. I found that her + faults and weaknesses were all superficial and obvious to the + most casual, if undazzled, observer. They rather dwindled than + expanded upon a fuller knowledge; or rather, took on new and + brighter aspects in the light of her radiant and lofty soul. I + learned to know her as a most fearless and unselfish champion + of Truth and Human Good at all hazards, ready to be their + standard-bearer through danger and obloquy, and, if need be, + their martyr. I think few have more keenly appreciated + the material goods of life,--Rank, Riches, Power, Luxury, + Enjoyment; but I know none who would have more cheerfully + surrendered them all, if the well-being of our Race could + thereby have been promoted. I have never met another in whom + the inspiring hope of Immortality was so strengthened into + profoundest conviction. She did not _believe_ in our future + and unending existence,--she _knew_ it, and lived ever in the + broad glare of its morning twilight. With a limited income + and liberal wants, she was yet generous beyond the bounds of + reason. Had the gold of California been all her own, she would + have disbursed nine tenths of it in eager and well-directed + efforts to stay, or at least diminish, the flood of human + misery. And it is but fair to state, that the liberality she + evinced was fully paralleled by the liberality she experienced + at the hands of others. Had she needed thousands, and made + her wants known, she had friends who would have cheerfully + supplied her. I think few persons, in their pecuniary + dealings, have experienced and evinced more of the better + qualities of human nature than Margaret Fuller. She seemed to + inspire those who approached her with that generosity which + was a part of her nature. + + "Of her writings I do not purpose to speak critically. I think + most of her contributions to the Tribune, while she remained + with us, were characterized by a directness, terseness, + and practicality, which are wanting in some of her earlier + productions. Good judges have confirmed my own opinion, that, + while her essays in the Dial are more elaborate and ambitious, + her reviews in the Tribune are far better adapted to win the + favor and sway the judgment of the great majority of readers. + But, one characteristic of her writings I feel bound to + commend,--their absolute truthfulness. She never asked how + this would sound, nor whether that would do, nor what would be + the effect of saying anything; but simply, 'Is it the truth? + Is it such as the public should know?' And if her judgment + answered, 'Yes,' she uttered it; no matter what turmoil it + might excite, nor what odium it might draw down on her + own head. Perfect conscientiousness was an unfailing + characteristic of her literary efforts. Even the severest + of her critiques,--that on Longfellow's Poems,--for which + an impulse in personal pique has been alleged, I happen with + certainty to know had no such origin. When I first handed her + the book to review, she excused herself, assigning the wide + divergence of her views of Poetry from those of the author and + his school, as her reason. She thus induced me to attempt the + task of reviewing it myself. But day after day sped by, and + I could find no hour that was not absolutely required for + the performance of some duty that _would not_ be put off, nor + turned over to another. At length I carried the book back to + her in utter despair of ever finding an hour in which even to + look through it; and, at my renewed and earnest request, she + reluctantly undertook its discussion. The statement of these + facts is but an act of justice to her memory. + + "Profoundly religious,--though her creed was, at once, very + broad and very short, with a genuine love for inferiors in + social position, whom she was habitually studying, by her + counsel and teachings, to elevate and improve,--she won + the confidence and affection of those who attracted her, by + unbounded sympathy and trust. She probably knew the cherished + secrets of more hearts than any one else, because she freely + imparted her own. With a full share both of intellectual and + of family pride, she preeminently recognized and responded to + the essential brotherhood of all human kind, and needed but to + know that a fellow-being required her counsel or assistance, + to render her, riot merely willing, but eager to impart it. + Loving ease, luxury, and the world's good opinion, she stood + ready to renounce them all, at the call of pity or of duty. + I think no one, not radically averse to the whole system of + domestic servitude, would have treated servants, of whatever + class, with such uniform and thoughtful consideration,--a + regard which wholly merged their factitious condition in their + antecedent and permanent humanity. I think few servants ever + lived weeks with her, who were not dignified and lastingly + benefited by her influence and her counsels. They might be + at first repelled, by what seemed her too stately manner and + exacting disposition, but they soon learned to esteem and love + her. + + "I have known few women, and scarcely another maiden, who had + the heart and the courage to speak with such frank compassion, + in mixed circles, of the most degraded and outcast portion of + the sex. The contemplation of their treatment, especially + by the guilty authors of their ruin, moved her to a calm and + mournful indignation, which she did not attempt to suppress + nor control. Others were willing to pity and deplore; Margaret + was more inclined to vindicate and to redeem. She did not + hesitate to avow that on meeting some of these abused, unhappy + sisters, she had been surprised to find them scarcely fallen + morally below the ordinary standard of Womanhood,--realizing + and loathing their debasement; anxious to escape it; and only + repelled by the sad consciousness that for them sympathy and + society remained only so long as they should persist in + the ways of pollution. Those who have read her 'Woman,' may + remember some daring comparisons therein suggested between + these Pariahs of society and large classes of their + respectable sisters; and that was no fitful expression,--no + sudden outbreak,--but impelled by her most deliberate + convictions. I think, if she had been born to large fortune, a + house of refuge for all female outcasts desiring to return to + the ways of Virtue, would have been one of her most cherished + and first realized conceptions. + + "Her love of children was one of her most prominent + characteristics. The pleasure she enjoyed in their society + was fully counterpoised by that she imparted. To them she was + never lofty, nor reserved, nor mystical; for no one had ever + a more perfect faculty for entering into their sports, their + feelings, their enjoyments. She could narrate almost any + story in language level to their capacities, and in a manner + calculated to bring out their hearty and often boisterously + expressed delight. She possessed marvellous powers of + observation and imitation or mimicry; and, had she been + attracted to the stage, would have been the first actress + America has produced, whether in tragedy or comedy. Her + faculty of mimicking was not needed to commend her to the + hearts of children, but it had its effect in increasing the + fascinations of her genial nature and heartfelt joy in their + society. To amuse and instruct them was an achievement for + which she would readily forego any personal object; and her + intuitive perception of the toys, games, stories, rhymes, + &c., best adapted to arrest and enchain their attention, was + unsurpassed. Between her and my only child, then living, who + was eight months old when she came to us, and something over + two years when she sailed for Europe, tendrils of affection + gradually intertwined themselves, which I trust Death has not + severed, but rather multiplied and strengthened. She became + his teacher, playmate, and monitor; and he requited her with a + prodigality of love and admiration. + + "I shall not soon forget their meeting in my office, after + some weeks' separation, just before she left us forever. His + mother had brought him in from the country and left him asleep + on my sofa, while she was absent making purchases, and he had + rolled off and hurt himself in the fall, waking with the shock + in a phrensy of anger, just before Margaret, hearing of his + arrival, rushed into the office to find him. I was vainly + attempting to soothe him as she entered; but he was running + from one end to the other of the office, crying passionately, + and refusing to be pacified. She hastened to him, in perfect + confidence that her endearments would calm the current of his + feelings,--that the sound of her well-remembered voice would + banish all thought of his pain,--and that another moment would + see him restored to gentleness; but, half-wakened, he did not + heed her, and probably did not even realize who it was that + caught him repeatedly in her arms and tenderly insisted that + he should restrain himself. At last she desisted in + despair; and, with the bitter tears streaming down her face, + observed:--'Pickie, many friends have treated me unkindly, + but no one had ever the power to cut me to the heart, as you + have!' Being thus let alone, he soon came to himself, and + their mutual delight in the meeting was rather heightened by + the momentary estrangement. + + "They had one more meeting; their last on earth! 'Aunty + Margaret' was to embark for Europe on a certain day, and + 'Pickie' was brought into the city to bid her farewell. + They met this time also at my office, and together we thence + repaired to the ferry-boat, on which she was returning to her + residence in Brooklyn to complete her preparations for the + voyage. There they took a tender and affecting leave of each + other. But soon his mother called at the office, on her way to + the departing ship, and we were easily persuaded to accompany + her thither, and say farewell once more, to the manifest + satisfaction of both Margaret and the youngest of her devoted + friends. Thus they parted, never to meet again in time. She + sent him messages and presents repeatedly from Europe; and he, + when somewhat older, dictated a letter in return, which was + joyfully received and acknowledged. When the mother of our + great-souled friend spent some days with us nearly two years + afterward, 'Pickie' talked to her often and lovingly of 'Aunty + Margaret,' proposing that they two should 'take a boat and go + over and see her,'--for, to his infantile conception, the low + coast of Long Island, visible just across the East River, + was that Europe to which she had sailed, and where she was + unaccountably detained so long. Alas! a far longer and more + adventurous journey was required to reunite those loving + souls! The 12th of July, 1849, saw him stricken down, from + health to death, by the relentless cholera; and my letter, + announcing that calamity, drew from her a burst of passionate + sorrow, such as hardly any bereavement but the loss of a + very near relative could have impelled. Another year had just + ended, when a calamity, equally sudden, bereft a wide circle + of her likewise, with her husband and infant son. Little did I + fear, when I bade her a confident Good-by, on the deck of her + outward-bound ship, that the sea would close over her earthly + remains, ere we should meet again; far less that the light + of my eyes and the cynosure of my hopes, who then bade her + a tenderer and sadder farewell, would precede her on the dim + pathway to that 'Father's house,' whence is no returning! Ah, + well! God is above all, and gracious alike in what he conceals + and what he discloses;--benignant and bounteous, as well when + he reclaims as when he bestows. In a few years, at farthest, + our loved and lost ones will welcome us to their home." + +Favorably as Mr. Greeley speaks of Margaret's articles in the Tribune, +it is yet true that she never brought her full power to bear upon +them; partly because she was too much exhausted by previous over-work, +partly because it hindered her free action to aim at popular effect. +Her own estimate of them is thus expressed:-- + + 'I go on very moderately, for my strength is not great, and + I am connected with one who is anxious that I should not + overtask it. Body and mind, I have long required rest and + mere amusement, and now obey Nature as much as I can. If + she pleases to restore me to an energetic state, she will + by-and-by; if not, I can only hope this world will not turn + me out of doors too abruptly. I value my present position very + much, as enabling me to speak effectually some right words to + a large circle; and, while I can do so, am content.' + +Again she says,-- + + 'I am pleased with your sympathy about the Tribune, for I + do not find much among my old friends. They think I ought to + produce something excellent, while I am satisfied to aid + in the great work of popular education. I never regarded + literature merely as a collection of exquisite products, but + rather as a means of mutual interpretation. Feeling that many + are reached and in some degree helped, the thoughts of every + day seem worth noting, though in a form that does not inspire + me.' + +The most valuable of her contributions, according to her own judgment, +were the Criticisms on Contemporary Authors in Europe and America. A +few of these were revised in the spring of 1846, and, in connection +with some of her best articles selected from the Dial, Western +Messenger, American Monthly, &c., appeared in two volumes of Wiley and +Putnam's Library of American Books, under the title of PAPERS ON ART +AND LITERATURE. + + + + +SOCIETY. + + +Heralded by her reputation, as a scholar, writer, and talker, and +brought continually before the public by her articles in the Tribune, +Margaret found a circle of acquaintance opening before her, as wide, +various, and rich, as time and inclination permitted her to know. +Persons sought her in her country retreat, attracted alike by idle +curiosity, desire for aid, and respectful sympathy. She visited freely +in several interesting families in New York and Brooklyn: occasionally +accepted invitations to evening parties, and often met, at the +somewhat celebrated _soirees_ of Miss Lynch, the assembled authors, +artists, critics, wits, and _dilettanti_ of New York. As was +inevitable, also, for one of such powerful magnetic influence, liberal +soul and broad judgment, she once again became, as elsewhere she had +been, a confidant and counsellor of the tempted and troubled; and her +geniality, lively conversation, and ever fresh love, gave her a home +in many hearts. But the subdued tone of her spirits at this period led +her to prefer seclusion. + +Of her own social habits she writes:-- + + 'It is not well to keep entirely apart from the stream of + common life; so, though I never go out when busy, nor keep + late hours, I find it pleasanter and better to enter somewhat + into society. I thus meet with many entertaining acquaintance, + and some friends. I can never, indeed, expect, in America, or + in this world, to form relations with nobler persons than I + have already known; nor can I put my heart into these new ties + as into the old ones, though probably it would still respond + to commanding excellence. But my present circle satisfies + my wants. As to what is called "good society," I am wholly + indifferent. I know several women, whom I like very much, + and yet more men. I hear good music, which answers my social + desires better than any other intercourse can; and I love + four or five interesting children, in whom I always find more + genuine sympathy than in their elders.' + +Of the impression produced by Margaret on those who were but slightly +acquainted with her, some notion may be formed from the following +sketch:-- + + "In general society, she commanded respect rather than + admiration All persons were curious to see her, and in full + rooms her fine head and spiritual expression at once marked + her out from the crowd; but the most were repelled by what + seemed conceit, pedantry, and a harsh spirit of criticism, + while, on her part, she appeared to regard those around her + as frivolous, superficial, and conventional. Indeed, I must + frankly confess, that we did not meet in pleasant relations, + except now and then, when the lifting of a veil, as it were, + revealed for a moment the true life of each. Yet I was fond of + looking at her from a distance, and defending her when silly + people were inclined to cavil at her want of feminine graces. + Then I would say, 'I would like to be an artist now, that I + might paint, not the care-worn countenance and the uneasy air + of one seemingly out of harmony with the scene about her, but + the soul that sometimes looks out from under those large lids. + Michel Angelo would have made her a Sibyl.' I remember I was + surprised to find her height no greater; for her writings had + always given me an impression of magnitude. Thus I studied + though I avoided her, admitting, the while, proudly and + joyously, that she was a woman to reverence. A trifling + incident, however, gave me the key to much in her character, + of which, before, I had not dreamed. It was one evening, after + a Valentine party, where Frances Osgood, Margaret Fuller, and + other literary ladies, had attracted some attention, that, + as we were in the dressing-room preparing to go home, I + heard Margaret sigh deeply. Surprised and moved, I said, + 'Why?'--'Alone, as usual,' was her pathetic answer, followed + by a few sweet, womanly remarks, touching as they were + beautiful. Often, after, I found myself recalling her look and + tone, with tears in my eyes; for before I had regarded her as + a being cold, and abstracted, if not scornful." + +Cold, abstracted, and scornful! About this very time it was that +Margaret wrote in her journal:-- + + 'Father, let me not injure my fellows during this period of + repression. I feel that when we meet my tones are not so sweet + as I would have them. O, let me not wound! I, who know so well + how wounds can burn and ache, should not inflict them. Let my + touch be light and gentle. Let me keep myself uninvaded, but + let me not fail to be kind and tender, when need is. Yet I + would not assume an overstrained poetic magnanimity. Help + me to do just right, and no more. O, make truth profound and + simple in me!' + +Again:-- + + 'The heart bleeds,--faith almost gives way, to see man's + seventy years of chrysalis. Is it not too long? Enthusiasm + must struggle fiercely to burn clear amid these fogs. In what + little, low, dark cells of care and prejudice, without + one soaring thought or melodious fancy, do poor + mortals--well-intentioned enough, and with religious + aspiration too--forever creep. And yet the sun sets to-day as + gloriously bright as ever it did on the temples of Athens, and + the evening star rises as heavenly pure as it rose on the + eye of Dante. O, Father! help me to free my fellows from the + conventional bonds whereby their sight is holden. By purity + and freedom let me teach them justice.' + +And yet again:-- + + 'There comes a consciousness that I have no real hold on + life,--no real, permanent connection with any soul. I seem a + wandering Intelligence, driven from spot to spot, that I may + learn all secrets, and fulfil a circle of knowledge. This + thought envelopes me as a cold atmosphere. I 'do not see how I + shall go through this destiny. I can, if it is mine; but I do + not feel that I can.' + +Casual observers mistook Margaret's lofty idealism for personal pride; +but thus speaks one who really knew her:--"You come like one of the +great powers of nature, harmonizing with all beauty of the soul or +of the earth. You cannot be discordant with anything that is true and +deep. I thank God for the noble privilege of being recognized by so +large, tender, and radiant a soul as thine." + + + + +EUROPE. + +LETTERS + + + "I go to prove my soul. + I see my way, as birds their trackless way. + In some time, God's good time, I shall arrive + He guides me and the bird. In his good time!" + + BROWNING. + + + "One, who, if He be called upon to face + Some awful moment, to which Heaven has joined + Great issues, good or bad for human kind, + Is happy as a lover, and attired + With sudden brightness, like a man inspired; + And, through the heat of conflict, keeps the law + In calmness made, and sees what he foresaw." + + WORDSWORTH. + + + "Italia! Italia! O tu cui feo la sorte + Dono infelice di bellezza, ond' hai + Funesta dote d' infiniti guai, + Che in fronte scritti per gran doglia porte. + Deh, fossi tu men bella, o almen piu forte!" + + FILICAJA. + + + "Oh, not to guess it at the first. + But I did guess it,--that is, I divined, + Felt by an instinct how it was;--why else + Should I pronounce you free from all that heap + Of sins, which had been irredeemable? + I felt they were not yours." + + BROWNING. + + + "Nests there are many of this very year, + Many the nests are, which the winds shall shake, + The rains run through and other birds beat down + Yours, O Aspasia! rests against the temple + Of heavenly love, and, thence inviolate, + It shall not fall this winter, nor the next." + + LANDOR. + + + "Lift up your heart upon the knees of God, + Losing yourself, your smallness and your darkness + In His great light, who fills and moves the world, + Who hath alone the quiet of perfect motion." + + STERLING. + + + + +VIII. + +EUROPE + + * * * * * + + +[It has been judged best to let Margaret herself tell the story of her +travels. In the spring of 1846, her valued friends, Marcus Spring and +lady, of New York, had decided to make a tour in Europe, with their +son, and they invited Miss Fuller to accompany them. An arrangement +was soon made on such terms as she could accept, and the party sailed +from Boston in the "Cambria," on the first of August. The following +narrative is made up of letters addressed by her to various +correspondents. Some extracts, describing distinguished persons whom +she saw, have been borrowed from her letters to the New York Tribune.] + + + + +TO MRS. MARGARET FULLER. + + +_Liverpool, Aug_. 16, 1846. + +My dear Mother:-- + +The last two days at sea passed well enough, as a number of agreeable +persons were introduced to me, and there were several whom I knew +before. I enjoyed nothing on the sea; the excessively bracing air so +affected me that I could not bear to look at it. The sight of land +delighted me. The tall crags, with their breakers and circling +sea-birds; then the green fields, how glad! We had a very fine day to +come ashore, and made the shortest passage ever known. The stewardess +said, "Any one who complained this time tempted the Almighty." I did +not complain, but I could hardly have borne another day. I had no +appetite; but am now making up for all deficiencies, and feel already +a renovation beginning from the voyage; and, still more, from freedom +and entire change of scene. + +We came here Wednesday, at noon; next day we went to Manchester; the +following day to Chester; returning here Saturday evening. + +On Sunday we went to hear James Martineau; were introduced to him, +and other leading persons. The next day and evening I passed in the +society of very pleasant people, who have made every exertion to give +me the means of seeing and learning; but they have used up all my +strength. + + + + +LONDON. + +TO C.S. + + +As soon as I reached England, I found how right we were in supposing +there was elsewhere a greater range of interesting character among the +men, than with us. I do not find, indeed, any so valuable as three or +four among the most marked we have known; but many that are strongly +individual, and have a fund of hidden life. + +In Westmoreland, I knew, and have since been seeing in London, a man, +such as would interest you a good deal; Mr. Atkinson. He is sometimes +called the "prince of the English mesmerisers;" and he has the fine +instinctive nature you may suppose from that. He is a man of about +thirty; in the fulness of his powers; tall, and finely formed, with +a head for Leonardo to paint; mild and composed, but powerful and +sagacious; he does not think, but perceives and acts. He is intimate +with artists, having studied architecture himself as a profession; but +has some fortune on which he lives. Sometimes stationary and acting +in the affairs of other men; sometimes wandering about the world and +learning; he seems bound by no tie, yet looks as if he had relatives +in every place. + +I saw, also, a man,--an artist,--severe and antique in his spirit; he +seemed burdened by the sorrows of aspiration; yet very calm, as secure +in the justice of fate. What he does is bad, but full of a great +desire. His name is David Scott. I saw another,--a pupil of De la +Roche,--very handsome, and full of a voluptuous enjoyment of nature: +him I liked a little in a different way. + +By far the most beauteous person I have seen is Joseph Mazzini. If you +ever see Saunders' "People's Journal," you can read articles by him +that will give you some notion of his mind, especially one on his +friends, headed "Italian Martyrs." He is one in whom holiness has +purified, but somewhat dwarfed the man. + + * * * * * + +Our visit to Mr. Wordsworth was fortunate. He is seventy-six; but his +is a florid, fair old age. He walked with us to all his haunts about +the house. Its situation is beautiful, and the "Rydalian Laurels" are +magnificent. Still, I saw abodes among the hills that I should have +preferred for Wordsworth; more wild and still more romantic. The fresh +and lovely Rydal Mount seems merely the retirement of a gentleman, +rather than the haunt of a poet. He showed his benignity of +disposition in several little things, especially in his attentions to +a young boy we had with us. This boy had left the circus, exhibiting +its feats of horsemanship, in Ambleside, "for that day only," at his +own desire to see Wordsworth; and I feared he would be dissatisfied, +as I know I should have been at his age, if, when called to see +a poet, I had found no Apollo flaming with youthful glory, +laurel-crowned, and lyre in hand; but, instead, a reverend old man +clothed in black, and walking with cautious step along the level +garden-path. However, he was not disappointed; and Wordsworth, in his +turn, seemed to feel and prize a congenial nature in this child. + +Taking us into the house, he showed us the picture of his sister, +repeating with much expression some lines of hers, and those so famous +of his about her, beginning "Five years," &c.; also, his own picture, +by Inman, of whom he spoke with esteem. I had asked to see a picture +in that room, which has been described in one of the finest of his +later poems. A hundred times had I wished to see this picture, yet +when seen was not disappointed by it. The light was unfavorable, but +it had a light of its own,-- + + "whose mild gleam + Of beauty never ceases to enrich + The common light." + +Mr. Wordsworth is fond of the hollyhock; a partiality scarcely +deserved by the flower, but which marks the simplicity of his tastes. +He had made a long avenue of them, of all colors, from the crimson +brown to rose, straw-color, and white, and pleased himself with having +made proselytes to a liking for them, among his neighbors. + +I never have seen such magnificent fuchsias as at Ambleside, and there +was one to be seen in every cottage-yard. They are no longer here +under the shelter of the green-house, as with us, and as they used to +be in England. The plant, from its grace and finished elegance, being +a great favorite of mine, I should like to see it as frequently and of +as luxuriant growth at home, and asked their mode of culture, which +I here mark down for the benefit of all who may be interested. Make +a bed of bog-earth and sand; put down slips of the fuchsia, and give +them a great deal of water; this is all they need. People leave them +out here in winter, but perhaps they would not bear the cold of our +Januaries. + +Mr. Wordsworth spoke with more liberality than we expected of the +recent measures about the Corn-laws, saying that "the principle +was certainly right, though whether existing interests had been as +carefully attended to as was right, he was not prepared to say," &c. +His neighbors were pleased to hear of his speaking thus mildly, and +hailed it as a sign that he was opening his mind to more light on +these subjects. They lament that his habits of seclusion keep him +ignorant of the real wants of England and the world. Living in this +region, which is cultivated by small proprietors, where there is +little poverty, vice, or misery, he hears not the voice which cries so +loudly from other parts of England, and will not be stilled by sweet, +poetic suasion, or philosophy, for it is the cry of men in the jaws of +destruction. + +It was pleasant to find the reverence inspired by this great and pure +mind warmest near home. Our landlady, in heaping praises upon him, +added, constantly, "and Mrs. Wordsworth, too." "Do the people here," +said I, "value Mr. Wordsworth most because he is a celebrated writer?" +"Truly, madam," said she, "I think it is because he is so kind a +neighbor." + + "True to the kindred points of Heaven and Home." + + + + +EDINBURGH.----DE QUINCEY. + + +At Edinburgh we were in the wrong season, and many persons we most +wished to see were absent. We had, however, the good fortune to find +Dr. Andrew Combe, who received us with great kindness. I was impressed +with great and affectionate respect, by the benign and even temper of +his mind, his extensive and accurate knowledge, accompanied by a large +and intelligent liberality. Of our country he spoke very wisely and +hopefully. + + * * * * * + +I had the satisfaction, not easily attainable now, of seeing De +Quincey for some hours, and in the mood of conversation. As one +belonging to the Wordsworth and Coleridge constellation (he, too, +is now seventy years of age), the thoughts and knowledge of Mr. De +Quincey lie in the past, and oftentimes he spoke of matters now become +trite to one of a later culture. But to all that fell from his lips, +his eloquence, subtle and forcible as the wind, full and gently +falling as the evening dew, lent a peculiar charm. He is an admirable +narrator; not rapid, but gliding along like a rivulet through a green +meadow, giving and taking a thousand little beauties not absolutely +required to give his story due relief, but each, in itself, a separate +boon. + +I admired, too, his urbanity; so opposite to the rapid, slang, +Vivian-Greyish style, current in the literary conversation of the +day. "Sixty years since," men had time to do things better and more +gracefully. + + + + +CHALMERS. + + +With Dr. Chalmers we passed a couple of hours. He is old now, but +still full of vigor and fire. We had an opportunity of hearing a +fine burst of indignant eloquence from him. "I shall blush to my very +bones," said he, "if the _Chaarrch_" (sound these two _rrs_ with +as much burr as possible, and you will get an idea of his mode of +pronouncing that unweariable word,) "if the Chaarrch yield to the +storm." He alluded to the outcry now raised by the Abolitionists +against the Free Church, whose motto is, "Send back the money;" i.e., +the money taken from the American slaveholders. Dr. C. felt, that +if they did not yield from conviction, they must not to assault. +His manner in speaking of this gave me a hint of the nature of his +eloquence. He seldom preaches now. + + * * * * * + +A Scottish gentleman told me the following story:--Burns, still only +in the dawn of his celebrity, was invited to dine with one of the +neighboring so-called gentry, unhappily quite void of true gentle +blood. On arriving, he found his plate set in the servants' room. +After dinner, he was invited into a room where guests were assembled, +and, a chair being placed for him at the lower end of the board, a +glass of wine was offered, and he was requested to sing one of his +songs for the entertainment, of the company. He drank off the wine, +and thundered forth in reply his grand song "For a' that and a' that," +and having finished his prophecy and prayer, nature's nobleman left +his churlish entertainers to hide their heads in the home they had +disgraced. + + + + +A NIGHT ON BEN LOMOND. + + +At Inversnaid, we took a boat to go down Loch Lomond, to the little +inn of Rowardennan, from which the ascent is made of Ben Lomond. We +found a day of ten thousand, for our purpose; but, unhappily, a large +party had come with the sun, and engaged all the horses, so that if we +went, it must be on foot. This was something of an enterprise for me, +as the ascent is four miles, and toward the summit quite fatiguing. +However, in the pride of newly-gained health and strength, I was +ready, and set forth with Mr. S. alone. We took no guide, and the +people of the house did not advise us to take one, as they ought. + +On reaching the peak, the sight was one of beauty and grandeur such as +imagination never painted. You see around you no plain ground, but on +every side constellations, or groups of hills, exquisitely dressed in +the soft purple of the heather, amid which gleam the lakes, like eyes +that tell the secrets of the earth, and drink in those of the heavens. +Peak beyond peak caught from the shifting light all the colors of +the prism, and, on the furthest, angel companies seemed hovering in +glorious white robes. + +About four o'clock we began our descent. Near the summit, the traces +of the path are not distinct, and I said to Mr. S., after a while, +that we had lost it. He said he thought that was of no consequence; +we could find our way down. I said I thought it was, as the ground was +full of springs that were bridged over in the pathway. He accordingly +went to look for it, and I stood still, because I was so tired I did +not like to waste any labor. + +Soon he called to me that he had found it, and I followed in the +direction where he seemed to be. But I mistook, overshot it, and saw +him no more. In about ten minutes I became alarmed, and called him +many times. It seems, he on his side shouted also, but the brow of +some hill was between us, and we neither saw nor heard one another. I +then thought I would make the best of my way down, and I should +find him when I arrived. But, in doing so, I found the justice of my +apprehension about the springs, so soon as I got to the foot of the +hills; for I would sink up to my knees in bog, and must go up the +hills again, seeking better crossing places. Thus I lost much time. +Nevertheless, in the twilight, I saw, at last, the lake, and the inn +of Rowardennan on its shore. + +Between me and it, lay, direct, a high heathery hill, which I +afterwards found is called "The Tongue," because hemmed in on three +sides by a water-course. It looked as if, could I only get to the +bottom of that, I should be on comparatively level ground. I +then attempted to descend in the water-course, but, finding that +impracticable, climbed on the hill again, and let myself down by the +heather, for it was very steep, and full of deep holes. With great +fatigue, I got to the bottom, but when I was about to cross the +water-course there, I felt afraid, it looked so deep in the dim +twilight. I got down as far as I could by the root of a tree, and +threw down a stone. It sounded very hollow, and I was afraid to jump. +The shepherds told me afterwards, if I had, I should probably have +killed myself, it was so deep, and the bed of the torrent full of +sharp stones. + +I then tried to ascend the hill again, for there was no other way to +get off it; but soon sank down utterly exhausted. When able to get up +again, and look about me, it was completely dark. I saw, far below me, +a light, that looked about as big as a pin's head, that I knew to be +from the inn at Rowardennan, but heard no sound except the rush of the +waterfall, and the sighing of the night wind. + +For the first few minutes after I perceived I had come to my night's +lodging, such as it was, the circumstance looked appalling. I was very +lightly clad, my feet and dress were very wet, I had only a little +shawl to throw round me, and the cold autumn wind had already come, +and the night mist was to fall on me, all fevered and exhausted as I +was. I thought I should not live through the night, or, if I did, I +must be an invalid henceforward. I could not even keep myself warm by +walking, for, now it was dark, it would be too dangerous to stir. My +only chance, however, lay in motion, and my only help in myself; and +so convinced was I of this, that I did keep in motion the whole of +that long night, imprisoned as I was on such a little perch of that +great mountain. + +For about two hours, I saw the stars, and very cheery and +companionable they looked; but then the mist fell, and I saw nothing +more, except such apparitions as visited Ossian, on the hill-side, +when he went out by night, and struck the bosky shield, and called to +him the spirits of the heroes, and the white-armed maids, with their +blue eyes of grief. To me, too, came those visionary shapes. Floating +slowly and gracefully, their white robes would unfurl from the great +body of mist in which they had been engaged, and come upon me with a +kiss pervasively cold as that of death. Then the moon rose. I could +not see her, but her silver light filled the mist. Now I knew it was +two o'clock, and that, having weathered out so much of the night, I +might the rest; and the hours hardly seemed long to me more. + +It may give an idea of the extent of the mountain, that, though I +called, every now and then, with all my force, in case by chance some +aid might be near, and though no less than twenty men, with their +dogs, were looking for me, I never heard a sound, except the rush of +the waterfall and the sighing of the night wind, and once or twice +the startling of the grouse in the heather. It was sublime indeed,--a +never-to-be-forgotten presentation of stern, serene realities. At last +came the signs of day,--the gradual clearing and breaking up; some +faint sounds from I know not what; the little flies, too, arose from +their bed amid the purple heather, and bit me. Truly they were very +welcome to do so. But what was my disappointment to find the mist so +thick, that I could see neither lake nor inn, nor anything to guide +me. I had to go by guess, and, as it happened, my Yankee method served +me well. I ascended the hill, crossed the torrent, in the waterfall, +first drinking some of the water, which was as good at that time as +ambrosia. I crossed in that place, because the waterfall made steps, +as it were, to the next hill. To be sure, they were covered with +water, but I was already entirely wet with the mist, so that it +did not matter. I kept on scrambling, as it happened, in the right +direction, till, about seven, some of the shepherds found me. The +moment they came, all my feverish strength departed, and they carried +me home, where my arrival relieved my friends of distress far greater +than I had undergone; for I had my grand solitude, my Ossianic +visions, and the pleasure of sustaining myself; while they had only +doubt, amounting to anguish, and a fruitless search through the night. + +Entirely contrary to my forebodings, I only suffered for this a few +days, and was able to take a parting look at my prison, as I went +down the lake, with feelings of complacency. It was a majestic-looking +hill, that Tongue, with the deep ravines on either side, and the +richest robe of heather I have anywhere seen. + +Mr. S. gave all the men who were looking for me a dinner in the +barn, and he and Mrs. S. ministered to them; and they talked of +Burns,--really the national writer, and known by them, apparently, +as none other is,--and of hair-breadth 'scapes by flood and fell. +Afterwards they were all brought up to see me, and it was gratifying +to note the good breeding and good feeling with which they deported +themselves. Indeed, this adventure created quite an intimate feeling +between us and the people there. I had been much pleased before, +in attending one of their dances, at the genuine independence and +politeness of their conduct. They were willing to dance their Highland +flings and strathspeys, for our amusement, and did it as naturally and +as freely as they would have offered the stranger the best chair. + + + + +JOANNA BAILLIE.