,,the ,,atlantic ,,monthly4 ,a ,,magazine ,,of ,,literature1 ,,art1 ,,and ,,politics4 ,,vol4 ,,ii4--,,september1 #aheh4--,,no4 ,,xi4 ,,eloquence4 ,it is the doctrine of the popular music-masters1 that whoever can speak can sing4 ,so1 probably1 every man is eloquent once in his life4 ,our temperaments differ in capacity of heat1 or we boil at different degrees4 ,one man is brought to the boiling point by the excitement of conversation in the parlor4 ,the waters1 of course1 are not very deep4 ,he has a two-inch enthusiasm1 a pattypan ebullition4 ,another requires the additional caloric of a multitude1 and a public debate2 a third needs an antagonist1 or a hot indignation2 a fourth needs a revolution2 and a fifth1 nothing less than the grandeur of absolute ideas1 the splendors and shades of ,heaven and ,hell4 ,but because every man is an orator1 how long soever he may have been a mute1 an assembly of men is so much more susceptible4 ,the eloquence of one stimulates all the rest1 some up to the speaking point1 and all others to a degree that makes them good receivers and conductors1 and they avenge themselves for their enforced silence by increased loquacity on their return to the fireside4 ,the plight of these phlegmatic brains is better than that of those who prematurely boil1 and who impatiently break the silence before their time4 ,our county conventions often exhibit a small-pot-soon-hot style of eloquence4 ,we are too much reminded of a medical experiment1 where a series of patients are taking nitrous-oxide gas4 ,each patient1 in turn1 exhibits similar symptoms1--redness in the face1 volubility1 violent gesticulation1 delirious attitudes1 occasional stamping1 an alarming loss of perception of the passage of time1 a selfish enjoyment of his sensations1 and loss of perception of the sufferings of the audience4 ,plato says1 that the punishment which the wise suffer1 who refuse to take part in the government1 is1 to live under the government of worse men2 and the like regret is suggested to all the auditors1 as the penalty of abstaining to speak1 that they shall hear worse orators than themselves4 ,but this lust to speak marks the universal feeling of the energy of the engine1 and the curiosity men feel to touch the springs4 ,of all the musical instruments on which men play1 a popular assembly is that which has the largest compass and variety1 and out of which1 by genius and study1 the most wonderful effects can be drawn4 ,an audience is not a simple addition of the individuals that compose it4 ,their sympathy gives them a certain social organism1 which fills each member1 in his own degree1 and most of all the orator1 as a jar in a battery is charged with the whole electricity of the battery4 ,no one can survey the face of an excited assembly1 without being apprised of new opportunity for painting in fire human thought1 and being agitated to agitate4 ,how many orators sit mute there below6 ,they come to get justice done to that ear and intuition which no ,chatham and no ,demosthenes has begun to satisfy4 ,the ,welsh ,triads say1 ,many are the friends of the golden tongue4 ,who can wonder at the attractiveness of ,parliament1 or of ,congress1 or the bar1 for our ambitious young men1 when the highest bribes of society are at the feet of the successful orator8 ,he has his audience at his devotion4 ,all other fames must hush before his4 ,he is the true potentate2 for they are not kings who sit on thrones1 but they who know how to govern4 ,the definitions of eloquence describe its attraction for young men4 ,antiphon the ,rhamnusian1 one of ,plutarch's ten orators1 advertised in ,athens1 that he would cure distempers of the mind with words4 ,no man has a prosperity so high or firm1 but two or three words can dishearten it4 ,there is no calamity which right words will not begin to redress4 ,isocrates described his art1 as the power of magnifying what was small and diminishing what was great2--an acute1 but partial definition4 ,among the ,spartans1 the art assumed a ,spartan shape1 namely1 of the sharpest weapon4 ,socrates says1 ,if any one wishes to converse with the meanest of the ,lacedaemonians1 he will at first find him despicable in conversation2 but1 when a proper opportunity offers1 this same person1 like a skilful jaculator1 will hurl a sentence worthy of attention1 short and contorted1 so that he who converses with him will appear to be in no respect superior to a boy4 ,plato's definition of rhetoric is1 the art of ruling the minds of men4 ,the ,koran says1 ,a mountain may change its place1 but a man will not change his disposition2--yet the end of eloquence is1--is it not8--to alter in a pair of hours1 perhaps in a half-hour's discourse1 the convictions and habits of years4 ,young men1 too1 are eager to enjoy this sense of added power and enlarged sympathetic existence4 ,the orator sees himself the organ of a multitude1 and concentrating their valors and powers3 ,but now the blood of twenty thousand men ,blushed in my face4 ,that which he wishes1 that which eloquence ought to reach1 is1 not a particular skill in telling a story1 or neatly summing up evidence1 or arguing logically1 or dexterously addressing the prejudice of the company2 no1 but a taking sovereign possession of the audience4 ,him we call an artist1 who shall play on an assembly of men as a master on the keys of the piano1--who1 seeing the people furious1 shall soften and compose them1 shall draw them1 when he will1 to laughter and to tears4 ,bring him to his audience1 and1 be they who they may1 coarse or refined1 pleased or displeased1 sulky or savage1 with their opinions in the keeping of a confessor1 or with their opinions in their bank-safes1--he will have them pleased and humored as he chooses2 and they shall carry and execute that which he bids them4 ,this is that despotism which poets have celebrated in the ,pied ,piper of ,hamelin1 whose music drew like the power of gravitation1--drew soldiers and priests1 traders and feasters1 women and boys1 rats and mice2 or that of the minstrel of ,meudon1 who made the pallbearers dance around the bier4 ,this is a power of many degrees1 and requiring in the orator a great range of faculty and experience1 requiring a large composite man1 such as ,nature rarely organizes1 so that1 in our experience1 we are forced to gather up the figure in fragments1 here one talent1 and there another4 ,the audience is a constant metre of the orator4 ,there are many audiences in every public assembly1 each one of which rules in turn4 ,if anything comic and coarse is spoken1 you shall see the emergence of the boys and rowdies1 so loud and vivacious1 that you might think the house was filled with them4 ,if new topics are started1 graver and higher1 these roisters recede2 a more chaste and wise attention takes place4 ,you would think the boys slept1 and that the men have any degree of profoundness4 ,if the speaker utter a noble sentiment1 the attention deepens1 a new and highest audience now listens1 and the audiences of the fun and of facts and of the understanding are all silenced and awed4 ,there is also something excellent in every audience1--the capacity of virtue4 ,they are ready to be beatified4 ,they know so much more than the orator1--and are so just6 ,there is a tablet there for every line he can inscribe1 though he should mount to the highest levels4 ,humble persons are conscious of new illumination2 narrow brows expand with enlarged affections3 delicate spirits1 long unknown to themselves1 masked and muffled in coarsest fortunes1 who now hear their own native language for the first time1 and leap to hear it4 ,but all these several audiences1 each above each1 which successively appear to greet the variety of style and topic1 are really composed out of the same persons2 nay1 sometimes the same individual will take active part in them all1 in turn4 ,this range of many powers in the consummate speaker and of many audiences in one assembly leads us to consider the successive stages of oratory4 ,perhaps it is the lowest of the qualities of an orator1 but it is1 on so many occasions1 of chief importance1--a certain robust and radiant physical health1--or1 shall ,i say8 great volumes of animal heat4 ,when each auditor feels himself to make too large a part of the assembly1 and shudders with cold at the thinness of the morning audience1 and with fear lest all will heavily fail through one bad speech1 mere energy and mellowness are then inestimable4 ,wisdom and learning would be harsh and unwelcome1 compared with a substantial cordial man1 made of milk1 as we say1 who is a house-warmer1 with his obvious honesty and good meaning1 and a hue-and-cry style of harangue1 which inundates the assembly with a flood of animal spirits1 and makes all safe and secure1 so that any and every sort of good speaking becomes at once practicable4 ,i do not rate this animal eloquence very highly1 and yet1 as we must be fed and warmed before we can do any work well1 even the best1 so is this semi-animal exuberance1 like a good stove1 of the first necessity in a cold house4 ,climate has much to do with it1--climate and race4 ,set a ,new ,englander to describe any accident which happened in his presence4 ,what hesitation and reserve in his narrative6 ,he tells with difficulty some particulars1 and gets as fast as he can to the result1 and1 though he cannot describe1 hopes to suggest the whole scene4 ,now listen to a poor ,irish-woman recounting some experience of hers4 ,her speech flows like a river1--so unconsidered1 so humorous1 so pathetic1 such justice done to all the parts6 ,it is a true transubstantiation1--the fact converted into speech1 all warm and colored and alive1 as it fell out4 ,our ,southern people are almost all speakers1 and have every advantage over the ,new ,england people1 whose climate is so cold1 that1 'tis said1 we do not like to open our mouths very wide4 ,but neither can the ,southerner in the ,united ,states1 nor the ,irish1 compare with the lively inhabitant of the ,south of ,europe4 ,the traveller in ,sicily needs no gayer melodramatic exhibition than the table d'hte of his inn will afford him1 in the conversation of the joyous guests4 ,they mimic the voice and manner of the person they describe2 they crow1 squeal1 hiss1 cackle1 bark1 and scream like mad1 and1 were it only by the physical strength exerted in telling the story1 keep the table in unbounded excitement4 ,but in every constitution some large degree of animal vigor is necessary as material foundation for the higher qualities of the art4 ,but eloquence must be attractive1 or it is none4 ,the virtue of books is to be readable1 and of orators to be interesting1 and this is a gift of ,nature2 as ,demosthenes1 the most laborious student in that kind1 signified his sense of this necessity when he wrote1 ,good ,fortune1 as his motto on his shield4 ,as we know1 the power of discourse of certain individuals amounts to fascination1 though it may have no lasting effect4 ,some portion of this sugar must intermingle4 ,the right eloquence needs no bell to call the people together1 and no constable to keep them4 ,it draws the children from their play1 the old from their arm-chairs1 and the invalid from his warm chamber2 it holds the hearer fast1 steals away his feet1 that he shall not depart1--his memory1 that he shall not remember the most pressing affairs1--his belief1 that he shall not admit any opposing considerations4 ,the pictures we have of it in semi-barbarous ages1 when it has some advantages in the simpler habit of the people1 show what it aims at4 ,it is said that the ,khans1 or story-tellers in ,ispahan and other cities of the ,east1 attain a controlling power over their audience1 keeping them for many hours attentive to the most fanciful and extravagant adventures4 ,the whole world knows pretty well the style of these improvisators1 and how fascinating they are1 in our translations of the ,arabian ,nights4 ,scheherzarade tells these stories to save her life1 and the delight of young ,europe and young ,america in them proves that she fairly earned it4 ,and who does not remember in childhood some white or black or yellow ,scheherzarade1 who1 by that talent of telling endless feats of fairies and magicians1 and kings and queens1 was more dear and wonderful to a circle of children than any orator of ,england or ,america is now8 ,the more indolent and imaginative complexion of the ,eastern nations makes them much more impressible by these appeals to the fancy4 ,these legends are only exaggerations of real occurrences1 and every literature contains these high compliments to the art of the orator and the bard1 from the ,hebrew and the ,greek down to the ,scottish ,glenkindie1 who --harpit a fish out o' saut water1 ,or water out of a stone1 ,or milk out of a maiden's breast ,who bairn had never none4 ,homer specially delighted in drawing the same figure4 ,for what is the ,odyssey1 but a history of the orator1 in the largest style1 carried through a series of adventures furnishing brilliant opportunities to his talent8 ,see with what care and pleasure the poet brings him on the stage4 ,helen is pointing out to ,antenor1 from a tower1 the different ,grecian chiefs4 ,antenor said3 ',tell me1 dear child1 who is that man1 shorter by a head than ,agamemnon1 yet he looks broader in his shoulders and breast4 ,his arms lie on the ground1 but he1 like a leader1 walks about the bands of the men4 ,he seems to me like a stately ram1 who goes as a master of the flock4' ,him answered ,helen1 daughter of ,jove3 ',this is the wise ,ulysses1 son of ,laertes1 who was reared in the state of craggy ,ithaca1 knowing all wiles and wise counsels4' ,to her the prudent ,antenor replied again3 ',o woman1 you have spoken truly4 ,for once the wise ,ulysses came hither on an embassy1 with ,menelaus1 beloved by ,mars4 ,i received them1 and entertained them at my house4 ,i became acquainted with the genius and the prudent judgments of both4 ,when they mixed with the assembled ,trojans and stood1 the broad shoulders of ,menelaus rose above the other2 but1 both sitting1 ,ulysses was more majestic4 ,when they conversed1 and interweaved stories and opinions with all2 ,menelaus spoke succinctly1 few but very sweet words1 since he was not talkative1 nor superfluous in speech1 and was the younger4 ,but when the wise ,ulysses arose1 and stood1 and looked down1 fixing his eyes on the ground1 and neither moved his sceptre backward nor forward1 but held it still1 like an awkward person1 you would say it was some angry or foolish man2 but when he sent his great voice forth out of his breast1 and his words fell like the winter snows1 not then would any mortal contend with ,ulysses2 and we1 beholding1 wondered not afterwards so much at his aspect4 ,iliad1 ,,iii4 #aib4 ,thus he does not fail to arm ,ulysses at first with this power of overcoming all opposition by the blandishments of speech4 ,plutarch tells us that ,thucydides1 when ,archidamus1 king of ,sparta1 asked him1 ,which was the best wrestler1 ,pericles or he8 replied1 ,when ,i throw him1 he says he was never down1 and he persuades the very spectators to believe him4 ,philip of ,macedon said of ,demosthenes1 on hearing the report of one of his orations1 ,had ,i been there1 he would have persuaded me to take up arms against myself2 and ,warren ,hastings said of ,burke's speech on his impeachment1 ,as ,i listened to the orator1 ,i felt for more than half an hour as if ,i were the most culpable being on earth4 ,in these examples1 higher qualities have already entered2 but the power of detaining the ear by pleasing speech1 and addressing the fancy and imagination1 often exists without higher merits4 ,thus separated1 as this fascination of discourse aims only at amusement1 though it be decisive in its momentary effect1 it is yet a juggle1 and of no lasting power4 ,it is heard like a band of music passing through the streets1 which converts all the passengers into poets1 but is forgotten as soon as it has turned the next corner2 and unless this oiled tongue could1 in ,oriental phrase1 lick the sun and moon away1 it must take its place with opium and brandy4 ,i know no remedy against it but cotton-wool1 or the wax which ,ulysses stuffed into the ears of his sailors to pass the ,sirens safely4 ,there are all degrees of power1 and the least are interesting1 but they must not be confounded4 ,there is the glib tongue and cool self-possession of the salesman in a large shop1 which1 as is well known1 overpower the prudence and resolution of housekeepers of both sexes4 ,there is a petty lawyer's fluency1 which is sufficiently impressive to him who is devoid of that talent1 though it be1 in so many cases1 nothing more than a facility of expressing with accuracy and speed what everybody thinks and says more slowly1 without new information1 or precision of thought1--but the same thing1 neither less nor more4 ,it requires no special insight to edit one of our country newspapers4 ,yet whoever can say off currently1 sentence by sentence1 matter neither better nor worse than what is there printed1 will be very impressive to our easily-pleased population4 ,these talkers are that class who prosper like the celebrated schoolmaster1 by being only one lesson ahead of the pupil4 ,add a little sarcasm1 and prompt allusion to passing occurrences1 and you have the mischievous member of ,congress4 ,a spice of malice1 a ruffian touch in his rhetoric1 will do him no harm with his audience4 ,these accomplishments are of the same kind1 and only a degree higher than the coaxing of the auctioneer1 or the vituperative style well described in the street-word jawing4 ,these kinds of public and private speaking have their use and convenience to the practitioners2 but we may say of such collectively1 that the habit of oratory is apt to disqualify them for eloquence4 ,one of our statesmen said1 ,the curse of this country is eloquent men4 ,and one cannot wonder at the uneasiness sometimes manifested by trained statesmen1 with large experience of public affairs1 when they observe the disproportionate advantage suddenly given to oratory over the most solid and accumulated public service4 ,in a ,senate or other business committee1 the solid result depends on a few men with working talent4 ,they know how to deal with the facts before them1 to put things into a practical shape1 and they value men only as they can forward the work4 ,but some new man comes there1 who has no capacity for helping them at all1 is insignificant1 and nobody in the committee1 but has a talent for speaking4 ,in the debate with open doors1 this precious person makes a speech1 which is printed1 and read all over the ,union1 and he at once becomes famous1 and takes the lead in the public mind over all these executive men1 who1 of course1 are full of indignation to find one who has no tact or skill1 and knows he has none1 put over them by means of this talking power which they despise4 ,leaving behind us these pretensions1 better or worse1 to come a little nearer to the verity1 eloquence is attractive as an example of the magic of personal ascendency2--a total and resultant power1--rare1 because it requires a rich coincidence of powers1 intellect1 will1 sympathy1 organs1 and1 over all1 good-fortune in the cause4 ,we have a half-belief that the person is possible who can counterpoise all other persons4 ,we believe that there may be a man who is a match for events1--one who never found his match1--against whom other men being dashed are broken1--one of inexhaustible personal resources1 who can give you any odds and beat you4 ,what we really wish for is a mind equal to any exigency4 ,you are safe in your rural district1 or in the city1 in broad daylight1 amidst the police1 and under the eyes of a hundred thousand people4 ,but how is it on the ,atlantic1 in a storm8 ,do you understand how to infuse your reason into men disabled by terror1 and to bring yourself off safe then8--how among thieves1 or among an infuriated populace1 or among cannibals8 ,face to face with a highwayman who has every temptation and opportunity for violence and plunder1 can you bring yourself off safe by your wit1 exercised through speech8--a problem easy enough to ,caesar1 or ,napoleon4 ,whenever a man of that stamp arrives1 the highwayman has found a master4 ,what a difference between men in power of face6 ,a man succeeds because he has more power of eye than another1 and so coaxes or confounds him4 ,the newspapers1 every week1 report the adventures of some impudent swindler1 who1 by steadiness of carriage1 duped those who should have known better4 ,yet any swindlers we have known are novices and bunglers1 as is attested by their ill name4 ,a greater power of face would accomplish anything1 and1 with the rest of their takings1 take away the bad name4 ,a greater power of carrying the thing loftily1 and with perfect assurance1 would confound merchant1 banker1 judge1 men of influence and power1 poet1 and president1 and might head any party1 unseat any sovereign1 and abrogate any constitution in ,europe and ,america4 ,it was said1 that a man has at one step attained vast power1 who has renounced his moral sentiment1 and settled it with himself that he will no longer stick at anything4 ,it was said of ,sir ,william ,pepperel1 one of the worthies of ,new ,england1 that1 put him where you might1 he commanded1 and saw what he willed come to pass4 ,julius ,caesar said to ,metellus1 when that tribune interfered to hinder him from entering the ,roman treasury1 ,young man1 it is easier for me to put you to death than to say that ,i will2 and the youth yielded4 ,in earlier days1 he was taken by pirates4 ,what then8 ,he threw himself into their ship2 established the most extraordinary intimacies2 told them stories2 declaimed to them2 if they did not applaud his speeches1 he threatened them with hanging1--which he performed afterwards1--and1 in a short time1 was master of all on board4 ,a man this is who cannot be disconcerted1 and so can never play his last card1 but has a reserve of power when he has hit his mark4 ,with a serene face1 he subverts a kingdom4 ,what is told of him is miraculous2 it affects men so4 ,the confidence of men in him is lavish1 and he changes the face of the world1 and histories1 poems1 and new philosophies arise to account for him4 ,a supreme commander over all his passions and affections2 but the secret of his ruling is higher than that4 ,it is the power of ,nature running without impediment from the brain and will into the hands4 ,men and women are his game4 ,where they are1 he cannot be without resource4 ,whoso can speak well1 said ,luther1 is a man4 ,it was men of this stamp that the ,grecian ,states used to ask of ,sparta for generals4 ,they did not send to ,lacedaemon for troops1 but they said1 ,send us a commander2 and ,pausanias1 or ,gylippus1 or ,brasidas1 or ,agis1 was despatched by the ,ephors4 ,it is easy to illustrate this overpowering personality by these examples of soldiers and kings2 but there are men of the most peaceful way of life1 and peaceful principle1 who are felt1 wherever they go1 as sensibly as a ,july sun or a ,december frost1--men who1 if they speak1 are heard1 though they speak in a whisper1--who1 when they act1 act effectually1 and what they do is imitated3 and these examples may be found on very humble platforms1 as well as on high ones4 ,in old countries1 a high money-value is set on the services of men who have achieved a personal distinction4 ,he who has points to carry must hire1 not a skilful attorney1 but a commanding person4 ,a barrister in ,england is reputed to have made twenty or thirty thousand pounds per annum in representing the claims of railroad companies before committees of the ,house of ,commons4 ,his clients pay not so much for legal as for manly accomplishments1--for courage1 conduct1 and a commanding social position1 which enable him to make their claims heard and respected4 ,i know very well1 that1 among our cool and calculating people1 where every man mounts guard over himself1 where heats and panics and abandonments are quite out of the system1 there is a good deal of skepticism as to extraordinary influence4 ,to talk of an overpowering mind rouses the same jealousy and defiance which one may observe round a table where anybody is recounting the marvellous anecdotes of mesmerism4 ,each auditor puts a final stroke to the discourse by exclaiming1 ,can he mesmerize me8 ,so each man inquires if any orator can change his convictions4 ,but does any one suppose himself to be quite impregnable8 ,does he think that not possibly a man may come to him who shall persuade him out of his most settled determination8--for example1 good sedate citizen as he is1 to make a fanatic of him8 or1 if he is penurious1 to squander money for some purpose he now least thinks of8 or1 if he is a prudent1 industrious person1 to forsake his work1 and give days and weeks to a new interest8 ,no1 he defies any one1 every one4 ,ah6 he is thinking of resistance1 and of a different turn from his own4 ,but what if one should come of the same turn of mind as his own1 and who sees much farther on his own way than he8 ,a man who has tastes like mine1 but in greater power1 will rule me any day1 and make me love my ruler4 ,thus it is not powers of speech that we primarily consider under this word ,eloquence1 but the power that1 being present1 gives them their perfection1 and1 being absent1 leaves them a merely superficial value4 ,eloquence is the appropriate organ of the highest personal energy4 ,personal ascendency may exist with or without adequate talent for its expression4 ,it is as surely felt as a mountain or a planet2 but when it is weaponed with a power of speech1 it seems first to become truly human1 works actively in all directions1 and supplies the imagination with fine materials4 ,this circumstance enters into every consideration of the power of orators1 and is the key to all their effects4 ,in the assembly1 you shall find the orator and the audience in perpetual balance1 and the predominance of either is indicated by the choice of topic4 ,if the talents for speaking exist1 but not the strong personality1 then there are good speakers who perfectly receive and express the will of the audience1 and the commonest populace is flattered by hearing its low mind returned to it with every ornament which happy talent can add4 ,but if there be personality in the orator1 the face of things changes4 ,the audience is thrown into the attitude of pupil1 follows like a child its preceptor1 and hears what he has to say4 ,it is as if1 amidst the king's council at ,madrid1 ,ximenes urged that an advantage might be gained of ,france1 and ,mendoza that ,flanders might be kept down1 and ,columbus1 being introduced1 was interrogated whether his geographical knowledge could aid the cabinet1 and he can say nothing to one party or to the other1 but he can show how all ,europe can be diminished and reduced under the king by annexing to ,spain a continent as large as six or seven ,europes4 ,this balance between the orator and the audience is expressed in what is called the pertinence of the speaker4 ,there is always a rivalry between the orator and the occasion1 between the demands of the hour and the prepossession of the individual4 ,the emergency which has convened the meeting is usually of more importance than anything the debaters have in their minds1 and therefore becomes imperative to them4 ,but if one of them have anything of commanding necessity in his heart1 how speedily he will find vent for it1 and with the applause of the assembly6 ,this balance is observed in the privatest intercourse4 ,poor ,tom never knew the time when the present occurrence was so trivial that he could tell what was passing in his mind without being checked for unseasonable speech2 but let ,bacon speak1 and wise men would rather listen1 though the revolution of kingdoms was on foot4 ,i have heard it reported of an eloquent preacher1 whose voice is not yet forgotten in this city1 that1 on occasions of death or tragic disaster1 which overspread the congregation with gloom1 he ascended the pulpit with more than his usual alacrity1 and1 turning to his favorite lessons of devout and jubilant thankfulness1 ,let us praise the ,lord1 carried audience1 mourners1 and mourning along with him1 and swept away all the impertinence of private sorrow with his hosannas and songs of praise4 ,pepys says of ,lord ,clarendon1 with whom he is mad in love1 on his return from a conference1 ,i did never observe how much easier a man do speak when he knows all the company to be below him1 than in him2 for1 though he spoke indeed excellent well1 yet his manner and freedom of doing it1 as if he played with it1 and was informing only all the rest of the company1 was mighty pretty4 ,diary1 ,i4 #dfi4 ,this rivalry between the orator and the occasion is inevitable1 and the occasion always yields to the eminence of the speaker2 for a great man is the greatest of occasions4 ,of course1 the interest of the audience and of the orator conspire4 ,it is well with them only when his influence is complete2 then only they are well pleased4 ,especially1 he consults his power by making instead of taking his theme4 ,if he should attempt to instruct the people in that which they already know1 he would fail2 but1 by making them wise in that which he knows1 he has the advantage of the assembly every moment4 ,napoleon's tactics of marching on the angle of an army1 and always presenting a superiority of numbers1 is the orator's secret also4 ,the several talents which the orator employs1 the splendid weapons which went to the equipment of ,demosthenes1 of ,a,echines1 of ,demades1 the natural orator1 of ,fox1 of ,pitt1 of ,patrick ,henry1 of ,adams1 of ,mirabeau1 deserve a special enumeration4 ,we must not quite omit to name the principal pieces4 ,the orator1 as we have seen1 must be a substantial personality4 ,then1 first1 he must have power of statement1--must have the fact1 and know how to tell it4 ,in any knot of men conversing on any subject1 the person who knows most about it will have the ear of the company1 if he wishes it1 and lead the conversation1--no matter what genius or distinction other men there present may have2 and in any public assembly1 him who has the facts1 and can and will state them1 people will listen to1 though he is otherwise ignorant1 though he is hoarse and ungraceful1 though he stutters and screams4 ,in a court of justice1 the audience are impartial2 they really wish to sift the statements1 and know what the truth is4 ,and1 in the examination of witnesses1 there usually leap out1 quite unexpectedly1 three or four stubborn words or phrases which are the pith and fate of the business1 which sink into the ear of all parties1 and stick there1 and determine the cause4 ,all the rest is repetition and qualifying2 and the court and the county have really come together to arrive at these three or four memorable expressions1 which betrayed the mind and meaning of somebody4 ,in every company1 the man with the fact is like the guide you hire to lead your party up a mountain or through a difficult country4 ,he may not compare with any of the party in mind1 or breeding1 or courage1 or possessions1 but he is much more important to the present need than any of them4 ,that is what we go to the court-house for1--the statement of the fact1 and the elimination of a general fact1 the real relation of all the parties2 and it is the certainty with which1 indifferently in any affair that is well handled1 the truth stares us in the face1 through all the disguises that are put upon it1--a piece of the well-known human life1--that makes the interest of a court-room to the intelligent spectator4 ,i remember1 long ago1 being attracted by the distinction of the counsel1 and the local importance of the cause1 into the court-room4 ,the prisoner's counsel were the strongest and cunningest lawyers in the ,commonwealth4 ,they drove the attorney for the ,state from corner to corner1 taking his reasons from under him1 and reducing him to silence1 but not to submission4 ,when hard-pressed1 he revenged himself1 in his turn1 on the judge1 by requiring the court to define what salvage was4 ,the court1 thus pushed1 tried words1 and said everything it could think of to fill the time1 supposing cases1 and describing duties of insurers1 captains1 pilots1 and miscellaneous sea-officers that are or might be1--like a schoolmaster puzzled by a hard sum1 who reads the context with emphasis4 ,but all this flood not serving the cuttle-fish to get away in1 the horrible shark of the district-attorney being still there1 grimly awaiting with his ,the court must define1--the poor court pleaded its inferiority4 ,the superior court must establish the law for this1 and it read away piteously the decisions of the ,supreme ,court1 but read to those who had no pity4 ,the judge was forced at last to rule something1 and the lawyers saved their rogue under the fog of a definition4 ,the parts were so well cast and discriminated1 that it was an interesting game to watch4 ,the government was well enough represented4 ,it was stupid1 but it had a strong will and possession1 and stood on that to the last4 ,the judge had a task beyond his preparation1 yet his position remained real2 he was there to represent a great reality1 the justice of states1 which we could well enough see beetling over his head1 and which his trifling talk nowise affected1 and did not impede1 since he was entirely well-meaning4 ,the statement of the fact1 however1 sinks before the statement of the law1 which requires immeasurably higher powers1 and is a rarest gift1 being in all great masters one and the same thing1--in lawyers1 nothing technical1 but always some piece of common sense1 alike interesting to laymen as to clerks4 ,lord ,mansfield's merit is the merit of common sense4 ,it is the same quality we admire in ,aristotle1 ,montaigne1 ,cervantes1 or in ,samuel ,johnson1 or ,franklin4 ,its application to law seems quite accidental4 ,each of ,mansfield's famous decisions contains a level sentence or two1 which hit the mark4 ,his sentences are not always finished to the eye1 but are finished to the mind4 ,the sentences are involved1 but a solid proposition is set forth1 a true distinction is drawn4 ,they come from and they go to the sound human understanding2 and ,i read1 without surprise1 that the black-letter lawyers of the day sneered at his equitable decisions1 as if they were not also learned4 ,this1 indeed1 is what speech is for1 to make the statement2 and all that is called eloquence seems to me of little use1 for the most part1 to those who have it1 but inestimable to such as have something to say4 ,next to the knowledge of the fact and its law1 is method1 which constitutes the genius and efficiency of all remarkable men4 ,a crowd of men go up to ,faneuil ,hall2 they are all pretty well acquainted with the object of the meeting2 they have all read the facts in the same newspapers4 ,the orator possesses no information which his hearers have not2 yet he teaches them to see the thing with his eyes4 ,by the new placing1 the circumstances acquire new solidity and worth4 ,every fact gains consequence by his naming it1 and trifles become important4 ,his expressions fix themselves in men's memories1 and fly from mouth to mouth4 ,his mind has some new principle of order4 ,where he looks1 all things fly into their places4 ,what will he say next8 ,let this man speak1 and this man only4 ,by applying the habits of a higher style of thought to the common affairs of this world1 he introduces beauty and magnificence wherever he goes4 ,such a power was ,burke's1 and of this genius we have had some brilliant examples in our own political and legal men4 ,imagery4 ,the orator must be1 to a certain extent1 a poet4 ,we are such imaginative creatures1 that nothing so works on the human mind1 barbarous or civil1 as a trope4 ,condense some daily experience into a glowing symbol1 and an audience is electrified4 ,they feel as if they already possessed some new right and power over a fact1 which they can detach1 and so completely master in thought4 ,it is a wonderful aid to the memory1 which carries away the image1 and never loses it4 ,a popular assembly1 like the ,house of ,commons1 or the ,french ,chamber1 or the ,american ,congress1 is commanded by these two powers1--first by a fact1 then by skill of statement4 ,put the argument into a concrete shape1 into an image1 some hard phrase1 round and solid as a ball1 which they can see and handle and carry home with them1 and the cause is half won4 ,statement1 method1 imagery1 selection1 tenacity of memory1 power of dealing with facts1 of illuminating them1 of sinking them by ridicule or by diversion of the mind1 rapid generalization1 humor1 pathos1 are keys which the orator holds2 and yet these fine gifts are not eloquence1 and do often hinder a man's attainment of it4 ,and if we come to the heart of the mystery1 perhaps we should say that the truly eloquent man is a sane man with power to communicate his sanity4 ,if you arm the man with the extraordinary weapons of this art1 give him a grasp of facts1 learning1 quick fancy1 sarcasm1 splendid allusion1 interminable illustration1--all these talents1 so potent and charming1 have an equal power to insnare and mislead the audience and the orator4 ,his talents are too much for him1 his horses run away with him2 and people always perceive whether you drive1 or whether the horses take the bits in their teeth and run4 ,but these talents are quite something else when they are subordinated and serve him2 and we go to ,washington1 or to ,westminster ,hall1 or might well go round the world1 to see a man who drives1 and is not run away with1--a man who1 in prosecuting great designs1 has an absolute command of the means of representing his ideas1 and uses them only to express these2 placing facts1 placing men2 amid the inconceivable levity of human beings1 never for an instant warped from his erectness4 ,there is for every man a statement possible of that truth which he is most unwilling to receive1--a statement possible1 so broad and so pungent1 that he cannot get away from it1 but must either bend to it or die of it4 ,else there would be no such word as eloquence1 which means this4 ,the listener cannot hide from himself that something has been shown him and the whole world1 which he did not wish to see2 and1 as he cannot dispose of it1 it disposes of him4 ,the history of public men and affairs in ,america will readily furnish tragic examples of this fatal force4 ,for the triumphs of the art somewhat more must still be required1 namely1 a reinforcing of man from events1 so as to give the double force of reason and destiny4 ,in transcendent eloquence1 there was ever some crisis in affairs1 such as could deeply engage the man to the cause he pleads1 and draw all this wide power to a point4 ,for the explosions and eruptions1 there must be accumulations of heat somewhere1 beds of ignited anthracite at the centre4 ,and in cases where profound conviction has been wrought1 the eloquent man is he who is no beautiful speaker1 but who is inwardly drunk with a certain belief4 ,it agitates and tears him1 and perhaps almost bereaves him of the power of articulation4 ,then it rushes from him as in short1 abrupt screams1 in torrents of meaning4 ,the possession the subject has of his mind is so entire1 that it insures an order of expression which is the order of ,nature itself1 and so the order of greatest force1 and inimitable by any art4 ,and the main distinction between him and other well-graced actors is the conviction1 communicated by every word1 that his mind is contemplating a whole and inflamed by the contemplation of the whole1 and that the words and sentences uttered by him1 however admirable1 fall from him as unregarded parts of that terrible whole which he sees1 and which he means that you shall see4 ,add to this concentration a certain regnant calmness1 which1 in all the tumult1 never utters a premature syllable1 but keeps the secret of its means and method2 and the orator stands before the people as a demoniacal power to whose miracles they have no key4 ,this terrible earnestness makes good the ancient superstition of the hunter1 that the bullet will hit its mark1 which is first dipped in the marksman's blood4 ,eloquence must be grounded on the plainest narrative4 ,afterwards1 it may warm itself until it exhales symbols of every kind and color1 speaks only through the most poetic forms2 but1 first and last1 it must still be at bottom a biblical statement of fact4 ,the orator is thereby an orator1 that he keeps his feet ever on a fact4 ,thus only is he invincible4 ,no gifts1 no graces1 no power of wit or learning or illustration will make any amends for want of this4 ,all audiences are just to this point4 ,fame of voice or of rhetoric will carry people a few times to hear a speaker1 but they soon begin to ask1 ,what is he driving at8 and if this man does not stand for anything1 he will be deserted4 ,a good upholder of anything which they believe1 a fact-speaker of any kind1 they will long follow2 but a pause in the speaker's own character is very properly a loss of attraction4 ,the preacher enumerates his classes of men1 and ,i do not find my place therein2 ,i suspect1 then1 that no man does4 ,every thing is my cousin1 and whilst he speaks things1 ,i feel that he is touching some of my relations1 and ,i am uneasy2 but whilst he deals in words1 we are released from attention4 ,if you would lift me1 you must be on higher ground4 ,if you would liberate me1 you must be free4 ,if you would correct my false view of facts1--hold up to me the same facts in the true order of thought1 and ,i cannot go back from the new conviction4 ,the power of ,chatham1 of ,pericles1 of ,luther1 rested on this strength of character1 which1 because it did not and could not fear anybody1 made nothing of their antagonists1 and became sometimes exquisitely provoking and sometimes terrific to these4 ,we are slenderly furnished with anecdotes of these men1 nor can we help ourselves by those heavy books in which their discourses are reported4 ,some of them were writers1 like ,burke2 but most of them were not1 and no record at all adequate to their fame remains4 ,besides1 what is best is lost1 the fiery life of the moment4 ,but the conditions for eloquence always exist4 ,it is always dying out of famous places1 and appearing in corners4 ,wherever the polarities meet1 wherever the fresh moral sentiment1 the instinct of freedom and duty1 come in direct opposition to fossil conservatism and the thirst of gain1 the spark will pass4 ,the resistance to slavery in this country has been a fruitful nursery of orators4 ,the natural connection by which it drew to itself a train of moral reforms1 and the slight yet sufficient party organization it offered1 reinforced the city with new blood from the woods and mountains4 ,wild men1 ,john ,baptists1 ,hermit ,peters1 ,john ,knoxes1 utter the savage sentiment of ,nature in the heart of commercial capitals4 ,they send us every year some piece of aboriginal strength1 some tough oak-stick of a man who is not to be silenced or insulted or intimidated by a mob1 because he is more mob than they1--one who mobs the mob1--some sturdy countryman1 on whom neither money1 nor politeness1 nor hard words1 nor eggs1 nor blows1 nor brickbats1 make any impression4 ,he is fit to meet the bar-room wits and bullies2 he is a wit and a bully himself1 and something more2 he is a graduate of the plough1 and the stub-hoe1 and the bush-whacker2 knows all the secrets of swamp and snow-bank1 and has nothing to learn of labor or poverty or the rough of farming4 ,his hard head went through in childhood the drill of ,calvinism1 with text and mortification1 so that he stands in the ,new ,england assembly a purer bit of ,new ,england than any1 and flings his sarcasms right and left4 ,he has not only the documents in his pocket to answer all cavils and to prove all his positions1 but he has the eternal reason in his head4 ,this man scornfully renounces your civil organizations1--county1 or city1 or governor1 or army1--is his own navy and artillery1 judge and jury1 legislature and executive4 ,he has learned his lessons in a bitter school4 ,yet1 if the pupil be of a texture to bear it1 the best university that can be recommended to a man of ideas is the gauntlet of the mobs4 ,he who will train himself to mastery in this science of persuasion must lay the emphasis of education1 not on popular arts1 but on character and insight4 ,let him see that his speech is not differenced from action2 that1 when he has spoken1 he has not done nothing1 nor done wrong1 but has cleared his own skirts1 has engaged himself to wholesome exertion4 ,let him look on opposition as opportunity4 ,he cannot be defeated or put down4 ,there is a principle of resurrection in him1 an immortality of purpose4 ,men are averse and hostile1 to give value to their suffrages4 ,it is not the people that are in fault for not being convinced1 but he that cannot convince them4 ,he should mould them1 armed as he is with the reason and love which are also the core of their nature4 ,he is not to neutralize their opposition1 but he is to convert them into fiery apostles and publishers of the same wisdom4 ,the highest platform of eloquence is the moral sentiment4 ,it is what is called affirmative truth1 and has the property of invigorating the hearer2 and it conveys a hint of our eternity1 when he feels himself addressed on grounds which will remain when everything else is taken1 and which have no trace of time or place or party4 ,everything hostile is stricken down in the presence of the sentiments2 their majesty is felt by the most obdurate4 ,it is observable1 that1 as soon as one acts for large masses1 the moral element will and must be allowed for1 will and must work2 and the men least accustomed to appeal to these sentiments invariably recall them when they address nations4 ,napoleon1 even1 must accept and use it as he can4 ,it is only to these simple strokes that the highest power belongs1 when a weak human hand touches1 point by point1 the eternal beams and rafters on which the whole structure of ,nature and society is laid4 ,in this tossing sea of delusion1 we feel with our feet the adamant2 in this dominion of chance1 we find a principle of permanence4 ,for ,i do not accept that definition of ,isocrates1 that the office of his art is to make the great small and the small great2 but ,i esteem this to be its perfection1--when the orator sees through all masks to the eternal scale of truth1 in such sort that he can hold up before the eyes of men the fact of today steadily to that standard1 thereby making the great great and the small small1--which is the true way to astonish and to reform mankind4 ,all the first orators of the world have been grave men1 relying on this reality4 ,one thought the philosophers of ,demosthenes's own time found running through all his orations1--this1 namely1 that virtue secures its own success4 ,to stand on one's own feet ,heeren finds the keynote to the discourses of ,demosthenes1 as of ,chatham4 ,eloquence1 like every other art1 rests on laws the most exact and determinate4 ,it is the best speech of the best soul4 ,it may well stand as the exponent of all that is grand and immortal in the mind4 ,if it do not so become an instrument1 but aspires to be somewhat of itself1 and to glitter for show1 it is false and weak4 ,in its right exercise1 it is an elastic1 unexhausted power1--who has sounded1 who has estimated it8--expanding with the expansion of our interests and affections4 ,its great masters1 whilst they valued every help to its attainment1 and thought no pains too great which contributed in any manner to further it1 and1 resembling the ,arabian warrior of fame1 who wore seventeen weapons in his belt1 and in personal combat used them all occasionally1--yet undervalued all means1 never permitted any talent1 neither voice1 rhythm1 poetic power1 anecdote1 sarcasm1 to appear for show1 but were grave men1 who preferred their integrity to their talent1 and esteemed that object for which they toiled1 whether the prosperity of their country1 or the laws1 or a reformation1 or liberty of speech or of the press1 or letters1 or morals1 as above the whole world1 and themselves also4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,kinloch ,,estate1 ,,and ,,how ,,it ,,was ,,settled4 ,concluded4 ,,chapter ,,xii4 ,the disappearance of ,lucy ,ransom did not long remain a secret2 it rang through the town1 and was accompanied by all sorts of rumors4 ,some thought she had eloped2 but the prevailing opinion was1 that she had been tempted into a fatal error1 and then1 in the frenzy of remorse and shame1 had destroyed herself1 in order to hide her disgrace from the world4 ,slight hints were now recalled by many of the poor girl's acquaintance1--hints of love1 unrequited and hopeless1--of base and unfeeling treachery1--of remediless sorrow1 appealing to the deepest sympathy1 and not the less because her heart found utterance in rude and homely phrases4 ,this idea of self-destruction gained the more currency because no one had seen the least trace of the girl after the twilight of the preceding night1 and it was deemed improbable that she could have made her way on foot the whole distance to the railway-station without being seen by some one4 ,and when it was reported that a boy had found a shawl not far from the dam1 the public became so much aroused that it was determined to make a thorough search4 ,the pond and canal were dragged1 and the bank of the river carefully explored for miles below the town4 ,the search was kept up far into the night1 the leaders being provided with pitch-pine torches4 ,at every bend1 or eddy1 or sand-bar1 or fallen tree1 where it might be supposed that a drifting body would be stopped1 the boldest breathed faster1 and started at the first glimpse of a white stone or a peeled and bleached poplar-trunk1 or other similar object1 fearing it might prove to be what they expected1 yet dreaded to see4 ,but it was in vain4 ,lucy1 whether alive or dead1 was not to be found4 ,her grandmother hobbled down to the village1 moaning piteously2 but she could get little consolation1 least of all from ,mrs4 ,kinloch4 ,this incident made a lasting impression4 ,the village boys1 who remembered the search with shuddering horror1 avoided the river1 and even ,hugh found means to persuade ,mildred to give up the pleasant road on its bank and take the hill district for their afternoon rides4 ,meanwhile the time for the trial of the ejectment suit was rapidly approaching1 and it was difficult to say whether plaintiff or defendant showed the more signs of anxiety4 ,mr4 ,hardwick's life seemed to be bound up in his shop2 it was dear to him in the memory of long years of cheerful labor2 it was his pride as well as his dependence2 he had grown old by its flaming forge1 and he could never feel at home in any other spot4 ,young trees may be moved1 he would say2 an old one dies in transplanting4 ,it was noticed by all his friends that the stoop in his shoulders was more decided1 his step less elastic1 and his ordinary flow of spirits checked4 ,mrs4 ,kinloch1 too1 grew older unaccountably fast4 ,her soft brown hair began to whiten1 her features grew sharp1 and her expression quick1 watchful1 and intense4 ,upon being spoken to1 she would start and tremble in her whole frame2 her cheeks would glow momentarily1 and then become waxen again4 ,impatient at the slow progress of her son's wooing1 and impelled now by a new fear that all her plans might be frustrated1 if ,mildred should happen to hear any rumor touching the cause of ,lucy's disappearance1 ,mrs4 ,kinloch proposed to herself to assist him more openly than she had hitherto done--,she was not aware that anything implicating ,hugh had been reported1 but she knew enough of human nature to be sure that some one would be peering into the mystery1--a mystery which she divined by instinct1 but had not herself dared to explore4 ,so1 finding a favorable opportunity1 she sat down beside ,mildred1 determined to read the secret of her soul2 for she made no question that she could scan her1 as she might the delicate machinery of the ,french clock1 noiselessly moving under its crystal cover4 ,mildred shuddered unconsciously1 as she felt her step-mother's thin fingers gently smoothing the hair upon her temples2 still more1 as the pale and quivering lips were pressed to her forehead4 ,the caress was not a feigned tenderness4 ,mrs4 ,kinloch really loved the girl1 with such love as she had to bestow2 and if her manner had been latterly abstracted or harsh1 it was from preoccupation4 ,she was soon satisfied that the suspicion she dreaded had not found place in the girl's mind4 ,leading the way by imperceptible approaches1 she spoke in her softest tones of her joy at ,hugh's altered manners1 her hopes of his future1 and especially of her desire to have him leave the navy and settle on shore4 ,how happy we might be1 ,hugh and we1 she said1 if we could live here in this comfortable home1 and feel that nothing but death would break up the circle6 ,how much your dear father counted on the happiness in store for him in growing old with his children around him6--and would he not be rejoiced to see us cling together1 bound by ties as strong as life1 and cherishing his memory by our mutual affection8 ,mildred replied in some commonplaces1--rather wondering at the vein of sentiment1 and in no way suspecting the object which her step-mother had in view4 ,mrs4 ,kinloch continued3--,hugh needs some new attraction now to detain him2 he is tired of the sea1 but he finds the village dull4 ,he is just of the age to think of looking for some romantic attachment2 but you know how few girls there are here whose manners and education are such as to please a cultivated man4 ,mildred grew uneasy1 but remained silent4 ,mrs4 ,kinloch was every moment more eager in her manner2 a novice1 waiting for the turn of the cards in rouge et noir1 would not have manifested a greater anxiety as to the result4 ,but the girl looked out of the window1 and did not see the compressed lips1 dilated nostrils1 and glittering eyes1 that gave such a contradiction to the bland words4 ,mildred1 my daughter1 she continued1 ,i have no secrets from you1--least of all about matters that concern us both4 ,don't you see what ,i would say8 ,don't you know what would make our circle complete1 inseparable8 ,pardon the boldness of a fond mother1 whose only desire is to see her children happy4 ,mildred felt a tear dropping upon the hand which ,mrs4 ,kinloch held with a passionate grasp4 ,she felt the powerful magnetism which the woman exerted upon her1 and she trembled1 but still kept silent4 ,it is for ,hugh that ,i speak4 ,he loves you4 ,has he not told you so8 ,i do not wish to talk with you about it1 said ,mildred4 ,but ,i have a right1 as his mother and your guardian1 to know4 ,i should be wanting in my duty1 if ,i suffered your happiness to be perilled for want of a clear understanding between you4 ,hugh is proud and sensitive1 and you bashful and just the least foolish2 so that you are at cross purposes4 ,hugh fully understands my feelings towards him4 ,you have given him encouragement8 she asked1 eagerly4 ,none whatever3 it would have been wrong in me to do so4 ,wrong to love him6 ,why1 he is your brother only in name4 ,wrong to encourage him in a love ,i do not and cannot return1 replied ,mildred1 with a mighty effort1 at the same time disengaging her hand4 ,mrs4 ,kinloch could not repress a feeling of admiration1 even in her despair1 as she saw the clear1 brave glance1 the heightened color1 and the heaving bosom of the girl4 ,but1 in time1 you may think differently1 she said1 almost piteously4 ,i wished to be spared this pain1 mother1 ,mildred replied1 trembling at her own boldness1 but you will not let me2 and ,i must tell you1 kindly1 but decidedly1 that ,i never could marry ,hugh under any circumstances whatever4 ,her mother did not wince at the rebuff1 but followed on even closer4 ,and why8 ,who is there more manly1 well-educated1 kindly1 dutiful1 than ,hugh8 ,i don't wish to analyze his character2 probably we shouldn't altogether agree in our judgment2 but it is enough that ,i don't feel in the least attracted by him1 and that ,i could not love him1 if he were all that you imagine4 ,then you love another6 said ,mrs4 ,kinloch1 fiercely4 ,mildred was excessively agitated2 but1 though her knees trembled1 her voice was clear and soft as it had been4 ,yes1 ,i do love another2 and ,i don't hesitate to avow it4 ,that blacksmith's upstart8 in a still louder key4 ,you mean ,mark ,davenport1 probably1 who deserves more respectful language4 ,brought up in coal-dust1--the spoiled and forward pet of a foolish old stutterer1 who depends for his bread on his dirty work1 and who1 if he had only his own1 would have to leave even the hovel he works in4 ,it was fearful to see how these contemptuous words were hissed out by the infuriated woman4 ,mildred was courageous1 but she had not passed through the discipline that had developed her step-mother's faculties4 ,so she burst into tears1 saying1 amidst her sobs1 that ,mark was allowed by all who knew him to be a young man of promise2 that1 for herself1 she didn't care how much coal-dust he had been through1--that would wash off2 that1 at any rate1 she loved him1 and would never marry anybody else4 ,mrs4 ,kinloch began to consider4 ,anger had whirled her away once2 a second explosion might create an irreparable breach between them4 ,don't lay up what ,i have said1 ,mildred1 she urged1 in a mild voice4 ,if ,i object to your choice1 it is because ,i am proud of you and want you to look high4 ,you can marry whom you choose2 no rank or station need be considered above you4 ,come1 don't cry1 dear6 ,but ,mildred refused to be soothed4 ,she could not sympathize with the tropical nature1 that smiled like sunshine at one moment1 and the next burst into the fury of a tornado4 ,she pushed off the beseeching hand1 turned from the offered endearments1 and1 with reddened1 tear-stained face1 left the room4 ,hugh presently passed through the hall4 ,well1 mother1 said he1 ,i suppose you think you've done it now4 ,go about your business1 you foolish boy6 she retorted4 ,go and try something that you do know about4 ,you can snare a partridge1 or shoot a woodcock1 perhaps6 ,,chapter ,,xiii4 ,mildred had now no peace2 after what had happened1 she could not meet ,hugh and his mother with any composure4 ,the scheming woman had risked everything in the appeal she made to her daughter1--risked everything1 and lost4 ,nothing could restore harmony2 neither could forget the struggle and live the old quiet life4 ,mrs4 ,kinloch1 always pursued by anxiety1 was one day full of courage1 fruitful in plans and resources1 and the next day cast down into the pit of despair4 ,now she clung to her first hope1 believing that time1 patience1 kindness1 would soften ,mildred's resolution2 then1 seeing the blank indifference with which she treated ,hugh1 she racked her invention to provide other means of attaining her end4 ,again1 the thought of her inexplicable loss came over her1 and she was frightened to madness2 creeping chills alternating with cold sweats tortured her4 ,it was a mystery she could not penetrate4 ,she could not but implicate ,lucy3 but then ,lucy might be in her grave4 ,after every circumstance had passed in review1 her suspicions inevitably returned and fastened upon her lawyer1 ,clamp4 ,she almost wished he would come to see her again2 for he1 being naturally sulky at his first reception1 had left the haughty woman severely alone4 ,she determined to send for him1 on business1 and then to try her fascinations upon him1 to draw him out1 and see if he held her secret4 ,aha6 thought the ,squire1 as he received the message1 she comes to her senses6 ,give a woman like ,mrs4 ,kinloch time enough to consider1 and she will not turn her back on her true interest4 ,o ,theophilus1 you are not by any means a fool6 ,slow and steady1 slow and steady you go6 ,let the frisky woman appear to have her way1--you will win in the end6 ,the wig and best suit were brushed anew1 water was brought into requisition for the visible portions of his person1 and1 with his most engaging expression arranged upon his parchment face1 he presented himself before the widow4 ,there was a skirmish of small talk1 during which ,mr4 ,clamp was placid and self-conscious1 while his vis--vis1 though smiling and apparently at ease1 was yet alert and excited1--darting furtive glances1 that would have startled him like flashes of sunlight reflected from a mirror1 if he had not been shielded by his own self-complacency4 ,you-have-sent-for-me-on-business1-,i-be lieve1 said the lawyer1 in a tone continuous