diff options
Diffstat (limited to '20444-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 20444-8.txt | 6818 |
1 files changed, 6818 insertions, 0 deletions
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. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |