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diff --git a/22926.txt b/22926.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8c7e867 --- /dev/null +++ b/22926.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8176 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No 3, +September 1864, 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: The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No 3, September 1864 + Devoted To Literature And National Policy + +Author: Various + +Release Date: October 8, 2007 [EBook #22926] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY *** + + + + +Produced by Joshua Hutchinson, Janet Blenkinship and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by Cornell University Digital Collections) + + + + + + + + + + + +The + +Continental Monthly: + +Devoted To + +Literature and National Policy + + +VOL. VI.--September, 1864--No. III. + + + + +OUR DOMESTIC AFFAIRS. + + +Not of those affairs which are domestic in a broad, national sense; not +of any of our home institutions, 'peculiar' or otherwise; not of +politics in any shape, nor of railroads and canals, nor of interstate +relations, reconstructions, amnesty; not even of the omnivorous +question, The War, do I propose to treat under the head of 'Our Domestic +Affairs;' but of a subject which, though scarcely ever discussed except +flippantly, and with unworthy levity, in that broad arena of public +journalism in which almost every other conceivable topic is discussed, +is yet second to none, if not absolutely first of all in its bearings +upon our domestic happiness. I refer to the question of domestic service +in our households. + +The only plausible explanation of the singular fact that this important +subject is not more frequently discussed in public is, undoubtedly, to +be found in its very magnitude. Men and women whose 'mission' it is to +enlighten and instruct the people, abound in every walk of morals. +Religion, science, ethics, and every department of social economy but +this, have their 'reformers.' Before the great problem, How shall the +evils which attend our domestic service be removed? the stoutest-hearted +reformer stands appalled. These evils are so multiform and +all-pervading, they strike their roots so strongly, and ramify so +extensively, that they defy the attempt to eradicate them; and they are +thus left to flourish and increase. We have plenty of groans over these +evils, but scarcely ever a thoughtful consideration of their cause, or +an attempt worth noting to remove or mitigate them. + +This is surely cowardly and wrong. This great question, which is really +so engrossing that it is more talked of in the family circle than any +other--this profound and intricate problem, upon the solution of which +the comfort, happiness, and thrift of every household in the land depend +more than upon almost any other--surely demands the most careful study, +and the deepest solicitude of the reformer and philanthropist. The +subject just now is receiving considerable attention in England, and the +journals and periodicals of that country have recently teemed with +articles setting forth the miseries with which English households are +afflicted, owing to the want of good servants. But, unfortunately, from +none of these has the writer been able to extract much assistance in +preparing an answer to the only practical question: How are the evils +of domestic service to be remedied? I quote, however, an extract from a +recent article in _The Victoria Magazine_, in order to show how far the +complaints made in England of the shortcomings of servants run parallel +with those of our own housekeepers. It is to be noted that the writer +confessedly holds a brief for the servants. If the facts are fairly +stated, the relation between a servant in an English family and her +employer differs widely from the like relation with us; + + 'The prizes in domestic service are few, the blanks many. Ladies + think only of the prizes. Needlewomen and factory girls, when they + turn their attention to domestic service, see the hardworked, + underfed scrub lacking the one condition which goes far to + alleviate the hardest lot, that of personal liberty. People who + have never known what it is to be subject to the caprices of a + petty tyrant, scarcely appreciate this alleviation at its true + value. They expatiate upon the light labors, the abundance, the + freedom from anxiety which characterize the lot of servants in good + places, with an unction worthy of Southern slaveholders. What more + any woman can want they cannot understand. They think it nothing + that a servant has not, from week to week, and month to month, a + moment that she can call her own, a single hour of the day or + night, of which she can say, 'This is mine, and no one has a right + to prescribe what I shall do with it'--that, in most cases, she has + no recognized right to invite any one to come and see her, and + therefore can have no full and satisfying sense of home--that many + mistresses go so far as to claim the regulation of her dress--that + even in mature age and by the kindest employers she is treated more + as a child to be taken care of than as a responsible, grown-up + woman, able to think and judge for herself. These are substantial + drawbacks to the lot of the pampered menial.... These complaints of + the readiness of servants to leave their places are based on the + assumption that they are under obligations to their employers. In + many cases, no doubt, they are, though probably least so where + gratitude is most expected. But, at any rate, employers are also + under obligations to them. When one thinks of all servants do for + us, and how little, comparatively, we do for them, it appears that + the demand for gratitude might come more appropriately from the + other side. It is an old saying that we value in others the virtues + which are convenient to ourselves, and this is curiously + illustrated in the popular ideal of a good servant. In the master's + estimate besides the indispensable physical qualification of + vigorous health--diligence, punctuality, cleverness, readiness to + oblige, and rigid honesty, of a certain sort, are essentials.' + +We would look long through our laundries and kitchens for the +'hardworked, underfed scrub' of the above extract; and the 'servant who +has not from week to week, and month to month, a moment that she can +call her own, a single hour of the day or night, of which she can say, +This is mine,' etc., does not belong to so numerous a class that her +sorrows in this respect invoke commiseration in the public journals. But +great as is the difference still between English and American servants, +as indicated by the above extract, the former are in a steadily +'progressive' state, and every year brings them nearer in their +condition to the happy--and, fortunately for the rest of mankind, as yet +anomalous--state of American domesticdom. An article in the London +_Saturday Review_ thus comments upon this progress: + + 'It seems to be too generally forgotten that servants are a part of + the social system, and that, as the social system changes, the + servants change with it. In the days of our great-grandmothers, the + traditions of the patriarchal principle and the subtile influences + of feudalism had not died out. 'Servitude' had scarcely lost its + etymological significance, and there was something at least of the + best elements of slavery in the mutual relation of master and + servant. There was an identification of interests; wages were + small; hiring for a year under penal obligations was the rule of + domestic service; and facilities for changing situations were rare + and legally abridged. It was as in married life; as the parties to + the contract were bound to make the best of each other, they did + make the best of each other. Servants served well, because it was + their interest to do so; masters ruled well and considerately, for + the same practical reason. Add to this that the class of hirers was + relatively small, while the class of hired and the opportunities of + choice were relatively large. These conditions are now reversed. As + education has advanced, the social condition of the class from + which servants are taken has been elevated, and it is thought to be + something of a degradation to serve at all. 'I am a servant, not a + slave,' is the form in which Mary Jane asserts her independence; + and she is only in a state of transition to the language of her + American cousin, who observes, 'I am a help, not a servant.' It is + quite true that there are no good servants nowadays, at least none + of the old type; and the day is not perhaps so very distant when + there will be no servants at all.' + +The servant classes of France, Germany, and the other Continental +countries, seem to be, to a great extent, free from the faults that +beset those of England and America. A recent number of _Bell's Weekly +Messenger_ thus discusses this difference: + + 'The truth is that among the Celtic and Sclavonian families service + is felt to be honorable; those engaged in it take it up as a + respectable and desirable condition. They are as willing to + acknowledge it as the physician, the lawyer, or the clergyman is to + admit and be proud of their own. A French female servant, at least + away from Paris, wears a dress which marks at once what she is. She + is not ashamed of her condition, and nowhere is there such real + attachment between servants and their employers as in France. In + England, on the other hand, it is difficult to persuade a young + girl to accept domestic service; she requires what she imagines to + be something higher, or--to use her own word--more 'genteel.' If + she be a dressmaker, or a shop girl, or a barmaid, she assumes the + title of 'young lady,' and advertises--to the disgust of all + sensible people--as such. This monstrous notion, which strikes at + the root of all social comfort, and a great deal of social + respectability, is on the increase among us. It is not quite so + rampant as it is in America, but it is tending in the same + direction. In fact, our household prospects are not promising. + Since we feel that home cookery is far from rivalling that of the + clubs, restaurants are being established in the city equal to those + of Paris, and the cartoon of _Punch_ is daily fulfilled with a + terrible accuracy. 'What has your mistress for dinner to-day?' says + the master of the house, on the doorstep, his face toward the city. + 'Cold mutton, sir.' 'Cold mutton! Ah! very nice; _very_ nice. By + the by, Mary, you may just mention to your mistress that I _may_ + perhaps be detained rather later than usual to-day, and she is not + to wait dinner for me.' With these things before our eyes, we + cannot but feel grateful to any one who will _bona fide_ undertake + to teach a little plain cookery. The want of this is the cause of + more waste than any other deficiency. The laboring man marries; but + he marries a woman who can add nothing to the comfort of his home; + she supplies him with more mouths to feed, and she spoils that + which is to be put into them; she becomes slatternly, feels her own + incapacity, and, finding that she can do but little of her duty, + soon leaves off trying to do it at all. As her family increases the + discomforts of her home increase, and the end is + frequently--drunkenness, violence, and appeals to the police + magistrate.' + +The writer of the present article pretends to no peculiar fitness for +the investigation of this important subject, and to no more varied and +profound experience than that which has fallen to the lot of tens of +thousands of others; but much observation leads to the conviction that +the experience of any single family extending through a series of years +of housekeeping, may be taken as a type of that of all families who have +to employ servants; and if what shall be advanced in these pages shall +have the effect of stimulating others more competent to thought upon the +subject, with a view to practical suggestions for the amelioration of +the universal difficulty, much will have been gained. + +The chief evils we have to consider on the part of servants are, +briefly, ignorance, wastefulness, untidiness, pertness, or downright +impudence, and what is called 'independence,' a term which all +housekeepers thoroughly understand. I leave out of the category the +vices of intemperance and dishonesty, which, although lamentably +prevalent among the class to which we are accustomed to look for our +main supply of domestics, yet do not belong, as do the other faults I +have named, to the entire class, and I gladly set them down as moral +obliquities, as likely to be exceptional in the class under +consideration as in any other. With regard to the other specified +failings, every housekeeper will allow that it is so much the rule for a +servant to be afflicted with the whole catalogue, that the mistress who +discovers her hired girl to be possessed of a single good quality, the +reverse of any I have named, as for example, economy, neatness, or a +conscientious devotion to the interests of her employers, although she +may utterly lack any other, fears to dismiss her, for fear that the next +may prove an average 'help,' and have not a solitary good point. A girl +who combines all the above-named good qualities is a rare treasure +indeed, and the possessor of the prize is an object of envy, wide and +hopeless. + +In commenting upon the causes which produce bad servants, I shall +confine myself more especially to those which develop in them the faults +of wastefulness, impudence, and 'independence,' both because every +housekeeper will allow that they are the most common as well as trying +of all, and because it is only for them, I confess freely, I have any +hope of suggesting a remedy. Ignorance of their duties is chronic in all +Irish and German girls when they first go out to service, and their +acquirement of the requisite knowledge depends very much upon the amount +of such knowledge possessed by the housekeeper who has the privilege of +initiating them. Untidiness is almost equally universal among the same +classes, and, being a natural propensity, is extremely difficult of +eradication. It may be stated, however, that given an average +'greenhorn,' Irish or German, the notable and tidy housewife will make +of her a very fair servant, as well instructed as her native +intelligence will allow, and, unless a downright incorrigible, whose +natural slatternliness is beyond the reach of improvement, a certainly +tolerably neat, and possibly a very tidy servant. And just here I will +remark that it is an unquestionable fact that the good housekeeper has a +much more encouraging prospect of making a useful servant out of one of +these same 'greenhorns' than of a girl who has been longer in the +country, and who has nevertheless yet to be 'licked into shape.' Of +course this remark covers the whole ground, and it is obvious that to +_start_ a girl right in habits of economy, respectfulness, etc., is +quite as important as to start her right in any other good habit. It is +not necessary to say further that starting right is not of itself +enough: there must ever accompany the progress of the servant in +improvement, the watchful eye and guiding hand of the skilled mistress +and head of the family. I cannot, within the scope of this article, +enter into the consideration of the important correlative branch of my +subject, which includes the fitness of housekeepers to make good +servants out of the rough, to keep good what they so find, or to improve +such as they receive, be they good or bad. It is obvious that this +fitness presupposes a practical knowledge of the science of +housekeeping--(how worthy it is to be called a 'science'!)--and a +willingness to accept and carry out the responsibilities which devolve +upon the mistress of a family. I admit that very many of those who keep +servants are utterly unfit in many important senses for the +responsibilities of family economists. Yet I still believe it possible +for even the most inexperienced housekeepers to adopt and pursue, in +their management of servants, one or two cardinal principles which will +save them a vast deal of vexation. Of these, more hereafter. + +The very prevalent pertness and 'independence' of servants are due, +primarily, unquestionably to the great demand for them, and the ease +with which situations are procured. This is not, in my judgment, because +the supply is inadequate; I do not believe it is. It is because the +frequent changings of servants by our families places it in the power of +every one of the former to procure a situation without the slightest +trouble. A girl about to leave a place has but to inquire for two or +three doors around, to find some family about to change 'help.' This +'independence' is also undoubtedly fostered by a false and exaggerated +idea which these girls imbibe from their brothers, 'cousins,' etc.--the +voting 'sovereigns' of the land--of the dignity of their new republican +relation. Most of the 'greenhorns' _begin_ humbly enough, but, after a +few months' tutelage of fellow servants, and especially if they pass +through the experiences of the 'intelligence offices' (of which more +anon), they are thoroughly spoiled, and become too impudent and +'independent' for endurance. The male adopted citizen, fawned upon by +demagogues for his vote, is 'as good as anybody;' and why not Bridget +and Katrina? + +Now I do not broach the abstract question of equality: I am willing to +admit that in the eye of our Maker we are, and before the law ought to +be, all equal--that is to say, _ought all to have an equal chance_; but +to abolish the idea of subordination in the employed to the employer, +and to abrogate the relation of dependence of the servant upon her or +his master or mistress, would simply be to reverse the teachings of +inspiration and nature. As well say that the child shall be independent +of the parent as that the servant shall not be subject in all reasonable +things to the master. + +It is worthy of remark that this spirit of insubordination spoken of is +far more rife among girls of Irish birth who go out to service than +among the Germans, Scotch, or English. Neither is there among these +latter so much clannishness, or disposition to establish the feeling +under consideration as a _class_ prejudice and principle of conduct, as +there is among the former. The absence of such a homogeneity of feeling +among German, English, and Scotch domestics makes them much more +favorable subjects for the operation of the rules I propose to suggest +for their improvement. + +The clannishness just alluded to is a very important influence among +those which tend to produce insubordination and other serious faults +among servants. Every housekeeper must have observed that a marvellous +facility of intercommunication exists among the servant classes, and +more particularly among the Irish. There seems to be some mysterious +method at work, whereby the troubles and bickerings of each mistress +with her 'help' are made known through the whole realm of servantdom. It +is no uncommon thing for a mistress to have minutely detailed to her by +her hired girl the particulars of some difficulty with a previous +servant, with whom she has no reason to believe the narrator has had any +intercourse. So frequently does this happen that many housekeepers +religiously believe that the Irish servants are banded together in some +sort of a 'society,' in the secret conclaves of which the experiences of +each kitchen are confided to the common ear. This belief is not confined +to American housekeepers, but obtains very extensively in England also. +The arrest and punishment of a woman in London for giving a good +'character' to a dishonest servant, who subsequently robbed her +employer, naturally caused some excitement in housekeeping circles in +that city, and numerous communications to _The Times_ evinced the +feeling upon the subject. In one of these 'A Housekeeper' boldly asserts +that there are combinations among the servants, and that housekeepers +who refuse to give a certificate of good character are 'spotted,' and +find in consequence the greatest difficulty in obtaining any servants +thereafter. Indeed, she asserts that in some instances, so rigorously +does the system work, offending families have been compelled to +relinquish housekeeping, and go into lodgings or abroad, until their +offence was forgotten! The fundamental principle which our housekeepers +believe to pervade these societies is that employers are fair game; that +the servant has to expect nothing but to be oppressed, persecuted, +overworked, ground down, and taken advantage of at every opportunity, +and that it is her duty, therefore, to hold the employer at bitter +enmity, and to make the best fight she can. + +Now such a belief can scarcely be termed absurd, and yet it is +unquestionably groundless. The mysterious 'understanding' of servants, +and their wide knowledge of each other's experiences, may be explained +upon a perfectly simple and rational theory, and I think we may venture +to reject the 'society' hypothesis altogether. + +Servant life is as much a world in itself as political, religious, or +art life. Indeed, its inhabitants are even _more_ isolated and +self-existent than those of any other sphere, for while the politician, +theologian, and artist are generally, to some extent, under the +influence of interests and passions other than those which belong +exclusively to their special walk, the dwellers in kitchens have but the +one all-embracing sphere, and its incidents, which seem to us so +trivial, are to them as important as the great events which we think are +worthy of being embalmed in epics or made imperishable in history. To +them the reproof of the mistress or the loss of wages for the careless +pulverization of a soup tureen is lawful theme for the agitation of all +servantdom. Martin Luther had his tussles with pope and devil, Handel +and Gluck had their wars with the hostile cabals, Henry Clay had his +John Randolph and Andrew Jackson--and Bridget and Catharine have their +disturbing and absorbing questions of 'wages,' and 'privileges,' and +other matters; and a wrangle that the mistress forgets in a day, the +maid carefully cherishes in her memory, and makes it the theme of widest +discussion. Without resorting, then, to the improbable notion of the +existence of a secret society among the servants, through which the +knowledge of our difficulties with them is disseminated, I think the +theory above outlined sufficiently explains what seems so mysterious. +There can, however, be no question that the feeling among servants +generally is unfortunately something like that alluded to above as the +imaginary inspiration of a hypothetical society, namely, that employers +are oppressive, exacting, and utterly selfish; and there is certainly a +tacit understanding that, as between servant and mistress, it is +'diamond cut diamond;' and the habit domestics have of making common +cause with a sister in trouble, no doubt practically works as much evil +as if such a society as has been mentioned really existed. The girl, +confronting her adversary, in military phrase, feels a hundred comrades +'touching her elbow,' and her lip is wonderfully stiffened thereby. Now +it is needless for me to say that the idea that these poor girls have, +that their employers are their natural enemies, is wrong and absurd, and +every housekeeper should endeavor to make this clear to her servants. If +this false idea could be eradicated, and the true theory established +that the interests of the employer and employe are identical, much will +have been accomplished toward making better servants. + +Among the influences which are at work to spoil servants, none are more +baleful than the system, as at present conducted, of 'intelligence +offices.' These agencies _might_ be and _ought_ to be among the most +useful of our social institutions: they _are_, as a class, utterly +worthless, and many of them are positively dens of thieves. Almost +without exception they are conducted upon the vicious principle I have +just above discussed, and in them the servant is confirmed in her belief +that the employing class is a class of cruel oppressors. The interest of +the _employer_ seems to be held by the managers of most of these +institutions as absolutely of no account. The following conversation, +which actually took place in one of these offices, between its +proprietor and an applicant for a domestic, will illustrate, better than +a lengthy disquisition could do, the system upon which too many of these +employment agencies are conducted: + +LADY. I want a girl for general housework. + +PROPRIETOR. Well, I can suit you, if you _can_ be suited. Here's a girl, +now, just out of a place, and I can recommend her (beckoning to one of +the fifty girls who are seated in full hearing of all that passes). + +LADY (after a few questions addressed to the girl, who, of course, can +cook, and bake, and wash and iron, and is extravagantly fond of +'childer,' etc., etc.). Well, there is one thing I am very particular +about. I want a girl who is _honest_. The last girl I had from you I had +to discharge for making too free with my stores for the benefit of her +own family relations. + +PROPRIETOR (with an insolent sneer). Honest! humph! that depends upon +what you _call_ honest. _Some_ people call a girl a thief if she takes a +bit of cake from the pantry without saying, 'By your leave.' (Chorus of +giggles and approbatory nods from the sympathizing audience of fifty.) + +The crude notions of the respective rights of _meum_ and _tuum_ +furnished the 'help' graduated by such an institution, may be imagined. + +Some pains are occasionally taken to provide a regular customer, whose +patronage it is desirable to retain, with a good servant, but generally +all is fish that comes to their net. The business is now in such ill +odor that intelligence-office servants are proverbial for worthlessness +and all the worst qualities of the class. I have known a thief, a +drunkard, and a vixen to be sent from one of these offices in +succession, the victimized housekeeper finally begging that no more be +sent, preferring to let the retaining fee go, than to be pestered any +further. It is well known that the more decent and self-respecting of +the class of domestics rarely, now, enter their names upon the books of +intelligence offices. Indeed, such seldom have occasion to seek places; +if they do, they usually prefer to advertise. + +In this employment-agency business a radical reform is needed. A +respectable and conscientious man at the head of such an institution, +managing it upon the principle that it is just as much his interest to +furnish the employer with a good servant as to provide the servant with +a good place, would be truly a public benefactor. In this, as in all +other kinds of business, honesty would be found the best _policy_. It is +a base imposition to recommend as good a servant who is known to be bad, +and it is just as dishonest to recommend as good one whose character is +totally unknown. It should be the business of every purveyor of +household 'help' to ascertain, by rigid investigation, the characters +and qualifications of those who apply for places; and they should +steadily refuse to have anything to do with any they cannot honestly +recommend. This, we repeat, they would speedily find their best policy. +In this way, and this only, can they win back the confidence and +patronage of the public; and they would soon find that the worthless +characters who now constitute their main stock in trade, would be +superseded by a much better class. There would be another important +benefit to the servants themselves in such a course. In an office thus +conducted, the known necessity of being able to show a clean record in +order to procure a place, would reform many a bad servant, who now, +knowing that her twenty-five cents will procure her a place (and no +questions asked by the agent, so that he need tell no lies), has no +incentive to improvement or good conduct. There would soon be a rivalry +among servants as to who should stand highest upon the roll of merit. + +The fault which has been before alluded to under the name of +'independence,' deserves more special mention than I have yet given it. +It is probably the most exasperating, as it is the most general of all +the failings of servants. It makes the timid and sensitive housekeeper a +slave in her own house. No matter how grave may be the offences of her +hired girl, she must bear them in the meekest silence. Even the most +friendly advice, conveyed in the blandest possible tone, is often +declined with freezing dignity or repelled with tart resentment. The +cook who makes a cinder of your joint, or sends you up disgusting slops +for coffee, or the laundress between whose clean and soiled linen you +are puzzled to choose, has almost invariably the reply, uttered with a +majestic sternness that never fails to crush any but a veteran and +plucky housekeeper: 'This is the first time any mistress ever found +fault with _my_ cooking (or washing), and I have always lived with the +_best families_, too.' The cutting emphasis with which this point of the +'best families' is pushed home, is familiar to nearly every housekeeper. +It was scarcely a departure from sober truth in the lady who, on being +asked if she kept a hired girl, replied that she had an Irish lady +boarding with her, who occasionally condescended, when she had nothing +of more consequence to do, to help a little in the work of the family. +An amusing trifle is going the rounds of the papers, which well hits +off, and without much exaggeraration, the self-assumed prerogatives of +the servant girl of our great cities: + + "Now, Miss Bradford, I always likes to have a good, old-fashioned + talk with the lady I lives with, before I begins. I'm awful + tempered, but I'm dreadful forgivin'. Have you Hecker's flour, + Beebe's range, hot and cold water, stationary tubs, oilcloth on the + floor, dumb waiter?' Then follows her planned programme for the + week: 'Monday I washes. I'se to be let alone that day. Tuesday I + irons. Nobody's to come near me that day. Wednesday I bakes. I'se + to be let alone that day. Thursday I picks up the house. Nobody's + to come near me that day. Friday I goes to the city. Nobody's to + come near me that day. Saturday I bakes, and Saturday afternoon my + beau comes to see me. Nobody's to come near me that day. Sunday I + has to myself." + +I have now pointed out some of the principal faults of servants, and +indicated what I believe to be some of the causes of those faults. +Alluding, in passing, to some influences which it seems to me might be +made available in correcting some of these faults, I have yet to mention +what I conceive to be the most important reason of all for the general +worthlessness of the class under consideration. And in noticing this I +shall necessarily couple with that notice some suggestions which I +firmly believe, if put into practice, will be exceedingly beneficial in +producing the reform we all so ardently wish for. And I feel the less +hesitation in saying this, because they are based upon no theory of my +own devising, but upon principles which are everywhere recognized and +acted upon, except, singularly enough, in the conduct of our domestic +affairs. To be brief, then, I attribute the greatest of the evils of our +system of domestic service _to a want of business management in our +domestic affairs_. + +A wife, in the truest sense, is her husband's most important business +partner--his partner in a more complete and comprehensive sense than any +other he can have. It is not, as many seem to imagine, the business of +the wife to spend the money the husband earns. She is as much bound to +forward the mutual prosperity as he is. The household is her department +of the great business of life, as her husband's is the store, the +manufactory, or the office. Her department does not embrace the conduct +of great enterprises, bargains, speculations, etc.; she has only to +remember and act upon the brief, simple maxim: 'A penny saved is a penny +earned.' In this way she can greatly advance the common weal. If she +fails to act constantly upon this principle, she is an unfaithful and +untrustworthy partner, and is as much, to blame as if her husband were +to neglect his stock, his shipping, his contract, or his clients. Why +should the husband be expected to manage _his_ part of the business upon +sound and correct business principles--system, responsibility, +economy--while his helpmeet is letting hers go at loose ends, with a +shiftlessness which if he should emulate would ruin him in a year? + +Now what is the principle upon which every good business man manages his +affairs? Why, simply that of _sovereignty_. In his domain his will is +law, and no employe dare question it. He has to deal with the male +counterparts of Bridget and Catharine, as porters, laborers, sometimes +as cooks and waiters; but he has no trouble. The 'independent' man soon +goes out of the door. If he be a manufacturer, he does not allow his +employes to help themselves to his stores and material. He keeps, if he +is a sensible man, his stock under lock and key, and exacts a rigid +accountability in their use. What is to prevent the introduction of just +such a system of accountability in the family economy? 'Why,' say many +housekeepers, 'we would not _dare_ to lock up our butter, and eggs, and +flour, and sugar; we could not keep a girl a day if we doled out our +stores and held our servants responsible for their economical use.' But, +dear, doubting mesdames, your business partner does this every day, and +we should like to see the clerk or apprentice who would even 'look +black' at him for doing it. Perhaps your business partner has to employ +girls; if so, he has many Irish among them; don't _they_ stand his +manner of doing business, without grumbling? If they don't, they find +another shop, that's all. Suppose this case: A manufacturer of jewelry +reasons as you do. He says: 'I cannot keep my hands satisfied unless I +give them free access to my stock of gold, silver, and diamonds. I must +throw open my tool drawers, so that they can help themselves; and I must +not ask how much material this or that manufactured article has taken to +make.' That man would have to shut up shop in a year, even if he were +not robbed of a dollar. Now, I ask, is it fair to expect the husband to +be orderly, systematic, and business-like, and to superintend his +business himself, while the wife surrenders her legitimate affairs to +the hands of ignorant and irresponsible subordinates? + +But the female partner of the shrewd man of business, or the plodding, +hardworking mechanic, may be inclined to say, 'I hate business,' and to +think it hard that she should be called upon to regulate her household +affairs upon any such severe and rigid rules. But, my dear madam, apart +from the clear fact that it is your duty to manage your household wisely +and prudently, which we have seen cannot be done without business +system, of which you must be the head, I assure you that such a system +is neither intricate nor vexatious. It does not necessarily entail upon +you the least participation in the actual _labor_ of the family. It does +not absolutely require your personal presence at the scene of those +labors, although the woman who considers it beneath her dignity to go +into her kitchen, has no more business to undertake to keep house than +the master mechanic, who is too proud to enter his workshop, has to try +to carry on a shop. The absolutely _essential_ thing is that yours +should be the directing and controlling mind, and that to you _every one +in your employ should be held rigorously responsible_. Now don't tell me +that such a system cannot be introduced with the present race of +servants; that you would be left half the time without anybody to do +your work; that until mistresses can combine to lay down rules for the +better regulation of domestic service, you must submit to the present +evils. You are not justified in assuming any of these things to be so, +until you have honestly and thoroughly tried the experiment in your +single household. To make such a system work, it is of course necessary +that your servants should be made to understand perfectly certain facts, +which you should take pains distinctly to announce to every new domestic +you engage. They are so plainly just and reasonable that the most +captious servant cannot take exception to them as a matter of principle. +It must depend upon your persevering spirit and firm hand that they do +not fail in practice. First, you should tell your servant that, +employing them at a stipulated rate of wages, to do certain, work, +_their time belongs to you_. Tell them that you insist upon their being +absolutely under your direction and control, that you expect to grant +them all reasonable privileges, but that they must be regarded _as +privileges_, and not as _rights_. Tell them distinctly that, if you +prefer to keep your stores under lock and key, it is not because you +suspect their integrity, but because you consider it as your business as +a housekeeper to know what is the cost of your living. Tell them that +you are in the habit of keeping an accurate account of your expenses, +and that, in consequence, it is necessary that you should know of every +cent that is expended. If these facts are clearly made known and +consistently acted upon, much of the trouble of managing servants is +done away with. + +Although the plan of keeping a book of family accounts only belongs +incidentally to the main subject under discussion, it is so important +that I cannot refrain from a more special mention of it than is given +above. It is the simplest thing in the world, not taking more than ten +minutes on an average every day. For reference, in case of a disputed +bill, it is invaluable, while its influence in keeping down expenses is +wonderfully wholesome. + +If the affairs of a family are to be conducted on business principles, +the family account book cannot be neglected. It would be just as safe +and sensible for the merchant to neglect _his_ cash book, as for his +domestic partner, who undertakes to do her business properly, to fail to +keep _her_ cash book. + +One of the regulations which is proposed posed above as part of the +system of family management is, in my judgment, as important in its +bearing upon the honesty of the servant as it is upon the question of +economy. I refer to the keeping the family stores under the immediate +care of the housekeeper. It is nothing to the discredit of servants that +this is said. More people are honest _through circumstances_ than is +generally supposed. Many a servant is tempted into habits of pilfering +by the free and unquestioned access she has to the family stores. I have +before used the case of a man carrying on a business and having employes +under him, to illustrate my subject. Suppose a merchant or a bank should +allow all their clerks free access to the safe or till, they knowing no +cash account was kept. If some of these boys or young men were tempted +to steal, would not the blame lie chiefly at the door of those who, +having it in their power, yet did not remove the temptation? + +Having now given a few rules for the improvement of servants, which are +easily tried, and which I know from observation of their practical +working are _worth_ a trial by every housekeeper, I wish to add a few +words concerning the material of which, our present supply of servants +consists, and to offer some observations upon the question of a +prospective supply of possibly a better material. + +It is probably no exaggeration to say that four fifths of our female +servants are Irish. I have already given several reasons why this class +are more intractable and difficult to manage than any other. To apply +the rules I have given to this class will be more difficult than to the +domestics of any other nation. But, as I have said, I have seen them +enforced with success even in cases where an Irish domestic was the +subject. And here let me repeat that almost everything depends upon the +_starting right_. No Irish girl ever yet went to a new place perfectly +sure of her ground, although they generally can measure the quality of +their mistress during the negotiations which precede the engagement. In +starting with a new servant, it is emphatically the first encounter that +must decide who is to be the ruler. Dignity, coolness, and decision, +upon the first attempt to 'put on airs,' will generally bring you off +permanent conqueror. + +By some housekeepers German domestics are preferred. They are naturally +less impulsive and more amenable to control than the Irish. Their class +prejudices are not so violent; there is less unity of purpose among +them, and they are, in consequence, more favorable subjects for the +application of the rules given than are generally the Irish. It is, +however, difficult to assimilate the German girls to American customs. +They are not apt to learn, and great patience is required in teaching +them. The virtues of order and cleanliness seem to be not only rare in +them, but exceedingly difficult to graft upon them. Their cooking, +especially, is generally execrable. But once properly trained, they make +the best of servants. They are generally contented, almost always +cheerful and good tempered, and have little of that irritating pertness +and 'independence' so characteristic of the Irish domestic. + +That branch of the present subject which relates to the going out to +service of American women has been publicly discussed somewhat more +extensively than any of the others, particularly of late, it having +entered largely into the question of woman's labor, which has been +attracting considerable attention. It is truly a deplorable thing that +household service is so generally regarded as a menial employment, not +fit for an American woman to engage in. Our countrywomen will do almost +anything rather than go out to service. They will work ten or twelve +hours a day in close, unwholesome shops, surrounded by all the unsexing +and contaminating influences attending the customary free and easy +commingling of male and female employes in such places. They will accept +avocations from which the native delicacy and neatness of an American +girl must revolt. They will put up with wages which will barely keep +body and soul together, wear the meanest clothes, submit to the vilest +tyranny and extortion, rather than enter a position where they will have +but the natural, wholesome labor of woman to perform, that of domestic +life; accompanied by all the pure influences and comforts of a home. I +would be rejoiced if anything I could say would be useful in removing +this absurd and injurious prejudice among American women toward domestic +service. There is surely nothing menial in the work they would have to +do. It is woman's work all over the world, far more so than a hundred +other occupations they now eagerly seek. Their repugnance to the +position itself is the sticking point. This repugnance is based upon a +chimera. They are, in any position in which they labor for wages, +'servants' in as complete a sense as if they labored for wages in +household employments. Far be it from me to say a word to lower that +just and honorable pride which is the birthright of the American girl. +But in declining domestic service for that of the shops, the American +girl declines an honest, reputable, healthful, and every way elevating +employment, for, in many cases, a dwarfing, degrading, wretched slavery; +she turns from her natural and proper sphere to enter a walk of harsh +and degrading experiences, in which it is not possible she can pass her +life. A word on this latter point: Almost every young woman expects some +day to marry. Now, I ask, what sort of a fitting can a girl receive in a +shop for the serious business of homekeeping? The significance of this +word 'homekeeping' is not apparent at a glance. It means far more than +mere 'housekeeping' although the latter is one of its most essential +elements. A girl of sixteen is forced to earn her own living. She +chooses to go into a shop. Grant that she escapes contamination from the +influences heretofore alluded to; that her health bears up under +confinement, bad air, scanty food, and insufficient clothing--all of +which are experiences too familiar with women who labor at mechanical +employments;--when she reaches a marriageable age, and takes the +important step which is to 'settle her for life,' what is her condition? +The chances are that she has become the wife of some hardworking +mechanic, or man of scanty means, who cannot afford to keep a fine lady +in his domestic establishment. But she knows no more of the mysteries of +housekeeping than she does of the Latin kalends. She must keep a +servant, who will waste the common substance, and keep her husband's +nose perpetually at the grindstone, to the great wear of mutual comfort +and temper. And once more: There is far more of forecast in young men +seeking wives than they commonly get credit for. The neat, smart girl, +who works in the shop, _may_ get a good husband--the young woman who is +a notable, tidy, thrifty housewife, is _sure_ to be sought after. + +I would add a remark upon another point. American girls are frequently +heard to say they would not object to going out to service could they be +'treated as one of the family.' No American girl who respects herself +need fear that in an American family she will fail to command respect. +It should be remembered that the rigid line which is drawn in most +families between mistress and servant, is not simply because such +relations exist, but because there is generally absolutely nothing in +common between them save sex alone; no community of nationality, +religious belief, intelligence--nothing which can excite mutual +sympathy, or move to homogeneity. The American girl who lives out at +service need not fear that she will occupy a position in all respects +corresponding to that occupied by the great mass of servants. + +It is highly probable that we shall be able hereafter to procure many +valuable servants from the South. When freedom shall have taken the +place of slavery, and labor becomes honorable in that section, many +Southern women will do--as many Northern women always have done--their +own work. In this way many servants will be set free. Then, when it +becomes necessary to pay wages to servants, there will be a swarming out +from the kitchens of the South of Dinah and Phillis _et als._, and many +of these superfluous servants will find their way North. Already out of +the bloody wreck of society at the South, through the flaming borders of +bayonets and cannon, have drifted into happy Northern homes thousands of +valuable servants, and they will be followed by thousands more, 'when +this cruel war is over.' We cannot judge of the qualities of colored +servants from the wretched specimens we have heretofore had among us. +The trained house-servants of the South are the best in the world. They +are docile, cleanly, quick-witted, and respectful to humbleness. + +There have been many projects devised looking to the education of girls +for housekeeping. There was a very excellent institution in existence +ten years ago in one of the Eastern States, which combined with the +customary course of intellectual instruction a systematic training in +the mysteries of housekeeping. The writer has heard nothing of this +school for some years, and presumes it has failed for want of support. +We train our daughters only to shine in the drawing room, and the real +graces of life are neglected. Music, French, and Italian are very +excellent things, but they should stand second, not first, in the +acquirements which we should desire for those who are to be future +wives, mothers, and mistresses of families.[1] But this is a little +apart from the present subject. The idea of a school for training girls +for housekeeping, however, suggests a thought on the expediency of an +institution for the education of servants. Such a project has frequently +been urged as a most desirable one to be put into operation, though I am +not aware that it has ever been tried.[2] Of course it cannot be +expected that girls wishing to become servants could enter such an +institution if it cost anything for instruction. But there can be no +question that, purely as a matter of speculation, such a school would be +a success. If, in one of our large cities, an institution should be +opened by some one having the requisite knowledge, embodying the +principle of our present intelligence offices, taking young girls and +training them gratuitously, some for cooks, waiters, nursery maids, +laundresses, and a larger number for what is termed 'general housework,' +it being understood that in selecting the material the proprietor had an +eye to honesty and intelligence, it would be an immense success. The +servants graduating from such an institution would be eagerly sought +for, and would command the highest wages. The fee for furnishing a +servant could be placed at a much higher rate than is now paid at +intelligence offices, and would be paid readily, for the employer would +be reasonably confident of securing a good domestic. Such institutions +would go very far toward remedying the evils under which we now groan, +and I trust it will not be many years before schools for servants will +be among the recognized institutions of our country. + + + +FOOTNOTES: + +[1] The pity of it is that the majority of our young ladies, on leaving +school, know as little of music, French, and Italian as they can +possibly do of housekeeping.--ED. CON. + +[2] The House of the Sisters of Mercy in New York is a worthy +commencement in the above-mentioned direction, and has, as far as we +know, hitherto proved successful.--ED. CON. + + + + +AENONE: + +A TALE OF SLAVE LIFE IN ROME. + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A week passed away. It was toward the end of a bright and cloudless day, +and Rome was gradually arousing itself from its wonted siesta. The heat +had at no time been oppressive, for during the whole morning a cool +breeze had been gambolling across the Campagna from the sea; so that +even during the small hours of the day, the streets had not been kept +free from moving masses of life. Now that the atmosphere became still +further tempered, fresh throngs poured forth from all the smaller +passages and alleys, until the greater arteries of the city swarmed with +eager, animated crowds. + +More now than at any other time during the few weeks that had just +elapsed; for upon the morrow was to commence the dedication of the great +amphitheatre of Titus, and thousands of strangers had already poured +into Rome to witness the games, combats, and pageantry. From the +surrounding towns and villages--from the cities of the south--from the +confines of the Alps--even from the farthermost provinces, countless +throngs had assembled to greet an occasion second only to the grand +triumphal entry with the spoils of Jerusalem. + +From her window overlooking the streets, AEnone surveyed the panorama of +life spread out before her. Upon the battlements and towers of the +Caesars' house, in full sight over against the Palatine Hill, floated the +imperial banners, gently waving their folds in anticipation of the +splendors of the ensuing days; and round about stood crowds of +strangers, wondering at the magnificence of the palace architecture, and +the vast compass of its walls, and straining their eager gaze in the +hope of being able to catch a chance glimpse of the emperor himself. +Farther down was the now completed Colosseum, around which other +thousands stood watching the pigmies who, in dark clusters upon the top +and along the edge, laboriously erected the poles upon which, in case of +need, to stretch the protecting velarium. This was the last outward +preparation of all; and when that was done, everything would be ready. +As one of these poles was being elevated, he who had hold of the lower +end of it lost his balance, and fell to the ground. He was lifted up +outside, dead--a shapeless, gory mass. The crowd shuddered to see that +helpless body falling from such a height; but, at the next moment, all +sympathy passed away. The man wore a slave's dress, and was recognized +as belonging to the praetorian lieutenant Patrocles. Upon the morrow, if +he had lived, he was to have appeared in the arena as a retiarius--he +would then most likely have been conquered and slain--it was merely a +day sooner--a victim outside the walls instead of within--he had +clambered up to overlook the ground upon which he was to have fought, +and need not thus recklessly have volunteered to aid the regular +laborers--it was his fate--_Deus vult_--what more could be said? + +AEnone had not witnessed the fall, for she had not been looking at palace +or amphitheatre, both, of which were too familiar with her to attract +her attention. The one had been for years the centrepiece of her +view--and the other had grown up arch by arch and tier by tier so +steadily before her eyes that it seemed as though she could almost count +its stones. Her gaze was now fixed upon the open space beneath her +window, where the Sacred and Triumphal Walls joined--a space always at +that hour gay with a phantasmagoria of shifting life, and at this time +more than ever provocative of curiosity and attention. Its bordering +palaces, already being hung with lively tapestries for the morrow--its +sparkling fountains--its corners decked with arches--its pavement +thronged with carriages and horsemen--the crowds of slaves, beginning in +advance to take their holiday, and affording pleasing contrasts as they +wound their way in slender currents through the openings in the throng +of their betters--the soldiery passing here and there in large or small +detachments--where else in the world could such a varied scene of life +and animation be presented? + +First before her eyes passed a number of the praetorian guard, with +martial music, cutting the crowd asunder like a wedge in their steady +march toward the imperial palace. Then came the chariot of the African +proconsul, with liveried footmen in front, and Nubian slaves, in short +tunics and silver anklets, running beside the wheels. After that a +covered van, toilsomely dragged along by tired horses and guarded by +armed slaves in livery. The imperial cipher was emblazoned upon the +dusty canvas screen thrown over the top, and from within, at intervals, +came half-smothered growls and roars. It was some wild beast arriving at +this late hour from Nubia--a contribution from some provincial +governor--a booty which had cost pounds of gold, and perhaps the lives +of many slaves, and which was now destined to perform, in the sanded +arena, the combats of the jungle. The crowd, which had let the African +proconsul pass by with but a careless glance of uninterested +scrutiny--for dignitaries were too common to excite much +curiosity--pressed tumultuously and with frantic eagerness around the +heavy cage, exulting in each half-stifled roar from within as though it +were a strain of sweet music--and thus followed the van until it arrived +at the amphitheatre and passed out of sight through one of the deep, low +arches leading to the tiers of grated stone cages, already well filled +with the choicest forest spoils of every tributary country. + +Then came a black-bearded horseman. The trappings of his steed were +marked with the insignia of distinction; and footmen, with staves, ran +before him to clear the way. He sat with proud and haughty mien--as one +who felt his power and immunity, and yet with the expression of one +aware that all his rank and state could not protect him from secret +scorn and hate. Not many looked at him; for, in that thronging display +of wealth and power, a single gayly caparisoned horse and two liveried +footmen counted for almost nothing. One or two, however, of those few +who study men for their deeds alone, turned and gazed scrutinizingly +after him, for he had already taken rank as one of the historians of the +age. And as he passed farther along, a group of slaves, whose marked +features denoted Jewish descent, suffered expressions of aversion to +break from them; some turning their backs--some gazing up with faces +inflamed with the fiercest intensity of hate--while one, less cautious, +clenched his fist and hurled after the rider a handful of dust and +volleys of heavy Hebrew curses. And so the apostate Josephus passed on, +and was gradually lost to view. + +After him, slowly wending his way on foot through the crowds, +occasionally moving aside to allow others, more urgent, the privilege of +passing him, and constantly careful not to excite the impatient wrath of +those nearest to him by a too lively pressure, yet all the time making +sure progress along his chosen path, came a single figure--a +white-bearded man, in plain, coarse tunic and well-worn sandals. Few +regarded him or even seemed to know that he was there, except when in +their hurry they found it expedient to jostle him one side. But in his +face gleamed an intelligence far beyond what could be expected from one +in his humble attire; and as AEnone watched him, a suspicion crossed her +that the poor, beggarly dress and the quiet, yielding mien were assumed +to baffle observation. Soon another person in similar dress but of fewer +years met him. The two joined hands and looked earnestly into each +other's eyes, and the older one appeared to mutter a word or two. What +was that word, at which the younger bent his head with reverent gesture? +Was it a command or a blessing? Whatever it was, in a second it was all +said. The hands then unclasped--the bended head raised with a startled +glance around, as though with a fear that even such a mere instant of +humble bearing might have betrayed something which should be kept +secret; and then the two men parted, and were swallowed up in different +sides of the concourse. + +'I know that person,' said Cleotos, He had been gazing, for the past +minute, out at the same window with AEnone; and while attracted by the +humble figure of that old man, he had noticed that she had been equally +observant. + +'You know him, Cleotos?' + +'They call him Clemens, noble lady. He is a leader of the Christian +sect, and a person of influence among them. It was at Corinth that I +first saw him, and it was he who let me copy the good words which are +written upon my little leaf of parchment. That was two years ago, but I +still recognize him. What does he here? Why should he thus peril his +life In public?' + +'Give me that little scroll, Cleotos,' said AEnone. 