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the of the new life threw into various occupations copper plate and it was while teaching at near philadelphia that he formed the friendship with william the whose beautiful garden home stood near by on the western bank of the the love of birds which had always been a source of delight to was by this friendship and the side of his nature was awakened through the advice and encouragement of his friend the he learned to draw though past his year and the making of an american became the passion of his life the shadow of melancholy that so persistently followed him was largely by his enthusiasm in the pursuit of this new study across the mountains the in a small boat wandering alone through the wilderness of forest and swamp sleeping under the stars or in the rude cabin of the the first american sought studied and drew the birds of the western world some of his letters descriptive of the wild frontier read like a romance many a hitherto unknown bird was described and through his zeal before the completion of his last volume fell ill as a result of exposure in the pursuit of some rare bird and died at philadelphia august d his remains lie in the church yard of old s church philadelphia his work is his monument s life and writings will always appeal to the general reader even to the the personality of the man and the vitality of his work are the chief charms the poem on the fish hawk is full of the strong fresh breeze and local color of the and that on the s breathes of the free open air of the country side by alexander the american the usual spring and summer song of the is a soft agreeable and oft repeated uttered with open quivering wings and is extremely pleasing in his motions and general character he has great resemblance to the robin of britain and had he the brown olive of that bird instead of his own blue could scarcely be distinguished from him like him he is known to almost every child and shows as much confidence in man by with him in summer as the other by his familiarity in winter he is also of a mild and peaceful disposition seldom fighting or with other birds his society is by the inhabitants of the country and few farmers neglect to provide for him in some suitable place a snug little summer house ready fitted and rent free for this he more than sufficiently them by the cheerfulness of his song and the multitude of injurious insects which he daily towards fall that is in the month of october his song changes to a single plaintive note as he passes over the yellow woods and its melancholy air to our minds the approaching decay of the face of nature even after the trees are of their leaves he still over his native fields as if to leave them about the middle or end of november few or none of them are seen but with every return of mild and open weather we hear his plaintive note amidst the fields or in the air seeming to the of winter indeed he appears scarcely ever totally to us but to follow fair weather through all its till the return of spring such are the mild and pleasing manners of the and so universally is he esteemed that i have often regretted that no pastoral muse has yet arisen in this western world to do justice to his name and to him to us still more by the tenderness of verse as has been done to his representative in britain the robin a small acknowledgment of this kind i have to offer which the reader i hope will excuse as a tribute to rural innocence when winter s cold and are no more green meadows and brown fields the their to the shore and cloud to the lakes are a by l alexander when first the lone butterfly on the wing when red glow the so fresh and so pleasing oh then comes the the herald of spring and with his the charms of the season then loud make the to ring then warm the sunshine and fine is the weather the blue flowers just beginning to spring and wood and together oh then to your gardens ye repair your walks border up sow and plant at your leisure the will chant from his box such an air that all your hard toils will seem truly a pleasure he through the orchard he visits each tree the red and the apple s sweet blossoms he up wherever they be and the that in their he the vile from the com it the worms from the where they riot and his song and his services freely are ours and all that he asks is in summer a shelter the is pleased when he in his train now searching the now mounting to cheer him the gardener delights in his sweet simple strain and on his to survey and to hear him the slow lingering forget they ll be while gazing intent as he before them in mantle of sky blue and bosom so red that each little seems to him when all the gay scenes of the summer are o er and autumn slow enters so silent and sallow and millions of that charmed us before have fled in the train of the sun seeking swallow the forsaken yet true to his home still and looks for a to morrow till forced by the horrors of winter to he sings his adieu in a lone note of sorrow while spring s lovely season serene warm the green face of earth and the pure blue of heaven or love s native music have influence to charm or	4
sympathy s glow to our feelings is given by alexander l still dear to each bosom the shall be his voice like the of hope is a treasure for through storms if a calm he but see he comes to remind us of sunshine and pleasure the in summer and fall is fond of open pasture fields and there on the of the g eat to look out for passing insects a whole family of them are often seen thus situated as if receiving lessons of dexterity from their more expert parents who can a crawling among the grass at a considerable distance and after feeding on it instantly resume their former position but whoever informed dr that this bird is never seen on trees though it makes its n st in the holes of them might as well have said that the americans are never seen in the streets though they build their houses by the sides of them for what is there in the construction of the feet and claws of this bird to prevent it from or what sight more common to an of this country than the perched on the top of a or apple tree or among the branches of those reverend chestnut trees that stand alone in the middle of our fields by the rains and of ages the wild pigeon from american this remarkable bird merits a distinguished place in the annals of our tribes a claim to which i shall endeavor to do justice and though it would be impossible in the bounds allotted to this account to relate all i have seen and heard of this species yet no circumstance shall be omitted with which i am acquainted however extraordinary some of these may appear that may tend to illustrate its history the wild pigeon of the united states a wide and extensive region of north america on this side of the great stony mountains beyond which to the westward i have not heard of their being seen according to mr they abound in the country round s bay where they usually remain as late as december feeding when the ground is covered with snow on the of they spread over the whole of canada were seen by captain and his party near the by l o alexander great falls of the upwards of miles from its mouth reckoning the of the river were also met with in the interior of by colonel and extended their range as far south as the gulf of occasionally visiting or breeding in almost every quarter of the united states but the most remarkable characteristic of these birds is their together both in their and also during the period of in such prodigious numbers as almost to belief and which has no parallel among any other of the tribes on the face of the earth with which are acquainted these appear to be undertaken rather in quest of food than merely to avoid the cold of the climate since we find them lingering in the northern regions around s bay so late as december and since their appearance is so casual and irregular sometimes not visiting certain districts for several years in any considerable numbers while at other times they are innumerable i have witnessed these in the country often in and also in various parts of virginia with amazement but all that i had then seen of them were mere straggling parties when compared with the millions which i have since beheld in our western forests in the states of and the territory these fertile and extensive regions abound with the nut which the chief food of the wild pigeon in seasons when these nuts are abundant corresponding multitudes of may be confidently expected it sometimes happens that having consumed the whole produce of the trees in an extensive district they discover another at the distance perhaps of sixty or eighty miles to which they regularly repair every morning and return as regularly in the course of the day or in the evening to their place of general or as it is usually called the place these places are always in the woods and sometimes occupy a large extent of forest when they have frequented one of these places for some time the appearance it is surprising the ground is covered to the depth of several inches with their all the tender grass and destroyed the surface with large limbs of trees broken down by the weight of the birds one above another and the trees themselves for thousands of acres killed as completely as if with an axe by alexander the marks of this desolation remain for many years on the spot and numerous places could be pointed out where for several years after scarce a single vegetable made its appearance when these are first discovered the inhabitants from considerable distances visit them in the night with guns clubs long poles pots of and various other engines of destruction in a few hours they fill many and load their horses with them by the indians a pigeon or breeding place is considered an important source of national profit and dependence for that season and all their active ingenuity is exercised on the occasion the breeding place from the former in its greater extent in the western countries above mentioned these are generally in woods and often extend in nearly a straight line across the country for a great way not far from in the state of about five years ago there was one of these breeding places which through the woods in nearly a north and south direction was several miles in breadth and was said to be upwards of forty miles in extent in this tract almost every tree was furnished with nests wherever the branches could accommodate them the made their first appearance there about the loth of april and left it altogether with their	4
young before the th of may as soon as the young were fully grown and before they left the nests numerous parties of the inhabitants from all parts of the adjacent country came with beds cooking many of them accompanied by the greater part of their families and for several days at this immense nursery several of them informed me that the noise in the woods was so great as to their horses and that it was difficult for one person to hear another speak without in his ear the ground was with broken limbs of trees eggs and young which had been from above and on which herds of were and were sailing about in great numbers and seizing the from their nests at pleasure while from twenty feet upwards to the tops of the trees the view through the woods presented a perpetual tumult of crowding and fluttering multitudes of their wings roaring like thunder mingled with the frequent crash of falling timber for now the were at work cutting down those trees that seemed to be most crowded with nests and contrived to fell them in such a manner by i c alexander that in their descent they might bring down several others by which means the falling of one large tree sometimes produced t o hundred little inferior in size to the old ones and almost one mass of fat on some single trees upwards of one hundred nests were found each containing one young only a circumstance in the history of this bird not generally known to it was dangerous to walk under these flying and fluttering millions from the frequent fall of large branches broken down by the weight of the multitudes above and which in their descent often destroyed numbers of the birds themselves while the clothes of those engaged in the woods were completely covered with the of the these circumstances were related to me by many of the most respectable part of the community in that quarter and were confirmed in part by what i myself witnessed i passed for several miles through this same breeding place where every tree was spotted with nests the remains of those above described in many instances i counted upwards of ninety nests on a single tree but the had abandoned this place for another sixty or eighty miles off towards green river where they were said at that time to be equally numerous from the great numbers that were constantly passing overhead to or from that quarter i had no doubt of the truth of this statement the mast had been chiefly consumed in and the every morning a little before sunrise set out for the territory the nearest part of which was about sixty miles distant many of these returned before ten o clock and the great body generally appeared on their return a little after noon i had left the public road to visit the remains of the near and was the woods with my gun on my way to when about one o clock the which i had observed flying the greater part of the morning began to return in such immense numbers as i never before had witnessed coming to an opening by the side of a creek called the where i had a more view i was astonished at their appearance they were flying with great and rapidity at a height beyond in several deep and so close together that could shot have reached them one discharge could not have failed of bringing down several individuals from right to left as far as the eye by alexander t o could reach the breadth of this vast procession extended seeming everywhere equally crowded curious to determine how long this appearance would continue i took out my watch to note the time and sat down to observe them it was then half past one i sat for more than an hour but instead of a of this prodigious procession it seemed rather to increase both in numbers and rapidity and anxious to reach before night i rose and went on about four o clock in the afternoon i crossed the river at the town of at which time the living torrent above my head seemed as numerous and as extensive as ever long after this i observed them in large bodies that continued to pass for six or eight minutes and these again were followed by other detached bodies all moving in the same direction till after six in the evening the great breadth of front which this mighty multitude preserved would seem to intimate a corresponding breadth of their breeding place which by several gentlemen who had lately passed through part of it was stated to me at several miles it was said to be in green county and that the young began to fly about the middle of march on the th of april forty nine miles beyond and not far from green river i crossed this same where the nests for more than three miles spotted every tree the leaves not being yet out i had a fair prospect of them and was really astonished at their numbers a few bodies of lingered yet in different parts of the woods the roaring of whose wings was heard in various quarters around me all accounts agree in stating that each nest contains only one young these are so extremely fat that the indians and many of the are accustomed to melt down the fat for domestic purposes as a substitute for butter and at the time they leave the nest they are nearly as heavy as the old ones but become much after they are turned out to shift for themselves it is universally asserted in the western countries that the though they have only one young at a time breed thrice and sometimes four times in the same season the circumstances already mentioned render this highly	4
probable it is also worthy of observation that this takes place during that period when nuts etc are scattered about in the greatest and by the frost but they are not confined to these alone indian com by l o i alexander and many others furnish them with abundance at all seasons the of the live oak are also eagerly sought after by these birds and rice has been frequently found in individuals killed many hundred miles to the northward of the nearest rice plantation the vast quantity of mast which these multitudes is a serious loss to the bears pigs and other on the fruits of the forest i have taken from the crop of a single wild pigeon a good handful of the of nuts with and to form a rough estimate of the daily consumption of one of these immense flocks let us first attempt to calculate the numbers of that above mentioned as seen in passing between and the territory if we suppose this column to have been one mile in breadth and i believe it to have been much more and that it moved at the rate of one mile in a minute four hours the time it continued passing would make its whole length two hundred and forty miles again supposing that each square yard of this moving body comprehended three the square yards in the whole space multiplied by three would give an almost inconceivable multitude and yet probably far below the actual amount each of these to half a pint of mast daily the whole quantity at this rate would equal per day heaven has wisely and graciously given to these birds rapidity of flight and a disposition to range over vast tracts of the earth otherwise they must have perished in the districts where they resided or devoured up the whole productions of as well as those of the forests a few observations on the mode of flight of these birds must not be omitted the appearance of large detached bodies of them in air and the various they display are strikingly picturesque and interesting in descending the by myself in the month of february i often rested on my oars to contemplate their a column eight or ten miles in length would appear from high in air across to the leaders of this great body would sometimes gradually vary their course until it formed a large bend of more than a mile in those behind tracing the exact route of their this would continue sometimes long after both were beyond the reach of sight by alexander j oa that the whole with its marked a space on the face of the heavens resembling the of a vast and majestic river when this bend became very great the birds as if sensible of the unnecessary course they were taking suddenly changed their direction so that what was in column before became an immense front all its until it swept the heavens in one vast and infinitely extended line other lesser bodies also united with each other as they happened to approach with such ease and elegance of forming new figures and varying these as they united or separated that i was never tired of contemplating them sometimes a hawk would make a sweep on a particular part of the column from a great height when almost as quick as lightning that part shot downwards out of the common track but soon rising again continued advancing at the same height as before this was continued by those id who on arriving at this point down almost to a g eat depth and rising followed the exact path of those that went before as these vast bodies passed over the river near me the surface of the water which was before smooth as glass appeared marked with innumerable occasioned by the dropping of their resembling the commencement of a shower of large drops of rain or hail happening to go ashore one charming afternoon to purchase some milk at a house that stood near the river and while talking with the people within doors i was suddenly struck with astonishment at a loud rushing roar succeeded by instant darkness which on the first moment i took for a about to the house and everything around in destruction the people observing my surprise coolly said it is only the and on running out i beheld a flock thirty or forty yards in width sweeping along very low between the house and the mountain or height that formed the second bank of the river these continued passing for more than a quarter of an hour and at length varied their bearing so as to pass over the mountain behind which they disappeared before the rear came up in the atlantic states though they never appear in such multitudes they are sometimes very numerous and great is then made amongst them with the gun the and various other implements of destruction as soon as it is ascertained in a town that the are flying by l o alexander in the neighborhood the rise en the clap are spread out on suitable situations commonly on an open height in an old field four or five live with their eyelids up are fastened on a stick a small hut of branches is fitted up for the at the distance of forty or fifty yards by the pulling of a string the stick on which the rest is alternately elevated and depressed which produces a fluttering of their wings similar to that of birds just this being perceived by the passing flocks they descend with great rapidity and finding com etc about begin to feed and are instantly by the pulling of a cord covered by the net in this manner ten twenty and even thirty dozen have been caught at one sweep meantime the air is darkened with large bodies of them moving in various directions	4
the woods also swarm with them in search of and the of is perpetual on all sides from morning to night wagon loads of them are poured into market where they sell from fifty to twenty five and even twelve cents per dozen and become the order of the day at dinner breakfast and supper until the very name becomes sickening when they have been kept alive and fed for some time on com and their flesh great superiority but in their common state they are dry and and far inferior to the full grown young ones or the nest of the wild pigeon is formed of a few dry slender twigs carelessly put together and with so little that the young one when half g own can easily be seen from below the eggs are pure white great numbers of and sometimes the bald eagle himself about those breeding places and seize the old or the young from the nest amidst the rising multitudes and with the most daring the young when beginning to fly confine themselves to the under part of the tall woods where there is no brush and where nuts and are abundant searching among the leaves for mast and appear like a prodigious torrent rolling along through the woods every one striving to be in the front vast numbers of them are shot while in this situation a person told me that he once rode furiously into one of these rolling multitudes and picked up thirteen which had been trampled to death by his horse s feet in a few minutes they will beat the whole nuts from a tree with their wings while all is a scramble both above and by alexander below for the same they have the same notes common to domestic but much less of their in some flocks you will find nothing but young ones which are easily by their dress in others they will be mostly females and again g eat multitudes of with few or no females i cannot account for this in any other way than that during the time of the are exclusively engaged in food both for themselves and their mates and the young being unable yet to undertake these extensive excursions associate together accordingly but even in winter i know of several species of birds who separate in this manner particularly the red winged among whom thousands of old may be found with few or no young or females along with them from these immense armies settle in almost every part of the country particularly among the woods and in the pine and woods of the eastern and parts of the continent mr us that they breed near fort at s bay in n and i myself have seen the remains of a large breeding place as far south as the country of the in in the former of these places they are said to remain until december from which circumstance it is evident that they are not regular in their like many other species but about as of food them every spring however as well as fall more or less of them are seen in the neighborhood of philadelphia but it is only once in several years that they appear in such formidable bodies and this commonly when the are heavy to the north the winter here more than usually mild and etc abundant the passenger pigeon is sixteen inches long and twenty four inches in extent bill black covered by a high eye brilliant fiery orange or space surrounding it flesh colored skin head upper part of the neck and chin a fine slate blue on the chin throat breast and sides as far as the a lower part of the neck and sides of the same gold green and crimson the latter most the ground color slate the of this part is of a peculiar structure ragged at the ends belly and vent white lower part by alexander of the breast fading into a pale red the same legs and feet lake with white back and tail dark slate spotted on the shoulders with a few scattered of black the tinged with brown greater light slate and dull black the former tipped and edged with white tail long and greatly all the feathers towards the point the two middle ones plain deep black the other five on each side white near the tips deepening into near the where each is crossed on the inner with a broad spot of black and nearer the root with another of edged with white wing black the female is about half an inch shorter and an inch less in extent breast brown upper part of the neck to ash the spot of gold green and much less and not so brilliant tail slate naked slate colored in all other respects like the male in color but less vivid and more tinged with brown the eye not so brilliant an in both the tail has only twelve feathers the fish hawk or the regular arrival of this noted bird at the when the busy season of fishing adds peculiar interest to its first appearance and it many a from the with the following lines of these circumstances i shall conclude its history soon as the sun great ruler of the year to our northern his bright career and from the of ocean calls from sleep the and of the deep when back to ride and day and night the equal hours divide true to the season o er our sea beat shore the sailing high is seen to with broad wing and slow marks each loose in the deep below sweeps down like lightning with a and bears his struggling victim to the shore by alexander the long with joy the well known of his rough employ and as he bears his and oars along thus the welcome season with a song	4
s that stop a till i get the water out o my een and my mouth and my nose and my hair a bit where are you mr i think i shall put on my clothes again james the air is chill and i see from your face that the water is as cold as ice shepherd oh man but you re a desperate think shame o naked there at the mouth o the by john machine wi the crew o yon up the at ye after to captain through the james on the sincerity of a shepherd and the faith of a christian lay your hand on your heart and tell me was not the shock tremendous i thought you never would have reappeared shepherd the shock was than what a body feels when suddenly a sermon or fa in a staircase in a dream but i am to a into the sea shepherd three four five seven aught but there s need o for pearl in the straits o or the coast o can in his breath like that s yon chaise has about half a mile o gate towards sin he out the like a safe us what s this me by the legs a a a to the surface shepherd he s the water till he s sick but every man for and god for us a i m shepherd stretches away to sea in the direction of in pursuit every my dear james like so much i swim like a salmon shepherd o sir that lord had but been alive the what a a liverpool gentleman has undertaken james to swim four and twenty miles at a stretch what are the odds shepherd three to one on and hell get james i had no idea you were so rough on the back you are a perfect shepherd personality mr out at sea ill compare wi you day o the year yet you re a out o the water at every stroke neck breast and half way the back after the fashion o the great by john american serpent as for me my style o s less and less hurry but speed come sir i ll you for a o and shepherd melt away like in the sunshine ut james shepherd it s a drawn well pay o sir a glorious city clear the air you see a man and a woman on the tap o arthur s seat i had notion there were and and columns and pillars and and in and at this distance the ee distinguish them that to and them that to naval monuments and them that to gas companies and them that s only in the and the o groves or single trees as and a and a and d hills sprinkled wi sheep and shadows and the blue glimmer o a mid summer day wi the at ninety but here to us bob the fresh cool and waves temperate as the air within the s palace james here goes the fly wheel shepherd that beats a he round in the water like a jack beef i m he stop safe us he s fun out the perpetual motion what fish james would you incline to be if put into scales shepherd a for they the speed o they ll dart past and about a ship in full sail before the wind just as if she was at anchor then the is a fish o peace he saved the life o a poet of wi his harp and oh they say the s in death ye ken his hues to those o the sun the i like to be a i should choose to sport for a season in speed he is a match for the and then james think what luxury to swallow a well fed or a delicate or a young negro girl occasionally shepherd and to be wi a in a cocked hat and feather at which the rises as a by john does at a flee hauled on board and to pieces wi and by the jolly crew or left alive on the deck as clean as a box and without an inch o men die at shore james of natural deaths as bad as that shepherd let me see i great objections to be a whale in the seas fun to fling a o into the air or wi ae o your tail to drive in the stern posts o a fun still james to feel the in your and to go away beneath an ice with four mile of line connecting you with your distant enemies shepherd but then marry but ae wife and are passionately attached to their offspring there they and i are congenial fish that so large a share of domestic happiness a whale james is not a fish shepherd he let him for that he s ca d a fish in the bible and that s better authority than oh that i were a whale what think you of a summer of the american shepherd what to be constantly upon by the american navy military and no to be able to show your back water without being by the in a the newspapers and pursued even by pleasure parties the and cigars besides although i objection to a certain degree o i just like to be so very singular as the american sea serpent who is the only o his and whether he in his bed or is slain by must the pain and the o an bachelor what s the matter	4
her heart were lost shepherd i ni fa i the why not james you look more irresistible than you imagine never saw i your face and figure to more advantage when lying on the o with your eyes closed in the sunshine and the shadows of poetical dreams chasing each other along cheek and brow you would make a beautiful corpse james shepherd think shame o mr for to use that word and the o the o your leg yet knotted wi the think shame o that word s no but what the with the shepherd shepherd i was ance half asleep in a sea shore cave o the isle o wearied out by the beauty o the that had for hours in ae line o harmless by john fire and to the rim o the ocean sound but a bit faint dim o the tide whether or i ken not no against but upon the sides o the cave as when some shepherd of the placed far amid the melancholy main shepherd that s like in his castle o a the war id was forgotten and my ain name and what i was and where i had come and why i was there nor was i but a dream are you to or james shepherd something like a breath o fell on my face and breast and seemed to touch all my body and my limbs but it be mere i for at the time there was the or say rather the o the voice no the green cave wa s but close my ear and then within my breast at first for the was and sweet and wi a touch o plaintive in t no unlike the strain o an harp i was rather surprised than feared and that it was but the o my ain fancy afore she yielded to the o that solitary sleep james i hear the steamer shepherd i opened my een that had only been half and may we never reach the shore again if there was not i sir in the embrace o a james remember we are well out to if you please no shepherd i would scorn to be with a lee in my mouth sir it is quite true that the hair o the is green and it s as as it s green and as the that your unsteady footing on the rocks then what een oh what een like the boiled een o a s head and and yet expression in them an expression o love and fondness that would an james you are surely shepherd o dear dear me the o that kiss i had hung up my to dry on a o the cliff for it was o by john when the sea air itself ye wi as warm a as that a s fan when you re side by side wi her in an o james you fox shepherd that i was as naked as either you or me mr at this blessed moment and when i felt enveloped in the scales tail and o the o a monster i till the roof o the cave let upon us me and the and i up for lost worse than and my dear shepherd shepherd i began the lord s prayer and the creed and the hundred and nineteenth but a do the held the and while i was out her kisses and than i ever was under the that ever sat on my wi ae desperate we ae ledge to till wi like to the squares o the distances we played plunge like into the sea a deep and i rid o the man till this day for there was i in the cave like a cock and to be seen or heard although ye believe me the cave had the smell o and and and and fish in general to turn the o a whale or a sea lion ship let us change our position james shall we board the steamer shepherd only look at the waves they gang her and sides and in her wake for miles gin we venture nearer we ll never wear mercy on us she s upon us let us fast and passing across her bows we shall bear up to out o a the commotion captain captain it s me and mr a for an stop the till we get past the heavens james what a of ladies on deck let us shepherd you may for you swim high but as for me i seem in the water to be a mere head like a on a church a boat captain a boat by john james you aren t mad sure who ever a steamer in our plight there will be fainting from stem to stern in cabin and shepherd i ken that in the straw and green veil and wi the glass at her ee ye ho miss james remember how exceedingly delicate a thing is a young lady s reputation see she turns away in confusion shepherd captain i say what news london captain through a speaking trumpet lord s on the in the com bill again carried against ministers by to sixty six shillings what says your friend m to captain shepherd cares a about com bills in our situation what s the captain about o his trumpet but he may just as his tongue for i never ae word out o the mouth o a trumpet he says the general opinion	4
in london is that the administration will stand that and shepherd and indeed do you think sir if and had been in the sea and that had ta en the in the o his leg as you either did or said you did a short while sin that him as i you faith no he indeed hairy o till george showed the o his head water and then him on the temples no no james they would risk lives for each other s sake but no politics at present we re getting into the swell and will have our work to do to beat back into smooth water james that was a shepherd dog on it need to be a sea or or stormy or some o s birds keep your mouth shut james till we re out of the swell shepherd em hem shepherd it s sin i ve drank water at ae at ae i mean as i sir sin by l o john that by she does indeed kick up a o a proof shepherd ae thing i tell you sir and that s gin you the the you assistance me no gin you were my ain this a the the james i nay nay james she is worthy of her name and a better seaman than captain never the compass he never comes below except at meal times and a pleasanter person cannot be at the foot of the table all night long he is on deck looking out for shepherd i declare to you sir that just in the o the sea i see the top o the steamer s see mr see mr only look here only look here here s mr north s great vi r r capital capital he has been paying his father a visit at the gallant admiral s and come across our steps on the sands shepherd did ye think we was bow bow bow bow bow his is like that of hunt sir thomas shepherd sir you re tired sir you had better o his tail no bad idea james but let me just put one arm round his neck there we go my boy you swim strong as a bow bow why i think james he speaks uncommonly well few of our scotch members speak better he might lead the opposition shepherd what for will ye aye be politics sir but really i fund his tail very useful in that and let s leave him to for men on ae s a with what a bold kind eye the noble animal keeps swimming between us like a christian by john shepherd i never been able to persuade my heart and my that immortal see how he first a me and then a you wi his tail like a his be immortal i am sure james that if it be i shall be extremely happy to meet in any future society shepherd the minister ca that no but the mystery o life gang out like the o a perhaps the bit that we ca because they dance out but ae single day never but keep for ever and aye and their wings in million and may do through a eternity the universe is wide eyes right james a of ladies with and extended to catch the breeze let us lie on our oars and they will never observe us bow bow female heard from the pleasure boat a gentleman in the stern rises with an oar and stands in a threatening attitude ease off to the east james hush shepherd i they ve pieces for they may us for and us wi swan shot or i ll at the flash yon s no a gun that has in his he lets fall his oar into the water and the rows the rows hark a song song from the retiring boat shepherd a very sang and very well sung jolly companions every one the fair authors of the odd volume m shepherd what s their names they choose to be james and that being the case no gentleman is entitled to withdraw the veil shepherd they re sweet singers and the words o their sang are capital odd volumes are ingenious well written and amusing the public thinks so and they sell like shepherd i m beginning to get and hungry what a we make how miles do you think we by t john three in or over let me sound why james my toe the sand by the nail six shepherd i m glad o t it ill be a ne er do ran wi our out o the machines but g they ill them ye bow bow shepherd now that our feet touch the i ll you a race to the machines for done but let us have a fair start once twice thrice and the shepherd start with in the van amid loud from the shore scene j by i o the younger american writers on historical and political subjects is conspicuous for his literary touch suggestive thought and thorough knowledge his studies of contemporary politics and institutions have won wide attention for their thoughtful and searching analysis presented in a style of exceptional attraction and inspired by a sincere desire to interpret and promote the good in american methods his more general essays upon topics historical or literary have	4
than miss the zest of it by it is evident the thing cannot be done by the the old whom we relish were not we love some of them for their sweet some for their some for their delicious but our modem are not so they are above all things else knowing thoroughly informed they would not for the world contribute any of their own to the narrative and they are much too watchful and dutiful in their care to keep their method pure and untouched by any thought of theirs to let us catch so much as a glimpse of the underneath the chronicle their purpose is to give simply the facts art and a sort of index and table of the world s events the trouble is that men refuse to be made any wiser by such means though they will readily enough let their eyes linger upon a monument of art they will pass by a mere monument of industry it suggests nothing to them the materials may be suitable enough but the handling of them leaves them dead and commonplace an interesting circumstance thus comes to light it is nothing less than this that the facts do not of themselves constitute the truth the truth is abstract not it is the just idea the right revelation of what things mean it is only by such arrangements and of facts as suggest the arrangement of events for example may or may not be the arrangement which most surely brings the truth of the narrative to light and the best arrangement is always that which not the facts themselves but the subtle and else invisible forces that in the events and in the minds of men forces for which events serve only as lasting and dramatic words of utterance take an instance how are you to enable men to know the truth with regard to a period of revolution will you give them simply a calm statement of recorded events simply a quiet narrative of what actually happened written in a and by from documents of the time you may save yourself the trouble as well make a pencil sketch in outline of a raging write upon one portion of it flame upon another smoke here town hall where the fire started and there spot where was killed it is a not a picture even if you made a veritable picture of it you could give only part of the truth so long by as you confined yourself to black and white where would be all the wild and terrible colors of the scene the red and flame the masses of smoke carrying the dull glare of the fire to the very skies like a great signal banner thrown to the winds the hot and frightened faces of the crowd the down the street with the faint light of a lamp here and there gleaming white from some hastily opened without the colors your picture is not true no of will ever represent the truth the fuller and more minute you make your the more will the truth be obscured the little details will take up as much space in the statement as the great into which they are up and the proportions being false the whole is false truth fortunately takes its own revenge no one is deceived the reader of the chronicle lays it aside it he cannot realize how any of the things spoken of can have happened he goes elsewhere to find if he may a real picture of the time and perhaps finds one that is wholly no wonder the grave and like sighs he of course wrote to be read and not merely for the manual exercise of it and when he sees readers turn away his heart him for his fellow men is it as it always was that they do not wish to know the truth alas good men do not seek the truth as they should but do you know what the truth is it is a thing ideal displayed by the just proportion of events revealed in form and color dumb till facts be set in into words put together into sentences swung with proper tone and it is not only that have color nothing in human life is without it in a you can nothing but a single incident in a you cannot often carry truth beyond a single sentence only by art in all its variety can you as it is the various face of life yes but what sort of art there is here a wide field of choice shall we go back to the art of which was so great a master we could do worse it must be a great art can make men lay aside the novel and take up the history to find there in very fact the movement and drama of life what does well he does who else can mass the details as he does and yet not mar or obscure but only the effect of the picture as a whole who else by can bring so amazing a profusion of knowledge within the strait limits of a simple plan nowhere everywhere free and obvious in its movement how sure the strokes and how bold and vivid the result yet when we have laid the book aside when the charm and the excitement of the telling narrative have worn off when we have lost step with the swinging gait at which the style goes when the details have faded from our recollection and we sit removed and thoughtful with only the greater outlines of the story sharp upon our minds a deep and dissatisfaction take possession of us we are no longer young and we are that we should have been so pleased and taken with the glitter and color and mere life of the picture let boys be by we cry men must look deeper	4
what of the judgment of this and eloquent man can we agree with him when he is not talking and the charm is gone what shall we say of his of men and measures is he just is he himself in possession of the whole truth does he open the matter to us as it was does he not rather rule us like an advocate and make himself master of our judgments then it is that we become aware that there were two the artist with an exquisite gift for telling a story filling his pages with little it is impossible to forget fixing these with an art upon the surface of a narrative that did not need the ornament they gave it so strong and large and adequate was it and the turning narrative into argument and making history the of a party the mighty narrative is a great engine of proof it is not told for its own sake it is evidence up in order to justify a judgment we detect the tone of the advocate and though if we are just we must deem him honest we cannot deem him safe the great story is and willingly or unwillingly we reject the guide who takes it upon himself to determine for us what we shall see that we feel sure cannot be true which makes of so complex a history so simple a for the judgment there is art here but it is the art of special pleading even to the if not what master shall we follow shall our historian not have his convictions and enforce them shall he not be our guide and speak if he can to our spirits as well by as to our readers are a poor jury they need as well as information the matter must be interpreted to them as well as related there are moral facts as well as material and the one sort must be as plainly told as the other of what service is it that the historian should have insight if we are not to know how the matter stands in his view if he refrain from judgment he may deceive us as much as he would were his judgment wrong for we must have that is his function we would not set him up merely to tell us tales but also to display to us characters to open to us the moral and intent of the matter were the men sincere was the policy righteous we have but just now seen that the facts lie deeper than the mere visible things that took place that they involve the moral and motive of the play shall not these too be brought to light unquestionably every sentence of true history must hold a judgment in solution all cannot be told if it were possible to tell all it would take as long to write history as to it and we should have to the reading of it to the leisure of the next world a few facts must be selected for the narrative the great majority left but the selection for what purpose is it to be made for the purpose of conveying an impression of the truth where shall you find a more radical process of judgment the essential facts taken the left out why you may make the picture what you will and in any case it must be the express image of the historian s judgments it is his purpose or should be to give a true impression of his theme as a whole to show it not lying upon his page in an open and dispersed analysis but set close in intimate every line every stroke every bulk even omitted which does not enter of very necessity into a single and image of the truth it is in this that the writing of history and very from the statement of the results of the writing of history must be based upon and record but it can no more be directly constructed by the together of bits of original than by the mere together of state documents individual us as it were with the private documents and intimate records without which the public are and but by themselves these are by l os wholly out of perspective it is the consolation of those who produce them to make them so they would lose heart were they forbidden to regard all facts as of equal importance it is facts they are after and only facts facts for their own sake and without regard to their several importance these are their ore very precious ore which they are concerned to get out not to they have no direct concern with what may afterwards be done at the or in the s shop they will even boast that they care not for the beauty of the ore and are how or in what shape it may become an article of commerce much of it is thrown away in the nice processes of manufacture and you shall not distinguish the product of the several mines in the coin or the cup or the the historian must indeed himself be an he must know good ore from bad must distinguish quality must stop to get out of the records for himself what he for the perfection of his work but for all that he must know and stand ready to do every part of his task like a master workman and every bit of he uses standing sure a man of science as well as an artist he must take and use all of his for the sake of his art not to display his materials but to subordinate and them in his effort to make by every touch and cunning of hand and tool the perfect image of what he sees the very truth of his s vision of the	4
world the true historian works always for the whole impression the truth with proportions parts he has no favorite parts of the story which he are bits of his own but loves only the whole of it the full and image of the day of which he writes the crowded and yet consistent details which carry without of themselves the large features of the time any exaggeration of the parts makes all the picture false and the work is to do over test every bit of material runs the artist s rule and then forget the material forget its origin and the from which it has been freed and think only and always of the great thing you would make of it the pattern and form in which you would lose and it that is its only high use by the west in american history from mere literature and other essays by by permission of co since the war of undertaken as if to set us free to move westward seven states had been admitted to the union and the whole number of states was advanced to eleven new states had come into with the old thirteen the voice of the west rang through all our counsels and in the new partners took possession of the government it is worth while to remember how men stood amazed at the change how startled dismayed the states of the east were at the revolution they saw effected the riot of change they saw set in and no man who has once read the singular story can forget how the eight years reigned saw the government and politics themselves transformed for long the story being written in the regions where the shock and surprise of the change was greatest the period of this momentous revolution was spoken of amongst us as a period of the birth time of a deep and permanent in our politics but we see it differently now whether we have any taste or stomach for that rough age or not however much we may wish that the old order might have stood the generation of and have been prolonged and the good tradition of the early days handed on unbroken and we now know that what the nation in that day of change was not great and perilous as were the errors of the time but the old order was changed once and for all a new nation stepped with a touch of upon the stage a nation which had broken alike with the traditions and with the wisely wrought experience of the old world and which with all the haste and of youth was minded to work out a separate policy and destiny of its own it was a day of but there was nothing sinister at the heart of the new plan it was a experiment to fling out without wise guides upon ways but an continent afforded enough and to spare even for the it was sure to be so with a nation that came out of the secluded of a virgin continent it was the bold frontier voice of the west sounding in affairs the timid shivered but the robust strong and rejoiced in the air of the new day by it was then we swung out into the main paths of our history the new voices that called us were first silvery like the voice of henry clay and spoke old familiar words of eloquence the first of the west even tried to con the and spoke in the phrases of politics long dead and gone to dust as did but presently the tone changed and it was the and accents of the real that rang dominant above the rest harsh impatient and with an evident dash of temper the east slowly accustomed itself to the change caught the movement though it grumbled and even trembled at the pace and managed most of the time to keep in the running but it was always henceforth to be the west that set the pace there is no the questions that have ruled our spirits as a nation during the present century the public land question the question and the question of slavery these from first to last it was the west that made each one of these the question that it was without the free lands to which every man who chose might go there would not have been that easy prosperity of life and that high standard of abundance which seemed to render it necessary that if we were to have and a industry at all we should foster new by a system of protection which would make the profits of the factory as certain and as abundant as the profits of the farm it was the constant movement of the population the constant march of wagon trains into the west that made it so cardinal a matter oi policy whether the great national domain should be free land or not and that was the land question it was the settlement of the west that transformed slavery from an accepted institution into passionate matter of slavery within the states of the union stood sufficiently protected by every solemn sanction the constitution could no man could touch it there think or hope or purpose what he might but where new states were to be made it was not so there at every step choice must be made slavery or no slavery a new choice for every new state a fresh act of to go with every fresh act of organization had there been no there could have been no slavery question except by revolution and contempt of law but with a continent to be peopled the choice thrust itself forward at every step and upon every hand this was the slavery question not what should be done to reverse the past but what should be by done	4
of sagacity which so marked him all his life into the active business of state politics sat twice in the state and then for a term in his sensitive and seeing mind open all the while to every turn of fortune and every touch of nature in the moving affairs he looked upon we have here a national man over men understood the east better than the east understood him or the people from whom he sprung and this is every way a very circumstance for my part i read a lesson in the singular career of this great man is it possible the east remains while the west to a wider view be strong backed brown handed upright as your pines by the scale of a shape your designs is an inspiring programme for the and the but how are you to be brown handed in a city office what if you never see the upright pines how are you to have so big a purpose on so small a part of the as it has grown old unquestionably the east has grown there is no suggestion of the in its city streets or of the and farmer in its well dressed men its ports with shipping from europe and the indies its newspapers run upon the of an old world it hears of the great plains of the continent as of foreign parts which it may never by l o o think to see except from a car window its life is self and selfish the west save where special interest as in those pockets of silver where men s eyes catch as it were an eager gleam from the very ore itself the west is in less danger of who shall say in that wide country where one region ends and another begins or in that free and changing society where one class ends and another this surely is the moral of our history the east has spent and been spent for the west has given forth her energy her young men and her substance for the new regions that have been a making all the century through but has she learned as much as she has taught or taken as much as she has given look what it is that has now at last taken place the westward march has stopped upon the final slopes of the pacific and now the plot turn upon their old paths fill in the spaces they passed by neglected in their first journey in search of a land of promise settle to a life such as the east knows as well as the west nay much better with the change the pause the settlement our people draw into closer groups stand face to face to know each other and be known and the time has come for the east to learn in her turn to her understanding of political and conditions to the scale of a as her own poet bade let us be sure that we get the national temperament send our minds abroad upon the continent become neighbors to all the people that live upon it and lovers of them all as was read but your history aright and you shall not find the task too hard your own local history look but deep enough tells the tale you must take to heart here upon our own as truly as ever in the west was once a national frontier with an elder east beyond the seas here too various combined and elements separated elsewhere effected a and wholesome mixture here too the national stream flowed full and strong bearing a thousand things upon its currents let us resume and keep the vision of that time know ourselves our neighbors our destiny with lifted and open eyes see our history truly in its great proportions be ourselves liberal as the great principles we profess and so be the people who might have again the heroic adventures and do again the heroic work of the past tis thus we shall renew our youth and secure age against decay by i o t william winter winter is a graceful poet and and a dramatic critic who is conspicuous in his profession in the united states his work in the latter capacity has been marked for a long term of years for its literary eloquence and its upon ideal standards and in his more general to whether in prose or verse the qualities of sympathy and imagination have always been apparent mr winter as a writer upon the drama past or brings philosophic principles and a wide knowledge of literature to bear upon his judgments of actors and the art of acting and this gives his perspective and atmosphere he has strong prejudices but no one can question his earnestness and honesty or his position as a student of the practical drama who claims that in all which to moral health is as important as artistic merit mr winter is a new drawing thence perhaps his tendency to moral on the time he was bom at july th was educated in boston and is a of the law school in he went to new york and did book for the sunday press and other writing for vanity fair the and the weekly review in he became the dramatic critic of the new york a position he has held for over thirty years a number of his books studying the or events of the current drama have been drawn from or based upon his to that newspaper mr winter began to publish poetry in with the maiden volume the and other poems and half a dozen books of verse have come from his pen the latest collection in contains what he most worthy of preservation these poems in purity of and form suggest the influence of the standard older singers and out breathe a sweet and true spirit they deal	4
with friendship and love with the bitter sweet of life and death william winter by t o william winter many are or and these are among the most mr winter in a preface to this latest volume expresses the hope that his verse may prove a not altogether unworthy addition to that old school of english poetry of which gentleness is the soul and simplicity the garment and this describes not ill his accomplishment as well as his aim in poetry his prose falls into two main classes the and studies of stage and the essays in which his wanderings in the british islands are of the latter english gray days and gold old and ivy and shakespeare s england are representative winter writes these sketches mingling fact and sentiment in a way to make very pleasant and reading to the critical studies belong carefully wrought sketches of mary and henry and of many other players in these mr winter s views on the of the actor s art are set forth with much of literary attraction in his daily dramatic criticism he often in satire when attacking what he considers the latter day of the drama the problem play the and the like and is never more vigorous and amusing though hardly fair to some of the literary forces but mr winter s preaching is both sane and wholesome and no doubt it is needed in a day of so much literary confusion altogether he may be described as a charming writer whose influence in his sphere has been decided and s van from life and art of joseph by co every reader of washington knows the story of van s adventure on the that delightful romantic in which character humor and fancy are so delicately blended under the spell of s acting the spectator was transported into the past and made to see as with bodily eyes the orderly dutch civilization as it crept up the borders of the the quaint villages the stout with their pipes and the loves and troubles of an elder generation it is a calmer life than ours yet the same elements compose it here is a mean and cruel making a heedless man his victim and on the weakness that he well knows how to betray here is parental love by william winter as it often is by sad cares and here the love of young and hopeful hearts blooming amid flowers sunshine music and happiness van never seemed so as in the form of this great actor standing in poetic relief against the background of actual life has made him our familiar friend we see that is a fond of his bottle and his ease but beneath all his rags and of character as well as essentially good we understand why the children love him why the dogs run after him with joy and why the jolly boys at the tavern welcome his song and story and genial companionship he has wasted his fortune and his wife and child and we know that he is much to blame he knows it too and his talk with the children shows how keenly he feels the consequence of a weakness which yet he is unable to it is in those minute touches that his sympathetic study of human nature his perception looking quite through the hearts and thoughts of men the observer saw this in the struggle of s long but only spirit of when his wife turns him from their home in night and storm and abandoned degradation still more vividly was it shown in his pathetic bewilderment his touching of the anguish of lonely age bowed down by sorrow and doubt when he comes back from his sleep of twenty years his disclosure of himself to his daughter marked the climax of pathos and every heart was melted by those imploring looks of mute suspense those broken accents of love that almost fears an utterance perhaps the perfection of s acting was seen in the weird interview with the ghosts that situation is one of the best ever devised for the stage and the actor devised it midnight on the highest peak of the dimly lighted by the moon no one speaks but the ghosts cluster around him the g m shade of a cup of drink to the mortal intruder already dazed by supernatural surroundings almost shuddering in the awful silence the ghosts in their liquor then suddenly the spell is broken the moon is lost in struggling clouds the glide away and slowly vanish and van with the drowsy piteous murmur don t leave me boys falls into his mystic sleep the idle drinking dutch so perfectly yet so exalted by ideal treatment is not a heroic by william winter figure and cannot be said to possess an significance either in himself or his experience yet his temperament has the fine fibre that everybody loves and everybody accordingly has a good feeling for him although nobody may have a good word for his way of life all know that order of man he is generally poor he never did a bad action in all his life he is continually cheering the weak and lowly he always wears a smile the of a gentle heart ambition does not trouble him his wants are few he has no care except when now and then he feels that he may have wasted time and talent or when the sorrow of others falls darkly on his heart this however is rare for at most times he is bright as light and clear as wind nature has established with him a kind of kindred that she allows with only a chosen few in him shakespeare s rosy ideal is suggested suppose the singing birds the grass whereon thou tread st the presence the flowers fair ladies and thy steps no more than	4
a delightful measure or a dance nobody would dream of setting up s as a model but everybody is glad that he exists most persons are so full of care and trouble so weighed down with the sense of duty so anxious to the world that contact with a nature which is careless in the stress and din of toil dwells in an atmosphere of sunshine idleness and is the of careless mirth brings a positive relief this is the feeling that s acting inspired the of genius was all around it sincerity humor pathos imagination the of wild flowers and slow drifting summer clouds and soft music heard upon the waters in nights of june those are the springs of the actor s art there are a beauties of method in it which satisfy the judgment and the sense of but those beauties there is a sweetness of temperament a delicate of emotion gentleness and dream like repose which the most affectionate sympathy art could not supply that subtle potent charm it is the divine fire in his of van an individual character through successive stages of growth till the story of a ufe is completely told if the student of acting would by william winter appreciate the and force of the dramatic art that is displayed in the work let him consider the and depth of the effect as contrasted with the simplicity of the means that are used to produce it the sense of beauty is satisfied because the object that it is beautiful the heart is deeply and surely touched for the simple and sufficient reason that the character and experience revealed to it are lovely and pathetic for van s goodness exists as an oak exists and is not dependent on principle or purpose however he may drift he cannot drift away from human affection weakness was never with more sorrowful misfortune than his dear to us for what he is he becomes dearer still for what he suffers and in the acting of for the manner in which he suffers it that manner arising out of complete with the part informed by and liberal knowledge of human nature and guided by an instinct of taste is graceful free from effort and it shows with delicate precision the gradual natural changes of the character as wrought by the pressure of experience its result is the winning of a rare type of human nature and experience by the hues of romance and exalted by the atmosphere of poetry and no person of imagination and sensibility can see it without being charmed by its humor thrilled by its spiritual beauty and beneath the spell of its humanity made deeply conscious that life is worthless however its ambition may be rewarded unless it is by love there will be as there have been many of van there is but one for him it was reserved to the subject to a type of good natured into an emblem of poetical freedom to and in the world of fact the vagabond of the world of dreams in the presence of his fascinating of that droll gentle drifting human creature to whom trees and and flowers are familiar companions to whom spirits appear and for whom the mysterious voices of the lonely midnight forest have a meaning and a charm the observer feels that poetry is no longer to canvas and marble but walks forth in a human form with the diamond light of morning mysterious with spiritual lovely with rustic freedom and fragrant with the incense of the woods by l o william winter s acting is an education as well as a delight it especially teaches the imperative importance in dramatic art of a thorough and perfect plan which yet by freshness of spirit and of execution shall be made to seem free and careless s of has been before the public for thirty years yet it is not and it does not grow tiresome the secret of its vitality is its poetry a commonplace as drawn by washington becomes a poetic vagabond as and embodied by the actor and the dignity of his artistic work is rather than diminished from the fact that he plays in a drama throughout which the expedient of as a motive of action is exaggerated working under explicit information as to s views and wishes with reference to the part certainly improved the old piece but as certainly the scheme to show the sunny sweetness and indolent temperament of is planned while the text is devoid of literary excellence and intellectual character attributes which though not dramatic are desirable the actor is immensely superior to the play and may indeed be said to make it the obvious goodness of his heart the deep sincerity of his moral purpose the force of his sense of beauty the in him of what was the first to call the faculty of taste the incessant charm of his temperament those are the means ruled and guided by clear vision and strong will and made to an artistic figure possessing both and luxuriant that make the greatness of s of he has created a character that everybody will continue to love notwithstanding weakness of nature and indolent conduct never had the purpose to or the wrong and misery of the opportunity that he discerned and has brilliantly improved was that of showing a lovely nature set free from the of and with picturesque romantic surroundings during a momentous experience of spiritual life and of the of the world the obvious defects in the structure are an undue emphasis upon the bottle as poor s failing and an undue exaggeration of the quality in it would be easy taking the tone of the to look at s design as a matter of fact and not of poetry and by dwelling on the of his subject rather than the spirit by william winter	4
of his art and the beauty of his execution to set his beautiful and achievement in a degraded and degrading light but fortunately the heart has its logic as well as the head and all are not without imagination the heart and imagination of our age know what means in and have accepted him therefore into the of the world does not love van because of his faults but in spite of them underneath his defects the human nature is sound and bright and it is out of this interior beauty that the charm of s arises the conduct of van is the result of his character not of his at the sacrifice of here and there the element of might be left out of his experience and he would still act in the same way and possess the same fascination the drink is only an expedient to involve the hero in domestic strife and open the way for his ghostly adventure and his pathetic the machinery is clumsy but that does not either the beauty of the character or the supernatural thrill and mortal anguish of the experience those elements make the soul of this great work which while it the heart also the imagination lifting us above the storms of life its sorrows its losses and its fret till we rest at last on nature s bosom children once more and once more happy most persons who have seen as would probably name that achievement as essentially the most natural piece of acting ever presented within their observation in its effect it is natural in its method in the process by which it is wrought it is absolutely artificial in that method not forgetting the soul within that method will be found the secret of its power in the art with which genius and actual life and in that dwells the secret of all good acting if you would produce the effect of nature in dramatic art you must not be natural you must be artificial but you must seem to be natural the same step the same gesture the same tone of voice the same force of expression that you involuntarily use in the proceedings of actual every day life will not upon the stage prove adequate they may indicate your meaning but they will not convey it their result will be tame narrow and your step must be lengthened your tone must be elevated your muscles must be allowed a play the with which you intend to produce the by l o william winter effect of a sigh must leave your lips as a sob the actor who is exactly natural in his and speech upon the stage who acts and speaks precisely as he would act and speak in a room his audience because he falls short of his object and is indefinite and commonplace as has to present among other aspects of human nature a temperament that to some extent is swayed by an infirmity the appetite for liquor that in actual life is offensive but that as shown by when it reaches his reaches them only as the token or suggestion of an amiable weakness and that weakness and not the symptom of it is the spring of the whole character and action the with which looks in at the window of the cottage where the offended is waiting for him is not the of a but the playful of an artist who is only suggesting a the effect is natural the process is artificial constantly addresses the imagination and he uses imagination with which to address it in actual life the garments worn by would be soiled in s artistic scheme the studied and carefully selected are clean and they are made not only harmonious in color and thus so pleasing to the eye that they attract no especial attention but with the sweet and indolent drifting spirit of the character no idea could easily be suggested more with probability more unnatural and fantastic than the idea of a vagabond encircled by a ring of dutch ghosts on the top of a mountain in the middle of the night but when by the deep feeling and imagination with which he fills the scene and by the firm skill with which he his forces and guides them to effect has made that idea a living fact no spectator of the weird thrilling pathetic picture ever thinks of it as unnatural the illusion is perfect and it is perfectly maintained all along its line the character of the impossible hero of an impossible experience is so essentially unnatural that if it were in the literal manner of nature it would produce the effect of whirling extravagance pouring his soul into an ideal of which he is himself the creator an ideal which does not exist either in washington s story or charles s play or s of and treating that idea in a poetic spirit as to every fibre tone hue motion by william winter and attitude has made as natural as if we had personally in his and wandering life so potent indeed is the poetic art of the actor that the dog who is never shown possesses all the same a positive existence in our thoughts the principal truth by s acting therefore is the necessity of clear perception of what is meant by nature the heights are reached only when inspiration is guided by intellectual purpose and used with artistic skill shakespeare with his felicity has this principle into diamond light over that art which you say adds to nature is an art which nature makes all the following poems are from by william winter and published by co and are with the approval of mr winter a pledge to the dead read before the society of the army of the at n y june	4
i th from the lily of love that in the glow of a festival kiss on the wind that is heavy with roses and shrill with the of bliss let it float o er the ocean that breaks on the kingdom of night our oath of eternal devotion to the heroes who died for the right they loved as we love yet they parted from all that man s spirit can prize left woman and child broken hearted staring up to the pitiless skies left the tumult of youth the rich hope promised to conquer from fate gave all for the burden of death for the flag and the state where they on the slopes of the mountain that only by angels is trod where they muse by the fountain that springs in the garden of god by o o william winter are they lost in splendor do they never look back and regret ah the are constant and tender and honor can never forget divine in their pitying sadness they grieve for their comrades of earth they will hear us and start into gladness and echo the notes of our mirth they will lift their white hands with a blessing we shall know by the tear that it brings the rapture of friendship with and the waving of wings in the grim and that the world through a curse still bringing the good out of evil the of peace on the they were shattered consumed and forsaken like the shadows that fly from the dawn we may never know why they were taken but we always shall feel they are gone if the wind that sighs over our no longer is solemn with but lovely with flowers and and sweet with the calm sabbath bells if virtue in cottage and palace leads love to the of pride tis because out of war s bitter our heroes drank deeply and died ah in doom stricken glory than the greatest that linger behind they shall live in perpetual story who saved the last hope of mankind for their cause was the cause of the races that in slavery s night and the death that was pale on their faces has filled the whole world with its light to the clouds and the mountains we breathe it to the freedom of planet and star let the of ocean it let the winds of the night bear it far by william winter i oath that till manhood shall perish and honor and virtue are sped we are true to the cause that they cherish and true to the dead read at a farewell feast to at s n y june th his will fade in mist and night across the dim sea line and coldly on our aching sight the solemn stars will shine all all in mournful silence save for ocean s distant roar heard where the slow wave sobs on the lonely shore but oh while winged with love and prayer our thoughts pursue his track what glorious sights the midnight air will proudly us back what golden words will flutter down from many a peak of what glittering shapes of old renown that cluster round his name o er s haunted ground will darkly drift again dream like and vague without a sound the of the and breaking hearts will be the wreath for grief that knows no tear when shine on s storm swept heath the blazing eyes of slow mid the of the storm and fate s powers will moody richard s haggard form pace through the twilight hours and wildly o er the sky the red star of tom from the central arch on go down in dusky death by william winter but best of all will softly rise his form of manly grace the noble brow the honest eyes the sweetly patient face the loving heart the stately mind that conquering every ill through seas of trouble cast behind was steadfast still though skies might gloom and tempest though friends and hopes might fall his constant spirit simply brave would meet and suffer all would calmly smile at fortune s frown supreme o er gain or loss and he the wears the crown that gently bore the cross be and bright thou day that golden england knows bloom sweetly round the wanderer s way thou royal english rose and english hearts no need to tell how truth itself this soul of manhood treasure well our love to yours farewell nor mist nor flying cloud nor night can ever dim the wreath of honors pure and proud our hearts have for him but bells of memory still shall and star the sod till our last broken wave of time dies on the shores of god o violet ne name i shall not forget gentle name of violet many and strange the years have sped she who bore that name is dead dead and resting by the sea where she gave her heart to me by william winter dead and now the wave and the dry leaves o er her grave rustling in the autumn wind like the sad thoughts in my mind she was light and soon forgot loved me well and loved me not as the april sky kind or cruel sad or shy gray eyes arch and my youth s passion and despair now through storms of many years now through tender mist of tears looking backward i can see she was always true to me yet with tears that bum cold we parted wa stem spoke the quiet farewell word neither meant and neither heard spoke and parted in our pain never more to meet again sometimes underneath the moon on rose laden nights of june when white clouds drift o er the blue while the pale stars glimmer through and the throws fragrant challenge to the	4
rose and the liberal pine tree perfume on the midnight s wings came with of hope and fear mystic sense that she was near came the thought through good and ih she loves and she remembers still but no word e er came or went and when nine long years were spent by william winter something in my bosom said very softly she is dead now at sombre autumn eve wandering where the grieve or where wild winds whistle free on the hills that front the sea cruel thoughts of love and loss nail my spirit to the cross friends have fallen youth is gone fields are brown and skies are wan one name i shall not forget gentle name of violet w the golden silence hat though i sing no other song what though i speak no other word is silence shame is patience wrong at least one song of mine was heard one echo from the mountain air one ocean murmur glad and free one sign that nothing grand or fair in all this world was lost to me i will not wake the sleeping i will not strain the of thought the sweetest fruit of all desire comes its own way and comes though all the of earth were dead and all their music passed away what nature wishes should be said she ll find the voice to say her heart is in the leaf the drifting cloud the lonely sky and all we know of bliss or grief she speaks in forms that cannot die the mountain peaks that shine afar the silent stars the sea are living signs of all we are and types of all w hope to be by i figure of was a heroic one in the x ing days of the american war of the rebellion he bore a historic name his character was his literary talent beginning to express itself was brilliant he died young and bravely at the head of his column fighting for what he deemed the right here were all the elements for hero making small wonder that his books published were eagerly bought and read to read them now is to realize what an unusual gift in him was the work was of promise rather than full performance but it is worth remembrance it calls for recognition was bom in new haven september d a direct of john early governor of he was from university when twenty years of age and was a notable student winning and greatly admired of his fellows from to the of war more than a dozen years his life was a one his activity varied his health was delicate and at first he much abroad then entered an eastern counting house went to in the employment of the pacific company and later made a tour of and extending it to s island and sound and visiting the s bay company s stations he was often ill but the rough life seemed the for his restoration again he tried the counting room only to be off soon on some adventurous expedition in spite of his uncertain health he was an on horseback and in all out door sports in he studied law and was admitted to the bar trying st louis first then settling in new york he threw himself with into the campaign and was active in making speeches among the working folk an occupation he liked far by better than his profession for which he had little taste thus the war found him unsettled a man with a strong instinct for action and a love for and wild life a keen observer who had seen much and from his college days had been fond of writing here was an unusual for a literary man the war seemed to his friends to be his opportunity certainly he himself welcomed its call to deeds as george william said in a sympathetic sketch s life like a fire long suddenly blazed up into a clear bright flame and vanished on settling in new york he had joined the crack seventh regiment in april he went with it to the front general butler made him his military secretary and at big on june loth in the flush of his manhood he fell with his face to the enemy a beautiful young leader while in camp was to the atlantic monthly admirably papers on his war experiences he began to draw public attention as a writer he left a large amount of manuscript and his books appeared in rapid succession after his death in john and the and the saddle in life in the open air and other papers in the two novels first named proved the most popular reached its edition by john its the latter is unquestionably his strongest work has fine qualities as a story maker the light and shade in human existence is rendered in his fiction he gives his readers plot and action in plenty writing in crisp vigorous english in such a book as john there is an open air that is that tale of the western plains with its heroic men and horses its rescue of woman in distress its thrilling ride for love and life is one of the imaginable it is thoroughly american in tone and atmosphere and had the merit in its day especially of western scenes and characters with sympathy and skill at a time when the west was almost virgin soil to literature in the drama is in the city and it is dark and running into the story seems less mature yet it has power and charm is always the poet and interested in character on its spiritual side this tendency being blended with the narrative interest of plot one feels in reading his vital stories that in his early death american literature suffered a genuine loss the life and poems of by his sister	4
appeared in by a gallop op three from john by fields we were we three on our gallop to save and to and took fire at once they were ready to burst into their top speed and go in a frenzy steady steady cried now well keep this long easy for a while and tell you my plan they have gone to the southward those two men they could not get away in any other direction i have heard say he knows all the country between here and the thank heaven so do i foot by foot i recalled the sound of galloping hoofs i had heard in the night to the southward i heard them then said i in my watch after s was cut the wind and there came a sound of horses and another sound which i then thought a fancy of my own a far away scream of a woman had been quite in his manner until now he groaned as i spoke of the scream o richard he said why did you not know the voice it was she they have terrible hours the start he was silent a moment looking sternly forward then he began again and as he spoke his iron edged on with a rein it is well you heard them it makes their course unmistakable we know we are on their track seven or eight full hours it is long odds of a start but they are not mounted as we are mounted they did not ride as we shall ride they had a woman to carry and their to drive they will fear pursuit and push on without stopping but we shall catch them we shall catch them before night so help us god you are for the mountains i asked for alley he said i remembered how in our very first interview a thousand miles away at the mine he had spoken of this spot all the conversation then all the talk about my horse came back to me like a prophecy suddenly fulfilled i made a good omen of this remembrance for alley said do you recollect my pointing out a in the yesterday when i said i by would like to spend a there if i could find a woman brave enough for this plains life he grew very white as he spoke and again led by a neck we up instantly they will make for the springs the alley is the only gate through the mountains towards the if they can get by there they are safe they can strike oflf new way or keep on to the states out of the line of or any pursuit the springs are the only water to be had at this season without digging in that quarter they must go there we are no farther from the than we were at we have been along the base of the we have only lost time and now that we are fairly under way i think we might shake out another a little faster friends a little faster yet it was a vast desert level where we were riding here and there a scanty of grass appeared to prove that nature had tried her experiment and seeds hither to let the scene be if it would nature had failed the land refused any mantle over its brown desolation the soil was rock fine and well beaten down as the most thoroughly laid behind was the rolling region where the great trail passes before and far away the faint blue of the not a bird sang in the hot noon not a no sound except the beat of our horses hoofs on the pavement we rode side by side taking our strides together it was a waiting race the horses easily they learned as a horse with a rider will that they were not to waste strength in rushes spend but waste not not a step not a breath in that gallop for life this must be our motto we three rode abreast over the brown plain on our gallop to save and to far ah how terribly dim and distant was the a slowly lifting cloud slowly slowly they lifted those gracious heights while we sped over the harsh of the desert harsh abandoned or by but better so there was no long to check our great pace over the smooth race course no here to us no forests to we galloped abreast at the right his weird white held his own with the best of us no whip no by spur for that creature he went as if his master s purpose were stirring him through and through that stem intent made his steel and put an agony of power into every stride the man never stirred save sometimes to put a hand to that bloody blanket across his head and temple he had told his story he had spoken his errand he breathed not a word but with his lean pallid face set hard his gentle blue eyes of their and fixed upon those distant mountains where his vengeance lay he rode on like a fate next in the line i galloped oh my glorious black the great killing pace seemed mere playful to him such as one might ride beside a timid girl thrilling with her first free dash over a common or a golden beach between sea and shore but from time to time he a little forward with his great shoulders and gave a mighty of his body while his hind legs came lifting his under me and telling of the giant reserve of speed and power he kept easily controlled then his ear would go back and his large brown eye with its pupil would look round at my bridle hand and then into my eye saying as well as words could have said it this	4
is mere sport my friend and master you do not know me i have stuff in me of which you do not dream say the word and i can double this it say the word let me show you how i can the earth then with the pressure on the i would say not yet not yet patience my noble friend your time will come at the left rode our leader he knew the region he made the plan he had the hope his was the ruling passion stronger than brotherhood than revenge love made him leader of that galloping three his iron gray bent with white mane flapping the air like a signal flag of eager hope and purpose made the rider s face more beautiful than ever he seemed to behold s motto written on the golden haze before him i felt my heart grow great when i looked at his calm features and caught his assuring smile a gay smile but for the dark resolve beneath it and when he launched some stirring word of cheer and shook another ten of seconds out of the gray s mile even s countenance grew less as he turned to our leader in silent response looked a fit for such a wild charge over the desert waste with his by l o o shirt and with his cap and eagle s his bronze face with its close brown beard his head and his seat like a so we galloped three abreast neck and neck with steadily our pace over the width of desert we must make the most of the work cruel obstacles were before all the wild triumphant music i had ever heard came and sang in my ears to the flinging of the feet on hollow arches of the rock over great vacant underneath sweet and soft around us melted the air of october and its warm flickering currents shook like a veil of gold between us and the blue bloom of the mountains far away but now and lifting step by step on we galloped the the friend the lover on our errand to save and to it came afternoon as we rode on steadily the country grew the horses never but they freely and foam from their nostrils their shoulders by and by with little pleasant a breeze drew down from the glimmering frosty edges of the and cooled us horses and men were cheered and and lifted anew to their work we had seen and heard no life on the desert now in the broken country a or two away as we passed sometimes a lean gray wolf would out of a after us a little way and then on his staring at our strange speed flight and chase he could understand but ours was not flight for safety or chase for food men are queer mysteries to beasts so our next companions found over the edge of a slope bending away to a valley of dry scanty pasture at the left a herd of appeared they were close to us within easy revolver shot they sprang into graceful flight some score of them with tails up and black hoofs glancing presently pausing for curiosity they saw that we fled not followed and they in turn became after us for a mile or more until our stem business left their play far behind we held steadily for that in the blue the mountain lines grew the where we every stride we came upon a wide tract covered with wild sage bushes these delayed and baffled us it was a forest of trees mature and complete but no higher than the knee by every bush had the trunk limbs twigs and gray withered foliage all in miniature of some tree but sturdy that has had a weather beaten struggle for life on a storm by the shore or on a granite side of a mountain with short allowance of soil to eat and water to drink of square miles of that arid region have no important vegetation except this wild sage or and a brother not even good to bum the one may ride through the tearing of a forest as one may shoulder through a crowd of civilized at a spectacle our gallop over the top of this wood was as difficult as to find passage over the heads of the same crowd tall men and short men with hats and stove pipes it was a rough scramble it checked our speed and our horses sometimes we could find natural for a few rods then these strayed aside or closed up and we must plunge straight on we lost time moments we lost more precious than if every one were marked by a drop in a and each drop as it fell changed itself and in the basin a pearl it me this delay i said to they lost as much more time than we he said and he crowded on more desperately as a man rides for dearer than life as a lover rides for love we tore along breaking through and over the sage bushes each man where best he could began to show me what leaps were in him i gave him his head no bridle would have held him i kept my mastery by the voice or rather by the perfect of his will with mine our minds acted together save strength i still warned him save strength my friend for the mountains and the last leaps a little pathway in the sage bushes suddenly opened before me as a lane in the press of hurrying mid the crush of a city i dashed on a hundred yards in advance of my comrades what was this the bushes trampled and broken down just as we in our passage were and breaking them what marks in the dust the trail i cried the	4
trail they sprang toward me followed the line with his eye he galloped forward with a look of triumph by l o suddenly i saw him fling himself half out of his saddle and clutch at some object still going at speed and holding on by one leg alone after the indian fashion for sport or shelter against an arrow or a shot he picked up something from the bushes regained his seat and waved his treasure to us we ranged up and rode beside him over a gap in the sage a lady s glove that was what he had stooped to recover an old riding neatly about the wrist and on the a pretty glove strangely almost feminine in this desolation a well worn glove that had seen better days like its mistress but never any day so good as this when it proved to us that we were on the sure path of rescue i take up the said k qui le we said nothing more for this unconscious token this silent for help made the danger seem more closely imminent we pressed on no in any of the horses where we could we were going at speed where they could the horses kept side by side each other companionship sustained them in that terrible ride and now in front the purple was growing brown and rising up a distinct wall visibly with and the saw teeth of the ridge defined themselves sharply into peak and broad fields of cool snow gleamed upon the we were ascending now all the time into regions we crossed great sloping deep in dry rustling grass where a nation of cattle might pasture we plunged through broad of hot sand we flung ourselves down and up the red sides of water worn we took leaps across dry in the clay we across stony longing for the of water that had flowed there not many months before the trail was plain no craft was needed to trace it here the chase had gone but a few hours ago here across grassy slopes the grass as if a had passed that way here wearily through the sand here treading the red crumbling clay here breaking down the side of a bank here leaving a sharp track in the dry mud of a fled torrent everywhere a straight path pointing for that deepening gap in the alley the only gate of escape by s judgment had divined the course aright on he led charging along the trail as if he were already on the of the pursued on he led and we followed drawing nearer nearer to our goal our horses suffered bitterly for water some five hours we had ridden without a pause not one drop or sign of water in all that arid waste the torrents had poured along the dry too hastily to let the scanty and along their line treasure up any sap of growth the wild sage bushes had plainly never tasted more than seldom out on certain rare days enough to keep their meagre foliage a dusty gray no pleasant anywhere under the long dry grass of the the were and hot as in it became to listen to the panting and gasping of our horses their eyes grew staring and we suffered ourselves hardly less than they it was cruel to press on but we must hinder a cruelty love against time vengeance against time we must not for any weak humanity to the noble that struggled on with us without one token of resistance suffered least he turned his brave eye back and beckoned me with his ear to listen while he seemed to say see this is my endurance i hold my power ready still to show and he curved his proud neck shook his mane like a banner and galloped the of all we came to a broad strip of sand the dry bed of a mountain torrent the trail followed up this path heavy for the tired horses how would they bear the rough work down the yet to come suddenly our leader pulled up and sprang from the saddle look he cried how those fellows spent their time and saved ours thank heaven for this we shall save her surely now they had dug a pit deep in the thirsty sand and found a lurking river buried there nature never questioned what manner of men they were that sought flying from vengeance and planning now another villain outrage still impartial nature did not change her laws for them sunshine air water ufe these of hers she gave them freely that higher by l o boon of death if they were to receive it must be from some other power greater than the force of nature good luck and good omen this well of water in the sand it proved that our chase had as we and had been delayed as we before they had dared to pause and waste moments here their horses must have been drooping terribly the pit was nearly five feet deep a good hour s work and no less had dug it with such tools as they could bring i almost laughed to think of the two slowly out the sliding sand with a tin plate perhaps and a pan while a score of miles away upon the desert we three were riding hard upon their tracks to follow them the for this refreshment they had left non i was ready to say triumphantly but then i remembered the third figure in their group a woman like a growing calmer as her peril grew and seemed to withdraw and the pang of this picture crushed back into my heart any thoughts but a mad anxiety and a frenzy to be driving on we drank of this well by the no gentle beauty to us to delay no grand old	4
tree the shelter and the of the fountain an near nothing but bare hot sand but the water was pure cool and bright it had come from the and still remembered its parent we drank and were grateful almost to the point of pity had we been but like my friend and i could well nigh have felt mercy here and turned back but rescue was more imperative than vengeance our business tortured us as with the of while we we these moments of refreshment before night fell down the west and night was soon to be climbing up the east we must overtake and then i wiped the dust and away from s nostrils and breathed him a moment then i let him drain deep delicious draughts from the cup he thanks and my noble comrade he drank like a when i mounted again he gave a and bound my weight was a feather to him all those of our hard hot gallop were nothing the brown here was close at hand its glittering icy above the dark and walls far above the black by of pines stooped forward and hung over us as we rode we were now at the foot of the range where it dipped suddenly down upon the plain the gap our goal all day opened before us grand and terrible some giant force had clutched the mountains and them narrowly apart the wild and then wound away and closed lost between its mighty walls a thousand feet high and bearing two brother p n of purple cliffs aloft far above the snow line a fearful into a scene of the and agonies of earth and my excited eyes seemed to read gilded over its entrance in the dead gold of that october sunshine words from s inscription per me si va la ch here we are said speaking hardly above his breath this is alley at last thank god in an hour if the horses hold out we shall be at the springs that is if we can go through this at the same pace my horse began to a little before the water perhaps that will set him up how are yours that he has not begun to show himself yet i may have to carry you en before we are done said nothing but pointed impatiently down the the gaunt white horse moved on quicker at this gesture he seemed a machine not flesh and blood a being like his master living and acting by the force of a purpose alone our chief led the way into the yes john you were right when you called alley a wonder of our continent i remember it now i only saw it then for those strong scenes of nature assault the soul whether it will or no fight in against or negative resistance and bide their time to be admitted as dominant over the imagination it seemed to me then that i was not noticing how grand the how the how rich and gleaming the rock faces in alley my business was not to stare about but to look sharp and ride hard and i did it through me one goes among the lost folk l e ve behind all hope ye who enter by l o yet now i can remember distinct as if i beheld it every stride of that pass and everywhere as i recall foot after foot of that fierce chasm i see three men with set faces one pale and wearing a bloody all galloping steadily on on an errand to save and to terrible riding it was a pavement of slippery rock great beds of loose stones of mighty where a had fallen an ago before the days of the road maker race where an foot might catch wide where a horse might fall or a timid drag him down terrible riding a pass where a calm would go quietly picking his steps thankful if each hour counted him a safe mile terrible riding madness to go as we went horse and man any moment either might every limb but man and horse neither can know what he can do until he has dared and done on we went with the old frenzy growing heart almost broken with eagerness no or our horses were a part of ourselves while we could go they would go since the water they were full of leap again down in the shady alley too evening had come before its time noon s packing of hot air had been by a mountain breeze drawing through horses and men were and cheered to their work and in such riding as that the man and the horse must think together and move together eye and hand of the rider must choose and command as bravely as the horse the blue sky was overhead the red sun upon the walls a thousand feet above us the chasm opened before it was late these were the last moments but we should save the lady yet yes our hearts shouted to us we shall save her yet an the channel of a dry torrent followed the pass it had made its way as water does not straightway but by that potent feminine method of passing under the frowning front of an obstacle and leaving the dull rock staring there while the wild creature it would have held is gliding away down the valley this channel baffled us we must leap it without check wherever it crossed our path every second now was worth a century here was the sign of horses passed but now we by could not choose ground we must take our leaps on that cruel rock wherever they poor he had carried his master so nobly there were so few miles to do he had chased so well	4
he to be in at the death lifted him at a leap across the poor his hind feet slipped on the time smoothed rock he fell short he plunged down a dozen feet among the rough of the torrent bed was out of the saddle almost before he struck raising him no he would never rise again both his fore legs were broken at the knee he rested there kneeling on the rocks where he fell groaned the horse screamed horribly horribly there is no more sound and the scream went echoing high up the cliffs where the red sunlight rested it costs a loving master much to butcher his brave and horse the half of his self but it costs him more to hear him shriek in such misery drew his pistol to put poor out of pain sprang down and caught his hand stop he said in his hoarse whisper he had hardly spoken since we started my nerves were so strained that this mere ghost of a sound rang through me like a death yell a cry of merciless and vengeance i seemed to hear its echoes rising up and swelling in a flood of thick uproar until they burst over the summit of the pass and were wasted in the of the towering mountain above stop whispered no shooting the r ll hear the knife i he held out his knife to my friend hesitated one heart beat could he stain his hand with his faithful servant s blood screamed again snatched the knife and drew it across the throat of the crippled horse poor he sank and died without a moan noble martyr in the old heroic cause by j o i caught the knife from i cut the of my the heavy saddle with its and roll of blankets fell to the ground i cut off my spurs they had never yet touched s he stood beside me quiet but trembling to be now up behind me i whispered for the awe of death was upon us i mounted sprang up behind i ride light for a tall man is the slightest body of an i ever saw stood steady till we were firm in our seats then he tore down the here was that vast reserve of power here the spirit here the striking true as a where the brave eye saw footing here that agony of speed here the great promise fulfilled the great heart thrilling to mine the grand body living to the beating heart noble i rode with a i left it hanging loose i did not check or guide him he saw all he knew all all was his doing we sat firm as we could as we must dashed along the pass pressed after the gaunt white horse struggled to leader presently we lost them behind the curves of the alley no other horse that ever lived could have held with the black in that headlong gallop to save over the slippery rocks over the pavement plunging through the loose stones staggering over the leaping the down up on always on on went the horse we clinging as we might it seemed one beat of time it seemed an eternity when between the ring of the hoofs i heard whisper in my ear we are there the flung apart right and left i saw a i saw the gleam of water dashed on there they were the arrived but one moment the lady still bound to that pack mule a a just beginning to not dismounted in chase of the other animals as they strayed to by the men heard the tramp and saw us as we sprang into the both my hands were at the bridle grasping my waist with one arm was awkward with his pistol saw us first he snatched his six and fired shook with a his pistol arm dropped before the murderer could cock again was upon him he was ridden down he was beaten trampled down upon the grass crushed we ourselves from the where was the other the coward without firing a shot was s horse blindly up the whence we had issued we turned to was up again and stood there shuddering but the man a had battered in the top of his skull blood was from his mouth his ribs were broken all his body was a trodden he breathed once as we lifted him then a tranquil look stole over his face that look of the weary body thankful that the turbulent soul has gone was dead and not we had been his was the stain of blood by william ll d distinguished in his day as lawyer and author left speeches which are a part of american eloquence he wrote the best biography of henry and in his of gave a noble example of old fashioned classical although his life and chief labor are associated with virginia was born at november th he was of german he was left an orphan at eight years of age and was brought up by an uncle his education was received at a local grammar school some in a private family followed and then he studied law and began its practice in three years later he married and settled at pen park near virginia removing to in for three years he was clerk of the house of and afterwards of the eastern district of virginia he made his home in in his popular letters of the british spy appeared in the virginia during that year they to be addressed to a british m p by a of the same country and contained interesting in the was first published the series of papers collected into book form under the title the rainbow returned to in and the next year took part in the of for treason regarding his scheme for a empire	4
being retained as assistant counsel to the attorney general and making a very strong impression by his impassioned pleading he was in the house of united states attorney for the district of virginia in and for three terms attorney general of the united states his essays entitled the old bachelor were printed in the in most of his essay writing thus had newspaper birth settled in in and in he was the anti william by by henry delivering his famous speech from a painting by by by by william candidate for the he died while engaged in his profession at washington february i th dr s life was one of varied usefulness and importance he was a southern gentleman of the old school and his writings have a pleasing flavor of good breeding and easy elegance with something of the formality and of his time as an author he is and polished rising on occasion to real eloquence his works make an impression of and integrity qualities which seem to have been reflected in his character a man of much local reputation and influence his written words both for thought and style are worthy of an audience not confined to his locality and period personal characteristics of henry from sketches of the life and character of henry mr henry s conversation was remarkably pure and he never swore he was never heard to take the name of his maker in vain he was a sincere christian though after a form of his own for he was never attached to any particular religious society and never it is believed with any church a friend who visited him not long before his death found him engaged in reading the bible here said he holding it up is a book worth more than all the other books that were ever printed yet it is my misfortune never to have found time to read it with the proper attention and feeling till lately i trust in the mercy of heaven that it is not yet too late he was much pleased with s view of the internal evidences of the christian religion so much so that about the year he had an impression of it struck at his own expense and distributed among the people his other favorite works on the subject were s rise and progress of religion in the soul and butler s of religion natural and revealed this latter work he used at one period of his life to style by way of pre eminence his bible the selection proves not only the piety of his temper but the of his taste and his relish for profound and vigorous his morals were strict as a husband a father a master he had no superior he was kind and hospitable to the stranger by william and most friendly and to his neighbors in his dealings with the world he was faithful to his promise and punctual in his to the utmost of his power yet we do not claim for him a total from the failures of humanity moral perfection is not the property of man the love of money is said to have been one of mr henry s strongest passions in his desire for he was charged with wringing from the hands of his and more particularly those of the whom he defended rather too he was too for an attempt to the shores of the which had heretofore been used as a public common although there was at that time no law of the state which protected them from in one of his earlier purchases of land he was blamed also for having availed himself of the existing laws of the state in paying for it in the paper of the country nor was he free from censure on account of some which he is said to have had in the profits of the trade he was accused too of having been rather more vain of his wealth toward the close of his life than became a man so great in other respects let these things be admitted and let the man who is without fault cast the first stone in of these charges if they be true it ought to be considered that mr henry had been during the greater part of his life oppressed by poverty and all its distressing train of consequences that the family for which he had to provide was very large and that the bar although it has been called the road to honor was not in those days the road to wealth with these considerations in view charity may easily pardon him for having considered only the of the means which he used to acquire an independence and she can easily excuse him too for having felt the success of his a little more sensibly than might have been becoming he was certainly neither proud nor hard hearted nor if he was either there can be no reliance on human testimony which represents him as being in his general intercourse with the world not only rigidly honest but one of the kindest and most indulgent of human beings while we are on this ungrateful subject of moral the fidelity of history requires us to notice another charge against mr henry his passion for fame is said to been by william too strong he was accused of a wish to the public favor and under the influence of this desire to have felt no gratification in the rising fame of certain conspicuous characters to have indulged himself in and remarks upon them and to have been at the bottom of a against one of the most eminent if these things were so alas poor human nature it is certain that these charges are very inconsistent with his general character so far from being naturally envious and disposed to keep back modest merit one of the finest traits in his character	4
was the parental tenderness with which he took by the hand every young man of merit covered him with his in the and led him forward at the bar in relation to his first great rival in eloquence richard henry lee he not only did ample justice to him on every occasion in public but defended his fame in private with all the zeal of a brother as is by an original correspondence between those two eminent men now in the hands of the author of colonel his next great rival he entertained and uniformly expressed the most exalted opinion and in the of as will be remembered paid a compliment to his eloquence at once so splendid so happy and so just that it will live forever the of that abound with the most and ardent of his respect for the talents and virtues of the other eminent gentlemen who were arrayed against him mr mr mr even the justly great and fame of mr never from him in public at least one remark on the contrary the name of that gentleman who was then in france having been introduced into the of the for the purpose of the weight of his opinion mr henry spoke of him in the strongest and warmest terms not only of admiration but of affection him our illustrious fellow citizen our enlightened and worthy our common friend the love of money and of fame are certainly base and degrading passions they have sometimes characters otherwise the most bright but they will find no advocate or in any virtuous bosom in relation to mr henry however we may be permitted to doubt whether the facts on which these so inconsistent with his general character by i o william are have not been and whether so much of them as is really true may not be fairly charged to the common account of human mr henry s great intellectual defect was his to this it was owing that he never possessed that admirable and vigorous of mind which turns promptly to everything to everything everything and by its operations each in its proper time and place and manner to the same cause it is to be ascribed that he never possessed that patient and that ready neat copious and command of details which forms so essential a part of the duties both of the and the lawyer hence too he did not avail himself of the progress of science and literature in his age he had not as he might have done those ample stores of various useful and curious knowledge which are so naturally expected to be found in a great man his library of which an has been furnished to the author was extremely small composed not only of a very few books but those too commonly odd volumes of science and literature he knew little or nothing more than was occasionally from conversation it is not easy to conceive what a mind like his might have achieved in either or both of these walks had it been properly trained at first or occupied in those long intervals of leisure which he threw away one thing however may be safely pronounced that had that mind of strength been either so trained or so occupied he would have left behind him some written monument compared with which even statues and pillars would have been but the of a day but he seems to have been of s opinion who is reported to have said of himself that he had read as much as other men he should have been as ignorant as they were mr henry s book was the great volume of human nature in this he was more deeply read than any of his countrymen he knew men thoroughly and hence arose his great power of persuasion his preference of this study is manifested by the following incident he met once in a with the late mr who although a great was infinitely more remarkable for his ignorance of men than mr henry was for that of books what mr said he still buying books yes said mr i have just by i william heard of a new work which i am extremely anxious to take my word for it said he mr we are too old to read books read men they are the only volume that we can to advantage but mr henry might have both with infinite advantage not only to himself but to his country and to the world and that he did not do it may it is believed be fairly ascribed rather to the of his temper than the deliberate decision of his judgment henry s first case from sketches of the life and character of henry soon after the opening of the court the cause was called it stood on a writ of inquiry of no plea having been entered by the since the judgment on the the array before mr henry s eyes was now most fearful on the bench sat more than twenty the most learned men in the colony and the most capable as well as the critics before whom it was possible for him to have made his d but the court house was crowded with an overwhelming multitude and surrounded with an immense and anxious throng who not finding room to enter were to listen without in the deepest attention but there was something still more awfully than all this for in the chair of the magistrate sat no other person than his own father mr opened the cause very briefly in the way of argument he did nothing more than explain to the jury that the decision upon the had put the act of entirely out of the way and left the law of as the only standard of their he then concluded with a highly wrought on the benevolence of the clergy and	4
now came on the first trial of henry s strength no one had ever heard him speak and curiosity was on he rose very awkwardly and faltered much in his the people hung their heads at so a commencement the clergy were observed to exchange sly looks with each other and his father is described as having almost sunk with confusion from his seat but these feelings were of short duration and soon gave place by william to others of a very different character for now were those wonderful faculties which he possessed for the first time developed and now was first witnessed that mysterious and almost supernatural of appearance which the fire of his own eloquence never failed to work in him for as his mind rolled along and began to glow from its own action all the of the seemed to shed themselves his attitude by degrees became erect and lofty the spirit of his genius awakened all his features his countenance shone with a and grandeur which it had never before exhibited there was lightning in his eyes which seemed to the spectator his action became graceful bold and commanding and in the tones of his voice but more especially in his emphasis there was a peculiar charm a magic of which any one who ever heard him will speak as soon as he is named but of which no one can give any adequate description they can only say that it struck upon the ear and upon the heart in a manner which language cannot tell add to all these his wonder working fancy and the peculiar in which he clothed its images for he painted to the heart with a force that almost it in the language of those who heard him on this occasion he made their blood run cold and their hair to rise on end it will not be difficult for any one who ever heard this most extraordinary man to believe the whole account of this transaction which is given by his hearers and from their account the court house of county must have exhibited on this occasion a scene as picturesque as has been ever witnessed in real life they say that the people whose countenance had fallen as he arose had heard but a very few sentences before they began to look up then to look at each other with surprise as if doubting the evidence of their own senses then attracted by some strong gesture struck by some majestic attitude fascinated by the spell of his eye the charm of his emphasis and the varied and commanding expression of his countenance they could look away no more in less than twenty minutes they might be seen in every part of the house on every bench in every window stooping forward from their stands in silence their features fixed in amazement and awe all their senses listening and upon the speaker as if to catch the last strain of some heavenly the mockery of the clergy was soon by william turned into alarm their triumph into confusion and despair and at one burst his rapid and overwhelming they fled from the bench in and terror as for the father such was his surprise such his amazement such his rapture that foi where he was and the character which he was filling tears of ecstasy streamed down his cheeks without the power or inclination to repress them the jury seem to have been so completely bewildered that they lost sight not only of the act of but that of also for thoughtless even of the admitted right of the they had scarcely left the bar when they returned with a verdict of one penny a motion was made for a new trial but the court too had now lost the of their judgment and the motion by a unanimous vote the verdict and judgment the motion were followed by from within and without the house the people who had with difficulty kept their hands off their champion from the moment of closing his no sooner saw the fate of the cause finally sealed than they seized him at the bar and in spite of his own exertions and the continued cry of order from the and the court they bore him out of the court house and raising him on their shoulders carried him about the yard in a kind of triumph oh what a scene was this for a father s heart so sudden so for so delightfully overwhelming at the time he was not able to give utterance to any sentiment but a few days after when speaking of it to mr he said with the most engaging modesty and with a tremor of voice which showed how much more he felt than he expressed spoke in this cause near an hour and in a manner that surprised me and showed himself well informed on a subject of which i did not think he had any knowledge i have tried much to procure a sketch of this celebrated speech but those of mr henry s hearers who survive seem to have been of their senses they can only tell you in general that they were taken captive and so delighted with their that they followed he led them that at his bidding their tears flowed from pity and their cheeks flushed with indignation that when it was over they felt as if they had just awakened from some dream of which by s william they were unable to recall or connect the particulars it was such a speech as they believe had never before fallen from the lips of man and to this day the old people of that country cannot conceive that a higher compliment can be paid to a speaker than to say of him in their own homely phrase he is almost equal to when he plead against the and argument in the	4
trial of who is a native of ireland a man of letters who fled from the storms of his own country to find quiet in ours his history shows that war is not the natural element of his mind if it had been he never would have exchanged ireland for america so far is an army from furnishing the society natural and proper to mr s character that on his arrival in america he retired even from the population of the atlantic states and sought quiet and solitude in the bosom of our western forests but he carried with him taste and science and wealth and lo the desert smiled possessing himself of a beautiful island in the he upon it a palace and it with every romantic of fancy a that might have envied around him music that might have charmed and her is his an extensive library its treasures before him a philosophical apparatus offers to him all the secrets and mysteries of nature peace tranquillity and innocence shed their mingled delights around him and to crown the enchantment of the scene a wife who is said to be lovely even beyond her sex and with every accomplishment that can render it irresistible had blessed him with her love and made him the father of several children the evidence would convince you that this is but a faint picture of the real life in the midst of all this peace this innocent simplicity and this tranquillity this feast of the mind this pure banquet of the heart the comes he comes to change this paradise into a hell yet the flowers do not at his approach no shuddering through the bosom of their unfortunate by i by by william possessor him of the ruin that is coming upon him a stranger presents himself introduced to their by the high rank which he had lately held in his country he soon finds his way to their hearts by the dignity and elegance of his the light and beauty of his conversation and the and fascinating power of his address the conquest was not difficult innocence is ever simple and conscious of no design itself it none in others it wears no guard before its breast every door and and avenue of the heart is thrown open and all who choose it enter such was the state of when the serpent entered its the prisoner in a more engaging form winding himself into the open and heart of the unfortunate found but little difficulty in changing the native character of that heart and the objects of its affection he breathes into it the fire of his own courage a daring and desperate thirst for glory an panting for great for all the storm and bustle and of life in a short time the whole man is changed and every object of his former delight is no more he the tranquil scene it has become flat and to his taste his books are abandoned his retort and are thrown aside his and breathes its fragrance upon the air in vain he likes it not his ear no longer drinks the rich melody of music it for the trumpet s and the cannon s roar even the of his once so sweet no longer affects him and the angel smile of his wife which hitherto touched his bosom with ecstasy so unspeakable is now unseen and greater objects have taken possession of his soul his imagination has been dazzled by visions of of stars and and titles of nobility he has been taught to bum with restless at the names of great heroes and his enchanted island is destined soon to into a wilderness and in a few months we find the beautiful and tender partner of his bosom whom he lately permitted not the winds of summer visit too roughly we find her shivering at midnight on the wintry banks of the and mingling her tears with the torrents that as they fell yet this unfortunate man thus from his interest and his happiness thus from the paths of innocence and peace thus confounded in the toils that were deliberately spread for by l william him and overwhelmed by the spirit and genius of another this man thus ruined and undone and made to play a subordinate part in this grand drama of guilt and treason this man is to be called the principal while he by whom he was thus plunged in misery is comparatively innocent a mere is this reason is it law is it humanity sir neither the human heart nor the human understanding will bear a so monstrous and absurd so shocking to the soul so to reason let then not shrink from the high destination which he has and having already ruined in fortune character and happiness forever let him not attempt to finish the tragedy by thrusting that man between himself and punishment by i i ihe short stories of are an addition to the american fiction which is helping the world to realize the infinitely varied and interesting characters and scenes in widely sections of the united states these stories are illustrations from the author s own text many sorts of americans live in america a part of the drama of primitive humanity is displayed in mr s pages the part which is on the great sandy plains of the with mountains for stage setting and indians soldiers and as persons of the play mr although he knows the west so well and writes of it with such sympathetic insight is an eastern man a of good family and was bom in that city in i when he was ten years of age he was taken to europe where he remained three years returning to his native land he prepared for college at st paul s school in new and was from in at the university he	4
developed a taste for literature and music he wrote the for a hasty club opera and at that time music seemed to be his first choice indeed after he went abroad to devote himself to that art on the advice of going to paris for the study of composition but family affairs brought him home the next year and poor health sent him hunting big game in and this first western trip was a turning point in mr s career the country and its inhabitants so new strange and compared with his former experiences took strong hold of him and stimulated his literary instincts on his return east he decided for the legal profession and was from the law school in settling down in philadelphia to practice but the west continued to him again and again he tasted the excitement of wild life and drank in impressions which were to bear fruit in fiction within ten years he by l io no less than fifteen of these western he began to make use of the material thus gathered in and came to give all his energies to literature his sketches and tales were gathered into book form in red men and white which appeared in eight stories which previously had been widely read in the magazines and recognized as individual vital work the real indian is drawn by this writer not the representation sometimes offered soldiers and too as he them are felt to be the dialogue is eminently natural the descriptions of nature those of the keen eyed observer who is also a poet the spirit of and humorous exaggeration typical of the west is admirably caught while the tone is that of tragedy naturally enough for mr with the stem picturesque conditions of a new civilization where the passions are at work with little concealment the main impression of such as specimen jones with its lighter incidents leading up to an intense d or la fairly in its shadows is that of drama but humor is never lacking to supply the lights for the mr s book the of written before he had found his true m tier proved with its delicate playful satire on the days of chivalry that the author had a fund of quiet fun further western sketches of compelling interest may be expected from one who in red men and white has made a distinct contribution to the fiction of locality in the united states specimen jones from red men and white by brothers the proprietor of twenty mile had wasted his day in burying a man he did not know the man he had found him or what the had left of him among some sticks just outside the ore it was a useful discovery in its way for otherwise might have gone on hunting his strayed horses near the and ended among sticks himself very likely the indians were far away by this time but he returned to twenty mile with the man tied to his saddle and his pony nervously and now the day was done and the man lay in the earth and they had even built a fence round him for the hole was pretty by shallow and have a way of smelling this sort of thing a long way off when they are hungry and the man was not in a coffin they were always short of in day was done at twenty mile and the customary activity prevailed inside that flat of mud sounds of singing shooting dancing and tunes on the came out of the windows hand in hand to and die among the hills a pretty boy who might be nineteen was dancing while a grave old gentleman with tobacco running down his beard pointed a pistol at the boy s heels and shot a hole in the earth now and then to show that the weapon was really loaded everybody was quite used to all of this excepting the boy he was an eastern new comer passing his first evening at a place of entertainment night in and night out every guest at twenty mile was either happy and full of or else his friends were making arrangements for his funeral there was water at twenty mile the only water for of miles consequently it was an important station on the road between the southern country and old camp grant and the new mines north of the range the liquor cabin lay on the gray floor of the desert like an isolated of a two desolate stable sheds and the slowly turning were all else here and one or two abode armed against indians and selling variety in their of drinking and killing was brought them by the these passed and passed through the glaring vacant months some days only one ragged fortune hunter riding a pony again by and with high loaded and sometimes they came in companies walking beside their freight some were young and some were old and all drank and wore knives and guns to keep each other civil most of them were bound for the mines and some of them sometimes returned no man trusted the next man and their names when they had any would be o s maria and smith all stopped for one night some longer remaining drunk and profitable to now and then one stayed permanently and had a fence built round him whoever came and whatever them twenty mile was after a dot of riot in the dumb night by i io on this particular evening they had a the boy being new in still trusted his neighbor such people turned up occasionally this one had paid for everybody s drink several times because he felt friendly and never noticed that nobody ever paid for his they had played cards with him stolen his spurs and now they were making him dance it was an ancient	4
yet two or three were glad to stand round and watch it because it was some time since they had been to the opera now the had these friends at the beginning supposing himself to be among good fellows and they naturally set him down as a fool but even while dancing you may learn much and suddenly the boy besides being had good tough black hair and it was not in fear but with a cold blue eye that he looked at the old gentleman the trouble had been that his own revolver had somehow so he could not pull it from the at the necessary moment tried to draw on me did yer said the old gentleman step higher step now or i ll crack open yer ye robin s egg thinks he s having a bad time remarked wonder how he d like to have been that man the had sport with weren t his ear funny said one who had helped bury the man ear said you boys ought to have been along when i found him and seen the way they d fixed up his mouth explained the details simply and the listeners shivered but was a wonder how it feels he continued to have here the boy at his comments and the loud laughter yet a few hours earlier these same half drunken had laid the man to rest with decent humanity the boy was taking his first dose of by no means was everybody looking at his they had seen so often there was a game of cards there was the and over in the comer sat specimen jones with his back to the company singing to himself nothing had been said or done that entertained him in the least he had seen everything quite often higher higher you elegant calf remarked the old gentleman to the high yer and he placidly fired a fourth shot that scraped the boy s boot at the ankle and threw by wi s earth over the clock so that you could not tell the minute from the hour hand drink to me only with thine eyes sang specimen jones softly they did not care much for his songs in these were all or nearly all that he retained of the days when he was twenty although he was but twenty six now the boy was cutting pigeon wings the played jones continued his l when two leaped at each other and the stopped with a quit it said from behind the bar covering the two with his weapon i don t want any round here to night we ve just got cleaned up it had been cards but the made peace to the regret of specimen jones he had looked round with some hopes of a crisis and now for the first time he noticed the boy blamed if he ain t neat he said but interest faded from his eye and he turned again to the wall he observed his was wide and refined when he sang he was always ye kin stop kid said the old gentleman not and he his pistol into his belt the boy ceased he had been thinking matters over being and strong he was not tired nor much out of breath but he was trembling with the plan and the prospect he had laid out for himself set em up he said to set em up again all round his voice caused specimen jones to turn and look once more while the old gentleman still benevolent said yer means pleasanter than it sounds kid he glanced at the boy s and knew he need not keep a very sharp watch as to that its owner had over it once already all the old gentleman did was to place himself next the boy on the oflf side from the any move the s hand might make for it would be green and and easily anticipated the company lined up along the bar and the bottle slid from glass to glass the boy and his stood together in the middle of the line and the always with half a thought for the handled his drink on the wet counter waiting till all should be filled and ready to swallow simultaneously as good manners by l io well my regards he said seeing the boy raise his glass and as the old gentleman s arm lifted in exposing his waist the boy reached down a lightning hand caught the old gentleman s own pistol and it in his face now dance said he exclaimed specimen jones delighted blamed if he ain t neat and jones s handsome face lighted keenly hold on the boy sang out for the amazed old gentleman was mechanically drinking his out of sheer fright the rest had forgotten their drinks not one swallow the boy continued no you ll not put it down either you ll keep hold of it and you ll dance all round this place around and around and don t you any and i ll be thinking what you ll do after that specimen jones eyed the boy with growing esteem why he ain t bigger than a pint of said he away commanded the and fired a shot between the old gentleman s not widely leg you the floor mr jones observed respectfully at the old gentleman s leap i ll let no man here interrupt you so the began and the company stood back to make room i ve saw things in this territory continued specimen jones aloud to himself but this combination fills my bill he shook his head following the black haired boy with his eye that youth was mr round the room with the pistol proud as a ring master yet not altogether he was only nineteen and though his heart beat stoutly it was beating alone in a strange country he	4
had come straight to this from hunting along the with his mother keeping supper warm for him in the stone farm house among the trees he had read books in which hardy heroes saw life and always with precision on the last page but he remembered no receipt for this particular situation being good game american blood he did not think now about the but he did long with all his might to know what he ought to do next to prove himself a man his rage being with the old gentleman s fervent had cooled and a stress of reaction was falling hard on his brave young nerves he imagined everybody against him he had no by notion that there was another american wanderer there whose reserved and nature he had touched to the heart the audience was with him of course for the moment since he was upper dog and it was a good show but one in that room was distinctly against him the old gentleman was dancing with an ugly eye he had glanced down to see just where his knife hung at his side and he had made some calculations he had fired four shots the boy had fired one four and one always made five the old gentleman told himself with much secret pleasure and pretended that he was going to stop his double it was an excellent trap and the boy fell straight into it he his last precious bullet on the near which mr happened to be at the moment and the next moment mr had him by the throat they swayed and for breath the earth with sharp heels they rolled to the floor and with legs tight tangled the boy blindly striking at mr with the and the audience drawing closer to lose nothing when the bright knife flashed suddenly it poised and flew across the room harmless for a foot had driven into mr s arm and he felt a cold ring his temple it was the smooth chilly of specimen jones s six that s enough said jones more than enough mr being mature in judgment rose instantly like a good old sheep and put his knife back obedient to orders but in the brain of the bewildered boy universal destruction was whirling with a face stricken lean with ferocity he staggered to his feet at his obstinate and glaring for a foe his eye fell first on his leaning easily against the bar watching him while the more and more curious audience scattered and held themselves ready to murder the boy if he should point his pistol their way he was dragging at it and at last it came specimen jones sprang like a cat and held the barrel and the boy s wrist go easy son said he i know how you re the boy had been to get a shot at jones and now the of the man s voice reached his brain and he looked at specimen jones he felt a potent brotherhood in the eyes that were considering him and he began to fear he had been a fool there was his dwarf eastern revolver slack in his by j fist and the singular person still holding its barrel and tapping one finger over the end careless of the risk to his first joint why you little said specimen jones to the youth if you was to pop that off at me rd turn you up and you set em up but the commercial hesitated and jones remembered his last cent was gone it was his third day at s he had stopped having a little money on his way to where a friend had a job for him and was waiting he was far too experienced a character ever to sell his horse or his saddle on these occasions and go on drinking he looked as if he might but he never did and this was what disappointed business men like in specimen jones but now here was this he had undertaken to see through and reminding him that he had no more of the why so i haven t he said with a short laugh and his face flushed i guess he continued hastily this is worth a dollar or two he drew a chain up from below his flannel shirt collar and over his head he drew it a little slowly it had not been taken off for a number of years not indeed since it had been placed there originally it ain t brass he added lightly and it along the counter without looking at it did look at it and being satisfied began to a new bottle while the punctual audience came up for its drink won t you please let me treat said the boy i ain t likely to meet you again sir reaction was giving him trouble inside where are you bound kid oh just a ways up the country answered the boy keeping a grip on his voice well you may get there where did you pick up that that thing your pistol i mean it s a present from a friend replied the with dignity farewell gift wasn t it kid yes i thought so now i d hate to get an affair like that from a friend it would start me wondering if he liked me as well as i d always thought he did put up that money kid you re drinking with me say what s yer name j by well j i m glad to know you let me make you acquainted with mr mr if you re rested from your you can shake hands with my friend step around you and and whatever you claim your names are this is mr j the did not understand either the letter or the spirit of these american words but they drank their	4
drink and the resumed its melody the boy had taken himself oflf without being noticed say said to jones i m no here s yer chain you ll be along again keep it till i m along again said the owner just as you say answered smoothly and he hung the pledge over an advertisement of a lady with bright straw hair holding out a bottle of somebody s champagne specimen jones sang no more song but smoked and leaned in silence on the bar the company were talking of bed and plunged his glasses into a bucket to clean them for the morrow know anything about that kid inquired jones abruptly shook his head as he washed alone ain t he nodded where did you say you found that fellow the got mile this side the them sand how long had he been there do you figure three days anyway jones watched finish his your clock needs wiping he remarked a man might suppose it was nine to see that thing the way the dirt hides the hands look again in half an hour and it ll say three that s the kind of clock gives a man the sends him crazy well that ain t a bad thing to be in this country said rubbing the glass case and restoring identity to the hands if that man had been crazy he d been right now tl never touch that band have passed here and gone north jones said i saw a smoke among the foot hills as i come along day before yesterday i guess they re to cross the by most likely they re that band from the san that were reported as down in i seen well enough said when i found him that they wasn t going to trouble us any or they d have been around by then he was quite right but specimen jones was thinking of something else he went out to the feeling disturbed and doubtful he saw the tall white freight wagon of the and silent and a little way off the new fence where the man lay an odd sound startled him though he knew it was no indians at this hour and he looked down into a little dry ditch it was the boy hidden away flat on his stomach among the stones sobbing oh whispered specimen jones and stepped back the latin races embrace and weep and all goes well but among tears are a horrid event jones never knew what to do when it was a woman but this was truly disgusting he was well by the frontier had tried a little of anything town and country stage driving marriage occasionally and mines he had sundry claims out and always carried pieces of stone in his pockets upon their bearing capacity which was apt to be very slight that is why he was called specimen jones he had exhausted all the important sensations and did not care much for anything more perfect health and strength kept him from discovering that he was a drifting man he wished to kick the boy for his baby performance and yet he stepped carefully away from the ditch so the boy should not suspect his presence he found himself standing still looking at the dim broken desert why hell complained specimen jones he played the little man to start with he did so he scared that old just about dead then he went to kill me that him from bein buried early to morrow i ve been wild that way myself and to shoot up the whole jones looked at the place where his middle finger used to be before a certain evening in but i never he glanced towards the ditch perplexed what s that mean why in the world does he to for now do you suppose jones took to singing without knowing it ye tell me by i i have you seen my pass this way he then a thought struck him kid he called out there was no answer of course said jones now he s ashamed to me see him come out of there he walked with elaborate round the and a shed you kid he called again i was thinking of going to sleep said the boy appearing quite suddenly i i m not used to riding all day i ll get used to it you know he hastened to add ha ve you seen my say kid where you bound anyway san san oh ah ra pass this way is it far sir awful far sometimes it s always liable to be far through the i didn t expect to make it between meals remarked no sure what made you come this route a man told me a man oh well it is kind o difficult i admit for an not to lie to a stranger but i think i d have told you to go by and point of mountain it s the road the man that told you would choose himself every time do you like kid snapped eagerly of course you do and you ve never saw one in the whole minute and a half you ve been alive i know all about it i m not afraid said the boy not afraid of course you ain t what s your idea in going to town lots there no said the literal youth to the huge internal diversion of jones there s a man there i used to know back home he s in the cavalry what sort of a town is it for sport asked in a gay tone specimen jones caught hold of the top rail of the sport now tell you what sort of a town it is there ain t no streets there ain	4
t no houses there ain t any land and water in the usual meaning of them words there s by l mount it s pretty near a usual mountain but you don t want to go there the creator didn t make san it s a heap older than him when he got around to it after up paradise and them fruit trees he just left it to be as he foimd it as a of the way they done business before he come along he a n t done any work around that spot at all he a n t mix up a barrel of sand and ashes and thorns and jam and along in and the on stones and heat yer stones red hot and set the united states army loose over the place and you ve got san was silent for a moment i don t care he said i want to chase did you see that man found by the jones inquired didn t get here in time well there was a hole in his chest made by an arrow but there s no harm in that if you die at that chap didn t you see you heard tell about it they d done a number of things to the man before he could die was only one of em now your road takes you through the mountains where these gone kid come along to with me urged jones suddenly again was silent is my road different from other people s he said finally not to grant it ain t these are freight to grant but what s the matter with your coming to with me i started to go to san and i m going said you re a poor chuckle headed fool burst out jones in a rage and you can go for all i care you and your pistol like as not you won t find your cavalry friend at san ve killed a lot of them soldiers this season good night specimen jones was gone walked to his where his saddle was under the shed the various doings of the evening had bruised his nerves he spread his blankets among the dry cattle and sat down taking off a few clothes slowly he his coat and under his head for a pillow and putting the despised pistol alongside by lay between the blankets no object showed in the night but the tall freight wagon the thought he had made altogether a fool of himself upon the first trial trip of his manhood alone on the open sea of no man not even jones now was his friend a stranger who could have had nothing against him but his had taken the trouble to direct him on the wrong road he did not mind definite enemies he had the heads of those in and would not object to shooting them here but this surrounding hostility of the unknown was new and bitter the cruel cowardly where those jail birds whom the had driven from he thought of the nameless human that lay near buried that day and of the jokes about its was not an innocent boy either in principles or in practice but this laughter about a dead body had burned into his young soul he lay watching with hot dogged eyes the brilliant stars a passing wind turned the which a forlorn minute and ceased he must have gone to sleep and slept soundly for the next he knew it was the cold air of dawn that made him open his eyes a silence lay over all things and the had that moment of curiosity as to where he was now which comes to those who have for many days the had already departed with their freight wagon it was not entirely light and the embers where these early had cooked their breakfast lay glowing in the sand across the road the boy remembered seeing a wagon where now he saw only chill distant peaks and while he lay quiet and warm full consciousness there was a stir in the cabin and at s voice reality broke upon his and he recollected and the keen stress of shifting for himself he noted the gray round the grave indians he would catch up with the and travel in their company to grant made but fifteen miles in the day and he could start after breakfast and be with them before they stopped to noon six men need not worry about thought the voice of specimen jones came from the cabin and sounds of lighting the stove and the growling conversation of men getting up lying in his blankets tried to what jones was saying for no better reason than that this was the only man he had met lately who had seemed to care whether he were alive xx by l ii or dead there was the of s bottles and the cheerful tones of old mr saying it s better n yer teeth and then further and an inquiry from specimen jones whose spurs said he mine this from mr how long have they been since i got em i guess well you ve enjoyed them spurs long enough the voice of specimen jones now altered in quality and give em back to that kid muttering followed that the boy could not catch g ve em back repeated jones i seen you lift em from imder that chair when i was in the comer that s straight mr said i noticed it myself though i had no objections of course but mr jones has pointed out since when have you so honest jones mr seeing that he must lose his little and why didn t you raise yer objections when you seen me do it i didn t know the kid jones explained and if it don t strike you that game blood deserves respect why	4
it does strike me hearing this the outside in his shed thought better of mankind and life in general arose from his nest and began himself he had all the correct for the frontier and his toilet in the shed gave him pleasure the sun came up and with a stroke struck the world to crystal the near sand hills went into rose the and the turned transparent with and pale of green like graciously the desert s face and distant violet peaks and edges framed the vast enchantment beneath the liquid of the sky the smell of bacon and coffee from open windows filled the heart with bravery and yearning and putting his head round the comer called to that he had better come in and eat jones already at table gave him the nod but the spurs were there replaced as had left them under a chair in the comer in they do not say much at any meal and at breakfast nothing at all and as swallowed and meditated he noticed the cream colored lady and the chain and he made up his mind he by should assert his identity with regard to that business though how and when was not clear to him he was in no great haste to take up his journey the society of the whom he must sooner or later overtake did not tempt him when breakfast was done he in the cabin like the other guests while and his assistant busied about the premises but the morning grew on and the guests after a season of smoking and silence against the wall shook themselves and their effects together and were lost among the waste hills twenty mile became hot and jones lay on three chairs occasionally singing and old mr had not gone away either but watched him with more tobacco running down his beard well said i be going nobody s stopping you remarked jones you re going to the boy said with the chain problem still in his mind good by mr jones i hope we ll that ll do said jones and the thrown back by this severity went to get his saddle horse and his presently jones remarked to mr that he wondered what was doing and went out the old gentleman was left alone in the room and he swiftly noticed that the belt and pistol of specimen jones were left alone with him the lay by the chair its owner had been lounging in it is an easy thing to remove from the chambers of a revolver and replace the weapon in its so that everything looks quite natural the old gentleman was entertained with the notion that somewhere in specimen jones might have a surprise and he did not take a minute to prepare this drop the belt as it lay before and innocently out of the saloon and jones were the s property as he packed his do you make it a rule to travel with ice cream jones was inquiring they re for water said they told me at i d need to carry water for three days on some it was two good sized milk that he had and they about on the little s pack giving him as much amazement as a can feel jones and by l ii don t go without your spurs mr said the voice of old mr as he approached the group his tone was particularly civil the had indeed forgotten his spurs and he ran back to get them the cream colored lady still had the chain hanging upon her and s problem was suddenly solved he put the chain in his pocket and laid the price of one round of drinks for last night s company on the shelf below the he returned with his spurs on and went to his saddle that lay beside that of specimen jones under the shed after a moment he came with his saddle to where the men stood talking by his pony it on and the but the chain was now in the saddle bag of specimen jones mixed up with some tobacco stale bread a box of matches and a of fat bacon the men at twenty mile said good day to the with and indifference and watched him depart into the heated desert wishing for a last look at jones he turned once and saw the three standing and the brick of the cabin and the white and idle in the sun he ll be by night remarked mr i ain t him then said nor i said specimen jones well it s time i was getting to he went to the saloon on his pistol and rode away and mr returned to the cabin and here is the final conclusion they came to after three hours of discussion as to who took the chain and who had it just then jones he hadn t no cash mr the kid he hadn t no sense the kid he lent the cash to jones mr jones he goes off with his chain both what damn fools everybody is anyway and they went to dinner but mr did not mention his relations with jones s pistol let it be said in of that performance that mr supposed jones was going to where he said he was going and where a job and a salary were awaiting him in an pistol in the of so handy a man on the drop as was specimen would keep people civil because they would not know any more than the owner that it was and the mere possession of it would be sufficient in nine chances out of ten though it was by undoubtedly for the tenth that mr had a hope but specimen jones was not going to a in his mind as to whether	4
indeed you mustn t and he at once resumed his song the silent had now reached the bottom of the hill they stood some twenty yards away and had a good chance to see his first indians he saw them move and the color and slim shape of their bodies their thin arms and their long black hair it went through his mind that if he had no more clothes on than that dancing would come easier his boots by l i were heavy to lift and his seemed to wrap his in wet he wondered how long he had been keeping this up the legs of the were free with light only half way to the held up by strings from the waist envied their steps as he saw them again walk nearer to where he was dancing it was long since he had eaten and he noticed a singing in his brain and became frightened at his thoughts which were running and melting into one fixed idea this idea was to take off his boots and offer to trade them for a pair of it terrified him this endless rush of thoughts he could see them coming in different shapes from different places in his head but they all joined immediately and always formed the same fixed idea he ground his teeth to master this of his will and judgment he his can more loudly to wake him to reality which he still could recognize and appreciate for a time he found it a good plan to listen to what specimen jones was and tell himself the name of the song if he knew it present it was yankee to which jones was fitting words of his own these ran now i m going to try a bluff and mind you do what i do and then again over and over waited for the word bluff for it was hard and heavy and fell into his thoughts and stopped them for a moment the dance was so long now he had forgotten about that a had been spreading through his legs and he was glad to feel a sharp pain in the sole of his foot it was a piece of gravel that had somehow worked its way in and was rubbing through the skin into the flesh that s good he said aloud the was eating the away and drove it hard against the raw spot and the of its burning the had drawn into a circle standing at some interval apart they entirely surrounded the shrewd half convinced and yet with awe they watched the dancers who their slowly now in to jones s hoarse singing he was quite master of himself and led the round the still blazing wreck of the wagon and in figures of eight between the of the the milk above each one then knowing his strength was coming to an end he approached an indian whose splendid by and him of consequence and jones was near shouting with relief when the indian shrank backward suddenly he saw let his can drop and without stopping to see why he caught it up and slowly rattling both approached each indian in turn with steps the circle that had never uttered a sound till now almost in a whisper some song which the man with the had begun they gathered round him retreating always and the strain with its rapid muttered words rose and fell softly among them jones had supposed the boy was overcome by and looked to see where he lay but it was not with his boots off came by and walked after the indians in a trance they saw him and quickened their pace often turning to be sure he was not them he called to them stumbling up the sharp hill and pointing to the boots finally he sat down they continued ascending the mountain close round the man with the feathers until the rocks and the them from sight and like a wind that in grass their died away the sun was half behind the western range when jones next moved he called and getting no answer he crawled painfully to where the boy lay on the hill was sleeping heavily his head was hot and he moaned so jones crawled down and fetched blankets and the of water he spread the blankets over the boy wet a handkerchief and laid it on his forehead then he lay down himself the earth was again smitten to crystal again the sharp and the sand turned beautiful and violet floated among the mountains and rose colored orange in the sky above them said specimen at length the boy opened his eyes your foot is awful can you eat not with my foot ah god bless you you ain t sick but can you eat shook his head s what you need though well here specimen poured a judicious mixture of and water down the boy s by i throat and wrapped the awful foot in his own flannel shirt they ll fix you over to grant it s maybe twelve miles through the it ain t a town any more than is but the soldiers be good to us as soon as night comes you and me must somehow out of this somehow they did jones walking and leading his horse and the little and also holding in the saddle and when was getting well in the military hospital at grant he listened to jones to all that chose to hear how useful a weapon an ice cream can be and how if you ll only chase in your feet they are sure to run away and then jones and both and i suppose jones s friend is still expecting him in by george h r is delightful and enjoyment of life in george s early poems the young found the world rich and beautiful his like	4
spirit in nature in the murmurs of a spring or the least bough s rustling and he was of all meanness and he was ambitious of royal favor and meant to merit it but the state of corruption he found at the court of james i him and inspired one of his earliest works and is a satire far than its title upon society s moral in spite of its general tone the poem invited resentment and its author was punished by imprisonment in the there he the by writing the shepherd s hunting a pleasant pastoral and one of his most beautiful poems another fine example of his period is the mistress of probably the longest love in the language its gently rambling are sweet though sometimes tedious and they end with lovely which establish s fame the motto is a long poem in three parts the motto being h there is quaint charm in the treatment and the lines reveal much of his own simple high minded personality perhaps his melody and gift are best in the well known shall i wasting in despair and the steadfast shepherd in later life when depressed with poverty and repented of much of his early work as sinful but in a time of license and coarse expression he was for delicacy of sentiment and refinement of taste which kept him clear of george was born at in in perhaps the two happiest years of his youth were those he spent at george by i ia george college oxford unfortunately his father desired his aid in the management of his estate and george was not allowed to take his degree but he soon tired of country life and went to london it was there he formed the friendship with his fellow poet william to whose influence something of his grace and skill is due few poets have more handled verse with the outbreak of the civil war cast off king and court and became an ardent he sold his lands to a company of horse for the army and henceforth all he wrote reflected his change of view he was no longer the singer of love songs and light delights instead he composed hymns and songs of the church britain s and other of religious and political poems writing thus with a purpose he lost much of his earlier quality and these later verses do not him to a rocking hymn sweet baby sleep what my dear what my darling thus to cry be still my child and lend thine ear to hear me sing thy my pretty lamb forbear to weep be still my dear sweet baby sleep thou blessed soul what thou fear what thing to thee can mischief do thy god is now thy father dear his holy thy mother too sweet baby then forbear to weep be still my babe sweet baby sleep though thy conception was in sin a sacred bathing thou hast had and though thy birth hath been a babe thou now art made sweet baby then forbear to weep be still my dear sweet baby sleep while thus thy i sing for thee great blessings be thine eldest brother is a king and hath a kingdom bought for thee sweet baby then forbear to weep be still my babe sweet baby sleep by george sweet baby sleep and nothing fear for thee by thy protector threatened are and god and angels are thy friends sweet baby then forbear to weep be still my babe sweet baby sleep when god with us was dwelling here in little he took delight such as thou my dear are ever precious in his sight sweet baby then forbear to weep be still my babe sweet baby sleep a little infant once was he and strength in weakness then was laid upon his virgin mother s knee that power to thee might be conveyed sweet baby then forbear to weep be still my babe sweet baby sleep the king of kings when he was bom had not so much for outward ease by him such were not worn nor such like clothes as these sweet baby then forbear to weep be still my babe sweet baby sleep within a lodged thy lord where oxen lay and fed warm rooms we do to thee afford an easy cradle or a bed sweet baby then forbear to weep be still my babe sweet baby sleep the wants that he did then sustain have purchased wealth my babe for thee and by his and his pain thy rest and ease secured be my baby then forbear to weep be still my babe sweet baby sleep thou hast yet more to perfect this a promise and an earnest got of gaining everlasting bliss though thou my babe st it not sweet baby then forbear to weep be still my babe sweet baby sleep by l i george the author s resolution in a shall i wasting in despair die because a woman s fair or make pale my cheeks with care cause another s rosy are be she fairer than the day or the in may if she think not well of me what care i how fair she be shall my silly heart be cause i see a woman kind or a well disposed nature joined with a lovely feature be she kinder than dove or if she be not so to me what care i how kind she be shall a woman s virtues move me to perish for her love or her well known make me quite forget mine own be she with that goodness which may merit name of best if she be not such to me what care i how good she be cause her fortune seems too high shall i play the fool and die she that bears a noble mind if not outward helps she find thinks what with them	4
he would do that without them dares her and unless that mind i see what care i how great she be great or good or kind or fair i will ne er the more despair if she love me this believe i will die ere she shall grieve if she slight me when i i can scorn and let her go for if she be not for me what care i for whom she be by george a christmas so now is come our joyful st feast let every man be jolly each room with ivy leaves is and every post with though some at our mirth round your drown sorrow in a cup of wine and let us all be merry now every lad is wondrous trim and no man minds his labor our have provided them a and a young men and maids and girls and boys give life to one another s joys and you anon shall by their noise perceive that they are rank now do their hall of music and dogs thence with whole shoulders run so all things here the country folk themselves advance for ton s come out of france and jack shall pipe and shall dance and all the town be merry ned hath fetched his bands from and all his best apparel brisk hath bought a of lawn with of the barrel and those that hardly all the year had bread to eat or rags to wear will have both clothes and dainty fare and all the day be merry the with their about the street are singing the boys are come to catch the the wild mare in is bringing our kitchen boy hath broke his box and to the dealing of the ox our honest neighbors come by flocks and here they will be merry by j george then wherefore in these merry days should we i pray be no let us sing our to make our mirth the fuller and thus inspired we sing let all the streets with echoes ring woods and hills and everything bear witness we are merry for summer time now the glories of the year may be viewed at the best and the earth doth now appear in her fairest garments dressed sweetly smelling plants and flowers do perfume the garden hill and valley wood and field mixed with pleasure profits yield much is found where nothing was herds on every mountain go in the meadows grass makes both milk and honey flow now each orchard every hedge with fruit and on every and tree useful fruits or be walks and ways which winter by the winds are swept and dried grounds are now so hard that on them we safe may ride warmth enough the sun doth lend us from his heat the shades defend us and thereby we share in these safety profit pleasure ease other blessings many more at this time enjoyed may be and in this my song therefore praise i give o lord to thee grant that this my free may have gracious and that i may well employ everything which i enjoy by i i mary might be regarded as the of the finer and forces of the french revolution or rather of that spirit through which the century was into the nineteenth and which expressed itself as much in the lives of individuals as in the author of the of the rights of women was perhaps the most prophetic character of her time since she alone in a generation for the rights of man understood the subtle truth that the of men is largely dependent upon the of women seeing that the unity of the sexes their her troubled life was in many ways a preparation for her in the of she was literally into the office of her experiences forced her into extreme opinions especially on the subject of marriage but extreme opinions were necessary in the century she was born in the period of the age of light in the year family troubles had begun long be mary fore her birth and she found herself in infancy with a good for nothing father and a mother who submitted to be beaten by him she was the second of six children all of whom in later years were to depend upon her to aid them in their struggles with the world the passion of pity for it was less a sentiment than a passion with her was early developed her begun in the care of her wretched parents and their helpless offspring was later to include the race her childhood was spent in a which might well have a less earnest spirit the father was always moving his family from one town to another in the hope of better luck they went from to thence to from to in then to london mary had of education in these places books however were kept strictly subordinate to life through the of her father her first to cultivation was received through a young blood for whom she conceived a romantic affection her friend s accomplishments by mary awakened her spirit of with her love was with growth and expression in whatever form it expressed itself it was the of her character which is indeed most clearly intelligible through the medium of her in her mother died m out by the of her husband mary went for a time to the home of blood where she supported herself by her friend s father like her own father made his household wretched through his from childhood mary had had before her the spectacle of unhappy marriages made so by the tyranny of the husbands the long and dreary courtship of her friend by a man who played with her love the miserable union of her sister with a man whose caprice and selfishness finally drove his wife into insanity were further to increase her sense	4
forces of which its ignorance took little account in its estimate of the social order modern ideal op womanhood from a of the rights of women to account for and excuse the tyranny of man many ingenious arguments have been brought forward to prove that the two sexes in the of virtue ought to aim at a very different character or to speak women are not allowed to have sufficient strength of mind to acquire what really deserves the name of virtue yet it should seem allowing them to have souls that there is but one way appointed by providence to lead mankind to either virtue or happiness if then women are not a swarm of why should they be kept in ignorance under the name of innocence men complain and with reason of the follies and of our sex when they do not keenly our passions and vices behold i should answer the natural effect of ignorance the mind will ever be that has only prejudices to rest on and the current will run with destructive fury when there are no to break its force women are told from their infancy and taught by the example by mary of their mothers that a little knowledge of human weakness justly termed cunning softness of temper outward obedience and a scrupulous attention to a kind of propriety will obtain for them the protection of man and should they be beautiful everything else is needless for at least twenty years of their lives thus milton describes our first frail mother though when he tells us that women are formed for softness and sweet attractive grace i cannot comprehend his meaning unless in the true strain he meant to deprive us of souls and that we were beings only designed by sweet attractive grace and blind obedience to gratify the senses of man when he can no longer on the wing of contemplation how do they insult us who thus advise us only to render ourselves gentle domestic brutes for instance the winning softness so warmly and frequently recommended that by obeying what childish expressions and how insignificant is the being can it be an immortal one who will condescend to govern by such sinister methods certainly says lord bacon man is of kin to the beasts by his body and if he be not of kin to god by his spirit he is a base and creature men indeed appear to me to act in a very manner when they try to secure the good conduct of women by attempting to keep them always in a state of childhood was more consistent when he wished to stop the progress of reason in both sexes for if men eat of the tree of knowledge women will come in for a taste but from the imperfect cultivation which their now receive they only attain a knowledge of evil children i grant should be innocent but when the epithet is applied to men or women it is but a civil term for weakness for if it be allowed that women were destined by providence to acquire human virtues and by the exercise of their that of character which is the ground to rest our future hopes upon they must be permitted to turn to the fountain of light and not forced to shape their course by the twinkling of a mere milton i grant was of a very different opinion for he only to the right of beauty though it would be difficult to render two passages which i now mean to contrast consistent but into similar are great men often led by their senses by mary to whom thus eve with perfect beauty adorned my author and what thou bid st i obey so god god is thy thou mine to know no more is woman s happiest knowledge and her praise these are exactly the arguments that i have used to children but i have added your reason is now gaining strength and till it arrives at some degree of maturity you must look up to me for advice then you ought to t and only rely on god yet in the following lines milton seems to with me when he makes adam thus with his maker hast thou not made me here thy substitute and these inferior far beneath me set among what society can sort what harmony or true delight which must be mutual in proportion due given and received but in the one intense the other still cannot well suit with either but soon prove tedious alike of fellowship i speak such as i seek fit to all rational delight in treating therefore of the manners of women let us arguments trace what we should endeavor to make them in order to co operate if the expression be not too bold with the supreme being by individual education i mean for the sense of the word is not precisely defined such an attention to a child as will slowly the senses form the temper the passions as they begin to and set the understanding to work before the body arrives at maturity so that the man may only have to proceed not to begin the important task of learning to think and reason to prevent any i must add that i do not believe that a private education can work the wonders which some sanguine writers have attributed to it men and women must be educated in a great degree by the opinions and manners of the society they live in in every age there has been a stream of popular opinion that has carried all before it and given a family character as it were to the century it may then fairly be inferred that till society be differently constituted much cannot by mary j i s be expected from education it is however for my present purpose to assert	4
that whatever effect circumstances have on the abilities every being may become virtuous by the exercise of its own reason for if but one being was created with vicious inclinations that is positively bad what can save us from or if we worship a god is not that god a devil consequently the most perfect education in my opinion is such an exercise of the understanding as is best calculated to strengthen the body and form the heart or in other words to enable the individual to attain such habits of virtue as will render it independent in fact it is a farce to call any being virtuous whose virtues do not result from the exercise of its own reason this was s opinion respecting men i extend it to women and confidently assert that they have been drawn out of their sphere by false refinement and not by an endeavor to acquire masculine qualities still the homage which they receive is so that until the manners of the times are changed and formed on more reasonable principles it may be impossible to convince them that the power which they obtain by degrading themselves is a curse and that they must return to nature and equality if they wish to secure the placid satisfaction that affections impart but for this epoch we must wait wait perhaps till kings and enlightened by reason and preferring the real dignity of man to childish state throw off their gaudy hereditary and if then women do not resign the arbitrary power of beauty they will prove that they have less mind than man i may be accused of still i must declare what i firmly believe that all the writers who have written on the subject of female education and manners from to dr have contributed to render women more artificial weak characters than they would otherwise have been and consequently more useless members of society i might have expressed this conviction in a lower key but i am afraid it would have been the of affectation and not the faithful expression of my feelings of the clear result which experience and reflection have led me to draw when i come to that division of the subject i shall to the passages that i more particularly of in the works of the authors i have just alluded to but it is first necessary to observe that my objection extends to the whole purport of those books which tend in my opinion to by mary one half of the human species and render women pleasing at the expense of every solid virtue though to reason on s ground if man did attain a degree of perfection of mind when his body arrived at maturity it might be proper in order to make a man and his wife one that she should rely entirely on his understanding and the graceful ivy clasping the oak that supported it would form a whole in which strength and beauty would be equally conspicuous but alas husbands as well as their are often only overgrown children nay thanks to early scarcely men in their outward form and if the blind lead the blind one need not come from heaven to tell us the consequence many are the causes that in the present corrupt state of society contribute to women by their and their senses one perhaps that silently does more mischief than all the rest is their disregard of order to do everything in an orderly manner is a most important which women who generally speaking receive only a kind of education seldom attend to with that degree of that men who from their infancy are broken into method observe this kind of for what other epithet can be used to point out the random exertions of a sort of instinctive common sense never brought to the test of reason prevents their matters of fact so they do to day what they did yesterday merely because they did it yesterday this contempt of the understanding in early life has more consequences than is commonly supposed for the little knowledge which women of strong minds attain is from various circumstances of a more kind than the knowledge of men and it is acquired more by sheer observations on real life than from comparing what has been observed with the results of experience by speculation led by their dependent situation and domestic more into society what they learn is rather by and as learning is with them in general only a secondary thing they do not pursue any one branch with that necessary to give vigor to the faculties and clearness to the judgment in the present state of society a little learning is required to support the character of a gentleman and boys are obliged to submit to a few years of discipline but in the education of women the by mary cultivation of the understanding is always subordinate to the of some accomplishment even while by confinement and false notions of modesty the body is prevented from that grace and beauty which relaxed half formed limbs never exhibit besides in youth their faculties are not brought forward by and having no serious scientific study if they have natural sagacity it is turned too soon on life and manners they dwell on effects and without tracing them back to causes and complicated rules to behavior are a weak substitute for simple principles as a proof that education gives this appearance of weakness to females we may instance the example of military men who are like them sent into the world before their minds have been stored with knowledge or fortified by principles the consequences are soldiers acquire a little superficial knowledge snatched from the muddy current of conversation and from continually mixing with society they gain what is termed a knowledge of the world and this acquaintance with manners and customs	4
has frequently been confounded with a knowledge of the human heart but can the crude fruit of casual observation never brought to the test of judgment formed by comparing speculation and experience deserve such a distinction soldiers as well as women practice the minor virtues with politeness where is then the difference when the education has been the same all the difference that i can discern arises from the superior advantage of liberty which the former to see more of life it is wandering from my present subject perhaps to make a political remark but as it was produced naturally by the train of my reflections i shall not pass it silently over standing armies can never consist of resolute robust men they may be well machines but they will seldom contain men under the influence of strong passions or with very vigorous faculties and as for any depth of understanding i will venture to affirm that it is as rarely to be found in the army as amongst women and the cause i maintain is the same it may be further observed that officers are also particularly attentive to their persons fond of dancing crowded rooms adventures and ridicule like the fair sex the business of their lives is gallantry why should women be with because they seem to have a passion for a scarlet coat has not education placed them more on a level with soldiers than any other class of men by i i mary they were taught to please and they only live to please yet they do not lose their rank in the distinction of sexes for they are still reckoned superior to women though in what their superiority consists beyond what i have just mentioned it is difficult to discover the great misfortune is this that they both acquire manners before morals and a knowledge of life before they have from reflection any acquaintance with the grand ideal outline of human nature the consequence is natural satisfied with common nature they become a prey to prejudices and taking all their opinions on credit they blindly submit to authority so that if they have any sense it is a kind of instinctive glance that catches proportions and with respect to manners but fails when arguments are to be pursued below the surface or opinions may not the same remark be applied to women nay the argument may be carried still further for they are both thrown out of a useful station by the unnatural distinctions established in civilized life riches and hereditary honors have made of women to give consequence to the figure and idleness has produced a mixture of gallantry and into society which leads the very men who are the slaves of their to over their sisters wives and daughters this is only keeping them in rank and file it is true strengthen the female mind by it and there will be an end to blind obedience but as blind obedience is ever sought for by power and are in the right when they endeavor to keep women in the dark because the former only want slaves and the latter a the indeed has been the most dangerous of and women have been by their lovers as princes by their ministers whilst dreaming that they reigned over them i now principally allude to for his character of is undoubtedly a one though it appears to me unnatural however it is not the but the foundation of her character the principles on which her education was built that i mean to attack nay warmly as i admire the genius of that able writer whose opinions i shall often have occasion to indignation always takes place of admiration and the rigid frown of insulted virtue the smile of complacency which his eloquent periods are wont to raise when i read his is this the who in his by mary for virtue would banish all the soft arts of peace and almost us back to discipline is this the man who delights to paint the useful struggles of passion the triumphs of good dispositions and the heroic flights which carry the glowing soul out of itself how are these mighty sentiments lowered when he describes the pretty foot and airs of his little favorite but for the present i the subject and instead of severely the transient of sensibility i shall only observe that whoever has cast a benevolent eye on society must often have been gratified by the sight of humble mutual love not dignified by sentiment or strengthened by a union in intellectual pursuits the domestic trifles of the day have afforded matters for cheerful converse and innocent caresses have softened toils which did not require great exercise of mind or stretch of thought yet has not the sight of this moderate felicity excited more tenderness than respect an emotion similar to what we feel when children are playing or animals sporting whilst the contemplation of the noble struggles of suffering merit has raised admiration and carried our thoughts to that world where sensation will give place to reason women are therefore to be considered either as moral beings or so weak that they must be entirely subjected to the superior faculties of men let us examine this question declares that a woman should never for a moment feel herself independent that she should be governed by fear to exercise her natural cunning and made a slave in order to render her a more object of desire a sweeter companion to man whenever he chooses to himself he carries the arguments which he to draw from the indications of nature still further and that truth and fortitude the corner stones of all human virtue should be cultivated with certain because with similar feelings has milton s pleasing picture of happiness ever raised in my mind yet instead of the lovely pair i have with conscious dignity or pride turned to hell for objects	4
in the same style when some noble monument of human art i have traced the of the deity in the order i admired till descending from that giddy height i have caught myself contemplating the of all sights for fancy quickly placed in some solitary recess an outcast of rising superior to passion and discontent by i i mary respect to the female character obedience is the grand lesson which ought to be impressed with what nonsense when will a great man arise with sufficient strength of mind to puff away the which pride and have thus spread over the subject if women are by nature inferior to men their virtues must be the same in quality if not in degree or virtue is a relative idea consequently their conduct should be founded on the same principles and have the same aim connected with man as daughters wives and mothers their moral character may be estimated by their manner of those simple duties but the end the grand end of their exertions should be to their own faculties and acquire the dignity of conscious virtue they may try to render their road pleasant but ought never to forget in common with man that life not the felicity which can satisfy an immortal soul i do not mean to that either sex should be so lost in abstract reflections or distant views as to forget the affections and duties that lie before them and are in truth the means appointed to produce the fruit of life on the contrary i would warmly recommend them even while i assert that they afford most satisfaction when they are considered in their true sober light probably the prevailing opinion that woman was created for man may have taken its rise from moses s poetical story yet as very few it is presumed who have bestowed any serious thought on the subject ever supposed that eve was literally speaking one of adam s ribs the must be allowed to fall to the ground or only be so far admitted as it proves that man from the remotest antiquity found it convenient to exert his strength to his companion and his invention to show that she ought to have her neck bent under the yoke because the whole creation was only created for his convenience or pleasure let it not be concluded that i wish to the order of things i have already granted that from the constitution of their bodies men seemed to be designed by providence to attain a greater degree of virtue i speak of the whole sex but i see not the shadow of a reason to conclude that their virtues should differ in respect to their nature in fact how can they if virtue has only one eternal standard i must therefore by mary j if i reason as maintain that they have the same simple direction as that there is a god it follows then that cunning should not be opposed to wisdom little cares to great exertions or softness over with the name of gentleness to that fortitude which grand views alone can inspire i shall be told that woman would then lose many of her peculiar graces and the opinion of a well known poet might be quoted to my assertion for pope has said in the name of the whole male sex yet ne er so sure our passion to create as when she touched the brink of all we hate in what light this sally places men and women i shall leave to the judicious to determine meanwhile i shall content myself with observing that i cannot discover why unless they are mortal females should always be degraded by being made to love or lust to speak of love is i know high treason against sentiment and fine feelings but i wish to speak the simple language of truth and rather to address the head than the heart to endeavor to reason love out of the world would be to out and equally offend against common sense but an endeavor to restrain this tumultuous passion and to prove that it should not be allowed to superior powers or to the which the understanding should ever coolly appears less wild youth is the season for love in both sexes but in those days of thoughtless enjoyment provision should be made for the more important years of life when reflection takes place of sensation but and most of the male writers who have followed his steps have warmly that the whole tendency of female education ought to be directed to one point to render them pleasing let me reason with the of this opinion who have any knowledge of human nature do they imagine that marriage can the of life the woman who has only been taught to please will soon find that her charms are and that they cannot have much on her husband s heart when they are seen every day when the summer is past and gone will she then have native energy to by t i mary look into herself for comfort and cultivate her faculties or is it not more rational to expect that she will try to please other men and in the emotions raised by the expectation of new endeavor to forget the mortification her love or pride has received when the husband ceases to be a lover and the time will inevitably come her desire of pleasing will then grow languid or become a spring of bitterness and love perhaps the most of all passions gives place to jealousy or vanity i now speak of women who are restrained by principle or prejudice such women though they would shrink from an with real yet nevertheless wish to be convinced by the homage of gallantry that they are cruelly neglected by their husbands or days and weeks are spent in dreaming of the happiness enjoyed	4
by congenial souls till their health is and their spirits broken by discontent how then can the great art of pleasing be such a necessary study it is only useful to a mistress the wife and serious mother should only consider her power to please as the polish of her virtues and the affection of her husband as one of the comforts that render her task less difficult and her life happier but whether she be loved or neglected her first wish should be to make herself respectable and not to rely for all her happiness on a being subject to like with herself the worthy dr fell into a similar error i respect his heart but entirely of his celebrated to his daughters he them to cultivate a fondness for dress because a fondness for dress he is natural to them i am unable to comprehend what either he or mean when they frequently use this indefinite term if they told us that in a pre state the soul was fond of dress and brought this inclination with it into a new body i should listen to them with a half smile as i often do when i hear a about innate elegance but if he only meant to say that the exercise of the faculties will produce this fondness i deny it it is not natural but arises like false ambition in men from a love of power dr goes much further he actually and an innocent girl to give the lie to her feelings and not dance with spirit when of heart would make her feet eloquent without making her gestures in the name of truth and common sense why should not one by mary woman acknowledge that she can take more exercise than another or in other words that she has a sound constitution and why to damp innocent vivacity is she darkly to be told that men will draw conclusions which she little thinks of let the draw what he pleases but i hope that no sensible mother will restrain the natural frankness of youth by such out of the abundance of the heart the mouth and a wiser than solomon hath said that the heart should be made clean and not trivial ceremonies observed which it is not very difficult to with scrupulous when vice in the heart women ought to endeavor to their heart but can they do so when their make them entirely dependent on their senses for employment and amusement when no noble pursuit sets them above the little of the day or them to the wild emotions that a reed over which every passing breeze has power to gain the affections of a virtuous man is affection necessary nature has given woman a weaker frame than man but to her husband s must a wife who by the exercise of her mind and body whilst she was the duties of a daughter wife and mother has allowed her constitution to retain its natural strength and her nerves a healthy tone is she i say to condescend to u e art and a sickly delicacy in order to secure her husband s affection weakness may excite tenderness and gratify the pride of man but the caresses of a protector will not gratify a noble mind that for and deserves to be respected fondness is a poor substitute for friendship in a i grant that all these arts are necessary the must have his or he will sink into but have women so little ambition as to be satisfied with such a condition can they dream life away in the lap of pleasure or the languor of weariness rather than assert their claim to pursue reasonable pleasures and render themselves conspicuous by the virtues which mankind surely she has not an immortal soul who can life away merely employed to adorn her person that she may amuse the languid hours and soften the cares of a fellow creature who is willing to be by her smiles and tricks when the serious business of life is over by x x mary besides the woman who her body and exercises her mind will by managing her family and various virtues become the friend and not the humble dependent of her husband and if she by possessing such substantial qualities merit his regard she will not find it necessary to conceal her affection nor to pretend to an unnatural coldness of constitution to excite her husband s passions in fact if we to history we shall find that the women who have distinguished themselves have neither been the most beautiful nor the most gentle of their sex nature or to speak with strict propriety god has made all things right but man has sought him out many inventions to mar the work i now allude to that part of dr s where he a wife never to let her husband know the extent of her sensibility or affection precaution and as ineffectual as absurd love from its very nature must be to seek for a secret that would render it constant would be as wild a search as for the philosopher s stone or the grand and the discovery would be equally useless or rather to mankind the most holy band of society is friendship it has been well said by a shrewd that rare as true love is true friendship is still by i i george edward a volume of verse entitled the north shore watch and other poems was printed in for private circulation it was recognized by those who chanced to see it as work of exceptional merit the which named the book was felt to be one of the most artistic and beautiful composed by an american the high spiritual quality of the song was as marked as its dignity of and depth of feeling there were noble in the little collection the two on for example	4
law she from old fountains doth new judgment draw till word by word the ancient order to the true course more nigh in every age a little she but more preserves hope stands the last a mighty of fate these thy foundations are o firm set state and strength is unto thee more than this of common thought beyond the stars from the far city brought pillar and tower declare the power massive severe sublime of the stem righteous time from to son thy eldest large they were the cast in the iron that fate by george edward j j they could not help but frame the fabric well who the stones for heaven s eye to tell who knew from and taught posterity that the true workman s only he who of god s necessity nor yet hath failed the seed of still doth the work the awe divine confess conscience within duty without express well may thy sons rejoice thee o proud land no race of mighty is thine no of the fathers lo the arch the loyal o er the march of freed on every hand grows the vast work and boundless the design so in thy children shall thy empire stand as in her fell rome s majesty o desolation be it far from thee forgetting and sons to whom were given the of glory and the keys of fate from him whom well they knew the rock of state thy centre and on thy blazed his name whose is the substance of all fame the sweetness of all hope forbid it heaven shrink not o land beneath that holy fear thou art not of god his kingdom is thy conquering sphere his will thy ruling rod o harbor of the sea tossed the last great mortal bound with a hundred states a hundred crowned mother whose heart holds earth s poor within her breast world in whose open folds the wandering races rest advance the hour supreme arrives o er ocean s edge the chariot drives the past is done thy begun upon the forehead of the world to blaze lighting all times to be with thy own golden days o land beloved my country dear my own by i i edward may the young heart that moved for the weak words the mighty not mine nor the full breath of song to happier sons shall these belong yet doth the first and lonely voice of the dark dawn the heart rejoice while still the loud choir sleeps upon the bough and never greater love thy brow than his who seeks thee now alien the sea and salt the foam where er it bears him from his home and when he leaps to land a lover the strand precious is every stone no little inch of all the broad domain but he would stoop to kiss and end his pain feeling thy lips make merry with his own but oh his trembling reed too frail to bear thee time s all hail faint is my heart and with the passion of thy praise i the poets come who cannot fail happy are they who sing thy perfect days happy am i who see the long night ended in the shadows of the age that bore me all the hopes of mankind earth heaven descending while the new day the blue over thee happy am i who see the vision splendid in the glowing of the dawn before me all the grace of heaven man arising christ descending while god s hand in secrecy thy bright eternity lines now snowy shining should breathe my spirit bare my heart should cease in the rainbow haunted air but sorrow carries my heart beyond the sea by george edward nor comfort in it save thoughts of thee the branch of olive shaken the sea winds in the oh thou here with me gray olive dark bright ocean the radiant mountains round never for love s devotion were sweeter lodging found s christ i saw in pictures wandering wearily i sought not the names of the masters nor the works men care to see but once in a low passage i came on a place of gloom lit here and there with like saints within the room the pure serene mild colors the early artists used had made my heart grow softer and still on peace i mused sudden i saw the sufferer and my frame was clenched with pain perchance no so noble visits my soul again mine were the of the on my thorn pierced brow blood ran in my breast the deep compassion breaking the heart for man i drooped with heavy eyelids till evil should have its will on my lips was silence gathered my waiting soul stood still i gazed nor knew i was gazing i trembled and woke to know him whom they worship in heaven still walking on earth below by l george edward once have i borne his sorrows beneath the of fate once in the woe of his passion i felt the soul grow great i turned from my dead leader i passed the silent door the gray walled street received me on peace i mused no more song from when love in the faint heart and the eyes with tears are wet oh tell me what thee young regret with drooping lilies o of gold roses in june rains stooping that weep for the cold are like thee young regret bloom lilies and roses but what young desire like thee when love thy heart of fire the wild swan the eagle alone with the sun the long winged storm burning when day is done are like thee young desire by i is margaret l woods obscure cry of human suffering is the motive of mrs woods s first book a village tragedy the story is simple the incidents meagre but so admirable is its construction with such	4
gloves and left the house as quickly and as quietly as she could the dusty streets were beginning to be shady and were comparatively quiet for it was not much past five o clock and the fashionable world had not yet left its after dinner wine for the coffee house the tavern or the yet had they been they would have seemed a haven of peace to a fugitive from the crowded stage of conventional merriment in which she had been playing her part for so many hours she turned down by st james s palace into the where a certain number of people were already walking and so past the milk fair at the corner to spring gardens thence she took a to the near the quiet church the stones had chosen for the wedding the whose dinner had been large if not luxurious sat over his empty bottle of wine smoking a pipe of tobacco and though he wondered much what miss might want with the church key he sent it down by by x margaret l woods the maid without himself to a question so she went on to the church the flower had gone from the steps and the s cart from below them some children were playing at by the door and inter in their game by the unexpected arrival gathered round to stare at her as she painfully turned the big key in the lock with a faint exclamation of annoyance as she split the palm of her glove in the process she had no sooner entered than a pale inquisitive little face about on a level with the lock was thrust in after her she hastily withdrew the key and closed the door behind her there was something strange and unnatural about the of the place with the long rays of the afternoon sun streaming above its and and cushions the church smelt of dust for it was not sufficiently fashionable to be open for those daily prayers which were wont to a convenient for the beau and the fine lady it had none of the dim of a church that seems reared with a view to heaven rather than earth and whose arches massive or soaring neither gain nor lose by the accidental presence of human creatures below them no the building seemed to cry out for a congregation and the mind s eye involuntarily peopled it with its sunday of substantial citizens and their families walked quickly up to the altar rails and looked over there lay the folded paper just as she remembered it she fell on her knees on the long stool placed there for the convenience of not with any idea of reverence for was a philosopher after the fashion of the day but merely in order to reach the paper with greater ease she snatched it up and glanced at it yes it was undoubtedly the lost key tossing her head with a little ah of triumph and satisfaction she put it away safely in her pocket the prize was secured yet she lingered her left hand and touched a spot of ground just within the rails pressing her warm palm and fingers down upon the cold stone just there swift had stood so close to where she knelt tl at if he stood there now his robes would brush her as he moved she hid her face on the arm that lay on the communion rails and with a thrill of passionate adoration saw once more the impressive figure that she had seen that morning and heard again the grave tones of his voice the sensation of bustle attendant on a wedding the near presence of the little by margaret l woods crowd of relations had robbed the scene of its quality at the time but now she was fully sensible of its significance she was kneeling just where the bride had knelt and for her the recollection of the stupid vulgar girl who had been round to st james s so often lately with tiresome questions about faded before the of the woman s heart that she had seen beating a few hours ago on the spot where her own beat now not more full surely not so full of love and pride in the man beloved but in a completed joy that was not s yet might it not one day be hers also a minute or two only she continued kneeling and then passed down the aisle and out to the steps like a pale with wide eyes and close pressed brooding lips another person so might have forgotten to lock the door or else to return the church key to its owner but s a natural quality cultivated in response to swift s approval never her and quite mechanically she struggled with the massive lock and left the key at the clergyman s house with a message of thanks as she called a coach she asked herself with a start whether she had done these things then smiled and blushed at her own self up till now she had had no definite purpose beyond that of finding the lost paper and having accomplished this she was going home again but now smiling she thought will be drunk by this time at least if he is not drunk yet he will not in justice to himself leave such a feast until he is i had better take it myself it seemed a simple and natural thing to do but though swift received the at his lodgings as often as any other friends that did not mean very often and she knew he hated to be unexpectedly invaded by any one most of all by ladies yet to lose this opportunity of finding out the truth about this sudden departure would be too it must be only one of those foolish by which he loved to throw dust in the	4
eyes of his acquaintance and to which she had become almost resigned as she drove on the desire to see him to ask him a thousand questions such as he would not answer before others and to extract from him a promise to write g till it became a necessity so she got down at the comer of bury street and flew on to the well known door she did not observe mr who was passing through the street on the other side but he observed her and her destination on the door step by margaret l woods she paused struck with sudden terror at finding herself entering that presence which could sometimes be so then with a touch of scorn at her own she resolutely raised the no one came in answer to her rap but she found that the door was on the latch and went in the doors of most of the rooms stood wide open and there was a feeling of loneliness about the dull little house she went up stairs and knocked timidly at swift s parlor but here too no one answered the bedroom beside was obviously empty and with an sensation of relief she said to herself he must be gone out and peeped carelessly into the parlor it was a dreary room at the best of times and now it bore all those marks of disorder and discomfort that attend a move even from lodgings a large wooden case half full of books stood ne t the door the floor and the chairs were strewn with volumes and those shabby odds and ends which seem never to appear except on such occasions while the and empty grate were piled with an immense heap of papers mostly torn up very small the cloth had fallen off the heavy old oak table which filled the middle of the room and was generally completely covered with books and it was quite bare now except that the man who sat at one end on a high stool had bowed his body on it and lay face downwards on its polished surface with arms and tightly clenched hands stretched out before him he was wrapped in a loose gown and wore nor cap but his head which must have been left for some time was covered with a short thick growth of blue black hair dashed with glittering silver at the temples as stood by the door amazed and a sound broke from him a groan ending in a long low sighing wail it was a heart broken sound the cry of one worn out with some intolerable misery of mind or body in an instant all hesitation disappeared all fear or desire for herself everything vanished except the consciousness of her adored friend s anguish she moved forward quickly and silently and falling on her knees by the table laid her hand on his arm he made no sign but again that muffled wail broke forth like the of a damned spirit trembling excessively she pulled him by the sleeve and said in a voice so broken it was scarcely more than a whisper oh sir for pity s sake for god s sake by margaret l woods with an impatient gesture he folded his arms round his head so as more completely to shield his face and spoke hoarsely from beneath them you confounded rascal i thought you knew better go go go i say the last words were spoken with increasing vehemence but who had often been awe struck before him did not him now he was how or why she knew not and without her reverence for him being in any way he awoke her instinctive feeling of responsibility towards all suffering creatures the first shock over she was comparatively calm again only thinking with painful intensity what she had better do so for a minute or two they both remained in the same position till he burst out again with greater violence than before beast idiot go go then she touched his hand it is she said he lifted his head slowly and turned his face towards her as though with reluctance it was pale with the livid of a dark skin no longer young and the firm lines of mouth and cheek were and he looked a ghost but hardly the ghost of himself in a minute as he realized s presence the life and individuality began to return to his face but in no amiable form so madam he said after a pause with a that did duty for a smile you are here ha charming pray to what am i indebted et was too much shocked at his appearance to consider how he received her i have brought the paper you lost she returned hastily tis here but no matter you are ill you must let me find your drops for you and send for dr he sat upright and clutching the edge of the stool on which he sat with both hands i am not ill he said with harsh impatience leave me you are either ill or in some great trouble she replied in either case not fit to be alone if you will not have my company you must let me send you some other friend though a truer one it cannot be will only come home to sleep his wine friend he cried friend and with a shriek of laughter he rocked himself to and fro on the stool was standing up now she looked at him by i o margaret l woods steadily with a severity born rather of amazement than of any conscious criticism of his conduct but he was calm again so that she almost doubted whether it was he who had laughed they were silent for a minute or two looking at each other he was apparently calm but	4
the singular of his eyes had disappeared they glittered under the heavy black eyebrows each with a curious spark in it not at all like the eyes so familiar to his friends the change in them made his whole face look from having been pale it had now flushed a dark red you talk to me of friends child he resumed hoarsely but in a more normal tone leaning forward and smiling at her bitterly both his hands still clutching the stool as though you expected me to believe in em or to fancy you believed in em no no governor has too much wit for that friends fellows that your brains em dry dry and pay you with their damned promises that when youve and and made a million enemies and when they think done with fling you out an irish as you might fling a stick into the sea for your dog hi swim for it sir he paused a moment his dry lips and drawing in his breath let it out again in a low fierce exclamation but tis not i tis they who are done with oxford on the board oh when i am gone they ll know themselves and whistle me back when tis too late and i shall come ay fool that i am i shall come the do you remember at they come back to where they before don t they he laughed again the same sudden shrieking laugh the perpendicular line was itself on s white brow a line which looked severe but really indicated only anxiety or bewilderment i esteem your political friends as little as you do she replied mentioning them and thought i esteemed em less but you have others better ones mr gay mr pope mr mr he broke in with a accent meant to imitate her feminine voice was that what you was going to say miss ha ha ha warm hearted generous joseph true as gay now gay s a charming fellow when one feels as to pope at that name by margaret l woods j i i he dropped his sneer and spoke with sombre earnestness as to pope never talk of him he s a thing i believe in i will believe in i tell you so don t let s think of him for fear for fear ah did you say he was crooked i said nothing sir she replied with dignity i would aim at no man s defects of person least of all at mr pope s but if i cannot name a man friend but mock at him i ll bring your women friends to your mind the truest the most attached of em and she held her head higher there s lady my mother and myself that s four women s friendship women s friendship by the powers she talks as though it were a thing to be calculated four female to one male weigh weigh they re more than the parcel of vanity and caprice called female friendship don t i know why madam van and you were all anxiety to know mr gay before i left why to be sure she must have a poet in her chamber like other women of quality for madam van is as mad as old and thinks herself a and when that poor dean that s been so useful is gone why he s gone and must get another fellow to teach her how to talk and make the wits in love with her ay i know what your female friendship s worth stood upright beside him she made no visible motion while he spoke but she held her head higher the frown on her brow deepened and she looked down at him with eyes in which an angry light began to burn and cheeks flushing with an indignant red he tried to meet her gaze indifferently as he finished speaking but his own sank beneath it and before she made any answer he hung his head as one you dare to say so she said at last sternly and to me then after a pause unworthy most unworthy she ejaculated her words did not exactly represent her feeling she was more moved by horror and surprise that he should speak in a way so unlike and so degrading to himself than at his preposterous reflections on herself and mrs but whatever the precise proportion in which her emotions were mingled she stood there the very image of intense yet self contained indignation fixing upon him a steady look of stem reproof she who had so often trembled before his least frown did not fear his fury now in this feverish sickness of his soul he was silent looking loi i by j i margaret l woods at the table and on it like a boy half sullen half ashamed then on a sudden putting both hands to his head with a of pain oh my head my head he cried god o god and he rolled on the table in a of anguish moaning either prayers or curses every physical pang that he endured created its mental in her and her whole soul was concentrated in a passionate prayer for help for the body and mind of him laid there in anguish and at length the subsided almost as suddenly as it had come but for a time he seemed unable to speak his brow with his hand he looked at her from time to time with a faint pleading almost timid smile this piteous smile so unlike any look she had ever seen or fancied on those haughty features was more than could bear her breath came quick a sob rose in her throat and the hot tears blinded her eyes but he had too	4
often quite praised her as above the female weakness of tears and she had too often blushed to think of those tears of hers by the river at and those in the to weep again in his company no she would rather choke than do it so she could not answer that pleading look with a kind one but faced him with drooped eyelids lips severely close flushed cheeks and heaving bosom he spoke at last in a languid hesitating voice but calm and like his own no longer with the confused of the fierce grinding tones which had shocked when he was talking to her before i beg your pardon very humbly yours and good madam van s as well you d grant me grace if you only knew what a bad head i have oh such a head the pains of hell hold upon me last night when i came home from parson s green and all because of the least bit of fruit from his glass house the mad would have me to eat no ril not do it again fruit always did give me a bad head you ve forgiven me ha n t you but could not yet answer or meet that anxious humble look of his he cried and stretched out his hand towards hers as though to touch it yet without doing so he cried again what you can t forgive your poor friend that hardly knows what he says when he cries aloud by margaret l woods in his misery can t you forgive me little do do now forgive me was still kneeling like one in prayer with her cheek leaned on her clasped hands but now the color had from it and left her very pale and the resolute lines of her lips had softened she lifted to his her great eyes luminous with tears repressed and an irrepressible fire of passion and he started as he met them forgive you she cried in a voice whose deep music thrilled him in spite of himself and then the same words again but set to some new harmony forgive you why i love you the mental shock was sufficient to have thrust him back again into that from which he had just escaped but it had the opposite effect the weak helpless feeling in the brain that usually remained with him for long after such an attack passed suddenly almost entirely away yes it was a shock for weeks a dim troubling something to which he refused to give the shape of an idea had been stirring in the depths of his mind and he had kept it down there by main force now it sprang up before him full armed like i am obliged to you he said i should have been sorry if i had offended you past your forgiveness but now you talk as wildly as i did had we not been friends so long i might your meaning ah she cried leaping to her feet and tossing back her hood with a fierce impatient gesture you wish to it you that have me tortured me with your questions now you would fain not hear the answer to em all you that have told me a thousand times to show you my heart now you will not see it but you know you know what you are to me and a sob her voice your friend he said gravely before this outburst of a passion it had been beyond his power to imagine friend she cried friend and laughed not bitterly but with a kind of wild tenderness could adam call the god that shaped him out of dust his friend no he must worship he must him you shaped me i was nothing nothing before you taught me how to think how to feel and to love what you love and despise what you despise i am the creature by i i margaret l woods of your hands you made me and i am yours you may be sorry for t but tis too late now to help it swift made an attempt to assume that awful air with which he was wont to cow the of his friends or foes but he felt the attempt to be a failure hush he cried what you are saying is very wrong tis rank and i will not hear it turned from him and paced the room for a minute or two in a silence which swift did not break with her head thrown back and biting her under lip as was her wont looking on the ground not at him who had once more shaded his face with one hand she began again we are neither of us and i cannot pick my words oh that i could find one sharp enough to cut right through my breast and show you my heart once you said i should cease to be your friend on the day when i was afraid to pin my heart to my sleeve yes those were your very words pin it to my sleeve for your inspection you forget but i remember now you don t love to see it but tis too late to go back if i said i you as one god i spoke god is a long way and we have never seen him but we know he cannot need us but you she paused before him with clasped hands like a before a shrine you are far indeed above other men yet you are a man and here among us and you have often ah do not try to deny it little nothing as i am compared to you you have often often needed me how can i choose but worship love you and as she ended she fell on her knees once more and bending over his	4
hand that still lay stretched out on the table touched it with a swift hot kiss and bowed her forehead on her folded arms there was a sharp tap at the door some one must mounted the stairs unheard by either of them quick as lightning sprang up and pulled her hood over her face swift made a dash for his which lay on a neighboring chair but he had not got his head well into it when the door was flung open and loudly announced by an invisible some one mr walked in by i i jn the novels of a certain subtle element of is blended with masculine vigor and she had the self restraint to stand aside from her yet she met the necessities of her art with a woman s for this reason her novels are among the most charming in the whole range of american fiction satisfactory because they always to a high standard of literary excellence having nothing about them shabby or careless or indifferent their author looks upon life with that and clearness of gaze which is only possible to one who wishes to see things as a whole and as they are miss might be called a for this reason yet she is also true to the unknown romance which forever haunts the souls of men although she is a not a little of her power is shown in her short stories of these she has written a great number their being generally the scenes with which she was at the time familiar she was all her life a wanderer so that she wrote with equal freedom of new england and its people of new york life of the south of americans and in and and rome she was bom in new a great niece of james she was to give early evidence of possessing not a small share of his literary power as a child she was taken to where she received her education going later to a french school in new york city a school perhaps in her novel anne she lived in until the death of her father charles in from to she lived with her mother in and in other southern states a whose fruits appear in the book of short stories of life in the south headed by the keeper and in east angels miss seemed capable of with equal intensity the stem self conscientious new england character and the easy nature of the far south she drew both with equal truth and enjoyed them by bringing them together as in the story the front yard in which a good for nothing family of italian have for a a new england woman who lives a modified new england life in in east angels and elsewhere her later short stories are nearly all of by l i italy or of americans in italy she herself lived abroad after dying in january d the scenes of her novels are laid in her own country recalling the associations of her childhood chase however being a novel of life in north anne lights for the major have their setting in the north east angels in the far south of these novels anne is the most powerful and striking showing as it does miss s ability to many kinds of people above all her skill in the of women she understood her own sex her are in no wise remarkable they may be met every day their weakness their strength their love are found in every household she understood men as well as an unmarried woman can understand them an unmarried woman with the of the artist she understood perhaps best of all the common people especially their homely and hearty qualities in her novels she rarely gives way to sentiment or to feminine pathos the reader receives the impression that she has certain qualities in writing under her reserve force is a part of her charm on the whole her novels are strong sane and having nothing in common with the of current fiction they the best purpose of a novel to entertain without the keeper from the keeper and other southern sketches published by brothers by d co ry of what keeper of the dead well it is easier to j keep the dead than the living and as for the gloom of the thing the living among whom i have been lately were not a set john sat in the doorway and looked out over his domain the little cottage behind him was empty of life save himself alone in one room the slender provided by government for the keeper who being still alive must sleep and eat made the doubly bare in the other the desk and the great the ink and pens the register the loud clock on the wall and the flag folded on a shelf were all for the kept whose names in hastily written blotted rolls of manuscript were waiting to be in the new red bound in the keeper s best handwriting day by day while the clock was to tell him the hour when the flag must by rise over the where the bodies of fourteen thousand united states soldiers who had where once stood the prison pens on the opposite slopes now fair and peaceful in the sunset who had fallen by the way in long to and fro under the burning sun who had fought and died on xi a state stretch oriental production o r nd the western market st san j i j t away heavenly j n never heart of c i its back c when rambling a s p i at j ji ai everything first gun was a latch or lock j c rolled through x south in	4
n i enthusiasm he ro n v k t v ki the colors rf t i v behind as y k il i j again ns v and the fair i j had marched i x i v t captain and finally ma h s death down those above him and he iu his good conduct were left magnificence went hand in hand with neglect and he had said so as chance now and then threw a conversation in his path we have no such ways he would remark after he had supplied a prisoner with hard tack and by l l and no such grand ones either would reply if he was a man of spirit and generally he was the yankee forced to acknowledge the truth of this statement qualified it by observing that he would rather have more with a little less grandeur whereupon the other answered that he would not and there the conversation rested so now ex colonel keeper of the national viewed the little town in its second estate with philosophic eyes it is part of a great problem now working itself out i am not here to tend the living but the dead he said whereupon as he walked among the long a voice seemed to rise from the still ranks below while ye have time do good to men it said behold we are beyond your care but the keeper did not heed this still evening in early february he looked out over the level waste the little town stood in the there were no hills from whence help calm heights that lift the soul above earth and its cares no river to lead the aspirations of the children outward toward the great sea everything was monotonous and the only spirit that rose above the waste was a bitterness for the gained and sorrow for the lost cause the keeper was the only man whose presence the former in their sight and upon him therefore as representative the bitterness fell not in words but in averted looks in sudden when he approached in and until he lived and moved in a wherever he went there was presently no one save himself the very shop keeper who sold him sugar seemed turned into a man of wood and took his money reluctantly although the shilling gained stood perhaps for that day s dinner so withdrew himself and came and went among them no more the broad acres of his domain gave him as much exercise as his shattered ankle could bear he ordered his few supplies by the quantity and began the life of a solitary his island marked out by the massive granite wall with which the united states government has carefully surrounded those sad southern of hers sad not so much from the number of the representing youth and strength cut off in their bloom for that is but the fortune of war as for the complete which marks them strangers in a strange land is the thought of all who coming and going to and from turn aside here and there to stand for a moment among the by closely ranged graves which seem already a part of the past that near past which in our hurrying american life is even now so far away the government work was completed before the keeper came the lines of the were defined by low granite and the comparatively few single were headed by trim little white boards bearing generally the word unknown but here and there a name and an age in most cases a boy from some far away northern state twenty one twenty two said the the dates were those dark years among the measured now more than by anything else in the number of maidens in heart and women indeed who sit still and remember while the world rushes by at sunrise the keeper ran up the stars and and so precise were his ideas of the belonging to the place that from his own small store of money he had taken enough by himself to buy a second flag for stormy weather so that rain or not the colors should float over the dead this was not patriotism so called or rather it was not sentimental fancy it was not zeal or triumph it was simply a sense of the fitness of things a which had in it nothing of religion unless indeed a man s endeavor to live up to his own ideal of his duty be a religion the same feeling led the keeper to spend hours in the rolls john company g eighth new he repeated as he slowly wrote the name giving john clear bold and a impossible to mistake died august aged twenty two years he came from the prison pen yonder and lies somewhere in those i suppose now then john don t fancy i am for you no doubt you are better off than i am at this very moment but none the less john shall pen ink and hand do their duty to you for that i am here infinite pains and labor went into these records of the dead one hair s breadth error and the whole page was replaced by a new one the same spirit kept the grass carefully away from the low of the kept the paths smooth and the green and the bare little cottage neat as a war when the keeper cooked his dinner the door toward the east where the dead lay was closed nor was it opened until everything was in perfect order again at sunset the flag was lowered and then it was the keeper s habit to walk slowly up and down the path until the shadows veiled the by on each side and there was nothing save the peaceful green of earth so time	4
will our little lives and sorrows he mused and we shall be as nothing in the past yet none the less did he the duties of every day and hour with at least they shall not say that i was lacking he murmured to himself as he thought vaguely of the future beyond these graves who they were it would have troubled him to since he was one of the many sons whom new england in this generation sends forth with a belief composed entirely of as the season advanced he worked all day in the sunshine my garden looks well he said i like this because it is the original of the dead who lie beneath they were not brought here from distant places gathered up by contract numbered and described like so much their first repose has not been broken their peace has been undisturbed hasty the prison authorities gave them the thin bodies were tumbled into the by men almost as thin for the whole state went hungry in those dark days there were not many prayers no tears as the dead carts went the rounds but the prayers had been said and the tears had fallen while the poor fellows were still alive in the pens yonder and when at last death came it was like a release they suffered long and i for one believe that therefore shall their rest be long long and sweet after a time began the rain the soft persistent gray rain of the southern and he stayed within and copied an other thousand names into the he would not allow himself the companionship of a dog lest the creature should bark at night and disturb the quiet there was no one to hear save himself and it would have been a friendly sound as he lay awake on his narrow iron bed but it seemed to him against the spirit of the place he would not smoke although he had the soldier s fondness for a pipe many a dreary evening beneath a hastily built shelter of boughs when the rain poured down and everything was he had found solace in the curling smoke but now it seemed to him that it would be and at times he almost felt as if it would be selfish too they cannot smoke you know down there under the wet grass he thought as standing at the window he looked toward the ranks of the stretching across the eastern end from side to side my parade ground he called it and then he would smile at his own fancies draw the curtain shut out the rain and the night by light his lamp and go to work on the again some of the names lingered in his memory he felt as if he had known the men who bore them as if they had been boys together and were friends even now although separated for a time james company b fifth the fifth was in the seven days battle i say do you remember that retreat down the church road and the way held the rear guard firm and over the whole seven days he wandered with his mute friend who remembered everything and everybody in the most satisfactory way one of the little head boards in the parade ground attracted him peculiarly because the name inscribed was his own company a one and sixth new york i remember that regiment it came from the extreme part of the state blank must have melted down here coming as he did from the half region along the st i wonder what he thought of the first hot day say in south along those rice fields he grew into the habit of pausing for a moment by the side of this grave every morning and evening blank it might easily have been john and then where should be but blank remained silent and the keeper after pulling up a weed or two and the grass over his relative went to his duties again i am convinced that blank is a relative he said to himself distant perhaps but still a one april day the heat was almost but the sun s rays were not those brazen beams that sometimes in cities burn the air and the to a white heat rather were they soft and still the moist earth her richness not a leaf stirred and the whole level country seemed sitting in a hot bath in the early dawn the keeper had performed his tasks but all day he remained almost without stirring in his chair between two windows striving to exist at high noon out came a little black bringing his supplies from the town whistling and shuffling along gay as a lark the keeper watched him coming slowly down the white road by the way in the hot blaze stopping to turn a or two to over a bridge rail to execute various all by himself he reached the gate at last entered and having come all the way up the path in a step he set down his basket at the door to indulge in one long by i i and final double before knocking stop that said the keeper through the closed blinds the little darted back but as nothing further came out of the window a boot for instance or some other stray he took courage showed his and drew near again do you suppose i am going to have you stirring up the heat in that way demanded the keeper the little black grinned but made no reply unless the hot white sand with his black toes could be as such he now removed his hat and made a bow is it or is it not warm asked the keeper as a might inquire of a not referring to his own so much as to the s ideas on the subject	4
replied the little black how do you feel i feel all right the keeper gave up the investigation and presented to the a cent i suppose there is no such thing as a cool spring in all this melting country he said but the indicated with his thumb a of trees on the green plain north of the e ward s place spring he then departed breaking into a run after he had passed the gate his ample mouth watering at the thought of a certain of at the establishment kept by aunt in a corner of her one cabin at sunset the keeper went out with a tin on his arm in search of the cold spring if it could only be like the spring down under the rocks where i used to drink when i was a boy he thought he had never walked in that direction before indeed now that he had abandoned the town he seldom went beyond the walls of the an old road led across to the of trees through fields run to waste and following it he came to the place a deserted house with tumble down fences and overgrown garden the out buildings indicating that once upon a time there were many servants and a prosperous master the house was of wood large on the ground with across the front door rough bars had been nailed and the closed blinds were protected in the same manner from long want of paint the were gray and and the floor of the had fallen in here and there from decay the keeper decided that his was a much more cheerful place than this and then he looked around for the spring by behind the house the ground down it must be there he went around and came suddenly upon a man lying on an old rug outside of a back door excuse me i thought nobody lived here he said nobody does replied the man i am not much of a body am i his left arm was gone and his face was thin and worn with long illness he closed his eyes after speaking as though the few words had exhausted him i came for water from a cold spring you have here somewhere pursued the keeper contemplating the wreck before him with the interest of one who has himself been severely wounded and knows the long weary pain the man waved his hand toward the slope without his eyes and went off with his and found a little shady hollow once and paved with white pebbles but now neglected like all the place the water was cold however cold he filled his and thought that perhaps after all he would exert himself to make coffee now that the sun was down it would taste better made of this cold water when he came up the slope the man s eyes were open have some water asked yes there s a inside the keeper entered and found himself in a large bare room in one corner was some straw covered with an old in another a table and chair a kettle hung in the deep fireplace and a few dishes stood on a shelf by the door on a nail hung a he filled it and gave it to the host of this desolate abode the man drank with eagerness pomp has gone to town he said and i could not get down to the spring to day i have had so much pain and when will pomp return he should be here now he is very late to night can i get you anything no thank you he will soon be here the keeper looked out over the waste there was no one in sight he was not a man of any especial he had himself been too hardly treated in life for that but he could not find it in his heart to leave this helpless creature all alone with night so near so he sat down on the door step i will rest awhile he said not asking but announcing it the man had turned away and closed bis eyes again and they by i remained silent busy with their own thoughts for each had recognized the ex soldier northern and southern in portions of the old and in the accent the war and its memories were still very near to the poverty stricken and the other knew that they were and did not himself twilight fell and no one came let me get you something said for the face looked ghastly as the fever the other refused darkness came still no one look here said rising i have been wounded myself was in hospital for months i know how you feel you must have food a cup of tea now and a of toast brown and thin i have not tasted tea or bread for weeks answered the man his voice died into a wail as though and pain had drawn the cry from him in spite of himself lighted a match there was no candle only a piece of pitch pine stuck in an iron on the wall he set fire to this primitive torch and looked around there is nothing there said the man outside making an effort to speak carelessly my servant went to town for supplies do not trouble yourself to wait he will come presently and and i want nothing but saw through proud poverty s lie he knew that irregular of the voice and that trembling of the hand the poor fellow had but one to tremble he continued his search but the bare room gave back nothing not a well if you are not hungry he said briskly i am hungry as a bear and i ll tell you what i am going to do	4
i live not far from here and i live all alone too i haven t a servant as you have let me take supper here with you just for a change and if your servant comes so much the better he can wait upon us i ll run over and bring back the things he was gone without waiting for a reply the shattered ankle made good time over the waste and soon returned a little but bravely while on a tray came the keeper s best supplies irish potatoes beef bread butter and coffee for he would not eat the hot the corn cake the bacon and of the country and constantly made little new england meals for himself in his prejudiced little kitchen the pine torch in the doorway a breeze had come down from the far mountains and cooled the air kindled a by fire on the hearth filled the kettle found a and commenced operations while the other lay outside and watched every movement in the lighted room all ready let me help you in here we are now potatoes cold beef toast butter and tea eat man and the next time i am laid up you shall come over and cook for me hunger conquered and the other ate ate as he had not eaten for months as he was finishing a second cup of tea a slow step came around the house it was the missing pomp an old negro bent and who carried a bag of meal and some bacon in his basket that is what they live on thought the keeper he took leave without more words i suppose now i can be allowed to go home in peace he grumbled to conscience the negro followed him across what was once the lawn fin ward mighty low he said as he swung open the gate which still hung between its posts although the fence was down but i and as as i could it s mighty fur to de town proud to see you hope come again fine de wards de war how long has he been in this state asked the keeper ever one ob de battles but he s worse we come yer bout a back who owns the house is there no one to see to him has he no friends house b long to ward s uncle fine place once de war he s dead now and s but miss an she s gone off place fur ward own uncle s house said the old slave striving to maintain the family dignity even then are there no better rooms no furniture but but miss she took de keys she didn t know we was you had better send for miss i think said the keeper starting homeward with his tray washing his hands as it were of any future responsibility in the affair the next day he worked in his garden for clouds veiled the sun and exercise was possible but nevertheless he could not forget the white face on the old rug he said to himself haven t i seen tumble down old houses and battered human beings before this by at evening came a violent thunder storm and the splendor of the heavens was terrible we have chained you mighty spirit thought the keeper as he watched the lightning and some time we shall learn the laws of the winds and the storms then prayers will no more be offered in churches to alter the weather than they would be offered now to alter an yet back of the lightning and the wind lies the power of the great creator just the same but still into his crept with shadowy the white face on the rug nonsense he exclaimed if white faces are going around as ghosts how about the fourteen thousand white faces that went under the sod down yonder if they could arise and walk the whole state would be filled and no more carpet needed so having balanced the one with the fourteen thousand he went to bed daylight brought rain still soft gray rain the next morning showed the same and the third likewise the nights keeping up their part with low down clouds and steady on the roof if there was a river here we should have a flood thought the keeper idly on his window pane memory brought back the steep new england shedding their rain into the which grew in a night to torrents and filled the rivers so that they their banks then suddenly an old house in a sunken comer of a waste rose before his eyes and he seemed to see the rain dropping from a ceiling on the straw where a white face lay really i have nothing else to do to day you know he remarked in an way to himself as he and his umbrella went along the old road and he repeated the remark as he entered the room where the man lay just as he had fancied on the damp straw the weather is unpleasant said the man pomp bring a chair pomp brought one the only one and the visitor sat down a fire on the hearth and puffed out smoke now and then as if the rain had the in the long neglected chimney from the ceiling drops fell with a dull splash into little pools on the decayed floor the door would not close the broken panes were stopped with rags as if the old servant had tried to keep out the damp in the ashes a was by i am afraid you have not been so well during these long rainy days said the keeper the face on the straw my old enemy answered the man the first sunshine will drive it away they talked awhile or rather the keeper talked for the other seemed hardly able	4
to speak as the waves of pain swept over him then the visitor went outside and called pomp out s there any one to help him or not he asked impatiently fine de war began pomp never mind all that is there any one to help him now yes or no no said the old black with a burst of despairing miss she s as poor as ward an s no one else he s had n but hard com cake for three days an he can t it no more the next morning saw ward de lying on the white in the keeper s cottage and old pomp at the cleanliness all around him as nurse a strange asylum for a soldier was it not but he knew nothing of the change which he would have fought with his last breath if consciousness had remained returning fever however had absorbed his senses and then it was that the keeper and the slave had borne him slowly across the waste resting many times but the journey at last that evening john strolling to and fro in the dusky twilight paused alongside of the other i do not want him here and that is the plain truth he said pursuing the current of his thoughts he fills the house he and pomp together disturb all my ways he ll be ready to fling a brick at me too when his senses come back small thanks shall i have for lying on the floor giving up all my comforts and what is more riding over the spirit of the place with a vengeance he threw himself down on the grass beside the mound and lay looking up toward the stars which were coming out one by one in the deep blue of the southern night with a vengeance did i say that is it exactly the vengeance of kindness the poor fellow has horribly in body and in estate and now fortune throws him in my way as if saying let us see how far your selfishness will yield this is not a question of there is no about it for the war is over and you have gained every point for which you by i i fought this is merely a question between man and man it would be the same if the was a poor one of the carpet whom you despise so for instance or a pagan and fortune is right don t you think so blank i put it to you now to one who has suffered the extreme of the other side those prison pens yonder whereupon blank answered that he had fought for a great cause and that he knew it although a plain man and not given to speech making he was not one of those who had sat safely at home all through the war and now it and made light of its issues here a murmur came up from the long line of the as though all the dead had cried out but now the points for which he had fought being gained and strife ended it was the plain duty of every man to encourage peace for his part he bore no malice he was glad the poor was up in the cottage and he did not think any the less of the keeper for bringing him there he would like to add that he thought more of him but he was sorry to say that he was well aware what an effort it was and how almost the charity began if blank did not say this at least the keeper im that he did that is what he would have said he thought i am glad you do not object he added pretending to himself that he had not noticed the rest of the remark we do not object to the brave soldier who honestly fought for his cause even though he fought on the other side answered blank for the whole fourteen thousand but never let a coward a double face or a walk over our heads it would make us rise in our graves and the keeper seemed to see a shadowy sweep by gaunt soldiers with white faces anew against the subtle product of peace men who said it was nothing behold we saw it with our eyes stay at home eyes the third day the fever and ward de noticed his surroundings old pomp acknowledged that he had been moved but veiled the locality to a s house ward but i have no friends now pomp said the weak voice pomp was very much amused at the absurdity of this no s ward no s he was obliged to go out of the room to hide his laughter the sick man lay feebly thinking that the bed was cool and fresh and the closed green blinds by pleasant his thin fingers the linen sheet and his eyes wandered from object to object the only thing that broke the rule of bare utility in the simple room was a square of white drawing paper on the wall upon which was inscribed in ornamental text the following verse qui s y n est au vent with the of illness the eyes and mind of ward de went over and over this he knew something of french but was unequal to the of the alone caught his fancy he said to himself over and over again and when the keeper entered he said it to him certainly answered the keeper qui s y how do you find yourself this morning i have not found myself at all so far is this your house yes pomp told me i was in a friend s house observed the sick man vaguely well it isn t an enemy s had any breakfast no better not talk then he went to the detached	4
shed which served for a kitchen upset all pomp s clumsy arrangements and ordered him outside then he set to work and prepared a delicate breakfast with his best skill the sick man eagerly eyed the tray as he entered better have your hands and face off i think said and then he propped him up and left him to his the grass needed on the parade ground he shouldered his and started down the path kicking the gravel aside as he walked wasn t solitude your principal idea john when you applied for this place he demanded of himself how much of it are you likely to have with sick men and sick men s servants and so forth the and so forth thrown in as a climax turned into reality and arrived bodily upon the scene a climax indeed one afternoon returning late to the cottage he found a girl sitting by the a girl young and and one of the roses of the south that even in the bud are richer by i i o in color and than any northern flower he saw her through the door and paused distressed old pomp met him and beckoned him cautiously outside miss he whispered she s come back from an she s awful mad cause ward s here i her all bout em de an de an de hard corn cake but she done gone me and ward he know now he is an he mad too is the girl a fool said he was just beginning to rally a little he stalked into the room and confronted her i have the honor of addressing miss ward and i am john keeper of the national this she ignored entirely it was as though he had said i am john jones the coachman were useful in their way but their names were unimportant the keeper sat down and looked at his new visitor the little creature fairly scorn her pretty head was thrown back her eyes dark brown fringed with long dark lashes hardly a glance she spoke to him as though he was something to be paid and dismissed like any other we are indebted to you for some days board i believe keeper i presume and general attendance my cousin will be removed to day to our own residence i wish to pay now what he owes the keeper saw that her dress was old and faded the small black shawl had evidently been washed and many times mended the old fashioned purse she held in her hand was with long famine very well he said if you choose to treat a kindness in that way i consider five dollars a day none too much for the annoyance expense and trouble i have suffered let me see five days or is it six yes thirty dollars miss ward he looked at her steadily she flushed the money will be sent to you she began then hesitatingly i must ask a little time you know you cannot pay it why try to disguise but that does not excuse you for bringing me here said the sick man turning toward his host with an attempt to speak fiercely which ended in a faltering all this time the old slave stood anxiously outside of the door in the pauses they could hear his feet shuffling as he by waited for the decision of his the keeper rose and threw open the blinds of the window that looked out on the distant parade ground bringing you here he repeated here that is my is it there they lie fourteen thousand brave men and true could they come back to earth they would be the first to pity and aid you now that you are down so would it be with you if the case were reversed for a soldier is generous to a soldier it was not your own heart that spoke then it was the small of a woman that here as everywhere through the south is playing its part the sick man gazed out through the window seeing for the first time the far spreading ranks of the dead he was very weak and the keeper s words had touched him his eyes were with tears but miss ward rose with a flashing glance she turned her back full upon the keeper and ignored his very existence i will take you home immediately ward this very evening she said a nice comfortable place for a sick man commented the keeper scornfully i am going out now de to prepare your supper you had better have one good meal before you go he disappeared but as he went he heard the sick man say it isn t very comfortable over at the old house now indeed it isn t i suffered and the girl s passionate outburst in reply then he closed his door and set to work when he returned half an hour later ward was lying back exhausted on the pillows and his cousin sat leaning her head upon her hand she had been weeping and she looked very desolate he noticed sitting there in what was to her an enemy s country hunger is a strong master however especially when allied to weakness and the sick man ate with eagerness i must go back said the girl rising a wagon will be sent out for you ward pomp will help you but ward had gained a little strength as well as obstinacy with the food not to night he said yes to night but i cannot go to night you are unreasonable to morrow will do as well if go i must if go you must you do not want to go then to go to our own home and with me her voice broke she turned toward the door	4
graves at the north miss ward graves of southern soldiers and i know some northern women who do not by scorn to lay a few flowers on the lonely as they pass by with their blossoms on our memorial day you are fortunate they must be angels we have no angels here i am inclined to believe you are right said the keeper that night old pomp who had remained invisible in the kitchen during the ceremony stole away in the twilight and came back with a few flowers saw him going down toward the parade ground and watched the old man had but a few blossoms he arranged them hastily on the with many a glance toward the house and then stole back satisfied he had performed his part ward de lay on his apparently unchanged he seemed neither stronger nor weaker he had grown dependent upon his host and wearied for him as the scotch say but his fancies and gave him only the evenings when miss was not there one afternoon however it rained so violently that he was forced to seek shelter he set himself to work on the he was on the ninth thousand now but the sick man heard his step in the outer room and called in his weak voice after a time he went in and it ended in his staying for the patient was nervous and irritable and he pitied the nurse who seemed able to please him in nothing de turned with a sigh of relief toward the strong hands that lifted him readily toward the composed manner toward the man s voice that seemed to bring a breeze from outside into the close room animated cheered he talked the keeper listened answered once in a while and quietly took the rest of the afternoon into his own hands miss ward yielded to the silent change leaned back and closed her eyes she looked exhausted and for the first time pallid the loosened dark hair curled in little rings about her temples and her lips were parted as though she was too tired to close them for hers were not the thin straight lips that shut tight naturally like the straight line of a closed box the sick man talked on come he said after a while i have read that l verse of yours over at least ten thousand and fifty nine times please tell me its history i want to have something definite to think of when i read it for the ten thousand and by ig tou qui s y n est au vent read the keeper slowly with his english accent well i don t know that i have any objection to telling the story i am not sure but that it will do me good to hear it all over myself in plain language again then it concerns yourself said de so much the better i hope it will be as the children say the truth and long it will be the truth but not long when the war broke out i was twenty eight years old living with my mother on our farm in new england my father and two brothers had died and left me the otherwise i should have broken away and sought fortune farther westward where the lands are better and life is more free but mother loved the house the fields and every crooked tree she was alone and so i stayed with her in the centre of the village green stood the square white meeting house and near by the small cottage where the lived the minister s daughter mary was my promised wife mary was a slender creature with a profusion of pale hair large serious blue eyes and small delicate features she was timid almost to a fault her voice was low and gentle she was not eighteen and we were to wait a year the war came and i volunteered of course and marched away we wrote to each other often my letters were full of the camp and hers told of the village how the widow brown had fallen ill and how it was feared that squire s boys were into evil ways then came the day when my regiment marched to the field of its slaughter and soon after our shattered remnant went home mary cried over me and came out every day to the farm house with her of she read aloud to me from her good little books and i used to lie and watch her bending over the page with the light falling on her hair low down against the small white throat then my wound healed and i went again this time for three years and mary s father blessed me and said that when peace came he would call me son but not before for these were no times for marrying or giving in marriage he was a good man a and a roaring lion as regards but by nature had made him so small in body that no one was much frightened when he roared i said that i went for three years but eight years have passed and i have never been back to the village first mother died then mary turned false i sold the farm by letter and lost the money three months afterward in an unfortunate my health failed like many another northern soldier i remembered the healing climate of the south its soft airs came back to me when the snow lay deep on the fields and the sharp wind whistled around the poor tavern where the half crippled sat by the fire i applied for this place and obtained it that is all but it is not all said the sick man raising himself on his elbow you have not told half yet nor anything at all about the french verse oh that there was a little frenchman staying	4
at the hotel he had formerly been a dancing master and was full of dry withered although he looked like a thin and old dressed as a man he taught me or tried to teach me various wise sayings among them this one which pleased my fancy so much that i gave him twenty five cents to write it out in large text for me repeated de but you don t really think so do you i do but they cannot help it it is their nature i beg your pardon miss ward i was speaking as though you were not here miss ward s eyelids barely acknowledged his existence that was all but some time after she remarked to her cousin that it was only in new england that one found that pale hair june was when suddenly the summons came ward de died he was unconscious toward the last and death in the guise of sleep bore away his soul they carried him home to the old house and from there the funeral started a few family carriages dingy and battered following the for death revived the old neighborhood feeling that honor at least they could pay the mothers and the who lived shut up in the old houses with everything falling into ruin around them brooding over the past the keeper watched the small procession as it passed his gate on the way to the church yard in the village there he goes poor by i i fellow his over at last he said and then he set the cottage in order and began the old solitary life again he saw miss ward but once it was a breathless evening in august when the moonlight the level country he had started out to stroll across the waste but the mood changed and climbing over the eastern wall he had walked back to the and now lay at its foot gazing up into the infinite sky a step sounded on the gravel walk he turned his face that way and recognized miss ward with confident step she passed the dark cottage and brushed his arm with her robe as he lay unseen in the shadow she went down toward the parade ground and his eyes followed her softly in the moonlight she moved to and fro among the pausing often and once he thought she knelt then slowly she returned and he raised himself and waited she saw him started then paused i thought you were away she said pomp told me so you set him to watch me yes i wished to come here once and i did not wish to meet you why did you wish to come because ward was here and because because never mind it is enough that i wished to walk once among these and pray there well and if i did said the girl stood facing her with his arms folded his eyes rested on her face he said nothing i am going away to morrow began miss ward again assuming with an effort her old manner i have sold the place and i shall never return i think i am going far away where to that is not so very far said the keeper smiling there i shall begin a new existence pursued the voice the comment you have scarcely begun the old you are hardly more than a child now what are you going to do in teach have you relatives there no by a miserable life a hard lonely life said help the woman who must be that dreary thing a teacher from necessity miss ward turned swiftly but the keeper kept by her side he saw the tears glittering on her and his voice softened do not leave me in anger he said i should not have spoken so although indeed it was the truth walk back with me to the cottage and take your last look at the room where poor ward died and then i will go with you to your home no pomp is waiting at the gate said the girl almost very well to the gate then they went toward the cottage in silence the keeper threw open the door go in he said i will wait outside the girl entered and went into the inner room throwing herself down upon her knees at the bedside o ward w rd she sobbed i am all alone in the world now ward all alone she buried her face in her hands and gave way to a passion of tears and the keeper could not help but hear as he waited outside then the desolate little creature rose and came forth putting on as she did so her poor of pride the keeper had not moved from the now he turned his face before you go go away for ever from this place will you write your name in my register he said visitors register the government had it prepared for the who would visit these graves but with the exception of the who cannot write no one has come and the register is empty will you write your name yet do not write it unless you can think gently of the men who lie there under the grass i believe you do think gently of them else why have you come of your own accord to stand by the side of their graves as he said this he looked at her miss ward did not answer but neither did she write very well said the keeper come away you will not i see i cannot shall i ward set my name down in black and white as a visitor to this where lie fourteen thousand of the soldiers who killed my father my three brothers my cousins who brought desolation upon all our house and	4
as these may sound easy enough yet i doubt whether even ever caught quite that note again and to me s poems on on the the solitary and the like seem more more exceptional as poetical de force than even his although i agree with those who maintain that he has left us the finest collection of which any english poet has to show i may mention the following poems as examples of the different alluded to above which of course run into each other simple style we are seven gray poet s pet lamb poor poems on and tables turned fragment stray pleasures poems on my heart leaps up s nest girl phantom of delight solitary transition to grand style abbey castle affliction of margaret there was a boy castle death of fox grand style happy warrior trees on immortality to duty wisdom and spirit patriotic and other evening by william i quote in illustration three of the type which in s early days was a mark for general derision and turning from her grave i met beside the church yard a blooming girl whose hair was wet with points of morning dew a basket on her head she bare her brow was smooth and white to see a child so very fair it was a pure delight no fountain from its rocky cave e er tripped with foot so free she seemed as happy as a wave that dances on the sea something here is something i think beyond imitation in the two april mornings from which these are taken there is of course a pathetic attitude of mind to which the lines lead up that of the father who would not if he could renew the past joy at the risk of the past sorrow others might have chosen that theme might have adorned into simplicity and into a similar recital but in what mind save s would the which close each of the three have arisen the exquisite truth of the look of the child s hair in the dew the innocent intensity of s gaze the springing of that last fresh and vivid as of old was ocean s many twinkling smile and the melody which with its few rustic notes the scene and it into poetry s ideal world i have said that s poems were largely concerned with the english lake country with the race and the which it was his mission both to represent and to for a bom within a few miles of s home and a few years before his death the inward picture of that country s past present future cannot rise without a touch of pain yea all that now thee said once of how much smaller an invasion than has actually occurred i yea all that now thee from the day on which it should be touched would melt and melt away the best remaining hope is still in it is the hope that his abiding spirit may exert an ever deeper influence upon those who look upon the land which he loved the visitors to the lake country indeed are not now mainly such as he most feared by i i william in growing proportion they are men and women who have a right to be there the right involved in real power of appreciation in real effort of voyage and journey made to reach the shrine and even now to it might perhaps have seemed that his lakes and hills might yet a new virtue wider than the old here is what we in england have of fairest of most sacred to offer let us offer it to all our kin let our great race whose tribes are mighty nations find here an and a central memory of peace there can be nothing in any passage from simplicity to greatness and we find in s poems that transition often without conscious change of tone this is especially noticeable in the a kind of on the poet s own education where the sense of and which such a subject is constantly yielding to our sense of the s and dignity and to the interest of the of a character than which i know none of better for the future of mankind the song at the feast of castle again stands between s simple style and his grand style it rises from rustic into and from into the tranquillity of the eternal world how charged with the spirit of the mountains is the s story of the childhood of the shepherd lord and both the fish that swim through did wait on him the pair were servants of his eye in their immortality and glancing gleaming dark or bright moved to and fro for his delight how swiftly that passes as on one high note to bis heroic cry in his halls on the blood of calls the the lance bear me to the heart of france is the longing of the shield at last the poet himself the strain and how sublime in its simplicity is that return and from the wild tale of war and tumult to the true victory and the peace alas the impassioned did not know that for a tranquil soul the lay was framed by william x who long compelled in humble walks to go was softened into feeling soothed and tamed love had he in huts where poor men lie his daily teachers had been woods and the silence that is in the sky the sleep that is among the lonely hills but there was matter enough near home to call forth all s martial impulses and to raise his style to its last elevation a pure clear tone of heroic grandeur during the prime of the poet s powers england was engaged in her most desperate struggle with her worst and	4
foe it is a strange fact that s to liberty the lofty appeals of a grave should form the most permanent record in our literature of the war except s two songs and s great on the death of the duke of half a century later they stand practically alone the contest indeed was one well fitted for treatment by this bard of a few strong instincts and a few plain rules it was in mighty figures on either hand napoleon s career afforded a poetic example impressive as that of to the of lawless and power and on the other side on the other side it happens by a singular destiny that england with a thousand years of noble history behind her has chosen for her best loved for her national hero not an from the age of legend not a from the age of chivalry but a man whom the fathers of men still living have seen and known close at hand for lay the crowning example of impassioned self of heroic honor and indeed between these two men so different in outward between the adored the and the homely poet retired as dew there was a moral likeness so profound that the ideal of the was realized in the public life of the hero while on the other hand the hero himself is only seen as completely heroic when his impetuous life stands out for us from the solemn background of the poet s calm surely these two natures taken together make the perfect englishman nor is there any portrait than that of the happy warrior to go forth to all lands as representing the british character at its height a figure not with s men i have these last sentences from my previous work i may now add the mention of yet another felicity the fame and the name of have been felt to be matters for no one nation s pride alone and the career of the great admiral has been in a spirit with s and s own by the first of naval a citizen of the united states by william we have briefly traced s mode of response to his local and to his national his poetry has reflected first the charm of and then the patriotism and moral energy of the whole english folk and in each case that poetry has been for us no mere spectacle no brilliant effort of mastery over language on which we gaze admiring but unchanged but rather an impulse and an stirring us to a new emotion by the convincing of emotion than our own even more penetrating more was s response to the the it was a sense sublime i i those oft quoted words with which his solemn message began of something far more deeply of the the as we may now express it of a spiritual with this material world his had for him the sum of things he had learnt that is to say to see earth s confused phenomena no longer in dull and but like before him as the lovely veil or image of a pre and world the recollection or the meditative ecstasy had him in an inward peace had poured for him a magic gladness through the s song had lent to his great their lofty accent as of a spirit who has looked on the universe with insight beyond our own and has seen that it was good to these of s spirit many a soul in need has clung implied apprehended they have given to his poetry a a power nay that poetry has seemed to many to sound the into an age of new tion yet to such heights this mortal frame can bear man seldom or on them permit him to linger long in the evening of we find the standing at the close of his own that celestial light full early lost and sinking back with constancy into an earthly life prolonged through another generation of men but in which the vision came to him no more r if some of those survived twas only in his dreams it was during the calm declining years which followed that the power of went out upon that new generation his poems indeed were never popular with the popularity of or of scott it was rather the leaders of thought who him and who imposed their reverence on that larger public which even yet perhaps has scarcely recognized his inmost charm meanwhile the man pursued his quiet way he still went about as his peasant neighbors called it murmuring his by william verses on the green hill near mount he still made on foot his grave excursions to meet the friends who had gathered near him from love at once of the country and of its poet some of those friends he had aided it was a task which delighted him to choose the site and shape the surroundings of a home among the hills more than one seat in the lake country among them one home of pre eminent beauty have owed to no small part of their ordered charm in this way too the poet is with us still his presence has a strange reality as we look on some majestic prospect of lake and mountain which his design has made more beautifully visible for the children s children of those he loved as we stand perhaps in some garden ground where his will has had its way has framed s far off summit in an arch of tossing green and in towering forest trees the long of a silent valley fit haunt for lofty and for brooding calm the group which thus surrounded him was not unconscious of his worth to two generations he was already dear and one young child	4
at least whom hereditary introduced to his notice felt in that presence as a child might have felt in pan for the poet himself these lingering years were full of grave of humble self judgment of hopeful looking to the end worldly minded i am not he wrote to an intimate friend near his life s close on the contrary my wish to benefit those within my humble sphere seemingly in exact proportion to my inability to realize those wishes what i lament most is that the of my nature does not and rise the nearer i approach the grave as yours does and as it with my beloved partner the aged poet might feel the loss of some of emotion but his thoughts dwelt more and more constantly on the beloved ones who had gone before him and on the true and unseen world one of the images which to his friends is that of the old man as he would stand against the window of the dining room at mount and read the and lessons for the day of the tall bowed figure and the silvery hair of the deep voice which always faltered when among the prayers he came to the words which give thanks for those who have departed this life in thy faith and fear retirement then might look upon a soothing scene age steal to his allotted nook contented and serene by l oo william with heart as calm as lakes that sleep in frosty moonlight glistening or mountain torrents where they creep along a channel smooth and deep to their own far off murmurs listening among all s of the blessed it is the who are the truest friends of man we need not be ashamed to linger on them fondly to imagine between the impression which one or another poet makes on us with the sights or sounds the or of the great open world shakespeare one may say is like daylight and like the furnace glow is like storm and like the thunder and like the moving sea is like wine and like water which said was best often that drink seems flat enough but let the wounded soldier crawl to the well spring and he knows that water is best indeed it is the very life of men i note william was bom of old north country stock on the th of april at in the neither at school nor at college was he distinguished as a scholar filled with enthusiasm for the french revolution he spent a year in paris whence he was driven by the reign of terror from until his death he lived almost in the lake country the record of his secluded and happy life being found in his poems he died at mount on the d of april lines composed a few miles above abbey on the banks of the during a tour five years have passed five with the length of long and again i hear these waters rolling from their mountain springs with a soft inland murmur once again do i behold these steep and lofty cliffs that on a wild secluded scene impress by william thoughts of more deep seclusion and connect the landscape with the quiet of the sky the day is come when i again repose here under this dark and view these plots of cottage ground these orchard which at this season with their fruits are clad in one green hue and lose themselves mid groves and once again i see these hedge rows hardly hedge rows little lines of wood run wild these pastoral farms green to the very door and wreaths of smoke sent up in silence from among the trees with some uncertain notice as might seem of in the woods or of some s cave where by his fire the sits alone these forms through a long absence have not been to me as is a landscape to a blind man s eye but oft in lonely rooms and mid the din of towns and cities i have owed to them in hours of weariness sensations sweet felt in the blood and felt along the heart and passing even into my purer mind with tranquil restoration feelings too of pleasure such perhaps as have no slight or trivial influence on that best portion of a good man s life his little nameless acts of kindness and of love nor less i trust to them i may have owed another gift of aspect more sublime that blessed mood in which the of the mystery in which the heavy and the weary weight of all this unintelligible world is lightened that serene and blessed mood in which the affections gently lead us on until the breath of this frame and even the motion of our human blood almost suspended we are laid asleep in body and become a living soul while with an eye made quiet by the power of harmony and the deep power of joy we see into the life of things by l william if this be but a vain belief yet oh how oft in darkness and amid the many shapes of daylight when the stir and the fever of the world have hung upon the of my heart how oft in spirit have i turned to thee thou wanderer through the woods how often has my spirit turned to thee and now with of half extinguished thought with many dim and faint and somewhat of a sad perplexity the picture of the mind again while here i stand not only with the sense of present pleasure but with pleasing thoughts that in this moment there is life and food for future years and so i dare to hope though changed no doubt from what i was when first came among these hills when like a i bounded o er the mountains by	4
the work was done how soon my s race was run i she died and left to me by l o william this heath this calm and quiet scene the memory of what has been and never more will be a slumber did my spirit seal a slumber did my spirit seal i had no human fears she seemed a thing that could not feel the touch of earthly years no motion has she now no force she neither hears nor sees rolled round in earth s course with rocks and stones and trees a poets art thou a in the van of public trained and bred first learn to love one living man then may st thou think upon the dead a lawyer art thou draw not nigh i go carry to some place the of that eye the hardness of that sallow face art thou a man of purple cheer a rosy man right plump to see approach yet doctor not too near this grave no cushion is for thee or art thou one of gallant pride a soldier and no man of welcome but lay thy sword aside and lean upon a peasant s staff physician art thou one all eyes philosopher a slave one that would peep and upon his mother s grave closely in thy o turn aside and take i pray by m that he below may rest in peace thy ever soul away a perchance appears led heaven knows how to this poor sod and he has neither eyes nor ears himself his world and his own god one to whose smooth rubbed soul can cling nor form nor feeling great or small a reasoning self thing an intellectual all in all shut close the door press down the latch sleep in thy intellectual crust nor lose ten of thy watch near this dust but who is he with modest looks and clad in homely brown he murmurs near the running a music sweeter than their own he is retired as dew or fountain in a grove and you must love him ere to you he will seem worthy of your love the outward shows of sky and earth of hill and valley he has viewed and impulses of deeper birth have come to him in solitude in common things that round us lie some random truths he can impart the harvest of a quiet eye that and sleeps on his own heart but he is weak both man and boy hath been an in the land contented if he might enjoy the things which others understand come hither in thy hour of strength come weak as is a breaking wave here stretch thy body at full length or build thy house upon this grave by l william the fountain a conversation w e talked with open heart and tongue affectionate and true a pair of friends though i was young and seventy two we lay beneath a spreading oak beside a seat and from the turf a fountain broke and at our feet now said i us match this water s pleasant tune with some old border song or catch that suits a summer s noon or of the church clock and the sing here beneath the shade that half mad thing of witty which you last april made in silence lay and eyed the spring beneath the tree and thus the dear old man replied the g ay haired man of glee no check no stay this fears how merrily it goes murmur on a thousand years and flow as now it flows and here on this delightful day i cannot choose but think how oft a vigorous man i lay beside this fountain s brink my eyes are dim with childish tears my heart is idly stirred for the same sound is in my ears which in those days i heard thus it still in our decay and yet the wiser mind less for what age takes away than what it leaves behind by william the amid leafy trees the lark above the hill let loose their when they please are quiet when they will with nature never do they a foolish strife they see a happy youth and their old age is beautiful and free but we are pressed by heavy laws and often glad no more we wear a face of joy because we have been glad of if there be one who need his kindred laid in earth the household hearts that were his own it is the man of mirth my days my friend are almost gone my life has been approved and many love me but by none am i enough beloved now both himself and me he wrongs the man who thus i live and sing my idle songs upon these happy plains and for thy children dead ril be a son to thee at this he grasped my hand and said alas that cannot be we rose up from the fountain side and down the smooth descent of the green sheep track did we glide and through the wood we went and ere we came to s rock he sang those witty about the crazy old church clock and the bewildered by l to william resolution and independence there was a roaring in the wind all night the rain came heavily and fell in floods but now the sun is rising calm and bright the birds are singing in the distant woods over his own sweet voice the stock dove the makes answer as the and all the air is filled with pleasant noise of waters all things that love the sun are out of doors the sky in the morning s birth the grass is bright with on the the hare is running races in her mirth and	4
with her feet she from the earth raises a mist that glittering in the sun runs with her all the way wherever she doth run i was a then upon the i saw the hare that about with joy i heard the woods and distant waters roar or heard them not as happy as a boy the pleasant season did my heart employ my old went from me wholly and all the ways of men so vain and melancholy but as it sometimes from the might of joy in minds that can no further go as high as we have mounted in delight in our do we sink as low to me that morning did it happen so and fears and fancies thick upon me came dim sadness and blind thoughts i knew not nor could name i heard the in the sky and i me of the playful hare even such a happy child of earth am i even as these creatures do i fare far from the world i walk and from all care but there may come another day to me solitude pain of heart distress and poverty my whole life i have lived in pleasant thought as if life s business were a mood by william as if all needful things would come to genial faith still rich in genial good but how can he expect that others should build for him sow for him and at his call love him who for himself will take no heed at all i thought of the boy the sleepless soul that perished in his pride of him who walked in glory and in joy following his along the mountain side by our own spirits are we we poets in our youth begin in gladness but thereof come in the end despondency and madness now whether it were by peculiar grace a leading from above a sc given yet it that in this lonely when i with these thoughts had beside a pool bare to the eye of heaven i saw a man before me unawares the oldest man he seemed that ever wore y hairs as a huge stone is sometimes seen to lie on the bald top of an eminence wonder to all who do the same by what means it could thither come and whence so that it seems a thing with sense like a sea beast crawled forth that on a shelf of rock or sand there to sun itself such seemed this man not all alive nor dead nor all asleep in his extreme old age his body was bent double feet and head coming together in life s pilgrimage as if some dire of pain or rage of sickness felt by him in times long past a more than human weight upon his frame had cast himself he propped limbs body and pale face upon a long gray staff of shaven wood and still as i drew near with gentle pace upon the margin of that flood motionless as a cloud the old man stood that not the loud winds when they call and all together if it move at all by l i william at length himself he the pond stirred with his staff and did look upon the muddy water which he as if he had been reading in a book and now a stranger s privilege i took and drawing to his side to him did say this morning gives us promise of a glorious day a gentle answer did the old man make in courteous speech which forth he slowly drew and him with further words i thus what occupation do you there pursue this is a place for one like you ere he replied a flash of mild surprise broke from the of his yet vivid eyes his words came feebly from a feeble chest but each in solemn order followed each with something of a lofty utterance choice word and measured phrase above the reach of ordinary men a stately speech such as do in scotland use religious men who give to god and man their he told that to these waters he had come to gather being old and poor employment and wearisome and he had many hardships to endure pond to pond he from to with god s good help by choice or chance aad in this way he gained an honest maintenance the old man still stood talking by my side but now his voice to me was like a stream scarce heard nor word from word could i divide and the whole body of the man did seem like one whom i had met with in a dream or like a man from some far region sent to give me human strength by apt my former thoughts returned the fear that and hope that is unwilling to be fed cold pain and labor and all ills and mighty poets in their misery dead perplexed and longing to be comforted by william x my question eagerly did i renew how is it that yon live and what is it you do he with a smile did then his words repeat and said that gathering far and wide he stirring thus about his feet the waters of the pools c they abide once i could meet with them on every side but they have long by slow decay yet still i and find them where i may while he was talking thus the lonely place the old man s shape and speech all troubled me in my mind s eye i seemed to see him pace about the weary continually wandering about alone and silently while i these thoughts within myself pursued he having made a pause the same discourse renewed and soon with this he other matter blended cheerfully uttered with kind but stately in the main and when he ended i could	4
have laughed myself to scorn to find in that man so firm a mind god said i be my help and stay secure think of the on the lonely the nest behold within the leafy shade those bright blue eggs together laid on me the chance discovered sight gleamed like a vision of delight i started seeming to the home and sheltered bed the s dwelling which hard by my father s house in wet or dry my sister and i together visited she looked at it and seemed to fear it though wishing to be near it such heart was in her being then a little among men by william the blessing of my later years was with me when a boy she gave me eyes she gave me ears and humble cares and delicate fears a heart the fountain of sweet tears and love and thought and joy my heart leaps up when i behold my heart leaps up when i behold a rainbow in the sky so was it when my life began so is it now i am a man so be it when i shall grow old or let me die the child is father of the man and i could wish my days to be bound each to each by natural piety composed upon westminster bridge earth has not anything to show more fair dull would he be of soul who could pass by a sight so touching in its majesty this city now doth like a garment wear the beauty of the morning silent bare ships towers theatres and temples lie open unto the fields and to the sky all bright and glittering in the air never did sun more beautifully steep in his first splendor valley rock or hill ne er saw i never felt a calm so deep the river at his own sweet will dear god the very houses seem asleep and all that mighty heart is lying still it is a evening calm and free it is a evening calm and free the holy time is quiet as a breathless with adoration the broad sun is sinking down in its tranquillity by william the gentleness of heaven o er the sea listen the mighty being is awake and doth with his eternal motion make a sound like thunder dear child dear girl that with me here if thou appear untouched by solemn thought thy nature is not therefore less divine thou in s bosom all the year and worship st at the temple s inner shrine god being with thee when we know it not to l the most unhappy man of men whether the whistling rustic tend his within thy hearing or thy head be now in some deep s den o miserable where and when wilt thou find patience yet die not do thou wear rather in thy bonds a cheerful brow though fallen never to rise again live and take comfort thou hast left behind powers that will work for thee air earth and skies there s not a breathing of the common wind that will forget thee thou hast great thy friends are agonies and love and man s mind london milton thou be living at this hour england hath need of thee she is a of waters altar sword and pen fireside the heroic wealth of hall and bower have their ancient english of inward happiness we are selfish men oh raise us up return to us again and give us manners virtue freedom power thy soul was like a star and dwelt apart thou a voice whose sound was like the sea pure as the naked heavens majestic free so thou travel on life s common way in cheerful and yet thy heart the duties on herself did lay by j william it is not to be thought of it is not to be thought of that the flood of british freedom which to the open sea of the world s praise from dark antiquity hath flowed with pomp of waters un roused though it be full often to a mood which the check of bands that this most famous stream in and sands should perish and to evil and to good be lost for ever in our halls is hung of the invincible knights of old we must be free or die who speak the tongue that shakespeare the faith and morals hold which milton held in everything we are sprung of earth s first blood have titles manifold to six years old whose fancies from afar are brought who of thy words dost make a mock apparel and to unutterable thought the breeze like motion and the self bom thou that dost float in such clear water that thy boat may rather seem to brood on air than on an earthly stream suspended in a stream as clear as sky where earth and heaven do make one blessed vision happy child thou art so exquisitely wild think of thee with many fears for what may be thy lot in future years i thought of times when pain might be thy guest lord of thy house and hospitality and grief uneasy lover never rest but when she within the touch of thee o too industrious folly o vain and melancholy nature will either end thee quite or out thy season of delight preserve for thee by individual right a young lamb s heart among the fuu flocks by william what hast thou to do with sorrow or the injuries of to morrow thou art a which the brings forth fitted to sustain or to be along the earth a that while it lives and no gives but at the touch of wrong without a strife slips in a moment out of life she was a phantom of delight she was a phantom of delight when first she gleamed upon my sight a	4
lovely apparition sent to be a moment s ornament her eyes as stars of twilight fair like twilight s too her dusky hair but all things else about her drawn may time and the cheerful dawn a dancing shape an image gay to haunt to and i saw her upon nearer view a spirit yet a woman too her household motions light and free and steps of virgin liberty a countenance in which did meet sweet records promises as sweet a creature not too bright or good for human nature s daily food for transient sorrows simple praise blame love kisses tears and smiles and now i see with eye serene the very pulse of the machine a being breathing thoughtful breath a between life and death the reason firm the temperate will endurance foresight strength and skill a perfect woman nobly planned to warn to comfort and command and yet a spirit still and bright with something of light by l ai william the solitary behold her single in the field yon solitary and singing by herself stop here or gently pass alone she cuts and the grain and sings a melancholy strain oh listen for the profound is overflowing with the sound no did ever more welcome notes to weary bands of in some shady haunt among sands a voice so thrilling ne er was heard in spring time from the bird breaking the silence of the seas among the farthest will no one tell me what she sings perhaps the plaintive numbers flow for old unhappy far off things and battles long ago or is it some more humble lay familiar matter of to day some natural sorrow loss or pain that has been and may be again whatever the theme the maiden sang as if her song could have no ending i saw her singing at her work and o er the bending i listened motionless and still and as i mounted up the hill the music in my heart i bore long after it was heard no more by o william to the new comer i have beard i bear and rejoice o i call bird or but a wandering voice i am on tbe grass i bear from bill to bill it seems to pass at once far off and near only to tbe of and of flowers unto me a tale of visionary welcome darling of the spring i even yet thou art to me no bird but an invisible thing a voice a mystery the same whom in my days i listened to that cry which made me look a thousand ways in bush and tree and sky to seek thee did i often through woods and on tbe green and thou still a hope a love still longed for never seen and i can listen to yet can lie upon the plain and listen till i do that golden time again o blessed bird tbe earth we pace again appears to be an place that is fit home for by l william i wandered lonely as a cloud i wandered lonely as a cloud that on high o er and hills when all at once i saw a crowd a host of golden beside the lake beneath the trees fluttering and dancing in the breeze continuous as the stars that shine and twinkle on the way they stretched in never ending line along the margin of a bay ten thousand saw i at a glance tossing their heads in dance the waves beside them danced but they the sparkling waves in glee a poet could not but be gay in such a company i gazed and gazed but little thought what wealth the show to me had brought for oft when on my couch i lie in vacant or in pensive mood they flash upon that inward eye which is the bliss of solitude and then my heart with pleasure fills and dances with the to a young lady who had been reproached for taking long walks in the country dear child of nature let them rail there is a nest in a green a harbor and a hold where thou a wife and friend shalt see thy own heart stirring days and be a light to young and old there healthy as a shepherd boy and treading among flowers of joy which at no season fade by william thou while thy around thee cling shalt show us how divine a thing a woman may be made thy thoughts and feelings shall not die nor leave thee when gray hairs are nigh a melancholy slave but an old age serene and bright and lovely as a night shall lead thee to thy grave the world is too much with us the world is too much with us late and soon getting and spending we lay waste our powers little we see in nature that is ours we have given our hearts away a sordid boon the sea that her bosom to the moon the winds that will be howling at all hours and are now like sleeping flowers for this for everything we are out of tune it moves us not great god i d rather be a pagan in a creed so might i standing on this pleasant have glimpses that would make me less forlorn have sight of rising from the sea or hear old blow his wreath horn to duty daughter of the voice of god o duty if that name thou love who art a light to guide a rod to check the and thou who art victory and law when empty terrors vain temptations dost set free and calm st the weary strife of frail humanity there are who ask not if thine eye be on them who in love and truth where no is rely upon the genial sense of youth b by l william glad hearts without	4
reproach or blot who do thy work and know it not oh if through confidence they fail thy saving arms dread power around them cast serene will be our days and bright and happy will our nature be when love is an light and joy its own security and they a course may hold even now who not bold live in the spirit of this creed yet seek thy firm support according to their need i loving freedom and no sport of every random gust yet being to myself a g too blindly have my trust and oft when in my heart was heard thy i deferred the task in walks to stray thee i now would serve more strictly if i may through no disturbance of my soul or strong in me wrought i for thy control but in the of thought me this freedom i feel the weight of chance desires my hopes no more must change their name i long for a repose that ever is the same stem yet thou dost wear the s most grace nor know we anything so fair as if the smile upon thy face flowers laugh before thee on their beds and fragrance in thy footing thou dost preserve the stars from wrong and the most ancient heavens through thee are and strong to functions awful power i call thee i myself commend unto thy guidance from this hour oh let my weakness have an end by william t i give unto me made lowly wise the spirit of self sacrifice the confidence of reason give and in the light of truth thy let me live op immortality from recollections op early childhood there was a time when meadow grove and stream the earth and every common sight to me did seem in celestial light the glory and the freshness of a dream it is not now as it hath been of turn i may by night or day the things which i have seen i now can see no more ii the rainbow comes and goes and lovely is the rose the moon doth with delight look round her when the heavens are bare waters on a night are beautiful and fair the sunshine is a glorious birth but yet i know where er i go that there hath past away a glory from the earth ill now while the birds thus sing a joyous song and while the young bound as to the s sound to me alone there came a thought of grief a utterance gave that thought relief and i again am strong the blow their trumpets from the steep no more shall grief of mine the season wrong i hear the echoes through the mountains throng the winds come to me from the fields of sleep and all the earth is gay by william land and sea give themselves up to and with the heart of may doth every beast keep holiday thou child of joy shout round me let me hear thy shouts thou happy shepherd boy iv ye blessed creatures i have heard the call ye to each other make i see the heavens laugh with you in your my heart is at your festival my head hath its the of your bliss i feel i feel it all o evil day if i were sullen while earth herself is this sweet may morning and the children are on every side in a thousand valleys far and wide fresh flowers while the sun shines warm and the babe leaps up on his mother s arm i hear i hear with joy i hear but there s a tree of many one a single field which i have looked upon both of them speak of something that is gone the at my feet doth the same tale repeat whither is fled the visionary gleam where is it now the glory and the dream our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting the soul that rises with us our life s star hath had elsewhere its setting and from afar not in entire forgetfulness and not in utter but trailing clouds of glory do we come from god who is our home heaven lies about us in our infancy shades of the prison house beg n to close upon the growing boy by william but he the light and whence it flows he sees it in his joy the youth who daily farther from the east must travel still is nature s priest and by the vision splendid is on his way attended at length the man it die away and fade into the light of common day vi earth fills her lap with pleasures of her own she hath in her own natural kind and even with something of a mother s mind and no unworthy aim the homely nurse doth all she can to make her foster child her man forget the glories he hath known and that imperial palace whence he came vii behold the child among his new bom a six years darting of a size see where mid work of his own hand he lies fretted by of his mother s kisses with light upon him from his father s eyes see at his feet some little plan or some fragment from his dream of human life shaped by himself with newly learned art a wedding or a festival a mourning or a funeral and this hath now his heart and unto this he frames his song then will he fit his tongue to of business love or strife but it will not be long ere this be thrown aside and with new joy and pride the little actor another part filling from time to time his humorous stage with all the persons down to age that life brings with her in her as if his whole were endless imitation i	4
i by william viii thou whose exterior semblance doth thy soul s thou best philosopher who yet dost keep thy thou eye among the blind that deaf and silent read st the eternal deep forever by the eternal mind mighty prophet on whom those truths do rest which we are toiling all our lives to find in darkness lost the darkness of the grave thou over whom thy immortality like the day a master o er a slave a presence which is not to be put by thou little child yet glorious in the might of heaven bom freedom on thy being s height why with such earnest pains dost thou provoke the years to bring the inevitable yoke thus blindly with thy at strife full soon thy soul shall have her earthly freight and custom lie upon thee with a weight heavy as frost and deep almost as life ix o joy that in our embers is something that doth live that nature yet remembers what was so fugitive the thought of our past years in me doth breed perpetual not indeed for that which is most worthy to be delight and liberty the simple creed of childhood whether busy or at rest with new hope still fluttering in his breast not for these i raise the song of thanks and praise but for those obstinate of sense and outward things from us blank of a creature moving about in worlds not realized high instincts before which our mortal nature did tremble like a guilty thing surprised by william but for those first affections those shadowy recollections which be they what they may are yet the fountain light of all our day are yet a master light of all our seeing us cherish and have power to make our noisy years seem moments in the being of the eternal silence truths that wake to perish never which neither nor mad endeavor nor man nor boy nor all that is at enmity with joy can utterly or destroy hence in a season of calm weather though inland far we be our souls have sight of that immortal sea which brought us hither can in a moment travel thither and see the children sport upon the shore and hear the mighty waters rolling then sing ye birds sing sing a joyous song and let the young bound as to the s sound we in thought will join your throng ye that pipe and ye that play ye that through your hearts to day feel the gladness of the may what though the radiance which was once so bright be now for ever taken from my sight though nothing can bring back the hour of splendor in the grass of glory in the flower we will grieve not rather find strength in what remains behind in the sympathy which having been must ever be in the soothing thoughts that spring out of human suffering in the faith that looks through death in years that bring the philosophic mind by william xi and oh ye fountains meadows hills and grove not any of our loves yet in my heart of hearts i feel your might i only have one delight to live beneath your more habitual sway i love the which down their channels fret even more than when i tripped lightly as they the innocent brightness of a new bom day is lovely yet the clouds that gather round the setting sun do take a sober from an eye that hath kept watch o er man s another race hath been and other palms are won thanks to the human heart by which we live thanks to its tenderness its joys and fears to me the meanest flower that blows can g ve thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears to the small lilies let them live upon their praises long as there s a sun that sets will have their glory long as there are they will have a place in story there s a flower that shall be mine tis the little eyes of some men travel far for the finding of a star up and down the heavens they go men that keep a mighty i m as great as they i since the day i found thee out little flower i ll make a stir like a sage modest yet withal an bold and lavish of since we needs must first have met have seen thee high and low thirty years or more and yet twas a face i did not know by william thou hast now go where i fifty greetings in a day ere a leaf is on a bush in the time before the has a thought about her nest thou wilt come with half a call spreading out thy glossy breast like a careless prodigal telling tales about the sun when little warmth or none poets vain men in their mood travel with the multitude never heed them i that they all are wanton but the who little out of doors joys to spy thee near her home spring is coming thou art come i comfort have thou of thy merit kindly spirit careless of thy neighborhood thou dost show thy pleasant face on the and in the wood in the lane there s not a place mean it be but tis good enough for thee hi befall the yellow flowers children of the hours that will be seen whether we will see or no others too of lofty mien they have done as do taken praise that should be thine little humble prophet of delight and mirth upon earth herald of a mighty band of a joyous train serving at my heart s command tasks that are no tasks i will sing as doth hymns in praise of what i love by sir thomas ir thomas the elder friend of the poet and	4
one of the two chief of light to all others that have since employed their upon english was one of the most attractive figures at the court of henry viii let my friend bring me into court but let my merit and my service keep me there he wrote and although his rash courage led him as he warned his son into a thousand dangers and and yet he emerged from them all with integrity and the restored confidence of the king his was sincerity if you will seem honest be honest or else seem as you are he wrote his son well i honest name is goodly but he that only for that is like him that had rather seem warm than be warm and a single coat about with a fur so when accused of high treason in and thrown into the tower he was able to his innocence in a stout hearted which has come down to us as a model of simple eloquence his father sir henry of castle had also been a and had been of the king s to the memorable field of the cloth of gold he prepared a promising career for his son and sir thomas had already borne many honorable and was fast becoming a trusted of the king when he died at the age of thirty nine he had been sent to to escort an from the emperor of germany and heat and hurry brought on a fever from which he died on the way it is quite likely that after finishing his course at st john s college cambridge where he took the degree of b a in and that of m a in sir thomas like other young of his day went to italy for a time he was certainly familiar with italian literature and his great title to consideration is that he introduced the into english poetry and made the little poem of a sir thomas by sir thomas popular model for greater poets than himself he wrote also and other with grace and sweetness and has left some spirited verse most of his poems are wistful love songs inspired according to tradition by a hopeless passion for unfortunate anne little is known of lady elizabeth the young wife married when he was eighteen but his plaintive lines indicate a later and unhappy love if the queen was the object the fact did not lessen the king s friendship for or the latter s loyalty although during her trial he was confined in the tower on some charge now unknown it was probably with her yet it is said that after her execution in he was a changed man the dashing noted for his wit became a and thoughtful he seemed to leave youth behind and grow suddenly mature and his later poems reflect the change s verse although is often pleasantly melodious it has the charm of and although less than that of contains some homely that a description of such a one as he would love a face that should content me wondrous well should not be fair but lovely to behold of lively look all grief for to with right good grace so would i that it should speak without word such words as none can tell her also should be of gold with wit and these perchance i might be tried and knit again with knot that should not slide an earnest suit to his unkind mistress not to him and wilt thou leave me thus j say nay say nay for shame to save thee from the blame of all my grief and g and wilt thou leave me thus say nay say nay and wilt thou leave me thus that hath d thee so long in wealth and woe among by sir thomas and is thy heart so strong as for to leave me thus say nay say nay and wilt thou leave me thus that hath given thee my heart never for to depart neither for pain nor smart and wilt thou leave me thus say nay say nay and wilt thou leave me thus and have no more pity of him that thee alas thy cruelty and wilt thou leave me thus say nay say nay song the lover s cannot be blamed though it sing of his lady s blame not my for he must sound of this or that as me for lack of wit the is bound to give such tunes as me though my songs be somewhat strange and speak such words as touch thy change blame not my my alas doth not offend though that he must agree to sound such tunes as i intend to sing to them that me then though my songs be somewhat plain and some that use to blame not my my and strings may not deny but as i strike they must obey break not them then so but some other way and though the songs which i do quit thy change with spite blame not my by sir thomas spite spite and changing change and faith must needs be known the faults so great the case so strange of right it must abroad be blown then since that by thine own desert my songs do tell how true thou art blame not my blame but that hast and well deserved to have blame change thou thy way so evil and then my shall sound that same but if till then my fingers play by thy desert their way blame not my farewell unknown for though thou break my strings in spite with great disdain have i found out for thy sake strings for to string my again and if perchance this rhyme do make thee blush at any time blame not my how the lover in his delight as the in the fire some there be who have so perfect sight against the sun their eyes	4
for to defend and some because the light doth them offend never appear but in the dark or night others rejoice to see the fire so bright and to play in it as they pretend but find contrary of it that they intend alas of that sort may i be by right for to withstand her look i am not able yet can i not hide me in no dark place so me remembrance of that face that with my and my destiny to behold her doth me lead and yet i know i run into the by l thomas a of love farewell love and all thy laws for ever thy hooks shall me no more and call me from thy lore to perfect wealth my wit for to endeavor in blind error when i did thy sharp that aye so sore taught me in trifles that i set no store but forth thence since liberty is therefore farewell go trouble younger hearts and in me claim no more authority with idle youth go use thy property and spend thy many for hitherto though i have lost my time me list no longer rotten boughs to climb the lover not to be refused mis trusted nor forsaken d me not without desert nor leave me not so suddenly since well ye that in my heart i mean ye not but honestly refuse me not without cause why for think me not to be unjust since that by lot of this careful knot needs knit i must me not though some there be that fain would spot my believe them not since that ye see the proof is not as they express me not till i deserve nor hate me not till i offend destroy me not till that i but since ye know what i intend disdain me not that am your own refuse me not that am so true me not till all be known me not now for no new by by by i s john literary significance of the great english and john is to be found in his splendid rendering into the mother tongue of the sacred the king james version of the bible has for so long been the accepted form that in which all literary association that there is danger of overlooking the importance and merit of this earlier work of his may be called the first english version of the book having a high literary value and this gives it importance in the literary development of the tongue s translation is a fine example of the of the century the time of and it is not extravagant to say that the prose of did for the english of that period what the verse of the first great poet of the race did for it namely set the stamp of literary genius upon a native instrument hitherto and uncertain of sound this was service and he more than later in translation like and had the gift as a writer necessary to g ve to the english a power and beauty them to the people and making them for the students of literature without work the king james version would never have been what it is he was a mighty blazing the literary path at a time in the history of the of the english speech and literature in the face of this his great achievement for literature his other writings however important in their and aspects sink into relative obscurity his tracts and sermons were many they number upwards of and can be now consulted in the edition of the society these writings are part of his career and influence as a here he played a striking was a scholar and a noble in to a high purpose this despite the practical nature of much of his labor and the variety of his accomplishment he was bom at probably the modem in his birth year fell before and is not accurately known was scholar and fellow of college oxford and before a master there since in that year he accepted the college living of exchanging it in for that of and again in by john by the gift of the crown for the more important living of as early as he was reading lectures on divinity at oxford by when he was still a man well under forty had begun his attacks on the church first the orders and later his shafts at the power whence came a charge of in from which he only escaped persecution through the of the princess of wales the in the same year shows that was not alone in his indeed the english folk were beginning to arouse the rapid of or as his followers were by their and the quick spread of similar views in under are signs of the times in passed from the criticism of conduct and government to that of doctrine he attacked with the result that he was condemned by a from at oxford and forced to retire to his living where he continued to his views with the pen and where death overtook him december st in the council of condemned his doctrines and ordered his bones to be thrown on a but his influence was continually a of and he is a of the great religious movement his translation of the bible was made in about the time was his s pupil of did the old testament version while did all or most of the new entirely aside from his place as the morning star of the john s service in this translation of the book him to rank high as a century worthy of literature the speech he uses with s is on the in s phrase and an interesting specimen of plain strong effective english it is far more representative of the common folk than	4
is s style in the which follow a specimen of the bible version is first unchanged then the same and other are the reader to realize that aside from the there is very little to day unintelligible about the century style of by john i j j xv and he a man and the of hem to the me the of that to me and he to hem the and not many weren the forth in in to a fer and there he in and that he a strong was in that and he to and he and to of the of that and he in to his to and he to his of the that the and no man and he to and many men in my han of and y here thorough y rise and go to my and y to y in to and thee and now y am not to be thi make me as of thin men and he and to his and he was his and was bi mercy and he ran and on his and and the to y in to and thee and now y am not to be thi and the father to ye forth the and clothe ye and g me ye a in his and on feet and ye a fat calf and ye and we and make we for this my was deed and hath he and is and men to but his was in the and he and to the he a and a and he of the and what these weren and he to thi brother is and thi a fat calf for he and he was and not come in his out and to and he to his and lo so many y thee and y thi and thou to me a that y with my but that this thi that hath his with thou hast to h a fat calf by john and he to thou art more with me and my ben thine but it for to make and to for this thi brother was deed and he and is same modern version and he said a man had two sons and the younger of them said to the father father give me the portion of cattle that to me and he departed to him the cattle and not after many days when all things were gathered together the son went forth in pilgrimage in to a far country and there he wasted his goods in living and after that he had ended all things a strong hunger was made in that country and he began to have need and he went and drew him to one of the citizens of that country and he sent him in to his town to feed swine and he to fill his of the that the eat and no man gave him and he turned again to himself and said how many hired men in my father s house have plenty of and i perish here through hunger i shall rise up and go to my father and i shall say to him father i have in to heaven and before thee and now i am not worthy to be thy son make me as one of thine hired men and he rose up and came to his father and when he was yet afar his father saw him and was stirred by mercy and he ran and fell on his neck and kissed him and the son said to him father i have in to heaven and before thee and now i am not worthy to be thy son and the father said to his servants f bring ye forth the first stool and clothe ye him and give ye a ring in his hand and on his feet and bring ye a fat calf and ye and eat we and make we feast for this my son was dead and hath lived again he perished and is found and all men begun to eat but his elder son was in the field and he came and to the house he heard a and a crowd and he one of the servants and asked what these things were and he said to him thy brother is come and thy father a fat calf for he received him safe and he was and would not come in therefore his father went out and began to pray him and he answered to his father and said lo so many years i serve thee and i never thy called t quickly by john and thou never gave to me a kid that i with my friends should have eaten but after that this thy son that hath devoured his substance with came thou hast slain to him a fat calf and he said to him son thou art ever more with me and all my things be thine but it for to make feast and to have joy for this thy brother was dead and lived again he perished and is found i xiii if i speak with tongues of men and of angels and i have not charity i am made as brass sounding or a and if i have prophecy and know all mysteries and all cunning and if i have all faith so that i move hills from their place and i have not charity i am naught and if i depart all my goods in to the of poor men and if i my body so that i bum and if i have not charity it to me no thing charity is patient it is charity not it not it is not it is not it not the things that be its own it is not stirred to wrath it not evil it not on wickedness but it together to truth it all things it all things it all things it all things	4
them and golden full of which be the prayers of saints and they sung a new song and said lord our god thou art worthy to take the book and to open the of it for thou by john slain and us to in thy blood of each and tongue and people and nation and us a kingdom and priests to our god and we shall reign on earth and i saw and heard the voice of many angels all about the throne and of the beasts and of the elder men and the number of them was thousands of thousands saying with a great voice the lamb that was slain is worthy to take virtue and and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing and each creature that is in heaven and that is on earth and under earth and the sea and which things be in it i heard all saying to him that sat in the throne and to the lamb blessing and honor and glory and power in to worlds of worlds and the four beasts said amen and the four and twenty elder men fell down on their faces and him that in to worlds of worlds bt by b c b c by william son of was an modest of and beautiful beyond description tradition tells how met him in a narrow way and the passage with his staff began to ask him where this or that could be bought the boy answered readily finally the sage inquired where can the beautiful and noble be found the youth shook his head in perplexity follow me and learn so became his the anecdote is only to six centuries later it is doubtless an invention but a good one as a beautiful and vigorous joining in the search for wisdom with the eager half faith of youth stands in s school of and in the grateful memory of mankind it is most natural and fitting then that s the is the ideal book for boys and the chosen high road for every new generation marching in slow daily stages unwilling and tearful toward a mastery of the speech and life of ancient this supreme adventure this triumphant failure of s life begins with a bold outbreak of and there was in the army a certain an who was neither general captain nor soldier his old friend the general had written inviting him promising to make him a friend to prince whom declared he himself more than he did his native city this sentiment of a toward a a boy a should have warned the youth however on reading the letter asked s advice he wisely fearing that s friendship would by cost the good will of and perhaps to gain time for thought bade him consult s going to asked to which of the gods he should make prayers and vows in order to succeed in the expedition on which his heart was set so as to come prosperous and safe home again reproached his upon his return for not asking first whether it were better to go at all or to stay at home since however he added you did put the question so you must now do what the god bade you many scenes and incidents of the are used again in the youth of the elder which makes no real to truth being indeed the first european historical novel or romance this has cast much doubt on the of the the remark in a third work the or contemporary history the upward march and retreat of the ten thousand had been recorded by the does not help our faith every reader of the must see at any rate that the writer views the world through s eyes always knowing his thoughts and even his dreams of its we can have no real doubt its is another question like caesar s it represents what the chief hero and sole wishes the world to accept as truth it is rarely possible to such special of direct perhaps every story of a life told is felt to be typical of universal humanity certainly many a reader has felt that this scholar home school philosophy for wealth power the favor of a rash and doomed prince is but young manhood itself and at the parting of the ways it was a who attempted at last to indicate this feeling in a comment on the iv the imperial boy had fallen in his pride before the gates of golden the host who deemed that treasure won for many a day since then had wandered wide by famine by savage defied in a deep beneath the setting sun they saw at last a swift black river run while shouting thronged the farther side then eagerly with startled joyous eyes toward the chief a soldier flew i was a slave in never knew by my native country but i understand the meaning of yon wild cries and i believe this is my this glimpse have we no more did parents fond brothers or hail his late return or did he doubly only to g et the s waves at the blue and s towers beyond mute is the record we shall never learn but as once more the well worn page i turn forever by reluctant rs a to me the tale appears of waters in a ah me when on that brink we stand as earthly lights and mortal accents fail shall voices long forgotten reach our ears to tell us we have found our indeed there was much that was tragic and even fatal in this hasty venture of his master certainly he never saw again the death scene which is and without doubt freely at the close of s occurred while was leading to fruitless battle against and savages even when the of the great retreat reached the black	4
sea many awaited them in a greek world rapidly falling apart under s weak and selfish the remnant of the ten thousand was finally in the troops for a campaign of the against the treacherous s fears for apparently came true a passing allusion in the itself tells us that s return from asia to was in s train when that king was recalled from to save from the alliance of foes at home against her among those jealous was in s barren victory at b c probably shared thus fighting against his own whether this constituted him a traitor is not so easy to say party spirit ran as high in a classic greek city as in italy felt that his true city went into exile with the aristocratic party or with himself alone like death awaited both at the gate unless they came home victorious in arms moreover there was a feeling never wholly lacking from to and of growing strength in s day that was the true that all were fellow citizens the their only foes by in this very crisis was recalled from a career in asia that might have anticipated alexander s gold the revolt at home against s at may well have justified his action as patriotic if he indeed fought there he himself had seen a handful of knock like at the very heart of the and come safe home again the inability of that empire to make effective resistance against sudden attack he has recorded in words that fired alexander s confidence in the next generation what wonder if was to him better than a so we only hear that on some charge of he was condemned to prolonged exile whether he ever returned to is disputed if at all it was in extreme old age the home founded by the exile at in is lovingly described in a graceful of the which is below here he lived happily for more than twenty years during which most of his literary work was apparently done is the first really greek writer of whom we hear of poetry to be sure he is quite incapable his is rather a than a biography and the is neither but a dialogue between the tyrant and the poet gracefully the doctrine that the is wretched rather than fortunate the was probably in its intention a faithful memorial of prepared about ten years after the master s death it is discussed with in a previous volume under that master s name both the and the are in which takes part he is not however dominant in either and we get the impression that they are largely or wholly s the is utterly inferior in power to s great dramatic scene but is doubtless a far more picture of an ordinary banquet possibly even of one actual banquet the is a sketch of an ideal gentleman farmer and is largely below because it contains one of the brightest glimpses in all ancient literature of a happy wife and home the was apparently written after b c and the much later still as a novel the latter must be pronounced an interesting failure being tedious and as a whole the childhood and again the death of the ideal prince are beautifully and described in the first book especially draws from the life and must have been on terms of loving familiarity with his own children by quite the most of s chief works is his it was probably undertaken to complete the account of the war from the point where s pen from his dying hand indeed the of actually begin and after that but it is thought a leaf or two was early lost at the opening there is also a gap of some months between the events in the two works the closing years of the great struggle b c and the n of terror in under the thirty are described in a complete section of the history published previous to b c the later section brings the story down to about b c in this volume the and are so glaring that some have thought we possess but an of the original work but probably wrote these volumes as yielding largely to his personal interests and sympathies and perhaps intending his work for a narrow circle his popularity and the chance of have left him our sole connected and contemporary authority for a very important period there are abundant indications that s delight in life hunting and kept him young and cheerful even into his eighth the heart of the old man was to see his unable to keep silent in the excess of his delight but with excitement like a well bred whenever he came to close quarters with a beast and shouting to his fellows by name behind the thin mask of royal the author of the here shows his own cheerful face an abiding faith in kindly by the gods through sacrifices and dreams contentment with his lot loving loyalty to friendship cool in deadly peril and a constant lively sense of the humorous in all things these are traits which shared with and it may well be that they are in part traces of the philosopher s early influence himself however is not a philosopher hardly even a scholar and certainly not in the least a mystic his nature is not a deep or brooding one he has not even an abiding sense of the in life rather he reminds us of a cheerful english country gentleman perfectly satisfied with his estates his family and himself modern have made vigorous against some of his methods of but his on is still useful in general the man is human not to say modem the best general paper on known to us is the somewhat extended one by henry in the notable volume of english essays by and entitled by	4
this essay has been freely but very in the present sketch mr is also the author of the best translation of several volumes of which have already appeared s it is quite unnecessary to catalogue of this favorite school author but those who are weary of the beaten track will find s a most book complete in itself the training of a wife from the a s to what you asked me besides i assuredly do not spend life in doors for added he my wife is quite capable herself of managing what is to be done in my house but said i i would very gladly be permitted to ask you whether you instructed your wife yourself so that she might be qualified as she ought to be or whether when you received her from her father and mother she was possessed of sufficient knowledge to manage what belongs to her and how my dear said he could she have had sufficient knowledge when i took her since she came to my house when she was not fifteen years old and had spent the preceding part of her life under the restraint in order that she might see as little hear as little and ask as few questions as possible does it not appear to you to be quite sufficient if she did but know when she came how to take wool and make a garment and had seen how to the tasks of spinning among the maid servants for as to what concerns the appetite added he which seems to me a most important part of instruction both for a man and for a woman she came to me extremely well instructed but as to other things said i did you yourself instruct your wife so that she should be qualified to attend to the affairs belonging to her not indeed replied until i had offered sacrifice and prayed that it might be my fortune to teach and hers to learn what would be best for both of us did your wife then said i join with you in offering sacrifice and in praying for by these blessings certainly answered and she made many vows to the gods that she would be such as she ought to be and showed plainly that she was not likely to disregard what was taught her in the name of the gods tell me said i what you began to teach her first for i shall have more pleasure in hearing you give this account than if you were to give me a description of the finest or games well then returned when she grew and with me so that we conversed freely together i began to question her in some such way as this tell me my dear wife have you ever considered with what view i married you and with what object your parents gave you to me for that there was no want of other persons with whom we might have shared our respective beds must i am sure be evident to you as well as to me but when i considered for myself and your parents for you whom we might select as the best partner for a house and children i preferred you and your parents as it appears preferred me out of those who were possible objects of choice if then the gods should ever grant children to be bom to us we shall consult together with regard to them how we may bring them up as well as possible for it will be a common advantage to both of us to find them of the utmost service as and of our old age at present however this is our common household for i deposit all that i have as in common between us and you put everything that you have brought into our common stock nor is it necessary to consider which of the two has contributed the greater share but we ought to feel assured that of us is the better manager of our common fortune will give the more valuable service to these remarks my wife replied in what respect could i co operate with you what power have i ever lies with you my duty my mother told me was to conduct myself yes by my dear wife replied i and my father told me the same but it is the part of discreet people as well as husbands and wives to act in such a manner that their property may be in the best possible condition and that as large additions as possible may be made to it by honorable and just means and what do you see said my wife that i can do to assist in increasing our property endeavor by by all means answered i to do in the best possible manner those duties which the gods have qualified you to do and which custom and what are they asked she i consider replied i that they are duties of no small importance unless indeed the queen bee in a hive is appointed for purposes of small importance for to me the gods my dear wife said i seem certainly to have united that pair of beings which is called male and female with the greatest judgment that they may be in the highest degree serviceable to each other in their connection in the first place the pair are brought together to produce offspring that the races of animals may not become extinct and to human beings at least it is granted to have for their old age from this union for human beings also their mode of life is not like that of cattle in the open air but they have need we see of houses it is accordingly necessary for those who would have something to bring into their houses	4
to have people to perform the requisite in the open air for and and planting and are all for the open air and from these the necessaries of life are procured but when these necessaries have been brought into the house there is need of some one to take care of them and to do whatever duties require to be done under shelter the of young children also demands shelter as well as the preparation of food from the fruits of the earth and the making of clothes from wool and as both these sorts of alike those without doors and those within require labor and care the gods as it seems to me said i have plainly adapted the nature of the woman for works and duties within doors and that of the man for works and duties without doors for the divinity has fitted the body and mind of the man to be better able to bear cold and heat and and military exercises so that he has imposed upon him the work without doors and by having formed the body of the woman to be less able to bear such exertions he appears to me to have laid upon her said i the duties within doors but knowing that he had given the woman by nature and laid upon her the office of young children he had also bestowed upon her a greater portion of love for her newly born offspring than of the man the law too i told her he proceeded its approbation to these arrangements by the man and the woman and as the divinity has made them partners as it were in their by offspring so the law them to be in household affairs the law also shows that those things are more becoming to each which the divinity has qualified each to do with greater facility for it is more becoming for the woman to stay within doors than to abroad but to the man it is less creditable to remain at home than to attend to things out of doors and if any one acts contrary to what the divinity has fitted him to do he will while he the order of things possibly not escape the notice of the gods and will pay the penalty whether of his own duties or of interfering with those of his wife the queen of the bees i added appears to me to discharge such duties as are appointed her by the divinity and what duties inquired my wife has the queen bee to perform that she should be made an example for the business which i have to do she remaining within the hive answered i does not allow the bees to be idle but sends out to their duty those who ought to work abroad and whatever each of them brings in she takes of it and receives it and watches over the store until there is occasion to use it and when the time for using it is come she to each bee its just due she also over the construction of the within that they may be formed beautifully and she too to the rising that they may be properly reared and when the young bees are grown up and are fit for work she sends out a colony of them imder some leader taken from among the younger bees will it then be necessary for me said my wife ho do such things it will certainly be necessary for you said i remain at home and to send out such of the as have to work abroad to their duties and over such as have business to do in the house you must exercise a watchful whatever is brought into the house you must take charge of it whatever portion of it is required for use you must give out and whatever should be laid by you must take account of it and keep it safe so that the provision stored up for a year for example may not be expended in a month whenever wool is brought home to you you must take care that garments be made for those who want them you must also be careful that the dried provisions may be in a proper condition for eating one of your duties however i added will perhaps appear somewhat disagreeable namely that whoever of all the servants may fall sick you must take charge of him that he may be recovered by nay assuredly returned my wife that will be a most agreeable office if such as receive good treatment are likely to make a grateful return and to become more attached to me than before delighted with her answer continued i said to her are not the bees my dear wife in consequence of some such care on the part of the queen of the hive so affected toward her that when she the hive no one of them thinks of her but all follow in her train i should wonder however answered my wife if the duties of leader do not rather belong to you than to me for my of what is in the house and distribution of it would appear rather ridiculous i think if you did not take care that something might be brought in from out of doors and on the other hand returned i my bringing in would appear ridiculous unless there were somebody to take care of what is brought in do you not see said i how those who are said to draw water in a bucket full of holes are pitied as they evidently labor in vain certainly replied my wife for they are indeed wretched if they are thus employed some other of your occupations my dear wife continued i will be pleasing to you for instance when you take a young woman who does not	4
know how to spin and make her at it and she thus becomes of twice as much value to you or when you take one who is ignorant of the duties of a housekeeper or servant and having made her accomplished and handy render her of the highest value or when it is in your power to do services to such of your attendants as are steady and useful while if any one is found you can inflict punishment but you will experience the greatest of pleasures if you show yourself superior to me and render me your servant and have no cause to fear that as life advances you may become less respected in your household but may trust that while you grow older the better you prove to me and the more faithful guardian of your house for your children so much the more will you be esteemed by your family for what is good and honorable i added gains increase of respect not from beauty of person but from merits directed to the benefit of human life such were the subjects on which as far as i remember i first conversed seriously with my wife by s estate at from the after causing an to be made for deposited it in the treasury of the at on it his own name and that of who was killed with for he had been his guest friend the portion designed for of he left with the of that goddess s temple when he returned with out of asia on an expedition to because he seemed likely to some peril and him if he escaped to return the money to him but if he met with an ill fate to make such an as he thought would please the goddess and it to her afterwards when was banished from his country and was living at a colony settled by the near came to to see the games and restored him the deposit on receiving it purchased some land as an to the goddess where the god had directed him the river happens to run through the midst of it and another river named runs close by the temple of at and in both there are different kinds of fish and shell fish on the land near too there is hunting of all such beasts as are taken in the chase he built also an altar and a temple with the consecrated money and continued afterwards to make a sacrifice every year always receiving a tenth of the produce of the seasons from the land and all the people of the town as well as the men and women of the neighborhood took part in the festival while the goddess supplied those in tents there with bread wine and a share of the victims offered from the sacred pastures and of those caught in hunting for the sons of and those of the other inhabitants always made a general hunt against the festival and such of the men as were willing hunted with them and there were caught partly on the sacred lands and partly on mount and and deer this piece of ground lies on the road from to about twenty from the temple of at there are within the place groves and hills covered with trees adapted for the breeding of swine oxen and horses so that the beasts of the persons coming to the festival are by amply supplied with food round the temple itself is planted a grove of cultivated trees bearing whatever fruits are in the different seasons the edifice is similar as far as a small can be to a great one to that at and the statue is as like to that at as a statue of c can be to one of gold a pillar stands near the temple bearing this inscription this ground is sacred to he that possesses and the fruit of it is to offer every year the tenth of its produce and to keep the temple in repair from the due if any one fail to perform these conditions the goddess will take notice of his neglect hardships in the snow from the the next day it was thought necessary to march away as fast as possible before the enemy s force should be and get possession of the pass collecting their baggage at once therefore they set forward through a deep snow taking with them several guides and having the same day passed the height on which had intended to attack them they hence they proceeded three days journey through a desert tract of country a distance of fifteen to the river and passed it without being wet higher than the middle the sources of the river were said not to be far off from hence they advanced three days march through much snow and a level plain a distance of fifteen the third day s march was extremely troublesome as the north wind blew full in their faces completely up and the men one of the in consequence advised that they should sacrifice to the wind and a sacrifice was accordingly offered when the vehemence of the wind appeared to every one to the depth of the snow was a so that many of the baggage cattle and slaves perished with about thirty of the soldiers they continued to bum fires through the whole night for there was plenty of wood at the place of but those who came up late could get no wood those therefore who had arrived before and had kindled fires by would not admit the late comers to the fire unless they gave them a share of the com or other provisions that they had brought thus they shared with each other what they had in the places where the fires were made as the snow melted there were formed large that reached down to the ground and here there was accordingly	4
opportunity to measure the depth of the snow from hence they marched through snow the whole of the following day and many of the men contracted the who commanded in the rear finding in his way such of the men as had fallen down with it knew not what disease it was but as one of those acquainted with it told him that they were evidently affected with and that they would get up if they had something to eat he went round among the baggage and wherever he saw anything he gave it out and sent such as were able to run to it among those who as soon as they had eaten rose up and continued their march as they proceeded came just as it grew dark to a village and found at a spring in front of the some women and girls belonging to the place water the women asked them who they were and the answered in the language that they were people going from the king to the they replied that he was not there but about a off however as it was late they went with the water within the to the head man of the village and here and as many of the troops as could come up but of the rest such as were unable to get to the end of the journey spent the night on the way without food or fire and some of the soldiers lost their lives on that occasion some of the enemy too who had collected themselves into a body pursued our rear and seized any of the baggage cattle that were unable to proceed fighting with one another for the possession of them such of the soldiers also as had lost their sight from the effects of the snow or had had their toes by the cold were left behind it was found to be a relief to the eyes against the snow if the soldiers kept something black before them on the march and to the feet if they kept constantly in motion and allowed themselves no rest and if they took off their shoes in the night but as to such as slept with their shoes on the worked into their feet and the were frozen about them for when their old shoes by had failed them shoes of raw hides had been made by the men themselves from the newly oxen from such sufferings some of the soldiers were left behind who seeing a piece of ground of a black appearance from the snow having disappeared there that it must have melted and it had in fact melted in that spot from the of a fountain which was sending up in a hollow close at hand turning aside thither they sat down and refused to proceed farther who was with the rear guard as soon as he heard this tried to prevail on them by every art and means not to be left behind telling them at the same time that the enemy were collected and pursuing them in great numbers at last he grew angry and they told him to kill them as they were quite unable to go forward he then thought it the best course to strike a terror if possible into the enemy that were behind lest they should fall upon the exhausted soldiers it was now dark and the enemy were advancing with a great noise about the that they had taken when such of the as were not started up and rushed towards them while the tired men shouting as loud as they could their against their the enemy struck with alarm threw themselves into the snow of the hollow and no one of them afterwards made himself heard from any quarter and those with him telling the sick men that a party should come to their relief next day proceeded on their march but before they had gone four they found other soldiers resting by the way in the snow and covered up with it no guard being stationed over them they roused the men but the latter said that the head of the army was not moving forward going past them and sending on some of the of the ordered them to ascertain what it was that their progress they brought word that the whole army was in that manner taking rest and his men therefore such a guard as they could took up their quarters there wit fire or supper when it was near day he sent the youngest of his men to the sick with orders to rouse them and oblige them to proceed at this juncture sent some of his people from the villages to see how the rear were the young men were rejoiced to see them and gave them the sick to conduct to the camp while they themselves went forward and before they had gone twenty by found themselves at the village in which was when they came together it was thought safe enough to lodge the troops up and down in the villages accordingly remained where he was and the other officers by lot the several villages that they had in sight went to their respective quarters with their men here an captain requested leave of absence and taking with him the most active of his men and hastening to the village which had been allotted surprised all the villagers and their head men in their houses together with seventeen that were bred as a tribute for the king and the head man s daughter who had been but nine days married her husband was gone out to hunt and was not found in any of the villages their houses were under the entrance like the mouth of a well but spacious below there were passages dug into them for the cattle but the people descended by in the houses were sheep cows and fowls with	4
their young all the cattle were kept on within the walls there were also wheat vegetables and wine in large the of floated in it even with the of the vessels and also lay in it some larger and some smaller without joints and these when any one was thirsty he was to take in his mouth and the liquor was very strong unless one mixed water with it and a very pleasant drink to those accustomed to it made the chief man of his village sup with him and told him to be of good courage assuring him that he should not be deprived of his children and that they would not go away without filling his house with provisions in return for what they took if he would but prove himself the author of some service to the army till they should reach another tribe this he promised and to show his good will pointed out where some wine was buried this night therefore the soldiers rested in their several quarters in the midst of great abundance setting a guard over the chief and keeping his children at the same time under their eye the following day took the and went with him to and wherever he passed by a village he turned aside to visit those who were in it and found them in all parts and enjoying themselves nor would they anywhere let them go till they had set before them and they placed everywhere upon the by same table lamb kid pork and fowl with plenty of bread both of wheat and whenever any person to pay a compliment wished to drink to another he took him to the e bowl where he had to stoop down and drink like an ox the chief they allowed to take whatever he pleased but he accepted nothing from them where he found any of his relatives however he took them him when they came to they found his men also in their quarters crowned with wreaths made of hay and boys in their dresses waiting upon them to whom they made signs what they were to do as if they had been deaf and dumb when and had saluted one another they both asked the chief man through the who spoke the language what country it was he replied that it was they then asked him for whom the horses were bred and he said that they were a tribute for the king and added that the neighboring country was that of the and told them in what direction the road lay then went away conducting the chief back to his family giving him the horse that he had taken which was rather old to and offer in sacrifice for he had heard that it had been consecrated to the son being afraid indeed that it might die as it had been injured by the journey he then took some of the young horses and gave one of them to each of the other and captains the horses in this country were smaller than those of but far more spirited the chief instructed the men to tie little bags round the feet of the horses and other cattle when they drove them through the snow for without such bags they sunk up to their the education of a boy the is said to have had for his father king rf the was of the race of the who were so called from it is agreed that he was bom of a mother named and was the daughter of king of the is described and is still celebrated by the as having been most by handsome in person most humane in disposition most eager for knowledge and most ambitious of honor so that he would undergo any labor and face any danger for the sake of obtaining praise such is the constitution of mind and body that he is recorded to have had and he was educated in with the laws of the these laws seem to begin with a care for the common good not where they begin in most other for most leaving each individual to his children as he pleases and the advanced in age to live as they please their people not to steal not to plunder not to enter a house by violence not to strike any one whom it is wrong to strike not to be not to the and other such things in like manner and if people any of these they impose upon them but the laws by anticipation are careful to provide from the beginning that their citizens shall not be such as to be inclined to any action that is bad and mean this care they take in the following manner they have an called the free where the king s palace and other houses for are built all things for sale and the in them with their cries and are banished from hence to some other place that the disorder of these may not interfere with the regularity of those who are under instruction this round the public courts is divided into four parts of these one is for the boys one for the youth one for the full grown men and one for those who are beyond the years for military service each of these divisions according to the law attend to their several quarters the boys and full grown men as soon as it is day the elders when they think convenient except upon appointed days when they are obliged to be present the youth pass the night round the courts in their light arms except such as are married for these are not required to do so unless orders have been previously given them nor is it becoming in them to be often absent over each of the classes there are twelve for there are twelve distinct tribes of the those over	4
the boys are chosen from amongst the elders and are such as are thought likely to make them the best boys those over the youth are chosen from amongst the full grown men and are such as are thought likely to make them the best youth and over the full grown men such as are thought likely to render by o them the most expert in performing their appointed duties and in the orders given by the chief magistrate there are likewise chosen over the elders who take care that these also perform their duties what it is prescribed to each age to do we shall relate that it may be the better understood how the take precautions that excellent citizens may be produced the boys attending the public schools pass their time in learning justice and say that they go for this purpose as those with us say that they go to learn to read their spend the most part of the day in justice amongst them for there are among the boys as among the men for robbery violence deceit and other such things as naturally occur and such as they of doing wrong in any of these respects they punish they punish likewise such as they find guilty of false accusation they appeal to justice also in the case of a crime for which men hate one another excessively but for which they never go to law that is ingratitude and they find able to return a benefit and not returning it they punish severely for they think that the are careless with regard to the gods their parents their country and their friends and upon ingratitude seems closely to follow which appears to be the principal conductor of mankind into all that is they also teach the boys self control and it much towards their learning to control themselves that they see every day their elders themselves with discretion they teach them also to obey their officers and it much to this end that they see their elders constantly obedient to their officers they teach them with respect to eating and drinking and it much to this object that they see that their elders do not quit their stations to satisfy their until their officers dismiss them and that the boys themselves do not eat with their mothers but with their teachers and when the officers give the signal they bring from home with them bread and a sort of to eat with it and a cup to drink from that if any are thirsty they may take water from the river they learn besides to shoot with the bow and to throw the these exercises the boys practice till they are sixteen or seventeen years of age when they enter the class of young men by i i arthur young i o jn an english country gentleman a farmer he calls himself visited france with quite other purposes than those of ordinary he wished to study the country from an agricultural point of view to examine the land and methods of cultivation in different parts and by comparing them with those at home to obtain valuable suggestions comparatively poor himself he wished to fill the humble office of venturing hints to those whose situation allows more active exertions during his first trip and a second one taken in he western france in he examined the eastern and southern portions of the country the record of his observations published in successive parts and later united under the same title of travels in france proved a unique book of permanent value his handsome person and genial manners won the french to and friendliness he talked with and he visited in the of the not just as the revolution was breaking out in france when the old was on the point of this clear sighted foreigner took careful copious notes of the state in which he found land and people although the seriousness of what was taking place in the country he evidently had no of its historical significance his view of the present was by anticipation of the future the simplicity of statement is what renders him he was a simple truth and absolutely impartial he was not dazzled by the magnificence of or in the least disposed to accept conventional statements but judged everything with his own eyes and ears although deeply interested in the great issues of the time they were not his vital concern it was inconvenient to travel while the country was so unsettled while arthur young by l i arthur young a mob might murder one on a moment s mad suspicion and while were being fired and their inhabitants cruelly but the english merely assumed the and went serenely on his way noting the distribution of population the stupid ignorance of the about events at paris and the hard of the which resulted in the of land his style was and and his practical point of view gave value to a work the like of which had never before been attempted his book soon became popular in french translation french land owners by his demonstration of their errors and adopted his theories upon their estates under the his selected works were translated into french by order of the government with the title le and other gladly availed themselves of this fund of accurate information the travels became known throughout europe and young received invitations to visit various courts and to become a member of prominent agricultural societies when arthur young went to france at the of his french friend the duke de la de he was a man of forty six and had already a european reputation as an but before arriving at this brilliant success he had known many years of failure and this of agricultural methods learned the lessons he taught others through a series of personal disappointments he was the inevitable martyr in the	4
of new ideas he could show others how to gain money at farming although nearly always when he tried it himself arthur young who was bom in london september lived most of his life at hall in his father the of a of cathedral and the of arthur speaker of the house of wished his son to go to a university and become a clergyman like himself this arthur young s mother strongly opposed and when he had finished his school days at he was at her desire placed with a wine merchant at business was distasteful to him and he soon it he passed several years rather and then drifted into farming chiefly because his mother had a farm which she wished to turn over to his care and because he did not know what else to do he soon found he was losing money and after some three thousand experiments in cultivation he changed to a larger farm in there too he was unfortunate and after five years was glad to pay a more practical farmer to take it off his hands he had not lost interest in spite of his failures and the latter had taught him practical insight he decided to travel about by arthur young the country in search of land which could be cultivated and he thus gained a wide knowledge of prevailing conditions which he published in a number of successful volumes a of slavery a free an admirer of he studied all questions from a philosophic as well as point of view the farmer s tour through the east of england the tour in ireland a six weeks tour through the southern of england and wales a six months tour through the north of england were valuable full of wise suggestions they embraced also questions of population and political economy these with many essays upon kindred subjects contributed to agricultural journals made his theory more profitable to him than his practice in ireland he met lord who strongly attracted by his scientific views him with the management of his great estate in which he was brilliantly successful in he the annals of a work in forty five volumes of which he was editor and for which he wrote many papers many learned men were among its and george iii is said to have written for it over the name of robinson the annals definitely established his reputation hall which belonged to him after the death of his mother in became a kind of academy of among those who came to study farming under his direction were the nephew of the polish and three young sent by the many english and foreign friends of note visited him and particularly after the appearance of the travels he received and with many brilliant with washington and others a few years after arthur young s return from his last french journey the board of was established by act of parliament such a board had long been one of his favorite projects and he was made its secretary with a salary of s pen has given a vivid impression of arthur young s delightful personality at the age of twenty four he married her s sister miss not an amiable lady from all accounts with whom he was not happy probably he was glad to escape home in the society of the gay and congenial miss describes him as witty and handsome and fond of fine clothes sometimes he is in the depths of depression over his unlucky speculations but he soon throws off care and is ready for a new experiment when about sixty six he became totally blind in spite of which calamity he continued busy and interested in public events until his death in london april th by j a arthur young aspects op france the revolution travels in the of are picturesque the hills about are pretty and spread with a sort of cultivation i had never seen before a mixture of for here the vines first appeared gardens and com a piece of wheat a scrap of a patch of or a bit of vine with cherry and other fruit trees scattered among all and the whole cultivated with the it makes a pretty appearance but must form a poor system of trifling magnificence is its character it is never lost there is not taste or beauty enough to soften it into features all but the is great and there is something imposing in that except the gallery of the great s battles and the cabinet of natural history which is rich in very fine specimens most arranged it contains nothing that demands particular notice nor is there one room which in england would be called large the stable is truly great and very much indeed anything of the kind i had ever seen it is feet long and feet broad and is sometimes filled with english horses i had been so accustomed to the imitation in water of the waving and irregular lines of nature that i came to against the idea of a canal but the view of one here is striking and has the which magnificent scenes impress it arises from extent and from the right lines of the water with the regularity of the objects in view it is lord i think who says the part of the garden to the house should partake of the regularity of the building with much magnificence about a place this is the effect here however is lessened by the before the castle in which the division and the d are not of a size to correspond with the magnificence of the canal the is very pretty and a prodigious variety of domestic poultry from all parts of the world one of the best objects to which a can be applied these and the had all my attention the contains an imitation of an english	4
garden the taste is but just introduced into france so that it will not stand a al examination the most english idea i saw is the lawn in by arthur young front of the stables it is large of a good and well kept proving clearly that they may have as fine in the north of france as in england the is the only complete one i have seen and i have no inclination to see another it is in what a is in poetry in the are many very fine and scarce plants i wish those persons who view and are fond of fine trees would not forget to ask for the great this is the finest i ever saw straight as an arrow and as i guess not less than or feet high feet to the first branch and feet at five from the ground it is in all respects one of the finest trees that can anywhere be met with two others are near it but not equal to this superb one the forest around belonging to the prince of is immense spreading far and wide the paris road crosses it for ten miles which is its least extent they say the or is above miles in this is to say all the inhabitants for that extent are with game without permission to destroy it in order to give one man diversion ought not these to be on the breaking up of the party went with count de la post to to be present at the of the day following slept at the duke de s hotel the th with him at his apartments in the palace which are to his office of grand master of the wardrobe one of the principal in the court of france here i found the duke surrounded by a circle of among whom was the duke de la well known for his attention to natural history i was introduced to him as he is going to de in the where i am to have the honor of being in his party the ceremony of the day was the king s the duke of son of the count d with the the queen s band was in the chapel where the ceremony was performed but the musical effect was thin and weak during the service the king was seated between his two brothers and seemed by his carriage and to wish himself a hunting he would certainly have been as well employed as in hearing afterwards from his throne a oath of chivalry i suppose by l arthur young or some such nonsense administered to a boy of ten years old seeing such folly i imagined it was the and asked a lady of fashion near me at which she laughed in my face as if i had been guilty of the most nothing could be done in a worse manner for the stifling of her expression only marked it the more i applied to m de la to learn what gross absurdity i had been guilty of so when it was because the as all the world knows in france has the put around him as soon as he is bom so was it for a foreigner to be ignorant of such an important part of french history as that of giving a babe a blue instead of a white one the st on leaving it enter soon the miserable province of which the french writers call the through all this country they have had severe spring for the leaves of the are black and cut off i should not have expected this mark of a bad climate after passing the to la a dead flat of hungry sandy gravel with much heath the poor people who cultivate the soil here are that is men who hire the land without ability to stock it the proprietor is forced to provide cattle and seed and he and his tenant divide the produce a miserable system that poverty and instruction meet a man employed on the roads who was prisoner at four years he does not seem to have any against the english nor yet was he very well pleased with his treatment at la is a handsome of the de with several and a great command of water to a strange mixture of sand and water much and the houses and cottages of wood filled between the with clay or bricks and covered not with slate but tile with some like those in rows of in some of the hedges an excellent road of sand the general features of a country all combined to give a strong resemblance to many parts of england but the is so little like that of england that the least attention to it destroyed every notion of miles june i the same wretched country continues to la the fields are scenes of pitiable management as the houses are by arthur young of misery yet all this country highly if they knew what to do with it the property perhaps of some of those glittering beings who in the procession the other day at heaven grant me patience while i see a country thus neglected and forgive me the oaths i swear at the absence and ignorance of the enter the of and soon after a forest of oak belonging to the count d the trees are dying at top before they attain any size there the miserable ends the first view of and its vicinity is fine a noble at your feet through which the river leads seen in several places to the distance of some a bright sun the water uke a string of lakes amidst the shade of a vast the st cross a mountain by a miserable road and reach beg de which shares with the fabric of for the trade cross much	4
poor which were for so many ages tortured in them as they are still in spain the country residence may not have effects equally obvious but they will be no less sure in the end and in all respects to every class in the state the duke of being president of the provincial assembly of the election of and passing several days there in business asked me to dine with the assembly as he said there were to be some considerable farmers present these which had been proposed many years past by the by arthur young french and especially by the de the celebrated des which had been treated by m and which were viewed with eyes of jealousy by certain persons who wished for no better government than one whose were the chief foundation of their fortunes these were to me interesting to see i accepted the invitation with pleasure three considerable farmers not of land were members and present i watched their carriage narrowly to see their behavior in the presence of a great lord of the first rank considerable property and high in royal favor and it was with pleasure that i found them with becoming ease and freedom and though modest and without anything like yet without any offensive to english ideas they started their opinions freely and to them with becoming confidence a most singular spectacle was to see two ladies present at a dinner of this sort with five or six and twenty gentlemen such a thing could not happen in england to say that the french manners in this respect are better than our own is the assertion of an obvious truth if the ladies are not present at meetings where the conversation has the greatest probability of turning on subjects of more importance than the frivolous topics of common discourse the sex must either remain on one hand in ignorance or on the other filled with the of over education learned affected and forbidding the conversation of men not engaged in trifling pursuits is the best school for the education of a woman the th to the abbey of st to see pillars of african marble etc it is the richest abbey in france the has a year i i i lost my patience at such being thus bestowed consistent with the spirit of the tenth century but not with that of the what a noble farm would the fourth of this income establish what what what potatoes what what sheep what wool are not these things better than a fat if an active english farmer was mounted behind this i think he would do more good to france with half the income than half the of the kingdom with the whole of theirs pass the another pleasant object to make agreeable emotions in a man s bosom i search for good farmers and run my head at every turn against and state prisoners by arthur young in the evening to m a very ingenious and who has made an improvement of the for spinning cotton common machines are said to make too hard a thread for certain but this forms it loose and in he has made a remarkable discovery you write two or three words on a paper he takes it with him into a room and turns a machine in a case at the top of which is an a small fine ball a wire with a similar and in a distant apartment and his wife by remarking the corresponding motions of the ball writes down the words they indicate from which it appears he has formed an of motions as the length of the wire makes no difference in the effect a correspondence might be carried on at any distance within and without a town for instance or for a purpose much more worthy and a thousand times more harmless between two lovers or prevented from any better connection whatever the use may be the invention is beautiful m has many other curious machines all the entire work of his own hands mechanical invention seems to be in him a natural the to the poor people seem poor indeed the children terribly ragged if possible worse clad than if with no clothes at all as to shoes and stockings they are luxuries a beautiful girl of six or seven years playing with a stick and smiling under such a bundle of rags as made my heart ache to see her they did not beg and when i gave them an seemed more surprised than obliged one third of what i have seen of this province seems and nearly all of it in misery what have kings and ministers and and states to answer for their prejudices seeing millions of hands that would be industrious idle and starving through the of or the equally detestable prejudices of a nobility sleep at the lion d or at an abominable hole miles the th the same country to but near that town to the eye from being more at the little town of there are above fifty families of that live in winter who reside on their estates in the summer there is probably as much and nonsense in their circles by arthur young and for what i know as much happiness as in those of paris both would be better employed in their lands and rendering the poor industrious miles the th walking up a long hill to ease my mare i was joined by a poor woman who complained of the times and that it was a sad country demanding her reasons she said her husband had but a morsel of land one cow and a poor little horse yet they had a of wheat and three chickens to pay as a quit rent to one and four of one chicken and i f to pay to	4
protect his house in a village where there is much and burning the which have been in the country towards the mountains and are numerous and shocking many have been burnt others the hunted down like wild beasts their wives and daughters their papers and titles burnt and all their property destroyed and these not inflicted on marked persons who were odious for their former conduct or principles but an blind rage for the love of plunder robbers slaves and of all have collected and the to commit all sorts of some gentlemen at the table d informed me that letters were received from the the etc and that similar and were everywhere and that it was expected they would the whole kingdom the of france is beyond in everything that to intelligence from hither i have not been able to see a newspaper here i asked for the cabinet none the at the house very easily by arthur young replied but not so easily found nothing but the de france for which at this period a man of common sense would not give one to four other coffee houses at some no paper at all not even the at the the de europe a fortnight old and well dressed people are now talking of the news of two or three weeks past and plainly by their discourse know nothing of what is passing the whole town of has not been able to afford me a sight of the journal de paris nor of any paper that gives a detail of the transactions of the states yet it is the capital of a province large as half a dozen english and containing souls with strange to say the post coming in but three times a week at this moment with no license nor even the least restraint on the press not one paper established at paris for circulation in the provinces with the necessary steps taken by or to inform the people in all the towns of its establishment for what the country knows to the contrary their are in the instead of the being so the mob plunder bum and destroy in complete ignorance and yet with all these shades of darkness these clouds of this universal mass of ignorance there are men every day in the states who are puffing themselves off for the first nation in europe the greatest people in the universe as if the political or literary circles of a capital constituted a people instead of the universal illumination of knowledge acting by rapid intelligence on minds prepared by habitual energy of reasoning to receive combine and comprehend it that this dreadful ignorance of the mass of the people of the events that most intimately concern them is owing to the old government no one can doubt it is however curious to remark that if the nobility of other provinces are hunted like those of of which there is little reason to doubt that whole order of men undergo a suffer like sheep without making the least effort to resist the attack this appears with a body that have an army of men in their hands for though a part of those troops would certainly their leaders yet let it be remembered that out of the or possibly of france they might if they had intelligence and union amongst themselves that is the town not the province by arthur young fill half the ranks of more than half the of the kingdom with men who have fellow feelings and fellow sufferings with themselves but no meetings no associations among them no union with military men no taking refuge in the ranks of to defend or their cause fortunately for france they fall without a struggle and die without a blow that universal circulation of intelligence which in england the least of feeling or alarm with electric sensibility from one end of the kingdom to another and which in bands of connection men of similar interests and situations has no existence in france thus it may be said perhaps with truth that the fall of the king court lords army church and is owing to a want of intelligence being quickly consequently is owing to the very effects of that in which they held the people it is therefore a rather than a by edward young he author of the night thoughts had a in his day that is not easy to understand for one who now reads his verse but fashion changes in words and in literature and the poetry of one century may become the commonplace of the next such a well known line as is the thief of time makes one smile it is hopelessly yet it may very well have struck the century reader as a thought admirably expressed again young s worst and best are far apart he lacked self criticism and more often than not is bald and dull but his thought has strength and there are passages in his verse which are fine and have entered into familiar quotation then too in the handling of that form blank verse in which the night thoughts is written young shows himself an artist especially notable in a day when blank verse was in comparative and the trail of the heroic still over english poetry young s quiet life had few features for the he was born at england in was educated at school and at oxford winning a fellowship in law at all souls college in that university his doctor of law degree was taken in and he took orders as a church of england clergyman in came to him soon for the next year he was appointed a royal and in became of in remaining in that living the rest of his life in he married the earl of s daughter his only other appointment thirty years later was that of clerk of the closet to	4
the princess of wales his death occurred at his april th it will be seen by this of facts that young was a personage of some importance by position and connection edward young by edward young which may in part for the acceptance of his literary work he began by the last day in followed by the force of religion the former poem as a whole containing some of his most characteristic work next came the formal and dreary i i t and the revenge in the universal passion were collected his in which the influence of pope is to be seen the theme and manner are more than is true of the writer s most typical work much minor poetry including a of the book of job various to people of rank and another play came from his pen which was easy flowing the first night thought appeared in the last in this series upon which young s fame rests securely is and solemn in tone and may be as religious verse the full title night thoughts on life death and immortality the young was led to make verse on these lofty by the deaths of those dear to him he turns to religion for consolation in his grief and finds it as has been implied his poetry is only to be read now with any pleasure in judicious those that follow are examples of the poet at his most eloquent that on and that on tired nature s sweet are the most famous that can be found in the entire body of his works a collected edition of young s writings in four volumes was published in night thoughts by nature s law what may be may be now there s no in human hours in human hearts what bolder thought can rise than man s presumption on to morrow s dawn where is to morrow in another world for numbers this is certain the reverse is sure to none and yet on this perhaps this infamous for lies as on a rock of we build our mountain hopes spin out eternal schemes as we the fatal sisters could out spin and big with life s not e en had his nor had he cause a warning was denied by edward young how many fall as not as safe as sudden though for years home of human ills the last extreme beware beware a slow sudden death how dreadful that deliberate surprise be wise to day tis madness to next day the fatal precedent will plead thus on till wisdom is pushed out of life is the thief of time year after year it till all are fled and to the of a moment leaves the vast concerns of an eternal scene if not so frequent would not this be strange that tis so frequent this is stranger still of man s miraculous mistakes this bears the palm that all men are about to live forever on the brink of being bom all pay themselves the compliment to think they one day shall not and their pride on this takes up ready praise at least their own their future selves how excellent that life they ne er will lead time lodged in their own hands is folly s that lodged in fate s to wisdom they the thing they can t but purpose they tis not in folly not to scorn a fool and scarce in human wisdom to do more all promise is poor man and that through every stage when young indeed in full content we sometimes nobly rest for ourselves and only wish as sons our fathers were more wise at thirty man himself a fool knows it at forty and his plan at fifty his infamous delay his prudent purpose to resolve in all the of thought and re then dies the same the death of friends our dying friends come o er us like a cloud to damp our and that glare of life which often blinds the wise our dying friends are to smooth by j edward young pass to death to break those bars of terror and nature throws cross our way and thus to make welcome as safe our port from every storm each friend by fate snatched from us is a plucked from the wing of human vanity which makes us stoop from our heights and with omen of our own on drooping of ambition lowered just earth s surface ere we break it up er earth to scratch a little dust and save the world a nuisance smitten friends are angels sent on errands full of love for us they shall they die in vain ungrateful shall we grieve their hovering shades which wait the revolution in our hearts shall we disdain their silent soft address their advice and pious prayer senseless as herds that their graves tread their agonies and groans their anguish and destroy their deaths thou great of life and death nature s immortal sun whose all beam late called me forth from darkness darkness where i lay the worm s inferior and in rank beneath the dust i tread on high to bear my brow to drink the spirit of the golden day and triumph in existence and could know no motive but my bliss and hast ordained a rise in blessing with the s joy thy call i follow to the land unknown trust in thee and know in whom i trust or life or death is equal neither all weight in this oh let me live to thee silence and darkness tired nature s sweet sleep he like the world his ready visit pays where fortune smiles the wretched he by edward young swift on bis flies from woe and lights on with a tear from short as usual and disturbed repose i wake how happy they who wake no	4
more yet that were vain if dreams the grave i wake emerging from a sea of dreams tumultuous where my wrecked thought from wave to wave of fancied misery at random drove her of reason lost though now restored tis only change of pain a bitter change for severe the day too short for my distress and night even in the of her dark domain is sunshine to the color of my fate night goddess from her throne in majesty now stretches forth her leaden o er a world silence how dead and darkness how profound nor eye nor listening ear an object finds creation sleeps tis as the general pulse of life stood still and nature made a pause an awful pause prophetic of her end and let her prophecy be soon fulfilled fate drop the curtain i can lose no more silence and darkness solemn sisters from ancient night who nurse the tender thought to reason and on reason build resolve that column of true majesty in man assist me i will thank you in the grave the grave your kingdom there this frame shall fall a victim sacred to your dreary shrine but what are ye thou who put to flight silence when the morning stars shouted o er the rising ball o thou whose word from solid darkness struck that spark the sun strike wisdom from my soul my soul which flies to thee her trust her treasure as to their gold while others rest o ye cold hearted frozen on such a theme tis to be calm passion is reason transport temper here by edward young shall heaven which gave tis and has shown her own for man so strongly not disdain what smooth in virtue s doctors preach that prose of piety a phrase rise sweet from incense devotion when is but when it its heat is struck to heaven to human hearts her golden are strung high heaven s amen to man the better part no man is happy till he thinks on earth there breathes not a more happy than himself then envy dies and love o on all and love o makes an angel here such angels all entitled to repose on him who fate though tempest though nature shakes how soft to lean on heaven to lean on him on whom lean with inward eyes and silent as the grave they stand collecting every beam of thought till their eyes with divine delight for all their thoughts like angels seen of old in s dream come from and go to heaven hence are they of scenes while noise and comfort thee were all men happy would cease that for within never man was truly blessed but it composed and gave him such a cast as folly might mistake for want of joy a cast unlike the triumph of the proud a modest aspect and a smile at heart oh for a joy from thy s spring a spring rising in the breast and permanent as pure no stream of exultation swelling high which like land floods impetuous pour awhile then sink at once and leave us in the mire what does the man who transient joy prefers what but prefer the to the stream by by by mile by robert i r wishes to study and his work is immediately impressed with one fact that of their immense it all comparison unquestionably the most name of french literature at the present hour is the name in reality italian of the author of l his books have found admission and readers everywhere considering their alone it might be supposed that the spirit of the country of and of and is especially represented in the eyes of the world by the talent least corresponding to the established conception of its essential traditions and its genius it is not an who to inquire whether the great majority of the public him he is swift to seize upon the fact of success and he it as the sovereign judgment of universal opinion which posterity will this confidence is not surprising in the case of an author who one day taking it into his head to draw up a list of his brother in the order of their merit adopted as his basis of criticism the sum total of their one might prefer another method of appreciation but one cannot a result not wholly explained by the of constant by the of a by his expert hunt after the of actual life nor even by the that springs from a constant dwelling upon the lowest instincts this result a power one would willingly find this in an talent which rests on an astonishing obstinacy of labor and conviction but the author does not leave us free to separate his work from the doctrine on which he himself he has established it he us to consider the artist only after we measure the a position with trouble and perplexity a work of art cannot be conceived as beautiful and fruitful except as it proceeds from an emotion emotion alone its life what becomes of it if it must be adapted to a system now it is evident that all the production all the literary development of mile are by even his of seems not to have revealed itself by at least the hardships of life were the which engaged him in the profession of letters his were complex his father was an engineer an of stock who had become somewhat his mother was french the of a family he may be considered as having inherited from his father his of imagination and from his mother his intellect and taste for the realities for a long time he allowed himself to be supposed a in reality he was bom at paris april d but about the same time circumstances obliged his family to move to	4
proportions and their relations he will not allow himself to see the the up to the end of his et des he in an attitude in which he believes his highest glory involved in le the last narrative of the famous series by the mouth of the hero of the book his own he solemnly bears witness to himself is this not fine he such a whole a document so definite so complete in which there is not one gap and he says elsewhere i do not know work nobler or of larger application to be master of good and ill to rule society to resolve in time all the problems of above all to furnish solid foundations for justice by furnishing answers through experience to the questions of is not this to be among the most useful and most moral workers in the human by here and there however one surprises in him as it were a prudent reserve almost a confession of new in which he is not far from that the of the poet is a of but is it not in the of emotion only that this can be sought and found and emotion makes things more true to human nature only as it makes them less in them it re shapes them according to the genius of the artist himself the old definition of bacon has written this express phrase art is a comer of nature seen through a temperament there is then according to his own statement an artistic truth which is not the scientific truth the two do not contradict each other it is even indispensable that the first should ask direction from the second but in no respect are they one thus in the application of his system mile can only show himself continually with himself not only indeed does he fail and with reason to obey the rules of scientific but he does not always trouble himself to to the of literary observation he has been reproached and justly with having undertaken many a subject after insufficient preparation that he might describe and he has often contented himself with superficial impressions he has frequently employed mere second hand documents thus that the truth he thought to discover and reveal he sought chiefly in himself moreover the vast programme which the of the scheme undertook to fill involved inevitably the obligation of working in great measure upon borrowed material the first novels exhausted his stock of recollections of his childhood and youth which for example so several descriptions in la fortune des or certain pictures of customs in l consequently the scruples of the observer grew more and more feeble on the other hand a kind of enormous developed and in him already in the real from nature he had exhibited a tendency toward and excess he had exaggerated the proportions over colors now he abandoned himself more and more to this kind of it is what he would define as adding the personal expression to the sense of the real unhappily in him the personal expression does not assert itself alone in the necessity of things according to the traditions of the romantic school to which in part he belongs in spite of himself it is still further manifested in a surprising and for the ugly the trivial the hideous for the odious and horrible he seems usually to estimate the truth in proportion to the it is not in the least a choice for conscience s sake but by i s a choice by he frankly himself for having established in literature as for having made us receive a he has opened his work wide to the human brute let loose for man according to his doctrine at the mercy of of of of interests and of passions man appears to him habitually an of a species so that he has presented to us as average of french society under the second empire a most astonishing collection of brute beasts of of and of sick people with such a what becomes of noble virtues of delicate qualities what becomes of all that makes the honor and value of life everywhere and in everything sees only states of matter therefore he has not thus far succeeded in drama which must exhibit action controlled by will a bad habit a a physical defect are not enough to constitute a type on the stage now exactly these are the only attributes by which ordinarily and his personages the sign once chosen the applies himself to giving it the effect of an of a fixed idea he it he shows it on all occasions under all lights and this of description usually produces a kind of who are much more than real as to that highest form of nature which is mind as to that intelligence by which all action even instinctive action is as it were the author of the de paris no traces in the combination of blind forces which to him represents the world the unity of his then is wholly external they have no soul and they lack love for he has no right to the name of love to describe that fierce desire whose and he especially delights in describing it is mere brute instinct an of miseries and crimes a fatal and not that to the ends of the universe of which spoke in s work love does not lose its malice to become normal except in a few healthy well poised beings for to him virtue is physical health and moral is only a of there is no other ruling principle than a tranquil belief in the energies of life moreover he evidently prefers brute nature to human nature the beauty in which he delights is a beauty of the beast he has not hesitated to woman in her most august functions	4
to as to simple faults against taste they are innumerable and ones might be but he us that under his pen or pictures become austere studies he that in discovering the evil he renders it wholesome and he sees evil everywhere there is in fact nothing less nothing more by mile s than this work all stained with corruption dripping blood from frightful tragic deaths in art there is nothing as there is nothing living nothing true except the beautiful yet this sense of the beautiful is what he does his work afford us in return that value which the author claims for it rather the whole is by the spirit of the system and the detail is by the temperament of the writer moreover upon many points even his relative is more than doubtful the greater part of his work is devoted to a historical period from which the march of events has suddenly and completely separated us in all respects the fall of the second empire coming just as was beginning the series of the condemned him to a labor henceforth as as it was fruitless in order to paint society before it happened that he was forced to more recent notes and events so that he ends by giving a true account neither of the epoch in which he was interested nor of the subsequent years it were wearisome to the errors which among vigorously brushed in and full of charm and among scenes exhibited in intense relief swarm across the pages of la cur e la de son excellence and pot the ambition to present to the world a faithful image of the the of the composition and the of many of its are constantly by a of language as far as possible removed from the decent habits of his models nor is he more in la when he attributes to the of speech of an exaggerated little in keeping with their customary discretion moreover he has scarcely been conscious of their simple dignity he has regarded them with a gaze clouded by reading the judgments of criminal courts he sets forth to discover in the atmosphere of their farms and stables a strange of overflowing this he into his book with a tranquil which universal disgust and which drove many of his chief away from him when forcing his talent a little later he attempted to show himself capable of a flight in the serene regions of purity in le he succeeded only in himself in childish in la one of the masters of whom he thinks himself pointed out the weakness of his portraits of le completely established the of his the et d le second empire represented in fact a something dead which had never lived by for some time indeed the had evinced of a certain in the new of three cities he does not show himself in absolute contradiction with himself but it seems as if a kind of candid had his former black as if some vague sensibility had come to him perhaps he murmurs all is right at least he does not seem far from the belief that all will become so let nature work he counsels let us live and henceforth he seems to wish to apply himself to the of a better future is the cry of eternal suffering wringing from the heart of ignorant man a pitiful appeal to hopes hidden in mystery it is the phase of superstition rome is the appeal to the supernatural the second state of human the age of faith hardened into routine into under the genius of a which seems to have inherited from ancient rome the dream of a universal empire this dream will never be realized the future will not belong to a church to scientific investigation only is assured the promise of indefinite duration and to that remains the sole guardian and sole mistress of all truth paris the third novel of the series will be the of the arrival of the positive and universal reign of science in the as in the the usual faults of the author are seen side by side with his least disputed merits into the mass of hastily gathered details into the confusion of notions by a superficial of knowledge he has known how to put order and movement he sketches with an alert touch and above all he in giving wing to his imagination boundless and eager for the and fantastic the whole is but firmly established in this same spirit of which him in an action or in a type to a vast and ample outline usually in sombre atmosphere where are thrown up distorted he numerous touches often heavy additions repetition therein lies his whole method unlike the he has not the word or epithet for his style at the beginning rather hesitating afterward and richer is now both vigorous and careless often monotonous with a frequent mixture of trivial and in short the heavy of the sentences the crude violence of the colors correspond with the inspiration of his great of his at a distance the of detail appears less the exaggeration less shocking there is visible a mass animated with a dense life like a monstrous the masses the crowd have always found in an almost by mile singer of their and their and quite instinctive puts him at ease the within him them with a sombre he them with a visionary eye he makes them stir and move in compact with their and their way of behavior in the novel of the and of and in la the novel of the army and of war he has in this respect exercised a powerful mastery elements natural forces even material objects receive from him an obscure and mysterious vitality under his pen the sea the tavern the cathedral the store the machine become real and they rule the creatures	4
of flesh they them in their anger or break them in their thus one is brought back to the pure of savages and we return at the same time to that of man to that degradation of the reasonable and reflecting being which haunts all s work he has often found a way to even his heroes still more by them under pretext of a new civilization he violently all the past all that is most precious in the human under color of science he in those inseparable the true the good and the beautiful woe exclaimed woe to the science which does not turn to love one may apply the same sentence with still more justice to literature and art certainly it would not be just not to render homage to the and courageous patience which a work ample and vast in its the more bitterly must one the too common application of this faith this this force to sickly exceptions to to a conception so arbitrary and when all is said so insignificant the victory of the idea the which it has written we can bear witness that the is dead but the idea it advanced has not conquered in a period of crisis and transition it responded to an of taste and morals hence the reason of its as a whole the work of its and prophet remains isolated instead of showing and like a majestic of modern times it appears only as a edifice both and sordid valuable only for some merits of imagination and composition superficial merits which will preserve but a few fragments of it and those by the recollection of a still echoing scandal by glimpses of napoleon iii from la d the by company they had no more than sat down at table when burning to relieve himself of the subject that filled his mind began to relate his experiences of the day before you know i saw the emperor at he was fairly started and nothing could stop him he began by describing the farm house a large structure with an interior court surrounded by an iron railing and situated on a gentle eminence overlooking to the left of the road then he came back to the twelfth corps whom he had visited in their camp among the vines on the splendid troops they were with their brightly shining in the sunlight and the sight of them had caused his heart to beat with patriotic and there i was sir when the emperor who had alighted to breakfast and rest himself a bit came out of the farm house he wore a general s uniform and carried an overcoat across his arm although the sun was very hot he was followed by a servant bearing a camp stool he did not look to me like a well man ah no far from it his stooping form the of his complexion the of his movements all indicated him to be in a very bad way i was not surprised for the at when he recommended me to drive on to told me that an de camp had just been in his shop to get some medicine you understand what i mean medicine for the presence of his wife and mother prevented him from alluding more to the nature of the emperor s complaint which was an obstinate that he had contracted at and which compelled him to make those frequent at houses along the road well then the attendant opened the and placed it in the shade of a of trees at the edge of a field of wheat and the emperor sat down on it sitting there in a limp dejected attitude perfectly still he looked for all the world like a small taking a sun bath for his his dull eyes wandered over the wide horizon the through the valley at his feet before him the range of wooded heights whose and are lost in the distance on the left the waving tree tops of forest by mile on the right the clad eminence of he was surrounded by his military family and officers of rank and a colonel of who had already applied to me for information about the country had just me not to go away when all at once rose from his chair for he had reached the point where the dramatic interest of his story and it became necessary to words by gestures a at once there was a succession of sharp reports and right in front of us over the wood of shells are seen through the air it produced on me no more effect than a display of in broad daylight sir upon my word it didn t the people about the emperor of course showed a good deal of agitation and uneasiness the colonel of comes running up again to ask if i can give them an idea whence the firing proceeds i answer him off hand it is at is not the slightest doubt about it he returns to the emperor on whose knees an de camp was a map the emperor was evidently of opinion that the fighting was not at for he sent the colonel back to me a third time but i couldn t well do otherwise than stick to what i had said before could i now the more that the shells kept flying through the air nearer and nearer following the line of the road and then sir as sure as i see you standing there i saw the emperor turn his pale face toward me yes sir he looked at me a moment with those dim eyes of his that were filled with an expression of melancholy and distrust and then his face declined upon his map again and he made no further movement although he was an ardent at the time of the had admitted after our early	4
that the government was responsible for some mistakes but he stood up for the and napoleon iii deceived and betrayed as he was by every one it was his firm opinion that the men at whose door should be laid the responsibility for all our were none other than those republican of the opposition who had stood in the way of the necessary men and money and did the emperor return to the farm house asked captain that s more than i can say my dear sir i left him sitting on his stool it was midday the battle was drawing nearer and by mile it occurred to me that it was time to be thinking of my own return all that i can tell you besides is that a general to whom i pointed out the position of in the distance in the plain to our rear appeared greatly surprised to learn that the frontier lay in that direction and was only a few miles away ah that the poor emperor should have to rely on such servants while was raising himself on and to peer through the windows of the de e an old woman at his side some poor day of the neighborhood with form and hands and distorted by many years of toil was between her teeth an emperor i should like to see one once just once so i could say i had seen him suddenly exclaimed seizing by the arm see there he is at the window to the left i had a good view of him yesterday i can t be mistaken there he has just raised the curtain see that pale face close to the glass the old woman had overheard him and stood staring with wide open mouth and eyes for there full in the window was an apparition that resembled a corpse more than a living being its eyes were lifeless its features distorted even the had assumed a ghastly whiteness in the final agony the old woman was forthwith she turned her back and marched oflf with a look of supreme contempt that thing an emperor a likely story a was standing near one of those fugitive soldiers who were in no haste to their commands his and threats and he said to his companion wait see me put a bullet in his head remonstrated angrily but by that time the emperor had disappeared the hoarse murmur of the continued a wailing lament mournful seemed to pass above them through the air where the darkness was gathering intensity other sounds rose in the distance like the hollow muttering of the rising storm were they the march march that terrible order from paris which had driven that ill man onward day by day dragging behind him along the roads of his defeat the irony of his imperial escort until now he was brought face to face with the ruin he had foreseen and by come forth to meet what multitudes of brave men were to lay down their lives for his mistakes and how complete the wreck in all his being of that sick man that sentimental awaiting in gloomy silence the of his destiny m isn t this dreadful here quick this way if you would like to see the emperor on the left of the corridor a door stood and through the narrow opening a glimpse could be had of the sovereign who had resumed his weary tramp between the fireplace and the window back and forth he with heavy dragging steps and ceased not despite his suffering an de camp had just entered the room it was he who had failed to close the door behind him and heard the emperor ask him in a sorrowfully voice what is the reason of this continued firing sir after i gave orders to the white flag the torture to him had become greater than he could bear this never ceasing that seemed to grow more furious with every minute every time he approached the window it pierced him to the heart more of blood more useless of human life at every moment the piles of were rising higher on the battle field and his was the responsibility the compassionate instincts that entered so largely into his nature at it and more than ten times already he had asked that question of those who approached him i gave orders to raise the white flag tell me why do they continue firing the de camp made answer in a voice so low that failed to catch its purport the emperor moreover seemed not to pause to listen drawn by some irresistible attraction to that window at which each time he approached it he was greeted by that terrible of that rent and tore his being his was greater even than it had been before his poor pinched wan face on which were still visible traces of the which had been applied that morning bore witness to his anguish at that moment a short quick man in dust soiled uniform whom recognized as general hurriedly crossed the corridor and pushed open the door without waiting to be announced and scarcely was he in the room when again was heard the emperor s so oft repeated question by mile why do they continue to fire general when i have given orders to the white flag the de camp left the apartment shutting the door behind him and never knew what was the general s answer the vision had faded from his sight the attack on the mill by permission of day i old s mill was in high feather that fine summer evening in the court yard they had set out three tables end to end ready for the guests all the country knew that on that day s daughter was to be to a fellow who had the	4
assume when he married a couple was just eighteen she did not pass for one of the beauties of the country side she was too up to the age of eleven she was even ugly no one in could understand how the daughter of father and mother both of them built could grow up so ill and so to speak but at fifteen although still delicate she had the prettiest little face in the world she had black hair black eyes and at the same time was all rosy a mouth that laughed by all the time cheeks a clear brow on which there seemed to rest a crown of sunshine although for the neighborhood she was not thin far from it people only meant that she could not shoulder a sack of grain but she grew very plump with time and stood a good chance of ending by being round and dainty as a only her father s long of had made her thoughtful at an early age if she was always laughing it was to give others pleasure at bottom she was serious naturally all the country side her even more for her dollars than for her and at last she made a choice that had just the country on the other side of the lived a young fellow named he did not belong in ten years before he had come there from to take possession of a from an uncle of his who owned a little piece of property on the very outskirts of the forest just opposite the mill within a few he came to sell this property he said and go home again but the country fascinated him it seems for he did not stir he was seen his bit of field picking a few vegetables on which he lived he he went shooting several times the just missed catching him and him to the authorities this free life the material resources of which the could not well account for had at last given him a bad name he was vaguely spoken of as a at all events he was lazy for he was often found asleep in the grass at times when he ought to have been at work the hut in which he lived under the first trees of the forest did not look like an honest fellow s dwelling either if he had had business with the wolves of the old ruins of it would not have surprised the old women yet the girls would now and then have the audacity to stand up for him for this suspicious man was a superb fellow tall and as a with a very white skin fair beard and hair that shone like gold in the sun so one fine morning declared to her father that she loved and that she would never consent to marry any one else you can imagine what a blow old received that day he said nothing as usual he always looked thoughtful in the face only his internal stopped sparkling in his eyes the two did not speak for a week too was very grave by mile what old was to make out how in the world that rascal of a could have his daughter had never come to the mill the miller began to watch him and the gallant on the other side of the lying in the grass and pretending to be asleep the thing was clear they must have fallen in love making sheep s eyes at each other across the mill wheel meanwhile another week passed by looked more and more solemn old still said nothing then one evening he brought home with him without a word was just setting the table she did not seem astonished she only added another plate and knife and fork but the little appeared once more in her cheeks and her laugh came back again that morning old had gone after to his hut on the outskirts of the wood there the two men had talked for three hours with closed doors and windows no one ever knew what they found to say to each other what was certain was that on coming out old already treated like his own son no doubt the old man had found the man he was after a fine fellow in this who lay in the grass to make the girls fall in love with him all the women in the did not run dry of about old s folly in taking a into his household he let them talk on perhaps he remembered his own marriage neither had he a red sou when he married and her mill but that did not prevent his making a good husband besides cut the gossip short by going to work with such a will that the whole country at it it so happened that the miller s boy had just been and would never hear of his another he carried the drove the cart struggled with the old wheel when it had to be begged hard before it would turn and all with such a will that people would come to look at him for sheer pleasure old laughed his quiet laugh he was very proud of having scented out this fellow there is nothing like love for putting heart into young people in the midst of all this hard work and adored each other they hardly ever spoke but they looked at each other with smiling tenderness so far old had not said a single word about the marriage and they both respected by la l t this silence awaiting the old man s pleasure at last one day about the middle of july he had three tables set out in the court yard under the big elm inviting his friends in to come and take a drink with him in the evening when the court yard	4
to so you re not in the army my boy he asked abruptly i m a foreigner the young man answered the captain seemed only half pleased with this reason he winked and smiled was pleasanter company than cannon then seeing him smile added i m a foreigner but i can put a bullet into an apple at five hundred see my gun s there behind you by la it may be of use to you the captain replied simply had come up trembling a little and without the people there took both the hands she held out to him and pressed them in his as if to take her under his protection the captain smiled again il added not a word he remained sitting his sword between his leg his eyes looking at as if in a dream it was already two o clock it was growing very hot there was a dead silence in the court yard the sheds the soldiers had fallen to eating their soup not a sound came from the village in which the people had their houses doors and windows a dog left alone in the road was howling from the neighboring woods and meadows motionless in the heat came a far off voice long sustained made up of every separate breath of air a was singing then the silence spread itself over the country also and in this air a shot suddenly burst forth the captain sprang up quickly the soldiers dropped their plates of soup still half full in a few seconds every man was at his post for the fight the mill was occupied from top to bottom yet the captain who had gone out upon the road could make out nothing to the right and left the road stretched out empty and all white a second shot was heard and still nothing not a shadow but on turning round he over towards between two trees a light of smoke away like the wood was still profoundly quiet the have taken to the forest he muttered they know we are here then the firing kept up harder and harder between the french soldiers stationed round the mill and the hidden behind the trees the bullets whistled across the without any loss on one side or the other the shots were irregular coming from every bush and all you saw was still the little clouds of smoke gently away by the wind this lasted for nearly two hours the officer a tune as if indifferent and who had stayed in the court yard raised themselves up on and looked over the wall they were particularly interested in watching a little soldier stationed on the brink of the behind the of an old boat he was flat on his belly watched his chance fired by his shot then let himself slide down into a ditch a little behind him to his rifle and his movements were so droll so cunning so that it made one smile to see him he must have the head of some for he got up quickly and brought his piece to his shoulder but before he fired he gave a cry turned over upon himself and rolled into the ditch where his legs out with the momentary jerk of those of a chicken with its neck wrung the little soldier had received a bullet full in the breast he was the first man killed instinctively seized hold of s hand and squeezed it with a nervous grip don t stay there said the captain the bullets reach here as he spoke a little sharp stroke was heard in the old elm and a branch fell in through the air but the young people did not stir there by anxiety at the sight on the outskirts of the wood a came out suddenly from behind a tree as from a side scene beating the air with his arms and tumbling over backwards and then nothing stirred the two dead men seemed to sleep in the dazzling sunshine you saw no one in the landscape even the crack of the shots stopped only the kept up its silver toned whispering old looked at the captain in surprise as if to ask if it were over here it comes the latter muttered look out don t stay there he had not finished speaking when there came a terrific it was as if the great elm were down a cloud of leaves whirled about them luckily the had fired too high dragged almost carried away while old followed them crying out go down to the little cellar the walls are solid but they did not mind him they went into the great hall where ten soldiers or so were waiting in silence with shutters closed peeping through the cracks the captain had stayed alone in the court yard crouched down behind the little wall while the furious continued the soldiers he had stationed outside yielded ground only foot by foot yet they came in one by one crawling on their faces when the enemy had them from their hiding places their orders were to by mile gain time not to show themselves so that the might not know what numbers they had before them another hour went by and as a came up saying that there were only two or three men left outside the officer looked at his watch muttering half after two come we must hold out four hours he had the gate of the court yard shut and all preparations were made for an energetic resistance as the were on the other side of the an immediate assault was not to be feared to be sure there was a bridge a little over a mile off but they doubtless did not know of its existence and it was hardly probable that they would try to ford the river so the officer merely	4
minutes then at the stroke of six he at last consented to order his men out by a little door opening upon an alley way from there they threw themselves into a ditch they reached the forest before going the captain saluted old very politely himself and he even added make them lose time we shall be back again by meanwhile stayed on in the hall he still kept firing hearing nothing understanding nothing he only felt that he must defend the soldiers were gone without his suspecting it the least in the he took aim and killed his man at every shot suddenly there was a loud noise the from the rear had just the court yard he fired his last shot and they fell upon him as his piece was still smoking four men held him others shouted round him in a frightful language they ail but cut his throat off hand threw herself before him in but an ofl came in and took charge of the prisoner after a few sentences exchanged in german with the soldiers he turned to and said roughly and in very good french you will be shot in two hours ill it was a rule made by the german staff every frenchman not belonging to the regular army and taken with arms in his hands should be shot even the companies were not recognized as by thus making terrible examples of the who defended their own the wished to prevent the of the whole country en which they dreaded the officer a tall lean man of about fifty put through a brief examination although he spoke very pure french he had quite the you belong in these parts no i am a why have you taken up arms all this can t be any of your business did not answer at this moment the officer caught sight of standing upright and very pale listening her slight wound put a red bar across her white forehead he looked at the young people one after the other seemed to understand and contented himself with adding you don t deny that you were firing i fired as long as i was able answered quietly this confession was needless for he was black with powder covered with sweat spotted with some drops of blood that had run down from the scratch on his shoulder by i io very well the officer repeated you will be shot in two hours did not cry out she clasped her hands together and raised them in a gesture of mute despair the officer noticed this gesture two soldiers had led away into the next room where they were to keep him in sight the young girl had dropped down upon a chair her legs giving way under her she could not cry she was choking meanwhile the officer kept looking at her closely at last he spoke to her that yoimg man is your brother he asked she shook her head he stood there stiff without a smile then after a silence he has lived a long while in these parts she nodded yes still dumb then he must know the woods round here very well this time she spoke yes sir she said looking at him in some surprise he said no more and turned on his heel asking to have the mayor of the village brought to him but had risen a faint flush on her face thinking to have caught the drift of his questions and seeing fresh hope in them it was she who ran to find her father old as soon as the shots had ceased had run quickly down the wooden steps to look at his wheel he adored his daughter he had a stout friendship for his intended son in law but his wheel also held a large place in his heart as the two young ones as he called them had come safe and sound out of the he thought of his other love and this one had suffered and bending over the huge wooden he its wounds the picture of distress five were in the central was he stuck his fingers into the bullet holes to measure their depth he thought over how he could repair all this damage found him already stopping up cracks with broken bits of wood and moss father she said you are wanted and at last she wept telling him what she had just heard old shook his head you didn t shoot people that way he must see and he went back into the mill with his silent pacific air when the officer asked him for for his men he answered that the people in were not accustomed to being and that nothing would be got from them by by mile violence he took everything upon himself but on the condition of being allowed to act alone the officer showed signs at first of getting angry at this cool manner then he gave in to the old man s and business like way of talking he even called him back to ask him what do you call those woods there opposite the woods and what is their extent the miller looked at him i don t know he answered and he walked away an hour later the contribution of and money required by the officer were in the of the mill night was approaching followed the soldiers movements anxiously she did not go far from the room in which was shut up at about seven she had a emotion she saw the officer go into the prisoner s room and for a quarter of an hour she heard their voices raised one instant the officer reappeared on the threshold to give an order in german which she did not understand but when twelve men came and fell into	4
line in the court yard with their she fell a trembling she felt ready to die so it was all over the execution was to take place the twelve men waited there ten minutes s voice was still raised in a violent refusal at last the officer came out the door and saying very well think it over i give you till to morrow morning and with a motion of his arm he ordered the twelve men to break ranks stayed on in a sort of stupor old who had not stopped smoking his pipe while looking at the with an air of simple curiosity came up and took her by the arm with gentleness he led her to her room keep quiet he said try to sleep to morrow it will be daylight and we will see when he withdrew he locked her in for prudence s sake it was a principle of his that women were no good and that they made a mess of it whenever they undertook anything serious but did not go to bed she stayed a long time sitting on her bed listening to the noises in the house the german soldiers in the court yard were singing and laughing they must have been eating and drinking up to eleven for the by mile noise did not stop for an instant in the mill itself heavy steps sounded every now and then no doubt they were but what interested her above all were noises that she could not make out in the room under hers several times she lay down on the ground she put her ear to the floor this room happened to be the one in which was locked up he must have been walking from the wall to the window for she long heard the of his steps then there was a dead silence he had doubtless sat down besides the noises stopped was hushed in sleep when the house seemed to her to slumber she opened the window as softly as possible and rested her elbows on the sill outside the night was calm and warm the slender moon setting behind the woods lighted up the country with the glimmer of a night the shadows of the great trees barred the meadows with black while the grass in the spots put on the softness of velvet but did not stop to note the mysterious charm of the night she examined the country looking for the that the must have stationed on one side she plainly saw their shadows ranged like of a ladder along the only a single one stood opposite the mill on the other side of the river near a willow whose branches dipped into the water saw him distinctly he was a big fellow standing motionless his face turned toward the sky with the dreamy look of a shepherd then when she had carefully the ground she went back and sat down upon her bed she stayed there an hour deeply absorbed then she listened again in the house not a breath stirred she went back to the window and looked out but no doubt she saw danger in one of the horns of the moon which still appeared behind the trees for she went back again to wait at last the time seemed to have come the night was quite dark she no longer saw the opposite the country lay spread out like a pool of ink she listened intently for a moment and made up her mind an iron ladder ran near the window some bars let into the wall leading from the wheel up to the down which the used to climb to get at certain wheels then when the machinery had been altered the ladder had long since disappeared beneath the rank growth of ivy that covered that side of the mill by mile bravely climbed over the of her window grasped one of the iron bars and found herself in empty space she began to climb down her skirts were much in her way suddenly a stone broke loose from the and fell into the with a splash she stopped chilled with a shudder but she saw that the with its continuous roar drowned out from afar any noise she might make and she climbed down more boldly feeling for the ivy with her foot making sure of the of the ladder when she had got on a level with the room that was used as s prison she stopped an difficulty nearly made her lose all her courage the window of the room below was not cut regularly under the window of her chamber it was some way from the ladder and when she stretched out her hand she felt only the wall would she have to climb up again without carrying her plan through to the end her arms were getting tired the murmur of the beneath her began to make her dizzy then she tore little bits of mortar from the wall barking her fingers and her strength was giving out she felt herself falling backwards when at last softly opened his window it s i she whispered take me quick i m falling it was the first time she had ed him he caught her leaning out and lifted her into the room there she had a fit of tears stifling her sobs so as not to be heard then by a supreme she herself you are guarded she asked in a low voice still at seeing her thus made a simple sign pointing to his door they heard a on the other side the must have given way to and laid him down on the ground across the doorway thinking that in this way the prisoner could not get out you must run away she went on rapidly i have come to you to run away and to say	4
