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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/20444-8.txt b/20444-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7d7b08d --- /dev/null +++ b/20444-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6818 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly +Magazine, March 1844, by Various + +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: Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, March 1844 + Volume 23, Number 3 + +Author: Various + +Editor: Lewis Gaylord Clark + +Release Date: January 25, 2007 [EBook #20444] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KNICKERBOCKER *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + T H E K N I C K E R B O C K E R. + +VOL. XXIII. MARCH, 1844. NO. 3. + + + + +WHAT IS TRANSCENDENTALISM? + +BY A THINKING MAN. + + +This question has often been asked but seldom answered satisfactorily. +Newspaper editors and correspondents have frequently attempted a practical +elucidation of the mystery, by quoting from their own brains the rarest +piece of absurdity which they could imagine, and entitling it +'Transcendentalism.' One good hit of this kind may be well enough, by way +of satire upon the fogginess of certain writers who deem themselves, and +are deemed by the multitude, transcendental _par excellence_. COLERIDGE +however thought that to parody stupidity by way of ridiculing it, only +proves the parodist more stupid than the original blockhead. Still, one +such attempt may be tolerated; but when imitators of the parodist arise +and fill almost every newspaper in the country with similar witticisms, +such efforts become 'flat and unprofitable;' for nothing is easier than to +put words together in a form which conveys no meaning to the reader. It is +a cheap kind of wit, asinine rather than attic, and can be exercised as +well by those who know nothing of the subject as by those best acquainted +with it. Indeed, it is greatly to be doubted whether one in a hundred of +these witty persons know any thing of the matter; for if they possess +sense enough to make them worthy of being ranked among reasonable men, it +could be proved to them in five minutes that they are themselves +transcendentalists, as all thinking men find themselves compelled to be, +whether they know themselves by that name or not. + +'Poh!' said a friend, looking over my shoulder; 'you can't prove _me_ a +transcendentalist; I defy you to do it; I despise the name.' + +Why so? Let us know what it is that you despise. Is it the sound of the +word? Is it not sufficiently euphonious? Does it not strike your ear as +smoothly as Puseyite, or Presbyterian? + +'Nonsense!' said he; 'you don't suppose I am to be misled by the sound of +a word; it is the meaning to which I object. I despise transcendentalism; +therefore I do not wish to be called transcendentalist.' + +Very well; but we shall never 'get ahead' unless you define +transcendentalism according to your understanding of the word. + +'That request is easily made, but not easily complied with. Have you +Carlyle or Emerson at hand?' + +Here I took down a volume of each, and read various sentences and +paragraphs therefrom. These passages are full of transcendental ideas; do +you object to them? + +'No,' said my friend; 'for aught I can perceive, they might have been +uttered by any one who was _not_ a transcendentalist. Let me see the +books.' + +After turning over the leaves a long while, he selected and read aloud a +passage from Carlyle, one of his very worst; abrupt, nervous, jerking, and +at the same time windy, long-drawn-out, and parenthetical; a period +filling a whole page. + +'There,' said he, stopping to take breath, 'if that is not enough to +disgust one with transcendentalism, then I know nothing of the matter.' + +A very sensible conclusion. Bless your soul, that is _Carlyle-ism_, not +transcendentalism. You said but now that you were not to be misled by the +sound of a word; and yet you are condemning a principle on account of the +bad style of a writer who is supposed to be governed by it. Is that right? +Would you condemn Christianity because of the weaknesses and sins of one +of its professors? + +'Of course not,' replied he; 'I wish to be fair. I cannot express my idea +of the meaning of transcendentalism without tedious circumlocution, and I +begin to despair of proving my position by quotations. It is not on any +particular passage that I rest my case. You have read this work, and will +understand me when I say that it is to its general intent and spirit that +I object, and not merely to the author's style.' + +I think I comprehend you. You disregard the mere form in which the author +expresses his thoughts; you go beyond and behind that, and judge him by +the thoughts themselves; not by one or by two, but by the sum and +_substance_ of the whole. You strip off the husk to arrive at the kernel, +and judge of the goodness of the crop by the latter, not the former. + +'Just so,' said he; 'that's my meaning precisely. I always strive to +follow that rule in every thing. 'Appearances,' you know, 'are +deceitful.'' + +That is to say, you go beyond or transcend appearances and circumstances, +and divine the true meaning, the substance, the spirit of that on which +you are about to decide. That is practical transcendentalism, and you are +a transcendentalist. + +'I wish you would suggest another name for it,' said my friend, as he went +out of the door; 'I detest the sound of that word.' + +I wish we could, said I, but he was out of hearing; I wish we could, for +it is an abominably long word to write. + +'I wish we could,' mutters the printer, 'for it is an awfully long word to +print.' + +'I wish we could,' is the sober second thought of all; for people will +always condemn transcendentalism until it is called by another name. Such +is the force of prejudice. + +'I have been thinking over our conversation of yesterday,' said my friend +next morning, on entering my room. + +'Oh, you have been writing it down, have you? Let me see it.' After +looking over the sketch, he remarked: + +'You _seem_ to have me fast enough, but after all I believe you conquered +merely by playing upon a word, and in proving me to be a transcendentalist +you only proved me to be a reasonable being; one capable of perceiving, +remembering, combining, comparing and deducing; one who, amid the apparent +contradictions with which we are surrounded, strives to reconcile +appearances and discover principles; and from the outward and visible +learn the inward and spiritual; in fine, arrive at truth. Now every +reasonable man claims to be all that I have avowed myself to be. If this +is to be a transcendentalist, then I am one. When I read that I must hate +my father and mother before I can be a disciple of JESUS, I do not +understand that passage literally; I call to mind other precepts of +CHRIST; I remember the peculiarities of eastern style; I compare these +facts together, and deduce therefrom a very different principle from that +apparently embodied in the passage quoted. When I see the Isle of Shoals +doubled, and the duplicates reversed in the air above the old familiar +rocks, I do not, as I stand on Rye-beach, observing the interesting +phenomenon, believe there are two sets of islands there; but recalling +facts which I have learned, and philosophical truths which I have acquired +and verified, I attribute the appearance to its true cause, refraction of +light. When in passing from room to room in the dark, with my arms +outspread, I run my nose against the edge of a door, I do not therefrom +conclude that my nose is longer than my arms! When I see a man stumble in +the street, I do not at once set him down as a drunkard, not considering +that to be sufficient evidence, although some of our Washingtonian friends +do; but I compare that fact with the state of the streets, and what I know +of his previous life, and judge accordingly.' + +Well, said I, you are an excellent transcendentalist; one after my own +heart, in morals, philosophy and religion. To be a transcendentalist is +after all to be _only_ a sensible, unprejudiced man, open to conviction at +all times, and spiritually-minded. I can well understand that, when you +condemn transcendentalism, you object not to the principle, but to the +practice, in the superlative degree, of that principle. Transcendentalism +is but an abstract mode of considering morals, philosophy, religion; an +application of the principles of abstract science to these subjects. All +metaphysicians are transcendentalists, and every one is transcendental so +far as he is metaphysical. There are as many different modifications of +the one as of the other, and probably no two transcendentalists ever +thought alike; their creed is not yet written. You certainly do not +condemn spiritualism, but ultra spiritualism you seem to abhor. + +'Precisely so. I did not yesterday give you the meaning which I attached +to transcendentalism; in truth, practically you meant one thing by that +term, and I another, though I now see that in principle they are the same. +The spiritualism which I like, looks through nature and revelation up to +GOD; that which I abhor, condescends hardly to make use of nature at all, +but demands direct converse with GOD, and declares that it enjoys it too; +a sort of continual and _immediate_ revelation. Itself is its own +authority. The ultra-spiritualist contains within himself the fulness of +the Godhead. He allows of nothing external, unless it be brother spirits +like himself. He has abolished nature, and to the uninitiated seems to +have abolished GOD himself, although I am charitable enough to believe +that he has full faith in GOD, after his own fashion. He claims to be +inspired; to be equal to JESUS; nay superior; for one of them lately said: +'Greater is the container than the contained, therefore I am greater than +GOD, for I contain God!' The ultra-spiritualist believes only _by_ and +_through_ and _in_ his own inward light. Let him take care, as Carlyle +says, that his own contemptible tar-link does not, by being held too near +his eyes, extinguish to him the sun of the universe. Now the true +spiritualist makes use not only of his own moral and religious instincts, +but all that can be gathered by the senses from external nature, and all +that can be acquired by untiring consultation with the sages who have gone +before him; and from these materials in the alembic of his mind, with such +power as GOD has given him, he distils truth.' + +Truth! Ah, that is the very point in question. 'What is truth?' has been +the ardent inquiry of every honest mind from the days of Adam to the +present time, and the sneering demand of many an unbeliever. Eve sought it +when she tasted the forbidden fruit. But since then, thank GOD! no +prohibition has been uttered against the search after truth, and mankind +have improved their liberty with great industry for six thousand years; +and what is the result? Is truth discovered? How much? and how much of +falsehood is mixed up with what _is_ known to be true? These questions are +constantly suggesting themselves to thinkers, and to answer them is the +labor of their lives. Let them have free scope, ultra-spiritualists and +all. Even these latter go through the same operation which you have just +claimed to be peculiar to the true spiritualist. All do, whether they will +or not, make use of observation, learning, and the inward light. Some +arrive at one result, and some at another, because the elements differ in +each. If any two could be found whose external observations, learning, +intellect and inward light or instincts were precisely equal in volume and +proportion, can it be doubted that these two would arrive at precisely +similar results? But they are _not_ equal; and so one comes to believe in +external authority, and the other refers every thing to a standard which +he thinks he finds within himself. The latter is deemed by the public to +be a representative of pure transcendentalism, and he is condemned +accordingly as self-sufficient. + +And privately, between you and me, my good friend, I cannot help thinking +it rather ungrateful in him, after becoming so deeply indebted to his +senses, to books, and the Bible for his spiritual education, to turn round +and despise these means of advancement, and declare that they are mere +non-essential _circumstances_, and that a man may reach the same end by +studying himself _in_ himself. It is as if a man should use a ladder to +reach a lofty crag, and then kick it over contemptuously, and aver that he +could just as well have flown up, and ask the crowd below to break up that +miserable ladder and try their wings. Doubtless they _have_ wings, if they +only knew it. But seriously, I am not inclined to join in the hue-and-cry +against even the ultra-transcendentalist. He has truth mixed up with what +I esteem objectionable, and some truth to which others have not attained; +and as I deem the eclectic the only true mode of philosophy, I am willing +to take truth where I can find it, whether in China or Boston, in +Confucius or Emerson, Kant or Cousin, the Bible or the Koran; and though I +have more reverence for one of these sources than all others, it is only +because I think I find there the greatest amount of truth, sanctioned by +the highest authority. To put the belief in the Bible on any other ground, +is to base it on educational prejudice and superstition; on which +principle the Koran should be as binding on the Mahometan as the Bible on +us. Do we not all finally resort to _ourselves_ in order to decide a +difficult question in morals or religion? and is not the decision more or +less correct accordingly as we refer it to the better or to the baser +portion of our nature? + +'Most certainly! I have often said I would not and could not believe in +the Bible, if it commanded us to worship Sin and leave our passions +unbridled.' + +Well said! And in so saying, you acknowledge yourself to be governed by +the same principle which actuates the ultra-transcendentalist; the moral +sense or instinct, similar to the 'inward light' of the Friends. After +all, I apprehend the true point in which men differ is, whether this moral +sense is really an instinct, or whether it is evolved and put in operation +by education. How much is due to nature? is the true question. But to +solve it, is important only theoretically, for practically we all act +alike; we cannot, if we would, separate the educational from the natural +moral sense; we cannot _uneducate_ it, and then judge by it, freed from +all circumstantial bias. But whether more or less indebted either to +nature or education, it is to this moral and religious sense that the +ultra-transcendentalist refers every question, and passes judgment +according to its verdict. It is sometimes rather vaguely called the 'Pure +Reason;' but that is only a _term_, hardly a 'mouthful of articulate +wind.' + +'You and I shall agree very well together, I see,' replied my friend. 'If +we dispute at all, it will be foolishly about the meaning of a word. All +the world have been doing that ever since the confusion of tongues at +Babel. That great event prophetically shadowed forth the future; for now, +as then, the confusion and disputation is greatest when we are striving +most earnestly to reach heaven by our earth-built contrivances. We may +draw a lesson therefrom; not to be too aspiring for our means; for our +inevitable failure only makes us the more ridiculous, the higher the +position we seem to have attained.' + +Very true; but we should never arrive at the height of wisdom, which +consists in knowing our own ignorance and weakness, unless we made full +trial of our powers. The fall of which you speak should give us a modesty +not to be otherwise obtained, and make us very careful how we ridicule +others, seeing how open to it we ourselves are. Every man may build his +tower of Babel, and if he make a right use of his failure, may in the end +be nearer heaven than if he had never made the attempt. Ridicule is no +argument, and should only be used by way of a _jeu d'esprit_, and never on +solemn subjects. It is very hard, I know, for one who has mirthfulness +strongly developed, to restrain himself on all occasions; and what is +solemn to one may not be so to another; hence we should be very charitable +to all; alike to the bigots, the dreamers, and the laughers; to the +builders of theoretic Babel-towers, and the grovellers on the low earth. + +'There is one kind of transcendentalism,' replied my friend, 'which you +have not noticed particularly, which consists in believing in nothing +except the spiritual existence of the unbeliever himself, and hardly that. +It believes not in the external world at all.' + +If you are on _that_ ground, I have done. To talk of that, would be +wasting our time on nothing; or 'our eternity,' for with that sect time is +altogether a delusion. It _may_ be true, but the believer, even in the act +of declaring his faith, must practically prove himself persuaded of the +falsity of his doctrine. + +'You wanted a short name for transcendentalism; if a long one will make +_this_ modification of it more odious, let us call it +_Incomprehensibilityosityivityalityationmentnessism_.' + +My friend said this with a face nearly as long as the word, made a low +bow, and departed. I took my pen and reduced our conversation to writing. +I hope by this time the reader has a very lucid answer to give to the +question, _What is Transcendentalism?_ It will be a miracle if he can see +one inch farther into the fog-bank than before. I should like to take back +the boast made in the beginning of this paper, that I could prove in five +minutes any reasonable man a transcendentalist. My friend disconcerted my +plan of battle, by taking command of the enemy's forces, instead of +allowing me to marshal them on paper to suit myself; and so a mere +friendly joust ensued, instead of the utter demolition of my adversary, +which I had intended. + +And this little circumstance has led me to think, what a miserable +business controversialists would make of it, if each had his opponent +looking over his shoulder, pointing out flaws in his arguments, suggesting +untimely truths, and putting every possible impediment in the path of his +logic; and if, moreover, he were obliged to mend every flaw, prove every +such truth a falsehood, and remove every impediment before he could +advance a step. Were such the case, how much less would there be of +fine-spun theory and specious argument; how much more of practical truth! +Always supposing the logical combatants did not lose their patience and +resort to material means and knock-down arguments; of which, judging by +the spirit sometimes manifested in theological controversies, there would +really seem to be some danger. Oh! it is a very easy thing to sit in one's +study and demolish an opponent, who after all is generally no opponent at +all, but only a man of straw, dressed up for the occasion with a few +purposely-tattered shreds of the adversary's cast-off garments. + + * * * * * + +NOTE BY THE 'FRIEND.'--The foregoing is a _correct_ sketch of our +conversations, especially as the reporter has, like his congressional +brother, corrected most of the bad grammar, and left out some of the +vulgarisms and colloquialisms, and given me the better side of the +argument in the last conversation; it is _very_ correct. But it seems to +me that the question put at the commencement is as far from being solved +as ever. It is as difficult to be answered as the question, What is +Christianity? to which every sect will return a different reply, and each +prove all the others wrong. + +_Portsmouth, (N. H.)_ J. K. Jr. + + + + +LINES SENT WITH A BOUQUET. + +BY PARK BENJAMIN. + + + I. + + I've read in legends old of men + Who hung up fruits and flowers + Before the altar-shrines of those + They called Superior Powers: + It was, I think, a blessed thought + That things so pure and sweet + Should be esteemed an offering + For gods and angels meet. + + + II. + + I imitate that charming rite + In this our sober day, + And, when I worship, strew sweet flowers + Along my angel's way: + And, if my heart's fond prayer be heard, + The offering I renew; + For flowers like books have leaves that speak, + And thoughts of every hue. + + + III. + + They are Love's paper, pictured o'er + With gentle hopes and fears; + Their blushes are the smiles of Love, + And their soft dew his tears! + Ah! more than poet's pen can write + Or poet's tongue reveal + Is hidden by their folded buds + And by their rosy seal. + + + IV. + + Mute letters! yet how eloquent! + Expressive silence dwells + In every blossom Heaven creates, + Like sound in ocean shells. + Press to my flowers thy lips, beloved, + And then thy heart will see + Inscribed upon their leaves the words + I dare not breathe to thee! + + + + +THE ALMS HOUSE. + +BY A NEW CONTRIBUTOR. + + +It is not my purpose in the following narrative to point out all the evils +arising from the modern practice of relieving the wants of the poor and +destitute which prevails in this country and in England, where the arm of +the law compels that pittance which should be the voluntary donation of +benevolence; one consequence of which system is, that the poor claim +support as a _debt_ due from society at large, and feel no gratitude +toward any of the individuals paying the tax. The payer of the tax, on the +other hand, feeling that he can claim no merit for surrendering that which +is wrung from him by force, and expecting no thanks for the act, and +knowing that in many cases it operates as a bounty on idleness, hates the +ungrateful burthen thus imposed upon him, and strives to reduce it to the +least possible amount. In this way the ties which should bind together the +poor and the rich are sundered. The benevolence of the patron and the +gratitude of the dependent, which formerly existed, is changed to dislike +and suspicion on the one part, and envy and ingratitude on the other. + +Doubtless one design of Providence in suffering want and misery to exist +in the world, is that the benevolent virtues should be kept in exercise. +He who was benevolence itself, seemed thus to think, when he said: 'The +poor ye have always with you.' But man in his selfishness virtually says: +'The poor we will not have with us; we will put them out of our sight.' +For in many towns in New-England, and probably in other States, it is +customary to contract with some individual for their support; or, in other +words, to sell them by auction, to him who will support them by the year, +for the least sum per head. To illustrate some of the results of this +system, the following incidents are related from memory, having been +witnessed by me in my native place (an interior town in New-England) at an +age when the feelings are most susceptible. And so deep was the impression +then made on my mind, that I am enabled to vouch for the accuracy of the +details. + +A meeting for the purpose of disposing of the poor of the town for the +ensuing year was held at the house of the person who had kept them the +previous year, (and where these unfortunates still were) as well because +it was supposed he would again bid for them, as that those who wished to +become competitors might ascertain their number and condition. It was in +the afternoon of a day in November, one of those dark and dreary days so +common to the season and climate, adding gloom to the surrounding objects, +in themselves sufficiently cheerless. The house was situated on an obscure +road in a remote part of the town, surrounded by level and sandy fields; +and the monotony of the prospect only broken by scattered clumps of +dwarf-pine and shrub-oak; a few stunted apple-trees, the remains of an +orchard which the barren soil had refused to nourish; some half ruinous +out-houses, and a meagre kitchen garden enclosed with a common rough +fence, completed the picture without. + +Still more depressing was the scene within. The paupers were collected in +the same room with their more fortunate townsmen, that the bidders might +be enabled to view more closely their condition, and estimate the probable +expense of supporting them through the year. Many considerations entered +as items into this sordid calculation; such as the very lowest amount of +the very coarsest food which would suffice, (not to keep them in comfort, +but to sustain their miserable existence for the next three hundred and +sixty-five days, and yet screen the provider from the odium of having +starved his victims,) the value of the clothes they then wore, and thus +the future expense of their clothing; and other such considerations, which +I will not farther disgust the reader by enumerating. + +They were about twenty in number, and not greatly distinguished from the +ordinary poor of a country town in New-England; unless by there being +present three idiot daughters of one poor man, whose low and narrow +foreheads, sunken temples, fixed but dead and unmeaning eyes, half opened +and formless mouths, indicating even to childhood the absence of that +intellectual light, which in those who possess it shines through the +features. Insanity also was there, that most dreadful infliction of +Providence; the purpose of which lies hidden in the darkness which +surrounds His throne. Its unhappy subject was with them, but not of them. +His eyes were fixed upon the scene, but the uncertain fire which illumined +his features was caused by thoughts which had no connection with the +passing scene. + +Vice, too, had its representatives; for in a community where wealth is +nearly the only source of distinction, and where Mammon is consequently +worshipped as the true god, the destiny of the unfortunate and of the +vicious is nearly the same. And the 'poor-house' was used, as in other +towns in New-England, as a house of correction, and at this time contained +several professors of vice of each sex. Alas! of that sex which when +corrupt is more dangerous than the other in a like condition, as the most +rich and grateful things are in their decay the most noxious! + +The remaining number consisted of the aged and childless widow, the infirm +and friendless old man, the sick, the deformed, and the cripple; the +virtuous poor, in forced and loathed contact with vice and infamy. Those +of society who in life's voyage had been stranded on the bleak and barren +coast of charity, and who were now waiting for death to float them into +the ocean of eternity. While this scene was passing at the alms-house, +another connected with it, and fitted to excite still deeper feelings, was +acting in another part of the town. + +A person who was that year one of the select-men,[1] and a deacon in the +church, was delegated by his colleagues to bring to the alms-house the +'lone woman' who forms the chief subject of our homely story. The widow +Selden (a brief history of whom it will be necessary to give) had received +an education suited rather to the respectability and former wealth of her +family, than to its subsequent reduced condition, became in early life the +wife of a merchant of our village, a man of good character and fair +prospects, to whom she was much attached. Traders in New-England where +wealth is so eagerly sought, are, especially in country towns, men of much +consideration, as engaged in a money-making business. Mrs. Selden, +therefore, independently of her personal merits, was not likely to be +neglected. Her company was sought by the best society of our place, and +she exchanged visits on equal terms even with the families of the +clergyman and the village lawyer. + + [1] Men who are yearly selected by the inhabitants to superintend + the business of the town, and who, among other duties, have + the charge of managing the poor. + +A few years of quiet enjoyment passed, happily varied by the accession of +a fair and delicate little girl, who might be seen at their cheerful meals +seated in her high chair, the common object of their care and attention; +and not only affording in her fragile little person the strongest bond of +union, but the never-tiring subject of conversation. Sad indeed was the +change in this once happy family, when the widow and orphan sat alone at +the cheerless board. Death had entered and taken from them the sun of +their little world. The bereaved wife might have sunk under this calamity, +had not maternal solicitude been mixed with grief. With that admirable +fortitude and submission to duty so common to those of her sex in similar +circumstances, she at once devoted herself with increased solicitude to +the remaining object of her care and affection. + +For a time but little change was visible in the family arrangements, for +though a sensitive she was a spirited woman. Her garden, which had been +the pride and delight of her husband, still flourished in perfect +neatness. After the usual time of decent seclusion, she again interchanged +visits with her friends and neighbors, and continued to maintain the stand +in the village society which had always been conceded to her. But this +state of things did not long continue, for alas! the _gathering_ as well +as the _protecting_ hand was removed. Her more aristocratic acquaintances +now began to remark that her table showed less of plenty and variety than +formerly, and that her dress, though perfectly neat, was less new and +fashionable than they expected in _their_ associates; for no where is the +distinction between the rich and poor more rigidly enforced than in +country villages. Most offensively marked is this distinction in the house +of God, where if any where this side the grave ought the rich and the poor +to meet on a level, before Him who regards not the outward estate of his +creatures. But modern Christians have contrived to evade the rebuke of the +apostle by the cunning device of introducing the noisy auctioneer, and +under a show of fairness and equality, 'the man in goodly apparel and +having a gold ring' is assigned the highest seat; and albeit a skeptic, by +the weight of his purse crowds the humble worshippers to the wall and into +the corners of their Father's house. + +It was observed that the lone woman declined competition for those seats +so eagerly sought by the more wealthy, and selected those of a humbler +character, and eventually retired to the 'widow's pew,' a pew set apart, +in country churches, for the gratuitous accommodation of those in that +unhappy condition. Sincerely religious, the Christian widow still waited +upon God in the house of prayer, but felt the whole sting of poverty when +slowly and humbly wending her way to her obscure corner, her faded and +well-worn dress was brushed by the new and rich garments of her former +equals as they swept past her to their high seats. The neat and handsome +dwelling with its trim garden was at length resigned for one which barely +sheltered the mother and child from the weather, and was totally devoid of +the cheap luxury of fruit and flowers which had enriched and beautified +their former home. + +Time wore on, and Want with its train of sordid attendants visited their +dwelling. Her former associates, one after another declined her society as +an equal. Occasionally calling, they were eloquent in excuses for their +neglect; for when did the prosperous lack an excuse for neglecting the +unfortunate? Counsel and advice were lavished upon her; for I have +observed that advice is the only thing that the rich impart freely to the +poor. Religion too was the frequent subject of their conversation; for how +can benevolence be shown more strongly than by a concern for the +well-being of the soul, which is to exist forever, in comparison with +which, the transient wants of the body are as nothing? Accordingly, the +poor widow, after her scanty meal, and over her dim and cheerless hearth, +was exhorted by her fur-clad and well-fed _friends_, to disregard the +evils of this fleeting life, and receive with resignation the chastenings +of Providence; for we all needed correction, being by nature utterly +sinful and depraved. And after some vague and indefinite offers of +assistance, the good women would take their leave. A way of discharging +duty discovered by modern philanthropists; and when accompanied by the +Societies' tract, seldom fails to convince the unfortunate object of +charity that to Heaven alone should they look for assistance and sympathy. + +This lady, as we have intimated, possessed a large share of that generous +spirit so common in her sex, which enabled her to sustain herself amid the +evils which oppressed her. And nobly did the mother strive to shield from +want and ignorance the little orphan, now her only care. Her own education +enabled her in some measure to supply the place of teachers, which she was +unable to employ. And never was maternal care better rewarded than by the +improvement of the gentle being under her charge. But in this blessed +employment the poor mother was interrupted. While health continued, she +had been enabled by the most unremitted exertion to prevent the approach +of absolute want, slight indeed as were her earnings. (The modern +improvements in machinery having destroyed domestic manufacture, properly +so called, and left but little for the female to earn who is not attending +its motions in the noisy factory.) But illness had intervened, and +diminished even that small resource; and it was apparent to all that the +want of suitable food assisted in blanching still more the fair face of +the poor child. Maternal love had conquered the honest pride of the poor +mother so far as to constrain her to accept the slight and uncertain +donations of her neighbors. But this assistance, scanty as it was, could +not continue. The tax-paying husbands of the benevolent ladies who +furnished it, complained that the poor-rates were heavy, and that they had +already helped to pay for a house of refuge for the poor and the +destitute, could not, in addition to this, support them out of it. + +She was told it was her duty to place her daughter in some family to be +brought up as a servant. In vain did she assert her ability to maintain +herself and child when health should return. Her advisers could little +sympathize with her feelings, and reproached her with pride. And she was +now harassed with the fear that her delicate and cultivated little girl +would be torn from her, and made a factory slave or household drudge; for +such power had the laws given to the rulers of the town. But this fear, +miserable as it was, was now overpowered by another. The suggestion had +reached the ear of the unhappy woman that she and her child would be +conveyed to the house of the town's poor, the place we have attempted to +describe. God grant that no fair reader of this homely but too true story +should ever feel the misery which this fear inflicted on the mind of this +friendless mother! Oh, that true Charity had been present in the person of +her best representative on earth, a sensible, affectionate and +liberal-minded woman, to minister to the wants, to soothe the mind of her +unhappy sister-woman, and cheer her exertions for self-support! None such +appeared, and the heart of the poor woman sank within her. Her exertions +were paralyzed; for struggle as she might to avoid it, the alms-house, +with its debased and debasing society, was ever before her eyes as her +ultimate destiny. It was in vain that she endeavored to prepare her mind +for this result. She could endure any degree of privation, but not +degradation and infamy. + +Time wore on, without any renewed hints of interference, and she began to +hope that she was forgotten. Delusive hope! It was felt as a disgrace that +she should suffer, when the _law_ had provided a remedy, and they had paid +for it. And it was therefore decreed by the magnates of the town that she +must be removed, and the day had arrived (with which we commenced our +narrative,) on which the paupers were to be disposed of for the coming +year. Deacon S---- was the person deputed by his colleagues, as we have +mentioned, to convey Mrs. Selden and her daughter to the alms-house. + +However prepared we may suppose ourselves to meet misfortune, the moment +of its arrival takes us by surprise. We will not attempt to picture the +utter desolation of mind and the despair which filled her heart, when this +man arrived at her door, to convey herself, and oh! far worse, her +innocent and intelligent child, to that scene of vice and debasement. +Although her dislike to the measure was known, yet from her quiet and +reserved manners, little opposition was anticipated. The evils of life had +accumulated upon her in a regular gradation, and she had been enabled to +bear their weight, up to this point, with outward composure; looking +forward to, but yet hoping this last cup of bitterness would never be +presented; or if presented, that some means might be found to avert it. +But the dreadful crisis had arrived. Had the whole board of authority been +present, I should be glad to believe, for the honor of humanity, that they +would have been moved to relent, as they would not have been able to shift +the responsibility from one to the other, as is the wont of such bodies +when the members act separately. + +When the poor woman had so far recovered from the first shock as to be +enabled to articulate, she pleaded her ability to maintain herself without +assistance, and her choice rather to starve than be removed. She appealed +to him as the father of a daughter, and painted the ruin which would fall +upon her own, exposed to the corruption and example of the place to which +he was taking her. She appealed to him as a Christian, and reminded him +that they had sat together before the sacred desk, and partaken of the +symbols of the body and blood of the Son of Him who was in a peculiar +manner the father of the widow and orphan. But her auditor was destitute +of the imagination which enables the possessor to enter into the feelings +of another; and these affecting appeals fell dead upon his worldly and +unsympathizing nature. The man even extended his hand to urge her forward +to the conveyance provided! At that moment, when all hope was dead within +her, and the worst that could happen in her opinion had arrived, a change +came over the unhappy woman. She suffered herself unresistingly to be led +forward to her doom. The fine chords of the mind and heart, lately so +intensely strung, had parted; her countenance relaxed, and her features +settled down into a dead, unmeaning apathy; never again, during the short +remainder of her life, to be animated by one gleam of the feelings which +had so lately illumined but to destroy. + +My kind, my indulgent mother! Her generous heart needed not the eloquence +of my youthful feelings to induce her to rescue the poor orphan, and to +cherish her as her own child. And never was kindness more richly---- + +I had proceeded thus far in writing this narrative, when I discovered that +I was overlooked; and a gentle voice over my shoulder said: 'You should +not praise your own wife; it is the same as if you should praise +yourself!' + + E. B. + + + + +APOSTROPHE TO HEALTH. + + + HYGEIA! most blest of the powers + That tenant the mansions divine, + May I pass in thy presence the hours + That remain, ere in death I recline! + + Dwell with me, benevolent charm! + Without the attendance of health + Not the smiles of affection can warm, + And dull are the splendors of wealth. + + The pageant of empire is stale + That lifts men like gods o'er their race, + And the heart's thrilling impulses fail + When Love beckons on to the chase. + + Whate'er in itself joy can give, + Or that springs from sweet respite of pain, + That mortals or gods can receive, + Blest HYGEIA! is found in thy train! + + Thy smile kindles up the fresh spring, + The glad, verdant bloom of the soul; + Thee absent, our pleasures take wing, + And Sorrow usurps her control. + + + + +ISABEL. + + + Hush! her face is chill, + And the summer blossom. + Motionless and still, + Lieth on her bosom. + On her shroud so white, + Like snow in winter weather, + Her marble hands unite, + Quietly together. + + How like sleep the spell + On her lids that falleth! + Wake, sweet Isabel! + Lo! the morning calleth. + How _like_ Sleep!--'tis Death! + Sleep's own gentle brother; + Heaven holds her breath-- + She is with her mother! + + + + +ONE READING FROM TWO POETS. + + ----My imagination + Carries no favor in it but Bertram's. + I am undone; there is no living, none, + If Bertram be away. + SHAKSPEARE. + + Should GOD create another Eve and I + Another rib afford, yet loss of thee + Would never from my heart. + MILTON. + + +I have this evening, while seated in my lonely chamber, ventured--not, I +hope, with profane hands--to draw one inappreciable gem from out of the +carcanet of each of the two unrivalled masters of the poetry of our +language. I was curious to see the effect to be produced by a close +juxtaposition of these two exquisite specimens of the soul's light; of the +revealment of its original genius; of the intense brilliancy of its Truth, +falling as it does in one ray upon two objects so diverse in their +character as the virgin love of the retired and comparatively humble but +devoted Helena, and the married constancy of the Father of our race. + +The effect reminds me of an _échappée de lumière_ that I once beheld in +the gallery of the Vatican, when a sudden emergence of light brightened +with the same gleam the calm face of the Virgin of the clouds, (called di +Foligno,) and at the same instant illuminated the whole principal figure +in the Transfiguration of Raffaelle; floating as it does, and tending +almost with a movement upward, in the air of 'the high mountain' where the +miracle took place----as these two grand paintings then stood, side by +side, in the solemn, in the holy quiet of that lofty and sequestered +apartment. O moment! never to be forgotten, never to be obscured by any +lapse of after time! + +And thus, although in a less palpable world, do these two passages of +immortal verse, wearing each its beam of golden light, stand in their +effulgence before the sympathies of the observer alive to the charms and +influences of moral beauty! Surely no other poet has the world produced +comparable to Shakspeare for the revelation of the love of the yet +unwedded girl; and who is there to be named with Milton, in the tenderness +and truth with which he has touched upon conjugal relationship; and that +necessity, that inappeasable requirement of intercommunion that +accompanies, as its immediate consequence, the sacrament of the nuptial +rite where there is destined to exist the real, the progressive, the +indissoluble intermarriage of soul with soul! + +How effectually and with what truth does the dramatic Bard raise the veil +and exhibit to us the imagination of this retired girl, bred up in all the +deep earnestness of mind that a country life and comparative seclusion +could induce, dwelling and brooding over the form of one individual +brought into intimate association with her, 'seeing him every hour' where +she had little else to interest her, nor any thing to contemplate, but, as +she says, + + 'sit and draw + His archéd brows, his hawking eye, his curls, + In our heart's table; heart too capable + Of every trick and line of his sweet favour. + + * * * * * + + ----it hurts not him + That he is loved of me: I follow him not + With any token of presumptuous suit. + I know I love in vain, strive against hope, + Yet, in this captious and intenible sieve, + I still pour in the waters of my love + And lack not to love still.' + +Behold her as she sits, the beautiful creation!--delighting to magnify the +qualities of the idol of her affections and to depreciate herself in the +comparison; overlooking, perhaps incapable of once imagining the thought +of his harsh and selfish and impracticable nature, and constantly endowing +him with all the fresher breathings of her spiritual existence--like the +Rainbow of the Waterfall, that clothes, with its own celestial dyes, the +dark and shapeless mass of Rock upon whose bosom it appears to dwell! +faltering, trembling, quivering, fading, disappearing; returning, +resting;--glowing, yet never dazzling; liquid, yet sustained! + + 'It were all one + That I should love a bright particular star + And seek to wed it, he is so above me: + In his bright radiance and collateral light + Must I be comforted, not in his sphere. + The hind that would be mated by the lion + Must die for love! + +This is the way in which these precious irradiations of joy beam and hover +over man; startled and frightened often out of the presence even of his +image while they thus adorn and decorate him; and then they love him for +what they fondly dream to be the halo of his proper spirit; for the light +and tenderness, the purity, the gentleness, the refinement and grace, that +have their life and element and colour, only in the deep yet overflowing +heart of Woman in her Love! + +But then comes Wedlock; and often, with wedlock, comes marriage; or +succeeds it; the marriage that GOD bestowed on man in Eve, when, according +to that scriptural and exquisite conception, _they twain become one_. When +the Rock shall as by a miracle receive into all its crevices, interstices, +and pores, the beautiful existence that has played upon it! When the soul +of man opens at every noble passion in succession and at every pulse, to +embrace, imbibe, absorb, receive, possess, acquire, the being that we call +WOMAN! finds her in every former want, or present wish, or bright, or +unfrequented passage of the soul; now all occupied, all satisfied by her; +fancies thoughts to be his thoughts which are her thoughts; and blesses +himself, when he discovers it, that imaginations in themselves so sweet, +should in some visit of her delicate spirit have been breathed into his +ESSENCE from a source so pure! is near her, when distant; is present with +her, when absent; converses with her, without words; gazes upon her, +without sight; listens to her, without sound; watches her, without motion; +and has not yet lost her balmy presence when Death shall long have removed +forever that precious image from his corporal sense. This is MARRIAGE. + +Out of this state descends that profound expression of the soul in Milton, +(GOD make us thankful for him!) when he intends the verb that he escapes +in the passage that adorns my Essay, should be supplied by a pulsation in +the breast of Eve: + + 'yet loss of thee + Would never--from my heart.' + +Would never?--would never be torn, out-rooted, obliterated, banished, +extinguished, forgotten, diminished, obscured, from his heart. The throb +of her spirit is to supply the word, or mould the thought, and vivify the +pause so as to satisfy her full affection to its utmost contentment and +desire. _This_ is marriage. This is attainment to that state of more +perfect existence which terrestrial life procures for the soul of man, +never thenceforth in all its future changes to be lost. The incorporeal +mingling, the mystical union of two varied emanations of life; as Light +and Heat intermarry in their offset and passage from the sun; and Truth +and Love from the breast of THE INEFFABLE! + + How can I live without thee! how forego + Thy sweet converse and love so dearly join'd + To live again in these wild woods forlorn? + Should GOD create another Eve and I + Another rib afford, yet loss of thee + Would never from my heart: no, no, I feel + The link of nature draw me. + Bone of my bone thou art and from thy state + Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe. + +And shall the passage of one such soul across the mere brook of Death +dissolve affiances so deep, so latent, and so pure as this? This Life of +Life, is it to be so suddenly quenched in man, and man himself continue to +exist? Shall the soul that lingers here still retaining its identity lose +that which has chiefly formed for it a distinctive being? Or entering into +a happier state of existence shall it be dispossessed of all that treasure +of recollection and delight on which its joys and hopes have been so +largely founded? These long remembrances of mutual beneficence and good, +these intertwining and interwoven affections, and the unbounded and +mingling love of their common offspring, shall these all perish and the +soul itself yet be styled immortal? Or,--shall the first-gone spirit meet +its arriving mate upon the border of that further shore, bless it with the +radiant welcome of celestial companionship and guidance, and lead it on to +higher virtue in a happier state, as it hath beamed upon it and in part +educated it on Earth?----Doubt this not, my Heart! Doubt this not, my +Soul! + + JOHN WATERS. + + + + +WHERE IS THE SPIRIT-WORLD? + +BY A NEW CONTRIBUTOR. + + + Perhaps the World of Spirits + Is the invisible air, + And every soul inherits + Its endless portion there, + When mortal lays its mortal by, + And puts on immortality. + + Then round us and above us + Unseen, the souls of those + That hate us and that love us + In motion or repose, + To plan and work our good or ill, + As when on earth, are busy still. + + For Enmity surviveth + This transitory life; + Spirit with spirit striveth + In an unending strife; + All roots of evil planted now + Eternally shall live and grow. + + So friendship ever liveth + Immortal as the soul, + And purer pleasure giveth + As longer ages roll; + And hope and joy and inward peace + Forever heighten and increase! + + Our homes and dwelling-places, + The country of our birth, + The old familiar faces + Endeared to us on earth, + And every source and scene of joy + Our spirits' senses shall employ. + + So shall our true affections, + To earthly objects given, + Form intimate connections + Between our world and heaven; + And all our long existence move + In an unbroken stream of love. + + + + +THE TYRANNY OF AFFECTION. + +BY MRS. ENNSLO. + + +Methinks those who preach up the dignity of human nature, and expatiate +upon its original perfections, must look upon it through magic glasses: to +some perceptions at least, it presents even in its best estate a picture +of such abortive aims, such woful short-comings, such clouded brightness, +that even in those better natures, where we feel sure that the sun of +virtue _does_ shine, the noxious vapors of human frailty, pride in all its +various ramifications, selfishness under its many disguises, prejudice +with its endless excuses, etc., etc., do so envelope it that we cannot +hope to feel the warmth of its rays until some wholesome trial, some +aptly-apportioned cross, clear away these paralyzing influences and force +it into action. + +What seems at the first glance freer from this dross than the love of man +to man? the love of the creature for his fellow; the ordained test of his +love to his Creator? What seems more preëminently pure than the affection +of the parent for the child, who owes him not only life but the nurture +which has maintained and elevated that life? Yet even here, even over this +fair garden of peace, the trail of the serpent may be detected. The +tyranny of deep affection is seen in every relation of life: we love a +cherished object, it may be with every fibre of our heart, ay, even +idolatrously; we would willingly spend and be spent to surround the +beloved one with materials for enjoyment; but these materials must be of +_our_ selection; we would sacrifice ourselves to lead them to happiness, +but _we_ must point out the road to them; we will bear every thing, endure +every thing, but the mortification of seeing them receive good at other +hands than our own. Ah! there are some rare exceptions to this rule, but +surely not more than enough to constitute it a rule. + +Who that enjoyed the privilege of domestic intercourse with the venerable +and venerated father of the lovely Lucy Lee; he the most beloved as well +as respected inhabitant of the small town of ----; she not only the +prettiest but by far the most winning in her deportment of all the young +female circle of the place, of whom she was beyond all question the +ornament. Who that witnessed the fond pride with which the good old man +gazed upon her, as she glided around him, ministering to his wants with +that watchful ingenuity which characterizes woman's affection; who that +heard the tone of tenderness which marked even the most trifling word +addressed to her; a tenderness that seemed as if it might by its deep +pathos invoke every beneficent spirit to watch over her for good; his +early morning greeting, always accompanied by an upward look, which +proclaimed a daily aspiration of gratitude to the great Giver for the +precious gift; the nightly benediction which ever seemed as if it might +grow into a prayer for her welfare during the hours of darkness; who that +witnessed all this--and they could not be seen together without many such +hourly demonstrations of the father's love for his child shining through +his every word and action--but would have felt assured that this love +fashioned his every plan, and marked his estimate of the things of life? + +Ah! of a certainty, it must have been so; her happiness must have been +safe in his keeping; and in truth, happiness had hitherto seemed hers by +prescriptive right. But all lanes however long turn at last, and those +most richly strewn with flowers are generally alas! by far the shortest. +Eighteen summers had flown since that which saw the little Lucy installed +sole possessor and sole solace of her bereaved father's heart; sole pledge +of a love which deeply rooted in a breast no longer subject to the +changeful fancies of youth, (for he had more than attained the prime of +middle-age when the original of the precious little miniature first +enchained his affections,) never revived for any other, but spent itself +in a doting fondness for this fair image of the lost one. Indeed it seemed +that every throb came with a double import from his burdened heart; the +parent's fondness ever mingling a tribute to the memory of her whose life +had been the price of the costly gift. + +It is not always that the devotion of a parent is so entirely appreciated +as in this case; all Mr. Lee's efforts to promote his daughter's happiness +were crowned with entire success, and until the period mentioned above, no +one had ever detected on her lovely brow the semblance of a cloud. But the +course of nature cannot be altered; the petted child will one day grow +into the wilful woman; and however it may have been only a pleasant task +to follow the windings of the childish fancy ingenious in its caprice; and +only amusing to submit to the childish tyranny which pursues its own +beau-ideal of sport with reckless pertinacity; there sometimes comes a +change when the spoiled darling takes her first step upon the threshold of +maturity; when, with all the fresh vigor of youth in her untutored will, +she begins to assert her privilege, to cater for her own happiness, and +fashion her future according to the visions of her own fancy. Then comes +in the world with its many and diversified claims; claims so vigorously +enforced, but from which it is the first impulse of the young heart to +turn with loathing: it cannot bear to believe its happy independence of +all such considerations at an end; it does not submit easily to these new +trammels. Ah! how differently has passed the previous life! Something holy +gathers round a child; it seems to move superior to the base claims of the +world and its paltry rewards; and although often, it must be confessed, +the young intellect is early impressed with the idea that its best efforts +should be devoted to the insuring of worldly approbation, still the little +one's course of life is so distinct from the busy race to which we would +train it, that we cannot if we would entirely chain down its thoughts; +nay, we shrink before the pure innocence which cannot even understand our +weakness; and often yield a tribute to its superior dignity by concealing +our own care for such distinctions. + +To those too who have seen much of life, and learnt to feel its +hollowness, real childishness of thought and feeling is so refreshing, +that they love rather to prolong the period than to shorten it. To Mr. Lee +the little Lucy seemed so entirely perfect in her infantine simplicity and +purity, that had he breathed a wish for the future, it would probably have +been that she should always continue his _little_ Lucy; he cared for no +change, and as it appeared, perceived none in her. Time passed on however, +and before he had become well aware that the little fairy whose tiny form +must needs so short a while since clamber on his knee to stroke and pat +his cheek, had now shot up into a tall girl, who could take his arm in a +long walk, or canter beside him all the morning on her well trained pony, +there came a change over the course of his quiet household little +startling. Visitors began to throng the hall; not those staid personages +who had hitherto been wont to gather round the warm hearth in winter, or +the sheltered piazza in the hot days of summer, and with feet upreared on +mantel-piece or bannister, discuss the affairs of state, and the price of +crops; new editions of these respected individuals now appeared; nephews +and sons came in their train; young friends, more perhaps than these +gentlemen were before aware of possessing, sought an introduction at their +hands, or came without any, on the plea perhaps of having met at a +tea-party, or some such strong necessity for acquaintanceship with the +fair Lucy; while the good Mr. Lee, often to his not very pleased surprise, +found on awaking from his afternoon's nap, that the book whose contents he +had purposed should perform their daily office of inspiring his dreams had +been laid aside, while the voice which had lulled him to sleep was now +charming other and younger ears in merry though perhaps suppressed +cadences. The variety in these visitors too grew somewhat annoying; new +people came, and Mr. Lee liked not new people. He was a man of warm but +very exclusive feelings; he loved but a few, and he liked no others: his +prejudices were strong, and having lived a very secluded life, the routine +of which presented no very decided obstacle to those prejudices, his +estimate of men and things had not altered with the general course of the +world around him. Liberal to an extreme in his dealings with men, his +intercourse with them, except in matters of business, was confined to a +very limited circle. Absolute in his requisitions from such as approached +him as intimates, his friendship was given only to those who met his views +in every respect; especially whose political opinions coincided with his +own. Indeed this seemed to be with him the one grand test. Though never +meddling in his own person with public life, he had such an abstract love +for its intricacies that he could at all times warm into actual enthusiasm +over a newspaper; a single paragraph from the pen one of his own way of +thinking sufficing to kindle his feelings into a glow of patriotism, while +a civil word of dissent would seem to chill his sympathies for his kind; +strong disapprobation blinding his perceptions to any good possible in +those differing from his established standard. Now it was not to be +expected that the young Lucy's circle would be modelled according to such +restrictions; she loved her kind old father with the clinging fondness of +an unweaned infant for its mother; but though again and again she would, +to gratify him, toil through a whole pamphlet, its meaning as dark to her +perceptions as the close and blurred print to his failing eyes, it may +well be imagined that her girlish brain failed to receive any other +impression from the contents than of their excessive tedium; certainly if +she formed therefrom any opinion regarding his favorite party, it was most +probably the not very flattering one that its members were all especially +tiresome and prolix. + +Either from this notion, or a contradiction natural to human nature, it so +happened that among the rivals for the lovely Lucy's smiles, none seemed +to possess such power in riveting her attention as a certain young +gentleman, who although not only the son of a leading man in the +opposition, but holding himself a somewhat prominent place in the ranks of +the condemned party, yet continued with a boldness much to be wondered at +to engross the young lady's time by frequent visits of most unfashionable +length, in spite of Mr. Lee's open vituperations of all the manoeuvres of +the said party. The undaunted aspirant turned a deaf ear however to this, +taking every thing that was said in good part, until one day, when +suddenly his patience seemed to give out. + +News had just been received of the marriage of a former school-mate of +Lucy's, the daughter of an old esteemed comrade, orthodox in all his +views, to an individual decidedly in the wrong on the one important point. +First, how astonished, next how entirely shocked, was the good old +gentleman! 'What a falling off! to give his child to ----! Pshaw! what +would the world come to! Where were his principles? where his wisdom? +where his _honor_?' etc., etc. Lucy, frightened perhaps at her father's +vehemence, turned pale. Dr. Kent, the friend and physician of the family, +who chanced to be present, endeavored to calm him, but with little +success; and Mr. Lillburgh, unable as it seemed to join in condemning this +'mis-alliance,' left the house somewhat abruptly. Soon after this, +however, an opportune influx of papers and pamphlets caused a salutary +diversion in Mr. Lee's irritated feelings; and as Lucy's most monopolizing +visitor seemed quite to have disappeared, he could now enjoy his favorite +luxury of drinking in, through the medium of the voice he loved so well, +the words of wisdom he honored so highly. + +Whether these tiresome lectures proved too burdensome for her young +spirits, or some other cause operated to injure her health, did not +appear; but just at this time, when Mr. Lee seemed to find his life +especially comfortable and pleasant, his hitherto blooming daughter +gradually began to droop; her spirits, formerly so even, were now +constantly fluctuating: at times she would sit pale and _distraite_ among +a gay and laughing circle of her young associates, while at others, a ring +at the bell, a step in the hall, would suffice to call the color to her +cheek and kindle animation in her eye. It was this variation perhaps, +together with certain animating plans of his own, which rendered her +father insensible to her condition; for by a strange contradiction in the +course of things, he seemed just at this time especially occupied with +forming brilliant plans for her future. Fairly aware now of her being no +longer a child, he would comment upon her dress, urge her to more +ornament, and then with a knowing look speak of his anticipated pleasure +in the society of two expected visitors, one staunch old veteran of the +true faith, and his son, a worthy descendant, one who deserved the smiles +of the fair for the brilliant speech he had made the last session. Poor +Lucy at each reference to this subject would look more and more +uncomfortable; but her father, thinking that she might be perhaps a little +wayward; while he grew daily more enamoured of his plan, redoubled his +tenderness, seeking to study her whims in every other respect. It is cruel +to loose every bond but that which galls most sorely, to pluck away every +thorn but that which pricks most sharply: all the perceptions gather to +that point, and the suffering is in consequence tenfold more acute. Such +were Lucy's sensations, though she was perhaps scarcely conscious of them +herself; while at every demonstration of her father's tenderness, the +feelings which she knew to be rebels to his dearest wishes would seem to +spring up and accuse her of ingratitude. This struggle could not last; at +length the fond father became suddenly aware that some strange blight had +fallen upon his darling, and his whole soul was convulsed at the thought +that evil might possibly threaten her; he felt ready to send a +proclamation through the world to summon all its skill to spend itself for +her restoration. Upon second thoughts he made up his mind that there was +but one man in the world to whom he would confide the precious trust; yes, +he was fully assured that in the brain of Dr. Kent, the only lineal +descendant of Esculapius, were to be found all the best resources of the +art of healing; _he_ must always and on all occasions, be more right than +any one else. Why? But why ask why, when he had formed this opinion ever +since Dr. Kent first assumed the M. D., and had always held it firmly. Dr. +Kent was summoned and soon appeared; the startled girl, sorely against her +will, was called into the room; all the usual ceremony gone through; the +pulse tested, the tongue examined, etc., and then suffered to slip out of +the room. Mr. Lee listened with a beating heart for the doctor's decision: +this last did not deny that the young lady's appearance was strangely +altered since he had last seen her, which indeed was not since the evening +above alluded to, of Mr. Lee's violent irritation against his old friend. +But the cause; the next thing for the doctor to do was to discover the +cause. Now Dr. Kent, although some people did say that he was no student, +had a considerable portion of what is called _mother-wit_; and if he did +not possess the stores of learning which might have been amassed by poring +over his books, he was at least without the abstraction which much +scientific research is thought to occasion; he looked around him with a +shrewd eye, and simply by putting two and two together, often made very +successful calculations. He hesitated, reflected and recollected; 'perhaps +she wanted excitement,' he said; 'perhaps there was too little variety in +her life for one so young.' Mr. Lee assured him that she had always +appeared very indifferent to society; that until very lately she had +always seemed as happy as the day was long, and to desire no other company +than that of the visitors who dropped in upon them occasionally. + +'Well, we must have something more amusing for her than _visiting_; +something more exciting.' The doctor here mused again for a few moments: +'You say she has seemed happy until very lately?' + +'Yes, it is only lately that she has seemed to droop.' + +'Well, perhaps she's been particularly dull lately; now by way of +experiment, suppose you at once summon a large party to your house; let it +be a very general invitation; all your acquaintances, that is the young +ones, _her_ acquaintances; all who have ever visited at the house; and as +_you_ may not be able to remember them all, it will be best to direct her +to do it in your name; this will of itself furnish her with a rather +exciting occupation. All this is by way of experiment I say, for it may +_not_ be that she needs amusement, but by the effect that company and +gayety have upon her, which I shall take care to be by and watch. I have a +notion that I shall be enabled to decide upon the character of her +indisposition. One thing however; remember you must give me +_carte-blanche_ as to the course of treatment to be pursued; your +prejudices, you confess you have them, must not hamper me.' + +'My prejudices!' replied Mr. Lee; 'why what can they have to do with your +prescriptions? You know me well enough to be aware that I do not undertake +to meddle with matters I do not understand; the art of medicine for +instance, to which I make no pretensions; of course I shall not interfere; +only tell me what is to be done for my child, and you may be very sure no +difficulty will arise on my part, should it be that I must take her to +Egypt or Kamtschatka.' + +'It is not probable that I shall call upon you for any such effort; on the +contrary, I have a strong impression that a very simple course will +answer; I was afraid you might not like its simplicity.' + +'Really,' said Mr. Lee, 'that is too bad; am I that sort of person? Don't +tantalize me, Doctor, but just tell me what ought to be done for my poor +child, and you must be assured that _I_ will not object.' + +'Of course, no father would,' said Dr. Kent. + +'Then why the deuce do you imagine for an instant that _I_ would?' + +'Nay now,' said the physician, 'it is only a whim of mine, and every one +must be allowed some whims: but good day; remember your promise.' + +'Oh yes, only make up your mind at once.' + +Great was Lucy's surprise, when upon being again summoned by her father, +she received from him the commission just determined upon. At one moment +to have her pulse felt, and the next to be told that she must prepare for +entertaining a large party! What did it mean? The good father, startled at +her agitation, assured her that he himself felt the want of a little more +society, and that he thought it would do _him_ good to have a company of +gay young people about him for an evening. Lucy was afraid she could not +recollect all her acquaintances. 'Well, no matter; only invite all she +_could_ remember; he should be satisfied with her arrangement of the +affair.' + +Whatever may have been the efforts of Lucy's memory, it is certain that +only a moderate number of tickets were sent out for the appointed evening; +indeed it might have been feared that the doctor's experiment could +scarcely have a fair scope in so limited a circle; but finding that his +patient had had her own way in the whole, _he_ seemed to feel quite +assured of success. Before etiquette would have permitted the arrival of +any other guest, he had taken his place close beside the fair mistress of +the revels, and even after the room began to fill, seemed determined to +yield his envied position to no one. Those who said Dr. Kent was no +student, should have seen him then; his eye riveted on her fair young +countenance, there could be no doubt he was conning _that_ closely. At +every fresh arrival, how he watched the eager glance of inquiry! how his +gaze followed the course of the eloquent blood as it left the transparent +cheek, again to burden the disappointed heart! + +The doctor was still puzzled; the gay company had by no means yet wrought +the change he looked for; how was this?--but he held to his watch. And now +once more the door was thrown open, and a young gentleman, with a +decidedly hesitating air and step, approached the youthful hostess. Ah! +now the light no longer flickered in her clear blue eye; it literally +danced: the awakened color left her cheek it is true, as before, but how +soon it came again! 'You positively have stood long enough, and must sit +down now,' said Dr. Kent, taking Lucy's hand; not the tip-ends of her +fingers; no, the doctor was not one either to be satisfied with any such +superficial plan of action, or to forego his privileges; on the contrary, +availing himself of his position of friend of the family, he possessed +himself of the whole of the little delicate hand, when, old habit it might +be, leading him to measure with some exactness the slender wrist thereto +belonging, he pressed it most cordially, and after one or two moments of +such demonstration of his affectionate regard, yielded his place beside +her to the last comer. + +Mr. Lee now joined him as he lounged upon a sofa, with an air of entire +inattention to what was going on around him, yet turning from time to time +a heedful glance upon Lucy who sat just opposite, replying more by blushes +than words to the depressed tones of young Mr. Lillburgh's voice. 'Well, +Doctor, and how goes on the experiment?' The anxious father tried to speak +calmly, but his voice trembled. + +'I am quite satisfied with my _experiment_,' replied Dr. Kent; 'but I will +confess (you know I am a candid man) that the result makes me feel a +little serious.' Dr. Kent knew, as we all have an opportunity of knowing, +that a danger, however startling, for which we are at once provided with a +remedy, is soon scorned; that it must stare us very decidedly in the face, +before we are willing to appreciate the said remedy. 'Yes,' continued he. +'I had no idea of the deep root the disease had taken.' + +'Good heavens! my friend,' exclaimed Mr. Lee, grasping Dr. Kent's hand in +the utmost agitation; 'and the remedy you thought of--is the case too +serious for it to be available?' + +'I trust not,' replied the Doctor; 'I believe indeed that if I can apply +the proper remedy in time, all may be well; but as I said just now, I am +a candid man, and don't like to raise false hopes: I tell you frankly this +case is not one to be trifled with; it requires nice management: the young +lady is delicate, very delicate; her nervous system is now decidedly +deranged.' + +'But don't you think, Doctor, don't you think, my good friend, that she +looks a little better this evening? See how animatedly she is listening to +that young man: by-the-by, who is he?' + +'Oh, no matter who he is, so he amuses Miss Lucy. But with regard to her +case; I will study it seriously to-night, and tell you what result I have +come to to-morrow about noon. I shall give all my mind to it, for I know +how precious she must be to you; I know that nothing the world has to +give, can make up to you for the most trifling evil that can assail her.' + +'Oh, nothing, nothing; but what tormenting apprehensions you fill me with! +Gracious heaven! my dear Sir, she is my all; my past, my present, my +future are made by her; but you will help me if you can. May Almighty +wisdom aid you!' And the agitated father rushed out of the room, unable +any longer to control himself. + +Dr. Kent looked after him with something of commiseration in his +countenance; but being a decided enemy to homeopathic innovation, he had +made up his mind that a strong dose of apprehension was positively +necessary; and now, only gratified at its powerful effect, he resumed his +surveillance with a heartlessly satisfied air. This was no doubt rendered +the more easy to him by Mr. Lee's continued absence from the room: the +young Lucy, thus relieved from the observation which she unconsciously +dreaded, growing more and more at her ease, enabled him to settle his +opinion regarding her completely. + +The evening finished, as all evenings will; the night also took its course +as usual; but when on the following morning Dr. Kent appeared according to +promise in his friend's parlor at the appointed hour, he saw at once that +it had been passed by both in a manner very different from those lately +preceding it. Lucy looked as if some new impetus had been given to her +whole being; too much agitated for happiness, yet with animation glowing +in every feature, while the poor old father's care-burdened brow +proclaimed that anxious apprehension had completely usurped the hours +destined to repose. Dr. Kent really began to fear he had been too violent +in his measures; at any rate, feeling sure, as he said to himself, that +the instrument had been wound up to the striking point, he took his old +friend by the arm, saying he wished to speak to him in the next room on +business. Of course Mr. Lee was no sooner out of hearing of his daughter, +than he began to question his visitor with the utmost eagerness; upon +which the doctor slowly and warily proceeded to unfold his suspicions, or +rather his convictions. + +It was curious to observe the changes passing over the countenance of the +hearer as Dr. Kent made this disclosure. Pleased surprise was evidently +the first emotion excited, but painful perplexity soon usurped its place. + +'My good friend,' said he, as Dr. Kent finished speaking, 'I am greatly +relieved to find that you think the cause of my child's illness so +superficial; but as to the remedy you propose, believe me, I cannot +consent to it; I do not believe it necessary.' + +'Believe it or not, as you will; I tell you it _is_ necessary.' + +'But I tell you, Doctor, that my child is a part of myself, my own flesh +and blood; and can you counsel me to become an apostate to my own +principles? It has been my dearest thought that I should one day enjoy in +my own seclusion the reflected lustre of my child's brilliant position in +the world, and that that position should be by the side of one whose +course in life my own ripe judgment approves entirely. A man of Mr. +Lillburgh's principles cannot make her happy; I will not believe that he +can. No, I have always cared for my daughter's happiness; I will care for +it still, by settling this matter for her as I best know how. No; again I +say no; my only child shall not be so sacrificed!' And Mr. Lee stamped on +the floor, as if to add force to his speech. + +'When you are cool,' said Dr. Kent, looking any thing but cool himself, 'I +will remind you of your promise, your positive promise; there is Mr. +Lillburgh now approaching the house; ask both your heart and conscience +how he ought to be received. Good morning to you.' + +Without stopping to consult either of these counsellors, Mr. Lee hastily +rang the bell. 'We are both engaged, and cannot see the gentleman who is +now coming to the door,' said he to the servant. The doorbell was heard at +the instant, and the servant hastened to obey his master's directions. + +The doctor was gone. Mr. Lee, pacing the parlor alone, imagined to himself +all sorts of arguments to satisfy his conscience that he was in the right. +Yet, thought he, my little darling must be made happy; all young girls +love trinkets and finery; I will take her out with me this morning, and +she shall indulge every caprice of her pretty fancy; pretty in every thing +else but fixing itself on that Mr. Lillburgh. 'Pshaw! he shall _not_ have +her; call Miss here,' he continued to a servant who entered at the moment. +The servant returned after a few minutes, saying that he had knocked +repeatedly at her door, but received no answer. Vaguely apprehensive of +something wrong, Mr. Lee hastened himself to her chamber; but how was he +shocked on entering, to find his daughter lying senseless in a swoon near +an open window. Ah! what voice whispered him that she had seen and heard +at that window what her delicate nerves could not endure! He raised her +tenderly in his arms, and having with some difficulty restored her to +consciousness, placed her on the bed. 'Good heavens!' thought he, 'can it +be indeed so serious!' But he could not long speculate upon this subject; +Lucy's cheek, but just now so pale and marble-like, soon began to glow +with fever; her pulse, but just restored to action, now told with momently +increasing hurry that illness had seized the delicate frame; the sudden +revulsion from new-born hope to despair had been too much for it. Poor Mr. +Lee! what did his heart say now? Did it yet upbraid him? Dr. Kent, who had +set out on a course of visits, could not at once be found, and the +wretched father sat gazing in agonizing helplessness on his suffering +child until the decline of the day. What would he have given to live over +again the last few hours! At length the physician appeared: 'Now,' said +he, on accosting Mr. Lee, 'do you think I know my own business or not? Do +I make mountains of mole-hills or not? I knew what I was about, didn't I?' + +'Alas, yes!' replied the other, in a self-accusing tone, 'and _I_ did not; +but oh! merciful Providence! is it too late now?' + +'Too late? Heaven knows, poor young lady! she'd have been better off if +she'd been an ugly twelfth daughter, with no one to trouble themselves +much about her, instead of a beautiful darling, that must have one +particular sort of happiness and no other.' + +'Spare me! spare me, my friend!' implored Mr. Lee. + +'I wish you had spared yourself,' grumbled Dr. Kent. + +The Doctor was, it must be allowed, a little rough; but he had been so +thoroughly annoyed, after having, as he thought, with unparalleled cunning +and discretion detected the difficulty and provided a remedy, to find his +plans thwarted by an obstinate wilfulness, that he could not help boiling +over a little: his kind feelings however soon got the ascendency; the deep +contrition of the poor father touched his heart, and the lovely girl who +had only increased his interest in her by making good his words, received +from him the most attentive care; nor could he doubt that at length his +advice was appreciated, when he heard Mr. Lee take every opportunity of +mentioning Mr. Lillburgh's name with approbation and kindness, always +regretting that he had made such a mistake as to send him away the last +time he had called at the house. + +But who may venture to choose their own time for showing kindness? Who +may, having refused to 'do good when it was in the power of his hand to do +it,' resume at will the precious privilege? Dr. Kent, satisfied with his +friend's repentance, was willing to take any step which might avail to +retrieve the mischief; but when this last would have lured back by +civilities the repulsed lover, he was found to have left home the very day +after his mortifying dismissal. + +Let those who only by looking _back_ can see the road by which misery +might have been escaped, while _before_ the vista seems quite closed up, +conceive the deep and agonizing perplexity of the anxious father. His +daughter, comforted no doubt by his frequent recurrence to the subject +near her heart, and the manner in which he treated it, slowly raised her +drooping head; but he, (the entire amende being still out of his power) +hung over her night and day, oppressed by a constant sensation of guilt, +scarcely aware of her partial restoration. For some days this ordeal +lasted; there seemed a risk that the lover might in the bitterness of his +disappointment prolong his stay indefinitely; what availed it then that +the prejudice and ambition which had exiled him were now annihilated? The +eagerly coveted-prize for which he would have sacrificed his daughter's +peace, had turned to ashes in his grasp. + +But the door to returning happiness was not completely closed. Dr. Kent's +skill, aided no doubt by Lucy's young confidence in her lover's +steadfastness, kept danger at bay, until one of those opportune accidents +of life, which like many of the best things in it look threateningly until +time takes off the veil, occurred in the shape of a fire on the premises +of the wanderer; which news, forcing him to return, the indefatigable Dr. +Kent at once offered to divert his mind from this untoward circumstance, +by taking him to join the family dinner of his friend Mr. Lee. The sequel +may be imagined; on the strength of this friendly invitation, aided no +doubt by sundry blushes and smiles on Lucy's part, Mr. Lillburgh ventured +to resume his visits, and Lucy's cheek always looked so particularly rosy +on such occasions, that Mr. Lee soon became too entirely happy in the +result, to cavil any longer at the cause of her renovated health and +spirits. Sometimes, also, memory would recall for an instant that terrible +period of anxiety, and then he would treat Mr. Lillburgh with such pointed +cordiality, that before very long that young gentleman was emboldened to +take advantage of his civility, and make some disclosure of his _own_ +plans for the fair Lucy's happiness, according to the liberty of speech +young gentlemen generally allow themselves when desirous of securing their +own. Mr. Lee had gone too far to recede, and he soon found himself reduced +to the necessity of resting all his hopes for the gratification of his +favorite fancies and prejudices upon the anticipated course through life +of another generation, whose future being happily so distant, promised him +a long period of hope. + + + + +THE FRATRICIDE'S DEATH. + +A RHAPSODY. + + The following effort of a wild and maddened imagination, rioting + in its own unreal world, is by the 'AMERICAN OPIUM-EATER,' whose + remarkable history was given in the KNICKERBOCKER for July, 1842. + The MS. is stained in several places with the powerful drug, to + the abuse of which the writer was so irresistibly addicted. The + subjoined remarks precede the poem: 'This extravaganza is worthy + of preservation only as 'a psychological curiosity,' like + COLERIDGE's 'Kubla Khan,' which was composed under similar + circumstances; if that indeed can be called composition, in which + all the images rose up before the writer as THINGS, with a + parallel production of the correspondent expressions, without any + sensation or consciousness of effort. On awaking, he appeared to + have a distinct recollection of the whole: taking his pen, ink and + paper, he instantly and eagerly wrote down the lines that are here + preserved. The state of corporeal sleep but intellectual activity, + during the continuance of which the phenomenon above described + occurred, was caused by a very large dose of opium, and came upon + me while reading the 'Confession of a Fratricide,' published by + the priest who attended him in his last moments. I should warn the + reader that the fratricide, like the author, could not be said to + possess the 'mens sana in corpore sano,' both having been + deranged.' + + ED. KNICKERBOCKER. + + + The universe shook as the monarch passed + On the way to his northern throne; + His robe of snow around him he cast, + He rode on the wings of the roaring blast, + And beneath him dark clouds were blown. + + His furrow'd and hoary brow was wreathed + With a crown of diamond frost; + Even space was chill'd wherever he breathed, + And the last faint smiles which summer bequeathed, + Ere she left the world, were lost. + + The leaves which wan Autumn's breath had seared + Stern Winter swept away; + Dark and dreary all earth appeared-- + The very beams of the bright sun feared + To pursue their accustom'd way. + + Mirth's merry laugh at that moment fled, + And Pleasure's fair cheek grew pale: + The living sat like the stony dead, + The rough torrent froze in its craggy bed, + And Heaven's dew turned to hail. + + The forest trees waved their heads on high, + And shrunk from the storm's fierce stroke; + The lightning flash'd as from GOD'S own eye, + The thunderbolt crash'd through the startled sky, + As it split the defying oak. + + The proud lion trembled and hush'd his roar, + The tigress crouch'd in fear; + The angry sea beat the shuddering shore, + And the deafening voice of the elements' war + Burst terribly on the ear. + + I stood by the bed where the prisoner lay; + The lamp gave a fitful light: + His soul was struggling to pass away; + Oh, GOD! how I pray'd for the coming of day! + Death was awful in such a night. + + His cheek was hollow, and sunk, and wan, + And his lips were thin and blue; + The unearthly look of that dying man, + As his tale of horror he thus began, + Sent a chill my warm heart through: + + 'The plague-spots of crime have sunk deep in my heart, + And withered my whirling brain; + The deep stamp of murder could never depart + From this brow, where the Angel of Death's fiery dart + Had graven the curse of CAIN. + + 'Remorse has oft waved his dusky wings + O'er the path I was doom'd to tread; + Despair has long frozen Hope's warm springs; + I have felt the soul's madness which Memory brings, + When she wakes up the murder'd dead. + + 'Tell me not now of GOD'S mercy or love! + All hope of pardon is past: + A brother's blood cries for vengeance above; + This brand on my brow will my foul crime prove-- + _My_ torment for ever must last! + + 'Thou needst not tremble; this arm is bound, + And its iron strength is gone; + Despair came down in the hollow sound + Of my fetters, which clank'd on the loathing ground + Where my wearied limbs I had thrown. + + 'I snatched the knife from my jailor's side + And buried it in my breast, + But they cruelly staunched the gushing tide, + And closed the wound, though 'twas deep and wide, + And _still_ I might not rest! + + 'Day after day I had gnawed my chain, + Till I sharpened the stubborn link; + But when I had pierced the swollen vein, + And was writhing in death's last dreadful pain, + While just on eternity's brink: + + 'Even then the leech's skill prevailed; + I was saved for a darker fate! + My very guards 'neath my stern glance quailed, + And with their cloaks their faces veiled + As they passed the fast-barred grate. + + 'I LOVED! Thou know'st not half the power + Of woman's love-lit eye; + Her voice can soothe death's gloomy hour, + Her smiles dispel the clouds which lower + When Affliction's sea rolls high. + + 'My heart seemed cold as the frozen snow + Which binds dark Ætna's form, + But _Love_ raged there with the lava's flow, + And madden'd my soul with the scorching glow + Of strong passion's thunder-storm.' + + 'I told my love: O GOD! even still + I hear the Tempter's voice, + Which whispered the thought in my mind, to fill + My page of crime with a deed of ill + That made all hell rejoice. + + 'I knelt at her feet, and my proud heart burn'd + When she spoke of my brother's love; + Affection's warmth to deep hate was turn'd; + His proffered hand in my wrath I spurn'd-- + Not all his prayers could move. + + 'At dead of night to his room I crept, + As noiseless as the grave; + Disturbed in his dreams, my brother wept, + And softly murmur'd _her_ name while he slept; + _That_ word new fury gave! + + 'The sound from his lip had scarcely passed, + When my dagger pierced his heart: + One dying look on me he cast-- + That awful look in my soul will last + When body and soul shall part! + + 'When the deed was done, in horror I gazed + On the face of the murder'd dead; + His dark and brilliant eye was glazed: + When I thought for a moment his arm he raised, + I hid my face in the bed. + + 'I could not move from the spot where I stood; + A chilliness froze my mind: + My clothes were dyed with my brother's blood, + The body lay in a crimson flood, + Which clotted his hair behind! + + 'And over my heart that moment pass'd + A vision of former years, + Ere sin upon my soul had cast + It's withering blight, it's poison-blast, + It's cloud of guilty fears. + + 'The home where our youth's first hours flew by, + In its beauty before me rose; + The holy love of our mother's eye, + Our childhood's pure and cloudless sky + And its light and fleeting woes. + + 'When our hearts in strong affection's chain + Were so closely, fondly tied, + That our thoughts and feelings, pleasure and pain, + Were one: why did we not remain + Through life thus side by side? + + 'And my brother's gentle voice then fell + Upon my tortured ear; + Those tones I once had loved so well, + Now wither'd my soul like a flame from hell + With vain remorse and fear! + + 'All, all that memory still had kept + In her hidden and silent reign, + My youth's warm feelings, which long had slept, + Like a torrent of fire that moment swept + In madness o'er my brain. + + 'For before me there _his_ pallid face + In death's cold stillness lay; + Even murder could not all efface + Its beauty, whose sad and shadowy trace + Still lingered round that clay. + + 'Sternly I bent me over the dead, + And strove my breast to steel, + When the dagger from hilt to point blood-red, + Flash'd on my sight, and I madly fled, + The torture of life to feel. + + 'Since that dread hour o'er half the earth + My weary path has lain; + I have stood where the mighty Nile has birth, + Where Ganges rolls his blue waves forth + In triumph to the main. + + 'In the silent forest's gloomy shade + I have vainly sought for rest; + My sunless dwelling I have made + Where the hungry tiger nightly stray'd, + And the serpent found a nest. + + 'But still, where'er I turn'd, there lay + My brother's lifeless form; + When I watched the cataract's giant play + As it flung to the sky its foaming spray, + When I stood 'midst the rushing storm: + + 'Still, still that awful face was shown, + That dead and soulless eye; + The breeze's soft and soothing tone + To _me_ still seemed his parting groan-- + A sound I could not fly! + + 'In the fearful silence of the night + Still by my couch he stood, + And when morn came forth in splendor bright, + Still there, between me and the light, + Was traced that scene of blood!' + + * * * * * + + He paused: Death's icy hand was laid + Upon his burning brow; + That eye, whose fiery glance had made + His sternest guards shrink back afraid, + Was glazed and sightless now. + + And o'er his face the grave's dark hue + Was in fixed shadow cast; + His spasm-drawn lips more fearful grew + In the ghastly shade of their lurid blue; + With a shudder that ran that cold form through, + The murderer's spirit passed! + + + + +SICILIAN SCENERY AND ANTIQUITIES. + +NUMBER TWO. + + +We proceed, in another and concluding paper, as promised in the last +number of the KNICKERBOCKER, to direct the reader's attention to the +_Architectural Antiquities of Sicily_, especially those of Grecian +structure, which will be described in the order in which they were +visited. The first are those of Egesta, or Segeste, as it is sometimes +called; a city said to have been built in the remote age of the Siculi, +and which was destroyed by Agathocles, the potter's son, who reduced all +Sicily two hundred and eighty years before the Christian era. It lies +about forty or fifty miles from Palermo, among the mountains which cluster +round the famed Mount Erix, on which once stood a temple dedicated to +Venus. On leaving Alcamo, which may be called a city of convents, midway +between Palermo and Segeste, the broad slopes of an ample valley lie +before the traveller, which though almost treeless, are waving with beans, +and grain and grass. In the depth, is a river meandering among fragrant +oleanders; on the left, the valley is intersected by a range of distant +mountains; on the right is a beautiful bay of the Mediterranean. Across +the valley the mountains form a green amphitheatre, and high in its +remotest part is seen the Temple of Segeste, but merely as a point of +light and shade upon the bosom of the mountain. The next view, if he takes +our route, is from the ancient Grecian city of Catafimi, itself perched on +a mountain's top. He looks down a deep luxuriant vale, and on a grassy +knoll about three miles distant, lifted from the depths of the valley by +precipitous crags, stands the solitary temple; and if seen as we saw it, +receiving the last golden rays of the setting sun while all below is +wrapped in shade. The next day, would he visit the temple, his road lies +through the valley of which I have last spoken. And surely he never passed +through such an Arcadian scene as this. Almond and orange trees fill the +air with fragrance; his path struggles through the tangled flowers, the +cistus and the blue convolvulus, and he disturbs the nightingale in her +pleasant haunt. At length, emerging from the valley, and climbing the +steep side of a mountain, he stands before the temple. It is a majestic +pile, about two hundred feet in length and eighty-eight in breadth, having +fourteen columns on each side and six at each end, in all thirty-six +columns, of about six feet in diameter; not fluted, as is usual in Grecian +Doric temples, but having a very peculiar form. It stands on a platform +raised on three gigantic steps. All the columns are standing; the +entablatures and pediments are in pretty good preservation, but it is +roofless, and flowers and weeds are now waving where once trode the +white-robed priests. The breezes from the fragrant mountains and the +distant sea, of which it commands a fine view, sigh through it in harmony +with its sad and solitary grandeur. + +On a neighboring hill are the vestiges of the ancient city, a few ruined +towers, probably of the citadel, and a theatre, the stone seats of which +are almost entire; part of the sculptured figure of a faun still remains +on the proscenium; wild shrubs shade a great part of the ruin, and where +manhood and beauty once sat, listening to the tragedies of an Eschylus or +Euripides, the adder and the lizards sun themselves. The next ruins we +visited were those of Selinunte, anciently Selinus or Selinuntium, which +lies on the southern coast of the island. This city was founded by a +colony of Greeks about twenty-five hundred years ago. It was taken during +the Carthaginian wars, and in a great measure destroyed by Hannibal the +son of Giscon, four hundred and nine years before CHRIST. The country on +approaching Selinunte is a dreary plain covered with the palmetto. On +gazing toward the sea, when distant two or three miles, the traveller's +eye catches what he would take for a rocky hill, were it not for a few +mutilated columns which rise above the blue horizon. As he approaches, the +stupendous scene of ruin strikes him with awe. There in a mighty heap lie +column and capital, metope and cornice; and the mind is lost in wonder at +the power that raised these giant structures, and the power that overthrew +them. Only one complete column, and that without its capital, and several +mutilated ones, remain standing of the great temple supposed to be of +Neptune; the rest are prostrate; and all lying in one direction, bear +evidence that they have been thrown down by an earthquake. + +The first temple is Grecian Doric, as are all those of which I shall +speak. Its columns are about eleven feet across, and they must have been, +including their capitals, more than sixty feet high. Above these lofty +columns was placed the architrave, one of the stones of which, that we +measured, was twenty-five feet in length, eight in height, and six in +thickness; but another is still larger; forty feet long, seven broad, and +three deep. To transport these enormous masses of stone from their quarry, +which is several miles distant, with a deep valley and river intervening, +would trouble the modern engineer; but to poise and place them on the top +of the columns, seventy feet from the ground, with our mechanical means, +were indeed a great feat. The columns were not of single pieces, but +composed of several, and they now lie, to use an unpoetical phrase, like +rows of enormous cheeses. The great temple was three hundred and +thirty-four feet long, one hundred and fifty-four wide; its porticoes at +each end were four columns in depth, eight in width; a double row on the +sides of the cella or interior edifice, which in all Grecian temples was +the sanctum sanctorum. In _all_, there must have been eighty columns. +There is one remarkable feature about this temple, which is, that none of +the columns were fluted except those of the eastern end. About thirty +paces from this ruin, which the Sicilians call the Pileri di Giganti, or +Pillars of the Giants, are the remains of another temple which was about +two hundred feet long: its entablature was supported by thirty-six fluted +columns of seven feet in diameter and thirty-five feet long, each of a +single piece of stone. Only a few fragments of the columns remain standing +in their places. Treading another thirty paces, you come to a temple which +is of rather larger dimensions than the one last mentioned. The columns of +this were also fluted, but no part of the edifice is standing, except a +solitary pilaster, which was probably a portion of the cella. These +temples were built of a hard but porous stone, of a light color, and were +probably covered with a thin coat of cement. They command an extensive +view both of sea and land, and in their primal days must, with their +tower-like columns, their sculptured entablatures and pediments, have +risen above the scene in majestic grandeur. + +Three quarters of a mile from these temples was the ancient port, now +choked with sand, and near it are the remains of edifices supposed to have +been the magazines. On an adjoining hill are remnants of three temples and +two towers, in almost undistinguishable ruin. We left Selinunte with a +lasting but melancholy impression, and were reminded of the lines: + + 'Two or three columns and many a stone, + Marble and granite, with grass o'ergrown: + + * * * * * + + Remnants of things which have passed away, + Fragments of stone rear'd by creatures of clay!' + +Girgenti, anciently called Agragas and Agrigentum, is situated on the +southern coast of Sicily, in a delicious country; the modern city was +built by the Saracens on the summit of a hill upward of eleven hundred +feet above the level of the sea. The site of the ancient city is lower, +and about a mile distant. It was probably founded in the eighth century +before CHRIST. In its flourishing state it contained two hundred thousand +inhabitants, who were celebrated for their hospitality, their love of the +arts and luxurious style of living. Plato was so much struck with the +solidity of their buildings and the sumptuousness of their dinners, that +he said they 'built as though they thought themselves immortal, but ate as +though they never expected to eat again.' The horses of Agrigentum were +celebrated; and one of the citizens returning from the Olympic games, on +entering his native town, was followed by three hundred chariots, each +drawn by four white horses sumptuously caparisoned. The government of this +little state, whose inhabitants never amounted to more than eight hundred +thousand, was at first monarchical, afterward democratic; but neither the +forms of its institutions, nor its riches and grandeur, could save it from +misfortune: it was besieged several times by the Carthaginians, and at +length, after a siege of three years, was taken and sacked by Hannibal, +the son of Giscon. In alluding to these misfortunes, the historian says: +'Yet of all the Sicilian cities, the fate of Agrigentum seemed the most +worthy to be deplored, from the striking contrast of its fallen state with +its recent splendor and prosperity. The natural beauties of Agrigentum +were secured by strength and adorned with elegance; and whoever considered +either the innumerable advantages of the city itself, or the gay +cultivation of the surrounding territory, which abounded in every luxury +of the sea and land, was ready to pronounce the Agrigentines the most +favored inhabitants of the earth. The exuberant fertility of the soil, +particularly the rich luxuriance of the vines and olives, exceeded every +thing that is related of the happiest climates, and furnished the means of +lucrative commerce with the populous coast of Africa, which was sparingly +provided with those valuable plants. The extraordinary wealth of the +Agrigentines was displayed in the magnificence of public edifices and in +the splendid enjoyment of private fortunes. They had begun and almost +completed the celebrated Temple of Jupiter, built in the grandest style of +architecture, employed by the Greeks on the greatest and most solemn +occasions.' + +The ancient city of Agragas stood on an elevated platform or table of +land, three sides of which fell off in steep precipices; the fourth side +was surmounted by the lofty hill on which the modern city stands. These +steep precipices were the natural walls of the city, and were made more +available for defence by excavation on the inside, so as to leave a solid +wall of rock rising round the city. On the verge of this platform, which +gradually sinks from east to west, and on the side next the sea, which is +about a mile distant, are seen the remains of no fewer than six temples. +They stood in a general line, but at irregular intervals, and must have +formed one of the most magnificent spectacles that the art of man has ever +presented to the eye. The remains of three other temples exist, but they +lie at a distance from this grand range. On the eastern and highest part +of the platform, where the natural wall of which I have spoken makes an +angle, stood the Temple of Juno Lucina; next came the Temple of Concord; +next the Temple of Hercules, near which was the Temple of Jupiter, called +of the Giants; next came the Temple of Venus, and lastly that of Castor +and Pollux. The approach to the ruins of these temples from the modern +city is over the site of the ancient, now shaded by olive, almond, and +carruba trees. The Temple of Juno is a picturesque ruin; all the columns +on the northern side are standing, also several at the ends, and part of +the entablature; the rest of the building, corroded by time or entirely +prostrate, lies under an exuberant growth of flowers and shrubs. + +Descending from this temple, we pass through a sort of wild garden, with +here and there an olive-tree or dark carruba; on the left are the ruins of +the ancient rock-wall, huge fragments of which in places have fallen down +the precipice; other parts are perforated as with windows or loop-holes, +or with deep cell-like excavations: these are the tombs of the ancient +Agrigentines, now tenantless and void. Those window-like apertures were +evidently made so by the action of the elements or the violence of man; +and it is related that in consequence of the Agrigentines having made +their tombs in the walls, they were so much weakened that the +Carthaginians by means of their engines were enabled to batter them down +and obtain an entrance. We now come to the Temple of Concord, one of the +most beautiful specimens of Grecian Doric in existence. It is roofless, +but otherwise almost perfect. It has twenty-four columns; it is, like the +temple of Juno, raised on a platform of several steps, and about one +hundred and fifty-four feet in length and fifty-five in breadth. It seems +that this temple was used in times past for a Christian church, and the +sides of its cella are perforated by arched openings. The next temple is +near one of the ancient city gates, and is supposed to have been dedicated +to Hercules: it was celebrated in ancient times for having in it a fine +picture of Alcmena; but it is now a confused heap of ruin, with only one +column standing, which proves it to have been of larger dimensions than +the temples just mentioned. + +Turning a little to the right, we come upon the Temple of Jupiter +Olympius, commonly called of the Giants, the largest sacred edifice in +Sicily, and one of the most stupendous works of the ancients. It was in +length three hundred and sixty-eight feet, in breadth one hundred and +eighty; the breadth or diameter of its columns at the base thirteen feet +four inches; the height of the columns must have been seventy-five feet; +above these rose a massive entablature, and the top of the pediments could +not have been less than one hundred and twenty feet high! The grandeur of +the door and vestibule corresponded to the simple majesty of the whole +building, whose sculptured ornaments represented, with the finished +elegance and laborious accuracy that distinguished each particular figure, +the 'Defeat of the Giants and the Taking of Troy.' In the interior ranged +twenty-four antæ, or square pillars, of fifty feet in height; on the top +of each was a sculptured giant twenty-seven feet in height, which with his +hands clasped over his head supported the lofty roof. One can scarcely +conceive any thing more noble and majestic than this wonderful edifice, in +comparison with which, though covering much more ground, St. Peter's in +Rome is a splendid gew-gaw. But what remains of this great temple? A wide +heap of ruin; the interior of which, the columns and walls having fallen +outward, is a flowery field, in which lie some fragments of those huge +giants that once supported the roof. One of these is tolerably entire: the +curls of his hair form a sort of garland: it lies with its face upward, +and when I stood by it, my own head scarcely reached as high as the brow +of the statue. It is composed of several pieces of stone, as are the +columns of this temple, and most of the others of Agrigentum. On every +side of this elevated field lie the walls, entablatures, and columns in +enormous fragments: the capitals of the columns look like huge rocks that +have been hurled there by some violent convulsion of nature. + +A short distance from this temple are the ruins of the Temple of Venus, +and another of Castor and Pollux, of which two of the columns and part of +the entablature are entire, and the thin coat of cement or stucco which +covered them is in some parts as perfect as ever. The stone of which the +temples were constructed is of a very porous nature, a sort of tufa, full +of sea-shells, and when seen in the sunlight, of a golden hue; but they +were all covered with stucco, which, judging from what remains, was nearly +as hard as porcelain, and gave a beautiful and finished appearance to the +otherwise rude material. Of the other remains in Agrigentum, the limits of +this article will not allow me to speak. But the reader would ask, how +came these temples in such a state of ruin? On this subject there has been +some dispute; but their destruction may most reasonably be attributed to a +mightier agency than man's. Earthquake has shattered these gorgeous +temples; the time _when_ is not recorded. I am inclined to believe that +they were destroyed, as well as those of Selinus, by the dreadful +earthquakes that shook Italy and Sicily in the dark age of Valens and +Valentinian, three hundred and sixty-five years after CHRIST. + +Let us now proceed to Syracuse, once the capital of Sicily, and the +birth-place of the great Archimedes. It was founded by Archias, one of the +Heraclidæ, more than seven hundred years before the Christian era, and +according to some authors contained within its walls at one time, one +million two hundred thousand inhabitants; could maintain an army of one +hundred thousand foot, ten thousand horse, with a navy of five hundred +armed vessels. Little now remains of a place once so populous and so +powerful, save the shrunken modern city of Syracusa, containing about nine +thousand inhabitants, and a few almost unintelligible ruins scattered +among vineyards, olive-groves, and fields of corn, or over the high wastes +of the barren Epipole, on the summit of which the curious will find ruined +walls and fortresses of massive and beautiful masonry. From these the eye +commands the whole site of the ancient city. _There_ lies, at the distance +of three miles, the small island of Ortygia, on which is the modern town; +on its right is the narrow entrance from the sea, which lies beyond, to +the greater harbor, that appears like a beautiful lake, and is about two +miles long and one and a half broad. On the left of the island of Ortygia +is all that remains of the lesser port of Syracuse. On this side the +island is connected with the main land by means of a draw-bridge. In +Ortygia is the famous fountain of Arethusa: the spring is yet clear and +copious; but the only nymphs I was fortunate enough to see were engaged in +the necessary vocation of cleansing the soiled linen of Syracusa. The +remains of a beautiful temple of Minerva form a part of the cathedral +church. Near the small river Anapus are two columns, the remnants of a +temple of Jupiter, which once contained a statue of that god, wearing a +robe of gold; but Dionysius the tyrant stripped it off, saying 'it was too +cold for winter and too hot for summer.' Among the seats of a noble +theatre now stands a mill, that is supplied with water diverted from an +ancient aqueduct close by: a strange metamorphosis indeed! This aqueduct +conveys the water thirty miles. It may have been of Greek construction +originally, but that part of it which I have seen is evidently Saracenic. +The rocky site of Syracuse is in many parts perforated with tombs; the +roads are literally honey-combed with them. There is a street excavated in +the limestone rock which on either side is full of cells, and it may +indeed be said of Syracuse that it is a great burying-ground. The oranges, +vines, and figs of Syracuse are still flourishing, and the earth yet +yields its hundred fold; but its glory is departed, and the traveller +looks in vain for satisfactory vestiges of that mighty city. + +There are many other interesting remains of antiquity in Sicily, but I +must hasten to a conclusion. I trust the reader will have found the +subject of this article interesting, although treated briefly and +imperfectly. The traveller is unworthy of his privilege, and forgetful of +duty if he extracts not from the scenes described some moral lesson or +religious truth. The reader has accompanied me in imagination through +classic Sicily. He has seen the lonely temple of Segeste, standing among +the mountains like a widowed thing, mourning in silence the departed. +Where is the multitude that once thronged around its walls? Mount Erix +still battles with the clouds, as in the days of Agathocles. He has +clambered with me among the prostrate columns of Selinunte: _once_, from +beneath those massive porticoes, the Selinuntine, in the pride of his +heart, looked upon the crowded port and distant mountains as we look on +the Hudson, with its white sails and swift steamers, and the neighboring +hills. Where and what are they? The distant mountains stand, but the great +works which he erected to be a living honor to his name and country, are +perished forever. He has lingered with me among the ruins of the splendid +Agrigentum. Its numerous temples are dilapidated, or crumbling on the +earth; its walls, once its vaunted strength, are strewed in shattered +fragments on the steeps around. The dust of its multitudes serves to +fertilize the soil of its ancient site! But the stream still flows which +gave its name to the city, and the hills around yet produce the oil, the +wine, and the grain. We have sojourned for a time among the melancholy +vestiges of Syracuse; the scene of battles far more bloody than this land +has ever known. The army which the Athenians, inflated with pride and +presumption, sent against Syracuse, was here defeated. In yonder +land-locked bay the Athenian fleet, the mightiest that republic had ever +sent forth, and which they believed _invincible_, was destroyed. And the +Roman orator has eloquently said, that not only the navy of Athens, but +the glory and the empire of that republic, suffered shipwreck in the fatal +harbor of Syracuse. It was there the wonderful mechanical skill of +Archimedes was displayed against the Roman fleet, and those quiet waters +have been strewed with the dying and the dead. From this deserted citadel, +called of 'Labdalus,' the eye embraces the whole site of the once populous +Syracuse; and what does it behold? On the distant island of Ortygia, an +insignificant town, with a few small craft at anchor in the bay; nearer, a +desert of rocky hills, a goat-herd, and a few straggling goats. Turning +away from the melancholy scene, we behold afar off the snow-clad Ætna. +What a contrast is this to what we have just reviewed in the mind's eye! +_That_ is the work of God! Since its huge pyramid arose, nation after +nation has possessed its fertile slopes. The Siculi have labored on its +sides; the Greek, the Carthaginian and the Roman; the Norman and the +Saracen have struggled for mastery at its foot; but the roar of the battle +is past; the chariot and the charioteer are mingled in the dust. Yet yon +earth-born giant, fed by continual fires, each century augments, and in +all probability will continue to do so until + + 'The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, + The solemn temples, yea the great globe itself + Shall dissolve, and like the baseless fabric + Of a vision, leave not a wreck behind!' + +May we not in these things read deep lessons applicable to ourselves? The +history of the people whose noble works I have endeavored to describe, +should in the first place teach us how noble a thing it is to construct +works of beauty and utility, not only for our own gratification, but for +the benefit of posterity also. The selfish and unreflecting, even the +modern utilitarian, will perhaps laugh at the thought, and say: 'What +folly to undertake such labors for the benefit of posterity! We will labor +for ourselves.' I would ask such persons, what would have been our state +if the ancients had entertained such grovelling notions? Do they not know +that most of the elegant as well as the useful, is the rich bequest of +these ancients whom they affect to despise? There is not in the whole city +of New-York a house, however lowly, but in some part of it I could point +out a moulding or an ornament that comes from the ancients. But there are +other points of view perhaps of higher consequence. Their temples were +erected to the gods; mistaken as they were in their religious notions, we +Christians may be put to shame by the devotion of the pagan. Not to man +were their temples erected. Man enjoyed their beauty; gazed with +admiration on their exquisite forms, and lingered under their shady +porticoes; but the eye of the god to whom each temple was dedicated was +supposed to be on the work, and the aim of the builders was perfection in +every part; and even that which the eye of the multitude never rested on, +was finished with elaborate care. I would ask, is there such a lofty +feeling among us? Are we willing to expend toil and cost on that which +will never gratify our senses? You will answer no. Is not this then a +lesson to us? Another view of the matter: These works of art were the +objects of veneration and love; city vied with city in their construction; +it was a noble emulation--think you not _nobler_ than the competition for +sordid gold? The citizen gazed with pride upon the marble triumphs of his +native place; he loved it more than ever, and felt his patriotism kindle +as he gazed. + +Let us not think that rail-roads and canals are the only works worthy of +modern civilization. If we look to intents, (and what ought we to look +at?) I doubt much but the ancients rose superior to us. We are in the +enjoyment of many advantages of which they knew nothing. The +wonder-working press was unknown to them; and above all, the beautiful +light of Christianity had not been shed on the world. We have the broad +day; they wrought in the twilight gloom. What majestic monuments of art! +what enduring legacies of beauty! what objects to make a man love his +country more and more, could have been erected with the means expended a +few years ago in reckless speculations! Instead of turning with melancholy +loathing to those broken bubbles on which the hopes and fortunes of many +of us were suspended, we could at least look with admiration on the marble +pile, and exclaim, 'I also can be proud of the genius and taste of my +country!' Another lesson we may learn from the fate of ancient states: it +is to beware of presumptuous pride and overweening conceit: these are the +result of inconsiderate ignorance. It was through presumptuous pride that +Athens fell, as I have before intimated. We have reason to fear there are +many, some unconscious of the injury they do, and perhaps with just +intentions, who feed this appetite for undue praise. Others, for mere +popularity or the applause of the day, minister with adroitness the sweet +though poisonous morsel for which our vanity and self-love are +open-mouthed; which (to carry on the simile,) puffs us up with the +comfortable notion that we are superior in every respect to all other +nations, ancient or modern. It would be well to turn a deaf ear to this +syren's song: let us learn if possible to _know_ ourselves; let us +remember that there is no perfection, either in men or their institutions; +and by avoiding a vain and presumptuous spirit, and scanning with a +careful eye the causes of the greatness which under Providence we possess, +we shall be most likely to approach the perfection which we all desire. We +can have little doubt that the Agrigentine considered the institutions of +his country as perfect as we do ours; and the citizens of greater states, +Athens, even Rome itself, indulged in the same pleasing thought. Our only +means of judging of the future is the past. We see that nations have +sprung from obscurity, risen to glory, and decayed. Their rise has in +general been marked by virtue; their decadence by vice, vanity, and +licentiousness. Let us beware! + +I would not have the reader censure me for commencing this article as a +traveller and ending it with an attempt to moralize. In reviewing in my +mind the interesting scenes I have endeavored to describe, I have been led +back to the thoughts that arose when I trode among the ruins of prostrate +temples, and they were _connected_ in my mind; and I will venture again to +say, that he is unworthy of the privilege of travelling who gleans not +from the fields he visits some moral lesson or religious truth. + + T. C. + + + + +STANZAS. + +WRITTEN AT BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS. BY REV. WILLIAM B. TAPPAN. + + + I. + + In Beverly, the building I sought the other day, + Where forty years ago my sire his infant gave away; + I sought it, for I coveted where he had placed his foot, + My honored, sainted father! mine in filial love to put. + + + II. + + I entered it: most holy appeared the house of prayer; + Yet more than common holiness its beauty seemed to wear; + For there the waters bathed me, and solemn words were said, + And Father, Son, and Paraclete invoked above my head. + + + III. + + Of all the congregation who looked in reverence on, + The elders and the blooming youth, each worshipper was gone; + And he, with hairs of winter, whose office 'twas to lave + My baby brow, and name my name, was hidden in the grave! + + + IV. + + What years have passed of sorrow, that hour and this between! + What moments of enjoyment in that interval I've seen! + I wept that I had measured the half of being's track; + I smiled that worlds were poor to bribe the weary pilgrim back. + + + V. + + I sighed that in the journey where blessings are so few + For even the most favored, I but scanty portion knew; + And chiefly in the season of confidence and pride, + My youth was forced the dangerous way, without my earthly guide. + + + VI. + + Where is my sainted father, who took me in his arms, + And held me to the minister, and kissed away alarms? + I feel his presence near me! he blesses me once more! + Ay, where he gave me up to GOD, just forty years before! + + + + +THE QUOD CORRESPONDENCE. + +Harry Harson. + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +It was not the failure of his plans, nor the dread of detection, which +broke Rust down. He had been prepared for that, and had nerved himself to +meet it; but it was a blow coming from a quarter where he had not dreamed +of harm, and wounding him where alone he could feel a pang, that crushed +him. There was something so abject in the prostration of that iron-willed +man, who had often endured what would have wrung the very souls of other +men, without exhibiting any other feeling than contempt, that for a moment +awed even the hard man who had struck the blow. In proportion as Rust's +control over his emotions had been great, so now the reäction was +terrible. He seemed paralyzed in body and mind. No cry escaped him, but +his breath rattled as he drew it; his long hair hung loosely over his +face, and upon the floor; his eyes were closed; his features livid and +distorted; and but for his struggling breath, and the spasmodic jerking of +his fingers, he seemed dead. + +'Lift him up, Bill,' said Grosket, in a subdued tone. 'It's been too much +for him. Who'd have thought he had a heart?' + +Jones smiled grimly, as he said: 'I'm glad you did it, Mr. Grosket. It was +better than murdering him. He wasn't afeard of dying. Is it a fit he's +got?' + +Without waiting for a reply, he placed his arms under him and raised him +up. Rust lay heavily against him, his head falling back, and his arms +dangling at his side. They carried him to the bench, and placed him on it, +Grosket standing behind him, and supporting his back. + +'I guess he's done for,' said Jones, pushing the hair from his face; 'pity +it wasn't three days ago--that's all.' + +'Get some water, or brandy,' said Grosket; 'I suppose we may as well bring +him to. It would be an ugly business if he should die on our hands.' + +Jones stooped down, and picking up his great coat, commenced fumbling in +its pocket, and drew out the bottle from which he and Craig had drank, as +they were starting on their expedition on the previous night. He held it +up and looked at it, then muttered: 'It's no use; it's no use.' + +'What are you talking about, there?' demanded Grosket, impatiently: 'is it +empty?' + +Jones shook it. + +'No; there's a drop or two in it. D--n him! I don't like his drinking out +of this bottle, I don't; I use it myself; and blow me, if I don't think +his mouth 'ud p'ison it.' + +Grosket cut his scruples short by taking the bottle from him, uncorking +it, and pouring its contents in Rust's mouth. + +'It's a waste,' muttered Jones, eyeing his proceedings with a very +dissatisfied look. 'I begrudged it to poor Tim; and cuss _him_, it's going +down _his_ gullet! I hope it'll choke him.' + +Grosket paid no attention to him, but supported Rust, occasionally shaking +him by way of stirring up his ideas. Either the liquor or the shakings had +an effect; for the deadly paleness gradually disappeared from Rust's face; +his breath grew less short and gasping; and finally he sat up, and looked +about him. His eye was wandering and vacant, and sad and heart-broken +indeed was his tone. + +'My own dear child!' said he, in a voice so mild and winning, and so +teeming with fondness, that none would have recognized it as Rust's. 'I've +had a strange dream, my poor little Mary, about you, whom I have garnered +up in my heart of hearts.' + +His voice sank until his words were unintelligible, and then he laughed +feebly, and passed his hand backward and forward in the air, as if +caressing the head of a child. 'Your eyes are very bright, my little girl, +but they beam with happiness; and so they shall, always. So they shall--so +they shall. Kiss me, my own darling!' He extended his arms, and drew them +toward him, as if they enfolded the child, and then bending down his +cheek, rocked to and fro, and sang a song, such as is used in lulling an +infant to sleep. + +'My God! He's clean gone mad!' said Jones, staring at him with starting +eyes. 'Dished and done up in ten minutes! That's what I call going to +Bedlam by express.' + +Although Grosket uttered not a word of comment, his keen gray eye, bright +as a diamond; his puckered brows; his compressed lips, and his hands +tightly clasped together, showed that he viewed his work with emotions of +the most powerful kind. At length he said, in low tone, as if communing +with himself rather than addressing the only person who seemed capable of +hearing him: 'If he goes mad he'll spoil my scheme. He'll not reap the +whole harvest that I have sown for him. He must live; ay, and in his sane +mind, to feel its full bitterness. I, _I_ have lived,' said he, striking +his breast; '_I_ have borne up against the same curse that now is on him. +_I_ have had the same feeling gnawing at my heart, giving me no rest, no +peace. _He_ must suffer. He _must_ not take refuge from himself in +madness. He _shall_ not,' said he, savagely. 'Ha! ha! who would have +thought that the flint which the old fellow calls his heart had feeling in +it?' + +Whether these remarks reached Rust's ear, or whether it was that his mind, +after the first shock of the intelligence was over, was beginning to +rally, is a matter of doubt; but from some cause or other, he suddenly +discontinued his singing, passed his hand across his forehead, held his +long hair back from his face, and stared about him; his eye wandering from +Grosket to Jones, and around the room, and then resting on the floor. He +sat for some time looking steadfastly down, his face gradually regaining +its stern, unbending character; his thin lips compressing themselves, +until his mouth had assumed its usual expression of bitterness, mingled +with resolution. + +The two men watched, without speaking, the progress of this metamorphosis. +At last he rose, and turning to Grosket, said in a calm voice: + +'You've done your worst; yet you see Michael Rust can bear it;' and then +bowing to him, he said: 'Good bye, Enoch. Whatever may have happened to +_my_ child, _I_ am blameless. _I_ never sold her happiness to gratify my +avarice. If she has become what Enoch's child was, the sin does not lie at +_my_ door. I don't know how it is with _you_.' + +Turning to Jones, he said, in the same quiet tone: 'Murderer of your +bosom-friend, good bye.' The door closed, and he was gone. + +A bitter execration from the two men followed him. From Jones, it burst +forth in unbridled fury, and he sprang forward to avenge the taunt, but +was withheld by Grosket, who grasped his arm, then as suddenly +relinquished his hold, and said: + +'Quick! quick! Jones. Drag him back! It concerns your safety and my plans +to get him back.' + +The man dashed to the door and down the stairs. In a moment he reäppeared: + +'It's too late. He's in the street.' + +'Curse it! that was a blunder! We should have searched him. He carries all +his papers with him.' + +But almost at the same moment he seemed to overcome his vexation, for he +said: 'Well, it can't be helped, so there's no use in grumbling about it. +And now, Bill Jones,' said he, turning to the other, 'you know what you've +done, and who set you on. So do I. He's worse than you are. If you were +him, I'd arrest you on the spot. As it is, I say you had better make +yourself scarce. Your neck is in danger, for although the death of Tim, if +the rumor is true, was accidental----' + +'It was, it _was_, Mr. Grosket,' interrupted Jones. 'D--n it, if it was +Rust, if it was only _him_, I wouldn't mind it. I'd die myself, to see +_him_ swing.' + +'Well, hear me,' continued Grosket. 'You were committing a felony when you +killed Craig, and his death, although accidental, is murder. I'm no +lawyer, but I know _that_. You must run for it.' + +'I'd cuss all danger,' said Jones, gnawing his lip, 'if I could only lug +Rust in it too.' + +'Well, well,' returned Grosket, 'you must take your own course; but +remember I've warned you. You have some good traits about you, Bill, and +that's more than Rust has. Good bye!' He extended his hand to the burglar. +Jones grasped it eagerly. + +'Thank you! thank you, Mr. Grosket,' said he, the tears starting to his +eyes. 'If you only knew how I was brought up, how I suffered, what has +made me what I am, you wouldn't think so hard of me as some do. But there +is blood on me, now; that's worse than all. I'll never get over _that_. I +might, if it wasn't Tim's. Good bye, God bless ye, Mr. Grosket! My +blessing won't do you much good, but it can't hurt you.' + +Grosket shook his hand, and left the room; and the desperate man, whom he +left melted by a transient word of kindness, which had found its way to +his rugged heart, buried his face in his hands, and wept. + +Once in the street, Rust endeavored to bear up against his fortune. But he +could not. His mind was confused, and all his thoughts were strange, +fantastic and shadowy. He paused; dashed his hand impatiently against his +forehead, and endeavored to shake off the spell. No, no! it would not +leave him. Failure in his schemes! dishonor in his child! He could think +of them, and of _them_ only. Once on this theme, his mind became more +bewildered than ever; and yielding himself to its impulses, he fell into a +slow pace, and sauntered on, with his chin bent down on his breast. + +From the thickly-settled parts of the town he went on, until he came to +streets where the bustle and crowd were less; then to others, which were +nearly deserted; then on he went, until he reached a quarter where the +houses stood far apart, with vacant lots between them. Still he kept on. +Then came fields, and cottages, and farm-houses, surrounded by tall trees. +Still on he went, still wading through a mass of chaotic fancies, +springing up, and reeling and flitting through his mind; shadows of things +that had been, and might be; ghosts of the past; prophets of the future. +He had become a very child. At last he stood on the bank of the river; and +then for the first time he seemed to awaken from his trance. + +It was a glorious day, whose sunshine might have found its way even into +his black heart. Oh! how soft, and mellow, and pure, the hurricane of the +last night had left it! Not a cloud in the sky, not a breath to ripple the +water, or to wave the long trailing locks of the hoary willows, which +nodded over its banks. + +Rust looked about him, with a bewildered gaze, until his eye became fixed +upon the water. 'It's very quiet, _very_ quiet,' said he; 'I wonder if a +man, once engulfed in it, feels peace.' He pressed his hand to his breast, +and muttered: '_Here_ it is gone forever!' + +He loitered listlessly on, under the trees. His step was feeble; and he +stooped and tottered, as if decrepid. He stopped again, shook his head, +and went on, looking upon the ground, and at times long and wistfully at +the river. + +An old man, leaning on a stout cane, who had been watching him, at last +came up. Raising his hat, as he did so, he said: + +'You seem, like myself, to be an admirer of this noble river?' + +Rust looked up at him sharply, ready to gather in his energies, if +necessary. But there was nothing in the mild, dignified face of the +speaker to invite suspicion, and he replied in a feeble tone: + +'Yes, yes; it is a noble river.' + +'I've seen many, in my long life,' said the other, 'and have never met its +equal.' + +Rust paused, as if he did not hear him, and then continued in a musing +tone: + +'How smooth it is! how calm! Many have found peace there, who never found +it in life. Drowning's an easy death, I'm told.' + +The stranger replied gravely, and even sternly: + +'They have escaped the troubles of life, and plunged into those of +eternity;' and then, as if willing to give Rust an opportunity of +explaining away the singular character of the remark, he said: 'I hope +_you_ do not meditate suicide?' + +'No,' replied Rust, quietly, 'not at present; but I've often thought that +many a wrecked spirit will find _there_ what it never found on +earth--peace.' + +'The body may,' returned the other, 'but not the soul.' + +Rust smiled doubtfully, and walked off. The man watched, and even followed +him; but seeing him turn from the river, he took another direction, +occasionally pausing to look back. Not so Rust. From the time he had +parted with the stranger, he had forgotten him, and his thoughts wandered +back to their old theme. It was strange that he should believe so +implicitly Grosket's tale, coming as it did from one whom he knew hated +him. Yet he _did_ believe it. There was proof of its truth in Grosket's +manner; in his look; in his tone of assured triumph. Yet although Rust +brooded over nothing else that livelong day, he could not realize it; he +could not appreciate how desolate and lonely he was. He could only fancy +how life would be, if what Grosket had told him _had_ happened. 'This is +not all a dream, I suppose,' muttered he, pausing as he went, and passing +his hand across his forehead. 'No, no; I'm awake--wide awake; and _I_ am +Michael Rust; that's more strange than all.' + +After hours of wandering, he found himself at his office. He ascended the +stairs, opened the door, and went in. It was dark, for the lights had been +twinkling in the shop-windows before he left the street; but he sat down +without observing it; and there he remained until Kornicker came in with a +light. + +Rust made no reply to the salutation which he received. Kornicker placed +the light on the table; and after loitering round the room, and busying +himself with a few papers which he had arranged on the table, to give it a +business-like appearance, he asked: + +'Do you want me any more, to-night?' + +'No; you may go.' + +The dismissal and departure of Mr. Kornicker were almost simultaneous. His +heavy foot went thumping from step to step, and finally the street-door +banged after him. Rust sat without moving, listening to every tramp of his +heavy foot, until the door shut it out. + +'So, he's gone,' said he, drawing a long breath, and cuddling himself up +on his chair. 'He'll be in my way no more to-night.' + +He shivered slightly; and then got up and drew his chair nearer the grate, +although there was no fire in it. 'And _this_ is then the end of my +scheme,' muttered he; 'I have gone on for years in the same beaten track, +fighting off all who could interfere with me. The affection of those who +would have loved me; friends, relatives, those nearest to me, with the +same blood in our veins, nursed in the same arms, who drew life from the +same source; this cold heart has repulsed, until they have all abandoned +me!' + +He leaned his head on his hands, and tears, scalding tears, gushed from +his eyes. 'I did it for _her_. It was to get gold to lavish on _her_. I +would have chained myself for life to that old man's daughter, to get +wealth; I would have added the murder of those children to the catalogue +of my crimes, that I might have grasped their inheritance, to have +showered all that I had gathered by toil and crime upon _her_. She was my +hope, my pride, my own dear darling child; but she is shipwrecked now; she +has withered my heart. I would have shed its last blood for her. I +would--I _would_; indeed I would! But it's useless to think of it. She can +never be what she was; the bright, pure-souled, spotless child whom I +worshipped. Yes, yes; I _did_ worship her; Why deny it? Better, far +better, she had died, for then I might still have cherished her memory. +It's too late. She's become a castaway now.' + +He paused. From a state of deep and querulous despondency, he gradually +recovered composure; then his mood grew sterner and sterner; until his +compressed lips and flashing eye showed that he had passed from one +extreme to the other. + +'Is there nothing left to live for?' exclaimed he; '_nothing_ left? One +thing can yet be done. I must ascertain her disgrace beyond a doubt. Then +atonement can and shall be made, or _he_ had better never have been born!' + +Rust stood up, with an expression of bold, honest indignation, such as he +had rarely worn, stamped on every feature. '_This_ must be accomplished,' +said he. 'Everything else must be abandoned: _this_ done, let me die; for +I cannot love her as I did, and I might hate her: Better die!' + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-THIRD. + +Richard Holmes, Esq. was sitting in his office, two days after the events +narrated in the last chapter, with his nose within a few inches of a +law-book which rested on his knees, when he was aroused by the opening of +the door, and the entrance of a man. Holmes was so much out of the world, +and out of the current of business, that he did what a practitioner at the +bar of his age and standing rarely does; that is, he looked up without +waiting till he was addressed. + +'Ah, Harson?--it's you, is it?' said he, laying aside his book, but +without rising. + +Harry walked up, shook hands with him, and seated himself. + +'We've been hard at work, and have made some progress,' said he, taking +off his hat, and placing it on the table. 'We've got the woman.' + +'What woman?' + +'Blossom,' replied Harson; 'I've brought her here to answer for herself. +She was in Rust's employ, and received the children from him. She's +below.' + +'What news of the boy?' inquired Holmes. + +'Grosket is after him. He knows where he is. Would you like to see the +woman?' + +'It would be as well,' said Holmes, drumming on the table. 'We'll hear +what she has to say. Does she communicate what she knows willingly or +under compulsion?' + +'She's not very talkative;' answered Harson, 'and seems terribly afraid of +Rust.' + +'I think we can squeeze the truth out of her,' replied Holmes. 