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diff --git a/16327.txt b/16327.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..026c94f --- /dev/null +++ b/16327.txt @@ -0,0 +1,17307 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of At Home And Abroad, 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: At Home And Abroad + Or, Things And Thoughts In America and Europe + +Author: Margaret Fuller Ossoli + +Editor: Arthur B. Fuller + +Release Date: July 18, 2005 [EBook #16327] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT HOME AND ABROAD *** + + + + +Produced by Alison Hadwin and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + +AT HOME AND ABROAD; +OR, +THINGS AND THOUGHTS +IN +AMERICA AND EUROPE. + + +BY +MARGARET FULLER OSSOLI, + +Author of "Woman in the Nineteenth Century," "Art, Literature, +and the Drama," "Life without and Life Within," etc. + +Edited by Her Brother, +ARTHUR B. FULLER. + +NEW AND COMPLETE EDITION. + +NEW YORK; +THE TRIBUNE ASSOCIATION. +134 Nassau Street +1869 + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1856, by +ARTHUR B. FULLER, +In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of +Massachusetts. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +There are at least three classes of persons who travel in our own land +and abroad. The first and largest in number consists of those +who, "having eyes, see not, and ears, hear not," anything which is +profitable to be remembered. Crossing lake and ocean, passing over +the broad prairies of the New World or the classic fields of the Old, +though they look on the virgin soil sown thickly with flowers by +the hand of God, or on scenes memorable in man's history, they gaze +heedlessly, and when they return home can but tell us what they ate +and drank, and where slept,--no more; for this and matters of like +import are all for which they have cared in their wanderings. + +Those composing the second class travel more intelligently. They +visit scrupulously all places which are noted either as the homes of +literature, the abodes of Art, or made classic by the pens of ancient +genius. Accurately do they mark the distance of one famed city from +another, the size and general appearance of each; they see as many as +possible of celebrated pictures and works of art, and mark carefully +dimensions, age, and all details concerning them. Men, too, whom the +world regards as great men, whether because of wisdom, poesy, warlike +achievements, or of wealth and station, they seek to take by the +hand and in some degree to know; at least to note their appearance, +demeanor, and mode of life. Writers belonging to this class of +travellers are not to be undervalued; returning home, they can give +much useful information, and tell much which all wish to hear and +know, though, as their narratives are chiefly circumstantial, and +every year circumstances change, such recitals lessen constantly in +value. + +But there is a third class of those who journey, who see indeed the +outward, and observe it well. They, too, seek localities where Art and +Genius dwell, or have painted on canvas or sculptured in marble their +memorials; they become acquainted with the people, both famed and +obscure, of the lands which they visit and in which for a time they +abide; their hearts throb as they stand on places where great deeds +have been done, with whose dust perhaps is mingled the sacred ashes +of men who fell in the warfare for truth and freedom,--a warfare begun +early in the world's history, and not yet ended. But they do much +_more_ than this. There is, though in a different sense from what +ancient Pagans fancied, a genius or guardian spirit of each scene, +each stream and lake and country, and this spirit is ever speaking, +but in a tone which only the attent ear of the noble and gifted +can hear, and in a language which such minds and hearts only can +understand. With vision which needs no miracle to make it prophetic, +they see the destinies which nations are all-unconsciously shaping +for themselves, and note the deep meaning of passing events which only +make others wonder. Beneath the mask of mere externals, their eyes +discern the character of those whom they meet, and, refusing to accept +popular judgment in place of truth, they see often the real relation +which men bear to their race and age, and observe the facts by which +to determine whether such men are great only because of circumstances, +or by the irresistible power of their own minds. When such narrate +their journeyings, we have what is valuable not for a few years only, +but, because of its philosophic and suggestive spirit, what must +always be useful. + +The reader of the following pages, it is believed, will decide that +Margaret Fuller deserves to rank with the latter class of travellers, +while not neglectful of those details which it is well to learn and +remember. + +Twelve years ago she journeyed, in company with several friends, on +the Lakes, and through some of the Western States. Returning, she +published a volume describing this journey, which seems worthy of +republication. It seems so because it rather gives an idea of Western +scenery and character, than enters into guide-book statements which +would be all erroneous now. + +Beside this, it is much a record of thoughts as well as things, and +those thoughts have lost none of their significance now. It gives us +also knowledge of Indian character, and impressions respecting that +much injured and fast vanishing race, which justice to them makes it +desirable should be remembered. The friends of Madame Ossoli will be +glad to make permanent this additional proof of her sympathy with all +the oppressed, no matter whether that oppression find embodiment in +the Indian or the African, the American or the European. + +The second part of the present volume gives my sister's impressions +and observations during her European journey and residence in Italy. +This is done through letters, which originally appeared in the New +York Tribune but have never before been gathered into book form. There +may be a degree of incompleteness, sometimes perhaps inaccuracy, in +these letters, which are inseparable attendants upon letter-writing +during a journey or amid exciting and warlike scenes. None can lament +more than I that their writer lives not to revise them. Some errors, +too, were doubtless made in the original printing of these letters, +owing to her handwriting not being easily read by those who were not +familiar with it, and very probably some such errors may have escaped +my notice in the revision, especially as many emendations must be +conjectural, the original manuscript not now existing. + +There is one fact, however, which gives this part of the volume a high +value. Madame Ossoli was in Rome during the most eventful period of +its modern history. She was almost the only American who remained +there during the Italian Revolution, and the siege of the city. Her +marriage with the Marquis Ossoli, who was Captain of the Civic Guard +and active in the republican councils and army, and her own ardent +love of freedom, and sacrifices for it, brought her into immediate +acquaintance with the leaders in the revolutionary army, and made +her cognizant of their plans, their motives, and their characters. +Unsuccessful for a time as has been that struggle for freedom, it was +yet a noble one, and its true history should be known in this country +and in all lands, that justice may be done to those who sacrificed +much, some even life, in behalf of liberty. Her peculiar fitness to +write the history of this struggle is well expressed by Mr. Greeley, +in his Introduction to one of her volumes recently published.[A] "Of +Italy's last struggle for liberty and light," he says, "she might +not merely say, with the Grattan of Ireland's kindred effort, half a +century earlier, 'I stood by its cradle; I followed its hearse.' +She might fairly claim to have been a portion of its incitement, its +animation, its informing soul. She bore more than a woman's part in +its conflicts and its perils; and the bombs of that ruthless army +which a false and traitorous government impelled against the ramparts +of Republican Rome, could have stilled no voice more eloquent in its +exposures, no heart more lofty in its defiance, of the villany which +so wantonly drowned in blood the hopes, while crushing the dearest +rights, of a people, than those of Margaret Fuller." + +[Footnote A: Introduction to Papers on Literature and Art, p. 8.] + +Inadequate, indeed, are these letters as a memorial and vindication of +that struggle, in comparison with the history which Madame Ossoli had +written, and which perished with her; but well do they deserve to be +preserved, as the record of a clear-minded and true-hearted eyewitness +of, and participator in, this effort to establish a new and better +Roman Republic. In one respect they have an interest higher than +would the history. They were written during the struggle, and show the +fluctuations of hope and despondency-which animated those most deeply +interested. I have thought it right to leave unchanged all expressions +of her opinion and feeling, even when it is evident from the letters +themselves that these were gradually somewhat modified by ensuing +events. Especially did this change occur in regard to the Pope, whom +she at first regarded, in common with all lovers of freedom in this +and other lands, with a hopefulness which was doomed to a cruel +disappointment. She was, however, never for a moment deceived as to +his character. His heart she believed kindly and good; his intellect, +of a low order; his views as to reform, narrow, intending only what is +partial, temporary, and alleviating, never a permanent, vital reform, +which should remove the cause of the ills on account of which his +people groaned. Really to elevate and free Italy, it was necessary to +remove the yoke of ecclesiastical and political thraldom; to do this +formed no part of his plans,--from his very nature he was incapable +of so great a purpose. The expression in her letters of this opinion, +when most people hoped better things, was at first censured, as doing +injustice to Pius IX.; but alas! events proved the impulses of his +heart to be in subjection to the prejudices of his mind, and that mind +to be weaker than even she had deemed it, with views as narrow as she +had feared. + +The third part of this volume contains some letters to friends, which +were never written for the public eye, but are necessary to complete, +as far as can now be done, the narrative of her residence abroad. Some +few of these have already appeared in her "Memoirs," a work I cannot +too warmly recommend to those who would know my sister's character. +Many more of her letters may be there found, equally worthy of +perusal, but not so necessary to complete the history of events in +Italy. + +The fourth part contains the details of that shipwreck which caused +mourning not only in the hearts of her kindred, but of the many +who knew and loved her. These, with some poems commemorative of her +character and eventful death, form a sad but fitting close to a book +which records her European journeyings, and her voyage to a home which +proved to be not in this land, where were waiting warm hearts to bid +her welcome, but one in a land yet freer, better than this, where she +can be no less loved by the angels, by our Saviour, and the Infinite +Father. After the copy for this volume had been sent to the press, +it was found necessary to omit some portions of the work in the +republication, as too much matter had been furnished for a volume of +reasonable size. The Editor made these omissions with much reluctance, +but the desire to bring a record of Madame Ossoli's journeyings within +the compass of one volume outweighed that reluctance. He believes the +omissions have been made in such a way as not materially to diminish +its value, especially as most which has been omitted will find place +in another volume he hopes soon to issue, containing a portion of the +miscellaneous writings of Madame Ossoli. + +All of these omissions that are important occur in the Summer on the +Lakes, it being thought better to omit from a portion of the work +which had previously been before the public in book form. The +episodical nature of that work, too, enabled the Editor to make +omissions without in any way marring its unity. These omissions, when +other than mere verbal ones, consist of extracts from books which she +read in relation to the Indians; an account of and translation from +the Seeress of Prevorst, a German work which had not then, but has +since, been translated into English, and republished in this country; +a few extracts from letters and poems sent to her by friends while she +was in the West, one of which poems has been since published elsewhere +by its author; and the story of Marianna, (a great portion of which +may be found in my sister's "Memoirs,") and also Lines to Edith, a +short poem. Marianna and Lines to Edith will probably be republished +in another volume. From the letters of Madame Ossoli in Parts II. and +III. no omissions have been made other than verbal, or when pertaining +to trifling incidents, having only a temporary interest. Nothing in +any portion of the book recording my sister's own observations or +opinions has been omitted or changed. The reader, too, will notice +that nothing affecting the unity of the narrative is here wanting, the +volume even gaining in that respect by the omission of extracts from +other writers, and of a story and short poem not connected in any +regard with Western life. + +In conclusion, the Editor would express the sincere hope that this +volume may not only be of general interest, but inspire its readers +with an increased love of republican institutions, and an earnest +purpose to seek the removal of every national wrong which hinders +our beloved country from being a perfect example and hearty helper +of other nations in their struggles for liberty. May it do something, +also, to remove misapprehension of the motives, character, and action +of those noble patriots of Italy, who strove, though for a time +vainly, to make their country free, and to deepen the sympathy which +every true American should feel with faithful men everywhere, who by +art are seeking to refine, by philanthropic exertion to elevate, by +the diffusion of truth to enlighten, or by self-sacrifice and earnest +effort to free, their fellow-men. + +A.B.F. + +Boston, March 1, 1856. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PART I. + SUMMER ON THE LAKES 1 + + + PART II. + THINGS AND THOUGHTS IN EUROPE 117 + + + PART III. + LETTERS FROM ABROAD TO FRIENDS AT HOME 423 + + + PART IV. + HOMEWARD VOYAGE, AND MEMORIALS 441 + + + + +PART I + +SUMMER ON THE LAKES. + + Summer days of busy leisure, + Long summer days of dear-bought pleasure, + You have done your teaching well; + Had the scholar means to tell + How grew the vine of bitter-sweet, + What made the path for truant feet, + Winter nights would quickly pass, + Gazing on the magic glass + O'er which the new-world shadows pass. + But, in fault of wizard spell, + Moderns their tale can only tell + In dull words, with a poor reed + Breaking at each time of need. + Yet those to whom a hint suffices + Mottoes find for all devices, + See the knights behind their shields, + Through dried grasses, blooming fields. + + * * * * * + + Some dried grass-tufts from the wide flowery field, + A muscle-shell from the lone fairy shore, + Some antlers from tall woods which never more + To the wild deer a safe retreat can yield, + An eagle's feather which adorned a Brave, + Well-nigh the last of his despairing band,-- + For such slight gifts wilt thou extend thy hand + When weary hours a brief refreshment crave? + I give you what I can, not what I would + If my small drinking-cup would hold a flood, + As Scandinavia sung those must contain + With which, the giants gods may entertain; + In our dwarf day we drain few drops, and soon must thirst again. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +NIAGARA. + + +Niagara, June 10, 1843. + +Since you are to share with me such foot-notes as may be made on the +pages of my life during this summer's wanderings, I should not be +quite silent as to this magnificent prologue to the, as yet, unknown +drama. Yet I, like others, have little to say, where the spectacle is, +for once, great enough to fill the whole life, and supersede thought, +giving us only its own presence. "It is good to be here," is the best, +as the simplest, expression that occurs to the mind. + +We have been here eight days, and I am quite willing to go away. So +great a sight soon satisfies, making us content with itself, and with +what is less than itself. Our desires, once realized, haunt us again +less readily. Having "lived one day," we would depart, and become +worthy to live another. + +We have not been fortunate in weather, for there cannot be too much, +or too warm sunlight for this scene, and the skies have been lowering, +with cold, unkind winds. My nerves, too much braced up by such an +atmosphere, do not well bear the continual stress of sight and sound. +For here there is no escape from the weight of a perpetual creation; +all other forms and motions come and go, the tide rises and recedes, +the wind, at its mightiest, moves in gales and gusts, but here is +really an incessant, an indefatigable motion. Awake or asleep, there +is no escape, still this rushing round you and through you. It is +in this way I have most felt the grandeur,--somewhat eternal, if not +infinite. + +At times a secondary music rises; the cataract seems to seize its own +rhythm and sing it over again, so that the ear and soul are roused by +a double vibration. This is some effect of the wind, causing echoes +to the thundering anthem. It is very sublime, giving the effect of a +spiritual repetition through all the spheres. + +When I first came, I felt nothing but a quiet satisfaction. I found +that drawings, the panorama, &c. had given me a clear notion of the +position and proportions of all objects here; I knew where to look for +everything, and everything looked as I thought it would. + +Long ago, I was looking from a hill-side with a friend at one of +the finest sunsets that ever enriched, this world. A little cowboy, +trudging along, wondered what we could be gazing at. After spying +about some time, he found it could only be the sunset, and looking, +too, a moment, he said approvingly, "That sun looks well enough"; a +speech worthy of Shakespeare's Cloten, or the infant Mercury, up to +everything from the cradle, as you please to take it. + +Even such a familiarity, worthy of Jonathan, our national hero, in +a prince's palace, or "stumping," as he boasts to have done, "up the +Vatican stairs, into the Pope's presence, in my old boots," I felt +here; it looks really _well enough_, I felt, and was inclined, as you +suggested, to give my approbation as to the one object in the world +that would not disappoint. + +But all great expression, which, on a superficial survey, seems so +easy as well as so simple, furnishes, after a while, to the faithful +observer, its own standard by which to appreciate it. Daily these +proportions widened and towered more and more upon my sight, and I +got, at last, a proper foreground for these sublime distances. Before +coming away, I think I really saw the full wonder of the scene. After +a while it so drew me into itself as to inspire an undefined dread, +such as I never knew before, such as may be felt when death is about +to usher us into a new existence. The perpetual trampling of the +waters seized my senses. I felt that no other sound, however near, +could be heard, and would start and look behind me for a foe. I +realized the identity of that mood of nature in which these waters +were poured down with such absorbing force, with that in which the +Indian was shaped on the same soil. For continually upon my mind came, +unsought and unwelcome, images, such as never haunted it before, of +naked savages stealing behind me with uplifted tomahawks; again and +again this illusion recurred, and even after I had thought it over, +and tried to shake it off, I could not help starting and looking +behind me. + +As picture, the falls can only be seen from the British side. There +they are seen in their veils, and at sufficient distance to appreciate +the magical effects of these, and the light and shade. From the boat, +as you cross, the effects and contrasts are more melodramatic. On the +road back from the whirlpool, we saw them as a reduced picture with +delight. But what I liked best was to sit on Table Rock, close to +the great fall. There all power of observing details, all separate +consciousness, was quite lost. + +Once, just as I had seated myself there, a man came to take his first +look. He walked close up to the fall, and, after looking at it a +moment, with an air as if thinking how he could best appropriate it to +his own use, he spat into it. + +This trait seemed wholly worthy of an age whose love of _utility_ is +such that the Prince Puckler Muskau suggests the probability of +men coming to put the bodies of their dead parents in the fields to +fertilize them, and of a country such as Dickens has described; but +these will not, I hope, be seen on the historic page to be truly the +age or truly the America. A little leaven is leavening the whole mass +for other bread. + +The whirlpool I like very much. It is seen to advantage after the +great falls; it is so sternly solemn. The river cannot look more +imperturbable, almost sullen in its marble green, than it does just +below the great fall; but the slight circles that mark the hidden +vortex seem to whisper mysteries the thundering voice above could not +proclaim,--a meaning as untold as ever. + +It is fearful, too, to know, as you look, that whatever has been +swallowed by the cataract is like to rise suddenly to light here, +whether uprooted tree, or body of man or bird. + +The rapids enchanted me far beyond what I expected; they are so swift +that they cease to seem so; you can think only of their beauty. The +fountain beyond the Moss Islands I discovered for myself, and thought +it for some time an accidental beauty which it would not do to +leave, lest I might never see it again. After I found it permanent, +I returned many times to watch the play of its crest. In the little +waterfall beyond, Nature seems, as she often does, to have made a +study for some larger design. She delights in this,--a sketch within +a sketch, a dream within a dream. Wherever we see it, the lines of +the great buttress in the fragment of stone, the hues of the +waterfall copied in the flowers that star its bordering mosses, we +are delighted; for all the lineaments become fluent, and we mould the +scene in congenial thought with its genius. + +People complain of the buildings at Niagara, and fear to see it +further deformed. I cannot sympathize with such an apprehension: the +spectacle is capable of swallowing up all such objects; they are not +seen in the great whole, more than an earthworm in a wide field. + +The beautiful wood on Goat Island is full of flowers; many of the +fairest love to do homage here. The Wake-robin and May-apple are in +bloom now; the former, white, pink, green, purple, copying the rainbow +of the fall, and fit to make a garland for its presiding deity when he +walks the land, for they are of imperial size, and shaped like stones +for a diadem. Of the May-apple, I did not raise one green tent without +finding a flower beneath. + +And now farewell. Niagara. I have seen thee, and I think all who come +here must in some sort see thee; thou art not to be got rid of as +easily as the stars. I will be here again beneath some flooding July +moon and sun. Owing to the absence of light, I have seen the rainbow +only two or three times by day; the lunar bow not at all. However, the +imperial presence needs not its crown, though illustrated by it. + +General Porter and Jack Downing were not unsuitable figures here. The +former heroically planted the bridges by which we cross to Goat Island +and the Wake-robin-crowned genius has punished his temerity with +deafness, which must, I think, have come upon him when he sunk the +first stone in the rapids. Jack seemed an acute and entertaining +representative of Jonathan, come to look at his great water-privilege. +He told us all about the Americanisms of the spectacle; that is to +say, the battles that have been fought here. It seems strange that +men could fight in such a place; but no temple can still the personal +griefs and strifes in the breasts of its visitors. + +No less strange is the fact that, in this neighborhood, an eagle +should be chained for a plaything. When a child, I used often to stand +at a window from which I could see an eagle chained in the balcony of +a museum. The people used to poke at it with sticks, and my childish +heart would swell with indignation as I saw their insults, and the +mien with which they were borne by the monarch-bird. Its eye was dull, +and its plumage soiled and shabby, yet, in its form and attitude, +all the king was visible, though sorrowful and dethroned. I never +saw another of the family till, when passing through the Notch of the +White Mountains, at that moment glowing before us in all the panoply +of sunset, the driver shouted, "Look there!" and following with our +eyes his upward-pointing finger, we saw, soaring slow in majestic +poise above the highest summit, the bird of Jove. It was a glorious +sight, yet I know not that I felt more on seeing the bird in all its +natural freedom and royalty, than when, imprisoned and insulted, +he had filled my early thoughts with the Byronic "silent rages" of +misanthropy. + +Now, again, I saw him a captive, and addressed by the vulgar with the +language they seem to find most appropriate to such occasions,--that +of thrusts and blows. Silently, his head averted, he ignored their +existence, as Plotinus or Sophocles might that of a modern reviewer. +Probably he listened to the voice of the cataract, and felt that +congenial powers flowed free, and was consoled, though his own wing +was broken. + +The story of the Recluse of Niagara interested me a little. It is +wonderful that men do not oftener attach their lives to localities +of great beauty,--that, when once deeply penetrated, they will let +themselves so easily be borne away by the general stream of things, +to live anywhere and anyhow. But there is something ludicrous in being +the hermit of a show-place, unlike St. Francis in his mountain-bed, +where none but the stars and rising sun ever saw him. + +There is also a "guide to the falls," who wears his title labelled on +his hat; otherwise, indeed, one might as soon think of asking for a +gentleman usher to point out the moon. Yet why should we wonder at +such, when we have Commentaries on Shakespeare, and Harmonies of the +Gospels? + +And now you have the little all I have to write. Can it interest you? +To one who has enjoyed the full life of any scene, of any hour, what +thoughts can be recorded about it seem like the commas and semicolons +in the paragraph,--mere stops. Yet I suppose it is not so to the +absent. At least, I have read things written about Niagara, music, and +the like, that interested _me_. Once I was moved by Mr. Greenwood's +remark, that he could not realize this marvel till, opening his eyes +the next morning after he had seen it, his doubt as to the possibility +of its being still there taught him what he had experienced. I +remember this now with pleasure, though, or because, it is exactly the +opposite to what I myself felt. For all greatness affects different +minds, each in "its own particular kind," and the variations of +testimony mark the truth of feeling.[A] + +[Footnote A: "Somewhat avails, in one regard, the mere sight of beauty +without the union of feeling therewith. Carried away in memory, it +hangs there in the lonely hall as a picture, and may some time do its +message. I trust it may be so in my case, for I _saw_ every object far +more clearly than if I had been moved and filled with the presence, +and my recollections are equally distinct and vivid." Extracted from +Manuscript Notes of this Journey left by Margaret Fuller.--ED.] + +I will here add a brief narrative of the experience of another, as +being much better than anything I could write, because more simple and +individual. + +"Now that I have left this 'Earth-wonder,' and the emotions it +excited are past, it seems not so much like profanation to analyze +my feelings, to recall minutely and accurately the effect of this +manifestation of the Eternal. But one should go to such a scene +prepared to yield entirely to its influences, to forget one's little +self and one's little mind. To see a miserable worm creep to the brink +of this falling world of waters, and watch the trembling of its +own petty bosom, and fancy that this is made alone to act upon him +excites--derision? No,--pity." + +As I rode up to the neighborhood of the falls, a solemn awe +imperceptibly stole over me, and the deep sound of the ever-hurrying +rapids prepared my mind for the lofty emotions to be experienced. When +I reached the hotel, I felt a strange indifference about seeing the +aspiration of my life's hopes. I lounged about the rooms, read the +stage-bills upon the walls, looked over the register, and, finding the +name of an acquaintance, sent to see if he was still there. What this +hesitation arose from, I know not; perhaps it was a feeling of my +unworthiness to enter this temple which nature has erected to its God. + +At last, slowly and thoughtfully I walked down to the bridge leading +to Goat Island, and when I stood upon this frail support, and saw +a quarter of a mile of tumbling, rushing rapids, and heard their +everlasting roar, my emotions overpowered me, a choking sensation rose +to my throat, a thrill rushed through my veins, "my blood ran rippling +to my fingers' ends." This was the climax of the effect which the +falls produced upon me,--neither the American nor the British fall +moved me as did these rapids. For the magnificence, the sublimity of +the latter, I was prepared by descriptions and by paintings. When I +arrived in sight of them I merely felt, "Ah, yes! here is the fall, +just as I have seen it in a picture." When I arrived at the Terrapin +Bridge, I expected to be overwhelmed, to retire trembling from this +giddy eminence, and gaze with unlimited wonder and awe upon the +immense mass rolling on and on; but, somehow or other, I thought only +of comparing the effect on my mind with what I had read and heard. +I looked for a short time, and then, with almost a feeling of +disappointment, turned to go to the other points of view, to see if I +was not mistaken in not feeling any surpassing emotion at this sight. +But from the foot of Biddle's Stairs, and the middle of the river, and +from below the Table Rock, it was still "barren, barren all." + +Provoked with my stupidity in feeling most moved in the wrong place, +I turned away to the hotel, determined to set off for Buffalo that +afternoon. But the stage did not go, and, after nightfall, as there +was a splendid moon, I went down to the bridge, and leaned over the +parapet, where the boiling rapids came down in their might. It was +grand, and it was also gorgeous; the yellow rays of the moon made +the broken waves appear like auburn tresses twining around the black +rocks. But they did not inspire me as before. I felt a foreboding of a +mightier emotion to rise up and swallow all others, and I passed on to +the Terrapin Bridge. Everything was changed, the misty apparition had +taken off its many-colored crown which it had worn by day, and a bow +of silvery white spanned its summit. The moonlight gave a poetical +indefiniteness to the distant parts of the waters, and while the +rapids were glancing in her beams, the river below the falls was black +as night, save where the reflection of the sky gave it the appearance +of a shield of blued steel. No gaping tourists loitered, eyeing with +their glasses, or sketching on cards the hoary locks of the ancient +river-god. All tended to harmonize with the natural grandeur of the +scene. I gazed long. I saw how here mutability and unchangeableness +were united. I surveyed the conspiring waters rushing against the +rocky ledge to overthrow it at one mad plunge, till, like toppling +ambition, o'er-leaping themselves, they fall on t' other side, +expanding into foam ere they reach the deep channel where they creep +submissively away. + +Then arose in my breast a genuine admiration, and a humble adoration +of the Being who was the architect of this and of all. Happy were the +first discoverers of Niagara, those who could come unawares upon this +view and upon that, whose feelings were entirely their own. With what +gusto does Father Hennepin describe "this great downfall of water," +"this vast and prodigious cadence of water, which falls down after a +surprising and astonishing manner, insomuch that the universe does not +afford its parallel. 'Tis true Italy and Swedeland boast of some such +things, but we may well say that they be sorry patterns when compared +with this of which we do now speak." + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +THE LAKES.--CHICAGO.--GENEVA.--A THUNDER-STORM.--PAPAW GROVE. + + +SCENE, STEAMBOAT.--_About to leave Buffalo.--Baggage coming on +board.--Passengers bustling for their berths.--Little boys persecuting +everybody with their newspapers and pamphlets.--J., S., and M. huddled +up in a forlorn corner, behind a large trunk.--A heavy rain falling._ + +_M._ Water, water everywhere. After Niagara one would like a dry strip +of existence. And at any rate it is quite enough for me to have it +under foot without having it overhead in this way. + +_J._ Ah, do not abuse the gentle element. It is hardly possible to +have too much of it, and indeed, if I were obliged to choose amid the +four, it would be the one in which I could bear confinement best. + +_S._ You would make a pretty Undine, to be sure! + +_J._ Nay. I only offered myself as a Triton, a boisterous Triton of +the sounding shell. You, M., I suppose, would be a salamander, rather. + +_M._ No! that is too equivocal a position, whether in modern +mythology, or Hoffman's tales. I should choose to be a gnome. + +_J._ That choice savors of the pride that apes humility. + +_M._ By no means; the gnomes are the most important of all the +elemental tribes. Is it not they who make the money? + +_J._ And are accordingly a dark, mean, scoffing ---- + +_M._ You talk as if you had always lived in that wild, unprofitable +element you are so fond of, where all things glitter, and nothing is +gold; all show and no substance. My people work in the secret, and +their works praise them in the open light; they remain in the dark +because only there such marvels could be bred. You call them mean. +They do not spend their energies on their own growth, or their own +play, but to feed the veins of Mother Earth with permanent splendors, +very different from what she shows on the surface. + +Think of passing a life, not merely in heaping together, but _making_ +gold. Of all dreams, that of the alchemist is the most poetical, for +he looked at the finest symbol. "Gold," says one of our friends, "is +the hidden light of the earth, it crowns the mineral, as wine the +vegetable order, being the last expression of vital energy." + +_J._ Have you paid for your passage? + +_J._ Yes! and in gold, not in shells or pebbles. + +_J._ No really wise gnome would scoff at the water, the beautiful +water. "The spirit of man is like the water." + +_S._ And like the air and fire, no less. + +_J._ Yes, but not like the earth, this low-minded creature's chosen, +dwelling. + +_M._ The earth is spirit made fruitful,--life. And its heartbeats are +told in gold and wine. + +_J._ Oh! it is shocking to hear such sentiments in these times. I +thought that Bacchic energy of yours was long since repressed. + +_M._ No! I have only learned to mix water with my wine, and stamp upon +my gold the heads of kings, or the hieroglyphics of worship. But since +I have learnt to mix with water, let's hear what you have to say in +praise of your favorite. + +_J._ From water Venus was born, what more would you have? It is the +mother of Beauty, the girdle of earth, and the marriage of nations. + +_S._ Without any of that high-flown poetry, it is enough, I think, +that it is the great artist, turning all objects that approach it to +picture. + +_J._ True, no object that touches it, whether it be the cart that +ploughs the wave for sea-weed, or the boat or plank that rides upon +it, but is brought at once from the demesne of coarse utilities into +that of picture. All trades, all callings, become picturesque by the +water's side, or on the water. The soil, the slovenliness, is washed +out of every calling by its touch. All river-crafts, sea-crafts, are +picturesque, are poetical. Their very slang is poetry. + +_M._ The reasons for that are complex. + +_J._ The reason is, that there can be no plodding, groping words and +motions on my water as there are on your earth. There is no time, +no chance for them where all moves so rapidly, though so smoothly; +everything connected with water must be like itself, forcible, but +clear. That is why sea-slang is so poetical; there is a word for +everything and every act, and a thing and an act for every word. +Seamen must speak quick and bold, but also with utmost precision. +They cannot reef and brace other than in a Homeric dialect,-- +therefore--(Steamboat bell rings.) But I must say a quick good-by. + +_M._ What, going, going back to earth after all this talk upon the +other side. Well, that is nowise Homeric, but truly modern. + +J. is borne off without time for any reply, but a laugh--at himself, +of course. + +S. and M. retire to their state-rooms to forget the wet, the chill, +and steamboat smell, in their just-bought new world of novels. + +Next day, when we stopped at Cleveland, the storm was just clearing +up; ascending the bluff, we had one of the finest views of the lake +that could have been wished. The varying depths of these lakes give to +their surface a great variety of coloring, and beneath this wild sky +and changeful light, the waters presented a kaleidoscopic variety +of hues, rich, but mournful. I admire these bluffs of red, crumbling +earth. Here land and water meet under very different auspices from +those of the rock-bound coast to which I have been accustomed. There +they meet tenderly to challenge, and proudly to refuse, though, not in +fact repel. But here they meet to mingle, are always rushing together, +and changing places; a new creation takes place beneath the eye. + +The weather grew gradually clearer, but not bright; yet we could see +the shore and appreciate the extent of these noble waters. + +Coming up the river St. Clair, we saw Indians for the first time. +They were camped out on the bank. It was twilight, and their blanketed +forms, in listless groups or stealing along the bank, with a lounge +and a stride so different in its wildness from the rudeness of the +white settler, gave me the first feeling that I really approached the +West. + +The people on the boat were almost all New-Englanders, seeking their +fortunes. They had brought with them their habits of calculation, +their cautious manners, their love of polemics. It grieved me to hear +these immigrants, who were to be the fathers of a new race, all, from +the old man down to the little girl, talking, not of what they should +do, but of what they should get in the new scene. It was to them a +prospect, not of the unfolding nobler energies, but of more ease and +larger accumulation. It wearied me, too, to hear Trinity and Unity +discussed in the poor, narrow, doctrinal way on these free waters; but +that will soon cease; there is not time for this clash of opinions in +the West, where the clash of material interests is so noisy. They will +need the spirit of religion more than ever to guide them, but will +find less time than before for its doctrine. This change was to me, +who am tired of the war of words on these subjects, and believe it +only sows the wind to reap the whirlwind, refreshing, but I argue +nothing from it; there is nothing real in the freedom of thought at +the West,--it is from the position of men's lives, not the state +of their minds. So soon as they have time, unless they grow better +meanwhile, they will cavil and criticise, and judge other men by their +own standard, and outrage the law of love every way, just as they do +with us. + +We reached Mackinaw the evening of the third day, but, to my great +disappointment, it was too late and too rainy to go ashore. The beauty +of the island, though seen under the most unfavorable circumstances, +did not disappoint my expectations.[A] But I shall see it to more +purpose on my return. + +[Footnote A: "Mackinaw, that long desired, sight, was dimly discerned +under a thick fog, yet it soothed and cheered me. All looked mellow +there; man seemed to have worked in harmony with Nature instead of +rudely invading her, as in most Western towns. It seemed possible, on +that spot, to lead a life of serenity and cheerfulness. Some richly +dressed Indians came down to show themselves. Their dresses were of +blue broadcloth, with splendid leggings and knee-ties. On their heads +were crimson scarfs adorned with beads and falling on one shoulder, +their hair long and looking cleanly. Near were one or two wild figures +clad in the common white blankets." Manuscript Notes.--ED.] + +As the day has passed dully, a cold rain preventing us from keeping +out in the air, my thoughts have been dwelling on a story told when we +were off Detroit, this morning, by a fellow-passenger, and whose moral +beauty touched me profoundly. + +"Some years ago," said Mrs. L., "my father and mother stopped to +dine at Detroit. A short time before dinner my father met in the hall +Captain P., a friend of his youthful days. He had loved P. extremely, +as did many who knew him, and had not been surprised to hear of the +distinction and popular esteem which his wide knowledge, talents, and +noble temper commanded, as he went onward in the world. P. was every +way fitted to succeed; his aims were high, but not too high for his +powers, suggested by an instinct of his own capacities, not by an +ideal standard drawn from culture. Though steadfast in his course, it +was not to overrun others; his wise self-possession was no less for +them than himself. He was thoroughly the gentleman, gentle because +manly, and was a striking instance that, where there is strength +for sincere courtesy, there is no need of other adaptation to the +character of others, to make one's way freely and gracefully through +the crowd. + +"My father was delighted to see him, and after a short parley in the +hall, 'We will dine together,' he cried, 'then we shall have time to +tell all our stories.' + +"P. hesitated a moment, then said, 'My wife is with me.' + +"'And mine with me,' said my father; 'that's well; they, too, will +have an opportunity of getting acquainted, and can entertain one +another, if they get tired of our college stories.' + +"P. acquiesced, with a grave bow, and shortly after they all met in +the dining-room. My father was much surprised at the appearance of +Mrs. P. He had heard that his friend married abroad, but nothing +further, and he was not prepared to see the calm, dignified P. with +a woman on his arm, still handsome, indeed, but whose coarse and +imperious expression showed as low habits of mind as her exaggerated +dress and gesture did of education. Nor could there be a greater +contrast to my mother, who, though understanding her claims and place +with the certainty of a lady, was soft and retiring in an uncommon +degree. + +"However, there was no time to wonder or fancy; they sat down, and +P. engaged in conversation, without much vivacity, but with his usual +ease. The first quarter of an hour passed well enough. But soon it was +observable that Mrs. P. was drinking glass after glass of wine, to an +extent few gentlemen did, even then, and soon that she was actually +excited by it. Before this, her manner had been brusque, if not +contemptuous, towards her new acquaintance; now it became, towards +my mother especially, quite rude. Presently she took up some slight +remark made by my mother, which, though, it did not naturally mean +anything of the sort, could be twisted into some reflection upon +England, and made it a handle, first of vulgar sarcasm, and then, upon +my mother's defending herself with some surprise and gentle dignity, +hurled upon her a volley of abuse, beyond Billingsgate. + +"My mother, confounded by scenes and ideas presented to her mind +equally new and painful, sat trembling; she knew not what to do; tears +rushed into her eyes. My father, no less distressed, yet unwilling +to outrage the feelings of his friend by doing or saying what his +indignation prompted, turned an appealing look on P. + +"Never, as he often said, was the painful expression of that sight +effaced from his mind. It haunted his dreams and disturbed his waking +thoughts. P. sat with his head bent forward, and his eyes cast down, +pale, but calm, with a fixed expression, not merely of patient woe, +but of patient shame, which it would not have been thought possible +for that noble countenance to wear. 'Yet,' said my father, 'it became +him. At other times he was handsome, but then beautiful, though of a +beauty saddened and abashed. For a spiritual light borrowed from the +worldly perfection of his mien that illustration by contrast, which +the penitence of the Magdalen does from the glowing earthliness of her +charms.' + +"Seeing that he preserved silence, while Mrs. P. grew still more +exasperated, my father rose and led his wife to her own room. Half +an hour had passed, in painful and wondering surmises, when a gentle +knock was heard at the door, and P. entered equipped for a journey. +'We are just going,' he said, and holding out his hand, but without +looking at them, 'Forgive.' + +"They each took his hand, and silently pressed it; then he went +without a word more. + +"Some time passed, and they heard now and then of P., as he passed +from one army station to another, with his uncongenial companion, +who became, it was said, constantly more degraded. Whoever mentioned +having seen them wondered at the chance which had yoked him to such +a woman, but yet more at the silent fortitude with which he bore it. +Many blamed him for enduring it, apparently without efforts to check +her; others answered that he had probably made such at an earlier +period, and, finding them unavailing, had resigned himself to despair, +and was too delicate to meet the scandal that, with such resistance as +such a woman could offer, must attend a formal separation. + +"But my father, who was not in such haste to come to conclusions, and +substitute some plausible explanation for the truth, found something +in the look of P. at that trying moment to which, none of these +explanations offered a key. There was in it, he felt, a fortitude, +but not the fortitude of the hero; a religious submission, above the +penitent, if not enkindled with the enthusiasm, of the martyr. + +"I have said that my father was not one of those who are ready to +substitute specious explanations for truth, and those who are thus +abstinent rarely lay their hand, on a thread without making it a clew. +Such a man, like the dexterous weaver, lets not one color go till Ire +finds that which matches it in the pattern,--he keeps on weaving, but +chooses his shades; and my father found at last what he wanted to make +out the pattern for himself. He met a lady who had been intimate +with both himself and P. in early days, and, finding she had seen the +latter abroad, asked if she knew the circumstances of the marriage. + +"'The circumstances of the act which sealed the misery of our friend, +I know,' she said, 'though as much in the dark as any one about the +motives that led to it. + +"'We were quite intimate with P. in London, and he was our most +delightful companion. He was then in the full flower of the varied +accomplishments which set off his fine manners and dignified +character, joined, towards those he loved, with a certain soft +willingness which gives the desirable chivalry to a man. None was more +clear of choice where his personal affections were not touched, +but where they were, it cost him pain to say no, on the slightest +occasion. I have thought this must have had some connection with the +mystery of his misfortunes. + +"'One day he called on me, and, without any preface, asked if I +would be present next day at his marriage. I was so surprised, and so +unpleasantly surprised, that I did not at first answer a word. We had +been on terms so familiar, that I thought I knew all about him, yet +had never dreamed of his having an attachment; and, though I had never +inquired on the subject, yet this reserve where perfect openness had +been supposed, and really, on my side, existed, seemed to me a kind of +treachery. Then it is never pleasant to know that a heart on which we +have some claim is to be given to another. We cannot tell how it will +affect our own relations with a person; it may strengthen or it may +swallow up other affections; the crisis is hazardous, and our first +thought, on such an occasion, is too often for ourselves,--at least +mine was. Seeing me silent, he repeated his question. "To whom," said +I, "are you to be married?" "That," he replied, "I cannot tell you." +He was a moment silent, then continued, with an impassive look of cold +self-possession, that affected me with strange sadness: "The name of +the person you will hear, of course, at the time, but more I cannot +tell you. I need, however, the presence, not only of legal, but of +respectable and friendly witnesses. I have hoped you and your husband +would, do me this kindness. Will you?" Something in his manner made it +impossible to refuse. I answered, before I knew I was going to speak, +"We will," and he left me. + +"'I will not weary you with telling how I harassed myself and my +husband, who was, however, scarce less interested, with doubts and +conjectures. Suffice it that, next morning, P. came and took us in a +carriage to a distant church. We had just entered the porch, when a +cart, such as fruit and vegetables are brought to market in, drove +up, containing an elderly woman and a young girl. P. assisted them to +alight, and advanced with the girl to the altar. + +"'The girl was neatly dressed and quite handsome, yet something in her +expression displeased me the moment I looked upon her. Meanwhile, +the ceremony was going on, and, at its close, P. introduced us to the +bride, and we all went to the door. "Good by, Fanny," said the elderly +woman. The new-made Mrs. P. replied without any token of affection or +emotion. The woman got into the cart and drove away. + +"'From that time I saw but little of P. or his wife. I took our mutual +friends to see her, and they were civil to her for his sake. Curiosity +was very much excited, but entirely baffled; no one, of course, dared +speak to P. on the subject, and no other means could be found of +solving the riddle. + +"'He treated his wife with grave and kind politeness, but it was +always obvious that they had nothing in common between them. Her +manners and tastes were not at that time gross, but her character +showed itself hard and material. She was fond of riding, and spent +much time so. Her style in this, and in dress, seemed the opposite of +P.'s; but he indulged all her wishes, while, for himself, he plunged +into his own pursuits. + +"'For a time he seemed, if not happy, not positively unhappy; but, +after a few years, Mrs. P. fell into the habit of drinking, and then +such scenes as you witnessed grew frequent. I have often heard of +them, and always that P. sat, as you describe him, his head bowed down +and perfectly silent all through, whatever might be done or whoever +be present, and always his aspect has inspired such sympathy that no +person has questioned him or resented her insults, but merely got out +of the way as soon as possible.' + +"'Hard and long penance,' said my father, after some minutes musing, +'for an hour of passion, probably for his only error.' + +"'Is that your explanation?' said the lady. 'O, improbable! P. might +err, but not be led beyond himself.' + +"I know that his cool, gray eye and calm complexion seemed to say +so, but a different story is told by the lip that could tremble, and +showed what flashes might pierce those deep blue heavens; and when +these over-intellectual beings do swerve aside, it is to fall down a +precipice, for their narrow path lies over such. But he was not one +to sin without making a brave atonement, and that it had become a holy +one, was written on that downcast brow." + +The fourth day on these waters, the weather was milder and brighter, +so that we could now see them to some purpose. At night the moon was +clear, and, for the first time, from, the upper deck I saw one of the +great steamboats come majestically up. It was glowing with lights, +looking many-eyed and sagacious; in its heavy motion it seemed a +dowager queen, and this motion, with its solemn pulse, and determined +sweep, becomes these smooth waters, especially at night, as much as +the dip of the sail-ship the long billows of the ocean. + +But it was not so soon that I learned to appreciate the lake scenery; +it was only after a daily and careless familiarity that I entered into +its beauty, for Nature always refuses to be seen by being stared at. +Like Bonaparte, she discharges her face of all expression when she +catches the eye of impertinent curiosity fixed on her. But he who has +gone to sleep in childish ease on her lap, or leaned an aching brow +upon her breast, seeking there comfort with full trust as from a +mother, will see all a mother's beauty in the look she bends upon him. +Later, I felt that I had really seen these regions, and shall speak of +them again. + +In the afternoon we went on shore at the Manitou Islands, where the +boat stops to wood. No one lives here except wood-cutters for the +steamboats. I had thought of such a position, from its mixture of +profound solitude with service to the great world, as possessing an +ideal beauty. I think so still, even after seeing the wood-cutters and +their slovenly huts. + +In times of slower growth, man did not enter a situation without a +certain preparation or adaptedness to it. He drew from it, if not to +the poetical extent, at least in some proportion, its moral and its +meaning. The wood-cutter did not cut down so many trees a day, that +the Hamadryads had not time to make their plaints heard; the shepherd +tended his sheep, and did no jobs or chores the while; the idyl had a +chance to grow up, and modulate his oaten pipe. But now the poet +must be at the whole expense of the poetry in describing one of these +positions; the worker is a true Midas to the gold he makes. The poet +must describe, as the painter sketches Irish peasant-girls and Danish +fishwives, adding the beauty, and leaving out the dirt. + +I come to the West prepared for the distaste I must experience at its +mushroom growth. I know that, where "go ahead" is tire only motto, the +village cannot grow into the gentle proportions that successive +lives and the gradations of experience involuntarily give. In older +countries the house of the son grew from that of the father, as +naturally as new joints on a bough, and the cathedral crowned the +whole as naturally as the leafy summit the tree. This cannot be here. +The march of peaceful is scarce less wanton than that of warlike +invasion. The old landmarks are broken down, and the land, for a +season, bears none, except of the rudeness of conquest and the needs +of the day, whose bivouac-fires blacken the sweetest forest glades. I +have come prepared to see all this, to dislike it, but not with stupid +narrowness to distrust or defame. On the contrary, while I will not be +so obliging as to confound ugliness with beauty, discord with harmony, +and laud and be contented with all I meet, when it conflicts with my +best desires and tastes, I trust by reverent faith to woo the mighty +meaning of the scene, perhaps to foresee the law by which a new order, +a new poetry, is to be evoked from this chaos, and with a curiosity +as ardent, but not so selfish, as that of Macbeth, to call up the +apparitions of future kings from the strange ingredients of the +witch's caldron. Thus I will not grieve that all the noble trees are +gone already from this island to feed this caldron, but believe +it will have Medea's virtue, and reproduce them in the form of new +intellectual growths, since centuries cannot again adorn the land with +such as have been removed. + +On this most beautiful beach of smooth white pebbles, interspersed +with agates and cornelians for those who know how to find them, we +stepped, not like the Indian, with some humble offering, which, if no +better than an arrow-head or a little parched corn, would, he judged, +please the Manitou, who looks only at the spirit in which it is +offered. Our visit was so far for a religious purpose that one of our +party went to inquire the fate of some Unitarian tracts left among +the wood-cutters a year or two before. But the old Manitou, though, +daunted like his children by the approach of the fire-ships, which he +probably considered demons of a new dynasty, he had suffered his +woods to be felled to feed their pride, had been less patient of an +encroachment which did not to him seem so authorized by the law of the +strongest, and had scattered those leaves as carelessly as the others +of that year. + +But S. and I, like other emigrants, went, not to give, but to get, +to rifle the wood of flowers for the service of the fire-ship. We +returned with a rich booty, among which was the _Uva-ursi_, whose +leaves the Indians smoke, with the _Kinnikinnik_, and which had then +just put forth its highly finished little blossoms, as pretty as those +of the blueberry. + +Passing along still further, I thought it would be well if the crowds +assembled to stare from the various landings were still confined to +the _Kinnikinnik_, for almost all had tobacco written on their faces, +their cheeks rounded with plugs, their eyes dull with its fumes. We +reached Chicago on the evening of the sixth day, having been out five +days and a half, a rather longer passage than usual at a favorable +season of the year. + + +Chicago, June 20. + +There can be no two places in the world more completely thoroughfares +than this place and Buffalo. They are the two correspondent valves +that open and shut all the time, as the life-blood rushes from east to +west, and back again from west to east. + +Since it is their office thus to be the doors, and let in and out, it +would be unfair to expect from them much character of their own. To +make the best provisions for the transmission of produce is their +office, and the people who live there are such as are suited for +this,--active, complaisant, inventive, business people. There are no +provisions for the student or idler; to know what the place can give, +you should be at work with the rest; the mere traveller will not find +it profitable to loiter there as I did. + +Since circumstances made it necessary for me so to do, I read all the +books I could find about the new region, which now began, to become +real to me. Especially I read all the books about the Indians,--a +paltry collection truly, yet which furnished material for many +thoughts. The most narrow-minded and awkward recital still bears some +lineaments of the great features of this nature, and the races of men +that illustrated them. + +Catlin's book is far the best. I was afterwards assured by those +acquainted with the regions he describes, that he is not to be +depended on for the accuracy of his facts, and indeed it is obvious, +without the aid of such assertions, that he sometimes yields to the +temptation of making out a story. They admitted, however, what from +my feelings I was sure of, that he is true to the spirit of the scene, +and that a far better view can be got from him than from any source +at present existing, of the Indian tribes of the Far West, and of the +country where their inheritance lay. + +Murray's Travels I read, and was charmed by their accuracy and clear, +broad tone. He is the only Englishman that seems to have traversed +these regions as man simply, not as John Bull. He deserves to belong +to an aristocracy, for he showed his title to it more when left +without a guide in the wilderness, than he can at the court of +Victoria. He has; himself, no poetic force at description, but it is +easy to make images from his hints. Yet we believe the Indian cannot +be locked at truly except by a poetic eye. The Pawnees, no doubt, are +such as he describes them, filthy in their habits, and treacherous in +their character, but some would have seen, and seen truly, more beauty +and dignity than he does with all his manliness and fairness of mind. +However, his one fine old man is enough to redeem the rest, and is +perhaps tire relic of a better day, a Phocion among the Pawnees. + +Schoolcraft's Algic Researches is a valuable book, though a worse +use could hardly have been made of such fine material. Had the +mythological or hunting stories of the Indians been written down +exactly as they were received from the lips of the narrators, the +collection could not have been surpassed in interest? both for +the wild charm they carry with them, and the light they throw on a +peculiar modification of life and mind. As it is, though the incidents +have an air of originality and pertinence to the occasion, that gives +us confidence that they have not been altered, the phraseology in +which they were expressed has been entirely set aside, and the flimsy +graces, common to the style of annuals and souvenirs, substituted for +the Spartan brevity and sinewy grasp of Indian speech. We can +just guess what might have been there, as we can detect the fine +proportions of the Brave whom the bad taste of some white patron has +arranged in frock-coat, hat, and pantaloons. + +The few stories Mrs. Jameson wrote out, though to these also a +sentimental air has been given, offend much less in that way than is +common in this book. What would we not give for a completely faithful +version of some among them! Yet, with all these drawbacks, we cannot +doubt from internal evidence that they truly ascribe to the Indian +a delicacy of sentiment and of fancy that justifies Cooper in such +inventions as his Uncas. It is a white man's view of a savage hero, +who would be far finer in his natural proportions; still, through a +masquerade figure, it implies the truth. + +Irving's books I also read, some for the first, some for the second +time, with increased interest, now that I was to meet such people as +he received his materials from. Though the books are pleasing from, +their grace and luminous arrangement, yet, with the exception of the +Tour to the Prairies, they have a stereotype, second-hand air. They +lack the breath, the glow, the charming minute traits of living +presence. His scenery is only fit to be glanced at from, dioramic +distance; his Indians are academic figures only. He would have made +the best of pictures, if he could have used his own eyes for studies +and sketches; as it is, his success is wonderful, but inadequate. + +McKenney's Tour to the Lakes is the dullest of books, yet faithful and +quiet, and gives some facts not to be met with everywhere. + +I also read a collection of Indian anecdotes and speeches, the worst +compiled and arranged book possible, yet not without clews of some +value. All these books I read in anticipation of a canoe-voyage +on Lake Superior as far as the Pictured Rocks, and, though I was +afterwards compelled to give up this project, they aided me in judging +of what I subsequently saw and heard of the Indians. + +In Chicago I first saw the beautiful prairie-flowers. They were in +their glory the first ten days we were there,-- + + "The golden and the flame-like flowers." + +The flame-like flower I was taught afterwards, by an Indian girl, to +call "Wickapee"; and she told me, too, that its splendors had a useful +side, for it was used by the Indians as a remedy for an illness to +which they were subject. + +Beside these brilliant flowers, which gemmed and gilt the grass in a +sunny afternoon's drive near the blue lake, between the low oak-wood +and the narrow beach, stimulated, whether sensuously by the optic +nerve, unused to so much gold and crimson with such tender green, or +symbolically through some meaning dimly seen in the flowers, I enjoyed +a sort of fairy-land exultation never felt before, and the first drive +amid the flowers gave me anticipation of the beauty of the prairies. + +At first, the prairie seemed to speak of the very desolation of +dulness. After sweeping over the vast monotony of the lakes to come to +this monotony of land, with all around a limitless horizon,--to walk, +and walk, and run, but never climb, oh! it was too dreary for any but +a Hollander to bear. How the eye greeted the approach of a sail, or +the smoke of a steamboat; it seemed that anything so animated must +come from a better land, where mountains gave religion to the scene. + +The only thing I liked at first to do was to trace with slow and +unexpecting step the narrow margin of the lake. Sometimes a heavy +swell gave it expression; at others, only its varied coloring, which +I found more admirable every day, and which gave it an air of mirage +instead of the vastness of ocean. Then there was a grandeur in the +feeling that I might continue that walk, if I had any seven-leagued +mode of conveyance to save fatigue, for hundreds of miles without an +obstacle and without a change. + +But after I had ridden out, and seen the flowers, and observed the +sun set with that calmness seen only in the prairies, and tire cattle +winding slowly to their homes in the "island groves,"--most peaceful +of sights,--I began to love, because I began to know tire scene, and +shrank no longer from "the encircling vastness." + +It is always thus with the new form of life; we must learn to look +at it by its own standard. At first, no doubt, my accustomed eye kept +saying, if the mind did not, What! no distant mountains? What! no +valleys? But after a while I would ascend the roof of the house where +we lived, and pass many hours, needing no sight but the moon reigning +in the heavens, or starlight falling upon the lake, till all the +lights were out in the island grove of men beneath my feet, and felt +nearer heaven that there was nothing but this lovely, still reception +on the earth; no towering mountains, no deep tree-shadows, nothing but +plain earth and water bathed in light. + +Sunset, as seen from that place, presented most generally, low-lying, +flaky clouds, of the softest serenity. + +One night a star "shot madly from, its sphere," and it had a fair +chance to be seen, but that serenity could not be astonished. + +Yes! it was a peculiar beauty, that of those sunsets and moonlights on +the levels of Chicago, which Chamouny or the Trosachs could not make +me forget.[A] + +[Footnote A: "From the prairie near Chicago had I seen, some days +before, the sun set with that calmness observed only on the prairies. +I know not what it says, but something quite different from sunset +at sea. There is no motion except of waving grasses,--the cattle move +slowly homeward in the distance. That _home!_ where is it? It seems as +If there was no home, and no need of one, and there is room enough to +wander on for ever."--Manuscript Notes.] + +Notwithstanding all the attractions I thus found out by degrees on the +flat shores of the lake, I was delighted when I found myself really on +my way into the country for an excursion of two or three weeks. We set +forth in a strong wagon, almost as large, and with the look of those +used elsewhere for transporting caravans of wild beasts, loaded with +everything we might want, in case nobody would give it to us,--for +buying and selling were no longer to be counted on,--with, a pair of +strong horses, able and willing to force their way through mud-holes +and amid stumps, and a guide, equally admirable as marshal and +companion, who knew by heart the country and its history, both natural +and artificial, and whose clear hunter's eye needed, neither road nor +goal to guide it to all the spots where beauty best loves to dwell. + +Add to this the finest weather, and such country as I had never seen, +even in my dreams, although these dreams had been haunted by wishes +for just such a one, and you may judge whether years of dulness might +not, by these bright days, be redeemed, and a sweetness be shed over +all thoughts of the West. + +The first day brought us through woods rich in the moccason-flower +and lupine, and plains whose soft expanse was continually touched with +expression by the slow moving clouds which + + "Sweep over with their shadows, and beneath + The surface rolls and fluctuates to the eye; + Dark hollows seem to glide along and chase + The sunny ridges," + +to the banks of the Fox River, a sweet and graceful stream. We +readied Geneva just in time to escape being drenched by a violent +thunder-shower, whose rise and disappearance threw expression into all +the features of the scene. + +Geneva reminds me of a New England village, as indeed there, and +in the neighborhood, are many New-Englanders of an excellent stamp, +generous, intelligent, discreet, and seeking to win from life its true +values. Such are much wanted, and seem like points of light among the +swarms of settlers, whose aims are sordid, whose habits thoughtless +and slovenly.[A] + +[Footnote A: "We passed a portion of one day with Mr. and Mrs. ----, +young, healthy, and, thank Heaven, _gay_ people. In the general +dulness that broods over this land where so little genius flows, +and care, business, and fashionable frivolity are equally dull, +unspeakable is the relief of some flashes of vivacity, some sparkles +of wit. Of course it is hard enough for those, most natively disposed +that way, to strike fire. I would willingly be the tinder to promote +the cheering blaze."--Manuscript Notes.] + +With great pleasure we heard, with his attentive and affectionate +congregation, the Unitarian clergyman, Mr. Conant, and afterward +visited him in his house, where almost everything bore traces of his +own handiwork or that of his father. He is just such a teacher as is +wanted in this region, familiar enough, with the habits of those he +addresses to come home to their experience and their wants; earnest +and enlightened enough to draw the important inferences from the life +of every day.[B] + +[Footnote B: "Let any who think men do not need or want the church, +hear these people talk about it as if it were the only indispensable +thing, and see what I saw in Chicago. An elderly lady from +Philadelphia, who had been visiting her sons in the West, arrived +there about one o'clock on a hot Sunday noon. She rang the bell and +requested a room immediately, as she wanted to get ready for afternoon +service. Some delay occurring, she expressed great regret, as she had +ridden all night for the sake of attending church. She went to +church, neither having dined nor taken any repose after her +journey."--Manuscript Notes.] + +A day or two we remained here, and passed some happy hours in the +woods that fringe the stream, where the gentlemen found a rich booty +of fish. + +Next day, travelling along the river's banks, was an uninterrupted +pleasure. We closed our drive in the afternoon at the house of an +English gentleman, who has gratified, as few men do, the common wish +to pass the evening of an active day amid the quiet influences of +country life. He showed us a bookcase filled with books about this +country; these he had collected for years, and become so familiar with +the localities, that, on coming here at last, he sought and found, at +once, the very spot he wanted, and where he is as content as he hoped +to be, thus realizing Wordsworth's description of the wise man, who +"sees what he foresaw." + +A wood surrounds the house, through which paths are cut in every +direction. It is, for this new country, a large and handsome dwelling; +but round it are its barns and farm-yard, with cattle and poultry. +These, however, in the framework of wood, have a very picturesque and +pleasing effect. There is that mixture of culture and rudeness in the +aspect of things which gives a feeling of freedom, not of confusion. + +I wish, it were possible to give some idea of this scene, as viewed +by the earliest freshness of dewy dawn. This habitation of man seemed +like a nest in the grass, so thoroughly were the buildings and all +the objects of human care harmonized with, what was natural. The tall +trees bent and whispered all around, as if to hail with, sheltering +love the men who had come to dwell among them. + +The young ladies were musicians, and spoke French fluently, having +been educated in a convent. Here in the prairie, they had learned to +take care of the milk-room, and kill the rattlesnakes that assailed +their poultry-yard. Beneath the shade of heavy curtains you looked out +from the high and large windows to see Norwegian peasants at work in +their national dress. In the wood grew, not only the flowers I had +before seen, and wealth of tall, wild roses, but the splendid blue +spiderwort, that ornament of our gardens. Beautiful children strayed +there, who were soon to leave these civilized regions for some really +wild and western place, a post in the buffalo country. Their no less +beautiful mother was of Welsh descent, and the eldest child bore +the name of Gwynthleon. Perhaps there she will meet with some young +descendants of Madoc, to be her friends; at any rate, her looks may +retain that sweet, wild beauty, that is soon made to vanish from eyes +which look too much on shops and streets, and the vulgarities of city +"parties." + +Next day we crossed the river. We ladies crossed on a little +foot-bridge, from which we could look down the stream, and see the +wagon pass over at the ford. A black thunder-cloud was coming up; the +sky and waters heavy with expectation. The motion of the wagon, with +its white cover, and the laboring horses, gave just the due interest +to the picture, because it seemed, as if they would not have time to +cross before the storm came on. However, they did get across, and we +were a mile or two on our way before the violent shower obliged us to +take refuge in a solitary house upon the prairie. In this country it +is as pleasant to stop as to go on, to lose your way as to find +it, for the variety in the population gives you a chance for fresh +entertainment in every hut, and the luxuriant beauty makes every path +attractive. In this house we found a family "quite above the common," +but, I grieve to say, not above false pride, for the father, ashamed +of being caught barefoot, told us a story of a man, one of the richest +men, he said, in one of the Eastern cities, who went barefoot, from +choice and taste. + +Near the door grew a Provence rose, then in blossom. Other families we +saw had brought with them and planted the locust. It was pleasant +to see their old home loves, brought into connection with their new +splendors. Wherever there were traces of this tenderness of feeling, +only too rare among Americans, other things bore signs also of +prosperity and intelligence, as if the ordering mind of man had some +idea of home beyond a mere shelter beneath which to eat and sleep. + +No heaven need wear a lovelier aspect than earth did this afternoon, +after the clearing up of the shower. We traversed the blooming plain, +unmarked by any road, only the friendly track of wheels which bent, +not broke, the grass. Our stations were not from town to town, but +from grove to grove. These groves first floated like blue islands +in the distance. As we drew nearer, they seemed fair parks, and the +little log-houses on the edge, with their curling smokes, harmonized +beautifully with them. + +One of these groves, Ross's Grove, we reached just at sunset, It was +of the noblest trees I saw during this journey, for generally the +trees were not large or lofty, but only of fair proportions. Here they +were large enough to form with their clear stems pillars for grand +cathedral aisles. There was space enough for crimson light to stream +through upon the floor of water which the shower had left. As we +slowly plashed through, I thought I was never in a better place for +vespers. + +That night we rested, or rather tarried, at a grove some miles beyond, +and there partook of the miseries, so often jocosely portrayed, of +bedchambers for twelve, a milk dish for universal hand-basin, and +expectations that you would use and lend your "hankercher" for a +towel. But this was the only night, thanks to the hospitality of +private families, that we passed thus; and it was well that we had +this bit of experience, else might we have pronounced all Trollopian +records of the kind to be inventions of pure malice. + +With us was a young lady who showed herself to have been bathed in +the Britannic fluid, wittily described by a late French writer, by +the impossibility she experienced of accommodating herself to the +indecorums of the scene. We ladies were to sleep in the bar-room, from +which its drinking visitors could be ejected only at a late hour. The +outer door had no fastening to prevent their return. However, our host +kindly requested we would call him, if they did, as he had "conquered +them for us," and would do so again. We had also rather hard couches +(mine was the supper-table); but we Yankees, born to rove, were +altogether too much fatigued to stand upon trifles, and slept as +sweetly as we would in the "bigly bower" of any baroness. But I think +England sat up all night, wrapped in her blanket-shawl, and with a +neat lace cap upon her head,--so that she would have looked perfectly +the lady, if any one had come in,--shuddering and listening. I know +that she was very ill next day, in requital. She watched, as her +parent country watches the seas, that nobody may do wrong in any case, +and deserved to have met some interruption, she was so well prepared. +However, there was none, other than from the nearness of some twenty +sets of powerful lungs, which would not leave the night to a deathly +stillness. In this house we had, if not good beds, yet good tea, good +bread, and wild strawberries, and were entertained with most free +communications of opinion and history from our hosts. Neither shall +any of us have a right to say again that we cannot find any who may +be willing to hear all we may have to say. "A's fish that comes to the +net," should be painted on the sign at Papaw Grove. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ROCK RIVER.--OREGON.--ANCIENT INDIAN VILLAGE.--GANYMEDE TO +HIS EAGLE.--WESTERN FOURTH OF JULY CELEBRATION.--WOMEN IN THE +WEST.--KISHWAUKIE.--BELVIDERE.--FAREWELL. + + +In the afternoon of this day we reached the Rock River, in whose +neighborhood we proposed to make some stay, and crossed at Dixon's +Ferry. + +This beautiful stream flows full and wide over a bed of rocks, +traversing a distance of near two hundred miles, to reach the +Mississippi. Great part of the country along its banks is the finest +region of Illinois, and the scene of some of the latest romance of +Indian warfare. To these beautiful regions Black Hawk returned with +his band "to pass the summer," when he drew upon himself the warfare +in which he was finally vanquished. No wonder he could not resist the +longing, unwise though its indulgence might be, to return in summer to +this home of beauty. + +Of Illinois, in general, it has often been remarked, that it bears the +character of country which has been inhabited by a nation skilled +like the English in all the ornamental arts of life, especially in +landscape-gardening. The villas and castles seem to have been burnt, +the enclosures taken down, but the velvet lawns, the flower-gardens, +the stately parks, scattered at graceful intervals by the decorous +hand of art, the frequent deer, and the peaceful herd of cattle that +make picture of the plain, all suggest more of the masterly mind +of man, than the prodigal, but careless, motherly love of Nature. +Especially is this true of the Rock River country. The river flows +sometimes through these parks and lawns, then betwixt high bluffs, +whose grassy ridges are covered with fine trees, or broken with +crumbling stone, that easily assumes the forms of buttress, arch, and +clustered columns. Along the face of such crumbling rocks, swallows' +nests are clustered, thick as cities, and eagles and deer do not +disdain their summits. One morning, out in the boat along the base of +these rocks, it was amusing, and affecting too, to see these swallows +put their heads out to look at us. There was something very hospitable +about it, as if man had never shown himself a tyrant near them. What +a morning that was! Every sight is worth twice as much by the early +morning light. We borrow something of the spirit of the hour to look +upon them. + +The first place where we stopped was one of singular beauty, a beauty +of soft, luxuriant wildness. It was on the bend of the river, a place +chosen by an Irish gentleman, whose absenteeship seems of the wisest +kind, since, for a sum which would have been but a drop of water to +the thirsty fever of his native land, he commands a residence +which has all that is desirable, in its independence, its beautiful +retirement, and means of benefit to others. + +His park, his deer-chase, he found already prepared; he had only to +make an avenue through it. This brought us to the house by a drive, +which in the heat of noon seemed long, though afterwards, in the cool +of morning and evening, delightful. This is, for that part of the +world, a large and commodious dwelling. Near it stands the log-cabin +where its master lived while it was building, a very ornamental +accessory. + +In front of the house was a lawn, adorned by the most graceful trees. +A few of these had been taken out to give a full view of the river, +gliding through banks such as I have described. On this bend the bank +is high and bold, so from, the house or the lawn the view was very +rich and commanding. But if you descended a ravine at the side to the +water's edge, you found there a long walk on the narrow shore, with +a wall above of the richest hanging wood, in which they said the deer +lay hid. I never saw one but often fancied that I heard them rustling, +at daybreak, by these bright, clear waters, stretching out in such +smiling promise where no sound broke the deep and blissful seclusion, +unless now and then this rustling, or the splash of some fish a little +gayer than the others; it seemed not necessary to have any better +heaven, or fuller expression of love and freedom, than in the mood of +Nature here. + +Then, leaving the bank, you would walk far and yet farther through +long, grassy paths, full of the most brilliant, also the most delicate +flowers. The brilliant are more common on the prairie, but both kinds +loved this place. + +Amid the grass of the lawn, with a profusion of wild strawberries, we +greeted also a familiar love, the Scottish harebell, the gentlest and +most touching form of the flower-world. + +The master of the house was absent, but with a kindness beyond thanks +had offered us a resting-place there. Here we were taken care of by +a deputy, who would, for his youth, have been assigned the place of +a page in former times, but in the young West, it seems, he was old +enough for a steward. Whatever be called his function, he did the +honors of the place so much in harmony with it, as to leave the guests +free to imagine themselves in Elysium. And the three days passed here +were days of unalloyed, spotless happiness. + +There was a peculiar charm in coming here, where the choice of +location, and the unobtrusive good taste of all the arrangements, +showed such intelligent appreciation of the spirit of the scene, after +seeing so many dwellings of the new settlers, which showed plainly +that they had no thought beyond satisfying the grossest material +wants. Sometimes they looked attractive, these little brown houses, +the natural architecture of the country, in the edge of the timber. +But almost always, when you came near the slovenliness of the +dwelling, and the rude way in which objects around it were treated, +when so little care would have presented a charming whole, were +very repulsive. Seeing the traces of the Indians, who chose the most +beautiful sites for their dwellings, and whose habits do not break +in on that aspect of Nature under which they were born, we feel as if +they were the rightful lords of a beauty they forbore to deform. But +most of these settlers do not see it at all; it breathes, it speaks +in vain to those who are rushing into its sphere. Their progress is +Gothic, not Roman, and their mode of cultivation will, in the course +of twenty, perhaps ten years, obliterate the natural expression of the +country. + +This is inevitable, fatal; we must not complain, but look forward to +a good result. Still, in travelling through this country, I could not +but be struck with the force of a symbol. Wherever the hog comes, +the rattlesnake disappears; the omnivorous traveller, safe in its +stupidity, willingly and easily makes a meal of the most dangerous of +reptiles, and one which the Indian looks on with a mystic awe. Even so +the white settler pursues the Indian, and is victor in the chase. But +I shall say more upon the subject by and by. + +While we were here, we had one grand thunder-storm, which added new +glory to the scene. + +One beautiful feature was the return of the pigeons every afternoon +to their home. At this time they would come sweeping across the lawn, +positively in clouds, and with a swiftness and softness of winged +motion more beautiful than anything of the kind I ever knew. Had +I been a musician, such as Mendelssohn, I felt that I could have +improvised a music quite peculiar, from the sound they made, which +should have indicated all the beauty over which their wings bore them. +I will here insert a few lines left at this house on parting, which +feebly indicate some of the features. + + THE WESTERN EDEN. + + Familiar to the childish mind were tales + Of rock-girt isles amid a desert sea, + Where unexpected stretch the flowery vales + To soothe the shipwrecked sailor's misery. + Fainting, he lay upon a sandy shore, + And fancied that all hope of life was o'er; + But let him patient climb the frowning wall, + Within, the orange glows beneath the palm-tree tall, + And all that Eden boasted waits his call. + + Almost these tales seem realized to-day, + When the long dulness of the sultry way, + Where "independent" settlers' careless cheer + Made us indeed feel we were "strangers" here, + Is cheered by sudden sight of this fair spot, + On which "improvement" yet has made no blot, + But Nature all-astonished stands, to find + Her plan protected by the human mind. + + Blest be the kindly genius of the scene; + The river, bending in unbroken grace, + The stately thickets, with their pathways green, + Fair, lonely trees, each in its fittest place; + Those thickets haunted by the deer and fawn; + Those cloudlike flights of birds across the lawn! + The gentlest breezes here delight to blow, + And sun and shower and star are emulous to deck the show. + + Wondering, as Crusoe, we survey the land; + Happier than Crusoe we, a friendly band. + Blest be the hand that reared this friendly home, + The heart and mind of him to whom we owe + Hours of pure peace such as few mortals know; + May he find such, should he be led to roam,-- + Be tended by such ministering sprites,-- + Enjoy such gayly childish days, such hopeful nights! + And yet, amid the goods to mortals given, + To give those goods again is most like heaven. + +Hazelwood, Rock River, June 30, 1843. + + +The only really rustic feature was of the many coops of poultry near +the house, which I understood it to be one of the chief pleasures of +the master to feed. + +Leaving this place, we proceeded a day's journey along the beautiful +stream, to a little town named Oregon. We called at a cabin, from +whose door looked out one of those faces which, once seen, are never +forgotten; young, yet touched with many traces of feeling, not only +possible, but endured; spirited, too, like the gleam of a finely +tempered blade. It was a face that suggested a history, and many +histories, but whose scene would have been in courts and camps. At +this moment their circles are dull for want of that life which, is +waning unexcited in this solitary recess. + +The master of the house proposed to show us a "short cut," by which +we might, to especial advantage, pursue our journey. This proved to be +almost perpendicular down a hill, studded with young trees and stumps. +From these he proposed, with a hospitality of service worthy an +Oriental, to free our wheels whenever they should get entangled, +also to be himself the drag, to prevent our too rapid descent. Such +generosity deserved trust; however, we women could not be persuaded to +render it. We got out and admired, from afar, the process. Left by our +guide and prop, we found ourselves in a wide field, where, by playful +quips and turns, an endless "creek," seemed to divert itself with our +attempts to cross it. Failing in this, the next best was to whirl +down a steep bank, which feat our charioteer performed with an air +not unlike that of Rhesus, had he but been as suitably furnished with +chariot and steeds! + +At last, after wasting some two or three hours on the "short cut," +we got out by following an Indian trail,--Black Hawk's! How fair +the scene through which it led! How could they let themselves be +conquered, with such a country to fight for! + +Afterwards, in the wide prairie, we saw a lively picture of +nonchalance (to speak in the fashion of clear Ireland). There, in the +wide sunny field, with neither tree nor umbrella above his head, sat +a pedler, with his pack, waiting apparently for customers. He was not +disappointed. We bought what hold, in regard to the human world, +as unmarked, as mysterious, and as important an existence, as the +infusoria to the natural, to wit, pins. This incident would have +delighted those modern sages, who, in imitation of the sitting +philosophers of ancient Ind, prefer silence to speech, waiting to +going, and scornfully smile, in answer to the motions of earnest life, + + "Of itself will nothing come, + That ye must still be seeking?" + +However, it seemed to me to-day, as formerly on these sublime +occasions, obvious that nothing would, come, unless something would +go; now, if we had been as sublimely still as the pedler, his pins +would have tarried in the pack, and his pockets sustained an aching +void of pence. + +Passing through one of the fine, park-like woods, almost clear from +underbrush and carpeted with thick grasses and flowers, we met (for it +was Sunday) a little congregation just returning from their service, +which had been performed in a rude house in its midst. It had a sweet +and peaceful air, as if such words and thoughts were very dear to +them. The parents had with them, all their little children; but we saw +no old people; that charm was wanting which exists in such scenes in +older settlements, of seeing the silver bent in reverence beside the +flaxen head. + +At Oregon, the beauty of the scene was of even a more sumptuous +character than at our former "stopping-place." Here swelled the river +in its boldest course, interspersed by halcyon isles on which Nature +had lavished all her prodigality in tree, vine, and flower, banked +by noble bluffs, three Hundred feet high, their sharp ridges as +exquisitely definite as the edge of a shell; their summits adorned +with those same beautiful trees, and with buttresses of rich rock, +crested with old hemlocks, which wore a touching and antique grace +amid, the softer and more luxuriant vegetation. Lofty natural mounds +rose amidst the rest, with the same lovely and sweeping outline, +showing everywhere the plastic power of water,--water, mother of +beauty,--which, by its sweet and eager flow, had left such lineaments +as human genius never dreamt of. + +Not far from the river was a high crag, called the Pine Rock, which +looks out, as our guide observed, like a helmet above the brow of the +country. It seems as if the water left here and there a vestige of +forms and materials that preceded its course, just to set off its new +and richer designs. + +The aspect of this country was to me enchanting, beyond any I have +ever seen, from its fulness of expression, its bold and impassioned +sweetness. Here the flood of emotion has passed over and marked +everywhere its course by a smile. The fragments of rock touch it with +a wildness and liberality which give just the needed relief. I should +never be tired here, though I have elsewhere seen country of more +secret and alluring charms, better calculated to stimulate and +suggest. Here the eye and heart are filled. + +How happy the Indians must have been here! It is not long since they +were driven away, and the ground, above and below, is full of their +traces. + + "The earth is full of men." + +You have only to turn up the sod to find arrowheads and Indian +pottery. On an island, belonging to our host, and nearly opposite his +house, they loved to stay, and, no doubt, enjoyed its lavish beauty +as much as the myriad wild pigeons that now haunt its flower-filled +shades. Here are still the marks of their tomahawks, the troughs in +which they prepared their corn, their caches. + +A little way down the river is the site of an ancient Indian village, +with its regularly arranged mounds. As usual, they had chosen with the +finest taste. When we went there, it was one of those soft, shadowy +afternoons when Nature seems ready to weep, not from grief, but from +an overfull heart. Two prattling, lovely little girls, and an African +boy, with glittering eye and ready grin, made our party gay; but +all were still as we entered the little inlet and trod those flowery +paths. They may blacken Indian life as they will, talk of its dirt, +its brutality, I will ever believe that the men who chose that +dwelling-place were able to feel emotions of noble happiness as they +returned to it, and so were the women that received them. Neither were +the children sad or dull, who lived so familiarly with the deer +and the birds, and swam that clear wave in the shadow of the Seven +Sisters. The whole scene suggested to me a Greek splendor, a Greek +sweetness, and I can believe that an Indian brave, accustomed to +ramble in such paths, and be bathed by such sunbeams, might be +mistaken for Apollo, as Apollo was for him by West. Two of the boldest +bluffs are called the Deer's Walk, (not because deer do _not_ walk +there,) and the Eagle's Nest. The latter I visited one glorious +morning; it was that of the fourth of July, and certainly I think I +had never felt so happy that I was born in America. Woe to all country +folks that never saw this spot, never swept an enraptured gaze over +the prospect that stretched beneath. I do believe Rome and Florence +are suburbs compared to this capital of Nature's art. + +The bluff was decked with great bunches of a scarlet variety of the +milkweed, like cut coral, and all starred with a mysterious-looking +dark flower, whose cup rose lonely on a tall stem. This had, for +two or three days, disputed the ground with the lupine and phlox. My +companions disliked, I liked it. + +Here I thought of, or rather saw, what the Greek expresses under the +form of Jove's darling, Ganymede, and the following stanzas took form. + + GANYMEDE TO HIS EAGLE. + + SUGGESTED BY A WORK OF THORWALDSEN'S. + + Composed on the height called the Eagle's Nest, Oregon, Rock River, + July 4th, 1843. + + Upon the rocky mountain stood the boy, + A goblet of pure water in his hand; + His face and form spoke him one made for joy, + A willing servant to sweet love's command, + But a strange pain was written on his brow, + And thrilled throughout his silver accents now. + + "My bird," he cries, "my destined brother friend, + O whither fleets to-day thy wayward flight? + Hast thou forgotten that I here attend, + From the full noon until this sad twilight? + A hundred times, at least, from the clear spring, + Since the fall noon o'er hill and valley glowed, + I've filled the vase which our Olympian king + Upon my care for thy sole use bestowed; + That, at the moment when thou shouldst descend, + A pure refreshment might thy thirst attend. + + "Hast thou forgotten earth, forgotten me, + Thy fellow-bondsman in a royal cause, + Who, from the sadness of infinity, + Only with thee can know that peaceful pause + In which we catch the flowing strain of love, + Which binds our dim fates to the throne of Jove? + + "Before I saw thee, I was like the May, + Longing for summer that must mar its bloom, + Or like the morning star that calls the day, + Whose glories to its promise are the tomb; + And as the eager fountain rises higher + To throw itself more strongly back to earth, + Still, as more sweet and full rose my desire, + More fondly it reverted to its birth, + For what the rosebud seeks tells not the rose, + The meaning that the boy foretold the man cannot disclose. + + "I was all Spring, for in my being dwelt + Eternal youth, where flowers are the fruit; + Full feeling was the thought of what was felt, + Its music was the meaning of the lute; + But heaven and earth such life will still deny, + For earth, divorced from heaven, still asks the question _Why?_ + + "Upon the highest mountains my young feet + Ached, that no pinions from their lightness grew, + My starlike eyes the stars would fondly greet, + Yet win no greeting from the circling blue; + Fair, self-subsistent each in its own sphere, + They had no care that there was none for me; + Alike to them that I was far or near, + Alike to them time and eternity. + + "But from the violet of lower air + Sometimes an answer to my wishing came; + Those lightning-births my nature seemed to share, + They told the secrets of its fiery frame, + The sudden messengers of hate and love, + The thunderbolts that arm the hand of Jove, + And strike sometimes the sacred spire, and strike the sacred grove. + + "Come in a moment, in a moment gone, + They answered me, then left me still more lone; + They told me that the thought which ruled the world + As yet no sail upon its course had furled, + That the creation was but just begun, + New leaves still leaving from the primal one, + But spoke not of the goal to which _my_ rapid wheels would run. + + "Still, still my eyes, though tearfully, I strained + To the far future which my heart contained, + And no dull doubt my proper hope profaned. + + "At last, O bliss! thy living form I spied, + Then a mere speck upon a distant sky; + Yet my keen glance discerned its noble pride, + And the full answer of that sun-filled eye; + I knew it was the wing that must upbear + My earthlier form into the realms of air. + + "Thou knowest how we gained that beauteous height, + Where dwells the monarch, of the sons of light; + Thou knowest he declared us two to be + The chosen servants of his ministry, + Thou as his messenger, a sacred sign + Of conquest, or, with omen more benign, + To give its due weight to the righteous cause, + To express the verdict of Olympian laws. + + "And I to wait upon the lonely spring, + Which slakes the thirst of bards to whom 't is given + The destined dues of hopes divine to sing, + And weave the needed chain to bind to heaven. + Only from such could be obtained a draught + For him who in his early home from Jove's own cup has quaffed + + "To wait, to wait, but not to wait too long. + Till heavy grows the burden of a song; + O bird! too long hast thou been gone to-day, + My feet are weary of their frequent way, + The spell that opes the spring my tongue no more can say. + + "If soon thou com'st not, night will fall around, + My head with a sad slumber will be bound, + And the pure draught be spilt upon the ground. + + "Remember that I am not yet divine, + Long years of service to the fatal Nine + Are yet to make a Delphian vigor mine. + + "O, make them not too hard, thou bird of Jove! + Answer the stripling's hope, confirm his love, + Receive the service in which he delights, + And bear him often to the serene heights, + Where hands that were so prompt in serving thee + Shall be allowed the highest ministry, + And Rapture live with bright Fidelity." + + +The afternoon was spent in a very different manner. The family whose +guests we were possessed a gay and graceful hospitality that gave +zest to each moment. They possessed that rare politeness which, while +fertile in pleasant expedients to vary the enjoyment of a friend, +leaves him perfectly free the moment he wishes to be so. With such +hosts, pleasure may be combined with repose. They lived on the bank +opposite the town, and, as their house was full, we slept in the +town, and passed three days with them, passing to and fro morning and +evening in their boats. To one of these, called the Fairy, in which a +sweet little daughter of the house moved about lighter than any Scotch +Ellen ever sung, I should indite a poem, if I had not been guilty of +rhyme on this very page. At morning this boating was very pleasant; at +evening, I confess, I was generally too tired with the excitements of +the day to think it so. + +The house--a double log-cabin--was, to my eye, the model of a Western +villa. Nature had laid out before it grounds which could not be +improved. Within, female taste had veiled every rudeness, availed +itself of every sylvan grace. + +In this charming abode what laughter, what sweet thoughts, what +pleasing fancies, did we not enjoy! May such never desert those who +reared it, and made us so kindly welcome to all its pleasures! + +Fragments of city life were dexterously crumbled into the dish +prepared for general entertainment. Ice-creams followed the dinner, +which was drawn by the gentlemen from the river, and music and +fireworks wound up the evening of days spent on the Eagle's Nest. Now +they had prepared a little fleet to pass over to the Fourth of July +celebration, which some queer drumming and fifing, from, the opposite +bank, had announced to be "on hand." + +We found the free and independent citizens there collected beneath the +trees, among whom many a round Irish visage dimpled at the usual puffs +of "Ameriky." + +The orator was a New-Englander, and the speech smacked loudly +of Boston, but was received with much applause and followed by a +plentiful dinner, provided by and for the Sovereign People, to which +Hail Columbia served as grace. + +Returning, the gay flotilla cheered the little flag which the children +had raised from a log-cabin, prettier than any president ever saw, +and drank the health of our country and all mankind, with a clear +conscience. + +Dance and song wound up the day. I know not when the mere local +habitation has seemed to me to afford so fair a chance of happiness as +this. To a person of unspoiled tastes, the beauty alone would afford +stimulus enough. But with it would be naturally associated all kinds +of wild sports, experiments, and the studies of natural history. In +these regards, the poet, the sportsman, the naturalist, would alike +rejoice in this wide range of untouched loveliness. + +Then, with a very little money, a ducal estate may be purchased, and +by a very little more, and moderate labor, a family be maintained upon +it with raiment, food, and shelter. The luxurious and minute comforts +of a city life are not yet to be had without effort disproportionate +to their value. But, where there is so great a counterpoise, cannot +these be given up once for all? If the houses are imperfectly built, +they can afford immense fires and plenty of covering; if they are +small, who cares,--with, such fields to roam in? in winter, it may be +borne; in summer, is of no consequence. With plenty of fish, and game, +and wheat, can they not dispense with a baker to bring "muffins hot" +every morning to the door for their breakfast? + +A man need not here take a small slice from the landscape, and fence +it in from the obtrusions of an uncongenial neighbor, and there cut +down his fancies to miniature improvements which a chicken could run +over in ten minutes. He may have water and wood and land enough, to +dread no incursions on his prospect from some chance Vandal that may +enter his neighborhood. He need not painfully economize and manage +how he may use it all; he can afford to leave some of it wild, and to +carry out his own plans without obliterating those of Nature. + +Here, whole families might live together, if they would. The sons +might return from their pilgrimages to settle near the parent hearth; +the daughters might find room near their mother. Those painful +separations, which already desecrate and desolate the Atlantic coast, +are not enforced here by the stern need of seeking bread; and where +they are voluntary, it is no matter. To me, too, used to the feelings +which haunt a society of struggling men, it was delightful to look +upon a scene where Nature still wore her motherly smile, and seemed to +promise room, not only for those favored or cursed with the qualities +best adapting for the strifes of competition, but for the delicate, +the thoughtful, even the indolent or eccentric. She did not say, Fight +or starve; nor even, Work or cease to exist; but, merely showing that +the apple was a finer fruit than the wild crab, gave both room to grow +in the garden. + +A pleasant society is formed of the families who live along the banks +of this stream upon farms. They are from various parts of the world, +and have much to communicate to one another. Many have cultivated +minds and refined manners, all a varied experience, while they have +in common the interests of a new country and a new life. They must +traverse some space to get at one another, but the journey is through +scenes that make it a separate pleasure. They must bear inconveniences +to stay in one another's houses; but these, to the well-disposed, are +only a source of amusement and adventure. + +The great drawback upon the lives of these settlers, at present, is +the unfitness of the women for their new lot. It has generally been +the choice of the men, and the women follow, as women will, doing +their best for affection's sake, but too often in heartsickness and +weariness. Beside, it frequently not being a choice or conviction of +their own minds that it is best to be here, their part is the hardest, +and they are least fitted for it. The men can find assistance in +field labor, and recreation with the gun and fishing-rod. Their bodily +strength is greater, and enables them to bear and enjoy both these +forms of life. + +The women can rarely find any aid in domestic labor. All its various +and careful tasks must often be performed, sick, or well, by the +mother and daughters, to whom a city education has imparted neither +the strength nor skill now demanded. + +The wives of the poorer settlers, having more hard work to do than +before, very frequently become slatterns; but the ladies, accustomed +to a refined neatness, feel that they cannot degrade themselves by +its absence, and struggle under every disadvantage to keep up the +necessary routine of small arrangements. + +With all these disadvantages for work, their resources for pleasure +are fewer. When they can leave the housework, they have not learnt to +ride, to drive, to row, alone. Their culture has too generally been +that given to women to make them "the ornaments of society." They can +dance, but not draw; talk French, but know nothing of the language +of flowers; neither in childhood were allowed to cultivate them, +lest they should tan their complexions. Accustomed to the pavement +of Broadway, they dare not tread the wild-wood paths for fear of +rattlesnakes! + +Seeing much of this joylessness, and inaptitude, both of body and +mind, for a lot which would be full of blessings for those prepared +for it, we could not but look with deep interest on the little girls, +and hope they would grow up with the strength of body, dexterity, +simple tastes, and resources that would fit them to enjoy and refine +the Western farmer's life. + +But they have a great deal to war with in the habits of thought +acquired by their mothers from their own early life. Everywhere +the fatal spirit of imitation, of reference to European standards, +penetrates, and threatens to blight whatever of original growth might +adorn the soil. + +If the little girls grow up strong, resolute, able to exert their +faculties, their mothers mourn over their want of fashionable +delicacy. Are they gay, enterprising, ready to fly about in the +various ways that teach them so much, these ladies lament that "they +cannot go to school, where they might learn to be quiet." They lament +the want of "education" for their daughters, as if the thousand +needs which call out their young energies, and the language of nature +around, yielded no education. + +Their grand ambition for their children is to send them to school in +some Eastern city, the measure most likely to make them useless and +unhappy at home. I earnestly hope that, erelong, the existence of good +schools near themselves, planned by persons of sufficient thought to +meet the wants of the place and time, instead of copying New York +or Boston, will correct this mania. Instruction the children want +to enable them to profit by the great natural advantages of their +position; but methods copied from the education of some English Lady +Augusta are as ill suited to the daughter of an Illinois farmer, as +satin shoes to climb the Indian mounds. An elegance she would diffuse +around her, if her mind were opened to appreciate elegance; it might +be of a kind new, original, enchanting, as different from that of +the city belle as that of the prairie torch-flower from the shop-worn +article that touches the cheek of that lady within her bonnet. + +To a girl really skilled to make home beautiful and comfortable, with +bodily strength to enjoy plenty of exercise, the woods, the streams, a +few studies, music, and the sincere and familiar intercourse, far +more easily to be met with here than elsewhere, would afford happiness +enough. Her eyes would not grow dim, nor her cheeks sunken, in the +absence of parties, morning visits, and milliners' shops. + +As to music, I wish I could see in such places the guitar rather than +the piano, and good vocal more than instrumental music. + +The piano many carry with them, because it is the fashionable +instrument in the Eastern cities. Even there, it is so merely from +the habit of imitating Europe, for not one in a thousand is willing to +give the labor requisite to insure any valuable use of the instrument. + +But out here, where the ladies have so much less leisure, it is still +less desirable. Add to this, they never know how to tune their own +instruments, and as persons seldom visit them who can do so, these +pianos are constantly out of tune, and would spoil the ear of one who +began by having any. + +The guitar, or some portable instrument which requires less practice, +and could be kept in tune by themselves, would be far more desirable +for most of these ladies. It would give all they want as a household +companion to fill up the gaps of life with a pleasant stimulus +or solace, and be sufficient accompaniment to the voice in social +meetings. + +Singing in parts is the most delightful family amusement, and those +who are constantly together can learn to sing in perfect accord. All +the practice it needs, after some good elementary instruction, is +such as meetings by summer twilight and evening firelight naturally +suggest. And as music is a universal language, we cannot but think a +fine Italian duet would be as much at home in the log cabin as one of +Mrs. Gore's novels. + +The 6th of July we left this beautiful place. It was one of those +rich days of bright sunlight, varied by the purple shadows of large, +sweeping clouds. Many a backward look we cast, and left the heart +behind. + +Our journey to-day was no less delightful than before, still all new, +boundless, limitless. Kinmont says, that limits are sacred; that the +Greeks were in the right to worship a god of limits. I say, that what +is limitless is alone divine, that there was neither wall nor road in +Eden, that those who walked, there lost and found their way just as +we did, and that all the gain from the Fall was that we had a wagon to +ride in. I do not think, either, that even the horses doubted whether +this last was any advantage. + +Everywhere the rattlesnake-weed grows in profusion. The antidote +survives the bane. Soon the coarser plantain, the "white man's +footstep," shall take its place. + +We saw also the compass-plant, and the Western tea-plant. Of some of +the brightest flowers an Indian girl afterwards told me the medicinal +virtues. I doubt not those students of the soil knew a use to every +fair emblem, on which we could only look to admire its hues and shape. + +After noon we were ferried by a girl (unfortunately not of the most +picturesque appearance) across the Kishwaukie, the most graceful +of streams, and on whose bosom rested many full-blown +water-lilies,--twice as large as any of ours. I was told that, _en +revanche_, they were scentless, but I still regret that I could not +get at one of them to try. Query, did the lilied fragrance which, +in the miraculous times, accompanied visions of saints and angels, +proceed from water or garden lilies? + +Kishwaukie is, according to tradition, the scene of a famous battle, +and its many grassy mounds contain the bones of the valiant. On these +waved thickly the mysterious purple flower, of which I have spoken +before. I think it springs from the blood of the Indians, as the +hyacinth did from that of Apollo's darling. + +The ladies of our host's family at Oregon, when they first went, +there, after all the pains and plagues of building and settling, found +their first pastime in opening one of these mounds, in which they +found, I think, three of the departed, seated, in the Indian fashion. + +One of these same ladies, as she was making bread one winter morning, +saw from the window a deer directly before the house. She ran out, +with her hands covered with dough, calling the others, and they caught +him bodily before he had time to escape. + +Here (at Kiskwaukie) we received a visit from a ragged and barefooted, +but bright-eyed gentleman, who seemed to be the intellectual loafer, +the walking Will's coffee-house, of the place. He told us many +charming snake-stories; among others, of himself having seen seventeen +young ones re-enter the mother snake, on the approach of a visitor. + +This night we reached Belvidere, a flourishing town in Boon County, +where was the tomb, now despoiled, of Big Thunder. In this later day +we felt happy to find a really good hotel. + +From this place, by two days of very leisurely and devious journeying, +we reached Chicago, and thus ended a journey, which one at least of +the party might have wished unending. + +I have not been particularly anxious to give the geography of the +scene, inasmuch as it seemed to me no route, nor series of stations, +but a garden interspersed with cottages, groves, and flowery lawns, +through which a stately river ran. I had no guide-book, kept no diary, +do not know how many miles we travelled each day, nor how many in all. +What I got from the journey was the poetic impression of the country +at large; it is all I have aimed to communicate. + +The narrative might have been made much more interesting, as life was +at the time, by many piquant anecdotes and tales drawn from private +life. But here courtesy restrains the pen, for I know those who +received the stranger with such frank kindness would feel ill requited +by its becoming the means of fixing many spy-glasses, even though the +scrutiny might be one of admiring interest, upon their private homes. + +For many of these anecdotes, too, I was indebted to a friend, whose +property they more lawfully are. This friend was one of those rare +beings who are equally at home in nature and with man. He knew a +tale of all that ran and swam and flew, or only grew, possessing +that extensive familiarity with things which shows equal sweetness +of sympathy and playful penetration. Most refreshing to me was his +unstudied lore, the unwritten poetry which common life presents to a +strong and gentle mind. It was a great contrast to the subtilties of +analysis, the philosophic strainings of which I had seen too much. But +I will not attempt to transplant it. May it profit others as it did me +in the region where it was born, where it belongs. + +The evening of our return to Chicago, the sunset was of a splendor and +calmness beyond any we saw at the West. The twilight that succeeded +was equally beautiful; soft, pathetic, but just so calm. When +afterwards I learned this was the evening of Allston's death, it +seemed to me as if this glorious pageant was not without connection +with that event; at least, it inspired similar emotions,--a heavenly +gate closing a path adorned with shows well worthy Paradise. + + +FAREWELL TO ROCK RIVER VALLEY. + + Farewell, ye soft and sumptuous solitudes! + Ye fairy distances, ye lordly woods, + Haunted, by paths like those that Poussin knew, + When after his all gazers' eyes he drew; + I go,--and if I never more may steep + An eager heart in your enchantments deep, + Yet ever to itself that heart may say, + Be not exacting; them hast lived one day,-- + Hast looked on that which matches with thy mood, + Impassioned sweetness of full being's flood, + Where nothing checked the bold yet gentle wave, + Where naught repelled the lavish love that gave. + A tender blessing lingers o'er the scene, + Like some young mother's thought, fond, yet serene, + And through its life new-born our lives have been. + Once more farewell,--a sad, a sweet farewell; + And, if I never must behold you more, + In other worlds I will not cease to tell + The rosary I here have numbered o'er; + And bright-haired Hope will lend a gladdened ear, + And Love will free him from the grasp of Fear, + And Gorgon critics, while the tale they hear, + Shall dew their stony glances with a tear, + If I but catch one echo from your spell:-- + And so farewell,--a grateful, sad farewell! + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A SHORT CHAPTER.