good by but he did not seem to hear her he kept repeating how it s you it s you how you frightened me you might have killed yourself he took her hands he kissed them how i love you you are as brave as you are good i only had one fear that of dying without seeing you once more but you are here and now they can shoot me when i have had a quarter of an hour with you i shall be ready by mile little by little he had drawn her closer to him and she rested her head upon his shoulder the danger drew them nearer together they forgot all in this embrace ah went on in a caressing voice to day is st louis s day our wedding day that we have waited for so long nothing has been able to separate us since we are here all alone faithful to our it s our wedding mom now isn t it yes yes she repeated our wedding morning they exchanged a kiss trembling but of a sudden she broke loose the terrible reality rose up before her you must run away you must run away she stammered out let us not lose a minute and as he stretched out his arms once more to take her in the darkness she again him oh i beg of you listen to me if you die i shall die in an hour it will be daylight i wish you to go at once then rapidly she explained her plan the iron ladder ran down to the wheel there he could take the and get into the boat which was in the recess after that it would be easy for him to reach the other bank of the river and escape but there must be there he said only one opposite at the foot of the first willow and if he sees me if he tries calling out shuddered she put a knife she had brought with her into his hand there was a silence and your father and you continued but no i can t run away when i am gone maybe these soldiers will slaughter you you don t know them they proposed to show me mercy if i would be their guide through the forest when they find me gone they will stick at nothing the young girl did not stop to discuss she simply answered all the reasons he gave with for the love of me fly if you love me don t stay here a minute longer then she promised to climb back to her room they would not know that she had helped him she at last took him in her arms kissed him to convince him in an extraordinary outburst of passion he was beaten he asked not a question further swear to me that your father knows of what you are doing and that he me to run away it was my father sent me answered boldly by mile she lied at this moment she felt nothing but a boundless need of knowing him in safety of escaping from this abominable thought that the sun would give the signal for his death when he was gone all might rush down upon her it would seem sweet to her as long as he was alive the selfishness of her love wished him alive before all else very well said i will do as you prefer then they said nothing more went to open the window again but suddenly a noise chilled their blood the door was shaken and they thought it was being opened evidently a had heard their voices and both of them standing pressed against each other waited in an unspeakable anguish each gave a stifled sigh they saw how it was it must have been the soldier lying across the threshold turning over and really silence was restored the began again would have it that must first climb back to her room he took her in his arms he bade her a mute well then he helped her to seize the ladder and hold of it in his turn but he refused to go down a single rung before he knew she was in her room when had climbed in she whispered in a voice as light as breath au i love you she stopped with her elbows resting on the window sill and tried to follow with her eyes the night was still very dark she looked for the and did not see him only the willow made a pale spot in the midst of the darkness for an instant she heard the rustling of s body along the ivy then the wheel and there was a gentle that told that the young man had found the boat a minute later in fact she made out the dark outline of a boat on the gray sheet of the then anguish stopped her breath at every moment she thought to hear the s cry of alarm the faintest sounds scattered through the darkness seemed to be the hurried tread of soldiers the clatter of arms the click of the of their yet seconds elapsed the country slept in a sovereign peace must have been landing on the other bank saw nothing more the stillness was majestic and she heard a noise of feet a hoarse cry the dull of a falling body then the silence grew deeper and as if she had felt death passing by she waited on all cold face to face with the pitch dark night by iv at daybreak shouting voices shook the mill old had come down to open s door she came down into the court yard pale and very calm but there she gave a shudder before the dead body of a soldier which was stretched out near	4
the well on a cloak spread on the ground around the body soldiers were crying aloud in fury many of them shook their fists at the village meanwhile the ofl had had old called as mayor of the see here said he in a voice choking with rage here s one of our men who has been murdered by the river side we must make a tremendous example and i trust you will help us to find out the murderer anything you please answered the miller in his way only it will not be easy the ofl had stooped down to throw aside a of the cloak that hid the dead man s face then a horrible wound appeared the had been struck in the throat and the weapon was left in the wound it was a kitchen knife with a black handle look at this knife said the officer to old perhaps it may help us in our search the old man gave a start but he recovered himself immediately and answered without moving a muscle of his face everybody in these parts has knives like that maybe your man was tired of fighting and did the job himself such things have been known to happen shut up the cried furiously i don t know what keeps me from setting fire to the four comers of the village his anger luckily prevented his noticing the profound change that had come over s face she had to sit down on the stone bench near the wall in spite of herself her eyes never left that dead body stretched on the ground almost at her feet he was a big handsome fellow who looked like with light hair and blue eyes this resemblance made her heart sick she thought of how the dead man had perhaps left some sweetheart behind who would weep for him over there in germany and she recognized her knife in the dead man s throat she had killed him by meanwhile the talked of taking terrible measures against when some soldiers came up running they had oi ly just noticed s escape it occasioned an extreme agitation the officer visited the premises looked out of the window which had been left open understood it all and came back exasperated old seemed very much put out at s flight the idiot he muttered he spoils it all who heard him was seized with anguish for the rest her father did not suspect her he shook his head sa ring to her in an now we are in a fine scrape it s that rascal it s that rascal cried the officer he must have reached the woods but he must be found for us or the village shall pay for it and addressing the miller come you must know where he is hiding old gave a noiseless chuckle pointing to the wide extent of wooded how do you expect to find a man in there said he oh there must be holes in there that you know of i will give you ten men you shall be their guide all right only it will take us a week to beat all the woods in the neighborhood the old man s coolness the officer in fact he saw the of this it was then that he caught sight of pale and trembling on the bench the young girl s anxious attitude struck him he said nothing for aa instant looking bard at the miller and by turns isn t this young man he at last asked the man your daughter s lover old turned livid one w have thought him on the point of throwing himself upon the officer and him he drew himself up stiffly he did not answer put her face between her hands yes that s it the went on you or your daughter have helped him to run away you are his for the last time will you give him up to us the miller did not answer he had turned away looking off into the distance as if the officer had not been speaking to him by i i this put the last touch to the latter s anger very well he said you shall be shot instead and he once more ordered out the firing party old still kept cool he hardly gave a slight shrug of his shoulders this whole drama seemed to him in rather bad taste no doubt he did not believe that a man was to be shot with so little then when the had come he said gravely you re in earnest then all right if you absolutely must have some one i shall do as well as another but sprang up half out mercy don t do any harm to my father kill me instead it s i who helped to escape i am the only be quiet little girl cried old what are you lying for she spent the night locked up in her room she lies i assure you no i am not lying the young girl replied i climbed down out of the window i urged to fly it s the truth the only truth the old man turned very pale he saw clearly in her eyes that she was not lying and the story appalled him ah these children with their hearts how they spoiled everything then he grew angry she s crazy don t believe her she is telling you stupid stories come let s have done with it she tried to protest again she knelt down she clasped her hands the ofl looked quietly on this heart struggle good god he said at last i take your father because i haven t got the other one try and find the other one and your father shall go free for a moment she looked at him her eyes staring wide	4
at the of this proposal it s horrible she murmured where do you expect me to find at this time he s gone i don t know where he is well choose him or your father o my god how can i choose but even if i knew where was i could not choose it is my heart you are breaking i had rather die at once yes it would be over so kill me i beg of you kill me by mile the officer at last grew impatient at this scene of despair and he cried out i ve had enough of this i m willing to be good natured i consent to give you two hours if your sweetheart isn t here in two hours your father shall pay for him and he had old taken to the room which had been used for s prison the old man asked for some tobacco and fell to smoking no emotion was detected in his face only when he was alone two big tears ran slowly down his cheeks his poor dear child how she suffered had stayed in the middle of the court some soldiers passed by laughing some of them called out to her jokes which she did not understand she stared at the door through which her father had just disappeared and with a slow movement she raised her hand to her forehead as if to keep it from bursting the officer turned on his heel repeating you have two hours try to make good use of them she had two hours this sentence kept in her head then mechanically she went out of the court yard she walked straight before her whither should she go what should she do she did not even try to decide because she felt convinced of the of her efforts yet she would have liked to find they would have come to an understanding together they might perhaps have hit upon an expedient and amid the confusion of her thoughts she went down to the bank of the which she crossed below the dam at a place where there were some large stones her feet led her under the first willow at the comer of the field as she bent down she saw a pool of blood that made her turn pale that was clearly the place and she followed s tracks in the trodden grass he must have run a long line of strides was to be seen cutting through the field then farther on she lost the tracks but in a neighboring field she thought she found them again this brought her to the outskirts of the forest where all traces were wiped out plunged in under the trees notwithstanding it was a relief to be alone she sat down for a moment then remembering her time was running out she got up again how long was it since she had left the mill five minutes half an hour she lost all consciousness of time perhaps had gone and hidden in a she knew of where one afternoon by mile they had eaten together she went to the and searched it only a flew out whistling its soft melancholy tune then she thought he had taken refuge in a hollow in the rocks where he sometimes used to lie in for game but the hollow in the rocks was empty what was the use of looking for him she would not find him and little by little her desire to find him grew furious she walked on faster the notion that he might have climbed up a tree suddenly struck her from that moment she pushed on with up turned eyes and that he might know she was near she called out to him every fifteen or twenty steps the answered her a breath of air passing through the branches made her think he was there and was coming down once she even thought she saw him she stopped choking having a good mind to run away what would she say to him had she come then to lead him away and have him shot oh no she would not mention these things she would cry out to him to escape not to stay in the neighborhood then the thought of her father waiting for her gave her a sharp pang she fell upon the turf weeping repeating aloud my god my god why am i here she must have been crazy to come and as if seized with fright she ran she tried to find a way out of the forest three times she took the wrong path and she thought she could not find the mill again when she came out into a field just opposite as soon as she caught sight of the village she stopped was she going to return alone as she stood there a voice called to her softly and she saw raising his head above the edge of a ditch just god she had found him so heaven wished his death she held back a cry she let herself slide down into the ditch you were looking for me he asked yes she answered her head not knowing what she said ah what s going on she looked down she stammered out why nothing i was anxious i wanted to see you then reassured he told her that he had not wished to go far he feared for them those of were just by the sort to vengeance upon women and old men then all was going well and he added laughing our wedding will be for this day week that s all then as she was still overcome he grew serious again but what s the matter with you you are keeping something from me no i swear to you i ran to come	4
of a shed with his own hands he had ordered fire when turned round was lying on the ground his breast pierced with twelve bullets she did not weep she stood there in a stupor her eyes were fixed and she went and sat down under the shed a few steps from the body she looked at it at moments she made a by vague and movement with her hand the had laid hold of old as a it was a fine fight rapidly the officer stationed his men that he could not beat a retreat without being overpowered it was as well to sell his life dearly now it was the who defended the mill and the french that made the attack the firing began with unheard of violence for half an hour it did not stop then a dull explosion was heard and a shot broke one of the main branches of the hundred year old elm the french had cannon a battery drawn up just above the ditch in which had hidden swept the main street of from this moment the struggle could not last long ah the poor mill shot pierced it through and through half the was carried away two walls but it was above all on the side toward the that the ruin done was piteous the ivy torn from the shattered walls hung in rags the river swept away of every sort and through a breach you could see s room with her bed the white curtains of which were carefully drawn shot upon shot the old wheel received two cannon balls and gave one last groan the were washed away by the current the the mill had breathed out its soul then the french the place there was a furious fight with side arms beneath the colored sky the cut throat hollow of the valley was filled with slain the broad meadows looked grim their rows of them with shadows to the right and left the forests were like the walls of a shutting in the while the springs the fountains running waters gave forth sounds of sobbing amid the panic of the country side under the shed had not stirred crouched opposite s body old was killed outright by a spent bullet then when the had been and the mill was burning the french captain was the first man to enter the court yard from the beginning of the campaign it was the only success he had won and all drawing up his tall figure to its full height he laughed with his gracious air of a fine and seeing between the dead bodies of her husband and father amidst the smoking ruins of the mill he gallantly saluted her with his sword out victory victory by j s y moral the golden period of spanish literature lies in the sixteenth and centuries it would be a mistake to suppose that modem spain is deficient in literature on the contrary the recent and present activity is vigorous and productive especially is this true since when the wars ended and society entered upon an era of progress and prosperity the dominant literary form that has developed under these improved conditions is that of fiction which is true of spain in common with all other modern nations in which letters are cultivated the novel both in its popular appeal to the public and in the talent it commands is a form which throws history and the essay poetry and the drama into comparative hardly exaggerated when he said the novel was modem literature in spain such as n s s de and in and power any writers representing other divisions of literature and have an importance nevertheless writers of great ability and wide reputation particularly in the fields of history and criticism exist the historical writings of the eminent and the criticism of men the poetry of de la de and need no apology and are familiar and honored in their own country in the group of poets a conspicuous place as a singer of spain s departed grandeur he belongs with the rather than with the of literature he prefers to hark back to glories and the spirit of his ancestors in this sense he may be said to be but his influence is altogether noble and high it is natural that one who has studied and the old legends so faithfully should sing as a man mourning the worship of more christian years y moral first came into reputation in a dramatic way the brilliant and poet committed suicide in under romantic circumstances and at his funeral newly come to the city and quite unknown to fame read some verses which at once set him in the public eye this remains one by y moral of his finest short its immediate effect was heightened by the situation the maker of it was so overcome by emotion that he broke down and the poem had to be finished by another as an eye witness reported the same procession which had attended the remains of the illustrious to the resting place of the dead now forth in triumph to announce to the living the advent of a new poet and proclaimed with enthusiasm the name of it is seldom that the man and the occasion are thus found y moral was bom at spain on february st received his early education in the studied spending a couple of years at the of and and held a position in the of the latter town before coming to to live he took up his residence there at a time when the new ideas were beginning to and the principles of the century were felt to be dead the feeling that modem spain must develop an independent literature by what was being done on the other side of the was spreading believed in spain and loved	4
district of new to maria s a slight expression of writer s sense of her eminent the of human virtue and improvement this humble tale is respectfully preface the writer of this tale has made an humble effort to add something to the scanty stock of native american literature any attempt to favour by apologies would be and absurd in this free country no person is under any obligation to write and the public unfortunately is under no obligation to read it is certainly desirable to possess some sketches of the character and manners of our own country and if this has been done with any degree of success it would be wrong to doubt that it will find a reception sufficiently the original design of the author was if possible even more limited and less ambitious than what has been accomplished it was simply to produce a very short and simple moral tale of the most humble de preface and if in the course of its production it has acquired any thing of a peculiar or local cast this should be chiefly attributed to the habits of the writer s education and that kind of accident which seems to control the of those who have not been the subjects of strict intellectual discipline and have not sufficiently their own designs it can scarcely be necessary to assure the reader that no personal allusions however remote were intended to be made to any individual unless it be an exception to this remark that the writer has attempted a sketch of a real character under the of crazy bet march new england tale chapter i oh ye who in beds of feel a want but what yourselves create think for a on his wretched fate whom friends and fortune quite was formerly a flourishing or in country phrase a merchant in the village of in the early part of his life he bad been successful in business and having a due portion of that mean pride which is gratified by pecuniary superiority he was careful to appear quite as rich as he was when he was at the top of fortune s wheel some of his neighbours suspected that the show of his wealth was quite out of proportion to the reality and their side glances and prophetic whispers betrayed their contempt of the airs of the purse proud man the people in the village of were simple in their habits and economical in their modes of life and mr s occasional indulgence in a piece of furniture or an expensive article of dress for himself or for his wife attracted and we fear sometimes provoked envy even b b a new england tale from those who were wiser and much better than he was so inconsistent are men and too that they often envy a display of which they despise and loudly condemn the motive mrs neither deserved nor shared the dislike her husband received in full measure on the contrary she had the good will of her neighbours she never seemed elated by prosperity and though she occasionally appeared in an expensive hat a or a fine lace the gentleness and humility of her manners and tlie uniform benevolence of her conduct averted the censure that would otherwise have fallen on her she had married mr when very young without much consideration and after a short acquaintance she to learn in the bitter way of experience that there was no i sympathy between them their hands were v joined but their hearts were not related he was of the earth she of the heavens heavenly she had that which we believe is exclusively a feminine virtue it virtue it may be called and she silently and patiently in her unhappy fate though there was a certain in her manner a secret feeling of indifference and separation from the world of which she perhaps never certainly never exposed the cause mr s success in business had been owing to accidental circumstances than to his skill or prudence but his vanity appropriated to f ll the merit of it he ad ventured a a tale t speculation after another and failing in them all his losses were more rapid than his had been few persons have virtue enough to their expenses as their income and no virtue of difficult growth could be expected from a character where no good seed had ever taken root the c like the needs use and exercise to give it strength mrs s had never been thus she could not oppose a strong current she had not energy to an evil though she would have borne any that could have been laid on her patiently she knew her husband s affairs were embarrassed she saw him constantly debts which she knew they had no means of paying she perceived he was gradually sinking into a vice which while it the sense of misery the capacity of escaping from it and yet she silently and without an effort in his faults they lived on as they had lived keeping an expensive table and or four servants and dressing as usual this conduct in mrs was the result of habitual in mr it was prompted by a vain hope of concealing from his neighbours a truth that in spite of his bustling ways they had known for many months this is a common delusion we all know that from the habits of our people in a country town it is utterly impossible for the most watchful and skilful to keep his pecuniary affairs a new england tale secret from the keen and quick observation of his neighbours the practised for concealment are much like that of a little child who his own eyes and fancies he has closed those of the spectators or in their effect upon existing circumstances may be compared to the customary action of a frightened	6
woman who turns her back in a carriage when the horses are leaping over a precipice it may seem strange perhaps incredible that mrs possessing the virtues we have attributed to her and being a religious woman should be to such deception and for we will call things by their right names but the wonder will cease if we look around upon the circle of our and observe how few there are among those whom we believe to be christians who govern their daily conduct by christian principles and their duties by the strict christian rule truly narrow is the way of perfect integrity and few there are that walk therein there are too many who forget that our religion is not like that of the something set apart from the ordinary concerns of life the consecrated not the daily bread a service for the temple and the grove having its separate class of duties and pleasures but is the that the whole lump a spirit to be into the common of life we fear mrs was not quite of this fault she believed all the bible teaches she had long been a j a new england tale member of the church in the town where she she daily the and daily offered sincere prayers certainly the waters of the fountain from whence she drank had a influence though they failed to heal all her diseases she was kind gentle and and sustained with admirable patience the growing and faults of her husband to her child she performed her duties wisely and with an anxious zeal the result in part of un common maternal tenderness and in part of a painful consciousness of the faults of her own character and perhaps of a secret feeling she had left much undone that she ought to do mr after his pecuniary were beyond the hope of maintained by the appearance of prosperity for some months when a violent fever ended his with the tide of fortune that had set against him and consigned him to that place where there is no more work nor device his wife was left quite destitute with her child then an interesting httle girl a little more than twelve years old a more energetic mind than mrs s might have been discouraged at the troubles which were now set before her in all their extent and with and she and sunk under them she from nature a slender constitution her health declined and after lingering for some months she died with resignation but not with b a new tall out a heart reading pang at the thought of leaving her child poor helpless and little jane had nursed her mother with fidelity and tenderness and performed services for her that her years seemed hardly adequate to with an and that surprised all who were prepared to find her a delicately bred and indulged child she seemed to have inherited nothing from her father but his active mind from her mother she had derived pure and gentle spirit but this would have been quite insufficient to produce the result of such a character as hers without the aid of her mother s and for the most part judicious training in the formation of her child s character she had been essentially aided by a faithful domestic who had lived with her for many years and nursed jane in her infancy we know it is common to rail at our their independence is certainly often inconvenient to their j as it is the result of the prosperous condition of all classes in our happy country it is not right nor wise to complain of it we believe there are many instances of in and affectionate service that are rarely equalled where ignorance and mark the lower classes mary was endowed with a mind of uncommon strength and an affectionate heart these were her jewels she had been brought up by a pious mother and early and embraced the faith of the she had the virtues of her station in an eminent de a new england tale practical good sense industrious efficient habits and handy ways she never presumed to offer her advice to mrs her instincts seemed to define the line of propriety to her but she had a way of suggesting hints of which mrs learnt the value bj experience this good woman had been called to a distant to attend her dying mother just before the death of mrs and thus jane was deprived of an able assistant and most tender friend and left to pass through the dismal scene of death without any other than occasional assistance from her compassionate neighbours on the day of mrs s a of people assembled to listen to the funeral sermon and to follow to the grave one who had been the object of the envy of some and of the respect and love of many three sisters of mr w re assembled with their families mrs had come from a distant part of the country and had no relatives in jane s relations wore the decent gravity that became the occasion but they were of a hard race and neither the wreck their brother had made nor the deep grief of the solitary uttle creature awakened their pity they even seemed to towards her the kindness of common sympathy lest it should be into an in of taking charge of the orphan jane lost in the depths of her sufferings seemed insensible to all external things her countenance was of a death hke and her a w tale features and when during the sermon an address was made to her personally by the she was utterly unable to rise one of her shocked at the of what she considered an essential decorum took her by the arm and almost her from her seat she stood like a statue her senses seeming to take no of any thing not	6
a tear escaped nor a sigh burst from her breaking heart the sorrow of childhood is usually noisy and this mute and motionless grief in a creature so young and one that had been so happy touched every heart when the services w re over the clergyman supported the trembling frame of the poor child to the place of the coffin was slowly let into the appointed for all every one who has followed a dear friend to the grave remembers with shuddering the hollow sound of the first that are thrown on the coffin as they fell heavily poor jane oh mother and springing forward bent over the grave which to her seemed to contain all the world the used as he was to pursue his trade amidst the of saw something peculiar in the misery of the lone child he dropped the and hastily brushing away the tears that him with the sleeve of his coat why does not some one he said take away the child this is place for such a heart broken thing there was a general bustle in the crowd and two young ladies more considerate or perhaps more tender hearted than the rest kindly a new ui passed their arms around her and led her to her home the clergyman of was one of those who re more zealous for sound doctrine than benevolent practice he had chosen on that occasion for his text the wages of sin is death and had preached a long n in the vain endeavour of the doctrine of original sin who lose such opportunities of their people in the operations of providence and the claims of ought not to wonder if they grow languid and selfish and careless of their most obvious duties had this gentleman improved this occasion of the duty of sympathy by dwelling on the tenderness of our when he wept with the sisters at the grave of had he the essence of those and diffused their gracious influence into his sermon bear ye one another s weep with those who inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of these ye have done it unto had his preaching usually been in to the teaching of our could the scene have followed which it is our business to relate we fear there are many who think there is merit in believing certain doctrines who the true import of that text by grace are ye saved quiet themselves with having once in their lives passed through what they deemed conviction and and from thence believe their salvation is secure are like the barren fig tree a new england tale and unless they are brought to true repentance to showing their faith by their works we fear they will experience its just fate the house furniture and other property of mr had lain under an attachment for some time previous to mrs s death but the sale had been delayed in consideration of her it was now appointed for the next week and it therefore became necessary that some arrangement should be immediately made for the destitute orphan the day after the funeral jane was sitting in her mother s room which in her eyes was consecrated by her sickness and death the met at mr s house she heard the ladies approaching through the apart ment and hastily taking up her bible which she had been trying to read she drew her little bench behind the curtain of her mother s bed there is an instinct in childhood that wherever it exists and from the coldness of calculating selfishness in all their neither jane nor her mother had ever been cheered by a glimmering of kindness from these relatives mrs had founded no expectations on them for her child but with ber usual she had shrunk from preparing jane s mind for the that awaited her the three sisters were led in by a young woman who had offered to stay with jane till some arrangement was made for her in reply to their asking where she was the girl pointed to the bed a n w talk there she said taking on a body would think added she that she had lost her and as well as her father and mother and she might as well she continued in a tone low enough not to be heard for any good they will do her the eldest sister began the conference by saying that she trusted it was not expected she should take jane upon her hands that she was not so off as either of her r that to be sure he had no children but and herself calculated to do a great deal for the foreign missionary society that no longer ago than that morning mr d and she had agreed to pay the expense of one of the young at the school at that there was a great work going on in the world and as long as they had the heart given them to help it they could not feel it their duty to withdraw any aid for a mere worldly purpose mrs the second sister said that she had not any religion and she did not mean to pretend to any that she had ways enough to spend her money without sending it to or the foreign school that she and her husband had worked bard and saved all for their children and now they meant they should make as good a figure as any body s children in the country it took a great deal of money she said to pay the and the drawing master and the music it was quite impossible for her sisters to think how much it took to dress a family of girls a new england tale it was not now as it used to be when they were girls a days girls must have and	6
their winter hats and summer hats and shoes and silk stockings it was quite impossible to be decent without them besides she added as she did not live in the same place with jane it was not natural she should for her it was her decided opinion that jane had better be put out at once at some place where she could do light work till she was a little used to it and she would advise too to her changing her name the child was so young she could not care about a name and she should be much to have it known in the town of that her daughters had a cousin that was a hired there was something in this harsh counsel which touched mrs s the younger sister s pride though it failed to awaken a sentiment of humanity she said she desired to be thankful that she had been kept from any such sinful courses as sending her children to a dancing school nobody could say she had not done her duty by them the minister s family was not kept more strict than hers no said mrs and by all accounts is not more well that is not our fault mrs if we plant and water we cannot give the increase should have remembered that god does give the increase to those that rightly plant and faithfully water but mrs w s tongue was familiar with many that had never entered her understanding or influenced her heart a e tale mrs continued sister i feel it to be my duty to warn you you the daughter and of worthy who all such that you own that you send your children to dancing school and my spirits do you know that mr c in the awakening in his parish that not one of the girls that attended dancing school were among the whereas two who had engaged to attend it but had received a remarkable warning in a dream were among the first and brightest i would as soon she continued follow one of my children to the grave as to see her in that broad road to destruction which leads through a ball room it is easy replied mrs her smart mourning cap at the glass to run down sins we have no fancy for mrs s ready answer was prevented by the entrance of ble friend who asked if the ladies bad determined what was to be done with the little girl mrs in her vehemence had quite forgotten the object of their meeting but now brought back to it and by a feeling of superiority to mrs and a by the excuses of mrs ds which she thought were meant as a boast of superior piety she said that as she had no dancing masters to pay and had not that morning agreed to adopt a she could afford to take jane for a little while the child she said c a new land talk must not think of depending upon her for life for though she was a widow and could do what she was a mind to her with her own she could not justify herself in taking the children s meat and she would have added throw it to the dogs but she was interrupted bj a person who by the ladies liad taken her seat among them this was a aged woman whose mind had been unsettled in her youth by misfortunes having no mischievous she was allowed to indulge her inclinations in wan from house to house and town to town her stimulated imagination furnishing continual amusement to the curious by her sagacious observations and mirth to the young and vulgar by the fanciful in which arrayed her person there were me who in her a quickness of that indicated sensibility which had been the cause of her si the dogs of a surly master would sometimes bark at her because er dress resembled the of the beggar a class they had been taught to chase with but except when her timid nature was alarmed by the of dogs which she always called the devil s servants crazy bet found a come wherever she went jt is common for persons in her unfortunate circumstances to seek every scene of excitement the sober manners of the new england people and the tenor of their lives afford but few of these wherever there was an a new tale awakening or a camp meeting crazy bet was sure to be found she was often seen by moonlight wandering in the church yard the from the graves and the monuments with ground pine she would watch for whole nights by the side of a grave in her native village where twenty years before were deposited the remains of her lover who was drowned on the day before they were to have been married she would range the woods and climb to the very mountain s top to get sweet flowers to scatter over the mound of earth that marked his grave she would plant rode bushes and lilies there and when they pluck them up because she said their purity and brightness the decay below she has been seen when the sun came rejoicing over the eastern mountain s brow and shot its first clear brilliant ray on the grave to clap her hands and heard to shout i see an angel in the sun and he blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first on such the second death hath no power but they shall be priests of god and of christ and shall reign with him a thousand years poor bet was sure to follow in every funeral procession and sometimes she would thrust herself amidst the and say the dead could not rest in their graves if they were not followed there by one true she has	6
twas heaven to bear when soft it spoke a promised pleasure her eye turned the glass which now sent back her wo image and she thought of the a n w but a little while past elated gratified vanity or joyful anticipation she had there her form arrayed in now the rainbow tints had faded into the dark cloud she rose and walked to the open window about which she bad trained a beautiful honey had just risen and the dew drops on its leaves sparkled in his rays oh mary said she even my honey seems to weep for me a robin had its rest on the vine and often as she sat watching her sleeping mother she had been cheered with its note and maternal care of its young she looked to the nest the birds had flown they too she exclaimed have deserted this house of sorrow no jane replied mary they have been provided with another home and he who for them will care much more for you mary might have quoted but she was not to any profane works the beautiful language of a native he who from to guides through the their certain in the long way that you must trace will guide your steps aright we shall not she said be at your aunt s in time for breakfast here tie on your hat you will need all your strength and courage and you must not waste any on flowers and birds jane obeyed the wise of her friend d so a an and with steps and without allowing her time to look sit any things passed through the court d in front of their house the morning was dear and bright and by the pure air and by the counsels mary suggested as ihey walked along jane entered her new home with a composed timid manner perhaps her timidity appealing to mrs s love of authority produced a softer feeling ban she had before shown to jane or perhaps for scarcely any nature is quite hardened the of the child awakened a transient ment of compassion she gave her her hand and told her she was welcome ti e children stared at her as if they had never seen her before but down cast eye a little clouded by the gathering tears saved her from feeling the gaze of their vulgar curiosity jane in entering the family of mrs was introduced to as new a scene as if she bad been transported to a foreign country mrs s character might have been originally cast in the same mould with mr s but circumstances had given it a different she had married early in life a man who not having energy enough for the exercise of authority was weak and vain of the semblance and easily by the shadow when his wife retained the substance mrs without having the pride of her nature at all subdued be came artful and she was sordid and new tale a careful fellow with her band in the acquisition of their property she secured to herself all the praise in the it a contribution was for an education or tract society for foreign the or mrs her which on the whole was quite handsome witli a remark that what did give she gave a willing heart that women could not command much money but it was the duty of wives to submit themselves to their husbands after mrs became sole of her estate the simple and who remembered her professions wondered her gifts were not enlarged with her liberty but mrs would say that the widow was the prey of the wicked and that her duty to her children prevented her indulging her generous feelings towards those pious objects which lay nearest her heart mrs had fancied herself one of the subjects of an awakening at an early period of her life bad passed the ordeal of a examination with great credit having depicted in glowing colours the opposition of her natural heart to the and her subsequent joy in the doctrine of election she thus assumed the form of without feeling its power are there not such some who in those times of excitement during which many pass from indifference to and many are converted from sin to themselves and others with vain forms of words and professions of faith a new england tale mrs was often beard to those who insisted on the necessity of good works as she was thankful she said that she should not presume to appear before her judge with of the filthy rags of her own it would be easy getting to heaven if the work in any way depended on ourselves any body could deal justly love mercy and walk humbly how easy it is we to those to determine who have sought to their lives by this divine rule mrs rejected the name of the but the proud oppressive bitter spirit of the was manifest in the complacency with which she regarded her own faith and the she cherished towards every person of every who did not believe what she believed and act according to her rule of right as might be expected her family was regulated according to the letter but the spirit that life was not there religion was the of every domestic arrangement but you might look in vain for the peace and good will which a voice from heaven proclaimed to be the objects of the mission of our lord mrs s children produced fruits as might be expected from her culture the timid among them had recourse to constant and to the meanest to hide the of laws which they hated and the bolder were en in a continual conflict with the mother in which rebellion often trampled on authority a w t l tale jane had been ud in the bands of	6
love she bad been even by the example than the of ber mother she had seen bet mother beat with the and of her father a temper and often turn away his wrath with a soft answer the law f tion is deeply impressed on our jane had fallen into her mother s ways and had thus early acquired a habit of self command mrs though alas of some of her duties watched over the character of her child with christian fidelity there she had op her heart she knew that amiable dispositions were not to be trusted and she sought to her child s mind with christian principles she the seed and looked with faith for the promised blessing i must soon sleep she would say to mary but the seed is already springing up i am sure it will not lack the of heaven and you mary may live to see though i shall not first the blade then the ear and after that the full corn in the ear mary had mrs s she looked upon herself as an humble instrument but she was a most efficient one she had a rare and remarkable at rules so that her life might be called a on the of the gospel mary s practical religion had sometimes conveyed a reproach the only re d i a a christian may indulge in to mrs who herself by remarking that mary was indulging in that soul destroying doctrine of the perfection and then she would add her foot a motion that with her always indicated a mental parallel the result of which was i am than thou there is no error so fatal as resting in the duties of the second table mrs had not learned that the duties of the second table cannot be done if the are left undone the branches must be sustained by the trunk for he from whose wisdom there is no appeal has said if ye love me ye will keep my happily for our little friend mary was not to be removed far from her an agreeable situation was unexpectedly offered ta her grateful a a new england tale chapter iii spring returns but not to me returns the year my better days have known dim in my breast life s dying burns and all the joys of life with health are flown a few weeks before the death of mrs a mr a who was travelling with his wife and infant child for the benefit of mrs s health had stopped at the inn in mrs was rapidly declining with a consumption on this day she had as is not in the of this disease felt unusually well her cough was by the motion of the carriage and she had requested her husband to permit her to ride further than his prudence would have dictated the heat and unusual exertion proved too much for her in the evening she was seized with a which reduced her so much as to render it to move her she faded away quietly and fell the arms of death as gently as a leaf from its stem her spirit in faith to him who gave it s new d an extraordinary attachment een mr and mrs which had its foundation in the of their characters education views and pursuits and had been nourished by the circumstances that had drawn and kept them then the father of mr was an englishman he with his wife and only son robert then eight years old had to philadelphia mrs the sister of mrs a widow with an only daughter accompanied them the of a long and voyage on a very timid spirit and delicate constitution mrs s health and she survived the voyage but a few days before her death she gave her daughter to her sister saying to her let her be thine own dear anne she is but younger than robert and if it please god so to incline their hearts let them be united that as we have been divided in life our children may not be keep her from the and its and train her for heaven dear sister mrs loved sister so that she would at any time have yielded her wishes to mrs s but that was unnecessary for in this plan they perfectly the children were educated together and were much alike in their characters that one seemed the soft reflection of the other tke habits of the family were secluded and simple formed on the model of the excellent leader of their a new england tale william who mr used to say it was his aim to follow in all that he followed christ benevolence was his business and he went to it as regularly as a merchant goes to bis he finally fell a victim to his zeal in the service of his fellow creatures or rather to use one of his last expressions which had in it the sweet of and resignation he was taken from his father s work to his father s rest during one of those seasons when philadelphia suffered most from the of the yellow fever mr sent the young people to lodgings on the banks of the while he and his wife remained in the city to administer relief to the poor who were chained by poverty to the s of this dreadful plague constant fatigue and the strength of this excellent pair they both took the fever and died they were mourned by their children as such parents should be with deep but not complaining grief robert was but sixteen at the time of his fa ther s death at the age of twenty one he married as robert led his bride out of the meeting where with the consent and hearty approbation of their society they had been united the elders said they were as goodly a pair as	6
their eyes ever rested on and their younger friends observed they were sure their love was as fervent mutual and dear as william himself could have desired years glided an in felicity excepting when x tale tbey to feel for woes their was not by a single shadow did k selfish indulgence but c ly i circle embraced within its id be by their active and heavenly example they lived after the plain of not indulging in mostly dress or furniture but all their expenses by a just and economy seldom were obliged to themselves in the indulgence of their benevolent three years after their marriage mrs gave birth to a girl this event filled up the measure of their joy a few weeks after its birth as mr took the infant from its mother s bosom and pi it fondly to his own he said the promise is to ns and oar children the lord grant that we may train his gift in his thou dear robert god grant it mournfully replied but the way is closed up to me do not shudder thus but prepare mind for the will of the lord i could have wished to have lived for thy sake and my little one but i will not rebel for i know all is right mr hoped his wife was alarmed but he found from her physician that immediately after the birth of the child some alarming symptoms had appeared which indicated a mrs had begged they might be concealed from her husband from the generous purpose of saving him a long as possible useless anxiety the disease had taken certain hold and that morning after a conversation with hei physician during which her courage bad surprised him she had resolved to begin the difficult task of her husband for the approaching calamity spring came on and its sweet influences penetrated to room of her health seemed and her spirits refreshed and when mr proposed that they should travel she cheerfully consented but she ned her husband not to be flattered by an apparent for said she though my disease may be into a little it will not spare me as she her sufferings were but it was but too manifest that no permanent was to be expected the disease made very slow progress one would have thought it shrunk from so young and so fair a work her spirit too enjoyed the freedom and of the country as they passed up the shores of the s benevolent heart glowed with gratitude to the father of ill at the spectacle of so many of s enjoying the rich treasures of providence into a state of society the happiest for their improvement where they had neither the of poverty nor the temptations of riches she would raise her eyes to the clear heaven would look on the misty mountain top and y a new england ta e then on thb rich meadows through which they were passing and which were now with the summer s fulness and would say dear robert is there any heart so cold that it does not melt in this vision of the power and the of the lord of heaven and earth do not sorrow for me when i am going to a more perfect communion with him for i shall see him as he is from the they passed by the romantic road that leads through the plains of west c there is no part our country abundant as it is in the charms of nature more adorned with romantic scenery the carriage slowly traced its way on the side of a mountain from which the imprisoned road had with difficulty been won a noisy stream dashed along at their left and as they ascended the mountain they still heard ix before them leaping from rock to rock now almost losing itself in the deep pathway it had made nd then rushing vith increased violence over its stony b d this stream said mr reminds one of the of childhood i i hardly believe it to be the same we admired so leisurely winding its peaceful way into the bosom of the thou the of maturity replied but i confess that there is something delightful to my imagination in the bound of this infant stream it reminds me of the joy of spirits and strength a new england tale the travellers was v from the wild scene before to the appearance of the heavens by their coachman who observed that never in his days had he seen clouds make so fast it was not he said five minutes since the first speck rose above the bill before them and now there was not enough blue sky for a man to swear by but added he looking with a to what he thought an interminable hill before them the lightning will be saved the trouble of coming down to us for if my poor beasts ever get us to the top we may reach up and take it having reached the summit of the next they perceived by the road s side a log hut over the door was a with a rude and mysterious painting which had been for a foaming can and a plate of explained underneath by cake and beer for sale this did not look very inviting but it promised a better shelter from the rain for the invalid than the carriage could afford mr opened the door and lifted his wife over a which actually ran between the sill of the house and the floor that had not originally been long enough for the dimensions of the apartment the mistress of the mansion a fat middle aged woman who sat with a baby in her arms at a round table at which there were four other children eating sm m a dish in the middle of the table rose and having the	6
eldest boy from a chair by a very slap offered it to e i a tale mrs and resumed her seat quietly ing her meal her a ruddy good natured hardy bad had the misfortune by some accident in his childhood to lose the use of both his legs which were now folded into the same chair on which he sat he turned to the coachman who having secured his horses had just entered and smiling at his consternation said why friend you look pretty weather to be sure but then we mind it up here then turning to the child next him who in gazing at the strangers had dropped half the food she was conveying to her mouth he said scatter the so but last week he continued his address to the coachman there was the most spell of weather i have seen sen the week before last when my wife and i went down into the lower part of to hear s funeral don t you remember that musical fellow that was there i don t see says he the use of the minister preaching up so much about hell fire says he it is a very good doctrine says he to preach down on river but says he i should not think it would frighten any body in such a cold place as a bright flash that seemed to fire the heavens succeeded by a tremendous of thunder which made the tremble terrified all the excepting the fearless speaker a pretty smart flash to be sure but as i was k land tale it is to that storm we had last week pull that hat oat of the window so the gentleman can see there sir said he just look at th t big tree that was down if it had come one yard nearer my house it have crushed it to ah this is a nice place as you will find any he continued for he saw mr was listening attentively to him to bring up boys it makes them hardy and spirited to live here with the wind roar ing about and the thunder rattling right over their heads why they don t mind it any more than my woman s spinning wheel which to be makes a dumb noise sometimes our travellers were not a little amused with the humour of this man wh o had a natural that a mi t have envied friend said mr you have a singular about what may be ihe name of that little girl who is playing with my wife s fan yes sir i am a little about that girl sir i call and that lazy little dog that stands by her is and this baby said mr kindly ttie astonished little fellow watch chain to play with this must be or no air no i met with a disappointment about that boy s name what you may call a slip between the cup and the when be was bom the women asked me what i meant to call hind i told them i did not mean to be in any must know sir the way i get my names a new england tale i buy a book of one of those that are going over the mountain with tin ware and and books and and one notion and another that is i don t buy out and out but we make a they take some of my wooden dishes and let me have the in books for you must know i am a great reader and mean all my children shall have too though it is pretty tough for it well sir as i was saying about this boy i found a name just to hit my fancy for i can pretty generally suit myself the name was but just about that time as the deuce have it my wife s father died and the gin had been a very gin man to us and so to compliment the old gentleman i concluded to him solomon mr smiled and throwing a dollar into the baby s lap said there is something my little fellow to make up for your loss the sight and the gift of a silver dollar produced a considerable sensation among the the children gathered round the baby to examine the splendid favour the mother said the child was not old enough to make its manners to the gentleman but he was as much to him as if he could the father only seemed insensible and contented himself with remarking with his usual happy that he guessed it was easier getting money down country than it was up on the hills very true my friend replied mr and i should like to know how you support your a new d tale family here you do dot appear to have any sir replied the m ti it would puzzle with my legs to take care of a but then always that as long as a man has his wits be s something to with this a pretty cold soil up here but we make out to raise all our and enough besides to fat a couple of pigs on then sir as you see my woman and i keep a stock of cake and beer and a nice trade for a cold stomach re is considerable travel on the road and people get considerable dry by the time they get up here and we find it a good business and then i turn wooden and dishes and go out once or twice and there is not an old wife or a young one either for the matter of that but i can them to buy a dish or two i take my pay in provisions or clothing all the cash i get is by the beer and cake and now sir though	6

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