and bland as a stream of honey4 ,yes1 ,sir2 ,i have great confidence in your judgment1 and ,i know that you are devoted to the interests of our family4 ,my poor husband always esteemed you highly4 ,oh1 ,ma'am6 you do me honor6 ,if ,i have not consulted you about our affairs of late1 it is because ,i have had troubles which ,i did not wish to burden you with4 ,we all have our troubles1 ,mrs4 ,kinloch4 ,they are very sad to bear1--but profitable1 nevertheless4 ,but ,i'm sure you must be wonderfully supported in your trials2 ,i never saw you looking better4 ,and truly1 her thin and mobile lips were of a strangely bright coral1 and her usually wan cheeks wore a delicate flush1 lending her a beauty1 not youthful1 to be sure1 but yet fascinating4 ,one might desire to see an eye less intense and restless1 but he would rarely see a woman of forty so charming4 ,you notice my color1 said ,mrs4 ,kinloch1 mournfully1 and with a faint smile2 it's only the effect of a headache4 ,i am far enough from well4 ,indeed6 was the sympathetic reply4 ,i have met with a great loss1 ,mr4 ,clamp1--some papers of the greatest importance4 ,i was going to consult you about them4 ,in which ,i got ahead of you1 thought he4 ,now1 ever since the disappearance of ,lucy1 ,i have thought she had something to do with them4 ,i never went to the secretary1 but she was sure to be spying about4 ,and ,i believe she knew about my affairs as well as ,i do myself4 ,or ,i1 mentally ejaculated the lawyer1--meanwhile keeping as close as an oyster4 ,she continued1--,as the girl was ignorant1 and without any interest in the matter more than that of curiosity1 ,i am puzzled to account for all this4 ',tis strange1 truly6 ,yes1 ,i'm sure she must be only the tool of some shrewder person4 ,you alarm me6 ,who can it be8 ,perhaps ,mildred1 or some one who is plotting for her4 ,the ,hardwicks1 you know1 expect she will marry ,mark ,davenport4 ,do they1 indeed8 ,well1 now1 that's a shrewd conjecture4 ,then you think ,lucy didn't drown herself8 ,she8 ,by no means6 ,but what can ,i do in the matter1 ,mrs4 ,kinloch8 ,we must find ,lucy1 or else discover her confidant1--looking fixedly at him4 ,not very easy to do1 said he1 never once wincing under her scrutiny4 ,not easy for me4 ,but those that hide can find4 ,nothing is beyond search1 if one really tries4 ,during this cross-examination1 ,mr4 ,clamp's premeditated gallantry had been kept in the background2 but he was determined not to let the present opportunity pass by2 he therefore turned the current of conversation4 ,you have not told me1 ,mrs4 ,kinloch1 what the loss is2 so ,i cannot judge of its importance4 ,you don't wish to have any more repositories of secrets than are necessary2 but ,i think you will readily see that our interests lie in the same direction4 ,if the girl can be found and the papers recovered by anybody1 ,i am the one to do it4 ,if that is impossible1 however1 the next thing is to be prepared for what may happen2 in either emergency1 you can hardly do better than to accept my aid4 ,of course1 ,i depend entirely upon you4 ,we may as well understand each other1 said the lawyer1 forgetting the wily ways by which he had intended to approach her4 ,i have certain views1 myself1 which ,i think run parallel with yours2 and if ,i am able to carry you and your property safely through these difficulties1 ,i think you will not scruple to---- ,to pay you to your heart's content1 she broke in1 quickly4 ,no1 ,i shall not scruple1 unless you ask more than half the estate4 ,i ask for nothing but yourself1 said he1 with sudden boldness4 ,that is to say1 you want the whole of it4 ,charming woman6 don't1 pray1 compel me to talk in this language of traffic4 ,it is you ,i desire1--not the estate4 ,if there is enough to make you more comfortable than would be possible with my means1 ,i shall be happy for your sake4 ,her lips writhed and her eyes shot fire4 ,should she breathe the scorn she felt1 and brave the worst8 ,or should she temporize8 ,time might bring about a change1 when she could safely send the mercenary suitor back to his dusty and cobwebbed office4 ,we do understand each other1 she said1 slowly4 ,this is a matter to think of4 ,i had never thought to marry again1 and ,i cannot answer your delicate proposal now4 ,let me have a week to consider4 ,couldn't we arrange the matter just as well now8 ,i beg your pardon1 ,ma'am1 if ,i seem too bold4 ,oh1 your youthful ardor and impetuosity6 ,to be sure1 one must forgive the impatience of a lover in his first passion6 ,but you must wait1 nevertheless4 ,mr4 ,clamp laughed4 ,it was a good joke1 he thought4 ,i must bid you good afternoon1 ,squire ,clamp4 ,i have made my headache worse by talking on a subject ,i was not prepared for4 ,so ,mr4 ,clamp was bowed out4 ,he did not clearly understand her quick and subtle movements1 but he felt sure of his game in the end4 ,the scornful irony that had played about him like electricity he had not felt4 ,when he was gone1 the woman's worst enemy would have pitied her distress4 ,she believed more than ever that ,clamp had used ,lucy to abstract her papers1 and that he now would hold his power over her to bring about the hated marriage4 ,her firmness gave way2 she sank on the sofa and wept like a child4 ,would that she might yet retreat6 ,but no1 the way is closed up behind her4 ,she must go on to her destiny4 ,,chapter ,,xiv4 ,mark ,davenport was prosperous in all his undertakings4 ,his position in the school did not give much scope to his ambition1 but the salary he received was ample enough to pay his expenses1 while the duties were not so onerous as to engross all his time4 ,all his leisure was given to literary pursuits4 ,he had many times thought he would relinquish the drudgery of teaching1 and support himself by his pen2 but he remembered the maxim of ,scott1--that literature was a good staff1 but a poor crutch1--and he stuck to his school4 ,as he grew into a practised writer1 he became connected with the staff of a daily newspaper in the great city1 furnishing leading articles when called upon1 and he soon acquired a position of influence among his associates4 ,he had maintained a correspondence with ,mildred1 and was looking forward to the time when he should make a visit to his native town1 hoping then to be so well established in the world that he might be able to bring her back with him as his bride4 ,every thought centred in her4 ,he coveted fame1 wealth1 position1 only for her sake2 and stimulated by this thought1 he had made exertions that would have broken down a man less vigorous and less resolute4 ,he received a letter from ,innisfield one day1 after a long interval1--so long that he had become uneasy1 and imagined every kind of evil as the cause of delay4 ,he broke the seal2 it was not from ,mildred1 but from his cousin ,lizzie4 ,these were the contents3-- ,my dear ,mark1--,i suppose you may have been anxious before this1 at not hearing from us2 but the truth is1 we have not had anything very pleasant to write1 and so have put off sending to you4 ,father is by no means well or strong4 ,the lawsuit1 which is now likely to go wrong1 has troubled him very much4 ,he has grown thin1 he stoops as he walks about1 and by night he coughs terribly4 ,i rarely hear him sing as he used to4 ,then ,squire ,clamp has complained of him before the church1 and you know father is over-sensitive about his relations with 'the brethren1'--even with those who are trying to ruin him4 ,he is melancholy enough4 ,i hope he will be better1 if he gets through his difficulties2 otherwise ,i am afraid to think of what may happen4 ,you wonder1 probably1 at not getting a letter from ,mildred4 ,don't be surprised when ,i tell you that she has left home and is staying at ,mr4 ,alford's4 ,mrs4 ,kinloch has for a long time wanted her to marry that hateful ,hugh ,branning1 and became so violent about it that ,mildred was afraid of her4 ,lucy ,ransom1 who lived there1 ran away a short time ago1 very mysteriously4 ,it seems that the girl had stolen something from the house1 and1 after ,mildred had plumply refused to marry ,hugh1 ,mrs4 ,kinloch charged upon her that she had induced ,lucy to steal the papers or money1 or whatever it was4 ,mrs4 ,kinloch acted so like an insane woman1 that ,mildred would not stay in the house1 but ran over to ,mr4 ,alford's1 with only the clothes she wore4 ,she passed by our house yesterday and told me this hurriedly4 ,i have heard1 too1 that ,squire ,clamp is about to marry ,mrs4 ,kinloch1 and that he actually has procured the license4 ,it's a very strange affair4 ,to fill out the account of disagreeable things1--last evening1 in one of the stores1 people were talking of ,lucy ,ransom's fate1 7as they have been for weeks17 when ,will ,fenton1 the cripple1 said1 'he guessed ,hugh ,branning could tell what had become of her1 if he chose4' ,hugh1 it seems1 heard of the remark1 and to-day he went with a dandyish doctor1 belonging to the navy1 ,i believe1 and beat the poor cripple with a horsewhip1 most shamefully4 ,i think this violence has turned suspicion against him4 ,i am sorry not to have one pleasant thing to say1 except that we all love you as warmly as ever1 and hope to see you soon here4 ,indeed1 ,cousin ,mark1 ,i dread to write it1--but if you don't come soon1 ,i think you will see father only on his last bed4 ,good-bye1 dear ,mark6 ,your ,cousin1--,,lizzie4 ,we will waste no time in attempting to analyze ,mark's conflicting emotions1 but follow him to ,innisfield1 whither he went the same day4 ,great as was his desire to see his betrothed1 from whom he had received no letter for many weeks1 he went first of all1 where duty and affection called1 to see the dear old man who had been to him more than a father4 ,mr4 ,hardwick was sitting in the corner1 but rose up with a new energy as he heard the well-known voice4 ,mark was not prepared1 even by his cousin's foreboding letter1 to see such a change as his uncle exhibited2--the hollow eyes1 the wasted cheeks1 the bent figure1 the trembling hands1 bore painful testimony to his enfeebled condition4 ,he held both of ,mark's hands in his1 and1 while his eyes were dim in a tear-mist1 said1 with a faltering voice1 ,bless you1 m-my boy6 ,i'm glad to see you once more4 ,i thought ,i might hear my s-summons before you'd come4 ,you do remember your old uncle6 ,mark could not restrain himself1 but wept outright4 ,the old gentleman sank into his chair1 still clasping ,mark's hands4 ,neither could speak1 but they looked towards each other an unutterable tenderness4 ,at length1 controlling the tide of feeling1 ,mr4 ,hardwick said1--,d-don't be cast down1 ,mark2 these tears are not b-bitter1 but f-full of joy4 ,th-there1 now1 go and kiss your sister and ,lizzie4 ,the girls appeared wiping their eyes1 for they had left the room overpowered2 they greeted ,mark affectionately1 and then all sat down about the hearth4 ,topics enough there were4 ,mark told of his pursuits and prospects4 ,the village gossip about the lost servant-girl1 7of whom ,mark knew something1 but had reasons for silence17 the approaching marriage of ,mrs4 ,kinloch1 and the exile of the heiress from her own home1 were all discussed4 ,after a reasonable time1 ,mark excused himself and went to ,mr4 ,alford's1 pondering much on the strange events that had perplexed the usually quiet village4 ,he reached the house1 after a brief walk1 and was met by ,aunt ,mercy1 the portly mistress1 but with something less than her accustomed cordiality4 ,miss ,kinloch is not able to see company1 she said1 and must be excused4 ,mark poured forth a torrent of questions1 to which ,mrs4 ,alford listened1 her broad features softening visibly2 and at length1 with an apparent effort1 she asked him to come agin to-morrer or the day arter4 ,the more ,mark reflected on ,mrs4 ,alford's behavior1 the more he was puzzled4 ,had ,mildred denied him admission8 ,his own betrothed refuse to see him6 ,no1 he was sure she was sick2 and besides1 she could not have heard of his coming4 ,so he soothed himself4 ,but the imps of suspicion and jealousy still haunted him at intervals1 and a more miserable man than the usually buoyant and sanguine ,mark it would be difficult to find4 ,the next day1 as soon as breakfast was over1 ,mark1 though trying to cheer up his uncle1 was secretly longing for the hour when it would be proper to present himself at ,mr4 ,alford's4 ,but time does move1 albeit with lagging pace to a lover1 and in due season ,mark was on his way4 ,near the house he met the farmer1 who greeted him heartily1 and wished him joy with a knowing smile4 ,mark took a freer breath2 if there was any difficulty1 ,mr4 ,alford certainly did not know it4 ,but then it occurred to him1 that shy young ladies do not often make confidants of elderly husbandmen in long blue frocks1 and his spirits fell again4 ,mr4 ,alford leaned against a fence and threshed his hands to keep them warm1 while he told ,mark that he had been with ,mildred privately out to the ,probate ,court1--that the case had been stated to the jedge1 who allowed1 that1 as she was above fourteen1 she had a right to choose her own guardeen1--that he1 ,alford1 was to be put in1 in place of the ,squire1--and that then1 in his opinion1 there would be an overhaulin' so's to hev things set to rights4 ,mark shook the hand of his good friend warmly1 and commended his shrewdness4 ,but 'ta'n't best to stan' talkin' with an ol' feller like me1 said the farmer1 when you can do so much better4 ,jest look6 ,mark turned his head1 and through the window of the house saw the retreating figure of ,mildred4 ,he bounded across the yard1 opened the door without knocking1 and rushed into the house4 ,she had vanished3 no one was visible but ,mrs4 ,alford1 who was cutting up golden pumpkins in long coils to dry4 ,come1 ,milly1 said the good woman1 'ta'n't no use2 he saw ye4 ,and ,mildred appeared1 coming slowly out of the buttery4 ,ye see1 ,mildred felt a little hurt about a letter2 but ,i knew there was some mistake2 so ,i wa'n't a-goin' to hev ye go off 'thout some explanation4 ,a letter8--explanation8 said ,mark1 thoroughly bewildered4 ,here it is1 said ,mildred1 taking a letter from her pocket1 still looking down4 ,mark hastily took and opened it4 ,the envelope bore ,mildred's address in a hand not unlike his own2 the inclosure was a letter from ,mildred to himself1 which he now saw for the first time4 ,mildred1 said he1 holding out his hands1 could you doubt me8 ,she covered her face with her apron1 but stood irresolute4 ,he looked again at the letter4 ,why1 the clumsy trick1 ,mildred6 ,this post-office stamp1 ',new ,york1' is not genuine4 ,just look6 it is a palpable cheat1 an imitation made with a pen4 ,the color did not spread1 you see1 as ink mixed with oil does4 ,this letter never left this village4 ,i never saw it before1--could not have seen it4 ,do you doubt me now1 dear ,mildred8 ,even if the evidence had been less convincing1 the earnest1 heartfelt tone1 the pleading look and gesture1 would have satisfied a much more exacting woman4 ,she sprang towards her lover1 and flung her arms about his neck4 ,the pent-up feeling of days and weeks rushed over her like a flood1 and the presence of ,mrs4 ,alford was forgotten4 ,mrs4 ,alford1 it would seem1 suddenly thought of something2 for1 gathering herself up1 she walked off as fast as the laws of gravitation allowed1 exclaiming1--,there6 ,i never did see6 ,sech hens6 ,allus a-flyin' into the kitchen4 ,i wonder now who left that are door open4 ,the frightened cackle of the hens1 the rattling of pots and pans by the assiduous housewife in the kitchen1 were unheeded by the lovers1 emparadised in one another's arms4 ,the conversation took too wide a range and embraced too many trivial details to be set down here4 ,only this ,i may say3 they both believed1 7as every enamored couple believes17 that1 though other people might cherish the properest affection for each other1 yet no man or woman ever did or could experience such intense and all-pervading emotion as now throbbed in their breasts1--in fact1 that they had been created to exemplify the passion1 which1 before1 poets had only imagined4 ,simple children6 they had only found out what hearts are made for6 ,,chapter ,,xv4 ,the last picture was a pleasant relief in a rather sombre story1 therefore we prefer to commence a stormier scene in a new chapter4 ,mark and ,mildred were sitting cozily by the ample fireplace1--not at opposite corners1 you may believe1--when there was a warning ahem6 at the door1 and the sound of feet a-raspin' on the scraper4 ,mr4 ,alford entered and said1 ,milly1 your step-mother's team is comin' up the road4 ,in a moment there was a bustle in the house1 but before any preparation could be made the carriage was at the gate1 and ,mrs4 ,kinloch1 accompanied by ,squire ,clamp1 knocked at the door4 ,milly1 you go into the kitchen with ,mrs4 ,alford1 said the farmer4 ,i'll attend to matters for them4 ,no1 ,mr4 ,alford1 she answered2 you are very good1 but ,i think ,i'll stay and see them4 ,shan't ,i1 ,mark8 ,mrs4 ,kinloch and the lawyer entered4 ,she had left off her mourning1 but looked as pale and thoughtful as ever4 ,after the common courtesies1 brief and cool in this case1 ,mrs4 ,kinloch made known her errand4 ,she had been grieved that ,mildred should have left her father's house and remained so long with strangers1 and she had now come to beg her to return home4 ,mildred replied1 that she had not left home without cause1 and that she had no intention of going back at present4 ,mrs4 ,kinloch looked hurt1 and said that this unusual conduct1 owing partly to the common and wicked prejudice against step-mothers1 had wounded her sorely1 and she hoped ,mildred would do her the simple justice of returning to a mother who loved her1 and would make every sacrifice for her happiness4 ,mildred said she did not wish to go over the ground again2 she thought she understood the love that had been shown her2 and she did not desire any further sacrifices1 such as she had witnessed4 ,the request was renewed in various forms1 but to no purpose4 ,then ,squire ,clamp interposed with great solemnity1 saying1 that1 if she had forgotten the respect and affection due to the mother who had fostered her1 she ought to know that the law had conferred upon him1 as her guardian1 the authority of a father1 and he begged her not to give him the pain of exercising the control which it would be his bounden duty to use4 ,mr4 ,alford had been uneasy during this conversation1 and broke in at the first pause4 ,well1 ,square1 ,i guess you'd best wait till 'bout next week-a-,thursday afore you try to use your 'thority4 ,probate ,court sets on ,wednesday1 an' ,i guess that'll 'bout wind up your business as guardeen4 ,what a magazine of wrath that shot exploded6 ,the lawyer was dumb for a moment1 but presently he and ,mrs4 ,kinloch both found breath for their indignation4 ,the woman turned first upon ,mark4 ,this is your doing1 ,sir6 ,you do too much honor to my foresight1 he replied4 ,i am heartily glad that my good friend here was thoughtful enough and ready to interfere for the protection of a fatherless girl4 ,insolence6 shouted the lawyer4 ,the impertinent puppy6 chimed in the woman4 ,come1 come6 said the farmer1 too loud talkin'6 ,then you uphold this girl in her undutiful behavior1 do you8 asked ,mrs4 ,kinloch4 ,you are amenable to the statutes1 ,sir1 said the ,squire4 ,mr4 ,alford rose to his feet4 ,now you might jest as well get inter yer kerridge an' drive back ter town1 said he2 you won't make one o' them hairs o' yourn black or white1 ,square1 not by talkin' all day4 ,the lawyer settled his wig in a foaming rage4 ,come1 ,mrs4 ,clamp1 said he1 we shall not remain here to be insulted4 ,let us go2 ,i shall know how to protect our property1 our authority1 and honor1 from the assault of adventurers and meddlers4 ,i beg your pardon1 ,sir1 said ,mark1 but what was the appellation you gave to the lady just now8 ,you can call us what you like4 ,mrs4 ,clamp1 ,sir1 he answered1 with a portentous emphasis1--,mrs4 ,clamp1--united to me1 ,sir1 this morning1 by the ,reverend ,mr4 ,rook1 in the holy bands of matrimony4 ,they swept out of the house4 ,mildred sank to her chair as if stunned4 ,o ,god6 she said1 my mother and father6 ,poor gal6 said ,mr4 ,alford1 small comfort you'll hev in sich parents4 ,but cheer up2 you won't need for friends4 ,she looked up through her tears at ,mark's manly face1 full now of sympathy1 and blessed the farmer for his words4 ,mr4 ,alford1 taking ,mark aside1 said1 ,you know about ,lucy's runnin' away1 most likely4 ,wal1 now1 ef she could be found1 there's no knowin' what might happen2 for it's my opinion she knows about ,square ,kinloch's affairs4 ,i thought mebbe you might 'a' seen her in ,york8 ,mark replied1 that he did meet her in ,broadway late one afternoon1 and that she looked as if she would speak2 but that he hurried on1 for the flaunting style of her dress was not calculated to prepossess the passers by4 ,good gracious6 you don't say so6 ,seen her yourself8 ,now do you go right back to ,york an' hunt her up--no matter what it costs4 ,but my uncle8 ,we'll look arter him4 ,it was speedily determined1 and ,mark set out the same day4 ,meanwhile1 ,mildred had promised to go and see ,mr4 ,hardwick and endeavor to make him cheerful4 ,it beats all1 said ,mr4 ,alford to his wife4 ,now 'f he should find that unfort'nate gal6 ,wal1 wal1 ,i begin to think the ,lord does look arter things some1 even in this world4 ,we leave ,squire ,clamp and his new wife to their happiness2 it would not be well to lift the decent veil which drops over their household4 ,the dark1 perchance guilty1 past1--the stormy present1 and the retribution of the future1--let memory and conscience deal with them6 ,,chapter ,,xvi4 ,never was a little village in greater commotion than ,innisfield after ,mark's departure4 ,the succession of events had been such as to engage the attention of the most indifferent4 ,the mysterious exile of ,mildred1 the failing health and spirits of the blacksmith1 the new rumors respecting the fate of ,lucy1 the sudden and unaccountable marriage of ,mrs4 ,kinloch1 and her fruitless attempt to bring her daughter back1 were all discussed in every house1 as well as in places of public resort4 ,hugh ,branning was soon convinced that the village was no place for him4 ,he had bravely horsewhipped a cripple1 but he could not stop the tongues of the whole parish1 even if he could protect himself from swift and extempore justice4 ,he gathered his clothes1 and1 after a long private conference with his mother1 started before daylight for the railway-station4 ,as he does not appear on the stage again1 we may say here1 that1 not long after1 during a financial panic in ,new ,york1 he made a fortune of nearly half a million dollars by speculating in stocks4 ,he used to tell his friends in after years that he had only five thousand to begin with1--the sole property left him by his lamented parents4 ,he has now a handsome mansion in the ,fifth ,avenue1 is a conspicuous member of the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,holdfast's church1 and most zealous against the ill-timed discussions and philanthropic vagaries of the day4 ,what would he not give to forget that slowly-moving figure1 with swimming eyes1 carrying a flaring candle8 ,how far along the years that feeble light was thrown6 ,he never went through the hall of his house at night without a shudder1 dreading to catch a glimpse of that sorrowing face4 ,it was on ,tuesday evening1 the night preceding the ,probate ,court to which ,squire ,clamp had been cited4 ,nothing had been heard from ,mark1 and his friends were much depressed4 ,mildred sat by ,mr4 ,hardwick's bedside1 during the long hours1 and read to him from his favorite authors4 ,about ten o'clock1 just as the family were preparing to go to bed1 ,mark drove up to the door4 ,he was warmly welcomed1 and at once overwhelmed with questions4 ,did he find ,lucy8 ,what did she know8 ,why did she secrete herself8 ,to all these ,mark merely replied1 ,i found ,lucy2 how much ,i have accomplished ,i dare not say4 ,but do you1 ,james1 come with me4 ,we will go up to old ,mrs4 ,ransom's4 ,why1 she's not there2 she's gone to the poor-house4 ,broken down with old age and sorrow1 ,i suppose4 ,but ,i don't care to see her now4 ,let us go to the old house2 and meantime1 you girls1 go to bed4 ,but they protested they should wait till he returned1--that they could not sleep a wink until they knew the result4 ,provided with a lantern1 the young men set out4 ,they found the hovel nearly in ruins2 for pilferers had taken such pieces as they could strip off for firewood4 ,mark eagerly ripped up the floor near the hearth4 ,at the first flash of the light he saw a paper1 dusty and discolored4 ,he seized and opened it4 ,it was the will of ,mr4 ,kinloch1 duly signed and attested4 ,lucy had not deceived him4 ,with hurried pace they returned to the village1 scarcely stopping to take breath until they reached ,mr4 ,hardwick's house4 ,it was no vain hope1 then6 ,it was true6 ,the schemes of the step-mother would be frustrated4 ,the odious control of ,squire ,clamp would end4 ,mark began to read the will1 then stopped1 embraced his cousins and ,mildred by turns1 then read again4 ,he was beside himself with joy4 ,all were too much excited to sleep2 and when the first transports of surprise were over1 they naturally inquired after the unfortunate girl4 ,he had found her1 after great difficulty1 in a miserable garret4 ,the surmises of the villagers were correct4 ,she was ruined1 heart-broken4 ,dissipation1 exposure1 and all the frightful influences of her wretched life had brought on a fever1 and now1 destitute and forsaken1 she was left by those who had made merchandise of her beauty1 to die4 ,he learned from ,lucy what she knew of the affair of the will4 ,she became satisfied1 soon after ,mr4 ,kinloch's death1 that some wrong was intended1 and she watched her mistress4 ,then ,squire ,clamp had induced her by threats and bribes to get for him the papers4 ,as she took them out of the desk1 one1 larger than the rest1 and with several seals1 attracted her attention4 ,she felt quite sure it was ,mr4 ,kinloch's will2 so she secreted it and gave the lawyer the rest4 ,the ,monday afternoon following1 she took the will to her grandmother's and put it under a plank in the floor4 ,squire ,clamp1 strangely enough1 chanced to stop just as she had hidden it4 ,he gave her back the papers1 as she supposed1 and she replaced them in the secretary4 ,on her way home she fell in with ,hugh1--a day neither of them would ever forget4 ,the lawyer1 who had counted on an easy victory over ,mr4 ,alford1 was greatly surprised1 the next day1 to see him accompanied by ,mark1 as he came into court2 he had not heard of the young man's return4 ,besides1 their unmistakable air of confidence and exultation caused him some misgivings4 ,but he was boldness itself1 compared with his wife4 ,her face was bloodless1 her hands tremulous1 and her expression like that of one ready to faint4 ,imagine the horror with which she saw the production of the will1 and then the proof by the only surviving witness1 brought to court from his residence in a neighboring town6 ,the letters of administration were revoked1 and ,mr4 ,alford1 one of the executors1 was appointed ,mildred's guardian4 ,completely baffled1 dumb and despairing1 ,squire ,clamp and his bride left the room and drove homeward4 ,a pleasant topic for conversation they had by the way1 each accusing the other of duplicity1 treachery1 and folly6 ,the will provided that she should receive an annuity of one thousand dollars during her widowhood2 so that the ,squire1 by wedding her1 had a new incumbrance without any addition to his resources2 a bad bargain1 decidedly1 he thought4 ,she1 on the other hand1 had thrown away her sure dependence1 in the hope of retaining the control of the whole estate2 for when she consented to marry ,clamp1 she had no doubt that he had possession of the will and would1 of course1 keep it concealed4 ,seldom it is that both parties to a transaction are so overreached4 ,the successful party stopped at ,mr4 ,hardwick's that evening to exchange congratulations4 ,he1 as well as ,mildred and ,mark1 was interested in the lost will2 for ,mr4 ,kinloch had mentioned the fact of the unsettled boundary-line1 and directed his executors to make a clear title of the disputed tract to the blacksmith4 ,the shop was his2 the boys1 at all events1 would be undisturbed4 ,one provision in the will greatly excited ,mark's curiosity4 ,the notes which he owed to the estate were to be cancelled1 and there was an unexplained reference to his uncle ,hardwick and to some occurrences of long ago4 ,mildred at once recalled to mind her father's dying words1--his calling for ,mr4 ,hardwick1 and his mention of the cabinet4 ,she had often thought of her search in its drawers1 and of her finding the lock of sunny hair and the dried flower4 ,and the blacksmith now1 when asked1 shook his head mournfully1 and said1 7as he had before17 ,sus-some time2 nun-not now6 ,,chapter ,,xvii4 ,the next day ,mr4 ,alford came to town and advised ,mark to marry forthwith4 ,i've ben thinkin' it over1 he said1 and ,i b'lieve it's the best thing to be done4 ,you've got a tough customer to deal with1 and it may be some trouble to git all the property out of his hands4 ,but when the heiress is married1 her husband can act for her to better advantage4 ,i guess ,i'll speak to ,mr4 ,rook and have the 'fair 'tended to right away4 ,mark submitted the matter to ,mildred1 who blushed properly1 and thought it rather hasty4 ,but ,mr4 ,alford's clear reasoning prevailed1 and the time was appointed at once4 ,mark and ,mr4 ,alford then went to call upon the lawyer4 ,they entered his office without knocking1 and by chance found him busy with the accounts and papers2 they were scattered over the table1 and he was making computations4 ,as soon as he was aware of the presence of visitors1 he made an effort to slide the documents under some loose sheets of paper2 but ,mark knew the bold hand at once1 and without a word seized the papers and handed them to ,mr4 ,alford4 ,not very p'lite1 ,square1 ,i know1 said ,mr4 ,alford1 but possession is nine p'ints of the law1 as ,i've heerd you say2 and as you won't deny the handwritin'1 ,i s'pose you don't question my right to these 'ere4 ,the rage of ,mr4 ,clamp may be imagined4 ,good mornin'1 ,square1 said the triumphant executor4 ,when we've looked over these affairs1 we'll trouble you and the widder that was1 to 'count for what the schedool calls for4 ,the simple preparations for the wedding were soon made1 and the honest1 great-hearted farmer had the pleasure of giving away the bride4 ,it was a joyful1 but not a merry wedding2 both had passed through too many trials1 and had too many recollections4 ,and the evident decline of ,mr4 ,hardwick made ,mark sad and apprehensive4 ,but he devoutly thanked ,god1 as he clasped his bride to his bosom1 for the providence that had brought to him the fulfilment of his dearest hopes4 ,here we might stop1 according to ancient custom1 leaving our hero and heroine to their happiness4 ,but though a wedding is always an event of interest1 there are other things to be narrated before we have done with our story4 ,not long after1 ,mark called at the ,kinloch house1 then occupied by ,mr4 ,clamp2 as a measure of precaution1 he took ,mr4 ,alford with him4 ,mildred had never regained her wardrobe2 everything that was dear to her was still in her stepmother's keeping1--her father's picture1 her own mother's miniature1 the silver cup she had used from infancy1 and all the elegant and tasteful articles that had accumulated in a house in which no wish was left ungratified4 ,ever since the session of the ,probate ,court1 the house had been shut to visitors1 if any there had been4 ,mrs4 ,clamp had not been seen once out of doors4 ,but after waiting a time1 ,mark and his friend were admitted4 ,as they entered the house1 the bare aspect of the rooms confirmed the rumors which ,mark had heard4 ,mrs4 ,clamp received them with a kind of sullen civility1 and1 upon hearing the errand1 replied1-- ,certainly1 ,mrs4 ,davenport can have her clothes4 ,she need not have sent more than one man to get them4 ,is that all8 ,not quite1 said ,mark4 ,perhaps you are not aware of the change which the discovery of the will may make in your circumstances4 ,i do not speak of the punishment which the fraud merits1 but of the rights which are now vested in me4 ,first1 ,i am desired to ask after the plate1 jewels1 furs1 and wardrobe of the first ,mrs4 ,kinloch4 ,mrs4 ,clamp was silent4 ,a word let fall by ,lucy suddenly flashed into ,mark's mind1 and he intimated to the haughty woman his purpose to go into the east front-chamber4 ,fine gentlemen1 she said at length1 to pry into a lady's private apartment6 ,you will not dare enter it without my permission6 ,and she stood defiantly in the doorway4 ,but1 without parley1 ,mark and ,mr4 ,alford pushed by her and walked up the staircase1 not heeding the shout of ,mr4 ,clamp1 who had followed them to the house4 ,it might seem mean1 said ,mark to ,mr4 ,alford2 but ,i think you'll agree presently1 that it wasn't a case for ceremony4 ,he stripped the clothes from the bed4 ,the pillows were stuffed with valuable furs2 fine linen and embroideries filled the bolsters4 ,the feather-sack contained dresses of rich and costly fabrics1--the styles showing them to be at least twenty years old4 ,and in the mattress were stowed away the dinner and tea services of silver1 together with porcelain1 crystal1 and ,bohemian ware4 ,what a deal o' comfort a body could take in sleepin' on a bed stuffed like this 'ere6 said ,mr4 ,alford2 ,i sh'd think he'd dream of the ',rabian ,nights4 ,after this1 ,madam1 said ,mark1 upon returning to the hall1 you can hardly expect any special lenity from me4 ,the will allowed you an annuity of one thousand dollars while you remained single2 since you are married your interest ceases1 but you shall receive two hundred a year4 ,the house1 however1 belongs to my wife4 ,your husband there has a home to which you can go4 ,yes1 said the lawyer1 he has a home1 and won't be beholden to any man for a roof to shelter his family4 ,the pride of the woman was still unbent4 ,though her cheek was blanched and her lips were bitten blue1 still she stood erect and her head turned queenly as ever4 ,the glance she threw to the man who called her wife was enough to have pierced him4 ,turning to ,mark1 she said1-- ,if you will come to-morrow1--or ,monday1 rather1--you can have possession of the house and property4 ,my own things can be easily removed1 and it will be a simple matter to make ready for new comers4 ,i could keep them out of it a year1 if ,i chose1 said ,mr4 ,clamp4 ,but ,i do not choose1 said she1 with superb haughtiness4 ,wal1 good mornin'1 said ,mr4 ,alford4 ,as they left the house1 ,mrs4 ,clamp sat down in the silent room4 ,without1 the wind whistled through the naked trees and whirled up spiral columns of leaves2 the river below was cased in ice2 the passers-by looked pinched with cold1 and cast hurried glances over their shoulders at the ill-fated house and the adjacent burying-ground4 ,within1 the commotion1 the chill1 the hurry1 the fright1 were even more intense4 ,what now remained to be done8 ,her son1 vanquished in love by a blacksmith's protg1 had fled1 and left her to meet her fate alone4 ,the will had been discovered1 and1 as if by a special interposition of ,providence1 the victim of her son's passions had been the instrument of vengeance4 ,the lawyer who had worked upon her fears had proved unable to protect her4 ,the estate was out of her hands2 the property with which she had hoped to escape from the hated town and join her son was seized2 she was a ruined1 disgraced woman4 ,she had faced the battery of curious eyes1 as she walked with the husband she despised to the ,sunday services2 but what screen had she now that her pride was humbled8 ,the fearful struggle in the mind of the lonely woman in the chill and silent room1 who shall describe it8 ,she denied admission to the servants and her husband1 and through the long evening still sat by the darkening window1 far into the dim and gusty night4 ,squire ,clamp went to bed moody1 if not enraged2 but when1 on waking1 he found his wife still absent1 he became alarmed4 ,early in the morning he tracked her through a light snow1 that had sifted down during the night1 to the river-bank1 at the bend where the current keeps the ice from closing over4 ,an hour after1 some neighbors1 hastily summoned1 made a search at the dam4 ,one of them1 crossing the flume by ,mr4 ,hardwick's shop1 broke the newly-formed ice and there found the drifting body of ,mrs4 ,clamp4 ,her right hand1 stretched out stiff1 was thrust against the floats of the water-wheel1 as if1 even in death1 she remembered her hate against the family whose fortune had risen upon her overthrow6 ,,chapter ,,xviii4 ,mark and ,mr4 ,alford1 after their disagreeable interview with the ,clamps1 went to see ,mr4 ,hardwick1 whom they wished to congratulate4 ,at the door they were met by ,lizzie1 whose sad face said1 ,hush6 ,mark's spirits fell instantly4 ,is he worse8 he asked4 ,a tear was the only answer4 ,he asked ,mr4 ,alford to go for ,mildred4 ,she has just come1 said ,lizzie4 ,they found ,mr4 ,hardwick propped up in bed1 whence he could look out of the window4 ,the church-spire rose on the one hand1 and on the other the chimney of the shop was seen above the trees on the river-bank4 ,by night the column of sparks had gladdened his eye1 as he thought of the cheerful industry of his sons4 ,mark tenderly pressed his uncle's hand1 and leaned over him with an affectionate1 sorrowing interest4 ,der-don't take it to heart1 my boy1 said ,mr4 ,hardwick4 ,i am very h-happy4 ,i am glad that the boys won't lose the shop1 said ,mark4 ,i see you are looking out to the chimney4 ,yer-yes1 it was thoughtful of ,mr4 ,kinloch1 and a special ,pr-,providence that the will was found4 ,you know he mentioned his claim against me1 said ,mark2 that is paid1 and it doesn't matter2 but ,i can't guess the reason for the unusual kindness he has shown towards me4 ,the old man answered slowly1 for his breathing was difficult and often painful4 ,it is an old story1--old as the dried f-flowers that ,mildred told me of1--but it had a f-fragrance once4 ,yer-your mother1 ,mark1 was as per-pretty a girl as you'd often see4 ,walter ,kinloch ler-loved her1 and she him4 ,he sailed to the ,indies1 an' some der-diff'culty happened1 so that the letters stopped4 ,i d-don't know how 'twas4 ,but arter a while sh-she married your father4 ,mr4 ,kinloch1 he m-married1 too2 but ,i guess he nun-never forgot the girl of his choice4 ,mark grasped his young wife's hand1 at this tale of years gone by4 ,the lock of hair and the rose were your mother's1 then6 she whispered4 ,dear father6 faithful1 even in death1 to his friends1 and to the memory of his first love6 ,how much suffering and crime would have been prevented1 if he could only have uttered the words which his heart prompted6 ,god forgive the woman6 said ,mr4 ,hardwick1 solemnly4 ,none knew then how much she had need of forgiveness1 standing as she was on the brink of that last fatal plunge6 ,mr4 ,alford suggested that the fatigue of talking would wear upon the enfeebled man1 and advised that he should be left to get some rest1 if possible4 ,to-morrow is ,s-,sabba'-day1 ef ,i've counted right1 said ,mr4 ,hardwick4 ,i sh-should like to see the sun on the st-heeple once more4 ,dear uncle1 ,i hope you may see it a great many times4 ,we must leave you to rest4 ,good-night1 mum-my children1 he replied4 ,god b-bless you all6 ,let me put my hands on your h-heads4 ,they knelt by his bedside1 and he blessed them fervently4 ,mr4 ,alford and ,lizzie remained to attend upon him1 and the others withdrew4 ,the night passed1 how wearily6 ,none could sleep1 for through all the air there was a presage of sorrow1 a solemn tingling silentness1 to which their senses were painfully alive4 ,who1 that has passed the interminable gloomy hours that preceded the departure of a loved and venerated friend into the world of spirits1 does not remember this unutterable suspense1 this fruitless struggle with eternal decrees1 this clinging of affection to the parting soul8 ,what a sinking of the heart even the recollection of such a scene produces6 ,the day dawned upon sleepless1 tear-stained eyes4 ,the dying man was conscious1 cheerful1 and calmly breathing4 ,in the adjoining room the family sat beside the table on which was spread their untasted breakfast4 ,the bell began to ring for meeting4 ,mr4 ,hardwick roused up at the sound1 and called for his children4 ,he blessed them again1 and placed his hands on their bowed heads in turn4 ,he thought of the psalms which he had so often led1 and he asked all to join in singing ,billings's ,jordan4 ,there is a land of pure delight1 ,where saints immortal reign2 ,infinite day excludes the night1 ,and pleasures banish pain4 ,with faltering voices they sang the triumphal hymn4 ,the old man's eyes were fixed upon the steeple1 which pointed upward through the clear air1 and shone in the golden light of the sun4 ,he kept time with a feeble movement1 and once or twice essayed to raise his own wavering voice4 ,a smile of heavenly beauty played over his pallid features as the music ceased1--a radiance like that crimson glow which covers the mountain-top at dawn4 ,he spoke almost inaudibly1 as if in a trance2 then repeating with a musical flow the words of his favorite author1 ,where the bright seraphim in burning row ,their loud uplifted angel-trumpets blow1 ,and the cherubic host in thousand choirs ,touch their immortal harps of golden wires1 ,with those just spirits that wear victorious palms ,hymns devout and holy psalms ,singing everlastingly1-- his voice sank again1 though it was easy to see that a prayer trembled on his lips4 ,as a strain of music fades into silence1 his tones fell away1 fainter and fainter2 and with the same seraphic light on his countenance his breathing ceased4 ,,the ,,birth-,,mark4 ,a4,d4 #ab--4 ,see1 here it is1 upon my breast1-- ,the bloody image of a hand6 ,on her white bosom it was pressed1 ,who should have nursed--you understand2-- ,i never yet have named her name1 ,nor will ,i1 till 'tis free from shame4 ,the good old crone that tended me ,through sickly childhood1 lonely youth1 ,told me the story3 so1 you see1 ,i know it is ,god's sacred truth1 ,that holy lips and holy hands ,in secrecy had blessed the bands4 ,and well he knew it1 too1--the accursed6-- ,to whom my grandsire gave his child ,with dying breath2--for from the first ,he saw1 and tried to snare the wild ,and frightened love that thought to rest ,its wings upon my father's breast4 ,you may have seen him riding by1-- ,this same ,count ,bernard1 stern and cold2 ,you know1 then1 how his creeping eye ,one's very soul in charm will hold4 ,snow-locks he wears1 and gracious art2 ,but hell is whiter than his heart4 ,well1 as ,i said1 the secret rite ,had joined them1 and the two were one2 ,and so it chanced1 one summer night1 ,when the half-moon had set1 and none ,but faint star-shadows on the grass ,lay watching for his feet to pass1 ,led by the waiting light that gleamed ,from out one chamber-window1 came ,the husband-lover2--soon they dreamed1-- ,her lips still murmuring his name ,in sleep1--while1 as to guard her1 fell ,his arm across her bosom's swell4 ,the low wind shook the darkened pane1 ,the far clock chimed along the hall1 ,there came a moment's gust of rain1 ,the swallow chirped a single call ,from his eaves'-nest1 the elm-bough swayed ,moaning2--they slumbered unafraid4 ,without a creak the chamber-door ,crept open6--with a cat-like tread1 ,shading his lamp with hand that bore ,a dagger1 came beside their bed ,the ,count4 ,his hair was tinged with gray3 ,gold locks brown-mixed before him lay4 ,a thrust1--a groan1--a fearful scream1 ,as from the peace of love's sweet rest ,she starts6--,o ,god6 what horrid dream ,swells her bound eyeballs8 ,from her breast ,fall off the garments of the night1-- ,a red hand strikes her bosom's white6 ,she knew no more that passed2 her ear ,caught not the hurried cries1--the rush ,of the scared household1--nor could hear ,the voice that broke the after-hush3-- ,there with her paramour she lay6 ,he lies here6--carry her away6 ,the evening after ,i was born ,no roses on the bier were spread1 ,as when for maids or mothers mourn ,pure-hearted ones who love the dead2 ,they buried her1 so young1 so fair1 ,with hasty hands and scarce a prayer4 ,count ,bernard gained the lands1 while ,i1 ,cast forth1 forgotten1 thus have grown ,to manhood2 for ,i could not die-- ,i cannot die--till ,i atone ,for her great shame2 and so you see ,i track him1 and he flies from me4 ,and one day soon my hand ,i'll lay ,upon his arm1 with lighter touch ,than ladies use when in their play ,they tap you with their fans2 yet such ,a thrill will freeze his every limb ,as if the dead were clutching him6 ,i think that it would make you smile ,to see him kneel and hear him plead1-- ,i leaning on my sword the while1 ,with a half-laugh1 to watch his need3-- ,at last my good blade finds his heart1 ,and then this red stain will depart4 ,,rambles ,,in ,,aquidneck4 ,i4 ,,newport ,,beach4 ,newport has many beaches1 each bearing a distinctive appellation4 ,to the one of which we are speaking rightfully belongs the name of ,easton2 but it is more widely known by that of the town itself1 and still more familiarly to the residents as ,the ,beach4 ,it lies east of the city1 a mile from the harbor1 and is about half a mile in length4 ,its form is that of the new moon1 the horns pointing southward4 ,let us go there now4 ,no better time could be chosen by the naturalist1 for the tide will be at its lowest ebb4 ,descending ,bath ,road1 the beautiful crescent lies before us on the right1--,easton's ,pond1 with its back-ground of farms1 upon the left4 ,there is no wind to-day to break the surface of the standing water1 and it gives back the dwarf willows upon its banks and the houses on the hill-side with more than ,daguerrian fidelity4 ,the broad ocean lies rocking in the sunshine1 not as one a-weary1 but resting at his master's bidding1 waiting to begin anew the work he loves4 ,in the horizon1 the ships1 motionless in the calm1 spread all sail to catch the expected breeze4 ,the waves idly chase each other to the shore1 in childish strife to kiss first the mother ,earth4 ,turning the sea-wall and crossing a bit of shingle on the right1 we stand upon the western extremity of the beach4 ,at our feet1 a smooth1 globular object1 of the size of a crab-apple1 is lying half-buried in the sand4 ,taking it in your hand1 you find it to be a univalve shell1 the inhabitant of which is concealed behind a closely-fitting door1 resembling a flake of undissolved glue4 ,it is a ,natica4 ,place it gently in this pool and watch for a few moments4 ,slowly and cautiously the horny operculum is pushed out1 turned back1 and hidden beneath a thick fleshy mantle1 which spreads over half the shell4 ,two long tentacles appear upon its front1 like the horns of an ox1 and it begins to glide along upon its one huge foot4 ,had you seen it thus at first1 you could not have believed it possible for so bulky a body to be retracted into so small a shell4 ,lift it into the air1 and a stream of water pours forth as it contracts4 ,two kinds are common here1 one of which has a more conical spire than the other4 ,the animals differ somewhat in other points1 but both have a cream-colored base1 and a mantle of pale cream clouded with purple4 ,you may get them from half an inch to three inches in diameter4 ,take them home and domesticate them1 and you will see surprising things4 ,i kept one of middling size for many months4 ,during two or three weeks ,i wondered how he lived1 for he was never seen to eat4 ,he used to climb to the top of the tank and slide down the slippery glass as though it were a montagne russe4 ,then he would wander about upon the bottom1 ploughing deep furrows in the sand1 and end by burrowing beneath it4 ,there he would stay whole days1 entirely out of sight4 ,one morning ,i found him on his back1 his body bent upward1 with the edge of the base turned in all round towards the centre4 ,did you ever see an apple-dumpling before it was boiled1 just as the cook was pinching the dough together8 ,yes8 ,then you may imagine the appearance of my ,natica2 but no greening pared and cored lay within that puckered wrapper4 ,two days passed with no visible change2 but on the third day the strange gasteropod unfolded both himself and the mystery4 ,from his long embrace fell the shell of a ,mactra1 nearly as broad as his own4 ,near the hinge was a smooth1 round hole1 through which the poor ,clam had been sucked4 ,foot1 stomach1 siphon1 muscles1 all but a thin strip of mantle1 were gone4 ,the problem of the ,natica's existence was solved1 and the verification was found in more than one ,buccinum minus the animal1--the number of the latter victims being still an unknown quantity4 ,not in sport had ,natty driven the plough1 not in idleness had he hollowed the sand4 ,he sought his food in the furrow1 and dug riches in the mine4 ,doubtless he killed the bivalve1--for until the time of its disappearance it had been in full vigor1--but with what weapon8 ,and whereabouts in that soft bundle was hidden the wimble which bored the hole8 ,a few days after1 a ,crab1 of the size of a dime1 died4 ,nat soon learned the fact1 and enveloped the crustacean as he had done the mollusk4 ,thirty hours sufficed to drill through the ,crab's foundation-wall1 and to abstract the unguarded treasure4 ,every week some rifled ,trivittatum tells a new tale of his felonious deeds4 ,his last feat was worthy of a cannibal1 for it was the savage act of devouring a fellow-,natica4 ,you might suppose that in this case the trap-like operculum would afford an easy entrance to one familiar with its use2 but1 true to his secret system1 the burglar broke in as before4 ,how did he do this8 ,did he abrade the stone-work with flinty sand until a hole was worn8 ,did he apply an acid to the limy wall until it opened before him8 ,who can find the tools of the cunning workman1 or the laboratory where his corrodents are composed8 ,some rods farther south1 the shore is covered with smooth stones1 and there you may find the ,limpet in great numbers4 ,patella is the ,latin name1 but children call it ,tent-,shell4 ,oval at the base1 it slopes upward to a point a little aside from the centre4 ,in this locality they are small1 seldom more than an inch in length4 ,at first1 you will not readily distinguish them1 they are so nearly of the color of the stones to which they are attached4 ,this is one of those ,providential adjustments by which the weak are rendered as secure as the strong4 ,slow in their movements1 without offensive weapons1 their form and their coloring are their two great safeguards4 ,the stones to which they adhere are variegated with brown and purple blotches of incipient ,coralline1 and the shells are beautifully mottled with every shade of those colors4 ,some are lilac1 heightening nearly to crimson2 others are dark chocolate and white1 sharply checkered4 ,pebbles and ,patella alike are half-covered with ,confervae1 and from the top of the latter1 fronds of ,ulva are often found floating like flags4 ,i have one with a clump of ,corallina rising from its apex1 like a coppice on the summit of a hill4 ,by atmospheric pressure1 its union with the stone is so close that it is not easy to pull it away without injury2 but if you slip it along1 until by some slight inequality air is admitted beneath the hitherto exhausted receiver1 the little pneumatician is obliged to yield4 ,when turned upon its back1 or resting against glass1 the soft arms1 sprawling aimlessly about1 and the bare1 round head1 give it the appearance of an infant in a cradle1 so that a tank well stocked with them might be taken for a ,liliputian foundling-hospital4 ,they are as innocent as they look1 being vegetable-feeders1 and finding most of their sustenance in matters suspended in the water4 ,a friend of mine placed several upon the side of a vessel coated with ,conferva4 ,in a few days1 each industrious laborer had mowed round him a circular space several times larger than himself4 ,they are not ambulatory1 but remain on one spot for successive weeks1 perhaps longer4 ,sometimes they raise the shell so as to allow a free circulation beneath2 but if some predatory ,prawn draw near1 the tent is lowered in a twinkling1 so as effectually to shut out the submarine ,tartar4 ,tread warily1 or you will trip upon the slimy ,fucus that fringes the seaward side of every rock4 ,this is one of the few ,algae that grow here in luxuriance4 ,the slate has not the deep fissures necessary to afford shelter to the more delicate kinds2 and the heavy swell of the sea drags them from their slight moorings4 ,therefore1 though ,ulva1 ,chondrus1 ,cladophora1 ,enteromorpha1 and as many more1 are within our reach1 we will not stop to gather them2 for ,newport has other shores1 where we can get them in full perfection4 ,we will take some tufts of ,corallina1 however1 for that is temptingly fine4 ,what a curious plant it is6 ,its root1 a mere crustaceous disk1 and its fronds1 depositing shelly matter upon their surface1 bear so strong a resemblance to the true ,corals1 that1 until recently1 naturalists have thought it a zoophyte4 ,here the plants are of a dull brick-red2 but in less exposed situations they are purple4 ,if you wish them to live and increase1 you must chip off a bit of the rock on which they are growing4 ,with a chisel1 or even a knife1 you can do it without difficulty1 for the soft slate scales and crumbles under a slight blow4 ,for an herbarium1 it ought to be gummed at once to the paper1 for it becomes so brittle1 in drying1 that it falls to pieces with the most careful handling4 ,in the air and light it fades white1 but the elegance of its pinnate branches will well repay any pains you may bestow upon it4 ,if you have a lingering belief in its animal nature1 steeping it in acid will cause the carbonate of lime and your credulity to disappear together1 leaving the vegetable tissue clearly revealed4 ,between low-water and the ,cliff are hundreds of pools rich in vegetable and animal life--,look at this one3 it is a lakelet of exquisite beauty4 ,bordered with the olive-colored ,rock-,weed1 fronds of purple and green ,laver rise from its limpid depths4 ,amphipods of varied hue emerge from the clustering weeds1 cleave the clear water with easy swiftness1 and hide beneath the opposite bank4 ,here a graceful ,annelid describes ,hogarth's line of beauty upon the sandy bottom4 ,there another glides over the surface with sinuous course1 rowed by more oars than a ,venetian galley1 more brilliant in its iridescence than the barge of ,cleopatra1 albeit ,the poop was beaten gold1 ,purple the sails4 ,we loiter here1 forgetful that we are only at the first end of the bow along whose curve we propose to walk4 ,let us go on4 ,the firm sand affords pleasanter footing than the slippery stones we leave behind us1 but it seems bare of promise to the curiosity-hunter4 ,nevertheless we will hunt1 and quite at variance with my experience will it be1 if we return empty-handed4 ,here is something already4 ,dark-colored1 horny1 flat1 oblong1 each corner furnished with a wiry1 thorn-like projection2--what is it8 ,a child tells you it is a ,mermaid's ,purse1 and1 giving the empty bag a shake1 you straightway conclude that the maids of the sea know hard times1 as well as those of the land4 ,but the ,purse is not always so light4 ,sometimes it is found to contain a most precious deposit1 the egg which is to produce a future fish4 ,these egg-cases belong to different members of the ,ray family4 ,i saw one last winter1 in which the inmate was fully developed4 ,should some old seaman hear me1 he might say that ,i am telling a fish-story in good earnest4 ,he might inform you furthermore1 that the object in question is but a pod of sea-weed1 and that he has seen hundreds of them in the ,gulf ,stream4 ,i cannot help it1 neither do ,i question his veracity4 ,notwithstanding1 these two eyes of mine1 in sound condition1 awake1 and in broad day1 did see the supposed pericarp1 with one side taken off1 and did behold1 lying within1 as veritable a ,raia as ever was caught upon the ,new-,england coast4 ,moreover1 its countenance was no more classical1 in its minuteness1 than that of its most ancient ancestor in its hugeness4 ,observe those bubbles trembling upon the edge of the wave4 ,one is left by the receding tide1 and a nearer view shows it to be a jelly-like globe1 clearer than the crystal of ,merlin4 ,dropped softly into a vessel of water1 at first it lies quiescent and almost invisible upon the bottom4 ,a moment after1 it rises in quick undulations1 flashing prismatic tints with every motion4 ,again it rests1 and we see that it is banded by eight meridians1 composed of square1 overlapping plates4 ,it swims1 and the plates become paddles1 propelling the frail craft1-- prisms1 dividing the sunbeams into rainbow hues4 ,suddenly two lines of gossamer are dropped from unseen openings in its sides1 and trailed behind it as it goes4 ,twisting1 lengthening1 shortening1 they are drawn back and re-coiled within1 and ,the ethereal substance closed1 ,not long divisible4 ,this delicate wonder is the ,cydippe4 ,though among the most charming of marine creatures1 none is more liable to be overlooked1 owing to its extreme subtilty4 ,so unsubstantial and shadowy are they1 that a lady1 on seeing them for the first time1 declared them to be the ghosts of gooseberries4 ,indeed1 you will find them ghost-like1 if you attempt to keep them1 for they ,shrink in haste away ,and vanish from our sight4 ,the whole high-water line is strewn with the blanched and parted valves of the ,beach ,clam4 ,here and there yellowish streaks appear upon the gray sand1 formed by the detritus of submarine shells4 ,among the fragments are often found perfect specimens1 some of them with the living animal4 ,we can examine them as we go back1 but now let us cross the ,creek4 ,it is a creek only by courtesy or an ,americanism1 at the present day2 but when those miles of fertile fields upon the north were unreclaimed1 the dank herbage hindered evaporation1 and ,easton's ,pond was fed by unfailing streams4 ,then the vast body of overflowing water swept a deep channel1 which the sea1 rolling far up towards the pond1 widened and made permanent4 ,boats came from ships in the offing1 and followed its course to ,green ,end1 with no fear of grounding2 and traditionary pirates there bestowed in secret caves their ill-gotten gains4 ,now1 the ,creek is a mere streamlet1 and the flow of the tide is restricted to its mouth4 ,with our rubbers we may ford it dry-shod2 but if you choose to cross the bridge1 we must wade through shifting sand1 and our walk will be the longer4 ,in midsummer the bed is dry1 and almost obliterated by the drift4 ,on the approach of autumnal rains1 the farmers plough a passage for the water1 to prevent their lands from being submerged4 ,on the east side1 masses of conglomerate rock are strewn in wild confusion4 ,by the action of untold ages the connecting cement is worn away from between the pebbles1 leaving them prominent2 and wherever the attrition of the sea has loosened one from its bed1 the hollow has become the habitation of ,mollusca and ,algae4 ,beyond that ponderous boulder are many dark recesses among the overlying stones4 ,strip back your sleeve1 thrust in your hand1 and grope carefully about4 ,in this way ,i once grasped a prickly thing that startled me4 ,drawing it to light1 it proved to be an ,echinus1 ,sea-,urchin1 or ,sea-,egg4 ,that one was not larger than a walnut1 was shaped like a brioche1 and resembled a chestnut-burr4 ,its color was a delicate green1 verging to brown4 ,much larger living ,echini are found on this spot4 ,there is a shell now1 more than two inches in diameter4 ,it is wholly covered with spines half an inch in length4 ,radiating from a common centre1 flexible at the base1 they stand erect at right angles with the shell when the ,urchin is in health2 but in disease or death order is lost1 and they lie across each other in great confusion4 ,their connection with the shell is very remarkable1 for it is by a ball-and-socket joint1--the same articulation which gives the human hip its marvellous liberty of action4 ,between them are five rows of minute holes1 and1 in life1 a transparent1 hair-like foot is protruded from each1 at the pleasure of the owner4 ,when disposed to change its situation1 it stretches forth those on the side