'Bring her +up.' + +Harson went out, and in a few minutes reäppeared with Mrs. Blossom at his +heels. The lawyer pointed to a chair, into which the lady sank, apparently +in a state of great exhaustion and agitation; for she moaned and rocked to +and fro, and wrung her hands. + +'Your name's Blossom, I think,' said Holmes, evincing no sympathy whatever +with her sufferings. + +'Ah's me! ah's me! I'm very old! I'm very old!' exclaimed the lady, +moaning from the very bottom of her lungs, but without making any reply to +the question. + +'Hark ye,' said Holmes, in a stern tone, 'I have not sent for you, to +listen to your moaning, nor to be trifled with in any other way. You have +come here to disclose the deeds of a scoundrel; and disclose them you +_must_. You shall answer all my questions, truly, honestly, and without +equivocation, or it will be the worse for you. I am aware of offences +committed by you, which, if punished as they merit, would send you to +prison. I tell you this, that you may know exactly how we stand with +reference to each other. If you wish to serve yourself, you will find true +and prompt replies to whatever I ask. What's your name?' + +Mrs. Blossom oscillated in her chair, glanced at the wall, replied +'Blossom,' and buried her face in a rag of a shawl. + +'Good! Where do you live?' demanded the lawyer. The woman answered, and +Holmes wrote it down. + +'Do you know a man by the name of Michael Rust?' + +Mrs. Blossom's chair became very uneasy, and she was seized with a violent +cough. The lawyer waited until her cough was better, and repeated the +question, accompanying it by a look which produced an answer in the +affirmative. + +'What other name did you ever know him to bear?' + +Mrs. Blossom suddenly found her voice, and replied boldly: 'No other;' and +here she spoke the truth; for Rust had trusted her no farther than was +absolutely necessary. + +'How long have you known him?' + +Mrs. Blossom again lost her voice, but found it instantly on meeting the +eye of Holmes; and she answered bluntly, 'About four years.' + +'What led to your acquaintance?' + +The woman cast a shrewd suspicious glance at him, as if calculating how +far she might trifle with impunity; but there was something in his manner +that was not encouraging, and she replied, 'that she could not remember.' + +Holmes laid down his pen, and pushing back his chair so that he faced her, +said in a quiet but very decided manner: + +'Mrs. Blossom, you have been brought here for the purpose of giving us +such information as will enable us to do justice to a person who has been +greatly injured by this man Rust. I mention this, not because I suppose +the motive will have any great weight with you, but to let you see that +the object of our investigation is nothing against yourself. Your answers +are important to us; for at present we know no other than yourself, of +whom we can obtain the information we require. I do not conceal this, nor +will I conceal the fact that unless you _do_ answer me, you shall leave +this room for a prison. I told you so before; I repeat it now; I will +_not_ repeat it a third time. I already know enough of the matter on which +I am interrogating you, to be able to detect falsehood in your answers.' + +There was something either in the words of the lawyer or in the formation +of her chair that caused Mrs. Blossom to move very uneasily; and at the +same time to cast a glance behind her, as if there existed a strong +connection between her thoughts and the door. She was however used to +trying circumstances, and did not lose her presence of mind. She made no +reply, but sat with every faculty, which long training had sharpened to a +high degree of cunning, on the alert; but she was not a little taken by +surprise when Holmes, after taking from the table a packet of papers, +selected one, and having spent a few minutes in examining it, said to her: + +'To convince you that we are perfectly acquainted with the nature of your +dealings with Rust, I will enter into a few details, which may perhaps +enable you to recollect something more. Four years since, on the sixteenth +of December, a man by the name of Blossom, with whom you lived, and whose +name you bear, although you are not his wife, proposed to you to take +charge of two children, a boy and girl. At first you refused, but finally +agreed to do it on receiving five hundred dollars, and the assurance that +no inquiry would be made as to the treatment they received at your hands, +and that whether they lived or died was a matter of indifference to the +person who placed them in your charge, and would not be too closely +investigated. The children came. They were quite young. You had them for a +week, and were then informed that they must go, for a time, to the +country. You asked no questions, but gave them up, and they were sent +away, the money for their support being furnished by the same hand that +threw them upon your mercy. In a year or so they were brought back, and +were again entrusted to you, with instructions to break them down, and if +possible to send them to their graves; but if their bodies were proof +against cruelty, _then_ so to pollute their very souls, and familiarize +them with crime, that they should forget what they had been; and that even +those who should have loved them best would blush to see what they were. +You began your work well, for you had a stern, savage master over +you--Michael Rust. Thus much,' said he, 'I know; but I must know more. You +must identify the children as the same first delivered to you by Rust. You +must disclose the names of the persons with whom they lived in the +country. You must also give me such information as will enable us to +fasten this crime on Rust. Another person could have proved all this--the +man Blossom; but you know he is dead.' + +He paused, for Mrs. Blossom's face grew deadly pale as he spoke. It was +momentary, however; and might have passed away entirely, had not a strange +suspicion fastened itself on his mind. He added in a slow tone: 'What +ailed him, _you_ know best.' + +Mrs. Blossom's thin lips grew perfectly white; and moved as if she were +attempting to speak. + +'Will you give me the information I require? or will you accept the +alternative?' said Holmes, still keeping his eye upon her. + +'Go on; what do you want?' demanded she, in a quick husky voice. + +'You are acquainted with Michael Rust?' + +'I am,' replied she, in the same quick, nervous manner. + +'How did you first become acquainted with him?' + +'You know all that,' was the abrupt reply. 'Why should I go over it again? +It's all true, as you said it.' + +Holmes paused to make a note of it, and then asked: + +'What is the name of the person, in the country, who took charge of the +children?' + +'I don't know,' replied the woman. 'Michael Rust sent a man for them, who +took them off.' + +'Who was this man?' + +'I don't know; I never saw him. Mr. Blossom gave the children to him, and +never told me his name.' + +'Good,' said Holmes, in his short, abrupt manner: 'Where are these +children now?' + +'One's at _his_ house,' replied she, pointing to Harson. 'The other, by +this time, is with a man named Grosket. He's been arter him, and I suppose +has got him by this time.' + +'Enoch Grosket?' inquired Holmes. + +The woman nodded. 'I told him where he'd find him. He went straight off to +fetch him.' + +'Will you swear that they are the same children brought to you four years +since?' said Holmes, pausing in his writing, and running his eye over the +notes which he had made. 'Do you know them to be the same?' + +'The man said so, who brought 'em back at the end of the year. That's all +I know about it. They never left me arter that.' + +'Who was that man?' + +'Tim Craig,' replied the woman. + +'And he's dead. The only person who could reveal their place of +concealment during that year, and the name of those who had the care of +them. The chain is broken, by which to identify them as the lost children +of George Colton. Who can aid us in this?' + +'I CAN!' said a voice. + +All three started, for there, at their very elbow, stood Michael Rust; but +Rust, fearfully altered, worn down, wan, haggard, with sunken cheeks, and +features rigid and colorless, as if cut from wax, and with an eye of fire. +But wrecked as he was, there was still that strange sneering smile on his +lip, which seemed as if only parting to utter sarcasm and mockery. But now +he was serious in his mood, for he repeated: + +'I can, and without my aid the secret must be hid forever.' + +Holmes rose, angrily, from his seat. + +'What brought _you_ here?' demanded he. + +'Be seated, I beg of you,' said Rust, bowing, and speaking in a low, +mocking tone. 'What brought me here? _You_ called upon _me_, I think; it +was but civil to return the visit. I have come to do so.' + +'This is idle, Sir,' replied Holmes, coldly. 'You came for some purpose. +Name it. The sooner this interview is over, the more agreeable I suppose +it will be for both of us.' + +'For me, certainly,' said Rust, in a manner so constrained and different +from his usual one, that the lawyer was in doubt whether he was in jest or +earnest. Then he added, in a bitter tone: 'You ask what brought me here. +Destiny, folly, revenge perhaps against my own heart's blood. Call it what +you will; here I am; and ready to assist in the very matter which now +perplexes you. What more do you want?' + +Holmes replied with a sarcastic smile: 'The assistance of Michael Rust is +likely to be as great as his sincerity. We certainly should place great +reliance on it.' + +Rust, perfectly unmoved by the taunt, answered in a tone so bitter, so +full of hatred to himself, so replete with the outpouring of a cankered +heart, so despairing and reckless, that the lawyer felt that even in him +there might be some truth: + +'I care not whether you trust me or not; I care not whether you believe me +or not. If Michael Rust could ever have been swayed by the opinions of +others, it would have been before this; it's too late to begin now. I came +here because I have failed in all I undertook; because I am beginning to +hate the one for whom I have toiled, until I grew gray with the wearing +away of mind and body; because the soul of life is gone. I do it out of +revenge against that person. There is no remorse; no conscience; but it's +revenge. Look at me; that person has blasted me. Do I not show it in every +feature and limb? Now you understand me. My schemes are abandoned; and I +shall soon be where neither man nor law can reach me. My secret can do me +no good; why should I keep it? Perhaps the recollection of past days and +of past favors from one whom I have wronged, may have had its weight; +perhaps not. I've come to tell the truth. If you will hear it, well; if +not, I go, and it goes with me.' + +Holmes and Harson exchanged looks, and Harson nodded, as if in +acquiescence to some proposition which he supposed the looks of the other +to indicate. + +'Well, Sir,' replied Holmes, 'we will hear what you have to say.' + +'Stop,' said Rust; 'before uttering a word, I must have a promise.' + +The lawyer looked at him, and then at Harson, as much as to say: 'I +expected it. There's some trick in it.' + +Rust observed it, and said: 'Spare your suspicions; I have come here to be +frank and honest in word and deed; and Michael Rust can be so, when the +fancy seizes him. The promise I require is this; whatever I may reveal, no +matter what the penalty, you will not set the blood-hounds of the law on +my track within forty-eight hours. I have yet one act to perform in the +great farce of life. _That_ accomplished, you may do your worst.' + +'This is all very strange,' said Holmes, eyeing the thin, excited features +of his visitor, as if not altogether sure of his sanity; 'if you fear the +punishment of your misdeeds, why reveal them? Why place yourself in our +power, or run the risk of our interfering with your future movements?' + +Rust replied bitterly: 'You shall hear. My whole life has been spent for +one person, my own child. Every faculty of mind and body has been devoted +to her, and every crime I have committed was for her. Scruples were +disregarded; ties of blood set at defiance; every thing that binds man to +man, that deters from wrong, were disregarded, if they stood in the way of +that one grand aim of life. _She_ forgot all! She has broken me down, +heart and spirit. Love and devotion were crushed with them, and revenge +has sprung up from their ruins. Ay! revenge against my own child! Should +any thing prevent my doing what I have yet to do, and should my brother +die, and his children not be found, _she_ would be his heir. _I_ would +have labored and _succeeded_, for one who has disgraced me, and made me +what you see me!' + +He stretched out his thin hands, displaying the large veins, coursing +beneath the skin, and apparently full to bursting. 'How wasted they are!' +He smiled as he looked at them, and then asked: 'Will you promise?' + +The lawyer turned to Harson, and then said: 'I promise; do you, Harson?' +Harry nodded. + +'Good!' said Rust, abruptly. 'You know my name, and much of my history. +All the facts which you detailed to me at my office a short time since are +true--true almost to the very letter. Michael Rust and Henry Colton are +one. The plodding, scheming, heartless, unprincipled Henry Colton, who +could sell his brother's own flesh and blood for gold; who could forget +all the kindnesses heaped upon him, and stab his benefactor, and this +wreck of Michael Rust, are one!' + +He struck his hand against his chest, and strode up and down the room, +biting his lips. '_He_ was rich, and _I_ was poor: he gave me the means of +living, but I wanted more. I had my eye on his entire wealth, and I wanted +him to be in his grave. But he thwarted me in that. Feeble and sickly, so +that a breath might have destroyed him, he lived on, and at last, as if to +balk me farther, he married. Two children were born; two more obstacles +between me and my aim. Two children!--two more of the same blood for me to +love. Ho! ho! how Michael Rust loved those babes!' exclaimed he, clutching +his fingers above his head, and gasping as he spoke. He turned, and +fastening his glaring eye on the lawyer, griped his fingers together, with +his teeth hard set and speaking through them, said in a sharp whisper: 'I +could have strangled them!' + +He paused; and then went on: 'At last came the thought of removing them. +At first it was vague: it came like a shadow, and went off; then it came +again, more distinct. Then it became stronger, and stronger, until it grew +into a passion--a very madness. At last my mind was made up, and my plans +formed. I trusted no one, but carried them off myself, and delivered them +to the husband of that woman,' pointing to Mrs. Blossom. 'I told him +nothing of their history: he was paid to take charge of them, and asked no +questions. Then came the clamor of pursuit. I daily met and comforted my +broken-hearted brother and his wife: I held out hopes which I knew were +false; I offered rewards; I turned pursuit in every direction except the +right one. They both thanked me, and looked upon me as their best friend; +and so I was, for I kept up hope; and what is life without it? At last the +search approached the neighborhood where the children really were, and +they were sent to the country. A man by the name of Craig took them. The +only person who was in the secret was Enoch Grosket; but he knew nothing +respecting the history of the children, nor where they went.' + +'Where was it?' inquired Holmes, anxiously, 'and to whom did you entrust +them?' + +'I have prepared it all,' said Rust; he drew a letter from his pocket and +handed it to him. 'You'll find it there, and the names of the persons; +they know nothing of the children; but they can identify them as those +left with them four years ago; and they still have the clothes which they +wore at the time; but the girl's resemblance to her mother will save all +that trouble.' + +He paused, with his dark eyes fastened on the floor, and his lips working +with intense emotion. + +'And is it possible that the love of gold can lead one to crimes like +these!' said Holmes, in a subdued tone. + +'Love of gold!' exclaimed Rust, fiercely; 'what cared I for gold? Ho! ho! +Michael Rust values gold but as dross; but it is the world; the cringing, +obsequious, miser-hearted world, that kisses the very feet of wealth, +which set Michael Rust on; it was this that lashed him forward; but not +for himself. I married a woman whom I loved,' said he, in a quick, stern +tone; 'she abandoned me and became an outcast, and paid the penalty by an +outcast's fate: she died in the streets. The love which I bore her I +transferred to my child. I was poor, and I resolved that she should be +rich. Can you understand my motive now? I loved my own flesh and blood +better than my brother's. I have now relinquished my plans, and have told +you why.' + +A pause of some moments ensued, and Rust said: 'Is there any thing more +that you want? If so, tell me at once, for after to-day we shall never +meet again.' + +Holmes ran his eye over the papers, and selecting two letters, handed them +to Rust, and said: + +'How do you account for the difference of that hand-writing, if Michael +Rust and Henry Colton are one?' + +'Michael Rust wrote one hand, Henry Colton another,' said Rust; 'but _I_ +wrote both.' He seized a pen, wrote a few words, signed the names Michael +Rust and Henry Colton, and flung it on the table. 'The game had been well +studied before it was played.' + +'Your writing is well disguised indeed,' said the lawyer, comparing it +with the letters; 'it solves that difficulty.' + +'Any thing else?' demanded Rust, impatiently; 'my time is limited.' + +Holmes shook his head; but Harson said: 'A few words about Jacob +Rhoneland.' + +'Well?' + +'You accuse him of forgery; what does that mean?' + +'He was a fool: I wanted to marry his daughter; I represented myself to +him as very rich, to tempt his avarice; that failed. I added entreaties; +_they_ failed. Then I tried the effect of fear. He was not deaf to that +for a long time, but at last he overcame even that.' + +'And the tale?' + +'Was well fabricated, but false.' + +'And Ned Somers?' + +'I had to get rid of him: what could I do while he was dallying round the +girl? I _did_ get rid of him: a few lies whispered to the old man sent him +adrift. But I'm tired of this; I came to tell what I pleased, and nothing +more, and I must be at work. You must respect your promise,' said he, +turning to Holmes. + +'I shall, and I hope your present errand at least is an honest one.' + +'It is,' said Rust, with a strange smile; 'it is to punish a criminal.' He +opened the door and went off without another word. + + + + +NIGHT AND MORNING. + + 'To-morrow to fresh fields and pastures new!' + + LYCIDAS. + + + Yes! I have been for many a changeful year, + Studious or sensual, gay or wild, or sad, + An earnest votary of Evening. She + Had something wondrous winning to my eye, + So soft she was, and quiet. Often too, + Absorbed in books, which were perchance a bane, + Perchance a blessing; or in glittering crowds, + Gazing all rapt on woman's eloquent face, + Nature's most witching and most treacherous page; + Or high in mirth with those whose senseful wit + Outflashed the rosy wines that warmed its flow, + I've held my vigils till the brow of Night + Grew pale and starless, and her solemn pomp, + Out-glared by day, faded in hueless space. + I do repent me of my worship. Night + Was given for rest: who breaks this natural law + Wrongs body and soul alike. One vigorous hour + Of sober day-light thought is worth a night's + Slow oscitations of a drowsy mind. + 'Neath Eve's pale star the desolate heart reverts + To those far moments, when the sky was blue, + And earth was green, as earth and sky to eyes + Once disenchanted, can appear no more. + + We _all_ are mourners. Good men must deplore + Lost hours, lost friends, lost pleasures; and the bad + Are racked by throes of impotent remorse, + Dark, fierce, and bitter; for _themselves_ are lost, + And still neglecting what remains of life, + They strive by backward reachings to redeem + The irredeemable. _Why_ pass the hours, + The fleeting hours, in profitless regrets, + When each regret but lops _another_ bough, + Full of green promise, from the tree of life? + You, who in your bereavement truly feel + This truth, expressed so sadly and so well: + 'Joy's recollection is no longer joy, + While Sorrow's memory is sorrow still;' + I counsel to recant your vows, and come + With me to worship at a better shrine, + The shrine of Morning. + Morning is the hour + Of vigorous thought, unconquerable hope, + And high endeavor. All our powers, in sleep + Bathed, nurtured, clad, and strung with nerves of steel, + Rise from their brief oblivion keen with health, + And strong for struggling, and we feel that toil + Is toil's own recompense. I deem that Man + Is not a retrospective being; for his course + Is on, still on; and never should his eyes + Turn back, but to detect his errors past, + And shun them in his future steps. Too long, + Ah! much too long, O world! and oft I've gazed + In awe and wonder on thy midnight sleep, + While magic Memory, singly or in groups, + Upon her faded tablets re-produced + Fair and familiar forms of Love and Joy. + Oh! _so_ familiar were they, and so fair, + Though dim, those blessed faces, that my eyes + Grew tremulous with the dew of unshed tears. + The gaze hath hurt me. It hath taken their rest + And natural joy from body and spirit, and worn + Too fast the wheel-work of this frail machine. + And now, oh! sleeping Nature! while the stars + Smile on thy face, and I in fancy hear + The low pulsations of thy dormant life, + And feel thy mighty bosom heave and fall + With regular breathings; through _my_ little world + I feel Disease advancing on his sure + And stealthy mission. Well I know his step, + The wily traitor! when I mark my short, + Quick respirations; and his call I know, + As, in the hush of night, my ear alarmed + By the heart's death-march notes, repeats its strange + And audible beatings. + Down! grim spectre, down! + Flap not thy wings across my face, nor let + Thy ghastly visage, horrible shadow! freeze + My staring eye-balls! Let me fly, O Death! + Thy chilling presence, and implore thy soft + And merciful brother,[2] dewy Sleep, to drip + Papaverous balsam on my eyes, and lull + My throbbing temples on his lap to rest! + + * * * * * + + The day-spring reddens: the first few, faint streaks, + Mingling and brightening o'er the eastern skies, + Announce the upward chariot of the Sun. + Light leaps from Darkness! In the grave of Night + Day lays aside his burial-robes, and dons + His regal crown, and Nature smiles to see + His resurrection, shouting, 'Hail! oh, hail! + Eve's younger[3] brother! and again, all hail! + Thou bright-eyed Morning! fairest among all + Of God's fair creatures! Rise, bright prince, and shine + O'er this green earth, from brooding Darkness won, + From wild, waste Chaos, and the womb of Night!' + + [2] [Greek: Entha de Nuktos paides eremnês oiki echousin, + Hypnos kai Thanatos, k. t. l.] HES. THEOG. 1. 758, etc. + + [3] Observe the order of collocation in Genesis I: 5. + 'And the EVENING and the MORNING were the first day.' + + Let _me_ too burst the leaden bands of Sleep, + And while the blinking stars, all faint and pale + With their long watch, recall their courier-rays + To their far orbits; and our earthly stars, + The stars of Fashion, sick and wan as they, + Are wheeling homeward to their feverous rest, + Let _me_ walk forth among the silent groves, + Or through the cool vales snuff the morning air. + How fresh! how breathing! Every draught I take + Seems filled with healthiest life, and sends the blood + Rushing and tingling through my quickened veins, + Like inspiration! How the fluent air, + Fanned into motion by thy breezy wings, + O, fragrant Morning! blows from off the earth + The congregated vapors, dank and foul, + By yesterday coagulate and mixed! + Miasmas steaming up from sunless fens; + The effluvia of vegetable death; + Disease exhaled from pestilential beds, + And Lust's rank pantings and the fumes of wine; + All these, condensed in one pernicious gas + By Noon's hot efflux and the reeking Night, + Thy filtering breezes make as fresh and sweet + As infant slumbers; pure as the virgin's breath + Whispering her first love in the eager ear + Of her heart's chosen. + On this climbing hill, + While, lost in ecstacy, I stand and gaze + On the fresh beauties of a world disrobed, + How does thy searching breath, oh, infant Day! + Inspire the languid frame with new-born life, + And all its sinking powers rejuvenate, + Freshening the murky hollows of the soul! + Good Heaven! How glorious this morning hour, + Nature's new birth-time! All her mighty frame, + In lowly vale, on lofty mountain-top, + And wide savannah, stirs, with sprightful life, + Life irrepressible, whose eager thrill + Shoots to her very finger-tips, and makes + Each little flower through all her delicate threads + Each fibrous plant, each blade of corn or grass, + And each tall tree, through all its limbs and leaves, + Quiver and tremble. + The increasing light + Reveals the outlines of the shadowy hills, + And, charm by charm, the landscape all comes forth, + Wood, stream, and valley; while above that green + And waving ocean swells an endless vault + Of blue serenity, and round its verge + Kindles and flashes with rubescent gleams + The far horizon; till the whole appears + A sapphire dome, which, edged with golden rim, + Spans the green surges of an emerald sea. + The Sun is still unseen; yet far before + His chariot-wheels a train of glory marks + His kindling track, and all the air is now + A luminous ocean. Whence these floods of light, + Rich with all hues? Say! have the spheréd stars, + Powdered in shining atoms, fallen and filled + The ambient air with their invisible dews? + Or have the fugitive particles of light, + The Sun's lost emanations, which all night + Lay hid in hollows of the earth, or slept + In vegetable cells, come forth to greet + Their monarch's coming? Are they pioneers + Sent to prepare his way, and raise his bright + Victorious banner, that their sovereign's eye + From his serene pavilion may behold + No lingering shadow from the gloomy host + Of hateful Darkness, who hast westward borne + His routed army and his fading flag? + Alas! proud Science, Fancy's sneering foe, + Says they are but the Sun's refracted rays, + And scintillations from his burning wheels. + + EARTH'S bride-groom rises. Round his glittering head + He shakes his streamy locks, and fast and far + Sheds showers of splendor; and his blushing bride, + Recumbent on her grassy couch, scarce opes + Her bashful eyes to meet his ardent gaze. + While at the advent of her lord, the Earth, + Marking his shining footsteps, with a smile + Remembers the espousals of her youth, + When morning stars rang out the nuptial song[4] + In jubilant chorus; on her milky breast, + All the green nurslings of his favor raise + Their dewy heads, and welcome his approach + With thankful greetings; and each gentle flower + Turns her fair face to the munificent god + Of her idolatry, and well repays + His warm caresses with her perfumed breath. + + [4] 'When the morning stars sang together,' etc. + JOB: XXXVIII., 7. In the same chapter observe the + astonishing boldness of scripture personification, + and the unequalled pomp of oriental imagery. + + But while inanimate nature takes the shows + Of life, and joy, and deep and passionate sense, + The animal kingdom sleeps not; all its tribes + Swell the glad anthem. Birds, that all night long + Slept and dreamed sweetly 'neath their folded wings, + At nature's summons are awakening now; + Nor unmelodiously; for from their throats, + In many a warbling trill, or mingled gush, + Comes music of such sweet and innocent strength, + As might force tears from the black murderer's eyes, + And make the sighing captive, while he weeps + His own hard wrongs, lift his chained hands, and pray + For his oppressor more than for himself. + + Thou, too, my soul, if wearing years have left + Aught of high feeling in thy wasted powers, + Of gratitude for mercies undeserved, + Or hope of future favors, here and now, + Upon this breezy hill-top, in the eye + Of the bright day-god rising from his sleep, + Perform thine orisons: + 'Father and King, + While here thy quickening breezes round me play, + And yonder comes thy visible delegate + With his bright scutcheon, to diffuse again + All day the rays of thy beneficence + Over this lovely earth, thy six days' work; + To Thee, ALMIGHTY ONE! thy child would raise + A loud thanksgiving. And if this, my strain + Of joy and thanks, and supplication, be + Or cold, or weak, or insincere in aught, + (As our poor hearts deceive themselves so oft,) + Thou! O OMNIPOTENT! canst make it warm,-- + Warm as thy love, strong as thy Son's strong tears, + And pure as thine own essence. Formed by Thee, + Saved by thy mercy from thy wrath, we all + Are guilty ingrates, and the best of men + Hath sins perchance which might outweigh the worth + Of all the angels. _I_, at least, have sinned, + Sinned long and deeply; and if still my heart, + Warped by its own bad passions, or allured + By the world's glitter and the arts of him, + Thy foe and our destroyer, should forget + Its source and destiny, and breathe its vows + Again to idols, yet reject Thou not + This present offering. Let thy Grace surround + My steps as with a muniment of rocks, + And guide me in the uneven paths of life, + A pilgrim shielded by thy hollow hand. + And as the grateful earth sends up all day + Her exhalations through the bibulous air + To the sun, her monarch; and receives them back + Rich, soft, and fertile, in the still small shower, + That falls invisible from the morning's womb: + So may my fervent heart exhale to Thee + Daily, the breathings of its thankful prayer. + And praise spontaneous; which thy heavenly grace + Shall render back in a perpetual dew + Of benedictions, making all the waste + Green with cool verdure. + Oh! the time hath been, + When thy benighted children lost the creed + Of thy true worship, and to brutes bowed down, + And senseless stones, and, kneeling in sincere + But vain devotion, to the creature gave + The adoration due to Thee alone, + The mighty Maker. Others strove to turn + Thine anger from them, by the streaming blood + Of human victims; and the reverend priest + Stood up, and in the name of people and king, + Prayed Thee, or some vain substitute, to bless + The holy murder. Even thy chosen, thine own + Peculiar nation, did forget that Thou + Lov'st the oblation of a grateful heart, + A holocaust self-sacrificed to God,[5] + And trusted to the blood of bulls and goats, + And whole burned offerings. And _still_ mankind + Kneel in blind worship. Every heart sets up + Its separate Dagon. Fierce Ambition breathes + His burning vow, and, to secure his prayer, + Makes the dear children of his heart, his own + Sweet home's affections and delights, pass through + The fire of Moloch: Avarice at the shrine + Of greedy Mammon, gluts his eyes with gold: + Some to Renown bend low the obsequious knee, + Praying to be eternized by a blast + From her shrill trumpet: in the glittering halls + Of sensual Pleasure some sing songs, and bind + Their fair young brows with chaplets steeped in wine; + Though soon the chaplets turn to chains, the wines + To gall and wormwood, and the festal song + To howls and hootings. High above these shrines + The great arch-demon and parental Jove + Of all the Pantheon, a god unknown + But every where adored, omnipotent + And omnipresent to the tribes of men, + SELF, rears his temple. + But the day shall come, + When far and wide o'er the regenerate world, + From each green vale and ancient hill, thy sons + Duly to Thee shall bring their evening thanks + And morning homage. Round each cheerful hearth, + Or kneeling in the spreading door-tree's shade, + Each human heart, brim-full of love and hope, + And holy gratitude, shall send aloft + A pure oblation, and the throbbing earth + Be one great censer, breathing praise to Thee.' + + [5] This line is from one of GRIMKE'S polished and + most scholar-like orations. + + +THE LEGEND OF DON RODERICK.[6] + +BY THE AUTHOR OF THE SKETCH BOOK. + + [6] See 'Editor's Table' of the present number. + + +When in the year of Redemption 701, WITIZIA was elected to the Gothic +throne, his reign gave promise of happy days to Spain. He redressed +grievances, moderated the tributes of his subjects, and conducted himself +with mingled mildness and energy in the administration of the laws. In a +little while, however, he threw off the mask and showed himself in his +true nature, cruel and luxurious. Considering himself secure upon the +throne, he gave the reins to his licentious passions, and soon by his +tyranny and sensuality acquired the appellation of WITIZIA the Wicked. How +rare is it to learn wisdom from the misfortunes of others! With the fate +of WITIZIA full before his eyes, DON RODERICK was no sooner established as +his successor, than he began to indulge in the same pernicious errors, and +was doomed in like manner to prepare the way for his own perdition. + +As yet the heart of Roderick, occupied by the struggles of his early life, +by warlike enterprises, and by the inquietudes of newly-gotten power, had +been insensible to the charms of women; but in the first voluptuous calm +the amorous propensities of his nature assumed their sway. There are +divers accounts of the youthful beauty who first found favor in his eyes, +and was elevated by him to the throne. We follow, in our legend, the +details of an Arabian chronicler, authenticated by a Spanish poet. Let +those who dispute our facts produce better authority for their +contradiction. + +Among the few fortified places that had not been dismantled by Don +Roderick was the ancient city of Denia, situated on the Mediterranean +coast, and defended on a rock-built castle that overlooked the sea. + +The Alcayde of the castle, with many of the people of Denia, was one day +on his knees in the chapel, imploring the Virgin to allay a tempest which +was strewing the coast with wrecks, when a sentinel brought word that a +Moorish cruiser was standing for the land. The Alcayde gave orders to ring +the alarm bells, light signal-fires on the hill tops, and rouse the +country; for the coast was subject to cruel maraudings from the Barbary +cruisers. + +In a little while the horsemen of the neighborhood were seen pricking +along the beach, armed with such weapons as they could find; and the +Alcayde and his scanty garrison descended from the hill. In the meantime +the Moorish bark came rolling and pitching toward the land. As it drew +near, the rich carving and gilding with which it was decorated, its silken +bandaroles, and banks of crimson oars, showed it to be no warlike vessel, +but a sumptuous galleot, destined for state and ceremony. It bore the +marks of the tempest: the masts were broken, the oars shattered, and +fragments of snowy sails and silken awnings were fluttering in the blast. + +As the galleot grounded upon the sand, the impatient rabble rushed into +the surf to capture and make spoil; but were awed into admiration and +respect by the appearance of the illustrious company on board. There were +Moors of both sexes sumptuously arrayed, and adorned with precious jewels, +bearing the demeanor of persons of lofty rank. Among them shone +conspicuous a youthful beauty, magnificently attired, to whom all seemed +to pay reverence. + +Several of the Moors surrounded her with drawn swords, threatening death +to any that approached; others sprang from the bark, and, throwing +themselves on their knees before the Alcayde, implored him, by his honor +and courtesy as a knight, to protect a royal virgin from injury and +insult. + +'You behold before you,' said they, 'the only daughter of the King of +Algiers, the betrothed bride of the son of the King of Tunis. We were +conducting her to the court of her expecting bridegroom, when a tempest +drove us from our course, and compelled us to take refuge on your coast. +Be not more cruel than the tempest, but deal nobly with that which even +sea and storm have spared.' + +The Alcayde listened to their prayers. He conducted the princess and her +train to the castle, where every honor due to her rank was paid her. Some +of her ancient attendants interceded for her liberation, promising +countless sums to be paid by her father for her ransom; but the Alcayde +turned a deaf ear to all their golden offers. 'She is a royal captive,' +said he; 'it belongs to my sovereign alone to dispose of her.' After she +had reposed, therefore, for some days at the castle, and recovered from +the fatigue and terror of the seas, he caused her to be conducted, with +all her train, in magnificent state to the court of Don Roderick. + +The beautiful Elyata entered Toledo more like a triumphant sovereign than +a captive. A chosen band of Christian horsemen, splendidly armed, appeared +to wait upon her as a mere guard of honor. She was surrounded by the +Moorish damsels of her train, and followed by her own Moslem guards, all +attired with the magnificence that had been intended to grace her arrival +at the court of Tunis. The princess was arrayed in bridal robes, woven in +the most costly looms of the orient; her diadem sparkled with diamonds, +and was decorated with the rarest plumes of the bird of paradise; and even +the silken trappings of her palfrey, which swept the ground, were covered +with pearls and precious stones. As this brilliant cavalcade crossed the +bridge of the Tagus, all Toledo poured forth to behold it; and nothing was +heard throughout the city but praises of the wonderful beauty of the +princess of Algiers. King Roderick came forth attended by the chivalry of +his court, to receive the royal captive. His recent voluptuous life had +disposed him for tender and amorous affections, and, at the first sight of +the beautiful Elyata, he was enraptured with her charms. Seeing her face +clouded with sorrow and anxiety, he soothed her with gentle and courteous +words, and, conducting her to a royal palace, 'Behold,' said he, 'thy +habitation where no one shall molest thee; consider thyself at home in the +mansion of thy father, and dispose of any thing according to thy will.' + +Here the princess passed her time, with the female attendants who had +accompanied her from Algiers; and no one but the king was permitted to +visit her, who daily became more and more enamoured of his lovely captive, +and sought, by tender assiduity, to gain her affections. The distress of +the princess at her captivity was soothed by this gentle treatment. She +was of an age when sorrow cannot long hold sway over the heart. +Accompanied by her youthful attendants, she ranged the spacious apartments +of the palace, and sported among the groves and alleys of its garden. +Every day the remembrance of the paternal home grew less and less painful, +and the king became more and more amiable in her eyes; and when, at +length, he offered to share his heart and throne with her, she listened +with downcast looks and kindling blushes, but with an air of resignation. + +One obstacle remained to the complete fruition of the monarch's wishes, +and this was the religion of the princess. Roderick forthwith employed the +Archbishop of Toledo to instruct the beautiful Elyata in the mysteries of +the Christian faith. The female intellect is quick in perceiving the +merits of new doctrines: the archbishop, therefore, soon succeeded in +converting, not merely the princess, but most of her attendants; and a day +was appointed for their public baptism. The ceremony was performed with +great pomp and solemnity, in the presence of all the nobility and chivalry +of the court. The princess and her damsels, clad in white, walked on foot +to the cathedral, while numerous beautiful children, arrayed as angels, +strewed the path with flowers; and the archbishop, meeting them at the +portal, received them, as it were, into the bosom of the church. The +princess abandoned her Moorish appellation of Elyata, and was baptised by +the name of Exilona, by which she was thenceforth called, and has +generally been known in history. + +The nuptials of Roderick and the beautiful convert took place shortly +afterward, and were celebrated with great magnificence. There were jousts, +and tourneys, and banquets, and other rejoicings, which lasted twenty +days, and were attended by the principle nobles from all parts of Spain. +After these were over, such of the attendants of the princess as refused +to embrace Christianity, and desired to return to Africa, were dismissed +with munificent presents; and an embassy was sent to the King of Algiers, +to inform him of the nuptials of his daughter, and to proffer him the +friendship of King Roderick. + +For a time Don Roderick lived happily with his young and beautiful queen, +and Toledo was the seat of festivity and splendor. The principal nobles +throughout the kingdom repaired to his court to pay him homage, and to +receive his commands; and none were more devoted in their reverence than +those who were obnoxious to suspicion, from their connection with the late +king. + +Among the foremost of these was Count Julian, a man destined to be +infamously renowned in the dark story of his country's woes. He was of one +of the proudest Gothic families, lord of Consuegra and Algeziras, and +connected by marriage with Witizia and the Bishop Oppas; his wife, the +Countess Frandina, being their sister. In consequence of this connection, +and of his own merits, he had enjoyed the highest dignities and commands: +being one of the Espatorios, or royal sword-bearers; an office of the +greatest confidence about the person of the sovereign. He had, moreover, +been intrusted with the military government of the Spanish possessions on +the African coast of the strait, which at that time were threatened by the +Arabs of the East, the followers of Mahomet, who were advancing their +victorious standard to the extremity of Western Africa. Count Julian +established his seat of government at Ceuta, the frontier bulwark, and one +of the far-famed gates of the Mediterranean Sea. Here he boldly faced, and +held in check, the torrent of Moslem invasion. + +Don Julian was a man of an active, but irregular genius, and a grasping +ambition; he had a love for power and grandeur, in which he was joined by +his haughty countess; and they could ill brook the downfall of their house +as threatened by the fate of Witizia. They had hastened, therefore, to pay +their court to the newly elevated monarch, and to assure him of their +fidelity to his interests. + +Roderick was readily persuaded of the sincerity of Count Julian; he was +aware of his merits as a soldier and a governor, and continued him in his +important command; honoring him with many other marks of implicit +confidence. Count Julian sought to confirm this confidence by every proof +of devotion. It was a custom among the Goths to rear many of the children +of the most illustrious families in the royal household. They served as +pages to the king, and handmaids and ladies of honor to the queen, and +were instructed in all manner of accomplishments befitting their gentle +blood. When about to depart for Ceuta, to resume his command, Don Julian +brought his daughter Florinda to present her to the sovereigns. She was a +beautiful virgin, that had not as yet attained to womanhood. 'I confide +her to your protection,' said he to the king, 'to be unto her as a father; +and to have her trained in the paths of virtue. I can leave with you no +dearer pledge of my loyalty.' + +King Roderick received the timid and blushing maiden into his paternal +care; promising to watch over her happiness with a parent's eye, and that +she should be enrolled among the most cherished attendants of the queen. +With this assurance of the welfare of his child, Count Julian departed, +well pleased, for his government at Ceuta. + +The beautiful daughter of Count Julian was received with great favor by +the queen Exilona, and admitted among the noble damsels that attended upon +her person. Here she lived in honor and apparent security, and surrounded +by innocent delights. To gratify his queen, Don Roderick had built for her +rural recreation, a palace without the walls of Toledo, on the banks of +the Tagus. It stood in the midst of a garden, adorned after the luxurious +style of the east. The air was perfumed by fragrant shrubs and flowers; +the groves resounded with the song of the nightingale; while the gush of +fountains and waterfalls, and the distant murmur of the Tagus, made it a +delightful retreat during the sultry days of summer. The charm of perfect +privacy also reigned throughout the place; for the garden walls were high, +and numerous guards kept watch without to protect it from all intrusion. + +In this delicious abode, more befitting an oriental voluptuary than a +Gothic king, Don Roderick was accustomed to while away much of that time +which should have been devoted to the toilsome cares of government. The +very security and peace which he had produced throughout his dominions, by +his precautions to abolish the means and habitudes of war, had effected a +disastrous change in his character. The hardy and heroic qualities which +had conducted him to the throne, were softened in the lap of indulgence. +Surrounded by the pleasures of an idle and effeminate court, and beguiled +by the example of his degenerate nobles, he gave way to a fatal sensuality +that had lain dormant in his nature during the virtuous days of his +adversity. The mere love of female beauty had first enamoured him of +Exilona; and the same passion, fostered by voluptuous idleness, now +betrayed him into the commission of an act fatal to himself and Spain. The +following is the story of his error, as gathered from an old chronicle and +legend. + +In a remote part of the palace was an apartment devoted to the queen. It +was like an eastern harem, shut up from the foot of man, and where the +king himself but rarely entered. It had its own courts, and gardens, and +fountains, where the queen was wont to recreate herself with her damsels, +as she had been accustomed to do in the jealous privacy of her father's +palace. + +One sultry day, the king, instead of taking his siesta, or mid-day +slumber, repaired to this apartment to seek the society of the queen. In +passing through a small oratory, he was drawn by the sound of female +voices to a casement overhung with myrtles and jessamines. It looked into +an interior garden, or court, set out with orange trees, in the midst of +which was a marble fountain, surrounded by a grassy bank, enamelled with +flowers. + +It was the high noontide of a summer day, when, in sultry Spain, the +landscape trembles to the eye, and all nature seeks repose, except the +grasshopper, that pipes his lulling note to the herdsman as he sleeps +beneath the shade. + +Around the fountain were several of the damsels of the queen, who, +confident of the sacred privacy of the place, were yielding in that cool +retreat to the indulgence prompted by the season and the hour. Some lay +asleep on the flowery bank; others sat on the margin of the fountain, +talking and laughing, as they bathed their feet in its limpid waters, and +King Roderick beheld delicate limbs shining through the wave, that might +rival the marble in whiteness. + +Among the damsels was one who had come from the Barbary coast with the +queen. Her complexion had the dark tinge of Mauritania, but it was clear +and transparent, and the deep rich rose blushed through the lovely brown. +Her eyes were black and full of fire, and flashed from under long silken +eye-lashes. + +A sportive contest arose among the maidens, as to the comparative beauty +of the Spanish and Moorish forms; but the Mauritanian damsel revealed +limbs of voluptuous symmetry that seemed to defy all rivalry. + +The Spanish beauties were on the point of giving up the contest, when they +bethought themselves of the young Florinda, the daughter of Count Julian, +who lay on the grassy bank, abandoned to a summer slumber. The soft glow +of youth and health mantled on her cheek; her fringed eyelashes scarcely +covered their sleeping orbs; her moist and ruby lips were lightly parted, +just revealing a gleam of her ivory teeth; while her innocent bosom rose +and fell beneath her bodice, like the gentle swelling and sinking of a +tranquil sea. There was a breathing tenderness and beauty in the sleeping +virgin, that seemed to send forth sweetness like the flowers around her. + +'Behold,' cried her companions exultingly, 'the champion of Spanish +beauty!' + +In their playful eagerness they half disrobed the innocent Florinda before +she was aware. She awoke in time, however, to escape from their busy +hands; but enough of her charms had been revealed to convince the monarch +that they were not to be rivalled by the rarest beauties of Mauritania. + +From this day the heart of Roderick was inflamed with a fatal passion. He +gazed on the beautiful Florinda with fervid desire, and sought to read in +her looks whether there was levity or wantonness in her bosom; but the eye +of the damsel ever sunk beneath his gaze, and remained bent on the earth +in virgin modesty. + +It was in vain he called to mind the sacred trust reposed in him by Count +Julian, and the promise he had given to watch over his daughter with +paternal care; his heart was vitiated by sensual indulgence, and the +consciousness of power had rendered him selfish in his gratifications. + +Being one evening in the garden where the queen was diverting herself with +her damsels, and coming to the fountain where he had beheld the innocent +maidens at their sport, he could no longer restrain the passion that raged +within his breast. Seating himself beside the fountain, he called Florinda +to him to draw forth a thorn which had pierced his hand. The maiden knelt +at his feet to examine his hand, and the touch of her slender fingers +thrilled through his veins. As she knelt, too, her amber locks fell in +rich ringlets about her beautiful head, her innocent bosom palpitated +beneath the crimson boddice, and her timid blushes increased the +effulgence of her charms. + +Having examined the monarch's hand in vain, she looked up in his face with +artless perplexity. + +'Senior,' said she, 'I can find no thorn, nor any sign of wound.' + +Don Roderick grasped her hand and pressed it to his heart. 'It is here, +lovely Florinda!' said he, 'It is here! and thou alone canst pluck it +forth!' + +'My lord!' exclaimed the blushing and astonished maiden. + +'Florinda!' said Don Roderick, 'dost thou love me?' + +'Senior,' said she, 'my father taught me to love and reverence you. He +confided me to your care as one who would be as a parent to me, when he +should be far distant, serving your majesty with life and loyalty. May God +incline your majesty ever to protect me as a father.' So saying, the +maiden dropped her eyes to the ground, and continued kneeling; but her +countenance had become deadly pale, and as she knelt she trembled. + +'Florinda,' said the king, 'either thou dost not or thou wilt not +understand me. I would have thee love me, not as a father, nor as a +monarch, but as one who adores thee. Why dost thou start? No one shall +know our loves; and, moreover, the love of a monarch inflicts no +degradation like the love of a common man; riches and honors attend upon +it. I will advance thee to rank and dignity, and place thee above the +proudest females of my court. Thy father, too, shall be more exalted and +endowed than any noble in my realm.' + +The soft eye of Florinda kindled at these words. 'Senior,' said she, 'the +line I spring from can receive no dignity by means so vile; and my father +would rather die than purchase rank and power by the dishonor of his +child. But I see,' continued she, 'that your majesty speaks in this manner +only to try me. You may have thought me light and simple and unworthy to +attend upon the queen. I pray your majesty to pardon me, that I have taken +your pleasantry in such serious part.' + +In this way the agitated maiden sought to evade the addresses of the +monarch; but still her cheek was blanched, and her lip quivered as she +spake. + +The king pressed her hand to his lips with fervor. 'May ruin seize me,' +cried he, 'if I speak to prove thee! My heart, my kingdom, are at thy +command. Only be mine, and thou shalt rule absolute mistress of myself and +my domains.' + +The damsel rose from the earth where she had hitherto knelt, and her whole +countenance glowed with virtuous indignation. 'My Lord,' said she, 'I am +your subject, and in your power; take my life if it be your pleasure; but +nothing shall tempt me to commit a crime which would be treason to the +queen, disgrace to my father, agony to my mother, and perdition to +myself.' With these words she left the garden, and the king, for the +moment, was too much awed by her indignant virtue to oppose her departure. + +We shall pass briefly over the succeeding events of the story of Florinda, +about which so much has been said and sung by chronicler and bard: for the +sober page of history should be carefully chastened from all scenes that +might inflame a wanton imagination; leaving them to poems and romances, +and such-like highly seasoned works of fantasy and recreation. + +Let it suffice to say, that Don Roderick pursued his suit to the beautiful +Florinda, his passion being more and more inflamed by the resistance of +the virtuous damsel. At length, forgetting what was due to helpless +beauty, to his own honor as a knight, and his word as a sovereign, he +triumphed over her weakness by base and unmanly violence. + +There are not wanting those who affirm that the hapless Florinda lent a +yielding ear to the solicitations of the monarch, and her name has been +treated with opprobrium in several of the ancient chronicles and legendary +ballads that have transmitted, from generation to generation, the story of +the woes of Spain. In very truth, however, she appears to have been a +guiltless victim, resisting, as far as helpless female could resist, the +arts and intrigues of a powerful monarch, who had nought to check the +indulgence of his will, and bewailing her disgrace with a poignancy that +shows how dearly she had prized her honor. + +In the first paroxysm of her grief she wrote a letter to her father, +blotted with her tears, and almost incoherent from her agitation. 'Would +to God, my father,' said she, 'that the earth had opened and swallowed me +ere I had been reduced to write these lines! I blush to tell thee, what it +is not proper to conceal. Alas! my father; thou hast entrusted thy lamb to +the guardianship of the lion. Thy daughter has been dishonored, the royal +cradle of the Goths polluted, and our lineage insulted and disgraced. +Hasten, my father, to rescue your child from the power of the spoiler, and +to vindicate the honor of your house!' + +When Florinda had written these lines, she summoned a youthful esquire, +who had been a page in the service of her father. 'Saddle thy steed,' said +she, 'and if thou dost aspire to knightly honor, or hope for lady's +grace--if thou hast fealty for thy lord, or devotion to his +daughter--speed swiftly upon my errand. Rest not, halt not, spare not the +spur; but hie thee day and night until thou reach the sea; take the first +bark, and haste with sail and oar to Ceuta, nor pause until thou give this +letter to the count my father.' + +The youth put the letter in his bosom. 'Trust me, lady,' said he, 'I will +neither halt nor turn aside, nor cast a look behind, until I reach Count +Julian.' He mounted his fleet steed, sped his way across the bridge, and +soon left behind him the verdant valley of the Tagus. + + * * * * * + +The heart of Don Roderick was not so depraved by sensuality, but that the +wrong he had been guilty of toward the innocent Florinda, and the disgrace +he had inflicted on her house, weighed heavy on his spirits, and a cloud +began to gather on his once clear and unwrinkled brow. + +Heaven, at this time, say the old Spanish chronicles, permitted a +marvellous intimation of the wrath with which it intended to visit the +monarch and his people, in punishment of their sins; nor are we, say the +same orthodox writers, to startle, and withhold our faith, when we meet in +the page of discreet and sober history with these signs and portents, +which transcend the probabilities of ordinary life; for the revolutions of +empires and the downfall of mighty kings are awful events, that shake the +physical as well as the moral world, and are often announced by +forerunning marvels and prodigious omens. With such-like cautious +preliminaries do the wary but credulous historiographers of yore usher in +a marvellous event of prophecy and enchantment, linked in ancient story +with the fortunes of Don Roderick, but which modern doubters would fain +hold up as an apocryphal tradition of Arabian origin. + +Now, so it happened, according to the legend, that about this time, as +King Roderick was seated one day on his throne, surrounded by his nobles, +in the ancient city of Toledo, two men of venerable appearance entered the +hall of audience. Their snowy beards descended to their breasts, and their +gray hairs were bound with ivy. They were arrayed in white garments of +foreign or antiquated fashion, which swept the ground, and were cinctured +with girdles, wrought with the signs of the zodiac, from which were +suspended enormous bunches of keys of every variety of form. Having +approached the throne and made obeisance: 'Know, O King,' said one of the +old men, 'that in days of yore, when Hercules of Libya, surnamed the +strong, had set up his pillars at the ocean strait, he erected a tower +near to this ancient city of Toledo. He built it of prodigious strength, +and finished it with magic art, shutting up within it a fearful secret, +never to be penetrated without peril and disaster. To protect this +terrible mystery he closed the entrance to the edifice with a ponderous +door of iron, secured by a great lock of steel; and he left a command that +every king who should succeed him should add another lock to the portal; +denouncing wo and destruction on him who should eventually unfold the +secret of the tower. + +'The guardianship of the portal was given to our ancestors, and has +continued in our family, from generation to generation, since the days of +Hercules. Several kings, from time to time, have caused the gate to be +thrown open, and have attempted to enter, but have paid dearly for their +temerity. Some have perished within the threshold, others have been +overwhelmed with horror at tremendous sounds, which shook the foundations +of the earth, and have hastened to re-close the door, and secure it with +its thousand locks. Thus, since the days of Hercules, the inmost recesses +of the pile have never been penetrated by mortal man, and a profound +mystery continues to prevail over this great enchantment. This, O King, is +all we have to relate; and our errand is to entreat thee to repair to the +tower and affix thy lock to the portal, as has been done by all thy +predecessors.' Having thus said, the ancient men made a profound reverence +and departed from the presence chamber. + +Don Roderick remained for some time lost in thought after the departure of +the men: he then dismissed all his court, excepting the venerable Urbino, +at that time archbishop of Toledo. The long white beard of this prelate +bespoke his advanced age, and his overhanging eye-brows showed him a man +full of wary counsel. + +'Father,' said the king, 'I have an earnest desire to penetrate the +mystery of this tower.' The worthy prelate shook his hoary head: 'Beware, +my son,' said he; 'there are secrets hidden from man for his good. Your +predecessors for many generations have respected this mystery, and have +increased in might and empire. A knowledge of it, therefore, is not +material to the welfare of your kingdom. Seek not then to indulge a rash +and unprofitable curiosity, which is interdicted under such awful +menaces.' + +'Of what importance,' cried the king, 'are the menaces of Hercules, the +Lybian? Was he not a pagan? and can his enchantments have aught avail +against a believer in our holy faith? Doubtless, in this tower are locked +up treasures of gold and jewels, amassed in days of old, the spoils of +mighty kings, the riches of the pagan world. My coffers are exhausted; I +have need of supply; and surely it would be an acceptable act in the eyes +of Heaven, to draw forth this wealth which lies buried under profane and +necromantic spells, and consecrate it to religious purposes.' + +The venerable archbishop still continued to remonstrate, but Don Roderick +heeded not his counsel, for he was led on by his malignant star. 'Father,' +said he, 'it is in vain you attempt to dissuade me. My resolution is +fixed. To-morrow I will explore the hidden mystery, or rather the hidden +treasures of this tower.' + +The morning sun shone brightly upon the cliff-built towers of Toledo, when +King Roderick issued out of the gate of the city, at the head of a +numerous train of courtiers and cavaliers, and crossed the bridge that +bestrides the deep rocky bed of the Tagus. The shining cavalcade wound up +the road that leads among the mountains, and soon came in sight of the +necromantic tower. + +Of this renowned edifice marvels are related by the ancient Arabian and +Spanish chroniclers; 'and I doubt much,' adds the venerable Agpaida, +'whether many readers will not consider the whole as a cunningly devised +fable, sprung from an oriental imagination; but it is not for me to reject +a fact which is recorded by all those writers who are the fathers of our +national history: a fact, too, which is as well attested as most of the +remarkable events in the story of Don Roderick. None but light and +inconsiderate minds,' continues the good friar, 'do hastily reject the +marvellous. To the thinking mind the whole world is enveloped in mystery, +and every thing is full of type and portent. To such a mind the +necromantic tower of Toledo will appear as one of those wondrous monuments +of the olden time; one of those Egyptian and Chaldaic piles, storied with +hidden wisdom and mystic prophecy, which have been devised in past ages, +when man yet enjoyed an intercourse with high and spiritual natures, and +when human foresight partook of divination.' + +This singular tower was round, and of great height and grandeur; erected +upon a lofty rock, and surrounded by crags and precipices. The foundation +was supported by four brazen lions, each taller than a cavalier on +horseback. The walls were built of small pieces of jasper, and various +colored marbles, not larger than a man's hand; so subtilely joined, +however, that but for their different hues they might be taken for one +entire stone. They were arranged with marvellous cunning, so as to +represent battles and warlike deeds of times and heroes long since passed +away; and the whole surface was so admirably polished that the stones were +as lustrous as glass, and reflected the rays of the sun with such +resplendent brightness as to dazzle all beholders.[7] + + [7] From the minute account of the good friar, drawn from the + ancient chronicles, it would appear that the walls of the + tower were pictured in mosaic work. + +King Roderick and his courtiers arrived wondering and amazed, at the foot +of the rock. Here there was a narrow arched way cut through the living +stone; the only entrance to the tower. It was closed by a massive iron +gate, covered with rusty locks of divers workmanship, and in the fashion +of different centuries, which had been affixed by the predecessors of Don +Roderick. On either side of the portal stood the two ancient guardians of +the tower, laden with the keys appertaining to the locks. + +The king alighted, and, approaching the portals, ordered the guardians to +unlock the gate. The hoary-headed men drew back with terror. 'Alas!' cried +they, 'what is it your majesty requires of us? Would you have the +mischiefs of this tower unbound, and let loose to shake the earth to its +foundations?' + +The venerable archbishop Urbino likewise implored him not to disturb a +mystery which had been held sacred from generation to generation, within +the memory of man; and which even Cæsar himself, when sovereign of Spain, +had not ventured to invade. The youthful cavaliers, however, were eager to +pursue the adventure, and encouraged him in his rash curiosity. + +'Come what come may,' exclaimed Don Roderick, 'I am resolved to penetrate +the mystery of this tower.' So saying, he again commanded the guardians to +unlock the portal. The ancient men obeyed with fear and trembling, but +their hands shook with age, and when they applied the keys, the locks were +so rusted by time, or of such strange workmanship, that they resisted +their feeble efforts; whereupon the young cavaliers pressed forward and +lent their aid. Still the locks were so numerous and difficult, that with +all their eagerness and strength a great part of the day was exhausted +before the whole of them could be mastered. + +When the last bolt had yielded to the key, the guardians and the reverend +archbishop again entreated the king to pause and reflect. 'Whatever is +within this tower,' said they, 'is as yet harmless, and lies bound under a +mighty spell: venture not then to open a door which may let forth a flood +of evil upon the land.' But the anger of the king was roused, and he +ordered that the portal should be instantly thrown open. In vain, however, +did one after another exert his strength; and equally in vain did the +cavaliers unite their forces, and apply their shoulders to the gate: +though there was neither bar nor bolt remaining, it was perfectly +immoveable. + +The patience of the king was now exhausted, and he advanced to apply his +hand; scarcely, however, did he touch the iron gate, when it swung slowly +open, uttering, as it were, a dismal groan, as it turned reluctantly upon +its hinges. A cold, damp wind issued forth, accompanied by a tempestuous +sound. The hearts of the ancient guardians quaked within them, and their +knees smote together; but several of the youthful cavaliers rushed in, +eager to gratify their curiosity, or to signalise themselves in this +redoubtable enterprise. They had scarcely advanced a few paces, however, +when they recoiled, overcome by the baleful air, or by some fearful +vision. Upon this, the king ordered that fires should be kindled to dispel +the darkness, and to correct the noxious and long imprisoned air: he then +led the way into the interior; but, though stout of heart, he advanced +with awe and hesitation. + +After proceeding a short distance, he entered a hall, or antechamber, on +the opposite side of which was a door; and before it, on a pedestal, stood +a gigantic figure, of the color of bronze, and of a terrible aspect. It +held a huge mace, which it whirled incessantly, giving such cruel and +resounding blows upon the earth as to prevent all further entrance. + +The king paused at sight of this appalling figure; for whether it were a +living being, or a statue of magic artifice, he could not tell. On its +breast was a scroll, whereon was inscribed in large letters, 'I do my +duty.' After a little while Roderick plucked up heart, and addressed it +with great solemnity: 'Whatever thou be,' said he, 'know that I come not +to violate this sanctuary, but to inquire into the mystery it contains; I +conjure thee, therefore, to let me pass in safety.' + +Upon this the figure paused with uplifted mace, and the king and his train +passed unmolested through the door. + +They now entered a vast chamber, of a rare and sumptuous architecture, +difficult to be described. The walls were incrusted with the most precious +gems, so joined together as to form one smooth and perfect surface. The +lofty dome appeared to be self-supported, and was studded with gems, +lustrous as the stars of the firmament. There was neither wood, nor any +other common or base material to be seen throughout the edifice. There +were no windows or rather openings to admit the day, yet a radiant light +was spread throughout the place, which seemed to shine from the walls, and +to render every object distinctly visible. + +In the centre of this hall stood a table of alabaster, of the rarest +workmanship, on which was inscribed in Greek characters, that Hercules +Alcides, the Theban Greek, had founded this tower in the year of the world +three thousand and six. Upon the table stood a golden casket, richly set +round with precious stones, and closed with a lock of mother-of-pearl; and +on the lid were inscribed the following words: + +'In this coffer is contained the mystery of the tower. The hand of none +but a king can open it; but let him beware! for marvellous events will be +revealed to him, which are to take place before his death.' + +King Roderick boldly seized upon the casket. The venerable archbishop laid +his hand upon his arm, and made a last remonstrance. 'Forbear, my son!' +said he; 'desist while there is yet time. Look not into the mysterious +decrees of Providence. God has hidden them in mercy from our sight, and it +is impious to rend the veil by which they are concealed.' + +'What have I to dread from a knowledge of the future?' replied Roderick, +with an air of haughty presumption. 'If good be destined me, I shall enjoy +it by anticipation: if evil, I shall arm myself to meet it.' So saying, he +rashly broke the lock. + +Within the coffer he found nothing but a linen cloth, folded between two +tablets of copper. On unfolding it, he beheld painted on it figures of men +on horseback, of fierce demeanor, clad in turbans and robes of various +colors, after the fashion of the Arabs, with scimetars hanging from their +necks, and cross-bows at their saddle backs, and they carried banners and +pennons with divers devices. Above them was inscribed in Greek characters, +'Rash monarch! behold the men who are to hurl thee from thy throne, and +subdue thy kingdom!' + +At sight of these things the king was troubled in spirit, and dismay fell +upon his attendants. While they were yet regarding the paintings, it +seemed as if the figures began to move, and a faint sound of warlike +tumult arose from the cloth, with the clash of cymbal and bray of trumpet, +the neigh of steed and shout of army; but all was heard indistinctly, as +if afar off, or in a reverie or dream. The more they gazed, the plainer +became the motion, and the louder the noise; and the linen cloth rolled +forth, and amplified and spread out, as it were, a mighty banner, and +filled the hall, and mingled with the air, until its texture was no longer +visible, or appeared as a transparent cloud: and the shadowy figures +become all in motion, and the din and uproar became fiercer and fiercer; +and whether the whole were an animated picture, or a vision, or an array +of embodied spirits, conjured up by supernatural power, no one present +could tell. They beheld before them a great field of battle, where +Christians and Moslems were engaged in deadly conflict. They heard the +rush and tramp of steeds, the blast of trump and clarion, the clash of +cymbal, and the stormy din of a thousand drums. There was the clash of +swords, and maces, and battle-axes, with the whistling of arrows, and the +hurling of darts and lances. The Christians quailed before the foe; the +infidels pressed upon them and put them to utter rout; the standard of the +cross was cast down, the banner of Spain was trodden under foot, the air +resounded with shouts of triumph, with yells of fury, and with the groans +of dying men. Amidst the flying squadrons, King Roderick beheld a crowned +warrior, whose back was turned toward him, but whose armor and device were +his own, and who was mounted on a white steed that resembled his own war +horse Orelia. In the confusion of the flight, the warrior was dismounted, +and was no longer to be seen, and Orelia galloped wildly through the field +of battle without a rider. + +Roderick stayed to see no more, but rushed from the fatal hall, followed +by his terrified attendants. They fled through the outer chamber, where +the gigantic figure with the whirling mace had disappeared from his +pedestal; and on issuing into the open air, they found the two ancient +guardians of the tower lying dead at the portal, as though they had been +crushed by some mighty blow. All nature, which had been clear and serene, +was now in wild uproar. The heavens were darkened by heavy clouds; loud +bursts of thunder rent the air, and the earth was deluged with rain and +rattling hail. + +The king ordered that the iron portal should be closed; but the door was +immoveable, and the cavaliers were dismayed by the tremendous turmoil, and +the mingled shouts and groans that continued to prevail within. The king +and his train hastened back to Toledo, pursued and pelted by the tempest. +The mountains shook and echoed with the thunder, trees were uprooted and +blown down, and the Tagus raged and roared and flowed above its banks. It +seemed to the affrighted courtiers as if the phantom legions of the tower +had issued forth and mingled with the storm; for amidst the claps of +thunder and the howling of the wind, they fancied they heard the sound of +the drums and trumpets, the shouts of armies and the rush of steeds. Thus +beaten by tempest, and overwhelmed with horror, the king and his courtiers +arrived at Toledo, clattering across the bridge of the Tagus, and entering +the gate in headlong confusion, as though they had been pursued by an +enemy. + +In the morning the heavens were again serene, and all nature was restored +to tranquillity. The king, therefore, issued forth with his cavaliers and +took the road to the tower, followed by a great multitude, for he was +anxious once more to close the iron door, and shut up those evils that +threatened to overwhelm the land. But lo! on coming in sight of the tower, +a new wonder met their eyes. An eagle appeared high in the air, seeming to +descend from heaven. He bore in his beak a burning brand, and lighting on +the summit of the tower, fanned the fire with his wings. In a little while +the edifice burst forth into a blaze as though it had been built of rosin, +and the flames mounted into the air with a brilliancy more dazzling than +the sun; nor did they cease until every stone was consumed and the whole +was reduced to a heap of ashes. Then there came a vast flight of birds, +small of size and sable of hue, darkening the sky like a cloud; and they +descended and wheeled in circles round the ashes, causing so great a wind +with their wings that the whole was borne up into the air and scattered +throughout all Spain, and wherever a particle of those ashes fell it was +as a stain of blood. It is furthermore recorded by ancient men and writers +of former days, that all those on whom this dust fell were afterwards +slain in battle, when the country was conquered by the Arabs, and that the +destruction of this necromantic tower was a sign and token of the +approaching perdition of Spain. + +'Let all those,' concludes the cautious friar, 'who question the verity of +this most marvellous occurrence, consult those admirable sources of our +history, the chronicle of the Moor Rasis, and the work entitled 'The Fall +of Spain,' written by the Moor, Abulcasim Tarif Abentarique. Let them +consult, moreover, the venerable historian Bleda, and the cloud of other +Catholic Spanish writers, who have treated of this event, and they will +find I have related nothing that has not been printed and published under +the inspection and sanction of our holy mother church. God alone knoweth +the truth of these things; I speak nothing but what has been handed down +to me from times of old.' + + + + +ANACREONTIC. + + [Greek: To de cheilos, ouk et oida + Tini moi tropô poiêseis.] + + + Maiden! first did Nature seek + Lilies for thy spotless cheek; + When with roses came she next + Half delighted, yet more vex'd, + For the lilies there, to see + Blushing at their purity! + Since her labor now was lost, + Roses to the wind she tost. + One, a bud of smiling June, + Falling on thy lips, as soon + Left its color, and in death + Willed its fragrance to thy breath! + Then two drops of crystalled dew + From the hyacinth's deep hue, + Brought she for thine eyes of blue; + And lest they should miss the sun, + Bade thy soul to shine thereon. + Lilies, Nature gave thy face-- + Say, thy _heart_ do lilies grace? + +_St. Paul's College._ G. H. H. + + + + +LITERARY NOTICES. + + + A CHRISTMAS CAROL, IN PROSE: Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas. By + CHARLES DICKENS. New-York: HARPER AND BROTHERS. + +If in every alternate work that Mr. DICKENS were to send to the London +press he should find occasion to indulge in ridicule against alleged +American peculiarities, or broad caricatures of our actual vanities, or +other follies, we could with the utmost cheerfulness pass them by unnoted +and uncondemned, if he would only now and then present us with an +intellectual creation so touching and beautiful as the one before us. +Indeed, we can with truth say, that in our deliberate judgment, the +'Christmas Carol' is the most striking, the most picturesque, the most +truthful, of all the limnings which have proceeded from its author's pen. +There is much mirth in the book, says a competent English critic, but more +wisdom; wisdom of that kind which men possess who have gazed thoughtfully +but kindly on human life, and have pierced deeper than their fellows into +all the sunny nooks and dark recesses of the human breast. The barbarous +notion has long been exploded, that comic writers were only to be esteemed +for their jests, and useful for provoking laughter. CERVANTES, first among +the moderns, sent it out of fashion, and blessed that union of wit, sense, +and pathos, which so many renowned writers have since confirmed; until it +has come to be acknowledged, that rich genuine humor is rarely an inmate +of the mind, if there be not a corresponding depth of earnestness and +feeling in the heart. Many of DICKENS' writings, it is justly claimed, +exhibit this fine, healthy, benevolent spirit. 'His sympathy for human +suffering is strong and pure, and he reserves it not for imaginary and +fictitious distress, but for the real grinding sorrows of life.' And this +sympathy is more finely displayed in the work under notice, than in any of +his previous productions. The design is very fanciful, and there is +crowded into it, brief as it is, a world of character and observation. It +is truly a reflection of life in miniature. Before proceeding to a few +illustrative extracts, we shall avail ourselves in part of a clear +synopsis of the inception and progress of the story, from the pen of a +London contemporary. + +SCROOGE is a very rich citizen; a 'squeezing, grinding, grasping, +scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner.' He has lost all recollection of +what he once was, and what he once felt; is dead to all kindly impulses, +and proof against the most moving tale. He is almost as keen and gruff as +old RALPH NICKELBY, to whom he bears a strong family resemblance, and uses +his poor clerk, BOB CRATCHIT, just as badly, and has as little feeling for +his merry-hearted nephew, who has married for love. The 'carol' begins on +Christmas-eve. SCROOGE calls his nephew a lunatic for wishing him 'A merry +Christmas!' and sends him home, sad as harsh words can make him. He keeps +his poor shivering clerk in a small tank-like ground-room till the last +minute of his stipulated time, and then dismisses him with an angry growl. +He goes to his usual melancholy tavern to eat his melancholy dinner, +amuses himself in the evening with his banker's book, and then retires to +his dreary chambers. He had once a partner, a counterpart of himself, who +has been dead for many a year; and while sitting in his lonely room, over +a low fire, the ghost of the deceased partner enters, although the door is +double-locked. He wears a heavy chain, forged of keys and safes; and, like +Hamlet's ghost, tells of the heavy penance he is doomed to suffer in +spirit for sins committed in the flesh. He has come to warn his partner, +and to give him a chance of amendment. He tells him he will be visited by +three Spirits, on the three following nights, and bids him mark well what +they shall disclose. SCROOGE instantly falls asleep, and does not wake +till the appointed hour. The three spirits are of Christmas Past, +Christmas Present, and Christmas to Come. The ghost of Christmas Past +stands by SCROOGE'S bedside, of an uncertain form, though the belt round +its body is wondrous light, and a flame shoots up from its head. Yet the +figure fluctuates in distinctness, now one part being visible and now +another. The spirit seizes the hand of SCROOGE, and they float through the +air together. The old man is taken to the haunts of his childhood, and he +is conscious of 'a thousand odors floating in the air, each one connected +with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long, long +forgotten.' Each circumstance of the time past is restored. The village +school; a boy left deserted in the school-room, whom SCROOGE recognises as +his former self reading 'Robinson Crusoe;' till at last a lovely girl, who +throws her arms round the boy's neck, and bids him come home to a 'merry, +merry Christmas.' Then the scene changes, and SCROOGE is once more in the +house of the kind-hearted master of his youth, who loved to keep Christmas +as it was kept in the olden time, and he recognises himself the most +joyous of the joyous group. Then comes the scene of his manhood, when he +deserted his betrothed for a wealthier bride; and last, he views the girl +he had deserted, the mother of a happy blooming family. This picture is +delightfully sketched; it is enough to make a bachelor in love with +wedlock. The scene is too affecting for the changed and worldly miser; he +implores to be removed from the familiar place; he wrestles with the +spirit, and awakened by the struggle, finds himself once more in his own +room, and in darkness. + +Again he has a long sleep. Christmas Present comes in the shape of a +giant, with a holly-green robe. SCROOGE perceives him seated in his room, +with his noble head crowned with holly wreath studded with icicles, +reaching to the ceiling. His throne is a wine-cask and his foot-stool a +twelfth-cake. In his hand he bears a blazing torch, from which he +sprinkles down gladness upon every threshhold he enters. An immense fire +glows and crackles in the grate, the walls and ceiling are hung with +living green, and all around are heaped up the choice provisions collected +to make Christmas glad. The giant leads SCROOGE forth. They pass through +streets and lanes, with every house bearing token of rejoicing by its +roaring fire or its sprig of holly, till they come to the dwelling of poor +BOB CRATCHIT, old SCROOGE'S clerk. And here ensues a picture worthy of +WILKIE in his best days: + + 'Perhaps it was the pleasure the good Spirit had in showing off + his power, or else it was his own kind, generous, hearty nature, + and his sympathy with all poor men, that led him straight to + Scrooge's clerk's; for there he went, and took Scrooge with him, + holding to his robe; and on the threshhold of the door the Spirit + smiled, and stopped to bless Bob Cratchit's dwelling with the + sprinkling of his torch. Think of that! Bob had but fifteen 'Bob' + a week himself; he pocketed on Saturdays but fifteen copies of his + Christian name; and yet the Ghost of Christmas Present blessed his + four-roomed house! + + 'Then up rose Mrs. Cratchit, Cratchit's wife, dressed out but + poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribands, which are + cheap and make a goodly show for sixpence; and she laid the cloth, + assisted by Belinda Cratchit, second of her daughters, also brave + in ribands; while Master Peter Cratchit plunged a fork into the + saucepan of potatoes, and getting the corners of his monstrous + shirt-collar (Bob's private property, conferred upon his son and + heir in honor of the day) into his mouth, rejoiced to find himself + so gallantly attired, and yearned to show his linen in the + fashionable Parks. And now two smaller Cratchits, boy and girl, + came tearing in, screaming that outside the baker's they had smelt + the goose, and known it for their own; and basking in luxurious + thoughts of sage-and-onions, these young Cratchits danced about + the table, and exalted Master Peter Cratchit to the skies, while + he (not proud, although his collars nearly choked him) blew the + fire, until the slow potatoes, bubbling up, knocked proudly at the + sauce-pan lid to be let out and peeled. + + ''What has ever got your precious father, then?' said Mrs. + Cratchit. 'And your brother, Tiny Tim; and Martha warn't as late + last Christmas Day by half-an-hour!' + + ''Here's Martha, mother!' said a girl, appearing as she spoke. + + ''Here's Martha, mother!' cried the two young Cratchits. 'Hurrah! + There's _such_ a goose, Martha!' + + ''Why, bless your heart alive, my dear, how late you are!' said + Mrs. Cratchit, kissing her a dozen times, and taking off her shawl + and bonnet for her, with officious zeal. + + ''We'd a deal of work to finish up last night,' replied the girl, + 'and had to clear away this morning, mother!' + + ''Well! Never mind so long as you are come,' said Mrs. Cratchit. + 'Sit ye down before the fire, my dear, and have a warm, Lord bless + ye!' + + ''No, no! There's father coming,' cried the two young Cratchits, + who were every where at once. 'Hide, Martha, hide!' + + 'So Martha hid herself, and in came little Bob, the father, with + at least three feet of comforter, exclusive of the fringe, hanging + down before him; and his thread-bare clothes darned up and + brushed, to look seasonable; and Tiny Tim upon his shoulder. Alas + for Tiny Tim, he bore a little crutch, and had his limbs supported + by an iron frame! + + ''Why, where's our Martha?' cried Bob Cratchit looking round. + + ''Not coming,' said Mrs. Cratchit. + + ''Not coming!' said Bob, with a sudden declension in his high + spirits; for he had been Tim's blood horse all the way from + church, and had come home rampant. 'Not coming upon Christmas + Day!' + + 'Martha didn't like to see him disappointed, if it were only in + joke; so she came out prematurely from behind the closet door, and + ran into his arms, while the two young Cratchits hustled Tiny Tim, + and bore him off into the wash-house, that he might hear the + pudding singing in the copper. + + ''And how did little Tim behave?' asked Mrs. Cratchit, when she + had rallied Bob on his credulity, and Bob had hugged his daughter + to his heart's content. + + ''As good as gold,' said Bob, 'and better. Somehow he gets + thoughtful sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest + things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the + people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it + might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day who made + lame beggars walk, and blind men see.' + + 'Bob's voice was tremulous when he told them this, and trembled + more when he said that Tiny Tim was growing strong and hearty. + + 'His active little crutch was heard upon the floor, and back came + Tiny Tim before another word was spoken, escorted by his brother + and sister to his stool beside the fire; and while Bob, turning up + his cuffs, as if, poor fellow, they were capable of being made + less shabby, compounded some hot mixture in a jug with gin and + lemons, and stirred it round and round, and put it on the hob to + simmer; Master Peter and the two ubiquitous young Cratchits went + to fetch the goose, with which they soon returned in high + procession. + + 'Such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the + rarest of all birds; a feathered phenomenon, to which a black swan + was a matter of course: and, in truth, it was something very like + it in that house. Mrs. Cratchit made the gravy (ready before-hand + in a little saucepan) hissing hot; Master Peter mashed the + potatoes with incredible vigour; Miss Belinda sweetened up the + apple-sauce; Martha dusted the hot plates; Bob took Tiny Tim + beside him in a tiny corner at the table; the two young Cratchits + set chairs for every body, not forgetting themselves, and, + mounting guard upon their posts, crammed spoons into their mouths, + lest they should shriek for goose before their turn came to be + helped. At last the dishes were set on, and grace was said. It was + succeeded by a breathless pause, as Mrs. Cratchit, looking slowly + all along the carving-knife, prepared to plunge it in the breast; + but when she did, and when the long expected gush of stuffing + issued forth, one murmur of delight arose all round the board, and + even Tiny Tim, excited by the two young Cratchits, beat on the + table with the handle of his knife, and feebly cried Hurrah! + + 'There never was such a goose. Bob said he didn't believe there + ever was such a goose cooked. Its tenderness and flavor, size and + cheapness, were the themes of universal admiration. Eked out by + the apple-sauce and mashed potatoes, it was a sufficient dinner + for the whole family; indeed, as Mrs. Cratchit said with great + delight (surveying one small atom of a bone upon the dish,) they + hadn't ate it all at last! Yet every one had had enough, and the + youngest Cratchits in particular, were steeped in sage and onion + to the eyebrows! But now, the plates being changed by Miss + Belinda, Mrs. Cratchit left the room alone--too nervous to bear + witnesses--to take the pudding up, and bring it in. + + 'Suppose it should not be done enough! Suppose it should break in + turning out! Suppose somebody should have got over the wall of the + back-yard, and stolen it, while they were merry with the goose: a + supposition at which the two young Cratchits became livid! All + sorts of horrors were supposed. + + 'Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper. + A smell like a washing-day! That was the cloth. A smell like an + eating house, and a pastry cook's next door to each other, with a + laundress's next door to that? That was the pudding. In half a + minute Mrs. Cratchit entered: flushed, but smiling proudly: with + the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, + blazing in half-a-quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with + Christmas holly stuck into the top. + + ''Oh, a wonderful pudding!' Bob Cratchit said, and calmly too, + that he regarded it as the greatest success achieved by Mrs. + Cratchit since their marriage. Mrs. Cratchit said that now the + weight was off her mind, she would confide she had had her doubts + about the quantity of flour. Everybody had something to say about + it, but nobody said or thought it was at all a small pudding for a + large family. It would have been flat heresy to do so. Any + Cratchit would have blushed to hint at such a thing. + + 'At last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the + hearth swept, and the fire made up. The compound in the jug being + tasted and considered perfect, apples and oranges were put upon + the table, and a shovel-full of chestnuts on the fire. Then all + the Cratchit family drew round the hearth, in what Bob Cratchit + called a circle, meaning half a one; and at Bob Cratchit's elbow + stood the family display of glass; two tumblers, and a custard-cup + without a handle. + + 'These held the hot stuff from the jug, however, as well as golden + goblets would have done: and Bob served it out with beaming looks, + while the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and crackled noisily. + Then Bob proposed: + + ''A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!' + + 'Which all the family re-echoed. + + ''God bless us every one!' said Tiny Tim, last of all. + + 'He sat very close to his father's side, upon his little stool. + Bob held his withered little hand in his, as if he loved the + child, and wished to keep him by his side, and dreaded that he + might be taken from him.' + +Could any thing be more life-like, more beautiful, more touching, than +this description? But let us skip the journeyings of Christmas Present for +a moment, that we may accompany Christmas to Come to the dwelling of poor +BOB CRATCHIT: + + 'The Ghost conducted him through several streets familiar to his + feet; and as they went along, Scrooge looked here and there to + find himself, but nowhere was he to be seen. They entered poor Bob + Cratchit's house; the dwelling he had visited before; and found + the mother and the children seated round the fire. + + 'Quiet. Very quiet. The noisy little Cratchits were as still as + statues in one corner, and sat looking up at Peter, who had a book + before him. The mother and her daughters were engaged in sewing. + But surely they were very quiet! + + ''And He took a child, and set him in the midst of them.' + + 'Where had Scrooge heard those words? He had not dreamed them. The + boy must have read them out, as he and the Spirit crossed the + threshhold. Why did he not go on? + + 'The mother laid her work upon the table, and put her hand up to + her face. + + ''The color hurts my eyes,' she said. + + 'The color? Ah, poor Tiny Tim! + + ''They're better now again,' said Cratchit's wife. 'It makes them + weak by candle-light; and I wouldn't show weak eyes to your father + when he comes home, for the world. It must be near his time.' + + ''Past it, rather,' Peter answered, shutting up his book. 'But I + think he's walked a little slower than he used, these few last + evenings, mother.' + + 'They were very quiet again. At last she said, and in a steady, + cheerful voice, that only faltered once: + + ''I have known him walk with--I have known him walk with Tiny Tim + upon his shoulder, very fast, indeed.' + + ''And so have I,' cried Peter. 'Often.' + + ''And so have I!' exclaimed another. So had all. + + ''But he was very light to carry,' she resumed, intent upon her + work, 'and his father loved him so, that it was no trouble--no + trouble. And there is your father at the door!' + + 'She hurried out to meet him; and Bob in his comforter--he had + need of it, poor fellow--came in. His tea was ready for him on the + hob, and they all tried who should help him to it most. Then the + two young Cratchits got upon his knees and laid, each child a + little cheek, against his face, as if they said, 'Don't mind it, + father. Don't be grieved!' + + 'Bob was very cheerful with them, and spoke pleasantly to all the + family. He looked at the work upon the table, and praised the + industry and speed of Mrs. Cratchit and the girls. They would be + done long before Sunday, he said. + + ''Sunday! You went to-day then, Robert?' said his wife. + + ''Yes, my dear,' returned Bob. 'I wish you could have gone. It + would have done you good to see how green a place it is. But + you'll see it often. I promised him that I would walk there on a + Sunday. My little, little child!' cried Bob. 'My little child!' + + 'He broke down all at once. He couldn't help it. If he could have + helped it, he and his child would have been further apart, + perhaps, than they were. + + 'He left the room, and went up stairs into the room above, which + was lighted cheerfully, and hung with Christmas. There was a chair + set close beside the child, and there were signs of some one + having been there lately. Poor Bob sat down in it, and when he had + thought a little and composed himself, he kissed the little face. + He was reconciled to what had happened, and went down again quite + happy.' + +'Let not that man be trusted' who can read this affecting picture of +parental love for a poor little cripple-boy, without feeling the +tear-drops swelling to his eyes. But let us return and take one more +excursion with the former Spirit. Observe the faithfulness and the range +of the writer's imagination: + + 'And now, without a word of warning from the Ghost, they stood + upon a bleak and desert moor, where monstrous masses of rude stone + were cast about, as though it were the burial-place of giants; and + water spread itself wheresoever it listed--or would have done so, + but for the frost that held it prisoner; and nothing-grew but moss + and furze, and coarse, rank grass. Down in the west the setting + sun had left a streak of fiery red, which glared upon the + desolation for an instant, like a sullen eye, and frowning lower, + lower, lower yet, was lost in the thick gloom of darkest night. + + ''What place is this?' asked Scrooge. + + ''A place where Miners live, who labor in the bowels of the + earth,' returned the Spirit. 'But they know me. See!' + + 'A light shone from the window of a hut, and swiftly they advanced + toward it. Passing through the wall of mud and stone, they found a + cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire. An old, old man + and woman, with their children and their children's children, and + another generation beyond that, all decked out gaily in their + holiday attire. The old man, in a voice that seldom rose above the + howling of the wind upon the barren waste, was singing them a + Christmas song; it had been a very old song when he was a boy; and + from time to time they all joined in the chorus. So surely as they + raised their voices, the old man got quite blithe and loud; and so + surely as they stopped, his vigor sank again. + + 'The Spirit did not tarry here, but bade Scrooge hold his robe, + and passing on above the moor, sped whither? Not to sea? To sea. + To Scrooge's horror, looking back, he saw the last of the land, a + frightful range of rocks, behind them; and his ears were deafened + by the thundering of water, as it rolled, and roared, and raged + among the dreadful caverns it had worn, and fiercely tried to + undermine the earth. + + 'Built upon a dismal reef of sunken rocks, some league or so from + the shore, on which the waters chafed and dashed, the wild year + through, there stood a solitary lighthouse. Great heaps of seaweed + clung to its base, and storm-birds--born of the wind one might + suppose, as sea-weed of the water--rose and fell about it, like + the waves they skimmed. + + 'But even here, two men who watched the light had made a fire, + that through the loophole in the thick stone wall shed out a ray + of brightness on the awful sea. Joining their horny hands over the + rough table at which they sat, they wished each other a Merry + Christmas in their can of grog; and one of them--the elder, too, + with his face all damaged and scarred with hard weather, as the + figurehead of an old ship might be--struck up a sturdy song that + was like a Gale in itself. + + 'Again the Ghost sped on, above the black and heaving sea--on, + on--until, being far away, as he told Scrooge, from any shore, + they lighted on a ship. They stood beside the helmsman at the + wheel, the look-out in the bow, the officers who had the watch; + dark, ghostly figures in their several stations: but every man + among them hummed a Christmas tune, or had a Christmas thought, or + spoke below his breath to his companion of some bygone Christmas + Day, with homeward hopes belonging to it. And every man on board, + waking or sleeping, good or bad, had had a kinder word for another + on that day than on any day in the year; and had shared to some + extent in its festivities: and had remembered those he cared for + at a distance, and had known that they delighted to remember + him.' + +The second of these spirits accompanies SCROOGE to a scene that is well +worth seeing, and the like of which many of our readers have doubtless +often encountered--a regular Christmas frolic; in the present instance at +the residence of his nephew, who has a sister, a lovely, plump damsel, +with a lace tucker: she was pretty, exceedingly pretty. 'With a dimpled, +surprised-looking, capital face; a ripe little mouth, that seemed made to +be kissed, as no doubt it was; all kinds of good little dots about her +chin, that melted into one another when she laughed; and the sunniest pair +of eyes you ever saw in any little creature's head. Altogether she was +what you would have called provoking, you know; but satisfactory, too. Oh, +perfectly satisfactory!' Is not the following a most glowing sketch +of a well known pastime? + + 'But they didn't devote the whole evening to music. After a while + they played at forfeits; for it is good to be children sometimes, + and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a + child himself. Stop! There was first a game at blindman's buff. Of + course there was. And I no more believe Topper was really blind + than I believe he had eyes in his boots. My opinion is, that it + was a done thing between him and Scrooge's nephew; and that the + Ghost of Christmas Present knew it. The way he went after that + plump sister in the lace tucker, was an outrage on the credulity + of human nature. Knocking down the fire-irons, tumbling over the + chairs, bumping up against the piano, smothering himself among the + curtains, wherever she went, there went he. He always knew where + the plump sister was. He wouldn't catch any body else. If you had + fallen up against him, as some of them did, and stood there; he + would have made a feint endeavoring to seize you, which would have + been an affront to your understanding: and would instantly have + sidled off in the direction of the plump sister. She often cried + out that it wasn't fair; and it really was not. But when, at last, + he caught her; when, in spite of all her silken rustlings, and her + rapid flutterings past him, he got her into a corner whence there + was no escape; then his conduct was the most execrable. For his + pretending not to know her; his pretending that it was necessary + to touch her head-dress, and farther to assure himself of her + identity by pressing a certain ring upon her finger, and a certain + chain about her neck; was vile, monstrous! No doubt she told him + her opinion of it, when, another blindman being in office, they + were so very confidential together, behind the curtains.' + +The Ghost of Christmas to Come is the third spirit. It is a stately +figure, surrounded in black and impenetrable drapery. It leads SCROOGE +into the heart of the city, and he hears his acquaintance talking +jestingly of one departed; into the Exchange, and he sees another standing +against his peculiar pillar; into a haunt of infamy, where wretches are +dividing the spoils and hoardings of the dead; into a wretched room, where +a corpse lies shrouded, whose face Scrooge dares not uncover; into +dwellings made miserable by the grasping avarice of those who had wealth +they could not use; into his nephew's house, shorn of its comforts, where +the inmates, care-worn and weary, are wringing their hands with distress; +into poor BOB CRATCHIT'S abode, made cheerless by death; and lastly, into +a sad churchyard, where, on the stone of a neglected grave, is inscribed +his own name! He implores the spirit to say whether these shadows may not +be changed by an altered life. Its trembling hand seems to give consent. +He pleads earnestly for a more decisive sign, and while he does so, the +phantom dwindles down into a bed-post, and SCROOGE sits upright in his +bed. Who cannot imagine the conclusion? It is broad day. He looks out of +the window: the bells are ringing; the people are going to church; all +proclaim it as Christmas Day. The future is yet before him, and he is +resolved to make the most of it. The prize turkey is got in haste from the +neighboring poulterer's, and sent by a cab to BOB CRATCHIT'S; and SCROOGE +hastens off to his nephew's to dinner, where he finds the vision of the +spirit realized. SCROOGE from that hour is another and a better man. We +have in conclusion but three words to say to every reader of the +KNICKERBOCKER who may peruse our notice of this production: READ THE WORK. + + + WANDERINGS OF A JOURNEYMAN TAILOR THROUGH EUROPE AND THE EAST. Between + the years 1824 and 1840. By P. D. HOLTHAUS, Journeyman Tailor, from + Werdohl, in Westphalia. Translated from the third German edition, by + WILLIAM HOWITT. J. WINCHESTER: 'New World' Press. + +An air of great simplicity and truth pervades this wander-book of the +German schneider. Mr. HOWITT tells us, that when in the autumn of 1840 he +returned to his native village, a great reputation preceded him, and all +came, eager to see the brave traveller, and to listen to the relation of +his adventures. He never sought purposely to turn conversation upon the +subject of his travels, nor to impress an idea of his own importance; but +when he was drawn into discourse, it was speedily found that he had noted +and deeply impressed on his mind every thing with a truly admirable +interest, and an acute spirit of observation, for one of his rank and +education; that he had not merely passed through the countries, but had +gleaned valuable matter on his journey; various things which he had +brought with him testified this interest, such as different kinds of coin, +engravings, plans of cities, etc. We have found, on an examination +necessarily cursory, the commendatory remarks of the Berlin +_Gesellschafter_ upon this work to be well deserved: 'We see in the +individual expressions almost every where the evidence of its being the +production of immediate observation. There prevails through the whole a +noble simplicity and singleness of purpose, a genuinely German sound mode +of thinking; here and there is not wanting a humorous and pithy remark. +The author sees in every place nature and men without spectacles, and +thence it arises that we acquire from his book a more living and actual +view of foreign countries, especially of Egypt, Palestine, and Turkey, +than was the case from the travelled labors of many a learned and +celebrated man. Frequently, nay almost always, it is a fact, that the +learned are destitute of the opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of the +real life of the people, while it is exactly here that the greatest +peculiarity of the manners and customs of foreigners is to be found. Our +honest hand-worker lived among the people, and therefore possessed the +best means to describe them in graphic characters.' There is something +very forcible and comprehensive in the subjoined passage from the author's +preface. It is indeed a sort of compendium of the most interesting portion +of the writer's journeyings: + + 'From my youth up, it was my most living desire to see the world. + When I heard or read of foreign lands, I became sad at heart, and + thought: 'Wert thou but of years that thou couldst travel!' Now + are all the wishes of my youth fulfilled. I have made the attempt + by land and water, and that in three quarters of the world. I have + wandered several times through GERMANY, POLAND, HUNGARY, and + WALLACHIA; I was a long time in BUDAPEST and CONSTANTINOPLE; and + undertook, with the money which I had saved there, a pilgrimage + through EGYPT to the HOLY LAND. I kneeled at the BIRTH-PLACE and + the SEPULCHRE of the SAVIOUR; stood in adoration on the holy MOUNT + ZION, on TABOR, GOLGOTHA, and the MOUNT OF OLIVES; bathed in + JORDAN; washed myself in the LAKE OF GENNESARETH; looked in vain + around me on the DEAD SEA for living objects; was in the workshop + of ST. JOSEPH; and in many other holy places of which the sacred + Scriptures make mention. Thence I returned to Constantinople, and + betook myself through Athens, where I worked nearly a year, and + thence through Italy, France, and Belgium, homeward to my + Fatherland.' + +The first German edition of fifteen hundred copies of the work was at once +exhausted; a second speedily followed; a third was soon announced; and the +fourth is doubtless ere this before a wide class of German readers. We +cheerfully commend the book to the public acceptance. + + + BENTHAMIANA: OR SELECT EXTRACTS FROM THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM. With + an Outline Opinion on the Principal Subjects discussed in his Works. + In one volume, pp. 446. Philadelphia: LEA AND BLANCHARD. New-York: + WILEY AND PUTNAM. + +This work contains a copious selection of those passages in the works of +JEREMY BENTHAM which appear to be chiefly distinguished for merit of a +simply rhetorical character; which, appearing often in the midst of long +and arduous processes of reasoning, or in the course of elaborate +descriptions of minute practical arrangements, demanding from an active +mind severe thought and unflagging attention, have scarcely had their due +weight with the general reader, nor secured their just meed of admiration. +He was singularly careless, writes his editor, in distributing his +pleasing illustrations of playfulness, or pathos, or epigrammatic +expression. His 'mission' he considered to be that of an instructor and +improver; and the flowers which, equally with more substantial things, +were the produce of his vigorous intellect, he looked upon as scarcely +worthy of passing attention, and deserving of no more notice than to be +permitted to grow wherever the more valued objects of his labors left them +a little room. The volume comprehends a vast variety of sound opinion, and +able though brief argument upon themes which relate to the social, moral +and religious well-being of mankind. Touching the style of the writer, as +evinced in these selections, we should say that it was formed mainly upon +a due avoidance of prolixity, (an observance not always characteristic of +BENTHAM'S writings,) concerning which he himself very justly remarks: +'Prolixity may be where redundancy is not. Prolixity may arise not only +from the multifarious insertion of unnecessary articles, but from the +conservation of too many necessary ones in a sentence; as a workman may be +overladen not only with rubbish, which is of no use for him to carry, but +with materials the most useful and necessary, when heaped up in loads too +heavy for him at once.' A useful hint this, to unpractised writers. + + + THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN BURNS AND CLARINDA. With a Memoir of Mrs. + M'LEHOSE, (CLARINDA.) Arranged and edited by her Grandson, W. C. + M'LEHOSE. In one volume, pp. 293. New-York: R. P. BIXBY AND COMPANY. + +We have no doubt that the contents of this well-executed little volume are +altogether authentic; full particulars relative to the custody and +authenticity of the correspondence and the state of preservation of the +original manuscripts being given in the preface. But we are very sorry to +say so much against the book as this fact implies. It would be far better +for the reputation of the immortal Bard of Scotland, if some hereditary +friend, chary of his undying fame, were to come before the public with a +pamphlet disproving entirely the agency of BURNS in this correspondence. +To those who are acquainted with previous records in the private history +of the world-renowned poet, it is painful to convict him, out of his own +mouth, of duplicity in matters of the heart; of insincerity in the +profession of simultaneous passion for various lovers; and of other acts +which are alike indefensible and disreputable. We must needs marvel too +that the 'CLARINDA' of the correspondence should have been doomed by a +near descendant to the exposure inseparable from the revelations of this +volume. That the treatment which she received at the hands of one whose +duty it was to 'love, cherish, and protect' her, was equally undeserved +and inexcusable, we can well believe; but that the 'platonic attachment,' +which sprung up in a night, like the gourd of JONAH, and gradually waxed +to 'passion at fever-heat,' was justified by these facts, or sanctioned by +propriety, or that its history in detail is calculated to elevate the +character of woman, or exercise a healthful moral influence, we have just +as little reason to doubt. There is a sprinkling of verse in an appendix, +which BURNS was good enough to praise. It is of that kind 'which neither +gods nor men permit;' and is conclusive, not of BURNS'S judgment, but of +his 'tender' sycophancy. + + + + +EDITOR'S TABLE. + + +SOME 'SENTIMENTS' ON SONNETS, WITH SUNDRY SPECIMENS.--Thanks to our +ever-welcome correspondent, 'T. W. P.' for his pleasant, pertinent and +improving sentiments on sonnets. Arriving at too late an hour for a place +among our guests at the _table d' hôte_, perhaps he will not object to sit +at our humble side-table, and converse familiarly with the reader; since, +as honest SANCHO remarked of the Duke, 'Wherever _he_ sits, there will be +the _first place_.' Our friend has a fruitful theme. How many borrowed +prose-passages have we seen, with their original brightness dimmed or +deflected in a sorry sonnet! Nine in ten of our modern examples in this +kind, when one comes to analyze them, will be found to consist of stolen +ideas, combined with what SOUTHEY would call 'bubble, and bladder, and +tympany.' But perpend the subjoined: 'Ever since the fatal days of +PETRARCH AND GUIDO CAVALIANTI, mankind have suffered more or less from the +chronic infliction of Sonnets. With them indeed the complaint was +constitutional, and came in the natural way; under so mild and gentle a +form withal, that little danger was to be apprehended for Italian +temperaments, except a degree of languor, general debility, and a +disagreeable singing in the ears. It was only when it worked its way into +English blood, that the virus assumed its most baneful character. +SHAKSPEARE, among other illustrious victims, was afflicted by it in his +youth, but seems to have recovered during his residence in the metropolis. +Possibly the favor of the royal hand might have proved more beneficial +than that of the Earl of Southampton. Perhaps he was _touched_ for it by +ELIZABETH, as JOHNSON was by Queen ANNE for the scrofula. However that may +be, we know very well that the disorder is now rooted among us, and that +every week produces decided cases of Sonnets, sometimes so severe as to be +intolerable. In this condition of the mental health of our country, since +the evil cannot be cured, it were a work at once philanthropical and +patriotic, so to modify it and regulate its attacks, that it may settle +down into a moderate degree of annoyance, like the lighter afflictions of +mild measles and mumps. We can always calculate upon the duration of each +'fytte,' as none ever exceeds the fourteenth spasm. When the just +dozen-and-two convulsions are past, the danger is over, and the offensive +matter may be removed by a newspaper, or discharged into some appropriate +magazine. There is good reason for designating the complaint as a +_periodical_ one. + +We intend, one of these days, provided our remarks attract sufficient +attention, to publish a volume upon this subject. We have the materiel by +us and about us; and as soon as we can make arrangements with Mr. POH for +a puff in the 'North-American Review,' or the 'Southern Literary +Messenger,' we shall broach the affair to Mr. FIELDS, the enterprising +publisher. We have moreover desired Mr. WHIPPLE to write to his friend Mr. +MACAULAY in England, who will doubtless be proud to foster American +letters by a hoist in the 'Edinburgh.' There is only one other thing +absolutely requisite for the success of the book, and that is the +appearance of this article in the KNICKERBOCKER. Befriend me then with +your fine taste, renowned HERR DIEDRICH! and give me room. I shall not +dive deeply into the matter now; but for the good of my young countrymen, +the labor of whose brains is incompatible with a fruitful development of +whiskers, I wish to put forth a page of advice that may save them a world +of fatigue. It is common with those who are far gone in this tuneful +disorder to set up late o' nights and tipple coffee. Under my new system, +I will engage that they may retire to bed on mulled-punch nightly, at +eleven, and yet effect all that they now perform with the greatest injury +to their eyes and complexions. But _pocas pallabras_--enough of this +preface: will not the thing speak for itself? There needs no farther +introduction for these brief extracts from the aforesaid work: + +THE EASIEST WAY OF DISCHARGING A SONNET. + +A SONNET (as before stated) consists of fourteen and no more spasms. They +are calm, deliberate twinges, however, and upon a homoeopathical +principle, the great object should be to get over each one in the calmest +possible manner; _idem cum eodem_. The thing cannot be treated too coolly, +for its very essence is dull deliberation. The name sonnet is probably +derived, through the Italian _sonno_, from the Latin word for sleep, in +allusion to its lethargic quality. The best mode of encouraging the efflux +of the peccant humor is for the patient to have a cigar in his mouth. The +narcotic fumes of tobacco are highly favorable to its ejection. The first +step then is the selection of rhymes. Fourteen of these in their proper +order should be written perpendicularly on the right hand of a smooth +sheet of white paper. When this is done, it is necessary to read them +over, up and down, several times, until some general idea of a subject or +a title suggests itself. Great care must be taken, in the selection of +rhymes, to get as original ones as possible, and such as shall strike the +eye. Still greater should be the precaution not to choose such incongruous +rhymes as may not easily be welded together or amalgamated into one whole +by the mercury of fancy. For instance, it would be well to avoid coupling +such words as moon and spoon, breeze and cheese and sneeze; Jove and +stove; hope and soap; all which it might be difficult to bring together +harmoniously. Here the artist, the man of true science, will discover +himself. SHELLEY affords a good choice of rhymes; chasm and spasm; rift +and drift; ravine and savin, are useful conjunctions. If you have a +ravine, it will be very easy to stick in a savin, but you must avoid a +_spavin_, or your verse may halt for it. This we call being artistical. +_Benissimo!_ then. Having fixed upon your subject, all you have to do is +to fill up the lines to match the ends, and this, in one evening's +practice, will become as easy, the same thing in fact, as the filling up +of the blank form of an ordinary receipt. + +But the most expeditious and surest way of procuring a good Sonnet is the +Division of Labor System. This has often been unconsciously practised by +modern poets, but it has never been explicitly set forth till now. Every +body knows that even in the fabrication of so small a thing as a needle, +the process is facilitated by dividing it among a number of hands; as to +one the eye, to another the point, to one the grinding, to another the +polishing. In the same way, to render a sonnet pointed and sharp, to +polish it and insure it against cutting the thread of its argument, the +work should be performed by two or more. Every sonnet, in short, ought to +be a translation. I do not say a translation from the German or any other +jargon, but a translation from English--from one man's into another man's +English. It is absurd for one workman to do both rhyming and thinking. In +this go-ahead age and country, that were a palpable waste of time. Take +any 'matter-ful' author, cut out a juicy slice of his thought, and make +that your material. Trim it, compress it, turn it and twist it upside down +and inside out, vary it any way but the author's own, and you will be +likely to effect a speedy and wholesome operation. What a saving of time +is here! Who will be silly enough to manufacture his own thinkings into +verse when the world is so full of excellent stuff as yet unwrought in the +great mine of letters? Let us not burn up our own native forests while we +can fetch coals from Newcastle. What a pleasant prospect for readers too! +A man may be sure _then_, that a sonnet shall contain a thought. He will +not be gulled into experiments upon decent-looking, respectable dross and +plausible inanity. He shall not dig hungrily for an idea, and be filled +with volumes of wind. With the fourteenth pang his anxiety shall be over, +and he shall drop asleep satisfied; _tandem dormitum dimittitur_. + +Not to anticipate farther our forthcoming book, nor to forestall the +critics in any more extracts, we shall lay before the reader two or three +samples of work done according to this system. CARLYLE has furnished our +raw material. His pages are so full of poetry that little time need be +expended in selecting a fit piece for working up. See now if these be not +sonnets which BOWLES might have been proud to claim. Each one is warranted +to contain a thought; an hour or so would suffice for the completion of +half a dozen such. Observe too, that little deviation is necessary from +the original, the words falling naturally into both rhythm and rhyme. We +commence with a few translations from Carlyle. The initial specimen is +taken from Herr TEUFELSDRÖCKH'S remarks on BONAPARTE. This is the passage: + + 'The man (NAPOLEON) was a Divine Missionary, though unconscious of + it, and preached through the cannon's throat this great doctrine: + _La carrière ouverte aux talens_; 'The Tools to him that can + handle them.' · · · Madly enough he preached, it is true, as + Enthusiasts and first Missionaries are wont, with imperfect + utterance, amid much frothy rant, yet as articulately perhaps as + the case admitted. Or call him, if you will, an American + Backwoodsman, who had to fell unpenetrated forests, and battle + with innumerable wolves, and did not entirely forbear strong + liquor, rioting, and even theft; whom notwithstanding the peaceful + Sower will follow, and as he cuts the boundless harvest, bless.' + + SARTOR RESARTUS: BOOK II., CHAP. VIII. + +SONNET I.--NAPOLEON. + + Napoleon was a Missionary merely, + Who through the cannon's throat this truth expressed, + Unconsciously, divinely and sincerely, + _The Tools to him that handles 'em the best._ + Madly enough, indeed, the man did preach, + Amid much rant, as all Enthusiasts do, + And yet with as articulate a speech + As the strange case, perhaps, allowed him to. + Or call him a Backwoodsman, if you will; + Who, forced to fell unpenetrated woods, + And doomed innumerable wolves to kill, + Got drunk sometimes, and stole his neighbor's goods; + Whom will the Sower follow ne'ertheless, + And as he cuts the boundless harvest, bless. + +Or let us try the following description of the Hotel de Ville in the +French Revolution: + + 'O evening sun of July! how at this hour thy beams fall slant on + reapers amid peaceful woody fields; on old women spinning in + cottages; on ships far out on the silent main; on Balls at the + Orangerie of Versailles, where high-rouged dames of the palace are + even now dancing with double-jacketted Hussar officers; and also + on this roaring Hell-porch of a Hotel de Ville. Babel-tower, with + the confusion of tongues, were not Bedlam added with the + conflagration of thoughts, was no type of it. One forest of + distracted steel bristles endless in front of an Electoral + Committee.' + + FRENCH REVOLUTION: BOOK V., CHAP. VII. + +SONNET II.--THE HOTEL DE VILLE. + + O evening sun of most serene July! + How at this hour thy slant refulgence pours + On reapers working in the open sky, + And women spinning at their cottage doors, + On ships far out upon the silent main, + On gay Versailles, where through the light quadrille + Hussars are leading forth a high-rouged train, + And on the hell-porch-like Hotel de Ville. + Not Babel's tower with all its million tongues, + Save Bedlam too therewith had added been, + To mingle burning brains with roaring lungs, + Could feebly imitate that dreadful din; + One endless forest of distracted steel + Bristling around that mad Hotel de Ville! + +Or to return to Professor TEUFELDRÖCKH'S vast chaos of ideas. Let us try +another passage therefrom: + + 'It struck me much as I sat beside the Kuhbach, one silent + noontide, and watched it flowing, gurgling, to think how this same + streamlet had flowed and gurgled through all changes of weather + and of fortune, from beyond the earliest date of history. Yes, + probably on the morning when JOSHUA forded Jordan; even as at the + midday when CÆSAR, doubtless with difficulty, swam the Nile, yet + kept his Commentaries dry; this little Kuhbach, assiduous as + Tiber, Eurotas or Siloa, was murmuring on across the wilderness, + unnamed, unseen.' + + SARTOR RESARTUS: BOOK II., CHAP. III. + +SONNET III.--ETERNITY OF NATURE. + + One silent noonday, as I sat beside + The gurgling flow of Kuhbach's little river, + Methought how, even as I saw it glide, + That stream had flowed and gurgled on forever. + Yes, on the day when JOSHUA passed the flood + Of ancient Jordan; when across the Nile + CÆSAR swam (hardly, doubtless, through the mud,) + Yet kept his Commentaries dry the while, + This little Kuhbach, like Siloa's rill, + Or Tiber's Tide, assiduous and serene, + Ev'n then, the same as now, was murmuring still + Across the wilderness, unnamed, unseen. + Art's but a mushroom--only Nature's old; + In yon grey crag six thousand years behold! + +From the same chapter of the same book we venture one more extract. It is +where the Professor is full of grief and reminiscences; where, reflecting +on his first experience of wo in the death of Father ANDREAS, he becomes +once more spirit-clad in quite inexpressible melancholy, and says, 'I have +now pitched my tent under a cypress-tree,' etc.: + +SONNET IV.--BLISS IN GRIEF. + + Under a cypress-tree I pitch my tent: + The tomb shall be my fortress; at its gate + I sit and watch each hostile armament, + And all the pains and penalties of Fate. + And oh ye loved ones! that already sleep, + Hushed in the noiseless bed of endless rest, + For whom, while living, I could only weep, + But never help in all your sore distress, + And ye who still your lonely burthen bear, + Spilling your blood beneath life's bitter thrall, + A little while and we shall all meet _there_, + And one kind Mother's bosom screen us all; + Oppression's harness will no longer tire + Or gall us there, nor Sorrow's whip of fire. + +But we are borrowing too much from our embryo volume. Patience, dear +Public! until we can find a publisher. In the mean time, examine the +specimens we have presented to you. Can any one tell us where to look for +sonnets, more satisfactory than these? We congratulate our country on the +prospect of our soon having an American literature. Let our industrious +young aspirants try a work in which they may succeed in producing +something of sterling value. A year or two will suffice to turn half the +plodding prose writers of Britain into original poets. Every brilliant +article that appears in the Quarterly might here renascent spring forth +like Arethusa, in a new and more melodious voice; bubbling up in a pretty +epic or stormy lyric. See, for example, how easily SIDNEY SMITH might be +done into rhyme: + +SONNET V. + + I never meet at any public dinner + A Pennsylvanian, but my fingers itch + To pluck his borrowed plumage from the sinner, + And with the spoil the company enrich. + His pocket-handkerchief I would bestow + On the poor orphan; and his worsted socks + Should to the widow in requital go + For having sunk her all in Yankee stocks; + To John the footman I would give his hat, + Which only cost six shillings in Broadway: + As for his diamond ring--I'd speak for that; + His gold watch too my losses might repay: + Himself might home in the next steamer hie, + For who would take him--or his word? Not I. + + +'LEGENDS OF THE CONQUEST OF SPAIN.'--Some eighteen years ago, a work in a +single volume, entitled as above, and written by the author of the +'Sketch-Book,' was issued from the press of MURRAY, the celebrated London +book-seller. It would seem to have been put forth as a kind of +_avant-courier_ of 'The Chronicles of the Conquest of Granada;' but unlike +that elaborate work, was never republished in this country, and has never +been included in any of the complete editions of Mr. IRVING'S writings. We +are indebted to the kind courtesy of a gentleman who has been spending +some months with our distinguished countryman and correspondent at Madrid, +for a copy of the book, which he obtained at that capital. We have good +reason to believe that it has been encountered by few if any readers on +this side the Atlantic. A very stirring extract from its pages will be +found elsewhere in this Magazine. Mr. IRVING introduces the legends to his +readers with a few prefatory sentences, in which he states that he has +ventured to dip more deeply into the enchanted fountains of old Spanish +chronicle than has usually been done by those who have treated of the +eventful period of which he writes; but in so doing, he only more fully +illustrates the character of the people and the times. He has thrown the +records into the form of legends, not claiming for them the authenticity +of sober history, yet giving nothing that had not a historical foundation. +'All the facts herein contained,' says the writer, 'however extravagant +some of them may be deemed, will be found in the works of sage and +reverend chroniclers of yore, growing side by side with long acknowledged +truths, and might be supported by learned and imposing references in the +margin.' To discard every thing wild and marvellous in this portion of +Spanish history is to discard some of its most beautiful, instructive, and +national features; it is to judge of Spain by the standard of probability +suited to tamer and more prosaic countries. Spain is virtually a land of +poetry and romance, where every-day life partakes of adventure, and where +the least agitation or excitement carries every thing up into extravagant +enterprise and daring exploit. The Spaniards in all ages have been of +swelling and braggart spirit, soaring in thought, and valiant though +vainglorious in deed. When the nation had recovered in some degree from +the storm of Moslem invasion, and sage men sought to inquire and write the +particulars of the tremendous reverses which it produced, it was too late +to ascertain them in their exact verity. The gloom and melancholy that had +overshadowed the land had given birth to a thousand superstitious fancies; +the woes and terrors of the past were clothed with supernatural miracles +and portents, and the actors in the fearful drama had already assumed the +dubious characteristics of romance. Or if a writer from among the +conquerors undertook to touch upon the theme, it was embellished with all +the wild extravagances of an oriental imagination, which afterward stole +into the graver works of the monkish historians. Hence the chronicles are +apt to be tinctured with those saintly miracles which savor of the pious +labors of the cloister, or those fanciful fictions that betray their +Arabian Authors. Scarce one of their historical facts but has been +connected in the original with some romantic fiction, and even in its +divorced state, bears traces of its former alliance. The records in +preceding pages are 'illuminated' by these prefatory remarks of our +author, if their _truth_ be not altogether established! How the Count +JULIAN receives the account of the dishonor of his child, and his conduct +thereupon; and how DON RODERICK hastens, through various tribulation, to +his final overthrow; will be matter for another number. Meanwhile the +reader will not fail to note the great beauty of the descriptions, which +in the hands of our great master of the power and beauty of 'the grand old +English tongue,' assume form and color, and stand out like living pictures +to the eye. + + +AMERICAN PTYALISM: 'QUID RIDES?'--A pleasant correspondent, whom our +readers have long known, and as long admired and esteemed, in a familiar +gossip, (by favor of 'Uncle SAMUEL'S mail-bag,) with the Editor, gives us +the following 'running account' of his ruminations over an early-morning +quid of that 'flavorous weed' so well beloved of our friend Colonel STONE. +It is in some sort a defence of American ptyalism, and in the tendency of +its inculcations, reminds us of the arguments in favor of the cultivation +of a refined style of _murder_, which should constitute it one of the fine +arts, to which we gave a place many months back: 'After having in my +broken dreams perambulated every part and parcel of the universe, and then +tossed about for hours on an ocean of bodily discomforts, each a dagger to +repose, and mental disquietudes, of which any one was enough to wither all +the poppies of Somnus, I rose about four o' my watch, and commenced +chewing the narcotic weed of Virginia. For you must know that in childhood +almost, through a precocious mannishness and a desire of experimental +knowledge, I commenced the habit of tobacco-chewing, and the vice born of +a freak, has 'grown with my growth,' till now it holds me as in a 'vice' +screwed up and secured by a giant. (Please observe that there's a pun in +that last sentence.) Where the conventionalities of society compel me to +attidunize my appearance and customs into the stiffness of gentility, I +puff the Havana; but when the privacy of my own room or the solitude of +the roads and fields permit me to vulgarize to my liking, I thrust a ball +of 'Mrs. MILLER'S fine-cut,' or a fragment of the 'natural James' River +sweet,' between the sub-maxillary bone and its carnal casement, and then +masticate and expectorate 'à la Yankee.' or 'more Americano.' Pah! oh! +fie! for shame! and all other interjections indicative of horror, or +expressive of disgust. '_Quousque tandem?_' Beg your pardon, Mrs. +TROLLOPE. '_Quamdiu etiam?_' I implore your commiseration, Captain BASIL. +'_Oh, tempora! oh, mores!_' Have mercy, illustrious and +praise-bespattered, and almost Sir-Waltered BOZ. Do not, under the uneasy +weight of glory, and in the intoxicating consciousness of a right to the +oligarchic exclusiveness of the goose-quill 'haute volèe,' strike right +and left among your sturdy democratic adorers, because they choose to +convert their mandibles into quid-grinders, and their [Greek: chasmat' +odontôn] into ceaseless jet d'eaux of saliva. Reflect that the 'quid' +assists in a philosophic investigation of the 'quiddities' of things, and +that from this habit alone perhaps we have made such advances in casuistry +as to have discovered equity in repudiation, freedom in mobocracy, and the +sword of justice in the bowie-knife. Chewing is eminently democratic, +since all chewers are 'pro hâc _vice_' on a perfect equality, and a +'millionaire;' or, for that matter, a 'billionaire,' if we had him, would +not hesitate to take out of his mouth a moiety of his last 'chew' and give +it to an itinerant Lazarus. What can be more admirable than this 'de bon +air' plebeianism, and universal right-hand of fellowship? Does not he who +extends among the people the use of this democratizing weed, emphatically +give them a '_quid_ pro quo?' Are not slovenliness and filth the virtues +of republics, while neatness and elegance are vices of court-growth, and +expand into their most ramified and minute perfectness of polish only in +the palaces of kings? Furthermore, oh laurelled and triumphant PICKWICK! +if expectoration be filthy, it must be because the 'thing expectorated' is +unclean; and if so, is it not more decent to become rid of the 'unclean +thing' by the readiest process, than to retain it, making the stomach a +receptacle of abominations? And are you, Sir Baronet of the realm +imaginary, subject to no gross corporeal needs and operations? And if, as +you will say, you perform those foul rites in a state of retiracy, are you +not adding the sin of hypocrisy to your preëxistent guilt? If it has +succeeded to you, as to few penny-a-liners, to have emerged by the sale of +your Attic-salt from the attics of Grub-street into the 'swept and +garnished chambers' of the Regent, and if after quaffing the ale of +Bow-street, procured by caricatures of Old Baily reports, you have sipped +your hockheimer, while standing, scarce yet unbewildered, in the gas-light +splendor reflected from the 'vis-á-vis' mirrors of Almack's, yet do not +exalt yourself above all that is fleshly. Reflect that you, so lately +unrivalled, can now see a EUGENE SUE whose brow is umbraged by laurels of +a more luxuriant and lovely green. Cease your expectorations of bile upon +a great people; admit that mastication of the 'odorous vegeble' is a +Spartan virtue; and we will again vote you an Anak in the kingdom of pen +and paper. Then again shall we be led to believe that your praises and +your vituperations are equally unpurchasable. Then once more shall we +think you would swallow no golden pill, nor suffer your throat to be +ulcerated by a silver quinsy.' + + +GOSSIP WITH READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS.--If any of our readers are +desirous of looking into the _rationale_ of irrationality, to employ a +highly 'unitive' phrase, let them take up, if they can command it, the +'_Annual Report of the Managers of the New York State Lunatic Asylum_,' +one of the clearest and most comprehensive documents in its kind that we +have ever perused. It proceeds from the capable pen of A. BRIGHAM, M. D. +the superintendent and physician of the institution, and is full upon the +definition, causes and classification of insanity; the size and shape of +the heads of the patients; the pulse; description of the building; daily +routine of business, diet, labor, amusements, religious worship, visitors, +suggestions to those who have friends whom they expect to commit to the +care of the asylum, etc., etc. The cause of insanity in _fifty_ out of two +hundred and seventy-six patients is attributed to religious anxiety, +produced by long attendance on protracted religious meetings, etc. Want of +sleep is decidedly the most frequent and immediate cause of insanity, and +one the most important to guard against. 'So rarely (says the +superintendent) do you see a recent case of insanity that is not preceded +by want of sleep, that we regard it as almost the sure precursor of mental +derangement.' As evidences of the difficulty of arranging the insane in +classes, founded on symptoms, Dr. BRIGHAM gives us the following synopsis +of individual peculiarities noticed among certain of the inmates of the +Asylum: + + 'In addition to emperors, queens, prophets and priests, we have + one that says he is nobody, a nonentity. One that was never born, + and one that was born of her grandmother, and another dropped by + the devil flying over the world. One has had the throat cut out + and put in wrong, so that what is swallowed passes into the head, + and another has his head cut off and replaced every night. One + thinks himself a child, and talks and acts like a child. Many + appear as if constantly intoxicated. One has the gift of tongues, + another deals in magic, several in animal magnetism. One thinks he + is a white polar bear. A number have hallucinations of sight, + others of hearing. One repeats whatever is said to him, another + repeats constantly words of the same sound, as door, floor. One is + pursued by the sheriff, many by the devil. One has invented the + perpetual motion and is soon to be rich; others have already + acquired vast fortunes: scraps of paper, buttons and chips are to + them, large amounts of money. Many pilfer continually and without + any apparent motive, while others secrete every thing they can + find, their own articles as well as those of others. A majority + are disposed to hoard up trifling and useless articles, as scraps + of tin, leather, strings, nails, buttons, etc., and are much + grieved to part with them. One will not eat unless alone, some + never wish to eat, while others are always starving. One with a + few sticks and straws fills his room with officers and soldiers, + ships and sailors, carriages and horses, the management of which + occupies all his time and thoughts. Some have good memory as + regards most things, and singularly defective as to others. One + does not recollect the names of his associates, which he hears + every hour, yet his memory is good in other respects. One says he + is THOMAS PAINE, author of the 'Age of Reason,' a work he has + never read; another calls himself General WASHINGTON; and one old + lady of diminutive size calls herself General SCOTT, and is never + so good-natured as when thus addressed. One is always in court + attending a trial, and wondering and asking when the court is to + rise. Another has to eat up the building, drink dry the canal, and + swallow the Little Falls village, and is continually telling of + the difficulty of the task.' + +The superintendent prefers a classification founded upon the faculties of +the mind that appear to be disordered; and he thinks he could place all +his patients in one of the three following classes: _Intellectual +Insanity_, or disorder of the intellect without noticeable disturbance of +the feelings and propensities; _Moral Insanity_ or derangement of the +feelings, affections, and passions, without any remarkable disorder of the +intellect; and _General Insanity_, in which both the intellectual +faculties and the feelings and affections are disordered. The State Asylum +is a fine imposing edifice, delightfully situated near the pleasant +village of Utica, in Oneida county, and is becoming greatly distinguished +for success in the treatment and cure of insanity. · · · WE heard a little +anecdote at a _bal costumé_ the other evening, (whether from the dignified +and stately HELEN MACGREGOR or the beautiful MEDORA, we 'cannot well make +out,') which is worth repeating. A retired green-grocer, rejoicing in the +euphonious name of TIBBS, living at Hackney, near London, sorely against +his will, and after warm remonstrance, finally yielded to his wife's +entreaty that he would go in character to a masquerade-ball, given to the +'middling interest' by one of his old neighbors. He went accoutred as a +knight, wearing his visor down. What was his surprise on entering the +room, to find first one and then another member of the motley company +slapping him familiarly on the back, with: 'Halloa! TIBBS! who thought to +see _you_ here! What's the news at Hackney?' In dismay that his ridiculous +secret was out, he hurried from the scene, and hastened home in a state of +great excitement from the mortification to which he had been subjected. 