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into her face s conflict will wax wanton and betray their in their grace boys and girls would feel a forward spring and youth to old thou back bring all sexes ages orders occupations would listen to thee with attentive ear and moved with sweet thy pipe would follow with full merry while thou thy voice loud advance their for joy would dance but now alas poor man in desert thou dost wander wide to seek and serve thy disappearing pan whom no man living in the world hath sir pan is dead but i am still alive and live in men who honor to me give honour also those that honour me sacred songs but thou now sing to trees to rocks to hills to that be and quite of thy hid mysteries in the void air thy idle voice is spread thy muse is to the deaf or dead now out alas and well away the tale thou i confess too true fond man so on this living clay his dear and doth its joys pursue that of his precious soul he takes no keep heaven s love and reason s light lie fast asleep this bodies life vain shadow of the soul with full desire they closely do embrace in mud like swine they and roll the mind is proud but of the face or outward person if men but that walking cares for no more this is the measure of man s industry to somebody and gather grace for outward presence though true crown d with that heavenly light and lively of holy and love from his soul he remove slight knowledge and lease virtue serves his turn for this if he hath trod the ring of arts in pack horse form keeping the rode o then t s a learned thing of the if any to write or speak what he not t were a foul to the soul from and still whether our reason s eye be clear enough to true light that fain would glide into d hearts this way s too harsh and therefore the truths may well seem dark when men have eyes so and these be our times but if my minds bear any moment they can ne re last long a three branch d flame will soon sweep clear the stage of this old dirty and all young my words into this frozen air i throw will then grow at that nay now thou rt perfect mad said he with scorn and full of foul derision quit the place the did rattle with his wings like to rent silk but i in the mean space sent him this message by the wind be t so i m mad yet sure i am thou rt blind by this the d shadows of the trees pointed me homeward and with one consent foretold the s descent so straight i rise my limbs from off the green pavement behind me leaving the sloping light and now let s up brings in the night lives op the great the of the are imperfectly written for this obvious reason the soul of the great can only be expressed in music this language is so much more ready full and rapid than any other that we can never expect the minds of those accustomed to its use to be expressed by act or word with even that degree of which we find in those of other men they are accustomed to a higher a more existence we must read them in their works this true of of the great in every department is especially so of the of sound yet the eye which has followed with rapture the flight of the bird till it is quite vanished in the blue serene with pleasure to the nest which it finds of materials and architecture that if wisely examined correspond entirely with all previously imagined of the s history and habits the biography of the artist is a scanty upon the grand text of his works but we examine it with a deliberate tenderness and could not spare those half pencil marks of daily life in vain the healthy of nature have so boldly in our own day the love of greatness and bid us turn from to read the record of the village clerk these obscure men you say have hearts also busy lives souls study the simple annals of the poor and you find there only and stifled by accident milton or precisely for that precisely because we might be such as these if temperament and position had the soul s must we seek with eagerness this spectacle of the occasional of that degree of development which we call hero poet artist martyr a sense of the depths of love and pity in our obscure and private breasts bids us demand to see their sources burst up somewhere through the of circumstance and peter bell has no sooner felt his first throb of and piety than he to read the lives of the saints of all those forms of life which in their greater achievement shadow forth what the accomplishment of our life in the ages must be the artist s life is the fairest in this that it its web most soft and full because of the material most at command like the hero the the the artist from other men only in this that the voice of the demon within the breast speaks louder or is more early and steadily obeyed than by men in general but colors and marble and paper scores are more easily found to use and more under command than the occasions of life or the wills of other men so that we see in the poet s work if not a higher sentiment or a deeper meaning a more frequent and more perfect fulfilment than in him who his temple from the world day by day or 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makes a nation his and his lives of the great it is also easier to us to get the scope of the artist s design and its growth as the area where we see it does not stretch vision beyond its power the of indeed shares the growth of centuries as much as s but the first apparition of the one strikes both the senses and the soul the other only the latter so we look most easily and with impression at the add the benefits of and repetition the grand napoleon drama could be acted but once but s don presents to us the same thought seven times a week if we wish to yield to it so many the artists too are the young children of our sickly manhood or wearied out old age on us life has pressed till the form is and bowed down but their youth is immortal invincible to us the inexhaustible prophecy of a second birth from the of their lives are heard anew the tones of that mystic song we call perfection artist scanty as they are are always beautiful the tedious of the cannot nor the of the italian them if any fidelity be preserved in the record it always casts new light on their works the of italian praise is the better extreme of the two for the heart with all its tells truth more easily than the head the records before us of the great are by the patient and the sensible never to be englishman or the frenchman but a was needed also to cast a broader sunlight on the scene all artist lives are interesting and those of the peculiarly so to day when music is the living growing art painting architecture are indeed not dead but the life they exhibit is as the putting forth of young from an old root the is hopeful rather than commanding but music after all the wonderful exploits of the last century grows and towers yet towering far above our heads still with colossal gesture points above music is pausing now to explain arrange or explore the treasures so rapidly accumulated but how great the genius thus employed how vast the promise for the next revelation seems to l of the great all the sobs the heart heaving and of the earth spirit has called to the sister stars as and have told to other what has been actually performed in this they will answer through the next the thought of the law that all thoughts which us the moment we have gone far in any department of knowledge or genius and lifts us from the ground in music were but this known all would be accomplished is sung to us ever in the triumphs of harmony what the other arts indicate and philosophy this all language declares nay and we lose all care for to morrow or modern life in the truth of old that all truth is in music and by one spirit of tones and numbers all things are controlled as taught where was found to merit in that mystery old words worth on the power of a very slight knowledge of music makes it the best means of interpretation we meet our friend in a melody as in a glance of the eye far beyond where words have strength to climb we explain by the corresponding tone in an instrument that trait in our admired picture for which no sufficiently subtle had yet been found bad never touched our true knowledge of our favorite flower but a the same attitude and hues the philosophic historian had failed to explain the motive of our favorite hero but every calls and every trumpet him he that hath ears to hear let him hear of course we claim for music only a greater rapidity fulness and above all delicacy of utterance all is in each and each in all so that the most barbarous of the the secret of man as clearly as the the perfection of organized being or the first stop on the reed the of heaven but music by the ready medium the and the it for the of thought alone seems to present a living form rather than a dead monument to the desires of genius lives of the great the feeling naturally given by an expression so of the identity and of all thought every thought is beautifully expressed in this anecdote of when about to compose a he was in the habit of his genius by imagining some little romance an interesting account of one of these is given in s life of p but when his object was not to express any particular affection or to paint any particular images all subjects were alike to him the whole art consists said he in taking up a subject and pursuing it when a friend entered as he was about to compose a piece be would say with a smile give me a subject give a subject to i who would have the courage to do so come never mind he would say give me anything you can think of and you were obliged to obey many of his astonishing exhibit marks of this piece of dexterity the french is pleased to call it they commence with the most insignificant idea but by degrees this idea a character it extends itself and the dwarf becomes a giant before our wondering eyes this is one of the high delights received from a musical composition more than from any other work of art except perhaps the purest of poetry that you feel at once both the result and the process the the great advantage of being able to excite himself to compose by his instrument this gives him a great advantage above those who are obliged to execute their designs by implements less and exciting did not consider his pupils as at all advanced till | 37 |
that steady and harmonious action of the faculties all through life so generally supposed inconsistent with gifts like theirs both exhibit a soil fertile from the of its native forests and by action the following passage is to say nothing of its humor yery significant on the topic so often in as to whether the descriptive powers of music are of the or character of an opera composed by to s order at the age of nineteen often says that he had more trouble in finding out a mode of representing the waves in a tempest in this opera than he afterwards had in writing with a double who had spirit and taste was difficult to please bat there was also another obstacle neither of the two authors had ever seen either sea or storm how can a man describe what he knows nothing about if this happy art could be discovered many of our great would talk better about virtue all agitation paced up and down the room where the was seated at the piano imagine said he a mountain rising and then a valley sinking and then another mountain and then another valley the mountains and the valleys follow one another with rapidity and at every moment and succeed each other this fine description was of no avail in vain did of the great in add the thunder and lightning describe for me all these horrors he repeated incessantly bat particularly represent distinctly these mountains and valleys drew bis fingers rapidly over the key board ran through the tried abundance of passed from the lowest notes of the bass to the highest of the was still dissatisfied at last the young man out of all patience extended his hands to the two ends of the and bringing them rapidly together exclaimed the devil take the tempest that s it that s it cried the springing upon his neck and nearly stifling him added that when he crossed the straits of in bad weather many years afterwards he laughed during the whole of the passage in thinking of the storm in the devil an two sticks but how said i to him is it possible by sounds to de a tempest and that distinctly too as this great man is indulgence itself i added that by the peculiar tones of a man in terror or despair tm author of genius may to an the sensations the sight of a storm would cause but said i music can no more represent a tempest than say mr lives near the barrier of you may be right replied he but recollect nevertheless that words and especially scenery guide the imagination of the spectator let it be an encouragement to the timidity of youthful genius to see that an like has ever and flown so from the aim in later days though he had the usual of spontaneous genius as to giving a reason for the faith that was in him he had also its perfect self reliance he too would have said when told that free expression of a thought was contrary to rule that be would make it a rule then and had no reason to give why he put a phrase or note here and thus except it was b t so it had the best effect so the following anecdote in a spirited manner the contrast between the free genius and the critic before had lost his interest in conversation he related with pleasure many anecdotes respecting his residence in london a nobleman passionately fond of music according to his own account came to him one morning and him to give him some lessons in at a guinea a lesson seeing that he had some knowledge of music f e his proposal when shall we begin t if jou please replied the nobleman and he took out of his pocket a of s for the first lesson continued he let us examine this and tell me the reason of certain and of the general management of the composition which i cannot altogether approve since it is contrary to the rules a little surprised said that he was ready to answer bis the nobleman and from the very first bar found something to remark upon every note with whom invention was a habit and who was the opposite of a found himself a good deal embarrassed and replied continually i did so because it has a good effect i have placed this passage here because i think it suitable the englishman in whose opinion these replies were nothing to the purpose still returned to his proofs and ery clearly that his was good for nothing but my arrange this in your own way hear it played and yon will then see which of the two is best how can which is contrary to the rules be the best because it is the most agreeable my lord still returned to the subject replied as well as he was able but at last out of patience i see my lord said he that it is you who are so good as to give lessons to me and i am obliged to confess that do not merit the honor of having such a master the advocate of the rules went away and cannot to this day understand how an author who to them should fail of producing a m i must in this introduce a passage from the life of the highest effort of genius here in music consists in direct of rule the very first answer of the in the to affords an instance of this kind the observer of rule was so charmed with this direct of it that on hearing its effect he cried out meaning the f sharp un that is worth a world i should exceedingly like to quote the passage on s and the comparison between the effect produced by one of his | 37 |
and one of s but room always fails us in this little magazine i cannot however omit a passage which gave me singular pleasure referring to s opinion of the importance of the air for the air is the thought of the piece and ought never of the great to be from a sense of the full flow of who would think it this great man under whose authority our miserable of without genius would fain shelter themselves repeated incessantly let your air be good and your composition whatever it be will be so likewise and will assuredly please it is the soul of music continued he it is the life the spirit the essence of a composition without this may find out the most singular and learned but nothing is heard but a labored sound which though it may not offend the ear leaves the head empty and the heart cold the following passage happily the principle art is called because it is not nature in music the best physical imitation is perhaps that which only just its object which shows it to us through a veil and from representing nature exactly as she is this kind of imitation is the perfection of the descriptive department you are aware my friend that all the arts are founded to a certain degree on what is not true an obscure doctrine notwithstanding its apparent clearness but from which the most important principles are derived it is thus that from a dark springs the river which is to water vast provinces you have more pleasure in seeing a beautiful picture of the garden of the than in beholding the same garden faithfully reflected from one of the of the yet the scene displayed in the mirror has far more variety of than the painting were it the work of the figures have motion everything is more true to nature still you cannot help the picture a skilful artist never from that degree of which is allowed in the art he he is well aware that it is not by nature to such a degree as to produce deception that the arts give pleasure he makes a distinction between those accurate called eye traps and the st of imitation should produce the effect which the object would have upon us did it strike us those fortunate moments of sensibility and enjoyment which awaken the passions the fault of this passage consists in the use of the words true and false feels distinctly that truth to the ideal is and must be above truth to the actual it is only because he feels this that he the music j of the of at all and yet from habits of and he well nigh his thought by use of the of men who apprehend no truth beyond that of facts apparent to the senses let us pass to the life of we can but glance at these great souls each rich enough in power to be the centre of a world and can only hope to indicate not declare their different and relations and both looked to with a religious was only unfolded to his greatest efforts after hearing in his latest years s great in england one day at prince s when s was performed upon expressing my admiration of one of the sublime of that work said to m thoughtfully this man is the father of us all i am convinced that if he had not studied he would never have written the creation his genius was fired by that of this master it was remarked by every one here that his return from london there was more grandeur in his ideas in short he approached as far as is permitted to human genius the object of his songs is simple his are written in three parts only but to use a phrase of s there is not a note that does not draw blood p most esteemed and but he placed above them all he knew the principal works of that great master by heart he was accustomed to say knows best of all of us what is capable of producing a great effect when he chooses he strikes like the p both these expressions that of and that of happily in the vigor and grasp of his genius as in the and sunny majesty of his career is well compared to the gazing soaring eagle i must other beautiful to the genius of after the quarrel between and many of the english which led to their setting up an opera in opposition to his they sent to engage and as their when was invited over the the first question be asked was whether was dead being answered in the negative he long refused to come thinking it impossible that a nation which might claim the benefit of genius could ask aid from any other when was in italy saw him first at the playing the in his mask immediately it could be none but the famous saxon or the devil pursuing the acquaintance tried s powers in every way when they came to the organ not a doubt remained as to which the preference belonged himself declared the superiority of his and owned that until he bad heard him upon this instrument he had no conception of his powers so greatly was he struck with his peculiar way of playing that be followed him all over italy and was never so happy as when be was with him and ever afterwards as often as he was admired for his own great execution would mention and cross himself in token of tion life of these noble this tender enthusiastic conviction of the superiority of another this religious joy to feel a worthy of our steel one instance of which delights us more than all the lonely achievements of intellect as showing the two fold aspect of the soul | 37 |
and every nature generous enough for sympathy in the golden chain which the earth and the heavens are found everywhere in the history of high genius only the little men of mere talent deserve a place at le sage s supper of the authors genius can not be forever on the wing it a home a holy land it carries in the bosom it cordial draughts from the of other it is always pious always the artist like the throws down his shield to embrace the who has been able to pierce it and the greater the genius the more do we glow with delight at his power of feeling need of feeling reverence not only for the soul but for its through fellow men what melody of lives of the great s is more melodious than his letter of devotion to or the transport with which he calls out on first hearing the of in truly in dwells a divine fire but to return to the only biography of him i have seen is a little volume from the library of the university at cambridge as brief and in the opinion of the who brought it to me as dry and scanty as possible i did not find it so it is written with the greatest simplicity in the style of the days of and and its limited strongly with the brilliancy of statement and infinite of the present style of writing on such subjects but the writer is from exaggeration without being timid or cold and he brings to his work the of a true feeling of the genius of and sympathy with his personal character this lies indeed so deep that it never occurs to him to give it distinct expression it is only implied in his selection as judicious as simple of anecdotes to illustrate it for myself i like a dry book such as is written by men who give themselves somewhat to the task in hand i like to read a book written by one who had no higher object than mere curiosity or affectionate sympathy and never draws an then i am sure of the facts more true than when the writer has any theory of his own and have the excitement all the way of putting them into new relations the present is the gentle faithful narrative of a private friend he does not give his name nor pretend to anything more than a slight essay towards giving an account of so great a phenomenon as the vigor the ready decision and independence of s character are displayed in every trait of his youthful years at seven years old he appears as if really inspired by a guardian genius his father was going as s music begins to be known among ourselves it may be record the names of those songs which so affected they are s die die and die der vol ii no lu lives of the to to an elder established at there he refused to take the little it would be too much trouble the boy finding tears and entreaties of no avail stole out and the carriage on foot when his father perceived him persist in this be could resist no longer but took him into the carriage and carried him to there the duke hearing him play by accident in the chapel and finding it was but t little child who had been obliged too to cultivate his talent by in opposition to the wishes of his father interfered and removed all from the course of his destiny like all the great he was this necessarily results from the more than usually delicate or they must possess though for the art none but has burnt so early with that that exhausted his lamp of life at nine years of age composed in rule and played admirably on more than one instrument at fifteen be on playing the first at the opera house and again his guardian genius interfered in a manner equally picturesque and peculiar the elder candidate was not unfit for the office and insisted on the right of succession seemed to have no plea but that of natural superiority of which he was conscious and from which he would not parties ran high the one side unwilling that a should a place above a much older man one who had a prior right to the place the other maintaining that the opera house could not afford to lose so great a aa gave promise of becoming for a of thia kind at last obtained the place determined to make pay dear for his his rival stifled his rage for the present only to wait an opportunity of giving it full vent one day as they were coming out of the he made a push at with a sword which being aimed full at his heart would forever have removed him from the office he had but for the friendly score which he accidentally carried in his bosom and through which to have forced the weapon would have demanded the might of himself had this happened in the early ages a of the would have been that himself had to e him in the shape of a book the same guardian demon presided always over his outward fortunes his life like that of was one of prosperity the only serious check he ever experienced at a very late day in england was only so great as to his genius to manifest itself by a still higher order of efforts than before his and these were w only worthy of his highest aspirations but with the public of his own day it is by no means the case in the arts that genius must not expect sympathy from its its history shows it in many instances answering as much as and and seemed to to a star gazing generation while yet in his met | 37 |
is possessed by the muse and like all the great could not even understand the meaning of these petty genius is fearless she never fancies herself wiser than god as prudence does she is faithful for she has been trusted and feels the presence of god in herself too clearly to doubt bis government of the world s great at this period brought on an attack of which he cured by a course that shows his powerful nature and in a homely way the saying fortune the brave like and other such and sanguine persons if he could at last be persuaded to use a remedy for any sickness he always the matter as for this it was thought best for him to have recourse to the at la over which he sat three times as long as hath ever been the practice whoever knows anything of the nature of these will from this instance form some idea of his surprising constitution his were beyond what can well be imagined his cure from the manner as well as from the quickness with which it was wrought passed with the for a miracle when but a few hours from the time of his leaving the bath they heard him at the organ in the principal church as well as playing in a manner so much beyond what they had ever heard or even imagined it is not wonderful that they should suppose the of a higher power he remained however some weeks longer at the to confirm the cure thus suddenly effected by means that would have destroyed a frame of less strength and energy the more cruel ill of blindness fell upon his latest years but he had already run an course and could sit still with the palm and oak crowns upon his brows is a greek in the fulness and glow of of the great ers his in his of action and i think even with a pleasure in which i can hardly sympathy since even his simple from it with the air of a person of quality on the fact that he was fond of good eating and also ate a great deal as he was neither nor i not only accept the excuse of the that a per sod of bis nature vast industry and energy need ed a great deal of but it seems to me perfect ly in character for one of his lai e heroic mould i am aware that these are total days especially in the regions of art and romance but the were wiser and more beautiful if less delicate than we and i am strongly reminded by all that is said of of a picture painted in their golden age the subject was at the court of in the back ground are mourning round the corpse of the devoted while in the the son of jove is satisfying what seems to his attendants an interminable hunger they are baskets filling toiling up the stairs with huge joints of meat the hero his fingers impatient for the new course though many an empty bears traces of what he has already for why a journey to and conquest of gloomy dis would hardly in the natural state of society be under taken on a and a glass of and was yet fresh from her grand revolution and bull still cordially enjoyed his logs and glorious john was not ashamed to write thus of the heroes and when the rage of hut tr was a man was not ashamed of being not only a man in mind but every inch a man and surely did not neglect to labor after he had are the upward tending slender plants not less beautiful and longer lived those of stronger root more powerful trunk more spreading branches let each be true to bis law not monotony is music we thank thee nature for we thank thee for yet one story from the life of ere we pass on it must interest all who have observed the same of a person exquisitely alive to the music of verse and bewildered by other music lives the great pope often met at the earl of s one day after had played some of the finest things he e er composed mr pope declared that they e him no sort of pleasure that his ears were of that make and cast as to receive his music which he was persuaded was the best that could be with as much indifference as the airs of a common ballad a person of his excellent understanding it is hard to suspect of affectation and yet it is as hard to conceive how an ear so perfectly attentive to all the of and poetical numbers should be totally insensible to the charm of musical sounds an too which was as in his manner of reading as it is in his method of writing life of the principal facts of that apparition which bore the name of are well known his development was far more than that of any other artist on record and here let us observe another correspondence between music and that is the early in childish form which seem to say that neither the art nor the science requires the slow care of the gardener experience but are plants to the soil which need only air and light to them up to majestic stature connected with this is his exquisite delicacy of organization save in the history of the fairy fine ear that at six years old he perceived a change of half a quarter of a note in the of a and fainted always at sound of the trumpet the wonderful exploits which this accurate perception of and memory for sounds enabled him to perform are known to every one but i could read the story a hundred times yet so great is its childish beauty again | 37 |
allied with this are his extreme tenderness and loving nature in this life s translated by it is mentioned he would say ten times a day to those about him do you love me well and whenever in jest they said no the tears would roll down his cheeks i remember to have read elsewhere an anecdote of the same engaging character one day when then in his seventh year was entering the presence chamber of the he fell and hurt himself the other young laughed but took him up and consoled him with many caresses the little said to her you are of the good i will marry you well for the lovely princess if common men could have met and understood her lively and genial nature as genius could in its need of love with this great desire for sympathy in the was linked as by nature it should be an entire self reliance in action knew nothing but music on that the whole life of his soul was shed but there he was as and as fertile and at six years of age sitting down to play in presence of the emperor francis he addressed himself to his majesty and asked is not m here we send for aim he understands the thing the emperor sent for and up his place to him by the side of the piano sir said af to the i am going to play one of your you turn over the leaves for me the emperor said in jest to the little it is not very difficult to play with all one s fingers but to play with only one without the keys would indeed be extraordinary without the least surprise at this strange proposal the child immediately began to play with a single finger and with the greatest possible precision and clearness he afterwards desired them to cover the keys of the piano and continued to play in the same manner as if he had long practised it from his most tender age animated with the true feeling of his art was never vain of the compliments paid him by the great he only performed insignificant trifles when he had to do with people with music he played on the contrary with all the fire and attention of which he was capable when in the presence of and his father was often obliged to have recourse to in order to make the great men before whom he was to exhibit pass for such with him here in soft acts the same part that did with cold imperial sarcasm when the allied sovereigns were presented to him at i held myself said that is treated them with dignified and his smile is one of as he says it for the nature so deeply glowing towards man was coldly to those who would be more than men merely by the aid of money and s attitude is the and more ii no ii no of the great but s lion tread and shake of the mane are grand too the following anecdote shows that rare praise is this was not less dignified and clear sighted as a man than in his early childhood the at the court of the emperor joseph the second spoke of s first essays when he was appointed chapel master with more jealousy than and the emperor who scarcely ever judged for himself was easily carried away by their one day after hearing the of a comic opera which he had himself demanded of he said to the my dear that is too fine for my ears there are too many notes there i ask majesty s pardon replied there are just as many notes as there should be the emperor said nothing and ap rather embarrassed by the reply but when the opera was performed he bestowed on it the greatest this anecdote certainly shows joseph the second to be not a mean man if neither a sage nor a read in with the foregoing the traits record ed of the artist during his wife s illness life of p and you have a sketch of a most beautiful character combined with this melting sweetness and extreme delicacy was a prophetic energy of deep seated fire in his genius he while he you the vigor the tenderness and far reaching ken of his tions were by a range a readiness and in his talents for expression which can only be told by the comparison between him and a life of such flow and pathetic earnestness moat at any rate have early exhausted the bodily energies but the high strung nerves of made him excessive alike in his fondness for pleasure and in the melancholy which was its reaction his life was too eager and keen to last the gift of as much developed in bis private history as in his works a most interesting study to the philosophic observer but one of too wide a scope for any discussion here i shall not speak of as a whole man for he was not so but the exquisite organ of a divine inspiration he scarcely took root on the soil not knowing s tht great cares or bis life was all crowded with efforts and or tender feelings between his private character was that of a child as ever he loved to be stimulated to compose by having fairy tales told to him by the voice of affection and when we consider how any art to the whole of a man s existence and music most of all to unfit for other modes of life both from its to the senses and exaltation of the soul we have rather reason to wonder that the other four great ones lived severe and lives than that this remained a and a fair child the virtues of a child he had sincerity tenderness generosity and reverence in the generosity with | 37 |
which he gave away the precious works of bis ins and the sweetness with which he conferred these we are again reminded of there are equally fine anecdotes of s value for him and his for answered the critics of don i am not a judge of the dispute all that i know is that is the greatest now exist ing answered the critic on sir if yoa and i were both melted down together we should not fur materials for one richard de lion and we never hear the music of to advantage yet no one can be a stranger to the character of his the idea charms me of a correspondence not only between the soul of man and the productions of nature but of a like harmony every invention of his own it seems he has not only better than he knew when following out the impulse of his genius but in every mechanical invention so that all the furniture of man s life is necessarily but an of nature it seems clear that not only every hue every every flower every tree has its correspondent species in the race of man but the same may be said of instruments as obviously of the compass it is clearly the case with the musical instruments as a child i at once thought of as the and to this day cannot think of one without the other nothing ever occurred to confirm this fancy till a year or two since in the book now before me i found with delight the following passage of the great the most remarkable in his music of the genius displayed in it is the novel way in which he the especially the wind instruments he draws surprising effect from the an instrument of which hardly ever made any use ere bidding adieu to to whom i have only turned your eyes as the those of the to the bird glancing through the heavens which he had not skill to bring down and himself with thinking the fair bird shows truer if farther on the wing i will three so far interesting as showing the degree of truth with which these objects appear to one who has enjoyed few opportunities of hearing the great masters and is only fitted to receive them by a sincere love of music which caused a of the that have been current among us they date some years back and want that distinctness of expression so to day but if by acquaintance with criticism on these subjects have therefore the merit of a pure new england growth and deserve like s comparison of queen mai to his favorite of the pasture the queen is a stately creature the chief cow of the herd who carries the and to the has not a pace anne of music thb charms of melody in simple airs by human voices sung are always felt with thoughts careless hearers melt of secret ills which our frail nature bears we listen weep forget but when the throng of a great master s above the reach of words or colors wire and wood can teach by laws which to the spirit world belong when several parts to tell one mood combined flash meaning on us we can ne er express giving to matter powers of mind superior joys attentive souls confess the which and stars obey our earth bound state with visions of day of the most intellectual master of the art which best of all teaches the mind of man the universe in all its varied plan what strangely mingled thoughts thy strains impart here the faint tenor the inmost heart there the rich bass the reason s balance shows here breathes the sigh that love e er knows there sudden fancies seeming without float into wildest the past is all forgot hopes sweetly breathe and our whole being when lo beneath the brink despair s deep sob startled we strive to free us firom the chain notes of high triumph swell and we are thine again i if to the intellect and passions strong speak with such power making us share the full hour when his fixed wild fancy s mystic oh nature s finest to thee belong the deepest tones of tenderness whose purity the listening angels bless with silvery of song sad are those oh striving soul i a love which never found its home on earth even in thy and gentle laws thy notes yet that sadness felt most those hearts which most they melt we have spoken of the widely varying commanding yet bright and life of of the victorious procession and aspect of of the tender beloved overflowing all too intense life of they are all great and beautiful look at them from what side you will the foot stands firm the mantle in wide and noble folds and the eye flashes divine truths but now we come to a figure still more roman john all whose names we give to distinguish him from a whole family of a race through which musical inspiration had been without a break for six generations nor did it utterly fail after coming to its full flower in john his sons though of thi not equal to their father were not unworthy their honors the life of which i have before me translated from the german of j n author also of the complete history of music is by far the best of any of these records it is exceedingly brief and simple very bare of facts but the wise quiet enthusiasm of its tone and the delicate of the remarks on the genius of bring us quite home to him and his certainly shines too lonely in the sky of his critic who has lived in and by him till he cannot see other souls in due places but would interrupt all hymns to other | 37 |
thing they did when they were assembled was to sing a hymn in chorus from this pious commencement they proceeded to which made a very great contrast with it they sang for instance popular songs the contents of which are partly comic and partly all together and but in such a manner that the several songs thus made a kind of harmony together the words however in every part being different they called this kind ef chorus a and not only laughed heartily at it themselves but excited an equally hearty and irresistible laughter in every body that heard them some persons are inclined to consider these as the beginning of comic in germany but such were usual in germany at a much earlier period possess myself a printed collection of them which was published at in of the great in perfect harmony with what is intimated of the of their wise content loving art purely and for its own sake by ambition or desire for excitement deep and true simple and modest in the virtues of domestic life was the course of the greatest of them john no man of whom we read has lived more simply the grand quiet manly life without haste without rest its features are few its outline large and tranquil his youth was a steady to the place nature intended him to fill as soon as he was in that place his sphere of full activity he knew it and was content after that he was known by his fruits as for outward occasions and honors it was with him as always with the happy who must in himself possess his own desire who ms and to the same keeps faithful with a of aim and therefore does not stoop nor lie in wait for wealth or honors or for worldly state whom they must follow on whose head must fall like showers of if they come at au a pretty story of his childhood shows that he was as earnest in the of excellence as indifferent to j s was left an orphan at ten years of age and was obliged to have recourse to an elder brother john who was at from him he received the first instructions in playing on the x but his inclination and talent for music must have been already very great at that time since the pieces which his brother gave him to learn were so soon in his power that he began with much eagerness to look out for some that were more difficult he had observed that his brother had a book in which were pieces by the most famous of the day such as he wanted and earnestly begged him to give it him but it was constantly denied his desire to possess the book was increased by the refusal so that he at length sought means to get possession of it secretly as it was kept in a cupboard which had only a door and his hands were still small enough to pass through so that he could roll up the book which was merely in paper and draw it out he did not long hesitate to make use of these favorable circumstances but for want of a candle he could only copy it in moonlight nights and it took six whole months vol ii no ii lives of the great before he could finish his laborious task at length when he thought himself safely possessed of the treasure and intended to make good use of it in secret his brother found it out and took from him without pity the copy which had cost him so much pains and he did not recover it till his brother s death which took place soon without pity indeed what a tale is told by these few words of all the child suffered from disappointment of the hopes and plans which had been growing in his heart all those six months of secret toil hopes and plans too so legitimate on which a true parent or guardian would have smiled such delighted approval one can scarcely keep down the swelling heart at these instances of tyranny to children far worse than the and of the russian in this that the domestic tyrant cannot be wholly forgetful of the pain he is though he may be too stupid or too selfish to foresee the consequences of these early wrongs through long years of mental conflict a nature so strong and kindly as that of could not be crushed in such ways but with characters of less force the consequences are more cruel i have known an instance of life long injury from such an act as this an elder brother gave a younger a book then as soon as the child became deeply interested in reading it tore out two or three leaves years after the blood boiled and the eyes wept bitter tears of distrust in human sympathy at remembrance of this little act of wanton wrong and the conduct of s brother is more coldly cruel the facts of his life are simple soon his great abilities displayed themselves so as to win for him all that he asked from life a moderate a home and a situation in which he could cultivate his talents with perseverance a silent happiness lit up his day deliberately early he grew to giant stature deeply honored wherever known only not more widely known because to being so no false on his life from any side he was never in a hurry nor did he ever linger on the shore but passed by like not even hearing their songs so was he in the hymns he was singing to the gods is the untouched green forest in th fulness of a lives of the great jane day the illuminated garden where splendid and worldly crowds pause at times in the dark soothed and by the white | 37 |
william both were elegant on the but when they came to the organ no trace of the player was to be perceived melody harmony motion all was different that is all was adapted to the nature of the instrument and its destination when i heard will on the all was delicate elegant and agreeable when i heard him on the organ i was seized with awe there all was pretty here all was grand and solemn the same was the case with john but both in a much higher degree of perfection w was here but a child to his father and he most frankly in this opinion the organ of this extraordinary man are full of the expression of devotion solemnity and dignity but his on the organ where nothing was lost in writing down are said to have been still more devout solemn dignified and sublime what is it that is most essential in this art i will say what i know much however cannot be said but must be felt then after some excellent observations upon the organ he says lives tf the great even in his everything common but in his for the organ he kept himself far more distant from it so that here he does not appear like a man but as a true spirit who above everything mortal it does indeed seem from all that is said of on this score that as the organ was his proper instrument and represents him as the or might so he that heard him on it enjoyed the sense of the true creation thought too to be spoken of aa or stream or fountain but rolling and like a tide marking its course by the large divisions of seas and i wish there was room to quote the fine story of the opera house at p which shows how rapid and comprehensive was his intellectual sight in his own depart or the remarks on the nature of his harmony in that it was a multiplied melody p or on the severe truth and dignity of his conduct to his pupils and the p but i must content myself with the following passages which beside lose much by the ideas of harmony and can scarcely be separated so nearly are they related to each other and yet they are by harmony we must understand the or coincidence of the various parts by their in most you find that their or if you will their harmony advances slowly in musical pieces to be executed by numerous in large buildings as for example in churches where a loud sound can die away but slowly this arrangement shows the prudence of a who wishes to have his work produce the best possible effect but in or chamber music that slow progress is not a proof of prudence but far a sign that the was not sufficiently rich in ideas has distinguished this very well in his great he well knew how to repress his fancy which otherwise with ideas but in his music this reserve was not necessary as he besides never worked for the crowd but always had in his mind his ideal of perfection without any view to approbation or the like he had no reason whatever for giving less than he had and could give and in fact he has never done thi hence in the of his of the works advance is a new thought a life and motion within the circle of the modes chosen and those nearly related to them of the harmony which he he the greatest part but at every advance he something related to it and in this manner he proceeds to the end of a piece so softly so gently and gradually that no leap or harsh transition is to be felt and yet no bar i may almost say no part of a bar is like another with him every transition was required to have a with the preceding idea and appears to be a ne consequence of it he knew not or rather he dis those by which many attempt to surprise their hearers even in his the advances are so soft and tender that we scarcely perceive their distances though often very great in other he had rivals but in the and all the kinds of and related to it he stands quite alone and so alone that all around him is as it were desert and void it his all the conditions which we are otherwise accustomed to demand only of more free species of composition a highly characteristic theme an principal melody wholly derived from it and equally characteristic from the beginning to the end not mere accompaniment in the other but in each of them an independent according with the others also from the beginning to the end freedom lightness and in the progress of the whole inexhaustible variety of combined with perfect purity the of every arbitrary note not necessarily belonging to the whole unity and in the style and measure and lastly a life diffused through the whole so that it sometimes appears to the or as if every single note were animated these are the properties of s properties which excite admiration and astonishment in every judge who knows what a mass of intellectual energy is required for the production of such works i must say still more all s composed in the years of his maturity have the above mentioned properties in common they are all endowed with equal ly great but each in a different manner each his own precisely defined character and dependent upon that its own turns in melody and harmony when we know and can perform one we really know only and can perform but one whereas we know and can play whole full of by other of s time as soon as we have comprehended and rendered familiar to our hand the of | 37 |
a single one of the great he any display of his powers if they were made obvious otherwise than in the beauty and fulness of what was produced it was in such a way as this in musical parties where or other fuller pieces of music were performed he took pleasure in playing the tenor with this instrument he was as it were in the middle of the harmony whence he could both hear and enjoy it on both sides when an opportunity offered in such parties he sometimes accompanied a or other pieces on the if he was in a cheerful mood and that the com of the piece if present would not take it amiss he used to make out of the figured bass a new or of three single parts a these however are the only cases in which he proved to others how strong he was he was fond of hearing the music of other if he heard in a church a for a full and one of his two eldest sons stood near him he always as soon as he had heard the introduction to the theme said beforehand what the to introduce and what possibly might be introduced if the had performed his work well what he had said happened then he rejoiced and his son to make him observe it he did not publish a work till he was forty years of age he never laid aside the critical file through all his life so that an edition of his works accompanied by his own would be the finest study for the this severe ideal standard and application in it made his whole life a progress and the epithet old which too often brings to our minds associations of or decay was for him the title of honor it is noble and imposing when the second says to his with a kind of agitation gentlemen old has come he labored for himself like every true genius he fulfilled his own wish satisfied his own taste chose his subjects according to his own opinion and lastly derived the most pleasure from his own approbation the applause of could not then fail him and in fact never did fail him how else could a real work of art be produced the artist to make his works so as to suit some particular class of either has no genius or it to follow the prevailing taste of the many needs at the most some dexterity in a very partial manner of treating tones artists of this lives the cheat may be compared to the who must make his goods so that his customers can make use of them submitted to such he thought the artist may form the public but that the public does not form the art ist it would please me best if i could print here the whole of the concluding chapter of this little book it a fulness and depth of feeling objects are seen from a high platform of culture which make it invaluable to those of are groping in a atmosphere after the beautiful it is a slight which ages of the noblest effort and so clear perception of laws that its expression if excessive in the particular is never extravagant on the whole a true and worthy of homage so true that its most details suggest the by which all the various of man s genius are to be viewed and with silver tone the barking of partial and exclusive the person who should such a book in this country would be truly a benefactor both this and the life of i have seen only in the london edition the latter is probably out of print but the substance of it or rather the only pr traits from it have been given here this life of should be read as its great subject should be viewed as a whole the entertaining of by and has been in some measure made known to us through the english i have never seen the book myself that to which i shall refer is the life of by to whom confided the task of writing it in case of the failure of another friend whom he somewhat preferred if inadequate to take an observation of his subject from any very high point of view has the merit of simplicity fidelity strict accuracy according to his power of and a devout reverence both for the art and this greatest of the art he is one of those devout who can cling for so many years to a single flower nor feel that they have all its sweets there are in rome who give their lives to copy the great masters in the art ef painting nor ever feet tiiat they can get deep enough into knowledge of the beauty already produced vol ii no ii f the to pass out into they would weary through the still night of tending the lights for the grand mass is of this stamp a patient student most faithful and those of more electric natures will perhaps say a little dull he is very indignant at the more sketches of and indeed is probably in detail yet there is a truth in the whole impression received from him it was in the first of his youth that he knew he was afterwards long separated from him in his book we must expect to see rather under the influence of than the master s sell yet there is always deeper truth in this of life through life if we can look at it aright than in any attempt at an exact copy of the original let only the reader read and germany by madame de by by are not the less true for being it is the same as with the by or by as for it was evident to every reader hat the great man never | 37 |
talked so the whole is with rose color grimly says the good makes him appear as a hero and we cannot but for a moment share his contempt as we admire the granite of s real style which is beyond any other the short hand of genius yet the good the soul of the matter her description of his manner of seizing a melody and then gathering together from every side all that belonged to it and the saying other men are touched by good artists are fiery they do not weep are s whether he really said them or not you say that never meant to express this what then his genius meant it the impression gives of from that given by and only in this that the giant is seen through glass the are the same in all the three the direction left by himself to his is as follows tell the truth with severe fidelity of me and all connected with me without regard to whom it may hit whether others or myself laws of the he was born it is pleasing to the fancy to know that his mother s name was maria she died when he was so that a number itself the three times in the very first statement of his destiny the first thirty years of his life were all sunshine his genius was early acknowledged and friends enabled him to give it free play for his simple wants in daily life notwithstanding his which from the earliest period paid no regard to rank and power but insisted that those he met should show themselves worthy as men and citizens before he would have anything to do with them he was received with joy into the highest circles of the emperor s physician one of those who after the labors of the day find rest in giving the whole night to music and who was so situated that he could collect round all that was best in the art was one of his friends prince and princess constituted themselves his foster parents and were not to be from their and tender care by the often perverse and impetuous conduct of their adopted son who indeed tried them severely for he was a vehement nature that broke through all limits and always had to run his head against a barrier before he could be convinced of its existence of the princess says with love like that of a grandmother she sought to and foster me which she carried so far as often to come near having a glass bell put over me lest somewhat unworthy should touch or even breathe on me their house is described as der und the home of all that is genial noble and refined in these first years the of his nature us with delight for they have not yet that hue of tragedy which they assumed after he was brought more decidedly into opposition with the world here wildly great and free as afterwards sternly and so he is or still the same here more fairly there more noble he early took the resolution by which he held fast through life against or attacks of any kind so long as they did not touch his honor but were aimed solely at his the life never to defend himself he was not indifferent to the opinion of the good but ignored as much as possible the of the bad even when they went so far as to him a place in the mad house for that vein in human nature which has flowed ever since the days of i am not mad most noble making men class as c or madness all that the range of their comprehension and culture manifested itself in fuu energy among the of when he published one of his greatest works the critics declared him now in the very of his genius ripe for the mad house for why we do not understand it wc never had such thoughts we cannot even read and execute them ah men almost your ingratitude doth at times convince that you are wholly unworthy the of the divine but was an artist nature he had his work to do and could not stop to weep either pitying or indignant tears if it those people to say or to write such things of me do not disturb them was his to which he remained true through all the of his artist life gentleness and forbearance were virtues of which he was incapable his spirit was deeply loving but stern incapable himself of vice or meanness he could not hope anything from men that were not so he could not try experiments he could not pardon if at all dissatisfied with a man he had done with him forever this temper he carried out even in his relations the moment a ceased to be important to him or he to the he left off seeing him and they did not meet again perhaps for twenty years but when they did meet the was full and true as at first the inconvenient of such proceedings in the conventional world are ous but knew only the world of souls in man he saw only the man rank and wealth were to him mere accidents to which he attached no importance to bow before and his ministers he considered absolute the deepest degradation to the man who had genius for his the rich man must show himself noble and beneficent if he would be honored by the least attention he thought that the spirit the divine in of the er mast always maintain its over the material and temporary that being the immediate gift of the it obliged its possessor to go before other men as a guiding light how far his high feeling of responsibility and dear sight of his own position in the universe were from he showed always by his | 37 |
aversion to homage he left one of his lodging houses because the people would crowd the it bridge to gaze on him as he went cot another because the aristocratic proprietor abashed before his genius would never meet him without making so many humble as if to a god he says in one of the letters to i am persecuted by kindness which i think i wish to deserve as little as i really do deserve it humility of man before man it pains me and when i regard myself in with the universe what am i and what is he whom they name greatest and yet there is the in man notwithstanding the many temptations to which he was exposed he like each other knew how to preserve his virtue without a stain thus his inner sense for virtue remained ever pure nor could he suffer anything about him of aspect on the moral side in this respect he was of no error but made his pilgrimage through life in purity the serene muse who had so highly gifted and elected him to her own service gave in every wise to his faculties the upward direction and protected him even in reference against the slightest contact with vulgarity which in life as in art was to him a torture ah had he but carried the same clearness into the business transactions of his life so sighs the friend who thinks his genius was much by the transactions in which his want of skill entangled him with sordid contemptible persons thus in unbroken purity and proud self respect amid and free manly relations in the rapid and harmonious development of his vast powers passed the first thirty years of his life but towards the close of that period crept upon him the cruel disorder to him of all men the most cruel which him a prisoner in the heart of his own kingdom and him for the rest of his life of the delights he never ceased to lavish on others cf the after his fate was decided he never complained bat what lay in the secret soul is shown by the following paper during the summer he lived at by the advice of his physician and in the autumn wrote the following testament for mj brothers and o ye men who esteem or declare me unkind or what injustice you do me you know not the secret causes of that which so seems my heart and my mind were from childhood disposed to the tender feelings of good will even to perform great actions was i ever disposed bat think only that for six years this ill has been growing upon me made worse by unwise that from year to year i have been in the hope of growing better finally constrained to the survey of this as a permanent evil whose cure will require years or is perhaps impossible born with a fiery lively temperament even susceptible to the of society must i early myself lonely pass my life if i attempted in spite of my ill intercourse with others o how cruelly was i then by the doubly gloomy experience of my bad hearing and yet it was not possible for me to say to men speak louder scream for i am deaf i ah how would it be possible for me to make known the weakness of a sense which ought to be more perfect in me than in others a sense which i once possessed in the greatest perfection in a perfection certainly beyond most of my profession o i cannot do it therefore pardon if you see me draw back when i would willingly mingle with you my misfortune is a double woe that through it i must be misunderstood for me the refreshment of companionship the finer pleasures of conversation mutual can have no place as an exile i live if i approach a company a hot anguish falls upon me while i fear to be put in danger of exposing my situation so has it been this half year that i have passed in the country the advice of my friendly physician that i should spare my hearing suited well my present disposition although many times i have let myself be by the desire for society but what humiliation when some one stood near me and from afar heard the and i heard or heard the shepherd sing and i heard nothing such brought me near to despair little was wanting that i should myself put an end to my life only she art she held me back ah it seemed to me impossible to leave the world before i had brought to light all see of the great on which lay ia my mind and so i lengthened oat this ble life so truly miserable as that a change can throw me from the best state into the worst patience it is said i must now take for my guide i have so constant i hope shall my resolution be to endure till the inexorable shall be pleased to break the thread perhaps goes it better perhaps not i am prepared already in my twenty eighth year constrained to become a philosopher it is not easy for the artist harder than any other man o god thou down upon my soul thou that love to man and inclination to dwell there o men when you at some future time read this then think that you have done me injustice and the unhappy let him be comforted by finding one of his race who in defiance of all of nature has done all possible to him to be received in the rank of worthy artists and men you my brothers and so soon as i am dead if professor is yet living pray him in my name that he will describe my disease and add this writing | 37 |
to the account of it that at least as much as possible the world may be reconciled with me after my death at the same time i declare you two the of my little property if i may call it so divide it agree and help one another what you have done against me has been as you know long since thee brother i especially thank for thy lately shown attachment my wish is that you may have a better life from care than mine recommend to your children virtue that alone can make happy not gold i speak from experience for this it was that raised up myself from misery this and my art i thank that i did not end my life by my own hand farewell and love one another all friends i thank especially prince and professor i wish the instruments given me by prince l to be preserved with care by one of you yet let no strife arise between you on that account so soon as they are needed for some more useful purpose sell them joyful am i that even in the grave i may be of use to you thus with joy may i greet death yet comes it earlier than i can my artist powers it will notwithstanding my hard destiny come too early and i would wish it delayed however i would be satisfied that it freed me from a state of endless suffering come when thou wilt i go to meet thee farewell and forget me not wholly in death i have deserved that you should not for in my life i thought often of you and of making you happy be so th october he seems to have forgotten at the moment the name of his younger brother of the great th q l so take i then a sad farewell of thee tea the beloved hope which i brought to be cured at least to a certain point must now wholly leave me as the leaves fall in autumn are withered so has this withered for me almost as i came hither so go i forth even the high courage which inspired me oft in the fair summer days is vanished o providence let once again a clear day of joy shine for me so long already has the inward echo of true joy been unknown to me when when o god can i feel it again in the temple of nature and of man t never no that would be too cruel i the deep love shown in these words love such as only proud and strong natures know was not only destined to be wounded in its general relations with mankind through this calamity the woman he loved the inspiring muse of some of his to whom he writes is not our love a true heavenly palace also as firm as the fortress of heaven was unworthy in a world where millions of souls are and for want of an inexhaustible fountain of love and grandeur this which was indeed such an one could love in vain this eldest son this heir of nature in some secret hour writes at this period only love that alone could give thee a happier life o my god let me only find at last that which may strengthen me in virtue which to me is lawful a love which is permitted the prayer was unheard he was left lonely to with to conquer his pierced here in the very centre of his life exposed both by his misfortune and a nature which could neither anticipate nor contend with the designs of base men to the anguish of meeting ingratitude on every side abandoned to the of his wicked brothers walked in night as regards the world but within the heavenly light ever him more and more shall lesser beings that they do not receive their does in this short life with such an example before them how the scope of eternal justice must be who can that thinks of his was indeed the best consolation of life to him a god gave to tell what he suffered as also the deep joys of knowledge that spring from suffering as he to the divine of tu great can and up with known only to so forms so far more holy radiant and commanding than are known in regions of cheerful light can we wish him a happier life he has been with fire others only with water he has given all his life and won the holy and a fragment at least of the true cross the solemn command the mighty control of various forces which makes us seem to hear time flowing in the middle of the ni ht and all things rushing to the day of doom the searching through all the of life for the deepest thought and the winged of feeling when it is attained were not these wonders much aided by the calamity which took this great genius from the outward world aiid forced him to just as he attained command of his forces friendly affection indeed was not wanting to the great but who could be his equal friend it was impossible he might have found a love but could not a friend in the same century with himself but men were earnest to serve and women to him as well as others devoted many of the best years of life to him a beautiful trait of affection is mentioned of the a friend dear to who in the park which her palace erected a temple which she to him had two brothers the one seems to have been rather stupid and selfish than bad the character of his mind ia best shown by his saying to the great master you will never succeed as well as i have we have all probably in instances where the angel of the family the | 37 |
shines a gleam of almost lustre for she art she held him up i will not give various instances of failure in promises from the rich and noble from nor even some details of his domestic in which he a breadth of humor and stately savage sarcasm refreshing in their place but i will not give any of these nor any of his letters because the limits forbid to give them all and they require light from one another in such an account as the present a mere sketch is all that can be attempted a few passages will speak for themselves neglected to lend his aid to the artist for whom he had expressed such admiration at a time when he might have done so without any inconvenience perhaps s letter quoted no v of the dial essay on may an explanation of this omitted to answer bee s affectionate and letter though he complied with the request it contained but the good was faithful to her professions and of essential use to by interesting her family in the conduct of his affairs he could not for any purpose accommodate himself to courts or recognise their claims to homage two or orders given him for works which might have secured him the regard of the imperial family he could not obey whenever he attempted to compose them he found that the of the great can degree of put upon him by the emperor s taste him too much the one he did compose for such a purpose the speaks of as one of the least excellent of his works he could not bear to give lessons to the both because he detested giving regular lessons at all and because he could not accommodate himself io the ceremonies of a court indeed it is evident enough from a letter of the s quoted by as showing most regard how unfit it was for the lion king to dance in gilded chains amid these individuals in that class he admired and could be just to for his was very unlike that fierce vulgar which that the rich and great must be bad his was only of the rights of man he could see merit if seated on a throne as clearly as if at a s stall the to whom t his heroic muse was the object of his admiration also the of russia too he admired whoever wished to learn of him was obliged to follow his steps everywhere for to teach or say anything at an appointed time was to him impossible also he would stop immediately if he found his companion not in the matter to keep step with him he could not he must always be drawn out amid all the miseries of his house keeping or other dis and here did space permit i should like to quote his humorous notice of his four bad days when he waa almost starved he had recourse to his art he would be fretted a little while then snatch up the and write im as he was wont to call them and forget the plague when quite out of health and spirits he restored himself by the composition of a grand mass this great solemn mass as he calls it in his letter was offered to the courts of europe for fifty the in a letter attempted to get it for an order and ribbon merely wrote in i ly fifty he indeed was as of gold and orders as was indifferent to them although thus haughty so much so that he would never of the great receive a visit from because though he admitted that the italian had genius he thought he had not cultivated it with that devout severity proper to the artist and was consequently the public taste he was not only generous in his joy at any exhibition of the true spirit from others but tenderly grateful for intelligent sympathy with himself as is shown in the following beautiful s brought him on her return from german words by written for his first mass he opened the paper as we were seated together at the table when he came to the tears streamed from his eyes and he was obliged to stop so deeply was he moved by the beautiful words he cried so yes this was what i felt when i wrote it it was the first and last time i ever saw him in tears they were such tears as might have been shed on the of what he loved so much s to joy be welcome millions this embrace for the whole world happy the man who gave the bliss to of feeling his thought not only recognised but understood years of censure and scarcely less homage are by the one true from the heart of a fellow man then the genius is at home on earth when another soul knows not only what he writes but what he felt when he wrote it the music is not the nor the hand which plays upon it but when the two meet that arises which is neither but gives each its place a pleasure almost as deep was given him on this occasion had conquered the german world also the public had forgotten a band of friends in whose hearts the care for his glory and for the high severe culture of art was still living wrote him a noble letter in which they entreated him to give to the public one of his late works and by such a musical festival at once these superficial the spirit of this letter is thoughtful tender and shows so clearly the german feeling as to the worship of the beautiful that it would have been well to it but that it is too long it should be a of pride and happiness to those who signed their names to it knew when it was to | 37 |
of th great be sent and after had had time to read it he went to him i found with the memorial in his hand with an air of unwonted serenity he reached it to me placing himself at the window to gaze at the clouds drawing past his deep emotion could not escape my eye after i had read the paper i laid it aside and waited in silence for him to begin the conversation after a long pause during which his looks constantly followed the clouds he turned round and said in an elevated tone that betrayed his deep emotion s ist s it is indeed right fair it i assented by a motion of the head he then said let as go into the free air when we were out he spoke only in but the spark of desire to with their request visibly in him this musical festival at last took place after many difficulties caused by s obstinacy in arranging all the circumstances in his own way he could never be brought to make allowance anywhere for ignorance or so it must be or no how he could never be induced to alter his music on account of the of the the best too on that occasion anywhere to be had for going through certain parts so that they were at last obliged to alter parts in their own fashion which was always a great injury to the final effect of his works they were at this time in their efforts to please him though told him he was a very tyrant to the singing organs this festival afforded him a complete triumph the audience applauded and applauded till at one time when the rose to their height perceiving that did not hear as his face was turned from the house called his attention the audience then as for the first time the extent of his misfortune melted into tears then all united in a still more expression of homage for once at least the man excited the tenderness the artist the enthusiasm he deserved his country again forgot one who never could nor would call attention to himself she forgot in the day him for whom she in the age an immortal reverence and the london society had the honor of to the necessities of his last illness the generous of the great eagerness with which they sent all that his friendly attendants asked and offered more whenever called for was most grateful to s heart which had in those last days been frozen by such ingratitude it roused his sinking life to one last leap of flame his latest days were passed in revolving a great work which he wished to compose for the society and which those about him thought would if finished have surpassed all he had done before no doubt if his situation had been known in his country would have claimed a similar feeling from him for she was not to him a step dame and though in his last days taken up with wonders would not had his name been spoken have failed to listen and to answer yet a few more interesting passages he rose before daybreak both in winter and summer and worked till two or three o clock rarely after he would never correct to him the hardest task as like all great he was in the use of the file in the evening often in the midst of his work he would run out into the free air for half an hour or more and return laden with new thoughts when he felt this impulse he paid no regard to the weather and were his favorite authors especially he was fond of reading s republic he read the greek and roman much but in for his education out of his art was limited he also went almost daily to coffee houses where he read the newspapers going in and out by the back door if he found he excited observation he changed his haunt he tore without ceremony a composition submitted to him by the great which he thought bad a similar fate for one of his which was to pass under his criticism wrote at the bottom of the last page with the help of god wrote beneath man help obviously a new edition of and the he was the most open of men and told all he thought unless the subject were art and artists on these subjects he was often inaccessible and put off the with wit or satire on two subjects he would never talk thorough bass and religion he said they were both things complete within themselves in about which men should dispute no farther j lives the to the of his genius let not a man or a nation if yet in an stage seek to know them they require a certain degree of in the inner man to be understood from the depth of the mind arisen she is only to the depth of the mind either useful or intelligible i cannot conclude more forcibly than by quoting s favorite it expresses what his life was and what the life must be of those who would become worthy to do him honor the are not yet erected which can say to talent and industry thus far and no farther is the only one of these five artists whose life can be called unfortunate they all found early the means to their powers and a theatre on which to display them but was through a great part of his public career deprived of the satisfaction of guiding or enjoying the representation of his thoughts he was like a painter wh could never see his pictures after they are finished probably if he could himself have directed the he would have been more in making with an eye to says that no one can write a successful | 37 |
drama without familiarity with the stage so as to know what can be expressed what must be merely indicated but in s situation there was not this reaction so that he clung more to the details of his work than great do who live in more immediate contact with the outward world such an one will indeed always answer like to an ignorant criticism there are just as many notes as there should be but a habit of intercourse with the minds of men gives an instinctive tact as to meeting them and about to build st peter s takes into consideration not only his own idea of a cathedral but means time space and prospects but the misfortune which the outward energies deepened the thought of he travelled inward downward till downward was shown to be the same as upward for the centre was passed like all princes he made many and his powerful lion nature was that most capable of suffering from the amazement of witnessing but the love the vol n no ii i hm th great pride ith which survive pangs are those which our stair to heaven was not only a poet but a poet for having drunk to its the cup ci bitterness the of inward remained he could love deceived in other men he yet knew himself too well to despise human nature dying from ingratitude he could still be grateful thinks his genius would have been far more productive if he had had a tolerably happy home if instead of the cold discomfort that surrounded him he had been blessed like with a gentle wife who would have made him a in her love it is indeed affecting to find the vehement nature even in his thirty first year writing thus at my age one for an equality a harmony of outward existence an to know that he never attained it but the lofty of the happiness which his life could not attain shone forth not the less powerfully from his genius the love of his choice was not firm as the fortress of heaven but his heart remain ed the gate to that fortress during all his later years he complained nor did ever hear him to past sorrows or the lost objects of affection perhaps we are best contented that earth should not have offered him a home where is the woman who would have with what we wish from his love where is the lot in which he could have with all that grandeur of aspect in which he now appears to us where the there may be a home for thee we will not shrink from the dark clouds which became to overflowing light of and y we will not even by a wish seek to the through which a divine thought so clearly were there no oe there would be no under no other circumstances could have to his fellows in the way he himself the unhappy man let him be comforted by finding one of hia race who in defiance of all of nature has done all possible to him to be received in the rank of artists and men in three respects these artists true artists resemble one another clear decision the faculty speaks light and shade clear in those devoted to the worship of beauty they are not subject to mental conflict they ask not counsel of experience they take what they want as simply as the bird goes in search of its proper food so soon as its wings are grown like nature they love the work for its own sake the philosopher is ever seeking the thought through the i but the artist is happy at the of the thought in his work he does not reason about religion or thorough bass his answer is si i thought it best so from each achievement grows up a still higher ideal and when his is finished it is nothing to the artist who has made of it the step by which he ascended but while he was engaged in it it was all to him and filled his soul with a parental joy they do not but affirm they have no need to deny aught much less one another all excellence to them was genial only left room for new power to display itself an everlasting yes breathes firom the life from the work of the artist nature echoes it and leaves to society the work of saying no if it will but it will not except for the moment it itself for the moment and turns away from genius but soon stumbling groping and lonely cries aloud for its nurse the age cries now and what an answer is by such stars as these at which we have been gazing we will their names on the and wear them as a of hope r u ht and flashes on the waves bat there is none in my soul i have only a part and oh i long for the whole give give ye mighty gods why do ye thus hold back why torture thus my soul on the world s rack i did not seek for life why did ye place me here so mean so small a thin e en to myself i appear there lies the wide infinite but it is to me and i must and seek through all eternity and i and i i still must cry and i oh how scorn this i f calm they are calm the gods above but i am ever seeking that which ever still doth fly s friendship od friendship friend and let such pure hate still our love that we may be each other a conscience and have our sympathy mainly from thence well one another treat like and all the faith we have in virtue and in bestow on either and suspicion leave to | 37 |
gods below two solitary stars systems far between us roll but by our conscious light we are determined to one pole what need confound the sphere god can afford to wait for him no hour s too late that our duty s end or to another doth beginning lend love will no use more than the tints of flowers only the independent guest its its no speech though kind has it but kinder silence unto its mates by night by day what the tongue to tongue what ear of ear by the of fate from year to year does it communicate the gulf of feeling no trivial bridge of words or arch of span can leap the moat that the sincere man painting and fate fl no show of and can keep the out or his secret mine who entered with the that drew the line no at the gate can let the friendly in but like the sun o er all he will the castle win and shine along the wall there s nothing in the world i know that can escape from love for eveiy depth it goes below and every height above it waits as waits the sky until the clouds go by yet shines serenely on with an eternal day alike when they are gone and when they stay is love foes may be bought or from their hostile intent but he goes who is on kindness bent b d t painting and the sinful painter goddess warm because she still is naked being the will not so beauty which limbs and flesh enough invest fate that you are fair or wise is vain or strong or rich or generous you must have also the strain that sheds beauty on the rose there is a melody bom oi melody which the world into a sea toil could r it art its height could it came never out of wit but a music bom well may jove and thy beauty if it lack the fire which drives me mad with sweet what boots it what the soldier mail unless he conquer and prevail what all the goods thy pride which lift if thou pine for another s alas that one is bom in victim of perpetual slight when on bis face thy heart brother ways none shall ask thee what thou or care an apple for what thou or listen when thou or remember where thou or how thy supper is and another is bom to make the sun forgotten surely he carries a under his tongue broad are his shoulders and strong and his eye is scornful threatening and young i hold it of little matter whether your be of pore water a rose diamond or a white but whether it me with light i care not how you are in the or in the best nor whether your name is base or brave nor for the fashion of your behavior ut whether vou charm me bid my bread feed and my fire warm me and up nature in your favor one thing is forever good that one thing is success dear to the and to all the heavenly brood who at home nor looks abroad he carries the he masters the sword m ii s stream i and nothing or so the mu ll whether is better the or the come to me the i fun the of honor my garden is the rocky and ray the snow and drifting feed my stock in summer s glow ancient or curious who aught of us old as jove old as love who of me tells the only the mountains old only the waters cold only moon and star my are ere the first fowl sung my boughs among ere adam ere adam lived ere the duck ere the bees ere the lion roared ere the eagle light and beat land and sea unto the oldest tree glad in the sweet and secret aid which matter unto matter paid the water flowed the breezes the tree confined the sand the gave me to the sight the tree adorned light and again o er the grave of men we shall talk to each other again of the old age behind of the time out of mind which shall come again whether is better the gift or the come to me the f i am the of honor he is great who can live by me the rough and bearded is better than the lord god fills the and sin piles tiie loaded board the lord is the peasant that was the peasant the lord that shall be the lord is hay the peasant one dry and one the living tree with my boughs shall flourish want and cold our roots shall who by the ragged pine a heroic line who in the palace hall fast and all he goes to my haunts with his chariot and his care my twilight realm e and finds his prison there what the town and the tower only what the that subdued the fields the wild eyed boy who in the woods his hymn to hills and floods whom the city s made not pale or fat or lean whom the rain and the wind whom the dawn and the in whose cheek the rose leaf in whose feet the lion iron arms and iron mould that know not fear fatigue or cold i my to his boat b to his s throat and i will swim the ancient sea to float my child to victory and grant to with the pine dominion o er the palm and vine westward i the forest gates the train along the railroad it leaves the land behind like ages past the flows to it in river i have made a i teach saxon art who leaves the leaves his friend his strength his end | 37 |
cut a bough from my parent stem and dip it in thy a little while each will swell and rise with grace but when it seeks the of the forest dies in solitude and the wood choosing light wave rock and bird before the money loving herd into that shall pass from these companions power and grace clean shall he be without within from the old sin love shall he bat not the all fair the all embracing fat all ill in the light of his triumphant piercing sight not vain sour nor frivolous not mad nor grave contented though retired and of all other men desired on him the light of star and moon shall fall with purer radiance down all of the sky shed their virtue through his eye him nature for defence his formidable innocence the mounting sap the the sea all all stones his be he shall never be old nor his fate shall be foretold he shall see the year without wailing without fear he shall be happy in his love like to like shall joyful prove he shall be happy whilst he muse bom a daughter of the muse but if with gold she bind her hair and deck her breast with diamond take off thine eyes thy heart forbear though thou lie alone on the ground the robe of silk in which she shines it was woven of many sins and the which she sheds in the wearing of the same shall be grief on grief shame on shame heed the old my song m my when the wind the prophetic wind the shadows shake on the rock behind vol ii no ii f and tho of the to the lay tbe wood god if thou know the mystic song when the sphere young aloft abroad the o man thou half it tells o wise man hear st thou the least part t is the chronicle of art to the open ear it sings the early of of tendency through endless of star dust and star of rounded worlds of space and time of the old flood s of matter force and form of poles and powers cold wet and the rushing all that is things that be to things that seem and solid nature to a dream o listen to the the ever old the ever young and far within those pauses the chorus of the ancient causes delights the dreadful destiny to fling his voice into the tree and shock thy weak ear with a note breathed from the everlasting throat in music he the whence the fair flock of nature sprang o mortal thy ears are stones these echoes are laden with tones which only the pure can hear thou not catch what they of fate and will of want and right of man to come of human of death and fortune growth and strife once again the sung speak not thy speech ray boughs among put off thy years wash in the breeze my hours are peaceful centuries talk no more with feeble no more the fool of space ana time come with mine a nobler rhyme only thy americans can read thy line can meet thy glance but the that i understands the universe the least my boughs which tossed brings again the to every soul it clear in a voice of solemn cheer u and they reply forever my branches speak italian english mountain speech to ocean to to fin and lap and to each his bosom secret say come learn with me the fatal song which the world in strong every bosom dances kindled with courageous fancies come lift thine eyes to lofty of things with things of with times of sun and shade of sound and echo man and maid the land reflected in the flood body with shadow still pursued for nature beats in perfect tune and rounds with rhyme her eveiy whether she work in land or sea or hide her thou not wave thy staff in air or dip thy in the lake but it the bow of beauty there and the in the oar the wood is wiser far than thou the wood and wave each other know not but to each thought and thing allied is perfect nature every part rooted in the heart but thou poor child whence thou whence o thou orphan and is thy land thy realm who thee deceived and left thee of thy faith who hath and torn the from thy brow and sunk the immortal eye so low thy cheek too white thy form too slender thy gait too slow thy habits tender for royal man they thee confess an exile from the wilderness the hills where health health and the wise soul disease hark in thy ear i will tell the by which thy hurt thou may st divine when thou shalt climb the mountain or see the wide shore from thy to thee the shall express only and there is no man of nature s worth in the circle of the earth and to thine eye the vast skies fail dire and on and fools on thieves on and on and thou shalt say to the most high all this and fate and practice and invention strong art and this radiant pomp of sun and star that were and worlds that are behold were in vain and in vain it cannot be i will look surely now will the curtain rise and earth s fit tenant me surprise but the curtain doth not rise and nature has wholly into failure into alas thine is the blessed nature so to see come lay thee in my shade and heal the hurts which sin made i will teach the bright older than time things visions sublime i see thee in the crowd alone i will be thy companion let thy friends be as the dead | 37 |
in doom and to them a final tomb let the shade that nightly falls still their and the bell of and of bee their melodious memory behind thee leave thy thy churches and thy and leave wit behind for thee the mind that flows in streams that breathes in wind leave all thy lore apart god hid the whole world in thy heart love the sage tlie child it crowns and gives them all who all the rain comes when the wind calls the knows the way to the sea without a pilot it runs and falls blessing all lands with its charity the sea and to find its up to the cloud and wind the shadow sits close to the flying ball the date fails not on the tall and thou go bum thy pages shall the the oft thread the woods in vain to find what bird had the strain seek not and the little flies gaily forth and sings in sight once more i will tell thee the lore older am i than thy numbers change i may but i pass not hitherto all things fast abide and in the tempest ride time to hurry all to and all to bury all the forms are fugitive but the survive ever fresh the broad creation a divine from the heart of god proceeds a single will a million deeds once slept the world an egg of stone and pulse and sound and light was none and god said throb and there was motion and the vast mass became vast ocean onward and on tlie eternal pan who the world s incessant plan never in one shape but forever doth escape like wave or flame into new forms of and air of plants and worms i that to day am a pine yesterday was a bundle of grass he is free and pouring of his power the wine to every age to every race unto every race and age he the unto each and unto all maker and original the world is the ring of his and the play of his miracles as he to all to drink thus or thus they are and think he little or much to make them several or such with one drop sheds form and feature with the second a special nature the third adds heat s indulgent spark the fourth gives light which eats the dark in the fifth drop himself he and conscious law is kin of kings him the eternal child to play his sweet will glad and wild e idea ef society as the bee the garden from world to world the head as the sheep ge feeding in the waste from form to form he haste and this vault which immense with light is the inn where he for a night what such traveller if the which bloom and fade like meadow flowers a bunch fragrant lilies be or the stars of eternity alike to him the better the worse the glowing angel the outcast thou him by centuries and lo he passes like the breeze thou seek st in globe and he hides in pure thou in fountains and in fires he is the essence that he is the of the star he is the sparkle of the he is the heart of every creature he is the of each feature and his mind is sky than all it holds more deep more high a op christ s idea op society the common mode of studying the idea of christ with respect to society has uniformly been to seek its in history it seems not to have been doubted that what his immediate followers thought and must necessarily have done full justice to his views and this has led to the most laborious of the history of the times a history peculiarly difficult to investigate from many causes there is only here and there an individual even of the present day who has seen that supposing we understood exactly the church it is after all below the mark at which aimed and really of little consequence to us as far as oar present modes of action are concerned there is certainly no reasonable doubt that the organized churches for the express purpose of the history and words of with how or j s idea i how little ultimate as to his aim of establishing the kingdom of heaven on earth the past history and ent condition of may show what the did was however doubtless the wisest thing they could do at the time and we have received its benefits the ds and life of are to the hearing of the ear an soul has been in the hearts and brought down to succeeding generations on the mighty affections of those on whom he necessarily made so prodigious a personal impression and this development of an individual into the divine life is available or the encouragement and culture of all men there has never yet been a criticism of those early reminiscences well called the and the that accompany them and the fine dramatic poem that the new testament which has done any justice to them as the of human nature through the medium of literature when we consider tlie reverence with which they are held sacred loaded as they have been with the authority which and and have endeavored to give them it is only wonderful that here and there a spirit is found so free and as to accept them simply as we accept the history of our native land the poetry of our native tongue the sweetness and magnificence of nature itself yet such only can appreciate them but while we acknowledge the natural growth the good design and the noble effects of the church and wish we had it in place of our own more formal ones we should not do so small justice to the divine soul | 37 |
of of as to admit that it was a main purpose of his to found it or that when it was founded it realized his idea of human society indeed we probably do injustice to the themselves in supposing that they considered their churches anything more than their language that they looked forward to a time when the parts of the earth should be inherited by their beloved master and beyond this when even the name which is still above every name should be lost ia the glory the father who is to be all in all some persons indeed refer all this sort of language to another world but this is done both idea of society and the speak of life as the same in both worlds for themselves they could not but speak principally of another world but they imply no more than th t death is an accident which would not prevent bat hasten to themselves and others the enjoyment of that divine life which they were laboring to make possible to all men in time as well as in eternity not in the action of the followers of therefore are we to seek the idea of respecting society not even of those followers so generally admitted to have been red by him to a degree man is never known to have inspired others like every great soul and more than any other us to our own souls which are to be forever searched with more and more of prayer to find the echo the witness the inward sanction of his great in fine the truth as it is in is not to be understood by studying history even in the letters of the immediate to their churches but by following his method of life and thought this method was to go to god first hand to live faithful to the simplest principle of love and to and gently whatsoever in consequence of uttering what he believed to be the truth immediate consequences even though they were so serious as the of a nation against an individual and his being he set entirely aside he did not even argue against a consideration of them he ignored them wholly and trusted to living out without heat but principles with simple earnestness we have been so robbed of this beautiful soul and the life it led in the flesh by the conventional reverence in which it has been held and which has made it weigh down our souls as a fruitless laid upon them instead of its being planted in our heart as a seed to and and flower and bear fruit and go to seed to again in new forms that when we catch the subject in a natural point of view it seems to abandon it without doing fuller justice to it but at present the object is not to the beauty of christ s soul and conversation in the world but to speak of his idea of human society which must be sought as he sought it in the soul itself whose light he has encouraged us to seek by showing how it brought him to the secret of god j idea of society and what is meant when we say we will seek the idea of human society in the soul itself we can mean nothing else than this what the soul from the social to cherish and assist its perfection is to be the light of all our seeing upon the subject the problem of the present age is human society not as a of abstract science but as a practical matter and universal interest an actual reconciliation of outward with the life of the individual souls who associate and by virtue of whose immortality each of them all arrangements hitherto two errors have prevailed either singly or in combination one has led men to neglect social organization wholly or regard it as indifferent and to treat of an isolated cultivation of the soul as if it could be independent of all influence a noble is at the foundation of this error which has prevailed among the spiritual and devout on the other hand minds of a more turn combined with social feelings and sensibility to the temptations of political power have been lost in organization by making it a supreme object and so have overlooked the individual souls in each of which is the depth of eternity a combination of these errors has in some instances produced societies of which the most available instance is the roman catholic church which was not a reconciliation of these opposite errors but a compromise between them retaining the two extremes in their extremity with all the evils arising out of the fact that men as worldly as the tenth and men as as de have had full play therein for all their vices and this method of the roman catholic church which is shortly though roughly perhaps as that which refused to enter upon when satan offered to him the of the earth and the glory thereof if he would fall down and worship him legitimate ends by means this method has prevailed over the whole world as well as catholic time has been deliberately given over to the devil in a sort of understanding that thus might eternity be secured for god and by means of this separation and of the and infinite in the soul an absurdity and lie have vol ii no ii idea of society been in society and have entered into the of man s being but falsehood is the soul begins to be conscious to itself and to reject this lie from its own depths and the kingdom of heaven as it lay in the clear spirit of of is rising again upon vision nay this kingdom begins to be seen not only in religious in moral vision but in the light of common sense and the | 37 |
us believe he meant to say the absolute spirit let us gladly admit it when said he referred to a divine being is doubtless one transparent form of the infinite goodness but he is only one and there can be but one of a form in an infinite creation here is the common mistake christ is made the model of form and not as a spirit purely because other men could not realize his form they have been supposed to be essentially different natures while another would not have been natural in any event with god does not require any particular form and might have been one with god no less than was bat they idea of society still have been painters and and not nor moral the same method of life which made what he was would make other soul different from him in outward action and place we do infinite injustice to this noble being when we that he intended to cut men to a pattern when we say that any special mode of activity makes a member of his church a member of the church of christ is the most individual of men he works miracles at no man s and no woman s bidding he ever says words not expected he does deeds no man can his are which the future only can make significant his intimacy with the father him even among his nearest friends ever and anon like the lark he even from the sight of his beloved mates on earth into a privacy of glorious l ht where indeed his music not the less the bosom of the plain but if the world has always been right in seeing that lived a divine life on the earth the question is what was that life what was the principle and method of it how did he live did he model himself on any form did he study tradition as something above self did he ask for any day s man between himself and god and did he or did he not teach that we should live as he did did he or did he not imply that that depth of soul to which he applied the word j was an universal inheritance when he said inasmuch as ye have not done it unto the least of these little ones ye have not done it unto me if this will not what can teach that the divine element to be in himself exists also to be in all other men but if there is a divine principle in man it has a right and it is its duty to itself from itself justice requires that it should have liberty to do so of men a social organization which does not admit of this which does not favor and cherish and act with main reference to it is inadequate false devilish to call a society which is opposite in principle to christ s idea is an insult to the beautiful soul of to crush the life he led wherever it appears in other men is taking the name of in vain yet does any man say his soul is his own and standing by side com s christ s idea of society with god first hand calling the greatest names on earth brethren of he is as by the very society which laughs to scorn which would as mad if not as whoever to live himself or to society on the christian principles of not less fiercely than the necessity a of own perfection is for is also the necessity a of a society of competition for whose highest possible excellence may be the balance of material interests while the divine life is to be for men as they rise but a hope a dream a vision to be realized beyond the grave there are men and women however who have dared to say to one another why not have our daily life organized on christ s own idea why not begin to move the mountain of custom and perhaps method of thought and life is the is christianity for each man to think and live on this method is perhaps the second coming of christ to do unto the little ones as we would do unto him would be perhaps the reign of the saints the kingdom of heaven we have hitherto heard of christ by the hearing of the ear now let us see him let us be him and see what will come of that let us communicate with each other and live such a resolution has often been made under the light of the christian idea but the light has shone amidst darkness and the darkness comprehended it not religious have ever but partially entered into the idea of christ they have all been churches ex society in some degree they have been tied up and by and yet the temporary success of the the the even the have cleared away difficulties and solved problems of social science it has been made plain that the material goods of life the life that now is are not to be sacrificed as by the in doing fuller justice to the social principle it has been proved that with the same degree of we would especially refer the reader to the of the an interesting account of them may be found in s travels published in and their history since proves the triumphant superiority of community to divided idea of labor there is no way to compare with that of working in a community by some sufficient idea to the will of the a greater quantity of wealth is procured with fewer hours of toil and without any degradation of any all these have what the practical dr said that if every one worked bodily three hours daily there would be no necessity of any one s working | 37 |
in his yet we would speak with no scorn of a work which seems to have sprung from a true benevolence and has in it much valuable thought as a criticism on our society it is it is in his chapters on the education and uses of children that we especially feel his to his work but he harsh criticism by throwing out what he s as a after something better as such it has worth certainly vol ii no ii idea of the of a plan of a community has also been published in a religious paper called the practical christian at by which is worthy of more attention with a single exception the articles of this please us it is a business paper of great ability and the relations of private and common property are admirably adjusted the moral of this paper which follows it shows a deep insight into the christian idea and no man can read it without feeling strongly called upon to come out from the world but the objection to this plan is that as a member is made dependent on the taking of the the pledge not to vote c the interpretation of this in their is very liberal and gentle it is true and as they there speak of their test rather as a pledge of to one another and as a means of mutual understanding than as an of their own moral will it is difficult for one who is a man an a and who does not at any rate vote to find fault but after all is said for it that can be they must admit that this test makes their community a church only and not the church of christ s idea world embracing this can be founded on nothing short of faith in the universal man as he comes out of the hands of the creator with no law over his liberty but the eternal ideas that lie at the foundation of his being are you a man this is the only question that is to be asked of a member of human society and the laws of that society should be an elastic medium of these ideas providing for their everlasting into new forms of influence so that the man of time should be the growth of eternity and to form such a society as this is a great problem whose perfect solution will take all the ages of time but let the spirit of god move freely over the great deep of social existence and a light will come at his word and after that long evening in which we are living the morning of the first day shall dawn on a christian society the final cause of human society is the of the individual man into every form of perfection without let or according to the inward nature of each in idea of society strict correspondence to this the ground idea of the little which are the of the kingdom to come must be education when we consider that each of men is thrown helpless and ignorant even of the light within itself into the arms of a full grown generation which has a power to do it harm all but unlimited we acknowledge that no object it can propose to itself is to be with that of its children truly yet passion has its ideal having its temple in society while the schools and in all struggle for existence how much more than the banks the east india companies and other institutions for the of a doubtful external good how much more than even the gambling houses and other temples of acknowledged vice the difficulty on this subject lies very deep in the present constitution of things as long as education is made the object of an institution in society rather than is the idea of society itself it must be apart from life it is really too general an interest to suffer being a particular one moral and religious education is the indispensable condition and foundation of a true development but an apparatus for this of a mechanical character in any degree ib in the nature of things an absurdity morals and religion are not something induced upon the human being but an opening out of the inner life what is now called moral and religious education in the best institutions is only a part of the intellectual exercises as likely to act against as for the end those laws which should be lived before they are apprehended are introduced to the mind in the form of and assented to by the reason in direct opposition to the life which the constitution of society makes irresistible hence is perpetually that internal of the human being which was described of old in the fable of man s eating of the tree of knowledge to the blinding of his eyes to the tree of life the whole apparatus of education being the tempting serpent moral and religious life should be the atmosphere in which the human being it being freely lived in the community in which the child is born thus only may he be permitted to freely act out what is within him and have no temptations but necessary ones and the intellectual apprehension follow poems on rather than his virtue this is not to take the will but to it if there were no wrong action in the world organized in institutions children be allowed a little more moral than is now convenient for others or safe for themselves as the case now is our children receive as an inheritance the punish ment and anguish due to the crimes that have gone before them and the paradise of youth is of its fair pro portions cruelly and and to the of the future man in the true society then education is the idea the highest work of man is to call | 37 |
of the good that waits their call than the announcement of the birth of a noble child draws a multitude to gaze on its early beauty we tell our friends when we have read a good book that they may read it too and tell our reasons for liking it as well as we can that they may believe us that might be done in a simple form without any attempt at what if it be indeed a poem is sacred or its thoughts into one s own prose the lower kind of criticism which measures and to limit the scope of an author is when honest merely the struggle for self recovery a great mind has us taken away our breath our self esteem by its easy mastery we strive to defy it to get out of its range that we may see it clearly and settle its relations with ourselves we say you would make me believe that you represent the universe you are imperial you conquer you bind me what good to me is your empire if i am a slave at your feet better to me is a narrow life of my own than passive reception of your vast life you may have all but you must not be all to me let me find your limits let me draw a line from you to the centre you indicate it but are not it i must be freed from you if i would know you bat as the cause of this is the weakness of individual character it bears no fruit of permanent value it is only as the means of progress the only noble is that of criticism this is the und echo of a fine and full tone it serves to show the poet that his music has its that he is not alone in an exhausted the last i admit as a good way and a good reason now which of the three is to fill that about the first certainly it is very to get a copy of the work and i wish curiosity enough might be excited to cause its the last too is in my heart for and there is no room they follow the conscious triumph of genius where the stands proudly conscious of sending forth the un dart this reaction may follow our involuntary burst of homage but where as in this the poet pale possessed by the muse through tangled of invention awed and filled half unwillingly divine the work is not triumphant artist work it does not us in the pride of the faculty it is a simple growth and no more and in no other wise likely to alternate attraction and than the tall forest or the heaving wave in a hasty perusal of the book it did not seem to me so great why do you think it so great i shall answer you from its pages who mistake great thoughts they seize upon the mind arrest and search and shake it bow the tall soul as by wind rush over it like rivers over which in the current turn us cold and pale and leaving in the brain a rocking and a ringing glorious but momentary madness might it last and close the soul with heaven as a seal that passage has indeed a greatness yet not with you say so because you see the thought out of its natural relations vol ii no ii fe us get i should not say if i read a passage from or milton out of its natural relations i admit it this ia no full and work of maturity each line of which is a sounding line into the depths of a great life you must know the atmosphere the circumstances you must look at it as a whole to ap parts for much of its poetry is universal and it is the work of a boy but a boy why did he write and on the only great theme too of the soul s and therefore why not like the great let bis great task glitter before him like a star till he had grown tall enough to draw it down and wear it on his brow such haste is no mark of greatness it b most of all unworthy in our age where and the soil it is the work of genius now to haste by calm patient steady now a man who has anything to say will be slower than ever te speak these many colored coats of glittering youth only get the sold into the hands of the i must read you thereupon a passage left in my by the diamond pen of one who on his own text who his riches into to deck coat withal the wealth that he can owe must be full small little he what joy in contemplation of the general may not know his own peculiar profit and possession that his own hand for his own use did fashion plants that beneath his hand and eye did grow t is such alone can give the others show all your censure would be just if in this case the act of publication had its usual significance that is that the poet he has now built a worthy ment of his life here nothing of the kind is implied this book was indeed written with a pen printed and given to the world in the usual way but it ia as simply and the expression of an era in the life a mood in the mind as if like the holy books of the jews it were recorded in the hour of feeling to be kept in the ark secure from profane eyes and only to be read to on days of solemn know no book in our time so to nature do not consider it as i a book as a work of | 37 |
the student introduced in and himself when first and last we met we talked on studies poetry only i is mine and the only thing i think or read of bat poetry is not confined to books for the spirit which thou is in thee and about thee yea it hath god s eveiy truly it was for this i sought to know thy thoughts and hear the ess lay out for one who to win a name among the nations tu first of all care not about the name but bind body and to nature lo the great march of stars from earth to earth heaven the earth speaks inwardly lot no man know thy business save same friend a man of mind above the run of men for it is with all men and all things the bard must have a kind heart and natural chivalry to aid the weak he must believe the best of love all below and worship all above all animals are living the dashing dog and stepping eat hawk bull and all that mean more to the true eye than their shapes show for all were made in love and made to be beloved thus must he think as to earth s lower life who seeks to win the world to thought and love as doth the bard whose is all to everything i love to hear of such could we but think with the intensity we love one might do great he goes oo to describe himself as if telling the of a friend i mean not to screen bat to describe this friend of mine where and when did he study did he mix much with the world or was he a he had no times of study and no place all places and all times to him were one his soul was like the wind harp which he loved and sounded only when the spirit blew sometime in and follies for he went life like all things and his thoughts then rose like in the bright wine brighter still sometimes in dreams and then the shining words would wake him in the dark before his face ail things talked thoughts to him the sea went mad to show us and the sim s his him at the t rs would the moon sigh here he the world s one tongue in earth and heaven there is but one it is the word of truth to him the eye let oat its hidden meaning and young and old made their hearts to and ds io ag none on who said and all all things were wood hill field sea city and crowds and streets and man where er he was and the blue eye of god which is above us brook bounded pine where spirits it and haunted the rustic by where cold wet ghosts sit ringing old leaf and red load and the blood colored tears which trees weep o er church yard graves like the dark green rings where sit and sup crushing e violet dew in the cup where by his new made bride ttie bridegroom the white moon on their longing lips the large o er loaded wealthy q home through leafy lanes leaving on all low branches as they for the birds ears of the harvest home he d w his light from that he was amidst as doth a from air which hath itself of light although it show not his was but the power to light what might be lit he met a muse in every lonely maid and learned a song from every lip he loved but his heart most southern eyes their sweets into him all day long for fortune called him southward towards the sun we do not make our thoughts they grow in us like grain in wood the growth is of the skies which are of nature nature is of god the world is full of glorious the poet s power is to sort these out and to make music from the common strings with which the world is strung to make uie dumb utter heavenly harmony and draw life clear and sweet and harmless as spring water its way through flowers without faith strong as a state s in its own might in god no bard can be all things are signs of other and of nature it is at night we see heaven and a darkness thick with sons the thoughts we think th in k d as in heaven and aa of light will when we approach them sometime free flesh so too our will become to things immortal and as space is but a property of god wherein is laid all matter other attributes may be the infinite homes of mind and j love mirth woe pleasure was in his theme and the great good which beauty does the soul and the god made necessity of things and like that noble m tale who changed his s hue at each fresh charge by virtue of his lad v love s strange ring so that none knew him save his private page and she who cried god save him every time he with the brave till he all so he applied him to all that came loving the most to breast the rapid deep where others had been and where danger might not fill the place of fame and mid the magic circle of these sounds his out spell bound himself he stood like a storm it is no task for to shine he knew himself a bard ordained more than inspired of god making himself like an electric rod a for lightning feelings and his words felt like the thin which fall in thunder which the mind when m a dark hot state doth make ball like he to | 37 |
spirits with a spirit tongue who came compelled by word of and them round him from the ends of heaven for as be all he was born of beauty and with a natural fitness to draw down all tones and shades of beauty to his soul even as the rainbow tinted shell which lies miles deep at bottom of the sea hath all colors of skies and flowers and gems and and all by nature which doth like loveliness in seeming our life is like the s charmed ring death s heads and things fill up the ground but spirits wing about and wait on us while yet the hour of enchantment is and while we keep in we are safe and can force them to do our bidding and he raised the rebel in himself and in his mind walked with him through the world he wrote of this h wrote ft what said of it oh was said more than understood one said that he was mad another wise another wisely mad the book is there judge thou among them well but who said what some said that he and these men lied to all eternity unless such men be saved when god shall that lie from life and from his own eternal but still the word is lied though it were writ in honey dew upon a lily leaf with of like letters from sent to the bright fairest of all the for that he used the name of god as spirits use it barely yet surely more sublime in than in a whole tongue of dress thou god that to the full of all things are and thy great name in all its awful hath breeding in it but doth bless rather the tongue that it for me i ask no higher office than to fling my spirit at my feet and cry thy name god through eternity the man who sees m that name must have been used to take that name in vain and the same man would see in pure white statues call all by their names hell call thou and god god there were some encouraged him with good will surely tu many the kind the noble and the able cheered him i the lovely likewise others knew he ii no ii on take up the book and if thou it to me what i can i will poetry is itself a things of god he made his poets and the more we feel of poetry do we become like god in love and power under makers fe tv all mat lays to the minds of i en deal more or less with the divine and have for end some ood of mind or soul of man the mind is this world s but the soul is god s the wise man them here all in his power the high and holy works amid lesser lays stand up like churches among village and it is joy to think that in every age however much the world was wrong therein the greatest works of mind or hand have been done unto god so may they ever be it shows the strength of wish we have to be great it is not enough to draw forms fair and lively their conduct likewise must be beautiful a must crown the as a gold cross the dome and show like that of divinity that the whole building doth g to god and for the book before us though it were what it is not little the of a high church spire still its sole end is god tl father s glory from all eternity seen making clear his might and love in saving sinful man one shows god as he with states and kings another as he dealt with the first man another as with heaven and earth and hell ours writes god as he orders a chance soul picked out of earth at hazard like it is a mind and naked heart which he strikes out other draw men in manners customs forms appearances laws places times and of peace or to him these are not tm mi he makes no no account of them bat shows however great his doubts sins trials whatever earth bom pleasures soil his soul what power he may gain of evil that still till death time is that god s great heaven stands open day and night to man and spirit for all are of the race of god and have in themselves good the life writ of a heart whose and highest meaning was the hope of serving god as poet priest and the belief that he would not put back love though brought to him by hands and even as fallen man s must be and most of all the thankful show of his hi h power and goodness in and blessing souls which love him spite of sin and their old strain are the aims the doctrines truths and of the story what theme than soul bein saved t is the bard s aim to show the mind made world without within how the soul stands with god and the unseen realities about us it is a view of life spiritual and earthly let us look upon it then in the same light it was drawn and colored in faith is a higher faculty than reason though of the brightest power of revelation as the snow mountain rises o er the lightning and applies itself to heaven we know in there are stars about us just as at night and name them what and wh re by sight of science so by faith we know although we may not see them till our night that spirits are about us and believe that to a spirit s eye all heaven may be as full of angels as a beam of light of as spiritual it | 37 |
shows all classes of life perhaps above oar kind known to tradition reason or god s word as earthly it most the life of youth its powers its aims its deeds its and as a sketch of world life it begins and ends and rightly in heaven and with god while heaven is also in the midst thereof god or all good the evil of the world and man wherein are both are each displayed the mortal is the model of all men the follies trials sufferings fe tu of a hot un world heart that hu had its own in life and wherein all may see some likeness of their own t is these attract unite and the ever moving system of our feeling like life too as a whole it has a moral and as in life each scene too has its moral a scene for every year of his young life shining upon it like the quiet moon the obscure unequal earth v and though these scenes may seem to eyes irregular and rough and like to the stones at still an a meaning and a purpose may be marked among them of a temple reared to god it has a plan but no plot life has none well the plan is grand enough and how far has it been fulfilled in the main nobly the tendency of the poem is sublime its execution vigorous simple even to but the majestic of heroic forms the page beams with thoughts i say beams rather than because the lights are so full and frequent the great thought of the poem e il the way to good god through sin and error is expressed and why because the author though in steadfast faith he follows its leading sees as yet only glimmering or flashing lights this is a constant source of disappointment it is painful at last to find the mind which seemed worthy to the of this deep content with superficial statement of the scheme of through grace alone we looked for deeper insight from such passages as these there in souls like thine and the light within the life of such as there is in heaven the soul hath sank and perished like a in the sea it is for god to raise it and evil is good in another way we are not skilled in the s proof of proves strength and so we fling our feelings out the of the heart to bear us up s the one pays pride is there is a curse beyond the rack of death a woe wherein god hath put out his strength a pain past all the mad wretchedness we feel when the sacred secret hath flown out of us and the heart broken open by deep care the curse of a high spirit because all earth but it it is a fire of soul in which they bum and by which they are from sin rid of the that had gathered round them and burned again into their virgin brightness that often the result of hell is heaven the force of these statements of faith and the earnestness with which the problem of is proposed lead us to expect far more philosophical insight as to the than we find the poet like other fine children ii wiser than he knows and the which his almost random blows strike from the block of truth suggest hopes of a far nobler edifice than he has taken the trouble to build from he has borrowed what borrowed from the book of job the grand thought of a permitted temptation neither poet has gone deep into the thought which so powerfully their attention has shown the benefits of deepening individual consciousness the author of dwells rather upon an all love which brings a peculiar flower from the of neither author has given more than of the truth which both felt rather than saw but left his unfinished leaves loose as they fell from his life the more poet borrowed from the church a cover in which he bound them i mean he has accepted too readily a vulgar statement of a grand mystery partially true or it would not have been so widely accepted by religious minds partially false because it many processes many of the soul what could you expect from such a boy on heights where angels look verily it must be some boy david some in the first flush of a youth by the divine love that could give me any hope on a theme where the of intellect will always fail for they are in their need of heavy fe tu but though our new friend fails in respect the poem has given him stuff for the introduction of any thought possible to man and his range is very wide and often through the highest region he has not experience enough to lead us into many of the paths known to older he speaks of man as when he too close to the bosom of mother earth and loves her warm damp breath better than the free but chill breeze of the sea which sternly calls him he tells of beauty often too passionately pursued to be found as truth of feverish languid defiance and thoughts better loved in the chase than the what paths does he take only those naturally known to his age woman s love and speculation on the great had he loved long and well no the beautiful vision named to us as who the planet and shines into his soul like a call to prayer so that after the wild banquet scene his first thought is where is thy grave my love i want to weep h h as thou art this earth above my woe is deep seems | 37 |
and lo thou art unhappy i am glad i suffer for my faults i would not if i might be bad and happy god hath made but few better hearts than mine however much it fail in the wise ways of the world as in the dull dark streets of and follies men brick the goodness of the heart is shown in deeds of and kindness hand and heart are one thing with the good as thou be do my words trouble thee then treasure pain gives peace as death does heaven all things that speak of heaven speak of peace peace hath more might than war high brows are calm great thoughts are still as stars and truths like stir not but systems tend around them mind s step is still as death s and all great things which cannot be controlled whose end is good in these passages we see the of what the of his life says to i am never seen in the earth s low thick light but here in heaven and in the air which god breathes i am clear and again are reminded of what is said in the additional scene thus have i shown the meaning of the book and the most truthful likeness of a mind which hath as yet been the of youth in and in ite over and in its short the ends the heart of youth its love of power heed not how had although with of self ruin at the end some cried out t was inconsistent so t was meant to be such is the very stamp of and and the continual sight of its aims and the of and dearest and objects this is the poor student naturally enough replies i look on life as keeping me from god stars heaven and angels i feel in these passages the fault which i have heard attributed to the poem a want of melody and toned i will once more defend the poet in own words write to the mind and heart and let the ear after what it can the voice of great and thoughts is sweeter far all yet admitting the force of this and that he has chosen the better part in an age which too much in the pleasures of mere sound and had rather be to dreams by borrowed and than roused by a rude burst of thought we must add the great poet will be great in both sense and sound his verses flow about as and as on the stream his when sweetest want fulness they are not on the full sounding of the but on the imperfect stops of pan s pipe they have wild charms of their own a pathos derived from pure of the of nature that reminds us of passages in the old testament and makes the full wrought sweeping verse look stiff and beside its simple haste i hear in this verse the tones of waves and breezes the rustling of leaves and the pleading softness of childhood single phrases are far more powerful than their meaning would indicate for a throb is felt of the heart too youth ail to be conscious it is a charm like the outline of the half developed form that its beauty from the beauty of promise as where he calls his love my break in the sky or me the more thee as the robin our winter window guest the colder the weather the breast or the hawk hath him thrice of wings wide as the skies he may not but feels them and mad to tne perch t were mad to leave i have turned to thee moon from the glance that in coldness was given and rejoiced as i viewed thee all lonely advance there was something was lonely in heaven i have turned to thee moon as i lay in th silent and and rejoiced as high heaven went shining away that the heart had its desolate lightness or the holy quiet of the skies may well the blush of shame er we think that thither lies the heaven we heed not ought not name oh heaven let down thy cloudy and close thy eyes for each in burning glances bids the wicked fool be wise i recall a host of such passages but i think their charm is not so much in the melody as in the picture they present the of look and gesture they bring before the mind it is like the repetition of some fine phrase by a child the of the tone and gesture makes it striking it may be so i admit there is nothing that will bear a critical analysis yet beside this pathetic beauty of tones and there are passages that indicate a capacity what may be more strictly music as in the song of the girl i wish i could quote it the is almost filled already well the speak for themselves without much aid of mine yet i wish to say a few words of his powerful conception of two actors on the strange ethereal scene the son of god as as is more conceived by this believing heart than by almost any before such tenderness such celestial compassion is seen in one or two of s heads of the christ by one of the angels who the birth of a of mankind to his four such tones are breathed by s muse of earth to me earth is even as the boundless universe to thee nay more for thou make another it is my world take it not from me lord thou christ mad st it the altar where thou up for the creation let it be immortal as thy love oh i have heard world question world and answer seen | 37 |
the jewels of his ring afterward he them in water he them in wine but you are secure from his a sort of earl in his is too decided not to have diminished his greatness he has capital enough to have furnished the brain of fifty stock authors yet has written no good book but we have spoken all our discontent possibly his writings are open to censure but we love the man from sympathy as well as for reasons to be assigned and have no wish if we were able to put an argument in the mouth of his critics now for twenty years we have found the imaginary conversations a sure resource in solitude and it seems to us as original in its form as in its matter nay when we remember his rich and ample page wherein we u e always sure to find free and sustained thought a keen and precise understanding an and ready memory familiar all chosen books an industrious observation in every department of life an experience to which nothing has in vain honor for every just and sentiment and a like that of the for every whether public or private we s savage feel how dignified is this in his chair and we wish to thank a benefactor of the reading world mr is one of the foremost of that small class who make good in the nineteenth century the claims of pure literature in these busy days of and when there is so disposition to profound thought or to any but the most superficial intellectual a faithful scholar receiving from past ages the treasures of wit and them by his own love is a and of mankind when we pronounce the names of and and and ben and and pope we pass at once out of trivial associations and enter into a r on of the purest pleasure accessible to human nature we have quitted all beneath the moon and entered that sphere in which everything in the world of matter but and immortal literature is the effort of man to himself for the wrongs of his condition the existence of the poorest play and the is a good omen a charm to the most inferior names which have in any manner got themselves in the of the house of fame even as and in the courts to and and and from the moment of entering a library and opening a desired book we cease to be citizens and men of care and fear what boundless leisure what original the old have set new and brighter have arisen an light all objects tn the we came unto a land in which it always afternoon m and this sweet asylum of an intellectual life appear to have the sanction of nature as long as ao many men are bom with so decided an for reading and writing let us allow every and art which opens new scope to a life so confined as ours there are vast spaces in a thought a slave to whom the religious sentiment is opened has a freedom which il walter savage his master s freedom a slavery let us not be so with our schemes for the of society and nature as to or deny the literary spirit certainly there are heights in nature which command this there are many more which this commands it is vain to call it a luxury and as saints and are apt to do it as a species of day dreaming what else are and and all other things whatever can make for itself an element means organs servants and the most profound and permanent existence in the hearts and heads of millions of men must have a reason for its being its is reason and enough if rhyme us there should be rhyme as much as if fire cheers us we should bring wood and coals each kind of excellence takes place for its hour and everything else do not of your actions as if they were better than s verses or s pictures and feel that action is pitiful beside their they could act too if the stake was worthy of them but now all that is good in the universe them to their task whoever writes for the love of truth and beauty and not with ends belongs to this sacred class and among these few men of the present age have a better claim to be numbered than mr wherever genius or taste has existed wherever freedom and justice are threatened which he as the element in which genius may work his interest is sure to be com his love of beauty is passionate and itself in all and contemptuous expressions but beyond his delight in genius and his love of individual and civil liberty mr has a perception that is much more rare the appreciation of character this is the more remarkable considered with his intense to which we have already alluded he is in english to the chin he hates the the the french the scotch and the irish he has the common prejudices of an english his his acres and the of his name loves all his advantages is not insensible to the beauty of his or the s head on his umbrella yet with all this miscellaneous pride there is a noble nature within him which him that he is so vol ii no ii j savage rich that he can well spare all his and leaving to others the painting of circumstance to the office of character he draws his own portrait in the costume of a village and a sailor and serenely the victory of nature over fortune not only the story of but the selection of his heads prove this taste he draws with evident pleasure the portrait of a man who never said anything right and never did anything wrong but in the | 37 |
character of he has found full play for beauty and greatness of behavior where tlie circumstances are in harmony with the man these portraits though mere sketches must be valued as attempts in the very highest kind of narrative which not only has very few examples to exhibit of any success but very few in the attempt the word character is in all mouths it is a force which we all feel yet who has it what is the nature of that subtle and majestic principle which us to a few persons not so much by personal as by the most spiritual ties what is the quality of the persons who without being public men or literary men or rich men or active men or in the popular sense religious men have a certain in all our life s history almost giving their own quality to the and the landscape a moral force yet wholly of creed and intellectual but scornful of books it works directly and without means and though it may be resisted at any time yet resistance to it is a suicide for the person who stands in this lofty relation to his fellow men is always the to them of their conscience it is a sufficient proof of the extreme delicacy of this element before any but the most sympathetic vision that it has so seldom been employed in the drama and in novels mr almost alone among living english writers has indicated his perception of it these merits make mr s position in the republic of letters one of great mark and dignity he exercises with a grandeur of spirit the office of writer and carries it with an air of old and nobility we do not recollect an example of more complete independence in literary history he has no no walter savage that him he was one of the first to pronounce the great poet of the age yet he his faults with the greater freedom he loves yet with open eyes his position is by no means the highest in literature he is not a poet or a philosopher he is a man full of thoughts but not like a man of ideas only from a mind with the first philosophy can be expected has contributed many valuable ones to modern literature mr s are only of particulars the law is not seized but as it is not from the highest or but from less elevated that the most attractive landscape is commanded so is mr the most useful and agreeable of critics he has commented on a wide variety of writers with a and an extent of view which has the value of those authors to his readers his dialogue on the philosophy is a theory of the genius of the dialogue between and is the best of all on the essays of bacon his picture of in three several dial is new and adequate he has illustrated the genius of then he has examined before he and the of his verbal criticism gives a confidence in his fidelity when he speaks the language of meditation or of passion his acquaintance with the english tongue is he hates false words and seeks with care and those that fit the thing he knows the value of his own words they are not he says written on slate he never to explanation nor uses seven words where one will do he is a master of and and that in no vulgar way he knows the wide between and an obscure style the dense writer has yet ample room and choice of phrase and even a mood often between his words there is no or disagreeable in his sentence any more than in a human face where in a square space of a few inches is found room for every possible variety of expression yet it is not as an artist that mr walter savage himself to he is not or dramatic he has not the high overpowering method by which the master gives unity and integrity to a work of many parts he is too wilful and never himself to his genius his books are a strange mixture of politics sentiment and personal history and what skill of transition he may possess is superficial not spiritual his merit must rest at last not on the spirit of the dialogue or the of any of his historical portraits but on the value of his sentences many of these will secure their own immortality in english literature and this rightly considered is no mean merit these are not plants and animals but the of which both are composed all our great debt to the oriental world is of this kind not and statues of the precious metal but and gold dust of many of mr s sentences we are fain to remember what was said of those of that they are which will stand firm place them how or where you will we will our pages with a few which we hastily select from such of mr s volumes as he on our table the great man is he who hath nothing to fear and nothing to hope from another it is he who while he the of the laws and is able to correct them them it is he who looks on the ambitious both as weak and it is he who hath no disposition or occasion for any kind of deceit no reason for being or for appearing different from what he is it is he who can call together the most select company when it pleases him him i would call the powerful man who the storms of his mind and turns to good account the worst accidents of his fortune the great man i was going on to show thee is somewhat more he must be able to do this and he must have that intellect which puts into motion the intellect | 37 |
of others all else must be produced by others a knight by a knight a peer by a king while a gentleman is self critics talk most about the visible in the the magnitude and power are sublime but in the second degree managed as they may be where the walter savage heart is not shaken the gods thunder and stride in vain true is the perfection of the pathetic which has other sources than pity generosity for and self devotion when the generous and self devoted man suffers there comes pity the basis of the sublime is then above the water and the poet with or without the gods can it above the skies terror is but the of a childish feeling pity is not given to children so said he i know not whether rightly for the wisest differ on poetry the knowledge of which like other most important truths seems to be reserved for a purer state of sensation and existence o i have observed that the authors of good make men very bad as often as they talk much about them the habit of is in itself i have known even the conscientious and pious the humane and liberal dried up by it into and vanity and have watched the mind growing black and in its own smoke glory is a light which shines from us on others not from others on us if thou glory thou must trust her truth she him who doth not turn and gaze her richard i let me now tell my story to confession another time i sailed along the of my family on the right was england on the left was france little else could i discover than and extensive they fled behind me so pass away generations so shift and sink and die away affections in the wide ocean i was little of a monarch old men guided me boys instructed me these taught me the names of my towns and those showed me the extent of my one cloud that dissolved in one hour half covered them i in i place my hand upon the throne of and fix it i sail again and within a day or two i behold as the sun is setting the solitary majesty of mother of a religion it is said that lived two thousand years onward and many up along the blue i islands every one of which if the songs and stories of the are true is the monument of a greater man than i am i them afar off and for whom o to join creatures of less import than the sea on their cliffs men praying to be heard and fearing to be understood ambitious of walter savage another s power in the midst of of another s wealth under vows of poverty and jealous of another s glory in the service of their god is this christianity and is to he damned if he it while i remember what i have been i never can be less external power can affect those only who have none i have seen the day when the most of cities had but one voice within her walls and when the stranger on entering them stopped at the silence of the and said is speaking in the assembly of the people there are few who form their opinions of greatness from the individual says the girl is the least part of herself of himself certainly the man is no men are so as those whose minds are somewhat truth good air and clear light but no i found that the principal means of gratifying the universal desire of happiness lay in the of those very things which had hitherto been taken up as the instruments of enjoyment and content such as military commands political offices adventures in commerce and extensive landed property from low pleasures is the only means of or of obtaining the higher praise keeps good men good the highest price we can pay for a thing is to ask for it there is a gloom in deep love as in deep water there is a silence in it which the foot and the folded arms and the dejected head are the images it no voice shakes its surface the themselves approach it with a and a timid step and with a low and tremulous and melancholy song is the true firm constant friend of the golden lamp that shines perpetually on the image i the letter of to in reply to her request to be permitted to visit do what your heart tells yon yes do all it tells you remember how august it is it contains the temple l not only of love but of conscience and a whisper is heard from the extremity of one to the extremity of the other bend in even in sorrow on the bank of youth runs the stream that passes i let the drop into it let the hand be refreshed by it but may the beautiful feet of stand firm e amid the watches of the windy a poet sat and listened to the flow of his own thoughts until there passed a vision by him murmuring as it moved a wild and mystic lay to which his thoughts and pen kept time and thus the measure ran all is but as it seems the round green earth with river and the din and the mirth of the busy busy men the world s great fever throbbing forever the creed of the sage the hope of the a e all things we cherish all that live and all that perish these are but inner dreams the great world on to thy dreaming to thee alone hearts are making their moan eyes are streaming thine is the white moon turning night to day thine is the dark wood sleeping in her ray thee the winter thee | 37 |
the spring time all things nod to thee all things come to see if thou art dreaming on if thy dream should break and thou awake all things would be gone l nothing is if art not from thee tom a root the stars the flower cups drink rain joy and grief and weary pain spring aloft from thee and toss their branches free thou art under over all thou dost hold and cover all thou art thou art jove the truth hath all its youth from thy thought thy thought itself lay in thy earliest love nature keeps time to thee with voice unbroken still doth she rhyme to thee when hast spoken when the sun shines to thee t is own joy opening mines to thee can destroy when the blast to thee still doth the wind echo the tones to thee of thy own mind laughter but thee when thou art glad life is not life to but as thou labor is strife to thee when thou least more did the spirit sing and made the night most musical with inward but vanished soon and left the listening bard in silence till the mom reared up the screen that the spirit world from poet and from wisest sage c the dial vol n january no lu first principles love the stream flows between its banks according to love the sustain and restrain themselves in their courses by this same principle all nature itself by love by this i understand that each created thing is gifted to act as though it knew the properties and ends to be attained which belong to each of the others and that each one so guides itself as not to interfere with or re strain the workings of another except when a of properties takes place and then a just and compromise is immediately effected this regard to the peculiarities and of each other appears to be an application of the principle of justice the sentence all nature itself by love a power the power of love but this is not always perceived love and power looking out upon nature we find all things moving and revolving according to some apparently everlasting and laws of which we have as yet obtained no knowledge save that of their mere existence immediately we sum up all the changes of the seasons the summer with its overpowering heat the winter with vol il no iii first principles its intense cold the movement of the winds and the waves the growth of the trees the of the sun and the moon and the stars and then we turn our eyes inward and perceive in our own souls that we decide concerning the performance of any action according as the motive for is stronger or weaker than the motive against and because we have seen all this we say there are in nature two classes of things things which are governed and things which govern the things which are governed are matter and spirit the things which govern are the laws of matter and the laws of spirit then we sum up all the laws which we know and find that they may be included in the first thought of justice or love but the view is changed we now perceive the element of activity or power power or activity call not free will as in the word love power or activity is implied so in the word power freedom is implied but this is not always perceived application there is a chain of causes and effects which proceeds from the eternity of the past and passes link by link through our little dominion of time thence stretching onward till it is lost in the dim eternity to come the description of this chain is the history of the universe when we have performed an action it is no longer ours it belongs to nature as soon as an action goes forth it gives birth to another action which last gives birth to still another and so on through all eternity the little bustle and noise which we have made appears small beside the motion of the rest of the universe but that bustle and noise will have their precise effect and this effect will continue to produce and itself forever all that has been done before my time has left effects to serve me as motives all that i do and all that nature does in my time will serve as motives to those who come after me all nature has been at from the beginning of time until this day to produce me and my character all things are full of labor man cannot utter it the s f eye is not satisfied with seeing nor the ear filled with bearing the thing that has been is the thing that shall be and the thing that has been done is the thing that shall be done and there is no new thing under the when we see these things we think that it is well to know and to love nature for according to her laws are all things done which are done in the world we see that from good good arises and that from evil evil arises we see that this is a law of nature then we say again with king solomon god shall judge the righteous and the wicked for there is a time for every work and for every purpose though a sinner do evil a hundred times and his days be prolonged yet surely i know that it will be well with them which fear god but it shall not be well with the wicked neither shall he his days which are as a shadow because he not before god power intelligence looking in upon ourselves we find that we are not machines we find that we are something more than mere | 37 |
by which nature stronger from weaker motives we find that although we always act from a choice of motives there is no power in any motive by which it acts upon the mind the degrees of strength by which motives act upon the mind are given to those mo by the mind itself the mind itself by what motives it will be ruled and often it refuses to obey a motive coming from without because of a principle which it has formed for its own government the mind makes laws for itself and changes those laws when it pleases so to do matter the strongest force and it that force so as it is stronger than all other opposite forces but not so spirit spirit forces by forces formed by and in itself the struggle between the soul and force spiritual life in every human action there is an element of liberty and an element of destiny destiny and destiny liberty man is not wholly free neither is he wholly for were he wholly free or wholly he might continue to exist but he would cease to be man is a free spirit bound in chains and but having power to throw o f one by one the bands which fasten him to the earth if any man strive to rise above his destiny that man is a noble man if any man to his circumstances that man is an man a man is not an man because he does things but he does things because he is an man a tree may be known by its fruits conclusion the fool is driven before his destiny but the man of understanding destiny there is a chain of causes and effects which stretches from eternity to eternity this chain is a bridge which the past with that which is to come proceeding from that which is behind us we step link by link along this bridge and press onward toward the shadowy future we know that this chain exists because we see its links we know that a particular cause will never fail to bring forth its own particular effect as cause is to effect in the material world so with certain is motive to voluntary action in the human mind no link in the chain could occupy any other place than the one which it does occupy for there is no such thing as chance this chain stretches forth from the eternity which our birth and these causes under the name of motives will always their precise effect upon every operation of our minds and upon every action of our lives from like causes we never fail to experience like effects knowledge is not vague and the human mind is a legitimate object of science if we have given the precise character j and motives of a man we can his conduct under certain first as certainly as we can an of the sun or the return of a the farmer knows more than the young because he has had more experience the old knows more than the young because he has seen more men if i plant corn i am as certain that i can sell it in the market as i am that it will come up in my fields if i am the owner of a i am as certain that i can obtain men to labor in my mill as i am that my machinery will work men do not always see this destiny but if lays her iron hand upon them and they perceive that all avenues are closed by which they would vent their activity they acknowledge this of causes and effects which then its power how often is it that we would act but cannot because circumstances oppose us and circumstances mark out our destiny om nor would i have you mistake in the point of your own liberty these is a liberty of corrupt nature which is affected both by men and beasts to do what they list and this liberty is inconsistent with authority impatient of all restraint by this liberty t is the grand enemy of truth and i and all the of god are bent against it but there is a civil a moral a liberty which is the proper end and object of authority it is a liberty for that only which is just and good for this liberty you are to stand with the ha of your very lives and whatsoever crosses it is not authority but a thereof this liberty is maintained in a way of to authority and the authority set over you will in all for your good be quietly submitted unto by all but such as have a disposition to shake off the yoke and lose their true liberty by their murmuring at the honor and power of authority always man sees above himself an image of what he ought to be this image is not himself but it is what he ought to be this image in itself goodness and as man to realize this idea first jam of he ought to be he rises higher and higher bat as he rises higher and higher this image from him and also rises higher and higher until it becomes if goodness infinite power and infinite wisdom when this idea has become thus and man it he knows that the idea is the idea of god man says it is not me it is not mine but i see it and it is the everlasting god freedom is not the power to do wrong it is the power to do right the power to exercise all the of one s nature there is but one being who is absolutely free that being is god man is the victim of circumstances he is never free in himself but he can become free by of the absolute liberty by of the liberty of the sons of | 37 |
there is no self power of the wiu r always the will the emotions of the sensibility as by the of the intelligence in other words the precise conduct of a man may be known if we have given the precise character of the man and the motives which are to act upon that character man is not for the motive neither is he for the action but he is for the character man always has the idea before him of what he ought to be and if he contemplate and love that idea he will ascend toward it and if he ascend toward it he will partake of the everlasting liberty but if he scorn that idea and prefer the fleeting circumstances of time the will fall from liberty and become a bond slave of the devil a man is not a murderer because he murder but he murder because he is a murderer condemn the man because he the deed for to us a tree is known by its fruits only there is one that the heart freedom therefore dwells in the intelligence because it is by the intelligence that we know ood when we perceive his it is by the intelligence that we look inward and discover our own and weaknesses and the knowledge of our own and weaknesses is the first step toward a of our according to the everlasting idea when adverse circumstances surround us and threaten to over s bs do we them and assert our superiority our liberty by an effort of the will no we look at these and study them and then because we have obtained knowledge we turn aside these adverse circumstances one after the other and at last we ride over that which at first threatened to us liberty and were we mere spirits and not spirits subjected to the circumstances of the body then might this idea of what we ought to be be sufficient to liberty but we are not such spirits we are bound down by material bodies surrounded by temptations the victims of circumstances and this divine idea is hardly seen by those who are obliged to toil daily and nightly to secure those things which are necessary to the body it is possible if this idea were all that could lead us to liberty that among whole generations of men there might not be a single one who should assert his freedom and become the master of his destiny for the image dim because of the work which is seen and the things therein would it not be a glorious mercy of god if this idea which is not man but which comes down to man to show him the path of liberty the path which leads to god should become man and dwell among us and die among us to show us how to assert the superiority of our souls over that which is material to show us in fine the way to escape the bondage of the body and to attain to the liberty of the sons of god if this idea this light should come among us if he should come as a man like ourselves we should know him because he would do wonderful things which no man ever did because he would begin a movement which would go on growing and growing from generation to generation and when men of the most remote ages perceived this movement they would recognise him that commenced it we should know him because he would testify of himself and the light which is in us would testify of him for be would speak the words of truth and these words would bring out the dim and image of the truth which is in us until it should reflect the blaze of the eternal glory he that hath the witness in himself the witness within and the witness without at the mouths of two or three witnesses shall every word stand fast matter what are material objects material objects are the causes of impressions we do not perceive material objects we only perceive the impressions which they make upon us their different properties smell taste weight color extension c only appear to us as their different manners of acting or of making impressions we know material objects by their properties only we know them therefore only as active beings as forces all the beings of nature vegetables c are nothing to us but forces or of forces these forces are not like the soul intelligent and free but they are all gifted with activity even those which have no property but simple resistance are active for resistance is action it is said that there is a simple substance from and lying behind all these properties this simple substance i have never perceived i know no necessity for it and i have therefore no reason to believe that any such simple substance really exists concerning ourselves a man and the object upon which he acts are two separate and distinct things a man and the instrument by which he acts are also two separate and distinct things if i cut a piece of wood or write upon a sheet of paper the piece of wood and the sheet of paper are objects upon which i act they are therefore not me the with which i cut and the pen with which i write are instruments by which i act they are therefore not me my hand is also an instrument by which i act my hand therefore is not me my whole body is a combination of instruments by which i act my body therefore is not me s first if i am not the object acted upon nor the by which the action is performed what then am i i am evidently that which concerning the soul although there is no material body without three dimensions we often make abstraction of one | 37 |
or two of them for example if we speak of the size of a field or of the height of a church we consider a surface only or a line but no such thing as a line or as a surface really exists when we speak of length or of length and breadth we speak of things from which the perfection of their being has been abstracted but when we speak of length breadth and depth we speak of a general which all the material bodies with which we come in contact every day to study is divided into three parts the first part treats of length the second treats of length and breadth the third treats of length breadth and depth the first two parts treat of that from which all true being has been abstracted the third part treats of real existing things now there is no soul which does not desire think and act in other words there is no soul without sensibility intelligence and power when we speak of sensibility without intelligence and power or when we speak of either sensibility intelligence or power alone by itself or when we speak of any two of these without the third we speak of things which do not really exist because that which forms the perfection of their being has been abstracted from them but when we speak of sensibility intelligence and power we speak of a general which all the souls with which we come in contact every day in order to observation we will endeavor to examine sensibility by itself intelligence by itself and power by itself by sensibility the soul either its own ac or it upon itself by an emotion by intelligence the soul either the causes of its own activity or having recognised those causes it proceeds to recognise their effects or it ii no iii first tions received through the sensibility with of cause and effect by power activity the soul either simply produces effects upon the material world or by producing such effects it acts upon other souls through the of language or it upon itself by the formation of an opinion thereby producing a harmony between the intelligence and the sensibility i have endeavored in the last three to describe the action of the soul by sensibility alone by intelligence alone and by power alone but i have not succeeded and i cannot in my own mind conceive of any such separate action the soul acts and thinks when it it and acts when it thinks it and thinks when it acts an emotion a thought and a a thought an emotion and a a an emotion and a thought if i attempt to examine one manner of acting by itself the other two immediately present themselves if i attempt to examine the three i immediately perceive nothing but their unity if i attempt to examine their unity the unity immediately and a stands in its place i do not pretend to explain this in unity i merely endeavor to show that it does in fact exist it is said that there is a soul and itself sensibility intelligence and power i have never caught a glimpse of any such soul i see no necessity for such a soul and i have therefore no reason to believe that any such soul does really exist it appears to me that if the sensibility intelligence and power which belong to any man s soul should be so separated as not to act and upon ch other that the fact of their separation would amount to the of the man s soul a true soul must fulfil the following conditions it must be able to act li must be able to perceive its own activity it must be able when it its own activity to recognise itself these three are the conditions of each other s existence and they include the fact of consciousness first principles justice and there is in every man a love an attraction for that which is like himself and a dislike a for that which is unlike himself the highest characteristic of man is life and he loves every being in which he life he every being in which he a tendency downwards from life toward non existence there are many beings half dead which we do not love but we do not dislike them because they partake of life but because of their tendency toward non existence man loves order but he has a horror of chaos it is natural for us to love our friends more than we love any other created beings and this is because they live and because we have seen more of their lives than we have of the lives of any other created things our arc much affected when we see a fine statue or painting because the statue or painting is a representative of life and when we perceive a statue we recognise the living artist that made it we admire any piece of human labor even a plain brick wall possesses a certain interest when compared with a loose heap of stones if the statue be so fine that we forget the artist it is because the statue is in itself and the appearance of life in the statue renders it unnecessary for us to think of the living artist but no man would be so much affected by the sight of a work of art as he would be by the sight of an equally perfect living person if man possessed nothing but sensibility and activity he would be acted upon by every thing which came in contact with him and as each of these things would have its precise effect his own conduct would be regulated by the exterior world he being but a mere machine if man possessed nothing but intelligence and activity he would have no emotions to induce him to think neither would | 37 |
he have any subject of thought and although he would have the power of thought he would not think and therefore would not truly live the action of the intelligence upon the life and nothing truly lives but spirit our life is first a struggle between two natures if either were wanting there would be no struggle and life would cease beauty justice and harmony always accompany life yet they do not constitute life but if life be manifested then will beauty justice and harmony appear because they are attributes of that wherever we find either beauty or justice or peace we recognise that there a living spirit either is or has once been yet beauty justice and peace are not that living spirit they are if i may so speak the language by which that spirit itself we often find beauty and justice and harmony in the work of a spirit after that spirit has left its work and departed from it the love of the beautiful the love of the just and the love of the harmonious dwell in the sensibility but the idea of beauty the idea of justice and the idea of harmony dwell in the intelligence beauty itself justice itself peace itself are neither in the sensibility nor in the intelligence they are with god and are the same but we can discover as we move on more and more concerning them good and evil god is the only perfect being if we endeavor to move on toward the perfection of our being if we strive to follow the idea of what we ought to be which leads to infinite love infinite wisdom and infinite power we shall be on the right course whatever to assist in our journey is if we fall from the idea of what we ought to be and do not strive to perfect our natures but move downward toward infinite hatred infinite folly and infinite weakness we shall be on the wrong course whatever to press us downward is evil the existence of infinite power infinite wisdom infinite love the existence of something which is them the existence of the yes the of the no first creation god thought a being of will wisdom and sensibility he thought a body with which this being was to be connected and which was to be the instrument by which it sly manifest itself and by which it should maintain communion with what is without the nature of this body is explained below god thought an infinite variety of properties combined with each other in an infinitely manner the being possessed of will wisdom sensibility was one thought the infinite variety of properties was another and a different thought god thought the being to be possessed of the power of so far as to be able to vary the position of that p of the infinite and combination of properties which formed its body and by that means to act on the exterior combination of properties and to them to a certain extent god thought the combination of properties to have the power to act upon the body of the being and by that means to hold a certain relation to the being itself the being possessed of will wisdom sensibility is the soul of man the infinite variety of properties is the world of matter the body is that portion of the world of matter upon which the soul immediately acts all these exist in the thought of ood thus do i explain the universe as the settled opinion of almighty god and thus do i explain the relation which exists between the mind and what is without w b g the spirit his house in the least a beautiful mansion how the colours live delicate every night an for this purpose from the heavens with his small urn of ivory like hue drops a world of the purest element in the flower s midst feeding its tender soul with lively inspiration i wonder that a man wants knowledge is there not here spread in amazing wealth a form too rare a soul so inward that with an open heart tremulous and tender we all must fear not to see near enough of these deep thoughts ms often as i looked up to the moon i had to see how calm she was in her loneliness the between the various parts of this universe are so perfect that the ear once accustomed to detect them is always on the watch for an echo and it seemed that the earth must be peculiarly grateful to the whose light clothes every feature of her s with beauty could it be that she answers with a thousand voices to each visit from the sun who with scrutiny all her yet never returns one word to the flood of gentleness poured upon her by the sovereign of the night i was sure there must be some living to indicate that class of emotions which the moon up and i perceived that the all perceiving had the same thought for they tell us that loved once and was beloved again in the world of gems the pearl and answered to the but where was the flower long i looked for it in vain at last its discovery was accidental and in the quarter where i did not expect it for several years i had kept in my garden two plants of the and bestowed upon them every care without being repaid by a single blossom last june i observed with pleasure that one was preparing to flower from that time i watched it eagerly though provoked at the with which it unfolded its a few days after happening to look at the other which had not by any means so favorable an exposure i flower on that also i was taking my walk as usual at sunset and as i returned the slender | 37 |
of the young moon greeted me rising above a throne of clouds clouds of pearl and soon in comparing the growth of my two plants i was struck by a s circumstance the one which had first seemed to be waiting for the other which though as i said before least placed of the disclosed its delicate cups with surprising energy at last came the night of the full moon and they burst into flower together that was indeed a night of long sought melody the day before looking at them just ready to bloom i had not expected any farther pleasure from the fulfilment of their promise except the gratification of my curiosity the little bells lay languidly against the stem the shaped leaves which had as it were burst asunder to give way to the flower stalk leaving their edges rough with the from which the plant its name looked ragged and dull in the broad day light but now each little bell had erected its crest to meet the full stream of moonlight and the dull green displayed a reverse of silvery white the seemed a robe also of silver but soft and light as each feature of the plant was now and expressive in proportion to its former and the air of tender triumph with which it raised its head towards the moon as if by worship to thank her for its all spoke of a love bestowed a beyond all which i had heretofore known of beauty as i looked on this flower my heart swelled with emotions never known but once before once when i saw in woman what is most womanly the love of a shining through death i expected to see my flower pass and melt as she did in the celestial tenderness of its smile i longed to have some other being share a happiness which seemed to me so peculiar and so rare and called from the house the heart and mind of are not without vitality but have never been between nature and the soul he is one who could travel amid the magnificent of the tropical nor even look at a flower nor do i believe he ever drew a thought from the palm tree more than the but the piercing sweetness of this flower s look id its hour conquered even his he stood before it a long time sad soft and silent i believe he realized the wants of his nature more than ever he had done before in the course of what is called a life next day i went out to look at the plants and all the sweet glory had vanished dull awkward sallow stood there in its loneliness the divinity of the night before oh absence life was in the plant birds sang and insects hovered around the blue sky bent down lovingly the sun poured down nobly over it but the friend to whom the key of its life had been given in the order of nature bad begun to decline from the had retired into silence and the faithful heart had no language for any other at night the flowers were again as beautiful as before fate let me never murmur more there is an hour of joy for every form of being an hour of rapture for those that wait most patiently queen of night humble flower how patient were ye the one in the loneliness of the other in the loneliness of poverty the flower on her own heart the moon never wearied of her urn for those she could not love as children had the eagle waited for her she would have smiled on him as serenely as on the admirable are the of nature as that flower in its own season imparted a dearer joy than all my lilies and roses so does the in its concentrated bliss know all that has been over the hundred through which it kept silent remember the wait and trust and either sun or moon according to thy fidelity will bring thee to love and to know in consequence of a mistake the first part only of this poem inserted in the last number of the dial it is therefore now given entire amid the watches of the windy night a poet bat and listened to the flow of his own thoughts until there passed a vision by as it a wild and mystic lay to which his thoughts and pen kept time and thus the measure ran all is hut as it seems the round green earth with river and the din and the mirth of the busy men the world s great fever throbbing forever the creed of the sage the hope of the age all things we cherish all that live and all that perish these are but inner dreams the great world on to thy dreaming to thee alone hearts are making their moan eyes are streaming thine is the white moon turning night to day thine is the dark wood sleeping in her ray thee the winter thee the spring time all things nod to thee all things come to see if thou art dreaming on if thy dream should break and thou awake all things would be gone nothing is if thou art not from thee as from a root the stars the flower cups drink the rain joy and grief and weary pain spring from thee and toss their branches free thou art under over all thou dost hold and cover all thou art thou art jove the truth hath all its youth from thy thought thy thought itself lay in thy earliest love nature keeps time to thee with voice unbroken still doth she rhyme to thee when thou hast spoken when the sun shines to thee t is thy own joy vol ii no iii | 37 |
opening mines to thee can destroy when the blast to thee still doth the wind echo the tones to thee of thy own mind laughter but thee when thou art glad life is not life to thee but as thou labor is strife to thee when thou least more did the spirit sing and made the night most musical with inward but vanished soon and left the listening bard in silence till the mom reared up the screen that the spirit world from poet and from wisest sage the sun was shining on the busy earth all men and things were moving on their way the old old way which we call life the soul shrank from the giant grasp of space and time yet for it was her dreamy hour half yielded to the delusion and looked out on the broad glare of things and felt itself before the universe then came unto the bard another spirit with another voice and sang said he that all but seems said he the world is void and lonely a strange vast crowd of dreams coming to thee only and that thy feeble soul hath such a strong control er sovereign space and sovereign time and all their train sublime said he thou art the eye reflecting all that is the ear that hears while it all sounds and the central sense that amid all shows and turns them to realities listen mortal while the sound of this life intense is flowing dost thou find all things around go as thou art going dost thou that thou art free making all that thou dost see id the might of thy soul s liberty lo an troubles thee one bodily fibre thee one nerve and thee one drop of blood is to thee art thou but a withering leaf for a summer season brief clinging to the tree till the winds of circumstance whirling in their dance prove too much for thee art thou but a speck a in the system universal art thou but a passing note woven in the great thou roll back the tide of thought and the creed of the age and the wisdom taught by the prophet and the sage art thou but a shadow chasing o er a meadow the great world goes on spite of thy dreaming not to thee alone hearts are making their and tear drops streaming and the mighty voice of nature is thy parent not thy creature is no pupil but thy teacher and the world would still move on were thy soul forever flown for while thou on in nature s wide embrace all thy life is daily by her informing grace and time and space must reign and rule o er thee forever and the lift its chain from off thy spirit never but in the dream of thy half waking fever thou be with gleam and show of truths thou pi nest for and yet never know and then the spirit fled and the bard still wondering for he felt that voices twain had come different with different truths that seemed at war and yet agreed in one primitive christianity there are some ages when all seem to look for a great man to come up at god s call and deliver them from the evils they groan under then humanity seems to lie with its forehead in the dust calling on heaven to send a man to save it there are times when the powers of the race though working with their activity appear so that little permanent good comes from the efforts of the gifted times when have little regard for the welfare of the subject when popular forms of religion have lost their hold on the minds of the thoughtful and the consecrated while performing the accustomed rites dare not look one another in the face lest they laugh in public and disturb the reverence of the people their own having gone long before times there are when the popular religion does not the hunger and thirst of the people themselves then mental energy seems of little value save to disclose and chronicle the sadness of the times no great works of deep and wide utility are then undertaken for existing or future generations original works of art are not out of new thought men fall back on the achievements of their fathers imitate and them but take no steps iq any direction into the infinite though wealth and selfishness pile up their marble and mortar as never before yet the the pencil and the pen are to imitation the artist does not travel beyond the actual at such times the rich are wealthy only to be luxurious and the mind in the of the flesh the cultivated have skill and taste only to mock openly or in secret at the forms of religion and its substance also to devise new pleasures for themselves pursue the study of some science some costly game or dazzling art when the people suffer for water and bread the king fish pools that his may fare on of unnatural size then the poor are trodden down into the dust the weak bear the burden of the strong and they who do all the work of the world who spin and and and who build the palace and supply the feast are the only men that go hungry and bare live for and when they die are huddled into the dirt with none to say god bless you such periods have occurred several times in the world s history at these times man stands in frightful contrast with nature he is dissatisfied ill fed and poorly clad while all nature through there is not an animal from the to the but his wants are met and his peace secured by the great author of all man knows not whom to trust while | 37 |
the little creature that lives its brief moment in the which hangs on the violet s perfect tranquillity so long as its little life runs on man is in doubt distress perpetual trouble afraid to go forward lest he go wrong fearful of standing still lest he fall while the worm that under his feet is all and all its nature allows and the stars over head go smoothly as ever on their way at such times men call for a great man who can put himself at the head of their race and lead them on free from their troubles there is a feeling in the heart of us all that as sin came by man and death by sin so by man under providence must come also salvation from that sin and from that death we feel all of us that for every wrong there is a right somewhere had we but the skill to find it this call for a great man is sometimes long and loud before he comes for he comes not of man s calling but of god s appointment this was the state of mankind many centuries ago before was born at scarce ever had there been an age when a was more needed the world was full of riches wealth flowed into the cities a tide swam the ocean the fields were full of cattle and corn the high piled at and groaned with the of luxury the product of skilful hands delicate women the and the of the world s metropolis scarce veiled their limbs in garments of fine as woven wind and precious stones with each other to render loveliness more lovely and beauty more attractive or oftener to a taste and whip the senses to their work nature with that exquisite irony men admire but cannot imitate used the virgin lustre of the to reveal more plain the moral of such primitive as wore the the very marble seemed to bud and blossom into palace and temple but alas for man in those days the strong have always known one part of their duty how to take care of themselves and so have laid on weak men s shoulders but the more difficult part how to take care of the weak their natural they neither knew nor practised so well even as if the history of the strong is ever written as such it will be the record of and murder from to from to napoleon in that age men cried for a great man wonderful to tell the prophetic spirit of human nature which events in their causes and by its profound faith in the invisible sees both the cloud and the star before they come up to the horizon foretold the advent of such a man an ancient and settled opinion says a roman writer had spread over all the east that it was fated at this time for some one to arise out of and rule the world we find this expectation in many shapes and poem and prophecy we sometimes say this was miraculous while it appears rather as the natural of hearts which believe god has a remedy for each disease and for every wound the expectation of relief is deep and certain with such just as the evil is imminent and dreadful if it have lasted long and spread wide men only look for a greater man this fact shows how deep in the soul lies that religious element which sees in the dark when understanding can not see at all which hopes most when there is least ground but most need of hope but men go too far in their expectations their faith their fancy which what the shall be in this men are always mistaken heaven has endowed the race of men with but little invention so in those times of trouble they look back to the last peril and hope for a like him they had before greater it may be but always of the same kind this same poverty of invention and habit of thinking the future must the past appears in all human calculations if some one had told the of that in eighteen centuries men would be able in a few hours to make a perfect copy of a book twenty times as great as all his master s com christianity and history he would pronounce it impossible for he could think of none but the old method of a forming each word with a pen letter by letter never the modern way of with a rolling press driven by steam so if one had told that two thousand years after his day men in war would kill one another with a half an in weight and would send it three or four hundred yards driving it through a shirt of mail or a plough share of iron he would think but of a common bow and arrows and say it cannot be what would have thought of a portrait made in thirty seconds exact as nature by the sun himself now men make mistakes in their expectation of a the jews were once raised to great power by david and again rescued from distress and restored from exile by a great conqueror and a just man therefore the next time they fell into trouble they expected another king like david or who should come perhaps in the clouds with a great army to do much more than either david or had done this was the current expectation that when the came he should be a great general commander of an army king of the jews he was to restore the defeat their foes and revive the old to which other nations should be their comes but instead of a noisy general a king with the pomp of oriental there appears one of the of men his kingdom was of truth and therefore not | 37 |
the rose of but it told as if a smote the globe it brought fire and sword to the dwelling place of sin truth sweeps clean off every refuge of lies that she may do her entire work a few instances show how these words wrought in the world the sons of were so ambitious they would to themselves the first place in the new kingdom thinking it a realm where selfishness should hold dominion so bloody minded they would call down fire from heaven to burn up such men as would not receive the teacher but the spirit of gentleness the selfish passion and the son of thunder becomes the gentle john who says only little children love one another this same word passes into peter also the subtle hasty selfish son of the first to declare the christ the first to promise fidelity but the first likewise to deny him and the first to return to his fishing it carries this though perhaps never wholly all over the eastern world and he who had shrunk from the fear of persecution now glories therein and counts it all joy when he falls into trouble on account of the word with joseph of an honorable and a ruler of the jews the matter took another turn we never hear of them in the history of trial they back into the it may be wore garments long as before and of the were called of men sound honorable men who knew what they were about men not to be taken in it is not of such men god makes it is not for such characters to plunge into the cold hard stream of truth as it breaks out of the mountain and falls from the rock of ages they wait till the stream to a river the river its accumulated waters to a lake quiet as a mirror then they confide themselves in their delicate and trim wrought to its silvery bosom to be by gentle winds into a quiet haven of repose such men do not take up truth when she has fallen by the way side it might grieve their friends it would compromise their interests would not allow them to take their ease in their inn for such they regard their station in the world besides the thing was new how could joseph and it would prevail it might lead to disturbance its friends fall into trouble the kingdom of heaven offered no safe for ease and reputation as now doubtless there were in great of heart among and respectable men and doctors of the law when they heard of the new teacher and his doctrine so deep and plain there must have been a severe struggle in many between the conviction of duty and social sympathies which bound the man to what was most cherished by flesh and blood the beautiful gospel found few and little with men learned in the law with its minute devoted to the mighty consideration of small particulars but the true of the inward life felt the word which others only listened for and they could not hush up the matter it would not be still so they took up the ark of truth where set it down and bore it on they their lives they left all comfort friends home wife the embraces of their children the most precious comfort the poor man gets out of the cold hard world they went naked and hungry were and spit upon in the separated from the company of the sons of called the of names counted as the off of the world but it did them good this was the satan gave the and the went its way as always does but the seed wheat fell into good ground now nations are filled with bread which comes of the and watering and god giving the increase to some men the spread of christianity in two centuries appears wonderful to others it is the most natural thing in the world it could not help spreading things most needful to all are the easiest to comprehend the world over thus every savage in knows there is a god while only four or five men in understand his nature essence personality and know all about him primitive christianity thus while the great work of a modern scholar which explains the laws of the material heavens has never probably been mastered by three hundred persons and perhaps there is not now on earth half that number who can read and understand it without further preparation the gospel the word of which sets forth the laws of the soul can be understood by any pious girl fourteen years old of ordinary intelligence with no special preparation at all and still forms the daily bread and very life of whole millions of men primitive christianity was a very simple thing apart from the individual errors connected with it two great set forth its essential doctrines love man and love god it had also two great practical which grew out of the we that are strong ought to bear the of the weak and we must give good for evil these lay at the bottom of the minds and the top of their hearts these explain their conduct account for their courage give us the reason of their faith their strength their success the of these set forth the life of a man in perfect if their own practice fell short of their preaching which sometimes happens spite of their zeal there was the measure of a perfect man to which they had not attained but which lay in their future progress other matters which they preached that there was one god that the soul never dies were known well enough before and old in centuries gone by had taught these doctrines quite as distinctly as the and the latter much more plainly | 37 |
than the these new teachers had certain other doctrines peculiar to themselves which the course of truth more than they helped it and which have perished with their authors no wonder the prevailed with such doctrines set off or recommended by a life which notwithstanding occasional errors was single hearted lofty full of self denial and sincere all men are brothers said the their duty is to keep the law god wrote on the heart to keep this without fear the forms and rites they made use of their love and lord s their and funeral ceremonies were things indifferent of no value save only as helps christianity like the cloak left behind at and the of peter they were to serve their turn and then be laid aside they were no more to be perpetual than the sheep skins and goat skins which likewise have authority in favor of their use in an age of many forms christianity fell in with the times it wore a dress at and a costume at it became all things to all men some rites of the early church seem absurd as many of the latter but all had a meaning once or they would not have been men of new england would scarce be willing to worship as and did nor could and philip be satisfied with our form it is possible each age of the world has its own way which the next smiles at as us still the four mentioned above give the spirit of primitive christianity the life of the life it is not marvellous these men were reckoned persons nothing in the world is so dangerous and in a false state of society as one who loves man and god you cannot silence him by threat or torture nor scare him with any fear set in the stocks to day he men in public to morrow will kill thee says one go and tell that fox behold i cast out devils and to day and to morrow and the third day i shall be is the reply burn or such men and out of their blood and out of their ashes there spring up others who defy you to count them and say come kill us if you list we shall never be silent love love the world over and makes certain as steel sparks when smitten against the if a fire is to burn in the woods let it be blown upon primitive christianity did not owe its spread to the address of its early they boast of this fact the who held these four were plain men very rough rude in speech and not over courteous in address if we may credit the of paul and james they had notions in many points which both we and they deem vital some of them perhaps all expected a of the body others that the law with its rites and ceremonies was to be perpetual binding on all oi christians and the human race some fancied as it appears that had the sins of all mankind others that he had existed before he was born into this world these were doctrines of and heathen all of these men so far as the new testament us to judge looked for the visible return of to the earth with clouds and great glory and expected the destruction of the world and that in very few years the facts are very plain to all who will read the and in spite of the dust which cast in the eyes of common sense some works perhaps older than the certainly accepted as in some of the early churches relate the strangest about the doings and sayings of thereby to exhibit the greatness of his character while they show how little that was understood we all know what the writings contain on this head and from these two sources can derive much information as to the state of opinion among the and their immediate peter notwithstanding his visions seems always to have been in bondage to the law of and death if we may trust paul s statement in the james if the letter be his had notions on some points and even paul the largest minded of them all was not disposed to allow woman the rights which reason foe the last creation of god but what if these men were often mistaken and sometimes on matters of great moment we need not deny the fact for the sake of an artificial theory snatched out of the air it is not expedient to lie in behalf of truth however common it has been we need not fear christianity shall fall because christians were mistaken in any age were human beings ever free from errors of opinion in action has the nature of things changed and did the earth bring forth men in the first century it does not appear but underneath these mistakes errors follies of the primitive christians there beat the noble heart of religious love which sent life into their every limb those they had learned from seen exhibited in his life found written on their heart these did the work spite of the and passions of the paul peter to the face and events that came to pass the of the heart found its way up to the head and errors of thought by means of these causes the doctrines spread the expecting people felt their had come and welcomed the glad tidings each year brought new to the work and the zeal of the christian burnt brighter with bis success paul undertook many and the word of god grew and prevailed in him we see a striking instance of the power of real christianity to the character we cannot forbear to dwell a moment on the theme there are two classes of men who come to | 37 |
religion some seem to be born spiritual they are saints natives of heaven whom accident has on the earth men of few passions of no tendency to violence anger or excess in anything they do not hesitate be right and wrong but go the true way as naturally as the bird takes to the air and the fish to the water because it is their natural element and they cannot help it reason and religion seem to be their christianity and their consciousness are of the same date desire and duty putting in the and i like sisters the many coloured web of life to these men life is easy it is not that long warfare which it is to so many it costs them nothing to be good their desires are dutiful their duties desirable th have no virtue which struggle they are goodness all over which is the harmony of all the powers their action is their repose their religion their self indulgence their daily life the most perfect worship say what we will of the world these men who are angels born are happier in their lot than such as are only angels bred whose religion is not a matter of birth but of hard they start in their flight to heaven from an eminence which other souls find it to attain and roll down like the stone of many times in the perilous ascent paul waa not born of this nobility of heaven the other class are men of will bard iron men who have passions and doubts and fears and a whole of in their bosom but yet come armed with a strong sense of duty a masculine intellect a tendency upwards towards god a great heart of flesh and ex primitive christianity between self love and love of man these are the men who feel the puzzle of the world and are taken with its fever stout hearted strong headed men who love strongly and hate with violence and do with their might whatever they do at all these are the men that make the heroes of the world they break the way in philosophy and science they found colonies lead armies make laws systems of form in the church a yoke of iron will not hold them nor that of public opinion more difficult to break when these men become religious they are beautiful as angels the fire of god falls on them it their the gold remains in virgin purity once filled with religion their zeal never you shall not them with the hissing of the great and learned nor scare them with the roar of the street or the armies of a king to these men the axe of the yes all the malice can devise or inflict are as nothing the resolute soul puts down the flesh and finds in embers a bed of roses to this class belonged paul a man evidently quick to see stem to resolve and immovable in a man of iron will that nothing could break down of strong moral sense deep religious faith and a singular greatness of heart towards his fellow men but yet furnished with an overpowering energy of passion which might his moral sense his faith his aside and make him a the slave of superstition a perverse as and desperate as saint in him the good and the evil of the old seemed to for he had all the piety of david which charms us in the shepherd all the hatred which appears in the curses of that king who was so wondrous a mixture of heaven earth and hell in addition to this natural character paul received a education at the feet of a of the his earlier life at brought him in contact with the his for the time but yet bis escape from the of a worn out it is easy to see how the doctrines of would strike the young fresh from the study of the law christianity set aside all he valued most struck down the law held the of small account put off the de dared the temple no better place to pray in than a s boat affirmed all men to be brothers thus denying the merit of descent from but declared if any one loved god and man he should have treasure in heaven and inspiration while on earth no wonder the old whose was caught in the letter no wonder the young accustomed to swear by the old felt pricked in their hearts and with their teeth it is a bard thing no doubt for mien who count themselves children of to be proved children of a very different stock dutiful of the great father of lies it is easy to fancy what paul would think of the of the new teacher to call himself greater than solomon or and profess to see deeper down than the law ever went what of the presumption of the and ignorant men to pretend to teach doctrines wiser than moses when they could not read the letter of his word it is no wonder he breathed out fire and slaughter and persecuted them even unto strange cities but it is dangerous to go too far in pursuit of game men sometimes rouse up a lion when they look for a and the is himself eaten but paul had a good conscience in this he believed what came of the fathers never applying common sense to his nor asking if these things be so he thought he did god service by his image and helping to stone at length he becomes a christian in thought we know not how the change took place perhaps he thought it miraculous for in common with most of his times and country he never drew a sharp line between the common and the supernatural he seems ten to have dwelt in that cloudy land where all things have | 37 |
a strange and marvellous aspect a later contemporary of paul relates some of the most remarkable events as he deemed them which occurred in those times he gives occasionally minute details of the superstition crime and madness of the of rome but the most remarkable event which occurred for some centuries after he never speaks of probably he knew nothing of it had he heard thereof it would have seemed to this of imperial follies but the journey from to of a young named if we regard its cause and its ii no iii primitive was a more wonderful event than the world saw for the next thousand years men thought little of its result at the time the of the day had reasons no doubt for paul s sudden and said he was disappointed of in the old state of things and hoped for an easy living in the new that be loved the distinction and the change would give him and hoped also for the and fishes then so abundant in the new church doubtless there were some who said paul is beside himself but king took no notice of the matter he was too busy with his dreams of ambition and lust to heed what a tent maker from a city in his journey from to yet from that time the history of the world turns on this point if paul had not been raised up by the almighty for this very work so to say who shall tell us how long christianity would have lain concealed under the prejudice of its earlier these things are for no mortal to discover but certain it is that paul found the christians an obscure full of zeal and love but narrow and in bondage to the letter of old hebrew institutions but he left them a power full band in all great cities free men by the law of the spirit of life it seems doubtful that peter james or john would have given christianity its natural form of universal faith there must have been a desperate struggle before paul became a christian he must all the prejudices of the jew and the and the of the tribe and the den are the last a man gives up he must be abandoned by his friends the wise the learned the venerable few men know of the battle between new convictions and old social sympathies but it is of the character a war of he must condemn all his past conduct lose the reputation of leave all the comforts of society all chance of reputation among men be counted as a thief and murderer perhaps be put to death but the truth conquered we think it easy to decide as paul forgetting that many things become plain after the result which were dim and doubtful be fore when the young man had decided in favor of primitive christianity he would require some instruction in matters to the heavenly doctrine we should suppose taking the popular views of christianity which make it an historical thing depending on personal authority or and external events as the only possible proof of internal truths he would go and sit down with the twelve and listen to their talk and learn of all the miracles how raised the young man the maiden called from the tomb how he changed the water into wine and fed the five thousand he would go to and mary to learn the doctrine of the to the mother of to inquire about his birth of the holy spirit but the thing went different he did not go to peter the chief nor to john the beloved nor james the lord s brother i conferred not with flesh and blood says the new convert neither went i up to to them that were before me but i went into three years afterwards for the first time he had an inter with peter and james fourteen years later he went up to to compare notes as it were with those who seemed to be somewhat they could tell him nothing new at last many years after the commencement of his active james peter and john give him the right hand of their fellowship paul it seems had heard of the great doctrines of and out of their principles developed his scheme of christianity not a very difficult task one would fancy for a plain man who reckoned christianity was love of man and love of god in those days the were not written nor yet the christianity had no history except that lived preached was and appeared after his therefore the gospel paul preached might well enough be different from those now in our hands certainly paul never a miracle of says nothing of his birth had he known of these things a man of his strong love of the marvellous would scarcely be silent in him primitive christianity appears to the greatest advantage it shone in his heart like the rising sun chasing away the mist and clouds of night his prejudices went first his passions next soon he is on foot the world over to proclaim the faith which once he de where are his prejudice hatred his of the tribe and the den the flame of religion has con them all forth he goes to the work the strong passion the will are now directed in the same channel with his love of man his mighty soul wars with declaring an idol is nothing with to announce that the law has passed away with folly and sin to declare them of the devil and lead men to truth and peace the resolute goes flaming forth in his a soul more robust great hearted and manly does not appear in history for some centuries at the least danger is nothing persecution nothing it only puts the edge on his well tempered spirit he is | 37 |
content and joyful at bearing all the reproaches man can lay on him there was nothing sham in paul he felt what he said which is common enough but he lived what he felt which is not so common what wonder that such a man made overcame violence and helped the truth to triumph it were wonderful if he had not take away the life and influence of paul the christian world is a thing we cannot tell what it would have been under his hands and of his the new faith from heart to heart till many thousands own the name and amid all the persecution that follows the pious of the earth such a ai the sun never saw before however it was not among the great and refined but the low and the rude that the faith found its early men came up faint and hungry from the high ways and hedges of society to eat the bread of life at god s table they ate and were filled here it is that all take their rise the sublime faith of the began in a of slaves the christian has a carpenter for its for its first a tent maker for its chief yet these men could stand before kings courts and trembled at paul s reasoning yes the world trembled at such reasoning and when whole multitudes gave in their when the common means of tyranny and the cross failed to this detestable superstition as ill natured it but when two thousand men and women delicate and men newly married come to the and j mj we are christians all kill us if you will we cannot change then for the first time official persons begin to look into the matter and inquire for the cause which makes women and young men there are always enough to join any folly because it is new but when the s axe under his apron or slaves erect a score of crosses in the market place and men see the limbs of brothers fathers and sons huddled into bloody or thrown to the dogs it requires some heart to bear up accept a new faith and mortal life it is sometimes asked what made so many con to christianity under such fearful circumstances the answer depends on the man most men apply the universal and call it a miracle an of the laws of mind the had miraculous authority peter had revelations paul a miraculous both visions and other miraculous assistance all their life that they taught by miracles but what could it be the of the teachers the authority of a peasant would not have passed for much at or at or rome were they inspired so that they could not in doctrine or practice thus it has been taught but their did not believe it their friends knew nothing of it or there had been no sharp between paul and nor any of paul with peter they themselves seem never to have dreamed of such an or they would not change their plans and doctrine as peter did nor need instruction as and all the primitive teachers to whom james sent the circular of the first if they had believed themselves inspired they would not a council of all to decide what each person could determine as well as all the spirits and angels together still less could any discussion arise among the as to the course to be pursued was it their learning that gave them success they could not even interpret the without making the most obvious mistakes as any one may see who reads the book of acts was it their eloquence their miraculous gift of tongues what was the eloquence of peter or james when paul their chief was weak in bodily presence and con primitive christianity in speech no it was none of these things they had somewhat more convincing than authority wiser than learning more than eloquence men the doctrine was true and divine they saw its and divinity in the life of these rough men they heard the voice of god in their own hearts say it is true they tried it by the standard god has placed in the heart and it stood the test they saw the effect it had on christians themselves and said here at least is something divine for men do not gather grapes of thorns when men came out from hearing peter or paul set forth the christian doctrine and apply it to life they did not say what a moving speaker how beautifully he the word how he the light of the sun and the roar of torrents and the of the stars as it were in his speech what a melting voice what graceful gestures what beautiful gathered from all the arts poetry and nature herself it was not with such reflections they entertained their journey home they said what shall we do to be saved primitive christianity was a wonderful element as it came into the world like a two edged sword it cut down through all the follies and of four thousand years it acknowledged what was good and true in all systems and sought to show its own agreement with goodness and truth wherever found it told men what they were it bade them hope look upon the light and after the most noble end to be complete men to be reconciled to the will of god and so become one with him it gave the world assurance of a man by showing one whose life was beautiful as his doctrine and his doctrine combined all the excellence of all former teachers and went before the world thousands of years it told men there was one god who had made of one blood all the nations of the earth and was a father to each man it showed that all men are brothers believing | 37 |
and gave themselves up to receive her thoughts and feelings in the spirit which led her to express them they felt that here was one whose only impulse was to to and realize her nature and they forgot to measure what she did by her position in society there have been a few exceptions of persons judged the work who showed entire to its fulness of original thought and inspired fidelity to nature and by their looks the innocent of youthful but these have been so few that this time the vulgar is not the same with the mob but the reverse if such was its reception from those long by custom and over by artificial tastes with what joy was it greeted by those of free intellect and youthful eager heart so very few printed books are in any wise a faithful of life that the possession of one really sincere made an era in many minds tongues that vol ii no iii and had long been silent as to what was dearest and most delicate in their experiences or most desired for the future and making the common day and common light rise again to their true value since it was seen how fruitful they had been to this one person the playing in our sky diffused there an and a light which revealed unknown attractions in seemingly and many secrets from the dim recesses in which they had been for years cold and silent yet while we enjoyed this picture of a mind to its highest pitch by the desire of daily to an object while we were enriched by the results of the child s devotion to him at by the as the old heathen but to her poetic apprehension all in one we must feel that the relation in which she stands to is not a beautiful one are natural to youthful hearts noble enough for a passion beyond the desire for sympathy or the instinct of dependence and almost all natures can recall a period when some noble figure whether in life or literature stood for them at the gate of heaven and represented all the possible glories of nature and art this worship is in most instances a secret worship the still small voice constantly rising in the soul to bid them the of the world and beauty from for another of kindred nature has done so this figure whose achievements they admire is their st peter holding for them the keys of paradise their model their excitement to fulness and purity of life their external conscience when this devotion is silent or only spoken out through our private acts it is most likely to make the stair to heaven and lead men on till suddenly they find the golden gate will open at their own touch and they need neither nor idol more the same course is in the religion of nations where the worship of persons rises at last into free thought in the minds of philosophers but when this worship is expressed there must be singular purity and strength of character on the part both of idol and to prevent its d into a mutual excitement of vanity or mere thou art the one worthy to inspire me cries one i and thou art the only one capable of understanding my inspiration smiles back the other and clouds of incense rise to hide from both the free breath of heaven but if the idol stands there grim and insensible the i poor will his sacrifices with passionate till the scene becomes as sad a farce as i that of and all that is dignified in human nature lies crushed and by one superstitious folly an admiration restrained by self respect i do not mean pride but a sense that one s own soul is after all a power and a precious possession which if not now ot as apparent magnificence is of as high an ultimate destiny as that of another honors the admirer no less than the admired but humility is not weakness neither does consist in and the of the soul deserve to on for many days for if they had not wandered so far from the father he would have given them bread in short we are so admirably constituted that excess anywhere must lead to poverty somewhere and though he is mean and cold who is incapable of free to a beautiful object yet if there be not in the mind a force which draws us back to the centre in proportion as we have flown from it we learn nothing from our experiment and are not but weakened by our love something of this we feel with regard to and the great poet of her nation and representative of half a century of as high as mind has ever made was strong enough to draw out the virtues of many beings as rich as she his greatness was a household word and the chief theme of pride in the city of her birth to her own family he had personally been well known in all the brilliancy of his dawn she had grown up in the atmosphere he had created seeing him up there on the mountain he seemed to her all beautiful and majestic in the distant rosy light of its snow peaks add a nature like one of his own as subtle as and as productive of minute flowers and we could not wonder if one so fitted to receive him had made of her whole life a fair for this one figure and all this would be well or rather not ill if he were to her only an object of thought but when the two figures are brought into open relation with one another it is too unequal were indeed a child she might bring her basket of flowers and them in his path without expecting even a smile in | 37 |
return but to say nothing of the reckoning by years which the curious have made we constantly feel that she is not a child she is so indeed when compared with him as to maturity of growth but she is not so in their relation and the degree of knowledge she shows of life and thought us to demand some conscious dignity of her as a woman the great art where to stop is not evinced in all passages then is so cold so repulsive and courteously determined not to compromise himself had he assumed truly the paternal attitude he might have been far more gentle and tender he might have all the blossoms of this young fancy without ever giving us a feeling of pain and but he does not there is an air as of an elderly guardian cautiously with a giddy inexperienced ward or a father who instead of through the holy raising and the thoughts of the uses it to gratify his curiosity we cannot accuse him of playing with her feelings he never leads her on she goes herself following the vision which before her i will not he says the little bird from its nest and he does not but he is willing to make a tool of this fresh fervent being he is as ever in this what she from the soul the artist receives to use indeed we see that he enjoyed as we do the ceaseless bee like hum of gathering from a thousand flowers but only with the cold pleasure of an observer there is no genuine movement of a grateful sensibility we often feel that should perceive this and that it should have modified the nature of her for now there is nothing kept sacred and no balance of beauty maintained in her life impatiently she has approached where she was not called and the truth and delicacy of spiritual has been she has followed like a slave where she might as a pupil observe this young have you chosen a bright particular star for the object of your you will not see it best or and it best by falling prostrate in the dust but stand erect though with brow and face pale with devotion an ancient author says it is the punishment of those who have honored their kings as gods to be from the gods and we feel this about that her boundless to one feeling must hinder for a time her progress and that her years are likely to slowly after the fiery of her youth she lived so long not for truth but for a human object that the plant must have fallen into the dust when its was withdrawn and lain there long before it could its enough to become a tree where it had been a vine we also feel as if she became too self conscious in the of this intimacy there being no response from the other side to draw her out naturally she about for means to entertain a guest who brings nothing to the dinner but a silver fork perhaps would say his questions and answers might be found in his books that if she knew what he was she knew what to bring but the still human little maiden wanted to excite surprise at least if not sympathy by her gifts and her simplicity was in the effort we see the fanciful about to into the fantastic freedom into and are reminded of the fate of in s great thus we follow the course of this intimacy with the same feelings as the love of and in the history of fiction of and george as also those of and mile de l there is a in the very foundation and we feel from the beginning it will not nor it cannot come to good yet we cannot but be grateful to circumstances even if not in strict harmony with our desires to which we owe some of the most delicate productions of literature those few pages it which are genuine of private experience they are mostly tear stained by those tears have been kept living on the page those flowers which the poets present to us only when into the few records in this kind that we possess remind us of the woven by prisoners and pathetic heir in noble families and of these letters to some have said they were so pure a product so free from any air of literature as to make the reader feel he had never seen a genuine book before another she seems a spirit in a mask of flesh to each man s heart revealing his secret wishes and the vast of the life but the letters to are not my present subject and those before me with the same merits give us no cause however trifling for regret they are letters which passed between and the the friend to whom she was devoted several years previous to ber acquaintance with the readers of the correspondence with a child will remember the history of this intimacy and of the tragedy with which it closed as one of the most exquisite passages in the volumes the filling out of the picture is not unworthy the outline there given was a in one of the orders described by mrs living in the house of her order but mixing freely in the world at her pleasure but as she was eight or ten years older than her friend and of a more delicate and reserved nature her letters describe a range of outward she seems to have been intimate with several men of genius and high cultivation especially in philosophy as well as with these to her life which passed at the period of writing either in her little room with her books and her pen or in occasional visits to her family and to beautiful country places belonging to a | 37 |
large and wealthy family of extensive commercial and seeing at the house of grandmother me la most of the distinguished of the time as well as those noble and persons who were proud to do honor to letters if they did not cultivate them brings before us a much wider circle the letters would be of great interest if only for the distinct pictures they present of the two modes of life and the two beautiful figures which and these modes of life are in perfect harmony with them i have been accustomed to distinguish the two as nature s and and idea hovering from object to object drawing new tides of vital energy from all living alike in man and tree loving the breath of the damp earth as well as that of the flower which springs from it bounding over the fences of society as easily a over the fences of the field with the apprehension of each new mystery never hushed into silence by the highest flying and singing like the bird sobbing with the of an infant prophetic yet astonished at the fulfilment of each prophecy restless fearless clinging to love yet in experiment is not this the vital force cause of the which we call nature and in the soft dignity of each look and gesture whose word has the silvery spiritual clearness of an angel s all objects into their true relations drawing from every form of life its eternal meaning checking and all that was unworthy by her sadness at the possibility of its existence does she not meet the wild fearless bursts of the friendly genius to measure to to interpret and thereby to as each word of s calls to enjoy and behold like a free breath of mountain air so each of s comes like the to the landscape to hush the wild of the heart and all the of day into the pure of the solemn and sacred night the action of these two beings upon one another as representing classes of thoughts is thus of the highest poetical significance as persons their relation is not less beautiful an intimacy between two young men is heroic they call one another to combat with the wrongs of life they one another against the million they encourage each other to ascend the of knowledge they hope to aid one another in the administration of justice and the of prosperity as the life of man is to be active they have still more the air of brothers in arms than of fellow students but the relation between two young girls is essentially poetic what is more fair than to see little girls hand in hand walking in some garden laughing singing in low tones of mystery cheek to cheek and brow to brow and the gathering flowers in the of sister and graces and sister rise to thought and we feel how naturally the forms of women are associated in the contemplation of beauty and the of affection the correspondence between very common place girls is interesting if they are not foolish but healthy natures with a common of real life there is a tenderness a native elegance in the arrangement of trifling incidents a sincere sympathy in aspirations that mark the destiny of woman she should he the poem man the poet the relation before us presents all that is lovely between woman and woman adorned by great genius and beauty on both sides the advantage in years the higher culture and greater harmony of s nature is by the ready springing impulse richness and melody of the other and not only are these letters interesting as presenting this view of the interior of german life and of an ideal relation realized but the high state of culture in germany which presented to the thoughts of those women of and philosophy as readily as to the english or american girl come the choice of a dress the last concert or assembly has made them expressions of the noblest filled them with thoughts and deep thoughts on the great subjects many of the poetical ments from the pen of are such as would not have been written had she not been the contemporary of and yet are they native and original the atmosphere of thought in the brilliant and hues of a peculiar plant this of such energies as are manifested in and into these private lives is a creation not less worthy our admiration than the forms which the muse has given them to bestow on the world through their immediate working by their chosen means these are not less the children of the genius than his statue or the of his method truly as regards the artist the immortal ofi of the muse loves where art has set its seal are objects of clearer confidence than the lives on which he has breathed they are safe as the poet tells us death alone can make the beauty of the actual they will ever and bloom as sweet and fair as now ever thus pure light nor the prophecy of high moments by com promise fits of or folly as the living poems do but to the universe which will give time and room to the bad lines in those living poems it is given to wait as the artist with his human feelings cannot though secure that a true thought never dies but once gone forth must work and live forever we know that cant and imitation must always follow a bold expression of in any wise and reconcile as well as we can to those insects called by the very birth of the rose to prey upon its sweetness but pleasure where thought has done its proper work and while it modified each being in its own kind let him who has seated himself beneath the great german oak and gazed upon the growth of of philosophy of | 37 |
criticism of historic painting of the drama till the life of the last fifty years seems well worth man s living pick up also these little which are dropping gracefully on the earth and carry them away to be planted in his own home for in each fairy form may be read the story of the national tree the promise of future as noble the of this friendship may be found in s to one of her letters if thou muse write soon again i have hesitated whether this might not be if thou write soon again then had the letters wound up like one of our here in america but in fine i think there can be no mistake they waited for the muse here the pure of public and private literature are on a par that inspiration which the poet finds in the image of the ideal man the man of the ages of whom nations are but features and the voice the friend finds in the thought of his friend a nature in whose positive existence and tendencies he finds the mirror of his desire and the spring of his conscious growth for those who write in the spirit of sincerity write neither to the public nor the individual but to the soul made manifest in the flesh and publication or correspondence only furnish them with the occasion for bringing their thoughts to a the day was made rich to and her friend by its treasures for one another if we have no ol ii no iii and object of the sort we cannot live at all in the day but thoughts stretch out into eternity and find no home we feel of these two that they were enough to one another to be led to indicate their best thoughts their fairest visions and therefore theirs was a true friendship they needed not descend to meet sad are the of for they are mostly unequal and it is rare that more than one party keeps true to the original happy the if in losing his friend he loses not the idea of friendship nor can be made to believe because those who were once to him the angels of his life the of his nobler nature and his soul by the of pure beauty that for a time were seen in their deeds in their desires unexpectedly grieve the spirit and the trust which bad them out as types of excellence amid a race by infirmity of purpose of heart and mind selfish or worldly timidity that there is no such thing as true intimacy as harmonious development of mind by mind two souls to one another two minds feeding one another two human hearts and one another be not thou whom i see wandering alone amid the of thy buried loves the relation thou hast thus far sought in vain is possible even on earth to calm profound tender and unselfish natures it is assured in heaven where only spirits can enter to perfection as there is no upon the beauty of this intimacy there being sufficient of age to give just the advantage needful with so daring a child as and a equality in every other respect so is every detail of their position attractive and picturesque there is somewhat fantastic or even silly in some of the scenes with there is a slight air of and we feel sometimes as if we saw rather a to express nature than nature s self s genius was excited to life for and of the actual will steal in and give a taint of the grotesque to the the aim is to meet as and but with sudden change the elderly prime minister and the sentimental maiden are beheld instead but in the intercourse with there is no effort each mind being and at equal expense of keeping up its fires we think with pleasure of the two seated together beside the stove in s little room walking in madame la s garden where they founded a religion for a young prince or on the or in the old castle on the hill as described in the following beautiful letters she was so timid a young who feared to say grace aloud she often told me that she trembled when her turn came to pronounce the our communion was sweet it was the epoch in which i first became conscious of myself she had sought me out in she took me by the hand and begged me to visit her in the town afterwards we came every day together with her i learned to read my first books with understanding she wanted to teach me history but soon saw that i was too busy with the present to be held long by the past how delighted i was to visit her i could not miss her for a single day l ut ran to her every afternoon when i came to the chapter gate i peeped through the key hole of her door till i was let in the little apartment was on the ground floor looking into the garden before the window grew up a silver up which i climbed to read at each chapter i one bough higher and then read down to her she stood at the window and listened speaking to me above every now and then she would say don t fall i now for the first time know how happy i then was for all even the most trifling thing is impressed on my mind as the remembrance of enjoyment she was as soft and delicate in all her features as a she had brown hair but blue eyes that were shaded by long lashes when she laughed it was not loud it was rather a soft subdued in which joy and cheerfulness distinctly spoke she did not walk she moved if one | 37 |
what they cannot receive of the light they must let pass to us and thou this plant is fairer named than because then we and are names for the leaf for the goat and think of a pretty goat who with pleasure eats the flowers and that nature offers an ideal life to e ery creature and as the elements in undisturbed working produce sustain and fulfil life so in enjoyment of undisturbed development is preparing the some time element in which the ideal of the spirit may bloom and be fulfilled and then thou that i ought to wear white if i loved nature for as she round about us lovely flowers to wear a robe with painted flowers is and we ought to live in harmony with nature otherwise the of the human spirit could not bloom oat i thought awhile about thy sayings so were we both silent for it was my place to answer and i did not venture to me so full of wisdom thy thought really seemed to be at one with nature and thy soul to tower above men as the tree tops full of fragrant flowers in sunshine rain and wind through night and day are ever striving up into the air indeed thou seem to me a lofty tree inhabited and by the spirits of nature and when i heard mine own voice that would answer thee then was i abashed as if its tone were not noble enough for thee i could not say it oat thou help me and say the spirit streams into and that goes forth from all which nature produces man has reverence before nature because she is the mother who the soul with that which she gives it to feel very much have i thought of thee and on words and thy black eye lashes that covered thy blue eyes even as i saw thee that very first time of all and thy tender gesture and thy hand that smoothed my hair i wrote to day ave i seen it was a from god now read i that again and i would fain do all for thy love do not tell me if thou hast tenderness for other men i mean to say be to others as thou wilt only let that be separate from us we must be secluded one with another in nature we must go hand in hand and speak with one another not of things but a great speech let there be nothing about learning i cannot use that what shall i learn which others know already that may not be entirely lost but what happens only just for love of us that would i not neglect to live with thee when with thee i would put aside all the superfluous world stuff for truly all the il is but an injustice that cries to heaven the great voice of in us which points the soul to which is right how hateful is that courtesy which ever bows before others and yet has no real intercourse with any as if it were to put aside what does not belong to us were nature so and and as men are there could not be even a much less a tree blossom all is the pure consequence of in nature each ear of corn which its seed bears witness narrow will never open its seeds to the light it them in the bud now i begin to feel why i am here each morning prayed i when i awoke god why was i born and now i know that i may not be so senseless as the others are that i should walk the true path marked out in my heart for why has the finger of god stamped it there and taken my five senses to school so that each one may learn the letters if it were not to confirm this way one would attribute wisdom to man and it to him as the simple way of nature but the denial of a great mighty world mind in us is ever the consequence of our conventional life with others till at last one can draw no free breath nor have a great thought or great feeling from mere and decorum let the devil be grateful for great actions they must happen of themselves if all went on naturally in life it is a shame that men should give such things the name of as if an earnest independent life must not perpetually stream out like electric fire what they name great actions the tiresome race of men like they do not hear the sobs of love this must i say because the are sobbing so sweetly above me four are there also last year were there four truly i wiu never for i should be abashed before the that i could not sing like them how they breathe out their souls ia the art of in music and in such a tone so pure so innocent so pure and deep such as no human soul can produce either from the voice or an instrument why must man learn to sing while the so purely with such beauty understands to sing deep into the heart i have never heard a song of man s that touched me like the s just now thought i because i heard them so deeply i would try whether they would hear me when they made a pause i raised my voice instantly they all four burst out together as if to say leave us our empire songs are mere false tendencies of the conventional world the of a false inspiration is man carried away by sublime music wherefore if he be not himself sublime tes there is a secret will in the soul to be great it like dew to | 37 |
hear one s proper genius in its original speech is not that true oh we also would be like these tones which swiftly reach their aim without ever faltering there embrace they fulness in each a deep mystery of inward form and as man does not surely are god created beings with a continuous life of their own each thought forth out of tho soul man produces thoughts not tbey produce man ah there falls a flower on my nose and now it rains a little here am i writing stupid stuff i can scarcely read it now it is fast growing dark how fair nature out her veil so light so transparent now begin the souls of the plants to round about and the in the grove and the fragrance comes streaming wave over wave it is now dark the become more zealous they sing indeed in the silence of the moon ah we will do something really great we will not in vain have met one another in this world let us found a religion for mankind and make it well again a life with god thy did a great deal by only two or three rides into heaven let us ride a little into heaven yesterday i forgot to write to thee because i sent thy poem to but i first copied it for myself and wished to say to thee how beautiful i find it through gratitude that i have thee to my friend have i neglected it thou it in the letter that it is thy great heart that touches me and thai i hold myself unworthy to loose thy shoe thou a fair thought and it in rhyme as a mantle of honor for what a fair virtue hast thou raising the spirit from the life of earth god made the world from nothing preached ever the then would i ask how that was done t thej could not tell me and bid me be silent but i went about and looked at all the growing things as if i must know out of what they are made now know he has not made them oat of nothing he has made them out of the spirit that learn i from the poet from thee god is a poet indeed then i understand him in another letter after describing her bringing back to town a poor woman whom she found ill beyond the gates then came the good doctor and to him i gave the woman when i came to the horse market met me and said how pale you look what is the matter i am so very hungry said i and it was true the anxiety about the woman had made me hungry had a pocket fall of dried i like them much he emptied his pocket into my glove which i had drawn off to have it filled just at that moment the brought in my way went away and came to me and asked how stand in the open street hand in hand with that vexed me i went into the to thee where i ate my and laid the stones in a row on the window sill in the dusk thou standing beside me entirely sunk in silence at last thou why art thou to day so silent i said i am eating my that me but thou also art silent why art thou silent there is a silence of the soul thou where all is dead in the breast is it so in thee asked i thou silent awhile and then thou it is just so in me as out there in the garden the dusk lies on my soul as on those bushes she is but she knows herself but she is thou yet again and this time in a tone so without that i looked on thee in the night wondering and for i ventured to speak no more i thought what words could use to thee i sought in wide circles round about nothing seemed to me suited to interrupt this silence which ev r deeper and deeper took root till it streamed through my head like a which i could no more resist i laid my head dreaming on the window board and know not how much time passed then came light into the chamber and when i looked up thou leaning over me and when i looked on thee then thou as answer yes i feel often as it were a chasm here in the breast i may not touch it it pains me i said can i not fill it this chasm that also would pain me thou then i gave thee my hand and went away and long followed me thy look it was so still and so profound and yet seemed to pass away over me oh as i went home loved thee so in thought i wound my arms about thee so close i thought i would bear thee in my arms to the end of the world and set thee down on a fair place there would i serve thee and let nothing touch thee which could give thee pain yes so was it in my childish heart would i make thee happy and thought a moment i must succeed but i know well that such a thing cannot succeed to me and that it is only the illusion of my thoughts for even as children cannot separate the far and near and think they can reach down the moon with their hand to comfort the with when he is silent and sorrowful so was it with me when i came home they were all at the tea table and i was mute for i thought of thee and sat down on a stool by the stove then went deep into my heart and there an | 37 |