--CHICAGO AGAIN.--MORRIS BIRKBECK. + + +Chicago had become interesting to me now, that I knew it as the +portal to so fair a scene. I had become interested in the land, in +the people, and looked sorrowfully on the lake on which I must soon +embark, to leave behind what I had just begun to enjoy. + +Now was the time to see the lake. The July moon was near its full, and +night after night it rose in a cloudless sky above this majestic sea. +The heat was excessive, so that there was no enjoyment of life, except +in the night; but then the air was of that delicious temperature +worthy of orange-groves. However, they were not wanted;--nothing was, +as that full light fell on the faintly rippling waters, which then +seemed, boundless. + +The most picturesque objects to be seen from Chicago on the inland +side were the lines of Hoosier wagons. These rude farmers, the large +first product of the soil, travel leisurely along, sleeping in their +wagons by night, eating only what they bring with them. In the town +they observe the same plan, and trouble no luxurious hotel for board +and lodging. Here they look like foreign peasantry, and contrast well +with the many Germans, Dutch, and Irish. In the country it is very +pretty to see them prepared to "camp out" at night, their horses +taken out of harness, and they lounging under the trees, enjoying the +evening meal. + +On the lake-side it is fine to see the great boats come panting in +from their rapid and marvellous journey. Especially at night the +motion of their lights is very majestic. + +When the favorite boats, the Great Western and Illinois, are going +out, the town is thronged with, people from the South and farther +West, to go in them. These moonlight nights I would hear the French +rippling and fluttering familiarly amid the rude ups and downs of the +Hoosier dialect. + +At the hotel table were daily to be seen new faces, and new stories +to be learned. And any one who has a large acquaintance may be pretty +sure of meeting some of them here in the course of a few days. + +At Chicago I read again Philip Van Artevelde, and certain passages +in it will always be in my mind associated with the deep sound of the +lake, as heard in the night. I used to read a short time at night, and +then open the blind to look out. The moon would be full upon the lake, +and the calm breath, pure light, and the deep voice harmonized well +with the thought of the Flemish hero. When will this country have such +a man? It is what she needs; no thin Idealist, no coarse Realist, but +a man whose eye reads the heavens, while his feet step firmly on the +ground, and his hands are strong and dexterous for the use of human +implements. A man religious, virtuous, and--sagacious; a man of +universal sympathies, but self-possessed; a man who knows the region +of emotion, though he is not its slave; a man to whom this world is +no mere spectacle, or fleeting shadow, not a great, solemn game, to be +played with, good heed, for its stakes are of eternal value, yet who, +if his own play be true, heeds not what he loses by the falsehood of +others;--a man who hives from the past, yet knows that its honey can +but moderately avail him; whose comprehensive eye scans the present, +neither infatuated by its golden lures, nor chilled by its many +ventures; who possesses prescience, as the wise man must, but not +so far as to be driven mad to-day by the gift which discerns +to-morrow;--when there is such a man for America, the thought which +urges her on will be expressed. + + * * * * * + +Now that I am about to leave Illinois, feelings of regret and +admiration come over me, as in parting with a friend whom, we have +not had the good sense to prize and study, while hours of association, +never perhaps to return, were granted. I have fixed my attention +almost exclusively on the picturesque beauty of this region; it was +so new, so inspiring. But I ought to have been more interested in the +housekeeping of this magnificent State, in the education she is giving +her children, in their prospects. + +Illinois is, at present, a by-word of reproach among the nations, +for the careless, prodigal course by which, in early youth, she has +endangered her honor. But you cannot look about you there, without +seeing that there are resources abundant to retrieve, and soon to +retrieve, far greater errors, if they are only directed with wisdom. + +Would that the simple maxim, that honesty is the best policy, might be +laid to heart; that a sense of the true aim of life might elevate +the tone of politics and trade till public and private honor became +identical; that the Western man, in that crowded and exciting life +which, develops his faculties so fully for to-day, might not forget +that better part which could not be taken from him; that the Western +woman might take that interest and acquire that light for the +education of the children, for which she alone has leisure! + +This is indeed the great problem of the place and time. If the next +generation be well prepared for their work, ambitious of good and +skilful to achieve it, the children of the present settlers may be +leaven enough for the mass constantly increasing by immigration. And +how much is this needed, where those rude foreigners can so little +understand the best interests of the land they seek for bread and +shelter! It would be a happiness to aid in this good work, and +interweave the white and golden threads into the fate of Illinois. It +would be a work worthy the devotion of any mind. + +In the little that I saw was a large proportion of intelligence, +activity, and kind feeling; but, if there was much serious laying to +heart of the true purposes of life, it did not appear in the tone of +conversation. + +Having before me the Illinois Guide-Book, I find there mentioned, as +a "visionary," one of the men I should think of as able to be a truly +valuable settler in a new and great country,--Morris Birkbeck, of +England. Since my return, I have read his journey to, and letters +from, Illinois. I see nothing promised there that will not surely +belong to the man who knows how to seek for it. + +Mr. Birkbeck was an enlightened, philanthropist, the rather that he +did not wish to sacrifice himself to his fellow-men, but to benefit +them with all he had, and was, and wished. He thought all the +creatures of a divine love ought to be happy and ought to be good, and +that his own soul and his own life were not less precious than those +of others; indeed, that to keep these healthy was his only means of a +healthy influence. + +But his aims were altogether generous. Freedom, the liberty of law, +not license; not indolence, work for himself and children and all +men, but under genial and poetic influences;--these were his aims. How +different from those of the new settlers in general! And into his +mind so long ago shone steadily the two thoughts, now so prevalent in +thinking and aspiring minds, of "Resist not evil," and "Every man his +own priest, and the heart the only true church." + +He has lost credit for sagacity from accidental circumstances. It +does not appear that his position was ill chosen, or his means +disproportioned to his ends, had he been sustained by funds from +England, as he had a right to expect. But through the profligacy of a +near relative, commissioned to collect these dues, he was disappointed +of them, and his paper protested and credit destroyed in our cities, +before he became aware of his danger. + +Still, though more slowly and with more difficulty, he might have +succeeded in his designs. The English farmer might have made the +English settlement a model for good methods and good aims to all that +region, had not death prematurely cut short his plans. + +I have wished to say these few words, because the veneration with +which I have been inspired for his character by those who knew him +well, makes me impatient of this careless blame being passed from +mouth to mouth and book to book. Success is no test of a man's +endeavor, and Illinois will yet, I hope, regard this man, who knew so +well what _ought_ to be, as one of her true patriarchs, the Abraham of +a promised land. + +He was one too much before his time to be soon valued; but the time +is growing up to him, and will understand his mild philanthropy, and +clear, large views. + +I subjoin the account of his death, given me by a friend, as +expressing, in fair picture, the character of the man. + +"Mr. Birkbeck was returning from the seat of government, whither he +had been on public business, and was accompanied by his son Bradford, +a youth of sixteen or eighteen. It was necessary to cross a ford, +which was rendered difficult by the swelling of the stream. Mr. B.'s +horse was unwilling to plunge into the water, so his son offered to +go first, and he followed. Bradford's horse had just gained footing on +the opposite shore, when he looked back and perceived his father was +dismounted, struggling in the water, and carried down by the current. + +"Mr. Birkbeck could not swim; Bradford could; so he dismounted, and +plunged into the stream to save his father. He got to him before +he sunk, held him up above water, and told him to take hold of his +collar, and he would swim ashore with him. Mr. B. did so, and Bradford +exerted all his strength to stem the current and reach the shore at a +point where they could land; but, encumbered by his own clothing and +his father's weight, he made no progress; when Mr. B. perceived this, +he, with his characteristic calmness and resolution, gave up his hold +of his son, and, motioning to him to save himself, resigned himself to +his fate. His son reached the shore, but was too much overwhelmed +by his loss to leave it. He was found by some travellers, many hours +after, seated on the margin of the stream, with his face in his hands, +stupefied with grief. + +"The body was found, and on the countenance was the sweetest smile; +and Bradford said, 'Just so he smiled, upon me when he let go and +pushed me away from him.'" + +Many men can choose the right and best on a great occasion, but not +many can, with such ready and serene decision, lay aside even +life, when that is right and best. This little narrative touched my +imagination in very early youth, and often has come up, in lonely +vision, that face, serenely smiling above the current which bore him +away to another realm of being. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +THOUGHTS AND SCENES IN WISCONSIN.--SOCIETY IN MILWAUKIE.--INDIAN +ANECDOTE.--SEERESS OF PREVORST.--MILWAUKIE. + + +A territory, not yet a State;[A] still nearer the acorn than we were. + +[Footnote A: Wisconsin was not admitted into the Union as a State till +1847, after this volume was written.--ED.] + +It was very pleasant coming up. These large and elegant boats are so +well arranged that every excursion may be a party of pleasure. There +are many fair shows to see on the lake and its shores, almost always +new and agreeable persons on board, pretty children playing about, +ladies singing (and if not very well, there is room, to keep out of +the way). You may see a great deal here of Life, in the London sense, +if you know a few people; or if you do not, and have the tact to look +about you without seeming to stare. + +We came to Milwaukie, where we were to pass a fortnight or more. + +This place is most beautifully situated. A little river, with romantic +banks, passes up through the town. The bank of the lake is here a +bold bluff, eighty feet in height. From its summit is enjoyed a noble +outlook on the lake. A little narrow path winds along the edge of the +lake below. I liked this walk much,--above me this high wall of rich +earth, garlanded on its crest with trees, the long ripples of the lake +coming up to my feet. Here, standing in the shadow, I could appreciate +better its magnificent changes of color, which are the chief beauties +of the lake-waters; but these are indescribable. + +It was fine to ascend into the lighthouse, above this bluff, and +thence watch the thunder-clouds which so frequently rose over the +lake, or the great boats coming in. Approaching the Milwaukie pier, +they made a bend, and seemed to do obeisance in the heavy style +of some dowager duchess entering a circle she wishes to treat with +especial respect. + +These boats come in and out every day, and still afford a cause for +general excitement. The people swarm, down to greet them, to receive +and send away their packages and letters. To me they seemed such +mighty messengers, to give, by their noble motion, such an idea of the +power and fulness of life, that they were worthy to carry despatches +from king to king. It must be very pleasant for those who have an +active share in carrying on the affairs of this great and growing +world to see them approach, and pleasant to such as have dearly loved +friends at the next station. To those who have neither business nor +friends, it sometimes gives a desolating sense of insignificance. + +The town promises to be, some time, a fine one, as it is so well +situated; and they have good building material,--a yellow brick, very +pleasing to the eye. It seems to grow before you, and has indeed but +just emerged from the thickets of oak and wild-roses. A few steps +will take you into the thickets, and certainly I never saw so many +wild-roses, or of so beautiful a red. Of such a color were the first +red ones the world ever saw, when, says the legend, Venus flying to +the assistance of Adonis, the rose-bushes kept catching her to make +her stay, and the drops of blood the thorns drew from her feet, as +she tore herself a way, fell on the white roses, and turned them this +beautiful red. + +One day, walking along the river's bank in search of a waterfall to be +seen from one ravine, we heard tones from a band of music, and saw a +gay troop shooting at a mark, on the opposite bank. Between every shot +the band played; the effect was very pretty. + +On this walk we found two of the oldest and most gnarled hemlocks that +ever afforded study for a painter. They were the only ones we saw; +they seemed the veterans of a former race. + +At Milwaukie, as at Chicago, are many pleasant people, drawn together +from all parts of the world. A resident here would find great piquancy +in the associations,--those he met having such dissimilar histories +and topics. And several persons I saw, evidently transplanted from the +most refined circles to be met in this country. There are lures enough +in the West for people of all kinds;--the enthusiast and the cunning +man; the naturalist, and the lover who needs to be rich for the sake +of her he loves. + +The torrent of immigration swells very strongly towards this place. +During the fine weather, the poor refugees arrive daily, in their +national dresses, all travel-soiled and worn. The night they pass in +rude shantees, in a particular quarter of the town, then walk off into +the country,--the mothers carrying their infants, the fathers leading +the little children by the hand, seeking a home where their hands may +maintain them. + +One morning we set off in their track, and travelled a day's +journey into this country,--fair, yet not, in that part which I saw, +comparable, in my eyes, to the Rock River region. Rich fields, proper +for grain, alternate with oak openings, as they are called; bold, +various, and beautiful were the features of the scene, but I saw +not those majestic sweeps, those boundless distances, those heavenly +fields; it was not the same world. + +Neither did we travel in the same delightful manner. We were now in a +nice carriage, which must not go off the road, for fear of breakage, +with a regular coachman, whose chief care was not to tire his horses, +and who had no taste for entering fields in pursuit of wild-flowers, +or tempting some strange wood-path, in search of whatever might +befall. It was pleasant, but almost as tame as New England. + +But charming indeed was the place where we stopped. It was in the +vicinity of a chain of lakes, and on the bank of the loveliest +little stream, called, the Bark River, which, flowed in rapid amber +brightness, through fields, and dells, and stately knolls, of most +poetic beauty. + +The little log-cabin where we slept, with its flower-garden in front, +disturbed the scene no more than a stray lock on the fair cheek. +The hospitality of that house I may well call princely; it was the +boundless hospitality of the heart, which, if it has no Aladdin's lamp +to create a palace for the guest, does him still higher service by the +freedom of its bounty to the very last drop of its powers. + +Sweet were the sunsets seen in the valley of this stream, though, +here, and, I grieve to say, no less near the Rock River, the fiend, +who has every liberty to tempt the happy in this world, appeared in +the shape of mosquitos, and allowed us no bodily to enjoy our mental +peace. + +One day we ladies gave, under the guidance of our host, to visiting +all the beauties of the adjacent lakes,--Nomabbin, Silver, and Pine +Lakes. On the shore of Nomabbin had formerly been one of the finest +Indian villages. Our host said, that once, as he was lying there +beneath the bank, he saw a tall Indian standing at gaze on the knoll. +He lay a long time, curious to see how long the figure would maintain +its statue-like absorption. But at last his patience yielded, and, +in moving, he made a slight noise. The Indian saw him, gave a wild, +snorting sound of indignation and pain, and strode away. + +What feelings must consume their hearts at such moments! I scarcely +see how they can forbear to shoot the white man where he stands. + +But the power of fate is with, the white man, and the Indian feels it. +This same gentleman told of his travelling through the wilderness with +an Indian guide. He had with him a bottle of spirit which he meant to +give him in small quantities, but the Indian, once excited, wanted +the whole at once. "I would not," said Mr. ----, "give it him, for I +thought, if he got really drunk, there was an end to his services as +a guide. But he persisted, and at last tried to take it from me. I +was not armed; he was, and twice as strong as I. But I knew an Indian +could not resist the look of a white man, and I fixed my eye steadily +on his. He bore it for a moment, then his eye fell; he let go the +bottle. I took his gun and threw it to a distance. After a few +moments' pause, I told him to go and fetch it, and left it in his +hands. From that moment he was quite obedient, even servile, all the +rest of the way." + +This gentleman, though in other respects of most kindly and liberal +heart, showed the aversion that the white man soon learns to feel for +the Indian on whom he encroaches,--the aversion of the injurer for him +he has degraded. After telling the anecdote of his seeing the Indian +gazing at the seat of his former home, + + "A thing for human feelings the most trying," + +and which, one would think, would have awakened soft compassion-- +almost remorse--in the present owner of that fair hill, which +contained for the exile the bones of his dead, the ashes of his +hopes, he observed: "They cannot be prevented from straggling back +here to their old haunts. I wish they could. They ought not to be +permitted to drive away _our_ game." OUR game,--just heavens! + +The same gentleman showed, on a slight occasion, the true spirit of a +sportsman, or perhaps I might say of Man, when engaged in any kind +of chase. Showing us some antlers, he said: "This one belonged to a +majestic creature. But this other was the beauty. I had been lying a +long time at watch, when at last I heard them come crackling along. I +lifted my head cautiously, as they burst through the trees. The first +was a magnificent fellow; but then I saw coming one, the prettiest, +the most graceful I ever beheld,--there was something so soft and +beseeching in its look. I chose him at once, took aim, and shot him +dead. You see the antlers are not very large; it was young, but the +prettiest creature!" + +In the course of this morning's drive, we visited the gentlemen on +their fishing party. They hailed us gayly, and rowed ashore to show us +what fine booty they had. No disappointment there, no dull work. + +On the beautiful point of land from which we first saw them lived a +contented woman, the only one I heard of out there. She was English, +and said she had seen so much suffering in her own country, that the +hardships of this seemed as nothing to her. But the others--even our +sweet and gentle hostess--found their labors disproportioned to their +strength, if not to their patience; and, while their husbands and +brothers enjoyed the country in hunting or fishing, they found +themselves confined to a comfortless and laborious in-door life. But +it need not be so long. + +This afternoon, driving about on the banks of these lakes, we found +the scene all of one kind of loveliness; wide, graceful woods, and +then these fine sheets of water, with, fine points of land jutting out +boldly into them. It was lovely, but not striking or peculiar. + +All woods suggest pictures. The European forest, with its long glades +and green, sunny dells, naturally suggested the figures of armed +knight on his proud steed, or maiden, decked in gold and pearl, +pricking along them on a snow-white palfrey; the green dells, of weary +Palmer sleeping there beside the spring with his head upon his wallet. +Our minds, familiar with such, figures, people with them the New +England woods, wherever the sunlight falls down a longer than usual +cart-track, wherever a cleared spot has lain still enough for the +trees to look friendly, with their exposed sides cultivated by the +light, and the grass to look velvet warm, and be embroidered with +flowers. These Western woods suggest a different kind of ballad. The +Indian legends have often an air of the wildest solitude, as has the +one Mr. Lowell has put into verse in his late volume. But I did not +see those wild woods; only such as suggest to me little romances of +love and sorrow, like this:-- + +GUNHILDA. + + A maiden sat beneath the tree, + Tear-bedewed her pale cheeks be, + And she sigheth heavily. + + From forth the wood into the light + A hunter strides, with carol light, + And a glance so bold and bright. + + He careless stopped and eyed the maid; + "Why weepest thou?" he gently said; + "I love thee well; be not afraid." + + He takes her hand, and leads her on; + She should have waited there alone, + For he was not her chosen one. + + He leans her head upon his breast, + She knew 't was not her home of rest, + But ah! she had been sore distrest. + + The sacred stars looked sadly down; + The parting moon appeared to frown, + To see thus dimmed the diamond crown. + + Then from the thicket starts a deer, + The huntsman, seizing on his spear, + Cries, "Maiden, wait thou for me here." + + She sees him vanish into night, + She starts from sleep in deep affright, + For it was not her own true knight. + + Though but in dream Gunhilda failed. + Though but a fancied ill assailed, + Though she but fancied fault bewailed,-- + + Yet thought of day makes dream of night: + She is not worthy of the knight, + The inmost altar burns not bright. + + If loneliness thou canst not bear, + Cannot the dragon's venom dare, + Of the pure meed thou shouldst despair. + + Now sadder that lone maiden sighs, + Far bitterer tears profane her eyes, + Crushed, in the dust her heart's flower lies. + +On the bank of Silver Lake we saw an Indian encampment. A shower +threatened us, but we resolved to try if we could not visit it before +it came on. We crossed a wide field on foot, and found the Indians +amid the trees on a shelving bank; just as we reached them, the rain +began to fall in torrents, with frequent thunderclaps, and we had +to take refuge in their lodges. These were very small, being for +temporary use, and we crowded the occupants much, among whom were +several sick, on the damp ground, or with only a ragged mat between +them and it. But they showed all the gentle courtesy which, marks +their demeanor towards the stranger, who stands in any need; though it +was obvious that the visit, which inconvenienced them, could only +have been caused by the most impertinent curiosity, they made us as +comfortable as their extreme poverty permitted. They seemed to think +we would not like to touch them; a sick girl in the lodge where I was, +persisted in moving so as to give me the dry place; a woman, with the +sweet melancholy eye of the race, kept off the children and wet dogs +from even the hem of my garment. + +Without, their fires smouldered, and black kettles, hung over them on +sticks, smoked, and seethed in the rain. An old, theatrical-looking +Indian stood with arms folded, looking up to the heavens, from +which the rain clashed and the thunder reverberated; his air was +French-Roman; that is, more Romanesque than Roman. The Indian ponies, +much excited, kept careering through the wood, around the encampment, +and now and then, halting suddenly, would thrust in their intelligent, +though amazed faces, as if to ask their masters when this awful pother +would cease, and then, after a moment, rush and trample off again. + +At last we got away, well wetted, but with a picturesque scene for +memory. At a house where we stopped to get dry, they told us that +this wandering band (of Pottawattamies), who had returned, on a visit, +either from homesickness, or need of relief, were extremely destitute. +The women had been there to see if they could barter for food their +head-bands, with which they club their hair behind into a form not +unlike a Grecian knot. They seemed, indeed, to have neither food, +utensils, clothes, nor bedding; nothing but the ground, the sky, and +their own strength. Little wonder if they drove off the game! + +Part of the same band I had seen in Milwaukee, on a begging dance. +The effect of this was wild and grotesque. They wore much paint and +feather head-dresses. "Indians without paint are poor coots," said a +gentleman who had been a great deal with, and really liked, them; +and I like the effect of the paint on them; it reminds of the gay +fantasies of nature. With them in Milwaukie was a chief, the finest +Indian figure I saw, more than six feet in height, erect, and of a +sullen, but grand gait and gesture. He wore a deep-red blanket, which +fell in large folds from his shoulders to his feet, did not join in +the dance, but slowly strode about through the streets, a fine +sight, not a French-Roman, but a real Roman. He looked unhappy, +but listlessly unhappy, as if he felt it was of no use to strive or +resist. + +While in the neighborhood of these lakes, we visited also a foreign +settlement of great interest. Here were minds, it seemed, to +"comprehend the trust" of their new life; and, if they can only stand +true to them, will derive and bestow great benefits therefrom. + +But sad and sickening to the enthusiast who comes to these shores, +hoping the tranquil enjoyment of intellectual blessings, and the +pure happiness of mutual love, must be a part of the scene that he +encounters at first. He has escaped from the heartlessness of courts, +to encounter the vulgarity of the mob; he has secured solitude, but +it is a lonely, a deserted solitude. Amid the abundance of nature, +he cannot, from petty, but insuperable obstacles, procure, for a long +time, comforts or a home. + +But let him come sufficiently armed with patience to learn the new +spells which the new dragons require, (and this can only be done +on the spot,) he will not finally be disappointed of the promised +treasure; the mob will resolve itself into men, yet crude, but of good +dispositions, and capable of good character; the solitude will become +sufficiently enlivened, and home grow up at last from the rich sod. + +In this transition state we found one of these homes. As we +approached, it seemed the very Eden which earth might still afford to +a pair willing to give up the hackneyed pleasures of the world for a +better and more intimate communion with one another and with beauty: +the wild road led through wide, beautiful woods, to the wilder and +more beautiful shores of the finest lake we saw. On its waters, +glittering in the morning sun, a few Indians were paddling to and fro +in their light canoes. On one of those fair knolls I have so often +mentioned stood the cottage, beneath trees which stooped as if +they yet felt brotherhood with its roof-tree. Flowers waved, birds +fluttered round, all had the sweetness of a happy seclusion; all +invited to cry to those who inhabited it, All hail, ye happy ones! + +But on entrance to those evidently rich in personal beauty, talents, +love, and courage, the aspect of things was rather sad. Sickness had +been with them, death, care, and labor; these had not yet blighted +them, but had turned their gay smiles grave. It seemed that hope and +joy had given place to resolution. How much, too, was there in them, +worthless in this place, which would have been so valuable +elsewhere! Refined graces, cultivated powers, shine in vain before +field-laborers, as laborers are in this present world; you might as +well cultivate heliotropes to present to an ox. Oxen and heliotropes +are both good, but not for one another. + +With them were some of the old means of enjoyment, the books, +the pencil, the guitar; but where the wash-tub and the axe are so +constantly in requisition, there is not much time and pliancy of hand +for these. + +In the inner room, the master of the house was seated; he had been +sitting there long, for he had injured his foot on ship-board, and his +farming had to be done by proxy. His beautiful young wife was his +only attendant and nurse, as well as a farm, housekeeper. How well +she performed hard and unaccustomed duties, the objects of her care +showed; everything that belonged to the house was rude, but neatly +arranged. The invalid, confined to an uneasy wooden chair, (they had +not been able to induce any one to bring them an easy-chair from the +town,) looked as neat and elegant as if he had been dressed by the +valet of a duke. He was of Northern blood, with clear, full blue eyes, +calm features, a tempering of the soldier, scholar, and man of the +world, in his aspect. Either various intercourses had given him that +thoroughbred look never seen in Americans, or it was inherited from +a race who had known all these disciplines. He formed a great but +pleasing contrast to his wife, whose glowing complexion and dark +yellow eye bespoke an origin in some climate more familiar with the +sun. He looked as if he could sit there a great while patiently, +and live on his own mind, biding his time; she, as if she could bear +anything for affection's sake, but would feel the weight of each +moment as it passed. + +Seeing the album full of drawings and verses, which bespoke the circle +of elegant and affectionate intercourse they had left behind, we could +not but see that the young wife sometimes must need a sister, the +husband a companion, and both must often miss that electricity which +sparkles from the chain of congenial minds. + +For mankind, a position is desirable in some degree proportioned to +education. Mr. Birkbeck was bred a farmer, but these were nurslings +of the court and city; they may persevere, for an affectionate courage +shone in their eyes, and, if so, become true lords of the soil, and +informing geniuses to those around; then, perhaps, they will feel that +they have not paid too clear for the tormented independence of the new +settler's life. But, generally, damask roses will not thrive in the +wood, and a ruder growth, if healthy and pure, we wish rather to see +there. + +I feel about these foreigners very differently from what I do about +Americans. American men and women are inexcusable if they do not bring +up children so as to be fit for vicissitudes; the meaning of our star +is, that here all men being free and equal, every man should be fitted +for freedom and an independence by his own resources wherever the +changeful wave of our mighty stream may take him. But the star of +Europe brought a different horoscope, and to mix destinies breaks the +thread of both. The Arabian horse will not plough well, nor can the +plough-horse be rode to play the jereed. Yet a man is a man wherever +he goes, and something precious cannot fail to be gained by one who +knows how to abide by a resolution of any kind, and pay the cost +without a murmur. + +Returning, the fine carriage at last fulfilled its threat of breaking +down. We took refuge in a farm-house. Here was a pleasant scene,--a +rich and beautiful estate, several happy families, who had removed +together, and formed a natural community, ready to help and enliven +one another. They were farmers at home, in Western New York, and both +men and women knew how to work. Yet even here the women did not like +the change, but they were willing, "as it might be best for the young +folks." Their hospitality was great: the houseful of women and pretty +children seemed all of one mind. + +Returning to Milwaukie much fatigued, I entertained myself: for a +day or two with reading. The book I had brought with me was in strong +contrast with, the life around, me. Very strange was this vision of +an exalted and sensitive existence, which seemed to invade the next +sphere, in contrast with the spontaneous, instinctive life, so healthy +and so near the ground I had been surveying. This was the German book +entitled:-- + +"The Seeress of Prevorst.--Revelations concerning the Inward Life of +Man, and the Projection of a World of Spirits into ours, communicated +by Justinus Kerner." + +This book, published in Germany some twelve years since, and which +called forth there plenteous dews of admiration, as plenteous +hail-storms of jeers and scorns, I never saw mentioned in any English +publication till some year or two since. Then a playful, but not +sarcastic account of it, in the Dublin Magazine, so far excited my +curiosity, that I procured the book, intending to read it so soon as I +should have some leisure days, such as this journey has afforded. + +Dr. Kerner, its author, is a man of distinction in his native land, +both as a physician and a thinker, though always on the side of +reverence, marvel, and mysticism. He was known to me only through two +or three little poems of his in Catholic legends, which I much admired +for the fine sense they showed of the beauty of symbols. + +He here gives a biography, mental and physical, of one of the +most remarkable cases of high nervous excitement that the age, +so interested in such, yet affords, with all its phenomena of +clairvoyance and susceptibility of magnetic influences. As to my own +mental positron on these subjects, it may be briefly expressed by +a dialogue between several persons who honor me with a portion of +friendly confidence and criticism, and myself, personified as _Free +Hope_. The others may be styled _Old Church_, _Good Sense_, and +_Self-Poise_. + + +DIALOGUE. + +_Good Sense._ I wonder you can take any interest in such observations +or experiments. Don't you see how almost impossible it is to make them +with any exactness, how entirely impossible to know anything about +them unless made by yourself, when the least leaven of credulity, +excited fancy, to say nothing of willing or careless imposture, +spoils the whole loaf? Beside, allowing the possibility of some clear +glimpses into a higher state of being, what do we want of it now? All +around us lies what we neither understand nor use. Our capacities, our +instincts for this our present sphere, are but half developed. Let +us confine ourselves to that till the lesson be learned; let us be +completely natural, before we trouble ourselves with the supernatural. +I never see any of these things but I long to get away and lie under +a green tree, and let the wind blow on me. There is marvel and charm +enough in that for me. + +_Free Hope._ And for me also. Nothing is truer than the Wordsworthian +creed, on which Carlyle lays such stress, that we need only look +on the miracle of every day, to sate ourselves with thought and +admiration every day. But how are our faculties sharpened to do it? +Precisely by apprehending the infinite results of every day. + +Who sees the meaning of the flower uprooted in the ploughed field? The +ploughman who does not look beyond its boundaries and does not raise +his eyes from the ground? No,--but the poet who sees that field in its +relations with the universe, and looks oftener to the sky than on the +ground. Only the dreamer shall understand realities, though, in truth, +his dreaming must be not out of proportion to his waking! + +The mind, roused powerfully by this existence, stretches of itself +into what the French sage calls the "aromal state." From the hope thus +gleaned it forms the hypothesis, under whose banner it collects its +facts. + +Long before these slight attempts were made to establish, as a science +what is at present called animal magnetism, always, in fact, men were +occupied more or less with this vital principle,--principle of +flux and influx,--dynamic of our mental mechanics,--human phase of +electricity. Poetic observation was pure, there was no quackery in its +free course, as there is so often in this wilful tampering with the +hidden springs of life, for it is tampering unless done in a patient +spirit and with severe truth; yet it may be, by the rude or greedy +miners, some good ore is unearthed. And some there are who work in +the true temper, patient and accurate in trial, not rushing to +conclusions, feeling there is a mystery, not eager to call it by name +till they can know it as a reality: such may learn, such may teach. + +Subject to the sudden revelations, the breaks in habitual existence, +caused by the aspect of death, the touch of love, the flood of music, +I never lived, that I remember, what you call a common natural day. +All my days are touched by the supernatural, for I feel the pressure +of hidden causes, and the presence, sometimes the communion, of unseen +powers. It needs not that I should ask the clairvoyant whether "a +spirit-world projects into ours." As to the specific evidence, I would +not tarnish my mind by hasty reception. The mind is not, I know, a +highway, but a temple, and its doors should not be carelessly left +open. Yet it were sin, if indolence or coldness excluded what had a +claim to enter; and I doubt whether, in the eyes of pure intelligence, +an ill-grounded hasty rejection be not a greater sign of weakness than +an ill-grounded and hasty faith. + +I will quote, as my best plea, the saying of a man old in years, but +not in heart, and whose long life has been distinguished by that +clear adaptation of means to ends which gives the credit of practical +wisdom. He wrote to his child, "I have lived too long, and seen too +much, to be _in_ credulous." Noble the thought, no less so its frank +expression, instead of saws of caution, mean advices, and other modern +instances. Such was the romance of Socrates when he bade his disciples +"sacrifice a cock to AEsculapius." + +_Old Church._ You are always so quick-witted and voluble, Free Hope, +you don't get time to see how often you err, and even, perhaps, sin +and blaspheme. The Author of all has intended to confine our knowledge +within certain boundaries, has given us a short span of time for +a certain probation, for which our faculties are adapted. By wild +speculation and intemperate curiosity we violate His will, and incur +dangerous, perhaps fatal, consequences. We waste our powers, and, +becoming morbid and visionary, are unfitted to obey positive precepts, +and perform positive duties. + +_Free Hope._ I do not see how it is possible to go further beyond the +results of a limited human experience than those do who pretend to +settle the origin and nature of sin, the final destiny of souls, and +the whole plan of the Causal Spirit with regard to them. I think those +who take your view have not examined themselves, and do not know the +ground on which they stand. + +I acknowledge no limit, set up by man's opinion, as to the capacities +of man. "Care is taken," I see it, "that the trees grow not up into +heaven"; but, to me it seems, the more vigorously they aspire, the +better. Only let it be a vigorous, not a partial or sickly aspiration. +Let not the tree forget its root. + +So long as the child insists on knowing where its dead parent is, so +long as bright eyes weep at mysterious pressures, too heavy for the +life, so long as that impulse is constantly arising which made the +Roman emperor address his soul in a strain of such touching softness, +vanishing from, the thought, as the column of smoke from the eye, I +know of no inquiry which the impulse of man suggests that is forbidden +to the resolution of man to pursue. In every inquiry, unless sustained +by a pure and reverent spirit, he gropes in the dark, or falls +headlong. + +_Self-Poise._ All this may be very true, but what is the use of all +this straining? Far-sought is dear-bought. When we know that all is in +each, and that the ordinary contains the extraordinary, why should we +play the baby, and insist upon having the moon for a toy when a tin +dish will do as well? Our deep ignorance is a chasm that we can only +fill up by degrees, but the commonest rubbish will help us as well +as shred silk. The god Brahma, while on earth, was set to fill up a +valley, but he had only a basket given him in which to fetch earth for +this purpose; so is it with us all. No leaps, no starts, will avail +us; by patient crystallization alone, the equal temper of wisdom is +attainable. Sit at home, and the spirit-world will look in at your +window with moonlit eyes; run out to find it, and rainbow and golden +cup will have vanished, and left you the beggarly child you were. The +better part of wisdom is a sublime prudence, a pure and patient truth, +that will receive nothing it is not sure it can permanently lay to +heart. Of our study, there should be in proportion two thirds of +rejection to one of acceptance. And, amid the manifold infatuations +and illusions of this world of emotion, a being capable of clear +intelligence can do no better service than to hold himself upright, +avoid nonsense, and do what chores lie in his way, acknowledging every +moment that primal truth, which no fact exhibits, nor, if pressed by +too warm a hope, will even indicate. I think, indeed, it is part of +our lesson to give a formal consent to what is farcical, and to +pick up our living and our virtue amid what is so ridiculous, hardly +deigning a smile, and certainly not vexed. The work is done through +all, if not by every one. + +_Free Hope._ Thou art greatly wise, my friend, and ever respected by +me, yet I find not in your theory or your scope room enough for the +lyric inspirations or the mysterious whispers of life. To me it +seems that it is madder never to abandon one's self, than often to be +infatuated; better to be wounded, a captive, and a slave, than always +to walk in armor. As to magnetism, that is only a matter of fancy. You +sometimes need just such a field in which to wander vagrant, and if it +bear a higher name, yet it may be that, in last result, the trance of +Pythagoras might be classed with the more infantine transports of the +Seeress of Prevorst. + +What is done interests me more than what is thought and supposed. +Every fact is impure, but every fact contains in it the juices of +life. Every fact is a clod, from which may grow an amaranth or a palm. + +Climb you the snowy peaks whence come the streams, where the +atmosphere is rare, where you can see the sky nearer, from which you +can get a commanding view of the landscape? I see great disadvantages +as well as advantages in this dignified position. I had rather walk +myself through all kinds of places, even at the risk of being robbed +in the forest, half drowned at the ford, and covered with dust in the +street. + +I would beat with the living heart of the world, and understand all +the moods, even the fancies or fantasies, of nature. I dare to +trust to the interpreting spirit to bring me out all right at +last,--establish truth through error. + +Whether this be the best way is of no consequence, if it be the one +individual character points out. + + For one, like me, it would be vain + From glittering heights the eyes to strain; + I the truth can only know, + Tested by life's most fiery glow. + Seeds of thought will never thrive, + Till dews of love shall bid them live. + +Let me stand in my age with all its waters flowing round me. If +they sometimes subdue, they must finally upbear me, for I seek the +universal,--and that must be the best. + +The Spirit, no doubt, leads in every movement of my time: if I seek +the How, I shall find it, as well as if I busied myself more with the +Why. + +Whatever is, is right, if only men are steadily bent to make it so, by +comprehending and fulfilling its design. + +May not I have an office, too, in my hospitality and ready sympathy? +If I sometimes entertain guests who cannot pay with gold coin, +with "fair rose nobles," that is better than to lose the chance of +entertaining angels unawares. + +You, my three friends, are held, in heart-honor, by me. You, +especially, Good Sense, because where you do not go yourself, you do +not object to another's going, if he will. You are really liberal. +You, Old Church, are of use, by keeping unforgot the effigies of old +religion, and reviving the tone of pure Spenserian sentiment, which +this time is apt to stifle in its childish haste. But you are very +faulty in censuring and wishing to limit others by your own +standard. You, Self-Poise, fill a priestly office. Could but a larger +intelligence of the vocations of others, and a tender sympathy with +their individual natures, be added, had you more of love, or more of +apprehensive genius, (for either would give you the needed expansion +and delicacy,) you would command my entire reverence. As it is, I must +at times deny and oppose you, and so must others, for you tend, by +your influence, to exclude us from our full, free life. We must +be content when you censure, and rejoiced when you approve; always +admonished to good by your whole being, and sometimes by your +judgment. + + * * * * * + +Do not blame me that I have written so much suggested by the German +seeress, while you were looking for news of the West. Here on the +pier, I see disembarking the Germans, the Norwegians, the Swedes, the +Swiss. Who knows how much of old legendary lore, of modern wonder, +they have already planted amid the Wisconsin forests? Soon, their +tales of the origin of things, and the Providence which rules them, +will be so mingled with those of the Indian, that the very oak-tree +will not know them apart,--will not know whether itself be a Runic, a +Druid, or a Winnebago oak. + +Some seeds of all growths that have ever been known in this world +might, no doubt, already be found in these Western wilds, if we had +the power to call them to life. + +I saw, in the newspaper, that the American Tract Society boasted of +their agent's having exchanged, at a Western cabin door, tracts for +the "Devil on Two Sticks," and then burnt that more entertaining than +edifying volume. No wonder, though, they study it there. Could one +but have the gift of reading the dreams dreamed by men of such various +birth, various history, various mind, it would afford much, more +extensive amusement than did the chambers of one Spanish city! + +Could I but have flown at night through such mental experiences, +instead of being shut up in my little bedroom at the Milwaukie +boarding-house, this chapter would have been worth reading. As it is, +let us hasten to a close. + +Had I been rich in money, I might have built a house, or set up in +business, during my fortnight's stay at Milwaukie, matters move on +there at so rapid a rate. But being only rich in curiosity, I was +obliged to walk the streets and pick up what I could in casual +intercourse. When I left the street, indeed, and walked on the bluffs, +or sat beside the lake in their shadow, my mind was rich in dreams +congenial to the scene, some time to be realized, though not by me. + +A boat was left, keel up, half on the sand, half in the water, swaying +with each swell of the lake. It gave a picturesque grace to that part +of the shore, as the only image of inaction,--only object of a pensive +character to be seen. Near this I sat, to dream my dreams and watch +the colors of the lake, changing hourly, till the sun sank. These +hours yielded impulses, wove webs, such as life will not again afford. + +Returning to the boarding-house, which was also a boarding-school, we +were sure to be greeted by gay laughter. + +This school was conducted by two girls of nineteen and seventeen +years; their pupils were nearly as old as themselves. The relation +seemed very pleasant between them; the only superiority--that of +superior knowledge--was sufficient to maintain authority,--all the +authority that was needed to keep daily life in good order. + +In the West, people are not respected merely because they are old in +years; people there have not time to keep up appearances in that way; +when persons cease to have a real advantage in wisdom, knowledge, +or enterprise, they must stand back, and let those who are oldest in +character "go ahead," however few years they may count. There are no +banks of established respectability in which to bury the talent there; +no napkin of precedent in which to wrap it. What cannot be made to +pass current, is not esteemed coin of the realm. + +To the windows of this house, where the daughter of a famous "Indian +fighter," i.e. fighter against the Indians, was learning French, and +the piano, came wild, tawny figures, offering for sale their baskets +of berries. The boys now, instead of brandishing the tomahawk, tame +their hands to pick raspberries. + +Here the evenings were much lightened by the gay chat of one of the +party, who with the excellent practical sense of mature experience, +and the kindest heart, united a _naivete_ and innocence such as I +never saw in any other who had walked so long life's tangled path. +Like a child, she was everywhere at home, and, like a child, received +and bestowed entertainment from all places, all persons. I thanked her +for making me laugh, as did the sick and poor, whom she was sure to +find out in her briefest sojourn in any place, for more substantial +aid. Happy are those who never grieve, and so often aid and enliven +their fellow-men! + +This scene, however, I was not sorry to exchange for the much +celebrated beauties of the island of Mackinaw. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +MACKINAW.--INDIANS.--INDIAN WOMEN.--EVERETT'S RECEPTION OF +CHIEFS.--UNFITNESS OF INDIAN MISSIONARIES.--OUR DUTIES TOWARD THIS +RACE. + + +Late at night we reached this island of Mackinaw, so famous for its +beauty, and to which I proposed a visit of some length. It was the +last week in August, at which, time a large representation from the +Chippewa and Ottawa tribes are here to receive their annual payments +from the American government. As their habits make travelling easy and +inexpensive to them, neither being obliged to wait for steamboats, or +write to see whether hotels are full, they come hither by thousands, +and those thousands in families, secure of accommodation on the beach, +and food from the lake, to make a long holiday out of the occasion. +There were near two thousand encamped on the island already, and more +arriving every day. + +As our boat came in, the captain had some rockets let off. This +greatly excited the Indians, and their yells and wild cries resounded +along the shore. Except for the momentary flash of the rockets, it +was perfectly dark, and my sensations as I walked with a stranger to a +strange hotel, through the midst of these shrieking savages, and heard +the pants and snorts of the departing steamer, which carried, away +all my companions, were somewhat of the dismal sort; though it was +pleasant, too, in the way that everything strange is; everything that +breaks in upon the routine that so easily incrusts us. + +I had reason to expect a room to myself at the hotel, but found +none, and was obliged to take up my rest in the common parlor and +eating-room, a circumstance which insured my being an early riser. + +With the first rosy streak, I was out among my Indian neighbors, whose +lodges honeycombed the beautiful beach, that curved away in long, fair +outline on either side the house. They were already on the alert, the +children creeping out from beneath the blanket door of the lodge, the +women pounding corn in their rude mortars, the young men playing on +their pipes. I had been much amused, when the strain proper to the +Winnebago courting flute was played to me on another instrument, at +any one fancying it a melody; but now, when I heard the notes in +their true tone and time, I thought it not unworthy comparison, in +its graceful sequence, and the light flourish at the close, with the +sweetest bird-song; and this, like the bird-song, is only practised +to allure a mate. The Indian, become a citizen and a husband, no more +thinks of playing the flute, than one of the "settled-down" members of +our society would, of choosing the "purple light of love" as dye-stuff +for a surtout. + +Mackinaw has been fully described by able pens, and I can only add my +tribute to the exceeding beauty of the spot and its position. It is +charming to be on an island so small that you can sail round it in an +afternoon, yet large enough to admit of long, secluded walks through +its gentle groves. You can go round it in your boat; or, on foot, you +can tread its narrow beach, resting, at times, beneath the lofty walls +of stone, richly wooded, which rise from it in various architectural +forms. In this stone, caves are continually forming, from the action +of the atmosphere; one of these is quite deep, and a rocky fragment +left at its mouth, wreathed with little creeping plants, looks, as you +sit within, like a ruined pillar. + +The arched rock surprised me, much as I had heard of it, from, the +perfection of the arch. It is perfect, whether you look up through it +from the lake, or down through it to the transparent waters. We both +ascended and descended--no very easy matter--the steep and crumbling +path, and rested at the summit, beneath the trees, and at the foot, +upon the cool, mossy stones beside the lapsing wave. Nature has +carefully decorated all this architecture with shrubs that take root +within the crevices, and small creeping vines. These natural ruins may +vie for beautiful effect with the remains of European grandeur, and +have, beside, a charm as of a playful mood in Nature. + +The sugar-loaf rock is a fragment in the same kind as the pine rock +we saw in Illinois. It has the same air of a helmet, as seen from an +eminence at the side, which you descend by a long and steep path. The +rock itself may be ascended by the bold and agile: half-way up is a +niche, to which those who are neither can climb by a ladder. A very +handsome young officer and lady who were with us did so, and then, +facing round, stood there side by side, looking in the niche, if +not like saints or angels wrought by pious hands in stone, as +romantically, if not as holily, worthy the gazer's eye. + +The woods which adorn the central ridge of the island are very full +in foliage, and, in August, showed the tender green and pliant leaf +of June elsewhere. They are rich in beautiful mosses and the wild +raspberry. + +From Fort Holmes, the old fort, we had the most commanding view of the +lake and straits, opposite shores, and fair islets. Mackinaw itself is +best seen from the water. Its peculiar shape is supposed to have been +the origin of its name, Michilimackinac, which means the Great Turtle. +One person whom I saw wished to establish another etymology, which he +fancied to be more refined; but, I doubt not, this is the true one, +both because the shape might suggest such a name, and the existence +of an island of such form in this commanding position would seem +a significant fact to the Indians. For Henry gives the details of +peculiar worship paid to the Great Turtle, and the oracles received +from this extraordinary Apollo of the Indian Delphos. + +It is crowned, most picturesquely, by the white fort, with its gay +flag. From this, on one side, stretches the town. How pleasing a +sight, after the raw, crude, staring assemblage of houses everywhere +else to be met in this country, is an old French town, mellow in +its coloring, and with the harmonious effect of a slow growth, which +assimilates, naturally, with objects round it! The people in its +streets, Indian, French, half-breeds, and others, walked with a +leisure step, as of those who live a life of taste and inclination, +rather than of the hard press of business, as in American towns +elsewhere. + +On the other side, along the fair, curving beach, below the white +houses scattered on the declivity, clustered the Indian lodges, with +their amber-brown matting, so soft and bright of hue, in the late +afternoon sun. The first afternoon I was there, looking down from +a near height, I felt that I never wished to see a more fascinating +picture. It was an hour of the deepest serenity; bright blue and gold, +with rich shadows. Every moment the sunlight fell more mellow. +The Indians were grouped and scattered among the lodges; the women +preparing food, in the kettle or frying-pan, over the many small +fires; the children, half naked, wild as little goblins, were playing +both in and out of the water. Here and there lounged a young girl, +with a baby at her back, whose bright eyes glanced, as if born into a +world of courage and of joy, instead of ignominious servitude and slow +decay. Some girls were cutting wood, a little way from me, talking and +laughing, in the low musical tone, so charming in the Indian women. +Many bark canoes were upturned upon the beach, and, by that light, of +almost the same amber as the lodges; others coming in, their square +sails set, and with almost arrowy speed, though heavily laden with +dusky forms, and all the apparatus of their household. Here and there +a sail-boat glided by, with a different but scarce less pleasing +motion. + +It was a scene of ideal loveliness, and these wild forms adorned it, +as looking so at home in it. All seemed happy, and they were happy +that day, for they had no fire-water to madden them, as it was Sunday, +and the shops were shut. + +From my window, at the boarding-house, my eye was constantly attracted +by these picturesque groups. I was never tired of seeing the canoes +come in, and the new arrivals set up their temporary dwellings. The +women ran to set up the tent-poles, and spread the mats on the ground. +The men brought the chests, kettles, &c.; the mats were then laid on +the outside, the cedar-boughs strewed on the ground, the blanket hung +up for a door, and all was completed in less than twenty minutes. Then +they began to prepare the night meal, and to learn of their neighbors +the news of the day. + +The habit of preparing food out of doors gave all the gypsy charm and +variety to their conduct. Continually I wanted Sir Walter Scott to +have been there. If such romantic sketches were suggested to him, by +the sight of a few gypsies, not a group near one of these fires but +would have furnished him material for a separate canvas. I was so +taken up with the spirit of the scene, that I could not follow out +the stories suggested by these weather-beaten, sullen, but eloquent +figures. + +They talked a great deal, and with much, variety of gesture, so that I +often had a good guess at the meaning of their discourse. I saw +that, whatever the Indian may be among the whites, he is anything but +taciturn with his own people; and he often would declaim, or narrate +at length. Indeed, it is obvious, if only from the fables taken from +their stores by Mr. Schoolcraft, that these tribes possess great power +that way. + +I liked very much, to walk or sit among them. With, the women I held +much communication by signs. They are almost invariably coarse and +ugly, with the exception of their eyes, with a peculiarly awkward +gait, and forms bent by burdens. This gait, so different from the +steady and noble step of the men, marks the inferior position +they occupy. I had heard much eloquent contradiction of this. Mrs. +Schoolcraft had maintained to a friend, that they were in fact as +nearly on a par with their husbands as the white woman with hers. +"Although," said she, "on account of inevitable causes, the Indian +woman is subjected to many hardships of a peculiar nature, yet her +position, compared with that of the man, is higher and freer than that +of the white woman. Why will people look only on one side? They either +exalt the red man into a demigod, or degrade him into a beast. They +say that he compels his wife to do all the drudgery, while he does +nothing but hunt and amuse himself; forgetting that upon his activity +and power of endurance as a hunter depends the support of his +family; that this is labor of the most fatiguing kind, and that it is +absolutely necessary that he should keep his frame unbent by burdens +and unworn by toil, that he may be able to obtain the means of +subsistence. I have witnessed scenes of conjugal and parental love +in the Indian's wigwam, from, which I have often, often thought the +educated white man, proud of his superior civilization, might learn a +useful lesson. When he returns from hunting, worn out with, fatigue, +having tasted nothing since dawn, his wife, if she is a good wife, +will take off his moccasons and replace them with dry ones, and will +prepare his game for their repast, while his children will climb upon +him, and he will caress them, with all the tenderness of a woman; and +in the evening the Indian wigwam is the scene of the purest domestic +pleasures. The father will relate, for the amusement of the wife and +for the instruction of the children, all the events of the day's hunt, +while they will treasure up every word that falls, and thus learn +the theory of the art whose practice is to be the occupation of their +lives." + +Mrs. Grant speaks thus of the position of woman amid the Mohawk +Indians:-- + +"Lady Mary Montague says, that the court of Vienna was the paradise of +old women, and that there is no other place in the world where a woman +past fifty excites the least interest. Had her travels extended to +the interior of North America, she would have seen another instance of +this inversion of the common mode of thinking. Here a woman never was +of consequence, till sire had a son old enough to fight the battles of +his country. From, that date she held a superior rank in society; was +allowed to live at ease, and even called to consultations on national +affairs. In savage and warlike countries, the reign of beauty is very +short, and its influence comparatively limited. The girls in childhood +had a very pleasing appearance; but excepting their fine hair, +eyes, and teeth, every external grace was soon banished by perpetual +drudgery, carrying burdens too heavy to be borne, and other slavish +employments, considered beneath the dignity of the men. These walked +before, erect and graceful, decked with ornaments which set off to +advantage the symmetry of their well-formed persons, while the poor +women followed, meanly attired, bent under the weight of the children +and the utensils, which they carried everywhere with, them, and +disfigured and degraded by ceaseless toils. They were very early +married, for a Mohawk had no other servant but his wife; and whenever +he commenced hunter, it was requisite he should have some one to carry +his load, cook his kettle, make his moccasons, and, above all, produce +the young warriors who were to succeed him in the honors of the chase +and of the tomahawk. Wherever man is a mere hunter, woman is a mere +slave. It is domestic intercourse that softens man, and elevates +woman; and of that there can be but little, where the employments +and amusements are not in common. The ancient Caledonians honored the +fair; but then it is to be observed, they were fair huntresses, +and moved in the light of their beauty to the hill of roes; and the +culinary toils were entirely left to the rougher sex. When the young +warrior made his appearance, it softened the cares of his mother, who +well knew that, when he grew up, every deficiency in tenderness to his +wife would be made up in superabundant duty and affection to her. If +it were possible to carry filial veneration to excess, it was done +here; for all other charities were absorbed in it. I wonder this +system of depressing the sex in their early years, to exalt them, +when all their juvenile attractions are flown, and when mind alone +can distinguish them, has not occurred to our modern reformers. +The Mohawks took good care not to admit their women to share their +prerogatives, till they approved themselves good wives and mothers." + +The observations of women upon the position of woman are always more +valuable than those of men; but, of these two, Mrs. Grant's seem +much, nearer the truth than Mrs. Schoolcraft's, because, though her +opportunities for observation did not bring her so close, she looked +more at both sides to find the truth. + +Carver, in his travels among the Winnebagoes, describes two queens, +one nominally so, like Queen Victoria; the other invested with a +genuine royalty, springing from her own conduct. + +In the great town of the Winnebagoes, he found a queen presiding over +the tribe, instead of a sachem. He adds, that, in some tribes, the +descent is given to the female line in preference to the male, that +is, a sister's son will succeed to the authority, rather than a +brother's son. The position of this Winnebago queen reminded me +forcibly of Queen Victoria's. + +"She sat in the council, but only asked a few questions, or gave some +trifling directions in matters relative to the state, for women are +never allowed to sit in their councils, except they happen to be +invested with the supreme authority, and then it is not customary for +them to make any formal speeches, as the chiefs do. She was a very +ancient woman, small in stature, and not much distinguished by +her dress from several young women that attended her. These, her +attendants, seemed greatly pleased whenever I showed any tokens +of respect to their queen, especially when I saluted her, which I +frequently did to acquire her favor." + +The other was a woman, who, being taken captive, found means to kill +her captor, and make her escape; and the tribe were so struck with +admiration at the courage and calmness she displayed on the occasion, +as to make her chieftainess in her own light. + +Notwithstanding the homage paid to women, and the consequence allowed +them in some cases, it is impossible to look upon the Indian women +without feeling that they _do_ occupy a lower place than women among +the nations of European civilization. The habits of drudgery expressed +in their form and gesture, the soft and wild but melancholy expression +of their eye, reminded me of the tribe mentioned by Mackenzie, where +the women destroy their female children, whenever they have a good +opportunity; and of the eloquent reproaches addressed by the Paraguay +woman to her mother, that she had not, in the same way, saved her from +the anguish and weariness of her lot. + +More weariness than anguish, no doubt, falls to the lot of most of +these women. They inherit submission, and the minds of the generality +accommodate themselves more or less to any posture. Perhaps they +suffer less than their white sisters, who have more aspiration and +refinement, with little power of self-sustenance. But their place is +certainly lower, and their share of the human inheritance less. + +Their decorum and delicacy are striking, and show that, when these are +native to the mind, no habits of life make any difference. Their whole +gesture is timid, yet self-possessed. They used to crowd round me, to +inspect little things I had to show them, but never press near; on the +contrary, would reprove and keep off the children. Anything they took +from my hand was held with care, then shut or folded, and returned +with an air of lady-like precision. They would not stare, however +curious they might be, but cast sidelong glances. + +A locket that I wore was an object of untiring interest; they seemed +to regard it as a talisman. My little sun-shade was still more +fascinating to them; apparently they had never before seen one. For an +umbrella they entertained profound regard, probably looking upon it as +the most luxurious superfluity a person can possess, and therefore a +badge of great wealth. I used to see an old squaw, whose sullied +skin and coarse, tanned locks told that she had braved sun and storm, +without a doubt or care, for sixty years at least, sitting gravely at +the door of her lodge, with an old green umbrella over her head, happy +for hours together in the dignified shade. For her happiness pomp +came not, as it so often does, too late; she received it with grateful +enjoyment. + +One day, as I was seated on one of the canoes, a woman came and sat +beside me, with her baby in its cradle set up at her feet. She asked +me by a gesture to let her take my sun-shade, and then to show her how +to open it. Then she put it into her baby's hand, and held it over +its head, looking at me the while with a sweet, mischievous laugh, as +much, as to say, "You carry a thing that is only fit for a baby." Her +pantomime was very pretty. She, like the other women, had a glance, +and shy, sweet expression in the eye; the men have a steady gaze. + +That noblest and loveliest of modern Preux, Lord Edward Fitzgerald, +who came through Buffalo to Detroit and Mackinaw, with Brant, and was +adopted into the Bear tribe by the name of Eghnidal, was struck in +the same way by the delicacy of manners in women. He says: +"Notwithstanding the life they lead, which would make most women rough +and masculine, they are as soft, meek, and modest as the best brought +up girls in England. Somewhat coquettish too! Imagine the manners of +Mimi in a poor _squaw_, that has been carrying packs in the woods all +her life." + +McKenney mentions that the young wife, during the short bloom of her +beauty, is an object of homage and tenderness to her husband. One +Indian woman, the Flying Pigeon, a beautiful and excellent person, of +whom he gives some particulars, is an instance of the power uncommon +characters will always exert of breaking down the barriers custom has +erected round them. She captivated by her charms, and inspired her +husband and son with, reverence for her character. The simple praise +with which the husband indicates the religion, the judgment, and the +generosity he saw in her, are as satisfying as Count Zinzendorf's more +labored eulogium on his "noble consort." The conduct of her son, +when, many years after her death, he saw her picture at Washington, is +unspeakably affecting. Catlin gives anecdotes of the grief of a +chief for the loss of a daughter, and the princely gifts he offers +in exchange for her portrait, worthy not merely of European, but of +Troubadour sentiment. It is also evident that, as Mrs. Schoolcraft +says, the women have great power at home. It can never be otherwise, +men being dependent upon them for the comfort of their lives. Just +so among ourselves, wives who are neither esteemed nor loved by their +husbands have great power over their conduct by the friction of +every day, and over the formation of their opinions by the daily +opportunities so close a relation affords of perverting testimony +and instilling doubts. But these sentiments should not come in brief +flashes, but burn as a steady flame; then there would be more women +worthy to inspire them. This power is good for nothing, unless the +woman be wise to use it aright. Has the Indian, has the white woman, +as noble a feeling of life and its uses, as religious a self-respect, +as worthy a field of thought and action, as man? If not, the white +woman, the Indian woman, occupies a position inferior to that of man. +It is not so much a question of power, as of privilege. + +The men of these subjugated tribes, now accustomed to drunkenness and +every way degraded, bear but a faint impress of the lost grandeur of +the race. They are no longer strong, tall, or finely proportioned. +Yet, as you see them stealing along a height, or striding boldly +forward, they remind you of what _was_ majestic in the red man. + +On the shores of Lake Superior, it is said, if you visit them at +home, you may still see a remnant of the noble blood. The Pillagers +(Pilleurs), a band celebrated by the old travellers, are still +existent there. + + "Still some, 'the eagles of their tribe,' may rush." + +I have spoken of the hatred felt by the white man for the Indian: with +white women it seems to amount to disgust, to loathing. How I could +endure the dirt, the peculiar smell, of the Indians, and their +dwellings, was a great marvel in the eyes of my lady acquaintance; +indeed, I wonder why they did not quite give me up, as they certainly +looked on me with great distaste for it. "Get you gone, you Indian +dog," was the felt, if not the breathed, expression towards the +hapless owners of the soil;--all their claims, all their sorrows quite +forgot, in abhorrence of their dirt, their tawny skins, and the vices +the whites have taught them. + +A person who had seen them during great part of a life expressed his +prejudices to me with such violence, that I was no longer surprised +that the Indian children threw sticks at him, as he passed. A lady +said: "Do what you will for them, they will be ungrateful. The savage +cannot be washed out of them. Bring up an Indian child, and see if you +can attach it to you." The next moment, she expressed, in the presence +of one of those children whom she was bringing up, loathing at the +odor left by one of her people, and one of the most respected, as +he passed through the room. When the child is grown, she will be +considered basely ungrateful not to love the lady, as she certainly +will not; and this will be cited as an instance of the impossibility +of attaching the Indian. + +Whether the Indian could, by any efforts of love and intelligence +from, the white man, have been civilized and made a valuable +ingredient in the new state, I will not say; but this we are sure +of,--the French Catholics, at least, did not harm them, nor disturb +their minds merely to corrupt them. The French, they loved. But the +stern Presbyterian, with his dogmas and his task-work, the city circle +and the college, with their niggard concessions and unfeeling stare, +have never tried the experiment. It has not been tried. Our people and +our government have sinned alike against the first-born of the +soil, and if they are the fated agents of a new era, they have done +nothing,--have invoked no god to keep them sinless while they do the +hest of fate. + +Worst of all is it, when they invoke the holy power only to mask their +iniquity; when the felon trader, who, all the week, has been besotting +and degrading the Indian with rum mixed with red pepper, and damaged +tobacco, kneels with him on Sunday before a common altar, to tell +the rosary which recalls the thought of Him crucified for love of +suffering men, and to listen to sermons in praise of "purity"!! + +"My savage friends," cries the old, fat priest, "you must, above all +things, aim at _purity_." + +Oh! my heart swelled when I saw them in a Christian church. Better +their own dog-feasts and bloody rites than such mockery of that other +faith. + +"The dog," said an Indian, "was once a spirit; he has fallen for his +sin, and was given by the Great Spirit, in this shape, to man, as his +most intelligent companion. Therefore we sacrifice it in highest honor +to our friends in this world,--to our protecting geniuses in another." + +There was religion in that thought. The white man sacrifices his own +brother, and to Mammon, yet he turns in loathing from, the dog-feast. + +"You say," said the Indian of the South to the missionary, "that +Christianity is pleasing to God. How can that be?--Those men at +Savannah are Christians." + +Yes! slave-drivers and Indian traders are called Christians, and the +Indian is to be deemed less like the Son of Mary than they! Wonderful +is the deceit of man's heart! + +I have not, on seeing something of them in their own haunts, found +reason to change the sentiments expressed in the following lines, when +a deputation of the Sacs and Foxes visited Boston in 1837, and were, +by one person at least, received in a dignified and courteous manner. + + +GOVERNOR EVERETT RECEIVING THE INDIAN CHIEFS, + +NOVEMBER, 1837. + + Who says that Poesy is on the wane, + And that the Muses tune their lyres in vain? + 'Mid all the treasures of romantic story, + When thought was fresh and fancy in her glory, + Has ever Art found out a richer theme, + More dark a shadow, or more soft a gleam, + Than fall upon the scene, sketched carelessly, + In the newspaper column of to-day? + + American romance is somewhat stale. + Talk of the hatchet, and the faces pale, + Wampum and calumets and forests dreary, + Once so attractive, now begins to weary. + Uncas and Magawisca please us still, + Unreal, yet idealized with skill; + But every poetaster, scribbling witling, + From the majestic oak his stylus whittling, + Has helped to tire us, and to make us fear + The monotone in which so much we hear + Of "stoics of the wood," and "men without a tear." + + Yet Nature, ever buoyant, ever young, + If let alone, will sing as erst she sung; + The course of circumstance gives back again + The Picturesque, erewhile pursued in vain; + Shows us the fount of Romance is not wasted,-- + The lights and shades of contrast not exhausted. + + Shorn of his strength, the Samson now must sue + For fragments from the feast his fathers gave; + The Indian dare not claim what is his due, + But as a boon his heritage must crave; + His stately form shall soon be seen no more + Through all his father's land, the Atlantic shore; + Beneath the sun, to _us_ so kind, _they_ melt, + More heavily each day our rule is felt. + The tale is old,--we do as mortals must: + Might makes right here, but God and Time are just. + + Though, near the drama hastens to its close, + On this last scene awhile your eyes repose; + The polished Greek and Scythian meet again, + The ancient life is lived by modern men; + The savage through our busy cities walks, + He in his untouched, grandeur silent stalks. + Unmoved by all our gayeties and shows, + Wonder nor shame can touch him as he goes; + He gazes on the marvels we have wrought, + But knows the models from whence all was brought; + In God's first temples he has stood so oft, + And listened to the natural organ-loft, + Has watched the eagle's flight, the muttering thunder heard. + Art cannot move him to a wondering word. + Perhaps he sees that all this luxury + Brings less food to the mind than to the eye; + Perhaps a simple sentiment has brought + More to him than your arts had ever taught. + What are the petty triumphs _Art_ has given, + To eyes familiar with the naked heaven? + + All has been seen,--dock, railroad, and canal, + Fort, market, bridge, college, and arsenal, + Asylum, hospital, and cotton-mill, + The theatre, the lighthouse, and the jail. + The Braves each novelty, reflecting, saw, + And now and then growled out the earnest "_Yaw_." + And now the time is come, 'tis understood, + When, having seen and thought so much, a _talk_ may do some good. + + A well-dressed mob have thronged the sight to greet, + And motley figures throng the spacious street; + Majestical and calm through all they stride, + Wearing the blanket with a monarch's pride; + The gazers stare and shrug, but can't deny + Their noble forms and blameless symmetry. + If the Great Spirit their _morale_ has slighted, + And wigwam smoke their mental culture blighted, + Yet the _physique_, at least, perfection reaches, + In wilds where neither Combe nor Spurzheim teaches; + Where whispering trees invite man to the chase, + And bounding deer allure him to the race. + + Would thou hadst seen it! That dark, stately band, + Whose ancestors enjoyed all this fair land, + Whence they, by force or fraud, were made to flee, + Are brought, the white man's victory to see. + Can kind emotions in their proud hearts glow, + As through these realms, now decked by Art, they go? + The church, the school, the railroad, and the mart,-- + Can these a pleasure to their minds impart? + All once was theirs,--earth, ocean, forest, sky,-- + How can they joy in what now meets the eye? + Not yet Religion has unlocked the soul, + Nor Each has learned to glory in the Whole! + + Must they not think, so strange and sad their lot, + That they by the Great Spirit are forgot? + From the far border to which they are driven, + They might look up in trust to the clear heaven; + But _here_,--what tales doth every object tell + Where Massasoit sleeps, where Philip fell! + + We take our turn, and the Philosopher + Sees through the clouds a hand which cannot err + An unimproving race, with all their graces + And all their vices, must resign their places; + And Human Culture rolls its onward flood + Over the broad plains steeped in Indian blood + Such thoughts steady our faith; yet there will rise + Some natural tears into the calmest eyes,-- + Which gaze where forest princes haughty go, + Made for a gaping crowd a raree-show. + + But _this_ a scene seems where, in courtesy, + The pale face with the forest prince could vie, + For one presided, who, for tact and grace, + In any age had held an honored place,-- + In Beauty's own dear day had shone a polished Phidian vase! + + Oft have I listened to his accents bland, + And owned the magic of his silvery voice, + In all the graces which life's arts demand, + Delighted by the justness of his choice. + Not his the stream of lavish, fervid thought,-- + The rhetoric by passion's magic wrought; + Not his the massive style, the lion port, + Which with the granite class of mind assort; + But, in a range of excellence his own, + With all the charms to soft persuasion known, + Amid our busy people we admire him,--"elegant and lone." + + He scarce needs words: so exquisite the skill + Which modulates the tones to do his will, + That the mere sound enough would charm the ear, + And lap in its Elysium all who hear. + The intellectual paleness of his cheek, + The heavy eyelids and slow, tranquil smile, + The well-cut lips from which the graces speak, + Pit him alike to win or to beguile; + Then those words so well chosen, fit, though few, + Their linked sweetness as our thoughts pursue, + We deem them spoken pearls, or radiant diamond dew. + + And never yet did I admire the power + Which makes so lustrous every threadbare theme,-- + Which won for La Fayette one other hour, + And e'en on July Fourth could cast a gleam,-- + As now, when I behold him play the host, + With all the dignity which red men boast,-- + With all the courtesy the whites have lost; + Assume the very hue of savage mind, + Yet in rude accents show the thought refined; + Assume the _naivete_ of infant age, + And in such prattle seem still more a sage; + The golden mean with tact unerring seized, + A courtly critic shone, a simple savage pleased. + The stoic of the woods his skill confessed, + As all the father answered in his breast; + To the sure mark the silver arrow sped, + The "man without a tear" a tear has shed; + And them hadst wept, hadst thou been there, to see + How true one sentiment must ever be, + In court or camp, the city or the wild,-- + To rouse the father's heart, you need but name his child. + +The speech of Governor Everett on that occasion was admirable; as I +think, the happiest attempt ever made to meet the Indian in his own +way, and catch the tone of his mind. It was said, in the newspapers, +that Keokuck did actually shed tears when addressed as a father. If he +did not with his eyes, he well might in his heart. + +Not often have they been addressed with such intelligence and tact. +The few who have not approached them with sordid rapacity, but from +love to them, as men having souls to be redeemed, have most frequently +been persons intellectually too narrow, too straitly bound in sects +or opinions, to throw themselves into the character or position of +the Indians, or impart to them anything they can make available. The +Christ shown them by these missionaries is to them but a new and more +powerful Manito; the signs of the new religion, but the fetiches that +have aided the conquerors. + +Here I will copy some remarks made by a discerning observer, on the +methods used by the missionaries, and their natural results. + +"Mr. ---- and myself had a very interesting conversation, upon the +subject of the Indians, their character, capabilities, &c. After ten +years' experience among them, he was forced to acknowledge that the +results of the missionary efforts had produced nothing calculated to +encourage. He thought that there was an intrinsic disability in them +to rise above, or go beyond, the sphere in which they had so long +moved. He said, that even those Indians who had been converted, and +who had adopted the habits of civilization, were very little improved +in their real character; they were as selfish, as deceitful, and +as indolent, as those who were still heathens. They had repaid the +kindnesses of the missionaries with the basest ingratitude, killing +their cattle and swine, and robbing them of their harvests, which, +they wantonly destroyed. He had abandoned the idea of effecting any +general good to the Indians. He had conscientious scruples as to +promoting an enterprise so hopeless as that of missions among +the Indians, by sending accounts to the East that might induce +philanthropic individuals to contribute to their support. In fact, the +whole experience of his intercourse with them seemed to have convinced +him of the irremediable degradation of the race. Their fortitude +under suffering he considered the result of physical and mental +insensibility; their courage, a mere animal excitement, which they +found it necessary to inflame, before daring to meet a foe. They have +no constancy of purpose; and are, in fact, but little superior to the +brutes in point of moral development. It is not astonishing, that one +looking upon the Indian character from Mr. ----'s point of view should +entertain such sentiments. The object of his intercourse with them +was, to make them apprehend the mysteries of a theology, which, to the +most enlightened, is an abstruse, metaphysical study; and it is not +singular they should prefer their pagan superstitions, which address +themselves more directly to the senses. Failing in the attempt to +Christianize before civilizing them, he inferred that in the intrinsic +degradation of their faculties the obstacle was to be found." + +Thus the missionary vainly attempts, by once or twice holding up the +cross, to turn deer and tigers into lambs; vainly attempts to convince +the red man that a heavenly mandate takes from him his broad lands. He +bows his head, but does not at heart acquiesce. He cannot. It is not +true; and if it were, the descent of blood through the same channels, +for centuries, has formed habits of thought not so easily to be +disturbed. + +Amalgamation would afford the only true and profound means of +civilization. But nature seems, like all else, to declare that this +race is fated to perish. Those of mixed blood fade early, and are not +generally a fine race. They lose what is best in either type, +rather than enhance the value of each, by mingling. There are +exceptions,--one or two such I know of,--but this, it is said, is the +general rule. + +A traveller observes, that the white settlers who live in the woods +soon become sallow, lanky, and dejected; the atmosphere of the trees +does not agree with Caucasian lungs; and it is, perhaps, in part an +instinct of this which causes the hatred of the new settlers towards +trees. The Indian breathed the atmosphere of the forests freely; he +loved their shade. As they are effaced from the land, he fleets too; a +part of the same manifestation, which cannot linger behind its proper +era. + +The Chippewas have lately petitioned the State of Michigan, that they +may be admitted as citizens; but this would be vain, unless they could +be admitted, as brothers, to the heart of the white man. And while +the latter feels that conviction of superiority which enabled our +Wisconsin friend to throw away the gun, and send the Indian to +fetch it, he needs to be very good, and very wise, not to abuse his +position. But the white man, as yet, is a half-tamed pirate, and +avails himself as much as ever of the maxim, "Might makes right." All +that civilization does for the generality is to cover up this with a +veil of subtle evasions and chicane, and here and there to rouse the +individual mind to appeal to Heaven against it. + +I have no hope of liberalizing the missionary, of humanizing the +sharks of trade, of infusing the conscientious drop into the flinty +bosom of policy, of saving the Indian from immediate degradation and +speedy death. The whole sermon may be preached from the text, "Needs +be that offences must come, yet woe onto them by whom they come." +Yet, ere they depart, I wish there might be some masterly attempt to +reproduce, in art or literature, what is proper to them,--a kind of +beauty and grandeur which few of the every-day crowd have hearts to +feel, yet which ought to leave in the world its monuments, to inspire +the thought of genius through all ages. Nothing in this kind has been +done masterly; since it was Clevengers's ambition, 't is pity he had +not opportunity to try fully his powers. We hope some other mind may +be bent upon it, ere too late. At present the only lively impress +of their passage through the world is to be found in such books as +Catlin's, and some stories told by the old travellers. + +Let me here give another brief tale of the power exerted by the +white man over the savage in a trying case; but in this case it was +righteous, was moral power. + +"We were looking over McKenney's Tour to the Lakes, and, on observing +the picture of Key-way-no-wut, or the Going Cloud, Mr. B. observed, +'Ah, that is the fellow I came near having a fight with'; and he +detailed at length the circumstances. This Indian was a very desperate +character, and of whom, all the Leech Lake band stood in fear. He +would shoot down any Indian who offended him, without the least +hesitation, and had become quite the bully of that part of the tribe. +The trader at Leech Lake warned Mr. B. to beware of him, and said that +he once, when he (the trader) refused to give up to him his stock of +wild-rice, went and got his gun and tomahawk, and shook the tomahawk +over his head, saying, '_Now_, give me your wild-rice.' The trader +complied with his exaction, but not so did Mr. B. in the adventure +which I am about to relate. Key-way-no-wut came frequently to him with +furs, wishing him to give for them, cotton-cloth, sugar, flour, &c. +Mr. B. explained to him that he could not trade for furs, as he was +sent there as a teacher, and that it would be like putting his hand +into the fire to do so, as the traders would inform against him, and +he would be sent out of the country. At the same time, he _gave_ +him the articles which he wished. Key-way-no-wut found this a very +convenient way of getting what he wanted, and followed up this sort +of game, until, at last, it became insupportable. One day the Indian +brought a very large otter-skin, and said, 'I want to get for this +ten pounds of sugar, and some flour and cloth,' adding, 'I am not like +other Indians, _I_ want to pay for what I get.' Mr. B. found that he +must either be robbed of all he had by submitting to these exactions, +or take a stand at once. He thought, however, he would try to avoid a +scrape, and told his customer he had not so much sugar to spare. 'Give +me, then,' said he, 'what you can spare'; and Mr. B., thinking to make +him back out, told him he would, give him five pounds of sugar for his +skin. 'Take it,' said the Indian. He left the skin, telling Mr. B. to +take good care of it. Mr. B. took it at once to the trader's store, +and related the circumstance, congratulating himself that he had got +rid of the Indian's exactions. But in about a month Key-way-no-wut +appeared, bringing some dirty Indian sugar, and said, 'I have brought +back the sugar that I borrowed of you, and I want my otter-skin back.' +Mr. B. told him, 'I _bought_ an otter-skin of you, but if you will +return the other articles you have got for it, perhaps I can get it +for you.' 'Where is the skin?' said he very quickly; 'what have you +done with it?' Mr. B. replied it was in the trader's store, where he +(the Indian) could not get it. At this information he was furious, +laid his hands on his knife and tomahawk, and commanded Mr. B. to +bring it at once. Mr. B. found this was the crisis, where he must take +a stand or be 'rode over rough-shod' by this man. His wife, who was +present was much alarmed, and begged he would get the skin for the +Indian, but he told her that 'either he or the Indian would soon be +master of his house, and if she was afraid to see it decided which +was to be so, she had better retire,' He turned to Key-way-no-wut, and +addressed him in a stern voice as follows: 'I will _not_ give you the +skin. How often have you come to my house, and I have shared with you +what I had. I gave you tobacco when you were well, and medicine when +you were sick, and you never went away from my wigwam with your hands +empty. And this is the way you return my treatment to you. I had +thought you were a man and a chief, but you are not, you are nothing +but an old woman. Leave this house, and never enter it again.' Mr. B. +said he expected the Indian would attempt his life when he said this, +but that he had placed himself in a position so that he could defend +himself, and looked straight into the Indian's eye, and, like other +wild beasts, he quailed before the glance of mental and moral courage. +He calmed down at once, and soon began to make apologies. Mr. B. then +told him kindly, but firmly, that, if he wished to walk in the same +path with him, he must walk as straight as the crack on the floor +before them; adding, that he would not walk with anybody who would +jostle him by walking so crooked as he had done. He was perfectly +tamed, and Mr. B. said he never had any more trouble with him." + +The conviction here livingly enforced of the superiority on the side +of the white man, was thus expressed by the Indian orator at Mackinaw +while we were there. After the customary compliments about sun, dew, +&c., "This," said he, "is the difference between the white and the +red man; the white man looks to the future and paves the way for +posterity. The red man never thought of this." This is a statement +uncommonly refined for an Indian; but one of the gentlemen present, +who understood the Chippewa, vouched for it as a literal rendering of +his phrases; and he did indeed touch the vital point of difference. +But the Indian, if he understands, cannot make use of his +intelligence. The fate of his people is against it, and Pontiac and +Philip have no more chance than Julian in the times of old. + +The Indian is steady to that simple creed which forms the basis of all +his mythology; that there is a God and a life beyond this; a right and +wrong which each man can see, betwixt which each man should choose; +that good brings with it its reward, and vice its punishment. His +moral code, if not as refined as that of civilized nations, is +clear and noble in the stress laid upon truth and fidelity. And all +unprejudiced observers bear testimony, that the Indians, until broken +from their old anchorage by intercourse with the whites,--who offer +them, instead, a religion of which they furnish neither interpretation +nor example,--were singularly virtuous, if virtue be allowed to +consist in a man's acting up to his own ideas of right. + +My friend, who joined me at Mackinaw, happened, on the homeward +journey, to see a little Chinese girl, who had been sent over by one +of the missionaries, and observed that, in features, complexion, and +gesture, she was a counterpart to the little Indian girls she had just +seen playing about on the lake shore. + +The parentage of these tribes is still an interesting subject of +speculation, though, if they be not created for this region, they have +become so assimilated to it as to retain little trace of any other. To +me it seems most probable, that a peculiar race was bestowed on each +region,[A] as the lion on one latitude and the white bear on another. +As man has two natures,--one, like that of the plants and animals, +adapted to the uses and enjoyments of this planet, another which +presages and demands a higher sphere,--he is constantly breaking +bounds, in proportion as the mental gets the better of the mere +instinctive existence. As yet, he loses in harmony of being what he +gains in height and extension; the civilized man is a larger mind, but +a more imperfect nature, than the savage. + +[Footnote A: Professor Agassiz has recently published some able +scientific papers tending to enforce this theory.--ED.] + +We hope there will be a national institute, containing all the remains +of the Indians, all that has been preserved by official intercourse at +Washington, Catlin's collection, and a picture-gallery as complete +as can be made, with a collection of skulls from all parts of the +country. To this should be joined the scanty library that exists on +the subject. + +A little pamphlet, giving an account of the massacre at Chicago, has +lately; been published, which I wish much I had seen while there, as +it would have imparted an interest to spots otherwise barren. It is +written with animation, and in an excellent style, telling just what +we want to hear, and no more. The traits given of Indian generosity +are as characteristic as those of Indian cruelty. A lady, who was +saved by a friendly chief holding her under the waters of the lake, at +the moment the balls endangered her, received also, in the heat of the +conflict, a reviving draught from a squaw, who saw she was exhausted; +and as she lay down, a mat was hung up between her and the scene of +butchery, so that she was protected from the sight, though she could +not be from sounds full of horror. + +I have not wished to write sentimentally about the Indians, however +moved by the thought of their wrongs and speedy extinction. I know +that the Europeans who took possession of this country felt themselves +justified by their superior civilization and religious ideas. Had they +been truly civilized or Christianized, the conflicts which sprang +from the collision of the two races might have been avoided; but this +cannot be expected in movements made by masses of men. The mass has +never yet been humanized, though the age may develop a human thought. +Since those conflicts and differences did arise, the hatred which +sprang from terror and suffering, on the European side, has naturally +warped the whites still further from justice. + +The Indian, brandishing the scalps of his wife and friends, drinking +their blood, and eating their hearts, is by him viewed as a fiend, +though, at a distant day, he will no doubt be considered as having +acted the Roman or Carthaginian part of heroic and patriotic +self-defence, according to the standard of right and motives +prescribed by his religious faith and education. Looked at by his +own standard, he is virtuous when he most injures his enemy, and the +white, if he be really the superior in enlargement of thought, ought +to cast aside his inherited prejudices enough to see this, to look on +him in pity and brotherly good-will, and do all he can to mitigate the +doom of those who survive his past injuries. + +In McKenney's book is proposed a project for organizing the Indians +under a patriarchal government; but it does not look feasible, even +on paper. Could their own intelligent men be left to act unimpeded +in their behalf, they would do far better for them than the white +thinker, with all his general knowledge. But we dare not hope +the designs of such will not always be frustrated by barbarous +selfishness, as they were in Georgia. _There_ was a chance of seeing +what might have been done, now lost for ever. + +Yet let every man look to himself how far this blood shall be required +at his hands. Let the missionary, instead of preaching to the Indian, +preach to the trader who ruins him, of the dreadful account which will +be demanded of the followers of Cain, in a sphere where the accents +of purity and love come on the ear more decisively than in ours. Let +every legislator take the subject to heart, and, if he cannot undo the +effects of past sin, try for that clear view and right sense that may +save us from sinning still more deeply. And let every man and every +woman, in their private dealings with the subjugated race, avoid all +share in embittering, by insult or unfeeling prejudice, the captivity +of Israel. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +SAULT ST. MARIE.--ST. JOSEPH'S ISLAND.--THE LAND OF +MUSIC.--RAPIDS.--HOMEWARD.--GENERAL HULL.