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+This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements,
+metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be
+in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES.
+
+Procedures for determining public domain status are described in
+the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org.
+
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #66933 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/66933)
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-The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Yale Literary Magazine (Vol. I, No. 4,
-June 1836), by Students of Yale
-
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you
-will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before
-using this eBook.
-
-Title: The Yale Literary Magazine (Vol. I, No. 4, June 1836)
-
-Author: Students of Yale
-
-Release Date: December 12, 2021 [eBook #66933]
-
-Language: English
-
-Character set encoding: UTF-8
-
-Produced by: hekula03, sf2001, and the Online Distributed Proofreading
- Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from
- images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)
-
-*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YALE LITERARY MAGAZINE (VOL.
-I, NO. 4, JUNE 1836) ***
-
-
-
-
- THE YALE LITERARY MAGAZINE.
-
- CONDUCTED BY THE =STUDENTS OF YALE COLLEGE=.
-
- [Illustration]
-
- “Dum mens grata manet, nomen laudesque Yalenses
- Cantabunt Soboles, unanimique Patres.”
-
- NO. IV.
-
- JUNE, 1836.
-
- NEW HAVEN:
- HERRICK & NOYES.
-
- MDCCCXXXVI.
-
-
-
-
-CONTENTS.
-
-
- Page.
- Truth, 129
- A Father to his Child, 132
- Sir Thomas More’s Works, 133
- I Love Thee, 139
- The Coffee Club, No. II. 140
- Ambition--A Fragment, 150
- The Influence of Moral Feeling on the
- Pleasures of the Imagination, No. II. 151
- The Seminole, 154
- The Outlaw and His Daughter, 155
- I would not Flatter Thee, 161
- Ruminations of a Bovine Gentleman, 163
- A Rhyming Mood, 165
- Greek Anthology, No. IV. 166
-
-
-
-
-THE YALE LITERARY MAGAZINE.
-
-VOL. I. JUNE, 1836. NO. 4.
-
-
-
-
-TRUTH.
-
-
-What is truth? “Truth,” says a standard logician, “signifies nothing
-but the joining or separating of signs, as the things signified by
-them do agree or disagree with one another;” that is, in making
-propositions. These are divided into mental and verbal. Truth then
-consists in ideal or verbal sentences, or, in other words, in a certain
-arrangement of ideas and words. This view of the subject may answer
-for a mere definition; but it is not satisfactory. We are disposed to
-make truth consist in _things_, and not alone in their representatives.
-It is the reality of things; using the term thing as it is, the most
-universal of any in the language, including every object of sense or
-conception, objects past, present, and future, objects terrestrial and
-celestial, objects of all space and all duration, objects possible
-and impossible; in a word, every-thing. There are propositions
-concerning things; we have ideas of things, and things themselves
-exist independently of both. The verbal statement, and the mental
-apprehension, may accord with the reality of the thing, and be true, or
-figuratively speaking, the truth. But can it be strictly said that the
-truth consists in them, and them only?
-
-But this train of remark avails little in resolving the momentously
-practical question, What is truth? To give this a reply worthy of
-itself, would lead us beyond our present design, and each reader must
-be left to judge for himself.
-
-“Truth is consistent with itself.” This is a common saying, and
-regarded as axiomatic in its nature. It is not intended for the
-identical proposition, Truth is truth; but that whatever is truth in
-one subject, can in no way be rendered nugatory or false, by what is
-truth in any other subject; and that one truth in the same subject is
-not weakened or diminished by any other truth in the same subject.
-Truth, as before intimated, may be considered in a three-fold aspect;
-in itself; in regard to the verbal propositions embracing it; in
-respect to our own conceptions of it.
-
-In itself, in its own nature, it may be consistent with itself. But of
-the many truths with which our acquaintance is imperfect, we cannot
-judge whether they agree, or disagree, among themselves. In regard to
-some others, of which we are better assured, it is difficult to say
-that there is no contradiction.
-
-In propositions there is certainly great discrepancy; owing partly to
-the barrenness of language, and to the ambiguity of terms; also to
-the different impressions which different authors of the statement
-may possess, and which the same man may have at different times. The
-propositions may be too brief, or too ample; in many ways they are
-made to disagree one with another, and as they are the representatives
-of truth, for all practical purposes truth itself is often found
-inconsistent with itself.
-
-We find our own conceptions of truth exceedingly contradictory; which
-is attributable to the limited nature of our faculties, and narrow
-extent of our observations. It is only the _ends_ of truths that we
-see. Their remote extension, and multiplied relations, we cannot
-ascertain. There _appears_ to be much disagreement. In theology the
-doctrines of decrees and free agency are both true, but who can
-reconcile them? This apparent inconsistency of truth is the origin of
-scepticism, and is the occasion of many unhappy dissensions among men.
-
-“Great is truth, and it will prevail.” The harmlessness of this
-declaration has permitted it to pass unmolested. It certainly is a
-pleasing prediction, and in the prospect which it unfolds, has inspired
-many a languid heart with fresh vigor in the cause of truth. From the
-implicit reliance which most men place in its verity, and from the wish
-of all for its fulfillment, is manifested the confidence which each
-reposes in his own integrity, and also a secret admiration of truth in
-the minds of all. But the sentiment is perhaps more flattering to the
-nobleness of our nature, than accordant with our constant experience.
-That some truths will prevail, is certain. But in respect to
-others--for instance, the thousand and one litigated points in history,
-how shall the truth ever be ascertained. If the facts were noted at the
-time of their occurrence, prejudice operated to distort them. If not
-till years had elapsed, it was the effect of remoteness to obliterate,
-or obscure them. Years and centuries are bearing us still farther from
-the period of their transpiring, and how is it possible, that, without
-a revelation from heaven, the truth shall ever be disclosed?
-
-In metaphysics are many points equally indeterminable. Here a man’s
-own mind is the field of observation, in every part of which the most
-rigid, extensive, and patient scrutiny, and the most careful comparison
-have been made by the most profound thinkers, and with the best lights;
-but up to this time there are many points unillustrated, undecided.
-Will they ever be made more plain? Who does not feel that there are
-doubtful points in himself that he will never understand, at least this
-side of the grave?
-
-In the sciences, which suffer less from prejudice than most subjects of
-investigation, the want of facts will prevent the discovery of truth on
-many points; while, faster than old questions are settled, new subjects
-of discussion are advanced.
-
-With respect to the active duties of life, temperament will continue to
-influence our views of truth, as it always has done.
-
-Prejudice, which is the great barrier to the entrance of truth into
-the mind, must, while man exists under his present mental and moral
-constitution, retain the influence it now exerts.
-
-There are many truths of which the highest order of human intellect can
-only catch a fleeting glimpse, and the amount of knowledge is graduated
-downwards, corresponding with the ability to grasp it. Many points lie
-equally balanced between truth and falsehood.
-
-We do not then seem to be sufficiently warranted in the opinion that
-truth, i. e. all truth, will prevail.
-
-“Men are more willing to embrace error than truth.” No one will admit
-this imputation in his own case; but by an easy generalization, each
-one applies it to all other men.
-
-It may be doubted whether a love of truth or of error, for _their own
-sake_, is a primary principle of our moral nature. A love of one’s own
-happiness, or interest, or reputation, in a word, of one’s self, is
-primary. Truth and error are regarded with complaisance or aversion,
-accordingly as they oppose or favor the interests of men. If there were
-but one being in the universe, it would be of little moment whether
-he passed his existence in truth or falsehood. In society, he, whose
-basis is falsehood, is derided by his fellows, and his interests are
-endangered. As truth, on the whole, is most conducive to the interests
-of men, it is most generally sought after. Few are willing to oppose a
-fashionable error. There are portions of every man’s whole life, which
-he passes in error, without being in the least concerned. Many minds
-are so preoccupied, that they _cannot_ examine the evidence requisite
-for the admission of a new truth. More are so prejudiced that they will
-not. With many men a fear of results is stronger than love of truth,
-and they are induced by a prospect of consequences, to abandon the
-pursuit. An entire devotion to truth itself, to truth for its own sake,
-is a rare sight, and one of high moral sublimity.
-
-
-
-
-A FATHER TO HIS CHILD.[1]
-
-
- I cannot say, I cannot say, my beautiful and wild,
- I’ve ever seen so fair a one as thou my pretty child--
- A form so full of elegance, a cheek where roses blow,
- And a forehead where the glossy curls seem braided over snow--
- A lip whence sounds of music gush, that might with ease unsphere
- Some spirit from its airy halls and witch that spirit here.
-
- When first thy mother gave thee me, my beautiful and wild,
- And others sought to gaze upon and bless the pretty child,
- And thy soft lip to mine was press’d, and thy soft hand I felt,
- And felt all of a father’s heart within my bosom melt;
- I know I heaved a sigh, for there was sadness in my joy--
- Thou wert so very beautiful, my smiling little boy.
-
- Where’er thou go’st, there seems to go a gladness, and a life,
- Which all unfitted is for this dark world of sin and strife;
- Thou dost remind me of the flowers that are when Spring comes on,
- Thou dost remind me of the light when comes and goes the sun;
- Of brooks, and falling waters, when they with the pebbles toy--
- Of all that’s gay and beautiful, my smiling little boy.
-
- I mingle with the busied world, and when I find it vain,
- I turn me to my happy hearth and little boy again;
- I love to have him shout to me, I love his airy call,
- I love to hear his little step go patting through the hall;
- I love to take him on my knee and fold him into rest,
- As doth the parent bird the dove she shelters with her breast.
-
- Thy kind complaints, thy boyish talk, thy merriment, my boy,
- Crush all that’s base within my heart, and smooth the day’s annoy;
- Where’er I go, if ills assail, and passion plays her part,
- And dark Ambition spreads her gauds before my eye and heart,
- And I one moment list the voice that proffers me the crown--
- I think me of thy looks my boy, and bid the tempter down.
-
- Yet there will sometimes come to me a thought of sadness given,
- As the dark cloud streams athwart the flush that tints the sky of even,
- When I look at thee, and think of thee, in all thine artlessness,
- And think how flowery is the path which thy young foot doth press--
- For I know that eye which sparkles now may suddenly be wet,
- And the earth which looks so lovely too may be a desert yet.
-
- Ah! yes, I tremble for my boy with fears he cannot know,
- Lest he take the path which I have ta’en, and find it leads to wo;
- I tremble lest the Circean cup may yet be given him,
- With roses decked and myrtles crown’d and sparkling to the brim;
- For O! his foot hath not yet tried the path which mine hath trod,
- Nor hath his young heart framed a wish he might not give to God.
-
- And yet I will not think it--no! it will not, cannot be,
- That fate shall ever fling its shroud of blackness over thee;
- Thou art too like thy mother, child,--she would not harm this breast--
- And all thy days have been too like the holy and the bless’d;
- Thou can’st not other be to me than this, my cradle joy--
- Thou wilt not grieve thy father’s heart, my smiling little boy.
-
-[1] A friend of mine thinks he has seen a poem somewhere not altogether
-unlike this. Whether such a poem there is I know not, nor have I, after
-hunting over pamphlets and periodicals, been able to find one. If the
-reader shall be more successful, he will please give the writer of
-any similar production as much praise as he chooses, and subduct the
-same from me. An author _ought_ to know if he is guilty of plagiarism;
-and though I may err, it is my opinion, that among the many who have
-written upon this subject, though I may not boast of as much beauty, I
-may at least have been as far from stealing as the best of the rhyming
-tribe. These are indeed days of barter--still I would live on my own
-capital.
-
-
-
-
-SIR THOMAS MORE’S WORKS.
-
-_Lib. Old Eng. Prose Writers--Vol. 9.--Boston, 1834._
-
-
-Self-sufficiency, under one form or another, is the predominant vice of
-the present age. A disposition to neglect the gathered wisdom of former
-times, and to deny all reverence to customs and institutions from which
-our fathers deemed it inseparable, and to go forward rejoicing in _our
-own_ strength, is becoming more and more apparent. And whether we
-regard this sentiment as the fool-hardiness resulting from ignorance,
-and as ‘the pride which goeth before a fall,’ or, which we are more
-inclined to do, as the exultation of conscious might, and the prelude
-of more glorious achievements--still it is a vice, and requires the
-most vigorous exertions to check its further progress. These remarks
-are most obviously applicable to political matters, but they are not
-without meaning in reference to _literature_. Even in this department
-of knowledge, there has become manifest a proneness to circumscribe
-curiosity and inquiry within the narrow circle of cotemporary writers,
-to extol our popular authors, as the only ones deserving our attention,
-and as incontestably superior to all who have gone before them. It is
-difficult to determine whether this feeling is more unjust to those
-great lights of learning, who laid the _foundations_ of our literature,
-by defrauding them of their merited homage, or more unfortunate for
-ourselves, by depriving us of their illumination. Nor is it less
-_absurd_, than it is unjust and unfortunate. For if we are indeed at
-the culminating point, whence beams of light and beauty shall fall on
-succeeding ages, the closest investigation can but confirm the truth;
-but if we are _not_, by timely consideration we may be saved from the
-error of those ancient astronomers, who assumed this little earth to be
-the center of the universe, and _therefore_, at each supposed advance,
-plunged deeper in error and perplexity. And those, who, in utter
-ignorance of our older writers, are ever asserting the preeminence
-of Byron and Bulwer and Irving, should be careful, lest, with those
-who have traveled further in the world of letters, they may incur the
-charge of weakness, no less ridiculous than that of the vain Chinese,
-who imagine _their_ land, the only radiant point in a world of darkness.
-
-Nor would the results of a candid and thorough examination of the early
-English writers, be really prejudicial to the reputation of cotemporary
-works; for though we might return from our researches with a less
-extravagant complacency in the productions of living authors, it would
-be more strongly established. We should meet with opposite merits and
-opposite faults. If our current literature is more frivolous, theirs
-is more prolix; if their thoughts are more sound, and their style
-more simple, our reasoning is more pointed, and our expression more
-sparkling--if we are more disgusted here with spurious originality, we
-are oftener wearied there with staid monotony.
-
-We have been led into these reflections, by the perusal of several
-volumes of ‘the Library of Old English Prose Writers.’ Among the many
-series, which have of late appeared in England and this country, under
-the specious name of ‘Libraries,’ there is none so truly deserving as
-this, of the approbation and support of the educated and intellectual
-portion of the community--and to them, from its peculiar character,
-it must be almost entirely confined. Other publications, appealing to
-the interests or the love of novelty and excitement of the ‘reading
-public,’ meet with a ready support. But this series, whose design and
-tendency is to correct this corrupt taste, and chasten this morbid
-partiality to the matter-of-fact, or the romantic, cannot expect a
-promiscuous patronage. It is emphatically the _literature of literary
-men_, and all such, if they have any sympathy with ‘sober thought,
-in simple language dressed,’ nay, to appeal to selfish motives only,
-if they have any regard for the improvement of their taste, the
-strengthening of their own minds, or the purifying of their own style,
-will not fail to search out and drink deeply of these ‘healthful wells
-of English undefiled.’ We would gladly ramble through the several
-works of which the ‘Library’ is composed, but time does not permit,
-and we hasten to the consideration of the last of their number, with
-the simple remark that the plan of the undertaking is so praiseworthy,
-and the manner of its execution thus far has evinced so correct a
-judgment, and refined a taste, that we cannot but regret that any
-circumstances should for a moment delay its progress.
-
-The fame of Sir Thomas More’s Utopia must be familiar to every ear. Its
-authority as a classic is so high, quotations from it are so numerous,
-and allusions to it among literary, political and metaphysical writers,
-are so frequent and eulogistic, that no one who has passed beyond the
-first lispings of polite learning, can be presumed ignorant of its
-general character. But a much smaller number, probably, are acquainted
-with it from actual examination and study. Before the appearance of
-this edition it had long been out of print in this country, or excluded
-from general circulation by being buried in an expensive and cumbrous
-volume, among the ponderous controversial writings of its author; and
-in rescuing it from its unfortunate companionship, the editor has
-conferred no slight gratification upon the lovers of serious thought
-and quaint style. A clear view of the design and plan of the work,
-cannot better be obtained, than by a brief analysis of its contents.
-
-The author, for the convenience of setting forth his ideal of a perfect
-commonwealth, in a plainer and bolder manner than the jealousy of
-the government and the church would allow, feigns the existence of
-an island, Utopia, in a remote quarter of the globe, unknown to the
-people of Europe, and recently discovered by the celebrated navigator,
-Vespucci. Raphael Hylleloday, a philosopher, who accompanied Vespucci
-in his voyages, through curiosity, to examine the condition of the
-new-found nations, having become intimately versed in the history and
-manners of the Utopians, conveys a lengthened and minute account of the
-same to his friend More, at that time employed in the ‘king’s embassat’
-in Flanders.
-
-Upon this hypothesis, the philosophical romance is founded; and
-under the form of historical narrative, the author unfolds his
-views of the manners, customs, pursuits, government and religion,
-which would obtain among a perfectly happy people. He condemns with
-severity, and ridicules with sharpness, the policy, both temporal and
-spiritual, which was pursued by the governments of Europe, and the
-whole system of social relations, which prevailed among the people.
-He exposes with equal fearlessness, the folly and wickedness of royal
-tyranny, prelatical intolerance, and private avarice. He pictures in
-earnest simplicity, the advantages of equality of rank, temperance
-in living, freedom of opinion, and general education; and much more
-than anticipates in theory, all the advances which have actually
-been made, in more than three centuries. In order to feel the full
-admiration, which the perusal of the ‘Utopia’ should legitimately
-excite, the reader must constantly bear in mind, the period at which
-the author wrote. Many positions, which to us appear obvious and common
-place,--because we have been familiar with them, as undoubted truisms,
-from our childhood--evinced in our author surpassing vigor of thought,
-and boldness of purpose, joined with a sagacity almost prophetic.
-The extent to which he pushed his liberality in religion, in an age
-distinguished for its bloody bigotry, may be learned from the following
-extract. (p. 159.)
-
- “For this is one of their most ancient laws, that no
- man ought to be punished for his religion. At the first
- constitution of their government, Utopas having understood,
- that before his coming among them, the old inhabitants had
- been engaged in great quarrels concerning religion, by which
- they were so divided among themselves, that he found it an
- easy thing to conquer them, since instead of uniting their
- forces against him, every different party in religion fought
- by themselves; after he had subdued them, he made a law that
- every man might be of what religion he pleased, and might
- endeavor to draw others to it by the force of argument, and
- by amicable and modest ways, but without bitterness against
- those of other opinions; but that he ought to use no other
- force but that of persuasion, and was neither to mix with it
- reproaches nor violence; and such as did otherwise were to
- be condemned to banishment or slavery.”
-
-To affirm that all the maxims and institutions in this fictitious
-system of politics are unexceptionable, and would be desirable if
-_realized_, would be foolish eulogium--indeed, in some very important
-features, (we would refer particularly to the chapters on ‘the
-Manner of Living,’ on ‘Slavery,’ and on ‘Marriages,’) the progress
-of political science and moral philosophy, has shown that there is
-much that is erroneous and defective. The grand error is, and it is a
-very common one among theorists, in allowing to corrupt human nature
-a higher degree of moral perfection, than it has ever yet vindicated
-its claims to, and, resting upon this unsubstantial basis, must fall
-to the ground. The candid reader, however, cannot fail to admire the
-acuteness and honesty of the reasoning, and to wonder at the nobleness
-of the sentiments upon the great subjects of civil and religious
-freedom, when he reflects that the author was a courtier under the
-despotic Henry VIII, and was a tenacious Romanist, amid the fierce
-struggles of the Reformation. He will also be highly pleased with the
-simplicity of language in which the profoundest truths are conveyed,
-and will often be provoked to a smile, as he detects, under the modest
-guise of our author’s graceful style, many a thought, which with
-pompous epithet, and startling antithesis, has been brought forth as
-the offspring of the ‘wonderful advance of mind in the XIXth century.’
-And if he should be ready to point at some passages as absurd, and
-at others as childishly simple, let him remember, that according to
-competent critics, the prince of ancient philosophers, Plato, is not
-free from similar crudities. The most valuable portions of the work,
-are those which are employed in the discussion of permanent moral and
-political principles, though the most curious and amusing, are the
-descriptions of the island, and of the domestic and civil habits of its
-citizens. There are, here and there, some positions of even ludicrous
-extravagance, which the author, it would seem, intended to serve him as
-a refuge from the charge of heresy, by giving his book the aspect of an
-idle and humorous fiction.
-
-The latter half of the volume is occupied with the ‘History of King
-Richard III’--and though it does not possess the intrinsic value of
-the Utopia, it acquires even a higher interest from the circumstance
-of its being the _earliest specimen_ of English prose, intelligible to
-readers of the present day.[2] It is also deserving of great attention,
-as the original chronicle of that troublous and tragical reign, written
-while several of the actors in its scenes are yet living. It is in
-this light, as the ‘Father of English Prose,’ that the character of
-Sir Thomas More appears most interesting. He was the first to break
-loose from the prevailing custom, which confined all learning and
-philosophy and history, to the constrained medium of a dead language,
-and commenced those efforts in the living English, which have resulted
-in giving us a vernacular prose literature, unequalled by that of any
-other language in the world. He was fortunate too in living just at
-that period, when the language had acquired sufficient elegance and
-copiousness, to render it in a great measure permanent. The tasteful
-reader will be tempted to wish that our native Saxon had been suffered
-to retain its pristine vigor, unencumbered with such ponderous
-accumulations, as it has since received, though it had remained less
-magnificent in its periods, and less fertile in synonymes.
-
-The principal points worthy of notice in this venerable composition,
-are, the honest straight-forward course of the narrative, the
-discrimination in the portraiture of character, and in tracing outward
-actions to their secret causes, and the nature and individuality shown
-in the speeches, which, in imitation of the manner of Livy and Sallust,
-he puts in the mouths of his personages. We were much struck with
-the _perfect_ coincidence with this authentic chronicle, maintained
-in Shakspeare’s drama of Richard III. It is exceedingly thorough
-and minute, and affords gratifying evidence that the efforts of the
-imagination may with success be made subservient to impressing and
-illustrating historical truth. As an instance of this resemblance, as
-well as for the purpose of exhibiting our author’s _original_ style, we
-quote as follows. (p. 302-304.)
-
- “And thus, as I have learned of them that much knew and
- little cause had to lie, were these two noble princes,
- these innocent, tender children, born of most royal blood,
- brought up in great wealth, likely long to live to reign and
- rule in the realm, by traitorous tyranny taken, deprived of
- their estate, shortly shut up in prison, and privily slain
- and murthered, their bodies cast, God wot where, by the
- cruel ambition of their unnatural uncle and his dispiteous
- tormentors. Which things on every part well pondered, God
- never gave this world a more notable example, neither in
- what unsurety standeth this worldly weal, or what mischief
- worketh the proud enterprise of a high heart, or finally
- what wretched end ensueth such dispiteous cruelty. For
- first, to begin with the ministers, Miles Forrest at Saint
- Martin’s piecemeal rotted away. Dighton indeed yet walketh
- on alive, in good possibility to be hanged ere he die. But
- Sir James Tyrrel died at Tower hill, beheaded for treason.
- King Richard himself, as ye shall hereafter hear, slain in
- the field, hacked and hewed of his enemies’ hands, harried
- on horseback dead, his hair in despite torn and togged
- like a cur dog. And the mischief that he took, within less
- than three years of the mischief that he did. And yet all
- the mean time, spent in much pain and trouble outward,
- much fear, anguish and sorrow within. For I have heard by
- credible report of such as were secret with his chamberers,
- that after this abominable deed done, he never had quiet
- in his mind, he never thought himself sure. Where he went
- abroad, his eyen whirled about, his body privily fenced, his
- hand ever on his dagger, his countenance and manner like one
- always ready to strike again; he took ill rest a nights, lay
- long waking and musing, sore wearied with care and watch,
- rather slumbered than slept, troubled with fearful dreams,
- suddenly sometime start up, leap out of his bed and run
- about the chamber; so was his restless heart continually
- tossed and tumbled with the tedious impression and stormy
- remembrance of his abominable deed.”
-
-The character of Sir Thomas More is one of the noblest that the whole
-circle of history can present, and his whole career was as glorious,
-in the highest sense of that term, as the loftiest aspirations could
-desire. His fame rests not on the adventitious distinctions of rank
-or political authority, or on the short lived eminence, conferred by
-popular idolatry; for, though he was placed high in office, though he
-was courted by his sovereign, beloved by his equals, and worshiped by
-his inferiors--the native power of his intellect, and loftiness of
-his spirit, shed the proudest luster upon his name. We have already
-had occasion to notice some points of his greatness, in the review
-of his works. In his Utopia we found him a subtle reasoner, and bold
-asserter of the rights of man; and in his history, we met with an
-honest annalist, and skillful pioneer in the untraced paths of English
-literature. In many other respects he was no less gifted by nature, and
-favored by fortune. He was the first _lay_ chancellor of England, that
-high station, before his accession, having been entirely monopolized by
-churchmen. He is the _first_ person in English history distinguished
-for senatorial eloquence, and the earliest champion of parliamentary
-liberty. He was the first, as speaker of the House of Commons, to
-teach that body the use of that power, which, as keeper of the purse
-of the nation, it possessed, and which, in later times, it has exerted
-with so overwhelming an influence on the destinies of the nation. In a
-word, he was the _first_ of British ministers, who deserved, in all its
-breadth, the title of a _statesman_. His personal character was no less
-lovely, than his public career was commanding. The sweetness of his
-disposition, the mirthfulness of his temper, his reluctance to engage
-in the stormy contentions of political ambition, the depth of his
-learning, and the order of his piety, are alike conspicuous--and the
-manner of his death has associated his fame with that of the martyrs to
-tyranny ‘for conscience sake.’
-
- W.
-
-[2] Utopia was written in Latin. The current translation was made by
-Bishop Burnet.
-
-
-
-
-I LOVE THEE.
-
-
- ’Tis sweet, when first the infant’s voice
- Lisps to the parent of his joys,
- Words like no other;
- And says,--as a bright, radiant smile
- Lights up his countenance the while--
- “I love thee, mother.”
-
- ’Tis sweet, to watch that mother’s eye
- Beam, like a star in yonder sky,
- Radiant, though mild;
- To hear her speak the glad reply,--
- Her joyous bosom heaving high--
- “I love thee, child.”