inner life for my spirit which might touch thee a little for until now thou only hast given me all and before thee i have never been able to make audible the voice within my breast then thought i when i should be far from thee i should more sorely come to myself because the indeed the thou vol ii mo iii and g tumult in ne makes me dumb and i cannot find a word for my true self and i remembered when we once spoke of the of that pleased me not of another opinion and if he had said only single man shall bring out to the light what dwells ia his inmost soul that he may learn to know himself would have been divine and a first greatest spirit then thought i when i should be far from thee would i in letters reveal the entire depth of my nature only thee and me and wholly in its undisturbed truth even as i perhaps know it not yet and if i will that thou me how should i begin other than with my self have i nothing and from that hour i pursued myself as a spirit which i would into the net for thy sake from the i was a whole hour alone there seeing the sails pass on the i felt a deep longing to be with thee again for as it is here it is sad without echo in the living breast man is nothing but the desire to feel himself in another before i saw thee i knew nothing i had often read and heard of friends yet never knew what a life it would be for what thought i then of men absolutely nothing i took the watch dog that i might have society but when i had been awhile with thee and had heard so many things from thee then looked i on each face as an and might well have divined many things or perhaps have divined them for i am really sharp minded truly man does express his being if the knows ho to put things together and neither his thoughts nor adds anything from his own fancy bat one is always blind when he seeks to please others or seem somewhat before them that have i remarked in myself if one loves another it is better to compose to understand the one beloved if we wholly forget ourselves and look at him i believe it is possible to divine the whole hidden man from his outward being i have recognised this for of other men i have not understood what they were to me the most i cannot consider long because i observe nothing which pleases me or with me but with thee have i felt like a music so at home was i at once i was like a child which still removed from his father land sees the light in another and must by some foreign bird be back over a sea he finds all new yet nearest related and most domestic so was it always with me when i entered thy apartment so was it on the old castle ruins yesterday the smiling meadows md the j and merry maidens singing there the evening light the passing sails and the all was nothing to me i longed only for thee i for thy little room for the winter for the snow without and the early twilight and the blazing fire this sunshine and blooming and shouting tears my heart i was delighted when came up with the carriage i looked down and there was a beggar with his two pretty children laughing and rolling o er one another holding each other close embraced i said what are your names and they answered and is fair with round red cheeks and is a with black glancing eyes they were truly one in two home at midnight a most sweet sleep by the rushing of the spring fountains monday i have re read thy last letter i am sur when i compare it with others which i have received here at the same time then must i think that there are in spirit as beings can be so remote from one another and so different th t they may meet every day yet one will never conceive of the other what he thinks and dreams and what he feels in thinking and dreaming thy whole being with others is dreamy i well know why thou awake not live among them and be so indulgent thou been quite awake they would certainly have driven thee away the that they make would certainly have put thee to flight i saw the same in a dream myself when was two years old and sometimes the dream comes over me again so that it seems that men are mere frightful by whom i am surrounded and who will take from me my senses even as in the dream i shut ray eyes that i may not see and perish with anguish so thou from thy dost shut thy eyes in life thou not see how it is appointed with men thou not have an aversion arise against these who are not thy brothers for the absurd is neither sister nor brother but thou wilt be their sister so thou among them with dreaming head smiling in thy sleep for thou them all away as a flickering grotesque dance this read i again to day in thy letter for it is now so still here that one can think thou art good to me for among all men thou most awake to me as if thou quite open thy eyes thou venture really to look upon me oh i have thought that i would never thy look lest thou shut thine eyes | 37 |
to me also and only peep sideways at me to avoid seeing all my faults and vices thou we will trifle together dost thou know how i interpret that i remember what you lately wrote to s and ever new and living is the desire in me to express my life in a permanent form in a shape that may be worthy to advance towards the most excellent to greet them and claim community with them yes after this community have i constantly longed this is the church towards which my spirit constantly makes upon the earth but now thou we will trifle because thou remain untouched because thou no community and yet thou that there is somewhere a height where the air blows pure and a longed for shower rains down upon the soul making it and stronger but certainly this is not in philosophy i do not quote this from my own feeling bears witness to me breathing men cannot so narrow themselves imagine to a philosopher living quite alone on an island where it should be beautiful as only spring can be where all was blooming free and living birds singing and all the of nature perfectly fair but no creature there to whom the philosopher could interpret anything dost thou believe that he would take such flights as those which i cannot with thee i believe he would take a bite from a beautiful apple rather than make dry wooden for his own from the high of the philosopher and and considers and writes the processes of thought not to understand himself that is not the object of this expense but to let others know how high he has climbed he does not wish to impart his wisdom to his low stationed companions but only the of his excellent machine the which together all circles but it is only the idle man who has never realized bis own being that is taken by this to know much to learn much thou and then die young why thou that with each step in life meets thee some one who has somewhat to ask of thee how wilt thou satisfy them all say wilt thou let one pass hungry from thee who asks thee for no that wilt thou not therefore live with me i have every day something to ask of thee ah where should i go if thou no more never again would i seek the path of happiness i would let myself go and never ask myself for only for thy sake do i ask myself and i will do all which thou only for thy sake do i live dost thou hear am afraid for thou art great i know it and yet i will not speak to thee thus loudly no thou art not thou art a soft child and because it cannot endure pain it it wholly i know it for so hast thou veiled many a loss but in thy neighborhood in the j and of thy spirit the world seems to me great thou not do not be afraid but because all life is so pure in thee each sign so simply received by thee the spirit must find a place to and become great forgive me to day but a mirror is before my eyes and as if some one had the veil from it and am so sad i see nothing but clouds in the mirror and winds are mourning as if i must forever weep because i think on thee this evening i was out beside the then the so and because i in loneliness am ever with thee i asked thee in my soul what is that does the speak to thee for i will confess it r should not be willing to be spoken to so so mournful complaining wished to put it from me ah am so sad was not that cowardly in me that i wished to turn the of nature from myself and address them to thee as if she talked with thee when she so moaned in the yet i would willingly share all with thee it is to me happiness great happiness to take thy pains upon myself i am strong i am hard i feel them not so easily i can endure tears and then hope springs up again so quickly in me as if all might return again and better yet than what the soul desires rely on me when it thee as if it would cast into the pit i will accompany thee every where no way is too gloomy for me when thine eye cannot look at the light it is so mournful i am willingly in darkness dear i am not alone there i am full of new thoughts which will make day in the soul precisely in the darkness rises up to me clear glittering peace oh despair not of me though i went in my letters on lonely paths truly too much as if sought myself only yet it was not so sought thee i sought intimacy with thee that i might drink with thee of the fountains of life which flow along our course i feel it well in thy letter that thou wilt withdraw from me that will i not permit cannot lay down my pen i think thou must spring from the wail all in like and must swear to me must swear to my friendship which is nothing but in thee from that time forth thou wilt swim in the blue walk with a lofty step like her with thy crest in the sunlight like her no more dwelling mournfully in the shadows adieu i go to bed and go from thee although i could wait the whole night until thou show beautiful as thou art | 37 |
and in peace and breathing freedom as it becomes thy spirit capable of the best and fairest let there be one place of repose to thee in earth on my breast good night love me if only a little to but this one thing have i kept god is man ere and in his image is also a born poet bnt also all are called and few chosen that must i alas experience in myself yet i too am a poet although i can make no rhyme i feel it when i go into the open air in the wood or up on the hill there lies a in my soul according to which i am obliged to think and my mood gives it measure and then when i am among men i let myself be carried away by their vulgar street ballad measure or then feel i myself a pitiful person and know nothing more but mere stupid stuff dost thou not feel also that stupid men can make one much than one naturally is they are not altogether wrong to say i am stupid but heart which understands me come only and i will give thee a banquet that shall do thee honor listen yet a little further every great action is a poem is of the personality into divinity if an action is not a poem it is not great yet great is all which is discerned with the light of reason that is to say all which thou seize in its true sense must be great for certain is it that every such thought must have a root which is planted in the ground of wisdom and a flower which in divine light we must pass from the ground of the soul into the image of god over and up to our origin am i not in the right and if it is true that man can be such why should it be otherwise f i understand it not ah men are other than it would have been so easy to be they hang upon what they should not regard and disdain that which they should hold fast oh i have a longing to be pure from these faults to enter the bath and wash myself from all these the whole world seems to me crazy and ever i play the fool with them and yet there is in me a voice which teaches me better let us then found a religion i and thou and let us therein for a while be both priest and and live wholly in silence and live severely in it and develop its l as a young king s son is developed who sometime shall be the greatest ruler of the whole world so must it be as if he were a hero and through his will could all and so embrace the whole world that it must grow better i believe also that god has only let the races of kings exist that they might di ay manhood so high before the eyes that it may be seen on all sides the king has power over all thus men who see his public actions perceive how badly he acts or if he does anything good how great they themselves might be then if the king is so that he does all which no other can a genial ruler draws his people to a step whither they never would have come without him we must mould our religion entirely fit such a young ruler oh wait only that has and wholly turned me to the east i shall soon understand it all now ah i pray thee take a heart sympathy in it that will me so like god to think it all out pure nothing then am i too a poet i know the way how we can consider it all we will walk together here in s garden up and down in these splendid summer days or in the which has such dark avenues we can seem to be only walking and it all in our conversation then evenings will i write it all down and send it into the city to thee by the jew and thou shalt put it into a poetic form so that when men sometime find it they will have the more reverence and faith in it this is a fair jest yet take it not so it is my earnest for wherefore should we not think together over the and wants of humanity wherefore have we then so many things together already thought over which others do not consider but for the benefit of humanity for every which up from the earth or from the spirit may be expected to bring forth fruit in time and i know not why we should not expect a good harvest which may profit humanity humanity poor humanity it is like a will o the caught in a net quite dull and ah god i sleep no more good night only i will say our religion must be called the hovering religion that will tell thee about to morrow yet one law in our religion must i propose for thy consideration truly a first law namely man shall always do a great action never another and then i will come to thee and say that each action can and shall be a very greatest ah hear i see already in spirit when we go into the council what clouds of dust there will be who not cannot think i shall have that painted on an spoon with which our shall eat their on other we might have painted who thinks not not to pray the jew is coming i must make haste to put our world revolution in his sack and we sometime shall be | 37 |
able to say what wonderful instruments god has chosen to accomplish his aims like the old in to best were it we should say thinking is praying then something good would be expressed we should win time thinking with praying and praying with thinking thou art mighty cunning to think of making me rhyme thy stuff thy projects are ever uncommonly like a rope and who fee s sure that he can balance himself or one has wings and knows he can spread them out if the should take him from the height for the rest i have understood thee well notwithstanding the many sweet praises which thou like grass for the victim that i am the victim which thou offer i feel that thou hast the right and know that i too timid and cannot what i think right outwardly defend against the of falsehood i am mute and ashamed just where others should be ashamed that goes so far in me that i beg people for forgiveness when they have injured me for fear they should observe what they have done truly i cannot endure that any one should believe i could distrust him rather l smile like a child at all which meets me i cannot endure that those whom i cannot convince of the better should have the idea that i am better and wiser than they if two understand one another to that belongs the living action of a divine third thus recognise i our relation as a present from the gods in which they themselves play the most happy part but my inner feelings my to display to light for that me neither the blue eyed nor god of the combat a support i agree with thee it would be better could i bear myself more manly and laid not aside this powerful thought of the world in intercourse with other men bat what thou have in one so timid that she fears in the to say at table the blessing loud enough to be heard let me alone and bear with me as i am if i have not the heart to raise my voice against all madness yet at least i have never permitted any the least wave of thy rushing life blood to dash itself against that hard rock it stands dry and untouched by thy holy and thou let thy life flow thither i know thou art grieved that we did not visit before st went away yesterday he came to see me seeing thy thick letter be was very desirous to hear something from it and the timid one was bold enough to read him the passage where speaks of he would copy it he must copy it else had his soul passed and the timid one was too cowardly to refuse him he said i will read it to him perhaps it will work like on his soul if not still it must be that the highest excitement produced through his poetic nature should find an echo in him i must read it to him it will at least win from him a smile now see me already full to whom maidens offered up a when they ran for a in public of timidity lest my boldness thee yet if my ear did not deceive me that hymn on the dove house was sung for the poor poet that it might make an echo to his broken late i have now much society distress this week the second time must i creep into the black robe in which me my silly timidity i seem to myself so strangely in it it is so unusual to me publicly to maintain a borrowed dignity that i must always hang my head and look away when i am spoken to yesterday we dined in a body with the mate i lost my order cross it lay under the stool i felt it with the point of my foot that made me much ed and think only the himself picked it up and begged leave to fasten it on my shoulder but heaven be praised i our came up and took the trouble on herself i could not sleep the whole night for this adventure it made me sh to think of it i went out to ride and met in his then to the comedy in your box george took me the play was the brother and sister the house was very empty on account of the heat the sat quite alone at my side she called into the theatre mr play well i m here it made me quite confused i thought if he answered a conversation might arise in which perhaps i might be called on to take part there were not men in the pit but played extremely well and the clapped at each scene so as to make the house echo then would make her profound bows it was very droll the empty house the open on account of the heat through which the day shone in then came wind and played with the tattered then madame called to ah what a superb wind and herself it was just as if she played too and they seemed in the theatre as if they were alone in confidential domestic intercourse i thought of the great poet who not so simply to speak out his deep nature yes thou be right there is something great in it it was even tragic this void this silence the open doors the unique mother full of delight as if her son had built her a throne on which she far elevated above the dust of the earth received the homage of art they played admirably indeed with inspiration merely on account of the she knows how to inspire | 37 |
respect at the end she called out she was much obliged and would write about it to her son then began a conversation to which the public was very attentive but which i did not hear because i was sent for vol ii no iii and this little sketch of s mother will remind the reader of the humorous letter in which writing to him describes the meeting between this woman of lively simple genius and her whose mind was truly an ant hill of thoughts the french madame de the two following letters passed between the friends while was at a watering place where she became acquainted with the duke of they were written at different times but give an idea so distinct of the habits and tendencies of the two persons that they seem to answer one another therefore i have given them together to twice three times between oaks and and young light bushes hill up hill down then comes one to a rock smooth shining catching the like a dark mirror are green moss seats this morning went i thither it is my usual walk when alone not too long and yet secluded there saw i the mist like young down between the rock floating hither and thither and above me was it ever more golden the morning shadows drew aside the sun crowned me it struck back sharply from the black stone it burned very fiercely yet oppressed not my forehead i would willingly wear a crown if it pressed no harder than the hot august sun so sat i and sang to the rocks and listened for the and thoughts of empire rose into my head to govern the world according to the which have been produced in the work shop of my feelings and to drive out everywhere such are the wishes that rise to my head in such a hot summer morning and to which s speech of the stars had now given a powerful excitement he said each feeling each conception becomes a capacity and a possession it draws itself back indeed but at a wholly unexpected hour it comes forth again and then i seated myself in a lonely place and feigned such things out into the blue and came to nothing except heart as i thought that i might quiet the shrieking of the who by their the voice of the spirit merely by the government of my feelings indeed this would be a heavenly compensation for those blows of the rod with which they blindly all inspiration i would thou a ruler and i thy that would be my province and i know certainly that i should be discreet before the pure life flame but now is it a wonder that on is stupid thus was i beneath the burning sun sunk in meditation chasing on and a like the wind to all quarters of the globe and as thy of lofty inspiration set the world to rights commanding hither and thither sometimes with a stamp of the foot or threatening word to make matters go on quick meanwhile i had neglected to read thy which i took out with me tending to study it really but now the impetuous motions of my soul i felt compelled to soothe in sleep as always i do when my temples burn thus from zeal about the future o of the soul how artistic rich and is thy rim made so that it may restrain the rushing floods of life inevitably else should i have thee my friend the scented me out he me with his barking and wanted me to play with him he so loud that all the rocks groaned and echoed it seemed as if a whole hunt were out i must shout too for joy and he brought me my straw hat which i had thrown down the steep rock with such graceful leaps so is it when we wish through love to please any one we do not measure the dangers of the pit but trust in our own powers and succeed ah it would be much if man would trust his own genius as this he laid his on my shoulders when he had brought me back the hat w thou it in jest i named him thinking he must even so have looked up to the goddess for he was so noble and fair and bold men look not easily out so simply great and undisturbed in their own wise as animals do the duke had followed the barking of his dog and now came forth from behind the trees he asked why i gave that name to the dog which he calls this he said was the name of a slain before by i showed him thy poem to explain whence i took the name he sat down on the rock and read it partly aloud making notes with a pencil i send these to thee he has read it with self collection and thus truly with love i know not how often chance may favor thee so that thou touch the more delicate strings of the soul thus will it rejoice thee he asked whether i understood the poem i said no but like to read it because thou art my friend who me he said a bud is this little work carefully guarded from each foreign influence which the great soul of the friend embraces and in this softly folded of a yet speech slumber giant powers the inspiration to lifts up its wings within thee full of and because the world is too for such pure essays to express thy sa will it not this veil which embraces thy far reaching imagination and thy high philosophic spirit with surprise i received the pleasure of this praise he walked on with and as we and went have me talk of thee | 37 |
of our life together of character of thy form then have i for the first time reflected how fair thou art we saw a well grown white silver in the distance with its hanging boughs which had grown up out of a in the midst of the rock and softly moved by the wind bent downwards toward the valley to this i involuntarily pointed as i spoke of thy spirit and thy form the duke said then is the friend like that i said yes so would he go with me and look on thee nearer the path was so steep and slippery i thought we could not go but he said would find us out a way what sort of hair has she t glossy black brown hair which flows freely in loose soft curls on her shoulders and her eyes eyes blue in color full of fire but also liquid and calm her forehead soft and white as ivory nobly arched and free small broad like s that smiling curl backward brows like two black that measuring one another with sharp look neither seizing nor leaving one another proudly raise their then fearfully smooth them again thus watches each brow yet timid over the soft glances of her eyes and the nose and cheek the nose has been as a little proud and but that is because the with every feeling hardly the breath as thoughts rise upwards from the lip which out fresh and powerful guarded and gently restrained by the delicate upper lip even the chin must i describe truly i have not forgotten that had had his seat there and left a little hollow which the finger is pressed into as poetry full of wisdom her spirit meanwhile there stood the so gorgeous filled with gold so whispered through by the sun by the breeze so willing to bow itself gently to the stream of the morning wind waving its green waves joyfully into the blue heaven that i could not decide what lay between both suits one and not the other found with many leaps the way to the the duke followed i remained behind i could easily have followed but i would not in his presence he cut letters in the bark quite low down near to the foot and said he wished it might be called the friendship and that he also might be our friend i was willing ah let him he will come this winter to at first a prince forgets easily such a matter among many other for he cannot believe it possible that if a man but gave himself entirely to one thing through this alone the penetration the force of judgment the all can arise for which they are all hunting and fluttering about besides he is sick and has few good days for such an one must we fill out firom all heal and ing adieu to morrow morning a great party is formed for a donkey excursion and to morrow before noon goes the good away and very early about three o clock the englishmen wish to climb the hill with us to see the sun rise the others did not wish to have but i would have him for else i am weary though the others say it makes them weary to have him there early to morrow comes the woman i shall send this letter by her though it is not yet so long as my first but thou art melancholy and i would fain amuse thee a little and i know the pretty story of the duke will make thee laugh however thou may est draw thy lips together grant it may make thee pleasure also i have copied his declaration of love from thy that from his own hand belongs to thee he wrote it for thee thou pot a value on it i hear he is celebrated of noble nature witty and on that account much feared by many he is also very generous and kindly but many would rather have nothing to do with him fearing his best friendliness covers a secret satire how foolish is that about me might any one make merry as much as he would it would be pleasant to me if he enjoyed it paper sent back to with the preceding letter a goddess first scene a dark at the entrance of the lower world in the back ground of this are seen the and s bark passing hither and thither in the fore ground a black altar on which fire is burning the trees and plants at the entrance of the and indeed all the and the figures of and are flame color and black the shadows light grey white dressed like a roman youth a great fiery snake which has its tail in its mouth forms a circle out of which does not pass s and stopping his boat why dost thou call me when will the time come look at the snake at thy feet so long as the circle is unbroken the spell lasts also thou it then why dost thou ask me unkind old man if it comforts me yet once again to hear the promise of a better future why dost thou deny me a friendly word we are in the land of silence to me yet once again i hate speech speak speak ask he rows away incense on the altar goddess of midnight of the future which yet sleeps in the bosom of chaos mysterious appear powerful why thou me from out the of eternal midnight this shore is hateful to me its gloom too full of light it seems to me that from the land of life have wandered hither o forgive and hear my prayer pray not thou art queen here thou and it not i know it not | 37 |
and wherefore do i not know it because thou not see who will show me a mirror in which i may behold myself love and wherefore love because the of that alone answers to thine how far does my kingdom extend everywhere if once beyond that barrier how shall the impenetrable wall that my province from the upper world ever fall asunder t it will fall asunder thou wilt dwell in light all shall find thee o when shall this be when believing love tears thee a way from night when in hours or years count not by hours with thee time is not look down the snake winds about as if in pain but vainly he his teeth more firmly to keep close the circle vain is this resistance the empire of of and night must fall to ruins she and o future wilt thou but resemble that blessed distant past when i dwelt with the gods in perpetual glory smiled on them all and at my smile their looks lightened as never from the and thanked me for her youth and the ever blooming for her charms but separated from me by the darkness of time before my breath had lent them they fell from their those serene gods and went back into the elements of life into the power of the heavens into the hearts of men into the minds of the wise the into the songs of the poets and i most unhappy of all was not permitted to bind the laurel upon the brows of the hero of the poet banished into this kingdom of night a land of shadows this gloomy other side i must live only for the future in his boat shades bow yourselves shades this is the queen of and that you still live after your earthly life is her work chorus of shades silent guides us the bark to the unknown land where the sun never on the always dark strand reluctantly we see it go no other sphere our looks would know than life s bright colored land same s bark lands springs on shore still seen in the back ground back from this shore which no shade may tread why thou upon me i am not a shadow like you a joyful hope a faith full of visions have kindled the spark of my life to flame aside surely this must be the youth who bears in himself the golden future he rows away yes thou art he to me by through thy look will the light of day break into these ancient and the night if i am he to thee maiden or goddess however thou art named believe thou to me the inmost of the heart say who art thou what is thy name and how thou find the way to this shore where neither shades nor men dare wander but only gods i am unwilling to speak to thee of anything but mj love indeed to speak of my love is to speak of my life and then hear me i am the son of and the double of h ve and beauty has in my being an idea of bliss which i nowhere find yet must everywhere foresee and seek long was i a stranger upon earth i could not enjoy its goods till at last came into my sod a dim of thee everywhere was i accompanied by the idea reflected from thee everywhere i followed the trace of the beloved even when it plunged me down into the realm of dreams thus guiding me to the gates of the lower bat never could i press through to thee an unhappy fate drew me ever back to the upper world how youth hast thou so loved me that rather not find me thou have forsaken and the rosy dawn t so have i thee and without thee the earth no more could give me joy neither the spring the sunny day nor night which to possess the gloomy would willingly resign his but as the love of my parents was beyond all other for they were love itself so the desire which has drawn me to thee was most powerful and mj faith in finding thee victorious over all obstacles for my parents knew that the child of love and beauty could find nothing higher than itself and gave me this faith in thee that my powers might not be exhausted by striving somewhat higher out of myself but how thou to me at last unwillingly does receive the living into the bark made only for the shades once was my longing to see thee so great that all men have invented to surround thee with uncertainty seemed to me little and vain courage inspired my whole being my only wish is for her thought i and boldly cast from me all the goods of this earth and my bark to the perilous rock where everything earthly is wrecked a moment i thought what if thou lose all and find nothing bat high confidence pressed doubt aside i said to the upper world a last farewell night embraced me a pause and i found myself with thee the torch of my life still burns the other side of the water the heroes of the former world have already tried this same path courage enabled them to pass the river but to love only is it given to found here a permanent empire the here say my breath immortal life then be thou immortal for thou hast worked in me an change before i lived a life but thou hast breathed into me a soul yes dear youth in thy love i behold myself b and i know now who i am know that the sunny day must fill with light these ancient comes from behind the enter into the snake circle he does so | 37 |
and the snake too long thou in the night of and known by the few of by the many confined by a spell within this narrow circle an as old as the world says believing love will find thee even in the darkness of draw thee forth and found thy throne in everlasting glory accessible to all the time is come but to thee remains yet somewhat to be done n the scene changes into a part of the garden faintly shadows are seen gliding hither and thither on one side a rock in the back ground the and s bark see this threatening rock is the wall of separation which the realm of mortal life from that of thy mistress it from this place the and prevents severed loves from meeting again try to throw down the rock that thy beloved may ascend on the ruins from the narrow dominion of the lower world that in future no barrier may separate the land of the dead from that of the living strikes the rock it falls full daylight shines in triumph the rock is sunken and from this time it shall be permitted the thoughts of love the dreams of hope the inspiration of the poet to descend hither and to return all hail immortal life will fill the pale realm of shades now thy empire is founded come ascend with me into eternal light and all love all shall share my empire thou smooth thy brow be friendly guide to those who would enter my kingdom well for me that i faithfully tended as a fire the holy of my heart well for me that i had courage to die to to live for immortality to offer up the visible to the invisible the following note was written by the hand of the duke august von upon the manuscript of it is a little thing not worthy thy attention that i esteem it vol ii no iii and a gift from heaven to understand thee thou noble life looking down upon the earth thou like the sun give it a fair day but thou look in vain for thy peer beneath the stars like fresh flower comes the careless life of thy thoughts before the subdued man his bosom with deep as thy spirit plays round him like loose just escaped from the band he on thee a lover like still roses and waving lilies before him thy thoughts bearing blessings on their glances confidential near the heart are they they and his aims and his and on the silent paths of night are the stars looking from on high the witnesses of his vow to thee yet is it a little thing only not worthy thy attention that i esteem it as a from heaven to understand thee thou noble life the letter of to images and though we may suppose it to in playful malice the picture of s with what we should imagine to be her habits to it seems to me sometimes quite too absurd dear that thou with such solemnity declare my scholar when i might as well hold myself thine yet it gives me much pleasure and there is also a truth in it if the teacher feels himself stimulated by the scholar thus may with some reason call myself thine many new are brought me by thy opinions and by thy in which i and since thou art so loving as to name my scholar i may sometime marvel to see over what a bird i have been brooding thy story of is quite pleasant nothing dost thou love better than to take the sins of the world upon to thee they are ho burden they give thee wings rather for and whim we may think god himself takes with thee but thou wilt never be able to make men esteem thee something better than themselves yet however genius makes to itself air and light it is always ethereal wise even when it bears its all the load of in such matters thou art a born genius and in these can i only be thy scholar toiling thee with diligence it is an amusing play in the circle that while others complain of thy so called i secretly lament that my genius does not lead to such careless away over the and plains where thou no path dug before thee by the yet always do only one thing at a time do not begin so many all in thy chamber it looked like the shore where a fleet lies wrecked wanted two great that he lent you now three months ago from the city library and which you have never read lay open on the ground and thy bird had not spared it thy fairly designed map of the voyages of lay near as well as the shell box with all the and shells of colors they have made a brown spot on thy pretty straw carpet but i have tried to put all once more into order thy which thou not find to take with thee guess where i found it in the orange tree box on the balcony it was buried in the earth up to the mouth piece probably thou hast desired on return to find a tree of up has watered the tree and the instrument has been all i have laid it in a cool place that it may dry gradually and not burst but what to do with the music that lay near by i cannot tell i put it in the sun but before human eyes thou never show it again the blue ribbon of thy has been fluttering out of the window to the great delight of the school children opposite ever thy departure i a little for not having shut the window she excused herself because it was hid by the green silk curtain yet whenever the door is open there | 37 |
in actual life be and confirmed must be to thee a triumph aye a happiness even though only in a dream for in dreams the noblest convictions may meet as elsewhere and i agree with thee that it was a trick played by thy demon yet one with a meaning of wisdom for if thou been satisfied in the dream so perhaps had also been satisfied thy longing for great deeds and what would that have availed thee would it not have increased that careless self reliance to which ny must positively give the name of no that would and not have been yet would there not have been that exaltation which is now continually renewed by the excitement of that longing i would wish for thee to speak between ourselves for this may no man hear that those deeply dispositions might be called forth by destiny and no trial omitted which either in dream or life might aid to solve the problem why it has been worth the pain and trouble to have lived plans are easily baffled therefore must we make none the best way is to find ready for all which itself as to do and that alone which us to act the holy principle which springs up of itself on the ground of our conviction never to but ever to it more and more through our thoughts and actions so that we at last recognise nothing in es but the originally divine there are many who have taken with them great christmas presents from the gods and yet never learn to make use of any of them to these it to believe themselves raised above the ground of the community merely because the of a higher law is stamped within them yet the spirit has never risen up within them and they know not how far they are from having realized that nobility of soul of which they are so proud this seems to me the noblest school of life to take heed that nothing those principles through which our inner being is consecrated never in thought nor in deed from this school the noble man is not released to the last breath of his life thy will agree with me and is himself a proof of this i believe also that it is the highest distinction of destiny to be called to always trials and one must indeed be able to the destiny of a noble man from his dispositions thou hast energy and courage enough for severe truth and at the same time art the most nature which hardly can perceive any injustice that is done towards it to thee is it a light thing to bear what others could not at all endure and yet thou art not compassionate it is energy which leads thee to assist others if i wished briefly to express thy character i would that thou been a boy thou have become a hero but as thou art a girl i interpret all these dispositions as furnishing materials for a future life preparation for an energetic character which perhaps in a living active time will be born as the sea so the ages seem to me to have their ebb and flow we are now in the time of ebb where it is who makes himself because it is not now the hour for the waves to rise up the human race sinks its breath and whatever of significant occurs in history is only to awaken feelings to practise and collect the and faculties to e upon a higher of spirit spirit rules and raises the world through this alone life is living through this alone moment is joined to moment all else is fleeting shadow each man who makes true a moment in time is a great man and however forcible are many in time i cannot reckon them among realities because no deep recognition no pure will of the absolute spirit bids them rise and rule but wholly vulgar motives of passion napoleon is an example are such not without use for the human of the spirit and prejudices must be even let me say before they can leave free the spirit of the time now what prejudices may not this hero of all have shaken to pieces what will he not even to disgust how many will the future time root up with to which it now with passionate blind devotion or can it be possible that after such terrible ghostly time should not be given to reflect i doubt not of this all things and their end and only that lives which is able to awake life of this i have said to thee enough thou wilt understand me why should not e ch one begin his career of life with solemnity and regarding himself as a development of the divine which is the aim of us all seeking where and how it may be indeed i have now said to thee enough to bring close to thee the thought that the higher powers of the spirit of man must be the only real aim of thy inner contemplation so that all may be to thee for one purpose however far thy faculties may be brought into action nothing can remain in man which his higher ideal nature is capable of producing for destiny is the mother which bears beneath its heart this fruit of the ideal take from these lines all that bears upon the heaped up leaves thou hast sent me and soothe thy anxiety on my account farewell and take my thanks for all thy love such beauty is not given only lent winged by love divine the spent frail of that most seen unseen what is and must be yet hath never been teach the ear to catch that under tone which draws the heart to know the unknown alone i see thee | 37 |
arise glory and before me roll on thy lost hopes reveal their beams like vanished appear in all their light my youthful dreams and tidings upon the ear how they not utterly depart but when the storms of life sweep by they tint the of the heart and pain and sorrow in profound the are laid from awful the tones take wing the fairest works that god hath made us like a string thus on the souls of early rose s and s tongue while music the endless years and all the in tune were hung the law with faith for bliss may tasted be though the wide world in hate by one whose heart is melody wi thoughtful night upon thine eye her depth and stillness and the stars so fair a course thou wilt not fly but one by one the bars b f p we t plan of the west community in the last number of the dial were remarks under the perhaps ambitious title of a glimpse of christ s idea of society in a note to which it was intimated that in this number would be given an account of an attempt to realize in some degree this great ideal by a little company in the midst of us as yet without name or visible existence the attempt is made on a very small scale a few individuals who unknown to each other under different of life from different social evils but at the same object of being wholly true to their natures as men and women have been made acquainted with one another and have determined to become the faculty of the university in order to live a religious and moral life worthy the name they feel it is necessary to come out in some degree from the world and to form themselves into a community of property so far as to competition and the ordinary rules of trade while they reserve sufficient private property or the means of obtaining it for all purposes of independence and at will they have bought a farm in order to make the basis of their life it being the most direct and simple in relation to nature a true life although it aims beyond the highest star is of the healthy earth the perfume of about it the of cattle is the natural bass to the melody of human voices on the other hand what absurdity can be imagined greater than the institution of cities they originated not in love but in war it was war that drove men together in multitudes and compelled them to stand so close and build walls around them this crowded condition produces wants of an unnatural character which resulted in occupations that the evil by creating artificial wants even when that thought of grief i know where er i go that there hath passed away a glory from the earth came to our first parents as they saw the angel with the flaming sword of self consciousness standing between them ol ii no in west community and the recovery of spontaneous life and joy we cannot believe they could have anticipated a time would come when the apprehension of creation the great symbol of god would be taken away from their unfortunate children crowded together in such a manner as to shut out the free breath and the universal dome of heaven some opening their eyes in the dark of the narrow crowded streets of walled cities how could they have believed in such a conspiracy against the soul as to deprive it of the sun and sky and glorious earth the growth of cities which were the of nations hostile to each other is a subject worthy the thoughts and pen of the philosophic historian perhaps nothing would courage to seek and hope social good so much as a profound history of the origin in the mixed nature of man and the by society of the various organized evils under which humanity groans is there anything which exists in social or political life contrary to the ideal that thing is not but the pure reason it had a beginning and so a history what man has done man may undo by man came death by man also the from the dead the plan of the community as an economy is in brief this for all who have property to take stock and receive a fixed interest then to keep house or board in as they shall desire at the cost of provisions purchased at or raised on the farm and for all to labor in community and be paid at a certain rate an hour choosing their own number of hours and their own kind of work with the results of this labor and their interest they are to pay their board and also purchase whatever else they require at cost at the of the community which are to be filled by the community as such to perfect this economy in the course of time they must have all trades and all modes of business carried on among themselves from the lowest mechanical trade which to the health and comfort of life to the finest art which it with food or for the mind all labor whether bodily or intellectual is to be paid at the same rate of wages on the principle that as the labor west community becomes merely bodily it is a greater sacrifice to the individual to give his time to it because time is desirable for the cultivation of the intellect in exact proportion to ignorance besides intellectual labor in itself pleasures and is more its own reward than bodily labor another reason for setting the same pecuniary value on every kind of labor is to give outward expression to the great truth that all labor is sacred when done for a common interest saints | 37 |
and philosophers already know this but the childish world does not and very decided measures must be taken to labors in the eyes of the young of the community who are not beyond the moral influences of the world without them the community will have nothing done within its but what is done by its own members who stand all in social equality that the children may not learn to expect one kind of service from love and and another from the obligation of others to render it a grievance of the common society by one of the associated mothers as destructive of the soul s simplicity consequently as the universal education will involve all kinds of operation necessary to the comforts and of life every associate even if he be the of a ditch as his highest accomplishment will be an in that to the young members nor will this elevation of bodily labor be liable to lower the tone of manners and refinement in the community the children of light are not altogether unwise in their generation they have an invisible but all powerful guard of principles minds incapable of refinement will not be attracted into this association it is an ideal community and only to the inclined will it be attractive but these are to be found in every rank of life under every shadow of circumstance even among the in the ditch are to be found some who through religious cultivation can look down in meek superiority upon the outwardly refined and the book learned besides after becoming members of this community none will be engaged merely in bodily labor the hours of labor for the association will be limited by a general law and can be at the will of the individual still more and means will be given to all for intellectual im west and for social intercourse calculated to and the hours from labor by will not be to the acquisition of wealth but to the production of intellectual goods this community aims to be rich not in the representative of wealth but in the wealth itself which money should represent namely leisure to live in all the faculties of the soul as a community it will traffic with the world at large in the of agricultural labor and it will sell tion to as many young persons as can be in the families and enter into the common life with their own children in the end it hopes to be enabled to provide only all the necessaries but all the desirable for bodily and for spiritual health books apparatus for science works of art means of beautiful amusement these things are to be common to all and thus that object which alone and the passion for individual will no longer exist for desire and whenever the sordid passion appears it will be seen io its naked selfishness in its ultimate success the community will realize all the ends which selfishness seeks but in spiritual blessings which only greatness of soul can after and the on the individuals it is believed will make this the order forever the spiritual good will always be the condition of the every one must labor for the community in a reasonable degree or not taste its benefits the principles of the organization therefore and not its probable results in future time will determine its members these principles are in social matters instead of competition or balance of interests and individual self in the faith that the whole soul of humanity is in each man and woman the former is the application of the love of man the latter of the love of god to life whoever is satisfied with society as it is whose sense of justice is not wounded by its common action institutions spirit of commerce has no business with this community neither has any one who is willing to have other men more time for intellectual cultivation than himself give their best hours and strength to bodily labor to secure himself and whoever does not measure what society owes to its west community of and instruction by the needs of the that compose it has no lot in this new society whoever is willing to receive from his fellow men that for which he gives no equivalent will stay away from its forever but whoever shall surrender himself to its principles shall find that its yoke is easy and burden light everything can be said of it in a degree which christ said of his kingdom and therefore it is believed that in some measure it does his idea for its of entrance is straight and narrow it is literally a pearl hidden in a field those only who are willing to lose their life for its sake shall find it its voice is that which sent the young man away go sell all thy goods and give to the poor and then come and follow me seek first the kingdom of heaven and its and all other things shall be added to you this principle with regard to labor lies at the root of moral and religious life for it is not more true that money is the root of all evil than that labor is the of ail good all the work is to be offered for the free choice of the members of the community at stated seasons and such as is not chosen will be hired but it is not anticipated that any work will be set aside to be hired for which there is actual ability in the community it is so desirable that the hired labor should be avoided that it is believed the work will all be done freely even though at voluntary sacrifice if there is some exception at first it is because the material means are inadequate to the reception of all who desire to go they cannot go unless they | 37 |
have shelter and in this climate they cannot have shelter unless they can build houses and they cannot build houses unless they have money it is not here as in robinson s island or in the and rocky mountains of the far west where the land and the wood are not appropriated a single farm in the midst of does not range enough for men to create out of the earth a living with no other means as the wild indians or the united states army in may do this plan of letting all persons choose their own action will immediately place the genius of in west community on its throne communication is the life of spiritual life knowledge itself out upon ignorance by a native impulse all the arts response wisdom cries if every man and woman taught only what they loved and so many hours as they could naturally communicate instruction would cease to be a and we may add learning would be no longer a task the accomplishments of many of the members of this association have already secured it an interest in the public mind as a school of literary advantages quite superior most of the associates have had long practical experience in the details of teaching and have groaned under the necessity of taking their method and law from custom or caprice when they would rather have found it in the nature of the thing taught and the condition of the pupil to be instructed each his hours of study or and the scholars or the parents of the children or the committee choose the studies for the time and the pupils submit as long as they pursue their studies with any teacher to his as is the basis of their external life scientific connected with practice will be a prominent part of the instruction from the first this obviously the natural and accounts but to classical learning justice is also to be done boys may be fitted for our there and even be carried through the college course the particular studies of the individual pupils whether old or young male or female are to be strictly regulated according to their inward needs as the children of the community can remain in the community after they become of age as associates if they will there will not be an entire to the end of preparing the means of earning a material as is frequently the case now nevertheless as they will have had opportunity in the course of their to earn three or four hundred dollars they can leave the community at twenty years of age if they will with that sufficient capital which together with their extensive education will gain a anywhere in the best society of the world it is this feature of the plan which may from parents any question as to their right to go into this community and forego forever all hope of west community great individual for their children a customary plea for spending life in making money their children will be supported at free board until they are ten years of age educated taken care of in case of their parents sickness and death and they themselves will be supported after seventy years of age by the community unless their accumulated capital them there are some persons who have entered the community without money it is believed that these will be able to support themselves and by less work more completely and with more ease than elsewhere while their labor will be of advantage to the community it is in no sense an establishment but it is hoped that in the end it will be able to receive all who have the spiritual it seems impossible that the little organization can be looked on with any by the world without it those who have not the faith that the principles of christ s kingdom are to real life in the world will smile at it as a visionary attempt but even they must acknowledge it can do no harm in any event if it the hope of its it will immediately become a manifold blessing its moral must be as long as it lasts it will be an example of the beauty of love if it in successful labor with improvement in mind and manners it will teach a noble lesson to the agricultural population and do something to check that rush from the country to the city which is now stimulated by ambition and by something better even a desire for learning many a young man leaves the farmer s life because only by so doing can he have intellectual companionship and opportunity and yet did he but know it professional life is ordinarily more to the perfection of the mind than the farmer s life if the latter is lived with wisdom and moderation and the labor mingled as it might be with study this community will be a school for young who may learn within its not only the skilful practice but the scientific reasons of their work and be enabled afterwards to improve their art it will also prove the best of normal schools and as such may claim the interest of those who mourn over the of our common school system with its present ill instructed teachers west it should be understood also that after all the working and teaching which individuals of the community may do they will still have leisure and in that leisure can employ themselves in with the world around them some will not teach at all and those especially can write books pursue the fine arts for private if they will and exercise various functions of men from this community might go forth of the gospel of christ who would not have upon them the or the that now the power of the clergy and even if were to go from this community to reside among as | 37 |
now for a salary given the fact that they would have something to retreat upon at any moment would save them from that dependence on their which now the relation there ar doubtless beautiful instances of the old true relation of and people even of teacher and taught in the churches around us but it is in vain to attempt to conceal the ghastly fact that many a is burning dimly in the no longer silver or golden because compassion to put it quite out but let the spirit again where it and not itself by salary and other and the preached word might the awful dignity which is its appropriate garment and though it sit down with and again speak with authority and not as the we write as is evident perhaps not as members which we are not but interested spectators of the growth of this little community it is due to their modesty to for bringing out so openly what they have done simply and without we rest on the spirit of the day which is that of communication no sooner does the life of man become visible but it is a part of the great phenomenon of nature which never seeks display but suffers all to when this speculation is made in respect and in love of truth it is most to be defended we shall now proceed to make some observations that may sound like criticism but this we do without apology for earnest of a true life are not liable to be the very liberality and truth to nature of the plan is a legitimate reason for fearing it will not succeed as a special west community community in any given time the does not always yield according to the reasonable expectation of its lord when he looks for grapes behold it brings forth wild grapes for outward success there must always be compromise and where it is so much the object to avoid the dangers of compromise as there very properly is here there is perhaps danger of not taking advantage of such as nature offers one of these is the principle of it is fair to take advantage of this in one respect the members may be stimulated to and hope by the spectacle of society around them whose unnecessary evils can be clearly seen to be folly as well as sin from their retreat the spirit of liberality must be from the spirit of accommodation love is a stern principle a severe when it is one with the pure reason as it must be to be holy and to be effective it is a very different thing from indulgence some persons have said that in order to a true experiment and to a really generous faith in man there should be any neighborhood taken without with the proportion that may happen to be in it of the good and bad the strong weak but we differ as to the application in this instance they are so little about with rules and that they have no chance but by being strong in the spirit touch not taste not handle not must be their with respect to the organized they have protested against and with respect to means of successful the of st god is patient because he is eternal to be a little more explicit the men and women of the world as they rise are not at the present moment wise enough in the hebrew sense of the word wisdom even if they are good enough to enter into a plan of so great mutual confidence to all the evils arising from constitutional infirmity and they must especially at first be exposed there will always be natures too cold to satisfy the warm hearted too narrow for the enjoyment of the wide some will be deficient in reason and some in sensibility and there will be many who from defect of personal power will let run to waste beautiful hearts and not turn to account great insight of natural wisdom ii no iii we t community love justice patience forbearance every virtue imder heaven are always necessary in order to do the social duties there is no knot that cannot but the almighty wisdom and goodness will not allow any tower to be by the children o men where they can understand one another this there must ever be sincerity of good design and truth for the of beauty now there can be only one way of selecting and their company the power to do this must be inherent in their constitution they must keep sternly true to their principles in the first place they must not compromise their principle of labor in receiving members every one who has any personal power whether bodily or mental must bring the contribution of personal service no matter how money he brings besides this personal service is not to amount to in any instance but in every able or sound minded person it should be at least equivalent to the care of their own persons exchange or of labor so as to to each according to his genius is to be the means of ease but no absolute should be given except for actual infirmity my father hitherto and i work is always the word of the divine humanity but that they keep the gate of entrance narrow as the gate of life which is being as liberal as the moral law a subtle temptation them from the side of their organization wo be unto them if they lean upon it if they ever forget that it is only what they have made it and what they sustain it to be it not only must be ever instinct with spirit but it must never be thought even then to the spirit it can do nothing more even if it work miracles than make bread out of stones and after all man not by | 37 |
had not these me against myself defended tke senses and the said the senses and the soul what we know is a point to what we do not know the first questions are still to be asked let any man bestow a thought on himself how he hither and whither he and he will find that all the literature all the philosophy that is on record have done little to dull the edge of inquiry the globe that so silently with us through the sea of space has never a port bat with its little of friendly its voyage through the signs of heaven to renew its again forever the wonderful tidings our glasses and give us concerning the hospitable lights that hang around us in the deep do not but our curiosity and in like manner our culture does not lead to any goal but its richest results of thought and action are only new preparation here on the surface of our swimming earth we come out of silence into society already formed into language customs and traditions ready made and the multitude of our associates us from expressing any sur at the somewhat agreeable novelty of being and frown down any intimation on our part of a disposition to assume our own vows to preserve our independence and to any inquiry into the sweet and sublime vision which us and yet there seems no need that any should fear we should grow too wise the path of truth has obstacles enough of its own we dwell on the surface of nature we dwell amidst and surface so closely on surface that we cannot easily pierce to see the interior then the of things under every cause another cause truth too high or too for the most resolute see of how much we know nothing see the strange position of man our science neither him as a whole nor any one of its particulars see the action and reaction of will and necessity see his passions and their in the of nature and circumstance see the fear that rides even the brave see the hope whose fountains in our consciousness no can find consider the and the the phenomenon of laughter and explore the elements of the comic what do we know of the mystery of music and what of form why this stroke this outline should express beauty and that other not see the region of with coincidence foresight dreams and consider the appearance of death the formidable secret of our destiny up as the barrier of na ture our ignorance is great enough and yet the fact most surprising is not our ignorance but the of men from knowledge that which one would say would unite all minds and join all hands the ambition to push as far as fate would permit the planted garden of man on every hand into the kingdom of night really fires the heart of few and solitary men tell men to study themselves and for the most part they find nothing less interesting whilst we walk before and behind with will fate hope fear love and death these or angels whom we catch at but cannot embrace it is droll to see the contentment and of man all take for granted the learned as well as the that a great deal nay almost all is known and forever settled but in truth all is now to be begun and every new mind ought to take the attitude of out from the gaping on the shore and sail west for a new world this profound ignorance this deep sleep of the higher faculties of man with a great abundance of what are called the means of learning great activity of book making and of formal teaching go into one of our public when a new box of books and journals has arrived with the usual of the literature of england the best names of britain are on the covers what a mass of literary production for a single week or month we upon it before we read we say what an invention is the press and the journal by which a hundred pale students each a hive of flowers of learning of thought each a poet each an accomplished man whom the influences have joined to breed and are made to unite their manifold streams for the information and delight of everybody who can read how lame is speech how imperfect the of t e and the soul the ancient wandering from castle to hamlet to sing to a audience his melodious thoughts these books contain the chosen verses of a hundred born living and singing in distant countries and different languages for the intellectual wealth of the world like its commercial rolls to london and through that great heart is hurled again to the and here too is the result not poetic of how much thought how much experience and how much suffering of wise and cultivated men how can we in america expect books of our own whilst this of wisdom arrives once or twice in a month at our ports in this mind we open the books and begin to read we find they are books about books and then perhaps the book was itself a or of others so that the page we read is at third or fourth hand from the event or sentiment which it describes then we find that much the largest proportion of the pages relates exclusively to matter of fact to the superficial fact and as if any reference to a thought or law which the fact indicated a large part again both of the prose and verse is from old and the oft repeated praise of such is repeated in the phrase of the present day we have even the mortification to find one more still from our anticipated prize namely that a large portion of criticism | 37 |
combined with manhood s vigor how sage his counsel and how warm his the glowing fire and the flame d even in his presumption he was kindly yet ah does memory cheat me what was all since truth was wanting and the i loved could court his death to vent his anger on me and i must punish him or live j i chose the but in his death f died i land sea church people throne all all are naught i live a living death and call it yet wretched ruler o er these empty a part remains to play and i will play it a purple mantle hides my heart the kindly crown my aching brow and pride my anguish from the world editor t table i bat in the still and ghostly midnight from each eye and ear set free i still may shed the bitter hopeless tear nor fear the of the walls i to myself may say i die i die elizabeth and alone so die as thou hast lived alone but editor s table the more liberal thought of intelligent persons a new name in each period or community and in ours by no very good luck as it sometimes appears to us has been as we have every day occasion remark its perfect identity under whatever new or application to new facts with the liberal thought of all men of a religious and habit in other times and countries we were lately so much struck with two independent to this fact proceeding from persons one in sympathy with the and the other with the church that we have begged the privilege to an extract from two private letters in order that we might bring them together the writes to his correspondent after this manner all the peculiarities of the ue directly or indirectly the of man the supposition of a nature in man which all limits of animal life and of social the reality of spirit in the highest sense of that holy word as the essence of god and the inward ground and law of man s being and doing is supposed both in the fact of sin and the possibility of from sin the mystery of the father revealed only in the son as the word of life the light which every man outwardly in the and offering for sin inwardly as the christ in us energetic and in the of the holy spirit the great mystery wherein we find this like the rest is so throughout as might be shown by the same suggested in relation to another aspect of the matter now here is my point whose whole system from beginning to end is ideal an idea is the highest truth war against the very foundations of whatever is ideal all must be a system which to create and sustain the most enthusiasm as is its nature for it makes god all in all leads in against all even the purest and enthusiasm it fights for the letter of for usage for custom for tradition against the spirit as it breathes like editor s table healing air the and or like strong wind throwing down rotten trees and rotten of men it up with one hand the temple of truth on the outside and with the other works as in frenzy to tear up its very foundations so has it seemed to me the do not in excess hut in defect if i understand the case they do not hold wild dreams for realities the vision is deeper broader more spiritual than they have seen they do not believe with too strong faith their faith is too dim of sight too feeble of grasp too wanting in certainty i regret that they should ever seem to the for those have flowed out of the same spirit which is in every pure heart and i would have the one spirit recognise and respond to itself under all the shapes of word of deed of faith of love of thought of in which it is just as that spirit in us and to itself now in the gloom of winter now in the cheer of summer now in the bloom of spring now in the maturity of autumn and in all the endless varieties of each the friend writes thus hold fast i you to the resolution to wait for light from the lord go not to men for a creed faint not but be of good courage the darkness is only for a season we must be willing to the lord s time in the wilderness if we would enter the promised land the purest saints that i have ever known were long very long in darkness and in doubt even when they had firm faith they were long without feeling what they believed in one told me he was two years in darkness without an inch of firm ground to stand upon watching for the from on high and this long it shone upon his path and he has walked by its light for years do not fear or regret your from men your difference from all around you it is necessary to the of the soul that it should thus dwell alone for a season and when the union of god and man shall be completely developed and you feel yourself newly born a child of light one of the sons of god you will also feel new ties to your fellow men you will love them all in god and each will be to you whatever their state will permit them to be it is very interesting to me to see as i do all around me here the essential doctrines of the revived modified of all that and had heaped upon them and made the foundation of an intellectual philosophy that is the finest minds and reaches the wants of | 37 |
is which human toward a benefactor scripture that he did so the death of is said to remove the disorder of the world but if christ be not god he and not god will receive our love therefore christ must be god and those who do not believe in his divinity cannot love god the effects of this faith on the nature of man and on society prove it to be from god having thus endeavored to state author s train of we shall now proceed to offer some upon it we object first to the phrase plan of salvation and to every equivalent mode of expression as calculated to the mind to speak of a plan of salvation or a scheme of is degrading christianity to a mere expedient a contrivance for getting over a difficulty god does not plan nor scheme these terms can with propriety be applied to the human understanding only being surrounded by must use contrivance to attain its objects but he who sees the end from the beginning looks on everything which he has made and calls it all very good there is certainly everywhere the eye is adapted to the light but no more than the light is adapted to the eye christianity ia adapted to the nature of man but the nature of man is also adapted to christianity we object to every view of revelation which considers it as a separate work of god an a remedy a patch on the universe nature and revelation are parts of the same system and proceed from one source christianity is nowhere called in the bible a plan or scheme notices of recent it was a part of the divine decree in the beginning before the foundation of the world the way for it was prepared by law and its path was made straight by teacher and sage by moses and by and it came in the fulness of time a ripe fruit of the past struggle and thought and prayer of preceding ages an end not less than a means a result itself rather than a mere expedient or remedy and its coincidence with the wants of the age was not contrivance but harmony let the great doctrine of divine but once be understood by those who profess to believe it and they will cease to speak of christianity as an expedient that doctrine teaches that christianity lay at first in the mind of god as a necessary part of the great whole and that neither sin nor are casual or unnecessary to the unity and of creation we object secondly to the utter of natural religion from which our author s view proceeds and we place our objection not upon philosophic but on grounds it is easy to show that if there is no inward and universal revelation of the true god no light which every man who comes into the world that then there is no possibility of knowing the true god in his outward revelation but all such considerations we contend that the only intelligible view of the doctrine of the the key stone of christian requires us to admit a revelation of the true god in nature the doctrine of the teaches that god exists in one substance but in three persons and that it is a either to divide the substance or to confound the persons but we divide the substance and so interfere with the doctrine of divine unity when we make the to penetrate the essential nature of god if then there is no of essence then the must reside in or relation which with the original meaning of person both in greek and latin and accordingly we find as a matter of fact that there are three or revelations of god to man three and no more god makes himself known to us in nature and providence in the constitution and order of things he makes himself known to us through inspired men and the fulness of this inspiration is in christ he makes himself known to us finally in our own hearts by an inward influence besides these three of god there is no other the first shows him as the father the second as the son the third as the holy spirit notices of recent it is then dividing the substance to separate god s through inspired men from his revelation in nature and not to perceive that one is the preparation for the other to deny that god himself in nature is to deny the first person of the and to deny the father it is to fall back upon the error and suppose that god is not a universal but a partial parent to forget that he has never led himself without the witness of his works in the world that he is no of persons that we are all his offspring that his light every man that all men have the law written in the heart this mistake is committed by our author in common with many others who in nature are not aware that they are the almighty and for whom we should pray in the words of father forgive them for they know not what they do and yet we may add in the language of paul the times of this ignorance god winked at but now all men everywhere to repent the time has come in which men ought to perceive the harmony between all god s and repent of opposing reason to revelation nature to scripture the word spoken through the outward creation to the word made flesh but if our author with most of those called still and the substance of the the opposite error of the persons is committed by many others and should be equally condemned those who think christianity only a of the religion of nature and suppose the of god in christ to be the same | 37 |
with bis in natural reason wishing to reduce the gospel to a mere summary of truths of the pure reason from it everything individual and peculiar fall into this error this is the mistake of the those also confound together the separate of god who suppose the inspiration of the natural light to be the same with the influence of the holy spirit is the mistake committed sometimes by those called the doctrine of the is more correct for they distinguish between the natural light or universal inspiration and the or holy spirit whose coming is by the reception of the man christ the great truth which has lain hid under the doctrine of the for a thousand years and the importance of which when truly understood cannot be over estimated is briefly this it is one aud the same god who himself in natural reason and the outward universe in christ and in the heart yet these three revelations are not but of each other notices of recent we object in the third place to the work before us that its reasoning is very of this we will a few inconsistent he page and elsewhere that human nature as at present constituted could not be made to feel the goodness of god s mercy except god should make self for man s benefit mercy can be manifested to man so as to make an impression in his heart in no other way than by labor and self page hence he that god did make in christ and the important that those who deny the divinity of christ cannot believe in god s be page that is the soul destroying because if we do not believe that christ is god we cannot believe that god suffered for us and therefore cannot love him but on page our author shows that god gained the affections of the jews by appearing as their from egyptian bondage he says page now it may be affirmed without that in view of the nature and circumstances of the no combination of means could be so adapted to and all the affections of the soul as this wonderful series of events but in this series there is no appearance of self denial or suffering on their behalf on the part of the deity he simply by miracles to deliver them according to the reasoning therefore on page it should have made no impression on their heart at all our author is placed in this he is either wrong in asserting that mercy cannot be manifested to man by self or else in declaring that god took the best possible way to gain the affections of the when he them from egypt without self denial sweeping it is very common with our author to show that a certain course of conduct is one way to a particular end and then immediately to infer that it is the only way to that end examples of this abound through the whole volume in the argument just referred to in chap th our author shows that self denial and labor on the part of a benefactor to produce love in him who is the object of it and then immediately that affection can be created in no other way so that those who do not believe in god s self for the sake of man cannot love him and therefore cannot be saved but if this is so it is somewhat remarkable that the scripture which nowhere to the suffering or self denial of god should constantly assure us that his love was manifested by giving his son to die for us god so loved the world that notices recent he gave his only son is love not that we loved god but that he loved us and sent his son the for our sins that the sight of suffering borne for our sake has a tendency to produce affection is certain but that this is the only source of affection is surely a very sweeping assertion is not jove true and high produced also by the sight of noble and lovely qualities though not manifested toward ourselves again after attempting to show that the nation was prepared to worship god purely by his various he page that a nation could have been prepared by no other agent and in no other way certainly a very far step from the premises page after showing that one effect of a penalty to crime is to show the s aversion to it he immediately declares penalty therefore inflicted on the is the only way by which the standard of justice as it exists in the mind of god could be revealed page after showing that one way to convey the idea of to the world was by it among the jews by a peculiar system and then it into other by a of the nation he quietly adds there could be no other possible way of ideas from language to another but by the methods above mentioned we have given a few instances to show the rash and sweep ing style of argument and which through this little volume of hasty such as that on page ho obey a parent or to obey god from interested motives be sin we say nothing merely asking in this particular instance what difference is there in moral character between an act of obedience whose motive is interest and one whose motive is an affection based as it is according to our author wholly upon interest faults of style such as the use of the word page page and benevolence produces no being can be happy in obeying one whom they do not love we refer to only as showing the general haste with which the volume appears to have been prepared there are notwithstanding these errors and defects many valuable thoughts and a very honest and earnest though and narrow spirit | 37 |
notices of recent we can only endure that the noble should again distrust the voice of his own heart because the is so widely and deeply intellectual and because the circumstances of the marriage and the warning of s father look to her have a quick eye to see she has deceived her father and may thee have prepared the mine now about to destroy her this indeed is managed with such perfection of art that when says she did deceive her father marrying you and when she seemed to shake and fear your looks she loved them most and so she did we also mentally exclaim and bo she did a thought which had been lying and indeed had never been in conscious existence suddenly finding voice when the occasion calls of similar processes in the histories of our in daily life all are conscious yet who but thou shakespeare ever the thus silent and gradual like nature calling out the meaning of a before unobserved thread by the other which its place in the pattern besides the temperament of is impassioned sudden and amid influences unlikely to offer it check or balance the very tragedy of the play is that a single thought the other way might have him had he but known how to distrust his impressions thus is his greatness his ruin but in a character like that of so profound so religious and of slower movement we see too easily how such wretchedness might have been averted to be willing to accompany him into it it is a fine touch of nature to make even in his preserve the habit of selfishness and which makes him by his prolonged confession to the heart once more the unfortunate to whom he meant to the conception of the two characters is admirable showing as much depth as delicacy of thought the key offered in the following passage offers a treasury not of the gold but of gems of the secret mine among the students of a at were two friends more remarkable for their attachment to each other than for any resemblance in their minds or dispositions indeed there was so little else in common between them that hardly two boys could be found notices of recent more unlike the character of m the eldest was bold grasping and while that of timid and gentle seemed to from observation the one proud and impatient was ever laboring for distinction the world palpable visible audible was his idol he lived only in and could neither act nor feel but for effect even his secret having an outward direction as if he could not think without a view to praise and anxiously referring to the opinion of others in short his nightly and daily dreams had but one subject the talk and eye of the crowd the other silent and meditative seldom looked out of himself either for applause or enjoyment if he ever did so it was only that he might add to or in the triumph of another this done he retired again as it were to a world of his own where and feelings filling the place of men and things could always supply him with occupation and amusement had the ambition of been less or his self knowledge greater he have been a benefactor to the world his talents were of a order perhaps few have ever surpassed him in the power of acquiring to this he united perseverance and all that was known however various and opposite he could master at will but here his power stopped beyond the regions of discovered knowledge he could not see and dared not walk for to him all beyond was outer darkness in a word with all his he wanted that something whatever it might be which gives the living principle to thought but this sole deficiency was the last of which he suspected himself with that self delusion so common to young men of the praise of what is promising for that of the thing promised he too confounded the ease with which he carried all the of his school with the rare power of commanding at pleasure the higher honors of the world but the honors of a school are for things and purposes far different from those demanded and looked for by the world unfortunately did not make the distinction his various knowledge brought together and set anew was still the knowledge of other men it did not come forth as in new birth from the influence of his own nature his mind was hence like a thing of many parts yet wanting a whole that quality which the world must feel before it will reverence in proportion to its stores such a mind will be valued and even admired but it cannot command that voice the only true voice of fame which speaks not be it in friend or enemy till awakened by the presence of a master spirit such were the mind and disposition of and from their unfortunate union sprang all the after evils in his character as yet however he was known to himself and others only as a remarkable boy his extraordinary placing him above competition he supposed himself incapable of so mean a passion as envy indeed the high station from which he could look down on his associates gave a complacency to his mind not to the virtues he was therefore often kind and even generous without an effort besides though he to affect humility he did not want discretion and that taught him to bear his honors without his claims were consequently admitted by his without a murmur but there was one amongst them whose praises were marked by such notices of recent and enthusiasm as no heart not morally insensible could long withstand this youth was had naturally strong feelings and so long as he continued prosperous and happy | 37 |
their course was honorable he the praises of his companion with bis esteem and gratitude which soon into a friendship so sincere that he believed he could even lay down his life for him it was in this way that two natures so opposite became attracted the warmth and of were all that was yet known to the other for though not wanting in learning he was by no means distinguished indeed so little that could not but feel and lament it the powers of however were yet to be called forth and it was not surprising that to his youthful companions he should have appeared there being a singular kind oi about him easily mistaken for but his was like the of some spot lying unnoticed within its nook of rocks and silently drinking in the light and the heat and the showers of heaven that the seeds of a thousand nameless flowers destined one day to mingle their fragrance with the breath of nature yet to common the external world seemed to lie only like a load upon his weary eye but to them it appeared so because he delighted to shut it out and to combine and give another life to the images it left in his memory as if he would sleep to the real and be awake only to a world of shadows but though his emotions seldom betrayed themselves by any outward signs there was nothing in the soul of it was rather their depth and strength that prevented their passage through the feeble medium of words he regarded nothing in the moral or physical world as tiresome or insignificant every object had a charm and its harmony and beauty its expression and character all passed into his soul in all their varieties while his spirit over them as over the forms of a creation of his own thus living in tlie life he gave his existence was too intense and extended to be conceived by the common mind hence the neglect and obscurity in which he passed his youth but the term of soon came to an end and the friends parted each as he could to make his way in the world the profession which had chosen for the future occupation of his life was that of a painter to which however he could not be said to have come wholly unprepared the slight sketch just given of him will show that the most important part the mind of a painter he already possessed the nature of his amusements in which some one has well observed men are generally most in earnest having unconsciously his mind for this pursuit he had looked at nature with the eye of a lover none of her beauties had escaped him and all that were f to a sensitive heart and a romantic imagination were up m his memory as of delightful musing in her absence and they came to him in those moments with that freshness and life which love can best give to the absent but the skill and the hand of an artist were still to be acquired but perseverance if not a mark of genius is at least one of i notices of recent practical and it indeed there is but one mode of making the perpetual craving of any master passion the continually laboring to satisfy it and so it be innocent now sweet the reward giving health to the mind without the sense of toil this enjoyed for he never felt that he had been toiling even when the dawn as it happened broke in upon his labors there are many passages n the book of the same graceful lightness of expression and of thought they speak with the tone we dream of in the enchanted to which the pencil of the artist has introduced us by very slight indications we are made to feel the real presence of that inward life revealed to most men only at rare intervals but here flowing like a brook hidden amid sighing with a steady silver sound conjectures and concerning the love madness and imprisonment of by r h new york alexander v gold street beside the which the have only seemed to solve there are a few over which no veil of plausible explanation has been cast these if not more with meaning and productive of scenes and figures than the passages of romance presented us by daily life derive a value from the ac interest of generations as well as from the historic importance of the names which furnish them even as the great classic subject taken from the annals of greece never tire because we are always more and more interested to see what a new mind will put on the old text so are we never weary of the argument as to the innocence of the of conjectures as to the iron mask or the imprisonment of chiefly on account of this mystery is to us a personage more living than the other great poets of as beautiful and romantic aspect but whose loves and lives we know better than our own inasmuch as they have been more painted expressed with a more ardent eloquence and present a whole more rounded and compact to the imagination the pretensions of the work before us are very modest and the promise set forth by its author is more than his aim has been to arrange materials in a graceful order and furnish us with good of the less known poems and letters of rather than to show his ingenuity and critical by defending some theory of his own wherever he is clear in his own mind he says so but without attempting to enforce notices of recent upon the reader his opinion thus can we look at the evidence he has brought forward with a quite undisturbed pleasure the papers produced in these volumes alone convince any mind | 37 |
thy praise as late in s ah believe me those praises were delightful to my ear my heart soft whispered as he s x ke and thou thus in some soul of honor these incense breathing fires though gifted sincere has been thy striving great thy love what pained me was the picture of world with all these glowing grand and restless shapes which such a man can charm into his circle to the his wisdom frames for as i gazed my world sank in the distance behind steep rocks on which i seemed to fade to echo to poor shadow of a sound powerless and but now how dear thou felt the ties which bind the bard and hero born to adorn their day with noble by envy the heroic deed which fires the bard is beautiful nor less so the generous which the deed the lays whose fragrance breathes o er far off ages thou must live tranquil or thy song is l here first i saw how is rewarded i came here at a time when feast on feast given to s glory dazzled my boyish eye as in the lists displayed its the first men the fairest women of our day looked on of our bound in one when the lists opened when the trumpet sounded and shield glittered the ground pages to and the shivered notices of recent and rising clouds of dust hid for a moment the victor s and the s shame oh what a spectacle of worldly splendor i felt my and shrank abashed p how differently did i pass those moments which ambition in thy heart the lore of i was painfully receiving that feast which hundreds since have to me i could not see in a far dim apartment where not an echo of this could penetrate i lay before my eyes death waved his broad black when the light of life returned upon them it showed as through a dusky veil obscured in those first days of i left my chamber leaning on my women s i met full of joy and health and guiding thee their to me thou the first who welcomed me to this new lease of life i hailed it as an omen and hoped much for and from thee nor have i been by my hope deceived and i who had been by the tumult ed by the excess of light and roused by many passions unknown before as with thy sister i met thee in that long still gallery was like one much harassed by magic beneath the influence of celestial spirits and since when wild desires their thousand objects has the memory of that hour them and turned aside my thoughts from their unworthy course but some wildly and vainly search on ocean s sands to find the pearl which lies fast locked the while in its still secret shell princess those were fair days and had not duke d wed my sister our happiness were still but we want her life and courage her gay spirit and various wit i know that thou ne er forget her loss oh i have felt it often and keenly often have complained in solitude that i could not supply what thou hast lost in her could nothing be where i desired so much oh that i might he and not in words but deeds to thee how my heart thee in vain alas i cannot thee and often vex thee in my bewilderment have injured those thou protect have and thy cherished schemes and still go farthest from thee when i sigh to approach notices of recent i have never doubted thy wishes towards me and grieve only that thou hurt my sister can live with every one in h la own way thou but in such a friend in whom except can i confide my brother he is my sovereign not the wild dreams of freedom bar way i know i feel man i as not born to freedom and to a worthy heart t is happiness to serve a worthy prince but i cannot serve him and trust him as an equal friend but must in silence learn his will and do it en should mine own i would be a prudent friend and once i hoped to have him for a friend but now despair i know his converse and his counsel both a e what i need but when the assembled gods in his cradle rich and various gifts the graces held back theirs and whom they slight however favored by all other powers can never build their palaces in hearts oh but he is a man worthy of faith ask not so much he will redeem all his words and manner give should he once promise to be thy friend he would do all for thee oh i will have it so it will be easy unless thou art perverse but whom thou so long hast known and who is surely refined and elegant to the decree of thy fastidious taste s why hast thou not answered to her friendship i had declined it wholly but for thee i know not why cannot frankly meet her and oft when she would benefit a friend design is felt and her intent princess this path leads through dark valleys and still lonely woods hope no companion if thou wilt pursue it there thou only strive that golden time which thine vainly seeks within thy mm to form and even that i fear thou vainly wilt essay ah my princess do all hearts vainly sigh that golden time is it quite gone that age of | 37 |
freedom when on the bosom of their mother earth her children dreamed in fond security the ancient trees sheltered from heat the happy with their notices of recent the streams could boast their were familiar had no and the fearless birds and of the forest every gay creature in its play taught man the truth all which can is lawful my friend the golden age indeed is past only the have power to bring it back and shall i frankly tell thee what i think the poets in all their pretty tales of that same age most like t was then as now united noble hearts make golden days interpret to each other the world s beauty change in thy but one single word all is explained all which is is lawful might then a of the wise and good decide on what u meet for now each one says that is meet which to himself is pleasing and to the and the powerful all is permitted whether just or not p a of good should decide it is their province like a wall decorum and guards the sex propriety morality are their defence and their tower of strength and their foe and as man loves bold trial of his strength so woman graceful bonds worn with thou us rude impetuous and p not so your striving is for distant good and must be eager to effect its end but ours for single limited possessions which we would firmly grasp and constant hold we have slight hold upon your hearts that beauty which wins them is so frail and when t is gone those qualities to which it lent a charm are worthless in your eyes but were there men could know a woman s heart could feel what treasure of truth and tenderness is there could keep the memory of bliss and by its aid could penetrate the veil that age or sickness o er her casts and did not the gaining of one instead of desire fi r others then to us a day would dawn and we should know our golden age thy words call up sharp pains that long have slept within my heart p what thou frankly tell it me i hear that noble princes ask thy hand i always knew it must be so yet have not these trembling apprehensions taught my heart to encounter such misfortune though t is natural that thou leave us how shall we endure it i know not notices of recent free thy mind from all such i dare to say forever i do not wish to go nor unless my friends disturb my home with vain oh teach me but what i shall do for thee my life is thine my heart beats but to praise to thy excellence my all of bliss to realize the beautiful in thee the are separate and far man as destiny o er prudence and plans formed by the foresight of us mortals waves which us with destroying press to their wide ken seem but as the brook s ripple the wild of our atmosphere reach not those heights where they are they hear our with as light regard as we do children s for their shattered toys but thou serene as they art not removed from sympathy but ofl dost pour down from thy heights floods of light upon these eyelids wet with dew of earth princess all women ought to love the bard whose lay like thine can praise them soft and yet heroic lovely and noble hast thou painted them and e en s faults are half by tenderness and beauty from one model i pictured all if any shall be deemed worthy of immortality to that model they owe it my and her but faith his sorrow and s are not the children of my fancy now they exist and if profound reality give interest to a picture shall endure the story of a nobly placed devotion breathed into song p thy poem s highest praise is that it leads us on and on we listen we think we understand nor can we blame that which we understand and thus become thy thy words breathe heaven princess but i need the eagle s eye to bear the new born light no more at present if some things may suddenly be seized yet love and virtue nearly i think related to each other ask in their quest patience and self denial forget not this and now adieu my friend scene second is it permitted thee to thine eyes i notices of recent and look around above thee did these pillars hear what she they were the witnesses how a descending goddess lifted me into a new day what power what wealth lie in this new traced circle my happiness my wildest dream let the born blind what they will of to the cleared eye a novel sense what courage what drunk with joy i scarce can tread the indicated path and how shall i deserve the of earth and heaven patience self denial must give me claim to confidence they shall oh how did i deserve that she should choose me what shall i do to justify her choice yet that choice speaks my worth yes i am worthy since she could think me so my soul is my princess to thy words looks er thou wilt ask of thy slave in distant lands ni seek renown with peril of my life or chant in every grove thy charms and virtues wholly possess the creature thou hast formed each treasure of my soul is thine i ne er can express my vast devotion with the pen in written words ah could i | 37 |
is of all institutions most sacred it is the fact the of the social state that of which the sacred of all people have spoken and which appears with the simplest of arts the planting of gardens and growing of great is the house fair the household the cope of heaven does not cover a fact and its order and its law ufe s problem and to man his lost for this the world waits in hope a married life says is beautiful for what other thing can be such an ornament to a family as the association of husband and wife for it must not be said that walls covered marble plaster and adorned with stones which are admired by those who are ignorant of the good nor yet paintings and arched walks nor anything else which is the subject of astonishment to the stupid is the ornament of a family but the beauty of a household consists in the of man and wife who are united to each other by destiny and are to the gods who over and houses and who accord indeed with each other and have all things in common as far as to their bodies or rather their souls themselves who likewise exercise a becoming authority over their house and servants and are properly about the education of their children and pay an attention to the necessaries of life which is neither excessive nor but moderate and appropriate for what can be better and more excellent as the most admirable says than when at home the husband and the wife live days from a ii the sacred th again i have read the paradise regained the and the doctrines of temptation and milton s theories of sin and though somewhat by popular traditions are on the whole beautiful beyond compare is this poem of the and the is by that of insight which in all his works the great poets fable each on those spiritual which are the being of every man in the lost paradise milton the egyptian the christian fable in the paradise regained the and are each complete in itself the cast in the form i fancy that the egyptian and christian may be wrought into the greek fable of and all to the new and of the soul iii from dr more th evening and this rare poem on the life of the soul dr henry more s i have read at last it contains great fine thoughts but is less a poem than prose discourse in the the author s prose is always most poetic here he moves with grace and freedom but the s conflict is truly a poem throughout and a fine one it is a noble defence against the injustice of his and so i have copied it for our dial as an answer to the literary of all time l the or life of the soul bat all in vain they want the inward skill what comes from heaven can there ascend nor rage nor tempest that this bulk doth fill can profit aught but gently to attend the soul s still working patiently to bend our mind to reason and clear light that figured in our soul doth days from a april shifting its forms still playing in oar sight till something it present that we shall take for right like bt like well sang the wise of old that earth by earth and sea by sea and heaven by heaven and fire more bright than gold by flaming fire gentle love by love and hate by hate and all agree that like is known by like of the soul but souls that of his own good life partake he loves as his own self dear as his eye they are to him he never them when they shall die then god himself shall die they live they live in eternity our body is but the soul s instrument and when it fails only those actions cease that thence depend but if new eyes were sent unto the aged man with as much ease and as when his youth did please the wanton he now could all things see old age is but the blood s disease my fails not i my pen not il great prose is the following and on the the like we have not in this decline of divine philosophy the concerning the dry essence of the deity are very and unsatisfactory t is better to drink of the blood of the than bite the root of the to smell the rose than to the stalk and blessed be god the meanest of men are capable of the former very few successful in the latter and the the reports of them that have busied themselves that way have not seemed strange to the vulgar but even with one another but i should in charity this to the nature of the pigeon s neck rather than to mistake and one and the same object in nature a many and different aspects and god is as infinitely various as simple like a circle indifferent whether you suppose it of one uniform line or an infinite number of angles wherefore it is more safe to day from a admit all possible of god than to deny what appears not to us from our particular posture preface to the philosophical poems faith in the soul s seeing our most palpable evidence of the immortality is from an inward sense and this inward sense is kept the best by devotion and purity by freedom worldly care and sorrow and the pleasures of the body otherwise her will drink in so much of earthly and that the sense of the soul will be changed and being as it were by the number of which that nature hath so and with she will become in a manner and in the | 37 |
extremity of this weakness and be easily drawn off to pronounce herself such as the body is and mortal therefore it is better for us that we become doubtful of our immortal condition when we stray from that virgin purity and that we may withdraw our feet from these paths of death than that demonstration and would prove an heavy disadvantage but this is meant to them that are loved of god and their own souls for they that are at enmity with him desire no such instructions but rather embrace all means of laying asleep that truth that they bear about with them so precious a charge as an spirit this body which dissolution waits upon our exceedingly for the soul not seeing itself itself of such a nature as those things are to which she is nearest united but yet ordinarily i am sick i am weak i faint i die when it is but the life of the body that is in such plight to which she is so close in most intimate love and sympathy so a tender mother if she see a knife stuck to the child s heart would shriek and as if herself had een when as if her eye had not beheld the spectacle she had not been moved though the thing were surely done so i do verily think that the mind being taken up in some higher contemplation if it should please god to keep it in that ecstasy the body might be destroyed without disturbance to the soul for how can there be or sense or pain without preface to part second of the of the soul day from a men of most d and spirits are of the best and most profound judgment because they can so easily withdraw from the life and impulse of the lower spirit of the body they being quit of passion they have upon occasion a clear though still and quiet representation of every thing in their minds upon which pure bright reason may work and clearly discern what is true and probable to book third of the of the soul certainly the of our natural spirits and raising our soul to her due height of piety and her from the love of the body and too tender a sympathy with the frail flesh that courage and majesty of mind in a man that both inward and outward shall tremble at his presence and fly before him as at light s approach for the soul hath then ascended her fiery vehicle and it is noon to her midnight be she awake herself february iv childhood by this dial s shady may st know times progress to eternity th babe beside thee o child i seek to compass thy being but this idea of thee floating in the depths of my thought me the while for thou art older and more than thought and i lose myself in thee time stretches backward into the period whence it proceeded and forward to its return therein yet dates not thy thine advent nor thou still art and ever and shalt remain the of its thy history the hours do not chronicle thou art before time thou and by reason of this thine eternal existence dost revive eternal memories the clock that the sun that rises but give the of thy life more faithful thou hast of thy spiritual reckoning for times dial is set by thee and the of day wheels oo his courses to illustrate the story of thy soul nature thou art not but of thee she is the show matter is thy shadow as thou on thy experience itself days from a is lost in thee shines through all thy powers thou art prophet and historian of god and o child thou me of the dawn of mine own being i see relics of ages in thee and thou to me as of a once mine own and thy gentle manners are familiar to me while yet i seem strange and a stranger here in time but thou of np change thou in the of thy father an of his still clad from his still fed from his board at home art thou and there shall abide while thou memory thereof though a the while in these vessels of clay nor shall feel this seeming absence this exile in flesh this errand in time this commerce with matter this with where seeming is but shadow of being where apprehension finds never the of its and desire ever for what it hath lost and where memory and hope are but faces of the soul surveying like tracts of her of years f v an d you desire my friend some of the doctrine of inspiration through its organs of conscience and reason with their subordinate functions of sight and sense faith and understanding and the authority original and final on all revelations possible to the soul shall i vex these old ns tax these divine problems with hope of success i do indeed tempt these spiritual waters with awe so slender and frail my line so short withal the stillness the depths profound and each soul moreover singly and alone sails these seas her own and observer of the heavens to find her way if she may to the celestial but yet i will dare the theme t i be says to think mj be than mj body wai i am said days from a april to the all is present instant in sight they have hot forgetfulness nor memory nor for the of their souls they partake of the divine they are quick with god they do not in the memory nor clutch anxious in hope for lost or unexpected goods they are fed they inherit | 37 |
all things day by day hour by hour yea pulse by pulse minister to them each and history and of the other the of life rushing gladly into the chambers of the breast and their brow with lights they are words silent or as the divine to its source or flows over their tongues bringing glad tidings to all who have access to the of being aad such all saints these reason never nor seek truth as lost treasure amidst or of the past having eyes steadfast they see ears quick they hear hearts they apprehend in the serenity of their own souls they behold divinity and themselves and the universe in him these are they who walk not in darkness but in the light of life record of themselves and knowing their record to be true knowing whence they came and whither they go who are not alone but the father with them and witnessing of themselves and the father that sent bearing witness of them but this logic of the breast is it the grasp of the reason it is and perpetually itself the i am of the soul inspiration speaks from present face to face with eternal facts it like lightning straight to its and all of the schools as it the of the mind god the brain by the heart if retained ia their descent to the memory of of which they were conscious in the heavens there would not be among men about but all indeed in descending drink of oblivion though some more and others less on this account though truth is not apparent to all men on the earth yet all hare their opinions about it because a defect of memory is the origin of opinion but those discern most who have drank least of oblivion easily remember what they had then before in the heavens a he is instant in the breast before he is present in the head all reasoning is but self finding self recovery and the head but dreams of heart whose are clear a s the life is pure dark as it is base f conscience receives the divine ray and reason the same on the sense the conscience is an of god an of spirit and man reads the secrets of ages therein nor needs journey from his breast to solve the of the world or divine the mysteries of deity therein the spiritual and law is and executed and a true life th to the mind yea more the of all things and works out the creator s idea the worlds anew day by day red used do know more of heaven s glory than a can as man is of the world the heart of man is an of god s great book of creatures and man needs no farther look receiving thus the divine ray into his breast man needs not wander from its shining into another s darkness assured that none comes to the light save as drawn from within and that guidance ever or blinds let him his course through this world of sense its beaten its proffered his eye fixed perpetually on the load star within that by by roads leads direct to his and home and this my friend is the doctrine and method of now all right and natural knowledge in whatever creature it is sensible and its own evidence but opinion or doubting for they are all but one thing can only then begin when the creature has lost its first right and natural state and is got somewhere and become somewhat that it cannot tell what to make of then begins doubting from thence reasoning from thence and this is the high birth of our reason as nobly born as groping is which has i s beginning in and from darkness or the loss of light law s way to divine knowledge t every thing is and must be its own proof and can only be known from and by itself there is no knowledge of any thing but where the thing itself is and is found and possessed life nd every kind and degree of life is only known by life and so far as life reaches so far is there knowledge and no farther whatever knowledge you can get by searching and working of your own active reason is only like that knowledge which you may be said to have got when you have searched for a needle a load of straw you have found it law s to divine knowledge vol ii no iv days from a april revelation as taught by the of all time but how false to its spirit and hostile to its dis she as of old on traditions nor dares walk erect a and self brother in the light of that common beam which illuminated the face of her prophet and made him the joy of the nations she at the heavenly doctrines of immediate inspiration she blindly over and not the word in him but the skirts of his robe a than him of must come to the that his life and his the in which it is wrapped for such prophet the world now waits and his advent is nigh i am yours in all sacred march vi passages from s monthly magazine boston th of these foreign journals s magazine interests me most it is catholic free philosophic it speaks for universal man not for nor districts and breathes a charity humane and it or did with our dial but is more various in its contents and addresses a wider public but neither those nor others content me they fail to report the bosom life of the hour they are not of the age of the ideas taking body now in institutions and men but yet we wait with a calm patience for | 37 |
souls who shall make organs and a public for tt e life that is in them men who shall dial not only the evening and morning ray but the broad noon of piety and genius i a sketch of jacob by was in the opinion of all who have studied his works a man of high and strong original genius days from a his mind was of that heaven and world heroism which dares sill things and bears all things in search of wisdom by the stern of faith and prayer by the struggling energies of reason and the logical analysis of a few books he attained many of the visions of truth and completed a system of more brilliant than any which had appeared for ages he was one of the few who have proved themselves capable of judging above the last from his dingy stall and issued the of a doctrine which set europe in a blaze none but those personally acquainted with the works of and can justly estimate the influence his doctrine has had on the world it is not without some reason that such men as and law have this extraordinary man it is astonishing to me that his solitary genius should have worked out so many as those of the the the whom he had never read it is a proof if any were needed of the essential unity and sympathy of true genius in all times and nations what would have executed had he enjoyed the learning of how many of his ideas that now loom large in the midst of shadowy and obscure yet vast and as the ghosts of the mighty dead would have worn the keen edge and of positive science but in spite of his is the of germany and to him the owe their brightest theories ii foreign to designed as assistance to the english student of philosophy these are admirable papers by who thus speaks of s doctrines with all matter had a spirit in the seven in the seven days of the week he found of the ideas intended by the seven lamps before the throne and the seven stars in the the seven pillars of the house of wisdom the six steps of solomon s throne and the throne itself as of rest the seven the seven the seven trumpets and the seven all these the seven spirits of god which emblem the complete deity our dared to into this sublime region of speculation and pre to the seven fold perfection of god now how was he to conduct this how declare its results t p iy from a april what apparatus had he for the process what language for its expression prayer and thought were the instruments of his operations for language he might select his illustrations from the phenomena of mind or of matter the philosophy of mind however for him was not he had to create one for himself and he had conceived the astonishing idea to for all material appearances upon spiritual principles and to prove the identity of the laws which influenced both nature and spirit he was therefore teaching two at the same time and natural philosophy under one name and no language had he but what was common to both and all words are derived from the objects of the latter he therefore at once elected to set forth spiritual laws by their imperfect as they are to be found in the laws of nature and more perfect indeed may not be found for the laws of nature are but the forms of the human understanding what are both but as strings in the great harmony as articulate words but distinct parts of the love sport as says of the angels well of this fold perfection divine he presumed to call the first spirit an power sharp like salt hidden in the father the second is an attractive power the the and powers he says by their produce anguish a raging sense not agent but by violence and impatience this anguish is the third spirit it is the cause of mind senses thoughts it is an exultation the highest degree of joy excited to a trembling in its own quality these three spirits are but as without corn each other the raging spirit cannot deliver itself from the strong bands of the and heat by its struggling the extremity whereof is fire now is the corn found for the to grind heat is the fourth spirit the of life and of the spirit of life it light the food of fire is cold for want of which heat and fire would fall into but has no therefore the fire by breathes the sullen cold into liberty of air air again by being imposed upon by its father the cold falls to water which again by the kindled element is licked up by the fifth spirit which is the produce of light which as we have already learned is intellectual as well as material is love the sixth spirit is the divine word whence speech and language colors beauty and all ornament and the seventh spirit is the body out of the six other spirits and in which they dwell as in their the seven spirits are the fountain of all being all these spirits together are days from a god the father the life hy them all and the life in them all in triumph is the son of god the second person in the holy the power of the seven spirits proceeding continually in the of the life forming ail things in the seventh is the holy ghost reader unless thou give meaning to these things we cannot help thee to the significance but if thou with whatever difficulty understand them take our word first that they are worth understanding thou however form some notion of the | 37 |
same by attending a little to the following illustration which we have and from william law the first forms of vegetable life before it has received the sun and air are bitterness in a fruit these qualities improve into rich spirit fine taste fragrant smell and beautiful color having been enriched by the sun and air this attraction desire is one and the same in every individual thing from the highest angel to the lowest vegetable attraction is essential to all bodies desire which is the same thing is inseparable from all intelligent beings and thus by an thread may we ascend to the desire or that of the divinity for nothing can into being but because god wills or desires it its desire is and the qualities of the creator must necessarily pass into the creature lies the ground of all between the world without and the world within and as vegetables by their attraction or which is their desire and as an of the divine desire attain perfection by receiving the light and air of the external world so do all intelligent beings attain their perfection by with their will and desire to god and receiving of the word and spirit of god these mystic are to me most and refreshing how living is their faith deep their thought humane and glowing their zeal law these are beautiful souls sad that few of my have apprehension of their thought or faith in their intellectual integrity o age thou nothing of this divine lore but it all moon struck madness wild or dream god has clean from thy heart and left thee and blind but lo he is rushing in full into the jt souls of thy youth and thy sons and daughters driven from the of wisdom and piety shall days from a april soon with tongues of fire to thy and shame for thy priests are and thou a art slave to the of sense iii let me quote some passages profound as true from papers of j another of s it is possible to be in head and in heart it is possible to be in view and in character there is an of soul which is the of being and this may clothe itself with the from the pulpit marry at the altar and read prayers at the grave truth facts may be true and views may be true but they are not truth truth is sincere being it is not the perception of man nor the deed of man but when it is constituted it becomes the heart of man and take this with you ye wretch who would almost special plead from god s universe the privilege of god s mercy that all an of which the heart is not the we are poor we fight no battles we the name of some hero on our standard and art frequent at parade in not thus gay and glittering in mirror like were the we not marching after some embroidered name were found or not thus calling themselves by some human name and exhibiting to the world in trim costume were and the great of all ages their garments were stained in the conflict their swords in the warfare ay that there were fewer to the merit of tailor aod yet were there more to and to earnestness of purpose i we shall appeal from the recorded belief of every age to that inspired it we shall not be governed by the of men but shall test their by those common to us and them hitherto we have generally too much resembled vessels by the more days from a ones which mount their own we our own we must no longer be attached to the of those who with us constitute the great fleet of humanity why should we be dragged along in the course of others there is the same breeze to urge us that them and need we direction in the voyage to eternity the wind that is even the pilot that guides monthly magazine april vii sayings th listen to the within thee the spirit and write thou her words for now is thine intellect a of the holy ghost now thy life is thy words and thine appeal to the total sense of man a nature to the soul nature nature never her bones clothed in her own of flesh and blood of color and feature she is elegant and fair to the sense and thus o philosopher poet prophet be thy words thy thy thought like shaped bold and comely from thy brain like formed quick from thy side mystic as melodious as the of i there is neither void in nature nor death in spirit all is vital nothing guilt in the soul and pain in the flesh the divine in the all of being shadow substance and nature in and whole in planet and is charged with the present deity nature is quick with spirit in eternal and the living tides course gladly along organ and vessel in their mystic flow let her for a moment pause on their errands and creation s self instantly into chaos and again the u days from a april ble world is the wave of that spiritual flood whose is life whose death thought and light organization is the confine of body the of god faith sense life never death always for nature is but the fair corpse of spirit and sense her tomb philosophy holds her torch while science the tis faith the and gives the risen to the embrace blessed is he who without sense for already is he and immortal faith philosophy god in the head to his volume or sound his depths by of brain know man of i that the soul her statue perpetually from | 37 |
the dust and from within the spiritual this golden bowl on which thy finger is laid be wise fool and divine qualities from spiritual laws and from character be youth despite all temptations the of deity in your own bosom t is the breath of god s revelations the of the holy ghost in your breast be faithful not to its never its spirit dwell ever in its so shall your soul be filled with light and god be an fact a presence in the depths of your being great is the man whom bis age for excellence is purchased through the of and shame is the gate to the temple of renown the heroism honored of god and the gratitude of mankind its in the shades of life remote from the of crowds desert praise and blame as little belong to the righteous as to day from a god virtue desert as the sun by day as heat during its light and warmth are its essence cheering the wilderness the fields and fire sides of men the cope of heaven and the of the earth be great in your making accepting opportunities and doing lovingly your work at the first or hour even as god has need of you all occasions exhausted by none wisdom waits with a long patience nor working nor with men and times but living and being in eternity with god great designs demand ages for and gods are in their accomplishment patience is king of opportunity and times is wisdom s school attend then the lessons of your own soul become a pupil of the wise god within you for by his alone shall you grow into the knowledge and stature of the the descend from heaven in the of meditation in the of prayer au n is original there is none other and so all for sin god s method is neither nor and the soul is nor saved nor judged by she or herself piety is unconscious vital like breathing it is and is because it is none can for another none sin or for another s sin is a personal private act consists in perfect it is above all conflict it is serenity triumph it choice it is one with the divine will and a of his nature and tendency there is struggle and choice only with th wilful the saints are elect in perfect obedience and god s vol ii no iv days from a april may tin th garden i planted my seeds and wed my and i wrought gladly all day the air and sun most genial and sought my pillow at night with a weariness that made sleep most grateful and refreshing how dignified and is labor and sweet and satisfying man in his garden his position in the world he is restored to his to plant and dress it again once more his self respect is whole and and all men though they be him a ready and sincere approval the new ideas bear direct upon all the of life they will old methods and new i look with special hope to their effect on the of the land our present modes of our soil and must while life is made thus and the narrow which in trade in labor and ends in the land it disease decline in the flesh and the heart this beast named man has yet most costly tastes and must first be transformed into a very man in appetite and desire before the earth shall be restored to and from the curse of his then shall the toils of the farm become elegant and man shall grow his and plant his gardens an truly and in hope and a of bis hope labor will be attractive life will not be worn in anxious and toils it will be at once a scene of mixed leisure labor culture the soil grateful then for man s generous usage no more by nor worn by shall recover its bearing on its bosom the standing which a sober and liberal providence ministers to his need sweet and for the health and comfort of the days from a ix i th i brought from our village a bag of flour for our board in our diet we yet make small demands on foreign but harvest our dust mostly from this hired acre i would from the fruits of oppression and blood and am seeking means of entire independence this were i not by would be possible but from all in these fruits of sin comes near one of his flesh and blood and shelter so and universal is this trade in providence one miracle we have wrought nevertheless and shall soon work all of them our wine is water flesh bread fruits and we defy meekly the all and the soul s banquet is an art divine to mould this statue of flesh from materials it into and strength this is and this we practice well or ill in all our thoughts acts desires but specially in the exercise of the thus that which out of the man that it is which him for those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart and they the man and to like purpose the body is dot save through the soul the modern doctrines on diet and derive their authority from man s constitution and wants declared them long since and wrote on this subject the soul he says is by anger and desire and a multitude of passions in which in a certain respect diet is a cause as water which flows through a rock is more than that which runs through because it does not bring with it mud thus also the soul which its own affairs in a body that | 37 |
is dry and is not by the of foreign flesh is in a more lent condition is more and is more prompt for intellectual energy thus too it is said that the which is the and the to the taste affords the best honey to bees the therefore or power of the soul is or rather he who when this energy is mingled with the energies of either the imagination or power but consists in a t days from a separation from all these and the wisdom which is adapted to divine concerns is a desertion of everything of this kind the proper likewise of each thing is that which essentially es it thus you may say that the of a stone is the cause of its continuing to be a stone and of firmly remaining in a form but the of a plant is that which preserves it in increase and and of an animated body that which preserves its composition it is one thing however to and another to and one thing to impart what is necessary and another to produce what is luxurious various therefore are the kinds of and various also is the nature of the things that are nourished and it is necessary that indeed all things should be nourished but we should earnestly endeavor to our most principal parts hence the of the rational soul is that which preserves it in a rational state but this is intellect so that it is to be nourished by intellect and we should earnestly endeavor that it may be through this rather than that the flesh may become through for intellect preserves for us eternal life but the body when causes the soul to be furnished through its hunger after a blessed life not being satisfied our mortal part since it is of itself insane and an of an immortal condition ot being it likewise by the soul and drawing her down to that which is foreign to her nature and the indeed as it were a soul to the iron which is placed near it and the iron though most heavy is elevated and runs to the spirit of the stone should he therefore who is suspended and deity be anxiously busied in food which the body that is an to intellectual perception t ought he not rather by what is necessary to the flesh into that which is little and easily procured be nourished by to god more closely than the iron to tin i wish indeed that our nature was not so and that it were possible we could live without the derived fi om fruits that as says we were not in want of meat or drink that we might be truly immortal the poet in thus speaking beautifully that food is the not only of life but also of death if therefore we were not in want of vegetable we should be by so much the more blessed in proportion as we should be more immortal but now living in a mortal condition we render ourselves if it may be proper so to speak still more mortal through becoming ignorant that by addition of this the soul as says does not only confer a great i s a benefit on the body by being its but giving herself wholly to it hence it is much to be wished that we could obtain the life celebrated in in which hunger and thirst are unknown or that by stopping the every way flowing of the body we may in a very little time be present with the most excellent natures to which he who since deity is there is himself a god but how is it possible not to lament the condition of the of mankind who are so involved in darkness as to cherish their own evil and who in the first place hate themselves and him who them and afterwards those who them and call on them to return firom to a sober condition of being i an from animal food june x cottage th our and fields remind me whenever i step into their presence of your promise of spending awhile with us at the cottage but lest you should chance to alight at my door while i am absent i write now to say that i purpose to breathe those mountain airs and shall leave for on monday next so do nt come till after my return i shall then have the more to communicate of the spirit of those hills lately i have been sent to seek the members of that brotherhood whom god designs shall dwell together in his paradise the time is near when the soul s shall as a visible fact rooted in the soil of new england and wise even as the of old record their version of the of man and the and planting of i have visited the city since i saw you where i met persons a few of wise hearts and growing gifts and graces god is breeding men and women here and there for the new heaven and earth have you seen he has been passing a few days with me and a great promise he is to me the youth is rich in wisdom a child of deepest and truest life god has a work for the boy and set him about it while his years scarce days from a april numbered an and now he is great beside his and shall honor his remember i am to see you on my return your friend xi green th bland the air picturesque the scenery of these hills this is the of our republic and these are parcel of their mountains and love them as do the this too is the scenery this the these the pursuits for growing and here is the haunt of reform cherished by these austere of toil and storm | 37 |
the child is in stature and shall leap soon from hill to hill sounding his to the four winds of heaven yet over these hills clothed in these passes whose sides are instinct with sheep and or proudly standing with the of ages the trade has swept her of and on these and are visited the sordid and vices of the distant towns they feed but apart on this on the summit of this green range and in a region of ideas by the scene dwells my friend above the toils of men below this forest fell prostrate before his sturdy arm and gave him these ample for his flocks with acres now in pasture and and here under these cliffs rose his farm house there more exalted still his generous and now visited with humane he portions of the same to sincere and simple persons the weary and heavy laden children of oppressive institutions who here find rest in the arms of a providence and freed from the anxieties of want and dependence aware of the change passing fast over all human affairs he is deep in this free soil the new ideas and in faith the growing of a wiser and nobler age days ram a july xii conversation th these reveal to me the state of the people they make plain the need of a a at the field road fire side bed side at tables in families man meets man truly now all are aloof from human needs societies preaching teaching conversation game with men s hearts and there is no great and sincere souls do not meet and man woman child their solitude sincerity in thought and speech can alone redeem man from this exile and restore confidence into his relations we must come to the simplest intercourse to conversation and the these are most potent the of the world the thoughts and desires of men wait not thereby the and complex of the favor type or reader s chances but are sped forthwith far and wide by these christianity was published solely by the lip and pen and the christian documents the entire literature of this great fact is in a few brief fragments of the life and sayings of and the of his immediate and thus shall the new ideas find in our time and win the people to themselves august xiii th again i have read s political essays in the friend they please me less than formerly he early dream of a state of society and plants his state not in the soil of individual conscience but in the of and it an institution for the security of but to property man has no moral claim whatsoever use not of the planet and parts thereof his sole inheritance he is steward of god s estate and of heaven s stores to his brethren nor or the same to his own sole benefit from a april wealth often soon in keeping makes us hers in seeming she from heaven indeed but not in thb sin of this planting the state in of the soil not in man s needs has been the infirmity of all called but the new order must this ancient error and thus remove the fruitful cause of the decline of nations t e just own nothing they trade never in the gifts of providence these to ends but benefits flow through all the channels of household neighborhood and love is the beneficent all members of the social family ah things says were at first common and all the world had as it were but one from hence it was that every man then converted what he would to his own use and consumed whatever was to be consumed and a free use of this right did at that time supply the place of property for no man could justly demand of another whatever he had thus just taken to himself which is the better illustrated by that of since the theatre is common for any body that comes the place th t eveiy one sits in is properly his own and this state of things must have continued till now had men persisted in their primitive or lived together but in perfect charity september s d these essays are truly noble they a wisdom akin to that which the great of all time have loved and spoken it is a most refreshing book and i am of its reputation with those who make and ages and yet i my admiration of the author s genius great in the of thought he neither nor me he writes from the intellect to the and hence some from the health of his statements the depths of his purchased always at the cost of vital integrity the mind in the days a edge thus gained but yet is this the tax on all pure intellect the ghost of the heart which it to embrace a passage in the essays this fact the most illuminated class of men are no superior to literary fame and are not writers among the multitude of scholars and authors we feel no presence we are sensible of a k and skill rather than of inspiration they have a light and know not whence it comes and call it their own their talent is some exaggerated faculty some overgrown member so that their strength is a disease in these instances the intellectual gifts do not make the impression of virtue but almost of vice and we feel that a man s talents stand in the way of advancement in truth but genius is religious and again converse with a mind that is simple and literature looks like word catching the simplest are to be written yet are they so cheap and so things of course that in the infinite riches of | 37 |
the soul it is like gathering a few pebbles off the ground or a little air in a when the whole earth and whole atmosphere are ours the mere author in such society is like a pick pocket among gentlemen who has come in to steal a gold button or a pin nothing can pass there or make you one of the circle but the casting aside your and dealing man to man in naked truth plain confession and essay ix this tendency to thought leads often the scholar to in practice the more spiritual but less intellectual life of the will of the or mystic those souls to whom the world owes mainly its revelations and of whom scholars and and are but and thought is indeed but the pen of the soul genius the eye love the heart and all expression save action is falsehood in the of truth i would be just to the literary function and give it place in the soul s order character integrity of will to this all men yield homage but thought the power of drawing the soul from her in the breast and representing her life in words whether by pen or lip is in all and innocent natures subordinate to the affections of the will then intellect becomes the servant of the moral power and it is when this function of thought a to itself that its sway becomes vol ii no iv t days from a april evil literary men incline to this extreme their thoughts over their actions they think not to live but live solely to think but the man then lives when all his powers are in willing and exercise when feeling thought purpose are instant acts and this of life is the condition and essence of virtue and genius two orders of men there are each high to the world but serving it in manners of the one the world after his word his thought of the other his intent his act and both are its and breathing the breath of life into the multitudes october xv reform an th october dear sir in addressing you now i obey an impulse long felt to express my sense of the exceeding import of your labors on the well being of mankind and to declare moreover my pleasure in a contemporary who dares without fear or utter his word to the world and to this i am urged not from a sense of intellectual benefit merely but of humanity and justice for i know how sweet and is a and sympathy to him who suffers for declaring truths above the apprehension of his time and can appreciate that self respect which appeals greatly from the injustice of to the wiser sight of posterity we live when reform slips oflf the tongues of men and when almost every vital interest has made to itself desperate almost in its and weapons to the evils in the world but to me these popular measures seem quite external inadequate and the and cant of reform is most offensive this zeal this shallow this wit of the sense and not of the soul will neither heal nor save us the change must work the inner being must first be and the method of must be days from a learned not by but from experience from self conquest self insight its law revealed by fidelity to the spiritual constitution of being must all outward of organs and functions and the whole man be first by the wholesome discipline of a true life hence reform begins truly with individuals and is conducted through the simplest of families quite wide of associations and institutions the true his labor in the of private life and makes it not a set of measures not an utterance not a pledge merely but a life and not an impulse of a day but with human existence a tendency towards perfection of being viewed in this wise your statements of the doctrine and of life assume great importance in my thought they and on a scale with facts the art of man of planting the new of the new institutions they shed a palpable practical light over the of the household the family the field and followed in all their bearings must give to life a of comfort health purity inspiration piety peace they lead m n to a of his him a creature in his original estate on the earth in harmony with nature the animal world his fellows himself his creator and make sure both the and of the human race even as man s hope has divined his faith affirmed his hand recorded in the of all time these i conceive are results to which the new ideas now by living minds and traced more specially by yourself in their vital bearings are tending a faith is the genius of men and philosophy science literature art life shall be created anew by its heavenly i acknowledge with thanks though late the gift of your lecture and learn with hope of your intention of soon your book on the relations of the hebrew to the constitution of man it will deal another and sure blow at the and of the popular faith days from a april i wish it were in my power to urge its claims in prospect on the attention of men but i am less in favor with the public than yourself even and shall possibly lose the privilege of myself of the lights of your bread shelter being scarce yielded me by the charity and of my time but i am the more your friend and contemporary xvi sayings i it is either requisite to be silent or to say something better than silence ii it is impossible that he can be free who | 37 |
is a slave to his passions iii every passion of the soul is hostile to its salvation iv we should avoid and by every possible by fire and sword and all various from the body disease from the soul ignorance from the belly luxury from a city from a house discord and at the same time from all things v from all your actions opportunity is the only good in every action ti do those things which you judge to be beautiful though in doing them you should be without renown for the is a bad judge of a good action despise therefore the of those whose praise you despise vii it is better to live lying in the grass confiding in divinity and yourself than to lie in a golden bed with tion van viii a statue indeed standing on its basis but a worthy man on the subject of his deliberate choice ought to be immovable ix it is not death but a bad life that the soul x the gods are not the causes of evils and diseases and of the body are the seeds of xi the soul is illuminated by the recollection of divinity xii when the wise man opens his mouth the beauties of his soul present themselves to view like the statues of a temple s life of a b van the do you blush in speaking to me of him is it that you think no longer that the love of the arts should be your only love always master but this young man has talent and i could have wished that you would have accepted him as a pupil on his account only the young girl bent her head and the old man continued kissing her forehead my noble child i regret having forbid him entrance to my for i love thee too much to give thee pain even in the person of another and without waiting s answer he who spoke thus laying aside a and which he held hastened van oo ch april to the door of the and half opening it called several times to a person who was descending the stairs this master so paternal this old man who understood so well a young girl s heart was david van a celebrated painter of to whom all the sovereigns of europe had sent of nobility and who in painting flowers and the precious in which they the artist had founded at a celebrated school where many pupils came to form themselves the master s eye divined genius even in the bud and the pupil who possessed this gift was by him into all the mysteries of the art but david van had been a long time without finding any one in whom he hoped to live again he saw that he was growing old and he felt a sadness mixed with pride that he could not have formed a pupil who should equal him it seemed to him that he should die without posterity one day while finishing a this sad thought drew a tear from his eye while musing thus there was a light knock at the door of his and one of his servants announced to him that a minister of the accompanied by a young girl asked to speak with him the painter quitted his work and ordered the strangers to be introduced he rose to receive a man forty years of age who led by the hand a young girl who appeared to be about fifteen this man had a grave at once noble and modest he was entirely in black and his dress announced the his calm and serene aspect seemed a reflection of the gospel whose holy doctrines he professed he was the father of the beautiful child whom he led the young girl wore a robe of brown which fitted closely to he finely rounded figure and her beautiful fair hair was imprisoned in one of those of silk and black lace worn by the wives and daughters of the dutch citizens her young face around which clustered some golden shone forth yet more fresh and rosy under the black covering of this s hood she kept her large blue eyes timidly cast down she raised them at a word from her father and smiling showed her small teeth of dazzling whiteness this face attracted van the notice of david van who took the hand of the young girl kindly and asked her father what he desired of him the minister took from under his daughter s arm a of drawings and having opened it drew from it several sketches which he showed to the great artist the child whom you see there has painted these flowers without a master notwithstanding the of her mother who would have preferred seeing her at her for myself i have opposed her taste for the arts for i thought tiiat the life of a woman to be calm and happy should be retired that the of talent became not a young maiden and that especially for her there is less joy than grief in the applause of this world but her inclinations have over my efforts all the flowers of the field have lived again under her inexperienced hand which divined drawing without having learned it and seeing her equal nature i said to myself it was the will of god and the talent with which he has gifted her will not be fatal to her say that it will make her glory and her fortune cried david van surveying with a beaming face the sketches before him the child who has painted these flowers is destined to be the ornament of her country approach said her father happy in spite of himself at the future promise to his daughter ask our greatest painter to receive you as a pupil and henceforth love and respect him as a father and | 37 |
from this day replied david van embracing the young girl and pressing affectionately the hand of the minister this child shall be treated in my house like my own child and i will to her all the mysteries of my art some tears fell on s cheeks but she found no words to express her gratitude the family of david van became hers his daughters treated her like a younger sister surrounded by love encouraged by sweet praises it seemed to her that she already tasted the first fruits of that artist life which her master had for her david van understood the tender and enthusiastic soul of he poured out on her all his paternal van april that she might feel less the absence of her family and that she might devote herself with to the study of painting he developed in her that love of art which had possessed her while a mere child and soon the whole world itself for the young girl within the compass of the where her labors were mingled with those of her master david van blessed heaven that he had found a pupil worthy of him sometimes the old man took pleasure in making finish one of his own works and he was proud as a father when the to whom he showed his picture could not distinguish s touch from his own under such a master who far from her encouraged it the progress of was rapid after one year s study she had mastered the whole science aud equalled the painter in execution she already knew enough to dispense with lessons but david could not dispense with her she was tlie joy and pride of his age and often in her bursts of gratitude she promised the old man never to quit him the of david van presented a charming picture the noble old man in hand standing before a great destined for some sovereign of europe was surrounded by his daughters good and simple women who conversed gaily with the young inspired artist made the flowers bloom on the same with her master how beautiful she was thus this young girl of seventeen her blue eyes always so sweet glowed then with all the fire of genius her cheeks bright with the animation of labor contrasted with the whiteness of her neck upon which her hair fell her figure was of a full of elegance and her delicate rosy hands which held the and seemed to have been formed for a model she was a wholly poetical being who realized for her old master the muse of painting baskets of natural flowers which served for models their precious and antique from italy charmed the eye the portraits of all the sovereigns of europe suspended from the walls attracted the attention among them was the noble head of louis the full of grandeur the king of france had himself sent his portrait to david van and other princes had followed his example thus the van of the painter was adorned with gifts which upon as from power to power how noble was this artist life how serene and graceful the interior of the sometimes the happy were interrupted by illustrious visitors who came to render homage to their talent and purchase their paintings then only did any news from without reach this generally the world was nothing to them in this peaceful happiness often sang with her master some solemn and affecting chant which the daughters of david van repeated in chorus they laughed they played they admired an effect of light which the brush sought to produce and the present day flowed on as happy as the past and the morrow brought the same happiness three years of s life had thus passed away three years which had brought forth in her soul only pure and calm sentiments or those of art which the soul without it it is true that the poetical organization of was tempered by that transparent and slightly cold nature which makes the heart of a german woman beat only by s thoughts were lost in her and asked nothing beyond among the pupils of david van no other had been admitted to his intimacy no other had obtained the praises of the master or had been distinguished by him confounded them in her indifference her look never rested on any of them and she could say with s that she had never seen a man on the evening previous to the day when our story begins was painting near her master when the door of the opened a young man asked to speak with david van enter my friend said the artist kindly you are not unknown to me continued he after having looked at him i have seen you before in my yes and you took no notice of me replied the young man with assurance therefore i take the liberty to come and recommend myself by showing you this sketch and he placed before the master triumphantly a very remarkable flower painting you paint boldly with strength but too quickly there is somewhat of the in your work ol h no iv van april master that is because i am lazy singular explanation of the fault with which i reproach you it is from then that you work too quickly yes master i work quickly that i may do nothing afterwards and what charm do you find in when i repose i travel i dream i drink at this last word raised her head and cast a look of astonishment upon him who had just uttered it he continued without appearing troubled and addressing himself to her yes does that surprise you does that seem strange to you a half in my brain dreams then i am surrounded by paintings more exquisite than those of our great master i contemplate monuments which defy the most magnificent monuments of antiquity i love | 37 |
and am beloved by young girls nearly as beautiful as you he said this with assurance fixing his long black eyes full of boldness on s look which immediately fell we have nothing to do with that my boy said david van you have talent if you will apply yourself more closely you can acquire some day fortune and renown let fortune go as for renown it is you see like the fog which passes over our rivers i should love as well the water which flows beneath though to say the truth water and i are open enemies to these vulgar said david van with severity if you wish that i should find you worthy to be admitted into my you must reform your language and conduct nature has well endowed you but there is much yet to be done to aid nature it is truly admirable cried who had approached some moments before to look at the young man s sketch and as if speaking to herself she added in a low tone i have never done anything so well do you hear that praise said david it should make you very proud for she who has pronounced it is von one of our greatest painters van i knew that replied the young man but that which i was ignorant of and which is worth more is that is without doubt the most beautiful woman in the world speaking thus he looked eagerly at the young girl is not he a child said david smiling not being able to conceal the paternal satisfaction which he felt in the praises of i like your frankness my friend talk less be modest and return to work in my added the good master tapping him lightly on the shoulder but what is your name van ah i knew your uncle a painter of talent but too fond of the tavern and of doing nothing it is a family failing but which can be rooted out replied david promise me to drink no more and to the far a bad brought from italy here i shall have no longer need of the that wine gives replied glancing again at beautiful dreams will come of themselves but with these dreams how sweet will be the far labor thought in its vague excursions interrupted david cannot one labor while dreaming said in her turn these were the only words that she uttered they escaped from her as the involuntary expression of hope if one must work to please you master i will work said eagerly and his look addressed itself to well to morrow i will retain your sketch to examine it more closely the young man bowed and retreated slowly turning his head at each step he did not meet s eye what a charming figure that young man has cried the old painter what a fine talent said very well said david with an arch smile i make the remark which you should have made and you that which became me you speak like the old man and i like the young girl what do you mean master van april that you should rather remark the figure of the young than bis talent and i rather his talent than his figure and the happy old man laughed at his own words and at the of the young girl but said she i noticed both and in that case what do you think of them i thought his face agreeable and his talent wonderful these flowers are they not supernatural said she pointing to s sketch this with its purple flowers its firm and pointed these with their with thorns are they not admirable we should say they were preserved at in the of the how said the master more gaily those great black eyes veiled with drooping lashes surmounted by two arches of that pure and intellectual brow that thick brown hair in masses that mouth with its moustache adorned with dazzling teeth that elegant figure which a black velvet to advantage does not all that make a charming ah ah ah you see that i have good smiled not she threw herself with emotion upon the paternal bosom of david and said to him half trembling master do you wish then that i should love this young man and why not if he should become one of our greatest painters if i can render him worthy of thee from to morrow we will begin his education saying these words he went out on business and left with a new thought with a sentiment never before awakened in her soul she understood nothing of the unknown reverie which took possession of her she could not explain to herself why she had abandoned her and remained pensive before s sketch this sketch was very beautiful she had at first admired it but she now saw it no longer instead of those flowers with their brilliant colors and their gigantic forms which the young painter had chosen to develop the bold and vivid touches of his brush saw behind them the passionate and expressive ce of s j van she remained many hours absorbed in a kind of inward contemplation when david van the he her idleness for looking at her work he perceived that she had not done anything since his departure are you going to be like are you going to imitate his idleness and dream so as to do nothing said the good painter laughing oh to morrow i will for the time lost replied she with emotion but to day i am and the poor child blushed she thought she bad deceived yet she told the truth she was not well an emotion at once deep and quiet threw her body and soul into a soft languor for the first time in her life she was silent and pensive at and at night her fair lashes were | 37 |
not closed this was her first sleepless night is love then a grief that from its first awakening it should express itself in sadness and tears its passionate its ardent its most are mixed with dark shadows and melancholy smiles we do not enjoy this intense happiness we dream we desire we call and believe that we seize it when we grasp only its phantom and when we think that we have lost it we weep as if we had possessed it it is but a celestial but is worth more than all the on the earth often he who causes tl is vision is ignorant or is unworthy of it then the soul which itself is the prey of its own dreams and is consumed in of its own creation love that sentiment often hearts that nothing should draw together it the virgin thoughts of the young maiden upon the man who them it a calm sweet life to a stormy and being it casts devotion to as a martyr to the lions of the had none of those which poison love but she wondered in her innocence that her thoughts could rest oa a young man of such manners and speech he was handsome but of an beauty he had talent but presumption without true pride he was full of vanity he was not truly an artist an inspired artist at e proud and modest he believed not in his own and had received it from god without van april bending its greatness felt all this vaguely but in the of her heart stronger than her reason and her purity she accused herself of judging too harshly and too quickly one who after all had received from heaven two marks of special favor beauty and genius on the morrow s cheeks were pale yet she had regained her calm exterior and painted with her master conversing calmly yet she felt a vague uneasiness it was past noon and had not arrived our young man is late said her master as if he had divined her thought he has not boasted he is indolent and careless did not reply i have made some inquiries concerning him continued david van they say that he is in his habits that he works only when urged by necessity but that like the living is for him doing nothing he has confessed to us all his faults said and you had hope of them i have reflected on it and it appears to me what even before having undertaken it poor child murmured david she remained silent and appeared to muse sadly before admitting into the of his david van had made inquiries concerning his character at first he had been won in spite of himself by his frankness the power of his talent and his handsome face but perceiving that had received the same impressions he wished to assure himself if he who caused them was really worthy of them the good old man thought of s future life he pictured it to himself as calm and brilliant as her present life and be would have reproached himself with treason if he bad not secured the happiness of the angel sent by god to his old age he had learned in the city that an child had quitted his family at the age of twelve years vagabond and idle he cultivated the talent with which nature had endowed him merely to gratify his passions wine and play hardly had he attained bis nineteenth year when he was already at where he had been but six months as a of van learning s conduct david regretted having too quickly and easily consented to give the young painter private lessons and to admit him into the society of his dear he almost reproached himself with having been and he was thinking how to repair his fault when appeared he bowed with a careless air his hair was in disorder his dress retained the scent of wine his appearance bore marks of having just left the inn dared not look at him and david gave him a glance i have made you wait said he pardon master but before myself in a i was obliged to bid adieu to my companions and i have just sworn to them eternal friendship glass in hand it was a young man of talent and not a that i expected to admit to my said the old man fixing on a stern look the young man sustained this look with assurance and replied smiling do you think master that the love of wine prevented and from being great men i think replied david half vexed that we should imitate their talent and not their vice the eagle of painting had as much grandeur in his sentiments as in his genius and was never by those habits that you call if the life of tempt you choose a master who him i shall not suit you is it a dismissal that you give me well yes go said david with some emotion our peaceful habits are not yours i could have myself to them and found a charm in them the old painter shook his head it is well replied i will take my sketch and bid you adieu adieu answered not she did not raise her head she feared lest he might see a tear fall from her long lashes but when had gone she attempted to justify him and it was then that the good painter who could not resist one of s desires himself for his severity as he had at first for his indulgence recalled the young man who had already passed the staircase van april returned slowly and the triumphantly you have thought better of it said he and i think that you are right i am worth more than i appear to be and shall perhaps do you honor and without waiting a | 37 |
word from the master he placed his sketch on an and began to paint his companions seemed to have disappeared from before him he painted with with rapture one would have thought him mastered by his work the plant which he from memory grew under his as from the hand of nature and david van looked at him with admiration when he had finished according to his fancy his sketch already far advanced he pushed back the with his foot threw down his and stick and crossing his arms he remained motionless contemplating labor had animated his features and stamped them with and inspiration his black eye calm and radiant had a penetrating glance which attracted the notice of the young girl without wishing it looked at and felt happy in seeing him so handsome smiled like a man in ecstasy but soon his face lost by degree every trace of a kind of languor his features and his head sank on his breast his eyes closed he appeared to sleep he has fainted with a kind of fright he is asleep said david van calmly it is the fatigue of labor and inspiration added almost with respect it is the fatigue of his dreams murmured the master who had observed with the sagacity of an old man and leading away he left the young man asleep in his after some hours of deep sleep awoke and taking the picture which he had finished during the day went out he felt the appetite of twenty years and as he did not need to pass the night in sleep he passed it ia good cheer the following morning leaving the tavern he went to a where he sold for some the which he had finished the preceding evening s j van the landlord of the inn waited at the door and took from s hands the money that had just been counted out to him remaining without resources for the day thought on working anew and regained the of david van it seemed yet buried in sleep no sound was heard but as the gate of the garden which the house was repaired to the where everything was still quiet he entered by and stood some minutes without perceiving who was deeply engaged in a she herself had not heard the sound of his and remained contemplating her without her raising her head she had ceased reading and remained seated on one of those splendid arm chairs of with so precious in our times dressed in a white robe her arms and shoulders half bare her hair flowing in golden over her calm brow and pale cheeks thus leaning her head on her hand sad and pensive she resembled one of those ethereal beings sung by celestial beings who suspected not our miseries and were into them by love had passed a tranquil night the evening before had appeared to her a noble and earnest young man full of genius and enthusiasm for the arts she no longer his image the last words which her master uttered had not reached her ear and had she heard them she would not have understood their import she loved and she knew not that she ought to forbid herself to love him he was a brother whom god had sent to her and at this thought she prayed for him suddenly she raised her blue eye so clear and pure but she did not see her look rested on the window near which she was sitting and she stretched her hand out mechanically to pluck one of the climbing which formed on the a of flowers and not being able to reach it she rose to gather it the breeze of spring breathing through the trees of the garden into the made s dress flutter and waving the hair from her face on her cheeks a rosy tint as delicate as the flower of the bind weed which she twisted in her fingers the sparkled over her head like a golden she had an expression so holy that one must have blessed and vol ii no iv van april adored her with reverence but s beauty was at the same time so youthful and moving that it s passions he rushed towards the young girl and surrounding her with his arms as if to prevent her flight cried oh how beautiful you are and he a kiss on her arm the innocent girl did not refuse him she looked at him with happiness and said to him without blushing it is you ah it is you who are beautiful and their looks mingled with transport became pale and cold pressed his burning lips to hers then as if a mysterious and sudden revelation had penetrated her heart she freed herself from s embrace then returning to herself with dignity in her turn she touched with her lips the forehead of the young man and said to him with a trembling voice you are my you are the first whose lips have touched mine you will be the last and tottering with emotion she fell fainting fright made forget that this young girl was in his power fear made him respectful seeing her so pale and cold terror seized him he thought that he had killed her he went to seek assistance when david van appeared the truth and even more he seemed to regain the strength of his youth to down and drive him from the miserable wretch what have you done cried he raising his arm against him nothing answered in a tone of frankness i love her you love her and have insulted her cried the old painter go i will know the truth from her departed quickly recovered with the anxiety of a father david van dared not at first her but when he saw that the blood again colored her cheeks he folded her to his | 37 |
heart and drying a tear he demanded from her instantly the truth she answered by tears then the of her love escaped from her in these words i love him and i have told him bo and he replied the old master with vivacity van oh he he loves me also said she and she related frankly the scene which we have described david comprehended this spontaneous development of a feeling which we have formerly known but he foresaw all the and danger of it he made understand that she ought to resist not the of her heart which would be always pure but s desires which might her he made her feel that which natural modesty and innocence reveal but by that love ought to be concealed in heart of a woman until the day when a holy sanction should come to by it she understood that until then to her love would be to profane it and she promised her master that without the words which had escaped from her in her innocence she would never express to what she felt for him until she added you shall tell me you may love him and i shall feel that this love is no longer with my other sentiments for i must confess to you l should not have chosen this love it has come to me it me it is contrary to my nature but i resist in vain it triumphs it me and the peace of my life it is not love that you must conquer replied david it is he who is the cause of it must be changed there is good in and if he is to become my child by being united to thee i would treat him henceforth as a son go call him let him resume his labor you shall see him every day at every hour but never without me understood the holy thoughts of the old man and fell at his to bless him then by his order she recalled who was impatiently pacing the garden he cleared the staircase at a bound and rushing into the said with an overflowing heart well dear are you better so well said david calmly that she is going to resume her brush come my children both to your work was reassured by s by her sweet smile by her heightened color he dared not think of towards the old painter by the presence of her master addressed first but where is your picture i have not been able to find it said she to him van april blushed go seek it if you have left it at home said david van i have of it to a merchant who will give you a good price for it master murmured making an effort over himself and abruptly to himself there is no longer time i have sold it from necessity david did not reproach but he continued with a kindness that could not explain my child that shall be so no longer l wish that you should live henceforth at my house you will find there all the pleasures of life and you can then labor for glory and not for those miserable which the will pay for your talent this indulgent kindness confounded be looked at to know the meaning of it the face of the young girl expressed gratitude and her tears silently blessed the affection of the old man the characters of the greater part of the paint ers are a curious study there are who unite to a force and richness an and mind incessantly by the into which their gross passions plunge them diamonds with a rough surface these odd have only sparks of greatness their art makes them touch the sublime the u nature the base and when youth has consumed this fleeting fire of an imperfect intellect they die out and on the table of an inn was not yet so bad but the noble david van who had seen among his examples of the and of genius discovered with the low tendencies of the young painter he was born with an instinct for good but he had never had the conviction of it sometimes he was moved by the example of a great action or a great sentiment but he himself never conceived the inspiration or even the first thought of it having from his infancy broken the and holy of family ties he had delivered himself up without restraint to all the fancies which possessed him and the habits to which he had accustomed himself bound him all the more strongly that he felt a kind of pride in his independence gathered more from his sensations than from his soul beauty moved van bim a word of love made him start the sight of deep grief and a word of despair wrung from the heart would have found him cold he had an occasional vivacity which came from the blood but he was so insensible to the good that he never had a spontaneous transport for glory or virtue already his line head became less fine retaining yet the life of youth and health it lost by de that intellectual expression so charming in the hu man face why does not god grant to woman in the hour when he sends her love one of his piercing glances which search to their depths misery and vice why do so many trusting souls yield themselves up to the spirits that will profane them light fails them while seeking for happiness but it shines out and seems to them in the abyss of sorrow into which they are cast deprived of her was the soul was matter he loved her for her beauty she loved him for the faith which she had in his genius and the sentiments which she thought must flow from it but enlightened by david this faith had become less | 37 |
blind comprehended that s nature was not identical with hers and she feared the same in their loves as in their tastes yet so powerful was the charm which attracted her to that she felt a deep joy in thinking that he was about to become the guest of his master and the constant companion of her labors during the first days of his in the house of the old painter did not quit the he had begun a new sketch but he painted with difficulty his nature over his feeble will he passed hours in looking at in replying to the words of the young girl by gestures of love he could find no other expressions for he had nothing in his soul she happy in seeing him conversed gaily in accents full of and vivacity she spoke art tenderness happiness she painted with more sentiment and enthusiasm love seemed to her powers whilst it had those of the young man did a direct and burning word of love escape from if it struck the heart of it did not draw forth a feeling expressed by a tender and respectful word the lips of the young man moved but it i i van april was a kiss that they would he inclined towards the young girl as if to embrace her loving yet fearful she then fled her heart was sad and humble and she wept saying he does not love me the old painter remarked with grief the strife of these two opposite natures which were at while seeking to approach each other he would have separated them forever but love by a strange called them t the house of david van was a calm a holy retreat where virtue secured peace and the arts that enthusiasm which and virtue the fortune which the old man had by his talent afforded him an honorable maintenance but no splendor none of that luxury which seeks to produce a fine outward effect at the expense of happiness and inward tranquillity david van s daughters were married he had no one but adopted child his dear and sometimes he thought in s good hours that he should be happy to unite them and die surrounded by their cares this dream was dissipated each day he who had caused it seemed to seek to destroy it the hospitality of the old painter seemed to he found at david s house a plentiful table but the strong to which he was accustomed and which him never appeared there at evening some distinguished men of the city some illustrious travellers some prince passing through came to visit the great painter they conversed they became interested in some question of art and never to turn the conversation did they have recourse to play that other bad passion all powerful in the soul of by s beauty on which he hung each day he resisted during several weeks the call of his habits but he could not conquer them be had no resolution he had finished a second picture it was not a like the first it was a work in which the hfe was wanting one evening he took away this picture and did not appear at supper feared some misfortune for him and wept his old master foresaw some fault and remained sad and silent it grew late they waited in vain for he did not come take courage my noble child said her master leaving van her this man is unworthy of thee and these words which struck her heart tortured her all the night she would have rejected an affection so deep and but she felt mastered by it and not being able to it she abandoned the attempt the following day david van went out to attend the french who had summoned him entered the deserted pale and life seemed to her sad and weary she recalled to mind sadly the time when she saw the days flow on for her so lightly and joyfully she stopped before the picture which she had finished the preceding evening it was a crown of orange flowers and white roses a crown destined for the daughter of madame de la for m de who was to marry the prince de although at war with their country louis xiv protected the dutch artists and had ordered this picture from van whose fame had reached even the court of france the young girl had done it with love for in tracing under her brush this virgin she thought involuntarily on the day when one similar should her pure brow upon an urn of chased gold had draped one of those magnificent of lace whose shadows also adorned a likeness of the bride her brush had given all the delicacy of the rich design of this precious fabric and upon this ornament she had gracefully placed the modest flowers which completed its each orange bud each rose in the crown had been to a long and precious labor her heart was bound up in this work she could not bear to part with it but the french claimed it a few days and it would be lost to her she wished to make a copy but her strength failed the tumultuous feelings which her soul disturbed the calmness requisite for those exquisite works of art she was still contemplating this crown which she had made under s eye and thinking on him when the door of the was suddenly thrown open he rushed towards her his hair in disorder his features bearing the stamp of despair dear he cried you alone can save me from and i come to you with confidence i have van april been separated from you one day from you my guardian angel and my evil life has me body and soul i have played i have lost i played upon honor and i should be abused trampled under foot if i | 37 |
did not pay they await me they have given me but a few hours will you save me what must be done said she happy in seeing him again and almost forgetting his do you wish that i should speak to my master he is generous and good he will come to our assistance do you wish what i possess will my little suffice for you i have three hundred take them i pray you alas it is not enough said he making an effort over himself i owe eight hundred well i will my master and if he cannot give you that sum i have the diamond which the emperor sent me i will it to a jew it will be useless the will too much time i am lost adieu pardon me tbe injury that i have done you oh why do you speak of injury she cried i bless you for when you are here i am happy i suffer no more leave me not again find happiness with me and take my life if thou it oh what can i do to give you peace and the eyes of the young girl spoke passion she pressed the hands of with indescribable tenderness at this moment she forgot that he who implored it was unworthy of her the was so sweet an that all fears were forgotten replied the sacrifice is too great i dare not exact it my god would you ask this picture destined for the king of france this picture which belongs to me no longer i should break my word yet i will give it you what do you say have you divined my meaning it is this picture which i need and i dared not confess it to you the other day a who admired it valued it at a thousand he said that he would give eight hundred for it van and that is the sum which you have lost take it i will paint it again from memory i pass nights in labor go quickly you will be too late and as if she had not made an immense sacrifice she joyfully put into his hands the designed for the daughter of louis i do not deserve your kindness i am not worthy to bless you may god reward you he was about to depart but stopping suddenly he felt a kind of remorse i am very guilty very base to save myself i expose you to tke anger of the king of france what will he say to the public sale of this picture destined for his daughter ah what are such fears to me oh you will never understand my love and overcome by emotion she fell on his neck and began to weep then suddenly herself go she cried and may i see you again calm and free from evil when he had departed she threw herself on her knees and asked pardon of god for her hastened rapidly down stairs and without seeing him came full against david van who had just returned home the old painter had recognised him and when he found in the in tears he knew all and you have let him carry away that picture cried he with a kind of master his honor was at stake to assist him i would have given my life my child answered david deeply misfortune has entered our doors with this man oh say rather happiness cried she with passionate sincerity when i see him i am happy in dying for him even now it is with joy that i weep i have given him repose by a sacrifice which seemed sweet to me you have given him repose by destroying that of your old master oh love me from thy heart and thy adopted father is no longer anything to thee do not accuse me can i help loving him you have seen my struggles i have with my heart i have ii no iv van april been conquered but this love is not were it necessary to resign it for you my father you know that i would said she with i the sacrifice which he has wrung from you will involve us in great misfortunes the french army is at our gates louis to enter our city as a conqueror at the least offence he can treat us as enemies until now he has protected us as if we him he will us as dutch and the french has just summoned me he has me of the new of the french army you will see our powerful monarch he added he comes to the catholic religion in your conquered provinces you whom he has named his painter you whom he has you should give an example of submission by returning into the pale of the church i kept silent and the understood my thoughts he coldly assured me of his protection then as i was about to take leave he recalled me o speak of thee you have he said to me a skilful pupil from whom our great king has ordered a picture this work is expected at court is it finished yes my lord well i will send for it to day and i will myself go and see if your pupil will be less rebellious than you to the desires of louis the great is the daughter of a minister i answered she cannot her religion without giving a death blow to her father the bishop of whom france has just will give her to understand that there is an authority yet more sacred than that of a father it is that of a king from that of god these words he hastily left me you see my child we have everything to fear from these hostile dispositions we must recover this picture so delivered to and without awaiting s answer david van gave orders | 37 |