--THE BOOK TO THE READER. + + +Nine days I passed alone at Mackinaw, except for occasional visits +from kind and agreeable residents at the fort, and Mr. and Mrs. A. Mr. +A., long engaged in the fur-trade, is gratefully remembered by many +travellers. From Mrs. A., also, I received kind attentions, paid in +the vivacious and graceful manner of her nation. + +The society at the boarding-house entertained, being of a kind +entirely new to me. There were many traders from the remote stations, +such as La Pointe, Arbre Croche,--men who had become half wild and +wholly rude by living in the wild; but good-humored, observing, and +with a store of knowledge to impart, of the kind proper to their +place. + +There were two little girls here, that were pleasant companions for +me. One gay, frank, impetuous, but sweet and winning. She was an +American, fair, and with bright brown hair. The other, a little French +Canadian, used to join me in my walks, silently take my hand, and +sit at my feet when I stopped in beautiful places. She seemed to +understand without a word; and I never shall forget her little figure, +with its light, but pensive motion, and her delicate, grave features, +with the pale, clear complexion and soft eye. She was motherless, and +much left alone by her father and brothers, who were boatmen. The two +little girls were as pretty representatives of Allegro and Penseroso +as one would wish to see. + +I had been wishing that a boat would come in to take me to the Sault +St. Marie, and several times started to the window at night in hopes +that the pant and dusky-red light crossing the waters belonged to such +an one; but they were always boats for Chicago or Buffalo, till, on +the 28th of August, Allegro, who shared my plans and wishes, rushed +in to tell me that the General Scott had come; and in this little +steamer, accordingly, I set off the next morning. + +I was the only lady, and attended in the cabin by a Dutch girl and +an Indian woman. They both spoke English fluently, and entertained me +much by accounts of their different experiences. + +The Dutch girl told me of a dance among the common people at +Amsterdam, called the shepherd's dance. The two leaders are dressed +as shepherd and shepherdess; they invent to the music all kinds of +movements, descriptive of things that may happen in the field, and the +rest are obliged to follow. I have never heard of any dance which gave +such free play to the fancy as this. French dances merely describe +the polite movements of society; Spanish and Neapolitan, love; the +beautiful Mazurkas, &c. are war-like or expressive of wild scenery. +But in this one is great room both for fun and fancy. + +The Indian was married, when young, by her parents, to a man she did +not love. He became dissipated, and did not maintain her. She left +him, taking with her their child, for whom and herself she earns a +subsistence by going as chambermaid in these boats. Now and then, she +said, her husband called on her, and asked if he might live with her +again; but she always answered, No. Here she was far freer than she +would have been in civilized life. I was pleased by the nonchalance of +this woman, and the perfectly national manner she had preserved after +so many years of contact with all kinds of people. + +The two women, when I left the boat, made me presents of Indian work, +such as travellers value, and the manner of the two was characteristic +of their different nations. The Indian brought me hers, when I was +alone, looked bashfully down when she gave it, and made an almost +sentimental little speech. The Dutch girl brought hers in public, and, +bridling her short chin with a self-complacent air, observed she had +_bought_ it for me. But the feeling of affectionate regard was the +same in the minds of both. + +Island after island we passed, all fairly shaped and clustering in a +friendly way, but with little variety of vegetation. In the afternoon +the weather became foggy, and we could not proceed after dark. That +was as dull an evening as ever fell. + +The next morning the fog still lay heavy, but the captain took me out +in his boat on an exploring expedition, and we found the remains of +the old English fort on Point St. Joseph's. All around was so wholly +unmarked by anything but stress of wind and weather, the shores of +these islands and their woods so like one another, wild and lonely, +but nowhere rich and majestic, that there was some charm, in the +remains of the garden, the remains even of chimneys and a pier. They +gave feature to the scene. + +Here I gathered many flowers, but they were the same as at Mackinaw. + +The captain, though he had been on this trip hundreds of times, had +never seen this spot, and never would but for this fog, and his desire +to entertain me. He presented a striking instance how men, for the +sake of getting a living, forget to live. It is just the same in the +most romantic as the most dull and vulgar places. Men get the harness +on so fast, that they can never shake it off, unless they guard +against this danger from the very first. In Chicago, how many men live +who never find time to see the prairies, or learn anything unconnected +with the business of the day, or about the country they are living in! + +So this captain, a man of strong sense and good eyesight, rarely found +time to go off the track or look about him on it. He lamented, too, +that there had been no call which, induced him to develop his powers +of expression, so that he might communicate what he had seen for the +enjoyment or instruction of others. + +This is a common fault among the active men, the truly living, who +could tell what life is. It should not be so. Literature should not be +left to the mere literati,--eloquence to the mere orator; every Caesar +should be able to write his own commentary. We want a more equal, more +thorough, more harmonious development, and there is nothing to hinder +the men of this country from it, except their own supineness, or +sordid views. + +When the weather did clear, our course up the river was delightful. +Long stretched before us the island of St. Joseph's, with its fair +woods of sugar-maple. A gentleman on board, who belongs to the Fort +at the Sault, said their pastime was to come in the season of making +sugar, and pass some time on this island,--the days at work, and the +evening in dancing and other amusements. Work of this kind done in the +open air, where everything is temporary, and every utensil prepared +on the spot, gives life a truly festive air. At such times, there is +labor and no care,--energy with gayety, gayety of the heart. + +I think with the same pleasure of the Italian vintage, the Scotch +harvest-home, with its evening dance in the barn, the Russian +cabbage-feast even, and our huskings and hop-gatherings. The +hop-gatherings, where the groups of men and girls are pulling down and +filling baskets with the gay festoons, present as graceful pictures as +the Italian vintage. + +How pleasant is the course along a new river, the sight of new shores! +like a life, would but life flow as fast, and upbear us with as full a +stream. I hoped we should come in sight of the rapids by daylight; but +the beautiful sunset was quite gone, and only a young moon trembling +over the scene, when we came within hearing of them. + +I sat up long to hear them merely. It was a thoughtful hour. These +two days, the 29th and 30th of August, are memorable in my life; +the latter is the birthday of a near friend. I pass them alone, +approaching Lake Superior; but I shall not enter into that truly +wild and free region; shall not have the canoe voyage, whose daily +adventure, with the camping out at night beneath the stars, would have +given an interlude of such value to my existence. I shall not see the +Pictured Rocks, their chapels and urns. It did not depend on me; it +never has, whether such things shall be done or not. + +My friends! may they see, and do, and be more; especially those who +have before them a greater number of birthdays, and a more healthy and +unfettered existence! + +I should like to hear some notes of earthly music to-night. By the +faint moonshine I can hardly see the banks; how they look I have no +guess, except that there are trees, and, now and then, a light lets me +know there are homes, with their various interests. I should like to +hear some strains of the flute from beneath those trees, just to break +the sound of the rapids. + + THE LAND OF MUSIC. + + When no gentle eyebeam charms; + No fond hope the bosom warms; + Of thinking the lone mind is tired,-- + Naught seems bright to be desired. + + Music, be thy sails unfurled; + Bear me to thy better world; + O'er a cold and weltering sea, + Blow thy breezes warm and free. + + By sad sighs they ne'er were chilled, + By sceptic spell were never stilled. + Take me to that far-off shore, + Where lovers meet to part no more. + There doubt and fear and sin are o'er; + The star of love shall set no more. + +With the first light of dawn I was up and out, and then was glad I had +not seen all the night before, it came upon me with such power in its +dewy freshness. O, they are beautiful indeed, these rapids! The grace +is so much more obvious than the power. I went up through the old +Chippewa burying-ground to their head, and sat down on a large stone +to look. A little way off was one of the home-lodges, unlike in shape +to the temporary ones at Mackinaw, but these have been described by +Mrs. Jameson. Women, too, I saw coming home from the woods, stooping +under great loads of cedar-boughs, that were strapped upon their +backs. But in many European countries women carry great loads, even of +wood, upon their backs. I used to hear the girls singing and laughing +as they were cutting down boughs at Mackinaw; this part of their +employment, though laborious, gives them the pleasure of being a great +deal in the free woods. + +I had ordered a canoe to take me down the rapids, and presently I saw +it coming, with the two Indian canoe-men in pink calico shirts, moving +it about with their long poles, with a grace and dexterity worthy +fairy-land. Now and then they cast the scoop-net;--all looked just as +I had fancied, only far prettier. + +When they came to me, they spread a mat in the middle of the canoe; I +sat down, and in less than four minutes we had descended the rapids, +a distance of more than three quarters of a mile. I was somewhat +disappointed in this being no more of an exploit than I found it. +Having heard such expressions used as of "darting," or "shooting +down," these rapids, I had fancied there was a wall of rock somewhere, +where descent would somehow be accomplished, and that there would come +some one gasp of terror and delight, some sensation entirely new to +me; but I found myself in smooth water, before I had time to feel +anything but the buoyant pleasure of being carried so lightly through +this surf amid the breakers. Now and then the Indians spoke to +one another in a vehement jabber, which, however, had no tone that +expressed other than pleasant excitement. It is, no doubt, an act of +wonderful dexterity to steer amid these jagged rocks, when one +rude touch would tear a hole in the birch canoe; but these men are +evidently so used to doing it, and so adroit, that the silliest person +could not feel afraid. I should like to have come down twenty times, +that I might have had leisure to realize the pleasure. But the fog +which had detained us on the way shortened the boat's stay at the +Sault, and I wanted my time to walk about. + +While coming down the rapids, the Indians caught a white-fish for my +breakfast; and certainly it was the best of breakfasts. The +white-fish I found quite another thing caught on the spot, and cooked +immediately, from what I had found it at Chicago or Mackinaw. Before, +I had had the bad taste to prefer the trout, despite the solemn and +eloquent remonstrances of the _habitues_, to whom the superiority of +white-fish seemed a cardinal point of faith. + +I am here reminded that I have omitted that indispensable part of a +travelling journal, the account of what we found to eat. I cannot hope +to make up, by one bold stroke, all my omissions of daily record; +but that I may show myself not destitute of the common feelings of +humanity, I will observe that he whose affections turn in summer +towards vegetables should not come to this region, till the subject +of diet be better understood; that of fruit, too, there is little yet, +even at the best hotel tables; that the prairie chickens require +no praise from me, and that the trout and white-fish are worthy the +transparency of the lake waters. + +In this brief mention I by no means intend to give myself an air of +superiority to the subject. If a dinner in the Illinois woods, on dry +bread and drier meat, with water from the stream that flowed hard by, +pleased me best of all, yet, at one time, when living at a house where +nothing was prepared for the table fit to touch, and even the bread +could not be partaken of without a headache in consequence, I learnt +to understand and sympathize with the anxious tone in which fathers +of families, about to take their innocent children into some scene of +wild beauty, ask first of all, "Is there a good, table?" I shall ask +just so in future. Only those whom the Powers have furnished with +small travelling cases of ambrosia can take exercise all day, and be +happy without even bread morning or night. + +Our voyage back was all pleasure. It was the fairest day. I saw the +river, the islands, the clouds, to the greatest advantage. + +On board was an old man, an Illinois farmer, whom I found a most +agreeable companion. He had just been with his son, and eleven other +young men, on an exploring expedition to the shores of Lake Superior. +He was the only old man of the party, but he had enjoyed most of any +the journey. He had been the counsellor and playmate, too, of the +young ones. He was one of those parents--why so rare?--who understand +and live a new life in that of their children, instead of wasting time +and young happiness in trying to make them conform to an object and +standard of their own. The character and history of each child may +be a new and poetic experience to the parent, if he will let it. +Our farmer was domestic, judicious, solid; the son, inventive, +enterprising, superficial, full of follies, full of resources, always +liable to failure, sure to rise above it. The father conformed to, and +learnt from, a character he could not change, and won the sweet from +the bitter. + +His account of his life at home, and of his late adventures among the +Indians, was very amusing, but I want talent to write it down, and I +have not heard the slang of these people intimately enough. There is a +good book about Indiana, called the New Purchase, written by a person +who knows the people of the country well enough to describe them in +their own way. It is not witty, but penetrating, valuable for its +practical wisdom and good-humored fun. + +There were many sportsman-stories told, too, by those from Illinois +and Wisconsin. I do not retain any of these well enough, nor any that +I heard earlier, to write them down, though they always interested me +from bringing wild natural scenes before the mind. It is pleasant +for the sportsman to be in countries so alive with game; yet it is so +plenty that one would think shooting pigeons or grouse would seem +more like slaughter, than the excitement of skill to a good sportsman. +Hunting the deer is full of adventure, and needs only a Scrope to +describe it to invest the Western woods with _historic_ associations. + +How pleasant it was to sit and hear rough men tell pieces out of their +own common lives, in place of the frippery talk of some fine circle +with its conventional sentiment, and timid, second-hand criticism. +Free blew the wind, and boldly flowed the stream, named for Mary +mother mild. + +A fine thunder-shower came on in the afternoon. It cleared at sunset, +just as we came in sight of beautiful Mackinaw, over which, a rainbow +bent in promise of peace. + +I have always wondered, in reading travels, at the childish joy +travellers felt at meeting people they knew, and their sense of +loneliness when they did not, in places where there was everything new +to occupy the attention. So childish, I thought, always to be longing +for the new in the old, and the old in the new. Yet just such sadness +I felt, when I looked on the island glittering in the sunset, canopied +by the rainbow, and thought no friend would welcome me there; just +such childish joy I felt to see unexpectedly on the landing the face +of one whom I called friend. + +The remaining two or three days were delightfully spent, in walking or +boating, or sitting at the window to see the Indians go. This was not +quite so pleasant as their coming in, though accomplished with +the same rapidity; a family not taking half an hour to prepare for +departure, and the departing canoe a beautiful object. But they left +behind, on all the shore, the blemishes of their stay,--old rags, +dried boughs, fragments of food, the marks of their fires. Nature +likes to cover up and gloss over spots and scars, but it would take +her some time to restore that beach to the state it was in before they +came. + +S. and I had a mind for a canoe excursion, and we asked one of the +traders to engage us two good Indians, that would not only take us +out, but be sure and bring us back, as we could not hold converse +with them. Two others offered their aid, beside the chief's son, +a fine-looking youth of about sixteen, richly dressed in blue +broadcloth, scarlet sash and leggins, with a scarf of brighter red +than the rest, tied around his head, its ends falling gracefully +on one shoulder. They thought it, apparently, fine amusement to +be attending two white women; they carried us into the path of +the steamboat, which was going out, and paddled with all their +force,--rather too fast, indeed, for there was something of a swell on +the lake, and they sometimes threw water into the canoe. However, it +flew over the waves, light as a seagull. They would say, "Pull away," +and "Ver' warm," and, after these words, would laugh gayly. They +enjoyed the hour, I believe, as much as we. + +The house where we lived belonged to the widow of a French trader, an +Indian by birth, and wearing the dress of her country She spoke +French fluently, and was very ladylike in her manners. She is a great +character among them. They were all the time coming to pay her homage, +or to get her aid and advice; for she is, I am told, a shrewd woman of +business. My companion carried about her sketch-book with her, and +the Indians were interested when they saw her using her pencil, though +less so than about the sun-shade. This lady of the tribe wanted to +borrow the sketches of the beach, with its lodges and wild groups, "to +show to the _savages_" she said. + +Of the practical ability of the Indian women, a good specimen is given +by McKenney, in an amusing story of one who went to Washington, and +acted her part there in the "first circles," with a tact and sustained +dissimulation worthy of Cagliostro. She seemed to have a thorough +love of intrigue for its own sake, and much dramatic talent. Like the +chiefs of her nation, when on an expedition among the foe, whether for +revenge or profit, no impulses of vanity or way-side seductions +had power to turn her aside from carrying out her plan as she had +originally projected it. + +Although I have little to tell, I feel that I have learnt a great deal +of the Indians, from observing them even in this broken and degraded +condition. There is a language of eye and motion which cannot be put +into words, and which teaches what words never can. I feel acquainted +with the soul of this race; I read its nobler thought in their defaced +figures. There _was_ a greatness, unique and precious, which he who +does not feel will never duly appreciate the majesty of nature in this +American continent. + +I have mentioned that the Indian orator, who addressed the agents on +this occasion, said, the difference between the white man and the red +man is this: "The white man no sooner came here, than he thought of +preparing the way for his posterity; the red man never thought of +this." I was assured this was exactly his phrase; and it defines the +true difference. We get the better because we do + + "Look before and after." + +But, from, the same cause, we + + "Pine for what is not." + +The red man, when happy, was thoroughly happy; when good, was simply +good. He needed the medal, to let him know that he _was_ good. + +These evenings we were happy, looking over the old-fashioned garden, +over the beach, over the waters and pretty island opposite, beneath +the growing moon. We did not stay to see it full at Mackinaw; at two +o'clock one night, or rather morning, the Great Western came snorting +in, and we must go; and Mackinaw, and all the Northwest summer, is now +to me no more than picture and dream:-- + + "A dream within a dream." + +These last days at Mackinaw have been pleasanter than the "lonesome" +nine, for I have recovered the companion with whom I set out from the +East,--one who sees all, prizes all, enjoys much, interrupts never. + +At Detroit we stopped for half a day. This place is famous in our +history, and the unjust anger at its surrender is still expressed +by almost every one who passes there. I had always shared the common +feeling on this subject; for the indignation at a disgrace to our arms +that seemed so unnecessary has been handed down from father to child, +and few of us have taken the pains to ascertain where the blame +lay. But now, upon the spot, having read all the testimony, I felt +convinced that it should rest solely with the government, which, by +neglecting to sustain General Hull, as he had a right to expect they +would, compelled him to take this step, or sacrifice many lives, and +of the defenceless inhabitants, not of soldiers, to the cruelty of a +savage foe, for the sake of his reputation. + +I am a woman, and unlearned in such affairs; but, to a person +with common sense and good eyesight, it is clear, when viewing +the location, that, under the circumstances, he had no prospect of +successful defence, and that to attempt it would have been an act of +vanity, not valor. + +I feel that I am not biassed in this judgment by my personal +relations, for I have always heard both sides, and though my feelings +had been moved by the picture of the old man sitting in the midst +of his children, to a retired and despoiled old age, after a life +of honor and happy intercourse with the public, yet tranquil, always +secure that justice must be done at last, I supposed, like others, +that he deceived himself, and deserved to pay the penalty for failure +to the responsibility he had undertaken. Now, on the spot, I change, +and believe the country at large must, erelong, change from this +opinion. And I wish to add my testimony, however trifling its weight, +before it be drowned in the voice of general assent, that I may do +some justice to the feelings which possess me here and now. + +A noble boat, the Wisconsin, was to be launched this afternoon; the +whole town was out in many-colored array, the band playing. Our boat +swept round to a good position, and all was ready but--the Wisconsin, +which could not be made to stir. This was quite a disappointment. It +would have been an imposing sight. + +In the boat many signs admonished that we were floating eastward. A +shabbily-dressed phrenologist laid his hand on every head which would +bend, with half-conceited, half-sheepish expression, to the trial of +his skill. Knots of people gathered here and there to discuss points +of theology. A bereaved lover was seeking religious consolation +in--Butler's Analogy, which he had purchased for that purpose. +However, he did not turn over many pages before his attention was +drawn aside by the gay glances of certain damsels that came on board +at Detroit, and, though Butler might afterwards be seen sticking +from his pocket, it had not weight to impede him from many a feat of +lightness and liveliness. I doubt if it went with him from the boat. +Some there were, even, discussing the doctrines of Fourier. It seemed +pity they were not going to, rather than from, the rich and free +country where it would be so much easier than with us to try the great +experiment of voluntary association, and show beyond a doubt that "an +ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," a maxim of the "wisdom +of nations" which has proved of little practical efficacy as yet. + +Better to stop before landing at Buffalo, while I have yet the +advantage over some of my readers. + + + + +THE BOOK TO THE READER, + +WHO OPENS, AS AMERICAN READERS OFTEN DO,--AT THE END. + + To see your cousin in her country home, + If at the time of blackberries you come, + "Welcome, my friends," she cries with ready glee, + "The fruit is ripened, and the paths are free. + But, madam, you will tear that handsome gown; + The little boy be sure to tumble down; + And, in the thickets where they ripen best, + The matted ivy, too, its bower has drest. + And then the thorns your hands are sure to rend, + Unless with heavy gloves you will defend; + Amid most thorns the sweetest roses blow, + Amid most thorns the sweetest berries grow." + + If, undeterred, you to the fields must go, + You tear your dresses and you scratch your hands; + But, in the places where the berries grow, + A sweeter fruit the ready sense commands, + Of wild, gay feelings, fancies springing sweet,-- + Of bird-like pleasures, fluttering and fleet. + + Another year, you cannot go yourself, + To win the berries from the thickets wild, + And housewife skill, instead, has filled the shelf + With blackberry jam, "by best receipts compiled,-- + Not made with country sugar, for too strong + The flavors that to maple-juice belong; + But foreign sugar, nicely mixed 'to suit + The taste,' spoils not the fragrance of the fruit." + + "'Tis pretty good," half-tasting, you reply, + "I scarce should know it from fresh blackberry. + But the best pleasure such a fruit can yield + Is to be gathered in the open field; + If only as an article of food, + Cherry or crab-apple is quite as good; + And, for occasions of festivity, + West India sweetmeats you had better buy." + + Thus, such a dish of homely sweets as these + In neither way may chance the taste to please. + + Yet try a little with the evening-bread; + Bring a good needle for the spool of thread; + Take fact with fiction, silver with the lead, + And, at the mint, you can get gold instead; + In fine, read me, even as you would be read. + + + + +PART II. + +THINGS AND THOUGHTS IN EUROPE. + + + + +LETTER I. + +PASSAGE IN THE CAMBRIA.--LORD AND LADY FALKLAND.--CAPTAIN +JUDKINS.--LIVERPOOL.--MANCHESTER.--MECHANICS' INSTITUTE.--"THE +DIAL."--PEACE AND WAR.--THE WORKING-MEN OF ENGLAND.--THEIR TRIBUTE TO +SIR ROBERT PEEL.--THE ROYAL INSTITUTE.--STATUES.--CHESTER.--BATHING. + + +Ambleside, Westmoreland, 23d August, 1846. + +I take the first interval of rest and stillness to be filled up by +some lines for the Tribune. Only three weeks have passed since leaving +New York, but I have already had nine days of wonder in England, and, +having learned a good deal, suppose I may have something to tell. + +Long before receiving this, you know that we were fortunate in the +shortest voyage ever made across the Atlantic,[A]--only ten days +and sixteen hours from Boston to Liverpool. The weather and all +circumstances were propitious; and, if some of us were weak of head +enough to suffer from the smell and jar of the machinery, or other +ills by which the sea is wont to avenge itself on the arrogance of +its vanquishers, we found no pity. The stewardess observed that she +thought "any one tempted God Almighty who complained on a voyage where +they did not even have to put guards to the dishes"! + +[Footnote A: True at the time these Letters were written.--ED.] + +As many contradictory counsels were given us with regard to going in +one of the steamers in preference to a sailing vessel, I will mention +here, for the benefit of those who have not yet tried one, that he +must be fastidious indeed who could complain of the Cambria. The +advantage of a quick passage and certainty as to the time of arrival, +would, with us, have outweighed many ills; but, apart from this, we +found more space than we expected and as much as we needed for a +very tolerable degree of convenience in our sleeping-rooms, better +ventilation than Americans in general can be persuaded to accept, +general cleanliness, and good attendance. In the evening, when the +wind was favorable, and the sails set, so that the vessel looked like +a great winged creature darting across the apparently measureless +expanse, the effect was very grand, but ah! for such a spectacle one +pays too dear; I far prefer looking out upon "the blue and foaming +sea" from a firm green shore. + +Our ship's company numbered several pleasant members, and that desire +prevailed in each to contribute to the satisfaction of all, which, if +carried out through the voyage of life, would make this earth as happy +as it is a lovely abode. At Halifax we took in the Governor of Nova +Scotia, returning from his very unpopular administration. His lady was +with, him, a daughter of William the Fourth and the celebrated Mrs. +Jordan. The English on board, and the Americans, following their lead, +as usual, seemed to attach much importance to her left-handed alliance +with one of the dullest families that ever sat upon a throne, (and +that is a bold word, too,) none to her descent from one whom Nature +had endowed with her most splendid regalia,--genius that fascinated +the attention of all kinds and classes of men, grace and winning +qualities that no heart could resist. Was the cestus buried with her, +that no sense of its pre-eminent value lingered, as far as I could +perceive, in the thoughts of any except myself? + +We had a foretaste of the delights of living under an aristocratical +government at the Custom-House, where our baggage was detained, and +we waiting for it weary hours, because of the preference given to +the mass of household stuff carried back by this same Lord and Lady +Falkland. + +Captain Judkins of the Cambria, an able and prompt commander, is the +man who insisted upon Douglass being admitted to equal rights upon his +deck with the insolent slave-holders, and assumed a tone toward their +assumptions, which, if the Northern States had had the firmness, good +sense, and honor to use, would have had the same effect, and put +our country in a very different position from that she occupies at +present. He mentioned with pride that he understood the New York +Herald called him "the Nigger Captain," and seemed as willing to +accept the distinction as Colonel McKenney is to wear as his last +title that of "the Indian's friend." + +At the first sight of the famous Liverpool Docks, extending miles on +each side of our landing, we felt ourselves in a slower, solider, and +not on that account less truly active, state of things than at home. +That impression is confirmed. There is not as we travel that rushing, +tearing, and swearing, that snatching of baggage, that prodigality of +shoe-leather and lungs, which attend the course of the traveller in +the United States; but we do not lose our "goods," we do not miss our +car. The dinner, if ordered in time, is cooked properly, and served +punctually, and at the end of the day more that is permanent seems to +have come of it than on the full-drive system. But more of this, and +with a better grace, at a later day. + +The day after our arrival we went to Manchester. There we went over +the magnificent warehouse of ---- Phillips, in itself a Bazaar ample +to furnish provision for all the wants and fancies of thousands. In +the evening we went to the Mechanics' Institute, and saw the boys +and young men in their classes. I have since visited the Mechanics' +Institute at Liverpool, where more than seventeen hundred pupils are +received, and with more thorough educational arrangements; but the +excellent spirit, the desire for growth in wisdom and enlightened +benevolence, is the same in both. For a very small fee, the mechanic, +clerk, or apprentice, and the women of their families, can receive +various good and well-arranged instruction, not only in common +branches of an English education, but in mathematics, composition, +the French and German, languages, the practice and theory of the Fine +Arts, and they are ardent in availing themselves of instruction in +the higher branches. I found large classes, not only in architectural +drawing, which may be supposed to be followed with a view to +professional objects, but landscape also, and as large in German as +in French. They can attend many good lectures and concerts without +additional charge, for a due place is here assigned to music as to its +influence on the whole mind. The large and well-furnished libraries +are in constant requisition, and the books in most constant demand +are not those of amusement, but of a solid and permanent interest and +value. Only for the last year in Manchester, and for two in Liverpool, +have these advantages been extended to girls; but now that part of +the subject is looked upon as it ought to be, and begins to be treated +more and more as it must and will be wherever true civilization is +making its way. One of the handsomest houses in Liverpool has been +purchased for the girls' school, and room and good arrangement been +afforded for their work and their play. Among other things they are +taught, as they ought to be in all American schools, to cut out and +make dresses. + +I had the pleasure of seeing quotations made from our Boston "Dial," +in the address in which the Director of the Liverpool Institute, a +very benevolent and intelligent man, explained to his disciples and +others its objects, and which concludes thus:-- + +"But this subject of self-improvement is inexhaustible. If traced to +its results in action, it is, in fact, 'The Whole Duty of Man.' What +of detail it involves and implies, I know that you will, each and all, +think out for yourselves. Beautifully has it been said: 'Is not the +difference between spiritual and material things just this,--that in +the one case we must watch details, in the other, keep alive the high +resolve, and the details will take care of themselves? Keep the sacred +central fire burning, and throughout the system, in each of its acts, +will be warmth and glow enough.'[A] + +[Footnote A: The Dial, Vol. I. p. 188, October, 1840, "Musings of a +Recluse."] + +"For myself, if I be asked what my purpose is in relation to you, I +would briefly reply, It is that I may help, be it ever so feebly, to +train up a race of young men, who shall escape vice by rising above +it; who shall love truth because it is truth, not because it brings +them wealth or honor; who shall regard life as a solemn thing, +involving too weighty responsibilities to be wasted in idle or +frivolous pursuits; who shall recognize in their daily labors, not +merely a tribute to the "hard necessity of daily bread," but a field +for the development of their better nature by the discharge of duty; +who shall judge in all things for themselves, bowing the knee to no +sectarian or party watchwords of any kind; and who, while they think +for themselves, shall feel for others, and regard their talents, their +attainments, their opportunities, their possessions, as blessings held +in trust for the good of their fellow-men." + +I found that The Dial had been read with earnest interest by some of +the best minds in these especially practical regions, that it had been +welcomed as a representative of some sincere and honorable life in +America, and thought the fittest to be quoted under this motto:-- + + "What are noble deeds but noble thoughts realized?" + +Among other signs of the times we bought Bradshaw's Railway Guide, +and, opening it, found extracts from the writings of our countrymen, +Elihu Burritt and Charles Sumner, on the subject of Peace, occupying +a leading place in the "Collect," for the month, of this little +hand-book, more likely, in an era like ours, to influence the conduct +of the day than would an illuminated breviary. Now that peace is +secured for the present between our two countries, the spirit is +not forgotten that quelled the storm. Greeted on every side with +expressions of feeling about the blessings of peace, the madness and +wickedness of war, that would be deemed romantic in our darker land, +I have answered to the speakers, "But you are mightily pleased, and +illuminate for your victories in China and Ireland, do you not?" and +they, unprovoked by the taunt, would mildly reply, "_We_ do not, but +it is too true that a large part of the nation fail to bring home +the true nature and bearing of those events, and apply principle to +conduct with as much justice as they do in the case of a nation nearer +to them by kindred and position. But we are sure that feeling is +growing purer on the subject day by day, and that there will soon be a +large majority against war on any occasion or for any object." + +I heard a most interesting letter read from a tradesman in one of the +country towns, whose daughters are self-elected instructors of the +people in the way of cutting out from books and pamphlets fragments on +the great subjects of the day, which they send about in packages, or +paste on walls and doors. He said that one such passage, pasted on a +door, he had seen read with eager interest by hundreds to whom such +thoughts were, probably, quite new, and with some of whom it could +scarcely fail to be as a little seed of a large harvest. Another good +omen I found in written tracts by Joseph Barker, a working-man of the +town of Wortley, published through his own printing-press. + +How great, how imperious the need of such men, of such deeds, we felt +more than ever, while compelled to turn a deaf ear to the squalid and +shameless beggars of Liverpool, or talking by night in the streets of +Manchester to the girls from the Mills, who were strolling bareheaded, +with coarse, rude, and reckless air, through the streets, or seeing +through the windows of the gin-palaces the women seated drinking, too +dull to carouse. The homes of England! their sweetness is melting into +fable; only the new Spirit in its holiest power can restore to those +homes their boasted security of "each man's castle," for Woman, the +warder, is driven into the street, and has let fall the keys in her +sad plight. Yet darkest hour of night is nearest dawn, and there seems +reason to believe that + + "There's a good time coming." + +Blest be those who aid, who doubt not that + + "Smallest helps, if rightly given, + Make the impulse stronger; + 'Twill be strong enough one day." + +Other things we saw in Liverpool,--the Royal Institute, with the +statue of Roscoe by Chantrey, and in its collection from the works +of the early Italian artists, and otherwise, bearing traces of that +liberality and culture by which the man, happy enough to possess them, +and at the same time engaged with his fellow-citizens in practical +life, can do so much more to enlighten and form them, than prince or +noble possibly can with far larger pecuniary means. We saw the statue +of Huskisson in the Cemetery. It is fine as a portrait statue, but +as a work of art wants firmness and grandeur. I say it is fine as a +portrait statue, though we were told it is not like the original; but +it is a good conception of an individuality which might exist, if it +does not yet. It is by Gibson, who received his early education in +Liverpool. I saw there, too, the body of an infant borne to the grave +by women; for it is a beautiful custom, here, that those who have +fulfilled all other tender offices to the little being should hold to +it the same relation to the very last. + +From Liverpool we went to Chester, one of the oldest cities in +England, a Roman station once, and abode of the "Twentieth Legion," +"the Victorious." Tiles bearing this inscription, heads of Jupiter, +and other marks of their occupation, have, not long ago, been detected +beneath the sod. The town also bears the marks of Welsh invasion and +domestic struggles. The shape of a cross in which it is laid out, its +walls and towers, its four arched gateways, its ramparts and ruined, +towers, mantled with ivy, its old houses with Biblical inscriptions, +its cathedral,--in which tall trees have grown up amid the arches, a +fresh garden-plot, with flowers, bright green and red, taken place +of the altar, and a crowd of revelling swallows supplanted the sallow +choirs of a former priesthood,--present a _tout-ensemble_ highly +romantic in itself, and charming, indeed, to Transatlantic eyes. Yet +not to all eyes would it have had charms, for one American traveller, +our companion on the voyage, gravely assured us that we should find +the "castles and that sort of thing all humbug," and that, if we +wished to enjoy them, it would "be best to sit at home and read some +_handsome_ work on the subject." + +At the hotel in Liverpool and that in Manchester I had found no bath, +and asking for one at Chester, the chambermaid said, with earnest +good-will, that "they had none, but she thought she could get me +a note from her master to the Infirmary (!!) if I would go there." +Luckily I did not generalize quite as rapidly as travellers in America +usually do, and put in the note-book,--"_Mem._: None but the sick ever +bathe in England"; for in the next establishment we tried, I found +the plentiful provision for a clean and healthy day, which I had read +would be met _everywhere_ in this country. + +All else I must defer to my next, as the mail is soon to close. + + + + +LETTER II. + +CHESTER.--ITS MUSEUM.--TRAVELLING COMPANIONS.--A BENGALESE.-- +WESTMORELAND.--AMBLESIDE.--COBDEN AND BRIGHT.--A SCOTCH +LADY.--WORDSWORTH.--HIS FLOWERS.--MISS MARTINEAU. + + +Ambleside. Westmoreland, 27th August, 1846. + +I forgot to mention, in writing of Chester, an object which gave me +pleasure. I mentioned, that the wall which enclosed the old town was +two miles in circumference; far beyond this stretches the modern +part of Chester, and the old gateways now overarch the middle of long +streets. This wall is now a walk for the inhabitants, commanding a +wide prospect, and three persons could walk abreast on its smooth +flags. We passed one of its old picturesque towers, from whose top +Charles the First, poor, weak, unhappy king, looked down and saw his +troops defeated by the Parliamentary army on the adjacent plain. A +little farther on, one of these picturesque towers is turned to the +use of a Museum, whose stock, though scanty, I examined with singular +pleasure, for it had been made up by truly filial contributions +from, all who had derived benefit from Chester, from the Marquis +of Westminster--whose magnificent abode, Eton Hall, lies not far +off--down to the merchant's clerk, who had furnished it in his leisure +hours with a geological chart, the soldier and sailor, who sent back +shells, insects, and petrifactions from their distant wanderings, and +a boy of thirteen, who had made, in wood, a model of its cathedral, +and even furnished it with a bell to ring out the evening chimes. Many +women had been busy in filling these magazines for the instruction +and the pleasure of their fellow-townsmen. Lady ----, the wife of the +captain of the garrison, grateful for the gratuitous admission of the +soldiers once a month,--a privilege of which the keeper of the Museum +(a woman also, who took an intelligent pleasure in her task) assured +me that they were eager to avail themselves,--had given a fine +collection of butterflies, and a ship. An untiring diligence had +been shown in adding whatever might stimulate or gratify imperfectly +educated minds. I like to see women perceive that there are other +ways of doing good besides making clothes for the poor or teaching +Sunday-school; these are well, if well directed, but there are many +other ways, some as sure and surer, and which benefit the giver no +less than the receiver. + +I was waked from sleep at the Chester Inn by a loud dispute between +the chambermaid and an unhappy elderly gentleman, who insisted that he +had engaged the room in which I was, had returned to sleep in it, +and consequently must do so. To her assurances that the lady was long +since in possession, he was deaf; but the lock, fortunately for me, +proved a stronger defence. With all a chambermaid's morality, the +maiden boasted to me, "He said he had engaged 44, and would not +believe me when I assured him it was 46; indeed, how could he? I did +not believe myself." To my assurance that, if I had known the room, +was his, I should not have wished for it, but preferred taking a +worse, I found her a polite but incredulous listener. + +Passing from Liverpool to Lancaster by railroad, that convenient but +most unprofitable and stupid way of travelling, we there took the +canal-boat to Kendal, and passed pleasantly through a country of that +soft, that refined and cultivated loveliness, which, however much +we have heard of it, finds the American eye--accustomed to so much +wildness, so much rudeness, such a corrosive action of man upon +nature--wholly unprepared. I feel all the time as if in a sweet dream, +and dread to be presently awakened by some rude jar or glare; but none +comes, and here in Westmoreland--but wait a moment, before we speak of +that. + +In the canal-boat we found two well-bred English gentlemen, and two +well-informed German gentlemen, with whom we had some agreeable talk. +With one of the former was a beautiful youth, about eighteen, whom I +supposed, at the first glance, to be a type of that pure East-Indian +race whose beauty I had never seen represented before except in +pictures; and he made a picture, from which I could scarcely take my +eyes a moment, and from it could as ill endure to part. He was dressed +in a broadcloth robe richly embroidered, leaving his throat and the +upper part of his neck bare, except that he wore a heavy gold chain. +A rich shawl was thrown gracefully around him; the sleeves of his robe +were loose, with white sleeves below. He wore a black satin cap. The +whole effect of this dress was very fine yet simple, setting off to +the utmost advantage the distinguished beauty of his features, in +which there was a mingling of national pride, voluptuous sweetness in +that unconscious state of reverie when it affects us as it does in the +flower, and intelligence in its newly awakened purity. As he turned +his head, his profile was like one I used to have of Love asleep, +while Psyche leans over him with the lamp; but his front face, +with the full, summery look of the eye, was unlike that. He was a +Bengalese, living in England for his education, as several others are +at present. He spoke English well, and conversed on several subjects, +literary and political, with grace, fluency, and delicacy of thought. + +Passing from Kendal to Ambleside, we found a charming abode furnished +us by the care of a friend in one of the stone cottages of this +region, almost the only one _not_ ivy-wreathed, but commanding a +beautiful view of the mountains, and truly an English home in its +neatness, quiet, and delicate, noiseless attention to the wants of all +within its walls. Here we have passed eight happy days, varied by +many drives, boating excursions on Grasmere and Winandermere, and the +society of several agreeable persons. As the Lake district at this +season draws together all kinds of people, and a great variety beside +come from, all quarters to inhabit the charming dwellings that +adorn its hill-sides and shores, I met and saw a good deal of the +representatives of various classes, at once. I found here two landed +proprietors from other parts of England, both "travelled English," +one owning a property in Greece, where he frequently resides, +both warmly engaged in Reform measures, anti-Corn-Law, +anti-Capital-Punishment,--one of them an earnest student of Emerson's +Essays. Both of them had wives, who kept pace with their projects and +their thoughts, active and intelligent women, true ladies, skilful in +drawing and music; all the better wives for the development of every +power. One of them told me, with a glow of pride, that it was not long +since her husband had been "cut" by all his neighbors among the gentry +for the part he took against the Corn Laws; but, she added, he was now +a favorite with them all. Verily, faith will remove mountains, if +only you do join with it any fair portion of the dove and serpent +attributes. + +I found here, too, a wealthy manufacturer, who had written many +valuable pamphlets on popular subjects. He said: "Now that the +progress of public opinion was beginning to make the Church and the +Army narrower fields for the younger sons of 'noble' families, they +sometimes wish to enter into trade; but, beside the aversion which had +been instilled into them for many centuries, they had rarely patience +and energy for the apprenticeship requisite to give the needed +knowledge of the world and habits of labor." Of Cobden he said: "He +is inferior in acquirements to very many of his class, as he is +self-educated and had everything to learn after he was grown up; +but in clear insight there is none like him." A man of very little +education, whom I met a day or two after in the stage-coach, observed +to me: "Bright is far the more eloquent of the two, but Cobden is +more felt, just _because_ his speeches are so plain, so merely +matter-of-fact and to the point." + +We became acquainted also with Dr. Gregory, Professor of Chemistry +at Edinburgh, a very enlightened and benevolent man, who in many ways +both instructed and benefited us. He is the friend of Liebig, and one +of his chief representatives here. + +We also met a fine specimen of the noble, intelligent Scotchwoman, +such as Walter Scott and Burns knew how to prize. Seventy-six years +have passed over her head, only to prove in her the truth of my +theory, that we need never grow old. She was "brought up" in the +animated and intellectual circle of Edinburgh, in youth an apt +disciple, in her prime a bright ornament of that society. She had been +an only child, a cherished wife, an adored mother, unspoiled by love +in any of these relations, because that love was founded on knowledge. +In childhood she had warmly sympathized in the spirit that animated +the American Revolution, and Washington had been her hero; later, the +interest of her husband in every struggle for freedom had cherished +her own; she had known in the course of her long life many eminent +men, knew minutely the history of efforts in that direction, and +sympathized now in the triumph of the people over the Corn Laws, as +she had in the American victories, with as much ardor as when a girl, +though with a wiser mind. Her eye was full of light, her manner and +gesture of dignity; her voice rich, sonorous, and finely modulated; +her tide of talk marked by candor, justice, and showing in every +sentence her ripe experience and her noble, genial nature. Dear to +memory will be the sight of her in the beautiful seclusion of her home +among the mountains, a picturesque, flower-wreathed dwelling, where +affection, tranquillity, and wisdom were the gods of the hearth, to +whom was offered no vain oblation. Grant us more such women, Time! +Grant to men the power to reverence, to seek for such! + +Our visit to Mr. Wordsworth was very pleasant. He also 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 disappointed, 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, but seemed in timid +reverence to recognize the spirit that had dictated "Laodamia" and +"Dion,"--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. + +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 a 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 have 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 as to whether existing interests had been as +carefully attended to as was just, he was not prepared to say." 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 much +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 nearest 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." + +Dr. Arnold, too,--who lived, as his family still live, here,--diffused +the same ennobling and animating spirit among those who knew him in +private, as through the sphere of his public labors. + +Miss Martineau has here a charming residence; it has been finished +only a few months, but all about it is in unexpectedly fair order, and +promises much beauty after a year or two of growth. Here we found her +restored to full health and activity, looking, indeed, far better than +she did when in the United States. It was pleasant to see her in this +home, presented to her by the gratitude of England for her course of +energetic and benevolent effort, and adorned by tributes of affection +and esteem from many quarters. From the testimony of those who were +with her in and since her illness, her recovery would seem to be of +as magical quickness and sure progress as has been represented. At +the house of Miss Martineau I saw Milman, the author, I must not say +poet,--a specimen of the polished, scholarly man of the world. + +We passed one most delightful day in a visit to Langdale,--the scene +of "The Excursion,"--and to Dungeon-Ghyll Force. I am finishing my +letter at Carlisle on my way to Scotland, and will give a slight +sketch of that excursion, and one which occupied another day, from +Keswick to Buttermere and Crummock Water, in my next. + + + + +LETTER III. + +WESTMORELAND.--LANGDALE.--DUNGEON-GHYLL FORCE.--KESWICK.--CARLISLE.-- +BRANXHOLM.--SCOTT.--BURNS. + + +Edinburgh, 20th September, 1846. + +I have too long delayed writing up my journal.--Many interesting +observations slip from recollection if one waits so many days: +yet, while travelling, it is almost impossible to find an hour when +something of value to be seen will not be lost while writing. + +I said, in closing my last, that I would write a little more about +Westmoreland; but so much, has happened since, that I must now dismiss +that region with all possible brevity. + +The first day of which I wished to speak was passed in visiting +Langdale, the scene of Wordsworth's "Excursion." Our party of eight +went in two of the vehicles called cars or droskas,--open carriages, +each drawn by one horse. They are rather fatiguing to ride in, but +good to see from. In steep and stony places all alight, and the driver +leads the horse: so many of these there are, that we were four or +five hours in going ten miles, including the pauses when we wished to +_look_. + +The scenes through which we passed are, indeed, of the most wild and +noble character. The wildness is not savage, but very calm. Without +recurring to details, I recognized the tone and atmosphere of that +noble poem, which was to me, at a feverish period in my life, as pure +waters, free breezes, and cold blue sky, bringing a sense of eternity +that gave an aspect of composure to the rudest volcanic wrecks of +time. + +We dined at a farm-house of the vale, with its stone floors, old +carved cabinet (the pride of a house of this sort), and ready +provision of oaten cakes. We then ascended a near hill to the +waterfall called Dungeon-Ghyll Force, also a subject touched by +Wordsworth's Muse. You wind along a path for a long time, hearing the +sound of the falling water, but do not see it till, descending by a +ladder the side of the ravine, you come to its very foot. You find +yourself then in a deep chasm, bridged over by a narrow arch of rock; +the water falls at the farther end in a narrow column. Looking up, you +see the sky through a fissure so narrow as to make it look very pure +and distant. One of our party, passing in, stood some time at the foot +of the waterfall, and added much to its effect, as his height gave a +measure by which to appreciate that of surrounding objects, and his +look, by that light so pale and statuesque, seemed to inform the place +with the presence of its genius. + +Our circuit homeward from this grand scene led us through some +lovely places, and to an outlook upon the most beautiful part of +Westmoreland. Passing over to Keswick we saw Derwentwater, and near it +the Fall of Lodore. It was from Keswick that we made the excursion +of a day through Borrowdale to Buttermere and Crummock Water, which +I meant to speak of, but find it impossible at this moment. The mind +does not now furnish congenial colors with which to represent the +vision of that day: it must still wait in the mind and bide its time, +again to emerge to outer air. + +At Keswick we went to see a model of the Lake country which gives an +excellent idea of the relative positions of all objects. Its maker had +given six years to the necessary surveys and drawings. He said that +he had first become acquainted with the country from his taste for +fishing, but had learned to love its beauty, till the thought arose of +making this model; that while engaged in it, he visited almost every +spot amid the hills, and commonly saw both sunrise and sunset upon +them; that he was happy all the time, but almost too happy when he saw +one section of his model coming out quite right, and felt sure at last +that he should be quite successful in representing to others the home +of his thoughts. I looked upon him as indeed an enviable man, to have +a profession so congenial with his feelings, in which he had been so +naturally led to do what would be useful and pleasant for others. + +Passing from Keswick through a pleasant and cultivated country, we +paused at "fair Carlisle," not voluntarily, but because we could not +get the means of proceeding farther that day. So, as it was one in +which + + "The sun shone fair on Carlisle wall," + +we visited its Cathedral and Castle, and trod, for the first time, in +some of the footsteps of the unfortunate Queen of Scots. + +Passing next day the Border, we found the mosses all drained, and +the very existence of sometime moss-troopers would have seemed +problematical, but for the remains of Gilnockie,--the tower of Johnnie +Armstrong, so pathetically recalled in one of the finest of the +Scottish ballads. Its size, as well as that of other keeps, towers, +and castles, whose ruins are reverentially preserved in Scotland, +gives a lively sense of the time when population was so scanty, and +individual manhood grew to such force. Ten men in Gilnockie were +stronger then in proportion to the whole, and probably had in them +more of intelligence, resource, and genuine manly power, than ten +regiments now of red-coats drilled to act out manoeuvres they do not +understand, and use artillery which needs of them no more than the +match to go off and do its hideous message. + +Farther on we saw Branxholm, and the water in crossing which the +Goblin Page was obliged to resume his proper shape and fly, crying, +"Lost, lost, lost!" Verily these things seem more like home than one's +own nursery, whose toys and furniture could not in actual presence +engage the thoughts like these pictures, made familiar as household +words by the most generous, kindly genius that ever blessed this +earth. + +On the coach with us was a gentleman coming from London to make his +yearly visit to the neighborhood of Burns, in which he was born. "I +can now," said he, "go but once a year; when a boy, I never let a week +pass without visiting the house of Burns." He afterward observed, as +every step woke us to fresh recollections of Walter Scott, that Scott, +with all his vast range of talent, knowledge, and activity, was a poet +of the past only, and in his inmost heart wedded to the habits of a +feudal aristocracy, while Burns is the poet of the present and the +future, the man of the people, and throughout a genuine man. This is +true enough; but for my part I cannot endure a comparison which by a +breath of coolness depreciates either. Both were wanted; each +acted the important part assigned him by destiny with a wonderful +thoroughness and completeness. Scott breathed the breath just fleeting +from the forms of ancient Scottish heroism and poesy into new,--he +made for us the bridge by which we have gone into the old Ossianic +hall and caught the meaning just as it was about to pass from us for +ever. Burns is full of the noble, genuine democracy which seeks not +to destroy royalty, but to make all men kings, as he himself was, in +nature and in action. They belong to the same world; they are pillars +of the same church, though they uphold its starry roof from opposite +sides. Burns was much the rarer man; precisely because he had most of +common nature on a grand scale; his humor, his passion, his sweetness, +are all his own; they need no picturesque or romantic accessories to +give them due relief: looked at by all lights they are the same. Since +Adam, there has been none that approached nearer fitness to stand +up before God and angels in the naked majesty of manhood than Robert +Burns;--but there was a serpent in his field also! Yet but for his +fault we could never have seen brought out the brave and patriotic +modesty with which he owned it. Shame on him who could bear to think +of fault in this rich jewel, unless reminded by such confession. + +We passed Abbotsford without stopping, intending to go there on our +return. Last year five hundred Americans inscribed their names in its +porter's book. A raw-boned Scotsman, who gathered his weary length +into our coach on his return from a pilgrimage thither, did us the +favor to inform us that "Sir Walter was a vara intelligent mon," and +the guide-book mentions "the American Washington" as "a worthy old +patriot." Lord safe us, cummers, what news be there! + +This letter, meant to go by the Great Britain, many interruptions +force me to close, unflavored by one whiff from the smoke of Auld +Reekie. More and better matter shall my next contain, for here and +in the Highlands I have passed three not unproductive weeks, of which +more anon. + + + + +LETTER IV. + +EDINBURGH, OLD AND NEW.--SCOTT AND BURNS.--DR. ANDREW COMBE.--AMERICAN +RE-PUBLISHING.--THE BOOKSELLING TRADE.--THE MESSRS. CHAMBERS.--DE +QUINCEY THE OPIUM-EATER.--DR. CHALMERS. + + +Edinburgh, September 22d, 1846. + +The beautiful and stately aspect of this city has been the theme of +admiration so general that I can only echo it. We have seen it to the +greatest advantage both from Calton Hill and Arthur's Seat, and our +lodgings in Princess Street allow us a fine view of the Castle, always +impressive, but peculiarly so in the moonlit evenings of our first +week here, when a veil of mist added to its apparent size, and at the +same time gave it the air with which Martin, in his illustrations +of "Paradise Lost," has invested the palace which "rose like an +exhalation." + +On this our second visit, after an absence of near a fortnight in the +Highlands, we are at a hotel nearly facing the new monument to Scott, +and the tallest buildings of the Old Town. From my windows I see +the famous Kirk, the spot where the old Tolbooth was, and can almost +distinguish that where Porteous was done to death, and other objects +described in the most dramatic part of "The Heart of Mid-Lothian." In +one of these tall houses Hume wrote part of his History of England, +and on this spot still nearer was the home of Allan Ramsay. A thousand +other interesting and pregnant associations present themselves every +time I look out of the window. + +In the open square between us and the Old Town is to be the terminus +of the railroad, but as the building will be masked with trees, it +is thought it will not mar the beauty of the place; yet Scott could +hardly have looked without regret upon an object that marks so +distinctly the conquest of the New over the Old, and, appropriately +enough, his statue has its back turned that way. The effect of the +monument to Scott is pleasing, though without strict unity of thought +or original beauty of design. The statue is too much hid within the +monument, and wants that majesty of repose in the attitude and drapery +which a sitting figure should have, and which might well accompany the +massive head of Scott. Still the monument is an ornament and an honor +to the city. This is now the fourth that has been erected within two +years to commemorate the triumphs of genius. Monuments that have risen +from the same idea, and in such quick succession, to Schiller, to +Goethe, to Beethoven, and to Scott, signalize the character of the new +era still more happily than does the railroad coming up almost to the +foot of Edinburgh Castle. + +The statue of Burns has been removed from the monument erected in his +honor, to one of the public libraries, as being there more accessible +to the public. It is, however, entirely unworthy its subject, giving +the idea of a smaller and younger person, while we think of Burns +as of a man in the prime of manhood, one who not only promised, but +_was_, and with a sunny glow and breadth, of character of which this +stone effigy presents no sign. + +A Scottish gentleman told me the following story, which would afford +the finest subject for a painter capable of representing the glowing +eye and natural kingliness of Burns, in contrast to the poor, mean +puppets he reproved. + +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," with which it will do no harm to refresh the memories +of our readers, for we doubt there may be, even in Republican America, +those who need the reproof as much, and with far less excuse, than had +that Scottish company. + + "Is there, for honest poverty, + That hangs his head, and a' that? + The coward slave, we pass him by, + We dare be poor for a' that! + For a' that, and a' that, + Our toils obscure, and a' that, + The rank is but the guinea's stamp, + The man's the gowd for a' that. + + "What tho' on hamely fare we dine, + Wear hoddin gray, and a' that; + Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine, + A man's a man for a' that! + For a' that, and a' that, + Their tinsel show, and a' that, + The honest man, though, e'er sae poor + Is king o' men for a' that. + + "Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord, + Wha struts, and stares, and a' that; + Tho' hundreds worship at his word, + He's but a coof for a' that; + For a' that, and a' that, + His ribbon, star, and a' that, + The man of independent mind, + He looks and laughs at a' that. + + "A prince can make a belted knight, + A marquis, duke, and a' that; + But an honest man's aboon his might + Guid faith, he maunna fa' that! + For a' that, and a' that, + Their dignities, and a' that, + The pith o' sense and pride o' worth + Are higher ranks than a' that. + + "Then let us pray that, come it may, + As come it will for a' that, + That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth, + May bear the gree, and a' that; + For a' that, and a' that, + It's coming yet for a' that, + That man to man, the wide warld o'er, + Shall brothers be for a' that." + +And, having finished this prophecy and prayer, Nature's nobleman left +his churlish entertainers to hide their diminished heads in the home +they had disgraced. + +We have seen all the stock lions. The Regalia people still crowd +to see, though the old natural feelings from which they so long lay +hidden seem almost extinct. Scotland grows English day by day. The +libraries of the Advocates, Writers to the Signet, &c., are fine +establishments. The University and schools are now in vacation; we are +compelled by unwise postponement of our journey to see both Edinburgh +and London at the worst possible season. We should have been here in +April, there in June. There is always enough to see, but now we find +a majority of the most interesting persons absent, and a stagnation in +the intellectual movements of the place. + +We had, however, the good fortune to find Dr. Andrew Combe, who, +though a great invalid, was able and disposed for conversation at +this time. I was impressed with great and affectionate respect by +the benign and even temper of his mind, his extensive and accurate +knowledge, accompanied, as such should naturally be, by a large +and intelligent liberality. Of our country he spoke very wisely and +hopefully, though among other stories with which we, as Americans, are +put to the blush here, there is none worse than that of the conduct of +some of our publishers toward him. One of these stories I had heard +in New York, but supposed it to be exaggerated till I had it from the +best authority. It is of one of our leading houses who were publishing +on their own account and had stereotyped one of his works from an +early edition. When this work had passed through other editions and +he had for years been busy in reforming and amending it, he applied +to this house to republish from the later and better edition. They +refused. In vain he urged that it was not only for his own reputation +as an author that he was anxious, but for the good of the great +country through which writings on such, important subjects were to be +circulated, that they might have the benefit of his labors and best +knowledge. Such arguments on the stupid and mercenary tempers of those +addressed fell harmless as on a buffalo's hide might a gold-tipped +arrow. The book, they thought, answered THEIR purpose sufficiently, +for IT SELLS. Other purpose for a book they knew none. And as to the +natural rights of an author over the fruits of his mind, the distilled +essence of a life consumed in the severities of mental labor, they had +never heard of such a thing. His work was in the market, and he had +no more to do with it, that they could see, than the silkworm with the +lining of one of their coats. + +Mr. Greeley, the more I look at this subject, the more I must +maintain, in opposition to your views, that the publisher cannot, if +a mere tradesman, be a man of honor. It is impossible in the nature of +things. He _must_ have some idea of the nature and value of literary +labor, or he is wholly unfit to deal with its products. He cannot +get along by occasional recourse to paid critics or readers; he must +himself have some idea what he is about. One partner, at least, in +the firm, must be a man of culture. All must understand enough to +appreciate their position, and know that he who, for his sordid aims, +circulates poisonous trash amid a great and growing people, and +makes it almost impossible for those whom Heaven has appointed as its +instructors to do their office, are the worst of traitors, and to be +condemned at the bar of nations under a sentence no less severe than +false statesmen and false priests. This matter should and must be +looked to more conscientiously. + +Dr. Combe, repelled by all this indifference to conscience and natural +equity in the firm who had taken possession of his work, applied to +others. But here he found himself at once opposed by the invisible +barrier that makes this sort of tyranny so strong and so pernicious. +"It was the understanding among the trade that they were not to +interfere with one another; indeed, they could have no chance," &c., +&c. When at last he did get the work republished in another part of +the country less favorable for his purposes, the bargain made as to +the pecuniary part of the transaction was in various ways so evaded, +that, up to this time, he has received no compensation from that +widely-circulated work, except a lock of Spurzheim's hair!! + +I was pleased to hear the true view expressed by one of the Messrs. +Chambers. These brothers have worked their way up to wealth and +influence by daily labor and many steps. One of them is more the +business man, the other the literary curator of their Journal. Of this +Journal they issue regularly eighty thousand copies, and it is +doing an excellent work, by awakening among the people a desire for +knowledge, and, to a considerable extent, furnishing them with good +materials. I went over their fine establishment, where I found more +than a hundred and fifty persons, in good part women, employed, all +in well-aired, well-lighted rooms, seemingly healthy and content. +Connected with the establishment is a Savings Bank, and evening +instruction in writing, singing, and arithmetic. There was also a +reading-room, and the same valuable and liberal provision we had +found attached to some of the Manchester warehouses. Such accessories +dignify and gladden all kinds of labor, and show somewhat of the true +spirit of human brotherhood in the employer. Mr. Chambers said he +trusted they should never look on publishing _chiefly_ as _business_, +or a lucrative and respectable employment, but as the means of mental +and moral benefit to their countrymen. To one so wearied and disgusted +as I have been by vulgar and base avowals on such subjects, it was +very refreshing to hear this from the lips of a successful publisher. + +Dr. Combe spoke with high praise of Mr. Hurlbart's book, "Human Rights +and their Political Guaranties," which was published at the Tribune +office. He observed that it was the work of a real thinker, and +extremely well written. It is to be republished here. Dr. Combe said +that it must make its way slowly, as it could interest those only who +were willing to read thoughtfully; but its success was sure at last. + +He also spoke with, great interest and respect of Mrs. Farnham, +of whose character and the influence she has exerted on the female +prisoners at Sing Sing he had heard some account. + +A person of a quite different character and celebrity is De Quincey, +the English Opium-Eater, and who lately has delighted us again with +the papers in Blackwood headed "Suspiria de Profundis." I had the +satisfaction, not easily attainable now, of seeing him for some hours, +and in the mood of conversation. As one belonging to the Wordsworth, +and Coleridge constellation, (he too is now seventy-six 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, subtile +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 than now. + +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 _rr_'s with +as much burr as possible and you will get at an idea of his mode of +pronouncing that unweariable word)--"if the Chaarrch yields to the +storm." He alluded to the outcry now raised against the Free Church by +the Abolitionists, whose motto is, "Send back the money," i.e. money +taken from the American slaveholders. Dr. Chalmers felt that, if they +did not yield from conviction, they must not to assault. His manner +of speaking on this subject gave me an idea of the nature of his +eloquence. He seldom preaches now. + +A fine picture was presented by the opposition of figure and +lineaments between a young Indian, son of the celebrated Dwarkanauth +Tagore, who happened to be there that morning, and Dr. Chalmers, as +they were conversing together. The swarthy, half-timid, yet elegant +face and form of the Indian made a fine contrast with the florid, +portly, yet intellectually luminous appearance of the Doctor; half +shepherd, half orator, he looked a Shepherd King opposed to some +Arabian story-teller. + +I saw others in Edinburgh of a later date who haply gave more valuable +as well as fresher revelations of the spirit, and whose names may be +by and by more celebrated than those I have cited; but for the present +this must suffice. It would take a week, if I wrote half I saw or +thought in Edinburgh, and I must close for to-day. + + + + +LETTER V. + +PERTH.--TRAVELLING BY COACH.--LOCH LEVEN.--QUEEN MARY.--LOCH +KATRINE.--THE TROSACHS.--ROWARDENNAN.--A NIGHT ON BEN LOMOND.--SCOTCH +PEASANTRY. + + +Birmingham, September 30th, 1846. + +I was obliged to stop writing at Edinburgh before the better half +of my tale was told, and must now begin there again, to speak of an +excursion into the Highlands, which occupied about a fortnight. + +We left Edinburgh, by coach for Perth, and arrived there about three +in the afternoon. I have reason to be very glad that I visit this +island before the reign of the stage-coach is quite over. I have been +constantly on the top of the coach, even one day of drenching rain, +and enjoy it highly. Nothing can be more inspiring than this swift, +steady progress over such smooth roads, and placed so high as to +overlook the country freely, with the lively flourish of the horn +preluding every pause. Travelling by railroad is, in my opinion, the +most stupid process on earth; it is sleep without the refreshment of +sleep, for the noise of the train makes it impossible either to read, +talk, or sleep to advantage. But here the advantages are immense; you +can fly through this dull trance from one beautiful place to another, +and stay at each during the time that would otherwise be spent on +the road. Already the artists, who are obliged to find their home +in London, rejoice that all England is thrown open to them for +sketching-ground, since they can now avail themselves of a day's +leisure at a great distance, and with choice of position, whereas +formerly they were obliged to confine themselves to a few "green, and +bowery" spots in the neighborhood of the metropolis. But while in the +car, it is to me that worst of purgatories, the purgatory of dulness. + +Well, on the coach we went to Perth, and passed through Kinross, and +saw Loch Leven, and the island where Queen Mary passed those sorrowful +months, before her romantic escape under care of the Douglas. As this +unhappy, lovely woman stands for a type in history, death, time, and +distance do not destroy her attractive power. Like Cleopatra, she has +still her adorers; nay, some are born to her in each new generation of +men. Lately she has for her chevalier the Russian Prince Labanoff, who +has spent fourteen years in studying upon all that related to her, +and thinks now that he can make out a story and a picture about the +mysteries of her short reign, which shall satisfy the desire of her +lovers to find her as pure and just as she was charming. I have only +seen of his array of evidence so much, as may be found in the pages of +Chambers's Journal, but that much does not disturb the original view I +have taken of the case; which is, that from a princess educated +under the Medici and Guise influence, engaged in the meshes of secret +intrigue to favor the Roman Catholic faith, her tacit acquiescence, +at least, in the murder of Darnley, after all his injurious conduct +toward her, was just what was to be expected. From a poor, beautiful +young woman, longing to enjoy life, exposed both by her position +and her natural fascinations to the utmost bewilderment of flattery, +whether prompted by interest or passion, her other acts of folly are +most natural, and let all who feel inclined harshly to condemn her +remember to + + "Gently scan your brother man, + Still gentler sister woman." + +Surely, in all the stern pages of life's account-book there is none on +which a more terrible price is exacted for every precious endowment. +Her rank and reign only made her powerless to do good, and exposed her +to danger; her talents only served to irritate her foes and disappoint +her friends. This most charming of women was the destruction of her +lovers: married three times, she had never any happiness as a wife, +but in both the connections of her choice found that she had either +never possessed or could not retain, even for a few weeks, the love of +the men she had chosen, so that Darnley was willing to risk her life +and that of his unborn child to wreak his wrath upon Rizzio, and after +a few weeks with Bothwell she was heard "calling aloud for a knife to +kill herself with." A mother twice, and of a son and daughter, +both the children were brought forth in loneliness and sorrow, and +separated from her early, her son educated to hate her, her +daughter at once immured in a convent. Add the eighteen years of her +imprisonment, and the fact that this foolish, prodigal world, when +there was in it one woman fitted by her grace and loveliness to charm +all eyes and enliven all fancies, suffered her to be shut up to water +with her tears her dull embroidery during all the full rose-blossom of +her life, and you will hardly get beyond this story for a tragedy, not +noble, but pallid and forlorn. + +Such were the bootless, best thoughts I had while looking at the dull +blood-stain and blocked-up secret stair of Holyrood, at the ruins of +Loch Leven castle, and afterward at Abbotsford, where the picture +of Queen Mary's head, as it lay on the pillow when severed from the +block, hung opposite to a fine caricature of "Queen Elizabeth dancing +high and disposedly." In this last the face is like a mask, so +frightful is the expression of cold craft, irritated, vanity, and the +malice of a lonely breast in contrast with the attitude and elaborate +frippery of the dress. The ambassador looks on dismayed; the little +page can scarcely control the laughter which swells his boyish cheeks. +Such can win the world which, better hearts (and such Mary's was, even +if it had a large black speck in it) are most like to lose. + +That was a most lovely day on which we entered Perth, and saw in full +sunshine its beautiful meadows, among them the North-Inch, the famous +battle-ground commemorated in "The Fair Maid of Perth," adorned with +graceful trees like those of the New England country towns. In the +afternoon we visited the modern Kinfauns, the stately home of Lord +Grey. The drive to it is most beautiful, on the one side the Park, +with noble heights that skirt it, on the other through a belt of trees +was seen the river and the sweep of that fair and cultivated country. +The house is a fine one, and furnished with taste, the library large, +and some good works in marble. Among the family pictures one +arrested my attention,--the face of a girl full of the most pathetic +sensibility, and with no restraint of convention upon its ardent, +gentle expression. She died young. + +Returning, we were saddened, as almost always on leaving any such +place, by seeing such swarms of dirty women and dirtier children at +the doors of the cottages almost close by the gate of the avenue. To +the horrors and sorrows of the streets in such places as Liverpool, +Glasgow, and, above all, London, one has to grow insensible or die +daily; but here in the sweet, fresh, green country, where there seems +to be room for everybody, it is impossible to forget the frightful +inequalities between the lot of man and man, or believe that God can +smile upon a state of things such as we find existent here. Can any +man who has seen these things dare blame the Associationists for their +attempt to find prevention against such misery and wickedness in our +land? Rather will not every man of tolerable intelligence and good +feeling commend, say rather revere, every earnest attempt in that +direction, nor dare interfere with any, unless he has a better to +offer in its place? + +Next morning we passed on to Crieff, in whose neighborhood we visited +Drummond Castle, the abode, or rather one of the abodes, of Lord +Willoughby D'Eresby. It has a noble park, through which you pass by +an avenue of two miles long. The old keep is still ascended to get +the fine view of the surrounding country; and during Queen Victoria's +visit, her Guards were quartered there. But what took my fancy most +was the old-fashioned garden, full of old shrubs and new flowers, with +its formal parterres in the shape of the family arms, and its clipped +yew and box trees. It was fresh from a shower, and now glittering and +fragrant in bright sunshine. + +This afternoon we pursued our way, passing through the plantations +of Ochtertyre, a far more charming place to my taste than Drummond +Castle, freer and more various in its features. Five or six of these +fine places lie in the neighborhood of Crieff, and the traveller may +give two or three days to visiting them with a rich reward of delight. +But we were pressing on to be with the lakes and mountains rather, and +that night brought us to St. Fillan's, where we saw the moon shining +on Loch Earn. + +All this region, and that of Loch Katrine and the Trosachs, which +we reached next day, Scott has described exactly in "The Lady of +the Lake"; nor is it possible to appreciate that poem, without going +thither, neither to describe the scene better than he has done after +you have seen it. I was somewhat disappointed in the pass of the +Trosachs itself; it is very grand, but the grand part lasts so +little while. The opening view of Loch Katrine, however, surpassed, +expectation. It was late in the afternoon when we launched our little +boat there for Ellen's isle. + +The boatmen recite, though not _con molto espressione_, the parts of +the poem which describe these localities. Observing that they spoke of +the personages, too, with the same air of confidence, we asked if they +were sure that all this really happened. They replied, "Certainly; it +had been told from father to son through so many generations." Such +is the power of genius to interpolate what it will into the regular +log-book of Time's voyage. + +Leaving Loch Katrine the following day, we entered Rob Roy's country, +and saw on the way the house where Helen MacGregor was born, and Rob +Roy's sword, which is shown in a house by the way-side. + +We came in a row-boat up Loch Katrine, though both on that and Loch +Lomond you _may_ go in a hateful little steamer with a squeaking +fiddle to play Rob Roy MacGregor O. I walked almost all the way +through the pass from Loch Katrine to Loch Lomond; it was a distance +of six miles; but you feel as if you could walk sixty in that pure, +exhilarating air. At Inversnaid we took boat again to go down Loch +Lomond to the little inn of Rowardennan, from which the ascent is made +of Ben Lomond, the greatest elevation in these parts. The boatmen +are fine, athletic men; one of those with us this evening, a handsome +young man of two or three and twenty, sang to us some Gaelic songs. +The first, a very wild and plaintive air, was the expostulation of a +girl whose lover has deserted her and married another. It seems he is +ashamed, and will not even look at her when they meet upon the road. +She implores him, if he has not forgotten all that scene of bygone +love, at least to lift up his eyes and give her one friendly glance. +The sad _crooning_ burden of the stanzas in which she repeats this +request was very touching. When the boatman had finished, he hung his +head and seemed ashamed of feeling the song too much; then, when we +asked for another, he said he would sing another about a girl that was +happy. This one was in three parts. First, a tuneful address from a +maiden to her absent lover; second, his reply, assuring her of his +fidelity and tenderness; third, a strain which expresses their joy +when reunited. I thought this boatman had sympathies which would +prevent his tormenting any poor women, and perhaps make some one +happy, and this was a pleasant thought, since probably in the +Highlands, as elsewhere, + + "Maidens lend an ear too oft + To the careless wooer; + Maidens' hearts are _always soft_; + Would that men's were truer!" + +I don't know that I quote the words correctly, but that is the sum and +substance of a masculine report on these matters. + +The first day at Rowardennan not being propitious for ascending the +mountain, we went down the lake to sup, and got very tired in various +ways, so that we rose very late next morning. Their 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 it, as they ought. They told us afterward they thought the +day was so clear that there was no probability of danger, and they +were afraid of seeming mercenary about it. It was, however, wrong, as +they knew what we did not, that even the shepherds, if a mist comes +on, can be lost in these hills; that a party of gentlemen were so a +few weeks before, and only by accident found their way to a house on +the other side; and that a child which had been lost was not found for +five days, long after its death. We, however, nothing doubting, set +forth, ascending slowly, and often stopping to enjoy the points of +view, which are many, for Ben Lomond consists of a congeries of hills, +above which towers the true Ben, or highest peak, as the head of a +many-limbed body. + +On reaching the peak, the night 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 farthest, angel companies seemed hovering in their +glorious white robes. + +Words are idle on such subjects; what can I say, but that it was a +noble vision, that satisfied the eye and stirred the imagination in +all its secret pulses? Had that been, as afterward seemed likely, +the last act of my life, there could not have been a finer decoration +painted on the curtain which was to drop upon it. + +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 oar way down. I thought however 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 so tired that 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 did the +same, 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 upon my arrival. But in doing so I found the justice of my +apprehension about the springs, as, so soon as I got to the foot of +the hills, I would sink up to my knees in bog, and have to 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 afterward +found is called "The Tongue," because hemmed in on three sides by a +watercourse. 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 watercourse, 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 about to cross the watercourse there, it looked so deep in the +dim twilight that I felt afraid. I got down as far as I could by the +root of a tree, and threw down a stone; it sounded very hollow, and +made me afraid to jump. The shepherds told me afterward, 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 sunk 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, which 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 got to my night's +lodging, such as it was, the prospect seemed appalling. I was very +lightly clad,--my feet and dress were very wet,--I had only a little +shawl to throw round me, and a 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, live +always a miserable invalid. There was no chance to 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. _How_ long it seemed under such circumstances only +those can guess who may have been similarly circumstanced. The mental +experience of the time, most precious and profound,--for it was indeed +a season lonely, dangerous, and helpless enough for the birth of +thoughts beyond what the common sunlight will ever call to being,--may +be told in another place and time. + +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. What they might have told me, who knows, if I +had but resigned myself more passively to that cold, spirit-like +breathing! + +At last the moon rose. I could not see her, but the silver light +filled the mist. Then 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 to say 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 then 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, though, if +unaided, I dare say it would have kept me up during the day; and they +carried me home, where my arrival relieved my friends of distress +far greater than I had undergone, for I had 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 expectations, 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 seen anywhere. + +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 escapes by flood and fell. Afterwards +they were all brought up to see me, and it was pleasing indeed to +observe the good breeding and good, feeling with which they deported +themselves on the occasion. Indeed, this adventure created quite an +intimate feeling between us and the people there. I had been much +pleased, with them before, in attending one of their dances, on +account of the genuine independence and politeness of their conduct. +They were willing and pleased 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. + +All the rest must wait a while. I cannot economize time to keep up +my record in any proportion with what happens, nor can I get out of +Scotland on this page, as I had intended, without utterly slighting +many gifts and graces. + + + + +LETTER VI. + +INVERARY.--THE ARGYLE FAMILY.--DUMBARTON.--SUNSET ON THE +CLYDE.--GLASGOW.--DIRT AND INTELLECT.--STIRLING.--"THE SCOTTISH +CHIEFS."--STIRLING CASTLE.--THE TOURNAMENT GROUND.--EDINBURGH.--JAMES +SIMPSON.--INFANT SCHOOLS.--FREE BATHS.--MELROSE.--ABBOTSFORD.--WALTER +SCOTT.--DRYBURGH ABBEY.--SCOTT'S TOMB. + + +Paris, November, 1846. + +I am very sorry to leave such a wide gap between my letters, but I was +inevitably prevented from finishing one that was begun for the steamer +of the 4th of November. I then hoped to prepare one after my arrival +here in time for the Hibernia, but a severe cold, caught on the way, +unfitted me for writing. It is now necessary to retrace my steps a +long way, or lose sight of several things it has seemed desirable to +mention to friends in America, though I shall make out my narrative +more briefly than if nearer the time of action. + +If I mistake not, my last closed just as I was looking back on the +hill where I had passed the night in all the miserable chill and amid +the ghostly apparitions of a Scotch mist, but which looked in the +morning truly beautiful, and (had I not known it too well to be +deceived) alluring, in its mantle of rich pink heath, the tallest and +most full of blossoms we anywhere saw, and with, the waterfall making +music by its side, and sparkling in the morning sun. + +Passing from Tarbet, we entered the grand and beautiful pass of +Glencoe,--sublime with purple shadows with bright lights between, and +in one place showing an exquisitely silent and lonely little lake. +The wildness of the scene was heightened by the black Highland cattle +feeding here and there. They looked much at home, too, in the park at +Inverary, where I saw them next day. In Inverary I was disappointed. +I found, indeed, the position of every object the same as indicated +in the "Legend of Montrose," but the expression of the whole seemed +unlike what I had fancied. The present abode of the Argyle family is +a modern structure, and boasts very few vestiges of the old romantic +history attached to the name. The park and look-out upon the lake are +beautiful, but except from the brief pleasure derived from these, the +old cross from Iona that stands in the market-place, and the drone of +the bagpipe which lulled me to sleep at night playing some melancholy +air, there was nothing to make me feel that it was "a far cry to +Lochawe," but, on the contrary, I seemed in the very midst of the +prosaic, the civilized world. + +Leaving Inverary, we left that day the Highlands too, passing through. +Hell Glen, a very wild and grand defile. Taking boat then on Loch +Levy, we passed down the Clyde, stopping an hour or two on our way at +Dumbarton. Nature herself foresaw the era of picture when she made and +placed this rock: there is every preparation for the artist's stealing +a little piece from her treasures to hang on the walls of a room. Here +I saw the sword of "Wallace wight," shown by a son of the nineteenth +century, who said that this hero lived about fifty years ago, and who +did not know the height of this rock, in a cranny of which he lived, +or at least ate and slept and "donned his clothes." From the top of +the rock I saw sunset on the beautiful Clyde, animated that day by an +endless procession of steamers, little skiffs, and boats. In one of +the former, the Cardiff Castle, we embarked as the last light of day +was fading, and that evening found ourselves in Glasgow. + +I understand there is an intellectual society of high merit in +Glasgow, but we were there only a few hours, and did not see any one. +Certainly the place, as it may be judged of merely from the general +aspect of the population and such objects as may be seen in the +streets, more resembles an _Inferno_ than any other we have yet +visited. The people are more crowded together, and the stamp of +squalid, stolid misery and degradation more obvious and appalling. +The English and Scotch do not take kindly to poverty, like those of +sunnier climes; it makes them fierce or stupid, and, life presenting +no other cheap pleasure, they take refuge in drinking. + +I saw here in Glasgow persons, especially women, dressed in dirty, +wretched tatters, worse than none, and with an expression of listless, +unexpecting woe upon their faces, far more tragic than the inscription +over the gate of Dante's _Inferno_. To one species of misery suffered +here to the last extent, I shall advert in speaking of London. + +But from all these sorrowful tokens I by no means inferred the +falsehood of the information, that here was to be found a circle +rich in intellect and in aspiration. The manufacturing and commercial +towns, burning focuses of grief and vice, are also the centres of +intellectual life, as in forcing-beds the rarest flowers and fruits +are developed by use of impure and repulsive materials. Where evil +comes to an extreme, Heaven seems busy in providing means for the +remedy. Glaring throughout Scotland and England is the necessity for +the devoutest application of intellect and love to the cure of ills +that cry aloud, and, without such application, erelong help _must_ be +sought by other means than words. Yet there is every reason to hope +that those who ought to help are seriously, though, slowly, becoming +alive to the imperative nature of this duty; so we must not cease +to hope, even in the streets of Glasgow, and the gin-palaces of +Manchester, and the dreariest recesses of London. + +From Glasgow we passed to Stirling, like Dumbarton endeared to the +mind which cherishes the memory of its childhood more by association +with Miss Porter's Scottish Chiefs, than with "Snowdon's knight and +Scotland's king." We reached the town too late to see the castle +before the next morning, and I took up at the inn "The Scottish +Chiefs," in which I had not read a word since ten or twelve years old. +We are in the habit now of laughing when this book is named, as if it +were a representative of what is most absurdly stilted or bombastic, +but now, in reading, my maturer mind was differently impressed from +what I expected, and the infatuation with which childhood and early +youth regard this book and its companion, "Thaddeus of Warsaw," was +justified. The characters and dialogue are, indeed, out of nature, but +the sentiment that animates them is pure, true, and no less healthy +than noble. Here is bad drawing, bad drama, but good music, to which +the unspoiled heart will always echo, even when the intellect has +learned to demand a better organ for its communication. + +The castle of Stirling is as rich as any place in romantic +associations. We were shown its dungeons and its Court of Lions, +where, says tradition, wild animals, kept in the grated cells +adjacent, were brought out on festival occasions to furnish +entertainment for the court. So, while lords and ladies gay danced and +sang above, prisoners pined and wild beasts starved below. This, at +first blush, looks like a very barbarous state of things, but, on +reflection, one does not find that we have outgrown it in our present +so-called state of refined civilization, only the present way of +expressing the same facts is a little different. Still lords and +ladies dance and sing, unknowing or uncaring that the laborers who +minister to their luxuries starve or are turned into wild beasts. Man +need not boast his condition, methinks, till he can weave his costly +tapestry without the side that is kept under looking thus sadly. + +The tournament ground is still kept green and in beautiful order, near +Stirling castle, as a memento of the olden time, and as we passed +away down the beautiful Firth, a turn of the river gave us a very +advantageous view of it. So gay it looked, so festive in the bright +sunshine, one almost seemed to see the graceful forms of knight and +noble pricking their good steeds to the encounter, or the stalwart +Douglas, vindicating his claim to be indeed a chief by conquest in the +rougher sports of the yeomanry. + +Passing along the Firth to Edinburgh, we again passed two or three +days in that beautiful city, which I could not be content to leave +so imperfectly seen, if I had not some hope of revisiting it when the +bright lights that adorn it are concentred there. In summer almost +every one is absent. I was very fortunate to see as many interesting +persons as I did. On this second visit I saw James Simpson, a +well-known philanthropist, and leader in the cause of popular +education. Infant schools have been an especial care of his, and +America as well as Scotland has received the benefit of his thoughts +on this subject. His last good work has been to induce the erection +of public baths in Edinburgh, and the working people of that place, +already deeply in his debt for the lectures he has been unwearied +in delivering for their benefit, have signified their gratitude by +presenting him with a beautiful model of a fountain in silver as an +ornament to his study. Never was there a place where such a measure +would be more important; if cleanliness be akin to godliness, +Edinburgh stands at great disadvantage in her devotions. The impure +air, the terrific dirt which surround the working people, must make +all progress in higher culture impossible; and I saw nothing which +seemed to me so likely to have results of incalculable good, as this +practical measure of the Simpsons in support of the precept, + + "Wash and be clean every whit." + +We returned into England by the way of Melrose, not content to leave +Scotland without making our pilgrimage to Abbotsford. The universal +feeling, however, has made this pilgrimage so common that there +is nothing left for me to say; yet, though I had read a hundred +descriptions, everything seemed new as I went over this epitome of +the mind and life of Scott. As what constitutes the great man is more +commonly some extraordinary combination and balance of qualities, than +the highest development of any one, so you cannot but here be struck +anew by the singular combination in Scott's mind of love for the +picturesque and romantic with the plainest common sense,--a delight +in heroic excess with the prudential habit of order. Here the most +pleasing order pervades emblems of what men commonly esteem disorder +and excess. + +Amid the exquisite beauty of the ruins of Dryburgh, I saw with regret +that Scott's body rests in almost the only spot that is not green, and +cannot well be made so, for the light does not reach it. That is not +a fit couch for him who dressed so many dim and time-worn relics with +living green. + +Always cheerful and beneficent, Scott seemed to the common eye in like +measure prosperous and happy, up to the last years, and the chair in +which, under the pressure of the sorrows which led to his death, he +was propped up to write when brain and eye and hand refused their +aid, the product remaining only as a guide to the speculator as to the +workings of the mind in case of insanity or approaching imbecility, +would by most persons be viewed as the only saddening relic of his +career. Yet when I recall some passages in the Lady of the Lake, and +the Address to his Harp, I cannot doubt that Scott had the full share +of bitter in his cup, and feel the tender hope that we do about other +gentle and generous guardians and benefactors of our youth, that in a +nobler career they are now fulfilling still higher duties with serener +mind. Doubtless too they are trusting in us that we will try to fill +their places with kindly deeds, ardent thoughts, nor leave the world, +in their absence, + + "A dim, vast vale of tears, + Vacant and desolate." + + + + +LETTER VII. + +NEWCASTLE.--DESCENT INTO A COAL-MINE.--YORK WITH ITS MINSTER.-- +SHEFFIELD.--CHATSWORTH.--WARWICK CASTLE.--LEAMINGTON AND +STRATFORD.--SHAKESPEARE.--BIRMINGHAM.--GEORGE DAWSON.--JAMES +MARTINEAU.--W.J. FOX.--W.H. CHARMING AND THEODORE PARKER.--LONDON +AND PARIS. + + +Paris, 1846. + +We crossed the moorland in a heavy rain, and reached Newcastle late +at night. Next day we descended into a coal-mine; it was quite an odd +sensation to be taken off one's feet and dropped down into darkness +by the bucket. The stables under ground had a pleasant Gil-Blas air, +though the poor horses cannot like it much; generally they see the +light of day no more after they have once been let down into these +gloomy recesses, but pass their days in dragging cars along the rails +of the narrow passages, and their nights in eating hay and dreaming +of grass!! When we went down, we meant to go along the gallery to the +place where the miners were then at work, but found this was a walk +of a mile and a half, and, beside the weariness of picking one's steps +slowly along by the light of a tallow candle, too wet and dirty an +enterprise to be undertaken by way of amusement; so, after proceeding +half a mile or so, we begged to be restored to our accustomed level, +and reached it with minds slightly edified and face and hands much +blackened. + +Passing thence we saw York with its Minster, that dream of beauty +realized. From, its roof I saw two rainbows, overarching that lovely +country. Through its aisles I heard grand music pealing. But how +sorrowfully bare is the interior of such a cathedral, despoiled of the +statues, the paintings, and the garlands that belong to the Catholic +religion! The eye aches for them. Such a church is ruined by +Protestantism; its admirable exterior seems that of a sepulchre; there +is no correspondent life within. + +Within the citadel, a tower half ruined and ivy-clad, is life that +has been growing up while the exterior bulwarks of the old feudal time +crumbled to ruin. George Fox, while a prisoner at York for obedience +to the dictates of his conscience, planted here a walnut, and the tall +tree that grew from it still "bears testimony" to his living presence +on that spot. The tree is old, but still bears nuts; one of them was +taken away by my companions, and may perhaps be the parent of a tree +somewhere in America, that shall shade those who inherit the spirit, +if they do not attach importance to the etiquettes, of Quakerism. + +In Sheffield I saw the sooty servitors tending their furnaces. I saw +them, also on Saturday night, after their work was done, going to +receive its poor wages, looking pallid and dull, as if they had spent +on tempering the steel that vital force that should have tempered +themselves to manhood. + +We saw, also, Chatsworth, with its park and mock wilderness, and +immense conservatory, and really splendid fountains and wealth of +marbles. It is a fine expression of modern luxury and splendor, but +did not interest me; I found little there of true beauty or grandeur. + +Warwick Castle is a place entirely to my mind, a real representative +of the English aristocracy in the day of its nobler life. The grandeur +of the pile itself, and its beauty of position, introduce you fitly +to the noble company with which the genius of Vandyke has peopled +its walls. But a short time was allowed to look upon these nobles, +warriors, statesmen, and ladies, who gaze upon us in turn with such a +majesty of historic association, yet was I very well satisfied. It +is not difficult to see men through the eyes of Vandyke. His way of +viewing character seems superficial, though commanding; he sees the +man in his action on the crowd, not in his hidden life; he does not, +like some painters, amaze and engross us by his revelations as to the +secret springs of conduct. I know not by what hallucination I forebore +to look at the picture I most desired to see,--that of Lucy, Countess +of Carlisle. I was looking at something else, and when the fat, +pompous butler announced her, I did not recognize her name from his +mouth. Afterward it flashed across me, that I had really been standing +before her and forgotten to look. But repentance was too late; I had +passed the castle gate to return no more. + +Pretty Leamington and Stratford are hackneyed ground. Of the latter +I only observed what, if I knew, I had forgotten, that the room where +Shakespeare was born has been an object of devotion only for forty +years. England has learned much of her appreciation of Shakespeare +from the Germans. In the days of innocence, I fondly supposed that +every one who could understand English, and was not a cannibal, adored +Shakespeare and read him on Sundays always for an hour or more, and on +week days a considerable portion of the time. But I have lived to know +some hundreds of persons in my native land, without finding ten who +had any direct acquaintance with their greatest benefactor, and I dare +say in England as large an experience would not end more honorably +to its subjects. So vast a treasure is left untouched, while men are +complaining of being poor, because they have not toothpicks exactly to +their mind. + +At Stratford I handled, too, the poker used to such good purpose by +Geoffrey Crayon. The muse had fled, the fire was out, and the poker +rusty, yet a pleasant influence lingered even in that cold little +room, and seemed to lend a transient glow to the poker under the +influence of sympathy. + +In Birmingham I heard two discourses from one of the rising lights of +England, George Dawson, a young man of whom I had earlier heard much +in praise. He is a friend of the people, in the sense of brotherhood, +not of a social convenience or patronage; in literature catholic; in +matters of religion antisectarian, seeking truth in aspiration and +love. He is eloquent, with good method in his discourse, fire and +dignity when wanted, with a frequent homeliness in enforcement and +illustration which offends the etiquettes of England, but fits him the +better for the class he has to address. His powers are uncommon and +unfettered in their play; his aim is worthy. He is fulfilling and will +fulfil an important task as an educator of the people, if all be +not marred by a taint of self-love and arrogance now obvious in his +discourse. This taint is not surprising in one so young, who has +done so much, and in order to do it has been compelled to great +self-confidence and light heed of the authority of other minds, and +who is surrounded almost exclusively by admirers; neither is it, +at present, a large speck; it may be quite purged from him by the +influence of nobler motives and the rise of his ideal standard; but, +on the other hand, should it spread, all must be vitiated. Let us hope +the best, for he is one that could ill be spared from the band who +have taken up the cause of Progress in England. + +In this connection I may as well speak of James Martineau, whom I +heard in Liverpool, and W.J. Fox, whom I heard in London. + +Mr. Martineau looks like the over-intellectual, the partially +developed man, and his speech confirms this impression. He is +sometimes conservative, sometimes reformer, not in the sense of +eclecticism, but because his powers and views do not find a true +harmony. On the conservative side he is scholarly, acute,--on the +other, pathetic, pictorial, generous. He is no prophet and no sage, +yet a man full of fine affections and thoughts, always suggestive, +sometimes satisfactory; he is well adapted to the wants of that class, +a large one in the present day, who love the new wine, but do not feel +that they can afford to throw away _all_ their old bottles. + +Mr. Fox is the reverse of all this: he is homogeneous in his materials +and harmonious in the results he produces. He has great persuasive +power; it is the persuasive power of a mind warmly engaged in seeking +truth for itself. He sometimes carries homeward convictions with great +energy, driving in the thought as with golden nails. A glow of kindly +human sympathy enlivens his argument, and the whole presents thought +in a well-proportioned, animated body. But I am told he is far +superior in speech on political or social problems, than on such as I +heard him discuss. + +I was reminded, in hearing all three, of men similarly engaged in our +country, W.H. Charming and Theodore Parker. None of them compare +in the symmetrical arrangement of extempore discourse, or in pure +eloquence and communication of spiritual beauty, with Charming, nor in +fulness and sustained flow with Parker, but, in power of practical and +homely adaptation of their thought to common wants, they are superior +to the former, and all have more variety, finer perceptions, and are +more powerful in single passages, than Parker. + +And now my pen has run to 1st October, and still I have such +notabilities as fell to my lot to observe while in London, and these +that are thronging upon me here in Paris to record for you. I am sadly +in arrears, but 't is comfort to think that such meats as I have to +serve up are as good cold as hot. At any rate, it is just impossible +to do any better, and I shall comfort myself, as often before, with +the triplet which I heard in childhood from a sage (if only sages wear +wigs!):-- + + "As said the great Prince Fernando, + What _can_ a man do, + More than he can do?" + + + + +LETTER VIII. + +RECOLLECTIONS OF LONDON.--THE ENGLISH GENTLEMAN.--LONDON CLIMATE.--OUT +OF SEASON.--LUXURY AND MISERY.--A DIFFICULT PROBLEM.--TERRORS +OF POVERTY.--JOANNA BAILLIE AND MADAME ROLAND.--HAMPSTEAD.--MISS +BERRY.--FEMALE ARTISTS.--MARGARET GILLIES.--THE PEOPLE'S +JOURNAL.--THE TIMES.--THE HOWITTS.--SOUTH WOOD SMITH.--HOUSES FOR THE +POOR.--SKELETON OF JEREMY BENTHAM.--COOPER THE POET.--THOM. + + +Paris, December, 1846. + +I sit down here in Paris to narrate some recollections of London. +The distance in space and time is not great, yet I seem in wholly a +different world. Here in the region of wax-lights, mirrors, bright +wood fires, shrugs, vivacious ejaculations, wreathed smiles, and +adroit courtesies, it is hard to remember John Bull, with his +coal-smoke, hands in pockets, except when extended for ungracious +demand of the perpetual half-crown, or to pay for the all but +perpetual mug of beer. John, seen on that side, is certainly the most +churlish of clowns, and the most clownish of churls. But then +there are so many other sides! When a gentleman, he is so truly the +gentleman, when a man, so truly the man of honor! His graces, when he +has any, grow up from his inmost heart. + +Not that he is free from humbug; on the contrary, he is prone to the +most solemn humbug, generally of the philanthrophic or otherwise moral +kind. But he is always awkward beneath the mask, and can never impose +upon anybody--but himself. Nature meant him to be noble, generous, +sincere, and has furnished him with no faculties to make himself +agreeable in any other way or mode of being. 'Tis not so with your +Frenchman, who can cheat you pleasantly, and move with grace in the +devious and slippery path. You would be almost sorry to see him quite +disinterested and straightforward, so much of agreeable talent and +naughty wit would thus lie hid for want of use. But John, O John, we +must admire, esteem, or be disgusted with thee. + +As to climate, there is not much to choose at this time of year. In +London, for six weeks, we never saw the sun for coal-smoke and fog. In +Paris we have not been blessed with its cheering rays above three or +four days in the same length of time, and are, beside, tormented with +an oily and tenacious mud beneath the feet, which makes it almost +impossible to walk. This year, indeed, is an uncommonly severe one at +Paris; but then, if they have their share of dark, cold days, it must +be admitted that they do all they can to enliven them. + +But to dwell first on London,--London, in itself a world. We arrived +at a time which the well-bred Englishman considers as no time at +all,--quite out of "the season," when Parliament is in session, and +London thronged with the equipages of her aristocracy, her titled +wealthy nobles. I was listened to with a smile of contempt when I +declared that the stock shows of London would yield me amusement and +employment more than sufficient for the time I had to stay. But +I found that, with my way of viewing things, it would be to me an +inexhaustible studio, and that, if life were only long enough, I would +live there for years obscure in some corner, from which I could issue +forth day by day to watch unobserved the vast stream of life, or to +decipher the hieroglyphics which ages have been inscribing on the +walls of this vast palace (I may not call it a temple), which human +effort has reared for means, not yet used efficaciously, of human +culture. + +And though I wish to return to London in "the season," when that city +is an adequate representative of the state of things in England, I +am glad I did not at first see all that pomp and parade of wealth and +luxury in contrast with the misery, squalid, agonizing, ruffianly, +which stares one in the face in every street of London, and hoots at +the gates of her palaces more ominous a note than ever was that of owl +or raven in the portentous times when empires and races have crumbled +and fallen from inward decay. + +It is impossible, however, to take a near view of the treasures +created by English genius, accumulated by English industry, without a +prayer, daily more fervent, that the needful changes in the condition +of this people may be effected by peaceful revolution, which shall +destroy nothing except the shocking inhumanity of exclusiveness, +which now prevents their being used, for the benefit of all. May their +present possessors look to it in time! A few already are earnest in +a good spirit. For myself, much as I pitied the poor, abandoned, +hopeless wretches that swarm in the roads and streets of England, I +pity far more the English noble, with this difficult problem before +him, and such need of a speedy solution. Sad is his life, if a +conscientious man; sadder still, if not. Poverty in England has +terrors of which I never dreamed at home. I felt that it would be +terrible to be poor there, but far more so to be the possessor of that +for which so many thousands are perishing. And the middle class, too, +cannot here enjoy that serenity which the sages have described as +naturally their peculiar blessing. Too close, too dark throng the +evils they cannot obviate, the sorrows they cannot relieve. To a man +of good heart, each day must bring purgatory which he knows not how to +bear, yet to which he fears to become insensible. + +From these clouds of the Present, it is pleasant to turn the thoughts +to some objects which have cast a light upon the Past, and which, by +the virtue of their very nature, prescribe hope for the Future. 