-
- ’Tis pleasant, when at midnight hour
- Beneath some fragrant myrtle bower
- With flow’rs inwove,
- The happy swain, with trembling tone
- Reveals his heart to _her_ alone--
- “’Tis _thee_ I love:”
-
- And then, to mark the rising sigh,
- The blushing cheek, the laughing eye,
- In _turn_ appear;
- The swelling breast, the _throbbing_ there,
- The playful struggle--_all_ declare,
- “I love thee, dear.”
-
- * * * * *
-
- ’Tis sweet, when man doth contrite bow
- Before his God, his spirit low,
- And seek His favor.
- With deep submission as he kneels,
- He speaks the joy his bosom feels,
- “I love thee, Savior.”
-
- But sweeter far, when _God_ hath said,
- “The offering which _I_ have made,
- Thine heart hath won.
- Through _Him_ will I now hear thy cries,
- Through that ‘_atoning sacrifice_,’
- ‘I love thee, _son_.’”
-
-
-
-
-THE COFFEE CLUB.
-
-No. II.
-
- “I wish you saw me half starting out of my chair, with what
- confidence, as I grasp the elbow of it, I look up, catching
- the idea, even sometimes before it half-way reaches me.
-
- ----I believe in my conscience I intercept many a thought,
- which Heaven intended for another man.”--_Tristram Shandy._
-
-
-Reader;
-
-Lest, from the fact that we have hitherto drawn our mottos from “The
-Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy,” the suspicion may be festering
-in your brain that poor Nescio Quod has confined his reading among
-the older English writers to this single work, it may not be amiss to
-adduce such evidence, as shall set at rest so unjust and injurious a
-surmise.
-
-For instance--had he wished to be sarcastical upon himself, and thus,
-by a common artifice, predispose his critics to clemency, he might,
-in reference to the multitudinous array of _shadowy_ jests--flitting
-around the brightness of the reader’s fancy, like moths around a
-candle, to their own destruction--have cited this keen retort of
-Fuller--“It is good to make a jest, but not to make a trade of jesting.”
-
-Or, in allusion to the somewhat pedantic display of information,
-varied, but worthless, he might have adopted from the same author
-a complaint at the frivolous attainments of the idle and riotous
-student--“Yet, _perchance_, he may get some _alms_ of learning, here a
-snap, there a piece of knowledge, but nothing to purpose.”
-
-Or, in a mood of preeminent self-complacency, he might have imagined
-that the reader’s feelings towards him, maugre his faults and his
-prolixity, might be fitly expressed in the language of the Spectator
-(after Martial.)
-
- “In all thy humors, whether grave or mellow,
- Thou’rt such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow,
- Hast so much wit, and mirth, and spleen about thee,
- There is no living with thee, nor without thee.”
-
-Or, in defense of his desultory style--half-way between the frisking
-pirouettes of Harlequin, and the staid pace of the moraliser, he might
-have borrowed a circumlocutory sentence from the bungling Locke--“I
-would have him try whether he can keep one unvaried, single idea in his
-mind without any other, for any considerable length of time.”
-
-Or, having in his mind the stolidity of those, who condescended gravely
-to condemn so trifling a _jeu d’esprit_, he might have taken to his aid
-a sarcasm from Smollett--“Some formidable critics declared that the
-work was void of humor, character, and sentiment.”
-
-Or, revolving in his thoughts the mystery attending the appearance
-of the first number, and the pining curiosity excited to unveil its
-paternity, with flattered pride, he might have quoted a splendid
-sentence from Count Fathom--“Over and above this important secret,
-under which he was begotten, other particularities attended his birth,
-and seemed to mark him out as uncommon among the sons of men.”--These
-“_ancient_ instances” will suffice, my reader, if you are in a yielding
-mood, to convince you that, if Tristram is called upon somewhat often,
-it is less a matter of necessity, than of choice. I am doubting whether
-it would not be a most Machiavelian stroke of diplomatic wisdom, to
-persuade you that I perceive all my failings. Surely your admiration at
-my frankness would outweigh your anger at the repetition of my sins. I
-am sometimes affected, and, now and then, I perpetrate a _verbicide_. I
-like to make new words--I feel for them the affection of a father. I am
-slightly tinctured with the sin mentioned by Boileau. (L’Art Poetique.
-Chant Troisieme.)
-
- “Souvent, sans y penser, un écrivain qui s’aime,
- Forme tous ses héros semblables à soi-meme.”
-
-Which lines the _Il_-literati are to know mean, “A self-complacent
-writer often inadvertently draws his heroes like himself.” Thus I,
-forgetting the precise terms of the _conversators_, (there _ought_ to
-be such a word,) make them parley in a brogue very like my own. I am,
-moreover, somewhat vain, though less so than Ovid, or Horace, (Vide
-Metam. lib. 15. in fine. and Hor. 2.20 3.30.) or than that Etrurian
-Spurinna, whom Valerius Maximus cites as an instance of modesty, though
-he was rather an example of uncommon self-inflation; since he thought
-himself so _killing_, that he disfigured his face, lest he should
-unwittingly seduce his fair country-women!
-
-I would that I could affirm with Falstaff in the play, “I am not only
-witty in myself, but I am likewise the cause that wit is in other men.”
-But the protasis will, I fear, be doubted by the judicious, and my
-own observation tells me that the apodosis is false. I am naturally
-neither contemptuous nor malicious, but when I look around me, and
-behold so many with but two ideas, “one for superfluity and one for
-use,” and reflect that I may myself rank among that soulless number,
-I become almost a misanthrope, and quite a scorner. “Les diseurs des
-bons mots,” says Pascal, “sont mauvais caractères.” “The perpetrators
-of witticisms are bad men.” Yet the same author observes, that silence
-is the severest punishment, and, since novelty is all that can gain one
-notoriety at the present day, I know not why I should not attempt to
-be new, at least, if not witty. I sometimes think I would rather give
-utterance to a brilliant error than a stupid truth, and, like Tully,
-espouse falsehood with a Plato, rather than be right with the rabble.
-“Had the nose of Cleopatra been shorter,” remarks an eminent writer,
-“the face of the world had been altered.” (_Her_ face would have been,
-at any rate.) Had I, too, been born at an earlier era, before the
-fingers of a million had compressed every square inch of this vast
-globe’s surface, till it is as dry and hopeless as the peel of an
-eviscerated orange, I, too, might have been at once original and wise.
-But all truths have of late become _truisms_, and to reiterate them
-would be like praising Shakspeare. Sufficient be it for me, (you will
-find the thought somewhere in Irving,) if, like a skillful physician,
-who gives you a pill enveloped in some palate-tickling sauce, I now and
-then, under the guise of folly, pop down your throat a sound moral,
-or a wholesome truth. My writings, if less grave in appearance, will
-be more healthful in effect than Bellamy’s learned computation of the
-earth’s inhabitants during the millennium, (whom he makes so numerous
-that they would be compelled to lie in _strata_,) or the labored
-inquiry of the ingenious Spaniard, whether it be more certain that a
-_cause_ will produce an _effect_, or that an _effect_ must spring from
-a _cause_. Pardon these patch-work prolegomena--remembering that it is
-my fashion to place my thoughts in _Mosaic_--and pass on to my compeers
-of the club.
-
-_Apple._ “Well, Pulito, time flies, or,” (looking learnedly,) “_tempus
-fugit_, as the Latins would say. If Quod and you are coming to the
-point, I’ll e’en light my cigar, and listen with elongated and _patent_
-ears.” (Here, after a series of wicked bantering, Apple was forced
-to explain that _patent_ meant _open_--he then continued pettishly,)
-“I really thought you could see through a joke sooner--but if you
-are not about to discuss, I’ll read to Tristo a few chapters of my
-Psychological Autobiography, in which I have shown by induction that
-_punning_ may become a second nature, and that in numerous consecutive
-instances--”
-
-_Tristo._ “Enough, good Apple; I perceive the plan of your work, and
-doubt not that it is profoundly amusing, and amusingly profound. But
-why wish to read it to me, rather than to Nescio, or Pulito?”
-
-_Apple._ “Because you are melancholy, and something light and trifling
-might--”
-
-_Tristo._ “No, Apple, no! When I am sad, which is but too often, I
-find no relief from the ludicrous, or the gay. I should sooner look
-for an antidote to melancholy in the deep thought and earnest style
-of Coleridge, than in the levities of Swift, or the whimsicalities
-of Sterne. And an evening walk in the solemn starlight would quicker
-soothe me than a merry ramble among the green hills in the brightness
-of the morning. When the soul wanders through its airy chambers in
-solitary sadness, let it not flee for refuge to the comic page, to
-laughter, or the song. Let it dwell upon scenes and objects, more
-wretched than itself, till the sigh of sorrow burst into the tear of
-pity. The descriptions of Crabbe, so gloomy, so powerful, and so true,
-bear me away from sadness to solemnity, and the deep conceptions of
-Foster lift me from solemnity to a high and tender elevation.”
-
-_Apple._ “Fool as I am, these bright spring mornings always make even
-me serious.”
-
-_Tristo._ “Fools as we _all_ are, there are times when the cup of
-pleasure is as nauseous to the soul, as is wine to the sated palate of
-the morning reveler. Why is it, Apple, why is it that the first gay
-breath of spring is so saddening in its influence? Nature seems then to
-burst from her winter’s sleep, like a resurrection from the grave. The
-jocund earth puts on her brightest robes, as if soon to celebrate her
-nuptials with heaven. The pulse of existence beats high with new-born
-vigor, and the warm, bright blood runs riot through the renovated
-veins. Alike in the open fields, and the crowded city, throughout the
-glorious works of God, and the petty creations of man, there is a
-newness of life, which, it would seem, _must_ fill every heart with
-bounding ecstacy. And so it may be, for aught I know, with the busy
-and the riotous. But with the idle and the thoughtful, the approach of
-spring produces, I am persuaded, far different effects.”
-
-_Apple._ “Physicians would tell us that the balmy breeze bears on
-its wings a subtle, penetrating fluid, which dampens the spirits and
-enfeebles the energies.”
-
-_Tristo._ “No. While I allow that these early gales of spring, which
-breathe life and vigor into all the rest of animated nature, unbrace
-_our_ nerves, and through those media of sensation, lower the tone, and
-lessen the elasticity of the feelings, yet, for the main cause would
-I look deeper--even in the mind. There are certain periods, as we all
-know, when we are _forced to reflect_. Such periods are, every serious
-change in the world without--the recurrence of a birth-day, or the
-revisiting of home; and sometimes the sight of a long-neglected volume,
-through whose pages I have strayed in pleasant intercourse with an
-absent, or a buried friend, has brought paleness to my lip, and sadness
-to my heart. And such an occasion, preeminently, are the early days of
-spring; for spring (as the Germans say) is the cradle-time of the year.”
-
-_Apple._ “The calendar, though, says otherwise. But go on.”
-
-_Tristo._ “Then are we summoned to look forward to _another_ year,
-with hopes less wild and free than they were at the commencement of
-the last; and we look backward, also, with a longer and a sadder
-retrospect: and you know, Apple, that the memory of a student is but a
-shadowy maze, where the forms, which, in _prospect_, were gilded with
-glory, and girded with magnificence, to his _backward_ gaze, seem airy
-nothings, or shapes, palpable, indeed, but unsightly--fiends, mocking
-at the vanity of his hopes, and the folly of his grief. And thus the
-bland breath of the reviving year becomes, through the mysterious
-principle of association, an instrument of keenest anguish to the
-sensitive mind. This annual birth of nature is a mile-stone, that
-notches our progress from the cradle to the grave: the figures are
-surrounded by bloom and greenness, but they are graven by the finger of
-Death.”
-
-_Apple._ “I think such brilliant days make us feel _too_ well.”
-
-_Tristo._ “They do. They kindle sensations too delightful for
-continuance--our systems are too coarse, too frail--it seems as if an
-electric finger were laid invisibly upon each shrinking nerve--a balm
-circumfuses and permeates the heart, strange, ecstatic, overpowering.
-The change, too, is often so abrupt as to cause an unpleasant
-revulsion--the process (so far as regards the action of the mind) is
-not unlike that by which we pass from the stern winter of our existence
-here, to the bright and unending summer of the future life.”
-
-_Apple._ “Well, Tristo, though I could not succeed in making you merry,
-you have well nigh rendered me as sad as yourself. And Quod and Pulito
-have stopped their wrangling to listen to your melancholy.”
-
-_Pulito._ “Yes, Tristo, you are unwontedly depressed to-night, and
-Dumpling has scarcely made a _pun_ since we came together. However, the
-coffee is ready, that will revive you both.”
-
-The first cup sufficed to set Apple on his _legs_, (speaking
-intellectually,) which he evinced by commencing a _running_ fire
-of puns and jests, too rapid for transcription; while Tristo, more
-slowly, but not less surely, owned the mild, exhilarating influence.
-In the mean time conversation lagged, and finally ceased, while they
-gave themselves up to the more _sensible_ pleasures of the palate.
-After a while, Pulito, who appeared to have been collecting all his
-energies for the onset, seized a moment, when Apple was poring over his
-Autobiography, Tristo with a pleased smile was dipping into Little’s
-poems, and Quod, as _magister morum_ for the evening, was resettling
-the coffee pot on its uneasy bed, and broke forth in a most oratorical
-tone with the following introduction to the debate.
-
-_Pulito._ “On whatever principle you may compare the writings of the
-older novelists with the works of Bulwer and his school, whether as
-to their effect, in instructing the mind, or improving the heart,
-quickening the moral sense, or conveying useful information, or even
-for mere interest, or whiling away the time in rational amusement,
-(which last is but the lowest commendation of a good novel): in any of
-these points of comparison, I maintain that the older writers have a
-decided and manifest superiority. I might appeal, for the support of
-this position, to the concurrent testimony of literary men, to the fact
-that they have outlived contemporary criticism, and are still classics
-in this fastidious age, and furthermore”--
-
-_Apple_, (looking up from his manuscript.) “What book is that you’re
-reading out of, Pulito?”
-
-“The book of my own intellect, as yet unpublished, Mr. Impertinence,”
-said Pulito, somewhat disconcerted.
-
-_Apple._ “Indeed! As I was looking down, I thought from the rapid
-and mellifluous flow of words, the elegance and profoundness of the
-thought, that you were reading loud from some one of the British
-Essayists. No insinuations, however,” and he chuckled at the effect,
-while the others smiled at the harmlessness of his sarcasm.
-
-_Nescio._ “Don’t suppose, Pulito, that because I prefer the modern to
-the ancient school among the English novelists, I therefore deny all
-merit to the latter. It would be strange, indeed, if men, who were
-admitted _unâ voce_ to be the wits and geniuses of their age, should
-not have displayed many, and great, and varied excellencies. But won’t
-you allow that the incongruous mass, The Life and Opinions of Tristram
-Shandy, has gained its greenest laurels from its outrageous oddity?
-Its eccentricity is so astounding, so far beyond anomaly itself, that
-criticism pauses aghast, as at ‘the quills of the fretful porcupine,’
-unknowing where to strike. You might as soon trace ‘the path of a
-serpent on a rock,’ or reduce to rule the movements of the wild ass of
-the desert. It is a mere chaos--a “rudis indigestaque moles.”
-
-_Pulito._ “But, my dear fellow, such the author intended to have it.”
-
-_Nescio._ “Well, and what then? Suppose he had made it dull, (as in
-fact much of it _is_, at least, to me,) would it be the more pleasing,
-that the author had simply fulfilled his intentions? I like a good
-conceit in my heart, and the more I like it, the more do I hate to see
-it spoiled.”
-
-_Pulito._ “Do you assert that Sterne has spoiled his plan? If you do,
-the world is against you.”
-
-_Nescio._ “I beg your pardon. Those few are against me, who copy their
-sentiments from one another, and who, I’ll be sworn, never had the
-patience to read through what they so extravagantly admire. There
-are many good judges, who have the taste to perceive the unrivalled
-beauties of Sterne in particular passages, his fine strokes of humor,
-his felicitous touches of character, and, therefore, indiscriminately
-extol the whole.”
-
-_Pulito._ “Well, and I think they are about right.”
-
-_Nescio._ “So they are, except in Tristram Shandy. But _there_ I
-maintain, that while uncle Toby, and Yorick, and in fact all the
-actors, are among the most perfect pictures in the English language,
-the scenes are yet, many of them, _unbearably_ wearisome. I would
-rather undertake to thread the labyrinth of Minos.”
-
-_Pulito._ “Now, in my view, this same rambling style constitutes his
-great charm.”
-
-_Nescio._ “Not at all. This attraction consists in the exquisite
-fidelity of his characters, and the wit that gleams along his zigzag
-path. His roving, if properly restrained, would be pleasing. But, in
-the very nature of things, we cannot heartily like an author whom we
-cannot keep in sight. He seems to have thought that _any_ thing would
-_take_, provided only it were irrelevant. If, indeed, these _disjecta
-membra_ were all brilliant or weighty, it would repay the labor of
-putting them together. But when you have done this, and find much of it
-absolute nonsense, you must feel spent, disappointed, and angry.”
-
-_Pulito._ “Say what you will, and there is some truth in your words,
-Sterne will always remain inimitable.”
-
-_Nescio._ “I deny it not, and I hope he may. One such specimen, however
-beautiful, of utter lawlessness, is quite enough, and the fame of
-Sterne has already drawn many a weak-winged aspirant from sober truth
-into erratic nonsense. That style, which, in _him_, if affected, was,
-at least, original, in an _imitator_ would be stale and intolerable. By
-the way, have you ever read his Sermons and Letters?”
-
-_Pulito._ “Yes, and they are beautiful, are they not?”
-
-_Nescio._ “Surpassingly. But what say you to the older novelists,
-Fielding, Richardson and Smollett?”
-
-_Pulito._ “Why, I say that their language is as much stronger and
-purer, as their thoughts are better, and their characters more natural,
-than those of Bulwer, and his tawdry tribe.”
-
-_Nescio._ “Well, I must admire your modesty, to speak thus of a man,
-whom the spontaneous and infallible voice of a million has applauded,
-till praise itself grows weary.”
-
-_Pulito._ “The infallible voice of the million! Phoebus! their words
-_are_ oracular! It has not been a fact, then, has it, since the stars
-first sang together, that whatever the _lions_ of the day have done,
-or written, these infallible judges have followed with their praise?
-They did not shout ‘_te deum_’ to Cowley, when that worshipper of the
-‘dim obscure’ was the star of a voluptuous court, as vicious in taste
-as it was depraved in morals? Each spectacled ‘mother in Israel’ was
-not enraptured by Hervey’s magniloquent meditations among the tombs?
-The horrors of Walpole, and the mysteries of Radcliffe, the sorrows of
-Porter, with the bravery of her superhuman Wallace, and the streaming
-eyes of her immaculate Amanda, have not _all_ been worshipped in their
-day as lords of the ascendant--have not _all_ risen, and shone, and
-set, in the April sky of popular applause? Why, Quod, I am astonished
-that you should for a moment adduce the opinion of the rabble as
-authority.”
-
-_Nescio._ “Out, aristocrat! where else _would_ you look for natural and
-unbiassed feeling? I tell you, that when the voice of a people bursts
-forth in simultaneous applause, a work _must_ be good.”
-
-_Pulito._ “And I tell you, that if at this moment our meretricious
-press should bring forth the Letters of Junius, and the scribblings
-of Jack Downing, the people, if left to themselves, would choose the
-latter to reign over them, because the latter is most like themselves.
-Besides, upon one of these fashionable novels you do not get the free
-popular voice. Some giant critic, from prejudice, or false taste,
-sends forth his _imprimatur_, and the groundlings catch and repeat the
-cry,--as a mountain shakes the thunder from its cliffs, and the little
-bills reverberate its voice.”
-
-_Apple._ “But the people have no interest to sway their opinion.”
-
-_Pulito._ “Neither have they any judgment to guide it.”
-
-_Apple._ “To what, then, shall we resort? For criticism has always
-shifted with the shifting taste of the age, and it may be shown that
-the learned, and the polished, have fluctuated in their sentiments as
-much as the ignorant and the coarse. Did not the voices of the educated
-prefer Cowley and Dryden to Milton, until Addison took Milton on his
-wing, and bore him far into the heaven of fame? The critics of every
-age have followed the prevailing style of the writers of their time;
-and, indeed, they have constituted a large portion of those writers.
-Every thirty years has a style peculiar to itself--soft or strong,
-plain or mystical, brief or diffuse, moralizing or descriptive, simple
-or turgid; and the critics have set up no barrier, and constituted no
-law.”
-
-_Pulito._ “What you have said, _was_ true, but _is_ not. There are
-now so many perfect specimens from every literary mine, that dross or
-counterfeit is instantly detected. Criticism has become stable, or, if
-ever influenced by prejudice, or local feeling, you have only to take
-the average--cast them together into the alembic, and truth will come
-forth. And indeed the _general_ and _long-continued_ opinion of the
-multitude on a literary work, is always correct, partly because nature
-speaks within them, and partly because they have been told what to
-think by their superiors.”
-
-_Nescio._ “Don’t suppose I prefer the flimsy modern copyists, to the
-eloquent Old English prose writers--the thinkers of the seventeenth
-century. But what says your Criticism to the novelists of the present
-age, as compared with those of eighty years since?”
-
-_Pulito._ “I speak not of Scott; for I admit, as must all, that to
-the rest of story tellers, he is the sun in heaven. I likewise except
-Edgeworth, and Marryatt, and, perhaps, James and Cooper. But the
-Bulwerian is the prevailing style; and of him enlightened criticism
-says, that, with much brilliancy, and some philosophy, there is a great
-deal that is vicious in style, and false in sentiment, shallow in
-reasoning, and depraving in tendency. It says that his aphorisms are
-merely antitheses, striking, but untrue. His characters are too strong
-contrasts to be natural; they are foils to one another.”
-
-_Nescio._ “And where will you find a more glaring instance of this,
-than in Scott’s Quentin Durward, where he introduces tragedy and
-comedy--the executioners to Lewis, that subtle king?”
-
-_Pulito._ “I allow it, and always considered the picture overcharged:
-it is broad farce, and not real life.”
-
-_Nescio._ “Well, I will tell you what _I_ think of Smollett. When he
-is himself, he is coarse; and when he rises to the tender, he speaks
-in language, which true lover and true poet never employed. His
-sentimentality is to me disgusting, and his sketches, though laughable,
-are many of them caricatures. He had a strong sense of the ludicrous,
-but no taste for the refined. His sea-characters are admirable; but
-when, in the History of England, were oaths and exclamations, which I
-repeat not, so common in the mouths of _refined ladies_ even, as he
-would represent? When I close a volume of Smollett, I rise with a sense
-of weariness--there is a something, which I sought, and found not--his
-characters appear before me in bold prominence, and they are consistent
-with themselves, but I doubt me whether all of them are consistent with
-human nature.”
-
-_Pulito._ “There is something in what you say. Smollett fails in some
-points: but his mind was powerful, and his language is strong, and
-idiomatically pure. But in regard to poetry, and to love-scenes, the
-taste of the age was wrong: yet he simply accorded with that taste,
-and you cannot blame him for drifting with a race that thought Johnson
-a poet! As for Fielding, though too diffuse in style of remark, he is
-still immeasurably above Bulwer and his countless spawn. And so is
-Richardson, maugre his epistolary prolixity; and Goldsmith, with his
-quiet beauty and truth to nature, transcends them all. But Bulwer,
-instead of the apotheosis his admirers would bestow, deserves to do
-penance in purgatory for his literary sins. As obscure as Coleridge,
-without his deep philosophy, as glittering as Voltaire, without his
-sparkling wit, as seductive as Byron, without his amazing strength,
-his wisdom is founded in a few heartless maxims, and his poetry is
-comprized in a Rhyming Dictionary.”
-
-_Tristo._ “No! Pulito, you are wrong there. I have heard your
-discussion with interest, and allow me to draw the line, which, in
-cooler moments, you would both approve. Bulwer is a scholar, and a
-genius, and essentially a poet. That he is a scholar, and a ripe one,
-no one that has read his Ambitious Student, and, above all, his Last
-Days of Pompeii, can doubt for an instant. When I look at the fact
-that he has founded a new school in romance; that he has written eight
-or ten novels, all different, all original, all _creative_ in their
-kind; that we follow his characters from their entrance to their
-exit, with feverish and untiring interest; that in his own path no
-one approaches him, and that for eight years he has supported his
-reputation, I see not how he can be denied many of the attributes of
-genius. And that he is, _in heart_, a poet, despite his Siamese Twins,
-is equally evident to me. He is certainly fertile in invention, rich in
-expression, and powerful in pathos. I know not where to find any thing
-more poetic, more moving, than the character of Lucy Brandon, and
-her twilight interview with Clifford at the lattice, the beautifully
-simple portraiture of Mydia, and, above all, the crossed love, and
-shattered hopes of the Ambitious Student. I say that he _does_ possess
-wit and humor, and poetry, and talent, and that in large abundance.
-Yet his power is more in the _manner_ than the _matter_; for he is
-often superficial, and his pictures of the world, though faithful and
-clear in parts, are false and confused as a whole. Their coloring is
-too high. He strains for effect. His views in politics, in ethics,
-and religion, are all shifting. If a brilliant thought occurs,
-he pauses little upon its truth or consistency with his previous
-sentiments. Because red and blue are _both_ beautiful, he lays them on
-together. You view his pictures as in a glass, and depart, ‘straitway
-forgetting what manner of man he is.’ He makes all his heroes think
-and act splendidly for the moment; but their thoughts and actions are
-incongruous as a whole--they war among themselves. A man cannot at
-once be patient and resentful, thoughtful and careless, or learned
-and an idler. Again--his style is as bad as it is brilliant--it is
-affected--sometimes tawdry. His novels are bad, _very_ bad, in their
-tendency. He marries vice and virtue; he joins nobleness to sin; he
-makes man the puppet of fate or circumstance; around the desperate
-offender he weaves a spell of enchantment; we follow his heroes with
-wonder and pity and love, through all their paths of crime and glory,
-and we close the book with a sigh that ourselves were not born with
-natures so high, and destinies so splendid, even at the price of all
-their wretchedness, and all their guilt. Bulwer may talk, and talk of
-virtue and religion, till his hair is gray--but his principles are
-poison. And if he be dangerous, his imitators are contemptible. Without
-a tithe of his power, they are more corrupt. Their works are prolific
-as the rod of Aaron, and lean as the kine of Pharaoh. In regard to
-talent, making allowance for the greater freshness of his novels,
-and that sympathy which we feel for every thing of our own day, and
-remembering that he had all _their_ excellencies to build upon, and
-imitate, I should place him far below both Fielding and Smollett in
-mental power. Those older writers, though freer in language, are far
-less corrupt and enervate in thought, than these modern profligates.