'I +_told_ you I should be known,' said he to his wife; 'I _knew_ I should!' +'No wonder!' she replied; 'you've got your name and residence on your +steel cap: 'Mr. TIBBS, Hackney!'' He had forgotten to remove the address +which the London costumer had affixed to it as a direction! · · · HOW many +thousand times, in thinking of the onward career of our glorious and +thrice-blessed country, have we felt the emotions to which our esteemed +friend and contributor, POLYGON, gives forceful expression in the closing +lines of a beautiful poem of his, which we have encountered to-day for the +first time: + + 'Oh! long through coming ages, born + When _we_ shall slumber cold and still, + The sultry summer will adorn + The verdant vale and hazy hill; + And Autumn walking even and morn + Through bearded wheat and rustling corn, + See Plenty from her streaming horn + His largest wishes fill. + + 'Europe's rich realms will then admire + And emulate our matchless fame, + And Asia burn with fierce desire + To burst her galling bonds of shame! + Greece will resume th' Aonian lyre, + And Rome again to heaven aspire, + And vestal Freedom's quenchless fire + From the pyramids shall flame!' + + * * * * * + +There is a sort of pathetic humor in the following parody by PUNCH upon +the prize exhibitions of cattle in England. A more forcible exposition of +the different condition of the human and brute animal in that country +could not well be conceived. It must be premised that a large hall is +fitted up with pens on either side, and over the head of the occupant +paste-board tickets are appended by the Poor Law Commissioners, detailing +their names, weights, ages, the regimen to which they have been subjected, +and other particulars; as thus: 'PETER SMALL. Aged forty. Weight at period +of admission twelve stone. Confined three months. Present weight nine +stone. Fed principally on water-gruel. Has been separated from his wife +and children in the work-house, and occasionally placed in solitary +confinement for complaining of hunger. Employment, breaking stones.' 'JANE +WELLS. Aged seventy. Weight five stone; lost two stone since her +admission, one month ago. Gruel diet; tea without sugar; potatoes and +salt. Has been set to picking opium.' 'JOHN TOMPKINS. Aged eighty-five. +Has seen better days. On admission, weighed eleven stone, which has been +reduced to eight and three-quarters. Diet, weak soup, with turnips and +carrots; dry bread and cheese-parings; a few ounces of meat occasionally, +when faint. Came to the work-house with his wife, who is five years +younger than himself. Has not been allowed to see her for a month; during +which period has lost in weight two ounces on an average per day. Employed +in carrying coals.' Faithful portraits, no doubt, of thousands who crowd +the thick-clustering pauper-houses of England, who have + + 'No blessed leisure for love nor hope, + But only time for grief!' + + * * * * * + +Our umqwhile New-Haven friend, who commented upon our 'light gossip' a few +months since, will pardon us for quoting, in corroboration of the +exculpatory 'position' which we assumed in alluding to his animadversions, +the following remarks by the author of the 'Charcoal Sketches,' JOSEPH C. +NEAL, Esq.: 'Gossip, goodly gossip, though sometimes sneered at, is after +all the best of our entertainments. We must fall back upon the light web +of conversation, upon chit-chat, as our main-stay, our chief reliance; as +that _corps de reserve_ on which our scattered and wearied forces are to +rally. What is there which will bear comparison as a recreating means, +with the free and unstudied interchange of thought, of knowledge, of +impression about men and things, and all that varied medley of fact, +criticism and conclusion so continually fermenting in the active brain? Be +fearful of those who love it not, and banish such as would imbibe its +delights yet bring no contribution to the common stock. There are men who +seek the reputation of wisdom by dint of never affording a glimpse of +their capabilities, and impose upon the world by silent gravity; negative +philosophers, who never commit themselves beyond the utterance of a +self-evident proposition, or hazard their position by a feat of greater +boldness than is to be found in the avowal of the safe truth which has +been granted for a thousand years. There is a deception here, which should +never be submitted to. Sagacity may be manifest in the nod of Burleigh's +head; but it does not follow that all who nod are Burleighs. He who +habitually says nothing, must be content if he be regarded as having +nothing to say, and it is only a lack of grace on his part which precludes +the confession. In this broad 'Vienna' of human effort, the mere +'looker-on' cannot be tolerated. It is part of our duty to be nonsensical +and ridiculous at times, for the entertainment of the rest of the world. +If we are never to open our mouths until the unsealing of the aperture is +to give evidence of a present Solomon, and to add something to the Book of +Proverbs, we must for the most part, stand like the statue of Harpocrates, +with 'Still your finger on your lips, I pray.' If we do speak, under such +restrictions, it cannot well be, as the world is constituted, more than +once or twice in the course of an existence, the rest of the sojourn upon +earth being devoted to a sublimation of our thought. But always wise, +sensible, sagacious, rational; always in wig and spectacles; always +algebraic and mathematical; doctrinal and didactic; ever to sit like +FRANKLIN'S portrait, with the index fixed upon 'causality;' one might as +well be a petrified 'professor,' or a WILLIAM PENN bronzed upon a +pedestal. There is nothing so good, either in itself or in its effects, as +good nonsense.' Upon reading the foregoing, we laid Mr. YELLOWPLUSH'S +'flattering function' to our soul, that after all, we need not greatly +distrust the reception of our monthly salmagundi, since one good producer +and critic may be held as in some sort an epitome of the public; and +especially, since any one subsection of our hurried Gossip, should it +chance to be dull, or void of interest, may be soon exhausted, or easily +skipped. · · · WE observed lately, in the pages of a monthly contemporary, +an elaborate notice of the poems of ALFRED TENNYSON, who has written many +somewhat affected and several very heartful and exquisite verses; and were +not a little surprised to find no reference to two of the most beautiful +poems in his collection; namely, the 'New-Year's Eve,' and its +'Conclusion.' The first embodies the reflections of a young maiden, +sinking gradually under that fell destroyer, CONSUMPTION. It is new-year's +eve, and she implores her mother to 'call her early,' that she may see the +sun rise upon the glad new year, the last that she shall ever see. How +touchingly the associations of nature are depicted in these stanzas: + + To-night I saw the sun set: he set and left behind + The good old year, the dear old time, and all my peace of mind; + And the New-year's coming up, mother, but I shall never see + The blossom on the black thorn, the leaf upon the tree. + + There's not a flower on all the hills: the frost is on the pane: + I only wish to live till the snow-drops come again: + I wish the snow would melt, and the sun come out on high; + I long to see a flower so before the day I die. + + The building rook will caw from the windy tall elm-tree, + And the tufted plover pipe along the fallow lea, + And the swallow will come back again with summer o'er the wave. + But I shall lie alone, mother, within the mouldering grave. + + Upon the chancel-casement, and upon that grave of mine, + In the early, early morning the summer sun will shine; + Before the red cock crows from the farm upon the hill, + When you are warm asleep, mother, and all the world is still. + + When the flowers shall come again, mother, beneath the waning light, + You'll never see me more in the long gray fields at night: + When from the dry dark wold the summer airs blow cool, + On the oat-grass and the sword-grass, and the bulrush in the pool. + + You'll bury me, my mother, just beneath the hawthorn shade, + And you'll come sometimes and see me, where I am lowly laid. + I shall not forget you, mother, I shall hear you when you pass, + With your feet above my head in the long and pleasant grass. + + I have been wild and wayward, but you'll forgive me now; + You'll kiss me, my own mother, upon my cheek and brow; + Nay, nay, you must not weep, nor let your grief be wild, + You should not fret for me, mother, you have another child. + + If I can I'll come again, mother, from out my resting-place; + Though you'll not see me, mother, I shall look upon your face; + Though I cannot speak a word, I shall hearken what you say, + And be often, often with you, when you think I'm far away. + + Good-night, good-night! when I have said good-night for evermore, + And you see me carried out from the threshold of the door, + Don't let Effie come to see me till my grave be growing green: + She'll be a better child to you than ever I have been. + + She'll find my garden-tools upon the granary floor: + Let her take 'em: they are hers: I shall never garden more: + But tell her, when I'm gone, to train the rose-bush that I set + About the parlour-window and the box of mignonette. + +The poor girl's prayer to 'live to see the snow-drop,' in the spring-time, +is answered. The violets have come forth, and in the fields around she +hears the bleating of the young lambs. She is now ready to die, and knows +that the time of her departure is at hand, for she has had a 'warning from +heaven.' The reader should have sat by the bed-side of one slowly fading +away by consumption, and have heard the wild March wind wail amidst the +boughs of leafless trees without, rightly to appreciate the faithfulness +of these lines: + + 'I did not hear the dog howl, mother, nor hear the death-watch beat, + There came a sweeter token when the night and morning meet: + But sit beside my bed, mother, and put your hand in mine, + And Effie on the other side, and I will tell the sign. + + All in the wild March-morning I heard the angels call; + It was when the moon was setting, and the dark was over all; + The trees began to whisper, and the wind began to roll, + And in the wild March-morning I heard them call my soul. + + For lying broad awake I thought of you and Effie dear; + I saw you sitting in the house, and I no longer here; + With all my strength I pray'd for both, and so I felt resign'd, + And up the valley came a swell of music on the wind. + + I thought that it was fancy, and I listen'd in my bed, + And then did something speak to me--I know not what was said; + For great delight and shuddering took hold of all my mind, + And up the valley came again the music on the wind. + + But you were sleeping; and I said, 'It's not for them: it's mine.' + And if it comes three times, I thought, I take it for a sign. + And once again it came, and close beside the window-bars, + Then seem'd to go right up to Heaven and die among the stars.' + +'This blessed music,' she says, 'went that way my soul will have to go.' +She is reconciled to her inevitable fate; yet still she casts a 'longing, +lingering look behind,' to the beautiful world she is leaving forever. Her +reflections are imbued with a deep pathos; the second line of the first +stanza, especially, 'teems with sensation:' + + 'O look! the sun begins to rise, the heavens are in a glow; + He shines upon a hundred fields, and all of them I know: + And there I move no longer now, and there his light may shine, + Wild flowers are in the valley for other hands than mine! + + O sweet and strange it seems to me, that ere this day is done + The voice, that now is speaking, may be beyond the sun; + For ever and for ever with those just souls and true: + And what is life, that we should moan? why make we such ado? + + For ever and for ever, all in a blessed home, + And there to wait a little while till you and Effie come; + To lie within the light of God, as I lie upon your breast, + Where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest. + + * * * * * + +We are indebted to a friend and correspondent at the Phillippine Islands, +for two very instructive and amusing volumes, of which we intend the +reader shall know more hereafter. The first is entitled '_Portfolio +Chinensis_,' or a collection of authentic Chinese State Papers, in the +native language, illustrative of the history of the late important events +in China, with a translation by J. LEWIS SHUCK; the second, a '_Narrative +of the late Proceedings and Events in China_,' by JOHN SLADE, editor of +the 'Canton Register.' In looking over these publications, we are struck +with the vigor and pertinacity with which, when once their minds were made +up, the Chinese authorities pursued their object of abolishing opium +forever from the celestial empire. Edicts against the 'red-bristled +foreigners' from England, and the people of the American or 'flower-flag +nation,' who should hoard up the smoking earth or vaporous drug, were +enforced by others addressed to the natives, intended to lessen or +annihilate the demand. The remonstrances with the opium-smokers themselves +are exceedingly pungent. The 'Great Emperor, quaking with wrath,' having +examined the whole matter, and 'united the circumstances,' saturates the +High Commissioner LIN with his own bright 'effulgence of reason,' who +thereupon promulges: 'Although the opium exists among the outside +barbarians, there is not a man of them who is willing to smoke it himself; +but the natives of the flowery land are on the contrary with willing +hearts led astray by them; and they exhaust their property and brave the +prohibitions, by purchasing a commodity which inflicts injury upon their +own vitals. Is not this supremely ridiculous! And that you part with your +money to poison your own selves, is it not deeply lamentable! How is it +that you allow men to befool you? Thus the fish covets the bait and +forgets the hook; the miller-fly covets the candle-light, but forgets the +fire. Ye bring misfortunes upon yourselves! Habits which are thus +disastrous are unchangeable, being like the successive rolling of the +waves of the sea. Is not your conduct egregiously strange? We the governor +and Fooyuen have three times and five times again and again remonstrated +with and exhorted you, giving you lucid warning. Surely, you are indeed +dreaming, and _snoring_ in your dreams!' These multiplied edicts, and the +offers of _rewards_, to 'encourage repentant and fear-stricken hearts,' +seem to have led to a little trickery on the part of certain cunning +mandarins, if we interpret aright this clause in an ensuing 'lucid +warning:' 'The opium-pipes which are delivered up must be distinguished +clearly as to whether they are real or false. Those having on the outside +of them the marks of use, and within the oily residue of the smoke, are +the genuine ones; and those which are made of new bamboo, and merely +moistened with the smoky oil, are the false ones.' A 'spec.' had evidently +been made by means of false 'smoking-implements.' But the most amusing +portions of these volumes are the vermillion edicts against the 'outside +barbarians,' who had irritated the sacred wrath to the cutting off of +their trade. The estimates of the Fooyuen, it will be seen, are of that +vague kind usually designated among us as 'upward of considerable.' +Alluding to the 'blithesome profits' which had accrued from an intercourse +with China, he says: 'I find that during the last several tens of years +the money out of which you have duped our people, by means of your +destructive drug, amounts I know not to how many tens of thousands of +myriads. Your ships, which in former years amounted annually to no more +than several tens, now exceed a hundred and several tens, which arrive +here every year. I would like to ask you if in the wide earth under heaven +you can find such another profit-yielding market as this is? Our great +Chinese Emperor views all mankind with equal benevolence, and therefore it +is that he has thus graciously permitted you to trade, and become as it +were steeped to the lips in gain. If this port of Canton, however, were to +be shut against you, how could you scheme to reap profit more? Moreover, +our tea and rhubarb are articles which ye foreigners from afar cannot +preserve your lives without; yet year by year we allow you to export both +beyond seas, without the slightest feeling of grudge on our part. Never +was imperial goodness greater than this! Formerly, the prohibitions of our +empire might still be considered indulgent, and therefore it was that from +all our ports the sycee leaked out as the opium rushed in: now, however, +the Great Emperor, on hearing of it, actually quivers with indignation, +and before he will stay his hand the evil must be completely and entirely +done away with.' But these denunciations are not unmingled with +incitements to fear in another direction: 'You are separated from your +homes by several tens of thousands of miles, and a ship which comes and +goes is exposed to the perils of the great and boundless ocean, arising +from curling waves, contrary tides, thunders and lightnings, and the +howling tempest, as well as the jeopardy of crocodiles and whales! +Heaven's chastisements should be regarded with awe. The majesty and virtue +of our Great Emperor is the same with that of heaven itself! Our celestial +dynasty soothes and tranquillizes the central and foreign lands, and our +favor flows most wide. Our central empire is exuberant in all kinds of +productions, and needs not in the slightest degree whatever the goods of +the outer seas.' As matters are about proceeding to an open rupture with +the 'red-bristled foreigners,' and preparations are making to 'fire upon +them with immense guns,' there ensues a bit of Chinese diplomacy, which is +especially rich. After a long interview by a committee with the _Chefoo_, +during which all sorts of arguments are urged upon Snow, the American +Consul, and VAN BASEL, the Netherlands Consul, to induce them to sign a +'duly-prepared bond,' that none of their countrymen shall thenceforth +bring opium to China, the audience is suddenly closed with: 'To-morrow the +Chefoo will be at the Consoo-house, and wait from nine till night to +receive the bonds. _Now go home and go to bed!_' But enough for the nonce +of JOHN CHINAMAN. · · · IN alluding to Mr. COLE'S graphic account of the +_Ascent of Mount Ætna_, in our last issue, we spoke of its late eruption. +While reading the proof of that portion of our 'Gossip,' a friend handed +us a letter lately received from an American missionary lady at the +Sandwich Islands, from which we extract the subjoined vivid description of +the great volcano at Hawaii: 'You know,' says the writer, 'something, I +suppose, of the geological character of this island. It seems as though a +vast crater had boiled over and poured its fiery liquid in every +direction. This lava, having cooled and hardened, forms the basis of the +island. The district of Kau is a rich, luxuriant spot, surrounded by +desolate fields of scoriæ, which renders it difficult of access. We are +situated six miles from the sea, sufficiently elevated to give us a +commanding view of its vast expanse of waters. We can occasionally spy a +sail floating like a speck on its surface. From the shore, the country +gradually rises into a range of verdant mountains, whose summits appear to +touch the clouds. Proceeding northward toward Hilo, there is a gradual +rise, until you reach the Great Volcano, about six miles distant. In +making the tour to Hilo, we camped here the second night, on the brink of +the burning gulf. Suppose a vast area of earth, as large as the bay of +New-York, to have fallen in to the depth of several thousand feet. At the +bottom of this great cauldron, you behold the liquid fire boiling and +bubbling up, partly covered with a thick black scum. There are two or +three inner craters, which have been formed by the lava cooling on its +sides while the liquid sunk below. The gentlemen mostly descended into +this crater, but I was fully satisfied with a look from above. The earth +is cracked all around at the top, and portions of it are continually +falling in. Steam issues from open places in all the region. This volcano +has been in action from time immemorial, as the natives all assert, and +has been with them an object of idolatrous worship. The range of mountains +continues for some thirty miles beyond this, and terminates in the +snow-capped summit of Mounadoa. This mountain is in full sight at Hilo, +and about thirty miles distant. Since we have been here it has been the +scene of the most wonderful volcanic eruptions ever yet seen on this +island. Mr. P----, in company with Mr. C----, visited it a week or two +since, and ascended the mountain to the old crater, from whence the flood +of lava proceeded. Fire has not been seen in it within the remembrance of +the oldest natives. An immense river of burning lava is at this time +running down the side of the mountain, in a subterraneous channel, from +three to four miles wide. They had a good view of it through air-holes in +the lava, over which they were walking, which was like a sea of glass; +frequently sinking in different places in consequence of the intense heat +below. It will probably yet find its way to the surface somewhere, and, +laying prostrate every thing that opposes it, pursue its devastating +course to the sea. Truly we live in a world of wonders!' · · · BY the by, +speaking of volcanos: it will be remembered that in 1831 an island was +thrown up by volcanic eruption in the Mediterranean sea, off the south +coast of Sicily. It presented the form of a round hill, about one hundred +and twenty feet above the sea's level, with thick clouds of white smoke +issuing from it. As may well be imagined, it excited great wonder and +curiosity, and was visited by vast numbers of people. An Austrian, a +French and a British vessel met there at the same time. A dispute arose as +to what power the island should belong, what it should be named, etc.; +when a British sailor leaped on shore, and planted on the topmost peak the +union-jack. Nine cheers proclaimed Britannia victorious. On returning +shortly after, to take another look at their newly-acquired possession, +they found to their dismay that, like Aladdin's palace, the island had +disappeared, leaving the Mediterranean as smooth as if the magic wonder +had never reared its head! This circumstance suggested the following lines +by a correspondent: + + FATHER NEPTUNE, one day, as he traversed the seas, + Much wanted a spot to recline at his ease: + For long tossed and tired by the billow's commotion, + ''Tis a shame,' cried the god, 'I'm confined to the ocean. + I'll have an island!' To VULCAN he flew, + Saying, 'Help me this time, and in turn I'll help you. + To make a new island's an excellent scheme; + And I think, my dear VULCAN, we'll raise it by steam.' + 'Agreed!' cried the god. + Straight to work they repair, + And throw an abundance of smoke in the air. + This mariners saw, and it did them affright; + They straightway concluded all could not be right. + 'We'll to Sicily repair, and appeal to powers civil, + For certainly this is the work of the devil!' + The Austrians and French came the wonder to view: + Said Britain, in anger, 'That isle's not for you! + For us, us alone, did Britannia design it, + And, d' ye see, we'll be d----d if we ever resign it! + On that island we'll land! there our standard we'll raise! + We will there plant our jack, if the island should blaze!' + + The gods, in great wrath, heard all this contention: + 'Dear NEPTUNE,' said VUL., 'this has spoiled our invention.' + 'It has,' said the god, 'but, I swear by my trident, + The proud sons of Britain shall never abide on 't! + It was raised for a god, and no vile worthless mortal + On that island shall dwell, to eat oysters and turtle. + Down! down with it, VUL., that will best end the quarrel, + And I'll be content with my old bed of coral.' + + * * * * * + +'MILK FOR BABES,' an elaborately-concocted satire upon a certain class of +'learned and pious hand-books for urchins of both sexes,' is not without +humor, and ridicules what indeed in some respects deserves animadversion. +We affect as little as our correspondent what has been rightly termed 'a +clumsy fumbling for the half-formed intellect, a merciless hunting down of +the tender and unfledged thought,' through the means of 'instructive' +little books, wherein an insipid tale goes feebly wriggling through an +unmerciful load of moral, religious and scientific preaching; or an +apparently simple dialogue involves subjects of the highest difficulty, +which are chattered over between two juvenile prodigies, or delivered to +them in mouthfuls, curiously adapted to their powers of swallowing. 'The +minor manners and duties,' says our correspondent, 'are quite overlooked +by misguided parents now-a-days;' and this he illustrates by an anecdote: +'THOMAS, my son,' said a father to a lad in my hearing, the other day, +'won't you show the gentleman your last composition?' 'I don't want to,' +said he. 'I _wish_ you would,' responded the father. 'I wont!' was the +reply; 'I'll be goy-blamed if I do!' A sickly, half-approving smile passed +over the face of the father, as he said, in extenuation of his son's +_brusquerie_: 'Tom don't lack manners generally; but the fact is, _he's +got such a cold, he is almost a fool_!' Kind parent! happy boy! · · · WE +would counsel such of our readers as can command it, to secure the perusal +of '_Hugh Adamson's Reply to John Campbell_,' in the matter of +international copy-right. Mr. CAMPBELL, being a paper dealer, and greatly +benefitted in his business by the increased sale of stock consequent upon +the influx of cheap republications, is naturally very anxious to prevent +the passage of an international copy-right law. As might be anticipated of +such an advocate, his real reasons are all based upon the _argumentum ad +crumenam,_ the argument to the _purse_. Mr. ADAMSON, in a few satirical, +well-reasoned, sententious paragraphs, has fairly demolished the +superstructure which Selfishness had reared, and exposed the +misrepresentations upon which alone the unsubstantial fabric could have +rested. It is quiet and good-natured, but _cutting_; and will act as an +antidote to the elaborate sophistry of Mr. CAMPBELL'S ambitious +_brochure_. · · · WE think we shall publish 'L. D. Q.'s '_Parody_;' but +should like him to change the third stanza, which is 'like a mildewed ear, +blasting its wholesome brothers.' The other verses are capital. One of the +cleverest modern parodies which we remember, was written in a Philadelphia +journal, and touched upon some exciting city event, before the Court of +Sessions. It was in the measure of '_The Cork Leg_,' and _ran_ somewhat as +follows: + + 'The defendant said that it was too bad + To be taken up before Judge CON-RAD. + + * * * * * + + Now Mr. H----, the lawyer, was there, + With a pretty good head, but not very much hair, + So little, in fact, that a wig he must wear, + Ri tu den u-den a!' + +The parody had the jogging, jolting air of the original, and was replete, +we recollect, with whimsical associations. · · · WE shall venture to +present here the comments of two most valued friends and contributors, +upon the performances of two _other_ esteemed friends and favorite +correspondents. Of '_The Venus of Ille_,' the one writes as follows: 'I +fully sympathise with you in your admiration of this tale, as well as of +'The Innocence of a Galley-Slave.' I could not in the perusal of them both +but feel the vast superiority of the Grecian over the Gothic style. For in +spite of all the humor and wit and nature and pathos of the DICKENS and +LEVER school, there is something more of the Gothic and grotesque in their +paintings than in these pure and unforced limnings of the able Frenchman. +Where the ground-work of the tale is of sufficiently bold conception, and +the incidents offer hooks enough to hang interest upon, there can be no +doubt that this cool style is by far the most effectual in the end. The +more strained and heated style of some other modern authors will be very +effectual for awhile, but the excitement of the reader will flag sooner. +The reason is, that too much descriptive and passionate power is expended +on minor portions of the tale; and the enthusiasm of the reader is +partially exhausted before he comes to the grand catastrophe, where it +should be most of all elicited. But writers like WALTER SCOTT, or this +Frenchman, are self-possessed and meditative in a great portion of their +writings; by skilful touches giving the reader every thing necessary for +him to know in reference to characters and scenes; and on any great +emergency their sudden heat carries the reader away captive.' The +admiration expressed by our other accomplished friend for the chaste and +graceful essays of a still more accomplished correspondent (there is +nothing like disparagement in this comparison) is widely shared, as we +have the best reason to know, by our readers on both sides of the +Atlantic: 'JOHN WATERS! There is a drab-coated plainness about the name, +which is at the same time _liquid_ and musical; not more liquid and +musical, howbeit, than those charming commentaries of his on every variety +of quaint topic; full of an amiable grace, tinged with the most delicate +hue of a fine humor; a refined ore drawn from no ordinary mine without +alloy; like the compositions of SAPPHO, to which an unerring critic has +applied the expression, [Greek: chruseiotera chrusou]; the very best of +gold. Doves never bore choicer _billet-doux_ beneath their wings. A +beautiful sentiment always touches the heart, though couched in homely +phrase; but when one knows how to cull from our mother-tongue the most +expressive words, and has gained that enviable mastery, making them fall +into their own places, and thus become inseparable from the idea, the +perfection of art is gained. Serve us up these choice _morceaux_ each +month, dear EDITOR; let them not be missed from the generous board, lest +the banquet be incomplete. Let me tell you, in passing, that your +correspondent HARRY FRANCO'S tale is a caution to dowagers. Never have I +encountered such a startling incident on the high seas, out of 'DON JUAN.' +· · · DID it occur to 'N.' that the change suggested in the mere +inscription of his epigram, '_Religious Disputation_,' would be entirely +out of keeping? 'Uniting the circumstances,' as Commissioner LIN would +say, would produce such discrepancy as was occasioned lately at a +democratic meeting in one of the western States, where a certain +resolution in favor of our old friend and correspondent, Gen. CASS, was +made to undergo a slight metamorphosis by the substitution of the name of +Mr. VAN BUREN; causing it to read something like this: 'Whereas Gen. +MARTIN VAN BUREN emigrated to the west from New-Hampshire in early life +with his knapsack on his back, and unsheathed his sword in repelling the +Indians and fighting against the British!' etc. This historical fiction, +in the antagonistic excitement of the moment, was carried by an almost +unanimous vote! · · · INVERSION of mere words, or involution of phrase and +syntax, let us whisper in the ear of our Troy correspondent, is not a very +great beauty in poetry. His own good thoughts are spoiled by this +affectation. It requires an artist to employ frequent inversion +successfully. The opening of the '_Lines on a Bust of Dante_', by Mr. T. W. +PARSONS, affords a pleasing example in this kind. It is clear and musical: + + 'See from this counterfeit of him + Whom Arno shall remember long, + _How stern of lineament, how grim + The father was of Tuscan song_.' + +Inversion should be naturally suggested, not forced. · · · IT is to be +inferred, we fear, that the late 'principal editor' of the '_Brother +Jonathan_' does not take it in good part that the new proprietors of that +now popular journal saw fit to arrest its rapid decadence, by a removal of +the inevitable cause of such a consummation. Lo! how from his distant +down-east ambush, with characteristic phrase, he denounces them as +'cowards' and 'puppies!' Whereupon, in a response appropriately brief, the +'brave few' of the 'principal editor's' old readers who have 'endured unto +the end,' are informed by the new incumbent, that the tabooed ci-devant +functionary 'seems disturbed because he was not suffered to kill the +'Brother Jonathan' as he had killed every journal in which he was +permitted to pour out his vapid balderdash. He is a perfect BLUEBEARD +among newspapers. He no sooner slaughters one, than he manages to get hold +of another, and butcher that with the same remorseless indifference.' The +editor adds: 'He once enjoyed the honor of some connection with the 'New +World,' and would have consigned that well-known sheet to the tomb of the +Capulets, had not the publishers foreseen the danger, and escaped in +season.' We merely note these facts, as corroborative of a remark or two +of our own, in our last issue. · · · '_An Incident in Normandy_', we +shrewdly suspect, is _not_ 'from the French;' if it be, all that we have +to say is, that such pseudo-rhapsodists as the writer could never by any +possibility _love_ nature. The thing is altogether _over-done_. A +Frenchman's opinion, however, COWELL tells us, should never be taken where +the beauties of nature are concerned, _unless they can be cooked_. There +is another grave objection to the article; which consists in the undue +frequency of Italian and French words and phrases, foisted into the +narrative. We have a strong attachment to plain, perspicuous _English_. +Ours is a noble language, a beautiful language; and we hold fully with +SOUTHEY, who somewhere remarks that he can tolerate a Germanism, for +family sake; but he adds: 'He who uses a Latin or a French phrase where a +pure old English word does as well, ought to be hung, drawn and quartered, +for high treason against his mother-tongue.' · · · '_The Song of the New +Year_, by Mrs. NICHOLS, in a late number,' writes a Boston correspondent, +'is an excellent production, and a fair specimen of the improved style of +our occasional American verse. Suppose a book-worm should light on poetry +of equal merit among FLATMAN'S, FALCONER'S, PRIOR'S, or PARSELL'S +collections? Would it not shine forth, think you? Indeed our lady-writers +are wresting the plume from our male pen mongers unco fast.' 'That's a +fact.' Mrs. NICHOLS has a sister-poet at Louisville, Kentucky, who has a +very charming style and a delicious fancy. A late verse of hers in some +'_Lines to a Rainbow_,' signed 'AMELIA,' which we encountered at a +reading-room the other day, have haunted our memory ever since: + + 'There are moments, I think, when the spirit receives + Whole volumes of thought on its unwritten leaves; + When the folds of the heart in a moment unclose, + Like the innermost leaves from the heart of a rose.' + +MOORE never conceived a more beautiful simile than this. · · · NUMBER TWO +of the '_Reminiscences of a Dartmoor Prisoner_' will appear in our next +issue. We have received from the writer a very interesting and amusing +manuscript-volume, filled with patriotic poetry, containing vivid pictures +of scenes and events in the daily routine of the prison, as well as +sketches of Melville Island Prison, and reminiscences of striking events +in the lives of sundry of the prisoners, in the progress of the American +war. We shall refer more particularly to this entertaining collection in +an ensuing number. · · · THE Lines on '_Niagara Falls at Night_' are +entirely too terrific for our pages. They are almost as 'love-lily +dreadful' as the great scene itself. 'M.' _must_ 'try again,' that is +quite certain; and we are afraid, _more_ than once. · · · TU DOCES! +Doubtless many of our young readers, especially in the country, have often +pondered over the zig-zag hieroglyphics which covered the tea-chests at +the village-store, and marvelled what 'HOWQUA,' which was inseparable from +these inscriptions, could mean. It was the name of the great Hong +merchant, 'the friend of Americans,' who died recently at Canton, at an +advanced age, leaving his vast wealth to two sons. Here is an elegy +written upon his death by his brother-merchant TINGQUA, which is now being +sung about Canton to a dolorous air, accompanied by the _yeih-pa_ and the +_tchung_, a curious sort of guitar and harp in common use. The elegy +comprises a little outline, together with hints and allusions, prettily +conveyed, of the principal biographical events of HOWQUA'S career, and is +entitled + + TINGQUA'S TEARS. + + I weep for HOWQUA. He was the friend of my youth. We often rose + before day-break, and gazed together at the soft blue clouds round + the retiring moon. + + At that time I smiled on HOWQUA. We both grew old together. We + often went to the tombs of our fathers, side by side, and thought + tenderly of the loving dead. + + Weep friends of the Hong. All friends at home (literally + _Celestial_ friends,) and all natives of outside countries weep; + weep excessively. For HOWQUA is no more. + + HOWQUA was a fixed man. He had reason. Loving old laws, old + customs, and all things long since established as wise, he + therefore hated change. + + HOWQUA was very rich. He had no half-thinkers and third-smokers + (meaning _no partners_,) and no branch-breakers to his universal + tea-dealings. + + Also he had lands for rice and pasture, and to play at ball, and + villas, and ponds of fish, and fifteen field-bridges of carved + wood gilt, and seven domestic bridges inlaid with ivory birds and + dragons. + + Also he had money in the foreign mysteries (probably meaning the + _funds_.) + + Also he had doings with several things of great value, and shares + of large ship-loads. But never would he touch the hateful + opium-trade, after the recent mad insolences. + + Also he had some wives. + + Also the GREAT EMPEROR loved him, though HOWQUA was only as the + poorest man before that Yellow Illumination of our day and night. + + The body of my friend was slight, and easily injured; like the + outside of people's pocket-watch when she walk against the sun + (that is, an injured watch that _goes wrong_.) But my dear friend + for whom I shed these tears had a head with many eyes. + + HOWQUA knew what to do with his unnecessary gold. He built a + temple to Buddha, and thus made the god a present of 2,000,000 + dollars, to the excessive delight of his Essence and Image. + + Also, HOWQUA gave 800,000 dollars to assist the ransom of his + beloved Canton from the fangs of the late war; to the excessive + delight of the Fighting-minded Barbarians. + + Weep, then, for HOWQUA, even as I weep. He was the friend of my + youth. Together we grew old, walking toward our fathers' tombs. We + might have died together; but it is well that one old friend + should be left a little while to weep.' + + * * * * * + +The paper upon '_American Interior and Exterior Architecture_' we are +quite certain would not have the tendency which the writer contemplates. +It would discourage rather than foster that better taste which is gaining +ground among us. In this city, how great have been the improvements in the +exterior and interior decorations of our dwellings, within the last eight +years! We remember the time as it were but yesterday, when the beautiful +muslin window-shades, first introduced among us by Mr. GEORGE PLATT, were +considered a luxury of interior decoration--as indeed many of them were. +But from these small yet promising beginnings, our accomplished artist has +gone on, until his extensive establishment is filled with specimens of +rich and elaborate architectural decorations, for the various styles of +which the reigns of French and English sovereigns have been put under the +most liberal contribution. Our wealthy and tasteful citizens have vied +with each other in the enriching and beautifying of their mansions; while, +also emulous, a kindred class in our sister-cities have laid requisitions +upon Mr. PLATT'S architectural and decorative genius, (for in him it _is_ +genius, and of no intermediate order,) which have convinced _him_ at +least, that the 'laggard taste' which our correspondent arraigns, is 'not +so slow' as he seems to imagine. · · · WHO was '_Dandy Jim from +Caroline_,' of whom every boy in the street is either whistling or +singing, and whom we 'have heard spoken of' by musical instruments and +that of all sorts, at every party or ball which we have found leisure to +attend during the gay season? We are the more anxious to glean some +particulars touching the origin and history of this personage, because his +fame is rife among our legislators, and the 'lobby-interest' at Albany; if +we may judge from a quatrain before us, which hints at a verbal +peculiarity of our excellent representative, Alderman VARIAN, whose _v_ +always takes the form of a _w_, especially in his rendering of a foreign +tongue; as witness his being 'just on the _qwi-wi-we_ for the capitol,' on +one occasion, and the subjoined versification of another of his Latin +sentences, with cockney 'wariations:' + + 'Then here's a health to WARI-AN, + That '_Weni, widi, wici_' man! + He talk de grammar werry fine, + Like DANDY JIM o' Caroline: + For my ole massa tol' me so,' etc. + + * * * * * + +There is in these humane and benevolent days an increasing sympathy in the +public mind for a man condemned to 'march sorrowfully up to the gallows, +there to be noosed up, vibrate his hour, and await the dissecting-knife of +the surgeon,' who fits his bones into a skeleton for medical purposes. +'There never was a public hanging,' says a late advocate of the abolition +of capital punishment, 'that was productive of any thing but evil.' There +is an anecdote recorded of WHITFIELD, however, which seems to refute this +position, in at least one instance. This eloquent divine, while at +Edinburgh, attended a public execution. His appearance upon the ground +drew the eyes of all around him, and raised a variety of opinions as to +the motives which led him to join in the crowd. The next day, being +Sunday, he preached to a large body of men, women and children, in a field +near the city. In the course of his sermon, he adverted to the execution +which had taken place the preceding day. 'I know,' said he, 'that many of +you will find it difficult to reconcile my appearance yesterday with my +character. Many of you will say, that my moments would have been better +employed in praying with the unhappy man, than in attending him to the +fatal tree, and that perhaps curiosity was the only cause that converted +me into a spectator on that occasion: but those who ascribe that +uncharitable motive to me are under a mistake. I witnessed the conduct of +almost every one present on that occasion, and I was highly pleased with +it. It has given me a very favorable impression of the Scottish nation. +Your sympathy was visible on your countenances, and reflected the greatest +honor on your hearts: particularly when the moment arrived in which your +unhappy fellow creature was to close his eyes on this world forever, you +all, as if moved by one impulse, turned your heads aside and wept. Those +tears were precious, and will be held in remembrance. How different was it +when the Saviour of mankind was extended on the cross! The Jews, instead +of sympathizing in his sorrows, triumphed in them. They reviled him with +bitter expressions, with words even more bitter than the gall and vinegar +which they gave him to drink. Not one of them all that witnessed his +pains, turned the head aside even in the last pang. Yes, there was one; +that glorious luminary, (pointing to the sun,) veiled his bright face and +sailed on in tenfold night!' _This_ is eloquence! Would that we could have +seen the beaming features, the 'melting eye, turned toward heaven,' which +indelibly impressed these words upon the heart of every hearer! · · · MANY +of our readers will doubtless remember the time when Professor J----, the +celebrated 'artist in hair,' was flourishing in his glory, and when his +fame was perhaps as rife in New-York and Boston as that of any man living, +in his line of art. His advertisements too, so unique in their +grandiloquent phraseology, will not soon be forgotten by those who relish +such things. The Professor is not now, as regards worldly prosperity, the +man he used to be; but his gentlemanly feeling still clings to him, and +his pride in his profession is as enthusiastic as ever. We observe by a +Boston journal that he is once more trying his luck in our eastern +metropolis; and this reminds us of an anecdote concerning him. A friend +tells us that some months since he encountered the professor at a +coffee-house, where he was rehearsing to a rather verdant customer the +former glories of his professional life. Among other things, 'At one +time,' said he, 'I was sent for by express, to go to Philadelphia on +professional business.' 'To do what?' asked his listener. 'To make wigs +for the Signers of the Declaration of Independence!' replied J----, with a +pompous air. Now the professor's comrade was not very quick-witted, as we +have already hinted, and it did not occur to him at the moment whether the +signers were men only of yesterday, or of the last century; and he +rejoined, in a tone of wonder: 'What! do they _all_ wear wigs?' '_All?_' +replied the professor, with a look of mingled piety and triumph; 'why, +Sir, did you ever know a wax-figure to wear its own hair? Men of flesh and +blood, now-a-days, don't know any better; but the _man of wax_, Sir, +possesses a truer taste, and always consults the PERRUQUIER!' The relator +says it would be impossible to convey an adequate idea of the superb +manner in which the last word was uttered; the full round tone, and the +tonsorial flourish of the right hand, as if it still grasped the magic +brush and scissors. · · · THE reader will have gathered from an incidental +allusion in an article by Mr. GEORGE HARVEY, in our last number, some idea +of the fervent enthusiasm with which he has studied and copied Nature, in +her every variety of season and changes of the hour, in executing his +beautiful _Landscape Drawings_. We have neither the leisure nor space for +an _adequate_ notice of these pictures; but being solicitous that our town +readers should participate in the great enjoyment which they have afforded +us, we would direct them to Mr. HARVEY'S exhibition-room at the old Apollo +Gallery, nearly opposite the Hospital, in Broadway. · · · HERE is a +pleasant specimen of an '_Unnecessary Disclaimer_,' for which we are +indebted to a metropolitan friend: 'A few evenings since, as a gentleman +was walking up Broadway, and just as he was crossing the side-walk at the +junction of White-street, his feet suddenly slipped from under him, his +hat flew forward with the involuntary jerk, and he measured his length on +the side-walk, striking his bare head on the hard ice, till all rang +again. At the instant it chanced that a lady and gentleman were just +emerging from White-street into Broadway, and the prostrate sufferer, +lying directly across their path, interrupted for a moment their farther +progress. He soon recovered his feet, however, and with one hand on his +newly-developed bump, and the other on his breast, he turned to the couple +whose passage he had impeded, and exclaimed with cool gravity: 'Excuse me; +_I didn't intend to do it!_' Probably he didn't; at all events, his word +was not disputed. · · · MOST likely our readers have not forgotten an +admirable satire upon the 'Songs of the Troubadours,' from which we +extracted some months since the affecting story of 'The Taylzour's +Daughter.' Something in the same style is '_The Doleful Lay of the +Honorable I. O. Uwins_,' a gentleman who threw himself away upon a +bailiff's daughter, to escape from the restraints and pungent odors of a +sponging-house. The 'whole course of wooing' and the result are hinted at +in the ensuing lines: + + 'There he sate in grief and sorrow, + Rather drunk than otherwise, + Till the golden gush of morrow + Dawned once more upon his eyes; + Till the spunging bailiff's daughter, + Lightly tapping at the door, + Brought his draught of soda-water, + Brandy-bottomed as before. + + 'Sweet REBECCA! has your father, + Think you, made a deal of brass?' + And she answered: 'Sir, I rather + Should imagine that he has.' + UWINS, then, his whiskers scratching, + Leer'd upon the maiden's face; + And her hands with ardor catching, + Folded her in his embrace. + + 'La, Sir! let alone--you fright me!' + Said the daughter of the Jew: + 'Dearest! how these eyes delight me! + Let me love thee, darling, do!' + 'Vat is dish?' the bailiff mutter'd, + Rushing in with fury wild; + 'Ish your muffins so vell butter'd + Dat you darsh insult ma shild?' + + 'Honorable my intentions, + Good ABEDNEGO, I swear! + And I have some small pretensions, + For I am a Baron's heir. + If you'll only clear my credit, + And a thousand give or so, + She's a peeress; I have said it! + Don't you twig, ABEDNEGO?' + + 'Datsh a very different matter!' + Said the bailiff, with a leer; + 'But you musht not cut it fatter + Than ta slish will shtand, ma tear! + If you seeksh ma approbation, + You must quite give up your rigsh; + Alsho, you mosht join our nation, + And renounch ta flesh of pigsh.' + + * * * * * + + At a meeting of the Rabbis, + Held about the Whitsuntide, + Was this thorough-paced Barabbas + Wedded to his Hebrew bride. + All his former debts compounded, + From the spunging-house he came; + And his father's feelings wounded + With reflections on the same.' + +It is a very dear marriage for UWINS, for on visiting his father the +Baron, that incensed nobleman tells the double-dyed apostate never to +cross his threshold again, and directs JOHN the porter to kick him into +the street. The order is anticipated: + + 'Forth rushed I. O. UWINS, faster + Than all winking, much afraid + That the orders of the master + Would be punctually obeyed; + Sought his club, and there the sentence + Of expulsion first he saw: + No one dared to own acquaintance + With a bailiff's son-in-law. + + Uselessly down Bond-street strutting, + Did he greet his friends of yore; + Such a universal cutting + Never man received before. + Till at last his pride revolted; + Pale, and lean, and stern, he grew; + And his wife REBECCA bolted + With a missionary Jew. + + Ye who read this doleful ditty, + Ask ye where is UWINS now? + Wend your way through London city, + Climb to Holborn's lofty brow; + Near the sign-post of 'The Nigger,' + Near the baked-potato shed, + You may see a ghastly figure, + With three hats upon his head. + + When the evening shades are dusky, + Then the phantom form draws near, + And, with accents low and husky, + Pours effluvia in your ear; + Craving an immediate barter + Of your trousers or surtout, + And you know the Hebrew martyr, + Once the peerless I. O. U.' + + * * * * * + +A friend, in a recent letter to the Editor, thus alludes to the '_National +Intelligencer_,' one of the ablest and most dignified journals in the +country, and to two of its 'special correspondents:' 'Mr. WALSH, who +writes from Paris, seems an incorporation of European literature and +politics; and his articles are, in my belief, the most valuable now +contributed to any journal in the world. Willis is the lightest and most +mercurial 'knight of the quill' in all the tournament. It is astonishing +with what dexterity, felicity, and grace he touches off the veriest trifle +of the day, investing the trite with originality, and giving the value of +wit and poetry to the worthless and the dry. Pity that this brilliant +'quid nunc' should degenerate into a mere trifling '_arbiter +elegantiarum_,' and expend his buoyant and ductile genius in the +indictment of ephemeral paragraphs. His genius, it is true, has little +solidity; but if he would rest two or three years on his oars, he might +collect the scatterings of wit and poetry, which would in that time accrue +to him from his readings and reflections, into a volume of essays, etc., +which would be inferior in brilliancy and piquancy to but few of any +nation.' Possibly; but in the mean time, let us advise our friend, Mr. +WILLIS has the little substantials of every-day life to look after. He +'pleases to write' frequently and _currente calamo_, because he 'pleases +_to live_.' Fame is one thing, and can be waited for; there are other +things that cannot tarry so well. Mr. WILLIS has 'seen the elephant.' He +knows that KENNY MEADOWS is not far out of the way in his humorous picture +of '_The Man of Fame and the Man of Funds_,' wherein a shadowy hand +protrudes from cloud-land, holding a pair of steel-yards, to resolve the +comparative weight of an appetizing leg-of-mutton, and a huge +laurel-wreath. The mutton 'has it' all to nothing, and the wreath 'kicks +the beam! · · · PUNCH, up to the latest dates, suddenly makes his +appearance in our sanctum. Merriest of Merry Andrews, he is ever welcome! +His 'COMIC BLACKSTONE,' must be of great service to legal gentlemen. In +it, among other things, we are enlightened as to the '_Rights of the +Clergy_.' We subjoin a few items: 'An archbishop is a sort of inspector of +all the bishops in his province; but he does not call them out as an +inspector would so many policemen, to examine their mitres, and see that +their lawn sleeves are properly starched, before going on duty in their +respective dioceses. An archbishop may call out the bishops, just as a +militia colonel may call out the militia.' 'A bishop (_episcopes_) is +literally an overseer, instead of which it is notorious that some of them +are overlookers of their duties, and blind to the state of their diocese, +though they call it their see.' 'The duties incumbent on a parson are, +first to act as the incumbent, by living in the place where he has his +living. Formerly, a clergyman had what is called the benefit of clergy in +cases of felony; a privilege which, if a layman had asked for, he would +have been told that the authorities would 'see him hanged first.' 'A +curate is the lowest grade in the church, for he is a sort of journeyman +parson, and several of them meet at a house of call in St. Paul's +Church-Yard, ready to job a pulpit by the day, and being in fact +'clergyman taken in to bait' by the landlord of the house alluded to.' +Concerning '_Subordinate Magistrates_,' as officers of the customs, +overseers of the poor, etc., we glean the following information: +'Tide-waiters are overseers of the customs duties, therefore it is their +duty to overlook the customs. Custom is unwritten law, and a practice may +be termed a custom when it can be proved to have lasted for a hundred +years. Now, can any man doubt that the custom of defrauding the customs +has endured more than a hundred years? Then the practice has become a law, +and for observing this law, which, it seems, is one of our time-revered +institutions, and a profitable proof of the wisdom of our ancestors, +landing-waiters and tradesmen are to be prosecuted and punished. Monstrous +injustice!' 'Overseers of the Poor are functionaries who sometimes +literally over-see or over-look the cases of distress requiring +assistance. The poor law of ELIZABETH has been superseded by a much poorer +law of WILLIAM the Fourth, the one great principle of which is, to afford +the luxury of divorce to persons in needy circumstances. It also +discountenances relief to the able-bodied, a point which is effected by +disabling, as far as possible, any body who comes into the work-house. The +Poor Law is administered by three Commissioners, who spend their time in +diluting gruel and writing reports; trying experiments how little will +suffice to prevent a repeal of the union between the soul and the body.' +We have this information concerning the clock heretofore complained of: +'PUNCH has been accused of hitting this clock very hard when it was down; +and it certainly must be admitted that it was wholly unable to strike in +return. We are happy to say that the wound has been followed by the clock +being at last wound, and we now offer to take it by the hands in a spirit +of friendship. We have been told that the long stagnation has been caused +by the absurd scruples of the pendulum, which refused to go from side to +side, lest it should be accused of inconsistency.' Under the different +months, 'PUNCH'S Almanack' gives many important directions, one of which +is for the proprietors of the public gardens: 'Now trim your lamps, water +your lake, graft new noses on statues, plant your money-taker, and if the +season be severe, _cut your sticks_.' The following '_Tavern Measure_' is +doubtless authentic: Two 'goes' make one gill; two gills one 'lark;' two +larks one riot; two riots one cell, or station-house, equivalent to five +shillings.' For office-clerks, as follows: Two drams make one 'go;' two +goes one head-ache; two head-aches one lecture; two lectures 'the sack.' +To those gentlemen who are lovers of the Virginia weed in its native +purity, a list of prices, 'furnished by one of the first _Spanish_ +houses,' is published. It includes 'choice high-dried dock-leaf regalias,' +'fine old cabbage Cuba's,' 'genuine goss-lettuce Havana's,' and +'full-flavored brown-paper Government Manilla's!' Two scraps under the +head of '_University Intelligence_' must close our quotations: 'Given the +_force_ with which your fist is propelled against a cabman, and the +_angle_ at which it strikes him; required the _area_ of mud he will cover +on reaching the _horizontal plane_.' 'Show the incorrectness of using +_imaginary quantities_, by attempting to put off your creditors with +repeated promises to pay them out of your Pennsylvania dividends.' · · · +MANY German physicians and surgeons hold that there remains in the brain +of a decollated head some degree of thought, and in the nerves something +of sensibility. It is stated by his biographer, that in the case of Sir +EVERARD DIGBY, executed for a participation in the Gunpowder Plot, the +tongue pronounced several words after the head was severed from the body. +After the execution of CHARLOTTE CORDAY, also, it is alleged that the +executioner held up her lovely head by its beautiful hair, and slapped the +pale cheeks, which instantly reddened, and gave to the features such an +expression of unequivocal indignation, that the spectators, struck by the +change of color, with loud murmurs cried out for vengeance on barbarity so +cowardly and atrocious. 'It could not be said,' writes Dr. SUE, a +physician of the first eminence and authority in Paris, 'that the redness +was caused by the blow, since no blow can ever recall any thing like color +to the cheeks of a corpse; beside, this blow was given on one cheek, and +the other equally reddened.' Singular facts. Do they not militate against +certain theories of 'nervous sensation' recently promulgated in our +philosophical circles? · · · DOESN'T it sicken you, reader, to hear a +young lady use that common but horrid commercial metaphor, '_first-rate?_' +'How did you like CASTELLAN, last evening, Miss HUGGINS?' '_Oh, +first-rate!_' 'When a girl makes use of this expression,' writes an +eastern friend, 'I mutter inly,' 'Your pa' sells figs and salt-fish, I +know he does.' And it is all very well and proper, if he _does_; but for +the miserable compound itself, pray kill it dead in your Magazine! Hit it +hard! By the by, talking of odd phrases, hear this. A young Italian friend +of mine, fresh from Sicily as his own oranges, a well-educated, talented +person, who has labored hard to get familiar with English letters, and has +read our authors, from CHAUCER downward, dilated thus on the poets: 'PO-PE +is very mosh like HORACE; I like him very mosh; but I tink BIR-RON was +very sorry poet.' 'What!' quoth I, 'BYRON a sorry poet! I thought he was a +favorite with Italians?' 'Oh, yes; I adore him very mosh; I almost do +admire him; but he was very _sorry_ poet.' 'How so? BYRON a sorry bard?' +'Oh, yes, very sorry; don't you think so? _molto triste_--very +mel-_an_-choly; don't you find him so? I always feel very sorry when I +read him. I think he's far more sorry than PETRARCA; don't you?' This will +remind the reader of the very strong term used by a Frenchman, who on +being asked at a soirée what was the cause of his evident sadness, +replied: 'I av just hear my fader he die: _I_ am ver' mosh _dissatisfied!_' +· · · WE shall _probably_ find a place for the paper entitled '_Foreigners +in America_.' The writer touches with a trenchant pen upon 'the social +abuses which the first families in the metropolis tolerate at the hands of +disreputable exquisites and titled rascals.' Nervous words, but not +undeserved. 'How much more rapidly a fashionable foreigner will move in +the high road of preferment than one of your thinking, feeling, complex +persons, in whom honor, integrity and reason make such a pother that no +step can be taken without consulting them!' · · · WE have indulged in one +or two sonorous guffaws, and several of Mr. COOPER's 'silent laughs,' over +the following 'palpable hit' from a New-Jersey journal: 'A +talking-machine,' says the 'Newton Herald,' 'which speaks passable French, +capital English, and choice Italian, is now to be seen at New-York. It is +made of wood, brass, and gum-elastic.' 'A similar machine,' adds the +'Sussex Register,' 'compounded of buckram, brass, and soap-locks, and +familiarly called 'GREEN JOSEY,' is to be seen in Newton, at the Herald +office; though we cannot say that it speaks _any_ language 'passably.' It +frequently makes the attempt, however, and here is one of its last +'essays:' 'Gov. GILMER is understood to have had a standing CART-BALANCE +for any appointment under the present administration, which he might +choose to _except_; but he will not _except_ an appointment of any kind +under this administration.' Isn't that 'standing _cart-balance_' rich? The +usual phrase _carte-blanche_, which in the sentence quoted might be +rendered by 'unconditional offer,' is transmogrified into _cart-balance_! +Among all the blunders perpetrated by conceited ignorance in its attempts +to _parley-voo_, this stands unequalled. We have seen _hic jacet_ turned +into _his jacket_, in an obituary; that was a trifle; but CART-BALANCE +overcomes our gravity!' So it does ours. The anecdote, to adopt the +reading of a kindred accomplished linguist whom we wot of, is a 'capital +_jesus-de-sprit!_' · · · THE beginning of 'L.'s '_Stanzas_' is by no means +unpromising; but what a 'lame and impotent conclusion!' + + 'Lord HOWE he went out, + And LORD! how he came in!' + +The third verse would do credit to STREET, so graphic and poetical are the +rural images introduced; but it runs into the fourth, a stanza 'most +tolerable, and not to be endured.' Our young friend may be assured that we +shall _not_ 'regard with indifference' any thing from his pen that may +fulfil the _promise_ of the lines to which we allude. Na'theless, he must +'squeeze out more of his whey.' · · · THE admirers of one of the most +popular contributors that this Magazine ever enjoyed, will be glad to meet +with the following announcement: + + 'BURGESS, STRINGER AND COMPANY, corner of Broadway and Ann-street, + New-York, have in press the Literary Remains of the late WILLIS + GAYLORD CLARK, including the _Ollapodiana Papers_, with several + other of his Prose Writings, not less esteemed by the public; + including also his '_Spirit of Life_,' a choice but comprehensive + selection from his Poetical Contributions to the Literature of his + Country; together with a Memoir: to be edited by his twin-brother, + LEWIS GAYLORD CLARK, Editor of the KNICKERBOCKER Magazine. The + publishers do not consider it necessary for them to enlarge upon + the character of the writings which will compose the above volume. + The series of papers under the title of _Ollapodiana_ will be + remembered with admiration and pleasure, by readers in every + section of the United States. Their rich variety of subject; their + alternate humor and pathos; the one natural, quiet, and + irresistibly laughable; the other warm from the heart, and + touching in its tenderness and beauty; won for them the cordial + and unanimous praise of the press throughout the Union, and + frequent laudatory notices from the English journals. + Reminiscences of early days; expositions of the Ludicrous and the + Burlesque, in amusing Anecdote; Limnings from Nature; and 'Records + of the Heart,' were among their prominent characteristics. It is + not too much to say of the other Prose Writings which the volume + will contain, that although of a somewhat different character, + they are in no respect inferior to the _Ollapodiana_, in their + power to awaken and sustain interest. The _Poetical Writings_ of + Mr. CLARK are too well known to require comment. They have long + been thoroughly established in the national heart, and have + secured for the writer an enviable reputation abroad.' + +The work will be embraced in four numbers, of ninety-six~pages each, +stereotyped upon new types in the best manner, and printed upon fine white +paper; and the price will be but twenty-five cents for each number. Need +we ask the interest of our friends, of the friends of the Departed, in +behalf of the volume in question? · · · THE ITALIAN OPERA, at Sig. PALMO'S +new and beautiful temple in Chambers-street, has taken the town captive. +_I Puritani_ was first produced, and to overflowing houses at each +representation. _Belisario_ is now running a similar successful career. We +shall have occasion in our next to advert more at large to this very +popular establishment, and to notice in detail the _artists_ (with and +without the _e_) who compose its prominent attractions. · · · SINCE the +direction given by an afflicted widow to some humane persons who had found +the body of her husband in a mill-race, full of eels, 'Take the eels up to +the house, and _set him again_!' we have seen nothing more affecting than +an anecdote of a widower at St. Louis, who, on seeing the remains of his +late wife lowered into the grave, exclaimed, with tears in his eyes: +'Well, I've lost sheep, and I've lost cows, but I never had any thing to +cut me up like this!' As CARLYLE says, 'his right arm, and spoon, and +necessary of life' had been taken away, and he could not choose but weep. +· · · THE typographical error to which our Natchez friend alludes was +corrected in some two or three thousand sheets; hence we dispense with his +trifling errata. 'I remember a clergyman in New-England,' once wrote an +accomplished contributor to us, 'that when 'the rains descended and the +floods came and the winds blew,' carried away in the pulpit in the height +of his ardor the wrong house, and left that _standing_ that was built upon +the sand. After the service was over I ventured to observe to my uncle, +Parson C----, (whose assistant had been preaching) that this seemed to be +a new reading to the parable, and that I wondered when Mr. A---- had +discovered his error, as he did at the time of re-iteration, that he did +not correct it. My uncle defended his curate, and observed that if he had +_then_ corrected himself, he would have carried away _both_ houses, which +was utterly in opposition to all Scripture. Part of the audience, said he, +were asleep; and many of the rest so drowsy that, so long as one of the +houses was taken off, the moral was enforced upon their perceptions as +well by the one as the other. If he had made a _thorough_ correction, he +would have roused the attention of the whole parish, and nothing else +would have been talked of for nine days. When a man has made an error he +had better let other people make a discovery; and this truth, my lad, said +he, you will understand better when you grow up.' Let us conclude with an +expression of great force and newness: 'Comment is unnecessary.' · · · +'T.N.P.'s article, as he will perceive, is anticipated by the initial +paper in the present number. How does he like the new definition of +Transcendentalism: _Incomprehensibilityosityivityalityationmentnessism_?' +To us, it seems 'as clear as mud!' · · · THE graceful 'penciller' of the +'_New Mirror_' weekly journal copies the beautiful '_Lines to a Cloud_' +from our January number, with the remark: 'This BRYANT-like, finished and +high-thoughted ('a vile phrase') poetry was written by a young lady of +seventeen, and is her first published production. She is the daughter of +one of our oldest and best families, resident on the Hudson. If the noon +be like the promise of the dawn of this pure intellect, we have here the +beginning of a brilliant fame.' We think '_The two Pictures_,' from the +same pen, in our February issue fully equal to the fair writer's +_coup-d'essai_. By the by, it would have been but simple courtesy, as it +strikes us, to have given the KNICKERBOCKER Magazine credit for the lines +in question. · · · NUMEROUS articles in prose and verse are on file for +insertion, touching which we shall hope soon to have leisure to advise +with the writers by letter. + + * * * * * + +'AMERICA WELL DEFENDED' would not be inappropriate as a true designation +of a beautifully printed pamphlet before us, from the press of Mr. +BENJAMIN H. GREENE, Boston, containing a 'Letter to a Lady in France on +the supposed Failure of a National Bank, the supposed Delinquency of the +National Government, the Debts of the several States, and Repudiation: +with Answers to Inquiries concerning the Books of Capt. MARRYAT and Mr. +DICKENS.' We have read this production with warm admiration of its calm +and dignified style, the grouping and invariable _pertinence_ of its +facts and arguments; and the absence of every thing which savors of +_retaliatory_ spirit, in its animadversions upon the misrepresentations of +the United States by the English press. Expositions are offered of the +character of the old United States' Bank, as contradistinguished from the +'United States' Bank of Pennsylvania;' of the origin and nature of our +public debts, national as well as of the separate States, etc. The themes +of love of money, gravity of manners, of slavery, lynch-law, mobs, etc., +are next considered; and the pamphlet concludes with some remarks upon the +strength of our government, general results of our experiment, and our +growing attachment to the Union. The author we understand to be Mr. THOMAS +G. CARY, a distinguished merchant, who has brought the observation and +knowledge of a _practical_ life in aid of his reasoning, throughout his +pamphlet. It has passed, we are glad to learn, to a speedy second edition; +and we cannot but hope that it may be re-published in England. It could +not fail to produce great good, in the rectification of gross errors in +relation to this country. + + +PARLEY'S CABINET LIBRARY.--In this work Mr. GOODRICH proposes to furnish +the public with forty numbers, at twenty-five cents each, of biographical, +historical and miscellaneous sketches, designed for the family circle, and +especially for youth. The first two numbers consist of the lives of famous +men of modern times; as SCOTT, BYRON, BONAPARTE, BURNS, BURKE, GOETHE, +JOHNSON, MILTON, SHAKSPEARE, BACON, etc. The next two numbers are devoted +to famous men of ancient times; as CÆSAR, HANNIBAL, CICERO, ALEXANDER, +PLATO, etc. The fifth and sixth numbers contain the 'Curiosities of Human +Nature,' as ZERA COLBURN, CASPAR HAUSER, etc. The seventh and eighth +contain the lives of benefactors: as WASHINGTON, FRANKLIN, HOWARD, FULTON, +BOWDITCH, etc. We notice also, in the biographical series, the lives of +celebrated Indians and celebrated women. The historical sketches will +present a series of striking pictures, illustrative of the history of the +four quarters of the globe. The miscellaneous department will embrace +arts, sciences, manners and customs of nations, a view of the world and +its inhabitants, etc., etc. The intention of the author is to furnish a +library of twenty volumes, devoted to the most interesting portions of +human knowledge, with the design of rendering their subjects interesting +and attractive to the general reader. Several of the numbers are now +issued; and judging from these, we are happy to give the work our hearty +approbation. The sketches will not be found to be _mere_ sketches, drawn +from cyclopedias: the author has evidently gone to the original sources, +and culled with care the most interesting points on each subject. A +contemporary expresses surprise that he has been able to say so much that +is striking, just and new, in so brief a space; a praise in which we fully +concur. The work entitled 'Curiosities of Human Nature' is one of the +deepest interest, and is calculated to suggest profound reflections as to +the capacities of the human mind. The two numbers devoted to the American +Indians, as well as other volumes, present a good deal of new and curious +matter. The life of JETAU, the Indian VOLTAIRE, is very striking. The +Benefactors will be read with gratification by every one who loves to +dwell upon the actions of those who have been great in doing good. The +moral tendency of these works is excellent, and they may be read with +pleasure as well as profit by old and young. They are happily adapted to +the family as well as the school-library; and we are glad to know that +they have been adopted for the latter purpose in some of our principal +cities. They will constitute a wholsome check upon, as well as an +agreeable substitute for, most of the trashy and pernicious literature +that is now so freely poured upon the public. Mr. JOHN ALLEN, at the +office of the KNICKERBOCKER, is the agent for this city. + + +'WONDERS OF THE HEAVENS.'--A superb large quarto volume has recently been +put forth by Messrs. ROBERT P. BIXBY AND COMPANY, entitled, 'The Wonders +of the Heavens: being a Popular View of Astronomy, including a full +Illustration of the Mechanism of the Heavens; embracing the Sun, Moon, and +Stars, with descriptions of the planets, comets, fixed stars, +double-stars, the constellations, the galaxy or milky way, the zodiacal +light, aurora-borealis or northern-lights, meteors, clouds, falling-stars, +aërolites, etc.; illustrated by numerous maps and engravings.' We cannot +too highly commend this volume to our readers. The author, Mr. DUNCAN +BRADFORD, has kept constantly in view one object, viz: to make his subject +plain and interesting to the people. Instead of mingling mathematics with +his great theme, to such an extent as to alarm the neophyte at the very +threshold of the temple of astronomy, he has with a wise judgment selected +from the best works, including the latest, those parts that were least +encumbered with the abstruse and the unintelligible; and the illustrations +serve to make his sublime teachings still more clear. + + +ROGERS' POEMS.--We have not seen a more beautiful volume for a twelvemonth +than the new illustrated edition of 'Poems by SAMUEL ROGERS, with +revisions and additions by the author,' recently issued by Messrs. LEA AND +BLANCHARD, Philadelphia. It is indeed in all respects an _exquisite_ work; +being printed upon the finest drawing-paper, with a large clear type, and +illustrated with ten engravings on steel, from paintings by the very first +artists in England. The volume opens with the 'Pleasures of Memory,' and +contains every thing from the author's pen which his maturest +consideration has deemed most worthy of preservation. We cordially commend +this admirable work to the attention of every reader of the KNICKERBOCKER +to whom it may be accessible. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly +Magazine, March 1844, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KNICKERBOCKER *** + +***** This file should be named 20444-8.txt or 20444-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/4/4/20444/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://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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charset=utf-8" /> + <title>The Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, March 1844.</title> + <style type="text/css"> + /*<![CDATA[*/ + + <!-- + body { + font-family: Georgia,serif; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%; + } + + p { + text-align: justify; + margin: 0em 0em 0.75em 0em; + } + + h1,h2,h3,h4 { + text-align: center; + letter-spacing: .2em; + font-weight: normal; + } + + ul { + list-style-type: none; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -1em; + } + + li { margin-bottom: 0.5em; } + + .issue_title { + margin-top: 4em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + } + + #masthead { border-top: 2px gray solid; } + + #mastdate { + width: 100%; + letter-spacing: 0.1em; + font-variant: small-caps; + border-top: thin gray solid; + border-bottom: thin gray solid; + padding: 1em; + } + + #mastdate td.centercell { + text-align: center; + width: 50%; + } + + #mastdate td.leftcell { + text-align: left; + width: 25%; + } + + #mastdate td.rightcell { text-align: right; } + + .title { + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; 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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: Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, March 1844 + Volume 23, Number 3 + +Author: Various + +Editor: Lewis Gaylord Clark + +Release Date: January 25, 2007 [EBook #20444] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KNICKERBOCKER *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + <div id="masthead"> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page205" name="page205"></a>205</span></p> + <h1 class="issue_title">THE KNICKERBOCKER.</h1> + <table id="mastdate" summary="A cheat to display the masthead properly"> + <tr> + <td class="leftcell">Vol. XXIII.</td> <td class="centercell">March, 1844.</td> <td class="rightcell">No. 3.</td> + </tr> + </table> + </div><!--Masthead--> + <div class="article"> + <h2 class="title">WHAT IS TRANSCENDENTALISM?</h2> + <h3 class="byline">BY A THINKING MAN.</h3> + <p><span class="first_word">This</span> question has often been asked but seldom answered satisfactorily. + Newspaper editors and correspondents have frequently attempted a practical + elucidation of the mystery, by quoting from their own brains the + rarest piece of absurdity which they could imagine, and entitling it + ‘Transcendentalism.’ One good hit of this kind may be well enough, + by way of satire upon the fogginess of certain writers who deem themselves, + and are deemed by the multitude, transcendental <i>par excellence</i>. + <span class="special_name">Coleridge</span> however thought that to parody stupidity by way of ridiculing + it, only proves the parodist more stupid than the original blockhead. + Still, one such attempt may be tolerated; but when imitators of the + parodist arise and fill almost every newspaper in the country with similar + witticisms, such efforts become ‘flat and unprofitable;’ for nothing is + easier than to put words together in a form which conveys no meaning + to the reader. It is a cheap kind of wit, asinine rather than attic, and + can be exercised as well by those who know nothing of the subject as + by those best acquainted with it. Indeed, it is greatly to be doubted + whether one in a hundred of these witty persons know any thing of the + matter; for if they possess sense enough to make them worthy of being + ranked among reasonable men, it could be proved to them in five minutes + that they are themselves transcendentalists, as all thinking men find + themselves compelled to be, whether they know themselves by that name + or not.</p> + + <p>‘Poh!’ said a friend, looking over my shoulder; ‘you can’t prove <em>me</em> + a transcendentalist; I defy you to do it; I despise the name.’</p> + + <p>Why so? Let us know what it is that you despise. Is it the sound of + the word? Is it not sufficiently euphonious? Does it not strike your + ear as smoothly as Puseyite, or Presbyterian?</p> + + <p>‘Nonsense!’ said he; ‘you don’t suppose I am to be misled by the + sound of a word; it is the meaning to which I object. I despise transcendentalism; + therefore I do not wish to be called transcendentalist.’</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page206" name="page206"></a>206</span>Very well; but we shall never ‘get ahead’ unless you define transcendentalism + according to your understanding of the word.</p> + + <p>‘That request is easily made, but not easily complied with. Have + you Carlyle or Emerson at hand?’</p> + + <p>Here I took down a volume of each, and read various sentences and + paragraphs therefrom. These passages are full of transcendental + ideas; do you object to them?</p> + + <p>‘No,’ said my friend; ‘for aught I can perceive, they might have + been uttered by any one who was <em>not</em> a transcendentalist. Let me see + the books.’</p> + + <p>After turning over the leaves a long while, he selected and read aloud + a passage from Carlyle, one of his very worst; abrupt, nervous, jerking, + and at the same time windy, long-drawn-out, and parenthetical; a period + filling a whole page.</p> + + <p>‘There,’ said he, stopping to take breath, ‘if that is not enough to disgust + one with transcendentalism, then I know nothing of the matter.’</p> + + <p>A very sensible conclusion. Bless your soul, that is <em>Carlyle-ism</em>, not + transcendentalism. You said but now that you were not to be misled + by the sound of a word; and yet you are condemning a principle on account + of the bad style of a writer who is supposed to be governed by it. + Is that right? Would you condemn Christianity because of the weaknesses + and sins of one of its professors?</p> + + <p>‘Of course not,’ replied he; ‘I wish to be fair. I cannot express my + idea of the meaning of transcendentalism without tedious circumlocution, + and I begin to despair of proving my position by quotations. It is not + on any particular passage that I rest my case. You have read this + work, and will understand me when I say that it is to its general intent + and spirit that I object, and not merely to the author’s style.’</p> + + <p>I think I comprehend you. You disregard the mere form in which + the author expresses his thoughts; you go beyond and behind that, and + judge him by the thoughts themselves; not by one or by two, but by the + sum and <em>substance</em> of the whole. You strip off the husk to arrive at the + kernel, and judge of the goodness of the crop by the latter, not the + former.</p> + + <p>‘Just so,’ said he; ‘that’s my meaning precisely. I always strive + to follow that rule in every thing. ‘Appearances,’ you know, ‘are deceitful.’’</p> + + <p>That is to say, you go beyond or transcend appearances and circumstances, + and divine the true meaning, the substance, the spirit of that on + which you are about to decide. That is practical transcendentalism, + and you are a transcendentalist.</p> + + <p>‘I wish you would suggest another name for it,’ said my friend, as he + went out of the door; ‘I detest the sound of that word.’</p> + + <p>I wish we could, said I, but he was out of hearing; I wish we could, + for it is an abominably long word to write.</p> + + <p>‘I wish we could,’ mutters the printer, ‘for it is an awfully long word + to print.’</p> + + <p>‘I wish we could,’ is the sober second thought of all; for people will + always condemn transcendentalism until it is called by another name. + Such is the force of prejudice.</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page207" name="page207"></a>207</span>‘I have been thinking over our conversation of yesterday,’ said my + friend next morning, on entering my room.</p> + + <p>‘Oh, you have been writing it down, have you? Let me see it.’ + After looking over the sketch, he remarked:</p> + + <p>‘You <em>seem</em> to have me fast enough, but after all I believe you conquered + merely by playing upon a word, and in proving me to be a transcendentalist + you only proved me to be a reasonable being; one capable + of perceiving, remembering, combining, comparing and deducing; one + who, amid the apparent contradictions with which we are surrounded, + strives to reconcile appearances and discover principles; and from the + outward and visible learn the inward and spiritual; in fine, arrive at + truth. Now every reasonable man claims to be all that I have avowed + myself to be. If this is to be a transcendentalist, then I am one. When + I read that I must hate my father and mother before I can be a disciple + of <span class="special_name">Jesus</span>, I do not understand that passage literally; I call to mind other + precepts of <span class="special_name">Christ</span>; I remember the peculiarities of eastern style; I + compare these facts together, and deduce therefrom a very different + principle from that apparently embodied in the passage quoted. When + I see the Isle of Shoals doubled, and the duplicates reversed in the air + above the old familiar rocks, I do not, as I stand on Rye-beach, observing + the interesting phenomenon, believe there are two sets of islands + there; but recalling facts which I have learned, and philosophical truths + which I have acquired and verified, I attribute the appearance to its + true cause, refraction of light. When in passing from room to room in + the dark, with my arms outspread, I run my nose against the edge of a + door, I do not therefrom conclude that my nose is longer than my arms! + When I see a man stumble in the street, I do not at once set him down + as a drunkard, not considering that to be sufficient evidence, although + some of our Washingtonian friends do; but I compare that fact with the + state of the streets, and what I know of his previous life, and judge accordingly.’</p> + + <p>Well, said I, you are an excellent transcendentalist; one after my + own heart, in morals, philosophy and religion. To be a transcendentalist + is after all to be <em>only</em> a sensible, unprejudiced man, open to conviction + at all times, and spiritually-minded. I can well understand that, + when you condemn transcendentalism, you object not to the principle, + but to the practice, in the superlative degree, of that principle. Transcendentalism + is but an abstract mode of considering morals, philosophy, + religion; an application of the principles of abstract science to these + subjects. All metaphysicians are transcendentalists, and every one is + transcendental so far as he is metaphysical. There are as many different + modifications of the one as of the other, and probably no two transcendentalists + ever thought alike; their creed is not yet written. You + certainly do not condemn spiritualism, but ultra spiritualism you seem + to abhor.</p> + + <p>‘Precisely so. I did not yesterday give you the meaning which I + attached to transcendentalism; in truth, practically you meant one thing + by that term, and I another, though I now see that in principle they are + the same. The spiritualism which I like, looks through nature and + revelation up to <span class="special_name">God</span>; that which I abhor, condescends hardly to make + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page208" name="page208"></a>208</span>use of nature at all, but demands direct converse with <span class="special_name">God</span>, and declares + that it enjoys it too; a sort of continual and <em>immediate</em> revelation. + Itself is its own authority. The ultra-spiritualist contains within himself + the fulness of the Godhead. He allows of nothing external, unless + it be brother spirits like himself. He has abolished nature, and to the + uninitiated seems to have abolished <span class="special_name">God</span> himself, although I am charitable + enough to believe that he has full faith in <span class="special_name">God</span>, after his own fashion. + He claims to be inspired; to be equal to <span class="special_name">Jesus</span>; nay superior; for one + of them lately said: ‘Greater is the container than the contained, therefore + I am greater than <span class="special_name">God</span>, for I contain God!’ The ultra-spiritualist + believes only <em>by</em> and <em>through</em> and <em>in</em> his own inward light. Let him + take care, as Carlyle says, that his own contemptible tar-link does not, + by being held too near his eyes, extinguish to him the sun of the universe. + Now the true spiritualist makes use not only of his own moral + and religious instincts, but all that can be gathered by the senses from + external nature, and all that can be acquired by untiring consultation + with the sages who have gone before him; and from these materials in + the alembic of his mind, with such power as <span class="special_name">God</span> has given him, he distils + truth.’</p> + + <p>Truth! Ah, that is the very point in question. ‘What is truth?’ + has been the ardent inquiry of every honest mind from the days of + Adam to the present time, and the sneering demand of many an unbeliever. + Eve sought it when she tasted the forbidden fruit. But since + then, thank <span class="special_name">God</span>! no prohibition has been uttered against the search + after truth, and mankind have improved their liberty with great industry + for six thousand years; and what is the result? Is truth discovered? + How much? and how much of falsehood is mixed up with what <em>is</em> + known to be true? These questions are constantly suggesting themselves + to thinkers, and to answer them is the labor of their lives. Let + them have free scope, ultra-spiritualists and all. Even these latter go + through the same operation which you have just claimed to be peculiar + to the true spiritualist. All do, whether they will or not, make use of + observation, learning, and the inward light. Some arrive at one result, + and some at another, because the elements differ in each. If any two + could be found whose external observations, learning, intellect and inward + light or instincts were precisely equal in volume and proportion, + can it be doubted that these two would arrive at precisely similar results? + But they are <em>not</em> equal; and so one comes to believe in external + authority, and the other refers every thing to a standard which he thinks + he finds within himself. The latter is deemed by the public to be a + representative of pure transcendentalism, and he is condemned accordingly + as self-sufficient.</p> + + <p>And privately, between you and me, my good friend, I cannot help + thinking it rather ungrateful in him, after becoming so deeply indebted + to his senses, to books, and the Bible for his spiritual education, to turn + round and despise these means of advancement, and declare that they + are mere non-essential <em>circumstances</em>, and that a man may reach the + same end by studying himself <em>in</em> himself. It is as if a man should use + a ladder to reach a lofty crag, and then kick it over contemptuously, + and aver that he could just as well have flown up, and ask the crowd + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page209" name="page209"></a>209</span>below to break up that miserable ladder and try their wings. Doubtless + they <em>have</em> wings, if they only knew it. But seriously, I am not inclined + to join in the hue-and-cry against even the ultra-transcendentalist. He + has truth mixed up with what I esteem objectionable, and some truth to + which others have not attained; and as I deem the eclectic the only + true mode of philosophy, I am willing to take truth where I can find it, + whether in China or Boston, in Confucius or Emerson, Kant or Cousin, + the Bible or the Koran; and though I have more reverence for one of + these sources than all others, it is only because I think I find there the + greatest amount of truth, sanctioned by the highest authority. To put + the belief in the Bible on any other ground, is to base it on educational + prejudice and superstition; on which principle the Koran should be as + binding on the Mahometan as the Bible on us. Do we not all finally + resort to <em>ourselves</em> in order to decide a difficult question in morals or religion? + and is not the decision more or less correct accordingly as we + refer it to the better or to the baser portion of our nature?</p> + + <p>‘Most certainly! I have often said I would not and could not believe + in the Bible, if it commanded us to worship Sin and leave our passions + unbridled.’</p> + + <p>Well said! And in so saying, you acknowledge yourself to be governed + by the same principle which actuates the ultra-transcendentalist; + the moral sense or instinct, similar to the ‘inward light’ of the Friends. + After all, I apprehend the true point in which men differ is, whether + this moral sense is really an instinct, or whether it is evolved and put + in operation by education. How much is due to nature? is the true + question. But to solve it, is important only theoretically, for practically + we all act alike; we cannot, if we would, separate the educational from + the natural moral sense; we cannot <em>uneducate</em> it, and then judge by it, + freed from all circumstantial bias. But whether more or less indebted + either to nature or education, it is to this moral and religious sense that + the ultra-transcendentalist refers every question, and passes judgment + according to its verdict. It is sometimes rather vaguely called the + ‘Pure Reason;’ but that is only a <em>term</em>, hardly a ‘mouthful of articulate + wind.’</p> + + <p>‘You and I shall agree very well together, I see,’ replied my friend. + ‘If we dispute at all, it will be foolishly about the meaning of a word. + All the world have been doing that ever since the confusion of tongues + at Babel. That great event prophetically shadowed forth the future; + for now, as then, the confusion and disputation is greatest when we are + striving most earnestly to reach heaven by our earth-built contrivances. + We may draw a lesson therefrom; not to be too aspiring for our means; + for our inevitable failure only makes us the more ridiculous, the higher + the position we seem to have attained.’</p> + + <p>Very true; but we should never arrive at the height of wisdom, + which consists in knowing our own ignorance and weakness, unless we + made full trial of our powers. The fall of which you speak should + give us a modesty not to be otherwise obtained, and make us very careful + how we ridicule others, seeing how open to it we ourselves are. Every + man may build his tower of Babel, and if he make a right use of his + failure, may in the end be nearer heaven than if he had never made the + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page210" name="page210"></a>210</span>attempt. Ridicule is no argument, and should only be used by way of + a <i>jeu d’esprit</i>, and never on solemn subjects. It is very hard, I know, + for one who has mirthfulness strongly developed, to restrain himself on + all occasions; and what is solemn to one may not be so to another; + hence we should be very charitable to all; alike to the bigots, the + dreamers, and the laughers; to the builders of theoretic Babel-towers, + and the grovellers on the low earth.</p> + + <p>‘There is one kind of transcendentalism,’ replied my friend, ‘which + you have not noticed particularly, which consists in believing in nothing + except the spiritual existence of the unbeliever himself, and hardly that. + It believes not in the external world at all.’</p> + + <p>If you are on <em>that</em> ground, I have done. To talk of that, would be + wasting our time on nothing; or ‘our eternity,’ for with that sect time + is altogether a delusion. It <em>may</em> be true, but the believer, even in the + act of declaring his faith, must practically prove himself persuaded of + the falsity of his doctrine.</p> + + <p>‘You wanted a short name for transcendentalism; if a long one + will make <em>this</em> modification of it more odious, let us call it <em>Incomprehensibilityosityivityalityationmentnessism</em>.’</p> + + <p>My friend said this with a face nearly as long as the word, made a + low bow, and departed. I took my pen and reduced our conversation + to writing. I hope by this time the reader has a very lucid answer to + give to the question, <i>What is Transcendentalism?</i> It will be a miracle + if he can see one inch farther into the fog-bank than before. I should + like to take back the boast made in the beginning of this paper, that + I could prove in five minutes any reasonable man a transcendentalist. + My friend disconcerted my plan of battle, by taking command of the + enemy’s forces, instead of allowing me to marshal them on paper to suit + myself; and so a mere friendly joust ensued, instead of the utter demolition + of my adversary, which I had intended.</p> + + <p>And this little circumstance has led me to think, what a miserable business + controversialists would make of it, if each had his opponent looking + over his shoulder, pointing out flaws in his arguments, suggesting untimely + truths, and putting every possible impediment in the path of his + logic; and if, moreover, he were obliged to mend every flaw, prove + every such truth a falsehood, and remove every impediment before he + could advance a step. Were such the case, how much less would there + be of fine-spun theory and specious argument; how much more of + practical truth! Always supposing the logical combatants did not lose + their patience and resort to material means and knock-down arguments; + of which, judging by the spirit sometimes manifested in theological controversies, + there would really seem to be some danger. Oh! it is a + very easy thing to sit in one’s study and demolish an opponent, who + after all is generally no opponent at all, but only a man of straw, dressed + up for the occasion with a few purposely-tattered shreds of the adversary’s + cast-off garments.</p> + + <p class="post_break_small"><span class="first_word">Note by the ‘Friend.’</span>—The foregoing is a <em>correct</em> sketch of our + conversations, especially as the reporter has, like his congressional brother, + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page211" name="page211"></a>211</span>corrected most of the bad grammar, and left out some of the vulgarisms + and colloquialisms, and given me the better side of the argument + in the last conversation; it is <em>very</em> correct. But it seems to me that + the question put at the commencement is as far from being solved as + ever. It is as difficult to be answered as the question, What is Christianity? + to which every sect will return a different reply, and each + prove all the others wrong.</p> + + <p class="sign"><span class="location">Portsmouth, (N. H.)</span><span class="author">J. K. Jr.</span></p> + + </div><!-- WHAT IS TRANSCENDENTALISM? --> + <div class="article"> + <h2 class="title">LINES SENT WITH A BOUQUET.</h2> + + <h3 class="byline">BY PARK BENJAMIN.</h3> + + + <div class="poem"> + <h4 class="subtitle">I.</h4> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="first_word">I’ve</span> read in legends old of men</p> + <p class="i2">Who hung up fruits and flowers</p> + <p>Before the altar-shrines of those</p> + <p class="i2">They called Superior Powers:</p> + <p>It was, I think, a blessed thought</p> + <p class="i2">That things so pure and sweet</p> + <p>Should be esteemed an offering</p> + <p class="i2">For gods and angels meet.</p> + </div> + + <h4 class="subtitle">II.</h4> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>I imitate that charming rite</p> + <p class="i2">In this our sober day,</p> + <p>And, when I worship, strew sweet flowers</p> + <p class="i2">Along my angel’s way:</p> + <p>And, if my heart’s fond prayer be heard,</p> + <p class="i2">The offering I renew;</p> + <p>For flowers like books have leaves that speak,</p> + <p class="i2">And thoughts of every hue.</p> + </div> + + <h4 class="subtitle">III.</h4> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>They are Love’s paper, pictured o’er</p> + <p class="i2">With gentle hopes and fears;</p> + <p>Their blushes are the smiles of Love,</p> + <p class="i2">And their soft dew his tears!</p> + <p>Ah! more than poet’s pen can write</p> + <p class="i2">Or poet’s tongue reveal</p> + <p>Is hidden by their folded buds</p> + <p class="i2">And by their rosy seal.</p> + </div> + + <h4 class="subtitle">IV.</h4> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Mute letters! yet how eloquent!</p> + <p class="i2">Expressive silence dwells</p> + <p>In every blossom Heaven creates,</p> + <p class="i2">Like sound in ocean shells.</p> + <p>Press to my flowers thy lips, beloved,</p> + <p class="i2">And then thy heart will see</p> + <p>Inscribed upon their leaves the words</p> + <p class="i2">I dare not breathe to thee!</p> + </div> + </div> + </div><!-- LINES SENT WITH A BOUQUET. --> + <div class="article"> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page212" name="page212"></a>212</span></p> + + + <h2 class="title">THE ALMS HOUSE.</h2> + + <h3 class="byline">BY A NEW CONTRIBUTOR.</h3> + + + <p><span class="first_word">It</span> is not my purpose in the following narrative to point out all the + evils arising from the modern practice of relieving the wants of the + poor and destitute which prevails in this country and in England, where + the arm of the law compels that pittance which should be the voluntary + donation of benevolence; one consequence of which system is, that the + poor claim support as a <em>debt</em> due from society at large, and feel no gratitude + toward any of the individuals paying the tax. The payer of the + tax, on the other hand, feeling that he can claim no merit for surrendering + that which is wrung from him by force, and expecting no thanks + for the act, and knowing that in many cases it operates as a bounty on + idleness, hates the ungrateful burthen thus imposed upon him, and strives + to reduce it to the least possible amount. In this way the ties which + should bind together the poor and the rich are sundered. The benevolence + of the patron and the gratitude of the dependent, which formerly + existed, is changed to dislike and suspicion on the one part, and envy + and ingratitude on the other.</p> + + <p>Doubtless one design of Providence in suffering want and misery to + exist in the world, is that the benevolent virtues should be kept in exercise. + He who was benevolence itself, seemed thus to think, when he + said: ‘The poor ye have always with you.’ But man in his selfishness + virtually says: ‘The poor we will not have with us; we will put them + out of our sight.’ For in many towns in New-England, and probably + in other States, it is customary to contract with some individual for their + support; or, in other words, to sell them by auction, to him who will + support them by the year, for the least sum per head. To illustrate + some of the results of this system, the following incidents are related + from memory, having been witnessed by me in my native place (an interior + town in New-England) at an age when the feelings are most susceptible. + And so deep was the impression then made on my mind, that + I am enabled to vouch for the accuracy of the details.</p> + + <p>A meeting for the purpose of disposing of the poor of the town for + the ensuing year was held at the house of the person who had kept + them the previous year, (and where these unfortunates still were) as + well because it was supposed he would again bid for them, as that those + who wished to become competitors might ascertain their number and + condition. It was in the afternoon of a day in November, one of those + dark and dreary days so common to the season and climate, adding + gloom to the surrounding objects, in themselves sufficiently cheerless. + The house was situated on an obscure road in a remote part of the town, + surrounded by level and sandy fields; and the monotony of the prospect + only broken by scattered clumps of dwarf-pine and shrub-oak; a few + stunted apple-trees, the remains of an orchard which the barren soil + had refused to nourish; some half ruinous out-houses, and a meagre + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page213" name="page213"></a>213</span>kitchen garden enclosed with a common rough fence, completed the picture + without.</p> + + <p>Still more depressing was the scene within. The paupers were collected + in the same room with their more fortunate townsmen, that the + bidders might be enabled to view more closely their condition, and + estimate the probable expense of supporting them through the year. + Many considerations entered as items into this sordid calculation; such + as the very lowest amount of the very coarsest food which would suffice, + (not to keep them in comfort, but to sustain their miserable existence + for the next three hundred and sixty-five days, and yet screen the provider + from the odium of having starved his victims,) the value of the + clothes they then wore, and thus the future expense of their clothing; + and other such considerations, which I will not farther disgust the reader + by enumerating.</p> + + <p>They were about twenty in number, and not greatly distinguished + from the ordinary poor of a country town in New-England; unless by + there being present three idiot daughters of one poor man, whose low + and narrow foreheads, sunken temples, fixed but dead and unmeaning + eyes, half opened and formless mouths, indicating even to childhood + the absence of that intellectual light, which in those who possess it + shines through the features. Insanity also was there, that most dreadful + infliction of Providence; the purpose of which lies hidden in the + darkness which surrounds His throne. Its unhappy subject was with + them, but not of them. His eyes were fixed upon the scene, but the + uncertain fire which illumined his features was caused by thoughts + which had no connection with the passing scene.</p> + + <p>Vice, too, had its representatives; for in a community where wealth + is nearly the only source of distinction, and where Mammon is consequently + worshipped as the true god, the destiny of the unfortunate and + of the vicious is nearly the same. And the ‘poor-house’ was used, as + in other towns in New-England, as a house of correction, and at this + time contained several professors of vice of each sex. Alas! of that + sex which when corrupt is more dangerous than the other in a like condition, + as the most rich and grateful things are in their decay the most + noxious!</p> + + <p>The remaining number consisted of the aged and childless widow, + the infirm and friendless old man, the sick, the deformed, and the cripple; + the virtuous poor, in forced and loathed contact with vice and infamy. + Those of society who in life’s voyage had been stranded on the bleak + and barren coast of charity, and who were now waiting for death to + float them into the ocean of eternity. While this scene was passing at + the alms-house, another connected with it, and fitted to excite still + deeper feelings, was acting in another part of the town.</p> + + <p>A person who was that year one of the select-men,<a href="#fn1" class="fnmarker" title="Men who are yearly selected by the inhabitants..." id="fnm1" name="fnm1">1</a> and a deacon in + the church, was delegated by his colleagues to bring to the alms-house + the ‘lone woman’ who forms the chief subject of our homely story. + The widow Selden (a brief history of whom it will be necessary to + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page214" name="page214"></a>214</span>give) had received an education suited rather to the respectability and + former wealth of her family, than to its subsequent reduced condition, + became in early life the wife of a merchant of our village, a man of + good character and fair prospects, to whom she was much attached. + Traders in New-England where wealth is so eagerly sought, are, especially + in country towns, men of much consideration, as engaged in a + money-making business. Mrs. Selden, therefore, independently of her + personal merits, was not likely to be neglected. Her company was + sought by the best society of our place, and she exchanged visits on + equal terms even with the families of the clergyman and the village + lawyer.</p> + + + <p>A few years of quiet enjoyment passed, happily varied by the accession + of a fair and delicate little girl, who might be seen at their cheerful + meals seated in her high chair, the common object of their care and + attention; and not only affording in her fragile little person the strongest + bond of union, but the never-tiring subject of conversation. Sad indeed + was the change in this once happy family, when the widow and orphan + sat alone at the cheerless board. Death had entered and taken from + them the sun of their little world. The bereaved wife might have sunk + under this calamity, had not maternal solicitude been mixed with grief. + With that admirable fortitude and submission to duty so common to + those of her sex in similar circumstances, she at once devoted herself + with increased solicitude to the remaining object of her care and + affection.</p> + + <p>For a time but little change was visible in the family arrangements, + for though a sensitive she was a spirited woman. Her garden, which + had been the pride and delight of her husband, still flourished in perfect + neatness. After the usual time of decent seclusion, she again interchanged + visits with her friends and neighbors, and continued to maintain + the stand in the village society which had always been conceded to her. + But this state of things did not long continue, for alas! the <em>gathering</em> as + well as the <em>protecting</em> hand was removed. Her more aristocratic acquaintances + now began to remark that her table showed less of plenty + and variety than formerly, and that her dress, though perfectly neat, + was less new and fashionable than they expected in <em>their</em> associates; + for no where is the distinction between the rich and poor more rigidly + enforced than in country villages. Most offensively marked is this distinction + in the house of God, where if any where this side the grave + ought the rich and the poor to meet on a level, before Him who regards + not the outward estate of his creatures. But modern Christians have + contrived to evade the rebuke of the apostle by the cunning device of + introducing the noisy auctioneer, and under a show of fairness and + equality, ‘the man in goodly apparel and having a gold ring’ is assigned + the highest seat; and albeit a skeptic, by the weight of his purse crowds + the humble worshippers to the wall and into the corners of their Father’s + house.</p> + + <p>It was observed that the lone woman declined competition for those + seats so eagerly sought by the more wealthy, and selected those of a + humbler character, and eventually retired to the ‘widow’s pew,’ a pew + set apart, in country churches, for the gratuitous accommodation of + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page215" name="page215"></a>215</span>those in that unhappy condition. Sincerely religious, the Christian + widow still waited upon God in the house of prayer, but felt the whole + sting of poverty when slowly and humbly wending her way to her obscure + corner, her faded and well-worn dress was brushed by the new + and rich garments of her former equals as they swept past her to their + high seats. The neat and handsome dwelling with its trim garden was + at length resigned for one which barely sheltered the mother and child + from the weather, and was totally devoid of the cheap luxury of fruit + and flowers which had enriched and beautified their former home.</p> + + <p>Time wore on, and Want with its train of sordid attendants visited + their dwelling. Her former associates, one after another declined her + society as an equal. Occasionally calling, they were eloquent in + excuses for their neglect; for when did the prosperous lack an excuse + for neglecting the unfortunate? Counsel and advice were lavished upon + her; for I have observed that advice is the only thing that the rich impart + freely to the poor. Religion too was the frequent subject of their + conversation; for how can benevolence be shown more strongly than by + a concern for the well-being of the soul, which is to exist forever, in + comparison with which, the transient wants of the body are as nothing? + Accordingly, the poor widow, after her scanty meal, and over her dim + and cheerless hearth, was exhorted by her fur-clad and well-fed <em>friends</em>, + to disregard the evils of this fleeting life, and receive with resignation the + chastenings of Providence; for we all needed correction, being by nature + utterly sinful and depraved. And after some vague and indefinite offers + of assistance, the good women would take their leave. A way of discharging + duty discovered by modern philanthropists; and when accompanied + by the Societies’ tract, seldom fails to convince the unfortunate + object of charity that to Heaven alone should they look for assistance and + sympathy.</p> + + <p>This lady, as we have intimated, possessed a large share of that generous + spirit so common in her sex, which enabled her to sustain herself + amid the evils which oppressed her. And nobly did the mother strive + to shield from want and ignorance the little orphan, now her only care. + Her own education enabled her in some measure to supply the place of + teachers, which she was unable to employ. And never was maternal + care better rewarded than by the improvement of the gentle being under + her charge. But in this blessed employment the poor mother was interrupted. + While health continued, she had been enabled by the most + unremitted exertion to prevent the approach of absolute want, slight + indeed as were her earnings. (The modern improvements in machinery + having destroyed domestic manufacture, properly so called, and left but + little for the female to earn who is not attending its motions in the noisy + factory.) But illness had intervened, and diminished even that small + resource; and it was apparent to all that the want of suitable food assisted + in blanching still more the fair face of the poor child. Maternal + love had conquered the honest pride of the poor mother so far as to constrain + her to accept the slight and uncertain donations of her neighbors. + But this assistance, scanty as it was, could not continue. The tax-paying + husbands of the benevolent ladies who furnished it, complained that + the poor-rates were heavy, and that they had already helped to pay for a + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page216" name="page216"></a>216</span>house of refuge for the poor and the destitute, could not, in addition to + this, support them out of it.</p> + + <p>She was told it was her duty to place her daughter in some family to be + brought up as a servant. In vain did she assert her ability to maintain + herself and child when health should return. Her advisers could little + sympathize with her feelings, and reproached her with pride. And she + was now harassed with the fear that her delicate and cultivated little + girl would be torn from her, and made a factory slave or household + drudge; for such power had the laws given to the rulers of the town. + But this fear, miserable as it was, was now overpowered by another. + The suggestion had reached the ear of the unhappy woman that she and + her child would be conveyed to the house of the town’s poor, the place + we have attempted to describe. God grant that no fair reader of this + homely but too true story should ever feel the misery which this fear + inflicted on the mind of this friendless mother! Oh, that true Charity + had been present in the person of her best representative on earth, a sensible, + affectionate and liberal-minded woman, to minister to the wants, + to soothe the mind of her unhappy sister-woman, and cheer her exertions + for self-support! None such appeared, and the heart of the poor woman + sank within her. Her exertions were paralyzed; for struggle as she + might to avoid it, the alms-house, with its debased and debasing society, + was ever before her eyes as her ultimate destiny. It was in vain that + she endeavored to prepare her mind for this result. She could endure + any degree of privation, but not degradation and infamy.</p> + + <p>Time wore on, without any renewed hints of interference, and she + began to hope that she was forgotten. Delusive hope! It was felt as + a disgrace that she should suffer, when the <em>law</em> had provided a remedy, + and they had paid for it. And it was therefore decreed by the magnates + of the town that she must be removed, and the day had arrived + (with which we commenced our narrative,) on which the paupers were + to be disposed of for the coming year. <span class="keep_together">Deacon S——</span> was the person + deputed by his colleagues, as we have mentioned, to convey Mrs. Selden + and her daughter to the alms-house.</p> + + <p>However prepared we may suppose ourselves to meet misfortune, the + moment of its arrival takes us by surprise. We will not attempt to picture + the utter desolation of mind and the despair which filled her heart, + when this man arrived at her door, to convey herself, and oh! far worse, + her innocent and intelligent child, to that scene of vice and debasement. + Although her dislike to the measure was known, yet from her quiet + and reserved manners, little opposition was anticipated. The evils of + life had accumulated upon her in a regular gradation, and she had + been enabled to bear their weight, up to this point, with outward composure; + looking forward to, but yet hoping this last cup of bitterness would + never be presented; or if presented, that some means might be found to + avert it. But the dreadful crisis had arrived. Had the whole board of + authority been present, I should be glad to believe, for the honor of humanity, + that they would have been moved to relent, as they would not + have been able to shift the responsibility from one to the other, as is the + wont of such bodies when the members act separately.</p> + + <p>When the poor woman had so far recovered from the first shock as to + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page217" name="page217"></a>217</span>be enabled to articulate, she pleaded her ability to maintain herself without + assistance, and her choice rather to starve than be removed. She + appealed to him as the father of a daughter, and painted the ruin which + would fall upon her own, exposed to the corruption and example of the + place to which he was taking her. She appealed to him as a Christian, + and reminded him that they had sat together before the sacred desk, and + partaken of the symbols of the body and blood of the Son of Him who was + in a peculiar manner the father of the widow and orphan. But her auditor + was destitute of the imagination which enables the possessor to enter into + the feelings of another; and these affecting appeals fell dead upon his + worldly and unsympathizing nature. The man even extended his hand to + urge her forward to the conveyance provided! At that moment, when all + hope was dead within her, and the worst that could happen in her opinion + had arrived, a change came over the unhappy woman. She suffered + herself unresistingly to be led forward to her doom. The fine + chords of the mind and heart, lately so intensely strung, had parted; her + countenance relaxed, and her features settled down into a dead, unmeaning + apathy; never again, during the short remainder of her life, to be + animated by one gleam of the feelings which had so lately illumined but + to destroy.</p> + + <p>My kind, my indulgent mother! Her generous heart needed not the + eloquence of my youthful feelings to induce her to rescue the poor + orphan, and to cherish her as her own child. And never was kindness + more <span class="keep_together">richly——</span></p> + + <p>I had proceeded thus far in writing this narrative, when I discovered + that I was overlooked; and a gentle voice over my shoulder said: ‘You + should not praise your own wife; it is the same as if you should praise + yourself!’</p> + + <p class="sign"><span class="author">E. B.</span></p> + </div><!-- THE ALMS HOUSE. --> + <div class="article"> + <h2 class="title">APOSTROPHE TO HEALTH.</h2> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="special_name">Hygeia</span>! most blest of the powers</p> + <p class="i2">That tenant the mansions divine,</p> + <p>May I pass in thy presence the hours</p> + <p class="i2">That remain, ere in death I recline!</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Dwell with me, benevolent charm!</p> + <p class="i2">Without the attendance of health</p> + <p>Not the smiles of affection can warm,</p> + <p class="i2">And dull are the splendors of wealth.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>The pageant of empire is stale</p> + <p class="i2">That lifts men like gods o’er their race,</p> + <p>And the heart’s thrilling impulses fail</p> + <p class="i2">When Love beckons on to the chase.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Whate’er in itself joy can give,</p> + <p class="i2">Or that springs from sweet respite of pain,</p> + <p>That mortals or gods can receive,</p> + <p class="i2">Blest <span class="special_name">Hygeia</span>! is found in thy train!</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Thy smile kindles up the fresh spring,</p> + <p class="i2">The glad, verdant bloom of the soul;</p> + <p>Thee absent, our pleasures take wing,</p> + <p class="i2">And Sorrow usurps her control.</p> + </div> + </div> + </div><!-- APOSTROPHE TO HEALTH. --> + <div class="article"> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page218" name="page218"></a>218</span></p> + <h2 class="title">ISABEL.</h2> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="first_word">Hush</span>! her face is chill,</p> + <p class="i2">And the summer blossom.</p> + <p>Motionless and still,</p> + <p class="i2">Lieth on her bosom.</p> + <p>On her shroud so white,</p> + <p class="i2">Like snow in winter weather,</p> + <p>Her marble hands unite,</p> + <p class="i2">Quietly together.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>How like sleep the spell</p> + <p class="i2">On her lids that falleth!</p> + <p>Wake, sweet Isabel!</p> + <p class="i2">Lo! the morning calleth.</p> + <p>How <em>like</em> Sleep!—’tis Death!</p> + <p class="i2">Sleep’s own gentle brother;</p> + <p>Heaven holds her breath—</p> + <p class="i2">She is with her mother!</p> + </div> + </div> + + </div><!-- ISABEL. --> + <div class="article"> + <h2 class="title">ONE READING FROM TWO POETS.</h2> + + <div class="epigram"> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p class="i10"><span class="keep_together">——</span><span class="first_word">My</span> imagination</p> + <p>Carries no favor in it but Bertram’s.</p> + <p>I am undone; there is no living, none,</p> + <p>If Bertram be away.</p> + </div> + </div> + <p class="sign"><span class="author">Shakspeare.</span></p> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Should <span class="special_name">God</span> create another Eve and I</p> + <p>Another rib afford, yet loss of thee</p> + <p>Would never from my heart.</p> + </div> + </div> + <p class="sign"><span class="author">Milton.</span></p> + </div> + + <p><span class="first_word">I have</span> this evening, while seated in my lonely chamber, ventured—not, + I hope, with profane hands—to draw one inappreciable gem from + out of the carcanet of each of the two unrivalled masters of the poetry + of our language. I was curious to see the effect to be produced by a + close juxtaposition of these two exquisite specimens of the soul’s light; + of the revealment of its original genius; of the intense brilliancy of its + Truth, falling as it does in one ray upon two objects so diverse in their + character as the virgin love of the retired and comparatively humble but + devoted Helena, and the married constancy of the Father of our race.</p> + + <p>The effect reminds me of an <i>échappée de lumière</i> that I once beheld + in the gallery of the Vatican, when a sudden emergence of light brightened + with the same gleam the calm face of the Virgin of the clouds, + (called di Foligno,) and at the same instant illuminated the whole principal + figure in the Transfiguration of Raffaelle; floating as it does, and + tending almost with a movement upward, in the air of ‘the high mountain’ + where the miracle took <span class="keep_together">place——</span>as these two grand paintings then + stood, side by side, in the solemn, in the holy quiet of that lofty and + sequestered apartment. O moment! never to be forgotten, never to be + obscured by any lapse of after time!</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page219" name="page219"></a>219</span>And thus, although in a less palpable world, do these two passages of + immortal verse, wearing each its beam of golden light, stand in their + effulgence before the sympathies of the observer alive to the charms and + influences of moral beauty! Surely no other poet has the world produced + comparable to Shakspeare for the revelation of the love of the yet + unwedded girl; and who is there to be named with Milton, in the tenderness + and truth with which he has touched upon conjugal relationship; + and that necessity, that inappeasable requirement of intercommunion that + accompanies, as its immediate consequence, the sacrament of the nuptial + rite where there is destined to exist the real, the progressive, the + indissoluble intermarriage of soul with soul!</p> + + <p>How effectually and with what truth does the dramatic Bard raise + the veil and exhibit to us the imagination of this retired girl, bred up in + all the deep earnestness of mind that a country life and comparative + seclusion could induce, dwelling and brooding over the form of one individual + brought into intimate association with her, ‘seeing him every + hour’ where she had little else to interest her, nor any thing to contemplate, + but, as she says,</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p class="i14">‘sit and draw</p> + <p>His archéd brows, his hawking eye, his curls,</p> + <p>In our heart’s table; heart too capable</p> + <p>Of every trick and line of his sweet favour.</p> + </div> + + <p class="poetry_break">·····</p> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p class="i14">——it hurts not him</p> + <p>That he is loved of me: I follow him not</p> + <p>With any token of presumptuous suit.</p> + <p>I know I love in vain, strive against hope,</p> + <p>Yet, in this captious and intenible sieve,</p> + <p>I still pour in the waters of my love</p> + <p>And lack not to love still.’</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Behold her as she sits, the beautiful creation!—delighting to magnify + the qualities of the idol of her affections and to depreciate herself in the + comparison; overlooking, perhaps incapable of once imagining the + thought of his harsh and selfish and impracticable nature, and constantly + endowing him with all the fresher breathings of her spiritual existence—like + the Rainbow of the Waterfall, that clothes, with its own + celestial dyes, the dark and shapeless mass of Rock upon whose bosom it + appears to dwell! faltering, trembling, quivering, fading, disappearing; + returning, resting;—glowing, yet never dazzling; liquid, yet sustained!</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p class="i14">‘It were all one</p> + <p>That I should love a bright particular star</p> + <p>And seek to wed it, he is so above me:</p> + <p>In his bright radiance and collateral light</p> + <p>Must I be comforted, not in his sphere.</p> + <p>The hind that would be mated by the lion</p> + <p>Must die for love!</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>This is the way in which these precious irradiations of joy beam and + hover over man; startled and frightened often out of the presence even + of his image while they thus adorn and decorate him; and then they + love him for what they fondly dream to be the halo of his proper spirit; + for the light and tenderness, the purity, the gentleness, the refinement + and grace, that have their life and element and colour, only in the deep + yet overflowing heart of Woman in her Love!</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page220" name="page220"></a>220</span>But then comes Wedlock; and often, with wedlock, comes marriage; + or succeeds it; the marriage that <span class="special_name">God</span> bestowed on man in Eve, when, + according to that scriptural and exquisite conception, <em>they twain become + one</em>. When the Rock shall as by a miracle receive into all its crevices, + interstices, and pores, the beautiful existence that has played upon it! + When the soul of man opens at every noble passion in succession and at + every pulse, to embrace, imbibe, absorb, receive, possess, acquire, the + being that we call <span class="special_name">Woman</span>! finds her in every former want, or present + wish, or bright, or unfrequented passage of the soul; now all occupied, + all satisfied by her; fancies thoughts to be his thoughts which are her + thoughts; and blesses himself, when he discovers it, that imaginations + in themselves so sweet, should in some visit of her delicate spirit have + been breathed into his <span class="special_name">Essence</span> from a source so pure! is near her, when + distant; is present with her, when absent; converses with her, without + words; gazes upon her, without sight; listens to her, without sound; + watches her, without motion; and has not yet lost her balmy presence + when Death shall long have removed forever that precious image from + his corporal sense. This is <span class="special_name">Marriage</span>.</p> + + <p>Out of this state descends that profound expression of the soul in + Milton, (<span class="special_name">God</span> make us thankful for him!) when he intends the verb that + he escapes in the passage that adorns my Essay, should be supplied by a + pulsation in the breast of Eve:</p> + + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p class="i14">‘yet loss of thee</p> + <p>Would never—from my heart.’</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Would never?—would never be torn, out-rooted, obliterated, banished, + extinguished, forgotten, diminished, obscured, from his heart. The + throb of her spirit is to supply the word, or mould the thought, and vivify + the pause so as to satisfy her full affection to its utmost contentment + and desire. <em>This</em> is marriage. This is attainment to that state of more + perfect existence which terrestrial life procures for the soul of man, never + thenceforth in all its future changes to be lost. The incorporeal mingling, + the mystical union of two varied emanations of life; as Light and + Heat intermarry in their offset and passage from the sun; and Truth + and Love from the breast of <span class="special_name">The Ineffable</span>!</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>How can I live without thee! how forego</p> + <p>Thy sweet converse and love so dearly join’d</p> + <p>To live again in these wild woods forlorn?</p> + <p>Should <span class="special_name">God</span> create another Eve and I</p> + <p>Another rib afford, yet loss of thee</p> + <p>Would never from my heart: no, no, I feel</p> + <p>The link of nature draw me.</p> + <p>Bone of my bone thou art and from thy state</p> + <p>Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe.</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>And shall the passage of one such soul across the mere brook of Death + dissolve affiances so deep, so latent, and so pure as this? This Life of + Life, is it to be so suddenly quenched in man, and man himself continue + to exist? Shall the soul that lingers here still retaining its identity lose + that which has chiefly formed for it a distinctive being? Or entering + into a happier state of existence shall it be dispossessed of all that treasure + of recollection and delight on which its joys and hopes have been + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page221" name="page221"></a>221</span>so largely founded? These long remembrances of mutual beneficence + and good, these intertwining and interwoven affections, and the unbounded + and mingling love of their common offspring, shall these all perish + and the soul itself yet be styled immortal? Or,—shall the first-gone + spirit meet its arriving mate upon the border of that further shore, bless + it with the radiant welcome of celestial companionship and guidance, + and lead it on to higher virtue in a happier state, as it hath beamed upon + it and in part educated it on <span class="keep_together">Earth?——</span>Doubt this not, my Heart! + Doubt this not, my Soul!</p> + + <p class="sign"><span class="author">John Waters.</span></p> + + </div><!-- ONE READING FROM TWO POETS. --> + <div class="article"> + <h2 class="title">WHERE IS THE SPIRIT-WORLD?</h2> + <h3 class="byline">BY A NEW CONTRIBUTOR.</h3> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="first_word">Perhaps</span> the World of Spirits</p> + <p class="i2">Is the invisible air,</p> + <p>And every soul inherits</p> + <p class="i2">Its endless portion there,</p> + <p>When mortal lays its mortal by,</p> + <p>And puts on immortality.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Then round us and above us</p> + <p class="i2">Unseen, the souls of those</p> + <p>That hate us and that love us</p> + <p class="i2">In motion or repose,</p> + <p>To plan and work our good or ill,</p> + <p>As when on earth, are busy still.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>For Enmity surviveth</p> + <p class="i2">This transitory life;</p> + <p>Spirit with spirit striveth</p> + <p class="i2">In an unending strife;</p> + <p>All roots of evil planted now</p> + <p>Eternally shall live and grow.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>So friendship ever liveth</p> + <p class="i2">Immortal as the soul,</p> + <p>And purer pleasure giveth</p> + <p class="i2">As longer ages roll;</p> + <p>And hope and joy and inward peace</p> + <p>Forever heighten and increase!</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Our homes and dwelling-places,</p> + <p class="i2">The country of our birth,</p> + <p>The old familiar faces</p> + <p class="i2">Endeared to us on earth,</p> + <p>And every source and scene of joy</p> + <p>Our spirits’ senses shall employ.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>So shall our true affections,</p> + <p class="i2">To earthly objects given,</p> + <p>Form intimate connections</p> + <p class="i2">Between our world and heaven;</p> + <p>And all our long existence move</p> + <p>In an unbroken stream of love.</p> + </div> + </div> + </div><!-- WHERE IS THE SPIRIT-WORLD? --> + <div class="article"> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page222" name="page222"></a>222</span></p> + + <h2 class="title">THE TYRANNY OF AFFECTION.</h2> + + <h3 class="byline">BY MRS. ENNSLO.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">Methinks</span> those who preach up the dignity of human nature, and + expatiate upon its original perfections, must look upon it through magic + glasses: to some perceptions at least, it presents even in its best estate a + picture of such abortive aims, such woful short-comings, such clouded + brightness, that even in those better natures, where we feel sure that the + sun of virtue <em>does</em> shine, the noxious vapors of human frailty, pride in + all its various ramifications, selfishness under its many disguises, prejudice + with its endless excuses, etc., etc., do so envelope it that we cannot + hope to feel the warmth of its rays until some wholesome trial, some + aptly-apportioned cross, clear away these paralyzing influences and force + it into action.</p> + + <p>What seems at the first glance freer from this dross than the love of + man to man? the love of the creature for his fellow; the ordained test + of his love to his Creator? What seems more preëminently pure than + the affection of the parent for the child, who owes him not only life but + the nurture which has maintained and elevated that life? Yet even + here, even over this fair garden of peace, the trail of the serpent may be + detected. The tyranny of deep affection is seen in every relation of + life: we love a cherished object, it may be with every fibre of our heart, + ay, even idolatrously; we would willingly spend and be spent to surround + the beloved one with materials for enjoyment; but these materials + must be of <em>our</em> selection; we would sacrifice ourselves to lead them + to happiness, but <em>we</em> must point out the road to them; we will bear every + thing, endure every thing, but the mortification of seeing them receive + good at other hands than our own. Ah! there are some rare exceptions + to this rule, but surely not more than enough to constitute it a rule.</p> + + <p>Who that enjoyed the privilege of domestic intercourse with the venerable + and venerated father of the lovely Lucy Lee; he the most beloved + as well as respected inhabitant of the small town of <span class="keep_together">——;</span> she not + only the prettiest but by far the most winning in her deportment of all + the young female circle of the place, of whom she was beyond all question + the ornament. Who that witnessed the fond pride with which the + good old man gazed upon her, as she glided around him, ministering to + his wants with that watchful ingenuity which characterizes woman’s + affection; who that heard the tone of tenderness which marked even + the most trifling word addressed to her; a tenderness that seemed as if it + might by its deep pathos invoke every beneficent spirit to watch over her + for good; his early morning greeting, always accompanied by an upward + look, which proclaimed a daily aspiration of gratitude to the great + Giver for the precious gift; the nightly benediction which ever seemed + as if it might grow into a prayer for her welfare during the hours of + darkness; who that witnessed all this—and they could not be seen together + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page223" name="page223"></a>223</span>without many such hourly demonstrations of the father’s love for + his child shining through his every word and action—but would have + felt assured that this love fashioned his every plan, and marked his estimate + of the things of life?</p> + + <p>Ah! of a certainty, it must have been so; her happiness must have + been safe in his keeping; and in truth, happiness had hitherto seemed + hers by prescriptive right. But all lanes however long turn at last, + and those most richly strewn with flowers are generally alas! by far + the shortest. Eighteen summers had flown since that which saw the + little Lucy installed sole possessor and sole solace of her bereaved father’s + heart; sole pledge of a love which deeply rooted in a breast no longer subject + to the changeful fancies of youth, (for he had more than attained the + prime of middle-age when the original of the precious little miniature + first enchained his affections,) never revived for any other, but spent + itself in a doting fondness for this fair image of the lost one. Indeed it + seemed that every throb came with a double import from his burdened + heart; the parent’s fondness ever mingling a tribute to the memory of + her whose life had been the price of the costly gift.</p> + + <p>It is not always that the devotion of a parent is so entirely appreciated + as in this case; all Mr. Lee’s efforts to promote his daughter’s happiness + were crowned with entire success, and until the period mentioned + above, no one had ever detected on her lovely brow the semblance of a + cloud. But the course of nature cannot be altered; the petted child will + one day grow into the wilful woman; and however it may have been + only a pleasant task to follow the windings of the childish fancy ingenious + in its caprice; and only amusing to submit to the childish tyranny + which pursues its own beau-ideal of sport with reckless pertinacity; + there sometimes comes a change when the spoiled darling takes her first + step upon the threshold of maturity; when, with all the fresh vigor of + youth in her untutored will, she begins to assert her privilege, to cater + for her own happiness, and fashion her future according to the visions of + her own fancy. Then comes in the world with its many and diversified + claims; claims so vigorously enforced, but from which it is the first impulse + of the young heart to turn with loathing: it cannot bear to believe + its happy independence of all such considerations at an end; it does not + submit easily to these new trammels. Ah! how differently has passed + the previous life! Something holy gathers round a child; it seems to + move superior to the base claims of the world and its paltry rewards; + and although often, it must be confessed, the young intellect is early impressed + with the idea that its best efforts should be devoted to the insuring + of worldly approbation, still the little one’s course of life is so distinct + from the busy race to which we would train it, that we cannot if + we would entirely chain down its thoughts; nay, we shrink before the + pure innocence which cannot even understand our weakness; and often + yield a tribute to its superior dignity by concealing our own care for such + distinctions.