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. + +I prize Joanna Baillie and Madame Roland as the best specimens which +have been hitherto offered of women of a Roman strength and singleness +of mind, adorned by the various culture and capable of the various +action opened to them by the progress of the Christian Idea. They are +not sentimental; they do not sigh and write of withered flowers of +fond affection, and woman's heart born to be misunderstood by the +object or objects of her fond, inevitable choice. Love (the passion), +when spoken of at all by them, seems a thing noble, religious, worthy +to be felt. They do not write of it always; they did not think of it +always; they saw other things in this great, rich, suffering world. In +superior delicacy of touch, they show the woman, but the hand is firm; +nor was all their speech, one continued utterance of mere personal +experience. It contained things which are good, intellectually, +universally. + +I regret that the writings of Joanna Baillie are not more known in +the United States. The Plays on the Passions are faulty in their +plan,--all attempts at comic, even at truly dramatic effect, fail; but +there are masterly sketches of character, vigorous expressions of wise +thought, deep, fervent ejaculations of an aspiring soul! + +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 relation 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. Although no autograph collector, I asked for theirs, and when +the elder gave hers as "sister to Joanna Baillie," it drew a tear from +my eye,--a good tear, a genuine pearl,--fit homage to that fairest +product of the soul of man, humble, disinterested tenderness. + +Hampstead has still a good deal of romantic beauty. I was told it was +the favorite sketching-ground of London artists, till the railroads +gave them easy means of spending a few hours to advantage farther +off. But, indeed, there is a wonderful deal of natural beauty lying in +untouched sweetness near London. Near one of our cities it would all +have been grabbed up the first thing. But we, too, are beginning to +grow wiser. + +At Richmond I went to see another lady of more than threescore years' +celebrity, more than fourscore in age, Miss Berry the friend of Horace +Walpole, and for her charms of manner and conversation long and still +a reigning power. She has still the vivacity, the careless nature, or +refined art, that made her please so much in earlier days,--still is +girlish, and gracefully so. Verily, with her was no sign of labor or +sorrow. + +From the older turning to the young, I must speak with pleasure +of several girls I know in London, who are devoting themselves to +painting as a profession. They have really wise and worthy views of +the artist's avocation; if they remain true to them, they will enjoy +a free, serene existence, unprofaned by undue care or sentimental +sorrow. Among these, Margaret Gillies has attained some celebrity; +she may be known to some in America by engravings in the "People's +Journal" from her pictures; but, if I remember right, these are +coarse things, and give no just notion of her pictures, which are +distinguished for elegance and refinement; a little mannerized, but +she is improving in that respect. + +The "People's Journal" comes nearer being a fair sign of the times +than any other publication of England, apparently, if we except Punch. +As for the Times, on which you all use your scissors so industriously, +it is managed with vast ability, no doubt, but the blood would tingle +many a time to the fingers' ends of the body politic, before that +solemn organ which claims to represent the heart would dare to beat in +unison. Still it would require all the wise management of the Times, +or wisdom enough to do without it, and a wide range and diversity of +talent, indeed, almost sweeping the circle, to make a People's Journal +for England. The present is only a bud of the future flower. + +Mary and William Howitt are its main support. 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. Her husband is full of the same agreeable information, +communicated in the same lively yet precise manner we find in his +books; it was like talking with old friends, except that now the +eloquence of the eye was added. At their house I became acquainted +with Dr. Southwood Smith, the well-known philanthropist. He is at +present engaged on the construction of good tenements calculated to +improve the condition of the working people. His plans look promising, +and should they succeed, you shall have a detailed account of them. On +visiting him, we saw an object which I had often heard celebrated, +and had thought would be revolting, but found, on the contrary, an +agreeable sight; this is the skeleton of Jeremy Bentham. It was at +Bentham's request that the skeleton, dressed in the same dress he +habitually wore, stuffed out to an exact resemblance of life, and with +a portrait mark in wax, the best I ever saw, sits there, as assistant +to Dr. Smith in the entertainment of his guests and companion of his +studies. The figure leans a little forward, resting the hands on a, +stout stick which Bentham always carried, and had named "Dapple"; +the attitude is quite easy, the expression of the whole quite mild, +winning, yet highly individual. It is a pleasing mark of that unity +of aim and tendency to be expected throughout the life of such a mind, +that Bentham, while quite a young man, had made a will, in which, to +oppose in the most convincing manner the prejudice against dissection +of the human subject, he had given his body after death to be used in +service of the cause of science. "I have not yet been able," said the +will, "to do much service to my fellow-men by my life, but perhaps I +may in this manner by my death." Many years after, reading a pamphlet +by Dr. Smith on the same subject, he was much pleased with it, +became his friend, and bequeathed his body to his care and use, with +directions that the skeleton should finally be disposed of in the way +I have described. + +The countenance of Dr. Smith has an expression of expansive, sweet, +almost childlike goodness. Miss Gillies has made a charming picture of +him, with a favorite little granddaughter nestling in his arms. + +Another marked figure that I encountered on this great showboard was +Cooper, the author of "The Purgatory of Luicides," a very remarkable +poem, of which, had there been leisure before my departure, I should +have made a review, and given copious extracts in the Tribune. Cooper +is as strong a man, and probably a milder one, than when in the prison +where that poem was written. The earnestness in seeking freedom +and happiness for all men, which drew upon him that penalty, seems +unabated; he is a very significant type of the new era, and also an +agent in bringing it near. One of the poets of the people, also, I +saw,--the sweetest singer of them all,--Thom. "A Chieftain unknown +to the Queen" is again exacting a cruel tribute from him. I wish much +that some of those of New York who have taken an interest in him would +provide there a nook in which he might find refuge and solace for the +evening of his days, to sing or to work as likes him best, and where +he could bring up two fine boys to happier prospects than the parent +land will afford them. Could and would America but take from other +lands more of the talent, as well as the bone and sinew, she would be +rich. + +But the stroke of the clock warns me to stop now, and begin to-morrow +with fresher eye and hand on some interesting topics. My sketches are +slight; still they cannot be made without time, and I find none to be +had in this Europe except late at night. I believe it is what all the +inhabitants use, but I am too sleepy a genius to carry the practice +far. + + + + +LETTER IX. + +WRITING AT NIGHT.--LONDON.--NATIONAL GALLERY.--MURILLO.--THE FLOWER +GIRL.--NURSERY-MAIDS AND WORKING-MEN.--HAMPTON COURT.--ZOOeLOGICAL +GARDENS.--KING OF ANIMALS.--ENGLISH PIETY.--EAGLES.--SIR JOHN SOANE'S +MUSEUM.--KEW GARDENS.--THE GREAT CACTUS.--THE REFORM CLUB HOUSE.--MEN +COOKS.--ORDERLY KITCHEN.--A GILPIN EXCURSION.--THE BELL AT EDMONTON.-- +OMNIBUS.--CHEAPSIDE.--ENGLISH SLOWNESS.--FREILIGRATH.--ARCADIA.-- +ITALIAN SCHOOL.--MAZZINI.--ITALY.--ITALIAN REFUGEES.--CORREGGIO.-- +HOPE OF ITALIANS.--ADDRESSES.--SUPPER.--CARLYLE, HIS APPEARANCE, +CONVERSATION, &C. + + +Again I must begin to write late in the evening. I am told it is the +custom of the literati in these large cities to work in the night. It +is easy to see that it must be almost impossible to do otherwise; yet +not only is the practice very bad for the health, and one that brings +on premature old age, but I cannot think this night-work will prove as +firm in texture and as fair of hue as what is done by sunlight. Give +me a lonely chamber, a window from which through the foliage you can +catch glimpses of a beautiful prospect, and the mind finds itself +tuned to action. + +But London, London! I have yet some brief notes to make on London. We +had scarcely any sunlight by which to see pictures, and I postponed +all visits to private collections, except one, in the hope of being in +England next time in the long summer days. In the National Gallery I +saw little except the Murillos; they were so beautiful, that with me, +who had no true conception of his kind of genius before, they took +away the desire to look into anything else at the same time. They +did not affect me much either, except with a sense of content in this +genius, so rich and full and strong. It was a cup of sunny wine that +refreshed but brought no intoxicating visions. There is something +very noble in the genius of Spain, there is such an intensity and +singleness; it seems to me it has not half shown itself, and must have +an important part to play yet in the drama of this planet. + +At the Dulwich Gallery I saw the Flower Girl of Murillo, an enchanting +picture, the memory of which must always + + "Cast a light upon the day, + A light that will not pass away, + A sweet forewarning." + +Who can despair when he thinks of a form like that, so full of life +and bliss! Nature, that made such human forms to match the butterfly +and the bee on June mornings when the lime-trees are in blossom, has +surely enough of happiness in store to satisfy us all, somewhere, some +time. + +It was pleasant, indeed, to see the treasures of those galleries, of +the British Museum, and of so charming a place as Hampton Court, +open to everybody. In the National Gallery one finds a throng of +nursery-maids, and men just come from their work; true, they make a +great deal of noise thronging to and fro on the uncarpeted floors +in their thick boots, and noise from which, when penetrated by +the atmosphere of Art, men in the thickest boots would know how to +refrain; still I felt that the sight of such objects must be gradually +doing them a great deal of good. The British Museum would, in itself, +be an education for a man who should go there once a week, and think +and read at his leisure moments about what he saw. + +Hampton Court I saw in the gloom, and rain, and my chief recollections +are of the magnificent yew-trees beneath whose shelter--the work +of ages--I took refuge from the pelting shower. The expectations +cherished from childhood about the Cartoons were all baffled; there +was no light by which they could be seen. But I must hope to visit +Hampton Court again in the time of roses. + +The Zooelogical Gardens are another pleasure of the million, since, +although something is paid there, it is so little that almost all can +afford it. To me, it is a vast pleasure to see animals where they can +show out their habits or instincts, and to see them assembled from, +all climates and countries, amid verdure and with room enough, as they +are here, is a true poem. They have a fine lion, the first I ever saw +that realized the idea we have of the king of the animal world; but +the groan and roar of this one were equally royal. The eagles were +fine, but rather disgraced themselves. It is a trait of English piety, +which would, no doubt, find its defenders among ourselves, not to feed +the animals on Sunday, that their keepers may have rest; at least +this was the explanation given us by one of these men of the state of +ravenous hunger in which we found them on the Monday. I half hope +he was jesting with us. Certain it is that the eagles were wild with +famine, and even the grandest of them, who had eyed us at first as if +we were not fit to live in the same zone with him, when the meat came +round, after a short struggle to maintain his dignity, joined in wild +shriek and scramble with the rest. + +Sir John Soane's Museum I visited, containing the sarcophagus +described by Dr. Waagen, Hogarth's pictures, a fine Canaletto, and +a manuscript of Tasso. It fills the house once the residence of his +body, still of his mind. It is not a mind with which I have sympathy; +I found there no law of harmony, and it annoyed me to see things all +jumbled together as if in an old curiosity-shop. Nevertheless it was a +generous bequest, and much may perhaps be found there of value to him +who takes time to seek. + +The Gardens at Kew delighted me, thereabouts all was so green, and +still one could indulge at leisure in the humorous and fantastic +associations that cluster around the name of Kew, like the curls of +a "big wig" round the serene and sleepy face of its wearer. Here are +fourteen green-houses: in one you find all the palms; in another, +the productions of the regions of snow; in another, those squibs and +humorsome utterances of Nature, the cactuses,--ay! there I saw the +great-grandfather of all the cactuses, a hoary, solemn plant, declared +to be a thousand years old, disdaining to say if it is not really +much, older; in yet another, the most exquisitely minute plants, +delicate as the tracery of frostwork, too delicate for the bowers of +fairies, such at least as visit the gross brains of earthly poets. + +The Reform Club was the only one of those splendid establishments that +I visited. Certainly the force of comfort can no farther go, nor can +anything be better contrived to make dressing, eating, news-getting, +and even sleeping (for there are bedrooms as well as dressing-rooms +for those who will), as comfortable as can be imagined. Yet to me this +palace of so many "single gentlemen rolled into one" seemed _stupidly_ +comfortable, in the absence of that elegant arrangement and vivacious +atmosphere which only women can inspire. In the kitchen, indeed, I +met them, and on that account it seemed the pleasantest part of the +building,--though even there they are but the servants of servants. +There reigned supreme a genius in his way, who has published a work +on Cookery, and around him his pupils,--young men who pay a handsome +yearly fee for novitiate under his instruction. I was not sorry, +however, to see men predominant in the cooking department, as I hope +to see that and washing transferred to their care in the progress of +things, since they are "the stronger sex." + +The arrangements of this kitchen were very fine, combining great +convenience with neatness, and even elegance. Fourier himself might +have taken pleasure in them. Thence we passed into the private +apartments of the artist, and found them full of pictures by his wife, +an artist in another walk. One or two of them had been engraved. _She_ +was an Englishwoman. + +A whimsical little excursion we made on occasion of the anniversary of +the wedding-day of two of my friends. They had often enjoyed reading +the account of John Gilpin's in America, and now thought that, as they +were in England and near enough, they would celebrate theirs also at +"the Bell at Edmonton." I accompanied them with "a little foot-page," +to eke out the train, pretty and graceful and playful enough for +the train of a princess. But our excursion turned out somewhat of a +failure, in an opposite way to Gilpin's. Whereas he went too fast, we +went too slow. First we took coach and went through Cheapside to take +omnibus at (strange misnomer!) the Flower-Pot. But Gilpin could never +have had his race through Cheapside as it is in its present crowded +state; we were obliged to proceed at a funeral pace. We missed the +omnibus, and when we took the next one it went with the slowness of a +"family horse" in the old chaise of a New England deacon, and, after +all, only took us half-way. At the half-way house a carriage was to +be sought. The lady who let it, and all her grooms, were to be allowed +time to recover from their consternation at so unusual a move as +strangers taking a carriage to dine at the little inn at Edmonton, now +a mere alehouse, before we could be allowed to proceed. The English +stand lost in amaze at "Yankee notions," with their quick come and +go, and it is impossible to make them "go ahead" in the zigzag +chain-lightning path, unless you push them. A rather old part of the +plan had been a pilgrimage to the grave of Lamb, with a collateral +view to the rural beauties of Edmonton, but night had fallen on all +such hopes two hours at least before we reached the Bell. _There_, +indeed, we found them somewhat more alert to comprehend our wishes; +they laughed when we spoke of Gilpin, showed us a print of the race +and the window where Mrs. Gilpin must have stood,--balcony, alas! +there was none; allowed us to make our own fire, and provided us a +wedding dinner of tough meat and stale bread. Nevertheless we danced, +dined, paid (I believe), and celebrated the wedding quite to our +satisfaction, though in the space of half an hour, as we knew +friends were even at that moment expecting us to _tea_ at some miles' +distance. But it is always pleasant in this world of routine to act +out a freak. "Such a one," said an English gentleman, "one of _us_ +would rarely have dreamed of, much, less acted." "Why, was it not +pleasant?" "Oh, _very_! but _so_ out of the way!" + +Returning, we passed the house where Freiligrath finds a temporary +home, earning the bread, of himself and his family in a commercial +house. England houses the exile, but not without house-tax, +window-tax, and head-tax. Where is the Arcadia that dares invite +all genius to her arms, and change her golden wheat for their green +laurels and immortal flowers? Arcadia?--would the name were America! + +And now returns naturally to my mind one of the most interesting +things I have seen here or elsewhere,--the school for poor Italian +boys, sustained and taught by a few of their exiled compatriots, and +especially by the mind and efforts of Mazzini. The name of Joseph +Mazzini is well known to those among us who take an interest in the +cause of human freedom, who, not content with the peace and ease +bought for themselves by the devotion and sacrifices of their fathers, +look with anxious interest on the suffering nations who are preparing +for a similar struggle. Those who are not, like the brutes that +perish, content with the enjoyment of mere national advantages, +indifferent to the idea they represent, cannot forget that the human +family is one, + + "And beats with one great heart." + +They know that there can be no genuine happiness, no salvation for +any, unless the same can be secured for all. + +To this universal interest in all nations and places where man, +understanding his inheritance, strives to throw off an arbitrary rule +and establish a state of things where he shall be governed as becomes +a man, by his own conscience and intelligence,--where he may speak +the truth as it rises in his mind, and indulge his natural emotions +in purity,--is added an especial interest in Italy, the mother of +our language and our laws, our greatest benefactress in the gifts +of genius, the garden of the world, in which our best thoughts have +delighted to expatiate, but over whose bowers now hangs a perpetual +veil of sadness, and whose noblest plants are doomed to removal,--for, +if they cannot bear their ripe and perfect fruit in another climate, +they are not permitted to lift their heads to heaven in their own. + +Some of these generous refugees our country has received kindly, if +not with a fervent kindness; and the word _Correggio_ is still in +my ears as I heard it spoken in New York by one whose heart long +oppression could not paralyze. _Speranza_ some of the Italian youth +now inscribe on their banners, encouraged by some traits of apparent +promise in the new Pope. However, their only true hope is in +themselves, in their own courage, and in that wisdom winch may only be +learned through many disappointments as to how to employ it so that it +may destroy tyranny, not themselves. + +Mazzini, one of these noble refugees, is not only one of the heroic, +the courageous, and the faithful,--Italy boasts many such,--but he is +also one of the wise;--one of those who, disappointed in the outward +results of their undertakings, can yet "bate no jot of heart and +hope," but _must_ "steer right onward "; for it was no superficial +enthusiasm, no impatient energies, that impelled him, but an +understanding of what _must_ be the designs of Heaven with regard to +man, since God is Love, is Justice. He is one who can live fervently, +but steadily, gently, every day, every hour, as well as on great, +occasions, cheered by the light of hope; for, with Schiller, he is +sure that "those who live for their faith shall behold it living." +He is one of those same beings who, measuring all things by the ideal +standard, have yet no time to mourn over failure or imperfection; +there is too much to be done to obviate it. + +Thus Mazzini, excluded from publication in his native language, has +acquired the mastery both of French and English, and through his +expressions in either shine the thoughts which animated his earlier +effort with mild and steady radiance. The misfortunes of his country +have only widened the sphere of his instructions, and made him an +exponent of the better era to Europe at large. Those who wish to form +an idea of his mind could not do better than to read his sketches of +the Italian Martyrs in the "People's Journal." They will find there, +on one of the most difficult occasions, an ardent friend speaking of +his martyred friends with, the purity of impulse, warmth of sympathy, +largeness and steadiness of view, and fineness of discrimination which +must belong to a legislator for a CHRISTIAN commonwealth. + +But though I have read these expressions with great delight, this +school was one to me still more forcible of the same ideas. Here these +poor boys, picked up from the streets, are redeemed from bondage and +gross ignorance by the most patient and constant devotion of time and +effort. What love and sincerity this demands from minds capable of +great thoughts, large plans, and rapid progress, only their peers can +comprehend, yet exceeding great shall he the reward; and as among +the fishermen, and poor people of Judaea were picked up those who have +become to modern Europe a leaven that leavens the whole mass, so may +these poor Italian boys yet become more efficacious as missionaries +to their people than would an Orphic poet at this period. These youths +have very commonly good faces, and eyes from which that Italian +fire that has done so much to warm the world glows out. We saw the +distribution of prizes to the school, heard addresses from Mazzini, +Pistracci, Mariotti (once a resident in our country), and an English +gentleman who takes a great interest in the work, and then adjourned +to an adjacent room, where a supper was provided for the boys and +other guests, among whom we saw some of the exiled Poles. The whole +evening gave a true and deep pleasure, though tinged with sadness. We +saw a planting of the kingdom of Heaven, though now no larger than a +grain of mustard-seed, and though perhaps none of those who watch the +spot may live to see the birds singing in its branches. + +I have not yet spoken of one of _our_ benefactors, Mr. Carlyle, whom I +saw several times. I approached him with more reverence after a little +experience of England and Scotland had taught me to appreciate the +strength and height of that wall of shams and conventions which he +more than any man, or thousand men,--indeed, he almost alone,--has +begun to throw down. Wherever there was fresh thought, generous hope, +the thought of Carlyle has begun the work. He has torn off the veils +from hideous facts; he has burnt away foolish illusions; he has +awakened thousands to know what it is to be a man,--that we must live, +and not merely pretend to others that we live. He has touched the +rocks and they have given forth musical answer; little more was +wanting to begin to construct the city. + +But that little was wanting, and the work of construction is left to +those that come after him: nay, all attempts of the kind he is the +readiest to deride, fearing new shams worse than the old, unable to +trust the general action of a thought, and finding no heroic man, no +natural king, to represent it and challenge his confidence. + +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 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 impulse 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 or +self-love: it is the heroic arrogance of some old Scandinavian +conqueror,--it is his nature and the untamable impulse 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 seemed to +me quite isolated, lonely as the desert; yet never was man more fitted +to prize a man, could he find one to match his mood. He finds such, +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 catching up near the beginning 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 Morganas, ugly masks, in fact, if he can but +make them turn about, but he laughs that they seem to others such +dainty Ariels. He puts out his chin sometimes till it looks like the +beak of a bird, and his eyes flash bright instinctive meanings like +Jove's bird; yet he is not calm and grand enough for the eagle: he +is more like the falcon, and yet not of gentle blood enough for that +either. He is not exactly like anything but himself, and therefore you +cannot see him without the most hearty refreshment and good-will, for +he is original, rich, and strong enough to afford a thousand, faults; +one expects some wild land in a rich kingdom. 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. At all events, he seems to be what +Destiny intended, and represents fully a certain side; so we make no +remonstrance as to his being and proceeding for himself, though we +sometimes must for us. + +I had meant some remarks on some fine pictures, and the little I saw +of the theatre in England; but these topics must wait till my next, +where they may connect themselves naturally enough with what I have to +say of Paris. + + + + +LETTER X. + +MORE OF LONDON.--THE MODEL PRISON AT PENTONVILLE.--BATHING +ESTABLISHMENT FOR THE POOR.--ALSO ONE FOR WASHING CLOTHES.--THE +CRECHES OF PARIS, FOR POOR PEOPLE'S CHILDREN.--OLD DRURY +IN LONDON.--SADLER'S WELLS.--ENGLISH AND FRENCH ACTING COMPARED.-- +MADEMOISELLE RACHEL.--FRENCH TRAGEDY.--ROSE CHENY.--DUMAS.--GUIZOT.-- +THE PRESENTATION AT COURT OF THE YOUNG DUCHESS.--BALL AT THE +TUILERIES.--AMERICAN AND FRENCH WOMEN.--LEVERRIER.--THE SORBONNE.-- +ARAGO.--DISCUSSIONS ON SUICIDE AND THE CRUSADES.--REMUSAT.--THE +ACADEMY.--LA MENNAIS.--BERANGER.--REFLECTIONS. + + +Paris. + +When I wrote last I could not finish with London, and there remain +yet two or three things I wish to speak of before passing to my +impressions of this wonder-full Paris. + +I visited the model prison at Pentonville; but though in some +respects an improvement upon others I have seen,--though there was the +appearance of great neatness and order in the arrangements of life, +kindness and good judgment in the discipline of the prisoners,--yet +there was also an air of bleak forlornness about the place, and it +fell far short of what my mind demands of such abodes considered as +redemption schools. But as the subject of prisons is now engaging the +attention of many of the wisest and best, and the tendency is in what +seems to me the true direction, I need not trouble myself to make +prude and hasty suggestions; it is a subject to which persons who +would be of use should give the earnest devotion of calm and leisurely +thought. + +The same day I went to see an establishment which gave me unmixed +pleasure; it is a bathing establishment put at a very low rate to +enable the poor to avoid one of thee worst miseries of their lot, and +which yet promises _to pay_. Joined with this is an establishment for +washing clothes, where the poor can go and hire, for almost nothing, +good tubs, water ready heated, the use of an apparatus for rinsing, +drying, and ironing, all so admirably arranged that a poor woman +can in three hours get through an amount of washing and ironing +that would, under ordinary circumstances, occupy three or four days. +Especially the drying closets I contemplated with great satisfaction, +and hope to see in our own country the same arrangements throughout +the cities, and even in the towns and villages. Hanging out the +clothes is a great exposure for women, even when they have a good +place for it; but when, as is so common in cities, they must dry them +in the house, how much they suffer! In New York, I know, those poor +women who take in washing endure a great deal of trouble and toil from +this cause; I have suffered myself from being obliged to send +back what had cost them so much toil, because it had been, perhaps +inevitably, soiled in the drying or ironing, or filled with the smell +of their miscellaneous cooking. In London it is much worse. An eminent +physician told me he knew of two children whom he considered to have +died because their mother, having but one room to live in, was obliged +to wash and dry clothes close to their bed when they were ill. The +poor people in London naturally do without washing all they can, and +beneath that perpetual fall of soot the result may be guessed. All but +the very poor in England put out their washing, and this custom ought +to be universal in civilized countries, as it can be done much better +and quicker by a few regular laundresses than by many families, +and "the washing day" is so malignant a foe to the peace and joy of +households that it ought to be effaced from the calendar. But as long +as we are so miserable as to have any very poor people in this world, +_they_ cannot put out their washing, because they cannot earn enough +money to pay for it, and, preliminary to something better, washing +establishments like this of London are desirable. + +One arrangement that they have here in Paris will be a good one, even +when we cease to have any very poor people, and, please Heaven, also +to have any very rich. These are the _Creches_,--houses where poor +women leave their children to be nursed during the day while they are +at work. + +I must mention that the superintendent of the washing establishment +observed, with a legitimate triumph, that it had been built without +giving a single dinner or printing a single puff,--an extraordinary +thing, indeed, for England! + +To turn to something a little gayer,--the embroidery on this tattered +coat of civilized life,--I went into only two theatres; one the Old +Drury, once the scene of great glories, now of execrable music and +more execrable acting. If anything can be invented more excruciating +than an English opera, such as was the fashion at the time I was in +London, I am sure no sin of mine deserves the punishment of bearing +it. + +At the Sadler's Wells theatre I saw a play which I had much admired in +reading it, but found still better in actual representation; indeed, +it seems to me there can be no better acting play: this is "The +Patrician's Daughter," by J.W. Marston. The movement is rapid, yet +clear and free; the dialogue natural, dignified, and flowing; the +characters marked with few, but distinct strokes. Where the tone +of discourse rises with manly sentiment or passion, the audience +applauded with bursts of generous feeling that gave me great pleasure, +for this play is one that, in its scope and meaning, marks the new era +in England; it is full of an experience which is inevitable to a man +of talent there, and is harbinger of the day when the noblest commoner +shall be the only noble possible in England. + +But how different all this acting to what I find in France! Here 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, absolutely the diamond, and so it proved. 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. + +For the rest, I shall write somewhere a detailed _critique_ upon the +parts in which I saw her. It is she who has made me acquainted with +the true way of viewing French tragedy. I had no idea of its powers +and symmetry till now, and have received from the revelation high +pleasure and a crowd of thoughts. + +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 bears marks of age which will grow stronger every year, and make +her ugly before long. 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. + +Though the French tragedy is well acted throughout, yet unhappily +there is no male actor now with a spark of fire, and these men seem +the meanest pigmies by the side of Rachel;--so on the scene, beside +the tragedy intended by the author, you see also that common tragedy, +a woman of genius who throws away her precious heart, lives and dies +for one unworthy of her. In parts this effect is productive of too +much pain. I saw Rachel one night with her brother and sister. The +sister imitated her so closely that you could not help seeing she +had a manner, and an imitable manner. Her brother was in the play her +lover,--a wretched automaton, and presenting the most unhappy family +likeness to herself. Since then I have hardly cared to go and see her. +We could wish with geniuses, as with the Phoenix, to see only one of +the family at a time. + +In the pathetic or sentimental drama Paris boasts another young +actress, nearly as distinguished in that walk as Rachel in hers. +This is Rose Cheny, whom we saw in her ninety-eighth personation of +Clarissa Harlowe, and afterward in Genevieve and the _Protege sans +le Savoir_,--a little piece written expressly for her by Scribe. +The "Miss Clarisse" of the French drama is a feeble and partial +reproduction of the heroine of Richardson; indeed, the original in all +its force of intellect and character would have been too much for +the charming Rose Cheny, but to the purity and lovely tenderness of +Clarissa she does full justice. In the other characters she was +the true French girl, full of grace and a mixture of _naivete_ and +cunning, sentiment and frivolity, that is winning and _piquant_, if +not satisfying. Only grief seems very strange to those bright eyes; we +do not find that they can weep much and bear the light of day, and the +inhaling of charcoal seems near at hand to their brightest pleasures. + +At the other little theatres you see excellent acting, and a sparkle +of wit unknown to the world out of France. The little pieces in which +all the leading topics of the day are reviewed are full of drolleries +that make you laugh at each instant. _Poudre-Colon_ is the only one of +these I have seen; in this, among other jokes, Dumas, in the character +of Monte-Christo and in a costume half Oriental, half juggler, is made +to pass the other theatres in review while seeking candidates for his +new one. + +Dumas appeared in court yesterday, and defended his own cause against +the editors who sue him for evading some of his engagements. I was +very desirous to hear him speak, and went there in what I was assured +would be very good season; but a French audience, who knew the ground +better, had slipped in before me, and I returned, as has been too +often the case with me in Paris, having seen nothing but endless +staircases, dreary vestibules, and _gens d'armes_. The hospitality of +_le grande nation_ to the stranger is, in many respects, admirable. +Galleries, libraries, cabinets of coins, museums, are opened in the +most liberal manner to the stranger, warmed, lighted, ay, and guarded, +for him almost all days in the week; treasures of the past are at his +service; but when anything is happening in the present, the French run +quicker, glide in more adroitly, and get possession of the ground. I +find it not the most easy matter to get to places even where there is +nothing going on, there is so much tiresome fuss of getting _billets_ +from one and another to be gone through; but when something is +happening it is still worse. I missed hearing M. Guizot in his speech +on the Montpensier marriage, which would have given a very good idea +of his manner, and which, like this defence of M. Dumas, was a skilful +piece of work as regards evasion of the truth. The good feeling toward +England which had been fostered with so much care and toil seems to +have been entirely dissipated by the mutual recriminations about this +marriage, and the old dislike flames up more fiercely for having been +hid awhile beneath the ashes. I saw the little Duchess, the innocent +or ignorant cause 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 fancy it will soon be rubbed out under the drill +of the royal household. + +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, and the French +ladies surpass 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 that 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 atmosphere that envelops them is less brilliant +and exhilarating in its attractions. + +It was pleasant to my eye, which has always been so wearied in +our country by the sombre masses of men that overcloud our public +assemblies, to see them now in so great variety of costume, color, and +decoration. + +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, nothing 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. The rich remains of other +centuries are there so arranged that they can be seen to the best +advantage; many of the works in ivory, china, and carved wood are +truly splendid or exquisite. I saw a dagger with jewelled hilt which +talked whole poems to my mind. In the various "Adorations of the +Magi," I found constantly one of the wise men black, and with the +marked African lineaments. Before I had half finished, my companion +came and wished me at least to visit the lecture-rooms of the +Sorbonne, now that the talk, too good for female ears, was over. +But the guardian again interfered to deny me entrance. "You can go, +Madame," said he, "to the College of France; you can go to this and +t'other place, but you cannot enter here." "What, sir," said I, "is +it your institution alone that remains in a state of barbarism?" "Que +voulez vous, Madame?" he replied, and, as he spoke, his little +dog began to bark at me,--"Que voulez vous, Madame? c'est la +regle,"--"What would you have, Madam? IT IS THE RULE,"--a reply which +makes me laugh even now, as I think how the satirical wits of former +days might have used it against the bulwarks of learned dulness. + +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 have attended, with some interest, two discussions at the +Athenee,--one on Suicide, the other on the Crusades. They are amateur +affairs, where, as always at such times, one hears much, nonsense and +vanity, much making of phrases and sentimental grimace; but there was +one excellent speaker, adroit and rapid as only a Frenchman could be. +With admirable readiness, skill, and rhetorical polish, he examined +the arguments of all the others, and built upon their failures +a triumph for himself. His management of the language, too, +was masterly, and French is the best of languages for such a +purpose,--clear, flexible, full of sparkling points and quick, +picturesque turns, with a subtile blandness that makes the dart tickle +while it wounds. Truly he pleased the fancy, filled the ear, and +carried us pleasantly along over the smooth, swift waters; but then +came from the crowd a gentleman, not one of the appointed orators +of the evening, but who had really something in his heart to say,--a +grave, dark man, with Spanish eyes, and the simple dignity of honor +and earnestness in all his gesture and manner. He said in few and +unadorned words his say, and the sense of a real presence filled the +room, and those charms of rhetoric faded, as vanish the beauties of +soap-bubbles from the eyes of astonished childhood. + +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. Indeed, the +literary dynasty of France is growing old, and here, as in England +and Germany, there seems likely to occur a serious gap before the +inauguration of another, if indeed another is coming. + +However, it was an imposing sight; there are men of real distinction +now in the Academy, and Moliere would have a fair chance if he +were proposed to-day. Among the audience I saw many ladies of fine +expression and manner, as well as one or two _precieuses ridicules_, a +race which is never quite extinct. + +M. Remusat, as is the custom on these occasions, painted the portrait +of his predecessor; the discourse was brilliant and discriminating +in the details, but the orator seemed to me to neglect drawing some +obvious inferences which would have given a better point of view for +his subject. + +A _seance_ to me much more impressive find interesting was one which +borrowed nothing from dress, decorations, or the presence of titled +pomp. 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 larger 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 how quickly were those feelings displaced by joy when +he named to me the great national lyrist of France, the unequalled +Beranger. I had not expected to see him at all, for he is not one 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 presence of these two men, whose influence has been so great, so +real. To me Beranger has been much; his wit, his pathos, his exquisite +lyric grace, have made the most delicate strings vibrate, and I can +feel, as well as see, what he is in his nation and his place. I have +not personally received anything from La Mennais, as, born under other +circumstances, mental facts which he, once the pupil of Rome, has +learned by passing through severe ordeals, are at the basis of all +my thoughts. But I see well what he has been and is to Europe, and of +what great force of nature and spirit. He seems suffering and pale, +but in his eyes is the light of the future. + +These are men who need no flourish of trumpets to announce their +coming,--no band of martial music upon their steps,--no obsequious +nobles in their train. They are the true kings, the theocratic kings, +the judges in Israel. The hearts of men make music at their approach; +the mind of the age is the historian of their passage; and only men of +destiny like themselves shall be permitted to write their eulogies, or +fill their vacant seats. + +Wherever there is a genius like his own, a germ of the finest fruit +still hidden beneath the soil, the "_Chante pauvre petit_" of Beranger +shall strike, like a sunbeam, and give it force to emerge, and +wherever there is the true Crusade,--for the spirit, not the tomb of +Christ,--shall be felt an echo of the "_Que tes armes soient benis +jeune soldat_" of La Mennais. + + + + +LETTER XI. + +FRANCE AND HER ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE.--THE PICTURES OF HORACE +VERNET.--DE LA ROCHE.--LEOPOLD ROBERT.--CONTRAST BETWEEN THE FRENCH +AND ENGLISH SCHOOLS OF ART.--THE GENERAL APPRECIATION OF TURNER'S +PICTURES.--BOTANICAL MODELS IN WAX.--MUSIC.--THE OPERA.--DUPREZ.-- +LABLACHE.--RONCONI.--GRISI.--PERSIANA.--"SEMIRAMIDE" AS PERFORMED BY +THE NEW YORK AND PARIS OPERAS.--MARIO.--COLETTI.--GARDINI.-- +"DON GIOVANNI."--THE WRITER'S TRIAL OF THE "LETHEON."--ITS EFFECTS. + + +It needs not to speak in this cursory manner of the treasures of Art, +pictures, sculptures, engravings, and the other riches which France +lays open so freely to the stranger in her Musees. Any examination +worth writing of such objects, or account of the thoughts they +inspire, demands a place by itself, and an ample field in which to +expatiate. The American, first introduced to some good pictures by the +truly great geniuses of the religious period in Art, must, if capable +at all of mental approximation to the life therein embodied, be too +deeply affected, too full of thoughts, to be in haste to say anything, +and for me, I bide my time. + +No such great crisis, however, is to be apprehended from acquaintance +with the productions of the modern French school. They are, indeed, +full of talent and of vigor, but also melodramatic and exaggerated to +a degree that seems to give the nightmare passage through the fresh +and cheerful day. They sound no depth of soul, and are marked with the +signet of a degenerate age. + +Thus speak I generally. To the pictures of Horace Vernet one cannot +but turn a gracious eye, they are so faithful a transcript of the life +which circulates around us in the present state of things, and we +are willing to see his nobles and generals mounted on such excellent +horses. De la Roche gives me pleasure; there is in his pictures a +simple and natural poesy; he is a man who has in his own heart a well +of good water, whence he draws for himself when the streams are mixed +with strange soil and bear offensive marks of the bloody battles of +life. + +The pictures of Leopold Robert I find charming. They are full of vigor +and nobleness; they express a nature where all is rich, young, and on +a large scale. Those that I have seen are so happily expressive of the +thoughts and perceptions of early manhood, I can hardly regret he +did not live to enter on another stage of life, the impression now +received is so single. + +The effort of the French school in Art, as also its main tendency in +literature, seems to be to turn the mind inside out, in the coarsest +acceptation of such a phrase. Art can only be truly Art by presenting +an adequate outward symbol of some fact in the interior life. But then +it _is_ a symbol that Art seeks to present, and not the fact itself. +These French painters seem to have no idea of this; they have not +studied the method of Nature. With the true artist, as with Nature +herself, the more full the representation, the more profound and +enchanting is the sense of mystery. We look and look, as on a flower +of which we cannot scrutinize the secret life, yet b; looking seem +constantly drawn nearer to the soul that causes and governs that life. +But in the French pictures suffering is represented by streams of +blood,--wickedness by the most ghastly contortions. + +I saw a movement in the opposite direction in England; it was in +Turner's pictures of the later period. It is well known that Turner, +so long an idol of the English public, paints now in a manner which +has caused the liveliest dissensions in the world of connoisseurs. +There are two parties, one of which maintains, not only that the +pictures of the late period are not good, but that they are not +pictures at all,--that it is impossible to make out the design, or +find what Turner is aiming at by those strange blotches of color. +The other party declare that these pictures are not only good, but +divine,--that whoever looks upon them in the true manner will not fail +to find there somewhat ineffably and transcendently admirable,--the +soul of Art. Books have been written to defend this side of the +question. + +I had become much interested about this matter, as the fervor of +feeling on either side seemed to denote that there was something real +and vital going on, and, while time would not permit my visiting other +private collections in London and its neighborhood, I insisted on +taking it for one of Turner's pictures. It was at the house of one of +his devoutest disciples, who has arranged everything in the rooms to +harmonize with them. There were a great many of the earlier period; +these seemed to me charming, but superficial, views of Nature. They +were of a character that he who runs may read,--obvious, simple, +graceful. The later pictures were quite a different matter; +mysterious-looking things,--hieroglyphics of picture, rather than +picture itself. Sometimes you saw a range of red dots, which, after +long looking, dawned on you as the roofs of houses,--shining streaks +turned out to be most alluring rivulets, if traced with patience and +a devout eye. Above all, they charmed the eye and the thought. Still, +these pictures, it seems to me, cannot be considered fine works of +Art, more than the mystical writing common to a certain class of minds +in the United States can be called good writing. A great work of Art +demands a great thought, or a thought of beauty adequately expressed. +Neither in Art nor literature more than in life can an ordinary +thought be made interesting because well dressed. But in a transition +state, whether of Art or literature, deeper thoughts are imperfectly +expressed, because they cannot yet be held and treated masterly. +This seems to be the case with Turner. He has got beyond the English +gentleman's conventional view of Nature, which implies a _little_ +sentiment and a _very_ cultivated taste; he has become awake to what +is elemental, normal, in Nature,--such, for instance, as one sees in +the working of water on the sea-shore. He tries to represent these +primitive forms. In the drawings of Piranesi, in the pictures of +Rembrandt, one sees this grand language exhibited more truly. It is +not picture, but certain primitive and leading effects of light and +shadow, or lines and contours, that captivate the attention. I saw a +picture of Rembrandt's at the Louvre, whose subject I do not know +and have never cared to inquire. I cannot analyze the group, but I +understand and feel the thought it embodies. At something similar +Turner seems aiming; an aim so opposed to the practical and outward +tendency of the English mind, that, as a matter of course, the +majority find themselves mystified, and thereby angered, but for the +same reason answering to so deep and seldom satisfied a want in the +minds of the minority, as to secure the most ardent sympathy where any +at all can be elicited. + +Upon this topic of the primitive forms and operations of nature, I am +reminded of something interesting I was looking at yesterday. These +are botanical models in wax, with microscopic dissections, by an +artist from Florence, a pupil of Calamajo, the Director of the +Wax-Model Museum there. I saw collections of ten different genera, +embracing from fifty to sixty species, of Fungi, Mosses, and Lichens, +detected and displayed in all the beautiful secrets of their lives; +many of them, as observed by Dr. Leveille of Paris. The artist told me +that a fisherman, introduced to such acquaintance with the marvels +of love and beauty which we trample under foot or burn in the chimney +each careless day, exclaimed, "'Tis the good God who protects us +on the sea that made all these"; and a similar recognition, a +correspondent feeling, will not be easily evaded by the most callous +observer. This artist has supplied many of these models to the +magnificent collection of the _Jardin des Plantes_, to Edinburgh, and +to Bologna, and would furnish them, to our museums at a much cheaper +rate than they can elsewhere be obtained. I wish the Universities of +Cambridge, New York, and other leading institutions of our country, +might avail themselves of the opportunity. + +In Paris I have not been very fortunate in hearing the best music. +At the different Opera-Houses, the orchestra is always good, but the +vocalization, though far superior to what I have heard at home, +falls so far short of my ideas and hopes that--except to the Italian +Opera--I have not been often. The _Opera Comique_ I visited only +once; it was tolerably well, and no more, and, for myself, I find the +tolerable intolerable in music. At the Grand Opera I heard _Robert le +Diable_ and _Guillaume Tell_ almost with ennui; the decorations and +dresses are magnificent, the instrumental performance good, but not +one fine singer to fill these fine parts. Duprez has had a great +reputation, and probably has sung better In former days; still he +has a vulgar mind, and can never have had any merit as an artist. At +present I find him unbearable. He forces his voice, sings in the most +coarse, showy style, and aims at producing effects without regard to +the harmony of his part; fat and vulgar, he still takes the part of +the lover and young chevalier; to my sorrow I saw him in Ravenswood, +and he has well-nigh disenchanted for me the Bride of Lammermoor. + +The Italian Opera is here as well sustained, I believe, as anywhere in +the world at present; all about it is certainly quite good, but alas! +nothing excellent, nothing admirable. Yet no! I must not say nothing: +Lablache is excellent,--voice, intonation, manner of song, action. +Ronconi I found good in the Doctor of "_L'Elisire d'Amore_". For the +higher parts Grisi, though now much too large for some of her parts, +and without a particle of poetic grace or dignity, has certainly +beauty of feature, and from nature a fine voice. But I find her +conception of her parts equally coarse and shallow. Her love is the +love of a peasant; her anger, though having the Italian picturesque +richness and vigor, is the anger of an Italian fishwife, entirely +unlike anything in the same rank elsewhere; her despair is that of a +person with the toothache, or who has drawn a blank in the lottery. +The first time I saw her was in _Norma_; then the beauty of her +outline, which becomes really enchanting as she recalls the first +emotions of love, the force and gush of her song, filled my ear, and +charmed the senses, so that I was pleased, and did not perceive her +great defects; but with each time of seeing her I liked her less, and +now I do not like her at all. + +Persiani is more generally a favorite here; she is indeed skilful +both as an actress and in the management of her voice, but I find +her expression meretricious, her singing mechanical. Neither of these +women is equal to Pico in natural force, if she had but the same +advantages of culture and environment. In hearing _Semiramide_ here, +I first learned to appreciate the degree of talent with which it +was cast in New York. Grisi indeed is a far better Semiramis than +Borghese, but the best parts of the opera lost all their charm from +the inferiority of Brambilla, who took Pico's place. Mario has a +charming voice, grace and tenderness; he fills very well the part of +the young, chivalric lover, but he has no range of power. Coletti is +a very good singer; he has not from Nature a fine voice or personal +beauty; but he has talent, good taste, and often surpasses the +expectation he has inspired. Gardini, the new singer, I have only +heard once, and that was in a lovesick-shepherd part; he showed +delicacy, tenderness, and tact. In fine, among all these male singers +there is much to please, but little to charm; and for the women, they +never fail absolutely to fill their parts, but no ray of the Muse has +fallen on them. + +_Don Giovanni_ conferred on me a benefit, of which certainly its great +author never dreamed. I shall relate it,--first begging pardon of +Mozart, and assuring him I had no thought of turning his music to +the account of a "vulgar utility." It was quite by accident. After +suffering several days very much with the toothache, I resolved to get +rid of the cause of sorrow by the aid of ether; not sorry, either, to +try its efficacy, after all the marvellous stories I had heard. +The first time I inhaled it, I did not for several seconds feel the +effect, and was just thinking, "Alas! this has not power to soothe +nerves so irritable as mine," when suddenly I wandered off, I +don't know where, but it was a sensation like wandering in long +garden-walks, and through many alleys of trees,--many impressions, but +all pleasant and serene. The moment the tube was removed, I started +into consciousness, and put my hand to my cheek; but, sad! the +throbbing tooth was still there. The dentist said I had not seemed to +him insensible. He then gave me the ether in a stronger dose, and this +time I quitted the body instantly, and cannot remember any detail of +what I saw and did; but the impression was as in the Oriental tale, +where the man has his head in the water an instant only, but in his +vision a thousand years seem to have passed. I experienced that same +sense of an immense length of time and succession of impressions; +even, now, the moment my mind was in that state seems to me a far +longer period in time than my life on earth does as I look back upon +it. Suddenly I seemed to see the old dentist, as I had for the +moment before I inhaled the gas, amid his plants, in his nightcap +and dressing-gown; in the twilight the figure had somewhat of a +Faust-like, magical air, and he seemed to say, "_C'est inutile._" +Again I started up, fancying that once more he had not dared to +extract the tooth, but it was gone. What is worth, noticing is the +mental translation I made of his words, which, my ear must have +caught, for my companion tells me he said, "_C'est le moment_," a +phrase of just as many syllables, but conveying just the opposite +sense. + +Ah! I how I wished then, that you had settled, there in the United +States, who really brought this means of evading a portion of the +misery of life into use. But as it was, I remained at a loss whom to +apostrophize with my benedictions, whether Dr. Jackson, Morton, or +Wells, and somebody thus was robbed of his clue;--neither does Europe +know to whom to address her medals. + +However, there is no evading the heavier part of these miseries. You +avoid the moment of suffering, and escape the effort of screwing up +your courage for one of these moments, but not the jar to the whole +system. I found the effect of having taken the ether bad for me. I +seemed to taste it all the time, and neuralgic pain continued; this +lasted three days. For the evening of the third, I had taken a ticket +to _Don Giovanni_, and could not bear to give up this opera, which I +had always been longing to hear; still I was in much suffering, and, +as it was the sixth day I had been so, much weakened. However, I went, +expecting to be obliged to come out; but the music soothed the +nerves at once. I hardly suffered at all during the opera; however, I +supposed the pain would return as soon as I came out; but no! it left +me from that time. Ah! if physicians only understood the influence +of the mind over the body, instead of treating, as they so often do, +their patients like machines, and according to precedent! But I must +pause here for to-day. + + + + +LETTER XII. + +ADIEU TO PARIS.--ITS SCENES.--THE PROCESSION OF THE FAT +OX.--DESTITUTION OF THE POORER CLASSES.--NEED OF A REFORM.--THE +DOCTRINES OF FOURIER MAKING PROGRESS.--REVIEW OF FOURIER'S LIFE AND +CHARACTER.--THE PARISIAN PRESS ON THE SPANISH MARRIAGE.--GUIZOT'S +POLICY.--NAPOLEON.--THE MANUSCRIPTS OF ROUSSEAU IN THE CHAMBER +OF DEPUTIES.--HIS CHARACTER.--SPEECH OF M. BERRYER IN THE +CHAMBER.--AMERICAN AND FRENCH ORATORY.--THE AFFAIR OF CRACOW.--DULL +SPEAKERS IN THE CHAMBER.--FRENCH VIVACITY.--AMUSING SCENE.--GUIZOT +SPEAKING.--INTERNATIONAL EXCHANGE OF BOOKS.--THE EVENING SCHOOL OF THE +_FRERES CHRETIENS_.--THE GREAT GOOD ACCOMPLISHED BY THEM.--SUGGESTIONS +FOR THE LIKE IN AMERICA.--THE INSTITUTION OF THE DEACONESSES.--THE +NEW YORK "HOME."--SCHOOL FOR IDIOTS NEAR PARIS.--THE RECLAMATION OF +IDIOTS. + + +I bade adieu to Paris on the 25th of February, just as we had had +one fine day. It was the only one of really delightful weather, from +morning till night, that I had to enjoy all the while I was at Paris, +from the 13th of November till the 25th of February. Let no one abuse +our climate; even in winter it is delightful, compared to the Parisian +winter of mud and mist. + +This one day brought out the Parisian world in its gayest colors. I +never saw anything more animated or prettier, of the kind, than +the promenade that day in the _Champs Elysees_. Such crowds of gay +equipages, with _cavaliers_ and their _amazons_ flying through their +midst on handsome and swift horses! On the promenade, what groups of +passably pretty ladies, with excessively pretty bonnets, announcing in +their hues of light green, peach-blossom, and primrose the approach +of spring, and charming children, for French children are charming! I +cannot speak with equal approbation of the files of men sauntering +arm in arm. One sees few fine-looking men in Paris: the air, +half-military, half-dandy, of self-esteem and _savoir-faire_, is not +particularly interesting; nor are the glassy stare and fumes of bad +cigars exactly what one most desires to encounter, when the heart +is opened by the breath of spring zephyrs and the hope of buds and +blossoms. + +But a French crowd is always gay, full of quick turns and drolleries; +most amusing when most petulant, it represents what is so agreeable +in the character of the nation. We have now seen it on two good +occasions, the festivities of the new year, and just after we came was +the procession of the _Fat Ox_, described, if I mistake not, by Eugene +Sue. An immense crowd thronged the streets this year to see it, +but few figures and little invention followed the emblem of plenty; +indeed, few among the people could have had the heart for such a sham, +knowing how 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 the tone of vulgar +and exaggerated declamation, unhappily common to productions on the +radical side, was suppressed almost as soon as published; but the fact +cannot be suppressed, that the people in the provinces have suffered +most terribly amid the vaunted prosperity of France. + +While Louis Philippe lives, the gases, compressed by his strong grasp, +may not burst up to light; but the need of some radical measures of +reform is not less strongly felt in France than elsewhere, and the +time will come before long when such will be imperatively demanded. +The doctrines of Fourier are making considerable 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. The mind of Fourier was, in many respects, uncongenial to +mine. Educated in an age of gross materialism, he was 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 were 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. But always, always, the +unthinking mob has found stones on the highway to throw at the +prophets. + +Amid so many great causes for thought and anxiety, how childish has +seemed the endless gossip of the Parisian press on the subject of +the Spanish marriage,--how melancholy the flimsy falsehoods of M. +Guizot,--more melancholy the avowal so naively made, amid those +falsehoods, that to his mind expediency is the best policy! This is +the policy, said he, that has made France so prosperous. Indeed, the +success is correspondent with the means, though in quite another sense +than that he meant. + +I went to the _Hotel des Invalides_, supposing I should be admitted +to the spot where repose the ashes of Napoleon, for though I love not +pilgrimages to sepulchres, and prefer paying my homage to the living +spirit rather than to the dust it once animated, I should have +liked to muse a moment beside his urn; but as yet the visitor is +not admitted there. In the library, however, one sees the picture of +Napoleon crossing the Alps, opposite to that of the present King of +the French. Just as they are, these should serve as frontispieces to +two chapters of history. In the first, the seed was sown in a field of +blood indeed, yet was it the seed of all that is vital in the present +period. By Napoleon the career was really laid open to talent, and all +that is really great in France now consists in the possibility that +talent finds of struggling to the light. + +Paris is a great intellectual centre, and there is a Chamber of +Deputies to represent the people, very different from the poor, +limited Assembly politically so called. Their tribune is that of +literature, and one needs not to beg tickets to mingle with the +audience. To the actually so-called Chamber of Deputies I was indebted +for two pleasures. First and greatest, 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 of him even +more and more: such is the method of genius, to ripen fruit for the +crowd of those rays of whose heat they complain. + +The second pleasure was in the speech of M. Berryer, when the Chamber +was discussing the Address to the King. Those of Thiers and Guizot +had been, so far, more interesting, as they stood for more that was +important; but M. Berryer is the most eloquent speaker of the House. +His oratory is, indeed, very good; not logical, but plausible, full +and rapid, with occasional bursts of flame and showers of sparks, +though indeed no stone of size and weight enough to crush any man was +thrown out of the crater. Although the oratory of our country is +very inferior to what might be expected from the perfect freedom +and powerful motive for development of genius in this province, it +presents several examples of persons superior in both force and scope, +and equal in polish, to M. Berryer. + +Nothing can be more pitiful than the manner in which the infamous +affair of Cracow is treated on all hands. There is not even the +affectation of noble feeling about it. La Mennais and his coadjutors +published in _La Reforme_ an honorable and manly protest, which the +public rushed to devour the moment it was out of the press;--and no +wonder! for it was the only crumb of comfort offered to those who have +the nobleness to hope that the confederation of nations may yet be +conducted on the basis of divine justice and human right. Most men who +touched the subject apparently weary of feigning, appeared in their +genuine colors of the calmest, most complacent selfishness. As +described by Koerner in the prayer of such a man:-- + + "O God, save me, + My wife, child, and hearth, + Then my harvest also; + Then will I bless thee, + Though thy lightning scorch to blackness + All the rest of human kind." + +A sentiment which finds its paraphrase in the following vulgate of our +land:-- + + "O Lord, save me, + My wife, child, and brother Sammy, + Us four, _and no more_." + +The latter clause, indeed, is not quite frankly avowed as yet by +politicians. + +It is very amusing to be in the Chamber of Deputies when some dull +person is speaking. The French have a truly Greek vivacity; they +cannot endure to be bored. Though their conduct is not very dignified, +I should like a corps of the same kind of sharp-shooters in our +legislative assemblies when honorable gentlemen are addressing their +constituents and not the assembly, repeating in lengthy, windy, clumsy +paragraphs what has been the truism of the newspaper press for +months previous, wickedly wasting the time that was given us to learn +something for ourselves, and help our fellow-creatures. In the French +Chamber, if a man who has nothing to say ascends the tribune, the +audience-room is filled with the noise as of myriad beehives; the +President rises on his feet, and passes the whole time of the speech +in taking the most violent exercise, stretching himself to look +imposing, ringing his bell every two minutes, shouting to the +representatives of the nation to be decorous and attentive. In vain: +the more he rings, the more they won't be still. I saw an orator in +this situation, fighting against the desires of the audience, as only +a Frenchman could,--certainly a man of any other nation would have +died of embarrassment rather,--screaming out his sentences, stretching +out both arms with an air of injured dignity, panting, growing red in +the face; but the hubbub of voices never stopped an instant. At last +he pretended to be exhausted, stopped, and took out his snuff-box. +Instantly there was a calm. He seized the occasion, and shouted out a +sentence; but it was the only one he was able to make heard. They +were not to be trapped so a second time. When any one is speaking that +commands interest, as Berryer did, the effect of this vivacity is very +pleasing, the murmur of feeling that rushes over the assembly is so +quick and electric,--light, too, as the ripple on the lake. I heard +Guizot speak one day for a short time. His manner is very deficient +in dignity,--has not even the dignity of station; you see the man of +cultivated intellect, but without inward strength; nor is even his +panoply of proof. + +I saw in the Library of the Deputies some books intended to be sent +to our country through M. Vattemare. The French have shown great +readiness and generosity with regard to his project, and I earnestly +hope that our country, if it accept these tokens of good-will, will +show both energy and judgment in making a return. I do not speak from +myself alone, but from others whose opinion is entitled to the highest +respect, when I say it is not by sending a great quantity of documents +of merely local interest, that would be esteemed lumber in our garrets +at home, that you pay respect to a nation able to look beyond, the +binding of a book. If anything is to be sent, let persons of ability +be deputed to make a selection honorable to us and of value to +the French. They would like documents from our Congress,--what is +important as to commerce and manufactures; they would also like much +what can throw light on the history and character of our aborigines. +This project of international exchange could not be carried on to any +permanent advantage without accredited agents on either side, but in +its present shape it wears an aspect of good feeling that is valuable, +and may give a very desirable impulse to thought and knowledge. +M. Vattemare has given himself to the plan with indefatigable +perseverance, and I hope our country will not be backward to accord +him that furtherance he has known how to conquer from his countrymen. + +To his complaisance I was indebted for opportunity of a leisurely +survey of the _Imprimeri Royale_, which gave me several suggestions +I shall impart at a more favorable time, and of the operations of the +Mint also. It was at his request that the Librarian of the Chamber +showed me the manuscripts of Rousseau, which are not always seen by +the traveller. He also introduced me to one of the evening schools of +the _Freres Chretiens_, where I saw, with pleasure, how much can be +done for the working classes only by evening lessons. In reading and +writing, adults had made surprising progress, and still more so in +drawing. I saw with the highest pleasure, excellent copies of good +models, made by hard-handed porters and errand-boys with their brass +badges on their breasts. The benefits of such an accomplishment are, +in my eyes, of the highest value, giving them, by insensible degrees, +their part in the glories of art and science, and in the tranquil +refinements of home. Visions rose in my mind of all that might be done +in our country by associations of men and women who have received the +benefits of literary culture, giving such evening lessons throughout +our cities and villages. Should I ever return, I shall propose to +some of the like-minded an association for such a purpose, and try the +experiment of one of these schools of Christian brothers, with the vow +of disinterestedness, but without the robe and the subdued priestly +manner, which even in these men, some of whom seemed to me truly good, +I could not away with. + +I visited also a Protestant institution, called that of the +Deaconesses, which pleased me in some respects. Beside the regular +_Creche_, they take the sick children of the poor, and nurse them till +they are well. They have also a refuge like that of the Home which, +the ladies of New York have provided, through which members of +the most unjustly treated class of society may return to peace and +usefulness. There are institutions of the kind in Paris, but too +formal,--and the treatment shows ignorance of human nature. I see +nothing that shows so enlightened a spirit as the Home, a little germ +of good which I hope flourishes and finds active aid in the community. +I have collected many facts with regard to this suffering class of +women, both in England and in France. I have seen them under the thin +veil of gayety, and in the horrible tatters of utter degradation. I +have seen the feelings of men with regard to their condition, and the +general heartlessness in women of more favored and protected lives, +which I can only ascribe to utter ignorance of the facts. If a +proclamation of some of these can remove it, I hope to make such a one +in the hour of riper judgment, and after a more extensive survey. + +Sad as are many features of the time, we have at least the +satisfaction of feeling that if something true can be revealed, if +something wise and kind shall be perseveringly tried, it stands a +chance of nearer success than ever before; for much light has been let +in at the windows of the world, and many dark nooks have been touched +by a consoling ray. The influence of such a ray I felt in visiting +the School for Idiots, near Paris,--idiots, so called long time by +the impatience of the crowd; yet there are really none such, but only +beings so below the average standard, so partially organized, that it +is difficult for them to learn or to sustain themselves. I wept the +whole time I was in this place a shower of sweet and bitter tears; of +joy at what had been done, of grief for all that I and others possess +and cannot impart to these little ones. But patience, and the Father +of All will give them all yet. A good angel these of Paris have in +their master. I have seen no man that seemed to me more worthy of +envy, if one could envy happiness so pure and tender. He is a man +of seven or eight and twenty, who formerly came there only to give +lessons in writing, but became so interested in his charge that he +came at last to live among them and to serve them. They sing the hymns +he writes for them, and as I saw his fine countenance looking in +love on those distorted and opaque vases of humanity, where he had +succeeded in waking up a faint flame, I thought his heart could never +fail to be well warmed and buoyant. They sang well, both in parts and +in chorus, went through gymnastic exercises with order and pleasure, +then stood in a circle and kept time, while several danced extremely +well. One little fellow, with whom the difficulty seemed to be that +an excess of nervous sensibility paralyzed instead of exciting the +powers, recited poems with a touching, childish grace and perfect +memory. They write well, draw well, make shoes, and do carpenter's +work. One of the cases most interesting to the metaphysician is that +of a boy, brought there about two years and a half ago, at the age of +thirteen, in a state of brutality, and of ferocious brutality. I read +the physician's report of him at that period. He discovered no ray of +decency or reason; entirely beneath the animals in the exercise of the +senses, he discovered a restless fury beyond that of beasts of prey, +breaking and throwing down whatever came in his way; was a voracious +glutton, and every way grossly sensual. Many trials and vast patience +were necessary before an inlet could be obtained to his mind; then it +was through the means of mathematics. He delights in the figures, can +draw and name them all, detects them by the touch when blindfolded. +Each, mental effort of the kind he still follows up with an imbecile +chuckle, as indeed his face and whole manner are still that of an +idiot; but he has been raised from his sensual state, and can now +discriminate and name colors and perfumes which before were all alike +to him. He is partially redeemed; earlier, no doubt, far more might +have been done for him, but the degree of success is an earnest which +must encourage to perseverance in the most seemingly hopeless cases. I +thought sorrowfully of the persons of this class whom I have known +in our country, who might have been so raised and solaced by similar +care. I hope ample provision may erelong be made for these Pariahs of +the human race; every case of the kind brings its blessings with it, +and observation on these subjects would be as rich in suggestion for +the thought, as such acts of love are balmy for the heart. + + + + +LETTER XIII. + +MUSIC IN PARIS.--CHOPIN AND THE CHEVALIER NEUKOMM.--ADIEU TO PARIS.--A +MIDNIGHT DRIVE IN A DILIGENCE.--LYONS AND ITS WEAVERS.--THEIR MANNER +OF LIFE.--A YOUNG WIFE.--THE WEAVERS' CHILDREN.--THE BANKS OF +THE RHONE.--DREARY WEATHER FOR SOUTHERN FRANCE.--THE OLD ROMAN +AMPHITHEATRE AT ARLES.--THE WOMEN OF ARLES.--MARSEILLES.--PASSAGE +TO GENOA.--ITALY.--GENOA AND NAPLES.--BAIAE.--VESUVIUS.--THE ITALIAN +CHARACTER AT HOME.--PASSAGE FROM LEGHORN IN A SMALL STEAMER.--NARROW +ESCAPE.--A CONFUSION OF LANGUAGES.--DEGRADATION OF THE NEAPOLITANS. + + +Naples. + +In my last days at Paris I was fortunate in hearing some delightful +music. A friend of Chopin's took me to see him, and I had the +pleasure, which the delicacy of Iris health makes a rare one for the +public, of hearing him play. All the impressions I had received from +hearing his music imperfectly performed were justified, for it has +marked traits, which can be veiled, but not travestied; but to feel +it as it merits, one must hear himself; only a person as exquisitely +organized as he can adequately express these subtile secrets of the +creative spirit. + +It was with, a very different sort of pleasure that I listened to the +Chevalier Neukomm, the celebrated composer of "David," which has +been so popular in our country. I heard him improvise on the _orgue +expressif_, and afterward on a great organ which has just been built +here by Cavaille for the cathedral of Ajaccio. Full, sustained, +ardent, yet exact, the stream, of his thought bears with it the +attention of hearers of all characters, as his character, full of +_bonhommie_, open, friendly, animated, and sagacious, would seem to +have something to present for the affection and esteem of all kinds of +men. + +Chopin is the minstrel, Neukomm the orator of music: we want them +both,--the mysterious whispers and the resolute pleadings from the +better world, which calls us not to slumber here, but press daily +onward to claim our heritage. + +Paris! I was sad to leave thee, thou wonderful focus, where ignorance +ceases to be a pain, because there we find such means daily to lessen +it. It is the only school where I ever found abundance of teachers who +could bear being examined by the pupil in their special branches. I +must go to this school more before I again cross the Atlantic, where +often for years I have carried about some trifling question without +finding the person who could answer it. Really deep questions we must +all answer for ourselves; the more the pity, then, that we get not +quickly through with a crowd of details, where the experience of +others might accelerate our progress. + +Leaving by _diligence_, we pursued our way from twelve o'clock on +Thursday till twelve at night on Friday, thus having a large share of +magnificent moonlight upon the unknown fields we were traversing. At +Chalons we took boat and reached Lyons betimes that afternoon. So +soon as refreshed, we sallied out to visit some of the garrets of the +weavers. As we were making inquiries about these, a sweet little girl +who heard us offered to be our guide. She led us by a weary, winding +way, whose pavement was much easier for her feet in their wooden +_sabots_ than for ours in Paris shoes, to the top of a hill, from +which we saw for the first time "the blue and arrowy Rhone." Entering +the light buildings on this high hill, I found each chamber +tenanted by a family of weavers,--all weavers; wife, husband, sons, +daughters,--from nine years old upward,--each was helping. On one side +were the looms; nearer the door the cooking apparatus; the beds were +shelves near the ceiling: they climbed up to them on ladders. My sweet +little girl turned out to be a wife of six or seven years' standing, +with two rather sickly-looking children; she seemed to have the +greatest comfort that is possible amid the perplexities of a hard and +anxious lot, to judge by the proud and affectionate manner in which +she always said "_mon mari_," and by the courteous gentleness of his +manner toward her. She seemed, indeed, to be one of those persons on +whom "the Graces have smiled in their cradle," and to whom a natural +loveliness of character makes the world as easy as it can be made +while the evil spirit is still so busy choking the wheat with tares. +I admired her graceful manner of introducing us into those dark little +rooms, and she was affectionately received by all her acquaintance. +But alas! that voice, by nature of such bird-like vivacity, repeated +again and again, "Ah! we are all very unhappy now." "Do you sing +together, or go to evening schools?" "We have not the heart. When we +have a piece of work, we do not stir till it is finished, and then we +run to try and get another; but often we have to wait idle for weeks. +It grows worse and worse, and they say it is not likely to be any +better. We can think of nothing, but whether we shall be able to pay +our rent. Ah! the workpeople are very unhappy now." This poor, lovely +little girl, at an age when the merchant's daughters of Boston and New +York are just gaining their first experiences of "society," knew to +a farthing the price of every article of food and clothing that is +wanted by such a household. Her thought by day and her dream by night +was, whether she should long be able to procure a scanty supply of +these, and Nature had gifted her with precisely those qualities, +which, unembarrassed by care, would have made her and all she loved +really happy; and she was fortunate now, compared with many of her sex +in Lyons,--of whom a gentleman who knows the class well said: "When +their work fails, they have no resource except in the sale of their +persons. There are but these two ways open to them, weaving or +prostitution, to gain their bread." And there are those who dare to +say that such a state of things is _well enough_, and what Providence +intended for man,--who call those who have hearts to suffer at the +sight, energy and zeal to seek its remedy, visionaries and fanatics! +To themselves be woe, who have eyes and see not, ears and hear not, +the convulsions and sobs of injured Humanity! + +My little friend told me she had nursed both her children,--though +almost all of her class are obliged to put their children out +to nurse; "but," said she, "they are brought back so little, so +miserable, that I resolved, if possible, to keep mine with me." Next +day in the steamboat I read a pamphlet by a physician of Lyons in +which he recommends the establishment of _Creches_, not merely like +those of Paris, to keep the children by day, but to provide wet-nurses +for them. Thus, by the infants receiving nourishment from more healthy +persons, and who under the supervision of directors would treat them +well, he hopes to counteract the tendency to degenerate in this race +of sedentary workers, and to save the mothers from too heavy a burden +of care and labor, without breaking the bond between them and their +children, whom, under such circumstances, they could visit often, and +see them taken care of as they, brought up to know nothing except how +to weave, cannot take care of them. Here, again, how is one reminded +of Fourier's observations and plans, still more enforced by the recent +developments at Manchester as to the habit of feeding children on +opium, which has grown out of the position of things there. + +Descending next day to Avignon, I had the mortification of finding the +banks of the Rhone still sheeted with white, and there waded through +melting snow to Laura's tomb. We did not see Mr. Dickens's Tower and +Goblin,--it was too late in the day,--but we saw a snowball fight +between two bands of the military in the castle yard that was gay +enough to make a goblin laugh. And next day on to Arles, still +snow,--snow and cutting blasts in the South of France, where everybody +had promised us bird-songs and blossoms to console us for the +dreary winter of Paris. At Arles, indeed, I saw the little saxifrage +blossoming on the steps of the Amphitheatre, and fruit-trees in flower +amid the tombs. Here for the first time I saw the great handwriting of +the Romans in its proper medium of stone, and I was content. It looked +us grand and solid as I expected, as if life in those days was thought +worth the having, the enjoying, and the using. The sunlight was warm +this day; it lay deliciously still and calm upon the ruins. One old +woman sat knitting where twenty-five thousand persons once gazed down +in fierce excitement on the fights of men and lions. Coming back, we +were refreshed all through the streets by the sight of the women of +Arles. They answered to their reputation for beauty; tall, erect, and +noble, with high and dignified features, and a full, earnest gaze of +the eye, they looked as if the Eagle still waved its wings over their +city. Even the very old women still have a degree of beauty, because +when the colors are all faded, and the skin wrinkled, the face +retains this dignity of outline. The men do not share in these +characteristics; some priestess, well beloved of the powers of old +religion, must have called down an especial blessing on her sex in +this town. + +Hence to Marseilles,--where is little for the traveller to see, except +the mixture of Oriental blood in the crowd of the streets. Thence +by steamer to Genoa. Of this transit, he who has been on the +Mediterranean in a stiff breeze well understands I can have nothing to +say, except "I suffered." It was all one dull, tormented dream to me, +and, I believe, to most of the ship's company,--a dream too of thirty +hours' duration, instead of the promised sixteen. + +The excessive beauty of Genoa is well known, and the impression upon +the eye alone was correspondent with what I expected; but, alas! the +weather was still so cold I could not realize that I had actually +touched those shores to which I had looked forward all my life, where +it seemed that the heart would expand, and the whole nature be turned +to delight. Seen by a cutting wind, the marble palaces, the gardens, +the magnificent water-view of Genoa, failed to charm,--"I _saw, not +felt_, how beautiful they were." Only at Naples have I found _my_ +Italy, and here not till after a week's waiting,--not till I began +to believe that all I had heard in praise of the climate of Italy +was fable, and that there is really no spring anywhere except in the +imagination of poets. For the first week was an exact copy of the +miseries of a New England spring; a bright sun came for an hour or two +in the morning, just to coax you forth without your cloak, and then +came up a villanous, horrible wind, exactly like the worst east wind +of Boston, breaking the heart, racking the brain, and turning hope and +fancy to an irrevocable green and yellow hue, in lieu of their native +rose. + +However, here at Naples I _have_ at last found _my_ Italy; I have +passed through the Grotto of Pausilippo, visited Cuma, Baiae, and +Capri, ascended Vesuvius, and found all familiar, except the sense of +enchantment, of sweet exhilaration, this scene conveys. + + "Behold how brightly breaks the morning!" + +and yet all new, as if never yet described, for Nature here, most +prolific and exuberant in her gifts, has touched them all with a charm +unhackneyed, unhackneyable, which the boots of English dandies cannot +trample out, nor the raptures of sentimental tourists daub or fade. +Baiae had still a hid divinity for me, Vesuvius a fresh baptism of +fire, and Sorrento--O Sorrento was beyond picture, beyond poesy, for +the greatest Artist had been at work there in a temper beyond the +reach of human art. + +Beyond this, reader, my old friend and valued acquaintance on other +themes, I shall tell you nothing of Naples, for it is a thing apart +in the journey of life, and, if represented at all, should be so in a +fairer form than offers itself at present. Now the actual life here is +over, I am going to Rome, and expect to see that fane of thought the +last day of this week. + +At Genoa and Leghorn, I saw for the first time Italians in their +homes. Very attractive I found them, charming women, refined men, +eloquent and courteous. If the cold wind hid Italy, it could not the +Italians. A little group of faces, each so full of character, dignity, +and, what is so rare in an American face, the capacity for pure, +exalting passion, will live ever in my memory,--the fulfilment of a +hope! + +We started from Leghorn in an English boat, highly recommended, and as +little deserving of such praise as many another bepuffed article. +In the middle of a fine, clear night, she was run into by the mail +steamer, which all on deck clearly saw coming upon her, for no reason +that could be ascertained, except that the man at the wheel said _he_ +had turned the right way, and it never seemed to occur to him that +he could change when he found the other steamer had taken the same +direction. To be sure, the other steamer was equally careless, but as +a change on our part would have prevented an accident that narrowly +missed sending us all to the bottom, it hardly seemed worth while to +persist, for the sake of convicting them of error. + +Neither the Captain nor any of his people spoke French, and we had +been much amused before by the chambermaid acting out the old story of +"Will you lend me the loan of a gridiron?" A Polish lady was on board, +with a French waiting-maid, who understood no word of English. The +daughter of John Bull would speak to the lady in English, and, when +she found it of no use, would say imperiously to the _suivante_, "Go +and ask your mistress what she will have for breakfast." And now when +I went on deck there was a parley between the two steamers, which the +Captain was obliged to manage by such interpreters as he could +find; it was a long and confused business. It ended at last in the +Neapolitan steamer taking us in tow for an inglorious return to +Leghorn. When she had decided upon this she swept round, her lights +glancing like sagacious eyes, to take us. The sea was calm as a lake, +the sky full of stars; she made a long detour, with her black hull, +her smoke and lights, which look so pretty at night, then came round +to us like the bend of an arm embracing. It was a pretty picture, +worth the stop and the fright,--perhaps the loss of twenty-four hours, +though I did not think so at the time. + +At Leghorn we changed the boat, and, retracing our steps, came now at +last to Naples,--to this priest-ridden, misgoverned, full of dirty, +degraded men and women, yet still most lovely Naples,--of which the +most I can say is that the divine aspect of nature _can_ make you +forget the situation of man in this region, which was surely intended +for him as a princely child, angelic in virtue, genius, and beauty, +and not as a begging, vermin-haunted, image kissing Lazzarone. + + + + +LETTER XIV. + +ITALY.--MISFORTUNE OF TRAVELLERS.--ENGLISH TRAVELLERS.-- +COCKNEYISM.--MACDONALD THE SCULPTOR.--BRITISH ARISTOCRACY.-- +TENERANI.--WOLFF'S DIANA AND SEASONS.--GOTT.--CRAWFORD.--OVERBECK +THE PAINTER.--AMERICAN PAINTERS IN ROME.--TERRY.--GRANCH.--HICKS.-- +REMAINS OF THE ANTIQUE.--ITALIAN PAINTERS.--DOMENICHIMO AND +TITIAN.--FRESCOS OF RAPHAEL.--MICHEL ANGELO.--THE COLOSSEUM.--HOLY +WEEK.--ST. PETER'S.--PIUS IX. AND HIS MEASURES.--POPULAR +ENTHUSIASM.--PUBLIC DINNER AT THE BATHS OF TITUS.--AUSTRIAN +JEALOUSY.--THE "CONTEMPORANEO." + + +Rome, May, 1847. + +There is very little that I can like to write about Italy. Italy is +beautiful, worthy to be loved and embraced, not talked about. Yet I +remember well that, when afar, I liked to read what was written about +her; now, all thought of it is very tedious. + +The traveller passing along the beaten track, vetturinoed from inn +to inn, ciceroned from gallery to gallery, thrown, through indolence, +want of tact, or ignorance of the language, too much into the +society of his compatriots, sees the least possible of the country; +fortunately, it is impossible to avoid seeing a great deal. The great +features of the part pursue and fill the eye. + +Yet I find that it is quite out of the question to know Italy; to say +anything of her that is full and sweet, so as to convey any idea of +her spirit, without long residence, and residence in the districts +untouched by the scorch and dust of foreign invasion (the invasion +of the _dilettanti_ I mean), and without an intimacy of feeling, an +abandonment to the spirit of the place, impossible to most Americans. +They retain too much, of their English blood; and the travelling +English, as a class, seem to me the most unseeing of all possible +animals. There are exceptions; for instance, the perceptions and +pictures of Browning seem as delicate and just here on the spot as +they did at a distance; but, take them as a class, they have the +vulgar familiarity of Mrs. Trollope without her vivacity, the +cockneyism of Dickens without his graphic power and love of the +odd corners of human nature. I admired the English at home in +their island; I admired their honor, truth, practical intelligence, +persistent power. But they do not look well in Italy; they are not the +figures for this landscape. I am indignant at the contempt they have +presumed to express for the faults of our semi-barbarous state. What +is the vulgarity expressed in our tobacco-chewing, and way of eating +eggs, compared to that which elbows the Greek marbles, guide-book in +hand,--chatters and sneers through the Miserere of the Sistine Chapel, +beneath the very glance of Michel Angelo's Sibyls,--praises +St. Peter's as "_nice_"--talks of "_managing_" the Colosseum by +moonlight,--and snatches "_bits_" for a "_sketch_" from the sublime +silence of the Campagna. + +Yet I was again reconciled with them, the other day, in visiting +the studio of Macdonald. There I found a complete gallery of the +aristocracy of England; for each lord and lady who visits Rome +considers it a part of the ceremony to sit to him for a bust. And what +a fine race! how worthy the marble! what heads of orators, +statesmen, gentlemen! of women chaste, grave, resolute, and tender! +Unfortunately, they do not look as well in flesh and blood; then +they show the habitual coldness of their temperament, the habitual +subservience to frivolous conventionalities. They need some great +occasion, some exciting crisis, in order to make them look as free and +dignified as these busts; yet is the beauty there, though, imprisoned, +and clouded, and such a crisis would show us more then one Boadicea, +more than one Alfred. Tenerani has just completed a statue which is +highly-spoken of; it is called the Angel of the Resurrection. I was +not so fortunate as to find it in his studio. In that of Wolff I saw a +Diana, ordered by the Emperor of Russia. It is modern and sentimental; +as different from, the antique Diana as the trance of a novel-read +young lady of our day from the thrill with which the ancient shepherds +deprecated the magic pervasions of Hecate, but very beautiful and +exquisitely wrought. He has also lately finished the Four Seasons, +represented as children. Of these, Winter is graceful and charming. + +Among the sculptors I delayed longest in the work-rooms of Gott. +I found his groups of young figures connected with animals very +refreshing after the grander attempts of the present time. They seem +real growths of his habitual mind,--fruits of Nature, full of joy and +freedom. His spaniels and other frisky poppets would please Apollo far +better than most of the marble nymphs and muses of the present day. + +Our Crawford has just finished a bust of Mrs. Crawford, which is +extremely beautiful, full of grace and innocent sweetness. All its +accessaries are charming,--the wreaths, the arrangement of drapery, +the stuff of which the robe is made. I hope it will be much seen on +its arrival in New York. He has also an Herodias in the clay, which is +individual in expression, and the figure of distinguished elegance. +I liked the designs of Crawford better than those of Gibson, who is +estimated as highest in the profession now. + +Among the studios of the European painters I have visited only that of +Overbeck. It is well known in the United States what his pictures are. +I have much to say at a more favorable time of what they represented +to me. He himself looks as if he had just stepped out of one of +them,--a lay monk, with a pious eye and habitual morality of thought +which limits every gesture. + +Painting is not largely represented here by American artists at +present. Terry has two pleasing pictures on the easel: one is a +costume picture of Italian life, such as I saw it myself, enchanted +beyond my hopes, on coming to Naples on a day of grand festival in +honor of Santa Agatha. Cranch sends soon to America a picture of the +Campagna, such as I saw it on my first entrance into Rome, all light +and calmness; Hicks, a charming half-length of an Italian girl, +holding a mandolin: it will be sure to please. His pictures are full +of life, and give the promise of some real achievement in Art. + +Of the fragments of the great time, I have now seen nearly all that +are treasured up here: I have, however, as yet nothing of consequence +to say of them. I find that others have often given good hints as to +how they _look_; and as to what they _are_, it can only be known by +approximating to the state of soul out of which they grew. They should +not be described, but reproduced. They are many and precious, yet is +there not so much of high excellence as I had expected: 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 when there are not many separately admirable, amid the +cypresses and ilexes of Roman villas; and a picture that is good at +all looks very good in one of these old palaces. + +The Italian painters whom I have learned most to appreciate, since +I came abroad, are Domenichino and Titian. Of others one may learn +something by copies and engravings: but not of these. The portraits +of Titian look upon me from the walls things new and strange. They are +portraits of men such as I have not known. In his picture, absurdly +called _Sacred and Profane Love_, in the Borghese Palace, one of the +figures has developed my powers of gazing to an extent unknown before. + +Domenichino seems very unequal in his pictures; but when he is grand +and free, the energy of his genius perfectly satisfies. The frescos +of Caracci and his scholars in the Farnese Palace have been to me a +source of the purest pleasure, and I do not remember to have heard of +them. I loved Guercino much before I came here, but I have looked +too much at his pictures and begin to grow sick of them; he is a very +limited genius. Leonardo I cannot yet like at all, but I suppose the +pictures are good for some people to look at; they show a wonderful +deal of study and thought. That is not what I can best appreciate in +a work of art. I hate to see the marks of them. I want a simple +and direct expression of soul. For the rest, the ordinary cant of +connoisseur-ship on these matters seems in Italy even more detestable +than elsewhere. + +I have not yet so sufficiently recovered from my pain at finding the +frescos of Raphael in such a state, as to be able to look at them, +happily. I had heard of their condition, but could not realize it. +However, I have gained nothing by seeing his pictures in oil, which +are well preserved. I find I had before the full impression of his +genius. Michel Angelo's frescos, in like manner, I seem to have +seen as far as I can. But it is not the same with the sculptures: my +thought had not risen to the height of the Moses. It is the only thing +in Europe, so far, which has entirely outgone my hopes. Michel Angelo +was my demigod before; but I find no offering worthy to cast at the +feet of his Moses. I like much, too, his Christ. It is a refreshing +contrast with all the other representations of the same subject. +I like it even as contrasted with Raphael's Christ of the +Transfiguration, or that of the cartoon of _Feed my Lambs_. + +I have heard owls hoot in the Colosseum by moonlight, and they spoke +more to the purpose than I ever heard any other voice upon that +subject. I have seen all the pomps and shows of Holy Week in the +church of St. Peter, and found them less imposing than an habitual +acquaintance with the place, with processions of monks and nuns +stealing in now and then, or the swell of vespers from some side +chapel. I have ascended the dome, and seen thence Rome and its +Campagna, its villas with, their cypresses and pines serenely sad as +is nothing else in the world, and the fountains of the Vatican garden +gushing hard by. I have been in the Subterranean to see a poor little +boy introduced, much to his surprise, to the bosom of the Church; +and then I have seen by torch-light the stone popes where they lie on +their tombs, and the old mosaics, and virgins with gilt caps. It is +all rich, and full,--very impressive in its way. St. Peter's must be +to each one a separate poem. + +The ceremonies of the Church, have been numerous and splendid during +our stay here; 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, it is easy to see, has set his heart upon doing +something solid for the benefit of man. But pensively, too, must +one feel how hampered and inadequate are the means at his command +to accomplish these ends. The Italians do not feel it, but deliver +themselves, with all the vivacity of their temperament, to perpetual +hurras, vivas, rockets, and torch-light processions. I often think how +grave and sad must the Pope feel, as he sits alone and hears all this +noise of expectation. + +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 +in which, we live was illuminated, and many thousands passed through +it in a torch-bearing procession. I saw them first assembled in the +Piazza del Popolo, forming around its fountain a great circle of fire. +Then, as a river of fire, they streamed slowly through the Corso, on +their way to the Quirinal to thank the Pope, upbearing a banner on +which the edict was printed. The stream, of fire advanced slowly, with +a perpetual surge-like sound of voices; the torches flashed on the +animated Italian faces. I have never seen anything finer. Ascending +the Quirinal they made it a mount of light. Bengal fires were thrown +up, which cast their red and white light on the noble Greek figures of +men and horses that reign over it. The Pope appeared on his balcony; +the crowd shouted three vivas; he extended his arms; the crowd fell on +their knees and received his benediction; he retired, and the torches +were extinguished, and the multitude dispersed in an instant. + +The same week came the natal day of Rome. A great dinner was given at +the Baths of Titus, in the open air. The company was on the grass in +the area; the music at one end; boxes filled with the handsome Roman +women occupied the other sides. It was a new thing here, this popular +dinner, and the Romans greeted it in an intoxication of hope and +pleasure. Sterbini, author of "The Vestal," presided: many others, +like him, long time exiled and restored to their country by the +present Pope, were at the tables. The Colosseum, and triumphal arches +were in sight; an effigy of the Roman wolf with her royal nursling +was erected on high; the guests, with shouts and music, congratulated +themselves on the possession, in Pius IX., of a new and nobler founder +for another state. Among the speeches that of the Marquis d'Azeglio, +a man of literary note in Italy, and son-in-law of Manzoni, contained +this passage (he was sketching the past history of Italy):-- + +"The crown passed to the head of a German monarch; but he wore it not +to the benefit, but the injury, of Christianity,--of the world. The +Emperor Henry was a tyrant who wearied out the patience of God. God +said to Rome, 'I give you the Emperor Henry'; and from these hills +that surround us, Hildebrand, Pope Gregory VII., raised his austere +and potent voice to say to the Emperor, 'God did not give you Italy +that you might destroy her,' and Italy, Germany, Europe, saw her +butcher prostrated at the feet of Gregory in penitence. Italy, +Germany, Europe, had then kindled in the heart the first spark of +liberty." + +The narrative of the dinner passed the censor, and was published: the +Ambassador of Austria read it, and found, with a modesty and candor +truly admirable, that this passage was meant to allude to his Emperor. +He must take his passports, if such home thrusts are to be made. And +so the paper was seized, and the account of the dinner only told from, +mouth to mouth, from those who had already read it. Also the idea of a +dinner for the Pope's fete-day is abandoned, lest something too frank +should again be said; and they tell me here, with a laugh, "I fancy +you have assisted at the first and last popular dinner." Thus we may +see that the liberty of Rome does not yet advance with seven-leagued +boots; and the new Romulus will need to be prepared for deeds at least +as bold as his predecessor, if he is to open a new order of things. + +I cannot well wind up my gossip on this subject better than by +translating a passage from the programme of the _Contemporaneo_, which +represents the hope of Rome at this moment. It is conducted by men of +well-known talent. + +"The _Contemporaneo_ (Contemporary) is a journal of progress, but +tempered, as the good and wise think best, in conformity with the +will of our best of princes, and the wants and expectations of the +public.... + +"Through discussion it desires to prepare minds to receive reforms so +soon and far as they are favored by the law of _opportunity_. + +"Every attempt which is made contrary to this social law must fail. It +is vain to hope fruits from a tree out of season, and equally in vain +to introduce the best measures into a country not prepared to receive +them." + +And so on. I intended to have translated in full the programme, +but time fails, and the law of opportunity does not favor, as my +"opportunity" leaves for London this afternoon. I have given enough to +mark the purport of the whole. It will easily be seen that it was +not from the platform assumed by the _Contemporaneo_ that Lycurgus +legislated, or Socrates taught,--that the Christian religion was +propagated, or the Church, was reformed by Luther. The opportunity +that the martyrs found here in the Colosseum, from whose blood grew +up this great tree of Papacy, was not of the kind waited for by these +moderate progressists. Nevertheless, they may be good schoolmasters +for Italy, and are not to be disdained in these piping times of peace. + +More anon, of old and new, from Tuscany. + + + + +LETTER XV. + +ITALY.--FRUITS AND FLOWERS ON THE ROUTE FROM FLORENCE TO ROME.--THE +PLAIN OF UMBRIA.--ASSISI.--THE SAINTS.--TUITION IN SCHOOLS.--PIUS +IX.--THE ETRURIAN TOMB.--PERUGIA AND ITS STORES OF EARLY +ART.--PORTRAITS OF RAPHAEL.--FLORENCE.--THE GRAND DUKE AND HIS +POLICY.--THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS AND ITS INFLUENCE.--THE AMERICAN +SCULPTORS.--GREENOUGH AND HIS NEW WORKS.--POWERS.--HIS STATUE OF +CALHOUN.--REVIEW OF HIS ENDEAVORS.--THE FESTIVALS OF ST. JOHN AT +FLORENCE.--BOLOGNA.--FEMALE PROFESSORS IN ITS UNIVERSITY.--MATILDA +TAMBRONI AND OTHERS.--MILAN AND HER FEMALE MATHEMATICIAN.--THE STATE +OF WOMAN IN ITALY.--RAVENNA AND BYRON.--VENICE.--THE ADDA.--MILAN AND +ITS NEIGHBORHOOD, AND MANZONI.--EXCITEMENTS.--NATIONAL AFFAIRS. + + +Milan, August 9, 1847. + +Since leaving Rome, I have not been able to steal a moment from +the rich and varied objects before me to write about them. I will, +therefore, take a brief retrospect of the ground. + +I passed from Florence to Rome by the Perugia route, and saw for the +first time the Italian vineyards. The grapes hung in little clusters. +When I return, they will be full of light and life, but the fields +will not be so enchantingly fresh, nor so enamelled with flowers. + +The profusion of red poppies, which dance on every wall and glitter +throughout the grass, is a great ornament to the landscape. In full +sunlight their vermilion is most beautiful. Well might Ceres gather +_such_ poppies to mingle with her wheat. + +We climbed the hill to Assisi, and my ears thrilled as with many old +remembered melodies, when an old peasant, in sonorous phrase, bade +me look out and see the plain of Umbria. I looked back and saw +the carriage toiling up the steep path, drawn by a pair of those +light-colored oxen Shelley so much admired. I stood near the spot +where Goethe met with a little adventure, which he has described with +even more than his usual delicate humor. Who can ever be alone for a +moment in Italy? Every stone has a voice, every grain of dust seems +instinct with spirit from the Past, every step recalls some line, some +legend of long-neglected lore. + +Assisi was exceedingly charming to me. So still!--all temporal noise +and bustle seem hushed down yet by the presence of the saint. So +clean!--the rains of heaven wash down all impurities into the valley. +I must confess that, elsewhere, I have shared the feelings of Dickens +toward St. Francis and St. Sebastian, as the "Mounseer Tonsons" of +Catholic art. St. Sebastian I have not been so tired of, for the +beauty and youth of the figure make the monotony with which the +subject of his martyrdom is treated somewhat less wearisome. But St. +Francis is so sad, and so ecstatic, and so brown, so entirely the +monk,--and St. Clara so entirely the nun! I have been very sorry for +her that he was able to draw her from the human to the heavenly life; +she seems so sad and so worn out by the effort. But here at Assisi, +one cannot help being penetrated by the spirit that flowed from that +life. Here is the room where his father shut up the boy to punish his +early severity of devotion. Here is the picture which represents him +despoiled of all outward things, even his garments,--devoting himself, +body and soul, to the service of God in the way he believed most +acceptable. Here is the underground chapel, where rest those weary +bones, saluted by the tears of so many weary pilgrims who have come +hither to seek strength from his example. Here are the churches above, +full of the works of earlier art, animated by the contagion of a great +example. It is impossible not to bow the head, and feel how mighty an +influence flows from a single soul, sincere in its service of truth, +in whatever form that truth comes to it. + +A troop of neat, pretty school-girls attended us about, going with +us into the little chapels adorned with pictures which open at every +corner of the streets, smiling on us at a respectful distance. Some of +them were fourteen or fifteen years old. I found reading, writing, and +sewing were all they learned at their school; the first, indeed, they +knew well enough, if they could ever get books to use it on. Tranquil +as Assisi was, on every wall was read _Viva Pio IX.!