-In _those_, there is a style simple, vigorous, and clear, and
-reflection solid, rational, and just--in _these_ there is a continual
-reaching forth after singularity and power. _Those_ draw faithful
-figures, though larger, perhaps, than life--but _these_ present
-distortions--wicked daubs--gross flatteries, or else vile libels upon
-human nature. _There_ is thought--_here_, sentiment--_there_, rough
-gold--_here_, spangled tinsel. _Those_ are chalybeate streams, which
-come tumbling from mountains of iron, with waves dark, but salubrious:
-while _these_ are rivulets from mercurial mines, that dance swiftly
-along their shining bed, with waters bright, but destructive.”
-
- Ego.
-
-
-
-
-AMBITION--A FRAGMENT.
-
- --“I charge thee, fling away Ambition;
- Love thyself last.”
-
- _Henry VIII._
-
-
- What! check the spirit in its earliest flight?
- The new-fledged eaglet dash to earth again?
- Wrap the just-rising sun in blackest night?
- Hurl yon bright star from its empyrean?
- Curs’d be the mind whence such a thought e’er sprung,
- Yea, doubly curs’d the vile and slavish tongue
- Which spake so mean a thought!
- No, let that spirit rise,
- Until the heaven of heavens before it lies,
- Stretched out in clear perspective; and its home,
- Ere it was fettered in this earthly form,
- Be seen and recognized by thought innate;--
- There let it brood, and “over all debate,”
- Grasping earth, heaven, the Maker and the made,
- Man and his fate, and fearlessly invade
- The darkness which begirts Him round--the cloud
- In which He hides His majesty.
- The shroud,
- Corruption, Reproduction, the stern war
- Of Life and Death--the whence and what they are--
- All it shall know--at least _attempt_ to know,
- Uninfluenced by the world it scorns below.
- Yes, let that eaglet rise on tireless wing;
- Far, far beyond the clouds’ dominion spring,
- And dwell where all is one eternal hush--
- No dash of billowy rack, no whirlwind’s rush;
- But yon bright sun blazes an universe
- Of pure, essential fire, whose gleams disperse
- All shade, and ‘permeate the unsensuous space’--
- Its atmosphere--the spirit of the place.
-
- Ambition, Oh Ambition! fire of hell,
- Burning and burning, why in me dost dwell,
- A frail, ungifted one, who soon must die,
- “Unwept, unhonored,” who with longing eye
- Beholds thy heaven-high dome, but whose poor might
- Sinks, struck and palsied, ere it scale that height?
- Go, light his eye who loves the storms of life,
- Go, burn his heart whose pulse unvarying beats,
- Go, circle him in whom there is no strife
- Of Soul and Sense,--of cold, and feverish heats.
- But no, I would not drive thee from my soul,
- Black “effluence of bright essence, uncreate.”
- What trumps the conqueror’s fame from pole to pole?
- What weaves the poet’s name in the web of fate?--
- Man! Time and Power--these on thee wait.
-
- W. F.
-
-
-
-
-THE INFLUENCE OF MORAL FEELING ON THE PLEASURES OF THE IMAGINATION.
-
-
-No. II.
-
-The influence of moral feeling tends to heighten the pleasure which we
-derive from the contemplation of great actions.
-
-Turn over the pages of history and philosophy--study the record of
-human events, and the laws of the mind, and we gather as their united
-testimony, the truth, that in all ages of the world, whatever has
-carried with it the impress of intellect, has commanded the homage
-of men. Even among rude and barbarous nations, he who distinguishes
-himself by some act of superior sagacity or valor, gains the ascendancy
-over his rivals, and is worshiped as Chief. The meed of honor in this
-case, is the result of a blind, but still a controlling admiration for
-the effect, unattended by a recognition of the cause. In more civilized
-communities, it is an enlightened and intelligent tribute to the
-offspring of mind.
-
-To the man of imagination there is a powerful charm in the spectacle of
-a great mind throwing off the grave clothes of inactivity, and arousing
-itself for some mighty effort. There is almost a fearful grandeur
-in its movements, as it calls up one after another its slumbering
-energies, and girds itself for the struggle. And when it goes forth
-in its power to achieve the purposes which it has formed, it treads
-with a sternness and majesty which fling around it an irresistible
-spell. It is not simply the exhibition of vast strength which it
-presents, like the exertion of mere brute force, or the plunge of a
-falling avalanche, that awakens in the beholder these emotions of
-interest and delight. There is, it is true, in all such exhibitions,
-much to inspire sublimity of feeling. But the appeal which we speak
-of now, owes its effect to other associations of thought. It is the
-soul, the living, moving principle within, directing and controlling
-the whole, bending the will and purposes of others into subservience
-to its own ‘ruling passion,’ like the earth born giant of old, rising
-with fresh strength from every grapple with opposition, and pressing
-right onward to the goal of its wishes, with a progress that resembles
-the sure march of destiny--it is this which gives to the sublimity
-of intellect its distinguishing characteristics. With such a mind,
-the man of imagination cherishes a fellow feeling, entering into its
-aspirations with kindred ardor, watching with intense interest its
-struggles against difficulties, sharing its gloom in the hour of trial,
-and its exultation at success. This thrill of sympathy is with him
-the vibration of the chord which binds him to the universe, and to
-his fellow man. Shut him out from such a kindred with his race; seal
-up the fountain of ever-flowing sensibility within his bosom, bid
-him gaze upon the sublime achievements of intellect, with a stoic’s
-indifference, and you have cut off from him a source of happiness
-of the purest and most exalted character, and left him a blank on
-creation’s page.
-
-In our contemplation of great actions, perhaps no exercise affords
-the imagination more pleasure, than to observe the progress of some
-mighty revolution. At first, all is apparently calm and peaceful on the
-surface of society, and the beholder finds nothing in the cloudless
-sky above, the whispering breeze, or the unruffled serenity beneath,
-to forebode the fury of the coming tempest. He does not dream that the
-waves of discord and strife are so soon to dash their foam along the
-mirror-like tranquillity before him. Yet the principles may be already
-at work, whose influence is to arouse these slumbering elements to a
-fearful energy. Some youthful mind, destined to be the master spirit
-of its age, may be, even at the moment, preparing within the still
-retreat of its lonely musings, by patient and toilsome research, the
-great problem whose solution is to shake the existing system of things
-to its foundations. At length the fullness of the time is come, and
-“the little cloud like a man’s hand,” rears its shadowy outline far
-in the distant horizon. The voice of the tempest is heard moaning in
-suppressed accents, as though wailing a dirge over the wreck it must
-make. Darker and still darker above, the sky spreads out its drapery
-of mantling clouds. The spirits of the storm awake, and ride forth on
-the howling blast, amid the wild roar of the elements, celebrating
-the festival of their freedom. The tempest at length has spent its
-rage, the pall of blackness is withdrawn, and the bow of promise gives
-goodly token of the returning calm. This may seem perhaps a fanciful
-description of a revolution. But to the cultivated imagination, the
-reality calls up all the intenseness of interest and excitement which
-belong to scenes like these. The storm of human passions, when stirred
-up and left to range uncontrolled through a community, gathering in its
-ranks the ruthless votaries of ambition, avarice and revenge, urged, as
-it sweeps onward, by a thousand new impulses from selfish and opposing
-interests, may well be likened to the strife of the angry elements.
-There is in the majestic energies of human nature, when aroused and
-carried forward with a momentum generated by the heart, an exhibition
-of more terrific sublimity than all the varied convulsions in the
-physical world can possibly present. But we have said enough on this
-point, to show, that the source of pleasure to the imagination, which
-we are at present considering, is one of no ordinary character, both in
-respect to the nature and degree of the gratification which it induces.
-And it is now high time that we return to our main object, which is to
-notice the influence of moral feeling in enhancing our susceptibility
-to this kind of intellectual enjoyment.
-
-We look back with admiration upon the exploits of an Alexander; we are
-struck by the power of his genius, by the grandeur of his designs, the
-perseverance and energy of his execution. But the truth--the sober
-truth, with its disenchanting wand, breaks the charm which these throw
-around his memory, and compel our minds, divested of all enthusiasm, to
-sink their admiration of the hero in their aversion to the unprincipled
-robber of nations. But on the other hand, with how much of unmingled
-delight does the imagination contemplate the high moral dignity so
-conspicuous in the character of Washington. Both are splendid instances
-of the triumphs of genius; but with what different sentiments are they
-regarded! Over the memory of the latter, the purity of his motives
-and the disinterestedness of his ambition, have thrown a hallowed
-and unclouded atmosphere. Thus, it is only when great talents are
-ennobled by their subservience to virtue, that they receive the meed of
-unqualified admiration. As another illustration of this truth, notice
-the reformation in Germany--one of the most eventful dramas ever acted
-upon the theatre of the world. Perhaps there is no succession of events
-recorded on the page of history, which inspires the imagination with
-more thrilling interest--no prouder monument of the achievements of a
-single mind.
-
-For a period of not less than a thousand years, the darkness
-of midnight had brooded over the nations of the east, relieved
-occasionally by some meteor star, whose solitary and transient gleam
-seemed only to deepen by contrast the surrounding gloom that succeeded.
-The curse of Papacy, with its ignorance, depravity, and superstition,
-lay like the frosts of winter upon the intellect and the heart of
-man; and the progress of true principles seemed to have been arrested
-forever. At this period of mental and moral gloom, nearly coeval with
-the dawn of reviving knowledge, arose the man who was to usher in the
-commencement of a new and glorious era. He had stood amid the worship
-of the temple at Rome, and been an eye witness to the luxury and
-licentiousness that defiled the consecrated courts. The name of the
-Holy City--the residence of the Vicar of Christ, had been treasured up
-in his mind from boyhood, with sacred associations. Alas, how changed
-from the image that his fond anticipations had pictured out! That
-moment gave birth in his soul to a mighty thought. He stood undazzled
-and unallured, though Rome’s pomp, and gaiety and beauty were spread
-out like a sea of enchantment before him. From that hour, Martin
-Luther was a champion of the truth--of the simple, unperverted truth.
-Year after year, with an ardor unchecked by difficulties, undaunted
-by the threats of power, he continued to pour the light of his own
-illumination over the nations of Europe, until the temple of Papacy
-shook to its foundations, and every Catholic king trembled on his
-throne. In contemplating this wonderful revolution, it is difficult to
-decide, whether our admiration should be most excited by the magnitude
-of the event, or the apparent total inadequacy of the means. A humble
-and unknown individual, with the Bible in his hand as his only weapon
-of warfare, enters the field against a Pontifical hierarchy, that had
-swayed for ages the sceptre of an absolute dominion--and PREVAILS. The
-sublimity and grandeur of the achievement itself would be deservedly a
-theme for the highest flight of the poet’s muse, and the most glowing
-strains of the historian. But it is only when we consider the nature
-of this triumph, that its full power, as a source of pleasure to
-the imagination, can be appreciated. It was a triumph of knowledge
-over ignorance. The light of science, which had so long glimmered
-but faintly, and at intervals, from the cell of the cloister, now
-burst forth in full orbed glory--‘rejoicing like a giant to run his
-race.’ It was a triumph of literature and refinement over brutality
-and barbarism. From the frozen waters of the north, to the pillars of
-Hercules, the intellect of Europe shook off the weight of its darkness,
-and awoke to life and activity. It was a triumph of the pure simplicity
-of the Christian faith over idolatry, hypocrisy and superstition. The
-degraded slave of popish tyranny and imposition cast away the shackles
-of his bondage, and arose to assert the dignity of his nature. On every
-thing that had been enveloped in the universal chaos, the almighty
-mandate was written, “Let there be light.” Thus, in contemplating
-this great revolution, it is in the power of its appeal to our moral
-sensibilities, that its true sublimity is seen and felt.
-
- C.
-
-
-
-
-THE SEMINOLE.
-
-
- Where the oak and the pine in grandeur vie,
- Where the orange and lemon their fragrance blend,
- Where its rushing stream the rivulet pours,
- There stood a warrior Chief. His eagle eye
- Shot a searching look on all around. His form
- Was symmetry; and proudly eminent
- In all the majesty of pride and strength,
- That Indian stood. One look at Heaven,
- One glance at earth he cast, and then he yelled
- A whoop so terrible, so fiercely wild,
- All nature seemed to start. As, when
- On Afric’s sands a wounded lion roars,
- The desert quakes, so now the sunbeams
- Trembled upon each quiv’ring leaf. But see!
- He starts--he bounds into the forest depths,
- And all is still again.
-
- Two moons
- Their circling revolutions had fulfilled.
- Twas when the evening breezes softly breathed,
- Wafting sweet odors from the balmy groves,
- And from each songster of the wood there rose
- A vesper hymn, and over all the scene
- Twilight a soft and rosy tint had spread--
- Upon a grassy knoll was seen to sit
- That warrior Indian. His head was still
- Proudly erect. But his glassy eye
- On vacancy was fixed, and from his side
- There flowed a crimson stream that spake of death.
- Alas! how changed the noble warrior!
- His snowy plume--the captured eagle’s gift--
- Is pure no more, but sprinkled o’er with blood;--
- Yet see! he rises slowly--but anon,
- He reels--he falls--a deathless stillness comes
- O’er all the scene. In mortal agony his hand
- Still tighter grasps his knife, and ’twixt
- His lips compressed, in faint and broken voice,
- He murmurs thus--“Great Spirit of my fathers!
- In the pleasant hunting grounds receive me!”--
- His spirit’s flown--the noble warrior’s dead;
- His life-blood ebbed upon his native soil.
- Free had he lived--free did the Seminole die.
-
- H. H. B.
-
-
-
-
-THE OUTLAW AND HIS DAUGHTER.
-
-
-At the termination of one of those revolutions which have convulsed the
-Mexican States from their earliest formation, Herraras, who had been
-an active partizan, finding his own side in the minority, sought in
-retirement a refuge from the turmoils of political life, and protection
-for the innocence, with facilities for the education of his motherless
-daughter. This he realized, until it began to be rumored, and not
-without foundation, that he was secretly leagued with the piratical
-smugglers. He who intended to reap the chief advantage from a public
-prosecution, was young Velasque, a favorite of the Administration,
-whose sole motive was a vehement passion for the daughter of Herraras,
-which as yet the jealous fondness of the father for his own child, and
-the aversion of the adolescent Almirena herself, had with vexatious
-firmness resisted.
-
-‘Surrender your daughter to my solicitations, and my influence with
-the Government shall secure your acquittal; otherwise, you must die,
-and--_I will be avenged_’--sternly uttered the wily amorado.
-
-‘Leave me till morning, and you shall have my answer,’ replied the
-perplexed and indignant father.
-
-That morning discovered him with his child many leagues from the
-Mexican coast, in a vessel bound to the United States, whose sudden
-departure he had procured by bribes, after having, under cover of the
-night, with the aid of a faithful servant, taken on board of it, a rich
-amount of his ill-gotten treasure.
-
-On the borders of one of those lakes whose silvery surfaces may be
-frequently seen imbosomed among the wild highlands of New England,
-near the margin of a forest that encircled its waters with a drapery
-of dark green foliage, and luxuriant vines, and stretched far away
-over the circumjacent mountains, the outlaw had chosen his retreat. A
-few roods of ground were cleared around his lodge, which was secured
-from view in the direction of the lake, by a narrow file of trees and
-underwood, and on all other sides, by the unbroken forest. Here the
-refugee lived, sequestered from the world, his only companion his
-child; with a single attendant, an African, the menial of the lodge,
-and only visiter of the village that lay over the mountains, and was
-the nearest within many miles of circuit, where the servant went for
-the supplies of the family. The outlaw suffered no stranger to enter
-his precincts, partly because he feared lest justice should find an
-avenue to his guilt, and partly because he dreaded an interruption to
-the communion of affection between him and his daughter. He loved his
-child as few fathers love their offspring. He had always cherished
-her as the “apple of his eye.” But since his recent misfortunes, all
-other feelings had become extinct, or submerged in this one passion.
-He loved her because she was the image of her mother, who had been
-the young idol of his soul. He loved her because she was a part of
-himself, and his own dark eye flashed beneath her brow. She was all
-the world had left him which he could call his own. To make her father
-happy, and witness his cloudy features clear away in smiles, was the
-dearest delight of the affectionate daughter. He could not bear her
-a moment from his presence, which she, at the least sound of danger
-as instinctively sought, as the timid lamb bounds away to its dam.
-Music was to both father and child an exhilaration of pleasure, and
-relieved of its weariness many a lonely hour. He had instructed her
-to play the guitar, whose strings responding to the skilful touch of
-her fingers, trilled in his ear the sweet airs of his youth; while her
-zephyr-like voice poured forth, in rich harmony with his deep bass,
-those lays that awakened fostered memories in his bosom. She read to
-him from his favorite Spanish authors, a few of which he had brought
-to be companions of his exile. A daily and indulged employment for
-the Mexican was sailing upon the lake, and angling for fish that were
-numerous in its waters. He had constructed for his daughter a light
-canoe with which she accompanied her father. While he fished, she
-sported with her little bark, which she learned to scull with such
-art, that like the shell of the Nautilus, it seemed of itself to glide
-through the waters. When the wind was high, so lightly and fearless did
-she skim over the curling tops of the waves, and so shrill and clear
-she sounded her notes on the air, that her father called her his Bird
-of the Lake. When the summer’s sun was shining hot, she would oar her
-boat along the shore, under the archway of the trees; here she twanged
-her guitar, or decked her hair with flowers from the banks, or filled
-her basket from the grape vines that twined among the low hanging limbs.
-
-One day she sailed farther up the shore, and had unconsciously steered
-her boat into a sheltered cove. She was seated platting a chaplet of
-leaves; and as she adjusted it to her head, she looked into the water,
-so darkly shaded by the surrounding trees that it reflected her image
-clear as a mirror, and bright as her beautiful self. Not like Narcissus
-was she in love with her own image; but her father had told her that
-her hair and forehead were like her mother’s--that mother whom she had
-never seen--that she wore wreaths in her hair; and the fond orphan
-smiled at the resemblance, and seemed, as she gazed, to be enamored of
-the beauty whose early blight her father so bitterly mourned.
-
-But the real beauty of this illusion was not without its charms. A
-young man, in the guise of a sportsman, attracted by the murmuring
-echoes of the music this Nereid warbled, had silently approached the
-waters, and screened behind a tuft of laurel shrubbery was looking, in
-breathless wonder, and deeply fascinated, upon this seemingly unearthly
-visitant of his mountain lake.
-
-That a gloomy browed foreigner with his child, had come to reside
-near the lake was known in the village. Many suspicions were afloat
-as to his character. Few had seen the renegade. Even young Clermont,
-whose hunting excursions were fearlessly and widely extended, had not
-ventured near the dwelling of the recluse; nor had he dreamed what a
-flower was blooming in the dark woods of his native hills.
-
-Almirena raised herself in her boat and attempted to pluck a rose that
-grew wild from a projecting rock. A tropical sun had imbrowned her
-skin; but polished the jet of her eyes to a higher brilliance; and her
-raven tresses floated more luxuriantly over her unbared neck. Attired
-in the costume of her country, her light vest open in front, with its
-flowing collar, and gathered loosely about her waist, revealed a form
-of classic mould; while her silken skirt, with its rich embroidery,
-excited still more the surprise of Clermont, who had seen in that
-retired district, only the simple dresses of rural life.
-
-Perceiving that she could not easily reach the flower, Clermont, who
-had been fixed in his concealment by the enchantment of the vision,
-advanced to her view and offered his assistance. She was startled
-at the sudden apparition, and seized her oar. She did not know his
-language, but his gentle tones and supplicating gestures, tempted her
-to come nearer the bank and take the rose he offered, and then like the
-timid bird that picks one kernel from your hand, not staying for more
-flowers, which he would have gathered, she flew away over the waters.
-
-Elfred Clermont, the son of the wealthy merchant of the village to
-which we have before alluded, was advanced in his professional studies,
-and at the time we are narrating, passing a vacation at home. With
-romance and enthusiasm commixed in his nature, refined in his feelings,
-he met with little congeniality of spirit among the rustic yeomanry of
-his native town; while amid the rugged scenery of the mountains, and
-deep gloom of the forests, he found his soul’s fondest sympathy. Taking
-his gun, and sometimes a musical instrument, he often pursued his
-solitary rambles; in the last of which he so unexpectedly encountered
-the outlaw’s daughter.
-
-That night the sleep of Almirena was feverish. Her dreams were of
-the fair browed youth and his kind attentions. She awoke wishing he
-were her brother. Aware of her father’s inveterate aversion to any
-intercourse with the inhabitants of the vicinity, she said nothing to
-him of her adventure. But the next day, while he fished below, the
-hare-hearted girl, now emboldened by a feeling which to her was new,
-and which she did not probably analyze, again slowly propelled her
-canoe near the cove. The sound of music struck her ear. She dropped
-her oar, and taking her guitar, touched its chords. Its notes blended
-symphoniously in the sylvan recess with the sweet sounds of the young
-stranger’s flute; while their hearts were awakened to thrill in more
-exquisite melody. The ravished Clermont ran down to the water’s edge,
-and with a rich bouquet of flowers, which he held up to her view,
-prevailed upon her to approach the shore. He kissed the deep blushes
-from her cheek, as he assisted her to debark; and the stranger lovers
-sat down together upon the moss covered bank.
-
-They did not understand each other’s language. But Nature has a dialect
-which she teaches all her children. The heart finds utterance not in
-artificial characters, but in burning expression. Music too speaks in
-glowing tones to the very ear of feeling.
-
-They often met; he of the blue eyed Saxon race, she of the darker Roman
-origin--both impassioned; he from the gushing enthusiasm of his being,
-she from the ardent temperament of her southern skies. His love was
-pure as if she had been his sister. Hers as confiding as if he were her
-brother. Elfred soon acquired her native tongue, and instructed a ready
-learner in his own.
-
-Herraras had marked the change in his daughter, and forbade her
-interviews with the young American. She implored; but he was
-inflexible. He loved his child, but with a love that could not be
-severed from its object. ‘What music is that?’ as a familiar air came
-quivering through the latticed window of his cottage, inquired the
-outlaw, with an emotion that was never kindled except at the voice
-of his child, or the sound of her guitar. ‘Has a minstrel of our own
-country wandered hither?’
-
-‘Shall I call the player, father?’ eagerly asked the child.
-
-‘I would see him.’
-
-She ran for her lover.--Her artifice succeeded. Elfred was admitted to
-the lodge. The music of his flute, his frequent conversations with the
-Mexican in his own language, tended somewhat to revive humanity in the
-seared breast of the outlaw. But the doting father could not be induced
-to yield up his daughter to the solicitations of Clermont, who was at
-length obliged, quite in despair, to cease pressing his suit with the
-old man, though he still visited at the lodge. Almirena’s filial piety
-was too closely interwoven with her father’s happiness to allow her to
-thwart his wishes, yet at the same time she twined about Elfred in all
-the artlessness and strength of her love.
-
-The exiles were seated one afternoon in the front apartment of the
-cottage, when the door was darkened by a strange form. The features
-of Velasque broke upon them like a fiend’s, hellish with revenge,
-blood-shot with lust. The outlaw stirred not, only hoarsely uttered
-‘devil!’
-
-‘I have come for my revenge,’ alternated the intruder, in a tone of
-cool, malignant triumph.
-
-Almirena shrieked out as the tiger-like eyes of Velasque gleamed upon
-her.
-
-The young Mexican immediately assumed a more familiar manner, and
-declared to the imperturbed outlaw, that he had been convicted of
-piracy in his own country, and that himself was accompanied by a party
-of United States officers, who were furnished with a warrant for his
-arrest from their Government. While they delayed in the woods, he had
-advanced professedly to reconnoitre, but really to parley.
-
-‘You may escape if’----
-
-‘If!’ thundered out the infuriated father. He checked his words. For
-a moment the storm of feeling raged within his breast. ‘I die,’ at
-length he said. ‘But we will pray before we go. Yonder is the image
-of our Mother.’ He led his daughter into a back room. ‘Now pray for
-protection.’ He whispered in agony, ‘fly--fly to your boat--you will
-be safe. I suffer for my guilt.’ The terrified child, the affectionate
-daughter, would have stayed by her father. But he sternly urged
-her forward. She sped her way to the lake. Velasque, suspecting an
-artifice, advanced; and missing his victim, dashed impetuously by
-Herraras, hurling the old man to the floor as he impotently endeavored
-to oppose him, and ran down the wood-skirted path to the waters. The
-resolute girl had pushed her canoe from the shore, and standing erect
-was vigorously plying her oar. Her pursuer seized her father’s boat;
-but the wind was up, and the waves mocked his strong-nerved efforts.
-She seemingly leaped from crest to crest. He called after her. The wind
-returned upon him his voice; and her flowing locks streamed in wilder
-witchery to his view. Nearing the shore, she sprang from her boat, and
-bounded away like a young fawn through the forest, leaving her vexed
-pursuer far behind.
-
-The outlaw, recovering from his violent fall, hurried for the water.
-Velasque was far on the lake. The old man hastened along the shore to
-meet his daughter on the upper extremity of the lake. He found her
-in a branch-vaulted glen, concealed under an arbor that Clermont had
-constructed for their stolen interviews; scarcely did he begin to
-tranquillize his child, now fluttering with fear, and exhausted by her
-efforts, when Velasque leaped down the side of the glen. They stood
-face to face--the outlaw and the exasperated lover. ‘Obstinate old
-man,’ said the latter, ‘thou shalt die, and thy defenseless daughter
-shall be subdued to my wishes, if thou wilt not now acknowledge her
-mine.’ The old man replied not. Almirena, deadly pale, staggered
-forward to her father, and extending up to him her clasped hands,
-groaned out, ‘Oh my father, let me be honorably his.’ Nature failed
-her--she fell lifeless at his feet. Velasque stooped forward to raise
-her. But the maddened old man, with unnatural nerve, ran upon him, and
-precipitated him down a chasm in the rocks. The officers, who had been
-on the alert in the woods, now came up.