--HOWITTS.--SMITH. + + +I have mentioned with satisfaction seeing some persons who illustrated +the past dynasty in the progress of thought here: Wordsworth, Dr. +Chalmers, De Quincey, Andrew Combe. With a still higher pleasure, +because to one of my own sex, whom I have honored almost above any, +I went to pay my court to Joanna Baillie. I found on her brow, not, +indeed, a coronal of gold; but a serenity and strength undimmed and +unbroken by the weight of more than fourscore years, or by the scanty +appreciation which her thoughts have received. We found her in her +little calm retreat, at Hampstead, surrounded by marks of love and +reverence from distinguished and excellent friends. Near her was the +sister, older than herself, yet still sprightly and full of active +kindness, whose character and their mutual relations she has, in one +of her last poems, indicated with such a happy mixture of sagacity, +humor, and tender pathos, and with so absolute a truth of outline. + + * * * * * + +Mary and William Howitt are the main support of the People's Journal. +I saw them several times at their cheerful and elegant home. In Mary +Howitt, I found the same engaging traits of character we are led +to expect from her books for children. At their house, I became +acquainted with Dr. Southwood Smith, the well-known philanthropist. +He is at present engaged in the construction of good tenements, +calculated to improve the condition of the working people. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Paris, Nov. 16, 1846._--I meant to write on my arrival in London, six +weeks ago; but as it was not what is technically called "the season," +I thought I had best send all my letters of introduction at once, that +I might glean what few good people I could. But more than I expected +were in town. These introduced others, and in three days I was engaged +in such a crowd of acquaintance, that I had hardly time to dress, and +none to sleep, during all the weeks I was in London. + +I enjoyed the time extremely. I find myself much in my element in +European society. It does not, indeed, come up to my ideal, but so +many of the encumbrances are cleared away that used to weary me in +America, that I can enjoy a freer play of faculty, and feel, if not +like a bird in the air, at least as easy as a fish in water. + +In Edinburgh, I met Dr. Brown. He is still quite a young man, but with +a high ambition, and, I should think, commensurate powers. But all is +yet in the bud with him. He has a friend, David Scott, a painter, +full of imagination, and very earnest in his views of art. I had some +pleasant hours with them, and the last night which they and I passed +with De Quincey, a real grand _conversazione_, quite in the Landor +style, which lasted, in full harmony, some hours. + + + + +CARLYLE. + + +Of the people I saw in London, you will wish me to speak first of the +Carlyles. Mr. C. came to see me at once, and appointed an evening to +be passed at their house. That first time, I was delighted with him. +He was in a very sweet humor,--full of wit and pathos, without being +overbearing or oppressive. I was quite carried away with the rich flow +of his discourse; and the hearty, noble earnestness of his personal +being brought back the charm which once was upon his writing, before I +wearied of it. I admired his Scotch, his way of singing his great full +sentences, so that each one was like the stanza of a narrative ballad. +He let me talk, now and then, enough to free my lungs and change my +position, so that I did not get tired. That evening, he talked of the +present state of things in England, giving light, witty sketches +of the men of the day, fanatics and others, and some sweet, homely +stories he told of things he had known of the Scotch peasantry. Of you +he spoke with hearty kindness; and he told, with beautiful feeling, a +story of some poor farmer, or artisan, in the country, who on Sunday +lays aside the cark and care of that dirty English world, and sits +reading the Essays, and looking upon the sea. + +I left him that night, intending to go out very often to their +house. I assure you there never was anything so witty as Carlyle's +description of ---- ----. It was enough to kill one with laughing. +I, on my side, contributed a story to his fund of anecdote on this +subject, and it was fully appreciated. Carlyle is worth a thousand of +you for that;--he is not ashamed to laugh, when he is amused, but goes +on in a cordial human fashion. + +The second time, Mr. C. had a dinner-party, at which was a witty, +French, flippant sort of man, author of a History of Philosophy, and +now writing a Life of Goethe, a task for which he must be as unfit as +irreligion and sparkling shallowness can make him. But he told stories +admirably, and was allowed sometimes to interrupt Carlyle a little, +of which one was glad, for, that night, he was in his more acrid +mood; and, though much more brilliant than on the former evening, +grew wearisome to me, who disclaimed and rejected almost everything he +said. + +For a couple of hours, he was talking about poetry, and the whole +harangue was one eloquent proclamation of the defects in his own mind. +Tennyson wrote in verse because the schoolmasters had taught him that +it was great to do so, and had thus, unfortunately, been turned from +the true path for a man. Burns had, in like manner, been turned from +his vocation. Shakspeare had not had the good sense to see that +it would have been better to write straight on in prose;--and such +nonsense, which, though amusing enough at first, he ran to death after +a while. The most amusing part is always when he comes back to some +refrain, as in the French Revolution of the _sea-green_. In this +instance, it was Petrarch and _Laura_, the last word pronounced with +his ineffable sarcasm of drawl. Although he said this over +fifty times, I could not ever help laughing when _Laura_ would +come,--Carlyle running his chin out, when he spoke it, and his eyes +glancing till they looked like the eyes and beak of a bird of prey. +Poor Laura! Lucky for her that her poet had already got her safely +canonized beyond the reach of this Teufelsdrockh vulture. + +The worst of hearing Carlyle is that you cannot interrupt him. I +understand the habit and power of haranguing have increased very much +upon him, so that you are a perfect prisoner when he has once got hold +of you. To interrupt him is a physical impossibility. If you get a +chance to remonstrate for a moment, he raises his voice and bears +you down. True, he does you no injustice, and, with his admirable +penetration, sees the disclaimer in your mind, so that you are not +morally delinquent; but it is not pleasant to be unable to utter it. +The latter part of the evening, however, he paid us for this, by a +series of sketches, in his finest style of railing and raillery, of +modern French literature, not one of them, perhaps, perfectly just, +but all drawn with the finest, boldest strokes, and, from his point of +view, masterly. All were depreciating, except that of Beranger. Of him +he spoke with perfect justice, because with hearty sympathy. + +I had, afterward, some talk with Mrs. C., whom hitherto I had only +_seen_, for who can speak while her husband is there? I like her very +much;--she is full of grace, sweetness, and talent. Her eyes are sad +and charming. * * * + +After this, they went to stay at Lord Ashburton's, and I only saw +them once more, when they came to pass an evening with us. Unluckily, +Mazzini was with us, whose society, when he was there alone, I enjoyed +more than any. He is a beauteous and pure music; also, he is a dear +friend of Mrs. C.; but his being there gave the conversation a turn to +"progress" and ideal subjects, and C. was fluent in invectives on +all our "rose-water imbecilities." We all felt distant from him, and +Mazzini, after some vain efforts to remonstrate, became very sad. Mrs. +C. said to me, "These are but opinions to Carlyle; but to Mazzini, who +has given his all, and helped bring his friends to the scaffold, in +pursuit of such subjects, it is a matter of life and death." + +All Carlyle's talk, that evening, was a defence of mere +force,--success the test of right;--if people would not behave well, +put collars round their necks;--find a hero, and let them be his +slaves, &c. It was very Titanic, and anti-celestial. I wish the last +evening had been more melodious. However, I bid Carlyle farewell with +feelings of the warmest friendship and admiration. We cannot feel +otherwise to a great and noble nature, whether it harmonize with our +own or not. I never appreciated the work he has done for his age +till I saw England. I could not. You must stand in the shadow of that +mountain of shams, to know how hard it is to cast light across it. + +Honor to Carlyle! _Hoch!_ Although in the wine with which we drink +this health, I, for one, must mingle the despised "rose-water." + +And now, having to your eye shown the defects of my own mind, in the +sketch of another, I will pass on more lowly,--more willing to be +imperfect,--since Fate permits such noble creatures, after all, to +be only this or that. It is much if one is not only a crow or +magpie;--Carlyle is only a lion. Some time we may, all in full, be +intelligent and humanly fair. + + + + +CARLYLE, AGAIN. + + +_Paris, Dec, 1846._--Accustomed to the infinite wit and exuberant +richness of his writings, his talk is still an amazement and +a splendor scarcely to be faced with steady eyes. He does not +converse;--only harangues. It is the usual misfortune of such marked +men,--happily not one invariable or inevitable,--that they cannot +allow other minds room to breathe, and show themselves in their +atmosphere, and thus miss the refreshment and instruction which the +greatest never cease to need from the experience of the humblest. +Carlyle allows no one a chance, but bears down all opposition, not +only by his wit and onset of words, resistless in their sharpness as +so many bayonets, but by actual physical superiority,--raising his +voice, and rushing on his opponent with a torrent of sound. This is +not in the least from unwillingness to allow freedom to others. On the +contrary, no man would more enjoy a manly resistance to his thought. +But it is the habit of a mind accustomed to follow out its own +impulse, as the hawk its prey, and which knows not how to stop in +the chase. Carlyle, indeed, is arrogant and overbearing; but in his +arrogance there is no littleness,--no self-love. It is the heroic +arrogance of some old Scandinavian conqueror;--it is his nature, and +the untamable energy that has given him power to crush the dragons. +You do not love him, perhaps, nor revere; and perhaps, also, he would +only laugh at you if you did; but you like him heartily, and like to +see him the powerful smith, the Siegfried, melting all the old iron +in his furnace till it glows to a sunset red, and burns you, if you +senselessly go too near. He seems, to me, quite isolated,--lonely as +the desert,--yet never was a man more fitted to prize a man, could he +find one to match his mood. He finds them, but only in the past. +He sings, rather than talks. He pours upon you a kind of satirical, +heroical, critical poem, with regular cadences, and generally, near +the beginning, hits upon some singular epithet, which serves as a +_refrain_ when his song is full, or with which, as with a knitting +needle, he catches up the stitches, if he has chanced, now and then, +to let fall a row. For the higher kinds of poetry he has no sense, +and his talk on that subject is delightfully and gorgeously absurd. He +sometimes stops a minute to laugh at it himself, then begins anew with +fresh vigor; for all the spirits he is driving before him seem to him +as Fata Morgana, ugly masks, in fact, if he can but make them turn +about; but he laughs that they seem to others such dainty Ariels. +His talk, like his books, is full of pictures; his critical strokes +masterly. Allow for his point of view, and his survey is admirable. +He is a large subject. I cannot speak more or wiselier of him now, nor +needs it;--his works are true, to blame and praise him,--the Siegfried +of England,--great and powerful, if not quite invulnerable, and of a +might rather to destroy evil, than legislate for good. + +Of Dr. Wilkinson I saw a good deal, and found him a substantial +person,--a sane, strong, and well-exercised mind,--but in the last +degree unpoetical in its structure. He is very simple, natural, and +good; excellent to see, though one cannot go far with him; and he +would be worth more in writing, if he could get time to write, than in +personal intercourse. He may yet find time;--he is scarcely more than +thirty. Dr. W. wished to introduce me to Mr. Clissold, but I had not +time; shall find it, if in London again. Tennyson was not in town. + +Browning has just married Miss Barrett, and gone to Italy. I may meet +them there. Bailey is helping his father with a newspaper! His wife +and child (Philip Festus by name) came to see me. I am to make them a +visit on my return. Marston I saw several times, and found him full +of talent. That is all I want to say at present;--he is a delicate +nature, that can only be known in its own way and time. I went to see +his "Patrician's Daughter." It is an admirable play for the stage. At +the house of W.J. Fox, I saw first himself, an eloquent man, of great +practical ability, then Cooper, (of the "Purgatory of Suicides,") and +others. + +My poor selection of miscellanies has been courteously greeted in +the London journals. Openings were made for me to write, had I but +leisure; it is for that I look to a second stay in London, since +several topics came before me on which I wished to write and publish +_there_. + + * * * * * + +I became acquainted with a gentleman who is intimate with all the +English artists, especially Stanfield and Turner, but was only able to +go to his house once, at this time. Pictures I found but little time +for, yet enough to feel what they are now to be to me. I was only at +the Dulwich and National Galleries and Hampton Court. Also, have seen +the Vandykes, at Warwick; but all the precious private collections +I was obliged to leave untouched, except one of Turner's, to which I +gave a day. For the British Museum, I had only one day, which I spent +in the Greek and Egyptian Rooms, unable even to look at the vast +collections of drawings, &c. But if I live there a few months, I shall +go often. O, were life but longer, and my strength greater! Ever I am +bewildered by the riches of existence, had I but more time to open +the oysters, and get out the pearls. Yet some are mine, if only for a +necklace or rosary. + + + + +PARIS. + +TO HER MOTHER. + + +_Paris, Dec. 26, 1846._--In Paris I have been obliged to give a +great deal of time to French, in order to gain the power of speaking, +without which I might as usefully be in a well as here. That has +prevented my doing nearly as much as I would. Could I remain six +months in this great focus of civilized life, the time would be all +too short for my desires and needs. + +My Essay on American Literature has been translated into French, and +published in "La Revue Independante," one of the leading journals of +Paris; only, with that delight at manufacturing names for which the +French are proverbial, they put, instead of _Margaret_, _Elizabeth_. +Write to ----, that aunt Elizabeth has appeared unexpectedly before +the French public! She will not enjoy her honors long, as a future +number, which is to contain a notice of "Woman in the Nineteenth +Century," will rectify the mistake. + +I have been asked, also, to remain in correspondence with La Revue +Independante, after my return to the United States, which will be very +pleasant and advantageous to me. + +I have some French acquaintance, and begin to take pleasure in them, +now that we can hold intercourse more easily. Among others, a Madame +Pauline Roland I find an interesting woman. She is an intimate friend +of Beranger and of Pierre Leroux. + +We occupy a charming suite of apartments, Hotel Rougement, Boulevard +Poissoniere. It is a new hotel, and has not the arched gateways and +gloomy court-yard of the old mansions. My room, though small, is very +pretty, with the thick, flowered carpet and marble slabs; the French +clock, with Cupid, of course, over the fireplace, in which burns a +bright little wood fire; the canopy bedstead, and inevitable large +mirror; the curtains, too, are thick and rich, the closet, &c., +excellent, the attendance good. But for all this, one pays dear. We do +not find that one can live _pleasantly_ at Paris for little money; and +we prefer to economize by a briefer stay, if at all. + + + + +TO E.H. + + +_Paris, Jan. 18, 1847,_ and _Naples, March 17, 1847._--You wished to +hear of George Sand, or, as they say in Paris, "Madame Sand." I find +that all we had heard of her was true in the outline; I had supposed +it might be exaggerated. She had every reason to leave her husband,--a +stupid, brutal man, who insulted and neglected her. He afterwards gave +up their child to her for a sum of money. But the love for which she +left him lasted not well, and she has had a series of lovers, and I +am told has one now, with whom she lives on the footing of combined +means, independent friendship! But she takes rank in society like a +man, for the weight of her thoughts, and has just given her daughter +in marriage. Her son is a grown-up young man, an artist. Many women +visit her, and esteem it an honor. Even an American here, and with +the feelings of our country on such subjects, Mrs. ----, thinks of her +with high esteem. She has broken with La Mennais, of whom she was once +a disciple. + +I observed to Dr. Francois, who is an intimate of hers, and loves and +admires her, that it did not seem a good sign that she breaks with her +friends. He said it was not so with her early friends; that she has +chosen to buy a chateau in the region where she passed her childhood, +and that the people there love and have always loved her dearly. She +is now at the chateau, and, I begin to fear, will not come to town +before I go. Since I came, I have read two charming stories recently +written by her. Another longer one she has just sold to _La Presse_ +for fifteen thousand francs. She does not receive nearly as much +for her writings as Balzac, Dumas, or Sue. She has a much greater +influence than they, but a less circulation. + +She stays at the chateau, because the poor people there were suffering +so much, and she could help them. She has subscribed _twenty thousand +francs_ for their relief, in the scarcity of the winter. It is a great +deal to earn by one's pen: a novel of several volumes sold for only +fifteen thousand francs, as I mentioned before. * * * + +At last, however, she came; and I went to see her at her house, +Place d'Orleans. I found it a handsome modern residence. She had not +answered my letter, written about a week before, and I felt a little +anxious lest she should not receive me; for she is too much the mark +of impertinent curiosity, as well as too busy, to be easily accessible +to strangers. I am by no means timid, but I have suffered, for the +first time in France, some of the torments of _mauvaise honte_, enough +to see what they must be to many. + +It is the custom to go and call on those to whom you bring letters, +and push yourself upon their notice; thus you must go quite ignorant +whether they are disposed to be cordial. My name is always murdered +by the foreign servants who announce me. I speak very bad French; +only lately have I had sufficient command of it to infuse some of my +natural spirit in my discourse. This has been a great trial to me, +who am eloquent and free in my own tongue, to be forced to feel my +thoughts struggling in vain for utterance. + +The servant who admitted me was in the picturesque costume of a +peasant, and, as Madame Sand afterward told me, her god-daughter, +whom she had brought from her province. She announced me as "_Madame +Salere,_" and returned into the ante-room to tell me. "_Madame says +she does not know you_" I began to think I was doomed to a rebuff, +among the crowd who deserve it. However, to make assurance sure, I +said, "Ask if she has not received a letter from me." As I spoke, +Madame S. opened the door, and stood looking at me an instant. Our +eyes met. I never shall forget her look at that moment. The doorway +made a frame for her figure; she is large, but well-formed. She was +dressed in a robe of dark violet silk, with a black mantle on her +shoulders, her beautiful hair dressed with the greatest taste, her +whole appearance and attitude, in its simple and lady-like dignity, +presenting an almost ludicrous contrast to the vulgar caricature idea +of George Sand. Her face is a very little like the portraits, but +much finer; the upper part of the forehead and eyes are beautiful, +the lower, strong and masculine, expressive of a hardy temperament and +strong passions, but not in the least coarse; the complexion olive, +and the air of the whole head Spanish, (as, indeed, she was born at +Madrid, and is only on one side of French blood.) All these details +I saw at a glance; but what fixed my attention was the expression of +_goodness_, nobleness, and power, that pervaded the whole,--the truly +human heart and nature that shone in the eyes. As our eyes met, she +said, "_C'est vous_" and held out her hand. I took it, and went into +her little study; we sat down a moment, then I said, "_Il me fait de +bien de vous voir_" and I am sure I said it with my whole heart, for +it made me very happy to see such a woman, so large and so developed +a character, and everything that _is_ good in it so _really_ good. I +loved, shall always love her. + +She looked away, and said, "_Ah! vous m'avez ecrit une lettre +charmante_" This was all the preliminary of our talk, which then went +on as if we had always known one another. She told me, before I went +away, that she was going that very day to write to me; that when +the servant announced me she did not recognize the name, but after +a minute it struck her that it might be _La dame Americaine,_ as +the foreigners very commonly call me, for they find my name hard +to remember. She was very much pressed for time, as she was then +preparing copy for the printer, and, having just returned, there were +many applications to see her, but she wanted me to stay then, saying, +"It is better to throw things aside, and seize the present moment." I +staid a good part of the day, and was very glad afterwards, for I did +not see her again uninterrupted. Another day I was there, and saw +her in her circle. Her daughter and another lady were present, and a +number of gentlemen. Her position there was of an intellectual woman +and good friend,--the same as my own in the circle of my acquaintance +as distinguished from my intimates. Her daughter is just about to +be married. It is said, there is no congeniality between her and her +mother; but for her son she seems to have much love, and he loves and +admires her extremely. I understand he has a good and free character, +without conspicuous talent. + +Her way of talking is just like her writing,--lively, picturesque, +with an undertone of deep feeling, and the same skill in striking the +nail on the head every now and then with a blow. + +We did not talk at all of personal or private matters. I saw, as one +sees in her writings, the want of an independent, interior life, but +I did not feel it as a fault, there is so much in her of her kind. +I heartily enjoyed the sense of so rich, so prolific, so ardent a +genius. I liked the woman in her, too, very much; I never liked a +woman better. + +For the rest I do not care to write about it much, for I cannot, in +the room and time I have to spend, express my thoughts as I would; but +as near as I can express the sum total, it is this. S---- and others +who admire her, are anxious to make a fancy picture of her, and +represent her as a Helena (in the Seven Chords of the Lyre); all whose +mistakes are the fault of the present state of society. But to me the +truth seems to be this. She has that purity in her soul, for she +knows well how to love and prize its beauty; but she herself is +quite another sort of person. She needs no defence, but only to be +understood, for she has bravely acted out her nature, and always with +good intentions. She might have loved one man permanently, if she +could have found one contemporary with her who could interest and +command her throughout her range; but there was hardly a possibility +of that, for such a person. Thus she has naturally changed the +objects of her affection, and several times. Also, there may have been +something of the Bacchante in her life, and of the love of night and +storm, and the free raptures amid which roamed on the mountain-tops +the followers of Cybele, the great goddess, the great mother. But she +was never coarse, never gross, and I am sure her generous heart has +not failed to draw some rich drops from every kind of wine-press. When +she has done with an intimacy, she likes to break it off suddenly, and +this has happened often, both with men and women. Many calumnies upon +her are traceable to this cause. + +I forgot to mention, that, while talking, she _does_ smoke all the +time her little cigarette. This is now a common practice among ladies +abroad, but I believe originated with her. + +For the rest, she holds her place in the literary and social world +of France like a man, and seems full of energy and courage in it. I +suppose she has suffered much, but she has also enjoyed and done much, +and her expression is one of calmness and happiness. I was sorry to +see her _exploitant_ her talent so carelessly. She does too much, and +this cannot last forever; but "Teverino" and the "Mare au Diable," +which she has lately published, are as original, as masterly in truth, +and as free in invention, as anything she has done. + +Afterwards I saw Chopin, not with her, although he lives with her, and +has for the last twelve years. I went to see him in his room with one +of his friends. He is always ill, and as frail as a snow-drop, but an +exquisite genius. He played to me, and I liked his talking scarcely +less. Madame S. loved Liszt before him; she has thus been intimate +with the two opposite sides of the musical world. Mickiewicz says, +"Chopin talks with spirit, and gives us the Ariel view of the +universe. Liszt is the eloquent _tribune_ to the world of men, a +little vulgar and showy certainly, but I like the tribune best." It is +said here, that Madame S. has long had only a friendship for Chopin, +who, perhaps, on his side prefers to be a lover, and a jealous lover; +but she does not leave him, because he needs her care so much, when +sick and suffering. About all this, I do not know; you cannot know +much about anything in France, except what you see with your two eyes. +Lying is ingrained in "_la grande nation_" as they so plainly show no +less in literature than life. + + + + +RACHEL. + + +In France the theatre is living; you see something really good, and +good throughout. Not one touch of that stage-strut and vulgar bombast +of tone, which the English actor fancies indispensable to scenic +illusion, is tolerated here. For the first time in my life, I saw +something represented in a style uniformly good, and should have found +sufficient proof, if I had needed any, that all men will prefer what +is good to what is bad, if only a fair opportunity for choice +be allowed. When I came here, my first thought was to go and see +Mademoiselle Rachel. I was sure that in her I should find a true +genius. I went to see her seven or eight times, always in parts that +required great force of soul, and purity of taste, even to conceive +them, and only once had reason to find fault with her. On one single +occasion, I saw her violate the harmony of the character, to produce +effect at a particular moment; but, almost invariably, I found her +a true artist, worthy Greece, and worthy at many moments to have her +conceptions immortalized in marble. + +Her range even in high tragedy is limited. She can only express the +darker passions, and grief in its most desolate aspects. Nature has +not gifted her with those softer and more flowery attributes, that +lend to pathos its utmost tenderness. She does not melt to tears, or +calm or elevate the heart by the presence of that tragic beauty that +needs all the assaults of fate to make it show its immortal sweetness. +Her noblest aspect is when sometimes she expresses truth in some +severe shape, and rises, simple and austere, above the mixed elements +around her. On the dark side, she is very great in hatred and revenge. +I admired her more in Phedre than in any other part in which I +saw her; the guilty love inspired by the hatred of a goddess was +expressed, in all its symptoms, with a force and terrible naturalness, +that almost suffocated the beholder. After she had taken the poison, +the exhaustion and paralysis of the system,--the sad, cold, calm +submission to Fate,--were still more grand. + +I had heard so much about the power of her eye in one fixed look, and +the expression she could concentrate in a single word, that the utmost +results could only satisfy my expectations. It is, indeed, something +magnificent to see the dark cloud give out such sparks, each one fit +to deal a separate death; but it was not that I admired most in her. +It was the grandeur, truth, and depth of her conception of each part, +and the sustained purity with which she represented it. + +The French language from her lips is a divine dialect; it is stripped +of its national and personal peculiarities, and becomes what any +language must, moulded by such a genius, the pure music of the heart +and soul. I never could remember her tone in speaking any word; it +was too perfect; you had received the thought quite direct. Yet, had +I never heard her speak a word, my mind would be filled by her +attitudes. Nothing more graceful can be conceived, nor could the +genius of sculpture surpass her management of the antique drapery. + +She has no beauty, except in the intellectual severity of her outline, +and she bears marks of race, that will grow stronger every year, +and make her ugly at last. Still it will be a _grandiose_, gypsy, +or rather Sibylline ugliness, well adapted to the expression of some +tragic parts. Only it seems as if she could not live long; she expends +force enough upon a part to furnish out a dozen common lives. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Paris, Jan_. 18, 1847.--I can hardly tell you what a fever consumes +me, from sense of the brevity of my time and opportunity. Here I +cannot sleep at night, because I have been able to do so little in +the day. Constantly I try to calm my mind into content with small +achievements, but it is difficult. You will say, it is not so mightily +worth knowing, after all, this picture and natural history of Europe. +Very true; but I am so constituted that it pains me to come away, +having touched only the glass over the picture. + +I am assiduous daily at the Academy lectures, picture galleries, +Chamber of Deputies,--last week, at the court and court ball. So far +as my previous preparation enabled me, I get something from all these +brilliant shows,--thoughts, images, fresh impulse. But I need, +to initiate me into various little secrets of the place and +time,--necessary for me to look at things to my satisfaction,--some +friend, such as I do not find here. My steps have not been fortunate +in Paris, as they were in England. No doubt, the person exists here, +whose aid I want; indeed, I feel that it is so; but we do not meet, +and the time draws near for me to depart. + +French people I find slippery, as they do not know exactly what to +make of me, the rather as I have not the command of their language. +_I_ see _them_, their brilliancy, grace, and variety, the thousand +slight refinements of their speech and manner, but cannot meet them +in their way. My French teacher says, I speak and act like an Italian, +and I hope, in Italy, I shall find myself more at home. + +I had, the other day, the luck to be introduced to Beranger, who is +the only person beside George Sand I cared very particularly to see +here. I went to call on La Mennais, to whom I had a letter. I found +him in a little study; his secretary was writing in a large room +through which I passed. With him was a somewhat citizen-looking, but +vivacious elderly man, whom I was, at first, sorry to see, having +wished for half an hour's undisturbed visit to the Apostle of +Democracy. But those feelings were quickly displaced by joy, when he +named to me the great national lyrist of France, the great Beranger. +I had not expected to see him at all, for he is not to be seen in any +show place; he lives in the hearts of the people, and needs no homage +from their eyes. I was very happy, in that little study, in the +presence of these two men, whose influence has been so real and +so great. Beranger has been much to me,--his wit, his pathos, and +exquisite lyric grace. I have not received influence from La Mennais, +but I see well what he has been, and is, to Europe. + + + + +TO LA MENNAIS. + + +Monsieur:-- + +As my visit to you was cut short before I was quite satisfied, it +was my intention to seek you again immediately; although I felt some +scruples at occupying your valuable time, when I express myself so +imperfectly in your language. But I have been almost constantly ill +since, and now am not sure of finding time to pay you my respects +before leaving Paris for Italy. In case this should be impossible, I +take the liberty to write, and to present you two little volumes of +mine. It is only as a tribute of respect. I regret that they do not +contain some pieces of mine which might be more interesting to you, +as illustrative of the state of affairs in our country. Some such will +find their place in subsequent numbers. These, I hope, you will, +if you do not read them, accept kindly as a salutation from our +hemisphere. Many there delight to know you as a great apostle of +the ideas which are to be our life, if Heaven intends us a great +and permanent life. I count myself happy in having seen you, and +in finding with you Beranger, the genuine poet, the genuine man of +France. I have felt all the enchantment of the lyre of Beranger; +have paid my warmest homage to the truth and wisdom adorned with such +charms, such wit and pathos. It was a great pleasure to see himself. +If your leisure permits, Monsieur, I will ask a few lines in reply. +I should like to keep some words from your hand, in case I should not +look upon you more here below; and am always, with gratitude for the +light you have shed on so many darkened spirits, + +Yours, most respectfully, + +MARGARET FULLER. + + * * * * * + +_Paris, Jan_., 1847.--I missed hearing M. Guizot, (I am sorry for it,) +in his speech on the Montpensier marriage. I saw the little Duchess, +the innocent or ignorant topic of all this disturbance, when presented +at court. She went round the circle on the arm of the queen. Though +only fourteen, she looks twenty, but has something fresh, engaging, +and girlish about her. + +I attended not only at the presentation, but at the ball given at +the Tuileries directly after. These are fine shows, as the suite of +apartments is very handsome, brilliantly lighted,--the French ladies +surpassing all others in the art of dress; indeed, it gave me much +pleasure to see them. Certainly there are many ugly ones; but they are +so well dressed, and have such an air of graceful vivacity, that +the general effect was of a flower-garden. As often happens, several +American women were among the most distinguished for positive beauty; +one from Philadelphia, who is by many persons considered the prettiest +ornament of the dress circle at the Italian opera, was especially +marked by the attention of the king. However, these ladies, even if +here a long time, do not attain the air and manner of French +women. The magnetic fluid that envelops them is less brilliant and +exhilarating in its attractions. + +Among the crowd wandered Leverrier, in the costume of Academician, +looking as if he had lost, not found, his planet. French _savants_ are +more generally men of the world, and even men of fashion, than those +of other climates; but, in his case, he seemed not to find it easy to +exchange the music of the spheres for the music of fiddles. + +Speaking of Leverrier leads to another of my disappointments. I +went to the Sorbonne to hear him lecture, not dreaming that the old +pedantic and theological character of those halls was strictly kept up +in these days of light. An old guardian of the inner temple seeing me +approach, had his speech all ready, and, manning the entrance, said, +with a disdainful air, before we had time to utter a word, "Monsieur +may enter if he pleases, but madame must remain here" (_i.e._, in +the court-yard). After some exclamations of surprise, I found an +alternative in the Hotel de Clugny, where I passed an hour very +delightfully, while waiting for my companion. + +I was more fortunate in hearing Arago, and he justified all my +expectations. Clear, rapid, full, and equal, his discourse is worthy +its celebrity, and I felt repaid for the four hours one is obliged to +spend in going, in waiting, and in hearing, for the lecture begins at +half past one, and you must be there before twelve to get a seat, so +constant and animated is his popularity. + +I was present on one good occasion, at the Academy,--the day that M. +Remusat was received there, in the place of Royer Collard. I looked +down, from one of the tribunes, upon the flower of the celebrities of +France; that is to say, of the celebrities which are authentic, _comme +il faut_. Among them were many marked faces, many fine heads; but, +in reading the works of poets, we always fancy them about the age of +Apollo himself, and I found with pain some of my favorites quite old, +and very unlike the company on Parnassus, as represented by Raphael. +Some, however, were venerable, even noble to behold. + +The poorer classes have suffered from hunger this winter. All signs of +this are kept out of sight in Paris. A pamphlet called "The Voice of +Famine," stating facts, though in a tone of vulgar and exaggerated +declamation, was suppressed as soon as published. While Louis Philippe +lives, the gases may not burst up to flame, but the need of radical +measures of reform is strongly felt in France; and the time will come, +before long, when such will be imperatively demanded. + + + + +FOURIER. + + +The doctrines of Fourier are making progress, and wherever they +spread, the necessity of some practical application of the precepts of +Christ, in lieu of the mummeries of a worn-out ritual, cannot fail +to be felt. The more I see of the terrible ills which infest the body +politic of Europe, the more indignation I feel at the selfishness +or stupidity of those in my own country who oppose an examination +of these subjects,--such as is animated by the hope of prevention. +Educated in an age of gross materialism, Fourier is tainted by its +faults; in attempts to reorganize society, he commits the error of +making soul the result of health of body, instead of body the clothing +of soul; but his heart was that of a genuine lover of his kind, of a +philanthropist in the sense of Jesus; his views are large and noble; +his life was one of devout study on these subjects, and I should pity +the person who, after the briefest sojourn in Manchester and Lyons, +the most superficial acquaintance with the population of London and +Paris, could seek to hinder a study of his thoughts, or be wanting in +reverence for his purposes. + + + + +ROUSSEAU. + + +To the actually so-called Chamber of Deputies, I was indebted for a +sight of the manuscripts of Rousseau treasured in their library. I saw +them and touched them,--those manuscripts just as he has celebrated +them, written on the fine white paper, tied with ribbon. Yellow and +faded age has made them, yet at their touch I seemed to feel the fire +of youth, immortally glowing, more and more expansive, with which his +soul has pervaded this century. He was the precursor of all we most +prize. True, his blood was mixed with madness, and the course of his +actual life made some _detours_ through villanous places; but his +spirit was intimate with the fundamental truths of human nature, and +fraught with prophecy. There is none who has given birth to more life +for this age; his gifts are yet untold; they are too present with us; +but he who thinks really must often think with Rousseau, and learn him +ever more and more. Such is the method of genius,--to ripen fruit for +the crowd by those rays of whose heat they complain. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Naples, March_ 15, 1847.--Mickiewicz, the Polish poet, first +introduced the Essays to acquaintance in Paris. I did not meet him +anywhere, and, as I heard a great deal of him which charmed me, I sent +him your poems, and asked him to come and see me. He came, and I +found in him the man I had long wished to see, with the intellect and +passions in due proportion for a full and healthy human being, with a +soul constantly inspiring. Unhappily, it was a very short time before +I came away. How much time had I wasted on others which I might have +given to this real and important relation. + +After hearing music from Chopin and Neukomm, I quitted Paris on the +25th February, and came, _via_ Chalons, Lyons, Avignon, (where I waded +through melting snow to Laura's tomb,) Arles, to Marseilles; thence, +by steamer, to Genoa, Leghorn, and Pisa. Seen through a cutting wind, +the marble palaces, the gardens, the magnificent water-view of Genoa, +failed to charm. Only at Naples have I found _my_ Italy. Between +Leghorn and Naples, our boat was run into by another, and we only just +escaped being drowned. + + + + +ROME. + + +_Rome, May_, 1847.--Of the fragments of the great time, I have now +seen nearly all that are treasured up here. I have as yet nothing of +consequence to say of them. Others have often given good hints as +to how they _look_. As to what they _are_, it can only be known by +approximating to the state of soul out of which they grew. They are +many and precious; yet is there not so much of high excellence as +I looked for. They will not float the heart on a boundless sea of +feeling, like the starry night on our Western Prairies. Yet I love +much to see the galleries of marbles, even where there are not many +separately admirable, amid the cypresses and ilexes of Roman villas; +and a picture that is good at all, looks best in one of these old +palaces. I have heard owls hoot in the Colosseum by moonlight, and +they spoke more to the purpose than I ever heard any other voice on +that subject. I have seen all the pomps of Holy Week in St. Peter's, +and found them less imposing than an habitual acquaintance with the +church itself, with processions of monks and nuns stealing in, now and +then, or the swell of vespers from some side chapel. The ceremonies of +the church have been numerous and splendid, during our stay, and they +borrow unusual interest from the love and expectation inspired by the +present pontiff. He is a man of noble and good aspect, who has set his +heart on doing something solid for the benefit of man. A week or +two ago, the Cardinal Secretary published a circular, inviting +the departments to measures which would give the people a sort of +representative council. Nothing could seem more limited than this +improvement, but it was a great measure for Rome. At night, the +Corso was illuminated, and many thousands passed through it in a +torch-bearing procession, on their way to the Quirinal, to thank the +Pope, upbearing a banner on which the edict was printed. + + + + +TO W.H.C. + + +_Rome, May_ 7, 1847.--I write not to you about these countries, of the +famous people I see, of magnificent shows and places. All these things +are only to me an illuminated margin on the text of my inward life. +Earlier, they would have been more. Art is not important to me now. +I like only what little I find that is transcendently good, and even +with that feel very familiar and calm. I take interest in the state +of the people, their manners, the state of the race in them. I see +the future dawning; it is in important aspects Fourier's future. But +I like no Fourierites; they are terribly wearisome here in Europe; the +tide of things does not wash through them as violently as with us, and +they have time to run in the tread-mill of system. Still, they serve +this great future which I shall not live to see. I must be born again. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Florence, June_ 20, 1847.--I have just come hither from Rome. Every +minute, day and night, there is something to be seen or done at Rome, +which we cannot bear to lose. We lived on the Corso, and all night +long, after the weather became fine, there was conversation or music +before my window. I never seemed really to sleep while there, and now, +at Florence, where there is less to excite, and I live in a more quiet +quarter, I feel as if I needed to sleep all the time, and cannot rest +as I ought, there is so much to do. + +I now speak French fluently, though not correctly, yet well enough +to make my thoughts avail in the cultivated society here, where it +is much spoken. But to know the common people, and to feel truly in +Italy, I ought to speak and understand the spoken Italian well, and +I am now cultivating this sedulously. If I remain, I shall have, for +many reasons, advantages for observation and enjoyment, such as are +seldom permitted to a foreigner. + +I forgot to mention one little thing rather interesting. At the +_Miserere_ of the Sistine chapel, I sat beside Goethe's favorite +daughter-in-law, Ottilia, to whom I was introduced by Mrs. Jameson. + + + + +TO R.F.F. + + +_Florence, July_ 1, 1847.--I do not wish to go through Germany in +a hurried way, and am equally unsatisfied to fly through Italy; and +shall, therefore, leaving my companions in Switzerland, take a servant +to accompany me, and return hither, and hence to Rome for the autumn, +perhaps the winter. I should always suffer the pain of Tantalus +thinking of Rome, if I could not see it more thoroughly than I have +as yet even begun to; for it was all _outside_ the two months, just +finding out where objects were. I had only just begun to know them, +when I was obliged to leave. The prospect of returning presents many +charms, but it leaves me alone in the midst of a strange land. + +I find myself happily situated here, in many respects. The Marchioness +Arconati Visconti, to whom I brought a letter from a friend of hers +in France, has been good to me as a sister, and introduced me to many +interesting acquaintance. The sculptors, Powers and Greenough, I have +seen much and well. Other acquaintance I possess, less known to fame, +but not less attractive. + +Florence is not like Rome. At first, I could not bear the change; yet, +for the study of the fine arts, it is a still richer place. Worlds of +thought have risen in my mind; some time you will have light from all. + + * * * * * + +_Milan, Aug_. 9, 1847.--Passing from Florence, I came to Bologna. A +woman should love Bologna, for there has the intellect of woman been +cherished. In their Certosa, they proudly show the monument to Matilda +Tambreni, late Greek professor there. In their anatomical hall, is the +bust of a woman, professor of anatomy. In art, they have had Properzia +di Rossi, Elisabetta Sirani, Lavinia Fontana, and delight to give +their works a conspicuous place. In other cities, the men alone have +their Casino dei Nobili, where they give balls and conversazioni. +Here, women have one, and are the soul of society. In Milan, also, I +see, in the Ambrosian Library, the bust of a female mathematician. + + + + +TO HER MOTHER. + + +_Lago di Garda, Aug_. 1, 1847.--Do not let what I have written disturb +you as to my health. I have rested now, and am as well as usual. This +advantage I derive from being alone, that, if I feel the need of it, I +can stop. + +I left Venice four days ago; have seen well Vicenza, Verona, Mantua, +and am reposing, for two nights and a day, in this tranquil room which +overlooks the beautiful Lake of Garda. The air is sweet and pure, and +I hear no noise except the waves breaking on the shore. + +I think of you a great deal, especially when there are flowers. +Florence was all flowers. I have many magnolias and jasmines. I always +wish you could see them. The other day, on the island of San Lazaro, +at the Armenian Convent, where Lord Byron used to go, I thought of +you, seeing the garden full of immense oleanders in full bloom. One +sees them everywhere at Venice. + + + + +TO HER TRAVELLING COMPANIONS AFTER PARTING. + + +_Milan, Aug_. 9, 1847.--I remained at Venice near a week after your +departure, to get strong and tranquil again. Saw all the pictures, +if not enough, yet pretty well. My journey here was very profitable. +Vicenza, Verona, Mantua, I saw really well, and much there is to see. +Certainly I had learned more than ever in any previous ten days of my +existence, and have formed an idea of what is needed for the study of +art in these regions. But, at Brescia, I was taken ill with fever. +I cannot tell you how much I was alarmed when it seemed to me it +was affecting my head. I had no medicine; nothing could I do except +abstain entirely from food, and drink cold water. The second day, I +had a bed made in a carriage, and came on here. I am now pretty well, +only very weak. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Milan, Aug. 10, 1847._--Since writing you from Florence, I have +passed the mountains; two full, rich days at Bologna; one at Ravenna; +more than a fortnight at Venice, intoxicated with the place, and with +Venetian art, only to be really felt and known in its birth-place. +I have passed some hours at Vicenza, seeing mainly the Palladian +structures; a day at Verona,--a week had been better; seen Mantua, +with great delight; several days in Lago di Garda,--truly happy +days there; then, to Brescia, where I saw the Titians, the exquisite +Raphael, the Scavi, and the Brescian Hills. I could charm you by +pictures, had I time. + +To-day, for the first time, I have seen Manzoni. Manzoni has spiritual +efficacy in his looks; his eyes glow still with delicate tenderness, +as when he first saw Lucia, or felt them fill at the image of Father +Cristoforo. His manners are very engaging, frank, expansive; every +word betokens the habitual elevation of his thoughts; and (what you +care for so much) he says distinct, good things; but you must not +expect me to note them down. He lives in the house of his fathers, in +the simplest manner. He has taken the liberty to marry a new wife for +his own pleasure and companionship, and the people around him do not +like it, because she does not, to their fancy, make a good pendant to +him. But I liked her very well, and saw why he married her. They asked +me to return often, if I pleased, and I mean to go once or twice, for +Manzoni seems to like to talk with me. + + * * * * * + +_Rome, Oct., 1847._--Leaving Milan, I went on the Lago Maggiore, and +afterward into Switzerland. Of this tour I shall not speak here; it +was a little romance by itself. + +Returning from Switzerland, I passed a fortnight on the Lake of +Como, and afterward visited Lugano. There is no exaggeration in the +enthusiastic feeling with which artists and poets have viewed these +Italian lakes. The _"Titan"_ of Richter, the _"Wanderjahre"_ of +Goethe, the Elena of Taylor, the pictures of Turner, had not prepared +me for the visions of beauty that daily entranced the eyes and heart +in those regions. To our country, Nature has been most bounteous, but +we have nothing in the same class that can compare with these lakes, +as seen under the Italian heaven. As to those persons who have +pretended to discover that the effects of light and atmosphere were +no finer than they found in our own lake scenery, I can only say +that they must be exceedingly obtuse in organization,--a defect not +uncommon among Americans. + +Nature seems to have labored to express her full heart in as many ways +as possible, when she made these lakes, moulded and planted their +shores. Lago Maggiore is grandiose, resplendent in its beauty; the +view of the Alps gives a sort of lyric exaltation to the scene. Lago +di Garda is so soft and fair on one side,--the ruins of ancient +palaces rise softly with the beauties of that shore; but at the other +end, amid the Tyrol, it is so sublime, so calm, so concentrated in its +meaning! Como cannot be better described in generals than in the words +of Taylor:-- + +"Softly sublime, profusely fair" + +Lugano is more savage, more free in its beauty. I was on it in a high +gale; there was little danger, just enough to exhilarate; its waters +wild, and clouds blowing across its peaks. I like the boatmen on these +lakes; they have strong and prompt character; of simple features, +they are more honest and manly than Italian men are found in the +thoroughfares; their talk is not so witty as that of the Venetian +gondoliers, but picturesque, and what the French call _incisive._ Very +touching were some of their histories, as they told them to me, while +pausing sometimes on the lake. Grossi gives a true picture of such +a man in his family relations; the story may be found in "Marco +Visconti." + +On this lake, I met Lady Franklin, wife of the celebrated navigator. +She has been in the United States, and showed equal penetration and +candor in remarks on what she had seen there. She gave me interesting +particulars as to the state of things in Van Diemen's Land, where she +passed seven years, when her husband was in authority there. + + + + +TO C.S. + + +_Lake of Como, Aug_. 22, 1847.--Rome was much poisoned to me. But, +after a time, its genius triumphed, and I became absorbed in its +proper life. Again I suffered from parting, and have since resolved to +return, and pass at least a part of the winter there. People may write +and prate as they please of Rome, they cannot convey thus a portion of +its spirit. The whole heart must be yielded up to it. It is something +really transcendent, both spirit and body. Those last glorious nights, +in which I wandered about amid the old walls and columns, or sat by +the fountains in the Piazza del Popolo, or by the river, were worth an +age of pain,--only one hates pain in Italy. + +Tuscany I did not like as well. It is a great place to study the +history of character and art. Indeed, there I did really begin to +study, as well as gaze and feel. But I did not like it. Florence is +more in its spirit like Boston, than like an Italian city. I knew +a good many Italians, but they were busy and intellectual, not like +those I had known before. But Florence is full of really good, great +pictures. There first I saw some of the great masters. Andrea del +Sarto, in particular, one sees only there, and he is worth much. His +wife, whom he always paints, and for whom he was so infatuated, has +some bad qualities, and in what is good a certain wild nature or +_diablerie_. + +Bologna is truly an Italian city, one in which I should like to live; +full of hidden things, and its wonders of art are very grand. The +Caracci and their friends had vast force; not much depth, but enough +force to occupy one a good while,--and Domenichino, when good at all, +is very great. + +Venice was a dream of enchantment; _there_ was no disappointment. +Art and life are one. There is one glow of joy, one deep shade of +passionate melancholy; Giorgione, as a man, I care more for now than +any of the artists, though he had no ideas. + +In the first week, floating about in a gondola, I seemed to find +myself again. + +I was not always alone in Venice, but have come through the fertile +plains of Lombardy, seen the lakes Garda and Maggiore, and a part of +Switzerland, alone, except for occasional episodes of companionship, +sometimes romantic enough. + +In Milan I stayed a while, and knew some radicals, young, and +interested in ideas. Here, on the lake, I have fallen into contact +with some of the higher society,--duchesses, marquises, and the like. +My friend here is Madame Arconati, Marchioness Visconti. I have +formed connection with a fair and brilliant Polish lady, born Princess +Radzivill. It is rather pleasant to come a little on the traces of +these famous histories; also, both these ladies take pleasure in +telling me of spheres so unlike mine, and do it well. + +The life here on the lake is precisely what we once imagined as being +so pleasant. These people have charming villas and gardens on the +lake, adorned with fine works of art. They go to see one another in +boats. You can be all the time in a boat, if you like; if you want +more excitement, or wild flowers, you climb the mountains. I have been +here for some time, and shall stay a week longer. I have found soft +repose here. Now, I am to return to Rome, seeing many things by the +way. + + + + +TO R.F.F. + + +_Florence, Sept_. 25, 1847.--I hope not to want a further remittance +for a long time. I shall not, if I can settle myself at Rome so as +to avoid spoliation. That is very difficult in this country. I have +suffered from it already. The haste, the fatigue, the frequent illness +in travelling, have tormented me. At Rome I shall settle myself for +five months, and make arrangements to the best of my judgment, and +with counsel of experienced friends, and have some hope of economy +while there; but am not sure, as much more vigilance than I can +promise is needed against the treachery of servants and the cunning of +landlords. + +You are disappointed by my letter from Rome. But I did not feel equal +then to speaking of the things of Rome, and shall not, till better +acquaintance has steadied my mind. It is a matter of conscience with +me not to make use of crude impressions, and what they call here +"coffee-house intelligence," as travellers generally do. I prefer +skimming over the surface of things, till I feel solidly ready to +write. + +Milan I left with great regret, and hope to return. I knew there a +circle of the aspiring youth, such as I have not in any other city. +I formed many friendships, and learned a great deal. One of the young +men, Guerrieri by name, (and of the famous Gonzaga family,) I really +love. He has a noble soul, the quietest sensibility, and a brilliant +and ardent, though not a great, mind. He is eight-and-twenty. After +studying medicine for the culture, he has taken law as his profession. +His mind and that of Hicks, an artist of our country now here, a +little younger, are two that would interest you greatly. Guerrieri +speaks no English; I speak French now as fluently as English, but +incorrectly. To make use of it, I ought to have learned it earlier. + +Arriving here, Mr. Mozier, an American, who from a prosperous merchant +has turned sculptor, come hither to live, and promises much excellence +in his profession, urged me so much to his house, that I came. At +first, I was ill from fatigue, and staid several days in bed; but his +wife took tender care of me, and the quiet of their house and regular +simple diet have restored me. As soon as I have seen a few things +here, I shall go to Rome. On my way, I stopped at Parma,--saw the +works of Correggio and Parmegiano. I have now seen what Italy contains +most important of the great past; I begin to hope for her also a +great future,--the signs have improved so much since I came. I am most +fortunate to be here at this time. + +Interrupted, as always. How happy I should be if my abode at Rome +would allow some chance for tranquil and continuous effort. But I dare +not hope much, from the difficulty of making any domestic arrangements +that can be relied on. The fruit of the moment is so precious, that I +must not complain. I learn much; but to do anything with what I learn +is, under such circumstances, impossible. Besides, I am in great need +of repose; I am almost inert from fatigue of body and spirit. + + + + +TO E.H. + + +_Florence, Sept.,_ 1847.--I cannot even begin to speak of the +magnificent scenes of nature, nor the works of art, that have raised +and filled my mind since I wrote from Naples. Now I begin to be in +Italy! but I wish to drink deep of this cup before I speak my enamored +words. Enough to say, Italy receives me as a long-lost child, and I +feel myself at home here, and if I ever tell anything about it, you +will hear something real and domestic. Among strangers I wish most to +speak to you of my friend the Marchioness A. Visconti, a Milanese. She +is a specimen of the really high-bred lady, such as I have not known. +Without any physical beauty, the grace and harmony of her manners +produce all the impression of beauty. She has also a mind strong, +clear, precise, and much cultivated. She has a modest nobleness that +you would dearly love. She is intimate with many of the first men. She +seems to love me much, and to wish I should have whatever is hers. I +take great pleasure in her friendship. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Rome, Oct_. 28, 1847.--I am happily settled for the winter, quite by +myself, in a neat, tranquil apartment in the Corso, where I see all +the motions of Rome,--in a house of loving Italians, who treat me +well, and do not interrupt me, except for service. I live alone, eat +alone, walk alone, and enjoy unspeakably the stillness, after all the +rush and excitement of the past year. + +I shall make no acquaintance from whom I do not hope a good deal, +as my time will be like pure gold to me this winter; and, just for +happiness, Rome itself is sufficient. + +To-day is the last of the October feasts of the Trasteverini. I have +been, this afternoon, to see them dancing. This morning I was out, +with half Rome, to see the Civic Guard manoeuvring in that great field +near the tomb of Cecilia Metella, which is full of ruins. The effect +was noble, as the band played the Bolognese march, and six thousand +Romans passed in battle array amid these fragments of the great time. + + + + +TO R.F.F. + + +_Rome, Oct_. 29, 1847.--I am trying to economize,--anxious to keep +the Roman expenses for six months within the limits of four hundred +dollars. Rome is not as cheap a place as Florence, but then I would +not give a pin to live in Florence. + +We have just had glorious times with the October feasts, when all the +Roman people were out. I am now truly happy here, quiet and familiar; +no longer a staring, sight-seeing stranger, riding about finely +dressed in a coach to see muses and sibyls. I see these forms now in +the natural manner, and am contented. + +Keep free from false ties; they are the curse of life. I find myself +so happy here, alone and free. + + + + +TO M.S. + + +_Rome, Oct_. 1847.--I arrived in Rome again nearly a fortnight ago, +and all mean things were forgotten in the joy that rushed over me like +a flood. Now I saw the true Rome. I came with no false expectations, +and I came to live in tranquil companionship, not in the restless +impertinence of sight-seeing, so much more painful here than anywhere +else. + +I had made a good visit to Vicenza; a truly Italian town, with much to +see and study. But all other places faded away, now that I again saw +St. Peter's, and heard the music of the fountains. + +The Italian autumn is not as beautiful as I expected, neither in the +vintage of Tuscany nor here. The country is really sere and brown; but +the weather is fine, and these October feasts are charming. Two days I +have been at the Villa Borghese. There are races, balloons, and, above +all, the private gardens open, and good music on the little lake. + + + + +TO ----. + + +_Rome, morning of the 17th Nov_., 1847.--It seems great folly to send +the enclosed letter. I have written it in my nightly fever. All day +I dissipate my thoughts on outward beauty. I have many thoughts, +happiest moments, but as yet I do not have even this part in a +congenial way. I go about in a coach with several people; but English +and Americans are not at home here. Since I have experienced the +different atmosphere of the European mind, and been allied with it, +nay, mingled in the bonds of love, I suffer more than ever from that +which is peculiarly American or English. I should like to cease from +hearing the language for a time. Perhaps I should return to it; but +at present I am in a state of unnatural divorce from what I was most +allied to. + +There is a Polish countess here, who likes me much. She has been very +handsome, still is, in the style of the full-blown rose. She is a +widow, very rich, one of the emancipated women, naturally vivacious, +and with talent. This woman _envies me_; she says, "How happy you are; +so free, so serene, so attractive, so self-possessed!" I say not a +word, but I do not look on myself as particularly enviable. A little +money would have made me much more so; a little money would have +enabled me to come here long ago, and find those that belong to me, or +at least try my experiments; then my health would never have sunk, nor +the best years of my life been wasted in useless friction. Had I money +now,--could I only remain, take a faithful servant, and live alone, +and still see those I love when it is best, that would suit me. It +seems to me, very soon I shall be calmed, and begin to enjoy. + + + + +TO HER MOTHER. + + +_Rome, Dec_. 16, 1847.--My life at Rome is thus far all I hoped. +I have not been so well since I was a child, nor so happy ever, as +during the last six weeks. I wrote you about my home; it continues +good, perfectly clean, food wholesome, service exact. For all this I +pay, but not immoderately. I think the sum total of my expenses here, +for six months, will not exceed four hundred and fifty dollars. + +My _marchesa_, of whom I rent my rooms, is the greatest liar I ever +knew, and the most interested, heartless creature. But she thinks it +for her interest to please me, as she sees I have a good many persons +who value me; and I have been able, without offending her, to make it +understood that I do not wish her society. Thus I remain undisturbed. + +Every Monday evening, I receive my acquaintance. I give no +refreshment, but only light the saloon, and decorate it with fresh +flowers, of which I have plenty still. How I wish _you_ could see +them! + +Among the frequent guests are known to you Mr. and Mrs. Cranch, Mr. +and Mrs. Story. Mr. S. has finally given up law, for the artist's +life. His plans are not matured, but he passes the winter at Rome. + +On other evenings, I do not receive company, unless by appointment. I +spend them chiefly in writing or study. I have now around me the books +I need to know Italy and Rome. I study with delight, now that I can +verify everything. The days are invariably fine, and each day I am out +from eleven till five, exploring some new object of interest, often at +a great distance. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Rome, Dec_. 20, 1847.--Nothing less than two or three years, free +from care and forced labor, would heal all my hurts, and renew my +life-blood at its source. Since Destiny will not grant me that, I hope +she will not leave me long in the world, for I am tired of keeping +myself up in the water without corks, and without strength to swim. +I should like to go to sleep, and be born again into a state where my +young life should not be prematurely taxed. + +Italy has been glorious to me, and there have been hours in which I +received the full benefit of the vision. In Rome, I have known some +blessed, quiet days, when I could yield myself to be soothed and +instructed by the great thoughts and memories of the place. But those +days are swiftly passing. Soon I must begin to exert myself, for +there is this incubus of the future, and none to help me, if I am not +prudent to face it. So ridiculous, too, this mortal coil,--such small +things! + +I find how true was the lure that always drew me towards Europe. It +was no false instinct that said I might here find an atmosphere to +develop me in ways I need. Had I only come ten years earlier! Now +my life must be a failure, so much strength has been wasted on +abstractions, which only came because I grew not in the right soil. +However, it is a less failure than with most others, and not worth +thinking twice about. Heaven has room enough, and good chances in +store, and I can live a great deal in the years that remain. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Rome, Dec_. 20, 1847.--I don't know whether you take an interest in +the present state of things in Italy, but you would if you were +here. It is a fine time to see the people. As to the Pope, it is as +difficult here as elsewhere to put new wine into old bottles, and +there is something false as well as ludicrous in the spectacle of the +people first driving their princes to do a little justice, and then +_evviva-ing_ them at such a rate. This does not apply to the Pope; he +is a real great heart, a generous man. The love for him is genuine, +and I like to be within its influence. It was his heart that gave the +impulse, and this people has shown, to the shame of English and other +prejudice, how unspoiled they were at the core, how open, nay, how +wondrous swift to answer a generous appeal! + +They are also gaining some education by the present freedom of the +press and of discussion. I should like to write a letter for England, +giving my view of the present position of things here. + + * * * * * + +_Rome, October_ 18, 1847.--In the spring, when I came to Rome, the +people were in the intoxication of joy at the first serious measures +of reform taken by the Pope. I saw with pleasure their childlike joy +and trust. Still doubts were always present whether this joy was not +premature. From the people themselves the help must come, and not +from the princes. Rome, to resume her glory, must cease to be an +ecclesiastical capital. Whilst I sympathized with the warm love of the +people, the adulation of leading writers, who were willing to take +all from the prince of the Church as a gift and a bounty, instead +of steadily implying that it was the right of the people, was very +repulsive to me. Passing into Tuscany, I found the liberty of the +press just established. The Grand Duke, a well-intentioned, though +dull, man, had dared to declare himself an Italian prince. I arrived +in Florence too late for the great fete of the 12th September, +in honor of the grant of the National Guard, but the day was made +memorable by the most generous feeling on all sides. Some days before +were passed by reconciling all strifes, composing all differences +between cities, districts, and individuals. On that day they all +embraced in sign of this; exchanged banners as a token that they would +fight for one another. + + + + +AMERICANS IN ITALY. + + +The Americans took their share in this occasion, and Greenough,--one +of the few Americans who, living in Italy, takes the pains to know +whether it is alive or dead, who penetrates beyond the cheats of +tradesmen, and the cunning of a mob corrupted by centuries of slavery, +to know the real mind, the vital blood of Italy,--took a leading part. +I am sorry to say that a large portion of my countrymen here take +the same slothful and prejudiced view as the English, and, after many +years' sojourn, betray entire ignorance of Italian literature and +Italian life beyond what is attainable in a month's passage through +the thoroughfares. However, they did show, this time, a becoming +spirit, and erected the American Eagle where its cry ought to be heard +from afar. Crawford, here in Rome, has had the just feeling to join +the Guard, and it is a real sacrifice for an artist to spend time +on the exercises; but it well becomes the sculptor of Orpheus. In +reference to what I have said of many Americans in Italy, I will only +add that they talk about the corrupt and degenerate state of Italy as +they do about that of our slaves at home. They come ready trained to +that mode of reasoning which affirms, that, because men are degraded +by bad institutions, they are not fit for better. I will only add +some words upon the happy augury I draw from the wise docility of +the people. With what readiness they listened to wise counsel and the +hopes of the Pope that they would give no advantage to his enemies at +a time when they were so fevered by the knowledge that conspiracy +was at work in their midst! That was a time of trial. On all these +occasions of popular excitement their conduct is like music, in such +order, and with such union of the melody of feeling with discretion +where to stop; but what is wonderful is that they acted in the same +manner on that difficult occasion. The influence of the Pope here is +without bounds; he can always calm the crowd at once. But in Tuscany, +where they have no such one idol, they listened in the same way on a +very trying occasion. The first announcement of the regulation for the +Tuscan National Guard terribly disappointed the people. They felt that +the Grand Duke, after suffering them to demonstrate such trust and joy +on this feast of the 12th, did not really trust, on his side; that he +meant to limit them all he could; they felt baffled, cheated; hence +young men in anger tore down at once the symbols of satisfaction and +respect; but the leading men went among the people, begged them to be +calm, and wait till a deputation had seen the Grand Duke. The people +listened at once to men who, they were sure, had at heart their best +good--waited; the Grand Duke became convinced, and all ended without +disturbance. If the people continue to act thus, their hopes cannot be +baffled. + +The American in Europe would fain encourage the hearts of these +long-oppressed nations, now daring to hope for a new era, by reciting +triumphant testimony from the experience of his own country. But we +must stammer and blush when we speak of many things. I take pride +here, that I may really say the liberty of the press works well, and +that checks and balances naturally evolve from it, which suffice to +its government. I may say, that the minds of our people are alert, +and that talent has a free chance to rise. It is much. But dare I +say, that political ambition is not as darkly sullied as in other +countries? Dare I say, that men of most influence in political life +are those who represent most virtue, or even intellectual power? Can +I say, our social laws are generally better, or show a nobler insight +into the wants of man and woman? I do indeed say what I believe, that +voluntary association for improvement in these particulars will be the +grand means for my nation to grow, and give a nobler harmony to the +coming age. Then there is this cancer of slavery, and this wicked war +that has grown out of it. How dare I speak of these things here? I +listen to the same arguments against the emancipation of Italy, that +are used against the emancipation of our blacks; the same arguments in +favor of the spoliation of Poland, as for the conquest of Mexico. + +How it pleases me here to think of the Abolitionists! I could never +endure to be with them at home; they were so tedious, often so narrow, +always so rabid and exaggerated in their tone. But, after all, they +had a high motive, something eternal in their desire and life; and, if +it was not the only thing worth thinking of, it was really something +worth living and dying for, to free a great nation from such a blot, +such a plague. God strengthen them, and make them wise to achieve +their purpose! + +I please myself, too, with remembering some ardent souls among the +American youth, who, I trust, will yet expand and help to give soul to +the huge, over-fed, too-hastily-grown-up body. May they be constant! +"Were man but constant, he were perfect." It is to the youth that Hope +addresses itself. But I dare not expect too much of them. I am not +very old; yet of those who, in life's morning, I saw touched by +the light of a high hope, many have seceded. Some have become +voluptuaries; some mere family men, who think it is quite life enough +to win bread for half a dozen people, and treat them decently; others +are lost through indolence and vacillation. Yet some remain constant. + + "I have witnessed many a shipwreck, yet still beat noble hearts." + + * * * * * + +_Rome, January, 1848_.--As one becomes domesticated here, ancient and +modern Rome, at first so jumbled together, begin to separate. You see +where objects and limits anciently were. When this happens, one feels +first truly at ease in Rome. Then the old kings, the consuls, the +tribunes, the emperors, the warriors of eagle sight and remorseless +beak, return for us, and the toga-clad procession finds room to sweep +across the scene; the seven hills tower, the innumerable temples +glitter, and the Via Sacra swarms with triumphal life once more. + + * * * * * + +_Rome, Jan. 12, 1848._--In Rome, here, the new Council is inaugurated, +and the elections have given tolerable satisfaction. Twenty-four +carriages had been lent by the princes and nobles, at the request of +the city, to convey the councillors. Each deputy was followed by +his target and banner. In the evening, there was a ball given at the +Argentine. Lord Minto was there, Prince Corsini, now senator, the +Torlonias, in uniform of the Civic Guard, Princess Torlonia, in a +sash of their colors given her by the Civic Guard, which she waved in +answer to their greetings. But the beautiful show of the evening was +the _Trasteverini_ dancing the _Saltarello_ in their most beautiful +costume. I saw them thus to much greater advantage than ever before. +Several were nobly handsome, and danced admirably. The _saltarello_ +enchants me; in this is really the Italian wine, the Italian sun. + +The Pope, in receiving the councillors, made a speech, intimating that +he meant only to improve, not to _reform_ and should keep things safe +locked with the keys of St. Peter. + +I was happy the first two months of my stay here, seeing all the great +things at my leisure. But now, after a month of continuous rain, Rome +is no more Rome. The atmosphere is far worse than that of Paris. It +is impossible to walk in the thick mud. The ruins, and other great +objects, always solemn, appear terribly gloomy, steeped in black rain +and cloud; and my apartment, in a street of high houses, is dark all +day. The bad weather may continue all this month and all next. If I +could use the time for work, I should not care; but this climate makes +me so ill, I can do but little. + + + + +TO C.S. + + +_Rome, Jan_. 12, 1848.