_ and we found the +guides and workmen in the shop full of a vague hope from him. The old +love which has made so rich this aerial cradle of St. Francis glows +warm as ever in the breasts of men; still, as ever, they long for +hero-worship, and shout aloud at the least appearance of an object. + +The church at the foot of the hill, Santa Maria degli Angeli, seems +tawdry after Assisi. It also is full of records of St. Francis, his +pains and his triumphs. Here, too, on a little chapel, is the famous +picture by Overbeck; too exact a copy, but how different in effect +from the early art we had just seen above! Harmonious but frigid, +grave but dull; childhood is beautiful, but not when continued, or +rather transplanted, into the period where we look for passion, varied +means, and manly force. + +Before reaching Perugia, I visited an Etrurian tomb, which is a little +way off the road; it is said to be one of the finest in Etruria. The +hill-side is full of them, but excavations are expensive, and not +frequent. The effect of this one was beyond my expectations; in it +were several female figures, very dignified and calm, as the dim +lamp-light fell on them by turns. The expression of these figures +shows that the position of woman in these states was noble. Their +eagles' nests cherished well the female eagle who kept watch in the +eyrie. + +Perugia too is on a noble hill. What a daily excitement such a view, +taken at every step! life is worth ten times as much in a city so +situated. Perugia is full, overflowing, with the treasures of early +art. I saw them so rapidly it seems now as if in a trance, yet +certainly with a profit, a manifold gain, such as Mahomet thought he +gained from his five minutes' visits to other spheres. Here are two +portraits of Raphael as a youth: it is touching to see what effect +this angel had upon all that surrounded him from the very first. + +Florence! I was there a month, and in a sense saw Florence: that is to +say, I took an inventory of what is to be seen there, and not without +great intellectual profit. There is too much that is really admirable +in art,--the nature of its growth lies before you too clearly to be +evaded. Of such things more elsewhere. + +I do not like Florence as I do cities more purely Italian. The natural +character is ironed out here, and done up in a French pattern; yet +there is no French vivacity, nor Italian either. The Grand Duke--more +and more agitated by the position in which he finds himself between +the influence of the Pope and that of Austria--keeps imploring and +commanding his people to keep still, and they _are_ still and glum +as death. This is all on the outside; within, Tuscany burns. Private +culture has not been in vain, and there is, in a large circle, mental +preparation for a very different state of things from the present, +with an ardent desire to diffuse the same amid the people at large. +The sovereign has been obliged for the present to give more liberty to +the press, and there is an immediate rush of thought to the new vent; +if it is kept open a few months, the effect on the body of the people +cannot fail to be great. I intended to have translated some passages +from the programme of the _Patria_, one of the papers newly started +at Florence, but time fails. One of the articles in the same number by +Lambruschini, on the duties of the clergy at this juncture, contains +views as liberal as can be found in print anywhere in the world. More +of these things when I return to Rome in the autumn, when I hope to +find a little leisure to think over what I have seen, and, if found +worthy, to put the result in writing. + +I visited the studios of our sculptors; Greenough has in clay a David +which promises high beauty and nobleness, a bass-relief, full of grace +and tender expression; he is also modelling a head of Napoleon, and +justly enthusiastic in the study. His great group I did not see in +such a state as to be secure of my impression. The face of the Pioneer +is very fine, the form of the woman graceful and expressive; but I was +not satisfied with the Indian. I shall see it more as a whole on my +return to Florence. + +As to the Eve and the Greek Slave, I could only join with the rest of +the world in admiration of their beauty and the fine feeling of nature +which they exhibit. The statue of Calhoun is full of power, simple, +and majestic in attitude and expression. In busts Powers seems to +me unrivalled; still, he ought not to spend his best years on an +employment which cannot satisfy his ambition nor develop his powers. +If our country loves herself, she will order from him some great work +before the prime of his genius has been frittered away, and his best +years spent on lesser things. + +I saw at Florence the festivals of St. John, but they are poor affairs +to one who has seen the Neapolitan and Roman people on such occasions. + +Passing from Florence, I came to Bologna,--learned Bologna; indeed an +Italian city, full of expression, of physiognomy, so to speak. A woman +should love Bologna, for there has the spark of intellect in woman +been cherished with reverent care. Not in former ages only, but in +this, Bologna raised a woman who was worthy to the dignities of its +University, and in their Certosa they proudly show the monument to +Matilda Tambroni, late Greek Professor there. Her letters, preserved +by her friends, are said to form a very valuable collection. In their +anatomical hall is the bust of a woman, Professor of Anatomy. In Art +they have had Properzia di Rossi, Elizabetta 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, _conversazioni_, and similar entertainments. 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. These things make me feel that, if the state of woman +in Italy is so depressed, yet a good-will toward a better is not +wholly wanting. Still more significant is the reverence to the Madonna +and innumerable female saints, who, if, like St. Teresa, they had +intellect as well as piety, became counsellors no less than comforters +to the spirit of men. + +Ravenna, too, I saw, and its old Christian art, the Pineta, where +Byron loved to ride, and the paltry apartments where, cheered by a new +affection, in which was more of tender friendship than of passion, he +found himself less wretched than at beautiful Venice or stately Genoa. + +All the details of this visit to Ravenna are pretty. I shall write +them out some time. Of Padua, too, the little to be said should be +said in detail. + +Of Venice and its enchanted life I could not speak; it should only +be echoed back in music. There only I began to feel in its fulness +Venetian Art. It can only be seen in its own atmosphere. Never had I +the least idea of what is to be seen at Venice. It seems to me as if +no one ever yet had seen it,--so entirely wanting is any expression +of what I felt myself. Venice! on this subject I shall not write much +till time, place, and mode agree to make it fit. + +Venice, where all is past, is a fit asylum for the dynasties of the +Past. The Duchesse de Berri owns one of the finest palaces on the +Grand Canal; the Duc de Bordeaux rents another; Mademoiselle Taglioni +has bought the famous Casa d'Oro, and it is under repair. Thanks to +the fashion which has made Venice a refuge of this kind, the palaces, +rarely inhabited by the representatives of their ancient names, are +valuable property, and the noble structures will not be suffered +to lapse into the sea, above which they rose so proudly. +The restorations, too, are made with excellent taste and +judgment,--nothing is spoiled. Three of these fine palaces are now +hotels, so that the transient visitor can enjoy from their balconies +all the wondrous shows of the Venetian night and day as much as any +of their former possessors did. I was at the Europa, formerly the +Giustiniani Palace, with better air than those on the Grand Canal, and +a more unobstructed view than Danieli's. + +Madame de Berri gave an entertainment on the birthnight of her son, +and the old Duchesse d'Angouleme came from Vienna to attend it. 'T +was a scene of fairy-land, the palace full of light, so that from the +canal could be seen even the pictures on the walls. Landing from the +gondolas, the elegantly dressed ladies and gentlemen seemed to rise +from the water; we also saw them glide up the great stair, rustling +their plumes, and in the reception-rooms make and receive the +customary grimaces. A fine band stationed on the opposite side of the +canal played the while, and a flotilla of gondolas lingered there to +listen. I, too, amid, the mob, a pleasant position in Venice alone, +thought of the Stuarts, Bourbons, Bonapartes, here in Italy, and +offered up a prayer that other names, when the possessors have power +without the heart to use it for the emancipation of mankind, might he +added to the list, and other princes, more rich in blood than brain, +might come to enjoy a perpetual _villeggiatura_ in Italy. It did not +seem to me a cruel wish. The show of greatness will satisfy every +legitimate desire of such minds. A gentle punishment for the +distributors of _letters de cachet_ and Spielberg dungeons to their +fellow-men. + +Having passed more than a fortnight at Venice, I have come here, +stopping at Vicenza, Verona, Mantua, Lago di Garda, Brescia. +Certainly I have learned more than ever in any previous ten days of my +existence, and have formed an idea what is needed for the study of Art +and its history in these regions. To be sure, I shall never have time +to follow it up, but it is a delight to look up those glorious vistas, +even when there is no hope of entering them. + +A violent shower obliged me to stop on the way. It was late at night, +and I was nearly asleep, when, roused by the sound of bubbling waters, +I started up and asked, "Is that the Adda?" and it was. So deep is +the impression made by a simple natural recital, like that of Renzo's +wanderings in the _Promessi Sposi_, that the memory of his hearing the +Adda in this way occurred to me at once, and the Adda seemed familiar +as if I had been a native of this region. + +As the Scottish lakes seem the domain of Walter Scott, so does Milan +and its neighborhood in the mind of a foreigner belong to Manzoni. I +have seen him since, the gentle lord of this wide domain; his hair is +white, but his eyes still beam as when he first saw the apparitions of +truth, simple tenderness, and piety which he has so admirably recorded +for our benefit. Those around lament that the fastidiousness of his +taste prevents his completing and publishing more, and that thus +a treasury of rare knowledge and refined thought will pass from +us without our reaping the benefit. We, indeed, have no title to +complain, what we do possess from his hand is so excellent. + +At this moment there is great excitement in Italy. A supposed spy +of Austria has been assassinated at Ferrara, and Austrian troops are +marched there. It is pretended that a conspiracy has been discovered +in Rome; the consequent disturbances have been put down. The National +Guard is forming. All things seem to announce that some important +change is inevitable here, but what? Neither Radicals nor Moderates +dare predict with confidence, and I am yet too much a stranger +to speak with assurance of impressions I have received. But it is +impossible not to hope. + + + + +LETTER XVI. + +REVIEW OF PAST AND PRESENT.--THE MERITS OF ITALIAN +LITERATURE.--MANZONI.--ITALIAN DIALECTS.--MILAN, THE MILANESE, AND +THE SIMPLICITY OF THEIR LANGUAGE.--THE NORTH OF ITALY, AND A TOUR TO +SWITZERLAND.--ITALIAN LAKES.--MAGGIORE, COMO, AND LUGANO.--LAGO DI +GARDA.--THE BOATMEN OF THE LAKES AND THE GONDOLIERS.--LADY FRANKLIN, +WIDOW OF THE NAVIGATOR.--RETURN TO AND FESTIVALS AT MILAN.--THE +ARCHBISHOP.--AUSTRIAN RULE AND AUSTRIAN POLICY.--THE FUTURE HOPES OF +ITALY.--A GLANCE AT PAVIA, FLORENCE, PARMA, AND BOLOGNA, AND THE WORKS +OF THE MASTERS. + + +Rome, October, 1847. + +I think my last letter was from Milan, and written after I had seen +Manzoni. This was to me a great pleasure. I have now seen the most +important representatives who survive of the last epoch in thought. +Our age has still its demonstrations to make, its heroes and poets to +crown. + +Although the modern Italian literature is not poor, as many persons at +a distance suppose, but, on the contrary, surprisingly rich in tokens +of talent, if we consider the circumstances under which it struggles +to exist, yet very few writers have or deserve a European or American +reputation. Where a whole country is so kept down, her best minds +cannot take the lead in the progress of the age; they have too much to +suffer, too much to explain. But among the few who, through depth of +spiritual experience and the beauty of form in which it is expressed, +belong not only to Italy, but to the world, Manzoni takes a high +rank. The passive virtues he teaches are no longer what is wanted; the +manners he paints with so delicate a fidelity are beginning to change; +but the spirit of his works,--the tender piety, the sensibility to the +meaning of every humblest form of life, the delicate humor and satire +so free from disdain,--these are immortal. + +Young Italy rejects Manzoni, though not irreverently; Young Italy +prizes his works, but feels that the doctrine of "Pray and wait" is +not for her at this moment,--that she needs a more fervent hope, a +more active faith. She is right. + +It is well known that the traveller, if he knows the Italian language +as written in books, the standard Tuscan, still finds himself a +stranger in many parts of Italy, unable to comprehend the dialects, +with their lively abbreviations and witty slang. That of Venice I had +understood somewhat, and could enter into the drollery and _naivete_ +of the gondoliers, who, as a class, have an unusual share of +character. But the Milanese I could not at first understand at all. +Their language seemed to me detestably harsh, and their gestures +unmeaning. But after a friend, who possesses that large and ready +sympathy easier found in Italy than anywhere else, had translated for +me verbatim into French some of the poems written in the Milanese, +and then read them aloud in the original, I comprehended the peculiar +inflection of voice and idiom in the people, and was charmed with it, +as one is with the instinctive wit and wisdom of children. + +There is very little to see at Milan, compared with any other Italian +city; and this was very fortunate for me, allowing an interval +of repose in the house, which I cannot take when there is so much +without, tempting me to incessant observation and study. I went +through, the North of Italy with a constantly increasing fervor of +interest. When I had thought of Italy, it was always of the South, of +the Roman States, of Tuscany. But now I became deeply interested in +the history, the institutions, the art of the North. The fragments +of the past mark the progress of its waves so clearly, I learned to +understand, to prize them every day more, to know how to make use of +the books about them. I shall have much to say on these subjects some +day. + +Leaving Milan, I went on the Lago Maggiore, and afterward into +Switzerland. Of this tour I shall not speak here; it was a beautiful +little romance by itself, and infinitely refreshing to be so near +nature in these grand and simple forms, after so much exciting thought +of Art and Man. The day passed in the St. Bernardin, with its lofty +peaks and changing lights upon the distant snows,--its holy, exquisite +valleys and waterfalls, its stories of eagles and chamois, was the +greatest refreshment I ever experienced: it was bracing as a cold bath +after the heat of a crowd amid which one has listened to some most +eloquent oration. + +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. Their beauties are peculiar, enchanting, innumerable. +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 kind 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 grand, 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,--so glittering sweet on one side, the ruins of +ancient palaces rise so softly with the beauties of that shore; but +at the other end, amid the Tyrol, it is sublime, calm, concentrated +in its meaning. Como cannot be better described in general 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 a little clanger, just enough to exhilarate; its +waters were wild, and clouds blowing across the neighboring peaks. I +like very much 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. + +On this lake, also, 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. + +I returned to Milan for the great feast of the Madonna, 8th September, +and those made for the Archbishop's entry, which took place the same +week. These excited as much feeling as the Milanese can have a chance +to display, this Archbishop being much nearer tire public heart than +his predecessor, who was a poor servant of Austria. + +The Austrian rule is always equally hated, and time, instead of +melting away differences, only makes them more glaring. The Austrian +race have no faculties that can ever enable them to understand the +Italian character; their policy, so well contrived to palsy and +repress for a time, cannot kill, and there is always a force at work +underneath which shall yet, and I think now before long, shake off +the incubus. The Italian nobility have always kept the invader at a +distance; they have not been at all seduced or corrupted by the lures +of pleasure or power, but have shown a passive patriotism highly +honorable to them. In the middle class ferments much thought, and +there is a capacity for effort; in the present system it cannot show +itself, but it is there; thought ferments, and will yet produce a +wine that shall set the Lombard veins on fire when the time for action +shall arrive. The lower classes of the population are in a dull state +indeed. The censorship of the press prevents all easy, natural ways of +instructing them; there are no public meetings, no free access to them +by more instructed and aspiring minds. The Austrian policy is to allow +them a degree of material well-being, and though so much wealth is +drained from, the country for the service of the foreigners, jet +enough must remain on these rich plains comfortably to feed and clothe +the inhabitants. Yet the great moral influence of the Pope's action, +though obstructed in their case, does reach and rouse them, and they, +too, felt the thrill of indignation at the occupation of Ferrara. The +base conduct of the police toward the people, when, at Milan, some +youths were resolute to sing tire hymn in honor of Pius IX., when the +feasts for the Archbishop afforded so legitimate an occasion, roused +all the people to unwonted feeling. The nobles protested, and Austria +had not courage to persist as usual. She could not sustain her police, +who rushed upon a defenceless crowd, that had no share in what excited +their displeasure, except by sympathy, and, driving them like sheep, +wounded them _in the backs_. Austria feels that there is now no +sympathy for her in these matters; that it is not the interest of the +world to sustain her. Her policy is, indeed, too thoroughly organized +to change except by revolution; its scope is to serve, first, a +reigning family instead of the people; second, with the people to +seek a physical in preference to an intellectual good; and, third, +to prefer a seeming outward peace to an inward life. This policy may +change its opposition from the tyrannical to the insidious; it can +know no other change. Yet do I meet persons who call themselves +Americans,--miserable, thoughtless Esaus, unworthy their high +birthright,--who think that a mess of pottage can satisfy the wants of +man, and that the Viennese listening to Strauss's waltzes, the Lombard +peasant supping full of his polenta, is _happy enough_. Alas: I have +the more reason to be ashamed of my countrymen that it is not among +the poor, who have so much, toil that there is little time to think, +but those who are rich, who travel,--in body that is, they do not +travel in mind. Absorbed at home by the lust of gain, the love of +show, abroad they see only the equipages, the fine clothes, the +food,--they have no heart for the idea, for the destiny of our own +great nation: how can they feel the spirit that is struggling now in +this and others of Europe? + +But of the hopes of Italy I will write more fully in another letter, +and state what I have seen, what felt, what thought. I went from +Milan, to Pavia, and saw its magnificent Certosa, I passed several +hours in examining its riches, especially the sculptures of its +facade, full of force and spirit. I then went to Florence by Parma +and Bologna. In Parma, though ill, I went to see all the works of the +masters. A wonderful beauty it is that informs them,--not that which +is the chosen food of my soul, yet a noble beauty, and which did its +message to me also. Those works are failing; it will not be useless to +describe them in a book. Beside these pictures, I saw nothing in Parma +and Modena; these states are obliged to hold their breath while their +poor, ignorant sovereigns skulk in corners, hoping to hide from the +coming storm. Of all this more in my next. + + + + +LETTER XVII. + +FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF ROME IN THE SPRING.--THE POPE.--ROME AS +A CAPITAL.--TUSCANY.--THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS THERE JUST +ESTABLISHED.--THE ENLIGHTENED MINDS AND AVAILABLE INSTRUCTORS OF +TUSCANY.--ITALIAN ESTIMATION OF PIUS IX., AND THE INFLUENCE, +PRESENT AND FUTURE, OF HIS LABORS.--FOREIGN INTRUSION THE CURSE OF +ITALY.--IRRUPTION OF THE AUSTRIANS INTO ITALY, AND ITS EFFECTS.--LOUIS +PHILIPPE'S APOSTASY TURNED TO THE ADVANTAGE OF FREEDOM.--THE GREAT +FETE AT FLORENCE IN HONOR OF THE GRANT OF A NATIONAL GUARD.--THE +AMERICAN SCULPTORS, GREENOUGH, CRAWFORD, AND THEIR PARTICIPATION IN +THE FETE.--AMERICANS GENERALLY IN ITALY.--HYMNS IN FLORENCE IN HONOR +OF PIUS IX.--HAPPY AUGURY TO BE DRAWN FROM THE WISE DOCILITY OF THE +PEOPLE.--AN EXPRESSION OF SYMPATHY FROM AMERICA TOWARD ITALY EARNESTLY +HOPED FOR. + + +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. With +equal pleasure I saw the Pope, who has not in his expression the signs +of intellectual greatness so much as of nobleness and tenderness of +heart, of large and liberal sympathies. Heart had spoken to heart +between the prince and the people; it was beautiful to see the +immediate good influence exerted by human feeling and generous +designs, on the part of a ruler. He had wished to be a father, and +the Italians, with that readiness of genius that characterizes them, +entered at once into the relation; they, the Roman people, stigmatized +by prejudice as so crafty and ferocious, showed themselves children, +eager to learn, quick to obey, happy to confide. + +Still doubts were always present whether all this joy was not +premature. The task undertaken by the Pope seemed to present +insuperable difficulties. It is never easy to put new wine into old +bottles, and our age is one where all things tend to a great crisis; +not merely to revolution, but to radical reform. From the people +themselves the help must come, and not from princes; in the new state +of things, there will be none but natural princes, great men. From the +aspirations of the general heart, from the teachings of conscience +in individuals, and not from an old ivy-covered church long since +undermined, corroded by time and gnawed by vermin, the help must come. +Rome, to resume her glory, must cease to be an ecclesiastical capital; +must renounce all this gorgeous mummery, whose poetry, whose picture, +charms no one more than myself, but whose meaning is all of the past, +and finds no echo in the future. Although I sympathized warmly with +the warm love of the people, the adulation of leading writers, who +were so willing to take all from the hand of the prince, of the +Church, as a gift and a bounty, instead of implying steadily that it +was the right of the people, was very repulsive to me. The moderate +party, like all who, in a transition state, manage affairs with a +constant eye to prudence, lacks dignity always in its expositions; it +is disagreeable and depressing to read them. + +Passing into Tuscany, I found the liberty of the press just +established, and a superior preparation to make use of it. The _Alba_, +the _Patria_, were begun, and have been continued with equal judgment +and spirit. Their aim is to educate the youth, to educate the +lower people; they see that this is to be done by promoting thought +fearlessly, yet urge temperance in action, while the time is yet so +difficult, and many of its signs dubious. They aim at breaking down +those barriers between the different states of Italy, relics of a +barbarous state of polity, artificially kept up by the craft of her +foes. While anxious not to break down what is really native to the +Italian character,--defences and differences that give individual +genius a chance to grow and the fruits of each region to ripen in +their natural way,--they aim at a harmony of spirit as to measures +of education and for the affairs of business, without which Italy can +never, as one nation, present a front strong enough to resist foreign +robbery, and for want of which so much time and talent are wasted +here, and internal development almost wholly checked. + +There is in Tuscany a large corps of enlightened minds, well prepared +to be the instructors, the elder brothers and guardians, of the lower +people, and whose hearts burn to fulfil that noble office. Before, it +had been almost impossible to them, for the reasons I have named in +speaking of Lombardy; but during these last four months that the way +has been opened by the freedom of the press, and establishment of the +National Guard,--so valuable, first of all, as giving occasion for +public meetings and free interchange of thought between the different +classes,--it is surprising how much light they have been able to +diffuse. + +A Bolognese, to whom I observed, "How can you be so full of trust when +all your hopes depend, not on the recognition of principles and wants +throughout the people, but on the life of one mortal man?" replied: +"Ah! but you don't consider that his life gives us a chance to effect +that recognition. If Pius IX. be spared to us five years, it will +be impossible for his successors ever to take a backward course. Our +nation is of a genius so vivacious,--we are unhappy, but not stupid, +we Italians,--we can learn as much in two months as other nations in +twenty years." This seemed to me no brag when I returned to Tuscany +and saw the great development and diffusion of thought that had taken +place during my brief absence. The Grand Duke, a well-intentioned, +though dull man, had dared, to declare himself "_an_ ITALIAN _prince_" +and the heart of Tuscany had bounded with hope. It is now deeply as +justly felt that _the_ curse of Italy is foreign intrusion; that +if she could dispense with foreign aid, and be free from foreign +aggression, she would find the elements of salvation within herself. +All her efforts tend that way, to re-establish the natural position of +things; may Heaven grant them success! For myself, I believe they will +attain it. I see more reason for hope, as I know more of the people. +Their rash and baffled struggles have taught them prudence; they are +wanted in the civilized world as a peculiar influence; their leaders +are thinking men, their cause is righteous. I believe that Italy will +revive to new life, and probably a greater, one more truly rich and +glorious, than at either epoch of her former greatness. + +During the period of my absence, the Austrians had entered Ferrara. +It is well that they hazarded this step, for it showed them the +difficulties in acting against a prince of the Church who is at the +same time a friend to the people. The position was new, and they were +probably surprised at the result,--surprised at the firmness of the +Pope, surprised at the indignation, tempered by calm resolve, on the +part of the Italians. Louis Philippe's mean apostasy has this +time turned to the advantage of freedom. He renounced the good +understanding with England which it had been one of the leading +features of his policy to maintain, in the hope of aggrandizing and +enriching his family (not France, he did not care for France); he did +not know that he was paving the way for Italian freedom. England now +is led to play a part a little nearer her pretensions as the guardian +of progress than she often comes, and the ghost of La Fayette looks +down, not unappeased, to see the "Constitutional King" decried by the +subjects he has cheated and lulled so craftily. The king of Sardinia +is a worthless man, in whom nobody puts any trust so far as regards +his heart or honor; but the stress of things seems likely to keep him +on the right side. The little sovereigns blustered at first, then ran +away affrighted when they found there was really a spirit risen +at last within the charmed circle,--a spirit likely to defy, to +transcend, the spells of haggard premiers and imbecile monarchs. + +I arrived in Florence, unhappily, too late for the great fete of the +12th of September, in honor of the grant of a National Guard. But +I wept at the mere recital of the events of that day, which, if it +should lead to no important results, must still be hallowed for ever +in the memory of Italy, for the great and beautiful emotions that +flooded the hearts of her children. The National Guard is hailed with +no undue joy by Italians, as the earnest of progress, the first step +toward truly national institutions and a representation of the people. +Gratitude has done its natural work in their hearts; it has made +them better. Some days before the fete were passed in reconciling +all strifes, composing all differences between cities, districts, and +individuals. They wished to drop all petty, all local differences, to +wash away all stains, to bathe and prepare for a new great covenant of +brotherly love, where each should act for the good of all. On that day +they all embraced in sign of this,--strangers, foes, all exchanged the +kiss of faith and love; they exchanged banners, as a token that they +would fight for, would animate, one another. All was done in that +beautiful poetic manner peculiar to this artist people; but it was the +spirit, so great and tender, that melts my heart to think of. It was +the spirit of true religion,--such, my Country! as, welling freshly +from some great hearts in thy early hours, won for thee all of value +that thou canst call thy own, whose groundwork is the assertion, still +sublime though thou hast not been true to it, that all men have equal +rights, and that these are _birth_-rights, derived from God alone. + +I rejoice to say that the Americans took their share on this occasion, +and that 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,--where a nation is striving +for independent existence, and a government representing the people. +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,--of him who had such +faith, such music of divine thought, that he made the stones move, +turned the beasts from their accustomed haunts, and shamed hell itself +into sympathy with the grief of love. I do not deny that such a spirit +is wanted here in Italy; it is everywhere, if anything great, anything +permanent, is to be done. 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. + +As to the English, some of them are full of generous, intelligent +sympathy;--indeed what is more solidly, more wisely good than the +right sort of Englishmen!--but others are like a gentleman I travelled +with the other day, a man of intelligence and refinement too as to the +details of life and outside culture, who observed, that he did not +see what the Italians wanted of a National Guard, unless to wear these +little caps. He was a man who had passed five years in Italy, but +always covered with that non-conductor called by a witty French writer +"the Britannic fluid." + +Very sweet to my ear was the continual hymn in the streets of +Florence, in honor of Pius IX. It is the Roman hymn, and none of the +new ones written in Tuscany have been able to take its place. The +people thank the Grand Duke when he does them good, but they know well +from whose mind that good originates, and all their love is for the +Pope. Time presses, or I would fain describe in detail the troupe of +laborers of the lower class, marching home at night, keeping step as +if they were in the National Guard, filling the air, and cheering the +melancholy moon, by the patriotic hymns sung with the mellow tone and +in the perfect time which belong to Italians. I would describe the +extempore concerts in the streets, the rejoicings at the theatres, +where the addresses of liberal souls to the people, through that best +vehicle, the drama, may now be heard. But I am tired; what I have to +write would fill volumes, and my letter must go. 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 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 the 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, +listening 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 they continue to act thus, their hopes cannot be +baffled. Certainly I, for one, do not think that the present road will +suffice to lead Italy to her goal. But it _is_ an onward, upward road, +and the people learn as they advance. Now they can seek and think +fearless of prisons and bayonets, a healthy circulation of blood +begins, and the heart frees itself from disease. + +I earnestly hope for some expression of sympathy from my country +toward Italy. Take a good chance and do something; you have shown much +good feeling toward the Old World in its physical difficulties,--you +ought to do still more in its spiritual endeavor. This cause is +OURS, above all others; we ought to show that we feel it to be so. At +present there is no likelihood of war, but in case of it I trust the +United States would not fail in some noble token of sympathy toward +this country. The soul of our nation need not wait for its government; +these things are better done by individuals. I believe some in the +United States will pay attention to these words of mine, will feel +that I am not a person to be kindled by a childish, sentimental +enthusiasm, but that I must be sure I have seen something of Italy +before speaking as I do. I have been here only seven months, but my +means of observation have been uncommon. I have been ardently desirous +to judge fairly, and had no prejudices to prevent; beside, I was not +ignorant of the history and literature of Italy, and had some common +ground on which to stand with, its inhabitants, and hear what they +have to say. In many ways Italy is of kin to us; she is the country +of Columbus, of Amerigo, of Cabot. It would please me much to see a +cannon here bought by the contributions of Americans, at whose head +should stand the name of Cabot, to be used by the Guard for salutes +on festive occasions, if they should be so happy as to have no +more serious need. In Tuscany they are casting one to be called the +"Gioberti," from a writer who has given a great impulse to the present +movement. I should like the gift of America to be called the AMERIGO, +the COLUMBO, or the WASHINGTON. Please think of this, some of my +friends, who still care for the eagle, the Fourth of July, and the old +cries of hope and honor. See if there are any objections that I do not +think of, and do something if it is well and brotherly. Ah! America, +with all thy rich boons, thou hast a heavy account to render for the +talent given; see in every way that thou be not found wanting. + + + + +LETTER XVIII. + +REFLECTIONS FOR THE NEW YEAR.--AMERICANS IN EUROPE.--FRANCE, ENGLAND, +POLAND, ITALY, RUSSIA, AUSTRIA,--THEIR POLICY.--EUROPE TOILS AND +STRUGGLES.--ALL THINGS BODE A NEW OUTBREAK.--THE EAGLE OF +AMERICA STOOPS TO EARTH, AND SHARES THE CHARACTER OF THE +VULTURE.--ABOLITION.--THE YOUTH OF THE LAND.--ANTICIPATIONS OF THEIR +USEFULNESS. + + +This letter will reach the United States about the 1st of January; and +it may not be impertinent to offer a few New-Year's reflections. Every +new year, indeed, confirms the old thoughts, but also presents them +under some new aspects. + +The American in Europe, if a thinking mind, can only become more +American. In some respects it is a great pleasure to be here. Although +we have an independent political existence, bur position toward +Europe, as to literature and the arts, is still that of a colony, and +one feels the same joy here that is experienced by the colonist in +returning to the parent home. What was but picture to us becomes +reality; remote allusions and derivations trouble no more: we see the +pattern of the stuff, and understand the whole tapestry. There is +a gradual clearing up on many points, and many baseless notions and +crude fancies are dropped. Even the post-haste passage of the business +American through the great cities, escorted by cheating couriers +and ignorant _valets de place_, unable to hold intercourse with the +natives of the country, and passing all his leisure hours with his +countrymen, who know no more than himself, clears his mind of some +mistakes,--lifts some mists from his horizon. + +There are three species. First, the servile American,--a being utterly +shallow, thoughtless, worthless. He comes abroad to spend his money +and indulge his tastes. His object in Europe is to have fashionable +clothes, good foreign cookery, to know some titled persons, and +furnish himself with coffee-house gossip, by retailing which +among those less travelled and as uninformed as himself he can win +importance at home. I look with unspeakable contempt on this class,--a +class which has all the thoughtlessness and partiality of the +exclusive classes in Europe, without any of their refinement, or the +chivalric feeling which still sparkles among them here and there. +However, though these willing serfs in a free age do some little hurt, +and cause some annoyance at present, they cannot continue long; our +country is fated to a grand, independent existence, and, as its laws +develop, these parasites of a bygone period must wither and drop away. + +Then there is the conceited American, instinctively bristling and +proud of--he knows not what. He does not see, not he, that the history +of Humanity for many centuries is likely to have produced results it +requires some training, some devotion, to appreciate and profit by. +With his great clumsy hands, only fitted to work on a steam-engine, +he seizes the old Cremona violin, makes it shriek with anguish, in his +grasp, and then declares he thought it was all humbug before he came, +and now he knows it; that there is not really any music in these old +things; that the frogs in one of our swamps make much finer, for they +are young and alive. To him the etiquettes of courts and camps, the +ritual of the Church, seem simply silly,--and no wonder, profoundly +ignorant as he is of their origin and meaning. Just so the legends +which are the subjects of pictures, the profound myths which are +represented in the antique marbles, amaze and revolt him; as, indeed, +such things need to be judged of by another standard than that of the +Connecticut Blue-Laws. He criticises severely pictures, feeling quite +sure that his natural senses are better means of judgment than the +rules of connoisseurs,--not feeling that, to see such objects, mental +vision as well as fleshly eyes are needed and that something is aimed +at in Art beyond the imitation of the commonest forms of Nature. This +is Jonathan in the sprawling state, the booby truant, not yet aspiring +enough to be a good school-boy. Yet in his folly there is meaning; +add thought and culture to his independence, and he will be a man of +might: he is not a creature without hope, like the thick-skinned dandy +of the class first specified. + +The artistes form a class by themselves. Yet among them, though +seeking special aims by special means, may also be found the +lineaments of these two classes, as well as of the third, of which I +am now to speak. + +This is that of the thinking American,--a man who, recognizing the +immense advantage of being born to a new world and on a virgin soil, +yet does not wish one seed from the past to be lost. He is anxious +to gather and carry back with him every plant that will bear a new +climate and new culture. Some will dwindle; others will attain a bloom +and stature unknown before. He wishes to gather them clean, free from +noxious insects, and to give them a fair trial in his new world. And +that he may know the conditions under which he may best place them in +that new world, he does not neglect to study their history in this. + +The history of our planet in some moments seems so painfully mean +and little,--such terrible bafflings and failures to compensate some +brilliant successes,--such a crushing of the mass of men beneath, the +feet of a few, and these, too, often the least worthy,--such a small +drop of honey to each cup of gall, and, in many cases, so mingled that +it is never one moment in life purely tasted,--above all, so little +achieved for Humanity as a whole, such tides of war and pestilence +intervening to blot out the traces of each triumph,--that no wonder +if the strongest soul sometimes pauses aghast; no wonder if the many +indolently console themselves with gross joys and frivolous prizes. +Yes! those men _are_ worthy of admiration who can carry this cross +faithfully through fifty years; it is a great while for all the +agonies that beset a lover of good, a lover of men; it makes a soul +worthy of a speedier ascent, a more productive ministry in the next +sphere. Blessed are they who ever keep that portion of pure, generous +love with which they began life! How blessed those who have deepened +the fountains, and have enough to spare for the thirst of others! Some +such there are; and, feeling that, with all the excuses for failure, +still only the sight of those who triumph, gives a meaning to life or +makes its pangs endurable, we must arise and follow. + +Eighteen hundred years of this Christian culture in these European +kingdoms, a great theme never lost sight of, a mighty idea, an +adorable history to which the hearts of men invariably cling, yet are +genuine results rare as grains of gold in the river's sandy bed! Where +is the genuine democracy to which the rights of all men are holy? +where the child-like wisdom learning all through life more and more +of the will of God? where the aversion to falsehood, in all its myriad +disguises of cant, vanity, covetousness, so clear to be read in all +the history of Jesus of Nazareth? Modern Europe is the sequel to that +history, and see this hollow England, with its monstrous wealth and +cruel poverty, its conventional life, and low, practical aims! see +this poor France, so full of talent, so adroit, yet so shallow and +glossy still, which could not escape from a false position with all +its baptism of blood! see that lost Poland, and this Italy bound down +by treacherous hands in all the force of genius! see Russia with its +brutal Czar and innumerable slaves! see Austria and its royalty that +represents nothing, and its people, who, as people, are and have +nothing! If we consider the amount of truth that has really been +spoken out in the world, and the love that has beat in private +hearts,--how genius has decked each spring-time with such splendid +flowers, conveying each one enough of instruction in its life of +harmonious energy, and how continually, unquenchably, the spark of +faith has striven to burst into flame and light up the universe,--the +public failure seems amazing, seems monstrous. + +Still Europe toils and struggles with her idea, and, at this moment, +all things bode and declare a new outbreak of the fire, to destroy old +palaces of crime! May it fertilize also many vineyards! Here at this +moment a successor of St. Peter, after the lapse of near two thousand +years, is called "Utopian" by a part of this Europe, because he +strives to get some food to the mouths of the _leaner_ of his flock. +A wonderful state of things, and which leaves as the best argument +against despair, that men do not, _cannot_ despair amid such dark +experiences. And thou, my Country! wilt thou not be more true? does no +greater success await thee? All things have so conspired to teach, to +aid! A new world, a new chance, with oceans to wall in the new thought +against interference from the old!--treasures of all kinds, gold, +silver, corn, marble, to provide for every physical need! A noble, +constant, starlike soul, an Italian, led the way to thy shores, and, +in the first days, the strong, the pure, those too brave, too sincere, +for the life of the Old World, hastened to people them. A generous +struggle then shook off what was foreign, and gave the nation a +glorious start for a worthy goal. Men rocked the cradle of its hopes, +great, firm, disinterested, men, who saw, who wrote, as the basis +of all that was to be done, a statement of the rights, the _inborn_ +rights of men, which, if fully interpreted and acted upon, leaves +nothing to be desired. + +Yet, O Eagle! whose early flight showed this clear sight of the sun, +how often dost thou near the ground, how show the vulture in these +later days! Thou wert to be the advance-guard of humanity, the herald +of all progress; how often hast thou betrayed this high commission! +Fain would the tongue in clear, triumphant accents draw example from +thy story, to encourage the hearts of those who almost faint and die +beneath the old oppressions. But we must stammer and blush when we +speak of many things. I take pride here, that I can really say the +liberty of the press works well, and that checks and balances are +found naturally which suffice to its government. I can say that the +minds of our people are alert, and that talent has a free chance to +rise. This is much. But dare I further 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? Is it easy to find names in that career of +which I can speak with enthusiasm? Must I not confess to a boundless +lust of gain in my country? Must I not concede the weakest vanity, +which bristles and blusters at each foolish taunt of the foreign +press, and admit that the men who make these undignified rejoinders +seek and find popularity so? Can I help admitting that there is as yet +no antidote cordially adopted, which will defend even that great, rich +country against the evils that have grown out of the commercial system +in the Old World? 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. But it is only of a small +minority that I can say they as yet seriously take to heart these +things; that they earnestly meditate on what is wanted for their +country, for mankind,--for our cause is indeed, the cause of all +mankind at present. Could we succeed, really succeed, combine a deep +religious love with practical development, the achievements of genius +with the happiness of the multitude, we might believe man had now +reached a commanding point in his ascent, and would stumble and faint +no more. Then there is this horrible cancer of slavery, and the 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. +I find the cause of tyranny and wrong everywhere the same,--and lo! my +country! the darkest offender, because with the least excuse; forsworn +to the high calling with which she was called; no champion of the +rights of men, but a robber and a jailer; the scourge hid behind her +banner; her eyes fixed, not on the stars, but on the possessions of +other men. + +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 +terrible blot, such a threatening 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 has been said; and it is +true that he who could be constant to those moments in which he has +been truly human, not brutal, not mechanical, is on the sure path to +his perfection, and to effectual service of the universe. + +It is to the youth that hope addresses itself; to those who yet burn +with aspiration, who are not hardened in their sins. 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 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." + +I have found many among the youth of England, of France, of Italy, +also, full of high desire; but will they have courage and purity to +fight the battle through in the sacred, the immortal band? Of some +of them I believe it, and await the proof. If a few succeed amid the +trial, we have not lived and loved in vain. + +To these, the heart and hope of my country, a happy new year! I do +not know what I have written; I have merely yielded to my feelings +in thinking of America; but something of true love must be in these +lines. Receive them kindly, my friends; it is, of itself, some merit +for printed words to be sincere. + + + + +LETTER XIX. + +THE CLIMATE OF ITALY.--REVIEW OF FIRST IMPRESSIONS.--ROME IN ITS +VARIOUS ASPECTS.--THE POPE.--CEMETERY OF SANTO SPIRITO.--CEREMONIES AT +THE CHAPELS.--THE WOMEN OF ITALY.--FESTIVAL OF ST. CARLO BORROMEO.--AN +INCIDENT IN THE CHAPEL.--ENGLISH RESIDENTS IN THE SEVEN-HILLED +CITY.--MRS. TROLLOPE A RESIDENT OF FLORENCE.--THE POPE AS HE +COMMUNICATES WITH HIS PEOPLE.--THE POSITION OF AFFAIRS.--LESSER +POTENTATES.--THE INAUGURATION OF THE NEW COUNCIL.--THE CEREMONIES +THERETO APPERTAINING.--THE AMERICAN FLAG IN ROME.--A BALL.--A FEAST, +AND ITS REVERSE.--THE FUNERAL OF A COUNCILLOR. + + +Rome, December 17, 1847. + +This 17th day of December I rise to see the floods of sunlight +blessing us, as they have almost every day since I returned to +Rome,--two months and more,--with scarce three or four days of rainy +weather. I still see the fresh roses and grapes each morning on my +table, though both these I expect to give up at Christmas. + +This autumn is _something like_, as my countrymen say at home. Like +_what_, they do not say; so I always supposed they meant like their +ideal standard. Certainly this weather corresponds with mine; and +I begin to believe the climate of Italy is really what it has been +represented. Shivering here last spring in an air no better than the +cruel cast wind of Puritan Boston, I thought all the praises lavished +on + + "Italia, O Italia!" + +would turn out to be figments of the brain; and that even Byron, +usually accurate beyond the conception of plodding pedants, had +deceived us when he says, you have the happiness in Italy to + + "See the sun set, sure he'll rise to-morrow," + +and not, according to a view which exercises a withering influence on +the enthusiasm of youth in my native land, be forced to regard each +pleasant day as a _weather-breeder_. + +How delightful, too, is the contrast between this time and the spring +in another respect! Then I was here, like travellers in general, +expecting to be driven away in a short time. Like others, I went +through the painful process of sight-seeing, so unnatural everywhere, +so counter to the healthful methods and true life of the mind. You +rise in the morning knowing there are a great number of objects worth +knowing, which you may never have the chance to see again. You go +every day, in all moods, under all circumstances; feeling, probably, +in seeing them, the inadequacy of your preparation for understanding +or duly receiving them. This consciousness would be most valuable if +one had time to think and study, being the natural way in which the +mind is lured to cure its defects; but you have no time; you are +always wearied, body and mind, confused, dissipated, sad. The objects +are of commanding beauty or full of suggestion, but there is no quiet +to let that beauty breathe its life into the soul; no time to follow +up these suggestions, and plant for the proper harvest. Many persons +run about Rome for nine days, and then go away; they might as well +expect to appreciate the Venus by throwing a stone at it, as hope +really to see Rome in this time. I stayed in Rome nine weeks, and came +away unhappy as he who, having been taken in the visions of the night +through some wondrous realm, wakes unable to recall anything but the +hues and outlines of the pageant; the real knowledge, the recreative +power induced by familiar love, the assimilation of its soul and +substance,--all the true value of such a revelation,--is wanting; and +he remains a poor Tantalus, hungrier than before he had tasted this +spiritual food. + +No; Rome is not a nine-days wonder; and those who try to make it such +lose the ideal Rome (if they ever had it), without gaining any notion +of the real. To those who travel, as they do everything else, only +because others do, I do not speak; they are nothing. Nobody counts in +the estimate of the human race who has not a character. + +For one, I now really live in Rome, and I begin to see and feel the +real Rome. She reveals herself day by day; she tells me some of her +life. Now I never go out to see a sight, but I walk every day; and +here I cannot miss of some object of consummate interest to end a +walk. In the evenings, which are long now, I am at leisure to follow +up the inquiries suggested by the day. + +As one becomes familiar, Ancient and Modern Rome, at first so +painfully and discordantly jumbled together, are drawn apart to the +mental vision. One sees where objects and limits anciently wore; the +superstructures vanish, and you recognize the local habitation of so +many thoughts. When this begins to happen, one feels first truly +at ease in Rome. Then the old kings, the consuls and tribunes, the +emperors, drunk with blood and gold, the warriors of eagle sight and +remorseless beak, return for us, and the togated 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. + +Ah! how joyful to see once more _this_ Rome, instead of the pitiful, +peddling, Anglicized Rome, first viewed in unutterable dismay from the +_coupe_ of the vettura,--a Rome all full of taverns, lodging-houses, +cheating chambermaids, vilest _valets de place_, and fleas! A Niobe +of nations indeed! Ah! why, secretly the heart blasphemed, did the sun +omit to kill her too, when all the glorious race which wore her crown +fell beneath his ray? Thank Heaven, it is possible to wash away all +this dirt, and come at the marble yet. + +Their the later Papal Rome: it requires much acquaintance, much +thought, much reference to books, for the child of Protestant +Republican America to see where belong the legends illustrated by rite +and picture, the sense of all the rich tapestry, where it has a united +and poetic meaning, where it is broken by some accident of history. +For all these things--a senseless mass of juggleries to the uninformed +eye--are really growths of the human spirit struggling to develop its +life, and full of instruction for those who learn to understand them. + +Then Modern Rome,--still ecclesiastical, still darkened and damp in +the shadow of the Vatican, but where bright hopes gleam now amid the +ashes! Never was a people who have had more to corrupt them,--bloody +tyranny, and incubus of priestcraft, the invasions, first of +Goths, then of trampling emperors and kings, then of sight-seeing +foreigners,--everything to turn them from a sincere, hopeful, fruitful +life; and they are much corrupted, but still a fine race. I cannot +look merely with a pictorial eye on the lounge of the Roman dandy, the +bold, Juno gait of the Roman Contadina. I love them,--dandies and all? +I believe the natural expression of these fine forms will animate them +yet. Certainly there never was a people that showed a better heart +than they do in this day of love, of purely moral influence. It makes +me very happy to be for once in a place ruled by a father's love, and +where the pervasive glow of one good, generous heart is felt in every +pulse of every day. + +I have seen the Pope several times since my return, and it is a real +pleasure to see him in the thoroughfares, where his passage is always +greeted as that of _the_ living soul. + +The first week of November there is much praying for the dead here in +the chapels of the cemeteries. I went to Santo Spirito. This cemetery +stands high, and all the way up the slope was lined with beggars +petitioning for alms, in every attitude find tone, (I mean tone that +belongs to the professional beggar's gamut, for that is peculiar,) +and under every pretext imaginable, from the quite legless elderly +gentleman to the ragged ruffian with the roguish twinkle in his eye, +who has merely a slight stiffness in one arm and one leg. I could +not help laughing, it was such a show,--greatly to the alarm of my +attendant, who declared they would kill me, if ever they caught me +alone; but I was not afraid. I am sure the endless falsehood in which +such creatures live must make them very cowardly. We entered the +cemetery; it was a sweet, tranquil place, lined with cypresses, and +soft sunshine lying on the stone coverings where repose the houses of +clay in which once dwelt joyous Roman hearts,--for the hearts here do +take pleasure in life. There were several chapels; in one boys were +chanting, in others people on their knees silently praying for the +dead. In another was one of the groups in wax exhibited in such +chapels through the first week of November. It represented St. Carlo +Borromeo as a beautiful young man in a long scarlet robe, pure and +brilliant as was the blood of the martyrs, relieving the poor who were +grouped around him,--old people and children, the halt, the maimed, +the blind; he had called them all into the feast of love. The chapel +was lighted and draped so as to give very good effect to this group; +the spectators were mainly children and young girls, listening with +ardent eyes, while their parents or the nuns explained to them the +group, or told some story of the saint. It was a pretty scene, only +marred by the presence of a villanous-looking man, who ever and anon +shook the poor's box. I cannot understand the bad taste of choosing +him, when there were _frati_ and priests enough of expression less +unprepossessing. + +I next entered a court-yard, where the stations, or different periods +in the Passion of Jesus, are painted on the wall. Kneeling before +these were many persons: here a Franciscan, in his brown robe and +cord; there a pregnant woman, uttering, doubtless, some tender +aspiration for the welfare of the yet unborn dear one; there some +boys, with gay yet reverent air; while all the while these fresh young +voices were heard chanting. It was a beautiful moment, and despite the +wax saint, the ill-favored friar, the professional mendicants, and +my own removal, wide as pole from pole, from the positron of mind +indicated by these forms, their spirit touched me, and. I prayed too; +prayed for the distant, every way distant,--for those who seem to have +forgotten me, and with me all we had in common; prayed for the dead in +spirit, if not in body; prayed for myself, that I might never walk the +earth + + "The tomb of my dead self"; + +and prayed in general for all unspoiled and loving hearts,--no less +for all who suffer and find yet no helper. + +Going out, I took my road by the cross which marks the brow of the +hill. Up the ascent still wound the crowd of devotees, and still the +beggars beset them. Amid that crowd, how many lovely, warm-hearted +women! The women of Italy are intellectually in a low place, +_but_--they are unaffected; you can see what Heaven meant them to be, +and I believe they will be yet the mothers of a great and generous +race. Before me lay Rome,--how exquisitely tranquil in the sunset! +Never was an aspect that for serene grandeur could vie with that of +Rome at sunset. + +Next day was the feast of the Milanese saint, whose life has been made +known to some Americans by Manzoni, when speaking in his popular novel +of the cousin of St. Carlo, Federigo Borromeo. The Pope came in state +to the church of St. Carlo, in the Corso. The show was magnificent; +the church is not very large, and was almost filled with Papal court +and guards, in all their splendid harmonies of color. An Italian child +was next me, a little girl of four or five years, whom her mother +had brought to see the Pope. As in the intervals of gazing the child +smiled and made signs to me, I nodded in return, and asked her name. +"Virginia," said she; "and how is the Signora named?" "Margherita," +"My name," she rejoined, "is Virginia Gentili." I laughed, but did not +follow up the cunning, graceful lead,--still I chatted and played with +her now and then. At last, she said to her mother, "La Signora e molto +cara," ("The Signora is very dear," or, to use the English equivalent, +_a darling_,) "show her my two sisters." So the mother, herself a +fine-looking woman, introduced two handsome young ladies, and with the +family I was in a moment pleasantly intimate for the hour. + +Before me sat three young English ladies, the pretty daughters of +a noble Earl; their manners were a strange contrast to this Italian +graciousness, best expressed by their constant use of the pronoun +_that_. "_See that man!_" (i.e. some high dignitary of the Church,) +"Look at that dress!" dropped constantly from their lips. Ah! without +being a Catholic, one may well wish Rome was not dependent on English +sight-seers, who violate her ceremonies with acts that bespeak their +thoughts full of wooden shoes and warming-pans. Can anything be +more sadly expressive of times out of joint than the fact that Mrs. +Trollope is a resident in Italy? Yes! she is fixed permanently in +Florence, as I am told, pensioned at the rate of two thousand pounds +a year to trail her slime over the fruit of Italy. She is here in Rome +this winter, and, after having violated the virgin beauty of America, +will have for many a year her chance to sully the imperial matron of +the civilized world. What must the English public be, if it wishes to +pay two thousand pounds a year to get Italy Trollopified? + +But to turn to a pleasanter subject. When the Pope entered, borne in +his chair of state amid the pomp of his tiara and his white and gold +robes, he looked to me thin, or, as the Italians murmur anxiously +at times, _consumato_, or wasted. But during the ceremony he seemed +absorbed in his devotions, and at the end I think he had become +exhilarated by thinking of St. Carlo, who was such another over the +human race as himself, and his face wore a bright glow of faith. As he +blessed the people, he raised his eyes to Heaven, with a gesture quite +natural: it was the spontaneous act of a soul which felt that moment +more than usual its relation with things above it, and sure of support +from a higher Power. I saw him to still greater advantage a little +while after, when, riding on the Campagna with a young gentleman who +had been ill, we met the Pope on foot, taking exercise. He often quits +his carriage at the gates and walks in this way. He walked rapidly, +robed in a simple white drapery, two young priests in spotless purple +on either side; they gave silver to the poor who knelt beside the way, +while the beloved Father gave his benediction. My companion knelt; +he is not a Catholic, but he felt that "this blessing would do him +no harm." The Pope saw at once he was ill, and gave him a mark of +interest, with that expression of melting love, the true, the only +charity, which assures all who look on him that, were his power equal +to his will, no living thing would ever suffer more. This expression +the artists try in vain to catch; all busts and engravings of him are +caricatures; it is a magnetic sweetness, a lambent light that plays +over his features, and of which only great genius or a soul tender as +his own would form an adequate image. + +The Italians have one term of praise peculiarly characteristic of +their highly endowed nature. They say of such and such, _Ha una +phisonomia simpatica_,--"He has a sympathetic expression"; and this is +praise enough. This may be pre-eminently said of that of Pius IX. _He_ +looks, indeed, as if nothing human could be foreign to him. Such alone +are the genuine kings of men. + +He has shown undoubted wisdom, clear-sightedness, bravery, and +firmness; but it is, above all, his generous human heart that gives +him his power over this people. His is a face to shame the selfish, +redeem the sceptic, alarm the wicked, and cheer to new effort the +weary and heavy-laden. What form the issues of his life may take is +yet uncertain; in my belief, they are such as he does not think of; +but they cannot fail to be for good. For my part, I shall always +rejoice to have been here in his time. The working of his influence +confirms my theories, and it is a positive treasure to me to have seen +him. I have never been presented, not wishing to approach, so real a +presence in the path of mere etiquette; I am quite content to see +him standing amid the crowd, while the band plays the music he has +inspired. + + "Sons of Rome, awake!" + +Yes, awake, and let no police-officer put you again to sleep in +prison, as has happened to those who were called by the Marseillaise. + +Affairs look well. The king of Sardinia has at last, though with +evident distrust and heartlessness, entered the upward path in a +way that makes it difficult to return. The Duke of Modena, the +most senseless of all these ancient gentlemen, after publishing a +declaration, which made him more ridiculous than would the bitterest +pasquinade penned by another, that he would fight to the death against +reform, finds himself obliged to lend an ear as to the league for +the customs; and if he joins that, other measures follow of course. +Austria trembles; and, in fine, cannot sustain the point of Ferrara. +The king of Naples, after having shed much blood, for which he has a +terrible account to render, (ah! how many sad, fair romances are to +tell already about the Calabrian difficulties!) still finds the spirit +fomenting in his people; he cannot put it down. The dragon's teeth are +sown, and the Lazzaroni may be men yet! The Swiss affairs have taken +the right direction, and good will ensue, if other powers act with +decent honesty, and think of healing the wounds of Switzerland, rather +than merely of tying her down, so that she cannot annoy them. + +In Rome, here, the new Council is inaugurated, and elections have +given tolerable satisfaction. Already, struggles ended in other places +begin to be renewed here, as to gas-lights, introduction of machinery, +&c. We shall see at the end of the winter how they have gone on. At +any rate, the wants of the people are in some measure represented; and +already the conduct of those who have taken to themselves so large a +portion of the loaves and fishes on the very platform supposed to be +selected by Jesus for a general feeding of his sheep, begins to be +the subject of spoken as well as whispered animadversion. Torlonia is +assailed in his bank, Campana amid his urns or his Monte di Picti; but +these assaults have yet to be verified. + +On the day when the Council was to be inaugurated, great preparations +were made by representatives of other parts of Italy, and also of +foreign nations friendly to the cause of progress. It was considered +to represent the same fact as the feast of the 12th of September in +Tuscany,--the dawn of an epoch when the people shall find their wants +and aspirations represented and guarded. The Americans showed a warm +interest; the gentlemen subscribing to buy a flag, the United States +having none before in Rome, and the ladies meeting to make it. The +same distinguished individual, indeed, who at Florence made a speech +to prevent "the American eagle being taken out on so trifling an +occasion," with similar perspicuity and superiority of view, on the +present occasion, was anxious to prevent "rash demonstrations, which +might embroil the United States with Austria"; but the rash youth +here present rushed on, ignorant how to value his Nestorian +prudence,--fancying, hot-headed simpletons, that the cause of Freedom +was the cause of America, and her eagle at home wherever the sun shed +a warmer ray, and there was reason to hope a happier life for man. So +they hurried to buy their silk, red, white, and blue, and inquired of +recent arrivals how many States there are this winter in the Union, in +order to making the proper number of stars. A magnificent spread-eagle +was procured, not without difficulty, as this, once the eyrie of the +king of birds, is now a rookery rather, full of black, ominous fowl, +ready to eat the harvest sown by industrious hands. This eagle, having +previously spread its wings over a piece of furniture where its back +was sustained by the wall, was somewhat deficient in a part of its +anatomy. But we flattered ourselves he should be held so high that no +Roman eye, if disposed, could carp and criticise. When lo! just as the +banner was ready to unfold its young glories in the home of Horace, +Virgil, and Tacitus, an ordinance appeared prohibiting the display of +any but the Roman ensign. + +This ordinance was, it is said, caused by representations made to the +Pope that the Oscurantists, ever on the watch to do mischief, meant to +make this the occasion of disturbance,--as it is their policy to seek +to create irritation here; that the Neapolitan and Lombardo-Venetian +flags would appear draped with black, and thus the signal be given for +tumult. I cannot help thinking these fears were groundless; that the +people, on their guard, would have indignantly crushed at once any +of these malignant efforts. However that may be, no one can ever be +really displeased with any measure of the Pope, knowing his excellent +intentions. But the limitation of the festival deprived it of the +noble character of the brotherhood of nations and an ideal aim, worn +by that of Tuscany. The Romans, drilled and disappointed, greeted +their Councillors with but little enthusiasm. The procession, too, was +but a poor affair for Rome. Twenty-four carriages had been lent by +the princes and nobles, at the request of the city, to convey the +Councillors. I found something symbolical in this. Thus will they be +obliged to furnish from their old grandeur the vehicles of the new +ideas. Each deputy was followed by his target and banner. When +the deputy for Ferrara passed, many garlands were thrown upon his +carriage. There has been deep respect and sympathy felt for the +citizens of Ferrara, they have conducted so well under their late +trying circumstances. They contained themselves, knowing that the +least indiscretion would give a handle for aggression to the enemies +of the good cause. But the daily occasions of irritation must have +been innumerable, and they have shown much power of wise and dignified +self-government. + +After the procession passed, I attempted to go on foot from the Cafe +Novo, in the Corso, to St. Peter's, to see the decorations of the +streets, but it was impossible. In that dense, but most vivacious, +various, and good-humored crowd, with all best will on their part +to aid the foreigner, it was impossible to advance. So I saw +only themselves; but that was a great pleasure. There is so much +individuality of character here, that it is a great entertainment to +be in a crowd. + +In the evening, there was a ball given at the Argentina. 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 often in answer to their +greetings. But the beautiful show of the evening was the Trasteverini +dancing the Saltarello in their most brilliant costume. I saw them +thus to much greater advantage than ever before. Several were nobly +handsome, and danced admirably; it was really like Pinelli. + +The Saltarello enchants me; in this is really the Italian wine, +the Italian sun. The first time, I saw it danced one night very +unexpectedly near the Colosseum; it carried me quite beyond myself, +so that I most unamiably insisted on staying, while the friends in my +company, not heated by enthusiasm like me, were shivering and perhaps +catching cold from the damp night-air. I fear they remember it against +me; nevertheless I cherish the memory of the moments wickedly stolen +at their expense, for it is only the first time seeing such a thing +that you enjoy a peculiar delight. But since, I love to see and study +it much. + +The Pope, in receiving the Councillors, made a speech,--such as the +king of Prussia intrenched himself in on a similar occasion, only much +better and shorter,--implying that he meant only to improve, not to +_reform_, and should keep things _in statu quo_, safe locked with +the keys of St. Peter. This little speech was made, no doubt, more to +reassure czars, emperors, and kings, than from the promptings of the +spirit. But the fact of its necessity, as well as the inferior freedom +and spirit of the Roman journals to those of Tuscany, seems to say +that the pontifical government, though from the accident of this one +man's accession it has taken the initiative to better times, yet +may not, after a while, from its very nature, be able to keep in the +vanguard. + +A sad contrast to the feast of this day was presented by the same +persons, a fortnight after, following the body of Silvani, one of +the Councillors, who died suddenly. The Councillors, the different +societies of Rome, a corps _frati_ bearing tapers, the Civic Guard +with drums slowly beating, the same state carriages with their +liveried attendants all slowly, sadly moving, with torches and +banners, drooped along the Corso in the dark night. A single horseman, +with his long white plume and torch reversed, governed the procession; +it was the Prince Aldobrandini. The whole had that grand effect so +easily given by this artist people, who seize instantly the natural +poetry of an occasion, and with unanimous tact hasten to represent it. +More and much anon. + + + + +LETTER XX. + +ROME.--BAD WEATHER.--ST. CECILIA.--THE PEOPLE'S PROCESSIONS.--TAKING +THE VEIL.--FESTIVITIES.--POLITICAL AGITATION.--NOBLES.--MARIA +LOUISA.--GUICCIOLI.--PARMA.--ADDRESS TO THE NEW SOVEREIGN.--THE NEW +YORK MEETING FOR ITALY.--ADDRESS TO THE POPE. + + +Rome, December 30, 1847. + +I could not, in my last, content myself with praising the glorious +weather. I wrote in the last day of it. Since, we have had a fortnight +of rain falling incessantly, and whole days and nights of torrents +such as are peculiar to the "clearing-up" shower in our country. + +Under these circumstances, I have found my lodging in the Corso not +only has its dark side, but is all dark, and that one in the Piazza di +Spagne would have been better for me in this respect; there on these +days, the only ones when I wish to stay at home and write and study, I +should have had the light. Now, if I consulted the good of my eyes, I +should have the lamp lit on first rising in the morning. + +"Every sweet must have its bitter," and the exchange from the +brilliance of the Italian heaven to weeks and months of rain, and such +black cloud, is unspeakably dejecting. For myself, at the end of this +fortnight without exercise or light, and in such a damp atmosphere, +I find myself without strength, without appetite, almost without +spirits. The life of the German scholar who studies fifteen hours out +of the twenty-four, or that of the Spielberg prisoner who could live +through ten, fifteen, twenty years of dark prison with, only half an +hour's exercise in the day, is to me a mystery. How can the brain, the +nerves, ever support it? We are made to keep in motion, to drink the +air and light; to me these are needed to make life supportable, the +physical state is so difficult and full of pains at any rate. + +I am sorry for those who have arrived just at this time hoping +to enjoy the Christmas festivities. Everything was spoiled by the +weather. I went at half past ten to San Luigi Francese, a church +adorned with some of Domenichino's finest frescos on the life and +death of St. Cecilia. + +This name leads me to a little digression. In a letter to Mr. +Phillips, the dear friend of our revered Dr. Charming, I asked him if +he remembered what recumbent statue it was of which Dr. Charming was +wont to speak as of a sight that impressed him more than anything else +in Rome. He said, indeed, his mood, and the unexpectedness in seeing +this gentle, saintly figure lying there as if death had just struck +her down, had no doubt much influence upon him; but still he believed +the work had a peculiar holiness in its expression. I recognized at +once the theme of his description (the name he himself had forgotten) +as I entered the other evening the lonely church of St. Cecilia in +Trastevere. As in his case, it was twilight: one or two nuns were at +their devotions, and there lay the figure in its grave-clothes, with +an air so gentle, so holy, as if she had only ceased to pray as the +hand of the murderer struck her down. Her gentle limbs seemed instinct +still with soft, sweet life; the expression was not of the heroine, +the martyr, so much as of the tender, angelic woman. I could well +understand the deep impression made upon his mind. The expression of +the frescos of Domenichino is not inharmonious with the suggestions of +this statue. + +Finding the Mass was not to begin for some time, I set out for the +Quirinal to see the Pope return from that noble church, Santa Maria +Maggiore, where he officiated this night. I reached the mount just +as he was returning. A few torches gleamed before his door; perhaps a +hundred people were gathered together round the fountain. Last year an +immense multitude waited for him there to express their affection in +one grand good-night; the change was occasioned partly by the weather, +partly by other causes, of which I shall speak by and by. Just as he +returned, the moon looked palely out from amid the wet clouds, and +shone upon the fountain, and the noble figures above it, and the +long white cloaks of the Guardia Nobile who followed his carriage +on horseback; darker objects could scarcely be seen, except by the +flickering light of the torches, much blown by the wind. I then +returned to San Luigi. The effect of the night service there was very +fine; those details which often have such a glaring, mean look by day +are lost sight of in the night, and the unity of impression from the +service is much more undisturbed. The music, too, descriptive of that +era which promised peace on earth, good-will to men, was very sweet, +and the _pastorale_ particularly soothed the heart amid the crowd, and +pompous ceremonial. But here, too, the sweet had its bitter, in the +vulgar vanity of the leader of the orchestra, a trait too common in +such, who, not content with marking the time for the musicians, made +his stick heard in the remotest nook of the church; so that what would +have been sweet music, and flowed in upon the soul, was vulgarized to +make you remember the performers and their machines. + +On Monday the leaders of the Guardia Civica paid their respects to +the Pope, who, in receiving them, expressed his constantly increasing +satisfaction in having given this institution to his people. The same +evening there was a procession with torches to the Quirinal, to pay +the homage due to the day (Feast of St. John, and name-day of the +Pope, _Giovanni Maria Mastai_); but all the way the rain continually +threatened to extinguish the torches, and the Pope could give but a +hasty salute under an umbrella, when the heavens were again opened, +and such a cataract of water descended, as drove both man and beast to +seek the nearest shelter. + +On Sunday, I went to see a nun take the veil. She was a person of high +family; a princess gave her away, and the Cardinal Ferreti, Secretary +of State, officiated. It was a much less effective ceremony than I +expected from the descriptions of travellers and romance-writers. +There was no moment of throwing on the black veil; no peal of music; +no salute of cannon. The nun, an elegantly dressed woman of five or +six and twenty,--pretty enough, but whose quite worldly air gave the +idea that it was one of those arrangements made because no suitable +establishment could otherwise be given her,--came forward, knelt, and +prayed; her confessor, in that strained, unnatural whine too common +among preachers of all churches and all countries, praised himself for +having induced her to enter on a path which would lead her fettered +steps "from palm to palm, from triumph to triumph," Poor thing! she +looked as if the domestic olives and poppies were all she wanted; and +lacking these, tares and wormwood must be her portion. She was then +taken behind a grating, her hair cut, and her clothes exchanged for +the nun's vestments; the black-robed sisters who worked upon her +looking like crows or ravens at their ominous feasts. All the while, +the music played, first sweet and thoughtful, then triumphant strains. +The effect on my mind was revolting and painful to the last degree. +Were monastic seclusion always voluntary, and could it be ended +whenever the mind required a change back from seclusion to common +life, I should have nothing to say against it; there are positions of +the mind which it suits exactly, and even characters that might choose +it all through life; certainly, to the broken-hearted it presents a +shelter that Protestant communities do not provide. But where it +is enforced or repented of, no hell could be worse; nor can a more +terrible responsibility be incurred than by him who has persuaded a +novice that the snares of the world are less dangerous than the demons +of solitude. + +Festivities in Italy have been of great importance, since, for a +century or two back, the thought, the feeling, the genius of the +people have had more chance to expand, to express themselves, there +than anywhere else. Now, if the march of reform goes forward, this +will not be so; there will be also speeches made freely on public +occasions, without having the life pressed out of them by the +censorship. Now we hover betwixt the old and the new; when the many +reasons for the new prevail, I hope what is poetical in the old will +not be lost. The ceremonies of New Year are before me; but as I shall +have to send this letter on New-Year's day, I cannot describe them. +The Romans begin now to talk of the mad gayeties of Carnival, and the +Opera is open. They have begun with "Attila," as, indeed, there +is little hope of hearing in Italy other music than Verdi's. Great +applause waited on the following words:-- + +"EZIO (THE ROMAN LEADER). + + "E gittata la mia sorte, + Pronto sono ad ogni guerra, + S' io cardo, cadre da forte, + E il mio nome restera. + + "Non vedro l'amata terra + Svener lenta e farri a brano, + Sopra l'ultimo Romano + Tutta Italia piangera." + + "My lot is fixed, and I stand ready for every conflict. If + I must fall, I shall fall as a brave man, and my fame will + survive. I shall not see my beloved country fall to pieces and + slowly perish, and over the last Roman all Italy will weep." + +And at lines of which the following is a translation:-- + + "O brave man, whose mighty power can raise thy country from + such dire distress; from the immortal hills, radiant with + glory, let the shades of our ancestors arise; oh! only one + day, one instant, arise to look upon us!" + +It was an Italian who sung this strain, though, singularly enough, +here in the heart of Italy, so long reputed the home of music, three +principal parts were filled by persons bearing the foreign names of +Ivanoff, Mitrovich, and Nissren. + +Naples continues in a state of great excitement, which now pervades +the upper classes, as several young men of noble families have been +arrested; among them, one young man much beloved, son of Prince +Terella, and who, it is said, was certainly not present on the +occasion for which he was arrested, and that the measure was taken +because he was known to sympathize strongly with the liberal movement. +The nobility very generally have not feared to go to the house of his +father to express their displeasure at the arrest and interest in +the young man. The ministry, it is said, are now persuaded of the +necessity of a change of measures. The king alone remains inflexible +in his stupidity. + +The stars of Bonaparte and Byron show again a conjunction, by the +almost simultaneous announcement of changes in the lot of women with +whom they were so intimately connected;--the Archduchess of Parma, +Maria Louisa, is dead; the Countess Guiccioli is married. The Countess +I have seen several times; she still looks young, and retains the +charms which by the contemporaries of Byron she is reputed to have +had; they never were of a very high order; her best expression is that +of a good heart. I always supposed that Byron, weary and sick of the +world such as he had known it, became attached to her for her good +disposition, and sincere, warm tenderness for him; the sight of her, +and the testimony of a near relative, confirmed this impression. This +friend of hers added, that she had tried very hard to remain devoted +to the memory of Byron, but was quite unequal to the part, being one +of those affectionate natures that must have some one near with whom +to be occupied; and now, it seems, she has resigned herself publicly +to abandon her romance. However, I fancy the manes of Byron remain +undisturbed. + +We all know the worthless character of Maria Louisa, the indifference +she showed to a husband who, if he was not her own choice, yet would +have been endeared to almost any woman, as one fallen from an immense +height into immense misfortune, and as the father of her child. No +voice from her penetrated to cheer his exile: the unhappiness +of Josephine was well avenged. And that child, the poor Duke of +Reichstadt, of a character so interesting, and with obvious elements +of greatness, withering beneath the mean, cold influence of his +grandfather,--what did Maria Louisa do for him,--she, appointed by +Nature to be his inspiring genius, his protecting angel? I felt for +her a most sad and profound contempt last summer, as I passed through +her oppressed dominion, a little sphere, in which, if she could not +save it from the usual effects of the Austrian rule, she might have +done so much private, womanly good,--might have been a genial heart +to warm it,--and where she had let so much ill be done. A journal +announces her death in these words: "The Archduchess is dead; a woman +who _might_ have occupied one of the noblest positions in the history +of the age";--and there makes expressive pause. + +Parma, passing from bad to worse, falls into the hands of the Duke of +Modena; and the people and magistracy have made an address to their +new ruler. The address has received many thousand signatures, and +seems quite sincere, except in the assumption of good-will in the Duke +of Modena; and this is merely an insincerity of etiquette. + + + + +LETTER XXI. + +THE POPE'S RECEPTION OF THE NEW OFFICERS.--THEY KISS HIS +FOOT.--VESPERS AT THE GESU.--A POOR YOUTH IN ROME SEEKING A +PATRON.--RUMORS OF DISTURBANCES.--THEIR CAUSE.--REPRESENTATIONS TO THE +POPE.--HIS CONDUCT IN THE AFFAIR.--AN ITALIAN CONSUL FOR THE UNITED +STATES.--CATHOLICISM.--THE POPULARITY OF THE POPE.--HIS DEPOSITION OF +A CENSOR.--THE POLICY OF THE POPE IN HIS DOMESTIC NOT EQUAL TO THAT +OF HIS PUBLIC LIFE.--HIS OPPOSITION TO PROTESTANT REFORM.--LETTER FROM +JOSEPH MAZZINI TO THE PONTIFF.--REFLECTIONS ON IT. + + +Rome, January 10, 1848. + +In the first morning of this New Year I sent off a letter which must +then be mailed, in order to reach the steamer of the 16th. So far am +I from home, that even steam does not come nigh to annihilate the +distance. + +This afternoon I went to the Quirinal Palace to see the Pope receive +the new municipal officers. He was to-day in his robes of white and +gold, with his usual corps of attendants in pure red and white, or +violet and white. The new officers were in black velvet dresses, with +broad white collars. They took the oaths of office, and then actually +kissed his foot. I had supposed this was never really done, but only +a very low obeisance made; the act seemed to me disgustingly abject. +A Heavenly Father does not want his children at his feet, but in his +arms, on a level with his heart. + +After this was over the Pope went to the Gesu, a very rich church, +belonging to the Jesuits, to officiate at Vespers, and we followed. +The music was beautiful, and the effect of the church, with its +richly-painted dome and altar-piece in a blaze of light, while the +assembly were in a sort of brown darkness, was very fine. + +A number of Americans there, new arrivals, kept requesting in the +midst of the music to know when _it_ would begin. "Why, this is _it_," +some one at last had the patience to answer; "you are hearing Vespers +now." "What," they replied, "is there no oration, no speech!" So +deeply rooted in the American mind is the idea that a sermon is the +only real worship! + +This church, is indelibly stamped on my mind. Coming to Rome this +time, I saw in the diligence a young man, whom his uncle, a priest of +the convent that owns this church, had sent for, intending to provide +him employment here. Some slight circumstances tested the character +of this young man, and showed it what I have ever found it, singularly +honorable and conscientious. He was led to show me his papers, among +which was a letter from a youth whom, with that true benevolence only +possible to the poor, because only they _can_ make great sacrifices, +he had so benefited as to make an entire change in his prospects for +life. Himself a poor orphan, with nothing but a tolerable education +at an orphan asylum, and a friend of his dead parents to find him +employment on leaving it, he had felt for this young man, poorer and +more uninstructed than himself, had taught him at his leisure to read +and write, had then collected from, friends, and given himself, +till he had gathered together sixty francs, procuring also for +his _protege_ a letter from monks, who were friends of his, to the +convents on the road, so that wherever there was one, the poor youth +had lodging and food gratis. Thus armed, he set forth on foot for +Rome; Piacenza, their native place, affording little hope even of +gaining bread, in the present distressed state of that dominion. The +letter was to say that he had arrived, and been so fortunate as to +find employment immediately in the studio of Benzoni, the sculptor. + +The poor patron's eyes sparkled as I read the letter. "How happy he +is!" said he. "And does he not spell and write well? I was his only +master." + +But the good do not inherit the earth, and, less fortunate than his +_protege_, Germano on his arrival found his uncle ill of the Roman +fever. He came to see me, much agitated. "Can it be, Signorina," says +he, "that God, who has taken my father and mother, will also take +from me the only protector I have left, and just as I arrive in this +strange place, too?" After a few days he seemed more tranquil, and +told me that, though he had felt as if it would console him and divert +his mind to go to some places of entertainment, he had forborne and +applied the money to have masses said for his uncle. "I feel," he +said, "as if God would help me." Alas! at that moment the uncle was +dying. Poor Germano came next day with a receipt for masses said for +the soul of the departed, (his simple faith in these being apparently +indestructible,) and amid his tears he said: "The Fathers were so +unkind, they were hardly willing to hear me speak a word; they were so +afraid I should be a burden to them, I shall never go there again. But +the most cruel thing was, I offered them a scudo (dollar) to say six +masses for the soul of my poor uncle; they said they would only say +five, and must have seven baiocchi (cents) more for that." + +A few days after, I happened to go into their church, and found it +thronged, while a preacher, panting, sweating, leaning half out of +the pulpit, was exhorting his hearers to "imitate Christ." With +unspeakable disgust I gazed on this false shepherd of those who had +just so failed in their duty to a poor stray lamb, Their church is so +rich in ornaments, the seven baiocchi were hardly needed to burnish +it. Their altar-piece is a very imposing composition, by an artist +of Rome, still in the prime of his powers. Capalti. It represents the +Circumcision, with the cross and six waiting angels in the background; +Joseph, who holds the child, the priest, and all the figures in the +foreground, seem intent upon the barbarous rite, except Mary the +mother; her mind seems to rush forward into the future, and understand +the destiny of her child; she sees the cross,--she sees the angels, +too. + +Now I have mentioned a picture, let me say a word or two about Art and +artists, by way of parenthesis in this letter so much occupied, with +political affairs. We laugh a little here at some words that come from +your city on the subject of Art. + +We hear that the landscapes painted here show a want of familiarity +with Nature; artists need to return to America and see her again. But, +friends, Nature wears a different face in Italy from what she does in +America. Do you not want to see her Italian face? it is very glorious! +We thought it was the aim of Art to reproduce all forms of Nature, and +that you would not be sorry to have transcripts of what you have not +always round you. American Art is not necessarily a reproduction of +American Nature. + +Hicks has made a charming picture of familiar life, which those who +cannot believe in Italian daylight would not tolerate. I am not sure +that all eyes are made in the same manner, for I have known those who +declare they see nothing remarkable in these skies, these hues; and +always complain when they are reproduced in picture. I have yet seen +no picture by Cropsey on an Italian subject, but his sketches from +Scotch scenes are most poetical and just presentations of those lakes, +those mountains, with their mourning veils. He is an artist of great +promise. Cranch has made a picture for Mr. Ogden Haggerty of a fine +mountain-hold of old Colonna story. I wish he would write a ballad +about it too; there is plenty of material. + +But to return to the Jesuits. One swallow does not make a summer, nor +am I--who have seen so much hard-heartedness and barbarous greed of +gain in all classes of men--so foolish as to attach undue importance +to the demand, by those who have dared to appropriate peculiarly to +themselves the sacred name of Jesus, from a poor orphan, and for the +soul of one of their own order, of "seven baiocchi more." But I have +always been satisfied, from the very nature of their institutions, +that the current prejudice against them must be correct. These +institutions are calculated to harden the heart, and destroy entirely +that truth which is the conservative principle in character. Their +influence is and must be always against the free progress of humanity. +The more I see of its working, the more I feel how pernicious it is, +and were I a European, to no object should I lend myself with more +ardor, than to the extirpation of this cancer. True, disband the +Jesuits, there would still remain Jesuitical men, but singly they +would have infinitely less power to work mischief. + +The influence of the Oscurantist foe has shown itself more and more +plainly in Rome, during the last four or five weeks. A false miracle +is devised: the Madonna del Popolo, (who has her handsome house very +near me,) has cured, a paralytic youth, (who, in fact, was never +diseased,) and, appearing to him in a vision, takes occasion to +criticise severely the measures of the Pope. Rumors of tumult in +one quarter are circulated, to excite it in another. Inflammatory +handbills are put up in the night. But the Romans thus far resist all +intrigues of the foe to excite them to bad conduct. + +On New-Year's day, however, success was near. The people, as usual, +asked permission of the Governor to go to the Quirinal and receive the +benediction of the Pope. This was denied, and not, as it might truly +have been, because the Pope was unwell, but in the most ungracious, +irritating manner possible, by saying, "He is tired of these things: +he is afraid of disturbance." Then, the people being naturally +excited and angry, the Governor sent word to the Pope that there was +excitement, without letting him know why, and had the guards doubled +on the posts. The most absurd rumors were circulated among the people +that the cannon of St. Angelo were to be pointed on them, &c. But +they, with that singular discretion which they show now, instead +of rising, as their enemies had hoped, went to ask counsel of their +lately appointed Senator, Corsini. He went to the Pope, found him ill, +entirely ignorant of what was going on, and much distressed when he +heard it. He declared that the people should be satisfied, and, +since they had not been allowed to come to him, he would go to them. +Accordingly, the next day, though rainy and of a searching cold like +that of a Scotch mist, we had all our windows thrown open, and the red +and yellow tapestries hung out. He passed through the principal parts +of the city, the people throwing themselves on their knees and crying +out, "O Holy Father, don't desert us! don't forget us! don't listen +to our enemies!" The Pope wept often, and replied, "Fear nothing, +my people, my heart is yours." At last, seeing how ill he was, they +begged him to go in, and he returned to the Quirinal; the present +Tribune of the People, as far as rule in the heart is concerned, +Ciceronacchio, following his carriage. I shall give some account of +this man in another letter. + +For the moment, the difficulties are healed, as they will be whenever +the Pope directly shows himself to the people. Then his generous, +affectionate heart will always act, and act on them, dissipating the +clouds which others have been toiling to darken. + +In speaking of the intrigues of these emissaries of the power of +darkness, I will mention that there is a report here that they are +trying to get an Italian Consul for the United States, and one in the +employment of the Jesuits. This rumor seems ridiculous; yet it is true +that Dr. Beecher's panic about Catholic influence in the United +States is not quite unfounded, and that there is considerable hope +of establishing a new dominion there. I hope the United States will +appoint no Italian, no Catholic, to a consulship. The representative +of the United States should be American; our national character +and interests are peculiar, and cannot be fitly represented by a +foreigner, unless, like Mr. Ombrossi of Florence, he has passed part +of his youth in the United States. It would, indeed, be well if our +government paid attention to qualification for the office in the +candidate, and not to pretensions founded on partisan service; +appointing only men of probity, who would not stain the national +honor in the sight of Europe. It would be wise also not to select men +entirely ignorant of foreign manners, customs, ways of thinking, or +even of any language in which to communicate with foreign society, +making the country ridiculous by all sorts of blunders; but 't were +pity if a sufficient number of Americans could not be found, who are +honest, have some knowledge of Europe and gentlemanly tact, and are +able at least to speak French. + +To return to the Pope, although the shadow that has fallen on his +popularity is in a great measure the work of his enemies, yet there is +real cause for it too. His conduct in deposing for a time one of the +Censors, about the banners of the 15th of December, his speech to the +Council the same day, his extreme displeasure at the sympathy of a +few persons with the triumph of the Swiss Diet, because it was a +Protestant triumph, and, above all, his speech to the Consistory, so +deplorably weak in thought and absolute in manner, show a man less +strong against domestic than foreign foes, instigated by a generous, +humane heart to advance, but fettered by the prejudices of education, +and terribly afraid to be or seem to be less the Pope of Rome, in +becoming a reform prince, and father to the fatherless. I insert a +passage of this speech, which seems to say that, whenever there shall +be collision between the priest and the reformer, the priest shall +triumph:-- + +"Another subject there is which profoundly afflicts and harasses our +mind. It is not certainly unknown to you, Venerable Brethren, that +many enemies of Catholic truth have, in our times especially, directed +their efforts by the desire to place certain monstrous offsprings +of opinion on a par with the doctrine of Christ, or to blend them +therewith, seeking to propagate more and more that impious system of +_indifference_ toward all religion whatever. + +"And lately some have been found, dreadful to narrate! who have +offered such an insult to our name and Apostolic dignity, as +slanderously to represent us participators in their folly, and +favorers of that most iniquitous system above named. These have been +pleased to infer from, the counsels (certainly not foreign to +the sanctity of the Catholic religion) which, in certain affairs +pertaining to the civil exercise of the Pontific sway, we had benignly +embraced for the increase of public prosperity and good, and also from +the pardon bestowed in clemency upon certain persons subject to that +sway, in the very beginning of our Pontificate, that we had such +benevolent sentiments toward every description of persons as to +believe that not only the sons of the Church, but others also, +remaining aliens from Catholic unity, are alike in the way of +salvation, and may attain eternal life. Words are wanting to us, from +horror, to repel this new and atrocious calumny against us. It is true +that with intimate affection of heart we love all mankind, but not +otherwise than in the charity of God and of our Lord Jesus Christ, who +came to seek and to save that which had perished, who wisheth that all +men should be saved and come to a knowledge of the truth, and who sent +his disciples through the whole world to preach the Gospel to every +creature, declaring that those who should believe and be baptized +should be saved, but those who should not believe, should be +condemned. Let those therefore who seek salvation come to the pillar +and support of the Truth, which is the Church,--let them come, that +is, to the true Church of Christ, which possesses in its bishops +and the supreme head of all, the Roman Pontiff, a never-interrupted +succession of Apostolic authority, and which for nothing has ever been +more zealous than to preach, and with all care preserve and defend, +the doctrine announced as the mandate of Christ by his Apostles; which +Church afterward increased, from the time of the Apostles, in the +midst of every species of difficulties, and flourished throughout the +whole world, radiant in the splendor of miracles, amplified by the +blood of martyrs, ennobled by the virtues of confessors and virgins, +corroborated by the testimony and most sapient writings of the +fathers,--as it still flourishes throughout all lands, refulgent in +perfect unity of the sacraments, of faith, and of holy discipline. +We who, though unworthy, preside in this supreme chair of the Apostle +Peter, in which Christ our Lord placed the foundation of his Church, +have at no time abstained, from any cares or toils to bring, through +the grace of Christ himself, those who are in ignorance and error to +this sole way of truth and salvation. Let those, whoever they be, +that are adverse, remember that heaven and earth shall pass away, but +nothing can ever perish of the words of Christ, nor be changed in the +doctrine which the Catholic Church received, to guard, defend, and +publish, from him. + +"Next to this we cannot but speak to you, Venerable Brethren, of the +bitterness of sorrow by which we were affected, on seeing that a few +days since, in this our fair city, the fortress and centre of the +Catholic religion, it proved possible to find some--very few indeed +and well-nigh frantic men--who, laying aside the very sense of +humanity, and to the extreme disgust and indignation of other citizens +of this town, were not withheld, by horror from triumphing openly and +publicly over the most lamentable intestine war lately excited among +the Helvetic people; which truly fatal war we sorrow over from the +depths of our heart, as well considering the blood shed by that +nation, the slaughter of brothers, the atrocious, daily recurring, and +fatal discords, hatreds, and dissensions (which usually redound among +nations in consequence especially of civil wars), as the detriment +which we learn the Catholic religion has suffered, and fear it may yet +suffer, in consequence of this, and, finally, the deplorable acts of +sacrilege committed in the first conflict, which our soul shrinks from +narrating." + +It is probably on account of these fears of Pius IX. lest he should +be a called a Protestant Pope, that the Roman journals thus far, in +translating the American Address to the Pope, have not dared to add +any comment. + +But if the heart, the instincts, of this good man have been beyond his +thinking powers, that only shows him the providential agent to work +out aims beyond his ken. A wave has been set in motion, which cannot +stop till it casts up its freight upon the shore, and if Pius IX. does +not suffer himself to be surrounded by dignitaries, and see the signs +of the times through the eyes of others,--if he does not suffer the +knowledge he had of general society as a simple prelate to become +incrusted by the ignorance habitual to princes,--he cannot fail long +to be a most important agent in fashioning a new and better era for +this beautiful injured land. + +I will now give another document, which may be considered as +representing the view of what is now passing taken by the democratic +party called "Young Italy." Should it in any other way have reached +the United States, yet it will not come amiss to have it translated +for the Tribune, as many of your readers may not otherwise have a +chance of seeing this noble document, one of the milestones in the +march of thought. It is a letter to the Most High Pontiff, Pius IX., +from Joseph Mazzini. + + +"London, 8th September, 1847. + +"MOST HOLY FATHER,--Permit an Italian, who has studied your every step +for some months back with much hopefulness, to address to you, in the +midst of the applauses, often far too servile and unworthy of you, +which, resound near you, some free and profoundly sincere words. Take +to read them some moments from your infinite cares. From a simple +individual animated by holy intentions may come, sometimes, a great +counsel; and I write to you with so much love, with so much emotion of +my whole soul, with so much faith in the destiny of my country, which +may be revived by your means, that my thoughts ought to speak truth. + +"And first, it is needful, Most Holy Father, that I should say to +you somewhat of myself. My name has probably reached your ears, +but accompanied by all the calumnies, by all the errors, by all the +foolish conjectures, which the police, by system, and many men of my +party through want of knowledge or poverty of intellect, have heaped +upon it. I am not a subverter, nor a communist, nor a man of blood, +nor a hater, nor intolerant, nor exclusive adorer of a system, or of +a form imagined by my mind. I adore God, and an idea which seems to me +of God,--Italy an angel of moral unity and of progressive civilization +for the nations of Europe. Here and everywhere I have written the best +I know how against the vices of materialism, of egotism, of reaction, +and against the destructive tendencies which contaminate many of +our party. If the people should rise in violent attack against the +selfishness and bad government of their rulers, I, while rendering +homage to the right of the people, shall be among the first to prevent +the excesses and the vengeance which long slavery has prepared. I +believe profoundly in a religious principle, supreme above all social +ordinances; in a divine order, which we ought to seek to realize here +on earth; in a law, in a providential design, which we all ought, +according to our powers, to study and to promote. I believe in the +inspiration of my immortal soul, in the teaching of Humanity, which +shouts to me, through the deeds and words of all its saints, incessant +progress for all through, the work of all my brothers toward a common +moral amelioration, toward the fulfilment of the Divine Law. And in +the great history of Humanity I have studied the history of Italy, and +have found there Rome twice directress of the world,--first through +the Emperors, later through the Popes. I have found there, that +every manifestation of Italian life has also been a manifestation of +European life; and that always when Italy fell, the moral unity +of Europe began to fall apart in analysis, in doubt, in anarchy. +I believe in yet another manifestation of the Italian idea; and I +believe that another European world ought to be revealed from the +Eternal City, that had the Capitol, and has the Vatican. And this +faith has not abandoned me ever, through years, poverty, and griefs +which God alone knows. In these few words lies all my being, all +the secret of my life. I may err in the intellect, but the heart has +always remained pure. I have never lied through fear or hope, and I +speak to you as I should speak to God beyond the sepulchre. + +"I believe you good. There is no man this day, I will not say in +Italy, but in all Europe, more powerful than you; you then have, most +Holy Father, vast duties. God measures these according to the means +which he has granted to his creatures. + +"Europe is in a tremendous crisis of doubts and desires. Through the +work of time, accelerated by your predecessors of the hierarchy of the +Church, faith is dead, Catholicism is lost in despotism; Protestantism +is lost in anarchy. Look around you; you will find superstitious and +hypocrites, but not believers. The intellect travels in a void. The +bad adore calculation, physical good; the good pray and hope; nobody +_believes_. Kings, governments, the ruling classes, combat for a power +usurped, illegitimate, since it does not represent the worship of +truth, nor disposition to sacrifice one's self for the good of all; +the people combat because they suffer, because they would fain take +their turn to enjoy; nobody fights for duty, nobody because the war +against evil and falsehood is a holy war, the crusade of God. We have +no more a heaven; hence we have no more a society. + +"Do not deceive yourself, Most Holy Father; this is the present state +of Europe. + +"But humanity cannot exist without a heaven. The idea of society is +only a consequence of the idea of religion. We shall have then, sooner +or later, religion and heaven. We shall have these not in the kings +and the privileged classes,--their very condition excludes love, +the soul of all religions,--but in the people. The spirit from God +descends on many gathered together in his name. The people have +suffered for ages on the cross, and God will bless them with a faith. + +"You can, Most Holy Father, hasten that moment. I will not tell you +my individual opinions on the religious development which is to come; +these are of little importance. But I will say to you, that, whatever +be the destiny of the creeds now existing, you can put yourself at the +head of this development. If God wills that such creeds should +revive, you can make them revive; if God wills that they should be +transformed, that, leaving the foot of the cross, dogma and worship +should be purified by rising a step nearer God, the Father and +Educator of the world, you can put yourself between the two epochs, +and guide the world to the conquest and the practice of religious +truth, extirpating a hateful egotism, a barren negation. + +"God preserve me from tempting you with ambition; that would be +profanation. I call you, in the name of the power which God has +granted you, and has not granted without a reason, to fulfil the good, +the regenerating European work. I call you, after so many ages of +doubt and corruption, to be apostle of Eternal Truth. I call you to +make yourself the 'servant of all,' to sacrifice yourself, if needful, +so that 'the will of God may be done on the earth as it is in heaven'; +to hold yourself ready to glorify God in victory, or to repeat with +resignation, if you must fail, the words of Gregory VII.: 'I die in +exile, because I have loved justice and hated iniquity.' + +"But for this, to fulfil the mission which God confides to you, two +things are needful,--to be a believer, and to unify Italy. Without the +first, you will fall in the middle of the way, abandoned by God and by +men; without the second, you will not have the lever with which only +you can effect great, holy, and durable things. + +"Be a believer; abhor to be king, politician, statesman. Make no +compromise with error; do not contaminate yourself with diplomacy, +make no compact with fear, with expediency, with the false doctrines +of a _legality_, which is merely a falsehood invented when faith +failed. Take no counsel except from God, from the inspirations of your +own heart, and from the imperious necessity of rebuilding a temple to +truth, to justice, to faith. Self-collected, in enthusiasm of love for +humanity, and apart from every human regard, ask of God that he will +teach you the way; then enter upon it, with the faith of a conqueror +on your brow, with the irrevocable decision of the martyr in your +heart; look neither to the right hand nor the left, but straight +before you, and up to heaven. Of every object that meets you on the +way, ask of yourself: 'Is this just or unjust, true or false, law of +man or law of God?' Proclaim aloud the result of your examination, and +act accordingly. Do not say to yourself: 'If I speak and work in such +a way, the princes of the earth will disagree; the ambassadors will +present notes and protests!' What are the quarrels of selfishness in +princes, or their notes, before a syllable of the eternal Evangelists +of God? They have had importance till now, because, though phantoms, +they had nothing to oppose them but phantoms; oppose to them the +reality of a man who sees the Divine view, unknown to them, of human +affairs, of an immortal soul conscious of a high mission, and these +will vanish before you as vapors accumulated in darkness before the +sun which rises in the east. Do not let yourself be affrighted by +intrigues; the creature who fulfils a duty belongs not to men, but to +God. God will protect you; God will spread around you such a halo +of love, that neither the perfidy of men irreparably lost, nor +the suggestions of hell, can break through it. Give to the world a +spectacle new, unique: you will have results new, not to be foreseen +by human calculation. Announce an era; declare that Humanity is +sacred, and a daughter of God; that all who violate her rights to +progress, to association, are on the way of error; that in God is the +source of every government; that those who are best by intellect and +heart, by genius and virtue, must be the guides of the people. +Bless those who suffer and combat; blame, reprove, those who cause +suffering, without regard to the name they bear, the rank that invests +them. The people will adore in you the best interpreter of the +Divine design, and your conscience will give you rest, strength, and +ineffable comfort. + +"Unify Italy, your country. For this you have no need to work, but +to bless Him who works through you and in your name. Gather round you +those who best represent the national party. Do not beg alliances with +princes. Continue to seek the alliance of our own people; say, 'The +unity of Italy ought to be a fact of the nineteenth century,' and it +will suffice; we shall work for you. Leave our pens free; leave free +the circulation of ideas in what regards this point, vital for us, +of the national unity. Treat the Austrian government, even when it no +longer menaces your territory, with the reserve of one who knows that +it governs by usurpation in Italy and elsewhere; combat it with words +of a just man, wherever it contrives oppressions and violations of +the rights of others out of Italy. Require, in the name of the God of +Peace, the Jesuits allied with Austria in Switzerland to withdraw from +that country, where their presence prepares an inevitable and speedy +effusion of the blood of the citizens. Give a word of sympathy which +shall become public to the first Pole of Galicia who comes into your +presence. Show us, in fine, by some fact, that you intend not only to +improve the physical condition of your own few subjects, but that +you embrace in your love the twenty-four millions of Italians, your +brothers; that you believe them called by God to unite in family unity +under one and the same compact; that you would bless the national +banner, wherever it should be raised by pure and incontaminate hands; +and leave the rest to us. We will cause to rise around you a nation +over whose free and popular development you, living, shall preside. +We will found a government unique in Europe, which shall destroy the +absurd divorce between spiritual and temporal power, and in which you +shall be chosen to represent the principle of which the men chosen by +the nation will make the application. We shall know how to translate +into a potent fact the instinct which palpitates through all Italy. +We will excite for you active support among the nations of Europe; we +will find you friends even in the ranks of Austria; we alone, because +we alone have unity of design, believe in the truth of our principle, +and have never betrayed it. Do not fear excesses from the people once +entered upon this way; the people only commit excesses when left to +their own impulses without any guide whom they respect. Do not pause +before the idea of becoming a cause of war. War exists, everywhere, +open or latent, but near breaking out, inevitable; nor can human +power prevent it. Nor do I, it must be said frankly, Most Holy +Father, address to you these words because I doubt in the least of our +destiny, or because I believe you the sole, the indispensable means +of the enterprise. The unity of Italy is a work of God,--a part of +the design of Providence and of all, even of those who show themselves +most satisfied with local improvements, and who, less sincere than +I, wish to make them means of attaining their own aims. It will be +fulfilled, with you or without you. But I address you, because I +believe you worthy to take the initiative in a work so vast; because +your putting yourself at the head of it would much abridge the road +and diminish the dangers, the injury, the blood; because with you +the conflict would assume a religious aspect, and be freed from many +dangers of reaction and civil errors; because might be attained at +once under your banner a political result and a vast moral result; +because the revival of Italy under the aegis of a religious idea, of +a standard, not of rights, but of duties, would leave behind all the +revolutions of other countries, and place her immediately at the head +of European progress; because it is in your power to cause that God +and the people, terms too often fatally disjoined, should meet at once +in beautiful and holy harmony, to direct the fate of nations. + +"If I could be near you, I would invoke from God power to convince +you, by gesture, by accent, by tears; now I can only confide to the +paper the cold corpse, as it were, of my thought; nor can I ever have +the certainty that you have read, and meditated a moment what I write. +But I feel an imperious necessity of fulfilling this duty toward Italy +and you, and, whatsoever you may think of it, I shall find myself more +in peace with my conscience for having thus addressed you. + +"Believe, Most Holy Father, in the feelings of veneration and of high +hope which professes for you your most devoted + +"JOSEPH MAZZINI." + + +Whatever may be the impression of the reader as to the ideas and +propositions contained in this document,[A] I think he cannot fail to +be struck with its simple nobleness, its fervent truth. + +[Footnote A: This letter was printed in Paris to be circulated in +Italy. A prefatory note signed by a friend of Mazzini's, states that +the original was known to have reached the hands of the Pope. The hope +is expressed that the publication of this letter, though without the +authority of its writer, will yet not displease him, as those who are +deceived as to his plans and motives will thus learn his true purposes +and feelings, and the letter will one day aid the historian who seeks +to know what were the opinions and hopes of the entire people of +Italy.