</p> + + <p>To those too who have seen much of life, and learnt to feel its hollowness, + real childishness of thought and feeling is so refreshing, that + they love rather to prolong the period than to shorten it. To Mr. Lee + the little Lucy seemed so entirely perfect in her infantine simplicity and + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page224" name="page224"></a>224</span>purity, that had he breathed a wish for the future, it would probably + have been that she should always continue his <em>little</em> Lucy; he cared for + no change, and as it appeared, perceived none in her. Time passed on + however, and before he had become well aware that the little fairy whose + tiny form must needs so short a while since clamber on his knee to + stroke and pat his cheek, had now shot up into a tall girl, who could take + his arm in a long walk, or canter beside him all the morning on her well + trained pony, there came a change over the course of his quiet household + little startling. Visitors began to throng the hall; not those staid + personages who had hitherto been wont to gather round the warm hearth + in winter, or the sheltered piazza in the hot days of summer, and with + feet upreared on mantel-piece or bannister, discuss the affairs of state, + and the price of crops; new editions of these respected individuals now + appeared; nephews and sons came in their train; young friends, more + perhaps than these gentlemen were before aware of possessing, sought + an introduction at their hands, or came without any, on the plea perhaps + of having met at a tea-party, or some such strong necessity for acquaintanceship + with the fair Lucy; while the good Mr. Lee, often to his not + very pleased surprise, found on awaking from his afternoon’s nap, that + the book whose contents he had purposed should perform their daily + office of inspiring his dreams had been laid aside, while the voice + which had lulled him to sleep was now charming other and younger + ears in merry though perhaps suppressed cadences. The variety in + these visitors too grew somewhat annoying; new people came, and Mr. + Lee liked not new people. He was a man of warm but very exclusive + feelings; he loved but a few, and he liked no others: his prejudices were + strong, and having lived a very secluded life, the routine of which presented + no very decided obstacle to those prejudices, his estimate of men and + things had not altered with the general course of the world around him. + Liberal to an extreme in his dealings with men, his intercourse with + them, except in matters of business, was confined to a very limited circle. + Absolute in his requisitions from such as approached him as intimates, + his friendship was given only to those who met his views in every + respect; especially whose political opinions coincided with his own. + Indeed this seemed to be with him the one grand test. Though never + meddling in his own person with public life, he had such an abstract love + for its intricacies that he could at all times warm into actual enthusiasm + over a newspaper; a single paragraph from the pen one of his own + way of thinking sufficing to kindle his feelings into a glow of patriotism, + while a civil word of dissent would seem to chill his sympathies for his + kind; strong disapprobation blinding his perceptions to any good possible + in those differing from his established standard. Now it was not to + be expected that the young Lucy’s circle would be modelled according + to such restrictions; she loved her kind old father with the clinging + fondness of an unweaned infant for its mother; but though again and + again she would, to gratify him, toil through a whole pamphlet, its meaning + as dark to her perceptions as the close and blurred print to his failing + eyes, it may well be imagined that her girlish brain failed to receive + any other impression from the contents than of their excessive tedium; + certainly if she formed therefrom any opinion regarding his favorite + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page225" name="page225"></a>225</span>party, it was most probably the not very flattering one that its members + were all especially tiresome and prolix.</p> + + <p>Either from this notion, or a contradiction natural to human nature, it + so happened that among the rivals for the lovely Lucy’s smiles, none + seemed to possess such power in riveting her attention as a certain young + gentleman, who although not only the son of a leading man in the opposition, + but holding himself a somewhat prominent place in the ranks of + the condemned party, yet continued with a boldness much to be wondered + at to engross the young lady’s time by frequent visits of most + unfashionable length, in spite of Mr. Lee’s open vituperations of all the + manÅ“uvres of the said party. The undaunted aspirant turned a deaf + ear however to this, taking every thing that was said in good part, until + one day, when suddenly his patience seemed to give out.</p> + + <p>News had just been received of the marriage of a former school-mate + of Lucy’s, the daughter of an old esteemed comrade, orthodox in all his + views, to an individual decidedly in the wrong on the one important + point. First, how astonished, next how entirely shocked, was the good + old gentleman! ‘What a falling off! to give his child to <span class="keep_together">——!</span> Pshaw! + what would the world come to! Where were his principles? where his + wisdom? where his <em>honor</em>?’ etc., etc. Lucy, frightened perhaps at her + father’s vehemence, turned pale. Dr. Kent, the friend and physician + of the family, who chanced to be present, endeavored to calm him, but + with little success; and Mr. Lillburgh, unable as it seemed to join in + condemning this ‘mis-alliance,’ left the house somewhat abruptly. Soon + after this, however, an opportune influx of papers and pamphlets caused + a salutary diversion in Mr. Lee’s irritated feelings; and as Lucy’s most + monopolizing visitor seemed quite to have disappeared, he could now + enjoy his favorite luxury of drinking in, through the medium of the voice + he loved so well, the words of wisdom he honored so highly.</p> + + <p>Whether these tiresome lectures proved too burdensome for her young + spirits, or some other cause operated to injure her health, did not appear; + but just at this time, when Mr. Lee seemed to find his life especially + comfortable and pleasant, his hitherto blooming daughter gradually began + to droop; her spirits, formerly so even, were now constantly fluctuating: + at times she would sit pale and <i>distraite</i> among a gay and laughing + circle of her young associates, while at others, a ring at the bell, a + step in the hall, would suffice to call the color to her cheek and kindle + animation in her eye. It was this variation perhaps, together with certain + animating plans of his own, which rendered her father insensible to + her condition; for by a strange contradiction in the course of things, he + seemed just at this time especially occupied with forming brilliant plans + for her future. Fairly aware now of her being no longer a child, he + would comment upon her dress, urge her to more ornament, and then + with a knowing look speak of his anticipated pleasure in the society of + two expected visitors, one staunch old veteran of the true faith, and his + son, a worthy descendant, one who deserved the smiles of the fair for the + brilliant speech he had made the last session. Poor Lucy at each reference + to this subject would look more and more uncomfortable; but her + father, thinking that she might be perhaps a little wayward; while he + grew daily more enamoured of his plan, redoubled his tenderness, seeking + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page226" name="page226"></a>226</span>to study her whims in every other respect. It is cruel to loose every + bond but that which galls most sorely, to pluck away every thorn but + that which pricks most sharply: all the perceptions gather to that point, + and the suffering is in consequence tenfold more acute. Such were + Lucy’s sensations, though she was perhaps scarcely conscious of them + herself; while at every demonstration of her father’s tenderness, the + feelings which she knew to be rebels to his dearest wishes would seem + to spring up and accuse her of ingratitude. This struggle could not + last; at length the fond father became suddenly aware that some strange + blight had fallen upon his darling, and his whole soul was convulsed at + the thought that evil might possibly threaten her; he felt ready to send a + proclamation through the world to summon all its skill to spend itself for + her restoration. Upon second thoughts he made up his mind that there + was but one man in the world to whom he would confide the precious + trust; yes, he was fully assured that in the brain of Dr. Kent, the only + lineal descendant of Esculapius, were to be found all the best resources + of the art of healing; <em>he</em> must always and on all occasions, be more + right than any one else. Why? But why ask why, when he had formed + this opinion ever since Dr. Kent first assumed the <span class="keep_together">M. D.</span>, and had + always held it firmly. Dr. Kent was summoned and soon appeared; + the startled girl, sorely against her will, was called into the room; all the + usual ceremony gone through; the pulse tested, the tongue examined, + etc., and then suffered to slip out of the room. Mr. Lee listened with a + beating heart for the doctor’s decision: this last did not deny that the + young lady’s appearance was strangely altered since he had last seen + her, which indeed was not since the evening above alluded to, of Mr. + Lee’s violent irritation against his old friend. But the cause; the next + thing for the doctor to do was to discover the cause. Now Dr. Kent, + although some people did say that he was no student, had a considerable + portion of what is called <em>mother-wit</em>; and if he did not possess the stores of + learning which might have been amassed by poring over his books, he was + at least without the abstraction which much scientific research is thought + to occasion; he looked around him with a shrewd eye, and simply by putting + two and two together, often made very successful calculations. He + hesitated, reflected and recollected; ‘perhaps she wanted excitement,’ + he said; ‘perhaps there was too little variety in her life for one so young.’ + Mr. Lee assured him that she had always appeared very indifferent to + society; that until very lately she had always seemed as happy as the + day was long, and to desire no other company than that of the visitors + who dropped in upon them occasionally.</p> + + <p>‘Well, we must have something more amusing for her than <em>visiting</em>; + something more exciting.’ The doctor here mused again for a few moments: + ‘You say she has seemed happy until very lately?’</p> + + <p>‘Yes, it is only lately that she has seemed to droop.’</p> + + <p>‘Well, perhaps she’s been particularly dull lately; now by way of + experiment, suppose you at once summon a large party to your house; + let it be a very general invitation; all your acquaintances, that is the + young ones, <em>her</em> acquaintances; all who have ever visited at the house; + and as <em>you</em> may not be able to remember them all, it will be best to + direct her to do it in your name; this will of itself furnish her with + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page227" name="page227"></a>227</span>a rather exciting occupation. All this is by way of experiment I say, + for it may <em>not</em> be that she needs amusement, but by the effect that company + and gayety have upon her, which I shall take care to be by and + watch. I have a notion that I shall be enabled to decide upon the character + of her indisposition. One thing however; remember you must + give me <i>carte-blanche</i> as to the course of treatment to be pursued; your + prejudices, you confess you have them, must not hamper me.’</p> + + <p>‘My prejudices!’ replied Mr. Lee; ‘why what can they have to do + with your prescriptions? You know me well enough to be aware that + I do not undertake to meddle with matters I do not understand; the art + of medicine for instance, to which I make no pretensions; of course I + shall not interfere; only tell me what is to be done for my child, and + you may be very sure no difficulty will arise on my part, should it be + that I must take her to Egypt or Kamtschatka.’</p> + + <p>‘It is not probable that I shall call upon you for any such effort; on + the contrary, I have a strong impression that a very simple course will + answer; I was afraid you might not like its simplicity.’</p> + + <p>‘Really,’ said Mr. Lee, ‘that is too bad; am I that sort of person? + Don’t tantalize me, Doctor, but just tell me what ought to be done for my + poor child, and you must be assured that <em>I</em> will not object.’</p> + + <p>‘Of course, no father would,’ said Dr. Kent.</p> + + <p>‘Then why the deuce do you imagine for an instant that <em>I</em> would?’</p> + + <p>‘Nay now,’ said the physician, ‘it is only a whim of mine, and every + one must be allowed some whims: but good day; remember your + promise.’</p> + + <p>‘Oh yes, only make up your mind at once.’</p> + + <p>Great was Lucy’s surprise, when upon being again summoned by + her father, she received from him the commission just determined upon. + At one moment to have her pulse felt, and the next to be told that she + must prepare for entertaining a large party! What did it mean? The + good father, startled at her agitation, assured her that he himself felt the + want of a little more society, and that he thought it would do <em>him</em> good + to have a company of gay young people about him for an evening. + Lucy was afraid she could not recollect all her acquaintances. ‘Well, + no matter; only invite all she <em>could</em> remember; he should be satisfied + with her arrangement of the affair.’</p> + + <p>Whatever may have been the efforts of Lucy’s memory, it is certain + that only a moderate number of tickets were sent out for the appointed + evening; indeed it might have been feared that the doctor’s experiment + could scarcely have a fair scope in so limited a circle; but finding that + his patient had had her own way in the whole, <em>he</em> seemed to feel quite + assured of success. Before etiquette would have permitted the arrival + of any other guest, he had taken his place close beside the fair mistress + of the revels, and even after the room began to fill, seemed determined + to yield his envied position to no one. Those who said Dr. Kent was + no student, should have seen him then; his eye riveted on her fair + young countenance, there could be no doubt he was conning <em>that</em> closely. + At every fresh arrival, how he watched the eager glance of inquiry! + how his gaze followed the course of the eloquent blood as it left the + transparent cheek, again to burden the disappointed heart!</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page228" name="page228"></a>228</span>The doctor was still puzzled; the gay company had by no means yet + wrought the change he looked for; how was this?—but he held to his + watch. And now once more the door was thrown open, and a young + gentleman, with a decidedly hesitating air and step, approached the + youthful hostess. Ah! now the light no longer flickered in her clear + blue eye; it literally danced: the awakened color left her cheek it is + true, as before, but how soon it came again! ‘You positively have + stood long enough, and must sit down now,’ said Dr. Kent, taking Lucy’s + hand; not the tip-ends of her fingers; no, the doctor was not one either + to be satisfied with any such superficial plan of action, or to forego his + privileges; on the contrary, availing himself of his position of friend + of the family, he possessed himself of the whole of the little delicate + hand, when, old habit it might be, leading him to measure with some + exactness the slender wrist thereto belonging, he pressed it most cordially, + and after one or two moments of such demonstration of his affectionate + regard, yielded his place beside her to the last comer.</p> + + <p>Mr. Lee now joined him as he lounged upon a sofa, with an air of + entire inattention to what was going on around him, yet turning from + time to time a heedful glance upon Lucy who sat just opposite, replying + more by blushes than words to the depressed tones of young Mr. Lillburgh’s + voice. ‘Well, Doctor, and how goes on the experiment?’ The + anxious father tried to speak calmly, but his voice trembled.</p> + + <p>‘I am quite satisfied with my <em>experiment</em>,’ replied Dr. Kent; ‘but I + will confess (you know I am a candid man) that the result makes me + feel a little serious.’ Dr. Kent knew, as we all have an opportunity of + knowing, that a danger, however startling, for which we are at once provided + with a remedy, is soon scorned; that it must stare us very decidedly + in the face, before we are willing to appreciate the said remedy. + ‘Yes,’ continued he. ‘I had no idea of the deep root the disease had + taken.’</p> + + <p>‘Good heavens! my friend,’ exclaimed Mr. Lee, grasping Dr. Kent’s + hand in the utmost agitation; ‘and the remedy you thought of—is the + case too serious for it to be available?’</p> + + <p>‘I trust not,’ replied the Doctor; ‘I believe indeed that if I can apply + the proper remedy in time, all may be well; but as I said just now, I + am a candid man, and don’t like to raise false hopes: I tell you frankly + this case is not one to be trifled with; it requires nice management: + the young lady is delicate, very delicate; her nervous system is now + decidedly deranged.’</p> + + <p>‘But don’t you think, Doctor, don’t you think, my good friend, that + she looks a little better this evening? See how animatedly she is listening + to that young man: by-the-by, who is he?’</p> + + <p>‘Oh, no matter who he is, so he amuses Miss Lucy. But with regard + to her case; I will study it seriously to-night, and tell you what result + I have come to to-morrow about noon. I shall give all my mind to it, + for I know how precious she must be to you; I know that nothing the + world has to give, can make up to you for the most trifling evil that can + assail her.’</p> + + <p>‘Oh, nothing, nothing; but what tormenting apprehensions you fill + me with! Gracious heaven! my dear Sir, she is my all; my past, my + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page229" name="page229"></a>229</span>present, my future are made by her; but you will help me if you can. + May Almighty wisdom aid you!’ And the agitated father rushed out of + the room, unable any longer to control himself.</p> + + <p>Dr. Kent looked after him with something of commiseration in his + countenance; but being a decided enemy to homeopathic innovation, he + had made up his mind that a strong dose of apprehension was positively + necessary; and now, only gratified at its powerful effect, he resumed + his surveillance with a heartlessly satisfied air. This was no doubt + rendered the more easy to him by Mr. Lee’s continued absence from the + room: the young Lucy, thus relieved from the observation which she + unconsciously dreaded, growing more and more at her ease, enabled him + to settle his opinion regarding her completely.</p> + + <p>The evening finished, as all evenings will; the night also took its + course as usual; but when on the following morning Dr. Kent appeared + according to promise in his friend’s parlor at the appointed hour, he saw + at once that it had been passed by both in a manner very different from + those lately preceding it. Lucy looked as if some new impetus had + been given to her whole being; too much agitated for happiness, yet + with animation glowing in every feature, while the poor old father’s + care-burdened brow proclaimed that anxious apprehension had completely + usurped the hours destined to repose. Dr. Kent really began to + fear he had been too violent in his measures; at any rate, feeling sure, + as he said to himself, that the instrument had been wound up to the + striking point, he took his old friend by the arm, saying he wished to + speak to him in the next room on business. Of course Mr. Lee was no + sooner out of hearing of his daughter, than he began to question his + visitor with the utmost eagerness; upon which the doctor slowly and + warily proceeded to unfold his suspicions, or rather his convictions.</p> + + <p>It was curious to observe the changes passing over the countenance + of the hearer as Dr. Kent made this disclosure. Pleased surprise was + evidently the first emotion excited, but painful perplexity soon usurped + its place.</p> + + <p>‘My good friend,’ said he, as Dr. Kent finished speaking, ‘I am + greatly relieved to find that you think the cause of my child’s illness + so superficial; but as to the remedy you propose, believe me, I cannot + consent to it; I do not believe it necessary.’</p> + + <p>‘Believe it or not, as you will; I tell you it <em>is</em> necessary.’</p> + + <p>‘But I tell you, Doctor, that my child is a part of myself, my own flesh + and blood; and can you counsel me to become an apostate to my own + principles? It has been my dearest thought that I should one day enjoy + in my own seclusion the reflected lustre of my child’s brilliant position + in the world, and that that position should be by the side of one whose + course in life my own ripe judgment approves entirely. A man of Mr. + Lillburgh’s principles cannot make her happy; I will not believe that + he can. No, I have always cared for my daughter’s happiness; I will + care for it still, by settling this matter for her as I best know how. No; + again I say no; my only child shall not be so sacrificed!’ And Mr. Lee + stamped on the floor, as if to add force to his speech.</p> + + <p>‘When you are cool,’ said Dr. Kent, looking any thing but cool himself, + ‘I will remind you of your promise, your positive promise; there + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page230" name="page230"></a>230</span>is Mr. Lillburgh now approaching the house; ask both your heart and + conscience how he ought to be received. Good morning to you.’</p> + + <p>Without stopping to consult either of these counsellors, Mr. Lee + hastily rang the bell. ‘We are both engaged, and cannot see the gentleman + who is now coming to the door,’ said he to the servant. The doorbell + was heard at the instant, and the servant hastened to obey his master’s + directions.</p> + + <p>The doctor was gone. Mr. Lee, pacing the parlor alone, imagined to + himself all sorts of arguments to satisfy his conscience that he was in + the right. Yet, thought he, my little darling must be made happy; all + young girls love trinkets and finery; I will take her out with me this + morning, and she shall indulge every caprice of her pretty fancy; pretty + in every thing else but fixing itself on that Mr. Lillburgh. ‘Pshaw! + he shall <em>not</em> have her; call Miss here,’ he continued to a servant who + entered at the moment. The servant returned after a few minutes, + saying that he had knocked repeatedly at her door, but received no + answer. Vaguely apprehensive of something wrong, Mr. Lee hastened + himself to her chamber; but how was he shocked on entering, to find his + daughter lying senseless in a swoon near an open window. Ah! what + voice whispered him that she had seen and heard at that window what + her delicate nerves could not endure! He raised her tenderly in his + arms, and having with some difficulty restored her to consciousness, + placed her on the bed. ‘Good heavens!’ thought he, ‘can it be indeed + so serious!’ But he could not long speculate upon this subject; Lucy’s + cheek, but just now so pale and marble-like, soon began to glow with + fever; her pulse, but just restored to action, now told with momently increasing + hurry that illness had seized the delicate frame; the sudden + revulsion from new-born hope to despair had been too much for it. + Poor Mr. Lee! what did his heart say now? Did it yet upbraid him? + Dr. Kent, who had set out on a course of visits, could not at once be + found, and the wretched father sat gazing in agonizing helplessness on + his suffering child until the decline of the day. What would he have + given to live over again the last few hours! At length the physician + appeared: ‘Now,’ said he, on accosting Mr. Lee, ‘do you think I know + my own business or not? Do I make mountains of mole-hills or not? + I knew what I was about, didn’t I?’</p> + + <p>‘Alas, yes!’ replied the other, in a self-accusing tone, ‘and <em>I</em> did not; + but oh! merciful Providence! is it too late now?’</p> + + <p>‘Too late? Heaven knows, poor young lady! she’d have been better + off if she’d been an ugly twelfth daughter, with no one to trouble themselves + much about her, instead of a beautiful darling, that must have + one particular sort of happiness and no other.’</p> + + <p>‘Spare me! spare me, my friend!’ implored Mr. Lee.</p> + + <p>‘I wish you had spared yourself,’ grumbled Dr. Kent.</p> + + <p>The Doctor was, it must be allowed, a little rough; but he had been + so thoroughly annoyed, after having, as he thought, with unparalleled + cunning and discretion detected the difficulty and provided a remedy, + to find his plans thwarted by an obstinate wilfulness, that he could not + help boiling over a little: his kind feelings however soon got the ascendency; + the deep contrition of the poor father touched his heart, and the + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page231" name="page231"></a>231</span>lovely girl who had only increased his interest in her by making good + his words, received from him the most attentive care; nor could he + doubt that at length his advice was appreciated, when he heard Mr. + Lee take every opportunity of mentioning Mr. Lillburgh’s name with + approbation and kindness, always regretting that he had made such a + mistake as to send him away the last time he had called at the house.</p> + + <p>But who may venture to choose their own time for showing kindness? + Who may, having refused to ‘do good when it was in the power of his + hand to do it,’ resume at will the precious privilege? Dr. Kent, satisfied + with his friend’s repentance, was willing to take any step which might + avail to retrieve the mischief; but when this last would have lured back + by civilities the repulsed lover, he was found to have left home the very + day after his mortifying dismissal.</p> + + <p>Let those who only by looking <em>back</em> can see the road by which misery + might have been escaped, while <em>before</em> the vista seems quite closed up, + conceive the deep and agonizing perplexity of the anxious father. His + daughter, comforted no doubt by his frequent recurrence to the subject + near her heart, and the manner in which he treated it, slowly raised + her drooping head; but he, (the entire amende being still out of his + power) hung over her night and day, oppressed by a constant sensation + of guilt, scarcely aware of her partial restoration. For some days this + ordeal lasted; there seemed a risk that the lover might in the bitterness + of his disappointment prolong his stay indefinitely; what availed it then + that the prejudice and ambition which had exiled him were now annihilated? + The eagerly coveted-prize for which he would have sacrificed + his daughter’s peace, had turned to ashes in his grasp.</p> + + <p>But the door to returning happiness was not completely closed. Dr. + Kent’s skill, aided no doubt by Lucy’s young confidence in her lover’s + steadfastness, kept danger at bay, until one of those opportune accidents + of life, which like many of the best things in it look threateningly until + time takes off the veil, occurred in the shape of a fire on the premises + of the wanderer; which news, forcing him to return, the indefatigable + Dr. Kent at once offered to divert his mind from this untoward circumstance, + by taking him to join the family dinner of his friend Mr. Lee. + The sequel may be imagined; on the strength of this friendly invitation, + aided no doubt by sundry blushes and smiles on Lucy’s part, Mr. Lillburgh + ventured to resume his visits, and Lucy’s cheek always looked + so particularly rosy on such occasions, that Mr. Lee soon became too + entirely happy in the result, to cavil any longer at the cause of her renovated + health and spirits. Sometimes, also, memory would recall for + an instant that terrible period of anxiety, and then he would treat Mr. + Lillburgh with such pointed cordiality, that before very long that young + gentleman was emboldened to take advantage of his civility, and make + some disclosure of his <em>own</em> plans for the fair Lucy’s happiness, according + to the liberty of speech young gentlemen generally allow themselves + when desirous of securing their own. Mr. Lee had gone too far + to recede, and he soon found himself reduced to the necessity of resting + all his hopes for the gratification of his favorite fancies and prejudices + upon the anticipated course through life of another generation, whose + future being happily so distant, promised him a long period of hope.</p> + + </div><!-- THE TYRANNY OF AFFECTION. --> + <div class="article"> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page232" name="page232"></a>232</span></p> + + <h2 class="title">THE FRATRICIDE’S DEATH.</h2> + + <h3 class="subtitle">A RHAPSODY.</h3> + + <div class="epigram"> + <p><span class="first_word">The</span> following effort of a wild and maddened imagination, rioting in its own unreal world, is by + the ‘<span class="special_name">American Opium-Eater</span>,’ whose remarkable history was given in the <span class="special_name">Knickerbocker</span> for July, + 1842. The <span class="small_all_caps">MS.</span> is stained in several places with the powerful drug, to the abuse of which the writer + was so irresistibly addicted. The subjoined remarks precede the poem: ‘This extravaganza is worthy + of preservation only as ‘a psychological curiosity,’ like <span class="special_name">Coleridge</span>’s ‘Kubla Khan,’ which was + composed under similar circumstances; if that indeed can be called composition, in which all the + images rose up before the writer as <span class="small_all_caps">THINGS</span>, with a parallel production of the correspondent expressions, + without any sensation or consciousness of effort. On awaking, he appeared to have a distinct + recollection of the whole: taking his pen, ink and paper, he instantly and eagerly wrote down the lines + that are here preserved. The state of corporeal sleep but intellectual activity, during the continuance + of which the phenomenon above described occurred, was caused by a very large dose of opium, + and came upon me while reading the ‘Confession of a Fratricide,’ published by the priest who attended + him in his last moments. I should warn the reader that the fratricide, like the author, could not be + said to possess the ‘mens sana in corpore sano,’ both having been deranged.’</p> + + <p class="sign"><span class="author">Ed. Knickerbocker.</span></p> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="first_word">The</span> universe shook as the monarch passed</p> + <p class="i2">On the way to his northern throne;</p> + <p>His robe of snow around him he cast,</p> + <p>He rode on the wings of the roaring blast,</p> + <p class="i2">And beneath him dark clouds were blown.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>His furrow’d and hoary brow was wreathed</p> + <p class="i2">With a crown of diamond frost;</p> + <p>Even space was chill’d wherever he breathed,</p> + <p>And the last faint smiles which summer bequeathed,</p> + <p class="i2">Ere she left the world, were lost.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>The leaves which wan Autumn’s breath had seared</p> + <p class="i2">Stern Winter swept away;</p> + <p>Dark and dreary all earth appeared—</p> + <p>The very beams of the bright sun feared</p> + <p class="i2">To pursue their accustom’d way.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Mirth’s merry laugh at that moment fled,</p> + <p class="i2">And Pleasure’s fair cheek grew pale:</p> + <p>The living sat like the stony dead,</p> + <p>The rough torrent froze in its craggy bed,</p> + <p class="i2">And Heaven’s dew turned to hail.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>The forest trees waved their heads on high,</p> + <p class="i2">And shrunk from the storm’s fierce stroke;</p> + <p>The lightning flash’d as from <span class="special_name">God’s</span> own eye,</p> + <p>The thunderbolt crash’d through the startled sky,</p> + <p class="i2">As it split the defying oak.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>The proud lion trembled and hush’d his roar,</p> + <p class="i2">The tigress crouch’d in fear;</p> + <p>The angry sea beat the shuddering shore,</p> + <p>And the deafening voice of the elements’ war</p> + <p class="i2">Burst terribly on the ear.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>I stood by the bed where the prisoner lay;</p> + <p class="i2">The lamp gave a fitful light:</p> + <p>His soul was struggling to pass away;</p> + <p>Oh, <span class="special_name">God</span>! how I pray’d for the coming of day!</p> + <p class="i2">Death was awful in such a night.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page233" name="page233"></a>233</span>His cheek was hollow, and sunk, and wan,</p> + <p class="i2">And his lips were thin and blue;</p> + <p>The unearthly look of that dying man,</p> + <p>As his tale of horror he thus began,</p> + <p class="i2">Sent a chill my warm heart through:</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘The plague-spots of crime have sunk deep in my heart,</p> + <p class="i2">And withered my whirling brain;</p> + <p>The deep stamp of murder could never depart</p> + <p>From this brow, where the Angel of Death’s fiery dart</p> + <p class="i2">Had graven the curse of <span class="special_name">Cain</span>.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘Remorse has oft waved his dusky wings</p> + <p class="i2">O’er the path I was doom’d to tread;</p> + <p>Despair has long frozen Hope’s warm springs;</p> + <p>I have felt the soul’s madness which Memory brings,</p> + <p class="i2">When she wakes up the murder’d dead.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘Tell me not now of <span class="special_name">God’s</span> mercy or love!</p> + <p class="i2">All hope of pardon is past:</p> + <p>A brother’s blood cries for vengeance above;</p> + <p>This brand on my brow will my foul crime prove—</p> + <p class="i2"><em>My</em> torment for ever must last!</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘Thou needst not tremble; this arm is bound,</p> + <p class="i2">And its iron strength is gone;</p> + <p>Despair came down in the hollow sound</p> + <p>Of my fetters, which clank’d on the loathing ground</p> + <p class="i2">Where my wearied limbs I had thrown.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘I snatched the knife from my jailor’s side</p> + <p class="i2">And buried it in my breast,</p> + <p>But they cruelly staunched the gushing tide,</p> + <p>And closed the wound, though ’twas deep and wide,</p> + <p class="i2">And <em>still</em> I might not rest!</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘Day after day I had gnawed my chain,</p> + <p class="i2">Till I sharpened the stubborn link;</p> + <p>But when I had pierced the swollen vein,</p> + <p>And was writhing in death’s last dreadful pain,</p> + <p class="i2">While just on eternity’s brink:</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘Even then the leech’s skill prevailed;</p> + <p class="i2">I was saved for a darker fate!</p> + <p>My very guards ’neath my stern glance quailed,</p> + <p>And with their cloaks their faces veiled</p> + <p class="i2">As they passed the fast-barred grate.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘I <span class="small_all_caps">LOVED</span>! Thou know’st not half the power</p> + <p class="i2">Of woman’s love-lit eye;</p> + <p>Her voice can soothe death’s gloomy hour,</p> + <p>Her smiles dispel the clouds which lower</p> + <p class="i2">When Affliction’s sea rolls high.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘My heart seemed cold as the frozen snow</p> + <p class="i2">Which binds dark Ætna’s form,</p> + <p>But <em>Love</em> raged there with the lava’s flow,</p> + <p>And madden’d my soul with the scorching glow</p> + <p class="i2">Of strong passion’s thunder-storm.’</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page234" name="page234"></a>234</span>‘I told my love: O <span class="special_name">God</span>! even still</p> + <p class="i2">I hear the Tempter’s voice,</p> + <p>Which whispered the thought in my mind, to fill</p> + <p>My page of crime with a deed of ill</p> + <p class="i2">That made all hell rejoice.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘I knelt at her feet, and my proud heart burn’d</p> + <p class="i2">When she spoke of my brother’s love;</p> + <p>Affection’s warmth to deep hate was turn’d;</p> + <p>His proffered hand in my wrath I spurn’d—</p> + <p class="i2">Not all his prayers could move.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘At dead of night to his room I crept,</p> + <p class="i2">As noiseless as the grave;</p> + <p>Disturbed in his dreams, my brother wept,</p> + <p>And softly murmur’d <em>her</em> name while he slept;</p> + <p class="i2"><em>That</em> word new fury gave!</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘The sound from his lip had scarcely passed,</p> + <p class="i2">When my dagger pierced his heart:</p> + <p>One dying look on me he cast—</p> + <p>That awful look in my soul will last</p> + <p class="i2">When body and soul shall part!</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘When the deed was done, in horror I gazed</p> + <p class="i2">On the face of the murder’d dead;</p> + <p>His dark and brilliant eye was glazed:</p> + <p>When I thought for a moment his arm he raised,</p> + <p class="i2">I hid my face in the bed.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘I could not move from the spot where I stood;</p> + <p class="i2">A chilliness froze my mind:</p> + <p>My clothes were dyed with my brother’s blood,</p> + <p>The body lay in a crimson flood,</p> + <p class="i2">Which clotted his hair behind!</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘And over my heart that moment pass’d</p> + <p class="i2">A vision of former years,</p> + <p>Ere sin upon my soul had cast</p> + <p>It’s withering blight, it’s poison-blast,</p> + <p class="i2">It’s cloud of guilty fears.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘The home where our youth’s first hours flew by,</p> + <p class="i2">In its beauty before me rose;</p> + <p>The holy love of our mother’s eye,</p> + <p>Our childhood’s pure and cloudless sky</p> + <p class="i2">And its light and fleeting woes.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘When our hearts in strong affection’s chain</p> + <p class="i2">Were so closely, fondly tied,</p> + <p>That our thoughts and feelings, pleasure and pain,</p> + <p>Were one: why did we not remain</p> + <p class="i2">Through life thus side by side?</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘And my brother’s gentle voice then fell</p> + <p class="i2">Upon my tortured ear;</p> + <p>Those tones I once had loved so well,</p> + <p>Now wither’d my soul like a flame from hell</p> + <p class="i2">With vain remorse and fear!</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page235" name="page235"></a>235</span>‘All, all that memory still had kept</p> + <p class="i2">In her hidden and silent reign,</p> + <p>My youth’s warm feelings, which long had slept,</p> + <p>Like a torrent of fire that moment swept</p> + <p class="i2">In madness o’er my brain.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘For before me there <em>his</em> pallid face</p> + <p class="i2">In death’s cold stillness lay;</p> + <p>Even murder could not all efface</p> + <p>Its beauty, whose sad and shadowy trace</p> + <p class="i2">Still lingered round that clay.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘Sternly I bent me over the dead,</p> + <p class="i2">And strove my breast to steel,</p> + <p>When the dagger from hilt to point blood-red,</p> + <p>Flash’d on my sight, and I madly fled,</p> + <p class="i2">The torture of life to feel.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘Since that dread hour o’er half the earth</p> + <p class="i2">My weary path has lain;</p> + <p>I have stood where the mighty Nile has birth,</p> + <p>Where Ganges rolls his blue waves forth</p> + <p class="i2">In triumph to the main.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘In the silent forest’s gloomy shade</p> + <p class="i2">I have vainly sought for rest;</p> + <p>My sunless dwelling I have made</p> + <p>Where the hungry tiger nightly stray’d,</p> + <p class="i2">And the serpent found a nest.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘But still, where’er I turn’d, there lay</p> + <p class="i2">My brother’s lifeless form;</p> + <p>When I watched the cataract’s giant play</p> + <p>As it flung to the sky its foaming spray,</p> + <p class="i2">When I stood ’midst the rushing storm:</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘Still, still that awful face was shown,</p> + <p class="i2">That dead and soulless eye;</p> + <p>The breeze’s soft and soothing tone</p> + <p>To <em>me</em> still seemed his parting groan—</p> + <p class="i2">A sound I could not fly!</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘In the fearful silence of the night</p> + <p class="i2">Still by my couch he stood,</p> + <p>And when morn came forth in splendor bright,</p> + <p>Still there, between me and the light,</p> + <p class="i2">Was traced that scene of blood!’</p> + </div> + + <p class="poetry_break">·····</p> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>He paused: Death’s icy hand was laid</p> + <p class="i2">Upon his burning brow;</p> + <p>That eye, whose fiery glance had made</p> + <p>His sternest guards shrink back afraid,</p> + <p class="i2">Was glazed and sightless now.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>And o’er his face the grave’s dark hue</p> + <p class="i2">Was in fixed shadow cast;</p> + <p class="i2">His spasm-drawn lips more fearful grew</p> + <p>In the ghastly shade of their lurid blue;</p> + <p>With a shudder that ran that cold form through,</p> + <p class="i2">The murderer’s spirit passed!</p> + </div> + </div> + + </div><!-- THE FRATRICIDE'S DEATH. --> + <div class="article"> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page236" name="page236"></a>236</span></p> + + <h2 class="title">SICILIAN SCENERY AND ANTIQUITIES.</h2> + + <h3 class="subtitle">NUMBER TWO.</h3> + + + <p><span class="first_word">We</span> proceed, in another and concluding paper, as promised in the + last number of the <span class="special_name">Knickerbocker</span>, to direct the reader’s attention to + the <i>Architectural Antiquities of Sicily</i>, especially those of Grecian structure, + which will be described in the order in which they were visited. + The first are those of Egesta, or Segeste, as it is sometimes called; + a city said to have been built in the remote age of the Siculi, and which + was destroyed by Agathocles, the potter’s son, who reduced all Sicily + two hundred and eighty years before the Christian era. It lies about + forty or fifty miles from Palermo, among the mountains which cluster + round the famed Mount Erix, on which once stood a temple dedicated to + Venus. On leaving Alcamo, which may be called a city of convents, + midway between Palermo and Segeste, the broad slopes of an ample + valley lie before the traveller, which though almost treeless, are waving + with beans, and grain and grass. In the depth, is a river meandering + among fragrant oleanders; on the left, the valley is intersected by a + range of distant mountains; on the right is a beautiful bay of the Mediterranean. + Across the valley the mountains form a green amphitheatre, + and high in its remotest part is seen the Temple of Segeste, but merely + as a point of light and shade upon the bosom of the mountain. The + next view, if he takes our route, is from the ancient Grecian city of + Catafimi, itself perched on a mountain’s top. He looks down a deep + luxuriant vale, and on a grassy knoll about three miles distant, lifted + from the depths of the valley by precipitous crags, stands the solitary + temple; and if seen as we saw it, receiving the last golden rays of the + setting sun while all below is wrapped in shade. The next day, would + he visit the temple, his road lies through the valley of which I have last + spoken. And surely he never passed through such an Arcadian scene + as this. Almond and orange trees fill the air with fragrance; his path + struggles through the tangled flowers, the cistus and the blue convolvulus, + and he disturbs the nightingale in her pleasant haunt. At length, + emerging from the valley, and climbing the steep side of a mountain, he + stands before the temple. It is a majestic pile, about two hundred feet + in length and eighty-eight in breadth, having fourteen columns on each + side and six at each end, in all thirty-six columns, of about six feet in + diameter; not fluted, as is usual in Grecian Doric temples, but having + a very peculiar form. It stands on a platform raised on three gigantic + steps. All the columns are standing; the entablatures and pediments + are in pretty good preservation, but it is roofless, and flowers and + weeds are now waving where once trode the white-robed priests. The + breezes from the fragrant mountains and the distant sea, of which it + commands a fine view, sigh through it in harmony with its sad and solitary + grandeur.</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page237" name="page237"></a>237</span>On a neighboring hill are the vestiges of the ancient city, a few ruined + towers, probably of the citadel, and a theatre, the stone seats of which + are almost entire; part of the sculptured figure of a faun still remains + on the proscenium; wild shrubs shade a great part of the ruin, and + where manhood and beauty once sat, listening to the tragedies of an + Eschylus or Euripides, the adder and the lizards sun themselves. The + next ruins we visited were those of Selinunte, anciently Selinus or Selinuntium, + which lies on the southern coast of the island. This city was + founded by a colony of Greeks about twenty-five hundred years ago. + It was taken during the Carthaginian wars, and in a great measure destroyed + by Hannibal the son of Giscon, four hundred and nine years before + <span class="special_name">Christ</span>. The country on approaching Selinunte is a dreary plain + covered with the palmetto. On gazing toward the sea, when distant two + or three miles, the traveller’s eye catches what he would take for a + rocky hill, were it not for a few mutilated columns which rise above the + blue horizon. As he approaches, the stupendous scene of ruin strikes + him with awe. There in a mighty heap lie column and capital, metope + and cornice; and the mind is lost in wonder at the power that raised + these giant structures, and the power that overthrew them. Only one + complete column, and that without its capital, and several mutilated + ones, remain standing of the great temple supposed to be of Neptune; + the rest are prostrate; and all lying in one direction, bear evidence that + they have been thrown down by an earthquake.</p> + + <p>The first temple is Grecian Doric, as are all those of which I shall + speak. Its columns are about eleven feet across, and they must have + been, including their capitals, more than sixty feet high. Above these + lofty columns was placed the architrave, one of the stones of which, that + we measured, was twenty-five feet in length, eight in height, and six in + thickness; but another is still larger; forty feet long, seven broad, and + three deep. To transport these enormous masses of stone from their + quarry, which is several miles distant, with a deep valley and river intervening, + would trouble the modern engineer; but to poise and place + them on the top of the columns, seventy feet from the ground, with our + mechanical means, were indeed a great feat. The columns were not of + single pieces, but composed of several, and they now lie, to use an unpoetical + phrase, like rows of enormous cheeses. The great temple was + three hundred and thirty-four feet long, one hundred and fifty-four wide; + its porticoes at each end were four columns in depth, eight in width; a + double row on the sides of the cella or interior edifice, which in all Grecian + temples was the sanctum sanctorum. In <em>all</em>, there must have been + eighty columns. There is one remarkable feature about this temple, + which is, that none of the columns were fluted except those of the eastern + end. About thirty paces from this ruin, which the Sicilians call + the Pileri di Giganti, or Pillars of the Giants, are the remains of another + temple which was about two hundred feet long: its entablature was supported + by thirty-six fluted columns of seven feet in diameter and thirty-five + feet long, each of a single piece of stone. Only a few fragments + of the columns remain standing in their places. Treading another + thirty paces, you come to a temple which is of rather larger dimensions + than the one last mentioned. The columns of this were also fluted, + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page238" name="page238"></a>238</span>but no part of the edifice is standing, except a solitary pilaster, which + was probably a portion of the cella. These temples were built of a + hard but porous stone, of a light color, and were probably covered with + a thin coat of cement. They command an extensive view both of sea + and land, and in their primal days must, with their tower-like columns, + their sculptured entablatures and pediments, have risen above the scene + in majestic grandeur.</p> + + <p>Three quarters of a mile from these temples was the ancient port, + now choked with sand, and near it are the remains of edifices supposed + to have been the magazines. On an adjoining hill are remnants of + three temples and two towers, in almost undistinguishable ruin. We + left Selinunte with a lasting but melancholy impression, and were reminded + of the lines:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘Two or three columns and many a stone,</p> + <p>Marble and granite, with grass o’ergrown:</p> + </div> + + <p class="poetry_break">·····</p> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Remnants of things which have passed away,</p> + <p>Fragments of stone rear’d by creatures of clay!’</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Girgenti, anciently called Agragas and Agrigentum, is situated on the + southern coast of Sicily, in a delicious country; the modern city was + built by the Saracens on the summit of a hill upward of eleven hundred + feet above the level of the sea. The site of the ancient city is + lower, and about a mile distant. It was probably founded in the eighth + century before <span class="special_name">Christ</span>. In its flourishing state it contained two hundred + thousand inhabitants, who were celebrated for their hospitality, their + love of the arts and luxurious style of living. Plato was so much struck + with the solidity of their buildings and the sumptuousness of their dinners, + that he said they ‘built as though they thought themselves immortal, + but ate as though they never expected to eat again.’ The horses of + Agrigentum were celebrated; and one of the citizens returning from the + Olympic games, on entering his native town, was followed by three hundred + chariots, each drawn by four white horses sumptuously caparisoned. + The government of this little state, whose inhabitants never amounted + to more than eight hundred thousand, was at first monarchical, afterward + democratic; but neither the forms of its institutions, nor its riches + and grandeur, could save it from misfortune: it was besieged several + times by the Carthaginians, and at length, after a siege of three years, + was taken and sacked by Hannibal, the son of Giscon. In alluding to + these misfortunes, the historian says: ‘Yet of all the Sicilian cities, the + fate of Agrigentum seemed the most worthy to be deplored, from the + striking contrast of its fallen state with its recent splendor and prosperity. + The natural beauties of Agrigentum were secured by strength + and adorned with elegance; and whoever considered either the innumerable + advantages of the city itself, or the gay cultivation of the surrounding + territory, which abounded in every luxury of the sea and land, + was ready to pronounce the Agrigentines the most favored inhabitants + of the earth. The exuberant fertility of the soil, particularly the rich + luxuriance of the vines and olives, exceeded every thing that is related + of the happiest climates, and furnished the means of lucrative commerce + with the populous coast of Africa, which was sparingly provided with those + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page239" name="page239"></a>239</span>valuable plants. The extraordinary wealth of the Agrigentines was displayed + in the magnificence of public edifices and in the splendid enjoyment + of private fortunes. They had begun and almost completed the + celebrated Temple of Jupiter, built in the grandest style of architecture, + employed by the Greeks on the greatest and most solemn occasions.’</p> + + <p>The ancient city of Agragas stood on an elevated platform or table + of land, three sides of which fell off in steep precipices; the fourth side + was surmounted by the lofty hill on which the modern city stands. + These steep precipices were the natural walls of the city, and were + made more available for defence by excavation on the inside, so as to + leave a solid wall of rock rising round the city. On the verge of this + platform, which gradually sinks from east to west, and on the side next + the sea, which is about a mile distant, are seen the remains of no fewer + than six temples. They stood in a general line, but at irregular intervals, + and must have formed one of the most magnificent spectacles that + the art of man has ever presented to the eye. The remains of three + other temples exist, but they lie at a distance from this grand range. + On the eastern and highest part of the platform, where the natural + wall of which I have spoken makes an angle, stood the Temple of + Juno Lucina; next came the Temple of Concord; next the Temple + of Hercules, near which was the Temple of Jupiter, called of the Giants; + next came the Temple of Venus, and lastly that of Castor and Pollux. + The approach to the ruins of these temples from the modern city is over + the site of the ancient, now shaded by olive, almond, and carruba trees. + The Temple of Juno is a picturesque ruin; all the columns on the + northern side are standing, also several at the ends, and part of the entablature; + the rest of the building, corroded by time or entirely prostrate, + lies under an exuberant growth of flowers and shrubs.</p> + + <p>Descending from this temple, we pass through a sort of wild garden, + with here and there an olive-tree or dark carruba; on the left are the + ruins of the ancient rock-wall, huge fragments of which in places + have fallen down the precipice; other parts are perforated as with windows + or loop-holes, or with deep cell-like excavations: these are the + tombs of the ancient Agrigentines, now tenantless and void. Those + window-like apertures were evidently made so by the action of the + elements or the violence of man; and it is related that in consequence + of the Agrigentines having made their tombs in the walls, they were + so much weakened that the Carthaginians by means of their engines + were enabled to batter them down and obtain an entrance. We now + come to the Temple of Concord, one of the most beautiful specimens of + Grecian Doric in existence. It is roofless, but otherwise almost perfect. + It has twenty-four columns; it is, like the temple of Juno, raised on a + platform of several steps, and about one hundred and fifty-four feet in + length and fifty-five in breadth. It seems that this temple was used in + times past for a Christian church, and the sides of its cella are perforated + by arched openings. The next temple is near one of the ancient + city gates, and is supposed to have been dedicated to Hercules: it was + celebrated in ancient times for having in it a fine picture of Alcmena; + but it is now a confused heap of ruin, with only one column standing, + which proves it to have been of larger dimensions than the temples just + mentioned.</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page240" name="page240"></a>240</span>Turning a little to the right, we come upon the Temple of Jupiter + Olympius, commonly called of the Giants, the largest sacred edifice in + Sicily, and one of the most stupendous works of the ancients. It was + in length three hundred and sixty-eight feet, in breadth one hundred and + eighty; the breadth or diameter of its columns at the base thirteen feet + four inches; the height of the columns must have been seventy-five + feet; above these rose a massive entablature, and the top of the pediments + could not have been less than one hundred and twenty feet high! The + grandeur of the door and vestibule corresponded to the simple majesty + of the whole building, whose sculptured ornaments represented, with the + finished elegance and laborious accuracy that distinguished each particular + figure, the ‘Defeat of the Giants and the Taking of Troy.’ In + the interior ranged twenty-four antæ, or square pillars, of fifty feet in + height; on the top of each was a sculptured giant twenty-seven feet in + height, which with his hands clasped over his head supported the lofty + roof. One can scarcely conceive any thing more noble and majestic + than this wonderful edifice, in comparison with which, though covering + much more ground, St. Peter’s in Rome is a splendid gew-gaw. But + what remains of this great temple? A wide heap of ruin; the interior + of which, the columns and walls having fallen outward, is a flowery + field, in which lie some fragments of those huge giants that once supported + the roof. One of these is tolerably entire: the curls of his hair + form a sort of garland: it lies with its face upward, and when I stood + by it, my own head scarcely reached as high as the brow of the statue. + It is composed of several pieces of stone, as are the columns of this + temple, and most of the others of Agrigentum. On every side of this + elevated field lie the walls, entablatures, and columns in enormous fragments: + the capitals of the columns look like huge rocks that have been + hurled there by some violent convulsion of nature.</p> + + <p>A short distance from this temple are the ruins of the Temple of Venus, + and another of Castor and Pollux, of which two of the columns and + part of the entablature are entire, and the thin coat of cement or stucco + which covered them is in some parts as perfect as ever. The stone + of which the temples were constructed is of a very porous nature, a + sort of tufa, full of sea-shells, and when seen in the sunlight, of a golden + hue; but they were all covered with stucco, which, judging from what + remains, was nearly as hard as porcelain, and gave a beautiful and + finished appearance to the otherwise rude material. Of the other remains + in Agrigentum, the limits of this article will not allow me to + speak. But the reader would ask, how came these temples in such a + state of ruin? On this subject there has been some dispute; but their + destruction may most reasonably be attributed to a mightier agency + than man’s. Earthquake has shattered these gorgeous temples; the + time <em>when</em> is not recorded. I am inclined to believe that they were + destroyed, as well as those of Selinus, by the dreadful earthquakes that + shook Italy and Sicily in the dark age of Valens and Valentinian, three + hundred and sixty-five years after <span class="special_name">Christ</span>.</p> + + <p>Let us now proceed to Syracuse, once the capital of Sicily, and the + birth-place of the great Archimedes. It was founded by Archias, one + of the Heraclidæ, more than seven hundred years before the Christian + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page241" name="page241"></a>241</span>era, and according to some authors contained within its walls at one + time, one million two hundred thousand inhabitants; could maintain an + army of one hundred thousand foot, ten thousand horse, with a navy of + five hundred armed vessels. Little now remains of a place once so + populous and so powerful, save the shrunken modern city of Syracusa, + containing about nine thousand inhabitants, and a few almost unintelligible + ruins scattered among vineyards, olive-groves, and fields of corn, + or over the high wastes of the barren Epipole, on the summit of which + the curious will find ruined walls and fortresses of massive and beautiful + masonry. From these the eye commands the whole site of the ancient + city. <em>There</em> lies, at the distance of three miles, the small island of + Ortygia, on which is the modern town; on its right is the narrow entrance + from the sea, which lies beyond, to the greater harbor, that appears + like a beautiful lake, and is about two miles long and one and a + half broad. On the left of the island of Ortygia is all that remains of + the lesser port of Syracuse. On this side the island is connected with + the main land by means of a draw-bridge. In Ortygia is the famous + fountain of Arethusa: the spring is yet clear and copious; but the only + nymphs I was fortunate enough to see were engaged in the necessary + vocation of cleansing the soiled linen of Syracusa. The remains of a + beautiful temple of Minerva form a part of the cathedral church. Near + the small river Anapus are two columns, the remnants of a temple of + Jupiter, which once contained a statue of that god, wearing a robe of + gold; but Dionysius the tyrant stripped it off, saying ‘it was too cold + for winter and too hot for summer.’ Among the seats of a noble theatre + now stands a mill, that is supplied with water diverted from an ancient + aqueduct close by: a strange metamorphosis indeed! This aqueduct + conveys the water thirty miles. It may have been of Greek construction + originally, but that part of it which I have seen is evidently + Saracenic. The rocky site of Syracuse is in many parts perforated + with tombs; the roads are literally honey-combed with them. There + is a street excavated in the limestone rock which on either side is full + of cells, and it may indeed be said of Syracuse that it is a great burying-ground. + The oranges, vines, and figs of Syracuse are still flourishing, + and the earth yet yields its hundred fold; but its glory is departed, and + the traveller looks in vain for satisfactory vestiges of that mighty city.</p> + + <p>There are many other interesting remains of antiquity in Sicily, but + I must hasten to a conclusion. I trust the reader will have found the + subject of this article interesting, although treated briefly and imperfectly. + The traveller is unworthy of his privilege, and forgetful of duty + if he extracts not from the scenes described some moral lesson or religious + truth. The reader has accompanied me in imagination through + classic Sicily. He has seen the lonely temple of Segeste, standing + among the mountains like a widowed thing, mourning in silence the + departed. Where is the multitude that once thronged around its walls? + Mount Erix still battles with the clouds, as in the days of Agathocles. + He has clambered with me among the prostrate columns of Selinunte: + <em>once</em>, from beneath those massive porticoes, the Selinuntine, in the pride + of his heart, looked upon the crowded port and distant mountains as we + look on the Hudson, with its white sails and swift steamers, and the + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page242" name="page242"></a>242</span>neighboring hills. Where and what are they? The distant mountains + stand, but the great works which he erected to be a living honor to his + name and country, are perished forever. He has lingered with me + among the ruins of the splendid Agrigentum. Its numerous temples + are dilapidated, or crumbling on the earth; its walls, once its vaunted + strength, are strewed in shattered fragments on the steeps around. The + dust of its multitudes serves to fertilize the soil of its ancient site! But + the stream still flows which gave its name to the city, and the hills + around yet produce the oil, the wine, and the grain. We have sojourned + for a time among the melancholy vestiges of Syracuse; the scene + of battles far more bloody than this land has ever known. The army + which the Athenians, inflated with pride and presumption, sent against + Syracuse, was here defeated. In yonder land-locked bay the Athenian + fleet, the mightiest that republic had ever sent forth, and which they + believed <em>invincible</em>, was destroyed. And the Roman orator has eloquently + said, that not only the navy of Athens, but the glory and the + empire of that republic, suffered shipwreck in the fatal harbor of + Syracuse. It was there the wonderful mechanical skill of Archimedes + was displayed against the Roman fleet, and those quiet waters have been + strewed with the dying and the dead. From this deserted citadel, called + of ‘Labdalus,’ the eye embraces the whole site of the once populous + Syracuse; and what does it behold? On the distant island of Ortygia, + an insignificant town, with a few small craft at anchor in the bay; + nearer, a desert of rocky hills, a goat-herd, and a few straggling goats. + Turning away from the melancholy scene, we behold afar off the snow-clad + Ætna. What a contrast is this to what we have just reviewed in + the mind’s eye! <em>That</em> is the work of God! Since its huge pyramid + arose, nation after nation has possessed its fertile slopes. The Siculi + have labored on its sides; the Greek, the Carthaginian and the Roman; + the Norman and the Saracen have struggled for mastery at its foot; but + the roar of the battle is past; the chariot and the charioteer are mingled + in the dust. Yet yon earth-born giant, fed by continual fires, each century + augments, and in all probability will continue to do so until</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces,</p> + <p>The solemn temples, yea the great globe itself</p> + <p>Shall dissolve, and like the baseless fabric</p> + <p>Of a vision, leave not a wreck behind!’</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>May we not in these things read deep lessons applicable to ourselves? + The history of the people whose noble works I have endeavored to describe, + should in the first place teach us how noble a thing it is to construct + works of beauty and utility, not only for our own gratification, + but for the benefit of posterity also. The selfish and unreflecting, even + the modern utilitarian, will perhaps laugh at the thought, and say: + ‘What folly to undertake such labors for the benefit of posterity! We will + labor for ourselves.’ I would ask such persons, what would have been + our state if the ancients had entertained such grovelling notions? Do + they not know that most of the elegant as well as the useful, is the rich + bequest of these ancients whom they affect to despise? There is not in + the whole city of New-York a house, however lowly, but in some part + of it I could point out a moulding or an ornament that comes from the + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page243" name="page243"></a>243</span>ancients. But there are other points of view perhaps of higher consequence. + Their temples were erected to the gods; mistaken as they + were in their religious notions, we Christians may be put to shame by + the devotion of the pagan. Not to man were their temples erected. + Man enjoyed their beauty; gazed with admiration on their exquisite + forms, and lingered under their shady porticoes; but the eye of the god + to whom each temple was dedicated was supposed to be on the work, + and the aim of the builders was perfection in every part; and even that + which the eye of the multitude never rested on, was finished with elaborate + care. I would ask, is there such a lofty feeling among us? Are + we willing to expend toil and cost on that which will never gratify our + senses? You will answer no. Is not this then a lesson to us? Another + view of the matter: These works of art were the objects of veneration + and love; city vied with city in their construction; it was a + noble emulation—think you not <em>nobler</em> than the competition for sordid + gold? The citizen gazed with pride upon the marble triumphs of his + native place; he loved it more than ever, and felt his patriotism kindle + as he gazed.</p> + + <p>Let us not think that rail-roads and canals are the only works worthy + of modern civilization. If we look to intents, (and what ought we to + look at?) I doubt much but the ancients rose superior to us. We are + in the enjoyment of many advantages of which they knew nothing. The + wonder-working press was unknown to them; and above all, the beautiful + light of Christianity had not been shed on the world. We have the + broad day; they wrought in the twilight gloom. What majestic monuments + of art! what enduring legacies of beauty! what objects to make + a man love his country more and more, could have been erected with + the means expended a few years ago in reckless speculations! Instead + of turning with melancholy loathing to those broken bubbles on which + the hopes and fortunes of many of us were suspended, we could at least + look with admiration on the marble pile, and exclaim, ‘I also can be + proud of the genius and taste of my country!’ Another lesson we may + learn from the fate of ancient states: it is to beware of presumptuous + pride and overweening conceit: these are the result of inconsiderate + ignorance. It was through presumptuous pride that Athens fell, as I + have before intimated. We have reason to fear there are many, + some unconscious of the injury they do, and perhaps with just intentions, + who feed this appetite for undue praise. Others, for mere popularity or + the applause of the day, minister with adroitness the sweet though poisonous + morsel for which our vanity and self-love are open-mouthed; which + (to carry on the simile,) puffs us up with the comfortable notion that + we are superior in every respect to all other nations, ancient or modern. + It would be well to turn a deaf ear to this syren’s song: let us learn if + possible to <em>know</em> ourselves; let us remember that there is no perfection, + either in men or their institutions; and by avoiding a vain and presumptuous + spirit, and scanning with a careful eye the causes of the greatness + which under Providence we possess, we shall be most likely to approach + the perfection which we all desire. We can have little doubt that the + Agrigentine considered the institutions of his country as perfect as we + do ours; and the citizens of greater states, Athens, even Rome itself, indulged + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page244" name="page244"></a>244</span>in the same pleasing thought. Our only means of judging of the + future is the past. We see that nations have sprung from obscurity, + risen to glory, and decayed. Their rise has in general been marked + by virtue; their decadence by vice, vanity, and licentiousness. Let + us beware!</p> + + <p>I would not have the reader censure me for commencing this article + as a traveller and ending it with an attempt to moralize. In reviewing in + my mind the interesting scenes I have endeavored to describe, I have + been led back to the thoughts that arose when I trode among the ruins of + prostrate temples, and they were <em>connected</em> in my mind; and I will venture + again to say, that he is unworthy of the privilege of travelling who + gleans not from the fields he visits some moral lesson or religious truth.</p> + + <p class="sign"><span class="author">T. C.</span></p> + + </div><!-- SICILIAN SCENERY AND ANTIQUITIES. --> + <div class="article"> + <h2 class="title">STANZAS.</h2> + + <h3 class="subtitle">WRITTEN AT BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS. BY REV. WILLIAM B. TAPPAN.</h3> + + + <div class="poem"> + <h4 class="subtitle">I.</h4> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="first_word">In</span> Beverly, the building I sought the other day,</p> + <p>Where forty years ago my sire his infant gave away;</p> + <p>I sought it, for I coveted where he had placed his foot,</p> + <p>My honored, sainted father! mine in filial love to put.</p> + </div> + + <h4 class="subtitle">II.</h4> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>I entered it: most holy appeared the house of prayer;</p> + <p>Yet more than common holiness its beauty seemed to wear;</p> + <p>For there the waters bathed me, and solemn words were said,</p> + <p>And Father, Son, and Paraclete invoked above my head.</p> + </div> + + <h4 class="subtitle">III.</h4> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Of all the congregation who looked in reverence on,</p> + <p>The elders and the blooming youth, each worshipper was gone;</p> + <p>And he, with hairs of winter, whose office ’twas to lave</p> + <p>My baby brow, and name my name, was hidden in the grave!</p> + </div> + + <h4 class="subtitle">IV.</h4> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>What years have passed of sorrow, that hour and this between!</p> + <p>What moments of enjoyment in that interval I’ve seen!</p> + <p>I wept that I had measured the half of being’s track;</p> + <p>I smiled that worlds were poor to bribe the weary pilgrim back.</p> + </div> + + <h4 class="subtitle">V.</h4> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>I sighed that in the journey where blessings are so few</p> + <p>For even the most favored, I but scanty portion knew;</p> + <p>And chiefly in the season of confidence and pride,</p> + <p>My youth was forced the dangerous way, without my earthly guide.</p> + </div> + + <h4 class="subtitle">VI.</h4> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Where is my sainted father, who took me in his arms,</p> + <p>And held me to the minister, and kissed away alarms?</p> + <p>I feel his presence near me! he blesses me once more!</p> + <p>Ay, where he gave me up to <span class="special_name">God</span>, just forty years before!</p> + </div> + </div> + </div><!-- STANZAS. WRITTEN AT BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS. --> + <div class="article"> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page245" name="page245"></a>245</span></p> + + <h2 class="title">THE QUOD CORRESPONDENCE.</h2> + + <h3 class="subtitle fancy">Harry Harson.</h3> + + <h4 class="chapter_title">CHAPTER XXII.</h4> + <p><span class="first_word">It</span> was not the failure of his plans, nor the dread of detection, which + broke Rust down. He had been prepared for that, and had nerved + himself to meet it; but it was a blow coming from a quarter where he + had not dreamed of harm, and wounding him where alone he could + feel a pang, that crushed him. There was something so abject in the + prostration of that iron-willed man, who had often endured what would + have wrung the very souls of other men, without exhibiting any other + feeling than contempt, that for a moment awed even the hard man who + had struck the blow. In proportion as Rust’s control over his emotions + had been great, so now the reäction was terrible. He seemed paralyzed + in body and mind. No cry escaped him, but his breath rattled as he + drew it; his long hair hung loosely over his face, and upon the floor; + his eyes were closed; his features livid and distorted; and but for his + struggling breath, and the spasmodic jerking of his fingers, he seemed + dead.</p> + + <p>‘Lift him up, Bill,’ said Grosket, in a subdued tone. ‘It’s been too + much for him. Who’d have thought he had a heart?’</p> + + <p>Jones smiled grimly, as he said: ‘I’m glad you did it, Mr. Grosket. + It was better than murdering him. He wasn’t afeard of dying. Is it + a fit he’s got?’</p> + + <p>Without waiting for a reply, he placed his arms under him and raised + him up. Rust lay heavily against him, his head falling back, and his + arms dangling at his side. They carried him to the bench, and placed + him on it, Grosket standing behind him, and supporting his back.</p> + + <p>‘I guess he’s done for,’ said Jones, pushing the hair from his face; + ‘pity it wasn’t three days ago—that’s all.’</p> + + <p>‘Get some water, or brandy,’ said Grosket; ‘I suppose we may as + well bring him to. It would be an ugly business if he should die on + our hands.’</p> + + <p>Jones stooped down, and picking up his great coat, commenced + fumbling in its pocket, and drew out the bottle from which he and + Craig had drank, as they were starting on their expedition on the previous + night. He held it up and looked at it, then muttered: ‘It’s no + use; it’s no use.’</p> + + <p>‘What are you talking about, there?’ demanded Grosket, impatiently: + ‘is it empty?’</p> + + <p>Jones shook it.</p> + + <p>‘No; there’s a drop or two in it. <span class="keep_together">D—n</span> him! I don’t like his + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page246" name="page246"></a>246</span>drinking out of this bottle, I don’t; I use it myself; and blow me, if + I don’t think his mouth ’ud p’ison it.’</p> + + <p>Grosket cut his scruples short by taking the bottle from him, uncorking + it, and pouring its contents in Rust’s mouth.</p> + + <p>‘It’s a waste,’ muttered Jones, eyeing his proceedings with a very + dissatisfied look. ‘I begrudged it to poor Tim; and cuss <em>him</em>, it’s + going down <em>his</em> gullet! I hope it’ll choke him.’</p> + + <p>Grosket paid no attention to him, but supported Rust, occasionally + shaking him by way of stirring up his ideas. Either the liquor or the + shakings had an effect; for the deadly paleness gradually disappeared + from Rust’s face; his breath grew less short and gasping; and finally + he sat up, and looked about him. His eye was wandering and vacant, + and sad and heart-broken indeed was his tone.</p> + + <p>‘My own dear child!’ said he, in a voice so mild and winning, and + so teeming with fondness, that none would have recognized it as Rust’s. + ‘I’ve had a strange dream, my poor little Mary, about you, whom I + have garnered up in my heart of hearts.’</p> + + <p>His voice sank until his words were unintelligible, and then he + laughed feebly, and passed his hand backward and forward in the air, + as if caressing the head of a child. ‘Your eyes are very bright, my + little girl, but they beam with happiness; and so they shall, always. + So they shall—so they shall. Kiss me, my own darling!’ He extended + his arms, and drew them toward him, as if they enfolded the + child, and then bending down his cheek, rocked to and fro, and sang a + song, such as is used in lulling an infant to sleep.</p> + + <p>‘My God! He’s clean gone mad!’ said Jones, staring at him with + starting eyes. ‘Dished and done up in ten minutes! That’s what I + call going to Bedlam by express.’</p> + + <p>Although Grosket uttered not a word of comment, his keen gray eye, + bright as a diamond; his puckered brows; his compressed lips, and + his hands tightly clasped together, showed that he viewed his work + with emotions of the most powerful kind. At length he said, in low + tone, as if communing with himself rather than addressing the only + person who seemed capable of hearing him: ‘If he goes mad he’ll + spoil my scheme. He’ll not reap the whole harvest that I have sown + for him. He must live; ay, and in his sane mind, to feel its full bitterness. + I, <em>I</em> have lived,’ said he, striking his breast; ‘<em>I</em> have borne + up against the same curse that now is on him. <em>I</em> have had the same + feeling gnawing at my heart, giving me no rest, no peace. <em>He</em> must + suffer. He <em>must</em> not take refuge from himself in madness. He <em>shall</em> + not,’ said he, savagely. ‘Ha! ha! who would have thought that the + flint which the old fellow calls his heart had feeling in it?’</p> + + <p>Whether these remarks reached Rust’s ear, or whether it was that + his mind, after the first shock of the intelligence was over, was beginning + to rally, is a matter of doubt; but from some cause or other, he suddenly + discontinued his singing, passed his hand across his forehead, held + his long hair back from his face, and stared about him; his eye wandering + from Grosket to Jones, and around the room, and then resting on + the floor. He sat for some time looking steadfastly down, his face + gradually regaining its stern, unbending character; his thin lips compressing + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page247" name="page247"></a>247</span>themselves, until his mouth had assumed its usual expression + of bitterness, mingled with resolution.</p> + + <p>The two men watched, without speaking, the progress of this metamorphosis. + At last he rose, and turning to Grosket, said in a calm voice:</p> + + <p>‘You’ve done your worst; yet you see Michael Rust can bear it;’ + and then bowing to him, he said: ‘Good bye, Enoch. Whatever may + have happened to <em>my</em> child, <em>I</em> am blameless. <em>I</em> never sold her happiness + to gratify my avarice. If she has become what Enoch’s child was, the + sin does not lie at <em>my</em> door. I don’t know how it is with <em>you</em>.’</p> + + <p>Turning to Jones, he said, in the same quiet tone: ‘Murderer of + your bosom-friend, good bye.’ The door closed, and he was gone.</p> + + <p>A bitter execration from the two men followed him. From Jones, it + burst forth in unbridled fury, and he sprang forward to avenge the + taunt, but was withheld by Grosket, who grasped his arm, then as suddenly + relinquished his hold, and said:</p> + + <p>‘Quick! quick! Jones. Drag him back! It concerns your safety + and my plans to get him back.’</p> + + <p>The man dashed to the door and down the stairs. In a moment he + reäppeared:</p> + + <p>‘It’s too late. He’s in the street.’</p> + + <p>‘Curse it! that was a blunder! We should have searched him. He + carries all his papers with him.’</p> + + <p>But almost at the same moment he seemed to overcome his vexation, + for he said: ‘Well, it can’t be helped, so there’s no use in grumbling + about it. And now, Bill Jones,’ said he, turning to the other, ‘you + know what you’ve done, and who set you on. So do I. He’s worse + than you are. If you were him, I’d arrest you on the spot. As it is, + I say you had better make yourself scarce. Your neck is in danger, for + although the death of Tim, if the rumor is true, was <span class="keep_together">accidental——’</span></p> + + <p>‘It was, it <em>was</em>, Mr. Grosket,’ interrupted Jones. ‘<span class="keep_together">D—n</span> it, if it + was Rust, if it was only <em>him</em>, I wouldn’t mind it. I’d die myself, to + see <em>him</em> swing.’</p> + + <p>‘Well, hear me,’ continued Grosket. ‘You were committing a felony + when you killed Craig, and his death, although accidental, is murder. + I’m no lawyer, but I know <em>that</em>. You must run for it.’</p> + + <p>‘I’d cuss all danger,’ said Jones, gnawing his lip, ‘if I could only + lug Rust in it too.’</p> + + <p>‘Well, well,’ returned Grosket, ‘you must take your own course; but + remember I’ve warned you. You have some good traits about you, + Bill, and that’s more than Rust has. Good bye!’ He extended his + hand to the burglar. Jones grasped it eagerly.</p> + + <p>‘Thank you! thank you, Mr. Grosket,’ said he, the tears starting to + his eyes. ‘If you only knew how I was brought up, how I suffered, + what has made me what I am, you wouldn’t think so hard of me as + some do. But there is blood on me, now; that’s worse than all. I’ll + never get over <em>that</em>. I might, if it wasn’t Tim’s. Good bye, God + bless ye, Mr. Grosket! My blessing won’t do you much good, but it + can’t hurt you.’</p> + + <p>Grosket shook his hand, and left the room; and the desperate man, + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page248" name="page248"></a>248</span>whom he left melted by a transient word of kindness, which had found + its way to his rugged heart, buried his face in his hands, and wept.</p> + + <p>Once in the street, Rust endeavored to bear up against his fortune. + But he could not. His mind was confused, and all his thoughts were + strange, fantastic and shadowy. He paused; dashed his hand impatiently + against his forehead, and endeavored to shake off the spell. No, + no! it would not leave him. Failure in his schemes! dishonor in his + child! He could think of them, and of <em>them</em> only. Once on this theme, + his mind became more bewildered than ever; and yielding himself to + its impulses, he fell into a slow pace, and sauntered on, with his chin + bent down on his breast.</p> + + <p>From the thickly-settled parts of the town he went on, until he came + to streets where the bustle and crowd were less; then to others, which + were nearly deserted; then on he went, until he reached a quarter + where the houses stood far apart, with vacant lots between them. Still + he kept on. Then came fields, and cottages, and farm-houses, surrounded + by tall trees. Still on he went, still wading through a mass of + chaotic fancies, springing up, and reeling and flitting through his mind; + shadows of things that had been, and might be; ghosts of the past; + prophets of the future. He had become a very child. At last he stood + on the bank of the river; and then for the first time he seemed to + awaken from his trance.</p> + + <p>It was a glorious day, whose sunshine might have found its way even + into his black heart. Oh! how soft, and mellow, and pure, the hurricane + of the last night had left it! Not a cloud in the sky, not a breath to + ripple the water, or to wave the long trailing locks of the hoary willows, + which nodded over its banks.</p> + + <p>Rust looked about him, with a bewildered gaze, until his eye became + fixed upon the water. ‘It’s very quiet, <em>very</em> quiet,’ said he; ‘I wonder + if a man, once engulfed in it, feels peace.’ He pressed his hand to his + breast, and muttered: ‘<em>Here</em> it is gone forever!’</p> + + <p>He loitered listlessly on, under the trees. His step was feeble; and + he stooped and tottered, as if decrepid. He stopped again, shook his + head, and went on, looking upon the ground, and at times long and + wistfully at the river.</p> + + <p>An old man, leaning on a stout cane, who had been watching him, at + last came up. Raising his hat, as he did so, he said:</p> + + <p>‘You seem, like myself, to be an admirer of this noble river?’</p> + + <p>Rust looked up at him sharply, ready to gather in his energies, if + necessary. But there was nothing in the mild, dignified face of the + speaker to invite suspicion, and he replied in a feeble tone:</p> + + <p>‘Yes, yes; it is a noble river.’</p> + + <p>‘I’ve seen many, in my long life,’ said the other, ‘and have never + met its equal.’</p> + + <p>Rust paused, as if he did not hear him, and then continued in a + musing tone:</p> + + <p>‘How smooth it is! how calm! Many have found peace there, who + never found it in life. Drowning’s an easy death, I’m told.’</p> + + <p>The stranger replied gravely, and even sternly:</p> + + <p>‘They have escaped the troubles of life, and plunged into those of + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page249" name="page249"></a>249</span>eternity;’ and then, as if willing to give Rust an opportunity of + explaining away the singular character of the remark, he said: ‘I + hope <em>you</em> do not meditate suicide?’</p> + + <p>‘No,’ replied Rust, quietly, ‘not at present; but I’ve often thought + that many a wrecked spirit will find <em>there</em> what it never found on + earth—peace.’</p> + + <p>‘The body may,’ returned the other, ‘but not the soul.’</p> + + <p>Rust smiled doubtfully, and walked off. The man watched, and + even followed him; but seeing him turn from the river, he took another + direction, occasionally pausing to look back. Not so Rust. From the + time he had parted with the stranger, he had forgotten him, and his + thoughts wandered back to their old theme. It was strange that he + should believe so implicitly Grosket’s tale, coming as it did from one + whom he knew hated him. Yet he <em>did</em> believe it. There was proof + of its truth in Grosket’s manner; in his look; in his tone of assured + triumph. Yet although Rust brooded over nothing else that livelong + day, he could not realize it; he could not appreciate how desolate and + lonely he was. He could only fancy how life would be, if what Grosket + had told him <em>had</em> happened. ‘This is not all a dream, I suppose,’ + muttered he, pausing as he went, and passing his hand across his forehead. + ‘No, no; I’m awake—wide awake; and <em>I</em> am Michael Rust; + that’s more strange than all.’</p> + + <p>After hours of wandering, he found himself at his office. He ascended + the stairs, opened the door, and went in. It was dark, for the lights + had been twinkling in the shop-windows before he left the street; but + he sat down without observing it; and there he remained until Kornicker + came in with a light.</p> + + <p>Rust made no reply to the salutation which he received. Kornicker + placed the light on the table; and after loitering round the room, and + busying himself with a few papers which he had arranged on the table, + to give it a business-like appearance, he asked:</p> + + <p>‘Do you want me any more, to-night?’</p> + + <p>‘No; you may go.’</p> + + <p>The dismissal and departure of Mr. Kornicker were almost simultaneous. + His heavy foot went thumping from step to step, and finally + the street-door banged after him. Rust sat without moving, listening to + every tramp of his heavy foot, until the door shut it out.</p> + + <p>‘So, he’s gone,’ said he, drawing a long breath, and cuddling himself + up on his chair. ‘He’ll be in my way no more to-night.’</p> + + <p>He shivered slightly; and then got up and drew his chair nearer the + grate, although there was no fire in it. ‘And <em>this</em> is then the end of my + scheme,’ muttered he; ‘I have gone on for years in the same beaten + track, fighting off all who could interfere with me. The affection of + those who would have loved me; friends, relatives, those nearest to me, + with the same blood in our veins, nursed in the same arms, who drew + life from the same source; this cold heart has repulsed, until they have + all abandoned me!’</p> + + <p>He leaned his head on his hands, and tears, scalding tears, gushed + from his eyes. ‘I did it for <em>her</em>. It was to get gold to lavish on <em>her</em>. + I would have chained myself for life to that old man’s daughter, to get + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page250" name="page250"></a>250</span>wealth; I would have added the murder of those children to the catalogue + of my crimes, that I might have grasped their inheritance, to have + showered all that I had gathered by toil and crime upon <em>her</em>. She was + my hope, my pride, my own dear darling child; but she is shipwrecked + now; she has withered my heart. I would have shed its last blood for + her. I would—I <em>would</em>; indeed I would! But it’s useless to think of + it. She can never be what she was; the bright, pure-souled, spotless + child whom I worshipped. Yes, yes; I <em>did</em> worship her; Why deny + it? Better, far better, she had died, for then I might still have cherished + her memory. It’s too late. She’s become a castaway now.’</p> + + <p>He paused. From a state of deep and querulous despondency, he + gradually recovered composure; then his mood grew sterner and + sterner; until his compressed lips and flashing eye showed that he had + passed from one extreme to the other.</p> + + <p>‘Is there nothing left to live for?’ exclaimed he; ‘<em>nothing</em> left? One + thing can yet be done. I must ascertain her disgrace beyond a doubt. + Then atonement can and shall be made, or <em>he</em> had better never have been + born!’</p> + + <p>Rust stood up, with an expression of bold, honest indignation, such + as he had rarely worn, stamped on every feature. ‘<em>This</em> must be + accomplished,’ said he. ‘Everything else must be abandoned: <em>this</em> + done, let me die; for I cannot love her as I did, and I might hate her: + Better die!’</p> + + <h4 class="chapter_title">CHAPTER TWENTY-THIRD.</h4> + + <p>Richard Holmes, Esq. was sitting in his office, two days after the + events narrated in the last chapter, with his nose within a few inches + of a law-book which rested on his knees, when he was aroused by the + opening of the door, and the entrance of a man. Holmes was so much + out of the world, and out of the current of business, that he did what a + practitioner at the bar of his age and standing rarely does; that is, he + looked up without waiting till he was addressed.</p> + + <p>‘Ah, Harson?—it’s you, is it?’ said he, laying aside his book, but + without rising.</p> + + <p>Harry walked up, shook hands with him, and seated himself.</p> + + <p>‘We’ve been hard at work, and have made some progress,’ said he, + taking off his hat, and placing it on the table. ‘We’ve got the woman.’</p> + + <p>‘What woman?’</p> + + <p>‘Blossom,’ replied Harson; ‘I’ve brought her here to answer for + herself. She was in Rust’s employ, and received the children from + him. She’s below.’</p> + + <p>‘What news of the boy?’ inquired Holmes.</p> + + <p>‘Grosket is after him. He knows where he is. Would you like to + see the woman?’</p> + + <p>‘It would be as well,’ said Holmes, drumming on the table. ‘We’ll + hear what she has to say. Does she communicate what she knows + willingly or under compulsion?’</p> + + <p>‘She’s not very talkative;’ answered Harson, ‘and seems terribly + afraid of Rust.’</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page251" name="page251"></a>251</span>‘I think we can squeeze the truth out of her,’ replied Holmes. + ‘Bring her up.’</p> + + <p>Harson went out, and in a few minutes reäppeared with Mrs. Blossom + at his heels. The lawyer pointed to a chair, into which the lady + sank, apparently in a state of great exhaustion and agitation; for she + moaned and rocked to and fro, and wrung her hands.</p> + + <p>‘Your name’s Blossom, I think,’ said Holmes, evincing no sympathy + whatever with her sufferings.</p> + + <p>‘Ah’s me! ah’s me! I’m very old! I’m very old!’ exclaimed the + lady, moaning from the very bottom of her lungs, but without making + any reply to the question.</p> + + <p>‘Hark ye,’ said Holmes, in a stern tone, ‘I have not sent for you, to + listen to your moaning, nor to be trifled with in any other way. You + have come here to disclose the deeds of a scoundrel; and disclose them + you <em>must</em>. You shall answer all my questions, truly, honestly, and + without equivocation, or it will be the worse for you. I am aware of + offences committed by you, which, if punished as they merit, would + send you to prison. I tell you this, that you may know exactly how + we stand with reference to each other. If you wish to serve yourself, + you will find true and prompt replies to whatever I ask. What’s your + name?’</p> + + <p>Mrs. Blossom oscillated in her chair, glanced at the wall, replied + ‘Blossom,’ and buried her face in a rag of a shawl.</p> + + <p>‘Good! Where do you live?’ demanded the lawyer. The woman + answered, and Holmes wrote it down.</p> + + <p>‘Do you know a man by the name of Michael Rust?’</p> + + <p>Mrs. Blossom’s chair became very uneasy, and she was seized with + a violent cough. The lawyer waited until her cough was better, and + repeated the question, accompanying it by a look which produced an + answer in the affirmative.</p> + + <p>‘What other name did you ever know him to bear?’</p> + + <p>Mrs. Blossom suddenly found her voice, and replied boldly: ‘No + other;’ and here she spoke the truth; for Rust had trusted her no + farther than was absolutely necessary.</p> + + <p>‘How long have you known him?’</p> + + <p>Mrs. Blossom again lost her voice, but found it instantly on meeting + the eye of Holmes; and she answered bluntly, ‘About four years.’</p> + + <p>‘What led to your acquaintance?’</p> + + <p>The woman cast a shrewd suspicious glance at him, as if calculating + how far she might trifle with impunity; but there was something in his + manner that was not encouraging, and she replied, ‘that she could not + remember.’</p> + + <p>Holmes laid down his pen, and pushing back his chair so that he + faced her, said in a quiet but very decided manner:</p> + + <p>‘Mrs. Blossom, you have been brought here for the purpose of giving + us such information as will enable us to do justice to a person who has + been greatly injured by this man Rust. I mention this, not because I + suppose the motive will have any great weight with you, but to let you + see that the object of our investigation is nothing against yourself. + Your answers are important to us; for at present we know no other + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page252" name="page252"></a>252</span>than yourself, of whom we can obtain the information we require. I + do not conceal this, nor will I conceal the fact that unless you <em>do</em> answer + me, you shall leave this room for a prison. I told you so before; I + repeat it now; I will <em>not</em> repeat it a third time. I already know enough + of the matter on which I am interrogating you, to be able to detect + falsehood in your answers.’</p> + + <p>There was something either in the words of the lawyer or in the + formation of her chair that caused Mrs. Blossom to move very uneasily; + and at the same time to cast a glance behind her, as if there existed a + strong connection between her thoughts and the door. She was however + used to trying circumstances, and did not lose her presence of mind. + She made no reply, but sat with every faculty, which long training had + sharpened to a high degree of cunning, on the alert; but she was not + a little taken by surprise when Holmes, after taking from the table a + packet of papers, selected one, and having spent a few minutes in + examining it, said to her:</p> + + <p>‘To convince you that we are perfectly acquainted with the nature + of your dealings with Rust, I will enter into a few details, which may + perhaps enable you to recollect something more. Four years since, on + the sixteenth of December, a man by the name of Blossom, with whom + you lived, and whose name you bear, although you are not his wife, + proposed to you to take charge of two children, a boy and girl. At first + you refused, but finally agreed to do it on receiving five hundred dollars, + and the assurance that no inquiry would be made as to the treatment + they received at your hands, and that whether they lived or died was + a matter of indifference to the person who placed them in your charge, + and would not be too closely investigated. The children came. They + were quite young. You had them for a week, and were then informed + that they must go, for a time, to the country. You asked no questions, + but gave them up, and they were sent away, the money for their support + being furnished by the same hand that threw them upon your mercy. + In a year or so they were brought back, and were again entrusted to + you, with instructions to break them down, and if possible to send them + to their graves; but if their bodies were proof against cruelty, <em>then</em> so + to pollute their very souls, and familiarize them with crime, that they + should forget what they had been; and that even those who should + have loved them best would blush to see what they were. You began + your work well, for you had a stern, savage master over you—Michael + Rust. Thus much,’ said he, ‘I know; but I must know more. You + must identify the children as the same first delivered to you by Rust. + You must disclose the names of the persons with whom they lived in + the country. You must also give me such information as will enable + us to fasten this crime on Rust. Another person could have proved + all this—the man Blossom; but you know he is dead.’</p> + + <p>He paused, for Mrs. Blossom’s face grew deadly pale as he spoke. + It was momentary, however; and might have passed away entirely, + had not a strange suspicion fastened itself on his mind. He added in a + slow tone: ‘What ailed him, <em>you</em> know best.’</p> + + <p>Mrs. Blossom’s thin lips grew perfectly white; and moved as if she + were attempting to speak.</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page253" name="page253"></a>253</span>‘Will you give me the information I require? or will you accept the + alternative?’ said Holmes, still keeping his eye upon her.</p> + + <p>‘Go on; what do you want?’ demanded she, in a quick husky voice.</p> + + <p>‘You are acquainted with Michael Rust?’</p> + + <p>‘I am,’ replied she, in the same quick, nervous manner.</p> + + <p>‘How did you first become acquainted with him?’</p> + + <p>‘You know all that,’ was the abrupt reply. ‘Why should I go over + it again? It’s all true, as you said it.’</p> + + <p>Holmes paused to make a note of it, and then asked:</p> + + <p>‘What is the name of the person, in the country, who took charge of + the children?’</p> + + <p>‘I don’t know,’ replied the woman. ‘Michael Rust sent a man for + them, who took them off.’</p> + + <p>‘Who was this man?’</p> + + <p>‘I don’t know; I never saw him. Mr. Blossom gave the children + to him, and never told me his name.’</p> + + <p>‘Good,’ said Holmes, in his short, abrupt manner: ‘Where are + these children now?’</p> + + <p>‘One’s at <em>his</em> house,’ replied she, pointing to Harson. ‘The other, + by this time, is with a man named Grosket. He’s been arter him, and + I suppose has got him by this time.’</p> + + <p>‘Enoch Grosket?’ inquired Holmes.</p> + + <p>The woman nodded. ‘I told him where he’d find him. He went + straight off to fetch him.’</p> + + <p>‘Will you swear that they are the same children brought to you four + years since?’ said Holmes, pausing in his writing, and running his eye + over the notes which he had made. ‘Do you know them to be the + same?’</p> + + <p>‘The man said so, who brought ’em back at the end of the year. + That’s all I know about it. They never left me arter that.’</p> + + <p>‘Who was that man?’</p> + + <p>‘Tim Craig,’ replied the woman.</p> + + <p>‘And he’s dead. The only person who could reveal their place of + concealment during that year, and the name of those who had the care + of them. The chain is broken, by which to identify them as the lost + children of George Colton. Who can aid us in this?’</p> + + + <p>‘I <span class="small_all_caps">CAN</span>!’ said a voice.</p> + + <p>All three started, for there, at their very elbow, stood Michael Rust; + but Rust, fearfully altered, worn down, wan, haggard, with sunken + cheeks, and features rigid and colorless, as if cut from wax, and with + an eye of fire. But wrecked as he was, there was still that strange + sneering smile on his lip, which seemed as if only parting to utter + sarcasm and mockery. But now he was serious in his mood, for he + repeated:</p> + + <p>‘I can, and without my aid the secret must be hid forever.’</p> + + <p>Holmes rose, angrily, from his seat.</p> + + <p>‘What brought <em>you</em> here?’ demanded he.</p> + + <p>‘Be seated, I beg of you,’ said Rust, bowing, and speaking in a low, + mocking tone. ‘What brought me here? <em>You</em> called upon <em>me</em>, I + think; it was but civil to return the visit. I have come to do so.’</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page254" name="page254"></a>254</span>‘This is idle, Sir,’ replied Holmes, coldly. ‘You came for some + purpose. Name it. The sooner this interview is over, the more + agreeable I suppose it will be for both of us.’</p> + + <p>‘For me, certainly,’ said Rust, in a manner so constrained and + different from his usual one, that the lawyer was in doubt whether he + was in jest or earnest. Then he added, in a bitter tone: ‘You ask + what brought me here. Destiny, folly, revenge perhaps against my + own heart’s blood. Call it what you will; here I am; and ready to + assist in the very matter which now perplexes you. What more do + you want?’</p> + + <p>Holmes replied with a sarcastic smile: ‘The assistance of Michael + Rust is likely to be as great as his sincerity. We certainly should + place great reliance on it.’</p> + + <p>Rust, perfectly unmoved by the taunt, answered in a tone so bitter, + so full of hatred to himself, so replete with the outpouring of a cankered + heart, so despairing and reckless, that the lawyer felt that even in him + there might be some truth:</p> + + <p>‘I care not whether you trust me or not; I care not whether you believe + me or not. If Michael Rust could ever have been swayed by the + opinions of others, it would have been before this; it’s too late to begin + now. I came here because I have failed in all I undertook; because I + am beginning to hate the one for whom I have toiled, until I grew gray + with the wearing away of mind and body; because the soul of life is + gone. I do it out of revenge against that person. There is no remorse; + no conscience; but it’s revenge. Look at me; that person has blasted + me. Do I not show it in every feature and limb? Now you understand + me. My schemes are abandoned; and I shall soon be where + neither man nor law can reach me. My secret can do me no good; + why should I keep it? Perhaps the recollection of past days and of + past favors from one whom I have wronged, may have had its weight; + perhaps not. I’ve come to tell the truth. If you will hear it, well; if + not, I go, and it goes with me.’</p> + + <p>Holmes and Harson exchanged looks, and Harson nodded, as if in + acquiescence to some proposition which he supposed the looks of the + other to indicate.</p> + + <p>‘Well, Sir,’ replied Holmes, ‘we will hear what you have to say.’</p> + + <p>‘Stop,’ said Rust; ‘before uttering a word, I must have a promise.’</p> + + <p>The lawyer looked at him, and then at Harson, as much as to say: + ‘I expected it. There’s some trick in it.’</p> + + <p>Rust observed it, and said: ‘Spare your suspicions; I have come + here to be frank and honest in word and deed; and Michael Rust can + be so, when the fancy seizes him. The promise I require is this; + whatever I may reveal, no matter what the penalty, you will not set the + blood-hounds of the law on my track within forty-eight hours. I have + yet one act to perform in the great farce of life. <em>That</em> accomplished, + you may do your worst.’</p> + + <p>‘This is all very strange,’ said Holmes, eyeing the thin, excited features + of his visitor, as if not altogether sure of his sanity; ‘if you + fear the punishment of your misdeeds, why reveal them? Why place + yourself in our power, or run the risk of our interfering with your + future movements?’</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page255" name="page255"></a>255</span>Rust replied bitterly: ‘You shall hear. My whole life has been spent + for one person, my own child. Every faculty of mind and body has + been devoted to her, and every crime I have committed was for her. + Scruples were disregarded; ties of blood set at defiance; every thing + that binds man to man, that deters from wrong, were disregarded, if + they stood in the way of that one grand aim of life. <em>She</em> forgot all! + She has broken me down, heart and spirit. Love and devotion were + crushed with them, and revenge has sprung up from their ruins. Ay! + revenge against my own child! Should any thing prevent my doing + what I have yet to do, and should my brother die, and his children not + be found, <em>she</em> would be his heir. <em>I</em> would have labored and <em>succeeded</em>, + for one who has disgraced me, and made me what you see me!’</p> + + <p>He stretched out his thin hands, displaying the large veins, coursing + beneath the skin, and apparently full to bursting. ‘How wasted they + are!’ He smiled as he looked at them, and then asked: ‘Will you promise?’</p> + + <p>The lawyer turned to Harson, and then said: ‘I promise; do you, + Harson?’ Harry nodded.</p> + + <p>‘Good!’ said Rust, abruptly. ‘You know my name, and much of + my history. All the facts which you detailed to me at my office a short + time since are true—true almost to the very letter. Michael Rust and + Henry Colton are one. The plodding, scheming, heartless, unprincipled + Henry Colton, who could sell his brother’s own flesh and blood for gold; + who could forget all the kindnesses heaped upon him, and stab his benefactor, + and this wreck of Michael Rust, are one!’</p> + + <p>He struck his hand against his chest, and strode up and down the + room, biting his lips. ‘<em>He</em> was rich, and <em>I</em> was poor: he gave me the + means of living, but I wanted more. I had my eye on his entire wealth, + and I wanted him to be in his grave. But he thwarted me in that. + Feeble and sickly, so that a breath might have destroyed him, he lived + on, and at last, as if to balk me farther, he married. Two children + were born; two more obstacles between me and my aim. Two children!—two + more of the same blood for me to love. Ho! ho! how + Michael Rust loved those babes!’ exclaimed he, clutching his fingers + above his head, and gasping as he spoke. He turned, and fastening his + glaring eye on the lawyer, griped his fingers together, with his teeth + hard set and speaking through them, said in a sharp whisper: ‘I could + have strangled them!’</p> + + <p>He paused; and then went on: ‘At last came the thought of removing + them. At first it was vague: it came like a shadow, and went + off; then it came again, more distinct. Then it became stronger, and + stronger, until it grew into a passion—a very madness. At last my + mind was made up, and my plans formed. I trusted no one, but carried + them off myself, and delivered them to the husband of that woman,’ + pointing to Mrs. Blossom. ‘I told him nothing of their history: he was + paid to take charge of them, and asked no questions. Then came the + clamor of pursuit. I daily met and comforted my broken-hearted brother + and his wife: I held out hopes which I knew were false; I offered + rewards; I turned pursuit in every direction except the right one. + They both thanked me, and looked upon me as their best friend; and + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page256" name="page256"></a>256</span>so I was, for I kept up hope; and what is life without it? At last the + search approached the neighborhood where the children really were, + and they were sent to the country. A man by the name of Craig took + them. The only person who was in the secret was Enoch Grosket; + but he knew nothing respecting the history of the children, nor where + they went.’</p> + + <p>‘Where was it?’ inquired Holmes, anxiously, ‘and to whom did you + entrust them?’</p> + + <p>‘I have prepared it all,’ said Rust; he drew a letter from his pocket + and handed it to him. ‘You’ll find it there, and the names of the persons; + they know nothing of the children; but they can identify them + as those left with them four years ago; and they still have the clothes + which they wore at the time; but the girl’s resemblance to her mother + will save all that trouble.’</p> + + <p>He paused, with his dark eyes fastened on the floor, and his lips + working with intense emotion.</p> + + <p>‘And is it possible that the love of gold can lead one to crimes like + these!’ said Holmes, in a subdued tone.</p> + + <p>‘Love of gold!’ exclaimed Rust, fiercely; ‘what cared I for gold? + Ho! ho! Michael Rust values gold but as dross; but it is the world; + the cringing, obsequious, miser-hearted world, that kisses the very feet + of wealth, which set Michael Rust on; it was this that lashed him forward; + but not for himself. I married a woman whom I loved,’ said he, + in a quick, stern tone; ‘she abandoned me and became an outcast, and + paid the penalty by an outcast’s fate: she died in the streets. The love + which I bore her I transferred to my child. I was poor, and I resolved + that she should be rich. Can you understand my motive now? I loved + my own flesh and blood better than my brother’s. I have now relinquished + my plans, and have told you why.’</p> + + <p>A pause of some moments ensued, and Rust said: ‘Is there any thing + more that you want? If so, tell me at once, for after to-day we shall + never meet again.’</p> + + <p>Holmes ran his eye over the papers, and selecting two letters, handed + them to Rust, and said:</p> + + <p>‘How do you account for the difference of that hand-writing, if Michael + Rust and Henry Colton are one?’</p> + + <p>‘Michael Rust wrote one hand, Henry Colton another,’ said Rust; + ‘but <em>I</em> wrote both.’ He seized a pen, wrote a few words, signed the + names Michael Rust and Henry Colton, and flung it on the table. ‘The + game had been well studied before it was played.’</p> + + <p>‘Your writing is well disguised indeed,’ said the lawyer, comparing + it with the letters; ‘it solves that difficulty.’</p> + + <p>‘Any thing else?’ demanded Rust, impatiently; ‘my time is + limited.’</p> + + <p>Holmes shook his head; but Harson said: ‘A few words about Jacob + Rhoneland.’</p> + + <p>‘Well?’</p> + + <p>‘You accuse him of forgery; what does that mean?’</p> + + <p>‘He was a fool: I wanted to marry his daughter; I represented + myself to him as very rich, to tempt his avarice; that failed. I added + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page257" name="page257"></a>257</span>entreaties; <em>they</em> failed. Then I tried the effect of fear. He was not + deaf to that for a long time, but at last he overcame even that.’</p> + + <p>‘And the tale?’</p> + + <p>‘Was well fabricated, but false.’</p> + + <p>‘And Ned Somers?’</p> + + <p>‘I had to get rid of him: what could I do while he was dallying + round the girl? I <em>did</em> get rid of him: a few lies whispered to the old + man sent him adrift. But I’m tired of this; I came to tell what I + pleased, and nothing more, and I must be at work. You must respect + your promise,’ said he, turning to Holmes.</p> + + <p>‘I shall, and I hope your present errand at least is an honest one.’</p> + + <p>‘It is,’ said Rust, with a strange smile; ‘it is to punish a criminal.’ + He opened the door and went off without another word.</p> + + </div><!-- THE QUOD CORRESPONDENCE --> + <div class="article"> + <h2 class="title">NIGHT AND MORNING.</h2> + + <div class="epigram"> + <p class="centered_line">‘To-morrow to fresh fields and pastures new!’</p> + <p class="sign"><span class="author">Lycidas.</span></p> + </div> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="first_word">Yes</span>! I have been for many a changeful year,</p> + <p>Studious or sensual, gay or wild, or sad,</p> + <p>An earnest votary of Evening. She</p> + <p>Had something wondrous winning to my eye,</p> + <p>So soft she was, and quiet. Often too,</p> + <p>Absorbed in books, which were perchance a bane,</p> + <p>Perchance a blessing; or in glittering crowds,</p> + <p>Gazing all rapt on woman’s eloquent face,</p> + <p>Nature’s most witching and most treacherous page;</p> + <p>Or high in mirth with those whose senseful wit</p> + <p>Outflashed the rosy wines that warmed its flow,</p> + <p>I’ve held my vigils till the brow of Night</p> + <p>Grew pale and starless, and her solemn pomp,</p> + <p>Out-glared by day, faded in hueless space.</p> + <p>I do repent me of my worship. Night</p> + <p>Was given for rest: who breaks this natural law</p> + <p>Wrongs body and soul alike. One vigorous hour</p> + <p>Of sober day-light thought is worth a night’s</p> + <p>Slow oscitations of a drowsy mind.</p> + <p>’Neath Eve’s pale star the desolate heart reverts</p> + <p>To those far moments, when the sky was blue,</p> + <p>And earth was green, as earth and sky to eyes</p> + <p>Once disenchanted, can appear no more.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>We <em>all</em> are mourners. Good men must deplore</p> + <p>Lost hours, lost friends, lost pleasures; and the bad</p> + <p>Are racked by throes of impotent remorse,</p> + <p>Dark, fierce, and bitter; for <em>themselves</em> are lost,</p> + <p>And still neglecting what remains of life,</p> + <p>They strive by backward reachings to redeem</p> + <p>The irredeemable. <em>Why</em> pass the hours,</p> + <p>The fleeting hours, in profitless regrets,</p> + <p>When each regret but lops <em>another</em> bough,</p> + <p>Full of green promise, from the tree of life?</p> + <p>You, who in your bereavement truly feel</p> + <p>This truth, expressed so sadly and so well:</p> + <p>‘Joy’s recollection is no longer joy,</p> + <p>While Sorrow’s memory is sorrow still;’</p> + <p>I counsel to recant your vows, and come</p> + <p>With me to worship at a better shrine,</p> + <p>The shrine of Morning.</p> + <p class="i22">Morning is the hour</p> + <p>Of vigorous thought, unconquerable hope,</p> + <p>And high endeavor. All our powers, in sleep</p> + <p>Bathed, nurtured, clad, and strung with nerves of steel,</p> + <p>Rise from their brief oblivion keen with health,</p> + <p>And strong for struggling, and we feel that toil</p> + <p>Is toil’s own recompense. I deem that Man</p> + <p>Is not a retrospective being; for his course</p> + <p>Is on, still on; and never should his eyes</p> + <p>Turn back, but to detect his errors past,</p> + <p>And shun them in his future steps. Too long,</p> + <p>Ah! much too long, O world! and oft I’ve gazed</p> + <p>In awe and wonder on thy midnight sleep,</p> + <p>While magic Memory, singly or in groups,</p> + <p>Upon her faded tablets re-produced</p> + <p>Fair and familiar forms of Love and Joy.</p> + <p>Oh! <em>so</em> familiar were they, and so fair,</p> + <p>Though dim, those blessed faces, that my eyes</p> + <p>Grew tremulous with the dew of unshed tears.</p> + <p>The gaze hath hurt me. It hath taken their rest</p> + <p>And natural joy from body and spirit, and worn</p> + <p>Too fast the wheel-work of this frail machine.</p> + <p>And now, oh! sleeping Nature! while the stars</p> + <p>Smile on thy face, and I in fancy hear</p> + <p>The low pulsations of thy dormant life,</p> + <p>And feel thy mighty bosom heave and fall</p> + <p>With regular breathings; through <em>my</em> little world</p> + <p>I feel Disease advancing on his sure</p> + <p>And stealthy mission. Well I know his step,</p> + <p>The wily traitor! when I mark my short,</p> + <p>Quick respirations; and his call I know,</p> + <p>As, in the hush of night, my ear alarmed</p> + <p>By the heart’s death-march notes, repeats its strange</p> + <p>And audible beatings.</p> + <p class="i20">Down! grim spectre, down!</p> + <p>Flap not thy wings across my face, nor let</p> + <p>Thy ghastly visage, horrible shadow! freeze</p> + <p>My staring eye-balls! Let me fly, O Death!</p> + <p>Thy chilling presence, and implore thy soft</p> + <p>And merciful brother,<a href="#fn2" class="fnmarker" title="Entha de Nuktos..." id="fnm2" name="fnm2">2</a> dewy Sleep, to drip</p> + <p>Papaverous balsam on my eyes, and lull</p> + <p>My throbbing temples on his lap to rest!</p> + <p class="poetry_break">·····</p> + <p>The day-spring reddens: the first few, faint streaks,</p> + <p>Mingling and brightening o’er the eastern skies,</p> + <p>Announce the upward chariot of the Sun.</p> + <p>Light leaps from Darkness! In the grave of Night</p> + <p>Day lays aside his burial-robes, and dons</p> + <p>His regal crown, and Nature smiles to see</p> + <p>His resurrection, shouting, ‘Hail! oh, hail!</p> + <p>Eve’s younger<a href="#fn3" class="fnmarker" title="Observe the order of collocation..." id="fnm3" name="fnm3">3</a> brother! and again, all hail!</p> + <p>Thou bright-eyed Morning! fairest among all</p> + <p>Of God’s fair creatures! Rise, bright prince, and shine</p> + <p>O’er this green earth, from brooding Darkness won,</p> + <p>From wild, waste Chaos, and the womb of Night!’</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Let <em>me</em> too burst the leaden bands of Sleep,</p> + <p>And while the blinking stars, all faint and pale</p> + <p>With their long watch, recall their courier-rays</p> + <p>To their far orbits; and our earthly stars,</p> + <p>The stars of Fashion, sick and wan as they,</p> + <p>Are wheeling homeward to their feverous rest,</p> + <p>Let <em>me</em> walk forth among the silent groves,</p> + <p>Or through the cool vales snuff the morning air.</p> + <p>How fresh! how breathing! Every draught I take</p> + <p>Seems filled with healthiest life, and sends the blood</p> + <p>Rushing and tingling through my quickened veins,</p> + <p>Like inspiration! How the fluent air,</p> + <p>Fanned into motion by thy breezy wings,</p> + <p>O, fragrant Morning! blows from off the earth</p> + <p>The congregated vapors, dank and foul,</p> + <p>By yesterday coagulate and mixed!</p> + <p>Miasmas steaming up from sunless fens;</p> + <p>The effluvia of vegetable death;</p> + <p>Disease exhaled from pestilential beds,</p> + <p>And Lust’s rank pantings and the fumes of wine;</p> + <p>All these, condensed in one pernicious gas</p> + <p>By Noon’s hot efflux and the reeking Night,</p> + <p>Thy filtering breezes make as fresh and sweet</p> + <p>As infant slumbers; pure as the virgin’s breath</p> + <p>Whispering her first love in the eager ear</p> + <p>Of her heart’s chosen.</p> + <p class="i20">On this climbing hill,</p> + <p>While, lost in ecstacy, I stand and gaze</p> + <p>On the fresh beauties of a world disrobed,</p> + <p>How does thy searching breath, oh, infant Day!</p> + <p>Inspire the languid frame with new-born life,</p> + <p>And all its sinking powers rejuvenate,</p> + <p>Freshening the murky hollows of the soul!</p> + <p>Good Heaven! How glorious this morning hour,</p> + <p>Nature’s new birth-time! All her mighty frame,</p> + <p>In lowly vale, on lofty mountain-top,</p> + <p>And wide savannah, stirs, with sprightful life,</p> + <p>Life irrepressible, whose eager thrill</p> + <p>Shoots to her very finger-tips, and makes</p> + <p>Each little flower through all her delicate threads</p> + <p>Each fibrous plant, each blade of corn or grass,</p> + <p>And each tall tree, through all its limbs and leaves,</p> + <p>Quiver and tremble.</p> + <p class="i20">The increasing light</p> + <p>Reveals the outlines of the shadowy hills,</p> + <p>And, charm by charm, the landscape all comes forth,</p> + <p>Wood, stream, and valley; while above that green</p> + <p>And waving ocean swells an endless vault</p> + <p>Of blue serenity, and round its verge</p> + <p>Kindles and flashes with rubescent gleams</p> + <p>The far horizon; till the whole appears</p> + <p>A sapphire dome, which, edged with golden rim,</p> + <p>Spans the green surges of an emerald sea.</p> + <p>The Sun is still unseen; yet far before</p> + <p>His chariot-wheels a train of glory marks</p> + <p>His kindling track, and all the air is now</p> + <p>A luminous ocean. Whence these floods of light,</p> + <p>Rich with all hues? Say! have the spheréd stars,</p> + <p>Powdered in shining atoms, fallen and filled</p> + <p>The ambient air with their invisible dews?</p> + <p>Or have the fugitive particles of light,</p> + <p>The Sun’s lost emanations, which all night</p> + <p>Lay hid in hollows of the earth, or slept</p> + <p>In vegetable cells, come forth to greet</p> + <p>Their monarch’s coming? Are they pioneers</p> + <p>Sent to prepare his way, and raise his bright</p> + <p>Victorious banner, that their sovereign’s eye</p> + <p>From his serene pavilion may behold</p> + <p>No lingering shadow from the gloomy host</p> + <p>Of hateful Darkness, who hast westward borne</p> + <p>His routed army and his fading flag?</p> + <p>Alas! proud Science, Fancy’s sneering foe,</p> + <p>Says they are but the Sun’s refracted rays,</p> + <p>And scintillations from his burning wheels.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="first_word">Earth’s</span> bride-groom rises. Round his glittering head</p> + <p>He shakes his streamy locks, and fast and far</p> + <p>Sheds showers of splendor; and his blushing bride,</p> + <p>Recumbent on her grassy couch, scarce opes</p> + <p>Her bashful eyes to meet his ardent gaze.</p> + <p>While at the advent of her lord, the Earth,</p> + <p>Marking his shining footsteps, with a smile</p> + <p>Remembers the espousals of her youth,</p> + <p>When morning stars rang out the nuptial song<a href="#fn4" class="fnmarker" title="'When the morning stars sang together,' etc...." id="fnm4" name="fnm4">4</a></p> + <p>In jubilant chorus; on her milky breast,</p> + <p>All the green nurslings of his favor raise</p> + <p>Their dewy heads, and welcome his approach</p> + <p>With thankful greetings; and each gentle flower</p> + <p>Turns her fair face to the munificent god</p> + <p>Of her idolatry, and well repays</p> + <p>His warm caresses with her perfumed breath.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>But while inanimate nature takes the shows</p> + <p>Of life, and joy, and deep and passionate sense,</p> + <p>The animal kingdom sleeps not; all its tribes</p> + <p>Swell the glad anthem. Birds, that all night long</p> + <p>Slept and dreamed sweetly ’neath their folded wings,</p> + <p>At nature’s summons are awakening now;</p> + <p>Nor unmelodiously; for from their throats,</p> + <p>In many a warbling trill, or mingled gush,</p> + <p>Comes music of such sweet and innocent strength,</p> + <p>As might force tears from the black murderer’s eyes,</p> + <p>And make the sighing captive, while he weeps</p> + <p>His own hard wrongs, lift his chained hands, and pray</p> + <p>For his oppressor more than for himself.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Thou, too, my soul, if wearing years have left</p> + <p>Aught of high feeling in thy wasted powers,</p> + <p>Of gratitude for mercies undeserved,</p> + <p>Or hope of future favors, here and now,</p> + <p>Upon this breezy hill-top, in the eye</p> + <p>Of the bright day-god rising from his sleep,</p> + <p>Perform thine orisons:</p> + <p class="i22">‘Father and King,</p> + <p>While here thy quickening breezes round me play,</p> + <p>And yonder comes thy visible delegate</p> + <p>With his bright scutcheon, to diffuse again</p> + <p>All day the rays of thy beneficence</p> + <p>Over this lovely earth, thy six days’ work;</p> + <p>To Thee, <span class="first_word">Almighty One</span>! thy child would raise</p> + <p>A loud thanksgiving. And if this, my strain</p> + <p>Of joy and thanks, and supplication, be</p> + <p>Or cold, or weak, or insincere in aught,</p> + <p>(As our poor hearts deceive themselves so oft,)</p> + <p>Thou! O <span class="first_word">Omnipotent</span>! canst make it warm,—</p> + <p>Warm as thy love, strong as thy Son’s strong tears,</p> + <p>And pure as thine own essence. Formed by Thee,</p> + <p>Saved by thy mercy from thy wrath, we all</p> + <p>Are guilty ingrates, and the best of men</p> + <p>Hath sins perchance which might outweigh the worth</p> + <p>Of all the angels. <em>I</em>, at least, have sinned,</p> + <p>Sinned long and deeply; and if still my heart,</p> + <p>Warped by its own bad passions, or allured</p> + <p>By the world’s glitter and the arts of him,</p> + <p>Thy foe and our destroyer, should forget</p> + <p>Its source and destiny, and breathe its vows</p> + <p>Again to idols, yet reject Thou not</p> + <p>This present offering. Let thy Grace surround</p> + <p>My steps as with a muniment of rocks,</p> + <p>And guide me in the uneven paths of life,</p> + <p>A pilgrim shielded by thy hollow hand.</p> + <p>And as the grateful earth sends up all day</p> + <p>Her exhalations through the bibulous air</p> + <p>To the sun, her monarch; and receives them back</p> + <p>Rich, soft, and fertile, in the still small shower,</p> + <p>That falls invisible from the morning’s womb:</p> + <p>So may my fervent heart exhale to Thee</p> + <p>Daily, the breathings of its thankful prayer.</p> + <p>And praise spontaneous; which thy heavenly grace</p> + <p>Shall render back in a perpetual dew</p> + <p>Of benedictions, making all the waste</p> + <p>Green with cool verdure.</p> + <p class="i24">Oh! the time hath been,</p> + <p>When thy benighted children lost the creed</p> + <p>Of thy true worship, and to brutes bowed down,</p> + <p>And senseless stones, and, kneeling in sincere</p> + <p>But vain devotion, to the creature gave</p> + <p>The adoration due to Thee alone,</p> + <p>The mighty Maker. Others strove to turn</p> + <p>Thine anger from them, by the streaming blood</p> + <p>Of human victims; and the reverend priest</p> + <p>Stood up, and in the name of people and king,</p> + <p>Prayed Thee, or some vain substitute, to bless</p> + <p>The holy murder. Even thy chosen, thine own</p> + <p>Peculiar nation, did forget that Thou</p> + <p>Lov’st the oblation of a grateful heart,</p> + <p>A holocaust self-sacrificed to God,<a href="#fn5" class="fnmarker" title="This line is from one of Grimke's polished and most scholar-like orations." id="fnm5" name="fnm5">5</a></p> + <p>And trusted to the blood of bulls and goats,</p> + <p>And whole burned offerings. And <em>still</em> mankind</p> + <p>Kneel in blind worship. Every heart sets up</p> + <p>Its separate Dagon. Fierce Ambition breathes</p> + <p>His burning vow, and, to secure his prayer,</p> + <p>Makes the dear children of his heart, his own</p> + <p>Sweet home’s affections and delights, pass through</p> + <p>The fire of Moloch: Avarice at the shrine</p> + <p>Of greedy Mammon, gluts his eyes with gold:</p> + <p>Some to Renown bend low the obsequious knee,</p> + <p>Praying to be eternized by a blast</p> + <p>From her shrill trumpet: in the glittering halls</p> + <p>Of sensual Pleasure some sing songs, and bind</p> + <p>Their fair young brows with chaplets steeped in wine;</p> + <p>Though soon the chaplets turn to chains, the wines</p> + <p>To gall and wormwood, and the festal song</p> + <p>To howls and hootings. High above these shrines</p> + <p>The great arch-demon and parental Jove</p> + <p>Of all the Pantheon, a god unknown</p> + <p>But every where adored, omnipotent</p> + <p>And omnipresent to the tribes of men,</p> + <p><span class="first_word">Self</span>, rears his temple.</p> + <p class="i22">But the day shall come,</p> + <p>When far and wide o’er the regenerate world,</p> + <p>From each green vale and ancient hill, thy sons</p> + <p>Duly to Thee shall bring their evening thanks</p> + <p>And morning homage. Round each cheerful hearth,</p> + <p>Or kneeling in the spreading door-tree’s shade,</p> + <p>Each human heart, brim-full of love and hope,</p> + <p>And holy gratitude, shall send aloft</p> + <p>A pure oblation, and the throbbing earth</p> + <p>Be one great censer, breathing praise to Thee.’</p> + </div> + </div> + + </div><!-- NIGHT AND MORNING. --> + <div class="article"> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page262" name="page262"></a>262</span></p> + + <h2 class="title">THE LEGEND OF DON RODERICK.<a href="#fn6" class="fnmarker" title="See 'Editor's Table' of the present number." id="fnm6" name="fnm6">6</a></h2> + + <h3 class="byline">BY THE AUTHOR OF THE SKETCH BOOK.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">When</span> in the year of Redemption 701, <span class="special_name">Witizia</span> was elected to the + Gothic throne, his reign gave promise of happy days to Spain. He redressed + grievances, moderated the tributes of his subjects, and conducted + himself with mingled mildness and energy in the administration of + the laws. In a little while, however, he threw off the mask and showed + himself in his true nature, cruel and luxurious. Considering himself + secure upon the throne, he gave the reins to his licentious passions, and + soon by his tyranny and sensuality acquired the appellation of <span class="special_name">Witizia</span> + the Wicked. How rare is it to learn wisdom from the misfortunes of + others! With the fate of <span class="special_name">Witizia</span> full before his eyes, <span class="special_name">Don Roderick</span> + was no sooner established as his successor, than he began to indulge in + the same pernicious errors, and was doomed in like manner to prepare + the way for his own perdition.</p> + + <p>As yet the heart of Roderick, occupied by the struggles of his early + life, by warlike enterprises, and by the inquietudes of newly-gotten + power, had been insensible to the charms of women; but in the first + voluptuous calm the amorous propensities of his nature assumed their + sway. There are divers accounts of the youthful beauty who first + found favor in his eyes, and was elevated by him to the throne. We + follow, in our legend, the details of an Arabian chronicler, authenticated + by a Spanish poet. Let those who dispute our facts produce better authority + for their contradiction.</p> + + <p>Among the few fortified places that had not been dismantled by Don + Roderick was the ancient city of Denia, situated on the Mediterranean + coast, and defended on a rock-built castle that overlooked the sea.</p> + + <p>The Alcayde of the castle, with many of the people of Denia, was + one day on his knees in the chapel, imploring the Virgin to allay a + tempest which was strewing the coast with wrecks, when a sentinel + brought word that a Moorish cruiser was standing for the land. The + Alcayde gave orders to ring the alarm bells, light signal-fires on the hill + tops, and rouse the country; for the coast was subject to cruel maraudings + from the Barbary cruisers.</p> + + <p>In a little while the horsemen of the neighborhood were seen pricking + along the beach, armed with such weapons as they could find; and the + Alcayde and his scanty garrison descended from the hill. In the meantime + the Moorish bark came rolling and pitching toward the land. As + it drew near, the rich carving and gilding with which it was decorated, + its silken bandaroles, and banks of crimson oars, showed it to be no warlike + vessel, but a sumptuous galleot, destined for state and ceremony. + It bore the marks of the tempest: the masts were broken, the oars shattered, + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page263" name="page263"></a>263</span>and fragments of snowy sails and silken awnings were fluttering + in the blast.</p> + + <p>As the galleot grounded upon the sand, the impatient rabble rushed + into the surf to capture and make spoil; but were awed into admiration + and respect by the appearance of the illustrious company on board. + There were Moors of both sexes sumptuously arrayed, and adorned with + precious jewels, bearing the demeanor of persons of lofty rank. Among + them shone conspicuous a youthful beauty, magnificently attired, to + whom all seemed to pay reverence.</p> + + <p>Several of the Moors surrounded her with drawn swords, threatening + death to any that approached; others sprang from the bark, and, throwing + themselves on their knees before the Alcayde, implored him, by his + honor and courtesy as a knight, to protect a royal virgin from injury + and insult.</p> + + <p>‘You behold before you,’ said they, ‘the only daughter of the King of + Algiers, the betrothed bride of the son of the King of Tunis. We were + conducting her to the court of her expecting bridegroom, when a tempest + drove us from our course, and compelled us to take refuge on your + coast. Be not more cruel than the tempest, but deal nobly with that + which even sea and storm have spared.’</p> + + <p>The Alcayde listened to their prayers. He conducted the princess + and her train to the castle, where every honor due to her rank was paid + her. Some of her ancient attendants interceded for her liberation, promising + countless sums to be paid by her father for her ransom; but the + Alcayde turned a deaf ear to all their golden offers. ‘She is a royal + captive,’ said he; ‘it belongs to my sovereign alone to dispose of her.’ + After she had reposed, therefore, for some days at the castle, and recovered + from the fatigue and terror of the seas, he caused her to be conducted, + with all her train, in magnificent state to the court of Don Roderick.</p> + + <p>The beautiful Elyata entered Toledo more like a triumphant sovereign + than a captive. A chosen band of Christian horsemen, splendidly + armed, appeared to wait upon her as a mere guard of honor. She was + surrounded by the Moorish damsels of her train, and followed by her + own Moslem guards, all attired with the magnificence that had been intended + to grace her arrival at the court of Tunis. The princess was + arrayed in bridal robes, woven in the most costly looms of the orient; + her diadem sparkled with diamonds, and was decorated with the rarest + plumes of the bird of paradise; and even the silken trappings of her + palfrey, which swept the ground, were covered with pearls and precious + stones. As this brilliant cavalcade crossed the bridge of the Tagus, + all Toledo poured forth to behold it; and nothing was heard throughout + the city but praises of the wonderful beauty of the princess of Algiers. + King Roderick came forth attended by the chivalry of his court, to receive + the royal captive. His recent voluptuous life had disposed him + for tender and amorous affections, and, at the first sight of the beautiful + Elyata, he was enraptured with her charms. Seeing her face clouded + with sorrow and anxiety, he soothed her with gentle and courteous + words, and, conducting her to a royal palace, ‘Behold,’ said he, ‘thy + habitation where no one shall molest thee; consider thyself at home in + the mansion of thy father, and dispose of any thing according to thy + will.’</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page264" name="page264"></a>264</span>Here the princess passed her time, with the female attendants who + had accompanied her from Algiers; and no one but the king was permitted + to visit her, who daily became more and more enamoured of his + lovely captive, and sought, by tender assiduity, to gain her affections. + The distress of the princess at her captivity was soothed by this gentle + treatment. She was of an age when sorrow cannot long hold sway over + the heart. Accompanied by her youthful attendants, she ranged the + spacious apartments of the palace, and sported among the groves and + alleys of its garden. Every day the remembrance of the paternal + home grew less and less painful, and the king became more and more + amiable in her eyes; and when, at length, he offered to share his heart + and throne with her, she listened with downcast looks and kindling + blushes, but with an air of resignation.</p> + + <p>One obstacle remained to the complete fruition of the monarch’s + wishes, and this was the religion of the princess. Roderick forthwith + employed the Archbishop of Toledo to instruct the beautiful Elyata in + the mysteries of the Christian faith. The female intellect is quick in + perceiving the merits of new doctrines: the archbishop, therefore, soon + succeeded in converting, not merely the princess, but most of her attendants; + and a day was appointed for their public baptism. The ceremony + was performed with great pomp and solemnity, in the presence of + all the nobility and chivalry of the court. The princess and her damsels, + clad in white, walked on foot to the cathedral, while numerous + beautiful children, arrayed as angels, strewed the path with flowers; + and the archbishop, meeting them at the portal, received them, as it + were, into the bosom of the church. The princess abandoned her Moorish + appellation of Elyata, and was baptised by the name of Exilona, by + which she was thenceforth called, and has generally been known in + history.</p> + + <p>The nuptials of Roderick and the beautiful convert took place shortly + afterward, and were celebrated with great magnificence. There were + jousts, and tourneys, and banquets, and other rejoicings, which lasted + twenty days, and were attended by the principle nobles from all parts + of Spain. After these were over, such of the attendants of the princess + as refused to embrace Christianity, and desired to return to Africa, were + dismissed with munificent presents; and an embassy was sent to the + King of Algiers, to inform him of the nuptials of his daughter, and to + proffer him the friendship of King Roderick.