--My time in Lombardy and Switzerland was a +series of beautiful pictures, dramatic episodes, not without some +original life in myself. When I wrote to you from Como, I had a +peaceful season. I floated on the lake with my graceful Polish +countess, hearing her stories of heroic sorrow; or I walked in the +delicious gardens of the villas, with many another summer friend. Red +banners floated, children sang and shouted, the lakes of Venus and +Diana glittered in the sun. The pretty girls of Bellaggio, with their +coral necklaces, brought flowers to the "American countess," and +"hoped she would be as happy as she deserved." Whether this cautious +wish is fulfilled, I know not, but certainly I left all the glitter of +life behind at Como. + +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. + +Leaving Milan, I had a brilliant day in Parma. I had not known +Correggio before; he deserves all his fame. I stood in the parlor +of the Abbess, the person for whom all was done, and Paradise seemed +opened by the nymph, upon her car of light, and the divine children +peeping through the vines. Sweet soul of love! I should weary of you, +too; but it was glorious that day. + +I had another good day, too, crossing the Apennines. The young +crescent moon rose in orange twilight, just as I reached the highest +peak. I was alone on foot; I heard no sound; I prayed. + +At Florence, I was very ill. For three weeks, my life hung upon +a thread. The effect of the Italian climate on my health is not +favorable. I feel as if I had received a great injury. I am tired +and woe-worn; often, in the bed, I wish I could weep my life away. +However, they brought me gruel, I took it, and after a while rose up +again. In the time of the vintage, I went alone to Sienna. This is a +real untouched Italian place. This excursion, and the grapes, restored +me at that time. + +When I arrived in Rome, I was at first intoxicated to be here. The +weather was beautiful, and many circumstances combined to place me in +a kind of passive, childlike well-being. That is all over now, and, +with this year, I enter upon a sphere of my destiny so difficult, that +I, at present, see no way out, except through the gate of death. It +is useless to write of it; you are at a distance and cannot help +me;--whether accident or angel will, I have no intimation. I have no +reason to hope I shall not reap what I have sown, and do not. Yet how +I shall endure it I cannot guess; it is all a dark, sad enigma. The +beautiful forms of art charm no more, and a love, in which there is +all fondness, but no help, flatters in vain. I am all alone; nobody +around me sees any of this. My numerous friendly acquaintances are +troubled if they see me ill, and who so affectionate and kind as Mr. +and Mrs. S.? + + + + +TO MADAME ARCONATI. + + +_Rome, Jan_. 14, 1848.--What black and foolish calumnies are these +on Mazzini! It is as much for his interest as his honor to let things +take their course, at present. To expect anything else, is to suppose +him base. And on what act of his life dares any one found such an +insinuation? I do not wonder that you were annoyed at his manner +of addressing the Pope; but to me it seems that he speaks as he +should,--near God and beyond the tomb; not from power to power, but +from soul to soul, without regard to temporal dignities. It must be +admitted that the etiquette, Most Holy Father, &c., jars with this. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Rome, March_ 14, 1848.--Mickiewicz is with me here, and will remain +some time; it was he I wanted to see, more than any other person, in +going back to Paris, and I have him much better here. France itself +I should like to see, but remain undecided, on account of my health, +which has suffered so much, this winter, that I must make it the +first object in moving for the summer. One physician thinks it will of +itself revive, when once the rains have passed, which have now lasted +from 16th December to this day. At present, I am not able to leave the +fire, or exert myself at all. + + * * * * * + +In all the descriptions of the Roman Carnival, the fact has been +omitted of daily rain. I felt, indeed, ashamed to perceive it, when no +one else seemed to, whilst the open windows caused me convulsive cough +and headache. The carriages, with their cargoes of happy women dressed +in their ball dresses and costumes, drove up and down, even in the +pouring rain. The two handsome _contadine_, who serve me, took off +their woollen gowns, and sat five hours at a time, in the street, in +white cambric dresses, and straw hats turned up with roses. I never +saw anything like the merry good-humor of these people. I should +always be ashamed to complain of anything here. But I had always +looked forward to the Roman Carnival as a time when I could play too; +and it even surpassed my expectations, with its exuberant gayety and +innocent frolic, but I was unable to take much part. The others threw +flowers all day, and went to masked balls all night; but I went out +only once, in a carriage, and was more exhausted with the storm of +flowers and sweet looks than I could be by a storm of hail. I went +to the German Artists' ball, where were some pretty costumes, and +beautiful music; and to the Italian masked ball, where interest lies +in intrigue. + +I have scarcely gone to the galleries, damp and cold as tombs; or to +the mouldy old splendor of churches, where, by the way, they are +just wailing over the theft of St. Andrew's head, for the sake of +the jewels. It is quite a new era for this population to plunder the +churches; but they are suffering terribly, and Pio's municipality +does, as yet, nothing. + + + + +TO W.H.C. + + +_Rome, March 29, 1848._--I have been engrossed, stunned almost, by the +public events that have succeeded one another with such rapidity +and grandeur. It is a time such as I always dreamed of, and for long +secretly hoped to see. I rejoice to be in Europe at this time, and +shall return possessed of a great history. Perhaps I shall be called +to act. At present, I know not where to go, what to do. War is +everywhere. I cannot leave Rome, and the men of Rome are marching out +every day into Lombardy. The citadel of Milan is in the hands of my +friends, Guerriere, &c., but there may be need to spill much blood yet +in Italy. France and Germany are riot in such a state that I can go +there now. A glorious flame burns higher and higher in the heart of +the nations. + + * * * * * + +The rain was constant through the Roman winter, falling in torrents +from 16th December to 19th March. Now the Italian heavens wear again +their deep blue, the sun is glorious, the melancholy lustres are +stealing again over the Campagna, and hundreds of larks sing unwearied +above its ruins. Nature seems in sympathy with the great events that +are transpiring. How much has happened since I wrote!--the resistance +of Sicily, and the revolution of Naples; now the fall of Louis +Philippe; and Metternich is crushed in Austria. I saw the Austrian +arms dragged through the streets here, and burned in the Piazza del +Popolo. The Italians embraced one another, and cried, _miracolo, +Providenza!_ the Tribune Ciccronachio fed the flame with fagots; Adam +Mickiewicz, the great poet of Poland, long exiled from his country, +looked on; while Polish women brought little pieces that had +been scattered in the street, and threw into the flames. When the +double-headed eagle was pulled down from the lofty portal of the +Palazzo di Venezia, the people placed there, in its stead, one of +white and gold, inscribed with the name, ALTA ITALIA; and instantly +the news followed, that Milan, Venice, Modena, and Parma, were driving +out their tyrants. These news were received in Rome with indescribable +rapture. Men danced, and women wept with joy along the street. The +youths rushed to enrol themselves in regiments to go to the frontier. +In the Colosseum, their names were received. + + * * * * * + +_Rome, April 1, 1848._-Yesterday, on returning from Ostia, I find the +official news, that the Viceroy Ranieri has capitulated at Verona; +that Italy is free, independent, and one. I trust this will prove no +April foolery. It seems too good, too speedy a realization of hope. + + * * * * * + +_Rome, April 30, 1848._--It is a time such as I always dreamed of; and +that fire burns in the hearts of men around me which can keep me warm. +Have I something to do here? or am I only to cheer on the warriors, +and after write the history of their deeds? The first is all I have +done yet, but many have blessed me for my sympathy, and blest me by +the action it impelled. + +My private fortunes are dark and tangled; my strength to govern them +(perhaps that I am enervated by this climate) much diminished. I have +thrown myself on God, and perhaps he will make my temporal state very +tragical. I am more of a child than ever, and hate suffering more than +ever, but suppose I shall live with it, if it must come. + +I did not get your letter, about having the rosary blessed for ----, +before I left Rome, and now, I suppose, she would not wish it, as none +can now attach any value to the blessing of Pius IX. Those who loved +him can no longer defend him. It has become obvious, that those +first acts of his in the papacy were merely the result of a kindly, +good-natured temperament; that he had not thought to understand their +bearing, nor force to abide by it. He seems quite destitute of moral +courage. He is not resolute either on the wrong or right side. First, +he abandoned the liberal party; then, yielding to the will of the +people, and uniting, in appearance, with a liberal ministry, he let +the cardinals betray it, and defeat the hopes of Italy. He cried +peace, peace! but had not a word of blame for the sanguinary acts of +the King of Naples, a word of sympathy for the victims of Lombardy. +Seizing the moment of dejection in the nation, he put in this +retrograde ministry; sanctioned their acts, daily more impudent: let +them neutralize the constitution he himself had given; and when the +people slew his minister, and assaulted him in his own palace, he +yielded anew; he dared not die, or even run the slight risk,--for +only by accident could he have perished. His person as a Pope is still +respected, though his character as a man is despised. All the people +compare him with Pius VII. saying to the French, "Slay me if you will; +I _cannot_ yield," and feel the difference. + +I was on Monte Cavallo yesterday. The common people were staring at +the broken windows and burnt door of the palace where they have so +often gone to receive a blessing, the children playing, "_Sedia +Papale. Morte ai Cardinali, e morte al Papa!_" + +The men of straw are going down in Italy everywhere; the real men +rising into power. Montanelli, Guerazzi, Mazzini, are real men; their +influence is of character. Had we only been born a little later! +Mazzini has returned from his seventeen years' exile, "to see what he +foresaw." He has a mind far in advance of his times, and yet Mazzini +sees not all. + + * * * * * + +_Rome, May_ 7, 1848.--Good and loving hearts will be unprepared, and +for a time must suffer much from the final dereliction of Pius IX. +to the cause of freedom. After the revolution opened in Lombardy, +the troops of the line were sent thither; the volunteers rushed to +accompany them, the priests preached the war as a crusade, the Pope +blessed the banners. The report that the Austrians had taken and +hung as a brigand one of the Roman Civic Guard,--a well-known artist +engaged in the war of Lombardy,--roused the people; and they went to +the Pope, to demand that he should declare war against the Austrians. +The Pope summoned a consistory, and then declared in his speech that +he had only intended local reforms; that he regretted the misuse +that had been made of his name; and wound up by lamenting the war +as offensive to the spirit of religion. A momentary stupefaction, +followed by a passion of indignation, in which the words _traitor_ and +_imbecile_ were heard, received this astounding speech. The Pope was +besieged with deputations, and, after two days' struggle, was obliged +to place the power in the hands of persons most opposed to him, and +nominally acquiesce in their proceedings. + + + + +TO R.W.E. (_in London_). + + +_Rome, May 19, 1848._--I should like to return with you, but I have +much to do and learn in Europe yet. I am deeply interested in this +public drama, and wish to see it _played out_. Methinks I have _my +part_ therein, either as actor or historian. + +I cannot marvel at your readiness to close the book of European +society. The shifting scenes entertain poorly. The flux of thought and +feeling leaves some fertilizing soil; but for me, few indeed are the +persons I should wish to see again; nor do I care to push the inquiry +further. The simplest and most retired life would now please me, only +I would not like to be confined to it, in case I grew weary, and +now and then craved variety, for exhilaration. I want some scenes +of natural beauty, and, imperfect as love is, I want human beings to +love, as I suffocate without. For intellectual stimulus, books would +mainly supply it, when wanted. + +Why did you not try to be in Paris at the opening of the Assembly? +There were elements worth scanning. + + + + +TO R.F.F. + + +_Rome, May 20, 1848._--My health is much revived by the spring here, +as gloriously beautiful as the winter was dreary. We know nothing +of spring in our country. Here the soft and brilliant weather is +unbroken, except now and then by a copious shower, which keeps +everything fresh. The trees, the flowers, the bird-songs are in +perfection. I have enjoyed greatly my walks in the villas, where the +grounds are of three or four miles in extent, and like free nature in +the wood-glades and still paths; while they have an added charm in the +music of their many fountains, and the soft gleam, here and there, of +sarcophagus or pillar. + +I have been a few days at Albano, and explored its beautiful environs +alone, to much greater advantage than I could last year, in the +carriage with my friends. + +I went, also, to Frascati and Ostia, with an English family, who had +a good carriage, and were kindly, intelligent people, who could not +disturb the Roman landscape. + +Now I am going into the country, where I can live very cheaply, even +keeping a servant of my own, without which guard I should not venture +alone into the unknown and wilder regions. + +I have been so disconcerted by my Roman winter, that I dare not plan +decisively again. The enervating breath of Rome paralyzes my body, but +I know and love her. The expression, "City of the Soul," designates +her, and her alone. + + + + +TO MADAME ARCONATI. + + +_Rome, May 27, 1848._--This is my last day at Rome. I have been +passing several days at Subiaco and Tivoli, and return again to the +country to-morrow. These scenes of natural beauty have filled my +heart, and increased, if possible, my desire that the people who have +this rich inheritance may no longer be deprived of its benefits by bad +institutions. + +The people of Subiaco are poor, though very industrious, and +cultivating every inch of ground, with even English care and +neatness;--so ignorant and uncultivated, while so finely and strongly +made by Nature. May God grant now, to this people, what they need! + +An illumination took place last night, in honor of the "Illustrious +Gioberti." He is received here with great triumph, his carriage +followed with shouts of "_Viva Gioberti, morte ai Jesuiti!_" which +must be pain to the many Jesuits, who, it is said, still linger +here in disguise. His triumphs are shared by Mamiani and Orioli, +self-trumpeted celebrities, self-constituted rulers of the Roman +states,--men of straw, to my mind, whom the fire already kindled will +burn into a handful of ashes. + +I sit in my obscure corner, and watch the progress of events. It is +the position that pleases me best, and, I believe, the most favorable +one. Everything confirms me in my radicalism; and, without any desire +to hasten matters, indeed with surprise to see them rush so like a +torrent, I seem to see them all tending to realize my own hopes. + +My health and spirits now much restored, I am beginning to set down +some of my impressions. I am going into the mountains, hoping there to +find pure, strengthening air, and tranquillity for so many days as to +allow me to do something. + + + + +TO R.F. F----. + + +_Rieti, July 1, 1848._--Italy is as beautiful as even I hoped, and +I should wish to stay here several years, if I had a moderate fixed +income. One wants but little money here, and can have with it many +of the noblest enjoyments. I should have been very glad if fate would +allow me a few years of congenial life, at the end of not a few of +struggle and suffering. But I do not hope it; my fate will be the same +to the close,--beautiful gifts shown, and then withdrawn, or offered +on conditions that make acceptance impossible. + + + + +TO MADAME ARCONATI. + + +_Corpus Domini, June_ 22, 1848.--I write such a great number of +letters, having not less than a hundred correspondents, that it seems, +every day, as if I had just written to each. There is no one, surely, +this side of the salt sea, with whom I wish more to keep up the +interchange of thought than with you. + +I believe, if you could know my heart as God knows it, and see +the causes that regulate my conduct, you would always love me. But +already, in absence, I have lost, for the present, some of those +who were dear to me, by failure of letters, or false report. After +sorrowing much about a falsehood told me of a dearest friend, I found +his letter at Torlonia's, which had been there ten months, and, duly +received, would have made all right. There is something fatal in my +destiny about correspondence. + +But I will say no more of this; only the loss of that letter to you, +at such an unfortunate time,--just when I most wished to seem the +loving and grateful friend I was,--made me fear it might be my destiny +to lose you too. But if any cross event shall do me this ill turn on +earth, we shall meet again in that clear state of intelligence which +men call heaven. + +I see by the journals that you have not lost Montanelli. That noble +mind is still spared to Italy. The Pope's heart is incapable of +treason; but he has fallen short of the office fate assigned him. + +I am no bigoted Republican, yet I think that form of government will +eventually pervade the civilized world. Italy may not be ripe for it +yet, but I doubt if she finds peace earlier; and this hasty annexation +of Lombardy to the crown of Sardinia seems, to me, as well as I can +judge, an act unworthy and unwise. Base, indeed, the monarch, if it +was needed, and weak no less than base; for he was already too far +engaged in the Italian cause to retire with honor or wisdom. + +I am here, in a lonely mountain home, writing the narrative of my +European experience. To this I devote great part of the day. Three or +four hours I pass in the open air, on donkey or on foot. When I have +exhausted this spot, perhaps I shall try another. Apply as I may, it +will take three months, at least, to finish my book. It grows upon me. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Rieti, July_ 11, 1848.--Once I had resolution to face my difficulties +myself, and try to give only what was pleasant to others; but now that +my courage has fairly given way, and the fatigue of life is beyond my +strength, I do not prize myself, or expect others to prize me. + +Some years ago, I thought you very unjust, because you did not lend +full faith to my spiritual experiences; but I see you were quite +right. I thought I had tasted of the true elixir, and that the want +of daily bread, or the pangs of imprisonment, would never make me a +complaining beggar. A widow, I expected still to have the cruse full +for others. Those were glorious hours, and angels certainly visited +me; but there must have been too much earth,--too much taint of +weakness and folly, so that baptism did not suffice. I know now those +same things, but at present they are words, not living spells. + +I hear, at this moment, the clock of the Church del Purgatorio +telling noon in this mountain solitude. Snow yet lingers on these +mountain-tops, after forty days of hottest sunshine, last night broken +by a few clouds, prefatory to a thunder storm this morning. It has +been so hot here, that even the peasant in the field says, "_Non porro +piu resistere_," and slumbers in the shade, rather than the sun. I +love to see their patriarchal ways of guarding the sheep and tilling +the fields. They are a simple race. Remote from the corruptions of +foreign travel, they do not ask for money, but smile upon and bless me +as I pass,--for the Italians love me; they say I am so "_simpatica._" +I never see any English or Americans, and now think wholly in Italian: +only the surgeon who bled me, the other day, was proud to speak a +little French, which he had learned at Tunis! The ignorance of this +people is amusing. I am to them a divine visitant,--an instructive +Ceres,--telling them wonderful tales of foreign customs, and even +legends of the lives of their own saints. They are people whom I could +love and live with. Bread and grapes among them would suffice me. + + + + +TO HER MOTHER. + + +_Rome, Nov_. 16, 1848.--* * * Of other circumstances which complicate +my position I cannot write. Were you here, I would confide in you +fully, and have more than once, in the silence of the night, recited +to you those most strange and romantic chapters in the story of my sad +life. At one time when I thought I might die, I empowered a person, +who has given me, as far as possible to him, the aid and sympathy of +a brother, to communicate them to you, on his return to the United +States. But now I think we shall meet again, and I am sure you will +always love your daughter, and will know gladly that in all events she +has tried to aid and striven never to injure her fellows. In earlier +days, I dreamed of doing and being much, but now am content with the +Magdalen to rest my plea hereon, "_She has loved much_." + +You, loved mother, keep me informed, as you have, of important facts, +_especially_ the _worst_. The thought of you, the knowledge of your +angelic nature, is always one of my greatest supports. Happy those who +have such a mother! Myriad instances of selfishness and corruption of +heart cannot destroy the confidence in human nature. + +I am again in Rome, situated for the first time entirely to my mind. +I have but one room, but large; and everything about the bed so +gracefully and adroitly disposed that it makes a beautiful parlor, and +of course I pay much less. I have the sun all day, and an excellent +chimney. It is very high and has pure air, and the most beautiful view +all around imaginable. Add, that I am with the dearest, delightful +old couple one can imagine, quick, prompt, and kind, sensible and +contented. Having no children, they like to regard me and the Prussian +sculptor, my neighbor, as such; yet are too delicate and too busy ever +to intrude. In the attic, dwells a priest, who insists on making +my fire when Antonia is away. To be sure, he pays himself for his +trouble, by asking a great many questions. The stories below are +occupied by a frightful Russian princess with moustaches, and a +footman who ties her bonnet for her; and a fat English lady, with a +fine carriage, who gives all her money to the church, and has made for +the house a terrace of flowers that would delight you. Antonia has +her flowers in a humble balcony, her birds, and an immense black +cat; always addressed by both husband and wife as "Amoretto," (little +love!) + +The house looks out on the Piazza Barberini, and I see both that +palace and the Pope's. The scene to-day has been one of terrible +interest. The poor, weak Pope has fallen more and more under the +dominion of the cardinals, till at last all truth was hidden from his +eyes. He had suffered the minister, Rossi, to go on, tightening the +reins, and, because the people preserved a sullen silence, he thought +they would bear it. Yesterday, the Chamber of Deputies, illegally +prorogued, was opened anew. Rossi, after two or three most unpopular +measures, had the imprudence to call the troops of the line to defend +him, instead of the National Guard. On the 14th, the Pope had invested +him with the privileges of a Roman citizen: (he had renounced his +country when an exile, and returned to it as ambassador of Louis +Philippe.) This position he enjoyed but one day. Yesterday, as he +descended from his carriage, to enter the Chamber, the crowd +howled and hissed; then pushed him, and, as he turned his head in +consequence, a sure hand stabbed him in the back. He said no word, +but died almost instantly in the arms of a cardinal. The act was +undoubtedly the result of the combination of many, from the dexterity +with which it was accomplished, and the silence which ensued. Those +who had not abetted beforehand seemed entirely to approve when done. +The troops of the line, on whom he had relied, remained at their +posts, and looked coolly on. In the evening, they walked the streets +with the people, singing, "Happy the hand which rids the world of a +tyrant!" Had Rossi lived to enter the Chamber, he would have seen the +most terrible and imposing mark of denunciation known in the history +of nations,--the whole house, without a single exception, seated on +the benches of opposition. The news of his death was received by the +deputies with the same cold silence as by the people. For me, I never +thought to have heard of a violent death with satisfaction, but this +act affected me as one of terrible justice. + +To-day, all the troops and the people united and went to the Quirinal +to demand a change of measures. They found the Swiss Guard drawn out, +and the Pope dared not show himself. They attempted to force the door +of his palace, to enter his presence, and the guard fired. I saw a man +borne by wounded. The drum beat to call out the National Guard. The +carriage of Prince Barberini has returned with its frightened inmates +and liveried retinue, and they have suddenly barred up the court-yard +gate. Antonia, seeing it, observes, "Thank Heaven, we are poor, we +have nothing to fear!" This is the echo of a sentiment which will soon +be universal in Europe. + +Never feel any apprehensions for my safety from such causes. There +are those who will protect me, if necessary, and, besides, I am on the +conquering side. These events have, to me, the deepest interest. These +days are what I always longed for,--were I only free from private +care! But, when the best and noblest want bread to give to the cause +of liberty, I can just not demand _that_ of them; their blood they +would give me. + +You cannot conceive the enchantment of this place. So much I suffered +here last January and February, I thought myself a little weaned; but, +returning, my heart swelled even to tears with the cry of the poet:-- + + "O, Rome, _my_ country, city of the soul!" + +Those have not lived who have not seen Rome. Warned, however, by the +last winter, I dared not rent my lodgings for the year. I hope I am +acclimated. I have been through what is called the grape-cure, much +more charming, certainly, than the water-cure. At present I am very +well; but, alas! because I have gone to bed early, and done very +little. I do not know if I can maintain any labor. As to my life, I +think that it is not the will of Heaven it should terminate very +soon. I have had another strange escape. I had taken passage in the +diligence to come to Rome; two rivers were to be passed,--the Turano +and the Tiber,--but passed by good bridges, and a road excellent when +not broken unexpectedly by torrents from the mountains. The diligence +sets out between three and four in the morning, long before light. +The director sent me word that the Marchioness Crispoldi had taken for +herself and family a coach extraordinary, which would start two +hours later, and that I could have a place in that, if I liked; so I +accepted. The weather had been beautiful, but, on the eve of the day +fixed for my departure, the wind rose, and the rain fell in torrents. +I observed that the river which passed my window was much swollen, +and rushed with great violence. In the night, I heard its voice still +stronger, and felt glad I had not to set out in the dark. I rose with +twilight, and was expecting my carriage, and wondering at its delay, +when I heard, that the great diligence, several miles below, had +been seized by a torrent; the horses were up to their necks in water, +before any one dreamed of the danger. The postilion called on all the +saints, and threw himself into the water. The door of the diligence +could not be opened, and the passengers forced themselves, one after +another, into the cold water,--dark too. Had I been there I had fared +ill; a pair of strong men were ill after it, though all escaped with +life. + +For several days, there was no going to Rome; but, at last, we set +forth in two great diligences, with all the horses of the route. For +many miles, the mountains and ravines were covered with snow; I seemed +to have returned to my own country and climate. Few miles passed, +before the conductor injured his leg under the wheel, and I had the +pain of seeing him suffer all the way, while "Blood of Jesus," "Souls +of Purgatory," was the mildest beginning of an answer to the jeers of +the postilions upon his paleness. We stopped at a miserable +osteria, in whose cellar we found a magnificent remain of Cyclopean +architecture,--as indeed in Italy one is paid at every step, for +discomfort or danger, by some precious subject of thought. We +proceeded very slowly, and reached just at night a solitary little +inn, which marks the site of the ancient home of the Sabine virgins, +snatched away to become the mothers of Rome. We were there saluted +with the news that the Tiber, also, had overflowed its banks, and it +was very doubtful if we could pass. But what else to do? There were no +accommodations in the house for thirty people, or even for three, and +to sleep in the carriages, in that wet air of the marshes, was a more +certain danger than to attempt the passage. So we set forth; the moon, +almost at the full, smiling sadly on the ancient grandeurs, then half +draped in mist, then drawing over her face a thin white veil. As we +approached the Tiber, the towers and domes of Rome could be seen, +like a cloud lying low on the horizon. The road and the meadows, alike +under water, lay between us and it, one sheet of silver. The horses +entered; they behaved nobly; we proceeded, every moment uncertain if +the water would not become deep; but the scene was beautiful, and I +enjoyed it highly. I have never yet felt afraid when really in the +presence of danger, though sometimes in its apprehension. + +At last we entered the gate; the diligence stopping to be examined, I +walked to the gate of Villa Ludovisi, and saw its rich shrubberies of +myrtle, and its statues so pale and eloquent in the moonlight. + +Is it not cruel that I cannot earn six hundred dollars a year, living +here? I could live on that well, now I know Italy. Where I have been, +this summer, a great basket of grapes sells for one cent!--delicious +salad, enough for three or four persons, one cent,--a pair of +chickens, fifteen cents. Foreigners cannot live so, but I could, now +that I speak the language fluently, and know the price of everything. +Everybody loves, and wants to serve me, and I cannot earn this pitiful +sum to learn and do what I want. + +Of course, I wish to see America again; but in my own time, when I am +ready, and not to weep over hopes destroyed and projects unfulfilled. + +My dear friend, Madame Arconati, has shown me generous love;--a +_contadina_, whom I have known this summer, hardly less. Every Sunday, +she came in her holiday dress,--beautiful corset of red silk richly +embroidered, rich petticoat, nice shoes and stockings, and handsome +coral necklace, on one arm an immense basket of grapes, in the other +a pair of live chickens, to be eaten by me for her sake, ("_per amore +mio_,") and wanted no present, no reward; it was, as she said, "for +the honor and pleasure of her acquaintance." The old father of the +family never met me but he took off his hat and said, "Madame, it +is to me a _consolation_ to see you." Are there not sweet flowers of +affection in life, glorious moments, great thoughts?--why must they be +so dearly paid for? + +Many Americans have shown me great and thoughtful kindness, and none +more so than W. S---- and his wife. They are now in Florence, but +may return. I do not know whether I shall stay here or not; shall be +guided much by the state of my health. + +All is quieted now in Rome. Late at night the Pope had to yield, but +not till the door of his palace was half burnt, and his confessor +killed. This man, Parma, provoked his fate by firing on the people +from a window. It seems the Pope never gave order to fire; his guard +acted from a sudden impulse of their own. The new ministry chosen are +little inclined to accept. It is almost impossible for any one to act, +unless the Pope is stripped of his temporal power, and the hour +for that is not yet quite ripe; though they talk more and more of +proclaiming the Republic, and even of calling my friend Mazzini. + +If I came home at this moment, I should feel as if forced to leave my +own house, my own people, and the hour which I had always longed for. +If I do come in this way, all I can promise is to plague other people +as little as possible. My own plans and desires will be postponed to +another world. + +Do not feel anxious about me. Some higher power leads me through +strange, dark, thorny paths, broken at times by glades opening down +into prospects of sunny beauty, into which I am not permitted to +enter. If God disposes for us, it is not for nothing. This I can say, +my heart is in some respects better, it is kinder and more humble. +Also, my mental acquisitions have certainly been great, however +inadequate to my desires. + + + + +TO M.S. + + +_Rome, Nov._ 23, 1848.--Mazzini has stood alone in Italy, on a sunny +height, far above the stature of other men. He has fought a great +fight against folly, compromise, and treason; steadfast in his +convictions, and of almost miraculous energy to sustain them, is he. +He has foes; and at this moment, while he heads the insurrection in +the Valtellina, the Roman people murmur his name, and long to call him +here. + +How often rings in my ear the consolatory word of Koerner, after many +struggles, many undeceptions, "Though the million suffer shipwreck, +yet noble hearts survive!" + +I grieve to say, the good-natured Pio has shown himself utterly +derelict, alike without resolution to abide by the good or the ill. He +is now abandoned and despised by both parties. The people do not trust +his word, for they know he shrinks from the danger, and shuts the +door to pray quietly in his closet, whilst he knows the cardinals are +misusing his name to violate his pledges. The cardinals, chased from +Rome, talk of electing an anti-Pope; because, when there was danger, +he has always yielded to the people, and they say he has overstepped +his prerogative, and broken his papal oath. No one abuses him, for it +is felt that in a more private station he would have acted a kindly +part; but he has failed of so high a vocation, and balked so noble a +hope, that no one respects him either. Who would have believed, a year +ago, that the people would assail his palace? I was on Monte Cavallo +yesterday, and saw the broken windows, the burnt doors, the walls +marked by shot, just beneath the loggia, on which we have seen him +giving the benediction. But this would never have happened, if his +guard had not fired first on the people. It is true it was without his +order, but, under a different man, the Swiss would never have dared to +incur such a responsibility. + +Our old acquaintance, Sterbini, has risen to the ministry. He has +a certain influence, from his consistency and independence, but has +little talent. + +Of me you wish to know; but there is little I can tell you at this +distance. I have had happy hours, learned much, suffered much, and +outward things have not gone fortunately with me. I have had glorious +hopes, but they are overclouded now, and the future looks darker than +ever, indeed, quite impossible to my steps. I have no hope, unless +that God will show me some way I do not know of now; but I do not wish +to trouble you with more of this. + + + + +TO W.S. + + +_Rome, Dec_. 9, 1848.--As to Florence itself, I do not like it, with +the exception of the galleries and churches, and Michel Angelo's +marbles. I do not like it, for the reason you _do_, because it seems +like home. It seems a kind of Boston to me,--the same good and the +same ill; I have had enough of both. But I have so many dear friends +in Boston, that I must always wish to go there sometimes; and there +are so many precious objects of study in Florence, that a stay of +several months could not fail to be full of interest. Still, the +spring must be the time to be in Florence; there are so many charming +spots to visit in the environs, much nearer than those you go to +in Rome, within scope of an afternoon's drive. I saw them only when +parched with sun and covered with dust. In the spring they must be +very beautiful. + + * * * * * + +_December_, 1848.--I felt much what you wrote, "_if it were well with +my heart_." How seldom it is that a mortal is permitted to enjoy a +paradisaical scene, unhaunted by some painful vision from the past +or the future! With me, too, dark clouds of care and sorrow have +sometimes blotted out the sunshine. I have not lost from my side an +only sister, but have been severed from some visions still so dear, +they looked almost like hopes. The future seems too difficult for me. +I have been as happy as I could, and I feel that this summer, as last, +had I been with my country folks, the picture of Italy would not have +been so lively to me. Now I have been quite off the beaten track of +travel, have seen, thought, spoken, dreamed only what is Italian. I +have learned much, received many strong and clear impressions. While +among the mountains, I was for a good while quite alone, except for +occasional chat with the contadine, who wanted to know if Pius IX. was +not _un gran carbonaro!_--a reputation which he surely ought to have +forfeited by this time. About me they were disturbed: "_E sempre sola +soletta_," they said, "_eh perche?