-
-They bore the unconscious form of Almirena to the lodge, and consigned
-it to the care of her tender hearted slave. The wounded Velasque was
-carried away on a litter. The outlaw was manacled. He was supposed to
-be a bloody-handed, ferocious pirate. And as the girl was thought to be
-an accomplice in her father’s guilt, the officers had little pity for
-either. They did not permit the old man to go to his house and take a
-last look of his child; but conveying him by a nearer way through the
-valley of the lake, on the next morning they reached the sea-port, and
-lodged the outlaw in prison, where he was to be confined until Velasque
-should be sufficiently recovered to take charge of him to Mexico.
-Herraras was not sorry that his daughter had died. He knew that his own
-fate was sealed, and that she should live, exposed to the violence of
-Velasque, would have been worse than death on the rack to himself. He
-settled down in a calm, sullen submission to his destiny.
-
-But Almirena lived. She had fainted; but awoke in a delirium. Clermont
-did not come to the lodge till the following morning. She wildly
-addressed him as he entered, ‘Farewell, Elfred, farewell. I have given
-myself to Velasque, and he spares my father’s life. You would see me
-before I go. Farewell. One kiss, one more;’ and she threw her arms
-about his neck, as he leaned over her, and sobbed like a child. For
-weeks did her lover watch in patient agony by her side. At length she
-slowly recovered.
-
-Velasque did die. Foiled in his chief design, his spirits sunk, and
-he had not sufficient energy to counteract the effects of his wounds,
-which soon terminated his existence. Velasque being the only witness
-against the outlaw, and no one appearing to prosecute the case farther,
-he might have been discharged; but a new suit was instituted by those
-who had accompanied Velasque, charging him with the murder of the
-Mexican. He possessed no evidence to countervail the accusation. A
-stranger in a strange land, a condemned pirate immured in a prison, he
-had not heard that his daughter was yet alive. The popular feeling was
-against him. Clermont, who, being busy and remote, and also too fearful
-of the guilt of Herraras in respect to piracy, had not interested
-himself to learn what was transpiring, did not arrive at the court,
-till the evidence on the part of the state had been received. He was
-admitted to manage the defense. He called only one witness, the lovely
-daughter of the prisoner. As the hard-visaged outlaw met his child,
-the living from the dead, and held her in his embrace, his iron soul
-seemed to melt, and flow out at his eyes; a sight that turned the
-sympathies of the spectators in his favor. Almirena’s story was simple,
-and touching, in manifestation of the villainy of Velasque. Clermont
-conducted the case, to him, and all, now most intensely interesting, by
-an ingenious and manly argument in point of the prisoner’s having acted
-in defense of himself, and of the honor of his daughter. The outlaw was
-acquitted.
-
-Herraras cheerfully yielded his daughter to his noble deliverer, her
-devoted lover; stipulating only that he might love her yet, for the
-sake of her mother. In tranquillity, and penitence for early misdeeds,
-the outlaw passed his days. Clermont, under another name, has arisen
-to distinction; but yearly does he revisit with his still beautiful
-Mexican wife, the lake of their romantic loves.
-
-
-
-
-I WOULD NOT FLATTER THEE.
-
-
- Lady, I would not flatter thee--oh no!
- For ’tis unkind to foster earth-born vanity,
- And he doth err that wishes to bestow
- An extra share of it on weak humanity.
- Yet, on reflection, sure I do not know
- That I should be suspected of insanity,
- Were I to call thee--as I truly might--
- Beautiful, aye, beautiful as a form of light.
-
- Beautiful--and saying it, I tell no lie,
- Though tried by Madam Opie’s strict ordeal--
- Beautiful--if soft, soul-beaming eye,
- And form as graceful as the beau-ideal
- The sculptor carved his Cnidian Venus by,
- And features blooming, not with cochineal,
- But with such hues as Fancy would fain cull
- From Angel’s cheeks--if such as these be beautiful.
-
- I would not flatter thee--and yet must say
- Thou hast a witching gracefulness of motion,
- A dream-like lightness; and thou hast a way
- Of sweetly smiling, like the rippled ocean,
- When on it joyously the moonbeams play;
- And thou hast gaiety softened by devotion,
- Aye, and good nature, which, upon inspection,
- I always found developed in extreme perfection.
-
- I would not flatter thee--much less, would know
- The pungent strength of critical acidity
- For talking _prettily_ of ‘twilight glow,’
- And ‘moons,’ and ‘sighs’--all types of insipidity.
- And yet I say not that the earth can show
- Ought more enchanting than the deep placidity
- Stealing around us on a moonlight eve,
- When winds are hushed in sleep, and clouds the heavens leave.
-
- And when, at that most heart-ensnaring time,
- With thee I gaze upon the huge old man
- Reigning in yon pale center-light of rhyme,
- Or in the heavens the path of Venus scan,
- Or fancy from the spheres the distant chime
- Of evening bells--I will not say that then
- Strange feelings come not o’er me, soft and solemn,
- Producing--tears, perhaps, and poetry by the volume.
-
- I will not say that then I have not found
- In thee almost an Angel’s loveliness,
- Or that thy voice has not as sweet a sound
- As music on the waters, or that less
- Than a bright spirit’s influence has bound
- My soul in that fond dream of blessedness,
- Which, vastly strengthened by thy conversation,
- Has seemed, to say the least, a sweet hallucination.
-
- I would not flatter thee--much less, indeed,
- Would seem, in poetry, a _Della Cruscan_;
- I own not that, nor any kindred creed;
- Nor do I like the sentimental fustian,
- Which modern fashionables so much read.--
- Now he who honestly professes thus, can
- By law poetic, ne’er be an offender,
- Though, now and then, he _seem_ a little over-tender.
-
- From friends long loved how hard it is to part!
- How hard, indeed, from one but _briefly_ known--
- From _thee_, sweet bird of passage, as thou art--
- Charming awhile, but oh, how quickly flown!
- Aye, thou’rt away:--and my unguarded heart--
- Whither, ah, whither has the truant gone?
- In vain I search;--didst _thou_, fair maiden, take it?
- Then, cast it not away, for rudeness sure would break it!
-
-
-
-
-RUMINATIONS OF A BOVINE GENTLEMAN.
-
-AUTHOR’S CHARACTER.
-
- “----Secum meditari ingenium est _boûm_.”
- _Virgil._
-
- “Cows, of all animals, have the greatest propensity for
- rumination. For the most part, they are gentle, quiet,
- affectionate, unpretending, useful animals; all they require
- is kindness, and kindness they will return. Yet they have
- their antipathies and their whims, (red shawls are their
- abomination,) but, on the whole, they are inoffensive
- ruminators--not obtrusive, (except when they take a fancy
- to _gore_.) Their caresses are rough as their tongues; yet
- their roughest _licks_ are meant in kindness. They never
- bite--their teeth are ground down. They are neither snappish
- nor carnivorous. They are remarkably fond of salt, and are
- quick to detect its presence. Although timid and yielding in
- general, they will fight any one, or any thing, in defense
- of their young.”
-
- _Baron Munchausen._
-
-
-The last quoted author has described with remarkable correctness, in
-his remarks upon the cow, the character of a being, of whose existence
-he could not have dreamed--even of myself. Yes, even such I conceive
-to be my character--the coat fits, and I will put it on--“under such
-a shape I write.” Being in external appearance, a hale, stout, fat
-old bachelor of fifty, fond of the arm-chair and the comfortable
-dressing-gown, of easy fortune, retired habits, and few friends,
-I am, in soul, thought and disposition, and to all intents and
-purposes, _a gentle old cow_. Nor is there any thing humiliating in
-the confession. I esteem the character--I admire it. Would to heaven
-that in these _matter-of-fact, dollar-and-cent_ days, there were more
-men of my nature! I injure no man; but if any man injures me, I have
-horns and can gore him, a tail and can lash him. In consideration
-of the unsullied purity of my character in my manly state, I have
-ventured to conceive that I am, in the bovine genus, that most amiable
-non-descript, an old maid. Still, I am no Io--nor Io turned old
-maid. I never was handsome enough to warm the soul of Jove, nor mad
-enough to swim the Bosphorus. I am not, never was, and never will be,
-Oestrus-driven. The many-eyed shepherd, Argus, if ordered to watch
-_me_, would have needed only one of his hundred eyes--he might have
-seen me, even with “half an eye,” quietly grazing, all the morning
-of my life, in the flowery meads of Literature, Moral Philosophy and
-Metaphysics--ever and anon, quenching my thirst with a draft from the
-pure stream of Helicon--and now, in the afternoon of life, reclined
-upon the grass, under the shade of a branching, verdant oak, placidly,
-philosophically, philanthropically, and withal meekly chewing the stock
-which I formerly stored.
-
- ----“Lacte alimentum cognoscimus.”
-
-Were it not presumptuous, I would hope that my production might prove
-the pure, unadulterated, untainted “milk of human kindness.”
-
-
-RUMINATION FIRST.
-
-I was recalling to memory, the other day, all the friends and
-acquaintance of my boyhood and youth, that I could recollect; and I
-mustered a goodly list. My mind wandered from their _names_ to their
-hopes and plans; I recalled the schemes and enterprizes, which I knew
-they had meditated. The train once started, visions of bygone days and
-circumstances poured in upon me. Again, I sauntered, arm in arm, with
-a friend, through the moon-lit streets, on a summer’s evening--again,
-I wandered listlessly along the beach--again, I stood upon the summits
-of the hills which surrounded the abode of my youth--again, I heard
-the confiding strain of youthful friendship--I saw the face lit with
-the joy of anticipated triumph--the step, unnaturally firm, proud and
-elastic. Alas! where now were those friends? Some were dead--some
-were in obscurity--many were in mediocrity of life--few, how few,
-had _approached_ the goal of their youthful wishes. And what was the
-cause of all this? Was the fault in the men, or their plans? Upon the
-_plans_ I fixed it; for I could not, and I would not, lay aught to the
-charge of the loved ones of my youth. And where was the fault in the
-plans? Was it not _here_--that the _plans_ were founded on the _hopes_,
-while the _hopes_ should have been founded on the _plans_? _Hope_ is
-the _etherial_--_plan_ the _material_ part of an expectation. A plan,
-founded on a hope, is like a house founded on the sand--it cannot
-endure. As verdant forests and luxuriant vegetation adorn and beautify
-the sides, and white fleecy clouds cap the summits, of a rock-based
-mountain, softening the rugged cliffs, filling up the chasms, smoothing
-the precipices, and concealing the roughness of the path which winds
-up the ascent; so should _Hope_, with its varied hues, tinge and adorn
-the ever-during frame-work reared by _Reason_. So _should_ it be--but,
-is it so? Do not men strive rather to throw a semblance of reason over
-their hopes? Do they not build castles in the air, and then exert all
-their ingenuity to give an appearance of probability, or at least of
-_possibility_, to their baseless fabrics?
-
-O Hope! thou art a blessing, and thou art a _curse_. Thou art an
-intrusive, impudent, officious, treacherous _imp_--thou art a lying
-varlet--a cheating knave--thou hast no conscience--thou wilt gull, over
-and over again, prince and peasant, rich and poor, the unjust judge
-and the oppressed widow. Men kick thee out of doors, and again thou
-comest. Thou art a very Proteus--deny thee entrance in _one_ shape, and
-instantly thou takest another. Sometimes thou servest the devil, and
-sometimes thou doest business on thine own account. Again, I say, hang
-thee for an intermeddling imp!
-
-Men talk of the pleasures of hope! have they never felt the misery
-of hope deferred--the pang of hope crushed? Have they ever estimated
-the amount of misery chargeable to this self-same hope? Who fathers
-Ambition, with all its woes, attendant and consequent? Hope. How many
-dream away their lives in listless vacuity, _hoping_ all the while,
-that _something will turn up_! What injuries has Hope not done to
-youth? Then, when men ought to be training themselves for the stern
-realities of life--when they should prepare their provisions for its
-stormy voyage, Hope whispers that the course is clear--the ocean
-calm--the wind favorable. How many commence enterprizes, which can end
-in nothing but disappointment, and undertake duties, to the performance
-of which their abilities are inadequate, spirited on the while by Hope,
-the traitor, who stimulates his unconscious victims to mount round
-after round of the ladder, until, with a whoop and a laugh, he tears
-the veil from their eyes, and permits them to see and to _feel_ that
-they are high, not on the temple, but on the _pillory_ of Fame! ‘Hope
-sweetens labor’--does he? ‘Thank you, madam, I prefer it without sugar.’
-
-Hold! I revoke--I take back somewhat that I have said. Hope--thou art
-an imp, but still a _playful_ imp--full of mischief, but such a lively,
-laughing, little, curly-headed rogue, with such a comical look in the
-corner of thine eye, that for my life I cannot lose thee. I am inclined
-to say to thee, as one said to his dog--‘Ah! Tray! thou little knowest
-the mischief thou hast done.’
-
- B. V.
-
-
-
-
-A RHYMING MOOD.
-
-
- There’s much of rapture in those favored hours,
- When o’er the mind a magic influence steals,
- That tunes to poetry and song its powers,
- And melts in music all a warm heart feels.
-
- There is a blissfulness that lifts the soul
- Far from the paltry cares and toils of time,
- In venting feelings that defy control,
- In lofty-measured strains or tuneful rhyme.
-
- The summer’s shower that wets the deep-seared earth,
- And decks her burning surface new in green,
- And saves the land from pestilence and dearth,
- Comes not more joyous than the spirit dream,
-
- Steals o’er the poet’s troubled soul, and gives
- The rapture-speaking voice and tone!
- He rises to another sphere--he lives
- For a short season in a world alone!
-
- Alone!--oh no! there Fancy groups her forms
- More lovely far than earth presents to view;
- More beauteous garniture that land adorns--
- The skies assume a deeper, brighter blue.
-
- Manning.
-
-
-
-
-GREEK ANTHOLOGY.--No. IV.
-
-
-Pray, accept a cold dish for a desert--a crab apple, as it were, and a
-glass of water, to wash down previous articles and assist digestion. I
-have purposely excluded all brightnesses; for temperance is the vogue,
-and after so diversified and incongruous a meal, the cracking of a
-joke might be as pernicious to your mind as the cracking of a bottle
-would be deleterious to your body. You may, if you choose, apply to me
-the Latin cant phrase, “ab ovo usque ad mala,” meaning by ‘_mala_,’
-not ‘_apples_,’ but ‘_evils_;’ yet will I meet the thrust with
-calmness--proudly reflecting that I myself suggested the sarcastical
-_equivoque_.
-
-Agathias’ narrative of the little _ruse_, whereby he tore the veil of
-feminine hypocrisy from the heart of his mistress. Let _some_ of my
-condisciples improve upon the hint.
-
- Eager to know my place in Cynthia’s heart,
- I probed her hidden soul with cunning art.
- “To a far land, my Cynthia, while I go,
- Oh, let mine image to thy memory grow!”
- Groaning she sprang in anguish from her chair,
- Beat her fair face and tore her shining hair.
- With tears my stay the suppliant beauty prayed,
- Till, slow, I yielded to the lovely maid.
- Ye gods! how bless’d! since what my heart did crave,
- That, as a favor, to my love I gave.
-
- Minerva once saw Venus all in arms,
- With beamy casque, and wavy plume array’d--
- “Thus dar’st thou meet the trial of our charms,
- My Cyprian rival?” said the awful maid.
- Smiling she spoke, “How, when I take the shield,
- If _weaponless_, my beauty gained the field?”[3]
-
-[3] The contest before Paris, on Mt. Ida.
-
-Many an old man, whose limbs are as heavy as if the gold he had spent
-years to amass, were gliding, molten, through his veins, can join
-bitterly in the following lament, and many a young man, who forsakes
-the heights of Parnassus for the vale of Mammon, may find, too late,
-that the chase for riches is, in an evil sense, its own “exceeding
-great reward.”
-
- When young, I was poor--now I’m old, I am wealthy--
- Thus my life has been all but a goose-chase of pleasure--
- I had not a copper, when buoyant and healthy,
- But, past its enjoyment, I’ve mountains of treasure.
-
-There has been in all ages a prejudice against step-mothers, and the
-feeling, if unjust, is yet natural. When the hearts of children are yet
-sore with sorrow for the loss of their _own_ dear mother, it creates
-dislike to have another, whom as a stranger, they cannot view with
-love, _step_ over their heads, and assume the reins of command. If
-kind, yet the contrast is strange, if not disgusting--the tones may
-be soft, but they are not those which sealed their infant eyes, and
-soothed their infant woes--if overbearing, her tyranny is intolerable.
-
- Thinking her nature with her life was gone,
- No more to household tyranny a slave,
- A youth was crowning once the chiseled stone,
- That rose columnar o’er his step-dame’s grave.
- But as he leaned against its marble base,
- The pillar crushed him, toppling from its place.
- Ye step-sons, who would flee his wretched doom,
- Beware approaching e’en a step-dame’s _tomb_.
-
-Here is a thing or two, appertaining to love and women, and so forth,
-just as such things have been described since Adam first gazed in
-pleased astonishment upon Eve,
-
- “That would be woo’d, and not unsought be won,”
-
- “The amorous bird of night
- Sung spousal, and bid haste the evening star
- On his hill-top to light the bridal lamp.”
-
- A maiden kissed me at the evening hour
- With dewy lip--how honied was the kiss!
- Her mouth breathed nectar, and its balmy power
- Hath made me drunk with love’s bewildering bliss.
-
- I would I were a rose--that thy sweet hand
- Might gently place me on thy snowy breast--
- Or sighing gale--for then my spirit bland
- On thy soft bosom would securely rest.
-
-Here follow a few melancholy breathings of that better part, which
-shone bright and burning while it lasted, though its food was error,
-and its end was death. Their aspirations after immortality were few
-and faint--for the very existence of another world was merely an
-assumption--a matter of speculation. An immortality of fame, to the
-sober eye, was not merely worthless, if acquired, but its acquisition
-was a thing of toil, and danger, and doubt. Robbed of the high
-aims and hopes for which it was made, “the chainless spirit of the
-eternal mind,” would stoop to no medium flight, but sunk in hopeless
-despondence, and like guilty Adam,
-
- “On the cold earth it lay,
- Oft cursing its Creator.”
-
-The light of reason did but make known their darkness, and ignorant of
-the unseen and the future, they clung with deep devotion to the visible
-and the present.
-
- Drink and be glad: for what’s to-morrow’s sun,
- Or what the future? No one knows--not one.
- Haste not, nor toil: but, as thou can’st be kind,
- Give, eat, deem all things mortal in thy mind.
- To live, or not to live--it’s an equal state,
- For life’s a feather in the scales of fate.
- Seize it--’tis thine--but if thou die--then what?--
- Another has thine all--it matters not.
- How came I here? Whence am I, and for what?
- To go again. How know I, knowing nought?
- Nought before birth, I shall be such again,
- For less than nothing are the sons of men.
- But bring me wine--that fountain of relief--
- That sparkling soother of distressing grief.
-
- Oh! swiftly flies the blooming hue,
- That doth the rose adorn,
- And then unto thy searching view,
- The rose is but a thorn.
-
- Gray Time flies swiftly by, and steals the breath
- Of vocal men. Himself unseen the while,
- He shrouds the visible in the dust of death,
- And brings to light the lowly and the vile.
- Oh! thou of life the undetermined end,
- Thy steps do daily unto darkness tend.
-
- Hermeneutes.
-
-
-
-
-TO CORRESPONDENTS.
-
-
-“The Character of the Indian,” though inadmissible, is not without
-merit. In manner it is nearly faultless; in matter, too commonplace to
-be either instructive or entertaining.
-
-“F.” had better send his verses to “R.” in manuscript. She would
-undoubtedly greet them with a hearty welcome.
-
-“P.’s” poetry on Poland, though apparently somewhat in years, is filed
-for insertion. The prolegomena, on account of their too great length,
-are declined.
-
-“Loose Thoughts on Smoking”--much too loose for publication. We find
-no fault with the author’s habit, but think he had better smoke in
-silence.
-
-
-
-
-PROSPECTUS
-OF THE
-YALE LITERARY MAGAZINE.
-
-TO BE CONDUCTED BY THE STUDENTS OF YALE COLLEGE.
-
-
-An _apology_ for establishing a Literary Magazine, in an institution
-like Yale College, can hardly be deemed requisite by an enlightened
-public; yet a statement of the objects which are proposed in this
-Periodical, may not be out of place.
-
-To foster a literary spirit, and to furnish a medium for its exercise;
-to rescue from utter waste the many thoughts and musings of a student’s
-leisure hours; and to afford some opportunity to train ourselves
-for the strife and collision of mind which we must expect in after
-life;--such, and similar motives have urged us to this undertaking.
-
-So long as we confine ourselves to these simple objects, and do not
-forget the modesty becoming our years and station, we confidently
-hope for the approbation and support of all who wish well to this
-institution.
-
- * * * * *
-
-The work will be printed on fine paper and good type. Three numbers to
-be issued every term, each containing about 40 pages, 8vo.
-
-_Conditions_--$2,00 per annum, if paid in advance, or 75 cents at the
-commencement of each term.
-
-Communications may be addressed through the Post Office, “To the
-Editors of the Yale Literary Magazine.”
-
- * * * * *
-
-This No. contains 2½ sheets. Postage, under 100 miles, 3¾ cents;
-over 100 miles, 6¼ cents.
-
-
- Printed by B. L. Hamlen.
-
-
-
-
-Transcriber’s Notes
-
-
-A number of typographical errors were corrected silently.
-
-Cover image is in the public domain.
-
-*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YALE LITERARY MAGAZINE (VOL. I,
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-
-<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Yale Literary Magazine (Vol. I, No. 4, June 1836), by Students of Yale</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>
-This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and
-most other parts of the world 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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you
-are not located in the United States, you will have to check the laws of the
-country where you are located before using this eBook.
-</div>
-
-<p style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Yale Literary Magazine (Vol. I, No. 4, June 1836)</p>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: Students of Yale</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 12, 2021 [eBook #66933]</div>
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-<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div>
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-<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: hekula03, sf2001, and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)</div>
-
-<div style='margin-top:2em; margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YALE LITERARY MAGAZINE (VOL. I, NO. 4, JUNE 1836) ***</div>
-
- <div class="figcenter illowp100" id="i_cover" style="max-width: 20em;">
- <img class="w100" src="images/cover.jpg" alt="Cover" />
- </div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_i">[Pg i]</span></p>
-
-<div class="titlepag" style="max-width: 30em;">
-<h1>
-<small>THE</small><br />
-YALE LITERARY MAGAZINE.
-</h1>
-
-<p class="h1sub">
-<small>CONDUCTED<br />
-<small>BY THE</small></small><br />
-<span class="gesperrt"><b>STUDENTS OF YALE COLLEGE</b>.</span>
-</p>
-
-<div class="figcenter illowp78" id="i_cover-illustration" style="max-width: 18em;">
- <img class="w100" src="images/i_cover-illustration.jpg" alt="" />
- <div class="caption"><p>
- “Dum mens grata manet, nomen laudesque <span class="smcap">Yalenses</span>
- Cantabunt <span class="smcap">Soboles</span>, unanimique <span class="smcap">Patres</span>.”
- </p>
- </div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="r15" />
-<p class="center">NO. IV.</p>
-<hr class="r15" />
-<p class="center">JUNE, 1836.</p>
-<hr class="double" />
-
-<p class="center">
-NEW HAVEN:<br />
-HERRICK &amp; NOYES.
-</p>
-
-<hr class="r5" />
-<p class="center">
-MDCCCXXXVI.
-</p>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_ii">[Pg ii]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="r15" />
-
-<table summary="Table of Contents">
-<tr>
- <td /><td class="pageno"><small>Page.</small></td></tr>
-<tr>
- <td class="title"><a href="#TRUTH">Truth,</a></td><td class="pageno">129</td></tr>
-<tr>
- <td class="title"><a href="#A_FATHER_TO_HIS_CHILDA">A Father to his Child,</a></td>
- <td class="pageno">132</td></tr>
-<tr>
- <td class="title"><a href="#SIR_THOMAS">Sir Thomas More’s Works,</a></td>
- <td class="pageno">133</td></tr>
-<tr>
- <td class="title"><a href="#I_LOVE_THEE">I Love Thee,</a></td>
- <td class="pageno">139</td></tr>
-<tr>
- <td class="title"><a href="#THE_COFFEE_CLUB">The Coffee Club, No. II.</a></td>
- <td class="pageno">140</td></tr>
-<tr>
- <td class="title"><a href="#AMBITION_A_FRAGMENT">Ambition&mdash;A Fragment,</a></td>
- <td class="pageno">150</td></tr>
-<tr>
- <td class="title"><a href="#THE_INFLUENCE_OF_MORAL_FEELING_ON_THE_PLEASURES_OF">The Influence of Moral Feeling on the Pleasures of the Imagination, No. II.</a></td>
- <td class="pageno">151</td></tr>
-<tr>
- <td class="title"><a href="#THE_SEMINOLE">The Seminole,</a></td>
- <td class="pageno">154</td></tr>
-<tr>
- <td class="title"><a href="#THE_OUTLAW_AND_HIS_DAUGHTER">The Outlaw and His Daughter,</a></td>
- <td class="pageno">155</td></tr>
-<tr>
- <td class="title"><a href="#I_WOULD_NOT_FLATTER_THEE">I would not Flatter Thee,</a></td>
- <td class="pageno">161</td></tr>
-<tr>
- <td class="title"><a href="#RUMINATIONS_OF_A_BOVINE_GENTLEMAN">Ruminations of a Bovine Gentleman,</a></td>
- <td class="pageno">163</td></tr>
-<tr>
- <td class="title"><a href="#A_RHYMING_MOOD">A Rhyming Mood,</a></td>
- <td class="pageno">165</td></tr>
-<tr>
- <td class="title"><a href="#GREEK_ANTHOLOGY_No_IV">Greek Anthology, No. IV.</a></td>
- <td class="pageno">166</td></tr>
-</table>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</span></p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2>
-<small>THE</small><br />
-YALE LITERARY MAGAZINE.