</p> + + <p>For a time Don Roderick lived happily with his young and beautiful + queen, and Toledo was the seat of festivity and splendor. The principal + nobles throughout the kingdom repaired to his court to pay him + homage, and to receive his commands; and none were more devoted in + their reverence than those who were obnoxious to suspicion, from their + connection with the late king.</p> + + <p>Among the foremost of these was Count Julian, a man destined to be + infamously renowned in the dark story of his country’s woes. He was + of one of the proudest Gothic families, lord of Consuegra and Algeziras, + and connected by marriage with Witizia and the Bishop Oppas; his wife, + the Countess Frandina, being their sister. In consequence of this connection, + and of his own merits, he had enjoyed the highest dignities and + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page265" name="page265"></a>265</span>commands: being one of the Espatorios, or royal sword-bearers; an + office of the greatest confidence about the person of the sovereign. He + had, moreover, been intrusted with the military government of the + Spanish possessions on the African coast of the strait, which at that time + were threatened by the Arabs of the East, the followers of Mahomet, + who were advancing their victorious standard to the extremity of Western + Africa. Count Julian established his seat of government at Ceuta, + the frontier bulwark, and one of the far-famed gates of the Mediterranean + Sea. Here he boldly faced, and held in check, the torrent of Moslem + invasion.</p> + + <p>Don Julian was a man of an active, but irregular genius, and a + grasping ambition; he had a love for power and grandeur, in which he + was joined by his haughty countess; and they could ill brook the downfall + of their house as threatened by the fate of Witizia. They had hastened, + therefore, to pay their court to the newly elevated monarch, and + to assure him of their fidelity to his interests.</p> + + <p>Roderick was readily persuaded of the sincerity of Count Julian; he + was aware of his merits as a soldier and a governor, and continued him + in his important command; honoring him with many other marks of + implicit confidence. Count Julian sought to confirm this confidence by + every proof of devotion. It was a custom among the Goths to rear + many of the children of the most illustrious families in the royal household. + They served as pages to the king, and handmaids and ladies of + honor to the queen, and were instructed in all manner of accomplishments + befitting their gentle blood. When about to depart for Ceuta, to + resume his command, Don Julian brought his daughter Florinda to present + her to the sovereigns. She was a beautiful virgin, that had not as + yet attained to womanhood. ‘I confide her to your protection,’ said he + to the king, ‘to be unto her as a father; and to have her trained in the + paths of virtue. I can leave with you no dearer pledge of my loyalty.’</p> + + <p>King Roderick received the timid and blushing maiden into his paternal + care; promising to watch over her happiness with a parent’s eye, + and that she should be enrolled among the most cherished attendants of + the queen. With this assurance of the welfare of his child, Count Julian + departed, well pleased, for his government at Ceuta.</p> + + <p>The beautiful daughter of Count Julian was received with great favor + by the queen Exilona, and admitted among the noble damsels that attended + upon her person. Here she lived in honor and apparent security, + and surrounded by innocent delights. To gratify his queen, Don Roderick + had built for her rural recreation, a palace without the walls of + Toledo, on the banks of the Tagus. It stood in the midst of a garden, + adorned after the luxurious style of the east. The air was perfumed + by fragrant shrubs and flowers; the groves resounded with the song of + the nightingale; while the gush of fountains and waterfalls, and the + distant murmur of the Tagus, made it a delightful retreat during the + sultry days of summer. The charm of perfect privacy also reigned + throughout the place; for the garden walls were high, and numerous + guards kept watch without to protect it from all intrusion.</p> + + <p>In this delicious abode, more befitting an oriental voluptuary than a + Gothic king, Don Roderick was accustomed to while away much of that + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page266" name="page266"></a>266</span>time which should have been devoted to the toilsome cares of government. + The very security and peace which he had produced throughout + his dominions, by his precautions to abolish the means and habitudes + of war, had effected a disastrous change in his character. The hardy + and heroic qualities which had conducted him to the throne, were softened + in the lap of indulgence. Surrounded by the pleasures of an idle + and effeminate court, and beguiled by the example of his degenerate + nobles, he gave way to a fatal sensuality that had lain dormant in his + nature during the virtuous days of his adversity. The mere love of + female beauty had first enamoured him of Exilona; and the same passion, + fostered by voluptuous idleness, now betrayed him into the commission + of an act fatal to himself and Spain. The following is the story + of his error, as gathered from an old chronicle and legend.</p> + + <p>In a remote part of the palace was an apartment devoted to the queen. + It was like an eastern harem, shut up from the foot of man, and where + the king himself but rarely entered. It had its own courts, and gardens, + and fountains, where the queen was wont to recreate herself with + her damsels, as she had been accustomed to do in the jealous privacy of + her father’s palace.</p> + + <p>One sultry day, the king, instead of taking his siesta, or mid-day + slumber, repaired to this apartment to seek the society of the queen. + In passing through a small oratory, he was drawn by the sound of female + voices to a casement overhung with myrtles and jessamines. It looked + into an interior garden, or court, set out with orange trees, in the midst + of which was a marble fountain, surrounded by a grassy bank, enamelled + with flowers.</p> + + <p>It was the high noontide of a summer day, when, in sultry Spain, the + landscape trembles to the eye, and all nature seeks repose, except the + grasshopper, that pipes his lulling note to the herdsman as he sleeps beneath + the shade.</p> + + <p>Around the fountain were several of the damsels of the queen, who, + confident of the sacred privacy of the place, were yielding in that cool + retreat to the indulgence prompted by the season and the hour. Some + lay asleep on the flowery bank; others sat on the margin of the fountain, + talking and laughing, as they bathed their feet in its limpid waters, + and King Roderick beheld delicate limbs shining through the wave, that + might rival the marble in whiteness.</p> + + <p>Among the damsels was one who had come from the Barbary coast + with the queen. Her complexion had the dark tinge of Mauritania, + but it was clear and transparent, and the deep rich rose blushed through + the lovely brown. Her eyes were black and full of fire, and flashed + from under long silken eye-lashes.</p> + + <p>A sportive contest arose among the maidens, as to the comparative + beauty of the Spanish and Moorish forms; but the Mauritanian damsel + revealed limbs of voluptuous symmetry that seemed to defy all rivalry.</p> + + <p>The Spanish beauties were on the point of giving up the contest, + when they bethought themselves of the young Florinda, the daughter of + Count Julian, who lay on the grassy bank, abandoned to a summer slumber. + The soft glow of youth and health mantled on her cheek; her + fringed eyelashes scarcely covered their sleeping orbs; her moist and + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page267" name="page267"></a>267</span>ruby lips were lightly parted, just revealing a gleam of her ivory teeth; + while her innocent bosom rose and fell beneath her bodice, like the gentle + swelling and sinking of a tranquil sea. There was a breathing tenderness + and beauty in the sleeping virgin, that seemed to send forth + sweetness like the flowers around her.</p> + + <p>‘Behold,’ cried her companions exultingly, ‘the champion of Spanish + beauty!’</p> + + <p>In their playful eagerness they half disrobed the innocent Florinda + before she was aware. She awoke in time, however, to escape from + their busy hands; but enough of her charms had been revealed to convince + the monarch that they were not to be rivalled by the rarest beauties + of Mauritania.</p> + + <p>From this day the heart of Roderick was inflamed with a fatal passion. + He gazed on the beautiful Florinda with fervid desire, and sought + to read in her looks whether there was levity or wantonness in her + bosom; but the eye of the damsel ever sunk beneath his gaze, and remained + bent on the earth in virgin modesty.</p> + + <p>It was in vain he called to mind the sacred trust reposed in him by + Count Julian, and the promise he had given to watch over his daughter + with paternal care; his heart was vitiated by sensual indulgence, and + the consciousness of power had rendered him selfish in his gratifications.</p> + + <p>Being one evening in the garden where the queen was diverting herself + with her damsels, and coming to the fountain where he had beheld + the innocent maidens at their sport, he could no longer restrain the passion + that raged within his breast. Seating himself beside the fountain, + he called Florinda to him to draw forth a thorn which had pierced his + hand. The maiden knelt at his feet to examine his hand, and the touch + of her slender fingers thrilled through his veins. As she knelt, too, her + amber locks fell in rich ringlets about her beautiful head, her innocent + bosom palpitated beneath the crimson boddice, and her timid blushes + increased the effulgence of her charms.</p> + + <p>Having examined the monarch’s hand in vain, she looked up in his + face with artless perplexity.</p> + + <p>‘Senior,’ said she, ‘I can find no thorn, nor any sign of wound.’</p> + + <p>Don Roderick grasped her hand and pressed it to his heart. ‘It is + here, lovely Florinda!’ said he, ‘It is here! and thou alone canst pluck + it forth!’</p> + + <p>‘My lord!’ exclaimed the blushing and astonished maiden.</p> + + <p>‘Florinda!’ said Don Roderick, ‘dost thou love me?’</p> + + <p>‘Senior,’ said she, ‘my father taught me to love and reverence you. + He confided me to your care as one who would be as a parent to me, + when he should be far distant, serving your majesty with life and loyalty. + May God incline your majesty ever to protect me as a father.’ + So saying, the maiden dropped her eyes to the ground, and continued + kneeling; but her countenance had become deadly pale, and as she + knelt she trembled.</p> + + <p>‘Florinda,’ said the king, ‘either thou dost not or thou wilt not understand + me. I would have thee love me, not as a father, nor as a monarch, + but as one who adores thee. Why dost thou start? No one shall + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page268" name="page268"></a>268</span>know our loves; and, moreover, the love of a monarch inflicts no degradation + like the love of a common man; riches and honors attend upon + it. I will advance thee to rank and dignity, and place thee above the + proudest females of my court. Thy father, too, shall be more exalted + and endowed than any noble in my realm.’</p> + + <p>The soft eye of Florinda kindled at these words. ‘Senior,’ said she, + ‘the line I spring from can receive no dignity by means so vile; and + my father would rather die than purchase rank and power by the dishonor + of his child. But I see,’ continued she, ‘that your majesty + speaks in this manner only to try me. You may have thought me light + and simple and unworthy to attend upon the queen. I pray your majesty + to pardon me, that I have taken your pleasantry in such serious part.’</p> + + <p>In this way the agitated maiden sought to evade the addresses of the + monarch; but still her cheek was blanched, and her lip quivered as she + spake.</p> + + <p>The king pressed her hand to his lips with fervor. ‘May ruin seize + me,’ cried he, ‘if I speak to prove thee! My heart, my kingdom, are + at thy command. Only be mine, and thou shalt rule absolute mistress + of myself and my domains.’</p> + + <p>The damsel rose from the earth where she had hitherto knelt, and her + whole countenance glowed with virtuous indignation. ‘My Lord,’ said + she, ‘I am your subject, and in your power; take my life if it be your + pleasure; but nothing shall tempt me to commit a crime which would + be treason to the queen, disgrace to my father, agony to my mother, and + perdition to myself.’ With these words she left the garden, and the + king, for the moment, was too much awed by her indignant virtue to + oppose her departure.</p> + + <p>We shall pass briefly over the succeeding events of the story of + Florinda, about which so much has been said and sung by chronicler + and bard: for the sober page of history should be carefully chastened + from all scenes that might inflame a wanton imagination; leaving them + to poems and romances, and such-like highly seasoned works of fantasy + and recreation.</p> + + <p>Let it suffice to say, that Don Roderick pursued his suit to the beautiful + Florinda, his passion being more and more inflamed by the resistance + of the virtuous damsel. At length, forgetting what was due to + helpless beauty, to his own honor as a knight, and his word as a sovereign, + he triumphed over her weakness by base and unmanly violence.</p> + + <p>There are not wanting those who affirm that the hapless Florinda lent + a yielding ear to the solicitations of the monarch, and her name has + been treated with opprobrium in several of the ancient chronicles and + legendary ballads that have transmitted, from generation to generation, + the story of the woes of Spain. In very truth, however, she appears to + have been a guiltless victim, resisting, as far as helpless female could + resist, the arts and intrigues of a powerful monarch, who had nought to + check the indulgence of his will, and bewailing her disgrace with a + poignancy that shows how dearly she had prized her honor.</p> + + <p>In the first paroxysm of her grief she wrote a letter to her father, + blotted with her tears, and almost incoherent from her agitation. + ‘Would to God, my father,’ said she, ‘that the earth had opened and + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page269" name="page269"></a>269</span>swallowed me ere I had been reduced to write these lines! I blush to + tell thee, what it is not proper to conceal. Alas! my father; thou hast + entrusted thy lamb to the guardianship of the lion. Thy daughter has + been dishonored, the royal cradle of the Goths polluted, and our lineage + insulted and disgraced. Hasten, my father, to rescue your child from + the power of the spoiler, and to vindicate the honor of your house!’</p> + + <p>When Florinda had written these lines, she summoned a youthful + esquire, who had been a page in the service of her father. ‘Saddle + thy steed,’ said she, ‘and if thou dost aspire to knightly honor, or hope + for lady’s grace—if thou hast fealty for thy lord, or devotion to his + daughter—speed swiftly upon my errand. Rest not, halt not, spare + not the spur; but hie thee day and night until thou reach the sea; take + the first bark, and haste with sail and oar to Ceuta, nor pause until thou + give this letter to the count my father.’</p> + + <p>The youth put the letter in his bosom. ‘Trust me, lady,’ said he, ‘I + will neither halt nor turn aside, nor cast a look behind, until I reach + Count Julian.’ He mounted his fleet steed, sped his way across the + bridge, and soon left behind him the verdant valley of the Tagus.</p> + + <p class="post_break">The heart of Don Roderick was not so depraved by sensuality, but + that the wrong he had been guilty of toward the innocent Florinda, + and the disgrace he had inflicted on her house, weighed heavy on his + spirits, and a cloud began to gather on his once clear and unwrinkled + brow.</p> + + <p>Heaven, at this time, say the old Spanish chronicles, permitted a + marvellous intimation of the wrath with which it intended to visit the + monarch and his people, in punishment of their sins; nor are we, say + the same orthodox writers, to startle, and withhold our faith, when we + meet in the page of discreet and sober history with these signs and + portents, which transcend the probabilities of ordinary life; for the + revolutions of empires and the downfall of mighty kings are awful + events, that shake the physical as well as the moral world, and are + often announced by forerunning marvels and prodigious omens. With + such-like cautious preliminaries do the wary but credulous historiographers + of yore usher in a marvellous event of prophecy and enchantment, + linked in ancient story with the fortunes of Don Roderick, but + which modern doubters would fain hold up as an apocryphal tradition + of Arabian origin.</p> + + <p>Now, so it happened, according to the legend, that about this time, as + King Roderick was seated one day on his throne, surrounded by his + nobles, in the ancient city of Toledo, two men of venerable appearance + entered the hall of audience. Their snowy beards descended to their + breasts, and their gray hairs were bound with ivy. They were arrayed + in white garments of foreign or antiquated fashion, which swept the + ground, and were cinctured with girdles, wrought with the signs of the + zodiac, from which were suspended enormous bunches of keys of every + variety of form. Having approached the throne and made obeisance: + ‘Know, O King,’ said one of the old men, ‘that in days of yore, when + Hercules of Libya, surnamed the strong, had set up his pillars at the + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page270" name="page270"></a>270</span>ocean strait, he erected a tower near to this ancient city of Toledo. + He built it of prodigious strength, and finished it with magic art, shutting + up within it a fearful secret, never to be penetrated without peril + and disaster. To protect this terrible mystery he closed the entrance to + the edifice with a ponderous door of iron, secured by a great lock of + steel; and he left a command that every king who should succeed him + should add another lock to the portal; denouncing wo and destruction + on him who should eventually unfold the secret of the tower.</p> + + <p>‘The guardianship of the portal was given to our ancestors, and has + continued in our family, from generation to generation, since the days + of Hercules. Several kings, from time to time, have caused the gate + to be thrown open, and have attempted to enter, but have paid dearly + for their temerity. Some have perished within the threshold, others + have been overwhelmed with horror at tremendous sounds, which shook + the foundations of the earth, and have hastened to re-close the door, and + secure it with its thousand locks. Thus, since the days of Hercules, + the inmost recesses of the pile have never been penetrated by mortal + man, and a profound mystery continues to prevail over this great + enchantment. This, O King, is all we have to relate; and our errand + is to entreat thee to repair to the tower and affix thy lock to the portal, + as has been done by all thy predecessors.’ Having thus said, the + ancient men made a profound reverence and departed from the presence + chamber.</p> + + <p>Don Roderick remained for some time lost in thought after the departure + of the men: he then dismissed all his court, excepting the venerable + Urbino, at that time archbishop of Toledo. The long white beard of + this prelate bespoke his advanced age, and his overhanging eye-brows + showed him a man full of wary counsel.</p> + + <p>‘Father,’ said the king, ‘I have an earnest desire to penetrate the + mystery of this tower.’ The worthy prelate shook his hoary head: + ‘Beware, my son,’ said he; ‘there are secrets hidden from man for his + good. Your predecessors for many generations have respected this + mystery, and have increased in might and empire. A knowledge of it, + therefore, is not material to the welfare of your kingdom. Seek not + then to indulge a rash and unprofitable curiosity, which is interdicted + under such awful menaces.’</p> + + <p>‘Of what importance,’ cried the king, ‘are the menaces of Hercules, + the Lybian? Was he not a pagan? and can his enchantments have + aught avail against a believer in our holy faith? Doubtless, in this + tower are locked up treasures of gold and jewels, amassed in days of + old, the spoils of mighty kings, the riches of the pagan world. My + coffers are exhausted; I have need of supply; and surely it would be + an acceptable act in the eyes of Heaven, to draw forth this wealth + which lies buried under profane and necromantic spells, and consecrate + it to religious purposes.’</p> + + <p>The venerable archbishop still continued to remonstrate, but Don + Roderick heeded not his counsel, for he was led on by his malignant + star. ‘Father,’ said he, ‘it is in vain you attempt to dissuade me. + My resolution is fixed. To-morrow I will explore the hidden mystery, + or rather the hidden treasures of this tower.’</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page271" name="page271"></a>271</span>The morning sun shone brightly upon the cliff-built towers of Toledo, + when King Roderick issued out of the gate of the city, at the head of + a numerous train of courtiers and cavaliers, and crossed the bridge that + bestrides the deep rocky bed of the Tagus. The shining cavalcade + wound up the road that leads among the mountains, and soon came in + sight of the necromantic tower.</p> + + <p>Of this renowned edifice marvels are related by the ancient Arabian + and Spanish chroniclers; ‘and I doubt much,’ adds the venerable + Agpaida, ‘whether many readers will not consider the whole as a + cunningly devised fable, sprung from an oriental imagination; but it is + not for me to reject a fact which is recorded by all those writers who + are the fathers of our national history: a fact, too, which is as well + attested as most of the remarkable events in the story of Don Roderick. + None but light and inconsiderate minds,’ continues the good friar, ‘do + hastily reject the marvellous. To the thinking mind the whole world + is enveloped in mystery, and every thing is full of type and portent. + To such a mind the necromantic tower of Toledo will appear as one of + those wondrous monuments of the olden time; one of those Egyptian + and Chaldaic piles, storied with hidden wisdom and mystic prophecy, + which have been devised in past ages, when man yet enjoyed an intercourse + with high and spiritual natures, and when human foresight partook + of divination.’</p> + + <p>This singular tower was round, and of great height and grandeur; + erected upon a lofty rock, and surrounded by crags and precipices. + The foundation was supported by four brazen lions, each taller than a + cavalier on horseback. The walls were built of small pieces of jasper, + and various colored marbles, not larger than a man’s hand; so subtilely + joined, however, that but for their different hues they might be taken + for one entire stone. They were arranged with marvellous cunning, + so as to represent battles and warlike deeds of times and heroes long + since passed away; and the whole surface was so admirably polished + that the stones were as lustrous as glass, and reflected the rays of the + sun with such resplendent brightness as to dazzle all beholders.<a href="#fn7" class="fnmarker" title="From the minute account of the good friar..." id="fnm7" name="fnm7">7</a></p> + + <p>King Roderick and his courtiers arrived wondering and amazed, at + the foot of the rock. Here there was a narrow arched way cut through + the living stone; the only entrance to the tower. It was closed by a + massive iron gate, covered with rusty locks of divers workmanship, + and in the fashion of different centuries, which had been affixed by the + predecessors of Don Roderick. On either side of the portal stood the + two ancient guardians of the tower, laden with the keys appertaining + to the locks.</p> + + <p>The king alighted, and, approaching the portals, ordered the guardians + to unlock the gate. The hoary-headed men drew back with terror. + ‘Alas!’ cried they, ‘what is it your majesty requires of us? Would + you have the mischiefs of this tower unbound, and let loose to shake the + earth to its foundations?’</p> + + <p>The venerable archbishop Urbino likewise implored him not to disturb + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page272" name="page272"></a>272</span>a mystery which had been held sacred from generation to generation, + within the memory of man; and which even Cæsar himself, + when sovereign of Spain, had not ventured to invade. The youthful + cavaliers, however, were eager to pursue the adventure, and encouraged + him in his rash curiosity.</p> + + <p>‘Come what come may,’ exclaimed Don Roderick, ‘I am resolved to + penetrate the mystery of this tower.’ So saying, he again commanded + the guardians to unlock the portal. The ancient men obeyed with fear + and trembling, but their hands shook with age, and when they applied + the keys, the locks were so rusted by time, or of such strange workmanship, + that they resisted their feeble efforts; whereupon the young + cavaliers pressed forward and lent their aid. Still the locks were so + numerous and difficult, that with all their eagerness and strength a great + part of the day was exhausted before the whole of them could be mastered.</p> + + <p>When the last bolt had yielded to the key, the guardians and the + reverend archbishop again entreated the king to pause and reflect. + ‘Whatever is within this tower,’ said they, ‘is as yet harmless, and + lies bound under a mighty spell: venture not then to open a door which + may let forth a flood of evil upon the land.’ But the anger of the king + was roused, and he ordered that the portal should be instantly thrown + open. In vain, however, did one after another exert his strength; and + equally in vain did the cavaliers unite their forces, and apply their + shoulders to the gate: though there was neither bar nor bolt remaining, + it was perfectly immoveable.</p> + + <p>The patience of the king was now exhausted, and he advanced to + apply his hand; scarcely, however, did he touch the iron gate, when it + swung slowly open, uttering, as it were, a dismal groan, as it turned + reluctantly upon its hinges. A cold, damp wind issued forth, accompanied + by a tempestuous sound. The hearts of the ancient guardians + quaked within them, and their knees smote together; but several of + the youthful cavaliers rushed in, eager to gratify their curiosity, or to + signalise themselves in this redoubtable enterprise. They had scarcely + advanced a few paces, however, when they recoiled, overcome by the + baleful air, or by some fearful vision. Upon this, the king ordered that + fires should be kindled to dispel the darkness, and to correct the noxious + and long imprisoned air: he then led the way into the interior; but, + though stout of heart, he advanced with awe and hesitation.</p> + + <p>After proceeding a short distance, he entered a hall, or antechamber, + on the opposite side of which was a door; and before it, on a + pedestal, stood a gigantic figure, of the color of bronze, and of a terrible + aspect. It held a huge mace, which it whirled incessantly, giving such + cruel and resounding blows upon the earth as to prevent all further + entrance.</p> + + <p>The king paused at sight of this appalling figure; for whether it + were a living being, or a statue of magic artifice, he could not tell. On + its breast was a scroll, whereon was inscribed in large letters, ‘I do + my duty.’ After a little while Roderick plucked up heart, and addressed + it with great solemnity: ‘Whatever thou be,’ said he, ‘know + that I come not to violate this sanctuary, but to inquire into the mystery + it contains; I conjure thee, therefore, to let me pass in safety.’</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page273" name="page273"></a>273</span>Upon this the figure paused with uplifted mace, and the king and his + train passed unmolested through the door.</p> + + <p>They now entered a vast chamber, of a rare and sumptuous architecture, + difficult to be described. The walls were incrusted with the + most precious gems, so joined together as to form one smooth and perfect + surface. The lofty dome appeared to be self-supported, and was studded + with gems, lustrous as the stars of the firmament. There was + neither wood, nor any other common or base material to be seen + throughout the edifice. There were no windows or rather openings to + admit the day, yet a radiant light was spread throughout the place, + which seemed to shine from the walls, and to render every object distinctly + visible.</p> + + <p>In the centre of this hall stood a table of alabaster, of the rarest + workmanship, on which was inscribed in Greek characters, that Hercules + Alcides, the Theban Greek, had founded this tower in the year + of the world three thousand and six. Upon the table stood a golden + casket, richly set round with precious stones, and closed with a lock of + mother-of-pearl; and on the lid were inscribed the following words:</p> + + <p>‘In this coffer is contained the mystery of the tower. The hand of + none but a king can open it; but let him beware! for marvellous events + will be revealed to him, which are to take place before his death.’</p> + + <p>King Roderick boldly seized upon the casket. The venerable archbishop + laid his hand upon his arm, and made a last remonstrance. + ‘Forbear, my son!’ said he; ‘desist while there is yet time. Look not + into the mysterious decrees of Providence. God has hidden them in + mercy from our sight, and it is impious to rend the veil by which they + are concealed.’</p> + + <p>‘What have I to dread from a knowledge of the future?’ replied + Roderick, with an air of haughty presumption. ‘If good be destined + me, I shall enjoy it by anticipation: if evil, I shall arm myself to meet + it.’ So saying, he rashly broke the lock.</p> + + <p>Within the coffer he found nothing but a linen cloth, folded between + two tablets of copper. On unfolding it, he beheld painted on it figures + of men on horseback, of fierce demeanor, clad in turbans and robes of + various colors, after the fashion of the Arabs, with scimetars hanging + from their necks, and cross-bows at their saddle backs, and they carried + banners and pennons with divers devices. Above them was inscribed + in Greek characters, ‘Rash monarch! behold the men who are to hurl + thee from thy throne, and subdue thy kingdom!’</p> + + <p>At sight of these things the king was troubled in spirit, and dismay + fell upon his attendants. While they were yet regarding the paintings, + it seemed as if the figures began to move, and a faint sound of warlike + tumult arose from the cloth, with the clash of cymbal and bray of + trumpet, the neigh of steed and shout of army; but all was heard + indistinctly, as if afar off, or in a reverie or dream. The more they + gazed, the plainer became the motion, and the louder the noise; and + the linen cloth rolled forth, and amplified and spread out, as it were, a + mighty banner, and filled the hall, and mingled with the air, until its + texture was no longer visible, or appeared as a transparent cloud: and + the shadowy figures become all in motion, and the din and uproar + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page274" name="page274"></a>274</span>became fiercer and fiercer; and whether the whole were an animated + picture, or a vision, or an array of embodied spirits, conjured up by + supernatural power, no one present could tell. They beheld before + them a great field of battle, where Christians and Moslems were + engaged in deadly conflict. They heard the rush and tramp of steeds, + the blast of trump and clarion, the clash of cymbal, and the stormy din + of a thousand drums. There was the clash of swords, and maces, and + battle-axes, with the whistling of arrows, and the hurling of darts and + lances. The Christians quailed before the foe; the infidels pressed + upon them and put them to utter rout; the standard of the cross was + cast down, the banner of Spain was trodden under foot, the air resounded + with shouts of triumph, with yells of fury, and with the groans of dying + men. Amidst the flying squadrons, King Roderick beheld a crowned + warrior, whose back was turned toward him, but whose armor and + device were his own, and who was mounted on a white steed that + resembled his own war horse Orelia. In the confusion of the flight, + the warrior was dismounted, and was no longer to be seen, and Orelia + galloped wildly through the field of battle without a rider.</p> + + <p>Roderick stayed to see no more, but rushed from the fatal hall, followed + by his terrified attendants. They fled through the outer chamber, + where the gigantic figure with the whirling mace had disappeared + from his pedestal; and on issuing into the open air, they found the + two ancient guardians of the tower lying dead at the portal, as though + they had been crushed by some mighty blow. All nature, which had + been clear and serene, was now in wild uproar. The heavens were + darkened by heavy clouds; loud bursts of thunder rent the air, and the + earth was deluged with rain and rattling hail.</p> + + <p>The king ordered that the iron portal should be closed; but the door + was immoveable, and the cavaliers were dismayed by the tremendous + turmoil, and the mingled shouts and groans that continued to prevail + within. The king and his train hastened back to Toledo, pursued and + pelted by the tempest. The mountains shook and echoed with the + thunder, trees were uprooted and blown down, and the Tagus raged + and roared and flowed above its banks. It seemed to the affrighted + courtiers as if the phantom legions of the tower had issued forth and + mingled with the storm; for amidst the claps of thunder and the + howling of the wind, they fancied they heard the sound of the drums + and trumpets, the shouts of armies and the rush of steeds. Thus beaten + by tempest, and overwhelmed with horror, the king and his courtiers + arrived at Toledo, clattering across the bridge of the Tagus, and entering + the gate in headlong confusion, as though they had been pursued by an + enemy.</p> + + <p>In the morning the heavens were again serene, and all nature was + restored to tranquillity. The king, therefore, issued forth with his + cavaliers and took the road to the tower, followed by a great multitude, + for he was anxious once more to close the iron door, and shut up those + evils that threatened to overwhelm the land. But lo! on coming in + sight of the tower, a new wonder met their eyes. An eagle appeared + high in the air, seeming to descend from heaven. He bore in his + beak a burning brand, and lighting on the summit of the tower, fanned + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page275" name="page275"></a>275</span>the fire with his wings. In a little while the edifice burst forth into a + blaze as though it had been built of rosin, and the flames mounted into + the air with a brilliancy more dazzling than the sun; nor did they + cease until every stone was consumed and the whole was reduced to a + heap of ashes. Then there came a vast flight of birds, small of size + and sable of hue, darkening the sky like a cloud; and they descended + and wheeled in circles round the ashes, causing so great a wind with + their wings that the whole was borne up into the air and scattered + throughout all Spain, and wherever a particle of those ashes fell it was + as a stain of blood. It is furthermore recorded by ancient men and + writers of former days, that all those on whom this dust fell were afterwards + slain in battle, when the country was conquered by the Arabs, + and that the destruction of this necromantic tower was a sign and token + of the approaching perdition of Spain.</p> + + <p>‘Let all those,’ concludes the cautious friar, ‘who question the verity + of this most marvellous occurrence, consult those admirable sources of + our history, the chronicle of the Moor Rasis, and the work entitled + ‘The Fall of Spain,’ written by the Moor, Abulcasim Tarif Abentarique. + Let them consult, moreover, the venerable historian Bleda, and the + cloud of other Catholic Spanish writers, who have treated of this event, + and they will find I have related nothing that has not been printed and + published under the inspection and sanction of our holy mother church. + God alone knoweth the truth of these things; I speak nothing but what + has been handed down to me from times of old.’</p> + + </div><!-- THE LEGEND OF DON RODERICK. --> + <div class="article"> + <h2 class="title">ANACREONTIC.</h2> + <div class="epigram"> + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="greek_text" title="To de cheilos, ouk et oida">Τὸ δὲ χεὶλος, ούκ á¼’Ï„ οίδα</span></p> + <p><span class="greek_text" title="Tini moi tropô poiêseis.">Τινι μοι Ï„Ïοπω ποιήσεις.</span></p> + </div> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="first_word">Maiden</span>! first did Nature seek</p> + <p>Lilies for thy spotless cheek;</p> + <p>When with roses came she next</p> + <p>Half delighted, yet more vex’d,</p> + <p>For the lilies there, to see</p> + <p>Blushing at their purity!</p> + <p>Since her labor now was lost,</p> + <p>Roses to the wind she tost.</p> + <p>One, a bud of smiling June,</p> + <p>Falling on thy lips, as soon</p> + <p>Left its color, and in death</p> + <p>Willed its fragrance to thy breath!</p> + <p>Then two drops of crystalled dew</p> + <p>From the hyacinth’s deep hue,</p> + <p>Brought she for thine eyes of blue;</p> + <p>And lest they should miss the sun,</p> + <p>Bade thy soul to shine thereon.</p> + <p>Lilies, Nature gave thy face—</p> + <p>Say, thy <em>heart</em> do lilies grace?</p> + </div> + </div> + <p class="sign"><span class="location">St. Paul’s College.</span> <span class="author">G. H. H.</span></p> + + </div><!-- ANACREONTIC. --> + <div class="department" id="literary_notices"> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page276" name="page276"></a>276</span></p> + <h2 class="title">LITERARY NOTICES.</h2> + + <p class="work_reviewed"><span class="special_name">A Christmas Carol, in Prose</span>: Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas. By <span class="special_name">Charles Dickens</span>. + New-York: <span class="special_name">Harper and Brothers</span>.</p> + + <p><span class="first_word">If</span> in every alternate work that Mr. <span class="special_name">Dickens</span> were to send to the London press he + should find occasion to indulge in ridicule against alleged American peculiarities, or broad + caricatures of our actual vanities, or other follies, we could with the utmost cheerfulness + pass them by unnoted and uncondemned, if he would only now and then present us with + an intellectual creation so touching and beautiful as the one before us. Indeed, we can + with truth say, that in our deliberate judgment, the ‘Christmas Carol’ is the most striking, + the most picturesque, the most truthful, of all the limnings which have proceeded from its + author’s pen. There is much mirth in the book, says a competent English critic, but more + wisdom; wisdom of that kind which men possess who have gazed thoughtfully but kindly + on human life, and have pierced deeper than their fellows into all the sunny nooks and + dark recesses of the human breast. The barbarous notion has long been exploded, that + comic writers were only to be esteemed for their jests, and useful for provoking laughter. + <span class="special_name">Cervantes</span>, first among the moderns, sent it out of fashion, and blessed that union of wit, + sense, and pathos, which so many renowned writers have since confirmed; until it has + come to be acknowledged, that rich genuine humor is rarely an inmate of the mind, if + there be not a corresponding depth of earnestness and feeling in the heart. Many of + <span class="special_name">Dickens’</span> writings, it is justly claimed, exhibit this fine, healthy, benevolent spirit. ‘His + sympathy for human suffering is strong and pure, and he reserves it not for imaginary and + fictitious distress, but for the real grinding sorrows of life.’ And this sympathy is more + finely displayed in the work under notice, than in any of his previous productions. The + design is very fanciful, and there is crowded into it, brief as it is, a world of character and + observation. It is truly a reflection of life in miniature. Before proceeding to a few illustrative + extracts, we shall avail ourselves in part of a clear synopsis of the inception and + progress of the story, from the pen of a London contemporary.</p> + + <p><span class="special_name">Scrooge</span> is a very rich citizen; a ‘squeezing, grinding, grasping, scraping, clutching, + covetous old sinner.’ He has lost all recollection of what he once was, and what he once + felt; is dead to all kindly impulses, and proof against the most moving tale. He is almost + as keen and gruff as old <span class="special_name">Ralph Nickelby</span>, to whom he bears a strong family resemblance, + and uses his poor clerk, <span class="special_name">Bob Cratchit</span>, just as badly, and has as little feeling for his + merry-hearted nephew, who has married for love. The ‘carol’ begins on Christmas-eve. + <span class="special_name">Scrooge</span> calls his nephew a lunatic for wishing him ‘A merry Christmas!’ and sends him + home, sad as harsh words can make him. He keeps his poor shivering clerk in a small + tank-like ground-room till the last minute of his stipulated time, and then dismisses him + with an angry growl. He goes to his usual melancholy tavern to eat his melancholy dinner, + amuses himself in the evening with his banker’s book, and then retires to his dreary + chambers. He had once a partner, a counterpart of himself, who has been dead for many + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page277" name="page277"></a>277</span>a year; and while sitting in his lonely room, over a low fire, the ghost of the deceased + partner enters, although the door is double-locked. He wears a heavy chain, forged of keys + and safes; and, like Hamlet’s ghost, tells of the heavy penance he is doomed to suffer in + spirit for sins committed in the flesh. He has come to warn his partner, and to give him a + chance of amendment. He tells him he will be visited by three Spirits, on the three following + nights, and bids him mark well what they shall disclose. <span class="special_name">Scrooge</span> instantly falls + asleep, and does not wake till the appointed hour. The three spirits are of Christmas Past, + Christmas Present, and Christmas to Come. The ghost of Christmas Past stands by + <span class="special_name">Scrooge’s</span> bedside, of an uncertain form, though the belt round its body is wondrous light, + and a flame shoots up from its head. Yet the figure fluctuates in distinctness, now one + part being visible and now another. The spirit seizes the hand of <span class="special_name">Scrooge</span>, and they + float through the air together. The old man is taken to the haunts of his childhood, and + he is conscious of ‘a thousand odors floating in the air, each one connected with a thousand + thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long, long forgotten.’ Each circumstance of the + time past is restored. The village school; a boy left deserted in the school-room, whom + <span class="special_name">Scrooge</span> recognises as his former self reading ‘Robinson Crusoe;’ till at last a lovely girl, + who throws her arms round the boy’s neck, and bids him come home to a ‘merry, merry + Christmas.’ Then the scene changes, and <span class="special_name">Scrooge</span> is once more in the house of the kind-hearted + master of his youth, who loved to keep Christmas as it was kept in the olden time, + and he recognises himself the most joyous of the joyous group. Then comes the scene of + his manhood, when he deserted his betrothed for a wealthier bride; and last, he views the + girl he had deserted, the mother of a happy blooming family. This picture is delightfully + sketched; it is enough to make a bachelor in love with wedlock. The scene is too affecting + for the changed and worldly miser; he implores to be removed from the familiar place; + he wrestles with the spirit, and awakened by the struggle, finds himself once more in his + own room, and in darkness.</p> + + <p>Again he has a long sleep. Christmas Present comes in the shape of a giant, with a + holly-green robe. <span class="special_name">Scrooge</span> perceives him seated in his room, with his noble head crowned + with holly wreath studded with icicles, reaching to the ceiling. His throne is a wine-cask + and his foot-stool a twelfth-cake. In his hand he bears a blazing torch, from which he + sprinkles down gladness upon every threshhold he enters. An immense fire glows and + crackles in the grate, the walls and ceiling are hung with living green, and all around are + heaped up the choice provisions collected to make Christmas glad. The giant leads <span class="special_name">Scrooge</span> + forth. They pass through streets and lanes, with every house bearing token of rejoicing + by its roaring fire or its sprig of holly, till they come to the dwelling of poor <span class="special_name">Bob Cratchit</span>, + old <span class="special_name">Scrooge’s</span> clerk. And here ensues a picture worthy of <span class="special_name">Wilkie</span> in his best days:</p> + + <div class="quotation"> + <p>‘Perhaps it was the pleasure the good Spirit had in showing off his power, or else it was his own + kind, generous, hearty nature, and his sympathy with all poor men, that led him straight to Scrooge’s + clerk’s; for there he went, and took Scrooge with him, holding to his robe; and on the threshhold of + the door the Spirit smiled, and stopped to bless Bob Cratchit’s dwelling with the sprinkling of his + torch. Think of that! Bob had but fifteen ‘Bob’ a week himself; he pocketed on Saturdays but + fifteen copies of his Christian name; and yet the Ghost of Christmas Present blessed his four-roomed + house!</p> + + <p>‘Then up rose Mrs. Cratchit, Cratchit’s wife, dressed out but poorly in a twice-turned gown, but + brave in ribands, which are cheap and make a goodly show for sixpence; and she laid the cloth, assisted + by Belinda Cratchit, second of her daughters, also brave in ribands; while Master Peter + Cratchit plunged a fork into the saucepan of potatoes, and getting the corners of his monstrous shirt-collar + (Bob’s private property, conferred upon his son and heir in honor of the day) into his mouth, + rejoiced to find himself so gallantly attired, and yearned to show his linen in the fashionable Parks. + And now two smaller Cratchits, boy and girl, came tearing in, screaming that outside the baker’s they + had smelt the goose, and known it for their own; and basking in luxurious thoughts of sage-and-onions, + these young Cratchits danced about the table, and exalted Master Peter Cratchit to the skies, + while he (not proud, although his collars nearly choked him) blew the fire, until the slow potatoes, + bubbling up, knocked proudly at the sauce-pan lid to be let out and peeled.</p> + + <p>‘‘What has ever got your precious father, then?’ said Mrs. Cratchit. ‘And your brother, Tiny + Tim; and Martha warn’t as late last Christmas Day by half-an-hour!’</p> + + <p>‘‘Here’s Martha, mother!’ said a girl, appearing as she spoke.</p> + + <p>‘‘Here’s Martha, mother!’ cried the two young Cratchits. ‘Hurrah! There’s <i>such</i> a goose, + Martha!’</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page278" name="page278"></a>278</span>‘‘Why, bless your heart alive, my dear, how late you are!’ said Mrs. Cratchit, kissing her a dozen + times, and taking off her shawl and bonnet for her, with officious zeal.</p> + + <p>‘‘We’d a deal of work to finish up last night,’ replied the girl, ‘and had to clear away this morning, + mother!’</p> + + <p>‘‘Well! Never mind so long as you are come,’ said Mrs. Cratchit. ‘Sit ye down before the fire, + my dear, and have a warm, Lord bless ye!’</p> + + <p>‘‘No, no! There’s father coming,’ cried the two young Cratchits, who were every where at once. + ‘Hide, Martha, hide!’</p> + + <p>‘So Martha hid herself, and in came little Bob, the father, with at least three feet of comforter, exclusive + of the fringe, hanging down before him; and his thread-bare clothes darned up and brushed, to + look seasonable; and Tiny Tim upon his shoulder. Alas for Tiny Tim, he bore a little crutch, and + had his limbs supported by an iron frame!</p> + + <p>‘‘Why, where’s our Martha?’ cried Bob Cratchit looking round.</p> + + <p>‘‘Not coming,’ said Mrs. Cratchit.</p> + + <p>‘‘Not coming!’ said Bob, with a sudden declension in his high spirits; for he had been Tim’s blood + horse all the way from church, and had come home rampant. ‘Not coming upon Christmas Day!’</p> + + <p>‘Martha didn’t like to see him disappointed, if it were only in joke; so she came out prematurely + from behind the closet door, and ran into his arms, while the two young Cratchits hustled Tiny Tim, + and bore him off into the wash-house, that he might hear the pudding singing in the copper.</p> + + <p>‘‘And how did little Tim behave?’ asked Mrs. Cratchit, when she had rallied Bob on his credulity, + and Bob had hugged his daughter to his heart’s content.</p> + + <p>‘‘As good as gold,’ said Bob, ‘and better. Somehow he gets thoughtful sitting by himself so + much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the + people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant to them to remember + upon Christmas Day who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see.’</p> + + <p>‘Bob’s voice was tremulous when he told them this, and trembled more when he said that Tiny Tim + was growing strong and hearty.</p> + + <p>‘His active little crutch was heard upon the floor, and back came Tiny Tim before another word + was spoken, escorted by his brother and sister to his stool beside the fire; and while Bob, turning up + his cuffs, as if, poor fellow, they were capable of being made less shabby, compounded some hot + mixture in a jug with gin and lemons, and stirred it round and round, and put it on the hob to simmer; + Master Peter and the two ubiquitous young Cratchits went to fetch the goose, with which they + soon returned in high procession.</p> + + <p>‘Such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the rarest of all birds; a feathered + phenomenon, to which a black swan was a matter of course: and, in truth, it was something very like + it in that house. Mrs. Cratchit made the gravy (ready before-hand in a little saucepan) hissing + hot; Master Peter mashed the potatoes with incredible vigour; Miss Belinda sweetened up the apple-sauce; + Martha dusted the hot plates; Bob took Tiny Tim beside him in a tiny corner at the table; + the two young Cratchits set chairs for every body, not forgetting themselves, and, mounting guard + upon their posts, crammed spoons into their mouths, lest they should shriek for goose before their + turn came to be helped. At last the dishes were set on, and grace was said. It was succeeded by a + breathless pause, as Mrs. Cratchit, looking slowly all along the carving-knife, prepared to plunge it + in the breast; but when she did, and when the long expected gush of stuffing issued forth, one murmur + of delight arose all round the board, and even Tiny Tim, excited by the two young Cratchits, + beat on the table with the handle of his knife, and feebly cried Hurrah!</p> + + <p>‘There never was such a goose. Bob said he didn’t believe there ever was such a goose cooked. + Its tenderness and flavor, size and cheapness, were the themes of universal admiration. Eked out + by the apple-sauce and mashed potatoes, it was a sufficient dinner for the whole family; indeed, as + Mrs. Cratchit said with great delight (surveying one small atom of a bone upon the dish,) they hadn’t + ate it all at last! Yet every one had had enough, and the youngest Cratchits in particular, were steeped + in sage and onion to the eyebrows! But now, the plates being changed by Miss Belinda, Mrs. + Cratchit left the room alone—too nervous to bear witnesses—to take the pudding up, and bring + it in.</p> + + <p>‘Suppose it should not be done enough! Suppose it should break in turning out! Suppose somebody + should have got over the wall of the back-yard, and stolen it, while they were merry with the + goose: a supposition at which the two young Cratchits became livid! All sorts of horrors were + supposed.</p> + + <p>‘Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper. A smell like a washing-day! + That was the cloth. A smell like an eating house, and a pastry cook’s next door to each other, with a + laundress’s next door to that? That was the pudding. In half a minute Mrs. Cratchit entered: + flushed, but smiling proudly: with the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, blazing + in half-a-quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top.</p> + + <p>‘‘Oh, a wonderful pudding!’ Bob Cratchit said, and calmly too, that he regarded it as the greatest + success achieved by Mrs. Cratchit since their marriage. Mrs. Cratchit said that now the weight was + off her mind, she would confide she had had her doubts about the quantity of flour. Everybody had + something to say about it, but nobody said or thought it was at all a small pudding for a large family. + It would have been flat heresy to do so. Any Cratchit would have blushed to hint at such a thing.</p> + + <p>‘At last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the hearth swept, and the fire made up. The + compound in the jug being tasted and considered perfect, apples and oranges were put upon the table, + and a shovel-full of chestnuts on the fire. Then all the Cratchit family drew round the hearth, + in what Bob Cratchit called a circle, meaning half a one; and at Bob Cratchit’s elbow stood the family + display of glass; two tumblers, and a custard-cup without a handle.</p> + + <p>‘These held the hot stuff from the jug, however, as well as golden goblets would have done: and + Bob served it out with beaming looks, while the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and crackled noisily. + Then Bob proposed:</p> + + <p>‘‘A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!’</p> + + <p>‘Which all the family re-echoed.</p> + + <p>‘‘God bless us every one!’ said Tiny Tim, last of all.</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page279" name="page279"></a>279</span>‘He sat very close to his father’s side, upon his little stool. Bob held his withered little hand in his, + as if he loved the child, and wished to keep him by his side, and dreaded that he might be taken from + him.’</p> + </div> + + <p>Could any thing be more life-like, more beautiful, more touching, than this description? + But let us skip the journeyings of Christmas Present for a moment, that we may accompany + Christmas to Come to the dwelling of poor <span class="special_name">Bob Cratchit</span>:</p> + + <div class="quotation"> + <p>‘The Ghost conducted him through several streets familiar to his feet; and as they went along, + Scrooge looked here and there to find himself, but nowhere was he to be seen. They entered poor + Bob Cratchit’s house; the dwelling he had visited before; and found the mother and the children + seated round the fire.</p> + + <p>‘Quiet. Very quiet. The noisy little Cratchits were as still as statues in one corner, and sat looking + up at Peter, who had a book before him. The mother and her daughters were engaged in sewing. + But surely they were very quiet!</p> + + <p>‘‘And He took a child, and set him in the midst of them.’</p> + + <p>‘Where had Scrooge heard those words? He had not dreamed them. The boy must have read + them out, as he and the Spirit crossed the threshhold. Why did he not go on?</p> + + <p>‘The mother laid her work upon the table, and put her hand up to her face.</p> + + <p>‘‘The color hurts my eyes,’ she said.</p> + + <p>‘The color? Ah, poor Tiny Tim!</p> + + <p>‘‘They’re better now again,’ said Cratchit’s wife. ‘It makes them weak by candle-light; and + I wouldn’t show weak eyes to your father when he comes home, for the world. It must be near his + time.’</p> + + <p>‘‘Past it, rather,’ Peter answered, shutting up his book. ‘But I think he’s walked a little slower + than he used, these few last evenings, mother.’</p> + + <p>‘They were very quiet again. At last she said, and in a steady, cheerful voice, that only faltered + once:</p> + + <p>‘‘I have known him walk with—I have known him walk with Tiny Tim upon his shoulder, very + fast, indeed.’</p> + + <p>‘‘And so have I,’ cried Peter. ‘Often.’</p> + + <p>‘‘And so have I!’ exclaimed another. So had all.</p> + + <p>‘‘But he was very light to carry,’ she resumed, intent upon her work, ‘and his father loved him + so, that it was no trouble—no trouble. And there is your father at the door!’</p> + + <p>‘She hurried out to meet him; and Bob in his comforter—he had need of it, poor fellow—came + in. His tea was ready for him on the hob, and they all tried who should help him to it most. Then + the two young Cratchits got upon his knees and laid, each child a little cheek, against his face, as if + they said, ‘Don’t mind it, father. Don’t be grieved!’</p> + + <p>‘Bob was very cheerful with them, and spoke pleasantly to all the family. He looked at the work + upon the table, and praised the industry and speed of Mrs. Cratchit and the girls. They would be + done long before Sunday, he said.</p> + + <p>‘‘Sunday! You went to-day then, Robert?’ said his wife.</p> + + <p>‘‘Yes, my dear,’ returned Bob. ‘I wish you could have gone. It would have done you good to + see how green a place it is. But you’ll see it often. I promised him that I would walk there on a + Sunday. My little, little child!’ cried Bob. ‘My little child!’</p> + + <p>‘He broke down all at once. He couldn’t help it. If he could have helped it, he and his child + would have been further apart, perhaps, than they were.</p> + + <p>‘He left the room, and went up stairs into the room above, which was lighted cheerfully, and hung + with Christmas. There was a chair set close beside the child, and there were signs of some one having + been there lately. Poor Bob sat down in it, and when he had thought a little and composed himself, + he kissed the little face. He was reconciled to what had happened, and went down again quite happy.’</p> + + </div> + + <p>‘Let not that man be trusted’ who can read this affecting picture of parental love for a + poor little cripple-boy, without feeling the tear-drops swelling to his eyes. But let us return + and take one more excursion with the former Spirit. Observe the faithfulness and the range + of the writer’s imagination:</p> + + <div class="quotation"> + <p>‘And now, without a word of warning from the Ghost, they stood upon a bleak and desert moor, + where monstrous masses of rude stone were cast about, as though it were the burial-place of giants; + and water spread itself wheresoever it listed—or would have done so, but for the frost that held it + prisoner; and nothing-grew but moss and furze, and coarse, rank grass. Down in the west the setting + sun had left a streak of fiery red, which glared upon the desolation for an instant, like a sullen eye, + and frowning lower, lower, lower yet, was lost in the thick gloom of darkest night.</p> + + <p>‘‘What place is this?’ asked Scrooge.</p> + + <p>‘‘A place where Miners live, who labor in the bowels of the earth,’ returned the Spirit. ‘But they + know me. See!’</p> + + <p>‘A light shone from the window of a hut, and swiftly they advanced toward it. Passing through + the wall of mud and stone, they found a cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire. An old, + old man and woman, with their children and their children’s children, and another generation beyond + that, all decked out gaily in their holiday attire. The old man, in a voice that seldom rose above the + howling of the wind upon the barren waste, was singing them a Christmas song; it had been a very + old song when he was a boy; and from time to time they all joined in the chorus. So surely as they + raised their voices, the old man got quite blithe and loud; and so surely as they stopped, his vigor + sank again.</p> + + <p>‘The Spirit did not tarry here, but bade Scrooge hold his robe, and passing on above the moor, sped + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page280" name="page280"></a>280</span>whither? Not to sea? To sea. To Scrooge’s horror, looking back, he saw the last of the land, a + frightful range of rocks, behind them; and his ears were deafened by the thundering of water, as it + rolled, and roared, and raged among the dreadful caverns it had worn, and fiercely tried to undermine + the earth.</p> + + <p>‘Built upon a dismal reef of sunken rocks, some league or so from the shore, on which the waters + chafed and dashed, the wild year through, there stood a solitary lighthouse. Great heaps of seaweed + clung to its base, and storm-birds—born of the wind one might suppose, as sea-weed of the + water—rose and fell about it, like the waves they skimmed.</p> + + <p>‘But even here, two men who watched the light had made a fire, that through the loophole in the + thick stone wall shed out a ray of brightness on the awful sea. Joining their horny hands over the + rough table at which they sat, they wished each other a Merry Christmas in their can of grog; and + one of them—the elder, too, with his face all damaged and scarred with hard weather, as the figurehead + of an old ship might be—struck up a sturdy song that was like a Gale in itself.</p> + + <p>‘Again the Ghost sped on, above the black and heaving sea—on, on—until, being far away, as he + told Scrooge, from any shore, they lighted on a ship. They stood beside the helmsman at the wheel, + the look-out in the bow, the officers who had the watch; dark, ghostly figures in their several stations: + but every man among them hummed a Christmas tune, or had a Christmas thought, or spoke + below his breath to his companion of some bygone Christmas Day, with homeward hopes belonging + to it. And every man on board, waking or sleeping, good or bad, had had a kinder word for another + on that day than on any day in the year; and had shared to some extent in its festivities: and had + remembered those he cared for at a distance, and had known that they delighted to remember him.’</p> + + </div> + + <p>The second of these spirits accompanies <span class="special_name">Scrooge</span> to a scene that is well worth seeing, + and the like of which many of our readers have doubtless often encountered—a regular + Christmas frolic; in the present instance at the residence of his nephew, who has a sister, + a lovely, plump damsel, with a lace tucker: she was pretty, exceedingly pretty. ‘With a + dimpled, surprised-looking, capital face; a ripe little mouth, that seemed made to be kissed, + as no doubt it was; all kinds of good little dots about her chin, that melted into one + another when she laughed; and the sunniest pair of eyes you ever saw in any little creature’s + head. Altogether she was what you would have called provoking, you know; but + satisfactory, too. Oh, perfectly satisfactory!’ Is not the following a most glowing sketch + of a well known pastime?</p> + + <div class="quotation"> + <p>‘But they didn’t devote the whole evening to music. After a while they played at forfeits; for it is + good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a + child himself. Stop! There was first a game at blindman’s buff. Of course there was. And I no + more believe Topper was really blind than I believe he had eyes in his boots. My opinion is, that it + was a done thing between him and Scrooge’s nephew; and that the Ghost of Christmas Present knew + it. The way he went after that plump sister in the lace tucker, was an outrage on the credulity of + human nature. Knocking down the fire-irons, tumbling over the chairs, bumping up against the piano, + smothering himself among the curtains, wherever she went, there went he. He always knew where + the plump sister was. He wouldn’t catch any body else. If you had fallen up against him, as some + of them did, and stood there; he would have made a feint endeavoring to seize you, which would + have been an affront to your understanding: and would instantly have sidled off in the direction of + the plump sister. She often cried out that it wasn’t fair; and it really was not. But when, at last, he + caught her; when, in spite of all her silken rustlings, and her rapid flutterings past him, he got her + into a corner whence there was no escape; then his conduct was the most execrable. For his pretending + not to know her; his pretending that it was necessary to touch her head-dress, and farther + to assure himself of her identity by pressing a certain ring upon her finger, and a certain chain about + her neck; was vile, monstrous! No doubt she told him her opinion of it, when, another blindman + being in office, they were so very confidential together, behind the curtains.’</p> + + </div> + + <p>The Ghost of Christmas to Come is the third spirit. It is a stately figure, surrounded in + black and impenetrable drapery. It leads <span class="special_name">Scrooge</span> into the heart of the city, and he hears + his acquaintance talking jestingly of one departed; into the Exchange, and he sees another + standing against his peculiar pillar; into a haunt of infamy, where wretches are dividing + the spoils and hoardings of the dead; into a wretched room, where a corpse lies shrouded, + whose face Scrooge dares not uncover; into dwellings made miserable by the grasping + avarice of those who had wealth they could not use; into his nephew’s house, shorn of its + comforts, where the inmates, care-worn and weary, are wringing their hands with distress; + into poor <span class="special_name">Bob Cratchit’s</span> abode, made cheerless by death; and lastly, into a sad churchyard, + where, on the stone of a neglected grave, is inscribed his own name! He implores + the spirit to say whether these shadows may not be changed by an altered life. Its trembling + hand seems to give consent. He pleads earnestly for a more decisive sign, and while + he does so, the phantom dwindles down into a bed-post, and <span class="special_name">Scrooge</span> sits upright in his + bed. Who cannot imagine the conclusion? It is broad day. He looks out of the window: + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page281" name="page281"></a>281</span>the bells are ringing; the people are going to church; all proclaim it as Christmas Day. + The future is yet before him, and he is resolved to make the most of it. The prize turkey + is got in haste from the neighboring poulterer’s, and sent by a cab to <span class="special_name">Bob Cratchit’s</span>; and + <span class="special_name">Scrooge</span> hastens off to his nephew’s to dinner, where he finds the vision of the spirit + realized. <span class="special_name">Scrooge</span> from that hour is another and a better man. We have in conclusion + but three words to say to every reader of the <span class="special_name">Knickerbocker</span> who may peruse our notice + of this production: <span class="special_name">Read the Work</span>.</p> + + <p class="work_reviewed"><span class="special_name">Wanderings of a Journeyman Tailor Through Europe and the East</span>. Between the years + 1824 and 1840. By <span class="special_name keep_together">P. D. Holthaus</span>, Journeyman Tailor, from Werdohl, in Westphalia. Translated + from the third German edition, by <span class="special_name">William Howitt</span>. <span class="special_name">J. Winchester</span>: ‘New World’ + Press.</p> + + <p><span class="first_word">An</span> air of great simplicity and truth pervades this wander-book of the German schneider. + Mr. <span class="special_name">Howitt</span> tells us, that when in the autumn of 1840 he returned to his native village, a + great reputation preceded him, and all came, eager to see the brave traveller, and to listen + to the relation of his adventures. He never sought purposely to turn conversation upon + the subject of his travels, nor to impress an idea of his own importance; but when he was + drawn into discourse, it was speedily found that he had noted and deeply impressed on his + mind every thing with a truly admirable interest, and an acute spirit of observation, for + one of his rank and education; that he had not merely passed through the countries, but + had gleaned valuable matter on his journey; various things which he had brought with + him testified this interest, such as different kinds of coin, engravings, plans of cities, etc. + We have found, on an examination necessarily cursory, the commendatory remarks of the + Berlin <i>Gesellschafter</i> upon this work to be well deserved: ‘We see in the individual expressions + almost every where the evidence of its being the production of immediate observation. + There prevails through the whole a noble simplicity and singleness of purpose, a + genuinely German sound mode of thinking; here and there is not wanting a humorous and + pithy remark. The author sees in every place nature and men without spectacles, and + thence it arises that we acquire from his book a more living and actual view of foreign + countries, especially of Egypt, Palestine, and Turkey, than was the case from the travelled + labors of many a learned and celebrated man. Frequently, nay almost always, it is a fact, + that the learned are destitute of the opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of the real life + of the people, while it is exactly here that the greatest peculiarity of the manners and customs + of foreigners is to be found. Our honest hand-worker lived among the people, and + therefore possessed the best means to describe them in graphic characters.’ There is something + very forcible and comprehensive in the subjoined passage from the author’s preface. + It is indeed a sort of compendium of the most interesting portion of the writer’s journeyings:</p> + + <div class="quotation"> + <p>‘From my youth up, it was my most living desire to see the world. When I heard or read of foreign + lands, I became sad at heart, and thought: ‘Wert thou but of years that thou couldst travel!’ Now + are all the wishes of my youth fulfilled. I have made the attempt by land and water, and that in + three quarters of the world. I have wandered several times through <span class="special_name">Germany</span>, <span class="first_word">Poland</span>, <span class="first_word">Hungary</span>, + and <span class="special_name">Wallachia</span>; I was a long time in <span class="special_name">Budapest</span> and <span class="special_name">Constantinople</span>; and undertook, with the + money which I had saved there, a pilgrimage through <span class="special_name">Egypt</span> to the <span class="special_name">Holy Land</span>. I kneeled at the + <span class="special_name">Birth-Place</span> and the <span class="special_name">Sepulchre</span> of the <span class="special_name">Saviour</span>; stood in adoration on the holy <span class="special_name">Mount Zion</span>, + on <span class="special_name">Tabor</span>, <span class="special_name">Golgotha</span>, and the <span class="special_name">Mount of Olives</span>; bathed in <span class="special_name">Jordan</span>; washed myself in the <span class="special_name">Lake + of Gennesareth</span>; looked in vain around me on the <span class="special_name">Dead Sea</span> for living objects; was in the workshop + of <span class="special_name">St. Joseph</span>; and in many other holy places of which the sacred Scriptures make mention. + Thence I returned to Constantinople, and betook myself through Athens, where I worked nearly a + year, and thence through Italy, France, and Belgium, homeward to my Fatherland.’</p> + + </div> + + <p>The first German edition of fifteen hundred copies of the work was at once exhausted; + a second speedily followed; a third was soon announced; and the fourth is doubtless ere + this before a wide class of German readers. We cheerfully commend the book to the public + acceptance.</p> + + <p class="work_reviewed"><span class="pagenum"><a id="page282" name="page282"></a>282</span><span class="special_name">Benthamiana: or Select Extracts from the Works of Jeremy Bentham.</span> With an Outline + Opinion on the Principal Subjects discussed in his Works. In one volume, pp. 446. Philadelphia: + <span class="special_name">Lea and Blanchard</span>. New-York: <span class="special_name">Wiley and Putnam</span>.</p> + + <p><span class="first_word">This</span> work contains a copious selection of those passages in the works of <span class="special_name">Jeremy Bentham</span> + which appear to be chiefly distinguished for merit of a simply rhetorical character; + which, appearing often in the midst of long and arduous processes of reasoning, or in the + course of elaborate descriptions of minute practical arrangements, demanding from an + active mind severe thought and unflagging attention, have scarcely had their due weight + with the general reader, nor secured their just meed of admiration. He was singularly + careless, writes his editor, in distributing his pleasing illustrations of playfulness, or pathos, + or epigrammatic expression. His ‘mission’ he considered to be that of an instructor and + improver; and the flowers which, equally with more substantial things, were the produce + of his vigorous intellect, he looked upon as scarcely worthy of passing attention, and deserving + of no more notice than to be permitted to grow wherever the more valued objects + of his labors left them a little room. The volume comprehends a vast variety of sound + opinion, and able though brief argument upon themes which relate to the social, moral + and religious well-being of mankind. Touching the style of the writer, as evinced in these + selections, we should say that it was formed mainly upon a due avoidance of prolixity, (an + observance not always characteristic of <span class="special_name">Bentham’s</span> writings,) concerning which he himself + very justly remarks: ‘Prolixity may be where redundancy is not. Prolixity may arise + not only from the multifarious insertion of unnecessary articles, but from the conservation + of too many necessary ones in a sentence; as a workman may be overladen not only with + rubbish, which is of no use for him to carry, but with materials the most useful and necessary, + when heaped up in loads too heavy for him at once.’ A useful hint this, to unpractised + writers.</p> + + <p class="work_reviewed"><span class="special_name">The Correspondence between Burns and Clarinda.</span> With a Memoir of Mrs. <span class="special_name">M’Lehose</span>, + (<span class="special_name">Clarinda</span>.) Arranged and edited by her Grandson, <span class="special_name keep_together">W. C. M’Lehose</span>. In one volume, pp. 293. + New-York: <span class="special_name">R. P. Bixby and Company</span>.</p> + + <p><span class="first_word">We</span> have no doubt that the contents of this well-executed little volume are altogether + authentic; full particulars relative to the custody and authenticity of the correspondence + and the state of preservation of the original manuscripts being given in the preface. But + we are very sorry to say so much against the book as this fact implies. It would be far better + for the reputation of the immortal Bard of Scotland, if some hereditary friend, chary of his + undying fame, were to come before the public with a pamphlet disproving entirely the + agency of <span class="special_name">Burns</span> in this correspondence. To those who are acquainted with previous records + in the private history of the world-renowned poet, it is painful to convict him, out + of his own mouth, of duplicity in matters of the heart; of insincerity in the profession of + simultaneous passion for various lovers; and of other acts which are alike indefensible and + disreputable. We must needs marvel too that the ‘<span class="special_name">Clarinda</span>’ of the correspondence + should have been doomed by a near descendant to the exposure inseparable from the revelations + of this volume. That the treatment which she received at the hands of one whose + duty it was to ‘love, cherish, and protect’ her, was equally undeserved and inexcusable, + we can well believe; but that the ‘platonic attachment,’ which sprung up in a night, like + the gourd of <span class="special_name">Jonah</span>, and gradually waxed to ‘passion at fever-heat,’ was justified by these + facts, or sanctioned by propriety, or that its history in detail is calculated to elevate the + character of woman, or exercise a healthful moral influence, we have just as little reason + to doubt. There is a sprinkling of verse in an appendix, which <span class="special_name">Burns</span> was good enough to + praise. It is of that kind ‘which neither gods nor men permit;’ and is conclusive, not of + <span class="special_name">Burns’s</span> judgment, but of his ‘tender’ sycophancy.</p> + + + </div><!-- LITERARY NOTICES. --> + <div class="department" id="editors_table"> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page283" name="page283"></a>283</span></p> + + + <h2 class="title">EDITOR’S TABLE.</h2> + + <div class="ed_table_item"> + <p><span class="ed_table_title">Some ‘Sentiments’ on Sonnets, with sundry Specimens.</span>—Thanks to our ever-welcome + correspondent, ‘<span class="special_name keep_together">T. W. P.</span>’ for his pleasant, pertinent and improving sentiments on + sonnets. Arriving at too late an hour for a place among our guests at the <i>table d’ hôte</i>, perhaps + he will not object to sit at our humble side-table, and converse familiarly with the reader; + since, as honest <span class="special_name">Sancho</span> remarked of the Duke, ‘Wherever <em>he</em> sits, there will be the <em>first + place</em>.’ Our friend has a fruitful theme. How many borrowed prose-passages have we seen, + with their original brightness dimmed or deflected in a sorry sonnet! Nine in ten of our modern + examples in this kind, when one comes to analyze them, will be found to consist of stolen + ideas, combined with what <span class="special_name">Southey</span> would call ‘bubble, and bladder, and tympany.’ + But perpend the subjoined: ‘Ever since the fatal days of <span class="special_name">Petrarch and Guido Cavalianti</span>, + mankind have suffered more or less from the chronic infliction of Sonnets. With + them indeed the complaint was constitutional, and came in the natural way; under so mild + and gentle a form withal, that little danger was to be apprehended for Italian temperaments, + except a degree of languor, general debility, and a disagreeable singing in the ears. It was + only when it worked its way into English blood, that the virus assumed its most baneful + character. <span class="special_name">Shakspeare</span>, among other illustrious victims, was afflicted by it in his youth, but + seems to have recovered during his residence in the metropolis. Possibly the favor of the + royal hand might have proved more beneficial than that of the Earl of Southampton. + Perhaps he was <em>touched</em> for it by <span class="special_name">Elizabeth</span>, as <span class="special_name">Johnson</span> was by Queen <span class="special_name">Anne</span> for the + scrofula. However that may be, we know very well that the disorder is now rooted among + us, and that every week produces decided cases of Sonnets, sometimes so severe as to be + intolerable. In this condition of the mental health of our country, since the evil cannot be + cured, it were a work at once philanthropical and patriotic, so to modify it and regulate its + attacks, that it may settle down into a moderate degree of annoyance, like the lighter afflictions + of mild measles and mumps. We can always calculate upon the duration of each + ‘fytte,’ as none ever exceeds the fourteenth spasm. When the just dozen-and-two convulsions + are past, the danger is over, and the offensive matter may be removed by a newspaper, + or discharged into some appropriate magazine. There is good reason for designating the + complaint as a <em>periodical</em> one.</p> + + <p>We intend, one of these days, provided our remarks attract sufficient attention, to publish + a volume upon this subject. We have the materiel by us and about us; and as soon as we + can make arrangements with Mr. <span class="special_name">Poh</span> for a puff in the ‘North-American Review,’ or the + ‘Southern Literary Messenger,’ we shall broach the affair to Mr. <span class="special_name">Fields</span>, the enterprising + publisher. We have moreover desired Mr. <span class="special_name">Whipple</span> to write to his friend Mr. <span class="special_name">Macaulay</span> + in England, who will doubtless be proud to foster American letters by a hoist in the ‘Edinburgh.’ + There is only one other thing absolutely requisite for the success of the book, and + that is the appearance of this article in the <span class="special_name">Knickerbocker</span>. Befriend me then with + your fine taste, renowned <span class="special_name">Herr Diedrich</span>! and give me room. I shall not dive deeply into + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page284" name="page284"></a>284</span>the matter now; but for the good of my young countrymen, the labor of whose brains is + incompatible with a fruitful development of whiskers, I wish to put forth a page of advice + that may save them a world of fatigue. It is common with those who are far gone in this + tuneful disorder to set up late o’ nights and tipple coffee. Under my new system, I will + engage that they may retire to bed on mulled-punch nightly, at eleven, and yet effect all + that they now perform with the greatest injury to their eyes and complexions. But <i>pocas + pallabras</i>—enough of this preface: will not the thing speak for itself? There needs no + farther introduction for these brief extracts from the aforesaid work:</p> + + <h3 class="title">THE EASIEST WAY OF DISCHARGING A SONNET.</h3> + + <p><span class="first_word">A Sonnet</span> (as before stated) consists of fourteen and no more spasms. They are calm, + deliberate twinges, however, and upon a homÅ“opathical principle, the great object should + be to get over each one in the calmest possible manner; <i>idem cum eodem</i>. The thing cannot + be treated too coolly, for its very essence is dull deliberation. The name sonnet is probably + derived, through the Italian <i>sonno</i>, from the Latin word for sleep, in allusion to its + lethargic quality. The best mode of encouraging the efflux of the peccant humor is for + the patient to have a cigar in his mouth. The narcotic fumes of tobacco are highly favorable + to its ejection. The first step then is the selection of rhymes. Fourteen of these + in their proper order should be written perpendicularly on the right hand of a smooth sheet + of white paper. When this is done, it is necessary to read them over, up and down, several + times, until some general idea of a subject or a title suggests itself. Great care must be + taken, in the selection of rhymes, to get as original ones as possible, and such as shall strike + the eye. Still greater should be the precaution not to choose such incongruous rhymes as + may not easily be welded together or amalgamated into one whole by the mercury of fancy. + For instance, it would be well to avoid coupling such words as moon and spoon, breeze + and cheese and sneeze; Jove and stove; hope and soap; all which it might be difficult to + bring together harmoniously. Here the artist, the man of true science, will discover himself. + <span class="special_name">Shelley</span> affords a good choice of rhymes; chasm and spasm; rift and drift; ravine + and savin, are useful conjunctions. If you have a ravine, it will be very easy to stick in + a savin, but you must avoid a <em>spavin</em>, or your verse may halt for it. This we call being artistical. + <i>Benissimo!</i> then. Having fixed upon your subject, all you have to do is to fill up + the lines to match the ends, and this, in one evening’s practice, will become as easy, the + same thing in fact, as the filling up of the blank form of an ordinary receipt.</p> + + <p>But the most expeditious and surest way of procuring a good Sonnet is the Division of + Labor System. This has often been unconsciously practised by modern poets, but it has never + been explicitly set forth till now. Every body knows that even in the fabrication of so + small a thing as a needle, the process is facilitated by dividing it among a number of hands; + as to one the eye, to another the point, to one the grinding, to another the polishing. In + the same way, to render a sonnet pointed and sharp, to polish it and insure it against cutting + the thread of its argument, the work should be performed by two or more. Every sonnet, + in short, ought to be a translation. I do not say a translation from the German or any + other jargon, but a translation from English—from one man’s into another man’s English. + It is absurd for one workman to do both rhyming and thinking. In this go-ahead age and + country, that were a palpable waste of time. Take any ‘matter-ful’ author, cut out a + juicy slice of his thought, and make that your material. Trim it, compress it, turn it and + twist it upside down and inside out, vary it any way but the author’s own, and you will be + likely to effect a speedy and wholesome operation. What a saving of time is here! Who + will be silly enough to manufacture his own thinkings into verse when the world is so full of + excellent stuff as yet unwrought in the great mine of letters? Let us not burn up our own + native forests while we can fetch coals from Newcastle. What a pleasant prospect for readers + too! A man may be sure <em>then</em>, that a sonnet shall contain a thought. He will not be + gulled into experiments upon decent-looking, respectable dross and plausible inanity. He + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page285" name="page285"></a>285</span>shall not dig hungrily for an idea, and be filled with volumes of wind. With the fourteenth + pang his anxiety shall be over, and he shall drop asleep satisfied; <i>tandem dormitum + dimittitur</i>.</p> + + <p>Not to anticipate farther our forthcoming book, nor to forestall the critics in any more + extracts, we shall lay before the reader two or three samples of work done according to + this system. <span class="special_name">Carlyle</span> has furnished our raw material. His pages are so full of poetry + that little time need be expended in selecting a fit piece for working up. See now if these + be not sonnets which <span class="special_name">Bowles</span> might have been proud to claim. Each one is warranted + to contain a thought; an hour or so would suffice for the completion of half a dozen such. + Observe too, that little deviation is necessary from the original, the words falling naturally + into both rhythm and rhyme. We commence with a few translations from Carlyle. The + initial specimen is taken from Herr <span class="special_name">Teufelsdröckh’s</span> remarks on <span class="special_name">Bonaparte</span>. This is + the passage:</p> + + <div class="quotation"> + <p>‘<span class="first_word">The</span> man (<span class="special_name">Napoleon</span>) was a Divine Missionary, though unconscious of it, and preached through + the cannon’s throat this great doctrine: <i>La carrière ouverte aux talens</i>; ‘The Tools to him that can + handle them.’ <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> Madly enough he preached, it is true, as Enthusiasts and first Missionaries are + wont, with imperfect utterance, amid much frothy rant, yet as articulately perhaps as the case admitted. + Or call him, if you will, an American Backwoodsman, who had to fell unpenetrated forests, and + battle with innumerable wolves, and did not entirely forbear strong liquor, rioting, and even theft; + whom notwithstanding the peaceful Sower will follow, and as he cuts the boundless harvest, bless.’</p> + + <p class="work_cited">Sartor Resartus: Book ii., Chap. viii.</p> + </div> + <h4 class="title">SONNET I.—NAPOLEON.</h4> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="first_word">Napoleon</span> was a Missionary merely,</p> + <p>Who through the cannon’s throat this truth expressed,</p> + <p>Unconsciously, divinely and sincerely,</p> + <p><i>The Tools to him that handles ’em the best.</i></p> + <p>Madly enough, indeed, the man did preach,</p> + <p>Amid much rant, as all Enthusiasts do,</p> + <p>And yet with as articulate a speech</p> + <p>As the strange case, perhaps, allowed him to.</p> + <p>Or call him a Backwoodsman, if you will;</p> + <p>Who, forced to fell unpenetrated woods,</p> + <p>And doomed innumerable wolves to kill,</p> + <p>Got drunk sometimes, and stole his neighbor’s goods;</p> + <p>Whom will the Sower follow ne’ertheless,</p> + <p>And as he cuts the boundless harvest, bless.</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Or let us try the following description of the Hotel de Ville in the French Revolution:</p> + + <div class="quotation"> + <p>‘<span class="first_word">O evening</span> sun of July! how at this hour thy beams fall slant on reapers amid peaceful woody + fields; on old women spinning in cottages; on ships far out on the silent main; on Balls at the Orangerie + of Versailles, where high-rouged dames of the palace are even now dancing with double-jacketted + Hussar officers; and also on this roaring Hell-porch of a Hotel de Ville. Babel-tower, with the + confusion of tongues, were not Bedlam added with the conflagration of thoughts, was no type of it. + One forest of distracted steel bristles endless in front of an Electoral Committee.’</p> + + <p class="work_cited">French Revolution: Book v., Chap. vii.</p> + </div> + + <h4 class="title">SONNET II.—THE HOTEL DE VILLE.</h4> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="first_word">O evening</span> sun of most serene July!</p> + <p>How at this hour thy slant refulgence pours</p> + <p>On reapers working in the open sky,</p> + <p>And women spinning at their cottage doors,</p> + <p>On ships far out upon the silent main,</p> + <p>On gay Versailles, where through the light quadrille</p> + <p>Hussars are leading forth a high-rouged train,</p> + <p>And on the hell-porch-like Hotel de Ville.</p> + <p>Not Babel’s tower with all its million tongues,</p> + <p>Save Bedlam too therewith had added been,</p> + <p>To mingle burning brains with roaring lungs,</p> + <p>Could feebly imitate that dreadful din;</p> + <p>One endless forest of distracted steel</p> + <p>Bristling around that mad Hotel de Ville!</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page286" name="page286"></a>286</span>Or to return to Professor <span class="special_name">Teufeldröckh’s</span> vast chaos of ideas. Let us try another passage + therefrom:</p> + + <div class="quotation"> + <p>‘<span class="first_word">It</span> struck me much as I sat beside the Kuhbach, one silent noontide, and watched it flowing, gurgling, + to think how this same streamlet had flowed and gurgled through all changes of weather and + of fortune, from beyond the earliest date of history. Yes, probably on the morning when <span class="special_name">Joshua</span> + forded Jordan; even as at the midday when <span class="special_name">Cæsar</span>, doubtless with difficulty, swam the Nile, yet kept + his Commentaries dry; this little Kuhbach, assiduous as Tiber, Eurotas or Siloa, was murmuring on + across the wilderness, unnamed, unseen.’</p> + + <p class="work_cited">Sartor Resartus: Book II., Chap. iii.</p> + + </div> + + <h4 class="title">SONNET III.—ETERNITY OF NATURE.</h4> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="first_word">One</span> silent noonday, as I sat beside</p> + <p>The gurgling flow of Kuhbach’s little river,</p> + <p>Methought how, even as I saw it glide,</p> + <p>That stream had flowed and gurgled on forever.</p> + <p>Yes, on the day when <span class="special_name">Joshua</span> passed the flood</p> + <p>Of ancient Jordan; when across the Nile</p> + <p><span class="special_name">Cæsar</span> swam (hardly, doubtless, through the mud,)</p> + <p>Yet kept his Commentaries dry the while,</p> + <p>This little Kuhbach, like Siloa’s rill,</p> + <p>Or Tiber’s Tide, assiduous and serene,</p> + <p>Ev’n then, the same as now, was murmuring still</p> + <p>Across the wilderness, unnamed, unseen.</p> + <p>Art’s but a mushroom—only Nature’s old;</p> + <p>In yon grey crag six thousand years behold!</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>From the same chapter of the same book we venture one more extract. It is where the + Professor is full of grief and reminiscences; where, reflecting on his first experience of + wo in the death of Father <span class="special_name">Andreas</span>, he becomes once more spirit-clad in quite inexpressible + melancholy, and says, ‘I have now pitched my tent under a cypress-tree,’ etc.:</p> + + <h4 class="title">SONNET IV.—BLISS IN GRIEF.</h4> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="first_word">Under</span> a cypress-tree I pitch my tent:</p> + <p>The tomb shall be my fortress; at its gate</p> + <p>I sit and watch each hostile armament,</p> + <p>And all the pains and penalties of Fate.</p> + <p>And oh ye loved ones! that already sleep,</p> + <p>Hushed in the noiseless bed of endless rest,</p> + <p>For whom, while living, I could only weep,</p> + <p>But never help in all your sore distress,</p> + <p>And ye who still your lonely burthen bear,</p> + <p>Spilling your blood beneath life’s bitter thrall,</p> + <p>A little while and we shall all meet <em>there</em>,</p> + <p>And one kind Mother’s bosom screen us all;</p> + <p>Oppression’s harness will no longer tire</p> + <p>Or gall us there, nor Sorrow’s whip of fire.</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>But we are borrowing too much from our embryo volume. Patience, dear Public! until + we can find a publisher. In the mean time, examine the specimens we have presented to + you. Can any one tell us where to look for sonnets, more satisfactory than these? We + congratulate our country on the prospect of our soon having an American literature. Let + our industrious young aspirants try a work in which they may succeed in producing something + of sterling value. A year or two will suffice to turn half the plodding prose writers of + Britain into original poets. Every brilliant article that appears in the Quarterly might + here renascent spring forth like Arethusa, in a new and more melodious voice; bubbling + up in a pretty epic or stormy lyric. See, for example, how easily <span class="first_word">Sidney Smith</span> might be + done into rhyme:</p> + + <h4 class="title">SONNET V.</h4> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="first_word">I never</span> meet at any public dinner</p> + <p>A Pennsylvanian, but my fingers itch</p> + <p>To pluck his borrowed plumage from the sinner,</p> + <p>And with the spoil the company enrich.</p> + <p>His pocket-handkerchief I would bestow</p> + <p>On the poor orphan; and his worsted socks</p> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page287" name="page287"></a>287</span>Should to the widow in requital go</p> + <p>For having sunk her all in Yankee stocks;</p> + <p>To John the footman I would give his hat,</p> + <p>Which only cost six shillings in Broadway:</p> + <p>As for his diamond ring—I’d speak for that;</p> + <p>His gold watch too my losses might repay:</p> + <p>Himself might home in the next steamer hie,</p> + <p>For who would take him—or his word? Not I.</p> + </div> + </div> + + </div> + + <div class="ed_table_item" id="legends"> + <p>‘<span class="ed_table_title">Legends of the Conquest of Spain</span>.’—Some eighteen years ago, a work in a single + volume, entitled as above, and written by the author of the ‘Sketch-Book,’ was issued from + the press of <span class="special_name">Murray</span>, the celebrated London book-seller. It would seem to have been put + forth as a kind of <i>avant-courier</i> of ‘The Chronicles of the Conquest of Granada;’ but unlike + that elaborate work, was never republished in this country, and has never been included + in any of the complete editions of Mr. <span class="special_name">Irving’s</span> writings. We are indebted to + the kind courtesy of a gentleman who has been spending some months with our distinguished + countryman and correspondent at Madrid, for a copy of the book, which he obtained + at that capital. We have good reason to believe that it has been encountered by few if + any readers on this side the Atlantic. A very stirring extract from its pages will be found + elsewhere in this Magazine. Mr. <span class="special_name">Irving</span> introduces the legends to his readers with a few + prefatory sentences, in which he states that he has ventured to dip more deeply into the + enchanted fountains of old Spanish chronicle than has usually been done by those who + have treated of the eventful period of which he writes; but in so doing, he only more fully + illustrates the character of the people and the times. He has thrown the records into the + form of legends, not claiming for them the authenticity of sober history, yet giving nothing + that had not a historical foundation. ‘All the facts herein contained,’ says the writer, + ‘however extravagant some of them may be deemed, will be found in the works of sage + and reverend chroniclers of yore, growing side by side with long acknowledged truths, and + might be supported by learned and imposing references in the margin.’ To discard every + thing wild and marvellous in this portion of Spanish history is to discard some of its most + beautiful, instructive, and national features; it is to judge of Spain by the standard of probability + suited to tamer and more prosaic countries. Spain is virtually a land of poetry and + romance, where every-day life partakes of adventure, and where the least agitation or excitement + carries every thing up into extravagant enterprise and daring exploit. The Spaniards + in all ages have been of swelling and braggart spirit, soaring in thought, and valiant + though vainglorious in deed. When the nation had recovered in some degree from the + storm of Moslem invasion, and sage men sought to inquire and write the particulars of the + tremendous reverses which it produced, it was too late to ascertain them in their exact + verity. The gloom and melancholy that had overshadowed the land had given birth to a + thousand superstitious fancies; the woes and terrors of the past were clothed with supernatural + miracles and portents, and the actors in the fearful drama had already assumed the + dubious characteristics of romance. Or if a writer from among the conquerors undertook + to touch upon the theme, it was embellished with all the wild extravagances of an oriental + imagination, which afterward stole into the graver works of the monkish historians. Hence + the chronicles are apt to be tinctured with those saintly miracles which savor of the pious + labors of the cloister, or those fanciful fictions that betray their Arabian Authors. Scarce + one of their historical facts but has been connected in the original with some romantic + fiction, and even in its divorced state, bears traces of its former alliance. The records in + preceding pages are ‘illuminated’ by these prefatory remarks of our author, if their <em>truth</em> + be not altogether established! How the Count <span class="special_name">Julian</span> receives the account of the dishonor + of his child, and his conduct thereupon; and how <span class="special_name">Don Roderick</span> hastens, through various + tribulation, to his final overthrow; will be matter for another number. Meanwhile the + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page288" name="page288"></a>288</span>reader will not fail to note the great beauty of the descriptions, which in the hands of our + great master of the power and beauty of ‘the grand old English tongue,’ assume form and + color, and stand out like living pictures to the eye.</p> + + </div> + + <div class="ed_table_item"> + <p><span class="ed_table_title">American Ptyalism: ‘Quid Rides?’</span>—A pleasant correspondent, whom our readers + have long known, and as long admired and esteemed, in a familiar gossip, (by favor of + ‘Uncle <span class="special_name">Samuel’s</span> mail-bag,) with the Editor, gives us the following ‘running account’ of + his ruminations over an early-morning quid of that ‘flavorous weed’ so well beloved of our + friend Colonel <span class="special_name">Stone</span>. It is in some sort a defence of American ptyalism, and in the tendency + of its inculcations, reminds us of the arguments in favor of the cultivation of a refined + style of <em>murder</em>, which should constitute it one of the fine arts, to which we gave a place + many months back: ‘After having in my broken dreams perambulated every part and + parcel of the universe, and then tossed about for hours on an ocean of bodily discomforts, + each a dagger to repose, and mental disquietudes, of which any one was enough to wither + all the poppies of Somnus, I rose about four o’ my watch, and commenced chewing the + narcotic weed of Virginia. For you must know that in childhood almost, through a precocious + mannishness and a desire of experimental knowledge, I commenced the habit of + tobacco-chewing, and the vice born of a freak, has ‘grown with my growth,’ till now it + holds me as in a ‘vice’ screwed up and secured by a giant. (Please observe that there’s a + pun in that last sentence.) Where the conventionalities of society compel me to attidunize + my appearance and customs into the stiffness of gentility, I puff the Havana; but + when the privacy of my own room or the solitude of the roads and fields permit me to vulgarize + to my liking, I thrust a ball of ‘Mrs. <span class="special_name">Miller’s</span> fine-cut,’ or a fragment of the ‘natural + James’ River sweet,’ between the sub-maxillary bone and its carnal casement, and + then masticate and expectorate ‘à la Yankee.’ or ‘more Americano.’ Pah! oh! fie! for + shame! and all other interjections indicative of horror, or expressive of disgust. ‘<i>Quousque + tandem?</i>’ Beg your pardon, Mrs. <span class="special_name">Trollope</span>. ‘<i>Quamdiu etiam?</i>’ I implore your commiseration, + Captain <span class="special_name">Basil</span>. ‘<i>Oh, tempora! oh, mores!</i>’ Have mercy, illustrious and praise-bespattered, + and almost Sir-Waltered <span class="special_name">Boz</span>. Do not, under the uneasy weight of glory, and + in the intoxicating consciousness of a right to the oligarchic exclusiveness of the goose-quill + ‘haute volèe,’ strike right and left among your sturdy democratic adorers, because + they choose to convert their mandibles into quid-grinders, and their <span class="greek_text" title="chasmat' odontôn">χασματ᾿ ὀδόντων</span> into + ceaseless jet d’eaux of saliva. Reflect that the ‘quid’ assists in a philosophic investigation + of the ‘quiddities’ of things, and that from this habit alone perhaps we have made such + advances in casuistry as to have discovered equity in repudiation, freedom in mobocracy, + and the sword of justice in the bowie-knife. Chewing is eminently democratic, since all + chewers are ‘pro hâc <em>vice</em>’ on a perfect equality, and a ‘millionaire;’ or, for that matter, a + ‘billionaire,’ if we had him, would not hesitate to take out of his mouth a moiety of his + last ‘chew’ and give it to an itinerant Lazarus. What can be more admirable than this + ‘de bon air’ plebeianism, and universal right-hand of fellowship? Does not he who extends + among the people the use of this democratizing weed, emphatically give them a ‘<em>quid</em> pro + quo?’ Are not slovenliness and filth the virtues of republics, while neatness and elegance + are vices of court-growth, and expand into their most ramified and minute perfectness of + polish only in the palaces of kings? Furthermore, oh laurelled and triumphant <span class="special_name">Pickwick</span>! + if expectoration be filthy, it must be because the ‘thing expectorated’ is unclean; and if so, + is it not more decent to become rid of the ‘unclean thing’ by the readiest process, than to + retain it, making the stomach a receptacle of abominations? And are you, Sir Baronet of + the realm imaginary, subject to no gross corporeal needs and operations? And if, as + you will say, you perform those foul rites in a state of retiracy, are you not adding the + sin of hypocrisy to your preëxistent guilt? If it has succeeded to you, as to few penny-a-liners, + to have emerged by the sale of your Attic-salt from the attics of Grub-street + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page289" name="page289"></a>289</span>into the ‘swept and garnished chambers’ of the Regent, and if after quaffing + the ale of Bow-street, procured by caricatures of Old Baily reports, you have sipped your + hockheimer, while standing, scarce yet unbewildered, in the gas-light splendor reflected + from the ‘vis-á-vis’ mirrors of Almack’s, yet do not exalt yourself above all that + is fleshly. Reflect that you, so lately unrivalled, can now see a <span class="special_name">Eugene Sue</span> whose brow + is umbraged by laurels of a more luxuriant and lovely green. Cease your expectorations + of bile upon a great people; admit that mastication of the ‘odorous vegeble’ is a + Spartan virtue; and we will again vote you an Anak in the kingdom of pen and paper. + Then again shall we be led to believe that your praises and your vituperations are + equally unpurchasable. Then once more shall we think you would swallow no golden pill, + nor suffer your throat to be ulcerated by a silver quinsy.’</p> + + </div> + + <div class="ed_table_item" id="gossip"> + <div class="gossip__section"> + <p><span class="ed_table_title">Gossip With Readers and Correspondents.</span>—If any of our readers are desirous of + looking into the <em>rationale</em> of irrationality, to employ a highly ‘unitive’ phrase, let them take + up, if they can command it, the ‘<i>Annual Report of the Managers of the New York State + Lunatic Asylum</i>,’ one of the clearest and most comprehensive documents in its kind that + we have ever perused. It proceeds from the capable pen of <span class="special_name keep_together">A. Brigham, M. D.</span> the superintendent + and physician of the institution, and is full upon the definition, causes and classification + of insanity; the size and shape of the heads of the patients; the pulse; description + of the building; daily routine of business, diet, labor, amusements, religious worship, + visitors, suggestions to those who have friends whom they expect to commit to the care of + the asylum, etc., etc. The cause of insanity in <em>fifty</em> out of two hundred and seventy-six + patients is attributed to religious anxiety, produced by long attendance on protracted religious + meetings, etc. Want of sleep is decidedly the most frequent and immediate cause of + insanity, and one the most important to guard against. ‘So rarely (says the superintendent) + do you see a recent case of insanity that is not preceded by want of sleep, that we regard + it as almost the sure precursor of mental derangement.’ As evidences of the difficulty of + arranging the insane in classes, founded on symptoms, Dr. <span class="special_name">Brigham</span> gives us the following + synopsis of individual peculiarities noticed among certain of the inmates of the Asylum:</p> + + <div class="quotation"> + <p>‘<span class="first_word">In</span> addition to emperors, queens, prophets and priests, we have one that says he is nobody, a nonentity. + One that was never born, and one that was born of her grandmother, and another dropped + by the devil flying over the world. One has had the throat cut out and put in wrong, so that what is + swallowed passes into the head, and another has his head cut off and replaced every night. One thinks + himself a child, and talks and acts like a child. Many appear as if constantly intoxicated. One has + the gift of tongues, another deals in magic, several in animal magnetism. One thinks he is a white + polar bear. A number have hallucinations of sight, others of hearing. One repeats whatever is said + to him, another repeats constantly words of the same sound, as door, floor. One is pursued by the + sheriff, many by the devil. One has invented the perpetual motion and is soon to be rich; others + have already acquired vast fortunes: scraps of paper, buttons and chips are to them, large amounts + of money. Many pilfer continually and without any apparent motive, while others secrete every + thing they can find, their own articles as well as those of others. A majority are disposed to hoard up + trifling and useless articles, as scraps of tin, leather, strings, nails, buttons, etc., and are much grieved + to part with them. One will not eat unless alone, some never wish to eat, while others are always + starving. One with a few sticks and straws fills his room with officers and soldiers, ships and sailors, + carriages and horses, the management of which occupies all his time and thoughts. Some have good + memory as regards most things, and singularly defective as to others. One does not recollect the + names of his associates, which he hears every hour, yet his memory is good in other respects. One + says he is <span class="special_name">Thomas Paine</span>, author of the ‘Age of Reason,’ a work he has never read; another calls + himself General <span class="special_name">Washington</span>; and one old lady of diminutive size calls herself General <span class="special_name">Scott</span>, + and is never so good-natured as when thus addressed. One is always in court attending a trial, and + wondering and asking when the court is to rise. Another has to eat up the building, drink dry the + canal, and swallow the Little Falls village, and is continually telling of the difficulty of the task.’</p> + + </div> + + <p>The superintendent prefers a classification founded upon the faculties of the mind that + appear to be disordered; and he thinks he could place all his patients in one of the three + following classes: <em>Intellectual Insanity</em>, or disorder of the intellect without noticeable disturbance + of the feelings and propensities; <em>Moral Insanity</em> or derangement of the feelings, affections, + and passions, without any remarkable disorder of the intellect; and <em>General Insanity</em>, + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page290" name="page290"></a>290</span>in which both the intellectual faculties and the feelings and affections are disordered. + The State Asylum is a fine imposing edifice, delightfully situated near the pleasant village + of Utica, in Oneida county, and is becoming greatly distinguished for success in the treatment + and cure of insanity. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">We</span> heard a little anecdote at a <i>bal costumé</i> the other + evening, (whether from the dignified and stately <span class="special_name">Helen Macgregor</span> or the beautiful + <span class="special_name">Medora</span>, we ‘cannot well make out,’) which is worth repeating. A retired green-grocer, + rejoicing in the euphonious name of <span class="special_name">Tibbs</span>, living at Hackney, near London, sorely against + his will, and after warm remonstrance, finally yielded to his wife’s entreaty that he would + go in character to a masquerade-ball, given to the ‘middling interest’ by one of his old + neighbors. He went accoutred as a knight, wearing his visor down. What was his surprise + on entering the room, to find first one and then another member of the motley company + slapping him familiarly on the back, with: ‘Halloa! <span class="special_name">Tibbs</span>! who thought to see <em>you</em> + here! What’s the news at Hackney?’ In dismay that his ridiculous secret was out, he + hurried from the scene, and hastened home in a state of great excitement from the mortification + to which he had been subjected. ‘I <em>told</em> you I should be known,’ said he to his + wife; ‘I <em>knew</em> I should!’ ‘No wonder!’ she replied; ‘you’ve got your name and residence + on your steel cap: ‘Mr. <span class="special_name">Tibbs</span>, Hackney!’’ He had forgotten to remove the address + which the London costumer had affixed to it as a direction! <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">How</span> many thousand + times, in thinking of the onward career of our glorious and thrice-blessed country, have + we felt the emotions to which our esteemed friend and contributor, <span class="special_name">Polygon</span>, gives forceful + expression in the closing lines of a beautiful poem of his, which we have encountered + to-day for the first time:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘<span class="first_word">Oh!</span> long through coming ages, born</p> + <p class="i2">When <em>we</em> shall slumber cold and still,</p> + <p>The sultry summer will adorn</p> + <p class="i2">The verdant vale and hazy hill;</p> + <p>And Autumn walking even and morn</p> + <p class="i2">Through bearded wheat and rustling corn,</p> + <p>See Plenty from her streaming horn</p> + <p class="i2">His largest wishes fill.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘Europe’s rich realms will then admire</p> + <p class="i2">And emulate our matchless fame,</p> + <p>And Asia burn with fierce desire</p> + <p class="i2">To burst her galling bonds of shame!</p> + <p>Greece will resume th’ Aonian lyre,</p> + <p class="i2">And Rome again to heaven aspire,</p> + <p>And vestal Freedom’s quenchless fire</p> + <p class="i2">From the pyramids shall flame!’</p> + </div> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="gossip_section"> + <p><span class="first_word">There</span> is a sort of pathetic humor in the following parody by <span class="special_name">Punch</span> upon the prize + exhibitions of cattle in England. A more forcible exposition of the different condition of + the human and brute animal in that country could not well be conceived. It must be premised + that a large hall is fitted up with pens on either side, and over the head of the occupant + paste-board tickets are appended by the Poor Law Commissioners, detailing their + names, weights, ages, the regimen to which they have been subjected, and other particulars; + as thus: ‘<span class="special_name">Peter Small</span>. Aged forty. Weight at period of admission twelve stone. + Confined three months. Present weight nine stone. Fed principally on water-gruel. Has + been separated from his wife and children in the work-house, and occasionally placed in + solitary confinement for complaining of hunger. Employment, breaking stones.’ ‘<span class="first_word">Jane + Wells</span>. Aged seventy. Weight five stone; lost two stone since her admission, one month + ago. Gruel diet; tea without sugar; potatoes and salt. Has been set to picking opium.’ + ‘<span class="special_name">John Tompkins</span>. Aged eighty-five. Has seen better days. On admission, weighed + eleven stone, which has been reduced to eight and three-quarters. Diet, weak soup, with + turnips and carrots; dry bread and cheese-parings; a few ounces of meat occasionally, + when faint. Came to the work-house with his wife, who is five years younger than himself. + Has not been allowed to see her for a month; during which period has lost in weight + two ounces on an average per day. Employed in carrying coals.’ Faithful portraits, no + doubt, of thousands who crowd the thick-clustering pauper-houses of England, who have</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘<span class="first_word">No</span> blessed leisure for love nor hope,</p> + <p>But only time for grief!’</p> + </div> + </div> + + </div> + + <div class="gossip_section"> + <p><span class="first_word">Our</span> umqwhile New-Haven friend, who commented upon our ‘light gossip’ a few months + since, will pardon us for quoting, in corroboration of the exculpatory ‘position’ which we + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page291" name="page291"></a>291</span>assumed in alluding to his animadversions, the following remarks by the author of the + ‘Charcoal Sketches,’ <span class="special_name">Joseph C. Neal</span>, Esq.: ‘Gossip, goodly gossip, though sometimes + sneered at, is after all the best of our entertainments. We must fall back upon the light + web of conversation, upon chit-chat, as our main-stay, our chief reliance; as that <i>corps de + reserve</i> on which our scattered and wearied forces are to rally. What is there which will + bear comparison as a recreating means, with the free and unstudied interchange of thought, + of knowledge, of impression about men and things, and all that varied medley of fact, + criticism and conclusion so continually fermenting in the active brain? Be fearful of those + who love it not, and banish such as would imbibe its delights yet bring no contribution + to the common stock. There are men who seek the reputation of wisdom by dint of never + affording a glimpse of their capabilities, and impose upon the world by silent gravity; negative + philosophers, who never commit themselves beyond the utterance of a self-evident proposition, + or hazard their position by a feat of greater boldness than is to be found in the + avowal of the safe truth which has been granted for a thousand years. There is a deception + here, which should never be submitted to. Sagacity may be manifest in the nod of + Burleigh’s head; but it does not follow that all who nod are Burleighs. He who habitually + says nothing, must be content if he be regarded as having nothing to say, and it is only a + lack of grace on his part which precludes the confession. In this broad ‘Vienna’ of human + effort, the mere ‘looker-on’ cannot be tolerated. It is part of our duty to be nonsensical + and ridiculous at times, for the entertainment of the rest of the world. If we are never to + open our mouths until the unsealing of the aperture is to give evidence of a present Solomon, + and to add something to the Book of Proverbs, we must for the most part, stand like + the statue of Harpocrates, with ‘Still your finger on your lips, I pray.’ If we do speak, + under such restrictions, it cannot well be, as the world is constituted, more than once or + twice in the course of an existence, the rest of the sojourn upon earth being devoted to a + sublimation of our thought. But always wise, sensible, sagacious, rational; always in wig + and spectacles; always algebraic and mathematical; doctrinal and didactic; ever to sit + like <span class="special_name">Franklin’s</span> portrait, with the index fixed upon ‘causality;’ one might as well be a + petrified ‘professor,’ or a <span class="special_name">William Penn</span> bronzed upon a pedestal. There is nothing so + good, either in itself or in its effects, as good nonsense.’ Upon reading the foregoing, we + laid Mr. <span class="special_name">Yellowplush’s</span> ‘flattering function’ to our soul, that after all, we need not + greatly distrust the reception of our monthly salmagundi, since one good producer and + critic may be held as in some sort an epitome of the public; and especially, since any one + subsection of our hurried Gossip, should it chance to be dull, or void of interest, may be + soon exhausted, or easily skipped. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> We observed lately, in the pages of a monthly + contemporary, an elaborate notice of the poems of <span class="special_name">Alfred Tennyson</span>, who has written + many somewhat affected and several very heartful and exquisite verses; and were not a + little surprised to find no reference to two of the most beautiful poems in his collection; + namely, the ‘New-Year’s Eve,’ and its ‘Conclusion.’ The first embodies the reflections + of a young maiden, sinking gradually under that fell destroyer, <span class="special_name">Consumption</span>. It is new-year’s + eve, and she implores her mother to ‘call her early,’ that she may see the sun rise + upon the glad new year, the last that she shall ever see. How touchingly the associations + of nature are depicted in these stanzas:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="first_word">To-night</span> I saw the sun set: he set and left behind</p> + <p>The good old year, the dear old time, and all my peace of mind;</p> + <p>And the New-year’s coming up, mother, but I shall never see</p> + <p>The blossom on the black thorn, the leaf upon the tree.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>There’s not a flower on all the hills: the frost is on the pane:</p> + <p>I only wish to live till the snow-drops come again:</p> + <p>I wish the snow would melt, and the sun come out on high;</p> + <p>I long to see a flower so before the day I die.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>The building rook will caw from the windy tall elm-tree,</p> + <p>And the tufted plover pipe along the fallow lea,</p> + <p>And the swallow will come back again with summer o’er the wave.</p> + <p>But I shall lie alone, mother, within the mouldering grave.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page292" name="page292"></a>292</span>Upon the chancel-casement, and upon that grave of mine,</p> + <p>In the early, early morning the summer sun will shine;</p> + <p>Before the red cock crows from the farm upon the hill,</p> + <p>When you are warm asleep, mother, and all the world is still.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>When the flowers shall come again, mother, beneath the waning light,</p> + <p>You’ll never see me more in the long gray fields at night:</p> + <p>When from the dry dark wold the summer airs blow cool,</p> + <p>On the oat-grass and the sword-grass, and the bulrush in the pool.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>You’ll bury me, my mother, just beneath the hawthorn shade,</p> + <p>And you’ll come sometimes and see me, where I am lowly laid.</p> + <p>I shall not forget you, mother, I shall hear you when you pass,</p> + <p>With your feet above my head in the long and pleasant grass.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>I have been wild and wayward, but you’ll forgive me now;</p> + <p>You’ll kiss me, my own mother, upon my cheek and brow;</p> + <p>Nay, nay, you must not weep, nor let your grief be wild,</p> + <p>You should not fret for me, mother, you have another child.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>If I can I’ll come again, mother, from out my resting-place;</p> + <p>Though you’ll not see me, mother, I shall look upon your face;</p> + <p>Though I cannot speak a word, I shall hearken what you say,</p> + <p>And be often, often with you, when you think I’m far away.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Good-night, good-night! when I have said good-night for evermore,</p> + <p>And you see me carried out from the threshold of the door,</p> + <p>Don’t let Effie come to see me till my grave be growing green:</p> + <p>She’ll be a better child to you than ever I have been.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>She’ll find my garden-tools upon the granary floor:</p> + <p>Let her take ’em: they are hers: I shall never garden more:</p> + <p>But tell her, when I’m gone, to train the rose-bush that I set</p> + <p>About the parlour-window and the box of mignonette.</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>The poor girl’s prayer to ‘live to see the snow-drop,’ in the spring-time, is answered. + The violets have come forth, and in the fields around she hears the bleating of the young + lambs. She is now ready to die, and knows that the time of her departure is at hand, for + she has had a ‘warning from heaven.’ The reader should have sat by the bed-side of one + slowly fading away by consumption, and have heard the wild March wind wail amidst + the boughs of leafless trees without, rightly to appreciate the faithfulness of these lines:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘<span class="first_word">I did</span> not hear the dog howl, mother, nor hear the death-watch beat,</p> + <p>There came a sweeter token when the night and morning meet:</p> + <p>But sit beside my bed, mother, and put your hand in mine,</p> + <p>And Effie on the other side, and I will tell the sign.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>All in the wild March-morning I heard the angels call;</p> + <p>It was when the moon was setting, and the dark was over all;</p> + <p>The trees began to whisper, and the wind began to roll,</p> + <p>And in the wild March-morning I heard them call my soul.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>For lying broad awake I thought of you and Effie dear;</p> + <p>I saw you sitting in the house, and I no longer here;</p> + <p>With all my strength I pray’d for both, and so I felt resign’d,</p> + <p>And up the valley came a swell of music on the wind.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>I thought that it was fancy, and I listen’d in my bed,</p> + <p>And then did something speak to me—I know not what was said;</p> + <p>For great delight and shuddering took hold of all my mind,</p> + <p>And up the valley came again the music on the wind.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>But you were sleeping; and I said, ‘It’s not for them: it’s mine.’</p> + <p>And if it comes three times, I thought, I take it for a sign.</p> + <p>And once again it came, and close beside the window-bars,</p> + <p>Then seem’d to go right up to Heaven and die among the stars.’</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>‘This blessed music,’ she says, ‘went that way my soul will have to go.’ She is reconciled + to her inevitable fate; yet still she casts a ‘longing, lingering look behind,’ to the + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page293" name="page293"></a>293</span>beautiful world she is leaving forever. Her reflections are imbued with a deep pathos; + the second line of the first stanza, especially, ‘teems with sensation:’</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘<span class="first_word">O look!</span> the sun begins to rise, the heavens are in a glow;</p> + <p>He shines upon a hundred fields, and all of them I know:</p> + <p>And there I move no longer now, and there his light may shine,</p> + <p>Wild flowers are in the valley for other hands than mine!</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>O sweet and strange it seems to me, that ere this day is done</p> + <p>The voice, that now is speaking, may be beyond the sun;</p> + <p>For ever and for ever with those just souls and true:</p> + <p>And what is life, that we should moan? why make we such ado?</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>For ever and for ever, all in a blessed home,</p> + <p>And there to wait a little while till you and Effie come;</p> + <p>To lie within the light of God, as I lie upon your breast,</p> + <p>Where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest.</p> + </div> + </div> + + </div> + + <div class="gossip_section"> + <p><span class="first_word">We</span> are indebted to a friend and correspondent at the Phillippine Islands, for two very + instructive and amusing volumes, of which we intend the reader shall know more hereafter. + The first is entitled ‘<i>Portfolio Chinensis</i>,’ or a collection of authentic Chinese State + Papers, in the native language, illustrative of the history of the late important events in + China, with a translation by J. <span class="special_name">Lewis Shuck</span>; the second, a ‘<i>Narrative of the late Proceedings + and Events in China</i>,’ by <span class="special_name">John Slade</span>, editor of the ‘Canton Register.’ In looking + over these publications, we are struck with the vigor and pertinacity with which, when + once their minds were made up, the Chinese authorities pursued their object of abolishing + opium forever from the celestial empire. Edicts against the ‘red-bristled foreigners’ from + England, and the people of the American or ‘flower-flag nation,’ who should hoard up the + smoking earth or vaporous drug, were enforced by others addressed to the natives, intended + to lessen or annihilate the demand. The remonstrances with the opium-smokers + themselves are exceedingly pungent. The ‘Great Emperor, quaking with wrath,’ having + examined the whole matter, and ‘united the circumstances,’ saturates the High Commissioner + <span class="special_name">Lin</span> with his own bright ‘effulgence of reason,’ who thereupon promulges: ‘Although + the opium exists among the outside barbarians, there is not a man of them who is + willing to smoke it himself; but the natives of the flowery land are on the contrary with + willing hearts led astray by them; and they exhaust their property and brave the prohibitions, + by purchasing a commodity which inflicts injury upon their own vitals. Is not + this supremely ridiculous! And that you part with your money to poison your own selves, + is it not deeply lamentable! How is it that you allow men to befool you? Thus the fish + covets the bait and forgets the hook; the miller-fly covets the candle-light, but forgets the + fire. Ye bring misfortunes upon yourselves! Habits which are thus disastrous are unchangeable, + being like the successive rolling of the waves of the sea. Is not your conduct + egregiously strange? We the governor and Fooyuen have three times and five times + again and again remonstrated with and exhorted you, giving you lucid warning. Surely, + you are indeed dreaming, and <em>snoring</em> in your dreams!’ These multiplied edicts, and the + offers of <em>rewards</em>, to ‘encourage repentant and fear-stricken hearts,’ seem to have led to a + little trickery on the part of certain cunning mandarins, if we interpret aright this clause + in an ensuing ‘lucid warning:’ ‘The opium-pipes which are delivered up must be distinguished + clearly as to whether they are real or false. Those having on the outside of + them the marks of use, and within the oily residue of the smoke, are the genuine ones; + and those which are made of new bamboo, and merely moistened with the smoky oil, are + the false ones.’ A ‘spec.’ had evidently been made by means of false ‘smoking-implements.’ + But the most amusing portions of these volumes are the vermillion edicts against + the ‘outside barbarians,’ who had irritated the sacred wrath to the cutting off of their + trade. The estimates of the Fooyuen, it will be seen, are of that vague kind usually + designated among us as ‘upward of considerable.’ Alluding to the ‘blithesome profits’ + which had accrued from an intercourse with China, he says: ‘I find that during the last + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page294" name="page294"></a>294</span>several tens of years the money out of which you have duped our people, by means of + your destructive drug, amounts I know not to how many tens of thousands of myriads. + Your ships, which in former years amounted annually to no more than several tens, now + exceed a hundred and several tens, which arrive here every year. I would like to ask + you if in the wide earth under heaven you can find such another profit-yielding market as + this is? Our great Chinese Emperor views all mankind with equal benevolence, and therefore + it is that he has thus graciously permitted you to trade, and become as it were steeped + to the lips in gain. If this port of Canton, however, were to be shut against you, how + could you scheme to reap profit more? Moreover, our tea and rhubarb are articles which + ye foreigners from afar cannot preserve your lives without; yet year by year we allow + you to export both beyond seas, without the slightest feeling of grudge on our part. Never + was imperial goodness greater than this! Formerly, the prohibitions of our empire might + still be considered indulgent, and therefore it was that from all our ports the sycee leaked + out as the opium rushed in: now, however, the Great Emperor, on hearing of it, actually + quivers with indignation, and before he will stay his hand the evil must be completely and + entirely done away with.’ But these denunciations are not unmingled with incitements to + fear in another direction: ‘You are separated from your homes by several tens of thousands + of miles, and a ship which comes and goes is exposed to the perils of the great and + boundless ocean, arising from curling waves, contrary tides, thunders and lightnings, and + the howling tempest, as well as the jeopardy of crocodiles and whales! Heaven’s chastisements + should be regarded with awe. The majesty and virtue of our Great Emperor is + the same with that of heaven itself! Our celestial dynasty soothes and tranquillizes the + central and foreign lands, and our favor flows most wide. Our central empire is exuberant + in all kinds of productions, and needs not in the slightest degree whatever the goods of the + outer seas.’ As matters are about proceeding to an open rupture with the ‘red-bristled + foreigners,’ and preparations are making to ‘fire upon them with immense guns,’ there + ensues a bit of Chinese diplomacy, which is especially rich. After a long interview by a + committee with the <i>Chefoo</i>, during which all sorts of arguments are urged upon Snow, the + American Consul, and <span class="special_name">Van Basel</span>, the Netherlands Consul, to induce them to sign a + ‘duly-prepared bond,’ that none of their countrymen shall thenceforth bring opium to + China, the audience is suddenly closed with: ‘To-morrow the Chefoo will be at the + Consoo-house, and wait from nine till night to receive the bonds. <em>Now go home and go to + bed!</em>’ But enough for the nonce of <span class="special_name">John Chinaman</span>. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">In</span> alluding to Mr. <span class="special_name">Cole’s</span> + graphic account of the <i>Ascent of Mount Ætna</i>, in our last issue, we spoke of its late eruption. + While reading the proof of that portion of our ‘Gossip,’ a friend handed us a letter lately received + from an American missionary lady at the Sandwich Islands, from which we extract + the subjoined vivid description of the great volcano at Hawaii: ‘You know,’ says + the writer, ‘something, I suppose, of the geological character of this island. It seems as + though a vast crater had boiled over and poured its fiery liquid in every direction. This + lava, having cooled and hardened, forms the basis of the island. The district of Kau is a + rich, luxuriant spot, surrounded by desolate fields of scoriæ, which renders it difficult of + access. We are situated six miles from the sea, sufficiently elevated to give us a commanding + view of its vast expanse of waters. We can occasionally spy a sail floating like a speck + on its surface. From the shore, the country gradually rises into a range of verdant mountains, + whose summits appear to touch the clouds. Proceeding northward toward Hilo, + there is a gradual rise, until you reach the Great Volcano, about six miles distant. In + making the tour to Hilo, we camped here the second night, on the brink of the burning + gulf. Suppose a vast area of earth, as large as the bay of New-York, to have fallen in to + the depth of several thousand feet. At the bottom of this great cauldron, you behold the + liquid fire boiling and bubbling up, partly covered with a thick black scum. There are + two or three inner craters, which have been formed by the lava cooling on its sides while + the liquid sunk below. The gentlemen mostly descended into this crater, but I was fully + satisfied with a look from above. The earth is cracked all around at the top, and portions + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page295" name="page295"></a>295</span>of it are continually falling in. Steam issues from open places in all the region. This + volcano has been in action from time immemorial, as the natives all assert, and has been + with them an object of idolatrous worship. The range of mountains continues for some + thirty miles beyond this, and terminates in the snow-capped summit of Mounadoa. This + mountain is in full sight at Hilo, and about thirty miles distant. Since we have been here + it has been the scene of the most wonderful volcanic eruptions ever yet seen on this + island. <span class="keep_together">Mr. P——</span>, in company with <span class="keep_together">Mr. C——</span>, visited it a week or two since, and ascended + the mountain to the old crater, from whence the flood of lava proceeded. Fire has + not been seen in it within the remembrance of the oldest natives. An immense river of + burning lava is at this time running down the side of the mountain, in a subterraneous + channel, from three to four miles wide. They had a good view of it through air-holes in + the lava, over which they were walking, which was like a sea of glass; frequently sinking + in different places in consequence of the intense heat below. It will probably yet find its + way to the surface somewhere, and, laying prostrate every thing that opposes it, pursue its + devastating course to the sea. Truly we live in a world of wonders!’ <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">By</span> the by, + speaking of volcanos: it will be remembered that in 1831 an island was thrown up by + volcanic eruption in the Mediterranean sea, off the south coast of Sicily. It presented + the form of a round hill, about one hundred and twenty feet above the sea’s level, with + thick clouds of white smoke issuing from it. As may well be imagined, it excited great + wonder and curiosity, and was visited by vast numbers of people. An Austrian, a French + and a British vessel met there at the same time. A dispute arose as to what power the + island should belong, what it should be named, etc.; when a British sailor leaped on shore, + and planted on the topmost peak the union-jack. Nine cheers proclaimed Britannia victorious. + On returning shortly after, to take another look at their newly-acquired possession, + they found to their dismay that, like Aladdin’s palace, the island had disappeared, leaving + the Mediterranean as smooth as if the magic wonder had never reared its head! This + circumstance suggested the following lines by a correspondent:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p><span class="first_word">Father</span> <span class="special_name">Neptune</span>, one day, as he traversed the seas,</p> + <p>Much wanted a spot to recline at his ease:</p> + <p>For long tossed and tired by the billow’s commotion,</p> + <p>‘’Tis a shame,’ cried the god, ‘I’m confined to the ocean.</p> + <p>I’ll have an island!’ To <span class="special_name">Vulcan</span> he flew,</p> + <p>Saying, ‘Help me this time, and in turn I’ll help you.</p> + <p>To make a new island’s an excellent scheme;</p> + <p>And I think, my dear <span class="special_name">Vulcan</span>, we’ll raise it by steam.’</p> + <p>‘Agreed!’ cried the god.</p> + <p class="i22">Straight to work they repair,</p> + <p>And throw an abundance of smoke in the air.</p> + <p>This mariners saw, and it did them affright;</p> + <p>They straightway concluded all could not be right.</p> + <p>‘We’ll to Sicily repair, and appeal to powers civil,</p> + <p>For certainly this is the work of the devil!’</p> + <p>The Austrians and French came the wonder to view:</p> + <p>Said Britain, in anger, ‘That isle’s not for you!</p> + <p>For us, us alone, did Britannia design it,</p> + <p>And, d’ ye see, we’ll be <span class="keep_together">d——d</span> if we ever resign it!</p> + <p>On that island we’ll land! there our standard we’ll raise!</p> + <p>We will there plant our jack, if the island should blaze!’</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>The gods, in great wrath, heard all this contention:</p> + <p>‘Dear <span class="special_name">Neptune</span>,’ said <span class="special_name">Vul.</span>, ‘this has spoiled our invention.’</p> + <p>‘It has,’ said the god, ‘but, I swear by my trident,</p> + <p>The proud sons of Britain shall never abide on ’t!</p> + <p>It was raised for a god, and no vile worthless mortal</p> + <p>On that island shall dwell, to eat oysters and turtle.</p> + <p>Down! down with it, <span class="first_word">Vul.