towards which it would go1 fixes them by means of the sucker at the tip of each1 and1 simultaneously withdrawing those in the rear1 pulls itself along4 ,the mouth1 placed in the centre of the base1 is very large in proportion to the size of the animal4 ,it is formed of five shelly1 wedge-shaped pieces1 each ending in a hard1 triangular tooth4 ,the whole mouth is a conical box1 called by naturalists ,aristotle's lantern4 ,the shell is hardly thicker than that of a hen's egg1 and is even more fragile4 ,when the spines are rubbed off1 the brioche-like shape is modified1 and in place of the depression in the middle of the upper side there is seen a slight prominence4 ,mine was a very inoffensive creature4 ,he occupied the same corner for many weeks1 and changed his place only when a different arrangement of stones was made4 ,he then wandered to a remote part of the tank and chose a new abode4 ,both retreats were on the shady side of a stone overhung with plants4 ,there for months he quietly kept house1 only going up and down his hand-breadth of room once or twice a day4 ,minding his own business without hurt to his neighbor1 he dwelt in unambitious tranquillity4 ,had he not fallen a victim to the most cruel maltreatment1 he might still adorn his humble station4 ,as he was sitting one evening at the door of his house1 bending about his lithe arms in the way he was wont1 two itinerant ,sticklebacks chanced to pass that way4 ,they paused1 and1 not seeing the necessity for organs of which they had never known the use1 they at once decided on their removal4 ,in vain did the poor ,hedgehog oppose them4 ,with all the pertinacity of ignorance1 they maintained their certainty of his abnormal condition2 and with all the officiousness of quackery1 they insisted upon immediate amputation4 ,aided by two volunteer assistants1 the self-made surgeons cut off limb after limb before their reckless butchery could be stopped4 ,at last ,i effected their dismissal4 ,but their pitiable patient was too far reduced for recovery4 ,his exhausted system never rallied from the shock1 and he survived but a few days4 ,alas6 alas6 that so exemplary a member of the community should have perished through piscine empiricism6 ,how many things you have collected6 ,your well-filled basket attests your industry and zeal1 and suggests the fruitful question of the novelist1 ,what will you do with it8 ,will you throw its contents on the sand1 and go away satisfied with these imperfect glimpses of sea-life8 ,will you take them home indeed1 but consign them to a crowded bowl1 to die like the prisoners in the ,black ,hole of ,calcutta8 ,or will you give to each a roomy basin with water1 and plants to keep it pure8 ,this were well2 and you could thus study their structure at leisure1 but not their habits4 ,to know the character of an individual1 you must watch him among his fellows2 you must observe his bearing to the small2 you must see how he demeans himself in presence of the great4 ,to do this1 the surroundings must be such that none shall be conscious of restraint1 but that every one1 with homely ease1 may act out his own peculiar nature4 ,in short1 you must make ready for them another ,atlantic1 in all things but breadth like its grand prototype4 ,nor is this a difficult undertaking4 ,by following the advice of some experienced person1 you may avoid all those failures which are apt to attend the experiments of a tyro4 ,i will direct you to our pioneer in aquarian science1 ,mr4 ,charles ,e4 ,hammett4 ,he can furnish you with all you want1 give you most efficient aid1 and add thereto a great amount of practical information4 ,you need have no fears for the population of your colony2 for in our future walks we shall meet new objects of beauty and interest1 and in such variety and abundance that your only embarrassment will be which to choose4 ,and now the ramble of to-day is ended4 ,the punctual sea has risen1 and1 waking his dreaming waves1 he gives to them their several tasks4 ,some1 with gentle touch1 lave the heated rock2 these1 swift of foot1 bring drink to the thirsty sand2 those carry refreshing coolness to the tepid pool4 ,charged with blessings come they all1 and1 singing 'mid their joyous labor1 they join in a chorus of praise to their ,god and our ,god2 while from each of our hearts goes up the ready response1 ,thou1 ,lord1 hast made me glad through thy works1 and ,i will rejoice in giving praise for the operations of thy hands6 ,,ann ,,potter',s ,,lesson4 ,my sister ,mary ,jane is older than ,i1--as much as four years4 ,father died when we were both small1 and didn't leave us much means beside the farm4 ,mother was rather a weakly woman2 she didn't feel as though she could farm it for a living4 ,it's hard work enough for a man to get clothes and victuals off a farm in ,west ,connecticut2 it's up-hill work always2 and then a man can turn to1 himself1 to ploughin' and mowin'2--but a woman a'n't of no use1 except to tell folks what to do2 and everybody knows it's no way to have a thing done1 to send4 ,mother talked it all over with ,deacon ,peters1 and he counselled her to sell off all the farm but the home-lot1 which was sot out for an orchard with young apple-trees1 and had a garden-spot to one end of it1 close by the house4 ,mother calculated to raise potatoes and beans and onions enough to last us the year round1 and to take in sewin' so's to get what few groceries we was goin' to want4 ,we kept ,old ,red1 the best cow2 there was pasture enough for her in the orchard1 for the trees wa'n't growed to be bearin' as yet1 and we 'lotted a good deal on milk to our house2 besides1 it saved butcher's meat4 ,mother was a real pious woman1 and she was a high-couraged woman too4 ,old ,miss ,perrit1 an old widder-woman that lived down by the bridge1 come up to see her the week after father died4 ,i remember all about it1 though ,i wa'n't but ten years old2 for when ,i see ,miss ,perrit comin' up the road1 with her slimpsy old veil hanging off from her bumbazine bonnet1 and her doleful look1 7what ,nancy ,perrit used to call mother's company-face17 ,i kinder thought she was comin' to our house2 and she was allers so musical to me1 ,i went in to the back-door1 and took up a towel ,i was hemmin'1 and set down in the corner1 all ready to let her in4 ,it don't seem as if ,i could 'a' been real distressed about father's dyin' when ,i could do so2 but children is just like spring weather1 rainin' one hour and shinin' the next1 and it's the ,lord's great mercy they be2 if they begun to be feelin' so early1 there wouldn't be nothin' left to grow up4 ,so pretty quick ,miss ,perrit knocked1 and ,i let her in4 ,we hadn't got no spare room in that house2 there was the kitchen in front1 and mother's bed-room1 and the buttery1 and the little back-space opened out on't behind4 ,mother was in the bed-room2 so1 while ,i called her1 ,miss ,perrit set down in the splint rockin'-chair that creaked awfully1 and went to rockin' back and forth1 and sighin'1 till mother come in4 ,good-day1 ,miss ,langdon6 says she1 with a kind of a snuffle1 how dew you dew8 ,i thought ,i'd come and see how you kep' up under this here affliction4 ,i rec'lect very well how ,i felt when husband died4 ,it's a dreadful thing to be left a widder in a hard world2--don't you find it out by this8 ,i guess mother felt quite as bad as ever ,miss ,perrit did1 for everybody knew old ,perrit treated his wife like a dumb brute while he was alive1 and died drunk2 but she didn't say nothin'4 ,i see her give a kind of a swaller1 and then she spoke up bright and strong4 ,i don't think it is a hard world1 ,miss ,perrit4 ,i find folks kind and helpful1 beyond what ,i'd any right to look for4 ,i try not to think about my husband1 any more than ,i can help1 because ,i couldn't work1 if ,i did1 and ,i've got to work4 ,it's most helpful to think the ,lord made special promises to widows1 and when ,i remember ,him ,i a'n't afeard4 ,miss ,perrit stopped rockin' a minute1 and then she begun to creak the chair and blow her nose again1 and she said1-- ,well1 ,i'm sure it's a great mercy to see anybody rise above their trouble the way you do2 but1 law me6 ,miss ,langdon1 you a'n't got through the fust pair o' bars on't yet4 ,folks is allers kinder neighborly at the fust2 they feel to help you right off1 every way they can1--but it don't stay put1 they get tired on't2 they blaze right up like a white-birch-stick1 an' then they go out all of a heap2 there's other folks die1 and they don't remember you1 and you're just as bad off as though you wa'n't a widder4 ,mother kind of smiled1--she couldn't help it2 but she spoke up again just as steady4 ,i don't expect to depend on people1 ,miss ,perrit1 so long as ,i have my health4 ,i a'n't above takin' friendly help when ,i need to1 but ,i mean mostly to help myself4 ,i can get work to take in1 and when the girls have got their schoolin' they will be big enough to help me4 ,i am not afraid but what ,i shall live and prosper1 if ,i only keep my health4 ,hem1 well6 whined out ,miss ,perrit4 ,i allers thought you was a pretty mighty woman1 ,miss ,langdon1 and ,i'm glad to see you're so high-minded2 but you a'n't sure of your health1 never4 ,i used to be real smart to what ,i am now1 when ,perrit was alive2 but ,i took on so1 when he was brought home friz to death that it sp'iled my nerves2 and then ,i had to do so many chores out in the shed1 ,i got cold and had the dreadfullest rheumatiz6 and when ,i'd got past the worst spell of that and was quite folksy again1 ,i slipped down on our door-step and kinder wrenched my ankle1 and ef't hadn't 'a' been for the neighbors1 ,i don't know but what ,nancy and ,i should 'a' starved4 ,mother did laugh this time4 ,miss ,perrit had overshot the mark4 ,so the neighbors were helpful1 after all6 said she4 ,and if ever ,i get sick1 ,i shall be willin' to have help1 ,miss ,perrit4 ,i'm sure ,i would take what ,i would give2 ,i think givin' works two ways4 ,i don't feel afraid yet4 ,miss ,perrit groaned a little1 and wiped her eyes1 and got up to go away4 ,she hadn't never offered to help mother1 and she went off to the sewing-circle and told that ,miss ,langdon hadn't got no feelings at all1 and she b'lieved she'd just as soon beg for a livin' as not4 ,polly ,mariner1 the tailoress1 come and told mother all she said next day1 but mother only smiled1 and set ,polly to talkin' about the best way to make over her old cloak4 ,when she was gone1 ,i begun to talk about ,miss ,perrit1 and ,i was real mad2 but mother hushed me right up4 ,it a'n't any matter1 ,ann1 said she4 ,her sayin' so don't make it so4 ,miss ,perrit's got a miserable disposition1 and ,i'm sorry for her2 a mint of money wouldn't make her happy2 she's a doleful ,christian1 she don't take any comfort in anything1 and ,i really do pity her4 ,and that was just the way mother took everything4 ,at first we couldn't sell the farm4 ,it was down at the foot of ,torringford ,hill1 two good miles from meetin'1 and a mile from the school-house2 most of it was woodsy1 and there wa'n't no great market for wood about there4 ,so for the first year ,squire ,potter took it on shares1 and1 as he principally seeded it down to rye1 why1 we sold the rye and got a little money1 but 'twa'n't a great deal1--no more than we wanted for clothes the next winter4 ,aunt ,langdon sent us down a lot of maple-sugar from ,lee1 and when we wanted molasses we made it out of that4 ,we didn't have to buy no great of groceries1 for we could spin and knit by fire-light1 and1 part of the land bein' piny woods1 we had a good lot of knots that were as bright as lamps for all we wanted4 ,then we had a dozen chickens1 and by pains and care they laid pretty well1 and the eggs were as good as gold4 ,so we lived through the first year after father died1 pretty well4 ,anybody that couldn't get along with mother and ,major 7,i always called ,mary ,jane ,major when ,i was real little1 and the name kind of stayed by7 couldn't get along with anybody4 ,i was as happy as a cricket whilst they were by1 though1 to speak truth1 ,i wasn't naturally so chirpy as they were2 ,i took after father more1 who was a kind of a despondin' man1 down-hearted1 never thinkin' things could turn out right1 or that he was goin' to have any luck4 ,that was my natur'1 and mother see it1 and fought ag'inst it like a real ,bunker-,hiller2 but natur' is hard to root up1 and there was always times when ,i wanted to sulk away into a corner and think nobody wanted me1 and that ,i was poor and humbly1 and had to work for my living4 ,i remember one time ,i'd gone up into my room before tea to have one of them dismal fits4 ,miss ,perrit had been in to see mother1 and she'd been tellin' over what luck ,nancy'd had down to ,hartford3 how't she had gone into a shop1 and a young man had been struck with her good looks1 an' he'd turned out to be a master-shoemaker1 and ,nancy was a-goin' to be married1 and so on1 a rigmarole as long as the moral law1--windin' up with askin' mother why she didn't send us girls off to try our luck1 for ,major was as old as ,nance ,perrit4 ,i'd waited to hear mother say1 in her old bright way1 that she couldn't afford it1 and she couldn't spare us1 if she had the means1 and then ,i flung up into our room1 that was a lean-to in the garret1 with a winder in the gable end1 and there ,i set down by the winder with my chin on the sill1 and begun to wonder why we couldn't have as good luck as the ,perrits4 ,after ,i'd got real miserable1 ,i heerd a soft step comin' up stairs1 and ,major come in and looked at me and then out of the winder4 ,what's the matter of you1 ,anny8 said she4 ,nothing1 says ,i1 as sulky as you please4 ,nothing always means something1 says ,major1 as pleasant as pie2 and then she scooched down on the floor and pulled my two hands away1 and looked me in the face as bright and honest as ever you see a dandelion look out of the grass4 ,what is it1 ,anny8 ,spit it out1 as ,john ,potter says2 you'll feel better to free your mind4 ,well1 says ,i1 ,major1 ,i'm tired of bad luck4 ,why1 ,anny6 ,i didn't know as we'd had any4 ,i'm sure1 it's three years since father died1 and we have had enough to live on all that time1 and ,i've got my schooling1 and we are all well2 and just look at the apple-trees1--all as pink as your frock with blossoms2 that's good for new cloaks next winter1 ,anny4 ',ta'n't that1 ,major4 ,i was thinkin' about ,nancy ,perrit4 ,if we'd had the luck to go to ,hartford1 may-be you'd have been as well off as she2 and then ,i'd have got work1 too4 ,and ,i wish ,i was as pretty as she is1 ,major2 it does seem too bad to be poor and humbly too4 ,i wonder she didn't laugh at me1 but she was very feelin' for folks1 always4 ,she put her head on the window-sill along of mine1 and kinder nestled up to me in her lovin' way1 and said1 softly1-- ,i wouldn't quarrel with the ,lord1 ,anny4 ,why1 ,major6 you scare me6 ,i haven't said nothing against the ,lord4 ,what do you mean8 said ,i1--for ,i was touchy1 real touchy4 ,well1 dear1 you see we've done all we can to help ourselves2 and what's over and above1 that we can't help1--that is what the ,lord orders1 a'n't it8 and ,he made you1 didn't ,he8 ,you can't change your face2 and ,i'm glad of it1 for it is ,anny's face1 and ,i wouldn't have it changed a mite3 there'll always be two people to think it's sightly enough1 and may-be more by-and-by2 so ,i wouldn't quarrel with it1 if ,i was you4 ,major's happy eyes always helped me4 ,i looked at her and felt better4 ,she wasn't any better-lookin' than ,i2 but she always was so chirk1 and smart1 and neat1 and pretty-behaved1 that folks thought she was handsome after they knowed her4 ,well1 after a spell1 there was a railroad laid out up the valley1 and all the land thereabouts riz in price right away2 and ,squire ,potter he bought our farm on speculation1 and give a good price for it2 so't we had two thousand dollars in the bank1 and the house and lot1 and the barn1 and the cow4 ,by this time ,major was twenty-two and ,i was eighteen2 and ,squire ,potter he'd left his house up on the hill1 and he'd bought out ,miss ,perrit's house1 and added on to't1 and moved down not far from us1 so's to be near the railroad-depot1 for the sake of bein' handy to the woods1 for cuttin' and haulin' of them down to the track4 ,twasn't very pleasant at first to see our dear old woods goin' off to be burned that way2 but ,squire ,potter's folks were such good neighbors1 we gained as much as we lost1 and a sight more1 for folks are greatly better'n trees1--at least1 clever folks4 ,there was a whole raft of the ,potters1 eight children of 'em all1 some too young to be mates for ,major and me2 but ,mary ,potter1 and ,reuben1 and ,russell1 they were along about as old as we were3 ,russell come between ,major and me2 the other two was older4 ,we kinder kept to home always1 ,major and me1 because we hadn't any brothers to go out with us2 so we were pretty shy of new friends at first4 ,but you couldn't help bein' friendly with the ,potters1 they was such outspoken1 kindly creturs1 from the ,squire down to little ,hen4 ,and it was very handy for us1 because now we could go to singin'-schools and quiltin's1 and such-like places1 of an evenin'2 and we had rather moped at home for want of such things1--at least ,i had1 and ,i should have been more moped only for ,major's sweet ways4 ,she was always as contented as a honey-bee on a clover-head1 for the same reason1 ,i guess4 ,well1 there was a good many good things come to us from the ,potters' movin' down2 but by-and-by it seemed as though ,i was goin' to get the bitter of it4 ,i'd kept company pretty steady with ,russell4 ,i hadn't give much thought to it1 neither2 ,i liked his ways1 and he seemed to give in to mine very natural1 so't we got along together first-rate4 ,it didn't seem as though we'd ever been strangers1 and ,i wasn't one to make believe at stiffness when ,i didn't feel it4 ,i told ,russell pretty much all ,i had to tell1 and he was allers doin' for me and runnin' after me jest as though he'd been my brother4 ,i didn't know how much ,i did think of him1 till1 after a while1 he seemed to take a sight of notice of ,major4 ,i can't say he ever stopped bein' clever to me1 for he didn't2 but he seemed to have a kind of a hankerin' after ,major all the time4 ,he'd take her off to walk with him2 he'd dig up roots in the woods for her posy-bed2 he'd hold her skeins of yarn as patient as a little dog2 he'd get her books to read4 ,well1 he'd done all this for me2 but when ,i see him doin' it for her1 it was quite different2 and all to once ,i know'd what was the matter4 ,i'd thought too much of ,russell ,potter4 ,oh1 dear6 those was dark times6 ,i couldn't blame him2 ,i knew well enough ,major was miles and miles better and sweeter and cleverer than ,i was2 ,i didn't wonder he liked her2 but ,i couldn't feel as if he'd done right by me4 ,so ,i schooled myself considerable1 talking to myself for being jealous of ,major4 ,but 'twasn't all that2--the hardest of it all was that ,i had to mistrust ,russell4 ,to be sure1 he hadn't said nothin' to me in round words2 ,i couldn't ha' sued him2 but he'd looked and acted enough2 and now1--dear me6 ,i felt all wrung out and flung away6 ,by-and-by ,major begun to see somethin' was goin' wrong1 and so did ,russell4 ,she was as good as she could be to me1 and had patience with all my little pettish ways1 and tried to make me friendly with ,russell2 but ,i wouldn't4 ,i took to hard work1 and1 what with cryin' nights1 and hard work all day1 ,i got pretty well overdone4 ,but it all went on for about three months1 till one day ,russell come up behind me1 as ,i was layin' out some yarn to bleach down at the end of the orchard1 and asked me if ,i'd go down to ,meriden with him next day1 to a pic-nic frolic1 in the woods4 ,no6 says ,i1 as short as ,i could4 ,russell looked as though ,i had slapped him4 ,anny1 says he1 what have ,i done8 ,i turned round to go away1 and ,i catched my foot in a hank of yarn1 and down ,i come flat on to the ground1 havin' sprained my ankle so bad that ,russell had to pick me up and carry me into the house like a baby4 ,there was an end of ,meriden for me2 and he wouldn't go1 either1 but come over and sat by me1 and read to me1 and somehow or other1 ,i don't remember just the words1 he gave me to understand that--well--that he wished ,i'd marry him4 ,it's about as tirin' to be real pleased with anything as it is to be troubled1 at first4 ,i couldn't say anything to ,russell2 ,i just cried4 ,major wasn't there2 mother was dryin' apples out in the shed2 so ,russell he didn't know what to do2 he kind of hushed me up1 and begged of me not to cry1 and said he'd come for his answer next day4 ,so he come1 and ,i didn't say1 ,no1 again4 ,i don't believe ,i stopped to think whether ,major liked him4 ,she would have thought of me1 first thing2--,i believe she wouldn't have had him1 if she'd thought ,i wanted him4 ,but ,i a'n't like ,major2 it come more natural to me to think about myself2 and besides1 she was pious1 and ,i wasn't4 ,russell was4 ,however1 it turned out all right1 for ,major was 'most as pleased as ,i was2 and she told me1 finally1 that she'd known a long spell that ,russell liked me1 and the reason he'd been hangin' round her so long was1 he'd been tellin' her his plans1 and they'd worked out considerable in their heads before she could feel as though he had a good enough lookout to ask me to marry him4 ,that wasn't so pleasant to me1 when ,i come to think of it2 ,i thought ,i'd ought to have been counselled with4 ,but it was just like ,major2 everybody come to her for a word of help or comfort1 whether they took her idee or not1--she had such feelin' for other folks's trouble4 ,i got over that little nub after a while2 and then ,i was so pleased1 everything went smooth ag'in4 ,i was goin' to be married in the spring2 and we were goin' straight out to ,indiana1 onto some wild land ,squire ,potter owned out there1 to clear it and settle it1 and what ,russell cleared he was to have4 ,so mother took some money out of the bank to fit me out1 and ,major and ,i went down to ,hartford to buy my things4 ,i said before1 we wasn't either of us any great things to look at2 but it come about that one day ,i heerd somebody tell how we did look1 and ,i thought considerable about it then and afterwards4 ,we was buyin' some cotton to a store in the city1 and ,i was lookin' about at all the pretty things1 and wonderin' why ,i was picked out to be poor when so many folks was rich and had all they wanted1 when presently ,i heerd a lady in a silk gown say to another one1 so low she thought ,i didn't hear her1--,there are two nice-looking girls1 ,mrs4 ,carr4 ,hem1--yes1 said the other one2 they look healthy and strong3 the oldest one has a lovely expression1 both steady and sweet2 the other don't look happy4 ,i declare1 that was a fact4 ,i was sorry1 too1 for ,i'd got everything in creation to make anybody happy1 and now ,i was frettin' to be rich4 ,i thought ,i'd try to be like ,major2 but ,i expect it was mostly because of the looks of it1 for ,i forgot to try before long4 ,well1 in the spring we was married2 and when ,i come to go away1 ,major put a little red ,bible into my trunk for a weddin' present2 but ,i was cryin' too hard to thank her4 ,she swallowed down whatever choked her1 and begged of me not to cry so1 lest ,russell should take it hard that ,i mourned to go with him4 ,but just then ,i was thinkin' more of ,major and mother than ,i was of ,russell2 they'd kept me bright and cheery always1 and kept up my heart with their own good ways when ,i hadn't no strength to do it for myself2 and now ,i was goin' off alone with ,russell1 and he wasn't very cheerful-dispositioned1 and somehow my courage give way all to once4 ,but ,i had to go2 railroads don't wait for nobody2 and what with the long journey1 and the new ways and things and people1 ,i hadn't no time to get real down once before we got to ,indiana4 ,after we left the boat there was a spell of railroad1 and then a long stage-ride to ,cumberton2 and then we had to hire a big wagon and team1 so's to get us out to our claim1 thirty miles west'ard of ,cumberton4 ,i hadn't no time to feel real lonesome now1 for all our things hed got to be onpacked1 and packed over ag'in in the wagon2 some on 'em had to be stored up1 so's to come another time4 ,we was two days gettin' to the claim1 the roads was so bad1--mostly what they call corduroy1 but a good stretch clear mud-holes4 ,by the time we got to the end on't1 ,i was tired out1 just fit to cry2 and such a house as was waitin' for us6--a real log shanty6 ,i see ,russell looked real beat when he see my face2 and ,i tried to brighten up2 but ,i wished to my heart ,i was back with mother forty times that night1 if ,i did once4 ,then come the worst of all1 clutterin' everything right into that shanty2 for our frame-house wouldn't be done for two months1 and there wa'n't scarce room for what we'd brought1 so't we couldn't think of sendin' for what was stored to ,cumberton4 ,i didn't sleep none for two nights1 because of the whip-poor-wills that set on a tree close by1 and called till mornin' light2 but after that ,i was too tired to lie awake4 ,well1 it was real lonesome1 but it was all new at first1 and ,russell was to work near by1 so't ,i could see him1 and oftentimes hear him whistle2 and ,i had the garden to make1 round to the new house1 for ,i knew more about the plantin' of it than he did1 'specially my posy-bed1 and ,i had a good time gettin' new flowers out of the woods4 ,and the woods was real splendid1--great tall tulip-trees1 as high as a steeple and round as a quill1 without any sort o' branches ever so fur up1 and the whole top full of the yeller tulips and the queer snipped-lookin' shiny leaves1 till they looked like great bow-pots on sticks2 then there's lots of other great trees1 only they're all mostly spindled up in them woods4 ,but the flowers that grow round on the ma'sh edges and in the clearin's do beat all4 ,so time passed along pretty glib till the frame-house was done1 and then we had to move in1 and to get the things from ,cumberton1 and begin to feel as though we were settled for good and all2 and after the newness had gone off1 and the clearin' got so fur that ,i couldn't see ,russell no more1 and nobody to look at1 if ,i was never so lonesome1 then come a pretty hard spell4 ,everything about the house was real handy1 so't ,i'd get my work cleared away1 and set down to sew early2 and them long summer-days that was still and hot1 ,i'd set1 and set1 never hearin' nothin' but the clock go tick1 tick1 tick1 7never tack1 for a change17 and every now'n'then a great crash and roar in the woods where he was choppin'1 that ,i knew was a tree2 and ,i worked myself up dreadfully when there was a longer spell 'n common come betwixt the crashes1 lest that ,russell might 'a' been ketched under the one that fell4 ,and settin' so1 and worryin' a good deal1 day in and day out1 kinder broodin' over my troubles1 and never thinkin' about anybody but myself1 ,i got to be of the idee that ,i was the worst-off creature goin'4 ,if ,i'd have stopped to think about ,russell1 may-be ,i should have had some sort of pity for him1 for he was jest as lonesome as ,i1 and ,i wasn't no kind of comfort to come home to1--'most always cryin'1 or jest a-goin' to4 ,so the summer went along till 'twas nigh on to winter1 and ,i wa'n't in no better sperrits4 ,and now ,i wa'n't real well1 and ,i pined for mother1 and ,i pined for ,major1 and ,i'd have given all the honey and buckwheat in ,indiana for a loaf of mother's dry rye-bread and a drink of spring-water4 ,and finally ,i got so miserable1 ,i wished ,i wa'n't never married1--and ,i'd have wished ,i was dead1 if 'twa'n't for bein' doubtful where ,i'd go to1 if ,i was4 ,and worst of all1 one day ,i got so worked up ,i told ,russell all that4 ,i declare1 he turned as white as a turnip4 ,i see ,i'd hurt him1 and ,i'd have got over it in a minute and told him so1--only he up with his axe and walked out of the door1 and never come home till night1 and then ,i was too stubborn to speak to him4 ,well1 things got worse1 'n' one day ,i was sewin' some things and cryin' over 'em1 when ,i heard a team come along by1 and1 before ,i could get to the door1 ,russell come in1 all red for joy1 and says1-- ,who do you want to see most1 ,anny8 ,somehow the question kind of upset me2--,i got choked1 and then ,i bu'st out a-cryin'4 ,oh1 mother and ,major6 says ,i2 and ,i hadn't more'n spoke the word before mother had both her good strong arms round me1 and ,major's real cheery face was a-lookin' up at me from the little pine cricket1 where she'd sot down as nateral as life4 ,well1 ,i was glad1 and so was ,russell1 and the house seemed as shiny as a hang-bird's-nest1 and by-and-by the baby came2--but ,i had mother4 ',twas 'long about in ,march when ,i was sick1 and by the end of ,april ,i was well1 and so's to be stirrin' round again4 ,and mother and ,major begun to talk about goin' home2 and ,i declare1 my heart was up in my mouth every time they spoke on't1 and ,i begun to be miserable ag'in4 ,one day ,i was settin' beside of mother2 ,major was out in the garden1 fixin' up things1 and settin' out a lot of blows she'd got in the woods1 and singin' away1 and says ,i to mother1-- ,what be ,i going to do1 mother1 without you and ,major8 ,i 'most died of clear lonesomeness before you come6 ,mother laid down her knittin'1 and looked straight at me4 ,i wish you'd got a little of ,major's good cheer1 ,anny1 says she4 ,you haven't any call to be lonely here2 it's a real good country1 and you've got a nice house1 and the best of husbands1 and a dear little baby1 and you'd oughter try to give up frettin'4 ,i wish you was pious1 ,anny2 you wouldn't fault the ,lord's goodness the way you do4 ,well1 ,major don't have nothin' to trouble her1 mother1 says ,i4 ,she's all safe and pleasant to home2 she a'n't homesick4 ,mother spoke up pretty resolute3-- ,there a'n't nobody in the world1 ,anny1 but what has troubles4 ,i didn't calculate to tell you about ,major's2 but sence you lay her lively ways to luck1 may-be you'd better know 'em4 ,she's been engaged this six months to ,reuben ,potter1 and he's goin' off in a slow consumption2 he won't never live to marry her1 and she knows it4 ,and she come away to see me1 mother8 ,yes1 she did4 ,i can't say ,i thought she need to1 but ,russell wrote you was pinin' for both of us1 and ,i didn't think you could get along without me1 but ,i told her to stay with ,reuben1 and ,i'd come on alone4 ,and says she1 ',no1 mother1 you a'n't young and spry enough to go alone so fur1 and the ,lord made you my mother and ,anny my sister before ,i picked out ,reuben for myself4 ,i can't never have any kin but you1 and ,i might have had somebody beside ,reuben1 though it don't seem likely now2 but he's got four sisters to take care of him1 and he thinks and ,i think it's what ,i ought to do2 so ,i'm goin' with you4' ,so she come1 ,anny2 and you see how lively she keeps1 just because she don't want to dishearten you none4 ,i don't know as you can blame her for kinder hankerin' to get home4 ,i hadn't nothin' to say2 ,i was beat4 ,so mother she went on3-- ,fact is1 ,anny1 ,major's always a-thinkin' about other folks2 it comes kind of nateral to her1 and then bein' pious helps it4 ,i guess1 dear1 when you get to thinkin' more about ,russell an' the baby1 you'll forget some of your troubles4 ,i hope the ,lord won't have to give you no harder lesson than lovin'1 to teach you ,major's ways4 ,so1 after that1 ,i couldn't say no more to mother about stayin'2 but when they went away1 ,i like to have cried myself sick1--only baby had to be looked after1 and ,i couldn't dodge her4 ,bym-by we had letters from home2 they got there all safe1 and ,reuben wa'n't no worse1 ,major said2--ef't had been me wrote the letter1 ,i should have said he wa'n't no better6--,and ,i fell back into the old lonesome days1 for baby slept mostly2 and the summer come on extreme hot2 and in ,july1 ,russell1 bein' forced to go to ,cumberton on some land business1 left me to home with baby and the hired man1 calculatin' to be gone three days and two nights4 ,the first day he was away was dreadful sultry2 the sun went down away over the woods in a kind of a red-hot fog1 and it seemed as though the stars were dull and coppery at night2 even the whip-poor-wills was too hot to sing2 nothin' but a doleful screech-owl quavered away1 a half a mile off1 a good hour1 steady4 ,when it got to be mornin'1 it didn't seem no cooler2 there wa'n't a breath of wind1 and the locusts in the woods chittered as though they was fryin'4 ,our hired man was an old ,scotchman1 by name ,simon ,grant2 and when he'd got his breakfast1 he said he'd go down the clearin' and bring up a load of brush for me to burn4 ,so he drove off with the team1 and1 havin' cleared up the dishes1 ,i put baby to sleep1 and took my pail to the barn to milk the cow1--for we kept her in a kind of a home-lot like1 a part that had been cleared afore we come1 lest she should stray away in the woods1 if we turned her loose2 she was put in the barn1 too1 nights1 for fear some stray wild-cat or bear might come along and do her a harm4 ,so ,i let her into the yard1 and was jest a-goin' to milk her when she begun to snort and shake1 and finally giv' the pail a kick1 and set off1 full swing1 for the fence to the lot4 ,i looked round to see what was a-comin'1 and there1 about a quarter of a mile off1 ,i see the most curus thing ,i ever see before or since1--a cloud as black as ink in the sky1 and hangin' down from it a long spout like1 something like an elephant's trunk1 and the whole world under it looked to be all beat to dust4 ,before ,i could get my eyes off on't1 or stir to run1 ,i see it was comin' as fast as a locomotive2 ,i heerd a great roar and rush1--first a hot wind1 and then a cold one1 and then a crash1--an' 'twas all as dark as death all round1 and the roar appeared to be a-passin' off4 ,i didn't know for quite a spell where ,i was4 ,i was flat on my face1 and when ,i come to a little1 ,i felt the grass against my cheek1 and ,i smelt the earth2 but ,i couldn't move1 no way2 ,i couldn't turn over1 nor raise my head more'n two inches1 nor draw myself up one4 ,i was comfortable so long as ,i laid still2 but if ,i went to move1 ,i couldn't4 ,it wasn't no use to wriggle2 and when ,i'd settled that1 ,i jest went to work to figger out where ,i was and how ,i got there1 and the best ,i could make out was that the barn-roof had blowed off and lighted right over me1 jest so as not to hurt me1 but so't ,i could'nt move4 ,well1 there ,i lay4 ,i knew baby was asleep in the trundle-bed1 and there wa'n't no fire in the house2 but how did ,i know the house wa'n't blowed down8 ,i thought that as quick as a flash of lightnin'2 it kinder struck me2 ,i couldn't even see1 so as to be certain6 ,i wasn't naterally fond of children1 but somehow one's own is different1 and baby was just gettin' big enough to be pretty2 and there ,i lay1 feelin' about as bad as ,i could1 but hangin' on to one hope1--that old ,simon1 seein' the tornado1 would come pretty soon to see where we was4 ,i lay still quite a spell1 listenin'4 ,presently ,i heerd a low1 whimperin'1 pantin' noise1 comin' nearer and nearer1 and ,i knew it was old ,lu1 a yeller hound of ,simon's1 that he'd set great store by1 because he brought him from the ,old ,country4 ,i heerd the dog come pretty near to where ,i was1 and then stop1 and give a long howl4 ,i tried to call him1 but ,i was all choked up with dust1 and for a while ,i couldn't make no sound4 ,finally ,i called1 ,lu6 ,lu6 here1 ,sir6 and if ever you heerd a dumb creature laugh1 he barked a real laugh1 and come springin' along over towards me4 ,i called ag'in1 and he begun to scratch and tear and pull1--at boards1 ,i guessed1 for it sounded like that2 but it wa'n't no use1 he couldn't get at me1 and he give up at length and set down right over my head and give another howl1 so long and so dismal ,i thought ,i'd as lieves hear the bell a-tollin' my age4 ,pretty soon1 ,i heerd another sound1--the baby cryin'2 and with that ,lu jumped off whatever 'twas that buried me up1 and run4 ,at any rate1 thinks ,i1 baby's alive4 ,and then ,i bethought myself if 'twa'n't a painter1 after all2 they scream jest like a baby1 and there's a lot of them1 or there was then1 right round in our woods2 and ,lu was dreadful fond to hunt 'em2 and he never took no notice of baby2--and ,i couldn't stir to see6 ,oh1 dear6 the sweat stood all over me6 ,and there ,i lay1 and ,simon didn't come1 nor ,i didn't hear a mouse stir2 the air was as still as death1 and ,i got nigh distracted4 ,seemed as if all my life riz right up there in the dark and looked at me4 ,here ,i was1 all helpless1 may-be never to get out alive2 for ,simon didn't come1 and ,russell was gone away4 ,i'd had a good home1 and a kind husband1 and all ,i could ask2 but ,i hadn't had a contented mind2 ,i'd quarrelled with ,providence1 'cause ,i hadn't got everything1--and now ,i hadn't got nothing4 ,i see just as clear as daylight how ,i'd nussed up every little trouble till it growed to a big one1--how ,i'd sp'ilt ,russell's life1 and made him wretched1--how ,i'd been cross to him a great many times when ,i had ought to have been a comfort2 and now it was like enough ,i shouldn't never see him again1--nor baby1 nor mother1 nor ,major4 ,and how could ,i look the ,lord in the face1 if ,i did die8 ,that took all my strength out4 ,i lay shakin' and chokin' with the idee1 ,i don't know how long2 it kind of got hold of me and ground me down2 it was worse than all4 ,i wished to gracious ,i didn't believe in hell2 but then it come to mind1 ,what should ,i do in heaven1 ef ,i was there8 ,i didn't love nothin' that folks in heaven love1 except the baby2 ,i hadn't been suited with the ,lord's will on earth1 and 'twa'n't likely ,i was goin' to like it any better in heaven2 and ,i should be ashamed to show my face where ,i didn't belong1 neither by right nor by want4 ,so ,i lay4 ,presently ,i heerd in my mind this verse1 that ,i'd learned years back in ,sabbath ,school1-- ,wherefore ,he is able also to save them to the uttermost-- there it stopped1 but it was a plenty for me4 ,i see at once there wasn't no help anywhere else1 and for once in my life ,i did pray1 real earnest1 and--queer enough--not to get out1 but to be made good4 ,i kind of forgot where ,i was1 ,i see so complete what ,i was2 but after a while ,i did pray to live in the flesh2 ,i wanted to make some amends to ,russell for pesterin' on him so4 ,it seemed to me as though ,i'd laid there two days4 ,a rain finally come on1 with a good even-down pour1 that washed in a little1 and cooled my hot head2 and after it passed by ,i heerd one whip-poor-will singin'1 so't ,i knew it was night4 ,and pretty soon ,i heerd the tramp of a horse's feet2--it come up2 it stopped2 ,i heerd ,russell say out loud1 ,o ,lord6 and give a groan1 and then ,i called to him4 ,i declare1 he jumped6 ,so ,i got him to go look for baby first1 because ,i could wait2 and lo6 she was all safe in the trundle-bed1 with ,lu beside of her1 both on 'em stretched out together1 one of her little hands on his nose2 and when ,russell looked in to the door she stirred a bit1 and ,lu licked her hand to keep her quiet4 ,it tells in the ,bible about children's angels always seein' the face of ,god1 so's to know quick what to do for 'em1 ,i suppose2 and ,i'm sure her'n got to her afore the tornado2 for though the house-roof had blowed off1 and the chimbley tumbled down1 there wa'n't a splinter nor a brick on her bed1 only close by the head on't a great hunk of stone had fell down1 and steadied up the clothes-press from tumblin' right on top of her4 ,so then ,russell rode over1 six miles1 to a neighbor's1 and got two men1 and betwixt 'em all they pried up the beams of the barn1 that had blowed on to the roof and pinned it down over me1 and then lifted up the boards and got me out2 and ,i wa'n't hurt1 except a few bruises3 but after that day ,i begun to get gray hairs4 ,well1 ,russell was pretty thankful1 ,i b'lieve1--more so'n he need to be for such a wife4 ,we fixed up some kind of a shelter1 but ,lu howled so all night we couldn't sleep4 ,it seems ,russell had seen the tornado to ,cumberton1 and1 judgin' from its course 'twould come past the clearin'1 he didn't wait a minute1 but saddled up and come off2 but it had crossed the road once or twice1 so it was nigh about eleven o'clock afore he got home2 but it was broad moonlight4 ,so ,i hadn't been under the roof only about fifteen hours2 but it seemed more4 ,in the mornin' ,russell set out to find ,simon1 and ,i was so trembly ,i couldn't bear to stay alone1 and ,i went with him1 he carryin' baby1 and ,lu goin' before1 as tickled as he could be4 ,we went a long spell through the woods1 keepin' on the edge of the tornado's road2 for't had made a clean track about a quarter of a mile wide1 and felled the trees flat1--great tulips cut off as sharp as pipe-stems1 oaks twisted like dandelion-stems1 and hickories curled right up in a heap4 ,presently ,lu give a bark1 and then such a howl6 and there was ,simon1 dead enough2 a big oak had blowed down1 with the trunk right acrost his legs above the knees1 and smashed them almost off4 ',twas plain it hadn't killed him to once1 for the ground all about his head was tore up as though he'd fought with it1 and ,russell said his teeth and hands was full of grass and grit where he'd bit and tore1 a-dyin' so hard4 ,i declare1 ,i shan't never forget that sight6 ,seems as if my body was full of little ice-spickles every time ,i think on't4 ,well1 ,russell couldn't do nothin'2 we had no chance to lift the tree1 so we went back to the house1 and he rode away after neighbors2 and while he was gone1 ,i had a long spell of thinkin'4 ,mother said she hoped ,i wouldn't have no hard lesson to teach me ,major's ways2 but ,i had got it1 and ,i know ,i needed it1 'cause it did come so hard4 ,i b'lieve ,i was a better woman after that4 ,i got to think more of other folks's comfort than ,i did afore1 and whenever ,i got goin' to be dismal ag'in ,i used to try 'n' find somebody to help2 it was a sure cure4 ,when the neighbors come1 ,russell and they blasted and chopped the tree off of ,simon1 and buried him under a big pine that we calculated not to fell4 ,lu pined1 and howled1 and moaned for his master1 till ,i got him to look after baby now and then1 when ,i was hangin' out clothes or makin' garden1 and he got to like her in the end on't near as well as ,simon4 ,after a while there come more settlers out our way1 and we got a church to go to2 and the minister1 ,mr4 ,jones1 he come to know if ,i was a member1 and when ,i said ,i wa'n't1 he put in to know if ,i wasn't a pious woman4 ,well1 says ,i1 ,i don't know1 ,sir4 ,so ,i up and told him all about it1 and how ,i had had a hard lesson2 and he smiled once or twice1 and says he1-- ,your husband thinks you are a ,christian1 ,sister ,potter1 don't he8 ,yes1 ,i do1 says ,russell1 a-comin' in behind me to the door1--for he'd just stepped out to get the minister a basket of plums4 ,i ha'n't a doubt on't1 ,mr4 ,jones4 ,the minister looked at him1 and ,i see he was kinder pleased4 ,well1 says he1 ,i don't think there's much doubt of a woman's bein' pious when she's pious to home2 and ,i don't want no better testimony'n yours1 ,mr4 ,potter4 ,i shall admit you to full fellowship1 sister1 when we have a church-meetin' next2 for it's my belief you experienced religion under that blowed-down barn4 ,and ,i guess ,i did4 ,,le ,,marais ,,du ,,cygne4#a #a3 ,the massacre of unarmed and unoffending men in ,southern ,kansas took place near the ,marais du ,cygne of the ,french voyageurs4 ,a blush as of roses ,where rose never grew6 ,great drops on the bunch-grass1 ,but not of the dew6 ,a taint in the sweet air ,for wild bees to shun6 ,a stain that shall never ,bleach out in the sun6 ,back1 steed of the prairies6 ,sweet song-bird1 fly back6 ,wheel hither1 bald vulture6 ,gray wolf1 call thy pack6 ,the foul human vultures ,have feasted and fled2 ,the wolves of the ,border ,have crept from the dead4 ,from the hearths of their cabins1 ,the fields of their corn1 ,unwarned and unweaponed1 ,the victims were torn1-- ,by the whirlwind of murder ,swooped up and swept on ,to the low1 reedy fen-lands1 ,the ,marsh of the ,swan4 ,with a vain plea for mercy ,no stout knee was crooked2 ,in the mouths of the rifles ,right manly they looked4 ,how paled the ,may sunshine1 ,green ,marais du ,cygne1 ,when the death-smoke blew over ,thy lonely ravine6 ,in the homes of their rearing1 ,yet warm with their lives1 ,ye wait the dead only1 ,poor children and wives6 ,put out the red forge-fire1 ,the smith shall not come2 ,unyoke the brown oxen1 ,the ploughman lies dumb4 ,wind slow from the ,swan's ,marsh1 ,o dreary death-train1 ,with pressed lips as bloodless ,as lips of the slain6 ,kiss down the young eyelids1 ,smooth down the gray hairs2 ,let tears quench the curses ,that burn through your prayers4 ,strong man of the prairies1 ,mourn bitter and wild6 ,wail1 desolate woman6 ,weep1 fatherless child6 ,but the grain of ,god springs up ,from ashes beneath1 ,and the crown of ,his harvest ,is life out of death4 ,not in vain on the dial ,the shade moves along ,to point the great contrasts ,of right and of wrong3 ,free homes and free altars ,and fields of ripe food2 ,the reeds of the ,swan's ,marsh1 ,whose bloom is of blood4 ,on the lintels of ,kansas ,that blood shall not dry2 ,henceforth the ,bad ,angel ,shall harmless go by3 ,henceforth to the sunset1 ,unchecked on her way1 ,shall ,liberty follow ,the march of the day4 ,,youth4 ,the ancient statue of ,minerva1 in the ,villa ,albani1 was characterized as the ,goddess of ,wisdom by an aged countenance4 ,phidias reformed this idea1 and gave to her beauty and youth4 ,previous artists had imitated ,nature too carelessly1--not deeply perceiving that wisdom and virtue1 striving in man to resist senescence and decay1 must in a goddess accomplish their purpose1 and preserve her in perpetual bloom4 ,yet even decay and disease are often ineffectual2 the young soul gleams through these impediments1 and would be poorly expressed in figures of age4 ,accepting1 therefore1 this ideal representation1 age and wisdom can never be companions2 youth is wise1 and age is imbecile4 ,our childhood grows in value as we grow in years4 ,it is to that time that every one refers the influence which reaches to his present and somehow moulds it4 ,it may have been an insignificant circumstance1--a word1--a book1--praise or reproof2 but from it has flowed all that he is4 ,we should seem ridiculous in men's eyes1 were we known to give that importance to certain trifles which in our private and inmost thought they really have4 ,each finds somewhat in his childhood peculiar and remarkable1 on which he loves to dwell4 ,it gives him a secret importance in his own eyes1 and he bears it about with him as a kind of inspiring genius4 ,intimations of his destiny1 gathered from early memories1 float dimly before him1 and are ever beckoning him on4 ,that which he really is no one knows save himself4 ,his words and actions do but inadequately reveal the being he is4 ,we are all greater than we seem to each other4 ,the heart's deepest secrets will not be told4 ,the secret of the interest and delight we take in romances and poetry is that they realize the expectations and hopes of youth4 ,it is the world we had painted and expected4 ,he is unhappy who has never known the eagerness of childish anticipation4 ,full of anticipations1 full of simple1 sweet delights1 are these years1 the most valuable of lifetime4 ,then wisdom and religion are intuitive4 ,but the child hastens to leave its beautiful time and state1 and watches its own growth with impatient eye4 ,soon he will seek to return4 ,the expectation of the future has been disappointed4 ,manhood is not that free1 powerful1 and commanding state the imagination had delineated4 ,and the world1 too1 disappoints his hope4 ,he finds there things which none of his teachers ever hinted to him4 ,he beholds a universal system of compromise and conformity1 and in a fatal day he learns to compromise and conform4 ,at eighteen the youth requires much stricter truth of men than at twenty-four4 ,at twenty-four the prophecies of childhood and boyhood begin to be fulfilled1 the longings of the heart to be satisfied4 ,he finds and tastes that life which once seemed to him so full of satisfaction and advantage4 ,the inclination to speak in the first person passes away1 and his composition is less autobiographical4 ,the claims of society and friends begin to be respected4 ,solitude and musing are less sweet4 ,the morbid effusions of earlier years1 once so precious1 no longer please4 ,now he regards most his unwritten thought4 ,he uses fewer adjectives and alliterations1 more verbs and dogmatism4 ,there was a time when his genius was not domesticated1 and he did his work somewhat awkwardly1 yet with a fervor prophetic of settled wisdom and eloquence4 ,the youth is almost too much in earnest4 ,he aims at nothing less than all knowledge1 all wisdom1 all power4 ,perchance the end of all this is that he may discover his own proper work and tendency1 and learn to know himself from the revelations of his own nature in universal nature4 ,for it is by this sign we choose companions and books4 ,not that they are the best persons or the best thoughts2 but some subtile affinity attracts and invites as to another self4 ,in the choosing of companions there seems to be no choice at all4 ,we meet1 we know not how or when2 and though we should remember the history1 yet friendship has an anterior history we know not of4 ,we all have friends1 but the one want of the soul is a friend1--that other self1 that one without whom man is incomplete and but the opaque face of a planet4 ,for such we patiently wait and hope1 knowing that when we become worthy of him1 continents1 nor caste1 nor opinion can separate us4 ,a like experience is known to the young man in his reading4 ',tis in vain to advise as to reading2 a higher power controls the matter4 ,of course there are some books all must read1 as every one learns the alphabet and spelling-book2 but his use and combination of them he shall share with no one4 ,some spiritual power is ever drawing us towards what we love4 ,thus in books one constantly meets his own idea1 his own feelings1 even his most private ones1 which he thought could not be known or appreciated beyond his own bosom4 ,therefore he quickly falls in love with those books that discover him to himself1 and that are the keepers of his secrets4 ,here is a part of himself written out in immortal letters4 ,here is that thought long dimly haunting the mind1 but which never before found adequate expression4 ,here is a memorable passage transcribed out of his experience4 ,the fascination of books consists in their revelations of the half-conscious images of the reader's mind4 ,there is a wonderful likeness and coincidence in the thoughts of men4 ,but not alone in books does one meet his own image at every turn4 ,he beholds himself strewn in a thousand fragments throughout the world2 and all his culture is nothing but assimilation of himself to them1 until he can say with wise ,ulysses1 ,i am a part of all that ,i have met4 ,thus ,nature compels the youth to seek every means of stimulating himself to activity4 ,he has learned that in periods of transition and change fresh life flows in upon him1 dilating the heart and disclosing new realms of thought4 ,he thanks the gods for every mood1 ,doric or dithyrambic1 for each new relation1 for each new friend1 and even for his sorrows and misfortunes4 ,out of these comes the complete wisdom which shall make old age but another more fair and perfect youth4 ,even the face and form shall be fortified against time and fate4 ,in the physiognomy of age much personal history is revealed4 ,the dimples and folds of infancy have become the furrows of thought and care4 ,yet1 sometimes retaining their original beauty1 they are an ornament1 and in them we read the record of deep thought and experience4 ,but the wrinkles of some old people are characterless2 running in all directions1 appearing as though a finely-woven cloth had left its impress upon the face1 revealing a life aimless and idle1 or distracted by a thousand cross-purposes and weaknesses4 ,if now youth will permit us to look a little deeper into its heart1 we will attempt to celebrate that unpublished and vestal wisdom written there4 ,age does us only indirect justice1--by the value it gives to memory4 ,it slights and forgets its own present4 ,this day with its trivialities dwindles and vanishes before the teeming hours wherein it learned and felt and suffered2--so the circles1 which are the tree's memories of its own growth1 are more distinct near the centre1 where its growth began1 than in the outer and later development4 ,give age the past1 and let us be content with our legacy1 which is the future4 ,still shall youth cast one retrospective glance at the experience of its nonage1 ere it assumes its prerogative1 and quite forgets it4 ,when the first surprise at the discovery of the faculties is over1 begins the era of experience4 ,the aspiration conducting to experiment has revealed the power or the inability4 ,henceforth the youth will know his relations to the world4 ,but as yet men are ignorant how it stands between them4 ,there has been only a closet performance1 a morning rehearsal4 ,he sees the tribute to genius1 to industry1 to birth1 to fortune4 ,at first he yields reluctantly to novitiate and culture2 he yearns for action4 ,his masters tell him that the world is coy1 must be approached cautiously1 and with something substantial in the hand4 ,the old bird will not be caught with chaff4 ,he does not yet understand the process of accumulation and transmutation4 ,the fate of the ,danaides is his1 and he draws long with a bottomless bucket4 ,but at last his incompetency can no further be concealed4 ,then he either submits to the suggestions of despair and oblivion or bravely begins his work4 ,the exhilaration and satisfaction which he felt at his first performances1 in this hour of renunciation1 are changed to bitterness and disgust4 ,he remembers the old oracle3 ,in the ,bacchic procession many carry the thyrsus1 but few are inspired4 ,the possibility of ultimate failure threatens him more and more while he reflects2 as the chasm which you wish to leap grows impassable1 if you measure and deliberate4 ,but the vivacity of youth preserves him from any permanent misanthropy or doubt4 ,nature makes us blind where we should be injured by seeing4 ,we partake of the lead of ,saturn1 the activity of fire1 the forgetfulness of water4 ,his academic praises console him1 maugre his depreciation of them4 ,his little fame1 the homage of his little world1 have in them the same sweetness as the reverberation of ages4 ,heaven would show him his capacity for those things to which he aspires by giving him an early and representative realization of them4 ,it is a happy confidence4 ,reality is tyrannous4 ,let him construe everything in the poet's mood4 ,he shall dream1 and the day will have more significance4 ,youth belongs to the ,muse4 ,how the old men envy us6 ,they wisely preclude us from their world1 since they know how it would bereave us of all that makes our state so full of freedom and delight1 and to them so suggestive of the past4 ,i remember1 when ,i think1 ,that my youth was half divine4 ,thus the great have ever chosen young men for companions4 ,was it not ,plato who wished he were the heavens1 that he might look down upon his young companion with a thousand eyes8 ,thus they do homage to the gift of youth1 and by its presence contrive to nestle into its buoyant and pure existence4 ,if youth will enjoy itself virtuously with gymnastics1 with music1 with friendship1 with poetry1 there will come no hours of lamentation and repentance4 ,they attend the imbecile and thoughtless4 ,these halcyon days will return to temper and grace the period of old age2 as upon the ripened peach reappear the hues of its early blossoms4 ,among his seniors the youth perceives a certain jealousy of him4 ,they pretend that all has been said and done4 ,they awe him with their great names4 ,he has to learn1 that1 though ,jew and ,greek have spoken1 nevertheless he must reiterate and interpret to his own people and generation4 ,perchance in the process something new will likewise be added4 ,many things still wait an observer4 ,still is there infinite hope and expectation1 which youth must realize4 ,in war1 in peace1 in politics1 in books1 all eyes are turned to behold the rising of his star4 ,reluctantly does the youth yield to the claims of moderation and reserve4 ,abandonment to an object has hitherto been his highest wisdom4 ,but in the pursuit of the most heroic friendship1 or the most sovereign passion1 the youth discovers that a certain continence is necessary4 ,he cannot approach too closely2 for that moment love is changed into disgust and hate4 ,he would drink the nectar to the lees4 ,this is one of ,nature's limitations1 and has many analogies2 and he who would never see the bottom of any cup1 and always be possessed with a divine hunger1 must observe them4 ,i remember how it piqued my childish curiosity that the moon seemed always to retreat when ,i ran towards her1 and to pursue when ,i fled4 ,it was a very significant symbol4 ,stand a little apart1 and things of their own accord will come more than half-way4 ,nobody ever goes to meet a loafer4 ,self-centred1 domesticated persons attract4 ,what would be the value of the heavens1 if we could bring the stars into our lap8 ,they cannot be approached or appropriated4 ,upon the highest mountain the horizon sinks you in a valley1 and far aloft in night and mystery gleam the retreating stars4 ,it must be remembered that indirect vision is much more delicate than direct4 ,looking askance1 with a certain oblique and upward glance1 constitutes the art and power of the poet2 for so a gentle invitation is offered the imagination to contribute its aid4 ,we see clearest when the eye is elongated and slightly curtained4 ,persons with round1 protuberant eyes are obliged to reduce their superfluous visual power by artificial means4 ,we subordinate the external organ in order to liberate the inner eye of the mind4 ,the musing1 pensive ,hindoos1 who have elongated eyes1 look through the surface of things to their essence1 and call the world ,illusion1--the illusory energy of ,vishnu4 ,there is a vulgar trick of wishing to touch everything4 ,but the greatest caution is necessary1 in beholding a statue or painting1 not to draw too near2 and it is thus with every other beautiful thing4 ,nature secretly writes1 ,hands off6--and men do but translate her hieroglyph in their galleries and museums4 ,the sense of touch is only a provision against the loss of sight and hearing4 ,we should cultivate these1 until1 like the ,scandinavian ,heimdal1 we can hear the trees and the flowers grow1 and see with ,heraclitus the breathing of the stars4 ,the youth once loved ,nature after this somewhat gross and material fashion1 for the berries she gave him1 the flowers she wove in his hair1 and the brooks that drove his mimic mills4 ,he chased the butterfly1 he climbed the trees1 he would stand in the rain1 paint his cheeks with berry juice1 dabble in the mud1 and nothing was secure from his prying fingers and curious eyes4 ,he must touch and taste of everything1 and know every secret4 ,but it eluded him2 and he lay down from his giddy chase1 tired and unsatisfied1 yet still anticipating that the morning would reveal all4 ,later he approaches men and things in a different mood4 ,experience has taught him so much4 ,he begins to feel the use of the past4 ,memory renders many present advantages as nothing1 and there is a rare and peculiar value to every reminiscence that connects him with the years from which he is so fast receding4 ,the bower which his own hands wove from birch-trees and interwove with green brakes1 where at the noon-time he was wont to retreat from the hot school-house1 with the little maid of his choice1 and beguile the hour so happily1 suggests a spell and charm to preserve him in perpetual childhood4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,pintal4 ,in ,san ,francisco1 in #ahdi1 on ,dupont ,street near ,washington1 a wretched tent1 patched together from mildewed and weather-worn sails1 was pitched on a hill-side lot1 unsightly with sand and thorny bushes1 filthy cast-aways of clothing1 worn-out boots1 and broken bottles4 ,the forlorn loneliness of this poor abode1 and the perfection of its ,californianness1 in all the circumstances of exposure1 frailness1 destitution1 and dirt1 were enough of themselves to make it an object of interest to the not-too-busy passer2 yet1 to complete its pitiful picturesqueness1 ,pathos had bestowed a case of miniatures and a beautiful child4 ,beside the entrance of the tent a rough shingle was fastened to the canvas1 and against this hung an unpainted picture-frame of pine1 in humble counterpart of those gilded rosewood signs which1 at the doors of ,daguerreotype galleries1 display fancy specimens to the goers-to-and-fro of ,broadway4 ,attracted by an object so novel in ,san ,francisco then1 ,i paused one morning1 in my walk officeward from the ,anglo-,saxon ,dining-,saloon1 to examine it4 ,there were six of them1--six dainty miniature portraits on ivory1 elaborately finished1 and full of the finest marks of talent4 ,the whole were seemingly reproductions of but two heads1 a lady's and a child's1--the lady well fitted to be the mother of the child1 which might well have been divine4 ,there were three studies of each2 each was presented in three characters1 chosen as by an artist possessed of a sentiment of sadness1 some touching reminiscence4 ,in one picture1 the lady--evidently ,english1 a pensive blonde1 with large and most sweet blue eyes curtained by the longest lashes1 regular and refined features suggestive of pure blood1 budding lips full of sensibility1 a chin and brow that showed intellect as well as lineage1 and cheeks touched with the young rose's tint--was as a beautiful debutante1 the flower of rich drawing-rooms1 in her first season3 one white moss-rosebud in her smoothly-braided hair2 her dimpled1 round1 white shoulders left to their own adornment2 and for jewels1 only one opal on her ripening bosom2--as much of her dress as was shown was the simple white bodice of pure maidenhood4 ,in the next1 she had passed an interval of trial1 for her courage1 her patience1 and her pride1--a very few years1 perhaps1 but enough to bestow that haughty1 defiant glance1 and fix those matchless features in an almost sneer4 ,no longer was her fair head bowed1 her eyes downcast1 in shrinking diffidence2 but erect and commanding1 she looked some tyranny1 or insolence1 or malice1 in the face1 to look it down4 ,jewels encircled her brow1 and a bouquet of pearls was happy on her fuller bosom4 ,still a few years further on1--and how changed6 ,so have ,i seen a rose1 says that ,shakspeare of the pulpit1 old ,jeremy ,taylor1 when it has bowed the head and broke its stalk2 and at night1 having lost some of its leaves and all its beauty1 it has fallen into the portion of weeds and outworn faces4 ,alas1 ,farewell1 and ,nevermore sighed from those hollow cheeks1 those woebegone eyes1 those pallid lips1 that willow-like long hair1 and the sad vesture of the forsaken ,dido4 ,so with the child4 ,at first1 a rosy1 careless1 curly-pate of three years or so1--wonder-eyed and eager1 all spring and joyance1 and beautiful as ,love4 ,then pale and pain-fretted1 heavy-eyed and weary1 feebly half-lying in a great chair1 still1--an unheeded locket scarce held by his thin fingers1 his forehead wrinkled with cruel twinges1 the sweet bowed lines of his lips twisted in whimpering puckers1 the curls upon his vein-traced temples unnaturally bright1 as with clamminess1--a painful picture for a mother's eyes6 ,but not tragic1 like the last2 for there the boy had grown4 ,nine years had deepened for his clustered curls their hue of golden brown1 and set a seal of anxious thought upon the cold1 pale surface of his intellectual brow1 and traced his mouth about with lines of a martyr's resignation1 and filled his profound eyes1 dim as violets1 with foreboding speculation1 making the lad seem a seer of his own sad fate4 ,here1 thought ,i1 if ,i mistake not1 is another melancholy chapter in this ,san ,franciscan romance4 ,this painter learned his art of ,sorrow1 and pitiless ,experience has bestowed his style2 he shall be for my finding-out4 ,home-sickness had marked me for its own one day4 ,i sat alone in my rude little office1 conning over again for the hundredth time strange chapters of a waif's experience1--reproducing auld-lang-syne1 with all its thronged streets and lonely forest-paths1 its old familiar faces1 talks1 and songs1--ingathering there1 in the name of ,love or ,friendship1 forms that were dim and voices that were echoes2 and many an alas1 and too late1 and it might have been1 they brought along with them4 ,let this remembrance comfort me1--that when ,my heart seemed bursting1--like a restless wave ,that1 swollen with fearful longing for the shore1 ,throws its strong life on the imagined bliss ,of finding peace and undisturbed calm1-- ,it fell on rocks and broke in many tears4 ,else could ,i bear1 on all days of the year1-- ,not now alone1 this gentle summer night1 ,when scythes are busy in the headed grass1 ,and the full moon warms me to thoughtfulness1-- ,this voice that haunts the desert of my soul3 ',it might have been6' ,alas6 ',it might have been6' ,i drew from my battered1 weather-beaten sea-box sad store of old letters1 bethumbed and soiled1--an accusation in every one of them1 and small hope of forgiveness1 save what the gentle dead might render4 ,there were pretty little portraits1 too4--,ah1 well6 ,i put them back1 --a frown1 or a shadow of reproachful sadness1 on the picture of a once loving and approving face is the hardest bitterness to bide1 the self-unsparing wanderer can know4 ,therefore ,i would fain let these faces be turned from me1--all save one1 a merry minx of maidenhood1 of careless heart1 and laughing lips1 and somewhat naughty eyes4 ,it was a steel engraving1 not of the finest1 torn from some ,book of ,beauty1 or other silly-sentimental keepsake of the literary catch-penny class1 brought all the way from home1 and tenderly saved for the sake of its strange by-chance resemblance to a smart little lionne ,i had known in ,virginia1 in the days when smart little lionnes made me a sort of puppy ,cumming4 ,the picture1 unframed1 and exposed to all the chances of rough travel1 had partaken of my share of foul weather and coarse handling1 and been spotted and smutched1 and creased and torn1 and every way defaced4 ,i had often wished that ,i might have a pretty painting made from it1 before it should be spoiled past copying4 ,so here1 ,i thought1 shall be my introduction to my fly-in-amber artist1 of the seedy tent and the romantic miniatures4 ,so pocketing my picture1 ,i hied me forthwith to ,dupont ,street4 ,the tent seemed quite deserted4 ,at first1 ,i feared my rare bird had flitted2 ,i shook the bit of flying-jib that answered for a door1 and called to any one within1 more than once1 before an inmate stirred4 ,then1 so quietly that ,i had not heard his approach1 a lad1 of ten perhaps1 came to the entrance1 and1 timidly peering up into my face1 asked1 ,is it my father you wish to see1 ,sir8 ,how beautiful6 how graceful6 with what touching sweetness of voice6 how intellectual his expression1 and how well-bred his air6--plainly a gentleman's son1 and the son of no common gentleman6 ,instinctively ,i drew back a pace to compare him with the child of the specimens4 ,unquestionably the same1--there were the superior brow1 the richly clustered curls of golden brown1 the painful lips1 and the foreboding eyes4 ,if your father painted these pretty pictures1 my boy1--yes1 ,i would be glad to see him1 if he is within4 ,he is not here at present1 ,sir2 he went with my mother to the ship1 to bring away our things4 ,but it is quite a long while since they went2 and ,i think they will return presently4 ,take a seat1 ,sir1 please4 ,i accepted the stool he offered1--a canvas one1 made to unship and fold together1--such a patent accommodation for tired hurdies as amateur sketchers and promiscuous lovers of the picturesque in landscape take with them on excursions4 ,my accustomed eye took in at a glance the poor furniture of that very ,californian make-shift of a shelter for fortune-seeking heads4 ,there were chests1 boxes1 and trunks1 the usual complement1 bestowed in every corner1 as they could best be got out of the way1--a small1 rough table1 on temporary legs1 and made1 like the seats1 to unship and be stowed1--several other of the same canvas stools1--a battered chest of drawers1 at present doing the duty of a cupboard1--some kitchen utensils1 and a few articles of table furniture of the plainest delft4 ,as for the kitchen1 ,i had noticed1 as ,i passed1 a portable furnace for charcoal1 without1 and at the rear of the tent2 it was plain they did their cooking in the open air4 ,on one side of the entrance1 and near the top of the tent1 a small square had been cut from the canvas1 and the sides framed with slats of wood1 making a sort of ,rembrandtish skylight1 through which some scanty rays of barbaric glory fell on an easel1 with its palette1 brushes1 and paints4 ,a canvas framed1 on which the ground had been laid1 and the outline of a head already traced1 was mounted on the easel2 other such frames1 as if of finished portraits with their faces turned to the wall1 stood on the earthen floor1 supported by a strip of wood tacked to the tent-cloth near the bottom4 ,on the floor1 at the foot of the easel1 lay an artist's sketch-book4 ,a part of the tent behind was divided off from what1 by way of melancholy jest1 ,i may call the reception-room1 or the studio1 by a rope stretched across1 from which were suspended a blanket1 a travelling shawl1 and a voluminous1 and evidently costly1 ,spanish cloak4 ,protruding beyond the edge of this extemporaneous screen1 ,i could see the footposts of an iron bedstead1 and the end of a large poncho1 which served for a counterpane4 ,will you amuse yourself with this sketch-book1 please1 said the pretty lad1 till my father comes8 ,with pleasure1 my boy1--if you are sure your father will not object4 ,oh1 no1 indeed1 ,sir6 ,my father has told me ,i must always entertain any gentlemen who may call when he is out1--that is1 if he is to return soon2 and any one may look at this book2--it is only his portfolio1 in which he sketches whatever new or pretty things we see on our travels2 but there are some very nice pictures in it1--landscapes1 and houses1 and people4 ,have you travelled much1 then8 ,oh1 yes6 we have been travelling ever since ,i can remember2 we have been far1 and seen a great many strange sights1 and some such queer people6--,there6 that is our shepherd in ,australia2 isn't he funny8 his name was ,dirk4 ,i tied that blue ribbon round his straw hat1 that seems big enough for an umbrella4 ,he looks as if he were laughing1 doesn't he8 ,that's because ,i was there when my father sketched him2 and he made such droll faces1 with his brown skin and his great grizzly moustaches1 when father told him he must make up a pleasant expression1 that it set me laughing1--for my father said he looked like a ,cape lion making love2 and then ,dirk would laugh too1 and spoil his pleasant expression2 and father would scold2 and it was so funny6 ,i loved ,dirk very much1 he was so good to me2 he gave me a tame kangaroo1 and a black swan1 and taught me to throw the boomerang2 and once1 when he went to ,sydney1 he spent ever so much money to buy me a silver bell for ,lipse1 my yellow lamb4 ,i wonder if ,dirk is living yet8 ,do you think he is dead1 ,sir8 ,i should be very much grieved1 if he were2 for ,i promised ,i would come back to see him when ,i am a man4 --,that is ,dolores1--dear old ,dolores6 ,isn't she fat8 ,yes1 and good1 too1 ,i should think1 from the kind face she has4 ,who was ,dolores8 ,ah6 you never saw ,dolores1 did you8 ,and you never heard her sing4 ,she was my ,chilena nurse in ,valparaiso2 and she had a mother--oh1 so very old6--who lived in ,santiago4 ,we went once to see her2 the other ,santiago--that was ,dolores's son--drove us there in the veloche4 ,wasn't it curious1 his name should be the same as the city's8 ,but he was a bad boy1 ,santiago1--so mischievous6 such a scamp6 ,father had to whip him many times2 and once the vigilantes took him up1 and would have put him in the chain-gang1 for cutting an ,american sailor with a knife1 in the ,calle de ,san ,francisco1 if father had not paid five ounces1 and become security for his good behavior4 ,but he ran away1 after all1 and went as a common sailor in a nasty guano ship4 ,dolores cried very much1 and it was long before she would sing for me again4 ,oh1 she did know such delightful songs6--,mi ,nia1 and ,yo tengo ,ojos ,negros1 and ',no quiero1 no quiero casarme2 ,es mejor1 es mejor soltera6' ,and the delightful little fellow merrily piped the whole of that song of pleasant glee1 one of the most melodious and sauciest bits of lyric coquetry to be found in ,spanish4 ,ah1 said he1 but ,i cannot sing it half so well as ,dolores4 ,she had a beautiful guitar1 with a blue ribbon1 that her sweetheart gave her before ,i was born1 when she was young and very pretty2--he brought it all the way from ,acapulco4 --,and that pretty girl is ,juanita2 she sold pine-apples and grapes in the ,almendral1 and every night she would go with her guitar--it was a very nice one1 but did not cost near so much money as ,dolores's--and sing to the ,american gentlemen in the ,star ,hotel4 ,my mother said she was a naughty person1 and that she did not dare tell where she got her gold cross and those jet ear-rings4 ,but ,i liked her very much1 for all that2 and ,i'm sure she would not steal1 for she used to give me a fresh pine-apple every morning2 and whenever her brother ,jos came down from ,casa ,blanca with the mules and the pisco1 she sent me a large melon and some lovely roses4 --,that is the house we lived in at ,baltimore4 ,it was painted white1 and there was a paling in front1 and a dooryard with grass4 ,we had some honeysuckles on the porch2--there they are1 and there's the grape-vine4 ,i had a dog-house1 too1 made to look like a church1 and my father promised to buy me a ,newfoundland dog1--one of those great hairy fellows1 with brass collars1 you know1 that you can ride on1--when he had sold a great many pictures1 and made his fortune4 ,but we did not make our fortune in ,baltimore1 and ,i never got my dog2 so we came here to ,tom ,tiddler's ground1 to pick up gold and silver4 ,when we are fixed1 and get a new tent1 my father is going to give me a little spade and a cradle1 to dig gold enough to buy a ,newfoundland dog with1 and then ,i shall borrow a saw and make a dog-house1 like the one ,i had in ,baltimore1 out of that green chest4 ,charley ,saunders lived in that next house in the picture1 and he had a martin-box1 with a steeple to it2 but his father gave fencing-lessons1 and was very rich4 ,as the intelligent little fellow ran on with his pretty prattle1 ,i was diligently pursuing the lady and child of the specimens through the sketches4 ,on every leaf ,i encountered them1 ever changing1 yet always the same4 ,here was the child by my side1--unquestionably the same2 though now ,i looked in vain for the anxious mouth and the foreboding eyes in his face of careless1 hopeful urchinhood4 ,but who was the other8--his mother1 no doubt2 and yet no trace of resemblance4 ,and tell me1 who is this beautiful lady1 my lad1--here1 and here1 and here1 and here again8 ,you see ,i recognize her always1--so lovely1 and so gentle-looking4 ,your mother8 ,oh1 no1 ,sir6 and he laughed1--my mother is very different from that4 ,that is nobody1--only a fancy sketch4 ,only a fancy sketch6 ,so1 then1 ,i thought1 my pretty entertainer1 confiding and communicative as you are1 it is plain there are some things you do not know1 or will not tell4 ,she is not any one we ever saw2--she never lived4 ,my father made her out of his own head1 as ,i make stories sometimes2 or he dreamed her1 or saw her in the fire4 ,but he is very fond of her1 ,i suppose1 because he made her himself1--just as ,i think my own stories prettier than any true ones2 and he's always drawing her1 and drawing her1 and drawing her4 ,i love her1 too1 very much1--she looks so natural1 and has such nice ways4 ,isn't it strange my father--but he's so clever with his pencil and brushes6--should be able to invent the ,lady ,angelica8 --that's her name4 ,but my mother does not like her at all1 and gets out of patience with my father for painting so many of her4 ,mamma says she has a stuck-up expression1--such a funny word1 'stuck-up'6--and does not look like a lady4 ,once ,i told mamma ,i was sure she was only jealous1 and she grew very angry1 and made me cry2 so now ,i never speak of ,lady ,angelica before her4 ,what makes me think my father must have dreamed her is that ,i dreamed her once myself4 ,i thought she came to me in such a splendid dress1 and told me that she was not only a live lady1 but my own mother1 and that mamma was---- ,hush6 ,this is my father1 ,sir4 ,wonderful6 how the lad had changed6--like a phantom1 the thoughtless prattler was gone in a moment1 and in his place stood the seer-boy of the picture1 the profound foreboding eyes fixed anxiously1 earnestly1 on the singular man who at that moment entered3 a singularly small man1 cheaply but tidily attired in black2 even his shoes polished1--a rare and dandyish indulgence in ,san ,francisco1 before the ,french bootblacks inaugurated the sumptuary vanity of ,day and ,martin's lustre on the stoop of the ,california ,exchange1 and made it a necessity no less than diurnal ablutions2 a well-preserved ,english hat on his head1 which1 when he with a somewhat formal air removed it1 discovered thin black locks1 beginning to part company with the crown of his head4 ,in his large1 brown eyes an expression of moving melancholy was established2 a nervous tremulousness almost twitched his refined lips1 which1 to my surprise1 were not concealed by the universal moustache1--indeed1 the smooth chin and symmetrically trimmed mutton-chop whiskers1 in the orthodox ,english mode1 showed that the man shaved4 ,his nose1 slightly aquiline1 was delicately cut1 and his nostrils fine2 and he had small feet and hands1 the latter remarkably white and tender4 ,as he stood before me1 he was never at rest for an instant1 but changed his support from one leg to the other1--they were slight as a young boy's1--and fumbled1 as it were1 with his feet2 as ,i have seen a distinguished medical lecturer1 of ,boston1 gesticulate with his toes4 ,he played much with his whiskers1 too1 and his fingers were often in his hair--as a fidgety and vulgar man would bite his nails4 ,from all of which ,i gathered that my new acquaintance was an intensely nervous person1--very sensitive1 of course1 and no doubt irritable4 ,he was accompanied by a--female1 much taller than he1 and as stalwart as dear woman can be2 an especially common-looking person1 bungled as to her dress1 which was tawdry-fine1 unseasonable for the place as well as time1 inappropriate to herself1 inharmonious in its composition1 and every way most vilely put on2 a clumsy and1 as ,i presently perceived1 a loud person1 whose face1 still showing traces of the coarse but decided beauty it must once have possessed1 fell far short of compensating for the complete gracelessness of her presence4 ,her eyes had a bibulous quality1 and the bright redness of her nose vied vulgarly with the rusty redness of her cheeks4 ,i suspected her complexion of potations1 but charitably let it off with--beer2 for she was1 at first glance1 ,english4 ,as she jerked off her flaunting bonnet1 and dragged off her loud shawl1 saluting me1 as she did so1 with an overdone obeisance1 she said1 ,this ,san ,fanfrisko--why would she1 how could she1 always twist the decent name of the metropolis of the ,pacific into such an absurd shape8--was a norrid 'ole2 she happealed to the gentleman1--meaning me1--didn't 'e find it a norrid 'ole1 habsolutely hawful8 ,and then she went clattering among tinware and crockery1 and snubbed the gentlemanly boy in a sort of tender ,billingsgate4 ,while she was thus gracefully employed1 the agonized artist1 his face suffused with blushes and fairly ghastly with an enforced smile1 was painfully struggling to abstract himself1 by changing the places of things1 shifting the position of his easel1 prying in a lost way into lumbered corners1 and pretending to be in search of something1 --ingenious1 but unable to disguise his chagrin4 ,he pranced with his legs1 and tumbled his hair1 and twitched at his whiskers more than ever1 as he said1-- ,my dear1 7and the boy had called her ,mamma2 so1 then1 it must be a fancy sketch1 after all17 my dear1 no doubt the gentleman is more a cosmopolite than yourself1 and blessed with more facility in adapting himself to circumstances4 ,you know1 ,madam1 ,i came to his assistance1 we ,americans have a famous trick of living and enjoying a little in advance1 of 'going ahead' of the hour1 as it were4 ,we find in ,san ,francisco rather what it promises to be than what it is1 and we take it at its word4 ,oh1 pray1 don't mention ,americans6 ,i positively 'ate the hodious people4 ,i confess ,i 'ave a hinsurmountable prejudice hagainst the race2 you are not haware that ,i am ,hinglish4 ,i think ,i might endure heven ,san ,fanfrisko1 if it were not for the ,americans4 ,are you an ,american8 ,alternating between the pallor of rage and the flush of mortification1 her husband now turned1 with a calmness that had something of desperation in it1 and saved me the trouble and the pain of replying1 by asking1 in the frigid tone of one who resented my presence as the cause of his shame1-- ,did you wish to see me on business1 ,sir8 and have you been waiting long8 ,the success with which your charming little boy has entertained me has made the time seem very short4 ,i could willingly have waited longer4 ,that last remark was a mere contretemps4 ,i did not mean to be as severe as he evidently thought me1 for he bowed haughtily and resentfully4 ,i came at once to business1--drew from my pocket the engraving ,i had brought1--,could he copy that for me8 ,how8--in miniature or life-size8--ivory or canvas8 ,you are1 then1 a portrait-painter1 also8--,ah6 to be sure6 and ,i glanced at the canvas on the easel4 ,certainly1--,i prefer to make portraits4 ,and in this case ,i should prefer to have one4 ,extravagant as the vanity may seem1 ,i am willing to indulge in it1 for the sake of being the first1 in this land of primitive wants and fierce unrefinements1 to take a step in the direction of the ,fine ,arts1--unless you have had calls upon your pencil already4 ,none1 ,sir4 ,then to-morrow1 if you please1--for ,i cannot remain longer at present1--we will discuss my whim in detail4 ,i shall be at your service1 ,sir4 ,good day1 ,madam6 ,and you1 my pretty lad1 well met1--what is your name8 ,ferdy1 ,sir1--,ferdinand ,pintal4 ,at that moment1 his father1 as if reminded of a neglected courtesy1 or a business form1 handed me his card1--,camillo ,alvarez y ,pintal4 ,thanks1 then1 ,ferdy1 for the pains you took to entertain me4 ,you must let me improve an acquaintance so pleasantly begun4 ,the boy's hand trembled as it lay in mine1 and his eyes1 fixed upon his father's1 wore again the ominous expression of the picture4 ,he did not speak1 and his father took a step toward the door significantly4 ,but the doleful silence that might have attended my departure was broken by a demonstration1 as per sample1 from my country's fair and gentle 'ater4 ,she 'oped ,i would not be hoffended by the freedom of 'er hobservations on my countrymen4 ,i must hexcuse 'er ,hinglish bluntness2 she was haware that she 'ad a somewhat hoff-'and way of hexpressing 'er hemotions2 but when she 'ated she 'ated1 and it relieved 'er to hout with it hat once4 ,certainly she would never--bless 'er 'eart1 no6--'ave taken me for an ,american2 ,i was so huncommonly genteel4 ,with my hand upon the region of my heart1 as ,i had seen stars1 when called before the curtain on the proudest evening of their lives1 give anatomical expression to their overwhelming sense of the honor done them1 ,i backed off1 hat in hand4 ,camillo ,alvarez y ,pintal1 ,i read again1 as ,i approached the ,plaza4 ,can this man be ,spanish1 then8 ,surely not2--how could he have acquired his excellent ,english1 without a trace of foreign accent1 or the least eccentricity of idiom8 ,his child1 too1 said nothing of that4 ,english1 no doubt1 of ,spanish parentage2 or1--oh1 patience6 ,i shall know by-and-by1 thanks to my merry ,virginia jade1 who shall be arrayed in resplendent hues1 and throned in a golden frame1 if she but feed my curiosity generously enough4 ,next day1 in the afternoon1 having bustled through my daily programme of business1 ,i betook myself with curious pleasure to my appointment with ,pintal4 ,to my regret1 at first1 ,i found him alone2 but ,i derived consolation from the assurance1 that1 wherever the engaging boy had gone1 his mother had accompanied him4 ,even more than at my first visit1 the artist was frigidly reserved and full of warning-off politeness4 ,with but a brief prelude of courteous commonplaces1 he called me to the business of my visit4 ,my picture1 as ,i have said1 was a fairly executed steel engraving1 taken from some one of the thousands of ,tokens1 or ,keepsakes1 or ,amulets1 or ,gems1 or such like harmless giftbooks1 with which youths of tender sentiment remind preoccupied damsels of their careful penchants4 ,it represented an airy1 fairy ,lilian of eighteen1 or thereabouts1 lolling coquettishly1 fan in hand1 in an antique1 high-backed chair1 with carven imageries1 and a tasselled cushion4 ,she rejoiced in a profusion of brown ringlets1 and her costume was pretty and quaint1--a dainty chemisette1 barred with narrow bands of velvet1 as though she had gone to ,switzerland1 or the ,south of ,italy1 for the sentiment of her bodice1--sleeves quaintly puffed and slashed1--the ample skirt looped up with rosettes and natty little ends of ribbon2 her feet beneath her petticoat1 like little mice1 stole out1 as if they feared the light4 ,somewhere1 among the many editions of ,dickens's works1 ,i have seen a ,dolly ,varden that resembled her4 ,it was agreed between us that she should be reproduced in a life-size portrait1 with such a distribution of rich colors as the subject seemed to call for1 as his fine taste might select1 and his cunning hand lay on4 ,i sought to break down his reserve1 and make myself acceptable to him1 by the display of a discreet geniality1 and a certain frankness1 not falling into familiarity1 which should seem to proceed from sympathy1 and a bonhommie1 that1 assured of its own kindly purpose1 would take no account of his almost angry distance4 ,the opportunity was auspicious1 and ,i was on the alert to turn it to account4 ,i made a little story of the picture1 and touched it with romance4 ,i told him of ,virginia1--especially of that part of the ,state in which this saucy little lady lived1--of its famous scenery1 its historic places1 and the peculiar features of its society4 ,i strove to make the lady present to his mind's eye by dwelling on her certain eccentricities1 and helping my somewhat particular description of her character with anecdotes1 more or less pointed and amusing1 especially to so grave a foreigner1 of her singular ready-wittedness and graceful audacity4 ,then ,i had much to say about her little ways of attitude1 gesture1 and expression1 and some hints to offer for slight changes in the finer lines of the face1 and in the expression1 which might make the likeness more real to both of us1 and1 by getting up an interest in him for the picture1 procure his favorable impression for myself4 ,i had the gratification1 as my experiment proceeded1 to find that it was by no means unsuccessful4 ,his austerity appreciably relaxed1 and the kindly tone into which his few1 but intelligent observations gradually fell1 was accompanied by an encouraging smile1 when the drift of our talk was light4 ,then ,i spoke of his child1 and eagerly praised the beauty1 the intelligence1 and sweet temper of the lad4 ',twas strange how little pleasure he seemed to derive from my sincere expressions of admiration2 indeed1 the slight satisfaction he did permit himself to manifest appeared in his words only1 not at all in his looks2 for a shade of deep sadness fell at once upon his handsome face1 and his expression1 so full of sensibility1 assumed the cast of anxiety and pain4 ,he thanked me for my eloquent praises of the boy1 and--not too partially1 he hoped--believed that he deserved them all4 ,a prize of beauty and of love had fallen to him in his little ,ferdy1 for which he would be grieved to seem ungrateful4 ,but yet--but yet--the responsibility1 the anxiety1 the ceaseless fretting care6 ,this fierce1 unbroken city2--he spoke of it as though it were a newly-lassoed and untamed mustang1--,i liked the simile2 this lawless1 blasphemous1 obscene1 and dangerous community2 these sights of heartlessness and cruelty2 these sounds of selfish1 greedy contention2 the absence of all taste and culture1--no lines of beauty1 no strains of music1 no tones of kindness1 no gestures of gentleness and grace1 no delicate attentions1 no ladies' presence1 no social circle1 no books1 no home1 no church2--,good ,god6 what a heathenish barbarism of coarse instincts1 and irreverence1 and insulting equalities1 and all manner of gracelessnesses1 to bring the dangerous impressionability of fine childhood to6 ,the boy was nervous1 sensitive1 of a spirit quick to take alarms or hurts1--physically unprepared to wrestle with arduous toil1 privation1 and exposure1--most apt for the teachings of gentleness and taste4 ,it was cruel to think--he could wish him dead first--that his clean1 white mind must become smeared and spotted here1 his well-tuned ear reconciled to loud discords1 and his fine eye at peace with deformity2 but there was no help for it4 ,and then1 as though he had suddenly detected in my face an expression of surprised discovery1 he said1 ,but ,i am sure ,i do not know how ,i came to say so much1 or let myself be tedious with sickly egotisms to a polite1 but indifferent1 stranger4 ,if you have gathered from them more than ,i meant should appear1 you will at least do me the justice to believe that ,i have not been boasting of what ,i regard as a calamity4 ,i essayed to reassure him by urging upon his consideration the manifest advantages of courage1 self-reliance1 ingenuity1 quick and economical application of resources1 independence1 and perseverance1 which his son1 if well-trained1 must derive from even those rude surroundings1--at the same time granting the necessity of sleepless vigilance and severe restraints4 ,but he only shook his head sadly1 and said1 ,no doubt1 no doubt2 and ,i hope1 ,sir1 the fault is in myself1 that ,i do not appreciate the force and value of all that4 ,the subject was so plainly full of a peculiar pain for him1 he was so ill at mind on this point1 that ,i could not find it in my heart to pursue it further at the cost of his feelings4 ,so we talked of other things3 of gold1 and the placers1 and their unimpaired productiveness1 --of the prospects of the country1 and of the character the mineral element must stamp upon its politics1 its commerce1 and its social system1--of ,san ,francisco1 and all the enchantments of its sudden upspringing1--of ,alcaldes and town-councils1--of hounds and gamblers1--of real estate and projected improvements1--of canvas houses1 and iron houses1 and fires1--of sudden fortunes1 and as sudden failures1--of speculations and markets1 and the prices of clothing1 provisions1 and labor1--of intemperance1 disease1 and hospitals1--of brawls1 murder1 and suicide1--till we had exhausted all the ,californian budget2 and then ,i bade him good day4 ,he parted with me with flattering reluctance1 cordially shaking my hand and urging me to repeat my visit in a few days1 when he should be sufficiently forward with the picture to admit me to a sight of it4 ,i confessed my impatience for the interval to pass2 for my interest was now fully awakened and very lively2--so well-informed and so polished a gentleman1 so accomplished and so fluent1 so ill-starred and sad1 so every way a man with a history6 ,i saw much of ,pintal after this1 and he sometimes visited me at my office4 ,impelled by increasing admiration and esteem1 ,i succeeded by the exercise of studious tact in ingratiating myself in his friendship and confidence2 he talked with freedom of his feelings and his affairs2 and although he had not yet admitted me to the knowledge of his past1 he evinced but little shyness in speaking of the present4 ,at our interviews in his tent ,i seldom met his wife2 indeed1 ,i suspected him of contriving to keep her out of the way2 for ,i was always told she had just stepped out2--or if by chance ,i found her there1 she was never again vulgarly loquacious1 but on some pretext or other at once took herself away4 ,on the other hand1 the child was rarely absent1--from which ,i argued that ,i was in favor2 nor was his pretty prattle1 even his boldest communicativeness1 harshly checked1 save when1 as ,i guessed1 he was approaching too near some forbidden theme4 ,then a quick flash from his father's eye instantaneously imposed silence upon him3 as if that eye were an evil one1 and there were a malison in its glance1 the whole demeanor of the child underwent at once a magical change2 the foreboding look took possession of his beautiful eyes1 the anxious lines appeared around his mouth1 his lips and chin became tremulous1 his head drooped1 he let fall my hand which he was fond of holding as he talked1 and quietly1 penitently slunk away2 and though he might presently be recalled by his father's kindliest tones1 his brightness would not be restored that time4 ,this mysterious1 severe understanding between the father and the child affected me painfully2 ,i was at a loss to surmise its nature1 whence it proceeded1 or how it could be2 for ,ferdy evinced in his every word1 look1 movement1 an undivided fondness for his father4 ,and in his tender-proud allusions to the boy1 at times let fall to me1--in the anxious watchfulness with which he followed him with his eye1 when an interval of peace and comparative happiness had set childhood's spirit free1 and lent a degree of graceful gayety to all his motions1--,i saw the brimming measure of the father's love4 ,could it be but his morbidly repellant pride1 his jealous guarding of the domestic privacies1 his vigilant pacing up and down forever before the close-drawn curtain of the heart8--was there no ,bluebeard's chamber there8 ,no6 ,pride was all the matter1--pride was the ,spartan fox that tore the vitals of ,pintal1 while he but bit his lips1 and bowed1 and passed4 ,among the pictures in ,pintal's tent was one which had in an especial manner attracted my attention4 ,it was a cabinet portrait1 nearly full-length1 of a venerable gentleman1 of grave but benevolent aspect1 and an air of imposing dignity4 ,care had evidently been taken to render faithfully the somewhat remarkable vigor of his frame2 his iron-gray hair was cropped quite short1 and he wore a heavy grizzled moustache1 but no other beard2 the lines of his mouth were not severe1 and his eye was soft and gentle4 ,but what made the portrait particularly noticeable was the broad red ribbon of a noble order crossing the breast1 and a ,maltese cross suspended from the neck by a short chain of massive and curiously wrought links4 ,i had many times been on the point of asking the name of this singularly handsome and distinguished-looking personage2 but an instinctive feeling of delicacy always deterred me4 ,one day ,i found little ,ferdy alone1 and singing merrily some pretty ,spanish song4 ,i told him ,i was rejoiced to find him in such good spirits1 and asked him if he had not been having a jolly romp with the ,american carpenter's son1 who lived in the ,chinese house close by4 ,my question seemed to afflict him with puzzled surprise2--he half smiled1 as if not quite sure but ,i might be jesting4 ,oh1 no1 indeed6 ,i have never played with him2 ,i do not know him2 ,i never play with any boys here4 ,oh1 no1 indeed6 ,but why not1 ,ferdy8 ,what6 a whole month in this tiresome tent1 and not make the acquaintance of your nearest neighbor1--such a sturdy1 hearty chunk of a fellow as that is8--,i have no doubt he's good-natured1 too1 for he's fat and funny1 tough and independent4 ,besides1 he's a carpenter's son1 you know2 so there's a chance to borrow a saw to make the dog-house with4 ,who knows but his father will take a fancy to you1--,i'm sure he is very likely to1--and make you a church dog-house1 steeple and all complete and painted1 and much finer than ,charley ,saunders's martin-box8 ,oh1 ,i should like to1 so much6 ,and perhaps he has a ,newfoundlander with a bushy tail and a brass collar1--that would be nicer than a kangaroo4 ,but--but--looking comically bothered1--,i never knew a carpenter's son in my life4 ,i am sure my father would not give me permission1--,i am sure he would be very angry1 if ,i asked him4 ,are they not very disagreeable1 that sort of boys8 ,don't they swear1 and tear their clothes1 and fight1 and sing vulgar songs1 and tell lies1 and sit down in the middle of the street8 ,merciful ,heaven6 thought ,i1--here's a crying shame6 here's an interesting case for professors of moral hygiene6 ,an apt1 intelligent little man1 with an empty mind1 and a by-no-means overloaded stomach1 ,i'll engage1--with a pride-paralyzed father1 and a beer-bewitched slattern of a mother1--with his living to get1 in ,san ,francisco1 too1 and the world to make friends with1--who has never enjoyed the peculiar advantages to be derived from the society of little dirty boys1 never been admitted to the felicity of popular songs1 nor exercised his pluck in a rough-and-tumble1 nor ventilated himself in wholesome giddy1 giddy1 gout1--to whom dirt-pies are a fable6 ,ferdy1 said ,i1 ,i'll talk with your father myself4 ,but tell me1 now1 what makes you so happy to-day4 ,my father got a letter this morning1--a mail had just arrived2 it brought no smile or tear for me1--no parallelogram of tragedy or comedy in stationery1--such a pleasant one1 from my uncle ,miguel1 at ,florence1 in ,italy1 you know4 ,he is well1 and quite rich1 my father says2 they have restored to him his property that he thought was all lost forever1 and they have made him a chevalier again4 ,but ,i am sure my father will tell you all about it1 for he said he did hope you would come to-day2 and he is so happy and so kind6 ,they have made him a chevalier again1 ,i wondered4 ,your uncle ,miguel is your father's brother1 then1 ,ferdy4 ,and did you ever see him8 ,before he could reply1 ,pintal entered1 stepping smartly1 his color heightened with happiness1 his eyes full of an extraordinary elation4 ,ah6 my dear ,doctor1 ,i am rejoiced to find you here2 ,i have been wishing for you4 ,see6 your picture is finished4 ,tell me if you like it4 ,indeed1 a work of beauty1 ,pintal4 ,to me1 too1 it never looked so well before2 but ,i see things with glad eyes to-day4 ,i have much to tell you4 ,ferdy1 your mother is dining at the restaurant2 go join her4 ,and when you have finished your dinner1 ask her to take you to walk4 ,say that ,i am engaged4 ,would you not like to walk1 my boy1 and see how fast the new streets spring up8 ,when you return1 you can tell me of all you saw4 ,the boy turned up his lovely face to be kissed1 and for a moment hung fondly on his father's neck4 ,the poor painter's lips quivered1 and his eyes winked quickly4 ,then the lad took his cap1 and without another word went forth4 ,i am happy to-day1 ,doctor1--,heaven save the mark6 ,my happiness is so much more than my share1 that ,i shall insist1 will ye1 nill ye1 on your sharing it with me4 ,i have a heart to open to somebody1 and you are the very man4 ,so1 sit you down1 and bear with my egotism1 for ,i have a little tale to tell you1 of who ,i am and how ,i came here4 ,the story is not so commonplace but that your kindness will find1 here and there1 an interesting passage in it4 ,i have seen that that picture1--indicating the one ,i have last described1--attracted your attention1 and that you were prevented from questioning me about it only by delicacy4 ,that is my father's likeness4 ,he was of ,english birth1 the younger son of a rich ,liverpool merchant4 ,an impulsive1 romantic1 adventurous boy1 seized early with a passion for seeing the world1 his unimaginative1 worldly-wise father1 practical and severe1 kept him within narrow1 fretting bounds1 and imposed harsh restraints upon him4 ,when he was but sixteen years old1 he ran away from home1 shipped before the mast1 and1 after several long voyages1 was discharged1 at his own request1 at ,carthagena1 where he entered a shipping-house as clerk1 and1 having excellent mercantile talents1 was rapidly promoted4 ,meantime1 through a sister1 the only remaining child1 except a half-witted brother1 he heard at long intervals from home4 ,his father remained strangely inexorable1 fiercely forbade his return1 and became violent at the slightest mention of his name by his sister1 or some old and attached servant2 he died without bequeathing his forgiveness1 or1 of course1 a single shilling4 ,but the young man thrived with his employers1 whose business growing rapidly more and more prosperous1 and becoming widely extended1 they transferred him to a branch house at ,malaga4 ,here he formed the acquaintance of the ,don ,francisco de ,zea-,bermudez1 whose rising fortunes made his own4 ,zea-,bermudez was at that time engaged in large commercial operations4 ,although1 under the diligent and ambitious teaching of his famous relative1 the profound1 sagacious1 patriotic1 bold1 and gloriously abused ,jovellanos1 he had become accomplished in politics1 law1 and diplomacy1 he seemed to be devoting himself for the present to large speculations and the sudden acquisition of wealth1 and to let the state of the nation1 the ,cortes1 and its schemes1 alone4 ,only a young1 beautiful1 and accomplished sister shared his splendid establishment in ,malaga2 and for her my father formed an engrossing attachment1 reciprocated in the fullest1 almost simultaneously with his friendship for her brother4 ,zea favored the suit of the high-spirited and clever young ,englishman1 whose intelligence1 independence1 and perseverance1 to say nothing of his good looks and his engaging manners1 had quite won his heart4 ,by policy1 too1 no less than by pleasure1 the match recommended itself to him2--my father would make a famous junior-partner4 ,so they were married under the name of ,pintal1 bestowed upon his favorite ,english clerk by the adventurous first patron at ,carthagena1 who had found the boy provided with only a 'purser's name1' as sailors term it4 ,i will not be so disrespectful to the memory of my distinguished uncle1 nor so rude toward your intelligence1 my friend1 as to presume that you are not familiar with the main points of his history1--the great strides he took1 almost from that time1 in a most influential diplomatic career3 the embassy to ,st4 ,petersburg1 and the ,romanzoff-,bermudez treaty of amity and alliance in #ahab1 by which ,alexander acknowledged the legality of the ordinary and extraordinary ,cortes of ,cadiz2 the embassy to the ,porte in #ahba2 his recall in #ahbc1 and extraordinary mission to the ,court of ,st4 ,james2 his appointment to lead the ,ministry in #ahbd2 my father's high place in the ,treasury2 their joint efforts from this commanding position to counteract the violence of the ,apostolical party1 to meet the large requisitions of ,france1 to cover the deficit of three hundred millions of reals1 and to restore the public credit2 the insults of the ,absolutists1 and their machinations to thwart his liberal and sagacious measures2 his efforts to resign1 opposed by the ,king2 the suppression of a formidable ,carlist conspiracy in #ahbe2 the execution of ,bessires1 and the 'ham-stringing' of ,absolutist leaders2 his dismissal from the ,ministry in ,october1 #ahbe1 ,ferdinand yielding to the ,apostolic storm2 the embassy to ,dresden2 his appointment as ,minister at ,london4 ,and here my story begins1 for ,i was his ,secretary of ,legation then2 while my brother ,miguel1 younger than ,i1 was attach at ,paris1 where he had succeeded me1 on my promotion1--a promotion that procured for me congratulations for which ,i could with difficulty affect a decent show of gratitude1 for ,i knew too well what it meant4 ,it was not the enlightened1 liberal ,minister ,i had to deal with1 but the hard1 proud uncle1 full of expediencies1 and calculating schemes for family advancement1 and the exaltation of a lately obscure name4 ,in ,paris ,i had been admitted first to the flattering friendship1 and then to the inmost heart of--of a most lovely young lady1 as noble by her character as by her lineage1--and he glanced at the open sketch-book4 ,the ,lady ,angelica1 ,i quietly said4 ,sir6 he exclaimed1 quickly changing color1 and assuming his most frigid expression and manner4 ,but as quickly1 and before ,i could speak1 his sad smile and friendly tone returned1 and he said1-- ,ah6 ,i see1--,ferdy has been babbling of his visions and his dreams4 ,yes1 the ,lady ,angelica4 ',very charming1' my uncle granted1 'but very poor2 less of the angel and more of the heiress was desirable1' he said1--'less heaven and more land4 ,a decayed family was only a little worse than an obscure one1--a poor knight not a whit more respectable than a rich merchant4 ,i must relinquish my little romance1--,i had not time for it2 ,i had occupation enough for the scant leisure my family duties'--and he laid stress on the words--'left me in the duties of my post4 ,he would endeavor to find arguments for the lady and employment for me4' ,it was in vain for me to remonstrate1--,i was too familiar with my uncle's temper to waste my time and breath so4 ,i would be silent1 ,i resolved1 and pursue my honorable and gallant course without regard to his scandalous schemes4 ,i wrote to the ',lady ,angelica1'--since ,ferdy's name for her is so well chosen1--telling her all1 giving her solemn assurances of my unchangeable purpose toward her1 and scorn of my uncle's mercenary ambition4 ,she replied very quietly3 ',she1 also1 was not without pride2 she would come and see for herself'2--and she came at once4 ,the family arrived in ,london in the evening4 ,within two hours ,i was sent--after the fashion of an old-time courier1 ',ride6 ride6 ride6--for your life6 for your life6 for your life6'--to ,turin with despatches1 and sealed instructions for my own conduct1 not to be opened till ,i arrived2 then ,i found my orders were1 to remain at ,turin until it should be my uncle's pleasure to recall me4 ,i had not been in ,turin a month when a letter came from------the ,lady ,angelica4 ',it was her wish that all intercourse between us1 by interview or correspondence1 should cease at once and forever4 ,she assumed this position of her own free will1 and she was resolute to maintain it4 ,she trusted that ,i would not inquire obtrusively into her motives1--she had no fear that ,i would doubt that they were worthy of her4 ,her respect for me was unabated1--her faith in me perfect4 ,i had her blessing and her anxious prayers4 ,i must go on my way in brave silence and patience1 nor ever for one moment be so weak as to fool myself into a hope that she would change her purpose4' ,what should ,i do8 ,i had no one to advise with2 my mother1 whose faith in her brother's wisdom was sure1 was in ,madrid1 and my father had been dead some years4 ,at first my heart was full of bitter curses1 and my uncle had not at his heels a heartier hater than ,i4 ,then came the merely romantic thought1 that this might be but a test she would put me to1--that he might be innocent and ignorant of my misfortune4 ,with the thought ,i flung my heart into writing1 and madly plied her with one long1 passionate letter after another4 ,i got no answers2 but by his spies my uncle was apprised of all ,i did4 ,about this time1--it was in #ahcb1--,zea-,bermudez was recalled to ,madrid in a grave crisis1 and appointed to the administration of foreign affairs4 ,ferdinand ,,vii4 was apparently approaching the end of his reign and his life4 ,the ,apostolical party1 exulting in their strength1 and confiding in those well-laid plans which1 with mice and men1 'gang aft agley1' imprudently showed their hand1 and suffered their favorite project to transpire2 which was1 to set aside the ordinance by which the ,king had made null the ,salic law1 in favor of his infant daughter1 and to support the pretensions of the ,king's brother1 ,carlos1 to the throne4 ,by this stupid flourish the ,apostolical party threw themselves bound at the feet of ,zea4 ,all of their persuasion who filled high places under government were without ceremony removed1 and their seats filled by ,liberals4 ,many of them did not escape without more crippling blows4 ,as for me1 ,i looked on with indifference1 or at most some philosophic sneers4 ,what had ,i to fear or care8 ,in my uncle's estimation1 my politics had been always healthy1 no doubt2 and although he had on more than one occasion hinted1 with sarcastic wit1 that such a lady's-man must1 of his devoir1 be a 'gallant champion of the ,salic law1' and dropped something rude and ill-natured about my ,english blood1--still1 that was only in his dyspeptic moods2 his temper was sure to improve1 ,i fancied1 with his political and material digestion4 ,but ,i deceived myself4 ,when1 in the name of the infant ,queen1 ,isabella ,segunda1 and in honor of the reestablishment of order and public safety1 the pleasant duty devolved upon ,zea-,bermudez of awarding approbation and encouragement to all the officers1 from an ambassador to the youngest attach of foreign legations1 and presenting them with tokens of the nation's happiness in the shape of stars1 and seals with heraldic devices1 and curious chains of historic significance1 not even a paltry ribbon fell to my share1 but only a few curt lines of advice1 'to look well to my opinions1 and be modest1--obediently to discharge the duties prescribed to me1 and remember that presumption was a fault most intolerable in a young gentleman so favored by chance as to be honored with the confidence of government4' ,that exhausted the little patience ,i had left4 ,savagely ,i tore the note into contemptible fragments1 tossed into my travelling-boxes as much of my wardrobe as happened to be at hand1 consigned to a sealed case my diplomatic instructions and all other documents pertaining to my office1 placed them in the hands of a confidential friend1 ,mr4 ,ballard1 the ,british ,agent1 and secretly took passage for ,england1 where1 without losing an hour1 ,i made the best of my way to the abode of an ambitious cockney wine-merchant1 to whose daughter ,i had not been disagreeable in other days1 and within a fortnight married her4 ,you have seen the lady1 ,sir1 he said1 eyeing me searchingly as he spoke1 with a sardonic smile1--the only ugly expression ,i ever saw him wear4 ,certain title-deeds and certificates of stock1 part of my father's legacy1 which1 as if foreseeing the present emergency1 ,i had brought away with me1 were easily converted into cash4 ,i had then twenty thousand sterling pounds1 to which my father-in-law generously added ten thousand more1 by way of portion with his daughter4 ,and now to what should ,i betake myself8 ,i had small time to cast about me1 and was easy to please2 any tolerably promising enterprise1 so the field of it were remote1 would serve my purpose4 ,the papers were full of ,australian speculations1 the wonderful prosperity of the several colonies there1 the great fortunes suddenly made in wool4 ,good6 ,i would go to ,australia1 and be a gentle shepherd on an imposing scale4 ,but first ,i sought out my father's old friends1 my ,lords ,palmerston and ,brougham1 and the ,bishop of ,dublin1 and besought the aid of their wisdom4 ,with but slight prudential hesitation they with one accord approved my project4 ,observe3 a first-rate ,minister1 especially if he be a very busy one1 always likes the plan that pleases his young friend best1--that is1 if it be not an affair of ,state1 and all the risks lie with his young friend4 ,they would have spoken of ,turin and ,zea-,bermudez2 but ,i had been bred a diplomat and knew how to stick to my point1 which1 this time1 was wool4 ,in another fortnight ,i had sailed for ,sydney with my shekels and my wife4 ,but first1 and for the first time1 ,i caused the announcement of my marriage to appear in the principal papers of ,london1 ,paris1 ,st4 ,petersburg1 and ,madrid4 ,arrived in ,australia1 ,i at once made myself the proprietor of a considerable farm1 and stocked it abundantly with sheep4 ,speculation had not yet burst itself1 like the frog in the fable2 and large successes1 as in water-lot and steamboat operations here1 to-day1 were the rule4 ,on the third anniversary of my landing at ,sydney1 ,i was worth three hundred thousand pounds1 and my commercial name was among the best in the colony4 ,six months after that1 the rot1 the infernal rot1 had turned my thriving populous pastures into shambles for carrion-mutton1 and ,i had not sixpence of my own in the wide world4 ,a few of the more generous of my creditors left me a hundred pounds with which to make my miserable way to some ,south ,american port on the ,pacific4 ,so ,i chose ,valparaiso1 to paint miniatures1 and teach ,english1 ,french1 ,italian1 and ,german in4 ,but earthquakes shook my poor house1 and the storm-fiend shook my soul with fear2--for skies in lightning and thunder are to me as the panorama and hurly-burly of the ,day of ,wrath1 in all the stupid rushing to and fro and dazed stumbling of ,martin's great picture4 ,i shall surely die by lightning2 ,i have not had that live shadow of a sky-reaching fear hanging over me1 with its black wings and awful mutterings1 so long for nothing2 in every flash my eyes are scathed by the full blaze of hell4 ,if ,i had been deaf and blind1 ,i might have lived in ,valparaiso4 ,as it was1 ,i must go somewhere where ,i need not sit all day and night stopping my ears and with my face covered1 fearing that the rocks would fall upon me too soon4 ,so1 with my wife and the child1--we have had no other1 thank ,god6--,i got round ,cape ,horn--,heaven knows how6 ,i dare not think of that time--to the ,united ,states4 ,we were making for ,boston2 but the ship1 strained by long stress of heavy weather1 sprung a leak1 and we put in at ,baltimore4 ,i was pleased with the place2 it is picturesque1 and has a kindly look2 and as all places were alike to me then1 save by the choice of a whim1 ,i let go my weary anchor there4 ,but the ,baltimoreans only admired my pictures1--they did not buy them2 they only wondered at my polyglot accomplishment1 and were content with ringing silly-kind changes on an ,encyclopaedic compliment about the ,admirable ,crichton1 and other well-educated personages1 to be found alphabetically embalmed in ,conversations-,lexicons1--they did not inquire into my system of teaching1 or have quarterly knowledge of my charges4 ,so ,i fled from ,baltimore1 pretty speeches1 and starvation1 to ,san ,francisco1 plain talk1 and pure gold4 ,and now--see here1 ,sir6--,i carry these always about with me1 lest the pretty pickings of this ,tom ,tiddler's ground should make my experience forget4 ,he drew from his pocket an illuminated card1 bearing a likeness of ,queen ,victoria1 and a creased and soiled bit of yellow paper4 ,the one was1 by royal favor1 a complimentary pass to a reserved place in ,westminster ,abbey1 on the occasion of the coronation of her ,britannic ,majesty1 ,for the ,seor ,camillo ,alvarez y ,pintal1 ,chevalier of the ,noble ,order of the ,cid1 ,secretary to ,his ,catholic ,majesty's ,legation near the ,court of ,st4 ,james1--the other1 a ,sydney pawnbroker's ticket for books pledged by ,mr4 ,camilla ,allverris i ,pintal4 ,he held these contrasted certificates of ,fortune1--her mocking visiting-cards1 when she called on him in palace and in cabin1--one in each hand for a moment2 and bitterly smiling1 and shaking his head1 turned from one to the other4 ,then suddenly he let them fall to the ground1 and1 burying his face in his hands1 was roughly shaken through all his frame by a great gust of agony4 ,i laid my hand tenderly on his shoulder3 ,but1 ,pintal1 ,i said1--the ,lady ,angelica1--tell me why she chose that course4 ,in a moment the man was fiercely aroused4 ,ah1 true6 ,i had forgotten that delectable passage in my story4 ,why1 man1 ,bermudez went to her1 told her that my aspirations and my prospects were so and so1--faring1 brilliant1--that she1 only she1 stood in the way1 an impassable stumbling-block to my glorious advancement1--told her1 7devil67 that1 with all my fine passion for her1 he was aware that ,i was not without embarrassment on this score1--appealed to her disinterested love1 to her pride1--don't you see8--to her pride4 ,and where is she now1 ,pintal8 ,no anger now1 no flush of excitement2--the man1 all softened as by an angel's touch1 arose1 and1 with clasped hands and eyes upturned devoutly1 smiled through big tears1 and without a word answered me4 ,i1 too1 was silent4 ,whittier had not yet written1-- ,of all sad words of tongue or pen ,the saddest are these3 ',it might have been6' ,ah1 well6 for us all some sweet hope lies ,deeply buried from human eyes2 ,and1 in the hereafter1 angels may ,roll the stone from its grave away6 ,then ,pintal paced briskly to and fro a few turns across the narrow floor of his tent1 and presently stopping1 said1--his first cheerfulness1 with its unwonted smile1 returning1-- ,but ,i must tell you why ,i should be happy today4 ,i have a letter from my brother ,miguel1 who is ,secretary to the ,legation at the ,porte4 ,he has leave of absence1 and is happy with his dearest friends in ,florence4 ,he shared my disgrace until lately1 but bore it patiently2 and now is reinstated in his office and his honors1 a large portion of his property restored1 which had been temporarily confiscated1 while he was under suspicion as a ,carlist4 ,he is authorized to offer me pardon1 and all these pretty things1 if ,i will return and take a new oath of allegiance4 ,and you will accept1 ,pintal8 ,why1 in ,god's name1 what do you take me for8--,pardon6 ,i forgot myself1 ,sir4 ,your question is a natural one4 ,but no1 ,i shall surely not accept4 ,zea-,bermudez is dead1 but there is a part of me which can never die2 and ,i am happy today because ,i feel that ,i am not so poor as ,i thought ,i was4 ,ferdy entered1 alone4 ,he went straight to his father and whispered something in his ear1--about the mother1 ,i suspected1 for both blushed1 and ,pintal said1 with a vexed look1--,ah1 very well6 never mind that1 my boy4 ,then ,ferdy threw off his cap and cloak1 and1 seating himself on a pile of books at his father's feet1 quietly rested his head upon his knee4 ,i observed that his face was vividly flushed1 and his eyes looked weary4 ,i felt his pulse1--it indicated high fever2 and to our anxious questions he answered1 that his head ached terribly1 and he was every minute hot or cold4 ,i persuaded him to go to bed at once1 and left anxious instructions for his treatment1 for ,i saw that he was going to be seriously ill4 ,in three days little ,ferdy was with the ,lady ,angelica in heaven4 ,he died in my arms1 of scarlet fever4 ,in the delirium of his last moments he saw her1 and he departed with strange words on his lips3 ,i am coming1 ,lady1 ,i am coming6--my father will be ready presently6 ,some strangers from the neighborhood helped me to bury him2 we laid him near the grave of the ,first ,lady2 but very soon his pretty bones were scattered1 and there's a busy street there now4 ,pintal1 when ,i told him that the boy was dead1 only bowed and smiled4 ,he did not go to the grave1 he never again named the child1 nor by the least word or look confessed the change4 ,but when1 a little later1 a fire swept down ,dupont ,street and laid the poor tent in ashes1 spoiling the desolate house whose beautiful lar had flitted1--when his wife went moaning maudlinly among the yet warm ashes1 and groping1 in mean misery1 with a stick1 for some charred nothing she would cheat the ,spoiler of1 there was a dangerous quality in ,pintal's look1 as1 with folded arms and vacant eyes1 he seemed to stare upon1 yet not to see1 the shocking scene4 ,presently the woman1 poking with the stick1 found something under the ashes4 ,with her naked hands she greedily dug it out2--it was a tin shaving-case4 ,another moment1 and ,pintal had snatched it from her grasp1 torn it open1 and had a naked razor in his hand4 ,i wrested it from him1 as he fairly foamed1 and dragged him from the place4 ,a few days after that1 ,i took leave of them on board a merchant ship bound for ,england1 and with a heavy-hearted prayer sped them on their way4 ,on the voyage1 as ,pintal stood once1 trembling in a storm1 near the mainmast1 a flash of lightning transfixed him4--,that was well6 ,he had been distinguished by his sorrows1 and was worthy of that special messenger4 99 99 99 99 99 ,that picture1--it was the first and last he painted in ,california4 ,i kept it long1 rejoicing in the admiration it excited1 and only grieved that the poor comfort of the praises ,i daily heard lavished upon it could never reach him4 ,once1 when ,i was ill in ,sacramento1 my ,san ,francisco house was burned1 but not before its contents had been removed4 ,in the hopeless scattering of furniture and trunks1 this picture disappeared1--no one knew whither4 ,i sought it everywhere1 and advertised for it1 but in vain4 ,about a year afterward1 ,i sailed for ,honolulu4 ,i had letters of introduction to some young ,american merchants there1 one of whom hospitably made me his guest for several weeks4 ,on the second day of my stay with him1 he was showing me over his house1 where1 hanging against the wall in a spare room1 ,i found1--not the ,pintal picture1 but a ,chinese copy of it1 faithful in its every detail4 ,there were the several alterations ,i had suggested1 and there the rich1 warm colors that ,pintal's taste had chosen4 ,of course1 it was a copy4 ,no doubt1 my picture had been stolen at the fire1 or found its way by mistake among the traps of other people4 ,then it had been sold at auction1--some ,chinaman had bought it1--it had been shipped to ,canton or ,hong ,kong1--some one of the thousand artists of ,china ,street or the ,victoria ,road had copied it for the ,american market4 ,a ship-load of ,chinese goods--,canton crape shawls1 camphor-boxes1 carved toys1 curiosities1 and pictures--had been sold in ,honolulu1--and here it was4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,house ,,that ,,was ,,just ,,like ,,its ,,neighbors4 ,oh1 the houses are all alike1 you know1-- ,all the houses alike1 in a row6 ,you'll see a hat-stand in the hall1 ,against the painted and polished wall2 ,and the threaded sunbeams softly fall ,on the long stairs1 winding up1 away ,up to the garret1 lone and gray3 ,and you can hear1 if you wait awhile1 ,odd little noises to make you smile2 ,and minutes will be as long as a mile2-- ,just as they would in the house below1 ,were you in the entry waiting to go4 ,oh1 the houses are all alike1 you know1-- ,all the houses alike1 in a row6 ,and the world swings sadly to and fro1-- ,mayhap the shining1 but sure the woe6 ,for in the sunlight the shadows grow ,over the new name on the door1 ,over the face unseen before4 ,yet who shall number1 by any art1 ,the chasms that keep so wide apart ,the dancing step and the weary heart8 ,oh1 who shall guess that the polished wall ,is a headstone over his neighbor's hall8 ,yet the houses are just alike1 you know1-- ,all the houses alike1 in a row6 ,and solemn sounds are heard at night1 ,and solemn forms shut out the light1 ,and hideous thoughts the soul affright3 ,death and despair1 in solemn state1 ,in the silent1 vaulted chambers wait2 ,and up the stairs as your children go1 ,spectres follow them1 to and fro1-- ,only a wall between them1 oh6 ,and the darkest demons1 grinning1 see ,the fairest angels that dwell with thee6 ,for the houses are all alike1 you know1-- ,all the houses alike1 in a row6 ,my chariot waited1 gold and gay3 ,i'll ride1 ,i said1 to the woods to-day1-- ,out to the blithesome woods away1-- ,where the old trees1 swaying thoughtfully1 ,watch the breeze and the shadow's glee4 ,i smiled but once1 with my joy elate1 ,for a chariot stood at my neighbor's gate1-- ,a grim old chariot1 dark as fate4 ,oh1 where are you taking my neighbor8 ,i cried4 ,and the gray old driver thus replied3-- ,where the houses are all alike1 you know1-- ,narrow houses1 all in a row6 ,unto a populous city1 he saith3 ,the road lies steep through the ,vale of ,death ,oh1 it makes the old steeds gasp for breath6 ,there'll be a new name over the door1 ,in a place where he's never been before1-- ,where the neighbors never visit1 they say1-- ,where the streets are echoless1 night and day1 ,and the children forget their childish play4 ,and if you should live next door1 ,i doubt ,if you'd ever hear what they were about ,who lived in the next house in the row1-- ,though the houses are all alike1 you know6 ,,daphnaides3 ,,or ,,the ,,english ,,laurel1 ,,from ,,chaucer ,,to ,,tennyson4 ,concluded4 ,dorset was still ,lord ,chamberlain when the death of ,shadwell placed the laurel again at his disposal4 ,had he listened to ,dryden1 ,william ,congreve would have received it4 ,of all the throng of young gentlemen who gathered about the chair of the old poet at ,wills's1 ,congreve was his prime favorite4 ,that his advice was not heeded was long a matter of pensive regret3-- ,oh that your brows my laurel had sustained6 ,well had ,i been deposed1 if you had reigned6 ,the father had descended for the son2 ,for only you are lineal to the throne4 ,thus1 when the state one ,edward did depose1 ,a greater ,edward in his room arose4#a ,the choice fell upon ,nahum ,tate3-- ,but now not ,i1 but poetry is cursed2 ,for ,tom the ,second reigns like ,tom the ,first4 ,what particular quality recommended ,tate we are not wholly able to explain4 ,dryden alleges charity as the single impulse of the appointment1--not the merit or aptitude of the candidate4 ,but throughout life ,dorset continued to countenance ,nahum1 serving as standing dedicatee of his works1 and the prompter of several of them4 ,we have remarked the want of judgment which ,lord ,dorset exhibited in his anxious patronage of the scholars and scribblers of his time1--a trait which stood the ,blackmores1 ,bradys1 and ,tates in good stead4 ,but there was still another reason why ,tate was preferred to ,congreve4 ,dorset was too practised a courtier not to study the tastes of his master to good purpose4 ,a liking for the stage1 or a lively sense of poetic excellence1 was not among the preferences of ,king ,william4 ,the ,laureate was sub-purveyor of amusement for the court2 but there was no longer a court to amuse1 and the ,king himself never once in his reign entered a theatre4 ,the piety of ,queen ,mary rendered her a rare attendant at the play-house4 ,plays were therefore no longer wanted4 ,a playwright could not amuse4 ,congreve was a dramatist who had never exhibited even passable talent for other forms of poetical composition4 ,but ,tate's limited gifts1 displayed to ,dorset's satisfaction in various encomiastic verses addressed to himself1 were fully equal to the exigencies of the office under the new order of things2 he was by profession a eulogist1 not a dramatist4 ,he was a ,tory2 and the ,king was out of humor with the ,whigs4 ,he was pretentiously moral and exemplary of life and pen1 and so suited the ,queen4 ,the duties of the office were conformed1 as far as practicable1 to the royal tastes4 ,their scene was transferred from the play-house to the church4 ,on the anniversaries of the birthdays of the two sovereigns1 and upon ,new ,year's day1 the ,laureate was expected to have ready congratulatory odes befitting the occasion1 set to music by the royal organist1 and sung after service in the ,chapel ,royal of ,st4 ,james4 ,similar duties were required when great victories were to be celebrated1 or national calamities to be deplored4 ,in short1 from writing dramas to amuse a merry monarch and his courtiers1 an office not without dignity1 the ,laureate sunk into a hired writer of adulatory odes2 a change in which originated that prevalent contempt for the laurel which descended from the era of ,tate to that of ,southey4 ,and yet the odes were in no sense more thoroughly ,pindaric than in the circumstance of their flatteries being bought and paid for at a stated market value4 ,the triumphal lyrics of ,pindar himself were very far from being those spontaneous and enthusiastic tributes to the prowess of his heroes1 which the vulgar receive them for4 ,hear the painful truth1 as revealed by the ,scholiast4#b ,pytheas of ,a,egina had conquered in rough-and-tumble fight all antagonists in the ,pancratium4 ,casting about for the best means of perpetuating his fame1 he found the alternative to lie between a statuette to be erected in the temple of the hero-god1 or one of the odes of the learned ,theban4 ,choosing the latter1 he proceeded to the poet's shop1 cheapened the article1 and would have secured it without hesitation1 had not the extortionate bard demanded the sum of three drachmas1#c nearly equal to half a dollar1 for the poem1 and refused to bate a fraction4 ,the disappointed bargainer left1 and was for some days decided in favor of the brazen image1 which could be had at half the price4 ,but reflecting that what ,pindar would give for his money was a draft upon universal fame and immortality1 while the statue might presently be lost1 or melted down1 or its identity destroyed1 his final determination was in favor of the ode1--a conclusion which time has justified4 ,nor was the ,bard of the ,victors ashamed of his mercenary ,muse4 ,in the ,second ,isthmian ,ode1 we find an elaborate justification of his practice of praising for pay1--a practice1 he admits1 unknown to primitive poets1 but rendered inevitable1 in his time1 by the poverty of the craft1 and the degeneracy of the many1 with whom1 in the language of the ,spartan sage1 money made the man4 ,with this ,pindaric precedent1 therefore1 for selling ,pindaric verses1 it is no wonder1 if the children of the ,muse1 in an age still more degenerate than that of their great original1 found ample excuse for dealing out their wares at the best market4 ,when such as ,dryden and ,pope lavished in preface and dedication their encomiums upon wealth and power1 and waited eagerly for the golden guineas the bait might bring them1 we have no right to complain of the ,tates and ,eusdens for prostituting their neglected ,muses for a splendid sum certain per annum4 ,surely1 if royalty1 thus periodically and mercenarily eulogized1 were content1 the poet might well be so4 ,and quite as certainly1 the ,laureate stipend never extracted from poet panegyric more fulsome1 ill-placed1 and degrading1 than that which ,laureate ,dryden volunteered over the pall of ,charles ,,ii4#d ,tate had been known as a hanger-on at the court of ,charles1 and as a feeble versifier and pamphleteer of the ,tory school1 before an alliance with ,dryden gave him a certain degree of importance4 ,the first part of ,absalom and ,achitophel1 in #afha1 convulsed the town and angered the city4 ,men talked for a time of nothing else4 ,tate1 who was in the secret of its authorship1 talked of it to ,dryden1 and urged an extension of the poem4 ,were there not enough of ,shaftesbury's brisk boys running at large who deserved to be gibbeted8 ,were there not enough ,hebrew names in the two books of ,samuel to name each as appropriately as those already nomenclatured8 ,but ,dryden was indisposed to undertake a continuation which must fall short of what had been executed in the exact proportion that the characters left for it were of minor consequence4 ,he recommended the task to ,tate4 ,tate1 flattered and nothing loath1 accordingly sent to the press the second part of ,absalom and ,achitophel1 embodying a contribution from ,dryden of two hundred lines1 which are as plainly distinguishable from the rest as a patch of cloth of gold upon cloth of frieze4 ,the credit of this first alliance proved so grateful to ,nahum1 that he never after ventured upon literary enterprise without the aid of a similar coalition4 ,his genius was inherently parasitic4 ,in conjunction with ,tory and ,jesuit1 he coalesced in the celebration of ,castlemaine's gaudy reception at ,rome4 ,in conjunction with ,nicholas ,brady1 he prepared that version of the ,psalms still appended to the ,english ,book of ,common ,prayer4 ,in conjunction with ,dryden and others1 he translated ,juvenal4 ,in conjunction with ,lord ,dorset1 he edited a praiseworthy edition of the poems of ,sir ,john ,davies1 which might otherwise have been lost or forgotten4 ,in conjunction with ,garth1 he translated the ,metamorphoses of ,ovid4 ,and in conjunction with ,dr4 ,blow1 he prepared those ,pindaric flights which set ,king ,william asleep1 and made ,godolphin ashamed that the deeds of ,marlborough should be so unworthily sung4 ,so long as he continued to enjoy the patronage of his liberal ,maecenas1 ,tate1 with his aid1 and these labors1 and the income of his office1 contrived to maintain the state of a gentleman4 ,but ,dorset died in #agjf2 the ,laureate's dull heroics found no vent2 and ere the death of ,queen ,anne1--an event which he bewailed in the least contemptible of his odes1--his revenues were contracted to the official stipend4 ,the accession of the house of ,hanover1 in #agad1 was the downfall of ,toryism2 and ,tate was a ,tory4 ,his ruin was complete4 ,the ,elector spared not the house of ,pindar4 ,the ,laureate was stripped of the wreath2 his only income confiscated2 and after struggling feebly with fate in the form of implacable creditors1 he took refuge in the ,old ,mint1 the resort of thieves and debtors1 where in #agae he died1--it is said1 of starvation4 ,alas1 that the common lot of ,grub ,street should have precedent in the person of laurelled royalty itself6 ,the coronation of ,laureate ,rowe was simultaneous with that of ,george ,i4 ,his immediate claim to the honor dated back to the year #agjb1 when his play of ,tamerlane had caught the popular fancy1 and proved of vast service to the ministry at a critical moment in stimulating the national antipathy to ,france4 ,the effect was certainly not due to artistic nicety or refinement4 ,king ,william1 as ,tamerlane1 was invested with all virtues conceivable of a ,tartar conqueror1 united with the graces of a primitive saint2 while ,king ,louis1 as ,bajazet1 fell little short of the perfections of ,satan4 ,these coarse daubs1 executed in the broadest style of the sign-post school of ,art1 so gratified the mob1 that for half a century their exhibition was called for on the night of ,november the fifth4 ,rowe1 moreover1 belonged to the straitest sect of ,whiggery1--was so bigoted1 indeed1 as to decline the acquaintance of a ,tory1 and in play and prologue missed no chance of testifying devotion to liberal opinions4#e ,his investiture with the laurel was only another proof that at moments of revolution extremists first rise to the surface4 ,a man of affluent fortune1 and the recipient of redundant favors from the new ministry1 ,rowe enjoyed the sunshine of life1 while the dethroned ,nahum starved in the ,mint1 as the dethroned ,james starved at ,rome4 ,had the dramatic tribute still been exacted1 there is little doubt that the author of the ,fair ,penitent1 and of ,jane ,shore1 would have lent splendid lustre to his office4 ,his odes1 however1--such1 at least1 as have been thought worthy of preservation among his works1--are a prodigious improvement upon the tenuity of his predecessor1 and immeasurably superior in poetical fire and elegance to those of any successor antecedent to ,warton4 ,for1 following ,nicholas ,rowe1 there were dark ages of ,laureate dulness1--a period redeemed by nothing1 unless by the ridicule and controversy to which the wearers of the leaf gave occasion4 ,rowe died in the last days of #agah4 ,the contest for the vacant place is presumed to have been unusually active4 ,john ,sheffield1 ,duke of ,buckinghamshire1 imitating ,suckling's ,session of the ,poets1 brings all the versifiers of the time into the canvas1 and after humorously dispatching one after another1 not sparing himself1 closes1-- ,at last1 in rushed ,eusden1 and cried1 ',who shall have it1 ,but ,i1 the true ,laureate1 to whom the ,king gave it8' ,apollo begged pardon1 and granted his claim1 ,but vowed1 though1 till then1 he ne'er heard of his name4#f ,this ,laurence ,eusden was a scribbling parson1 whose model in ,art was ,sir ,richard ,blackmore1 and whose morality was of the ,puritanical stripe4 ,he had assisted ,garth in his ,ovid1 assuming1 doubtless upon high moral grounds1 the rendering of the impurest fables4 ,he had written odes to great people upon occasions more or less great1 therein exhibiting some ingenuity in varying the ordinary staple of adulation4 ,he had addressed an epithalamium to the ,duke of ,newcastle upon his marriage with the ,lady ,henrietta ,godolphin1--a tribute so gratifying to his ,grace1 then ,lord ,chamberlain1 as to secure the poet the place of ,rowe4 ,eusden's was doubtless the least honorable name as yet associated with the laurel4 ,his contemporaries allude to him with uniform disdain4 ,cooke1 the translator of ,hesiod1 tells us1-- ,eusden1 a laurelled bard1 by fortune raised1 ,by very few was read1 by fewer praised1 ,pope1 as cavalierly1 in the ,dunciad3-- ,she saw old ,prynne in restless ,daniel shine1 ,and ,eusden eke out ,blackmore's endless line4 ,jacobs1 in his ,lives of the ,poets1 speaks of him as a multifarious writer of unreadable trash1--and names but few of his productions4 ,the truth was1 ,eusden1 secluding himself at his rectory among the fens of ,lincolnshire1 took no part in society1 declined all association with the polite circles of the metropolis1 thus inviting attacks1 from which his talents were not respectable enough to screen him4 ,that the loftiest revelations of poetry were not required of the ,laureate of ,george ,i41 who understood little or no ,english1 there can be no question4 ,george ,,ii4 was equally insensible to the ,muses2 and had the annual lyrics been a mosaic of the merest gibberish1 they would have satisfied his earlier tastes as thoroughly as the odes of ,collins or ,gray4 ,a court1 at which ,pope and ,swift1 ,young and ,thomson were strangers1 had precisely that share of ,augustan splendor which enabled such as ,eusden to shine lustrously4#g ,and so ,eusden shone and wrote1 and in the fulness of time--,september1 #agcj--;died and was buried2 and his laurel others desired4#h ,the leading claimants were ,richard ,savage and ,colley ,cibber4 ,the touching story of ,savage had won the heart of the ,queen1 and she had extracted from the ,king the promise of the ,laureateship for its hero4 ,but in the ,minister1 ,sir ,robert ,walpole1 ,savage had an irreconcilable opponent4 ,the apprehension of exciting powerful enmities1 if he elevated the ,bastard and his wrongs to so conspicuous a place1 had1 no doubt1 an influence with the shrewd statesman4 ,possibly1 too1 so keen and practical a mind could not but entertain thorough contempt for the man1 who1 with brains1 thews1 and sinews of his own1 a fair education1 and as many golden opportunities of advancement as a reasonable being could desire1 should waste his days in profitless mendicancy at the doors of great people1 in whining endeavors to excite the sympathies of the indifferent1 in poem and petition1 in beastly drunkenness1 or1 if sober1 in maudlin lamentations at the bitterness of his fortune4 ,a ,falconbridge would have better suited the ministerial taste4 ,at all events1 when his ,majesty came to request the appointment of the ,queen's protg1 he found that the patent had already been made out in the name of ,cibber3 and ,cibber had to be ,laureate4 ,the disappointed one raved1 got drunk1 sober again1 and finally wrote an ode to her ,majesty1 announcing himself as her ,volunteer ,laureate1 who should repeat his congratulations upon each recurrence of her birthday4 ,the ,queen1 in pity1 sent him fifty pounds1 with a promise of an equal amount for each of his annual verses4 ,and although ,cibber protested1 and ridiculed the new title1 as no more sensible than ,volunteer ,duke1 ,marquis1 or ,prime ,minister1 still ,savage adhered to it and the pension tenaciously1 sharing the ,queen's favor with ,stephen ,duck1 the marvellous ,thresher1#i whose effusions were still more to her taste4 ,that the yearly fifty pounds were expended in inexcusable riot1 almost as soon as received1 was a matter of course4 ,upon the demise of ,queen ,caroline1 in #agch1 ,savage experienced another proof of ,walpole's dislike4 ,the pensions found upon her ,majesty's private list were all continued out of the exchequer1 one excepted4 ,the pension of ,savage was the exception4 ,right feelingly1 therefore1 might he mourn his royal mistress1 and vituperate the insensible minister2 and that he did both with some degree of animation1 the few who still read his poems will freely admit4 ,colley ,cibber had recommended himself to promotion by consistent partisanship1 and by two plays of fair merit and exceeding popularity4 ,the ,careless ,husband even ,pope had praised2 ,the ,nonjuror1 an adaptation of ,molire's ,tartuffe1 was one of the most successful comedies of the period4 ,the ,king had been delighted with it1--a circumstance doubtless considered by ,sir ,robert in selecting a rival for ,savage4 ,cibber had likewise been the manager1 time out of mind1 of ,drury-,lane ,theatre2 and if now and then he had failed to recognize the exact direction of popular taste1--as in the instance of the ,beggar's ,opera1 which he rejected1 and which1 being accepted by ,manager ,rich of ,covent ,garden1 made ,rich gay and ,gay rich1--he was generally a sound stage-tactician and judicious caterer4 ,his career1 however1 had not been so profitable that an additional hundred pounds should be a thing of indifference2 in fact1 the sum seemed to be just what was needed to enable him to forsake active duty on the stage1--for the patent was no sooner signed than the veteran retired upon his laurels4 ,the annals of the ,laureateship1 during ,cibber's reign1 are without incident4#aj ,the duties remained unchanged1 and were performed1 there is no reason to doubt1 to the contentment of the ,king and court4#aa ,but the ,laureate himself was peculiarly the object of sarcastic satire4 ,the standing causes were of course in operation3 the envy of rival poetasters1 the dislike of political opponents1 the enmities originating in professional disputes and jealousies4 ,cibber's manners had not been studied in the school of ,chesterfield1 although that school was then open and flourishing4 ,he was rude1 presumptuous1 dogmatic4 ,to superiors in rank he was grudgingly respectful2 to equals and inferiors1 insupportably insolent4 ,but when to these aggravating traits he added the vanity of printing an autobiography1 exposing a thousand assailable points in his life and character1 the temptation was irresistible1 and the whole population of ,grub ,street enlisted in a crusade against him4#ab ,fortunately1 beneath the crust of insolence and vanity1 there was a substratum of genuine power in the ,laureate's make1 which rendered him not only a match for these1 but for even a greater than these1 the author of the ,dunciad4 ,pope's antipathy for the truculent actor dated some distance back4 ,back to the ',devil1' the last echoes roll1 ,and ',coll6' each butcher roars at ,hockley-hole4 ,the latter accounts for it by telling1 that at the first representation of ,gay's ,three ,hours after ,marriage1 in #agag1 where one of the scenes was violently hissed1 some angry words passed between the irritated manager and ,pope1 who was behind the scenes1 and was erroneously supposed to have aided in the authorship4 ,the odds of a scolding match must have been all in favor of the blustering ,cibber1 rather than of the nervous and timid ,pope2 but then the latter had a faculty of hate1 which his antagonist had not1 and he exercised it vigorously4 ,the allusions to ,cibber in his later poems are frequent4 ,thus1 in the ,epistle to ,dr4 ,arbuthnot3-- ,and has not ,colley still his ,lord and whore8 ,his butchers ,henley8 his freemasons ,moore8 ,and again3-- ,so humble he has knocked at ,tibbald's door1 ,has drunk with ,colley1 nay1 has rhymed for ,moore4 ,and in the ,imitation of ,horace1 addressed to ,lord ,fortescue3-- ,better be ,cibber1 ,i maintain it still1 ,than ridicule all taste1 blaspheme1 quadrille4 ,the ,dunciad1 as originally published in #agbh1 had ,lewis ,theobald for its hero4 ,there was neither sense nor justice in the selection4 ,pope hated ,theobald for presuming to edit the plays of ,shakspeare with greatly more ability and acuteness than himself had brought to the task4 ,his dislike had no better foundation4 ,neither the works1 the character1 nor the associations of the man authorized his elevation to the throne of dulness4 ,the disproportion between the subject and the satire instantly impresses the reader4 ,after the first explosion of his malice1 it impressed ,pope2 and anxious to redeem his error1 he sought diligently for some plan of dethroning ,tibbald1 and raising another to the vacant seat4 ,cibber1 in the mean time1 was elevated to the laurel1 and that by statesmen whom it was the fate of ,pope to detest in secret1 and yet not dare to attack in print4 ,the ,fourth ,book of the ,dunciad appeared in #agdb1 and its attacks were mainly levelled at the ,laureate4 ,the ,laureate replied in a pamphlet1 deprecating the poet's injustice1 and declaring his unconsciousness of any provocation for these reiterated assaults4 ,at the same time he announced his determination to carry on the war in prose as long as the satirist should wage it in verse1--pamphlet for poem1 world without end4 ,hostilities were now fairly established4 ,pope issued a fresh edition of his satire complete4 ,the change he had long coveted he now made4 ,the name of ,cibber was substituted throughout for that of ,theobald1 the portraiture remaining the same4 ,johnson properly ridicules the absurdity of leaving the heavy traits of ,theobald on the canvas1 and simply affixing the name of his mercurial contemporary beneath2 and1 indeed1 there is much reason to doubt whether the mean jealousy which inspired the first ,dunciad1 or the blundering rage which disfigured the second1 is in the worse taste4 ,cibber kept his engagement1 replying in pamphlet4 ,the immediate victory was unquestionably his4 ,morbidly sensitive to ridicule1 ,pope suffered acutely4 ,richardson1 who found him once with the ,cibberine leaves in his hand1 declared his persuasion1 from the spectacle of rage1 vexation1 and mortification he witnessed1 that the poet's death resulted from the strokes of the ,laureate4 ,if so1 we must concede him to have been the victor who laid his adversary at his feet on the field4 ,posterity1 however1 which listens only to the satirist1 has judged differently and unjustly4#ac ,theobald1 though of no original talent1 was certainly1 in his generation1 the most successful illustrator of ,shakspeare1 and the first1 though ,rowe and ,pope had preceded him in the effort1 who had brought a sound verbal criticism to bear on the text4 ,it is to his credit1 that many of the most ingenious emendations suggested in ,mr4 ,collier's famous folio were anticipated by this king of the dunces2 and it must be owned1 that his edition is as far superior to ,warburton's and ,hanmer's1 which were not long after brought out with a deafening flourish of trumpets1 as the editions of ,steevens and ,malone are to his4 ,yet1 prompted by the ,dunciad1 it is the fashion of literature to regard ,theobald with compassion1 as a block-head and empiric4 ,cibber escapes but little better1 and yet he was a man of respectable talent1 and played no second-rate part in the literary history of the time4 ,as ,laureate ,cibber drew near the end of earthly things1 a desire1 common to poetical as well as political potentates1 possessed him1--a desire to nominate a successor4 ,in his case1 indeed1 the idea may have been borrowed from ,mac,flecknoe or the ,dunciad4 ,the ,earl of ,chesterfield1 during his administration in ,ireland1 had discovered a rival to ,ben ,jonson in the person of a poetical bricklayer1 one ,henry ,jones1 whom his ,lordship carried with him to ,london1 as a specimen of the indigenous tribes of ,erin4 ,it was easier for this ,jones to rhyme in heroics than to handle a trowel or construct a chimney4 ,he rhymed1 therefore1 for the amusement and in honor of the polite circle of which ,stanhope was the centre2 the fashionable world subscribed magnificently for his volume of ,poems upon ,several ,occasions2#ad his tragedy1 ,the ,earl of ,essex1 in the composition of which his patron is said to have shared1 was universally applauded4 ,its introduction to the stage was the work of ,cibber2 and ,cibber1 assisted by ,chesterfield1 labored zealously to secure the author a reversion of the laurel upon his own lamented demise4 ,the effort was unsuccessful4 ,cibber's death occurred in ,december1 #ageg4 ,the administration of the elder ,pitt1 which had been restored six months before1 was insensible to the merits of the prodigious bricklayer4 ,the wreath was tendered to ,thomas ,gray4 ,it would1 no doubt1 have proved a grateful relief to royalty1 obliged for twenty-seven years to listen twice yearly1 if not oftener1 to the monotonous felicitations of ,colley1 to hear in his stead the author of the ,bard1 of the ,progress of ,poetry1 of the ,ode at ,eton ,college4 ,but the relief was denied it4 ,gray1 ambitious only of the historical chair at ,cambridge1 declined the laurel4 ,in the mean time1 the claims of ,william ,whitehead were earnestly advocated with the ,lord ,chamberlain1 by ,lord and ,lady ,jersey1 and by the ,earl ,harcourt4 ,a large vote in the ,house of ,commons might be affected by a refusal4 ,pitt1 who cared nothing for the laurel1 but much for the votes1 gave his assent1 and ,whitehead was appointed4 ,whitehead was the son of a baker1 and1 as an elemosynary scholar at ,winchester ,school1 had won a poetical prize offered to the students by ,alexander ,pope4 ,obtaining a free scholarship at ,cambridge1 he became in due time a fellow of ,clare ,hall1 and subsequently tutor to the sons of ,lord ,jersey and ,lord ,harcourt1 with whom he made the tour of the ,continent4 ,two of his tragedies1 ,the ,roman ,father1 and ,cresa1 met with more success than they deserved4 ,a volume of poems1 not without merit1 was given to the press in #agef1 and met with unusual favor through the exertions of his two noble friends4 ,that he was not a personal applicant for the laurel1 nor conscious of the movement in his behalf1 he takes occasion in one of his poems to state3-- ,howe'er unworthily ,i wear the crown1 unasked it came1 and from a hand unknown4#ae ,from the warm championship of his friends1 and the commendations of ,mason1 the friend of ,gray1 we infer that ,whitehead was not destitute of fine social qualities4 ,his verse1 which is of the only type current a century ago1 is elegantly smooth1 and wearisomely tame1--nowhere rising into striking or original beauties4 ,among his merits as a poet modesty was not4 ,his ,charge to the ,poets1 published in #agfb1 drew upon him the wrath and ridicule of his fellow-verse-wrights1 and perhaps deservedly4 ,assuming1 with amusing vanity1 what1 if ever true1 was only so a century before or a half-century after1 that the laurel was the emblem of supremacy in the realm of letters1 and that it had been granted him as a token of his matchless merit1-- ,since my king and patron have thought fit ,to place me on the throne of modern wit1-- he proceeds to read the subject throng a saucy lecture on their vices and follies1-- ,as bishops to their clergy give their charge4 ,a good-natured dogmatism is the tone of the whole2 but presumption and dogmatism find no charity among the genus irritabile1 and ,whitehead received no quarter4 ,small wits and great levelled their strokes at a hide which self-conceit had happily rendered proof4 ,the sturdiest assailant was ,charles ,churchill4 ,he never spares him1-- ,who in the ,laureate chair-- ,by grace1 not merit1 planted there-- ,in awkward pomp is seen to sit1 ,and by his patent proves his wit2 ,for favors of the great1 we know1 ,can wit as well as rank bestow2 ,and they who1 without one pretension1 ,can get for fools a place or pension1 ,must able be supposed1 of course1 ,if reason is allowed due force1 ,to give such qualities and grace ,as may equip them for the place4 ,but he who measures as he goes ,a mongrel kind of tinkling prose1 ,and is too frugal to dispense ,at once both poetry and sense1-- ,who1 from amidst his slumbering guards1 ,deals out a charge to subject bards1 ,where couplets after couplets creep1 ,propitious to the reign of sleep1 etc4 ,again1 in the ,prophecy of ,famine1-- ,a form1 by silken smile1 and tone ,dull and unvaried1 for the ,laureate known1 ,folly's chief friend1 ,decorum's eldest son1 ,in every party found1 and yet of none1 ,this airy substance1 this substantial shade4 ,and elsewhere he begs for ,some such draught444 ,as makes a ,whitehead's ode go down1 ,or slakes the feverette of ,brown4 ,but satire disturbed not the calm equanimity of the pensioner and placeman4 ,the laurel worn ,by poets in old time1 but destined now ,in grief to wither on a ,whitehead's brow1 continued to fade there1 until a whole generation of poets had passed away4 ,it was not until the middle of ,april1 #aghe1 that ,death made way for a successor4 ,the suddenness of ,whitehead's decease came near leaving a royal birthday unsung1--an omission scarcely pardonable with one of ,george the ,third's methodical habits4 ,an impromptu appointment had to be made4 ,it was made before the ,laureate was buried4 ,thomas ,warton1 the ,professor of ,poetry at ,oxford1 received the patent on the #cjth of ,april1 and his ode1 married to fitting music1 was duly forthcoming on the #bdth of ,may4 ,the selection of ,warton was faultless4 ,his lyrical verse was the best of a vicious school2 his sonnets1 according to that exquisite sonneteer1 ,sir ,egerton ,brydges1 were the finest in the language2 his ,history of ,english ,poetry1 of which three volumes had appeared1 displayed an intimate acquaintance with the early ,english writers4 ,nor should we pass unnoticed his criticisms and annotations upon ,milton and ,spenser1 manifesting as they did the acutest sensitiveness to the finest beauties of poetry4 ,if the laurel implied the premiership of living poets1 ,warton certainly deserved it4 ,he was a head and shoulders taller than his actual contemporaries4#af ,he stood in the gap between the old school and the new1 between the dead and the coming4 ,goldsmith and ,johnson were no more2 ,cowper did not print his ,task until the autumn of #aghe2 ,burns made his dbut about the same moment2 ,rogers published his ,ode to ,superstition the next year2 the famous ,fourteen ,sonnets of ,bowles came two years later2 while ,wordsworth and ,landor made their first appearance in #agic4 ,fortunate thus in time1 ,warton was equally fortunate in politics4 ,he was an ,oxford ,tory1 a firm believer in divine right and passive obedience1 and a warm supporter of the new ministers4 ,to the ,king1 it may be added1 no nomination could have given greater satisfaction4 ,the official odes of ,warton evince all the elegant traits which characterize his other writings4 ,their refined taste and exquisite modulation are admirable2 while the matter is far less sycophantic than was to be expected from so devout a monarchist4 ,the tender of the laurel certainly gratified him3-- ,yet still one joy remains1 that not obscure ,nor useless all my vacant days have flowed1 ,from youth's gay dawn to manhood's prime mature1 ,nor with the ,muse's laurel unbestowed4#ag ,and1 like ,southey1 he was not indisposed to enhance the dignity of the wreath by classing ,chaucer and ,spenser1 as we have seen1 among its wearers4 ,the genuine claims of ,warton to respect probably saved him from the customary attacks4 ,bating a few bungling thrusts amid the doggerel of ,peter ,pindar1 he escaped scathless1--gaining1 on the other hand1 a far more than ordinary proportion of poetical panegyric4 ,affection and applause alike he shared2 ,all loved the man1 all venerate the bard3 ,e'en ,prejudice his fate afflicted hears1 ,and lettered ,envy sheds reluctant tears4 ,such worth the laurel could alone repay1 ,profaned by ,cibber1 and contemned by ,gray2 ,yet hence its ,breath shall new distinction claim1 ,and1 though it gave not1 take from ,warton fame4#ah ,the last of ,warton's odes was written in his last illness1 and performed three days after his death4 ,appositely enough1 it was an invocation to ,health1 meriting more than ordinary praise for eloquent fervor4 ,warton died ,may #bast1 #agij4 ,the laurel was vacant for a month1 when ,henry ,james ,pye was gazetted4 ,there was hardly a hungry placeman in ,london who had not as just pretensions to the honor4 ,what poetical gifts he had displayed had been in school or college exercises4 ,his real claims consisted in having spent a fortune in electioneering for ministers2 and these claims being pressed with unusual urgency at the moment of ,warton's death1 he was offered the ,laureateship as satisfaction in part4#ai ,he eagerly accepted it1 and received the balance two years later in the shape of a commission as ,police ,magistrate of ,middlesex4 ,thereafter1 like ,henry ,fielding1 or ,gilbert ,a',beckett1 he divided his days between penal law and polite literature4 ,his version of the ,poetics of ,aristotle1 with illustrations drawn liberally from recent authors1 was perhaps begotten of a natural wish to satisfy the public that qualifications for the laurel were not wholly wanting4 ,a barren devotion to the drama was always his foible4 ,it was freely indulged4 ,with few exceptions1 his plays were affairs of partnership with ,samuel ,james ,arnold1 a writer of ephemeral popularity1 whose tale of ,the ,haunted ,island was wildly admired by readers of the intensely romantic school1 but whose tragedies1 melodramas1 comedies1 farces1 operas1 are now forgotten4 ,in addition to these auxiliary labors1 which ripened yearly1 ,pye tried his hand at an epic1--the subject1 ,king ,alfred1--the plot and treatment not greatly differing from those which ,blackmore brought to the same enterprise4 ,the poem passed at once from the bookshop to the trunk-maker1--not1 however1 before an ,american publisher was found daring enough to reprint it4 ,there are also to be mentioned translations from ,pindar1 ,horace1 and other classics1 for ,sharpe's edition of the ,british ,poets1 a collection to which he lent editorial aid4 ,poet ,pye#bj was fortunate in escaping contemporary wit and satire4 ,gifford alluded to him1 but ,gifford's ,toryism was security that no ,tory ,court-,poet would be roughly handled4 ,byron passed him in silence4 ,the ,smiths treated him as respectfully as they treated anybody4 ,moore's wit at the expense of the ,regent and his courtiers had only found vent in the ,two-,penny ,post-,bag when ,pye was gathered to his predecessors4 ,that calamity occurred in ,august1 #ahac4 ,with it ended the era of birthday songs and ,new-,year's verses4 ,the ,king was mad2 his nativity was therefore hardly a rational topic of rejoicing4 ,the ,prince ,regent had no taste for the solemn inanity of stipulated ode1 the performance of which only served to render insufferably tedious the services of the two occasions in the year when imperative custom demanded his attendance at the ,chapel4 ,consultation was had with ,john ,wilson ,croker1 ,secretary of the ,admiralty4 ,croker's sharp common-sense at once suggested the abolition of the ,laureate duties1 but the retention of the office as a sinecure4 ,walter ,scott1 to whom the place was offered1 as the most popular of living poets1 seconded the counsel of ,croker1 but declined the appointment1 as beneath the dignity of the intended founder of a long line of border knights4 ,he recommended ,southey4 ,he had already recommended ,southey to the ,quarterly1 and through the ,quarterly to ,croker1 then and still its most brilliant contributor2 and this second instance of disinterested kindness was equally efficacious4 ,southey was appointed4 ,the tierce of ,canary ceased to be a perquisite of the office1 the ,laureate disclaiming it2 and instead of annual odes upon set occasions1 such effusions as the poet might choose to offer at the suggestion of passing events were to be accepted as the sum of official duty4 ,these were to be said or read1 not sung1--a change that completed the radical revolution of the office4 ,however important the salary of a hundred pounds may have been to ,southey1 it is very sure that the laurel seemed to infuse all its noxious and poisonous juices into his literary character4 ,his vanity1 like ,whitehead's1 led him to regard his chaplet as the reward of unrivalled merit4 ,his study-chair was glorified1 and became a throne4 ,his supremacy in poetry was as indubitable as the king's supremacy in matters ecclesiastical4 ,he felt himself constrained to eliminate utterly from his conscience whatever traces of early republicanism1 pantisocracy1 and heresy still disfigured it2 and to conform unreservedly to the exactest requirements of high ,toryism in politics and high ,churchism in religion4 ,he was in the pay and formed a part of the government2 could he do else than toil mightily in his department for the service of a master who had so sagaciously anticipated the verdict of posterity1 as to declare him1 who was the least popular1 the greatest of living poets8 ,he found it a duty to assume a rigid censorship over as many of his ,majesty's lieges as were addicted to verse1--to enact the functions of minister of literary police1--to reprehend the levity of ,moore1 the impiety of ,byron1 the democracy of ,leigh ,hunt1 the unhappy lapse of ,hazlitt1 the drunkenness of ,lamb4 ,assumptions so open to ridicule1 and so disparaging to far abler men1 told as disadvantageously upon his fame as upon his character4 ,he became the butt of contemporary satire4 ,horace ,smith1 ,moore1 ,shelley1 ,byron1 lampooned him savagely4 ,the latter made him the hero of his wicked ,vision of ,judgment1 and to him dedicated his ,don ,juan4 ,the dedication was suppressed2 but no chance offered in the body of that profligate rhapsody to assail ,bob ,southey1 that was not vigorously employed4 ,the self-content of the ,laureate armed him1 however1 against every thrust4 ,contempt he interpreted as envy of his sublime elevation3-- ,grin1 ,envy1 through thy ragged mask of scorn6 ,in honor it was given2 with honor it is worn4 ,of course such matchless self-complacency defied assault4 ,southey's congratulatory odes appeared as often as public occasion seemed to demand them4 ,there were in rapid succession the ,ode to the ,regent1 the ,carmen ,triumphale1 the ,pilgrimage to ,waterloo1 the ,vision of ,judgment1 the ,carmen ,nuptiale1 the ,ode on the ,death of the ,princess ,charlotte4 ,the ,quarterly exalted them1 one and all2 the ,edinburgh poured upon them volleys of keen but ineffectual ridicule4 ,at last the ,laureate desisted4 ,the odes no longer appeared2 and during the long and dark closing years of his life1 the only production of the ,laureate pen was the yearly signature to a receipt for one hundred pounds sterling1 official salary4 ,robert ,southey died in ,march1 #ahdc4 ,sir ,robert ,peel1 who had obliged ,wordsworth the year before1 by transferring the post in the excise1 which he had so long held1 to the poet's son1 and substituting a pension for its salary1 testified further his respect for the ,bard of ,rydal by tendering him the laurel4 ,it was not to be refused4 ,had the office been hampered with any demands upon the occupant for popular lyric1 in celebration of notable events1 ,wordsworth was certainly the last man to place in it4 ,his frigid nature was incapable of that prompt enthusiasm1 without which1 poetry1 especially poetry responsive to some strong emotion momentarily agitating the popular heart1 is lifeless and worthless4 ,fortunately1 there were no such exactions4 ,the office had risen from its once low estate to be a dignified sinecure4 ,as such1 ,wordsworth filled it2 and1 dying1 left it without one poetical evidence of having worn the wreath4 ,to him1 in ,may1 #ahej1 succeeded1 who1 as the most acceptable poet of the day1 could alone rightly succeed1 ,alfred ,tennyson1 the actual ,poet-,laureate4 ,not without opposition4 ,there were those who endeavored to extinguish the office1 and hang up the laurel forever1--and to that end brought pregnant argument to bear upon government4 ,the ,times was more than usually decided in favor of the policy of extinguishment4 ,give the salary1 it was urged1 as a pension to some deserving writer of verse1 whose necessities are exacting2 but abolish a title degraded by association with names and uses so unworthy1 as to confer shame1 not honor1 on the wearer4 ,the laurel is presumed to be granted to the ablest living ,english poet4 ,what vocation have the ,tite ,barnacles1 red-tapists1 vote-mongers1 of ,downing ,street to discriminate and determine this supreme poetical excellence1 in regard to which the nicest critics1 or the most refined and appreciative reading public may reasonably differ among themselves as widely as the stars8 ,on the other hand1 it was argued1 that the laurel had1 from its last two wearers1 recovered its lost dignity4 ,they had lent it honor1 which it could not fail to confer upon any survivor1 however great his name4 ,if1 then1 the old odium had disappeared1 why not retain the place for the sake of the ancient worthies whom tradition had handed down as at one time or another connected with it8 ,there was rarely difficulty in selecting from among contemporary poets one of preminent talent1 whose elevation to the laurel would offend none of his fellows4 ,there was certainly no difficulty in the present case4 ,there was palpable evidence that ,tennyson was by all admission the hierophant of his order2 and it would be time enough to dispense with the title when a future occasion should be at a loss to decide among contending candidates4 ,the latter reasoning prevailed4 ,tennyson accepted the laurel1 and with it a self-imposed obligation to make occasional acknowledgments for the gift4 ,the first opportunity presented itself in the issue of a fresh edition of his poems1 in #ahea4 ,to these he prefixed some noble verses1 dedicating the volumes to the ,queen1 and referring with as much delicacy as modesty to his place and his predecessor3-- ,victoria1--since your royal grace ,to one of less desert allows ,this laurel1 greener from the brows ,of him that uttered nothing base4-- ,the next occasion was of a different order4 ,the hero of ,waterloo ended his long life in #aheb1 and a nation was in mourning4 ,then1 if ever1 poets1 whether laurelled or leafless1 were called to give eloquent utterance to the popular grief2 and ,tennyson1 of all the poets1 was looked to for its highest expression4 ,the ,threnode of the ,laureate was duly forthcoming4 ,the public was1 as it had no right to be1 disappointed4 ,tennyson's ,muse was ever a wild and wilful creature1 defiant of rules1 and daringly insubordinate to arbitrary forms4 ,it could not1 with the witling in the play1 cap verses with any man4 ,the moment its tasks were dictated and the form prescribed1 that moment there was ground to expect the self-willed jade to play a jade's trick1 and leave us with no decent results of inspiration4 ,for odes and sonnets1 and other such ,procrustean moulds into which poetic thought is at times cast1 ,tennyson had neither gift nor liking4 ,when1 therefore1 with the ,duke's death1 came a sudden demand upon his ,muse1 and that in shape so solemn as to forbid1 as the poet conceived1 any fanciful license of invention1 the ,pindaric form seemed inevitable2 and that form rendered a fair exhibition of the poet's peculiar genius out of the question4 ,strapped up in prescription1 and impelled to move by official impulse1 his ,pegasus was as awkward as a cart-horse4 ,and yet men did him the justice to say that his failure out-topped the success of others4 ,far better--indeed1 with the animating thrill of the war-trumpet--was ,the ,charge of the ,light ,brigade1 and simply because the topic admitted of whatever novelty of treatment the bias of the bard might devise4 ,this is the ,laureate's most successful attempt at strictly popular composition4 ,it proves him to possess the stuff of a ,tyrtaeus or a ,krner1--something vastly more stirring and stimulating than the usual staple of ,the dry-tongued laurel's pattering talk4#ba ,howbeit1 late may he have call for another war-song6 ,with the name of ,tennyson we reach the term of our ,laureate calendar4 ,long ages and much perilously dry research must he traverse who shall enlarge these outlines to the worthier proportions of history4 ,yet will the labor not be wholly barren4 ,it will bring him in contact with all the famous of letters and poetry2 he will fight over again numberless quarrels of authors2 he will soar in boundless ,pindaric flights1 or sink1 sooth to say1 in unfathomed deeps of bathos4 ,with one moral he will be profoundly impressed3 ,of all the more splendid results of genius which adorn our language and literature1--for the literature of the ,english language is ours1--not one owes its existence to the laurel2 not one can be directly or indirectly traced to royal encouragement1 or the stimulus of salary or stipend4 ,the laurel1 though ever green1 and throwing out blossoms now and then of notable promise1 has borne no fruit4 ,we might strike from the language all that is ascribable solely to the honor and emolument of this office1 without inflicting a serious loss upon letters4 ,the masques of ,jonson would be regretted2 a few lines of ,tennyson would be missed4 ,for the rest1 we might readily console ourselves4 ,it may certainly be urged1 that the laurel was designed rather as a reward than as a provocative of merit2 but the allegation has become true only within the last half-century4 ,antecedently to ,southey1 it was the consideration for which return in poetry was demanded1--in the first instance1 a return in dramatic poetry1 and then in the formal lyric4 ,it was put forth as the stimulus to works good in their several kinds1 and it may be justly complained of for never having provoked any good works4 ,to represent it as a reward commensurate with the merits of ,wordsworth and ,tennyson1 or even of ,southey1 is to rate three first-class names in modern poetry on a level with the names of those third-rate poetillos who1 during the eighteenth century1 obtained the same reward for two intolerable effusions yearly4 ,upon the whole1 therefore1 we incline to the opinion that the laurel can no longer confer honor or profit upon literature4 ,sack is palatable1 and a hundred pounds are eminently useful2 but the arbitrary judgments of queens and courtiers upon poetical issues are neither useful nor palatable4 ,the world may1 in fact1 contrive to content itself1 should ,king ,alfred prove the last of the ,laureates4 ,footnote #a3 ,schol4 ,vet4 ad ,nem4 ,od4 #e4 ,footnote #b3 ,commentators agree1 we believe1 that there was an error as to the sum4 ,but we tell the story as we find it4 ,footnote #c3 ,,dryden1 ,epistle to ,wm4 ,congreve1 #afic4 ,footnote #d3 ,the ,threnodia ,augustalis1 #afhe1 where the eulogy is equitably distributed between the dead ,charles and the living ,james4 ,footnote #e3 ,dr4 ,johnson tells the story of ,rowe having applied to ,lord ,oxford for promotion1 and being asked whether he understood ,spanish4 ,elated with the prospect of an embassy to ,madrid1 ,rowe hurried home1 shut himself up1 and for months devoted himself to the study of a language the possession of which was to make his fortune4 ,at length1 he reappeared at the ,minister's leve and announced himself a ,spanish scholar4 ,then1 said ,lord ,oxford1 shaking his hand cordially1 let me congratulate you on your ability to enjoy ,don ,quixote1 in the original4 ,johnson seems to throw doubt on the story1 because ,rowe would not even speak to a ,tory1 and certainly would not apply to a ,tory minister for advancement4 ,but ,oxford was once a ,whig1 and was in office as such2 and it was probably at that period the incident occurred4 ,footnote #f3 ,battle of the ,poets1 #agbe4 ,footnote #g3 ,harmonious ,cibber entertains ,the court with annual birthday strains1 ,whence ,gay was banished in disgrace1 ,where ,pope will never show his face1 ,where ,young must torture his invention ,to flatter knaves1 or lose his pension4 ,,swift1 ,poetry1 a ,rhapsody1 #agcc4 ,footnote #h3 ,know1 ,eusden thirsts no more for sack or praise2 ,he sleeps among the dull of ancient days2 ,where wretched ,withers1 ,ward1 and ,gildon rest1 ,and high-born ,howard1 more majestic sire1 ,with fool of quality completes the choir4 ,thou1 ,cibber6 thou his laurel shalt support2 ,folly1 my son1 has still a friend at court4 ,dunciad1 ,bk4 ,i4 ,warburton1 by-the-by1 exculpates ,eusden from any worse fault1 as a writer1 than being too prolix and too prolific4--,see ,note to ,dunciad1 ,bk4 ,,ii4 #bia4 ,footnote #i3 ,duck stands at the head of the prodigious school in ,english literature4 ,all the poetical bricklayers1 weavers1 cobblers1 farmer's boys1 shepherds1 and basket-makers1 who have since astonished their day and generation1 hail him as their general father4 ,footnote #aj3 ,the antiquary may be pleased to know that the ,devil tavern in ,fleet ,street1 the old haunt of the dramatists1 was the place where the choir of the ,chapel ,royal gathered to rehearse the ,laureate odes4 ,hence ,pope1 at the close of ,dunciad ,i41 ,then swells the ,chapel-,royal throat2 ',god save ,king ,cibber6' mounts in every note4 ,familiar ,white's ',god save ,king ,colley6' cries2 ',god save ,king ,colley6' ,drury-,lane replies2 ,footnote #aa3 ,on his own works with laurel crowned1 ,neatly and elegantly bound1-- ,for this is one of many rules ,with writing ,lords and laureate fools1 ,and which forever must succeed ,with other ,lords who cannot read1 ,however destitute of wit1 ,to make their works for bookcase fit1-- ,acknowledged master of those seats1 ,cibber his birthday odes repeats4 ,,churchill1 ,the ,ghost4 ,footnote #ab3 ,swift charges ,colley with having wronged ,grub ,street1 by appropriating to himself all the money ,britain designed for its poets3-- ,your portion1 taking ,britain round1 ,was just one annual hundred pound2 ,now not so much as in remainder1 ,since ,cibber brought in an attainder1 ,forever fixed by right divine1 ,a monarch's right1 on ,grub-,street line4 ,poetry1 a ,rhapsody1 #agcc4 ,footnote #ac3 ,whatever momentary benefit may result from satire1 it is clear that its influence in the long run is injurious to literature4 ,the satirist1 like a malignant ,archimago1 creates a false medium1 through which posterity is obliged to look at his contemporaries1--a medium which so refracts and distorts their images1 that it is almost out of the question to see them correctly4 ,there is no rule1 as in astronomy1 by which this refraction may be allowed for and corrected4 ,footnote #ad3 ,london1 #agdi1 #hvo4 ,footnote #ae3 ,charge to the ,poets1 #agfb4 ,footnote #af3 ,if the reader cares to hear the best that can be said of ,thomas ,warton1 let him read the ,life of ,milton1 prefixed by ,sir ,egerton ,brydges to his edition of the poet4 ,if he has any curiosity to hear the other side1 let him read all that ,ritson ever wrote1 and ,dr4 ,charles ,symnions1 in the ,life of ,milton1 prefixed to the standard edition of the ,prose ,works1 #ahjf4 ,symnions denies to ,warton the possession of taste1 learning1 or sense4 ,certainly1 to an ,american1 the character of ,joseph ,warton1 the brother of ,thomas1 is far more amiable4 ,joseph was as liberal as his brother was bigoted4 ,while ,thomas omits no chance of condemning ,milton's republicanism1 in his notes to the ,minor ,poems1 ,joseph is always disposed to sympathize with the poet4 ,the same generous temper characterizes his commentary upon ,dryden4 ,footnote #ag3 ,sonnet upon the ,river ,lodon4 ,footnote #ah3 ,dr4 ,huddersford's ,salmagundi4 ,footnote #ai3 ,one of the earlier poems of ,alexander ,wilson1 the ornithologist1 was entitled1 ,the ,laurel ,disputed1 and was published in #agia4 ,we have not met with it2 but we apprehend1 from title and date1 that it is a jeu d'esprit1 founded upon the recent appointment4 ,the poetry of ,wilson was characterized by much original humor4 ,footnote #bj3 ,come to our fte1 and show again ,that pea-green coat1 thou pink of men6 ,which charmed all eyes1 that last surveyed it2 ,when ,brummel's self inquired1 ',who made it8' ,when ,cits came wondering from the ,east1 ,and thought thee ,poet ,pye at least4 ,two-,penny ,post-,bag1 #ahab4 ,footnote #ba3 ,,tennyson1 ,maud4 ,,water-,,lilies4 ,the inconstant ,april mornings drop showers or sunbeams over the glistening lake1 while far beneath its surface a murky mass disengages itself from the muddy bottom1 and rises slowly through the waves4 ,the tasselled alder-branches droop above it2 the last year's blackbird's nest swings over it in the grapevine2 the newly-opened ,hepaticas and ,epigaeas on the neighboring bank peer down modestly to look for it2 the water-skater 7,gerris7 pauses on the surface near it1 casting on the shallow bottom the odd shadow of his feet1 like three pairs of boxing-gloves2 the ,notonecta1 or water-boatman1 rows round and round it1 sometimes on his breast1 sometimes on his back2 queer caddis-worms trail their self-made homesteads of leaves or twigs beside it2 the ,dytiscus1 dorbug of the water1 blunders clumsily against it2 the tadpole wriggles his stupid way to it1 and rests upon it1 meditating of future frogdom2 the passing wild-duck dives and nibbles at it2 the mink and musk-rat brush it with their soft fur2 the spotted turtle slides over it2 the slow larvae of gauzy dragon-flies cling sleepily to its sides and await their change3 all these fair or uncouth creatures feel1 through the dim waves1 the blessed longing of spring2 and yet not one of them dreams that within that murky mass there lies a treasure too white and beautiful to be yet intrusted to the waves1 and that for many a day that bud must yearn toward the surface1 before1 aspiring above it1 as mortals to heaven1 it meets the sunshine with the answering beauty of the ,water-,lily4 ,days and weeks have passed away2 the wild-duck has flown onward1 to dive for his luncheon in some remoter lake2 the tadpoles have made themselves legs1 with which they have vanished2 the caddis-worms have sealed themselves up in their cylinders1 and emerged again as winged insects2 the dragon-flies have crawled up the water-reeds1 and1 clinging with heads upward1 7not downward1 as strangely described in a late ,north ,british ,review17 have undergone the change which symbolizes immortality2 the world is transformed from spring to summer2 the lily-buds are opened into glossy leaf and radiant flower1 and we have come for the harvest4 ,we lodged1 last night1 in the old ,english phrase1 at the sign of the ,oak and ,star4 ,wishing1 not1 indeed1 like the ancient magicians1 to gather magic berry and bud before sunrise1 but at least to see these treasures of the lake in their morning hour1 we camped last night on a little island1 which one tall tree almost covers with its branches1 while a dense undergrowth of young chestnuts and birches fills all the intervening space1 touching the water all around the circular1 shelving shore4 ,yesterday was hot1 but the night was cool1 and we kindled a gypsy fire of twigs1 less for warmth than for society4 ,the first gleam made the dark lonely islet into a cheering home1 turned the protecting tree to a starlit roof1 and the chestnut-sprays to illuminated walls4 ,lying beneath their shelter1 every fresh flickering of the fire kindled the leaves into brightness and banished into dark interstices the lake and sky2 then the fire died into embers1 the leaves faded into solid darkness in their turn1 and water and heavens showed light and close and near1 until fresh twigs caught fire and the blaze came up again4 ,rising to look forth1 at intervals1 during the night1--for it is the worst feature of a night out-doors1 that sleeping seems such a waste of time1--we watched the hilly and wooded shores of the lake sink into gloom and glimmer into dawn again1 amid the low plash of waters and the noises of the night4 ,precisely at half-past three1 a song-sparrow above our heads gave one liquid trill1 so inexpressibly sudden and delicious1 that it seemed to set to music every atom of freshness and fragrance that ,nature held2 then the spell was broken1 and the whole shore and lake were vocal with song4 ,joining in this jubilee of morning1 we were early in motion2 bathing and breakfast1 though they seemed indisputably in accordance with the instincts of the ,universe1 yet did not detain us long1 and we were promptly on our way to ,lily ,pond4 ,will the reader join us8 ,it is one of those summer days when a veil of mist gradually burns away before the intense sunshine1 and the sultry morning only plays at coolness1 and that with its earliest visitors alone4 ,but we are before the sunlight1 though not before the sunrise1 and can watch the pretty game of alternating mist and shine4 ,stray gleams of glory lend their trailing magnificence to the tops of chestnut-trees1 floating vapors raise the outlines of the hills and make mystery of the wooded islands1 and1 as we glide through the placid water1 we can sing1 with the ,chorus in the ,ion of ,euripides1 ,o immense and brilliant air1 resound with our cries of joy6 ,almost every town has its ,lily ,pond1 dear to boys and maidens1 and partially equalizing1 by its annual delights1 the presence or absence of other geographical advantages4 ,ours is accessible from the larger lake only by taking the skiff over a narrow embankment1 which protects our fairyland by its presence1 and eight distant factories by its dam4 ,once beyond it1 we are in a realm of dark ,lethean water1 utterly unlike the sunny depths of the main lake4 ,hither the water-lilies have retreated1 to a domain of their own4 ,darker than these dark waves1 there stand in their bosom hundreds of submerged trees1 and dismasted roots still upright1 spreading their vast1 uncouth limbs like enormous spiders beneath the surface4 ,they are remnants of border wars with the axe1 vegetable ,witheringtons1 still fighting on their stumps1 but gradually sinking into the soft ooze1 and ready1 perhaps1 when a score of centuries has piled two more strata of similar remains in mud above them1 to furnish foundations for a newer ,new ,orleans2 that city having been lately discovered to be thus supported4 ,the present decline in business is clear revenue to the water-lilies1 and these waters are higher than usual because the idle factories do not draw them off4 ,but we may notice1 in observing the shores1 that peculiar charm of water1 that1 whether its quantity be greater or less1 its grace is the same2 it makes its own boundary in lake or river1 and where its edge is1 there seems the natural and permanent margin4 ,and the same natural fitness1 without reference to mere quantity1 extends to its children4 ,before us lie islands and continents of lilies1 acres of charms1 whole1 vast1 unbroken surfaces of stainless whiteness4 ,and yet1 as we approach them1 every islanded cup that floats in lonely dignity1 apart from the multitude1 appears as perfect in itself1 couched in white expanded perfection1 its reflection taking a faint glory of pink that is scarcely perceptible in the flower4 ,as we glide gently among them1 the air grows fragrant1 and a stray breeze flaps the leaves1 as if to welcome us4 ,each floating flower becomes suddenly a ship at anchor1 or rather seems beating up against the summer wind1 in a regatta of blossoms4 ,early as it is1 the greater part of the flowers are already expanded4 ,indeed1 that experience of ,thoreau's1 of watching them open in the first sunbeams1 rank by rank1 is not easily obtained1 unless perhaps in a narrow stream1 where the beautiful slumberers are more regularly marshalled4 ,in our lake1 at least1 they open irregularly1 though rapidly4 ,but1 this morning1 many linger as buds1 while others peer up1 in half-expanded beauty1 beneath the lifted leaves1 frolicsome as ,pucks or baby-nymphs4 ,as you raise the leaf1 in such cases1 it is impossible not to imagine that a pair of tiny hands have upheld it1 or else that the pretty head will dip down again1 and disappear4 ,others1 again1 have expanded all but the inmost pair of white petals1 and these spring apart at the first touch of the finger on the stem4 ,some spread vast vases of fragrance1 six or seven inches in diameter1 while others are small and delicate1 with petals like fine lace-work4 ,smaller still1 we sometimes pass a flotilla of infant leaves1 an inch in diameter4 ,all these grow from the deep1 dark water1--and the blacker it is1 the fairer their whiteness shows4 ,but your eye follows the stem often vainly into those sombre depths1 and vainly seeks to behold ,sabrina fair1 sitting with her twisted braids of lilies1 beneath the glassy1 cool1 but not translucent wave4 ,do not start1 when1 in such an effort1 only your own dreamy face looks back upon you1 beyond the gunwale of the reflected boat1 and you find that you float double1 self and shadow4 ,let us rest our paddles1 and look round us1 while the idle motion sways our light skiff onward1 now half-embayed among the lily-pads1 now lazily gliding over intervening gulfs4 ,there is a great deal going on in these waters and their fringing woods and meadows4 ,all the summer long1 the pond is bordered with successive walls of flowers4 ,in early spring emerge the yellow catkins of the swamp-willow1 first2 then the long tassels of the graceful alders expand and droop1 till they weep their yellow dust upon the water2 then come the birch-blossoms1 more tardily2 then the downy leaves and white clusters of the medlar or shadbush 7,amelanchier ,canadensis of ,gray72 these dropping1 the roseate chalices of the mountain-laurel open2 as they fade into melancholy brown1 the sweet ,azalea uncloses2 and before its last honeyed blossom has trailed down1 dying1 from the stem1 the more fragrant ,clethra starts out above1 the button-bush thrusts forth its merry face amid wild roses1 and the ,clematis waves its sprays of beauty4 ,mingled with these grow1 lower1 the spiraeas1 white and pink1 yellow touch-me-not1 fresh white arrowhead1 bright blue vervain and skullcap1 dull snakehead1 gay monkey-flower1 coarse eupatoriums1 milk-weeds1 golden-rods1 asters1 thistles1 and a host beside4 ,beneath1 the brilliant scarlet cardinal-flower begins to palisade the moist shores2 and after its superb reflection has passed away from the waters1 the grotesque witch-hazel flares out its narrow yellow petals amidst the ,october leaves1 and so ends the floral year4 ,there is not a week during all these months1 when one cannot stand in the boat and wreathe garlands of blossoms from the shores4 ,these all crowd around the brink1 and watch1 day and night1 the opening and closing of the water-lilies4 ,meanwhile1 upon the waters1 our queen keeps her chosen court1 nor can one of these mere land-loving blossoms touch the hem of her garment4 ,in truth1 she bears no sister near her throne4 ,there is but this one species among us1 ,nymphaea odorata4 ,the beautiful little rose-colored ,nymphaea sanguinea1 which once adorned the ,botanic ,garden at ,cambridge1 was merely an occasional variety of costume4 ,she has1 indeed1 an ,english half-sister1 ,nymphaea alba1 less beautiful1 less fragrant1 but keeping more fashionable hours1--not opening 7according to ,linnaeus7 till seven1 nor closing till four4 ,her humble cousin1 the yellow ,nuphar1 keeps commonly aloof1 as becomes a poor relation1 though created from the selfsame mud1--a fact which ,hawthorne has beautifully moralized4 ,the prouder ,nelumbium1 a second-cousin1 lineal descendant of the sacred bean of ,pythagoras1 keeps aloof1 through pride1 not humility1 and dwells1 like a sturdy democrat1 in the ,far ,west4 ,but1 undisturbed1 the water-lily keeps her fragrant court1 with few attendants4 ,the tall pickerel-weed 7,pontederia7 is her gentleman-usher1 gorgeous in blue and gold through ,july1 somewhat rusty in ,august4 ,the water-shield 7,hydropeltis7 is chief maid-of-honor2 she is a highborn lady1 not without royal blood indeed1 but with rather a bend sinister2 not precisely beautiful1 but very fastidious2 encased over her whole person with a gelatinous covering1 literally a starched duenna4 ,sometimes she is suspected of conspiring to drive her mistress from the throne2 for we have observed certain slow watercourses where the leaves of the water-lily have been almost wholly replaced by the similar1 but smaller1 leaves of the water-shield4 ,more rarely seen is the slender ,utricularia1 a dainty maiden1 whose light feet scarce touch the water1--with the still more delicate floating white ,water-,ranunculus1 and the shy ,villarsia1 whose submerged flowers merely peep one day above the surface and then close again forever4 ,then there are many humbler attendants1 ,potamogetons or pond-weeds4 ,and here float little emissaries from the dominions of land2 for the fallen florets of the ,viburnum drift among the lily-pads1 with mast-like stamens erect1 sprinkling the water with a strange beauty1 and cheating us with the promise of a new aquatic flower4 ,these are the still life of this sequestered nook2 but it is in fact a crowded thoroughfare4 ,no tropic jungle more swarms with busy existence than these midsummer waters and their bushy banks4 ,the warm and humming air is filled with insect sounds1 ranging from the murmur of invisible gnats and midges1 to the impetuous whirring of the great ,libellulae1 large almost as swallows1 and hawking high in air for their food4 ,swift butterflies glance by1 moths flutter1 flies buzz1 grasshoppers and katydids pipe their shrill notes1 sharp as the edges of the sunbeams4 ,busy bees go humming past1 straight as arrows1 express-freight-trains from one blossoming copse to another4 ,showy wasps of many species fume uselessly about1 in gallant uniforms1 wasting an immense deal of unnecessary anger on the sultry universe4 ,graceful1 stingless ,sphexes and ,ichneumon-flies emulate their bustle1 without their weapons4 ,delicate lady-birds come and go to the milkweeds1 spotted almost as regularly as if ,nature had decided to number the species1 like policemen or hack-drivers1 from one to twenty4 ,elegant little ,lepturae fly with them1 so gay and airy1 they hardly seem like beetles4 ,phryganeae1 7ns caddisworms17 laceflies1 and long-tailed ,ephemerae flutter more heavily by4 ,on the large alder-flowers clings the superb ,desmocerus palliatus1 beautiful as a tropical insect1 with his steel-blue armor and his golden cloak 7pallium7 above his shoulders1 grandest knight on this ,field of the ,cloth of ,gold4 ,the countless fireflies which spangled the evening mist now only crawl sleepily1 daylight creatures1 with the lustre buried in their milky bodies4 ,more wholly children of night1 the soft1 luxurious ,sphinxes 7or hawk-moths7 come not here2 fine ladies of the insect world1 their home is among gardens and green-houses1 late and languid by day1 but all night long upon the wing1 dancing in the air with unwearied muscles till long past midnight1 and supping on honey at last4 ,they come not here2 but the nobler butterflies soar above us1 stoop a moment to the water1 and then with a few lazy wavings of their sumptuous wings float far over the oak-trees to the woods they love4 ,all these hover near the water-lily2 but its special parasites are an elegant beetle 7,donacia metallica7 which keeps house permanently in the flower1 and a few smaller ones which tenant the surface of the leaves1--larva1 pupa1 and perfect insect1 forty feeding like one1 and each leading its whole earthly career on this floating island of perishable verdure4 ,the beautiful blue damsel-flies alight also in multitudes among them1 so fearless that they perch with equal readiness on our boat or paddle1 and so various that two adjacent ponds will sometimes be haunted by two distinct sets of species4 ,in the water1 among the leaves1 little shining whirlwigs wheel round and round1 fifty joining in the dance1 till1 at the slightest alarm1 they whirl away to some safer ballroom1 and renew the merriment4 ,on every floating log1 as we approach it1 there is a convention of turtles1 sitting in calm debate1 like mailed barons1 till1 as we approach1 they plump into the water1 and paddle away for some subaqueous ,runnymede4 ,beneath1 the shy and stately pickerel vanishes at a glance1 shoals of minnows glide1 black and bearded pouts frisk aimlessly1 soft water-lizards hang poised without motion1 and slender pickerel-frogs cease occasionally their submerged croaking1 and1 darting to the surface with swift vertical strokes1 gulp a mouthful of fresh air1 and down again to renew the moist soliloquy4 ,time would fail us to tell of the feathered life around us1--the blackbirds that build securely in these thickets1 the stray swallows that dip their wings in the quiet waters1 and the kingfishers that still bring1 as the ancients fabled1 halcyon days4 ,yonder stands1 against the shore1 a bittern1 motionless in that wreath of mist which makes his long-legged person almost as dim as his far-off booming by night4 ,there poises a hawk1 before sweeping down to some chosen bough in the dense forest2 and there fly a pair of blue-jays1 screaming1 from tree to tree4 ,as for wild quadrupeds1 the race is almost passed away4 ,far to the ,north1 indeed1 the great moose still browses on the lily-pads1 and the shy beaver nibbles them2 but here the few lingering four-footed creatures only haunt1 but do not graze upon these floating pastures4 ,eyes more favored than ours may yet chance to spy an otter in this still place2 there by the shore are the small footprints of a mink2 that dark thing disappearing in the waters1 yonder1 a soft mass of drowned fur1 is a musquash4 ,later in the season1 a mound of earth will be his winter dwelling-place2 and those myriad muscle-shells at the water's edge are the remnant of his banquets1--once banquets for the ,indians1 too4 ,but we must return to our lilies4 ,there is no sense of wealth like floating in this archipelago of white and green4 ,the emotions of avarice become almost demoralizing4 ,every flower bears a fragrant ,california in its bosom1 and you feel impoverished at the thought of leaving one behind4 ,but after the first half-hour of eager grasping1 one becomes fastidious1 rather scorns those on which the wasps and flies have alighted1 and seeks only the stainless4 ,but handle them tenderly1 as if you loved them4 ,do not grasp at the open flower as if it were a peony or a hollyhock1 for then it will come off1 stalkless1 in your hand1 and you will cast it blighted upon the water2 but coil your thumb and second finger affectionately around it1 press the extended forefinger firmly to the stem below1 and with one steady pull you will secure a long and delicate stalk1 fit to twine around the graceful head of your beloved1 as the ,hindoo goddess of beauty encircled with a ,lotus the brow of ,rama4 ,consider the lilies4 ,all over our rural watercourses1 at midsummer1 float these cups of snow4 ,they are ,nature's symbols of coolness4 ,they suggest to us the white garments of their ,oriental worshippers4 ,they come with the white roses and prepare the way for the white lilies of the garden4 ,the white doe of ,rylstone and ,andrew ,marvell's fawn might fitly bathe amid their beauties4 ,yonder steep bank slopes down to the lake-side1 one solid mass of pale pink laurel1 but1 once upon the water1 a purer tint prevails4 ,the pink fades into a lingering flush1 and the white creature floats peerless1 set in green without and gold within4 ,that bright circle of stamens is the very ring with which ,doges once wedded the ,adriatic1 ,venice has lost it1 but it dropped into the water-lily's bosom1 and there it rests forever4 ,so perfect in form1 so redundant in beauty1 so delicate1 so spotless1 so fragrant1--what presumptuous lover ever dared1 in his most enamored hour1 to liken his mistress to a water-lily8 ,no human ,blanche or ,lilian was ever so fair as that4 ,the water-lily comes of an ancient and sacred family of white-robed priests4 ,they assisted at the most momentous religious ceremonies1 from the beginning of recorded time4 ,the ,egyptian ,lotus was a sacred plant2 it was dedicated to ,harpocrates and to the god ,nofr ,atmoo1--,nofr meaning good1 whence the name of our yellow lily1 ,nuphar4 ,but the true ,egyptian flower was ,nymphaea ,lotus1 though ,nymphaea caerulea1 ,moore's blue water-lilies1 can be traced on the sculptures also4 ,it was cultivated in tanks in the gardens2 it was the chief material for festal wreaths2 a single bud hung over the forehead of many a queenly dame2 and the sculptures represent the weary flowers as dropping from the heated hands of belles1 in the later hours of the feast4 ,rock softly on the waters1 fair lilies6 your ,eastern kindred have rocked on the stormier bosom of ,cleopatra4 ,the ,egyptian ,lotus was1 moreover1 the emblem of the sacred ,nile1--as the ,hindoo species1 of the sacred ,ganges2 and both the one and the other was held the symbol of the creation of the world from the waters4 ,the sacred bull ,apis was wreathed with its garlands2 there were niches for water1 to place it among tombs2 it was carved in the capitals of columns2 it was represented on plates and vases2 the sculptures show it in many sacred uses1 even as a burnt-offering2 ,isis holds it2 and the god ,nilus still binds a wreath of water-lilies around the throne of ,memnon4 ,from ,egypt the ,lotus was carried to ,assyria1 and ,layard found it among fir-cones and honeysuckles on the later sculptures of ,nineveh4 ,the ,greeks dedicated it to the nymphs1 whence the name ,nymphaea4 ,nor did the ,romans disregard it1 though the ,lotus to which ,ovid's nymph ,lotis was changed1 servato nomine1 was a tree1 and not a flower4 ,still different a thing was the enchanted stem of the ,lotus-eaters of ,herodotus1 which prosaic botanists have reduced to the ,zizyphus ,lotus found by ,mungo ,park1 translating also the yellow ,lotus-dust into a mere farina1 tasting like sweet gingerbread4 ,but in the ,lotus of ,hindostan we find our flower again1 and the ,oriental sacred books are cool with water-lilies4 ,open the ,vishnu ,purana at any page1 and it is a ,sortes ,lilianae4 ,the orb of the earth is ,lotus-shaped1 and is upborne by the tusks of ,vesava1 as if he had been sporting in a lake where the leaves and blossoms float4 ,brahma1 first incarnation of ,vishnu1 creator of the world1 was born from a ,lotus2 so was ,sri or ,lakshmu1 the ,hindoo ,venus1 goddess of beauty and prosperity1 protectress of womanhood1 whose worship guards the house from all danger4 ,seated on a full-blown ,lotus1 and holding a ,lotus in her hand1 the goddess ,sri1 radiant with beauty1 rose from the waves4 ,the ,lotus is the chief ornament of the subterranean ,eden1 ,patala1 and the holy mountain ,meru is thought to be shaped like its seed-vessel1 larger at summit than at base4 ,when the heavenly ,urvasi fled from her earthly spouse1 ,purvavas1 he found her sporting with four nymphs of heaven1 in a lake beautified with the ,lotus4 ,when the virtuous ,prahlada was burned at the stake1 he cried to his cruel father1 ,the fire burneth me not1 and all around ,i behold the face of the sky1 cool and fragrant with beds of ,lotus-flowers6 ,above all1 the graceful history of the transformations of ,krishna is everywhere hung with these fresh chaplets4 ,every successive maiden whom the deity wooes is ,lotus-eyed1 ,lotus-mouthed1 or ,lotus-cheeked1 and the youthful hero wears always a ,lotus-wreath4 ,also the clear sky was bright with the autumnal moon1 and the air fragrant with the perfume of the wild water-lily1 in whose buds the clustering bees were murmuring their song4 ,elsewhere we find fuller details4 ,in the primordial state of the world1 the rudimental universe1 submerged in water1 reposed on the bosom of the ,eternal4 ,brahma1 the architect of the world1 poised on a ,lotus-leaf1 floated upon the waters1 and all that he was able to discern with his eight eyes was water and darkness4 ,amid scenes so ungenial and dismal1 the god sank into a profound reverie1 when he thus soliloquized3 ',who am ,i8 ,whence am ,i8' ,in this state of abstraction ,brahma continued during the period of a century and a half of the gods1 without apparent benefit or a solution of his inquiries1 a circumstance which caused him great uneasiness of mind4 ,it is a comfort1 however1 to know1 that subsequently a voice came to him1 on which he rose1 seated himself upon the ,lotus in an attitude of contemplation1 and reflected upon the ,eternal1 who soon appeared to him in the form of a man with a thousand heads3 a questionable exchange for his ,lotus-solitude4 ,this is ,brahminism2 but the other great form of ,oriental religion has carried the same fair symbol with it4 ,one of the ,bibles of the ,buddhists is named ,the ,white ,lotus of the ,good ,laer4 ,a pious ,nepaulese bowed in reverence before a vase of lilies which perfumed the study of ,sir ,william ,jones4 ,at sunset in ,thibet1 the ,french missionaries tell us1 every inhabitant of every village prostrates himself in the public square1 and the holy invocation1 ,oh1 the gem in the ,lotus6 goes murmuring over hill and valley1 like the sound of many bees4 ,it is no unmeaning phrase1 but an utterance of ardent desire to be absorbed into that ,brahma whose emblem is the sacred flower4 ,the mystic formula or mani is imprinted on the pavement of the streets1 it floats on flags from the temples1 and the wealthy ,buddhists maintain sculptor-missionaries1 ,old ,mortalities of the water-lily1 who1 wandering to distant lands1 carve the blessed words upon cliff and stone4 ,having got thus far into ,orientalism1 we can hardly expect to get out again without some slight entanglement in philology4 ,lily-pads4 ,whence pads8 ,no other leaf is identified with that singular monosyllable4 ,has our floating ,lotus-leaf any connection with padding1 or with a footpad8 with the ambling pad of an abbot1 or a paddle1 or a paddock1 or a padlock8 with many-domed ,padua proud1 or with ,st4 ,patrick8 ,is the name derived from the ,anglo-,saxon paad or petthian1 or the ,greek ,greek3 pateo8 ,all the etymologists are silent2 ,tooke and ,richardson ignore the problem2 and of the innumerable pamphlets in the ,worcester and ,webster ,controversy1 loading the tables of school-committee-men1 not one ventures to grapple with the lily-pad4 ,but was there ever a philological trouble for which the ,sanscrit could not afford at least a conjectural cure8 ,a dictionary of that extremely venerable tongue is an ostrich's stomach1 which can crack the hardest etymological nut4 ,the ,sanscrit name for the ,lotus is simply ,padma4 ,the learned ,brahmins call the ,egyptian deities ,padma ,devi1 or ,lotus-,gods2 the second of the eighteen ,hindoo ,puranas is styled the ,padma ,purana1 because it treats of the epoch when the world was a golden ,lotus2 and the sacred incantation which goes murmuring through ,thibet is ,om mani padme houm4 ,it would be singular1 if upon these delicate floating leaves a fragment of our earliest vernacular has been borne down to us1 so that here the schoolboy is more learned than the savans4 ,this lets us down easily to the more familiar uses of this plant divine4 ,by the ,nile1 in early days1 the water-lily was good not merely for devotion1 but for diet4 ,from the seeds of the ,lotus1 said ,pliny1 the ,egyptians make bread4 ,the ,hindoos still eat the seeds1 roasted in sand2 also the stalks and roots4 ,in ,south ,america1 from the seeds of the ,victoria 7,nymphaea ,victoria1 now ,victoria ,regia7 a farina is made1 preferred to that of the finest wheat1--,bonpland even suggesting to our reluctant imagination ,victoria-pies4 ,but the ,european species are used1 so far as we know1 only in dyeing1 and as food 7if the truth be told7 of swine4 ,our own water-lily is rather more powerful in its uses2 the root contains tannin and gallic acid1 and a decoction of it gives a black precipitate1 with sulphate of iron4 ,it graciously consents to become an astringent1 and a styptic1 and a poultice1 and1 banished from all other temples1 still lingers in those of ,a,esculapius4 ,the botanist also finds his special satisfactions in our flower4 ,it has some strange peculiarities of structure4 ,so loose is the internal distribution of its tissues1 that it was for some time held doubtful to which of the two great vegetable divisions1 exogenous or endogenous1 it belonged4 ,its petals1 moreover1 furnish the best example of the gradual transition of petals into stamens1 --illustrating that wonderful law of identity which is the great discovery of modern science4 ,every child knows this peculiarity of the water-lily1 but the extent of it seems to vary with season and locality1 and sometimes one finds a succession of flowers almost entirely free from this confusion of organs4 ,our readers may not care to know that the order of ,nymphaeaceae differs from ,ranunculaceae in the consolidation of its carpels1 from ,papaveraceae in the placentation not being parietal1 and from ,nelumbiaceae in the want of a large truncated disc containing monospermous achenia2 but they may like to know that the water-lily has relations on land1 in all gradations of society1 from poppy to magnolia1 and yet does not conform its habits precisely to those of any of them4 ,its great black roots1 sometimes as large as a man's arm1 form a network at the bottom of the water4 ,its stem floats1 an airy four-celled tube1 adapting itself to the depth1 though never stiff in shallows1 like the stalk of the yellow lily3 and it contracts and curves when seed-time approaches1 though not so ingeniously as the spiral threads of the ,european ,vallisneria1 which uncoil to let the flowers rise to the surface1 and then cautiously retract1 that the seeds may ripen on the very bottom of the lake4 ,the leaves show beneath the magnifier beautiful adaptations of structure4 ,they are not1 like those of land-plants1 constructed with deep veins to receive the rain and conduct it to the stem1 but are smooth and glossy1 and of even surface4 ,the leaves of land-vegetation have also thousands of little breathing-pores1 principally on the under side3 the apple-leaf1 for instance1 has twenty-four thousand to a square inch4 ,but here they are fewer2 they are wholly on the upper side1 and1 whereas in other cases they open or shut according to the moisture of the atmosphere1 here the greedy leaves1 secure of moisture1 scarcely deign to close them4 ,nevertheless1 even these give some recognition of hygrometric necessities1 and1 though living on the water1 and not merely christened with dewdrops like other leaves1 but baptized by immersion all the time1 they are yet known to suffer in drought and to take pleasure in the rain4 ,we have spoken of the various kindred of the water-lily2 but we must not leave our fragrant subject without due mention of its most magnificent1 most lovely relative1 at first claimed even as its twin sister1 and classed as a ,nymphaea4 ,we once lived near neighbor to a ,victoria ,regia4 ,nothing1 in the world of vegetable existence1 has such a human interest4 ,the charm is not in the mere size of the plant1 which disappoints everybody1 as ,niagara does1 when tried by that sole standard4 ,the leaves of the ,victoria1 indeed1 attain a diameter of six feet2 the largest flowers1 of twenty-three inches1--less than four times the size of the largest of our water-lilies4 ,but it is not the mere looks of the ,victoria1 it is its life which fascinates4 ,it is not a thing merely of dimensions1 nor merely of beauty1 but a creature of vitality and motion4 ,those vast leaves expand and change almost visibly4 ,they have been known to grow half an inch an hour1 eight inches a day4 ,rising one day from the water1 a mere clenched mass of yellow prickles1 a leaf is transformed the next day to a crimson salver1 gorgeously tinted on its upturned rim4 ,then it spreads into a raft of green1 armed with long thorns1 and supported by a frame-work of ribs and cross-pieces1 an inch thick1 and so substantial1 that the ,brazil ,indians1 while gathering the seed-vessels1 place their young children on the leaves2--yrupe1 or water-platter1 they call the accommodating plant4 ,but even these expanding leaves are not the glory of the ,victoria2 the glory is in the opening of the flower4 ,we have sometimes looked in1 for a passing moment1 at the green-house1 its dwelling-place1 during the period of flowering1--and then stayed for more than an hour1 unable to leave the fascinating scene4 ,after the strange flower-bud has reared its dark head from the placid tank1 moving it a little1 uneasily1 like some imprisoned water-creature1 it pauses for a moment in a sort of dumb despair4 ,then trembling again1 and collecting all its powers1 it thrusts open1 with an indignant jerk1 the rough calyx-leaves1 and the beautiful disrobing begins4 ,the firm1 white1 central cone1 first so closely infolded1 quivers a little1 and swiftly1 before your eyes1 the first of the hundred petals detaches its delicate edges1 and springs back1 opening towards the water1 while its white reflection opens to meet it from below4 ,many moments of repose follow1--you watch1--another petal trembles1 detaches1 springs open1 and is still4 ,then another1 and another1 and another4 ,each movement is so quiet1 yet so decided1 so living1 so human1 that the radiant creature seems a ,musidora of the water1 and you almost blush with a sense of guilt1 in gazing on that peerless privacy4 ,as petal by petal slowly opens1 there still stands the central cone of snow1 a glacier1 an alp1 a jungfrau1 while each avalanche of whiteness seems the last4 ,meanwhile1 a strange rich odor fills the air1 and ,nature seems to concentrate all fascinations and claim all senses for this jubilee of her darling4 ,so pass the enchanted moments of the evening1 till the fair thing pauses at last1 and remains for hours unchanged4 ,in the morning1 one by one1 those white petals close again1 shutting all their beauty in1 and you watch through the short sleep for the period of waking4 ,can this bright transfigured creature appear again1 in the same chaste beauty8 ,your fancy can scarcely trust it1 fearing some disastrous change2 and your fancy is too true a prophet4 ,come again1 after the second day's opening1 and you start at the transformation which one hour has secretly produced4 ,can this be the virgin ,victoria1--this thing of crimson passion1 this pile of pink and yellow1 relaxed1 expanded1 voluptuous1 lolling languidly upon the water1 never to rise again8 ,in this short time every tint of every petal is transformed2 it is gorgeous in beauty1 but it is ,hebe turned to ,magdalen4 ,but our rustic water-lily1 our innocent ,nymphaea1 never claiming such a hot-house glory1 never drooping into such a blush1 blooms on placidly in the quiet waters1 till she modestly folds her leaves for the last time1 and bows her head beneath the surface forever4 ,next year she lives for us only in her children1 fair and pure as herself4 ,nay1 not alone in them1 but also in memory4 ,the fair vision will not fade from us1 though the paddle has dipped its last crystal drop from the waves1 and the boat is drawn upon the shore4 ,we may yet visit many lovely and lonely places1--meadows thick with violet1 or the homes of the shy ,rhodora1 or those sloping forest-haunts where the slight ,linnaea hangs its twin-born heads1--but no scene will linger on our vision like this annual ,feast of the ,lilies4 ,on scorching mountains1 amid raw prairie-winds1 or upon the regal ocean1 the white pageant shall come back to us again1 with all the luxury of summer heats1 and all the fragrant coolness that can relieve them4 ,we shall fancy ourselves again among these fleets of anchored lilies1--again1 like ,urvasi1 sporting amid the ,lake of ,lotuses4 ,for that which is remembered is often more vivid than that which is seen4 ,the eye paints better in the presence1 the heart in the absence1 of the object most dear4 ,he who longs after beautiful ,nature can best describe her1 said ,bettine2 he who is in the midst of her loveliness can only lie down and enjoy4 ,it enhances the truth of the poet's verses1 that he writes them in his study4 ,absence is the very air of passion1 and all the best description is in memoriam4 ,as with our human beloved1 when the graceful presence is with us1 we cannot analyze or describe1 but merely possess1 and only after its departure can it be portrayed by our yearning desires2 so is it with ,nature3 only in losing her do we gain the power to describe her1 and we are introduced to ,art1 as we are to ,eternity1 by the dropping away of our companions4 ,,fifty ,,and ,,fifteen4 ,with gradual gleam the day was dawning1 ,some lingering stars were seen1 ,when swung the garden-gate behind us1-- ,he fifty1 ,i fifteen4 ,the high-topped chaise and old gray pony ,stood waiting in the lane3 ,idly my father swayed the whip-lash1 ,lightly he held the rein4 ,the stars went softly back to heaven1 ,the night-fogs rolled away1 ,and rims of gold and crowns of crimson ,along the hill-tops lay4 ,that morn1 the fields1 they surely never ,so fair an aspect wore2 ,and never from the purple clover ,such perfume rose before4 ,o'er hills and low romantic valleys ,and flowery by-roads through1 ,i sang my simplest songs1 familiar1 ,that he might sing them too4 ,our souls lay open to all pleasure1-- ,no shadow came between2 ,two children1 busy with their leisure1-- ,he fifty1 ,i fifteen4 99 99 99 99 99 ,as on my couch in languor1 lonely1 ,i weave beguiling rhyme1 ,comes back with strangely sweet remembrance ,that far-removed time4 ,the slow-paced years have brought sad changes1 ,that morn and this between2 ,and now1 on earth1 my years are fifty1 ,and his1 in heaven1 fifteen4 ,,illinois ,,in ,,spring-,,time3 ,,with ,a ,,look ,,at ,,chicago4 ,i remember very well1 that1 when ,i studied the ,arabian ,nights1 with a devotion which ,i have since found it difficult to bestow on the perusal of better books1 the thing that most excited my imagination was the enchanted locomotive carpet1 granted by one of the amiable genii to his favorite1 to whom it gave the power of being in a moment where nobody expected him1 paying visits at the most unfashionable hours1 and making himself generally ubiquitous when interest or curiosity prompted4 ,the other wonders were none of them inexhaustible4 ,donkeys that talked after their heads were cut off1 just as well as some donkeys do with them on1--old cats turned into beautiful damsels1--birds that obligingly carried rings between parted lovers1--one soon had enough of4 ,caves full of gold and silver1 and lighted by gems resplendent as the stars1 were all very well1 but soon tired4 ,after your imagination had selected a few rings and bracelets1 necklaces and tiaras1 and carried off one or two chests full of gold1 what could it do with the rest1--especially as they might vanish or turn to pebbles or hazel-nuts in your caskets8 ,but flying carpets6 ,they could never tire4 ,you seated yourself just in the middle1 in the easiest possible attitude1 and at a wish you were off1 7not off the carpet1 but off this work-a-day world17 careering through sunny fields of air with the splendid buoyancy of the eagle1 steering your intelligent vehicle by a mere thought1 and descending1 gently as a snow-flake1 to garden-bower or palace-window1 moonlit kiosk or silent mountain-peak1 as whim suggested or affairs urged4 ,this was magic indeed1 and worthy the genii of any age4 ,the sense of reality with which ,i accepted this wonder of wonders has furnished forth many a dream1 sleeping and waking1 since those days2 and it is no uncommon thing for me1 even now1 to be sailing through the air1 feeling its soft waves against my face1 and the delicious refreshment of the upper ether in my breast1 only to wake as if ,i had dropped into bed with a celerity that made the arrival upon earth anything but pleasant4 ,i am not sure but there is some reality in these flights1 after all4 ,these arial journeys may be foretastes of those we shall make after we are freed from the incumbrance of avoirdupois4 ,i hope so1 at least4 ,yet there are good things of the kind here below1 too4 ,after all1 what were a magic carpet that could carry a single lucky wight1--at best1 but a species of heavenly sulky1--compared with a railroad train that speeds along hundreds of men1 women1 and children1 over land and water1 with any amount of heavy baggage1 as well as a boundless extent of crinoline8 ,and if this equipage1 gift of genii of our age1 seem to lack some of the celerity and secrecy which attended the voyagers of the flying carpet1 suppose we add the power of whispering to a friend a thousand miles off the inmost thoughts of the heart1 the most desperate plans1 the most dangerous secrets6 ,do not the two powers united leave the carpet immeasurably behind8 ,shakspeare is said1 in those noted lines1-- ,dear as the ruddy drops ,that visit this sad heart1 to have anticipated the discovery of the circulation of the blood3 did not the writers of the ,oriental stories foresee rail and telegraph1 and describe them in their own tropical style8 ,it is often said1 that1 although medical science leaves us pretty much as it found us with regard to the days of the years of our pilgrimage1 and has as yet1 with all its discoveries1 done little towards prolonging this pleasing1 anxious being1 yet the material improvements of our day do in effect lengthen mortal life for us4 ,and truly1 what must ,indian life have been worth1 when it took a month to cut down a tree with a stone hatchet1 and when the shaping of a canoe was the work of a year8 ,when two hundred miles of travel consumed a week's time1 every two hundred miles' journey was worth a week's life2 and if we accept the idea of a certain celebrated character1 7not ,quintus ,curtius1 but ,geoffrey ,crayon1 ,i believe17 that the time we spend in journeying is just so much subtracted from our little span of days1 what a fearful loss of life must have resulted from our old modes of locomotion6 ,and yet we inconsiderately grumble at an occasional smash-up6 ,so easily are we spoiled6 ,there are grave doubts1 however1 in some minds1 whether our present celerity of travel be wholly a gain upon the old methods4 ,it must depend upon circumstances4 ,if agreeable people virtually live longer now1 so do bores1 cheats1 slanderers1 hypocrites1 and people who eat onions and chew tobacco2 and the rail enables these to pursue their victims with inevitable1 fatal swiftness4 ,some hold that the pleasure of travelling is even impaired by this increase of speed4 ,there is such a thing as fatal facility4 ,as well eat a condensed dinner1 or hear a concert in one comprehensive crash1 ear-splitting and soul-confounding1 as see miles of landscape at a glance4 ,willis says1 travelling on an ,english railway is equivalent to having so many miles of green damask unrolled before your weary eyes4 ,and one may certainly have too much of a good thing4 ,but1 instead of discussing railroads in general1--too grand a theme for me1--let me say that nobody can persuade me it is not delightful to fly over ground scarcely yet trodden by the foot of man2 to penetrate1 with the most subtle resources of inventive art1 the recesses in which ,nature has enshrined herself most privately1--her dressing-room1 as it were1 where we find her in her freshness1 before man-milliners have marred her beauty by attempts at improvement4 ,the contrast between that miracle of art1 a railroad-train at full speed1 and a wide1 lonely prairie1 or a dusky forest1 leafless1 chilly1 and silent1--save for the small tinkling of streams beginning to break from their frosty limits1--is one of the most striking in all the wide range of rural effects4 ,it reminds me1 though perhaps unaccountably to some1 of ,browning's fine image1-- ,and ever and anon some bright white shaft ,burnt through the pine-tree roof1 here burnt and there1 ,as if ,god's messenger through the close wood-screen ,plunged and re-plunged his weapon at a venture4 ,even where fields have begun to be tilled and houses and barns to be built1 the scared flying of domestic animals at sound of the terrific visitor1--the resistless chariot of civilization with scythed axles mowing down ignorance and prejudice as it whirls along1--tells a whole story of change and wonder4 ,we can almost see the shadows of the past escaping into the dim woods1 or flitting over the boundless prairie1 shivering at the fearful whistle1 and seeking shelter from the wind of our darting4 ,the season for this romantic pleasure of piercing primeval ,nature on the wings of subtilest ,art is rapidly drawing to a close4 ,how few penetrable regions can we now find where the rail-car is a novelty6 ,the very cows and horses1 in most places1 know when to expect it1 and hardly vouchsafe a sidelong glance as they munch their green dinner4 ,a railroad to the ,pacific may give excitement of this kind a somewhat longer date1 but those who would enjoy the sensation on routes already in use must begin their explorings at once4 ,there is no time to be lost4 ,if we much longer spend all our summers in beating the changeless paths of the ,old ,world1 our chance for the fresh but fleeting delight ,i have been speaking of will have passed by1 never to return4 ,it were unwise to lose this1 one of the few remaining avenues to a new sensation4 ,europe will keep2 but the prairies will not1 the woods will not1 hardly the rivers4 ,already the flowery waving oceans of ,illinois begin to abound in ships1 or what seem such1--houses looming up from the horizon1 like three-masters sometimes1 sometimes schooners1 and again little tentative sloops4 ,these are creeping nearer and nearer together1 filling and making commonplace those lovely deserts where the imagination can still find wings1 and world-wearied thought a temporary repose4 ,where neighbors were once out of beacon-sight1 they are now within bell-sound2 and however pleasant this may be for the neighbors1 it is not so good for the traveller1 especially the traveller who has seen ,europe4 ,only think of a virgin forest or prairie1 after over-populated ,belgium or finished ,england6 ,europeans understand the thing1 and invariably rush for the prairies2 but we ,americans1 however little we may have seen of either world1 care little for the wonders of our own4 ,yet1 when we go abroad1 we cannot help blushing to acknowledge that we have not seen the most striking features of our own country4 ,i speak from experience4 ,scott1 describing the arid wastes of the ,hebrides1-- ,placed far amid the melancholy main1 and swept bare by wintry-cold sea-breezes1 said1-- ,yes6 'twas sublime1 but sad2 the loneliness ,loaded thy heart1 the desert tired thine eye4 ,but how different the loneliness of a soft-waving prairie1--soft even before the new grass springs2 soft in outline1 in coloring1 in its whispering silence6 ,nothing sad or harsh2 no threat or repulsion2 only mild hope1 and promise of ease and abundance4 ,whether the glad flames sport amid the long dry grass of last year1 or the plough turn up a deep layer of the exhaustless soil1 or flocks of prairie-chickens fly up from every little valley1 images of life1 joy1 and plenty belong to the scene4 ,the summer flowers are not more cheerful than the spring blaze1 the spring blackness of richness1 or the spring whirr and flutter4 ,the sky is alive with the return of migratory birds1 swinging back and forth1 as if hesitating where to choose1 where all is good4 ,frogs hold noisy jubilees1 7,anniversary ,meetings1 perhaps17--very hoarse1 and no wonder1 considering their damp lodging1--but singing1 in words more intelligible than those of the opera-choruses1 ,winter's gone6 ,spring's come6 ,no1 it isn't6 ,yes1 it is6--and the ,ayes have it4 ,the woodpecker's hammer helps the field-music1 wherever he can find a tree4 ,he seems to know the carpenter is coming1 and he makes the most of his brief season4 ,all is life1 movement1 freedom1 joy4 ,not on the very ,alps1 where their black needles seem to dart into the blue depths1 or snow-fields to mingle with the clouds1 is the immediate1 vital sympathy of ,earth with ,heaven more evident and striking4 ,the comparative ease with which prairie regions are prepared for the advent of the great steam-car is exactly typical of the facilities which they offer to other particulars of civilization4 ,as the smoothing of the prairie path1 preparatory to railway speed1 is but short work1 compared with the labor required in grading and levelling mountainous tracts for the same purpose1 so the introduction of all that makes life desirable goes on with unexampled rapidity where the land requires no felling of heavy timber to make it ready for the plough1 and where the soil is rich to such a depth that no man fears any need of new fertilizing in his life-time or his son's4 ,we observe this difference everywhere in prairiedom2 and it is perhaps this thought1 this close interweaving of marked outward aspect with great human interests1 that gives the prairie country its air of peculiar cheerfulness4 ,to man the earth was given2 for him its use and its beauty were created2 it is his idea which endows it with expression1 whether savage or kindly4 ,rocks and mountains suggest the force required to conquer difficulties1 and the power with which the lord of creation is endowed to subdue them2 and the chief charm and interest of such regions is derived1 consciously or unconsciously1 from this suggestion4 ,prairie images are more domestic1 quiet1 leisurely4 ,no severe1 wasting labor is demanded before corn and milk for wife and little ones are wrung from reluctant clods4 ,no danger is there of sons or daughters being obliged to quit their homes and roam over foreign lands for a precarious and beggarly subsistence4 ,no prairie-boy will ever carry about a hand-organ and a monkey1 or see his sister yoked to the plough1 by the side of horse or ox4 ,blessed be ,god that there are still places where grinding poverty is unfelt and unfeared6 ,riches fineless belong to these deep1 soft fields1 and they become picturesque by the thought1 as the sea becomes so by the passing of a ship1 and the burning desert by the foot-print of a traveller or the ashes of his fire4 ,it was in spring weather1 neither cold nor warm1 now and then shiny1 and again spattering with a heavy shower1 or misty under a warm1 slow rain1--the snow still lying in little streaks under shady ridges1--that ,i first saw the prairies of ,illinois4 ,everybody--kind everybody6--said1 ,why didn't you come in ,june8 ,but ,i1 not being a bird of the air1 who alone travels at full liberty1 the world before him where to choose and ,providence his guide1 cared not to answer this friendly query1 but promised to be interested in the spring aspect of the prairies1 after my fashion1 as sincerely as more fastidious travellers can be in the summer one4 ,it is very well to be prepared when company is expected1 but friends may come at any time4 ,brown fields and pastures bare have no terrors for me4 ,green is gayer1 but brown softer4 ,blue skies are not alone lovely2 gray ones set them off--,rain enhances shine4 ,mud1 to be sure2--but then railroads are the ,napoleons of mud4 ,planks and platforms quench it completely4 ,one may travel through tenacious seas of it without smirching one's boot-heel4 ,there is even a feeling of triumph as we see it lying sulky and impotent on either side1 while we bowl along dry-shod4 ,when ,noah and his family came out of the ,ark1 and found all soft with the ,deluge1 it was very different4 ,the prospect must have been discouraging4 ,i thought of it as we went through1 or rather over1 the prairies4 ,but if there had been in those days an ,ararat ,central1 with good incline and stationary engine1 they need not have sent out dove or raven1 but might have started for home as soon as the rails shone in the sun and they could get the ,ark on wheels4 ,it would have been well to move carefully1 to be sure2 and it is odd to think what a journey they might have had1 now and then stopping or switching-off because of a dead ,mastodon across the track1 or a panting ,leviathan lashing out1 thirstily1 with impertinent tail1--to say nothing of sadder sights and impediments4 ,there were only pleasant reminiscences of the ,great ,deluge as we flew along after a little one4 ,happy we6 in a nicely-cushioned car1 berthed1 curtained1 and1 better than all1 furnished with the best society1 sans starch1 sans crinoline2 the gentlemen sitting on their hats as much as they pleased1 and the ladies giving curls and collars the go-by1 all in tip-top humor to be pleased4 ,i could imagine but one improvement to our equipage1--that a steam-organ attached to it should have played1 very softly1 ,felicien ,david's lovely level music of ,the ,desert1 as we bowled along4 ,there were long glittering side-streams between us and the black or green prairie1--streams with little ripples on their faces1 as the breeze kissed them in passing1 and now and then a dimple1 under the visit of a vagrant new-born beetle4 ,to call such shining waters mud or puddles did not accord with the spirit of the hour2 so we fancied them the mirroring waters of the poet1 and compared them to fertilizing ,nile1--whose powers1 indeed1 they share1 to some extent4 ,by their sides ought to be planted willows and poplars1 and alders of half a dozen kinds1 but are not yet4 ,all in good time4 ,thirsty trees would drink up superfluous moisture1 and in return save fuel by keeping off sweeping winds1 and money by diverting heavy snows1 those ,russian enemies to the ,napoleon rail1 and by preserving embankments1 to which nothing but interlacing roots can give stability4 ,rows of trees bordering her railroads would make ,illinois look more like ,france1 which in many respects she already resembles4 ,the haze or mirage of the prairies is wonderfully fantastic and deceptive4 ,the effect which seamen call looming is one of the commonest of its forms4 ,this brings real but distant objects into view1 and dignifies them in size and color1 till we can take a farm-house for a white marble palace1 and leafless woods with sunset clouds behind them for enchanted gardens hung with golden fruit4 ,but the most gorgeous effects are1 as is usual with air-castles1 created out of nothing1--that is1 nothing more substantial than air1 mist1 and sun- or moon- or star-beams4 ,fine times the imagination has1 riding on purple and crimson rays1 and building ,islands of the ,blest among vapors that have just risen from the turbid waters of the ,mississippi6 ,no ,loudon or ,downing is invoked for the contriving or beautifying of these villa-residences and this landscape-gardening4 ,genius comes with inspiration1 as inspiration does with genius2 and we are our own architects and draughtsmen1 rioting at liberty with ,nature's splendid palette at our command1 and no thought of rule or stint4 ,why should we not1 in solider things1 derive more aid1 like the poor little ,marchioness of ,dickens1 from this blessed power of imagination8 ,those who do so are always laughed at as unpractical2 but are they not most truly practical1 if they find and use the secret of gilding over1 and so making beautiful or tolerable1 things in themselves mean or sad8 ,once upon a time1 then1 the great ,state of ,illinois was all under water2--at least1 so say the learned and statistical4 ,if you doubt it1 go count the distinctly-marked ridges in the so-called bluffs1 and see how many years or ages this modern deluge has been subsiding4 ,where its remains once lay sweltering under the hot sun1 and sucking miasms from his beams1 now spread great green expanses1 wholesome and fertile1 making the best possible use of sunbeams1 and offering1 by their aid1 every earthly thing that men and animals need for their bodily growth and sustenance1 in almost fabulous abundance4 ,the colored map of ,illinois1 as given in a nice1 new book1 called1 ,illinois as it is1 looks like a beautiful piece of silk1 brocaded in green 7prairies7 on a brownish ground 7woodland tracts71--the surface showing a nearly equal proportion of the two2 while the swampy lands1 designated by dark blue1--in allusion1 probably1 to the occasional state of mind of those who live near them1--take up a scarce appreciable part of the space4 ,long1 straggling bluffs1 on the banks of the rivers1 occupy still less room2 but they make1 on land and paper1 an agreeable variety4 ,people thus far go to them only for the mineral wealth with which they abound4 ,it will be many years1 yet1 before they will be thought worth farming2 not because they would not yield well1 but because there is so much land that yields better4 ,some parts of the ,state are hilly1 and covered with the finest timber4 ,the scenery of these tracts is equal to any of the kind in the ,united ,states2 and much of it has been long under cultivation1 having been early chosen by ,southern settlers1 who have grown old upon the soil4 ,here and there1 on these beautiful highlands1 we find ancient ladies1 bright-eyed and cheerful1 who tell us they have occupied the selfsame house--built1 ,kentucky-fashion1 with chimney outside--for forty years or so4 ,the legends these good dames have to tell are1 no doubt1 quite as interesting in their way as those which ,sir ,walter ,scott used to thread the wilds of ,scotland to gather up2 but we value them not4 ,by-and-by1 posterity will anathematize us for letting our old national stories die in blind contempt or sheer ignorance of their value4 ,the only thing to be found fault with in the landscape is the want of great fields full of stumps4 ,it does not seem like travelling in a new country to see all smooth and ready for the plough4 ,trees are not here looked upon as natural enemies2 and so1 where they grow1 there they stand1 and wave triumphant over the field like victors' banners4 ,no finer trees grow anywhere1 and one loves to see them so prized4 ,yet we miss the dear old stumps4 ,my heart leaps up when ,i behold hundreds of them so close together that you can hardly get a plough between4 ,long1 long years ago1 ,i have seen a dozen men toiling in one little cleared spot1 jollily engaged in burning them with huge fires of brush-wood1 chopping at them with desperate axes1 and tearing the less tenacious out by the roots1 with a rude machine made on the principle of that instrument by the aid of which the dentist revenges you on an offending tooth4 ,the country looks tame1 at first1 without these characteristic ornaments1 so suggestive of human occupancy4 ,the ground is excellently fertile where stumps have been1 and association makes us rather distrustful of its goodness where nothing but grass has ever grown4 ,the prairies are not as flat in surface as one expects to find them4 ,except in the scarcity of trees1 their surface is very much like other portions of what is considered the best farming land4 ,there are great tracts of what are called bushy prairies1 covered with a thick growth of hazel and sassafras1 jessamine and honey-suckle1 and abounding in grape-vines4 ,these tracts possess springs in abundance4 ,the islands so often alluded to by travellers are most picturesque and beautiful features in the landscape4 ,they must not be compared to oases1 for they are surrounded by anything but sterility2 but they are the evidence of springs1 and generally of a slight rise in the ground1 and the timber upon them is of almost tropical luxuriance4 ,herds of deer are feeding in their shade1 the murmur of wild bees fills the air1 and the sweet vine-smell invites birds and insects of every brilliant color4 ,prairie-chickens are in flocks everywhere1 and the approach of civilization scarcely ever disturbs them4 ,no engine-driver in the southern part of the ,state but has often seen deer startled by the approach of his train1 and many tell tales of more ferocious denizens of the wilds4 ,buffalo have all long since disappeared2 but what times they must have had in this their paradise1 before they went6 ,on the higher prairies the grass is of a superior quality1 and its seed almost like wheat4 ,on those which are low and humid it grows rank and tough1 and sometimes so high that a man on horseback may pass through it unobserved4 ,the crowding of vegetation1 owing to the over-fertility of the soil1 causes all to tend upward1 so that most of the growth is extra high1 rather than spreading in breadth4 ,in the very early spring1 the low grass is interspersed with quantities of violets1 strawberry-blossoms1 and other delicate flowers4 ,as the grass grows taller1 flowers of larger size and more brilliant hues diversify it1 till at length the whole is like a flowery forest1 but destined to be burnt over in the autumn1 leaving their ashes to help forward the splendid growth of their successors4 ,one of the marvels of this marvellous prairiedom1 at the present hour1 is the taste and skill displayed in houses and gardens4 ,one fancies a settler in the ,western wilds so occupied with thoughts of shelter and sustenance as hardly to remember that a house must be perpendicular to be safe1 and a garden fenced before it is worth planting4 ,but every mile of our prairie-flight reminds us1 that1 where no time and labor are to be consumed in felling trees and toting logs to mill1--planks and joists1 and such like1 walking in1 by rail1 all ready for the framing1--there is leisure for reflection and choice as to form2 and also1 that1 where fertility is the inevitable attendant upon the first incision of the plough1 what we shall plant and how we shall plant it become the only topics for consideration4 ,setting aside the merely temporary residences of the poorer class of farmers1--houses sure to be replaced by palaces of pine-boards1 at least1 before a great while1 provided the owner does not move ,west1 or take to whiskey1--the cottages we catch glimpses of from car-windows are pretty and well-planned1 and some of them show even better on the inside than on the out4 ,i must forbear to enlarge on the comfort and abundance of these dwellings1 lest ,i trench upon private matters2 but ,i may mention1 by way of illustrating my subject1 and somewhat as the painter introduces human figures into his picture to give an idea of the height of a tower or the vastness of a cathedral1 that ,i have found an abundant and even elegant table1 under frescoed ceiling1 in a cottage near the ,illinois ,central1 and far south of the mid-line of this wonderful ,state1 so lately a seeming waste through much of its extent4 ,and thus throughout4 ,at one moment a bare expanse1 looking man-despised1 if not ,god-forgotten1--and at the next1 a smiling village1 with tasteful dwelling1 fine shrubbery1 great hotels1 spires pointing heavenward1 and trees that look down with the conscious dignity of old settlers1 as if they had stood just so since the time of good ,father ,marquette1 that stout old missionary1 who first planted the holy cross in their shade1 and1 after offering to the ,mightiest thanks and supplications1 fell asleep to wake no more4 ,there are many interesting reminiscences or traditions of the early ,european settlers of ,illinois4 ,after ,father ,marquette1--whom ,i always seem to see in ,hicks's sweet picture of a monk inscribing the name ,,jesu on the bark of a tree in the forest1--came ,la ,salle1 an emissary of the great ,colbert1 under ,louis ,,xiv42 an explorer of many heroic qualities1 who has left in this whole region important traces of his wanderings1 and the memory of his bloody and cruel murder at the impious hands of his own followers1 who had not patience to endure to the end4 ,counted as part of ,florida1 under ,spanish rule1 and part of ,louisiana1 under that of the ,french1--falling into the hands of the celebrated ,john ,law1 in the course of his bubble ,mississippi scheme1 and afterwards ceded with ,canada and ,nova ,scotia to the ,english1 ,illinois was never ,americanized until the peace of '#hc4 ,the spongy turf of her prairies bore the weight of many a fort1 and drank the blood of the slain in many a battle1 when all around her was at peace4 ,the fertility of her soil and the comparative mildness of her climate caused her to be eagerly contended for1 as far back as #afgc1 when the pioneers grew poetical under the inspiration of a joy that could not be expressed1 as they passed her broad plains1 all garlanded with majestic forests and checkered with illimitable prairies and island groves4 ,we are ,illinois1 said the poor ,indians to ,father ,marquette1--meaning1 in their language1 ,we are men4 ,and the ,jesuits treated them as men2 but by traders they soon began to be treated like beasts2 and of course--poor things6--they did their best to behave accordingly4 ,all the forts are ruins now2 there is no longer occasion for them4 ,the ,indians are nothing4 ,there can scarcely be found the slightest trace of their occupancy of these rich acres4 ,nations that build nothing but uninscribed burial-places foreshadow their own doom1--to return to the soil and be forgotten4 ,but the mode of their passing away is not1 therefore1 a matter of indifference4 ,on the stronger and more intelligent rests the responsibility of such changes2 and in the case of our ,indians1 it is certain that a load of guilt1 individual and national1 rests somewhere4 ,necessity is no ,christian plea1 ,it must needs be that offences come1 but woe to him by whom the offence cometh6 ,the ,indian and the negro shall rise up in judgment against our rich and happy land1 and condemn it for inhumanity and selfishness4 ,have they not already done so8 ,blood and treasure1 poured out like water1 have been the beginnings of retribution in one case2 a deeper and more vital punishment1 such as belongs to bosom-sins1 awaits us in the other4 ,shall no penitence1 no sacrifice1 attempt to avert it8 ,illinois1 level1 fertile1 joyous1 took ,french rule very kindly4 ,the missionaries1 who were physicians1 schoolmasters1 and artisans1 as well as preachers1 lived among the people1 instructed them in the arts of life as well as in the ceremonies and spirit of the ,catholic faith2 and natives and foreigners seem to have dwelt together in peace and love4 ,the ,french brought with them the regularity and neatness that characterize their home-settlements1 and the abundance in which they lived enabled them to be public-spirited and to deal liberally even with the ,indians4 ,they raised wheat in such plenty that ,indian corn was cultivated chiefly for provender1 although they found the voyageurs glad to buy it as they passed back and forth on their adventurous journeys4 ,the remains of their houses show how substantially they built2 two or three modern sudden houses could be made out of one old ,french picketed and porticoed cottage4 ,the appearance of an ,illinois settler in those days was rather picturesque than elegant1--substance before show being the principle upon which it was planned4 ,while the ,indian still wore his paint and feathers when he came to trade1 the rural swain appeared in a capote made of blanket1 with a hood that served in cold weather instead of a ,leary1 buck-skin overalls1 moccasins of raw-hide1 and1 generally1 only a natural shock of ,sampsonian locks between his head and the sun2 while his lady-love was satisfied with an outfit not very different1--save that there is no tradition that she ever capped the climax of ugliness by wearing ,bloomers4 ,there were gay colors for holidays1 no doubt2 but not till #ahcj1 we are told1 did the genuine ,illinois settler adopt the commonplace dress of this imitative land4 ,what pity when people are in such haste to do away with everything characteristic in costume6 ,both sexes worked hard1 bore rough weather without flinching1 and attended carefully to their religious duties2 but1 withal1 they were gay and joyous1 ready for dance and frolic1 and never so anxious to make money that they forgot to make fun4 ,what must the ghosts of these primitive ,christians think of their successors1 ploughing in broadcloth and beaver1 wading through the mud in patent-leather boots1 and all the while wrinkled with anxiety1 gaunt with ambition1 and grudging themselves three holidays a year6 ,immigrants in time changed the character of the population as well as its dress1 and for a while there seems to have been something of a jumble of elements1 new laws conflicting with old habits1 hungry politicians preying upon a simple people1 who only desired to be let alone1 and who1 when they discovered some gross imposition1 were philosophical enough to call it1 jokingly1 being greased and swallowed4 ,this anarchical condition resulted1 as usual1 in habits of personal violence2 and1 at one time1 an adverse vote was considered matter for stabbing or gouging1 and juries often dismissed indictments1 fearing private vengeance in case of a discharge of their duty4 ,they made a wide distinction1 in murder trials1 between him who committed the crime in a passion and those who did the thing quietly2 so that you had only to walk up to the person who had offended you1 and shoot him in the open street1 to feel tolerably sure of impunity4 ,in short1 there seems to have prevailed1 at that time1 north of ,mason and ,dixon's line1 very much the same state of things that still prevails south of it2 but there was other leaven at work1 and the good sense of the people gradually got the better of this short-sighted folly of violence4 ,it is reported as fact1 by all writers on the earlier history of this ,state1 that the holding of courts was conducted very much in the style reported of the back counties of ,georgia and ,alabama in our day4 ,the sheriff would go out into the court-yard and say to the people1 ,come in1 boys1--the court is going to begin1--or sometimes1 ,our ,john is going to open court now1--the judge being just one of the boys4 ,judges did not like to take upon themselves the onus of deciding cases1 but shared it with the jury as far as possible4 ,one story1 well authenticated1 runs thus3 ,a certain judge1 having to pass sentence of death upon one of his neighbors1 did it in the following form3 ,mr4 ,green1 the jury in their verdict say you are guilty of murder1 and the law in that case says you are to be hung4 ,now ,i want you and all your friends down on ,indian ,creek to know that it is not me that condemns you1 but the jury and the law4 ,what time would you like to be hung1 ,sir8 ,the poor man replied1 that it made no difference to him2 he would rather the court should appoint a time4 ,well1 then1 ,mr4 ,green1 says the judge1 the court will allow you four weeks' time to prepare for death and settle up your business4 ,it was here suggested by the ,attorney-,general that it was usual in such cases for the court to recapitulate the essential parts of the evidence1 to set forth the nature and enormity of the crime1 and solemnly to exhort the prisoner to repent and fit himself for the awful doom awaiting him4 ,oh6 said the judge1 ,mr4 ,green understands all that as well as if ,i had preached to him a month4 ,don't you1 ,mr4 ,green8 ,you understand you're to be hung this day four weeks8 ,yes1 ,sir1 replied ,mr4 ,green1 and so the matter ended4 ,one legal brilliant blazes on the forehead of youthful ,illinois1 in the shape of a summary remedy for duelling4 ,one of those heroes who think it safer to appeal to chance than to logic in vindication of tarnished honor1 and who imagine the blood of a dead friend the only salve to be relied on for the cure of wounded feelings1 killed his opponent in a duel4 ,the law of ,illinois very coolly hanged the survivor2 and from that time to this1 other remedies have been found for spiritual hurts1 real or imaginary4 ,nobody has fancied it necessary to fight with a noose round his neck4 ,if ever capital punishment were lawful1 7which ,i confess ,i do not think it ever can be17 it would be as a desperate remedy against this horrid relic of mediaeval superstition and impiety1 no wiser or more ,christian than the ordeal by burning ploughshares or poisoned wine4 ,the rope in judicial hands is certainly as lawful as the pistol in rash ones2 so the duellist has no reason to complain4 ,some of the later days of ,illinois1 the days of ,indian wars and ,mormon wars1 pro-slavery wars and financial wars1 are too red and black for peaceful pages2 and as they were incidental rather than characteristic1 they do not come within our narrow limits4 ,there is still too large an infusion of the cruel slavery spirit in the laws of ,illinois2 but the immense tide of immigration will necessarily remedy that1 by overpowering the influence introduced over the southern border4 ,so nearly a ,southern ,state was ,illinois once considered to be1 that1 in settling the northern boundary1 it was deemed essential to give her a portion of the lake-shore1 that her interests might be at least balanced4 ,they have proved to be more than balanced by this wise provision4 ,the little excuse there is in this favored region for a sordid devotion to toil1 a journey through the ,state1 even at flying pace1 is sufficient to show4 ,the fertility of the soil is the despair of scientific farming4 ,who cares for rules1 when he has only to drop a seed and tread on it1 to be sure of a hundred-fold return8 ,who talks of succession of crops1 when twelve burdens of wheat1 taken from the same soil in as many years1 leave the ground black and ready for another yield of almost equal abundance8 ,an alluvial tract of about three hundred thousand acres1 near the ,mississippi1 has been cultivated in ,indian corn a hundred and fifty years1--indeed1 ever since the ,french occupation of ,illinois4 ,what of under-draining8 ,some forty or fifty rivers threading the ,state1 besides smaller streams innumerable1 always will do that1 as soon as the ,nilic floods of spring have accomplished their work by floating to the surface the finest part of the soil4 ,irrigation8 ,you may now grow rice on one farm and grapes on another1 without travelling far between4 ,it is true1 there must be an end to this universality of power and advantage1 some day2 but nobody can see far enough ahead to feel afraid1 and it is not in the spirit of our time to think much about the good of our grandchildren4 ,what has posterity done for me8 is the instinctive question of the busy ,westerner1 as he sits down under vine and fig-tree which his own hands have planted1 to enjoy peace and plenty1 after suffering the inevitable hardships of pioneer life4 ,you may tell him he is not wise to scorn good rules2 but he will reply1 that he did not come so far ,west1 and begin life anew1 for the sake of being wise1 but of making money1 and that as rapidly as possible4 ,he has forgotten the care and economy learned among the cold and stony hills of ,new ,england1 and wants to do everything on a large scale4 ,he likes to hear of patent reapers1 ,briarean threshing-machines1 and anything that will save him most of the time and trouble of gathering in his heavy crops1--but that is all4 ,the growth of those crops he has nothing to do with4 ,that is provided for by ,nature in ,illinois2 if it were not1 he would move out ,west4 ,stories of this boundless fertility are rife here4 ,one pioneer told us1 that1 when a fence is to be made and post-holes are wanted1 it is only necessary to drop beet-seed ten feet apart all around the field1 and1 when the beet is ripe1 you pull it up and your post-hole is ready6 ,to be sure1 there was a twinkle in the corner of his eye as he stated this novel and interesting fact2 but1 after all1 the fertility in question was not so extravagantly poefied by this canard as some may suppose4 ,our friend went on to state1 that1 in his district1 they had a kind of corn which produced from a single grain a dozen stalks of twelve ears each2 and not content with this1 on most of the stalks you would find1 somewhere near the top1 a small calabash full of shelled corn6 ,to put the matter beyond doubt1 he pulled a handful of the corn from his pocket1 which he invited us to plant1 and satisfy ourselves4 ,the reader has probably concluded1 by this time1 that beets and corn are not the only enormous things grown in ,illinois4 ,a friend told us1 in perfectly good faith1 that a tract of his1 some fourteen thousand acres1 in the southern part of the ,state1 contained coal enough to warm the world1 and more iron than that coal would smelt1--salt enough for all time1 and marble and rich metallic ores of various kinds besides4 ,in one region are found inexhaustible beds of limestone1 the smoke of whose burning fills the whole spring air1 and the crevices of whose formation make very pokerish-looking caves1 which young and adventurous ladies are fond of exploring2 in another we come to quantities of that snow-white porcelain clay of which some people suppose themselves to have been originally formed1 but which has been1 in a commercial point of view1 hitherto a desideratum in these ,united ,states of ours4 ,the people at ,mound ,city 7an aspiring rival of ,cairo1 on the banks of the ,ohio7 are about building a factory for the exploitation of this clay1 not into ladies and gentlemen1 7unpopular articles here17 but into china-ware1 the quality of which will be indisputable4 ,one soon ceases wondering at the tropicality of the ,illinoisian imagination4 ,ali ,baba's eye-straining experiences were poor1 compared to these every-day realities4 ,the ,open ,sesame in this case has been spoken through the railroad-whistle4 ,railroads cannot make mines and quarries1 and fat soil and bounteous rivers2 yet railroads have been the making of ,illinois4 ,nobody who has ever seen her spring roads1 where there are no rails1 can ever question it4 ,from the very fatness of her soil1 the greater part of the ,state must have been one ,slough of ,despond for three quarters of the year1 and her inhabitants strangers to each other1 if these iron arms had not drawn the people together and bridged the gulfs for them4 ,no roads but railroads could possibly have threaded the ,state1 a large and the best portion of whose surface is absolutely devoid of timber1 stone1 gravel1 or any other available material4 ,the prairies must have remained flowery deserts1 visited as a curiosity every year by strangers1 but without dwellings for want of wood4 ,the vast quarries must1 of course1 have lain useless1 for want of transporting power1--our friend's coal and iron undisturbed1 waiting for an earthquake1--and the poetical pioneer's beets and ,indian corn unplanted1 and therefore uncelebrated4 ,well may it be said here1 that iron is more valuable than gold4 ,population1 agriculture1 the mechanic arts1 literature1 taste1 civilization1 in short1 are all magnetized by the beneficent rail1 and follow wherever it leads4 ,the whole southern portion of ,illinois has been nicknamed ,egypt1 --whether because at its utmost point1 on a dampish delta1 reposes the far-famed city of ,cairo1--or whether1 as wicked satirists pretend1 its denizens have been found1 in certain particulars1 rather behind our times in intellectual light4 ,whatever may have been the original excuse for the sobriquet1 the derogatory one exists no more4 ,light has penetrated1 and darkness can reign no longer4 ,every day1 a fiery visitant1 bearing the collective intelligence of the whole world's doings and sayings1 dashes through ,egypt into ,cairo1 giving off scintillations at every hamlet on the way1--and every day the brilliant marvel returns1 bringing northward1 not only the good things of the ,ohio and ,mississippi1 but tropic on-dits and oranges1 only a few hours old1 to the citizens of ,chicago1 far in advance of the 7,new ,york7 mail4 ,with the rail comes the telegraph2 and whispers of the rise and fall of fancies and potatoes1 of speculations and elections1 of the sale of corner-lots and the evasion of bank-officers1 are darting about in every direction over our heads1 as we unconsciously admire the sunset1 or sketch a knot of rosy children as they come trooping from a quaint school-house on the prairie edge4 ,fancy the rail gone1 and we have neither telegraph1 nor school-house1 nor anything of all this but the sunset1--and even that we could not be there to see in spring-time1 at least1 unless we could transmigrate for the time into the relinquished forms of some of these aboriginal bull-frogs1 which grow to the nice size of two feet in length1 destined1 no doubt1 to receive the souls of habitual croakers hereafter4 ,but if the railroads have been the making of the land1 it is not to be denied that the land has been the making of the railroads4 ,egyptian minds they must have been1 that grudged the tracts given by the ,united ,states to the greatest of roads1 the greatest road in the world4 ,having bestowed a line of alternate sections on this immense undertaking1--vital in importance1 and impossible without such aid1--the ,government at once doubled the price of the intermediate sections1 and sold them at the doubled price1 though they had been years1 and might have been ages1 in market unsold1 without means of communication and building4 ,who1 then1 was the loser8 ,not the ,united ,states2 for they received for half the land just what they would otherwise have received for the whole4 ,not the ,state2 for it lays hands on a good slice of the annual profits1 not to speak of incalculable benefits beside4 ,not the farmer1 surely2 for what would his now high-priced land be worth1 if the grand road were annihilated8 ,not the bond-holder2 for he receives a fair1 full interest on his money4 ,not the stock-holder2 for he looks with eyes of faith toward a great future4 ,it was a sort of triangular or quadrangular or pentangular bargain1 in which all these parties were immensely benefited4 ,the traveller blesses such liberal policy1 as he flies along towards the land of oranges1 or turns aside to measure mammoth beets or weigh extra-supernal corn1 to bore or to prospect1 to pick at olite and shale or to peep and botanize through an inexhaustible ,flora4 ,the present writer has certainly reason to be grateful1--not1 alas6 with that gushing warmth of feeling which the owners of shares or bonds naturally experience1--but as an 'umble individual who could not have found material for this valuable article1 if certain gentlemen who do own the said shares had not been very enterprising4 ,the man who may be said to have devised the land-basis for railroads through unsettled tracts--a financier of unsurpassed sagacity1 and once the soul of commercial honor as well as intelligence--should not1 in his dishonored grave1 and far beyond the reach of human scorn or vengeance1 be denied the credit of what he accomplished before the fatal madness seized his soul and dragged him to perdition4 ,let it be enough that his name has come to be an epithet of infamy in his land's language4 ,let not the grandeur of his views1 the intent with which he set out1 and the good he achieved1 be lost in oblivion4 ,pride--by that sin fell the angels6--cast him headlong down the irrecoverable steep1-- ,and when he fell1 he fell like ,lucifer1-- aye6 like ,wolsey and ,bacon1-- ,never to rise again6 ,it is no sin to hope that the ,all-seeing eye discerned in those noble undertakings and beneficent results the germ of wings that shall one day bear him back to light and mercy4 ,let us1 who benefit by his good deeds1 not insist on remembering only the evil6 ,chicago1 the ,wondrous1 sits amid her wealth1 like a magnificent sultana1 half-reclining over a great oval mirror1 supplied by that lake of lakes1 the fathomless ,michigan4 ,perhaps the resemblance might be unpoetically traced to particulars2 for we are told by lotos-eating travellers1 that ,oriental beauties1 with all their splendor1 are not especially clean4 ,certain it is that our ,occidental sultana dresses her fair head with towers and spires1 and hangs about her neck long rows of gems in the shape of stately and elegant dwellings1--yet1 descending to her feet1 we sink in mud and mire1 or tumble unguardedly into excavations set like traps for the unwary1 or oust whole colonies of rats from beneath plank walks where they have burrowed securely ever since improvements began4 ,at some seasons1 indeed1 there is no mud2 because the high winds from the lake or the prairies turn the mud into dust1 which blinds our eyes1 fills our mouths1 and makes us ,quakers in appearance and anything but saints in heart4 ,chicago-walking resembles none but such as ,christian encountered as he fled from the ,city of ,destruction2 yet in this case the ills are those of a ,city of ,construction4--sure to disappear as soon as the builders find time to care for such trifles4 ,chicago people1 it is well known1 walk with their heads in the clouds1 and1 naturally1 do not mind what happens to their feet4 ,it is only strangers who exclaim1 and sometimes more than exclaim1 at the dangers of the way4 ,cast-away carriages lie along the road-side1 like ships on ,fire ,island beach4 ,nobody minds them4 ,if you see a gentleman at a distance1 progressing slowly with a gliding or floundering pace1 you conclude he has a horse under him1 and1 perhaps1 on nearer approach1 you see bridle and headstall4 ,this is in early spring1 while the frost is coming out of the ground4 ,as the season advances1 the horse emerges1 and you are just getting a fair sight of him when the dust begins and he disappears again4 ,so say the scoffers1 and those who would1 but do not1 own any city-lots in that favored vicinity2 and to the somewhat heated mind of the traveller who encounters such things for the first time1 the story does not seem so very much exaggerated4 ,simple wayfarers like myself1 however1 tell no such wicked tales of the ,garden ,city2 but remember only her youth1 her grandeur1 her spirit1 her hospitality1 her weight of cares1 her immense achievements1 and her sure promise of future metropolitan splendors4 ,the vicinity of ,chicago is all dotted with beautiful villa-residences4 ,to drive among them is like turning over a book of architectural drawings1--so great is their variety1 and so marked the taste which prevails4 ,many of them are of the fine light-colored stone found in the neighborhood1 and their substantial excellence inspires a feeling that all this prosperity is of no ephemeral character4 ,people do not build such country-houses until they feel settled and secure4 ,the lake-shore is of course the line of attraction1 for it is the only natural beauty of the place4 ,but what trees6 ,several of the streets of ,chicago may easily become as beautiful drives as the far-famed ,cascine at ,florence1 and will be so before her population doubles again1--which is giving but a short interval for the improvement4 ,no parks as yet1 however4 ,land on the lake-shore is too precious1 and the flats west of the town are quite despised4 ,yet city parks do not demand very unequal surface1 and it would not require a very potent landscape-gardener or an unheard-of amount of dollars to make a fine driving-and riding-ground1 where the new carriages of the fortunate might be aired1 and the fine horses of the gay exercised1 during a good part of the year4 ,to describe ,chicago1 one would need all the superlatives set in a row4 ,grandest1 flattest1--muddiest1 dustiest1--hottest1 coldest1--wettest1 driest1--farthest north1 south1 east1 and west from other places1 consequently most central1--best harbor on ,lake ,michigan1 worst harbor and smallest river any great commercial city ever lived on1--most elegant in architecture1 meanest in hovel-propping1--wildest in speculation1 solidest in value1--proudest in self-esteem1 loudest in self-disparagement1--most lavish1 most grasping1--most public-spirited in some things1 blindest and darkest on some points of highest interest4 ,and some poor souls would doubtless add1--most fascinating1 or most desolate1--according as one goes there1 gay and hopeful1 to find troops of prosperous friends1 or1 lonely and poor1 with the distant hope of bettering broken fortunes by struggling among the driving thousands already there on the same errand4 ,there is1 perhaps1 no place in the world where it is more necessary to take a bright and hopeful view of life1 and none where this is more difficult4 ,there is too much at stake4 ,those who have visited ,baden-,baden and her ,kursaal sisters in the height of the season need not be told that no church-face ever equalled in solemnity the countenances of those who surround the fatal tables1 waiting for the stony lips of the croupier to announce ,noir perd or ,rouge gagne4 ,at ,chicago are a wider table1 higher stakes1 more desperate throws1 and ,fate herself presiding1 or what seems ,fate1 at once partial and inexorable4 ,but1 on this great scale1 even success fails to bring smiles4 ,the winners sit with hair on end at their own wonders1 and half-fearing that such golden showers have some illusion about them and may prove fairy favors at last4 ,next to this fueling comes the thirst for more4 ,enlarged means bring enlarged desires and ever-extending plans4 ,the repose and lightness of heart that were at first to be the reward of success recede farther and farther into the dim distance1 until at last they are lost sight of entirely1 confessed1 with a sigh1 to be unattainable4 ,how can people in this ,state wear cheerful countenances8 ,when one looks at the gay and social faces and habits of some little ,german town1 where are cultivated people1 surrounded by the books and pictures they love1 with leisure enough for music and dancing and tea-garden chat1 for deep friendships and lofty musings1 it would seem as if our shrewd ,yankee-land and its outcroppings at the ,west had not yet found out everything worth knowing4 ,froissart's famous remark about the ,english in ,france--,they take their pleasure sadly1 after their fashion--may apply to the population of ,chicago1 and it will be some time yet1 ,i fancy1 before they will take it very gayly4 ,at a little country-town1 the other day1 not within a thousand miles of ,chicago1 a family about leaving for a distant place advertised their movables for sale at auction4 ,there was such a stir throughout the settlement as called forth an expression of wonder from a stranger4 ,ah6 said a good lady1 auctions are the only gayety we have here6 ,joking apart1 there was a deep ,american truth in this seeming niaiserie4 ,chicago has1 as we have said1 with all her wealth1 no public park or other provision for out-door recreation4 ,she has no gallery of ,art1 or the beginning of one1--no establishment of music1 no public library1--no social institution whatever1 except the church4 ,without that blessed bond1 her people would be absolute units1 as independent of each other as the grains of sand on the seashore1 swept hither and thither by the ocean winds4 ,but even before these words have found their way to the ,garden ,city1 they will1 perhaps1 be inapplicable1--so rapid is progress at the ,west4 ,the people are like a great family moving into a new house4 ,there is so much sweeping and dusting to do1 so much finding of places for the furniture1 so much time to spend in providing for breakfast1 dinner1 and tea1 lodging and washing1 that nobody thinks of unpacking the pictures1 taking the books out of their boxes1 or getting up drives or riding-parties4 ,all these come in good time1 and will be the better done for a little prudent delay4 ,there is1 to the stranger1 an appearance of extreme hurry in ,chicago1 and the streets are very peculiar in not having a lady walking in them4 ,day after day ,i traversed them1 meeting crowds of men1 who looked like the representatives of every nation and tongue and people1--and every class of society1 from the greenest rustic1 or the most undisguised sharper1 to the man of most serious respectability1 or him of highest ton4 ,yet one lady walking in the streets ,i saw not2 and when ,i say not one lady1 ,i mean that ,i did not meet a woman who seemed to claim that title1 or any title much above that of an ordinary domestic4 ,perhaps this is only a spring symptom1 which passes off when the mud dries up a little1--but it certainly gave a rather forlorn or funereal aspect to the streets for the time4 ,there is1 nevertheless1 potent inspiration in the resolute and occupied air of these crowds4 ,hardly any one stays long among them without feeling a desire to share their excitement1 and do something towards the splendid future which is evidently beckoning them on4 ,preparing the future6 ,it is glorious business4 ,no wonder it makes the pulse quicken and the eye look as if it saw spirits4 ,it may be said1 that in some sense we are all preparing the future2 but in the ,west there is a special meaning in the expression4 ,in circumstances so new and wondrous1 first steps are all-important4 ,those who have been providentially led to become early settlers have immense power for good or evil4 ,one can trace in many or most of our ,western towns1 and even ,states1 the spirit of their first influential citizens4 ,happy is it for ,chicago that she has been favored in this respect1--and to her honor be it said1 that she appreciates her benefactors4 ,of one citizen1 who has been for twenty years past doing the quiet and modest work of a good genius in the city of his adoption1 it is currently said1 that he has built a hundred miles of her streets1--and there is no mark of respect and gratitude that she would not gladly show him4 ,other citizens take the most faithful and disinterested care of her schools2 and to many she is indebted for an amount of liberality and public spirit which is constantly increasing her enormous prosperity4 ,happy the city which possesses such citizens6 ,happy the citizens who have a city so nobly deserving of their best services6 ,,an ,,evening ,,with ,,the ,,telegraph-,,wires4 ,my cousin ,moses has made the discovery that he is a powerful magnetizer4 ,like many others who have newly come into possession of a small tract in those mysterious1 outlying1 unexplored wildernesses of ,nature1 which we call by so many names1 but which as yet refuse to be defined or classed1 he has been naturally eager to commence operations1 and exploit and farm it a little4 ,he is making experiments on a narrow border of his wild lands4 ,he is a man of will and of strong physique1 with an inquiring and scientific turn of mind1 which inclines him chiefly to metaphysical studies4 ,it is not to be wondered at1 that1 having lately discovered that he possesses the mesmeric gift1 he should not sufficiently discriminate as to its application4 ,later he will see that it is an agent not to be tampered with1 and never to be used on healthy subjects1 but applied only to invalids4 ,to-day he is like a newly-armed knight-errant1 bounding off on his steed at sunrise1 in search of adventures4 ,one afternoon1 not long since1 he was telling me of his extraordinary successes with somnambulists and somnoparlists1--of old ladies cured of nervous headaches and face-twitches1 and of young ones put to sleep at a distance from the magnetizer1 dropping into a trance suddenly as a bird struck by a gun-shot1 simply by an act of his volition1--of water turned into wine1 and wine into brandy1 to the somnambulic taste1--and so on1 till we got wandering into crooked by-paths of physics and metaphysics1 that seemed to lead us nowhere in particular1--when ,i said1 ,come1 ,cousin ,moses1 suppose you try it on me1 by way of experiment4 ,but ,i have my doubts if you'll ever put me to sleep4 ,my cousin yielded to my request with alacrity2--every subject for mesmerism was for him legitimate2--and ,i relinquished myself to his passes with the docility of a man about to be shaved4 ,the passes from the head downward were kept up perseveringly for half an hour1 without my experiencing any change1 or manifesting the least symptom of drowsiness4 ,at last the charm began to work4 ,i began to be conscious of a singular trickling or creeping sensation following the motion of his passes down my arms4 ,my respiration grew short4 ,i experienced1 however1 no tendency to sleep1 and my mind was perfectly calm and unexcited4 ,my cousin was satisfied with his experiment so far1 but we both concluded it had better end here4 ,so he made the reverse passes1 in order to undo the knot he was beginning to tie in my nerves4 ,he did not1 however1 entirely succeed in untying it4 ,i was a healthy subject1 and the magnetism continued to affect my nerves1 in spite of the untangling passes4 ,soon after1 ,i rose and took my leave4 ,i was strangely excited1 but it was a purely physical1 and not a mental excitement4 ,thinking that a walk would quiet me1 ,i went through street after street1 until ,i reached the outskirts of the city4 ,it was a mild ,september evening4 ,the fine weather and the sight of the trees and fields tempted me to continue my walk4 ,it was near sunset1 and ,i strolled on and on1 watching the purple gray and ruddy gold of the clouds1 until ,i had got fairly into the country4 ,as ,i rambled on1 ,i was suddenly seized with a fancy to climb a tree which stood by the roadside1 and rest myself in a convenient notch which ,i observed between two of the limbs4 ,i was soon seated in among the branches1 with a canopy of leaves around and over me1--feeling1 in my still nervous condition1 as ,i leaned my back against the mossy bark1 like a magnified tree-toad in clothes4 ,the air was balmy and fragrant1 and against the amber of the western sky rose and fell numberless little clouds of insects4 ,the birds were chirping and fluttering about me1 and made their arrangements for their night's lodging1 in manifest dread of the clothed tree-toad who had invaded their leafy premises4 ,the peculiar nervousness which had taken possession of me was now passing off1 to be replaced by a species of mental exaltation4 ,i was becoming conscious of something approaching semi-clairvoyance1 and yet not in the ordinary form4 ,sensation1 emotion1 thought were intensified4 ,the landscape around me was dotted with farm-houses1 pillowed in soft1 dark clumps of trees4 ,one by one1 the lights began to appear at the windows1--soft rising stars of home-joys4 ,the glorious ,september sunset was fading1 but still resplendent in the west4 ,the landscape was pervaded with a deeper repose1 the glowing clouds with a diviner splendor than that which filled the eye4 ,then thronging memories awoke4 ,my remembrances of all my past life in the crowded cities of ,america and ,europe rose vividly before me4 ,in the long strata of solid gray clouds1 where the sun had gone down1 leaving only a few vapory gold-fishes swimming in the clear spaces above1 ,i could fancy ,i saw the lonely ,roman ,campagna and the wondrous dome of ,st4 ,peter's1 as when first beheld on the horizon ten years ago4 ,then1 as from the slopes of ,san ,miniato at sunset1 gray1 red-tiled ,florence1 with its ,boboli gardens1 full of nightingales1 its old towers and cathedrals1 and its soaring ,giotto ,campanile4 ,then ,genoa1 with its terraces and marble palaces1 and that huge statue of ,andr ,doria4 ,then ,naples1 gleaming white in the eye of day over her pellucid depths of sea4 ,the golden days of ,italy floated by me4 ,then came the memories1 glad or sad1 of days that had passed in my own native land1--in the very city that lay behind me1--the intimate communings with dear friends1--the musical and the merry nights1--the trials1 anxieties1 sorrows---- ,but all this is very egotistical and unnecessary4 ,i merely meant to say that ,i was in a peculiar1 almost abnormal state of mind1 that evening4 ,the spirit had1 as it were1 been drawn outwards1 and perhaps slightly dislocated1 by those mesmeric passes of my cousin1 and ,i had not succeeded as yet in adjusting it quite satisfactorily in its old bodily grooves and sockets4 ,the condition ,i was in was not as pleasant as ,i could have wished2 for ,i was as alive to painful remembrances and imaginations1 as to pleasant ones4 ,i seemed to myself like a revolving lantern of a light-house1--now dark1 now glowing with a fiery radiance4 ,i asked myself1 ,is it that ,i have been blind and deaf and dull all my life1 and am just waking into real existence8 or am ,i developing into a medium1--,heaven forbid6--and the spirits pushing at some unguarded portal of the nervous system1 and striving to take possession8 ,shall ,i hear raps and knockings when ,i return to my solitary chamber1 and sit a powerless beholder of damaged furniture1 which the spirits will never have the conscience to promise payment for1 when my landlady's bill comes in8 7,by the way1 have the spirits ever behaved like gentlemen in this respect1 and settled up fair and square for the breakages they have indulged in by way of exemplifying the doctrine of a future state87 ,as ,i soliloquized thus1 ,i was attracted by a low vibrating note among the leaves4 ,looking through them1 ,i saw1 for the first time1 that two or three telegraph-wires1 which ,i had observed skirting the road1 ran directly through the tree in which ,i was seated4 ,it was a strange sort of sound1 that came in hurried jerks1 as it were1 accompanied with a corresponding jerk of the wire4 ,a gigantic fancy flashed across me3--,this ,state of ,new ,york is a great guitar2 yonder1 at ,albany1 are the legislative pegs and screws2 down there in ,manhattan ,island is the great sounding-board2 these iron wires are the strings6 ,the spirits are singing1 perhaps1 with their heads up there in the sweet heavens and the rosy clouds1--and this vibration of the wires is a sort of loose jangling accompaniment of their unpractised hands on earth4 ,the voice is always above the strings4--,this ,i thought in my semi-mesmeric condition1 perhaps4 ,i soon laughed at my ,brobdignagian nonsense1 and said1--,there is a telegraphic despatch passing4 ,now if ,i could only find out what it is6--that would be something new in science1--a discovery worth knowing1--to be able to hear or feel the purport of a telegraphic message1 simply by touching the wire along which it runs6 ,so1 regardless of any electric shock ,i might receive1 ,i thrust out my hand through the leaves of the tree1 and boldly grasped the wire4 ,the jerks instantly were experienced in my elbow1 and it was not long before certain short sentences were conveyed1 magnetically1 to my brain4 ,in my amazement at the discovery1 ,i almost dropped out of the tree4 ,however1 ,i kept firm hold of the wire1 and my sensorium made me aware of something passing like this3--,market active4 ,fair demand for exchange4 ,transactions from five to ten thousand shares4 ,aristides railroad-stock scarce4 ,rates of freight to ,liverpool firm4 ,yours respectfully1 ,grabber and ,holdham4 ,upon my word1 said ,i1 this is rather dry6--only a merchant6 ,i expected something better than this1 to commence with4 ,the wire being now quiet1 ,i fell into a musing upon the singular discovery ,i had made1--and whether ,i should get anything from the public or the government for revealing it4 ,and then my thoughts wandered across the ,atlantic1 and ,i remembered those long rows of telegraphic wires in ,france1 ruled along the tops of high barrier-walls1 and looking against the sky like immense music-lines1--and those queer inverted-coffee-cup-like supports for the wires1 on the tall posts4 ,then ,i thought of music and coffee at the ,jardin ,mabille4 ,then my fancy wandered down the ,champs ,elyses to those multitudinous spider-web wires that radiate from the palace of the ,tuileries1 where the ,imperial spider sits plotting and weaving his meshes around the liberties of ,france4 ,then ,i thought1 ,what a thing this discovery of mine would be for political conspirators1--to reverse the whispering-gallery of ,dionysius1 and1 instead of the tyrant hearing the secrets of the people1 the people hearing the secrets of the tyrant6 ,then ,i thought of ,robespierre1 and ,marat1 and ,charlotte ,corday1 and ,marie ,antoinette1--then of ,delaroche's and ,mller's pictures of the unfortunate ,queen1--then of pictures in general1--then of landscape-scenery1--till ,i almost fell into a doze1 when ,i was startled by a faint sound along the wire1 as of a sigh1 like the first thrill of the ,a,eolian harp in the evening wind4 ,another message was passing4 ,i reached my hand out to the iron thread4 ,a confused sadness began to oppress me4 ,a mother's voice weeping over her sick child pulsed along the wire4 ,her husband was far away4 ,her little daughter lay very ill4 ,come quick1 said the voice4 ,i have little hope2 but if you were only here1 ,i should be calmer4 ,if she must die1 it would be such a comfort to have you here6 ,i drew my hand away4 ,i saw the whole scene too vividly4 ,who this mother was ,i knew not2 but the news of the death of a child whom ,i knew and loved could not have affected me more strangely and keenly than this semi-articulate sob which quivered along the iron airtrack1 in the silence of the evening1 from one unknown--to another unknown4 ,i roused myself from my sadness1 and thought ,i would descend the tree and stroll home4 ,the moon was up1 and a pleasant walk before me1 with enough to meditate upon in the singular discovery ,i had made4 ,i was about to get down from my crotch in the tree1 and was just reaching out my dexter leg to feel if ,i could touch a bough below me1 when a low1 wild shriek ran along the wire1--as when the wind-harp1 above referred to for illustration1 is blown upon by some rude1 sharp northwester4 ,in spite of myself1 ,i touched the vibrating cord4 ,the message was brief and abrupt1 like a sea-captain's command3--,ship ,trinidad wrecked off ,wildcat's ,beach1--all hands lost1--no insurance6 ,do you recollect1 when sitting alone sometimes in your room1 at midnight1 in the month of ,november1 how1 after a lull in the blast1 the bleak wind will all at once seem to clutch at the windows1 with a demoniac howl that makes the house rock8 ,do you remember the half-whistles and half-groans through the key-holes and crevices1--the cries and shrieks that rise and fall1--the roaring in the chimney1--the slamming of distant doors and shutters8 ,well1 all this seemed to be suggested in the ringing of the iron cord4 ,the very leaves1 green and dewy1 and the delicate branches1 seemed to quiver as the dreary message passed4 ,i thought1--,this is a little too much6 ,this old tree is getting to be a very lugubrious spot4 ,i don't want to hear any more such messages4 ,i almost wish ,i had never touched the wire4 ,strange6 one reads such an announcement in a newspaper very coolly2--why is it that ,i can't take it coolly in a telegraphic despatch8 ,we can read a thing with indifference which we hear spoken with a shudder1--such prisoners are we to our senses6 ,i have had enough of this telegraphing4 ,i sha'n't close my eyes to-night1 if ,i have any more of it4 ,i had now fairly got my foot on the branch below1 and was slipping myself gradually down1 when the wire began to ring like a horn1 and in the merriest of strains4 ,i paused and listened4 ,i could fancy the joyful barking of dogs in accompaniment4 ,ah1 surely1 this is some sportsman1--the hunter's call1 to faun and dryad known4 ,this smacks of the bright sunshine and the green woods and the yellow fields4 ,i will stop and hear it4--,it was just what ,i expected1--a jolly citizen telegraphing his country friend to meet him with his guns and dogs at such a place4 ,and immediately afterwards1 in much the same key1 came a musical note and a message babbling of green fields1 from a painter3--,i shall leave town to-morrow4 ,meet me at ,bullshornville at ten1 ,a4,m4 ,don't forget to bring my field-easel1 canvases1 and the other traps4 ,if there is more of this music1 ,i said1 ,i think ,i shall stay4 ,i love the sportsmen and the artists1 and am glad they are going to have a good time4 ,the weather promises well for them4 ,there was a little pause1 and then a strain of perfect jubilation came leaping along the wire1 like the flying song of the bobolink over tracts of blowing clover and apple-blossoms4 ,i expected something very rare1--a strain of poetry at least4 ,it was only this3--,mr4 ,grimkins1 ,sir1 we shall expect rooms for the bridal party at your hotel1 on the side overlooking the lake1 if possible4 ,yours1 ,p4 ,simpkins4 ,ah1 ,i said1 that's all ,greek to me1--poor1 lonely bachelor that ,i am6 ,i wonder1 by the way1 if they ever wrote their love-letters by telegraph4--,but what is this coming8 ,i am clearly getting back to my normal condition3--,miss ,polly ,wogg wishes to say that she has been unable to procure the silk for ,mrs4 ,papillon for less than five dollars a yard4--,nonsense6 ,i'm not in the dry-goods1 nor millinery1 nor young-lady department4 ,and here was another3--,i have found an excellent school for ,adolphus in ,birchville1 near ,mastersville ,corners4 ,send him up without delay1 with all the school-books you can find4 ,and another1--important1 very3--,i find that ',one touch of ,nature makes the whole world kin' is in ',troilus and ,cressida4' ,don't send the ,,ms4 without this correction4 ,but what's this1 accompanied with a long1 low whistle8--,the cars have run off the track at ,breakneck ,hollow4 ,back your engine and wait for further orders4 ,we are getting into the minor key again1 ,i thought4 ,listen6--,mr4 ,s4 died last night4 ,you must be here to-morrow1 if possible1 at the opening of the will4 ,well1 said ,i1 ,i have had plenty of despatches1 and have expended enough sympathy1 for one night4 ,i have been very mysteriously affected1--how1 ,i can't exactly tell4 ,but who will ever believe my evening's adventure8 ,who will not laugh at my pretended discovery8 ,even my cousin ,moses will be incredulous4 ,i shall be at least looked upon as a medium1 and so settled4 ,and here allow me to remark1--,have you not observed how easily things apparently difficult and mysterious are arranged in the popular understanding by the use of certain stereotyped names applied to them8 ,only give a name to a wonder1 or an unclassified phenomenon1 or even an unsound notion1 and you instantly clear away all the fog of mystery4 ,let an unprincipled fellow call his views ,latitudinarianism or ,longitudinarianism1 he may1 with a little adroitness1 go for a respectable and consistent member of some sect4 ,a filibuster may pass current under some such label as ,political or ,territorial ,extensionist2--the name is a long1 decent overcoat for his shabby ideas4 ,so when wonderful phenomena in the nervous system are observed1--when tables are smashed by invisible hands1--when people see ghosts through stone walls1 and know what is passing in the heart of ,africa1--how easily you unlock your wardrobe of terms and clap on the back of every eccentric fact your ready-made phrase-coat1--,animal ,magnetism1 ,biology1 ,odic ,force1 ,optical ,illusion1 ,second ,sight1 ,spirits1 and what not6 ,it is a wonderful labor-saving and faith-saving process4 ,people say1 ,oh1 is that all8 and pass on complacently4 ,there are such explanatory labels to be met with everywhere4 ,they save a deal of trouble4 ,all the shops keep these overcoats1--shops ecclesiastical1 medical1 juridical1 professional1 political1 social4 ,now all ,i have to do is1 not to go to the second-hand slop-shops for the phrase-coat ,i need for my naked discovery1 but look for some unfamiliar robe1--some name more recherch1 learned1 and transcendental than my neighbors sport1--and then ,i shall pass muster4 ,the classic togas seem to be the most imposing4 ,the ,germans1 who weave their names out of their indigenous ,saxon roots1 are much too nave4 ,i will get a ,greek ,lexicon and set about it this very night4 ,after all1 why should it be thought so improbable1 in this age of strange phenomena1 that the ideas transmitted through the electro-magnetic wire may be communicated to the brain1--especially when there exist certain abnormal or semi-abnormal conditions of that brain and its nerves8 ,is it not reasonable to suppose that all magnetisms are one in essence8 ,the singular experiences above related seem to hint at the truth of such a view4 ,if it be true that certain delicately-organized persons have the power of telling the character of others1 who are entire strangers to them1 simply by holding in their hands letters written by those strangers1 is it not full as much within the scope of belief that there are those who1 under certain physical conditions1 may detect the purport of an electro-magnetic message1--that message being sent by vibrations of the wire through the nerves to the brain8 ,if all magnetisms are one in essence1--as ,i am inclined to believe1--and if the nerves1 the brain1 and the mind are so swayed by what we term animal magnetism1 why not allow for the strong probability of their being also1 under certain conditions1 equally impressible by electro-magnetism8 ,i put these questions to scientific men2 and ,i do not see why they should be answered by silence or ridicule1 merely because the whole subject is veiled in mystery4 ,it may be asked1--,how can an electro-magnetic message be communicated to the mind1 without a knowledge of the alphabet used by the telegraphers8 ,this question may seem a poser to some minds4 ,but ,i don't see that it raises any grave difficulty4 ,i answer the question by asking another3--,how can persons in the somnambulic state read with the tops of their heads8 ,besides1 ,i once had the telegraph alphabet explained to me by one of the wire-operators1--though ,i have forgotten it1--and it is possible1 that1 in my semi-mesmeric condition1 the recollection revived1 so that ,i knew that such and such pulsations of the wire stood for such and such letters4 ,but is there not a certain spiritual significance1 also1 in these singular experiences here related8 ,we may safely lay down this doctrine1--a very old and much-thumbed doctrine1 but none the less true for all its dog-ears3--,no man lives for himself alone4 ,he is related not only to the silent stars and the singing-birds and the sunny landscape1 but to every other human soul4 ,you say1 ,this should not be stated so sermonically1 but symbolically4 ,that is just what ,i have been doing in my narrative of the wires4 ,it gives one a great idea of human communion1--this power of sending these spark-messages thousands of miles in a second4 ,far more poetical1 too1--is it not8--as well as more practical1 than tying billets under the wings of carrier-pigeons4 ,it is removing so much time and space out of the way1--those absorbents of spirits1--and bringing mind into close contact with mind4 ,but when one can read these messages without the aid of machinery1 by merely touching the wires1 how much greater does the symbol become6 ,all mankind are one4 ,as some philosophers express it1--one great mind includes us all4 ,but then1 as it would never do for all minds to be literally one1 any more than it would for all magnetisms to be identical in their modes of manifestation1 or for all the rivers1 creeks1 and canals to flow together1 so we have our natural barriers and channels1 our propriums1 as the ,swedish seer has it1--and so we live and let live4 ,we feel with others and think with others1 but with strict reservations4 ,that evening among the wires1 for instance1 brought me into wonderful intimate contact with a few of the joys and sorrows of some of my fellow-beings2 but an excess of such experiences would interfere with our freedom and our happiness4 ,it is our self-hood1 properly balanced1 which constitutes our dignity1 our humanity4 ,a certain degree1 and a very considerable degree of insulation is necessary1 that individual life and mental equanimity may go on4 ,but there may be a degree of insulation which is unbecoming a member of the human family4 ,it may become brutish1--or it may amount to the ridiculous4 ,in ,paris1 there was an old lady1 of uncertain age1 who lived in the apartment beneath mine4 ,i think ,i never saw her but twice4 ,she manifested her existence sometimes by complaining of the romping of the children overhead1 who called her the bonne femme4 ,why they gave her the name ,i don't know2 for she seemed to have no human ties in the world1 and wasted her affections on a private menagerie of parrots1 canaries1 and poodle-dogs4 ,a few shocks of the electric telegraph might have raised her out of her desert island1 and given her some glimpses of the great continents of human love and sympathy4 ,a man who lives for himself alone sits on a sort of insulated glass stool1 with a noli-me-tangere look at his fellow-men1 and a shivering dread of some electric shock from contact with them4 ,he is a non-conductor in relation to the great magnetic currents which run pulsing along the invisible wires that connect one heart with another4 ,preachers1 philanthropists1 and moralists are in the habit of saying of such a person1--,how cold6 how selfish6 how unchristian6 ,i sometimes fancy a citizen of the planet ,venus1 that social star of evening and morning1 might say1--,how absurd6 ,what a figure he cuts there1 sitting in solitary state upon his glass tripod1--in the middle of a crowd of excited fellow-beings1 hurried to and fro by their passions and sympathies1--like an awkward country-bumpkin caught in the midst of a gay crowd of polkers and waltzers at a ball1--or an oyster bedded on a rock1 with silver fishes playing rapid games of hide and seek1 love and hate1 in the clear briny depths above and beneath6 ,if the angels ever look out of their sphere of intense spiritual realities to indulge in a laugh1 methinks such a lonely tripod-sitter1 cased over with his invulnerable1 non-conducting cloak and hood1--shrinking1 dodging1 or bracing himself up on the defensive1 as the crowd fans him with its rush or jostles up against him1--like the man who fancied himself a teapot1 and was forever warning people not to come too near him1--might furnish a subject for a planetary joke not unworthy of translation into the language of our dim earth4 ,one need not be a lonely bachelor1 nor a lonely spinster1 in order to live alone4 ,the loneliest are those who mingle with men bodily and yet have no contact with them spiritually4 ,there is no desert solitude equal to that of a crowded city where you have no sympathies4 ,i might here quote ,paris again1 in illustration1--or1 indeed1 any foreign city4 ,a friend of mine had an atelier once in the top of a house in the ,rue ,st4 ,honor4 ,he knew not a soul in the house nor in the neighborhood4 ,there was a ,german tailor below1 who once made him a pair of pantaloons1--so they were connected sartorically and pecuniarily1 and1 when they met1 recognized one another3 and there was the concierge below1 who knew when he came in and went out1--that was all4 ,all day long the deafened roar of carts and carriages1 and the muffled cry of the marchands des lgumes1 were faintly heard from below4 ,and in an adjoining room a female voice 7my friend could never tell whether child's or woman's1 for he never saw any one7 overflowed in tones of endearment on some unresponding creature1--he could never guess whether it was a baby1 or a bird1 or a cat1 or a dog1 or a lizard1 7the ,french have such pets sometimes17 or an enchanted prince1 like that poor half-marble fellow in the ,arabian ,nights4 ,in that garret the painter experienced for six months the perfection of ,parisian solitude4 ,now ,i dare say he or ,i might have found social sympathies1 by hunting them up2 but he didn't1 and ,i dare say he was to blame1 as ,i should be in the same situation1--and ,i am willing to place myself in the same category with the menagerie-loving old lady1 above referred to1 omitting the feathered and canine pets4 ,as to my mesmerico-telegraphic discovery1 it may pass for what it is worth4 ,i shall submit it at least to my cousin ,moses1 as soon as he returns from the ,south4 ,people may believe it or not4 ,people may say it may be of practical use1 or not4 ,i shall overhaul my terminologies1 and1 with the metaphysical aid of my cousin1 fit it with a scientific name which shall overtop all the ologies4 ,having dressed my new ,fact in a respectable and scholarlike coat1 ,i shall let him take his chance with the judicious public1--and content myself1 for the present1 with making him a sort of humble colporteur of the valuable tract on ,human ,brotherhood of which ,i have herewith furnished a few dry specimens4 ,,the ,,autocrat ,,of ,,the ,,breakfast-,,table4 ,,every ,,man ,,his ,,own ,,boswell4 ,the company looked a little flustered one morning when ,i came in1--so much so1 that ,i inquired of my neighbor1 the divinity-student1 what had been going on4 ,it appears that the young fellow whom they call ,john had taken advantage of my being a little late 7,i having been rather longer than usual dressing that morning7 to circulate several questions involving a quibble or play upon words1--in short1 containing that indignity to the human understanding1 condemned in the passages from the distinguished moralist of the last century and the illustrious historian of the present1 which ,i cited on a former occasion1 and known as a pun4 ,after breakfast1 one of the boarders handed me a small roll of paper containing some of the questions and their answers4 ,i subjoin two or three of them1 to show what a tendency there is to frivolity and meaningless talk in young persons of a certain sort1 when not restrained by the presence of more reflective natures4--,it was asked1 ,why tertian and quartan fevers were like certain short-lived insects4 ,some interesting physiological relation would be naturally suggested4 ,the inquirer blushes to find that the answer is in the paltry equivocation1 that they skip a day or two4--,why an ,englishman must go to the ,continent to weaken his grog or punch4 ,the answer proves to have no relation whatever to the temperance-movement1 as no better reason is given than that island--7or1 as it is absurdly written1 ile and7 water won't mix4--,but when ,i came to the next question and its answer1 ,i felt that patience ceased to be a virtue4 ,why an onion is like a piano is a query that a person of sensibility would be slow to propose2 but that in an educated community an individual could be found to answer it in these words1--,because it smell odious1 quasi1 it's melodious1--is not credible1 but too true4 ,i can show you the paper4 ,dear reader1 ,i beg your pardon for repeating such things4 ,i know most conversations reported in books are altogether above such trivial details1 but folly will come up at every table as surely as purslain and chickweed and sorrel will come up in gardens4 ,this young fellow ought to have talked philosophy1 ,i know perfectly well2 but he didn't1--he made jokes4 ,i am willing1--,i said1--to exercise your ingenuity in a rational and contemplative manner4--,no1 ,i do not proscribe certain forms of philosophical speculation which involve an approach to the absurd or the ludicrous1 such as you may find1 for example1 in the folio of the ,reverend ,father ,thomas ,sanchez1 in his famous tractate1 ,de ,sancto ,matrimonio4 ,i will therefore turn this levity of yours to profit by reading you a rhymed problem1 wrought out by my friend the ,professor4 ,,the ,,deacon',s ,,masterpiece3 ,,or ,,the ,,wonderful ,,one-,,hoss-,,shay4 ,a ,,logical ,,story4 ,have you heard of the wonderful one-hoss-shay1 ,that was built in such a logical way ,it ran a hundred years to a day1 ,and then1 of a sudden1 it----ah1 but stay1 ,i'll tell you what happened without delay1 ,scaring the parson into fits1 ,frightening people out of their wits1-- ,have you ever heard of that1 ,i say8 ,seventeen hundred and fifty-five4 ,georgius ,secundus was then alive1-- ,snuffy old drone from the ,german hive6 ,that was the year when ,lisbon-town ,saw the earth open and gulp her down1 ,and ,braddock's army was done so brown1 ,left without a scalp to its crown4 ,it was on the terrible ,earthquake-day ,that the ,deacon finished the one-hoss-shay4 ,now in building of chaises1 ,i tell you what1 ,there is always somewhere1 a weakest spot1-- ,in hub1 tire1 felloe1 in spring or thill1 ,in panel1 or crossbar1 or floor1 or sill1 ,in screw1 bolt1 thoroughbrace1--lurking still ,find it somewhere you must and will1-- ,above or below1 or within or without1-- ,and that's the reason1 beyond a doubt1 ,a chaise breaks down1 but doesn't wear out1 ,but the ,deacon swore 7as ,deacons do1 ,with an ,i dew vum1 or an ,i tell yeou17 ,he would build one shay to beat the taown 'n' the keounty 'n' all the kentry raoun'2 ,it should be so built that it couldn' break daown3 --,fur1 said the ,deacon1 't's mighty plain ,thut the weakes' place mus' stan' the strain2 'n' the way t' fix it1 uz ,i maintain1 ,is only jest ,to make that place uz strong uz the rest4 ,so the ,deacon inquired of the village folk ,where he could find the strongest oak1 ,that couldn't be split nor bent nor broke1-- ,that was for spokes and floor and sills2 ,he sent for lancewood to make the thills2 ,the crossbars were ash1 from the straightest trees2 ,the panels of white-wood1 that cuts like cheese1 ,but lasts like iron for things like these2 ,the hubs of logs from the ,settler's ellum1-- ,last of its timber1--they couldn't sell 'em1-- ,never an axe had seen their chips1 ,and the wedges flew from between their lips1 ,their blunt ends frizzled like celery-tips2 ,step and prop-iron1 bolt and screw1 ,spring1 tire1 axle1 and linchpin too1 ,steel of the finest1 bright and blue2 ,thoroughbrace bison-skin1 thick and wide2 ,boot1 top1 dasher1 from tough old hide ,found in the pit when the tanner died4 ,that was the way he put her through4-- ,there6 said the ,deacon1 naow she'll dew6 ,do6 ,i tell you1 ,i rather guess ,she was a wonder1 and nothing less6 ,colts grew horses1 beards turned gray1 ,deacon and deaconess dropped away1 ,children and grand-children--where were they8 ,but there stood the stout old one-hoss-shay ,as fresh as on ,lisbon-earthquake-day6 ,,eighteen ,,hundred2--it came and found ,the ,deacon's ,masterpiece strong and sound4 ,eighteen hundred increased by ten2-- ,hahnsum kerridge they called it then4 ,eighteen hundred and twenty came2-- ,running as usual2 much the same4 ,thirty and forty at last arrive1 ,and then come fifty1 and ,,fifty-,,five4 ,little of all we value here ,wakes on the morn of its hundredth year ,without both feeling and looking queer4 ,in fact1 there's nothing that keeps its youth1 ,so far as ,i know1 but a tree and truth4 7,this is a moral that runs at large2 ,take it4--,you're welcome--,no extra charge47 ,,first ,,of ,,november1--the ,earthquake-day4-- ,there are traces of age in the one-hoss-shay1 ,a general flavor of mild decay1 ,but nothing local1 as one may say4 ,there couldn't be1--for the ,deacon's art ,had made it so like in every part ,that there wasn't a chance for one to start4 ,for the wheels were just as strong as the thills1 ,and the floor was just as strong as the sills1 ,and