-</h2>
-</div>
-
-<table class="table1" summary="Volume Date Edition">
-<colgroup>
-<col style="width: 33%;" />
-<col style="width: 33%;" />
-<col style="width: 33%;" />
-</colgroup>
-<tbody>
-<tr>
-<td class="tdl bt bb"><small>VOL. I.</small></td>
-<td class="tdc bt bb">JUNE, 1836.</td>
-<td class="tdr bt bb"><small>NO. 4.</small></td>
-</tr>
-</tbody>
-</table>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="TRUTH">TRUTH.</h2>
-
-<p>What is truth? “Truth,” says a standard logician, “signifies
-nothing but the joining or separating of signs, as the things signified
-by them do agree or disagree with one another;” that is, in making
-propositions. These are divided into mental and verbal. Truth
-then consists in ideal or verbal sentences, or, in other words, in a certain
-arrangement of ideas and words. This view of the subject may
-answer for a mere definition; but it is not satisfactory. We are disposed
-to make truth consist in <i>things</i>, and not alone in their representatives.
-It is the reality of things; using the term thing as it is,
-the most universal of any in the language, including every object of
-sense or conception, objects past, present, and future, objects terrestrial
-and celestial, objects of all space and all duration, objects possible
-and impossible; in a word, every-thing. There are propositions
-concerning things; we have ideas of things, and things themselves
-exist independently of both. The verbal statement, and the mental
-apprehension, may accord with the reality of the thing, and be true,
-or figuratively speaking, the truth. But can it be strictly said that
-the truth consists in them, and them only?</p>
-
-<p>But this train of remark avails little in resolving the momentously
-practical question, What is truth? To give this a reply worthy of
-itself, would lead us beyond our present design, and each reader
-must be left to judge for himself.</p>
-
-<p>“Truth is consistent with itself.” This is a common saying, and
-regarded as axiomatic in its nature. It is not intended for the identical
-proposition, Truth is truth; but that whatever is truth in one
-subject, can in no way be rendered nugatory or false, by what is
-truth in any other subject; and that one truth in the same subject is
-not weakened or diminished by any other truth in the same subject.
-Truth, as before intimated, may be considered in a three-fold aspect;
-in itself; in regard to the verbal propositions embracing it; in respect
-to our own conceptions of it.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</span></p>
-
-<p>In itself, in its own nature, it may be consistent with itself. But
-of the many truths with which our acquaintance is imperfect, we
-cannot judge whether they agree, or disagree, among themselves.
-In regard to some others, of which we are better assured, it is difficult
-to say that there is no contradiction.</p>
-
-<p>In propositions there is certainly great discrepancy; owing partly
-to the barrenness of language, and to the ambiguity of terms; also
-to the different impressions which different authors of the statement
-may possess, and which the same man may have at different times.
-The propositions may be too brief, or too ample; in many ways
-they are made to disagree one with another, and as they are the
-representatives of truth, for all practical purposes truth itself is often
-found inconsistent with itself.</p>
-
-<p>We find our own conceptions of truth exceedingly contradictory;
-which is attributable to the limited nature of our faculties, and narrow
-extent of our observations. It is only the <i>ends</i> of truths that we see.
-Their remote extension, and multiplied relations, we cannot ascertain.
-There <i>appears</i> to be much disagreement. In theology the
-doctrines of decrees and free agency are both true, but who can reconcile
-them? This apparent inconsistency of truth is the origin
-of scepticism, and is the occasion of many unhappy dissensions
-among men.</p>
-
-<p>“Great is truth, and it will prevail.” The harmlessness of this
-declaration has permitted it to pass unmolested. It certainly is a
-pleasing prediction, and in the prospect which it unfolds, has inspired
-many a languid heart with fresh vigor in the cause of truth.
-From the implicit reliance which most men place in its verity, and
-from the wish of all for its fulfillment, is manifested the confidence
-which each reposes in his own integrity, and also a secret admiration
-of truth in the minds of all. But the sentiment is perhaps more
-flattering to the nobleness of our nature, than accordant with our
-constant experience. That some truths will prevail, is certain.
-But in respect to others&mdash;for instance, the thousand and one litigated
-points in history, how shall the truth ever be ascertained. If the
-facts were noted at the time of their occurrence, prejudice operated
-to distort them. If not till years had elapsed, it was the effect of
-remoteness to obliterate, or obscure them. Years and centuries are
-bearing us still farther from the period of their transpiring, and how
-is it possible, that, without a revelation from heaven, the truth shall
-ever be disclosed?</p>
-
-<p>In metaphysics are many points equally indeterminable. Here a
-man’s own mind is the field of observation, in every part of which
-the most rigid, extensive, and patient scrutiny, and the most careful
-comparison have been made by the most profound thinkers, and with
-the best lights; but up to this time there are many points unillustrated,
-undecided. Will they ever be made more plain? Who does
-not feel that there are doubtful points in himself that he will never
-understand, at least this side of the grave?</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</span></p>
-
-<p>In the sciences, which suffer less from prejudice than most subjects
-of investigation, the want of facts will prevent the discovery of
-truth on many points; while, faster than old questions are settled,
-new subjects of discussion are advanced.</p>
-
-<p>With respect to the active duties of life, temperament will continue
-to influence our views of truth, as it always has done.</p>
-
-<p>Prejudice, which is the great barrier to the entrance of truth into
-the mind, must, while man exists under his present mental and
-moral constitution, retain the influence it now exerts.</p>
-
-<p>There are many truths of which the highest order of human intellect
-can only catch a fleeting glimpse, and the amount of knowledge
-is graduated downwards, corresponding with the ability to
-grasp it. Many points lie equally balanced between truth and
-falsehood.</p>
-
-<p>We do not then seem to be sufficiently warranted in the opinion
-that truth, i. e. all truth, will prevail.</p>
-
-<p>“Men are more willing to embrace error than truth.” No one
-will admit this imputation in his own case; but by an easy generalization,
-each one applies it to all other men.</p>
-
-<p>It may be doubted whether a love of truth or of error, for <i>their
-own sake</i>, is a primary principle of our moral nature. A love of
-one’s own happiness, or interest, or reputation, in a word, of one’s
-self, is primary. Truth and error are regarded with complaisance
-or aversion, accordingly as they oppose or favor the interests of men.
-If there were but one being in the universe, it would be of little moment
-whether he passed his existence in truth or falsehood. In society,
-he, whose basis is falsehood, is derided by his fellows, and
-his interests are endangered. As truth, on the whole, is most conducive
-to the interests of men, it is most generally sought after.
-Few are willing to oppose a fashionable error. There are portions
-of every man’s whole life, which he passes in error, without being
-in the least concerned. Many minds are so preoccupied, that they
-<i>cannot</i> examine the evidence requisite for the admission of a new
-truth. More are so prejudiced that they will not. With many men
-a fear of results is stronger than love of truth, and they are induced
-by a prospect of consequences, to abandon the pursuit. An entire
-devotion to truth itself, to truth for its own sake, is a rare sight, and
-one of high moral sublimity.</p>
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_FATHER_TO_HIS_CHILDA">
- A FATHER TO HIS CHILD.<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></h2>
-</div>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">I cannot say, I cannot say, my beautiful and wild,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">I’ve ever seen so fair a one as thou my pretty child&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">A form so full of elegance, a cheek where roses blow,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And a forehead where the glossy curls seem braided over snow&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">A lip whence sounds of music gush, that might with ease unsphere</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Some spirit from its airy halls and witch that spirit here.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">When first thy mother gave thee me, my beautiful and wild,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And others sought to gaze upon and bless the pretty child,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And thy soft lip to mine was press’d, and thy soft hand I felt,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And felt all of a father’s heart within my bosom melt;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">I know I heaved a sigh, for there was sadness in my joy&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Thou wert so very beautiful, my smiling little boy.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Where’er thou go’st, there seems to go a gladness, and a life,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Which all unfitted is for this dark world of sin and strife;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Thou dost remind me of the flowers that are when Spring comes on,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Thou dost remind me of the light when comes and goes the sun;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Of brooks, and falling waters, when they with the pebbles toy&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Of all that’s gay and beautiful, my smiling little boy.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">I mingle with the busied world, and when I find it vain,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">I turn me to my happy hearth and little boy again;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">I love to have him shout to me, I love his airy call,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">I love to hear his little step go patting through the hall;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">I love to take him on my knee and fold him into rest,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">As doth the parent bird the dove she shelters with her breast.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Thy kind complaints, thy boyish talk, thy merriment, my boy,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Crush all that’s base within my heart, and smooth the day’s annoy;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Where’er I go, if ills assail, and passion plays her part,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And dark Ambition spreads her gauds before my eye and heart,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And I one moment list the voice that proffers me the crown&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">I think me of thy looks my boy, and bid the tempter down.</div>
- <p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</span></p> </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Yet there will sometimes come to me a thought of sadness given,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">As the dark cloud streams athwart the flush that tints the sky of even,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">When I look at thee, and think of thee, in all thine artlessness,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And think how flowery is the path which thy young foot doth press&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">For I know that eye which sparkles now may suddenly be wet,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And the earth which looks so lovely too may be a desert yet.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Ah! yes, I tremble for my boy with fears he cannot know,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Lest he take the path which I have ta’en, and find it leads to wo;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">I tremble lest the Circean cup may yet be given him,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">With roses decked and myrtles crown’d and sparkling to the brim;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">For O! his foot hath not yet tried the path which mine hath trod,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Nor hath his young heart framed a wish he might not give to God.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">And yet I will not think it&mdash;no! it will not, cannot be,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">That fate shall ever fling its shroud of blackness over thee;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Thou art too like thy mother, child,&mdash;she would not harm this breast&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And all thy days have been too like the holy and the bless’d;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Thou can’st not other be to me than this, my cradle joy&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Thou wilt not grieve thy father’s heart, my smiling little boy.</div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="label">[1]</a> A friend of mine thinks he has seen a poem somewhere not altogether unlike this. Whether
-such a poem there is I know not, nor have I, after hunting over pamphlets and periodicals,
-been able to find one. If the reader shall be more successful, he will please give the writer of
-any similar production as much praise as he chooses, and subduct the same from me. An author
-<i>ought</i> to know if he is guilty of plagiarism; and though I may err, it is my opinion, that among
-the many who have written upon this subject, though I may not boast of as much beauty, I may
-at least have been as far from stealing as the best of the rhyming tribe. These are indeed days
-of barter&mdash;still I would live on my own capital.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<h2 id="SIR_THOMAS">SIR THOMAS MORE’S WORKS.</h2>
-
-<p class="h2sub"><i>Lib. Old Eng. Prose Writers&mdash;Vol. 9.&mdash;Boston, 1834.</i></p>
-
-<p>Self-sufficiency, under one form or another, is the predominant
-vice of the present age. A disposition to neglect the gathered
-wisdom of former times, and to deny all reverence to customs and
-institutions from which our fathers deemed it inseparable, and to go
-forward rejoicing in <i>our own</i> strength, is becoming more and more
-apparent. And whether we regard this sentiment as the fool-hardiness
-resulting from ignorance, and as ‘the pride which goeth before
-a fall,’ or, which we are more inclined to do, as the exultation of
-conscious might, and the prelude of more glorious achievements&mdash;still
-it is a vice, and requires the most vigorous exertions to check its
-further progress. These remarks are most obviously applicable to
-political matters, but they are not without meaning in reference to
-<i>literature</i>. Even in this department of knowledge, there has become
-manifest a proneness to circumscribe curiosity and inquiry
-within the narrow circle of cotemporary writers, to extol our popular
-authors, as the only ones deserving our attention, and as incontestably
-superior to all who have gone before them. It is difficult
-to determine whether this feeling is more unjust to those great lights
-of learning, who laid the <i>foundations</i> of our literature, by defrauding
-them of their merited homage, or more unfortunate for ourselves, by
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</span>
-depriving us of their illumination. Nor is it less <i>absurd</i>, than it is
-unjust and unfortunate. For if we are indeed at the culminating
-point, whence beams of light and beauty shall fall on succeeding
-ages, the closest investigation can but confirm the truth; but if we
-are <i>not</i>, by timely consideration we may be saved from the error of
-those ancient astronomers, who assumed this little earth to be the
-center of the universe, and <i>therefore</i>, at each supposed advance,
-plunged deeper in error and perplexity. And those, who, in utter
-ignorance of our older writers, are ever asserting the preeminence of
-Byron and Bulwer and Irving, should be careful, lest, with those
-who have traveled further in the world of letters, they may incur
-the charge of weakness, no less ridiculous than that of the vain Chinese,
-who imagine <i>their</i> land, the only radiant point in a world of
-darkness.</p>
-
-<p>Nor would the results of a candid and thorough examination of
-the early English writers, be really prejudicial to the reputation of
-cotemporary works; for though we might return from our researches
-with a less extravagant complacency in the productions of living
-authors, it would be more strongly established. We should meet
-with opposite merits and opposite faults. If our current literature
-is more frivolous, theirs is more prolix; if their thoughts are more
-sound, and their style more simple, our reasoning is more pointed,
-and our expression more sparkling&mdash;if we are more disgusted here
-with spurious originality, we are oftener wearied there with staid
-monotony.</p>
-
-<p>We have been led into these reflections, by the perusal of several
-volumes of ‘the Library of Old English Prose Writers.’ Among
-the many series, which have of late appeared in England and this
-country, under the specious name of ‘Libraries,’ there is none so
-truly deserving as this, of the approbation and support of the educated
-and intellectual portion of the community&mdash;and to them, from
-its peculiar character, it must be almost entirely confined. Other
-publications, appealing to the interests or the love of novelty and
-excitement of the ‘reading public,’ meet with a ready support. But
-this series, whose design and tendency is to correct this corrupt taste,
-and chasten this morbid partiality to the matter-of-fact, or the
-romantic, cannot expect a promiscuous patronage. It is emphatically
-the <i>literature of literary men</i>, and all such, if they have any
-sympathy with ‘sober thought, in simple language dressed,’ nay, to
-appeal to selfish motives only, if they have any regard for the improvement
-of their taste, the strengthening of their own minds, or
-the purifying of their own style, will not fail to search out and drink
-deeply of these ‘healthful wells of English undefiled.’ We would
-gladly ramble through the several works of which the ‘Library’ is
-composed, but time does not permit, and we hasten to the consideration
-of the last of their number, with the simple remark that the plan
-of the undertaking is so praiseworthy, and the manner of its execution
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</span>
-thus far has evinced so correct a judgment, and refined a taste,
-that we cannot but regret that any circumstances should for a moment
-delay its progress.</p>
-
-<p>The fame of Sir Thomas More’s Utopia must be familiar to every
-ear. Its authority as a classic is so high, quotations from it are so
-numerous, and allusions to it among literary, political and metaphysical
-writers, are so frequent and eulogistic, that no one who has
-passed beyond the first lispings of polite learning, can be presumed
-ignorant of its general character. But a much smaller number, probably,
-are acquainted with it from actual examination and study.
-Before the appearance of this edition it had long been out of print in
-this country, or excluded from general circulation by being buried
-in an expensive and cumbrous volume, among the ponderous controversial
-writings of its author; and in rescuing it from its unfortunate
-companionship, the editor has conferred no slight gratification
-upon the lovers of serious thought and quaint style. A clear view
-of the design and plan of the work, cannot better be obtained, than
-by a brief analysis of its contents.</p>
-
-<p>The author, for the convenience of setting forth his ideal of a
-perfect commonwealth, in a plainer and bolder manner than the
-jealousy of the government and the church would allow, feigns the
-existence of an island, Utopia, in a remote quarter of the globe, unknown
-to the people of Europe, and recently discovered by the celebrated
-navigator, Vespucci. Raphael Hylleloday, a philosopher,
-who accompanied Vespucci in his voyages, through curiosity, to examine
-the condition of the new-found nations, having become intimately
-versed in the history and manners of the Utopians, conveys a
-lengthened and minute account of the same to his friend More, at
-that time employed in the ‘king’s embassat’ in Flanders.</p>
-
-<p>Upon this hypothesis, the philosophical romance is founded; and
-under the form of historical narrative, the author unfolds his views of
-the manners, customs, pursuits, government and religion, which
-would obtain among a perfectly happy people. He condemns with
-severity, and ridicules with sharpness, the policy, both temporal and
-spiritual, which was pursued by the governments of Europe, and the
-whole system of social relations, which prevailed among the people.
-He exposes with equal fearlessness, the folly and wickedness of royal
-tyranny, prelatical intolerance, and private avarice. He pictures in
-earnest simplicity, the advantages of equality of rank, temperance in
-living, freedom of opinion, and general education; and much more
-than anticipates in theory, all the advances which have actually
-been made, in more than three centuries. In order to feel the full
-admiration, which the perusal of the ‘Utopia’ should legitimately
-excite, the reader must constantly bear in mind, the period at which
-the author wrote. Many positions, which to us appear obvious and
-common place,&mdash;because we have been familiar with them, as undoubted
-truisms, from our childhood&mdash;evinced in our author surpassing
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</span>
-vigor of thought, and boldness of purpose, joined with a sagacity
-almost prophetic. The extent to which he pushed his liberality in
-religion, in an age distinguished for its bloody bigotry, may be learned
-from the following extract. (p. 159.)</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>“For this is one of their most ancient laws, that no man ought to be punished
-for his religion. At the first constitution of their government, Utopas having understood,
-that before his coming among them, the old inhabitants had been engaged
-in great quarrels concerning religion, by which they were so divided among
-themselves, that he found it an easy thing to conquer them, since instead of uniting
-their forces against him, every different party in religion fought by themselves;
-after he had subdued them, he made a law that every man might be of what religion
-he pleased, and might endeavor to draw others to it by the force of argument,
-and by amicable and modest ways, but without bitterness against those of other
-opinions; but that he ought to use no other force but that of persuasion, and was
-neither to mix with it reproaches nor violence; and such as did otherwise were to
-be condemned to banishment or slavery.”</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>To affirm that all the maxims and institutions in this fictitious system
-of politics are unexceptionable, and would be desirable if <i>realized</i>,
-would be foolish eulogium&mdash;indeed, in some very important
-features, (we would refer particularly to the chapters on ‘the Manner
-of Living,’ on ‘Slavery,’ and on ‘Marriages,’) the progress of political
-science and moral philosophy, has shown that there is much
-that is erroneous and defective. The grand error is, and it is a very
-common one among theorists, in allowing to corrupt human nature a
-higher degree of moral perfection, than it has ever yet vindicated its
-claims to, and, resting upon this unsubstantial basis, must fall to the
-ground. The candid reader, however, cannot fail to admire the
-acuteness and honesty of the reasoning, and to wonder at the nobleness
-of the sentiments upon the great subjects of civil and religious
-freedom, when he reflects that the author was a courtier under the
-despotic Henry VIII, and was a tenacious Romanist, amid the fierce
-struggles of the Reformation. He will also be highly pleased with
-the simplicity of language in which the profoundest truths are conveyed,
-and will often be provoked to a smile, as he detects, under
-the modest guise of our author’s graceful style, many a thought, which
-with pompous epithet, and startling antithesis, has been brought
-forth as the offspring of the ‘wonderful advance of mind in the
-XIXth century.’ And if he should be ready to point at some passages
-as absurd, and at others as childishly simple, let him remember,
-that according to competent critics, the prince of ancient philosophers,
-Plato, is not free from similar crudities. The most valuable
-portions of the work, are those which are employed in the discussion
-of permanent moral and political principles, though the most curious
-and amusing, are the descriptions of the island, and of the domestic
-and civil habits of its citizens. There are, here and there, some
-positions of even ludicrous extravagance, which the author, it would
-seem, intended to serve him as a refuge from the charge of heresy,
-by giving his book the aspect of an idle and humorous fiction.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</span></p>
-
-<p>The latter half of the volume is occupied with the ‘History of
-King Richard III’&mdash;and though it does not possess the intrinsic value
-of the Utopia, it acquires even a higher interest from the circumstance
-of its being the <i>earliest specimen</i> of English prose, intelligible
-to readers of the present day.<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> It is also deserving of great attention,
-as the original chronicle of that troublous and tragical reign,
-written while several of the actors in its scenes are yet living. It is
-in this light, as the ‘Father of English Prose,’ that the character of
-Sir Thomas More appears most interesting. He was the first to
-break loose from the prevailing custom, which confined all learning
-and philosophy and history, to the constrained medium of a dead
-language, and commenced those efforts in the living English, which
-have resulted in giving us a vernacular prose literature, unequalled
-by that of any other language in the world. He was fortunate too
-in living just at that period, when the language had acquired sufficient
-elegance and copiousness, to render it in a great measure permanent.
-The tasteful reader will be tempted to wish that our native
-Saxon had been suffered to retain its pristine vigor, unencumbered
-with such ponderous accumulations, as it has since received,
-though it had remained less magnificent in its periods, and less fertile
-in synonymes.</p>
-
-<p>The principal points worthy of notice in this venerable composition,
-are, the honest straight-forward course of the narrative, the discrimination
-in the portraiture of character, and in tracing outward
-actions to their secret causes, and the nature and individuality shown
-in the speeches, which, in imitation of the manner of Livy and Sallust,
-he puts in the mouths of his personages. We were much
-struck with the <i>perfect</i> coincidence with this authentic chronicle,
-maintained in Shakspeare’s drama of Richard III. It is exceedingly
-thorough and minute, and affords gratifying evidence that the
-efforts of the imagination may with success be made subservient to
-impressing and illustrating historical truth. As an instance of this
-resemblance, as well as for the purpose of exhibiting our author’s
-<i>original</i> style, we quote as follows. (p. 302-304.)</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>“And thus, as I have learned of them that much knew and little cause had to lie,
-were these two noble princes, these innocent, tender children, born of most royal
-blood, brought up in great wealth, likely long to live to reign and rule in the realm,
-by traitorous tyranny taken, deprived of their estate, shortly shut up in prison, and
-privily slain and murthered, their bodies cast, God wot where, by the cruel ambition
-of their unnatural uncle and his dispiteous tormentors. Which things on every
-part well pondered, God never gave this world a more notable example, neither
-in what unsurety standeth this worldly weal, or what mischief worketh the
-proud enterprise of a high heart, or finally what wretched end ensueth such dispiteous
-cruelty. For first, to begin with the ministers, Miles Forrest at Saint Martin’s
-piecemeal rotted away. Dighton indeed yet walketh on alive, in good possibility
-to be hanged ere he die. But Sir James Tyrrel died at Tower hill, beheaded
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</span>
-for treason. King Richard himself, as ye shall hereafter hear, slain in the field,
-hacked and hewed of his enemies’ hands, harried on horseback dead, his hair in despite
-torn and togged like a cur dog. And the mischief that he took, within less
-than three years of the mischief that he did. And yet all the mean time, spent in
-much pain and trouble outward, much fear, anguish and sorrow within. For I
-have heard by credible report of such as were secret with his chamberers, that after
-this abominable deed done, he never had quiet in his mind, he never thought
-himself sure. Where he went abroad, his eyen whirled about, his body privily
-fenced, his hand ever on his dagger, his countenance and manner like one always
-ready to strike again; he took ill rest a nights, lay long waking and musing, sore
-wearied with care and watch, rather slumbered than slept, troubled with fearful
-dreams, suddenly sometime start up, leap out of his bed and run about the chamber;
-so was his restless heart continually tossed and tumbled with the tedious impression
-and stormy remembrance of his abominable deed.”</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>The character of Sir Thomas More is one of the noblest that the
-whole circle of history can present, and his whole career was as glorious,
-in the highest sense of that term, as the loftiest aspirations
-could desire. His fame rests not on the adventitious distinctions of
-rank or political authority, or on the short lived eminence, conferred
-by popular idolatry; for, though he was placed high in office, though
-he was courted by his sovereign, beloved by his equals, and worshiped
-by his inferiors&mdash;the native power of his intellect, and loftiness
-of his spirit, shed the proudest luster upon his name. We have
-already had occasion to notice some points of his greatness, in the
-review of his works. In his Utopia we found him a subtle reasoner,
-and bold asserter of the rights of man; and in his history, we met
-with an honest annalist, and skillful pioneer in the untraced paths of
-English literature. In many other respects he was no less gifted by nature,
-and favored by fortune. He was the first <i>lay</i> chancellor of
-England, that high station, before his accession, having been entirely
-monopolized by churchmen. He is the <i>first</i> person in English history
-distinguished for senatorial eloquence, and the earliest champion
-of parliamentary liberty. He was the first, as speaker of the House
-of Commons, to teach that body the use of that power, which, as
-keeper of the purse of the nation, it possessed, and which, in later
-times, it has exerted with so overwhelming an influence on the destinies
-of the nation. In a word, he was the <i>first</i> of British ministers,
-who deserved, in all its breadth, the title of a <i>statesman</i>. His
-personal character was no less lovely, than his public career was
-commanding. The sweetness of his disposition, the mirthfulness of
-his temper, his reluctance to engage in the stormy contentions of
-political ambition, the depth of his learning, and the order of his
-piety, are alike conspicuous&mdash;and the manner of his death has associated
-his fame with that of the martyrs to tyranny ‘for conscience
-sake.’</p>
-
-<p class="right">W.</p>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="label">[2]</a> Utopia was written in Latin. The current translation was made by Bishop
-Burnet.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="I_LOVE_THEE">I LOVE THEE.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">’Tis sweet, when first the infant’s voice</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Lisps to the parent of his joys,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Words like no other;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And says,&mdash;as a bright, radiant smile</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Lights up his countenance the while&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">“I love thee, mother.”</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">’Tis sweet, to watch that mother’s eye</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Beam, like a star in yonder sky,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Radiant, though mild;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">To hear her speak the glad reply,&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Her joyous bosom heaving high&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">“I love thee, child.”</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">’Tis pleasant, when at midnight hour</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Beneath some fragrant myrtle bower</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">With flow’rs inwove,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">The happy swain, with trembling tone</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Reveals his heart to <i>her</i> alone&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">“’Tis <i>thee</i> I love:”</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">And then, to mark the rising sigh,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">The blushing cheek, the laughing eye,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">In <i>turn</i> appear;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">The swelling breast, the <i>throbbing</i> there,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">The playful struggle&mdash;<i>all</i> declare,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">“I love thee, dear.”</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">
-
-<hr class="tb" /></div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">’Tis sweet, when man doth contrite bow</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Before his God, his spirit low,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">And seek His favor.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">With deep submission as he kneels,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">He speaks the joy his bosom feels,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">“I love thee, Savior.”</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">But sweeter far, when <i>God</i> hath said,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">“The offering which <i>I</i> have made,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Thine heart hath won.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Through <i>Him</i> will I now hear thy cries,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Through that ‘<i>atoning sacrifice</i>,’</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">‘I love thee, <i>son</i>.’”</div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</span></p>
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_COFFEE_CLUB">THE COFFEE CLUB.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="h2sub">No. II.</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>“I wish you saw me half starting out of my chair, with what confidence, as I
-grasp the elbow of it, I look up, catching the idea, even sometimes before it half-way
-reaches me.</p>
-
-<p>&mdash;&mdash;I believe in my conscience I intercept many a thought, which Heaven intended
-for another man.”&mdash;<i>Tristram Shandy.</i></p>
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="smcap">Reader</span>;</p>
-
-<p>Lest, from the fact that we have hitherto drawn our mottos
-from “The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy,” the suspicion
-may be festering in your brain that poor Nescio Quod has confined
-his reading among the older English writers to this single work, it
-may not be amiss to adduce such evidence, as shall set at rest so
-unjust and injurious a surmise.</p>
-
-<p>For instance&mdash;had he wished to be sarcastical upon himself, and
-thus, by a common artifice, predispose his critics to clemency, he
-might, in reference to the multitudinous array of <i>shadowy</i> jests&mdash;flitting
-around the brightness of the reader’s fancy, like moths
-around a candle, to their own destruction&mdash;have cited this keen retort
-of Fuller&mdash;“It is good to make a jest, but not to make a trade
-of jesting.”</p>
-
-<p>Or, in allusion to the somewhat pedantic display of information,
-varied, but worthless, he might have adopted from the same author
-a complaint at the frivolous attainments of the idle and riotous student&mdash;“Yet,
-<i>perchance</i>, he may get some <i>alms</i> of learning, here a
-snap, there a piece of knowledge, but nothing to purpose.”</p>
-
-<p>Or, in a mood of preeminent self-complacency, he might have imagined
-that the reader’s feelings towards him, maugre his faults and
-his prolixity, might be fitly expressed in the language of the Spectator
-(after Martial.)</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">“In all thy humors, whether grave or mellow,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Thou’rt such a touchy, testy, pleasant fellow,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Hast so much wit, and mirth, and spleen about thee,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">There is no living with thee, nor without thee.”</div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Or, in defense of his desultory style&mdash;half-way between the frisking
-pirouettes of Harlequin, and the staid pace of the moraliser, he
-might have borrowed a circumlocutory sentence from the bungling
-Locke&mdash;“I would have him try whether he can keep one unvaried,
-single idea in his mind without any other, for any considerable
-length of time.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</span></p>
-
-<p>Or, having in his mind the stolidity of those, who condescended
-gravely to condemn so trifling a <i>jeu d’esprit</i>, he might have taken to
-his aid a sarcasm from Smollett&mdash;“Some formidable critics declared
-that the work was void of humor, character, and sentiment.”</p>
-
-<p>Or, revolving in his thoughts the mystery attending the appearance
-of the first number, and the pining curiosity excited to unveil
-its paternity, with flattered pride, he might have quoted a splendid
-sentence from Count Fathom&mdash;“Over and above this important secret,
-under which he was begotten, other particularities attended his
-birth, and seemed to mark him out as uncommon among the sons of
-men.”&mdash;These “<i>ancient</i> instances” will suffice, my reader, if you
-are in a yielding mood, to convince you that, if Tristram is called
-upon somewhat often, it is less a matter of necessity, than of choice.