_" + +Later, I made one of those accidental acquaintances, such as I have +spoken of to you in my life of Lombardy, which may be called romantic: +two brothers, elderly men, the last of a very noble family, formerly +lords of many castles, still of more than one; both unmarried, men of +great polish and culture. None of the consequences ensued that would +in romances: they did not any way adopt me, nor give me a casket of +diamonds, nor any of their pictures, among which were originals +by several of the greatest masters, nor their rich cabinets, nor +miniatures on agate, nor carving in wood and ivory. They only showed +me their things, and their family archives of more than a hundred +volumes, (containing most interesting documents about Poland, where +four of their ancestors were nuncios,) manuscript letters from Tasso, +and the like. With comments on these, and legendary lore enough to +furnish Cooper or Walter Scott with a thousand romances, they enriched +me; unhappily, I shall never have the strength or talent to make due +use of it. I was sorry to leave them, for now I have recrossed the +frontier into the Roman States. I will not tell you where,--I know +not that I shall ever tell where,--these months have been passed. The +great Goethe hid thus in Italy; "Then," said he, "I did indeed feel +alone,--when no former friend could form an _idea_ where I was." Why +should not ---- and I enjoy this fantastic luxury of _incognito_ also, +when we can so much more easily? + +I will not name the place, but I will describe it. The rooms are +spacious and airy; the loggia of the sleeping room is rude, but it +overhangs a lovely little river, with its hedge of willows. Opposite +is a large and rich vineyard; on one side a ruined tower, on the other +an old casino, with its avenues of cypress, give human interest to the +scene. A cleft amid the mountains full of light leads on the eye to a +soft blue peak, very distant. At night the young moon trembles in the +river, and its soft murmur soothes me to sleep; it needs, for I have +had lately a bad attack upon the nerves, and been obliged to stop +writing for the present. I think I shall stay here some time, though I +suppose there are such sweet places all over Italy, if one only looks +for one's self. Poor, beautiful Italy! how she has been injured of +late! It is dreadful to see the incapacity and meanness of those to +whom she had confided the care of her redemption. + +I have thus far passed this past month of fine weather most +delightfully in revisiting my haunts of the autumn before. Then, too, +I was uncommonly well and strong; it was the golden period of my Roman +life. The experience what long confinement may be expected after, from +the winter rains, has decided me _never_ to make my hay when the sun +shines: _i.e._, to give no fine day to books and pens. + +The places of interest I am nearest now are villas Albani and +Ludovisi, and Santa Agnese, St. Lorenzo, and the vineyards near Porta +Maggiore. I have passed one day in a visit to Torre dei Schiavi +and the neighborhood, and another on Monte Mario, both Rome and the +Campagna-day golden in the mellowest lustre of the Italian sun. * * * +But to you I may tell, that I always go with Ossoli, the most +congenial companion I ever had for jaunts of this kind. We go out in +the morning, carrying the roast chestnuts from Rome; the bread and +wine are found in some lonely little osteria; and so we dine; and +reach Rome again, just in time to see it, from a little distance, +gilded by the sunset. + +This moon having been so clear, and the air so warm, we have visited, +on successive evenings, all the places we fancied: Monte Cavallo, now +so lonely and abandoned,--no lights there but moon and stars,--Trinita +de' Monti, Santa Maria Maggiore, and the Forum. So now, if the rain +must come, or I be driven from Rome, I have all the images fair and +fresh in my mind. + +About public events, why remain ignorant? Take a daily paper in the +house. The Italian press has recovered from the effervescence of +childish spirits;--you can now approximate to the truth from its +reports. There are many good papers now in Italy. Whatever represents +the Montanelli ministry is best for you. That gives the lead now. I +see good articles copied from the "Alba." + + + + +TO MADAME ARCONATI. + + +_Rome, Feb. 5_, 1849.--I am so delighted to get your letter, that I +must answer on the instant. I try with all my force to march straight +onwards,--to answer the claims of the day; to act out my feeling as +seems right at the time, and not heed the consequences;--but in my +affections I am tender and weak; where I have really loved, a barrier, +a break, causes me great suffering. I read in your letter that I am +still dear to you as you to me. I always felt, that if we had passed +more time together,--if the intimacy, for which there was ground in +the inner nature, had become consolidated,--no after differences of +opinion or conduct could have destroyed, though they might interrupt +its pleasure. But it was of few days' standing,--our interviews much +interrupted. I felt as if I knew you much better than you could me, +because I had occasion to see you amid your various and habitual +relations. I was afraid you might change, or become indifferent; now I +hope not. + +True, I have written, shall write, about the affairs of Italy, what +you will much dislike, if ever you see it. I have done, may do, +many things that would be very unpleasing to you; yet there _is_ a +congeniality, I dare to say, pure, and strong, and good, at the bottom +of the heart, far, far deeper than these differences, that would +always, on a real meeting, keep us friends. For me, I could never have +but one feeling towards you. + +Now, for the first time, I enjoy a full communion with the spirit of +Rome. Last winter, I had here many friends; now all are dispersed, +and sometimes I long to exchange thoughts with a friendly circle; but +generally I am better content to live thus:--the impression made by +all the records of genius around is more unbroken; I begin to be very +familiar with them. The sun shines always, when last winter it never +shone. I feel strong; I can go everywhere on foot. I pass whole days +abroad; sometimes I take a book, but seldom read it:--why should I, +when every stone talks? + +In spring, I shall go often out of town. I have read "La Rome +Souterraine" of Didier, and it makes me wish to see Ardea and Nettuno. +Ostia is the only one of those desolate sites that I know yet. I study +sometimes Niebuhr, and other books about Rome, but not to any great +profit. + +In the circle of my friends, two have fallen. One a person of great +wisdom, strength, and calmness. She was ever to me a most tender +friend, and one whose sympathy I highly valued. Like you by nature +and education conservative, she was through thought liberal. With no +exuberance or passionate impulsiveness herself, she knew how to allow +for these in others. The other was a woman of my years, of the most +precious gifts in heart and genius. She had also beauty and fortune. +She died at last of weariness and intellectual inanition. She never, +to any of us, her friends, hinted her sufferings. But they were +obvious in her poems, which, with great dignity, expressed a resolute +but most mournful resignation. + + + + +TO R.F.F. + + +_Rome, Feb_. 23, 1849.--It is something if one can get free foot-hold +on the earth, so as not to be jostled out of hearing the music, if +there should be any spirits in the air to make such. + +For my part, I have led rather too lonely a life of late. Before, it +seemed as if too many voices of men startled away the inspirations; +but having now lived eight months much alone, I doubt that good has +come of it, and think to return, and go with others for a little. I +have realized in these last days the thought of Goethe,--"He who would +in loneliness live, ah! he is soon alone. Each one loves, each one +lives, and leaves him to his pain." I went away and hid, all summer. +Not content with that, I said, on returning to Rome, I must be busy +and receive people little. They have taken me at my word, and hardly +one comes to see me. Now, if I want play and prattle, I shall have to +run after them. It is fair enough that we all, in turn, should be made +to feel our need of one another. + +Never was such a winter as this. Ten weeks now of unbroken sunshine +and the mildest breezes. Of course, its price is to be paid. The +spring, usually divine here, with luxuriant foliage and multitudinous +roses, will be all scorched and dusty. There is fear, too, of want of +food for the poor Roman state. + +I pass my days in writing, walking, occasional visits to the +galleries. I read little, except the newspapers; these take up an hour +or two of the day. I own, my thoughts are quite fixed on the daily +bulletin of men and things. I expect to write the history, but because +it is so much in my heart. If you were here, I rather think you would +be impassive, like the two most esteemed Americans I see. They do not +believe in the sentimental nations. Hungarians, Poles, Italians, are +too demonstrative for them, too fiery, too impressible. They like +better the loyal, slow-moving Germans: even the Russian, with his +dog's nose and gentlemanly servility, pleases them better than _my_ +people. There is an antagonism of race. + + + + +TO E.S. + + +_Rome, June_ 6, 1849.--The help I needed was external, practical. I +knew myself all the difficulties and pains of my position; they were +beyond present relief; from sympathy I could struggle with them, but +had not life enough left, afterwards, to be a companion of any worth. +To be with persons generous and refined, who would not pain; who +would sometimes lend a helping hand across the ditches of this strange +insidious marsh, was all I could have now, and this you gave. + +On Sunday, from our loggia, I witnessed a terrible, a real battle. It +began at four in the morning: it lasted to the last gleam of light. +The musket-fire was almost unintermitted; the roll of the cannon, +especially from St. Angelo, most majestic. As all passed at Porta San +Pancrazio and Villa Pamfili, I saw the smoke of every discharge, the +flash of the bayonets; with a glass could see the men. Both French and +Italians fought with the most obstinate valor. The French could +not use their heavy cannon, being always driven away by the legions +Garibaldi and ----, when trying to find positions for them. The loss +on our side is about three hundred killed and wounded; theirs must +be much greater. In one casino have been found seventy dead bodies +of theirs. I find the wounded men at the hospital in a transport of +indignation. The French soldiers fought so furiously, that they think +them false as their general, and cannot endure the remembrance of +their visits, during the armistice, and talk of brotherhood. You will +have heard how all went:--how Lesseps, after appearing here fifteen +days as _plenipotentiary_, signed a treaty not dishonorable to Rome; +then Oudinot refused to ratify it, saying, _the plenipotentiary +had surpassed his powers_: Lesseps runs back to Paris, and Oudinot +attacks:--an affair alike infamous for the French from beginning to +end. The cannonade on one side has continued day and night, (being +full moon,) till this morning; they seeking to advance or take other +positions, the Romans firing on them. The French throw rockets into +the town: one burst in the court-yard of the hospital, just as I +arrived there yesterday, agitating the poor sufferers very much; they +said they did not want to die like mice in a trap. + + + + +TO M.S. + + +_Rome, March_ 9, 1849.--Last night, Mazzini came to see me. You will +have heard how he was called to Italy, and received at Leghorn like +a prince, as he is; unhappily, in fact, the only one, the only great +Italian. It is expected, that, if the republic lasts, he will be +President. He has been made a Roman citizen, and elected to the +Assembly; the labels bearing, in giant letters, "_Giuseppe Mazzini, +cittadino Romano_," are yet up all over Rome. He entered by night, on +foot, to avoid demonstrations, no doubt, and enjoy the quiet of his +own thoughts, at so great a moment. The people went under his windows +the next night, and called him out to speak; but I did not know about +it. Last night, I heard a ring; then somebody speak my name; the voice +struck upon me at once. He looks more divine than ever, after all +his new, strange sufferings. He asked after all of you. He stayed two +hours, and we talked, though rapidly, of everything. He hopes to come +often, but the crisis is tremendous, and all will come on him; since, +if any one can save Italy from her foes, inward and outward, it will +be he. But he is very doubtful whether this be possible; the foes are +too many, too strong, too subtle. Yet Heaven helps sometimes. I only +grieve I cannot aid him; freely would I give my life to aid him, only +bargaining for a quick death. I don't like slow torture. I fear that +it is in reserve for him, to survive defeat. True, he can never be +utterly defeated; but to see Italy bleeding, prostrate once more, will +be very dreadful for him. + +He has sent me tickets, twice, to hear him speak in the Assembly. It +was a fine, commanding voice. But, when he finished, he looked very +exhausted and melancholy. He looks as if the great battle he had +fought had been too much for his strength, and that he was only +sustained by the fire of the soul. + +All this I write to you, because you said, when I was suffering at +leaving Mazzini,--"You will meet him in heaven." This I believe will +be, despite all my faults. + +[In April, 1849, Margaret was appointed, by the "Roman Commission +for the succor of the wounded," to the charge of the hospital of the +_Fate-Bene Fratetti_; the Princess Belgioioso having charge of the one +already opened. The following is a copy of the original letter +from the Princess, which is written in English, announcing the +appointment.] + +_Comitato di Soccorso Pei Feriti_, } +April 30, 1849. } + +Dear Miss Fuller:-- + +You are named Regolatrice of the Hospital of the _Fate-Rene Fratelli_. +Go there at twelve, if the alarm bell has not rung before. When you +arrive there, you will receive all the women coming for the wounded, +and give them your directions, so that you are sure to have a certain +number of them night and day. + +May God help us. +CHRISTINE TRIVULZE, +of Belgioioso. +Miss Fuller, Piazza Barberini, No. 60. + + + + +TO R.W.E. + + +_Rome, June_ 10, 1849.--I received your letter amid the round of +cannonade and musketry. It was a terrible battle fought here from the +first till the last light of day. I could see all its progress from my +balcony. The Italians fought like lions. It is a truly heroic spirit +that animates them. They make a stand here for honor and their +rights, with little ground for hope that they can resist, now they are +betrayed by France. + +Since the 30th April, I go almost daily to the hospitals, and, +though I have suffered,--for I had no idea before, how terrible +gunshot-wounds and wound-fever are,--yet I have taken pleasure, and +great pleasure, in being with the men; there is scarcely one who is +not moved by a noble spirit. Many, especially among the Lombards, +are the flower of the Italian youth. When they begin to get better, I +carry them books and flowers; they read, and we talk. + +The palace of the Pope, on the Quirinal, is now used for +convalescents. In those beautiful gardens, I walk with them,--one with +his sling, another with his crutch. The gardener plays off all his +water-works for the defenders of the country, and gathers flowers for +me, their friend. + +A day or two since, we sat in the Pope's little pavilion, where he +used to give private audience. The sun was going gloriously down over +Monte Mario, where gleamed the white tents of the French light-horse +among the trees. The cannonade was heard at intervals. Two bright-eyed +boys sat at our feet, and gathered up eagerly every word said by the +heroes of the day. It was a beautiful hour, stolen from the midst of +ruin and sorrow; and tales were told as full of grace and pathos as in +the gardens of Boccaccio, only in a very different spirit,--with noble +hope for man, with reverence for woman. + +The young ladies of the family, very young girls, were filled with +enthusiasm for the suffering, wounded patriots, and they wished to +go to the hospital to give their services. Excepting the three +superintendents, none but married ladies were permitted to serve +there, but their services were accepted. Their governess then wished +to go too, and, as she could speak several languages, she was admitted +to the rooms of the wounded soldiers, to interpret for them, as the +nurses knew nothing but Italian, and many of these poor men were +suffering, because they could not make their wishes known. Some are +French, some German, and many Poles. Indeed, I am afraid it is too +true that there were comparatively but few Romans among them. This +young lady passed several nights there. + +Should I never return,--and sometimes I despair of doing so, it seems +so far off, so difficult, I am caught in such a net of ties here,--if +ever you know of my life here, I think you will only wonder at the +constancy with which I have sustained myself; the degree of profit to +which, amid great difficulties, I have put the time, at least in the +way of observation. Meanwhile, love me all you can; let me feel, that, +amid the fearful agitations of the world, there are pure hands, with +healthful, even pulse, stretched out toward me, if I claim their +grasp. + +I feel profoundly for Mazzini; at moments I am tempted to say, "Cursed +with every granted prayer,"--so cunning is the daemon. He is become +the inspiring soul of his people. He saw Rome, to which all his hopes +through life tended, for the first time as a Roman citizen, and to +become in a few days its ruler. He has animated, he sustains her to a +glorious effort, which, if it fails, this time, will not in the age. +His country will be free. Yet to me it would be so dreadful to cause +all this bloodshed, to dig the graves of such martyrs. + +Then Rome is being destroyed; her glorious oaks; her villas, haunts of +sacred beauty, that seemed the possession of the world forever,--the +villa of Raphael, the villa of Albani, home of Winkelmann, and +the best expression of the ideal of modern Rome, and so many other +sanctuaries of beauty,--all must perish, lest a foe should level his +musket from their shelter. _I_ could not, could not! + +I know not, dear friend, whether I ever shall get home across that +great ocean, but here in Rome I shall no longer wish to live. O, Rome, +_my_ country! could I imagine that the triumph of what I held dear was +to heap such desolation on thy head! + +Speaking of the republic, you say, do not I wish Italy had a great +man? Mazzini is a great man. In mind, a great poetic statesman; in +heart, a lover; in action, decisive and full of resource as Caesar. +Dearly I love Mazzini. He came in, just as I had finished the first +letter to you. His soft, radiant look makes melancholy music in my +soul; it consecrates my present life, that, like the Magdalen, I may, +at the important hour, shed all the consecrated ointment on his head. +There is one, Mazzini, who understands thee well; who knew thee no +less when an object of popular fear, than now of idolatry; and who, if +the pen be not held too feebly, will help posterity to know thee too. + + + + +TO W.H.C. + + +_Rome, July_ 8, 1849.--I do not yet find myself tranquil and recruited +from the painful excitements of these last days. But, amid the ruined +hopes of Rome, the shameful oppressions she is beginning to suffer, +amid these noble, bleeding martyrs, my brothers, I cannot fix my +thoughts on anything else. + +I write that you may assure mother of my safety, which in the last +days began to be seriously imperilled. Say, that as soon as I can find +means of conveyance, without an expense too enormous, I shall go again +into the mountains. There I shall find pure, bracing air, and I hope +stillness, for a time. Say, she need feel no anxiety, if she do not +hear from me for some time. I may feel indisposed to write, as I do +now; my heart is too full. + +Private hopes of mine are fallen with the hopes of Italy. I have +played for a new stake, and lost it. Life looks too difficult. But +for the present I shall try to wave all thought of self and renew my +strength. + +After the attempt at revolution in France failed, could I have +influenced Mazzini, I should have prayed him to capitulate, and yet I +feel that no honorable terms can be made with such a foe, and that the +only way is _never_ to yield; but the sound of the musketry, the sense +that men were perishing in a hopeless contest, had become too terrible +for my nerves. I did not see Mazzini, the last two weeks of the +republic. When the French entered, he walked about the streets, to +see how the people bore themselves, and then went to the house of +a friend. In the upper chamber of a poor house, with his life-long +friends,--the Modenas,--I found him. Modena, who abandoned not only +what other men hold dear,--home, fortune, peace,--but also endured, +without the power of using the prime of his great artist-talent, a +ten years' exile in a foreign land; his wife every way worthy of +him,--such a woman as I am not. + +Mazzini had suffered millions more than I could; he had borne his +fearful responsibility; he had let his dearest friends perish; he had +passed all these nights without sleep; in two short months, he had +grown old; all the vital juices seemed exhausted; his eyes were all +blood-shot; his skin orange; flesh he had none; his hair was mixed +with white: his hand was painful to the touch; but he had never +flinched, never quailed; had protested in the last hour against +surrender; sweet and calm, but full of a more fiery purpose than ever; +in him I revered the hero, and owned myself not of that mould. + +You say truly, I shall come home humbler. God grant it may be entirely +humble! In future, while more than ever deeply penetrated with +principles, and the need of the martyr spirit to sustain them, I will +ever own that there are few worthy, and that I am one of the least. + +A silken glove might be as good a gauntlet as one of steel, but I, +infirm of mood, turn sick even now as I think of the past. + + * * * * * + +_July_, 1849.--I cannot tell you what I endured in leaving Rome; +abandoning the wounded soldiers; knowing that there is no provision +made for them, when they rise from the beds where they have been +thrown by a noble courage, where they have suffered with a noble +patience. Some of the poorer men, who rise bereft even of the right +arm,--one having lost both the right arm and the right leg,--I could +have provided for with a small sum. Could I have sold my hair, or +blood from my arm, I would have done it. Had any of the rich Americans +remained in Rome, they would have given it to me; they helped nobly at +first, in the service of the hospitals, when there was far less need; +but they had all gone. What would I have given that I could have +spoken to one of the Lawrences, or the Phillipses; they could and +would have saved the misery. These poor men are left helpless in +the power of a mean and vindictive foe. You felt so oppressed in the +slave-states; imagine what I felt at seeing all the noblest youth, all +the genius of this dear land, again enslaved. + + + + +TO W.H.C. + + +_Rieti, Aug_. 28, 1849.--You say, you are glad I have had this great +opportunity for carrying out my principles. Would it were so! I found +myself inferior in courage and fortitude to the occasion. I knew not +how to bear the havoc and anguish incident to the struggle for these +principles. I rejoiced that it lay not with me to cut down the trees, +to destroy the Elysian gardens, for the defence of Rome; I do not know +that I could have done it. And the sight of these far nobler growths, +the beautiful young men, mown down in their stately prime, became too +much for me. I forget the great ideas, to sympathize with the poor +mothers, who had nursed their precious forms, only to see them +all lopped and gashed. You say, I sustained them; often have they +sustained my courage: one, kissing the pieces of bone that were so +painfully extracted from his arm, hanging them round his neck to be +worn as the true relics of to-day; mementoes that he also had done and +borne something for his country and the hopes of humanity. One fair +young man, who is made a cripple for life, clasped my hand as he saw +me crying over the spasms I could not relieve, and faintly cried, +"Viva l'Italia." "Think only, _cara bona donna_" said a poor wounded +soldier, "that I can always wear my uniform on _festas_, just as it is +now, with the holes where the balls went through, for a memory." "God +is good; God knows," they often said to me, when I had not a word to +cheer them. + + + + +THE WIFE AND MOTHER.[A] + + +Beneath the ruins of the Roman Republic, how many private fortunes +were buried! and among these victims was Margaret. In that +catastrophe, were swallowed up hopes sacredly cherished by her through +weary months, at the risk of all she most prized. + +Soon after the entrance of the French, she wrote thus, to the resident +Envoy of the United States: + +My dear Mr. Cass,--I beg you to come and see me, and give me your +counsel, and, if need be, your aid, to get away from Rome. From what +I hear this morning, I fear we may be once more shut up here; and I +shall die, to be again separated from what I hold most dear. There +are, as yet, no horses on the way we want to go, or we should post +immediately. + +You may feel, like me, sad, in these last moments, to leave this +injured Rome. So many noble hearts I abandon here, whose woes I have +known! I feel, if I could not aid, I might soothe. But for my child, I +would not go, till some men, now sick, know whether they shall live or +die. + + * * * * * + +Her child! Where was he? In RIETI,--at the foot of the Umbrian +Apennines,--a day's journey to the north-east of Rome. Thither +Margaret escaped with her husband, and thence she wrote the following +letter: + +Dearest Mother,--I received your letter a few hours before leaving +Rome. Like all of yours, it refreshed me, and gave me as much +satisfaction as anything could, at that sad time. Its spirit is +of eternity, and befits an epoch when wickedness and perfidy so +impudently triumph, and the best blood of the generous and honorable +is poured out like water, seemingly in vain. + +I cannot tell you what I suffered to abandon the wounded to the care +of their mean foes; to see the young men, that were faithful to their +vows, hunted from their homes,--hunted like wild beasts; denied a +refuge in every civilized land. Many of those I loved are sunk to the +bottom of the sea, by Austrian cannon, or will be shot. Others are in +penury, grief, and exile. May God give due recompense for all that has +been endured! + +My mind still agitated, and my spirits worn out, I have not felt like +writing to any one. Yet the magnificent summer does not smile quite +in vain for me. Much exercise in the open air, living much on milk +and fruit, have recruited my health, and I am regaining the habit of +sleep, which a month of nightly cannonade in Rome had destroyed. + + * * * * * + +Receiving, a few days since, a packet of letters from America, I +opened them with more feeling of hope and good cheer, than for a long +time past. The first words that met my eye were these, in the hand of +Mr. Greeley:--"Ah, Margaret, the world grows dark with us! You grieve, +for Rome is fallen;--I mourn, for Pickie is dead." + +I have shed rivers of tears over the inexpressibly affecting letter +thus begun. One would think I might have become familiar enough with +images of death and destruction; yet somehow the image of Pickie's +little dancing figure, lying, stiff and stark, between his parents, +has made me weep more than all else. There was little hope he could do +justice to himself, or lead a happy life in so perplexed a world; +but never was a character of richer capacity,--never a more charming +child. To me he was most dear, and would always have been so. Had he +become stained with earthly faults, I could never have forgotten what +he was when fresh from the soul's home, and what he was to me when my +soul pined for sympathy, pure and unalloyed. + +The three children I have seen who were fairest in my eyes, and gave +most promise of the future, were Waldo, Pickie, Hermann Clarke;--all +nipped in the bud. Endless thoughts has this given me, and a resolve +to seek the realization of all hopes and plans elsewhere, which +resolve will weigh with me as much as it can weigh before the silver +cord is finally loosed. Till then, Earth, our mother, always finds +strange, unexpected ways to draw us back to her bosom,--to make us +seek anew a nutriment which has never failed to cause us frequent +sickness. + + * * * * * + +This brings me to the main object of my present letter,--a piece +of intelligence about myself, which I had hoped I might be able +to communicate in such a way as to give you _pleasure_. That I +cannot,--after suffering much in silence with that hope,--is like the +rest of my earthly destiny. + +The first moment, it may cause you a pang to know that your eldest +child might long ago have been addressed by another name than yours, +and has a little son a year old. + +But, beloved mother, do not feel this long. I do assure you, that it +was only great love for you that kept me silent. I have abstained a +hundred times, when your sympathy, your counsel, would have been most +precious, from a wish not to harass you with anxiety. Even now I would +abstain, but it has become necessary, on account of the child, for us +to live publicly and permanently together; and we have no hope, in +the present state of Italian affairs, that we can do it at any better +advantage, for several years, than now. + +My husband is a Roman, of a noble but now impoverished house. His +mother died when he was an infant, his father is dead since we met, +leaving some property, but encumbered with debts, and in the present +state of Rome hardly available, except by living there. He has +three older brothers, all provided for in the Papal service,--one as +Secretary of the Privy Chamber, the other two as members of the Guard +Noble. A similar career would have been opened to him, but he embraced +liberal principles, and, with the fall of the Republic, has lost +all, as well as the favor of his family, who all sided with the Pope. +Meanwhile, having been an officer in the Republican service, it was +best for him to leave Rome. He has taken what little money he had, +and we plan to live in Florence for the winter. If he or I can get +the means, we shall come together to the United States, in the +summer;--earlier we could not, on account of the child. + +He is not in any respect such a person as people in general would +expect to find with me. He had no instructor except an old priest, +who entirely neglected his education; and of all that is contained +in books he is absolutely ignorant, and he has no enthusiasm of +character. On the other hand, he has excellent practical sense; has +been a judicious observer of all that passed before his eyes; has a +nice sense of duty, which, in its unfailing, minute activity, may +put most enthusiasts to shame; a very sweet temper, and great native +refinement. His love for me has been unswerving and most tender. I +have never suffered a pain that he could relieve. His devotion, when +I am ill, is to be compared only with yours. His delicacy in trifles, +his sweet domestic graces, remind me of E----. In him I have found a +home, and one that interferes with no tie. Amid many ills and +cares, we have had much joy together, in the sympathy with natural +beauty,--with our child,--with all that is innocent and sweet. + +I do not know whether he will always love me so well, for I am +the elder, and the difference will become, in a few years, more +perceptible than now. But life is so uncertain, and it is so necessary +to take good things with their limitations, that I have not thought it +worth while to calculate too curiously. + +However my other friends may feel, I am sure that _you_ will love +him very much, and that he will love you no less. Could we all live +together, on a moderate income, you would find peace with us. Heaven +grant, that, on returning, I may gain means to effect this object. +He, of course, can do nothing, while we are in the United States, but +perhaps I can; and now that my health is better, I shall be able to +exert myself, if sure that my child is watched by those who love him, +and who are good and pure. + + * * * * * + +What shall I say of my child? All might seem hyperbole, even to my +dearest mother. In him I find satisfaction, for the first time, to the +deep wants of my heart. Yet, thinking of those other sweet ones fled, +I must look upon him as a treasure only lent. He is a fair child, with +blue eyes and light hair; very affectionate, graceful, and sportive. +He was baptized, in the Roman Catholic Church, by the name of Angelo +Eugene Philip, for his father, grandfather, and my brother. He +inherits the title of marquis. + +Write the name of my child in your Bible, ANGELO OSSOLI, _born +September_ 5, 1848. God grant he may live to see you, and may prove +worthy of your love! + +More I do not feel strength to say. You can hardly guess how all +attempt to express something about the great struggles and experiences +of my European life enfeebles me. When I get home,--if ever I do,--it +will be told without this fatigue and excitement. I trust there will +be a little repose, before entering anew on this wearisome conflict. + +I had addressed you twice,--once under the impression that I should +not survive the birth of my child; again during the siege of Rome, the +father and I being both in danger. I took Mrs. Story, and, when she +left Rome, Mr. Cass, into my confidence. Both were kind as sister +and brother. Amid much pain and struggle, sweet, is the memory of +the generous love I received from William and Emelyn Story, and their +uncle. They helped me gently through a most difficult period. Mr. +Cass, also, who did not know me at all, has done everything possible +for me. + + * * * * * + +A letter to her sister fills out these portraits of her husband and +child. + + * * * * * + +About Ossoli[B] I do not like to say much, as he is an exceedingly +delicate person. He is not precisely reserved, but it is not natural +to him to talk about the objects of strong affection. I am sure he +would not try to describe me to his sister, but would rather she would +take her own impression of me; and, as much as possible, I wish to +do the same by him. I presume that, to many of my friends, he will +be nothing, and they will not understand that I should have life in +common with him. But I do not think he will care;--he has not the +slightest tinge of self-love. He has, throughout our intercourse, been +used to my having many such ties. He has no wish to be anything to +persons with whom he does not feel spontaneously bound, and when I am +occupied, is happy in himself. But some of my friends and my family, +who will see him in the details of practical life, cannot fail to +prize the purity and simple strength of his character; and, should +he continue to love me as he has done, his companionship will be an +inestimable blessing to me. I say _if_, because all human affections +are frail, and I have experienced too great revulsions in my own, not +to know it. Yet I feel great confidence in the permanence of his love. +It has been unblemished so far, under many trials; especially as I +have been more desponding and unreasonable, in many ways, than I ever +was before, and more so, I hope, than I ever shall be again. But at +all such times, he never had a thought except to sustain and cheer me. +He is capable of the sacred love,--the love passing that of woman. He +showed it to his father, to Rome, to me. Now he loves his child in the +same way. I think he will be an excellent father, though he could not +speculate about it, nor, indeed, about anything. + +Our meeting was singular,--fateful, I may say. Very soon he offered me +his hand through life, but I never dreamed I should take it. I loved +him, and felt very unhappy to leave him; but the connection seemed so +every way unfit, I did not hesitate a moment. He, however, thought +I should return to him, as I did. I acted upon a strong impulse, and +could not analyze at all what passed in my mind. I neither rejoice +nor grieve;--for bad or for good, I acted out my character Had I never +connected myself with any one, my path was clear; now it is all +hid; but, in that case, my development must have been partial. As +to marriage, I think the intercourse of heart and mind may be fully +enjoyed without entering into this partnership of daily life. Still, +I do not find it burdensome. The friction that I have seen mar so much +the domestic happiness of others does not occur with us, or, at least, +has not occurred. Then, there is the pleasure of always being at hand +to help one another. + +Still, the great novelty, the immense gain, to me, is my relation with +my child. I thought the mother's heart lived in me before, but it did +not;--I knew nothing about it. Yet, before his birth, I dreaded it. +I thought I should not survive: but if I did, and my child did, was I +not cruel to bring another into this terrible world? I could not, at +that time, get any other view. When he was born, that deep melancholy +changed at once into rapture: but it did not last long. Then came the +prudential motherhood. I grew a coward, a care-taker, not only for the +morrow, but, impiously faithless, for twenty or thirty years ahead. +It seemed very wicked to have brought the little tender thing into +the midst of cares and perplexities we had not feared in the least +for ourselves. I imagined everything;--he was to be in danger of +every enormity the Croats were then committing upon the infants +of Lombardy;--the house would be burned over his head; but, if he +escaped, how were we to get money to buy his bibs and primers? Then +his father was to be killed in the fighting, and I to die of my cough, +&c. &c. + +During the siege of Rome, I could not see my little boy. What I +endured at that time, in various ways, not many would survive. In the +burning sun, I went, every day, to wait, in the crowd, for letters +about him. Often they did not come. I saw blood that had streamed on +the wall where Ossoli was. I have a piece of a bomb that burst close +to him. I sought solace in tending the suffering men; but when I +beheld the beautiful fair young men bleeding to death, or mutilated +for life, I felt the woe of all the mothers who had nursed each to +that full flower, to see them thus cut down. I felt the _consolation_, +too,--for those youths died worthily. I was a Mater Dolorosa, and I +remembered that she who helped Angelino into the world came from the +sign of the Mater Dolorosa. I thought, even if he lives, if he comes +into the world at this great troubled time, terrible with perplexed +duties, it may be to die thus at twenty years, one of a glorious +hecatomb, indeed, but still a sacrifice! It seemed then I was willing +he should die. + + * * * * * + +Angelino's birth-place is thus sketched: + +My baby saw mountains when he first looked forward into the world. +RIETI,--not only an old classic town of Italy, but one founded by what +are now called the Aborigines,--is a hive of very ancient dwellings +with red brown roofs, a citadel and several towers. It is in a +plain, twelve miles in diameter one way, not much less the other, and +entirely encircled with mountains of the noblest form. Casinos and +hermitages gleam here and there on their lower slopes. This plain is +almost the richest in Italy, and full of vineyards. Rieti is near the +foot of the hills on one side, and the rapid Velino makes almost the +circuit of its walls, on its way to Terni. I had my apartment shut out +from the family, on the bank of this river, and saw the mountains, as +I lay on my restless couch. There was a piazza, too, or, as they call +it here, a loggia, which hung over the river, where I walked most of +the night, for I could not sleep at all in those months. In the wild +autumn storms, the stream became a roaring torrent, constantly lit up +by lightning flashes, and the sound of its rush was very sublime. I +see it yet, as it swept away on its dark green current the heaps of +burning straw which the children let down from the bridge. Opposite +my window was a vineyard, whose white and purple clusters were my food +for three months. It was pretty to watch the vintage,--the asses and +wagons loaded with this wealth of amber and rubies,--the naked boys, +singing in the trees on which the vines are trained, as they cut the +grapes,--the nut-brown maids and matrons, in their red corsets and +white head-clothes, receiving them below, while the babies and little +children were frolicking in the grass. + +In Rieti, the ancient Umbrians were married thus. In presence of +friends, the man and maid received together the gifts of fire and +water; the bridegroom then conducted to his house the bride. At the +door, he gave her the keys, and, entering, threw behind him nuts, as a +sign that he renounced all the frivolities of boyhood. + +I intend to write all that relates to the birth of Angelino, in a +little book, which I shall, I hope, show you sometime. I have begun +it, and then stopped;--it seemed to me he would die. If he lives, I +shall finish it, before the details are at all faded in my mind. Rieti +is a place where I should have liked to have him born, and where I +should like to have him now,--but that the people are so wicked. They +are the most ferocious and mercenary population of Italy. I did not +know this, when I went there, and merely expected to be solitary and +quiet among poor people. But they looked on the "Marchioness" as an +ignorant _Inglese_, and they fancy all _Inglesi_ have wealth untold. +Me they were bent on plundering in every way. They made me suffer +terribly in the first days. + + +[Footnote A: The first part of this chapter is edited by R.W.E.; the +remainder by W.H.C.] + +[Footnote B: Giovanni Angelo Ossoli.] + + + + +THE PRIVATE MARRIAGE. + + +The high-minded friend, spoken of with such grateful affection by +Margaret, in her letter to her mother, thus gracefully narrates the +romance of her marriage; and the narrative is a noble proof of the +heroic disinterestedness with which, amidst her own engrossing trials, +Margaret devoted herself to others. Mrs. Story writes as follows:-- + + "During the month of November, 1847, we arrived in Rome, + purposing to spend the winter there. At that time, Margaret + was living in the house of the Marchesa ----, in the Corso, + _Ultimo Piano_. Her rooms were pleasant and cheerful, with + a certain air of elegance and refinement, but they had not + a sunny exposure, that all-essential requisite for health, + during the damp Roman winter. Margaret suffered from ill + health this winter, and she afterwards attributed it mainly + to the fact, that she had not the sun. As soon as she heard of + our arrival, she stretched forth a friendly, cordial hand, and + greeted us most warmly. She gave us great assistance in our + search for convenient lodgings, and we were soon happily + established near her. Our intercourse was henceforth most + frequent and intimate, and knew no cloud nor coldness. Daily + we were much with her, and daily we felt more sensible of the + worth and value of our friend. To me she seemed so unlike what + I had thought her to be in America, that I continually said, + 'How have I misjudged you,--you are not at all such a person + as I took you to be.' To this she replied, 'I am not the + same person, but in many respects another;--my life has new + channels now, and how thankful I am that I have been able to + come out into larger interests,--but, partly, you did not know + me at home in the true light.' It was true, that I had not + known her much personally, when in Boston; but through her + friends, who were mine also, I had learned to think of her + as a person on intellectual stilts, with a large share of + arrogance, and little sweetness of temper. How unlike to + this was she now!