</span>, that will best end the quarrel,</p> + <p>And I’ll be content with my old bed of coral.’</p> + </div> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="gossip_section"> + <p>‘<span class="special_name">Milk for Babes</span>,’ an elaborately-concocted satire upon a certain class of ‘learned + and pious hand-books for urchins of both sexes,’ is not without humor, and ridicules + what indeed in some respects deserves animadversion. We affect as little as our correspondent + what has been rightly termed ‘a clumsy fumbling for the half-formed intellect, a + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page296" name="page296"></a>296</span>merciless hunting down of the tender and unfledged thought,’ through the means of ‘instructive’ + little books, wherein an insipid tale goes feebly wriggling through an unmerciful load + of moral, religious and scientific preaching; or an apparently simple dialogue involves + subjects of the highest difficulty, which are chattered over between two juvenile prodigies, + or delivered to them in mouthfuls, curiously adapted to their powers of swallowing. ‘The + minor manners and duties,’ says our correspondent, ‘are quite overlooked by misguided + parents now-a-days;’ and this he illustrates by an anecdote: ‘<span class="special_name">Thomas</span>, my son,’ said a + father to a lad in my hearing, the other day, ‘won’t you show the gentleman your last + composition?’ ‘I don’t want to,’ said he. ‘I <em>wish</em> you would,’ responded the father. ‘I + wont!’ was the reply; ‘I’ll be goy-blamed if I do!’ A sickly, half-approving smile passed + over the face of the father, as he said, in extenuation of his son’s <i>brusquerie</i>: ‘Tom don’t + lack manners generally; but the fact is, <em>he’s got such a cold, he is almost a fool</em>!’ Kind + parent! happy boy! <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">We</span> would counsel such of our readers as can command it, to + secure the perusal of ‘<i>Hugh Adamson’s Reply to John Campbell</i>,’ in the matter of international + copy-right. Mr. <span class="special_name">Campbell</span>, being a paper dealer, and greatly benefitted in his business + by the increased sale of stock consequent upon the influx of cheap republications, is + naturally very anxious to prevent the passage of an international copy-right law. As might + be anticipated of such an advocate, his real reasons are all based upon the <i>argumentum ad + crumenam,</i> the argument to the <em>purse</em>. Mr. <span class="special_name">Adamson</span>, in a few satirical, well-reasoned, + sententious paragraphs, has fairly demolished the superstructure which Selfishness had + reared, and exposed the misrepresentations upon which alone the unsubstantial fabric + could have rested. It is quiet and good-natured, but <em>cutting</em>; and will act as an antidote to + the elaborate sophistry of Mr. <span class="special_name">Campbell’s</span> ambitious <i>brochure</i>. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">We</span> think we shall + publish ‘<span class="special_name keep_together">L. D. Q.’s</span> ‘<i>Parody</i>;’ but should like him to change the third stanza, which + is ‘like a mildewed ear, blasting its wholesome brothers.’ The other verses are capital. + One of the cleverest modern parodies which we remember, was written in a Philadelphia + journal, and touched upon some exciting city event, before the Court of Sessions. It was in + the measure of ‘<i>The Cork Leg</i>,’ and <em>ran</em> somewhat as follows:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘<span class="first_word">The</span> defendant said that it was too bad</p> + <p>To be taken up before Judge <span class="special_name">Con-rad</span>.</p> + <p class="poetry_break">·····</p> + <p>Now Mr. H——, the lawyer, was there,</p> + <p>With a pretty good head, but not very much hair,</p> + <p>So little, in fact, that a wig he must wear,</p> + <p class="i20">Ri tu den u-den a!’</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>The parody had the jogging, jolting air of the original, and was replete, we recollect, + with whimsical associations. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">We</span> shall venture to present here the comments of + two most valued friends and contributors, upon the performances of two <em>other</em> esteemed + friends and favorite correspondents. Of ‘<i>The Venus of Ille</i>,’ the one writes as follows: + ‘I fully sympathise with you in your admiration of this tale, as well as of ‘The Innocence + of a Galley-Slave.’ I could not in the perusal of them both but feel the vast superiority + of the Grecian over the Gothic style. For in spite of all the humor and wit and nature + and pathos of the <span class="special_name">Dickens</span> and <span class="special_name">Lever</span> school, there is something more of the Gothic and + grotesque in their paintings than in these pure and unforced limnings of the able Frenchman. + Where the ground-work of the tale is of sufficiently bold conception, and the incidents + offer hooks enough to hang interest upon, there can be no doubt that this cool style is + by far the most effectual in the end. The more strained and heated style of some other + modern authors will be very effectual for awhile, but the excitement of the reader will + flag sooner. The reason is, that too much descriptive and passionate power is expended on + minor portions of the tale; and the enthusiasm of the reader is partially exhausted before + he comes to the grand catastrophe, where it should be most of all elicited. But writers + like <span class="special_name">Walter Scott</span>, or this Frenchman, are self-possessed and meditative in a great portion + of their writings; by skilful touches giving the reader every thing necessary for him + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page297" name="page297"></a>297</span>to know in reference to characters and scenes; and on any great emergency their sudden + heat carries the reader away captive.’ The admiration expressed by our other accomplished + friend for the chaste and graceful essays of a still more accomplished correspondent (there + is nothing like disparagement in this comparison) is widely shared, as we have the best + reason to know, by our readers on both sides of the Atlantic: ‘<span class="special_name">John Waters</span>! There is + a drab-coated plainness about the name, which is at the same time <em>liquid</em> and musical; not + more liquid and musical, howbeit, than those charming commentaries of his on every + variety of quaint topic; full of an amiable grace, tinged with the most delicate hue of a + fine humor; a refined ore drawn from no ordinary mine without alloy; like the compositions + of <span class="special_name">Sappho</span>, to which an unerring critic has applied the expression, <span class="greek_text" title="chruseiotera chrusou">χÏυσειοτεÏα χÏυσου</span>; + the very best of gold. Doves never bore choicer <i>billet-doux</i> beneath their wings. A beautiful + sentiment always touches the heart, though couched in homely phrase; but when one + knows how to cull from our mother-tongue the most expressive words, and has gained that + enviable mastery, making them fall into their own places, and thus become inseparable + from the idea, the perfection of art is gained. Serve us up these choice <i>morceaux</i> each + month, dear <span class="special_name">Editor</span>; let them not be missed from the generous board, lest the banquet be + incomplete. Let me tell you, in passing, that your correspondent <span class="special_name">Harry Franco’s</span> tale is + a caution to dowagers. Never have I encountered such a startling incident on the high + seas, out of ‘<span class="special_name">Don Juan</span>.’ <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">Did</span> it occur to ‘N.’ that the change suggested in the + mere inscription of his epigram, ‘<i>Religious Disputation</i>,’ would be entirely out of keeping? + ‘Uniting the circumstances,’ as Commissioner <span class="special_name">Lin</span> would say, would produce such discrepancy + as was occasioned lately at a democratic meeting in one of the western States, where + a certain resolution in favor of our old friend and correspondent, Gen. <span class="special_name">Cass</span>, was made to + undergo a slight metamorphosis by the substitution of the name of Mr. <span class="special_name">Van Buren</span>; + causing it to read something like this: ‘Whereas Gen. <span class="special_name">Martin Van Buren</span> emigrated to + the west from New-Hampshire in early life with his knapsack on his back, and unsheathed + his sword in repelling the Indians and fighting against the British!’ etc. This historical + fiction, in the antagonistic excitement of the moment, was carried by an almost unanimous + vote! <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">Inversion</span> of mere words, or involution of phrase and syntax, let + us whisper in the ear of our Troy correspondent, is not a very great beauty in poetry. His + own good thoughts are spoiled by this affectation. It requires an artist to employ frequent + inversion successfully. The opening of the ‘<i>Lines on a Bust of Dante</i>’, by Mr. + <span class="special_name keep_together">T. W. Parsons</span>, affords a pleasing example in this kind. It is clear and musical:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘<span class="first_word">See</span> from this counterfeit of him</p> + <p class="i2">Whom Arno shall remember long,</p> + <p><em>How stern of lineament, how grim</em></p> + <p class="i2"><em>The father was of Tuscan song.</em>’</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>Inversion should be naturally suggested, not forced. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">It</span> is to be inferred, we fear, + that the late ‘principal editor’ of the ‘<i>Brother Jonathan</i>’ does not take it in good part that + the new proprietors of that now popular journal saw fit to arrest its rapid decadence, by a + removal of the inevitable cause of such a consummation. Lo! how from his distant down-east + ambush, with characteristic phrase, he denounces them as ‘cowards’ and ‘puppies!’ + Whereupon, in a response appropriately brief, the ‘brave few’ of the ‘principal editor’s’ + old readers who have ‘endured unto the end,’ are informed by the new incumbent, that + the tabooed ci-devant functionary ‘seems disturbed because he was not suffered to kill the + ‘Brother Jonathan’ as he had killed every journal in which he was permitted to pour out + his vapid balderdash. He is a perfect <span class="special_name">Bluebeard</span> among newspapers. He no sooner + slaughters one, than he manages to get hold of another, and butcher that with the same + remorseless indifference.’ The editor adds: ‘He once enjoyed the honor of some connection + with the ‘New World,’ and would have consigned that well-known sheet to the + tomb of the Capulets, had not the publishers foreseen the danger, and escaped in season.’ + We merely note these facts, as corroborative of a remark or two of our own, in our last + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page298" name="page298"></a>298</span>issue. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> ‘<i>An Incident in Normandy</i>’, we shrewdly suspect, is <em>not</em> ‘from the French;’ + if it be, all that we have to say is, that such pseudo-rhapsodists as the writer could never + by any possibility <em>love</em> nature. The thing is altogether <em>over-done</em>. A Frenchman’s opinion, + however, <span class="special_name">Cowell</span> tells us, should never be taken where the beauties of nature are concerned, + <em>unless they can be cooked</em>. There is another grave objection to the article; which + consists in the undue frequency of Italian and French words and phrases, foisted into the + narrative. We have a strong attachment to plain, perspicuous <em>English</em>. Ours is a noble + language, a beautiful language; and we hold fully with <span class="special_name">Southey</span>, who somewhere remarks + that he can tolerate a Germanism, for family sake; but he adds: ‘He who uses a Latin + or a French phrase where a pure old English word does as well, ought to be hung, drawn + and quartered, for high treason against his mother-tongue.’ <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> ‘<i>The Song of the New + Year</i>, by Mrs. <span class="special_name">Nichols</span>, in a late number,’ writes a Boston correspondent, ‘is an excellent + production, and a fair specimen of the improved style of our occasional American verse. + Suppose a book-worm should light on poetry of equal merit among <span class="first_word">Flatman’s</span>, <span class="first_word">Falconer’s</span>, + <span class="first_word">Prior’s</span>, or <span class="special_name">Parsell’s</span> collections? Would it not shine forth, think you? Indeed + our lady-writers are wresting the plume from our male pen mongers unco fast.’ ‘That’s + a fact.’ Mrs. <span class="special_name">Nichols</span> has a sister-poet at Louisville, Kentucky, who has a very charming + style and a delicious fancy. A late verse of hers in some ‘<i>Lines to a Rainbow</i>,’ signed + ‘<span class="special_name">Amelia</span>,’ which we encountered at a reading-room the other day, have haunted our + memory ever since:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘There are moments, I think, when the spirit receives</p> + <p>Whole volumes of thought on its unwritten leaves;</p> + <p>When the folds of the heart in a moment unclose,</p> + <p>Like the innermost leaves from the heart of a rose.’</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p><span class="special_name">Moore</span> never conceived a more beautiful simile than this. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">Number Two</span> of the + ‘<i>Reminiscences of a Dartmoor Prisoner</i>’ will appear in our next issue. We have received + from the writer a very interesting and amusing manuscript-volume, filled with patriotic + poetry, containing vivid pictures of scenes and events in the daily routine of the prison, as + well as sketches of Melville Island Prison, and reminiscences of striking events in the + lives of sundry of the prisoners, in the progress of the American war. We shall refer more + particularly to this entertaining collection in an ensuing number. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">The</span> Lines on + ‘<i>Niagara Falls at Night</i>’ are entirely too terrific for our pages. They are almost as ‘love-lily + dreadful’ as the great scene itself. ‘M.’ <em>must</em> ‘try again,’ that is quite certain; and + we are afraid, <em>more</em> than once. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">Tu Doces!</span> Doubtless many of our young readers, + especially in the country, have often pondered over the zig-zag hieroglyphics which covered + the tea-chests at the village-store, and marvelled what ‘<span class="special_name">Howqua</span>,’ which was inseparable + from these inscriptions, could mean. It was the name of the great Hong merchant, ‘the + friend of Americans,’ who died recently at Canton, at an advanced age, leaving his vast + wealth to two sons. Here is an elegy written upon his death by his brother-merchant + <span class="special_name">Tingqua</span>, which is now being sung about Canton to a dolorous air, accompanied by the + <i>yeih-pa</i> and the <i>tchung</i>, a curious sort of guitar and harp in common use. The elegy comprises + a little outline, together with hints and allusions, prettily conveyed, of the principal + biographical events of <span class="special_name">Howqua’s</span> career, and is entitled</p> + + <h4 class="title">TINGQUA’S TEARS.</h4> + + <div class="quotation"> + + <p><span class="first_word">I weep</span> for <span class="special_name">Howqua</span>. He was the friend of my youth. We often rose before day-break, and + gazed together at the soft blue clouds round the retiring moon.</p> + + <p>At that time I smiled on <span class="special_name">Howqua</span>. We both grew old together. We often went to the tombs of + our fathers, side by side, and thought tenderly of the loving dead.</p> + + <p>Weep friends of the Hong. All friends at home (literally <i>Celestial</i> friends,) and all natives of outside + countries weep; weep excessively. For <span class="special_name">Howqua</span> is no more.</p> + + <p><span class="special_name">Howqua</span> was a fixed man. He had reason. Loving old laws, old customs, and all things long + since established as wise, he therefore hated change.</p> + + <p><span class="special_name">Howqua</span> was very rich. He had no half-thinkers and third-smokers (meaning <i>no partners</i>,) and + no branch-breakers to his universal tea-dealings.</p> + + <p><span class="pagenum"><a id="page299" name="page299"></a>299</span>Also he had lands for rice and pasture, and to play at ball, and villas, and ponds of fish, and fifteen + field-bridges of carved wood gilt, and seven domestic bridges inlaid with ivory birds and dragons.</p> + + <p>Also he had money in the foreign mysteries (probably meaning the <i>funds</i>.)</p> + + <p>Also he had doings with several things of great value, and shares of large ship-loads. But never + would he touch the hateful opium-trade, after the recent mad insolences.</p> + + <p>Also he had some wives.</p> + + <p>Also the <span class="special_name">Great Emperor</span> loved him, though <span class="special_name">Howqua</span> was only as the poorest man before that + Yellow Illumination of our day and night.</p> + + <p>The body of my friend was slight, and easily injured; like the outside of people’s pocket-watch + when she walk against the sun (that is, an injured watch that <i>goes wrong</i>.) But my dear friend for + whom I shed these tears had a head with many eyes.</p> + + <p><span class="special_name">Howqua</span> knew what to do with his unnecessary gold. He built a temple to Buddha, and thus made + the god a present of 2,000,000 dollars, to the excessive delight of his Essence and Image.</p> + + <p>Also, <span class="special_name">Howqua</span> gave 800,000 dollars to assist the ransom of his beloved Canton from the fangs of the + late war; to the excessive delight of the Fighting-minded Barbarians.</p> + + <p>Weep, then, for <span class="special_name">Howqua</span>, even as I weep. He was the friend of my youth. Together we grew + old, walking toward our fathers’ tombs. We might have died together; but it is well that one old + friend should be left a little while to weep.’</p> + </div> + + </div> + + <div class="gossip_section"> + <p><span class="first_word">The</span> paper upon ‘<i>American Interior and Exterior Architecture</i>’ we are quite certain + would not have the tendency which the writer contemplates. It would discourage rather + than foster that better taste which is gaining ground among us. In this city, how great + have been the improvements in the exterior and interior decorations of our dwellings, + within the last eight years! We remember the time as it were but yesterday, when the + beautiful muslin window-shades, first introduced among us by Mr. <span class="special_name">George Platt</span>, were + considered a luxury of interior decoration—as indeed many of them were. But from + these small yet promising beginnings, our accomplished artist has gone on, until his extensive + establishment is filled with specimens of rich and elaborate architectural decorations, + for the various styles of which the reigns of French and English sovereigns have been + put under the most liberal contribution. Our wealthy and tasteful citizens have vied with + each other in the enriching and beautifying of their mansions; while, also emulous, a + kindred class in our sister-cities have laid requisitions upon Mr. <span class="special_name">Platt’s</span> architectural + and decorative genius, (for in him it <em>is</em> genius, and of no intermediate order,) which have + convinced <em>him</em> at least, that the ‘laggard taste’ which our correspondent arraigns, is ‘not + so slow’ as he seems to imagine. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">Who</span> was ‘<i>Dandy Jim from Caroline</i>,’ of whom + every boy in the street is either whistling or singing, and whom we ‘have heard spoken of’ + by musical instruments and that of all sorts, at every party or ball which we have found + leisure to attend during the gay season? We are the more anxious to glean some particulars + touching the origin and history of this personage, because his fame is rife among our + legislators, and the ‘lobby-interest’ at Albany; if we may judge from a quatrain before + us, which hints at a verbal peculiarity of our excellent representative, Alderman <span class="special_name">Varian</span>, + whose <em>v</em> always takes the form of a <em>w</em>, especially in his rendering of a foreign tongue; + as witness his being ‘just on the <i>qwi-wi-we</i> for the capitol,’ on one occasion, and the subjoined + versification of another of his Latin sentences, with cockney ‘wariations:’</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘<span class="first_word">Then</span> here’s a health to <span class="special_name">Wari-an</span>,</p> + <p>That ‘<em>Weni, widi, wici</em>’ man!</p> + <p>He talk de grammar werry fine,</p> + <p>Like <span class="special_name">Dandy Jim</span> o’ Caroline:</p> + <p class="i4">For my ole massa tol’ me so,’ etc.</p> + </div> + </div> + + </div> + + <div class="gossip_section"> + <p><span class="first_word">There</span> is in these humane and benevolent days an increasing sympathy in the public + mind for a man condemned to ‘march sorrowfully up to the gallows, there to be noosed up, + vibrate his hour, and await the dissecting-knife of the surgeon,’ who fits his bones into a + skeleton for medical purposes. ‘There never was a public hanging,’ says a late advocate of + the abolition of capital punishment, ‘that was productive of any thing but evil.’ There is + an anecdote recorded of <span class="special_name">Whitfield</span>, however, which seems to refute this position, in at + least one instance. This eloquent divine, while at Edinburgh, attended a public execution. + His appearance upon the ground drew the eyes of all around him, and raised a variety + of opinions as to the motives which led him to join in the crowd. The next day, + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page300" name="page300"></a>300</span>being Sunday, he preached to a large body of men, women and children, in a field near the + city. In the course of his sermon, he adverted to the execution which had taken place the + preceding day. ‘I know,’ said he, ‘that many of you will find it difficult to reconcile my + appearance yesterday with my character. Many of you will say, that my moments would + have been better employed in praying with the unhappy man, than in attending him to the + fatal tree, and that perhaps curiosity was the only cause that converted me into a spectator + on that occasion: but those who ascribe that uncharitable motive to me are under a + mistake. I witnessed the conduct of almost every one present on that occasion, and I was + highly pleased with it. It has given me a very favorable impression of the Scottish nation. + Your sympathy was visible on your countenances, and reflected the greatest honor on your + hearts: particularly when the moment arrived in which your unhappy fellow creature was + to close his eyes on this world forever, you all, as if moved by one impulse, turned your heads + aside and wept. Those tears were precious, and will be held in remembrance. How different + was it when the Saviour of mankind was extended on the cross! The Jews, instead + of sympathizing in his sorrows, triumphed in them. They reviled him with bitter expressions, + with words even more bitter than the gall and vinegar which they gave him to drink. + Not one of them all that witnessed his pains, turned the head aside even in the last pang. + Yes, there was one; that glorious luminary, (pointing to the sun,) veiled his bright face + and sailed on in tenfold night!’ <em>This</em> is eloquence! Would that we could have seen the + beaming features, the ‘melting eye, turned toward heaven,’ which indelibly impressed + these words upon the heart of every hearer! <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">Many</span> of our readers will doubtless + remember the time when Professor <span class="keep_together">J——</span>, the celebrated ‘artist in hair,’ was flourishing + in his glory, and when his fame was perhaps as rife in New-York and Boston as that of + any man living, in his line of art. His advertisements too, so unique in their grandiloquent + phraseology, will not soon be forgotten by those who relish such things. The Professor is + not now, as regards worldly prosperity, the man he used to be; but his gentlemanly feeling + still clings to him, and his pride in his profession is as enthusiastic as ever. We observe + by a Boston journal that he is once more trying his luck in our eastern metropolis; and + this reminds us of an anecdote concerning him. A friend tells us that some months since he + encountered the professor at a coffee-house, where he was rehearsing to a rather verdant + customer the former glories of his professional life. Among other things, ‘At one time,’ + said he, ‘I was sent for by express, to go to Philadelphia on professional business.’ ‘To + do what?’ asked his listener. ‘To make wigs for the Signers of the Declaration of Independence!’ + replied <span class="keep_together">J——</span>, with a pompous air. Now the professor’s comrade was not very + quick-witted, as we have already hinted, and it did not occur to him at the moment whether + the signers were men only of yesterday, or of the last century; and he rejoined, in a tone + of wonder: ‘What! do they <em>all</em> wear wigs?’ ‘<em>All?</em>’ replied the professor, with a look of + mingled piety and triumph; ‘why, Sir, did you ever know a wax-figure to wear its own + hair? Men of flesh and blood, now-a-days, don’t know any better; but the <em>man of wax</em>, + Sir, possesses a truer taste, and always consults the <span class="special_name">Perruquier</span>!’ The relator says it + would be impossible to convey an adequate idea of the superb manner in which the last + word was uttered; the full round tone, and the tonsorial flourish of the right hand, as if + it still grasped the magic brush and scissors. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">The</span> reader will have gathered from + an incidental allusion in an article by Mr. <span class="special_name">George Harvey</span>, in our last number, some + idea of the fervent enthusiasm with which he has studied and copied Nature, in her every + variety of season and changes of the hour, in executing his beautiful <i>Landscape Drawings</i>. + We have neither the leisure nor space for an <em>adequate</em> notice of these pictures; but being + solicitous that our town readers should participate in the great enjoyment which they have + afforded us, we would direct them to Mr. <span class="special_name">Harvey’s</span> exhibition-room at the old Apollo + Gallery, nearly opposite the Hospital, in Broadway. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">Here</span> is a pleasant specimen + of an ‘<i>Unnecessary Disclaimer</i>,’ for which we are indebted to a metropolitan friend: ‘A few + evenings since, as a gentleman was walking up Broadway, and just as he was crossing the + side-walk at the junction of White-street, his feet suddenly slipped from under him, his hat + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page301" name="page301"></a>301</span>flew forward with the involuntary jerk, and he measured his length on the side-walk, + striking his bare head on the hard ice, till all rang again. At the instant it chanced that + a lady and gentleman were just emerging from White-street into Broadway, and the prostrate + sufferer, lying directly across their path, interrupted for a moment their farther progress. + He soon recovered his feet, however, and with one hand on his newly-developed + bump, and the other on his breast, he turned to the couple whose passage he had impeded, + and exclaimed with cool gravity: ‘Excuse me; <em>I didn’t intend to do it!</em>’ Probably he + didn’t; at all events, his word was not disputed. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">Most</span> likely our readers have not + forgotten an admirable satire upon the ‘Songs of the Troubadours,’ from which we extracted + some months since the affecting story of ‘The Taylzour’s Daughter.’ Something + in the same style is ‘<i>The Doleful Lay of the Honorable I. O. Uwins</i>,’ a gentleman who + threw himself away upon a bailiff’s daughter, to escape from the restraints and pungent + odors of a sponging-house. The ‘whole course of wooing’ and the result are hinted at in + the ensuing lines:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘<span class="first_word">There</span> he sate in grief and sorrow,</p> + <p class="i2">Rather drunk than otherwise,</p> + <p>Till the golden gush of morrow</p> + <p class="i2">Dawned once more upon his eyes;</p> + <p>Till the spunging bailiff’s daughter,</p> + <p class="i2">Lightly tapping at the door,</p> + <p>Brought his draught of soda-water,</p> + <p class="i2">Brandy-bottomed as before.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘Sweet <span class="special_name">Rebecca</span>! has your father,</p> + <p class="i2">Think you, made a deal of brass?’</p> + <p>And she answered: ‘Sir, I rather</p> + <p class="i2">Should imagine that he has.’</p> + <p><span class="special_name">Uwins</span>, then, his whiskers scratching,</p> + <p class="i2">Leer’d upon the maiden’s face;</p> + <p>And her hands with ardor catching,</p> + <p class="i2">Folded her in his embrace.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘La, Sir! let alone—you fright me!’</p> + <p class="i2">Said the daughter of the Jew:</p> + <p>‘Dearest! how these eyes delight me!</p> + <p class="i2">Let me love thee, darling, do!’</p> + <p>‘Vat is dish?’ the bailiff mutter’d,</p> + <p class="i2">Rushing in with fury wild;</p> + <p>‘Ish your muffins so vell butter’d</p> + <p class="i2">Dat you darsh insult ma shild?’</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘Honorable my intentions,</p> + <p class="i2">Good <span class="special_name">Abednego</span>, I swear!</p> + <p>And I have some small pretensions,</p> + <p class="i2">For I am a Baron’s heir.</p> + <p>If you’ll only clear my credit,</p> + <p class="i2">And a thousand give or so,</p> + <p>She’s a peeress; I have said it!</p> + <p class="i2">Don’t you twig, <span class="special_name">Abednego</span>?’</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘Datsh a very different matter!’</p> + <p class="i2">Said the bailiff, with a leer;</p> + <p>‘But you musht not cut it fatter</p> + <p class="i2">Than ta slish will shtand, ma tear!</p> + <p>If you seeksh ma approbation,</p> + <p class="i2">You must quite give up your rigsh;</p> + <p>Alsho, you mosht join our nation,</p> + <p class="i2">And renounch ta flesh of pigsh.’</p> + </div> + + <p class="poetry_break">·····</p> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>At a meeting of the Rabbis,</p> + <p class="i2">Held about the Whitsuntide,</p> + <p>Was this thorough-paced Barabbas</p> + <p class="i2">Wedded to his Hebrew bride.</p> + <p>All his former debts compounded,</p> + <p class="i2">From the spunging-house he came;</p> + <p>And his father’s feelings wounded</p> + <p class="i2">With reflections on the same.’</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>It is a very dear marriage for <span class="special_name">Uwins</span>, for on visiting his father the Baron, that incensed + nobleman tells the double-dyed apostate never to cross his threshold again, and directs + <span class="special_name">John</span> the porter to kick him into the street. The order is anticipated:</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘<span class="first_word">Forth</span> rushed <span class="special_name">I. O. Uwins</span>, faster</p> + <p class="i2">Than all winking, much afraid</p> + <p>That the orders of the master</p> + <p class="i2">Would be punctually obeyed;</p> + <p>Sought his club, and there the sentence</p> + <p class="i2">Of expulsion first he saw:</p> + <p>No one dared to own acquaintance</p> + <p class="i2">With a bailiff’s son-in-law.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Uselessly down Bond-street strutting,</p> + <p class="i2">Did he greet his friends of yore;</p> + <p>Such a universal cutting</p> + <p class="i2">Never man received before.</p> + <p>Till at last his pride revolted;</p> + <p class="i2">Pale, and lean, and stern, he grew;</p> + <p>And his wife <span class="special_name">Rebecca</span> bolted</p> + <p class="i2">With a missionary Jew.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>Ye who read this doleful ditty,</p> + <p class="i2">Ask ye where is <span class="special_name">Uwins</span> now?</p> + <p>Wend your way through London city,</p> + <p class="i2">Climb to Holborn’s lofty brow;</p> + <p>Near the sign-post of ‘The Nigger,’</p> + <p class="i2">Near the baked-potato shed,</p> + <p>You may see a ghastly figure,</p> + <p class="i2">With three hats upon his head.</p> + </div> + + <div class="stanza"> + <p>When the evening shades are dusky,</p> + <p class="i2">Then the phantom form draws near,</p> + <p>And, with accents low and husky,</p> + <p class="i2">Pours effluvia in your ear;</p> + <p>Craving an immediate barter</p> + <p class="i2">Of your trousers or surtout,</p> + <p>And you know the Hebrew martyr,</p> + <p class="i2">Once the peerless I. O. U.’</p> + </div> + </div> + </div> + + <div class="gossip_section"> + <p><span class="first_word">A friend</span>, in a recent letter to the Editor, thus alludes to the ‘<i>National Intelligencer</i>,’ + one of the ablest and most dignified journals in the country, and to two of its ‘special correspondents:’ + ‘Mr. <span class="special_name">Walsh</span>, who writes from Paris, seems an incorporation of European + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page302" name="page302"></a>302</span>literature and politics; and his articles are, in my belief, the most valuable now contributed + to any journal in the world. Willis is the lightest and most mercurial ‘knight of the + quill’ in all the tournament. It is astonishing with what dexterity, felicity, and grace he + touches off the veriest trifle of the day, investing the trite with originality, and giving the + value of wit and poetry to the worthless and the dry. Pity that this brilliant ‘quid nunc’ + should degenerate into a mere trifling ‘<i>arbiter elegantiarum</i>,’ and expend his buoyant and + ductile genius in the indictment of ephemeral paragraphs. His genius, it is true, has little + solidity; but if he would rest two or three years on his oars, he might collect the scatterings + of wit and poetry, which would in that time accrue to him from his readings and + reflections, into a volume of essays, etc., which would be inferior in brilliancy and piquancy + to but few of any nation.’ Possibly; but in the mean time, let us advise our friend, Mr. + <span class="special_name">Willis</span> has the little substantials of every-day life to look after. He ‘pleases to write’ + frequently and <i>currente calamo</i>, because he ‘pleases <em>to live</em>.’ Fame is one thing, and can + be waited for; there are other things that cannot tarry so well. Mr. <span class="special_name">Willis</span> has ‘seen + the elephant.’ He knows that <span class="special_name">Kenny Meadows</span> is not far out of the way in his humorous + picture of ‘<i>The Man of Fame and the Man of Funds</i>,’ wherein a shadowy hand protrudes + from cloud-land, holding a pair of steel-yards, to resolve the comparative weight of an + appetizing leg-of-mutton, and a huge laurel-wreath. The mutton ‘has it’ all to nothing, + and the wreath ‘kicks the beam! <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="special_name">Punch</span>, up to the latest dates, suddenly makes + his appearance in our sanctum. Merriest of Merry Andrews, he is ever welcome! His + ‘<span class="special_name">Comic Blackstone</span>,’ must be of great service to legal gentlemen. In it, among other + things, we are enlightened as to the ‘<i>Rights of the Clergy</i>.’ We subjoin a few items: + ‘An archbishop is a sort of inspector of all the bishops in his province; but he does not + call them out as an inspector would so many policemen, to examine their mitres, and see + that their lawn sleeves are properly starched, before going on duty in their respective + dioceses. An archbishop may call out the bishops, just as a militia colonel may call out + the militia.’ ‘A bishop (<i>episcopes</i>) is literally an overseer, instead of which it is notorious + that some of them are overlookers of their duties, and blind to the state of their diocese, + though they call it their see.’ ‘The duties incumbent on a parson are, first to act as the + incumbent, by living in the place where he has his living. Formerly, a clergyman had + what is called the benefit of clergy in cases of felony; a privilege which, if a layman had + asked for, he would have been told that the authorities would ‘see him hanged first.’ + ‘A curate is the lowest grade in the church, for he is a sort of journeyman parson, and + several of them meet at a house of call in St. Paul’s Church-Yard, ready to job a pulpit + by the day, and being in fact ‘clergyman taken in to bait’ by the landlord of the house + alluded to.’ Concerning ‘<i>Subordinate Magistrates</i>,’ as officers of the customs, overseers of + the poor, etc., we glean the following information: ‘Tide-waiters are overseers of the + customs duties, therefore it is their duty to overlook the customs. Custom is unwritten + law, and a practice may be termed a custom when it can be proved to have lasted for a + hundred years. Now, can any man doubt that the custom of defrauding the customs has + endured more than a hundred years? Then the practice has become a law, and for + observing this law, which, it seems, is one of our time-revered institutions, and a profitable + proof of the wisdom of our ancestors, landing-waiters and tradesmen are to be prosecuted + and punished. Monstrous injustice!’ ‘Overseers of the Poor are functionaries who sometimes + literally over-see or over-look the cases of distress requiring assistance. The poor + law of <span class="special_name">Elizabeth</span> has been superseded by a much poorer law of <span class="special_name">William</span> the Fourth, + the one great principle of which is, to afford the luxury of divorce to persons in needy circumstances. + It also discountenances relief to the able-bodied, a point which is effected + by disabling, as far as possible, any body who comes into the work-house. The Poor Law + is administered by three Commissioners, who spend their time in diluting gruel and writing + reports; trying experiments how little will suffice to prevent a repeal of the union between + the soul and the body.’ We have this information concerning the clock heretofore complained + of: ‘<span class="special_name">Punch</span> has been accused of hitting this clock very hard when it was down; + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page303" name="page303"></a>303</span>and it certainly must be admitted that it was wholly unable to strike in return. We are + happy to say that the wound has been followed by the clock being at last wound, and + we now offer to take it by the hands in a spirit of friendship. We have been told that + the long stagnation has been caused by the absurd scruples of the pendulum, which refused + to go from side to side, lest it should be accused of inconsistency.’ Under the different + months, ‘<span class="first_word">Punch’s</span> Almanack’ gives many important directions, one of which is for the + proprietors of the public gardens: ‘Now trim your lamps, water your lake, graft new + noses on statues, plant your money-taker, and if the season be severe, <em>cut your sticks</em>.’ The + following ‘<i>Tavern Measure</i>’ is doubtless authentic: Two ‘goes’ make one gill; two gills + one ‘lark;’ two larks one riot; two riots one cell, or station-house, equivalent to five shillings.’ + For office-clerks, as follows: Two drams make one ‘go;’ two goes one head-ache; + two head-aches one lecture; two lectures ‘the sack.’ To those gentlemen who are + lovers of the Virginia weed in its native purity, a list of prices, ‘furnished by one of the + first <em>Spanish</em> houses,’ is published. It includes ‘choice high-dried dock-leaf regalias,’ ‘fine + old cabbage Cuba’s,’ ‘genuine goss-lettuce Havana’s,’ and ‘full-flavored brown-paper + Government Manilla’s!’ Two scraps under the head of ‘<i>University Intelligence</i>’ must close + our quotations: ‘Given the <em>force</em> with which your fist is propelled against a cabman, + and the <em>angle</em> at which it strikes him; required the <em>area</em> of mud he will cover on reaching + the <em>horizontal plane</em>.’ ‘Show the incorrectness of using <em>imaginary quantities</em>, by attempting + to put off your creditors with repeated promises to pay them out of your Pennsylvania + dividends.’ <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">Many</span> German physicians and surgeons hold that there remains in the + brain of a decollated head some degree of thought, and in the nerves something of sensibility. + It is stated by his biographer, that in the case of Sir <span class="special_name">Everard Digby</span>, executed + for a participation in the Gunpowder Plot, the tongue pronounced several words after + the head was severed from the body. After the execution of <span class="special_name">Charlotte Corday</span>, also, + it is alleged that the executioner held up her lovely head by its beautiful hair, and slapped + the pale cheeks, which instantly reddened, and gave to the features such an expression of + unequivocal indignation, that the spectators, struck by the change of color, with loud + murmurs cried out for vengeance on barbarity so cowardly and atrocious. ‘It could not + be said,’ writes Dr. <span class="special_name">Sue</span>, a physician of the first eminence and authority in Paris, ‘that + the redness was caused by the blow, since no blow can ever recall any thing like color to + the cheeks of a corpse; beside, this blow was given on one cheek, and the other equally + reddened.’ Singular facts. Do they not militate against certain theories of ‘nervous sensation’ + recently promulgated in our philosophical circles? <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">Doesn’t</span> it sicken you, + reader, to hear a young lady use that common but horrid commercial metaphor, ‘<em>first-rate?</em>’ + ‘How did you like <span class="special_name">Castellan</span>, last evening, Miss <span class="special_name">Huggins</span>?’ ‘<em>Oh, first-rate!</em>’ ‘When + a girl makes use of this expression,’ writes an eastern friend, ‘I mutter inly,’ ‘Your pa’ sells + figs and salt-fish, I know he does.’ And it is all very well and proper, if he <em>does</em>; but for + the miserable compound itself, pray kill it dead in your Magazine! Hit it hard! By the + by, talking of odd phrases, hear this. A young Italian friend of mine, fresh from Sicily as + his own oranges, a well-educated, talented person, who has labored hard to get familiar + with English letters, and has read our authors, from <span class="special_name">Chaucer</span> downward, dilated thus on + the poets: ‘<span class="special_name">Po-pe</span> is very mosh like <span class="special_name">Horace</span>; I like him very mosh; but I tink <span class="special_name">Bir-ron</span> + was very sorry poet.’ ‘What!’ quoth I, ‘<span class="special_name">Byron</span> a sorry poet! I thought he was a favorite + with Italians?’ ‘Oh, yes; I adore him very mosh; I almost do admire him; but he was + very <em>sorry</em> poet.’ ‘How so? <span class="special_name">Byron</span> a sorry bard?’ ‘Oh, yes, very sorry; don’t you think + so? <i>molto triste</i>—very mel-<em>an</em>-choly; don’t you find him so? I always feel very sorry when + I read him. I think he’s far more sorry than <span class="special_name">Petrarca</span>; don’t you?’ This will remind + the reader of the very strong term used by a Frenchman, who on being asked at a soirée + what was the cause of his evident sadness, replied: ‘I av just hear my fader he die: <em>I</em> am + ver’ mosh <em>dissatisfied!</em>’ <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">We</span> shall <em>probably</em> find a place for the paper entitled ‘<i>Foreigners + in America</i>.’ The writer touches with a trenchant pen upon ‘the social abuses + which the first families in the metropolis tolerate at the hands of disreputable exquisites + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page304" name="page304"></a>304</span>and titled rascals.’ Nervous words, but not undeserved. ‘How much more rapidly a + fashionable foreigner will move in the high road of preferment than one of your thinking, + feeling, complex persons, in whom honor, integrity and reason make such a pother that no + step can be taken without consulting them!’ <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">We</span> have indulged in one or two sonorous + guffaws, and several of Mr. <span class="special_name">Cooper</span>’s ‘silent laughs,’ over the following ‘palpable hit’ + from a New-Jersey journal: ‘A talking-machine,’ says the ‘Newton Herald,’ ‘which + speaks passable French, capital English, and choice Italian, is now to be seen at New-York. + It is made of wood, brass, and gum-elastic.’ ‘A similar machine,’ adds the ‘Sussex + Register,’ ‘compounded of buckram, brass, and soap-locks, and familiarly called + ‘<span class="special_name">Green Josey</span>,’ is to be seen in Newton, at the Herald office; though we cannot say that + it speaks <em>any</em> language ‘passably.’ It frequently makes the attempt, however, and here is + one of its last ‘essays:’ ‘Gov. <span class="special_name">Gilmer</span> is understood to have had a standing <span class="special_name">cart-balance</span> + for any appointment under the present administration, which he might choose to <em>except</em>; + but he will not <em>except</em> an appointment of any kind under this administration.’ Isn’t that + ‘standing <em>cart-balance</em>’ rich? The usual phrase <em>carte-blanche</em>, which in the sentence quoted + might be rendered by ‘unconditional offer,’ is transmogrified into <em>cart-balance</em>! Among all + the blunders perpetrated by conceited ignorance in its attempts to <em>parley-voo</em>, this stands + unequalled. We have seen <em>hic jacet</em> turned into <em>his jacket</em>, in an obituary; that was a + trifle; but <span class="special_name">cart-balance</span> overcomes our gravity!’ So it does ours. The anecdote, to + adopt the reading of a kindred accomplished linguist whom we wot of, is a ‘capital <i>jesus-de-sprit</i>!’ + <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">The</span> beginning of ‘<span class="special_name">L.’s</span> ‘<i>Stanzas</i>’ is by no means unpromising; but + what a ‘lame and impotent conclusion!’</p> + + <div class="poem"> + <div class="stanza"> + <p>‘Lord <span class="special_name">Howe</span> he went out,</p> + <p>And <span class="special_name">Lord</span>! how he came in!’</p> + </div> + </div> + + <p>The third verse would do credit to <span class="special_name">Street</span>, so graphic and poetical are the rural images + introduced; but it runs into the fourth, a stanza ‘most tolerable, and not to be endured.’ + Our young friend may be assured that we shall <em>not</em> ‘regard with indifference’ any thing + from his pen that may fulfil the <em>promise</em> of the lines to which we allude. Na’theless, he + must ‘squeeze out more of his whey.’ <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">The</span> admirers of one of the most popular + contributors that this Magazine ever enjoyed, will be glad to meet with the following announcement:</p> + + <div class="quotation"> + <p>‘<span class="special_name">Burgess, Stringer and Company</span>, corner of Broadway and Ann-street, New-York, have in + press the Literary Remains of the late <span class="special_name">Willis Gaylord Clark</span>, including the <i>Ollapodiana Papers</i>, + with several other of his Prose Writings, not less esteemed by the public; including also his ‘<i>Spirit + of Life</i>,’ a choice but comprehensive selection from his Poetical Contributions to the Literature of + his Country; together with a Memoir: to be edited by his twin-brother, <span class="special_name">Lewis Gaylord Clark</span>, + Editor of the <span class="special_name">Knickerbocker</span> Magazine. The publishers do not consider it necessary for them to + enlarge upon the character of the writings which will compose the above volume. The series of + papers under the title of <i>Ollapodiana</i> will be remembered with admiration and pleasure, by readers + in every section of the United States. Their rich variety of subject; their alternate humor and + pathos; the one natural, quiet, and irresistibly laughable; the other warm from the heart, and touching + in its tenderness and beauty; won for them the cordial and unanimous praise of the press + throughout the Union, and frequent laudatory notices from the English journals. Reminiscences of + early days; expositions of the Ludicrous and the Burlesque, in amusing Anecdote; Limnings from + Nature; and ‘Records of the Heart,’ were among their prominent characteristics. It is not too + much to say of the other Prose Writings which the volume will contain, that although of a somewhat + different character, they are in no respect inferior to the <i>Ollapodiana</i>, in their power to awaken and + sustain interest. The <i>Poetical Writings</i> of Mr. <span class="special_name">Clark</span> are too well known to require comment. + They have long been thoroughly established in the national heart, and have secured for the writer an + enviable reputation abroad.’</p> + + </div> + + <p>The work will be embraced in four numbers, of ninety-six~pages each, stereotyped upon + new types in the best manner, and printed upon fine white paper; and the price will be + but twenty-five cents for each number. Need we ask the interest of our friends, of the + friends of the Departed, in behalf of the volume in question? <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">The</span> <span class="special_name">Italian Opera</span>, + at Sig. <span class="special_name">Palmo’s</span> new and beautiful temple in Chambers-street, has taken the town captive. + <i>I Puritani</i> was first produced, and to overflowing houses at each representation. <i>Belisario</i> + is now running a similar successful career. We shall have occasion in our next to advert + more at large to this very popular establishment, and to notice in detail the <em>artists</em> (with + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page305" name="page305"></a>305</span>and without the <em>e</em>) who compose its prominent attractions. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">Since</span> the direction + given by an afflicted widow to some humane persons who had found the body of her husband + in a mill-race, full of eels, ‘Take the eels up to the house, and <em>set him again</em>!’ we + have seen nothing more affecting than an anecdote of a widower at St. Louis, who, on + seeing the remains of his late wife lowered into the grave, exclaimed, with tears in his eyes: + ‘Well, I’ve lost sheep, and I’ve lost cows, but I never had any thing to cut me up like + this!’ As <span class="special_name">Carlyle</span> says, ‘his right arm, and spoon, and necessary of life’ had been taken + away, and he could not choose but weep. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">The</span> typographical error to which our + Natchez friend alludes was corrected in some two or three thousand sheets; hence we dispense + with his trifling errata. ‘I remember a clergyman in New-England,’ once wrote + an accomplished contributor to us, ‘that when ‘the rains descended and the floods came + and the winds blew,’ carried away in the pulpit in the height of his ardor the wrong house, + and left that <em>standing</em> that was built upon the sand. After the service was over I ventured + to observe to my uncle, Parson <span class="keep_together">C——</span>, (whose assistant had been preaching) that this seemed + to be a new reading to the parable, and that I wondered when Mr. <span class="keep_together">A——</span> had discovered + his error, as he did at the time of re-iteration, that he did not correct it. My uncle defended + his curate, and observed that if he had <em>then</em> corrected himself, he would have + carried away <em>both</em> houses, which was utterly in opposition to all Scripture. Part of the + audience, said he, were asleep; and many of the rest so drowsy that, so long as one of the + houses was taken off, the moral was enforced upon their perceptions as well by the one as + the other. If he had made a <em>thorough</em> correction, he would have roused the attention of + the whole parish, and nothing else would have been talked of for nine days. When a man + has made an error he had better let other people make a discovery; and this truth, my lad, + said he, you will understand better when you grow up.’ Let us conclude with an expression + of great force and newness: ‘Comment is unnecessary.’ <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> ‘<span class="first_word">T.N.P.’s</span> article, as + he will perceive, is anticipated by the initial paper in the present number. How does he + like the new definition of Transcendentalism: <i>Incomprehensibilityosityivityalityationmentnessism</i>?’ + To us, it seems ‘as clear as mud!’ <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">The</span> graceful ‘penciller’ of the ‘<i>New + Mirror</i>’ weekly journal copies the beautiful ‘<i>Lines to a Cloud</i>’ from our January number, + with the remark: ‘This <span class="special_name">Bryant</span>-like, finished and high-thoughted (‘a vile phrase’) poetry + was written by a young lady of seventeen, and is her first published production. She is + the daughter of one of our oldest and best families, resident on the Hudson. If the noon + be like the promise of the dawn of this pure intellect, we have here the beginning of a + brilliant fame.’ We think ‘<i>The two Pictures</i>,’ from the same pen, in our February issue + fully equal to the fair writer’s <i>coup-d’essai</i>. By the by, it would have been but simple + courtesy, as it strikes us, to have given the <span class="special_name">Knickerbocker</span> Magazine credit for the lines + in question. <span class="ed_table_break">•••</span> <span class="first_word">Numerous</span> articles in prose and verse are on file for insertion, touching + which we shall hope soon to have leisure to advise with the writers by letter.</p> + + </div> + + </div> + + <div class="ed_table_item"> + <p>‘<span class="ed_table_title">America Well Defended</span>’ would not be inappropriate as a true designation of a beautifully + printed pamphlet before us, from the press of Mr. <span class="special_name">Benjamin H. Greene</span>, Boston, containing a ‘Letter + to a Lady in France on the supposed Failure of a National Bank, the supposed Delinquency of the + National Government, the Debts of the several States, and Repudiation: with Answers to Inquiries + concerning the Books of Capt. <span class="special_name">Marryat</span> and Mr. <span class="special_name">Dickens</span>.’ We have read this production with warm + admiration of its calm and dignified style, the grouping and invariable <em>pertinence</em> of its facts and arguments; + and the absence of every thing which savors of <em>retaliatory</em> spirit, in its animadversions upon + the misrepresentations of the United States by the English press. Expositions are offered of the + character of the old United States’ Bank, as contradistinguished from the ‘United States’ Bank of + Pennsylvania;’ of the origin and nature of our public debts, national as well as of the separate States, + etc. The themes of love of money, gravity of manners, of slavery, lynch-law, mobs, etc., are next + considered; and the pamphlet concludes with some remarks upon the strength of our government, + general results of our experiment, and our growing attachment to the Union. The author we understand + <span class="pagenum"><a id="page306" name="page306"></a>306</span>to be Mr. <span class="special_name">Thomas G. Cary</span>, a distinguished merchant, who has brought the observation and + knowledge of a <em>practical</em> life in aid of his reasoning, throughout his pamphlet. It has passed, we are + glad to learn, to a speedy second edition; and we cannot but hope that it may be re-published in England. + It could not fail to produce great good, in the rectification of gross errors in relation to this + country.</p> + </div> + + <div class="ed_table_item"> + <p><span class="ed_table_title">Parley’s Cabinet Library.</span>—In this work Mr. <span class="special_name">Goodrich</span> proposes to furnish the public with + forty numbers, at twenty-five cents each, of biographical, historical and miscellaneous sketches, designed + for the family circle, and especially for youth. The first two numbers consist of the lives of + famous men of modern times; as <span class="special_name">Scott</span>, <span class="special_name">Byron</span>, <span class="special_name">Bonaparte</span>, <span class="special_name">Burns</span>, <span class="special_name">Burke</span>, <span class="special_name">Goethe</span>, <span class="special_name">Johnson</span>, + <span class="special_name">Milton</span>, <span class="special_name">Shakspeare</span>, <span class="first_word">Bacon</span>, etc. The next two numbers are devoted to famous men of ancient + times; as <span class="first_word">Cæsar</span>, <span class="special_name">Hannibal</span>, <span class="special_name">Cicero</span>, <span class="special_name">Alexander</span>, <span class="special_name">Plato</span>, etc. The fifth and sixth numbers contain + the ‘Curiosities of Human Nature,’ as <span class="special_name">Zera Colburn</span>, <span class="first_word">Caspar Hauser</span>, etc. The seventh and + eighth contain the lives of benefactors: as <span class="special_name">Washington</span>, <span class="special_name">Franklin</span>, <span class="special_name">Howard</span>, <span class="special_name">Fulton</span>, <span class="special_name">Bowditch</span>, + etc. We notice also, in the biographical series, the lives of celebrated Indians and celebrated women. + The historical sketches will present a series of striking pictures, illustrative of the history of the + four quarters of the globe. The miscellaneous department will embrace arts, sciences, manners and + customs of nations, a view of the world and its inhabitants, etc., etc. The intention of the author is + to furnish a library of twenty volumes, devoted to the most interesting portions of human knowledge, + with the design of rendering their subjects interesting and attractive to the general reader. Several + of the numbers are now issued; and judging from these, we are happy to give the work our hearty + approbation. The sketches will not be found to be <em>mere</em> sketches, drawn from cyclopedias: the author + has evidently gone to the original sources, and culled with care the most interesting points on + each subject. A contemporary expresses surprise that he has been able to say so much that is striking, + just and new, in so brief a space; a praise in which we fully concur. The work entitled ‘Curiosities + of Human Nature’ is one of the deepest interest, and is calculated to suggest profound reflections as + to the capacities of the human mind. The two numbers devoted to the American Indians, as well as + other volumes, present a good deal of new and curious matter. The life of <span class="special_name">Jetau</span>, the Indian <span class="special_name">Voltaire</span>, + is very striking. The Benefactors will be read with gratification by every one who loves to + dwell upon the actions of those who have been great in doing good. The moral tendency of these + works is excellent, and they may be read with pleasure as well as profit by old and young. They are + happily adapted to the family as well as the school-library; and we are glad to know that they have + been adopted for the latter purpose in some of our principal cities. They will constitute a wholsome + check upon, as well as an agreeable substitute for, most of the trashy and pernicious literature that is + now so freely poured upon the public. Mr. <span class="special_name">John Allen</span>, at the office of the <span class="special_name">Knickerbocker</span>, is + the agent for this city.</p> + </div> + + <div class="ed_table_item"> + <p>‘<span class="ed_table_title">Wonders of the Heavens.</span>’—A superb large quarto volume has recently been put forth by + Messrs. <span class="special_name">Robert P. Bixby and Company</span>, entitled, ‘The Wonders of the Heavens: being a Popular + View of Astronomy, including a full Illustration of the Mechanism of the Heavens; embracing + the Sun, Moon, and Stars, with descriptions of the planets, comets, fixed stars, double-stars, the constellations, + the galaxy or milky way, the zodiacal light, aurora-borealis or northern-lights, meteors, + clouds, falling-stars, aërolites, etc.; illustrated by numerous maps and engravings.’ We cannot too + highly commend this volume to our readers. The author, Mr. <span class="special_name">Duncan Bradford</span>, has kept constantly + in view one object, viz: to make his subject plain and interesting to the people. Instead of + mingling mathematics with his great theme, to such an extent as to alarm the neophyte at the very + threshold of the temple of astronomy, he has with a wise judgment selected from the best works, + including the latest, those parts that were least encumbered with the abstruse and the unintelligible; + and the illustrations serve to make his sublime teachings still more clear.</p> + </div> + + <div class="ed_table_item"> + <p><span class="ed_table_title">Rogers’ Poems.</span>—We have not seen a more beautiful volume for a twelvemonth than the new + illustrated edition of ‘Poems by <span class="special_name">Samuel Rogers</span>, with revisions and additions by the author,’ recently + issued by Messrs. <span class="special_name">Lea and Blanchard</span>, Philadelphia. It is indeed in all respects an <em>exquisite</em> + work; being printed upon the finest drawing-paper, with a large clear type, and illustrated with ten + engravings on steel, from paintings by the very first artists in England. The volume opens with the + ‘Pleasures of Memory,’ and contains every thing from the author’s pen which his maturest consideration + has deemed most worthy of preservation. We cordially commend this admirable work to the + attention of every reader of the <span class="special_name">Knickerbocker</span> to whom it may be accessible.</p> + + </div> + </div> + <div id="footnotes"> + <h2 class="title">Footnotes</h2> + <ol class="fnlist"> + <li><p id="fn1"><span class="returnFN"><a href="#fnm1">Return to text</a></span><span class="first_word">Men</span> who are yearly selected by the inhabitants to superintend the business of the town, and who, among other duties, have the charge of managing the poor.</p></li> + <li><p id="fn2"><span class="returnFN"><a href="#fnm2">Return to text</a></span><span class="greek_text" title="Entha de Nuktos paides eremnês oiki echousin, Hypnos kai Thanatos, k. t. l.">Ενθα δὲ Îυκτὸς παῖδες á¼Ïεμνῆς οἰκί' ἔχουσιν, á½Ï€Î½Î¿Ï‚ καὶ Θάνατος, κ. Ï„. λ.</span> <span class="special_name">Hes. Theog.</span> 1. 758, etc.</p></li> + <li><p id="fn3"><span class="returnFN"><a href="#fnm3">Return to text</a></span>Observe the order of collocation in <span class="special_name">Genesis i</span>: 5. ‘And the <span class="small_all_caps">EVENING</span> and the <span class="small_all_caps">MORNING</span> were the first day.’</p></li> + <li><p id="fn4"><span class="returnFN"><a href="#fnm4">Return to text</a></span>‘<span class="first_word">When</span> the morning stars sang together,’ etc. <span class="first_word">Job: xxxviii.</span>, 7. In the same chapter observe the astonishing boldness of scripture personification, and the unequalled pomp of oriental imagery.</p></li> + <li><p id="fn5"><span class="returnFN"><a href="#fnm5">Return to text</a></span><span class="first_word">This</span> line is from one of <span class="first_word">Grimke’s</span> polished and most scholar-like orations.</p></li> + <li><p id="fn6"><span class="returnFN"><a href="#fnm6">Return to text</a></span><span class="first_word">See</span> ‘<a href="#legends" title="Go to the Editor's Table item">Editor’s Table</a>’ of the present number.</p></li> + <li><p id="fn7"><span class="returnFN"><a href="#fnm7">Return to text</a></span>From the minute account of the good friar, drawn from the ancient chronicles, it would appear that the walls of the tower were pictured in mosaic work.</p></li> + + + </ol> + </div><!-- footnotes --> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly +Magazine, March 1844, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KNICKERBOCKER *** + +***** This file should be named 20444-h.htm or 20444-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/4/4/20444/ + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://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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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: Knickerbocker, or New-York Monthly Magazine, March 1844 + Volume 23, Number 3 + +Author: Various + +Editor: Lewis Gaylord Clark + +Release Date: January 25, 2007 [EBook #20444] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK KNICKERBOCKER *** + + + + +Produced by Barbara Tozier, Bill Tozier and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + T H E K N I C K E R B O C K E R. + +VOL. XXIII. MARCH, 1844. NO. 3. + + + + +WHAT IS TRANSCENDENTALISM? + +BY A THINKING MAN. + + +This question has often been asked but seldom answered satisfactorily. +Newspaper editors and correspondents have frequently attempted a practical +elucidation of the mystery, by quoting from their own brains the rarest +piece of absurdity which they could imagine, and entitling it +'Transcendentalism.' One good hit of this kind may be well enough, by way +of satire upon the fogginess of certain writers who deem themselves, and +are deemed by the multitude, transcendental _par excellence_. COLERIDGE +however thought that to parody stupidity by way of ridiculing it, only +proves the parodist more stupid than the original blockhead. Still, one +such attempt may be tolerated; but when imitators of the parodist arise +and fill almost every newspaper in the country with similar witticisms, +such efforts become 'flat and unprofitable;' for nothing is easier than to +put words together in a form which conveys no meaning to the reader. It is +a cheap kind of wit, asinine rather than attic, and can be exercised as +well by those who know nothing of the subject as by those best acquainted +with it. Indeed, it is greatly to be doubted whether one in a hundred of +these witty persons know any thing of the matter; for if they possess +sense enough to make them worthy of being ranked among reasonable men, it +could be proved to them in five minutes that they are themselves +transcendentalists, as all thinking men find themselves compelled to be, +whether they know themselves by that name or not. + +'Poh!' said a friend, looking over my shoulder; 'you can't prove _me_ a +transcendentalist; I defy you to do it; I despise the name.' + +Why so? Let us know what it is that you despise. Is it the sound of the +word? Is it not sufficiently euphonious? Does it not strike your ear as +smoothly as Puseyite, or Presbyterian? + +'Nonsense!' said he; 'you don't suppose I am to be misled by the sound of +a word; it is the meaning to which I object. I despise transcendentalism; +therefore I do not wish to be called transcendentalist.' + +Very well; but we shall never 'get ahead' unless you define +transcendentalism according to your understanding of the word. + +'That request is easily made, but not easily complied with. Have you +Carlyle or Emerson at hand?' + +Here I took down a volume of each, and read various sentences and +paragraphs therefrom. These passages are full of transcendental ideas; do +you object to them? + +'No,' said my friend; 'for aught I can perceive, they might have been +uttered by any one who was _not_ a transcendentalist. Let me see the +books.' + +After turning over the leaves a long while, he selected and read aloud a +passage from Carlyle, one of his very worst; abrupt, nervous, jerking, and +at the same time windy, long-drawn-out, and parenthetical; a period +filling a whole page. + +'There,' said he, stopping to take breath, 'if that is not enough to +disgust one with transcendentalism, then I know nothing of the matter.' + +A very sensible conclusion. Bless your soul, that is _Carlyle-ism_, not +transcendentalism. You said but now that you were not to be misled by the +sound of a word; and yet you are condemning a principle on account of the +bad style of a writer who is supposed to be governed by it. Is that right? +Would you condemn Christianity because of the weaknesses and sins of one +of its professors? + +'Of course not,' replied he; 'I wish to be fair. I cannot express my idea +of the meaning of transcendentalism without tedious circumlocution, and I +begin to despair of proving my position by quotations. It is not on any +particular passage that I rest my case. You have read this work, and will +understand me when I say that it is to its general intent and spirit that +I object, and not merely to the author's style.' + +I think I comprehend you. You disregard the mere form in which the author +expresses his thoughts; you go beyond and behind that, and judge him by +the thoughts themselves; not by one or by two, but by the sum and +_substance_ of the whole. You strip off the husk to arrive at the kernel, +and judge of the goodness of the crop by the latter, not the former. + +'Just so,' said he; 'that's my meaning precisely. I always strive to +follow that rule in every thing. 'Appearances,' you know, 'are +deceitful.'' + +That is to say, you go beyond or transcend appearances and circumstances, +and divine the true meaning, the substance, the spirit of that on which +you are about to decide. That is practical transcendentalism, and you are +a transcendentalist. + +'I wish you would suggest another name for it,' said my friend, as he went +out of the door; 'I detest the sound of that word.' + +I wish we could, said I, but he was out of hearing; I wish we could, for +it is an abominably long word to write. + +'I wish we could,' mutters the printer, 'for it is an awfully long word to +print.' + +'I wish we could,' is the sober second thought of all; for people will +always condemn transcendentalism until it is called by another name. Such +is the force of prejudice. + +'I have been thinking over our conversation of yesterday,' said my friend +next morning, on entering my room. + +'Oh, you have been writing it down, have you? Let me see it.' After +looking over the sketch, he remarked: + +'You _seem_ to have me fast enough, but after all I believe you conquered +merely by playing upon a word, and in proving me to be a transcendentalist +you only proved me to be a reasonable being; one capable of perceiving, +remembering, combining, comparing and deducing; one who, amid the apparent +contradictions with which we are surrounded, strives to reconcile +appearances and discover principles; and from the outward and visible +learn the inward and spiritual; in fine, arrive at truth. Now every +reasonable man claims to be all that I have avowed myself to be. If this +is to be a transcendentalist, then I am one. When I read that I must hate +my father and mother before I can be a disciple of JESUS, I do not +understand that passage literally; I call to mind other precepts of +CHRIST; I remember the peculiarities of eastern style; I compare these +facts together, and deduce therefrom a very different principle from that +apparently embodied in the passage quoted. When I see the Isle of Shoals +doubled, and the duplicates reversed in the air above the old familiar +rocks, I do not, as I stand on Rye-beach, observing the interesting +phenomenon, believe there are two sets of islands there; but recalling +facts which I have learned, and philosophical truths which I have acquired +and verified, I attribute the appearance to its true cause, refraction of +light. When in passing from room to room in the dark, with my arms +outspread, I run my nose against the edge of a door, I do not therefrom +conclude that my nose is longer than my arms! When I see a man stumble in +the street, I do not at once set him down as a drunkard, not considering +that to be sufficient evidence, although some of our Washingtonian friends +do; but I compare that fact with the state of the streets, and what I know +of his previous life, and judge accordingly.' + +Well, said I, you are an excellent transcendentalist; one after my own +heart, in morals, philosophy and religion. To be a transcendentalist is +after all to be _only_ a sensible, unprejudiced man, open to conviction at +all times, and spiritually-minded. I can well understand that, when you +condemn transcendentalism, you object not to the principle, but to the +practice, in the superlative degree, of that principle. Transcendentalism +is but an abstract mode of considering morals, philosophy, religion; an +application of the principles of abstract science to these subjects. All +metaphysicians are transcendentalists, and every one is transcendental so +far as he is metaphysical. There are as many different modifications of +the one as of the other, and probably no two transcendentalists ever +thought alike; their creed is not yet written. You certainly do not +condemn spiritualism, but ultra spiritualism you seem to abhor. + +'Precisely so. I did not yesterday give you the meaning which I attached +to transcendentalism; in truth, practically you meant one thing by that +term, and I another, though I now see that in principle they are the same. +The spiritualism which I like, looks through nature and revelation up to +GOD; that which I abhor, condescends hardly to make use of nature at all, +but demands direct converse with GOD, and declares that it enjoys it too; +a sort of continual and _immediate_ revelation. Itself is its own +authority. The ultra-spiritualist contains within himself the fulness of +the Godhead. He allows of nothing external, unless it be brother spirits +like himself. He has abolished nature, and to the uninitiated seems to +have abolished GOD himself, although I am charitable enough to believe +that he has full faith in GOD, after his own fashion. He claims to be +inspired; to be equal to JESUS; nay superior; for one of them lately said: +'Greater is the container than the contained, therefore I am greater than +GOD, for I contain God!' The ultra-spiritualist believes only _by_ and +_through_ and _in_ his own inward light. Let him take care, as Carlyle +says, that his own contemptible tar-link does not, by being held too near +his eyes, extinguish to him the sun of the universe. Now the true +spiritualist makes use not only of his own moral and religious instincts, +but all that can be gathered by the senses from external nature, and all +that can be acquired by untiring consultation with the sages who have gone +before him; and from these materials in the alembic of his mind, with such +power as GOD has given him, he distils truth.' + +Truth! Ah, that is the very point in question. 'What is truth?' has been +the ardent inquiry of every honest mind from the days of Adam to the +present time, and the sneering demand of many an unbeliever. Eve sought it +when she tasted the forbidden fruit. But since then, thank GOD! no +prohibition has been uttered against the search after truth, and mankind +have improved their liberty with great industry for six thousand years; +and what is the result? Is truth discovered? How much? and how much of +falsehood is mixed up with what _is_ known to be true? These questions are +constantly suggesting themselves to thinkers, and to answer them is the +labor of their lives. Let them have free scope, ultra-spiritualists and +all. Even these latter go through the same operation which you have just +claimed to be peculiar to the true spiritualist. All do, whether they will +or not, make use of observation, learning, and the inward light. Some +arrive at one result, and some at another, because the elements differ in +each. If any two could be found whose external observations, learning, +intellect and inward light or instincts were precisely equal in volume and +proportion, can it be doubted that these two would arrive at precisely +similar results? But they are _not_ equal; and so one comes to believe in +external authority, and the other refers every thing to a standard which +he thinks he finds within himself. The latter is deemed by the public to +be a representative of pure transcendentalism, and he is condemned +accordingly as self-sufficient. + +And privately, between you and me, my good friend, I cannot help thinking +it rather ungrateful in him, after becoming so deeply indebted to his +senses, to books, and the Bible for his spiritual education, to turn round +and despise these means of advancement, and declare that they are mere +non-essential _circumstances_, and that a man may reach the same end by +studying himself _in_ himself. It is as if a man should use a ladder to +reach a lofty crag, and then kick it over contemptuously, and aver that he +could just as well have flown up, and ask the crowd below to break up that +miserable ladder and try their wings. Doubtless they _have_ wings, if they +only knew it. But seriously, I am not inclined to join in the hue-and-cry +against even the ultra-transcendentalist. He has truth mixed up with what +I esteem objectionable, and some truth to which others have not attained; +and as I deem the eclectic the only true mode of philosophy, I am willing +to take truth where I can find it, whether in China or Boston, in +Confucius or Emerson, Kant or Cousin, the Bible or the Koran; and though I +have more reverence for one of these sources than all others, it is only +because I think I find there the greatest amount of truth, sanctioned by +the highest authority. To put the belief in the Bible on any other ground, +is to base it on educational prejudice and superstition; on which +principle the Koran should be as binding on the Mahometan as the Bible on +us. Do we not all finally resort to _ourselves_ in order to decide a +difficult question in morals or religion? and is not the decision more or +less correct accordingly as we refer it to the better or to the baser +portion of our nature? + +'Most certainly! I have often said I would not and could not believe in +the Bible, if it commanded us to worship Sin and leave our passions +unbridled.' + +Well said! And in so saying, you acknowledge yourself to be governed by +the same principle which actuates the ultra-transcendentalist; the moral +sense or instinct, similar to the 'inward light' of the Friends. After +all, I apprehend the true point in which men differ is, whether this moral +sense is really an instinct, or whether it is evolved and put in operation +by education. How much is due to nature? is the true question. But to +solve it, is important only theoretically, for practically we all act +alike; we cannot, if we would, separate the educational from the natural +moral sense; we cannot _uneducate_ it, and then judge by it, freed from +all circumstantial bias. But whether more or less indebted either to +nature or education, it is to this moral and religious sense that the +ultra-transcendentalist refers every question, and passes judgment +according to its verdict. It is sometimes rather vaguely called the 'Pure +Reason;' but that is only a _term_, hardly a 'mouthful of articulate +wind.' + +'You and I shall agree very well together, I see,' replied my friend. 'If +we dispute at all, it will be foolishly about the meaning of a word. All +the world have been doing that ever since the confusion of tongues at +Babel. That great event prophetically shadowed forth the future; for now, +as then, the confusion and disputation is greatest when we are striving +most earnestly to reach heaven by our earth-built contrivances. We may +draw a lesson therefrom; not to be too aspiring for our means; for our +inevitable failure only makes us the more ridiculous, the higher the +position we seem to have attained.' + +Very true; but we should never arrive at the height of wisdom, which +consists in knowing our own ignorance and weakness, unless we made full +trial of our powers. The fall of which you speak should give us a modesty +not to be otherwise obtained, and make us very careful how we ridicule +others, seeing how open to it we ourselves are. Every man may build his +tower of Babel, and if he make a right use of his failure, may in the end +be nearer heaven than if he had never made the attempt. Ridicule is no +argument, and should only be used by way of a _jeu d'esprit_, and never on +solemn subjects. It is very hard, I know, for one who has mirthfulness +strongly developed, to restrain himself on all occasions; and what is +solemn to one may not be so to another; hence we should be very charitable +to all; alike to the bigots, the dreamers, and the laughers; to the +builders of theoretic Babel-towers, and the grovellers on the low earth. + +'There is one kind of transcendentalism,' replied my friend, 'which you +have not noticed particularly, which consists in believing in nothing +except the spiritual existence of the unbeliever himself, and hardly that. +It believes not in the external world at all.' + +If you are on _that_ ground, I have done. To talk of that, would be +wasting our time on nothing; or 'our eternity,' for with that sect time is +altogether a delusion. It _may_ be true, but the believer, even in the act +of declaring his faith, must practically prove himself persuaded of the +falsity of his doctrine. + +'You wanted a short name for transcendentalism; if a long one will make +_this_ modification of it more odious, let us call it +_Incomprehensibilityosityivityalityationmentnessism_.' + +My friend said this with a face nearly as long as the word, made a low +bow, and departed. I took my pen and reduced our conversation to writing. +I hope by this time the reader has a very lucid answer to give to the +question, _What is Transcendentalism?_ It will be a miracle if he can see +one inch farther into the fog-bank than before. I should like to take back +the boast made in the beginning of this paper, that I could prove in five +minutes any reasonable man a transcendentalist. My friend disconcerted my +plan of battle, by taking command of the enemy's forces, instead of +allowing me to marshal them on paper to suit myself; and so a mere +friendly joust ensued, instead of the utter demolition of my adversary, +which I had intended. + +And this little circumstance has led me to think, what a miserable +business controversialists would make of it, if each had his opponent +looking over his shoulder, pointing out flaws in his arguments, suggesting +untimely truths, and putting every possible impediment in the path of his +logic; and if, moreover, he were obliged to mend every flaw, prove every +such truth a falsehood, and remove every impediment before he could +advance a step. Were such the case, how much less would there be of +fine-spun theory and specious argument; how much more of practical truth! +Always supposing the logical combatants did not lose their patience and +resort to material means and knock-down arguments; of which, judging by +the spirit sometimes manifested in theological controversies, there would +really seem to be some danger. Oh! it is a very easy thing to sit in one's +study and demolish an opponent, who after all is generally no opponent at +all, but only a man of straw, dressed up for the occasion with a few +purposely-tattered shreds of the adversary's cast-off garments. + + * * * * * + +NOTE BY THE 'FRIEND.'--The foregoing is a _correct_ sketch of our +conversations, especially as the reporter has, like his congressional +brother, corrected most of the bad grammar, and left out some of the +vulgarisms and colloquialisms, and given me the better side of the +argument in the last conversation; it is _very_ correct. But it seems to +me that the question put at the commencement is as far from being solved +as ever. It is as difficult to be answered as the question, What is +Christianity? to which every sect will return a different reply, and each +prove all the others wrong. + +_Portsmouth, (N. H.)_ J. K. Jr. + + + + +LINES SENT WITH A BOUQUET. + +BY PARK BENJAMIN. + + + I. + + I've read in legends old of men + Who hung up fruits and flowers + Before the altar-shrines of those + They called Superior Powers: + It was, I think, a blessed thought + That things so pure and sweet + Should be esteemed an offering + For gods and angels meet. + + + II. + + I imitate that charming rite + In this our sober day, + And, when I worship, strew sweet flowers + Along my angel's way: + And, if my heart's fond prayer be heard, + The offering I renew; + For flowers like books have leaves that speak, + And thoughts of every hue. + + + III. + + They are Love's paper, pictured o'er + With gentle hopes and fears; + Their blushes are the smiles of Love, + And their soft dew his tears! + Ah! more than poet's pen can write + Or poet's tongue reveal + Is hidden by their folded buds + And by their rosy seal. + + + IV. + + Mute letters! yet how eloquent! + Expressive silence dwells + In every blossom Heaven creates, + Like sound in ocean shells. + Press to my flowers thy lips, beloved, + And then thy heart will see + Inscribed upon their leaves the words + I dare not breathe to thee! + + + + +THE ALMS HOUSE. + +BY A NEW CONTRIBUTOR. + + +It is not my purpose in the following narrative to point out all the evils +arising from the modern practice of relieving the wants of the poor and +destitute which prevails in this country and in England, where the arm of +the law compels that pittance which should be the voluntary donation of +benevolence; one consequence of which system is, that the poor claim +support as a _debt_ due from society at large, and feel no gratitude +toward any of the individuals paying the tax. The payer of the tax, on the +other hand, feeling that he can claim no merit for surrendering that which +is wrung from him by force, and expecting no thanks for the act, and +knowing that in many cases it operates as a bounty on idleness, hates the +ungrateful burthen thus imposed upon him, and strives to reduce it to the +least possible amount. In this way the ties which should bind together the +poor and the rich are sundered. The benevolence of the patron and the +gratitude of the dependent, which formerly existed, is changed to dislike +and suspicion on the one part, and envy and ingratitude on the other. + +Doubtless one design of Providence in suffering want and misery to exist +in the world, is that the benevolent virtues should be kept in exercise. +He who was benevolence itself, seemed thus to think, when he said: 'The +poor ye have always with you.' But man in his selfishness virtually says: +'The poor we will not have with us; we will put them out of our sight.' +For in many towns in New-England, and probably in other States, it is +customary to contract with some individual for their support; or, in other +words, to sell them by auction, to him who will support them by the year, +for the least sum per head. To illustrate some of the results of this +system, the following incidents are related from memory, having been +witnessed by me in my native place (an interior town in New-England) at an +age when the feelings are most susceptible. And so deep was the impression +then made on my mind, that I am enabled to vouch for the accuracy of the +details. + +A meeting for the purpose of disposing of the poor of the town for the +ensuing year was held at the house of the person who had kept them the +previous year, (and where these unfortunates still were) as well because +it was supposed he would again bid for them, as that those who wished to +become competitors might ascertain their number and condition. It was in +the afternoon of a day in November, one of those dark and dreary days so +common to the season and climate, adding gloom to the surrounding objects, +in themselves sufficiently cheerless. The house was situated on an obscure +road in a remote part of the town, surrounded by level and sandy fields; +and the monotony of the prospect only broken by scattered clumps of +dwarf-pine and shrub-oak; a few stunted apple-trees, the remains of an +orchard which the barren soil had refused to nourish; some half ruinous +out-houses, and a meagre kitchen garden enclosed with a common rough +fence, completed the picture without. + +Still more depressing was the scene within. The paupers were collected in +the same room with their more fortunate townsmen, that the bidders might +be enabled to view more closely their condition, and estimate the probable +expense of supporting them through the year. Many considerations entered +as items into this sordid calculation; such as the very lowest amount of +the very coarsest food which would suffice, (not to keep them in comfort, +but to sustain their miserable existence for the next three hundred and +sixty-five days, and yet screen the provider from the odium of having +starved his victims,) the value of the clothes they then wore, and thus +the future expense of their clothing; and other such considerations, which +I will not farther disgust the reader by enumerating. + +They were about twenty in number, and not greatly distinguished from the +ordinary poor of a country town in New-England; unless by there being +present three idiot daughters of one poor man, whose low and narrow +foreheads, sunken temples, fixed but dead and unmeaning eyes, half opened +and formless mouths, indicating even to childhood the absence of that +intellectual light, which in those who possess it shines through the +features. Insanity also was there, that most dreadful infliction of +Providence; the purpose of which lies hidden in the darkness which +surrounds His throne. Its unhappy subject was with them, but not of them. +His eyes were fixed upon the scene, but the uncertain fire which illumined +his features was caused by thoughts which had no connection with the +passing scene. + +Vice, too, had its representatives; for in a community where wealth is +nearly the only source of distinction, and where Mammon is consequently +worshipped as the true god, the destiny of the unfortunate and of the +vicious is nearly the same. And the 'poor-house' was used, as in other +towns in New-England, as a house of correction, and at this time contained +several professors of vice of each sex. Alas! of that sex which when +corrupt is more dangerous than the other in a like condition, as the most +rich and grateful things are in their decay the most noxious! + +The remaining number consisted of the aged and childless widow, the infirm +and friendless old man, the sick, the deformed, and the cripple; the +virtuous poor, in forced and loathed contact with vice and infamy. Those +of society who in life's voyage had been stranded on the bleak and barren +coast of charity, and who were now waiting for death to float them into +the ocean of eternity. While this scene was passing at the alms-house, +another connected with it, and fitted to excite still deeper feelings, was +acting in another part of the town. + +A person who was that year one of the select-men,[1] and a deacon in the +church, was delegated by his colleagues to bring to the alms-house the +'lone woman' who forms the chief subject of our homely story. The widow +Selden (a brief history of whom it will be necessary to give) had received +an education suited rather to the respectability and former wealth of her +family, than to its subsequent reduced condition, became in early life the +wife of a merchant of our village, a man of good character and fair +prospects, to whom she was much attached. Traders in New-England where +wealth is so eagerly sought, are, especially in country towns, men of much +consideration, as engaged in a money-making business. Mrs. Selden, +therefore, independently of her personal merits, was not likely to be +neglected. Her company was sought by the best society of our place, and +she exchanged visits on equal terms even with the families of the +clergyman and the village lawyer. + + [1] Men who are yearly selected by the inhabitants to superintend + the business of the town, and who, among other duties, have + the charge of managing the poor. + +A few years of quiet enjoyment passed, happily varied by the accession of +a fair and delicate little girl, who might be seen at their cheerful meals +seated in her high chair, the common object of their care and attention; +and not only affording in her fragile little person the strongest bond of +union, but the never-tiring subject of conversation. Sad indeed was the +change in this once happy family, when the widow and orphan sat alone at +the cheerless board. Death had entered and taken from them the sun of +their little world. The bereaved wife might have sunk under this calamity, +had not maternal solicitude been mixed with grief. With that admirable +fortitude and submission to duty so common to those of her sex in similar +circumstances, she at once devoted herself with increased solicitude to +the remaining object of her care and affection. + +For a time but little change was visible in the family arrangements, for +though a sensitive she was a spirited woman. Her garden, which had been +the pride and delight of her husband, still flourished in perfect +neatness. After the usual time of decent seclusion, she again interchanged +visits with her friends and neighbors, and continued to maintain the stand +in the village society which had always been conceded to her. But this +state of things did not long continue, for alas! the _gathering_ as well +as the _protecting_ hand was removed. Her more aristocratic acquaintances +now began to remark that her table showed less of plenty and variety than +formerly, and that her dress, though perfectly neat, was less new and +fashionable than they expected in _their_ associates; for no where is the +distinction between the rich and poor more rigidly enforced than in +country villages. Most offensively marked is this distinction in the house +of God, where if any where this side the grave ought the rich and the poor +to meet on a level, before Him who regards not the outward estate of his +creatures. But modern Christians have contrived to evade the rebuke of the +apostle by the cunning device of introducing the noisy auctioneer, and +under a show of fairness and equality, 'the man in goodly apparel and +having a gold ring' is assigned the highest seat; and albeit a skeptic, by +the weight of his purse crowds the humble worshippers to the wall and into +the corners of their Father's house. + +It was observed that the lone woman declined competition for those seats +so eagerly sought by the more wealthy, and selected those of a humbler +character, and eventually retired to the 'widow's pew,' a pew set apart, +in country churches, for the gratuitous accommodation of those in that +unhappy condition. Sincerely religious, the Christian widow still waited +upon God in the house of prayer, but felt the whole sting of poverty when +slowly and humbly wending her way to her obscure corner, her faded and +well-worn dress was brushed by the new and rich garments of her former +equals as they swept past her to their high seats. The neat and handsome +dwelling with its trim garden was at length resigned for one which barely +sheltered the mother and child from the weather, and was totally devoid of +the cheap luxury of fruit and flowers which had enriched and beautified +their former home. + +Time wore on, and Want with its train of sordid attendants visited their +dwelling. Her former associates, one after another declined her society as +an equal. Occasionally calling, they were eloquent in excuses for their +neglect; for when did the prosperous lack an excuse for neglecting the +unfortunate? Counsel and advice were lavished upon her; for I have +observed that advice is the only thing that the rich impart freely to the +poor. Religion too was the frequent subject of their conversation; for how +can benevolence be shown more strongly than by a concern for the +well-being of the soul, which is to exist forever, in comparison with +which, the transient wants of the body are as nothing? Accordingly, the +poor widow, after her scanty meal, and over her dim and cheerless hearth, +was exhorted by her fur-clad and well-fed _friends_, to disregard the +evils of this fleeting life, and receive with resignation the chastenings +of Providence; for we all needed correction, being by nature utterly +sinful and depraved. And after some vague and indefinite offers of +assistance, the good women would take their leave. A way of discharging +duty discovered by modern philanthropists; and when accompanied by the +Societies' tract, seldom fails to convince the unfortunate object of +charity that to Heaven alone should they look for assistance and sympathy. + +This lady, as we have intimated, possessed a large share of that generous +spirit so common in her sex, which enabled her to sustain herself amid the +evils which oppressed her. And nobly did the mother strive to shield from +want and ignorance the little orphan, now her only care. Her own education +enabled her in some measure to supply the place of teachers, which she was +unable to employ. And never was maternal care better rewarded than by the +improvement of the gentle being under her charge. But in this blessed +employment the poor mother was interrupted. While health continued, she +had been enabled by the most unremitted exertion to prevent the approach +of absolute want, slight indeed as were her earnings. (The modern +improvements in machinery having destroyed domestic manufacture, properly +so called, and left but little for the female to earn who is not attending +its motions in the noisy factory.) But illness had intervened, and +diminished even that small resource; and it was apparent to all that the +want of suitable food assisted in blanching still more the fair face of +the poor child. Maternal love had conquered the honest pride of the poor +mother so far as to constrain her to accept the slight and uncertain +donations of her neighbors. But this assistance, scanty as it was, could +not continue. The tax-paying husbands of the benevolent ladies who +furnished it, complained that the poor-rates were heavy, and that they had +already helped to pay for a house of refuge for the poor and the +destitute, could not, in addition to this, support them out of it. + +She was told it was her duty to place her daughter in some family to be +brought up as a servant. In vain did she assert her ability to maintain +herself and child when health should return. Her advisers could little +sympathize with her feelings, and reproached her with pride. And she was +now harassed with the fear that her delicate and cultivated little girl +would be torn from her, and made a factory slave or household drudge; for +such power had the laws given to the rulers of the town. But this fear, +miserable as it was, was now overpowered by another. The suggestion had +reached the ear of the unhappy woman that she and her child would be +conveyed to the house of the town's poor, the place we have attempted to +describe. God grant that no fair reader of this homely but too true story +should ever feel the misery which this fear inflicted on the mind of this +friendless mother! Oh, that true Charity had been present in the person of +her best representative on earth, a sensible, affectionate and +liberal-minded woman, to minister to the wants, to soothe the mind of her +unhappy sister-woman, and cheer her exertions for self-support! None such +appeared, and the heart of the poor woman sank within her. Her exertions +were paralyzed; for struggle as she might to avoid it, the alms-house, +with its debased and debasing society, was ever before her eyes as her +ultimate destiny. It was in vain that she endeavored to prepare her mind +for this result. She could endure any degree of privation, but not +degradation and infamy. + +Time wore on, without any renewed hints of interference, and she began to +hope that she was forgotten. Delusive hope! It was felt as a disgrace that +she should suffer, when the _law_ had provided a remedy, and they had paid +for it. And it was therefore decreed by the magnates of the town that she +must be removed, and the day had arrived (with which we commenced our +narrative,) on which the paupers were to be disposed of for the coming +year. Deacon S---- was the person deputed by his colleagues, as we have +mentioned, to convey Mrs. Selden and her daughter to the alms-house. + +However prepared we may suppose ourselves to meet misfortune, the moment +of its arrival takes us by surprise. We will not attempt to picture the +utter desolation of mind and the despair which filled her heart, when this +man arrived at her door, to convey herself, and oh! far worse, her +innocent and intelligent child, to that scene of vice and debasement. +Although her dislike to the measure was known, yet from her quiet and +reserved manners, little opposition was anticipated. The evils of life had +accumulated upon her in a regular gradation, and she had been enabled to +bear their weight, up to this point, with outward composure; looking +forward to, but yet hoping this last cup of bitterness would never be +presented; or if presented, that some means might be found to avert it. +But the dreadful crisis had arrived. Had the whole board of authority been +present, I should be glad to believe, for the honor of humanity, that they +would have been moved to relent, as they would not have been able to shift +the responsibility from one to the other, as is the wont of such bodies +when the members act separately. + +When the poor woman had so far recovered from the first shock as to be +enabled to articulate, she pleaded her ability to maintain herself without +assistance, and her choice rather to starve than be removed. She appealed +to him as the father of a daughter, and painted the ruin which would fall +upon her own, exposed to the corruption and example of the place to which +he was taking her. She appealed to him as a Christian, and reminded him +that they had sat together before the sacred desk, and partaken of the +symbols of the body and blood of the Son of Him who was in a peculiar +manner the father of the widow and orphan. But her auditor was destitute +of the imagination which enables the possessor to enter into the feelings +of another; and these affecting appeals fell dead upon his worldly and +unsympathizing nature. The man even extended his hand to urge her forward +to the conveyance provided! At that moment, when all hope was dead within +her, and the worst that could happen in her opinion had arrived, a change +came over the unhappy woman. She suffered herself unresistingly to be led +forward to her doom. The fine chords of the mind and heart, lately so +intensely strung, had parted; her countenance relaxed, and her features +settled down into a dead, unmeaning apathy; never again, during the short +remainder of her life, to be animated by one gleam of the feelings which +had so lately illumined but to destroy. + +My kind, my indulgent mother! Her generous heart needed not the eloquence +of my youthful feelings to induce her to rescue the poor orphan, and to +cherish her as her own child. And never was kindness more richly---- + +I had proceeded thus far in writing this narrative, when I discovered that +I was overlooked; and a gentle voice over my shoulder said: 'You should +not praise your own wife; it is the same as if you should praise +yourself!' + + E. B. + + + + +APOSTROPHE TO HEALTH. + + + HYGEIA! most blest of the powers + That tenant the mansions divine, + May I pass in thy presence the hours + That remain, ere in death I recline! + + Dwell with me, benevolent charm! + Without the attendance of health + Not the smiles of affection can warm, + And dull are the splendors of wealth. + + The pageant of empire is stale + That lifts men like gods o'er their race, + And the heart's thrilling impulses fail + When Love beckons on to the chase. + + Whate'er in itself joy can give, + Or that springs from sweet respite of pain, + That mortals or gods can receive, + Blest HYGEIA! is found in thy train! + + Thy smile kindles up the fresh spring, + The glad, verdant bloom of the soul; + Thee absent, our pleasures take wing, + And Sorrow usurps her control. + + + + +ISABEL. + + + Hush! her face is chill, + And the summer blossom. + Motionless and still, + Lieth on her bosom. + On her shroud so white, + Like snow in winter weather, + Her marble hands unite, + Quietly together. + + How like sleep the spell + On her lids that falleth! + Wake, sweet Isabel! + Lo! the morning calleth. + How _like_ Sleep!--'tis Death! + Sleep's own gentle brother; + Heaven holds her breath-- + She is with her mother! + + + + +ONE READING FROM TWO POETS. + + ----My imagination + Carries no favor in it but Bertram's. + I am undone; there is no living, none, + If Bertram be away. + SHAKSPEARE. + + Should GOD create another Eve and I + Another rib afford, yet loss of thee + Would never from my heart. + MILTON. + + +I have this evening, while seated in my lonely chamber, ventured--not, I +hope, with profane hands--to draw one inappreciable gem from out of the +carcanet of each of the two unrivalled masters of the poetry of our +language. I was curious to see the effect to be produced by a close +juxtaposition of these two exquisite specimens of the soul's light; of the +revealment of its original genius; of the intense brilliancy of its Truth, +falling as it does in one ray upon two objects so diverse in their +character as the virgin love of the retired and comparatively humble but +devoted Helena, and the married constancy of the Father of our race. + +The effect reminds me of an _echappee de lumiere_ that I once beheld in +the gallery of the Vatican, when a sudden emergence of light brightened +with the same gleam the calm face of the Virgin of the clouds, (called di +Foligno,) and at the same instant illuminated the whole principal figure +in the Transfiguration of Raffaelle; floating as it does, and tending +almost with a movement upward, in the air of 'the high mountain' where the +miracle took place----as these two grand paintings then stood, side by +side, in the solemn, in the holy quiet of that lofty and sequestered +apartment. O moment! never to be forgotten, never to be obscured by any +lapse of after time! + +And thus, although in a less palpable world, do these two passages of +immortal verse, wearing each its beam of golden light, stand in their +effulgence before the sympathies of the observer alive to the charms and +influences of moral beauty! Surely no other poet has the world produced +comparable to Shakspeare for the revelation of the love of the yet +unwedded girl; and who is there to be named with Milton, in the tenderness +and truth with which he has touched upon conjugal relationship; and that +necessity, that inappeasable requirement of intercommunion that +accompanies, as its immediate consequence, the sacrament of the nuptial +rite where there is destined to exist the real, the progressive, the +indissoluble intermarriage of soul with soul! + +How effectually and with what truth does the dramatic Bard raise the veil +and exhibit to us the imagination of this retired girl, bred up in all the +deep earnestness of mind that a country life and comparative seclusion +could induce, dwelling and brooding over the form of one individual +brought into intimate association with her, 'seeing him every hour' where +she had little else to interest her, nor any thing to contemplate, but, as +she says, + + 'sit and draw + His arched brows, his hawking eye, his curls, + In our heart's table; heart too capable + Of every trick and line of his sweet favour. + + * * * * * + + ----it hurts not him + That he is loved of me: I follow him not + With any token of presumptuous suit. + I know I love in vain, strive against hope, + Yet, in this captious and intenible sieve, + I still pour in the waters of my love + And lack not to love still.' + +Behold her as she sits, the beautiful creation!--delighting to magnify the +qualities of the idol of her affections and to depreciate herself in the +comparison; overlooking, perhaps incapable of once imagining the thought +of his harsh and selfish and impracticable nature, and constantly endowing +him with all the fresher breathings of her spiritual existence--like the +Rainbow of the Waterfall, that clothes, with its own celestial dyes, the +dark and shapeless mass of Rock upon whose bosom it appears to dwell! +faltering, trembling, quivering, fading, disappearing; returning, +resting;--glowing, yet never dazzling; liquid, yet sustained! + + 'It were all one + That I should love a bright particular star + And seek to wed it, he is so above me: + In his bright radiance and collateral light + Must I be comforted, not in his sphere. + The hind that would be mated by the lion + Must die for love! + +This is the way in which these precious irradiations of joy beam and hover +over man; startled and frightened often out of the presence even of his +image while they thus adorn and decorate him; and then they love him for +what they fondly dream to be the halo of his proper spirit; for the light +and tenderness, the purity, the gentleness, the refinement and grace, that +have their life and element and colour, only in the deep yet overflowing +heart of Woman in her Love! + +But then comes Wedlock; and often, with wedlock, comes marriage; or +succeeds it; the marriage that GOD bestowed on man in Eve, when, according +to that scriptural and exquisite conception, _they twain become one_. When +the Rock shall as by a miracle receive into all its crevices, interstices, +and pores, the beautiful existence that has played upon it! When the soul +of man opens at every noble passion in succession and at every pulse, to +embrace, imbibe, absorb, receive, possess, acquire, the being that we call +WOMAN! finds her in every former want, or present wish, or bright, or +unfrequented passage of the soul; now all occupied, all satisfied by her; +fancies thoughts to be his thoughts which are her thoughts; and blesses +himself, when he discovers it, that imaginations in themselves so sweet, +should in some visit of her delicate spirit have been breathed into his +ESSENCE from a source so pure! is near her, when distant; is present with +her, when absent; converses with her, without words; gazes upon her, +without sight; listens to her, without sound; watches her, without motion; +and has not yet lost her balmy presence when Death shall long have removed +forever that precious image from his corporal sense. This is MARRIAGE. + +Out of this state descends that profound expression of the soul in Milton, +(GOD make us thankful for him!) when he intends the verb that he escapes +in the passage that adorns my Essay, should be supplied by a pulsation in +the breast of Eve: + + 'yet loss of thee + Would never--from my heart.' + +Would never?--would never be torn, out-rooted, obliterated, banished, +extinguished, forgotten, diminished, obscured, from his heart. The throb +of her spirit is to supply the word, or mould the thought, and vivify the +pause so as to satisfy her full affection to its utmost contentment and +desire. _This_ is marriage. This is attainment to that state of more +perfect existence which terrestrial life procures for the soul of man, +never thenceforth in all its future changes to be lost. The incorporeal +mingling, the mystical union of two varied emanations of life; as Light +and Heat intermarry in their offset and passage from the sun; and Truth +and Love from the breast of THE INEFFABLE! + + How can I live without thee! how forego + Thy sweet converse and love so dearly join'd + To live again in these wild woods forlorn? + Should GOD create another Eve and I + Another rib afford, yet loss of thee + Would never from my heart: no, no, I feel + The link of nature draw me. + Bone of my bone thou art and from thy state + Mine never shall be parted, bliss or woe. + +And shall the passage of one such soul across the mere brook of Death +dissolve affiances so deep, so latent, and so pure as this? This Life of +Life, is it to be so suddenly quenched in man, and man himself continue to +exist? Shall the soul that lingers here still retaining its identity lose +that which has chiefly formed for it a distinctive being? Or entering into +a happier state of existence shall it be dispossessed of all that treasure +of recollection and delight on which its joys and hopes have been so +largely founded? These long remembrances of mutual beneficence and good, +these intertwining and interwoven affections, and the unbounded and +mingling love of their common offspring, shall these all perish and the +soul itself yet be styled immortal? Or,--shall the first-gone spirit meet +its arriving mate upon the border of that further shore, bless it with the +radiant welcome of celestial companionship and guidance, and lead it on to +higher virtue in a happier state, as it hath beamed upon it and in part +educated it on Earth?----Doubt this not, my Heart! Doubt this not, my +Soul! + + JOHN WATERS. + + + + +WHERE IS THE SPIRIT-WORLD? + +BY A NEW CONTRIBUTOR. + + + Perhaps the World of Spirits + Is the invisible air, + And every soul inherits + Its endless portion there, + When mortal lays its mortal by, + And puts on immortality. + + Then round us and above us + Unseen, the souls of those + That hate us and that love us + In motion or repose, + To plan and work our good or ill, + As when on earth, are busy still. + + For Enmity surviveth + This transitory life; + Spirit with spirit striveth + In an unending strife; + All roots of evil planted now + Eternally shall live and grow. + + So friendship ever liveth + Immortal as the soul, + And purer pleasure giveth + As longer ages roll; + And hope and joy and inward peace + Forever heighten and increase! + + Our homes and dwelling-places, + The country of our birth, + The old familiar faces + Endeared to us on earth, + And every source and scene of joy + Our spirits' senses shall employ. + + So shall our true affections, + To earthly objects given, + Form intimate connections + Between our world and heaven; + And all our long existence move + In an unbroken stream of love. + + + + +THE TYRANNY OF AFFECTION. + +BY MRS. ENNSLO. + + +Methinks those who preach up the dignity of human nature, and expatiate +upon its original perfections, must look upon it through magic glasses: to +some perceptions at least, it presents even in its best estate a picture +of such abortive aims, such woful short-comings, such clouded brightness, +that even in those better natures, where we feel sure that the sun of +virtue _does_ shine, the noxious vapors of human frailty, pride in all its +various ramifications, selfishness under its many disguises, prejudice +with its endless excuses, etc., etc., do so envelope it that we cannot +hope to feel the warmth of its rays until some wholesome trial, some +aptly-apportioned cross, clear away these paralyzing influences and force +it into action. + +What seems at the first glance freer from this dross than the love of man +to man? the love of the creature for his fellow; the ordained test of his +love to his Creator? What seems more preeminently pure than the affection +of the parent for the child, who owes him not only life but the nurture +which has maintained and elevated that life? Yet even here, even over this +fair garden of peace, the trail of the serpent may be detected. The +tyranny of deep affection is seen in every relation of life: we love a +cherished object, it may be with every fibre of our heart, ay, even +idolatrously; we would willingly spend and be spent to surround the +beloved one with materials for enjoyment; but these materials must be of +_our_ selection; we would sacrifice ourselves to lead them to happiness, +but _we_ must point out the road to them; we will bear every thing, endure +every thing, but the mortification of seeing them receive good at other +hands than our own. Ah! there are some rare exceptions to this rule, but +surely not more than enough to constitute it a rule. + +Who that enjoyed the privilege of domestic intercourse with the venerable +and venerated father of the lovely Lucy Lee; he the most beloved as well +as respected inhabitant of the small town of ----; she not only the +prettiest but by far the most winning in her deportment of all the young +female circle of the place, of whom she was beyond all question the +ornament. Who that witnessed the fond pride with which the good old man +gazed upon her, as she glided around him, ministering to his wants with +that watchful ingenuity which characterizes woman's affection; who that +heard the tone of tenderness which marked even the most trifling word +addressed to her; a tenderness that seemed as if it might by its deep +pathos invoke every beneficent spirit to watch over her for good; his +early morning greeting, always accompanied by an upward look, which +proclaimed a daily aspiration of gratitude to the great Giver for the +precious gift; the nightly benediction which ever seemed as if it might +grow into a prayer for her welfare during the hours of darkness; who that +witnessed all this--and they could not be seen together without many such +hourly demonstrations of the father's love for his child shining through +his every word and action--but would have felt assured that this love +fashioned his every plan, and marked his estimate of the things of life? + +Ah! of a certainty, it must have been so; her happiness must have been +safe in his keeping; and in truth, happiness had hitherto seemed hers by +prescriptive right. But all lanes however long turn at last, and those +most richly strewn with flowers are generally alas! by far the shortest. +Eighteen summers had flown since that which saw the little Lucy installed +sole possessor and sole solace of her bereaved father's heart; sole pledge +of a love which deeply rooted in a breast no longer subject to the +changeful fancies of youth, (for he had more than attained the prime of +middle-age when the original of the precious little miniature first +enchained his affections,) never revived for any other, but spent itself +in a doting fondness for this fair image of the lost one. Indeed it seemed +that every throb came with a double import from his burdened heart; the +parent's fondness ever mingling a tribute to the memory of her whose life +had been the price of the costly gift. + +It is not always that the devotion of a parent is so entirely appreciated +as in this case; all Mr. Lee's efforts to promote his daughter's happiness +were crowned with entire success, and until the period mentioned above, no +one had ever detected on her lovely brow the semblance of a cloud. But the +course of nature cannot be altered; the petted child will one day grow +into the wilful woman; and however it may have been only a pleasant task +to follow the windings of the childish fancy ingenious in its caprice; and +only amusing to submit to the childish tyranny which pursues its own +beau-ideal of sport with reckless pertinacity; there sometimes comes a +change when the spoiled darling takes her first step upon the threshold of +maturity; when, with all the fresh vigor of youth in her untutored will, +she begins to assert her privilege, to cater for her own happiness, and +fashion her future according to the visions of her own fancy. Then comes +in the world with its many and diversified claims; claims so vigorously +enforced, but from which it is the first impulse of the young heart to +turn with loathing: it cannot bear to believe its happy independence of +all such considerations at an end; it does not submit easily to these new +trammels. Ah! how differently has passed the previous life! Something holy +gathers round a child; it seems to move superior to the base claims of the +world and its paltry rewards; and although often, it must be confessed, +the young intellect is early impressed with the idea that its best efforts +should be devoted to the insuring of worldly approbation, still the little +one's course of life is so distinct from the busy race to which we would +train it, that we cannot if we would entirely chain down its thoughts; +nay, we shrink before the pure innocence which cannot even understand our +weakness; and often yield a tribute to its superior dignity by concealing +our own care for such distinctions. + +To those too who have seen much of life, and learnt to feel its +hollowness, real childishness of thought and feeling is so refreshing, +that they love rather to prolong the period than to shorten it. To Mr. Lee +the little Lucy seemed so entirely perfect in her infantine simplicity and +purity, that had he breathed a wish for the future, it would probably have +been that she should always continue his _little_ Lucy; he cared for no +change, and as it appeared, perceived none in her. Time passed on however, +and before he had become well aware that the little fairy whose tiny form +must needs so short a while since clamber on his knee to stroke and pat +his cheek, had now shot up into a tall girl, who could take his arm in a +long walk, or canter beside him all the morning on her well trained pony, +there came a change over the course of his quiet household little +startling. Visitors began to throng the hall; not those staid personages +who had hitherto been wont to gather round the warm hearth in winter, or +the sheltered piazza in the hot days of summer, and with feet upreared on +mantel-piece or bannister, discuss the affairs of state, and the price of +crops; new editions of these respected individuals now appeared; nephews +and sons came in their train; young friends, more perhaps than these +gentlemen were before aware of possessing, sought an introduction at their +hands, or came without any, on the plea perhaps of having met at a +tea-party, or some such strong necessity for acquaintanceship with the +fair Lucy; while the good Mr. Lee, often to his not very pleased surprise, +found on awaking from his afternoon's nap, that the book whose contents he +had purposed should perform their daily office of inspiring his dreams had +been laid aside, while the voice which had lulled him to sleep was now +charming other and younger ears in merry though perhaps suppressed +cadences. The variety in these visitors too grew somewhat annoying; new +people came, and Mr. Lee liked not new people. He was a man of warm but +very exclusive feelings; he loved but a few, and he liked no others: his +prejudices were strong, and having lived a very secluded life, the routine +of which presented no very decided obstacle to those prejudices, his +estimate of men and things had not altered with the general course of the +world around him. Liberal to an extreme in his dealings with men, his +intercourse with them, except in matters of business, was confined to a +very limited circle. Absolute in his requisitions from such as approached +him as intimates, his friendship was given only to those who met his views +in every respect; especially whose political opinions coincided with his +own. Indeed this seemed to be with him the one grand test. Though never +meddling in his own person with public life, he had such an abstract love +for its intricacies that he could at all times warm into actual enthusiasm +over a newspaper; a single paragraph from the pen one of his own way of +thinking sufficing to kindle his feelings into a glow of patriotism, while +a civil word of dissent would seem to chill his sympathies for his kind; +strong disapprobation blinding his perceptions to any good possible in +those differing from his established standard. Now it was not to be +expected that the young Lucy's circle would be modelled according to such +restrictions; she loved her kind old father with the clinging fondness of +an unweaned infant for its mother; but though again and again she would, +to gratify him, toil through a whole pamphlet, its meaning as dark to her +perceptions as the close and blurred print to his failing eyes, it may +well be imagined that her girlish brain failed to receive any other +impression from the contents than of their excessive tedium; certainly if +she formed therefrom any opinion regarding his favorite party, it was most +probably the not very flattering one that its members were all especially +tiresome and prolix. + +Either from this notion, or a contradiction natural to human nature, it so +happened that among the rivals for the lovely Lucy's smiles, none seemed +to possess such power in riveting her attention as a certain young +gentleman, who although not only the son of a leading man in the +opposition, but holding himself a somewhat prominent place in the ranks of +the condemned party, yet continued with a boldness much to be wondered at +to engross the young lady's time by frequent visits of most unfashionable +length, in spite of Mr. Lee's open vituperations of all the manoeuvres of +the said party. The undaunted aspirant turned a deaf ear however to this, +taking every thing that was said in good part, until one day, when +suddenly his patience seemed to give out. + +News had just been received of the marriage of a former school-mate of +Lucy's, the daughter of an old esteemed comrade, orthodox in all his +views, to an individual decidedly in the wrong on the one important point. +First, how astonished, next how entirely shocked, was the good old +gentleman! 'What a falling off! to give his child to ----! Pshaw! what +would the world come to! Where were his principles? where his wisdom? +where his _honor_?' etc., etc. Lucy, frightened perhaps at her father's +vehemence, turned pale. Dr. Kent, the friend and physician of the family, +who chanced to be present, endeavored to calm him, but with little +success; and Mr. Lillburgh, unable as it seemed to join in condemning this +'mis-alliance,' left the house somewhat abruptly. Soon after this, +however, an opportune influx of papers and pamphlets caused a salutary +diversion in Mr. Lee's irritated feelings; and as Lucy's most monopolizing +visitor seemed quite to have disappeared, he could now enjoy his favorite +luxury of drinking in, through the medium of the voice he loved so well, +the words of wisdom he honored so highly. + +Whether these tiresome lectures proved too burdensome for her young +spirits, or some other cause operated to injure her health, did not +appear; but just at this time, when Mr. Lee seemed to find his life +especially comfortable and pleasant, his hitherto blooming daughter +gradually began to droop; her spirits, formerly so even, were now +constantly fluctuating: at times she would sit pale and _distraite_ among +a gay and laughing circle of her young associates, while at others, a ring +at the bell, a step in the hall, would suffice to call the color to her +cheek and kindle animation in her eye. It was this variation perhaps, +together with certain animating plans of his own, which rendered her +father insensible to her condition; for by a strange contradiction in the +course of things, he seemed just at this time especially occupied with +forming brilliant plans for her future. Fairly aware now of her being no +longer a child, he would comment upon her dress, urge her to more +ornament, and then with a knowing look speak of his anticipated pleasure +in the society of two expected visitors, one staunch old veteran of the +true faith, and his son, a worthy descendant, one who deserved the smiles +of the fair for the brilliant speech he had made the last session. Poor +Lucy at each reference to this subject would look more and more +uncomfortable; but her father, thinking that she might be perhaps a little +wayward; while he grew daily more enamoured of his plan, redoubled his +tenderness, seeking to study her whims in every other respect. It is cruel +to loose every bond but that which galls most sorely, to pluck away every +thorn but that which pricks most sharply: all the perceptions gather to +that point, and the suffering is in consequence tenfold more acute. Such +were Lucy's sensations, though she was perhaps scarcely conscious of them +herself; while at every demonstration of her father's tenderness, the +feelings which she knew to be rebels to his dearest wishes would seem to +spring up and accuse her of ingratitude. This struggle could not last; at +length the fond father became suddenly aware that some strange blight had +fallen upon his darling, and his whole soul was convulsed at the thought +that evil might possibly threaten her; he felt ready to send a +proclamation through the world to summon all its skill to spend itself for +her restoration. Upon second thoughts he made up his mind that there was +but one man in the world to whom he would confide the precious trust; yes, +he was fully assured that in the brain of Dr. Kent, the only lineal +descendant of Esculapius, were to be found all the best resources of the +art of healing; _he_ must always and on all occasions, be more right than +any one else. Why? But why ask why, when he had formed this opinion ever +since Dr. Kent first assumed the M. D., and had always held it firmly. Dr. +Kent was summoned and soon appeared; the startled girl, sorely against her +will, was called into the room; all the usual ceremony gone through; the +pulse tested, the tongue examined, etc., and then suffered to slip out of +the room. Mr. Lee listened with a beating heart for the doctor's decision: +this last did not deny that the young lady's appearance was strangely +altered since he had last seen her, which indeed was not since the evening +above alluded to, of Mr. Lee's violent irritation against his old friend. +But the cause; the next thing for the doctor to do was to discover the +cause. Now Dr. Kent, although some people did say that he was no student, +had a considerable portion of what is called _mother-wit_; and if he did +not possess the stores of learning which might have been amassed by poring +over his books, he was at least without the abstraction which much +scientific research is thought to occasion; he looked around him with a +shrewd eye, and simply by putting two and two together, often made very +successful calculations. He hesitated, reflected and recollected; 'perhaps +she wanted excitement,' he said; 'perhaps there was too little variety in +her life for one so young.' Mr. Lee assured him that she had always +appeared very indifferent to society; that until very lately she had +always seemed as happy as the day was long, and to desire no other company +than that of the visitors who dropped in upon them occasionally. + +'Well, we must have something more amusing for her than _visiting_; +something more exciting.' The doctor here mused again for a few moments: +'You say she has seemed happy until very lately?' + +'Yes, it is only lately that she has seemed to droop.' + +'Well, perhaps she's been particularly dull lately; now by way of +experiment, suppose you at once summon a large party to your house; let it +be a very general invitation; all your acquaintances, that is the young +ones, _her_ acquaintances; all who have ever visited at the house; and as +_you_ may not be able to remember them all, it will be best to direct her +to do it in your name; this will of itself furnish her with a rather +exciting occupation. All this is by way of experiment I say, for it may +_not_ be that she needs amusement, but by the effect that company and +gayety have upon her, which I shall take care to be by and watch. I have a +notion that I shall be enabled to decide upon the character of her +indisposition. One thing however; remember you must give me +_carte-blanche_ as to the course of treatment to be pursued; your +prejudices, you confess you have them, must not hamper me.' + +'My prejudices!' replied Mr. Lee; 'why what can they have to do with your +prescriptions? You know me well enough to be aware that I do not undertake +to meddle with matters I do not understand; the art of medicine for +instance, to which I make no pretensions; of course I shall not interfere; +only tell me what is to be done for my child, and you may be very sure no +difficulty will arise on my part, should it be that I must take her to +Egypt or Kamtschatka.' + +'It is not probable that I shall call upon you for any such effort; on the +contrary, I have a strong impression that a very simple course will +answer; I was afraid you might not like its simplicity.' + +'Really,' said Mr. Lee, 'that is too bad; am I that sort of person? Don't +tantalize me, Doctor, but just tell me what ought to be done for my poor +child, and you must be assured that _I_ will not object.' + +'Of course, no father would,' said Dr. Kent. + +'Then why the deuce do you imagine for an instant that _I_ would?' + +'Nay now,' said the physician, 'it is only a whim of mine, and every one +must be allowed some whims: but good day; remember your promise.' + +'Oh yes, only make up your mind at once.' + +Great was Lucy's surprise, when upon being again summoned by her father, +she received from him the commission just determined upon. At one moment +to have her pulse felt, and the next to be told that she must prepare for +entertaining a large party! What did it mean? The good father, startled at +her agitation, assured her that he himself felt the want of a little more +society, and that he thought it would do _him_ good to have a company of +gay young people about him for an evening. Lucy was afraid she could not +recollect all her acquaintances. 'Well, no matter; only invite all she +_could_ remember; he should be satisfied with her arrangement of the +affair.' + +Whatever may have been the efforts of Lucy's memory, it is certain that +only a moderate number of tickets were sent out for the appointed evening; +indeed it might have been feared that the doctor's experiment could +scarcely have a fair scope in so limited a circle; but finding that his +patient had had her own way in the whole, _he_ seemed to feel quite +assured of success. Before etiquette would have permitted the arrival of +any other guest, he had taken his place close beside the fair mistress of +the revels, and even after the room began to fill, seemed determined to +yield his envied position to no one. Those who said Dr. Kent was no +student, should have seen him then; his eye riveted on her fair young +countenance, there could be no doubt he was conning _that_ closely. At +every fresh arrival, how he watched the eager glance of inquiry! how his +gaze followed the course of the eloquent blood as it left the transparent +cheek, again to burden the disappointed heart! + +The doctor was still puzzled; the gay company had by no means yet wrought +the change he looked for; how was this?--but he held to his watch. And now +once more the door was thrown open, and a young gentleman, with a +decidedly hesitating air and step, approached the youthful hostess. Ah! +now the light no longer flickered in her clear blue eye; it literally +danced: the awakened color left her cheek it is true, as before, but how +soon it came again! 'You positively have stood long enough, and must sit +down now,' said Dr. Kent, taking Lucy's hand; not the tip-ends of her +fingers; no, the doctor was not one either to be satisfied with any such +superficial plan of action, or to forego his privileges; on the contrary, +availing himself of his position of friend of the family, he possessed +himself of the whole of the little delicate hand, when, old habit it might +be, leading him to measure with some exactness the slender wrist thereto +belonging, he pressed it most cordially, and after one or two moments of +such demonstration of his affectionate regard, yielded his place beside +her to the last comer. + +Mr. Lee now joined him as he lounged upon a sofa, with an air of entire +inattention to what was going on around him, yet turning from time to time +a heedful glance upon Lucy who sat just opposite, replying more by blushes +than words to the depressed tones of young Mr. Lillburgh's voice. 'Well, +Doctor, and how goes on the experiment?' The anxious father tried to speak +calmly, but his voice trembled. + +'I am quite satisfied with my _experiment_,' replied Dr. Kent; 'but I will +confess (you know I am a candid man) that the result makes me feel a +little serious.' Dr. Kent knew, as we all have an opportunity of knowing, +that a danger, however startling, for which we are at once provided with a +remedy, is soon scorned; that it must stare us very decidedly in the face, +before we are willing to appreciate the said remedy. 'Yes,' continued he. +'I had no idea of the deep root the disease had taken.' + +'Good heavens! my friend,' exclaimed Mr. Lee, grasping Dr. Kent's hand in +the utmost agitation; 'and the remedy you thought of--is the case too +serious for it to be available?' + +'I trust not,' replied the Doctor; 'I believe indeed that if I can apply +the proper remedy in time, all may be well; but as I said just now, I am +a candid man, and don't like to raise false hopes: I tell you frankly this +case is not one to be trifled with; it requires nice management: the young +lady is delicate, very delicate; her nervous system is now decidedly +deranged.' + +'But don't you think, Doctor, don't you think, my good friend, that she +looks a little better this evening? See how animatedly she is listening to +that young man: by-the-by, who is he?' + +'Oh, no matter who he is, so he amuses Miss Lucy. But with regard to her +case; I will study it seriously to-night, and tell you what result I have +come to to-morrow about noon. I shall give all my mind to it, for I know +how precious she must be to you; I know that nothing the world has to +give, can make up to you for the most trifling evil that can assail her.' + +'Oh, nothing, nothing; but what tormenting apprehensions you fill me with! +Gracious heaven! my dear Sir, she is my all; my past, my present, my +future are made by her; but you will help me if you can. May Almighty +wisdom aid you!' And the agitated father rushed out of the room, unable +any longer to control himself. + +Dr. Kent looked after him with something of commiseration in his +countenance; but being a decided enemy to homeopathic innovation, he had +made up his mind that a strong dose of apprehension was positively +necessary; and now, only gratified at its powerful effect, he resumed his +surveillance with a heartlessly satisfied air. This was no doubt rendered +the more easy to him by Mr. Lee's continued absence from the room: the +young Lucy, thus relieved from the observation which she unconsciously +dreaded, growing more and more at her ease, enabled him to settle his +opinion regarding her completely. + +The evening finished, as all evenings will; the night also took its course +as usual; but when on the following morning Dr. Kent appeared according to +promise in his friend's parlor at the appointed hour, he saw at once that +it had been passed by both in a manner very different from those lately +preceding it. Lucy looked as if some new impetus had been given to her +whole being; too much agitated for happiness, yet with animation glowing +in every feature, while the poor old father's care-burdened brow +proclaimed that anxious apprehension had completely usurped the hours +destined to repose. Dr. Kent really began to fear he had been too violent +in his measures; at any rate, feeling sure, as he said to himself, that +the instrument had been wound up to the striking point, he took his old +friend by the arm, saying he wished to speak to him in the next room on +business. Of course Mr. Lee was no sooner out of hearing of his daughter, +than he began to question his visitor with the utmost eagerness; upon +which the doctor slowly and warily proceeded to unfold his suspicions, or +rather his convictions. + +It was curious to observe the changes passing over the countenance of the +hearer as Dr. Kent made this disclosure. Pleased surprise was evidently +the first emotion excited, but painful perplexity soon usurped its place. + +'My good friend,' said he, as Dr. Kent finished speaking, 'I am greatly +relieved to find that you think the cause of my child's illness so +superficial; but as to the remedy you propose, believe me, I cannot +consent to it; I do not believe it necessary.' + +'Believe it or not, as you will; I tell you it _is_ necessary.' + +'But I tell you, Doctor, that my child is a part of myself, my own flesh +and blood; and can you counsel me to become an apostate to my own +principles? It has been my dearest thought that I should one day enjoy in +my own seclusion the reflected lustre of my child's brilliant position in +the world, and that that position should be by the side of one whose +course in life my own ripe judgment approves entirely. A man of Mr. +Lillburgh's principles cannot make her happy; I will not believe that he +can. No, I have always cared for my daughter's happiness; I will care for +it still, by settling this matter for her as I best know how. No; again I +say no; my only child shall not be so sacrificed!' And Mr. Lee stamped on +the floor, as if to add force to his speech. + +'When you are cool,' said Dr. Kent, looking any thing but cool himself, 'I +will remind you of your promise, your positive promise; there is Mr. +Lillburgh now approaching the house; ask both your heart and conscience +how he ought to be received. Good morning to you.' + +Without stopping to consult either of these counsellors, Mr. Lee hastily +rang the bell. 