'Let me have it for +my own.' + +Cleotos gazed at her for a moment in dismay. Was she about to use her +authority, and take away from him by force those few lines, which, +though he understood them so little, had often served to cheer his heart +with their promises of future rest and joy? If so, he must submit; but +of what avail, then, was all her previous kindness? + +'I ask it not as mistress, but as friend,' she said, reading his +thoughts. 'I ask it because, when you are away, I shall need some memory +of what have been happy days, and because I may then often wish to apply +those same words of comfort to my own soul. You can make another copy of +the same, and, in your own land, I doubt not, can find, with proper +search, many more words of equal value.' + +'In my own land?' Cleotos repeated, ed, as in a dream. But, though her +meaning did not as yet flash upon him, he knew that she spoke in +kindness, and that she would not ask anything which he would not care to +grant; and he drew the little stained parchment from beneath his tunic, +and handed it to her. + +'Close, now, the window, Cleotos, and shut out from sight that giddy +whirl, for I have something to say to you.' + +He closed the window with its silken blind; and then, in obedience to +her motion, glided away from before it She seated herself upon her +lounge, and he upon his accustomed stool in front of her. + +'Think not, Cleotos,' she said, after a moment's silence, 'that I first +brought you hither to become a mere slave. It was rather done in order +that, when the proper time came, I might set you free. Had +she--Leta--but shown herself worthy of you, the day might have come when +I could have managed to free her also, and send you both home again +together. But that cannot be. You must go alone, Cleotos, but not, I +hope, despairingly. Once again in your own loved Samos, I know that, +sooner or later, there will be found some other one to make you forget +what you have suffered here.' + +He could no longer doubt her meaning--she was about to give him to +liberty again. At the thought the blood rushed to his heart, and he +gasped for breath. For the moment, as he gazed into her face and saw +with what sisterly sympathy and compassion she looked upon him, the +impulse came into his mind to refuse the proffered freedom, and ask only +to remain and serve her for life. But then came such floods of memories +of his native place, which he had never expected to see again--and its +hills and streams and well-remembered haunts seemed to approach with one +bound so near to him--and the faces of the loved ones at home began once +again to look so tenderly into his own--and the thought of throwing off +even the light, silken chains which he had been wearing, and of standing +up in the sight of heaven a free man again, was so grateful to his +soul--what could he do but remain silent and overpowered with +conflicting emotions, and wait to hear more? + +'Think not to refuse your liberty,' she said, as she read his doubts and +perplexities, 'It must not be. No man has the right to suffer +degradation when he can avoid it. And though I might continue kind to +you, who can answer for it that I should live to be kind to the end? No, +no; from this instant be a free man again. And, for the few moments that +remain to us, strive to think of me only as your equal and your friend.' + +Still silent. What, indeed, could he say? She knew that he was grateful +to her, and that was enough. But why should he, of all slaves in Rome, +find such kindly treatment? What had he ever done to deserve it? And--as +often before--that puzzled look of wondering inquiry came over his face +while he gazed into her own. She noticed it, but now made no attempt to +disguise herself by any forced and unnatural assumption of haughty +pride. Were he at last to learn the truth, there could surely no harm +come of it. + +'You must depart to-night,' she said, 'and before it becomes known that +I am sending you away; lest, knowing it, others might claim authority to +delay or prevent you. Take this little purse. It contains a few gold +pieces, which you may need. And here is a written pass which will lead +you to Ostia. There you will go to the tavern of the Three Cranes, and +inquire for one Pollio, who has a vessel ready to sail for Samos. In +that vessel your passage is paid. Show him this ring. It will be a token +for him to know you by. And keep the ring ever afterward, as a sign that +you have a friend left here, who will often think of you with pleasure +and interest.' + +'My mistress,' he said, taking the ring and placing it upon his finger, +'what have I done that you should be thus kind to me?' + +'Nay; no longer mistress, but friend,' she said, with a melancholy +smile. 'As such alone let us converse during the hour that remains, for +you must soon leave me. It may be that when you arrive at Ostia, the +vessel will not be ready to set sail, nor yet for a day or two, for its +owner spoke to my messenger concerning possible delays. If so, there +will be time for you to look around you, and think of the days when you +wandered along the shore, hand in hand with your chosen one. You will, +perhaps, go over those wanderings again--along the sands leading past +Druse's olive grove to the altar of Vesta, or to the--' + +'How know you about Druse's grove?' he cried with a start; and again +that look of keen inquiry came into his face. It was but a single step +now--he stood upon the very border of the truth. Should she repress him? +It were hardly worth the while. So she let him gaze, and, if anything, +softened her features yet more into the old familiar expression. + +'Past Druse's Grove, Cleotos--or to the smooth rock which the waves +washed at Cato's Point. Do you remember, Cleotos, how often we there +sat, you holding me with your arm while I slid down the sloping side, +the better to dip my naked feet into the water?' + +With a wild sob he seized her hand, and threw himself at her feet. Near +to the truth as he had been standing, it seemed at the last to burst +upon him with as much force as though even a suspicion of it had been a +thing before impossible. And yet, at the same time, it appeared to him +as though he must have known it all the while; for how could he +comprehend his blindness? + +'AEnone,' he cried, 'send me not away! Let me stay here to serve you +forever!' + +'Oh, speak not thus!' she said, touching his lips lightly with her +finger. 'Had you not been about to go from here, you should never have +recognized me. Forget, now, all that has ever passed between us; or +rather, strive to remember it only as a pleasant dream which left us in +its proper time. If the Fates separated us, it was only because they +were wiser than ourselves. Those bright anticipations of our youthful +love could never have been fully realized; and, if persisted in, might +have led only to sorrow and despair. Let me not blush now at having +revealed myself to you. Think, for the few minutes that remain to us, of +friendship and of duty alone.' + +Raising him up, she placed him beside her, and there they talked about +the past and its pleasant recollections. How the cross miller, who had +never been known to do a kindness to any one else, had sometimes let +them ride upon his horse--how they had once rowed together about the +bay, and he had taken her aboard his ship--how she had stolen away from +home each pleasant evening to meet him, and with what feeble +excuses--and the like. As the shades of afternoon deepened and shut out +from sight the gilded cornices and costly frescoes, and all else that +could remind them of present wealth, and as, each instant, their +thoughts buried themselves still further in the memories of the past, it +seemed to them, at last, as though they were again wandering hand in +hand upon the beach, or sitting upon the wave-washed rock at Cato's +Point. + +With something wanting, however. No force of illusion could bring back +to either of them, in all its former completeness, that sense of mutual +interest which had once absorbed them. Whatever dreams of the past +might, for the moment, blind their perceptions, there was still the +ever-present consciousness of now standing in another and far different +relation to each other. Though AEnone musingly gazed upon his face and +listened to his voice, until the realities of the present seemed to +shrink away, and the fancies of other years stole softly back, and, with +involuntary action, her hand gently toyed with his curls and parted them +one side, as she had once been accustomed to do, it was with no love for +him that she did it now. He was only her friend--her brother. He had +been kind to her, and perhaps, if necessary, she might even now consent +to die for him; but, with all that, he was no longer the idol of her +heart. Another had taken that place, and, however unworthy to hold it, +could not now be dispossessed. And though Cleotos, likewise, as he +looked at her and felt the gentle pressure of her hand upon his +forehead, seemed as though transported into the past, until he saw no +longer the matron in the full bloom of womanhood, but only the young +girl sparkling with the fresh hue and sunshine of early youth, yet to +him still clung the perception that there was a barrier between them. +What though the form of the treacherous Leta may then have faded from +his memory as completely as though he had never seen her? What though. +AEnone's pleasant and sympathetic tones may have again melted into his +heart as warmly as when first whispered at Ostia? The smile upon her +face--the winning intonation of her voice--all might seem the same; but +he knew that he must bide within his own heart all that he had thus felt +anew, and be content with the offered friendship alone, for that not +merely her duty but her altered inclination had separated her from him +forever. + +At last the brief hour came to an end, and AEnone arose. The sun had set, +and the darkness of night had already begun to shroud the city. Here and +there, from some of the more wealthy neighborhoods, faint glimmers of +lamp light shone out and marked the scenes of solitary study or of +festive gathering, but as yet these indications were few. Already the +chariots and horsemen who had thronged the Appian Way had dispersed--a +single rider here and there occupying the place where so lately gay +bands had cantered, disputing each available empty space of pavement. +The walks were yet crowded with loiterers, but of a different class. +Patricians and fair ladies had departed, and left the course to the +lower orders of citizens and to slaves, who now emerged from the arches +and alleys, and, anticipative of the morrow's holiday, swarmed in dusky +crowds hither and thither in search of rude pastime. + +'You must go now,' said AEnone, dropping the curtain which she had lifted +for a moment in order to peer into the street. 'Stay not for anything +that belongs to you, for I would not that you should be hindered or +delayed. You have been here as mine own property; and yet, how do I know +that some pretence of others' right might not be urged for your +detention, if it were known that you were departing? Go, therefore, at +once, Cleotos, and may the gods be with you!' + +She held out her hand to him. He took it in his own, and, for the +moment, gazed inquiringly into her face. Was this to be their only +parting? Nay, need there be a parting at all? A flush came into his +countenance as he felt one wild thought and desire burning into his +soul. What if he were to yield to the impulse which beset him, and +should throw himself at her feet, and ask her to forget the years which +had separated them, and the trials which had beset them, and to give up +all else, and depart with him? Alas! only one result could follow such +an appeal as that! In the vain attempt to gain her love, he would lose +her friendship also. She would part from him as an enemy who had taken +advantage of her sisterly affection to inflict an insult upon her. He +knew that this would surely be the consequence; but yet, for the moment, +he could scarce resist the maddening impulse to thus forfeit all while +striving to attain impossibilities. + +'Shall we never meet again?' he said, at length, after the hard struggle +to command himself. + +'It may be, in after years; who can tell?' she answered. 'And yet, let +us rather look the truth in the face, and not delude ourselves with +false hopes. The world is very wide, and the way from here to your home +is far, and the fatalities of life are many. Dear Cleotos, let us rather +make up our minds that this parting is for ever; unless it may be that +the gods will let us look upon each other's faces again in some future +state. But there may be times when you can write to me, or send some +message of good tidings; and then--' + +'Talk not to me of the gods!' he interrupted, in a storm of passionate +exclamation. 'What have they ever done for us, that we should worship or +pray to them? Why look to them for blessings in a future state, when +they have done us such evil in the present life? Here we were poor and +lowly together; and have they not dragged us apart? And will they, then, +in another life, be the more disposed to let us see each other's +faces--you one of the nobles of the earth, and I one of its meanest +plebeians? Is it written in the temples or by the priests and oracles, +that when the Caesars are throned in Olympus, their lowly subjects shall +be permitted to approach, them any nearer than when here? How, then, +could we meet each other better hereafter than now? Away with all talk +about the gods! I believe not in them! If we part now for this world, it +is for eternity as well!' + +'Oh, say not that!' she exclaimed. 'And still pray to the gods as of +old, for they may yet bring good out of all that now seems to us so +obscure. Remember that to the best of us, this world offers little but +what is mingled with unhappiness. Take not, therefore, away from +yourself and me a belief in something better to come.' + +'Take, then, with you, a belief in the God about whom I learned in +Greece, for He it is who tells of comfort hereafter for the poor and +oppressed, and He is the only one who does so,' Cleotos doggedly +answered. + +'It may be--it may be,' she said. 'Who can tell which is right? We have +so often talked about it, and have not yet found out. They may both be +the true gods--they may neither of them be. Ah, Cleotos, my brother, let +us not doubt. It is pleasanter and safer, too, that we should believe, +even if we extend our faith to a belief in both. Choose, then, your own, +as I will mine. I must not abandon the gods in whose worship I have been +brought up; but when I pray to them, I will first pray for you. And +you--if you adopt the God of the Christians, who speaks so much better +comfort to your soul--will always pray to Him for me. And thereby, if +either of us is wrong, the sin may perhaps be pardoned, on account of +the other, who was right. And now, once more--and it may be for +ever--dear Cleotos, farewell!' + +'Farewell, AEnone, my sister!' he said. And he raised her hand and +pressed it to his lips, and was about turning sorrowfully away, when the +door flew open, and Sergius Vanno burst into the room. + + + + +APHORISMS.--No. XII. + + + See 'neath the swelling storm, + The willow's slender form + With grace doth ever yield; + While oaks, the monarchs of the field, + In pride resist the blast, + And prostrate lie, ere it is past: + But now the storm is o'er, + The willow bows no more; + While oaks from overthrow + No rising ever know. + + So with the meek, in strife + Against the storms of life; + Though often roughly cast, + They stand erect at last: + But those who will not bend + To what their God doth send, + Are whelmed in lasting woe, + And rising up will never know. + + + + +A GLANCE AT PRUSSIAN POLITICS. + +PART I. + + [The author of the ensuing article, the topic of which is just now + one of special interest, is MR. CHARLES M. MEAD, a gentleman who + has spent the last year in Germany. Having resided in the family of + Professor Jacobi, who fills the chair of history in the University + of Halle, he has had excellent opportunities for making himself + acquainted with his subject. Having a natural taste for political + studies, he has investigated it in its many bearings with calm + impartiality, and written upon it _con amore_. The conclusion will + be given in our next issue.--EDITOR CONTINENTAL.] + + +The struggle now going on in Prussia, whatever may be the issue, must be +regarded as one of immense political importance. To Americans certainly, +no less than to any other people, is the character and progress of this +struggle a matter of profound interest. Though it cannot be said that +the contest is that of revolutionists or even of republicans against a +legitimately ruling monarch, yet the real principles involved in the +contest are in substance those of absolutism and of democracy. + +Deep and irreconcilable as is now the opposition between the two +contending elements, all Prussians are proud of Prussia's history. In +order to a correct understanding of the present circumstances of the +country, a brief survey of its previous history is necessary. + +In respect to the national domain, perhaps no other instance can be +found so striking as that here presented, of a steady growth of an +insignificant territory, from the first surrounded by powerful nations, +to a size which entitles it to rank among the first Powers of the earth. +Passing over the first few hundred years of her history, during which +period much confusion prevailed as to boundaries as well as everything +else, we find that as late as 1417 the country embraced a territory of +only about seven thousand eight hundred square miles, or of about the +size of Massachusetts; whereas its present extent is about one hundred +and twelve thousand square miles, _i. e._, about as large as New +England, New York, and New Jersey. + +In respect to population, the increase is proportionally great. In 1417 +it was only one hundred and eighty-eight thousand five hundred; now it +is over eighteen millions. As to general culture, the progress of the +nation and its present relative position in the scale of civilization +leave little for national pride to wish. + +The history of the nation commences with the conquest of Brandenburg by +the Saxon emperor Henry I., in 927. He founded the so-called _North +Mark_, and set over it a margrave. The government was administered by +margraves until 1411, when, after a century of anarchy, during which the +Mark was struggled for by many aspiring dukes, it was delivered over by +the emperor Sigismund, an almost worthless possession, to Frederick of +Hohenzollern, burggrave of Nuremberg, with the title of elector. + +The house of Hohenzollern is still the reigning dynasty. In 1701, +Frederick III., who became elector in 1688, secured from the emperor +Leopold I. the title of King Frederick I. Not king of Brandenburg, since +Brandenburg belonged to the Austrian empire, but king in Prussia, the +name of a Polish duchy acquired by John Sigismund as a feudal possession +in 1621, but in 1656 made an independent possession by Frederick +William. Not king _of_ Prussia, but _in_ Prussia, because not all the +territory to which that name belonged was included in the +afore-mentioned duchy. The rest was not annexed till 1772, so that +Frederick the Great was the first king _of_ Prussia. And not till 1815 +was the name Prussia strictly a designation of the whole land now so +called. + +We cannot stop even to glance at the political condition of the nation +during the period of the electorate, interesting as it might be, and +important as revealing the sources of subsequent political developments. +Yet in passing, this at least must be borne in mind, that there was all +the while a struggle going on between the nobility and the monarchy, the +latter gradually gaining in strength. + +Frederick I., whose vanity led him to make it his main object to secure +the _name_ of king, did less than his immediate predecessor, the 'great +elector,' toward deepening the foundations of the monarchy. The most +noticeable feature of his reign was the increase of the standing army +from twenty-five thousand to fifty thousand. He secured the _title_ of +royalty. It remained for his son and successor to secure its power and +authority.[3] + +Frederick William I. was the first absolute monarch of Prussia. He was a +man of rough manners and coarse tastes. Caring little for the pomp of +royalty, he jealously sought to maintain his hold on the essence of it. +No sooner had he dried the tears shed over his deceased father, than he +dismissed the larger part of the court attendants, cut off unnecessary +expenses, inaugurated a simple style of living in the court, and began +to direct his attention to the improvement of the military and financial +condition of the country. More than any predecessor, he identified the +office of king with that of commander-in-chief of the army. His +domineering disposition carried him so far that he personally scolded +and threatened with blows whoever seemed to him lazy and shiftless, +however little the matter personally concerned him. So violent was his +temper that, because his son, afterward Frederick the Great, displayed +more taste for literature, and less for religion and warfare, than he +had wished, he became disgusted with him, threateningly raised his cane +whenever he saw him; and, when the prince, exasperated by constant +abuse, formed a plan of escape to Sinsheim, the king, having discovered +it before its execution, was so infuriated that, except for the +intervention of bystanders, he would have run him through with his +sword. As it was, at one time he beat him furiously with his cane. +Frederick's confidant was executed before his eyes, and he himself +condemned to a long banishment from the court; and not till he had shown +signs of repentance, was he readmitted to it and to his father's favor. +Frederick William is famous for the 'tobacco club' which he established, +at whose sessions over the pipe and the beer he and his friends indulged +in the most unrestrained mirth and freedom; also for his monomania +concerning 'tall fellows'--a passion for securing as many regiments as +possible of extraordinarily tall soldiers, for which he spared no pains, +and often paid little regard to the personal wishes of the tall fellows +themselves. To increase their number, he scoured all Europe, other +monarchs being not unwilling to secure his good will by providing him +with the coveted men, for whom his almost insane passion made him +willing to give any price. But the real significance of his reign in +relation to Prussia's subsequent history, is the impulse which he gave +to her military tastes, and his success in establishing firmly the +absolute authority of the monarch. The power of feudal lords had already +been shattered; it required only a strong army and a strong will to +destroy it altogether. These the king possessed. He reigned at a time +when the obstacles to the exercise of unlimited power by the king were +not what they now are, viz.: a desire on the part of the people in +general for a constitutional government. The most certain way to secure +the esteem of the people was to centralize the power in himself, and +then exercise that power in the promotion of the people's material +welfare. This the king did. He laid the foundations of the still +existing system of general school education. He invited colonists from +abroad to settle in the more uncultivated parts of his domains. He +reformed the judiciary. He diminished the taxes, and yet by his economy +increased the real revenue of the state from two and a half to seven and +a half millions. Himself disinclined to become entangled in foreign +wars, he raised the troops and the money without which his son could not +have won the military glory which has given him the title of _the +Great_. + +Frederick William I. established the absolute monarchy by internal +political changes and institutions. Frederick the Great secured for it a +solid foundation in the hearts of the people. The one was thoroughly +autocratic in disposition, and not seldom displayed this disposition too +offensively; the other knew how to use his hereditary power without +seeming to care about it. In fact, under the influence of Voltaire and +the French liberalism, he himself learned to cherish very liberal +opinions respecting popular rights. But practically he was absolute, and +preferred to be so. By his brilliant military successes in the two +Silesian wars and in the Seven Years' War he roused the national +enthusiasm for the royal house to the highest pitch. He secured for +Prussia the rank of a great Power in Europe. He enlarged her boundaries, +and, notwithstanding his expensive wars, promoted the general prosperity +of the land. Genial and kind-hearted, he won the affections of the +people, so that loyalty was easy and pleasant--none the less so, the +more completely the object of the loyalty was the king's person. + +The reign of Frederick William II. was not characterized by any special +development in the political condition of the country. Lacking in energy +and decision, given to self-indulgence, controlled by courtiers and +favorite women, although by the partition of Poland he increased the +national domains, and by educational measures helped to promote German +literature instead of the French preferred by his father, he was yet too +inferior to the great Frederick to be able to uphold the glory of the +royal house. By his disgraceful withdrawal from the First Coalition and +the Treaty of Basle, by which he yielded to France all of Prussia lying +beyond the Rhine, he prepared the way for her subsequent humiliation by +Bonaparte. + +The long reign of Frederick William III. is the richest period of +Prussia's history. Here begins that development whose progress is now +one of the most noteworthy of our time. The king, cautious, +conscientious, patriotic, but timid, declined to join the Second +Coalition (1799), hoping thereby to secure Prussia against the ravages +of war. Prominent Prussians, moreover, were positively friendly to +Napoleon; so that, even after the latter had violated his obligations by +marching through Prussian territory, the king hesitated a year to +declare war. This was done August 9, 1806; but two months later his army +was routed at Jena; Napoleon entered Berlin; the Prussians were finally +defeated at Friedland by the French, and at Tilsit, July 9, 1807, the +Prussian king was forced to give up the half of his domains, and to +furnish the conqueror a tribute of one hundred and forty millions of +francs. For six years Prussia lay prostrate at the feet of France. In +1812 he was compelled to furnish twenty thousand men to join Napoleon's +army in his invasion of Russia. Not till after the disastrous issue of +this invasion did king or people dare to lift an arm in defence of the +national independence. But these years compose just the period which +Prussians love to call that of Prussia's regeneration. The insolence of +the conqueror united the national heart. Full of the most flaming +patriotism, and not doubting that deliverance would finally come, +statesmen and warriors, Stein, Scharnhorst, Bluecher, Schill, and others, +labored unweariedly to keep up the spirits of the people, and prepare +them for the coming War of Liberation. Now for the first time the cities +were invested with the right to regulate their own internal affairs. Now +for the first time the peasants were delivered from the serfdom under +which they had hitherto suffered. In short, the whole policy of the +Government was determined by the resolution to inspire the people with a +healthful, unconstrained, enthusiastic devotion to the national weal, +and, as a means to this end, with zeal for the king. These efforts were +fully successful. When the providential time arrived, and the king +issued, February 3, 1813, a call for volunteers, and, March 17, his +famous _Aufruf an mein Volk_, all Prussia sprang to arms. In alliance +with Russia, finally also assisted by Austria and Sweden, her troops +were engaged in nine bloody battles with the French between April 5 and +October 18, the enthusiasm of the people and the dogged intrepidity of +Bluecher being at length rewarded by the decisive victory at Leipsic. The +immediate result of this victory for Prussia was the recovery of the +territory between the Elbe and the Rhine ceded to France by the +preceding king. At the congress of Vienna there were assigned to her in +addition all that she had possessed before the Treaty of Tilsit, half of +Saxony, and an increase of the former possessions on the Rhine. Some +further acquisitions and cessions were made at the second Treaty of +Paris, November 2, 1815, since which time the boundaries of Prussia have +been little changed. + +This brief sketch of the so-called War of Liberation could not have been +avoided in an attempt to describe the present political condition of +Prussia. The enthusiasm with which the semi-centennial anniversary of +the battle of Leipsic was celebrated on the 18th of last October by men +of all parties and sentiments was a lively evidence of the profound +influence of that war on the national character. The chief significance +of the war for Prussia was its influence in uniting the people in the +pursuit of a common patriotic end. It was a struggle for national +existence; and all minor considerations were for the time forgotten. It +tended to break down the barriers which before had so effectually +separated the higher from the lower classes. The Government had need of +the hearty aid of all Prussians; and, in order to secure this, it was +necessary to abandon the invidious distinctions which, in spite of all +previous reformatory measures, made a large portion of the people +practically slaves. The sentiment was encouraged, that whoever was ready +to lay down his life for his country deserved full protection from his +country. The promise was made that this should henceforth be the spirit +and practice of the Government. + +We are here to mark a twofold influence on the political sentiments of +the Prussian people springing from the war against French invasion. On +the one hand, from here dates the first positive preparations for, and +expectations of, a national representative assembly--a change from an +absolute to a limited monarchy; on the other, the perfect identification +of the interests of the king with those of the people, combined with a +real love for the royal family, made the people satisfied, after the +restoration of peace, to continue under the sway of a king in whom, +though his power was unlimited, they had perfect confidence that he +would use his power with conscientious regard to their good. To this day +the recollection of those years of pious loyalty, when every citizen +cherished a feeling of filial love and trust toward Frederick William +III., is the chief element of strength in the conservative party. +Prussia, they say, is what her kings have made her; the house of +Hohenzollern has raised her from an insignificant beginning to the rank +of a great Power; under this rule the people have prospered; no tyranny +has disgraced it; there is no need of a change; there is no danger that +a continuance of the former order of things can ever inure to our hurt; +gratitude to our sovereigns requires us not to attack their hereditary +prerogatives. There is danger of foreigners, especially republicans, not +fully appreciating the force of these considerations. To us, the fact +that one king, or even a series of kings, have ruled well, is no proof +that they have a divine right to rule; still less, that, when their +policy comes into conflict with the decided wishes of the people, they +have a right by unconstitutional measures to resist the popular will. +But it must be remembered that Prussia, even in the midst of the present +conflict, is thoroughly monarchical. No party pretends to wish any +change of the present form of government. Patriotism has so long been +associated with simple devotion to the royal house, and the royal house +has so uniformly proved itself not unworthy of this devotion, that it is +no easy matter, especially for those who by nature are conservative, to +be satisfied with a change which reduces the monarchical office to a +merely empty hereditary honor. In addition to this, it would be unfair +not to recognize the fact that the most cultivated and religious part of +the Prussian people belongs to the Conservative party. This, as a +general statement, is, as all acknowledge, true. That the exceptions, +however, are very numerous, is no less true. It is also, doubtless, not +unjust to assume that the dependence of churches and universities on the +state leads to much hypocritical piety and selfish loyalty. Yet the +general fact that the most estimable citizens are royalists, is not so +to be accounted for. The War of Liberation was a war not only against +French aggression, but against a power whose origin was to be traced to +a contempt not only of time-honored political customs, but also of +Christianity itself. Revolutions and republicanism became associated +with infidelity. It was natural, therefore, that Christians should +acquire the notion that every approximation toward democracy would +involve danger to the church; especially as the church and state were +united, and the king not only professed personal belief in Christianity, +but endeavored to promote its interests by his administrative measures. +It was to them a touching recollection that their king and the Austrian +and Russian emperors kneeled together on the battle field of Leipsic to +offer to the Lord of hosts their thanks for the victory that he had +vouchsafed to them. And when two years later the same monarchs united +themselves in the Holy Alliance, it is not strange, whatever may now be +thought of their motives, that Christians should have rejoiced at the +sight of princes publicly acknowledging their obligation to rule in the +interests of Christianity, and binding themselves to promote the +religious good of their subjects. As republicanism in France had +appeared in a positively unchristian form, here monarchism appeared in a +positively Christian form. Nothing was therefore more natural than that +their devotion to the king--already, for other reasons, hearty and +enthusiastic--should be increased as they thought they saw in him the +surest defender of the church. Instead, therefore, of encouraging or +wishing a separation of church and state--a consummation which it was in +the power of leading theologians, to procure--they preferred a still +closer union. Nor is it to be wondered at that, ever since, men of the +most earnest piety have made a defence of the royal prerogatives a part +of their religion, and that some have gone even so far as to deny that +in Prussia a Christian can be anything but a Conservative. It cannot but +serve to soften many prejudices against this party to know that men like +the venerable Professor Tholuck, of Halle, are decided supporters of the +Government, and regard the triumph of the Liberal party as almost +equivalent to the downfall of the church. And it may serve in part to +excuse the persistence of the Government in its course to know that it +is advised so to persist by men who should be supposed to have the +highest good of the country at heart. + +But, on the other hand, as we have remarked, the seeds of the present +Liberal party were sown during this same period of national disaster, +and that, too, by the royal hand. The regeneration of Prussia is +attributed by all to the indefatigable efforts of the minister, Baron +von Stein, and, after he was deposed by command of Napoleon, of his +successor, Count Hardenberg. Their work, however, consisted not only in +abolishing villanage, the usufruct of royal lands, serfdom, the +exemption of the nobility from taxation, and the oppressive monopoly of +the guilds; in giving to all classes the right of holding landed +possessions and high offices; in the reconstruction of the courts; in +the enfranchisement of the cities; in the promotion of general +education; in relieving military service of many abuses and +severities;--this was not all: the king was moved to issue, October 27, +1810, an edict, in which he distinctly promised to give the people a +constitution and a national parliamentary representation. A year later +this promise was renewed. 'Our intention,' says the king, 'still is, as +we promised in the edict of October 27, 1810, to give the nation a +judiciously constituted representation.' That this promise was not +immediately fulfilled is, considering the condition of the country, not +specially surprising. Whatever may then have been the king's personal +inclinations, there is perhaps no reason to doubt that he intended to +introduce the constitution as soon as the return of peace should give +him the requisite means of devoting to the subject his undivided +attention. That the promise was originally drawn from him by the urgent +influence of his counsellors, especially Von Stein and Hardenberg, there +is every reason to believe. That he should have been inclined, +unsolicited, to limit his own power, is more than can ordinarily be +expected of monarchs. The bad love power because it gratifies their +selfish lusts; the good, who really wish the weal of their subjects, can +easily persuade themselves that the more freely they can use their +power, the better it will be for all concerned. But, for whatever +reasons, the pledge was given; yet, though Frederick William reigned +thirty years after giving it, he never fulfilled the pledge. It may be +that, had he done so, the party divisions which now agitate the land +would not have been avoided. Conservatives might have complained that he +had yielded too much to the unreasonable demands of an unenlightened +populace; Liberals might have complained that he had not yielded enough; +at all events, the opposing principles, of the divine right of kings, +and of popular self-government, whatever form they might have taken, +would have divided public sentiment. This may have been; but even more +certain is it that the failure on the part of the monarch to carry out a +promise solemnly and repeatedly made, a promise which he never would +have made unless believing that it would gratify his people, could not +but lead ultimately to a deep disaffection on the part of the people. +His course resembled too much the equivocating prophecies of the witches +in Macbeth; he kept the word of promise to the ear, and broke it to the +hope. It is then not strange that many should have found their faith in +royalty weakened, and come to the conclusion that whatever was to be +gained in the point of popular government must be secured by insisting +on it as a right which the Government _nolens volens_ should be required +to concede. + +Such, in general terms, is the animus of the two political parties of +Prussia. Turning to a more particular consideration of the historical +progress of events, we find that the first movement toward a freer +development of popular character was made by Frederick the Great. +Throughout his life he was inclined, theoretically, to favor a +republican form of government; and, although he was no friend of sudden +changes, and did not think that the time had come for a radical change +in Prussia, he yet recognized the truth that a king's duty is to act as +the servant of the state; and, in spite of the sternness with which, in +many relations, he exercised his power, he introduced some changes which +may be regarded as the earnests of a permanent establishment of a +constitutional government. These changes consisted specially in the +increase of freedom which he allowed respecting the press, religion, and +the administration of justice. But, as we have seen, nothing like a real +limitation of the royal power was undertaken until the War of Liberation +seemed to make it a national necessity. The changes which Frederick +William's ministers made in the social and political condition of the +people were in themselves of vast and permanent importance. They were +made under the stimulus of a more or less clear recognition of the truth +of natural, inalienable rights. Fighting against a people whose +frightful aggressions were the product of this principle abnormally +developed, they yet had to borrow their own weapons from the same +armory. Or, if the republican principle was not at all approved, the +course of the Government showed that it was so far believed in by the +people that certain concessions to it were necessary as a matter of +policy. But these changes were yet by no means equivalent to the +introduction of republican elements in the Government. An approach was +made toward the granting of equality of rights; but this was only +_granted_; the Government was still absolute; strictly speaking, it had +the right, so far as formal obligations were concerned, to remove the +very privileges which it had given. But the _promise_ of something more +was given also. Besides the already-mentioned renewal of that promise, +the king, June 3, 1814, in an order issued while he was in Paris, +intimated his intention to come to a final conclusion respecting the +particular form of the constitution after his return to Berlin. In May, +1815, he issued another edict, the substance of which was that provision +should be made for a parliamentary representation of the people; that, +to this end, the so-called estates of the provinces should be +reorganized, and from them representatives should be chosen, who should +have the right to deliberate respecting all subjects of legislation +which concern the persons and property of citizens; and that a +commission should be at once appointed, to meet in Berlin on the first +of September, whose business should be to frame a constitution. But this +commission was not then appointed, and of course did not meet on the +first of September. Two years later the commissioners were named; but +their work has never been heard of. + +Here is to be discerned a manifest wavering in the mind of the king +respecting the fulfilment of his intentions. The German States, taught +by the bitter experience of the late war the disadvantages of their +dismembered condition, and bound together more closely than ever before +by the recollection of their common sufferings and common triumphs, saw +the necessity of a real union, to take the place of the merely nominal +one which had thus far existed in the shadowy hegemony of the house of +Hapsburg. The German Confederation, essentially as it still exists, was +organized at Vienna by the rulers of the several German States and +representatives from the free cities, June 8, 1815. Although there was +in this assembly no direct representation of the people, it is clear +that its deliberations were in great part determined by the unmistakable +utterances of the popular mind. For one of the first measures adopted +was to provide that in all the States of the Confederacy constitutional +governments should be guaranteed. Frederick William himself was one of +the most urgent supporters of this provision. It is therefore not +calculated to elevate our estimation of the openness, honesty, and +simplicity for which this king is praised, and to which his general +course seems to entitle him, that as late as March, 1818, in reply to a +petition from the city of Coblenz, that he would grant the promised +constitution, he remarked that 'neither the order of May 22, 1815, nor +article xiii. of the acts of the Confederacy had fixed the _time_ of the +grant, and that the determination of this time must be left to the free +choice of the sovereign, in whom unconditional confidence ought to be +placed.' We are to account for this hesitation, however, not by +supposing that he originally intended to delay the measure in question +so long as he actually did delay it, but by the fears with which he was +inspired by the popular demonstrations in the times following the close +of the war. The fact was palpable, not only that the idea of popular +rights, notwithstanding the miserable failure of the French Revolution, +had become everywhere current, but that, together with this feeling, a +desire for German unity was weakening the hold of the several princes on +their particular peoples. At this time sprang up the so-called _Deutsche +Burschenschaft_, organizations of young men, whose object was to promote +the cause of German union. The tri-centennial anniversary of the +Reformation, in 1817, was made the occasion of inflaming the public mind +with this idea. The sentiment found ready access to the German heart. It +was shared and advocated by many of the best and ablest men. As +subsidiary to the same movement, was at the same time introduced the +practice of systematic and social gymnastic exercises, an institution +which still exists, and constitutes one of the most prominent features +of the German movement. Immense concourses of gymnasts from all parts of +Germany meet yearly to practise in friendly rivalry, and inspire one +another with zeal for the good of the common fatherland. But the +_Burschenschaft_ in its pristine glory could not so long continue. The +separate German Governments were naturally jealous of the influence of +these organizations, and, though not able to accuse them of directly +aiming at treason and revolution, were ready to seize the first pretext +for striking at their power. A pretext was soon found. A certain Von +Kotzebue, a novelist of some notoriety, suspected of being a Russian +spy, wrote a book in which he attacked the _Burschenschaft_ with great +severity. A theological student at Jena, Karl Sand, whose enthusiasm in +the cause of the _Burschenschaft_ had reached the pitch of a half-insane +fanaticism, took it upon him to avenge the wounded honor of the German +name. He visited Kotzebue at the dwelling of the latter, delivered him a +letter, and, while he was reading it, stabbed him with a dagger. Sand +was of course executed, and, though it was proved that the crime was +wholly his own, though the German Confederation, through a commission +appointed specially for the purpose of searching all the papers of the +participants in the _Burschenschaft_ movement, found no evidence of +anything like treasonable purposes, yet it was resolved that these +'demagogical intrigues' must cease. The _Burschenschaft_ was pronounced +a treasonable association; its members were punished by imprisonment or +exile. The poet and professor Arndt and the professor Jahn, prominent +leaders in the movement, were not only deposed from their +professorships, but also imprisoned. The celebrated De Wette was removed +from the chair of theology in the University of Berlin, simply because, +on the ground that an erring conscience ought to be obeyed, he had +excused the deed of Sand. In short, the princes intended effectually to +crush the efforts which, though indirectly, were tending to undermine +their thrones. Seemingly they succeeded. But they had only 'scotched the +snake, not killed it.' It is easy to see that these developments must +have shaken Frederick William's purpose. Of all things, the most +unpleasant to a monarch is to be driven by his subjects. In the present +case he saw not only a loosening of the loyalty which he felt to be due +to him, but also a positive transfer of loyalty, if we may so speak, +from the Prussian throne to the German people in general. If he should +now grant a popular constitution, he would seem not only to be yielding +to a pressure, but would be surrendering what he regarded as a sacred +right, into the hands of ungrateful recipients. He therefore set himself +against the popular current, gave up his former plan, and contented +himself with restoring, in some degree, the form of government as it had +existed before the establishment of the absolute monarchy. He gave, in +1823, to the estates of the provinces, a class of men consisting partly +of nobles and owners of knights' manors, partly of representatives of +the cities and of the peasants, the right of _advising_ the crown in +matters specially concerning the several provinces. Nothing further was +done in the matter of modifying the constitution during the reign of +Frederick William III., although he declared his _intention_ of +organizing a national diet. + +Comparative quiet ensued till 1830, when the French revolution, followed +by the insurrection of the Austrian Netherlands against Holland, and of +Poland against Russia, again stirred the public mind. But, although the +Polish revolution, on account of its local proximity and ancient +political relations, threatened to involve Prussia in war, she yet +escaped the danger, and passed through the excitement with little +internal commotion. But the existence of disaffection was made manifest +by sundry disturbances in the chief cities, which, however, were easily +quelled. Suffering under no palpable oppression, accustomed once more to +peace, seeing no prospect of gaining any radical change in the form of +government except through violent and bloody measures, which, as +experience had proved, would, after all, be likely to be unsuccessful, +the masses of the people had little heart for a constant agitation in +behalf of an indefinite and uncertain good. Those who did continue the +agitation exhibited less of zeal for German unity and more for that sort +of liberalism which had been current in France, than had marked the +efforts of the _Burschenschaft_. Many of the leaders were obliged to +escape the country, in order to avoid arrest. + +In 1840, Frederick William IV. ascended the throne. According to the old +custom, he summoned to Koenigsberg the estates of the provinces of +Prussia and Posen to attend the coronation and take their oaths of +fealty. On this occasion he inquired of this body whether they would +elect twelve members of the East Prussian knighthood, to represent the +old order of lords, and what privileges they wished to have secured. +They replied that they saw no need of reviving that order; and as to +privileges, instead of mentioning any in particular which they desired +to see protected, they wished them all protected and confirmed. They +then reminded the king of the promise of his father to give the nation +a constitution and a diet. The king replied that their reasons for +declining the first proposal were satisfactory, but the establishment of +a general representation of the people he must decline to grant, 'on +account of the true interests of the people intrusted to his care.' The +dissatisfaction produced by this reply was somewhat tempered by the +splendor of the coronation ceremonies, and by the hitherto unknown +condescension of the king in addressing the assembled throng as he took +upon him the vow to be a just judge, a faithful, provident, merciful +prince, a Christian king, as his ever-memorable father had been. +Personally he was a man of more than ordinary talents and of estimable +character. High expectations could be, and were, entertained of the +success of his reign. One of his first acts was to release from prison +those who were there languishing for having been connected with the +_Burschenschaft_. He manifested in his general policy a mildness and +benevolence which, had he lived when nothing had ever been heard of a +constitution, would have doubtless secured for him the uninterrupted +lore and devotion of his subjects. As it was, it is probable that his +reign would have been disturbed by no serious outbreak, had the occasion +for disturbance not come from without. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[3] Frederick I. ruled till 1713; the succession since then has been as +follows: Frederick William I., 1713-'40; Frederick II. (the Great), +1740-'86: Frederick William II., 1786-'97; Frederick William III., +1797-1840; Frederick William IV., 1840-'61; William I., 1861. + + + + +ASLEEP. + + What, darling, asleep in this sylvan retreat! + Thy loose tresses sprinkled with rose petals sweet; + Blown in from the sunlight, some float to thy breast; + Less fragrant are they than their beautiful nest. + + There flutt'ring a moment they rise and they sink, + As quivers a humbird his honey to drink, + Or fond doves a-wooing that shiver their wings, + Or throat of a song bird that throbs while he sings. + + These petals at last swoon far down in thy snow, + Whose warm drifts of wonder they only can know; + And hidden they lie there all rocked by thy breath, + And pressed in soft odors to ravishing death. + + Thine eyes their dear curtains now shut from the light, + Sweet veined and blue tinted they round to my sight, + Fair shells of deep oceans! And sometimes a shell, + When close to your ear, its home secrets will tell: + + But in music so mystic, you cannot guess + The strange tales of Ocean it tries to confess. + So lady, thine eyelids, as skies shut the sea, + Or shells _try_ to whisper, are whisp'ring to me. + + As glad streams of day 'neath the dawn's glowing tide, + So white keys of laughter thy curving lips hide, + Warm gates of the morning, when morning is new, + And red for the sunshine of smiles to break through! + + Thy round arms rest o'er thee so fair and so lone, + Like that white path of stars across the night's zone: + That pathway, when twilight late vanishing dies, + Embraces the earth, though it quits not the skies. + + Thus stars kiss the hills, and the trees, and the plain, + Yet never can they kiss the stars back again; + Though yearning they thirst for those arms of the sky, + They never will taste the white home where they lie. + + So rivers and oceans with influence sweet, + Their mighty hearts swelling loved Luna to greet, + Strain sobbing their bosoms to hold her dear face, + And thrilled to their depths with her luminous grace, + + In tossing waves rapturous rise to her smile. + In vain! Their coy queen half receding the while, + In slow fainting cadence they sink to the shore, + And hoarse tones of love-hunger moan evermore. + + Ah, lady, bright sleeper, my soul, like the sea, + Illumed with thy beauty, is trembling to thee: + I kneel in the silence, and drink in the air + That, fragrant and holy, has toyed with thy hair; + + And hushed in thy presence with worshipping fear-- + The breeze even stills when it reaches thine ear-- + My lips dare not whisper in softest refrain + The trance of my heart in its passionate pain. + + Oh, open thine eyes! let their smile make me brave-- + The Queen e'en of Ocean will _look_ at her slave!-- + Let me drown in their light--deliciously drown, + And lay thy white hand on my head for a crown, + + And chrism. And thus regally shrived, might I dare + Exhale the warm infinite incense of prayer + From my deep soul to thine. Nor then couldst thou know + The wealth of the censer. Thou wak'st!--must I go? + + + + +A CASTLE IN THE AIR. + + 'I built my soul a lordly pleasure-house, + Wherein at ease for aye to dwell; + I said, 'O soul, make merry and carouse, + Dear soul, for all is well.' + + TENNYSON. + + +Times are changed. Most people (_i.e._, Bostonians) now build their +castles on the 'new land.'[4] But I belong to the old school, and I +still build mine in the air. + +The situation has its advantages. As Miss Gail Hamilton observed, when I +had the pleasure of exhibiting it to her, it is airy. I need scarcely +add that it is the favorite haunt of those kindred spirits Ari-osto and +Ary Scheffer. It is too high ever to be reached by any unsavory odors +from the Back Bay. Cool in summer it is also, notwithstanding, +remarkably warm in winter. My castle is quite too retired for any +critics to intrude upon it. They cannot get at the plan of it even, +unless in the event of its being shown them by my friend, the editor of +a popular magazine, which is a betrayal too improbable to enter into my +calculations. + +There is no stucco or sham about my castle. Like a fair and frank +republican, I built it all of pure freestone, from the doorsteps up to +the observatory. This observatory--I will speak of it while I think of +it--holds a telescope exactly like the one at Cambridge, except that the +tube has a blue-glass spectacle to screw on, through which it does not +put out one's eye to look at the moon. + +My workmen never make mistakes nor keep me waiting. The painters paint, +the upholsterers upholster, and the carpenters _carpent_ precisely when +and as I wish. I do not have to heat myself by running over the town for +straw matting, nor to catch cold in crypts full of carpets. Everything +that I order comes to my door as soon as I order. + +Every time that I go down Washington street, I choose something in the +shop windows for my castle--an engraving at Williams & Everett's, a +mosaic or classic onyx at Jordan's, or a camel's hair--for a dressing +gown, of course at Hovey's. It really costs surprisingly little, and is +an agreeable exercise of taste and judgment. It is likewise an exercise +of benevolence. I select as many things for my guests as I do for +myself. My castle is never too full. Little by little my tastes change; +and little by little, I let most of my old treasures go to make room for +new ones. + +But certain principles always prevail in my selections. For instance, as +my particular friend, the Reverend George Herbert, remarked, as he +looked about him on one of his visits to my castle: 'Sober handsomeness +doth bear the bell.' I cannot admit anything gaudy, needlessly exotic, +or impertinently obtruding the idea of dollars. Now a travelled lady, +who had heard of my castle, once offered me for it a buhl cabinet, of +angry and alarming redness and a huge idol of a gilded trough, standing +on bandy legs, and gorged with artificial flowers. And I thanked her for +her kind intentions, ordered a handcart, sent the lumber to auction, and +applied the proceeds to the benefit of the insane. + +Tapestry, however, clever bronzes, sheathed daggers from Hassam's with +beetles crawling on the hilts, and illuminated, brazen-clasped old +tomes abound at my castle. They come to me one by one, each bringing +with it its separate pleasure. I have no fancy for buying up, at one +fell swoop, the whole establishment of some bankrupt banker or +_confiscated_ Russian nobleman. Instead of slipping at once, like a +dishonest hermit-crab, into the whole investment of somebody else, I +rather choose to come by my own, as I suppose other more happily +constituted shell-fish do, by gradual and individual accretion or +secretion. + +My winter parlor looks down Beacon street. It is lofty, like all the +rest of my apartments, but otherwise small and snug. The floor is of a +dark wood, polished to the utmost. The great wood-fire loves to wink at +its own glowing face mirrored in this floor; and, when alone, I often +skate upon it. But as I do not wish to see my less sure-footed friends +disposed about it in writhing attitudes expressive of agony and broken +bones, I usually keep it covered, up to a yard's breadth from the +dark-carved wainscot, with a velvety carpet, which was woven for me at +Wilton, and represents the casting scene in the 'Song of the Bell.' The +window curtains are of velvet, of just the shade of purple that nestles +in the centre of the most splendid kind of fuchsia, and have an Etruscan +border and heavy fringes of gold bullion. The walls are covered with a +crimson velvet paper, of the hue of the outer petals of that same +fuchsia, with little golden suns shining over it everywhere. One end of +the room is further lighted up by a portrait of the terrestrial fury +Etna, in a full suit of grape vines and an explosion of fiery wrath. +Opposite is a spirited scene, by an artist who shall be nameless, +suggested by a passage in an interesting sermon by Jonathan Edwards. The +contemplation of the latter picture, especially, makes a chance +sensation of chilliness a luxury rather than the contrary. + +My tawny Scotch terrier, Wye-I, always takes up his position on the +purple plush cushion at one side of the fireplace, and the Maltese cat, +Cattiva, on the crimson one opposite, by instinct, because most becoming +severally to their complexions. The cat never catches mice. There are no +mice in my castle for her to catch. The dog is much attached to her. He +is considered remarkably intelligent. In gratitude for my forbearing to +cut off his tail, he uses it as a brush, watches the coals, and, when +they snap out, sweeps them up with it. He sometimes, with a natural +sensibility which does him no discredit, accompanies the performance +with the appropriate music which has earned him his name. + +My summer parlor is much larger. It is paved with little hexagonal +tiles, green, purple, and white alternately, like a bed of cool violets, +with a border of marine shells in mosaic. The walls are cloaked as +greatly as the _Cloaca Maxima_, with verdant leaves, light and dark, +through which, here and there, peeps a rock. There is no arsenic among +them. The windows look seaward to see the ships come and go. Venetian +blinds, of the kind that turn up and down, admit only green light at +noon, softer or brighter according to my mood. Lace curtains sweep the +floor with a slumberous sound when the sea breeze breathes in. Some of +my visitors might say that this room was too empty. I should promptly +disagree with them. To a person of correct taste, not to speak of a +philanthropic bias, it must be painful to see, in warm weather, anything +which calls up a vision of warm handmaidens, laborious with their brooms +and dusters. Therefore I must persist in admitting here little furniture +besides the oriental bamboo couches and porcelain barrels that flank the +room, with little daisy-and-moss-like _chenille_ rugs beside them. One +Canton tepoy holds my _aquarium_, and another, beside the most +frequented of the lounges, the last number of the most weighty of North +American periodicals. If ever I take a nap, it is here. + +In the centre of the room, a white-marble Egeria, carved by Thorwaldsen, +throws up between her hands a shaft of cold crystal water, pure as +truth, which spreads into a silvery veil all around her, and plashes +down in a snowy basin: no place could be more inviting for a bath. But +in the winter Egeria shows her power of adaptation by furnishing instead +a Geyser of hot water. Then I turn my scientific friends in here, when +they call upon me, to make them feel at home. + +In the position of Jack Horner, sits Miss Hosmer's Puck. Opposite is a +mate production, which she never put on exhibition. It is Ariel, perched +hiding in a honeysuckle, and leaning slyly out to play on an AEolian harp +in a cottage latticed window. + +Over the somewhat frequented couch of which I have spoken, there is a +picture by Paul Delaroche of + + 'Sabrina fair + Under the glassy, cool, translucent wave, + In twisted braids of lilies knitting + The loose folds of her amber-dropping hair.' + +On the other side hangs another painting which I prefer, partly perhaps +because even in my castle I was for a time at a loss how to procure it. +The subject was recommended to me by Hans Christian Andersen. It is the +story of a beautiful princess. Are not Danish princesses always +beautiful? + +Her numerous brothers were so unfortunate as to be laid, by a witch, +under a spell of a most inconvenient sort. Every morning they were +turned into wild swans. Every day they were obliged to fly over many a +league of gray ocean to the mainland and back to their home, an island +in the midst of the sea. At every sunset they resumed their natural +shape, and were princes all night. One day they met their sister on the +shore. They undertook to carry her back with them. Her Weight made them +slower than usual. A storm came up in the after noon. There was a sad +probability of the swans being turned into princes again before they +could possibly 'see her home.' + +In my picture, half of the swans are a plumy raft for her, and row her +through the air with their sweeping wings. Another relay, more tired, +perhaps, make a canopy over her, and fan her as they fly. Their +outstretched gaze sees only the island. But the princess, as she lies +facing backward, sees the danger. In despairing, motionless silence, she +looks at the sinking sun, with no color in her cheeks but that which he +casts upon her. The red, warning sun looks awfully back, face to face +with her, in the narrowing strip of blue sky between two horizontal bars +of thundering clouds, which the lightning is beginning to chain +together, that the night may come before its time, and the enchanted +princes and their sister may drown in darkness. + +Church did the water very well, and Paul Weber the island. Rosa Bonheur +was so kind as to paint the swans--I need not say how. But the rest of +the picture was such a perplexity to me that I could think of nothing +better than to send for Mr. Laroy Sunderland to call one day when I was +out, and knock up Raphael to draw the princess, and Salvator Rosa, the +clouds, and Titian to see to the sky and light. When I came in again, +the completed whole met me as a pleasant surprise. + +Not far off are Landseer's 'Challenge,' and a few other Arctic pieces of +his, which I look at in July to keep myself cool. But the chief of my +pictures are in the picture gallery, at the top of my castle, lighted +from above. _Connoisseurs_ assure me, with rare candor, that the +'Transfiguration,' 'Last Judgment,' 'Assumption of the Virgin,' and so +forth, there, are duplicates rather than copies of the originals. + +In my library there is scarcely a single picture to be found, nor a +statue, nor a bust even, except of the duskiest, self-hiding bronze +overhead--only some dim, dark engraving, or brown, antiquated autograph, +fading in a little black frame, or a signet ring hanging against the +book written by the crumbled hand that once wore it--only relics having +the power to excite thought without distracting attention--- unobtrusive +memorials of the dead with whom I am soon to live. Rich, black, old +bookcases, carved all over in high relief, hold their immortal works or +the records of their undying deeds. Even the writings of the living are +sparingly admitted here. I stand on my guard constantly, lest I be +enslaved by their influence. It is less by obsequiousness to the Present +than by listening to the admonitions of the Past, that we may hope to +gain a hearing from the Future. + +Saints and seraphs, such as they appeared to _Fra Angelico_, look in +upon me through the stained-glass windows, that I may always read and +study as if under their holy eyes. Ivy runs thickly over their deep +arched recesses, and over the stags' heads which surmount them. In +winter, little but painted beams and glow come through them. In summer, +the oriel opens of an evening to show me the phantom ships that haunt +the misty, dreamy harbor; and the lattices that look westerly over the +lake-like mouth of the Charles, are seldom shut against the sun or moon. + +The floor is smoothly paved with broad, square slabs of freestone, on +which is here or there engraved one or another illustrious name, like a +'footprint on the sands of time,' with a date of birth and death. Tables +that match the bookcases support portfolios containing allegorical +designs by Relszch, Blake, and Albrecht Durer. On a writing desk, that +was once Vittoria Colonna's, a little Parian angel holds my ink for me, +kneeling as if to ask a blessing upon it, and to entreat me to blot no +pages with it in the souls whereon I write, + + [Greek: 'Mede mousa moi + Genoit aoidos etis umnesei kaka'] + +Before the reading chairs, plenty of tiger and leopard skins lie in wait +to cherish the cool feet of students, but there is nothing to trip up my +own, along the long diameter of the long oval room, if sometimes the +fancy seizes me to walk up and down there for hours alone, listening to +the 'voices' that are not 'from without.' + +At the end opposite to the oriel, I have just had placed an organ, the +twin of the new one at the Music Hall, except that the faces on the +pipes are beautiful, and do not look as if it hurt them to pipe. The +world may be too small; but the organ cannot possibly be too large. +Malibran, Jenny Lind, or Mrs. Mott usually sings to it of an evening, +accompanied by Franz, Schubert, or Mendelssohn; or Beethoven drops in to +play one of his symphonies. Sunday nights, Handel performs upon it +regularly for a choir composed of Vaughan, Herbert, the minister who +chants 'Calm on the listening ear of night,' Madame Guyon, and Sarah +Adams. Between their hymns, Robertson preaches a sermon and reads from +the liturgy of King's Chapel. This service is designed as a special +easement to the consciences and stomachs alike of those oppressed +Christians, whom modern customs and physical laws impel, of an +afternoon, to be dining and digesting precisely at the hours during +which their pastors are unaccountably and unjustifiably in the habit of +preaching. + +The books upon the shelves, last not least, are less numerous than +choice. Among them still are to be found the most masterly writings of +the most masterly minds in the three learned professions, and the +noblest treatises on the nobler of the arts and sciences. There are many +'chronicles of eld,' which, if not true, as the Frenchman said, at any +rate '_meritent bien de l'etre_.' There are such few fictions as bear +the stamp of much individual thought, character, and observation. +Especially there is a great deal of biography; for biography is the +great, all-embracing epic of humanity. + +Two suits of armor stand on guard, one on each side, by each +well-assorted bookcase. I always think it prudent to warn my incautious +visitors that these are _automata_, wound up and set to deal a box with +their gauntleted hands on each ear of each disorderly wight who puts a +book where it does not belong. + +Below my library, and beyond my courtyard, is a boat in which I row +myself out in warm weather to visit my friends along the coast. When I +ply the oar, the crab-fishery is unproductive, droughts prevail, and I +am not often upset or drowned. + +In my stable are sometimes to be found, eating unmingled oats, two tame +ponies, Mattapony and Poniatowski. They take my invalid acquaintance out +on airings in the daytime, and my lingering guests home at a reasonable +hour in the evening. The coachman thinks it is good for the horses to be +out in bad weather. He loves to wash the coach. For my own use, I keep a +large dapple-gray, an ex-charger of the purest blood. He has the +smoothest canter and the finest mouth that I ever felt; but, with decent +regard to appearances, and my private preferences, expressed or +understood, he never fails to prance in a manner to strike awe and +terror into all beholders, for full five minutes every time I mount him. + +In the common world, I myself am, I trust, often amiable--always in some +respects exemplary. In my castle, I am always all that I ought to +be--all that I wish to be. I am as stately as Juno, as beautiful as +Adonis, as elegant as Chesterfield, as edifying as Mrs. Chapone, as +eloquent as Burke, as noble as Miss Nightingale, as perennial as the +Countess of Desmond, and as robust as Dr. Windship. I also understand +everything but entomology and numismatology; and if I do not understand +them, the only reason is that, as the dear little boys say, 'I _doe_ +want to.' + +The blossom-end of the day I keep to myself in my castle. I spend all +the mornings alone in the library writing--_calamo currente_, like one +of the heroines of the author of 'Ohone'--the most admirable romances +and poems of the age. People very seldom call to see me. When they do, +they go away again directly on hearing that I am engaged, without as +much as sending in a message. My porter has Fortunatus's purse, and is +giving discreet largesses, in collusion with the agent of the Provident +Association, to the less opulent of the beggars who apply for my +pecuniary aid, while I am providing above for the wants of those who +crave my higher wealth. So that really the only drawback to the pleasure +enjoyed by me at such times, is the idea of the frightful quarrels which +must arise, as soon as I put anything to the press, between the +booksellers, who stand ready to contend with one another for the honor +of publishing it. The very first novel I ever completed led to a duel +between the Montague and Capulet of the trade, in which each party must +have lost his life but for the strenuous interposition of Noah +Worcester. The fear of a repetition of that scene is all which withholds +me from more frequently answering the importunate calls of the public to +appear before them. Matters were simultaneously almost as bad between +Birket Foster and Darley. But I made a compromise there, by promising +that, the next time I got out an edition, I would get out another, and +that of the two each artist should illustrate one. Each eagerly agreed +to this arrangement, naturally feeling sure that such a comparison would +forever establish his own superiority. + +Did I say there was but one drawback to my pleasure? There is one more. +It is the idea of the monotonous uniformity with which the Reviews will +eulogize me. They cannot say a word of commendation beyond what is +strictly true, I am fully aware; and I am not obliged to read any more +of it than I please. Still it may appear extravagant to the very few yet +unacquainted with the merits of my works. + +Of an evening I am usually at home to visitors; and three times every +winter I give the young people a ball. It breaks up at twelve. I provide +none but the lightest wines. Nor do I encourage the 'round dances.' I +really cannot. Those who do not think it right to join in them would +either do so against their consciences, or feel left out and forlorn; +pretty girls would get overheated, tumbled, and torn, and carry about +the marks of black arms on their delicate waists; and youths, +unsurpassed in the natural nobleness of their port and presence, would +make ridiculous faces in their well-founded anxiety lest they should +lose the time or meet with collisions. But I give them, to make such +amends as I can, plenty of room, pure air, neither hot nor cold, and +flowers in abundance. Soyer furnishes their supper; Strauss and Labitzky +play for them; and they are in a measure consoled for their privations +by seeing and hearing how uncommonly handsome they look to the end of +the evening. The only qualifications I require for admission to the +entertainment are, that the candidates shall be generally acquainted +with one another, respectable in character, tasteful in dress, happy and +kind in their looks, and well-mannered enough to show that they have +assembled to give and receive as much innocent pleasure as they can. + +Good talkers and good listeners only are invited to my dinner parties. I +give one every Wednesday. It is a pleasant thing to look forward to +through the first half of the week, and to look back upon through the +last. + +My cook likes it. She is the complement to the unhappy gentleman who had +'the temperament of genius without genius.' She has the genius without +the temperament. + +Part of my waiters are the attendant hands formerly engaged in the +service of the White Cat. They are always gloved, and never spill nor +break anything. Others, who are dumb, carry everything needed safely to +and fro between table and kitchen. + +The walls of my dining room are hung with portraits of all of my +presentable ancestors, from the time of Apelles down to that of Copley. +There are not too many of them to leave room for some Dutch paintings of +fruit, game, and green-grocers' shops, for whets to the hunger. + +My responsibility, with regard to the banquet, begins and ends with +seeing, as I never fail to do, that each of the banqueters has a +generally agreeable and peculiarly congenial companion. As for myself, I +maintain that a host has his privileges; and I always place the Reverend +Sydney Smith very near my right hand. On my left, I enjoy a variety. The +Autocrat of the Breakfast Table is sometimes so kind as to grace that +corner of my dinner table. So is a gentleman who was once two years +before the mast as an uncommon sailor; and so is Sir Lainful, and a +child from a neighboring college town, whose society is better than that +of most men. + +Nothing is more promotive of digestion than laughter. I regret that my +experience does not enable me to speak quite so favorably of choking. By +means of the latter, my bright career was, on the very first of this +series of festivities, nearly brought to a premature close. But as upon +that occasion it was impossible for me to stop laughing, so likewise was +it impossible for me to stop living. Some sort of action of the lungs +was kept up, and complete asphyxia prevented; and, having smiled myself +nearly to death, I smiled myself back to life again. Ever since, my +_convives_, apprised of this mortal frailty of mine, time their remarks +more prudently, and allow me to take alternately a joke and a morsel. + +Sir Walter Scott always sits at the farther end of the table. He is the +best talker that I ever heard, but not so good for dinner as he is for +luncheon, because what he says is too interesting, and takes away one's +appetite; nor for supper either, because he makes one dream. I always +contrive that the more plethoric of my guests shall take their seats +near him. + +_I_ could never be tired of Macaulay; but he contradicts people, and +once made two ladies cry. They were introduced to me by an author to +whom I owe much enjoyment, Miss Wetherell, of the State of New York. One +was the bride of the Reverend John Humphreys, and the other Mrs. Guy +Carleton. To be sure, I did not see why they should cry--unless from +habit; but still, he ought not to have made them. + +After dinner, those who show no signs of having talked themselves out, +are rewarded and encouraged by being privately invited to prolong their +stay, and meet a few other guests in the library. + +Shakspeare always appears there among the first, collected and calm, but +whether happy or not, his manner does not show. With regard both to his +past and present life, his reserve is impenetrable. Like a mocking bird, +he utters himself in so many different strains, that I can seldom make +out which is most his own, except when he will sing one of his little +lyrics; when, I must say, I never heard so sweet and rich a voice but +that of Milton on such occasions, or those of Shelley's skylark and +cloud. But yet, whether this voice of his own says that the heart out of +which it comes is most glad or sad, I never can distinguish. + +Dante comes with him, as tall, and, I think, as strong a man; but 'Pace' +is still upon his lips and not upon his brow. He complains that heaven +is a melancholy place to him. He has become better acquainted with +Beatrice, and finds her not more beautiful than the rest of the angels, +and otherwise rather a commonplace spirit. + +To Goethe I usually have myself excused. To borrow a little slang from +the critics, he 'draws' uncommonly well, especially when he draws +portraits. But I do not care to have my eye trained much by an artist +who has such an infirmity of color that he does not know black from +white. + +Schiller meets with many a welcome, and rarely a heartier one than when +he brings his Wilhelm Tell or Jungfrau. I should be glad to ask some of +those who are more intimate with him than I am, whether he is not a good +deal like three wise men, whose plays Socrates and I used to go to see +performed at Athens, two or three thousand years ago, when I was there. +Further, I should be glad to ask whether it would not be better if, in +one respect, he were more like them still. As he at least has seemed to +me to do, they threw the strength of their invention into two or three +impersonations; but as he sometimes does, they always--to steal a term +from the nearest grocery--lumped all the merely necessary and accessary +people, and called them simply 'Chorus.' Thus the wise men's ingenuities +and our memories were spared the trouble of assigning and remembering a +host of insignificant names; and there was no looking back to the +_dramatis personae_, or _dramatos prosopa_, as we called them then, to +find out _who was who_. + +A Government officer sometimes reports himself at my gates from Rydal, +with a washing tub of ink on castors, which he pushes about with him +wherever he goes, and in which, as in a Claude-Lorraine mirror, he +contemplates everything that he can both on earth and above. He is +constantly employed in fishing in it with a quill for ideas; and as +often as he catches one, even if it is half drowned, my door-keeper +opens to him. + +Lady Geraldine was one of my most constant guests of an evening. But +after her courtship and marriage, she was too apt to bring in her +husband. I received him cordially enough two or three times, +particularly when he came with 'the good news from Ghent.' But on other +occasions his conversation was so far from agreeable, so unintelligible, +or, 'not to put too fine a point upon it,' unedifying, that at last my +porter was obliged to hand him out for immediate chastisement.[5] He +never came again. I do not quite see why not; for, if others are willing +to take pains for his good, he certainly should be no less so. + +Mrs. Stowe does honor to one of the most honorable places in the +assembly--her head crowned with an everlasting glory by the spirit of +Uncle Tom. + +Poor Charlotte Bronte is always present. She looks happy at last, with a +happiness that is not of this world; and if her laurels are but earthly +laurels, I often fancy that in the hand which smoothed her sisters' +deathbeds, I can discern a heavenly palm. There are not many secular +writers whom I would not turn away, if need were, to make room for her. +If I do not always admire her characters, I do her mind. I do not +altogether like her stories; but I want words to express my appreciation +of the way in which she tells them. + +I may state in this place, as well as in any, that--an enlightened +conservative in all things--I always hold myself in readiness to +receive, with marked distinction, intellectual women, who 'keep to their +sphere,' such as Miss Mitchell, whose sphere is the celestial globe, +Miss Austin, whose sphere is the _beau monde_, and Miss Blackwell, whose +sphere is the pill. + +Cromwell, or Frederick the Great either, would have secured a standing +invitation for Carlyle, I dare say; but it is impossible for me to +overlook his present state of politics. I have little doubt that it fell +upon him as a Nemesis, in the first place for writing bad English, and +secondly for daring to 'damn with faint praise' the loyal, generous, +joyous, chivalrous, religious soldier, Frederick, Baron de la +Motte-Fouque, and prince of romance. When the latter presents himself +for admission my castle needs short siege. The drawbridge falls before +the summons; and when I see him cross my threshold with his lovely and +noble children, Ondine and Sintram, I should be almost too happy, if I +were not afraid of his being affronted by the mischievous humor of +Cervantes. + +For Cervantes will make his way in now and then. It is impossible +utterly to banish so much originality, elegance, and grace as his, even +if the fun which accompanies them is sometimes too broad; and, when he +comes to see me, he is always on his very best behavior. Sir Thomas +Browne came once; but I thought he talked too much about himself; and +scarcely anybody seemed to know him. + +Hazlitt brought me a letter of introduction from the Emperor Napoleon. I +was not inclined to think much of either of them; but I knew Hazlitt was +a friend of Lamb's; and I have a regard for Lamb, on account of his +regard for his sister. So my porter asked Mr. Hazlitt to walk in; and so +Mr. Hazlitt did. Presently I heard him say, in an aside to Mrs. Jameson, +that women were usually very stupid; if not by nature, by education and +principle. The next time he called I happened to be rather particularly +engaged in writing a review of him. Nobody ever heard him say anything +afterward. + +Of course, I single out merely a few even of the 'representative men and +women' among my guests, and conveniences and luxuries in my +establishment. If I told over the tithe of them, I should become +diffuse; but if there is any one thing for which, more than for any +other thing, my writings are remarkable, that one thing[6] is a +thrice-condensed conciseness--in my castle in the air. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[4] Land recently reclaimed from the Back Bay, near the foot of Beacon +street, in which the richer citizens of Boston are continually building +and furnishing the most showy houses. + +[5] I was made a convert to that excellent officer, Corporal Punishment, +by the 'happy effects,' as medical writers say of blisters, thereby +brought about in the case of a divine of tender years, who had got at +his Bible through the medium of German (not Luther's). + +Taking for his text the first verse of Genesis, he paraphrased it: 'In +the beginning, all things projected themselves from within outward, and +evolved a Final Cause out of the depths of their individual +consciousness.' As soon as he had got through his discourse and +gratefully asked a blessing on all that we had 'learned and taught,' the +sexton, who apparently entertained unusually high and comprehensive view +of the duties of his calling, attended the preacher to the vestry. +Thence presently issued cries indicative not only of remorse, but of +some kind of physical distress. The two are often connected as +intimately as mysteriously in the discipline of the visible world, +although we are often assured by those who must know, that they have +nothing whatever to do with each other In the invisible. On the +reappearance of the offender, as he meekly wiped his eyes and passed +down the aisle, he was heard, in a broken voice, inquiring of the +deacons where a Hebrew dictionary could be bought; and I have since been +credibly informed that before he arrived at maturity he had learned a +good deal. + +Now anybody can read German; in fact, a great many persons seem wholly +unable to stop. But if we do not keep a theological boy to read our +Greek and Hebrew for us, then what do we keep one for? Or, to make the +question intelligible to those among us who speak the Sweden-borgian +tongue, what 'uses does he perform?' + + + + +THE DEVIL'S CANON IN CALIFORNIA. + + +This wonderful ravine is more generally known under the name of the +_Geysers of California_, an ambitious misnomer, which associates it with +the grand Geysers of Iceland, and has given rise to erroneous ideas in +regard to the nature and action of the springs it contains. + +The prevalent idea of a geyser is a hot fountain, sometimes quiescent, +but at others rising in turbulent eruption. The mere existence of a hot +spring does not imply a 'geyser,' for, if such were the case, their +number would be very great, hot springs in many parts of the world being +frequent if not general accompaniments of volcanic action. +Unquestionably, the Geysers of Iceland, the 'Strokr,' and the spring of +the Devil's Canon, the 'Witches' Caldron', are the results of volcanic +action; but that action differs essentially in its operation. The +'Strokr' and the 'Great Geyser' are intermittent, and are accounted for +by the siphon theory: the 'Witches' Caldron' is always full and boiling, +and no difference is seen in it from one year's end to another. + +It is not, moreover, a fountain, but a basin in the hillside, in which a +black and muddy spring is always bubbling without overflowing. + +The great eruptions of the Icelandic Geysers are, it has been observed, +accounted for by the siphon theory; in other words, this theory supposes +the existence of a chamber in the heated earth, not quite full of water, +and communicating with the upper air by means of a pipe, whose lower +orifice is _at the side_ of the cavern and _below_ the surface of the +water. The water, being kept boiling by the intense heat, generates +steam, which soon accumulates such force as to discharge the contents of +the pond into the air through the narrow vent, or, at least enough to +allow of the escape of the superfluous steam. In the Great Geyser of +Iceland this eruption occurs with tremendous power, lasting only a few +moments, when, all the volume of water falling back into the pool, it +sinks much below its ordinary level, and remains quiescent for several +days, until a fresh creation of steam repeats the phenomenon. + +'The Witches' Caldron,' which is the 'Great Geyser' of California, on +the contrary, never rises into the air; the subterranean pond of which +it is the safety valve, may be considered to rise in it, as in a pipe, +to the surface. It is not necessary to suppose a siphon; a straight +pipe, communicating with the air, will account for all that is peculiar +to this hot spring. + +Before attempting to describe the wonders of the 'Devil's Canon,' it may +be well to give some account of the Geysers of Iceland, to render this +essential difference in character the more striking, especially as +numerous theories, professing to account for the Californian phenomena, +have been propounded by the people of that State, none of which are +thoroughly satisfactory to any one who has examined them attentively. + +The following is taken from 'Letters from High Latitudes,' which +appeared in 1861, and is only one of many accounts by Iceland +travellers. Those interested in these matters will derive much +information from the sketches of Mr. J. Ross Browne, which have had many +readers through _Harper's Magazine_. We quote: + + 'I do not know that I can give you a better notion of the + appearance of the place than by saying that it looked as if for + about a quarter of a mile the ground had been honey-combed by + disease into numerous sores and orifices; not a blade of grass grew + on its hot, inflamed surface, which consisted of + unwholesome-looking, red, livid clay, or crumbled shreds and shards + of slough-like incrustations. Naturally enough, our first impulse + on dismounting was to scamper off to the Great Geyser. As it lay at + the farthest end of the congeries of hot springs, in order to reach + it we had to run the gauntlet of all the pools of boiling water and + scalding quagmires of soft clay that intervened, and consequently + arrived on the spot with our ankles nicely poulticed. But the + occasion justified our eagerness. + + 'A smooth, silicious basin, seventy-two feet in diameter and four + feet deep, wide at the bottom, as in washing basins on board a + steamer, stood before us, brimful of water just upon the simmer; + while up into the air above our heads rose a great column of vapor, + looking as if it was going to turn into the Fisherman's Genie. The + ground above the brim was composed of layers of incrusted silica + like the outside of an oyster shell, sloping gently down on all + sides from the edge of the basin. + + 'As the baggage train with our tents and beds had not yet arrived, + we fully appreciated our luck in being treated to so dry a night; + and having eaten everything we could lay hands on, we sat quietly + down to chess, and _coffee brewed in geyser water_; when suddenly + it seemed as if beneath our very feet a quantity of subterranean + cannon were going off: the whole earth shook, and Sigurdr, starting + to his feet, upset the chess board (I was just beginning to get the + best of the game), and started off at full speed toward the great + basin. By the time we reached its brim, however, the noise had + ceased, and all we could see was a slight movement in the centre, + as if an angel had passed by and troubled the water. Irritated by + this false alarm, we determined to revenge ourselves by going and + tormenting the Strokr. + + 'The Strokr--or the _Churn_--you must know, is an unfortunate + geyser, with so little command over his temper and his stomach that + you can get a _rise_ out of him whenever you like. All that is + necessary is to collect a quantity of sods, and throw them down his + funnel. As he has no basin to protect him from these liberties, you + can approach to the very edge of the pipe, about five feet in + diameter, and look down at the boiling water, which is perpetually + seething at the bottom. In a few minutes the dose of turf you have + administered begins to disagree with him; he works himself up into + an awful passion--tormented by the qualms of incipient sickness; he + groans and hisses, and boils up and spits at you with malicious + vehemence, until at last, with a roar of mingled pain and rage, he + throws up into the air a column of water forty feet high, which + carries with it all the sods that have been chucked in, and + scatters them scalded and half digested at your feet. So irritated + has the poor thing's stomach become by the discipline it has + undergone, that long after all foreign matter has been thrown off, + it goes on retching and spluttering, until, at last, nature is + exhausted, when, sobbing and sighing to itself, it sinks back into + the bottom of its den. Put into the highest spirits by the success + of this performance, we turned to examine the remaining springs. I + do not know, however, that any of the rest are worthy of any + particular mention. They all resemble in character the two I have + described, the only difference being that they are infinitely + smaller, and of much less power and importance. + + 'As our principal object in coming so far was to see an eruption of + the Great Geyser, it was of course necessary to wait his pleasure; + in fact, our movements entirely depended upon his. For the next two + or three days, therefore, like pilgrims round some ancient shrine, + we patiently kept watch, but he scarcely deigned to vouchsafe us + the slightest manifestation of his latent energies. Two or three + times the cannonading we heard immediately after our arrival + recommenced--and once an eruption to the height of about ten feet + occurred; but so brief was its duration, that by the time we were + on the spot, although the tent was not eighty yards distant, all + was over; as after every effort of the fountain, the water in the + basin mysteriously ebbed back into the funnel. This performance, + though unsatisfactory in itself, gave us an opportunity of + approaching the mouth of the pipe, and looking down its scalded + gullet. In an hour afterward the basin was brimful as ever. + + 'On the morning of the fourth day a cry from the guides made us + start to our feet, and with one common impulse rush toward the + basin. The usual subterranean thunders had already commenced. A + violent agitation was disturbing the centre of the pool. Suddenly a + dome of water lifted itself up to the height of eight or ten + feet--then burst and fell; immediately after which a shining liquid + column, or rather sheaf of columns, wreathed in robes of vapor, + sprang into the air, and in a succession of jerking leaps, each + higher than the last, flung their silver crests against the sky. + For a few minutes the fountain held its own, then all at once + appeared to lose its ascending energy. The unstable waters + faltered--drooped--fell, 'like a broken purpose,' back upon + themselves, and were immediately sucked down into the recesses of + their pipe. + + 'The spectacle was certainly magnificent; but no description can + give an idea of its most striking features. The enormous wealth of + water, its vitality, its hidden power, the illimitable breadth of + sunlit vapor, rolling out in exhaustless profusion--all combined to + make one feel the stupendous energy of nature's slightest movement. + + 'And yet I do not believe that the exhibition was so fine as some + that have been seen: from the first burst upward to the moment the + last jet retreated into the pipe, was no more than a space of seven + or eight minutes, and at no moment did the crown of the column + reach higher than sixty or seventy feet above the surface of the + basin. Now early travellers talk of three hundred feet, which must, + of course, be fabulous; but many trustworthy persons have judged + the eruptions at two hundred feet, while well-authenticated + accounts--when the elevation of the jet has been actually + measured--make it to have attained a height of upward of one + hundred feet.' + +Such are the peculiar characteristics of the Geysers of Iceland, +differing in almost every essential point from the hot springs, so +called, in California. We propose to show that the phenomena of the +Devil's Canon appear in other parts of the world in connection with some +known volcano, which has at some period in history been in active +operation, and that there is strong reason to believe that they can be +explained by the sinking of cold water into the earth, in a country rich +in salts and minerals, and encountering a volcanic focus, from which the +water is discharged hot and strongly impregnated with the salts through +which it has passed. It was Humboldt's opinion that hot springs +generally originated thus, for he says in 'Kosmos': + + 'A very striking proof of the origin of hot springs by the sinking + of cold meteoric water into the earth, and by its contact with a + volcanic focus, is afforded by the volcano of Jorullo. When, in + September, 1759, Jorullo was suddenly elevated into a mountain + eleven hundred and eighty-three feet above the surrounding plain, + two small rivers, the Rio de Cuitimba and the Rio de San Pedro, + disappeared, and some time afterward burst forth again during + violent shocks of an earthquake, as hot springs, whose temperature + I found, in 1803, to be 186.4 deg. Fahr.' + +The most marked characteristics of the springs of the Devil's Canon are, +the small space in which they are all contained; the profusion and +variety of mineral salts, and the proximity of different minerals, +almost flowing into each other, but never mingling; the number and +different forces of the steam jets on every side; and the remarkable +appearance of the soil. + +The approach to the Devil's Canon is through a section of country +bearing evident traces of volcanic action, and rich in mineral springs, +of which the most important are those of the Napa Valley. First among +these, at the greatest distance from the volcano (if we may be allowed +to call it so), is the soda spring of Napa, a cold spring, greatly +resembling in flavor the water of the Congress Spring at Saratoga. +Passing up the Napa Valley, we find a tepid sulphur spring near St. +Hellon's, known as the 'White Sulphur Spring,' being strongly +impregnated with that mineral, and tasting much like the famous 'White +Sulphur' of Virginia. Its waters, however, are slightly warm, and, +although stronger than those of the 'Warm Springs' of the Blue Ridge, a +basin as clear and buoyant as that could easily be made. + +This spring is owned by Mr. Alstrom, of the Lick House, at San +Francisco, and, being in a charming valley, is fast becoming the most +popular watering place on the Pacific coast. About twelve miles beyond +the Sulphur Springs are the 'Hot Springs,' which resemble the +description just given of the Icelandic Geysers--the little +geysera--there being the same quaking bog around them, which emits steam +to the tread, and the surface being scabby, like an old salt meadow +under a midsummer sun. These waters are scalding hot, but are pure, +excepting a trace of iron. If they have been analyzed, the writer has +not seen the results. + +The Devil's Canon lies about fifteen miles beyond the Hot Springs, and +in the heart of a wild, mountainous country, difficult of access, and +barren of vegetation, except of the most hardy character, such as the +manzanita and Californian oak. Molten mercury, pure and rich, is found +in the crevices of the rocks. Quartz and basalt are freely met with, and +on Geyser Peak disintegrating lava. + +Here the road attains an elevation of three thousand feet, and on either +hand are broad and fertile valleys, with rivers winding through them, +the Russian River valley and the Napa being the most beautiful beneath, +while before us are gorges and barren hills, that rise above each other +in picturesque confusion. + +The first view of the Devil's Canon is obtained from one of these +desolate hills. At our very feet, fully two thousand feet below, +seemingly a sheer descent, rises a little column of smoke or vapor, and +the opposing hills, which rise abruptly to the height of a thousand +feet, seem cleft by a narrow chasm, the sides of which and the +neighboring hillside seem to have been burnt over by fire, and baked of +many colors, like the neighborhood of an old brick kiln. Any one who has +seen the island of St. Helena will at once recognize it as the same +phenomenon which is famous in the 'Hangings,' the blasted precipice by +the side of Longwood Farm, overhanging the valley which Napoleon chose +for his last resting place. This striking similarity is all the more +worthy of note from its occurring there in a purely volcanic island, +every inch of which is decomposed or crumbling lava or lava rock. At the +'Hangings' the soil has the appearance of having been slowly roasted, +long after the central fires which produced the island had lost their +energy. + +Descending the mountain we find ourselves on the brink of a precipice, +overhanging a turbulent stream about two hundred feet below, and facing +the ravine or canon, which contains these wonders, and which is smoking +incessantly throughout its entire length. + +Just at this commanding point a hotel has been erected, from the portico +of which in the early morning we can watch the grand columns of vapor +opposite, before they are shorn of a portion of their splendor by the +rising sun. + +It is possible to walk the entire length of the ravine, surrounded by +jets of steam, and little bubbling springs of mineral water; some +hissing, some sputtering, others roaring, and others shrieking; the +ground being soft and hot, your stick sinking into the clayey ooze, and +a puff of spiteful steam following it as withdrawn; your shoes white or +yellow, as you tread the chalk or the sulphur banks, and your feet +burning with the hot breath of the sulphur blasts below. + +If you are not stifled by the sulphur fumes above, be thankful; and when +at last you reach the 'Mountain of Fire' at the head of the ravine, and +look back upon the perils of your upward journey, you think of poor +Christian in the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Bunyan in his dreams +never imagined a more horrible place. + +It is a vale of wonders--Nature's laboratory, where chemistry is to be +studied. The name and number of the springs is 'legion,' Hot Sulphur, +Warm Sulphur, Blue Sulphur, White Sulphur, Alum, Salt, and nobody knows +all the mineral compounds. You may stand with one foot in a cold bath +and another in a hot one--if you can. With one hand you may dip up alum +water, as bitter and pure as chemistry can compound it, and with the +other sulphur water, that shall sicken your very soul. If you have +rheumatism, bathe in the splendid sulphur baths or the Indian Spring; if +your eyes are weak, use the eye-water, which beats any ever charmed by +magical incantations. + +In the midst of this ravine, into which so many springs are emptying +themselves, is a little stream, which, starting from the head of the +canon quite cool and pure, receives all their mingled waters, and +gradually increases in heat and abominable taste, until at last it +defies description. + +Its stones and the rocks that line its banks, owing probably to the +protection of the cooler water, are tolerably firm in texture, all other +parts of the ravine being burned to a powder which crumbles in the hand, +or, when mixed with water, forms an ooze or clay. Many of these stones +by the sides of this little stream are banded with colors like the +Pictured Rocks of Lake Superior (to compare great things with small), +and probably from the same cause. These beautiful cliffs, the +Schwee-archibi-kung of the Indians, are colored by percolations of +surface-water, by which the coloring matter of various minerals and +acids is brought to the face of the precipice, and it is reasonable to +suppose that the drainage of the mountains behind the Devil's Canon, +sinking to similar beds of minerals, is thrown out by the volcano below +in the shape of steam or mineral springs. It is impossible to drill a +hole two feet deep in the side of the ravine without provoking a little +jet of steam. Now, Daubeny, who is the highest authority on volcanoes, +states that the greater part of their ascending vapor is mere steam, and +that in 'Pantellaria (a volcanic island near Sicily) steam issues from +many parts of this insular mountain, and hot springs gush forth from it +which form together a lake six thousand feet in circumference.' + +Similar jets of steam and hot water are observed at St. Lucia, near the +crater Oalibou, where also there is a continual formation of sulphur +from the condensation of the vapors, a phenomenon which is lavishly +displayed in the Devil's Canon, and in fact around most known volcanoes. +The writer observed it fully two miles from the active volcano of +Kilawea, forming a fine sulphur bed, and a body of steam so dense that +rheumatic natives of Hawaii were in the habit of using it as a vapor +bath. + +The jets of steam in the canon are of the most curious variety. One, +honored by the name of the 'Devil's Steamboat,' is quite a formidable +affair, high up on the hillside, and puffing uninterruptedly, and so +powerfully that the steam is invisible for at least five feet from the +vent. The ground about it is too soft to permit approach, and the heat +too great to tempt it. On a frosty morning, just before sunrise, it is a +fine sight. This, however, is only one of hundreds. It would be imagined +that if they all came from the same source, they would puff in some sort +of unison--that the beatings of the mighty heart below would be felt +simultaneously in every pulse; but the fact is quite the reverse. No +tune or concord is preserved by any two in the canon; one moves with the +quiet regularity of respiration, while the next is puffing with the +nervous anxiety of a