--so delicate, so simple, confiding, and + affectionate; with a true womanly heart and soul, sensitive + and generous, and, what was to me a still greater surprise, + possessed of so broad a charity, that she could cover with its + mantle the faults and defects of all about her. + + "We soon became acquainted with the young Marquis Ossoli, and + met him frequently at Margaret's rooms. He appeared to be of + a reserved and gentle nature, with quiet, gentleman-like + manners, and there was something melancholy in the expression + of his face, which made one desire to know more of him. In + figure, he was tall, and of slender frame, with dark hair + and eyes; we judged that he was about thirty years of age, + possibly younger. Margaret spoke of him most frankly, and soon + told us the history of her first acquaintance with him, which, + as nearly as I can recall, was as follows:-- + + "She went to hear vespers, the evening of 'Holy Thursday,' + soon after her first coming to Rome, in the spring of 1847, at + St. Peter's. She proposed to her companions that some place + in the church should be designated, where, after the services, + they should meet,--she being inclined, as was her custom + always in St. Peter's, to wander alone among the different + chapels. When, at length, she saw that the crowd was + dispersing, she returned to the place assigned, but could not + find her party. In some perplexity, she walked about, with her + glass carefully examining each group. Presently, a young man + of gentlemanly address came up to her, and begged, if she were + seeking any one, that he might be permitted to assist her; and + together they continued the search through all parts of the + church. At last, it became evident, beyond a doubt, that her + party could no longer be there, and, as it was then quite + late, the crowd all gone, they went out into the piazza to + find a carriage, in which she might go home. In the piazza, in + front of St. Peter's, generally may be found many carriages; + but, owing to the delay they had made, there were then none, + and Margaret was compelled to walk, with her stranger friend, + the long distance between the Vatican and the Corso. At + this time, she had little command of the language for + conversational purposes, and their words were few, though + enough to create in each a desire for further knowledge and + acquaintance. At her door, they parted, and Margaret, finding + her friends already at home, related the adventure." + +This chance meeting at vesper service in St. Peter's prepared the +way for many interviews; and it was before Margaret's departure for +Venice, Milan, and Como, that Ossoli first offered her his hand, and +was refused. Mrs. Story continues:-- + + "After her return to Rome, they met again, and he became her + constant visitor; and as, in those days, Margaret watched with + intense interest the tide of political events, his mind was + also turned in the direction of liberty and better government. + Whether Ossoli, unassisted, would have been able to emancipate + himself from the influence of his family and early education, + both eminently conservative and narrow, may be a question; but + that he did throw off the shackles, and espouse the cause of + Roman liberty with warm zeal, is most certain. Margaret had + known Mazzini in London, had partaken of his schemes for the + future of his country, and was taking every pains to inform + herself in regard to the action of all parties, with a view + to write a history of the period. Ossoli brought her every + intelligence that might be of interest to her, and busied + himself in learning the views of both parties, that she might + be able to judge the matter impartially. + + "Here I may say, that, in the estimation of most of those who + were in Italy at this time, the loss of Margaret's history + and notes is a great and irreparable one. No one could have + possessed so many avenues of direct information from both + sides. While she was the friend and correspondent of Mazzini, + and knew the springs of action of his party; through her + husband's family and connections, she knew the other view; so + that, whatever might be the value of her deductions, her facts + could not have been other than of highest worth. Together, + Margaret and Ossoli went to the meetings of either side; and + to her he carried all the flying reports of the day, such as + he had heard in the cafe, or through his friends. + + "In a short time, we went to Naples, and Margaret, in the + course of a few months, to Aquila and Rieti. Meanwhile, we + heard from her often by letter, and wrote to urge her to join + us in our villa at Sorrento. During this summer, she wrote + constantly upon her history of the Italian movement, for which + she had collected materials through the past winter. We did + not again meet, until the following spring, March, 1849, when + we went from Florence back to Rome. Once more we were with + her, then, in most familiar every-day intercourse, and as at + this time a change of government had taken place,--the Pope + having gone to Molo di Gaeta.--we watched with her the great + movements of the day. Ossoli was now actively interested on + the liberal side; he was holding the office of captain in the + _Guardia Civica_, and enthusiastically looking forward to the + success of the new measures. + + "During the spring of 1849, Mazzini came to Rome. He went at + once to see Margaret, and at her rooms met Ossoli. After this + interview with Mazzini, it was quite evident that they had + lost something of the faith and hopeful certainty with which + they had regarded the issue, for Mazzini had discovered + the want of singleness of purpose in the leaders of the + Provisional Government. Still zealously Margaret and Ossoli + aided in everything the progress of events; and when it was + certain that the French had landed forces at Civita Vecchia, + and would attack Rome, Ossoli took station with his men on the + walls of the Vatican gardens, where he remained faithfully + to the end of the attack. Margaret had, at the same time, the + entire charge of one of the hospitals, and was the assistant + of the Princess Belgioioso, in charge of '_dei Pellegrini_,' + where, during the first day, they received seventy wounded + men, French and Romans. + + "Night and day, Margaret was occupied, and, with the princess, + so ordered and disposed the hospitals, that their conduct was + truly admirable. All the work was skilfully divided, so + that there was no confusion or hurry and, from the chaotic + condition in which these places had been left by the + priests,--who previously had charge of them,--they brought + them to a state of perfect regularity and discipline. Of money + they had very little, and they were obliged to give their time + and thoughts, in its place. From the Americans in Rome, they + raised a subscription for the aid of the wounded of either + party; but, besides this, they had scarcely any means to use. + I have walked through the wards with Margaret, and seen how + comforting was her presence to the poor suffering men. 'How + long will the Signora stay?' 'When will the Signora come + again?' they eagerly asked. For each one's peculiar tastes she + had a care: to one she carried books; to another she told the + news of the day; and listened to another's oft-repeated tale + of wrongs, as the best sympathy she could give. They raised + themselves up on their elbows, to get the last glimpse of her + as she was going away. There were some of the sturdy fellows + of Garibaldi's Legion there, and to them she listened, as they + spoke with delight of their chief, of his courage and + skill; for he seemed to have won the hearts of his men in a + remarkable manner. + + "One incident I may as well narrate in this connection. It + happened, that, some time before the coming of the French, + while Margaret was travelling quite by herself, on her + return from a visit to her child, who was out at nurse in the + country, she rested for an hour or two at a little wayside + _osteria_. While there, she was startled by the _padrone_, + who, with great alarm, rushed into the room, and said, 'We + are quite lost! here is the Legion Garibaldi! These men always + pillage, and, if we do not give all up to them without pay, + they will kill us.' Margaret looked out upon the road, and + saw that it was quite true, that the legion was coming + thither with all speed. For a moment, she said, she felt + uncomfortably; for such was the exaggerated account of the + conduct of the men, that she thought it quite possible that + they would take her horses, and so leave her without the means + of proceeding on her journey. On they came, and she determined + to offer them a lunch at her own expense; having faith that + gentleness and courtesy was the best protection from injury. + Accordingly, as soon as they arrived, and rushed boisterously + into the _osteria_, she rose, and said to the _padrone_, 'Give + these good men wine and bread on my account; for, after their + ride, they must need refreshment.' Immediately, the noise and + confusion subsided; with respectful bows to her, they seated + themselves and partook of the lunch, giving her an account of + their journey. When she was ready to go, and her _vettura_ was + at the door, they waited upon her, took down the steps, + and assisted her with much gentleness and respectfulness of + manner, and she drove off, wondering how men with such natures + could have the reputation they had. And, so far as we could + gather, except in this instance, their conduct was of a most + disorderly kind. + + "Again, on another occasion, she showed how great was her + power over rude men. This was when two _contadini_ at Rieti, + being in a violent quarrel, had rushed upon each other with + knives. Margaret was called by the women bystanders, as the + Signora who could most influence them to peace. She went + directly up to the men, whose rage was truly awful to behold, + and, stepping between them, commanded them to separate. They + parted, but with such a look of deadly revenge, that Margaret + felt her work was but half accomplished. She therefore sought + them out separately, and talked with each, urging forgiveness; + it was long, however, before she could see any change of + purpose, and only by repeated conversations was it, that she + brought about her desire, and saw them meet as friends. After + this, her reputation as peace-maker was great, and the women + in the neighborhood came to her with long tales of trouble, + urging her intervention. I have never known anything more + extraordinary than this influence of hers over the passion and + violence of the Italian character. Repeated instances come + to my mind, when a look from her has had more power to quiet + excitement, than any arguments and reasonings that could be + brought to bear upon the subject. Something quite superior and + apart from them, the people thought her, and yet knew her as + the gentle and considerate judge of their vices. + + "I may also mention here, that Margaret's charities, according + to her means, were larger than those of any other whom I ever + knew. At one time, in Rome, while she lived upon the simplest, + slenderest fare, spending only some ten or twelve cents a day + for her dinner, she lent, unsolicited, her last fifty dollars + to an artist, who was then in need. That it would ever be + returned to her, she did not know; but the doubt did not + restrain the hand from giving. In this instance, it was soon + repaid her; but her charities were not always towards the most + deserving. Repeated instances of the false pretences, under + which demands for charity are made, were known to her after + she had given to unworthy objects; but no experience of this + sort ever checked her kindly impulse to give, and being once + deceived taught her no lesson of distrust. She ever listened + with ready ear to all who came to her in any form of distress. + Indeed, to use the language of another friend, 'the prevalent + impression at Rome, among all who knew her, was, that she was + a mild saint and a ministering angel.' + + "I have, in order to bring in these instances of her influence + on those about her, deviated from my track. We return to the + life she led in Rome during the attack of the French, and her + charge of the hospitals, where she spent daily some seven or + eight hours, and, often, the entire night. Her feeble frame + was a good deal shaken by so uncommon a demand upon her + strength, while, at the same time, the anxiety of her mind was + intense. I well remember how exhausted and weary she was; + how pale and agitated she returned to us after her day's and + night's watching; how eagerly she asked for news of Ossoli, + and how seldom we had any to give her, for he was unable to + send her a word for two or three days at a time. Letters + from the country there were few or none, as the communication + between Rieti and Rome was cut off. + + "After one such day, she called me to her bedside, and said + that I must consent, for her sake, to keep the SECRET she was + about to confide. Then she told me of her marriage; where her + child was, and where he was born; and gave me certain papers + and parchment documents which I was to keep; and, in the event + of her and her husband's death, I was to take the boy to her + mother in America, and confide him to her care, and that of + her friend, Mrs. ----. + + "The papers thus given me, I had perfect liberty to read; but + after she had told me her story, I desired no confirmation of + this fact, beyond what her words had given. One or two of the + papers she opened, and we together read them. One was written + on parchment, in Latin, and was a certificate, given by the + priest who married them, saying that Angelo Eugene Ossoli was + the legal heir of whatever title and fortune should come to + his father. To this was affixed his seal, with those of the + other witnesses, and the Ossoli crest was drawn in full + upon the paper. There was also a book, in which Margaret had + written the history of her acquaintance and marriage with + Ossoli, and of the birth of her child. In giving that to + me, she said, 'If I do not survive to tell this myself to my + family, this book will be to them invaluable. Therefore keep + it for them. If I live, it will be of no use, for my word will + be all that they will ask.' I took the papers, and locked them + up. Never feeling any desire to look into them, I never did; + and as she gave them to me, I returned them to her, when I + left Rome for Switzerland. + + "After this, she often spoke to me of the necessity there + had been, and still existed, for her keeping her marriage + a secret. At the time, I argued in favor of her making it + public, but subsequent events have shown me the wisdom of her + decision. The _explanation_ she gave me of the secret marriage + was this: + + "They were married in December, soon after,--as I think, + though I am not positive,--the death of the old Marquis + Ossoli. The estate he had left was undivided, and the two + brothers, attached to the Papal household, were to be the + executors. This patrimony was not large, but, when fairly + divided, would bring to each a little property,--an income + sufficient, with economy, for life in Rome. Everyone knows, + that law is subject to ecclesiastical influence in Rome, and + that marriage with a Protestant would be destructive to all + prospects of favorable administration. And beside being + of another religious faith, there was, in this case, the + additional crime of having married a liberal,--one who had + publicly interested herself in radical views. Taking the two + facts together, there was good reason to suppose, that, if the + marriage were known, Ossoli must be a beggar, and a banished + man, under the then existing government; while, by waiting a + little, there was a chance,--a fair one, too,--of an honorable + post under the new government, whose formation every one was + anticipating. Leaving Rome, too, at that time, was deserting + the field wherein they might hope to work much good, and where + they felt that they were needed. Ossoli's brothers had + long before begun to look jealously upon him. Knowing his + acquaintance with Margaret, they feared the influence she + might exert over his mind in favor of liberal sentiments, and + had not hesitated to threaten him with the Papal displeasure. + Ossoli's education had been such, that it certainly argues an + uncommon elevation of character, that he remained so firm and + single in his political views, and was so indifferent to the + pecuniary advantages which his former position offered, since, + during many years, the Ossoli family had been high in favor + and in office, in Rome, and the same vista opened for his own + future, had he chosen to follow their lead. The Pope left + for Molo di Gaeta, and then came a suspension of all legal + procedure, so that the estate was never divided, before we + left Italy, and I do not know that it has ever been. + + "Ossoli had the feeling, that, while his own sister and family + could not be informed of his marriage, no others should know + of it; and from day to day they hoped on for the favorable + change which should enable them to declare it. Their child was + born; and, for his sake, in order to defend him, as Margaret + said, from the stings of poverty, they were patient waiters + for the restored law of the land. Margaret felt that she + would, at any cost to herself, gladly secure for her child a + condition above want; and, although it was a severe trial,--as + her letters to us attest,--she resolved to wait, and hope, + and keep her secret. At the time when she took me into her + confidence, she was so full of anxiety and dread of some + shock, from which she might not recover, that it was + absolutely necessary to make it known to some friend. She + was living with us at the time, and she gave it to me. Most + sacredly, but timidly, did I keep her secret; for, all the + while, I was tormented with a desire to be of active service + to her, and I was incapacitated from any action by the + position in which I was placed. + + "Ossoli's post was one of considerable danger, he being in one + of the most exposed places; and, as Margaret saw his wounded + and dying comrades, she felt that another shot might take him + from her, or bring him to her care in the hospital. Eagerly + she watched the carts, as they came up with their suffering + loads, dreading that her worst fears might be confirmed. No + argument of ours could persuade Ossoli to leave his post to + take food or rest. Sometimes we went to him, and carried a + concealed basket of provisions, but he shared it with so many + of his fellows, that his own portion must have been almost + nothing. Haggard, worn, and pale, he walked over the Vatican + grounds with us, pointing out, now here, now there, where some + poor fellow's blood sprinkled the wall; Margaret was with us, + and for a few moments they could have an anxious talk about + their child. + + "To get to the child, or to send to him, was quite impossible, + and for days they were in complete ignorance about him. At + length, a letter came; and in it the nurse declared that + unless they should immediately send her, in advance-payment, a + certain sum of money, she would altogether abandon Angelo. It + seemed, at first, impossible to forward the money, the road + was so insecure, and the bearer of any parcel was so likely + to be seized by one party or the other, and to be treated as + a spy. But finally, after much consideration, the sum was sent + to the address of a physician, who had been charged with the + care of the child. I think it did reach its destination, and + for a while answered the purpose of keeping the wretched woman + faithful to her charge." + + + + +AQUILA AND RIETI. + + +Extracts from Margaret's and Ossoli's letters will guide us more into +the heart of this home-tragedy, so sanctified with holy hope, sweet +love, and patient heroism. They shall be introduced by a passage from +a journal written many years before. + + "My Child! O, Father, give me a bud on my tree of life, so scathed + by the lightning and bound by the frost! Surely a being born + wholly of my being, would not let me lie so still and cold in + lonely sadness. This is a new sorrow; for always, before, I have + wanted a superior or equal, but now it seems that only the feeling + of a parent for a child could exhaust the richness of one's soul. + All powerful Nature, how dost thou lead me into thy heart and + rebuke every factitious feeling, every thought of pride, which has + severed me from the Universe! How did I aspire to be a pure flame, + ever pointing upward on the altar! But these thoughts of + consecration, though true to the time, are false to the whole. + There needs no consecration to the wise heart for all is pervaded + by One Spirit, and the Soul of all existence is the Holy of + Holies. I thought ages would pass, before I had this parent + feeling, and then, that the desire would rise from my fulness of + being. But now it springs up in my poverty and sadness. I am well + aware that I ought not to be so happy. I do not deserve to be well + beloved in any way, far less as the mother by her child. I am too + rough and blurred an image of the Creator, to become a bestower of + life. Yet, if I refuse to be anything else than my highest self, + the true beauty will finally glow out in fulness." + +At what cost, were bought the blessings so long pined for! Early in +the summer of 1848, Margaret left Rome for Aquila, a small, old town, +once a baronial residence, perched among the mountains of Abruzzi. She +thus sketches her retreat:-- + + "I am in the midst of a theatre of glorious, snow-crowned + mountains, whose pedestals are garlanded with the olive and + mulberry, and along whose sides run bridle-paths, fringed with + almond groves and vineyards. The valleys are yellow with saffron + flowers; the grain fields enamelled with the brilliant blue + corn-flower and red poppy. They are of intoxicating beauty, and + like nothing in America. The old genius of Europe has so mellowed + even the marbles here, that one cannot have the feeling of holy + virgin loneliness, as in the New World. The spirits of the dead + crowd me in most solitary places. Here and there, gleam churches + or shrines. The little town, much ruined, lies on the slope of a + hill, with the houses of the barons gone to decay, and unused + churches, over whose arched portals are faded frescoes, with the + open belfry, and stone wheel-windows, always so beautiful. Sweet + little paths lead away through the fields to convents,--one of + Passionists, another of Capuchins; and the draped figures of the + monks, pacing up and down the hills, look very peaceful. In the + churches still open, are pictures, not by great masters, but of + quiet, domestic style, which please me much, especially one of the + Virgin offering her breast to the child Jesus. There is often + sweet music in these churches; they are dressed with fresh + flowers, and the incense is not oppressive, so freely sweeps + through them the mountain breeze." + +Here Margaret remained but a month, while Ossoli was kept fast by +his guard duties in Rome. "_Addio, tutto caro_," she writes; "I shall +receive you with the greatest joy, when you can come. If it were +only possible to be nearer to you! for, except the good air and the +security, this place does not please me." And again:--"How much I +long to be near you! You write nothing of yourself, and this makes me +anxious and sad. Dear and good! I pray for thee often, now that it +is all I can do for thee. We must hope that Destiny will at last +grow weary of persecuting. Ever thy affectionate." Meantime Ossoli +writes:--"Why do you not send me tidings of yourself, every post-day? +since the post leaves Aquila three times a week. I send you journals +or letters every time the post leaves Rome. You should do the same. +Take courage, and thus you will make me happier also; and you can +think how sad I must feel in not being near you, dearest, to care for +all your wants." + +By the middle of July, Margaret could bear her loneliness no longer, +and, passing the mountains, advanced to Rieti, within the frontier of +the Papal States. Here Ossoli could sometimes visit her on a Sunday, +by travelling in the night from Rome. "Do not fail to come," writes +Margaret. "I shall have your coffee warm. You will arrive early, and +I can see the diligence pass the bridge from my window." But now +threatened a new trial, terrible under the circumstances, yet met with +the loving heroism that characterized all her conduct. The civic guard +was ordered to prepare for marching to Bologna. Under date of August +17th, Ossoli writes:--"_Mia Cara!_ How deplorable is my state! I have +suffered a most severe struggle. If your condition were other than it +is, I could resolve more easily; but, in the present moment, I cannot +leave you! Ah, how cruel is Destiny! I understand well how much you +would sacrifice yourself for me, and am deeply grateful; but I cannot +yet decide." Margaret is alone, without a single friend, and not only +among strangers, but surrounded by people so avaricious, cunning, +and unscrupulous, that she has to be constantly on the watch to avoid +being fleeced; she is very poor, and has no confidant, even in Rome, +to consult with; she is ill, and fears death in the near crisis; yet +thus, with true Roman greatness, she counsels her husband:--"It seems, +indeed, a marvel how all things go contrary to us! That, just at this +moment, you should be called upon to go away. But do what is for your +honor. If honor requires it, go. I will try to sustain myself. I +leave it to your judgment when to come,--if, indeed, you can ever come +again! At least, we have had some hours of peace together, if now +it is all over. Adieu, love; I embrace thee always, and pray for thy +welfare. Most affectionately, adieu." + + * * * * * + +From this trial, however, she was spared. Pio Nono hesitated to send +the civic guard to the north of Italy. Then Margaret writes:--"On our +own account, love, I shall be most grateful, if you are not obliged to +go. But how unworthy, in the Pope! He seems now a man without a heart. +And that traitor, Charles Albert! He will bear the curse of all future +ages. Can you learn particulars from Milan? I feel sad for our poor +friends there; how much they must suffer! * * * I shall be much more +tranquil to have you at my side, for it would be sad to die alone, +without the touch of one dear hand. Still, I repeat what I said in my +last; if duty prevents you from coming, I will endeavor to take +care of myself." Again, two days later, she says:--"I feel, love, a +profound sympathy with you, but am not able to give perfectly wise +counsel. It seems to me, indeed, the worst possible moment to take +up arms, except in the cause of duty, of honor; for, with the Pope +so cold, and his ministers so undecided, nothing can be well or +successfully done. If it is possible for you to wait for two or three +weeks, the public state will be determined,--as will also mine,--and +you can judge more calmly. Otherwise, it seems to me that I ought to +say nothing. Only, if you go, come here first. I must see you once +more. Adieu, dear. Our misfortunes are many and unlooked for. Not +often does destiny demand a greater price for some happy moments. Yet +never do I repent of our affection; and for thee, if not for me, I +hope that life has still some good in store. Once again, adieu! May +God give thee counsel and help, since they are not in the power of thy +affectionate Margherita." + +On the 5th of September, Ossoli was "at her side," and together, with +glad and grateful hearts, they welcomed their boy; though the father +was compelled to return the next day to Rome. Even then, however, a +new chapter of sorrows was opening. By indiscreet treatment, Margaret +was thrown into violent fever, and became unable to nurse her child. +Her waiting maid, also, proved so treacherous, that she was forced to +dismiss her, and wished "never to set eyes on her more;" and the +family, with whom she was living, displayed most detestable meanness. +Thus helpless, ill, and solitary, she could not even now enjoy the +mother's privilege. Yet she writes cheerfully:--"My present nurse is a +very good one, and I feel relieved. We must have courage but it is a +great care, alone and ignorant, to guard an infant in its first days +of life. He is very pretty for his age; and, without knowing what name +I intended giving him, the people in the house call him _Angiolino_, +because he is so lovely." Again:--"He is so dear! It seems to me, +among all disasters and difficulties, that if he lives and is well, he +will become a treasure for us two, that will compensate us for +everything." And yet again:--"This ---- is faithless, like the rest. +Spite of all his promises, he will not bring the matter to inoculate +Nino, though, all about us, persons are dying with small-pox. I cannot +sleep by night, and I weep by day, I am so disgusted; but you are too +far off to help me. The baby is more beautiful every hour. He is worth +all the trouble he causes me,--poor child that I am,--alone here, and +abused by everybody." + +Yet new struggles; new sorrows! Ossoli writes:-- + +"Our affairs must be managed with the utmost caution imaginable, since +my thought would be to keep the baby out of Rome for the sake of +greater secrecy, if only we can find a good nurse who will take care +of him like a mother." To which Margaret replies:--"He is always so +charming, how can I ever, ever leave him! I wake in the night,--I look +at him. I think: Ah, it is impossible! He is so beautiful and good, I +could die for him!" Once more:--"In seeking rooms, do not pledge me to +remain in Rome, for it seems to me, often, I cannot stay long without +seeing the boy. He is so dear, and life seems so uncertain. It is +necessary that I should be in Rome a month, at least, to write, and +also to be near you. But I must be free to return here, if I feel too +anxious and suffering for him. O, love! how difficult is life! But +thou art good! If it were only possible to make thee happy!" And, +finally, "Signora speaks very highly of ----, the nurse of Angelo, +and says that her aunt is an excellent woman, and that the brothers +are all good. Her conduct pleases me well. This consoles me a little, +in the prospect of leaving my child, if that is necessary." + +So, early in November, Ossoli came for her, and they returned +together. In December, however, Margaret passed a week more with her +darling, making two fatiguing and perilous journeys, as snows had +fallen on the mountains, and the streams were much swollen by the +rains. And then, from the combined motives of being near her husband, +watching and taking part in the impending struggle of liberalism, +earning support by her pen, preparing her book, and avoiding +suspicion, she remained for three months in Rome. "How many nights I +have passed," she writes, "entirely in contriving possible means, by +which, through resolution and effort on my part, that one sacrifice +could be avoided. But it was impossible. I could not take the nurse +from her family; I could not remove Angelo, without immense difficulty +and risk. It is singular, how everything has worked to give me more +and more sorrow. Could I but have remained in peace, cherishing the +messenger dove, I should have asked no more, but should have felt +overpaid for all the pains and bafflings of my sad and broken life." +In March, she flies back to Rieti, and finds "our treasure in the best +of health, and plump, though small. When first I took him in my arms, +he made no sound, but leaned his head against my bosom, and kept it +there, as if he would say, How could you leave me? They told me, that +all the day of my departure he would not be comforted, always looking +toward the door. He has been a strangely precocious infant, I think, +through sympathy with me, for I worked very hard before his birth, +with the hope that all my spirit might be incarnated in him. In +that regard, it may have been good for him to be with these more +instinctively joyous natures. I see that he is more serene, is less +sensitive, than when with me, and sleeps better. The most solid +happiness I have known has been when he has gone to sleep in my arms. +What cruel sacrifices have I made to guard my secret for the present, +and to have the mode of disclosure at my own option! It will, indeed, +be just like all the rest, if these sacrifices are made in vain." + + * * * * * + +At Rieti, Margaret rested till the middle of April, when, returning +once more to Rome, she was, as we have seen, shut up within the +beleagured city. + +The siege ended, the anxious mother was free to seek her child once +more, in his nest among the mountains. Her fears had been but too +prophetic. "Though the physician sent me reassuring letters," she +writes, "I yet often seemed to hear Angelino calling to me amid the +roar of the cannon, and always his tone was of crying. And when I +came, I found mine own fast waning to the tomb! His nurse, lovely and +innocent as she appeared, had betrayed him, for lack of a few _scudi_! +He was worn to a skeleton; his sweet, childish grace all gone! +Everything I had endured seemed light to what I felt when I saw him +too weak to smile, or lift his wasted little hand. Now, by incessant +care, we have brought him back,--who knows if that be a deed of +love?--into this hard world once more. But I could not let him go, +unless I went with him; and I do hope that the cruel law of my life +will, at least, not oblige us to be separated. When I saw his first +returning smile,--that poor, wan, feeble smile!--and more than four +weeks we watched him night and day, before we saw it,--new resolution +dawned in my heart. I resolved to live, day by day, hour by hour, for +his dear sake. So, if he is only treasure lent,--if he too must go, as +sweet Waldo, Pickie, Hermann, did,--as all _my_ children do!--I shall +at least have these days and hours with him." + +How intolerable was this last blow to one stretched so long on the +rack, is plain from Margaret's letters. "I shall never again," she +writes, "be perfectly, be religiously generous, so terribly do I need +for myself the love I have given to other sufferers. When you read +this, I hope your heart will be happy; for I still like to know that +others are happy,--it consoles me." Again her agony wrung from +her these bitter words,--the bitterest she ever uttered,--words of +transient madness, yet most characteristic:--"Oh God! help me, is +all my cry. Yet I have little faith in the Paternal love I need, so +ruthless or so negligent seems the government of this earth. I feel +calm, yet sternly, towards Fate. This last plot against me has been +so cruelly, cunningly wrought, that I shall never acquiesce. I submit, +because useless resistance is degrading, but I demand an explanation. +I see that it is probable I shall never receive one, while I live +here, and suppose I can bear the rest of the suspense, since I have +comprehended all its difficulties in the first moments. Meanwhile, +I live day by day, though not on manna." But now comes a sweeter, +gentler strain:--"I have been the object of great love from the +noble and the humble; I have felt it towards both. Yet I am _tired +out_,--tired of thinking and hoping,--tired of seeing men err and +bleed. I take interest in some plans,--Socialism for instance,--but +the interest is shallow as the plans. These are needed, are even +good; but man will still blunder and weep, as he has done for so many +thousand years. Coward and footsore, gladly would I creep into some +green recess, where I might see a few not unfriendly faces, and where +not more wretches should come than I could relieve. Yes! I am weary, +and faith soars and sings no more. Nothing good of me is left except +at the bottom of the heart, a melting tenderness:--'She loves much.'" + + + + +CALM AFTER STORM. + + +Morning rainbows usher in tempests, and certainly youth's romantic +visions had prefigured a stormy day of life for Margaret. But there +was yet to be a serene and glowing hour before the sun went down. +Angelo grew strong and lively once more; rest and peace restored her +elasticity of spirit, and extracts from various letters will show in +what tranquil blessedness, the autumn and winter glided by. After a +few weeks' residence at Rieti, the happy three journeyed on, by way +of Perugia, to Florence, where they arrived at the end of September. +Thence, Margaret writes:-- + +It was so pleasant at Perugia! The pure mountain air is such perfect +elixir, the walks are so beautiful on every side, and there is so much +to excite generous and consoling feelings! I think the works of the +Umbrian school are never well seen except in their home;--they suffer +by comparison with works more rich in coloring, more genial, more full +of common life. The depth and tenderness of their expression is lost +on an observer stimulated to a point out of their range. Now, I can +prize them. We went every morning to some church rich in pictures, +returning at noon for breakfast. After breakfast, we went into the +country, or to sit and read under the trees near San Pietro. Thus I +read Nicolo di' Lapi, a book unenlivened by a spark of genius, but +interesting, to me, as illustrative of Florence. + +Our little boy gained strength rapidly there;--every day he was able +to go out with us more. He is now full of life and gayety. We hope he +will live, and grow into a stout man yet. + +Our journey here was delightful;--it is the first time I have seen +Tuscany when the purple grape hangs garlanded from tree to tree. We +were in the early days of the vintage: the fields were animated by men +and women, some of the latter with such pretty little bare feet, and +shy, soft eyes, under the round straw hat. They were beginning to cut +the vines, but had not done enough to spoil any of the beauty. + +Here, too, I feel better pleased than ever before. Florence seems so +cheerful and busy, after ruined Rome, I feel as if I could forget the +disasters of the day, for a while, in looking on the treasures she +inherits. + + * * * * * + +To-day we have been out in the country, and found a little chapel, +full of _contadine,_ their lovers waiting outside the door. They +looked charming in their black veils,--the straw hat hanging on the +arm,--with shy, glancing eyes, and cheeks pinched rosy by the cold; +for it is cold here as in New England. On foot, we have explored a +great part of the environs; and till now I had no conception of +their beauty. When here before, I took only the regular drives, as +prescribed for all lady and gentlemen travellers. This evening we +returned by a path that led to the banks of the Arno. The Duomo, with +the snowy mountains, were glorious in the rosy tint and haze, +just before sunset. What a difference it makes to come home to a +child!