--ED.] + +A thousand petty interruptions have prevented my completing this +letter, till, now the hour of closing the mail for the steamer is so +near, I shall not have time to look over it, either to see what I have +written or make slight corrections. However, I suppose it represents +the feelings of the last few days, and shows that, without having lost +any of my confidence in the Italian movement, the office of the Pope +in promoting it has shown narrower limits, and sooner than I had +expected. + +This does not at all weaken my personal feeling toward this excellent +man, whose heart I have seen in his face, and can never doubt. It was +necessary to be a great thinker, a great genius, to compete with the +difficulties of his position. I never supposed he was that; I am +only disappointed that his good heart has not carried him on a little +farther. With regard to the reception of the American address, it +is only the Roman press that is so timid; the private expressions of +pleasure have been very warm; the Italians say, "The Americans are +indeed our brothers." It remains to be seen, when Pius IX. receives +it, whether the man, the reforming prince, or the Pope is uppermost at +that moment. + + + + +LETTER XXII. + +THE CEREMONIES SUCCEEDING EPIPHANY.--THE DEATH OF TORLONIA, AND ITS +PREDISPOSING CAUSES.--FUNERAL HONORS.--A STRIKING CONTRAST IN THE +DECEASE OF THE CARDINAL PRINCE MASSIMO.--THE POPE AND HIS OFFICERS +OF STATE.--THE CARDINAL BOFONDI.--SYMPATHETIC EXCITEMENTS THROUGH +ITALY.--SICILY IN FULL INSURRECTION.--THE KING OF SICILY, PRINCE +METTERNICH, AND LOUIS PHILIPPE.--A RUMOR AS TO THE PARENTAGE OF THE +KING OF THE FRENCH.--ROME: AVE MARIA.--LIFE IN THE ETERNAL CITY.--THE +BAMBINO.--CATHOLICISM: ITS GIFTS AND ITS WORKINGS.--THE CHURCH OF ARA +COELI.--EXHIBITION OF THE BAMBINO.--BYGONE SUPERSTITION AND LIVING +REALITY.--THE SOUL OF CATHOLICISM HAS FLED.--REFLECTIONS.--EXHIBITION +BY THE COLLEGE OF THE PROPAGANDA.--EXERCISES IN ALL LANGUAGES.-- +DISTURBANCES AND THEIR CAUSES.--THOUGHTS.--BLESSING ANIMALS.--ACCOUNTS +FROM PAVIA.--AUSTRIA.--THE KING OF NAPLES.--RUMORS FROM OTHER PARTS OF +EUROPE.--FRANCE.--GUIZOT.--APPEARANCES AND APPREHENSIONS. + + +Rome, January, 1848. + +I think I closed my last letter, without having had time to speak of +the ceremonies that precede and follow Epiphany. This month, no day, +scarcely an hour, has passed unmarked by some showy spectacle or some +exciting piece of news. + +On the last day of the year died Don Carlo Torlonia, brother of the +banker, a man greatly beloved and regretted. The public felt this +event the more that its proximate cause was an attack made upon his +brother's house by Paradisi, now imprisoned in the Castle of St. +Angelo, pending a law process for proof of his accusations. Don +Carlo had been ill before, and the painful agitation caused by these +circumstances decided his fate. The public had been by no means +displeased at this inquiry into the conduct of Don Alessandro +Torlonia, believing that his assumed munificence is, in this case, +literally a robbery of Peter to pay Paul, and that all he gives +to Rome is taken from Rome. But I sympathized no less with the +affectionate indignation of his brother, too good a man to be made the +confidant of wrong, or have eyes for it, if such exist. + +Thus, in the poetical justice which does not fail to be done in the +prose narrative of life, while men hastened, the moment a cry was +raised against Don Alessandro, to echo it back with all kinds of +imputations both on himself and his employees, every man held his +breath, and many wept, when the mortal remains of Don Carlo passed; +feeling that in him was lost a benefactor, a brother, a simple, just +man. + +Don Carlo was a Knight of Malta; yet with him the celibate life had +not hardened the heart, but only left it free on all sides to general +love. Not less than half a dozen pompous funerals were given in his +honor, by his relatives, the brotherhoods to which he belonged, and +the battalion of the Civic Guard of which he was commander-in-chief. +But in his own house the body lay in no other state than that of a +simple Franciscan, the order to which he first belonged, and whose vow +he had kept through half a century, by giving all he had for the good +of others. He lay on the ground in the plain dark robe and cowl, no +unfit subject for a modern picture of little angels descending to +shower lilies on a good man's corpse. The long files of armed men, +the rich coaches, and liveried retinues of the princes, were little +observed, in comparison with more than a hundred orphan girls whom his +liberality had sustained, and who followed the bier in mourning robes +and long white veils, spirit-like, in the dark night. The trumpet's +wail, and soft, melancholy music from the bands, broke at times the +roll of the muffled drum; the hymns of the Church were chanted, and +volleys of musketry discharged, in honor of the departed; but much +more musical was the whisper in which the crowd, as passed his mortal +frame, told anecdotes of his good deeds. + +I do not know when I have passed more consolatory moments than in the +streets one evening during this pomp and picturesque show,--for once +not empty of all meaning as to the present time, recognizing that +good which remains in the human being, ineradicable by all ill, and +promises that our poor, injured nature shall rise, and bloom again, +from present corruption to immortal purity. If Don Carlo had been a +thinker,--a man of strong intellect,--he might have devised means of +using his money to more radical advantage than simply to give it in +alms; he had only a kind human heart, but from that heart distilled a +balm which made all men bless it, happy in finding cause to bless. + +As in the moral little books with which our nurseries are entertained, +followed another death in violent contrast. One of those whom the new +arrangements deprived of power and the means of unjust gain was the +Cardinal Prince Massimo, a man a little younger than Don Carlo, +but who had passed his forty years in a very different manner. +He remonstrated; the Pope was firm, and, at last, is said to have +answered with sharp reproof for the past. The Cardinal contained +himself in the audience, but, going out, literally suffocated with the +rage he had suppressed. The bad blood his bad heart had been so +long making rushed to his head, and he died on his return home. +Men laughed, and proposed that all the widows he had deprived of a +maintenance should combine to follow _his_ bier. It was said boys +hissed as that bier passed. Now, a splendid suit of lace being for +sale in a shop of the Corso, everybody says: "Have you been to look +at the lace of Cardinal Massimo, who died of rage, because he could +no longer devour the public goods?" And this is the last echo of _his_ +requiem. + +The Pope is anxious to have at least well-intentioned men in places of +power. Men of much ability, it would seem, are not to be had. His last +prime minister was a man said to have energy, good dispositions, but +no thinking power. The Cardinal Bofondi, whom he has taken now, is +said to be a man of scarce any ability; there being few among the +new Councillors the public can name as fitted for important trust. +In consolation, we must remember that the Chancellor Oxenstiern found +nothing more worthy of remark to show his son, than by how little +wisdom the world could be governed. We must hope these men of straw +will serve as thatch to keep out the rain, and not be exposed to the +assaults of a devouring flame. + +Yet that hour may not be distant. The disturbances of the 1st of +January here were answered by similar excitements in Leghorn and +Genoa, produced by the same hidden and malignant foe. At the same +time, the Austrian government in Milan organized an attempt to rouse +the people to revolt, with a view to arrests, and other measures +calculated to stifle the spirit of independence they know to be latent +there. In this iniquitous attempt they murdered eighty persons; yet +the citizens, on their guard, refused them the desired means of +ruin, and they were forced to retractions as impudently vile as their +attempts had been. The Viceroy proclaimed that "he hoped the people +would confide in him as he did in them"; and no doubt they will. At +Leghorn and Genoa, the wiles of the foe were baffled by the wisdom of +the popular leaders, as I trust they always will be; but it is needful +daily to expect these nets laid in the path of the unwary. + +Sicily is in full insurrection; and it is reported Naples, but this +is not sure. There was a report, day before yesterday, that the poor, +stupid king was already here, and had taken cheap chambers at the +Hotel d'Allemagne, as, indeed, it is said he has always a turn for +economy, when he cannot live at the expense of his suffering people. +Day before yesterday, every carriage that the people saw with a +stupid-looking man in it they did not know, they looked to see if it +was not the royal runaway. But it was their wish was father to that +thought, and it has not as yet taken body as fact. In like manner they +report this week the death of Prince Metternich; but I believe it +is not sure he is dead yet, only dying. With him passes one great +embodiment of ill to Europe. As for Louis Philippe, he seems reserved +to give the world daily more signal proofs of his base apostasy to the +cause that placed him on the throne, and that heartless selfishness, +of which his face alone bears witness to any one that has a mind to +read it. How the French nation could look upon that face, while yet +flushed with the hopes of the Three Days, and put him on the throne +as representative of those hopes, I cannot conceive. There is a story +current in Italy, that he is really the child of a man first a barber, +afterwards a police-officer, and was substituted at nurse for the true +heir of Orleans; and the vulgarity of form in his body of limbs, power +of endurance, greed of gain, and hard, cunning intellect, so unlike +all traits of the weak, but more "genteel" Bourbon race, might well +lend plausibility to such a fable. + +But to return to Rome, where I hear the Ave Maria just ringing. By the +way, nobody pauses, nobody thinks, nobody prays. + + "Ave Maria! 't is the hour of prayer, + Ave Maria! 't is the hour of love," &c., + +is but a figment of the poet's fancy. + +To return to Rome: what a Rome! the fortieth day of rain, and damp, +and abominable reeking odors, such as blessed cities swept by the +sea-breeze--bitter sometimes, yet indeed a friend--never know. It has +been dark all day, though the lamp has only been lit half an hour. The +music of the day has been, first the atrocious _arias_, which last in +the Corso till near noon, though certainly less in virulence on rainy +days. Then came the wicked organ-grinder, who, apart from the horror +of the noise, grinds exactly the same obsolete abominations as at +home or in England,--the Copenhagen Waltz, "Home, sweet home," and all +that! The cruel chance that both an English my-lady and a Councillor +from one of the provinces live opposite, keeps him constantly before +my window, hoping baiocchi. Within, the three pet dogs of my landlady, +bereft of their walk, unable to employ their miserable legs and eyes, +exercise themselves by a continual barking, which is answered by all +the dogs in the neighborhood. An urchin returning from the laundress, +delighted with the symphony, lays down his white bundle in the gutter, +seats himself on the curb-stone, and attempts an imitation of the +music of cats as a tribute to the concert. The door-bell rings. _Chi +e?_ "Who is it?" cries the handmaid, with unweariable senselessness, +as if any one would answer, _Rogue_, or _Enemy_, instead of the +traditionary _Amico_, _Friend_. Can it be, perchance, a letter, news +of home, or some of the many friends who have neglected so long +to write, or some ray of hope to break the clouds of the difficult +Future? Far from it. Enter a man poisoning me at once with the smell +of the worst possible cigars, not to be driven out, insisting I shall +look upon frightful, ill-cut cameos, and worse-designed mosaics, +made by some friend of his, who works in a chamber and will sell _so_ +cheap. Man of ill-odors and meanest smile! I am no Countess to be +fooled by you. For dogs they were not even--dog-cheap. + +A faint and misty gleam of sun greeted the day on which there was the +feast to the Bambino, the most venerated doll of Rome. This is the +famous image of the infant Jesus, reputed to be made of wood from +a tree of Palestine, and which, being taken away from its present +abode,--the church of Ara Coeli,--returned by itself, making the bells +ring as it sought admittance at the door. It is this which is carried +in extreme cases to the bedside of the sick. It has received more +splendid gifts than any other idol. An orphan by my side, now +struggling with difficulties, showed me on its breast a splendid +jewel, which a doting grandmother thought more likely to benefit her +soul if given to the Bambino, than if turned into money to give her +grandchildren education and prospects in life. The same old lady +left her vineyard, not to these children, but to her confessor, a +well-endowed Monsignor, who occasionally asks this youth, his +godson, to dinner! Children so placed are not quite such devotees to +Catholicism as the new proselytes of America;--they are not so much +patted on the head, and things do not show to them under quite the +same silver veil. + +The church of Ara Coeli is on or near the site of the temple of +Capitoline Jove, which certainly saw nothing more idolatrous than +these ceremonies. For about a week the Bambino is exhibited in an +illuminated chapel, in the arms of a splendidly dressed Madonna doll. +Behind, a transparency represents the shepherds, by moonlight, at the +time the birth was announced, and, above, God the Father, with many +angels hailing the event. A pretty part of this exhibition, which I +was not so fortunate as to hit upon, though I went twice on purpose, +is the children making little speeches in honor of the occasion. +Many readers will remember some account of this in Andersen's +"Improvvisatore." + +The last time I went was the grand feast in honor of the Bambino. The +church was entirely full, mostly with Contadini and the poorer people, +absorbed in their devotions: one man near me never raised his head +or stirred from his knees to see anything; he seemed in an anguish of +prayer, either from repentance or anxiety. I wished I could have +hoped the ugly little doll could do Mm any good. The noble stair +which descends from the great door of this church to the foot of the +Capitol,--a stair made from fragments of the old imperial time,--was +flooded with people; the street below was a rapid river also, whose +waves were men. The ceremonies began with splendid music from the +organ, pealing sweetly long and repeated invocations. As if answering +to this call, the world came in, many dignitaries, the Conservatori, +(I think conservatives are the same everywhere, official or no,) and +did homage to the image; then men in white and gold, with the candles +they are so fond here of burning by daylight, as if the poorest +artificial were better than the greatest natural light, uplifted high +above themselves the baby, with its gilded robes and crown, and made +twice the tour of the church, passing twice the column labelled "From +the Home of Augustus," while the band played--what?--the Hymn to Pius +IX. and "Sons of Rome, awake!" Never was a crueller comment upon the +irreconcilableness of these two things. Rome seeks to reconcile reform +and priestcraft. + +But her eyes are shut, that they see not. O awake indeed, Romans! and +you will see that the Christ who is to save men is no wooden dingy +effigy of bygone superstitions, but such as Art has seen him in your +better mood,--a Child, living, full of love, prophetic of a boundless +future,--a Man acquainted with all sorrows that rend the heart of +all, and ever loving man with sympathy and faith death could not +quench,--_that_ Christ lives and may be sought; burn your doll of +wood. + +How any one can remain a Catholic--I mean who has ever been aroused to +think, and is not biassed by the partialities of childish years--after +seeing Catholicism here in Italy, I cannot conceive. There was once a +soul in the religion while the blood of its martyrs was yet fresh +upon the ground, but that soul was always too much encumbered with +the remains of pagan habits and customs: that soul is now quite fled +elsewhere, and in the splendid catafalco, watched by so many white +and red-robed snuff-taking, sly-eyed men, would they let it be opened, +nothing would be found but bones! + +Then the College for propagating all this, the most venerable +Propaganda, has given its exhibition in honor of the Magi, wise men of +the East who came to Christ. I was there one day. In conformity with +the general spirit of Rome,--strangely inconsistent in a country where +the Madonna is far more frequently and devoutly worshipped than God or +Christ, in a city where at least as many female saints and martyrs are +venerated as male,--there was no good place for women to sit. All +the good seats were for the men in the area below, but in the gallery +windows, and from the organ-loft, a few women were allowed to peep +at what was going on. I was one of these exceptional characters. The +exercises were in all the different languages under the sun. It would +have been exceedingly interesting to hear them, one after the +other, each in its peculiar cadence and inflection, but much of the +individual expression was taken away by that general false academic +tone which is sure to pervade such exhibitions where young men speak +who have as yet nothing to say. It would have been different, indeed, +if we could have heard natives of all those countries, who were +animated by real feelings, real wants. Still it was interesting, +particularly the language and music of Kurdistan, and the full-grown +beauty of the Greek after the ruder dialects. Among those who appeared +to the best advantage were several blacks, and the majesty of the +Latin hexameters was confided to a full-blooded Guinea negro, who +acquitted himself better than any other I heard. I observed, too, the +perfectly gentlemanly appearance of these young men, and that they +had nothing of that Cuffy swagger by which those freed from a servile +state try to cover a painful consciousness of their position in our +country. Their air was self-possessed, quiet and free beyond that of +most of the whites. + + +January 22, 2 o'clock, P.M. + +Pour, pour, pour again, dark as night,--many people coming in to see +me because they don't know what to do with themselves. I am very glad +to see them for the same reason; this atmosphere is so heavy, I seem +to carry the weight of the world on my head and feel unfitted for +every exertion. As to eating, that is a bygone thing; wine, coffee, +meat, I have resigned; vegetables are few and hard to have, except +horrible cabbage, in which the Romans delight. A little rice still +remains, which I take with pleasure, remembering it growing in the +rich fields of Lombardy, so green and full of glorious light. That +light fell still more beautiful on the tall plantations of hemp, but +it is dangerous just at present to think of what is made from hemp. + +This week all the animals are being blessed,[A] and they get a +gratuitous baptism, too, the while. The lambs one morning were taken +out to the church of St. Agnes for this purpose. The little companion +of my travels, if he sees this letter, will remember how often we saw +her with her lamb in pictures. The horses are being blessed by St. +Antonio, and under his harmonizing influence are afterward driven +through the city, twelve and even twenty in hand. They are harnessed +into light wagons, and men run beside them to guard against accident, +in case the good influence of the Saint should fail. + +[Footnote A: One of Rome's singular customs.--ED.] + +This morning came the details of infamous attempts by the Austrian +police to exasperate the students of Pavia. The way is to send persons +to smoke cigars in forbidden places, who insult those who are obliged +to tell them to desist. These traps seem particularly shocking when +laid for fiery and sensitive young men. They succeeded: the students +were lured, into combat, and a number left dead and wounded on both +sides. The University is shut up; the inhabitants of Pavia and Milan +have put on mourning; even at the theatre they wear it. The Milanese +will not walk in that quarter where the blood of their fellow-citizens +has been so wantonly shed. They have demanded a legal investigation of +the conduct of the officials. + +At Piacenza similar attempts have been made to excite the Italians, by +smoking in their faces, and crying, "Long live the Emperor!" It is a +worthy homage to pay to the Austrian crown,--this offering of cigars +and blood. + + "O this offence is rank; it smells to Heaven." + +This morning authentic news is received from Naples. The king, when +assured by his own brother that Sicily was in a state of irresistible +revolt, and that even the women quelled the troops,--showering on them +stones, furniture, boiling oil, such means of warfare as the household +may easily furnish to a thoughtful matron,--had, first, a stroke of +apoplexy, from, which the loss of a good deal of bad blood relieved +him. His mind apparently having become clearer thereby, he has offered +his subjects an amnesty and terms of reform, which, it is hoped, will +arrive before his troops have begun to bombard the cities in obedience +to earlier orders. + +Comes also to-day the news that the French Chamber of Peers propose +an Address to the King, echoing back all the falsehoods of his speech, +including those upon reform, and the enormous one that "the peace of +Europe is now assured"; but that some members have worthily opposed +this address, and spoken truth in an honorable manner. + +Also, that the infamous sacrifice of the poor little queen of Spain +puts on more tragic colors; that it is pretended she has epilepsy, and +she is to be made to renounce the throne, which, indeed, has been a +terrific curse to her. And Heaven and Earth have looked calmly on, +while the king of France has managed all this with the most unnatural +of mothers. + + +January 27. + +This morning comes the plan of the Address of the Chamber of Deputies +to the King: it contains some passages that are keenest satire upon +him, as also some remarks which have been made, some words of truth +spoken in the Chamber of Peers, that must have given him some twinges +of nervous shame as he read. M. Guizot's speech on the affairs of +Switzerland shows his usual shabbiness and falsehood. Surely never +prime minister stood in so mean a position as he: one like Metternich +seems noble and manly in comparison; for if there is a cruel, +atheistical, treacherous policy, there needs not at least continual +evasion to avoid declaring in words what is so glaringly manifest in +fact. + +There is news that the revolution has now broken out in Naples; that +neither Sicilians nor Neapolitans will trust the king, but demand +his abdication; and that his bad demon, Coclo, has fled, carrying two +hundred thousand ducats of gold. But in particulars this news is not +yet sure, though, no doubt, there is truth, at the bottom. + +Aggressions on the part of the Austrians continue in the North. The +advocates Tommaso and Manin (a light thus reflected on the name of the +last Doge), having dared to declare formally the necessity of reform, +are thrown into prison. Every day the cloud swells, and the next +fortnight is likely to bring important tidings. + + + + +LETTER XXIII. + +UNPLEASANTNESS OF A ROMAN WINTER.--PROGRESS OF EVENTS IN EUROPE, +AND THEIR EFFECT UPON ITALY.--THE CARNIVAL.--RAIN INTERRUPTS +THE GAYETY.--REJOICINGS FOR THE REVOLUTIONS OF FRANCE AND +AUSTRIA.--TRANSPORTS OF THE PEOPLE.--OBLATIONS TO THE CAUSE OF +LIBERTY.--CASTLE FUSANO.--THE WEATHER, GLADSOMENESS OF NATURE, AND THE +PLEASURE OF THOUGHT. + + +Rome, March 29, 1848. + +It is long since I have written. My health entirely gave way beneath +the Roman winter. The rain was constant, commonly falling in torrents +from the 16th of December to the 19th of March. Nothing could surpass +the dirt, the gloom, the desolation, of Rome. Let no one fancy he has +seen her who comes here only in the winter. It is an immense mistake +to do so. I cannot sufficiently rejoice that I did not first see Italy +in the winter. + +The climate of Rome at this time of extreme damp I have found equally +exasperating and weakening. I have had constant nervous headache +without strength to bear it, nightly fever, want of appetite. Some +constitutions bear it better, but the complaint of weakness and +extreme dejection of spirits is general among foreigners in the wet +season. The English say they become acclimated in two or three years, +and cease to suffer, though never so strong as at home. + +Now this long dark dream--to me the most idle and most suffering +season of my life--seems past. The Italian heavens wear again their +deep blue; the sun shines gloriously; 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,--with the emotions which are swelling the hearts of +men. The morning sun is greeted by the trumpets of the Roman legions +marching out once more, now not to oppress but to defend. The stars +look down on their jubilees over the good news which nightly reaches +them from their brothers of Lombardy. This week has been one of +nobler, sweeter feeling, of a better hope and faith, than Rome in her +greatest days ever knew. How much has happened since I wrote! First, +the victorious resistance of Sicily and the revolution of Naples. +This has led us yet only to half-measures, but even these have been of +great use to the progress of Italy. The Neapolitans will probably have +to get rid at last of the stupid crowned head who is at present their +puppet; but their bearing with him has led to the wiser sovereigns +granting these constitutions, which, if eventually inadequate to the +wants of Italy, will be so useful, are so needed, to educate her to +seek better, completer forms of administration. + +In the midst of all this serious work came the play of Carnival, in +which there was much less interest felt than usual, but enough to +dazzle and captivate a stranger. One thing, however, has been omitted +in the description of the Roman Carnival; i.e. that it rains every +day. Almost every day came on violent rain, just as the tide of gay +masks was fairly engaged in the Corso. This would have been well worth +bearing once or twice, for the sake of seeing the admirable good +humor of this people. Those who had laid out all their savings in the +gayest, thinnest dresses, on carriages and chairs for the Corso, found +themselves suddenly drenched, their finery spoiled, and obliged to +ride and sit shivering all the afternoon. But they never murmured, +never scolded, never stopped throwing their flowers. Their strength of +constitution is wonderful. While I, in my shawl and boa, was coughing +at the open window from the moment I inhaled the wet sepulchral air, +the servant-girls of the house had taken off their woollen gowns, and, +arrayed in white muslins and roses, sat in the drenched street +beneath the drenching rain, quite happy, and have suffered nothing in +consequence. + +The Romans renounced the _Moccoletti_, ostensibly as an expression of +sympathy for the sufferings of the Milanese, but really because, at +that time, there was great disturbance about the Jesuits, and the +government feared that difficulties would arise in the excitement of +the evening. But, since, we have had this entertainment in honor +of the revolutions of France and Austria, and nothing could be more +beautiful. The fun usually consists in all the people blowing one +another's lights out. We had not this; all the little tapers were +left to blaze, and the long Corso swarmed with tall fire-flies. Lights +crept out over the surface of all the houses, and such merry little +twinkling lights, laughing and flickering with each slightest movement +of those who held them! Up and down the Corso they twinkled, they +swarmed, they streamed, while a surge of gay triumphant sound ebbed +and flowed beneath that glittering surface. Here and there danced men +carrying aloft _moccoli_, and clanking chains, emblem of the tyrannic +power now vanquished by the people;--the people, sweet and noble, who, +in the intoxication of their joy, were guilty of no rude or unkindly +word or act, and who, no signal being given as usual for the +termination of their diversion, closed, of their own accord and with +one consent, singing the hymns for Pio, by nine o'clock, and +retired peacefully to their homes, to dream of hopes they yet scarce +understand. + +This happened last week. The news of the dethronement of Louis +Philippe reached us just after the close of the Carnival. It was just +a year from my leaving Paris. I did not think, as I looked with such +disgust on the empire of sham he had established in France, and saw +the soul of the people imprisoned and held fast as in an iron vice, +that it would burst its chains so soon. Whatever be the result, France +has done gloriously; she has declared that she will not be satisfied +with pretexts while there are facts in the world,--that to stop her +march is a vain attempt, though the onward path be dangerous and +difficult. It is vain to cry, Peace! peace! when there is no peace. +The news from France, in these days, sounds ominous, though still +vague. It would appear that the political is being merged in the +social struggle: it is well. Whatever blood is to be shed, whatever +altars cast down, those tremendous problems MUST be solved, whatever +be the cost! That cost cannot fail to break many a bank, many a heart, +in Europe, before the good can bud again out of a mighty corruption. +To you, people of America, it may perhaps be given to look on and +learn in time for a preventive wisdom. You may learn the real meaning +of the words FRATERNITY, EQUALITY: you may, despite the apes of the +past who strive to tutor you, learn the needs of a true democracy. You +may in time learn to reverence, learn to guard, the true aristocracy +of a nation, the only really nobles,--the LABORING CLASSES. + +And Metternich, too, is crushed; the seed of the woman has had his +foot on the serpent. I have seen the Austrian arms dragged through +the streets of Rome and burned in the Piazza del Popolo. The Italians +embraced one another, and cried, _Miracolo! Providenza!_ the modern +Tribune Ciceronacchio fed the flame with faggots; Adam Mickiewicz, the +great poet of Poland, long exiled from his country or the hopes of a +country, looked on, while Polish women, exiled too, or who perhaps, +like one nun who is here, had been daily scourged by the orders of a +tyrant, brought little pieces that had been scattered in the street +and threw them into the flames,--an offering received by the Italians +with loud plaudits. It was a transport of the people, who found no way +to vent their joy, but the symbol, the poesy, natural to the Italian +mind. The ever-too-wise "upper classes" regret it, and the Germans +choose to resent it as an insult to Germany; but it was nothing of +the kind; the insult was to the prisons of Spielberg, to those who +commanded the massacres of Milan,--a base tyranny little congenial to +the native German heart, as the true Germans of Germany are at this +moment showing by their resolves, by their struggles. + +When the double-headed eagle was pulled down from above 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 quick +upon the emblem followed the news that Milan was fighting against her +tyrants,--that Venice had driven them out and freed from their prisons +the courageous Protestants in favor of truth, Tommaso and Manin,--that +Manin, descendant of the last Doge, had raised the republican banner +on the Place St. Mark,--and that Modena, that Parma, were driving out +the unfeeling and imbecile creatures who had mocked Heaven and man by +the pretence of government there. + +With indescribable rapture these tidings were received in Rome. Men +were seen dancing, women weeping with joy along the street. The youth +rushed to enroll themselves in regiments to go to the frontier. In the +Colosseum their names were received. Father Gavazzi, a truly patriotic +monk, gave them the cross to carry on a new, a better, because +defensive, crusade. Sterbini, long exiled, addressed them. He said: +"Romans, do you wish to go; do you wish to go with all your hearts? +If so, you _may_, and those who do not wish to go themselves may give +money. To those who will go, the government gives bread and fifteen +baiocchi a day." The people cried: "We wish to go, but we do not wish +so much; the government is very poor; we can live on a paul a day." +The princes answered by giving, one sixty thousand, others twenty, +fifteen, ten thousand dollars. The people responded by giving at +the benches which are opened in the piazzas literally everything; +street-pedlers gave the gains of each day; women gave every +ornament,--from the splendid necklace and bracelet down to the poorest +bit of coral; servant-girls gave five pauls, two pauls, even half a +paul, if they had no more. A man all in rags gave two pauls. "It +is," said he, "all I have." "Then," said Torlonia, "take from me this +dollar." The man of rags thanked him warmly, and handed that also to +the bench, which refused to receive it. "No! _that_ must stay with +you," shouted all present. These are the people whom the traveller +accuses of being unable to rise above selfish considerations;--a +nation rich and glorious by nature, capable, like all nations, all +men, of being degraded by slavery, capable, as are few nations, few +men, of kindling into pure flame at the touch of a ray from the Sun of +Truth, of Life. + +The two or three days that followed, the troops were marching about by +detachments, followed always by the people, to the Ponte Molle, often +farther. The women wept; for the habits of the Romans are so domestic, +that it seemed a great thing to have their sons and lovers gone even +for a few months. The English--or at least those of the illiberal, +bristling nature too often met here, which casts out its porcupine +quills against everything like enthusiasm (of the more generous Saxon +blood I know some noble examples)--laughed at all this. They have said +that this people would not fight; when the Sicilians, men and women, +did so nobly, they said: "O, the Sicilians are quite unlike the +Italians; you will see, when the struggle comes on in Lombardy, they +cannot resist the Austrian force a moment." I said: "That force is +only physical; do not you think a sentiment can sustain them?" They +replied: "All stuff and poetry; it will fade the moment their blood +flows." When the news came that the Milanese, men and women, fight as +the Sicilians did, they said: "Well, the Lombards are a better race, +but these Romans are good for nothing. It is a farce for a Roman to +try to walk even; they never walk a mile; they will not be able to +support the first day's march of thirty miles, and not have their +usual _minestra_ to eat either." Now the troops were not willing to +wait for the government to make the necessary arrangements for their +march, so at the first night's station--Monterosi--they did _not_ find +food or bedding; yet the second night, at Civita Castellana, they were +so well alive as to remain dancing and vivaing Pio Nono in the piazza +till after midnight. No, Gentlemen, soul is not quite nothing, if +matter be a clog upon its transports. + +The Americans show a better, warmer feeling than they did; the meeting +in New York was of use in instructing the Americans abroad! The dinner +given here on Washington's birthday was marked by fine expressions of +sentiment, and a display of talent unusual on such occasions. There +was a poem from Mr. Story of Boston, which gave great pleasure; a +speech by Mr. Hillard, said to be very good, and one by Rev. Mr. Hedge +of Bangor, exceedingly admired for the felicity of thought and image, +and the finished beauty of style. + +Next week we shall have more news, and I shall try to write and +mention also some interesting things want of time obliges me to omit +in this letter. + + +April 1. + +Yesterday I passed at Ostia and Castle Fusano. A million birds sang; +the woods teemed with blossoms; the sod grew green hourly over the +graves of the mighty Past; the surf rushed in on a fair shore; the +Tiber majestically retreated to carry inland her share from the +treasures of the deep; the sea-breezes burnt my face, but revived my +heart. I felt the calm of thought, the sublime hopes of the future, +nature, man,--so great, though so little,--so dear, though incomplete. +Returning to Rome, I find the news pronounced official, that the +viceroy Ranieri has capitulated at Verona; that Italy is free, +independent, and one. I trust this will prove no April-foolery, no +premature news; it seems too good, too speedy a realization of hope, +to have come on earth, and can only be answered in the words of the +proclamation made yesterday by Pius IX.:-- + +"The events which these two months past have seen rush after one +another in rapid succession, are no human work. Woe to him who, in +this wind, which shakes and tears up alike the lofty cedars and humble +shrubs, hears not the voice of God! Woe to human pride, if to the +fault or merit of any man whatsoever it refer these wonderful changes, +instead of adoring the mysterious designs of Providence." + + + + +LETTER XXIV. + +AFFAIRS IN ITALY.--THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF MILAN.--ADDRESS TO +THE GERMAN NATION.--BROTHERHOOD, AND THE INDEPENDENCE OF ITALY.--THE +PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT TO THE NATIONS SUBJECT TO THE RULE OF THE +HOUSE OF AUSTRIA.--REFLECTIONS ON THESE MOVEMENTS.--LAMARTINE.-- +BERANGER.--MICKIEWICZ IN FLORENCE: ENTHUSIASTIC RECEPTION: STYLED +THE DANTE OF POLAND: HIS ADDRESS BEFORE THE FLORENTINES.--EXILES +RETURNING.--MAZZINI.--THE POSITION OF PIUS IX.--HIS DERELICTION FROM +THE CAUSE OF FREEDOM AND OF PROGRESS.--THE AFFAIR OF THE JESUITS.-- +HIS COURSE IN VARIOUS MATTERS.--LANGUAGE OF THE PEOPLE.--THE WORK +BEGUN BY NAPOLEON VIRTUALLY FINISHED.--THE LOSS OF PIUS IX. FOR THE +MOMENT A GREAT ONE.--THE RESPONSIBILITY OF EVENTS LYING WHOLLY WITH +THE PEOPLE.--HOPES AND PROSPECTS OF THE FUTURE. + + +Rome, April 19, 1848. + +In closing my last, I hoped to have some decisive intelligence +to impart by this time, as to the fortunes of Italy. But though +everything, so far, turns in her favor, there has been no decisive +battle, no final stroke. It pleases me much, as the news comes from +day to day, that I passed so leisurely last summer over that part of +Lombardy now occupied by the opposing forces, that I have in my mind +the faces both of the Lombard and Austrian leaders. A number of the +present members of the Provisional Government of Milan I knew while +there; they are men of twenty-eight and thirty, much more advanced in +thought than the Moderates of Rome, Naples, Tuscany, who are too much +fettered with a bygone state of things, and not on a par in thought, +knowledge, preparation for the great future, with the rest of the +civilized world at this moment. The papers that emanate from the +Milanese government are far superior in tone to any that have been +uttered by the other states. Their protest in favor of their rights, +their addresses to the Germans at large and the countries under the +dominion of Austria, are full of nobleness and thoughts sufficiently +great for the use of the coming age. These addresses I translate, +thinking they may not in other form reach America. + + +"THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF MILAN TO THE GERMAN NATION. + +"We hail you as brothers, valiant, learned, generous Germans! + +"This salutation from a people just risen after a terrible struggle to +self-consciousness and to the exercise of its rights, ought deeply to +move your magnanimous hearts. + +"We deem ourselves worthy to utter that great word Brotherhood, which +effaces among nations the traditions of all ancient hate, and we +proffer it over the new-made graves of our fellow-citizens, who have +fought and died to give us the right to proffer it without fear or +shame. + +"We call brothers men of all nations who believe and hope in the +improvement of the human family, and seek the occasion to further it; +but you, especially, we call brothers, you Germans, with whom, we have +in common so many noble sympathies,--the love of the arts and higher +studies, the delight of noble contemplation,--with whom also we have +much correspondence in our civil destinies. + +"With you are of first importance the interests of the great country, +Germany,--with us, those of the great country, Italy. + +"We were induced to rise in arms against Austria, (we mean, not +the people, but the government of Austria,) not only by the need of +redeeming ourselves from the shame and grief of thirty-one years of +the most abject despotism, but by a deliberate resolve to take our +place upon the plane of nations, to unite with our brothers of the +Peninsula, and take rank with them under the great banner raised by +Pius IX., on which is written, THE INDEPENDENCE OF ITALY. + +"Can you blame us, independent Germans? In blaming us, you would +sink beneath your history, beneath your most honored and recent +declarations. + +"We have chased the Austrian from our soil; we shall give ourselves +no repose till we have chased him from all parts of Italy. No this +enterprise we are all sworn; for this fights our army enrolled in +every part of the Peninsula,--an array of brothers led by the king of +Sardinia, who prides himself on being the sword of Italy. + +"And the Austrian is not more our enemy than yours. + +"The Austrian--we speak still of the government, and not of the +people--has always denied and contradicted the interests of the whole +German nation, at the head of an assemblage of races differing in +language, in customs, in institutions. When it was in his power to +have corrected the errors of time and a dynastic policy, by assuming +the high mission of uniting them by great moral interests, he +preferred to arm one against the other, and to corrupt them all. + +"Fearing every noble instinct, hostile to every grand idea, devoted +to the material interests of an oligarchy of princes spoiled by a +senseless education, of ministers who had sold their consciences, of +speculators who subjected and sacrificed everything to gold, the only +aim of such a government was to sow division everywhere. What wonder +if everywhere in Italy, as in Germany, it reaps harvests of hate and +ignominy. Yes, of hate! To this the Austrian has condemned us, to know +hate and its deep sorrows. But we are absolved in the sight of God, +and by the insults which have been heaped upon us for so many years, +the unwearied efforts to debase us, the destruction of our villages, +the cold-blooded slaughter of our aged people, our priests, our women, +our children. And you,--you shall be the first to absolve us, you, +virtuous among the Germans, who certainly have shared our indignation +when a venal and lying press accused us of being enemies to your great +and generous nation, and we could not answer, and were constrained to +devour in silence the shame of an accusation which wounded us to the +heart. + +"We honor you, Germans! we pant to give you glorious evidence of this. +And, as a prelude to the friendly relations we hope to form with your +governments, we seek to alleviate as much as possible the pains of +captivity to some officers and soldiers belonging to various states of +the Germanic Confederation, who fought in the Austrian army. These +we wish to send back to you, and are occupied by seeking the means to +effect this purpose. We honor you so much, that we believe you capable +of preferring to the bonds of race and language the sacred titles of +misfortune and of right. + +"Ah! answer to our appeal, valiant, wise, and generous Germans! Clasp +the hand, which we offer you with the heart of a brother and friend; +hasten to disavow every appearance of complicity with a government +which the massacres of Galicia and Lombardy have blotted from the list +of civilized and Christian governments. It would be a beautiful thing +for you to give this example, which will be new in history and worthy +of these miraculous times,--the example of a strong and generous +people casting aside other sympathies, other interests, to answer +the invitation of a regenerate people, to cheer it in its new career, +obedient to the great principles of justice, of humanity, of civil and +Christian brotherhood." + + +"THE PROVISIONAL GOVERNMENT OF MILAN TO THE NATIONS SUBJECT TO THE +RULE OF THE HOUSE OF AUSTRIA. + +"From your lands have come three armies which have brought war into +ours; your speech is spoken by those hostile bands who come to us with +fire and sword; nevertheless we come to you as to brothers. + +"The war which calls for our resistance is not your war; you are not +our enemies: you are only instruments in the hand of our foe, and this +foe, brothers, is common to us all. + +"Before God, before men, solemnly we declare it,--our only enemy is +the government of Austria. + +"And that government which for so many years has labored to cancel, in +the races it has subdued, every vestige of nationality, which takes +no heed of their wants or prayers, bent only on serving miserable +interests and more miserable pride, fomenting always antipathies +conformably with the ancient maxim of tyrants, _Divide and +govern_,--this government has constituted itself the adversary of +every generous thought, the ally and patron of all ignoble causes, +the government declared by the whole civilized world paymaster of the +executioners of Galicia. + +"This government, after having pertinaciously resisted the legal +expression of moderate desires,--after having defied with ludicrous +hauteur the opinion of Europe, has found itself in its metropolis +too weak to resist an insurrection of students, and has yielded,--has +yielded, making an assignment on time, and throwing to you, brothers, +as an alms-gift to the importunate beggar, the promise of institutions +which, in these days, are held essential conditions of life for a +civilized nation. + +"But you have not confided in this promise; for the youth of Vienna, +which feels the inspiring breath of this miraculous time, is impelled +on the path of progress; and therefore the Austrian government, +uncertain of itself and of your dispositions, took its old part of +standing still to wait for events, in the hope of turning them to its +own profit. + +"In the midst of this it received the news of our glorious revolution, +and it thought to have found in this the best way to escape from +its embarrassment. First it concealed that news; then made it known +piecemeal, and disfigured by hypocrisy and hatred. We were a handful +of rebels thirsting for German blood. We make a war of stilettos, we +wish the destruction of all Germany. But for us answers the admiration +of all Italy, of all Europe, even the evidence of your own people whom +we are constrained to hold prisoners or hostages, who will unanimously +avow that we have shown heroic courage in the fight, heroic moderation +in victory. + +"Yes! we have risen as one man against the Austrian government, to +become again a nation, to make common cause with our Italian brothers, +and the arms which we have assumed for so great an object we shall not +lay down till we have attained it. Assailed by a brutal executor of +brutal orders, we have combated in a just war; betrayed, a price +set on our heads, wounded in the most vital parts, we have not +transgressed the bounds of legitimate defence. The murders, the +depredations of the hostile band, irritated against us by most wicked +arts, have excited our horror, but never a reprisal. The soldier, his +arms once laid down, was for us only an unfortunate. + +"But behold how the Austrian government provokes you against us, and +bids you come against us as a crusade! A crusade! The parody would be +ludicrous if it were not so cruel. A crusade against a people which, +in the name of Christ, under a banner blessed by the Vicar of Christ, +and revered by all the nations, fights to secure its indefeasible +rights. + +"Oh! if you form against us this crusade,--we have already shown +the world what a people can do to reconquer its liberty, its +independence,--we will show, also, what it can do to preserve +them. If, almost unarmed, we have put to flight an army inured to +war,--surely, brothers, that army wanted faith in the cause for which +it fought,--can we fear that our courage will grow faint after our +triumph, and when aided by all our brothers of Italy? Let the Austrian +government send against us its threatened battalions, they will find +in our breasts a barrier more insuperable than the Alps. Everything +will be a weapon to us; from every villa, from every field, from every +hedge, will issue defenders of the national cause; women and children +will fight like men; men will centuple their strength, their courage; +and we will all perish amid the ruins of our city, before receiving +foreign rule into this land which at last we call ours. + +"But this must not be. You, our brothers, must not permit it to be; +your honor, your interests, do not permit it. Will you fight in a +cause which you must feel to be absurd and wicked? You sink to the +condition of hirelings, and do you not believe that the Austrian +government, should it conquer us and Italy, would turn against you the +arms you had furnished for the conquest? Do you not believe it would +act as after the struggle with Napoleon? And are you not terrified by +the idea of finding yourself in conflict with all civilized Europe, +and constrained to receive, to feast as your ally, the Autocrat of +Russia, that perpetual terror to the improvement and independence of +Europe? It is not possible for the house of Lorraine to forget its +traditions; it is not possible that it should resign itself to live +tranquil in the atmosphere of Liberty. You can only constrain it by +sustaining yourself, with the Germanic and Slavonian nationalities, +and with this Italy, which longs only to see the nations harmonize +with that resolve which she has finally taken, that she may never more +be torn in pieces. + +"Think of us, brothers. This is for you and for us a question of life +and of death; it is a question on which depends, perhaps, the peace of +Europe. + +"For ourselves, we have already weighed the chances of the struggle, +and subordinated them all to this final resolution, that we will be +free and independent, with our brothers of Italy. + +"We hope that our words will induce you to calm counsels; if not, you +will find us on the field of battle generous and loyal enemies, as now +we profess ourselves your generous and loyal brothers. + + (Signed,) + + "CASATI, _President_, + DURINI, + STRIGELLI, + BERETTA, + GRAPPI, + TURRONI, + REZZONICO, + CARBONERA, + BORROMEO, + P. LITTA, + GIULINI, + GUERRIERI, + PORRO, + MORRONI, + AB. ANELLI, + CORRENTI, _Sec.-Gen._" + +These are the names of men whose hearts glow with that generous ardor, +the noble product of difficult times. Into their hearts flows wisdom +from on high,--thoughts great, magnanimous, brotherly. They may not +all remain true to this high vocation, but, at any rate, they will +have lived a period of true life. I knew some of these men when in +Lombardy; of old aristocratic families, with all the refinement of +inheritance and education, they are thoroughly pervaded by principles +of a genuine democracy of brotherhood and justice. In the flower +of their age, they have before them a long career of the noblest +usefulness, if this era follows up its present promise, and they are +faithful to their present creed, and ready to improve and extend it. + +Every day produces these remarkable documents. So many years as we +have been suffocated and poisoned by the atmosphere of falsehood in +official papers, how refreshing is the tone of noble sentiment in +Lamartine! What a real wisdom and pure dignity in the letter +of Beranger! _He_ was always absolutely true,--an oasis in the +pestilential desert of Humbug; but the present time allowed him a fine +occasion. + +The Poles have also made noble manifestations. Their great poet, Adam +Mickiewicz, has been here to enroll the Italian Poles, publish the +declaration of faith in which they hope to re-enter and re-establish +their country, and receive the Pope's benediction on their banner. In +their declaration of faith are found these three articles:-- + +"Every one of the nation a citizen,--every citizen equal in rights and +before authorities. + +"To the Jew, our elder brother, respect, brotherhood, aid on the way +to his eternal and terrestrial good, entire equality in political and +civil rights. + +"To the companion of life, woman, citizenship, entire equality of +rights." + +This last expression of just thought the Poles ought to initiate, for +what other nation has had such truly heroic women? Women indeed,--not +children, servants, or playthings. + +Mickiewicz, with the squadron that accompanied him from Rome, was +received with the greatest enthusiasm at Florence. Deputations from +the clubs and journals went to his hotel and escorted him to the +Piazza del Gran Duca, where, amid an immense concourse of people, some +good speeches were made. A Florentine, with a generous forgetfulness +of national vanity, addressed him as the Dante of Poland, who, more +fortunate than the great bard and seer of Italy, was likely to return +to his country to reap the harvest of the seed he had sown. + +"O Dante of Poland! who, like our Alighieri, hast received from +Heaven sovereign genius, divine song, but from earth sufferings and +exile,--more happy than our Alighieri, thou hast reacquired a country; +already thou art meditating on the sacred harp the patriotic hymn of +restoration and of victory. The pilgrims of Poland have become the +warriors of their nation. Long live Poland, and the brotherhood of +nations!" + +When this address was finished, the great poet appeared on the balcony +to answer. The people received him with a tumult of applause, followed +by a profound silence, as they anxiously awaited his voice. Those +who are acquainted with the powerful eloquence, the magnetism, of +Mickiewicz as an orator, will not be surprised at the effect produced +by this speech, though delivered in a foreign language. It is the +force of truth, the great vitality of his presence, that loads his +words with such electric power. He spoke as follows:-- + +"People of Tuscany! Friends! Brothers! We receive your shouts of +sympathy in the name of Poland; not for us, but for our country. Our +country, though distant, claims from you this sympathy by its long +martyrdom. The glory of Poland, its only glory, truly Christian, is +to have suffered more than all the nations. In other countries the +goodness, the generosity of heart, of some sovereigns protected the +people; as yours has enjoyed the dawn of the era now coming, under the +protection of your excellent prince. [Viva Leopold II.!] But conquered +Poland, slave and victim, of sovereigns who were her sworn enemies and +executioners,--Poland, abandoned by the governments and the nations, +lay in agony on her solitary Golgotha. She was believed slain, dead, +burred. 'We have slain her,' shouted the despots; 'she is dead!' +[No, no! long live Poland!] 'The dead cannot rise again,' replied +the diplomatists; 'we may now be tranquil.' [A universal shudder of +feeling in the crowd.] There came a moment in which the world doubted +of the mercy and justice of the Omnipotent. There was a moment in +which the nations thought that the earth might be for ever abandoned +by God, and condemned to the rule of the demon, its ancient lord. The +nations forgot that Jesus Christ came down from heaven to give liberty +and peace to the earth. The nations had forgotten all this. But God +is just. The voice of Pius IX. roused Italy. [Long live Pius IX.!] The +people of Paris have driven out the great traitor against the cause +of the nations. [Bravo! Viva the people of Paris!] Very soon will be +heard the voice of Poland. Poland will rise again! [Yes, yes! +Poland will rise again!] Poland will call to life all the Slavonic +races,--the Croats, the Dalmatians, the Bohemians, the Moravians, +the Illyrians. These will form the bulwark against the tyrant of the +North. [Great applause.] They will close for ever the way against the +barbarians of the North,--destroyers of liberty and of civilization. +Poland is called to do more yet: Poland, as crucified nation, is risen +again, and called to serve her sister nations. The will of God +is, that Christianity should become in Poland, and through Poland +elsewhere, no more a dead letter of the law, but the living law of +states and civil associations;--[Great applause;]--that Christianity +should be manifested by acts, the sacrifices of generosity and +liberality. This Christianity is not new to you, Florentines; your +ancient republic knew and has acted upon it: it is time that the same +spirit should make to itself a larger sphere. The will of God is that +the nations should act towards one another as neighbors,--as brothers. +[A tumult of applause.] And you, Tuscans, have to-day done an act of +Christian brotherhood. Receiving thus foreign, unknown pilgrims, who +go to defy the greatest powers of the earth, you have in us saluted +only what is in us of spiritual and immortal,--our faith and our +patriotism. [Applause.] We thank you; and we will now go into the +church to thank God." + +"All the people then followed the Poles to the church of Santa Croce, +where was sung the _Benedictus Dominus_, and amid the memorials of the +greatness of Italy collected in that temple was forged more strongly +the chain of sympathy and of union between two nations, sisters in +misfortune and in glory." + +This speech and its reception, literally translated from the journal +of the day, show how pleasant it is on great occasions to be brought +in contact with this people, so full of natural eloquence and of +lively sensibility to what is great and beautiful. + +It is a glorious time too for the exiles who return, and reap even a +momentary fruit of their long sorrows. Mazzini has been able to return +from his seventeen years' exile, during which there was no hour, night +or day, that the thought of Italy was banished from his heart,--no +possible effort that he did not make to achieve the emancipation of +his people, and with it the progress of mankind. He returns, like +Wordsworth's great man, "to see what he foresaw." He will see his +predictions accomplishing yet for a long time, for Mazzini has a +mind far in advance of his times in general, and his nation in +particular,--a mind that will be best revered and understood when +the "illustrious Gioberti" shall be remembered as a pompous verbose +charlatan, with just talent enough to catch the echo from the +advancing wave of his day, but without any true sight of the wants of +man at this epoch. And yet Mazzini sees not all: he aims at political +emancipation; but he sees not, perhaps would deny, the bearing of some +events, which even now begin to work their way. Of this, more anon; +but not to-day, nor in the small print of the Tribune. Suffice it to +say, I allude to that of which the cry of Communism, the systems of +Fourier, &c., are but forerunners. Mazzini sees much already,--at +Milan, where he is, he has probably this day received the intelligence +of the accomplishment of his foresight, implied in his letter to the +Pope, which angered Italy by what was thought its tone of irreverence +and doubt, some six months since. + +To-day is the 7th of May, for I had thrown aside this letter, begun +the 19th of April, from a sense that there was something coming that +would supersede what was then to say. This something has appeared in a +form that will cause deep sadness to good hearts everywhere. Good and +loving hearts, that long for a human form which they can revere, +will be unprepared and for a time must suffer much from the final +dereliction of Pius IX. to the cause of freedom, progress, and of the +war. He was a fair image, and men went nigh to idolize it; this +they can do no more, though they may be able to find excuse for +his feebleness, love his good heart no less than before, and draw +instruction from the causes that have produced his failure, more +valuable than his success would have been. + +Pius IX., no one can doubt who has looked on him, has a good and pure +heart; but it needed also, not only a strong, but a great mind, + + "To _comprehend his trust_, and to the same + Keep faithful, with a singleness of aim." + +A highly esteemed friend in the United States wrote to express +distaste to some observations in a letter of mine to the Tribune on +first seeing the Pontiff a year ago, observing, "To say that he had +not the expression of great intellect was _uncalled for_" Alas! +far from it; it was an observation that rose inevitably on knowing +something of the task before Pius IX., and the hopes he had excited. +The problem he had to solve was one of such difficulty, that only +one of those minds, the rare product of ages for the redemption of +mankind, could be equal to its solution. The question that inevitably +rose on seeing him was, "Is he such a one?" The answer was immediately +negative. But at the same time, he had such an aspect of true +benevolence and piety, that a hope arose that Heaven would act through +him, and impel him to measures wise beyond his knowledge. + +This hope was confirmed by the calmness he showed at the time of the +conspiracy of July, and the occupation of Ferrara by the Austrians. +Tales were told of simple wisdom, of instinct, which he obeyed in +opposition to the counsels of all his Cardinals. Everything went on +well for a time. + +But tokens of indubitable weakness were shown by the Pope in early +acts of the winter, in the removal of a censor at the suggestion of +others, in his speech, to the Consistory, in his answer to the first +address of the Council. In these he declared that, when there was +conflict between the priest and the man, he always meant to be the +priest; and that he preferred the wisdom of the past to that of the +future. + +Still, times went on bending his predeterminations to the call of the +moment. He _acted_ wiselier than he intended; as, for instance, three +weeks after declaring he would not give a constitution to his people, +he gave it,--a sop to Cerberus, indeed,--a poor vamped-up thing that +will by and by have to give place to something more legitimate, but +which served its purpose at the time as declaration of rights for the +people. When the news of the revolution of Vienna arrived, the Pope +himself cried _Viva Pio Nono!_ and this ebullition of truth in one so +humble, though opposed to his formal declarations, was received by his +people with that immediate assent which truth commands. + +The revolution of Lombardy followed. The troops of the line were sent +thither; the volunteers rushed to accompany them. In the streets of +Rome was read the proclamation of Charles Albert, in which he styles +himself the servant of Italy and of Pius IX. The priests preached the +war, and justly, as a crusade; the Pope blessed their banners. Nobody +dreamed, or had cause to dream, that these movements had not his +full sympathy; and his name was in every form invoked as the chosen +instrument of God to inspire Italy to throw off the oppressive yoke of +the foreigner, and recover her rights in the civilized world. + +At the same time, however, the Pope was seen to act with great +blindness in the affair of the Jesuits. The other states of Italy +drove them out by main force, resolved not to have in the midst of +the war a foe and spy in the camp. Rome wished to do the same, but the +Pope rose in their defence. He talked as if they were assailed as a +_religious_ body, when he could not fail, like everybody else, to be +aware that they were dreaded and hated solely as agents of despotism. +He demanded that they should be assailed only by legal means, when +none such were available. The end was in half-measures, always the +worst possible. He would not entirely yield, and the people would +not at all. The Order was ostensibly dissolved; but great part of +the Jesuits really remain here in disguise, a constant source of +irritation and mischief, which, if still greater difficulties had +not arisen, would of itself have created enough. Meanwhile, in the +earnestness of the clergy about the pretended loss of the head of St. +Andrew, in the ceremonies of the holy week, which at this juncture +excited no real interest, was much matter for thought to the calm +observer as to the restlessness of the new wine, the old bottles being +heard to crack on every side, and hour by hour. + +Thus affairs went on from day to day,--the Pope kissing the foot of +the brazen Jupiter and blessing palms of straw at St. Peter's; +the _Circolo Romano_ erecting itself into a kind of Jacobin Club, +dictating programmes for an Italian Diet-General, and choosing +committees to provide for the expenses of the war; the Civic Guard +arresting people who tried to make mobs as if famishing, and, being +searched, were found well provided both with arms and money; the +ministry at their wits' end, with their trunks packed up ready to +be off at a moment's warning,--when the report, it is not yet known +whether true or false, that one of the Roman Civic Guard, a well-known +artist engaged in the war of Lombardy, had been taken and hung by the +Austrians as a brigand, roused the people to a sense of the position +of their friends, and they went to the Pope to demand that he should +take a decisive stand, and declare war against the Austrians. + +The Pope summoned, a consistory; the people waited anxiously, for +expressions of his were reported, as if the troops ought not to have +thought of leaving the frontier, while every man, woman, and child +in Rome knew, and every letter and bulletin declared, that all their +thought was to render active aid to the cause of Italian independence. +This anxious doubt, however, had not prepared at all for the excess to +which they were to be disappointed. + +The speech of the Pope declared, that he had never any thought of +the great results which had followed his actions; that he had only +intended local reforms, such as had previously been suggested by the +potentates of Europe; that he regretted the _mis_use which had been +made of his name; and wound up by lamenting over the war,--dear to +every Italian heart as the best and holiest cause in which for ages +they had been called to embark their hopes,--as if it was something +offensive to the spirit of religion, and which he would fain see +hushed up, and its motives smoothed out and ironed over. + +A momentary stupefaction followed this astounding performance, +succeeded by a passion of indignation, in which the words _traitor_ +and _imbecile_ were associated with the name that had been so dear to +his people. This again yielded to a settled grief: they felt that he +was betrayed, but no traitor; timid and weak, but still a sovereign +whom they had adored, and a man who had brought them much good, which +could not be quite destroyed by his wishing to disown it. Even of +this fact they had no time to stop and think; the necessity was too +imminent of obviating the worst consequences of this ill; and the +first thought was to prevent the news leaving Rome, to dishearten the +provinces and army, before they had tried to persuade the Pontiff to +wiser resolves, or, if this could not be, to supersede his power. + +I cannot repress my admiration at the gentleness, clearness, and good +sense with which the Roman people acted under these most difficult +circumstances. It was astonishing to see the clear understanding which +animated the crowd, as one man, and the decision with which they acted +to effect their purpose. Wonderfully has this people been developed +within a year! + +The Pope, besieged by deputations, who mildly but firmly showed him +that, if he persisted, the temporal power must be placed in other +hands, his ears filled with reports of Cardinals, "such venerable +persons," as he pathetically styles them, would not yield in spirit, +though compelled to in act. After two days' struggle, he was obliged +to place the power in the hands of the persons most opposed to him, +and nominally acquiesce in their proceedings, while in his second +proclamation, very touching from the sweetness of its tone, he shows a +fixed misunderstanding of the cause at issue, which leaves no hope of +his ever again being more than a name or an effigy in their affairs. + +His people were much affected, and entirely laid aside their anger, +but they would not be blinded as to the truth. While gladly returning +to their accustomed habits of affectionate homage toward the Pontiff, +their unanimous sense and resolve is thus expressed in an able +pamphlet of the day, such as in every respect would have been deemed +impossible to the Rome of 1847:-- + +"From the last allocution of Pius result two facts of extreme +gravity;--the entire separation between the spiritual and temporal +power, and the express refusal of the Pontiff to be chief of an +Italian Republic. But far from drawing hence reason for discouragement +and grief, who looks well at the destiny of Italy may bless +Providence, which breaks or changes the instrument when the work +is completed, and by secret and inscrutable ways conducts us to the +fulfilment of our desires and of our hopes. + +"If Pius IX. refuses, the Italian people does not therefore draw back. +Nothing remains to the free people of Italy, except to unite in one +constitutional kingdom, founded on the largest basis; and if the chief +who, by our assemblies, shall be called to the highest honor, either +declines or does not answer worthily, the people will take care of +itself. + +"Italians! down with all emblems of private and partial interests. +Let us unite under one single banner, the tricolor, and if he who has +carried it bravely thus far lets it fall from his hand, we will take +it one from the other, twenty-four millions of us, and, till the last +of us shall have perished under the banner of our redemption, the +stranger shall not return into Italy. + +"Viva Italy! viva the Italian people!"[A] + +[Footnote A: Close of "A Comment by Pio Angelo Fierortino on the +Allocution of Pius IX. spoken in the Secret Consistory of 29th April, +1848," dated Italy, 30th April, 1st year of the Redemption of Italy.] + +These events make indeed a crisis. The work begun by Napoleon is +finished. There will never more be really a Pope, but only the effigy +or simulacrum of one. + +The loss of Pius IX. is for the moment a great one. His name had real +moral weight,--was a trumpet appeal to sentiment. It is not the same +with any man that is left. There is not one that can be truly a leader +in the Roman dominion, not one who has even great intellectual weight. + +The responsibility of events now lies wholly with the people, and +that wave of thought which has begun to pervade them. Sovereigns and +statesmen will go where they are carried; it is probable power will be +changed continually from, hand to hand, and government become, to all +intents and purposes, representative. Italy needs now quite to throw +aside her stupid king of Naples, who hangs like a dead weight on her +movements. The king of Sardinia and the Grand Duke of Tuscany will be +trusted while they keep their present course; but who can feel sure +of any sovereign, now that Louis Philippe has shown himself so mad +and Pius IX. so blind? It seems as if fate was at work to bewilder +and cast down the dignities of the world and democratize society at a +blow. + +In Rome there is now no anchor except the good sense of the people. +It seems impossible that collision should not arise between him who +retains the name but not the place of sovereign, and the provisional +government which calls itself a ministry. The Count Mamiani, its new +head, is a man of reputation as a writer, but untried as yet as a +leader or a statesman. Should agitations arise, the Pope can no longer +calm them by one of his fatherly looks. + +All lies in the future; and our best hope must be that the Power which +has begun so great a work will find due means to end it, and make the +year 1850 a year of true jubilee to Italy; a year not merely of pomps +and tributes, but of recognized rights and intelligent joys; a year of +real peace,--peace, founded not on compromise and the lying etiquettes +of diplomacy, but on truth and justice. + +Then this sad disappointment in Pius IX. may be forgotten, or, while +all that was lovely and generous in his life is prized and reverenced, +deep instruction may be drawn from his errors as to the inevitable +dangers of a priestly or a princely environment, and a higher +knowledge may elevate a nobler commonwealth than the world has yet +known. + +Hoping this era, I remain at present here. Should my hopes be dashed +to the ground, it will not change my faith, but the struggle for its +manifestation is to me of vital interest. My friends write to urge my +return; they talk of our country as the land of the future. It is so, +but that spirit which made it all it is of value in my eyes, which +gave all of hope with which I can sympathize for that future, is +more alive here at present than in America. My country is at present +spoiled by prosperity, stupid with the lust of gain, soiled by crime +in its willing perpetuation of slavery, shamed by an unjust war, noble +sentiment much forgotten even by individuals, the aims of politicians +selfish or petty, the literature frivolous and venal. In Europe, amid +the teachings of adversity, a nobler spirit is struggling,--a spirit +which cheers and animates mine. I hear earnest words of pure faith and +love. I see deeds of brotherhood. This is what makes _my_ America. I +do not deeply distrust my country. She is not dead, but in my time she +sleepeth, and the spirit of our fathers flames no more, but lies hid +beneath the ashes. It will not be so long; bodies cannot live when the +soul gets too overgrown with gluttony and falsehood. But it is not the +making a President out of the Mexican war that would make me wish to +come back. Here things are before my eyes worth recording, and, if I +cannot help this work, I would gladly be its historian. + + +May 13. + +Returning from a little tour in the Alban Mount, where everything +looks so glorious this glorious spring, I find a temporary quiet. The +Pope's brothers have come to sympathize with him; the crowd sighs over +what he has done, presents him with great bouquets of flowers, and +reads anxiously the news from the north and the proclamations of the +new ministry. Meanwhile the nightingales sing; every tree and plant +is in flower, and the sun and moon shine as if paradise were already +re-established on earth. I go to one of the villas to dream it is so, +beneath the pale light of the stars. + + + + +LETTER XXV. + +REVIEW OF THE COURSE OF PIUS IX.--MAMIANI.--THE PEOPLE'S DISAPPOINTED +HOPES.--THE MONUMENTS IN MILAN, NAPLES, ETC.--THE KING OF NAPLES AND +HIS TROOPS.--CALAMITIES OF THE WAR.--THE ITALIAN PEOPLE.--CHARLES +ALBERT.--DEDUCTIONS.--SUMMER AMONG THE MOUNTAINS OF ITALY. + + +Rome, December 2, 1848. + +I have not written for six months, and within that time what changes +have taken place on this side "the great water,"--changes of how +great dramatic interest historically,--of bearing infinitely important +ideally! Easy is the descent in ill. + +I wrote last when Pius IX. had taken the first stride on the downward +road. He had proclaimed himself the foe of further reform measures, +when he implied that Italian independence was not important in his +eyes, when he abandoned the crowd of heroic youth who had gone to the +field with his benediction, to some of whom his own hand had given +crosses. All the Popes, his predecessors, had meddled with, most +frequently instigated, war; now came one who must carry out, +literally, the doctrines of the Prince of Peace, when the war was +not for wrong, or the aggrandizement of individuals, but to +redeem national, to redeem human, rights from the grasp of foreign +oppression. + +I said some cried "traitor," some "imbecile," some wept, but In the +minds of all, I believe, at that time, grief was predominant. They +could no longer depend on him they had thought their best friend. They +had lost their father. + +Meanwhile his people would not submit to the inaction he urged. They +saw it was not only ruinous to themselves, but base and treacherous +to the rest of Italy. They said to the Pope, "This cannot be; you +must follow up the pledges you have given, or, if you will not act to +redeem them, you must have a ministry that will." The Pope, after he +had once declared to the contrary, ought to have persisted. He should +have said, "I cannot thus belie myself, I cannot put my name to acts I +have just declared to be against my conscience." + +The ministers of the people ought to have seen that the position they +assumed was utterly untenable; that they could not advance with an +enemy in the background cutting off all supplies. But some patriotism +and some vanity exhilarated them, and, the Pope having weakly yielded, +they unwisely began their impossible task. Mamiani, their chief, I +esteem a man, under all circumstances, unequal to such a position,--a +man of rhetoric merely. But no man could have acted, unless the +Pope had resigned his temporal power, the Cardinals been put under +sufficient check, and the Jesuits and emissaries of Austria driven +from their lurking-places. + +A sad scene began. The Pope,--shut up more and more in his palace, the +crowd of selfish and insidious advisers darkening round, enslaved by +a confessor,--he who might have been the liberator of suffering Europe +permitted the most infamous treacheries to be practised in his name. +Private letters were written to the foreign powers, denying the +acts he outwardly sanctioned; the hopes of the people were evaded +or dallied with; the Chamber of Deputies permitted to talk and pass +measures which they never could get funds to put into execution; +legions to form and manoeuvre, but never to have the arms and +clothing they needed. Again and again the people went to the Pope for +satisfaction. They got only--benediction. + +Thus plotted and thus worked the scarlet men of sin, playing the hopes +of Italy off and on, while _their_ hope was of the miserable defeat +consummated by a still worse traitor at Milan on the 6th of August. +But, indeed, what could be expected from the "Sword of Pius IX.," when +Pius IX. himself had thus failed in his high vocation. The king of +Naples bombarded his city, and set on the Lazzaroni to rob and murder +the subjects he had deluded by his pretended gift of the Constitution. +Pius proclaimed that he longed to embrace _all_ the princes of Italy. +He talked of peace, when all knew for a great part of the Italians +there was no longer hope of peace, except in the sepulchre, or +freedom. + +The taunting manifestos of Welden are a sufficient comment on the +conduct of the Pope. "As the government of his Holiness is too weak +to control his subjects,"--"As, singularly enough, a great number of +Romans are found, fighting against us, contrary to the _expressed_ +will of their prince,"--such were the excuses for invasions of the +Pontifical dominions, and the robbery and insult by which they were +accompanied. Such invasions, it was said, made his Holiness very +indignant; he remonstrated against these; but we find no word of +remonstrance against the tyranny of the king of Naples,--no word +of sympathy for the victims of Lombardy, the sufferings of Verona, +Vicenza, Padua, Mantua, Venice. + +In the affairs of Europe there are continued signs of the plan of the +retrograde party to effect similar demonstrations in different places +at the same hour. The 15th of May was one of these marked days. +On that day the king of Naples made use of the insurrection he had +contrived to excite, to massacre his people, and find an excuse for +recalling his troops from Lombardy. The same day a similar crisis was +hoped in Rome from the declarations of the Pope, but that did not work +at the moment exactly as the foes of enfranchisement hoped. + +However, the wounds were cruel enough. The Roman volunteers received +the astounding news that they were not to expect protection or +countenance from their prince; all the army stood aghast, that they +were no longer to fight in the name of Pio. It had been so dear, +so sweet, to love and really reverence the head of their Church, +so inspiring to find their religion for once in accordance with the +aspirations of the soul! They were to be deprived, too, of the aid of +the disciplined Neapolitan troops and their artillery, on which they +had counted. How cunningly all this was contrived to cause dissension +and dismay may easily be seen. + +The Neapolitan General Pepe nobly refused to obey, and called on the +troops to remain with him. They wavered; but they are a pampered army, +personally much attached to the king, who pays them well and indulges +them at the expense of his people, that they may be his support +against that people when in a throe of nature it rises and striven +for its rights. For the same reason, the sentiment of patriotism was +little diffused among them in comparison with the other troops. And +the alternative presented was one in which it required a very clear +sense of higher duty to act against habit. Generally, after wavering +awhile, they obeyed and returned. The Roman States, which had received +them with so many testimonials of affection and honor, on their +retreat were not slack to show a correspondent aversion and contempt. +The towns would not suffer their passage; the hamlets were unwilling +to serve them even with fire and water. They were filled at once with +shame and rage; one officer killed himself, unable to bear it; in the +unreflecting minds of the soldiers, hate sprung up for the rest of +Italy, and especially Rome, which will make them admirable tools of +tyranny in case of civil war. + +This was the first great calamity of the war. But apart from the +treachery of the king of Naples and the dereliction of the Pope, +it was impossible it should end thoroughly well. The people were +in earnest, and have shown themselves so; brave, and able to bear +privation. No one should dare, after the proofs of the summer, to +reiterate the taunt, so unfriendly frequent on foreign lips at the +beginning of the contest, that the Italian can boast, shout, and fling +garlands, but not _act_. The Italian always showed himself noble and +brave, even in foreign service, and is doubly so in the cause of his +country. But efficient heads were wanting. The princes were not in +earnest; they were looking at expediency. The Grand Duke, timid and +prudent, wanted to do what was safest for Tuscany; his ministry, +"_Moderate_" and prudent, would have liked to win a great prize at +small risk. They went no farther than the people pulled them. The king +of Sardinia had taken the first bold step, and the idea that treachery +on his part was premeditated cannot be sustained; it arises from the +extraordinary aspect of his measures, and the knowledge that he is not +incapable of treachery, as he proved in early youth. But now it was +only his selfishness that worked to the same results. He fought and +planned, not for Italy, but the house of Savoy, which his Balbis and +Giobertis had so long been prophesying was to reign supreme in the +new great era of Italy. These prophecies he more than half believed, +because they chimed with his ambitious wishes; but he had not soul +enough to realize them; he trusted only in his disciplined troops; +he had not nobleness enough to believe he might rely at all on +the sentiment of the people. For his troops he dared not have good +generals; conscious of meanness and timidity, he shrank from the +approach of able and earnest men; he was inly afraid they would, +in helping Italy, take her and themselves out of his guardianship. +Antonini was insulted, Garibaldi rejected; other experienced leaders, +who had rushed to Italy at the first trumpet-sound, could never +get employment from him. As to his generalship, it was entirely +inadequate, even if he had made use of the first favorable moments. +But his first thought was not to strike a blow at the Austrians before +they recovered from the discomfiture of Milan, but to use the panic +and need of his assistance to induce Lombardy and Venice to annex +themselves to his kingdom. He did not even wish seriously to get the +better till this was done, and when this was done, it was too late. +The Austrian army was recruited, the generals had recovered their +spirits, and were burning to retrieve and avenge their past defeat. +The conduct of Charles Albert had been shamefully evasive in the first +months. The account given by Franzini, when challenged in the Chamber +of Deputies at Turin, might be summed up thus: "Why, gentlemen, +what would you have? Every one knows that the army is in excellent +condition, and eager for action. They are often reviewed, hear +speeches, and sometimes get medals. We take places always, if it is +not difficult. I myself was present once when the troops advanced; our +men behaved gallantly, and had the advantage in the first skirmish; +but afterward the enemy pointed on us artillery from the heights, and, +naturally, we retired. But as to supposing that his Majesty Charles +Albert is indifferent to the success of Italy in the war, that is +absurd. He is 'the Sword of Italy'; he is the most magnanimous of +princes; he is seriously occupied about the war; many a day I have +been called into his tent to talk it over, before he was up in the +morning!" + +Sad was it that the heroic Milan, the heroic Venice, the heroic +Sicily, should lean on such a reed as this, and by hurried acts, +equally unworthy as unwise, sully the glory of their shields. Some +names, indeed, stand, out quite free from this blame. Mazzini, who +kept up a combat against folly and cowardice, day by day and hour by +hour, with almost supernatural strength, warned the people constantly +of the evils which their advisers were drawing upon them. He was heard +then only by a few, but in this "Italia del Popolo" may be found many +prophecies exactly fulfilled, as those of "the golden-haired love of +Phoebus" during the struggles of Ilium. He himself, in the last sad +days of Milan, compared his lot to that of Cassandra. At all events, +his hands are pure from that ill. What could be done to arouse +Lombardy he did, but the "Moderate" party unable to wean themselves +from old habits, the pupils of the wordy Gioberti thought there could +be no safety unless under the mantle of a prince. They did not foresee +that he would run away, and throw that mantle on the ground. + +Tommaso and Manin also were clear in their aversion to these measures; +and with them, as with all who were resolute in principle at that +time, a great influence has followed. + +It is said Charles Albert feels bitterly the imputations on his +courage, and says they are most ungrateful, since he has exposed the +lives of himself and his sons in the combat. Indeed, there ought to +be made a distinction between personal and mental courage. The former +Charles Albert may possess, may have too much of what this still +aristocratic world calls "the feelings of a gentleman" to shun +exposing himself to a chance shot now and then. An entire want of +mental courage he has shown. The battle, decisive against him, was +made so by his giving up the moment fortune turned against him. It is +shameful to hear so many say this result was inevitable, just because +the material advantages were in favor of the Austrians. Pray, was +never a battle won against material odds? It is precisely such that a +good leader, a noble man, may expect to win. Were the Austrians driven +out of Milan because the Milanese had that advantage? The Austrians +would again, have suffered repulse from them, but for the baseness of +this man, on whom they had been cajoled into relying,--a baseness that +deserves the pillory; and on a pillory will the "Magnanimous," as he +was meanly called in face of the crimes of his youth and the timid +selfishness of his middle age, stand in the sight of posterity. He +made use of his power only to betray Milan; he took from the citizens +all means of defence, and then gave them up to the spoiler; he +promised to defend them "to the last drop of his blood," and sold +them the next minute; even the paltry terms he made, he has not seen +maintained. Had the people slain him in their rage, he well deserved +it at their hands; and all his conduct since show how righteous would +have been that sudden verdict of passion. + +Of all this great drama I have much to write, but elsewhere, in a more +full form, and where I can duly sketch the portraits of actors little +known in America. The materials are over-rich. I have bought my right +in them by much sympathetic suffering; yet, amid the blood and tears +of Italy, 'tis joy to see some glorious new births. The Italians are +getting cured of mean adulation and hasty boasts; they are learning +to prize and seek realities; the effigies of straw are getting knocked +down, and living, growing men take their places. Italy is being +educated for the future, her leaders are learning that the time is +past for trust in princes and precedents,--that there is no hope +except in truth and God; her lower people are learning to shout less +and think more. + +Though my thoughts have been much with the public in this struggle for +life, I have been away from it during the summer months, in the quiet +valleys, on the lonely mountains. There, personally undisturbed, I +have seen the glorious Italian summer wax and wane,--the summer of +Southern Italy, which I did not see last year. On the mountains it was +not too hot for me, and I enjoyed the great luxuriance of vegetation. +I had the advantage of having visited the scene of the war minutely +last summer, so that, in mind, I could follow every step of the +campaign, while around me were the glorious relics of old times,--the +crumbling theatre or temple of the Roman day, the bird's-nest village +of the Middle Ages, on whose purple height shone the sun and moon of +Italy in changeless lustre. It was great pleasure to me to watch the +gradual growth and change of the seasons, so different from ours. +Last year I had not leisure for this quiet acquaintance. Now I saw the +fields first dressed in their carpets of green, enamelled richly with +the red poppy and blue corn-flower,--in that sunshine how resplendent! +Then swelled the fig, the grape, the olive, the almond; and my food +was of these products of this rich clime. For near three months I had +grapes every day; the last four weeks, enough daily for two persons +for a cent! Exquisite salad for two persons' dinner and supper cost +but a cent, and all other products of the region were in the same +proportion. One who keeps still in Italy, and lives as the people do, +may really have much simple luxury for very little money; though both +travel, and, to the inexperienced foreigner, life in the cities, are +expensive. + + + + +LETTER XXVI. + +THOUGHTS OF THE ITALIAN RACE, THE SEASONS, AND ROME.--CHANGES.--THE +DEATH OF THE MINISTER ROSSI.--THE CHURCH OF SAN LUIGI DEL +FRANCESI.--ST. CECILIA AND THE DOMENICHINO CHAPEL.--THE PIAZZA DEL +POPOLO.--THE TROOPS: PREPARATORY MOVEMENTS TOWARD THE QUIRINAL.--THE +DEMONSTRATION ON THE PALACE.--THE CHURCH: ITS POSITION AND AIMS.--THE +POPE'S FLIGHT, &C.--SOCIAL LIFE.--DON TIRLONE.--THE NEW YEAR. + + +Rome, December 2, 1848. + +Not till I saw the snow on the mountains grow rosy in the autumn +sunset did I turn my steps again toward Rome. I was very ready to +return. After three or four years of constant excitement, this six +months of seclusion had been welcome; but now I felt the need of +meeting other eyes beside those, so bright and so shallow, of the +Italian peasant. Indeed, I left what was most precious, but which +I could not take with me;[A] still it was a compensation that I was +again to see Rome,--Rome, that almost killed me with her cold breath +of last winter, yet still with that cold breath whispered a tale of +import so divine. Rome so beautiful, so great! her presence stupefies, +and one has to withdraw to prize the treasures she has given. City +of the soul! yes, it is _that_; the very dust magnetizes you, and +thousand spells have been chaining you in every careless, every +murmuring moment. Yes! Rome, however seen, thou must be still adored; +and every hour of absence or presence must deepen love with one who +has known what it is to repose in thy arms. + +[Footnote A: Her child, who was born in Rieti, September 5, 1848, and +was necessarily left in that town during the difficulties and siege of +Rome.--ED.] + +Repose! for whatever be the revolutions, tumults, panics, hopes, of +the present day, still the temper of life here is repose. The great +past enfolds us, and the emotions of the moment cannot here greatly +disturb that impression. From the wild shout and throng of the +streets the setting sun recalls us as it rests on a hundred domes and +temples,--rests on the Campagna, whose grass is rooted in departed +human greatness. Burial-place so full of spirit that death itself +seems no longer cold! O let me rest here, too! Hest here seems +possible; meseems myriad lives still linger here, awaiting some one +great summons. + +The rivers had burst their bounds, and beneath the moon the fields +round Rome lay one sheet of silver. Entering the gate while the +baggage was under examination, I walked to the entrance of a villa. +Far stretched its overarching shrubberies, its deep green bowers; two +statues, with foot advanced and uplifted finger, seemed to greet me; +it was near the scene of great revels, great splendors in the old +time; there lay the gardens of Sallust, where were combined palace, +theatre, library, bath, and villa. Strange things have happened since, +the most attractive part of which--the secret heart--lies buried or +has fled to animate other forms; for of that part historians have +rarely given a hint more than they do now of the truest life of our +day, which refuses to be embodied, by the pen, craving forms more +mutable, more eloquent than the pen can give. + +I found Rome empty of foreigners. Most of the English have fled in +affright,--the Germans and French are wanted at home,--the Czar has +recalled many of his younger subjects; he does not like the schooling +they get here. That large part of the population, which lives by the +visits of foreigners was suffering very much,--trade, industry, for +every reason, stagnant. The people were every moment becoming more +exasperated by the impudent measures of the Minister Rossi, and their +mortification at seeing Rome represented and betrayed by a foreigner. +And what foreigner? A pupil of Guizot and Louis Philippe. The news of +the bombardment and storm of Vienna had just reached Rome. Zucchi, +the Minister of War, at once left the city to put down over-free +manifestations in the provinces, and impede the entrance of the troops +of the patriot chief, Garibaldi, into Bologna. From the provinces came +soldiery, called by Rossi to keep order at the opening of the Chamber +of Deputies. He reviewed them in the face of the Civic Guard; the +press began to be restrained; men were arbitrarily seized and sent +out of the kingdom. The public indignation rose to its height; the cup +overflowed. + +The 15th was a beautiful day, and I had gone out for a long walk. +Returning at night, the old Padrona met me with her usual smile a +little clouded. "Do you know," said she, "that the Minister Rossi has +been killed?" No Roman said _murdered_. + +"Killed?" + +"Yes,--with a thrust in the back. A wicked man, surely; but is that +the way to punish even the wicked?" + +"I cannot," observed a philosopher, "sympathize under any +circumstances with so immoral a deed; but surely the manner of doing +it was great." + +The people at large were not so refined in their comments as either +the Padrona or the philosopher; but soldiers and populace alike ran up +and down, singing, "Blessed the hand that rids the earth of a tyrant." + +Certainly, the manner _was_ "great." + +The Chamber was awaiting the entrance of Rossi. Had he lived to enter, +he would have found the Assembly, without a single exception, ranged +upon the Opposition benches. His carriage approached, attended by a +howling, hissing multitude. He smiled, affected unconcern, but must +have felt relieved when his horses entered the courtyard gate of +the _Cancelleria_. He did not know he was entering the place of his +execution. The horses stopped; he alighted in the midst of a crowd; it +jostled him, as if for the purpose of insult; he turned abruptly, +and received as he did so the fatal blow. It was dealt by a resolute, +perhaps experienced, hand; he fell and spoke no word more. + +The crowd, as if all previously acquainted with the plan, as no doubt +most of them were, issued quietly from the gate, and passed through +the outside crowd,--its members, among whom was he who dealt the blow, +dispersing in all directions. For two or three minutes this outside +crowd did not know that anything special had happened. When they did, +the news was at the moment received in silence. The soldiers in whom +Rossi had trusted, whom he had hoped to flatter and bribe, stood at +their posts and said not a word. Neither they nor any one asked, "Who +did this? Where is he gone?" The sense of the people certainly was +that it was an act of summary justice on an offender whom the laws +could not reach, but they felt it to be indecent to shout or exult on +the spot where he was breathing his last. Rome, so long supposed the +capital of Christendom, certainly took a very pagan view of this act, +and the piece represented on the occasion at the theatres was "The +Death of Nero." + +The next morning I went to the Church of St. Andrea della Valle, where +was to be performed a funeral service, with fine music, in honor of +the victims of Vienna; for this they do here for the victims of every +place,--"victims of Milan," "victims of Paris," "victims of Naples," +and now "victims of Vienna." But to-day I found the church closed, the +service put off,--Rome was thinking about her own victims. + +I passed into the Ripetta, and entered the Church of San Luigi dei +Francesi. The Republican flag was flying at the door; the young +sacristan said the fine musical service, which this church gave +formerly on St. Philip's day in honor of Louis Philippe, would now +be transferred to the Republican anniversary, the 25th of February. I +looked at the monument Chateaubriand erected when here, to a poor girl +who died, last of her family, having seen all the others perish +round her. I entered the Domenichino Chapel, and gazed anew on the +magnificent representations of the Life and Death of St. Cecilia. She +and St. Agnes are my favorite saints. I love to think of those angel +visits which her husband knew by the fragrance of roses and lilies +left behind in the apartment. I love to think of his visit to the +Catacombs, and all that followed. In one of the pictures St. Cecilia, +as she stretches out her arms toward the suffering multitude, seems +as if an immortal fount of purest love sprung from her heart. It gives +very strongly the idea of an inexhaustible love,--the only love that +is much worth thinking about. + +Leaving the church, I passed along toward the Piazza del Popolo. +"Yellow Tiber rose," but not high enough to cause "distress," as he +does when in a swelling mood. I heard the drums beating, and, entering +the Piazza, I found the troops of the line already assembled, and +the Civic Guard marching in by platoons, each battalion saluted as it +entered by trumpets and a fine strain from the band of the Carbineers. + +I climbed the Pincian to see better. There is no place so fine for +anything of this kind as the Piazza del Popolo, it is so full of +light, so fair and grand, the obelisk and fountain make so fine a +centre to all kinds of groups. + +The object of the present meeting was for the Civic Guard and troops +of the line to give pledges of sympathy preparatory to going to the +Quirinal to demand a change of ministry and of measures. The flag of +the Union was placed in front of the obelisk; all present saluted it; +some officials made addresses; the trumpets sounded, and all moved +toward the Quirinal. + +Nothing could be gentler than the disposition of those composing the +crowd. They were resolved to be played with no longer, but no +threat was uttered or thought. They believed that the court would be +convinced by the fate of Rossi that the retrograde movement it had +attempted was impracticable. They knew the retrograde party were +panic-struck, and hoped to use the occasion to free the Pope from its +meshes. All felt that Pius IX. had fallen irrevocably from his high +place as the friend of progress and father of Italy; but still he was +personally beloved, and still his name, so often shouted in hope and +joy, had not quite lost its _prestige_. + +I returned to the house, which is very near the Quirinal. On one +side I could see the palace and gardens of the Pope, on the other the +Piazza Barberini and street of the Four Fountains. Presently I saw the +carriage of Prince Barberini drive hurriedly into his court-yard gate, +the footman signing to close it, a discharge of fire-arms was heard, +and the drums of the Civic Guard beat to arms. + +The Padrona ran up and down, crying with every round of shot, "Jesu +Maria, they are killing the Pope! O poor Holy Father!--Tito, Tito," +(out of the window to her husband,) "what _is_ the matter?" + +The lord of creation disdained to reply. + +"O Signora! pray, pray, ask Tito what is the matter?" + +I did so. + +"I don't know, Signora; nobody knows." + +"Why don't you go on the Mount and see?" + +"It would be an imprudence, Signora; nobody will go." + +I was just thinking to go myself, when I saw a poor man borne by, +badly wounded, and heard that the Swiss were firing on the people. +Their doing so was the cause of whatever violence there was, and it +was not much. + +The people had assembled, as usual, at the Quirinal, only with more +form and solemnity than usual. They had taken with them several of the +Chamber of Deputies, and they sent an embassy, headed by Galetti, who +had been in the late ministry, to state their wishes. They received +a peremptory negative. They then insisted on seeing the Pope, and +pressed on the palace. The Swiss became alarmed, and fired from the +windows and from the roof. They did this, it is said, without orders; +but who could, at the time, suppose that? If it had been planned to +exasperate the people to blood, what more could have been done? As it +was, very little was shed; but the Pope, no doubt, felt great panic. +He heard the report of fire-arms,--heard that they tried to burn +a door of the palace. I would lay my life that he could have shown +himself without the slightest danger; nay, that the habitual respect +for his presence would have prevailed, and hushed all tumult. He did +not think so, and, to still it, once more degraded himself and injured +his people, by making promises he did not mean to keep. + +He protests now against those promises as extorted by violence,--a +strange plea indeed for the representative of St. Peter! + +Rome is all full of the effigies of those over whom violence had no +power. There was an early Pope about to be thrown into the Tiber; +violence had no power to make him say what he did not mean. Delicate +girls, men in the prime of hope and pride of power,--they were all +alike about that. They could die in boiling oil, roasted on coals, or +cut to pieces; but they could not say what they did not mean. These +formed the true Church; it was these who had power to disseminate +the religion of him, the Prince of Peace, who died a bloody death of +torture between sinners, because he never could say what he did not +mean. + +A little church, outside the gate of St. Sebastian commemorates the +following affecting tradition of the Church. Peter, alarmed at the +persecution of the Christians, had gone forth to fly, when in this +spot he saw a bright figure in his path, and recognized his Master +travelling toward Rome. "Lord," he said, "whither goest thou?" "I +go," replied Jesus, "to die with my people." Peter comprehended the +reproof. He felt that he must not a fourth time deny his Master, +yet hope for salvation. He returned to Rome to offer his life in +attestation of his faith. + +The Roman Catholic Church has risen a monument to the memory of +such facts. And has the present head of that Church quite failed to +understand their monition? + +Not all the Popes have so failed, though the majority have been +intriguing, ambitious men of the world. But even the mob of Rome--and +in Rome there _is_ a true mob of unheeding cabbage-sellers, who never +had a thought before beyond contriving how to satisfy their animal +instincts for the day--said, on hearing the protest, "There was +another Pius, not long since, who talked in a very different style. +When the French threatened him, he said, 'You may do with me as you +see fit, but I cannot consent to act against my convictions.'" + +In fact, the only dignified course for the Pope to pursue was to +resign his temporal power. He could no longer hold it on his own +terms; but to it he clung; and the counsellors around him were men to +wish him to regard _that_ as the first of duties. When the question +was of waging war for the independence of Italy, they regarded him +solely as the head of the Church; but when the demand was to satisfy +the wants of his people, and ecclesiastical goods were threatened with +taxes, then he was the prince of the state, bound to maintain all the +selfish prerogatives of bygone days for the benefit of his successors. +Poor Pope! how has his mind been torn to pieces in these later days! +It moves compassion. There can be no doubt that all his natural +impulses are generous and kind, and in a more private station he would +have died beloved and honored; but to this he was unequal; he has +suffered bad men to surround him, and by their misrepresentations and +insidious suggestions at last entirely to cloud his mind. I believe he +really thinks now the Progress movement tends to anarchy, blood, and +all that looked worst in the first French revolution. However that may +be, I cannot forgive him some of the circumstances of this flight. To +fly to Naples; to throw himself in the arms of the bombarding monarch, +blessing him and thanking his soldiery for preserving that part of +Italy from anarchy; to protest that all his promises at Rome were null +and void, when he thought himself in safety to choose a commission for +governing in his absence, composed of men of princely blood, but as to +character so null that everybody laughed, and said he chose those +who could best be spared if they were killed; (but they all ran away +directly;) when Rome was thus left without any government, to refuse +to see any deputation, even the Senator of Rome, whom he had so gladly +sanctioned,--these are the acts either of a fool or a foe. They are +not his acts, to be sure, but he is responsible; he lets them stand as +such in the face of the world, and weeps and prays for their success. + +No more of him! His day is over. He has been made, it seems +unconsciously, an instrument of good his regrets cannot destroy. Nor +can he be made so important an instrument of ill. These acts have not +had the effect the foes of freedom hoped. Rome remained quite cool and +composed; all felt that they had not demanded more than was their duty +to demand, and were willing to accept what might follow. In a few +days all began to say: "Well, who would have thought it? The Pope, the +Cardinals, the Princes are gone, and Rome is perfectly tranquil, and +one does not miss anything, except that there are not so many rich +carriages and liveries." + +The Pope may regret too late that he ever gave the people a chance +to make this reflection. Yet the best fruits of the movement may +not ripen for a long time. It is a movement which requires radical +measures, clear-sighted, resolute men: these last, as yet, do not show +themselves in Rome. The new Tuscan ministry has three men of superior +force in various ways,--Montanelli, Guerazzi, D'Aguila; such are not +as yet to be found in Rome. + +But should she fall this time,--and she must either advance with +decision and force, or fall, since to stand still is impossible,--the +people have learned much; ignorance and servility of thought are +lessened,--the way is paving for final triumph. + +And my country, what does she? You have chosen a new President from +a Slave State, representative of the Mexican war. But he seems to be +honest, a man that can be esteemed, and is one really known to +the people, which is a step upward, after having sunk last time to +choosing a mere tool of party. + +Pray send here a good Ambassador,--one that has experience of foreign +life, that he may act with good judgment, and, if possible, a man +that has knowledge and views which extend beyond the cause of party +politics in the United States,--a man of unity in principles, but +capable of understanding variety in forms. And send a man capable +of prizing the luxury of living in, or knowing Rome; the office of +Ambassador is one that should not be thrown away on a person who +cannot prize or use it. Another century, and I might ask to be made +Ambassador myself, ('tis true, like other Ambassadors, I would employ +clerks to do the most of the duty,) but woman's day has not come yet. +They hold their clubs in Paris, but even George Sand will not act +with women as they are. They say she pleads they are too mean, too +treacherous. She should not abandon them for that, which is not +nature, but misfortune. How much I shall have to say on that subject +if I live, which I desire not, for I am very tired of the battle with +giant wrongs, and would like to have some one younger and stronger +arise to say what ought to be said, still more to do what ought to be +done. Enough! if I felt these things in privileged America, the cries +of mothers and wives beaten at night by sons and husbands for their +diversion after drinking, as I have repeatedly heard them these past +months,--the excuse for falsehood, "I _dare not_ tell my husband, he +would be ready to kill me,"--have sharpened my perception as to the +ills of woman's condition and the remedies that must be applied. Had +I but genius, had I but energy, to tell what I know as it ought to be +told! God grant them me, or some other more worthy woman, I pray. + +_Don Tirlone_, the _Punch_ of Rome, has just come in. This number +represents the fortress of Gaeta. Outside hangs a cage containing +a parrot (_pappagallo_), the plump body of the bird surmounted by a +noble large head with benign face and Papal head-dress. He sits on +the perch now with folded wings, but the cage door, in likeness of a +portico, shows there is convenience to come forth for the purposes +of benediction, when wanted. Outside, the king of Naples, dressed +as Harlequin, plays the organ for instruction of the bird (unhappy +penitent, doomed to penance), and, grinning with sharp teeth, +observes: "He speaks in my way now." In the background a young +Republican holds ready the match for a barrel of gunpowder, but looks +at his watch, waiting the moment to ignite it. + +A happy New Year to my country! may she be worthy of the privileges +she possesses, while others are lavishing their blood to win +them,--that is all that need be wished for her at present. + + + + +LETTER XXVII. + +ROME.