little high-pressure tug boat. It affords endless +amusement to listen to their endless variety of complaint; some are +restless, some spiteful, and some angry, while others sound as merrily +as a teakettle, or beat a jolly 'rub-a-dub,' 'rataplan,' that makes a +man's soul merry to hear. In fact, there is a little retreat just out of +the canon, styled the Devil's Kitchen, where the pot and the saucepan, +the gridiron and the teakettle are visible to men gifted with +imaginations strong enough to grasp the unseen. + +The great feature of the canon, which has given it the unmerited name of +'Geyser,' is the Witches' Caldron, a small cavity in the hillside, +seemingly running back into the hill at an angle of forty-five degrees, +filled with villanous black mud in unceasing commotion. + +How different from the pellucid basin of the Great Geyser! Lord Dufferin +tells us that he '_brewed his coffee_ in the Geyser water.' + +The mud boils like the angry lava-waves of a volcano; it is always of a +very high temperature, and occasionally runs over the rim of the basin, +but never rises violently into the air. It looks like black sulphur +(bitumen), and has a brimstone smell. Certainly it is a diabolical pit, +and worth coming far to see, but it shows none of the phenomena which +tempt travellers to Iceland. + +It more closely resembles the salses or mud volcanoes of Central and +South America, and is a phenomenon very common on the sides of +volcanoes. As far back as the time of Pliny it was observed that 'in +Sicily eruptions of wet mud precede the glowing (lava) stream.' + +Humboldt recognizes in the 'salses, or small mud volcanoes, a transition +from the changing phenomena presented by the eruptions of vapor and +thermal springs, to the more powerful and awful activity of the streams +of lava that flow from volcanic mountains.' + +Although the recent discovery of the Devil's Canon in California makes +it impossible to say at what time, if ever, this smothered volcano may +have been more active, we have accounts of analogous phenomena in +Central America and San Salvador, in the Ausoles of Ahuachapan, near the +volcano of Izalco, which were described in 1576 by Licenciado Palacio, +and also in what was called the 'Infernillo,' on the side of the volcano +of San Vicente, which was mentioned by the Spanish _Conquistadores_. We +also know something of the subsequent history of these volcanoes; for M. +Arago has remarked that + + 'The volcano of Izalco is extremely active. Among its eruptions may + be cited those of 1798, 1805, 1807, and 1825. On the occasion of + the last eruption the course of the river Tequisquillo was altered + to the extent of several kilometres.' + +Also: + + 'The volcano of San Vicente, called also Sacatecoluca, was + distinguished in 1643 by a very violent eruption which covered all + the surrounding country with ashes and sulphur. In January, 1835, a + new eruption of this volcano destroyed many towns and villages.' + +Now let us see what old Palacio says of the springs on the side of this +fearful volcano of Izalco: + + 'The springs, which the Indians call 'Hell,' are all within the + space of a gunshot across, and each makes a different noise. One + imitates the sound of a fuller's mill; another that of a forge, and + a third a man snoring. The water in some is turbid; in some clear; + in others red, yellow, and various colors. They all leave deposits + of corresponding colors. Collectively the springs form the Rio + Caliente, running underground for a quarter of a league, and so hot + on reaching the surface as to take the skin off a man's feet. + Double the range of a musket shot from these springs are others, + which flow from a rock fifteen feet long by nine feet broad, split + in the centre, sending out with water columns of smoke and steam, + with a fearful sound, distinguishable for half a league.' + +A later visitor has given an account of the same springs, which may be +thus condensed: + + 'Not far from Apaneca and in the vicinity of the town of + Ahuachapan, are some remarkable thermal springs, called _Ausoles_. + They emit a dense white steam from a semi-fluid mass of mud and + water in a state of ebullition, which continually throws off large + and heavy bubbles. [The mud bubbles of the Witches' Caldron are + quite as extraordinary.] They occupy a considerable space, the + largest not less than one hundred yards in circumference. In this + one the water is exceedingly turbid, of a light brown color, and + boils furiously. The waters in the other caldrons vary in color, + and form deposits of the finest clay of every shade. Steam ascends + in a dense white cloud, shutting out the sun; the ground is all + hot, soon becoming insupportable. In places a little jet of steam + and smoke rises fiercely from a hole in the hills, while in others + boiling water rushes out as if forced from a steam engine. The + water possesses varying mineral qualities. + + 'All these springs are on the side of the volcano Apaneca, one of a + cluster of which Izalco is the most active, and Santa Anna the + mother volcano.' + +These accounts would be equally correct if applied to the Devil's Canon; +but the following appears to surpass it in the power of the volcano +below. It is condensed from a description by the same traveller, whose +name cannot be ascertained: + + 'On the north side of the volcano of San Vicente (a water volcano + occupying the geographical centre of San Salvador, seven thousand + feet above the sea), at the head of a considerable ravine, and near + the base of the mountain, is a place called 'El Infernillo.' + + 'For the space of several hundred yards, rills of hot water spring + from the ground, which looks red and burned, and there are numerous + orifices sending out spires of steam with a fierce vigor like the + escape of a steam engine. The principal discharge is from an + orifice thirty feet broad, opening beneath a ledge of igneous + rocks, nearly on a level with the bottom of the ravine. Smoke, + steam, and hot water are sent out with incredible velocity for a + distance of forty yards, as if from a force pump, with a roar as of + a furnace in full blast. The noise is intermittent (although never + ceasing entirely) and as regular as respiration. All around are + salts, crystallized sulphur, and deposits of clay of every shade. + There is no vegetation in the vicinity, and the stream for a mile + is too hot for the hand to bear.' + +Such a striking similarity in phenomena at so great a distance apart, in +connection with active or dormant volcanoes, would seem to be enough to +prove the connection in any candid mind, and utterly refute the idle +theory that all this heat may be produced by the chemical action of +water on beds of sulphates or phosphates just below the surface. The +temperature of the water should be sufficient to show that it comes from +great depths. The writer was unable, from want of a thermometer, to +verify the temperatures of the various springs in the Devil's Canon, but +was told that they average 201 deg., and as most of them were boiling, it +appeared not to be far from the truth. Since Arago discovered, in 1821, +that the deepest artesian wells were the hottest, it has been observed +that the hottest springs are the purest; and from their geological +surroundings, many are proved to come from great depths. The Aguas +Calientes de las Trincheras, near Puerto Cabello, issue from _granite_, +at a temperature of 206 deg.; the Aguas de Comaugillas, near Guanaxuato, +from _basalt_, at 205 deg.. To more fully establish the volcanic origin of +the phenomena of California and Central America, if such a thing were +necessary, it can, however, be shown that similar phenomena are found +around the crater of a volcano in _actual eruption_. + +A graphic account of 'White Island,' in the South Pacific, from the pen +of Captain Cracroft, R. N., who visited it with the Governor of New +Zealand, in H. M. S. Niger, speaks of boiling springs, 'geysers,' and +steam-escapes, in connection with a very remarkable active volcano. + +As very few are acquainted with this singular island, his description of +his visit is given in full: + + 'Sunday, _January_ 15, 1862. + + 'This morning we were well inside the Bay of Plenty, and as the + wind declined to a calm, I got steam up, and stood for White + Island, on which there is a volcano in active operation. The white + cloud of smoke that always hovers over it was in sight before eight + o'clock, in shape like a huge palm tree, and at eleven o'clock, H. + E., the governor, gladly accompanied me ashore, with all the + officers of the ship that could be spared from duty. + + 'As we approached the island, its aspect was of the most singular + and forbidding description. Except on its northern face, to which + the sulphurous vapor does not appear to reach, it is utterly + destitute of vegetation: here and there are a few patches of + underwood; but in every other direction the island is bald, bleak, + and furrowed into countless deep-worn ravines. The centre of the + island has been hollowed out by the crater of the volcano into a + capacious basin, almost circular, and, excepting to the south, + where there is a huge cleft or rent, its sides or edges rise almost + perpendicular full eight hundred feet from the base. After some + trouble, carefully backing in with the swell, a landing was + effected on the south side, when a most extraordinary sight was + displayed to our view. Before us, in the hollow of the basin, was a + lake of yellow liquid, smoking hot, about a hundred yards in + diameter, as near as could be guessed. Around this, but chiefly + toward the north side, were numerous jets of steam spouting out of + the ground. A strong sulphurous smell pervaded the atmosphere, and + warned us what was to be expected from a nearer proximity to the + crater in active operation at the farther end of the lake, to + which, nothing daunted by its appearance, our party was determined + to penetrate. Our advance was made cautiously; the surface of the + ground was in some places soft and yielding, and we knew not to + what brimstone depths an unwary step might sink us. There were + little ravines to be crossed, which had to be first carefully + sounded. As we proceeded on the soft, crustaceous surface, + diminutive spouts of vapor would spit forth, as if to resent our + intrusion. In skirting the edge of the lake, its temperature and + taste were both tested; the former varied with the distance from + the seething bubbling going on at the extremity; in some places the + hand could be kept in, but 130 deg. was the highest registered, without + risk to the thermometer, by Mr. Lawrenson, assistant surgeon: the + taste may be imagined, but not described! + + 'Continuing our advance, the roaring and hissing became louder and + louder, as though a hundred locomotives were all blowing off + together, while the steam from the crater and numerous geysers + surrounding it was emitted in huge volumes, ascending full two + thousand feet in the air. Most fortunately it was a perfect calm, + or the fumes of the sulphur would alone have sufficed to stop our + progress; but there was also every reason to believe, judging from + the description I have by me of a former visit, that the volcano + was to-day in a more quiescent state than usual. Everywhere sulphur + was strewed around, and we had only to enlarge any of the vapor + holes to obtain it in its pure crystallized state. We were now + within a few yards of the crater--huge bubbles of boiling mud were + rising several feet from the surface of the lake--the heat and + sulphurous vapor were almost insupportable; it was evident that no + animal life could long exist here. But before leaving this caldron, + one of the mids, more venturous than the rest, climbed up a small, + semi-detached hill, and his example being followed, we beheld a + scene that beggars all description. In full activity a roaring + fountain shot up into the scorching atmosphere: we deemed this to + be molten sulphur, but no flame was visible in the daylight; stones + were thrown in, but they were projected into the air as high as the + ship's mast-heads. It was a sight never to be forgotten; and we + retraced our steps to the boats with the satisfaction of having + been permitted to make a closer examination of this grand natural + curiosity than any previous visitor. We saw no indication of either + animal or insect life, and it is not likely that any can exist on + this island. On the beach, which was composed of large bowlders, + lay the bones of an enormous whale, and a couple of whale birds + hovered round the boats as they pulled back to the ship.' + +Here we have an account agreeing in every respect, as far as it goes, +with the appearance of the desolate valley known as 'Geyser Canon,' the +same 'burnt-out' look of the land, the same jets of steam, large and +small, and boiling caldrons of mud. + +'The surface of the soil was soft and yielding,' according to the +gallant captain, and the punching of a stick called out spiteful little +jets of steam. It is to be regretted, however, that the observant +officer does not acquaint us with the taste of the waters. Probably one +swallow was enough for him, if it was sulphur water; and he does not +even tell us that, so that it is impossible to say whether the numerous +kinds of salts noticed in California are to be traced here. His +testimony is explicit that these 'geysers' occur on the sides of a great +volcano.[7] + +Thus, in conclusion, it will be seen how a comparison of all the +phenomena occurring in the 'Devil's Canon'--where, without any other +positive proof, we suspect the existence of a deep-seated volcano--with +similar thermal springs and jets of steam on the sides of known +volcanoes, in many and distant parts of the world, either now or at some +recorded time in active operation, drives us irresistibly to the +inference that the so-called 'Geysers' are of similar origin, and only +another manifestation of the dormant energies of the interior of our +globe; now bursting out in lava flames, as on Hecla or Vesuvius, and now +mildly presenting us with a tepid bath. + +As to the name of geyser being applied to the Californian phenomena, we +protest against it. A true geyser is a natural hydraulic machine of +magnificent power; it is a spring, to be sure, but a mineral spring is +not necessarily a geyser, and there is as much difference between the +'Geysers of California' and the Strokr or the 'Great Geyser,' as there +is between a squib and a musket-shot. Call the springs AUSOLES, if you +please, like their counterparts of Ahuachapan, or 'give the devil his +due,' and call the place as it was called by its discoverer. + +THE DEVIL'S CANON is not a bad name for such a diabolical, sulphurous, +hot, and altogether infernal den. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[6] Said the pleader to the judge, 'If there is any one thing which, +more than any other thing, proves the thing, this thing is that thing!' +'Which thing?' said the judge to the pleader. + +[7] White Island is in the Bay of Plenty, not far from Auckland, the +government seat of New Zealand, on the more northerly of the two islands +forming the group. According to Mr. George French Angas, whose Travels +in New Zealand are quoted In Dicken's _Household Words_ for October 19, +1850, the neighboring mainland (if the word may be applied to the +principal inland) abounds in hot springs of volcanic origin. + +Mr. Angas says: + +'I visited the boiling springs which issue from the side of a steep +mountain, called Te Rapa. There were nearly one hundred of them; they +burst out, bubbling from little orifices in the ground, which are not +more than a few inches in diameter, the steam rushes out in clouds with +considerable force: the hillside is covered with them, and a river of +hot water runs down into the lake. The soil around is a red-and-white +clay, strongly impregnated with sulphur and hydrogen gas; pyrites also +occur. Several women were busy cooking baskets of potatoes over some of +the smaller orifices: leaves and ferns were laid over the holes, upon +which the food was placed. They were capitally done. + +'About two miles from this place, on the edge of a great swampy flat, I +met with a number of boiling ponds; some of them of very large +dimensions. We forded a river flowing swiftly toward the lake, which is +fed by the snows melting in the valleys of the Tongariro. In many +places, in the bed of this river, the water boils up from the +subterranean springs below, suddenly changing the temperature of the +stream, to the imminent risk of the individual who may be crossing. +Along whole tracts of land I heard the water boiling violently beneath +the crust over which I was treading. It is very dangerous travelling, +for, if the crust should break, scalding to death must ensue. I am told +that the Rotuma natives, who build their houses over the hot springs in +that district, for the sake of constant warmth at night, frequently meet +with accidents of this kind: it has happened that when a party has been +dancing on the floor, the crust has given way, and the convivial +assembly has been suddenly swallowed up in the boiling caldron beneath! +Some of the ponds are ninety feet in circumference, filled with a +transparent pale-blue boiling water, sending up columns of steam. +Channels of boiling water run along the ground in every direction, and +the surface of this calcareous flat around the margin of the boiling +ponds covered with beautiful incrustations of lime and alum, in some +parts forming flat saucer-like figures. Husk of maize, moss, and +branches of vegetable substances were incrusted in the same manner. I +also observed small deep holes, or wells, here and there among the grass +and rushes, from two inches to as many feet in diameter, filled with +boiling mud, that rises in large bubbles as thick as hasty pudding; +these mud pits sent up a strong sulphureous smell. Although the ponds +boiled violently, I noticed small flies walking swiftly, or rather +running on their surface. + +The steam that rises from these boiling springs is visible for many +miles, appearing like the jets of a number of steam engines.'--Vol. ii., +pp. 113, 114, 115. + + + + +FLY LEAVES FROM THE LIFE OF A SOLDIER. + +PART I.--SCALES. + + +We were in the _three_-months. + +There! I feel as proud of that as one of the Old Guard would have been +in saying: 'I was of the Army of Italy.' + +There is but one _three_-months (pronounced with the accent strongly +resting on the numeral adverb, after the Hibernian). All others are +spurious imitations. I refer to the early days of the war: the dark days +that followed the first fall of Sumter, when our Southern friends had +just finished the last volume of the lexicon of slavery, that for so +long a time had defined away our manhood, our national honor, and our +birthright of freedom, with such terrible words as 'coercion,' +'secession,' 'fratricidal war,' 'sovereign States,' and what not; before +we had begun to look without fear even at the title page of the new +Gospel of Liberty: the days when we were mudsills and greasy mechanics, +whose pockets were to be touched: the days, in short, when we were still +inclined to crawl upon our bellies, from the preference arising out of +long and strong habit. Then, you remember, the rebellion was to be +crushed in sixty days. So the President issued his proclamation, of date +the 15th of April, A. D. 1861 (and of the independence of the United +States the _first_), calling out SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND men for ninety +days to do it. + +On the same day we were mustered into the service as a part of this +gigantic force of seventy-five thousand, at the bare suggestion of whose +numbers the refractory South was confidently expected to abandon its +rash enterprise, and kindly resume its sway over us. Before the awful +ceremony known as 'mustering in,' we were sixty odd excited young +gentlemen, hailing from and residing in all parts of the country. After +it we were Company N, commanded by Captain John H. Pipes, of the First +Regiment of District of Columbia Volunteers, commanded by Colonel +Charles Diamond, as the muster rolls called us, or the 'American +Sharpshooters,' as we called ourselves. + +Major McDuff mustered us in. He did it after this fashion: First he +walked out into the yard of the War Department, where the company stood +at 'parade rest,' or the nearest militia approach thereto, waiting to be +absorbed. Then he had us marched across the yard and halted; then up it; +then down it; then back to the first position; then forward in a line a +few paces; then, by the right flank, into the back yard, where he left, +us, at a 'rest,' for two hours and fifty-three minutes, while he retired +into the War Department building, probably to ascertain if the thing was +regular. Then, at the fifty-fourth minute, or thereabout, after the +second hour, he caused us to be marched into our original position. +After gazing at us uneasily for a few minutes, he proceeded to inspect +our arms with the utmost care: the importance of which manoeuvre will +more fully appear from the fact that they intended to take us, and did +take many of us, _sans_ lock, stock, or barrel. Then he told us that we +were--called into the--service--of the--United States--for--three +months--to serve in the District--not to go beyond the District--under +any circumstances. Then he called the roll, so accurately (never having +seen it before) that nearly all of us recognized our names, and in +hardly more than two and three quarters the time it would have taken the +orderly sergeant to do it. Then we were told to hold up our right hands, +and a stout party, well known to all early volunteers, stepped forward +from wherever he had been before, and, introducing himself by +exclaiming, in solemn and cavernous tones, 'THE FOLLOWING IS THE OATH!' +swore us in. Then, after another short adjournment of half an hour, we +were marched to our barracks. + +That was a queer organization, the 1st D.C. Vols., composed as it was of +a cloud of independent companies--thirty-five, or thereabout, in all, I +think--all made up of men from everywhere, largely in the tadpole stage +of Unionism, and all sworn in for service in the District, not to go +beyond the District. Early in May they were organized into eight +battalions of four or five companies each, commanded by +lieutenant-colonels, majors, or the senior captains. Nearly every +company occupied its own separate 'armory' or barracks, and all the +officers and men lived at home when not actually on guard or other duty! + +It was an awful feeling that sandwiched the gaps of new-born exultation +at finding ourselves real soldiers--that feeling of a merged identity; +the individual Smith sold for glory at $11 per mensem, and lost, lost in +an aggregate: become only a cog in a little machine connected with a +larger machine that forms part of the great machine called an army. One +thing saved us the full horror of this discovery: we were not bothered +with corps, divisions, brigades, or even greatly with regiments, in +those days, and if individually we were ciphers or merely recurring +decimals, collectively 'our company' was of the first importance; and +this reflection stiffened the breasts of our gray frock coats, and +caused our scales (we wore scales!) to shine again. + +_First night_. Everybody wants to be on guard! Think of that, old +soldiers, and grin. The captain details twice as many as are necessary, +to prevent clamor. Some of the more enthusiastic of the disappointed +ones offer to stay at the armory all night, to be on hand in case of +anything happening. We can never be certain about the enemy's crossing +the Long Bridge, you know. The company, guard and all, is drilled +vigorously, in squads, for two hours. Then the unhappy fellows who are +to go home loiter themselves, with many wistful glances, out of the +building. Then the guard plays euchre, reads, reads aloud, sings, +fences, and drills. A few sleepy heads lie down in corners about one +A.M., and are not going to sleep, but nevertheless shortly complain of +being kept awake by the noise. 'Never mind,' growls the melancholy man +of the company; 'won't hear any of this to-morrow night. D----d glad to +go to sleep then.' The melancholy man, now as hereafter, is voted a +bore, but, as I presently discover, turns out to be pretty nearly right, +and achieves the sad triumph of being able to say, 'Told you so; +wouldn't believe me; now see.'--Daylight. No one has been asleep, yet, +strange to say, everyone has waked up and found everyone else snoring. +No one waits for _reveille_, this first morning. You stretch yourself, +and endeavor to rise. Which is you, and which the board floor? You +rather think this must be you that has just got up, because it aches so +down the grain, and its knots or eyes--yes, they are eyes--are so full +of sand. This must be how Rip Van Winkle felt after his nap in the +Catskills, you think. You wonder how those fellows Boyce and Tripp can +skylark so on an empty stomach. Three hours to breakfast. You police the +quarters with vigor. 'Heavens, what a dust! Open the windows, somebody; +and look here, Sergeant! the floor hasn't been sprinkled.' The sharp, +quick tones of the sergeant of the guard (more like the sound of a +tenpenny nail scratching mahogany than aught else in nature) soon set +matters right. You think you have surely swallowed your peck of dirt +that morning, and feel even more gastric than you usually do on an empty +stomach. You can go home to breakfast now: but you hear Johnny Todd's +cheery voice sing out; 'Fall in, cocktail squad!' and march off with a +score of your comrades to the nearest restaurant, which, finding just +open, the squad incontinently takes possession of. You take a cocktail, +a whiskey cocktail, with the edge of the green glass previously lemoned +and dipped in powdered sugar. 'Ah,' says Todd to everybody, and +everybody, to everybody else, including Todd, 'that goes to the right +place' (slapping it affectionately). Oh, reader, if wearer of p[)a]hnts, +did you ever meet with a decoction, infusion, or other mixture +whatsoever, vinous, alcoholic, or maltic, with or without sugar, that +did _not_ go to the right place? And if there was a fault, wasn't it in +the addition of a trifle too much lemon peel? The crowd takes another of +the same sort. You take another. Then you wish you hadn't. + +You go to the office that day, for, in common with two-thirds of the +company, you are a clerk in one of the Departments as well as a soldier; +and you can think and talk of nothing but the war. The oldsters quiz +your enthusiasm unmercifully, and cause your complexion to assume a red +and gobbling appearance, and your conversation to limp into +half-incoherent feebleness. Nevertheless everyone is very kind to you, +for you are a great pet with the old fogies--their prize 'Jack;' and +even old Mr. Gruff rasps down his tones, so that those harsh accents +seem to pat you on the back. Your handwriting, usually so firm and easy, +quavers a little, and exhibits more of the influence of the biceps +muscle than of your accustomed light play of the wrist and fingers. But, +you think, it's the rifle that does it, and are rather proud of this. + +_Second night._ You rush down after an early dinner, in rash anxiety to +be drilled. Arriving very red and hot at the armory, you find bales of +straw and boxes on the sidewalk in front, and hear dreadful rumors that +our armory is to be taken away; that we are to have regular barracks, +and live there all the time; that we are to draw rations, and cook them. +Dismay is on every face. The melancholy man alone seems not to be +jostled from his habitual sad composure: he explains to the inquiring, +doubting crowd that the ration consists of 'one and a quarter pounds of +fresh beef or three quarters of a pound of salt beef, pork, or bacon, +fourteen ounces of flour or twelve ounces of hard bread, with eight +pounds of coffee, ten of sugar, ten of rice or eight quarts of beans, +four quarts of vinegar, four pounds of soap, one and a quarter pounds +candles, and two quarts of salt, to the hundred rations. But you won't +get fresh meat often, nor yet flour, and I reckon you'll have to take +beans instead of rice pretty much all the time, now't South Car'lina's +out.' _We_ eat salt pork! or beans either, except very occasionally. +There began to be serious symptoms of mutiny. Fippany and one or two +others declaimed so violently against the outrage, that the more +enthusiastic of us felt bound to use our influence to prevent the spread +of a disaffection that seemed to us highly calculated to embarrass the +action of the Government in this crisis. The end of it was that we +marched up to our new quarters, and, in the excitement of moving in and +receiving our clothing and camp and garrison equipage, had forgotten our +troubles, when (just as the melancholy man discovered that the overcoats +were seven short of the right number, that the mess pans all leaked, and +that the quarters were full of fleas) our orders to move were +countermanded, and we marched back again in joy. There were fewer +volunteers for guard duty that night, and the natural rest of the +sergeant of the guard was undisturbed save by the occasional nightmare +of having overslept the hour for relieving the meek sentinels (not yet +instructed in the art of awakening drowsy non-commissioned officers by +stentorian alarms, and indeed not yet knowing accurately the measure of +their 'two hours on'), or by some louder howl than usual from poor Todd +second, who, having continued his course of eye-opening to the hours +when sober citizens and prudent soldiers incline to close theirs, spent +the major portion of the night in dramatic recitations of the beauties +of Shakspeare, utterly neglecting and refusing to 'dry up,' although +frequently admonished thereto by the growls and eke by the curses of his +comrades. + +The next afternoon and evening, including in the latter elastic term +many hours more properly claimed by the night, were spent in confused +and bungling attempts to issue the clothing and camp and garrison +equipage considerately provided for us by the Government. First +everybody opened all the boxes at once, and grabbed for everything. Then +everybody put his things back and petitioned for somebody else's. 'My +overcoat is too big.' 'Mine is too short.' 'Golly! what sleeves!' 'What +are these bags for?' 'Those things knapsacks! how you goin' to fassen +'em? no straps!' 'My canteen has no cork.' ... '_Silence_!' roars the +captain, and '=Silence!=' rasps the orderly sergeant, three times as +loudly and six as disagreeably. And then everybody being ordered to +replace everything, that a proper system of distribution may be adopted, +half of us hide our plunder away, and the other half dump their prizes +promiscuously and in sullenness. 'Here, here!' barks Sergeant Files; +'this kind of thing's played out. There were sixty-five canteens; +where's the other sixty?' Presently the confusion unravels a little, +but, after a breathing spell, begins again worse than ever, when our +melancholy friend, Smallweed, having signed the clothing receipt +doubtfully, presently announces, with the air of an injured martyr, that +he supposes it's all right, but he can't find all the things he signed +for. Then everybody frantically examines into this new difficulty, and +discovers that they signed for everything, and got nothing. Poor Captain +Pipes scratches his head perplexedly, and smokes in anxious puffs. +Sergeant Files hustles everybody about, exposes several shamefaced +impostors, who have more than everything, and by the timely announcement +that Smallweed's deficiency consists of two overcoat straps, which are +no longer used in the service, restores comparative quiet. Smallweed, +however, retires up and shakes his head dubiously, remarking in an +undertone, to a weak-eyed young man, who stands in mortal awe of him, +that it may be all right, but he don't see it. + +Drills, drills, drills! For the next week we have nothing but +drills--except guard duty. Squad drills, company drills, drills in the +facings, drills under arms, drills in the morning, noonday drills, +drills at night. Besides these, the office all day, and guard duty every +third night. Talk about the patriotic days of '76! you think--was there +ever anything like this? In less than a week everybody is played out; +everybody, that is, except a lymphatic, dull-visaged backwoodsman, named +Tetter, who drags through everything so slowly and heavily, that he +can't get tired, and an old Polish cavalryman, named Hrsthzschnoffski, +or something of the kind, but naturally called Snuffsky, who knows +neither enthusiasm nor fatigue, who never volunteers for a duty nor ever +begs off from it. Growls arise. Men pale about the cheeks, beady in the +forehead, and dark under the eyes, begin to collect in knotlets, and +talk over the situation. 'We enlisted to fight,' the bolder spirits +hint; 'we came to fight, not to drill and guard armories. Why don't they +take us out and let us whip the enemy, and go back to our business?' But +presently comes + +_The 19th of April._ No drill to-night. What is that? A fight in +Baltimore? Nonsense! True though, for all that, as history will vouch. +Six regiments of Massachusetts troops have been attacked in Baltimore by +the 'Plugs,' and cut to pieces. Where was the 'Seventh!' we wonder, +educated in the creed of its invincibility and omnipresence. The Seventh +was there too, and has been massacred. Colonel Lefferts is killed. There +is a stir around the armory door, the knot of idlers gives way +respectfully, and admits a little man, the pride of the regiment, always +cool, collected, handsome, and soldierly--Colonel Diamond. He says half +a dozen words in a whisper to the captain, writes three lines with a +pencil on the fly leaf of an old letter, gives a comprehensive glance +around, in which we feel he sees everything, salutes the captain, and +marches briskly, almost noiselessly, into the street. Smallweed, the +melancholy man, rolls up his blanket, packs his knapsack, combs his hair +sadly, and moans out: 'Detail for the guard: Private Smallweed. I'm +d----d if I stand this any longer! I'll write to----' + +'Fall in men; fall in under arms; fall in lively now!' barks the orderly +sergeant. 'Get up here, Snuffsky. Tetter, don't you mean to fall in at +all?' and so on. Volunteers are wanted for special and perhaps dangerous +service. Perhaps dangerous! (Quick movement of admiration.) 'Every man +willing to go will step two paces to the front.' The company moves +forward in line, much to the disgust of Sergeant Files, who finds he +must make a detail after all. Lieutenant Frank, Sergeant Mullins, +Corporal Bledsoe, and twenty privates are presently detailed, and, after +tremendous preparation and excitement, during which Smallweed discovers +that some one has stolen his percussion caps, and is incontinently +cursed by Sergeant Files for his pains, march off amid the cheers of the +disappointed remainder. We mourn our sad lot at being left out of the +detail, when presently comes a second detail: Second Lieutenant +Treadwell, Sergeant Ogle, Corporal Funk, and twenty privates, of whom +you, Jenkins, are one. As you get ready, you adopt stern resolves, +stiffen that upper lip, and confide a short message for some one to one +of the survivors, in case, as you proudly hint, you should not return. +The survivor rewards you with a pressure of the hand, and a look of +wonder at your coolness. + +'_Support_--ARMS! _Quick_--MARCH!' the lieutenant says, almost in a +whisper, as we leave the building, and are fairly in the street. Where +are we going? Why do we go down Pennsylvania Avenue? This is not the +way to Long Bridge. Are the enemy attacking the navy yard? all wonder; +no one speaks. 'Halt!' Why, this is the telegraph office! and we take +possession of it in the name of the United States. Despatches between +Baltimore and Richmond have passed over the wires that very evening, and +we even interrupt one with our sword bayonets. Then we hear the truth +about that Baltimore business. The Southern operators and clerks crow +over and denounce us. We feel gulpy about the throat, and those of us +who yet tremble at the thought of 'fratricide,' wish they were out of +this, until Smallweed effects a diversion by dexterously, though quite +accidentally, upsetting the longest-haired, loudest-mouthed operator +into the biggest and dirtiest spittoon. But worse than this is in store +for the unlucky sympathizers, for, after thinking sadly over his feat, +the same melancholy Smallweed suddenly asks them what tune the Southern +Confederacy will adopt as its national air. One incautious Georgian +suggests 'Dixie,' he reckons. ''Spittoon,' I should think,' says +Smallweed mournfully. For which he is pronounced by the same gentleman +from Georgia to be a divinely condemned fool. How hungry we grew, and +how pale and seedy, before the relief came at 8 A.M., with the great +news that the other detail had seized the Alexandria boat! + +This is the age of seizures. We seize all the steamers. We seize the +railroad, A train comes in, and we seize the cars. Then there is a let +up: the Confederate lexicon still at work, flashing out the last feeble +jerks of its poison. We release the telegraph; we release the railway; +we release the steamers. One of the latter, the George Page, goes down +to Alexandria, straightway to become a _ram_, terrible to the +weak-minded, though harmless enough in reality. Then we seize them all +again, and, this time, with the railway--praised be Allah!--a train of +cars! Presently a detachment, envied by the disappointed, goes out from +our company on this train to reconnoitre. Communication with the great +North is cut off. Every stalk of corn in all Maryland rises up, in the +nightmare that seems to possess the capital, a man, nay, a 'Southron,' +terrible, invincible, Yankee-hating. Will relief never come? Where are +those seventy-five thousand? Where is the Seventh? Officers in mufti are +known to have been sent out to Annapolis and Baltimore with orders and +for news. Others arrive in Washington filled with strange and vague +tidings of impending disaster. But as yet these doves have no news save +of the deluge. Presently an early _reveille_ startles us from our beds +of soft plank, and, as we fall in sleepily, fagged and exhausted in mind +and body by this work, so new and so trying, we are electrified by the +hoarse croak of Sergeant Files--he too is used up. 'Volunteers to go +beyond the District,' step two paces t'the front--H'rch!' Four men +remain in the ranks. All eyes turn to this shabby remnant, but they +remain immovable, with the leaden expression belonging to the victims of +the Confederate lexicon, that seems to say, unaccused, '_I am not +ashamed._' These men are instantly detailed for guard duty at the armory +for the next twenty-four hours. + +The rest of us reach the railway station shortly after daylight, are +told off into platoons, and embarked on the train which the hissing +engine announces to be waiting for us. Our comrades in this adventure +are Captain Hoblitzel's company, the 'Swartz-Jaegers,' brawny mechanics, +sturdy Teutons, and all of a size. These are Germans, remember, not what +we call Hessians; not the kind that are destined to make Pennsylvania a +byword; not the kind that advance in clogs but retreat in seven-league +boots. We part from our German friends with a rousing cheer, as heartily +returned, at a bridge which they are to guard. Then we have the cars to +ourselves. Surely this is the _ne plus ultra_ of railway travelling; +free tickets and a whole seat to yourself. We are to keep our rifles out +of sight, unless an emergency arises. The funny men play conductor, +announcing familiar stations in unintelligible roars, and singing out +'Tickets!' importunately. This is our first real danger. There is real +excitement in this. We all hope there will be a fight; all except +Smallweed, who remains melancholy, according to his wont, save when a +sad pun breaks the surface into a temporary ripple of quiet smiles. And +so, with wild jokes, mad capers, and loudly shouted songs, we whirl +along, twenty miles an hour, over bridges, through cuts, above +embankments, always through danger and into danger. Hoot, toot! shrieks +the engine; the breaks are rasped down; the train slowly consumes its +momentum in vainly trying to stop suddenly. Silence reigns. Every man +nervously, as by instinct, grasps his rifle, half cocks it, looks to the +cap, and thrusts his head out of the window. A shout: 'There they are!' +'Where?' Several of the more nervous rifle barrels protrude uncertainly +from the windows. 'Steady men, _steady!_' from the clear voice of +Captain Pipes. 'I see them.' 'There they are.' 'Three of them.' 'One of +them has on gray clothes, and--' + +'THE SEVENTH, by----!' rings in every ear. No matter who said it. '_The +Seventh_,' every throat shouts. Then such a cheer, and such another, and +such another after that, and such a tiger after that, and such other +cheers and such other tigers!--until the train stops, and, regardless of +orders, unheeding the vain protests of the captain or the curses of the +lieutenants, or the objurgations of Sergeant Files, we rush madly, +pellmell, from the cars. Everybody shakes hands with the Seventh man, +and with everybody else. He is thirsty: sixty odd flasks are uncorked +and jammed at him. Hungry, too? The men hustle him into the cars, and +almost into the barrels of pork and bread, with which we came provided +in quantities sufficient, as we thought in our simplicity, for a siege, +though really, as I have since found reason to believe, amounting to +less than a thousand rations. + +'Where is the Seventh?' 'At the Junction.' We are only a mile from the +Junction. All aboard again, and we steam up to the Junction, just in +time to see the leading companies file into the station, from their +historical march--famous from being the first of the war, twice famous +because Winthrop told its story; in time to see the Eighth Massachusetts +follow our favorite heroes; in time to bring the Seventh to Washington; +in time thus to terminate the dark hours of anxious suspense and doubt +that followed the 19th of April and the drawing of the first blood in +the streets of Baltimore. + +Dulness succeeds this spurt of glory, and there is nothing more +interesting than guarding the Long Bridge or a steamboat, alternating +with drills, drills, drills! We are initiated into the mystery of the +double quick, under knapsacks and overcoats. Men begin to be detailed on +extra duty. More men are detailed on extra duty. Doctor Peacack makes +his appearance. The sick list becomes an institution. It is curious to +notice how the same men, detailed for guard, police, or fatigue, appear +on the sick list, and, being excused by the mild Peacack, straightway +reappear in the 'cocktail squad.' But a wink, as good as a nod, from the +captain, and the fragrant oil of the castor bean, prescribed to be taken +on the spot, soon corrects these little discrepancies. The guardhouse +becomes an institution. Todd second is a frequent inmate; he will drink. +Swilliams is another, who takes a drink, and becomes insane; takes +another, and becomes sick; takes another, and then a quiet snooze, with +his head resting on the nearest curb. We call these unfortunates +'Company Q;' a splendid joke. The captain drills us as far as 'On the +right, by file, into line,' and apparently can get no farther. So we +think, and that the first lieutenant kn=ows twice much as the captain. +And, oh! how we come to hate Sergeant Files, and his hard, carking +voice, always rasping somebody about something! We have been in service +a month. The city is full of troops; the heights back are covered with +camps; the 'Fire Zouaves' have introduced the Five Points to our +acquaintance; General Blankhed is still giving passes to go to Richmond; +the enemy's pickets stare at ours from other end of Long Bridge; nobody +is hurt as yet. Presently comes an order constituting the 'American +Sharpshooters,' the 'Fisler Guards,' the Union Carbineers,' the 'Seward +Cadets,' and the 'Bulger Guards,' a battalion, to be known as the Ninth +Battalion (did I say there were only eight? no matter) of the First +Regiment of District of Columbia Volunteers, and to be commanded by +Major Johnson Heavysterne, the _beau ideal_ of a militia major--fat, +pompous, not much acquainted with military, but, to use his own +vocabulary, knowing right smart in the fish and cheese line. But let me +deal kindly with the honest old soul; he meant well, but he had bad +luck; and he made me, Private William Jenkins, the writer of these +disjointed phrases, sergeant-major of the battalion. Whereof, kind +reader, more anon: for here I left off my _scales_ and sewed on my +_chevrons_. (That is, she did. Please see PART II.) + + + + +THE SACRIFICE + + + The blood that flows for freedom is God's blood! + Who dies for man's redemption, dies with Christ! + The plan of expiation is unchanged: + And, as One died, supremely good, for all, + So one dies still, that many more may live. + + So fall our saviours on the bloody field, + In deadly swamps, along the foul lagoons, + On the long march, in crowded hospitals, + Of wounds, of weariness, of pain and thirst, + Of wasting fevers and of sudden plagues, + Of pestilence, that lurks within the camp, + Of long home-sickness, and of hope deferred, + Of languishing, in hostile prisons chained-- + And, with their blood, they wash the nation clean, + And furnish expiation for the sin + That those who slay them have been guilty of. + + So God selects the noblest of the land: + He culls the qualities that are His own-- + Our courage, patience, love of human kind, + Our strong devotion to the cause of Right, + Our noblest aspirations for the time + When every man shall stand erect and free, + Self-elevated, God-appointed king! + Knowing no equals, save his brother men; + Ruling no lieges, save his own desires; + The undisputed sovereign of himself, + Owning no higher sovereignty but God. + + God culls these qualities, that are Himself-- + These sparks of Deity that live in man-- + And, in man's person, offers up Himself, + A long, perpetual sacrifice for sin. + + This is the plan--the changeless plan of Heav'n: + The good die, that the evil may be purged; + The noble perish, that the base may live; + The free are bound, that slaves may break their bonds; + Those who have happy homes are self-exiled, + That other exiles may have happy homes; + The bravest sons of Freedom's land are slain, + That the oppressed of tyrant realms may live; + The guilty land is washed in innocent blood; + And slavery is atoned for by the free. + + * * * * * + + Oh! desolate mother, wailing for thy son, + Be comforted. He was a chosen one. + The Lord selected him from other men, + Because the Eternal Eye discerned in him + Some noble attribute, some spark divine, + Some unseen quality, that was from God, + And is a part of God, howe'er obscured + By human weakness, or by human sin-- + Something deemed worthy for the sacrifice + That shall redeem a nation. Weep no more; + For thou art blessed among womankind! + + + + +STRECK-VERSE. + + +The heart freezes upon the snowcapped summit of a mountain of learning. + +Lead heads will not answer as plummets to fathom the depths of the + Infinite. + +Charitable views are enlarged by tear mists. + +Thorns form footholds by which to reach the rose. + +Looking up to the sun, the sad behold rainbows through their tears. + + + + +THE UNDIVINE COMEDY.--A POLISH DRAMA. + +Dedicated to Mary. + + + 'To be, or not to be, that is the question.' + + 'To the accumulated errors of their ancestors, they added others + unknown to their predecessors Doubt and Fear;--therefore it came to + pass that they vanished from the face of the earth, and a deep + silence shrouded them forever.'--_Koran_ il. 18. + + +In offering to the public a translation of the great drama of Count +Sigismund Krasinski, a statesman and poet of Poland, it is not the +intention of the translator to enter upon any detailed analysis of this +widely and justly celebrated work. Such a dissection would diminish the +interest of the reader in the development of the plot, and moreover +pertains properly to the critics, to whom 'The Undivine Comedy' is +especially commended. It is so full of original and subtile thoughts, of +profound truths, of metaphysical deductions and psychological +divinations, that it cannot fail to repay any consideration they may +bestow upon it. A few general remarks, however, seem necessary to +introduce it, in its proper light, to the reader. + +It was published in 1834, and, although it appeared anonymously, it at +once succeeded in attracting the attention of the readers and thinkers +of Poland, Russia, France, and Germany. Its author is now known to have +been Count Sigismund Krasinski, a member of one of the most ancient and +distinguished families of Poland. He was equally eminent as poet, +patriot, and statesman. He took an active and important part in the +social and political questions of his day, many of which are ably +discussed in this drama; questions which have so long disturbed the +peace of Europe, and whose solution is perhaps to be finally given in +our land of equality and freedom. + +'The Undivine Comedy' was not intended for the stage, and, as if to +sever it as widely as possible from all scenic associations, Count +Krasinski makes no use of the terms 'scenes' or 'acts.' This omission +gives a somewhat singular appearance to what is, in fact, a drama; the +translator has, however, remained faithful throughout to the original +form. As the hero, the count, is styled 'The Man' throughout the +original, the name has been preserved, in spite of its awkward +appearance in English: the spirit of a poetic work, full of mystic +symbolism, evaporates so readily in the process of translation, that no +sacrifice of the literal meaning has been made to grace or elegance. + +'The Undivine Comedy,' so called in contradistinction to 'The Divine +Comedy' of Dante, is the first purely _prophetic_ play occurring in the +world of art. Its scenes are indeed all laid in the _time to come_; its +persons, actions, and events are _yet to be_. The struggle of the dying +Past with the vigorous but immature Future, forms the groundwork of the +drama. The coloring is not local, nor characteristic of any country in +particular, because the truths to be illustrated are of universal +application, and are evolving their own solutions in all parts of the +civilized world. + +The soul of the hero, 'The Man,' is great and vigorous; he is by nature +a poet. Belonging to the Future by the very essence of his being, he yet +becomes disgusted by the debasing materialism into which its living +exponents, the '_New Men_, have fallen, he loses all hope in the +possible progress of humanity, and is presented to us as the champion of +the dying but poetic Past. But in this he finds no rest, and is involved +in perpetual struggles and contradictions. Baffled in a consuming +desire to solve the perplexing religious and social problems of the day +by the force of his own intellect; longing for, yet despairing of, human +progress; discerning the impracticability and chicanery of most of the +modern plans for social amelioration--he determines to throw himself +into common life, to bind himself to his race by stringent laws and +duties. The drama opens when he is about to contract marriage. + +His Guardian Angel, anxious to save him, tries to lead him, through the +accomplishment of human duties, safely into that mystic Future, which he +had already vainly tried to find through the power of his own intellect. +The Angel chants to him: + +'Peace be to men of good will. Blessed is the man who has still a heart; +he may yet be saved! + +'Pure and true wife, reveal thyself to him; and a child be born to their +house!' + +Thus the words once heard by the shepherds, and which then announced a +new epoch to humanity, open the drama. It is indeed only 'men of good +will,' men who sincerely seek the truth, who, in great or new epochs, +are able to comprehend it, or willing to receive it. And the number of +those who have preserved a _heart_ during the excitement and passions of +such eras, is always very small, and without it they cannot be saved, +for love and self-abnegation are the essence of Christianity. + +To instil new life and hope into the wearied 'Man,' the Angel ordains +that a pure and good woman shall join her fate with his; that innocent +young souls shall descend and dwell with them. Domestic love and quiet +bliss are the counsel of the heavenly visitant. + +Immediately after the simple chant of the Guardian Angel, the voice of +the Evil Spirit is heard seducing 'The Man' from the quiet path of +humble human duties. The glories of the ideal realm are spread before +him; Nature is invoked with all her entrancing charms; ambitious desires +of terrestrial greatness are awakened in his soul; he is filled with +vague hopes of paradisiacal happiness, which the Demon whispers him it +is quite possible to establish on earth. In the temptations so cunningly +set before him by the Father of Lies, three widely-spread metaphysical +systems are shadowed forth: the ideal or poetic; the pantheistic; and +the anthropotheistic (Comte's), which deifies man. The vast symbolism of +this original drama is especially recommended to the attention of the +critic. + +Abiding by the counsel of the Angel, our hero marries, thus involving +another in his fate. He makes a solemn vow to be faithful, in the +keeping of which vow he takes upon himself the responsibility of the +happiness of one of God's creatures, a pure and trusting woman, who +loves him well. A husband and a father, he breaks his oath. Tempted by +the phantom of a long-lost love, the Ideal under the form of a 'Maiden,' +he deserts the real duties he has assumed to pursue this Ideal, +personated indeed by Lucifer himself, and which becomes--true and +fearful lesson for those who seek the infinite in the human!--a +loathsome skeleton as soon as grasped. From the false and disappointing +search into which he had been enticed by the demon, he returns to find +the innocent wife, whom he had deserted, in a madhouse. False to human +duties, his punishment came fast upon the heels of crime. + +In the scene which occurs in Bedlam we find the key which admits us to +much of the symbolism of this drama. We are conducted into the madhouse +to visit the broken-hearted wife, and are there introduced into our +still-existing society, formal, monotonous, cold, and about to be +dissolved. Our hero had himself married the Past, a good and devout +woman, but not the realization of his poetic dreams, which nothing +could have satisfied save the infinite. In the midst of this scene of +strange suffering, we hear the cries of the Future, and all is terror +and tumult. This Future, with its turbulence, blood, and demonism, is +represented as existing in its germs among the maniacs. Like the springs +of a volcanic mountain, which are always disturbed before an eruption of +fire, their cries break upon us; the broken words and shrill shrieks of +the madmen are the clouds of murky smoke which burst from the explosive +craters before the lava pours its burning flood. Voices from the right, +from the left, from above, from below, represent the conflicting +religious opinions and warring political parties of this dawning Future, +already hurtling against those of the dissolving Present. + +Into this pandemonium, by his desertion of her for a vain ideal, our +hero has plunged his wife, the woman of the Past, whom he had sworn to +make happy. And it is to be observed that she was not necessarily his +inferior, but, in the world of _heart_, superior to himself. A true and +pure character, feeling its inferiority and anxious to advance, cannot +long remain in the background; it has sufficient stamina to attain the +height of self-abnegating greatness. God sometimes deprives men of the +strength necessary for action, but He never robs them of the faculty of +progress, of spiritual elevation. Head and heart throb with the same +pulsation; the brain thinks not aright without the healthful heart. +Meanness and grovelling are always voluntary, and their essence is to +resist superiority, to struggle against it, to try to degrade it: thus, +all the bitter reactions of the Past against the changes truly needed +for the development of the Future, spring from a primeval root of +baseness. + +An admirable picture of an exhausted and dying society is given us in +the person of the precocious but decrepit child, the sole fruit of a sad +marriage. Destined from its birth, to an early grave, its excitable +imagination soon consumes its frail body. Nothing could be more +exquisitely tender, more true to nature, than the portraiture of this +unfortunate but lovely boy. + +After the betrayal of our hero by his Ideal, the Guardian Angel again +appears to give him simple but sage counsel: + +'Return to thy house, and sin no more! + +'Return to thy house, and love thy child!' + +But vain this sage advice! As if driven to the desert to be tempted, we +again meet our hero in the midst of storm and tempest, wildly communing +with Nature, trying to read in her changeful phenomena lessons he should +have sought in the depths of his own soul; seeking from her dumb lips +oracles only to be found in his fulfilment of sacred duties; for only +thus is to be solved the perplexing riddle of human destiny. 'Peace to +men of good will!' Roaming through the wilderness, sad and hopeless, and +in his despair about to fall into the gloomy and blighting sin of caring +for no one but himself, the Angel again appears, and again chants to him +the divine lesson that only in self-sacrificing love and lowly duties, +can the true path to the Future be found: + +'Love the sick, the hungry, the despairing! + +'Love thy neighbor, thy poor neighbor, as thyself, and thou wilt be +redeemed!' + +The reiterated warning is again given in vain. The demon of ambition +then appears to him under the form of a gigantic eagle, whose wings stir +him like the cannon's roar, the trumpet's call; he yields to the +temptation, and the Guardian Angel pleads no more! He determines to +become great, renowned, to rule over men: political power is to console +him for the domestic ruin he has spread around him, in having preferred +the dreams of his own excited imagination, to the love and faith of the +simple but tender heart which God had confided to him in the holy bonds +of marriage. The love and deification of self in the delusive show of +military or political glory, is the lowest and last temptation into +which a noble soul can fall, for individual fame is preferred to God's +eternal justice, and men are willing to die, if only laurel crowned, +with joy and pride even in a bad cause. + +In the beginning of the third part of the comedy we are introduced into +the 'new world.' The old world, with its customs, prejudices, +oppressions, charities, laws, has been almost destroyed. The details of +the struggle, which must have been long and dreadful, are not given to +us; they are to be divined. Several years are supposed to have passed +between the end of the second and the beginning of the third part, and +we are called to witness the triumphs of the victors, the tortures of +the vanquished. The character of the idol of the people is an admirable +conception. All that is negative and destructive in the revolutionary +tendencies of European society, is skilfully seized upon, and incarnated +in a single individual. _His mission is to destroy._ He possesses a +great intellect, but no heart. He says: "_Of the blood we shed to-day, +no trace will be left to-morrow._" In corroboration of this conception +of the character of a modern reformer, it is well known that most of the +projected reforms of the last century have proceeded from the brains of +logicians and philosophers. + +This man of intellect succeeds in grasping power. His appearance speaks +his character. His forehead is high and angular, his head entirely bald, +his expression cold and impassible, his lips never smile--he is of the +same type as many of the revolutionary leaders during the French reign +of terror. His name is Pancratius, which name, from the Greek, signifies +the union of all material or brutal forces. It is not by chance that he +has received this name. The profound truth in which this character is +conceived is also manifested in his distrust of himself, in his +hesitation. As he is acting from false principles, he cannot deceive +himself into that enthusiastic faith with which he would fain inspire +his disciples. He confides in Leonard, because he is in possession of +this precious quality. + +His monologue is very fine; perhaps it stands next in rank to that of +Hamlet. It opens to us the strange secrets of the irresolution and +vacillation which have always characterized the men who have been called +upon by fate alone to undertake vast achievements. In proof of this, it +is well known that Cromwell was anxious to conceal the doubts and fears +which constantly harassed him. It was these very doubts and fears which +led him to see and resee so frequently the dethroned Charles, and which +at last drove the conscience-stricken Puritan into the sepulchre of the +decapitated king, that he might gaze into the still face of the royal +victim, whose death he had himself effected. Did the sad face of the +dead calm the fears of the living? + +It is well known, that Danton addressed to himself the most dreadful +reproaches. Even, at the epoch of his greatest power, Robespierre was +greatly annoyed because he could not convince his cook of the justice +and permanence of his authority. Men who are sent by Providence only to +destroy, feel within them the worm which gnaws forever: it constantly +predicts to them, in vague but gloomy presentiments, their own +approaching destruction. + +A feeling of this nature urges Pancratius to seek an interview with his +most powerful enemy, 'The Man;' he is anxious to gain the confidence of +his adversary, because he cannot feel certain of his own course while a +single man of intellectual power exists capable of resisting his ideas. +In the interview which occurs between the two antagonistic leaders of +the Past and Future, the various questions which divide society, +literature, religion, philosophy, politics, are discussed. Is it not a +profound truth that in the real world also, _mental_ encounters always +precede _material_ combats; that men always measure their strength, +_spirit to spirit_, before they meet in external fact, _body to body_? +The idea of bringing two vast systems face to face through living and +highly dramatic personifications, is truly great, suggestive, and +original. + +But as the Truth is neither in the camp of Pancratius nor in the feudal +castle of the count, our hero, the victory will profit neither party! + +The opening of the last act is exceedingly beautiful. No painter could +reproduce on canvas the sublime scenery sketched in its prologue; more +gloomy than the pictures of Ruysdael, more sombre than those of Salvator +Rosa. Before describing the inundation of the masses, our author +naturally recalls the traditions of the Flood. The nobles, the +representatives of the Past, with their few surviving adherents, have +taken refuge in their last stronghold, the fortress of the Holy Trinity, +securely situated upon a high and rocky peak overhanging a deep valley, +surrounded and hedged in by steep cliffs and rocky precipices. Through +these straits and passes once howled and swept the waters of the deluge. +As wild an inundation is now upon them, for the valley is almost filled +with the living surges of the myriads of the 'New Men,' who are rolling +their millions into its depths. But everything is hidden from view by an +ocean of heavy vapor, wrapping the whole landscape in its white, chill, +clinging shroud. The last and only banner of the Cross now raised upon +the face of the earth, streams from the highest tower of the castle of +the Holy Trinity; it alone pierces through and floats above the cold, +vague, rayless heart of the sea of mist--nought save the mystic symbol +of God's love to man soars into the unclouded blue of the infinite sky! + +After frequent defeats, after the loss of all hope, the hero, wishing to +embrace for the last time his sick and blind son, sends for the +precocious boy, whose death-hour is to strike before his own. I doubt if +the scene which then occurs has, in the whole range of fiction and +poetry, ever been surpassed. This poor boy, the son of an insane mother +and a poet-father, is gifted with supernatural faculties, endowed with +second or spiritual sight. Entirely blind, and consequently surrounded +by perpetual darkness, it mattered not to him if the light of day or the +gloom of midnight was upon the earth; and in his rayless wanderings he +had made his way into the dungeons, sepulchres, and vaults, which were +lying far below the foundations of the castle, and which had for +centuries served as places of torture, punishment, and death to the +enemies of his long and noble line. In these secret charnel houses were +buried the bodies of the oppressed, while in the haughty tombs around +and above them lay the bones of their oppressors. The unfortunate and +fragile boy, the last sole scion of a long line of ancestry, had there +met the thronging and complaining ghosts of past generations. Burdened +with these dreadful secrets, when his vanquished father seeks him to +embrace him for the last time, he shudderingly hints to him of fearful +knowledge, and induces his parent to accompany him into the subterranean +caverns. He then recounts to him the scenes which are passing before his +open vision among the dead. The spirits of those who had been chained, +tortured, oppressed, or victimized by his ancestors appear before him, +complaining of past cruelties. They then form a mystic tribunal to try +their old masters and oppressors; the scenes of the dreadful Day of +Judgment pass before him; the unhappy and loving boy at last recognizes +his own father among the criminals; he is dragged to that fatal bar, he +sees him wring his hands in anguish, he hears his dreadful groans as he +is given over to the fiends for torture--he hears his mother's voice +calling him above, but, unwilling to desert his father in his anguish, +he falls to the earth in a deep and long fainting fit, while the +wretched father hears his own doom pronounced by that dread but unseen +tribunal: '_Because thou hast loved nothing, nor revered aught but +thyself and thine own thoughts, thou art damned to all eternity!_' + +It is true this scene is very brief, but, rapid as the lightning's +flash, it lasts long enough to scathe and blast, breaking the darkness +but to show the surrounding horror, to deepen into despair the fearful +gloom. Although of the most severe simplicity, it is sublime and +terrible. It is so concise that our hearts actually long for more, +unwilling to believe in the reality of the doom of that ghostly +tribunal. It repeats the awful lessons of Holy Writ, and our conscience +awakes to our deficiencies, while the marrow freezes in our bones as we +read. + +The close of the drama is equally sublime. Because the 'TRUTH' was +neither in the camp of Pancratius nor the castle of the count, IT +appears in the clouds to confound them both. + +After Pancratius has conquered all that opposed him--has triumphantly +gloated over his Fourieristic schemes for the _material_ well-being of +the race whom he has robbed of all higher faith--he grows agitated at +the very name of God when it falls from the lips of his confidant, +Leonard: the sound seems to awaken him to a consciousness that he is +standing in a sea of blood, which he has himself shed; he feels that he +has been nothing but an instrument of destruction, that he has done +certain evil for a most uncertain good. All this rushes rapidly upon +him, when, on the bosom of a crimson sunset cloud, he perceives a mystic +symbol, unseen save by himself: 'the extended arms are lightning +flashes, the three nails shine like stars--his eyes die out as he gazes +upon it--he falls dead to the earth, crying, in the strange words spoken +by the apostate emperor Julian with his parting breath: '_Vicisti +Galilee_!' Thus this grand and complex drama is really consecrated to +the glory of the Galilean! + +The intense melancholy characterizing every page of this drama, has its +root in the character and intensity of the truths therein developed, and +is not manifested in artistic declamation, in highly wrought phrases, or +in glowing rhetorical passages proper for citation. It is as bitter as +life; as gloomy as death and judgment. The style is one of utter, almost +bald, simplicity. The situations are merely indicated, and the +characters are to be understood, as are those of the living, rather from +a few words in close connection with accompanying facts, than from +eloquent utterances, sharp invectives, or bitter complaints. There are +no highly wrought amplifications of imaginative passions to be found in +its condensed pages, but every word is in itself a drop of gall, +reflecting from its sphered surface a world of grief, of agony. The +characters pass before us like shadows thrown from a magic lantern, +showing only their profiles, and but rarely their entire forms. Flitting +rapidly o'er our field of vision, they leave us but a few lines, but so +true to nature, so deeply significant, that we are able to produce from +these shifting and evanescent shadows a complete and rounded image. Thus +we are enabled to form a vivid conception of every character--we know +the history of their past, we divine the part they will play in the +future. We know the friends, the godfather, the priest, in whom we find +an admirable sketch from a decomposed and dying society. He who, in a +proper state of things, would have been the representative of living +spiritual principles, is a mere supernumerary. He makes signs of the +cross, pronounces accustomed formulas, but he never once thinks of +examining into the strange and contradictory relations existing between +the husband, forced by his very being into the Future, and the wife, +fettered by the conventions and chains of the Past. Neither does he +study, with an eye enlightened by philanthropy and spirituality, the +poor infant, whose mental restlessness began in the cradle, although his +character and destiny seem to have been comprehended by the father. The +priest, however, remains cold and indifferent throughout, never once +seeking to render the two beings, whom he had himself united in a +sacramental bond, intelligible to each other, nor to save the +unfortunate boy brought to him for baptism, the sole fruit of this +unhappy marriage. + +Our author also stigmatizes the whole medical art of our day as a +science of death and moral torture. While the anguished father tries to +penetrate the decrees of Providence, and in his agony demands from God +how the innocent and helpless infant can have deserved a punishment so +dreadful as the loss of sight, the doctor admires the strength of the +nerves and muscles of the blue eyes of the fair child, at the same time +announcing to his father that he is struck with total and hopeless +blindness. Immediately after the declaration of this fearful sentence, +he turns to the distressed parent to ask him if he would like to know +the name of this malady, and that in Greek it is called [Greek: +amaurosis] + +Indeed, through the whole of this melancholy scene, only one human being +manifests any deep moral feeling--a woman, a servant! Falling upon her +knees, she prays the Holy Virgin to take her eyes, and place them in the +sightless sockets of the young heir, her fragile but beloved charge. +Thus it is a woman of the people who, in the midst of the corrupt and +dissolving society, alone preserves the sacred traditions of sympathy +and self-sacrifice. + +The cruel tyranny of Pancratius and the mob, is also full of important +lessons. From it we gather that despotism does not consist in the fact +of the whole power being vested in the hands of one or many, _but in the +truth that a government is without love for the governed, whatever may +be its constitutional form_. One or many, an assembly of legislators or +a king, an oligarchy or a mob, may be equally despotic, if love be not +the ruling principle. + +With these few remarks, some of them necessary for a full comprehension +of this subtile and many-sided Polish drama, we leave the reader to the +pleasant task of its perusal. + +He will find a full and eloquent criticism, in which its faults and +beauties are ably discussed, in a course of 'Lectures on Sclavonic +Literature,' delivered by the Polish poet Mickiewicz, before the College +of France. Most of the above remarks have been condensed from his +valuable work. + + + + +PART I. + + +THE IDEAL. + +Stars are around thy head--under thy feet surges the sea--a rainbow +forever floats upon the waves before thee--painting the mists, or +melting them into light--whatsoever thou lookest upon is thine--the +shores, the cities, the men belong to thee--the heavens are thine--it +seems as if nothing ever equalled thy glory! + + * * * * * + +To alien ears thou chantest airs of inconceivable rapture--thou weavest +hearts into one with a single touch of thy fairy fingers, and with a +breath again dividest them--thou forcest tears--thou driest them with a +smile--alas! the next moment thou frightenest the wan smile from the +quivering lip for a time--too often, forever! + +Tell me, what dost thou thyself feel? Of what dost thou think? What dost +thou create? + +The living stream of Beauty flows on through thee, but thou thyself art +not Beauty! + +Woe to thee! woe! the child crying on the lap of its nurse, the field +flower unconscious of its gift of perfume, have more merit before the +eyes of the Lord than thou! + + * * * * * + +What has been thy origin, thou empty shadow, bearing witness to the +Light, yet knowing not the Light, which thou seest not, and wilt not +see! + +In anger, or in mockery, wert thou made? Who was thy creator? Who gave +thee thy short and mobile life, and taught thee such seductive magic, +that thou seemst to glitter for a moment like an angel before thou +sinkest into clay, to creep like a worm, and be stifled in thine own +corruption? + +Thy beginning is one with that of the woman. + + * * * * * + +Yet, alas! thou sufferest, although thy agony brings nought to the +birth, and avails thee nothing. + +The groans of the lowest beggar are counted in heaven, compensated amid +the music of angels' harps--but thy sighs, thy despair, fall into the +bottomless abyss, and Satan gathers them together, and joyfully adds +them to the pile of his own lies and delusions--and the Lord will deny +and disown them, as they have denied and disowned the Lord! + + * * * * * + +But not for this do I pity thee, spirit of Poetry, mother of Beauty and +Freedom! No. I mourn for the unhappy souls who are forced to remember or +divine thee upon chaotic worlds destined to destruction--alas! thou +ruinest only those who consecrate themselves to thee, who become the +living voices of thy fame! + +And yet, blessed is it when thou takest up thine abode in a man, as God +dwelt in the world, unseen, unknown, yet everywhere great and mighty, +the Lord, before whom all creatures bow and say: 'He is here!' + +Such a man will bear thee like a star upon his radiant brow; he will +never turn from thee even for the duration of a little word; he will +love men, and, like a man, walk with his brethren. + +And he who guards thee not, who is willing to betray thee, to devote +thee to the idle pleasure of men--from him thou turnest sadly away, +scattering in pity a few fading flowers upon his head; he plays with the +dying bloom, and weaves his death-wreath all the days of his short life. + +Thy beginning is one with that of the woman! + + * * * * * + + 'De toutes les bouffonneries la plus serieuse est le + mariage.'--_Figaro._ + + Of all jests the most serious is marriage. + +GUARDIAN ANGEL. Peace be to men of good will! + +Blessed is he among the created who has still a heart; he may yet be +saved! + +Good and true wife, reveal thyself to him; and a child be born to their +house! + + He flies onward. + +CHORUS OF EVIL SPIRITS. Rise! rise, spectres and phantoms! Hover near +him! Head them and lead them on, thou, the yesterday-buried idol, the +shadow of the dead love of the Poet! Bathe thyself anew in the vapors of +the ideal realm; wreathe thy mouldering brow with the fair buds of +spring; and float on before him, thou, once the beloved of the Poet! + +Rise, Glory, rise! Old eagle, well stuffed and preserved in hell, +descend from thy crumbling perch, unfold thy gigantic wings whitened in +the rays of the sun, and wave them above the head, until they dazzle the +eyes of the Poet! + +Come forth from our vaults, thou rotting masterpiece from the pencil of +Beelzebub, thou glowing picture of an earthly Eden, which has dizzied +the brain of so many philosophers! Get the old rents in thy canvas +reglued; the holes and cracks refilled with varnish; wrap thyself in +the magic webs of hazy clouds and glittering mists; fly to the Poet, and +unroll thyself ever before him! + +And thou, Nature! surround him with mountains, cliffs, and seas; lull +him with golden dawns and crimson eves; inweave him in thy magic circle +of azure days and starry nights; O mother Nature--closely embrace the +Poet! + + * * * * * + + + A village. A church. The Guardian Angel is seen floating and + swaying to and fro upon it. + +GUARDIAN ANGEL. If thou keepest the Holy Vow, thou wilt be my brother +forever before the face of our Heavenly Father! Vanishes. + + The interior of the church. Wax lights blaze upon the altar--many + witnesses are standing round it. A Priest is reading the marriage + service. + +THE PRIEST. Remember, you have sworn to be true and faithful until +death! + + The Bride and Groom rise--he presses the hand of the Bride, and + conducts her to one of the relatives. All depart except the Groom; + he remains alone in the church. + +BRIDEGROOM. I have descended to an earthly betrothal, I have found her +of whom my spirit dreamed. + +Curses be upon my head if I ever cease to love her! + + * * * * * + + A saloon filled with people. Music, dancing, lights, flowers; the + Bride dances--after a few rounds she remains standing--meets the + Groom, draws apart from the crowd, and leans her head upon his + breast. + +BRIDEGROOM. How beautiful thou art, my love, in thy exhaustion, with +flowers and pearls falling in soft confusion through the masses of thy +wavy hair, glowing with the rapid motion of the dance, and blushing with +maiden shame! + +Oh, forever and ever thou shalt be my living Poem! + +BRIDE. I will be to thee a true wife, as my mother taught me, as my own +heart teaches me. But there are so many men here--there is so much +noise--and it is so hot-- + +BRIDEGROOM. Go and join once more the dance. I will stand here, and +watch thee as thou floatest on, as I have often gazed in dreams upon the +circling angels. + +BRIDE. I will go, since it is thy wish--but I am very weary. + +BRIDEGROOM. I pray thee, love, go. + + Music and dancing. + + * * * * * + + Midnight. The Evil Spirit appears, flying about in the form of a + maiden. + +EVIL SPIRIT. It is not long since at this same hour I coursed the +earth--the spirits of the lower world now drive me on; they force me to +assume a holy part. + + He flies over a garden. + +Ye perfumed flowers! tear yourselves from your green stems, and fly into +my hair! + + He flies over a graveyard. + +Living bloom and fresh charms of buried maidens, lost here, and floating +vainly about above forgotten graves--fly into, and paint my swarthy +cheeks with roseate hues of youth and love! + +Under this white stone a fair-haired girl moulders and festers into +wormy rottenness; shadows of her lustrous curls, come--twine round my +burning brow! + +Under this fallen cross, two soft eyes of heavenly blue are dying in +their sunken sockets--to me! to me! the pure and lambent flame which +once lightened and glimmered through them! + +Behind those iron bars which guard that vault of kings, a hundred +torches burn to light corruption--a princess was buried there to-day: ye +white and lustrous robes of costly satin, come! fluttering like snowy, +downy doves leave to the worms, undraped, the youthful form--fly through +the trellised grating--and softly fall around my scathed and fleshless +limbs! + +And now, on! on! on! + + * * * * * + + A sleeping apartment. A night lamp stands upon a table, and shines + upon the face of the husband sleeping beside his wife. + +THE MAN (_still sleeping_). Ha! whence comest thou? I have neither heard +nor seen thee for months--for years. + +As water softly flows, so flow thy feet, two white waves! + +A holy calm is on thy brow--all that I have ever dreamed--have ever +loved--unite in thee! + + Awaking suddenly. + +Where am I?... Ha! I am sleeping by my wife--yes, that _is_ my wife-- + + Gazing long upon her. + +Ah! I once thought thou wert my early Dream--but thou art it not;--after +years of time, it has returned to me--and is not thee, Mary, nor like +thee! + +Thou art mild, pure, good--but she.... + +My God! what do I see? Am I really awake? + +THE MAIDEN. Thou hast deserted and betrayed me! Vanishes. + +THE MAN. Cursed be the hour in which I married a wife, in which I +deserted the Love of my youth, the thought of my thought, the soul of my +soul.... + +WIFE (_awaking_). What is it, Henry? Does the day already break? Is the +carriage at the door? We have so much to attend to to-day. + +THE MAN. No: it is only midnight. Go to sleep--sleep soundly! + +WIFE. Have you been taken suddenly ill, my dear? Shall I rise and get +anything for you? + +THE MAN. Sleep, sleep, I pray. + +WIFE. My dearest, tell me what is the matter with you! Your voice +trembles, your cheeks burn with fever. + +THE MAN (_jumping out of bed_). I only want fresh air--for God's sake, +stay here; do not follow me! Once more I beg you will not rise! + + He leaves hurriedly the chamber. + + * * * * * + + The Man is seen standing in a garden lighted by the moon. A gothic + church is in the distance. + +THE MAN. Since the bells rang in my marriage morn, I have dozed away +life like a lump of clay, vegetating like a peasant, sleeping like a +German boor. The whole world around me seems asleep in my own image. +What a monotonous existence! I have visited relations, gone to shops, +seen physicians, and when a child was born to me, I went for a nurse. + + It strikes two upon the tower clock. + +Return to me! return, O my old and misty realm, so safely sheltered in +the world of thought! Ye shadowy yet lovely forms, once wont to throng +around me through the lonely midnight hours, hear my adjuration, and +return! return! + + He wrings his hands. + +O my God! hast Thou in very truth sanctified the ties which link two +bodies into one? + +Hast Thou surely said that nothing should avail to break them, even when +the two souls repel each other; when to advance at all, they must move +on upon opposing pathways, while the two chained bodies stiffen into +frozen corpses? + +And now that thou art again near me, my all, oh, take me with thee! If +thou art but a dream, the creation of an o'erwrought brain, let me too +be but a dream, a cloud, a mist, that I may be one with thee! + +THE MAIDEN. 'Remember, you have sworn to be true until death.' + +Wilt thou follow me, if I fly near to lead thee on? + +THE MAN. Stay, and melt not like a dream away! If thou art beautiful +above all other beauty; a thought above all other thoughts--why tarriest +thou no longer than a wish a fading vision? + + The window of the house standing in the garden is opened. + +A FEMALE VOICE. The chill of the night air will fall upon your breast, +my dear. Come back, Henry; it is fearful to be here alone in this vast +dark room. + +THE MAN. Yes; in an instant. + +The fair spirit has vanished, but she promised to return for me--and +then farewell house and garden! and farewell wife! created for the house +and garden, but not for me! + +FEMALE VOICE. For God's sake, come in! It grows so chill toward morning. + +THE MAN. But my child--O God! + + He leaves the garden. + + * * * * * + + A large saloon. Two candles stand upon an open piano. A cradle is + near it, in which lies a sleeping child. The Man reclines upon a + sofa, covering his face with his hands. The Wife is seated at the + piano. + +WIFE. I have been to see Father Benjamin; he promised to be here day +after to-morrow. + +THE MAN. Thank you. + +WIFE. I have also sent to the confectioner and ordered cakes and ices, +for I suppose you have invited many guests to the baptism of our infant. +He is to furnish us with some of those chocolate confections, with the +name of our son, George Stanislaus, upon them. + +THE MAN. Thank you. + +WIFE. God be thanked that the ceremony is so soon to be completed, and +that our little George will be made an entire Christian; for although he +has been already baptized with water, it always seems to me as if he +were wanting something. + + She goes to the cradle. + +Sleep, darling, sleep! Art thou dreaming, that thou thus tossest about +thy white arms, and sufferest no covering to remain around thee? So +now--that will keep thee warm--lie so! How very restless my baby is +to-day! What can be the matter with him? My darling! my beautiful! +sleep! sleep! + +THE MAN (_aside_). How hot and sultry it grows! A storm is rising; will +not the lightning flash from heaven, and strike me to the heart! + +WIFE. Neither yesterday, nor to-day, nor for the last week--O God! it is +now almost a whole month since you have, of your own accord, addressed a +single word to me--and every one says I am growing so pale and thin! + +THE MAN (_aside_). The hour is here--nothing can delay it longer. + + (To his wife.) + +Indeed, on the contrary, I think you are looking remarkably well. + +WIFE. Alas! it is a matter of perfect indifference to you; you never +even see me! When I come near you, Henry, you turn your head away; and +if I sit down beside you, you cover your face with your hands. + +I went to confession yesterday, and carefully thought overall my faults +and follies--but I could not remember in what way I had so grievously +offended you. + +THE MAN. You have not offended me. + +WIFE. O God! My God! + +THE MAN. I feel it is my duty to love you. + +WIFE. You kill me with the words _my duty_! Rather say at once, _I do +not love you_--then I would at least know all--the worst! + + She runs to the cradle, and holds up the child. + +Forsake him not--your son! Let all your anger fall on me alone--love my +child! my child! Henry! + + She kneels before him with the infant in her arms. + +THE MAN (_raising her gently from the ground_). Think not of what I have +said. Gloomy moments sometimes come upon me, confusion--faintness-- + +WIFE. But one word more, I implore! one promise, Henry! that you will +never cease to love him! + +THE MAN. Neither him, nor you--both shall be dear to me--believe me, +Mary! + + He kisses her brow, she embraces him. At that moment a loud clap of + thunder is heard, followed by strains of music--the chords grow + ever wilder and more wild. + +WIFE. Hark! What is that? + + She presses the child closely to her bosom. The music ceases. + +THE MAIDEN (_entering_). O my beloved, I bring thee joy and peace: come, +follow me! Throw off the earthly fetters which enchain, thee, O my love, +and follow me! I have sought thee from a new world of endless bliss, in +which night never comes--ah! I am only thine! + +WIFE. Save me, holy Mother of God! + +This ghost is ghastly pale--its eyes are dying out--its voice is hollow +as the rolling of the death-hearse with the corpse! + +THE MAN. Thy white brow glitters; thy fair head is wreathed with +flowers, O beloved! + +WIFE. A white shroud hangs in tatters from the shoulders to the feet! + +THE MAN. Around and from thee rays the light of heaven! but once to hear +thy voice--then die! + +THE MAIDEN. She who restrains and impedes thee is but an illusion; her +life a passing breath; her love a dying leaf, to fall with thousands of +its fellows at the first chill breath, lost and withered--but I will +endure forever! + +WIFE. Henry--Henry! hide me! Oh do not leave me! the air is filled with +sulphur, heavy with the breath of the grave! + +THE MAN. Envy not, nor slander, O woman of dust and clay! Behold the +Ideal in which God created you--His first thought of what you were meant +to be. But following the counsel of the serpent, you became what you now +are! + +WIFE. I will never leave you! + +THE MAN. Beloved, I forsake my house, my all, and follow thee! + +WIFE. Henry! Henry! Henry! + + She falls to the floor in a fainting fit, with the child in her + arms; loud and repeated claps of thunder are again heard. + + * * * * * + + The baptism. Guests. Father Benjamin. The Godfather and Godmother. + The nurse with the child in her arms; the Wife seated upon the + sofa. Retainers and servants in the background. + +FIRST GUEST. I wonder where the count is hiding. + +SECOND GUEST. Perhaps he has been accidentally detained, or he may be +writing verses. + +FIRST GUEST. How pale and tired the countess looks, and as yet she has +spoken to no one. + +THIRD GUEST. This christening reminds me of a ball which I once +attended; the host had just lost his whole estate at cards, and was a +complete bankrupt, while he continued to receive his many guests with +the courtesy of despair. + +FOURTH GUEST. I left my lovely princess, and came here, because I +thought to play my part at a gay breakfast; but I am disappointed, for +it seems to me that I am, as the Scripture hath it, in the midst of +'wailing and gnashing of teeth.' + +FATHER BENJAMIN. George Stanislaus, wilt thou receive holy unction? + +GODFATHER AND GODMOTHER. I receive it. + +A GUEST. Look! look! the countess rises from the sofa, and comes slowly +forward as if in a dream! + +ANOTHER GUEST. How she reels and totters--poor thing! She is advancing +to the infant--how deadly pale she grows! + +THIRD GUEST. Shall I offer her my arm? She looks as if about to faint-- + +FATHER BENJAMIN. George Stanislaus! wilt thou renounce the devil and all +his works? + +GODFATHER AND GODMOTHER. I renounce them. + +A GUEST. Hush! the countess--look! + +WIFE (_laying her hand softly on the head of the infant_). Where is thy +father, tell me, George? + +FATHER BENJAMIN. I beg that the ceremony may not be interrupted. + +WIFE. Bless thee, George! I bless thee, my son! Become a poet, that thy +father may love thee, and never desert thee, George! + +GODMOTHER. I conjure you, my dear Mary! + +WIFE. Become a poet! that thus thou mayst serve thy father, mayst please +him, and then he will forgive thy mother, and return-- + +FATHER BENJAMIN. For the love of God, countess! + +WIFE. I curse thee, George, if thou becomest not a poet! + + She falls to the ground in a fainting fit--the servants bear her + out. + +GUESTS (_whispering among themselves_). All this is very extraordinary. +What can have happened here? We had better leave the house immediately. + + Meanwhile the solemn ceremony is completed--the crying infant is + again placed in his cradle. + +GODFATHER (_standing by the cradle_). George Stanislaus! you have just +been made a Christian, and entered into the pale of human society; in +after years you will also be a citizen, and, through the grace of God +and the wise training of your parents, you may become a great statesman: +remember that you must love your native land; that it is noble and +beautiful to die for your country! + + Exit all. + + * * * * * + + A beautiful landscape, diversified with hills and forests; a + mountain in the distance. + +THE MAN. That for which I have so long striven, for which I have so +ardently prayed, is at last almost within my grasp! + +The world of men lies far below me; the human pismires there may throng +their ant-hills, and struggle on for crumbs and flies--may burst with +rage if they fail to find them, or die with despair if they should lose +them. I have left all to.... + +VOICE OF THE MAIDEN. Here--this way--through-- + + She glides rapidly on. + + * * * * * + + Hills and mountains overhanging the sea. Clouds, mist, wind, storm. + +THE MAN. Where is she gone? The morning breeze dies suddenly away, the +thick mists gather, and the sky grows dark. + +There! I have gained at last the very top of this steep peak;--heavens, +what a frightful abyss yawns before me! How moaningly the wind howls up +this rocky pass! + +VOICE OF THE MAIDEN (_from a distance_). Come! to me! to me! beloved! + +THE MAN. Where art thou? thy voice is almost lost in the distance. How +can I follow thee through this abyss? + +A VOICE (_in his ear_). Where are thy wings? + +THE MAN. Evil spirit, why dost thou mock and torture me? I scorn thee! + +ANOTHER VOICE. What! a great, immortal soul, which in a single moment +should be able to traverse the boundless space of heaven, to faint and +perish at a cliff on the side of a hill! Stout heart! sublime soul, +shuddering, and imploring thy feet to go no farther! poor things! + +THE MAN. Appear! Take forms with which I may contend, which may be +overthrown! If I start or quail before you, may _she_ never again be +mine! + +THE MAIDEN (_from the other side of the abyss_). Seize my hand, and +swing thyself over to me! + +THE MAN. What strange change is coming over thee!... + +The flowers start from thy temples, tear themselves loose from thy hair, +and when thou touchest them, they crawl like lizards, and writhe and +hiss like adders! + +THE MAIDEN. My beloved! + +THE MAN. Merciful God! the wind has twisted and torn off thy floating +drapery; it hangs in squalid rags about thee! + +THE MAIDEN. Why dost thou linger? + +THE MAN. The rain drops from thy heart, and freezes as it +falls;--skeleton bones look forth from thy bosom! + +THE MAIDEN. Thou hast promised, hast sworn! + +THE MAN. The lightning has burned out the apples of thine eyes! + +CHORUS OF EVIL SPIRITS. Old Satan, welcome back to hell! Thou hast +seduced and ruined a mighty spirit, admired by men, a marvel to itself. + +Sublime soul, haughty heart--follow thy beloved! + +THE MAN. Wilt thou then damn me, O my God! because I have believed that +Thy Beauty far surpassed the loveliness of earth; because I have left +all to follow it; and have suffered for it until I have grown the very +jest of devils? + +EVIL SPIRIT. Hear, brothers, hear! + +THE MAN. The last hour strikes! the storm whirls in black and +ever-widening circles--the sea is breaking and dashing higher and higher +against the rocks, and as it mounts them, draws me on--an invisible +power urges me forward--nearer--ever nearer--bands of men advance from +behind upon me--mount my neck--and plunge me into the abyss! + +EVIL SPIRIT. Rejoice, brothers, rejoice! He comes! + +THE MAN. It is vain to struggle; useless to combat! the giddy bliss of +the abyss draws me on--my head is dizzy--the plunge is inevitable--my +brain whirls!--O God!--Thy fiend has conquered! + +THE GUARDIAN ANGEL (_floating over the sea_). Peace, ye waves! Be still! + + At this very moment of time the holy water of baptism is poured + upon the head of the infant, George Stanislaus. + +GUARDIAN ANGEL. Return to thy house: and sin no more! + +Return to thy house: and love thy child! + + * * * * * + + The saloon with the piano. The Man enters, and a servant follows + with a light. + +THE MAN. Where is the countess? + +SERVANT. My lady is ill. + +THE MAN. She is not in her chamber; I have been there, and found it +empty. + +SERVANT. The countess is not here, my lord. + +THE MAN. Has she left the castle? Where is she to be found? + +SERVANT. They came for my lady yesterday, and carried her away. + +THE MAN. Answer at once, and tell me where they have taken the countess! + +SERVANT. To the madhouse! + + He rushes out. + +THE MAN. Hear me, answer me, Mary! + +Ah, I know you are only hiding for a moment to punish me for my +desertion; but I suffer, Mary! + +Mary, my own Mary, in pity speak! + +No--it is not so. She is not here, or she would answer to my cries. + +John! Caroline! nurse! + +The whole house seems deaf and dumb! + +But what he has just told me, is not, cannot be true; it would be too +horrible! + +Ah! I have never wished to wrong any human being; I would have made the +whole world happy; yet I have plunged the woman who trusted herself to +me, the innocent creature whom I swore to love and guard, into the hell +of those already damned on earth! + +I blast all upon whom I breathe; and am doomed to destroy myself also! +Hell has only released me for a few hours, that I might present to men +its living image upon earth! + +Upon what a pillow of horror will she lay to-night her helpless head! +with what harmonies have I surrounded her in the darkness?--the wild +shrieks and howls of madmen in their cells! + +I see her there! that brow so calm, so innocent, upon which no harsh +thought ever rests, is sunk and buried in her little hands. Her pure +thoughts wander idly now through space; they rove in search of the +husband who deserted her--and the unfortunate weeps--and is mad! mad! + +A VOICE. Poet! thou chant'st a Drama! + +THE MAN. Ha! the voice of my evil spirit! + + He hurries to the door of the saloon and tears it open. + +Haste! saddle my Arabian, and bring me my cloak and pistols! + + * * * * * + + A hilly country. An asylum for the insane, surrounded by a garden. + +THE WIFE OF THE PHYSICIAN. (_She is seen opening a barred door, and +wears a great bunch of keys at her girdle._) Are you a relation of the +countess? + +THE MAN. I am a friend of the count's; he sent me here. + +THE WIFE OF THE PHYSICIAN. We have indeed but little hope of her +recovery. I am sorry my husband is not at home; he could have explained +the whole case to you. She was brought here in convulsions +yesterday--how very hot it is to-day! + + Wiping the perspiration from her face. + +We have a great many patients here, but none so ill as the countess. + +Only think of it--this asylum costs us two hundred thousand--but you are +growing impatient--tell me, is it true that the Jacobins seized her +husband at midnight, and thus drove her mad? + +I beg you.... + + * * * * * + + A room with a grated window. A bed, a chair. The Wife is lying upon + a sofa, supported by pillows. + +THE MAN (entering). I wish to be left alone with the countess. + +THE WIFE OF THE PHYSICIAN (_without_). My husband will be very angry +if.... + +THE MAN (_closing the door_). Leave us in peace! + + Approaches his wife. + +VOICE (_from the ceiling_). You have chained and fettered God himself! +You have already put one God to death on the cross; I am the second, and +you have given me into the hands of the headsman. + +VOICE (_under the floor_). Kneel down before the King, your Lord! + +VOICE (_from the wall on the left_). The comet tracks its way in fire +across the sky; the day of wrath already breaks--the trump of Judgment +sounds! + +THE MAN. Mary--do you know me? + +WIFE. I have sworn to be true to you until death. + +THE MAN. Give me your hand, Mary. Let us quit this dreadful place! + +WIFE. Yes, but I cannot stand up--my soul has left my body, and is all +burning, blazing, in my brain. + +THE MAN. I can carry you in my arms to the carriage, which is waiting +for you at the door; I want to take you home, Mary! + +WIFE. Yes, we will go home. But you must wait for me; leave me for a +little while, and I will become worthy of you, Henry! + +THE MAN. I do not understand you, Mary. + +WIFE. Ah! I have prayed through weary days and endless nights; at last +God heard me, and smiled upon me! + +THE MAN. I know not what you mean, Mary! + +WIFE. Listen, Henry! After you left me, a great change came upon my +spirit, and I felt what was wanting to make you love me. I cried to God +unceasingly; I struck my breast; I placed a blessed candle on my bosom; +I did penance; I said: 'Lord God be merciful unto me! Oh send down upon +me the spirit of Poetry, that I may be loved!' + +And on the third day I was a Poet! + +THE MAN. Mary! + +WIFE. You will no more despise me; no longer leave me to my lonely +evenings; for I am full of inspiration, a Poet, Henry! + +THE MAN. Never! never! + +WIFE. Look upon me! have I not grown like yourself? I understand +everything now; I can explain and describe all that is: I chant the sea, +the stars, the clouds, battles--yes, stars--seas--storms--but battles? +No, I have never seen a battle. You must take me to see a battle, Henry. +I must watch men die! I must see and describe a corpse--a shroud--the +night dew--the moon--a cradle--a coffin: + + Endless space will spread around me, + I will seek the farthest star, + Cleaving swift the air around me, + Searching beauty near and far. + Like an eagle onward cleaving, + All the Past behind me leaving, + Chaos dark around me lying, + Through its dimness lightly flying, + Through its infinite abysses, + On through darker worlds than this is, + Farther--farther--ringing--ringing-- + Sounds the curse my soul is singing.... + +THE MAN. Horrible! horrible! + +WIFE (_throwing her arms round him, and resting her head on his bosom_). +My Henry! my Henry! I am so, so happy! + +VOICE (_from below_). I have murdered three kings with my own hand; ten +are still left for the block: a hundred priests still sing mass-- + +VOICE (_from the left_). The sun has lost the half of its glory; its +light is dying; the stars have lost their way, and hurtle each other +from their paths--woe! woe! + +THE MAN. The Day of Judgment has already come upon me! + +WIFE. Do not look so sad, Henry. Cheer up, you make me again unhappy! +What is the matter? I can tell you something will make you so glad. + +THE MAN. Tell me what it is. I will do everything you wish me to do, + +WIFE. Listen! _Your son will be a Poet!_ + +THE MAN. What are you saying, Mary? + +WIFE. The priest, when he baptized him, gave him _first_ the name: Poet; +and then: George Stanislaus. + +It is I who have done this; first I blessed him--then I affixed a curse +to the blessing: I know he will be a Poet! + +VOICE (_from above_). Father, forgive them; they know not what they do! + +WIFE. There is some one above us, suffering from strange and incurable +madness; is it not so? + +THE MAN. Very strange. + +WIFE. He does not know what he is saying; but I can tell you how it +would all be if God should go mad. + + She seizes him by the hand. + +All the worlds would go flying about, up and down, and crash against one +another: every worm would cry out: 'I am God!' and then some of them +would die every moment; they would all perish one after the other! + +All the comets and suns would go out in the sky! Christ would redeem us +no longer; He would tear His bleeding hands away from the nails, and +pitch the cross into the bottomless abyss. It falls! + +Listen! how this cross, the hope of millions, goes crashing and hurtling +against the stars! Hark! it breaks! it flies asunder! the sky grows dark +with the ruined fragments--they fall like hail, deeper, deeper--a wild +storm surges from them--dreadful! + +The holy Mother of God alone continues to pray, and the faithful stars, +her servants, which have not yet deserted her:--but she too will plunge +where all created things are storming down, for God is mad--and Christ +has thrown away His Cross! + +THE MAN. Mary, will you not come home with me to see our child? + +WIFE. I have given wings to our son, and dipped him under the waves of +the sea, that he might take into his soul all that is beautiful, +sublime, and terrible. He will return to you a poet, and you will +rejoice in him. + +Ah me! ah me! + +THE MAN. Do you suffer, Mary? + +WIFE. Some one has hung up a lamp in my brain--and the light sways and +flickers--I cannot bear it! + +THE MAN. My beloved Mary, be calm and tranquil, as you were wont to be! + +WIFE. Poets never live long. + + She faints. + +THE MAN. Help! Save her! Help! + + Several women rush in. + +THE WIFE OF THE PHYSICIAN. Pills--powders--no. She can swallow nothing +solid; a fluid potion is the best. + +Margaret, run for the apothecary! + + Speaking to the Count. + +This is all your fault, and my husband will be very angry. + +WIFE. Henry, my Henry, farewell! + +THE WIFE OF THE PHYSICIAN. You are then the count! + +THE MAN. Mary! Mary! + + Takes her in his arms. + +WIFE. I am well--happy! I die near thee! + + Her head sinks upon his breast. + +THE WIFE OF THE PHYSICIAN. Her face grows crimson--the blood is rushing +to her brain. + +THE MAN. Her pure heart breaks--nor love nor wrong can ever reach her +more! O Mary! Mary! + + The Physician enters and approaches the sofa. + +PHYSICIAN. It is all over now: she is dead! + + + + +SOUND REFLECTIONS. + +A TORCHER. + +What of the common lot of woman in the state hymeneal? Echo: High +menial! + +BRIDAL. + +What does the world consider a proper tie? Echo: Property! + + + + +THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT. + + +On Wednesday, the fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord one +thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, the following resolution, which +had already passed the Senate, was put upon its final passage in the +House of Representatives as a joint resolution of Congress, to be +proposed to the people of the United States for an amendment to the +Constitution: + + 'SECTION 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a + punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly + convicted, shall exist in the United States, or any place subject + to their jurisdiction. + + 'SECTION 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by + appropriate legislation.' + +The resolution was rejected for failure of the two-thirds vote required +by the Constitution on a question of amendment; the vote standing, yeas +ninety-four, nays sixty-five. Which vote has definitely determined two +things: first, that the party which calls itself Democratic is afraid to +trust this question to the people, and so belies its honored name; and +secondly, that there is a political element in our country whose +attachment to the slaveholding interest survives the attachment of the +slaveholding interest to the Union. Is this the best evidence of +patriotism? + +Three years ago this summer of 1864, even after the treason of Southern +leaders had precipitated the flagrant Southern rebellion, ay, and even +after treason had dared the loyal army of the nation and flaunted its +defiant banner on the field of battle, the sentiment of a forbearing +people declared that no interference with the local establishments of +the treason-infected South would be permitted. So faithful were we to +the compromises of our fathers; so loth to believe in the wicked purpose +that had moved the rebellion. Three years of desperate resistance to the +nation's authority, three years of war, with its lessons of bitterness, +and grief, and death, and agony worse than death, have convinced us that +no further compromise is possible. Men told us so before, but we were +too devoted to the Union to believe in a treason that would not stop +short of the nation's complete dishonor. God be thanked that we know the +issue at last! Our conviction has gradually, but how immovably, +established itself! And now the sentiment of the people, no longer +forbearing, but not less just, and based upon the same unalterable +devotion to the Union, withdraws the pledges of the past and dictates an +amendment to the Constitution that shall leave no possibility of +slaveholding treason hereafter. That sentiment has found expression in +two mass conventions, representing the undoubted overwhelming majority +of the people, and it remains now to show the justice of it. It is +accordingly the purpose of this paper to discuss the nature of the +proposed amendment, and to state some controlling reasons in favor of +it. + +The question, plainly stated, is: Ought the Constitution to be amended +so as to abolish slavery throughout the United States? Or, in other +words, Ought liberty to become part of the supreme law of the land? +Ought the idea of the nation to be now, at last, incorporated into the +law of the nation, and so made a fixed fact of the nation's history? + +It should seem that the mere statement of the question suggests the +basis and positive force of the affirmative of it. For it reminds us at +once of the mighty revolution that has agitated and aroused it. The +progress of a century has been crowded into less than a decade of years. +The statesmanship of 1850 (profound and patriotic, as alas! it is to be +feared, too much of what we call statesmanship to-day is not) has been +outgrown. Let us not be startled by the statement. The highest art of +politics is to recognize existing facts. No thinking person will deny +that the policies of the past are powerless to-day. We cannot, if we +would, unmake the history of the last ten years. _Tempora mutantur, et +mutamur in illis_. Or, as a distinguished and eloquent son of Tennessee +lately paraphrased this old maxim: 'The world moves, and takes us along +with it, whether we will or not.' + +Our discussion naturally divides itself into two branches: first, as to +the right, or constitutional power, to adopt the proposed amendment; and +secondly, as to the expediency and necessity of it. + + +I. THE RIGHT, UNDER THE CONSTITUTION, TO ADOPT THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT. + +No characteristic of the American people is more marked than their +regard for law; and in nothing is that characteristic more striking than +in their respect for the Constitution, the supreme law of the land. +Whatever seems to come in conflict with that supreme law must encounter +an irresistible odium. And herein appears the splendid fruit of the +teachings of our great legists and statesmen, enforced, as they are, by +the hereditary traditions of our Anglo-Saxon birthright. It is, +moreover, a standing proof that democracy is not necessarily radical and +destructive; and so furnishes us with a complete answer to the +assumptions of English Tories, as in Alison's 'History of Europe,' that +democracy is but the organized exponent of the self-willed passions of +the multitude. What thing, indeed, is more wonderful than the tenacity +with which conscientious men still cling to the doctrine (that had once +some reason for it) of constitutional guaranties in behalf of +slavery--an institution that has inspired the most monstrous treason of +all history! What people but the American would still be hesitating, +after the solemn experience of these three years, to strike down every +possible support to slavery! + +Surely the lesson of the French Revolution, in its trumpet-toned warning +to the nations against a destructive radicalism, has not been lost upon +us. How ought we to adore the Providence, guided by whose inspiration +(as with becoming reverence we may believe) Washington and his +supporters directed our infant republic in the track of English +conservatism, fearful of the vagaries of the Red Republicanism of +France! This prudent policy justifies itself more and more in our +experience; and to-day the great heart of the people beats in unison +with those Providential leadings. Therefore it is that the question, in +reference to any measure, Is it constitutional? far from exciting +ridicule, as sometimes with superficial thinkers it has done, is to be +recognized as proof of our magnificent control over the wayward factions +of the hour, and of our abiding trust in the hardly less than inspired +wisdom of our fathers, to which we thus make our ultimate appeal. For +the Constitution is the organic law of the nation, and stands for the +firm foundation of our national life. The indissoluble bond of the +Union, it is itself the palladium of our liberties. It is, in fine, the +grandest chart of liberty and law, of justice and political order, which +the world ever saw. The man who dares knowingly violate its provisions +merits the punishment that followed the sacrilegious touch of David's +servant to the ark of the covenant--instant death. In the midst of a +fierce conflict with traitors who set at nought its binding force, let +us beware lest in our zeal to punish them we be not guilty of an equal +crime! + +We yield, then, to no one in our devotion to the Constitution. We will +not allow that any one goes before us in reverence for it. But we are of +those who think that the time has come, in the providence of God, for +an amendment to its provisions. + +Indeed, the Constitution derives not the least portion of its claim upon +our tender regard from the fact that it recognizes the eternal law of +progress; and, while establishing a government whose stability should be +as enduring as the principles upon which it is based, does not assume to +declare that it has exhausted the possibilities of the future. Guarding +against any and every impulse of popular passion, it nevertheless leaves +scope for the necessary changes of time and circumstance, which may make +the politic statesmanship of one period the exploded fallacy of the +next. For of the science of politics it may be said, as in the glowing +eulogy of Macaulay upon the philosophy of Bacon: 'It is a philosophy +which never rests, which has never attained its end, which is never +perfect. Its law is progress. A point which yesterday was invisible is +its goal to-day, and will be its starting-post to-morrow.' Political +science, indeed, is only another one of those 'illustrations of +universal progress,' which the genius of Herbert Spenser has made +familiar to our literature. And therefore it is that we cannot too much +admire the sagacity of the patriots who framed our Constitution. It was +a sagacity drawing its inspiration from all history, which taught, and +teaches, that if progress is attempted to be checked, it will find vent +in volcanic revolution. Reformation is the watchword of history: anarchy +and destruction the fate of those nations which heed it not. + +Thus it was that the principle of amendment found its way into the +Constitution of the United States--a principle so just that by it we are +enabled in these bitter days to faithfully withstand the usurpation that +seeks to justify itself by appealing to the right of revolution. For in +the principle of amendment (as has heretofore been stated in this +magazine) the right of revolution was at the same time recognized and +exalted; and by it a means of war was made a means of peace, and so +revolution was sought to be forestalled. Nothing but despotism itself +would have disregarded this humane provision of the Constitution, and +sought a remedy for alleged grievances that is only justified by +despotism. + +What, then, is the principle of amendment in our Constitution, and what +are its provisions? They are found in the fifth article, and read thus: +'_The Congress, whenever two thirds of both Houses shall deem it +necessary, shall propose amendments to this Constitution_, or, on the +application of the legislatures of two thirds of the several States, +shall call a convention for proposing amendments, which, in either case, +_shall be valid to all intents and purposes, as part of this +Constitution, when ratified by the legislatures of three fourths of the +several States_, or by conventions in three fourths thereof, as the one +or the other mode of ratification may be proposed by the Congress; +provided, ... that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of +its equal suffrage in the Senate.' + +Can anything be clearer? And yet how men have contrived to mystify the +whole question by vague declamation about the rights of States! As if +those rights of States that were meant to be protected, were not +carefully guarded by the article itself, and especially by the proviso +'that no State, without its consent, shall be deprived of its equal +suffrage in the Senate'! As if, too, the rights of the States were +everything, the rights of the Nation nothing! It might well be asked, +moreover (as, indeed, a discriminating writer in _The Evening Post_ has +lately asked), whether the _people_ of the States have no rights that +are to be considered in this discussion; whether there are not certain +reserved rights of the people that have been violated by many +States--rights reserved in the very constitutions of those States, as +well as in the Constitution of the United States? But let it be noted, +as above intimated, that this fifth article is duly careful to guard the +rights of States. Three fourths of the States must concur in the +amendment; and in no event may a State be unwillingly deprived of its +equal suffrage in the Senate, which is the distinguishing mark of the +independent equality of all the States in the Union. On the other hand, +the rights of the States being thus protected in a manner and degree +which we must suppose to have been satisfactory to the men who framed +and the States which ratified the Constitution, the article then +proceeds to care for the rights of the Nation, by declaring that the +amendment duly ratified by three fourths of the States 'shall be valid, +as part of the Constitution:' thus binding all the States, the three +fourths which have ratified it, and the one fourth which may not have +ratified it. We have here a key to the motives of the Southern +rebellion. The leaders of Southern politics knew well that an amendment +like the one now proposed must one day come, and that whenever it should +come, article fifth left them no pretext for resistance. So they +precipitated their revolution, and have only hastened that inevitable +day. + +But it is objected that the right to amend the Constitution does not +give us the right to enlarge its powers. Why not? And if not, to what +things does the right of amendment extend? Such an interpretation makes +article fifth an absurdity. This objection springs from the same +mischievous doctrine of State sovereignty, which has so outraged the +patriotic common sense of the people by the denial of our right to +'coerce' a State, and tends to the same result--nullification and +secession. It is good logic for a confederation, but bad logic for a +nation, to say that the articles of its organic law may not be changed +by the will of the people. And let us not neglect to observe in the +provisions of article fifth the strong incidental proof that the +Constitution of the United States was meant to be the basis of a +_nation_, and not the compact of a _confederation_. For how may this +article be reconciled with the theory of a compact? _Three fourths_ of +the States may concur in adopting an amendment that shall be valid as +part of the Constitution, which declares itself to be the supreme law of +the land, over _all_ the States. + +This incidental point serves fitly to introduce the second branch of our +discussion, namely: + + +II. THE EXPEDIENCY AND NECESSITY OF THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT. + +For slavery, or, in other words (lest we seem to offend some), a +rebellion in the interests and for the avowed establishment of slavery, +has struck _at the life of the nation_; and in self-defence the nation +must strike down slavery. If our Government is only the compact of a +confederation, then not only is there no need, but we have not the right +to adopt the proposed amendment. For by it an institution fostered by +the legislation of some of the States would be overthrown, in defiance +of that legislation. But the right, or constitutional power, of itself +implies the necessity to adopt the amendment whenever the occasion for +it may arise. The right is made part of the Constitution: the necessity, +or expediency, must be determined by circumstances outside of the +Constitution. We contend that circumstances at present point to the +complete extinguishment of slavery as the political necessity of the +period. The time for timid counsels is past. The day of tenderness for +Southern prejudices is gone by. + +Coming, then, directly to the root of the matter, we lay down this first +proposition: + +1. The proposed amendment finds its justification and highest warrant, +as a measure of political reform, in the _fact of the Southern +Confederacy_. This fact, pure and simple, is the controlling and +abundant necessity for it. We need not take the ground that slavery is +the cause of the rebellion: though to the philosophical inquirer it +certainly seems difficult to reach any other conclusion. We Americans +are so much under the influence of partisan prejudices, so surrounded +with the complications of present and past political issues, that for us +a dispassionate study of this point is almost, or quite, impossible. But +the investigations of impartial and unprejudiced foreigners seem +remarkably to concur in designating slavery as the moving cause of the +war. We may cite, for example, the recent profound review of the slave +power by Professor Cairnes. And surely no person who pauses to reflect +upon the inherent nature of the slave system as a labor basis of +society, will venture to deny that such a principle is at war with the +elemental principles of our Government. No person will deny that slavery +depreciates the dignity of labor, which is the pride and boast of our +institutions. Nor does it need any but the logic of common sense to +point out the incongruity of a free government resting, even partially, +upon a basis of slave labor. + +But all this may be waived. We may discard all these considerations. +Perhaps it is wise to discard them. Let us forget our differences of +political opinion in the past, and seek for points of agreement in the +present. Taking this position, we cannot ignore the fact of the Southern +Confederacy, and that the avowed basis of it is slavery. It is a +stubborn fact confronting us at the outset of our inquiry, and, like +Banquo's ghost, 'will not down.' Proclaiming boldly that free labor is a +mistake, and unblushingly affirming as a doctrine of social and +political economy that 'capital must own labor,' the Southern +Confederacy challenges the Christian civilization of the age, and +declares its right to exist as an independent nation of slaveholders. +How may we explain so monstrous a pretence? There is but one explanation +that is adequate. It may be stated in a single word, _ambition_. The +lesson of our experience is that this malignant system of slavery, the +chattel slavery of the South, is too great a temptation to the ambition +of men. Let us not disregard it. Political ambition stands always ready +to strike hands with the devil, and the devil is always near the +conscience of ambitious men. We have no recourse but to remove the +temptation. The death-knell of Carthage is well appropriated: _Servitudo +est delenda_. So long as a vestige of the slavery establishment remains, +the temptation remains--a deadly risk to our Government. The peril of it +is too great. And this furnishes a complete answer to the superficial +objection that there is no need of the amendment because slavery is dead +already; for ambition may revive it, and what ambition _may_ do it +_will_ do. In other words, and to sum up the argument on this point: +Whatever may have been our individual opinions and beliefs before the +rebellion (variant enough at all times), the attempted establishment of +a confederacy avowedly based on slavery, proves beyond possibility of +cavil that chattel slavery, to which we have been lenient without limit, +is a temptation too great for the peace of the nation, and therefore the +highest interests of the nation require its removal. + +2. The simple fact of the Southern Confederacy is also the basis of our +second proposition. For it reveals clearly the necessity of the proposed +amendment as a thing essential to be added to the organic law, in order +to carry out the purpose of it. That purpose is thus expressed in the +preamble to the Constitution: 'We, the people of the United States, _in +order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic +tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general +welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our +posterity_, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United +States of America.' Every one of the objects therein specified is, in +the baleful light of the rebellion, a plea for the amendment. + +We are aware that this preamble has heretofore served as a basis for the +stanchest conservatism, and wisely so. We are of those who have always +contended that the 'blessings of liberty' are best secured by whatever +tends most to strengthen the Union--the asylum and hope of liberty, +without which liberty, disorganized and unprotected, were a vain show. +We are of that opinion still, and therefore support the amendment, +because we are for strengthening the Union and making it 'more perfect.' +We have not changed: circumstances have changed. What was formerly +conservatism is now radicalism, and radicalism is now the true +conservatism. For the period is one of transition, a crisis period, when +these two forces, to be of use, must be interfused, and thus become a +combined power of reform. + +So long as the cotton and slaveholding interest could be held in check +and kept measurably subordinate to the supremacy of the Constitution, +there was hope that eventually the steadily-increasing forces of free +labor would overpower the gradually-decreasing forces of slave labor. It +was believed that by the silent action of natural laws freedom would, in +the long run, assert itself superior, and the ideal of our Government, +universal freedom, would thus at last become a reality and fact. Such, +we have been taught to believe, was the doctrine of the statesmanship of +1850. Such was the underlying argument of Webster's great 7th of March +speech--the enduring monument of his unselfish patriotism, seeking only +the good of his whole country. Such was his meaning when he declared +that the condition of the territories was fixed by an 'irrepealable +law,' needing no irritating legislation to assure their freedom. + +Contrary to the hopes of our fathers, the slave system had prospered and +grown strong--chiefly because of the impetus given to it by the growth +of cotton, as was clearly shown by Webster in the speech just noted. We +suppose no candid reader of our history will deny this point. But the +system had no vital force within itself, and could not withstand those +laws of nature and free emigration to which we have adverted. It sought +protective legislation, and got it. Still, it was hampered by +limitations, notwithstanding it had present control of the cotton +growth. So the question of the slave trade was mooted. Thus it came to +pass that within half a century after it had expired by limitation of +the Constitution, that monstrous anomaly of the Christian era was sought +to be revived. And so corrupt had public sentiment become that the slave +trader captain of the yacht Wanderer could not be convicted by a jury of +his countrymen of violating the ordinance of the nation against this +traffic.[8] Will any one dare affirm that the tone of public feeling in +the South on this subject was not higher and purer in the time of +Jefferson than in the time of Buchanan? To what a depth of moral +degradation the nation might have sunk under the thus retrogressive +influences of ungodly Mammon, setting God and Christianity at total +defiance, may not easily be conjectured. But that law of action and +reaction which balances the powers of nature with such equal justice, +holds good also in the world of mind; and in the providence of God the +time of reaction came at last, and the temper of the nation reverted to +its pristine purity. That time came when defiant Mammon waxed so bold as +to threaten the nation's life. Under the protective statutes of +Congress, jealously watching over the local institutions of States, +slavery had grown to be a dominating power in the country; and, bound +by legislation and compromise, and the strict letter of the +Constitution, the people could only protest, and bide the inevitable +issue of such arrogant domination. + +Now no longer is slavery dominant. Its own hand has struck down the +protecting shield of a quasi-constitutional guaranty, and all men feel +that its condemnation is just. Now there is 'none so poor to do it +reverence.' Why is this? It is the uniform course and consequence of +sin. 'Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, +therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.' +But God has spoken at last in a voice that we must heed. It is the voice +of war, a voice of woe; the voice of civil war, the chief of woes. +Slavery is now at our mercy. And mercy to it is to be measured by our +humanity to man and our fear of God. 'The word is nigh thee, even in thy +own mouth.' _Servitudo delenda est: deleta est_. Slavery is to be +destroyed: it is already destroyed. Shall we permit it a chance to be +revived? The way is opened to us, as it was not to our fathers, to +remove the curse from our borders. We shall be false to every +inspiration of patriotism if we now fail to remove it. The time has come +to complete the unity of the Constitution, and make the ideal purpose of +it, as stated in the preamble, a living fact. Shall we let the +opportunity slip? Now, at last, we may ordain a Constitution by which 'a +more perfect Union' shall 'secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves +and our posterity.' + +3. A third reason for the proposed amendment, not less cogent though +more familiar to our political discussions than the two already named, +is found in article fourth, section second, of the Constitution: +'Citizens of each State shall be entitled to all the privileges and +immunities of citizens of the several States.' Everybody knows that this +section of the Constitution has been heretofore practically a dead +letter, albeit as fully a part of the supreme law as that other +provision in the same section for the rendition of 'persons held to +service.' So everybody knows equally well the reason of it. It was a +concession to the fierce passions of slaveholding politics. From the +very nature of the case there could not be the same toleration of speech +and press in a Slave State which the men from a Slave State enjoyed in a +Free State. It was incendiary. So for half a century there has been this +virtual nullification of one of the justest compromises of the +Constitution; and citizens of the United States have, within the limits +of the United States, been tarred and feathered, and burnt, and hung, +and subjected to indignities without number and without name. Nobody +will probably be willing to say that such a state of things is worthy to +be continued. The hope of peaceable relief has for long restrained the +hands of a people educated to an abhorrence of war. We have submitted to +a despotism less tolerant than the autocracy of Russia, or the +absolutism of France--hoping, vainly hoping, for some change; willing to +forego all things rather than dissever the Union, which we have held, +and hold, to be foremost, because bearing the promise of all other +political blessings; pardoning much to a legacy left the South for which +it was not primarily responsible, and ready to second the humane care of +a feeble race, and clinging to the hope of that better time to which all +the signs pointed, when, by force of freedom, there could be no more +slavery. The time has come, though sooner and under other circumstances +(alas! far other circumstances) than we expected. We need now no longer +give guaranties to the slaveholding interest. Taking advantage of such +as it had, it has not hesitated to attack its sole benefactor, and now +all our obligations are at an end. The Congress of the nation may and +will take care that, secession being stifled, there shall not +henceforth be a nullification of the least provision of the organic law, +out of mistaken tenderness for the interest of any section. We have at +last learned a nobler virtue than forbearance, and henceforth either the +Constitution, in all its parts, is to be supreme, or else the nation +must die. One or other of these things must result. Let him who can +hesitate between them write himself down a traitor; for he is one. No +patriot can hesitate. No lover of his country can falter in a time like +this. And if three years of war have not taught a man that this is the +alternative, that man does not deserve a country. + +4. But there is a more emphatic expression of our fundamental law than +any yet cited; which, if left to its proper working, as now it may be, +strikes at the root of slavery. It is the fourth section of the fourth +article of the Constitution. 'The United States shall guarantee to every +State in this Union a republican form of government.' + +The essence of republicanism is freedom. A republic that, like Sparta, +permits the enslavement of any portion of its people, is surely not +predicated upon the true idea of a republic; and it is worth while to +consider that the ancient republics found their bane in slavery, and +that the aristocratic republics of modern times, like Venice, have +perished. Only those republics survive to-day which, like San Marino, +have free institutions. A republic is a country where the whole people +is the public, and the state the affair of the whole people. It is a +_public affair_ (as its name imports), a thing of the public; and this +is not true of any other than a democracy. For the essential idea of +such a government is expressed in the maxim: 'the greatest good to the +greatest number;' and in that other maxim which is part of our +Declaration of Independence, that 'government derives its just powers +from the consent of the governed.' It needs no argument to show that +these maxims are violated in a country where any portion of the people +are deprived of their highest good--liberty. For what is the object of +government? To protect men from oppression. And our republican doctrine +is that this is best accomplished in a form of government which gives to +the voice of all men the controlling power. 'The voice of the people is +the voice of God,' because humanity is of God. The doctrine is that the +state is made for the individual, not the individual for the state; just +as our Saviour declared that 'the Sabbath was made for man, not man for +the Sabbath.' These things being so (and it is not pretended that they +are novel, for they are very trite), does it not immediately appear how +essentially opposed is slavery to the idea of a republic? Therefore when +the Constitution guarantees to every State a republican form of +government, it guarantees to all the people of every State a voice in +its control. And whatever State disfranchises any portion of its people +violates this provision of the Constitution. + +To the objection that, at the time of adopting the Constitution, all the +States were Slave States, with a single exception, and therefore within +the meaning of that instrument slavery and a republican form of +government are not incongruous, there are two answers. First, it is +matter of history that the framers of the Constitution acted throughout +with reference to the eventual abolition of slavery; as has been already +adverted to in this paper. Therefore such States as have retained their +slave establishments have done so in violation of the spirit of this +provision of the Constitution; while such States as have since been +admitted into the Union with slave establishments have been admitted by +compromises, equally in violation of that provision, but acquiesced in +by the whole country, as the slave establishments of the original +States had been, and therefore equally binding on our good faith. We are +now no longer bound by any compromises. We have kept our plighted faith +strictly and fairly, though the Slave States have not. Our duty now is +to reconstruct, if we can, the fabric of the Union. If, in doing this, +we abolish slavery entirely, which makes impossible the full realization +of this guaranteeing clause, the guaranty will spring into new life and +become a power in the law of the land. Secondly, what is meant by a +republican form of government within the meaning of the Constitution +must be determined by reference to the Declaration of Independence, +which is the basis of our Government, and declares the principles of it. +That Declaration was promulgated as embodying the doctrines of a new +age--an age in which the rights of man should at last be maintained as +against the rights of royalty and privilege. It is, therefore, the +soundest rule of interpretation to refer the ambiguities of the organic +law to the declaration that preceded and introduced it and made it +possible. And so interpreting, will any one say that slavery is +compatible with the principles of the Declaration of Independence? + +In support, moreover, of the view here taken, may be cited the opinion +of many of our statesmen, as expressed on the question of admitting new +States into the Union: as, for instance, when Missouri applied for +admission with a slave constitution. Nor is it competent to offset this +with the opinion of such statesmen as have advocated the doctrine of the +Virginia Resolutions of State sovereignty; for they notoriously +disregarded the paramount supremacy of the Constitution. The +conscientious doubt of others as to making the exclusion of slavery a +condition precedent to admission into the Union, proves not the +incorrectness of this position, but strengthens it, by showing that only +a controlling love of the Union caused the doubt, which originated in a +policy that would not even seem to do injustice to any State. + +But whatever may be true as to the opinions of the fathers and early +statesmen of the republic; whatever may be true as to the precise +meaning of the term 'republican form of government' in the Constitution; +surely, in the light of our rebellion, there cannot longer be a doubt as +to the inherent antagonism of slavery to the principles of republican +government. The Southern Confederacy sprang into existence as an +oligarchy of slaveholders, willing (if need be) to live under a military +despotism (as is the fact to-day, and will be hereafter if the world +should witness the dire misfortune of its success), rather than submit +to the searching scrutiny of republican ideas, with freedom of speech +and press and person. And so it is that we recur to the simple fact of +the Southern Confederacy for the vindication of the proposed amendment +in all its bearings, finding in that fact the full warrant and +justification of it. + +5. There is still another reason for the proposed amendment, that may be +urged with great force, on the ground of expediency; namely, that it +would settle the whole question of reconstruction in a manner and with +an effect that could not be gainsaid. For, once incorporated into the +fundamental law, there could not then arise questions touching the +validity of acts by which slaves are declared freemen. There would be +nothing left to hang a doubt upon. The Proclamation of Emancipation as a +war measure is undoubtedly a proper proceeding; but as a means of +effecting organic changes, and as possible to operate beyond the period +of actual war, it is open to many grave objections. Freedom being thus +made the law of the land, there would be no longer reason for +differences, as now there are wide differences among conscientious and +capable men, as to the proper mode of reinvesting the States usurped by +the rebellion with their rightful powers as kindred republics of the +nation. Constituent parts of a common and indivisible empire, those +powers cannot be destroyed by a usurping rebellion. + +But, it is objected, the proposed amendment destroys certain of those +powers. Yes, it takes away all pretended right to hold slaves. For the +right of slavery is nowhere recognized in the Constitution. The fact of +slavery as part of the local establishments of some States could not be +ignored, although, as is well known, the word 'slave' was expressly +ruled out of the Constitution. Hence, the famous provisions for the +rendition of '_persons held to service_' (art. iv. sec. 2), and for the +apportionment of representatives and direct taxes, 'by adding to the +whole number of free persons ... _three fifths of all other persons_' +(art. i. sec. 2): which are the only recognition slavery finds in our +Constitution. + +It is true, therefore, that slavery, never a right, but always a wrong, +under the Constitution, as under the law of nature and revelation, is +now to be no longer recognized even as a fact. To abolish it by this +amendment is to abolish it entirely throughout the Union, irrespective +of apparent State rights. The repeal of the Fugitive Slave Law remits +the question of restoring 'persons held to service' to the safeguards of +trial by jury, but has no further force. To supplement and complete the +work of reconstruction, we need to make impossible the pretence of a +power anywhere within the domain of the United States to hold a person +in bondage. + +To the objection we have just noted, that certain State rights are thus +destroyed, there are two sufficient answers. First, in no State of the +Union, it is believed, does slavery exist by virtue of positive law. It +is the subject of legislation only as a recognized fact in society. It +exists in Virginia in violation of the Bill of Rights, which is part of +the organic law of that State, and, in its essential features, of every +slaveholding State. Therefore to abolish it is both to fulfil the duty +of the United States in guaranteeing to every State a republican form of +government, and to assert the only true doctrine of State rights, +namely, that the legislation of a State shall conform to the fundamental +law at once of the State itself and the nation. And thus the Bill of +Rights of a slaveholding State will be no longer a mockery, but a living +power. Secondly, the destruction of this pseudo right of a State to hold +slaves is no cause of complaint--even supposing it were a legitimate and +proper right.[9] For, the Constitution once adopted, the provision for +amendment, as part of it, has also been ratified and adopted; and +therefore, by a familiar principle of law, the exercise of that +provision may not afterward be questioned. It is not for the parties who +have once solemnly ratified an agreement to complain of the carrying +into effect of its terms. They must forever hold their peace. + +Thus, by virtue of the proposed amendment, all the States of the Union +will become Free States, and there will be no longer the anomaly of a +free nation upholding slavery. It will then, moreover, have been settled +by the highest authority in the land, that a republican form of +government means, first of all, freedom; and so a free constitution will +be the unquestionable condition precedent of the admission of any State +into the Union. This doctrine will seem monstrous to the believer in +State sovereignty as paramount to the sovereignty of the nation: so it +will seem monstrous to the believer in secession and rebellion. But by +the lover of the Union (who alone is the true patriot in our country) it +will be accepted as a doctrine that adds another bond of unity to the +nation, and so tends to secure its perpetual strength. + +In fine, the Constitution itself is all bristling with arguments for +this amendment. Besides the provisions already quoted, there is the +fifth article of the amendments, declaring that 'no person shall be +deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law,' +which has now a significance unknown before. Oh, how the rebellion has +interpreted for us and commented upon the provisions of the +Constitution! In the dread light of its unholy fires, we see, as never +before, how cursed and doubly accursed a thing is slavery--making men +forget all that is holiest and sacredest, quenching all their +inspirations of patriotism, and leading them to sell body and soul for +mad ambition. How true, alas! is the poet's word: 'How like a mounting +devil in the heart rules the unreined ambition!' + +We _must_, therefore, put an end to slavery. In its whole essence and +substance, it militates against the perpetuity of our national Union. To +think of preserving both it and the Union is to shut our eyes wilfully +to the facts of the last half century, and the culminating condemnation +of slavery in the rebellion. A Southern journal (_The Nashville Times_) +has lately said, with great truth and force: 'Slavery can no more +violate the law of its existence and become loyal and law-abiding than a +stagnant pool can freshen and grow sweet in its own corruption.' Discard +all other considerations; say, if we please, that slavery has nothing to +do with the origin of the war; yet we must recognize the fact of a +confederacy avowedly basing itself on the system of slavery, and which +is in the interest of slaveholders, and is fostered by the minions of +despotism all over the world. Then, if we can, let us come to any other +conclusion than the one suggested in the proposed amendment. + +This confederacy in the interest of slaveholders threatens the life of +the nation. There is a limit to the powers of the Constitution, and we +may not pass beyond it. But shall we deny that there is a higher law +back of the Constitution, back of all constitutions--namely, that +'safety of the people,' which is 'the supreme law'? If we say that there +is no such thing as moral government in the world; that a beneficent God +does not sit in the heavens, holding all nations as in the hollow of His +hand; yet we cannot deny this law of self-preservation. This law, this +higher law of human society, the law political, in the very nature of +things, demands the amendment. + +Above all, let us not ignore the lessons of the war. The million graves +of the heroes fallen in defence of our liberties and laws, are so many +million wounds in the bleeding body of the nation, whose poor, dumb +mouths, if they had voice, would cry out to Heaven against the system +which has moved this foul treason against those liberties and laws. Let +us, then, in the white heat of this terrible crisis, adopt the +amendment, and stamp on the forefront of the nation, as its motto, for +all time, those magnificent words of Webster: 'Liberty _and_ Union, now +and forever, one and inseparable!' For let us be well assured that the +Southern Confederacy cannot triumph. In the darkest and most mournful +period of the despotism of the first Napoleon, when all hearts were +failing, a minister of the Church of England spoke these words of the +military empire of France, and they may fitly be spoken of the military +empire of the South to-day: + +'It has no foundation in the moral stability of justice. It is +irradiated by no beam from heaven; it is blessed by no prayer of man; it +is worshipped with no gratitude by the patriot heart. It may remain for +the time that is appointed it, but the awful hour is on the wing when +the universe will resound with its fall; and the same sun which now +measures out with reluctance the length of its impious reign, will one +day pour his undecaying beams amid its ruins, and bring forth from the +earth which it has overshadowed the promises of a greater spring.'[10] + +FOOTNOTES: + +[8] The writer saw the defiant little yacht lying snug at the Savannah +wharf, in October, 1859--after the trial. + +[9] In the constitution of the _republic_ of Texas (1836), it is +declared (sec. 9 of General Provisions), 'All persons of color who were +slaves for life previous to their immigration to Texas, and who are now +held in bondage, _shall remain in the like state of servitude_.' But in +the constitution of the _State_ of Texas (1845) there is no such +declaration; and article i., the Bill of Rights, sec. 1, declares: 'All +power is inherent in the people.' The foregoing provision of the Texan +constitution of 1836, is believed to be the only actual establishment of +slavery in any Southern State, and even that has been abrogated, as is +seen, by the State constitution of 1845. (See Hurd's Law of Freedom and +Bondage, vol. ii.) + +[10] Alison's History of Europe, vol. iii. p. 461. + + + + +AVERILL'S RAID. + + + Say, lads, have ye heard of bold Averill's raid? + How we scoured hill and valley, dared dungeon and blade! + How we made old Virginia's heart quake through and through, + Where our sharp, sworded lightning cut sudden her view! + Three cheers! + + Red battle had trampled her plains into mire; + The homestead and harvest had vanished in fire; + But far where the walls of the Blue Ridge arose, + Were prize for our daring and grief for our foes. + Three cheers! + + There was grain in the garners, fresh, plump to the sight; + And mill-wheels to grind it all dainty and white; + There were kine in the farmyards, and steeds in the stall, + All ready, when down our live torrent should fall. + Three cheers! + + And in the quaint hamlets that nestled more far, + Were contrabands pining to know the north star; + And home guards so loath to leave home and its joys, + But who dreamed not they staid prize for Averill's boys. + Three cheers! + + Oh, keen did we grind our good sabres, and scan + Our carbines and pistols, girths, spurs, to a man! + Then up and away did we dash with a shout, + With cannon and caisson, away in and out. + Three cheers! + + Away in the forest and out on the plain; + The stormy night gathered, we never drew rein; + The raw morning cut us, but onward, right on, + Till again the chill landscape in twilight grew wan. + Three cheers! + + Sleet stung us like arrows, winds rocked us like seas, + And close all around crashed the pinnacle-trees; + Red bolts flashed so near, the glare blinded our eyes, + But onward, still on, for in front shone the prize. + Three cheers! + + We climbed the steep paths where the spectre-like fir + Moaned of death in the distance; we ceased not to spur! + Death! what that to us, with our duty before! + Then onward, still on our stern hoof-thunder bore. + Three cheers! + + We dashed on the garners, their white turned to black; + We dashed on the mills, smoky veils lined our track; + We dashed on the hamlet, ha, ha! what a noise, + What a stir, as upon them rushed Averill's boys! + Three cheers! + + The contrabands came with wide grins and low bows, + And old ragged slouches swung wide from their brows; + But the home guards ran wildly--then blustered, when found + Not made food for powder, but Union-ward bound. + Three cheers! + + The kine turned to broils at our camp fires--the steeds, + The true F. F. V.'s, fitted well to our needs; + They pranced and they neighed, as if proud of the joys + Of bearing, not home guards, but Averill's boys. + Three cheers! + + We dashed on the rail-track, we ripped and we tore; + We dashed on the depots, made bold with their store; + Then away, swift away, for 'twas trifling with fire; + We were far in the foe's depths, and free to his ire. + Three cheers! + + Fierce Ewell and Early and Stuart and Hill + Launched forth their fleet legions to capture and kill; + But we mocked all pursuit, and eluded each toil, + And drummed unopposed on their dear sacred soil. + Three cheers! + + We swam icy torrents, climbed wild, icy roads + Where alone wolf and woodman held savage abodes; + We floundered down glary steeps, ravine, and wall, + Either side, where, one slip, and a plunge settled all: + Three cheers! + + The dark, mighty woods heaved like billows, as o'er + Burst harsh jarring blasts, and like breakers their roar; + While clink of the hoof-iron and tinkle of blade + Made sprinkle like lute in love's soft serenade. + Three cheers! + + Oh, footsore and weary our steeds at last grew! + Oh, hungry and dreary the long moments drew! + We froze to our saddles, spur hardly could ply: + What of that! we were lucky, and now could but die! + Three cheers! + + But we wore through the moments, we rode though in pain; + Were sure to forget all when camp came again;-- + So we rode and we rode, till, hurrah! on our sight + Burst our tents, as on midnight comes bursting the light! + Three cheers! + + + + +OBSERVATIONS OF THE SUN. + + +As much interest is manifested for increased knowledge of solar +characteristics, and as many astronomers and numerous amateurs are daily +engaged in their investigation, I have thought that the experience of +thousands of observations and the final advantages of a host of +experiments in combination of lenses and colored glasses, resulting +highly favorably to a further elucidation of solar characteristics, +would be interesting, especially to such as are engaged in that branch +of inquiry. + +My experiments have resulted in two important discoveries. First, by a +new combination of lenses, I prevent heat from being communicated to the +colored glasses, which screen the eye from the blinding effects of solar +light, and thus avoid the not infrequent cracking of these glasses from +excess of heat, thereby endangering the sight--whereas, by my method, +the colored glasses remain as cool after an hour's observation as at the +commencement, and no strain or fatigue to the eye is experienced. +Secondly, the defining power of the telescope is greatly increased, so +that with a good three-and-a-quarter inch acromatic object-glass, with +fifty-four inches focal length (mine made by Buron, Paris), I have +obtained a clearer view of the physical features of the sun than any +described in astronomical works. + +In a favorable state of the atmosphere, and when spots are found lying +more than halfway between the sun's centre and the margin, or better +still, if nearer the margin, when the spots lie more edgeways to the +eye, I can see distinctly the relative thickness of the photosphere and +the underlying dusky penumbra, which lie on contiguous planes of about +equal thickness, like the coatings of an onion. When these spots are +nearer the centre of the sun, we see more vertically into their depths, +by which I frequently observe a third or cloud stratum, underlying the +penumbra, and partially closing the opening, doubtless to screen the +underlying globe (which, by contrast with the photosphere, is intensely +black) from excessive light, or to render it more diffusive.[11] The +concentric faculae are then plainly visible, and do not appear to rise +above the surface of the photosphere (as generally described), but +rather as depressions in that luminous envelope, frequently breaking +entirely through to the penumbra; and when this last parts, forms what +are called 'spots.' The delusion in supposing the faculae to be elevated +ridges, appears to me to be owing to the occasional depth of the faculae +breaking down through the photosphere to the dusky penumbra, giving the +appearance of a shadow from an elevated ridge. What is still more +interesting, in a favorable state of the atmosphere, I can distinctly +see over the _whole_ surface of the sun, not occupied by large spots or +by faculae, a network of pores or minute spots in countless numbers, with +dividing lines or faculae-like depressions in the photosphere, separating +each little hole, varying in size, some sufficiently large to exhibit +irregularities of outline, doubtless frequently combining and forming +larger spots.[12] When there are no scintillations in the air, the rim +or margin of the sun appears to be a perfect circle, as defined, in +outline, as if carved. By interposing an adjusted circular card, to cut +off the direct rays of the sun, thus improvising an eclipse, not a stray +ray of light is seen to dart in any direction from the sun, except what +is reflected to the instrument, diffusively, from our atmosphere; thus +proving that the corona, the coruscations or flashes of light, seen +during a total or nearly total eclipse of the sun by the moon, are not +rays direct from the sun, but reflections from lunar snow-clad +mountains, into her highly attenuated atmosphere. Solar light, being +electric, is not developed as light until reaching the atmosphere of a +planet or satellite, or their more solid substance, which would explain +why solar light is not diffused through space, and thus account for +nocturnal darkness. + +The combination of glasses which enabled me to inspect the above details +may be stated briefly thus: In the place of my astronomic eyepiece, I +use an elongator (obtainable of opticians) to increase the power. Into +this I place my terrestrial tube, retaining only the field glasses, and +using a microscopic eyepiece of seven eighths of an inch in diameter. +Over this I slide a tube containing my colored glasses, one dark blue +and two dark green, placed at the outer end of the sliding tube, one and +a half inches from the eyeglass. The colored glasses are three quarters +of an inch in diameter, and the aperture next the eye in diameter half +an inch. The power which I usually employ magnifies but one hundred and +fifty diameters; and I use the entire aperture of my object glass. This +combination of colored glasses gives a clear dead white to the sun, the +most desirable for distinct vision, as all shaded portions, such as +spots, however minute, and their underlying dusky penumbra, are thus +brought into strong contrasts. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[11] Imagine an immense sphere enclosed within two contiguous and +equally thin envelopes, and yet sufficiently thick to show their edges +distinctly when broken; the outer, a photosphere, having an intensely +bright surface, and the inner, or penumbra, of a dull gray surface; +while the enclosed hollow space is all dark, with the exception of an +occasional fleecy cloud, floating within, and contiguous to the inner +envelope. Now remove a large irregular piece from the outer, and a +smaller piece from the inner envelope, and you have an exact idea of the +appearance of a spot; contrasting the comparative brilliancy of the +photosphere with the penumbra; their relative thickness; the intense +blackness within, and occasional cloud stratum floating beneath the +opening, as seen, under the most favorable circumstances, with a good +telescope. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[12] The Nasmyth willow-leaf appearance, I think, is either the result +of imperfect vision, defective instruments, or unfavorable state of the +air, distorting the unvarying result of my observations, as above +described, which have been a thousand times repeated in our clearer +atmosphere, both on the coast and interior mountain regions. My +observation of a general pore-like character, over the whole surface of +the photosphere of the sun, is, I think, corroborated by considering the +spots, as usually known and visible with ordinary instruments, as merely +greater pores of the same general character. + + + + +AN ARMY: ITS ORGANIZATION AND MOVEMENTS. + +_FOURTH PAPER_. + + +In previous papers we have briefly related the history of the art of war +as now practised, stated the functions of the principal staff +departments, and mentioned some of the peculiar features of the +different arms of military service. It remains to describe the +operations of an army in its totality--to show the methods in which its +three principal classes of operations--marching, encamping, and +fighting--are performed. + +The first necessity for rendering an army effective is evidently +military discipline, including drill, subordination, and observance of +the prescribed regulations. The first is too much considered as the +devotion of time and toil to the accomplishment of results based on mere +arbitrary rules. The contrary is the truth. Drilling in all its +forms--from the lowest to the highest--from the rules for the position +of the single soldier to the manoeuvres of a brigade--is only +instruction in those movements which long experience has proved to be +the easiest, quickest, and most available methods of enabling a soldier +to discharge his duties: it is not the compulsory observance of rules +unfounded on proper reasons, designed merely to give an appearance of +uniformity and regularity--merely to make a handsome show on parade. +Nothing so much wearies and discourages a new recruit as his drill; he +cannot at first understand it, and does not see the reason for it. He +exclaims: + + 'I'm sick of this marching, + Pipe-claying and starching.' + +He thinks he can handle his musket with more convenience and rapidity if +he is permitted to carry it and load it as he chooses, instead of going +through the formula of motions prescribed in the manual. Perhaps as an +individual he might; but when he is only one in a large number, his +motions must be regulated, not only by his own convenience, but also by +that of his neighbors. Very likely, a person uneducated in the mysteries +of dancing would never adopt the polka or schottish step as an +expression of exuberance; but if he dances with a company, he must be +governed by the rules of the art, or he will be likely to tread on the +toes of his companions, and be the cause of casualties. Military drill +is constantly approaching greater simplicity, as experience shows that +various particulars may be dispensed with. Formerly, when soldiers were +kept up as part of the state pageants, they were subjected to numberless +petty tribulations of drill, which no longer exist. Pipe-clayed belts, +for example, have disappeared, except in the marine corps. Frederick the +Great was the first who introduced into drill ease and quickness of +execution, and since his day it has been greatly simplified and +improved. + +One great difficulty in our volunteer force pertains to the institution +of a proper subordination. Coming from the same vicinage, often related +by the various interests of life, equals at home, officers and men have +found it disagreeable to assume the proper relations of their military +life. The difficulty has produced two extremes of conduct on the part of +officers--either too much laxity and familiarity, or the entire +opposite--too great severity. The one breeds contempt among the men, and +the other hatred. After the soldier begins to understand the necessities +of military life, he sees that his officers should be men of dignity and +reliability. He does not respect them unless they preserve a line of +conduct corresponding to their superior military position. On the other +hand, if he sees that they are inflated by their temporary command, and +employ the opportunity to make their authority needlessly felt, and to +exercise petty tyranny, he entertains feelings of revenge toward them. A +model officer for the volunteer service is one who, quietly assuming the +authority incident to his position, makes his men feel that he exercises +it only for their own good. Such an officer enters thoroughly into all +the details of his command--sees that his men are properly fed, clothed, +and sheltered--that they understand their drill, and understand also +that its object is to render them more effective and at the same time +more secure in the hour of conflict--is careful and pains-taking, and at +the same time, in the hour of danger, shares with his men all their +exposures. Such an officer will always have a good command. We think +there has been a tendency to error in one point of the discipline of the +volunteer forces, by transferring to them the system which applied well +enough to the regulars. In the latter, by long discipline, each man +knows his duty, and if he commits a fault, it is his own act. In the +volunteers, the faults of the men are in the majority of cases +attributable to the officers. We know some companies in which no man has +ever been sent to the guard house, none ever straggled in marching, none +ever been missing when ordered into battle. The officers of these +companies are such as we have described above. We know other +companies--too many--in which the men are constantly straying around the +country, constantly found drunk or disorderly, constantly out of the +ranks, and constantly absent when they ought to be in line. Invariably +the officers of such companies are worthless. If, then, the system of +holding officers responsible for the faults of the men, were adopted, a +great reform would, in our judgment, be introduced into the service. It +is a well-known fact in the army that the character of a regiment, of a +brigade, of a division even, can be entirely changed by a change of +commanders. A hundred or a thousand men, selected at random from civil +life anywhere, will have the same average character; and if the military +organization which these hundred or thousand form differs greatly from +that of any similar organization, it is attributable entirely to those +in command. + +Passing to the army at large, the next matter of prominent necessity to +be noticed is the infusion in it of a uniform spirit--so as to make all +its parts work harmoniously in the production of a single tendency and a +single result. This must depend upon the general commanding. It is one +of the marks of genius in a commander that he can make his impress on +all the fractions of his command, down to the single soldier. An army +divided by different opinions of the capacity or character of its +commander, different views of policy, can scarcely be successful. +Napoleon's power of impressing his men with an idolatry for himself and +a confidence in victory is well known. The _moral_ element in the +effectiveness of an army is one of great importance. Properly stimulated +it increases the endurance and bravery of the soldiers to an amazing +degree. Physical ability without moral power behind it, is of little +consequence. It is a well-known fact that a man will, in the long run, +endure more (proportionately to his powers) than a horse, both being +subject to the same tests of fatigue and hunger. A commander with whom +an army is thoroughly in accord, and who shows that he is capable of +conducting it through battle with no more loss than is admitted to be +unavoidable, can make it entirely obedient to his will. The _faculty of +command_ is of supreme importance to a general. Without it, all other +attainments--though of the highest character--will be unserviceable. + +However large bounties may have given inducements for men to enlist as +soldiers, it is undeniable that patriotism has been a deciding motive. +Under the influence of this, each soldier has entertained an ennobling +opinion of himself, and has supposed that he would be received in the +character which such a motive impressed on him. He has quickly +ascertained, however, when fully entered on his military duties, that +the discipline has reduced him from the position of an independent +patriot to that of a mere item in the number of the rank and file. +Military discipline is based on the theory that soldiers should be mere +machines. So far as obedience is concerned, this is certainly correct +enough; but discipline in this country, and particularly with +volunteers, should never diminish the peculiar American feeling of being +'as good as any other man.' On the contrary, the soldier should be +encouraged to hold a high estimation of himself. We do not believe that +those soldiers who are mere passive instruments--like the Russians, for +example--can be compared with others inspired with individual pride. +Yet, perhaps, our discipline has gone too far in the 'machine' +direction. To keep up the feeling of patriotism to its intensest glow is +a necessity for an American army, and a good general would be careful to +make this a prominent characteristic of the impression reflected from +his own genius upon his command. Professional fighting is very well in +its place, and there are probably thousands who are risking blood and +life in our armies, who yet do not cordially sympathize with the objects +of the war. But an army must be actuated by a living motive--one of +powerful importance; in this war there is room for such a motive to have +full play, and it is essential that our soldiers should be incited by no +mere abstract inducements, by no mere entreaties to gain victory, but by +exhibitions of all the reasons that make our side of the struggle the +noblest and holiest that ever engaged the attention of a nation. + +But we must leave such discussions, and proceed specifically to the +subject of this paper--the methods of moving an army. + +A state of war having arrived, it depends upon the Government to decide +where the _theatre of operations_ shall be. Usually, in Europe, this has +been contracted, containing but few _objective points_, that is, the +places the capture of which is desired; but in our country the theatre +of operations may be said to have included the whole South. The places +for the operations of armies having been decided on, the Government +adopts the necessary measures for assembling forces at the nearest +point, and accumulating supplies, as was done at Washington in 1861. A +commander is assigned to organize the forces, and at the proper time he +moves them to the selected theatre. Now commences the province of +_strategy_, which is defined as 'the art of properly directing masses +upon the theatre of war for the defence of our own or the invasion of +the enemy's country.' Strategy is often confounded with tactics, but is +entirely different--the latter being of an inferior, more contracted and +prescribed character, while the former applies to large geographical +surfaces, embraces all movements, and has no rules--depending entirely +on the genius of the commander to avail himself of circumstances. It is +the part of strategy, for instance, so to manoeuvre as to mislead the +enemy, or to separate his forces, or to fall upon them singly. Tactics, +on the contrary, are the rules for producing particular effects, and +apply to details. The strategy of the commander brings his forces into +the position he has chosen for giving battle; tactics prescribe the +various evolutions of the forces by which they take up their assigned +positions. It was by strategy that General Grant obtained the position +at Petersburg; it was by tactics that his army was able to march with +such celerity and precision that the desired objects were attained. + +Marches are of two classes--of concentration and of manoeuvre. The +former, being used merely for the assembling of an army, or conducting +it to the theatre of operations, need but little precision; the latter +are performed upon the actual theatre of war, often in the presence of +the enemy, and require care and skill for their proper conduct. The +details of marches are of course governed by the nature of the country +in which they are performed, but so far as practicable they are made in +two methods--by parallel columns, or by the flank. The former is the +most usual and the most preferable in many respects; indeed, the latter +is never adopted except when compelled by necessity, or for the purpose +of executing some piece of strategy. A careful arrangement of all +details by commanders, and a steady persistence in their performance on +the part of the troops, are required to permit this class of marches to +be made safely in the presence of an enemy. + +For the use of an army of a hundred thousand men about to march forward +against an enemy, all the parallel roads within a space of at least ten +miles are needed, and the more of them there are the better, since the +columns can thereby be made shorter, and the trains be sent by the +interior roads. Where a sufficient number of parallel roads exist, +available for the army, it is usual to put about a division on +each--sometimes the whole of a corps--according to the nature of the +country and the objects to be attained. We will attempt to illustrate +the march of an army by columns in the following diagram. + +[Illustration] + +Suppose that E and F are two towns thirty miles apart, and that there +are road connections as represented in the diagram. The army represented +by the dotted line A B, wishes to move to attack the army C D. Cavalry, +followed by infantry columns, would be sent out on the roads E M N and E +G I, the cavalry going off toward P and K to protect the flanks, and the +infantry taking position at I and O. Meantime another column, behind +which are the baggage trains, covered with a rear guard, has moved to L. +If the three points I, L, and O are reached simultaneously, the army can +safely establish its new line, the baggage trains are entirely +protected, and the whole country is occupied as effectually as if every +acre were in possession. + +The formation of a marching column varies according to circumstances, +but is usually somewhat as follows, when moving toward an enemy: + +[Illustration: + + Skirmishers. + + Advance guard. + + Brigade of infantry. + + Battery of artillery. + + Main body of infantry. + + Main body of artillery. + + Ambulances and wagon + trains + + Rear guard.] + +The dots representing the ambulances and wagon trains do not show the +true proportion of these to the rest of the column, and it cannot be +given except at too great a sacrifice of space. They occupy more road +than all the other parts of the column combined. With the advance guard +go the engineers and pioneers, to repair the roads, make bridges, etc. + +The difficulties and dangers attending a _flank march_ can be made +apparent by a diagram: + +[Illustration] + +Let A B and C D represent two armies drawn up against each other in +three lines of battle, on opposite sides of a stream, E F. The commander +of the army A B, finding he cannot cross and drive the enemy from their +works, determines, by a flank march to the left, to go around them, +crossing at the point E. In order to effect this he must send his trains +off by the road I K L to some interior line, and then slowly unfold his +masses upon the single road K E H. By the time the head of his column is +at H the rear has not perhaps left K, and thus the whole length of his +army is exposed on its side to an attack by the enemy, which may sever +it into two unsupporting portions. It will be perceived that to +accomplish such marches with security, they must be made in secret as +far as possible, until a portion of the marching force reaches the rear +of the enemy; the column must be kept compact, and great vigilance must +be exercised. In his progress from the Rapidan to the James, General +Grant made three movements of this character with entire success, each +time putting our forces so far in the rear of the rebels that they were +compelled to hasten their own retreat instead of delaying to avail +themselves of the opportunity for attacking. + +Besides the topography of the country, various circumstances influence +the manner in which a march is conducted--particularly the position of +the enemy. When following a retreating foe, the cavalry is sent in the +advance, supported by some infantry and horse artillery, to harass the +rear guard, and, if practicable, delay the retreat until the main army +can come up. This was the case in the peninsula campaign, from Yorktown +to the Chickahominy. Again, the exact position of the enemy may not be +known, or he may have large bodies in different places, so that his +intentions cannot be surmised. It is then necessary to scatter the army +so as to cover a number of threatened points, care being exercised to +have all the different bodies within supporting distances, and to be on +guard against a sudden concentration of the enemy between them. This was +the case in the campaign which ended so gloriously at Gettysburg. The +rebels were then threatening both Harrisburg and Baltimore, and the two +extremities of our army were over thirty miles apart, so as to be +concentrated either on the right, left, or centre, as events might +determine. It happened that a collision was brought on at Gettysburg, +and both armies immediately concentrated there. The corps on the right +of our army was obliged to march about thirty-two miles, performing the +distance in about eighteen or nineteen hours, and arriving in time to +participate in the second day's battle. As much skill is evinced by a +commander in preliminary manoeuvring marches and the assignment of +positions to the different portions of his army as in the direction of a +battle. Napoleon gained many of his victories through the effects of +such manoeuvres. + +_Time_ is a very important element in marching. An army which can march +five miles a day more than its opponent will almost certainly be +victorious, for it can go to his flank, or assail him when unprepared, +Frederick the Great achieved his successes by imparting mobility to his +troops, and Napoleon also was a master of that peculiar feature in that +faculty of command of which we have before spoken, that enables a leader +to obtain from his men the maximum amount of continued exertion. To +achieve facility in marching, all the equipments of the soldiers should +be as light as possible, and the columns should be encumbered with no +more trains than are absolutely indispensable. Officers of the highest +class must be prepared to forego unnecessary luxuries, and to march with +nothing more than a blanket, a change of clothing, and rations for a few +days in their haversacks. + +When a march is contemplated, orders are issued from the general +headquarters prescribing all the details--the time at which each corps +is to start, the roads to be taken, the precautions to be observed, and +the points to be gained. Usually an early hour in the morning is fixed +for the commencement of the march. If not in the immediate presence of +the enemy, and a surprise is not intended, the _reveille_ is beaten +about three o'clock, and the sleepy soldiers arouse from their beds on +the ground, pack up their tents, blankets, and equipments, get a hasty +breakfast, and fall into their ranks. If some commander--perhaps of a +regiment only--has been dilatory, the whole movement is delayed. Many +well-formed plans have been defeated by the indolence of a subordinate +commander and his failure to put his troops in motion at the designated +hour. Such a delay may embarrass the whole army by detaining other +portions, whose movements are to be governed by those of the belated +fragment. At four o'clock, if orders have been obeyed, the long columns +are moving. Perhaps four or five hours are occupied in filing out into +the road. While the sun is rising and the birds engaged at their matins, +the troops are trudging along at that pace of three miles an hour, which +seems so tardy, but which, persisted in day after day, traverses so +great a distance. Every hour there is ten or fifteen minutes' halt, +enabling the rear to close up, and the men to relieve themselves +temporarily of their guns and knapsacks. Soon the heat commences to grow +oppressive, the dust rises in suffocating clouds, knapsacks weigh like +lead, and the artillery horses pant as they drag the heavy guns. But the +steady tramp must be continued till about eleven o'clock, when a general +halt under the shelter of some cool woods, by the side of a stream, is +ordered. Two or three hours of welcome rest are here employed in dinner +and finishing the broken morning's nap. After the intenser heat of the +day is past, the tramp recommences, and continues till six or seven +o'clock, when the place appointed for encamping is reached. Soon white +tents cover every hill and plain and valley, the weary animals are +unharnessed, trees and fence rails disappear rapidly to feed the +consuming camp fires, there is a universal buzz formed from the laugh, +the song, the shout, and the talking of twenty thousand voices: it +gradually subsides, the fires grow dim, and silence and darkness fall +upon the scene. + +Such marching, with its twenty, twenty-five, or thirty miles a day, is +light compared with the harassing fatigues of a retreat, before the +pursuit of a triumphant enemy. To accomplish this movement, so as to +save the organization and the material of an army, without too great a +loss of life, tests in the highest degree the skill of a commander and +the fortitude of the men. In a retreat, the usual order of marching is +reversed--the trains are sent in the advance, and the troops must remain +behind for their protection. Often it happens that they are obliged to +remain in line all day, to check by fighting the advance of the enemy, +and then continue their march by night. The dead and wounded must, to a +great extent, be left on the field; supplies are perhaps exhausted, with +no opportunity for replenishment; the merciless cannon of the enemy are +constantly thundering in the rear, his cavalry constantly making inroads +upon the flanks. Weary, hungry, exhausted, perhaps wounded, the soldier +must struggle along for days and nights, if he would avoid massacre or +consignment to the cruelties of a prison. The rout of a great army--the +disorganization and confusion of a retreat, even when well +conducted--the toil and suffering and often slaughter--are the saddest +scenes earth can present. Who can paint the terrors of that winter +retreat of the French from Moscow? Fortunately, in our war we have had +nothing to equal in horrors the retreats of European armies, but no one +who passed through those trying seven days fighting and marching which +closed the Peninsula campaign, can ever fail to shudder at the +sufferings imposed on humanity by a retreat. + + + + +VIOLATIONS OF LITERARY PROPERTY. + +THE FEDERALIST.--LIFE AND CHARACTER OF JOHN JAY. + + +Among the rights which are ill protected by law, and yet of essential +importance to the individual and society, are those of literary +property. If any bequest should be sacred, it is that of thought, +convictions, art--the intellectual personality that survives human +life--and the 'local habitation and the name' whereby genius, opinion, +sentiment--what constitutes the best image and memorial of a life and a +mind, a character and a career, is preserved and transmitted. And yet, +with all our boasted civilization and progress, no rights are more +frequently or grossly violated, no wrongs so little capable of +redress, as those relating to literary property. Herein there is a +singular moral obtuseness a want of chivalry, an inadequate sense of +obligation--doubtless in part originating in that unjust legislation, or +rather want of legislation, whereby international law protects the +products of the mind and recognizes national literature as a great +social interest. Within a few months, the biography of our pioneer +author,[13] whose memory his life and character, not less than his +genius, had singularly endeared to the whole range of English +readers--was prepared by a relative designated by himself, who, with +remarkable tact and fidelity, completed his delicate task, according to +the materials provided and the wishes expressed by his illustrious +kinsman. A London publisher reprinted the work, with eighty pages +interpolated, wherein, with an utter disregard to common delicacy toward +the dead or self-respect in the living, unauthentic gossip is made to +desecrate the reticent and consistent tone of the work, pervert its +spirit, and detract from its harmonious attraction and truth. A greater +or more indecent and unjustifiable liberty was never taken by a +publisher with a foreign work; it was an insult to the memory of +Washington Irving, to his biographer and those who cherish his fame. + +Not many weeks ago, an eloquent young divine, who had in no small degree +saved the State of California to the Union, by his earnest and constant +plea for national integrity, died in the midst of his useful and noble +career: forthwith the publisher of a Review, in whose pages some of his +early essays had appeared, announced their republication: in vain the +friends and family of Starr King protested against so crude and limited +a memorial of his genius, and entreated that they might be allowed to +glean and garner more mature and complete fruits of his pen, as a token +of his ability and his career; and thus do justice, by careful selection +and well-advised preparation, to the memory they and their fellow +citizens so tenderly and proudly cherished: no; the articles had been +paid for, the recent death of the writer gave them a market value, and +the publishers were resolved to turn them to account, however good taste +and right feeling and sacred associations were violated. + +Again, one of the few legal works of American origin which has a +standard European reputation is Wheaton's 'International Law.' Its +author was eminently national in his convictions; foreign service and +patriotic instincts had made him thoroughly American in his sympathies +and sentiments; no one of our diplomatic agents sent home such +comprehensive and sagacious despatches, having in view 'the honor and +welfare of the whole country;' and no one who knew Henry Wheaton doubts +that, were he living at this hour, all his influence, hopes, and faith +would be identified with the Union cause. + +Yet an edition[14] of his great work has lately appeared, edited in an +opposite interest; and the standard reference on the law of nations, so +honorable to the legal knowledge, perspicacity, and candor of an +American author, goes forth perverted and deformed by annotations and +comments indirectly sympathetic with the wicked rebellion now +devastating the nation. Can a greater literary outrage be imagined? Is +it possible more grossly to violate the rights of the dead? + +Aware that certain rules apply to the annotation of legal treatises not +recognized in other departments of literature, and diffident of personal +judgment in this respect, in order to ascertain how far our sense of +this violation of literary property and reputation was well founded, how +far we were right in asserting a partisan aim, we requested an +accomplished lawyer, thoroughly versed in the literature of his +profession, and experienced as an editor, to examine this edition of +Wheaton, and state his own opinion thereof: to him we are indebted for +the following clear and palpable instances of a perverted use of a +standard American treatise, endeared to many living friends of the +author, and all his intelligent and patriotic countrymen: of the +'additions' to the original by the editor, he says: + + '1. They indicate considerable reading and industry, but are far + too voluminous, and abound in extended extracts from speeches, + state papers, and statutes, which should have been omitted + altogether, or very much abridged. + + '2. They contain no language complimentary to the Administration, + little or nothing in defence of the Government--none that can be + offensive to Jefferson Davis; and, as a whole, they give the + impression that he regards the Confederate position as being quite + as defensible, on the principles of international law, as that of + the United States. + + '3. He has no word of censure for Lord John Russell, and no word + of apology for Mr. Seward. He nowhere calls the Confederates + _rebels_, and nowhere thinks the conduct of France suspicious or + unfriendly. + + '4. His positions are unquestionably the same with those of + Seymour, Bishop Hopkins, Professor Morse, Judge Woodward, etc. + + '5. He is everywhere cold--more willing to wound than bold to + strike; and yet he fretfully commits himself before he gets + through, in defence of slavery and extreme democratic positions. + + '6. He does not pretend that he was ever requested by the great + author with whose productions he has taken such liberties to + undertake the editorial duties. + + 'His language is so general that one needs to read it carefully to + feel the full force of what I have said. + + 'In the preface (page 1-20), he speaks of 'Spanish American + independence, now jeopardized by our _fratricidal_ + contest'--fratricidal is indeed a favorite word; he uses it in an + offensive sense as regards the United States. Page 99, note, he + says of slavery, what is utterly untrue, that 'the Constitution + recognized it as property, and pledges the Federal Government to + protect it.' The noble act of June 19, 1862, forbidding slavery in + United States Territories, he comments on in this wise: 'This act + wholly ignores the decision of the Supreme Court (meaning the Dred + Scott case) on the subject of slavery.' He then inserts the whole + act in the note, only to hold it up to censure--'testing it by + international law' as interpreted by him. At page 605 he denounces + that law as 'obnoxious not only to the principles of international + law, but to the Constitution of the United States.' His note and + extracts, including long extracts from speeches of Thomas, of + Massachusetts, and Crittenden, of Kentucky, fill more than + twenty-two pages--reserving a line or two of text at the top. To + say nothing of the sentiments, such notes are a shameful abuse of + the reputation and work of Mr. Wheaton, and a perversion of the + duties and rights of an editor. But a word of the sentiments. He + exhausts himself and the records of the past in accumulating + precedents to condemn the policy of freeing slaves as a war + measure, or of arming them in the nation's defence. + + 'At page 614, in this same note, speaking of the effect of the + Proclamation of Emancipation, he says: 'The attention of publicists + may well be called to the withdrawal of the four millions of men + from the cultivation of cotton, which, is the source of wealth of + the great commercial and manufacturing nations of Europe.' That is, + he suggests this as a ground for interference in our affairs on the + principles of _his_ international law. He further adds that this + cultivation of cotton is 'by nature a virtual monopoly of the + seceded States;' that is, nature preordained the negroes to be + slaves in the seceded States to raise cotton; and hence natural and + international law require emancipation proclamations to be put + down. Did Stephens ever go farther? Again, on the same page, he + says: 'The effect on the United States, _in the event of the + reestablishment of the Federal authority,_' without the + Proclamation in force, etc., 'would be _seriously felt_, in its + financial bearings,' etc.--'abroad as well as at home.' Not + satisfied, therefore, with suggesting a justification of + intervention, on the basis of international law, he appeals to the + cupidity of foreigners as well as natives, by hinting also that + financial ruin may follow the triumph of Freedom and the Federal + armies. What a shame that an American editor should use the great + name of Wheaton to give dignity to such suggestions in foreign + countries.' He then gives--all in the same interminable note (page + 614)--an extract from _The Morning Chronicle_, of May 16, 1860, of + which I give you this delicious morsel: 'No blacks, no cotton, such + is the finality.' At page 609, he speaks of the 'incompatibility of + confiscation of property with the present state of civilization.' + At page 609, he quotes, with evident delight, the sanctimonious + despatch of Lord John Russell about sinking ships in Charleston + harbor, which his lordship calls a 'project only worthy the times + of barbarism;' and the American annotator, who could use page after + page to degrade his own Government for emancipating slaves, of + course could not be expected to refer to any of the precedents that + would have silenced Lord John, and have justified the United + States; and he therefore passes on with no reference to them. + + 'At page 669, Mr. Wheaton says: 'The validity of maritime captures + must be determined in a court of the captor's Government,' etc. + This American editor does not so much as allude to the fact, that + while he is writing, the highways of the ocean are lighted by the + fires of American merchantmen, plundered, and then burned, without + condemnation of any court, by vessels fitted out in English ports, + in open violation of the first principles of international law, and + which have never been in any port under the jurisdiction of the + piratical Confederacy! + + 'Some of his indications of sympathy with the rebellion are quite + in excess of those of Lord John, with whose views, on the whole, he + seems well enough pleased. For example, at page 254, Lord John is + quoted as follows: 'Has a commission from the _so-called_ President + Davis,' etc.; but at page 107 and generally, the American editor, + not willing to imply that there is any doubt about the reality or + permanency of the Confederate concern, nor being willing to offend + its managers, speaks of 'the President of the Confederate States,' + and 'an act of Congress of the Confederate States,' etc.; and when + he reaches page 535, as if to set Lord John a better example (and I + believe there had been some Confederate victories about the time he + was writing that note), he says: 'A proclamation was issued by + _President Davis_, on the 14th of August, 1861, ordering all + citizens adhering to the Government of the United States, etc., to + depart from the _Confederate States_ in forty days.' It is very + evident the author approves this order as warranted by + international law, at least according to his interpretation + thereof. + + 'Need I go farther to satisfy you of the temper and character of + the notes, and the views of their author? I can hardly suppress the + expression of my indignation that such a use should have been made + of this great national work--that such an opportunity should have + been lost to say something worthily in favor of colonization and + freedom, and in vindication of our nation, in its great struggle + with the relics of barbarism in its midst, and with the selfish and + ambitious spirits of the European continent, so ready to take + advantage of our troubles to promote their own schemes.' + +We now come to another and more generally obnoxious instance of this use +of standard national works for personal or political objects. The +'Federalist,' from the circumstances under which it was written, the +influence it exerted, the events with which it is associated, the +character of the writers, and the ability manifest both in their +arguments and the style--has long been regarded as a political classic. +It was the text book of a large and intelligent party at the time of and +long subsequent to the adoption of the Constitution; and few works of +political philosophy, written to meet an exigency and prepare the way +for a governmental change, have attained so high and permanent a rank +among foreign critics and historians. It is evident that such a work, +whoever owns the copyright or boasts the authorship, has a national +value and interest. To preserve it intact, to keep it in an eligible and +accessible form before the public, is all that any editor or publisher +has a right to claim. Much has been written as to the authorship of the +respective papers, and some passages have been variously rendered in +different editions; but the general scope and merit of the work, and the +obvious and unchallenged identity of style and opinion with the +acknowledged authors as regards most of the articles, make the +discussions on these points of comparative little significance to the +reader of the present day, who regards the work as a whole, seizes its +essential traits, and is _en rapport_ with its magnanimous tone, so +wholly opposed to petty division of credit in a labor undertaken from +patriotic motives, and by scholars and gentlemen. Enough that we have +here the reasonings of enlightened citizens, the views of statesmen, the +arguments whereby the claims of the Constitution were vindicated. +Whoever is familiar with the history of the period, finds in this +remarkable work a memorable illustration of that rectitude and wisdom +which presided over the early counsels of the nation, and an evidence of +the rare union of sagacity and comprehensiveness, of liberal aspiration +and prudential foresight, of conscientiousness and intelligence, which +has won for the founders of the republic the admiration of the world. In +these pages, how much knowledge of the past is combined with insight as +to the future, what common sense is blent with learning, what +perspicacity with breadth of view! Each department of the proposed +government is described and analyzed; the political history of Greece, +Rome, the Italian republics, France, and Great Britain examined for +precedents and illustrations; popular objections answered; popular +errors rectified; this provision explained, that clause justified; the +judicial, legislative, and executive functions defined; national revenue +discussed in all its relations; the advantages of our civil list, of a +republic over a democracy in controlling the effects of faction, are +clearly indicated; as are those attending the reservation of criminal +and civil justice to the respective States: on the one hand the defects +of the old Confederacy are stated with emphasis and truth, and on the +other, the transcendent benefits of Federal union are elaborately +argued, and economy, stability, and vigor proved to be its legitimate +fruits. Of the evils of the old system, it is said: 'Let the point of +extreme depression to which our national dignity and credit have sunk, +let the inconvenience felt everywhere from a lax and ill-administered +government, let the revolt of a part of North Carolina, the memory of +insurrection in Pennsylvania, and actual insurrection in Massachusetts, +declare it.' An unique distinction of this political treatise is that +while Pericles, Cato, Hume, Montesquieu, Junius, and other classical and +modern authorities are cited with scholarly tact, the most practical +arguments drawn from the facts of the hour and the needs of the people, +are conveyed in language the most lucid and impressive. To give a +complete analysis of the 'Federalist' would require a volume; the glance +we have cast upon its various topics sufficiently indicates the extent +and importance of the work. Not less memorable is the spirit in which it +was undertaken. 'A nation without a national government,' it is said, +'is, in my view, an awful spectacle;' and elsewhere--'The establishment +of a constitution in times of profound peace, by the voluntary consent +of a whole people, is a prodigy, to the completion of which I look +forward with trembling anxiety.' 'I dread,' writes Jay, 'the more the +consequences of new attempts, because I know that powerful individuals +in this and in other States are enemies to a General National Government +in every possible shape.' + +Under such a sense of responsibility, with such patriotic solicitude did +Hamilton, Madison, and Jay plead for the new Constitution with their +fellow citizens of New York in the journals of the day, and it is these +fragmentary comments and illustrations which, subsequently brought +together in volumes, constitute 'the Federalist'; and well did they, +toward the close of the discussion, observe: 'Let us now pause and ask +ourselves whether, in the course of these papers, the proposed +Constitution has not been satisfactorily vindicated from the aspersions +thrown upon it, and whether it has not been shown worthy of the public +approbation and necessary to the public safety and prosperity.' Whatever +degree of sympathy or antagonism the intelligent reader of the +'Federalist' may feel, he can scarcely fail to admit that it is a +masterly discussion of principles, and that the influence it exerted in +securing the ratification of the Constitution in the State of New York, +was a legitimate result of intelligent and conscientious advocacy. But +the work has other than merely historical and literary claims upon our +esteem at this hour. Its principles find confirmation here and now, in a +degree and to an extent which lends new force and distinction to its +authors as writers of political foresight and patriotic prescience. +There are innumerable passages as applicable to the events of the last +three years as if suggested by them; there are arguments and prophecies +which have only attained practical demonstration through the terrible +ordeal of civil war now raging around and in the heart of the republic. + +When we saw the announcement of a new edition[15] of this national work, +we hailed it as most seasonable and desirable: when the first volume +came under our notice, our first feeling was one of gratitude to the +editor for having taken such care to reproduce the work with the +greatest possible correctness of text, obtained by patient collation of +the different editions: regarding his labors as those of a disinterested +historical student, ambitious to bring before the public a work full of +warning and wisdom for this terrible national crisis, we at first saw in +his annotations and comments only the labor of love whereby a standard +work is illustrated and made more emphatic and complete: but, ere long, +we found a spirit of detraction at work, a want of sympathy with the +tone and a want of understanding of the motives of the authors, which +made us regret that, instead of this partisan edition, the 'Federalist' +had not been reissued with a brief explanatory introduction, and without +note or comment. + +Instead of a hearty recognition, we find a narrow interpretation of +these eminent men: long-exploded slanders, born of partisan spite, are +more in the mind of the editor than the permanent and invaluable traits +which, to a generous and refined mind, constitute the legitimate claims +of the work itself and the authors thereof. Guizot remarks: 'In the +discussions of the numbers' (the 'Federalist'), 'for all that combines a +profound knowledge of the great elementary principles of human +government with the wisest maxims of practical administration, I do not +know in the whole compass of my reading, whether from ancient or modern +authors, so able a work.' _The Edinburgh Review_ says: 'The 'Federalist' +is a publication that exhibits an extent and precision of information, a +profundity of research and an acuteness of understanding, which would +have done honor to the most illustrious statesmen of ancient or modern +times.' + +In contrast with these and similar instances of eminent foreign +appreciation, the editor of this edition of the 'Federalist' attributes +to tact what is due to truth, represents the people, as such, as opposed +to the Constitution, and Hamilton, Jay, and Madison 'poor antagonists' +in combating their objections; if so, how does he account for the +remarkable triumph of their dispassionate exposition and lucid +arguments? In all political and literary history there are few more +benign and distinguished examples of the practical efficiency of +intelligent, patriotic, and conscientious reasoning against ignorance, +prejudice, and partisan misrepresentation. And yet, in the face of this +testimony, by the self-constituted editor of this national work, +Hamilton is described as sophistical and disingenuous, whose object is +to deceive rather than to instruct, to mislead rather than enlighten, +and whose motives are partisan rather than patriotic. + +Throughout the introduction there is a spirit of latent detraction; +insinuations against the aims and methods, if not against the character +of the illustrious men whose memories are our most precious inheritance; +we feel that, however industrious in research and ingenious in +conjecture, the tone and range of the critic's mind are wholly +inadequate for any sympathetic insight as to the nature of the men whose +writings he undertakes to reintroduce to the public--and this +irrespective of any difference of political opinion: something more than +verbal accuracy and patient collation is requisite to interpret the +'Federalist' and appreciate its authors; even a political opponent, of +kindred social and personal traits, would do better justice to the +theme: and a truly patriotic citizen of the republic, at such a crisis +as the present, could never find therein an appropriate occasion to +magnify political differences at the expense of national sentiment. + +Whatever the literary merit or political interest of the 'Federalist,' +its moral value is derived from our faith in the absolute sincerity and +profound convictions of its authors: not only does the internal evidence +of every page bear emphatic testimony thereto, but the correspondence of +each writer as well as of contemporary statesmen, attest the same truth: +they regarded the condition of the country as ruinous, and lamented that +the fruits of victory turned to ashes on the lips of the people, because +there was no homogeneous and vital organization to conserve and +administer the invaluable blessings won by the sword: against the +suicidal jealousy of State rights as adequate for prosperous +self-reliance without the bonds and blessings of a vital National +Government, they earnestly directed the most patriotic and intelligent +arguments: of these the 'Federalist' is the chief repertory; hence its +value and interest as a popular treatise which prepared the way for the +intelligent adoption of the Constitution; yet in this edition the +introductory remarks impugn the sincerity of the authors, and attempt to +revive the political heresy of extreme State as opposed to Federal +power, which it is the primary object of the work to expose and condemn; +and this at a time when the fatal doctrine is in vogue as what may be +called the metaphysical apology for the most base and barbarous +rebellion against free government recorded in history. According to this +editor, Chancellor Livingston was 'dilatory and uncertain,' Duane +sympathized with the Tories in power, Hamilton exaggerated the troubles +of the country and consciously sought to make his fellow citizens +attribute, against the facts, the depreciated currency and the dearth of +trade to the weakness of the Confederation--making a false issue to +effect a political triumph: 'his plan of operations,' his 'tact,' are +referred to as if, instead of being a true patriot and conscientious +statesman, he was a mere special pleader, intriguing and ambitious. Add +to this that, when introducing the 'Federalist' to the public in what +purports to be an historical preface, he is silent on the wonderful +fruits of the Constitution therein advocated--and fails to indicate, as +would any candid critic, the remarkable proofs which time and experience +yield of the practical wisdom and patriotic foresight of the men whose +honorable prestige he thus indirectly seeks to undermine. Jay, we are +told, was regarded 'by the majority of his fellow citizens as selfish, +impracticable, and aristocratic;' he is said to have been 'induced to +undertake' his share of the 'Federalist;' he speaks of the small part he +actually did write, without alluding to the fact that illness withdrew +him from work of all kinds, after his third paper had been +contributed--thus conveying the impression of a lukewarm zeal and even +utter indifference; whereas not only do his own words confute the +imputation, but we have Madison's declaration that the idea of the +'Federalist' was suggested by Jay; 'and it was undertaken last fall,' he +writes to Jefferson, 'by Jay, Hamilton, and myself. The proposal came +from the two former. The execution was thrown, by the sickness of Jay, +mostly on the two others.' It is even insinuated by this editor that Jay +confined himself to topics which could be discussed 'without +compromising in the least his general political sentiments, and without +obliging him to assent even by implication to any portion of the +proposed Constitution.' The representative duties and offices again and +again forced upon John Jay--whether as a writer, jurist, envoy, or +legislator--the evidence of his own letters, and especially the +testimony of his fellow statesmen, adequately confute such +misrepresentations as we have noted. It is a thankless, and, we believe, +a superfluous task to vindicate the manliness, sincerity, and patriotism +of the authors of the 'Federalist' and their fellow statesmen; indeed, +their illustrious opponents in political questions again and again bore +witness to the worth, wisdom, and integrity of the _men_, while many +disputed the doctrine of the writers; popular sentiment embalms their +fame and cherishes their memories; the insinuations of any +self-constituted editor cannot impair the confidence or reverse the +verdict which time has only confirmed and national growth made more +emphatic. On the other hand, such attempts to diminish the personal +authority, by misrepresenting the methods and motives of these eminent +men, as are exhibited in the whole tone and manner of this editorship of +a national work, imply a perverted sense of the duties of the hour, an +insensibility to the terrible crisis through which the nation is +passing, that cannot be too severely condemned by the patriotic and +intelligent of all parties. Now, if never before, we should keep bright +the escutcheon of our country's honor, and renew our love and admiration +for the fathers of the republic and our faith in their principles. + +Scrupulous as firm, Jay acted with judicial moderation; he advocated the +last petition before declaring hostility against Great Britain--desirous +of trying every means before accepting the dread alternative of war; he +insisted upon a general convention of the States before deciding upon +the new Constitution; he was loyal until loyalty became an abrogation of +free citizenship; law and justice with him went hand in hand with +reform, and rectitude, not impulse, gave consistency to his course. Such +a man lays himself open to factious criticism far more than reckless +politicians, who are restrained by no sense of responsibility; but, on +the other hand, in the last analysis, they stand forth the most pure +because the most patient, just, and truly patriotic of representative +statesmen. + +'Mr. Jay,' says John Adams, 'had as much influence in the preparatory +measures for digesting the Constitution and in obtaining its adoption as +any man in the nation;' yet according to this editor of the +'Federalist,' he found therein 'little that he could commend, and +nothing for which he could labor:' the same authority declares that he +was regarded 'by the majority of his fellow citizens as selfish, +impracticable, and aristocratic;' while Dr. McVickar justly remarks that +the first thing that strikes us in contemplating his life is 'the +unbroken continuity, the ceaseless succession of honorable confidences, +throughout a period of twenty-eight years, reposed in Jay by his +countrymen.' + +But instead of dwelling upon such abortive disparagement, the only +importance of which arises from its being annexed to and associated with +a standard political text-book, let us refresh our memories, our +patriotism, our best sympathies of mind and heart, by tracing once more +the services and delineating the character of this illustrious man, +whose benign image seems to invoke his countrymen, at this momentous +climax of our national life, to recur to those principles and that faith +which founded and should now save the republic. + +Among the French Protestants who were obliged to seek a foreign home +when the Edict of Nantes was revoked, was Pierre Jay, a prosperous +merchant of Rochelle, who took up his abode in England. This statement +alone is no inadequate illustration of the character of John Jay's +paternal grandfather; sagacity, enterprise, and application, are +qualities we may justly infer from commercial success; and when the +fruits thereof were, in no small degree, sacrificed by adherence to a +proscribed religion, no ordinary degree of moral courage and pure +integrity must have been united to prudential industry. Those who +believe in that aristocracy of nature whereby normal instincts are +transmitted, will find even in this brief allusion to the Huguenot +merchant traits identical with those which insured the public usefulness +and endear the personal memory of his grandson. The latter's father, +Augustus Jay, was one of three sons. He, with many others of the second +generation of exiled French Protestants, found in America a more +auspicious refuge than even the more free states of Europe afforded. A +family who had previously emigrated to New York, under similar +circumstances, naturally welcomed the new _emigre_; and the daughter of +Bathezan Bayard became his wife. Their children consisted of three +daughters and one son, who was named Peter for his grandfather. One of +the prominent names of the original Dutch colonists of New York is Van +Cortland; and Peter Jay married, in 1728, Mary, a daughter of this race, +by whom he had ten children, of which John, the subject of this sketch, +was the eighth. Genealogists, who reckon lineage according to humanity +rather than pride, might find in the immediate ancestry of John Jay one +of those felicitous combinations which so often mark the descent of +eminent men among our Revolutionary statesmen. With the courteous and +intelligent proclivities of Gallic blood the conservative, domestic, and +honest nature of the Hollander united to form a well-balanced mind and +efficient character. With the best associations of the time and place +were blended the firmness of principle derived from ancestors who had +suffered for conscience' sake; so that in the antecedents and very blood +of the boy were elements of the Christian, patriot, and gentleman; which +phases of his nature we find dominant and pervasive throughout his life; +for it is a remarkable fact in the career of John Jay that by no triumph +of extraordinary genius, by no favor of brilliant circumstances did he +win and leave an honored name, but through the simple uprightness and +the sound wisdom of a consistent and loyal character--so emphatic and +yet unostentatious as to overcome, in the end, the most rancorous +political injustice. His early training was no less favorable to this +result than his birth. His father removed to Westchester county, and, on +a pleasant rural domain still occupied by the family, the future +jurist's childhood was passed. At that time there was a French church at +New Rochelle, the pastor of which was an excellent scholar; and this +gentleman fitted young Jay for college. He gave early proofs of a +studious turn of mind and a reticent temperament; acquiring knowledge +with pleasure and facility; and, for the most part, exhibiting a +thoughtful demeanor. In some of his father's letters, alluding to his +childhood, he is described as a boy of 'good capacity,' of 'grave +disposition,' and one who 'takes to learning exceedingly well.' He +attended the grammar school of the French clergyman until the age of +fourteen, and then entered King's (now Columbia) College, at that time +under the care of President Johnson. Here he became intimate with +three youths with whom he was destined to be memorably associated +in after life, and whose names, with his own, have since become +historical--Gouverneur Morris, Alexander Hamilton, and Robert R. +Livingston. We can easily imagine that the diversities of character +between these remarkable men were already evident; the ardor and +frankness of Hamilton, the emphatic rhetoric of Morris and fluent grace +of Livingston must have singularly contrasted with the reserve, +seriousness, and quietude of Jay; yet were they akin in the normal basis +of character--in the love of knowledge, in loyalty to conviction, and +that heart of courtesy which harmonizes the most diverse gifts of mind +and traits of manner; even then no common mutual respect must have +existed between them, and difference of opinion elicited both wit and +wisdom. In a letter to the latter of these young friends, written soon +after, Jay speaks of himself as 'ambitious;' but little in his +subsequent life justifies the idea; he had more pride of character--more +need to respect himself--than ambition, as that word is usually +understood; excellence more than distinction was his aim;--no one of the +leaders in the Revolution sought office less, none fulfilled its duties +with more singleness of purpose, or escaped from its responsibilities +with greater alacrity; the instincts of John Jay were mainly for truth, +duty, and success, in the higher acceptation of the term. What he +undertook, indeed, he strove to do well, but it was from an ideal +rectitude and a pride of achievement more than a desire to gain applause +and advancement; his ambition was more scholarly than political or +personal. He graduated with the highest honors on the fifteenth of May, +1764, and delivered the Latin salutatory. His family had gained wealth +and position in commerce, and it is probable that, with his +clear-sighted perseverance, John Jay would have been a most successful +merchant; but his tastes were intellectual; he determined to study +law--at that period, in this country, when Blackstone's 'Commentaries' +had not appeared, before Chancellor Kent had written, or a law school +had been established, a discipline so arduous and uninviting as to be +conscientiously adopted only by the most self-reliant and determined. + +For a brief period Jay was the law partner of his friend Livingston, +afterward the chancellor of the State. The evidences of his professional +career, like those of so many eminent lawyers, are inadequate to suggest +any clear idea of his method and ability, except so far as the respect +he won, the practice he acquired, and the style of those state papers +which are preserved, indicate argumentative powers, extensive knowledge, +and finished style: in a few years he had become eminent at the bar, and +while in the full tide of success, the exigencies of public affairs--the +dawn of the American Revolution, called him from personal to patriotic +duties. He was an active participant in the first meeting called to +protest against the injustice and oppression of the British Government, +and elected one of the committee of fifty chosen by the people, to +decide upon a course of action: at his instance they recommended the +appointment of deputies from each of the thirteen colonies. Jay was the +youngest member of the Congress that met on the 5th of September, 1774, +and was selected as one of the committee to draft an address to the +people of Great Britain; in the next Congress he was one of the +committee to prepare the declaration showing the causes and necessity of +a resort to arms, and of that appointed to draft a petition to the +king--as a last resort before actual hostilities; he also wrote the +address to the people of Canada, Jamaica, and Ireland. The address to +the people of Great Britain opens thus: + + 'When a nation, led to greatness by the hand of liberty, and + possessed of all the glory that heroism, munificence, and humanity + can bestow, descends to the ungrateful task of forging chains for + her friends and children, and, instead of giving support to + freedom, turns advocate for slavery and oppression, there is reason + to suspect she has either ceased to be virtuous, or been extremely + negligent in the appointment of her rulers.' + +It concludes as follows: + + 'It is with the utmost regret that we find ourselves compelled, by + the overruling principles of self-preservation, to adopt measures + detrimental in their consequences to numbers of our fellow subjects + in Great Britain and Ireland. But we hope that the magnanimity and + justice of the British nation will furnish a Parliament of such + wisdom, independence, and public spirit, as may save the violated + rights of the whole empire from the devices of wicked ministers and + evil counsellors, whether in or out of office; and thereby restore + that harmony, friendship, and fraternal affection between all the + inhabitants of his majesty's kingdoms and territories, so ardently + wished for by every true and honest American.' + +These and other state papers, emanating, as Jefferson declared, 'from +the finest pen in America,' won the eloquent admiration of Chatham, and, +by their dignified, rational, and well-informed spirit, had a great +influence in securing, at the outset of the momentous struggle, the +respect and sympathy of the wise and conscientious in both hemispheres, +for the people and their enlightened and intrepid representatives. + +As correspondent with the other colonies, in all the important +discussions and arrangements, we find John Jay