--how it fills up all the gaps of life, just in the way that is +most consoling, most refreshing! Formerly, I used to feel sad at that +hour; the day had not been nobly spent, I had not done my duty to +myself and others, and I felt so lonely! Now I never feel lonely; for, +even if my little boy dies, our souls will remain eternally united. +And I feel _infinite_ hope for him,--hope that he will serve God +and man more loyally than I have done; and, seeing how full he is +of life,--how much he can afford to throw away,--I feel the +inexhaustibleness of nature, and console myself for my own +incapacities. + + * * * * * + +_Florence, Oct. 14, 1849._--Weary in spirit, with the deep +disappointments of the last year, I wish to dwell little on these +things for the moment, but seek some consolation in the affections. +My little boy is quite well now, and I often am happy in seeing how +joyous and full of activity he seems. Ossoli, too, feels happier here. +The future is full of difficulties for us, but, having settled our +plans for the present, we shall set it aside while we may. "Sufficient +for the day is the evil thereof;" and if the good be not always +sufficient, in our case it is; so let us say grace to our dinner of +herbs. + + * * * * * + +_Florence, Nov. 7._--Dearest Mother,--Of all your endless acts and +words of love, never was any so dear to me as your last letter;--so +generous, so sweet, so holy! What on earth is so precious as a +mother's love; and who has a mother like mine! + +I was thinking of you and my father, all that first day of October, +wishing to write, only there was much to disturb me that day, as the +police were threatening to send us away. It is only since I have had +my own child that I have known how much I always failed to do what I +might have done for the happiness of you both; only since I have +seen so much of men and their trials, that I have learned to prize my +father as he deserved; only since I have had a heart daily and hourly +testifying to me its love, that I have understood, too late, what it +was for you to be deprived of it. It seems to me as if I had never +sympathized with you as I ought, or tried to embellish and sustain +your life, as far as is possible, after such an irreparable wound. + +It will be sad for me to leave Italy, uncertain of return. Yet when +I think of you, beloved mother; of brothers and sisters, and many +friends, I wish to come. Ossoli is perfectly willing. He leaves in +Rome a sister, whom he dearly loves. His aunt is dying now. He will +go among strangers; but to him, as to all the young Italians, America +seems the land of liberty. He hopes, too, that a new revolution will +favor return, after a number of years, and that then he may find +really a home in Italy. All this is dark;--we can judge only for the +present moment. The decision will rest with me, and I shall wait +till the last moment, as I always do, that I may have all the reasons +before me. + +I thought, to-day, ah, if she could only be with us now! But who knows +how long this interval of peace will last? I have learned to +prize such, as the halcyon prelude to the storm. It is now about a +fortnight, since the police gave us leave to stay, and we feel safe +in our little apartment. We have no servant except the nurse, with +occasional aid from the porter's wife, and now live comfortably so, +tormented by no one, helping ourselves. In the evenings, we have a +little fire now;--the baby sits on his stool between us. He makes me +think how I sat on mine, in the chaise, between you and father. He is +exceedingly fond of flowers;--he has been enchanted, this evening, by +this splendid Gardenia, and these many crimson flowers that were given +me at Villa Correggi, where a friend took us in his carriage. It was a +luxury, this ride, as we have entirely renounced the use of a carriage +for ourselves. How enchanted you would have been with that villa! It +seems now as if, with the certainty of a very limited income, we could +be so happy! But I suppose, if we had it, one of us would die, or the +baby. Do not you die, my beloved mother;--let us together have some +halcyon moments, again, with God, with nature, with sweet childhood, +with the remembrance of pure trust and good intent; away from perfidy +and care, and the blight of noble designs. + +Ossoli wishes you were here, almost as much as I. When there is +anything really lovely and tranquil, he often says, "Would not '_La +Madre_' like that?" He wept when he heard your letter. I never saw +him weep at any other time, except when his father died, and when the +French entered Rome. He has, I think, even a more holy feeling about +a mother, from having lost his own, when very small. It has been a +life-long want with him. He often shows me a little scar on his face, +made by a jealous dog, when his mother was caressing him as an infant. +He prizes that blemish much. + + * * * * * + +_Florence, December_ 1, 1849.--I do not know what to write about the +baby, he changes so much,--has so many characters. He is like me in +that, for his father's character is simple and uniform, though not +monotonous, any more than are the flowers of spring flowers of the +valley. Angelino is now in the most perfect rosy health,--a very gay, +impetuous, ardent, but sweet-tempered child. He seems to me to have +nothing in common with his first babyhood, with its ecstatic smiles, +its exquisite sensitiveness, and a distinction in the gesture and +attitudes that struck everybody. His temperament is apparently changed +by taking the milk of these robust women. He is now come to quite a +knowing age,--fifteen months. + +In the morning, as soon as dressed, he signs to come into our room; +then draws our curtain with his little dimpled hand, kisses me rather +violently, pats my face, laughs, crows, shows his teeth, blows like +the bellows, stretches himself, and says "_bravo_." Then, having shown +off all his accomplishments, he expects, as a reward, to be tied in +his chair, and have his playthings. These engage him busily, but still +he calls to us to sing and drum, to enliven the scene. Sometimes he +summons me to kiss his hand, and laughs very much at this. Enchanting +is that baby-laugh, all dimples and glitter,--so strangely arch and +innocent! Then I wash and dress him. That is his great time. He makes +it last as long as he can, insisting to dress and wash me the while, +kicking, throwing the water about, and full of all manner of tricks, +such as, I think, girls never dream of. Then comes his walk;--we have +beautiful walks here for him, protected by fine trees, always warm in +mid-winter. The bands are playing in the distance, and children of +all ages are moving about, and sitting with their nurses. His walk and +sleep give me about three hours in the middle of the day. + +I feel so refreshed by his young life, and Ossoli diffuses such a +power and sweetness over every day, that I cannot endure to think yet +of our future. Too much have we suffered already, trying to command +it. I do not feel force to make any effort yet. I suppose that very +soon now I must do something, and hope I shall feel able when the time +comes. My constitution seems making an effort to rally, by dint of +much sleep. I had slept so little, for a year and a half, and, after +the birth of the child, I had such anxiety and anguish when separated +from him, that I was consumed as by nightly fever. The last two +months at Rome would have destroyed almost any woman. Then, when I +went to him, he was so ill, and I was constantly up with him at night, +carrying him about. Now, for two months, we have been tranquil. We +have resolved to enjoy being together as much as we can, in this brief +interval,--perhaps all we shall ever know of peace. It is very sad we +have no money, we could be so quietly happy a while. I rejoice in +all Ossoli did; but the results, in this our earthly state, are +disastrous, especially as my strength is now so impaired. This much I +hope, in life or death, to be no more separated from Angelino. + +Last winter, I made the most vehement efforts at least to redeem the +time, hoping thus good for the future. But, of at least two volumes +written at that time, no line seems of any worth. I had suffered much +constraint,--much that was uncongenial, harassing, even torturing, +before; but this kind of pain found me unprepared;--the position of a +mother separated from her only child is too frightfully unnatural. + + * * * * * + +The Christmas holidays interest me now, through my child, as they +never did for myself. I like to go out to watch the young generation +who will be his contemporaries. On Monday, we went to the _Caseine_. +After we had taken the drive, we sat down on a stone seat in the sunny +walk, to see the people pass;--the Grand Duke and his children; +the elegant Austrian officers, who will be driven out of Italy when +Angelino is a man; Princess Demidoff; Harry Lorrequer; an absurd brood +of fops; many lovely children; many little frisking dogs, with their +bells, &c. The sun shone brightly on the Arno; a barque moved gently +by; all seemed good to the baby. He laid himself back in my arms, +smiling, singing to himself, and dancing his feet. I hope he will +retain some trace in his mind of the perpetual exhilarating picture of +Italy. It cannot but be important in its influence while yet a child, +to walk in these stately gardens, full of sculpture, and hear the +untiring music of the fountains. + +Christmas-eve we went to the Annunziata, for midnight mass. Though the +service is not splendid here as in Rome, we yet enjoyed it;--sitting +in one of the side chapels, at the foot of a monument, watching +the rich crowds steal gently by, every eye gleaming, every gesture +softened by the influence of the pealing choir, and the hundred silver +lamps swinging their full light, in honor of the abused Emanuel. + +But far finest was it to pass through the Duomo. No one was there. +Only the altars were lit up, and the priests, who were singing, could +not be seen by the faint light. The vast solemnity of the interior +is thus really felt. The hour was worthy of Brunelleschi. I hope he +walked there so. The Duomo is more divine than St. Peter's, and worthy +of genius pure and unbroken. St. Peter's is, like Rome, a mixture of +sublimest heaven with corruptest earth. I adore the Duomo, though no +place can now be to me like St. Peter's, where has been passed the +splendidest part of my life. My feeling was always perfectly regal, on +entering the piazza of St. Peter's. No spot on earth is worthier the +sunlight;--on none does it fall so fondly. + + * * * * * + +You ask me, how I employ myself here. I have been much engaged in +writing out my impressions, which will be of worth so far as correct. +I am anxious only to do historical justice to facts and persons; but +there will not, so far as I am aware, be much thought, for I believe +I have scarce expressed what lies deepest in my mind. I take no pains, +but let the good genius guide my pen. I did long to lead a simple, +natural life, _at home_, learning of my child, and writing only when +imperatively urged by the need of utterance; but when we were forced +to give up the hope of subsisting on a narrow independence, without +tie to the public, we gave up the peculiar beauty of our lives, and I +strive no more. I only hope to make good terms with the publishers. + +Then, I have been occupied somewhat in reading Louis Blanc's Ten +Years, Lamartine's Girondists, and other books of that class, which +throw light on recent transactions. + +I go into society, too, somewhat, and see several delightful persons, +in an intimate way. The Americans meet twice a week, at the house of +Messrs. Mozier and Chapman, and I am often present, on account of +the friendly interest of those resident here. With our friends, the +Greenoughs, I have twice gone to the opera. Then I see the Brownings +often, and love and admire them both, more and more, as I know them +better. Mr. Browning enriches every hour I pass with him, and is +a most cordial, true, and noble man. One of my most highly prized +Italian friends, also, Marchioness Arconati Visconti, of Milan, is +passing the winter here, and I see her almost every day. + + * * * * * + +My love for Ossoli is most pure and tender, nor has any one, except my +mother or little children, loved me so genuinely as he does. To some, +I have been obliged to make myself known; others have loved me with a +mixture of fancy and enthusiasm, excited by my talent at embellishing +life. But Ossoli loves me from simple affinity;--he loves to be +with me, and to serve and soothe me. Life will probably be a severe +struggle, but I hope I shall be able to live through all that is +before us, and not neglect my child or his father. He has suffered +enough since we met;--it has ploughed furrows in his life. He has +done all he could, and cannot blame himself. Our outward destiny looks +dark, but we must brave it as we can. I trust we shall always feel +mutual tenderness, and Ossoli has a simple, childlike piety, that will +make it easier for him. + + + + +MARGARET AND HER PEERS. + + +Pure and peaceful as was the joy of Margaret's Florence winter, it was +ensured and perfected by the fidelity of friends, who hedged around +with honor the garden of her home. She had been called to pass through +a most trying ordeal, and the verdict of her peers was heightened +esteem and love. With what dignified gratitude she accepted this +well-earned proof of confidence, will appear from the following +extracts. + + + + +TO MRS. E.S. + + +Thus far, my friends have received news that must have been an +unpleasant surprise to them, in a way that, _a moi_, does them great +honor. None have shown littleness or displeasure, at being denied my +confidence while they were giving their own. Many have expressed the +warmest sympathy, and only one has shown a disposition to transgress +the limit I myself had marked, and to ask questions. With her, I +think, this was because she was annoyed by what people said, and +wished to be able to answer them. I replied to her, that I had +communicated already all I intended, and should not go into +detail;--that when unkind things were said about me, she should let +them pass. Will you, dear E----, do the same? I am sure your affection +for me will prompt you to add, that you feel confident whatever I +have done has been in a good spirit, and not contrary to _my_ ideas +of right. For the rest, you will not admit for me,--as I do not for +myself,--the rights of the social inquisition of the United States to +know all the details of my affairs. If my mother is content; if Ossoli +and I are content; if our child, when grown up, shall be content; that +is enough. You and I know enough of the United States to be sure that +many persons there will blame whatever is peculiar. The lower-minded +persons, everywhere, are sure to think that whatever is mysterious +must be bad. But I think there will remain for me a sufficient number +of friends to keep my heart warm, and to help me earn my bread;--that +is all that is of any consequence. Ossoli seems to me more lovely and +good every day; our darling child is well now, and every day more gay +and playful. For his sake I shall have courage; and hope some good +angel will show us the way out of our external difficulties. + + + + +TO W.W.S. + + +It was like you to receive with such kindness the news of my marriage. +A less generous person would have been displeased, that, when we had +been drawn so together,--when we had talked so freely, and you had +shown towards me such sweet friendship,--I had not told you. Often did +I long to do so, but I had, for reasons that seemed important, made +a law to myself to keep this secret as rigidly as possible, up to a +certain moment. That moment came. Its decisions were not such as I had +hoped; but it left me, at least, without that painful burden, which +I trust never to bear again. Nature keeps so many secrets, that I +had supposed the moral writers exaggerated the dangers and plagues of +keeping them; but they cannot exaggerate. All that can be said about +mine is, that I at least acted out, with, to me, tragic thoroughness, +"The wonder, a woman keeps a secret." As to my not telling _you_, I +can merely say, that I was keeping the information from my family and +dearest friends at home; and, had you remained near me a very little +later, you would have been the very first person to whom I should have +spoken, as you would have been the first, on this side of the water, +to whom I should have written, had I known where to address you. Yet +I hardly hoped for your sympathy, dear W----. I am very glad if I +have it. May brotherly love ever be returned unto you in like measure. +Ossoli desires his love and respect to be testified to you both. + + + + +TO THE MARCHIONESS VISCONTI ARCONATI. + + +Reading a book called "The Last Days of the Republic in Rome," I see +that my letter, giving my impressions of that period, may well have +seemed to you strangely partial. If we can meet as once we did, +and compare notes in the same spirit of candor, while making mutual +allowance for our different points of view, your testimony and +opinions would be invaluable to me. But will you have patience with my +democracy,--my revolutionary spirit? Believe that in thought I am more +radical than ever. The heart of Margaret you know,--it is always the +same. Mazzini is immortally dear to me--a thousand times deafer for +all the trial I saw made of him in Rome;--dearer for all he suffered. +Many of his brave friends perished there. We who, less worthy, +survive, would fain make up for the loss, by our increased devotion +to him, the purest, the most disinterested of patriots, the most +affectionate of brothers. You will not love me less that I am true to +him. + +Then, again, how will it affect you to know that I have united my +destiny with that of an obscure young man,--younger than myself; a +person of no intellectual culture, and in whom, in short, you will +see no reason for my choosing; yet more, that this union is of long +standing; that we have with us our child, of a year old, and that it +is only lately I acquainted my family with the fact? + +If you decide to meet with me as before, and wish to say something +about the matter to your friends, it will be true to declare that +there have been pecuniary reasons for this concealment. But _to +you_, in confidence, I add, this is only half the truth; and I cannot +explain, or satisfy my dear friend further. I should wish to meet +her independent of all relations, but, as we live in the midst of +"society," she would have to inquire for me now as Margaret Ossoli. +That being done, I should like to say nothing more on the subject. + +However you may feel about all this, dear Madame Arconati, you will +always be the same in my eyes. I earnestly wish you may not feel +estranged; but, if you do, I would prefer that you should act upon it. +Let us meet as friends, or not at all. In all events, I remain ever +yours, + +MARGARET. + + + + +TO THE MARCHIONESS VISCONTI ARCONATI. + + +My loved friend,--I read your letter with greatest content. I did not +know but that there might seem something offensively strange in the +circumstances I mentioned to you. Goethe says, "There is nothing men +pardon so little as singular conduct, for which no reason is given;" +and, remembering this, I have been a little surprised at the even +increased warmth of interest with which the little American society of +Florence has received me, with the unexpected accessories of husband +and child,--asking no questions, and seemingly satisfied to find me +thus accompanied. With you, indeed, I thought it would be so, because +you are above the world; only, as you have always walked in the beaten +path, though with noble port, and feet undefiled, I thought you might +not like your friends to be running about in these blind alleys. It +glads my heart, indeed, that you do not care for this, and that we may +meet in love. + +You speak of our children. Ah! dear friend, I do, indeed, feel we +shall have deep sympathy there. I do not believe mine will be a +brilliant child, and, indeed, I see nothing peculiar about him. Yet he +is to me a source of ineffable joys,--far purer, deeper, than anything +I ever felt before,--like what Nature had sometimes given, but more +intimate, more sweet. He loves me very much; his little heart clings +to mine. I trust, if he lives, to sow there no seeds which are not +good, to be always growing better for his sake. Ossoli, too, will be +a good father. He has very little of what is called intellectual +development, but unspoiled instincts, affections pure and constant, +and a quiet sense of duty, which, to me,--who have seen much of the +great faults in characters of enthusiasm and genius,--seems of highest +value. + +When you write by post, please direct "Marchesa Ossoli," as all the +letters come to that address. I did not explain myself on that point. +The fact is, it looks to me silly for a radical like me to be carrying +a title; and yet, while Ossoli is in his native land, it seems +disjoining myself from him, not to bear it. It is a sort of thing that +does not naturally belong to me, and, unsustained by fortune, is but a +_souvenir_ even for Ossoli. Yet it has appeared to me, that for him +to drop an inherited title would be, in some sort, to acquiesce in +his brothers' disclaiming him, and to abandon a right he may passively +wish to maintain for his child. How does it seem to you? I am not +very clear about it. If Ossoli should drop the title, it would be +a suitable moment to do so on becoming an inhabitant of Republican +America. + + + + +TO MRS. C.T. + + +What you say of the meddling curiosity of people repels me, it is so +different here. When I made my appearance with a husband and a child +of a year old, nobody did the least act to annoy me. All were most +cordial; none asked or implied questions. Yet there were not a few who +might justly have complained, that, when they were confiding to me +all their affairs, and doing much to serve me, I had observed absolute +silence to them. Others might, for more than one reason, be displeased +at the choice I made. All have acted in the kindliest and most refined +manner. An Italian lady, with whom I was intimate,--who might be +qualified in the Court Journal, as one of the highest rank, sustained +by the most scrupulous decorum,--when I wrote, "Dear friend, I am +married; I have a child. There are particulars, as to my reasons for +keeping this secret, I do not wish to tell. This is rather an odd +affair; will it make any difference in our relations?"--answered, +"What difference can it make, except that I shall love you more, now +that we can sympathize as mothers?" Her first visit here was to me: +she adopted at once Ossoli and the child to her love. + +---- wrote me that ---- was a little hurt, at first, that I did not +tell him, even in the trying days of Rome, but left him to hear it, as +he unluckily did, at the _table d'hote_ in Venice; but his second +and prevailing thought was regret that he had not known it, so as to +soothe and aid me,--to visit Ossoli at his post,--to go to the child +in the country. Wholly in that spirit was the fine letter he wrote +me, one of my treasures. The little American society have been most +cordial and attentive; one lady, who has been most intimate with me, +dropped a tear over the difficulties before me, but she said, "Since +you have seen fit to take the step, all your friends have to do, now, +is to make it as easy for you as they can." + + + + +TO MRS. E.S. + + +I am glad to have people favorably impressed, because I feel lazy and +weak, unequal to the trouble of friction, or the pain of conquest. +Still, I feel a good deal of contempt for those so easily disconcerted +or reaessured. I was not a child; I had lived in the midst of that New +England society, in a way that entitled me to esteem, and a favorable +interpretation, where there was doubt about my motives or actions. I +pity those who are inclined to think ill, when they might as well have +inclined the other way. However, let them go; there are many in the +world who stand the test, enough to keep us from shivering to death. I +am, on the whole, fortunate in friends whom I can truly esteem, and +in whom I know the kernel and substance of their being too well to be +misled by seemings. + + + + +TO MRS. C.T. + + +I had a letter from my mother, last summer, speaking of the fact, that +she had never been present at the marriage of one of her children. A +pang of remorse came as I read it, and I thought, if Angelino dies,[A] +I will not give her the pain of knowing that I have kept this secret +from her;--she shall hear of this connection, as if it were something +new. When I found he would live, I wrote to her and others. It half +killed me to write those few letters, and yet, I know, many are +wondering that I did not write more, and more particularly. My mother +received my communication in the highest spirit. She said, she was +sure a first object with me had been, now and always, to save her +pain. She blessed us. She rejoiced that she should not die feeling +there was no one left to love me with the devotion she thought I +needed. She expressed no regret at our poverty, but offered her feeble +means. Her letter was a noble crown to her life of disinterested, +purifying love. + +[Footnote A: This was when Margaret found Nino so ill at Rieti.] + + + + +FLORENCE. + + +The following notes respecting Margaret's residence in Florence were +furnished to the editors by Mr. W.H. Hurlbut. + +I passed about six weeks in the city of Florence, during the months of +March and April, 1850. During the whole of that time Madame Ossoli was +residing in a house at the corner of the Via della Misericordia and +the Piazza Santa Maria Novella. This house is one of those large, well +built modern houses that show strangely in the streets of the stately +Tuscan city. But if her rooms were less characteristically Italian, +they were the more comfortable, and, though small, had a quiet, +home-like air. Her windows opened upon a fine view of the beautiful +Piazza; for such was their position, that while the card-board facade +of the church of Sta. Maria Novella could only be seen at an angle, +the exquisite Campanile rose fair and full against the sky. She +enjoyed this most graceful tower very much, and, I think, preferred it +even to Giotto's noble work. Its quiet religious grace was grateful to +her spirit, which seemed to be yearning for peace from the cares that +had so vexed and heated the world about her for a year past. + +I saw her frequently at these rooms, where, surrounded by her books +and papers, she used to devote her mornings to her literary labors. +Once or twice I called in the morning, and found her quite immersed +in manuscripts and journals. Her evenings were passed usually in +the society of her friends, at her own rooms, or at theirs. With the +pleasant circle of Americans, then living in Florence, she was on the +best terms, and though she seemed always to bring with her her own +most intimate society, and never to be quite free from the company of +busy thoughts, and the cares to which her life had introduced her, +she was always cheerful, and her remarkable powers of conversation +subserved on all occasions the kindliest, purposes of good-will in +social intercourse. + +The friends with whom she seemed to be on the terms of most sympathy, +were an Italian lady, the Marchesa Arconati Visconti,[A]--the +exquisite sweetness of whose voice interpreted, even to those who knew +her only as a transient acquaintance, the harmony of her nature,--and +some English residents in Florence, among whom I need only name Mr. +and Mrs. Browning, to satisfy the most anxious friends of Madame +Ossoli that the last months of her Italian life were cheered by all +the light that communion with gifted and noble natures could afford. + +The Marchesa Arconati used to persuade Madame Ossoli to occasional +excursions with her into the environs of Florence, and she passed some +days of the beautiful spring weather at the villa of that lady. + +Her delight in nature seemed to be a source of great comfort and +strength to her. I shall not easily forget the account she gave me, on +the evening of one delicious Sunday in April, of a walk which she had +taken with her husband in the afternoon of that day, to the hill of +San Miniato. The amethystine beauty of the Apennines,--the +cypress trees that sentinel the way up to the ancient and deserted +church,--the church itself, standing high and lonely on its hill, +begirt with the vine-clad, crumbling walls of Michel Angelo,--the +repose of the dome-crowned city in the vale below,--seemed to have +wrought their impression with peculiar force upon her mind that +afternoon. On their way home, they had entered the conventual church +that stands half way up the hill, just as the vesper service was +beginning, and she spoke of the simple spirit of devotion that filled +the place, and of the gentle wonder with which, to use her own words, +the "peasant women turned their glances, the soft dark glances of +the Tuscan peasant's eyes," upon the strangers, with a singular +enthusiasm. She was in the habit of taking such walks with her +husband, and she never returned from one of them, I believe, without +some new impression of beauty and of lasting truth. While her +judgment, intense in its sincerity, tested, like an _aqua regia_, the +value of all facts that came within her notice, her sympathies +seemed, by an instinctive and unerring action, to transmute all her +experiences instantly into permanent treasures. + +The economy of the house in which she lived afforded me occasions +for observing the decisive power, both of control and of consolation, +which she could exert over others. Her maid,--an impetuous girl of +Rieti, a town which rivals Tivoli as a hot-bed of homicide,--was +constantly involved in disputes with a young Jewess, who occupied the +floor above Madame Ossoli. On one occasion, this Jewess offered the +maid a deliberate and unprovoked insult. The girl of Rieti, snatching +up a knife, ran up stairs to revenge herself after her national +fashion. The porter's little daughter followed her and, running +into Madame Ossoli's rooms, besought her interference. Madame Ossoli +reached the apartment of the Jewess, just in time to interpose between +that beetle-browed lady and her infuriated assailant. Those who +know the insane license of spirit which distinguishes the Roman +mountaineers, will understand that this was a position of no slight +hazard. The Jewess aggravated the danger of the offence by the +obstinate maliciousness of her aspect and words. Such, however, was +Madame Ossoli's entire self-possession and forbearance, that she was +able to hold her ground, and to remonstrate with this difficult pair +of antagonists so effectually, as to bring the maid to penitent tears, +and the Jewess to a confession of her injustice, and a promise of +future good behavior. + +The porter of the house, who lived in a dark cavernous hole on the +first floor, was slowly dying of a consumption, the sufferings of +which were imbittered by the chill dampness of his abode. His hollow +voice and hacking cough, however, could not veil the grateful accent +with which he uttered any allusion to Madame Ossoli. He was so close +a prisoner to his narrow, windowless chamber, that when I inquired for +Madame Ossoli he was often obliged to call his little daughter, before +he could tell me whether Madame was at home, or not; and he always +tempered the official uniformity of the question with some word +of tenderness. Indeed, he rarely pronounced her name; sufficiently +indicating to the child whom it was that I was seeking, by the +affectionate epithet he used, "_Lita! e la cara Signora in casa_?" + +The composure and force of Madame Ossoli's character would, indeed, +have given her a strong influence for good over any person with whom +she was brought into contact; but this influence must have been even +extraordinary over the impulsive and ill-disciplined children of +passion and of sorrow, among whom she was thrown in Italy. + +Her husband related to me once, with a most reverent enthusiasm, some +stories of the good she had done in Rieti, during her residence there. +The Spanish troops were quartered in that town, and the dissipated +habits of the officers, as well as the excesses of the soldiery, kept +the place in a constant irritation. Though overwhelmed with cares and +anxieties, Madame Ossoli found time and collectedness of mind enough +to interest herself in the distresses of the towns-people, and to pour +the soothing oil of a wise sympathy upon their wounded and indignant +feelings. On one occasion, as the Marchese told me, she undoubtedly +saved the lives of a family in Rieti, by inducing them to pass over +in silence an insult offered to one of them by an intoxicated Spanish +soldier,--and, on another, she interfered between two brothers, +maddened by passion, and threatening to stain the family hearth with +the guilt of fratricide.[B] + +Such incidents, and the calm tenor of Madame Ossoli's confident +hopes.--the assured faith and unshaken bravery, with which she met and +turned aside the complicated troubles, rising sometimes into absolute +perils, of their last year in Italy,--seemed to have inspired her +husband with a feeling of respect for her, amounting to reverence. +This feeling, modifying the manifest tenderness with which he hung +upon her every word and look, and sought to anticipate her simplest +wishes, was luminously visible in the air and manner of his +affectionate devotion to her. + +The frank and simple recognition of his wife's singular nobleness, +which he always displayed, was the best evidence that his own nature +was of a fine and noble strain. And those who knew him best, are, I +believe, unanimous in testifying that his character did in no respect +belie the evidence borne by his manly and truthful countenance, to +its warmth and its sincerity. He seemed quite absorbed in his wife and +child. I cannot remember ever to have found Madame Ossoli alone, on +those evenings when she remained at home. Her husband was always with +her. The picture of their room rises clearly on my memory. A small +square room, sparingly, yet sufficiently furnished, with polished +floor and frescoed ceiling,--and, drawn up closely before the cheerful +fire, an oval table, on which stood a monkish lamp of brass, with +depending chains that support quaint classic cups for the olive +oil. There, seated beside his wife, I was sure to find the Marchese, +reading from some patriotic book, and dressed in the dark brown, +red-corded coat of the Guardia Civica, which it was his melancholy +pleasure to wear at home. So long as the conversation could be carried +on in Italian, he used to remain, though he rarely joined in it to any +considerable degree; but if a number of English and American visitors +came in, he used to take his leave and go to the Cafe d'Italia, +being very unwilling, as Madame Ossoli told me, to impose any seeming +restraint, by his presence, upon her friends, with whom he was unable +to converse. For the same reason, he rarely remained with her at +the houses of her English or American friends, though he always +accompanied her thither, and returned to escort her home. + +I conversed with him so little that I can hardly venture to make any +remarks on the impression which I received from his conversation, +with regard to the character of his mind. Notwithstanding his general +reserve and curtness of speech, on two or three occasions he showed +himself to possess quite a quick and vivid fancy, and even a certain +share of humor. I have heard him tell stories remarkably well. One +tale, especially, which related to a dream he had in early life, about +a treasure concealed in his father's house, which was thrice repeated, +and made so strong an impression on his mind as to induce him to +batter a certain panel in the library almost to pieces, in vain, but +which received something like a confirmation from the fact, that a +Roman attorney, who rented that and other rooms from the family, after +his father's death, grew suddenly and unaccountably rich,--I remember +as being told with great felicity and vivacity of expression. + +His recollections of the trouble and the dangers through which he +had passed with his wife seemed to be overpoweringly painful. On one +occasion, he began to tell me a story of their stay in the mountains: +He had gone out to walk, and had unconsciously crossed the +Neapolitan frontier. Suddenly meeting with a party of the Neapolitan +_gendarmerie_, he was called to account for his trespass, and being +unable to produce any papers testifying to his loyalty, or +the legality of his existence, he was carried off, despite his +protestations, and lodged for the night in a miserable guard-house, +whence he-was taken, next morning, to the head-quarters of the officer +commanding in the neighborhood. Here, matters might have gone badly +with him, but for the accident that he had upon his person a business +letter directed to himself as the Marchese Ossoli. A certain abbe, the +regimental chaplain, having once spent some time in Rome, recognized +the name as that of an officer in the Pope's Guardia Nobile,[C] +whereupon, the Neapolitan officers not only ordered him to be +released, but sent him back, with many apologies, in a carriage, and +under an armed escort, to the Roman territory. When he reached this +part of his story, and came to his meeting with Madame Ossoli, +the remembrance of her terrible distress during the period of his +detention so overcame him, that he was quite unable to go on. + +Towards their child he manifested an overflowing tenderness, and most +affectionate care. + +Notwithstanding the intense contempt and hatred which Signore Ossoli, +in common with all the Italian liberals, cherished towards the +ecclesiastical body, he seemed to be a very devout Catholic. He used +to attend regularly the vesper service, in some of the older and +quieter churches of Florence; and, though I presume Madame Ossoli +never accepted in any degree the Roman Catholic forms of faith, she +frequently accompanied him on these occasions. And I know that she +enjoyed the devotional influences of the church ritual, as performed +in the cathedral, and at Santa Croce, especially during the +Easter-week. + +Though condemned by her somewhat uncertain position at Florence,[D] +as well as by the state of things in Tuscany at that time, to a +comparative inaction, Madame Ossoli never seemed to lose in the least +the warmth of her interest in the affairs of Italy, nor did she bate +one jot of heart or hope for the future of that country. She was much +depressed, however, I think, by the apparent apathy and prostration +of the Liberals in Tuscany; and the presence of the Austrian troops in +Florence was as painful and annoying to her, as it could have been +to any Florentine patriot. When it was understood that Prince +Lichtenstein had requested the Grand Duke to order a general +illumination in honor of the anniversary of the battle of Novara, +Madame Ossoli, I recollect, was more moved, than I remember on +any other occasion to have seen her. And she used to speak very +regretfully of the change which had come over the spirit of Florence, +since her former residence there. Then all was gayety and hope. Bodies +of artisans, gathering recruits as they passed along, used to form +themselves into choral bands, as they returned from their work at the +close of the day, and filled the air with the chants of liberty. Now, +all was a sombre and desolate silence. + +Her own various cares so occupied Madame Ossoli that she seemed to be +very much withdrawn from the world of art. During the whole time of my +stay in Florence, I do not think she once visited either of the Grand +Ducal Galleries, and the only studio in which she seemed to feel any +very strong interest, was that of Mademoiselle Favand, a lady whose +independence of character, self-reliance, and courageous genius, could +hardly have failed to attract her congenial sympathies. + +But among all my remembrances of Madame Ossoli, there are none more +beautiful or more enduring than those which recall to me another +person, a young stranger, alone and in feeble health, who found, in +her society, her sympathy, and her counsels, a constant atmosphere of +comfort and of peace. Every morning, wild-flowers, freshly gathered, +were laid upon her table by the grateful hands of this young man; +every evening, beside her seat in her little room, his mild, pure face +was to be seen, bright with a quiet happiness, that must have bound +his heart by no weak ties to her with whose fate his own was so +closely to be linked. + +And the recollection of such benign and holy influences breathed upon +the human hearts of those who came within her sphere, will not, I +trust, be valueless to those friends, in whose love her memory is +enshrined with more immortal honors than the world can give or take +away. + + +[Footnote A: Just before I left Florence, Madame Ossoli showed me a +small marble figure of a child, playing among flowers or vine leaves, +which, she said, was a portrait of the child of Madame Arconati, +presented to her by that lady. I mention this circumstance, because I +have understood that a figure answering this description was recovered +from the wreck of the Elizabeth.] + +[Footnote B: The circumstances of this story, perhaps, deserve to +be recorded. The brothers were two young men, the sons and the +chief supports of Madame Ossoli's landlord at Rieti. They were both +married,--the younger one to a beautiful girl, who had brought him no +dowry, and who, in the opinion of her husband's family, had not shown +a proper disposition to bear her share of the domestic burdens and +duties. The bickerings and disputes which resulted from this state +of affairs, on one unlucky day, took the form of an open and violent +quarrel. The younger son, who was absent from home when the conflict +began, returned to find it at its height, and was received by his wife +with passionate tears, and by his relations with sharp recriminations. +His brother, especially, took it upon himself to upbraid him, in the +name of all his family, for bringing into their home-circle such a +firebrand of discord. Charges and counter charges followed in rapid +succession, and hasty words soon led to blows. From blows the appeal +to the knife was swiftly made, and when Madame Ossoli, attracted by +the unusual clamor, entered upon the scene of action, she found that +blood had been already drawn, and that the younger brother was only +restrained from following up the first assault by the united force of +all the females, who hung about him, while the older brother, grasping +a heavy billet of wood, and pale with rage, stood awaiting his +antagonist. Passing through the group of weeping and terrified women, +Madame Ossoli made her way up to the younger brother and, laying her +hand upon his shoulder, asked him to put down his weapon and listen to +her. It was in vain that he attempted to ignore her presence. Before +the spell of her calm, firm, well-known voice, his fury melted away. +She spoke to him again, and besought him to show himself a man, and +to master his foolish and wicked rage. With a sudden impulse, he flung +his knife upon the ground, turned to Madame Ossoli, clasped and kissed +her hand, and then running towards his brother, the two met in a +fraternal embrace, which brought the threatened tragedy to a joyful +termination.] + +[Footnote C: It will be understood, that this officer was the +Marchese's older brother, who still adheres to the Papal cause.] + +[Footnote D: She believed herself to be, and I suppose really +was, under the surveillance of the police during her residence in +Florence.] + + + + +HOMEWARD. + +BY W.H. CHANNING + + * * * * * + + Last, having thus revealed all I could love + And having received all love bestowed on it, + I would die: so preserving through my course + God full on me, as I was full on men: + And He would grant my prayer--"I have gone through + All loveliness of life; make more for me, + If not for men,--or take me to Thyself, + Eternal, Infinite Love!" + + BROWNING. + + + Till another open for me + In God's Eden-land unknown, + With an angel at the doorway, + White with gazing at His Throne; + And a saint's voice in the palm-trees, singing,--"ALL IS LOST, and _won_." + + ELIZABETH BARRETT. + + + La ne venimmo: e lo scaglion primaio + Bianco marmo era si pulito e terso, + Ch'io mi specchiava in esso, qual io paio. + Era 'l secondo tinto, piu che perso, + D'una petrina ruvida ed arsiccia, + Crepata per lo lungo e per traverso. + Lo terzo, che di sopra s'ammassiccia, + Porfido mi parea si fiammegiante, + Come sangue che fuor di vena spiccia. + Sopra questa teneva ambo le piante + L' angel di Dio, sedendo in su la soglia, + Che mi sembiava pietra di diamante. + Per li tre gradi su di buona voglia + Mi trasse 'l daca mio, dicendo, chiodi + Umilmente che 'l serrame scioglia. + + DANTE. + + + Che luce e questa, e qual nuova beltate? + Dicean tra lor; perch' abito si adorno + Dal mondo errante a quest 'alto soggiorno + Non sail mai in tutta questa etate. + Ella contenta aver cangiato albergo, + Si paragona pur coi piu perfetti. + + PETRARCA. + + + + +IX. + +HOMEWARD + +SPRING-TIME. + + +Spring, bright prophet of God's eternal youth, herald forever +eloquent of heaven's undying joy, has once more wrought its miracle of +resurrection on the vineyards and olive-groves of Tuscany, and touched +with gently-wakening fingers the myrtle and the orange in the gardens +of Florence. The Apennines have put aside their snowy winding-sheet, +and their untroubled faces salute with rosy gleams of promise the new +day, while flowers smile upward to the serene sky amid the grass and +grain fields, and fruit is swelling beneath the blossoms along the +plains of Arno. "The Italian spring," writes Margaret, "is as good as +Paradise. Days come of glorious sunshine and gently-flowing airs, that +expand the heart and uplift the whole nature. The birds are twittering +their first notes of love; the ground is enamelled with anemones, +cowslips, and crocuses; every old wall and ruin puts on its festoon +and garland; and the heavens stoop daily nearer, till the earth is +folded in an embrace of light, and her every pulse beats music." + +"This world is indeed a sad place, despite its sunshine, birds, and +crocuses. But I never felt as happy as now, when I always find the +glad eyes of my little boy to welcome me. I feel the tie between him +and me so real and deep-rooted, that even death shall not part us. So +sweet is this unimpassioned love, it knows no dark reactions, it +does not idealize, and cannot be daunted by the faults of its object. +Nothing but a child can take the worst bitterness out of life, and +break the spell of loneliness. I shall not be alone in other worlds, +whenever Eternity may call me." + +And now her face is turned homeward. "I am homesick," she had written +years before, "but where is that HOME?" + + + + +OMENS. + + "My heart is very tired,--my strength is low,-- + My hands are full of blossoms plucked before, + Held dead within them till myself shall die." + + ELIZABETH BARRETT. + + +Many motives drew Margaret to her native land: heart-weariness at the +reaction in Europe; desire of publishing to best advantage the book +whereby she hoped at once to do justice to great principles and brave +men, and to earn bread for her dear ones and herself; and, above all, +yearning to be again among her family and earliest associates. "I +go back," she writes, "prepared for difficulties; but it will be a +consolation to be with my mother, brothers, sister, and old friends, +and I find it imperatively necessary to be in the United States, for +a while at least, to make such arrangements with the printers as may +free me from immediate care. I did think, at one time, of coming alone +with Angelino, and then writing for Ossoli to come later, or returning +to Italy; knowing that it will be painful for him to go, and that +there he must have many lonely hours. But he is separated from his old +employments and natural companions, while no career is open for him at +present. Then, I would not take his child away for several months; for +his heart is fixed upon him as fervently as mine. And, again, it would +not only be very strange and sad to be so long without his love +and care, but I should be continually solicitous about his welfare. +Ossoli, indeed, cannot but feel solitary at first, and I am much more +anxious about his happiness than my own. Still, he will have our boy, +and the love of my family, especially of my mother, to cheer him, and +quiet communings with nature give him pleasure so simple and profound, +that I hope he will make a new life for himself, in our unknown +country, till changes favor our return to his own. I trust, that we +shall find the means to come together, and to remain together." + +Considerations of economy determined them, spite of many misgivings, +to take passage in a merchantman from Leghorn. "I am suffering," she +writes, "as never before, from the horrors of indecision. Happy +the fowls of the air, who do not have to think so much about their +arrangements! The barque _Elizabeth_ will take us, and is said to be +an uncommonly good vessel, nearly new, and well kept. We may be two +months at sea, but to go by way of France would more than double the +expense. Yet, now that I am on the point of deciding to come in her, +people daily dissuade me, saying that I have no conception of what +a voyage of sixty or seventy days will be in point of fatigue +and suffering; that the insecurity, compared with packet-ships or +steamers, is great; that the cabin, being on deck, will be terribly +exposed, in case of a gale, &c., &c. I am well aware of the proneness +of volunteer counsellors to frighten and excite one, and have +generally disregarded them. But this time I feel a trembling +solicitude on account of my child, and am doubtful, harassed, almost +ill." And again, under date of April 21, she says: "I had intended, +if I went by way of France, to take the packet-ship _'Argo_,' from +Havre; and I had requested Mrs. ---- to procure and forward to me some +of my effects left at Paris, in charge of Miss F----, when, taking +up _Galignani_, my eye fell on these words: 'Died, 4th of April, Miss +F----; 'and, turning the page, I read, 'The wreck of the _Argo_,'--a +somewhat singular combination! There were notices, also, of the loss +of the fine English steamer _Adelaide_, and of the American packet +_John Skiddy._ Safety is not to be secured, then, by the wisest +foresight. I shall embark more composedly in our merchant-ship, +praying fervently, indeed, that it may not be my lot to lose my boy +at sea, either by unsolaced illness, or amid the howling waves; or, if +so, that Ossoli, Angelo, and I may go together, and that the anguish +may be brief." + +Their state-rooms were taken, their trunks packed, their preparations +finished, they were just leaving Florence, when letters came, which, +had they reached her a week earlier, would probably have induced them +to remain in Italy. But Margaret had already by letter appointed a +rendezvous for the scattered members of her family in July; and she +would not break her engagements with the commander of the barque. It +was destined that they were to sail,--to sail in the _Elizabeth_, to +sail then. And, even in the hour of parting, clouds, whose tops were +golden in the sunshine, whose base was gloomy on the waters, beckoned +them onward. "Beware of the sea," had been a singular prophecy, given +to Ossoli when a boy, by a fortune-teller, and this was the first ship +he had ever set his foot on. More than ordinary apprehensions of risk, +too, hovered before Margaret. "I am absurdly fearful," she writes, +"and various omens have combined to give me a dark feeling. I am +become indeed a miserable coward, for the sake of Angelino. I fear +heat and cold, fear the voyage, fear biting poverty. I hope I shall +not be forced to be as brave for him, as I have been for myself, and +that, if I succeed to rear him, he will be neither a weak nor a bad +man. But I love him too much! In case of mishap, however, I shall +perish with my husband and my child, and we may be transferred to +some happier state." And again: "I feel perfectly willing to stay my +threescore years and ten, if it be thought I need so much tuition from +this planet; but it seems to me that my future upon earth will soon +close. It may be terribly trying, but it will not be so very long, +now. God will transplant the root, if he wills to rear it into +fruit-bearing." And, finally: "I have a vague expectation of some +crisis,--I know not what. But it has long seemed, that, in the year +1850, I should stand on a plateau in the ascent of life, where I +should be allowed to pause for a while, and take more clear and +commanding views than ever before. Yet my life proceeds as regularly +as the fates of a Greek tragedy, and I can but accept the pages as +they turn." * * + + * * * * * + +These were her parting words:-- + + "_Florence, May 14, 1850._--I will believe, I shall be welcome + with my treasures,--my husband and child. For me, I long so much + to see you! Should anything hinder our meeting upon earth, think + of your daughter, as one who always wished, at least, to do her + duty, and who always cherished you, according as her mind opened + to discover excellence. + + "Give dear love, too, to my brothers; and first to my eldest, + faithful friend! Eugene; a sister's love to Ellen; love to my kind + and good aunts, and to my dear cousin. E.,--God bless them! + + "I hope we shall be able to pass some time together yet, in this + world. But, if God decrees otherwise,--here and HEREAFTER,--my + dearest mother, + + "Your loving child, MARGARET." + + + + +THE VOYAGE.[A] + + +The seventeenth of May, the day of sailing, came, and the _Elizabeth_ +lay waiting for her company. Yet, even then, dark presentiments +so overshadowed Margaret, that she passed one anxious hour more in +hesitation, before she could resolve to go on board. But Captain Hasty +was so fine a model of the New England seaman, strong-minded, prompt, +calm, decided, courteous; Mrs. Hasty was so refined, gentle, and +hospitable; both had already formed so warm an attachment for the +little family, in their few interviews at Florence and Leghorn; +Celeste Paolini, a young Italian girl, who had engaged to render +kindly services to Angelino, was so lady-like and pleasing; their only +other fellow-passenger, Mr. Horace Sumner, of Boston, was so obliging +and agreeable a friend; and the good ship herself looked so trim, +substantial, and cheery, that it seemed weak and wrong to turn back. +They embarked; and, for the first few days, all went prosperously, +till fear was forgotten. Soft breezes sweep them tranquilly over the +smooth bosom of the Mediterranean; Angelino sits among his heaps of +toys, or listens to the seraphine, or leans his head with fondling +hands upon the white goat, who is now to be his foster-parent, or in +the captain's arms moves to and fro, gazing curiously at spars and +rigging, or watches with delight the swelling canvass; while, under +the constant stars, above the unresting sea, Margaret and Ossoli +pace the deck of their small ocean-home, and think of storms left +behind,--perhaps of coming tempests. + +But now Captain Hasty fell ill with fever, could hardly drag himself +from his state-room to give necessary orders, and lay upon the bed or +sofa, in fast-increased distress, though glad to bid Nino good-day, to +kiss his cheek, and pat his hand. Still, the strong man grew weaker, +till he could no longer draw from beneath the pillow his daily friend, +the Bible, though his mind was yet clear to follow his wife's voice, +as she read aloud the morning and evening chapter. But alas for the +brave, stout seaman! alas for the young wife, on almost her first +voyage! alas for crew! alas for company! alas for the friends of +Margaret! The fever proved to be confluent small-pox, in the most +malignant form. The good commander had received his release from +earthly duty. The _Elizabeth_ must lose her guardian. With calm +con-[Transcriber's note: A word appears to be missing here.] +authorities refused permission for any one to land, and directed that +the burial should be made at sea. As the news spread through the port, +the ships dropped their flags half-mast, and at sunset, towed by the +boat of a neighboring frigate, the crew of the _Elizabeth_ bore the +body of their late chief, wrapped in the flag of his nation, to its +rest in deep water. Golden twilight flooded the western sky, and +shadows of high-piled clouds lay purple on the broad Atlantic. In that +calm, summer sunset funeral, what eye foresaw the morning of horror, +of which it was the sad forerunner? + +At Gibraltar, they were detained a week by adverse winds, but, on the +9th of June, set sail again. The second day after, Angelino sickened +with the dreadful malady, and soon became so ill, that his life was +despaired of. His eyes were closed, his head and face swollen out of +shape, his body covered with eruption. Though inexperienced in the +disease, the parents wisely treated their boy with cooling drinks, and +wet applications to the skin; under their incessant care, the fever +abated, and, to their unspeakable joy, he rapidly recovered. Sobered +and saddened, they could again hope, and enjoy the beauty of the calm +sky and sea. Once more Nino laughs, as he splashes in his morning +bath, and playfully prolongs the meal, which the careful father has +prepared with his own hand, or, if he has been angered, rests his head +upon his mother's breast, while his palm is pressed against her cheek, +as, bending down, she sings to him; once more, he sits among his toys, +or fondles and plays with the white-haired goat, or walks up and down +in the arms of the steward, who has a boy of just his age, at home, +now waiting to embrace him; or among the sailors, with whom he is a +universal favorite, prattles in baby dialect as he tries to imitate +their cry, to work the pumps, and pull the ropes. Ossoli and Sumner, +meanwhile, exchange alternate lessons in Italian and English. And +Margaret, among her papers, gives the last touches to her book on +Italy, or with words of hope and love comforts like a mother the +heart-broken widow. Slowly, yet peacefully, pass the long summer days, +the mellow moonlit nights; slowly, and with even flight, the good +Elizabeth, under gentle airs from the tropics, bears them safely +onward. Four thousand miles of ocean lie behind; they are nearly home. + + + + +THE WRECK. + + "There are blind ways provided, the foredone + Heart-weary player in this pageant world + Drops out by, letting the main masque defile + By the conspicuous portal:--I am through, + Just through." + + BROWNING. + + +On Thursday, July 18th, at noon, the Elizabeth was off the Jersey +coast, somewhere between Cape May and Barnegat; and, as the weather +was thick, with a fresh breeze blowing from the east of south, +the officer in command, desirous to secure a good offing, stood +east-north-east. His purpose was, when daylight showed the highlands +of Neversink, to take a pilot, and run before the wind past Sandy +Hook. So confident, indeed, was he of safety, that he promised his +passengers to land them early in the morning at New York. With this +hope, their trunks were packed, the preparations made to greet their +friends, the last good-night was spoken, and with grateful hearts +Margaret and Ossoli put Nino to rest, for the last time, as they +thought, on ship-board,--for the last time, as it was to be, on earth! + +By nine o'clock, the breeze rose to a gale, which every hour increased +in violence, till at midnight it became a hurricane. Yet, as the +Elizabeth was new and strong, and as the commander, trusting to an +occasional cast of the lead, assured them that they were not nearing +the Jersey coast,--which alone he dreaded,--the passengers remained in +their state-rooms, and caught such uneasy sleep as the howling storm +and tossing ship permitted. Utterly unconscious, they were, even then, +amidst perils, whence only by promptest energy was it possible to +escape. Though under close-reefed sails, their vessel was making way +far more swiftly than any one on board had dreamed of; and for hours, +with the combined force of currents and the tempest, had been driving +headlong towards the sand-bars of Long Island. About four o'clock, on +Friday morning, July 19th, she struck,--first draggingly, then hard +and harder,--on Fire Island beach. + +The main and mizzen masts were at once cut away; but the heavy marble +in her hold had broken through her bottom, and she bilged. Her bow +held fast, her stern swung round, she careened inland, her broadside +was bared to the shock of the billows, and the waves made a clear +breach over her with every swell. The doom of the poor Elizabeth was +sealed now, and no human power could save her. She lay at the mercy of +the maddened ocean. + +At the first jar, the passengers, knowing but too well its fatal +import, sprang from their berths. Then came the cry of "Cut away," +followed by the crash of falling timbers, and the thunder of the seas, +as they broke across the deck. In a moment more, the cabin skylight +was dashed in pieces by the breakers, and the spray, pouring down like +a cataract, put out the lights, while the cabin door was wrenched from +its fastenings, and the waves swept in and out. One scream, one only, +was heard from Margaret's state-room; and Sumner and Mrs. Hasty, +meeting in the cabin, clasped hands, with these few but touching +words: "We must die." "Let us die calmly, then." "I hope so, Mrs. +Hasty." It was in the gray dusk, and amid the awful tumult, that the +companions in misfortune met. The side of the cabin to the leeward had +already settled under water; and furniture, trunks, and fragments of +the skylight were floating to and fro; while the inclined position of +the floor made it difficult to stand; and every sea, as it broke +over the bulwarks, splashed in through the open roof. The windward +cabin-walls, however, still yielded partial shelter, and against it, +seated side by side, half leaning backwards, with feet braced upon +the long table, they awaited what next should come. At first. Nino, +alarmed at the uproar, the darkness, and the rushing water, while +shivering with the wet, cried passionately; but soon his mother, +wrapping him in such garments as were at hand and folding him to her +bosom, sang him to sleep. Celeste too was in an agony of terror, till +Ossoli, with soothing words and a long and fervent prayer, restored +her to self-control and trust. Then calmly they rested, side by side, +exchanging kindly partings and sending messages to friends, if any +should survive to be their bearer. Meanwhile, the boats having been +swamped or carried away, and the carpenter's tools washed overboard, +the crew had retreated to the top-gallant forecastle; but, as the +passengers saw and heard nothing of them, they supposed that the +officers and crew had deserted the ship, and that they were left +alone. Thus passed three hours. + +At length, about seven, as there were signs that the cabin would soon +break up, and any death seemed preferable to that of being crushed +among the ruins, Mrs. Hasty made her way to the door, and, looking +out at intervals between the seas as they swept across the vessel +amidships, saw some one standing by the foremast. His face was toward +the shore. She screamed and beckoned, but her voice was lost amid the +roar of the wind and breakers, and her gestures were unnoticed. Soon, +however, Davis, the mate, through the door of the forecastle caught +sight of her, and, at once comprehending the danger, summoned the men +to go to the rescue. At first none dared to risk with him the perilous +attempt; but, cool and resolute, he set forth by himself, and now +holding to the bulwarks, now stooping as the waves combed over, +he succeeded in reaching the cabin. Two sailors, emboldened by his +example, followed. Preparations were instantly made to conduct the +passengers to the forecastle, which, as being more strongly built and +lying further up the sands, was the least exposed part of the ship. +Mrs. Hasty volunteered to go the first. With one hand clasped by +Davis, while with the other each grasped the rail, they started, a +sailor moving close behind. But hardly had they taken three steps, +when a sea broke loose her hold, and swept her into the hatch-way. +"Let me go," she cried, "your life is important to all on board." +But cheerily, and with a smile,[B] he answered, "Not quite yet;" and, +seizing in his teeth her long hair, as it floated past him, he caught +with both hands at some near support, and, aided by the seaman, set +her once again upon her feet. A few moments more of struggle brought +them safely through. In turn, each of the passengers was helped thus +laboriously across the deck, though, as the broken rail and cordage +had at one place fallen in the way, the passage was dangerous and +difficult in the extreme. Angelino was borne in a canvas bag, +slung round the neck of a sailor. Within the forecastle, which was +comparatively dry and sheltered, they now seated themselves, and, +wrapped in the loose overcoats of the seamen, regained some warmth. +Three times more, however, the mate made his way to the cabin; once, +to save her late husband's watch, for Mrs. Hasty; again for some +doubloons, money-drafts, and rings in Margaret's desk; and, finally, +to procure a bottle of wine and a drum of figs for their refreshment. +It was after his last return, that Margaret said to Mrs. Hasty, +"There still remains what, if I live, will be of more value to me than +anything," referring, probably, to her manuscript on Italy; but it +seemed too selfish to ask their brave preserver to run the risk again. + +There was opportunity now to learn their situation, and to discuss +the chances of escape. At the distance of only a few hundred yards, +appeared the shore,--a lonely waste of sand-hills, so far as could +be seen through the spray and driving rain. But men had been early +observed, gazing at the wreck, and, later, a wagon had been drawn +upon the beach. There was no sign of a life-boat, however, or of any +attempt at rescue; and, about nine o'clock, it was determined that +some one should try to land by swimming, and, if possible, get help. +Though it seemed almost sure death to trust one's self to the surf, a +sailor, with a life-preserver, jumped overboard, and, notwithstanding +a current drifting him to leeward, was seen to reach the shore. +A second, with the aid of a spar, followed in safety; and Sumner, +encouraged by their success, sprang over also; but, either struck by +some piece of the wreck, or unable to combat with the waves, he sank. +Another hour or more passed by; but though persons were busy gathering +into carts whatever spoil was stranded, no life-boat yet appeared; +and, after much deliberation, the plan was proposed,--and, as it was +then understood, agreed to,--that the passengers should attempt to +land, each seated upon a plank, and grasping handles of rope, while +a sailor swam behind. Here, too, Mrs. Hasty was the first to venture, +under the guard of Davis. Once and again, during their passage, the +plank was rolled wholly over, and once and again was righted, with its +bearer, by the dauntless steersman; and when, at length, tossed by +the surf upon the sands, the half-drowned woman still holding, as in +a death-struggle, to the ropes, was about to be swept back by the +undertow, he caught her in his arms, and, with the assistance of a +bystander, placed her high upon the beach. Thus twice in one day had +he perilled his own life to save that of the widow of his captain, +and even over that dismal tragedy his devotedness casts one gleam of +light. + +Now came Margaret's turn. But she steadily refused to be separated +from Ossoli and Angelo. On a raft with them, she would have boldly +encountered the surf, but alone she would not go. Probably, she had +appeared to assent to the plan for escaping upon planks, with the view +of inducing Mrs. Hasty to trust herself to the care of the best man on +board; very possibly, also, she had never learned the result of their +attempt, as, seated within the forecastle, she could not see the +beach. She knew, too, that if a life-boat could be sent, Davis was one +who would neglect no effort to expedite its coming. While she was +yet declining all persuasions, word was given from the deck, that +the life-boat had finally appeared. For a moment, the news lighted up +again the flickering fire of hope. They might yet be saved,--be saved +together! Alas! to the experienced eyes of the sailors it too soon +became evident that there was no attempt to launch or man her. The +last chance of aid from shore, then, was gone utterly. They must rely +on their own strength, or perish. And if ever they were to escape, +the time had come; for, at noon, the storm had somewhat lulled; but +already the tide had turned, and it was plain that the wreck could not +hold together through another flood. In this emergency, the commanding +officer, who until now had remained at his post, once more appealed +to Margaret to try to escape,--urging that the ship would inevitably +break up soon; that it was mere suicide to remain longer; that he did +not feel free to sacrifice the lives of the crew, or to throw away +his own; finally, that he would himself take Angelo, and that sailors +should go with Celeste, Ossoli, and herself. But, as before, Margaret +decisively declared that she would not be parted from her husband or +her child. The order was then given to "save themselves," and all +but four of the crew jumped over, several of whom, together with the +commander, reached shore alive, though severely bruised and wounded by +the drifting fragments. There is a sad consolation in believing that, +if Margaret judged it to be impossible that the _three_ should escape, +she in all probability was right. It required a most rare, combination +of courage, promptness and persistency, to do what Davis had done +for Mrs. Hasty. We may not conjecture the crowd of thoughts which +influenced the lovers, the parents, in this awful crisis; but +doubtless one wish was ever uppermost,--that, God willing, the last +hour might come for ALL, if it must come for _one_. + +It was now past three o'clock, and as, with the rising tide, the gale +swelled once more to its former violence, the remnants of the barque +fast yielded to the resistless waves. The cabin went by the board, the +after-parts broke up, and the stem settled out of sight. Soon, too, +the forecastle was filled with water, and the helpless little band +were driven to the deck, where they clustered round the foremast. +Presently, even this frail support was loosened from the hull, and +rose and fell with every billow. It was plain to all that the final +moment drew swiftly nigh. Of the four seamen who still stood by the +passengers, three were as efficient as any among the crew of the +Elizabeth. These were the steward, carpenter, and cook. The fourth was +an old sailor, who, broken down by hardships and sickness, was going +home to die. These men were once again persuading Margaret, Ossoli +and Celeste to try the planks, which they held ready in the lee of +the ship, and the steward, by whom Nino was so much beloved, had just +taken the little fellow in his arms, with the pledge that he would +save him or die, when a sea struck the forecastle, and the foremast +fell, carrying with it the deck, and all upon it. The steward and +Angelino were washed upon the beach, both dead, though warm, some +twenty minutes after. The cook and carpenter were thrown far upon the +foremast, and saved themselves by swimming. Celeste and Ossoli caught +for a moment by the rigging, but the next wave swallowed them up. +Margaret sank at once. When last seen, she had been seated at the foot +of the foremast, still clad in her white night-dress, with her hair +fallen loose upon her shoulders. It was over,--that twelve hours' +communion, face to face, with Death! It was over! and the prayer was +granted, "that Ossoli, Angelo, and I, may go together, and that the +anguish may be brief!" + + * * * * * + +A passage from the journal of a friend of Margaret, whom the news +of the wreck drew at once to the scene, shall close this mournful +story:-- + + "The hull of the Elizabeth, with the foremast still bound to + it by cordage, lies so near the shore, that it seems as if + a dozen oar-strokes would carry a boat alongside. And as one + looks at it glittering in the sunshine, and rocking gently in + the swell, it is hard to feel reconciled to our loss. Seven + resolute men might have saved every soul on board. I know how + different was the prospect on that awful morning, when the + most violent gale that had visited our coast for years, drove + the billows up to the very foot of the sand-hills, and when + the sea in foaming torrents swept across the beach into the + bay behind. Yet I cannot but reluctantly declare my judgment, + that this terrible tragedy is to be attributed, so far + as human agency is looked at, to our wretched system, or + _no-system_, of life-boats. The life-boat at Fire Island + light-house, three miles distant only, was not brought to the + beach till between twelve and one o'clock, more than eight + hours after the Elizabeth was stranded, and more than six + hours after the wreck could easily have been seen. When + the life-boat did finally come, the beachmen could not be + persuaded to launch or man her. And even the mortar, by which + a rope could and should have been thrown on board, was not + once fired. A single lesson like this might certainly suffice + to teach the government, insurance companies, and humane + societies, the urgent need, that to every life-boat should + be attached ORGANIZED CREWS, stimulated to do their work + faithfully, by ample pay for actual service, generous + salvage-fees for cargoes and persons, and a pension to + surviving friends where life is lost. * * * + + "No trace has yet been found of Margaret's manuscript on + Italy, though the denials of the wreckers as to having seen + it, are not in the least to be depended on. For, greedy + after richer spoil, they might well have overlooked a mass of + written paper; and, even had they kept it, they would be slow + to give up what would so clearly prove their participation + in the heartless robbery, that is now exciting such universal + horror and indignation. Possibly it was washed away before + reaching the shore, as several of the trunks, it is said, were + open and empty, when thrown upon the beach. But it is sad to + think, that very possibly the brutal hands of pirates may have + tossed to the winds, or scattered on the sands, pages so rich + with experience and life. The only papers of value saved, were + the love-letters of Margaret and Ossoli.[C] + + "It is a touching coincidence, that the only one of Margaret's + treasures which reached the shore, was the lifeless form of + Angelino. When the body, stripped of every rag by the waves, + was rescued from the surf, a sailor took it reverently in + his arms, and, wrapping it in his neckcloth, bore it to the + nearest house. There, when washed, and dressed in a child's + frock, found in Margaret's trunk, it was laid upon a bed; and + as the rescued seamen gathered round their late playfellow and + pet, there were few dry eyes in the circle. Several of them + mourned for Nino, as if he had been their own; and even the + callous wreckers were softened, for the moment, by a sight + so full of pathetic beauty. The next day, borne upon their + shoulders in a chest, which one of the sailors gave for a + coffin, it was buried in a hollow among the sand heaps. As I + stood beside the lonely little mound, it seemed that never + was seen a more affecting type of orphanage. Around, wiry + and stiff, were scanty spires of beach-grass; near by, + dwarf-cedars, blown flat by wintry winds, stood like grim + guardians; only at the grave-head a stunted wild-rose, wilted + and scraggy, was struggling for existence. Thoughts came + of the desolate childhood of many a little one in this hard + world; and there was joy in the assurance, that Angelo was + neither motherless nor fatherless, and that Margaret and + her husband were not childless in that New World, which so + suddenly they had entered together. + + "To-morrow, Margaret's mother, sister, and brothers will + remove Nino's body to New England." + + * * * * * + +Was this, then, thy welcome home? A howling hurricane, the pitiless +sea, wreck on a sand-bar, an idle life-boat, beach-pirates, and not +one friend! In those twelve hours of agony, did the last scene appear +but as the fitting close for a life of storms, where no safe haven +was ever in reach; where thy richest treasures were so often stranded; +where even the dearest and nearest seemed always too far off, or just +too late, to help. + +Ah, no! not so. The clouds were gloomy on the waters, truly; but their +tops were golden in the sun. It was in the Father's House that welcome +awaited thee. + + "Glory to God! to God! he saith, + Knowledge by suffering entereth, + And Life is perfected by Death." + + +[Footnote A: The following account is as accurate, even in minute +details, as conversation with several of the survivors enabled me to +make it.--W.H.C.] + +[Footnote B: Mrs. Hasty's own words while describing the incident.] + +[Footnote C: The letters from which extracts were quoted in the +previous chapter.] + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Memoirs of Margaret Fuller Ossoli, +Vol. II, by Margaret Fuller Ossoli + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARGARED FULLER, VOL. 2 *** + +***** This file should be named 13106.txt or 13106.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/1/0/13106/ + +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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