-I am doubting whether it would not be a most Machiavelian stroke
-of diplomatic wisdom, to persuade you that I perceive all my failings.
-Surely your admiration at my frankness would outweigh your
-anger at the repetition of my sins. I am sometimes affected, and,
-now and then, I perpetrate a <i>verbicide</i>. I like to make new words&mdash;I
-feel for them the affection of a father. I am slightly tinctured
-with the sin mentioned by Boileau. (L’Art Poetique. Chant Troisieme.)</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">“Souvent, sans y penser, un écrivain qui s’aime,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Forme tous ses héros semblables à soi-meme.”</div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Which lines the <i>Il</i>-literati are to know mean, “A self-complacent
-writer often inadvertently draws his heroes like himself.” Thus I,
-forgetting the precise terms of the <i>conversators</i>, (there <i>ought</i> to be
-such a word,) make them parley in a brogue very like my own. I
-am, moreover, somewhat vain, though less so than Ovid, or Horace,
-(Vide Metam. lib. 15. in fine. and Hor. 2.20 3.30.) or than that
-Etrurian Spurinna, whom Valerius Maximus cites as an instance of
-modesty, though he was rather an example of uncommon self-inflation;
-since he thought himself so <i>killing</i>, that he disfigured his
-face, lest he should unwittingly seduce his fair country-women!</p>
-
-<p>I would that I could affirm with Falstaff in the play, “I am not
-only witty in myself, but I am likewise the cause that wit is in other
-men.” But the protasis will, I fear, be doubted by the judicious, and
-my own observation tells me that the apodosis is false. I am naturally
-neither contemptuous nor malicious, but when I look around
-me, and behold so many with but two ideas, “one for superfluity
-and one for use,” and reflect that I may myself rank among that
-soulless number, I become almost a misanthrope, and quite a scorner.
-“Les diseurs des bons mots,” says Pascal, “sont mauvais
-caractères.” “The perpetrators of witticisms are bad men.” Yet
-the same author observes, that silence is the severest punishment,
-and, since novelty is all that can gain one notoriety at the present
-day, I know not why I should not attempt to be new, at least, if not<span class="pagenum" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</span>
-witty. I sometimes think I would rather give utterance to a brilliant
-error than a stupid truth, and, like Tully, espouse falsehood
-with a Plato, rather than be right with the rabble. “Had the nose
-of Cleopatra been shorter,” remarks an eminent writer, “the face of
-the world had been altered.” (<i>Her</i> face would have been, at any
-rate.) Had I, too, been born at an earlier era, before the fingers of
-a million had compressed every square inch of this vast globe’s surface,
-till it is as dry and hopeless as the peel of an eviscerated orange,
-I, too, might have been at once original and wise. But all
-truths have of late become <i>truisms</i>, and to reiterate them would be
-like praising Shakspeare. Sufficient be it for me, (you will find
-the thought somewhere in Irving,) if, like a skillful physician, who
-gives you a pill enveloped in some palate-tickling sauce, I now and
-then, under the guise of folly, pop down your throat a sound moral,
-or a wholesome truth. My writings, if less grave in appearance,
-will be more healthful in effect than Bellamy’s learned computation
-of the earth’s inhabitants during the millennium, (whom he makes
-so numerous that they would be compelled to lie in <i>strata</i>,) or the
-labored inquiry of the ingenious Spaniard, whether it be more certain
-that a <i>cause</i> will produce an <i>effect</i>, or that an <i>effect</i> must spring
-from a <i>cause</i>. Pardon these patch-work prolegomena&mdash;remembering
-that it is my fashion to place my thoughts in <i>Mosaic</i>&mdash;and pass
-on to my compeers of the club.</p>
-
-<p><i>Apple.</i> “Well, Pulito, time flies, or,” (looking learnedly,) “<i>tempus
-fugit</i>, as the Latins would say. If Quod and you are coming to
-the point, I’ll e’en light my cigar, and listen with elongated and <i>patent</i>
-ears.” (Here, after a series of wicked bantering, Apple was
-forced to explain that <i>patent</i> meant <i>open</i>&mdash;he then continued pettishly,)
-“I really thought you could see through a joke sooner&mdash;but if
-you are not about to discuss, I’ll read to Tristo a few chapters of
-my Psychological Autobiography, in which I have shown by induction
-that <i>punning</i> may become a second nature, and that in numerous
-consecutive instances&mdash;”</p>
-
-<p><i>Tristo.</i> “Enough, good Apple; I perceive the plan of your
-work, and doubt not that it is profoundly amusing, and amusingly
-profound. But why wish to read it to me, rather than to Nescio,
-or Pulito?”</p>
-
-<p><i>Apple.</i> “Because you are melancholy, and something light and
-trifling might&mdash;”</p>
-
-<p><i>Tristo.</i> “No, Apple, no! When I am sad, which is but too often,
-I find no relief from the ludicrous, or the gay. I should sooner
-look for an antidote to melancholy in the deep thought and earnest
-style of Coleridge, than in the levities of Swift, or the whimsicalities
-of Sterne. And an evening walk in the solemn starlight would
-quicker soothe me than a merry ramble among the green hills in the
-brightness of the morning. When the soul wanders through its airy
-chambers in solitary sadness, let it not flee for refuge to the comic<span class="pagenum" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</span>
-page, to laughter, or the song. Let it dwell upon scenes and objects,
-more wretched than itself, till the sigh of sorrow burst into the
-tear of pity. The descriptions of Crabbe, so gloomy, so powerful,
-and so true, bear me away from sadness to solemnity, and the deep
-conceptions of Foster lift me from solemnity to a high and tender
-elevation.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Apple.</i> “Fool as I am, these bright spring mornings always
-make even me serious.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Tristo.</i> “Fools as we <i>all</i> are, there are times when the cup of
-pleasure is as nauseous to the soul, as is wine to the sated palate of
-the morning reveler. Why is it, Apple, why is it that the first gay
-breath of spring is so saddening in its influence? Nature seems
-then to burst from her winter’s sleep, like a resurrection from the
-grave. The jocund earth puts on her brightest robes, as if soon to
-celebrate her nuptials with heaven. The pulse of existence beats
-high with new-born vigor, and the warm, bright blood runs riot
-through the renovated veins. Alike in the open fields, and the
-crowded city, throughout the glorious works of God, and the petty
-creations of man, there is a newness of life, which, it would seem,
-<i>must</i> fill every heart with bounding ecstacy. And so it may be, for
-aught I know, with the busy and the riotous. But with the idle and
-the thoughtful, the approach of spring produces, I am persuaded, far
-different effects.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Apple.</i> “Physicians would tell us that the balmy breeze bears on
-its wings a subtle, penetrating fluid, which dampens the spirits and
-enfeebles the energies.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Tristo.</i> “No. While I allow that these early gales of spring,
-which breathe life and vigor into all the rest of animated nature, unbrace
-<i>our</i> nerves, and through those media of sensation, lower the
-tone, and lessen the elasticity of the feelings, yet, for the main cause
-would I look deeper&mdash;even in the mind. There are certain periods,
-as we all know, when we are <i>forced to reflect</i>. Such periods
-are, every serious change in the world without&mdash;the recurrence of a
-birth-day, or the revisiting of home; and sometimes the sight of a
-long-neglected volume, through whose pages I have strayed in pleasant
-intercourse with an absent, or a buried friend, has brought paleness
-to my lip, and sadness to my heart. And such an occasion,
-preeminently, are the early days of spring; for spring (as the Germans
-say) is the cradle-time of the year.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Apple.</i> “The calendar, though, says otherwise. But go on.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Tristo.</i> “Then are we summoned to look forward to <i>another</i>
-year, with hopes less wild and free than they were at the commencement
-of the last; and we look backward, also, with a longer
-and a sadder retrospect: and you know, Apple, that the memory of
-a student is but a shadowy maze, where the forms, which, in <i>prospect</i>,
-were gilded with glory, and girded with magnificence, to his
-<i>backward</i> gaze, seem airy nothings, or shapes, palpable, indeed, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</span>
-unsightly&mdash;fiends, mocking at the vanity of his hopes, and the folly
-of his grief. And thus the bland breath of the reviving year becomes,
-through the mysterious principle of association, an instrument
-of keenest anguish to the sensitive mind. This annual birth
-of nature is a mile-stone, that notches our progress from the cradle
-to the grave: the figures are surrounded by bloom and greenness,
-but they are graven by the finger of Death.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Apple.</i> “I think such brilliant days make us feel <i>too</i> well.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Tristo.</i> “They do. They kindle sensations too delightful for
-continuance&mdash;our systems are too coarse, too frail&mdash;it seems as if an
-electric finger were laid invisibly upon each shrinking nerve&mdash;a balm
-circumfuses and permeates the heart, strange, ecstatic, overpowering.
-The change, too, is often so abrupt as to cause an unpleasant
-revulsion&mdash;the process (so far as regards the action of the mind) is
-not unlike that by which we pass from the stern winter of our existence
-here, to the bright and unending summer of the future life.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Apple.</i> “Well, Tristo, though I could not succeed in making
-you merry, you have well nigh rendered me as sad as yourself.
-And Quod and Pulito have stopped their wrangling to listen to your
-melancholy.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “Yes, Tristo, you are unwontedly depressed to-night,
-and Dumpling has scarcely made a <i>pun</i> since we came together.
-However, the coffee is ready, that will revive you both.”</p>
-
-<p>The first cup sufficed to set Apple on his <i>legs</i>, (speaking intellectually,)
-which he evinced by commencing a <i>running</i> fire of puns
-and jests, too rapid for transcription; while Tristo, more slowly, but
-not less surely, owned the mild, exhilarating influence. In the
-mean time conversation lagged, and finally ceased, while they gave
-themselves up to the more <i>sensible</i> pleasures of the palate. After a
-while, Pulito, who appeared to have been collecting all his energies
-for the onset, seized a moment, when Apple was poring over his
-Autobiography, Tristo with a pleased smile was dipping into Little’s
-poems, and Quod, as <i>magister morum</i> for the evening, was resettling
-the coffee pot on its uneasy bed, and broke forth in a most
-oratorical tone with the following introduction to the debate.</p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “On whatever principle you may compare the writings
-of the older novelists with the works of Bulwer and his school,
-whether as to their effect, in instructing the mind, or improving the
-heart, quickening the moral sense, or conveying useful information,
-or even for mere interest, or whiling away the time in rational
-amusement, (which last is but the lowest commendation of a good
-novel): in any of these points of comparison, I maintain that the
-older writers have a decided and manifest superiority. I might appeal,
-for the support of this position, to the concurrent testimony of
-literary men, to the fact that they have outlived contemporary criticism,
-and are still classics in this fastidious age, and furthermore”&mdash;</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</span></p>
-
-<p><i>Apple</i>, (looking up from his manuscript.) “What book is that
-you’re reading out of, Pulito?”</p>
-
-<p>“The book of my own intellect, as yet unpublished, Mr. Impertinence,”
-said Pulito, somewhat disconcerted.</p>
-
-<p><i>Apple.</i> “Indeed! As I was looking down, I thought from the
-rapid and mellifluous flow of words, the elegance and profoundness
-of the thought, that you were reading loud from some one of the
-British Essayists. No insinuations, however,” and he chuckled at
-the effect, while the others smiled at the harmlessness of his sarcasm.</p>
-
-<p><i>Nescio.</i> “Don’t suppose, Pulito, that because I prefer the modern
-to the ancient school among the English novelists, I therefore
-deny all merit to the latter. It would be strange, indeed, if men,
-who were admitted <i>unâ voce</i> to be the wits and geniuses of their
-age, should not have displayed many, and great, and varied excellencies.
-But won’t you allow that the incongruous mass, The
-Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, has gained its greenest laurels
-from its outrageous oddity? Its eccentricity is so astounding, so
-far beyond anomaly itself, that criticism pauses aghast, as at ‘the
-quills of the fretful porcupine,’ unknowing where to strike. You
-might as soon trace ‘the path of a serpent on a rock,’ or reduce to
-rule the movements of the wild ass of the desert. It is a mere
-chaos&mdash;a “rudis indigestaque moles.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “But, my dear fellow, such the author intended to
-have it.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Nescio.</i> “Well, and what then? Suppose he had made it dull,
-(as in fact much of it <i>is</i>, at least, to me,) would it be the more pleasing,
-that the author had simply fulfilled his intentions? I like a
-good conceit in my heart, and the more I like it, the more do I hate
-to see it spoiled.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “Do you assert that Sterne has spoiled his plan? If
-you do, the world is against you.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Nescio.</i> “I beg your pardon. Those few are against me, who
-copy their sentiments from one another, and who, I’ll be sworn,
-never had the patience to read through what they so extravagantly
-admire. There are many good judges, who have the taste to perceive
-the unrivalled beauties of Sterne in particular passages, his
-fine strokes of humor, his felicitous touches of character, and, therefore,
-indiscriminately extol the whole.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “Well, and I think they are about right.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Nescio.</i> “So they are, except in Tristram Shandy. But <i>there</i>
-I maintain, that while uncle Toby, and Yorick, and in fact all the
-actors, are among the most perfect pictures in the English language,
-the scenes are yet, many of them, <i>unbearably</i> wearisome. I would
-rather undertake to thread the labyrinth of Minos.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “Now, in my view, this same rambling style constitutes
-his great charm.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</span></p>
-
-<p><i>Nescio.</i> “Not at all. This attraction consists in the exquisite
-fidelity of his characters, and the wit that gleams along his zigzag
-path. His roving, if properly restrained, would be pleasing. But,
-in the very nature of things, we cannot heartily like an author whom
-we cannot keep in sight. He seems to have thought that <i>any</i> thing
-would <i>take</i>, provided only it were irrelevant. If, indeed, these <i>disjecta
-membra</i> were all brilliant or weighty, it would repay the labor
-of putting them together. But when you have done this, and find
-much of it absolute nonsense, you must feel spent, disappointed, and
-angry.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “Say what you will, and there is some truth in your words,
-Sterne will always remain inimitable.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Nescio.</i> “I deny it not, and I hope he may. One such specimen,
-however beautiful, of utter lawlessness, is quite enough, and
-the fame of Sterne has already drawn many a weak-winged aspirant
-from sober truth into erratic nonsense. That style, which, in <i>him</i>,
-if affected, was, at least, original, in an <i>imitator</i> would be stale and
-intolerable. By the way, have you ever read his Sermons and
-Letters?”</p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “Yes, and they are beautiful, are they not?”</p>
-
-<p><i>Nescio.</i> “Surpassingly. But what say you to the older novelists,
-Fielding, Richardson and Smollett?”</p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “Why, I say that their language is as much stronger and
-purer, as their thoughts are better, and their characters more natural,
-than those of Bulwer, and his tawdry tribe.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Nescio.</i> “Well, I must admire your modesty, to speak thus of a
-man, whom the spontaneous and infallible voice of a million has applauded,
-till praise itself grows weary.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “The infallible voice of the million! Phoebus! their
-words <i>are</i> oracular! It has not been a fact, then, has it, since the
-stars first sang together, that whatever the <i>lions</i> of the day have done,
-or written, these infallible judges have followed with their praise?
-They did not shout ‘<i>te deum</i>’ to Cowley, when that worshipper
-of the ‘dim obscure’ was the star of a voluptuous court, as vicious in
-taste as it was depraved in morals? Each spectacled ‘mother in
-Israel’ was not enraptured by Hervey’s magniloquent meditations
-among the tombs? The horrors of Walpole, and the mysteries of
-Radcliffe, the sorrows of Porter, with the bravery of her superhuman
-Wallace, and the streaming eyes of her immaculate Amanda,
-have not <i>all</i> been worshipped in their day as lords of the ascendant&mdash;have
-not <i>all</i> risen, and shone, and set, in the April sky of popular
-applause? Why, Quod, I am astonished that you should for a
-moment adduce the opinion of the rabble as authority.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Nescio.</i> “Out, aristocrat! where else <i>would</i> you look for natural
-and unbiassed feeling? I tell you, that when the voice of a people
-bursts forth in simultaneous applause, a work <i>must</i> be good.”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</span></p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “And I tell you, that if at this moment our meretricious
-press should bring forth the Letters of Junius, and the scribblings of
-Jack Downing, the people, if left to themselves, would choose the
-latter to reign over them, because the latter is most like themselves.
-Besides, upon one of these fashionable novels you do not get the free
-popular voice. Some giant critic, from prejudice, or false taste,
-sends forth his <i>imprimatur</i>, and the groundlings catch and repeat the
-cry,&mdash;as a mountain shakes the thunder from its cliffs, and the little
-bills reverberate its voice.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Apple.</i> “But the people have no interest to sway their opinion.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “Neither have they any judgment to guide it.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Apple.</i> “To what, then, shall we resort? For criticism has always
-shifted with the shifting taste of the age, and it may be shown
-that the learned, and the polished, have fluctuated in their sentiments
-as much as the ignorant and the coarse. Did not the voices
-of the educated prefer Cowley and Dryden to Milton, until Addison
-took Milton on his wing, and bore him far into the heaven of fame?
-The critics of every age have followed the prevailing style of the
-writers of their time; and, indeed, they have constituted a large portion
-of those writers. Every thirty years has a style peculiar to itself&mdash;soft
-or strong, plain or mystical, brief or diffuse, moralizing or
-descriptive, simple or turgid; and the critics have set up no barrier,
-and constituted no law.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “What you have said, <i>was</i> true, but <i>is</i> not. There are
-now so many perfect specimens from every literary mine, that dross
-or counterfeit is instantly detected. Criticism has become stable,
-or, if ever influenced by prejudice, or local feeling, you have only to
-take the average&mdash;cast them together into the alembic, and truth will
-come forth. And indeed the <i>general</i> and <i>long-continued</i> opinion of
-the multitude on a literary work, is always correct, partly because
-nature speaks within them, and partly because they have been told
-what to think by their superiors.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Nescio.</i> “Don’t suppose I prefer the flimsy modern copyists, to
-the eloquent Old English prose writers&mdash;the thinkers of the seventeenth
-century. But what says your Criticism to the novelists of
-the present age, as compared with those of eighty years since?”</p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “I speak not of Scott; for I admit, as must all, that to
-the rest of story tellers, he is the sun in heaven. I likewise except
-Edgeworth, and Marryatt, and, perhaps, James and Cooper. But
-the Bulwerian is the prevailing style; and of him enlightened criticism
-says, that, with much brilliancy, and some philosophy, there is
-a great deal that is vicious in style, and false in sentiment, shallow in
-reasoning, and depraving in tendency. It says that his aphorisms
-are merely antitheses, striking, but untrue. His characters are too
-strong contrasts to be natural; they are foils to one another.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Nescio.</i> “And where will you find a more glaring instance of this,
-than in Scott’s Quentin Durward, where he introduces tragedy and
-comedy&mdash;the executioners to Lewis, that subtle king?”</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</span></p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “I allow it, and always considered the picture overcharged:
-it is broad farce, and not real life.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Nescio.</i> “Well, I will tell you what <i>I</i> think of Smollett. When
-he is himself, he is coarse; and when he rises to the tender, he speaks
-in language, which true lover and true poet never employed. His
-sentimentality is to me disgusting, and his sketches, though laughable,
-are many of them caricatures. He had a strong sense of the
-ludicrous, but no taste for the refined. His sea-characters are admirable;
-but when, in the History of England, were oaths and exclamations,
-which I repeat not, so common in the mouths of <i>refined
-ladies</i> even, as he would represent? When I close a volume of
-Smollett, I rise with a sense of weariness&mdash;there is a something,
-which I sought, and found not&mdash;his characters appear before me in
-bold prominence, and they are consistent with themselves, but I
-doubt me whether all of them are consistent with human nature.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Pulito.</i> “There is something in what you say. Smollett fails in
-some points: but his mind was powerful, and his language is strong,
-and idiomatically pure. But in regard to poetry, and to love-scenes,
-the taste of the age was wrong: yet he simply accorded
-with that taste, and you cannot blame him for drifting with a race
-that thought Johnson a poet! As for Fielding, though too diffuse
-in style of remark, he is still immeasurably above Bulwer and his
-countless spawn. And so is Richardson, maugre his epistolary prolixity;
-and Goldsmith, with his quiet beauty and truth to nature,
-transcends them all. But Bulwer, instead of the apotheosis his admirers
-would bestow, deserves to do penance in purgatory for his
-literary sins. As obscure as Coleridge, without his deep philosophy,
-as glittering as Voltaire, without his sparkling wit, as seductive
-as Byron, without his amazing strength, his wisdom is founded in a
-few heartless maxims, and his poetry is comprized in a Rhyming
-Dictionary.”</p>
-
-<p><i>Tristo.</i> “No! Pulito, you are wrong there. I have heard your
-discussion with interest, and allow me to draw the line, which, in
-cooler moments, you would both approve. Bulwer is a scholar, and
-a genius, and essentially a poet. That he is a scholar, and a ripe
-one, no one that has read his Ambitious Student, and, above all, his
-Last Days of Pompeii, can doubt for an instant. When I look at
-the fact that he has founded a new school in romance; that he has
-written eight or ten novels, all different, all original, all <i>creative</i> in
-their kind; that we follow his characters from their entrance to their
-exit, with feverish and untiring interest; that in his own path no one
-approaches him, and that for eight years he has supported his reputation,
-I see not how he can be denied many of the attributes of
-genius. And that he is, <i>in heart</i>, a poet, despite his Siamese
-Twins, is equally evident to me. He is certainly fertile in invention,
-rich in expression, and powerful in pathos. I know not where
-to find any thing more poetic, more moving, than the character of<span class="pagenum" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</span>
-Lucy Brandon, and her twilight interview with Clifford at the lattice,
-the beautifully simple portraiture of Mydia, and, above all, the
-crossed love, and shattered hopes of the Ambitious Student. I say
-that he <i>does</i> possess wit and humor, and poetry, and talent, and that
-in large abundance. Yet his power is more in the <i>manner</i> than the
-<i>matter</i>; for he is often superficial, and his pictures of the world,
-though faithful and clear in parts, are false and confused as a whole.
-Their coloring is too high. He strains for effect. His views in
-politics, in ethics, and religion, are all shifting. If a brilliant thought
-occurs, he pauses little upon its truth or consistency with his previous
-sentiments. Because red and blue are <i>both</i> beautiful, he lays
-them on together. You view his pictures as in a glass, and depart,
-‘straitway forgetting what manner of man he is.’ He makes all his
-heroes think and act splendidly for the moment; but their thoughts
-and actions are incongruous as a whole&mdash;they war among themselves.
-A man cannot at once be patient and resentful, thoughtful and careless,
-or learned and an idler. Again&mdash;his style is as bad as it is
-brilliant&mdash;it is affected&mdash;sometimes tawdry. His novels are bad,
-<i>very</i> bad, in their tendency. He marries vice and virtue; he joins
-nobleness to sin; he makes man the puppet of fate or circumstance;
-around the desperate offender he weaves a spell of enchantment; we
-follow his heroes with wonder and pity and love, through all their
-paths of crime and glory, and we close the book with a sigh that ourselves
-were not born with natures so high, and destinies so splendid,
-even at the price of all their wretchedness, and all their guilt. Bulwer
-may talk, and talk of virtue and religion, till his hair is gray&mdash;but
-his principles are poison. And if he be dangerous, his imitators are
-contemptible. Without a tithe of his power, they are more corrupt.