--THE CARNIVAL: THE MOCCOLETTI.--THE ROMAN CHARACTER.--THE +POPE'S FLIGHT.--THE ASSEMBLY.--THE PEOPLE.--THE POPE'S MISTAKE.--HIS +MANIFESTO: ITS TONE AND EFFECT.--DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPORAL DOMINION +OF THE CHURCH. + + +Rome, Evening of Feb. 20, 1849. + +It is said you cannot thoroughly know any place till you have both +summered and wintered in it; but more than one summer and winter of +experience seems to be needed for Rome. How I fretted last winter, +during the three months' rain, and sepulchral chill, and far worse +than sepulchral odors, which accompanied it! I thought it was the +invariable Roman winter, and that I should never be able to stay here +during another; so took my room only by the month, thinking to fly so +soon as the rain set in. And lo! it has never rained at all; but there +has been glorious sun and moon, unstained by cloud, always; and these +last days have been as warm as May,--the days of the Carnival, for I +have just come in from seeing the _Moccoletti_. + +The Republican Carnival has not been as splendid as the Papal, the +absence of dukes and princes being felt in the way of coaches and +rich dresses; there are also fewer foreigners than usual, many having +feared to assist at this most peaceful of revolutions. But if +less splendid, it was not less gay; the costumes were many and +fanciful,--flowers, smiles, and fun abundant. + +This is the first time of my seeing the true _Moccoletti_; last year, +in one of the first triumphs of democracy, they did not blow oat the +lights, thus turning it into an illumination. The effect of the swarms +of lights, little and large, thus in motion all over the fronts of +the houses, and up and down the Corso, was exceedingly pretty and +fairy-like; but that did not make up for the loss of that wild, +innocent gayety of which this people alone is capable after childhood, +and which never shines out so much as on this occasion. It is +astonishing the variety of tones, the lively satire and taunt of which +the words _Senza moccolo_, _senza mo_, are susceptible from +their tongues. The scene is the best burlesque on the life of the +"respectable" world that can be imagined. A ragamuffin with a little +piece of candle, not even lighted, thrusts it in your face with an air +of far greater superiority than he can wear who, dressed in gold and +velvet, erect in his carriage, holds aloft his light on a tall pole. +In vain his security; while he looks down on the crowd to taunt the +wretches _senza mo_, a weak female hand from a chamber window blots +out his pretensions by one flirt of an old handkerchief. + +Many handsome women, otherwise dressed in white, wore the red liberty +cap, and the noble though somewhat coarse Roman outline beneath this +brilliant red, by the changeful glow of million lights, made a fine +effect. Men looked too vulgar in the liberty cap. + +How I mourn that my little companion E. never saw these things, that +would have given him such store of enchanting reminiscences for all +his after years! I miss him always on such occasions; formerly it was +through him that I enjoyed them. He had the child's heart, had +the susceptible fancy, and, naturally, a fine discerning sense for +whatever is individual or peculiar. + +I missed him much at the Fair of St. Eustachio. This, like the +Carnival, was last year entirely spoiled by constant rain. I never +saw it at all before. It comes in the first days, or rather nights, of +January. All the quarter of St. Eustachio is turned into one toy-shop; +the stalls are set out in the street and brightly lighted, up. These +are full of cheap toys,--prices varying from half a cent up to twenty +cents. The dolls, which are dressed as husband and wife, or sometimes +grouped in families, are the most grotesque rag-babies that can +be imagined. Among the toys are great quantities of whistles, tin +trumpets, and little tambourines; of these every man, woman, and +child has bought one, and is using it to make a noise. This extempore +concert begins about ten o'clock, and lasts till midnight; the +delight of the numerous children that form part of the orchestra, the +good-humored familiarity without the least touch of rudeness in the +crowd, the lively effect of the light upon the toys, and the jumping, +shouting figures that, exhibit them, make this the pleasantest +Saturnalia. Had you only been there, E., to guide me by the hand, +blowing the trumpet for both, and spying out a hundred queer things in +nooks that entirely escape me! + +The Roman still plays amid his serious affairs, and very serious have +they been this past winter. The Roman legions went out singing and +dancing to fight in Lombardy, and they fought no less bravely for +that. + +When I wrote last, the Pope had fled, guided, he says, "by the hand +of Providence,"--Italy deems by the hand of Austria,--to Gaeta. He +had already soiled his white robes, and defamed himself for ever, +by heaping benedictions on the king of Naples and the bands of +mercenaries whom he employs to murder his subjects on the least sign +of restlessness in their most painful position. Most cowardly had been +the conduct of his making promises he never meant to keep, stealing +away by night in the coach of a foreign diplomatist, protesting that +what he had done was null because he had acted under fear,--as if +such a protest could avail to one who boasts himself representative +of Christ and his Apostles, guardian of the legacy of the martyrs! He +selected a band of most incapable men to face the danger he had feared +for himself; most of these followed his example and fled. Rome sought +an interview with him, to see if reconciliation were possible; he +refused to receive her messengers. His wicked advisers calculated upon +great confusion and distress as inevitable on the occasion; but, +for once, the hope of the bad heart was doomed to immediate +disappointment. Rome coolly said, "If you desert me,--if you will not +hear me,--I must act for myself." She threw herself into the arms of +a few men who had courage and calmness for this crisis; they bade her +think upon what was to be done, meanwhile avoiding every excess that +could give a color to calumny and revenge. The people, with admirable +good sense, comprehended and followed up this advice. Never was Rome +so truly tranquil, so nearly free from gross ill, as this winter. A +few words of brotherly admonition have been more powerful than all the +spies, dungeons, and scaffolds of Gregory. + +"The hand of the Omnipotent works for us," observed an old man whom I +saw in the street selling cigars the evening before the opening of the +Constitutional Assembly. He was struck by the radiant beauty of the +night. The old people observe that there never has been such a winter +as this which follows the establishment by the French of a republic. + +May the omens speed well! A host of enemies without are ready to levy +war against this long-suffering people, to rivet anew their chains. +Still there is now an obvious tide throughout Europe toward a better +order of things, and a wave of it may bear Italy onward to the shore. + +The revolution, like all genuine ones, has been instinctive, its +results unexpected and surprising to the greater part of those who +achieved them. The waters, which had flowed so secretly beneath the +crust of habit that many never heard their murmur, unless in dreams, +have suddenly burst to light in full and beautiful jets; all rush to +drink the pure and living draught. + +As in the time of Jesus, the multitude had been long enslaved beneath +a cumbrous ritual, their minds designedly darkened by those who +should have enlightened them, brutified, corrupted, amid monstrous +contradictions and abuses; yet the moment they hear a word +correspondent to the original nature, "Yes, it is true," they cry. "It +is spoken with, authority. Yes, it ought to be so. Priests ought to +be better and wiser than other men; if they were, they would not need +pomp and temporal power to command respect. Yes, it is true; we ought +not to lie; we should not try to impose upon one another. We ought +rather to prefer that our children should work honestly for their +bread, than get it by cheating, begging, or the prostitution of their +mothers. It would be better to act worthily and kindly, probably would +please God more than the kissing of relics. We have long darkly felt +that these things were so; _now_ we know it." + +The unreality of relation between the people and the hierarchy was +obvious instantly upon the flight of Pius. He made an immense mistake +then, and he made it because neither he nor his Cardinals were aware +of the unreality. They did not know that, great as is the force of +habit, truth _only_ is imperishable. The people had abhorred Gregory, +had adored Pius, upon whom they looked as a saviour, as a liberator; +finding themselves deceived, a mourning-veil had overshadowed their +love. Still, had Pius remained here, and had courage to show himself +on agitating occasions, his position as the Pope, before whom they had +been bred to bow, his aspect, which had once seemed to them full of +blessing and promise, like that of an angel, would have still retained +power. Probably the temporal dominion of the Papacy would not have +been broken up. He fled; the people felt contempt for his want of +force and truth. He wrote to reproach them with ingratitude; they were +indignant. What had they to be grateful for? A constitution to which +he had not kept true an instant; the institution of the National +Guard, which he had begun to neutralize; benedictions, followed by +such actions as the desertion of the poor volunteers in the war for +Italian independence? Still, the people were not quite alienated +from Pius. They felt sure that his heart was, in substance, good +and kindly, though the habits of the priest and the arts of his +counsellors had led him so egregiously to falsify its dictates and +forget the vocation with which he had been called. Many hoped he would +see his mistake, and return to be at one with the people. Among the +more ignorant, there was a superstitious notion that he would return +in the night of the 5th of January. There were many bets that he would +be found in the palace of the Quirinal the morning of the 6th. All +these lingering feelings were finally extinguished by the advice of +excommunication. As this may not have readied America, I subjoin a +translation. Here I was obliged to make use of a manuscript copy; +all the printed ones were at once destroyed. It is probably the last +document of the kind the world will see. + + +MANIFESTO OF PIUS IX. + +"To OUR MOST BELOVED SUBJECTS:-- + +"From this pacific abode to which it has pleased Divine Providence to +conduct us, and whence we can freely manifest our sentiments and our +will, we have waited for testimonies of remorse from our misguided +children for the sacrileges and misdeeds committed against persons +attached to our service,--among whom some have been slain, others +outraged in the most barbarous manner,--as well as for those against +our residence and our person. But we have seen nothing except a +sterile invitation to return to our capital, unaccompanied by a +word of condemnation for those crimes or the least guaranty for our +security against the frauds and violences of that same company of +furious men which still tyrannizes with a barbarous despotism over +Rome and the States of the Church. We also waited, expecting that +the protests and orders we have uttered would recall to the duties of +fidelity and subjection those who have despised and trampled upon them +in the very capital of our States. But, instead of this, a new and +more monstrous act of undisguised felony and of actual rebellion by +them audaciously committed, has filled the measure of our affliction, +and excited at the same time our just indignation, as it will +afflict the Church Universal. We speak of that act, in every +respect detestable, by which, it has been pretended to initiate the +convocation of a so-called General National Assembly of the Roman +States, by a decree of the 29th of last December, in order to +establish new political forms for the Pontifical dominion. Adding +thus iniquity to iniquity, the authors and favorers of the demagogical +anarchy strive to destroy the temporal authority of the Roman Pontiff +over the dominions of Holy Church,--however irrefragably established +through the most ancient and solid rights, and venerated, recognized, +and sustained by all the nations,--pretending and making others +believe that his sovereign power can be subject to controversy or +depend on the caprices of the factious. We shall spare our dignity +the humiliation of dwelling on all that is monstrous contained in that +act, abominable through the absurdity of its origin no less than the +illegality of its form and the impiety of its scope; but it appertains +to the apostolic authority, with which, however unworthy, we are +invested, and to the responsibility which binds us by the most sacred +oaths in the sight of the Omnipotent, not only to protest in the most +energetic and efficacious manner against that same act, but to condemn +it in the face of the universe as an enormous and sacrilegious crime +against our independence and sovereignty, meriting the chastisements +threatened by divine and human laws. We are persuaded that, on +receiving the impudent invitation, you were full of holy indignation, +and will have rejected far from you this guilty and shameful +provocation. Notwithstanding, that none of you may say he has been +deluded by fallacious seductions, and by the preachers of subversive +doctrines, or ignorant of what is contriving by the foes of all order, +all law, all right, true liberty, and your happiness, we to-day again +raise and utter abroad our voice, so that you may be more certain of +the absoluteness with which we prohibit men, of whatever class and +condition, from taking any part in the meetings which those persons +may dare to call, for the nomination of individuals to be sent to +the condemned Assembly. At the same time we recall to you how this +absolute prohibition is sanctioned by the decrees of our predecessors +and of the Councils, especially of the Sacred Council-General of +Trent, Sect. XXII. Chap. 11, in which the Church has fulminated many +times her censures, and especially the greater excommunication, as +incurred without fail by any declaration of whomsoever daring to +become guilty of whatsoever attempt against the temporal sovereignty +of the Supreme Pontiff, this we declare to have been already unhappily +incurred by all those who have given aid to the above-named act, and +others preceding, intended to prejudice the same sovereignty, and in +other modes and under false pretexts have, perturbed, violated, +and usurped our authority. Yet, though we feel ourselves obliged by +conscience to guard the sacred deposit of the patrimony of the Spouse +of Jesus Christ, confided to our care, by using the sword of severity +given to us for that purpose, we cannot therefore forget that we are +on earth the representative of Him who in exercise of his justice does +not forget mercy. Raising, therefore, our hands to Heaven, while we +to it recommend a cause which is indeed more Heaven's than ours, and +while anew we declare ourselves ready, with the aid of its powerful +grace, to drink even to the dregs, for the defence and glory of the +Catholic Church, the cup of persecution which He first wished to drink +for the salvation of the same, we shall not desist from supplicating +Him benignly to hear the fervent prayers which day and night we +unceasingly offer for the salvation of the misguided. No day certainly +could be more joyful for us, than that in which it shall be granted to +see return into the fold of the Lord our sons from whom now we derive +so much bitterness and so great tribulations. The hope of enjoying +soon the happiness of such a day is strengthened in us by the +reflection, that universal are the prayers which, united to ours, +ascend to the throne of Divine Mercy from the lips and the heart of +the faithful throughout the Catholic world, urging it continually to +change the hearts of sinners, and reconduct them into the paths of +truth and of justice. + +"Gaeta, January 6, 1849." + + +The silliness, bigotry, and ungenerous tone of this manifesto excited +a simultaneous movement in the population. The procession which +carried it, mumbling chants, for deposit in places provided for lowest +uses, and then, taking from, the doors of the hatters' shops the +cardinals' hats, threw them into the Tiber, was a real and general +expression of popular disgust. From that hour the power of the scarlet +hierarchy fell to rise no more. No authority can survive a universal +movement of derision. From that hour tongues and pens were loosed, the +leaven of Machiavellism, which still polluted the productions of the +more liberal, disappeared, and people talked as they felt, just as +those of us who do not choose to be slaves are accustomed to do in +America. + +"Jesus," cried an orator, "bade them feed his lambs. If they have done +so, it has been to rob their fleece and drink their blood." + +"Why," said another, "have we been so long deaf to the saying, that +the temporal dominion of the Church was like a thorn in the wound of +Italy, which shall never be healed till that thorn is extracted?" + +And then, without passion, all felt that the temporal dominion was in +fact finished of itself, and that it only remained to organize another +form of government. + + + + +LETTER XXVIII. + +GIOBERTI, MAMIANI, AND MAZZINI.--FORMATION OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL +ASSEMBLY.--THE RIGHT OF SUFFRAGE.--A PROCESSION.--PROCLAMATION OF +THE REPUBLIC.--RESULTS.--DECREE OF THE ASSEMBLY.--AMERICANS IN +ROME: DIFFERENCE OF IMPRESSIONS.--FLIGHT OF THE GRAND DUKE OF +TUSCANY.--CHARLES ALBERT.--PRESENT STATE OF ROME.--REFLECTIONS AND +CONCLUSIONS.--LATEST INTELLIGENCE. + + +Rome, Evening of Feb. 20, 1849. + +The League between the Italian States, and the Diet which was to +establish it, had been the thought of Gioberti, but had found the +instrument at Rome in Mamiani. The deputies were to be named by +princes or parliaments, their mandate to be limited by the existing +institutions of the several states; measures of mutual security and +some modifications in the way of reform would be the utmost that could +be hoped from this Diet. The scope of this party did not go beyond +more vigorous prosecution of the war for independence, and the +establishment of good, institutions for the several principalities on +a basis of assimilation. + +Mazzini, the great radical thinker of Italy, was, on the contrary, +persuaded that unity, not union, was necessary to this country. He +had taken for his motto, GOD AND THE PEOPLE, and believed in no +other powers. He wished an Italian Constitutional Assembly, selected +directly by the people, and furnished with an unlimited mandate to +decide what form was now required by the needs of the Peninsula. His +own wishes, certainly, aimed at a republic; but the decision remained +with the representatives of the people. + +The thought of Gioberti had been at first the popular one, as he, +in fact, was the seer of the so-called Moderate party. For myself, I +always looked upon him as entirely a charlatan, who covered his want +of all real force by the thickest embroidered mantle of words. Still, +for a time, he corresponded with the wants of the Italian mind. He +assailed the Jesuits, and was of real use by embodying the distrust +and aversion that brooded in the minds of men against these most +insidious and inveterate foes of liberty and progress. This triumph, +at least, he may boast: that sect has been obliged to yield; its +extinction seems impossible, of such life-giving power was the fiery +will of Loyola. In the Primate he had embodied the lingering hope of +the Catholic Church; Pius IX. had answered to the appeal, had answered +only to show its futility. He had run through Italy as courier for +Charles Albert, when the so falsely styled Magnanimous entered, +pretending to save her from the stranger, really hoping to take her +for himself. His own cowardice and treachery neutralized the hope, and +Charles Albert, abject in his disgrace, took a retrograde ministry. +This the country would not suffer, and obliged him after a while +to reassume at least the position of the previous year, by taking +Gioberti for his premier. But it soon became evident that the ministry +of Charles Albert was in the same position as had been that of Pius +IX. The hand was powerless when the head was indisposed. Meantime the +name of Mazzini had echoed through Tuscany from the revered lips +of Montanelli; it reached the Roman States, and though at first +propagated by foreign impulse, yet, as soon as understood, was +welcomed as congenial. Montanelli had nobly said, addressing Florence: +"We could not regret that the realization of this project should take +place in a sister city, still more illustrious than ours." The Romans +took him at his word; the Constitutional Assembly for the Roman States +was elected with a double mandate, that the deputies might sit in the +Constitutional Assembly for all Italy whenever the other provinces +could send theirs. They were elected by universal suffrage. Those who +listened to Jesuits and Moderates predicted that the project would +fail of itself. The people were too ignorant to make use of the +liberty of suffrage. + +But ravens now-a-days are not the true prophetic birds. The Roman +eagle recommences her flight, and it is from its direction only that +the high-priest may draw his augury. The people are certainly as +ignorant as centuries of the worst government, the neglect of popular +education, the enslavement of speech and the press, could make them; +yet they have an instinct to recognize measures that are good for +them. A few weeks' schooling at some popular meetings, the clubs, the +conversations of the National Guards in their quarters or on patrol, +were sufficient to concert measures so well, that the people voted in +larger proportion than at contested elections in our country, and made +a very good choice. + +The opening of the Constitutional Assembly gave occasion for a fine +procession. All the troops in Rome defiled from the Campidoglio; +among them many bear the marks of suffering from the Lombard war. The +banners of Sicily, Venice, and Bologna waved proudly; that of Naples +was veiled with crape. I was in a balcony in the Piazza di Venezia; +the Palazzo di Venezia, that sternest feudal pile, so long the +head-quarters of Austrian machinations, seemed to frown, as the bands +each in passing struck up the _Marseillaise_. The nephew of Napoleon +and Garibaldi, the hero of Montevideo, walked together, as deputies. +The deputies, a grave band, mostly advocates or other professional +men, walked without other badge of distinction than the tricolored +scarf. I remembered the entrance of the deputies to the Council only +fourteen months ago, in the magnificent carriages lent by the princes +for the occasion; they too were mostly nobles, and their liveried +attendants followed, carrying their scutcheons. Princes and +councillors have both fled or sunk into nothingness; in those +councillors was no counsel. Will it be found in the present? Let us +hope so! What we see to-day has much more the air of reality than all +that parade of scutcheons, or the pomp of dress and retinue with which +the Ecclesiastical Court was wont to amuse the people. + +A few days after followed the proclamation of a Republic. An immense +crowd of people surrounded the Palazzo della Cancelleria, within whose +court-yard Rossi fell, while the debate was going on within. At one +o'clock in the morning of the 9th of February, a Republic was resolved +upon, and the crowd rushed away to ring all the bells. + +Early next morning I rose and went forth to observe the Republic. +Over the Quirinal I went, through the Forum, to the Capitol. There was +nothing to be seen except the magnificent calm emperor, the tamers +of horses, the fountain, the trophies, the lions, as usual; among the +marbles, for living figures, a few dirty, bold women, and Murillo boys +in the sun just as usual. I passed into the Corso; there were men in +the liberty cap,--of course the lowest and vilest had been the first +to assume it; all the horrible beggars persecuting as impudently as +usual. I met some English; all their comfort was, "It would not last +a month." "They hoped to see all these fellows shot yet." The English +clergyman, more mild and legal, only hopes to see them (i.e. the +ministry, deputies, &c.) _hung_. + +Mr. Carlyle would be delighted with his countrymen. They are entirely +ready and anxious to see a Cromwell for Italy. They, too, think, when +the people starve, "It is no matter what happens in the back parlor." +What signifies that, if there is "order" in the front? How dare the +people make a noise to disturb us yawning at billiards! + +I met an American. He "had no confidence in the Republic." Why? +Because he "had no confidence in the people." Why? Because "they were +not like _our_ people." Ah! Jonathan and John,--excuse me, but I +must say the Italian has a decided advantage over you in the power of +quickly feeling generous sympathy, as well as some other things which +I have not time now to particularize. I have memoranda from you both +in my note-book. + +At last the procession mounts the Campidoglio. It is all dressed with +banners. The tricolor surmounts the palace of the senator; the senator +himself has fled. The deputies mount the steps, and one of them reads, +in a clear, friendly voice, the following words:-- + + +"FUNDAMENTAL DECREE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL ASSEMBLY OF ROME. + +"ART. I.--The Papacy has fallen in fact and in right from the temporal +government of the Roman State. + +"ART. II.--The Roman Pontiff shall have all the necessary guaranties +for independence in the exercise of his spiritual power. + +"ART. III.--The form of government of the Roman State shall be a pure +democracy, and will take the glorious name of Roman Republic. + +"ART. IV.--The Roman Republic shall have with the rest of Italy the +relations exacted by a common nationality." + +Between each of these expressive sentences the speaker paused; the +great bell of the Capitol gave forth its solemn melodies; the cannon +answered; while the crowd shouted, _Viva la Republica! Viva Italia!_ + + +The imposing grandeur of the spectacle to me gave new force to the +emotion that already swelled my heart; my nerves thrilled, and I +longed to see in some answering glance a spark of Rienzi, a little of +that soul which made my country what she is. The American at my side +remained impassive. Receiving all his birthright from a triumph of +democracy, he was quite indifferent to this manifestation on this +consecrated spot. Passing the winter in Rome to study art, he was +insensible to the artistic beauty of the scene,--insensible to this +new life of that spirit from which all the forms he gazes at +in galleries emanated. He "did not see the use of these popular +demonstrations." + +Again I must mention a remark of his, as a specimen of the ignorance +in which Americans usually remain during their flighty visits to these +scenes, where they associate only with one another. And I do it the +rather as this seemed a really thoughtful, intelligent man; no vain, +vulgar trifler. He said, "The people seem only to be looking on; they +take no part." + +What people? said I. + +"Why, these around us; there is no other people." + +There are a few beggars, errand-boys, and nurse-maids. + +"The others are only soldiers." + +Soldiers! The Civic Guard! all the decent men in Rome. + +Thus it is that the American, on many points, becomes more ignorant +for coming abroad, because he attaches some value to his crude +impressions and frequent blunders. It is not thus that any seed-corn +can be gathered from foreign gardens. Without modest scrutiny, patient +study, and observation, he spends his money and goes home, with a +new coat perhaps, but a mind befooled rather than instructed. It +is necessary to speak the languages of these countries, and know +personally some of their inhabitants, in order to form any accurate +impressions. + +The flight of the Grand Duke of Tuscany followed. In imitation of +his great exemplar, he promised and smiled to the last, deceiving +Montanelli, the pure and sincere, at the very moment he was about to +enter his carriage, into the belief that he persevered in his assent +to the liberal movement. His position was certainly very difficult, +but he might have left it like a gentleman, like a man of honor. 'T +was pity to destroy so lightly the good opinion the Tuscans had of +him. Now Tuscany meditates union with Rome. + +Meanwhile, Charles Albert is filled with alarm. He is indeed betwixt +two fires. Gioberti has published one of his prolix, weak addresses, +in which, he says, that in the beginning of every revolution one must +fix a limit beyond which he will not go; that, for himself, he has +done it,--others are passing beyond his mark, and he will not go any +farther. Of the want of thought, of insight into historic and all +other truths, which distinguishes the "illustrious Gioberti," this +assumption is a specimen. But it makes no difference; he and his +prince must go, sooner or later, if the movement continues, nor is +there any prospect of its being stayed unless by foreign intervention. +This the Pope has not yet, it is believed, solicited, but there is +little reason to hope he will be spared that crowning disgrace. He +has already consented to the incitement of civil war. Should an +intervention be solicited, all depends on France. Will she basely +forfeit every pledge and every duty, to say nothing of her true +interest? It seems that her President stands doubtful, intending to +do what is for _his_ particular interest; but if his interest proves +opposed to the republican principle, will France suffer herself again +to be hoodwinked and enslaved? It is impossible to know, she has +already shown such devotion to the mere prestige of a name. + +On England no dependence can be placed. She is guided by no great +idea; her Parliamentary leaders sneer at sentimental policy, and the +"jargon" of ideas. She will act, as always, for her own interest; and +the interest of her present government is becoming more and more the +crushing of the democratic tendency. They are obliged to do it at +home, both in the back and the front parlor; it would not be decent +as yet to have a Spielberg just at home for obstreperous patriots, but +England has so many ships, it is just as easy to transport them to +a safe distance. Then the Church of England, so long an enemy to the +Church of Rome, feels a decided interest with it on the subject of +temporal possessions. The rich English traveller, fearing to see the +Prince Borghese stripped of one of his palaces for a hospital or +some such low use, thinks of his own twenty-mile park and the crowded +village of beggars at its gate, and muses: "I hope to see them all +shot yet, these rascally republicans." + +How I wish my country would show some noble sympathy when an +experience so like her own is going on. Politically she cannot +interfere; but formerly, when Greece and Poland were struggling, they +were at least aided by private contributions. Italy, naturally so +rich, but long racked and impoverished by her oppressors, greatly +needs money to arm and clothe her troops. Some token of sympathy, too, +from America would be so welcome to her now. If there were a circle of +persons inclined to trust such to me, I might venture to promise the +trust should be used to the advantage of Italy. It would make me proud +to have my country show a religious faith in the progress of ideas, +and make some small sacrifice of its own great resources in aid of a +sister cause, now. + +But I must close this letter, which it would be easy to swell to a +volume from the materials in my mind. One or two traits of the hour I +must note. Mazzarelli, chief of the present ministry, was a prelate, +and named spontaneously by the Pope before his flight. He has +shown entire and frank intrepidity. He has laid aside the title of +Monsignor, and appears before the world as a layman. + +Nothing can be more tranquil than has been the state of Rome all +winter. Every wile has been used by the Oscurantists to excite the +people, but their confidence in their leaders could not be broken. +A little mutiny in the troops, stimulated by letters from their old +leaders, was quelled in a moment. The day after the proclamation of +the Republic, some zealous ignoramuses insulted the carriages that +appeared with servants in livery. The ministry published a grave +admonition, that democracy meant liberty, not license, and that he +who infringed upon an innocent freedom of action in others must +be declared traitor to his country. Every act of the kind ceased +instantly. An intimation that it was better not to throw large comfits +or oranges during the Carnival, as injuries have thus been sometimes +caused, was obeyed with equal docility. + +On Sunday last, placards affixed in the high places summoned the city +to invest Giuseppe Mazzini with the rights of a Roman citizen. I have +not yet heard the result. The Pope made Rossi a Roman citizen; he was +suffered to retain that title only one day. It was given him on the +14th of November, he died the 15th. Mazzini enters Rome at any rate, +for the first time in his life, as deputy to the Constitutional +Assembly; it would be a noble poetic justice, if he could enter also +as a Roman citizen. + + +February 24. + +The Austrians have invaded Ferrara, taken $200,000 and six hostages, +and retired. This step is, no doubt, intended to determine whether +France will resent the insult, or whether she will betray Italy. It +shows also the assurance of the Austrian that the Pope will approve +of an armed intervention. Probably before I write again these matters +will reach some decided crisis. + + + + +LETTER XXIX. + +THE ROMAN REPUBLIC.--CHARLES ALBERT A TRAITOR.--FALL OF +GIOBERTI.--MAZZINI.--HIS CHARACTER.--HIS ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE.--HIS +ORATORY.--AMERICAN ARTISTS.--BROWN, TERRY, AND FREEMAN.--HICKS AND +HIS PICTURES.--CROPSEY AND CRANCH CONTRASTED.--AMERICAN +LANDSCAPE PAINTINGS.--SCULPTORS.--STORY'S "FISHER BOY."--MOZIER'S +"POCAHONTAS."--GREENOUGH'S GROUP.--POWERS'S "SLAVE."--THE +EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF WASHINGTON.--CRAWFORD'S DESIGN.--TRIALS OF THE +ARTIST.--AMERICAN PATRONS OF ART.--EXPENSES OF ARTIST LIFE.--A GERMAN +SCULPTOR.--OVERBECK AND HIS PAINTINGS.--FESTIVAL OF FRIED RICE.--AN +AVE MARIA. + + +Rome, March 20, 1849. + +The Roman Republic moves on better than could have been expected. +There are great difficulties about money, necessarily, as the +government, so beset with trials and dangers, cannot command +confidence in that respect. The solid coin has crept out of +the country or lies hid, and in the use of paper there are the +corresponding inconveniences. But the poor, always the chief sufferers +from such a state of things, are wonderfully patient, and I doubt not +that the new form, if Italy could be left to itself, would be settled +for the advantage of all. Tuscany would soon be united with Rome, and +to the Republic of Central Italy, no longer broken asunder by petty +restrictions and sacrificed to the interests of a few persons, would +come that prosperity natural to a region so favored by nature. + +Could Italy be left alone! But treacherous, selfish men at home strive +to betray, and foes threaten her from without on every side. Even +France, her natural ally, promises to prove foolishly and basely +faithless. The dereliction from principle of her government seems +certain, and thus far the nation, despite the remonstrance of a few +worthy men, gives no sign of effective protest. There would be little +hope for Italy, were not the thrones of her foes in a tottering state, +their action liable at every moment to be distracted by domestic +difficulties. The Austrian government seems as destitute of support +from the nation as is possible for a government to be, and the army is +no longer what it was, being made up so largely of new recruits. The +Croats are uncertain in their adhesion, the war in Hungary likely to +give them much to do; and if the Russian is called in, the rest of +Europe becomes hostile. All these circumstances give Italy a chance +she otherwise could not have; she is in great measure unfurnished with +arms and money; her king in the South is a bloody, angry, well-armed +foe; her king in the North, a proved traitor. Charles Albert has now +declared, war because he could not do otherwise; but his sympathies +are in fact all against liberty; the splendid lure that he might +become king of Italy glitters no more; the Republicans are in the +ascendant, and he may well doubt, should the stranger be driven out, +whether Piedmont could escape the contagion. Now, his people insisting +on war, he has the air of making it with a good grace; but should he +be worsted, probably he will know some loophole by which to steal out. +The rat will get out and leave the lion in the trap. + +The "illustrious Gioberti" has fallen,--fallen for ever from his high +scaffold of words. His demerits were too unmistakable for rhetoric to +hide. That he sympathized with the Pope rather than the Roman people, +and could not endure to see him stripped of his temporal power, no +one could blame in the author of the _Primato_. That he refused the +Italian General Assembly, if it was to be based on the so-called +Montanelli system instead of his own, might be conviction, or it might +be littleness and vanity. But that he privily planned, without even +adherence of the council of ministers, an armed intervention of the +Piedmontese troops in Tuscany, thus willing to cause civil war, and, +at this great moment, to see Italian blood shed by Italian hands, was +treachery. I think, indeed, he has been probably made the scape-goat +in that affair; that Charles Albert planned the measure, and, finding +himself unable to carry it out, in consequence of the vigilance and +indignant opposition of the Chamber of Deputies, was somewhat consoled +by making it an occasion to victimize the "Illustrious," whom four +weeks before the people had forced him to accept as his minister. + +Now the name of Gioberti is erased from the corners of the streets to +which it was affixed a year ago; he is stripped of all his honorary +degrees, and proclaimed an unworthy son of the country. Mazzini is +the idol of the people. "Soon to be hunted out," sneered the sceptical +American. Possibly yes; for no man is secure of his palm till the +fight is over. The civic wreath may be knocked from his head a hundred +times in the ardor of the contest. No matter, if he can always keep +the forehead pure and lofty, as will Mazzini. + +In thinking of Mazzini, I always remember Petrarch's invocation to +Rienzi. Mazzini comes at a riper period in the world's history, with +the same energy of soul, but of purer temper and more enlarged views +to answer them. + +I do not know whether I mentioned a kind of poetical correspondence +about Mazzini and Rossi. Rossi was also an exile for liberal +principles, but he did not value his birthright; he alienated it, and +as a French citizen became peer of France and representative of Louis +Philippe in Italy. When, with the fatuity of those whom the gods +have doomed to perish, Pius IX. took the representative of the fallen +Guizot policy for his minister, he made him a Roman citizen. He was +proclaimed such on the 14th of November. On the 15th he perished, +before he could enter the parliament he had called. He fell at the +door of the Cancelleria when it was sitting. + +Mazzini, in his exile, remained absolutely devoted to his native +country. Because, though feeling as few can that the interests of +humanity in all nations are identical, he felt also that, born of a +race so suffering, so much needing devotion and energy, his first +duty was to that. The only powers he acknowledged were _God and the +People_, the special scope of his acts the unity and independence of +Italy. Rome was the theme of his thoughts, but, very early exiled, +he had never seen that home to which all the orphans of the soul +so naturally turn. Now he entered it as a Roman citizen, elected +representative of the people by universal suffrage. His motto, _Dio +e Popolo_, is put upon the coin with the Roman eagle; unhappily this +first-issued coin is of brass, or else of silver, with much alloy. +_Dii, avertite omen_, and may peaceful days turn it all to pure gold! + +On his first entrance to the house, Mazzini, received with fervent +applause and summoned, to take his place beside the President, spoke +as follows:-- + +"It is from me, colleagues, that should come these tokens of applause, +these tokens of affection, because the little good I have not done, +but tried to do, has come to me from Rome. Rome was always a sort of +talisman for me; a youth, I studied the history of Italy, and found, +while all the other nations were born, grew up, played their part in +the world, then fell to reappear no more in the same power, a single +city was privileged by God to die only to rise again greater than +before, to fulfil a mission greater than the first. I saw the Rome +of the Empire extend her conquests from the confines of Africa to the +confines of Asia. I saw Rome perish, crushed by the barbarians, by +those whom even yet the world, calls barbarians. I saw her rise +again, after having chased away these same barbarians, reviving in +its sepulchre the germ of Civilization. I saw her rise more great +for conquest, not with arms, but with words,--rise in the name of the +Popes to repeat her grand mission. I said in my heart, the city which +alone in the world has had two grand lives, one greater than the +other, will have a third. After the Rome which wrought by conquest of +arms, the Rome which wrought by conquest of words, must come a third +which shall work by virtue of example. After the Rome of the Emperors, +after the Rome of the Popes, will come the Rome of the People. The +Rome of the People is arisen; do not salute with applauses, but let +us rejoice together! I cannot promise anything for myself, except +concurrence in all you shall do for the good of Rome, of Italy, of +mankind. Perhaps we shall have to pass through great crises; perhaps +we shall have to fight a sacred battle against the only enemy that +threatens us,--Austria. We will fight it, and we will conquer. I hope, +please God, that foreigners may not be able to say any more that which +so many of them repeat to-day, speaking of our affairs,--that the +light which, comes from Rome is only an _ignis fatuus_ wandering among +the tombs. The world shall see that it is a starry light, eternal, +pure, and resplendent as those we look up to in the heavens!" + +On a later day he spoke more fully of the difficulties that threaten +at home the young republic, and said:-- + +"Let us not hear of Right, of Left, of Centre; these terms express +the three powers in a constitutional monarchy; for us they have +no meaning; the only divisions for us are of Republicans or +non-Republicans,--or of sincere men and temporizing men. Let us not +hear so much of the Republicans of to-day and of yesterday; I am a +Republican of twenty years' standing. Entertaining such hopes for +Italy, when many excellent, many sincere men held them as Utopian, +shall I denounce these men because they are now convinced of their +practicability?" + +This last I quote from memory. In hearing the gentle tone of +remonstrance with those of more petty mind, or influenced by the +passions of the partisan, I was forcibly reminded of the parable by +Jesus, of the vineyard and the discontent of the laborers that those +who came at the eleventh hour "received also a penny." Mazzini also is +content that all should fare alike as brethren, if only they will come +into the vineyard. He is not an orator, but the simple conversational +tone of his address is in refreshing contrast with the boyish rhetoric +and academic swell common to Italian speakers in the present unfledged +state. As they have freer use of the power of debate, they will +become more simple and manly. The speech of Mazzini is laden with +thought,--it goes straight to the mark by the shortest path, and moves +without effort, from the irresistible impression of deep conviction +and fidelity in the speaker. Mazzini is a man of genius, an elevated +thinker; but the most powerful and first impression from his presence +must always be of the religion of his soul, of his _virtue_, both in +the modern and antique sense of that word. + +If clearness of right, if energy, if indefatigable perseverance, can +steer the ship through this dangerous pass, it will be done. He said, +"We will conquer"; whether Rome will, this time, is not to me certain, +but such men as Mazzini conquer always,--conquer in defeat. Yet Heaven +grant that no more blood, no more corruption of priestly government, +be for Italy. It could only be for once more, for the strength, of her +present impulse would not fail to triumph at last; but even one more +trial seems too intolerably much, when I think of the holocaust of the +broken hearts, baffled lives, that must attend it. + +But enough of politics for the present; this letter goes by private +hand, and, as news, will be superseded before it can arrive. + +Let me rather take the opportunity to say some things that I have let +lie by, while writing of political events. Especially of our artists I +wish to say something. I know many of thorn, if not all, and see with +pleasure our young country so fairly represented. + +Among the painters I saw of Brown only two or three pictures at the +exhibition in Florence; they were coarse, flashy things. I was told +he could do better; but a man who indulges himself with such, coarse +sale-work cannot surely do well at any time. + +The merits of Terry and Freeman are not my merits; they are beside +both favorites in our country, and have a sufficient number of +pictures there for every one to judge. I am no connoisseur as regards +the technical merits of paintings; it is only poetic invention, or a +tender feeling of nature, which captivates me. + +Terry loves grace, and consciously works from the model. The result is +a pleasing transposition of the hues of this clime. But the design of +the picture is never original, nor is it laden with any message from, +the heart. Of Freeman I know less; as the two or three pictures of his +that I have seen never interested me. I have not visited his studio. + +Of Hicks I think very highly. He is a man of ideas, an original +observer, and with a poetic heart. His system of coloring is derived +from a thoughtful study, not a mere imitation of nature, and shows +the fineness of his organization. Struggling unaided to pursue the +expensive studies of his art, he has had only a small studio, and +received only orders for little cabinet pictures. Could, he carry out +adequately his ideas, in him would be found the treasure of genius. He +has made the drawings for a large picture of many figures; the design +is original and noble, the grouping highly effective. Could he paint +this picture, I believe it would be a real boon to the lovers of art, +the lovers of truth. I hope very much that, when he returns to the +United States, some competent patron of art--one of the few who have +mind as well as purse--will see the drawings and order the picture. +Otherwise he cannot paint it, as the expenses attendant on models +for so many figures, &c. are great, and the time demanded could not +otherwise be taken from the claims of the day. + +Among landscape painters Cropsey and Cranch have the true artist +spirit. In faculties, each has what the other wants. Cropsey is a +reverent and careful student of nature in detail; it is no pedantry, +but a true love he has, and his pictures are full of little, gentle +signs of intimacy. They please and touch; but yet in poetic feeling +of the heart of nature he is not equal to Cranch, who produces +fine effects by means more superficial, and, on examination, less +satisfactory. Each might take somewhat from the other to advantage, +could he do it without diminishing his own original dower. Both are +artists of high promise, and deserve to be loved and cherished by +a country which may, without presumption, hope to carry landscape +painting to a pitch of excellence unreached before. For the historical +painter, the position with us is, for many reasons, not favorable; +but there is no bar in the way of the landscape painter, and fate, +bestowing such a prodigality of subject, seems to give us a hint not +to be mistaken. I think the love of landscape painting is genuine in +our nation, and as it is a branch of art where achievement has been +comparatively low, we may not unreasonably suppose it has been left +for us. I trust it will be undertaken in the highest spirit. Nature, +it seems to me, reveals herself more freely in our land; she is true, +virgin, and confiding,--she smiles upon the vision of a true Endymion. +I hope to see, not only copies upon canvas of our magnificent scenes, +but a transfusion of the spirit which is their divinity. + +Then why should the American landscape painter come to Italy? cry +many. I think, myself, he ought not to stay here very long. Yet a few +years' study is precious, for here Nature herself has worked with man, +as if she wanted to help him in the composition of pictures. The ruins +of Italy, in their varied relations with vegetation and the heavens, +make speeches from every stone for instruction of the artist; the +greatest variety here is found with the greatest harmony. To know how +this union may be accomplished is a main secret of art, and though the +coloring is not the same, yet he who has the key to its mysteries of +beauty is the more initiated to the same in other climates, and +will easily attune afresh his more instructed eye and mind to the +contemplation of that which moulded his childhood. + +I may observe of the two artists I have named, that Cranch has entered +more into the spirit of Italian landscape, while Cropsey is still more +distinguished on subjects such as he first loved. He seemed to find +the Scotch lake and mountain scenery very congenial; his sketches and +pictures taken from a short residence there are impressive. Perhaps a +melancholy or tender subject suits him best; something rich, bold, and +mellow is more adapted to call out the genius of Cranch. + +Among the sculptors new names rise up, to show that this is decidedly +a province for hope in America. I look upon this as the natural talent +of an American, and have no doubt that glories will be displayed by +our sculptors unknown to classic art. The facts of our history, ideal +and social, will be grand and of new import; it is perfectly natural +to the American to mould in clay and carve in stone. The permanence of +material and solid, relief in the forms correspond to the positiveness +of his nature better than the mere ephemeral and even tricky methods +of the painter,--to his need of motion and action, better than +the chambered scribbling of the poet. He will thus record his best +experiences, and these records will adorn the noble structures that +must naturally arise for the public uses of our society. + +It is particularly gratifying to see men that might amass far more +money and attain more temporary power in other things, despise those +lower lures, too powerful in our country, and aim only at excellence +in the expression of thought. Among these I may mention Story and +Mozier. Story has made in Florence the model for a statue of his +father. This I have not seen, but two statuettes that he modelled +here from the "Fisher" of Goethe pleased me extremely. The languid, +meditative reverie of the boy, the morbid tenderness of his nature, is +most happily expressed in the first, as is the fascinated surrender to +the siren murmur of tire flood in the second. He has taken the moment + + "Half drew she him; half sank he in," &c. + +I hope some one will give him an order to make them in marble. Mozier +seemed to have an immediate success. The fidelity and spirit of his +portrait-busts could be appreciated by every one; for an ideal head of +Pocahontas, too, he had at once orders for many copies. It was not +an Indian head, but, in the union of sweetness and strength with a +princelike, childlike dignity, very happily expressive of his idea of +her character. I think he has modelled a Rebecca at the Well, but this +I did not see. + +These have already a firm hold on the affections of our people; every +American who comes to Italy visits their studios, and speaks of them +with pride, as indeed they well may, in comparing them with artists of +other nations. It will not be long before you see Greenough's group; +it is in spirit a pendant to Cooper's novels. I confess I wish he +had availed himself of the opportunity to immortalize the real noble +Indian in marble. This is only the man of the woods,--no Metamora, no +Uncas. But the group should be very instructive to our people. + +You seem as crazy about Powers's Greek Slave as the Florentines were +about Cimabue's Madonnas, in which we still see the spark of genius, +but not fanned to its full flame. If your enthusiasm be as genuine as +that of the lively Florentines, we will not quarrel with it; but I +am afraid a great part is drawing-room rapture and newspaper echo. +Genuine enthusiasm, however crude the state of mind from which it +springs, always elevates, always educates; but in the same proportion +talking and writing for effect stultifies and debases. I shall not +judge the adorers of the Greek Slave, but only observe, that they have +not kept in reserve any higher admiration for works even now extant, +which are, in comparison with that statue, what that statue is +compared with any weeping marble on a common monument. + +I consider the Slave as a form of simple and sweet beauty, but that +neither as an ideal expression nor a specimen of plastic power is it +transcendent. Powers stands far higher in his busts than in any ideal +statue. His conception of what is individual in character is clear +and just, his power of execution almost unrivalled; but he has had a +lifetime of discipline for the bust, while his studies on the human +body are comparatively limited; nor is his treatment of it free and +masterly. To me, his conception of subject is not striking: I do not +consider him rich in artistic thought. + +He, no less than Greenough and Crawford, would feel it a rich reward +for many labors, and a happy climax to their honors, to make an +equestrian statue of Washington for our country. I wish they might all +do it, as each would show a different kind of excellence. To present +the man on horseback, the wise centaur, the tamer of horses, may well +be deemed a high achievement of modern, as it was of ancient art. The +study of the anatomy and action of the horse, so rich in suggestions, +is naturally most desirable to the artist; happy he who, obliged +by the brevity of life and the limitations of fortune, to make his +studies conform to his "orders," finds himself justified by a national +behest in entering on this department. + +At home one gets callous about the character of Washington, from a +long experience of Fourth of July bombast in his praise. But seeing +the struggles of other nations, and the deficiencies of the leaders +who try to sustain them, the heart is again stimulated, and puts forth +buds of praise. One appreciates the wonderful combination of events +and influences that gave our independence so healthy a birth, and the +almost miraculous merits of the men who tended its first motions. In +the combination of excellences needed at such a period with the purity +and modesty which dignify the private man in the humblest station, +Washington as yet stands alone. No country has ever had such a good +future; no other is so happy as to have a pattern of spotless worth +which will remain in her latest day venerable as now. + +Surely, then, that form should be immortalized in material solid as +its fame; and, happily for the artist, that form was of natural beauty +and dignity, and he who places him on horseback simply represents his +habitual existence. Everything concurs to make an equestrian statue of +Washington desirable. + +The dignified way to manage that affair would be to have a committee +chosen of impartial judges, men who would look only to the merits of +the work and the interests of the country, unbiassed by any personal +interest in favor of some one artist. It is said it is impossible to +find such a committee, but I cannot believe it. Let there be put aside +the mean squabbles and jealousies, the vulgar pushing of unworthy +friends, with which, unhappily, the artist's career seems more rife +than any other, and a fair concurrence established; let each artist +offer his design for an equestrian statue of Washington, and let the +best have the preference. + +Mr. Crawford has made a design which he takes with him to America, and +which, I hope, will be generally seen. He has represented Washington +in his actual dress; a figure of Fame, winged, presents the laurel and +civic wreath; his gesture declines them; he seems to say, "For me the +deed is enough,--I need no badge, no outward, token in reward." + +This group has no insipid, allegorical air, as might be supposed; and +its composition is very graceful, simple, and harmonious. The costume +is very happily managed. The angel figure is draped, and with, the +liberty-cap, which, as a badge both of ancient and modern times, seems +to connect the two figures, and in an artistic point of view balances +well the cocked hat; there is a similar harmony between the angel's +wings and the extremities of the horse. The action of the winged +figure induces a natural and spirited action of the horse and rider. I +thought of Goethe's remark, that a fine work of art will always have, +at a distance, where its details cannot be discerned, a beautiful +effect, as of architectural ornament, and that this excellence the +groups of Raphael share with the antique. He would have been pleased +with the beautiful balance of forms in this group, with the freedom +with which light and air play in and out, the management of the whole +being clear and satisfactory at the first glance. But one should go +into a great number of studies, as you can in Rome or Florence, and +see the abundance of heavy and inharmonious designs to appreciate the +merits of this; anything really good seems so simple and so a matter +of course to the unpractised observer. + +Some say the Americans will not want a group, but just the fact; the +portrait of Washington riding straight onward, like Marcus Aurelius, +or making an address, or lifting his sword. I do not know about +that,--it is a matter of feeling. This winged figure not only gives +a poetic sense to the group, but a natural support and occasion for +action to the horse and rider. Uncle Sam must send Major Downing to +look at it, and then, if he wants other designs, let him establish +a concurrence, as I have said, and choose what is best. I am not +particularly attached to Mr. Greenough, Mr. Powers, or Mr. Crawford. I +admire various excellences in the works of each, and should be glad +if each received an order for an equestrian statue. Nor is there any +reason why they should not. There is money enough in the country, and +the more good things there are for the people to see freely in open +daylight, the better. That makes artists germinate. + +I love the artists, though I cannot speak of their works in a way to +content their friends, or even themselves, often. Who can, that has a +standard of excellence in the mind, and a delicate conscience in +the use of words? My highest tribute is meagre of superlatives in +comparison with the hackneyed puffs with which artists submit to +be besmeared. Submit? alas! often they court them, rather. I do not +expect any kindness from my contemporaries. I know that what is to +me justice and honor is to them only a hateful coldness. Still I +love them, I wish for their good, I feel deeply for their sufferings, +annoyances, privations, and would lessen them if I could. I have +thought it might perhaps be of use to publish some account of the +expenses of the artist. There is a general impression, that the artist +lives very cheaply in Italy. This is a mistake. Italy, compared +with America, is not so very cheap, except for those who have iron +constitutions to endure bad food, eaten in bad air, damp and dirty +lodgings. The expenses, even in Florence, of a simple but clean and +wholesome life, are little less than in New York. The great difference +is for people that are rich. An Englishman of rank and fortune does +not need the same amount of luxury as at home, to be on a footing with +the nobles of Italy. The Broadway merchant would find his display of +mahogany and carpets thrown away in a country where a higher kind of +ornament is the only one available. But poor people, who can, at any +rate, buy only the necessaries of life, will find them in the Italian +cities, where all sellers live by cheating foreigners, very little +cheaper than in America. + +The patrons of Art in America, ignorant of these facts, and not +knowing the great expenses which attend the study of Art and the +production of its wonders, are often guilty of most undesigned +cruelty, and do things which it would grieve their hearts to have +done, if they only knew the facts. They have read essays on the uses +of adversity in developing genius, and they are not sufficiently +afraid to administer a dose of adversity beyond what the forces of +the patient can bear. Laudanum in drops is useful as a medicine, but a +cupful kills downright. + +Beside this romantic idea about letting artists suffer to develop +their genius, the American Maecenas is not sufficiently aware of +the expenses attendant on producing the work he wants. He does not +consider that the painter, the sculptor, must be paid for the time +he spends in designing and moulding, no less than in painting and +carving; that he must have his bread and sleeping-house, his workhouse +or studio, his marbles and colors,--the sculptor his workmen; so that +if the price be paid he asks, a modest and delicate man very commonly +receives _no_ guerdon for his thought,--the real essence of the +work,--except the luxury of seeing it embodied, which he could not +otherwise have afforded, The American Maecenas often pushes the price +down, not from want of generosity, but from a habit of making what are +called good bargains,--i.e. bargains for one's own advantage at the +expense of a poorer brother. Those who call these good do not believe +that + + "Mankind is one, + And beats with one great heart." + +They have not read the life of Jesus Christ. + +Then the American Maecenas sometimes, after ordering a work, has been +known to change his mind when the statue is already modelled. It is +the American who does these things, because an American, who either +from taste or vanity buys a picture, is often quite uneducated as to +the arts, and cannot understand why a little picture or figure costs +so much money. The Englishman or Frenchman, of a suitable position to +seek these adornments for his house, usually understands better than +the visitor of Powers who, on hearing the price of the Proserpine, +wonderingly asked, "Isn't statuary riz lately?" Queen Victoria of +England, and her Albert, it is said, use their royal privilege to get +works of art at a price below their value; but their subjects would be +ashamed to do so. + +To supply means of judging to the American merchant (full of kindness +and honorable sympathy as beneath the crust he so often is) who wants +pictures and statues, not merely from ostentation, but as means of +delight and improvement to himself and his friends, who has a soul to +respect the genius and desire the happiness of the artist, and who, +if he errs, does so from ignorance of the circumstances, I give the +following memorandum, made at my desire by an artist, my neighbor:-- + +"The rent of a suitable studio for modelling in clay and executing +statues in marble may be estimated at $200 a year. + +"The best journeyman carver in marble at Rome receives $60 a month. +Models are paid $1 a day. + +"The cost of marble varies according to the size of the block, being +generally sold by the cubic palm, a square of nine inches English. +As a general guide regarding the prices established among the higher +sculptors of Rome, I may mention that for a statue of life-size the +demand is from $1,000 to $5,000, varying according to the composition +of the figure and the number of accessories. + +"It is a common belief in the United States, that a student of Art can +live in Italy and pursue his studies on an income of $300 or $400 a +year. This is a lamentable error; the Russian government allows its +pensioners $700, which is scarcely sufficient. $1,000 per annum should +be placed at the disposal of every young artist leaving our country +for Europe." + +Let it be remembered, in addition to considerations inevitable +from this memorandum, that an artist may after years and months of +uncheered and difficult toil, after he has gone through the earlier +stages of an education, find it too largely based, and of aim too +high, to finish in this world. + +The Prussian artist here on my left hand learned not only his art, +but reading and writing, after he was thirty. A farmer's son, he was +allowed no freedom to learn anything till the death of the head of +the house left him a beggar, but set him free; he walked to Berlin, +distant several hundred miles, attracted by his first works some +attention, and received some assistance in money, earned more by +invention of a ploughshare, walked to Rome, struggled through every +privation, and has now a reputation which has secured him the means of +putting his thoughts into marble. True, at forty-nine years of age he +is still severely poor; he cannot marry, because he cannot maintain a +family; but he is cheerful, because he can work in his own way, trusts +with childlike reliance in God, and is still sustained by the vigorous +health he won laboring in his father's fields. Not every man +could continue to work, circumstanced as he is, at the end of the +half-century. For him the only sad thing in my mind is that his works +are not worth working, though of merit in composition and execution, +yet ideally a product of the galvanized piety of the German school, +more mutton-like than lamb-like to my unchurched eyes. + +You are likely to have a work to look at in the United States by the +great master of that school, Overbeck; Mr. Perkins of Boston, who +knows how to spend his money with equal generosity and discretion, +having bought his "Wise and Foolish Virgins." It will be precious to +the country from great artistic merits. As to the spirit, "blessed are +the poor in spirit." That kind of severity is, perhaps has become, the +nature of Overbeck. He seems like a monk, but a really pious and pure +one. This spirit is not what I seek; I deem it too narrow for our +day, but being deeply sincere in him, its expression is at times also +deeply touching. Barabbas borne in triumph, and the child Jesus, +who, playing with his father's tools, has made himself a cross, are +subjects best adapted for expression of this spirit. + +I have written too carelessly,--much writing hath made me mad of late. +Forgive if the "style be not neat, terse, and sparkling," if there be +naught of the "thrilling," if the sentences seem not "written with a +diamond pen," like all else that is published in America. Some time I +must try to do better. For this time + + "Forgive my faults; forgive my virtues too." + + +March 21. + +Day before yesterday was the Feast of St. Joseph. He is supposed to +have acquired a fondness for fried rice-cakes during his residence +in Egypt. Many are eaten in the open street, in arbors made for the +occasion. One was made beneath my window, on Piazza Barberini. All the +day and evening men, cleanly dressed in white aprons and liberty +caps, quite new, of fine, red cloth, were frying cakes for crowds of +laughing, gesticulating customers. It rained a little, and they held +an umbrella over the frying-pan, but not over themselves. The arbor +is still there, and little children are playing in and out of it; one +still lesser runs in its leading-strings, followed by the bold, gay +nurse, to the brink of the fountain, after its orange which has +rolled before it. Tenerani's workmen are coming out of his studio, +the priests are coming home from Ponte Pio, the Contadini beginning +to play at _moro_, for the setting sun has just lit up the magnificent +range of windows in the Palazzo Barberini, and then faded tenderly, +sadly away, and the mellow bells have chimed the Ave Maria. Rome looks +as Roman, that is to say as tranquil, as ever, despite the trouble +that tugs at her heart-strings. There is a report that Mazzini is to +be made Dictator, as Manin is in Venice, for a short time, so as to +provide hastily and energetically for the war. Ave Maria Sanissima! +when thou didst gaze on thy babe with such infinite hope, thou didst +not dream that, so many ages after, blood would be shed and curses +uttered in his name. Madonna Addolorata! hadst thou not hoped peace +and good-will would spring from his bloody woes, couldst thou have +borne those hours at the foot of the cross. O Stella! woman's heart of +love, send yet a ray of pure light on this troubled deep? + + + + +LETTER XXX. + +THE STRUGGLE IN ROME.--POSITION OF THE FRENCH.--THE +AUSTRIANS.--FEELING OF THE ROMAN PEOPLE.--THE FRENCH TROOPS.--EFFECTS +OF WAR.--HOSPITALS.--THE PRINCESS BELGIOIOSO.--POSITION OF MR. CASS AS +ENVOY.--DIFFICULTIES AND SUGGESTIONS.--AMERICA AND ROME.--REFLECTIONS +ON THE ETERNAL CITY.--THE FRENCH: THE PEOPLE. + + +Rome, May 27, 1849. + +I have suspended writing in the expectation of some decisive event; +but none such comes yet. The French, entangled in a web of falsehood, +abashed by a defeat that Oudinot has vainly tried to gloss over, the +expedition disowned by all honorable men at home, disappointed at +Gaeta, not daring to go the length Papal infatuation demands, know not +what to do. The Neapolitans have been decidedly driven back into their +own borders, the last time in a most shameful rout, their king flying +in front. We have heard for several days that the Austrians were +advancing, but they come not. They also, it is probable, meet with +unexpected embarrassments. They find that the sincere movement of the +Italian people is very unlike that of troops commanded by princes +and generals who never wished to conquer and were always waiting to +betray. Then their troubles at home are constantly increasing, and, +should the Russian intervention quell these to-day, it is only to +raise a storm far more terrible to-morrow. + +The struggle is now fairly, thoroughly commenced between the principle +of democracy and the old powers, no longer legitimate. That struggle +may last fifty years, and the earth be watered with the blood and +tears of more than one generation, but the result is sure. All Europe, +including Great Britain, where the most bitter resistance of all will +be made, is to be under republican government in the next century. + + "God moves in a mysterious way." + +Every struggle made by the old tyrannies, all their Jesuitical +deceptions, their rapacity, their imprisonments and executions of the +most generous men, only sow more dragon's teeth; the crop shoots up +daily more and more plenteous. + +When I first arrived in Italy, the vast majority of this people had no +wish beyond limited monarchies, constitutional governments. They still +respected the famous names of the nobility; they despised the priests, +but were still fondly attached to the dogmas and ritual of the Roman +Catholic Church. It required King Bomba, the triple treachery +of Charles Albert, Pius IX., and the "illustrious Gioberti," the +naturally kind-hearted, but, from the necessity of his position, +cowardly and false Leopold of Tuscany, the vagabond "serene" +meannesses of Parma and Modena, the "fatherly" Radetzsky, and, +finally, the imbecile Louis Bonaparte, "would-be Emperor of France," +to convince this people that no transition is possible between the +old and the new. _The work is done_; the revolution in Italy is now +radical, nor can it stop till Italy becomes independent and united as +a republic. Protestant she already is, and though the memory of saints +and martyrs may continue to be revered, the ideal of woman to be +adored under the name of Mary, yet Christ will now begin to be a +little thought of; _his_ idea has always been kept carefully out of +sight under the old _regime_; all the worship being for the Madonna +and saints, who were to be well paid for interceding for sinners;--an +example which might make men cease to be such, was no way coveted. Now +the New Testament has been translated into Italian; copies are already +dispersed far and wide; men calling themselves Christians will no +longer be left entirely ignorant of the precepts and life of Jesus. + +The people of Rome have burnt the Cardinals' carriages. They took the +confessionals out of the churches, and made mock confessions in the +piazzas, the scope of which was, "I have sinned, father, so and so." +"Well, my son, how much will you _pay_ to the Church for absolution?" +Afterward the people thought of burning the confessionals, or using +them for barricades; but at the request of the Triumvirate they +desisted, and even put them back into the churches. But it was from no +reaction of feeling that they stopped short, only from respect for +the government. The "Tartuffe" of Moliere has been translated into +Italian, and was last night performed with great applause at the +Valle. Can all this be forgotten? Never! Should guns and bayonets +replace the Pope on the throne, he will find its foundations, once +deep as modern civilization, now so undermined that it falls with the +least awkward movement. + +But I cannot believe he will be replaced there. France alone could +consummate that crime,--that, for her, most cruel, most infamous +treason. The elections in France will decide. In three or four days +we shall know whether the French nation at large be guilty or +no,--whether it be the will of the nation to aid or strive to ruin a +government founded on precisely the same basis as their own. + +I do not dare to trust that people. The peasant is yet very ignorant. +The suffering workman is frightened as he thinks of the punishments +that ensued on the insurrections of May and June. The man of property +is full of horror at the brotherly scope of Socialism. The aristocrat +dreams of the guillotine always when he hears men speak of the people. +The influence of the Jesuits is still immense in France. Both in +France and England the grossest falsehoods have been circulated with +unwearied diligence about the state of things in Italy. An amusing +specimen of what is still done in this line I find just now in a +foreign journal, where it says there are red flags on all the houses +of Rome; meaning to imply that the Romans are athirst for blood. Now, +the fact is, that these flags are put up at the entrance of those +streets where there is no barricade, as a signal to coachmen and +horsemen that they can pass freely. There is one on the house where +I am, in which is no person but myself, who thirst for peace, and the +Padrone, who thirsts for money. + +Meanwhile the French troops are encamped at a little distance from +Rome. Some attempts at fair and equal treaty when their desire to +occupy Rome was firmly resisted, Oudinot describes in his despatches +as a readiness for _submission_. Having tried in vain to gain this +point, he has sent to France for fresh orders. These will be decided +by the turn the election takes. Meanwhile the French troops are much +exposed to the Roman force where they are. Should the Austrians come +up, what will they do? Will they shamelessly fraternize with the +French, after pretending and proclaiming that they came here as a +check upon their aggressions? Will they oppose them in defence of +Rome, with which they are at war? + +Ah! the way of falsehood, the way of treachery,--how dark, how full of +pitfalls and traps! Heaven defend from it all who are not yet engaged +therein! + +War near at hand seems to me even more dreadful than I had fancied +it. True, it tries men's souls, lays bare selfishness in undeniable +deformity. Here it has produced much fruit of noble sentiment, noble +act; but still it breeds vice too, drunkenness, mental dissipation, +tears asunder the tenderest ties, lavishes the productions of Earth, +for which her starving poor stretch out their hands in vain, in the +most unprofitable manner. And the ruin that ensues, how terrible! Let +those who have ever passed happy days in Rome grieve to hear that +the beautiful plantations of Villa Borghese--that chief delight and +refreshment of citizens, foreigners, and little children--are laid +low, as far as the obelisk. The fountain, singing alone amid the +fallen groves, cannot be seen and heard without tears; it seems like +some innocent infant calling and crowing amid dead bodies on a field +which battle has strewn with the bodies of those who once cherished +it. The plantations of Villa Salvage on the Tiber, also, the beautiful +trees on the way from St. John Lateran to La Maria Maggiore, the trees +of the Forum, are fallen. Rome is shorn of the locks which lent grace +to her venerable brow. She looks desolate, profaned. I feel what I +never expected to,--as if I might by and by be willing to leave Rome. + +Then I have, for the first time, seen what wounded men suffer. The +night of the 30th of April I passed in the hospital, and saw the +terrible agonies of those dying or who needed amputation, felt their +mental pains and longing for the loved ones who were away; for many of +these were Lombards, who had come from the field of Novarra to fight +with a fairer chance,--many were students of the University, who had +enlisted and thrown themselves into the front of the engagement. The +impudent falsehoods of the French general's despatches are incredible. +The French were never decoyed on in any way. They were received with +every possible mark of hostility. They were defeated in open field, +the Garibaldi legion rushing out to meet them; and though they +suffered much from the walls, they sustained themselves nowhere. They +never put up a white flag till they wished to surrender. The vanity +that strives to cover over these facts is unworthy of men. The only +excuse for the imprudent conduct of the expedition is that they were +deceived, not by the Romans here, but by the priests of Gaeta, leading +them to expect action in their favor within the walls. These priests +themselves were deluded by their hopes and old habits of mind. The +troops did not fight well, and General Oudinot abandoned his wounded +without proper care. All this says nothing against French valor, +proved by ages of glory, beyond the doubt of their worst foes. They +were demoralized because they fought in so bad a cause, and there was +no sincere ardor or clear hope in any breast. + +But to return to the hospitals: these were put in order, and have been +kept so, by the Princess Belgioioso. The princess was born of one +of the noblest families of the Milanese, a descendant of the great +Trivalzio, and inherited a large fortune. Very early she compromised +it in liberal movements, and, on their failure, was obliged to fly to +Paris, where for a time she maintained herself by writing, and I +think by painting also. A princess so placed naturally excited great +interest, and she drew around her a little court of celebrated men. +After recovering her fortune, she still lived in Paris, distinguished +for her talents and munificence, both toward literary men and her +exiled countrymen. Later, on her estate, called Locate, between Pavia +and Milan, she had made experiments in the Socialist direction with +fine judgment and success. Association for education, for labor, for +transaction of household affairs, had been carried on for several +years; she had spared no devotion of time and money to this object, +loved, and was much beloved by, those objects of her care, and said +she hoped to die there. All is now despoiled and broken up, though it +may be hoped that some seeds of peaceful reform have been sown which +will spring to light when least expected. The princess returned to +Italy in 1847-8, full of hope in Pius IX and Charles Albert. She +showed her usual energy and truly princely heart, sustaining, at her +own expense, a company of soldiers and a journal up to the last sad +betrayal of Milan, August 6th. These days undeceived all the people, +but few of the noblesse; she was one of the few with mind strong +enough to understand the lesson, and is now warmly interested in the +republican movement. From Milan she went to France, but, finding +it impossible to effect anything serious there in behalf of Italy, +returned, and has been in Rome about two months. Since leaving +Milan she receives no income, her possessions being in the grasp of +Radetzky, and cannot know when, if ever, she will again. But as +she worked so largely and well with money, so can she without. She +published an invitation to the Roman women to make lint and bandages, +and offer their services to the wounded; she put the hospitals in +order; in the central one, Trinita de Pellegrini, once the abode where +the pilgrims were received during holy week, and where foreigners +were entertained by seeing their feet washed by the noble dames and +dignitaries of Rome, she has remained day and night since the 30th of +April, when the wounded were first there. Some money she procured at +first by going through Rome, accompanied by two other ladies veiled, +to beg it. Afterward the voluntary contributions were generous; among +the rest, I am proud to say, the Americans in Rome gave $250, of which +a handsome portion came from Mr. Brown, the Consul. + +I value this mark of sympathy more because of the irritation and +surprise occasioned here by the position of Mr. Cass, the Envoy. It is +most unfortunate that we should have an envoy here for the first +time, just to offend and disappoint the Romans. When all the other +ambassadors are at Gaeta, ours is in Rome, as if by his presence to +discountenance the republican government, which he does not recognize. +Mr. Cass, it seems, is required by his instructions not to recognize +the government till sure it can be sustained. Now it seems to me that +the only dignified ground for our government, the only legitimate +ground for any republican government, is to recognize for any nation +the government chosen by itself. The suffrage had been correct here, +and the proportion of votes to the whole population was much larger, +it was said by Americans here, than it is in our own country at the +time of contested elections. It had elected an Assembly; that Assembly +had appointed, to meet the exigencies of this time, the Triumvirate. +If any misrepresentations have induced America to believe, as France +affects to have believed, that so large a vote could have been +obtained by moral intimidation, the present unanimity of the +population in resisting such immense odds, and the enthusiasm of their +every expression in favor of the present government, puts the matter +beyond a doubt. The Roman people claims once more to have a national +existence. It declines further serfdom to an ecclesiastical court. +It claims liberty of conscience, of action, and of thought. Should it +fall from its present position, it will not be from, internal dissent, +but from foreign oppression. + +Since this is the case, surely our country, if no other, is bound to +recognize the present government _so long as it can sustain itself_. +This position is that to which we have a right: being such, it is no +matter how it is viewed by others. But I dare assert it is the only +respectable one for our country, in the eyes of the Emperor of Russia +himself. + +The first, best occasion is past, when Mr. Cass might, had he been +empowered to act as Mr. Rush did in France, have morally strengthened +the staggering republic, which would have found sympathy where alone +it is of permanent value, on the basis of principle. Had it been in +vain, what then? America would have acted honorably; as to our being +compromised thereby with the Papal government, that fear is idle. Pope +and Cardinals have great hopes from America; the giant influence there +is kept up with the greatest care; the number of Catholic writers +in the United States, too, carefully counted. Had our republican +government acknowledged this republican government, the Papal +Camarilla would have respected us more, but not loved us less; for +have we not the loaves and fishes to give, as well as the precious +souls to be saved? Ah! here, indeed, America might go straightforward +with all needful impunity. Bishop Hughes himself need not be +anxious. That first, best occasion has passed, and the unrecognized, +unrecognizing Envoy has given offence, and not comfort, by a presence +that seemed constantly to say, I do not think you can sustain +yourselves. It has wounded both the heart and the pride of Rome. Some +of the lowest people have asked me, "Is it not true that your country +had a war to become free?" "Yes." "Then why do they not feel for us?" + +Yet even now it is not too late. If America would only hail +triumphant, though she could not sustain injured Rome, that would +be something. "Can you suppose Rome will triumph," you say, "without +money, and against so potent a league of foes?" I am not sure, but +I hope, for I believe something in the heart of a people when fairly +awakened. I have also a lurking confidence in what our fathers spoke +of so constantly, a providential order of things, by which brute force +and selfish enterprise are sometimes set at naught by aid which seems +to descend from a higher sphere. Even old pagans believed in that, +you know; and I was born in America, Christianized by the +Puritans,--America, freed by eight years' patient suffering, poverty, +and struggle,--America, so cheered in dark days by one spark of +sympathy from a foreign shore,--America, first "recognized" by +Lafayette. I saw him when traversing our country, then great, rich, +and free. Millions of men who owed in part their happiness to what, no +doubt, was once sneered at as romantic sympathy, threw garlands in his +path. It is natural that I should have some faith. + +Send, dear America! to thy ambassadors a talisman precious beyond all +that boasted gold of California. Let it loose his tongue to cry, "Long +live the Republic, and may God bless the cause of the people, the +brotherhood of nations and of men,--equality of rights for all." _Viva +America!_ + +Hail to my country! May she live a free, a glorious, a loving +life, and not perish, like the old dominions, from, the leprosy of +selfishness. + + +Evening. + +I am alone in the ghostly silence of a great house, not long since +full of gay faces and echoing with gay voices, now deserted by every +one but me,--for almost all foreigners are gone now, driven by force +either of the summer heats or the foe. I hear all the Spaniards are +going now,--that twenty-one have taken passports to-day; why that is, +I do not know. + +I shall not go till the last moment; my only fear is of France. I +cannot think in any case there would be found men willing to damn +themselves to latest posterity by bombarding Rome. Other cities they +may treat thus, careless of destroying the innocent and helpless, the +babe and old grandsire who cannot war against them. But Rome, precious +inheritance of mankind,--will they run the risk of marring her shrined +treasures? Would they dare do it? + +Two of the balls that struck St. Peter's have been sent to Pius IX. by +his children, who find themselves so much less "beloved" than were the +Austrians. + +These two days, days of solemn festivity in the calends of the Church, +have been duly kept, and the population looks cheerful as it swarms +through the streets. The order of Rome, thronged as it is with troops, +is amazing. I go from one end to the other, and amid the poorest and +most barbarous of the population, (barbarously ignorant, I mean,) +alone and on foot. My friends send out their little children alone +with their nurses. The amount of crime is almost nothing to what it +was. The Roman, no longer pent in ignorance and crouching beneath +espionage, no longer stabs in the dark. His energies have true vent; +his better feelings are roused; he has thrown aside the stiletto. The +power here is indeed miraculous, since no doubt still lurk within the +walls many who are eager to incite brawls, if only to give an excuse +for slander. + +To-day I suppose twelve thousand Austrians marched into Florence. +The Florentines have humbled and disgraced themselves in vain. They +recalled the Grand Duke to ward off the entrance of the Austrians, but +in vain went the deputation to Gaeta--in an American steamer! Leopold +was afraid to come till his dear cousins of Austria had put everything +in perfect order; then the Austrians entered to take Leghorn, but the +Florentines still kept on imploring them not to come there; Florence +was as subdued, as good as possible, already:--they have had the +answer they deserved. Now they crown their work by giving over +Guerazzi and Petracci to be tried by an Austrian court-martial. Truly +the cup of shame brims over. + +I have been out on the balcony to look over the city. All sleeps with +that peculiar air of serene majesty known to this city only;--this +city that has grown, not out of the necessities of commerce nor the +luxuries of wealth, but first out of heroism, then out of faith. +Swelling domes, roofs softly tinted with yellow moss! what deep +meaning, what deep repose, in your faintly seen outline! + +The young moon climbs among clouds,--the clouds of a departing +thunderstorm. Tender, smiling moon! can it be that thy full orb may +look down on a smoking, smouldering Rome, and see her best blood run +along the stones, without one nation in the world to defend, one to +aid,--scarce one to cry out a tardy "Shame"? We will wait, whisper the +nations, and see if they can bear it. Rack them well to see if they +are brave. _If they can do without us_, we will help them. Is it thus +ye would be served in your turn? Beware! + + + + +LETTER XXXI. + +THE FRENCH TREASON AT ROME.--OUDINOT.--LESSEPS.--LETTER OF THE +TRIUMVIRATE.--REPLY OF LESSEPS.--COURSE OF OUDINOT.--THE WOUNDED +ITALIANS.--GARIBALDI.--ITALIAN YOUNG MEN.--MILITARY FUNERAL.--HAVOC OF +THE SIEGE.--COURAGE OF MAZZINI.--FALSENESS OF THE LONDON TIMES. + + +Rome, June 10, 1849. + +What shall I write of Rome in these sad but glorious days? Plain facts +are the best; for my feelings I could not find fit words. + +When I last wrote, the French were playing the second act of their +farce. + +In the first, the French government affected to consult the Assembly. +The Assembly, or a majority of the Assembly, affected to believe the +pretext it gave, and voted funds for twelve thousand men to go to +Civita Vecchia. Arriving there, Oudinot proclaimed that he had come +as a friend and brother. He was received as such. Immediately he took +possession of the town, disarmed the Roman troops, and published a +manifesto in direct opposition to his first declaration. + +He sends to Rome that he is coming there as a friend; receives the +answer that he is not wanted and cannot be trusted. This answer he +chooses to consider as coming from a minority, and advances on Rome. +The pretended majority on which he counts never shows itself by +a single movement within the walls. He makes an assault, and is +defeated. On this subject his despatches to his government are full +of falsehoods that would disgrace the lowest pickpocket,--falsehoods +which it is impossible he should not know to be such. + +The Assembly passed a vote of blame. M. Louis Bonaparte writes a +letter of compliment and assurance that this course of violence shall +be sustained. In conformity with this promise twelve thousand more +troops are sent. This time it is not thought necessary to consult the +Assembly. Let us view the + +SECOND ACT. + +Now appears in Rome M. Ferdinand Lesseps, Envoy, &c. of the French +government. He declares himself clothed with full powers to treat +with Rome. He cannot conceal his surprise at all he sees there, at +the ability with which preparations have been made for defence, at the +patriotic enthusiasm which pervades the population. Nevertheless, in +beginning his game of treaty-making, he is not ashamed to insist on +the French occupying the city. Again and again repulsed, he again and +again returns to the charge on this point. And here I shall translate +the letter addressed to him by the Triumvirate, both because of its +perfect candor of statement, and to give an idea of the sweet and +noble temper in which these treacherous aggressions have been met. + + +LETTER OF THE TRIUMVIRS TO MONSIEUR LESSEPS. + +"May 25, 1849. + +"We have had the honor, Monsieur, to furnish you, in our note of the +16th, with some information as to the unanimous consent which was +given to the formation of the government of the Roman Republic. +We to-day would speak to you of the actual question, such as it is +debated in fact, if not by right, between the French government and +ours. You will allow us to do it with the frankness demanded by the +urgency of the situation, as well as the sympathy which ought to +govern all relations between France and Italy. Our diplomacy is the +truth, and the character given to your mission is a guaranty that the +best possible interpretation will be given to what we shall say to +you. + +"With your permission, we return for an instant to the cause of the +present situation of affairs. + +"In consequence of conferences and arrangements which took place +without the government of the Roman Republic ever being called on +to take part, it was some time since decided by the Catholic +Powers,--1st. That a modification should take place in the government +and institutions of the Roman States; 2d. That this modification +should have for basis the return of Pius IX., not as Pope, for to that +no obstacle is interposed by us, but as temporal sovereign; 3d. +That if, to attain that aim, a continuous intervention was judged +necessary, that intervention should take place. + +"We are willing to admit, that while for some of the contracting +governments the only motive was the hope of a general restoration and +absolute return to the treaties of 1815, the French government +was drawn into this agreement only in consequence of erroneous +information, tending systematically to depict the Roman States as +given up to anarchy and governed by terror exercised in the name of an +audacious minority. We know also, that, in the modification proposed, +the French government intended to represent an influence more or less +liberal, opposed to the absolutist programme of Austria and of +Naples. It does none the less remain true, that under the Apostolic or +constitutional form, with or without liberal guaranties to the Roman +people, the dominant thought in all the negotiations to which we +allude has been some sort of return toward the past, a compromise +between the Roman people and Pius IX. considered as temporal prince. + +"We cannot dissemble to ourselves, Monsieur, that the French +expedition has been planned and executed under the inspiration of this +thought. Its object was, on one side, to throw the sword of France +into the balance of negotiations which were to be opened at Rome; +on the other, to guarantee the Roman people from the excess of +retrograde, but always on condition that it should submit to +constitutional monarchy in favor of the Holy Father. This is assured +to us partly from information which we believe we possess as to the +concert with Austria; from the proclamations of General Oudinot; from +the formal declarations made by successive envoys to the Triumvirate; +from the silence obstinately maintained whenever we have sought to +approach the political question and obtain a formal declaration of the +fact proved in our note of the 16th, that the institutions by +which the Roman people are governed at this time are the free and +spontaneous expression of the wish of the people inviolable when +legally ascertained. For the rest, the vote of the French Assembly +sustains implicitly the fact that we affirm. + +"In such a situation, under the menace of an inadmissible compromise, +and of negotiations which the state of our people no way provoked, our +part, Monsieur, could not be doubtful. To resist,--we owed this to +our country, to France, to all Europe. We ought, in fulfilment of a +mandate loyally given, loyally accepted, maintain to our country the +inviolability, so far as that was possible to us, of its territory, +and of the institutions decreed by all the powers, by all the +elements, of the state. We ought to conquer the time needed for appeal +from France ill informed to France better informed, to save the sister +republic the disgrace and the remorse which must be hers if, rashly +led on by bad suggestions from without, she became, before she was +aware, accomplice in an act of violence to which we can find no +parallel without going back to the partition of Poland in 1772. We +owed it to Europe to maintain, as far as we could, the fundamental +principles of all international life, the independence of each people +in all that concerns its internal administration. We say it without +pride,--for if it is with enthusiasm that we resist the attempts of +the Neapolitan monarchy and of Austria, our eternal enemy, it is with +profound grief that we are ourselves constrained to contend with the +arms of France,--we believe in following this line of conduct we +have deserved well, not only of our country, but of all the people of +Europe, even of France herself. + +"We come to the actual question. You know, Monsieur, the events which +have followed the French intervention. Our territory has been invaded +by the king of Naples. + +"Four thousand Spaniards were to embark on the 17th for invasion of +this country. The Austrians, having surmounted the heroic resistance +of Bologna, have advanced into Romagna, and are now marching on +Ancona. + +"We have beaten and driven out of our territory the forces of the king +of Naples. We believe we should do the same by the Austrian forces, if +the attitude of the French here did not fetter our action. + +"We are sorry to say it, but France must be informed that the +expedition of Civita Vecchia, said to be planned for our protection, +costs us very dear. Of all the interventions with which it is hoped to +overwhelm us, that of the French has been the most perilous. Against +the soldiers of Austria and the king of Naples we can fight, for +God protects a good cause. But we _do not wish to fight_ against +the French. We are toward them in a state, not of war, but of simple +defence. But this position, the only one we wish to take wherever +we meet France, has for us all the inconveniences without any of the +favorable chances of war. + +"The French expedition has, from the first, forced us to concentrate +our troops, thus leaving our frontier open to Austrian invasion, and +Bologna and the cities of Romagna unsustained. The Austrians have +profited by this. After eight days of heroic resistance by the +population, Bologna was forced to yield. We had bought in France arms +for our defence. Of these ten thousand muskets have been detained +between Marseilles and Civita Vecchia. These are in your hands. Thus +with a single blow you deprive us of ten thousand soldiers. In every +armed man is a soldier against the Austrians. + +"Your forces are disposed around our walls as if for a siege. They +remain there without avowed aim or programme. They have forced us to +keep the city in a state of defence which weighs upon our finances. +They force us to keep here a body of troops who might be saving our +cities from the occupation and ravages of the Austrians. They hinder +our going from place to place, our provisioning the city, our sending +couriers. They keep minds in a state of excitement and distrust which +might, if our population were less good and devoted, lead to sinister +results. They do _not_ engender anarchy nor reaction, for both are +impossible at Rome; but they sow the seed of irritation against +France, and it is a misfortune for us who were accustomed to love and +hope in her. + +"We are besieged, Monsieur, besieged by France, in the name of a +protective mission, while some leagues off the king of Naples, flying, +carries off our hostages, and the Austrian slays our brothers. + +"You have presented propositions. Those propositions have been +declared inadmissible by the Assembly. To-day you add a fourth to +the three already rejected. This says that France will protect from +foreign invasion all that part of our territory that may be occupied +by her troops. You must yourself feel that this changes nothing in our +position. + +"The parts of the territory occupied by your troops are in fact +protected; but if only for the present, to what are they reduced? and +if it is for the future, have we no other way to protect our territory +than by giving it up entirely to you? + +"The real intent of your demands is not stated. It is the occupation +of Rome. This demand has constantly stood first in your list of +propositions. Now we have had the honor to say to you, Monsieur, that +is impossible. The people will never consent to it. If the occupation +of Rome has for its aim only to protect it, the people thank you, +but tell you at the same time, that, able to defend Rome by their +own forces, they would be dishonored even in your eyes by declaring +themselves insufficient, and needing the aid of some regiments of +French soldiers. If the occupation has otherwise a political object, +which God forbid, the people, who have given themselves freely +these institutions, cannot suffer it. Rome is their capital, their +palladium, their sacred city. They know very well, that, apart from +their principles, apart from their honor, there is civil war at the +end of such an occupation. They are filled with distrust by your +persistence. They foresee, the troops being once admitted, changes in +men and in actions which would be fatal to their liberty. They know +that, in presence of foreign bayonets, the independence of their +Assembly, of their government, would be a vain word. They have always +Civita Vecchia before their eyes. + +"On this point be sure their will is irrevocable. They will be +massacred from barricade to barricade, before they will surrender. +Can the soldiers of France wish to massacre a brother people whom they +came to protect, because they do not wish to surrender to them their +capital? + +"There are for France only three parts to take in the Roman States. +She ought to declare herself for us, against us, or neutral. To +declare herself for us would be to recognize our republic, and fight +side by side with us against the Austrians. To declare against us is +to crush without motive the liberty, the national life, of a friendly +people, and fight side by side with the Austrians. France _cannot_ do +that. She _will not_ risk a European war to depress us, her ally. Let +her, then, rest neutral in this conflict between us and our enemies. +Only yesterday we hoped more from her, but to-day we demand but this. + +"The occupation of Civita Vecchia is a fact accomplished; let it go. +France thinks that, in the present state of things, she ought not to +remain distant from the field of battle. She thinks that, vanquishers +or vanquished, we may have need of her moderative action and of her +protection. We do not think so; but we will not react against her. Let +her keep Civita Vecchia. Let her even extend her encampments, if the +numbers of her troops require it, in the healthy regions of Civita +Vecchia and Viterbo. Let her then wait the issue of the combats about +to take place. All facilities will be offered her, every proof of +frank and cordial sympathy given; her officers can visit Rome, her +soldiers have all the solace possible. But let her neutrality be +sincere and without concealed plans. Let her declare herself in +explicit terms. Let her leave us free to use all our forces. Let her +restore our arms. Let her not by her cruisers drive back from our +ports the men who come to our aid from other parts of Italy. Let +her, above all, withdraw from before our walls, and cause even the +appearance of hostility to cease between two nations who, later, +undoubtedly are destined to unite in the same international faith, as +now they have adopted the same form of government." + + +In his answer, Lesseps appears moved by this statement, and +particularly expresses himself thus:-- + +"One point appears above all to occupy you; it is the thought that +we wish forcibly to impose upon you the obligation of receiving us as +friends. _Friendship and violence are incompatible._ Thus it would +be _inconsistent_ on our part to begin by firing our cannon upon you, +since we are your natural protectors. _Such a contradiction enters +neither into my intentions, nor those of the government of the French +republic, nor of our army and its honorable chief._" + +These words were written at the head-quarters of Oudinot, and +of course seen and approved by him. At the same time, in private +conversation, "the honorable chief" could swear he would occupy Rome +by "one means or another." A few days after, Lesseps consented to +conditions such as the Romans would tolerate. He no longer insisted on +occupying Rome, but would content himself with good positions in the +country. Oudinot protested that the Plenipotentiary had "exceeded his +powers,"--that he should not obey,--that the armistice was at an end, +and he should attack Rome on Monday. It was then Friday. He proposed +to leave these two days for the few foreigners that remained to +get out of town. M. Lesseps went off to Paris, in great seeming +indignation, to get _his_ treaty ratified. Of course we could not +hear from him for eight or ten days. Meanwhile, the _honorable_ chief, +alike in all his conduct, attacked on Sunday instead of Monday. The +attack began before sunrise, and lasted all day. I saw it from my +window, which, though distant, commands the gate of St. Pancrazio. Why +the whole force was bent on that part, I do not know. If they could +take it, the town would be cannonaded, and the barricades useless; but +it is the same with the Pincian Gate. Small-parties made feints in two +other directions, but they were at once repelled. The French fought +with great bravery, and this time it is said with beautiful skill and +order, sheltering themselves in their advance by movable barricades. +The Italians fought like lions, and no inch of ground was gained by +the assailants. The loss of the French is said to be very great: it +could not be otherwise. Six or seven hundred Italians are dead or +wounded. Among them are many officers, those of Garibaldi especially, +who are much exposed by their daring bravery, and whose red tunic +makes them the natural mark of the enemy. It seems to me great folly +to wear such a dress amid the dark uniforms; but Garibaldi has always +done it. He has now been wounded twice here and seventeen times in +Ancona. + +All this week I have been much at the hospitals where are these noble +sufferers. They are full of enthusiasm; this time was no treason, no +Vicenza, no Novara, no Milan. They had not been given up by wicked +chiefs at the moment they were shedding their blood, and they had +conquered. All were only anxious to get out again and be at their +posts. They seemed to feel that those who died so gloriously were +fortunate; perhaps they were, for if Rome is obliged to yield,--and +how can she stand always unaided against the four powers?