that the young man should be sought after master said she firmly it is i alone who am guilty and i wish to bear alone the anger of the all this has been done without your counsel ah i should be too much punished should you suffer by it are you not my daughter said david tenderly our like our joys cannot be divided if the unfortunate one visit us we will receive him together van returned pale and cast down like a i have had you recalled said david gravely it is too late said bending down his head i will give you eight hundred it is too late i tell you the picture is sold can i not with gold obtain it from the it is no longer in his possession and to whom has he sold it to the french cried in despair oh pardon me this new misfortune i have been deceived by this man s he has taken advantage of my distress but believe me oh believe me i was ignorant of his intentions the old david van was but he read so much suffering on s features that he could not find words in which to reproach him began to console them she pressed her master s hand and the young man s together why yourselves thus said she to them to aid our friends in trouble brings sweeter pleasures than the of princes i am going to write to the to try and justify myself if i cannot him why then master we will live in obscurity during the occupation of the french the triumph of the enemies of our country should indeed humble us and their protection seem bitter to us noble child murmured david appeared not to understand this lofty pride while they were consulting on the means to be used to avoid persecution a friend of david van a of the city of entered the and said sadly to the old man what madness has seized you to resist the king of france why furnish our enemies with to us the weak should submit waiting till they shall be strong enough to revolt and the pressed by questions as to what they had to fear told david van that he entered the house of the french as he was on the point of going out and that he had found him very much irritated at the resistance which the painter had offered to his idea of catholic the had wished to convert some of the distinguished citizens and see them follow the van april i entry which was in preparation for louis xiv he had not succeeded in his attempt on the painter and was thinking how to revenge himself when the to whom had sold s painting asked to speak with him this carried on a great trade in works of art he owned a magazine of immense riches and already thought of escaping the of the by putting himself under the protection of the french other jews to escape losses by the war had set the example by sending a considerable tribute of silver to france this had thought of offering rare pictures thinking thus to flatter the sovereign who had declared himself protector of the arts when had delivered s to the jew the man saw all the advantage that he could obtain from this work by carrying it himself to the french and offering it to him under the respectful form of a this step of the jew had all the success that he had hoped from it the learning that the picture came from the of david van had promised the to reward his at the same time he broke out in threats against the artist who he said dared to revolt against louis the great hearing an account of this scene david understood all the of the danger which him yet he hoped to escape persecution by leading a retired life during the of the french in the shook his head you are not a man who can be forgotten said he to him if you had submitted to the will of the king he would have loaded you with honors you have dared to resist much more you have apparently dared to brave him louis xiv will you he will make an example of you you are celebrated be will think to render his authority more imposing by the severity which he will display towards you the peace of my old age is destroyed said david van sadly what can be done depart with me master said we will go to my family at my native town an obscure place that persecution will not visit there we shall the peace and security necessary for labor master let us de t an part and regret nothing since we shall not be separated she looked at he appeared to reflect this young girl is right said the you must depart and that as quickly as possible when you shall be no longer here i can preserve your house from i will obtain all your arrangements can be made during the day to morrow be far away from fly from the persecution which doubt not is preparing for you the will of god be done said the old david with resignation if my last days should be evil at least may he watch over those of my child my friend i will low your advice i will depart to morrow with and with cried she full of love if he wishes to share our fate replied the master seemed to awake from the reverie in which he was plunged it is i who have troubled your beautiful and tranquil life said he but if you forgive me if you do not fear the influence of my society i will never leave you never said and we shall be happy wherever we go she could no longer | 37 |
restrain her love it in spite of herself the departure was decided upon david gave some orders to who went to execute them and during his absence he arranged with all that was necessary for their while making these sad preparations the expression of the old painter seemed more than usually melancholy but by a contrast which existed for the last time between the sentiments of the master and the pupil s beautiful face beamed with an involuntary joy while she was engaged in all the preparations for departure david observed this emotion and gently reproached her for it when i leave in sadness the house where i was born and should have died said he without a hope of ever again returning to it why dost thou not share my thou my daughter who formerly all my feelings and you master replied she why can you not feel that i am happy in giving happiness to all to you to my van april father to my family whom we shall again see to the town which we shall oh it seems to me that our life will be one long festival loves me this misfortune which us and of which he is perhaps the cause has made his love known to me you have heard him master he has told us himself that he will never leave us repentance has made him good and do you wish me to be afflicted by a misfortune which gives me his heart my god grant that she may be happy for it would kill her to be deceived said david in a low and fervent tone yes my daughter thy happiness will make me forget my sorrows may this happiness be as great as i desire he loves me i wish nothing more trust to my experience to sound s heart upon this love let me question him if i find him worthy of thee from this evening he shall be thy he will protect thee from the dangers which may menace our journey better than i a poor old man and if he prove himself noble and good on our arrival at your father s house your union shall be accomplished master here he is cried who heard footsteps ah let me hear what you say to him my heart understands his better than yours can and i wish to bear his answer to you then as approached at a sign of assent from her master she concealed herself in a corner of the carved stone balcony upon which the window of the opened had been absent several hours but he had not been employed all this time in the orders which his master had given him he had met on hia way the companions of his those who the evening before had won from him the eight hundred he would have avoided them but entangled with them he had yielded anew to that humiliating which vice exercises over the man who has once been weak enough to accept its dominion was dragged to the inn i bid you adieu said he a glass which had been just poured out i depart to morrow i leave for a long time van what you depart when pleasures arrive cried all his friends do you call the entrance of our enemies into this city which they will to their heart s content pleasure there are no enemies but crime and misery said they laughing let us unite ourselves to the and we shall cease to be the a city taken or one which opens its gates is a mine of pleasure for artists noisy easy riches quickly gained and dissipated all this for him who knows how to enjoy it and the far the far is assured to us during this happy season was by these still he feebly resisted i have promised to go said he and i will go let us see fate will decide that cried several come take up the and try you go or you stay you go if you win you remain if you lose you must see that all the chances are in your favor though losing you still gain for your departure is doubtless a penance imposed on you and from which we shall deliver you good heavens to depart at the moment of a military invasion is the joys of and yourself unworthy of them come take up the and let fate overcome your still hesitated but he yielded to the heaped on him he shook the box and as the came down this your word said they if you lose you remain that is your word of honor so be it murmured he the fell had lost he was conquered and now perform your oath you will remain with os t is well i have never failed in a promise at play but i ought not to have done it i had consented to depart and i dare not go and myself spoke truly cowardly and timid in all his actions he was neither proud enough nor strong enough to resist the of others and when he had yielded to them he had not the courage to openly that he van april had done so to avoid all explanation with david van and especially to escape s presence he had thought of letting them both depart without seeing them again but a remnant of delicacy prevented him he had received money from the old painter to make some purchases he must render an account of it they made him swear again that he would not depart and he must perform this oath for he who the most sacred duties believed himself bound by an oath made at play in a drunken fit till we meet again repeated he and walked slowly towards the quiet house of david van which night already veiled entering the he was happy not to see my son | 37 |
said david to him kindly you are very late master here are your purchases these colors these these required selection it has taken me a long time this is what i have expended here is the money due to you it is well my friend adieu master i have now something to do for myself and already he had the threshold of the door is the affair which calls you so pressing that you cannot listen to me master i will return he sought to avoid an explanation by a falsehood david took him by the arm it concerns the happiness that i wish to give you do you love she is so beautiful said the young man with vivacity who could understand in this woman the noblest of beings nothing but her beauty but do you love her replied the master do you understand the worth of her soul and genius i understand that i love her while beholding her and when you think of her do you understand it i love rather her presence than the remembrance of it a word of love uttered by her mouth rather than a word of love that she may write to me a kiss of love that she might give me would be sweeter than her acts of devotion but will never understand that she is cold as the marble of our temple van eternal reproach of the to the modest woman of the man who mistakes the fire of the blood for warmth of soul and believes not in the love which is drowned in tears but in that which bursts forth boldly loves you enough replied david to give you all the pleasures of which she dreams in her virgin heart and those which you might wish to obtain from her she loves me in her way which is not mine i must her her cried the old man pained as if the blow which was to strike had reached him you believe yourself then unworthy of your vices are then so that love cannot make you conquer them return to the right path there is yet time an angel and an old man near your heart might guide you in life if you them you will perish in the mire i am unworthy of you i am unworthy of her unworthy by weakness unworthy because you do not love for love us and all obstacles it renders easy that which seems impossible to one who does not love it the soul by its tenderness it it by its greatness it it by its brightness s love ought to shine on you and you the old man spoke warmly and the young man remained cold he could not understand the love of this angel will change your nature continued david it is the happiness which your life evil will flee when you shall have fled from it you will return to her pure let this day the past banish the remembrance of the images of vice you are no longer the young lawless you may at this moment become the of say only that you love her enough to make her happy that you feel bold and strong enough to protect her against dangers during our flight after this of happiness you will be her husband there is the goal it depends on you to attain it did not reply david thought for a moment that the of his soul rendered him dumb come he said to him let me bless thee i will call i will place the ring on your finger this x n will a new life to you ii no iv van april i will return murmured bending his head with shame what is your thought murmured david with deep emotion for a dreadful doubt struck him if you have ao infamous design dare at least to it i cannot depart said in a low tone ah i knew it said david rushing upon him you are a scoundrel you have drawn misfortune upon the young girl and the old man you have them and now you abandon them you have killed my child coward take my curse i could wish you dead freed from the grasp of the unfortunate painter and quitted that dwelling into which he had brought despair then david hastily went to he had heard the fall of a body and felt that it was his dearly loved child who was dying as if pierced by a dagger had fallen under the stroke of a word that broke heart the emotion of the old man was as violent but it was all inward seeing the of that cool which acts without remorse he would have crushed him like a and when his arm fell powerless he regretted his youth and wept this dreadful hour this strife of bitter feelings had at once made david a man of an hundred years the preceding evening his vigorous and flourishing old age gave promise of many and happy years the thought that he could die never occurred to those who looked at him a sudden change a death blow as a stroke of had fallen upon him pale exhausted his complexion dull and lifeless you would have said that his blood was in his veins that it no longer looking at him you would have thought that the end of life was fast approaching when had recovered she fixed her looks on her master who wept and supported her in his arms she was struck by the dreadful change in his features and throwing aside the grief which was killing herself oh speak to me said she to the old man do not be so sad and despairing do not weep for me the e tears kill you see i am strong i will live for yoa only live for me my master my father forget this dreadful dream and let us again find | 37 |
that peace which we had and she sought to console him she who was in van she appeared again to hope she who hoped no longer she spoke of living while she carried death in her bosom for her eyes had been suddenly opened this old man who had surrounded her with paternal love and true happiness might in an instant fall dead beside her struck down by a grief which came through her and which he felt to the depths of his soul as keenly as she had done she understood this exceeding great affection she saw it in all its depth and the idea that he who it upon her each day might die made that fatal sentiment that love which had caused it appear to her she violently tore the image of from the depths of her soul she rent her bosom to bury it there and smiled on the old man whom her sufferings had overwhelmed we must depart before to morrow s dawn said she calmly master take some rest i will complete with your servants the preparations for departure see i am well now but you you suffer renew the strength necessary for our journey and when he would console her fear nothing said she god has cured me david slept deeply and painfully watched all the night sometimes at his bedside sometimes busy in giving orders during this painful watch a feverish trembling seized her her thoughts crowded upon one another in her burning head and dreadful images passed before her eyes sometimes she to dream it seemed to her that her spirit wandered in a mysterious and dread an eternal circle formed in space by grief she had strange visions which her it seemed to her that her body was dissolved and that her soul suffered alone in incessant torment she had no longer a distinct perception of what had thrown her into this mental delirium was mingled with the of her tortured imagination and by turns before her under the form of the angel and the one of a night and misfortune made all their shadows glide before her when the day which began to dawn came to her sad dreams she made a supernatural effort to free herself from grief but dragged it with her she quitted the couch of her master who still slept and seeking bitter emotions with a strange she wished to see again for the last time the where her beautiful years van april had flowed on so calmly and sweetly she leaned upon that window where the bind weed and the their flowers the sun shed its first beam in the east and this ray of light glittered among the leaves yet sprinkled with pearls of dew the songs of birds and the perfume of flowers rose from the garden and spread around her attracted on by th fragrance and the sweet sounds she remembered suddenly that on a similar morning two months before had found her musing on him in this same place a word and a kiss had escaped from their souls at the same time and mingled on their lips had given up her life in that kiss she had believed that a new world was opened for her she had peopled it with wonders and felicity and now this world was bare and waste grief had it with thorns so soon oh my god cried she what have i done to deserve this dreadful grief she wept then she began praying for resignation pale and dismayed like the of there was no longer anything in her touching features the freshness of youth and health had left her cheeks one night had to make her old and she also would have been startled at the change in her features if she had thought of looking at them prayer had opened her soul to resignation to that virtue whose worship fills half of the life of woman and her days of hopes the young christian rose grave and sad she repaired to her master to assist him in putting on a travelling dress and supporting the sinking old man she put him into the modest travelling carriage which was to convey them far from one faithful servant took charge of the when they had lost sight of the h felt her heart sink but she restrained her tears the old painter had not the same strength he wept he felt that the adieu was eternal they travelled on some time in silence neither speaking they feared lest all their emotion should betray itself in their speech the old man spared the grief of his child the child that of the old man at last emotion overcame them it broke forth in sobs these of grief which occurred many times during the journey completed the wreck of the dying painter s strength van the same day that these two departed so sadly from the sleeping town it awoke joyful tumultuous and in attire to open its gates to the king of france who had conquered it says made his entry into this city attended by his grand his and the of they repaired with solemnity to the chief catholic church the who bore only the vain name of one was for some time established in a real dignity the religion of louis xiv made as well as his arms having arrived at conducted her old master to the house where her family lived but there a sad trial yet awaited her no sound issued from the house animated formerly by s little brothers and sisters all was sad and desolate at the entrance the domestic animals no longer at the foot of the walls formerly so full of life the knocked at the door with a kind of dismay and when an old servant who had brought up opened it to them my father my mother stammered the young girl whose emotion altered | 37 |
her voice how do you not know replied the servant have you not then received the letter in which they inform you of their flight telling you to return to and watch over your dying grandfather who could not follow them it is then heaven which has inspired you leading you hither come my child come and see your grandfather he is expecting you followed the good woman to the bedside of the old man whose face already bore the marks of death the child of his son john van made a motion he would have extended his arms to and his strength failing a tear of grief and tenderness escaped from the old man what has become of them cried she in anguish why have they left you alone i forced them to depart replied the old man feebly to escape by flight from the catholic persecution which them they have gone to their brothers in there the protection of all the people will again give them a country your father would not leave van me like he would have carried away his old father in his arms but feeling that i had but few days to live i did not wish that my body should be buried in a foreign land and i have depended on thee to close my eyes while hearing the old man s words held her head bent on her bosom the sad and calm expression of her face told that her soul was resigned god had struck her without warning he had extinguished at once the glory of youth which adorned her brow and the home of happiness within her soul he had cast grief on the young maiden under all forms and she in her virtue had accepted it without murmuring yesterday and her destiny was brilliant and happy beauty and genius were in her glory summoned her to its triumphs love to its to day by and she was bending like an angel between two dying old men for the of all his sorrows had david van and the old painter seeing john van die said to himself that he also was on the brink of the grave some days after her return to her father s house closed the eyes of her grandfather and when his coffin was closed a strong and pious woman she returned to watch over the couch on which her old master the faculties of the artist had been suspended by misfortune you would have said that his intellect formerly so keen was no longer alive except to suffering all his brilliant past seemed from his mind he had retained only the remembrance of that dreadful hour when had given him his death blow by destroying the happiness of his adopted child as he felt his last moments approach this remembrance awoke yet more bitter and all the clearness of his thoughts seemed to return to him he spoke to of for a long time without hatred coldly and with that enlightened wisdom which the dying display when speaking of the passions my daughter said he a kiss on s forehead with his already livid lips my daughter your career will still be long you will render it illustrious by your talents you will again love glory which when yoa were yet a child smiled on you like a mother and then j van your brow brightened once more by her will regain the youth and beauty which grief that hour of consolation will come to you and your destiny will again be brilliant then the man who has troubled your youth weary of his wandering miserable life may seek to shelter him self under your glorious and honored name oh my child in that hour recollect that he pierced you to the heart less through cruelty than through weakness recollect that he could not conquer himself and vice to render himself worthy of you and if he say to you that misfortune has changed him do not follow the of your goodness and love if you should still love him when you again see him if you feel that his life is necessary to yours exact a proof of repentance demand that an entire year of labor assure you of the change in his life labor and man if should love you enough to devote a year of his life to labor virtue the sap of life may again arise in his soul my child you understand me a year of trial a year in which love shall not make you weak you will be severe to the prodigal child like an parent you will conceal your pardon and tenderness in the depths of your soul you will remember me and in this remembrance gather strength to resist swear to your dying master that his will shall be accomplished and he will depart with less pain from that world in which he leaves you without him the oath which you are about to make will protect you and you cannot be from it but by happiness melted by the tenderness of the dying painter swore never to belong to until he had passed through the trial by the dying painter a serene expression shone an instant on the brow of the old man and as if his last thought had been uttered he spoke no more and some minutes after ceased to breathe s task was accomplished what had she to do in this world the of her life the void in her heart made her desire to repose near those whom she had she thought not of her she forgot her art grief had everything and she sought no longer that great relief which she formerly found in painting sadness her thoughts she remained van april bowed down under her burden of grief as if condemned of heaven she was in this exhausted state when she received a letter from her family in | 37 |
urged her on she needed to see him again in fancy in dreams she needed to feel that she aw this phantom which had her love for this woman so illustrious and still so young and beautiful the present and future were nothing her life was all contained in the days now vanished life was for her henceforth nothing but in front of the window of the where passed her days on the other side of the garden which it overlooked rose a small house whose windows always closed attracted her sadly wandering eyes in her moments of repose and reverie she knew that this house formerly belonged to a friend of her father long since dead the had endeavored to sell it but had not yet found a a door opening into s garden the intimacy which had existed between the of these two houses which thus faced each other but it was long since this door of communication closed van by death had been opened and the ivy growing in the cracks already itself over the deserted dwelling said to herself sometimes why do these windows remain closed why does not some smiling friendly face come and bend down over these stone to look at me a smile a look would do me so much good my heart is in this loneliness why if i should die for it can i not again see if he lived there this gloomy dwelling would be animated i should see him glide behind those windows where now i see but empty space i could love him without telling him of it but i should feel that he was near me and my solitude would be peopled for the of an life are to the of the repose in which i am buried oh return should thy presence be death oh return for there are hours when i need to love and i can love none but thee why resist this love my god thou the death of my old master could not it it is an affliction which thou hast sent upon me and to which i must submit with resignation a more profound depression succeeded these of her soul s health sank under it and she felt a kind of pleasure in seeing her strength in counting the hours of her life which were passing away one summer s day towards noon she lay half on a bank of turf shaded by two the air around was filled with the exquisite perfume from the hanging from the branches of the vines this air and sought to warm herself by the pale beams of the sun of the north she felt a kind of gentle languor free from pain while a dreamy veil stole over her thoughts as if she were falling asleep yet she saw everything around her her eyes were not closed her soul alone had ceased to perceive she heard the sound of steps she saw the leaves stirred a man stood before her she rose looked at him some moments without him then as if her soul had sprung from chaos she cried and falling in his arms she strained him to her heart one minute with th energy of a long expected happiness then suddenly him as if conscience stricken oh she cried you have killed my master the shock of her emotions recalled van a her to life the remembrance of the oath which she had made to the old man arose between her and her overflowing love grief rendered her calm she herself and extending her hand to you are welcome i needed to see you to pardon you i do not bear you any ill will are you happy and s tears betrayed her emotion fell at her feet he would have himself before her and could not find words to express the mingled sensations of pleasure and lore which it was yet granted to his imperfect nature to feel he looked upon her as formerly but perhaps with less tenderness she seemed to him less beautiful could not admire this pallid beauty the of the soul which strikes but few even of the chosen yet this divine charm still his earthly desires and he said to her with love i return to you after many years of misfortunes and follies i will the past if you do not reject me for i feel it near you i can make myself everything that is good he pronounced these words with that simple and true accent which conviction also was changed if s face bore traces of the lofty passionate and pure sentiments which filled her soul his showed the impress of the gross desires which degraded his life his eyes were no longer brilliant his brow was by wrinkles his mouth thick and seemed to have retained the stamp of the strong drink and bad language of his sallow and hanging cheeks took from the and purity of his features he was handsome still but of a degraded beauty which no longer touched the soul when she whose life he had looked at him she asked herself if this was indeed the ideal being who for five years had kindled her soul the man whose fatal power had all her faculties he for whom she died each day by his presence she felt herself strong to resist she who in the delirium of her passion in the despair of solitude had given herself up as lost to the image which she the which she regained over her own heart had rendered her calm and tranquil she spoke to with the interest of a sister van she asked him where had passed his years of absence what were his wishes for the future touched in what of heart still remained to him by that voice so full of kindness he replied with eagerness that she was his future that he would never leave her | 37 |
whom he wished to surround with love and devotion ah let me unite my life to yours said he and i shall become better let your shadow shelter me let me but feel you always near me and i shall follow a noble path do not reject me you once named me your call me now your husband those words which spoke with assurance struck s heart and brought her new illusions yet in the feeling which prompted there was more than true love since he remained at to misfortune so the old man and the young girl he had passed his vagabond life amidst the influences of misery and shame his indolent temperament preventing him from laboring to satisfy his wants and his vicious passions he was reduced at times to the depths of poverty by his losses at play and his in he had shared the in fine he had with all the of the world the genius with which heaven had gifted him he became weary of this life because on the little of a hospital or prison he had no longer the pleasure of vice and then that which had driven him to vice recalled him to virtue he had travelled in italy executed pictures ordered by princes at the court of where he had been loaded with by the grand duke who one day admiring one of his works sent him as a token of his satisfaction a gold chain and of honor raised from his degradation and coming to himself again remembered and desired again to see his country who was the pride of holland had gained by her talents fortune and independence by his life to that of this noble woman a without labor he thought would be assured to him and his nature led him instinctively to this calculation without penetrating the depth of this involuntary selfishness resisting his entreaties recalled the warning of her dying master and the trial to which she had promised to subject before mingling her pure destiny with his van april life resolute in opposing her oath to the impulses of her heart she replied to the passionate words of i believe in your love the sentiment which has filled my life could not be a stranger to yours the past us and it depends on you that the future should no longer separate us you see that house said she pointing to the deserted mansion which we have described that dwelling a master from this evening purchased for you it belongs to you this solitude which has looked gloomy to me will be animated by your presence i have for a long time cherished this hope as a dream god has realized it we shall there be near each other two fruitful sympathies labor and love will make us live in the same thought in our hours of this door always hitherto closed will be opened you shall come to me to breathe the sweet air of this garden and behold the beautiful heaven which we shall look upon with eyes that understand one another we will speak of the happiness which us when the trial shall be accomplished why a trial cried time on swiftly why delay the hour of happiness to enjoy it more fully i wish you to love me and be illustrious acquire the glory to which your genius is entitled one year of labor and my life belongs to thee one year murmured one year lost to love one year cried with grief one year of sweet hope of submission of love one year in of five years of torture which i have endured for thee say is it too much he would have opposed and hurried away the unhappy one but she was firm misfortune had made her resolute she required perfect happiness or death the of s soul or his of her took possession of the house the same evening by the cares of this woman the apartment which looked upon the garden was quickly transformed into a and furnished with works of art herself her friend in the house purchased for him and of which she made him the gift wished to retain her and speak to her of love she resisted him van then approaching the balcony parallel with that of the opposite house on which would open her during our hours of labor she said we shall see each other we shall exchange looks of encouragement and if you love me you will not fail in the trial according to the wish of our dying master you should each day during a whole year devote eight hours to the study of your art you should execute the of which you conceive the design but which your idle pencil refuses to produce you should the bad passions the indulgence of which has done you so much evil adieu this shall be your to happiness making an effort to tear herself from him she quickly passed the door which opened into the garden and shut it after her then still leaning on the balcony seeing her disappear under the shade of an alley exclaimed with vexation cold hearted woman in thee pride has destroyed love these words struck s heart like the most cutting her strength gave way under her excitement she leaned against the trunk of a tree and began to weep cold cried he in a hollow voice cold because i do not yield to his desires cold while i am dying of a love which he has never been able to understand my god hasten for me that hour when the passions are my blood and my soul burn i need repose my god make me cold by death and covering her face with her hands she a long time motionless under the influence of her vehement thought seeing comparing him with her remembrance of him with his image which she had by her passionate | 37 |
that she demanded an account from that man for the of her life he was there miserably crouched at a table covered with empty bottles with purple face drunken eye drooping and lips he smiled on a young seated near him vigorous beautiful but of a merely beauty the furniture was in disorder about them the most precious works of art had been upon pictures of great price lay some of the food were filled with liquor and wine and this apartment adorned by the love of a noble woman was now stained by and remained motionless consternation took from her all power of speech she thought herself mad suddenly raised his eyes he saw this white form this face where there was no longer ufe he was the girl who was near him turned her head to the same side and full of fear pressed close to saying what does that phantom want of us remained motionless trembled pardon cried he with altered voice i knew that you were dying that you were dead and i have chosen in life a woman who resembled you this girl is beautiful as when i saw thee at she me the happiness that you have always refused me i love her in memory of thee oh do not curse me plunged in a kind of which showed to him as a escaped from the tomb her whom he had killed by his at these words turned her ardent eye on the young girl who rested on the heart where she alas could never repose she eagerly her features and recalling her own face before grief had faded it she recognised the resemblance which had remarked there was the same car j and speech nation the same form the same outline but the seal of feeling and intellect was wanting in this comprehended then clearly with what love knew how to love and casting on the man of flesh a last look a look of pity for himself she said to him slowly i pardon thee adieu then she vanished like a shadow at these words which they believed pronounced by a struck with terror and she whom he held fell fainting van died that night her hand was while writing the testament of her last wishes she to her family half of her fortune and left the other half to the hospital at with the that they should pay yearly an to van leaving him always ignorant of the hand which imparted the benefit she did not wish that he whom she had once loved should pass through the last degrees of misery and shame a silence and speech a little pleasant up from the ocean a little glimmering from the sun a little noise a little motion such is human speech i to thee would teach a truth deeper than this empty strife for thou art the keeper of the wells of life silence i would thee leave behind this thoughtless journey upward upward to thee put on thy celestial let us speak no more let us be let poor mortals and roar know we not how small it is to be ever uttering and muttering silence and speech april thou never tell the whole of thine soul deeper than thy deepest speech wiser than thy wisest thought something lies thou not reach never to the surface brought masses without form or make k sleeping that never wake bound by magic and all miracles shapes and wonderful huge and dire and beautiful dreams and hopes and struggling to their eyes all is most vast and dim all that is most good and bad demon and troops and angels glad things that stir not yet are living up to the forever striving thoughts whose faces are averted dwelling in the dark instincts not to be diverted from their ever present mark such thy inner soul o man which no outward eye may wonderful most wonderful terrible and beautiful speak not reason not but live reins to thy true nature give and in each unconscious act forth will shine the hidden fact yet this smooth surface thou must break thou must give as well as take why this silence long and deep dost thou wake or dost thou sleep up and speak persuade and teach what so as speech sing us the old song be our bird thou hast sealed thy lips too long and the world must all go wrong if it hath no spoken word out with it thou hast it we would feel it taste it be our let the statue let the music rise and swell we will enter the ring thoughts an where the ones dwell and we will compel the powers that we seek through us to sing through us to speak and hark s t young with words of fire and jove the serene air hath thundered as when hy old the lightning stolen for our use from out his sky was man to his soul draws near and silence now hath all to fear her realm is invaded her temple degraded for eloquence like a strong and river is flowing through her cities on forever the mighty waves are dashing and the sound the profound god through man is speaking and hearts and souls are waking each to each his visions tells and all rings out like a of bells the word the word thou hast it now silence the gods above but speech is the star on manhood s brow the sign of truth the sign of love c thoughts on at the present day germany seems to be the only country where the various of are pursued in the liberal and scientific spirit which some men fancy is peculiar to the nineteenth century it is the only country where they seem to be studied for their own | 37 |
shod over the first question what are the with its and singing robes about it its answer to the next is therefore of no value we speak of things that have happened when we say that many if not most of those questions which have been matters of dispute and railing belong to the class of explanations of no facts such we take it are the speculations for the most part that have grown out of the of the old and new testament about angels devils personal appearances of the deity thoughts on april miraculous judgments supernatural the and the whole class of miracles from to revelation easy faith and hard logic have done in let us answer the first question and the facts before we attempt to explain them as we look back on the history of the world the is painful the history of science is that of many wanderings before reaching the truth but the history of is the darkest chapter of all for neither the true end nor the true path seems yet to be discovered and pursued in the history of every department of thought there seem to be three periods pretty distinctly marked first the period of when observation is not accurate and the solution of the problem when stated is a matter of conjecture mere guess work next comes the period of observation and when men ask for the facts and their law there is the period when science is developed still further by its own laws without the need of new observations such is the present state of and some other as we think thus science may be in advance of observation some of the profound remarks of belong to this last epoch of science an ancient was in the first when he answered the question why does a man draw his feet under him when he wishes to rise from his seat by saying it was on account of the properties of the circle now with us is certainly in the period of the facts are assumed the explanation is guess work to take an example from a section of much insisted on at the present day the use and meaning of miracles the general is that miracles confirm the authority of him who works them and his to be divine we will state it in a and more form every miracle is a heaven sent and teacher of truth is a miracle therefore is a heaven sent and teacher of truth now we should begin by denying the major in full and go on to ask proofs of the minor but the method is to assume both when both premises are the conclusion will be what we see it is men build neither castles nor j an of yet in spite of this defect and weakness it is a common thing to subject other to this pretended science of and are examined and or condemned because their conclusions though from notorious facts do not square with the of which still to be head of all but to present this claim for in its present state is like making the king over the trees of the forest the result would be as in s would say come and put your trust in my shadow but if you will not a fire shall go out from the and the of now as it seems to us there are two legitimate methods of attempting to improve and advance one is for the to begin anew trusting entirely to meditation contemplation and thought and ask what can be known of divine things and how can it be known and this work of course demands that he should the faculty of knowing and determine its laws and see a what are our instruments of knowing and what the law and method of their use and thus discover the of this determined he must direct his eye inward on what passes there studying the stars of that inner as the reads the phenomena of the heavens he must also look outward on the face of nature and of man and thus read the primitive gospel god wrote on the heart of his child and illustrated in the earth and the sky and the events of life thus from observations made in the external world made also in the internal world both the and the faculties of man he is to frame the theory of god of man of the relation between god and man and of the duties that grow out of this relation for with these four questions we suppose is exclusively concerned this is the philosophical method and it is strictly legitimate it is pursued in the other and to good purpose thus science becomes the of nature not its the other method is to get the sum of the thinking of the human race and out of this mass a system without attempt on april ing a fresh observation of facts this is the historical method and it is useful to show what has been done the opinion of mankind deserves respect no doubt but this method can lead to a perfect no more than historical can lead to a perfect philosophy the former in as in and offer but a narrow and inadequate basis to rest on this historical scheme has often been attempted but never thoroughly and so far as we know in england and america however it seems almost entirely to have the philosophical method of its rights but it has been conducted in a narrow exclusive manner after the fashion of searching to prove a opinion rather than in the spirit of philosophical investigation from such measures we must expect melancholy results from the common of the philosophical method and the narrow and spirit in which the historical method is commonly pursued comes this result our philosophy of divine things is the poorest | 37 |
de an april of it and one most congenial to the english mind that of history here oar literature is most miserably deficient most english writers quote the fathers as if any writer of the first six centuries was as good authority for whatever relates to the primitive practice or opinion as of or martyr apart from the honorable and ancient name of cave we scarce an original historian of the church in the english tongue unless we except mr whose little work is candid and clear and shows an acquaintance with the sources though sometimes it too much of a spirit england has produced three great within less than a century their works though unequal are and name and influence will not soon pass away to rank with them in history we have the french have at least du and the and not to mention others scarcely inferior to any of these in america little is to be expected of our labors in this department we have no that would enable us to the in none perhaps that contains all the important sources of history still all other of this field are open to us where a large library is fortunately not needed now in germany is still studied by minds of a superior order and that with all the aid which science can offer in the nineteenth century the mantle of the prophet ascending from france and england and with it a double portion of his spirit has fallen there has but shifted her ground not forsaken the earth so it is said there is always one and one alone in the world although it is sometimes in the sometimes in the sky in this country we say it with is still pursued used to boast that his countrymen came late to philosophy it seems they found their account in entering the field after the mists of morning had left the sky and the could be seen when the dew had vanished from the grass they have come through philosophy to still later for the of the before s time valuable s as it in every respect is only related to the modern as our fathers who worshipped and two thousand years ago are related to us germany is said to be the land of books it is par eminence the land of logical books to look over the one is filled with amazement and horror at the thought that somebody is to read each of the books and many will attempt inward thereof some thousands of years ago it was said of writing books there is no end what would the same man say could he look over the catalogue of the last fair we do not wonder that the eyes of are turned attentively to germany at this time regarding it as the new east out of which the star of hope is to rise still it is but a mixed result which we can expect something will no doubt be effected both of good and ill it is the part of m n to welcome the former and ward off the latter but we will here close our somewhat remarks and address ourselves to the work named at the head of this article in any country but germany we think this would be reckoned a wonderful book capable not only of making the author s literary reputation but of making an epoch in the study of history and of itself the work is remarkable in respect to both of these of thought since copies of it are rare in this country we have been induced to transfer to our pages some of the author s most instructive thoughts and conclusions and give the general scope of the book itself widely as it in many respects from our own view its author is a professor of at one of the more in germany and so far as we know this is the only work he has given to the public in an independent form in one of the for the work has two and an introduction to boot the author says that as christianity goes on developing itself and as men get clearer notions of what they contend about all come to turn more and more upon the person of christ as the point where all must be decided with this discovery much is gained for the right decision depends in some measure on putting the question in a right way it is easy to see that all turns on this question whether it is necessary that there should be and whether there actually has been such a christ as is represented in the though not always in the words of the church that is whether there must be and has been a being in whom the perfect union of the divine and the human has been made manifest in history now if philosophy can that a christ in the above sense is a notion self contradictory and therefore impossible there can no longer be any between philosophy and then the christ and the christian church as such have ceased to exist or rather philosophy has conquered the whole department of christian as it were from the enemy for when the is the must surrender at discretion on the other band if it is shown that the notion of an historical as well as an ideal christ is a necessary notion and the construction of the person of christ is admitted then philosophy and essentially and most intimately set at one with each other may continue their common work in peace philosophy has not lost her independence but gained new strength now one party says this is done already the person of christ is constructed while the other says the lists are now to be closed inasmuch as it has been that there can be no christ who is alike historical and | 37 |
come in and the who lived in the midst of the were the men who taught this doctrine but this natural suspicion is without foundation may be divided into eastern and western the indian religion may be taken as the type of one the greek of the other but neither god distinctly enough from the world both serve to be called a worship of nature f one proceeds from the divine in the world the other from the and both seek the common end the unity of the divine and human hence in the east the various of in one of which he the human form as the highest of all here the god to earth and becomes a man again actually becomes man the idea of the god man appears as in christianity in the condescension of god to the human form there is no doubt these notions were well known in in the time of but the christian idea be explained from this source for the true unity of the divine and human natures nowhere appears therefore the of men by the eastern religion is but mo the deity does not draw men to him besides the of this system its value and it ends at last in a sort of and which the existence of the world the greek religion is the opposite of this it man instead of god it admitted though a belief in fate still lingered there as the last of primitive it does not develop the idea but it with physical causes it begins in part the the of on the of the christians hai never yet it would seem had justice done it hy writers of history we see traces of it in the and some of which are perhaps as ancient as the writings in our view the divinity of and its numerous doctrines come from this source t this we think true of neither except while the religion was in and stages in the greek there are three stages the and only the first ii a worship of a april opposite way from the indian but comes to the same at last a denial of all but god the one divine substance before which all the is an illusion besides our author finds the moral element is wanting in the greek religion in this conclusion however we think him too hasty certainly the moral element has its proper place in such writers as and it would be difficult to find an author in ancient or modern times in whom justice is more amply done to the moral sense than in the latter however dr thinks is an exception to the general rule of ancient here the moral element occurs in so perfect a form that some will not reckon it with the heathen but this has not got above the adoration of nature which all the other heathen forms of religion besides the which runs through all the oriental systems allows no true union of the divine and human accordingly the christians always had a strong tendency to and ran it out into the notions of the and then found that in there was no union of the two natures the divine can never with the human for the infinite being who is the cause of both aod remains always immovable and at perfect rest it however admits a sort of notion of a between him and us and has a poor sort of a god man in the person of though some conjecture this is a more modern notion they have taken from the jews thus it appears the central idea of christianity could have proceeded from no heathen religion could it come from the hebrew system quite as of all the ancient the hebrew alone god from the world says our mistaken author and the distinct personality of both god and man this the difficulty of it dwells on the moral way of of centuries of ry is quite as as it were to take the middle age the of england and france with the of germany as the natural results and legitimate issue christian religion t see the attempt of mr inquiry into the christianity london d as to derive of christian ideas firom the a union of man and god and would have it go on and become perfect and in the end god write the law in the heart as in the beginning he wrote it on tables of stone but in avoiding the adoration of nature the jews took such a of the deity that it seemed impossible to them that he should himself in man all the revelations of god in the old testament are not the remotest approach to an like that in they made a great chasm between god and man which they attempted to fill up with angels and the like f the descriptions of wisdom in the and are not at all like the christian the jews to the greek system and adopted the of the while the jews instead of making their idea of the more lofty and pure and rendering it more intense only gave it a more extensive range and thought of a political thus it appears the idea of a god man could not come from any of these sources nor yet from any contemporary philosophy or religion it must therefore be original with christianity itself it was impossible for a heathen or hebrew to say in the christian sense that a man was god or the son of god but all former were only a in the highest sense this fact shows that christianity expresses what all sought to utter and in itself the truths of and was great through the idea of the absolute personal god the greatest excellence of is the idea of the most intimate and residence of a divine life in a free human form but the idea of | 37 |
his pupils had ever set down america in his map of the world or alluded to it except by but as christianity went on developing it took some ideas from the other thus from it took the notion of a man and a prophet from the doctrine of the these two rival elements balanced each other and gave a universal development to the new principle thus while christianity attacked its foes it built up its own not unlike the of who held the sword in one hand and the in the other he finds three periods in the history of i that of the establishment of the doctrine that there were two essential elements in the divine and human h period of the one sided elevation of either the one or the other this has two i from the council of nice to the period of the divine side from the to period of the human side hi period of the attempt to show both in him and how they unite we must pass very hastily over the rest of the work for after we have thus described his stand point and some of his general views and have shown his method the student of history will see what his opinions must be of the great teachers in the church whose doctrines are well known to make the new doctrines of christianity the first thing was to get an adequate expression in of the nature of christ on this question the christian world into two great parties one follows a hebrew the other a greek tendency one taking the human the other the divine side of christ hence come two independent the one without the divine the other without the human nature in these are the and the considered in with is a very powerful witness of the deep and wonderful impression of its divinity which the new principle had made on mankind at its appearance an impression which is by no means fully described by all that could say of a new great and holy prophet that had risen up on the other hand itself in its lack of ideal tendency is a powerful evidence on the historical of christianity by its rigid to the human appearance of christ which the other denied p strange as it may seem these two systems ran into one another and had both of them this common ground that god and man could not be joined for while the said was a mere the christ remained a pure ideal not connected with the body a was effected by god and was the symbol while the denying the body of had any reality left the christ a pure ideal never both were alike unsatisfactory to the christian mind both left alike the necessity of finding in christ the union of the human and divine therefore this objection may be made to both of them which from the nature of things is the most significant namely that man is not by them for god has not taken the human nature upon himself and it by assuming it the church guided rather by an internal tact and necessity than by any perfect insight could sketch no figure of christ in definite lines but by these two extreme doctrines it was advanced so far that it became clearly conscious of the necessity in general of of the as divine and human at the same time p various elements of this doctrine were expressed by the various teachers in the early ages thus on the divine side it was taught first by the paul of and that a higher power dwelt in christ next by that it was not merely a higher power but a that dwelt in christ and of with considered this si to the father though the latter regarded it as the next step was to consider this not merely subordinate but eternal nor this only but of the same essence with the father this was developed in the between of rome and of between and at the same time the human side also was vol ii no iv s and maintained in opposition to the that christ had an actual human body then taught that christ had a human ml v v but the supplied the place of a human mind but in opposition to him of taught that he had a human mind also thus the elements of the christ are constructed od the human and divine side but still all their elements were not united into a human personal character for the human nature of christ was still regarded as but attempts were made also to unite these parts together and a whole person this however led rather to a mixture than an and consistent union therefore the and distinctness of the two natures also required to be set forth this was done very clearly the council of nice declared he was perfect god that of that he was perfect man also but did not determine how the two natures were reconciled in the same character the character of these two natures we quote the words of the great not taken away by the union but rather the peculiarity of each nature is kept distinct and runs together with the other into one and one next we give the greek words and and not the common terms derived from the latin the of this can only be expressed in the greek tongue a latin christian could believe in three and one for he had no better while the greek christian reckoned this if not as he believed in one essence and three but to say three persons in the was in greece as to say three was at rome well says for the latin language est persons non ut ut non de v c st has some thoughts on this head which may surprise | 37 |
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