-Their works are prolific as the rod of Aaron, and lean as the kine of
-Pharaoh. In regard to talent, making allowance for the greater
-freshness of his novels, and that sympathy which we feel for every
-thing of our own day, and remembering that he had all <i>their</i> excellencies
-to build upon, and imitate, I should place him far below both
-Fielding and Smollett in mental power. Those older writers,
-though freer in language, are far less corrupt and enervate in thought,
-than these modern profligates. In <i>those</i>, there is a style simple, vigorous,
-and clear, and reflection solid, rational, and just&mdash;in <i>these</i>
-there is a continual reaching forth after singularity and power. <i>Those</i>
-draw faithful figures, though larger, perhaps, than life&mdash;but <i>these</i>
-present distortions&mdash;wicked daubs&mdash;gross flatteries, or else vile libels
-upon human nature. <i>There</i> is thought&mdash;<i>here</i>, sentiment&mdash;<i>there</i>,
-rough gold&mdash;<i>here</i>, spangled tinsel. <i>Those</i> are chalybeate streams,
-which come tumbling from mountains of iron, with waves dark, but
-salubrious: while <i>these</i> are rivulets from mercurial mines, that dance
-swiftly along their shining bed, with waters bright, but destructive.”</p>
-
-<p class="right">
-<span class="smcap">Ego.</span>
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="AMBITION_A_FRAGMENT">AMBITION&mdash;A FRAGMENT.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">&mdash;“I charge thee, fling away Ambition;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Love thyself last.”</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse right"><i>Henry VIII.</i></div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">What! check the spirit in its earliest flight?</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">The new-fledged eaglet dash to earth again?</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Wrap the just-rising sun in blackest night?</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Hurl yon bright star from its empyrean?</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Curs’d be the mind whence such a thought e’er sprung,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Yea, doubly curs’d the vile and slavish tongue</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Which spake so mean a thought!</div>
- <div class="verse indent24">No, let that spirit rise,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Until the heaven of heavens before it lies,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Stretched out in clear perspective; and its home,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Ere it was fettered in this earthly form,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Be seen and recognized by thought innate;&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">There let it brood, and “over all debate,”</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Grasping earth, heaven, the Maker and the made,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Man and his fate, and fearlessly invade</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">The darkness which begirts Him round&mdash;the cloud</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">In which He hides His majesty.</div>
- <div class="verse indent24">The shroud,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Corruption, Reproduction, the stern war</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Of Life and Death&mdash;the whence and what they are&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">All it shall know&mdash;at least <i>attempt</i> to know,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Uninfluenced by the world it scorns below.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Yes, let that eaglet rise on tireless wing;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Far, far beyond the clouds’ dominion spring,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And dwell where all is one eternal hush&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">No dash of billowy rack, no whirlwind’s rush;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">But yon bright sun blazes an universe</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Of pure, essential fire, whose gleams disperse</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">All shade, and ‘permeate the unsensuous space’&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Its atmosphere&mdash;the spirit of the place.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent2">Ambition, Oh Ambition! fire of hell,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Burning and burning, why in me dost dwell,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">A frail, ungifted one, who soon must die,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">“Unwept, unhonored,” who with longing eye</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Beholds thy heaven-high dome, but whose poor might</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Sinks, struck and palsied, ere it scale that height?</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Go, light his eye who loves the storms of life,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Go, burn his heart whose pulse unvarying beats,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Go, circle him in whom there is no strife</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Of Soul and Sense,&mdash;of cold, and feverish heats.</div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</span>
- <div class="verse indent2">But no, I would not drive thee from my soul,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Black “effluence of bright essence, uncreate.”</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">What trumps the conqueror’s fame from pole to pole?</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">What weaves the poet’s name in the web of fate?&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Man! Time and Power&mdash;these on thee wait.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse right">W. F.</div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_INFLUENCE_OF_MORAL_FEELING_ON_THE_PLEASURES_OF">THE INFLUENCE OF MORAL FEELING ON THE PLEASURES OF
-THE IMAGINATION.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="h2sub">No. II.</p>
-
-<p>The influence of moral feeling tends to heighten the pleasure
-which we derive from the contemplation of great actions.</p>
-
-<p>Turn over the pages of history and philosophy&mdash;study the record
-of human events, and the laws of the mind, and we gather as their
-united testimony, the truth, that in all ages of the world, whatever
-has carried with it the impress of intellect, has commanded the
-homage of men. Even among rude and barbarous nations, he who
-distinguishes himself by some act of superior sagacity or valor, gains
-the ascendancy over his rivals, and is worshiped as Chief. The
-meed of honor in this case, is the result of a blind, but still a controlling
-admiration for the effect, unattended by a recognition of
-the cause. In more civilized communities, it is an enlightened and
-intelligent tribute to the offspring of mind.</p>
-
-<p>To the man of imagination there is a powerful charm in the spectacle
-of a great mind throwing off the grave clothes of inactivity,
-and arousing itself for some mighty effort. There is almost a fearful
-grandeur in its movements, as it calls up one after another its
-slumbering energies, and girds itself for the struggle. And when it
-goes forth in its power to achieve the purposes which it has formed,
-it treads with a sternness and majesty which fling around it an irresistible
-spell. It is not simply the exhibition of vast strength which
-it presents, like the exertion of mere brute force, or the plunge of a
-falling avalanche, that awakens in the beholder these emotions of
-interest and delight. There is, it is true, in all such exhibitions,
-much to inspire sublimity of feeling. But the appeal which we
-speak of now, owes its effect to other associations of thought. It is
-the soul, the living, moving principle within, directing and controlling
-the whole, bending the will and purposes of others into subservience
-to its own ‘ruling passion,’ like the earth born giant of old,
-rising with fresh strength from every grapple with opposition, and
-pressing right onward to the goal of its wishes, with a progress that
-resembles the sure march of destiny&mdash;it is this which gives to the
-sublimity of intellect its distinguishing characteristics. With such a<span class="pagenum" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</span>
-mind, the man of imagination cherishes a fellow feeling, entering
-into its aspirations with kindred ardor, watching with intense interest
-its struggles against difficulties, sharing its gloom in the hour of
-trial, and its exultation at success. This thrill of sympathy is with
-him the vibration of the chord which binds him to the universe, and
-to his fellow man. Shut him out from such a kindred with his race;
-seal up the fountain of ever-flowing sensibility within his bosom, bid
-him gaze upon the sublime achievements of intellect, with a stoic’s
-indifference, and you have cut off from him a source of happiness
-of the purest and most exalted character, and left him a blank on
-creation’s page.</p>
-
-<p>In our contemplation of great actions, perhaps no exercise affords
-the imagination more pleasure, than to observe the progress of some
-mighty revolution. At first, all is apparently calm and peaceful on
-the surface of society, and the beholder finds nothing in the cloudless
-sky above, the whispering breeze, or the unruffled serenity beneath,
-to forebode the fury of the coming tempest. He does not
-dream that the waves of discord and strife are so soon to dash their
-foam along the mirror-like tranquillity before him. Yet the principles
-may be already at work, whose influence is to arouse these slumbering
-elements to a fearful energy. Some youthful mind, destined to
-be the master spirit of its age, may be, even at the moment, preparing
-within the still retreat of its lonely musings, by patient and toilsome
-research, the great problem whose solution is to shake the existing
-system of things to its foundations. At length the fullness of
-the time is come, and “the little cloud like a man’s hand,” rears its
-shadowy outline far in the distant horizon. The voice of the tempest
-is heard moaning in suppressed accents, as though wailing a
-dirge over the wreck it must make. Darker and still darker above,
-the sky spreads out its drapery of mantling clouds. The spirits of
-the storm awake, and ride forth on the howling blast, amid the wild
-roar of the elements, celebrating the festival of their freedom. The
-tempest at length has spent its rage, the pall of blackness is withdrawn,
-and the bow of promise gives goodly token of the returning
-calm. This may seem perhaps a fanciful description of a revolution.
-But to the cultivated imagination, the reality calls up all the intenseness
-of interest and excitement which belong to scenes like these.
-The storm of human passions, when stirred up and left to range uncontrolled
-through a community, gathering in its ranks the ruthless
-votaries of ambition, avarice and revenge, urged, as it sweeps onward,
-by a thousand new impulses from selfish and opposing interests,
-may well be likened to the strife of the angry elements. There is
-in the majestic energies of human nature, when aroused and carried
-forward with a momentum generated by the heart, an exhibition of
-more terrific sublimity than all the varied convulsions in the physical
-world can possibly present. But we have said enough on this
-point, to show, that the source of pleasure to the imagination, which
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</span>
-we are at present considering, is one of no ordinary character, both
-in respect to the nature and degree of the gratification which it induces.
-And it is now high time that we return to our main object,
-which is to notice the influence of moral feeling in enhancing our
-susceptibility to this kind of intellectual enjoyment.</p>
-
-<p>We look back with admiration upon the exploits of an Alexander;
-we are struck by the power of his genius, by the grandeur of his
-designs, the perseverance and energy of his execution. But the
-truth&mdash;the sober truth, with its disenchanting wand, breaks the
-charm which these throw around his memory, and compel our minds,
-divested of all enthusiasm, to sink their admiration of the hero in
-their aversion to the unprincipled robber of nations. But on the
-other hand, with how much of unmingled delight does the imagination
-contemplate the high moral dignity so conspicuous in the character
-of Washington. Both are splendid instances of the triumphs
-of genius; but with what different sentiments are they regarded!
-Over the memory of the latter, the purity of his motives and the
-disinterestedness of his ambition, have thrown a hallowed and unclouded
-atmosphere. Thus, it is only when great talents are ennobled
-by their subservience to virtue, that they receive the meed of
-unqualified admiration. As another illustration of this truth, notice
-the reformation in Germany&mdash;one of the most eventful dramas ever
-acted upon the theatre of the world. Perhaps there is no succession
-of events recorded on the page of history, which inspires the
-imagination with more thrilling interest&mdash;no prouder monument of
-the achievements of a single mind.</p>
-
-<p>For a period of not less than a thousand years, the darkness of midnight
-had brooded over the nations of the east, relieved occasionally
-by some meteor star, whose solitary and transient gleam seemed
-only to deepen by contrast the surrounding gloom that succeeded.
-The curse of Papacy, with its ignorance, depravity, and superstition,
-lay like the frosts of winter upon the intellect and the heart of
-man; and the progress of true principles seemed to have been arrested
-forever. At this period of mental and moral gloom, nearly
-coeval with the dawn of reviving knowledge, arose the man who
-was to usher in the commencement of a new and glorious era. He
-had stood amid the worship of the temple at Rome, and been an
-eye witness to the luxury and licentiousness that defiled the consecrated
-courts. The name of the Holy City&mdash;the residence of the
-Vicar of Christ, had been treasured up in his mind from boyhood,
-with sacred associations. Alas, how changed from the image that
-his fond anticipations had pictured out! That moment gave birth in
-his soul to a mighty thought. He stood undazzled and unallured,
-though Rome’s pomp, and gaiety and beauty were spread out like a
-sea of enchantment before him. From that hour, Martin Luther
-was a champion of the truth&mdash;of the simple, unperverted truth.
-Year after year, with an ardor unchecked by difficulties, undaunted
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</span>
-by the threats of power, he continued to pour the light of his own
-illumination over the nations of Europe, until the temple of Papacy
-shook to its foundations, and every Catholic king trembled on his
-throne. In contemplating this wonderful revolution, it is difficult to
-decide, whether our admiration should be most excited by the magnitude
-of the event, or the apparent total inadequacy of the means.
-A humble and unknown individual, with the Bible in his hand as his
-only weapon of warfare, enters the field against a Pontifical hierarchy,
-that had swayed for ages the sceptre of an absolute dominion&mdash;and
-<span class="allsmcap">PREVAILS</span>. The sublimity and grandeur of the achievement
-itself would be deservedly a theme for the highest flight of the poet’s
-muse, and the most glowing strains of the historian. But it is only
-when we consider the nature of this triumph, that its full power, as a
-source of pleasure to the imagination, can be appreciated. It was
-a triumph of knowledge over ignorance. The light of science, which
-had so long glimmered but faintly, and at intervals, from the cell of
-the cloister, now burst forth in full orbed glory&mdash;‘rejoicing like a giant
-to run his race.’ It was a triumph of literature and refinement over
-brutality and barbarism. From the frozen waters of the north, to
-the pillars of Hercules, the intellect of Europe shook off the weight
-of its darkness, and awoke to life and activity. It was a triumph of
-the pure simplicity of the Christian faith over idolatry, hypocrisy
-and superstition. The degraded slave of popish tyranny and imposition
-cast away the shackles of his bondage, and arose to assert
-the dignity of his nature. On every thing that had been enveloped
-in the universal chaos, the almighty mandate was written, “Let
-there be light.” Thus, in contemplating this great revolution, it is
-in the power of its appeal to our moral sensibilities, that its true sublimity
-is seen and felt.</p>
-
-<p class="right">
-C.
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_SEMINOLE">THE SEMINOLE.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Where the oak and the pine in grandeur vie,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Where the orange and lemon their fragrance blend,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Where its rushing stream the rivulet pours,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">There stood a warrior Chief. His eagle eye</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Shot a searching look on all around. His form</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Was symmetry; and proudly eminent</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">In all the majesty of pride and strength,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">That Indian stood. One look at Heaven,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">One glance at earth he cast, and then he yelled</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">A whoop so terrible, so fiercely wild,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">All nature seemed to start. As, when</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">On Afric’s sands a wounded lion roars,</div><span class="pagenum" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</span>
- <div class="verse indent0">The desert quakes, so now the sunbeams</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Trembled upon each quiv’ring leaf. But see!</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">He starts&mdash;he bounds into the forest depths,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And all is still again.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent22">Two moons</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Their circling revolutions had fulfilled.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Twas when the evening breezes softly breathed,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Wafting sweet odors from the balmy groves,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And from each songster of the wood there rose</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">A vesper hymn, and over all the scene</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Twilight a soft and rosy tint had spread&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Upon a grassy knoll was seen to sit</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">That warrior Indian. His head was still</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Proudly erect. But his glassy eye</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">On vacancy was fixed, and from his side</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">There flowed a crimson stream that spake of death.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Alas! how changed the noble warrior!</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">His snowy plume&mdash;the captured eagle’s gift&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Is pure no more, but sprinkled o’er with blood;&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Yet see! he rises slowly&mdash;but anon,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">He reels&mdash;he falls&mdash;a deathless stillness comes</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">O’er all the scene. In mortal agony his hand</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Still tighter grasps his knife, and ’twixt</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">His lips compressed, in faint and broken voice,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">He murmurs thus&mdash;“Great Spirit of my fathers!</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">In the pleasant hunting grounds receive me!”&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">His spirit’s flown&mdash;the noble warrior’s dead;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">His life-blood ebbed upon his native soil.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Free had he lived&mdash;free did the Seminole die.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse right">H. H. B.</div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="THE_OUTLAW_AND_HIS_DAUGHTER">THE OUTLAW AND HIS DAUGHTER.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>At the termination of one of those revolutions which have convulsed
-the Mexican States from their earliest formation, Herraras,
-who had been an active partizan, finding his own side in the minority,
-sought in retirement a refuge from the turmoils of political life,
-and protection for the innocence, with facilities for the education of
-his motherless daughter. This he realized, until it began to be rumored,
-and not without foundation, that he was secretly leagued
-with the piratical smugglers. He who intended to reap the chief
-advantage from a public prosecution, was young Velasque, a favorite
-of the Administration, whose sole motive was a vehement passion
-for the daughter of Herraras, which as yet the jealous fondness of
-the father for his own child, and the aversion of the adolescent Almirena
-herself, had with vexatious firmness resisted.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</span></p>
-
-<p>‘Surrender your daughter to my solicitations, and my influence
-with the Government shall secure your acquittal; otherwise, you
-must die, and&mdash;<i>I will be avenged</i>’&mdash;sternly uttered the wily amorado.</p>
-
-<p>‘Leave me till morning, and you shall have my answer,’ replied
-the perplexed and indignant father.</p>
-
-<p>That morning discovered him with his child many leagues from the
-Mexican coast, in a vessel bound to the United States, whose sudden
-departure he had procured by bribes, after having, under cover
-of the night, with the aid of a faithful servant, taken on board of it,
-a rich amount of his ill-gotten treasure.</p>
-
-<p>On the borders of one of those lakes whose silvery surfaces may
-be frequently seen imbosomed among the wild highlands of New
-England, near the margin of a forest that encircled its waters with a
-drapery of dark green foliage, and luxuriant vines, and stretched far
-away over the circumjacent mountains, the outlaw had chosen his
-retreat. A few roods of ground were cleared around his lodge, which
-was secured from view in the direction of the lake, by a narrow file
-of trees and underwood, and on all other sides, by the unbroken forest.
-Here the refugee lived, sequestered from the world, his only
-companion his child; with a single attendant, an African, the menial
-of the lodge, and only visiter of the village that lay over the mountains,
-and was the nearest within many miles of circuit, where the
-servant went for the supplies of the family. The outlaw suffered
-no stranger to enter his precincts, partly because he feared lest
-justice should find an avenue to his guilt, and partly because he
-dreaded an interruption to the communion of affection between him
-and his daughter. He loved his child as few fathers love their offspring.
-He had always cherished her as the “apple of his eye.”
-But since his recent misfortunes, all other feelings had become extinct,
-or submerged in this one passion. He loved her because she
-was the image of her mother, who had been the young idol of his
-soul. He loved her because she was a part of himself, and his own
-dark eye flashed beneath her brow. She was all the world had left
-him which he could call his own. To make her father happy, and
-witness his cloudy features clear away in smiles, was the dearest delight
-of the affectionate daughter. He could not bear her a moment
-from his presence, which she, at the least sound of danger as instinctively
-sought, as the timid lamb bounds away to its dam.
-Music was to both father and child an exhilaration of pleasure, and
-relieved of its weariness many a lonely hour. He had instructed
-her to play the guitar, whose strings responding to the skilful touch
-of her fingers, trilled in his ear the sweet airs of his youth; while
-her zephyr-like voice poured forth, in rich harmony with his deep bass,
-those lays that awakened fostered memories in his bosom. She read
-to him from his favorite Spanish authors, a few of which he had
-brought to be companions of his exile. A daily and indulged employment
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</span>
-for the Mexican was sailing upon the lake, and angling
-for fish that were numerous in its waters. He had constructed for
-his daughter a light canoe with which she accompanied her father.
-While he fished, she sported with her little bark, which she learned
-to scull with such art, that like the shell of the Nautilus, it seemed
-of itself to glide through the waters. When the wind was high, so
-lightly and fearless did she skim over the curling tops of the waves,
-and so shrill and clear she sounded her notes on the air, that her father
-called her his Bird of the Lake. When the summer’s sun was shining
-hot, she would oar her boat along the shore, under the archway
-of the trees; here she twanged her guitar, or decked her hair
-with flowers from the banks, or filled her basket from the grape vines
-that twined among the low hanging limbs.</p>
-
-<p>One day she sailed farther up the shore, and had unconsciously
-steered her boat into a sheltered cove. She was seated platting a
-chaplet of leaves; and as she adjusted it to her head, she looked
-into the water, so darkly shaded by the surrounding trees that it
-reflected her image clear as a mirror, and bright as her beautiful self.
-Not like Narcissus was she in love with her own image; but her father
-had told her that her hair and forehead were like her mother’s&mdash;that
-mother whom she had never seen&mdash;that she wore wreaths in
-her hair; and the fond orphan smiled at the resemblance, and seemed,
-as she gazed, to be enamored of the beauty whose early blight
-her father so bitterly mourned.</p>
-
-<p>But the real beauty of this illusion was not without its charms.
-A young man, in the guise of a sportsman, attracted by the murmuring
-echoes of the music this Nereid warbled, had silently approached
-the waters, and screened behind a tuft of laurel shrubbery
-was looking, in breathless wonder, and deeply fascinated, upon this
-seemingly unearthly visitant of his mountain lake.</p>
-
-<p>That a gloomy browed foreigner with his child, had come to reside
-near the lake was known in the village. Many suspicions
-were afloat as to his character. Few had seen the renegade. Even
-young Clermont, whose hunting excursions were fearlessly and widely
-extended, had not ventured near the dwelling of the recluse;
-nor had he dreamed what a flower was blooming in the dark woods
-of his native hills.</p>
-
-<p>Almirena raised herself in her boat and attempted to pluck a rose
-that grew wild from a projecting rock. A tropical sun had imbrowned
-her skin; but polished the jet of her eyes to a higher brilliance; and
-her raven tresses floated more luxuriantly over her unbared neck.
-Attired in the costume of her country, her light vest open in front,
-with its flowing collar, and gathered loosely about her waist, revealed
-a form of classic mould; while her silken skirt, with its rich embroidery,
-excited still more the surprise of Clermont, who had seen
-in that retired district, only the simple dresses of rural life.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</span></p>
-
-<p>Perceiving that she could not easily reach the flower, Clermont,
-who had been fixed in his concealment by the enchantment of the
-vision, advanced to her view and offered his assistance. She was
-startled at the sudden apparition, and seized her oar. She did not
-know his language, but his gentle tones and supplicating gestures,
-tempted her to come nearer the bank and take the rose he offered,
-and then like the timid bird that picks one kernel from your hand,
-not staying for more flowers, which he would have gathered, she
-flew away over the waters.</p>
-
-<p>Elfred Clermont, the son of the wealthy merchant of the village
-to which we have before alluded, was advanced in his professional
-studies, and at the time we are narrating, passing a vacation at home.
-With romance and enthusiasm commixed in his nature, refined in his
-feelings, he met with little congeniality of spirit among the rustic
-yeomanry of his native town; while amid the rugged scenery of the
-mountains, and deep gloom of the forests, he found his soul’s fondest
-sympathy. Taking his gun, and sometimes a musical instrument,
-he often pursued his solitary rambles; in the last of which he so unexpectedly
-encountered the outlaw’s daughter.</p>
-
-<p>That night the sleep of Almirena was feverish. Her dreams
-were of the fair browed youth and his kind attentions. She awoke
-wishing he were her brother. Aware of her father’s inveterate
-aversion to any intercourse with the inhabitants of the vicinity, she
-said nothing to him of her adventure. But the next day, while he
-fished below, the hare-hearted girl, now emboldened by a feeling
-which to her was new, and which she did not probably analyze, again
-slowly propelled her canoe near the cove. The sound of music
-struck her ear. She dropped her oar, and taking her guitar, touched
-its chords. Its notes blended symphoniously in the sylvan recess
-with the sweet sounds of the young stranger’s flute; while their
-hearts were awakened to thrill in more exquisite melody. The ravished
-Clermont ran down to the water’s edge, and with a rich bouquet
-of flowers, which he held up to her view, prevailed upon her to
-approach the shore. He kissed the deep blushes from her cheek, as
-he assisted her to debark; and the stranger lovers sat down together
-upon the moss covered bank.</p>
-
-<p>They did not understand each other’s language. But Nature has
-a dialect which she teaches all her children. The heart finds utterance
-not in artificial characters, but in burning expression. Music
-too speaks in glowing tones to the very ear of feeling.</p>
-
-<p>They often met; he of the blue eyed Saxon race, she of the
-darker Roman origin&mdash;both impassioned; he from the gushing enthusiasm
-of his being, she from the ardent temperament of her
-southern skies. His love was pure as if she had been his sister.
-Hers as confiding as if he were her brother. Elfred soon acquired
-her native tongue, and instructed a ready learner in his own.</p>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</span></p>
-
-<p>Herraras had marked the change in his daughter, and forbade her
-interviews with the young American. She implored; but he was
-inflexible. He loved his child, but with a love that could not be
-severed from its object. ‘What music is that?’ as a familiar air
-came quivering through the latticed window of his cottage, inquired
-the outlaw, with an emotion that was never kindled except at the
-voice of his child, or the sound of her guitar. ‘Has a minstrel of
-our own country wandered hither?’</p>
-
-<p>‘Shall I call the player, father?’ eagerly asked the child.</p>
-
-<p>‘I would see him.’</p>
-
-<p>She ran for her lover.&mdash;Her artifice succeeded. Elfred was admitted
-to the lodge. The music of his flute, his frequent conversations
-with the Mexican in his own language, tended somewhat to
-revive humanity in the seared breast of the outlaw. But the doting
-father could not be induced to yield up his daughter to the solicitations
-of Clermont, who was at length obliged, quite in despair, to
-cease pressing his suit with the old man, though he still visited at
-the lodge. Almirena’s filial piety was too closely interwoven with
-her father’s happiness to allow her to thwart his wishes, yet at the
-same time she twined about Elfred in all the artlessness and strength
-of her love.</p>
-
-<p>The exiles were seated one afternoon in the front apartment of
-the cottage, when the door was darkened by a strange form. The
-features of Velasque broke upon them like a fiend’s, hellish with revenge,
-blood-shot with lust. The outlaw stirred not, only hoarsely
-uttered ‘devil!’</p>
-
-<p>‘I have come for my revenge,’ alternated the intruder, in a tone
-of cool, malignant triumph.</p>
-
-<p>Almirena shrieked out as the tiger-like eyes of Velasque gleamed
-upon her.</p>
-
-<p>The young Mexican immediately assumed a more familiar manner,
-and declared to the imperturbed outlaw, that he had been convicted
-of piracy in his own country, and that himself was accompanied
-by a party of United States officers, who were furnished with a
-warrant for his arrest from their Government. While they delayed
-in the woods, he had advanced professedly to reconnoitre, but really
-to parley.</p>
-
-<p>‘You may escape if’&mdash;&mdash;</p>
-
-<p>‘If!’ thundered out the infuriated father. He checked his
-words. For a moment the storm of feeling raged within his breast.