earnest, sagacious, and +indefatigable: chosen a delegate to the New York colonial convention, he +could not be present in Congress to sign the Declaration of +Independence; but he reported the resolutions whereby his State endorsed +that memorable instrument--her first official act toward American +independence. + +In 1774, Jay had married the daughter of Governor Livingston, of New +Jersey; and the glimpses which his correspondence affords of his +domestic life, indicate that in this regard he was peculiarly blest, not +only in the sweet and dignified sympathies of a family inspired by +tenderness, loyalty, and faith, but in the freshness and vigor of his +own affections, whereby retirement became far more dear than the +gratification even of patriotic ambition in an official career. His home +was indeed overshadowed by the dark angel, and the loss of a beloved +daughter long and deeply saddened his heart; but there was a daily +beauty in the confidence and sympathy of his conjugal relation--hinted +rather than developed in the freedom of his letters to the home whose +attractions were only increased by absence and distance, in the respect +and love of his sons, and the tender consideration devoted to his blind +brother; while, spreading in beautiful harmony from this sacred centre, +his heart and hand freely and faithfully responded to numerous and +eminent ties of friendship, associations of enterprise and philanthropy, +and the humblest claims of neighborhood and dependants. + +His next eminent service was to draft the Constitution of New York; +subsequently amended, it yet attests his patriotism and legal insight; +while his own illustrations sanctioned its judicial workings: one of the +council of safety and appointed chief justice of the supreme court, Jay +maintained, but never abused the high authority with which he was thus +invested; kindness to political opponents, devoid of all bitterness, +inflexibly just, he was often compared to the unyielding and +self-possessed characters of antiquity. When Clinton was preparing to +join Burgoyne, Jay held his first court at Kingston--administering +justice under the authority of an invaded State, and on the very line of +an enemy's advance; under such circumstances, his uniform dignity, +calmness, faith in the people, in the cause, and in the result, made a +deep and salutary impression, enhanced by the courage exhibited in his +charge to the grand jury. In order to serve as delegate to the Congress +over which he soon presided, Jay resigned the chief justiceship on the +tenth of November, 1778; and signalized his advent by a logical, +seasonable, and cheering address to the people on the condition of +affairs. + +Jay's mind was essentially judicial: he had the temperament and taste as +well as the reasoning powers desirable for legal investigation, and the +probity and decision of character essential to an administrator of law. +With strong domestic proclivities and rural taste--the conflicts, +excitement, and responsibilities of a political career were alien to his +nature; but the functions of the higher magistracy found in him a +congenial representative. Accordingly, it is evident from his +correspondence and the concurrent testimony of his kindred and friends, +that while as chief justice his sphere of duty was, however laborious, +full of interest to his mind--the vocation of a diplomatist was +oppressive: he undertook it, as he had other temporary public offices, +from conscientious patriotism; the same qualities which gave him +influence and authority on the bench commended him specially to his +fellow citizens as a negotiator in the difficult and dangerous +exigencies produced in our foreign relations by the war with Great +Britain. Tact, sagacity, courage--the ability to command respect and to +advocate truth and maintain right--dignity of manner, benignity of +temper--devotion to his country--all the requisites seemed to combine in +the character of Jay, on the one hand to enforce just claims, and, on +the other, to propitiate good will. To raise a loan and secure an +alliance in Spain seemed a hopeless task: Jay undertook it, much to his +personal inconvenience and with extreme reluctance. The history of his +mission, as revealed by his correspondence and official documents, is a +history of vexations, mortifications, and patient, isolated struggles +with difficulties, such as few men would have encountered voluntarily or +endured with equanimity. The Spanish Government shrank from a decisive +course, feared self-committal, promised aid, and to concede, on certain +terms, the right of the United States to navigate the Mississippi. Jay +took council of Franklin, who advised him not to accede to the terms +proposed, but to maintain 'the even good temper hitherto manifested.' +Meantime Congress drew on him for the loan without waiting to hear that +it had been negotiated; after a small advance, the Spanish Government +declined the loan unless the sole right of navigating the Mississippi +were granted. Having thus failed to accomplish the great object, which +indeed was unattainable except at a sacrifice which subsequent events +have proved would have essentially interfered with the prosperous +development of the Southwest--Jay, sensitively vigilant of his country's +credit, despite his habitual prudence, accepted the bill at his own +credit; boldly assuming the responsibility; his claims on the Spanish +Government were proved; Franklin remitted twenty-five thousand dollars; +of the one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, due December, 1780, only +twenty-five thousand was paid by the following April; his outstanding +acceptances amounted to two hundred and thirty-one thousand dollars--the +greater part of which was due in two months. A more painful situation +for a gentleman of refinement and honor can scarcely be imagined than +that of John Jay--living without any salary, living on credit, scarcely +recognized by the proud court to which he had been accredited; and yet +maintaining his self-respect, persistent in his aim, courteous in his +manner, faithful to his trust, harassed by anxiety--patient, true, and +patriotic. As we read the lively and genial letters of the lamented +Irving, when American minister at Madrid seventy years later, what a +contrast to the high consideration and social amenities he enjoyed, are +the humiliations and the baffled zeal of Jay, when obliged to 'stand and +wait,' under circumstances at once so perplexing and hopeless! In March, +1782, the bills were protested; but the credit that seemed utterly +destroyed was soon retrieved, though Jay found himself constrained, by +the instructions of his Government, to yield the right of navigating the +Mississippi in order to secure the treaty; having drawn and presented +it, his presence was no longer requisite, and he proceeded to France to +act in concert with Franklin, Adams, Jefferson, and Lee in negotiating +for peace. + +In June, 1782, Jay arrived in Paris, and, with Franklin, for the most +part carried on the negotiations which resulted in the treaty of peace; +it was a period of 'painful anxiety and difficult labor:' Hamilton, +Jefferson, and other of his eminent countrymen recognized warmly his +services and his success: he did not altogether agree with Franklin, and +was pertinacious in claiming all respect due to the Government he +represented, assuring the British envoy that he would take no part in +the business unless the United States 'were treated as an independent +nation:' he drew up such a commission as would meet his views. While +Hamilton gave Jay full credit for sagacity and honesty, he thought him +suspicious, because he so far evaded his instructions as not to show +'the preliminary articles to our ally before he signed them:' this +caution, however, arose from Jay's patriotic circumspection; he excused +himself on the ground that his instructions 'had been given for the +benefit of America, and not of France,' and argued justly that there was +discretionary power to consult the public good rather than any literal +directions, the spirit, aim, and scope thereof being steadily adhered +to. Subsequent revelations abundantly proved that sagacity rather than +suspicion, and knowledge more than conjecture justified Jay's course. +There is a letter of Pickering, when Secretary of State, to Pinckney, +when about to visit France as envoy from the United States Government, +in regard to which Washington manifests in his correspondence particular +solicitude for the absolute correctness of its statements; wherein the +treachery of the French Government is demonstrated from official +documents. Jay, during his residence in Spain, had ample opportunity to +realize the selfish intrigues of the Bourbon dynasty, and he had a +better insight as to the real objects of the French Government, from +examining its policy at a distance and in connection with an ally, than +Franklin, who had been exposed to its immediate blandishments, and had +so many personal reasons for confidence and hope. Vergennes, then prime +minister, looked to the relinquishment of the fisheries, and while +France, from animosity to Great Britain, cheerfully aided us in the war +of the Revolution, it was no part of her secret purpose to foster into +independent greatness the power which she befriended from motives of +policy during her own struggle with England. Jay, therefore, insisted +upon a recognition of our independence on the part of Great Britain, not +as the first article of the treaty, but as _un fait accompli_; and +wisely declined to allow the French minister, whose plans and views he +so well understood, to see the advantageous terms we made with the +formidable enemy of France, until those terms were accepted, and the +treaty signed. + +After visiting England and returning to Paris, having declined an +invitation from the Spanish Government to resume negotiations, and also +a tender from his own Government of the English mission, Jay returned to +his native land with delight, and on landing in New York, on the 24th of +July, 1784, was received with great honor and affection. Ten years of +public life had so little weaned him from his legal proclivities that he +had determined to resume practice; but Congress urged upon him the +important position of Secretary of Foreign Affairs, which place he +filled with distinguished ability until the convention to form the +Constitution met. In his correspondence, Jay's views of government are +frankly and clearly unfolded: he had experienced the manifold evils of +inadequate authority; and while he would have power emanate from the +people, he deeply felt the necessity of making it sufficient for the +exigencies of civil society: a strong General Government, therefore, he +deemed essential to national prosperity; his theory was not speculative, +but practical, founded upon observation and experience: it was sustained +by the wisest and best of his countrymen: it was, however, opposed to a +prevalent idea of State rights, a jealousy of their surrender and +infringement; comparatively few of his fellow citizens had, by reading +and reflection, risen to the level of the problem whose solution was to +be found in a charter at once securing all essential private rights and +local freedom, while binding together, in a firm and patriotic union, +the will and interests of a continent. Add to these obstacles the fierce +partisan feeling engendered by the circumstances of the time and +country--fears of aristocratic influences on the one hand, and sectional +intrigues on the other, and we can easily perceive that the first duty +of the enlightened and patriotic was to clear away prejudices, explain +principles, advocate cardinal political truths, and lift the whole +subject out of the dense region of faction and into the calm and clear +sphere of reason and truth. Accordingly, Hamilton, Madison, Jay, and +others, by public discussion sought to elucidate and vindicate the +Constitution: by conversation, correspondence, in the committee room and +the assembly, through reference to the past, analysis of the present, +anticipations of the future, John Jay, directly and indirectly advocated +and illustrated the Constitution. With his gifted coadjutors he became +an efficient political essayist; and, though prevented by illness from +contributing largely to the 'Federalist,' he wrote enough to identify +himself honorably with that favorite American classic of statesmen. His +frankness, lucid style, perspicuous sense, made him as effective a +writer in his own manner as the more intrepid Hamilton. When Washington +came to New York to be inaugurated as first President of the United +States, Jay proffered his hospitality with characteristic simplicity and +good sense; he received the votes of two States as Vice President; at +Washington's request he continued to perform the duties of Foreign +Secretary until Jefferson assumed the office, when, with eminent +satisfaction and in accordance with Jay's views, the President sent the +latter's name to the Senate as Chief Justice, thus associating him with +his Administration. + +When Genet's arrival had stimulated partisan zeal into reckless faction, +and his insulting course widened the breach between the two political +sects, their representatives were exposed to all the unjust aspersion +and violent prejudice born of extreme opinions and free discussions: one +party held in high esteem the principles of the British constitution, +recognized the moral as well as civic necessity of a strong central +Government, and dreaded the unbridled license of French demagoguism; +they steadily opposed any identity of action or responsibility in +foreign affairs, cherished self-respect and self-reliance as the +safeguard of the States, and sustained the dignified and consistent +course of Washington: of these, John Jay was one of the most firm and +intelligent advocates, and hence the object of the most unscrupulous +partisan rancor: the name of Monarchist was substituted for Federalist, +of Jacobin for Democrat: on the one hand, the British minister +reproached the American Government with injustice to British subjects +and interests, contrary to treaty stipulations; on the other, Genet +complained of the ingratitude of the Government, and sought to array the +people against it: England had not as yet fulfilled her part of the +treaty; along the frontiers her troops still garrisoned the forts; the +lakes were not free for American craft, and no remuneration had been +made by Great Britain for the negroes which her fleet carried off at the +close of the war: meantime her warlike attitude toward France made +still fiercer the conflict of the respective partisans on this side of +the Atlantic; American seamen were impressed; crowds surrounded the +President's house, clamorous for war; and he was only sustained in the +Senate by an extremely small majority, while the Democratic party were +eager for immediate action against England. At this crisis, Washington +resolved to try another experiment for conciliation, and to this end +proposed Jay as especial envoy to Great Britain. His nomination was +opposed in the Senate, but prevailed by a vote of eighteen against +eight. The mission was not desired by him. Uncongenial as were absence +from home and diplomatic cares, this exile and duty were, in all private +respects, opposed to his tastes and wishes; he foresaw the difficulties, +anticipated the result, but, once convinced that he owed the sacrifice +of personal to public considerations, he now, as before and +subsequently, brought all his conscientiousness and intelligence to the +service of his country. His reception at the court of St. James was kind +and considerate, and his intercourse with Grenville, then Secretary of +Foreign Affairs, carried on with the greatest mutual respect. A treaty +was negotiated--Jay obtaining the best terms in his power: no state +paper ever gave rise to more virulent controversy; it became a new line +of demarcation, a new test of party feeling: Hamilton was its eloquent +advocate, Jefferson its violent antagonist: Washington doubted the +expediency of accepting it; and it passed the Senate by a bare majority. +While in a calm retrospect we acknowledge many serious objections to +such a treaty, they do not account for the intense excitement it caused; +and the circumstances under which it was executed sufficiently explain, +while they do not reconcile us to, the signal advantages it secured to +Great Britain. She agreed to give up the forts;--but this concession had +already been made; to compensate for illegal captures; there was a +provision for collecting British debts in America; and in a commercial +point of view American interests were sacrificed; it was declared a +treaty wherein a weak power evidently succumbed to a strong: but on the +other hand, public expectation had been extravagant: no reasonable +American citizen, cognizant of the state of the facts and of party +feeling, could have believed it possible to secure, at the time and +under the circumstances, a satisfactory understanding; and no candid +mind could doubt that a negotiator so patriotic, firm, and wise as John +Jay had earnestly sought to make the best of a difficult cause, or that +he was 'clear in his great office'--an office reluctantly accepted. It +has been well said of Jay's treaty that 'now few defend it on principle, +many on policy.' When its ratification was advised by the Senate, and it +became public, the whole country was aroused; all the latent venom of +partisan hate and all the wise forbearance of patriotic self-possession +were arrayed face to face in so fierce an opposition that Washington +justly described the period as 'a momentous crisis.' It was denounced as +cowardly; it was defended as expedient; copies were publicly destroyed +amid shouts of exultation: Jay was burned in effigy; the Boston Chamber +of Commerce voted in favor of its ratification: Hamilton, under the +signature of 'Camillus,' analyzed its claims, and deprecated the bitter +hostility it had evoked; and Fisher Ames, in pleading for moderation to +both parties, in the House of Representatives, embalmed his patriotic +counsel with such heroic patience and eloquent references to his +approaching end, that his speech became one of the standard exemplars of +American eloquence. + + 'When the fiery vapors of the war lowered in the skirts of our + horizon,' he observes, 'all our wishes were concentred in this + one--that we might escape the desolation of the storm: this treaty, + like a rainbow on the edge of the storm, marked to our eyes the + space where it was raging, and afforded, at the same time, the sure + prognostic of fair weather: if we reject it, the vivid colors will + grow pale; it will be a baleful meteor, portending tempest and + war.' + +And he ends this remarkable speech in these words: + + 'I have thus been led by my feelings to speak more at length than I + had intended. Yet I have perhaps as little personal interest in the + event as any one here. There is, I believe, no member who will not + think his chance to be a witness of the consequences greater than + mine. If, however, the vote should pass to reject, and a spirit + should rise, as it will, with the public disorders, to make + confusion worse confounded, even I, slender and almost broken as my + hold upon life is, may outlive the Government and Constitution of + my country.' + +Jay's own remarks on the subject in his private correspondence, are +characteristic alike of his rectitude of purpose and equanimity of soul: +'The approbation,' he observes, in a letter to Dr. Thatcher, 'of one +judicious and virtuous man relative to the conduct of the negotiations, +affords me more satisfaction than clamor and intrigue have given me +concern.' + +Before the outbreak of political animosity on account of the treaty, and +during his absence on that mission, Jay had been elected Governor of the +State of New York; had that instrument been published in April instead +of July, he would not have been chosen; and yet, despite the fever of +partisan feeling, he made no removals. At the close of this memorable +year, Washington died: that illustrious man held no man in greater +esteem than Jay: to him and Hamilton he had submitted his Farewell +Address: when the former's term of office expired, he determined to +retire; and did so on the 1st of July, 1801, declining the reappointment +as Chief Justice, earnestly tendered him. He now removed to his paternal +estate at Bedford, in Westchester county, New York, to enjoy +long-coveted repose from public duties. Thenceforth his life was one of +dignified serenity and active benevolence. The superintendence of his +farm, co-operation in philanthropic enterprises, the amenities of +literature, the consolations of religion, and the graces of hospitality +congenially occupied his remaining years--years abounding in respect +from his countrymen, and the satisfactions of culture, integrity, and +faith. He rebuilt the family mansion, occasionally made visits on +horseback to New York and Albany. Now zealous in building up a church, +and now benignly considerate of a dependant's welfare--loyal and happy +in his domestic relations, interested in the welfare of both nation and +neighborhood, and preserving his intimacy with the classics and the +Scriptures--the last thirty years of John Jay's life, in their peaceful +routine and gracious tenor, reflected with 'daily beauty' the sustained +elevation of mind and the consistent kindliness and rectitude of a +Christian gentleman. On the 17th of May, 1829, he died, crowned with +love and honor. The echoes of party strife had long died away from his +path: the clouds of party malice had faded from his horizon: all felt +and acknowledged, in his example and character, the ideal of an American +citizen. Not as a brilliant but as a conscientious man, not as a +wonderfully gifted but as an admirably well-balanced mind, not as an +exceptional hero but as a just, prudent, faithful, and benignant human +being--true to the best instincts of religion, the highest principles of +citizenship, the most pure aspirations of character--are cherished the +influence and memory of Jay. + +His personal appearance is familiar to us through the masterly portraits +of Stuart: that in judicial robes has long been a favorite examplar of +this eminent artist, exhibiting as it does his best traits of expression +and color: although destitute of those vivid tints which Stuart +reproduced with such marvellous skill, the keen eyes, fine brow, +aquiline nose, pointed chin, and hair tied behind and powdered, with the +benign intelligence pervading the whole, render this an effective +subject for such a pencil: it is a face in which high moral and +intellectual attributes, dignity, rectitude, and clear perception +harmoniously blend: the lineaments and outline are decidedly Gallic: one +thinks, in looking at the portrait, not only of the able jurist, +Christian gentleman, and patriot--but also of his Huguenot ancestor, who +fought at Boyne, urbanely accepted exile rather than compromise faith, +and suffered persecution with holy patience and adaptive energy of +intellect and character. + +The political opinions of Jay were obnoxious to a large party of his +countrymen; but had we not so many examples in history and experience of +the blind prejudice and malicious injustice generated by faction, it +would seem incredible, as we contemplate, in the impartial light of +retrospective truth, his character and career, that any imaginable +diversity of views on questions of state policy, could have bred such +false and fierce misconstruction in reference to one whose every memory +challenges such entire respect and disinterested admiration. As it is, +the record of his life, the influence of his character seem to borrow +new brightness from the evidences of partisan calumny found in the more +casual records of the past. Singularly intense and complicated is the +history of the period when Jay's prominence and activity in the +political world were at their height. On the one hand, the triumph of +freedom in the New World; on the other, the atrocities committed in her +sacred name in the Old: the American and French Revolutions, considered +in regard to their origin, development, and results, seem to have +brought to a practical test all principles of government and elements of +civic life inherent in human society: so that they have since afforded +the tests and illustrations of the most enlightened publicists and +statesmen, and now yield the most familiar and emphatic precedents for +political speculation and faith. In England, Pitt, Burke, Fox, and +Mackintosh represented, with memorable power, the opposing elements of +conservatism and reform, of social order and revolution, of humanity and +of authority; while in America, Hamilton, Adams, Morris, Jay, and other +leading Federalists, repudiated the license and condemned the +encroachments of France, as Jefferson and his followers advocated the +French republic on abstract principles of human rights and as having +legitimate claims upon American gratitude. No small part of the +bitterness exhibited toward Jay by the latter party arose from his +having testified, with Rufus King, that Genet intended to appeal from +the Government to the people of the United States--an audacious purpose +on the part of the French envoy, which excited the just indignation of +every citizen whose self-respect had not been quenched in the flame of +political zeal: accordingly he, to a peculiar extent, 'shared the odium +which the French Revolution had infused into the minds of its admirers:' +partial to the spirit if not the letter of the English constitution, +convinced by the absolute moral necessity of a strong central +Government, an enlightened and strenuous advocate of law, a thorough +gentleman, and a sincere Christian--his undoubted claim to the +additional distinction of pure patriot did not save him from the +aristocratic imputations, which professed champions of popular rights +then and there attached to all men who recognized as essential to social +order and progress, respect for and allegiance to justly constituted +authorities in government and society: jealousy of the rights of the +people was the ostensible motive of a political opposition to Jay, +which, at this day and with all the evidence before us, seems +inexplicable until we remember how the mirage of party fanaticism +distorts the vision and perverts the sympathies of men. + +But to a well-poised, clear-sighted, upright character like his, the +storms of faction seemed innocuous: how candid is his own confession of +faith, how just his reasoning, and enlightened his principles, and +patriotic his motives, as revealed in every act, state and judicial +paper, recorded conversation, and private letter! 'Neither courting nor +dreading public opinion,' he writes (in his account of the Spanish +mission), 'on the one hand, nor disregarding it on the other, I joined +myself to the first assertors of the American cause, because I thought +it my duty; and because I considered caution and neutrality, however +secure, as being no less wrong than dishonorable.' As he had espoused +the cause deliberately, he served it conscientiously, and met the +difficulties in the way of organizing the Federal Government with +philosophical candor: 'It was a thing,' he observes, in his first +contribution to the 'Federalist,' 'hardly to be expected that in a +popular revolution, the minds of men should stop at the happy mean which +marks the boundary between power and privilege, and combines the energy +of government with the security of private right.' + +An aesthetical student and delineator of character remarks that 'where we +recognize in any one an image of moral elevation, which seems to us, at +the first glance, unique and transcendent, I believe that, on careful +examination, we shall find that among his coevals, or in the very nature +of the times, those qualities which furnish their archetype in him were +rife and prevalent.'[16] The highest class of American statesmen and +patriots, and especially those grouped around the peerless central +figure of Washington, afford striking evidence of the truth of this +observation. A certain spirit of disinterested integrity and devotion, +an elevated and consistent tone of feeling and method of action alike +distinguished them; and nothing can be imagined more violently in +contrast therewith than the inadequate standard of judgment and scope of +criticism adopted by those who, actuated by partisan zeal and guided by +narrow motives, apply to such characters the limited gauge of their own +insight and estimation--endeavoring to atone by microscopic accuracy for +imbecility in fundamental principles.' Hence the foreign publicist of +large research and precise historical knowledge, the scholar of broad +and earnest sympathies, the patriot of generous and tenacious +principles, find in these exemplars of civic virtue objects of permanent +admiration; while many of their self-appointed commentators, entrenched +in pedantic or political dogmas, and devoid of comprehensive ideas and +true magnanimity, fail to recognize and delight in depreciating +qualities with which they have no affinity, and whose legitimate +functions they ignore or pervert--for 'Folly loves the martyrdom of +Fame.' With all due allowance for honest differences of opinion as to +political or religious creeds, for diversities of taste and education, +there yet remains to the truly humane, wise, and liberal soul, an +instinctive sense of justice, veneration for rectitude, love of the +beautiful and the true, which keeps alive their veneration and quickens +their higher sympathies despite the venom of faction and the blindness +of prejudice; and thus causes the elemental in character to maintain its +lawful sway whatever may be the inferences of partisan logic or the +dicta of personal opinion. Goethe's invaluable rule of judging every +character and work of art by its own law is ever present to their minds, +and they find a satisfaction in the spontaneous tribute of love and +honor to real genius and superior worth, all the more grateful because +there is not entire sympathy of sentiment and creed; their homage and +faith are as disinterested as they are sincere. + +An eminent English novelist has indicated with genial emphasis, in one +of his essays, how much more wonderful as a psychological phenomenon is +the clairvoyance of imagination than that ascribed to mesmerism: since, +by the former, writers of genius describe with verisimilitude, and +sometimes with a moral accuracy such as we can scarcely believe to +originate in the creative mind alone, all the traits and phases of a +scene, an event, or a character, the details of which are lost in dim +tradition or evaded by authentic history. Shakspeare is cited as the +memorable example of this intellectual prescience. There is, however, +another species of foresight and insight whereby the logic of events is +anticipated, and great principles embraced before the multitude are +prepared for their adoption; reformers and statesmen are thus in advance +of their age, and through high ethical judgment and the inspiration of +rectitude, see above the clouds of selfishness and beyond the limits of +egotism, into the eternal truth of things. It was this wisdom, sustained +by, if not born of, integrity and disinterestedness, that distinguished +the highest class of our Revolutionary and Constitutional statesmen, +culminating in Washington, and in no one of his contemporaries more +manifest than in John Jay. We have alluded to the comprehensive and +sagacious scope of his various state papers and judicial decisions, +based invariably upon the absolute principles of equity; and the same +traits are as obvious in his correspondence and occasional writings: but +recently there was found among his papers a charge to the grand jury at +Richmond, Virginia, in which are expressed the most authentic principles +of international drawn from natural law, at a period and in a country +where the former had not been codified or even vaguely understood; and +so practical as to be of direct application to the exigencies of the +present hour. At the root of these convictions was a profound religious +faith. No one of the early American statesmen, for instance, has left on +record a more clear and just statement of his views of slavery;--that +foul blot on the escutcheon of the republic was ever before the eyes and +conscience of Jay; he sought not to evade, but to make apparent its +inevitable present shame and future consequences, and argued for a +prospective abolition clause in the Constitution. The events of the last +three years are a terrible and true response to his warnings. 'Till +America,' he wrote, 'comes into this measure (emancipation) her prayers +to heaven will be impious. I believe God governs the world, and I +believe it is a maxim in His as in our courts, that those who ask for +equity ought to do it.' He set the example in the manumission of a boy +then his legal property, and was the president of the first anti-slavery +society, bequeathing the cause to his descendants, who have faithfully +acquitted themselves of the once contemned but now honored trust, for +three generations; for his son succeeded him in the office, his grandson +has been and is its strenuous advocate, and his great-grandson now +confronts the slaveholding rebels in the Army of the Potomac. His +intelligent and patriotic fellow citizens realized and recognized the +faith and probity whence arose his moral courage and his clear mental +vision, 'His life,' says Sullivan, 'was governed by the dictates of an +enlightened Christian conscience.' One of his last letters was in reply +to the congratulation of the corporation of New York that he lived to +witness the fiftieth anniversary of our national independence, and an +invitation to join in its commemoration; too feeble, from advanced age, +to meet their wishes in this respect, in gratefully declining he thus +bore testimony to his life-long convictions: 'The most essential means +of securing the continuance of our civil and religious liberties is +always to remember with reverence and gratitude the source from which +they flow?' We can readily appreciate the literal truth of Verplanck's +observation, when death canonized such a character: 'A halo of +veneration seemed to encircle him, as one belonging to another world, +though lingering among us: the tidings of his death were received with +solemn awe.' + +Jay cherished a firm belief in Providence, confirmed by his long life of +varied experience and thoughtful observation. Proverbially courteous and +urbane, he was, at the same time, inflexible in the withdrawal of all +confidence when once deceived or disappointed in character. Clear and +strong in his religious convictions, he was none the less free from +intolerance; he enjoyed communion with a Quaker neighbor as well as +correspondence with clerical friends of different persuasions, though +himself a stanch Episcopalian. + +Underlying a singularly contained demeanor and aptitude for calm and +serious investigations, there was a vein of pleasant humor which +enhanced the charm of his intimate companionship; bold, independent, and +tenacious in opinion, when once formed, he was perfectly modest in +personal bearing and intercourse; his mind was more logical than severe +in temper, more vigorous than versatile, judicial in taste and tone, +with more precision than eagerness; and his temperament united the +gravity of a cultivated and thoughtful with the vivacity and amenity of +a harmonious and cheerful nature. Like Washington and Morris, he was +fond of agricultural pursuits; and like them, his example as a statesman +seems to acquire new force and beauty from the long and contented +retirement from official life that evinced the plenitude of his own +resources, and evidenced how much more a sense of public duty than +political ambition had been the motive power of his civic career. It is +this which distinguishes the first-class representative men of our +country from the mere politicians; we feel that their essential +individuality of character and genius was superior to the accidents of +position; that their intrinsic worth and real dignity required no +addition from fame or fortune--that they are nobler than their offices, +superior to their popularity, above their external relation to the +parties and functions illustrated by their talents, and made memorable +by their integrity. + +FOOTNOTES: + +[13] 'Life and Letters of Washington Irving,' by Pierre M. Irving. New +York: G. P. Putnam. + +[14] Elements of International Law. By Henry Wheaton. Edited by W.B. +Laurens. Boston: Little, Brown & Co. + +[15] The Federalist. Edited by H. B. Dawson. New York: C. Scribner. + +[16] 'Caxtoniana.' + + + + +A SIGH. + + + How can I live, my love, so far from thee, + Since far from thee my spirit droops and dies? + Who is there left, my love, for me to see, + Since beauty is concentrate in thine eyes? + My only life is sending thee my sighs, + Which, as sweet birds fly home from deserts lone, + Fly swift to thee as each swift moment flies, + Uprising from the current of my moan. + But closed is still thy heart of cruel stone, + And my poor sighs drop murdered at thy feet, + For which, while I in grief do sigh and groan, + New hosts arise to meet a death so sweet, + Ah! love, give scorn; for if love thou shouldst give, + How could I love thee in thy sight, and live? + + + + +THE ANTIQUITY OF MAN. + +A PHILOSOPHIC DEBATE. + + +_A._ I would like to hear your opinions regarding the antiquity of our +race: geologists are daily becoming bolder and more unhesitating in +their assertions on the subject; and we are fast drifting toward +conclusions that seem to startle the religious world, and threaten to +upset our confidence in that Book which we have been accustomed to +regard with profoundest reverence. + +_B._ Never, sir, never: the hand of true science can never rise as the +antagonist of revelation: revelation, rightly understood, must ever find +in science a brother, a protector, a friend. + +_A._ How would you maintain your position, if the geologists should +arrive at a final conclusion on the subject, and declare positively that +men existed in the world twenty or thirty thousand years ago? + +_B._ They have arrived at such a conclusion already; that is to say, +they have, in a stratum which cannot be less than twenty thousand years +old, unearthed some skeletons of a mammal resembling man. But let these +skeletons resemble ours ever so closely, I, for one, am not prepared to +concede that these creatures, when they existed, were men in the sense +that we are. Revelation declares quite explicitly that the present race +is not more than six thousand years old. + +_A._ What theory, then, must we adopt respecting these human-shaped +fossils? Why do you deny that they were men like us? + +_B._ Tell me what a human being is, and I will answer your query. + +_A._ The definition would be a somewhat prolix one. + +_B._ It will be sufficient for our purpose that you admit two points +regarding the existing race. + +_A._ The first? + +_B._ That man _has_ a body. + +_A._ Good. The second? + +_B._ That man _is_ a soul, a spiritual being. + +_A._ Good. + +_B._ Well, then; answer me this: Were the men whose remains are now +being discovered, of a spiritual nature, and endowed with minds? Might +they not rather have been mere mammals, shaped indeed in the same +external mould as that in which the Creator intended, when the time +should come, to form his masterpiece; but not as yet tenanted by that +divine nature which would have entitled him to rank with the race +existing now? + +_A._ Such questions it is hardly the province of geology to solve. But +it may fairly be asked, What right have we to suppose that beings ever +existed who were men only in shape, but who were destitute of the +spiritual nature? Does the Bible allow us any margin on which to base +such a belief? Do the sacred writers mention the creation of two human +races, one endowed with merely an animal nature, the other possessing a +spiritual nature? + +_B._ Scripture does so in passages which I shall point out presently. +But first, concede to me this one point, admitted by many theologians +already, that in the first and second chapters of Scripture, the term +'day' has an ambiguous meaning--that the days were vast geological eras. + +_A._ Granted. + +_B._ The first human creation spoken of by Moses is that mentioned in +Gen. i. 27, where, immediately after recording the creation of the +inferior animals, it is said that 'God created man in his own image,' +etc. Thus the visible and external creation has received its top and +climax: the animals have found a master. After that, we are told that +'the evening and the morning were the sixth day.' Then the second +chapter is opened, and the seventh day is described as forming a vast +interval of rest. + +_A._ All true. + +_B._ Now look at the seventh verse of this second chapter. The words +are: 'And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and +breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living +soul.' Now I regard this passage as referring to a creation quite +distinct from that of the first chapter. + +_A._ Theologians have been in the habit of considering the two passages +as descriptive of the same act. + +_B._ I am aware of it. But by what right have they done so? Everywhere +else in Genesis we find events recorded in chronological order, and +there is no reason why the historian should in this instance commit the +irregularity of passing from the end of the seventh day to the beginning +of the sixth: it is certainly much more likely that in the story of the +second chapter and seventh verse he has passed on to an event which +transpired at the close of the seventh day, or, still more probably, on +the _first_ day of a new series. And if it were so, we would thus have, +in the time of this second and spiritual creation, a beautiful symbol of +a more recent first-day's-work, when manifestation was made of a life +far nobler than Adam's. + +_A._ Your parallel is not without beauty, and, therefore, not without +weight; but I cannot see enough of difference between the two accounts +to warrant the hypothesis that the first refers to an unspiritual man, +the second to a spiritual. The first account says that 'man was made in +God's image.' The second says of the man which it describes, that 'God +breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and he became a living +soul.' + +_B._ We must not attach too much importance to the term 'God's image.' +The sacred writer might make use of such an expression merely to show +the excellency of the image or form of the body of this first human +race, whose frame, relatively to the inferior animals, was, _par +excellence_, God's image. And on the whole, the difference between the +two accounts is very wide and very important. The first passage does not +stand connected with the history of the present race at all: the second +does. In the former passage the creation of a _race_ is described, but +the _individual_ is not even named: in the latter we are not merely told +of a race, we are introduced to an individual. His name is given, and he +is connected with the existing race of mankind by a continuous history. +In speaking of the difference between the two passages, it were well to +consider that, till of late, there has been no reason to suspect their +real significancy, _i. e._, to suppose that they spoke of two creations +and two races. But now that the proofs of a pre-Adamite race are fast +accumulating upon us, it were well to inquire whether God's revelation +has not anticipated the story which the strange hieroglyphics of his +finger are now unfolding. The philologist and the geologist are each +deciphering the same story in two different books, that are equally +divine. It remains to be seen which will be the first to read correctly. + +_A._ The account in the second chapter certainly speaks explicitly +enough of the creation of the soul or spirit. + +_B._ Yes; and observe this: that the seventh day, a mighty geological +era, has elapsed between the two creations--a period long enough for the +first race to pass entirely away, leaving behind them as their only +memorials a few skeletons, to be dug up here and there in the nineteenth +century of the Christian era. When the last specimen of the anterior +race had been long dead, God created the new man, 'breathed into his +nostrils the breath of life,' and gave him a mind and a name to +distinguish him from the former race that had borne the same image. + +_A._ Of course we cannot expect geologists to discriminate between the +two races, seeing they differed only by the latter having a spiritual +nature, while the former had not. + +_B._ Of course not. + +_A._ Perhaps, then, there is, after all not so much absurdity as has +been supposed in the oriental traditions of pre-Adamite kings. + +_B._ It need not surprise us that there should, among primitive nations, +exist some traditionary vestiges of the first race: and such traditions +were probably derived from some very reliable source. But be that as it +may, I am not afraid to trust the settlement of the entire question to +the arbitration of time. + + + + +WHO KNOWS? + + + Who knows but the hope that we bury to-day + May be the seed of success to-morrow? + We could not weep o'er the coffined clay + If a lovelier life it should never borrow. + Did we know that the worm had conquered all, + That Death had forever secured his plunder, + Not a sigh would escape, not a tear would fall, + For the human heart must burst asunder. + Death mimics life, and life feigns death: + What parts them but a fleeting breath? + + Who knows but the love that in silence broods, + Slinking away to some lonely corner, + May yet, in the change of times and moods, + Sit proudly throned in the heart of the scorner? + I have seen a haughty soul destroy + The glittering prize that once it bled for; + I have seen the sad heart leap for joy, + And smiling grant what it vainly plead for: + True tears the flashing eye may wet, + The lip that curled may quiver yet. + + Who knows but the dream that mocks our sleep + With visions that end in a sorrowful waking, + Leaving just enough of brightness to keep + Our souls from despair and our hearts from breaking, + May come in the heat of the midday glare, + Or the afternoon with its gorgeous splendor, + Palpable, real, but not less fair, + With airs as soft and touch as tender? + Morn breaks on the longest night of sorrow, + And there is more than one to-morrow. + + + + +LITERARY NOTICES. + + + LINNET'S TRIAL. A Tale. By S. M., Author of 'Twice Lost.' Second + Edition. Loring, publisher, 319 Washington street, Boston. 1864. + +A moral and interesting novel. There is a fascinating freshness and +originality about it, pervaded by genial humor and strong common sense, +and an utter absence of all common and clap-trap sensational expedients. +The plot is simple, but well conceived; the characters consistent and +clear cut, the incidental remarks tolerant and full of spirit. We know +no more true and delightful character-painting than that of Rose. Her +shyness, exclusiveness, pettishness, and ignorance are delicious in the +rosy girl of sixteen. Her friendship with Linnet, a woman of imaginative +and impassioned stamp, is natural in conception, and skilfully rendered. +Linnet is expansive and sympathetic, her sweet and all-pervading +influence is the true charm of the book. The woman of beauty and genius +ripens into the perfect wife, strengthening weak hands and reviving +courage in weary, doubting hearts. 'Linnet is like an alabaster vase, +only seen to perfection when lighted up from within.' + +We heartily recommend 'Linnet' to all readers of fiction, who like to +study character through its rainbow sheen. + + + PHANTOM FLOWERS. A Treatise on the Art of Producing Skeleton + Leaves. Boston: J. E. Tilton & Co. 1864. + +A complete treatise on this beautiful art, in which typography and +illustrations are alike perfect. The directions given are ample and +accurate. The contents are: Chap. 1. Anatomy of a Leaf; Green and Dried +Leaves. 2. Preparing the Leaves and Flowers. 3. Bleaching the Leaves and +Seed Vessels. 4. Arranging the Bouquets. 5. Illustrated List of Plants +for Skeletonizing. 6. Seed Vessels. 7. The Wonders and Uses Of a Leaf. +8. Leaf Printing. 9, Commercial Value of the Art; Preservation of +Flowers. We have accurate cuts of the skeletonized leaves of the +American Swamp Magnolia, Silver Poplar, Aspen Poplar, Tulip Poplar, +Norway Maple, Linden and Weeping Willow, European Sycamore, English Ash, +Everlasting Pea, Elm, Deutzia, Beech, Hickory, Chestnut, Dwarf Pear, +Sassafras, Althea, Rose, Fringe Tree, Dutchman's Pipe, Ivy and Holly, +with proper times of gathering and individual processes of manipulation +for securing success with each. 'Fanciful though expressive,' says our +author, 'is the appellation of 'Phantom' or 'Spiritual' Flowers; it was +given to the first American specimens by those who produced them, and it +has since become so general as to be everywhere understood and accepted +as their most appropriate name. Referring to the process by which these +flowers are prepared, a Christian friend beautifully used them as +emblems of the Resurrection, and as illustrating the ideas--'Sown a +natural body, raised a spiritual body,' and, 'This corruptible must put +on incorruption, and this mortal immortality.'' + +All who practise this beautiful and _lucrative_ art with any hope of +success, should purchase 'Phantom Flowers,' the result of _five years'_ +industrious and intelligent effort. + + + POEMS: With Translations from the German of Geibel and Others. By + _Lucy Hamilton Hooper_. Philadelphia: Frederick Leypoldt. + +These translations are of far more than ordinary merit. From his +exceeding and tender simplicity, Geibel is very difficult to render +aright: a word too much will frequently ruin the stanza in which it may +have been introduced almost necessarily to fill up the rhythm or +consummate the rhyme; a single injudicious ornament will spoil the whole +effect of the cadenced emotions of which his poems consist. We have +tried Geibel, and the songs of Heine, and know the difficulties; we +heartily congratulate our authoress on her success. Nor are her own +poems less beautiful. Musically rhythmed, delicately worded, and purely +felt, they commend themselves to the reader. They do not soar into the +region of abstract thought; they are without pretension, mysticism, or +effort. She challenges no crown, her range is limited, but our hearts +swell and throb with the emotions she sings. A single specimen will best +elucidate our meaning: + + +BABY LILY. + + She was a purer, fairer bud + Than summer's sun uncloses; + Spring brought her with the violets; + She left us with the roses. + + A little pillow, where the print + Of her small head yet lingers; + A silver coral, tarnished o'er + With clasp of tiny fingers; + + A mound, the rose bush at the head + Were all too long to measure;-- + And this is _all_ that Heaven has left + Of her, our little treasure. + + O human pearl, so pale and pure! + 0 little lily blossom! + The angels lent a little space + To grace a mortal bosom. + + The azure heavens bend above, + Unpitying and cruel; + A casket all too cold and vast + To shrine our little jewel. + + We cannot picture her to mind, + An angel, crowned and holy; + A fair and helpless human thing, + Our hearts still keep her solely. + + Sleep, baby, calmly in thy nest + Amid the fading flowers, + The while we strive to learn the words: + 'God's will be done--not ours!' + + + HISTORY OF THE ROMANS UNDER THE EMPIRE. By CHARLES MERIVALE, B. D., + late Fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge. From the fourth + London Edition. With a copious Analytical Index. Vol. IV. New York: + D. Appleton & Co., 443 & 445 Broadway. + +The character of this work is so high and so widely known that it is +only necessary to remind or inform our readers of the appearance of the +fourth volume to awaken their interest. Merivale succeeds in making his +subject intensely interesting. Beginning with the anticipations of a +constitutional monarchy, the indifference of the citizens on political +questions, the legislative measures to encourage marriage, the efforts +of Augustus to revive the national sentiment, this volume carries us +quite through his important reign, with all its great events and +domestic dramas. We have descriptions of the nature of life in Rome, +places of recreation, exhibitions of wild beasts and gladiators, the +schools of the rhetoricians, as well as studies of the authors, Livy, +Virgil, Horace, Propertius, Tibullus, Ovid, each reflecting in his own +way the sentiments of the Augustan age. It is a complex and important +period of history, and nobly treated by our author. Brutus and Cassius +evoke no false sympathy. The character of Augustus is closely analyzed, +and the sketch of the Roman dominion, in its political, social, and +intellectual outlines, is able and interesting. + + + + +RECEIVED. + + CHRISTIAN EXAMINER. No. CCXLIV. July, 1864. Contents: Character and + Historical Position of Theodore Parker; The New King of Greece; + Robert Browning; Marsh's 'Man and Nature;' Robert Lowell; Renan's + Critical Essays; Edward Livingston; A Word on the War; Review of + Current Literature. + + NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW. No. CCIV. July, 1864. Contents: A Physical + Theory of the Universe; The Property and Rights of Married Women; + The Philosophy of Space and Time; The Constitution, and it Defects; + The Navy of the United States; Our Soldiers; A National Currency; + The Rebellion: its Causes and Consequences; Critical Notices. + + THE UNIVERSALIST QUARTERLY. July, 1864. Contents: When are the Dead + Raised? The Contraband; Faith and Works; Charles the Bold; In + Memoriam: a Tribute to T. Starr King; General Review; Recent + Publications; Synopsis of the Quarterlies. + + BOSTON REVIEW. No. XXII. July, 1864. Contents: The Relations of Sin + and Atonement to Infant Salvation; The Publication of Free + Descriptions of Vice; The Rabbis, the Mischna, and the Talmuds, and + their Aid in New Testament Studies; Huxley on Man's Place in + Nature; Teachings of the Rebellion; Pascal; Short Sermons; Literary + Notices; The Round Table. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Continental Monthly, Vol. 6, No 3, + September 1864, by Various + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CONTINENTAL MONTHLY *** + +***** This file should be named 22926.txt or 22926.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/2/9/2/22926/ + +Produced by Joshua Hutchinson, Janet Blenkinship and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images generously made +available by Cornell University Digital Collections) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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