--where shall +these noble youths fly? They are the flower of the Italian youth; +especially among the Lombards are some of the finest young men I have +ever seen. If Rome falls, if Venice falls, there is no spot of Italian +earth where they can abide more, and certainly no Italian will wish +to take refuge in France. Truly you said, M. Lesseps, "Violence and +friendship are incompatible." + +A military funeral of the officer Ramerino was sadly picturesque and +affecting. The white-robed priests went before the body singing, while +his brothers in arms bore the lighted tapers. His horse followed, +saddled and bridled. The horse hung his head and stepped dejectedly; +he felt there was something strange and gloomy going on,--felt that +his master was laid low. Ramerino left a wife and children. A great +proportion of those who run those risks are, happily, alone. Parents +weep, but will not suffer long; their grief is not like that of widows +and children. + +Since the 3d we have only cannonade and skirmishes. The French are at +their trenches, but cannot advance much; they are too much molested +from the walls. The Romans have made one very successful sortie. The +French availed themselves of a violent thunderstorm, when the +walls were left more thinly guarded, to try to scale them, but were +immediately driven back. It was thought by many that they never would +be willing to throw bombs and shells into Rome, but they do whenever +they can. That generous hope and faith in them as republicans and +brothers, which put the best construction on their actions, and +believed in their truth as far as possible, is now destroyed. The +government is false, and the people do not resist; the general is +false, and the soldiers obey. + +Meanwhile, frightful sacrifices are being made by Rome. All her +glorious oaks, all her gardens of delight, her casinos, full of the +monuments of genius and taste, are perishing in the defence. The +houses, the trees which had been spared at the gate of St. Pancrazio, +all afforded shelter to the foe, and caused so much loss of life, +that the Romans have now fully acquiesced in destruction agonizing to +witness. Villa Borghese is finally laid waste, the villa of Raphael +has perished, the trees are all cut down at Villa Albani, and the +house, that most beautiful ornament of Rome, must, I suppose, go too. +The stately marble forms are already driven from their place in that +portico where Winckelmann sat and talked with such delight. Villa +Salvage is burnt, with all its fine frescos, and that bank of the +Tiber shorn of its lovely plantations. + +Rome will never recover the cruel ravage of these days, perhaps +only just begun. I had often thought of living a few months near St. +Peter's, that I might go as much as I liked to the church and the +museum, have Villa Pamfili and Monte Mario within the compass of +a walk. It is not easy to find lodgings there, as it is a quarter +foreigners never inhabit; but, walking about to see what pleasant +places there were, I had fixed my eye on a clean, simple house near +Ponte St. Angelo. It bore on a tablet that it was the property of +Angela ----; its little balconies with their old wooden rails, full +of flowers in humble earthen vases, the many bird-cages, the air of +domestic quiet and comfort, marked it as the home of some vestal or +widow, some lone woman whose heart was centred in the ordinary and +simplest pleasures of a home. I saw also she was one having the most +limited income, and I thought, "She will not refuse to let me a room +for a few months, as I shall be as quiet as herself, and sympathize +about the flowers and birds." Now the Villa Pamfili is all laid waste. +The French encamp on Monte Mario; what they have done there is not +known yet. The cannonade reverberates all day under the dome of St. +Peter's, and the house of poor Angela is levelled with the ground. I +hope her birds and the white peacocks of the Vatican gardens are in +safety;--but who cares for gentle, harmless creatures now? + +I have been often interrupted while writing this letter, and suppose +it is confused as well as incomplete. I hope my next may tell of +something decisive one way or the other. News is not yet come from +Lesseps, but the conduct of Oudinot and the formation of the new +French ministry give reason to hope no good. Many seem resolved to +force back Pius IX. among his bleeding flock, into the city ruined +by him, where he cannot remain, and if he come, all this struggle and +sorrow is to be borne over again. Mazzini stands firm as a rock. I +know not whether he hopes for a successful issue, but he _believes_ in +a God bound to protect men who do what they deem their duty. Yet how +long, O Lord, shall the few trample on the many? + +I am surprised to see the air of perfect good faith with which +articles from the London Times, upon the revolutionary movements, +are copied into our papers. There exists not in Europe a paper more +violently opposed to the cause of freedom than the Times, and neither +its leaders nor its foreign correspondence are to be depended upon. +It is said to receive money from Austria. I know not whether this +be true, or whether it be merely subservient to the aristocratical +feeling of England, which is far more opposed to republican movements +than is that of Russia; for in England fear embitters hate. It is +droll to remember our reading in the class-book. + + "Ay, down to the dust with them, slaves as they are";-- + +to think how bitter the English were on the Italians who succumbed, +and see how they hate those who resist. And their cowardice here in +Italy is ludicrous. It is they who run away at the least intimation +of danger,--it is they who invent all the "fe, fo, fum" stories about +Italy,--it is they who write to the Times and elsewhere that they dare +not for their lives stay in Rome, where I, a woman, walk everywhere +alone, and all the little children do the same, with their nurses. +More of this anon. + + + + +LETTER XXXII. + +PROGRESS OF THE TRAGEDY.--PIUS IX. DISAVOWS LIBERALISM.--OUDINOT, +AND THE ROMAN AUTHORITIES.--SHAME OF FRANCE.--DEVASTATION OF +THE CITY.--COURAGE OF THE PEOPLE.--BOMBS EXTINGUISHED.--A CRISIS +APPROACHING. + + +Rome, June 21, 1849. + +It is now two weeks since the first attack of Oudinot, and as yet we +hear nothing decisive from Paris. I know not yet what news may have +come last night, but by the morning's mail we did not even receive +notice that Lesseps had arrived in Paris. + +Whether Lesseps was consciously the servant of all these base +intrigues, time will show. His conduct was boyish and foolish, if it +was not treacherous. The only object seemed to be to create panic, to +agitate, to take possession of Rome somehow, though what to do with +it, if they could get it, the French government would hardly know. + +Pius IX., in his allocution of the 29th of April last, has explained +himself fully. He has disavowed every liberal act which ever seemed +to emanate from him, with the exception of the amnesty. He has +shamelessly recalled his refusal to let Austrian blood be shed, while +Roman flows daily at his request. He has implicitly declared that his +future government, could he return, would be absolute despotism,--has +dispelled the last lingering illusion of those still anxious to +apologize for him as only a prisoner now in the hands of the Cardinals +and the king of Naples. The last frail link is broken that bound to +him the people of Rome, and could the French restore him, they must +frankly avow themselves, abandon entirely and fully the position they +took in February, 1848, and declare themselves the allies of Austria +and of Russia. + +Meanwhile they persevere in the Jesuitical policy that has already +disgraced and is to ruin them. After a week of vain assaults, Oudinot +sent to Rome the following letter, which I translate, as well as the +answers it elicited. + + +LETTER OF GENERAL OUDINOT, + +_Intended for the Roman Constituent Assembly, the Triumvirate, the +Generalissimo, and the Commander-in-Chief of the National Guard._ + +"General,--The events of war have, as you know, conducted the French +army to the gates of Rome. + +"Should the entrance into the city remain closed against us, I should +see myself constrained to employ immediately all the means of action +that France has placed in my hands. + +"Before having recourse to such terrible necessity, I think it my +duty to make a last appeal to a people who cannot have toward France +sentiments of hostility. + +"The Roman army wishes, no doubt, equally with myself, to spare bloody +ruin to the capital of the Christian world. + +"With this conviction, I pray you, Signore General, to give the +enclosed proclamation the most speedy publicity. If, twelve hours +after this despatch shall have been delivered to you, an answer +corresponding to the honor and the intentions of France shall not have +reached me, I shall be constrained to give the forcible attack. + +"Accept, &c. + +"Villa Pamfili, 12 June, 1849, 5 P.M." + + +He was in fact at Villa Santucci, much farther out, but could not be +content without falsifying his date as well as all his statements. + + +"PROCLAMATION. + +"Inhabitants of Rome,--We did not come to bring you war. We came +to sustain among you order, with liberty. The intentions of our +government have been misunderstood. The labors of the siege +have conducted us under your walls. Till now we have wished only +occasionally to answer the fire of your batteries. We approach these +last moments, when the necessities of war burst out in terrible +calamities. Spare them to a city fall of so many glorious memories. + +"If you persist in repelling us, on you alone will fall the +responsibility of irreparable disasters." + + +The following are the answers of the various functionaries to whom +this letter was sent:-- + + +ANSWER OF THE ASSEMBLY. + +"General,--The Roman Constitutional Assembly informs you, in reply to +your despatch of yesterday, that, having concluded a convention from +the 31st of May, 1849, with M. de Lesseps, Minister Plenipotentiary of +the French Republic, a convention which we confirmed soon after your +protest, it must consider that convention obligatory for both parties, +and indeed a safeguard of the rights of nations, until it has been +ratified or declined by the government of France. Therefore the +Assembly must regard as a violation of that convention every hostile +act of the French army since the above-named 31st of May, and all +others that shall take place before the resolution of your government +can be made known, and before the expiration of the time agreed upon +for the armistice. You demand, General, an answer correspondent to the +intentions and power of France. Nothing could be more conformable with +the intentions and power of France than to cease a flagrant violation +of the rights of nations. + +"Whatever may be the results of such violation, the people of Rome are +not responsible for them. Rome is strong in its right, and decided +to maintain tire conventions which attach it to your nation; only it +finds itself constrained by the necessity of self-defence to repel +unjust aggressions. + +"Accept, &c., for the Assembly, + +"The President, GALLETTI. + +"Secretaries, FABRETTI, PANNACCHI, COCCHI." + + +"ANSWER OF THE COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE NATIONAL GUARD. + +"General,--The treaty, of which we await the ratification, assures +this tranquil city from every disaster. + +"The National Guard, destined to maintain order, has the duty of +seconding the resolutions of the government; willingly and zealously +it fulfils this duty, not caring for annoyance and fatigue. + +"The National Guard showed very lately, when it escorted the prisoners +sent back to you, its sympathy for France, but it shows also on every +occasion a supreme regard for its own dignity, for the honor of Rome. + +"Any misfortune to the capital of the Catholic world, to the +monumental city, must be attributed not to the pacific citizens +constrained to defend themselves, but solely to its aggressors. + +"Accept, &c. + +"STURBINETTI, + +_General of the National Guard, Representative of the People_". + + +ANSWER OF THE GENERALISSIMO. + +"Citizen General,--A fatality leads to conflict between the armies +of two republics, whom a better destiny would have invited to combat +against their common enemy; for the enemies of the one cannot fail to +be also enemies of the other. + +"We are not deceived, and shall combat by every means in our power +whoever assails our institutions, for only the brave are worthy to +stand before the French soldiers. + +"Reflecting that there is a state of life worse than death, if the war +you wage should put us in that state, it will be better to close our +eyes for ever than to see the interminable oppressions of oar country. + +"I wish you well, and desire fraternity. + +"ROSSELLI." + + +ANSWER OF THE TRIUMVIRATE. + +"We have the honor to transmit to you the answer of the Assembly. + +"We never break our promises. We have promised to defend, in execution +of orders from the Assembly and people of Rome, the banner of the +Republic, the honor of the country, and the sanctity of the capital of +the Christian world; this promise we shall maintain. + +"Accept, &c. + +"The Triumvirs, + + ARMELLINI. + MAZZINI. + SAFFI." + + +Observe the miserable evasion of this missive of Oudinot: "The fortune +of war has conducted us." What war? He pretended to come as a friend, +a protector; is enraged only because, after his deceits at Civita +Vecchia, Rome will not trust him within her walls. For this he daily +sacrifices hundreds of lives. "The Roman people cannot be hostile to +the French?" No, indeed; they were not disposed to be so. They had +been stirred to emulation by the example of France. They had warmly +hoped in her as their true ally. It required all that Oudinot has done +to turn their faith to contempt and aversion. + +Cowardly man! He knows now that he comes upon a city which wished to +receive him only as a friend, and he cries, "With my cannon, with my +bombs, I will compel you to let me betray you." + +The conduct of France--infamous enough before--looks tenfold blacker +now that, while the so-called Plenipotentiary is absent with the +treaty to be ratified, her army daily assails Rome,--assails in vain. +After receiving these answers to his letter and proclamation, Oudinot +turned all the force of his cannonade to make a breach, and +began, what no one, even in these days, has believed possible, the +bombardment of Rome. + +Yes! the French, who pretend to be the advanced guard of civilization, +are bombarding Rome. They dare take the risk of destroying the richest +bequests made to man by the great Past. Nay, they seem to do it in an +especially barbarous manner. It was thought they would avoid, as much +as possible, the hospitals for the wounded, marked to their view +by the black banner, and the places where are the most precious +monuments; but several bombs have fallen on the chief hospital, and +the Capitol evidently is especially aimed at. They made a breach in +the wall, but it was immediately filled up with a barricade, and all +the week they have been repulsed in every attempt they made to gain +ground, though with considerable loss of life on our side; on theirs +it must be great, but how great we cannot know. + +Ponte Molle, the scene of Raphael's fresco of a battle, in the +Vatican, saw again a fierce struggle last Friday. More than fifty were +brought wounded into Rome. + +But wounds and assaults only fire more and more the courage of her +defenders. They feel the justice of their cause, and the peculiar +iniquity of this aggression. In proportion as there seems little aid +to be hoped from man, they seem to claim it from God. The noblest +sentiments are heard from every lip, and, thus far, their acts amply +correspond. + +On the eve of the bombardment one or two officers went round with +a fine band. It played on the piazzas the Marseillaise and Roman +marches; and when the people were thus assembled, they were told +of the proclamation, and asked how they felt. Many shouted loudly, +_Guerra! Viva la Republica Romana!_ Afterward, bands of young men went +round singing the chorus, + + "Vogliamo sempre quella, + Vogliamo Liberta." + +("We want always one thing; we want liberty.") Guitars played, and +some danced. When the bombs began to come, one of the Trasteverini, +those noble images of the old Roman race, redeemed her claim to that +descent by seizing a bomb and extinguishing the match. She received a +medal and a reward in money. A soldier did the same thing at Palazza +Spada, where is the statue of Pompey, at whose base great Caesar fell. +He was promoted. Immediately the people were seized with emulation; +armed with pans of wet clay, they ran wherever the bombs fell, to +extinguish them. Women collect the balls from the hostile cannon, and +carry them to ours. As thus very little injury has been done to life, +the people cry, "Madonna protects us against the bombs; she wills not +that Rome should be destroyed." + +Meanwhile many poor people are driven from their homes, and provisions +are growing very dear. The heats are now terrible for us, and must be +far more so for the French. It is said a vast number are ill of fever; +indeed, it cannot be otherwise. Oudinot himself has it, and perhaps +this is one explanation of the mixture of violence and weakness in his +actions. + +He must be deeply ashamed at the poor result of his bad acts,--that at +the end of two weeks and so much bravado, he has done nothing to Rome, +unless intercept provisions, kill some of her brave youth, and +injure churches, which should be sacred to him as to us. St. Maria +Trastevere, that ancient church, so full of precious remains, and +which had an air of mild repose more beautiful than almost any other, +is said to have suffered particularly. + +As to the men who die, I share the impassioned sorrow of the +Triumvirs. "O Frenchmen!" they wrote, "could you know what men you +destroy! _They_ are no mercenaries, like those who fill your ranks, +but the flower of the Italian youth, and the noblest among the aged. +When you shall know of what minds you have robbed the world, how ought +you to repent and mourn!" + +This is especially true of the Emigrant and Garibaldi legions. The +misfortunes of Northern and Southern Italy, the conscription which +compels to the service of tyranny those who remain, has driven from +the kingdom of Naples and from Lombardy all the brave and noble youth. +Many are in Venice or Rome, the forlorn hope of Italy. Radetzky, +every day more cruel, now impresses aged men and the fathers of large +families. He carries them with him in chains, determined, if he cannot +have good troops to send into Hungary, at least to revenge himself on +the unhappy Lombards. + +Many of these young men, students from Pisa, Pavia, Padua, and the +Roman University, lie wounded in the hospitals, for naturally they +rushed first to the combat. One kissed an arm which was cut off; +another preserves pieces of bone which were painfully extracted from +his wound, as relics of the best days of his life. The older men, many +of whom have been saddened by exile and disappointment, less glowing, +are not less resolved. A spirit burns noble as ever animated the most +precious deeds we treasure from the heroic age. I suffer to see these +temples of the soul thus broken, to see the fever-weary days and +painful operations undergone by these noble men, these true priests of +a higher hope; but I would not, for much, have missed seeing it +all. The memory of it will console amid the spectacles of meanness, +selfishness, and faithlessness which life may yet have in store for +the pilgrim. + + +June 23. + +Matters verge to a crisis. The French government sustains Oudinot and +disclaims Lesseps. Harmonious throughout, shameless in falsehood, it +seems Oudinot knew that tire mission of Lesseps was at an end, when +he availed himself of his pacific promises to occupy Monte Mario. +When the Romans were anxious at seeing French troops move in that +direction, Lesseps said it was only done to occupy them, and conjured +the Romans to avoid all collision which might prevent his success +with the treaty. The sham treaty was concluded on the 30th of May, a +detachment of French having occupied Monte Mario on the night of the +29th. Oudinot flies into a rage and refuses to sign; M. Lesseps goes +off to Paris; meanwhile, the brave Oudinot attacks on the 3d of June, +after writing to the French Consul that Ire should not till the 4th, +to leave time for the foreigners remaining to retire. He attacked in +the night, possessing himself of Villa Pamfili, as he had of Monte +Mario, by treachery and surprise. + +Meanwhile, M. Lesseps arrives in Paris, to find himself seemingly or +really in great disgrace with the would-be Emperor and his cabinet. To +give reason for this, M. Drouyn de Lhuys, who had publicly declared +to the Assembly that M. Lesseps had no instructions except from the +report of the sitting of the 7th of May, shamefully publishes a +letter of special instructions, hemming him in on every side, which M. +Lesseps, the "Plenipotentiary," dares not disown. + +What are we to think of a great nation, whose leading men are such +barefaced liars? M. Guizot finds his creed faithfully followed up. + +The liberal party in France does what it can to wash its hands of this +offence, but it seems weak, and unlikely to render effectual service +at this crisis. Venice, Rome, Ancona, are the last strong-holds of +hope, and they cannot stand for ever thus unsustained. Night before +last, a tremendous cannonade left no moment to sleep, even had the +anxious hearts of mothers and wives been able to crave it. At morning +a little detachment of French had entered by the breach of St. +Pancrazio, and intrenched itself in a vineyard. Another has possession +of Villa Poniatowski, close to the Porta del Popolo, and attacks +and alarms are hourly to be expected. I long to see the final one, +dreadful as that hour may be, since now there seems no hope from +delay. Men are daily slain, and this state of suspense is agonizing. + +In the evening 'tis pretty, though terrible, to see the bombs, fiery +meteors, springing from the horizon line upon their bright path, to do +their wicked message. 'T would not be so bad, methinks, to die by one +of these, as wait to have every drop of pure blood, every childlike +radiant hope, drained and driven from the heart by the betrayals of +nations and of individuals, till at last the sickened eyes refuse more +to open to that light which shines daily on such pits of iniquity. + + + + +LETTER XXXIII. + +SIEGE OF ROME.--HEAT.--NIGHT ATTACKS.--THE BOMBARDMENT.--THE +NIGHT BREACH.--DEFECTION.--ENTRY OF THE FRENCH.--SLAUGHTER OF +THE ROMANS.--THE HOSPITALS.--DESTRUCTION BY BOMBS.--CESSATION OF +RESISTANCE.--OUDINOT'S STUBBORNNESS.--GARIBALDI'S TROOPS.--THEIR +MUSTER ON THE SCENE OF RIENZI'S TRIUMPH.--GARIBALDI.--HIS +DEPARTURE.--"RESPECTABLE" OPINION.--THE PROTECTORS UNMASKED.--COLD +RECEPTION.--A PRIEST ASSASSINATED.--MARTIAL LAW DECLARED.--REPUBLICAN +EDUCATION.--DISAPPEARANCE OF FRENCH SOLDIERS.--CLEARING THE +HOSPITALS.--PRIESTLY BASENESS.--INSULT TO THE AMERICAN CONSUL.--HIS +PROTEST AND DEPARTURE.--DISARMING THE NATIONAL GUARD.--POSITION OF MR. +CASS.--PETTY OPPRESSION.--EXPULSION OF FOREIGNERS.--EFFECT OF +FRENCH PRESENCE.--ADDRESS TO THE PEOPLE.--VISIT TO THE SCENE OF +STRIFE.--AMERICAN SYMPATHY FOR LIBERTY IN EUROPE. + + +Rome, July 6, 1849. + +If I mistake not, I closed my last letter just as the news arrived +here that the attempt of the democratic party in France to resist the +infamous proceedings of the government had failed, and thus Rome, as +far as human calculation went, had not a hope for her liberties left. +An inland city cannot long sustain a siege when there is no hope of +aid. Then followed the news of the surrender of Ancona, and Rome +found herself alone; for, though Venice continued to hold out, all +communication was cut off. + +The Republican troops, almost to a man, left Ancona, but a long march +separated them from Rome. + +The extreme heat of these days was far more fatal to the Romans than +to their assailants, for as fast as the French troops sickened, their +place was taken by fresh arrivals. Ours also not only sustained the +exhausting service by day, but were harassed at night by attacks, +feigned or real. These commonly began about eleven or twelve o'clock +at night, just when all who meant to rest were fairly asleep. I can +imagine the harassing effect upon the troops, from what I feel in +my sheltered pavilion, in consequence of not knowing a quiet night's +sleep for a month. + +The bombardment became constantly more serious. The house where I live +was filled as early as the 20th with persons obliged to fly from the +Piazza di Gesu, where the fiery rain fell thickest. The night of the +21st-22d, we were all alarmed about two o'clock, A.M. by a tremendous +cannonade. It was the moment when the breach was finally made by which +the French entered. They rushed in, and I grieve to say, that, by the +only instance of defection known in the course of the siege, those +companies of the regiment Union which had in charge a position on +that point yielded to panic and abandoned it. The French immediately +entered and intrenched themselves. That was the fatal hour for the +city. Every day afterward, though obstinately resisted, the enemy +gained, till at last, their cannon being well placed, the city was +entirely commanded from the Janiculum, and all thought of further +resistance was idle. + +It was true policy to avoid a street-fight, in which the Italian, +an unpractised soldier, but full of feeling and sustained from the +houses, would have been a match even for their disciplined troops. +After the 22d of June, the slaughter of the Romans became every day +more fearful. Their defences were knocked down by the heavy cannon +of the French, and, entirely exposed in their valorous onsets, +great numbers perished on the spot. Those who were brought into the +hospitals were generally grievously wounded, very commonly subjects +for amputation. My heart bled daily more and more at these sights, and +I could not feel much for myself, though now the balls and bombs began +to fall round me also. The night of the 28th the effect was truly +fearful, as they whizzed and burst near me. As many as thirty fell +upon or near the Hotel de Russie, where Mr. Cass has his temporary +abode. The roof of the studio in the pavilion, tenanted by Mr. +Stermer, well known to the visitors of Rome for his highly-finished +cabinet pictures, was torn to pieces. I sat alone in my much exposed +apartment, thinking, "If one strikes me, I only hope it will kill +me at once, and that God will transport my soul to some sphere where +virtue and love are not tyrannized over by egotism and brute force, +as in this." However, that night passed; the next, we had reason to +expect a still more fiery salute toward the Pincian, as here alone +remained three or four pieces of cannon which could be used. But on +the morning of the 30th, in a contest at the foot of the Janiculum, +the line, old Papal troops, naturally not in earnest like the free +corps, refused to fight against odds so terrible. The heroic Marina +fell, with hundreds of his devoted Lombards. Garibaldi saw his best +officers perish, and himself went in the afternoon to say to the +Assembly that further resistance was unavailing. + +The Assembly sent to Oudinot, but he refused any conditions,--refused +even to guarantee a safe departure to Garibaldi, his brave foe. +Notwithstanding, a great number of men left the other regiments +to follow the leader whose courage had captivated them, and whose +superiority over difficulties commanded their entire confidence. +Toward the evening of Monday, the 2d of July, it was known that the +French were preparing to cross the river and take possession of all +the city. I went into the Corso with some friends; it was filled with +citizens and military. The carriage was stopped by the crowd near the +Doria palace; the lancers of Garibaldi galloped along in full career. +I longed for Sir Walter Scott to be on earth again, and see them; all +are light, athletic, resolute figures, many of the forms of the finest +manly beauty of the South, all sparkling with its genius and ennobled +by the resolute spirit, ready to dare, to do, to die. We followed +them to the piazza of St. John Lateran. Never have I seen a sight +so beautiful, so romantic, and so sad. Whoever knows Rome knows the +peculiar solemn grandeur of that piazza, scene of the first triumph of +Rienzi, and whence may be seen the magnificence of the "mother of all +churches," the baptistery with its porphyry columns, the Santa Scala +with its glittering mosaics of the early ages, the obelisk standing +fairest of any of those most imposing monuments of Rome, the view +through the gates of the Campagna, on that side so richly strewn with +ruins. The sun was setting, the crescent moon rising, the flower of +the Italian youth were marshalling in that solemn place. They had been +driven from every other spot where they had offered their hearts as +bulwarks of Italian independence; in this last strong-hold they had +sacrificed hecatombs of their best and bravest in that cause; they +must now go or remain prisoners and slaves. _Where_ go, they knew not; +for except distant Hungary there is not now a spot which would receive +them, or where they can act as honor commands. They had all put on +the beautiful dress of the Garibaldi legion, the tunic of bright red +cloth, the Greek cap, or else round hat with Puritan plume. Their long +hair was blown back from resolute faces; all looked full of courage. +They had counted the cost before they entered on this perilous +struggle; they had weighed life and all its material advantages +against liberty, and made their election; they turned not back, nor +flinched, at this bitter crisis. I saw the wounded, all that could go, +laden upon their baggage cars; some were already pale and fainting, +still they wished to go. I saw many youths, born to rich inheritance, +carrying in a handkerchief all their worldly goods. The women were +ready; their eyes too were resolved, if sad. The wife of Garibaldi +followed him on horseback. He himself was distinguished by the white +tunic; his look was entirely that of a hero of the Middle Ages,--his +face still young, for the excitements of his life, though so many, +have all been youthful, and there is no fatigue upon his brow or +cheek. Fall or stand, one sees in him a man engaged in the career for +which he is adapted by nature. He went upon the parapet, and looked +upon the road with a spy-glass, and, no obstruction being in sight, he +turned his face for a moment back upon Rome, then led the way through +the gate. Hard was the heart, stony and seared the eye, that had no +tear for that moment. Go, fated, gallant band! and if God care not +indeed for men as for the sparrows, most of ye go forth to perish. And +Rome, anew the Niobe! Must she lose also these beautiful and brave, +that promised her regeneration, and would have given it, but for the +perfidy, the overpowering force, of the foreign intervention? + +I know that many "respectable" gentlemen would be surprised to hear me +speak in this way. Gentlemen who perform their "duties to society" by +buying for themselves handsome clothes and furniture with the interest +of their money, speak of Garibaldi and his men as "brigands" and +"vagabonds." Such are they, doubtless, in the same sense as Jesus, +Moses, and Eneas were. To me, men who can throw so lightly aside the +ease of wealth, the joys of affection, for the sake of what they deem +honor, in whatsoever form, are the "respectable." No doubt there are +in these bands a number of men of lawless minds, and who follow this +banner only because there is for them no other path. But the +greater part are the noble youths who have fled from the Austrian +conscription, or fly now from the renewal of the Papal suffocation, +darkened by French protection. + +As for the protectors, they entirely threw aside the mask, as it was +always supposed they would, the moment they had possession of Rome. I +do not know whether they were really so bewildered by their priestly +counsellors as to imagine they would be well received in a city which +they had bombarded, and where twelve hundred men were lying wounded +by their assault. To say nothing of the justice or injustice of the +matter, it could not be supposed that the Roman people, if it had any +sense of dignity, would welcome them. I did not appear in the street, +as I would not give any countenance to such a wrong; but an English +lady, my friend, told me they seemed to look expectingly for the +strong party of friends they had always pretended to have within the +walls. The French officers looked up to the windows for ladies, and, +she being the only one they saw, saluted her. She made no reply. They +then passed into the Corso. Many were assembled, the softer +Romans being unable to control a curiosity the Milanese would have +disclaimed, but preserving an icy silence. In an evil hour, a foolish +priest dared to break it by the cry of _Viva Pio Nono!_ The populace, +roused to fury, rushed on him with their knives. He was much wounded; +one or two others were killed in the rush. The people howled then, and +hissed at the French, who, advancing their bayonets, and clearing the +way before them, fortified themselves in the piazzas. Next day the +French troops were marched to and fro through Rome, to inspire awe in +the people; but it has only created a disgust amounting to loathing, +to see that, with such an imposing force, and in great part fresh, the +French were not ashamed to use bombs also, and kill women and children +in their beds. Oudinot then, seeing the feeling of the people, and +finding they pursued as a spy any man who so much as showed the way +to his soldiers,--that the Italians went out of the cafes if Frenchmen +entered,--in short, that the people regarded him and his followers in +the same light as the Austrians,--has declared martial law in Rome; +the press is stifled; everybody is to be in the house at half past +nine o'clock in the evening, and whoever in any way insults his men, +or puts any obstacle in their way, is to be shot. + +The fruits of all this will be the same as elsewhere; temporary +repression will sow the seeds of perpetual resistance; and never +was Rome in so fair a way to be educated for a republican form of +government as now. + +Especially could nothing be more irritating to an Italian population, +in the month of July, than to drive them to their homes at half past +nine. After the insupportable heat of the day, their only enjoyment +and refreshment are found in evening walks, and chats together as they +sit before their cafes, or in groups outside some friendly door. Now +they must hurry home when the drum beats at nine o'clock. They are +forbidden to stand or sit in groups, and this by their bombarding +_protector!_ Comment is unnecessary. + +French soldiers are daily missing; of some it is known that they have +been killed by the Trasteverini for daring to make court to their +women. Of more than a hundred and fifty, it is only known that they +cannot he found; and in two days of French "order" more acts +of violence have been committed, than in two months under the +Triumvirate. + +The French have taken up their quarters in the court-yards of the +Quirinal and Venetian palaces, which are full of the wounded, many +of whom have been driven well-nigh mad, and their burning wounds +exasperated, by the sound of the drums and trumpets,--the constant +sense of an insulting presence. The wounded have been warned to leave +the Quirinal at the end of eight days, though there are many who +cannot be moved from bed to bed without causing them great anguish +and peril; nor is it known that any other place has been provided as a +hospital for them. At the Palazzo di Venezia the French have searched +for three emigrants whom they wished to imprison, even in the +apartments where the wounded were lying, running their bayonets into +the mattresses. They have taken for themselves beds given by the +Romans to the hospital,--not public property, but private gift. The +hospital of Santo Spirito was a governmental establishment, and, in +using a part of it for the wounded, its director had been retained, +because he had the reputation of being honest and not illiberal. But +as soon as the French entered, he, with true priestly baseness, sent +away the women nurses, saying he had no longer money to pay them, +transported the wounded into a miserable, airless basement, that had +before been used as a granary, and appropriated the good apartments to +the use of the French! + + +July 8. + +The report of this morning is that the French yesterday violated the +domicile of our Consul, Mr. Brown, pretending to search for persons +hidden there; that Mr. Brown, banner in one hand and sword in the +other, repelled the assault, and fairly drove them down stairs; that +then he made them an appropriate speech, though in a mixed language of +English, French, and Italian; that the crowd vehemently applauded Mr. +Brown, who already was much liked for the warm sympathy he had shown +the Romans in their aspirations and their distresses; and that he then +donned his uniform, and went to Oudinot to make his protest. How this +was received I know not, but understand Mr. Brown departed with his +family yesterday evening. Will America look as coldly on the insult to +herself, as she has on the struggle of this injured people? + +To-day an edict is out to disarm the National Guard. The generous +"protectors" wish to take all the trouble upon themselves. Rome is +full of them; at every step are met groups in the uniform of France, +with faces bronzed in the African war, and so stultified by a life +without enthusiasm and without thought, that I do not believe +Napoleon would recognize them as French soldiers. The effect of their +appearance compared with that of the Italian free corps is that of +body as compared with spirit. It is easy to see how they could be used +to purposes so contrary to the legitimate policy of France, for they +do not look more intellectual, more fitted to have opinions of their +own, than the Austrian soldiery. + + +July 10. + +The plot thickens. The exact facts with regard to the invasion of Mr. +Brown's house I have not been able to ascertain. I suppose they will +be published, as Oudinot has promised to satisfy Mr. Cass. I must +add, in reference to what I wrote some time ago of the position of our +Envoy here, that the kind and sympathetic course of Mr. Cass toward +the Republicans in these troubles, his very gentlemanly and courteous +bearing, have from the minds of most removed all unpleasant feelings. +They see that his position was very peculiar,--sent to the Papal +government, finding here the Republican, and just at that moment +violently assailed. Unless he had extraordinary powers, he naturally +felt obliged to communicate further with our government before +acknowledging this. I shall always regret, however, that he did +not stand free to occupy the high position that belonged to the +representative of the United States at that moment, and peculiarly +because it was by a republic that the Roman Republic was betrayed. + +But, as I say, the plot thickens. Yesterday three families were +carried to prison because a boy crowed like a cock at the French +soldiery from the windows of the house they occupied. Another, because +a man pursued took refuge in their court-yard. At the same time, the +city being mostly disarmed, came the edict to take down the insignia +of the Republic, "emblems of anarchy." But worst of all they have done +is an edict commanding all foreigners who had been in the service of +the Republican government to leave Rome within twenty-four hours. This +is the most infamous thing done yet, as it drives to desperation those +who stayed because they had so many to go with and no place to go +to, or because their relatives lie wounded here: no others wished to +remain in Rome under present circumstances. + +I am sick of breathing the same air with men capable of a part so +utterly cruel and false. As soon as I can, I shall take refuge in the +mountains, if it be possible to find an obscure nook unpervaded by +these convulsions. Let not my friends be surprised if they do not hear +from me for some time. I may not feel like writing. I have seen too +much sorrow, and, alas! without power to aid. It makes me sick to see +the palaces and streets of Rome full of these infamous foreigners, and +to note the already changed aspect of her population. The men of Rome +had begun, filled with new hopes, to develop unknown energy,--they +walked quick, their eyes sparkled, they delighted in duty, in +responsibility; in a year of such life their effeminacy would have +been vanquished. Now, dejectedly, unemployed, they lounge along the +streets, feeling that all the implements of labor, all the ensigns of +hope, have been snatched from them. Their hands fall slack, their eyes +rove aimless, the beggars begin to swarm again, and the black ravens +who delight in the night of ignorance, the slumber of sloth, as the +only sureties for their rule, emerge daily more and more frequent from +their hiding-places. + +The following Address has been circulated from hand to hand. + + +"TO THE PEOPLE OF ROME. + +"Misfortune, brothers, has fallen upon us anew. But it is trial of +brief duration,--it is the stone of the sepulchre which we shall throw +away after three days, rising victorious and renewed, an immortal +nation. For with us are God and Justice,--God and Justice, who cannot +die, but always triumph, while kings and popes, once dead, revive no +more. + +"As you have been great in the combat, be so in the days of +sorrow,--great in your conduct as citizens, by generous disdain, by +sublime silence. Silence is the weapon we have now to use against the +Cossacks of France and the priests, their masters. + +"In the streets do not look at them; do not answer if they address +you. + +"In the cafes, in the eating-houses, if they enter, rise and go out. + +"Let your windows remain closed as they pass. + +"Never attend their feasts, their parades. + +"Regard the harmony of their musical bands as tones of slavery, and, +when you hear them, fly. + +"Let the liberticide soldier be condemned to isolation; let him atone +in solitude and contempt for having served priests and kings. + +"And you, Roman women, masterpiece of God's work! deign no look, no +smile, to those satellites of an abhorred Pope! Cursed be she who, +before the odious satellites of Austria, forgets that she is Italian! +Her name shall be published for the execration of all her people! And +even the courtesans! let them show love for their country, and thus +regain the dignity of citizens! + +"And our word of order, our cry of reunion and emancipation, be now +and ever, VIVA LA REPUBLICA! + +"This incessant cry, which not even French slaves can dispute, +shall prepare us to administer the bequest of our martyrs, shall be +consoling dew to the immaculate and holy bones that repose, sublime +holocaust of faith and of love, near our walls, and make doubly divine +the Eternal City. In this cry we shall find ourselves always brothers, +and we shall conquer. Viva Rome, the capital of Italy! Viva the Italy +of the people! Viva the Roman Republic! + +"A ROMAN. + +"Rome, July 4, 1849." + + +Yes; July 4th, the day so joyously celebrated in our land, is that of +the entrance of the French into Rome! + +I know not whether the Romans will follow out this programme with +constancy, as the sterner Milanese have done. If they can, it will +draw upon them endless persecutions, countless exactions, but at once +educate and prove them worthy of a nobler life. + +Yesterday I went over the scene of conflict. It was fearful even to +_see_ the Casinos Quattro Venti and Vascello, where the French and +Romans had been several days so near one another, all shattered to +pieces, with fragments of rich stucco and painting still sticking to +rafters between the great holes made by the cannonade, and think +that men had stayed and fought in them when only a mass of ruins. +The French, indeed, were entirely sheltered the last days; to my +unpractised eyes, the extent and thoroughness of their works seemed +miraculous, and gave me the first clear idea of the incompetency of +the Italians to resist organized armies. I saw their commanders had +not even known enough of the art of war to understand how the French +were conducting the siege. It is true, their resources were at any +rate inadequate to resistance; only continual sorties would have +arrested the progress of the foe, and to make them and man the wall +their forces were inadequate. I was struck more than ever by the +heroic valor of _our_ people,--let me so call them now as ever; for +go where I may, a large part of my heart will ever remain in Italy. +I hope her children will always acknowledge me as a sister, though +I drew not my first breath here. A Contadini showed me where +thirty-seven braves are buried beneath a heap of wall that fell upon +them in the shock of one cannonade. A marble nymph, with broken arm, +looked sadly that way from her sun-dried fountain; some roses were +blooming still, some red oleanders, amid the ruin. The sun was casting +its last light on the mountains on the tranquil, sad Campagna, +that sees one leaf more turned in the book of woe. This was in the +Vascello. I then entered the French ground, all mapped and hollowed +like a honeycomb. A pair of skeleton legs protruded from a bank of one +barricade; lower, a dog had scratched away its light covering of +earth from the body of a man, and discovered it lying face upward all +dressed; the dog stood gazing on it with an air of stupid amazement. +I thought at that moment, recalling some letters received: "O men and +women of America, spared these frightful sights, these sudden wrecks +of every hope, what angel of heaven do you suppose has time to listen +to your tales of morbid woe? If any find leisure to work for men +to-day, think you not they have enough to do to care for the victims +here?" + +I see you have meetings, where you speak of the Italians, the +Hungarians. I pray you _do something_; let it not end in a mere cry of +sentiment. That is better than to sneer at all that is liberal, +like the English,--than to talk of the holy victims of patriotism as +"anarchists" and "brigands"; but it is not enough. It ought not +to content your consciences. Do you owe no tithe to Heaven for the +privileges it has showered on you, for whose achievement so many +here suffer and perish daily? Deserve to retain them, by helping +your fellow-men to acquire them. Our government must abstain from +interference, but private action is practicable, is due. For Italy, +it is in this moment too late; but all that helps Hungary helps her +also,--helps all who wish the freedom of men from an hereditary yoke +now become intolerable. Send money, send cheer,--acknowledge as the +legitimate leaders and rulers those men who represent the people, +who understand their wants, who are ready to die or to live for their +good. Kossuth I know not, but his people recognize him; Manin I know +not, but with what firm nobleness, what perserving virtue, he has +acted for Venice! Mazzini I know, the man and his acts, great, pure, +and constant,--a man to whom only the next age can do justice, as +it reaps the harvest of the seed he has sown in this. Friends, +countrymen, and lovers of virtue, lovers of freedom, lovers of truth! +be on the alert; rest not supine in your easier lives, but remember + + "Mankind is one, + And beats with one great heart." + + + + +PART III. + +LETTERS FROM ABROAD TO FRIENDS AT HOME. + + + + +LETTERS. + +FROM A LETTER TO ---- ----. + + +Bellagio, Lake of Como, August, 1847. + +You do not deceive yourself surely about religion, in so far as that +there is a deep meaning in those pangs of our fate which, if we live +by faith, will become our most precious possession. "Live for thy +faith and thou shalt yet behold it living," is with me, as it hath +been, a maxim. + +Wherever I turn, I see still the same dark clouds, with occasional +gleams of light. In this Europe how much suffocated life!--a sort of +woe much less seen with us. I know many of the noble exiles, pining +for their natural sphere; many of them seek in Jesus the guide and +friend, as you do. For me, it is my nature to wish to go straight to +the Creative Spirit, and I can fully appreciate what you say of the +need of our happiness depending on no human being. Can you really have +attained such wisdom? Your letter seemed to me very modest and pure, +and I trust in Heaven all may be solid. + +I am everywhere well received, and high and low take pleasure in +smoothing my path. I love much the Italians. The lower classes have +the vices induced by long subjection to tyranny; but also a winning +sweetness, a ready and discriminating love for the beautiful, and a +delicacy in the sympathies, the absence of which always made me +sick in our own country. Here, at least, one does not suffer from +obtuseness or indifference. They take pleasure, too, in acts of +kindness; they are bountiful, but it is useless to hope the least +honor in affairs of business. I cannot persuade those who serve me, +however attached, that they should not deceive me, and plunder me. +They think that is part of their duty towards a foreigner. This is +troublesome no less than disagreeable; it is absolutely necessary to +be always on the watch against being cheated. + + * * * * * + +EXTRACT FROM A LETTER. + +One loses sight of all dabbling and pretension when seated at the feet +of dead Rome,--Rome so grand and beautiful upon her bier. Art is dead +here; the few sparkles that sometimes break through the embers cannot +make a flame; but the relics of the past are great enough, over-great; +we should do nothing but sit, and weep, and worship. + +In Rome, one has all the free feeling of the country; the city is so +interwoven with vineyards and gardens, such delightful walks in the +villas, such ceaseless music of the fountains, and from every high +point the Campagna and Tiber seem so near. + +Full of enchantment has been my summer, passed wholly among Italians, +in places where no foreigner goes, amid the snowy peaks, in the +exquisite valleys of the Abruzzi. I have seen a thousand landscapes, +any one of which might employ the thoughts of the painter for years. +Not without reason the people dream that, at the death of a saint, +columns of light are seen to hover on those mountains. They take, at +sunset, the same rose-hues as the Alps. The torrents are magnificent. +I knew some noblemen, with baronial castles nestled in the hills and +slopes, rich in the artistic treasures of centuries. They liked me, +and showed me the hidden beauties of Roman remains. + + * * * * * + +Rome, April, 1848. + +The gods themselves walk on earth, here in the Italian spring. Day +after day of sunny weather lights up the flowery woods and Arcadian +glades. The fountains, hateful during the endless rains, charm again. +At Castle Turano I found heaths, as large as our pear-trees, in full +flower. Such wealth of beauty is irresistible, but ah! the drama of my +life is very strange: the ship plunges deeper as it rises higher. You +would be amazed, could you know how different is my present phase of +life from that in which you knew me; but you would love me no less; it +is tire same planet that shows such different climes. + + * * * * * + +TO HER MOTHER. + +Rome, November 16, 1848. + +I am again in Rome, situated for the first time entirely to my mind. +I have only 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.... + +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 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 at 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 danger. The +postilion called on all the saints, and threw himself into the water. +Tire door of the diligence could not be opened, and tire passengers +forced themselves, one after another, into the cold water; it was 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 were 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!" and +"Souls in 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 relic of Cyclopean +architecture,--as indeed in Italy one is paid at every step for +discomfort and 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 half draped +in mist, and anon 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, Jay 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, so pale and eloquent in the moonlight.... + +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, a 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, on 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 William Story and his wife. They are now in Florence, but +may return. I do not know whether I shall stay here or not: I 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 burned, 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 to Rome 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 HER BROTHER, K.F. FULLER. + +Rome, January 19, 1849. + +MY DEAR RICHARD,--With my window open, looking out upon St. Peter's, +and the glorious Italian sun pouring in, I was just thinking of you; I +was just thinking how I wished you were here, that we might walk forth +and talk together under the influence of these magnificent objects. I +was thinking of the proclamation of the Constitutional Assembly here, +a measure carried by courageous youth in the face of age, sustained by +the prejudices of many years, the ignorance of the people, and all the +wealth of the country; yet courageous youth faces not only these, but +the most threatening aspect of foreign powers, and dares a future of +blood and exile to achieve privileges which are our American common +birthright. I thought of the great interests which may in our country +be sustained without obstacle by every able man,--interests of +humanity, interests of God. + +I thought of the new prospects of wealth opened to our countrymen by +the acquisition of New Mexico and California,--the vast prospects of +our country every way, so that it is itself a vast blessing to be born +an American; and I thought how impossible it is that one like you, +of so strong and generous a nature, should, if he can but patiently +persevere, be defrauded of a rich, manifold, powerful life. + + +Thursday eve, January 25. + +This has been a most beautiful day, and I have taken a long walk out +of town. How much I should like sometimes to walk with you again! I +went to the church of St. Lorenzo, one of the most ancient in Rome, +rich in early mosaics, also with spoils from the temples, marbles, +ancient sarcophagi with fine bassirilievi, and magnificent columns. +There is a little of everything, but the medley is harmonized by the +action of time, and the sensation induced is that of repose. It has +the public cemetery, and there lie the bones of many poor; the rich +and noble lie in lead coffins in the church vaults of Rome, but St. +Lorenzo loved the poor. When his tormentors insisted on knowing where +he had hid his riches,--"There," he said, pointing to the crowd of +wretches who hovered near his bed, compelled to see the tyrants of the +earth hew down the tree that had nourished and sheltered them. + +Amid the crowd of inexpressive epitaphs, one touched me, erected by +a son to his father. "He was," says the son, "an angel of prosperity, +seeking our good in distant countries with unremitting toll and pain. +We owe him all. For his death it is my only consolation that in life I +never left his side." + +Returning, I passed the Pretorian Camp, the Campus Salisetus, where +vestals that had broken their vows were buried alive in the city +whose founder was born from a similar event. Such are the usual, the +frightful inconsistencies of mankind. + +From my windows I see the Barberini palace; in its chambers are the +pictures of the Cenci, and the Galatea, so beautifully described by +Goethe; in the gardens are the remains of the tomb of Servius Tullius. + +Yesterday as I went forth I saw the house where Keats lived in Rome, +and where he died; I saw the Casino of Raphael. Returning, I passed +the villa where Goethe lived when in Rome: afterwards, the houses of +Claude and Poussin. + +Ah what human companionship here! how everything speaks! I live myself +in the apartment described in Andersen's "Improvvisatore," which get +you, and read a scene of the childhood of Antonio. I have the room, I +suppose, indicated as being occupied by the Danish sculptor. + + * * * * * + +TO THE SAME. + +Rome, March 17, 1849. + +I take occasion to enclose this seal, as a little birthday present, +for I think you will be twenty-five in May. I have used it a great +deal; the design is graceful and expressive,--the stone of some little +value. + +I live with the severest economy consistent with my health. I could +not live for less anywhere. I have renounced much, have suffered more. +I trust I shall not find it impossible to accomplish, at least one +of my designs. This is, to see the end of the political struggle +in Italy, and write its history. I think it will come to its crisis +within, this year. But to complete my work as I have begun, I must +watch it to the end. + +This work, if I can accomplish it, will be a worthy chapter in the +history of the world; and if written with the spirit which breathes +through me, and with sufficient energy and calmness to execute well +the details, would be what the motto on my ring indicates,--"_a +possession for ever, for man_." + +It ought to be profitable to me pecuniarily; but in these respects +Fate runs so uniformly counter to me, that I dare not expect ever to +be free from perplexity and uncongenial labor. Still, these will never +more be so hard to me, if I shall have done something good, which may +survive my troubled existence. Yet it would be like the rest, if by +ill health, want of means, or being driven prematurely from the field +of observation, this hope also should be blighted. I am prepared to +have it so. Only my efforts tend to the accomplishment of my object; +and should they not be baffled, you will not see me before the summer +of 1850. + +Meantime, let the future be what it may, I live as well as I can in +the present. + +Farewell, my dear Richard; that you may lead a peaceful, aspiring, and +generous life was ever, and must ever be, the prayer from the soul of +your sister + +MARGARET. + + * * * * * + +UNDAUNTED ROME. + +Rome, May 6, 1849. + +I write you from barricaded Rome. The "Mother of Nations" is now at +bay against them all. Rome was suffering before. The misfortunes of +other regions of Italy, the defeat at Novara, preconcerted in hope +to strike the last blow at Italian independence, the surrender and +painful condition of Genoa, the money-difficulties,--insuperable +unless the government could secure confidence abroad as well as at +home,--prevented her people from finding that foothold for which they +were ready. + +The vacillations of France agitated them; still they could not +seriously believe she would ever act the part she has. We must say +France, because, though many honorable men have washed their hands +of all share in the perfidy, the Assembly voted funds to sustain the +expedition to Civita Vecchia; and the nation, the army, have remained +quiescent. No one was, no one could be, deceived as to the scope of +this expedition. It was intended to restore the Pope to the temporal +sovereignty, from which the people, by the use of suffrage, had +deposed him. No doubt the French, in case of success, proposed to +temper the triumph of Austria and Naples, and stipulate for conditions +that might soothe the Romans and make their act less odious. They were +probably deceived, also, by the representations of Gaeta, and believed +that a large party, which had been intimidated by the republicans, +would declare in favor of the Pope when they found themselves likely +to be sustained. But this last pretext can in noway avail them. They +landed at Civita Vecchia, and no one declared for the Pope. They +marched on Rome. Placards were affixed within the walls by hands +unknown, calling upon the Papal party to rise within the town. Not a +soul stirred. The French had no excuse left for pretending to believe +that the present government was not entirely acceptable to the people. +Notwithstanding, they assail the gates; they fire upon St. Peter's, +and their balls pierce the Vatican. They were repulsed, as they +deserved, retired in quick and shameful defeat, as surely the brave +French soldiery could not, if they had not been demoralized by the +sense of what an infamous course they were pursuing. + +France, eager to destroy the last hope of Italian +emancipation,--France, the alguazil of Austria, the soldiers of +republican France, firing upon republican Rome! If there be angel +as well as demon powers that interfere in the affairs of men, those +bullets could scarcely fail to be turned back against their own +breasts. Yet Roman blood has flowed also; I saw how it stained +the walls of the Vatican Gardens on the 30th of April--the first +anniversary of the appearance of Pius IX.'s too famous encyclic +letter. Shall he, shall any Pope, ever again walk peacefully in these +gardens? It seems impossible! The temporal sovereignty of the Popes +is virtually destroyed by their shameless, merciless measures taken +to restore it. The spiritual dominion ultimately falls, too, into +irrevocable ruin. What may be the issue at this moment, we cannot +guess. The French have retired to Civita Vecchia, but whether to +reembark or to await reinforcements, we know not. The Neapolitan force +has halted within a few miles of the walls; it is not large, and they +are undoubtedly surprised at the discomfiture of the French. Perhaps +they wait for the Austrians, but we do not yet hear that these have +entered the Romagna. Meanwhile, Rome is strongly barricaded, and, +though she cannot stand always against a world in arms, she means at +least to do so as long as possible. Mazzini is at her head; she has +now a guide "who understands his faith," and all there is of a noble +spirit will show itself. We all feel very sad, because the idea of +bombs, barbarously thrown in, and street-fights in Rome, is peculiarly +dreadful. Apart from all the blood and anguish inevitable at such +times, the glories of Art may perish, and mankind be forever despoiled +of the most beautiful inheritance. Yet I would defend Rome to the last +moment. She must not be false to the higher hope that has dawned upon +her. She must not fall back again into servility and corruption. + +And no one is willing. The interference of the French has roused the +weakest to resistance. "From the Austrians, from the Neapolitans," +they cried, "we expected this; but from the French--it is too +infamous; it cannot be borne;" and they all ran to arms and fought +nobly. + +The Americans here are not in a pleasant situation. Mr. Cass, the +Charge of the United States, stays here without recognizing the +government. Of course, he holds no position at the present moment +that can enable him to act for us. Beside, it gives us pain that our +country, whose policy it justly is to avoid armed interference with +the affairs of Europe, should not use a moral influence. Rome has, as +we did, thrown off a government no longer tolerable; she has made +use of the suffrage to form another; she stands on the same basis as +ourselves. Mr. Rush did us great honor by his ready recognition of a +principle as represented by the French Provisional Government; had +Mr. Cass been empowered to do the same, our country would have acted +nobly, and all that is most truly American in America would have +spoken to sustain the sickened hopes of European democracy. But of +this more when I write next. Who knows what I may have to tell another +week? + + * * * * * + +TO HER BROTHER, R.B. FULLER. + +Rome, May 22, 1849. + +I do not write to Eugene yet, because around me is such excitement I +cannot settle my mind enough to write a letter good for anything. The +Neapolitans have been driven back; but the French, seem to be amusing +us with a pretence of treaties, while waiting for the Austrians to +come up. The Austrians cannot, I suppose, be more than three days' +march from us. I feel but little about myself. Such thoughts are +merged in indignation, and in the fears I have that Rome may be +bombarded. It seems incredible that any nation should be willing to +incur the infamy of such an act,--an act that may rob posterity of a +most precious part of its inheritance;--only so many incredible things +have happened of late. I am with William Story, his wife and uncle. +Very kind friends they have been in this strait. They are going away, +so soon as they can find horses,--going into Germany. I remain alone +in the house, under our flag, almost the only American except the +Consul and Ambassador. But Mr. Cass, the Envoy, has offered to do +anything for me, and I feel at liberty to call on him if I please. + +But enough of this. Let us implore of fate another good meeting, +full and free, whether long or short. Love to dearest mother, Arthur, +Ellen, Lloyd. Say to all, that, should any accident possible to these +troubled times transfer me to another scene of existence, they need +not regret it. There must be better worlds than this, where innocent +blood is not ruthlessly shed, where treason does not so easily +triumph, where the greatest and best are not crucified. I do not say +this in apprehension, but in case of accident, you might be glad to +keep this last word from your sister + +MARGARET. + + * * * * * + +TO R.W. EMERSON. + +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 to 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 of April, I go almost daily to the hospitals, and +though I have suffered, for I had no idea before how terrible gun-shot +wounds and wound-fevers 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, and 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 Germans, many Poles. Indeed, I am afraid it is too true +that there were comparatively 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 demon. Mazzini has +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 for +ever,--the villa of Raphael, the villa of Albani, home of Winckelmann +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 shall ever 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 you not 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 HER SISTER, MRS. E.K. CHANNING. + +Rome, June 19, 1849. + +As was Eve, at first, I suppose every mother is delighted by the birth +of a man-child. There is a hope that he will conquer more ill, and +effect more good, than is expected from girls. This prejudice in favor +of man does not seem to be destroyed by his shortcomings for ages. +Still, each mother hopes to find in hers an Emanuel. I should like +very much to see your children, but hardly realize I ever shall. +The journey home seems so long, so difficult, so expensive. I should +really like to lie down here, and sleep my way into another sphere of +existence, if I could take with me one or two that love and need me, +and was sure of a good haven for them on that other side. + +The world seems to go so strangely wrong! The bad side triumphs; the +blood and tears of the generous flow in vain. I assist at many saddest +scenes, and suffer for those whom I knew not before. Those whom I knew +and loved,--who, if they had triumphed, would have opened for me an +easier, broader, higher-mounting road,--are everyday more and more +involved in earthly ruin. Eternity is with us, but there is much +darkness and bitterness in this portion of it. A baleful star rose on +my birth, and its hostility, I fear, will never be disarmed while I +walk below. + + * * * * * + +TO W.H. CHANNING. + +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, and 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 could I but have spoken to one of the Lawrences, +or the Phillipses! They could and would have saved this 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 HER MOTHER. + +Florence, February 6, 1850. + +Dearest Mother,--After receiving your letter of October, I answered +immediately; but as Richard mentions, in one dated December 4th, that +you have not heard, I am afraid, by some post-office mistake, it went +into the mail-bag of some sail-ship, instead of steamer, so you were +very long without hearing. I regret it the more, as I wanted so much +to respond fully to your letter,--so lovely, so generous, and which, +of all your acts of love, was perhaps the one most needed by me, and +which has touched me the most deeply. + +I gave you in that a flattering picture of our life. And those +pleasant days lasted till the middle of December; but then came on +a cold unknown to Italy, and which has lasted ever since. As the +apartments were not prepared for such weather, we suffered a good +deal. Besides, both Ossoli and myself were taken ill at New-Year's +time, and were not quite well again, all January: now we are quite +well. The weather begins to soften, though still cloudy, damp, and +chilly, so that poor baby can go out very little; on that account he +does not grow so fast, and gets troublesome by evening, as he tires +of being shut up in two or three little rooms, where he has examined +every object hundreds of times. He is always pointing to the door. He +suffers much with chilblains, as do other children here; however, he +is, with that exception, in the best health, and is a great part of +the time very gay, laughing and dancing in the nurse-maid's arms, and +trying to sing and drum, in imitation of the bands, which play a great +deal in the Piazza. + +Nothing special has happened to me. The uninhabitableness of the +rooms where I had expected to write, and the need of using our little +dining-room, the only one in which is a stove, for dressing baby, +taking care of him, eating, and receiving visits and messages, have +prevented my writing for six or seven weeks past. In the evening, when +baby went to bed, about eight, I began to have time, but was generally +too tired to do anything but read. The four hours, however, from nine +till one, beside the bright little fire, have been very pleasant. I +have thought of you a great deal, remembering how you suffer from cold +in the winter, and hope you are in a warm, comfortable house, have +pleasant books to read, and some pleasant friends to see. One does not +want many; only a few bright faces to look in now and then, and help +thaw the ice with little rills of genial conversation. I have fewer of +these than at Rome,--but still several. + * * * * * +Horace Sumner, youngest son of father's friend, Mr. Charles P. Sumner, +lives near us, and comes every evening to read a little while with +Ossoli. He has solid good in his heart and mind. We have a true regard +for him, and he has shown true and steadfast sympathy for us; when I +am ill or in a hurry, he helps me like a brother. Ossoli and Sumner +exchange some instruction in English and Italian. + + * * * * * + +My sister's last letter from Europe is full of solemnity, and +evidences her clear conviction of the perils of the voyage across the +treacherous ocean. It is a leave-taking, dearly cherished now by the +mother to whom it was addressed, the kindred of whom she speaks, and +by those other kindred,--those who in spirit felt near to and loved +her. It is as follows:-- + +Florence, May 14, 1850. + +"Dear Mother,--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 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." + + + + +PART IV. + +HOMEWARD VOYAGE, AND MEMORIALS. + + +It seems proper that some account of the sad close of Madame Ossoli's +earthly journeyings should be embodied in this volume recording her +travels. But a brother's hand trembles even now and _cannot_ write it. +Noble, heroic, unselfish, _Christian_ was that death, even as had been +her life; but its outward circumstances were too painful for my pen +to describe. Nor needs it,--for a scene like that must have impressed +itself indelibly on those who witnessed it, and accurate and vivid +have been their narratives. The Memoirs of my sister contain a most +faithful description; but as they are accessible to all, and I trust +will be read by all who have read this volume, I have chosen rather +to give the accounts somewhat condensed which appeared in the New +York Tribune at the time of the calamity. The first is from the pen of +Bayard Taylor, who visited the scene on the day succeeding the wreck, +and describes the appearance of the shore and the remains of the +vessel. This is followed by the narrative of Mrs. Hasty, wife of the +captain, herself a participant in the scene, and so overwhelmed by +grief at her husband's loss, and that of friends she had learned so +much to value, that she has since faded from this life. A true and +noble woman, her account deserves to be remembered. The third article +is from the pen of Horace Greeley, my sister's ever-valued friend. +Several poems, suggested by this scene, written by those in the Old +World and New who loved and honored Madame Ossoli, are also inserted +here. The respect they testify for the departed is soothing to the +hearts of kindred, and to the many who love and cherish the memory of +Margaret Fuller.--ED. + + + + +LETTER OF BAYARD TAYLOR + + +Fire Island, Tuesday, July 23. + +To the Editors of the Tribune:-- + +I reached the house of Mr. Smith Oakes, about one mile from the spot +where the Elizabeth was wrecked, at three o'clock this morning. The +boat in which I set out last night from Babylon, to cross the bay, was +seven hours making the passage. On landing among the sand-hills, Mr. +Oakes admitted me into his house, and gave me a place of rest for the +remaining two or three hours of the night. + +This morning I visited the wreck, traversed the beach for some extent +on both sides, and collected all the particulars that are now likely +to be obtained, relative to the closing scenes of this terrible +disaster. The sand is strewn for a distance of three or four miles +with fragments of planks, spars, boxes, and the merchandise with which +the vessel was laden. With the exception of a piece of her broadside, +which floated to the shore intact, all the timbers have been so +chopped and broken by the sea, that scarcely a stick of ten feet in +length can be found. In front of the wreck these fragments are piled +up along high-water mark to the height of several feet, while farther +in among the sand-hills are scattered casks of almonds stove in, +and their contents mixed with the sand, sacks of juniper-berries, +oil-flasks, &c. About half the hull remains under water, not more than +fifty yards from the shore. The spars and rigging belonging to the +foremast, with part of the mast itself, are still attached to the +ruins, surging over them at every swell. Mr. Jonathan Smith, the agent +of the underwriters, intended to have the surf-boat launched this +morning, for the purpose of cutting away the rigging and ascertaining +how the wreck lies; but the sea is still too high. + +From what I can learn, the loss of the Elizabeth is mainly to be +attributed to the inexperience of the mate, Mr. H.P. Bangs, who acted +as captain after leaving Gibraltar. By his own statement, he supposed +he was somewhere between Cape May and Barnegat, on Thursday evening. +The vessel was consequently running northward, and struck head on. +At the second thump, a hole was broken in her side, the seas poured +through and over her, and she began going to pieces. This happened at +ten minutes before four o'clock. The passengers were roused from +their sleep by the shock, and hurried out of the cabin in their +night-clothes, to take refuge on the forecastle, which was the least +exposed part of the vessel. They succeeded with great difficulty; Mrs. +Hasty, the widow of the late captain, fell into a hatchway, from which +she was dragged by a sailor who seized her by the hair. + +The swells increased continually, and the danger of the vessel giving +way induced several of the sailors to commit themselves to the waves. +Previous to this they divested themselves of their clothes, which they +tied to pieces of plank and sent ashore. These were immediately +seized upon by the beach pirates, and never afterward recovered. +The carpenter cut loose some planks and spars, and upon one of these +Madame Ossoli was advised to trust herself, the captain promising to +go in advance, with her boy. She refused, saying that she had no wish +to live without the child, and would not, at that hour, give the care +of it to another. Mrs. Hasty then took hold of a plank, in company +with the second mate, Mr. Davis, through whose assistance she landed +safely, though terribly bruised by the floating timber. The captain +clung to a hatch, and was washed ashore insensible, where he was +resuscitated by the efforts of Mr. Oakes and several others, who were +by this time collected on the beach. Most of the men were entirely +destitute of clothing, and some, who were exhausted and ready to let +go their hold, were saved by the islanders, who went into the surf +with lines about their waists, and caught them. + +The young Italian girl, Celesta Pardena, who was bound for New York, +where she had already lived in the family of Henry Peters Gray, the +artist, was at first greatly alarmed, and uttered the most piercing +screams. By the exertions of the Ossolis she was quieted, and +apparently resigned to her fate. The passengers reconciled themselves +to the idea of death. At the proposal of the Marquis Ossoli some time +was spent in prayer, after which all sat down calmly to await the +parting of the vessel. The Marchioness Ossoli was entreated by the +sailors to leave the vessel, or at least to trust her child to them, +but she steadily refused. + +Early in the morning some men had been sent to the lighthouse for the +life-boat which is kept there. Although this is but two miles distant, +the boat did not arrive till about one o'clock, by which time the gale +had so increased, and the swells were so high and terrific, that it +was impossible to make any use of it. A mortar was also brought for +the purpose of firing a line over the vessel, to stretch a hawser +between it and the shore. The mortar was stationed on the lee of +a hillock, about a hundred and fifty rods from the wreck, that the +powder might be kept dry. It was fired five times, but failed to +carry a line more than half the necessary distance. Just before the +forecastle sunk, the remaining sailors determined to leave. + +The steward, with whom the child had always been a great favorite, +took it, almost by main force, and plunged with it into the sea; +neither reached the shore alive. The Marquis Ossoli was soon +afterwards washed away, but his wife remained in ignorance of his +fate. The cook, who was the last person that reached the shore alive, +said that the last words he heard her speak were: "I see nothing but +death before me,--I shall never reach the shore." It was between two +and three o'clock in the afternoon, and after lingering for about ten +hours, exposed to the mountainous surf that swept over the vessel, +with the contemplation of death constantly forced upon her mind, she +was finally overwhelmed as the foremast fell. It is supposed that her +body and that of her husband are still buried under the ruins of the +vessel. Mr. Horace Sumner, who jumped overboard early in the morning, +was never seen afterwards. + +The dead bodies that were washed on shore were terribly bruised and +mangled. That of the young Italian girl was enclosed in a rough box, +and buried in the sand, together with those of the sailors. Mrs. Hasty +had by this time found a place of shelter at Mr. Oakes's house, and +at her request the body of the boy, Angelo Eugene Ossoli, was carried +thither, and kept for a day previous to interment. The sailors, who +had all formed a strong attachment to him during the voyage, wept like +children when they saw him. There was some difficulty in finding a +coffin when the time of burial came, whereupon they took one of their +chests, knocked out the tills, laid the body carefully inside, locked +and nailed down the lid. He was buried in a little nook between two of +the sand-hills, some distance from the sea. + +The same afternoon a trunk belonging to the Marchioness Ossoli came +to shore, and was fortunately secured before the pirates had an +opportunity of purloining it. Mrs. Hasty informs me that it contained +several large packages of manuscripts, which she dried carefully by +the fire. I have therefore a strong hope that the work on Italy will +be entirely recovered. In a pile of soaked papers near the door, +I found files of the _Democratie Pacifique_ and _Il Nazionale_ of +Florence, as well as several of Mazzini's pamphlets, which I have +preserved. + +An attempt will probably be made to-morrow to reach the wreck with the +surf-boat. Judging from its position and the known depth of the water, +I should think the recovery, not only of the bodies, if they are still +remaining there, but also of Powers's statue and the blocks of rough +Carrara, quite practicable, if there should be a sufficiency of still +weather. There are about a hundred and fifty tons of marble under the +ruins. The paintings, belonging to Mr. Aspinwall, which were washed +ashore in boxes, and might have been saved had any one been on the +spot to care for them, are for the most part utterly destroyed. Those +which were least injured by the sea-water were cut from the frames +and carried off by the pirates; the frames were broken in pieces, +and scattered along the beach. This morning I found several shreds of +canvas, evidently more than a century old, half buried in the sand. +All the silk, Leghorn braid, hats, wool, oil, almonds, and other +articles contained in the vessel, were carried off as soon as they +came to land. On Sunday there were nearly a thousand persons here, +from all parts of the coast between Rockaway and Montauk, and +more than half of them were engaged in secreting and carrying off +everything that seemed to be of value. + +The two bodies found yesterday were those of sailors. All have now +come to land but those of the Ossolis and Horace Sumner. If not found +in the wreck, they will be cast ashore to the westward of this, as the +current has set in that direction since the gale. + +Yours, &c. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE WRECK OF THE ELIZABETH. + + +From a conversation with Mrs. Hasty, widow of the captain of the +ill-fated Elizabeth, we gather the following particulars of her voyage +and its melancholy termination. + +We have already stated that Captain Hasty was prostrated, eight days +after leaving Leghorn, by a disease which was regarded and treated as +fever, but which ultimately exhibited itself as small-pox of the most +malignant type. He died of it just as the vessel reached Gibraltar, +and his remains were committed to the deep. After a short detention +in quarantine, the Elizabeth resumed her voyage on the 8th ultimo, +and was long baffled by adverse winds. Two days from Gibraltar, the +terrible disease which had proved fatal to the captain attacked the +child of the Ossolis, a beautiful boy of two years, and for many days +his recovery was regarded as hopeless. His eyes were completely closed +for five days, his head deprived of all shape, and his whole person +covered with pustules; yet, through the devoted attention of his +parents and their friends, he survived, and at length gradually +recovered. Only a few scars and red spots remained on his face and +body, and these were disappearing, to the great joy of his mother, who +felt solicitous that his rare beauty should not be marred at his first +meeting with those she loved, and especially her mother. + +At length, after a month of slow progress, the wind shifted, and blew +strongly from the southwest for several days, sweeping them rapidly +on their course, until, on Thursday evening last, they knew that they +were near the end of their voyage. Their trunks were brought up and +repacked, in anticipation of a speedy arrival in port. Meantime, the +breeze gradually swelled to a gale, which became decided about nine +o'clock on that evening. But their ship was new and strong, and +all retired to rest as usual. They were running west, and supposed +themselves about sixty miles farther south than they actually were. +By their reckoning, they would be just off the harbor of New York next +morning. About half past two o'clock, Mr. Bangs, the mate in command, +took soundings, and reported twenty-one fathoms. He said that depth +insured their safety till daylight, and turned in again. Of course, +all was thick around the vessel, and the storm howling fiercely. One +hour afterward, the ship struck with great violence, and in a moment +was fast aground. She was a stout brig of 531 tons, five years old, +heavily laden with marble, &c., and drawing seventeen feet water. Had +she been light, she might have floated over the bar into twenty feet +water, and all on board could have been saved. She struck rather +sidewise than bows on, canted on her side and stuck fast, the mad +waves making a clear sweep over her, pouring down into the cabin +through the skylight, which was destroyed. One side of the cabin +was immediately and permanently under water, the other frequently +drenched. The passengers, who were all up in a moment, chose the most +sheltered positions, and there remained, calm, earnest, and resigned +to any fate, for a long three hours. No land was yet visible; they +knew not where they were, but they knew that their chance of surviving +was small indeed. When the coast was first visible through the driving +storm in the gray light of morning, the sand-hills were mistaken for +rocks, which made the prospect still more dismal. The young Ossoli +cried a little with discomfort and fright, but was soon hushed to +sleep. Our friend Margaret had two life-preservers, but one of them +proved unfit for use. All the boats had been smashed in pieces or torn +away soon after the vessel struck; and it would have been madness to +launch them in the dark, if it had been possible to launch them at +all, with the waves charging over the wreck every moment. A sailor, +soon after light, took Madame Ossoli's serviceable life-preserver +and swam ashore with it, in quest of aid for those left on board, and +arrived safe, but of course could not return his means of deliverance. + +By 7 A.M. it became evident that the cabin must soon go to pieces, and +indeed it was scarcely tenantable then. The crew were collected in +the forecastle, which was stronger and less exposed, the vessel having +settled by the stem, and the sailors had been repeatedly ordered to go +aft and help the passengers forward, but the peril was so great that +none obeyed. At length the second mate, Davis, went himself, +and accompanied the Italian girl, Celesta Pardena, safely to the +forecastle, though with great difficulty. Madame Ossoli went next, and +had a narrow escape from being washed away, but got over. Her child +was placed in a bag tied around a sailor's neck, and thus carried +safely. Marquis Ossoli and the rest followed, each convoyed by the +mate or one of the sailors. + +All being collected in the forecastle, it was evident that their +position was still most perilous, and that the ship could not much +longer hold together. The women were urged to try first the experiment +of taking each a plank and committing themselves to the waves. Madame +Ossoli refused thus to be separated from her husband and child. She +had from the first expressed a willingness to live or die with them, +but not to live without them. Mrs. Hasty was the first to try the +plank, and, though the struggle was for some time a doubtful one, did +finally reach the shore, utterly exhausted. There was a strong current +setting to the westward, so that, though the wreck lay but a quarter +of a mile from the shore, she landed three fourths of a mile distant. +No other woman, and no passenger, survives, though several of the +crew came ashore after she did, in a similar manner. The last who came +reports that the child had been washed away from the man who held it +before the ship broke up, that Ossoli had in like manner been washed +from the foremast, to which he was clinging; but, in the horror of the +moment, Margaret never learned that those she so clung to had preceded +her to the spirit land. Those who remained of the crew had just +persuaded her to trust herself to a plank, in the belief that Ossoli +and their child had already started for the shore, when just as she +was stepping down, a great wave broke over the vessel and swept her +into the boiling deep. She never rose again. The ship broke up soon +after (about 10 A.M. Mrs. Hasty says, instead of the later hour +previously reported); but both mates and most of the crew got on +one fragment or another. It was supposed that those of them who were +drowned were struck by floating spars or planks, and thus stunned or +disabled so as to preclude all chance of their rescue. + +We do not know at the time of this writing whether the manuscript of +our friend's work on Italy and her late struggles has been saved. We +fear it has not been. One of her trunks is known to have been saved; +but, though it contained a good many papers, Mrs. Hasty believes that +this was not among them. The author had thrown her whole soul into +this work, had enjoyed the fullest opportunities for observation, was +herself a partaker in the gallant though unsuccessful struggle which +has redeemed the name of Rome from the long rust of sloth, servility, +and cowardice, was the intimate friend and compatriot of the +Republican leaders, and better fitted than any one else to refute the +calumnies and falsehoods with which their names have been blackened by +the champions of aristocratic "order" throughout the civilized world. +We cannot forego the hope that her work on Italy has been saved, or +will yet be recovered. + + * * * * * + +The following is a complete list of the persons lost by the wreck of +the ship Elizabeth:-- + + Giovanni, Marquis Ossoli. + Margaret Fuller Ossoli. + Their child, Eugene Angelo Ossoli. + Celesta Pardena, of Rome. + Horace Sumner, of Boston. + George Sanford, seaman (Swede). + Henry Westervelt, seaman (Swede). + George Bates, steward. + + * * * * * + + + + +DEATH OF MARGARET FULLER. + + +A great soul has passed from this mortal stage of being by the death +of MARGARET FULLER, by marriage Marchioness Ossoli, who, with her +husband and child, Mr. Horace Sumner of Boston,[A] and others, was +drowned in the wreck of the brig Elizabeth from Leghorn for this +port, on the south shore of Long Island, near Fire Island, on Friday +afternoon last. No passenger survives to tell the story of that night +of horrors, whose fury appalled many of our snugly sheltered citizens +reposing securely in their beds. We can adequately realize what it +must have been to voyagers approaching our coast from the Old World, +on vessels helplessly exposed to the rage of that wild southwestern +gale, and seeing in the long and anxiously expected land of their +youth and their love only an aggravation of their perils, a death-blow +to their hopes, an assurance of their temporal doom! + +[Footnote A: Horace Sumner, one of the victims of the lamentable wreck +of the Elizabeth, was the youngest son of the late Hon. Charles P. +Sumner, of Boston, for many years Sheriff of Suffolk County, and the +brother of George Sumner, Esq., the distinguished American writer, now +resident at Paris, and of Hon. Charles Sumner of Boston, who is well +known for his legal and literary eminence throughout the country. He +was about twenty-four years of age, and had been abroad for nearly a +year, travelling in the South of Europe for the benefit of his health. +The past winter was spent by him chiefly in Florence, where he was on +terms of familiar intimacy with the Marquis and Marchioness Ossoli, +and was induced to take passage in the same vessel with them for his +return to his native land. He was a young man of singular modesty of +deportment, of an original turn of mind, and greatly endeared to his +friends by the sweetness of his disposition and the purity of his +character.] + +Margaret Fuller was the daughter of Hon. Timothy Fuller, a lawyer +of Boston, but nearly all his life a resident of Cambridge, and a +Representative of the Middlessex District in Congress from 1817 to +1825. Mr. Fuller, upon his retirement from Congress, purchased a farm +at some distance from Boston, and abandoned law for agriculture, soon +after which he died. His widow and six children still survive. + +Margaret, if we mistake not, was the first-born, and from a very early +age evinced the possession of remarkable intellectual powers. Her +father regarded her with a proud admiration, and was from childhood +her chief instructor, guide, companion, and friend. He committed the +too common error of stimulating her intellect to an assiduity and +persistency of effort which severely taxed and ultimately injured her +physical powers.[A] At eight years of age he was accustomed to require +of her the composition of a number of Latin verses per day, while +her studies in philosophy, history, general science, and current +literature were in after years extensive and profound. After her +father's death, she applied herself to teaching as a vocation, first +in Boston, then in Providence, and afterward in Boston again, where +her "Conversations" were for several seasons attended by classes of +women, some of them married, and including many from the best families +of the "American Athens." + +[Footnote A: I think this opinion somewhat erroneous, for reasons +which I have already given in the edition recently published of Woman +in the Nineteenth Century. The reader is referred to page 352 of +that work, and also to page 38, where I believe my sister personified +herself under the name of Miranda, and stated clearly and justly the +relation which, existed between her father and herself.--ED.] + +In the autumn of 1844, she accepted an invitation to take part in the +conduct of the Tribune, with especial reference to the department +of Reviews and Criticism on current Literature, Art, Music, &c.; a +position which she filled for nearly two years,--how eminently, +our readers well know. Her reviews of Longfellow's Poems, Wesley's +Memoirs, Poe's Poems, Bailey's "Festus," Douglas's Life, &c. must yet +be remembered by many. She had previously found "fit audience, though +few," for a series of remarkable papers on "The Great Musicians," +"Lord Herbert of Cherbury," "Woman," &c., &c., in "The Dial," a +quarterly of remarkable breadth and vigor, of which she was at first +co-editor with Ralph Waldo Emerson, but which was afterward edited by +him only, though she continued a contributor to its pages. In 1843, +she accompanied some friends on a tour via Niagara, Detroit, and +Mackinac to Chicago, and across the prairies of Illinois, and her +resulting volume, entitled "Summer on the Lakes," is one of the best +works in this department ever issued from the American press. It +was too good to be widely and instantly popular. Her "Woman in the +Nineteenth Century"--an extension of her essay in the Dial--was +published by us early in 1845, and a moderate edition sold. The next +year, a selection from her "Papers on Literature and Art" was issued +by Wiley and Putnam, in two fair volumes of their "Library of American +Books." We believe the original edition was nearly or quite exhausted, +but a second has not been called for, while books nowise comparable +to it for strength or worth have run through half a dozen editions.[A] +These "Papers" embody some of her best contributions to the Dial, the +Tribune, and perhaps one or two which had not appeared in either. + +[Footnote A: A second edition has since been published.--ED.] + +In the summer of 1845, Miss Fuller accompanied the family of a devoted +friend to Europe, visiting England, Scotland, France, and passing +through Italy to Rome, where they spent the ensuing winter. She +accompanied her friends next spring to the North of Italy, and there +stopped, spending most of the summer at Florence, and returning at +the approach of winter to Rome, where she was soon after married to +Giovanni, Marquis Ossoli, who had made her acquaintance during her +first winter in the Eternal City. They have since resided in the +Roman States until the last summer, after the surrender of Rome to the +French army of assassins of liberty, when they deemed it expedient +to migrate to Florence, both having taken an active part in the +Republican movement which resulted so disastrously,--nay, of which the +ultimate result is yet to be witnessed. Thence in June they departed +and set sail at Leghorn for this port, in the Philadelphia brig +Elizabeth, which was doomed to encounter a succession of disasters. +They had not been many days at sea when the captain was prostrated by +a disease which ultimately exhibited itself as confluent small-pox +of the most malignant type, and terminated his life soon after they +touched at Gibraltar, after a sickness of intense agony and loathsome +horror. The vessel was detained some days in quarantine by reason of +this affliction, but finally set sail again on the 8th ultimo, just in +season to bring her on our coast on the fearful night between Thursday +and Friday last, when darkness, rain, and a terrific gale from the +southwest (the most dangerous quarter possible), conspired to hurl +her into the very jaws of destruction. It is said, but we know not how +truly, that the mate in command since the captain's death mistook +the Fire Island light for that on the Highlands of Neversink, and so +fatally miscalculated his course; but it is hardly probable that any +other than a first-class, fully manned ship could have worked off +that coast under such a gale, blowing him directly toward the roaring +breakers. She struck during the night, and before the next evening +the Elizabeth was a mass of drifting sticks and planks, while her +passengers and part of her crew were buried in the boiling surges. +Alas that our gifted friend, and those nearest to and most loved by +her, should have been among them! + +We trust a new, compact, and cheap edition or selection, of Margaret +Fuller's writings will soon be given to the public, prefaced by a +Memoir. It were a shame to us if one so radiantly lofty in intellect, +so devoted to human liberty and well-being, so ready to dare and to +endure for the upraising of her sex and her race, should perish from +among us, and leave no memento less imperfect and casual than those we +now have. We trust the more immediate relatives of our departed friend +will lose no time in selecting the fittest person to prepare a Memoir, +with a selection from her writings, for the press.[A] America has +produced no woman who in mental endowments and acquirements has +surpassed Margaret Fuller, and it will be a public misfortune if her +thoughts are not promptly and acceptably embodied. + +[Footnote A: The reader is aware that such a Memoir has since been +published, and that several of her works have been republished +likewise. I trust soon to publish a volume of Madame Ossoli's +Miscellaneous Writings.--ED.] + + * * * * * + + + + +MARGARET FULLER OSSOLI + +BY C.P. CRANCH. + + + O still, sweet summer days! O moonlight nights! + After so drear a storm how can ye shine? + O smiling world of many-hued delights, + How canst thou 'round our sad hearts still entwine + The accustomed wreaths of pleasure? How, O Day, + Wakest thou so full of beauty? Twilight deep, + How diest thou so tranquilly away? + And how, O Night, bring'st thou the sphere of sleep? + For she is gone from us,--gone, lost for ever,-- + In the wild billows swallowed up and lost,-- + Gone, full of love, life, hope, and high endeavor, + Just when we would have welcomed her the most. + + Was it for this, O woman, true and pure! + That life through shade and light had formed thy mind + To feel, imagine, reason, and endure,-- + To soar for truth, to labor for mankind? + Was it for this sad end thou didst bear thy part + In deeds and words for struggling Italy,-- + Devoting thy large mind and larger heart + That Rome in later days might yet be free? + And, from that home driven out by tyranny, + Didst turn to see thy fatherland once more, + Bearing affection's dearest ties with thee; + And as the vessel bore thee to our shore, + And hope rose to fulfilment,--on the deck, + When friends seemed almost beckoning unto thee: + O God! the fearful storm,--the splitting wreck,-- + The drowning billows of the dreary sea! + + O, many a heart was stricken dumb with grief! + We who had known thee here,--had met thee there + Where Rome threw golden light on every leaf + Life's volume turned in that enchanted air,-- + O friend! how we recall the Italian days + Amid the Caesar's ruined palace halls,-- + The Coliseum, and the frescoed blaze + Of proud St. Peter's dome,--the Sistine walls,-- + The lone Campagna and the village green,-- + The Vatican,--the music and dim light + Of gorgeous temples,--statues, pictures, seen + With thee: those sunny days return so bright, + Now thou art gone! Thou hast a fairer world + Than that bright clime. The dreams that filled thee here + Now find divine completion, and, unfurled + Thy spirit-wings, find out their own high sphere. + + Farewell! thought-gifted, noble-hearted one! + We, who have known thee, know thou art not lost; + The star that set in storms still shines upon + The o'ershadowing cloud, and, when we sorrow most, + In the blue spaces of God's firmament + Beams out with purer light than we have known. + Above the tempest and the wild lament + Of those who weep the radiance that is flown. + + * * * * * + + + + +THE DEATH OF MARGARET FULLER OSSOLI. + +BY MARY C. AMES. + + + O Italy! amid thy scenes of blood, + She acted long a woman's noble part! + Soothing the dying of thy sons, proud Rome! + Till thou wert bowed, O city of her heart! + When thou hadst fallen, joy no longer flowed + In the rich sunlight of thy heaven; + And from thy glorious domes and shrines of art, + No quickening impulse to her life was given. + + From the deep shadow of thy cypress hills, + From the soft beauty of thy classic plains, + The noble-hearted, with, her treasures, turned + To the far land where Freedom proudly reigns. + After the rocking of long years of storms, + Her weary spirit looked and longed for rest; + Pictures of home, of loved and kindred forms, + Rose warm and life-like in her aching breast. + + But the wild ocean rolled before her home; + And, listening long unto its fearful moan, + She thought of myriads who had found their rest + Down in its caverns, silent, deep, and lone. + Then rose the prayer within her heart of hearts, + With the dark phantoms of a coming grief, + That "_Nino_, Ossoli, and I may go + _Together_;--that the anguish may be brief." + + The bark spread out her pennons proud and free, + The sunbeams frolicked with the wanton waves; + Smiled through the long, long days the summer sea, + And sung sweet requiems o'er her sunken graves. + E'en then the shadow of the fearful King + Hung deep and darkening o'er the fated bark; + Suffering and death and anguish reigned, ere came + Hope's weary dove back to the longing ark. + + This was the morning to the night of woe; + When the grim Ocean, in his fiercest wrath, + Held fearful contest with the god of storms, + Who lashed the waves with death upon his path. + O night of agony! O awful morn, + That oped on such a scene thy sullen eyes! + The shattered ship,--those wrecked and broken hearts, + Who only prayed, "_Together let us die_." + + Was this thy greeting longed for, Margaret, + In the high, noontide of thy lofty pride? + The welcome sighed for, in thine hours of grief, + When pride had fled and hope in thee had died? + Twelve hours' communion with the Terror-King! + No wandering hope to give the heart relief! + And yet thy prayer was heard,--the cold waves wrapt + Those forms "together," and the woe was "brief." + + Thus closed thy day in darkness and in tears; + Thus waned a life, alas! too full of pain; + But O thou noble woman! thy brief life, + Though full of sorrows, was not lived in vain. + No more a pilgrim o'er a weary waste, + With light ineffable thy mind is crowned; + Heaven's richest lore is thine own heritage; + All height is gained, thy "kingdom" now is found. + + * * * * * + + + + +TO THE MEMORY OF MARGARET FULLER. + +BY E. OAKES SMITH. + + + We hailed thee, Margaret, from the sea, + We hailed thee o'er the wave, + And little thought, in greeting thee, + Thy home would be a grave. + + We blest thee in thy laurel crown, + And in the myrtle's sheen,-- + Rejoiced thy noble worth to own, + Still joy, our tears between. + + We hoped that many a happy year + Would bless thy coming feet; + And thy bright fame grow brighter here, + By Fatherland made sweet. + + Gone, gone! with all thy glorious thought,-- + Gone with thy waking life,-- + With the green chaplet Fame had wrought,-- + The joy of Mother, Wife. + + Oh! who shall dare thy harp to take, + And pour upon the air + The clear, calm music, that should wake + The heart to love and prayer! + + The lip, all eloquent, is stilled + And silent with its trust,-- + The heart, with Woman's greatness filled, + Must crumble to the dust: + + But from thy _great heart_ we will take + New courage for the strife; + From petty ills our bondage break, + And labor with new life. + + Wake up, in darkness though it be, + To better truth and light; + Patient in toil, as we saw thee, + In searching for the light; + + And mindless of the scorn it brings, + For 't is in desert land + That angels come with sheltering wings + To lead us by the hand. + + Courageous one! thou art not lost, + Though sleeping in the wave; + Upon its chainless billows tost, + For thee is fitting grave. + + * * * * * + + + + +SLEEP SWEETLY, GENTLE CHILD.[A] + + + [The only child of the Marchioness Ossoli, well known + as Margaret Fuller, is buried in the Valley Cemetery, at + Manchester, N.H. There is always a vase of flowers placed near + the grave, and a marble slab, with a cross and lily sculptured + upon it, bears this inscription: "In Memory of Angelo Eugene + Philip Ossoli, who was born at Rieti, in Italy, 5th September, + 1848, and perished by shipwreck off Fire Island, with both his + parents, Giovanni Angelo and Margaret Fuller Ossoli, on the + 19th of July, 1850."] + + Sleep sweetly, gentle child! though to this sleep + The cold winds rocked thee, on the ocean's breast, + And strange, wild murmurs o'er the dark, blue deep + Were the last sounds that lulled thee to thy rest, + And while the moaning waves above thee rolled, + The hearts that loved thee best grew still and cold. + + Sleep sweetly, gentle child! though the loved tone + That twice twelve months had hushed thee to repose + Could give no answer to the tearful moan + That faintly from thy sea-moss pillow rose. + That night the arms that closely folded thee + Were the wet weeds that floated in the sea. + + Sleep sweetly, gentle child! the cold, blue wave + Hath pitied the sad sighs the wild winds bore, + And from the wreck it held _one_ treasure gave + To the fond watchers weeping on the shore;-- + Now the sweet vale shall guard its precious trust, + While mourning hearts weep o'er thy silent dust. + + Sleep sweetly, gentle child! love's tears are shed + Upon the garlands of fair Northern flowers + That fond hearts strew above thy lowly bed, + Through all our summer's glad and pleasant hours: + For thy sake, and for hers who sleeps beneath the wave, + Kind hands bring flowers to fade upon thy grave. + + Sleep sweetly, gentle child! the warm wind sighs + Amid the dark pines through this quiet dell, + And waves the light flower-shade that lies + Upon the white-leaved lily's sculptured bell;-- + The "Valley's" flowers are fair, the turf is green;-- + Sleep sweetly here, wept-for Eugene! + + Sleep sweetly, gentle child! this peaceful rest + Hath early given thee to a home above, + Safe from all sin and tears, for, ever blest + To sing sweet praises of redeeming love.-- + The love that took thee to that world of bliss + Ere thou hadst learned the sighs and griefs of this. + +JULIET. + +Laurel Brook, N.H., September, 1851. + +[Footnote A: These lines are beautiful and full of sweet sympathy. The +home of the mother and brother of Margaret Fuller being now removed +from Manchester to Boston, the remains of the little child, too dear +to remain distant from us, have been removed to Mount Auburn. The +same marble slab is there with, its inscription, and the lines deserve +insertion here.--ED.] + + * * * * * + + + + +ON THE DEATH OF MARGARET FULLER. + +BY G.P.R. JAMES. + + + High hopes and bright thine early path bedecked, + And aspirations beautiful though wild,-- + A heart too strong, a powerful will unchecked, + A dream that earth-things could be undefiled. + + But soon, around thee, grew a golden chain, + That bound the woman to more human things, + And taught with joy--and, it may be, with pain-- + That there are limits e'en to Spirit's wings. + + Husband and child,--the loving and beloved,-- + Won, from the vast of thought, a mortal part, + The impassioned wife and mother, yielding, proved + Mind has itself a master--in the heart. + + In distant lands enhaloed by, old fame + Thou found'st the only chain thy spirit knew, + But captive ledst thy captors, from the shame + Of ancient freedom, to the pride of new. + + And loved hearts clung around thee on the deck, + Welling with sunny hopes 'neath sunny skies: + The wide horizon round thee had no speck,-- + E'en Doubt herself could see no cloud arise. + + Thy loved ones clung around thee, when the sail + O'er wide Atlantic billows onward bore + Thy freight of joys, and the expanding gale + Pressed the glad bark toward thy native shore. + + The loved ones clung around thee still, when all + Was darkness, tempest, terror, and dismay,-- + More closely clung around thee, when the pall + Of Fate was falling o'er the mortal clay. + + With them to live,--with them, with them to die, + Sublime of human love intense and fine!-- + Was thy last prayer unto the Deity; + And it was granted thee by Love Divine. + + In the same billow,--in the same dark grave,-- + Mother, and child, and husband, find their rest. + The dream is ended; and the solemn wave + Gives back the gifted to her country's breast. + + * * * * * + + + + +ON THE DEATH OF MARQUIS OSSOLI AND HIS WIFE, MARGARET FULLER. + +BY WALTER SAVAGE LANDOR. + + + Over his millions Death has lawful power, + But over thee, brave Ossoli! none, none! + After a long struggle, in a fight + Worthy of Italy to youth restored, + Thou, far from home, art sunk beneath the surge + Of the Atlantic; on its shore; in reach + Of help; in trust of refuge; sunk with all + Precious on earth to thee,--a child, a wife! + Proud as thou wert of her, America + Is prouder, showing to her sons how high + Swells woman's courage in a virtuous breast. + + She would not leave behind her those she loved: + Such solitary safety might become + Others,--not her; not her who stood beside + The pallet of the wounded, when the worst + Of France and Perfidy assailed the walls + Of unsuspicious Rome. Rest, glorious soul, + Renowned for strength of genius, Margaret! + Rest with the twain too dear! My words are few, + And shortly none will hear my failing voice, + But the same language with more full appeal + Shall hail thee. Many are the sons of song + Whom thou hast heard upon thy native plains, + Worthy to sing of thee; the hour is come; + Take we our seats and let the dirge begin. + + * * * * * + + + + +MONUMENT TO THE OSSOLI FAMILY. + +[FROM THE NEW YORK TRIBUNE.] + + +The family of Margaret Fuller Ossoli have just erected to her memory, +and that of her husband and child, a marble monument in Mount Auburn +cemetery, in Massachusetts. It is located on Pyrola Path, in a +beautiful part of the grounds, and has near it some noble oaks, while +the hand of affection has planted many a flower. The body of Margaret +Fuller rests in the ocean, but her memory abides in many hearts. She +needs no monumental stone, but human affection loves thus to do honor +to the departed. + +The following is the inscription on the monument:-- + + Erected + In Memory of + + MARGARET FULLER OSSOLI, + Born in Cambridge, Mass., May 23, 1810. + + By birth, a Citizen of New England; by adoption, a Citizen of Rome; by genius, + belonging to the World. In youth, an insatiate Student, seeking the + highest culture; in riper years, Teacher, Writer, Critic of + Literature and Art; in maturer age, Companion and Helper + of many earnest Reformers in America + and Europe. + + And + + In Memory of her Husband, + GIOVANNI ANGELO, MARQUIS OSSOLI. + + He gave up rank, station, and home for the Roman Republic, + and for his Wife and Child. + + And + + In Memory of that Child, + ANGELO EUGENE PHILIP OSSOLI, + + Born in Rieti, Italy, Sept. 5, 1848, + Whose dust reposes at the foot of this stone. + They passed from life together by shipwreck, + July 19, 1850. + + United in life by mutual love, labors, and trials, the merciful Father + took them together, and + In death they were not divided. + + + +THE END. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's At Home And Abroad, by Margaret Fuller Ossoli + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AT HOME AND ABROAD *** + +***** This file should be named 16327.txt or 16327.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/3/2/16327/ + +Produced by Alison Hadwin and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net + + +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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