-‘I die,’ at length he said. ‘But we will pray before we go. Yonder
-is the image of our Mother.’ He led his daughter into a back
-room. ‘Now pray for protection.’ He whispered in agony, ‘fly&mdash;fly
-to your boat&mdash;you will be safe. I suffer for my guilt.’ The
-terrified child, the affectionate daughter, would have stayed by her
-father. But he sternly urged her forward. She sped her way
-to the lake. Velasque, suspecting an artifice, advanced; and missing
-his victim, dashed impetuously by Herraras, hurling the old
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</span>
-man to the floor as he impotently endeavored to oppose him, and
-ran down the wood-skirted path to the waters. The resolute girl
-had pushed her canoe from the shore, and standing erect was vigorously
-plying her oar. Her pursuer seized her father’s boat; but the
-wind was up, and the waves mocked his strong-nerved efforts. She
-seemingly leaped from crest to crest. He called after her. The
-wind returned upon him his voice; and her flowing locks streamed
-in wilder witchery to his view. Nearing the shore, she sprang from
-her boat, and bounded away like a young fawn through the forest,
-leaving her vexed pursuer far behind.</p>
-
-<p>The outlaw, recovering from his violent fall, hurried for the water.
-Velasque was far on the lake. The old man hastened along the
-shore to meet his daughter on the upper extremity of the lake.
-He found her in a branch-vaulted glen, concealed under an arbor
-that Clermont had constructed for their stolen interviews; scarcely
-did he begin to tranquillize his child, now fluttering with fear, and
-exhausted by her efforts, when Velasque leaped down the side of
-the glen. They stood face to face&mdash;the outlaw and the exasperated
-lover. ‘Obstinate old man,’ said the latter, ‘thou shalt die, and thy
-defenseless daughter shall be subdued to my wishes, if thou wilt
-not now acknowledge her mine.’ The old man replied not. Almirena,
-deadly pale, staggered forward to her father, and extending
-up to him her clasped hands, groaned out, ‘Oh my father, let me
-be honorably his.’ Nature failed her&mdash;she fell lifeless at his feet.
-Velasque stooped forward to raise her. But the maddened old man,
-with unnatural nerve, ran upon him, and precipitated him down a
-chasm in the rocks. The officers, who had been on the alert in the
-woods, now came up.</p>
-
-<p>They bore the unconscious form of Almirena to the lodge, and
-consigned it to the care of her tender hearted slave. The wounded
-Velasque was carried away on a litter. The outlaw was manacled.
-He was supposed to be a bloody-handed, ferocious pirate. And as
-the girl was thought to be an accomplice in her father’s guilt, the
-officers had little pity for either. They did not permit the old man
-to go to his house and take a last look of his child; but conveying
-him by a nearer way through the valley of the lake, on the next
-morning they reached the sea-port, and lodged the outlaw in prison,
-where he was to be confined until Velasque should be sufficiently
-recovered to take charge of him to Mexico. Herraras was not sorry
-that his daughter had died. He knew that his own fate was sealed,
-and that she should live, exposed to the violence of Velasque, would
-have been worse than death on the rack to himself. He settled
-down in a calm, sullen submission to his destiny.</p>
-
-<p>But Almirena lived. She had fainted; but awoke in a delirium.
-Clermont did not come to the lodge till the following morning. She
-wildly addressed him as he entered, ‘Farewell, Elfred, farewell. I
-have given myself to Velasque, and he spares my father’s life. You
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</span>
-would see me before I go. Farewell. One kiss, one more;’ and
-she threw her arms about his neck, as he leaned over her, and sobbed
-like a child. For weeks did her lover watch in patient agony
-by her side. At length she slowly recovered.</p>
-
-<p>Velasque did die. Foiled in his chief design, his spirits sunk, and
-he had not sufficient energy to counteract the effects of his wounds,
-which soon terminated his existence. Velasque being the only witness
-against the outlaw, and no one appearing to prosecute the case
-farther, he might have been discharged; but a new suit was instituted
-by those who had accompanied Velasque, charging him with the
-murder of the Mexican. He possessed no evidence to countervail
-the accusation. A stranger in a strange land, a condemned pirate immured
-in a prison, he had not heard that his daughter was yet alive.
-The popular feeling was against him. Clermont, who, being busy
-and remote, and also too fearful of the guilt of Herraras in respect
-to piracy, had not interested himself to learn what was transpiring,
-did not arrive at the court, till the evidence on the part of
-the state had been received. He was admitted to manage the defense.
-He called only one witness, the lovely daughter of the prisoner.
-As the hard-visaged outlaw met his child, the living from
-the dead, and held her in his embrace, his iron soul seemed to melt,
-and flow out at his eyes; a sight that turned the sympathies of the
-spectators in his favor. Almirena’s story was simple, and touching,
-in manifestation of the villainy of Velasque. Clermont conducted
-the case, to him, and all, now most intensely interesting, by an ingenious
-and manly argument in point of the prisoner’s having acted
-in defense of himself, and of the honor of his daughter. The outlaw
-was acquitted.</p>
-
-<p>Herraras cheerfully yielded his daughter to his noble deliverer, her
-devoted lover; stipulating only that he might love her yet, for the
-sake of her mother. In tranquillity, and penitence for early misdeeds,
-the outlaw passed his days. Clermont, under another name,
-has arisen to distinction; but yearly does he revisit with his still
-beautiful Mexican wife, the lake of their romantic loves.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="I_WOULD_NOT_FLATTER_THEE">I WOULD NOT FLATTER THEE.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent2">Lady, I would not flatter thee&mdash;oh no!</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">For ’tis unkind to foster earth-born vanity,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">And he doth err that wishes to bestow</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">An extra share of it on weak humanity.</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Yet, on reflection, sure I do not know</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">That I should be suspected of insanity,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Were I to call thee&mdash;as I truly might&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Beautiful, aye, beautiful as a form of light.</div>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</span></p> </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent2">Beautiful&mdash;and saying it, I tell no lie,</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">Though tried by Madam Opie’s strict ordeal&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Beautiful&mdash;if soft, soul-beaming eye,</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">And form as graceful as the beau-ideal</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">The sculptor carved his Cnidian Venus by,</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">And features blooming, not with cochineal,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">But with such hues as Fancy would fain cull</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">From Angel’s cheeks&mdash;if such as these be beautiful.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent2">I would not flatter thee&mdash;and yet must say</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">Thou hast a witching gracefulness of motion,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">A dream-like lightness; and thou hast a way</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">Of sweetly smiling, like the rippled ocean,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">When on it joyously the moonbeams play;</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">And thou hast gaiety softened by devotion,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Aye, and good nature, which, upon inspection,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">I always found developed in extreme perfection.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent2">I would not flatter thee&mdash;much less, would know</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">The pungent strength of critical acidity</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">For talking <i>prettily</i> of ‘twilight glow,’</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">And ‘moons,’ and ‘sighs’&mdash;all types of insipidity.</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">And yet I say not that the earth can show</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">Ought more enchanting than the deep placidity</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Stealing around us on a moonlight eve,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">When winds are hushed in sleep, and clouds the heavens leave.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent2">And when, at that most heart-ensnaring time,</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">With thee I gaze upon the huge old man</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Reigning in yon pale center-light of rhyme,</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">Or in the heavens the path of Venus scan,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Or fancy from the spheres the distant chime</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">Of evening bells&mdash;I will not say that then</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Strange feelings come not o’er me, soft and solemn,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Producing&mdash;tears, perhaps, and poetry by the volume.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent2">I will not say that then I have not found</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">In thee almost an Angel’s loveliness,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Or that thy voice has not as sweet a sound</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">As music on the waters, or that less</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Than a bright spirit’s influence has bound</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">My soul in that fond dream of blessedness,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Which, vastly strengthened by thy conversation,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Has seemed, to say the least, a sweet hallucination.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent2">I would not flatter thee&mdash;much less, indeed,</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">Would seem, in poetry, a <i>Della Cruscan</i>;</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">I own not that, nor any kindred creed;</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">Nor do I like the sentimental fustian,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Which modern fashionables so much read.&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">Now he who honestly professes thus, can</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">By law poetic, ne’er be an offender,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Though, now and then, he <i>seem</i> a little over-tender.</div>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</span></p> </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent2">From friends long loved how hard it is to part!</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">How hard, indeed, from one but <i>briefly</i> known&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">From <i>thee</i>, sweet bird of passage, as thou art&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">Charming awhile, but oh, how quickly flown!</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Aye, thou’rt away:&mdash;and my unguarded heart&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent4">Whither, ah, whither has the truant gone?</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">In vain I search;&mdash;didst <i>thou</i>, fair maiden, take it?</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Then, cast it not away, for rudeness sure would break it!</div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="RUMINATIONS_OF_A_BOVINE_GENTLEMAN">RUMINATIONS OF A BOVINE GENTLEMAN.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="h2sub">AUTHOR’S CHARACTER.</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">“&mdash;&mdash;Secum meditari ingenium est <i>boûm</i>.”</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse right"><i>Virgil.</i></div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p>“Cows, of all animals, have the greatest propensity for rumination. For the
-most part, they are gentle, quiet, affectionate, unpretending, useful animals; all
-they require is kindness, and kindness they will return. Yet they have their antipathies
-and their whims, (red shawls are their abomination,) but, on the whole,
-they are inoffensive ruminators&mdash;not obtrusive, (except when they take a fancy to
-<i>gore</i>.) Their caresses are rough as their tongues; yet their roughest <i>licks</i> are
-meant in kindness. They never bite&mdash;their teeth are ground down. They are
-neither snappish nor carnivorous. They are remarkably fond of salt, and are
-quick to detect its presence. Although timid and yielding in general, they will
-fight any one, or any thing, in defense of their young.”</p>
-</div>
-
-<p class="right">
-<i>Baron Munchausen.</i>
-</p>
-
-<p>The last quoted author has described with remarkable correctness,
-in his remarks upon the cow, the character of a being, of
-whose existence he could not have dreamed&mdash;even of myself. Yes,
-even such I conceive to be my character&mdash;the coat fits, and I will
-put it on&mdash;“under such a shape I write.” Being in external appearance,
-a hale, stout, fat old bachelor of fifty, fond of the arm-chair and
-the comfortable dressing-gown, of easy fortune, retired habits, and
-few friends, I am, in soul, thought and disposition, and to all intents
-and purposes, <i>a gentle old cow</i>. Nor is there any thing humiliating
-in the confession. I esteem the character&mdash;I admire it. Would to
-heaven that in these <i>matter-of-fact, dollar-and-cent</i> days, there
-were more men of my nature! I injure no man; but if any man
-injures me, I have horns and can gore him, a tail and can lash him.
-In consideration of the unsullied purity of my character in my manly
-state, I have ventured to conceive that I am, in the bovine genus,
-that most amiable non-descript, an old maid. Still, I am no Io&mdash;nor
-Io turned old maid. I never was handsome enough to warm
-the soul of Jove, nor mad enough to swim the Bosphorus. I am
-not, never was, and never will be, Oestrus-driven. The many-eyed<span class="pagenum" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</span>
-shepherd, Argus, if ordered to watch <i>me</i>, would have needed only
-one of his hundred eyes&mdash;he might have seen me, even with “half
-an eye,” quietly grazing, all the morning of my life, in the flowery
-meads of Literature, Moral Philosophy and Metaphysics&mdash;ever and
-anon, quenching my thirst with a draft from the pure stream of Helicon&mdash;and
-now, in the afternoon of life, reclined upon the grass, under
-the shade of a branching, verdant oak, placidly, philosophically,
-philanthropically, and withal meekly chewing the stock which I formerly
-stored.</p>
-
-<div class="blockquot">
-
-<p class="center">&mdash;&mdash;“Lacte alimentum cognoscimus.”</p>
-</div>
-
-<p>Were it not presumptuous, I would hope that my production
-might prove the pure, unadulterated, untainted “milk of human
-kindness.”</p>
-
-<h3>RUMINATION FIRST.</h3>
-
-<p>I was recalling to memory, the other day, all the friends and acquaintance
-of my boyhood and youth, that I could recollect; and I
-mustered a goodly list. My mind wandered from their <i>names</i> to
-their hopes and plans; I recalled the schemes and enterprizes, which
-I knew they had meditated. The train once started, visions of bygone
-days and circumstances poured in upon me. Again, I sauntered,
-arm in arm, with a friend, through the moon-lit streets, on a
-summer’s evening&mdash;again, I wandered listlessly along the beach&mdash;again,
-I stood upon the summits of the hills which surrounded the
-abode of my youth&mdash;again, I heard the confiding strain of youthful
-friendship&mdash;I saw the face lit with the joy of anticipated triumph&mdash;the
-step, unnaturally firm, proud and elastic. Alas! where now
-were those friends? Some were dead&mdash;some were in obscurity&mdash;many
-were in mediocrity of life&mdash;few, how few, had <i>approached</i> the
-goal of their youthful wishes. And what was the cause of all this?
-Was the fault in the men, or their plans? Upon the <i>plans</i> I fixed
-it; for I could not, and I would not, lay aught to the charge of the
-loved ones of my youth. And where was the fault in the plans?
-Was it not <i>here</i>&mdash;that the <i>plans</i> were founded on the <i>hopes</i>, while
-the <i>hopes</i> should have been founded on the <i>plans</i>? <i>Hope</i> is the
-<i>etherial</i>&mdash;<i>plan</i> the <i>material</i> part of an expectation. A plan, founded
-on a hope, is like a house founded on the sand&mdash;it cannot endure.
-As verdant forests and luxuriant vegetation adorn and beautify the
-sides, and white fleecy clouds cap the summits, of a rock-based
-mountain, softening the rugged cliffs, filling up the chasms, smoothing
-the precipices, and concealing the roughness of the path which
-winds up the ascent; so should <i>Hope</i>, with its varied hues, tinge
-and adorn the ever-during frame-work reared by <i>Reason</i>. So <i>should</i>
-it be&mdash;but, is it so? Do not men strive rather to throw a semblance
-of reason over their hopes? Do they not build castles in the
-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</span>
-air, and then exert all their ingenuity to give an appearance of probability,
-or at least of <i>possibility</i>, to their baseless fabrics?</p>
-
-<p>O Hope! thou art a blessing, and thou art a <i>curse</i>. Thou art an
-intrusive, impudent, officious, treacherous <i>imp</i>&mdash;thou art a lying
-varlet&mdash;a cheating knave&mdash;thou hast no conscience&mdash;thou wilt gull,
-over and over again, prince and peasant, rich and poor, the unjust
-judge and the oppressed widow. Men kick thee out of doors, and
-again thou comest. Thou art a very Proteus&mdash;deny thee entrance
-in <i>one</i> shape, and instantly thou takest another. Sometimes thou
-servest the devil, and sometimes thou doest business on thine own
-account. Again, I say, hang thee for an intermeddling imp!</p>
-
-<p>Men talk of the pleasures of hope! have they never felt the misery
-of hope deferred&mdash;the pang of hope crushed? Have they ever
-estimated the amount of misery chargeable to this self-same hope?
-Who fathers Ambition, with all its woes, attendant and consequent?
-Hope. How many dream away their lives in listless vacuity, <i>hoping</i>
-all the while, that <i>something will turn up</i>! What injuries has
-Hope not done to youth? Then, when men ought to be training
-themselves for the stern realities of life&mdash;when they should prepare
-their provisions for its stormy voyage, Hope whispers that the course
-is clear&mdash;the ocean calm&mdash;the wind favorable. How many commence
-enterprizes, which can end in nothing but disappointment,
-and undertake duties, to the performance of which their abilities are
-inadequate, spirited on the while by Hope, the traitor, who stimulates
-his unconscious victims to mount round after round of the ladder,
-until, with a whoop and a laugh, he tears the veil from their
-eyes, and permits them to see and to <i>feel</i> that they are high, not on
-the temple, but on the <i>pillory</i> of Fame! ‘Hope sweetens labor’&mdash;does
-he? ‘Thank you, madam, I prefer it without sugar.’</p>
-
-<p>Hold! I revoke&mdash;I take back somewhat that I have said. Hope&mdash;thou
-art an imp, but still a <i>playful</i> imp&mdash;full of mischief, but such
-a lively, laughing, little, curly-headed rogue, with such a comical
-look in the corner of thine eye, that for my life I cannot lose thee.
-I am inclined to say to thee, as one said to his dog&mdash;‘Ah! Tray!
-thou little knowest the mischief thou hast done.’</p>
-
-<p class="right">
-B. V.
-</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="A_RHYMING_MOOD">A RHYMING MOOD.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">There’s much of rapture in those favored hours,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">When o’er the mind a magic influence steals,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">That tunes to poetry and song its powers,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">And melts in music all a warm heart feels.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">There is a blissfulness that lifts the soul</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Far from the paltry cares and toils of time,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">In venting feelings that defy control,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">In lofty-measured strains or tuneful rhyme.</div>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</span></p> </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">The summer’s shower that wets the deep-seared earth,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">And decks her burning surface new in green,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And saves the land from pestilence and dearth,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Comes not more joyous than the spirit dream,</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Steals o’er the poet’s troubled soul, and gives</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">The rapture-speaking voice and tone!</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">He rises to another sphere&mdash;he lives</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">For a short season in a world alone!</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Alone!&mdash;oh no! there Fancy groups her forms</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">More lovely far than earth presents to view;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">More beauteous garniture that land adorns&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">The skies assume a deeper, brighter blue.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Manning.</span></div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="GREEK_ANTHOLOGY_No_IV">GREEK ANTHOLOGY.&mdash;No. IV.</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p>Pray, accept a cold dish for a desert&mdash;a crab apple, as it were,
-and a glass of water, to wash down previous articles and assist digestion.
-I have purposely excluded all brightnesses; for temperance
-is the vogue, and after so diversified and incongruous a meal,
-the cracking of a joke might be as pernicious to your mind as the
-cracking of a bottle would be deleterious to your body. You may,
-if you choose, apply to me the Latin cant phrase, “ab ovo usque
-ad mala,” meaning by ‘<i>mala</i>,’ not ‘<i>apples</i>,’ but ‘<i>evils</i>;’ yet will I
-meet the thrust with calmness&mdash;proudly reflecting that I myself suggested
-the sarcastical <i>equivoque</i>.</p>
-
-<p>Agathias’ narrative of the little <i>ruse</i>, whereby he tore the veil
-of feminine hypocrisy from the heart of his mistress. Let <i>some</i> of
-my condisciples improve upon the hint.</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Eager to know my place in Cynthia’s heart,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">I probed her hidden soul with cunning art.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">“To a far land, my Cynthia, while I go,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Oh, let mine image to thy memory grow!”</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Groaning she sprang in anguish from her chair,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Beat her fair face and tore her shining hair.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">With tears my stay the suppliant beauty prayed,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Till, slow, I yielded to the lovely maid.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Ye gods! how bless’d! since what my heart did crave,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">That, as a favor, to my love I gave.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Minerva once saw Venus all in arms,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">With beamy casque, and wavy plume array’d&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">“Thus dar’st thou meet the trial of our charms,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">My Cyprian rival?” said the awful maid.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Smiling she spoke, “How, when I take the shield,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">If <i>weaponless</i>, my beauty gained the field?”
- <a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="footnote">
-
-<p><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="label">[3]</a> The contest before Paris, on Mt. Ida.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</span></p>
-
-<p>Many an old man, whose limbs are as heavy as if the gold he had
-spent years to amass, were gliding, molten, through his veins, can
-join bitterly in the following lament, and many a young man, who
-forsakes the heights of Parnassus for the vale of Mammon, may
-find, too late, that the chase for riches is, in an evil sense, its own
-“exceeding great reward.”</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">When young, I was poor&mdash;now I’m old, I am wealthy&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Thus my life has been all but a goose-chase of pleasure&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">I had not a copper, when buoyant and healthy,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">But, past its enjoyment, I’ve mountains of treasure.</div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>There has been in all ages a prejudice against step-mothers, and
-the feeling, if unjust, is yet natural. When the hearts of children
-are yet sore with sorrow for the loss of their <i>own</i> dear mother, it
-creates dislike to have another, whom as a stranger, they cannot
-view with love, <i>step</i> over their heads, and assume the reins of command.
-If kind, yet the contrast is strange, if not disgusting&mdash;the
-tones may be soft, but they are not those which sealed their infant
-eyes, and soothed their infant woes&mdash;if overbearing, her tyranny is
-intolerable.</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Thinking her nature with her life was gone,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">No more to household tyranny a slave,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">A youth was crowning once the chiseled stone,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">That rose columnar o’er his step-dame’s grave.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">But as he leaned against its marble base,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">The pillar crushed him, toppling from its place.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Ye step-sons, who would flee his wretched doom,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Beware approaching e’en a step-dame’s <i>tomb</i>.</div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>Here is a thing or two, appertaining to love and women, and so
-forth, just as such things have been described since Adam first gazed
-in pleased astonishment upon Eve,</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">“That would be woo’d, and not unsought be won,”</div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent8">“The amorous bird of night</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Sung spousal, and bid haste the evening star</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">On his hill-top to light the bridal lamp.”</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">A maiden kissed me at the evening hour</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">With dewy lip&mdash;how honied was the kiss!</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Her mouth breathed nectar, and its balmy power</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Hath made me drunk with love’s bewildering bliss.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">I would I were a rose&mdash;that thy sweet hand</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Might gently place me on thy snowy breast&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Or sighing gale&mdash;for then my spirit bland</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">On thy soft bosom would securely rest.</div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</span></p>
-<p>Here follow a few melancholy breathings of that better part, which
-shone bright and burning while it lasted, though its food was error,
-and its end was death. Their aspirations after immortality were
-few and faint&mdash;for the very existence of another world was merely
-an assumption&mdash;a matter of speculation. An immortality of fame, to
-the sober eye, was not merely worthless, if acquired, but its acquisition
-was a thing of toil, and danger, and doubt. Robbed of the
-high aims and hopes for which it was made, “the chainless spirit of
-the eternal mind,” would stoop to no medium flight, but sunk in
-hopeless despondence, and like guilty Adam,</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent4">“On the cold earth it lay,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Oft cursing its Creator.”</div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<p>The light of reason did but make known their darkness, and ignorant
-of the unseen and the future, they clung with deep devotion
-to the visible and the present.</p>
-
-<div class="poetry-container">
-<div class="poetry">
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Drink and be glad: for what’s to-morrow’s sun,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Or what the future? No one knows&mdash;not one.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Haste not, nor toil: but, as thou can’st be kind,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Give, eat, deem all things mortal in thy mind.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">To live, or not to live&mdash;it’s an equal state,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">For life’s a feather in the scales of fate.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Seize it&mdash;’tis thine&mdash;but if thou die&mdash;then what?&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Another has thine all&mdash;it matters not.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">How came I here? Whence am I, and for what?</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">To go again. How know I, knowing nought?</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Nought before birth, I shall be such again,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">For less than nothing are the sons of men.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">But bring me wine&mdash;that fountain of relief&mdash;</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">That sparkling soother of distressing grief.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Oh! swiftly flies the blooming hue,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">That doth the rose adorn,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">And then unto thy searching view,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">The rose is but a thorn.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse indent0">Gray Time flies swiftly by, and steals the breath</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">Of vocal men. Himself unseen the while,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">He shrouds the visible in the dust of death,</div>
- <div class="verse indent2">And brings to light the lowly and the vile.</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Oh! thou of life the undetermined end,</div>
- <div class="verse indent0">Thy steps do daily unto darkness tend.</div>
- </div>
- <div class="stanza">
- <div class="verse right"><span class="smcap">Hermeneutes.</span></div>
- </div>
-</div>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</span></p>
-
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="TO_CORRESPONDENTS">TO CORRESPONDENTS.</h2>
-</div>
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>“The Character of the Indian,” though inadmissible, is not without
-merit. In manner it is nearly faultless; in matter, too commonplace
-to be either instructive or entertaining.</p>
-
-<p>“F.” had better send his verses to “R.” in manuscript. She
-would undoubtedly greet them with a hearty welcome.</p>
-
-<p>“P.’s” poetry on Poland, though apparently somewhat in years,
-is filed for insertion. The prolegomena, on account of their too
-great length, are declined.</p>
-
-<p>“Loose Thoughts on Smoking”&mdash;much too loose for publication.
-We find no fault with the author’s habit, but think he had better
-smoke in silence.</p>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-
-<div class="chapter">
-<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</span></p>
-
-<h2>
-PROSPECTUS<br />
-<small>OF THE</small><br />
-YALE LITERARY MAGAZINE.
-</h2>
-</div>
-
-<p class="h2sub">
-TO BE CONDUCTED BY THE STUDENTS OF YALE COLLEGE.
-</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>An <i>apology</i> for establishing a Literary Magazine, in an institution
-like Yale College, can hardly be deemed requisite by an enlightened
-public; yet a statement of the objects which are proposed
-in this Periodical, may not be out of place.</p>
-
-<p>To foster a literary spirit, and to furnish a medium for its exercise;
-to rescue from utter waste the many thoughts and musings of
-a student’s leisure hours; and to afford some opportunity to train
-ourselves for the strife and collision of mind which we must expect
-in after life;&mdash;such, and similar motives have urged us to this undertaking.</p>
-
-<p>So long as we confine ourselves to these simple objects, and do
-not forget the modesty becoming our years and station, we confidently
-hope for the approbation and support of all who wish well
-to this institution.</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>The work will be printed on fine paper and good type. Three
-numbers to be issued every term, each containing about 40 pages,
-8vo.</p>
-
-<p><i>Conditions</i>&mdash;$2,00 per annum, if paid in advance, or 75 cents
-at the commencement of each term.</p>
-
-<p>Communications may be addressed through the Post Office, “To
-the Editors of the Yale Literary Magazine.”</p>
-
-<hr class="tb" />
-
-<p>This No. contains 2&frac12; sheets. Postage, under 100 miles, 3&frac34;
-cents; over 100 miles, 6&frac14; cents.</p>
-
-<hr class="printed" />
-<div class="blockquot">
-<p>Printed by B. L. Hamlen.</p>
-</div>
-
-<hr class="chap x-ebookmaker-drop" />
-<div class="chapter transnote">
-<h2 class="nobreak" id="Transcribers_Notes">
-Transcriber’s Notes
-</h2>
-
-<p>A number of typographical errors were corrected silently.</p>
-
-<p>Cover image is in the public domain.</p>
-
-</div>
-
-<div style='display:block; margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE YALE LITERARY MAGAZINE (VOL. I, NO. 4, JUNE 1836) ***</div>
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