'We are both engaged, and cannot see the gentleman who is +now coming to the door,' said he to the servant. The doorbell was heard at +the instant, and the servant hastened to obey his master's directions. + +The doctor was gone. Mr. Lee, pacing the parlor alone, imagined to himself +all sorts of arguments to satisfy his conscience that he was in the right. +Yet, thought he, my little darling must be made happy; all young girls +love trinkets and finery; I will take her out with me this morning, and +she shall indulge every caprice of her pretty fancy; pretty in every thing +else but fixing itself on that Mr. Lillburgh. 'Pshaw! he shall _not_ have +her; call Miss here,' he continued to a servant who entered at the moment. +The servant returned after a few minutes, saying that he had knocked +repeatedly at her door, but received no answer. Vaguely apprehensive of +something wrong, Mr. Lee hastened himself to her chamber; but how was he +shocked on entering, to find his daughter lying senseless in a swoon near +an open window. Ah! what voice whispered him that she had seen and heard +at that window what her delicate nerves could not endure! He raised her +tenderly in his arms, and having with some difficulty restored her to +consciousness, placed her on the bed. 'Good heavens!' thought he, 'can it +be indeed so serious!' But he could not long speculate upon this subject; +Lucy's cheek, but just now so pale and marble-like, soon began to glow +with fever; her pulse, but just restored to action, now told with momently +increasing hurry that illness had seized the delicate frame; the sudden +revulsion from new-born hope to despair had been too much for it. Poor Mr. +Lee! what did his heart say now? Did it yet upbraid him? Dr. Kent, who had +set out on a course of visits, could not at once be found, and the +wretched father sat gazing in agonizing helplessness on his suffering +child until the decline of the day. What would he have given to live over +again the last few hours! At length the physician appeared: 'Now,' said +he, on accosting Mr. Lee, 'do you think I know my own business or not? Do +I make mountains of mole-hills or not? I knew what I was about, didn't I?' + +'Alas, yes!' replied the other, in a self-accusing tone, 'and _I_ did not; +but oh! merciful Providence! is it too late now?' + +'Too late? Heaven knows, poor young lady! she'd have been better off if +she'd been an ugly twelfth daughter, with no one to trouble themselves +much about her, instead of a beautiful darling, that must have one +particular sort of happiness and no other.' + +'Spare me! spare me, my friend!' implored Mr. Lee. + +'I wish you had spared yourself,' grumbled Dr. Kent. + +The Doctor was, it must be allowed, a little rough; but he had been so +thoroughly annoyed, after having, as he thought, with unparalleled cunning +and discretion detected the difficulty and provided a remedy, to find his +plans thwarted by an obstinate wilfulness, that he could not help boiling +over a little: his kind feelings however soon got the ascendency; the deep +contrition of the poor father touched his heart, and the lovely girl who +had only increased his interest in her by making good his words, received +from him the most attentive care; nor could he doubt that at length his +advice was appreciated, when he heard Mr. Lee take every opportunity of +mentioning Mr. Lillburgh's name with approbation and kindness, always +regretting that he had made such a mistake as to send him away the last +time he had called at the house. + +But who may venture to choose their own time for showing kindness? Who +may, having refused to 'do good when it was in the power of his hand to do +it,' resume at will the precious privilege? Dr. Kent, satisfied with his +friend's repentance, was willing to take any step which might avail to +retrieve the mischief; but when this last would have lured back by +civilities the repulsed lover, he was found to have left home the very day +after his mortifying dismissal. + +Let those who only by looking _back_ can see the road by which misery +might have been escaped, while _before_ the vista seems quite closed up, +conceive the deep and agonizing perplexity of the anxious father. His +daughter, comforted no doubt by his frequent recurrence to the subject +near her heart, and the manner in which he treated it, slowly raised her +drooping head; but he, (the entire amende being still out of his power) +hung over her night and day, oppressed by a constant sensation of guilt, +scarcely aware of her partial restoration. For some days this ordeal +lasted; there seemed a risk that the lover might in the bitterness of his +disappointment prolong his stay indefinitely; what availed it then that +the prejudice and ambition which had exiled him were now annihilated? The +eagerly coveted-prize for which he would have sacrificed his daughter's +peace, had turned to ashes in his grasp. + +But the door to returning happiness was not completely closed. Dr. Kent's +skill, aided no doubt by Lucy's young confidence in her lover's +steadfastness, kept danger at bay, until one of those opportune accidents +of life, which like many of the best things in it look threateningly until +time takes off the veil, occurred in the shape of a fire on the premises +of the wanderer; which news, forcing him to return, the indefatigable Dr. +Kent at once offered to divert his mind from this untoward circumstance, +by taking him to join the family dinner of his friend Mr. Lee. The sequel +may be imagined; on the strength of this friendly invitation, aided no +doubt by sundry blushes and smiles on Lucy's part, Mr. Lillburgh ventured +to resume his visits, and Lucy's cheek always looked so particularly rosy +on such occasions, that Mr. Lee soon became too entirely happy in the +result, to cavil any longer at the cause of her renovated health and +spirits. Sometimes, also, memory would recall for an instant that terrible +period of anxiety, and then he would treat Mr. Lillburgh with such pointed +cordiality, that before very long that young gentleman was emboldened to +take advantage of his civility, and make some disclosure of his _own_ +plans for the fair Lucy's happiness, according to the liberty of speech +young gentlemen generally allow themselves when desirous of securing their +own. Mr. Lee had gone too far to recede, and he soon found himself reduced +to the necessity of resting all his hopes for the gratification of his +favorite fancies and prejudices upon the anticipated course through life +of another generation, whose future being happily so distant, promised him +a long period of hope. + + + + +THE FRATRICIDE'S DEATH. + +A RHAPSODY. + + The following effort of a wild and maddened imagination, rioting + in its own unreal world, is by the 'AMERICAN OPIUM-EATER,' whose + remarkable history was given in the KNICKERBOCKER for July, 1842. + The MS. is stained in several places with the powerful drug, to + the abuse of which the writer was so irresistibly addicted. The + subjoined remarks precede the poem: 'This extravaganza is worthy + of preservation only as 'a psychological curiosity,' like + COLERIDGE's 'Kubla Khan,' which was composed under similar + circumstances; if that indeed can be called composition, in which + all the images rose up before the writer as THINGS, with a + parallel production of the correspondent expressions, without any + sensation or consciousness of effort. On awaking, he appeared to + have a distinct recollection of the whole: taking his pen, ink and + paper, he instantly and eagerly wrote down the lines that are here + preserved. The state of corporeal sleep but intellectual activity, + during the continuance of which the phenomenon above described + occurred, was caused by a very large dose of opium, and came upon + me while reading the 'Confession of a Fratricide,' published by + the priest who attended him in his last moments. I should warn the + reader that the fratricide, like the author, could not be said to + possess the 'mens sana in corpore sano,' both having been + deranged.' + + ED. KNICKERBOCKER. + + + The universe shook as the monarch passed + On the way to his northern throne; + His robe of snow around him he cast, + He rode on the wings of the roaring blast, + And beneath him dark clouds were blown. + + His furrow'd and hoary brow was wreathed + With a crown of diamond frost; + Even space was chill'd wherever he breathed, + And the last faint smiles which summer bequeathed, + Ere she left the world, were lost. + + The leaves which wan Autumn's breath had seared + Stern Winter swept away; + Dark and dreary all earth appeared-- + The very beams of the bright sun feared + To pursue their accustom'd way. + + Mirth's merry laugh at that moment fled, + And Pleasure's fair cheek grew pale: + The living sat like the stony dead, + The rough torrent froze in its craggy bed, + And Heaven's dew turned to hail. + + The forest trees waved their heads on high, + And shrunk from the storm's fierce stroke; + The lightning flash'd as from GOD'S own eye, + The thunderbolt crash'd through the startled sky, + As it split the defying oak. + + The proud lion trembled and hush'd his roar, + The tigress crouch'd in fear; + The angry sea beat the shuddering shore, + And the deafening voice of the elements' war + Burst terribly on the ear. + + I stood by the bed where the prisoner lay; + The lamp gave a fitful light: + His soul was struggling to pass away; + Oh, GOD! how I pray'd for the coming of day! + Death was awful in such a night. + + His cheek was hollow, and sunk, and wan, + And his lips were thin and blue; + The unearthly look of that dying man, + As his tale of horror he thus began, + Sent a chill my warm heart through: + + 'The plague-spots of crime have sunk deep in my heart, + And withered my whirling brain; + The deep stamp of murder could never depart + From this brow, where the Angel of Death's fiery dart + Had graven the curse of CAIN. + + 'Remorse has oft waved his dusky wings + O'er the path I was doom'd to tread; + Despair has long frozen Hope's warm springs; + I have felt the soul's madness which Memory brings, + When she wakes up the murder'd dead. + + 'Tell me not now of GOD'S mercy or love! + All hope of pardon is past: + A brother's blood cries for vengeance above; + This brand on my brow will my foul crime prove-- + _My_ torment for ever must last! + + 'Thou needst not tremble; this arm is bound, + And its iron strength is gone; + Despair came down in the hollow sound + Of my fetters, which clank'd on the loathing ground + Where my wearied limbs I had thrown. + + 'I snatched the knife from my jailor's side + And buried it in my breast, + But they cruelly staunched the gushing tide, + And closed the wound, though 'twas deep and wide, + And _still_ I might not rest! + + 'Day after day I had gnawed my chain, + Till I sharpened the stubborn link; + But when I had pierced the swollen vein, + And was writhing in death's last dreadful pain, + While just on eternity's brink: + + 'Even then the leech's skill prevailed; + I was saved for a darker fate! + My very guards 'neath my stern glance quailed, + And with their cloaks their faces veiled + As they passed the fast-barred grate. + + 'I LOVED! Thou know'st not half the power + Of woman's love-lit eye; + Her voice can soothe death's gloomy hour, + Her smiles dispel the clouds which lower + When Affliction's sea rolls high. + + 'My heart seemed cold as the frozen snow + Which binds dark AEtna's form, + But _Love_ raged there with the lava's flow, + And madden'd my soul with the scorching glow + Of strong passion's thunder-storm.' + + 'I told my love: O GOD! even still + I hear the Tempter's voice, + Which whispered the thought in my mind, to fill + My page of crime with a deed of ill + That made all hell rejoice. + + 'I knelt at her feet, and my proud heart burn'd + When she spoke of my brother's love; + Affection's warmth to deep hate was turn'd; + His proffered hand in my wrath I spurn'd-- + Not all his prayers could move. + + 'At dead of night to his room I crept, + As noiseless as the grave; + Disturbed in his dreams, my brother wept, + And softly murmur'd _her_ name while he slept; + _That_ word new fury gave! + + 'The sound from his lip had scarcely passed, + When my dagger pierced his heart: + One dying look on me he cast-- + That awful look in my soul will last + When body and soul shall part! + + 'When the deed was done, in horror I gazed + On the face of the murder'd dead; + His dark and brilliant eye was glazed: + When I thought for a moment his arm he raised, + I hid my face in the bed. + + 'I could not move from the spot where I stood; + A chilliness froze my mind: + My clothes were dyed with my brother's blood, + The body lay in a crimson flood, + Which clotted his hair behind! + + 'And over my heart that moment pass'd + A vision of former years, + Ere sin upon my soul had cast + It's withering blight, it's poison-blast, + It's cloud of guilty fears. + + 'The home where our youth's first hours flew by, + In its beauty before me rose; + The holy love of our mother's eye, + Our childhood's pure and cloudless sky + And its light and fleeting woes. + + 'When our hearts in strong affection's chain + Were so closely, fondly tied, + That our thoughts and feelings, pleasure and pain, + Were one: why did we not remain + Through life thus side by side? + + 'And my brother's gentle voice then fell + Upon my tortured ear; + Those tones I once had loved so well, + Now wither'd my soul like a flame from hell + With vain remorse and fear! + + 'All, all that memory still had kept + In her hidden and silent reign, + My youth's warm feelings, which long had slept, + Like a torrent of fire that moment swept + In madness o'er my brain. + + 'For before me there _his_ pallid face + In death's cold stillness lay; + Even murder could not all efface + Its beauty, whose sad and shadowy trace + Still lingered round that clay. + + 'Sternly I bent me over the dead, + And strove my breast to steel, + When the dagger from hilt to point blood-red, + Flash'd on my sight, and I madly fled, + The torture of life to feel. + + 'Since that dread hour o'er half the earth + My weary path has lain; + I have stood where the mighty Nile has birth, + Where Ganges rolls his blue waves forth + In triumph to the main. + + 'In the silent forest's gloomy shade + I have vainly sought for rest; + My sunless dwelling I have made + Where the hungry tiger nightly stray'd, + And the serpent found a nest. + + 'But still, where'er I turn'd, there lay + My brother's lifeless form; + When I watched the cataract's giant play + As it flung to the sky its foaming spray, + When I stood 'midst the rushing storm: + + 'Still, still that awful face was shown, + That dead and soulless eye; + The breeze's soft and soothing tone + To _me_ still seemed his parting groan-- + A sound I could not fly! + + 'In the fearful silence of the night + Still by my couch he stood, + And when morn came forth in splendor bright, + Still there, between me and the light, + Was traced that scene of blood!' + + * * * * * + + He paused: Death's icy hand was laid + Upon his burning brow; + That eye, whose fiery glance had made + His sternest guards shrink back afraid, + Was glazed and sightless now. + + And o'er his face the grave's dark hue + Was in fixed shadow cast; + His spasm-drawn lips more fearful grew + In the ghastly shade of their lurid blue; + With a shudder that ran that cold form through, + The murderer's spirit passed! + + + + +SICILIAN SCENERY AND ANTIQUITIES. + +NUMBER TWO. + + +We proceed, in another and concluding paper, as promised in the last +number of the KNICKERBOCKER, to direct the reader's attention to the +_Architectural Antiquities of Sicily_, especially those of Grecian +structure, which will be described in the order in which they were +visited. The first are those of Egesta, or Segeste, as it is sometimes +called; a city said to have been built in the remote age of the Siculi, +and which was destroyed by Agathocles, the potter's son, who reduced all +Sicily two hundred and eighty years before the Christian era. It lies +about forty or fifty miles from Palermo, among the mountains which cluster +round the famed Mount Erix, on which once stood a temple dedicated to +Venus. On leaving Alcamo, which may be called a city of convents, midway +between Palermo and Segeste, the broad slopes of an ample valley lie +before the traveller, which though almost treeless, are waving with beans, +and grain and grass. In the depth, is a river meandering among fragrant +oleanders; on the left, the valley is intersected by a range of distant +mountains; on the right is a beautiful bay of the Mediterranean. Across +the valley the mountains form a green amphitheatre, and high in its +remotest part is seen the Temple of Segeste, but merely as a point of +light and shade upon the bosom of the mountain. The next view, if he takes +our route, is from the ancient Grecian city of Catafimi, itself perched on +a mountain's top. He looks down a deep luxuriant vale, and on a grassy +knoll about three miles distant, lifted from the depths of the valley by +precipitous crags, stands the solitary temple; and if seen as we saw it, +receiving the last golden rays of the setting sun while all below is +wrapped in shade. The next day, would he visit the temple, his road lies +through the valley of which I have last spoken. And surely he never passed +through such an Arcadian scene as this. Almond and orange trees fill the +air with fragrance; his path struggles through the tangled flowers, the +cistus and the blue convolvulus, and he disturbs the nightingale in her +pleasant haunt. At length, emerging from the valley, and climbing the +steep side of a mountain, he stands before the temple. It is a majestic +pile, about two hundred feet in length and eighty-eight in breadth, having +fourteen columns on each side and six at each end, in all thirty-six +columns, of about six feet in diameter; not fluted, as is usual in Grecian +Doric temples, but having a very peculiar form. It stands on a platform +raised on three gigantic steps. All the columns are standing; the +entablatures and pediments are in pretty good preservation, but it is +roofless, and flowers and weeds are now waving where once trode the +white-robed priests. The breezes from the fragrant mountains and the +distant sea, of which it commands a fine view, sigh through it in harmony +with its sad and solitary grandeur. + +On a neighboring hill are the vestiges of the ancient city, a few ruined +towers, probably of the citadel, and a theatre, the stone seats of which +are almost entire; part of the sculptured figure of a faun still remains +on the proscenium; wild shrubs shade a great part of the ruin, and where +manhood and beauty once sat, listening to the tragedies of an Eschylus or +Euripides, the adder and the lizards sun themselves. The next ruins we +visited were those of Selinunte, anciently Selinus or Selinuntium, which +lies on the southern coast of the island. This city was founded by a +colony of Greeks about twenty-five hundred years ago. It was taken during +the Carthaginian wars, and in a great measure destroyed by Hannibal the +son of Giscon, four hundred and nine years before CHRIST. The country on +approaching Selinunte is a dreary plain covered with the palmetto. On +gazing toward the sea, when distant two or three miles, the traveller's +eye catches what he would take for a rocky hill, were it not for a few +mutilated columns which rise above the blue horizon. As he approaches, the +stupendous scene of ruin strikes him with awe. There in a mighty heap lie +column and capital, metope and cornice; and the mind is lost in wonder at +the power that raised these giant structures, and the power that overthrew +them. Only one complete column, and that without its capital, and several +mutilated ones, remain standing of the great temple supposed to be of +Neptune; the rest are prostrate; and all lying in one direction, bear +evidence that they have been thrown down by an earthquake. + +The first temple is Grecian Doric, as are all those of which I shall +speak. Its columns are about eleven feet across, and they must have been, +including their capitals, more than sixty feet high. Above these lofty +columns was placed the architrave, one of the stones of which, that we +measured, was twenty-five feet in length, eight in height, and six in +thickness; but another is still larger; forty feet long, seven broad, and +three deep. To transport these enormous masses of stone from their quarry, +which is several miles distant, with a deep valley and river intervening, +would trouble the modern engineer; but to poise and place them on the top +of the columns, seventy feet from the ground, with our mechanical means, +were indeed a great feat. The columns were not of single pieces, but +composed of several, and they now lie, to use an unpoetical phrase, like +rows of enormous cheeses. The great temple was three hundred and +thirty-four feet long, one hundred and fifty-four wide; its porticoes at +each end were four columns in depth, eight in width; a double row on the +sides of the cella or interior edifice, which in all Grecian temples was +the sanctum sanctorum. In _all_, there must have been eighty columns. +There is one remarkable feature about this temple, which is, that none of +the columns were fluted except those of the eastern end. About thirty +paces from this ruin, which the Sicilians call the Pileri di Giganti, or +Pillars of the Giants, are the remains of another temple which was about +two hundred feet long: its entablature was supported by thirty-six fluted +columns of seven feet in diameter and thirty-five feet long, each of a +single piece of stone. Only a few fragments of the columns remain standing +in their places. Treading another thirty paces, you come to a temple which +is of rather larger dimensions than the one last mentioned. The columns of +this were also fluted, but no part of the edifice is standing, except a +solitary pilaster, which was probably a portion of the cella. These +temples were built of a hard but porous stone, of a light color, and were +probably covered with a thin coat of cement. They command an extensive +view both of sea and land, and in their primal days must, with their +tower-like columns, their sculptured entablatures and pediments, have +risen above the scene in majestic grandeur. + +Three quarters of a mile from these temples was the ancient port, now +choked with sand, and near it are the remains of edifices supposed to have +been the magazines. On an adjoining hill are remnants of three temples and +two towers, in almost undistinguishable ruin. We left Selinunte with a +lasting but melancholy impression, and were reminded of the lines: + + 'Two or three columns and many a stone, + Marble and granite, with grass o'ergrown: + + * * * * * + + Remnants of things which have passed away, + Fragments of stone rear'd by creatures of clay!' + +Girgenti, anciently called Agragas and Agrigentum, is situated on the +southern coast of Sicily, in a delicious country; the modern city was +built by the Saracens on the summit of a hill upward of eleven hundred +feet above the level of the sea. The site of the ancient city is lower, +and about a mile distant. It was probably founded in the eighth century +before CHRIST. In its flourishing state it contained two hundred thousand +inhabitants, who were celebrated for their hospitality, their love of the +arts and luxurious style of living. Plato was so much struck with the +solidity of their buildings and the sumptuousness of their dinners, that +he said they 'built as though they thought themselves immortal, but ate as +though they never expected to eat again.' The horses of Agrigentum were +celebrated; and one of the citizens returning from the Olympic games, on +entering his native town, was followed by three hundred chariots, each +drawn by four white horses sumptuously caparisoned. The government of this +little state, whose inhabitants never amounted to more than eight hundred +thousand, was at first monarchical, afterward democratic; but neither the +forms of its institutions, nor its riches and grandeur, could save it from +misfortune: it was besieged several times by the Carthaginians, and at +length, after a siege of three years, was taken and sacked by Hannibal, +the son of Giscon. In alluding to these misfortunes, the historian says: +'Yet of all the Sicilian cities, the fate of Agrigentum seemed the most +worthy to be deplored, from the striking contrast of its fallen state with +its recent splendor and prosperity. The natural beauties of Agrigentum +were secured by strength and adorned with elegance; and whoever considered +either the innumerable advantages of the city itself, or the gay +cultivation of the surrounding territory, which abounded in every luxury +of the sea and land, was ready to pronounce the Agrigentines the most +favored inhabitants of the earth. The exuberant fertility of the soil, +particularly the rich luxuriance of the vines and olives, exceeded every +thing that is related of the happiest climates, and furnished the means of +lucrative commerce with the populous coast of Africa, which was sparingly +provided with those valuable plants. The extraordinary wealth of the +Agrigentines was displayed in the magnificence of public edifices and in +the splendid enjoyment of private fortunes. They had begun and almost +completed the celebrated Temple of Jupiter, built in the grandest style of +architecture, employed by the Greeks on the greatest and most solemn +occasions.' + +The ancient city of Agragas stood on an elevated platform or table of +land, three sides of which fell off in steep precipices; the fourth side +was surmounted by the lofty hill on which the modern city stands. These +steep precipices were the natural walls of the city, and were made more +available for defence by excavation on the inside, so as to leave a solid +wall of rock rising round the city. On the verge of this platform, which +gradually sinks from east to west, and on the side next the sea, which is +about a mile distant, are seen the remains of no fewer than six temples. +They stood in a general line, but at irregular intervals, and must have +formed one of the most magnificent spectacles that the art of man has ever +presented to the eye. The remains of three other temples exist, but they +lie at a distance from this grand range. On the eastern and highest part +of the platform, where the natural wall of which I have spoken makes an +angle, stood the Temple of Juno Lucina; next came the Temple of Concord; +next the Temple of Hercules, near which was the Temple of Jupiter, called +of the Giants; next came the Temple of Venus, and lastly that of Castor +and Pollux. The approach to the ruins of these temples from the modern +city is over the site of the ancient, now shaded by olive, almond, and +carruba trees. The Temple of Juno is a picturesque ruin; all the columns +on the northern side are standing, also several at the ends, and part of +the entablature; the rest of the building, corroded by time or entirely +prostrate, lies under an exuberant growth of flowers and shrubs. + +Descending from this temple, we pass through a sort of wild garden, with +here and there an olive-tree or dark carruba; on the left are the ruins of +the ancient rock-wall, huge fragments of which in places have fallen down +the precipice; other parts are perforated as with windows or loop-holes, +or with deep cell-like excavations: these are the tombs of the ancient +Agrigentines, now tenantless and void. Those window-like apertures were +evidently made so by the action of the elements or the violence of man; +and it is related that in consequence of the Agrigentines having made +their tombs in the walls, they were so much weakened that the +Carthaginians by means of their engines were enabled to batter them down +and obtain an entrance. We now come to the Temple of Concord, one of the +most beautiful specimens of Grecian Doric in existence. It is roofless, +but otherwise almost perfect. It has twenty-four columns; it is, like the +temple of Juno, raised on a platform of several steps, and about one +hundred and fifty-four feet in length and fifty-five in breadth. It seems +that this temple was used in times past for a Christian church, and the +sides of its cella are perforated by arched openings. The next temple is +near one of the ancient city gates, and is supposed to have been dedicated +to Hercules: it was celebrated in ancient times for having in it a fine +picture of Alcmena; but it is now a confused heap of ruin, with only one +column standing, which proves it to have been of larger dimensions than +the temples just mentioned. + +Turning a little to the right, we come upon the Temple of Jupiter +Olympius, commonly called of the Giants, the largest sacred edifice in +Sicily, and one of the most stupendous works of the ancients. It was in +length three hundred and sixty-eight feet, in breadth one hundred and +eighty; the breadth or diameter of its columns at the base thirteen feet +four inches; the height of the columns must have been seventy-five feet; +above these rose a massive entablature, and the top of the pediments could +not have been less than one hundred and twenty feet high! The grandeur of +the door and vestibule corresponded to the simple majesty of the whole +building, whose sculptured ornaments represented, with the finished +elegance and laborious accuracy that distinguished each particular figure, +the 'Defeat of the Giants and the Taking of Troy.' In the interior ranged +twenty-four antae, or square pillars, of fifty feet in height; on the top +of each was a sculptured giant twenty-seven feet in height, which with his +hands clasped over his head supported the lofty roof. One can scarcely +conceive any thing more noble and majestic than this wonderful edifice, in +comparison with which, though covering much more ground, St. Peter's in +Rome is a splendid gew-gaw. But what remains of this great temple? A wide +heap of ruin; the interior of which, the columns and walls having fallen +outward, is a flowery field, in which lie some fragments of those huge +giants that once supported the roof. One of these is tolerably entire: the +curls of his hair form a sort of garland: it lies with its face upward, +and when I stood by it, my own head scarcely reached as high as the brow +of the statue. It is composed of several pieces of stone, as are the +columns of this temple, and most of the others of Agrigentum. On every +side of this elevated field lie the walls, entablatures, and columns in +enormous fragments: the capitals of the columns look like huge rocks that +have been hurled there by some violent convulsion of nature. + +A short distance from this temple are the ruins of the Temple of Venus, +and another of Castor and Pollux, of which two of the columns and part of +the entablature are entire, and the thin coat of cement or stucco which +covered them is in some parts as perfect as ever. The stone of which the +temples were constructed is of a very porous nature, a sort of tufa, full +of sea-shells, and when seen in the sunlight, of a golden hue; but they +were all covered with stucco, which, judging from what remains, was nearly +as hard as porcelain, and gave a beautiful and finished appearance to the +otherwise rude material. Of the other remains in Agrigentum, the limits of +this article will not allow me to speak. But the reader would ask, how +came these temples in such a state of ruin? On this subject there has been +some dispute; but their destruction may most reasonably be attributed to a +mightier agency than man's. Earthquake has shattered these gorgeous +temples; the time _when_ is not recorded. I am inclined to believe that +they were destroyed, as well as those of Selinus, by the dreadful +earthquakes that shook Italy and Sicily in the dark age of Valens and +Valentinian, three hundred and sixty-five years after CHRIST. + +Let us now proceed to Syracuse, once the capital of Sicily, and the +birth-place of the great Archimedes. It was founded by Archias, one of the +Heraclidae, more than seven hundred years before the Christian era, and +according to some authors contained within its walls at one time, one +million two hundred thousand inhabitants; could maintain an army of one +hundred thousand foot, ten thousand horse, with a navy of five hundred +armed vessels. Little now remains of a place once so populous and so +powerful, save the shrunken modern city of Syracusa, containing about nine +thousand inhabitants, and a few almost unintelligible ruins scattered +among vineyards, olive-groves, and fields of corn, or over the high wastes +of the barren Epipole, on the summit of which the curious will find ruined +walls and fortresses of massive and beautiful masonry. From these the eye +commands the whole site of the ancient city. _There_ lies, at the distance +of three miles, the small island of Ortygia, on which is the modern town; +on its right is the narrow entrance from the sea, which lies beyond, to +the greater harbor, that appears like a beautiful lake, and is about two +miles long and one and a half broad. On the left of the island of Ortygia +is all that remains of the lesser port of Syracuse. On this side the +island is connected with the main land by means of a draw-bridge. In +Ortygia is the famous fountain of Arethusa: the spring is yet clear and +copious; but the only nymphs I was fortunate enough to see were engaged in +the necessary vocation of cleansing the soiled linen of Syracusa. The +remains of a beautiful temple of Minerva form a part of the cathedral +church. Near the small river Anapus are two columns, the remnants of a +temple of Jupiter, which once contained a statue of that god, wearing a +robe of gold; but Dionysius the tyrant stripped it off, saying 'it was too +cold for winter and too hot for summer.' Among the seats of a noble +theatre now stands a mill, that is supplied with water diverted from an +ancient aqueduct close by: a strange metamorphosis indeed! This aqueduct +conveys the water thirty miles. It may have been of Greek construction +originally, but that part of it which I have seen is evidently Saracenic. +The rocky site of Syracuse is in many parts perforated with tombs; the +roads are literally honey-combed with them. There is a street excavated in +the limestone rock which on either side is full of cells, and it may +indeed be said of Syracuse that it is a great burying-ground. The oranges, +vines, and figs of Syracuse are still flourishing, and the earth yet +yields its hundred fold; but its glory is departed, and the traveller +looks in vain for satisfactory vestiges of that mighty city. + +There are many other interesting remains of antiquity in Sicily, but I +must hasten to a conclusion. I trust the reader will have found the +subject of this article interesting, although treated briefly and +imperfectly. The traveller is unworthy of his privilege, and forgetful of +duty if he extracts not from the scenes described some moral lesson or +religious truth. The reader has accompanied me in imagination through +classic Sicily. He has seen the lonely temple of Segeste, standing among +the mountains like a widowed thing, mourning in silence the departed. +Where is the multitude that once thronged around its walls? Mount Erix +still battles with the clouds, as in the days of Agathocles. He has +clambered with me among the prostrate columns of Selinunte: _once_, from +beneath those massive porticoes, the Selinuntine, in the pride of his +heart, looked upon the crowded port and distant mountains as we look on +the Hudson, with its white sails and swift steamers, and the neighboring +hills. Where and what are they? The distant mountains stand, but the great +works which he erected to be a living honor to his name and country, are +perished forever. He has lingered with me among the ruins of the splendid +Agrigentum. Its numerous temples are dilapidated, or crumbling on the +earth; its walls, once its vaunted strength, are strewed in shattered +fragments on the steeps around. The dust of its multitudes serves to +fertilize the soil of its ancient site! But the stream still flows which +gave its name to the city, and the hills around yet produce the oil, the +wine, and the grain. We have sojourned for a time among the melancholy +vestiges of Syracuse; the scene of battles far more bloody than this land +has ever known. The army which the Athenians, inflated with pride and +presumption, sent against Syracuse, was here defeated. In yonder +land-locked bay the Athenian fleet, the mightiest that republic had ever +sent forth, and which they believed _invincible_, was destroyed. And the +Roman orator has eloquently said, that not only the navy of Athens, but +the glory and the empire of that republic, suffered shipwreck in the fatal +harbor of Syracuse. It was there the wonderful mechanical skill of +Archimedes was displayed against the Roman fleet, and those quiet waters +have been strewed with the dying and the dead. From this deserted citadel, +called of 'Labdalus,' the eye embraces the whole site of the once populous +Syracuse; and what does it behold? On the distant island of Ortygia, an +insignificant town, with a few small craft at anchor in the bay; nearer, a +desert of rocky hills, a goat-herd, and a few straggling goats. Turning +away from the melancholy scene, we behold afar off the snow-clad AEtna. +What a contrast is this to what we have just reviewed in the mind's eye! +_That_ is the work of God! Since its huge pyramid arose, nation after +nation has possessed its fertile slopes. The Siculi have labored on its +sides; the Greek, the Carthaginian and the Roman; the Norman and the +Saracen have struggled for mastery at its foot; but the roar of the battle +is past; the chariot and the charioteer are mingled in the dust. Yet yon +earth-born giant, fed by continual fires, each century augments, and in +all probability will continue to do so until + + 'The cloud-capt towers, the gorgeous palaces, + The solemn temples, yea the great globe itself + Shall dissolve, and like the baseless fabric + Of a vision, leave not a wreck behind!' + +May we not in these things read deep lessons applicable to ourselves? The +history of the people whose noble works I have endeavored to describe, +should in the first place teach us how noble a thing it is to construct +works of beauty and utility, not only for our own gratification, but for +the benefit of posterity also. The selfish and unreflecting, even the +modern utilitarian, will perhaps laugh at the thought, and say: 'What +folly to undertake such labors for the benefit of posterity! We will labor +for ourselves.' I would ask such persons, what would have been our state +if the ancients had entertained such grovelling notions? Do they not know +that most of the elegant as well as the useful, is the rich bequest of +these ancients whom they affect to despise? There is not in the whole city +of New-York a house, however lowly, but in some part of it I could point +out a moulding or an ornament that comes from the ancients. But there are +other points of view perhaps of higher consequence. Their temples were +erected to the gods; mistaken as they were in their religious notions, we +Christians may be put to shame by the devotion of the pagan. Not to man +were their temples erected. Man enjoyed their beauty; gazed with +admiration on their exquisite forms, and lingered under their shady +porticoes; but the eye of the god to whom each temple was dedicated was +supposed to be on the work, and the aim of the builders was perfection in +every part; and even that which the eye of the multitude never rested on, +was finished with elaborate care. I would ask, is there such a lofty +feeling among us? Are we willing to expend toil and cost on that which +will never gratify our senses? You will answer no. Is not this then a +lesson to us? Another view of the matter: These works of art were the +objects of veneration and love; city vied with city in their construction; +it was a noble emulation--think you not _nobler_ than the competition for +sordid gold? The citizen gazed with pride upon the marble triumphs of his +native place; he loved it more than ever, and felt his patriotism kindle +as he gazed. + +Let us not think that rail-roads and canals are the only works worthy of +modern civilization. If we look to intents, (and what ought we to look +at?) I doubt much but the ancients rose superior to us. We are in the +enjoyment of many advantages of which they knew nothing. The +wonder-working press was unknown to them; and above all, the beautiful +light of Christianity had not been shed on the world. We have the broad +day; they wrought in the twilight gloom. What majestic monuments of art! +what enduring legacies of beauty! what objects to make a man love his +country more and more, could have been erected with the means expended a +few years ago in reckless speculations! Instead of turning with melancholy +loathing to those broken bubbles on which the hopes and fortunes of many +of us were suspended, we could at least look with admiration on the marble +pile, and exclaim, 'I also can be proud of the genius and taste of my +country!' Another lesson we may learn from the fate of ancient states: it +is to beware of presumptuous pride and overweening conceit: these are the +result of inconsiderate ignorance. It was through presumptuous pride that +Athens fell, as I have before intimated. We have reason to fear there are +many, some unconscious of the injury they do, and perhaps with just +intentions, who feed this appetite for undue praise. Others, for mere +popularity or the applause of the day, minister with adroitness the sweet +though poisonous morsel for which our vanity and self-love are +open-mouthed; which (to carry on the simile,) puffs us up with the +comfortable notion that we are superior in every respect to all other +nations, ancient or modern. It would be well to turn a deaf ear to this +syren's song: let us learn if possible to _know_ ourselves; let us +remember that there is no perfection, either in men or their institutions; +and by avoiding a vain and presumptuous spirit, and scanning with a +careful eye the causes of the greatness which under Providence we possess, +we shall be most likely to approach the perfection which we all desire. We +can have little doubt that the Agrigentine considered the institutions of +his country as perfect as we do ours; and the citizens of greater states, +Athens, even Rome itself, indulged in the same pleasing thought. Our only +means of judging of the future is the past. We see that nations have +sprung from obscurity, risen to glory, and decayed. Their rise has in +general been marked by virtue; their decadence by vice, vanity, and +licentiousness. Let us beware! + +I would not have the reader censure me for commencing this article as a +traveller and ending it with an attempt to moralize. In reviewing in my +mind the interesting scenes I have endeavored to describe, I have been led +back to the thoughts that arose when I trode among the ruins of prostrate +temples, and they were _connected_ in my mind; and I will venture again to +say, that he is unworthy of the privilege of travelling who gleans not +from the fields he visits some moral lesson or religious truth. + + T. C. + + + + +STANZAS. + +WRITTEN AT BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS. BY REV. WILLIAM B. TAPPAN. + + + I. + + In Beverly, the building I sought the other day, + Where forty years ago my sire his infant gave away; + I sought it, for I coveted where he had placed his foot, + My honored, sainted father! mine in filial love to put. + + + II. + + I entered it: most holy appeared the house of prayer; + Yet more than common holiness its beauty seemed to wear; + For there the waters bathed me, and solemn words were said, + And Father, Son, and Paraclete invoked above my head. + + + III. + + Of all the congregation who looked in reverence on, + The elders and the blooming youth, each worshipper was gone; + And he, with hairs of winter, whose office 'twas to lave + My baby brow, and name my name, was hidden in the grave! + + + IV. + + What years have passed of sorrow, that hour and this between! + What moments of enjoyment in that interval I've seen! + I wept that I had measured the half of being's track; + I smiled that worlds were poor to bribe the weary pilgrim back. + + + V. + + I sighed that in the journey where blessings are so few + For even the most favored, I but scanty portion knew; + And chiefly in the season of confidence and pride, + My youth was forced the dangerous way, without my earthly guide. + + + VI. + + Where is my sainted father, who took me in his arms, + And held me to the minister, and kissed away alarms? + I feel his presence near me! he blesses me once more! + Ay, where he gave me up to GOD, just forty years before! + + + + +THE QUOD CORRESPONDENCE. + +Harry Harson. + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +It was not the failure of his plans, nor the dread of detection, which +broke Rust down. He had been prepared for that, and had nerved himself to +meet it; but it was a blow coming from a quarter where he had not dreamed +of harm, and wounding him where alone he could feel a pang, that crushed +him. There was something so abject in the prostration of that iron-willed +man, who had often endured what would have wrung the very souls of other +men, without exhibiting any other feeling than contempt, that for a moment +awed even the hard man who had struck the blow. In proportion as Rust's +control over his emotions had been great, so now the reaection was +terrible. He seemed paralyzed in body and mind. No cry escaped him, but +his breath rattled as he drew it; his long hair hung loosely over his +face, and upon the floor; his eyes were closed; his features livid and +distorted; and but for his struggling breath, and the spasmodic jerking of +his fingers, he seemed dead. + +'Lift him up, Bill,' said Grosket, in a subdued tone. 'It's been too much +for him. Who'd have thought he had a heart?' + +Jones smiled grimly, as he said: 'I'm glad you did it, Mr. Grosket. It was +better than murdering him. He wasn't afeard of dying. Is it a fit he's +got?' + +Without waiting for a reply, he placed his arms under him and raised him +up. Rust lay heavily against him, his head falling back, and his arms +dangling at his side. They carried him to the bench, and placed him on it, +Grosket standing behind him, and supporting his back. + +'I guess he's done for,' said Jones, pushing the hair from his face; 'pity +it wasn't three days ago--that's all.' + +'Get some water, or brandy,' said Grosket; 'I suppose we may as well bring +him to. It would be an ugly business if he should die on our hands.' + +Jones stooped down, and picking up his great coat, commenced fumbling in +its pocket, and drew out the bottle from which he and Craig had drank, as +they were starting on their expedition on the previous night. He held it +up and looked at it, then muttered: 'It's no use; it's no use.' + +'What are you talking about, there?' demanded Grosket, impatiently: 'is it +empty?' + +Jones shook it. + +'No; there's a drop or two in it. D--n him! I don't like his drinking out +of this bottle, I don't; I use it myself; and blow me, if I don't think +his mouth 'ud p'ison it.' + +Grosket cut his scruples short by taking the bottle from him, uncorking +it, and pouring its contents in Rust's mouth. + +'It's a waste,' muttered Jones, eyeing his proceedings with a very +dissatisfied look. 'I begrudged it to poor Tim; and cuss _him_, it's going +down _his_ gullet! I hope it'll choke him.' + +Grosket paid no attention to him, but supported Rust, occasionally shaking +him by way of stirring up his ideas. Either the liquor or the shakings had +an effect; for the deadly paleness gradually disappeared from Rust's face; +his breath grew less short and gasping; and finally he sat up, and looked +about him. His eye was wandering and vacant, and sad and heart-broken +indeed was his tone. + +'My own dear child!' said he, in a voice so mild and winning, and so +teeming with fondness, that none would have recognized it as Rust's. 'I've +had a strange dream, my poor little Mary, about you, whom I have garnered +up in my heart of hearts.' + +His voice sank until his words were unintelligible, and then he laughed +feebly, and passed his hand backward and forward in the air, as if +caressing the head of a child. 'Your eyes are very bright, my little girl, +but they beam with happiness; and so they shall, always. So they shall--so +they shall. Kiss me, my own darling!' He extended his arms, and drew them +toward him, as if they enfolded the child, and then bending down his +cheek, rocked to and fro, and sang a song, such as is used in lulling an +infant to sleep. + +'My God! He's clean gone mad!' said Jones, staring at him with starting +eyes. 'Dished and done up in ten minutes! That's what I call going to +Bedlam by express.' + +Although Grosket uttered not a word of comment, his keen gray eye, bright +as a diamond; his puckered brows; his compressed lips, and his hands +tightly clasped together, showed that he viewed his work with emotions of +the most powerful kind. At length he said, in low tone, as if communing +with himself rather than addressing the only person who seemed capable of +hearing him: 'If he goes mad he'll spoil my scheme. He'll not reap the +whole harvest that I have sown for him. He must live; ay, and in his sane +mind, to feel its full bitterness. I, _I_ have lived,' said he, striking +his breast; '_I_ have borne up against the same curse that now is on him. +_I_ have had the same feeling gnawing at my heart, giving me no rest, no +peace. _He_ must suffer. He _must_ not take refuge from himself in +madness. He _shall_ not,' said he, savagely. 'Ha! ha! who would have +thought that the flint which the old fellow calls his heart had feeling in +it?' + +Whether these remarks reached Rust's ear, or whether it was that his mind, +after the first shock of the intelligence was over, was beginning to +rally, is a matter of doubt; but from some cause or other, he suddenly +discontinued his singing, passed his hand across his forehead, held his +long hair back from his face, and stared about him; his eye wandering from +Grosket to Jones, and around the room, and then resting on the floor. He +sat for some time looking steadfastly down, his face gradually regaining +its stern, unbending character; his thin lips compressing themselves, +until his mouth had assumed its usual expression of bitterness, mingled +with resolution. + +The two men watched, without speaking, the progress of this metamorphosis. +At last he rose, and turning to Grosket, said in a calm voice: + +'You've done your worst; yet you see Michael Rust can bear it;' and then +bowing to him, he said: 'Good bye, Enoch. Whatever may have happened to +_my_ child, _I_ am blameless. _I_ never sold her happiness to gratify my +avarice. If she has become what Enoch's child was, the sin does not lie at +_my_ door. I don't know how it is with _you_.' + +Turning to Jones, he said, in the same quiet tone: 'Murderer of your +bosom-friend, good bye.' The door closed, and he was gone. + +A bitter execration from the two men followed him. From Jones, it burst +forth in unbridled fury, and he sprang forward to avenge the taunt, but +was withheld by Grosket, who grasped his arm, then as suddenly +relinquished his hold, and said: + +'Quick! quick! Jones. Drag him back! It concerns your safety and my plans +to get him back.' + +The man dashed to the door and down the stairs. In a moment he reaeppeared: + +'It's too late. He's in the street.' + +'Curse it! that was a blunder! We should have searched him. He carries all +his papers with him.' + +But almost at the same moment he seemed to overcome his vexation, for he +said: 'Well, it can't be helped, so there's no use in grumbling about it. +And now, Bill Jones,' said he, turning to the other, 'you know what you've +done, and who set you on. So do I. He's worse than you are. If you were +him, I'd arrest you on the spot. As it is, I say you had better make +yourself scarce. Your neck is in danger, for although the death of Tim, if +the rumor is true, was accidental----' + +'It was, it _was_, Mr. Grosket,' interrupted Jones. 'D--n it, if it was +Rust, if it was only _him_, I wouldn't mind it. I'd die myself, to see +_him_ swing.' + +'Well, hear me,' continued Grosket. 'You were committing a felony when you +killed Craig, and his death, although accidental, is murder. I'm no +lawyer, but I know _that_. You must run for it.' + +'I'd cuss all danger,' said Jones, gnawing his lip, 'if I could only lug +Rust in it too.' + +'Well, well,' returned Grosket, 'you must take your own course; but +remember I've warned you. You have some good traits about you, Bill, and +that's more than Rust has. Good bye!' He extended his hand to the burglar. +Jones grasped it eagerly. + +'Thank you! thank you, Mr. Grosket,' said he, the tears starting to his +eyes. 'If you only knew how I was brought up, how I suffered, what has +made me what I am, you wouldn't think so hard of me as some do. But there +is blood on me, now; that's worse than all. I'll never get over _that_. I +might, if it wasn't Tim's. Good bye, God bless ye, Mr. Grosket! My +blessing won't do you much good, but it can't hurt you.' + +Grosket shook his hand, and left the room; and the desperate man, whom he +left melted by a transient word of kindness, which had found its way to +his rugged heart, buried his face in his hands, and wept. + +Once in the street, Rust endeavored to bear up against his fortune. But he +could not. His mind was confused, and all his thoughts were strange, +fantastic and shadowy. He paused; dashed his hand impatiently against his +forehead, and endeavored to shake off the spell. No, no! it would not +leave him. Failure in his schemes! dishonor in his child! He could think +of them, and of _them_ only. Once on this theme, his mind became more +bewildered than ever; and yielding himself to its impulses, he fell into a +slow pace, and sauntered on, with his chin bent down on his breast. + +From the thickly-settled parts of the town he went on, until he came to +streets where the bustle and crowd were less; then to others, which were +nearly deserted; then on he went, until he reached a quarter where the +houses stood far apart, with vacant lots between them. Still he kept on. +Then came fields, and cottages, and farm-houses, surrounded by tall trees. +Still on he went, still wading through a mass of chaotic fancies, +springing up, and reeling and flitting through his mind; shadows of things +that had been, and might be; ghosts of the past; prophets of the future. +He had become a very child. At last he stood on the bank of the river; and +then for the first time he seemed to awaken from his trance. + +It was a glorious day, whose sunshine might have found its way even into +his black heart. Oh! how soft, and mellow, and pure, the hurricane of the +last night had left it! Not a cloud in the sky, not a breath to ripple the +water, or to wave the long trailing locks of the hoary willows, which +nodded over its banks. + +Rust looked about him, with a bewildered gaze, until his eye became fixed +upon the water. 'It's very quiet, _very_ quiet,' said he; 'I wonder if a +man, once engulfed in it, feels peace.' He pressed his hand to his breast, +and muttered: '_Here_ it is gone forever!' + +He loitered listlessly on, under the trees. His step was feeble; and he +stooped and tottered, as if decrepid. He stopped again, shook his head, +and went on, looking upon the ground, and at times long and wistfully at +the river. + +An old man, leaning on a stout cane, who had been watching him, at last +came up. Raising his hat, as he did so, he said: + +'You seem, like myself, to be an admirer of this noble river?' + +Rust looked up at him sharply, ready to gather in his energies, if +necessary. But there was nothing in the mild, dignified face of the +speaker to invite suspicion, and he replied in a feeble tone: + +'Yes, yes; it is a noble river.' + +'I've seen many, in my long life,' said the other, 'and have never met its +equal.' + +Rust paused, as if he did not hear him, and then continued in a musing +tone: + +'How smooth it is! how calm! Many have found peace there, who never found +it in life. Drowning's an easy death, I'm told.' + +The stranger replied gravely, and even sternly: + +'They have escaped the troubles of life, and plunged into those of +eternity;' and then, as if willing to give Rust an opportunity of +explaining away the singular character of the remark, he said: 'I hope +_you_ do not meditate suicide?' + +'No,' replied Rust, quietly, 'not at present; but I've often thought that +many a wrecked spirit will find _there_ what it never found on +earth--peace.' + +'The body may,' returned the other, 'but not the soul.' + +Rust smiled doubtfully, and walked off. The man watched, and even followed +him; but seeing him turn from the river, he took another direction, +occasionally pausing to look back. Not so Rust. From the time he had +parted with the stranger, he had forgotten him, and his thoughts wandered +back to their old theme. It was strange that he should believe so +implicitly Grosket's tale, coming as it did from one whom he knew hated +him. Yet he _did_ believe it. There was proof of its truth in Grosket's +manner; in his look; in his tone of assured triumph. Yet although Rust +brooded over nothing else that livelong day, he could not realize it; he +could not appreciate how desolate and lonely he was. He could only fancy +how life would be, if what Grosket had told him _had_ happened. 'This is +not all a dream, I suppose,' muttered he, pausing as he went, and passing +his hand across his forehead. 'No, no; I'm awake--wide awake; and _I_ am +Michael Rust; that's more strange than all.' + +After hours of wandering, he found himself at his office. He ascended the +stairs, opened the door, and went in. It was dark, for the lights had been +twinkling in the shop-windows before he left the street; but he sat down +without observing it; and there he remained until Kornicker came in with a +light. + +Rust made no reply to the salutation which he received. Kornicker placed +the light on the table; and after loitering round the room, and busying +himself with a few papers which he had arranged on the table, to give it a +business-like appearance, he asked: + +'Do you want me any more, to-night?' + +'No; you may go.' + +The dismissal and departure of Mr. Kornicker were almost simultaneous. His +heavy foot went thumping from step to step, and finally the street-door +banged after him. Rust sat without moving, listening to every tramp of his +heavy foot, until the door shut it out. + +'So, he's gone,' said he, drawing a long breath, and cuddling himself up +on his chair. 'He'll be in my way no more to-night.' + +He shivered slightly; and then got up and drew his chair nearer the grate, +although there was no fire in it. 'And _this_ is then the end of my +scheme,' muttered he; 'I have gone on for years in the same beaten track, +fighting off all who could interfere with me. The affection of those who +would have loved me; friends, relatives, those nearest to me, with the +same blood in our veins, nursed in the same arms, who drew life from the +same source; this cold heart has repulsed, until they have all abandoned +me!' + +He leaned his head on his hands, and tears, scalding tears, gushed from +his eyes. 'I did it for _her_. It was to get gold to lavish on _her_. I +would have chained myself for life to that old man's daughter, to get +wealth; I would have added the murder of those children to the catalogue +of my crimes, that I might have grasped their inheritance, to have +showered all that I had gathered by toil and crime upon _her_. She was my +hope, my pride, my own dear darling child; but she is shipwrecked now; she +has withered my heart. I would have shed its last blood for her. I +would--I _would_; indeed I would! But it's useless to think of it. She can +never be what she was; the bright, pure-souled, spotless child whom I +worshipped. Yes, yes; I _did_ worship her; Why deny it? Better, far +better, she had died, for then I might still have cherished her memory. +It's too late. She's become a castaway now.' + +He paused. From a state of deep and querulous despondency, he gradually +recovered composure; then his mood grew sterner and sterner; until his +compressed lips and flashing eye showed that he had passed from one +extreme to the other. + +'Is there nothing left to live for?' exclaimed he; '_nothing_ left? One +thing can yet be done. I must ascertain her disgrace beyond a doubt. Then +atonement can and shall be made, or _he_ had better never have been born!' + +Rust stood up, with an expression of bold, honest indignation, such as he +had rarely worn, stamped on every feature. '_This_ must be accomplished,' +said he. 'Everything else must be abandoned: _this_ done, let me die; for +I cannot love her as I did, and I might hate her: Better die!' + + +CHAPTER TWENTY-THIRD. + +Richard Holmes, Esq. was sitting in his office, two days after the events +narrated in the last chapter, with his nose within a few inches of a +law-book which rested on his knees, when he was aroused by the opening of +the door, and the entrance of a man. Holmes was so much out of the world, +and out of the current of business, that he did what a practitioner at the +bar of his age and standing rarely does; that is, he looked up without +waiting till he was addressed. + +'Ah, Harson?--it's you, is it?' said he, laying aside his book, but +without rising. + +Harry walked up, shook hands with him, and seated himself. + +'We've been hard at work, and have made some progress,' said he, taking +off his hat, and placing it on the table. 'We've got the woman.' + +'What woman?' + +'Blossom,' replied Harson; 'I've brought her here to answer for herself. +She was in Rust's employ, and received the children from him. She's +below.' + +'What news of the boy?' inquired Holmes. + +'Grosket is after him. He knows where he is. Would you like to see the +woman?' + +'It would be as well,' said Holmes, drumming on the table. 'We'll hear +what she has to say. Does she communicate what she knows willingly or +under compulsion?' + +'She's not very talkative;' answered Harson, 'and seems terribly afraid of +Rust.' + +'I think we can squeeze the truth out of her,' replied Holmes. 'Bring her +up.' + +Harson went out, and in a few minutes reaeppeared with Mrs. Blossom at his +heels. The lawyer pointed to a chair, into which the lady sank, apparently +in a state of great exhaustion and agitation; for she moaned and rocked to +and fro, and wrung her hands. + +'Your name's Blossom, I think,' said Holmes, evincing no sympathy whatever +with her sufferings. + +'Ah's me! ah's me! I'm very old! I'm very old!' exclaimed the lady, +moaning from the very bottom of her lungs, but without making any reply to +the question. + +'Hark ye,' said Holmes, in a stern tone, 'I have not sent for you, to +listen to your moaning, nor to be trifled with in any other way. You have +come here to disclose the deeds of a scoundrel; and disclose them you +_must_. You shall answer all my questions, truly, honestly, and without +equivocation, or it will be the worse for you. I am aware of offences +committed by you, which, if punished as they merit, would send you to +prison. I tell you this, that you may know exactly how we stand with +reference to each other. If you wish to serve yourself, you will find true +and prompt replies to whatever I ask. What's your name?' + +Mrs. Blossom oscillated in her chair, glanced at the wall, replied +'Blossom,' and buried her face in a rag of a shawl. + +'Good! Where do you live?' demanded the lawyer. The woman answered, and +Holmes wrote it down. + +'Do you know a man by the name of Michael Rust?' + +Mrs. Blossom's chair became very uneasy, and she was seized with a violent +cough. The lawyer waited until her cough was better, and repeated the +question, accompanying it by a look which produced an answer in the +affirmative. + +'What other name did you ever know him to bear?' + +Mrs. Blossom suddenly found her voice, and replied boldly: 'No other;' and +here she spoke the truth; for Rust had trusted her no farther than was +absolutely necessary. + +'How long have you known him?' + +Mrs. Blossom again lost her voice, but found it instantly on meeting the +eye of Holmes; and she answered bluntly, 'About four years.' + +'What led to your acquaintance?' + +The woman cast a shrewd suspicious glance at him, as if calculating how +far she might trifle with impunity; but there was something in his manner +that was not encouraging, and she replied, 'that she could not remember.' + +Holmes laid down his pen, and pushing back his chair so that he faced her, +said in a quiet but very decided manner: + +'Mrs. Blossom, you have been brought here for the purpose of giving us +such information as will enable us to do justice to a person who has been +greatly injured by this man Rust. I mention this, not because I suppose +the motive will have any great weight with you, but to let you see that +the object of our investigation is nothing against yourself. Your answers +are important to us; for at present we know no other than yourself, of +whom we can obtain the information we require. I do not conceal this, nor +will I conceal the fact that unless you _do_ answer me, you shall leave +this room for a prison. I told you so before; I repeat it now; I will +_not_ repeat it a third time. I already know enough of the matter on which +I am interrogating you, to be able to detect falsehood in your answers.' + +There was something either in the words of the lawyer or in the formation +of her chair that caused Mrs. Blossom to move very uneasily; and at the +same time to cast a glance behind her, as if there existed a strong +connection between her thoughts and the door. She was however used to +trying circumstances, and did not lose her presence of mind. She made no +reply, but sat with every faculty, which long training had sharpened to a +high degree of cunning, on the alert; but she was not a little taken by +surprise when Holmes, after taking from the table a packet of papers, +selected one, and having spent a few minutes in examining it, said to her: + +'To convince you that we are perfectly acquainted with the nature of your +dealings with Rust, I will enter into a few details, which may perhaps +enable you to recollect something more. Four years since, on the sixteenth +of December, a man by the name of Blossom, with whom you lived, and whose +name you bear, although you are not his wife, proposed to you to take +charge of two children, a boy and girl. At first you refused, but finally +agreed to do it on receiving five hundred dollars, and the assurance that +no inquiry would be made as to the treatment they received at your hands, +and that whether they lived or died was a matter of indifference to the +person who placed them in your charge, and would not be too closely +investigated. The children came. They were quite young. You had them for a +week, and were then informed that they must go, for a time, to the +country. You asked no questions, but gave them up, and they were sent +away, the money for their support being furnished by the same hand that +threw them upon your mercy. In a year or so they were brought back, and +were again entrusted to you, with instructions to break them down, and if +possible to send them to their graves; but if their bodies were proof +against cruelty, _then_ so to pollute their very souls, and familiarize +them with crime, that they should forget what they had been; and that even +those who should have loved them best would blush to see what they were. +You began your work well, for you had a stern, savage master over +you--Michael Rust. Thus much,' said he, 'I know; but I must know more. You +must identify the children as the same first delivered to you by Rust. You +must disclose the names of the persons with whom they lived in the +country. You must also give me such information as will enable us to +fasten this crime on Rust. Another person could have proved all this--the +man Blossom; but you know he is dead.' + +He paused, for Mrs. Blossom's face grew deadly pale as he spoke. It was +momentary, however; and might have passed away entirely, had not a strange +suspicion fastened itself on his mind. He added in a slow tone: 'What +ailed him, _you_ know best.' + +Mrs. Blossom's thin lips grew perfectly white; and moved as if she were +attempting to speak. + +'Will you give me the information I require? or will you accept the +alternative?' said Holmes, still keeping his eye upon her. + +'Go on; what do you want?' demanded she, in a quick husky voice. + +'You are acquainted with Michael Rust?' + +'I am,' replied she, in the same quick, nervous manner. + +'How did you first become acquainted with him?' + +'You know all that,' was the abrupt reply. 'Why should I go over it again? +It's all true, as you said it.' + +Holmes paused to make a note of it, and then asked: + +'What is the name of the person, in the country, who took charge of the +children?' + +'I don't know,' replied the woman. 'Michael Rust sent a man for them, who +took them off.' + +'Who was this man?' + +'I don't know; I never saw him. Mr. Blossom gave the children to him, and +never told me his name.' + +'Good,' said Holmes, in his short, abrupt manner: 'Where are these +children now?' + +'One's at _his_ house,' replied she, pointing to Harson. 'The other, by +this time, is with a man named Grosket. He's been arter him, and I suppose +has got him by this time.' + +'Enoch Grosket?' inquired Holmes. + +The woman nodded. 'I told him where he'd find him. He went straight off to +fetch him.' + +'Will you swear that they are the same children brought to you four years +since?' said Holmes, pausing in his writing, and running his eye over the +notes which he had made. 'Do you know them to be the same?' + +'The man said so, who brought 'em back at the end of the year. That's all +I know about it. They never left me arter that.' + +'Who was that man?' + +'Tim Craig,' replied the woman. + +'And he's dead. The only person who could reveal their place of +concealment during that year, and the name of those who had the care of +them. The chain is broken, by which to identify them as the lost children +of George Colton. Who can aid us in this?' + +'I CAN!' said a voice. + +All three started, for there, at their very elbow, stood Michael Rust; but +Rust, fearfully altered, worn down, wan, haggard, with sunken cheeks, and +features rigid and colorless, as if cut from wax, and with an eye of fire. +But wrecked as he was, there was still that strange sneering smile on his +lip, which seemed as if only parting to utter sarcasm and mockery. But now +he was serious in his mood, for he repeated: + +'I can, and without my aid the secret must be hid forever.' + +Holmes rose, angrily, from his seat. + +'What brought _you_ here?' demanded he. + +'Be seated, I beg of you,' said Rust, bowing, and speaking in a low, +mocking tone. 'What brought me here? _You_ called upon _me_, I think; it +was but civil to return the visit. I have come to do so.' + +'This is idle, Sir,' replied Holmes, coldly. 'You came for some purpose. +Name it. The sooner this interview is over, the more agreeable I suppose +it will be for both of us.' + +'For me, certainly,' said Rust, in a manner so constrained and different +from his usual one, that the lawyer was in doubt whether he was in jest or +earnest. Then he added, in a bitter tone: 'You ask what brought me here. +Destiny, folly, revenge perhaps against my own heart's blood. Call it what +you will; here I am; and ready to assist in the very matter which now +perplexes you. What more do you want?' + +Holmes replied with a sarcastic smile: 'The assistance of Michael Rust is +likely to be as great as his sincerity. We certainly should place great +reliance on it.' + +Rust, perfectly unmoved by the taunt, answered in a tone so bitter, so +full of hatred to himself, so replete with the outpouring of a cankered +heart, so despairing and reckless, that the lawyer felt that even in him +there might be some truth: + +'I care not whether you trust me or not; I care not whether you believe me +or not. If Michael Rust could ever have been swayed by the opinions of +others, it would have been before this; it's too late to begin now. I came +here because I have failed in all I undertook; because I am beginning to +hate the one for whom I have toiled, until I grew gray with the wearing +away of mind and body; because the soul of life is gone. I do it out of +revenge against that person. There is no remorse; no conscience; but it's +revenge. Look at me; that person has blasted me. Do I not show it in every +feature and limb? Now you understand me. My schemes are abandoned; and I +shall soon be where neither man nor law can reach me. My secret can do me +no good; why should I keep it? Perhaps the recollection of past days and +of past favors from one whom I have wronged, may have had its weight; +perhaps not. I've come to tell the truth. If you will hear it, well; if +not, I go, and it goes with me.' + +Holmes and Harson exchanged looks, and Harson nodded, as if in +acquiescence to some proposition which he supposed the looks of the other +to indicate. + +'Well, Sir,' replied Holmes, 'we will hear what you have to say.' + +'Stop,' said Rust; 'before uttering a word, I must have a promise.' + +The lawyer looked at him, and then at Harson, as much as to say: 'I +expected it. There's some trick in it.' + +Rust observed it, and said: 'Spare your suspicions; I have come here to be +frank and honest in word and deed; and Michael Rust can be so, when the +fancy seizes him. The promise I require is this; whatever I may reveal, no +matter what the penalty, you will not set the blood-hounds of the law on +my track within forty-eight hours. I have yet one act to perform in the +great farce of life. _That_ accomplished, you may do your worst.' + +'This is all very strange,' said Holmes, eyeing the thin, excited features +of his visitor, as if not altogether sure of his sanity; 'if you fear the +punishment of your misdeeds, why reveal them? Why place yourself in our +power, or run the risk of our interfering with your future movements?' + +Rust replied bitterly: 'You shall hear. My whole life has been spent for +one person, my own child. Every faculty of mind and body has been devoted +to her, and every crime I have committed was for her. Scruples were +disregarded; ties of blood set at defiance; every thing that binds man to +man, that deters from wrong, were disregarded, if they stood in the way of +that one grand aim of life. _She_ forgot all! She has broken me down, +heart and spirit. Love and devotion were crushed with them, and revenge +has sprung up from their ruins. Ay! revenge against my own child! Should +any thing prevent my doing what I have yet to do, and should my brother +die, and his children not be found, _she_ would be his heir. _I_ would +have labored and _succeeded_, for one who has disgraced me, and made me +what you see me!' + +He stretched out his thin hands, displaying the large veins, coursing +beneath the skin, and apparently full to bursting. 'How wasted they are!' +He smiled as he looked at them, and then asked: 'Will you promise?' + +The lawyer turned to Harson, and then said: 'I promise; do you, Harson?' +Harry nodded. + +'Good!' said Rust, abruptly. 'You know my name, and much of my history. +All the facts which you detailed to me at my office a short time since are +true--true almost to the very letter. Michael Rust and Henry Colton are +one. The plodding, scheming, heartless, unprincipled Henry Colton, who +could sell his brother's own flesh and blood for gold; who could forget +all the kindnesses heaped upon him, and stab his benefactor, and this +wreck of Michael Rust, are one!' + +He struck his hand against his chest, and strode up and down the room, +biting his lips. '_He_ was rich, and _I_ was poor: he gave me the means of +living, but I wanted more. I had my eye on his entire wealth, and I wanted +him to be in his grave. But he thwarted me in that. Feeble and sickly, so +that a breath might have destroyed him, he lived on, and at last, as if to +balk me farther, he married. Two children were born; two more obstacles +between me and my aim. Two children!--two more of the same blood for me to +love. Ho! ho! how Michael Rust loved those babes!' exclaimed he, clutching +his fingers above his head, and gasping as he spoke. He turned, and +fastening his glaring eye on the lawyer, griped his fingers together, with +his teeth hard set and speaking through them, said in a sharp whisper: 'I +could have strangled them!' + +He paused; and then went on: 'At last came the thought of removing them. +At first it was vague: it came like a shadow, and went off; then it came +again, more distinct. Then it became stronger, and stronger, until it grew +into a passion--a very madness. At last my mind was made up, and my plans +formed. I trusted no one, but carried them off myself, and delivered them +to the husband of that woman,' pointing to Mrs. Blossom. 'I told him +nothing of their history: he was paid to take charge of them, and asked no +questions. Then came the clamor of pursuit. I daily met and comforted my +broken-hearted brother and his wife: I held out hopes which I knew were +false; I offered rewards; I turned pursuit in every direction except the +right one. They both thanked me, and looked upon me as their best friend; +and so I was, for I kept up hope; and what is life without it? At last the +search approached the neighborhood where the children really were, and +they were sent to the country. A man by the name of Craig took them. The +only person who was in the secret was Enoch Grosket; but he knew nothing +respecting the history of the children, nor where they went.' + +'Where was it?' inquired Holmes, anxiously, 'and to whom did you entrust +them?' + +'I have prepared it all,' said Rust; he drew a letter from his pocket and +handed it to him. 'You'll find it there, and the names of the persons; +they know nothing of the children; but they can identify them as those +left with them four years ago; and they still have the clothes which they +wore at the time; but the girl's resemblance to her mother will save all +that trouble.' + +He paused, with his dark eyes fastened on the floor, and his lips working +with intense emotion. + +'And is it possible that the love of gold can lead one to crimes like +these!' said Holmes, in a subdued tone. + +'Love of gold!' exclaimed Rust, fiercely; 'what cared I for gold? Ho! ho! +Michael Rust values gold but as dross; but it is the world; the cringing, +obsequious, miser-hearted world, that kisses the very feet of wealth, +which set Michael Rust on; it was this that lashed him forward; but not +for himself. I married a woman whom I loved,' said he, in a quick, stern +tone; 'she abandoned me and became an outcast, and paid the penalty by an +outcast's fate: she died in the streets. The love which I bore her I +transferred to my child. I was poor, and I resolved that she should be +rich. Can you understand my motive now? I loved my own flesh and blood +better than my brother's. I have now relinquished my plans, and have told +you why.' + +A pause of some moments ensued, and Rust said: 'Is there any thing more +that you want? If so, tell me at once, for after to-day we shall never +meet again.' + +Holmes ran his eye over the papers, and selecting two letters, handed them +to Rust, and said: + +'How do you account for the difference of that hand-writing, if Michael +Rust and Henry Colton are one?' + +'Michael Rust wrote one hand, Henry Colton another,' said Rust; 'but _I_ +wrote both.' He seized a pen, wrote a few words, signed the names Michael +Rust and Henry Colton, and flung it on the table. 'The game had been well +studied before it was played.' + +'Your writing is well disguised indeed,' said the lawyer, comparing it +with the letters; 'it solves that difficulty.' + +'Any thing else?' demanded Rust, impatiently; 'my time is limited.' + +Holmes shook his head; but Harson said: 'A few words about Jacob +Rhoneland.' + +'Well?' + +'You accuse him of forgery; what does that mean?' + +'He was a fool: I wanted to marry his daughter; I represented myself to +him as very rich, to tempt his avarice; that failed. I added entreaties; +_they_ failed. Then I tried the effect of fear. He was not deaf to that +for a long time, but at last he overcame even that.' + +'And the tale?' + +'Was well fabricated, but false.' + +'And Ned Somers?' + +'I had to get rid of him: what could I do while he was dallying round the +girl? I _did_ get rid of him: a few lies whispered to the old man sent him +adrift. But I'm tired of this; I came to tell what I pleased, and nothing +more, and I must be at work. You must respect your promise,' said he, +turning to Holmes. + +'I shall, and I hope your present errand at least is an honest one.' + +'It is,' said Rust, with a strange smile; 'it is to punish a criminal.' He +opened the door and went off without another word. + + + + +NIGHT AND MORNING. + + 'To-morrow to fresh fields and pastures new!' + + LYCIDAS. + + + Yes! I have been for many a changeful year, + Studious or sensual, gay or wild, or sad, + An earnest votary of Evening. She + Had something wondrous winning to my eye, + So soft she was, and quiet. Often too, + Absorbed in books, which were perchance a bane, + Perchance a blessing; or in glittering crowds, + Gazing all rapt on woman's eloquent face, + Nature's most witching and most treacherous page; + Or high in mirth with those whose senseful wit + Outflashed the rosy wines that warmed its flow, + I've held my vigils till the brow of Night + Grew pale and starless, and her solemn pomp, + Out-glared by day, faded in hueless space. + I do repent me of my worship. Night + Was given for rest: who breaks this natural law + Wrongs body and soul alike. One vigorous hour + Of sober day-light thought is worth a night's + Slow oscitations of a drowsy mind. + 'Neath Eve's pale star the desolate heart reverts + To those far moments, when the sky was blue, + And earth was green, as earth and sky to eyes + Once disenchanted, can appear no more. + + We _all_ are mourners. Good men must deplore + Lost hours, lost friends, lost pleasures; and the bad + Are racked by throes of impotent remorse, + Dark, fierce, and bitter; for _themselves_ are lost, + And still neglecting what remains of life, + They strive by backward reachings to redeem + The irredeemable. _Why_ pass the hours, + The fleeting hours, in profitless regrets, + When each regret but lops _another_ bough, + Full of green promise, from the tree of life? + You, who in your bereavement truly feel + This truth, expressed so sadly and so well: + 'Joy's recollection is no longer joy, + While Sorrow's memory is sorrow still;' + I counsel to recant your vows, and come + With me to worship at a better shrine, + The shrine of Morning. + Morning is the hour + Of vigorous thought, unconquerable hope, + And high endeavor. All our powers, in sleep + Bathed, nurtured, clad, and strung with nerves of steel, + Rise from their brief oblivion keen with health, + And strong for struggling, and we feel that toil + Is toil's own recompense. I deem that Man + Is not a retrospective being; for his course + Is on, still on; and never should his eyes + Turn back, but to detect his errors past, + And shun them in his future steps. Too long, + Ah! much too long, O world! and oft I've gazed + In awe and wonder on thy midnight sleep, + While magic Memory, singly or in groups, + Upon her faded tablets re-produced + Fair and familiar forms of Love and Joy. + Oh! _so_ familiar were they, and so fair, + Though dim, those blessed faces, that my eyes + Grew tremulous with the dew of unshed tears. + The gaze hath hurt me. It hath taken their rest + And natural joy from body and spirit, and worn + Too fast the wheel-work of this frail machine. + And now, oh! sleeping Nature! while the stars + Smile on thy face, and I in fancy hear + The low pulsations of thy dormant life, + And feel thy mighty bosom heave and fall + With regular breathings; through _my_ little world + I feel Disease advancing on his sure + And stealthy mission. Well I know his step, + The wily traitor! when I mark my short, + Quick respirations; and his call I know, + As, in the hush of night, my ear alarmed + By the heart's death-march notes, repeats its strange + And audible beatings. + Down! grim spectre, down! + Flap not thy wings across my face, nor let + Thy ghastly visage, horrible shadow! freeze + My staring eye-balls! Let me fly, O Death! + Thy chilling presence, and implore thy soft + And merciful brother,[2] dewy Sleep, to drip + Papaverous balsam on my eyes, and lull + My throbbing temples on his lap to rest! + + * * * * * + + The day-spring reddens: the first few, faint streaks, + Mingling and brightening o'er the eastern skies, + Announce the upward chariot of the Sun. + Light leaps from Darkness! In the grave of Night + Day lays aside his burial-robes, and dons + His regal crown, and Nature smiles to see + His resurrection, shouting, 'Hail! oh, hail! + Eve's younger[3] brother! and again, all hail! + Thou bright-eyed Morning! fairest among all + Of God's fair creatures! Rise, bright prince, and shine + O'er this green earth, from brooding Darkness won, + From wild, waste Chaos, and the womb of Night!' + + [2] [Greek: Entha de Nuktos paides eremnes oiki echousin, + Hypnos kai Thanatos, k. t. l.] HES. THEOG. 1. 758, etc. + + [3] Observe the order of collocation in Genesis I: 5. + 'And the EVENING and the MORNING were the first day.' + + Let _me_ too burst the leaden bands of Sleep, + And while the blinking stars, all faint and pale + With their long watch, recall their courier-rays + To their far orbits; and our earthly stars, + The stars of Fashion, sick and wan as they, + Are wheeling homeward to their feverous rest, + Let _me_ walk forth among the silent groves, + Or through the cool vales snuff the morning air. + How fresh! how breathing! Every draught I take + Seems filled with healthiest life, and sends the blood + Rushing and tingling through my quickened veins, + Like inspiration! How the fluent air, + Fanned into motion by thy breezy wings, + O, fragrant Morning! blows from off the earth + The congregated vapors, dank and foul, + By yesterday coagulate and mixed! + Miasmas steaming up from sunless fens; + The effluvia of vegetable death; + Disease exhaled from pestilential beds, + And Lust's rank pantings and the fumes of wine; + All these, condensed in one pernicious gas + By Noon's hot efflux and the reeking Night, + Thy filtering breezes make as fresh and sweet + As infant slumbers; pure as the virgin's breath + Whispering her first love in the eager ear + Of her heart's chosen. + On this climbing hill, + While, lost in ecstacy, I stand and gaze + On the fresh beauties of a world disrobed, + How does thy searching breath, oh, infant Day! + Inspire the languid frame with new-born life, + And all its sinking powers rejuvenate, + Freshening the murky hollows of the soul! + Good Heaven! How glorious this morning hour, + Nature's new birth-time! All her mighty frame, + In lowly vale, on lofty mountain-top, + And wide savannah, stirs, with sprightful life, + Life irrepressible, whose eager thrill + Shoots to her very finger-tips, and makes + Each little flower through all her delicate threads + Each fibrous plant, each blade of corn or grass, + And each tall tree, through all its limbs and leaves, + Quiver and tremble. + The increasing light + Reveals the outlines of the shadowy hills, + And, charm by charm, the landscape all comes forth, + Wood, stream, and valley; while above that green + And waving ocean swells an endless vault + Of blue serenity, and round its verge + Kindles and flashes with rubescent gleams + The far horizon; till the whole appears + A sapphire dome, which, edged with golden rim, + Spans the green surges of an emerald sea. + The Sun is still unseen; yet far before + His chariot-wheels a train of glory marks + His kindling track, and all the air is now + A luminous ocean. Whence these floods of light, + Rich with all hues? Say! have the sphered stars, + Powdered in shining atoms, fallen and filled + The ambient air with their invisible dews? + Or have the fugitive particles of light, + The Sun's lost emanations, which all night + Lay hid in hollows of the earth, or slept + In vegetable cells, come forth to greet + Their monarch's coming? Are they pioneers + Sent to prepare his way, and raise his bright + Victorious banner, that their sovereign's eye + From his serene pavilion may behold + No lingering shadow from the gloomy host + Of hateful Darkness, who hast westward borne + His routed army and his fading flag? + Alas! proud Science, Fancy's sneering foe, + Says they are but the Sun's refracted rays, + And scintillations from his burning wheels. + + EARTH'S bride-groom rises. Round his glittering head + He shakes his streamy locks, and fast and far + Sheds showers of splendor; and his blushing bride, + Recumbent on her grassy couch, scarce opes + Her bashful eyes to meet his ardent gaze. + While at the advent of her lord, the Earth, + Marking his shining footsteps, with a smile + Remembers the espousals of her youth, + When morning stars rang out the nuptial song[4] + In jubilant chorus; on her milky breast, + All the green nurslings of his favor raise + Their dewy heads, and welcome his approach + With thankful greetings; and each gentle flower + Turns her fair face to the munificent god + Of her idolatry, and well repays + His warm caresses with her perfumed breath. + + [4] 'When the morning stars sang together,' etc. + JOB: XXXVIII., 7. In the same chapter observe the + astonishing boldness of scripture personification, + and the unequalled pomp of oriental imagery. + + But while inanimate nature takes the shows + Of life, and joy, and deep and passionate sense, + The animal kingdom sleeps not; all its tribes + Swell the glad anthem. Birds, that all night long + Slept and dreamed sweetly 'neath their folded wings, + At nature's summons are awakening now; + Nor unmelodiously; for from their throats, + In many a warbling trill, or mingled gush, + Comes music of such sweet and innocent strength, + As might force tears from the black murderer's eyes, + And make the sighing captive, while he weeps + His own hard wrongs, lift his chained hands, and pray + For his oppressor more than for himself. + + Thou, too, my soul, if wearing years have left + Aught of high feeling in thy wasted powers, + Of gratitude for mercies undeserved, + Or hope of future favors, here and now, + Upon this breezy hill-top, in the eye + Of the bright day-god rising from his sleep, + Perform thine orisons: + 'Father and King, + While here thy quickening breezes round me play, + And yonder comes thy visible delegate + With his bright scutcheon, to diffuse again + All day the rays of thy beneficence + Over this lovely earth, thy six days' work; + To Thee, ALMIGHTY ONE! thy child would raise + A loud thanksgiving. And if this, my strain + Of joy and thanks, and supplication, be + Or cold, or weak, or insincere in aught, + (As our poor hearts deceive themselves so oft,) + Thou! O OMNIPOTENT! canst make it warm,-- + Warm as thy love, strong as thy Son's strong tears, + And pure as thine own essence. Formed by Thee, + Saved by thy mercy from thy wrath, we all + Are guilty ingrates, and the best of men + Hath sins perchance which might outweigh the worth + Of all the angels. _I_, at least, have sinned, + Sinned long and deeply; and if still my heart, + Warped by its own bad passions, or allured + By the world's glitter and the arts of him, + Thy foe and our destroyer, should forget + Its source and destiny, and breathe its vows + Again to idols, yet reject Thou not + This present offering. Let thy Grace surround + My steps as with a muniment of rocks, + And guide me in the uneven paths of life, + A pilgrim shielded by thy hollow hand. + And as the grateful earth sends up all day + Her exhalations through the bibulous air + To the sun, her monarch; and receives them back + Rich, soft, and fertile, in the still small shower, + That falls invisible from the morning's womb: + So may my fervent heart exhale to Thee + Daily, the breathings of its thankful prayer. + And praise spontaneous; which thy heavenly grace + Shall render back in a perpetual dew + Of benedictions, making all the waste + Green with cool verdure. + Oh! the time hath been, + When thy benighted children lost the creed + Of thy true worship, and to brutes bowed down, + And senseless stones, and, kneeling in sincere + But vain devotion, to the creature gave + The adoration due to Thee alone, + The mighty Maker. Others strove to turn + Thine anger from them, by the streaming blood + Of human victims; and the reverend priest + Stood up, and in the name of people and king, + Prayed Thee, or some vain substitute, to bless + The holy murder. Even thy chosen, thine own + Peculiar nation, did forget that Thou + Lov'st the oblation of a grateful heart, + A holocaust self-sacrificed to God,[5] + And trusted to the blood of bulls and goats, + And whole burned offerings. And _still_ mankind + Kneel in blind worship. Every heart sets up + Its separate Dagon. Fierce Ambition breathes + His burning vow, and, to secure his prayer, + Makes the dear children of his heart, his own + Sweet home's affections and delights, pass through + The fire of Moloch: Avarice at the shrine + Of greedy Mammon, gluts his eyes with gold: + Some to Renown bend low the obsequious knee, + Praying to be eternized by a blast + From her shrill trumpet: in the glittering halls + Of sensual Pleasure some sing songs, and bind + Their fair young brows with chaplets steeped in wine; + Though soon the chaplets turn to chains, the wines + To gall and wormwood, and the festal song + To howls and hootings. High above these shrines + The great arch-demon and parental Jove + Of all the Pantheon, a god unknown + But every where adored, omnipotent + And omnipresent to the tribes of men, + SELF, rears his temple. + But the day shall come, + When far and wide o'er the regenerate world, + From each green vale and ancient hill, thy sons + Duly to Thee shall bring their evening thanks + And morning homage. Round each cheerful hearth, + Or kneeling in the spreading door-tree's shade, + Each human heart, brim-full of love and hope, + And holy gratitude, shall send aloft + A pure oblation, and the throbbing earth + Be one great censer, breathing praise to Thee.' + + [5] This line is from one of GRIMKE'S polished and + most scholar-like orations. + + +THE LEGEND OF DON RODERICK.[6] + +BY THE AUTHOR OF THE SKETCH BOOK. + + [6] See 'Editor's Table' of the present number. + + +When in the year of Redemption 701, WITIZIA was elected to the Gothic +throne, his reign gave promise of happy days to Spain. He redressed +grievances, moderated the tributes of his subjects, and conducted himself +with mingled mildness and energy in the administration of the laws. In a +little while, however, he threw off the mask and showed himself in his +true nature, cruel and luxurious. Considering himself secure upon the +throne, he gave the reins to his licentious passions, and soon by his +tyranny and sensuality acquired the appellation of WITIZIA the Wicked. How +rare is it to learn wisdom from the misfortunes of others! With the fate +of WITIZIA full before his eyes, DON RODERICK was no sooner established as +his successor, than he began to indulge in the same pernicious errors, and +was doomed in like manner to prepare the way for his own perdition. + +As yet the heart of Roderick, occupied by the struggles of his early life, +by warlike enterprises, and by the inquietudes of newly-gotten power, had +been insensible to the charms of women; but in the first voluptuous calm +the amorous propensities of his nature assumed their sway. There are +divers accounts of the youthful beauty who first found favor in his eyes, +and was elevated by him to the throne. We follow, in our legend, the +details of an Arabian chronicler, authenticated by a Spanish poet. Let +those who dispute our facts produce better authority for their +contradiction. + +Among the few fortified places that had not been dismantled by Don +Roderick was the ancient city of Denia, situated on the Mediterranean +coast, and defended on a rock-built castle that overlooked the sea. + +The Alcayde of the castle, with many of the people of Denia, was one day +on his knees in the chapel, imploring the Virgin to allay a tempest which +was strewing the coast with wrecks, when a sentinel brought word that a +Moorish cruiser was standing for the land. The Alcayde gave orders to ring +the alarm bells, light signal-fires on the hill tops, and rouse the +country; for the coast was subject to cruel maraudings from the Barbary +cruisers. + +In a little while the horsemen of the neighborhood were seen pricking +along the beach, armed with such weapons as they could find; and the +Alcayde and his scanty garrison descended from the hill. In the meantime +the Moorish bark came rolling and pitching toward the land. As it drew +near, the rich carving and gilding with which it was decorated, its silken +bandaroles, and banks of crimson oars, showed it to be no warlike vessel, +but a sumptuous galleot, destined for state and ceremony. It bore the +marks of the tempest: the masts were broken, the oars shattered, and +fragments of snowy sails and silken awnings were fluttering in the blast. + +As the galleot grounded upon the sand, the impatient rabble rushed into +the surf to capture and make spoil; but were awed into admiration and +respect by the appearance of the illustrious company on board. There were +Moors of both sexes sumptuously arrayed, and adorned with precious jewels, +bearing the demeanor of persons of lofty rank. Among them shone +conspicuous a youthful beauty, magnificently attired, to whom all seemed +to pay reverence. + +Several of the Moors surrounded her with drawn swords, threatening death +to any that approached; others sprang from the bark, and, throwing +themselves on their knees before the Alcayde, implored him, by his honor +and courtesy as a knight, to protect a royal virgin from injury and +insult. + +'You behold before you,' said they, 'the only daughter of the King of +Algiers, the betrothed bride of the son of the King of Tunis. We were +conducting her to the court of her expecting bridegroom, when a tempest +drove us from our course, and compelled us to take refuge on your coast. +Be not more cruel than the tempest, but deal nobly with that which even +sea and storm have spared.' + +The Alcayde listened to their prayers. He conducted the princess and her +train to the castle, where every honor due to her rank was paid her. Some +of her ancient attendants interceded for her liberation, promising +countless sums to be paid by her father for her ransom; but the Alcayde +turned a deaf ear to all their golden offers. 'She is a royal captive,' +said he; 'it belongs to my sovereign alone to dispose of her.' After she +had reposed, therefore, for some days at the castle, and recovered from +the fatigue and terror of the seas, he caused her to be conducted, with +all her train, in magnificent state to the court of Don Roderick. + +The beautiful Elyata entered Toledo more like a triumphant sovereign than +a captive. A chosen band of Christian horsemen, splendidly armed, appeared +to wait upon her as a mere guard of honor. She was surrounded by the +Moorish damsels of her train, and followed by her own Moslem guards, all +attired with the magnificence that had been intended to grace her arrival +at the court of Tunis. The princess was arrayed in bridal robes, woven in +the most costly looms of the orient; her diadem sparkled with diamonds, +and was decorated with the rarest plumes of the bird of paradise; and even +the silken trappings of her palfrey, which swept the ground, were covered +with pearls and precious stones. As this brilliant cavalcade crossed the +bridge of the Tagus, all Toledo poured forth to behold it; and nothing was +heard throughout the city but praises of the wonderful beauty of the +princess of Algiers. King Roderick came forth attended by the chivalry of +his court, to receive the royal captive. His recent voluptuous life had +disposed him for tender and amorous affections, and, at the first sight of +the beautiful Elyata, he was enraptured with her charms. Seeing her face +clouded with sorrow and anxiety, he soothed her with gentle and courteous +words, and, conducting her to a royal palace, 'Behold,' said he, 'thy +habitation where no one shall molest thee; consider thyself at home in the +mansion of thy father, and dispose of any thing according to thy will.' + +Here the princess passed her time, with the female attendants who had +accompanied her from Algiers; and no one but the king was permitted to +visit her, who daily became more and more enamoured of his lovely captive, +and sought, by tender assiduity, to gain her affections. The distress of +the princess at her captivity was soothed by this gentle treatment. She +was of an age when sorrow cannot long hold sway over the heart. +Accompanied by her youthful attendants, she ranged the spacious apartments +of the palace, and sported among the groves and alleys of its garden. +Every day the remembrance of the paternal home grew less and less painful, +and the king became more and more amiable in her eyes; and when, at +length, he offered to share his heart and throne with her, she listened +with downcast looks and kindling blushes, but with an air of resignation. + +One obstacle remained to the complete fruition of the monarch's wishes, +and this was the religion of the princess. Roderick forthwith employed the +Archbishop of Toledo to instruct the beautiful Elyata in the mysteries of +the Christian faith. The female intellect is quick in perceiving the +merits of new doctrines: the archbishop, therefore, soon succeeded in +converting, not merely the princess, but most of her attendants; and a day +was appointed for their public baptism. The ceremony was performed with +great pomp and solemnity, in the presence of all the nobility and chivalry +of the court. The princess and her damsels, clad in white, walked on foot +to the cathedral, while numerous beautiful children, arrayed as angels, +strewed the path with flowers; and the archbishop, meeting them at the +portal, received them, as it were, into the bosom of the church. The +princess abandoned her Moorish appellation of Elyata, and was baptised by +the name of Exilona, by which she was thenceforth called, and has +generally been known in history. + +The nuptials of Roderick and the beautiful convert took place shortly +afterward, and were celebrated with great magnificence. There were jousts, +and tourneys, and banquets, and other rejoicings, which lasted twenty +days, and were attended by the principle nobles from all parts of Spain. +After these were over, such of the attendants of the princess as refused +to embrace Christianity, and desired to return to Africa, were dismissed +with munificent presents; and an embassy was sent to the King of Algiers, +to inform him of the nuptials of his daughter, and to proffer him the +friendship of King Roderick. + +For a time Don Roderick lived happily with his young and beautiful queen, +and Toledo was the seat of festivity and splendor. The principal nobles +throughout the kingdom repaired to his court to pay him homage, and to +receive his commands; and none were more devoted in their reverence than +those who were obnoxious to suspicion, from their connection with the late +king. + +Among the foremost of these was Count Julian, a man destined to be +infamously renowned in the dark story of his country's woes. He was of one +of the proudest Gothic families, lord of Consuegra and Algeziras, and +connected by marriage with Witizia and the Bishop Oppas; his wife, the +Countess Frandina, being their sister. In consequence of this connection, +and of his own merits, he had enjoyed the highest dignities and commands: +being one of the Espatorios, or royal sword-bearers; an office of the +greatest confidence about the person of the sovereign. He had, moreover, +been intrusted with the military government of the Spanish possessions on +the African coast of the strait, which at that time were threatened by the +Arabs of the East, the followers of Mahomet, who were advancing their +victorious standard to the extremity of Western Africa. Count Julian +established his seat of government at Ceuta, the frontier bulwark, and one +of the far-famed gates of the Mediterranean Sea. Here he boldly faced, and +held in check, the torrent of Moslem invasion. + +Don Julian was a man of an active, but irregular genius, and a grasping +ambition; he had a love for power and grandeur, in which he was joined by +his haughty countess; and they could ill brook the downfall of their house +as threatened by the fate of Witizia. They had hastened, therefore, to pay +their court to the newly elevated monarch, and to assure him of their +fidelity to his interests. + +Roderick was readily persuaded of the sincerity of Count Julian; he was +aware of his merits as a soldier and a governor, and continued him in his +important command; honoring him with many other marks of implicit +confidence. Count Julian sought to confirm this confidence by every proof +of devotion. It was a custom among the Goths to rear many of the children +of the most illustrious families in the royal household. They served as +pages to the king, and handmaids and ladies of honor to the queen, and +were instructed in all manner of accomplishments befitting their gentle +blood. When about to depart for Ceuta, to resume his command, Don Julian +brought his daughter Florinda to present her to the sovereigns. She was a +beautiful virgin, that had not as yet attained to womanhood. 'I confide +her to your protection,' said he to the king, 'to be unto her as a father; +and to have her trained in the paths of virtue. I can leave with you no +dearer pledge of my loyalty.' + +King Roderick received the timid and blushing maiden into his paternal +care; promising to watch over her happiness with a parent's eye, and that +she should be enrolled among the most cherished attendants of the queen. +With this assurance of the welfare of his child, Count Julian departed, +well pleased, for his government at Ceuta. + +The beautiful daughter of Count Julian was received with great favor by +the queen Exilona, and admitted among the noble damsels that attended upon +her person. Here she lived in honor and apparent security, and surrounded +by innocent delights. To gratify his queen, Don Roderick had built for her +rural recreation, a palace without the walls of Toledo, on the banks of +the Tagus. It stood in the midst of a garden, adorned after the luxurious +style of the east. The air was perfumed by fragrant shrubs and flowers; +the groves resounded with the song of the nightingale; while the gush of +fountains and waterfalls, and the distant murmur of the Tagus, made it a +delightful retreat during the sultry days of summer. The charm of perfect +privacy also reigned throughout the place; for the garden walls were high, +and numerous guards kept watch without to protect it from all intrusion. + +In this delicious abode, more befitting an oriental voluptuary than a +Gothic king, Don Roderick was accustomed to while away much of that time +which should have been devoted to the toilsome cares of government. The +very security and peace which he had produced throughout his dominions, by +his precautions to abolish the means and habitudes of war, had effected a +disastrous change in his character. The hardy and heroic qualities which +had conducted him to the throne, were softened in the lap of indulgence. +Surrounded by the pleasures of an idle and effeminate court, and beguiled +by the example of his degenerate nobles, he gave way to a fatal sensuality +that had lain dormant in his nature during the virtuous days of his +adversity. The mere love of female beauty had first enamoured him of +Exilona; and the same passion, fostered by voluptuous idleness, now +betrayed him into the commission of an act fatal to himself and Spain. The +following is the story of his error, as gathered from an old chronicle and +legend. + +In a remote part of the palace was an apartment devoted to the queen. It +was like an eastern harem, shut up from the foot of man, and where the +king himself but rarely entered. It had its own courts, and gardens, and +fountains, where the queen was wont to recreate herself with her damsels, +as she had been accustomed to do in the jealous privacy of her father's +palace. + +One sultry day, the king, instead of taking his siesta, or mid-day +slumber, repaired to this apartment to seek the society of the queen. In +passing through a small oratory, he was drawn by the sound of female +voices to a casement overhung with myrtles and jessamines. It looked into +an interior garden, or court, set out with orange trees, in the midst of +which was a marble fountain, surrounded by a grassy bank, enamelled with +flowers. + +It was the high noontide of a summer day, when, in sultry Spain, the +landscape trembles to the eye, and all nature seeks repose, except the +grasshopper, that pipes his lulling note to the herdsman as he sleeps +beneath the shade. + +Around the fountain were several of the damsels of the queen, who, +confident of the sacred privacy of the place, were yielding in that cool +retreat to the indulgence prompted by the season and the hour. Some lay +asleep on the flowery bank; others sat on the margin of the fountain, +talking and laughing, as they bathed their feet in its limpid waters, and +King Roderick beheld delicate limbs shining through the wave, that might +rival the marble in whiteness. + +Among the damsels was one who had come from the Barbary coast with the +queen. Her complexion had the dark tinge of Mauritania, but it was clear +and transparent, and the deep rich rose blushed through the lovely brown. +Her eyes were black and full of fire, and flashed from under long silken +eye-lashes. + +A sportive contest arose among the maidens, as to the comparative beauty +of the Spanish and Moorish forms; but the Mauritanian damsel revealed +limbs of voluptuous symmetry that seemed to defy all rivalry. + +The Spanish beauties were on the point of giving up the contest, when they +bethought themselves of the young Florinda, the daughter of Count Julian, +who lay on the grassy bank, abandoned to a summer slumber. The soft glow +of youth and health mantled on her cheek; her fringed eyelashes scarcely +covered their sleeping orbs; her moist and ruby lips were lightly parted, +just revealing a gleam of her ivory teeth; while her innocent bosom rose +and fell beneath her bodice, like the gentle swelling and sinking of a +tranquil sea. There was a breathing tenderness and beauty in the sleeping +virgin, that seemed to send forth sweetness like the flowers around her. + +'Behold,' cried her companions exultingly, 'the champion of Spanish +beauty!' + +In their playful eagerness they half disrobed the innocent Florinda before +she was aware. She awoke in time, however, to escape from their busy +hands; but enough of her charms had been revealed to convince the monarch +that they were not to be rivalled by the rarest beauties of Mauritania. + +From this day the heart of Roderick was inflamed with a fatal passion. He +gazed on the beautiful Florinda with fervid desire, and sought to read in +her looks whether there was levity or wantonness in her bosom; but the eye +of the damsel ever sunk beneath his gaze, and remained bent on the earth +in virgin modesty. + +It was in vain he called to mind the sacred trust reposed in him by Count +Julian, and the promise he had given to watch over his daughter with +paternal care; his heart was vitiated by sensual indulgence, and the +consciousness of power had rendered him selfish in his gratifications. + +Being one evening in the garden where the queen was diverting herself with +her damsels, and coming to the fountain where he had beheld the innocent +maidens at their sport, he could no longer restrain the passion that raged +within his breast. Seating himself beside the fountain, he called Florinda +to him to draw forth a thorn which had pierced his hand. The maiden knelt +at his feet to examine his hand, and the touch of her slender fingers +thrilled through his veins. As she knelt, too, her amber locks fell in +rich ringlets about her beautiful head, her innocent bosom palpitated +beneath the crimson boddice, and her timid blushes increased the +effulgence of her charms. + +Having examined the monarch's hand in vain, she looked up in his face with +artless perplexity. + +'Senior,' said she, 'I can find no thorn, nor any sign of wound.' + +Don Roderick grasped her hand and pressed it to his heart. 'It is here, +lovely Florinda!' said he, 'It is here! and thou alone canst pluck it +forth!' + +'My lord!' exclaimed the blushing and astonished maiden. + +'Florinda!' said Don Roderick, 'dost thou love me?' + +'Senior,' said she, 'my father taught me to love and reverence you. He +confided me to your care as one who would be as a parent to me, when he +should be far distant, serving your majesty with life and loyalty. May God +incline your majesty ever to protect me as a father.' So saying, the +maiden dropped her eyes to the ground, and continued kneeling; but her +countenance had become deadly pale, and as she knelt she trembled. + +'Florinda,' said the king, 'either thou dost not or thou wilt not +understand me. I would have thee love me, not as a father, nor as a +monarch, but as one who adores thee. Why dost thou start? No one shall +know our loves; and, moreover, the love of a monarch inflicts no +degradation like the love of a common man; riches and honors attend upon +it. I will advance thee to rank and dignity, and place thee above the +proudest females of my court. Thy father, too, shall be more exalted and +endowed than any noble in my realm.' + +The soft eye of Florinda kindled at these words. 'Senior,' said she, 'the +line I spring from can receive no dignity by means so vile; and my father +would rather die than purchase rank and power by the dishonor of his +child. But I see,' continued she, 'that your majesty speaks in this manner +only to try me. You may have thought me light and simple and unworthy to +attend upon the queen. I pray your majesty to pardon me, that I have taken +your pleasantry in such serious part.' + +In this way the agitated maiden sought to evade the addresses of the +monarch; but still her cheek was blanched, and her lip quivered as she +spake. + +The king pressed her hand to his lips with fervor. 'May ruin seize me,' +cried he, 'if I speak to prove thee! My heart, my kingdom, are at thy +command. Only be mine, and thou shalt rule absolute mistress of myself and +my domains.' + +The damsel rose from the earth where she had hitherto knelt, and her whole +countenance glowed with virtuous indignation. 'My Lord,' said she, 'I am +your subject, and in your power; take my life if it be your pleasure; but +nothing shall tempt me to commit a crime which would be treason to the +queen, disgrace to my father, agony to my mother, and perdition to +myself.' With these words she left the garden, and the king, for the +moment, was too much awed by her indignant virtue to oppose her departure. + +We shall pass briefly over the succeeding events of the story of Florinda, +about which so much has been said and sung by chronicler and bard: for the +sober page of history should be carefully chastened from all scenes that +might inflame a wanton imagination; leaving them to poems and romances, +and such-like highly seasoned works of fantasy and recreation. + +Let it suffice to say, that Don Roderick pursued his suit to the beautiful +Florinda, his passion being more and more inflamed by the resistance of +the virtuous damsel. At length, forgetting what was due to helpless +beauty, to his own honor as a knight, and his word as a sovereign, he +triumphed over her weakness by base and unmanly violence. + +There are not wanting those who affirm that the hapless Florinda lent a +yielding ear to the solicitations of the monarch, and her name has been +treated with opprobrium in several of the ancient chronicles and legendary +ballads that have transmitted, from generation to generation, the story of +the woes of Spain. In very truth, however, she appears to have been a +guiltless victim, resisting, as far as helpless female could resist, the +arts and intrigues of a powerful monarch, who had nought to check the +indulgence of his will, and bewailing her disgrace with a poignancy that +shows how dearly she had prized her honor. + +In the first paroxysm of her grief she wrote a letter to her father, +blotted with her tears, and almost incoherent from her agitation. 'Would +to God, my father,' said she, 'that the earth had opened and swallowed me +ere I had been reduced to write these lines! I blush to tell thee, what it +is not proper to conceal. Alas! my father; thou hast entrusted thy lamb to +the guardianship of the lion. Thy daughter has been dishonored, the royal +cradle of the Goths polluted, and our lineage insulted and disgraced. +Hasten, my father, to rescue your child from the power of the spoiler, and +to vindicate the honor of your house!' + +When Florinda had written these lines, she summoned a youthful esquire, +who had been a page in the service of her father. 'Saddle thy steed,' said +she, 'and if thou dost aspire to knightly honor, or hope for lady's +grace--if thou hast fealty for thy lord, or devotion to his +daughter--speed swiftly upon my errand. Rest not, halt not, spare not the +spur; but hie thee day and night until thou reach the sea; take the first +bark, and haste with sail and oar to Ceuta, nor pause until thou give this +letter to the count my father.' + +The youth put the letter in his bosom. 'Trust me, lady,' said he, 'I will +neither halt nor turn aside, nor cast a look behind, until I reach Count +Julian.' He mounted his fleet steed, sped his way across the bridge, and +soon left behind him the verdant valley of the Tagus. + + * * * * * + +The heart of Don Roderick was not so depraved by sensuality, but that the +wrong he had been guilty of toward the innocent Florinda, and the disgrace +he had inflicted on her house, weighed heavy on his spirits, and a cloud +began to gather on his once clear and unwrinkled brow. + +Heaven, at this time, say the old Spanish chronicles, permitted a +marvellous intimation of the wrath with which it intended to visit the +monarch and his people, in punishment of their sins; nor are we, say the +same orthodox writers, to startle, and withhold our faith, when we meet in +the page of discreet and sober history with these signs and portents, +which transcend the probabilities of ordinary life; for the revolutions of +empires and the downfall of mighty kings are awful events, that shake the +physical as well as the moral world, and are often announced by +forerunning marvels and prodigious omens. With such-like cautious +preliminaries do the wary but credulous historiographers of yore usher in +a marvellous event of prophecy and enchantment, linked in ancient story +with the fortunes of Don Roderick, but which modern doubters would fain +hold up as an apocryphal tradition of Arabian origin. + +Now, so it happened, according to the legend, that about this time, as +King Roderick was seated one day on his throne, surrounded by his nobles, +in the ancient city of Toledo, two men of venerable appearance entered the +hall of audience. Their snowy beards descended to their breasts, and their +gray hairs were bound with ivy. They were arrayed in white garments of +foreign or antiquated fashion, which swept the ground, and were cinctured +with girdles, wrought with the signs of the zodiac, from which were +suspended enormous bunches of keys of every variety of form. Having +approached the throne and made obeisance: 'Know, O King,' said one of the +old men, 'that in days of yore, when Hercules of Libya, surnamed the +strong, had set up his pillars at the ocean strait, he erected a tower +near to this ancient city of Toledo. He built it of prodigious strength, +and finished it with magic art, shutting up within it a fearful secret, +never to be penetrated without peril and disaster. To protect this +terrible mystery he closed the entrance to the edifice with a ponderous +door of iron, secured by a great lock of steel; and he left a command that +every king who should succeed him should add another lock to the portal; +denouncing wo and destruction on him who should eventually unfold the +secret of the tower. + +'The guardianship of the portal was given to our ancestors, and has +continued in our family, from generation to generation, since the days of +Hercules. Several kings, from time to time, have caused the gate to be +thrown open, and have attempted to enter, but have paid dearly for their +temerity. Some have perished within the threshold, others have been +overwhelmed with horror at tremendous sounds, which shook the foundations +of the earth, and have hastened to re-close the door, and secure it with +its thousand locks. Thus, since the days of Hercules, the inmost recesses +of the pile have never been penetrated by mortal man, and a profound +mystery continues to prevail over this great enchantment. This, O King, is +all we have to relate; and our errand is to entreat thee to repair to the +tower and affix thy lock to the portal, as has been done by all thy +predecessors.' Having thus said, the ancient men made a profound reverence +and departed from the presence chamber. + +Don Roderick remained for some time lost in thought after the departure of +the men: he then dismissed all his court, excepting the venerable Urbino, +at that time archbishop of Toledo. The long white beard of this prelate +bespoke his advanced age, and his overhanging eye-brows showed him a man +full of wary counsel. + +'Father,' said the king, 'I have an earnest desire to penetrate the +mystery of this tower.' The worthy prelate shook his hoary head: 'Beware, +my son,' said he; 'there are secrets hidden from man for his good. Your +predecessors for many generations have respected this mystery, and have +increased in might and empire. A knowledge of it, therefore, is not +material to the welfare of your kingdom. Seek not then to indulge a rash +and unprofitable curiosity, which is interdicted under such awful +menaces.' + +'Of what importance,' cried the king, 'are the menaces of Hercules, the +Lybian? Was he not a pagan? and can his enchantments have aught avail +against a believer in our holy faith? Doubtless, in this tower are locked +up treasures of gold and jewels, amassed in days of old, the spoils of +mighty kings, the riches of the pagan world. My coffers are exhausted; I +have need of supply; and surely it would be an acceptable act in the eyes +of Heaven, to draw forth this wealth which lies buried under profane and +necromantic spells, and consecrate it to religious purposes.' + +The venerable archbishop still continued to remonstrate, but Don Roderick +heeded not his counsel, for he was led on by his malignant star. 'Father,' +said he, 'it is in vain you attempt to dissuade me. My resolution is +fixed. To-morrow I will explore the hidden mystery, or rather the hidden +treasures of this tower.' + +The morning sun shone brightly upon the cliff-built towers of Toledo, when +King Roderick issued out of the gate of the city, at the head of a +numerous train of courtiers and cavaliers, and crossed the bridge that +bestrides the deep rocky bed of the Tagus. The shining cavalcade wound up +the road that leads among the mountains, and soon came in sight of the +necromantic tower. + +Of this renowned edifice marvels are related by the ancient Arabian and +Spanish chroniclers; 'and I doubt much,' adds the venerable Agpaida, +'whether many readers will not consider the whole as a cunningly devised +fable, sprung from an oriental imagination; but it is not for me to reject +a fact which is recorded by all those writers who are the fathers of our +national history: a fact, too, which is as well attested as most of the +remarkable events in the story of Don Roderick. None but light and +inconsiderate minds,' continues the good friar, 'do hastily reject the +marvellous. To the thinking mind the whole world is enveloped in mystery, +and every thing is full of type and portent. To such a mind the +necromantic tower of Toledo will appear as one of those wondrous monuments +of the olden time; one of those Egyptian and Chaldaic piles, storied with +hidden wisdom and mystic prophecy, which have been devised in past ages, +when man yet enjoyed an intercourse with high and spiritual natures, and +when human foresight partook of divination.' + +This singular tower was round, and of great height and grandeur; erected +upon a lofty rock, and surrounded by crags and precipices. The foundation +was supported by four brazen lions, each taller than a cavalier on +horseback. The walls were built of small pieces of jasper, and various +colored marbles, not larger than a man's hand; so subtilely joined, +however, that but for their different hues they might be taken for one +entire stone. They were arranged with marvellous cunning, so as to +represent battles and warlike deeds of times and heroes long since passed +away; and the whole surface was so admirably polished that the stones were +as lustrous as glass, and reflected the rays of the sun with such +resplendent brightness as to dazzle all beholders.[7] + + [7] From the minute account of the good friar, drawn from the + ancient chronicles, it would appear that the walls of the + tower were pictured in mosaic work. + +King Roderick and his courtiers arrived wondering and amazed, at the foot +of the rock. Here there was a narrow arched way cut through the living +stone; the only entrance to the tower. It was closed by a massive iron +gate, covered with rusty locks of divers workmanship, and in the fashion +of different centuries, which had been affixed by the predecessors of Don +Roderick. On either side of the portal stood the two ancient guardians of +the tower, laden with the keys appertaining to the locks. + +The king alighted, and, approaching the portals, ordered the guardians to +unlock the gate. The hoary-headed men drew back with terror. 'Alas!' cried +they, 'what is it your majesty requires of us? Would you have the +mischiefs of this tower unbound, and let loose to shake the earth to its +foundations?' + +The venerable archbishop Urbino likewise implored him not to disturb a +mystery which had been held sacred from generation to generation, within +the memory of man; and which even Caesar himself, when sovereign of Spain, +had not ventured to invade. The youthful cavaliers, however, were eager to +pursue the adventure, and encouraged him in his rash curiosity. + +'Come what come may,' exclaimed Don Roderick, 'I am resolved to penetrate +the mystery of this tower.' So saying, he again commanded the guardians to +unlock the portal. The ancient men obeyed with fear and trembling, but +their hands shook with age, and when they applied the keys, the locks were +so rusted by time, or of such strange workmanship, that they resisted +their feeble efforts; whereupon the young cavaliers pressed forward and +lent their aid. Still the locks were so numerous and difficult, that with +all their eagerness and strength a great part of the day was exhausted +before the whole of them could be mastered. + +When the last bolt had yielded to the key, the guardians and the reverend +archbishop again entreated the king to pause and reflect. 'Whatever is +within this tower,' said they, 'is as yet harmless, and lies bound under a +mighty spell: venture not then to open a door which may let forth a flood +of evil upon the land.' But the anger of the king was roused, and he +ordered that the portal should be instantly thrown open. In vain, however, +did one after another exert his strength; and equally in vain did the +cavaliers unite their forces, and apply their shoulders to the gate: +though there was neither bar nor bolt remaining, it was perfectly +immoveable. + +The patience of the king was now exhausted, and he advanced to apply his +hand; scarcely, however, did he touch the iron gate, when it swung slowly +open, uttering, as it were, a dismal groan, as it turned reluctantly upon +its hinges. A cold, damp wind issued forth, accompanied by a tempestuous +sound. The hearts of the ancient guardians quaked within them, and their +knees smote together; but several of the youthful cavaliers rushed in, +eager to gratify their curiosity, or to signalise themselves in this +redoubtable enterprise. They had scarcely advanced a few paces, however, +when they recoiled, overcome by the baleful air, or by some fearful +vision. Upon this, the king ordered that fires should be kindled to dispel +the darkness, and to correct the noxious and long imprisoned air: he then +led the way into the interior; but, though stout of heart, he advanced +with awe and hesitation. + +After proceeding a short distance, he entered a hall, or antechamber, on +the opposite side of which was a door; and before it, on a pedestal, stood +a gigantic figure, of the color of bronze, and of a terrible aspect. It +held a huge mace, which it whirled incessantly, giving such cruel and +resounding blows upon the earth as to prevent all further entrance. + +The king paused at sight of this appalling figure; for whether it were a +living being, or a statue of magic artifice, he could not tell. On its +breast was a scroll, whereon was inscribed in large letters, 'I do my +duty.' After a little while Roderick plucked up heart, and addressed it +with great solemnity: 'Whatever thou be,' said he, 'know that I come not +to violate this sanctuary, but to inquire into the mystery it contains; I +conjure thee, therefore, to let me pass in safety.' + +Upon this the figure paused with uplifted mace, and the king and his train +passed unmolested through the door. + +They now entered a vast chamber, of a rare and sumptuous architecture, +difficult to be described. The walls were incrusted with the most precious +gems, so joined together as to form one smooth and perfect surface. The +lofty dome appeared to be self-supported, and was studded with gems, +lustrous as the stars of the firmament. There was neither wood, nor any +other common or base material to be seen throughout the edifice. There +were no windows or rather openings to admit the day, yet a radiant light +was spread throughout the place, which seemed to shine from the walls, and +to render every object distinctly visible. + +In the centre of this hall stood a table of alabaster, of the rarest +workmanship, on which was inscribed in Greek characters, that Hercules +Alcides, the Theban Greek, had founded this tower in the year of the world +three thousand and six. Upon the table stood a golden casket, richly set +round with precious stones, and closed with a lock of mother-of-pearl; and +on the lid were inscribed the following words: + +'In this coffer is contained the mystery of the tower. The hand of none +but a king can open it; but let him beware! for marvellous events will be +revealed to him, which are to take place before his death.' + +King Roderick boldly seized upon the casket. The venerable archbishop laid +his hand upon his arm, and made a last remonstrance. 'Forbear, my son!' +said he; 'desist while there is yet time. Look not into the mysterious +decrees of Providence. God has hidden them in mercy from our sight, and it +is impious to rend the veil by which they are concealed.' + +'What have I to dread from a knowledge of the future?' replied Roderick, +with an air of haughty presumption. 'If good be destined me, I shall enjoy +it by anticipation: if evil, I shall arm myself to meet it.' So saying, he +rashly broke the lock. + +Within the coffer he found nothing but a linen cloth, folded between two +tablets of copper. On unfolding it, he beheld painted on it figures of men +on horseback, of fierce demeanor, clad in turbans and robes of various +colors, after the fashion of the Arabs, with scimetars hanging from their +necks, and cross-bows at their saddle backs, and they carried banners and +pennons with divers devices. Above them was inscribed in Greek characters, +'Rash monarch! behold the men who are to hurl thee from thy throne, and +subdue thy kingdom!' + +At sight of these things the king was troubled in spirit, and dismay fell +upon his attendants. While they were yet regarding the paintings, it +seemed as if the figures began to move, and a faint sound of warlike +tumult arose from the cloth, with the clash of cymbal and bray of trumpet, +the neigh of steed and shout of army; but all was heard indistinctly, as +if afar off, or in a reverie or dream. The more they gazed, the plainer +became the motion, and the louder the noise; and the linen cloth rolled +forth, and amplified and spread out, as it were, a mighty banner, and +filled the hall, and mingled with the air, until its texture was no longer +visible, or appeared as a transparent cloud: and the shadowy figures +become all in motion, and the din and uproar became fiercer and fiercer; +and whether the whole were an animated picture, or a vision, or an array +of embodied spirits, conjured up by supernatural power, no one present +could tell. They beheld before them a great field of battle, where +Christians and Moslems were engaged in deadly conflict. They heard the +rush and tramp of steeds, the blast of trump and clarion, the clash of +cymbal, and the stormy din of a thousand drums. There was the clash of +swords, and maces, and battle-axes, with the whistling of arrows, and the +hurling of darts and lances. The Christians quailed before the foe; the +infidels pressed upon them and put them to utter rout; the standard of the +cross was cast down, the banner of Spain was trodden under foot, the air +resounded with shouts of triumph, with yells of fury, and with the groans +of dying men. Amidst the flying squadrons, King Roderick beheld a crowned +warrior, whose back was turned toward him, but whose armor and device were +his own, and who was mounted on a white steed that resembled his own war +horse Orelia. In the confusion of the flight, the warrior was dismounted, +and was no longer to be seen, and Orelia galloped wildly through the field +of battle without a rider. + +Roderick stayed to see no more, but rushed from the fatal hall, followed +by his terrified attendants. They fled through the outer chamber, where +the gigantic figure with the whirling mace had disappeared from his +pedestal; and on issuing into the open air, they found the two ancient +guardians of the tower lying dead at the portal, as though they had been +crushed by some mighty blow. All nature, which had been clear and serene, +was now in wild uproar. The heavens were darkened by heavy clouds; loud +bursts of thunder rent the air, and the earth was deluged with rain and +rattling hail. + +The king ordered that the iron portal should be closed; but the door was +immoveable, and the cavaliers were dismayed by the tremendous turmoil, and +the mingled shouts and groans that continued to prevail within. The king +and his train hastened back to Toledo, pursued and pelted by the tempest. +The mountains shook and echoed with the thunder, trees were uprooted and +blown down, and the Tagus raged and roared and flowed above its banks. It +seemed to the affrighted courtiers as if the phantom legions of the tower +had issued forth and mingled with the storm; for amidst the claps of +thunder and the howling of the wind, they fancied they heard the sound of +the drums and trumpets, the shouts of armies and the rush of steeds. Thus +beaten by tempest, and overwhelmed with horror, the king and his courtiers +arrived at Toledo, clattering across the bridge of the Tagus, and entering +the gate in headlong confusion, as though they had been pursued by an +enemy. + +In the morning the heavens were again serene, and all nature was restored +to tranquillity. The king, therefore, issued forth with his cavaliers and +took the road to the tower, followed by a great multitude, for he was +anxious once more to close the iron door, and shut up those evils that +threatened to overwhelm the land. But lo! on coming in sight of the tower, +a new wonder met their eyes. An eagle appeared high in the air, seeming to +descend from heaven. He bore in his beak a burning brand, and lighting on +the summit of the tower, fanned the fire with his wings. In a little while +the edifice burst forth into a blaze as though it had been built of rosin, +and the flames mounted into the air with a brilliancy more dazzling than +the sun; nor did they cease until every stone was consumed and the whole +was reduced to a heap of ashes. Then there came a vast flight of birds, +small of size and sable of hue, darkening the sky like a cloud; and they +descended and wheeled in circles round the ashes, causing so great a wind +with their wings that the whole was borne up into the air and scattered +throughout all Spain, and wherever a particle of those ashes fell it was +as a stain of blood. It is furthermore recorded by ancient men and writers +of former days, that all those on whom this dust fell were afterwards +slain in battle, when the country was conquered by the Arabs, and that the +destruction of this necromantic tower was a sign and token of the +approaching perdition of Spain. + +'Let all those,' concludes the cautious friar, 'who question the verity of +this most marvellous occurrence, consult those admirable sources of our +history, the chronicle of the Moor Rasis, and the work entitled 'The Fall +of Spain,' written by the Moor, Abulcasim Tarif Abentarique. Let them +consult, moreover, the venerable historian Bleda, and the cloud of other +Catholic Spanish writers, who have treated of this event, and they will +find I have related nothing that has not been printed and published under +the inspection and sanction of our holy mother church. God alone knoweth +the truth of these things; I speak nothing but what has been handed down +to me from times of old.' + + + + +ANACREONTIC. + + [Greek: To de cheilos, ouk et oida + Tini moi tropo poieseis.] + + + Maiden! first did Nature seek + Lilies for thy spotless cheek; + When with roses came she next + Half delighted, yet more vex'd, + For the lilies there, to see + Blushing at their purity! + Since her labor now was lost, + Roses to the wind she tost. + One, a bud of smiling June, + Falling on thy lips, as soon + Left its color, and in death + Willed its fragrance to thy breath! + Then two drops of crystalled dew + From the hyacinth's deep hue, + Brought she for thine eyes of blue; + And lest they should miss the sun, + Bade thy soul to shine thereon. + Lilies, Nature gave thy face-- + Say, thy _heart_ do lilies grace? + +_St. Paul's College._ G. H. H. + + + + +LITERARY NOTICES. + + + A CHRISTMAS CAROL, IN PROSE: Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas. By + CHARLES DICKENS. New-York: HARPER AND BROTHERS. + +If in every alternate work that Mr. DICKENS were to send to the London +press he should find occasion to indulge in ridicule against alleged +American peculiarities, or broad caricatures of our actual vanities, or +other follies, we could with the utmost cheerfulness pass them by unnoted +and uncondemned, if he would only now and then present us with an +intellectual creation so touching and beautiful as the one before us. +Indeed, we can with truth say, that in our deliberate judgment, the +'Christmas Carol' is the most striking, the most picturesque, the most +truthful, of all the limnings which have proceeded from its author's pen. +There is much mirth in the book, says a competent English critic, but more +wisdom; wisdom of that kind which men possess who have gazed thoughtfully +but kindly on human life, and have pierced deeper than their fellows into +all the sunny nooks and dark recesses of the human breast. The barbarous +notion has long been exploded, that comic writers were only to be esteemed +for their jests, and useful for provoking laughter. CERVANTES, first among +the moderns, sent it out of fashion, and blessed that union of wit, sense, +and pathos, which so many renowned writers have since confirmed; until it +has come to be acknowledged, that rich genuine humor is rarely an inmate +of the mind, if there be not a corresponding depth of earnestness and +feeling in the heart. Many of DICKENS' writings, it is justly claimed, +exhibit this fine, healthy, benevolent spirit. 