the panels just as strong as the floor1 ,and the whippletree neither less nor more1 ,and the back-crossbar as strong as the fore1 ,and spring and axle and hub encore4 ,and yet1 as a whole1 it is past a doubt ,in another hour it will be worn out6 ,first of ,november1 ',fifty-five6 ,this morning the parson takes a drive4 ,now1 small boys1 get out of the way6 ,here comes the wonderful one-hoss-shay1 ,drawn by a rat-tailed1 ewe-necked bay4 ,huddup6 said the parson4--,off went they4 ,the parson was working his ,sunday's text1-- ,had got to fifthly1 and stopped perplexed ,at what the--,moses--was coming next4 ,all at once the horse stood still1 ,close by the meet'n'-house on the hill4 --,first a shiver1 and then a thrill1 ,then something decidedly like a spill1-- ,and the parson was sitting upon a rock1 ,at half-past nine by the meet'n'-house-clock1-- ,just the hour of the ,earthquake-shock6 --,what do you think the parson found1 ,when he got up and stared around8 ,the poor old chaise in a heap or mound1 ,as if it had been to the mill and ground6 ,you see1 of course1 if you're not a dunce1 ,how it went to pieces all at once1-- ,all at once1 and nothing first1-- ,just as bubbles do when they burst4 ,end of the wonderful one-hoss-shay4 ,logic is logic4 ,that's all ,i say4 --,i think there is one habit1--,i said to our company a day or two afterwards1--worse than that of punning4 ,it is the gradual substitution of cant or flash terms for words which truly characterize their objects4 ,i have known several very genteel idiots whose whole vocabulary had deliquesced into some half dozen expressions4 ,all things fell into one of two great categories1--fast or slow4 ,man's chief end was to be a brick4 ,when the great calamities of life overtook their friends1 these last were spoken of as being a good deal cut up4 ,nine-tenths of human existence were summed up in the single word1 bore4 ,these expressions come to be the algebraic symbols of minds which have grown too weak or indolent to discriminate4 ,they are the blank checks of intellectual bankruptcy2--you may fill them up with what idea you like2 it makes no difference1 for there are no funds in the treasury upon which they are drawn4 ,colleges and good-for-nothing smoking-clubs are the places where these conversational fungi spring up most luxuriantly4 ,don't think ,i undervalue the proper use and application of a cant word or phrase4 ,it adds piquancy to conversation1 as a mushroom does to a sauce4 ,but it is no better than a toadstool1 odious to the sense and poisonous to the intellect1 when it spawns itself all over the talk of men and youths capable of talking1 as it sometimes does4 ,as we hear flash phraseology1 it is commonly the dishwater from the washings of ,english dandyism1 school-boy or full-grown1 wrung out of a three-volume novel which had sopped it up1 or decanted from the pictured urn of ,mr4 ,verdant ,green1 and diluted to suit the provincial climate4 ----,the young fellow called ,john spoke up sharply and said1 it was rum to hear me pitchin' into fellers for goin' it in the slang line1 when ,i used all the flash words myself just when ,i pleased4 ----,i replied with my usual forbearance4--,certainly1 to give up the algebraic symbol1 because a or b is often a cover for ideal nihility1 would be unwise4 ,i have heard a child laboring to express a certain condition1 involving a hitherto undescribed sensation1 7as it supposed17 all of which could have been sufficiently explained by the participle--bored4 ,i have seen a country-clergyman1 with a one-story intellect and a one-horse vocabulary1 who has consumed his valuable time 7and mine7 freely1 in developing an opinion of a brother-minister's discourse which would have been abundantly characterized by a peach-down-lipped sophomore in the one word--slow4 ,let us discriminate1 and be shy of absolute proscription4 ,i am omniverbivorous by nature and training4 ,passing by such words as are poisonous1 ,i can swallow most others1 and chew such as ,i cannot swallow4 ,dandies are not good for much1 but they are good for something4 ,they invent or keep in circulation those conversational blank checks or counters just spoken of1 which intellectual capitalists may sometimes find it worth their while to borrow of them4 ,they are useful1 too1 in keeping up the standard of dress1 which1 but for them1 would deteriorate1 and become1 what some old fools would have it1 a matter of convenience1 and not of taste and art4 ,yes1 ,i like dandies well enough1--on one condition4 ----,what is that1 ,sir8--said the divinity-student4 ----,that they have pluck4 ,i find that lies at the bottom of all true dandyism4 ,a little boy dressed up very fine1 who puts his finger in his mouth and takes to crying1 if other boys make fun of him1 looks very silly4 ,but if he turns red in the face and knotty in the fists1 and makes an example of the biggest of his assailants1 throwing off his fine ,leghorn and his thickly-buttoned jacket1 if necessary1 to consummate the act of justice1 his small toggery takes on the splendors of the crested helmet that frightened ,astyanax4 ,you remember that the ,duke said his dandy officers were his best officers4 ,the ,sunday blood1 the super-superb sartorial equestrian of our annual ,fast-day1 is not imposing or dangerous4 ,but such fellows as ,brummel and ,d',orsay and ,byron are not to be snubbed quite so easily4 ,look out for la main de fer sous le gant de velours 7which ,i printed in ,english the other day without quotation-marks1 thinking whether any scarabaeus criticus would add this to his globe and roll in glory with it into the newspapers1--which he didn't do it1 in the charming pleonasm of the ,london language1 and therefore ,i claim the sole merit of exposing the same74 ,a good many powerful and dangerous people have had a decided dash of dandyism about them4 ,there was ,alcibiades1 the curled son of ,clinias1 an accomplished young man1 but what would be called a swell in these days4 ,there was ,aristoteles1 a very distinguished writer1 of whom you have heard1--a philosopher1 in short1 whom it took centuries to learn1 centuries to unlearn1 and is now going to take a generation or more to learn over again4 ,regular dandy1 he was4 ,so was ,marcus ,antonius3 and though he lost his game1 he played for big stakes1 and it wasn't his dandyism that spoiled his chance4 ,petrarca was not to be despised as a scholar or a poet1 but he was one of the same sort4 ,so was ,sir ,humphrey ,davy2 so was ,lord ,palmerston1 formerly1 if ,i am not forgetful4 ,yes1--a dandy is good for something as such2 and dandies such as ,i was just speaking of have rocked this planet like a cradle1--aye1 and left it swinging to this day4--,still1 if ,i were you1 ,i wouldn't go to the tailor's1 on the strength of these remarks1 and run up a long bill which will render pockets a superfluity in your next suit4 ,elegans nascitur1 non fit4 ,a man is born a dandy1 as he is born a poet4 ,there are heads that can't wear hats2 there are necks that can't fit cravats2 there are jaws that can't fill out collars--7,willis touched this last point in one of his earlier ambrotypes1 if ,i remember rightly72 there are tournures nothing can humanize1 and movements nothing can subdue to the gracious suavity or elegant languor or stately serenity which belong to different styles of dandyism4 ,we are forming an aristocracy1 as you may observe1 in this country1--not a grati-,dei1 nor a jure-divino one1--but a de-facto upper stratum of being1 which floats over the turbid waves of common life as the iridescent film you may have seen spreading over the water about our wharves1--very splendid1 though its origin may have been tar1 tallow1 train-oil1 or other such unctuous commodities4 ,i say1 then1 we are forming an aristocracy2 and1 transitory as its individual life often is1 it maintains itself tolerably1 as a whole4 ,of course1 money is its corner-stone4 ,but now observe this4 ,money kept for two or three generations transforms a race1--,i don't mean merely in manners and hereditary culture1 but in blood and bone4 ,money buys air and sunshine1 in which children grow up more kindly1 of course1 than in close1 back streets2 it buys country-places to give them happy and healthy summers1 good nursing1 good doctoring1 and the best cuts of beef and mutton4 ,when the spring-chickens come to market----,i beg your pardon1--that is not what ,i was going to speak of4 ,as the young females of each successive season come on1 the finest specimens among them1 other things being equal1 are apt to attract those who can afford the expensive luxury of beauty4 ,the physical character of the next generation rises in consequence4 ,it is plain that certain families have in this way acquired an elevated type of face and figure1 and that in a small circle of city-connections one may sometimes find models of both sexes which one of the rural counties would find it hard to match from all its townships put together4 ,because there is a good deal of running down1 of degeneration and waste of life1 among the richer classes1 you must not overlook the equally obvious fact ,i have just spoken of1--which in one or two generations more will be1 ,i think1 much more patent than just now4 ,the weak point in our chryso-aristocracy is the same ,i have alluded to in connection with cheap dandyism4 ,its thorough manhood1 its high-caste gallantry1 are not so manifest as the plate-glass of its windows and the more or less legitimate heraldry of its coach-panels4 ,it is very curious to observe of how small account military folks are held among our ,northern people4 ,our young men must gild their spurs1 but they need not win them4 ,the equal division of property keeps the younger sons of rich people above the necessity of military service4 ,thus the army loses an element of refinement1 and the moneyed upper class forgets what it is to count heroism among its virtues4 ,still ,i don't believe in any aristocracy without pluck as its backbone4 ,ours may show it when the time comes1 if it ever does come4 ----,these ,united ,states furnish the greatest market for intellectual green fruit of all the places in the world4 ,i think so1 at any rate4 ,the demand for intellectual labor is so enormous and the market so far from nice1 that young talent is apt to fare like unripe gooseberries--get plucked to make a fool of4 ,think of a country which buys eighty thousand copies of the ,proverbial ,philosophy1 while the author's admiring countrymen have been buying twelve thousand6 ,how can one let his fruit hang in the sun until it gets fully ripe1 while there are eighty thousand such hungry mouths ready to swallow it and proclaim its praises8 ,consequently1 there never was such a collection of crude pippins and half-grown windfalls as our native literature displays among its fruits4 ,there are literary green-groceries at every corner1 which will buy anything1 from a button-pear to a pine-apple4 ,it takes a long apprenticeship to train a whole people to reading and writing4 ,the temptation of money and fame is too great for young people4 ,do ,i not remember that glorious moment when the late ,mr4 ---- we won't say who1--editor of the ---- we won't say what1 offered me the sum of fifty cents per double-columned quarto page for shaking my young boughs over his foolscap apron8 ,was it not an intoxicating vision of gold and glory8 ,i should doubtless have revelled in its wealth and splendor1 but for learning the fact that the fifty cents was to be considered a rhetorical embellishment1 and by no means a literal expression of past fact or present intention4 ----,beware of making your moral staple consist of the negative virtues4 ,it is good to abstain1 and teach others to abstain1 from all that is sinful or hurtful4 ,but making a business of it leads to emaciation of character1 unless one feeds largely also on the more nutritious diet of active sympathetic benevolence4 ----,i don't believe one word of what you are saying1--spoke up the angular female in black bombazine4 ,i am sorry you disbelieve it1 ,madam1--,i said1 and added softly to my next neighbor1--but you prove it4 ,the young fellow sitting near me winked2 and the divinity-student said1 in an undertone1--,optime dictum4 ,your talking ,latin1--said ,i1--reminds me of an odd trick of one of my old tutors4 ,he read so much of that language1 that his ,english half turned into it4 ,he got caught in town1 one hot summer1 in pretty close quarters1 and wrote1 or began to write1 a series of city pastorals4 ,eclogues he called them1 and meant to have published them by subscription4 ,i remember some of his verses1 if you want to hear them4--,you1 ,sir1 7addressing myself to the divinity-student17 and all such as have been through college1 or1 what is the same thing1 received an honorary degree1 will understand them without a dictionary4 ,the old man had a great deal to say about aestivation1 as he called it1 in opposition1 as one might say1 to hibernation4 ,intramural festivation1 or town-life in summer1 he would say1 is a peculiar form of suspended existence or semi-asphyxia4 ,one wakes up from it about the beginning of the last week in ,september4 ,this is what ,i remember of his poem3-- ,,aestivation4 ,an ,unpublished ,poem1 by my late ,latin ,tutor4 ,in candent ire the solar splendor flames2 ,the foles1 languescent1 pend from arid rances2 ,his humid front the cive1 anheling1 wipes1 ,and dreams of erring on ventiferous ripes4 ,how dulce to vive occult to mortal eyes1 ,dorm on the herb with none to supervise1 ,carp the suave berries from the crescent vine1 ,and bibe the flow from longicaudate kine6 ,to me1 alas6 no verdurous visions come1 ,save yon exigous pool's conferva-scum1-- ,no concave vast repeats the tender hue ,that laves my milk-jug with celestial blue6 ,me wretched6 ,let me curr to quercine shades6 ,effund your albid hausts1 lactiferous maids6 ,oh1 might ,i vole to some umbrageous clump1-- ,depart1--be off1--excede1--evade1--crump6 --,i have lived by the sea-shore and by the mountains4--,no1 ,i am not going to say which is best4 ,the one where your place is is the best for you4 ,but this difference there is3 you can domesticate mountains1 but the sea is ferae naturae4 ,you may have a hut1 or know the owner of one1 on the mountain-side2 you see a light half-way up its ascent in the evening1 and you know there is a home1 and you might share it4 ,you have noted certain trees1 perhaps2 you know the particular zone where the hemlocks look so black in ,october1 when the maples and beeches have faded4 ,all its reliefs and intaglios have electrotyped themselves in the medallions that hang round the walls of your memory's chamber4--,the sea remembers nothing4 ,it is feline4 ,it licks your feet1--its huge flanks purr very pleasantly for you2 but it will crack your bones and eat you1 for all that1 and wipe the crimsoned foam from its jaws as if nothing had happened4 ,the mountains give their lost children berries and water2 the sea mocks their thirst and lets them die4 ,the mountains have a grand1 stupid1 lovable tranquillity2 the sea has a fascinating1 treacherous intelligence4 ,the mountains lie about like huge ruminants1 their broad backs awful to look upon1 but safe to handle4 ,the sea smooths its silver scales until you cannot see their joints1--but their shining is that of a snake's belly1 after all4--,in deeper suggestiveness ,i find as great a difference4 ,the mountains dwarf mankind and foreshorten the procession of its long generations4 ,the sea drowns out humanity and time2 it has no sympathy with either2 for it belongs to eternity1 and of that it sings its monotonous song forever and ever4 ,yet ,i should love to have a little box by the sea-shore4 ,i should love to gaze out on the wild feline element from a front window of my own1 just as ,i should love to look on a caged panther1 and see it stretch its shining length1 and then curl over and lap its smooth sides1 and by-and-by begin to lash itself into rage and show its white teeth and spring at its bars1 and howl the cry of its mad1 but1 to me1 harmless fury4--,and then1--to look at it with that inward eye1--who does not love to shuffle off time and its concerns1 at intervals1--to forget who is ,president and who is ,governor1 what race he belongs to1 what language he speaks1 which golden-headed nail of the firmament his particular planetary system is hung upon1 and listen to the great liquid metronome as it beats its solemn measure1 steadily swinging when the solo or duet of human life began1 and to swing just as steadily after the human chorus has died out and man is a fossil on its shores8 --,what should decide one1 in choosing a summer residence8--,constitution1 first of all4 ,how much snow could you melt in an hour1 if you were planted in a hogshead of it8 ,comfort is essential to enjoyment4 ,all sensitive people should remember that persons in easy circumstances suffer much more from cold in summer--that is1 the warm half of the year--than in winter1 or the other half4 ,you must cut your climate to your constitution1 as much as your clothing to your shape4 ,after this1 consult your taste and convenience4 ,but if you would be happy in ,berkshire1 you must carry mountains in your brain2 and if you would enjoy ,nahant1 you must have an ocean in your soul4 ,nature plays at dominos with you2 you must match her piece1 or she will never give it up to you4 ----,the schoolmistress said1 in rather a mischievous way1 that she was afraid some minds or souls would be a little crowded1 if they took in the ,rocky ,mountains or the ,atlantic4 ,have you ever read the little book called ,the ,stars and the ,earth8--said ,i4--,have you seen the ,declaration of ,independence photographed in a surface that a fly's foot would cover8 ,the forms or conditions of ,time and ,space1 as ,kant will tell you1 are nothing in themselves1--only our way of looking at things4 ,you are right1 ,i think1 however1 in recognizing the category of ,space as being quite as applicable to minds as to the outer world4 ,every man of reflection is vaguely conscious of an imperfectly-defined circle which is drawn about his intellect4 ,he has a perfectly clear sense that the fragments of his intellectual circle include the curves of many other minds of which he is cognizant4 ,he often recognizes those as manifestly concentric with his own1 but of less radius4 ,on the other hand1 when we find a portion of an arc outside of our own1 we say it intersects ours1 but are very slow to confess or to see that it circumscribes it4 ,every now and then a man's mind is stretched by a new idea or sensation1 and never shrinks back to its former dimensions4 ,after looking at the ,alps1 ,i felt that my mind had been stretched beyond the limits of its elasticity1 and fitted so loosely on my old ideas of space that ,i had to spread these to fit it4 ----,if ,i thought ,i should ever see the ,alps6--said the schoolmistress4 ,perhaps you will1 some time or other1--,i said4 ,it is not very likely1--she answered4--,i have had one or two opportunities1 but ,i had rather be anything than governess in a rich family4 ,proud1 too1 you little soft-voiced woman6 ,well1 ,i can't say ,i like you any the worse for it4 ,how long will schoolkeeping take to kill you8 ,is it possible the poor thing works with her needle1 too8 ,i don't like those marks on the side of her forefinger4 ,tableau4 ,chamouni4 ,mont ,blanc in full view4 ,figures in the foreground2 two of them standing apart2 one of them a gentleman of----oh1--ah1--yes6 the other a lady in a white cashmere1 leaning on his shoulder4--,the ingenuous reader will understand that this was an internal1 private1 personal1 subjective diorama1 seen for one instant on the background of my own consciousness1 and abolished into black non-entity by the first question which recalled me to actual life1 as suddenly as if one of those iron shop-blinds 7which ,i always pass at dusk with a shiver1 expecting to stumble over some poor but honest shop-boy's head1 just taken off by its sudden and unexpected descent1 and left outside upon the sidewalk7 had come down by the run4 ----,should you like to hear what moderate wishes life brings one to at last8 ,i used to be very ambitious1--wasteful1 extravagant1 and luxurious in all my fancies4 ,head too much in the ,arabian ,nights4 ,must have the lamp1--couldn't do without the ring4 ,exercise every morning on the brazen horse4 ,plump down into castles as full of little milk-white princesses as a nest is of young sparrows4 ,all love me dearly at once4--,charming idea of life1 but too high-colored for the reality4 ,i have outgrown all this2 my tastes have become exceedingly primitive1--almost1 perhaps1 ascetic4 ,we carry happiness into our condition1 but must not hope to find it there4 ,i think you will be willing to hear some lines which embody the subdued and limited desires of my maturity4 ,,contentment4 ,man wants but little here below4 ,little ,i ask2 my wants are few2 ,i only wish a hut of stone1 7,a very plain brown stone will do17 ,that ,i may call my own3-- ,and close at hand is such a one1 ,in yonder street that fronts the sun4 ,plain food is quite enough for me2 ,three courses are as good as ten2-- ,if ,nature can subsist on three1 ,thank ,heaven for three4 ,amen6 ,i always thought cold victual nice2-- ,my choice would be vanilla-ice4 ,i care not much for gold or land2-- ,give me a mortgage here and there1-- ,some good bank-stock1--some note of hand1 ,or trifling railroad share2-- ,i only ask that ,fortune send ,a little more than ,i shall spend4 ,honors are silly toys1 ,i know1 ,and titles are but empty names2-- ,i would1 perhaps1 be ,plenipo1-- ,but only near ,st4 ,james2-- ,i'm very sure ,i should not care ,to fill our ,gubernator's chair4 ,jewels are baubles2 'tis a sin ,to care for such unfruitful things2-- ,one good-sized diamond in a pin1-- ,some1 not so large1 in rings1-- ,a ruby1 and a pearl1 or so1 ,will do for me2--,i laugh at show4 ,my dame should dress in cheap attire2 7,good1 heavy silks are never dear27-- ,i own perhaps ,i might desire ,some shawls of true cashmere1-- ,some marrowy crapes of ,china silk1 ,like wrinkled skins on scalded milk4 ,i would not have the horse ,i drive ,so fast that folks must stop and stare2 ,an easy gait--two1 forty-five-- ,suits me2 ,i do not care2-- ,perhaps1 for just a single spurt1 ,some seconds less would do no hurt4 ,of pictures1 ,i should like to own ,titians and ,raphaels three or four1-- ,i love so much their style and tone1-- ,one ,turner1 and no more 7,a landscape1--foreground golden dirt2 ,the sunshine painted with a squirt74 ,of books but few1--some fifty score ,for daily use1 and bound for wear2 ,the rest upon an upper floor2-- ,some little luxury there ,of red morocco's gilded gleam1 ,and vellum rich as country cream4 ,busts1 cameos1 gems1--such things as these1 ,which others often show for pride1 ,i value for their power to please1 ,and selfish churls deride2-- ,one ,stradivarius1 ,i confess1 ,two ,meerschaums1 ,i would fain possess4 ,wealth's wasteful tricks ,i will not learn1 ,nor ape the glittering upstart fool2-- ,shall not carved tables serve my turn1 ,but all must be of buhl8 ,give grasping pomp its double share1-- ,i ask but one recumbent chair4 ,thus humble let me live and die1 ,nor long for ,midas' golden touch2 ,if ,heaven more generous gifts deny1 ,i shall not miss them much4-- ,too grateful for the blessing lent ,of simple tastes and mind content6 ,,my ,,last ,,walk ,,with ,,the ,,schoolmistress4 7,a ,parenthesis47 ,i can't say just how many walks she and ,i had taken together before this one4 ,i found the effect of going out every morning was decidedly favorable on her health4 ,two pleasing dimples1 the places for which were just marked when she came1 played1 shadowy1 in her freshening cheeks when she smiled and nodded good-morning to me from the schoolhouse-steps4 ,i am afraid ,i did the greater part of the talking4 ,at any rate1 if ,i should try to report all that ,i said during the first half-dozen walks we took together1 ,i fear that ,i might receive a gentle hint from my friends the publishers1 that a separate volume1 at my own risk and expense1 would be the proper method of bringing them before the public4 --,i would have a woman as true as ,death4 ,at the first real lie which works from the heart outward1 she should be tenderly chloroformed into a better world1 where she can have an angel for a governess1 and feed on strange fruits which will make her all over again1 even to her bones and marrow4--,whether gifted with the accident of beauty or not1 she should have been moulded in the rose-red clay of ,love1 before the breath of life made a moving mortal of her4 ,love-capacity is a congenital endowment2 and ,i think1 after a while1 one gets to know the warm-hued natures it belongs to from the pretty pipe-clay counterfeits of it4--,proud she may be1 in the sense of respecting herself2 but pride1 in the sense of contemning others less gifted than herself1 deserves the two lowest circles of a vulgar woman's ,inferno1 where the punishments are ,small-pox and ,bankruptcy4--,she who nips off the end of a brittle courtesy1 as one breaks the tip of an icicle1 to bestow upon those whom she ought cordially and kindly to recognize1 proclaims the fact that she comes not merely of low blood1 but of bad blood4 ,consciousness of unquestioned position makes people gracious in proper measure to all2 but if a woman puts on airs with her real equals1 she has something about herself or her family she is ashamed of1 or ought to be4 ,middle1 and more than middle-aged people1 who know family histories1 generally see through it4 ,an official of standing was rude to me once4 ,oh1 that is the maternal grandfather1--said a wise old friend to me1--he was a boor4--,better too few words1 from the woman we love1 than too many3 while she is silent1 ,nature is working for her2 while she talks1 she is working for herself4--,love is sparingly soluble in the words of men2 therefore they speak much of it2 but one syllable of woman's speech can dissolve more of it than a man's heart can hold4 --,whether ,i said any or all of these things to the schoolmistress1 or not1--whether ,i stole them out of ,lord ,bacon1--whether ,i cribbed them from ,balzac1--whether ,i dipped them from the ocean of ,tupperian wisdom1--or whether ,i have just found them in my head1 laid there by that solemn fowl1 ,experience1 7who1 according to my observation1 cackles oftener than she drops real live eggs17 ,i cannot say4 ,wise men have said more foolish things1--and foolish men1 ,i don't doubt1 have said as wise things4 ,anyhow1 the schoolmistress and ,i had pleasant walks and long talks1 all of which ,i do not feel bound to report4 --,you are a stranger to me1 ,ma'am4--,i don't doubt you would like to know all ,i said to the schoolmistress4--,i sha'n't do it2--,i had rather get the publishers to return the money you have invested in this4 ,besides1 ,i have forgotten a good deal of it4 ,i shall tell only what ,i like of what ,i remember4 --,my idea was1 in the first place1 to search out the picturesque spots which the city affords a sight of1 to those who have eyes4 ,i know a good many1 and it was a pleasure to look at them in company with my young friend4 ,there were the shrubs and flowers in the ,franklin-,place front-yards or borders2 ,commerce is just putting his granite foot upon them4 ,then there are certain small seraglio-gardens1 into which one can get a peep through the crevices of high fences1--one in ,myrtle ,street1 or backing on it1--here and there one at the ,north and ,south ,ends4 ,then the great elms in ,essex ,street4 ,then the stately horse-chestnuts in that vacant lot in ,chambers ,street1 which hold their outspread hands over your head1 7as ,i said in my poem the other day17 and look as if they were whispering1 ,may grace1 mercy1 and peace be with you6--and the rest of that benediction4 ,nay1 there are certain patches of ground1 which1 having lain neglected for a time1 ,nature1 who always has her pockets full of seeds1 and holes in all her pockets1 has covered with hungry plebeian growths1 which fight for life with each other1 until some of them get broad-leaved and succulent1 and you have a coarse vegetable tapestry which ,raphael would not have disdained to spread over the foreground of his masterpiece4 ,the ,professor pretends that he found such a one in ,charles ,street1 which1 in its dare-devil impudence of rough-and-tumble vegetation1 beat the pretty-behaved flower-beds of the ,public ,garden as ignominiously as a group of young tatterdemalions playing pitch-and-toss beats a row of ,sunday-school-boys with their teacher at their head4 ,but then the ,professor has one of his burrows in that region1 and puts everything in high colors relating to it4 ,that is his way about everything4--,i hold any man cheap1--he said1--of whom nothing stronger can be uttered than that all his geese are swans4----,how is that1 ,professor8--said ,i2--,i should have set you down for one of that sort4--,sir1--said he1--,i am proud to say1 that ,nature has so far enriched me1 that ,i cannot own so much as a duck without seeing in it as pretty a swan as ever swam the basin in the garden of the ,luxembourg4 ,and the ,professor showed the whites of his eyes devoutly1 like one returning thanks after a dinner of many courses4 ,i don't know anything sweeter than this leaking in of ,nature through all the cracks in the walls and floors of cities4 ,you heap up a million tons of hewn rocks on a square mile or two of earth which was green once4 ,the trees look down from the hill-sides and ask each other1 as they stand on tiptoe1--,what are these people about8 ,and the small herbs at their feet look up and whisper back1--,we will go and see4 ,so the small herbs pack themselves up in the least possible bundles1 and wait until the wind steals to them at night and whispers1--,come with me4 ,then they go softly with it into the great city1--one to a cleft in the pavement1 one to a spout on the roof1 one to a seam in the marbles over a rich gentleman's bones1 and one to the grave without a stone where nothing but a man is buried1--and there they grow1 looking down on the generations of men from mouldy roofs1 looking up from between the less-trodden pavements1 looking out through iron cemetery-railings4 ,listen to them1 when there is only a light breath stirring1 and you will hear them saying to each other1--,wait awhile6 ,the words run along the telegraph of those narrow green lines that border the roads leading from the city1 until they reach the slope of the hills1 and the trees repeat in low murmurs to each other1--,wait awhile6 ,by-and-by the flow of life in the streets ebbs1 and the old leafy inhabitants--the smaller tribes always in front--saunter in1 one by one1 very careless seemingly1 but very tenacious1 until they swarm so that the great stones gape from each other with the crowding of their roots1 and the feldspar begins to be picked out of the granite to find them food4 ,at last the trees take up their solemn line of march1 and never rest until they have encamped in the market-place4 ,wait long enough and you will find an old doting oak hugging a huge worn block in its yellow underground arms2 that was the corner-stone of the ,state-,house4 ,oh1 so patient she is1 this imperturbable ,nature6 --,let us cry6-- ,but all this has nothing to do with my walks and talks with the schoolmistress4 ,i did not say that ,i would not tell you something about them4 ,let me alone1 and ,i shall talk to you more than ,i ought to1 probably4 ,we never tell our secrets to people that pump for them4 ,books we talked about1 and education4 ,it was her duty to know something of these1 and of course she did4 ,perhaps ,i was somewhat more learned than she1 but ,i found that the difference between her reading and mine was like that of a man's and a woman's dusting a library4 ,the man flaps about with a bunch of feathers2 the woman goes to work softly with a cloth4 ,she does not raise half the dust1 nor fill her own eyes and mouth with it1--but she goes into all the corners1 and attends to the leaves as much as the covers4--,books are the negative pictures of thought1 and the more sensitive the mind that receives their images1 the more nicely the finest lines are reproduced4 ,a woman1 7of the right kind17 reading after a man1 follows him as ,ruth followed the reapers of ,boaz1 and her gleanings are often the finest of the wheat4 ,but it was in talking of ,life that we came most nearly together4 ,i thought ,i knew something about that1--that ,i could speak or write about it somewhat to the purpose4 ,to take up this fluid earthly being of ours as a sponge sucks up water1--to be steeped and soaked in its realities as a hide fills its pores lying seven years in a tan-pit1--to have winnowed every wave of it as a mill-wheel works up the stream that runs through the flume upon its float-boards1--to have curled up in the keenest spasms and flattened out in the laxest languors of this breathing-sickness1 which keeps certain parcels of matter uneasy for three or four score years1--to have fought all the devils and clasped all the angels of its delirium1--and then1 just at the point when the white-hot passions have cooled down to cherry-red1 plunge our experience into the ice-cold stream of some human language or other1 one might think would end in a rhapsody with something of spring and temper in it4 ,all this ,i thought my power and province4 ,the schoolmistress had tried life1 too4 ,once in a while one meets with a single soul greater than all the living pageant that passes before it4 ,as the pale astronomer sits in his study with sunken eyes and thin fingers1 and weighs ,uranus or ,neptune as in a balance1 so there are meek1 slight women who have weighed all that this planetary life can offer1 and hold it like a bauble in the palm of their slender hands4 ,this was one of them4 ,fortune had left her1 sorrow had baptized her2 the routine of labor and the loneliness of almost friendless city-life were before her4 ,yet1 as ,i looked upon her tranquil face1 gradually regaining a cheerfulness that was often sprightly1 as she became interested in the various matters we talked about and places we visited1 ,i saw that eye and lip and every shifting lineament were made for love1--unconscious of their sweet office as yet1 and meeting the cold aspect of ,duty with the natural graces which were meant for the reward of nothing less than the ,great ,passion4 ----,i never spoke one word of love to the schoolmistress in the course of these pleasant walks4 ,it seemed to me that we talked of everything but love on that particular morning4 ,there was1 perhaps1 a little more timidity and hesitancy on my part than ,i have commonly shown among our people at the boarding-house4 ,in fact1 ,i considered myself the master at the breakfast-table2 but1 somehow1 ,i could not command myself just then so well as usual4 ,the truth is1 ,i had secured a passage to ,liverpool in the steamer which was to leave at noon1--with the condition1 however1 of being released in case circumstances occurred to detain me4 ,the schoolmistress knew nothing about all this1 of course1 as yet4 ,it was on the ,common that we were walking4 ,the mall1 or boulevard of our ,common1 you know1 has various branches leading from it in different directions4 ,one of these runs downward from opposite ,joy ,street southward across the whole length of the ,common to ,boylston ,street4 ,we called it the long path1 and were fond of it4 ,i felt very weak indeed 7though of a tolerably robust habit7 as we came opposite the head of this path on that morning4 ,i think ,i tried to speak twice without making myself distinctly audible4 ,at last ,i got out the question1----,will you take the long path with me8-- ,certainly1--said the schoolmistress1--with much pleasure4----,think1--,i said1--before you answer2 if you take the long path with me now1 ,i shall interpret it that we are to part no more6----,the schoolmistress stepped back with a sudden movement1 as if an arrow had struck her4 ,one of the long granite blocks used as seats was hard by1--the one you may still see close by the ,gingko-tree4----,pray1 sit down1--,i said4----,no1 no1--she answered1 softly1--,i will walk the long path with you6 ----,the old gentleman who sits opposite met us walking1 arm in arm1 about the middle of the long path1 and said1 very charmingly1--,good morning1 my dears6 ,,literary ,,notices4 ,the ,life of ,john ,fitch1 the ,inventor of the ,steamboat4 ,by ,,thompson ,,westcott4 ,philadelphia3 ,j4,b4 ,lippincott ,co4 ,what would not honest ,sancho have given for a good biography of the man who invented sleep8 ,and will not the adventurous pleasure-tourist1 who has been jarred1 jammed1 roasted1 coddled1 and suffocated in a railroad-car for a whole night1 with two days to sandwich it1 on being deposited in an airy stateroom for the last two hundred miles of his journey1 think the man who invented the steamboat deserving of a first-rate life8 ,we well remember the time when nobody suspected that person1 whoever he might be1--and nobody much cared who he was1--of any relationship to the individual whose memory ,sancho blessed1 so great was the churning in the palaces that then floated4 ,but in our present boats this unpalace-like operation has been so localized and mollified as to escape the notice of all but the greenest and most inquisitive passengers4 ,and now that we find the luxury of travelling by water actually superior to that of staying at home on land1 we begin to feel a budding veneration for the man who first found out that steam could be substituted1 with such marvellous advantage1 for helpless dependence on the wind and miserable tugging at oars and setting-poles4 ,who was he8 ,what circumstances conspired to shape his life and project it with so notable an aim8 ,how did he look1 act1 think1 on all matters of human concernment8 ,here comes a book1 assuming in its title that one ,john ,fitch1 of whom his generation seems not to have thought enough to paint his portrait1 was the inventor of the steamboat4 ,it professes to be ,the ,life of ,john ,fitch2 but we are sorry to say it is rather a documentary argument to prove that he was the inventor of the steamboat4 ,as an argument1 it is both needless and needlessly strong4 ,we already knew to a certainty that nobody could present a better claim to that honor than ,john ,fitch4 ,true1 the idea did not wait for him4 ,the engine could not have been working a hundred years in the world without giving birth to that4 ,but till ,watt invented it anew in #aghb1 by admitting the steam alternately at both ends of the cylinder1 it was too awkward and clumsy to become a practical navigator4 ,moreover1 though it could pump admirably1 it had not been taught to turn a crank4 ,the ,french assert1 that experiments in steam-propulsion were made on the ,seine1 by ,count ,auxiron and ,perrier1 in #aggd1 and on the ,saone1 by ,de ,jouffroy1 in #aghb2 but we know they led to no practical results1 and the knowledge of them probably did not1 for some years1 travel beyond the limits of the ,french language4 ,there is no satisfactory evidence that a boat was ever moved by steam1 within the boundaries of ,anglo-,saxondom1 before ,john ,fitch did it1 on the #bgth of ,july1 #aghf4 ,his successful and every way brilliant experiment on that occasion led directly to practical results1--to wit1 the formation of a company1 embracing some of the foremost men of ,philadelphia1 which built a small steam-packet for the conveyance of passengers1 and ran it during three summers1 ending with that of #agij4 ,the company then failed1 and broke poor ,fitch's heart1 simply because the investment had not thus far proved lucrative1 and they were unwilling to make the further advances requisite to carry out his moderate and reasonable plans4 ,the only person who ever claimed1 in ,english1 to have made a steamboat experiment before ,fitch1 was ,james ,rumsey1 of ,virginia1 who1 in #aghh1 published some testimony to show that he had done it as early as ,april1 #aghf1 that he had broached the idea1 confidentially1 two years earlier1 and that ,fitch might have received it from one who violated his confidence4 ,fitch promptly annihilated these pretences by a pamphlet1 a reprint of which maybe found in the ,patent-,office ,report for #ahej4 ,this1 and a contribution to ,sparks's ,american ,biography1 by ,col4 ,charles ,whittlesey1 of ,ohio1 seem quite sufficient to establish the historical fact that ,john ,fitch was the father of steam-navigation1 whoever may have been its prophets4 ,though the infant1 with the royal blood of both ,neptune and ,pluto in its veins1 and a brand-new empire waiting to crown it1 fell into a seventeen years' swoon1 during which ,fitch died1 and the public at large forgot all that he had ever said or done1 its life did not become extinct4 ,it was not created1 but revived1 by ,fulton1 aided by the refreshing effusion of ,chancellor ,livingston's money4 ,we did not need a new book to make us more certain of these facts1 but we did need a more thorough biography of ,john ,fitch1 and1 with great respect for the industry and faithfulness of ,mr4 ,westcott1 it is our opinion that we do still4 ,he has demonstrated that the materials for such a work are abundant1 and a glance at the mortal career of ,fitch will show him to be an uncommonly interesting subject4 ,john ,fitch was born in ,windsor1 ,connecticut1 in #agdc4 ,at the age of five1 while his father was absent from home1 courting his stepmother1 he heroically extinguished a fire of blazing flax1 which would otherwise have consumed the house1 and while he was smarting from his burns was cruelly beaten by an elder brother1 who misapprehended the case of the little boy1 very much as the world did that of the man he became4 ,the domestic discipline he encountered under the paternal roof was of the severest ,new ,england pattern of those days1 and between its theology and its economy he grew out of shape1 like a thrifty pumpkin between two rocks4 ,he loved to learn1 but had few books and little schooling4 ,his taste tended to mechanism1 and he was apprenticed to a stingy clock-maker1 who obliged him to work on his farm and kept him ignorant of his trade4 ,getting his liberty at last1 he set up brass-founding1 on a capital of twenty shillings1 and made money at it4 ,then he went into the manufacture of potash1 in which he was less successful4 ,he married a wife who proved more caustic than the potash and more than a match for his patience4 ,he settled his affairs so as to leave her all his little property in the most manageable shape1 and left her with two children1 to seek a separate fortune in the wide world4 ,the war of the ,revolution found him at ,trenton1 ,new ,jersey1 a man of some substance1 acquired as a silversmith and peddler of silver and brass sleeve-buttons of his own manufacture4 ,it made him an officer and then an armorer in the ,continental service4 ,as a fabricator of patriotic weapons1 he incurred the displeasure of his ,methodist brethren by working on the ,sabbath1 and lost his orthodoxy in his disgust at their rebukes4 ,towards the close of the ,revolution1 getting poor in fact by getting rich in ,continental money1 he endeavored to save himself by investing in ,virginia land-warrants1 went to ,kentucky as a surveyor1 and became possessed of sixteen hundred acres of that wilderness4 ,on a second expedition down the ,ohio1 early in #aghb1 he fell into the hands of the savages1 in the most melodramatic style1 was led captive through the vast forests and swamps to ,detroit1 had a very characteristic and remarkable prison-experience under ,british authority at ,prison ,island1 was exchanged1 and by a sea-voyage reached his home in ,bucks ,county1 ,pennsylvania1 at the close of the same year4 ,immediately after the establishment of peace1 he formed a company to speculate in ,ohio lands1 and made extensive surveys for the purpose of forestalling the best locations4 ,mr4 ,westcott's book confuses this portion of his chronology by misprinting two or three dates1 on the #aacth page4 ,the hopeful game was spoiled by unexpected measures of the ,confederated government2 but ,fitch's explorations had deeply impressed him with the sublime character of the ,western rivers1 and when1 in ,april1 #aghe1 the thought first struck him that steam could easily make them navigable upwards as well as downwards1 he cared no more for lands4 ,he had noticed the mechanical power of steam1 but had never seen an engine1 and did not know that one existed out of his own brain4 ,this is the less wonderful1 seeing there were only three then in ,america1 and his science extended only to arithmetic4 ,when his minister showed him a drawing of ,newcomen's engine1 in ,martin's ,philosophy1 he was chagrined to find that his invention had been anticipated in regard to the mode of producing the power1 but he was confirmed in his belief of its availability for navigation4 ,with no better resources than a blacksmith's shop could furnish1 he set himself at work to make a steam-engine to test his theory4 ,his success is one of those wonders of human ingenuity struggling with difficulties1 moral1 financial1 and physical combined1 which deserve both a ,homer and a ,macaulay to celebrate and record them4 ,he was supposed by most people1 and almost by himself1 to have gone crazy4 ,if anything1 at this day1 is more incredible than the feat which he accomplished1 it is the derision with which the public viewed his labors1 decried his success1 and sneered at the rags which betokened the honesty of his poverty4 ,to every one who had brains capable of logic1 he had demonstrated the feasibility of his visions4 ,but no amount of even physical demonstration1 then possible1 could bring out the funds requisite to pecuniary profit1 against the head-wind of public scorn4 ,it whistled down his high hopes of fortune4 ,at last1 dropping the file and the hammer1 he took the pen1 determined1 that1 if others must get rich by his invention1 he would at least save for himself the fame of it4 ,the result of his literary labors was an autobiography of great frankness and detail1 extending to several hundred pages1 and embracing almost every conceivable violation of standard ,english orthography1 with which he seems to have had very little acquaintance or sympathy4 ,it was placed under seal in the ,philadelphia ,library1 not to be opened for thirty years4 ,at the expiration of that period1 in #ahbc1 the seal was broken1 and the quaint old manuscript1 with the stamp of honest truth on every word1 stood ready to reveal what the world is but just beginning to want to know about ,john ,fitch4 ,he afterwards went to ,europe to promote his steamboat interests1--to little purpose1 --wandered about a few years1 settled in ,bardstown1 ,kentucky1 made a model steamboat with a brass engine1 drowned disappointment in the drink of that country1 and at last departed by his own will1 two years before the close of the last century4 ,a life so full of truth that is stranger than fiction ought not to be treated in the ,dry-as-dust style1 quite so largely as ,mr4 ,westcott has done it4 99 99 99 99 99 ,life ,beneath the ,waters2 or1 ,the ,aquarium in ,america4 ,illustrated by ,plates and ,wood-,cuts drawn from ,life4 ,by ,,arthur ,m4 ,,edwards4 ,new ,york3 #aheh4 ,this book has appeared since the notice in our ,july number of two ,english works on the ,aquarium4 ,like so many books by which our literature is discredited1 it is a work got up hastily to meet a public demand1 and is deficient in method1 thoroughness1 and accuracy4 ,there is much repetition in it1 and the observations of its author seem to have been limited to the waters around ,new ,york1 and to have extended over but a short period4 ,in spite of these and other minor defects1 it may be recommended as containing much useful information for those just beginning an aquarium and forming an acquaintance with the sea4 ,we trust that a misprint in our former notice has not brought disappointment to any of our readers1 by leading them to expose their aquaria to too much sunshine2 for the sunshine should be not enough 7and not1 as it was printed1 hot enough7 to raise the water to a temperature above that of the outer air4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,exiles of ,florida3 or the ,crimes committed by our ,government against the ,maroons1 who fled from ,south ,carolina and other ,slave ,states1 seeking ,protection under ,spanish ,laws4 ,by ,,joshua ,r4 ,,giddings4 ,columbus1 ,ohio3 ,follett1 ,foster1 ,co4 #aheh4 ,a cruel story this1 ,mr4 ,giddings tells us4 ,too cruel1 but too true4 ,it is full of pathetic and tragic interest1 and melts and stirs the heart at once with pity for the sufferers1 and with anger1 that sins not1 at their mean and ruthless oppressors4 ,every ,american citizen should read it2 for it is an indictment which recites crimes which have been committed in his name1 perpetrated by troops and officials in his service1 and all done at his expense4 ,the whole nation is responsible at the bar of the world and before the tribunal of posterity for these atrocities1 devised by members of its ,cabinet and its ,congress1 directed by its ,presidents1 and executed by its armies and its courts4 ,the cruelties of ,alva in the ,netherlands1 which make the pen of ,motley glow as with fire as he tells them1 the dragonnades which scorched over the fairest regions of ,france after the ,revocation of the ,edict of ,nantes1 have a certain excuse1 as being instigated by a sincere1 though misguided religious zeal4 ,for ,philip ,,ii4 and ,louis ,,xiv4 had1 at least1 a fanatical belief that they were doing ,god service by those holocausts of his children2 while no motive inspired these massacres1 tortures1 and banishments1 but the most sordid rapacity and avarice1 the lowest and basest passions of the human breast4 ,and so carefully has the truth of this story been covered up with lies1 that1 probably1 very few indeed of the people of the ,free ,states have any just idea of the origin1 character1 and purposes of the ,seminole ,wars1 or of the character of the race against which they were waged4 ,and yet there is no episode in ,american history more full of romantic interest1 of heroic struggles1 and of moving griefs4 ,we have been taught to believe that these wars were provoked by incursions of the savages of ,florida on the frontier1 and1 if the truth could not be concealed1 that an incidental motive of our war of extermination against them was to be found in the sanctuary which the fugitive slaves of the neighboring ,states found in their fastnesses4 ,the general impression has been1 that these were mainly runaways of recent date1 who had made their escape from contemporary masters4 ,how many of our readers know that for more than three quarters of a century before the purchase of ,florida there had been a nation of negroes established there1 enjoying the wild freedom they loved1 mingling and gradually becoming identified with the ,indians1 who had made it their city of refuge from slavery also8 ,for the slaveholders of ,carolina had no scruples against enslaving ,indians any more than ,africans1 until it was discovered that the untamable nature of the red man made him an unprofitable and a dangerous servant4 ,these ,indian slaves fled into the wilderness1 which is now the ,state of ,georgia1 pushing their way even to the peninsula of ,florida1 and were followed1 in their flight and to their asylum1 by many of their black companions in bondage4 ,for near seventy-five years this little nation lived happy and contented1 till the ,state of ,georgia commenced the series of piratical incursions into their country1 then a ,spanish dependency1 from which they were never afterwards free2 the nation at last taking up the slaveholders' quarrel and prosecuting it to the bitter and bloody end4 ,this whole story is told1 and well told1 by ,mr4 ,giddings4 ,and a most touching picture it is4 ,first1 the original evasion of the slaves into that peninsular wilderness1 which they reclaimed as far as the supply of their simple wants demanded4 ,they planted1 they hunted1 they multiplied their cattle1 they intermarried with their ,indian friends and allies1 their children and their children's children grew up around them1 knowing of slavery only by traditionary legend4 ,the original founders of the tribe passed away1 and their sons and grandsons possessed their corn-fields and their hunting-grounds in peace4 ,for many years no fears disturbed their security4 ,under the ,spanish rule they were safe and happy4 ,then comes the gradual gathering of the cloud on the edges of their wilderness1 its first fitful and irregular flashes1 till it closes over their heads and bursts upon them in universal ruin and devastation4 ,their heroic resistance to the invasion of the ,united ,states troops follows1 sublime from its very desperation4 ,a more unequal contest was never fought4 ,on one side one of the mightiest powers on earth1 with endless stores of men and money at its beck1--and on the other a handful of outcasts fighting for their homes1 and the liberties1 in no metaphorical sense1 of themselves1 their wives1 and their children1 and protracting the fight for as many years as the ,american ,revolution lasted4 ,then succeeded the victory of ,slavery1 and the reduction to hopeless bondage of multitudes who had been for generations free1 on claim of pretended descendants of imaginary owners1 by the decision of petty government-officials1 without trial or real examination4 ,more than five hundred persons1 some of them recent fugitives1 but mostly men born free1 were thus reduced to slavery at a cost to us all of forty millions of dollars1 or eighty thousand dollars for each recovered slave6 ,then comes their removal to the ,cherokee lands1 west of ,arkansas1 under the pledge of the faith of the nation1 plighted by ,general ,jessup1 its authorized agent1 that they should be sent to the ,west1 and settled in a village separate from the ,seminole ,indians1 and that1 in the mean time1 they should be protected1 should not be separated1 nor any of them be sold to white men or others4 ,this1 however1 was not a legitimate issue of a war waged solely for the reduction of these exiles to slavery2 and so the doubts of ,president ,polk as to the construction of this treaty were solved by ,mr4 ,john ,y4 ,mason1 of ,virginia1 who was sandwiched in between two ,free-,state ,attorney-,generals for this single piece of dirty work1 7of which transaction see a most curious account1 pp4 #cbh-i of this book17 and who enlightened the ,presidential mind by the information1 that1 though the exiles were entitled to their freedom1 under the treaty1 and had a right to remain in the towns assigned to them1 the ,executive could not in any manner interfere to protect them6 ,the bordering ,creeks1 who by long slave-holding had sunk to the level of the whites around them1 longed to seize on these valuable neighbors1 and1 indeed1 they claimed rights of property in them as fugitives in fact from themselves4 ,the exiles were assured by the ,president that they had the right to remain in their villages1 free from all interference or interruption from the ,creeks4 ,trusting to the plighted word of the ,head of the ,nation1 they built their huts and planted their ground1 and began again their little industries and enjoyments4 ,but the sight of so many able-bodied negroes1 belonging only to themselves1 and setting an evil example to the slaves in the spectacle of an independent colony of blacks1 was too tempting and too irritating to be resisted4 ,a slave-dealer appeared amongst the ,creeks and offered to pay one hundred dollars for every ,floridian exile they would seize and deliver to him1--he taking the risk of the title4 ,two hundred armed ,creek warriors made a foray into the colony and seized all they could secure4 ,they were repulsed1 but carried their prisoners with them and delivered them to the tempter1 receiving the stipulated pieces of silver for their reward4 ,the ,seminole agent had the prisoners brought before the nearest ,arkansas judge by ,habeas ,corpus1 and the whole matter was reviewed by this infamous magistrate1 who overruled the opinion of the ,attorney-,general as to their right to reside in their villages1 overrode the decision of the ,president1 repealed the treaty-stipulations1 pronounced the title of the ,creek ,indians1 and consequently that of their vendee1 legal and perfect1 and directed the kidnapped captives to be delivered up to the claimant6 ,we regret that ,mr4 ,giddings has omitted the name of this wretch1 and we hope that in a future edition he will tell the world how to catalogue this choice specimen in its collection of judicial monsters4 ,then comes the last scene of this drama of exile4 ,finding that there was no rest for the sole of their foot in the ,united ,states1 these peeled and hunted men resolved to turn their backs upon the country that had thus cruelly entreated them1 and to seek a new home within the frontiers of ,mexico4 ,the sad procession began its march westward by night1 the warriors keeping themselves always in readiness for an attack4 ,the ,creeks1 finding that their prey had escaped them1 went in pursuit1 but were bravely repulsed and fled1 leaving their dead upon the field1--the greatest disgrace that can befall1 according to the code of ,indian honor4 ,the exiles then pursued their march into ,mexico without further molestation4 ,there1 in a fertile and picturesque region1 they have established themselves and resumed the pursuits of peaceful life4 ,but they have not been permitted to live in peace even there4 ,at least one marauding party1 in #ahec1 was organized in ,texas1 and went in search of adventures towards the new settlement4 ,of the particulars of the expedition we have no account4 ,only1 it is known that it returned without captives1 and1 as the ,texan papers announcing the fact admitted1 with slightly diminished numbers4 ,how long they will be permitted to dwell unmolested in their new homes no one can say4 ,complaints are already abroad that the escape of slaves is promoted by the existence of this colony1 which receives and protects them4 ,and when the ,government shall be ordered by its ,slave-holding ,directory to add another portion of ,mexico to the ,area of ,freedom1 these outrages will be sure to be found in the catalogue of grievances to be redressed4 ,then they will have to dislodge again and fly yet farther from before the face of their hereditary oppressors4 ,mr4 ,giddings has done his task admirably well4 ,it is worthy to be the crowning work of his long life of public service4 ,his style is of that best kind which is never remarked upon1 but serves as a clear medium through which the events he portrays are seen without distortion or exaggeration4 ,he has done his country one more service in entire consistency with those that have filled up the whole course of his honorable and beneficent life4 ,we have said that this is fit to be the crowning work of ,mr4 ,giddings's life2 but we trust that it is far from being the last that he will do for his country4 ,a winter such as rounds his days is fuller of life and promise than a century of vulgar summers4 ,he has won for himself an honorable and enduring place in the hearts and memories of men by the fidelity to principle and the unfaltering courage of his public course4 ,of the ignoble hundreds who have flitted through the ,capitol1 since he first took his place there1 ,heads without name1 no more remembered1 his is one of the two or three that are household words on the lips of the nation4 ,and it will so remain and be familiar in the mouths of posterity1 with a fame as pure as it is noble4 ,the ear that hath not heard him shall bless him1 and the eye that hath not seen him shall give witness to him4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,obituary4 ,the conductors of ,the ,atlantic have the painful duty of announcing to their readers the death of ,,calvin ,w4 ,,philleo1 author of ,akin by ,marriage1 published in the earlier numbers of this magazine4 ,the plot of the story was sketched at length1 and in the brain of the writer it was complete2 but no hand save his own could give it life and form3 it must remain an unfinished work4 ,the mind of ,mr4 ,philleo was singularly clear1 his observation of nature and character sharp and discriminating1 and his feeling for beauty1 in its more placid forms1 was intense and pervading4 ,his previous work1 ,twice ,married1 and the various sketches of ,new ,england life1 with which the readers of magazine literature are familiar1 are sufficient to give him a high place among novelists4 ,he was warm in his friendships1 pure in life1 and his early death will be lamented by a wide circle of friends4 ,in pace6