'His sympathy for human +suffering is strong and pure, and he reserves it not for imaginary and +fictitious distress, but for the real grinding sorrows of life.' And this +sympathy is more finely displayed in the work under notice, than in any of +his previous productions. The design is very fanciful, and there is +crowded into it, brief as it is, a world of character and observation. It +is truly a reflection of life in miniature. Before proceeding to a few +illustrative extracts, we shall avail ourselves in part of a clear +synopsis of the inception and progress of the story, from the pen of a +London contemporary. + +SCROOGE is a very rich citizen; a 'squeezing, grinding, grasping, +scraping, clutching, covetous old sinner.' He has lost all recollection of +what he once was, and what he once felt; is dead to all kindly impulses, +and proof against the most moving tale. He is almost as keen and gruff as +old RALPH NICKELBY, to whom he bears a strong family resemblance, and uses +his poor clerk, BOB CRATCHIT, just as badly, and has as little feeling for +his merry-hearted nephew, who has married for love. The 'carol' begins on +Christmas-eve. SCROOGE calls his nephew a lunatic for wishing him 'A merry +Christmas!' and sends him home, sad as harsh words can make him. He keeps +his poor shivering clerk in a small tank-like ground-room till the last +minute of his stipulated time, and then dismisses him with an angry growl. +He goes to his usual melancholy tavern to eat his melancholy dinner, +amuses himself in the evening with his banker's book, and then retires to +his dreary chambers. He had once a partner, a counterpart of himself, who +has been dead for many a year; and while sitting in his lonely room, over +a low fire, the ghost of the deceased partner enters, although the door is +double-locked. He wears a heavy chain, forged of keys and safes; and, like +Hamlet's ghost, tells of the heavy penance he is doomed to suffer in +spirit for sins committed in the flesh. He has come to warn his partner, +and to give him a chance of amendment. He tells him he will be visited by +three Spirits, on the three following nights, and bids him mark well what +they shall disclose. SCROOGE instantly falls asleep, and does not wake +till the appointed hour. The three spirits are of Christmas Past, +Christmas Present, and Christmas to Come. The ghost of Christmas Past +stands by SCROOGE'S bedside, of an uncertain form, though the belt round +its body is wondrous light, and a flame shoots up from its head. Yet the +figure fluctuates in distinctness, now one part being visible and now +another. The spirit seizes the hand of SCROOGE, and they float through the +air together. The old man is taken to the haunts of his childhood, and he +is conscious of 'a thousand odors floating in the air, each one connected +with a thousand thoughts, and hopes, and joys, and cares long, long +forgotten.' Each circumstance of the time past is restored. The village +school; a boy left deserted in the school-room, whom SCROOGE recognises as +his former self reading 'Robinson Crusoe;' till at last a lovely girl, who +throws her arms round the boy's neck, and bids him come home to a 'merry, +merry Christmas.' Then the scene changes, and SCROOGE is once more in the +house of the kind-hearted master of his youth, who loved to keep Christmas +as it was kept in the olden time, and he recognises himself the most +joyous of the joyous group. Then comes the scene of his manhood, when he +deserted his betrothed for a wealthier bride; and last, he views the girl +he had deserted, the mother of a happy blooming family. This picture is +delightfully sketched; it is enough to make a bachelor in love with +wedlock. The scene is too affecting for the changed and worldly miser; he +implores to be removed from the familiar place; he wrestles with the +spirit, and awakened by the struggle, finds himself once more in his own +room, and in darkness. + +Again he has a long sleep. Christmas Present comes in the shape of a +giant, with a holly-green robe. SCROOGE perceives him seated in his room, +with his noble head crowned with holly wreath studded with icicles, +reaching to the ceiling. His throne is a wine-cask and his foot-stool a +twelfth-cake. In his hand he bears a blazing torch, from which he +sprinkles down gladness upon every threshhold he enters. An immense fire +glows and crackles in the grate, the walls and ceiling are hung with +living green, and all around are heaped up the choice provisions collected +to make Christmas glad. The giant leads SCROOGE forth. They pass through +streets and lanes, with every house bearing token of rejoicing by its +roaring fire or its sprig of holly, till they come to the dwelling of poor +BOB CRATCHIT, old SCROOGE'S clerk. And here ensues a picture worthy of +WILKIE in his best days: + + 'Perhaps it was the pleasure the good Spirit had in showing off + his power, or else it was his own kind, generous, hearty nature, + and his sympathy with all poor men, that led him straight to + Scrooge's clerk's; for there he went, and took Scrooge with him, + holding to his robe; and on the threshhold of the door the Spirit + smiled, and stopped to bless Bob Cratchit's dwelling with the + sprinkling of his torch. Think of that! Bob had but fifteen 'Bob' + a week himself; he pocketed on Saturdays but fifteen copies of his + Christian name; and yet the Ghost of Christmas Present blessed his + four-roomed house! + + 'Then up rose Mrs. Cratchit, Cratchit's wife, dressed out but + poorly in a twice-turned gown, but brave in ribands, which are + cheap and make a goodly show for sixpence; and she laid the cloth, + assisted by Belinda Cratchit, second of her daughters, also brave + in ribands; while Master Peter Cratchit plunged a fork into the + saucepan of potatoes, and getting the corners of his monstrous + shirt-collar (Bob's private property, conferred upon his son and + heir in honor of the day) into his mouth, rejoiced to find himself + so gallantly attired, and yearned to show his linen in the + fashionable Parks. And now two smaller Cratchits, boy and girl, + came tearing in, screaming that outside the baker's they had smelt + the goose, and known it for their own; and basking in luxurious + thoughts of sage-and-onions, these young Cratchits danced about + the table, and exalted Master Peter Cratchit to the skies, while + he (not proud, although his collars nearly choked him) blew the + fire, until the slow potatoes, bubbling up, knocked proudly at the + sauce-pan lid to be let out and peeled. + + ''What has ever got your precious father, then?' said Mrs. + Cratchit. 'And your brother, Tiny Tim; and Martha warn't as late + last Christmas Day by half-an-hour!' + + ''Here's Martha, mother!' said a girl, appearing as she spoke. + + ''Here's Martha, mother!' cried the two young Cratchits. 'Hurrah! + There's _such_ a goose, Martha!' + + ''Why, bless your heart alive, my dear, how late you are!' said + Mrs. Cratchit, kissing her a dozen times, and taking off her shawl + and bonnet for her, with officious zeal. + + ''We'd a deal of work to finish up last night,' replied the girl, + 'and had to clear away this morning, mother!' + + ''Well! Never mind so long as you are come,' said Mrs. Cratchit. + 'Sit ye down before the fire, my dear, and have a warm, Lord bless + ye!' + + ''No, no! There's father coming,' cried the two young Cratchits, + who were every where at once. 'Hide, Martha, hide!' + + 'So Martha hid herself, and in came little Bob, the father, with + at least three feet of comforter, exclusive of the fringe, hanging + down before him; and his thread-bare clothes darned up and + brushed, to look seasonable; and Tiny Tim upon his shoulder. Alas + for Tiny Tim, he bore a little crutch, and had his limbs supported + by an iron frame! + + ''Why, where's our Martha?' cried Bob Cratchit looking round. + + ''Not coming,' said Mrs. Cratchit. + + ''Not coming!' said Bob, with a sudden declension in his high + spirits; for he had been Tim's blood horse all the way from + church, and had come home rampant. 'Not coming upon Christmas + Day!' + + 'Martha didn't like to see him disappointed, if it were only in + joke; so she came out prematurely from behind the closet door, and + ran into his arms, while the two young Cratchits hustled Tiny Tim, + and bore him off into the wash-house, that he might hear the + pudding singing in the copper. + + ''And how did little Tim behave?' asked Mrs. Cratchit, when she + had rallied Bob on his credulity, and Bob had hugged his daughter + to his heart's content. + + ''As good as gold,' said Bob, 'and better. Somehow he gets + thoughtful sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest + things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the + people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it + might be pleasant to them to remember upon Christmas Day who made + lame beggars walk, and blind men see.' + + 'Bob's voice was tremulous when he told them this, and trembled + more when he said that Tiny Tim was growing strong and hearty. + + 'His active little crutch was heard upon the floor, and back came + Tiny Tim before another word was spoken, escorted by his brother + and sister to his stool beside the fire; and while Bob, turning up + his cuffs, as if, poor fellow, they were capable of being made + less shabby, compounded some hot mixture in a jug with gin and + lemons, and stirred it round and round, and put it on the hob to + simmer; Master Peter and the two ubiquitous young Cratchits went + to fetch the goose, with which they soon returned in high + procession. + + 'Such a bustle ensued that you might have thought a goose the + rarest of all birds; a feathered phenomenon, to which a black swan + was a matter of course: and, in truth, it was something very like + it in that house. Mrs. Cratchit made the gravy (ready before-hand + in a little saucepan) hissing hot; Master Peter mashed the + potatoes with incredible vigour; Miss Belinda sweetened up the + apple-sauce; Martha dusted the hot plates; Bob took Tiny Tim + beside him in a tiny corner at the table; the two young Cratchits + set chairs for every body, not forgetting themselves, and, + mounting guard upon their posts, crammed spoons into their mouths, + lest they should shriek for goose before their turn came to be + helped. At last the dishes were set on, and grace was said. It was + succeeded by a breathless pause, as Mrs. Cratchit, looking slowly + all along the carving-knife, prepared to plunge it in the breast; + but when she did, and when the long expected gush of stuffing + issued forth, one murmur of delight arose all round the board, and + even Tiny Tim, excited by the two young Cratchits, beat on the + table with the handle of his knife, and feebly cried Hurrah! + + 'There never was such a goose. Bob said he didn't believe there + ever was such a goose cooked. Its tenderness and flavor, size and + cheapness, were the themes of universal admiration. Eked out by + the apple-sauce and mashed potatoes, it was a sufficient dinner + for the whole family; indeed, as Mrs. Cratchit said with great + delight (surveying one small atom of a bone upon the dish,) they + hadn't ate it all at last! Yet every one had had enough, and the + youngest Cratchits in particular, were steeped in sage and onion + to the eyebrows! But now, the plates being changed by Miss + Belinda, Mrs. Cratchit left the room alone--too nervous to bear + witnesses--to take the pudding up, and bring it in. + + 'Suppose it should not be done enough! Suppose it should break in + turning out! Suppose somebody should have got over the wall of the + back-yard, and stolen it, while they were merry with the goose: a + supposition at which the two young Cratchits became livid! All + sorts of horrors were supposed. + + 'Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper. + A smell like a washing-day! That was the cloth. A smell like an + eating house, and a pastry cook's next door to each other, with a + laundress's next door to that? That was the pudding. In half a + minute Mrs. Cratchit entered: flushed, but smiling proudly: with + the pudding, like a speckled cannon-ball, so hard and firm, + blazing in half-a-quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with + Christmas holly stuck into the top. + + ''Oh, a wonderful pudding!' Bob Cratchit said, and calmly too, + that he regarded it as the greatest success achieved by Mrs. + Cratchit since their marriage. Mrs. Cratchit said that now the + weight was off her mind, she would confide she had had her doubts + about the quantity of flour. Everybody had something to say about + it, but nobody said or thought it was at all a small pudding for a + large family. It would have been flat heresy to do so. Any + Cratchit would have blushed to hint at such a thing. + + 'At last the dinner was all done, the cloth was cleared, the + hearth swept, and the fire made up. The compound in the jug being + tasted and considered perfect, apples and oranges were put upon + the table, and a shovel-full of chestnuts on the fire. Then all + the Cratchit family drew round the hearth, in what Bob Cratchit + called a circle, meaning half a one; and at Bob Cratchit's elbow + stood the family display of glass; two tumblers, and a custard-cup + without a handle. + + 'These held the hot stuff from the jug, however, as well as golden + goblets would have done: and Bob served it out with beaming looks, + while the chestnuts on the fire sputtered and crackled noisily. + Then Bob proposed: + + ''A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!' + + 'Which all the family re-echoed. + + ''God bless us every one!' said Tiny Tim, last of all. + + 'He sat very close to his father's side, upon his little stool. + Bob held his withered little hand in his, as if he loved the + child, and wished to keep him by his side, and dreaded that he + might be taken from him.' + +Could any thing be more life-like, more beautiful, more touching, than +this description? But let us skip the journeyings of Christmas Present for +a moment, that we may accompany Christmas to Come to the dwelling of poor +BOB CRATCHIT: + + 'The Ghost conducted him through several streets familiar to his + feet; and as they went along, Scrooge looked here and there to + find himself, but nowhere was he to be seen. They entered poor Bob + Cratchit's house; the dwelling he had visited before; and found + the mother and the children seated round the fire. + + 'Quiet. Very quiet. The noisy little Cratchits were as still as + statues in one corner, and sat looking up at Peter, who had a book + before him. The mother and her daughters were engaged in sewing. + But surely they were very quiet! + + ''And He took a child, and set him in the midst of them.' + + 'Where had Scrooge heard those words? He had not dreamed them. The + boy must have read them out, as he and the Spirit crossed the + threshhold. Why did he not go on? + + 'The mother laid her work upon the table, and put her hand up to + her face. + + ''The color hurts my eyes,' she said. + + 'The color? Ah, poor Tiny Tim! + + ''They're better now again,' said Cratchit's wife. 'It makes them + weak by candle-light; and I wouldn't show weak eyes to your father + when he comes home, for the world. It must be near his time.' + + ''Past it, rather,' Peter answered, shutting up his book. 'But I + think he's walked a little slower than he used, these few last + evenings, mother.' + + 'They were very quiet again. At last she said, and in a steady, + cheerful voice, that only faltered once: + + ''I have known him walk with--I have known him walk with Tiny Tim + upon his shoulder, very fast, indeed.' + + ''And so have I,' cried Peter. 'Often.' + + ''And so have I!' exclaimed another. So had all. + + ''But he was very light to carry,' she resumed, intent upon her + work, 'and his father loved him so, that it was no trouble--no + trouble. And there is your father at the door!' + + 'She hurried out to meet him; and Bob in his comforter--he had + need of it, poor fellow--came in. His tea was ready for him on the + hob, and they all tried who should help him to it most. Then the + two young Cratchits got upon his knees and laid, each child a + little cheek, against his face, as if they said, 'Don't mind it, + father. Don't be grieved!' + + 'Bob was very cheerful with them, and spoke pleasantly to all the + family. He looked at the work upon the table, and praised the + industry and speed of Mrs. Cratchit and the girls. They would be + done long before Sunday, he said. + + ''Sunday! You went to-day then, Robert?' said his wife. + + ''Yes, my dear,' returned Bob. 'I wish you could have gone. It + would have done you good to see how green a place it is. But + you'll see it often. I promised him that I would walk there on a + Sunday. My little, little child!' cried Bob. 'My little child!' + + 'He broke down all at once. He couldn't help it. If he could have + helped it, he and his child would have been further apart, + perhaps, than they were. + + 'He left the room, and went up stairs into the room above, which + was lighted cheerfully, and hung with Christmas. There was a chair + set close beside the child, and there were signs of some one + having been there lately. Poor Bob sat down in it, and when he had + thought a little and composed himself, he kissed the little face. + He was reconciled to what had happened, and went down again quite + happy.' + +'Let not that man be trusted' who can read this affecting picture of +parental love for a poor little cripple-boy, without feeling the +tear-drops swelling to his eyes. But let us return and take one more +excursion with the former Spirit. Observe the faithfulness and the range +of the writer's imagination: + + 'And now, without a word of warning from the Ghost, they stood + upon a bleak and desert moor, where monstrous masses of rude stone + were cast about, as though it were the burial-place of giants; and + water spread itself wheresoever it listed--or would have done so, + but for the frost that held it prisoner; and nothing-grew but moss + and furze, and coarse, rank grass. Down in the west the setting + sun had left a streak of fiery red, which glared upon the + desolation for an instant, like a sullen eye, and frowning lower, + lower, lower yet, was lost in the thick gloom of darkest night. + + ''What place is this?' asked Scrooge. + + ''A place where Miners live, who labor in the bowels of the + earth,' returned the Spirit. 'But they know me. See!' + + 'A light shone from the window of a hut, and swiftly they advanced + toward it. Passing through the wall of mud and stone, they found a + cheerful company assembled round a glowing fire. An old, old man + and woman, with their children and their children's children, and + another generation beyond that, all decked out gaily in their + holiday attire. The old man, in a voice that seldom rose above the + howling of the wind upon the barren waste, was singing them a + Christmas song; it had been a very old song when he was a boy; and + from time to time they all joined in the chorus. So surely as they + raised their voices, the old man got quite blithe and loud; and so + surely as they stopped, his vigor sank again. + + 'The Spirit did not tarry here, but bade Scrooge hold his robe, + and passing on above the moor, sped whither? Not to sea? To sea. + To Scrooge's horror, looking back, he saw the last of the land, a + frightful range of rocks, behind them; and his ears were deafened + by the thundering of water, as it rolled, and roared, and raged + among the dreadful caverns it had worn, and fiercely tried to + undermine the earth. + + 'Built upon a dismal reef of sunken rocks, some league or so from + the shore, on which the waters chafed and dashed, the wild year + through, there stood a solitary lighthouse. Great heaps of seaweed + clung to its base, and storm-birds--born of the wind one might + suppose, as sea-weed of the water--rose and fell about it, like + the waves they skimmed. + + 'But even here, two men who watched the light had made a fire, + that through the loophole in the thick stone wall shed out a ray + of brightness on the awful sea. Joining their horny hands over the + rough table at which they sat, they wished each other a Merry + Christmas in their can of grog; and one of them--the elder, too, + with his face all damaged and scarred with hard weather, as the + figurehead of an old ship might be--struck up a sturdy song that + was like a Gale in itself. + + 'Again the Ghost sped on, above the black and heaving sea--on, + on--until, being far away, as he told Scrooge, from any shore, + they lighted on a ship. They stood beside the helmsman at the + wheel, the look-out in the bow, the officers who had the watch; + dark, ghostly figures in their several stations: but every man + among them hummed a Christmas tune, or had a Christmas thought, or + spoke below his breath to his companion of some bygone Christmas + Day, with homeward hopes belonging to it. And every man on board, + waking or sleeping, good or bad, had had a kinder word for another + on that day than on any day in the year; and had shared to some + extent in its festivities: and had remembered those he cared for + at a distance, and had known that they delighted to remember + him.' + +The second of these spirits accompanies SCROOGE to a scene that is well +worth seeing, and the like of which many of our readers have doubtless +often encountered--a regular Christmas frolic; in the present instance at +the residence of his nephew, who has a sister, a lovely, plump damsel, +with a lace tucker: she was pretty, exceedingly pretty. 'With a dimpled, +surprised-looking, capital face; a ripe little mouth, that seemed made to +be kissed, as no doubt it was; all kinds of good little dots about her +chin, that melted into one another when she laughed; and the sunniest pair +of eyes you ever saw in any little creature's head. Altogether she was +what you would have called provoking, you know; but satisfactory, too. Oh, +perfectly satisfactory!' Is not the following a most glowing sketch +of a well known pastime? + + 'But they didn't devote the whole evening to music. After a while + they played at forfeits; for it is good to be children sometimes, + and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a + child himself. Stop! There was first a game at blindman's buff. Of + course there was. And I no more believe Topper was really blind + than I believe he had eyes in his boots. My opinion is, that it + was a done thing between him and Scrooge's nephew; and that the + Ghost of Christmas Present knew it. The way he went after that + plump sister in the lace tucker, was an outrage on the credulity + of human nature. Knocking down the fire-irons, tumbling over the + chairs, bumping up against the piano, smothering himself among the + curtains, wherever she went, there went he. He always knew where + the plump sister was. He wouldn't catch any body else. If you had + fallen up against him, as some of them did, and stood there; he + would have made a feint endeavoring to seize you, which would have + been an affront to your understanding: and would instantly have + sidled off in the direction of the plump sister. She often cried + out that it wasn't fair; and it really was not. But when, at last, + he caught her; when, in spite of all her silken rustlings, and her + rapid flutterings past him, he got her into a corner whence there + was no escape; then his conduct was the most execrable. For his + pretending not to know her; his pretending that it was necessary + to touch her head-dress, and farther to assure himself of her + identity by pressing a certain ring upon her finger, and a certain + chain about her neck; was vile, monstrous! No doubt she told him + her opinion of it, when, another blindman being in office, they + were so very confidential together, behind the curtains.' + +The Ghost of Christmas to Come is the third spirit. It is a stately +figure, surrounded in black and impenetrable drapery. It leads SCROOGE +into the heart of the city, and he hears his acquaintance talking +jestingly of one departed; into the Exchange, and he sees another standing +against his peculiar pillar; into a haunt of infamy, where wretches are +dividing the spoils and hoardings of the dead; into a wretched room, where +a corpse lies shrouded, whose face Scrooge dares not uncover; into +dwellings made miserable by the grasping avarice of those who had wealth +they could not use; into his nephew's house, shorn of its comforts, where +the inmates, care-worn and weary, are wringing their hands with distress; +into poor BOB CRATCHIT'S abode, made cheerless by death; and lastly, into +a sad churchyard, where, on the stone of a neglected grave, is inscribed +his own name! He implores the spirit to say whether these shadows may not +be changed by an altered life. Its trembling hand seems to give consent. +He pleads earnestly for a more decisive sign, and while he does so, the +phantom dwindles down into a bed-post, and SCROOGE sits upright in his +bed. Who cannot imagine the conclusion? It is broad day. He looks out of +the window: the bells are ringing; the people are going to church; all +proclaim it as Christmas Day. The future is yet before him, and he is +resolved to make the most of it. The prize turkey is got in haste from the +neighboring poulterer's, and sent by a cab to BOB CRATCHIT'S; and SCROOGE +hastens off to his nephew's to dinner, where he finds the vision of the +spirit realized. SCROOGE from that hour is another and a better man. We +have in conclusion but three words to say to every reader of the +KNICKERBOCKER who may peruse our notice of this production: READ THE WORK. + + + WANDERINGS OF A JOURNEYMAN TAILOR THROUGH EUROPE AND THE EAST. Between + the years 1824 and 1840. By P. D. HOLTHAUS, Journeyman Tailor, from + Werdohl, in Westphalia. Translated from the third German edition, by + WILLIAM HOWITT. J. WINCHESTER: 'New World' Press. + +An air of great simplicity and truth pervades this wander-book of the +German schneider. Mr. HOWITT tells us, that when in the autumn of 1840 he +returned to his native village, a great reputation preceded him, and all +came, eager to see the brave traveller, and to listen to the relation of +his adventures. He never sought purposely to turn conversation upon the +subject of his travels, nor to impress an idea of his own importance; but +when he was drawn into discourse, it was speedily found that he had noted +and deeply impressed on his mind every thing with a truly admirable +interest, and an acute spirit of observation, for one of his rank and +education; that he had not merely passed through the countries, but had +gleaned valuable matter on his journey; various things which he had +brought with him testified this interest, such as different kinds of coin, +engravings, plans of cities, etc. We have found, on an examination +necessarily cursory, the commendatory remarks of the Berlin +_Gesellschafter_ upon this work to be well deserved: 'We see in the +individual expressions almost every where the evidence of its being the +production of immediate observation. There prevails through the whole a +noble simplicity and singleness of purpose, a genuinely German sound mode +of thinking; here and there is not wanting a humorous and pithy remark. +The author sees in every place nature and men without spectacles, and +thence it arises that we acquire from his book a more living and actual +view of foreign countries, especially of Egypt, Palestine, and Turkey, +than was the case from the travelled labors of many a learned and +celebrated man. Frequently, nay almost always, it is a fact, that the +learned are destitute of the opportunity of acquiring a knowledge of the +real life of the people, while it is exactly here that the greatest +peculiarity of the manners and customs of foreigners is to be found. Our +honest hand-worker lived among the people, and therefore possessed the +best means to describe them in graphic characters.' There is something +very forcible and comprehensive in the subjoined passage from the author's +preface. It is indeed a sort of compendium of the most interesting portion +of the writer's journeyings: + + 'From my youth up, it was my most living desire to see the world. + When I heard or read of foreign lands, I became sad at heart, and + thought: 'Wert thou but of years that thou couldst travel!' Now + are all the wishes of my youth fulfilled. I have made the attempt + by land and water, and that in three quarters of the world. I have + wandered several times through GERMANY, POLAND, HUNGARY, and + WALLACHIA; I was a long time in BUDAPEST and CONSTANTINOPLE; and + undertook, with the money which I had saved there, a pilgrimage + through EGYPT to the HOLY LAND. I kneeled at the BIRTH-PLACE and + the SEPULCHRE of the SAVIOUR; stood in adoration on the holy MOUNT + ZION, on TABOR, GOLGOTHA, and the MOUNT OF OLIVES; bathed in + JORDAN; washed myself in the LAKE OF GENNESARETH; looked in vain + around me on the DEAD SEA for living objects; was in the workshop + of ST. JOSEPH; and in many other holy places of which the sacred + Scriptures make mention. Thence I returned to Constantinople, and + betook myself through Athens, where I worked nearly a year, and + thence through Italy, France, and Belgium, homeward to my + Fatherland.' + +The first German edition of fifteen hundred copies of the work was at once +exhausted; a second speedily followed; a third was soon announced; and the +fourth is doubtless ere this before a wide class of German readers. We +cheerfully commend the book to the public acceptance. + + + BENTHAMIANA: OR SELECT EXTRACTS FROM THE WORKS OF JEREMY BENTHAM. With + an Outline Opinion on the Principal Subjects discussed in his Works. + In one volume, pp. 446. Philadelphia: LEA AND BLANCHARD. New-York: + WILEY AND PUTNAM. + +This work contains a copious selection of those passages in the works of +JEREMY BENTHAM which appear to be chiefly distinguished for merit of a +simply rhetorical character; which, appearing often in the midst of long +and arduous processes of reasoning, or in the course of elaborate +descriptions of minute practical arrangements, demanding from an active +mind severe thought and unflagging attention, have scarcely had their due +weight with the general reader, nor secured their just meed of admiration. +He was singularly careless, writes his editor, in distributing his +pleasing illustrations of playfulness, or pathos, or epigrammatic +expression. His 'mission' he considered to be that of an instructor and +improver; and the flowers which, equally with more substantial things, +were the produce of his vigorous intellect, he looked upon as scarcely +worthy of passing attention, and deserving of no more notice than to be +permitted to grow wherever the more valued objects of his labors left them +a little room. The volume comprehends a vast variety of sound opinion, and +able though brief argument upon themes which relate to the social, moral +and religious well-being of mankind. Touching the style of the writer, as +evinced in these selections, we should say that it was formed mainly upon +a due avoidance of prolixity, (an observance not always characteristic of +BENTHAM'S writings,) concerning which he himself very justly remarks: +'Prolixity may be where redundancy is not. Prolixity may arise not only +from the multifarious insertion of unnecessary articles, but from the +conservation of too many necessary ones in a sentence; as a workman may be +overladen not only with rubbish, which is of no use for him to carry, but +with materials the most useful and necessary, when heaped up in loads too +heavy for him at once.' A useful hint this, to unpractised writers. + + + THE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN BURNS AND CLARINDA. With a Memoir of Mrs. + M'LEHOSE, (CLARINDA.) Arranged and edited by her Grandson, W. C. + M'LEHOSE. In one volume, pp. 293. New-York: R. P. BIXBY AND COMPANY. + +We have no doubt that the contents of this well-executed little volume are +altogether authentic; full particulars relative to the custody and +authenticity of the correspondence and the state of preservation of the +original manuscripts being given in the preface. But we are very sorry to +say so much against the book as this fact implies. It would be far better +for the reputation of the immortal Bard of Scotland, if some hereditary +friend, chary of his undying fame, were to come before the public with a +pamphlet disproving entirely the agency of BURNS in this correspondence. +To those who are acquainted with previous records in the private history +of the world-renowned poet, it is painful to convict him, out of his own +mouth, of duplicity in matters of the heart; of insincerity in the +profession of simultaneous passion for various lovers; and of other acts +which are alike indefensible and disreputable. We must needs marvel too +that the 'CLARINDA' of the correspondence should have been doomed by a +near descendant to the exposure inseparable from the revelations of this +volume. That the treatment which she received at the hands of one whose +duty it was to 'love, cherish, and protect' her, was equally undeserved +and inexcusable, we can well believe; but that the 'platonic attachment,' +which sprung up in a night, like the gourd of JONAH, and gradually waxed +to 'passion at fever-heat,' was justified by these facts, or sanctioned by +propriety, or that its history in detail is calculated to elevate the +character of woman, or exercise a healthful moral influence, we have just +as little reason to doubt. There is a sprinkling of verse in an appendix, +which BURNS was good enough to praise. It is of that kind 'which neither +gods nor men permit;' and is conclusive, not of BURNS'S judgment, but of +his 'tender' sycophancy. + + + + +EDITOR'S TABLE. + + +SOME 'SENTIMENTS' ON SONNETS, WITH SUNDRY SPECIMENS.--Thanks to our +ever-welcome correspondent, 'T. W. P.' for his pleasant, pertinent and +improving sentiments on sonnets. Arriving at too late an hour for a place +among our guests at the _table d' hote_, perhaps he will not object to sit +at our humble side-table, and converse familiarly with the reader; since, +as honest SANCHO remarked of the Duke, 'Wherever _he_ sits, there will be +the _first place_.' Our friend has a fruitful theme. How many borrowed +prose-passages have we seen, with their original brightness dimmed or +deflected in a sorry sonnet! Nine in ten of our modern examples in this +kind, when one comes to analyze them, will be found to consist of stolen +ideas, combined with what SOUTHEY would call 'bubble, and bladder, and +tympany.' But perpend the subjoined: 'Ever since the fatal days of +PETRARCH AND GUIDO CAVALIANTI, mankind have suffered more or less from the +chronic infliction of Sonnets. With them indeed the complaint was +constitutional, and came in the natural way; under so mild and gentle a +form withal, that little danger was to be apprehended for Italian +temperaments, except a degree of languor, general debility, and a +disagreeable singing in the ears. It was only when it worked its way into +English blood, that the virus assumed its most baneful character. +SHAKSPEARE, among other illustrious victims, was afflicted by it in his +youth, but seems to have recovered during his residence in the metropolis. +Possibly the favor of the royal hand might have proved more beneficial +than that of the Earl of Southampton. Perhaps he was _touched_ for it by +ELIZABETH, as JOHNSON was by Queen ANNE for the scrofula. However that may +be, we know very well that the disorder is now rooted among us, and that +every week produces decided cases of Sonnets, sometimes so severe as to be +intolerable. In this condition of the mental health of our country, since +the evil cannot be cured, it were a work at once philanthropical and +patriotic, so to modify it and regulate its attacks, that it may settle +down into a moderate degree of annoyance, like the lighter afflictions of +mild measles and mumps. We can always calculate upon the duration of each +'fytte,' as none ever exceeds the fourteenth spasm. When the just +dozen-and-two convulsions are past, the danger is over, and the offensive +matter may be removed by a newspaper, or discharged into some appropriate +magazine. There is good reason for designating the complaint as a +_periodical_ one. + +We intend, one of these days, provided our remarks attract sufficient +attention, to publish a volume upon this subject. We have the materiel by +us and about us; and as soon as we can make arrangements with Mr. POH for +a puff in the 'North-American Review,' or the 'Southern Literary +Messenger,' we shall broach the affair to Mr. FIELDS, the enterprising +publisher. We have moreover desired Mr. WHIPPLE to write to his friend Mr. +MACAULAY in England, who will doubtless be proud to foster American +letters by a hoist in the 'Edinburgh.' There is only one other thing +absolutely requisite for the success of the book, and that is the +appearance of this article in the KNICKERBOCKER. Befriend me then with +your fine taste, renowned HERR DIEDRICH! and give me room. I shall not +dive deeply into the matter now; but for the good of my young countrymen, +the labor of whose brains is incompatible with a fruitful development of +whiskers, I wish to put forth a page of advice that may save them a world +of fatigue. It is common with those who are far gone in this tuneful +disorder to set up late o' nights and tipple coffee. Under my new system, +I will engage that they may retire to bed on mulled-punch nightly, at +eleven, and yet effect all that they now perform with the greatest injury +to their eyes and complexions. But _pocas pallabras_--enough of this +preface: will not the thing speak for itself? There needs no farther +introduction for these brief extracts from the aforesaid work: + +THE EASIEST WAY OF DISCHARGING A SONNET. + +A SONNET (as before stated) consists of fourteen and no more spasms. They +are calm, deliberate twinges, however, and upon a homoeopathical +principle, the great object should be to get over each one in the calmest +possible manner; _idem cum eodem_. The thing cannot be treated too coolly, +for its very essence is dull deliberation. The name sonnet is probably +derived, through the Italian _sonno_, from the Latin word for sleep, in +allusion to its lethargic quality. The best mode of encouraging the efflux +of the peccant humor is for the patient to have a cigar in his mouth. The +narcotic fumes of tobacco are highly favorable to its ejection. The first +step then is the selection of rhymes. Fourteen of these in their proper +order should be written perpendicularly on the right hand of a smooth +sheet of white paper. When this is done, it is necessary to read them +over, up and down, several times, until some general idea of a subject or +a title suggests itself. Great care must be taken, in the selection of +rhymes, to get as original ones as possible, and such as shall strike the +eye. Still greater should be the precaution not to choose such incongruous +rhymes as may not easily be welded together or amalgamated into one whole +by the mercury of fancy. For instance, it would be well to avoid coupling +such words as moon and spoon, breeze and cheese and sneeze; Jove and +stove; hope and soap; all which it might be difficult to bring together +harmoniously. Here the artist, the man of true science, will discover +himself. SHELLEY affords a good choice of rhymes; chasm and spasm; rift +and drift; ravine and savin, are useful conjunctions. If you have a +ravine, it will be very easy to stick in a savin, but you must avoid a +_spavin_, or your verse may halt for it. This we call being artistical. +_Benissimo!_ then. Having fixed upon your subject, all you have to do is +to fill up the lines to match the ends, and this, in one evening's +practice, will become as easy, the same thing in fact, as the filling up +of the blank form of an ordinary receipt. + +But the most expeditious and surest way of procuring a good Sonnet is the +Division of Labor System. This has often been unconsciously practised by +modern poets, but it has never been explicitly set forth till now. Every +body knows that even in the fabrication of so small a thing as a needle, +the process is facilitated by dividing it among a number of hands; as to +one the eye, to another the point, to one the grinding, to another the +polishing. In the same way, to render a sonnet pointed and sharp, to +polish it and insure it against cutting the thread of its argument, the +work should be performed by two or more. Every sonnet, in short, ought to +be a translation. I do not say a translation from the German or any other +jargon, but a translation from English--from one man's into another man's +English. It is absurd for one workman to do both rhyming and thinking. In +this go-ahead age and country, that were a palpable waste of time. Take +any 'matter-ful' author, cut out a juicy slice of his thought, and make +that your material. Trim it, compress it, turn it and twist it upside down +and inside out, vary it any way but the author's own, and you will be +likely to effect a speedy and wholesome operation. What a saving of time +is here! Who will be silly enough to manufacture his own thinkings into +verse when the world is so full of excellent stuff as yet unwrought in the +great mine of letters? Let us not burn up our own native forests while we +can fetch coals from Newcastle. What a pleasant prospect for readers too! +A man may be sure _then_, that a sonnet shall contain a thought. He will +not be gulled into experiments upon decent-looking, respectable dross and +plausible inanity. He shall not dig hungrily for an idea, and be filled +with volumes of wind. With the fourteenth pang his anxiety shall be over, +and he shall drop asleep satisfied; _tandem dormitum dimittitur_. + +Not to anticipate farther our forthcoming book, nor to forestall the +critics in any more extracts, we shall lay before the reader two or three +samples of work done according to this system. CARLYLE has furnished our +raw material. His pages are so full of poetry that little time need be +expended in selecting a fit piece for working up. See now if these be not +sonnets which BOWLES might have been proud to claim. Each one is warranted +to contain a thought; an hour or so would suffice for the completion of +half a dozen such. Observe too, that little deviation is necessary from +the original, the words falling naturally into both rhythm and rhyme. We +commence with a few translations from Carlyle. The initial specimen is +taken from Herr TEUFELSDROeCKH'S remarks on BONAPARTE. This is the passage: + + 'The man (NAPOLEON) was a Divine Missionary, though unconscious of + it, and preached through the cannon's throat this great doctrine: + _La carriere ouverte aux talens_; 'The Tools to him that can + handle them.' . . . Madly enough he preached, it is true, as + Enthusiasts and first Missionaries are wont, with imperfect + utterance, amid much frothy rant, yet as articulately perhaps as + the case admitted. Or call him, if you will, an American + Backwoodsman, who had to fell unpenetrated forests, and battle + with innumerable wolves, and did not entirely forbear strong + liquor, rioting, and even theft; whom notwithstanding the peaceful + Sower will follow, and as he cuts the boundless harvest, bless.' + + SARTOR RESARTUS: BOOK II., CHAP. VIII. + +SONNET I.--NAPOLEON. + + Napoleon was a Missionary merely, + Who through the cannon's throat this truth expressed, + Unconsciously, divinely and sincerely, + _The Tools to him that handles 'em the best._ + Madly enough, indeed, the man did preach, + Amid much rant, as all Enthusiasts do, + And yet with as articulate a speech + As the strange case, perhaps, allowed him to. + Or call him a Backwoodsman, if you will; + Who, forced to fell unpenetrated woods, + And doomed innumerable wolves to kill, + Got drunk sometimes, and stole his neighbor's goods; + Whom will the Sower follow ne'ertheless, + And as he cuts the boundless harvest, bless. + +Or let us try the following description of the Hotel de Ville in the +French Revolution: + + 'O evening sun of July! how at this hour thy beams fall slant on + reapers amid peaceful woody fields; on old women spinning in + cottages; on ships far out on the silent main; on Balls at the + Orangerie of Versailles, where high-rouged dames of the palace are + even now dancing with double-jacketted Hussar officers; and also + on this roaring Hell-porch of a Hotel de Ville. Babel-tower, with + the confusion of tongues, were not Bedlam added with the + conflagration of thoughts, was no type of it. One forest of + distracted steel bristles endless in front of an Electoral + Committee.' + + FRENCH REVOLUTION: BOOK V., CHAP. VII. + +SONNET II.--THE HOTEL DE VILLE. + + O evening sun of most serene July! + How at this hour thy slant refulgence pours + On reapers working in the open sky, + And women spinning at their cottage doors, + On ships far out upon the silent main, + On gay Versailles, where through the light quadrille + Hussars are leading forth a high-rouged train, + And on the hell-porch-like Hotel de Ville. + Not Babel's tower with all its million tongues, + Save Bedlam too therewith had added been, + To mingle burning brains with roaring lungs, + Could feebly imitate that dreadful din; + One endless forest of distracted steel + Bristling around that mad Hotel de Ville! + +Or to return to Professor TEUFELDROeCKH'S vast chaos of ideas. Let us try +another passage therefrom: + + 'It struck me much as I sat beside the Kuhbach, one silent + noontide, and watched it flowing, gurgling, to think how this same + streamlet had flowed and gurgled through all changes of weather + and of fortune, from beyond the earliest date of history. Yes, + probably on the morning when JOSHUA forded Jordan; even as at the + midday when CAESAR, doubtless with difficulty, swam the Nile, yet + kept his Commentaries dry; this little Kuhbach, assiduous as + Tiber, Eurotas or Siloa, was murmuring on across the wilderness, + unnamed, unseen.' + + SARTOR RESARTUS: BOOK II., CHAP. III. + +SONNET III.--ETERNITY OF NATURE. + + One silent noonday, as I sat beside + The gurgling flow of Kuhbach's little river, + Methought how, even as I saw it glide, + That stream had flowed and gurgled on forever. + Yes, on the day when JOSHUA passed the flood + Of ancient Jordan; when across the Nile + CAESAR swam (hardly, doubtless, through the mud,) + Yet kept his Commentaries dry the while, + This little Kuhbach, like Siloa's rill, + Or Tiber's Tide, assiduous and serene, + Ev'n then, the same as now, was murmuring still + Across the wilderness, unnamed, unseen. + Art's but a mushroom--only Nature's old; + In yon grey crag six thousand years behold! + +From the same chapter of the same book we venture one more extract. It is +where the Professor is full of grief and reminiscences; where, reflecting +on his first experience of wo in the death of Father ANDREAS, he becomes +once more spirit-clad in quite inexpressible melancholy, and says, 'I have +now pitched my tent under a cypress-tree,' etc.: + +SONNET IV.--BLISS IN GRIEF. + + Under a cypress-tree I pitch my tent: + The tomb shall be my fortress; at its gate + I sit and watch each hostile armament, + And all the pains and penalties of Fate. + And oh ye loved ones! that already sleep, + Hushed in the noiseless bed of endless rest, + For whom, while living, I could only weep, + But never help in all your sore distress, + And ye who still your lonely burthen bear, + Spilling your blood beneath life's bitter thrall, + A little while and we shall all meet _there_, + And one kind Mother's bosom screen us all; + Oppression's harness will no longer tire + Or gall us there, nor Sorrow's whip of fire. + +But we are borrowing too much from our embryo volume. Patience, dear +Public! until we can find a publisher. In the mean time, examine the +specimens we have presented to you. Can any one tell us where to look for +sonnets, more satisfactory than these? We congratulate our country on the +prospect of our soon having an American literature. Let our industrious +young aspirants try a work in which they may succeed in producing +something of sterling value. A year or two will suffice to turn half the +plodding prose writers of Britain into original poets. Every brilliant +article that appears in the Quarterly might here renascent spring forth +like Arethusa, in a new and more melodious voice; bubbling up in a pretty +epic or stormy lyric. See, for example, how easily SIDNEY SMITH might be +done into rhyme: + +SONNET V. + + I never meet at any public dinner + A Pennsylvanian, but my fingers itch + To pluck his borrowed plumage from the sinner, + And with the spoil the company enrich. + His pocket-handkerchief I would bestow + On the poor orphan; and his worsted socks + Should to the widow in requital go + For having sunk her all in Yankee stocks; + To John the footman I would give his hat, + Which only cost six shillings in Broadway: + As for his diamond ring--I'd speak for that; + His gold watch too my losses might repay: + Himself might home in the next steamer hie, + For who would take him--or his word? Not I. + + +'LEGENDS OF THE CONQUEST OF SPAIN.'--Some eighteen years ago, a work in a +single volume, entitled as above, and written by the author of the +'Sketch-Book,' was issued from the press of MURRAY, the celebrated London +book-seller. It would seem to have been put forth as a kind of +_avant-courier_ of 'The Chronicles of the Conquest of Granada;' but unlike +that elaborate work, was never republished in this country, and has never +been included in any of the complete editions of Mr. IRVING'S writings. We +are indebted to the kind courtesy of a gentleman who has been spending +some months with our distinguished countryman and correspondent at Madrid, +for a copy of the book, which he obtained at that capital. We have good +reason to believe that it has been encountered by few if any readers on +this side the Atlantic. A very stirring extract from its pages will be +found elsewhere in this Magazine. Mr. IRVING introduces the legends to his +readers with a few prefatory sentences, in which he states that he has +ventured to dip more deeply into the enchanted fountains of old Spanish +chronicle than has usually been done by those who have treated of the +eventful period of which he writes; but in so doing, he only more fully +illustrates the character of the people and the times. He has thrown the +records into the form of legends, not claiming for them the authenticity +of sober history, yet giving nothing that had not a historical foundation. +'All the facts herein contained,' says the writer, 'however extravagant +some of them may be deemed, will be found in the works of sage and +reverend chroniclers of yore, growing side by side with long acknowledged +truths, and might be supported by learned and imposing references in the +margin.' To discard every thing wild and marvellous in this portion of +Spanish history is to discard some of its most beautiful, instructive, and +national features; it is to judge of Spain by the standard of probability +suited to tamer and more prosaic countries. Spain is virtually a land of +poetry and romance, where every-day life partakes of adventure, and where +the least agitation or excitement carries every thing up into extravagant +enterprise and daring exploit. The Spaniards in all ages have been of +swelling and braggart spirit, soaring in thought, and valiant though +vainglorious in deed. When the nation had recovered in some degree from +the storm of Moslem invasion, and sage men sought to inquire and write the +particulars of the tremendous reverses which it produced, it was too late +to ascertain them in their exact verity. The gloom and melancholy that had +overshadowed the land had given birth to a thousand superstitious fancies; +the woes and terrors of the past were clothed with supernatural miracles +and portents, and the actors in the fearful drama had already assumed the +dubious characteristics of romance. Or if a writer from among the +conquerors undertook to touch upon the theme, it was embellished with all +the wild extravagances of an oriental imagination, which afterward stole +into the graver works of the monkish historians. Hence the chronicles are +apt to be tinctured with those saintly miracles which savor of the pious +labors of the cloister, or those fanciful fictions that betray their +Arabian Authors. Scarce one of their historical facts but has been +connected in the original with some romantic fiction, and even in its +divorced state, bears traces of its former alliance. The records in +preceding pages are 'illuminated' by these prefatory remarks of our +author, if their _truth_ be not altogether established! How the Count +JULIAN receives the account of the dishonor of his child, and his conduct +thereupon; and how DON RODERICK hastens, through various tribulation, to +his final overthrow; will be matter for another number. Meanwhile the +reader will not fail to note the great beauty of the descriptions, which +in the hands of our great master of the power and beauty of 'the grand old +English tongue,' assume form and color, and stand out like living pictures +to the eye. + + +AMERICAN PTYALISM: 'QUID RIDES?'--A pleasant correspondent, whom our +readers have long known, and as long admired and esteemed, in a familiar +gossip, (by favor of 'Uncle SAMUEL'S mail-bag,) with the Editor, gives us +the following 'running account' of his ruminations over an early-morning +quid of that 'flavorous weed' so well beloved of our friend Colonel STONE. +It is in some sort a defence of American ptyalism, and in the tendency of +its inculcations, reminds us of the arguments in favor of the cultivation +of a refined style of _murder_, which should constitute it one of the fine +arts, to which we gave a place many months back: 'After having in my +broken dreams perambulated every part and parcel of the universe, and then +tossed about for hours on an ocean of bodily discomforts, each a dagger to +repose, and mental disquietudes, of which any one was enough to wither all +the poppies of Somnus, I rose about four o' my watch, and commenced +chewing the narcotic weed of Virginia. For you must know that in childhood +almost, through a precocious mannishness and a desire of experimental +knowledge, I commenced the habit of tobacco-chewing, and the vice born of +a freak, has 'grown with my growth,' till now it holds me as in a 'vice' +screwed up and secured by a giant. (Please observe that there's a pun in +that last sentence.) Where the conventionalities of society compel me to +attidunize my appearance and customs into the stiffness of gentility, I +puff the Havana; but when the privacy of my own room or the solitude of +the roads and fields permit me to vulgarize to my liking, I thrust a ball +of 'Mrs. MILLER'S fine-cut,' or a fragment of the 'natural James' River +sweet,' between the sub-maxillary bone and its carnal casement, and then +masticate and expectorate 'a la Yankee.' or 'more Americano.' Pah! oh! +fie! for shame! and all other interjections indicative of horror, or +expressive of disgust. '_Quousque tandem?_' Beg your pardon, Mrs. +TROLLOPE. '_Quamdiu etiam?_' I implore your commiseration, Captain BASIL. +'_Oh, tempora! oh, mores!_' Have mercy, illustrious and +praise-bespattered, and almost Sir-Waltered BOZ. Do not, under the uneasy +weight of glory, and in the intoxicating consciousness of a right to the +oligarchic exclusiveness of the goose-quill 'haute volee,' strike right +and left among your sturdy democratic adorers, because they choose to +convert their mandibles into quid-grinders, and their [Greek: chasmat' +odonton] into ceaseless jet d'eaux of saliva. Reflect that the 'quid' +assists in a philosophic investigation of the 'quiddities' of things, and +that from this habit alone perhaps we have made such advances in casuistry +as to have discovered equity in repudiation, freedom in mobocracy, and the +sword of justice in the bowie-knife. Chewing is eminently democratic, +since all chewers are 'pro hac _vice_' on a perfect equality, and a +'millionaire;' or, for that matter, a 'billionaire,' if we had him, would +not hesitate to take out of his mouth a moiety of his last 'chew' and give +it to an itinerant Lazarus. What can be more admirable than this 'de bon +air' plebeianism, and universal right-hand of fellowship? Does not he who +extends among the people the use of this democratizing weed, emphatically +give them a '_quid_ pro quo?' Are not slovenliness and filth the virtues +of republics, while neatness and elegance are vices of court-growth, and +expand into their most ramified and minute perfectness of polish only in +the palaces of kings? Furthermore, oh laurelled and triumphant PICKWICK! +if expectoration be filthy, it must be because the 'thing expectorated' is +unclean; and if so, is it not more decent to become rid of the 'unclean +thing' by the readiest process, than to retain it, making the stomach a +receptacle of abominations? And are you, Sir Baronet of the realm +imaginary, subject to no gross corporeal needs and operations? And if, as +you will say, you perform those foul rites in a state of retiracy, are you +not adding the sin of hypocrisy to your preexistent guilt? If it has +succeeded to you, as to few penny-a-liners, to have emerged by the sale of +your Attic-salt from the attics of Grub-street into the 'swept and +garnished chambers' of the Regent, and if after quaffing the ale of +Bow-street, procured by caricatures of Old Baily reports, you have sipped +your hockheimer, while standing, scarce yet unbewildered, in the gas-light +splendor reflected from the 'vis-a-vis' mirrors of Almack's, yet do not +exalt yourself above all that is fleshly. Reflect that you, so lately +unrivalled, can now see a EUGENE SUE whose brow is umbraged by laurels of +a more luxuriant and lovely green. Cease your expectorations of bile upon +a great people; admit that mastication of the 'odorous vegeble' is a +Spartan virtue; and we will again vote you an Anak in the kingdom of pen +and paper. Then again shall we be led to believe that your praises and +your vituperations are equally unpurchasable. Then once more shall we +think you would swallow no golden pill, nor suffer your throat to be +ulcerated by a silver quinsy.' + + +GOSSIP WITH READERS AND CORRESPONDENTS.--If any of our readers are +desirous of looking into the _rationale_ of irrationality, to employ a +highly 'unitive' phrase, let them take up, if they can command it, the +'_Annual Report of the Managers of the New York State Lunatic Asylum_,' +one of the clearest and most comprehensive documents in its kind that we +have ever perused. It proceeds from the capable pen of A. BRIGHAM, M. D. +the superintendent and physician of the institution, and is full upon the +definition, causes and classification of insanity; the size and shape of +the heads of the patients; the pulse; description of the building; daily +routine of business, diet, labor, amusements, religious worship, visitors, +suggestions to those who have friends whom they expect to commit to the +care of the asylum, etc., etc. The cause of insanity in _fifty_ out of two +hundred and seventy-six patients is attributed to religious anxiety, +produced by long attendance on protracted religious meetings, etc. Want of +sleep is decidedly the most frequent and immediate cause of insanity, and +one the most important to guard against. 'So rarely (says the +superintendent) do you see a recent case of insanity that is not preceded +by want of sleep, that we regard it as almost the sure precursor of mental +derangement.' As evidences of the difficulty of arranging the insane in +classes, founded on symptoms, Dr. BRIGHAM gives us the following synopsis +of individual peculiarities noticed among certain of the inmates of the +Asylum: + + 'In addition to emperors, queens, prophets and priests, we have + one that says he is nobody, a nonentity. One that was never born, + and one that was born of her grandmother, and another dropped by + the devil flying over the world. One has had the throat cut out + and put in wrong, so that what is swallowed passes into the head, + and another has his head cut off and replaced every night. One + thinks himself a child, and talks and acts like a child. Many + appear as if constantly intoxicated. One has the gift of tongues, + another deals in magic, several in animal magnetism. One thinks he + is a white polar bear. A number have hallucinations of sight, + others of hearing. One repeats whatever is said to him, another + repeats constantly words of the same sound, as door, floor. One is + pursued by the sheriff, many by the devil. One has invented the + perpetual motion and is soon to be rich; others have already + acquired vast fortunes: scraps of paper, buttons and chips are to + them, large amounts of money. Many pilfer continually and without + any apparent motive, while others secrete every thing they can + find, their own articles as well as those of others. A majority + are disposed to hoard up trifling and useless articles, as scraps + of tin, leather, strings, nails, buttons, etc., and are much + grieved to part with them. One will not eat unless alone, some + never wish to eat, while others are always starving. One with a + few sticks and straws fills his room with officers and soldiers, + ships and sailors, carriages and horses, the management of which + occupies all his time and thoughts. Some have good memory as + regards most things, and singularly defective as to others. One + does not recollect the names of his associates, which he hears + every hour, yet his memory is good in other respects. One says he + is THOMAS PAINE, author of the 'Age of Reason,' a work he has + never read; another calls himself General WASHINGTON; and one old + lady of diminutive size calls herself General SCOTT, and is never + so good-natured as when thus addressed. One is always in court + attending a trial, and wondering and asking when the court is to + rise. Another has to eat up the building, drink dry the canal, and + swallow the Little Falls village, and is continually telling of + the difficulty of the task.' + +The superintendent prefers a classification founded upon the faculties of +the mind that appear to be disordered; and he thinks he could place all +his patients in one of the three following classes: _Intellectual +Insanity_, or disorder of the intellect without noticeable disturbance of +the feelings and propensities; _Moral Insanity_ or derangement of the +feelings, affections, and passions, without any remarkable disorder of the +intellect; and _General Insanity_, in which both the intellectual +faculties and the feelings and affections are disordered. The State Asylum +is a fine imposing edifice, delightfully situated near the pleasant +village of Utica, in Oneida county, and is becoming greatly distinguished +for success in the treatment and cure of insanity. . . . WE heard a little +anecdote at a _bal costume_ the other evening, (whether from the dignified +and stately HELEN MACGREGOR or the beautiful MEDORA, we 'cannot well make +out,') which is worth repeating. A retired green-grocer, rejoicing in the +euphonious name of TIBBS, living at Hackney, near London, sorely against +his will, and after warm remonstrance, finally yielded to his wife's +entreaty that he would go in character to a masquerade-ball, given to the +'middling interest' by one of his old neighbors. He went accoutred as a +knight, wearing his visor down. What was his surprise on entering the +room, to find first one and then another member of the motley company +slapping him familiarly on the back, with: 'Halloa! TIBBS! who thought to +see _you_ here! What's the news at Hackney?' In dismay that his ridiculous +secret was out, he hurried from the scene, and hastened home in a state of +great excitement from the mortification to which he had been subjected. 'I +_told_ you I should be known,' said he to his wife; 'I _knew_ I should!' +'No wonder!' she replied; 'you've got your name and residence on your +steel cap: 'Mr. TIBBS, Hackney!'' He had forgotten to remove the address +which the London costumer had affixed to it as a direction! . . . HOW many +thousand times, in thinking of the onward career of our glorious and +thrice-blessed country, have we felt the emotions to which our esteemed +friend and contributor, POLYGON, gives forceful expression in the closing +lines of a beautiful poem of his, which we have encountered to-day for the +first time: + + 'Oh! long through coming ages, born + When _we_ shall slumber cold and still, + The sultry summer will adorn + The verdant vale and hazy hill; + And Autumn walking even and morn + Through bearded wheat and rustling corn, + See Plenty from her streaming horn + His largest wishes fill. + + 'Europe's rich realms will then admire + And emulate our matchless fame, + And Asia burn with fierce desire + To burst her galling bonds of shame! + Greece will resume th' Aonian lyre, + And Rome again to heaven aspire, + And vestal Freedom's quenchless fire + From the pyramids shall flame!' + + * * * * * + +There is a sort of pathetic humor in the following parody by PUNCH upon +the prize exhibitions of cattle in England. A more forcible exposition of +the different condition of the human and brute animal in that country +could not well be conceived. It must be premised that a large hall is +fitted up with pens on either side, and over the head of the occupant +paste-board tickets are appended by the Poor Law Commissioners, detailing +their names, weights, ages, the regimen to which they have been subjected, +and other particulars; as thus: 'PETER SMALL. Aged forty. Weight at period +of admission twelve stone. Confined three months. Present weight nine +stone. Fed principally on water-gruel. Has been separated from his wife +and children in the work-house, and occasionally placed in solitary +confinement for complaining of hunger. Employment, breaking stones.' 'JANE +WELLS. Aged seventy. Weight five stone; lost two stone since her +admission, one month ago. Gruel diet; tea without sugar; potatoes and +salt. Has been set to picking opium.' 'JOHN TOMPKINS. Aged eighty-five. +Has seen better days. On admission, weighed eleven stone, which has been +reduced to eight and three-quarters. Diet, weak soup, with turnips and +carrots; dry bread and cheese-parings; a few ounces of meat occasionally, +when faint. Came to the work-house with his wife, who is five years +younger than himself. Has not been allowed to see her for a month; during +which period has lost in weight two ounces on an average per day. Employed +in carrying coals.' Faithful portraits, no doubt, of thousands who crowd +the thick-clustering pauper-houses of England, who have + + 'No blessed leisure for love nor hope, + But only time for grief!' + + * * * * * + +Our umqwhile New-Haven friend, who commented upon our 'light gossip' a few +months since, will pardon us for quoting, in corroboration of the +exculpatory 'position' which we assumed in alluding to his animadversions, +the following remarks by the author of the 'Charcoal Sketches,' JOSEPH C. +NEAL, Esq.: 'Gossip, goodly gossip, though sometimes sneered at, is after +all the best of our entertainments. We must fall back upon the light web +of conversation, upon chit-chat, as our main-stay, our chief reliance; as +that _corps de reserve_ on which our scattered and wearied forces are to +rally. What is there which will bear comparison as a recreating means, +with the free and unstudied interchange of thought, of knowledge, of +impression about men and things, and all that varied medley of fact, +criticism and conclusion so continually fermenting in the active brain? Be +fearful of those who love it not, and banish such as would imbibe its +delights yet bring no contribution to the common stock. There are men who +seek the reputation of wisdom by dint of never affording a glimpse of +their capabilities, and impose upon the world by silent gravity; negative +philosophers, who never commit themselves beyond the utterance of a +self-evident proposition, or hazard their position by a feat of greater +boldness than is to be found in the avowal of the safe truth which has +been granted for a thousand years. There is a deception here, which should +never be submitted to. Sagacity may be manifest in the nod of Burleigh's +head; but it does not follow that all who nod are Burleighs. He who +habitually says nothing, must be content if he be regarded as having +nothing to say, and it is only a lack of grace on his part which precludes +the confession. In this broad 'Vienna' of human effort, the mere +'looker-on' cannot be tolerated. It is part of our duty to be nonsensical +and ridiculous at times, for the entertainment of the rest of the world. +If we are never to open our mouths until the unsealing of the aperture is +to give evidence of a present Solomon, and to add something to the Book of +Proverbs, we must for the most part, stand like the statue of Harpocrates, +with 'Still your finger on your lips, I pray.' If we do speak, under such +restrictions, it cannot well be, as the world is constituted, more than +once or twice in the course of an existence, the rest of the sojourn upon +earth being devoted to a sublimation of our thought. But always wise, +sensible, sagacious, rational; always in wig and spectacles; always +algebraic and mathematical; doctrinal and didactic; ever to sit like +FRANKLIN'S portrait, with the index fixed upon 'causality;' one might as +well be a petrified 'professor,' or a WILLIAM PENN bronzed upon a +pedestal. There is nothing so good, either in itself or in its effects, as +good nonsense.' Upon reading the foregoing, we laid Mr. YELLOWPLUSH'S +'flattering function' to our soul, that after all, we need not greatly +distrust the reception of our monthly salmagundi, since one good producer +and critic may be held as in some sort an epitome of the public; and +especially, since any one subsection of our hurried Gossip, should it +chance to be dull, or void of interest, may be soon exhausted, or easily +skipped. . . . WE observed lately, in the pages of a monthly contemporary, +an elaborate notice of the poems of ALFRED TENNYSON, who has written many +somewhat affected and several very heartful and exquisite verses; and were +not a little surprised to find no reference to two of the most beautiful +poems in his collection; namely, the 'New-Year's Eve,' and its +'Conclusion.' The first embodies the reflections of a young maiden, +sinking gradually under that fell destroyer, CONSUMPTION. It is new-year's +eve, and she implores her mother to 'call her early,' that she may see the +sun rise upon the glad new year, the last that she shall ever see. How +touchingly the associations of nature are depicted in these stanzas: + + To-night I saw the sun set: he set and left behind + The good old year, the dear old time, and all my peace of mind; + And the New-year's coming up, mother, but I shall never see + The blossom on the black thorn, the leaf upon the tree. + + There's not a flower on all the hills: the frost is on the pane: + I only wish to live till the snow-drops come again: + I wish the snow would melt, and the sun come out on high; + I long to see a flower so before the day I die. + + The building rook will caw from the windy tall elm-tree, + And the tufted plover pipe along the fallow lea, + And the swallow will come back again with summer o'er the wave. + But I shall lie alone, mother, within the mouldering grave. + + Upon the chancel-casement, and upon that grave of mine, + In the early, early morning the summer sun will shine; + Before the red cock crows from the farm upon the hill, + When you are warm asleep, mother, and all the world is still. + + When the flowers shall come again, mother, beneath the waning light, + You'll never see me more in the long gray fields at night: + When from the dry dark wold the summer airs blow cool, + On the oat-grass and the sword-grass, and the bulrush in the pool. + + You'll bury me, my mother, just beneath the hawthorn shade, + And you'll come sometimes and see me, where I am lowly laid. + I shall not forget you, mother, I shall hear you when you pass, + With your feet above my head in the long and pleasant grass. + + I have been wild and wayward, but you'll forgive me now; + You'll kiss me, my own mother, upon my cheek and brow; + Nay, nay, you must not weep, nor let your grief be wild, + You should not fret for me, mother, you have another child. + + If I can I'll come again, mother, from out my resting-place; + Though you'll not see me, mother, I shall look upon your face; + Though I cannot speak a word, I shall hearken what you say, + And be often, often with you, when you think I'm far away. + + Good-night, good-night! when I have said good-night for evermore, + And you see me carried out from the threshold of the door, + Don't let Effie come to see me till my grave be growing green: + She'll be a better child to you than ever I have been. + + She'll find my garden-tools upon the granary floor: + Let her take 'em: they are hers: I shall never garden more: + But tell her, when I'm gone, to train the rose-bush that I set + About the parlour-window and the box of mignonette. + +The poor girl's prayer to 'live to see the snow-drop,' in the spring-time, +is answered. The violets have come forth, and in the fields around she +hears the bleating of the young lambs. She is now ready to die, and knows +that the time of her departure is at hand, for she has had a 'warning from +heaven.' The reader should have sat by the bed-side of one slowly fading +away by consumption, and have heard the wild March wind wail amidst the +boughs of leafless trees without, rightly to appreciate the faithfulness +of these lines: + + 'I did not hear the dog howl, mother, nor hear the death-watch beat, + There came a sweeter token when the night and morning meet: + But sit beside my bed, mother, and put your hand in mine, + And Effie on the other side, and I will tell the sign. + + All in the wild March-morning I heard the angels call; + It was when the moon was setting, and the dark was over all; + The trees began to whisper, and the wind began to roll, + And in the wild March-morning I heard them call my soul. + + For lying broad awake I thought of you and Effie dear; + I saw you sitting in the house, and I no longer here; + With all my strength I pray'd for both, and so I felt resign'd, + And up the valley came a swell of music on the wind. + + I thought that it was fancy, and I listen'd in my bed, + And then did something speak to me--I know not what was said; + For great delight and shuddering took hold of all my mind, + And up the valley came again the music on the wind. + + But you were sleeping; and I said, 'It's not for them: it's mine.' + And if it comes three times, I thought, I take it for a sign. + And once again it came, and close beside the window-bars, + Then seem'd to go right up to Heaven and die among the stars.' + +'This blessed music,' she says, 'went that way my soul will have to go.' +She is reconciled to her inevitable fate; yet still she casts a 'longing, +lingering look behind,' to the beautiful world she is leaving forever. Her +reflections are imbued with a deep pathos; the second line of the first +stanza, especially, 'teems with sensation:' + + 'O look! the sun begins to rise, the heavens are in a glow; + He shines upon a hundred fields, and all of them I know: + And there I move no longer now, and there his light may shine, + Wild flowers are in the valley for other hands than mine! + + O sweet and strange it seems to me, that ere this day is done + The voice, that now is speaking, may be beyond the sun; + For ever and for ever with those just souls and true: + And what is life, that we should moan? why make we such ado? + + For ever and for ever, all in a blessed home, + And there to wait a little while till you and Effie come; + To lie within the light of God, as I lie upon your breast, + Where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest. + + * * * * * + +We are indebted to a friend and correspondent at the Phillippine Islands, +for two very instructive and amusing volumes, of which we intend the +reader shall know more hereafter. The first is entitled '_Portfolio +Chinensis_,' or a collection of authentic Chinese State Papers, in the +native language, illustrative of the history of the late important events +in China, with a translation by J. LEWIS SHUCK; the second, a '_Narrative +of the late Proceedings and Events in China_,' by JOHN SLADE, editor of +the 'Canton Register.' In looking over these publications, we are struck +with the vigor and pertinacity with which, when once their minds were made +up, the Chinese authorities pursued their object of abolishing opium +forever from the celestial empire. Edicts against the 'red-bristled +foreigners' from England, and the people of the American or 'flower-flag +nation,' who should hoard up the smoking earth or vaporous drug, were +enforced by others addressed to the natives, intended to lessen or +annihilate the demand. The remonstrances with the opium-smokers themselves +are exceedingly pungent. The 'Great Emperor, quaking with wrath,' having +examined the whole matter, and 'united the circumstances,' saturates the +High Commissioner LIN with his own bright 'effulgence of reason,' who +thereupon promulges: 'Although the opium exists among the outside +barbarians, there is not a man of them who is willing to smoke it himself; +but the natives of the flowery land are on the contrary with willing +hearts led astray by them; and they exhaust their property and brave the +prohibitions, by purchasing a commodity which inflicts injury upon their +own vitals. Is not this supremely ridiculous! And that you part with your +money to poison your own selves, is it not deeply lamentable! How is it +that you allow men to befool you? Thus the fish covets the bait and +forgets the hook; the miller-fly covets the candle-light, but forgets the +fire. Ye bring misfortunes upon yourselves! Habits which are thus +disastrous are unchangeable, being like the successive rolling of the +waves of the sea. Is not your conduct egregiously strange? We the governor +and Fooyuen have three times and five times again and again remonstrated +with and exhorted you, giving you lucid warning. Surely, you are indeed +dreaming, and _snoring_ in your dreams!' These multiplied edicts, and the +offers of _rewards_, to 'encourage repentant and fear-stricken hearts,' +seem to have led to a little trickery on the part of certain cunning +mandarins, if we interpret aright this clause in an ensuing 'lucid +warning:' 'The opium-pipes which are delivered up must be distinguished +clearly as to whether they are real or false. Those having on the outside +of them the marks of use, and within the oily residue of the smoke, are +the genuine ones; and those which are made of new bamboo, and merely +moistened with the smoky oil, are the false ones.' A 'spec.' had evidently +been made by means of false 'smoking-implements.' But the most amusing +portions of these volumes are the vermillion edicts against the 'outside +barbarians,' who had irritated the sacred wrath to the cutting off of +their trade. The estimates of the Fooyuen, it will be seen, are of that +vague kind usually designated among us as 'upward of considerable.' +Alluding to the 'blithesome profits' which had accrued from an intercourse +with China, he says: 'I find that during the last several tens of years +the money out of which you have duped our people, by means of your +destructive drug, amounts I know not to how many tens of thousands of +myriads. Your ships, which in former years amounted annually to no more +than several tens, now exceed a hundred and several tens, which arrive +here every year. I would like to ask you if in the wide earth under heaven +you can find such another profit-yielding market as this is? Our great +Chinese Emperor views all mankind with equal benevolence, and therefore it +is that he has thus graciously permitted you to trade, and become as it +were steeped to the lips in gain. If this port of Canton, however, were to +be shut against you, how could you scheme to reap profit more? Moreover, +our tea and rhubarb are articles which ye foreigners from afar cannot +preserve your lives without; yet year by year we allow you to export both +beyond seas, without the slightest feeling of grudge on our part. Never +was imperial goodness greater than this! Formerly, the prohibitions of our +empire might still be considered indulgent, and therefore it was that from +all our ports the sycee leaked out as the opium rushed in: now, however, +the Great Emperor, on hearing of it, actually quivers with indignation, +and before he will stay his hand the evil must be completely and entirely +done away with.' But these denunciations are not unmingled with +incitements to fear in another direction: 'You are separated from your +homes by several tens of thousands of miles, and a ship which comes and +goes is exposed to the perils of the great and boundless ocean, arising +from curling waves, contrary tides, thunders and lightnings, and the +howling tempest, as well as the jeopardy of crocodiles and whales! +Heaven's chastisements should be regarded with awe. The majesty and virtue +of our Great Emperor is the same with that of heaven itself! Our celestial +dynasty soothes and tranquillizes the central and foreign lands, and our +favor flows most wide. Our central empire is exuberant in all kinds of +productions, and needs not in the slightest degree whatever the goods of +the outer seas.' As matters are about proceeding to an open rupture with +the 'red-bristled foreigners,' and preparations are making to 'fire upon +them with immense guns,' there ensues a bit of Chinese diplomacy, which is +especially rich. After a long interview by a committee with the _Chefoo_, +during which all sorts of arguments are urged upon Snow, the American +Consul, and VAN BASEL, the Netherlands Consul, to induce them to sign a +'duly-prepared bond,' that none of their countrymen shall thenceforth +bring opium to China, the audience is suddenly closed with: 'To-morrow the +Chefoo will be at the Consoo-house, and wait from nine till night to +receive the bonds. _Now go home and go to bed!_' But enough for the nonce +of JOHN CHINAMAN. . . . IN alluding to Mr. COLE'S graphic account of the +_Ascent of Mount AEtna_, in our last issue, we spoke of its late eruption. +While reading the proof of that portion of our 'Gossip,' a friend handed +us a letter lately received from an American missionary lady at the +Sandwich Islands, from which we extract the subjoined vivid description of +the great volcano at Hawaii: 'You know,' says the writer, 'something, I +suppose, of the geological character of this island. It seems as though a +vast crater had boiled over and poured its fiery liquid in every +direction. This lava, having cooled and hardened, forms the basis of the +island. The district of Kau is a rich, luxuriant spot, surrounded by +desolate fields of scoriae, which renders it difficult of access. We are +situated six miles from the sea, sufficiently elevated to give us a +commanding view of its vast expanse of waters. We can occasionally spy a +sail floating like a speck on its surface. From the shore, the country +gradually rises into a range of verdant mountains, whose summits appear to +touch the clouds. Proceeding northward toward Hilo, there is a gradual +rise, until you reach the Great Volcano, about six miles distant. In +making the tour to Hilo, we camped here the second night, on the brink of +the burning gulf. Suppose a vast area of earth, as large as the bay of +New-York, to have fallen in to the depth of several thousand feet. At the +bottom of this great cauldron, you behold the liquid fire boiling and +bubbling up, partly covered with a thick black scum. There are two or +three inner craters, which have been formed by the lava cooling on its +sides while the liquid sunk below. The gentlemen mostly descended into +this crater, but I was fully satisfied with a look from above. The earth +is cracked all around at the top, and portions of it are continually +falling in. Steam issues from open places in all the region. This volcano +has been in action from time immemorial, as the natives all assert, and +has been with them an object of idolatrous worship. The range of mountains +continues for some thirty miles beyond this, and terminates in the +snow-capped summit of Mounadoa. This mountain is in full sight at Hilo, +and about thirty miles distant. Since we have been here it has been the +scene of the most wonderful volcanic eruptions ever yet seen on this +island. Mr. P----, in company with Mr. C----, visited it a week or two +since, and ascended the mountain to the old crater, from whence the flood +of lava proceeded. Fire has not been seen in it within the remembrance of +the oldest natives. An immense river of burning lava is at this time +running down the side of the mountain, in a subterraneous channel, from +three to four miles wide. They had a good view of it through air-holes in +the lava, over which they were walking, which was like a sea of glass; +frequently sinking in different places in consequence of the intense heat +below. It will probably yet find its way to the surface somewhere, and, +laying prostrate every thing that opposes it, pursue its devastating +course to the sea. Truly we live in a world of wonders!' . . . BY the by, +speaking of volcanos: it will be remembered that in 1831 an island was +thrown up by volcanic eruption in the Mediterranean sea, off the south +coast of Sicily. It presented the form of a round hill, about one hundred +and twenty feet above the sea's level, with thick clouds of white smoke +issuing from it. As may well be imagined, it excited great wonder and +curiosity, and was visited by vast numbers of people. An Austrian, a +French and a British vessel met there at the same time. A dispute arose as +to what power the island should belong, what it should be named, etc.; +when a British sailor leaped on shore, and planted on the topmost peak the +union-jack. Nine cheers proclaimed Britannia victorious. On returning +shortly after, to take another look at their newly-acquired possession, +they found to their dismay that, like Aladdin's palace, the island had +disappeared, leaving the Mediterranean as smooth as if the magic wonder +had never reared its head! This circumstance suggested the following lines +by a correspondent: + + FATHER NEPTUNE, one day, as he traversed the seas, + Much wanted a spot to recline at his ease: + For long tossed and tired by the billow's commotion, + ''Tis a shame,' cried the god, 'I'm confined to the ocean. + I'll have an island!' To VULCAN he flew, + Saying, 'Help me this time, and in turn I'll help you. + To make a new island's an excellent scheme; + And I think, my dear VULCAN, we'll raise it by steam.' + 'Agreed!' cried the god. + Straight to work they repair, + And throw an abundance of smoke in the air. + This mariners saw, and it did them affright; + They straightway concluded all could not be right. + 'We'll to Sicily repair, and appeal to powers civil, + For certainly this is the work of the devil!' + The Austrians and French came the wonder to view: + Said Britain, in anger, 'That isle's not for you! + For us, us alone, did Britannia design it, + And, d' ye see, we'll be d----d if we ever resign it! + On that island we'll land! there our standard we'll raise! + We will there plant our jack, if the island should blaze!' + + The gods, in great wrath, heard all this contention: + 'Dear NEPTUNE,' said VUL., 'this has spoiled our invention.' + 'It has,' said the god, 'but, I swear by my trident, + The proud sons of Britain shall never abide on 't! + It was raised for a god, and no vile worthless mortal + On that island shall dwell, to eat oysters and turtle. + Down! down with it, VUL., that will best end the quarrel, + And I'll be content with my old bed of coral.' + + * * * * * + +'MILK FOR BABES,' an elaborately-concocted satire upon a certain class of +'learned and pious hand-books for urchins of both sexes,' is not without +humor, and ridicules what indeed in some respects deserves animadversion. +We affect as little as our correspondent what has been rightly termed 'a +clumsy fumbling for the half-formed intellect, a merciless hunting down of +the tender and unfledged thought,' through the means of 'instructive' +little books, wherein an insipid tale goes feebly wriggling through an +unmerciful load of moral, religious and scientific preaching; or an +apparently simple dialogue involves subjects of the highest difficulty, +which are chattered over between two juvenile prodigies, or delivered to +them in mouthfuls, curiously adapted to their powers of swallowing. 'The +minor manners and duties,' says our correspondent, 'are quite overlooked +by misguided parents now-a-days;' and this he illustrates by an anecdote: +'THOMAS, my son,' said a father to a lad in my hearing, the other day, +'won't you show the gentleman your last composition?' 'I don't want to,' +said he. 'I _wish_ you would,' responded the father. 'I wont!' was the +reply; 'I'll be goy-blamed if I do!' A sickly, half-approving smile passed +over the face of the father, as he said, in extenuation of his son's +_brusquerie_: 'Tom don't lack manners generally; but the fact is, _he's +got such a cold, he is almost a fool_!' Kind parent! happy boy! . . . WE +would counsel such of our readers as can command it, to secure the perusal +of '_Hugh Adamson's Reply to John Campbell_,' in the matter of +international copy-right. Mr. CAMPBELL, being a paper dealer, and greatly +benefitted in his business by the increased sale of stock consequent upon +the influx of cheap republications, is naturally very anxious to prevent +the passage of an international copy-right law. As might be anticipated of +such an advocate, his real reasons are all based upon the _argumentum ad +crumenam,_ the argument to the _purse_. Mr. ADAMSON, in a few satirical, +well-reasoned, sententious paragraphs, has fairly demolished the +superstructure which Selfishness had reared, and exposed the +misrepresentations upon which alone the unsubstantial fabric could have +rested. It is quiet and good-natured, but _cutting_; and will act as an +antidote to the elaborate sophistry of Mr. CAMPBELL'S ambitious +_brochure_. . . . WE think we shall publish 'L. D. Q.'s '_Parody_;' but +should like him to change the third stanza, which is 'like a mildewed ear, +blasting its wholesome brothers.' The other verses are capital. One of the +cleverest modern parodies which we remember, was written in a Philadelphia +journal, and touched upon some exciting city event, before the Court of +Sessions. It was in the measure of '_The Cork Leg_,' and _ran_ somewhat as +follows: + + 'The defendant said that it was too bad + To be taken up before Judge CON-RAD. + + * * * * * + + Now Mr. H----, the lawyer, was there, + With a pretty good head, but not very much hair, + So little, in fact, that a wig he must wear, + Ri tu den u-den a!' + +The parody had the jogging, jolting air of the original, and was replete, +we recollect, with whimsical associations. . . . WE shall venture to +present here the comments of two most valued friends and contributors, +upon the performances of two _other_ esteemed friends and favorite +correspondents. Of '_The Venus of Ille_,' the one writes as follows: 'I +fully sympathise with you in your admiration of this tale, as well as of +'The Innocence of a Galley-Slave.' I could not in the perusal of them both +but feel the vast superiority of the Grecian over the Gothic style. For in +spite of all the humor and wit and nature and pathos of the DICKENS and +LEVER school, there is something more of the Gothic and grotesque in their +paintings than in these pure and unforced limnings of the able Frenchman. +Where the ground-work of the tale is of sufficiently bold conception, and +the incidents offer hooks enough to hang interest upon, there can be no +doubt that this cool style is by far the most effectual in the end. The +more strained and heated style of some other modern authors will be very +effectual for awhile, but the excitement of the reader will flag sooner. +The reason is, that too much descriptive and passionate power is expended +on minor portions of the tale; and the enthusiasm of the reader is +partially exhausted before he comes to the grand catastrophe, where it +should be most of all elicited. But writers like WALTER SCOTT, or this +Frenchman, are self-possessed and meditative in a great portion of their +writings; by skilful touches giving the reader every thing necessary for +him to know in reference to characters and scenes; and on any great +emergency their sudden heat carries the reader away captive.' The +admiration expressed by our other accomplished friend for the chaste and +graceful essays of a still more accomplished correspondent (there is +nothing like disparagement in this comparison) is widely shared, as we +have the best reason to know, by our readers on both sides of the +Atlantic: 'JOHN WATERS! There is a drab-coated plainness about the name, +which is at the same time _liquid_ and musical; not more liquid and +musical, howbeit, than those charming commentaries of his on every variety +of quaint topic; full of an amiable grace, tinged with the most delicate +hue of a fine humor; a refined ore drawn from no ordinary mine without +alloy; like the compositions of SAPPHO, to which an unerring critic has +applied the expression, [Greek: chruseiotera chrusou]; the very best of +gold. Doves never bore choicer _billet-doux_ beneath their wings. A +beautiful sentiment always touches the heart, though couched in homely +phrase; but when one knows how to cull from our mother-tongue the most +expressive words, and has gained that enviable mastery, making them fall +into their own places, and thus become inseparable from the idea, the +perfection of art is gained. Serve us up these choice _morceaux_ each +month, dear EDITOR; let them not be missed from the generous board, lest +the banquet be incomplete. Let me tell you, in passing, that your +correspondent HARRY FRANCO'S tale is a caution to dowagers. Never have I +encountered such a startling incident on the high seas, out of 'DON JUAN.' +. . . DID it occur to 'N.' that the change suggested in the mere +inscription of his epigram, '_Religious Disputation_,' would be entirely +out of keeping? 'Uniting the circumstances,' as Commissioner LIN would +say, would produce such discrepancy as was occasioned lately at a +democratic meeting in one of the western States, where a certain +resolution in favor of our old friend and correspondent, Gen. CASS, was +made to undergo a slight metamorphosis by the substitution of the name of +Mr. VAN BUREN; causing it to read something like this: 'Whereas Gen. +MARTIN VAN BUREN emigrated to the west from New-Hampshire in early life +with his knapsack on his back, and unsheathed his sword in repelling the +Indians and fighting against the British!' etc. This historical fiction, +in the antagonistic excitement of the moment, was carried by an almost +unanimous vote! . . . INVERSION of mere words, or involution of phrase and +syntax, let us whisper in the ear of our Troy correspondent, is not a very +great beauty in poetry. His own good thoughts are spoiled by this +affectation. It requires an artist to employ frequent inversion +successfully. The opening of the '_Lines on a Bust of Dante_', by Mr. T. W. +PARSONS, affords a pleasing example in this kind. It is clear and musical: + + 'See from this counterfeit of him + Whom Arno shall remember long, + _How stern of lineament, how grim + The father was of Tuscan song_.' + +Inversion should be naturally suggested, not forced. . . . IT is to be +inferred, we fear, that the late 'principal editor' of the '_Brother +Jonathan_' does not take it in good part that the new proprietors of that +now popular journal saw fit to arrest its rapid decadence, by a removal of +the inevitable cause of such a consummation. Lo! how from his distant +down-east ambush, with characteristic phrase, he denounces them as +'cowards' and 'puppies!' Whereupon, in a response appropriately brief, the +'brave few' of the 'principal editor's' old readers who have 'endured unto +the end,' are informed by the new incumbent, that the tabooed ci-devant +functionary 'seems disturbed because he was not suffered to kill the +'Brother Jonathan' as he had killed every journal in which he was +permitted to pour out his vapid balderdash. He is a perfect BLUEBEARD +among newspapers. He no sooner slaughters one, than he manages to get hold +of another, and butcher that with the same remorseless indifference.' The +editor adds: 'He once enjoyed the honor of some connection with the 'New +World,' and would have consigned that well-known sheet to the tomb of the +Capulets, had not the publishers foreseen the danger, and escaped in +season.' We merely note these facts, as corroborative of a remark or two +of our own, in our last issue. . . . '_An Incident in Normandy_', we +shrewdly suspect, is _not_ 'from the French;' if it be, all that we have +to say is, that such pseudo-rhapsodists as the writer could never by any +possibility _love_ nature. The thing is altogether _over-done_. A +Frenchman's opinion, however, COWELL tells us, should never be taken where +the beauties of nature are concerned, _unless they can be cooked_. There +is another grave objection to the article; which consists in the undue +frequency of Italian and French words and phrases, foisted into the +narrative. We have a strong attachment to plain, perspicuous _English_. +Ours is a noble language, a beautiful language; and we hold fully with +SOUTHEY, who somewhere remarks that he can tolerate a Germanism, for +family sake; but he adds: 'He who uses a Latin or a French phrase where a +pure old English word does as well, ought to be hung, drawn and quartered, +for high treason against his mother-tongue.' . . . '_The Song of the New +Year_, by Mrs. NICHOLS, in a late number,' writes a Boston correspondent, +'is an excellent production, and a fair specimen of the improved style of +our occasional American verse. Suppose a book-worm should light on poetry +of equal merit among FLATMAN'S, FALCONER'S, PRIOR'S, or PARSELL'S +collections? Would it not shine forth, think you? Indeed our lady-writers +are wresting the plume from our male pen mongers unco fast.' 'That's a +fact.' Mrs. NICHOLS has a sister-poet at Louisville, Kentucky, who has a +very charming style and a delicious fancy. A late verse of hers in some +'_Lines to a Rainbow_,' signed 'AMELIA,' which we encountered at a +reading-room the other day, have haunted our memory ever since: + + 'There are moments, I think, when the spirit receives + Whole volumes of thought on its unwritten leaves; + When the folds of the heart in a moment unclose, + Like the innermost leaves from the heart of a rose.' + +MOORE never conceived a more beautiful simile than this. . . . NUMBER TWO +of the '_Reminiscences of a Dartmoor Prisoner_' will appear in our next +issue. We have received from the writer a very interesting and amusing +manuscript-volume, filled with patriotic poetry, containing vivid pictures +of scenes and events in the daily routine of the prison, as well as +sketches of Melville Island Prison, and reminiscences of striking events +in the lives of sundry of the prisoners, in the progress of the American +war. We shall refer more particularly to this entertaining collection in +an ensuing number. . . . THE Lines on '_Niagara Falls at Night_' are +entirely too terrific for our pages. They are almost as 'love-lily +dreadful' as the great scene itself. 'M.' _must_ 'try again,' that is +quite certain; and we are afraid, _more_ than once. . . . TU DOCES! +Doubtless many of our young readers, especially in the country, have often +pondered over the zig-zag hieroglyphics which covered the tea-chests at +the village-store, and marvelled what 'HOWQUA,' which was inseparable from +these inscriptions, could mean. It was the name of the great Hong +merchant, 'the friend of Americans,' who died recently at Canton, at an +advanced age, leaving his vast wealth to two sons. Here is an elegy +written upon his death by his brother-merchant TINGQUA, which is now being +sung about Canton to a dolorous air, accompanied by the _yeih-pa_ and the +_tchung_, a curious sort of guitar and harp in common use. The elegy +comprises a little outline, together with hints and allusions, prettily +conveyed, of the principal biographical events of HOWQUA'S career, and is +entitled + + TINGQUA'S TEARS. + + I weep for HOWQUA. He was the friend of my youth. We often rose + before day-break, and gazed together at the soft blue clouds round + the retiring moon. + + At that time I smiled on HOWQUA. We both grew old together. We + often went to the tombs of our fathers, side by side, and thought + tenderly of the loving dead. + + Weep friends of the Hong. All friends at home (literally + _Celestial_ friends,) and all natives of outside countries weep; + weep excessively. For HOWQUA is no more. + + HOWQUA was a fixed man. He had reason. Loving old laws, old + customs, and all things long since established as wise, he + therefore hated change. + + HOWQUA was very rich. He had no half-thinkers and third-smokers + (meaning _no partners_,) and no branch-breakers to his universal + tea-dealings. + + Also he had lands for rice and pasture, and to play at ball, and + villas, and ponds of fish, and fifteen field-bridges of carved + wood gilt, and seven domestic bridges inlaid with ivory birds and + dragons. + + Also he had money in the foreign mysteries (probably meaning the + _funds_.) + + Also he had doings with several things of great value, and shares + of large ship-loads. But never would he touch the hateful + opium-trade, after the recent mad insolences. + + Also he had some wives. + + Also the GREAT EMPEROR loved him, though HOWQUA was only as the + poorest man before that Yellow Illumination of our day and night. + + The body of my friend was slight, and easily injured; like the + outside of people's pocket-watch when she walk against the sun + (that is, an injured watch that _goes wrong_.) But my dear friend + for whom I shed these tears had a head with many eyes. + + HOWQUA knew what to do with his unnecessary gold. He built a + temple to Buddha, and thus made the god a present of 2,000,000 + dollars, to the excessive delight of his Essence and Image. + + Also, HOWQUA gave 800,000 dollars to assist the ransom of his + beloved Canton from the fangs of the late war; to the excessive + delight of the Fighting-minded Barbarians. + + Weep, then, for HOWQUA, even as I weep. He was the friend of my + youth. Together we grew old, walking toward our fathers' tombs. We + might have died together; but it is well that one old friend + should be left a little while to weep.' + + * * * * * + +The paper upon '_American Interior and Exterior Architecture_' we are +quite certain would not have the tendency which the writer contemplates. +It would discourage rather than foster that better taste which is gaining +ground among us. In this city, how great have been the improvements in the +exterior and interior decorations of our dwellings, within the last eight +years! We remember the time as it were but yesterday, when the beautiful +muslin window-shades, first introduced among us by Mr. GEORGE PLATT, were +considered a luxury of interior decoration--as indeed many of them were. +But from these small yet promising beginnings, our accomplished artist has +gone on, until his extensive establishment is filled with specimens of +rich and elaborate architectural decorations, for the various styles of +which the reigns of French and English sovereigns have been put under the +most liberal contribution. Our wealthy and tasteful citizens have vied +with each other in the enriching and beautifying of their mansions; while, +also emulous, a kindred class in our sister-cities have laid requisitions +upon Mr. PLATT'S architectural and decorative genius, (for in him it _is_ +genius, and of no intermediate order,) which have convinced _him_ at +least, that the 'laggard taste' which our correspondent arraigns, is 'not +so slow' as he seems to imagine. . . . WHO was '_Dandy Jim from +Caroline_,' of whom every boy in the street is either whistling or +singing, and whom we 'have heard spoken of' by musical instruments and +that of all sorts, at every party or ball which we have found leisure to +attend during the gay season? We are the more anxious to glean some +particulars touching the origin and history of this personage, because his +fame is rife among our legislators, and the 'lobby-interest' at Albany; if +we may judge from a quatrain before us, which hints at a verbal +peculiarity of our excellent representative, Alderman VARIAN, whose _v_ +always takes the form of a _w_, especially in his rendering of a foreign +tongue; as witness his being 'just on the _qwi-wi-we_ for the capitol,' on +one occasion, and the subjoined versification of another of his Latin +sentences, with cockney 'wariations:' + + 'Then here's a health to WARI-AN, + That '_Weni, widi, wici_' man! + He talk de grammar werry fine, + Like DANDY JIM o' Caroline: + For my ole massa tol' me so,' etc. + + * * * * * + +There is in these humane and benevolent days an increasing sympathy in the +public mind for a man condemned to 'march sorrowfully up to the gallows, +there to be noosed up, vibrate his hour, and await the dissecting-knife of +the surgeon,' who fits his bones into a skeleton for medical purposes. +'There never was a public hanging,' says a late advocate of the abolition +of capital punishment, 'that was productive of any thing but evil.' There +is an anecdote recorded of WHITFIELD, however, which seems to refute this +position, in at least one instance. This eloquent divine, while at +Edinburgh, attended a public execution. His appearance upon the ground +drew the eyes of all around him, and raised a variety of opinions as to +the motives which led him to join in the crowd. The next day, being +Sunday, he preached to a large body of men, women and children, in a field +near the city. In the course of his sermon, he adverted to the execution +which had taken place the preceding day. 'I know,' said he, 'that many of +you will find it difficult to reconcile my appearance yesterday with my +character. Many of you will say, that my moments would have been better +employed in praying with the unhappy man, than in attending him to the +fatal tree, and that perhaps curiosity was the only cause that converted +me into a spectator on that occasion: but those who ascribe that +uncharitable motive to me are under a mistake. I witnessed the conduct of +almost every one present on that occasion, and I was highly pleased with +it. It has given me a very favorable impression of the Scottish nation. +Your sympathy was visible on your countenances, and reflected the greatest +honor on your hearts: particularly when the moment arrived in which your +unhappy fellow creature was to close his eyes on this world forever, you +all, as if moved by one impulse, turned your heads aside and wept. Those +tears were precious, and will be held in remembrance. How different was it +when the Saviour of mankind was extended on the cross! The Jews, instead +of sympathizing in his sorrows, triumphed in them. They reviled him with +bitter expressions, with words even more bitter than the gall and vinegar +which they gave him to drink. Not one of them all that witnessed his +pains, turned the head aside even in the last pang. Yes, there was one; +that glorious luminary, (pointing to the sun,) veiled his bright face and +sailed on in tenfold night!' _This_ is eloquence! Would that we could have +seen the beaming features, the 'melting eye, turned toward heaven,' which +indelibly impressed these words upon the heart of every hearer! . . . MANY +of our readers will doubtless remember the time when Professor J----, the +celebrated 'artist in hair,' was flourishing in his glory, and when his +fame was perhaps as rife in New-York and Boston as that of any man living, +in his line of art. His advertisements too, so unique in their +grandiloquent phraseology, will not soon be forgotten by those who relish +such things. The Professor is not now, as regards worldly prosperity, the +man he used to be; but his gentlemanly feeling still clings to him, and +his pride in his profession is as enthusiastic as ever. We observe by a +Boston journal that he is once more trying his luck in our eastern +metropolis; and this reminds us of an anecdote concerning him. A friend +tells us that some months since he encountered the professor at a +coffee-house, where he was rehearsing to a rather verdant customer the +former glories of his professional life. Among other things, 'At one +time,' said he, 'I was sent for by express, to go to Philadelphia on +professional business.' 'To do what?' asked his listener. 'To make wigs +for the Signers of the Declaration of Independence!' replied J----, with a +pompous air. Now the professor's comrade was not very quick-witted, as we +have already hinted, and it did not occur to him at the moment whether the +signers were men only of yesterday, or of the last century; and he +rejoined, in a tone of wonder: 'What! do they _all_ wear wigs?' '_All?_' +replied the professor, with a look of mingled piety and triumph; 'why, +Sir, did you ever know a wax-figure to wear its own hair? Men of flesh and +blood, now-a-days, don't know any better; but the _man of wax_, Sir, +possesses a truer taste, and always consults the PERRUQUIER!' The relator +says it would be impossible to convey an adequate idea of the superb +manner in which the last word was uttered; the full round tone, and the +tonsorial flourish of the right hand, as if it still grasped the magic +brush and scissors. . . . THE reader will have gathered from an incidental +allusion in an article by Mr. GEORGE HARVEY, in our last number, some idea +of the fervent enthusiasm with which he has studied and copied Nature, in +her every variety of season and changes of the hour, in executing his +beautiful _Landscape Drawings_. We have neither the leisure nor space for +an _adequate_ notice of these pictures; but being solicitous that our town +readers should participate in the great enjoyment which they have afforded +us, we would direct them to Mr. HARVEY'S exhibition-room at the old Apollo +Gallery, nearly opposite the Hospital, in Broadway. . . . HERE is a +pleasant specimen of an '_Unnecessary Disclaimer_,' for which we are +indebted to a metropolitan friend: 'A few evenings since, as a gentleman +was walking up Broadway, and just as he was crossing the side-walk at the +junction of White-street, his feet suddenly slipped from under him, his +hat flew forward with the involuntary jerk, and he measured his length on +the side-walk, striking his bare head on the hard ice, till all rang +again. At the instant it chanced that a lady and gentleman were just +emerging from White-street into Broadway, and the prostrate sufferer, +lying directly across their path, interrupted for a moment their farther +progress. He soon recovered his feet, however, and with one hand on his +newly-developed bump, and the other on his breast, he turned to the couple +whose passage he had impeded, and exclaimed with cool gravity: 'Excuse me; +_I didn't intend to do it!_' Probably he didn't; at all events, his word +was not disputed. . . . MOST likely our readers have not forgotten an +admirable satire upon the 'Songs of the Troubadours,' from which we +extracted some months since the affecting story of 'The Taylzour's +Daughter.' Something in the same style is '_The Doleful Lay of the +Honorable I. O. Uwins_,' a gentleman who threw himself away upon a +bailiff's daughter, to escape from the restraints and pungent odors of a +sponging-house. The 'whole course of wooing' and the result are hinted at +in the ensuing lines: + + 'There he sate in grief and sorrow, + Rather drunk than otherwise, + Till the golden gush of morrow + Dawned once more upon his eyes; + Till the spunging bailiff's daughter, + Lightly tapping at the door, + Brought his draught of soda-water, + Brandy-bottomed as before. + + 'Sweet REBECCA! has your father, + Think you, made a deal of brass?' + And she answered: 'Sir, I rather + Should imagine that he has.' + UWINS, then, his whiskers scratching, + Leer'd upon the maiden's face; + And her hands with ardor catching, + Folded her in his embrace. + + 'La, Sir! let alone--you fright me!' + Said the daughter of the Jew: + 'Dearest! how these eyes delight me! + Let me love thee, darling, do!' + 'Vat is dish?' the bailiff mutter'd, + Rushing in with fury wild; + 'Ish your muffins so vell butter'd + Dat you darsh insult ma shild?' + + 'Honorable my intentions, + Good ABEDNEGO, I swear! + And I have some small pretensions, + For I am a Baron's heir. + If you'll only clear my credit, + And a thousand give or so, + She's a peeress; I have said it! + Don't you twig, ABEDNEGO?' + + 'Datsh a very different matter!' + Said the bailiff, with a leer; + 'But you musht not cut it fatter + Than ta slish will shtand, ma tear! + If you seeksh ma approbation, + You must quite give up your rigsh; + Alsho, you mosht join our nation, + And renounch ta flesh of pigsh.' + + * * * * * + + At a meeting of the Rabbis, + Held about the Whitsuntide, + Was this thorough-paced Barabbas + Wedded to his Hebrew bride. + All his former debts compounded, + From the spunging-house he came; + And his father's feelings wounded + With reflections on the same.' + +It is a very dear marriage for UWINS, for on visiting his father the +Baron, that incensed nobleman tells the double-dyed apostate never to +cross his threshold again, and directs JOHN the porter to kick him into +the street. The order is anticipated: + + 'Forth rushed I. O. UWINS, faster + Than all winking, much afraid + That the orders of the master + Would be punctually obeyed; + Sought his club, and there the sentence + Of expulsion first he saw: + No one dared to own acquaintance + With a bailiff's son-in-law. + + Uselessly down Bond-street strutting, + Did he greet his friends of yore; + Such a universal cutting + Never man received before. + Till at last his pride revolted; + Pale, and lean, and stern, he grew; + And his wife REBECCA bolted + With a missionary Jew. + + Ye who read this doleful ditty, + Ask ye where is UWINS now? + Wend your way through London city, + Climb to Holborn's lofty brow; + Near the sign-post of 'The Nigger,' + Near the baked-potato shed, + You may see a ghastly figure, + With three hats upon his head. + + When the evening shades are dusky, + Then the phantom form draws near, + And, with accents low and husky, + Pours effluvia in your ear; + Craving an immediate barter + Of your trousers or surtout, + And you know the Hebrew martyr, + Once the peerless I. O. U.' + + * * * * * + +A friend, in a recent letter to the Editor, thus alludes to the '_National +Intelligencer_,' one of the ablest and most dignified journals in the +country, and to two of its 'special correspondents:' 'Mr. WALSH, who +writes from Paris, seems an incorporation of European literature and +politics; and his articles are, in my belief, the most valuable now +contributed to any journal in the world. Willis is the lightest and most +mercurial 'knight of the quill' in all the tournament. It is astonishing +with what dexterity, felicity, and grace he touches off the veriest trifle +of the day, investing the trite with originality, and giving the value of +wit and poetry to the worthless and the dry. Pity that this brilliant +'quid nunc' should degenerate into a mere trifling '_arbiter +elegantiarum_,' and expend his buoyant and ductile genius in the +indictment of ephemeral paragraphs. His genius, it is true, has little +solidity; but if he would rest two or three years on his oars, he might +collect the scatterings of wit and poetry, which would in that time accrue +to him from his readings and reflections, into a volume of essays, etc., +which would be inferior in brilliancy and piquancy to but few of any +nation.' Possibly; but in the mean time, let us advise our friend, Mr. +WILLIS has the little substantials of every-day life to look after. He +'pleases to write' frequently and _currente calamo_, because he 'pleases +_to live_.' Fame is one thing, and can be waited for; there are other +things that cannot tarry so well. Mr. WILLIS has 'seen the elephant.' He +knows that KENNY MEADOWS is not far out of the way in his humorous picture +of '_The Man of Fame and the Man of Funds_,' wherein a shadowy hand +protrudes from cloud-land, holding a pair of steel-yards, to resolve the +comparative weight of an appetizing leg-of-mutton, and a huge +laurel-wreath. The mutton 'has it' all to nothing, and the wreath 'kicks +the beam! . . . PUNCH, up to the latest dates, suddenly makes his +appearance in our sanctum. Merriest of Merry Andrews, he is ever welcome! +His 'COMIC BLACKSTONE,' must be of great service to legal gentlemen. In +it, among other things, we are enlightened as to the '_Rights of the +Clergy_.' We subjoin a few items: 'An archbishop is a sort of inspector of +all the bishops in his province; but he does not call them out as an +inspector would so many policemen, to examine their mitres, and see that +their lawn sleeves are properly starched, before going on duty in their +respective dioceses. An archbishop may call out the bishops, just as a +militia colonel may call out the militia.' 'A bishop (_episcopes_) is +literally an overseer, instead of which it is notorious that some of them +are overlookers of their duties, and blind to the state of their diocese, +though they call it their see.' 'The duties incumbent on a parson are, +first to act as the incumbent, by living in the place where he has his +living. Formerly, a clergyman had what is called the benefit of clergy in +cases of felony; a privilege which, if a layman had asked for, he would +have been told that the authorities would 'see him hanged first.' 'A +curate is the lowest grade in the church, for he is a sort of journeyman +parson, and several of them meet at a house of call in St. Paul's +Church-Yard, ready to job a pulpit by the day, and being in fact +'clergyman taken in to bait' by the landlord of the house alluded to.' +Concerning '_Subordinate Magistrates_,' as officers of the customs, +overseers of the poor, etc., we glean the following information: +'Tide-waiters are overseers of the customs duties, therefore it is their +duty to overlook the customs. Custom is unwritten law, and a practice may +be termed a custom when it can be proved to have lasted for a hundred +years. Now, can any man doubt that the custom of defrauding the customs +has endured more than a hundred years? Then the practice has become a law, +and for observing this law, which, it seems, is one of our time-revered +institutions, and a profitable proof of the wisdom of our ancestors, +landing-waiters and tradesmen are to be prosecuted and punished. Monstrous +injustice!' 'Overseers of the Poor are functionaries who sometimes +literally over-see or over-look the cases of distress requiring +assistance. The poor law of ELIZABETH has been superseded by a much poorer +law of WILLIAM the Fourth, the one great principle of which is, to afford +the luxury of divorce to persons in needy circumstances. It also +discountenances relief to the able-bodied, a point which is effected by +disabling, as far as possible, any body who comes into the work-house. The +Poor Law is administered by three Commissioners, who spend their time in +diluting gruel and writing reports; trying experiments how little will +suffice to prevent a repeal of the union between the soul and the body.' +We have this information concerning the clock heretofore complained of: +'PUNCH has been accused of hitting this clock very hard when it was down; +and it certainly must be admitted that it was wholly unable to strike in +return. We are happy to say that the wound has been followed by the clock +being at last wound, and we now offer to take it by the hands in a spirit +of friendship. We have been told that the long stagnation has been caused +by the absurd scruples of the pendulum, which refused to go from side to +side, lest it should be accused of inconsistency.' Under the different +months, 'PUNCH'S Almanack' gives many important directions, one of which +is for the proprietors of the public gardens: 'Now trim your lamps, water +your lake, graft new noses on statues, plant your money-taker, and if the +season be severe, _cut your sticks_.' The following '_Tavern Measure_' is +doubtless authentic: Two 'goes' make one gill; two gills one 'lark;' two +larks one riot; two riots one cell, or station-house, equivalent to five +shillings.' For office-clerks, as follows: Two drams make one 'go;' two +goes one head-ache; two head-aches one lecture; two lectures 'the sack.' +To those gentlemen who are lovers of the Virginia weed in its native +purity, a list of prices, 'furnished by one of the first _Spanish_ +houses,' is published. It includes 'choice high-dried dock-leaf regalias,' +'fine old cabbage Cuba's,' 'genuine goss-lettuce Havana's,' and +'full-flavored brown-paper Government Manilla's!' Two scraps under the +head of '_University Intelligence_' must close our quotations: 'Given the +_force_ with which your fist is propelled against a cabman, and the +_angle_ at which it strikes him; required the _area_ of mud he will cover +on reaching the _horizontal plane_.' 'Show the incorrectness of using +_imaginary quantities_, by attempting to put off your creditors with +repeated promises to pay them out of your Pennsylvania dividends.' . . . +MANY German physicians and surgeons hold that there remains in the brain +of a decollated head some degree of thought, and in the nerves something +of sensibility. It is stated by his biographer, that in the case of Sir +EVERARD DIGBY, executed for a participation in the Gunpowder Plot, the +tongue pronounced several words after the head was severed from the body. +After the execution of CHARLOTTE CORDAY, also, it is alleged that the +executioner held up her lovely head by its beautiful hair, and slapped the +pale cheeks, which instantly reddened, and gave to the features such an +expression of unequivocal indignation, that the spectators, struck by the +change of color, with loud murmurs cried out for vengeance on barbarity so +cowardly and atrocious. 'It could not be said,' writes Dr. SUE, a +physician of the first eminence and authority in Paris, 'that the redness +was caused by the blow, since no blow can ever recall any thing like color +to the cheeks of a corpse; beside, this blow was given on one cheek, and +the other equally reddened.' Singular facts. Do they not militate against +certain theories of 'nervous sensation' recently promulgated in our +philosophical circles? . . . DOESN'T it sicken you, reader, to hear a +young lady use that common but horrid commercial metaphor, '_first-rate?_' +'How did you like CASTELLAN, last evening, Miss HUGGINS?' '_Oh, +first-rate!_' 'When a girl makes use of this expression,' writes an +eastern friend, 'I mutter inly,' 'Your pa' sells figs and salt-fish, I +know he does.' And it is all very well and proper, if he _does_; but for +the miserable compound itself, pray kill it dead in your Magazine! Hit it +hard! By the by, talking of odd phrases, hear this. A young Italian friend +of mine, fresh from Sicily as his own oranges, a well-educated, talented +person, who has labored hard to get familiar with English letters, and has +read our authors, from CHAUCER downward, dilated thus on the poets: 'PO-PE +is very mosh like HORACE; I like him very mosh; but I tink BIR-RON was +very sorry poet.' 'What!' quoth I, 'BYRON a sorry poet! I thought he was a +favorite with Italians?' 'Oh, yes; I adore him very mosh; I almost do +admire him; but he was very _sorry_ poet.' 'How so? BYRON a sorry bard?' +'Oh, yes, very sorry; don't you think so? _molto triste_--very +mel-_an_-choly; don't you find him so? I always feel very sorry when I +read him. I think he's far more sorry than PETRARCA; don't you?' This will +remind the reader of the very strong term used by a Frenchman, who on +being asked at a soiree what was the cause of his evident sadness, +replied: 'I av just hear my fader he die: _I_ am ver' mosh _dissatisfied!_' +. . . WE shall _probably_ find a place for the paper entitled '_Foreigners +in America_.' The writer touches with a trenchant pen upon 'the social +abuses which the first families in the metropolis tolerate at the hands of +disreputable exquisites and titled rascals.' Nervous words, but not +undeserved. 'How much more rapidly a fashionable foreigner will move in +the high road of preferment than one of your thinking, feeling, complex +persons, in whom honor, integrity and reason make such a pother that no +step can be taken without consulting them!' . . . WE have indulged in one +or two sonorous guffaws, and several of Mr. COOPER's 'silent laughs,' over +the following 'palpable hit' from a New-Jersey journal: 'A +talking-machine,' says the 'Newton Herald,' 'which speaks passable French, +capital English, and choice Italian, is now to be seen at New-York. It is +made of wood, brass, and gum-elastic.' 'A similar machine,' adds the +'Sussex Register,' 'compounded of buckram, brass, and soap-locks, and +familiarly called 'GREEN JOSEY,' is to be seen in Newton, at the Herald +office; though we cannot say that it speaks _any_ language 'passably.' It +frequently makes the attempt, however, and here is one of its last +'essays:' 'Gov. GILMER is understood to have had a standing CART-BALANCE +for any appointment under the present administration, which he might +choose to _except_; but he will not _except_ an appointment of any kind +under this administration.' Isn't that 'standing _cart-balance_' rich? The +usual phrase _carte-blanche_, which in the sentence quoted might be +rendered by 'unconditional offer,' is transmogrified into _cart-balance_! +Among all the blunders perpetrated by conceited ignorance in its attempts +to _parley-voo_, this stands unequalled. We have seen _hic jacet_ turned +into _his jacket_, in an obituary; that was a trifle; but CART-BALANCE +overcomes our gravity!' So it does ours. The anecdote, to adopt the +reading of a kindred accomplished linguist whom we wot of, is a 'capital +_jesus-de-sprit!_' . . . THE beginning of 'L.'s '_Stanzas_' is by no means +unpromising; but what a 'lame and impotent conclusion!' + + 'Lord HOWE he went out, + And LORD! how he came in!' + +The third verse would do credit to STREET, so graphic and poetical are the +rural images introduced; but it runs into the fourth, a stanza 'most +tolerable, and not to be endured.' Our young friend may be assured that we +shall _not_ 'regard with indifference' any thing from his pen that may +fulfil the _promise_ of the lines to which we allude. Na'theless, he must +'squeeze out more of his whey.' . . . THE admirers of one of the most +popular contributors that this Magazine ever enjoyed, will be glad to meet +with the following announcement: + + 'BURGESS, STRINGER AND COMPANY, corner of Broadway and Ann-street, + New-York, have in press the Literary Remains of the late WILLIS + GAYLORD CLARK, including the _Ollapodiana Papers_, with several + other of his Prose Writings, not less esteemed by the public; + including also his '_Spirit of Life_,' a choice but comprehensive + selection from his Poetical Contributions to the Literature of his + Country; together with a Memoir: to be edited by his twin-brother, + LEWIS GAYLORD CLARK, Editor of the KNICKERBOCKER Magazine. The + publishers do not consider it necessary for them to enlarge upon + the character of the writings which will compose the above volume. + The series of papers under the title of _Ollapodiana_ will be + remembered with admiration and pleasure, by readers in every + section of the United States. Their rich variety of subject; their + alternate humor and pathos; the one natural, quiet, and + irresistibly laughable; the other warm from the heart, and + touching in its tenderness and beauty; won for them the cordial + and unanimous praise of the press throughout the Union, and + frequent laudatory notices from the English journals. + Reminiscences of early days; expositions of the Ludicrous and the + Burlesque, in amusing Anecdote; Limnings from Nature; and 'Records + of the Heart,' were among their prominent characteristics. It is + not too much to say of the other Prose Writings which the volume + will contain, that although of a somewhat different character, + they are in no respect inferior to the _Ollapodiana_, in their + power to awaken and sustain interest. The _Poetical Writings_ of + Mr. CLARK are too well known to require comment. They have long + been thoroughly established in the national heart, and have + secured for the writer an enviable reputation abroad.' + +The work will be embraced in four numbers, of ninety-six~pages each, +stereotyped upon new types in the best manner, and printed upon fine white +paper; and the price will be but twenty-five cents for each number. Need +we ask the interest of our friends, of the friends of the Departed, in +behalf of the volume in question? . . . THE ITALIAN OPERA, at Sig. PALMO'S +new and beautiful temple in Chambers-street, has taken the town captive. +_I Puritani_ was first produced, and to overflowing houses at each +representation. _Belisario_ is now running a similar successful career. We +shall have occasion in our next to advert more at large to this very +popular establishment, and to notice in detail the _artists_ (with and +without the _e_) who compose its prominent attractions. . . . SINCE the +direction given by an afflicted widow to some humane persons who had found +the body of her husband in a mill-race, full of eels, 'Take the eels up to +the house, and _set him again_!' we have seen nothing more affecting than +an anecdote of a widower at St. Louis, who, on seeing the remains of his +late wife lowered into the grave, exclaimed, with tears in his eyes: +'Well, I've lost sheep, and I've lost cows, but I never had any thing to +cut me up like this!' As CARLYLE says, 'his right arm, and spoon, and +necessary of life' had been taken away, and he could not choose but weep. +. . . THE typographical error to which our Natchez friend alludes was +corrected in some two or three thousand sheets; hence we dispense with his +trifling errata. 'I remember a clergyman in New-England,' once wrote an +accomplished contributor to us, 'that when 'the rains descended and the +floods came and the winds blew,' carried away in the pulpit in the height +of his ardor the wrong house, and left that _standing_ that was built upon +the sand. After the service was over I ventured to observe to my uncle, +Parson C----, (whose assistant had been preaching) that this seemed to be +a new reading to the parable, and that I wondered when Mr. A---- had +discovered his error, as he did at the time of re-iteration, that he did +not correct it. My uncle defended his curate, and observed that if he had +_then_ corrected himself, he would have carried away _both_ houses, which +was utterly in opposition to all Scripture. Part of the audience, said he, +were asleep; and many of the rest so drowsy that, so long as one of the +houses was taken off, the moral was enforced upon their perceptions as +well by the one as the other. If he had made a _thorough_ correction, he +would have roused the attention of the whole parish, and nothing else +would have been talked of for nine days. When a man has made an error he +had better let other people make a discovery; and this truth, my lad, said +he, you will understand better when you grow up.' Let us conclude with an +expression of great force and newness: 'Comment is unnecessary.' . . . +'T.N.P.'s article, as he will perceive, is anticipated by the initial +paper in the present number. How does he like the new definition of +Transcendentalism: _Incomprehensibilityosityivityalityationmentnessism_?' +To us, it seems 'as clear as mud!' . . . THE graceful 'penciller' of the +'_New Mirror_' weekly journal copies the beautiful '_Lines to a Cloud_' +from our January number, with the remark: 'This BRYANT-like, finished and +high-thoughted ('a vile phrase') poetry was written by a young lady of +seventeen, and is her first published production. She is the daughter of +one of our oldest and best families, resident on the Hudson. If the noon +be like the promise of the dawn of this pure intellect, we have here the +beginning of a brilliant fame.' We think '_The two Pictures_,' from the +same pen, in our February issue fully equal to the fair writer's +_coup-d'essai_. By the by, it would have been but simple courtesy, as it +strikes us, to have given the KNICKERBOCKER Magazine credit for the lines +in question. . . . NUMEROUS articles in prose and verse are on file for +insertion, touching which we shall hope soon to have leisure to advise +with the writers by letter. + + * * * * * + +'AMERICA WELL DEFENDED' would not be inappropriate as a true designation +of a beautifully printed pamphlet before us, from the press of Mr. +BENJAMIN H. GREENE, Boston, containing a 'Letter to a Lady in France on +the supposed Failure of a National Bank, the supposed Delinquency of the +National Government, the Debts of the several States, and Repudiation: +with Answers to Inquiries concerning the Books of Capt. MARRYAT and Mr. +DICKENS.' We have read this production with warm admiration of its calm +and dignified style, the grouping and invariable _pertinence_ of its +facts and arguments; and the absence of every thing which savors of +_retaliatory_ spirit, in its animadversions upon the misrepresentations of +the United States by the English press. Expositions are offered of the +character of the old United States' Bank, as contradistinguished from the +'United States' Bank of Pennsylvania;' of the origin and nature of our +public debts, national as well as of the separate States, etc. The themes +of love of money, gravity of manners, of slavery, lynch-law, mobs, etc., +are next considered; and the pamphlet concludes with some remarks upon the +strength of our government, general results of our experiment, and our +growing attachment to the Union. The author we understand to be Mr. THOMAS +G. CARY, a distinguished merchant, who has brought the observation and +knowledge of a _practical_ life in aid of his reasoning, throughout his +pamphlet. It has passed, we are glad to learn, to a speedy second edition; +and we cannot but hope that it may be re-published in England. It could +not fail to produce great good, in the rectification of gross errors in +relation to this country. + + +PARLEY'S CABINET LIBRARY.--In this work Mr. GOODRICH proposes to furnish +the public with forty numbers, at twenty-five cents each, of biographical, +historical and miscellaneous sketches, designed for the family circle, and +especially for youth. The first two numbers consist of the lives of famous +men of modern times; as SCOTT, BYRON, BONAPARTE, BURNS, BURKE, GOETHE, +JOHNSON, MILTON, SHAKSPEARE, BACON, etc. The next two numbers are devoted +to famous men of ancient times; as CAESAR, HANNIBAL, CICERO, ALEXANDER, +PLATO, etc. The fifth and sixth numbers contain the 'Curiosities of Human +Nature,' as ZERA COLBURN, CASPAR HAUSER, etc. The seventh and eighth +contain the lives of benefactors: as WASHINGTON, FRANKLIN, HOWARD, FULTON, +BOWDITCH, etc. We notice also, in the biographical series, the lives of +celebrated Indians and celebrated women. The historical sketches will +present a series of striking pictures, illustrative of the history of the +four quarters of the globe. The miscellaneous department will embrace +arts, sciences, manners and customs of nations, a view of the world and +its inhabitants, etc., etc. The intention of the author is to furnish a +library of twenty volumes, devoted to the most interesting portions of +human knowledge, with the design of rendering their subjects interesting +and attractive to the general reader. Several of the numbers are now +issued; and judging from these, we are happy to give the work our hearty +approbation. The sketches will not be found to be _mere_ sketches, drawn +from cyclopedias: the author has evidently gone to the original sources, +and culled with care the most interesting points on each subject. A +contemporary expresses surprise that he has been able to say so much that +is striking, just and new, in so brief a space; a praise in which we fully +concur. The work entitled 'Curiosities of Human Nature' is one of the +deepest interest, and is calculated to suggest profound reflections as to +the capacities of the human mind. The two numbers devoted to the American +Indians, as well as other volumes, present a good deal of new and curious +matter. The life of JETAU, the Indian VOLTAIRE, is very striking. The +Benefactors will be read with gratification by every one who loves to +dwell upon the actions of those who have been great in doing good. The +moral tendency of these works is excellent, and they may be read with +pleasure as well as profit by old and young. They are happily adapted to +the family as well as the school-library; and we are glad to know that +they have been adopted for the latter purpose in some of our principal +cities. They will constitute a wholsome check upon, as well as an +agreeable substitute for, most of the trashy and pernicious literature +that is now so freely poured upon the public. Mr. JOHN ALLEN, at the +office of the KNICKERBOCKER, is the agent for this city. + + +'WONDERS OF THE HEAVENS.'--A superb large quarto volume has recently been +put forth by Messrs. ROBERT P. BIXBY AND COMPANY, entitled, 'The Wonders +of the Heavens: being a Popular View of Astronomy, including a full +Illustration of the Mechanism of the Heavens; embracing the Sun, Moon, and +Stars, with descriptions of the planets, comets, fixed stars, +double-stars, the constellations, the galaxy or milky way, the zodiacal +light, aurora-borealis or northern-lights, meteors, clouds, falling-stars, +aerolites, etc.; illustrated by numerous maps and engravings.' We cannot +too highly commend this volume to our readers. The author, Mr. DUNCAN +BRADFORD, has kept constantly in view one object, viz: to make his subject +plain and interesting to the people. Instead of mingling mathematics with +his great theme, to such an extent as to alarm the neophyte at the very +threshold of the temple of astronomy, he has with a wise judgment selected +from the best works, including the latest, those parts that were least +encumbered with the abstruse and the unintelligible; and the illustrations +serve to make his sublime teachings still more clear. + + +ROGERS' POEMS.--We have not seen a more beautiful volume for a twelvemonth +than the new illustrated edition of 'Poems by SAMUEL ROGERS, with +revisions and additions by the author,' recently issued by Messrs. LEA AND +BLANCHARD, Philadelphia. It is indeed in all respects an _exquisite_ work; +being printed upon the finest drawing-paper, with a large clear type, and +illustrated with ten engravings on steel, from paintings by the very first +artists in England. The volume opens with the 'Pleasures of Memory,' and +contains every thing from the author's pen which his maturest +consideration has deemed most worthy of preservation. 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