,,the ,,atlantic ,,monthly4 ,a ,,magazine ,,of ,,literature1 ,,art1 ,,and ,,politics4 ,,vol4 ,,vii4--,,february1 #ahfa4--,,no4 ,,xl4 ,,our ,,artists ,,in ,,italy4 ,,william ,,page4 ,among artists1 ,william ,page is a painter4 ,this proposition may seem1 to the great public which has so long and so well known him and his works1 somewhat unnecessary4 ,there are few who are not familiar with his paintings4 ,whether these seem great or otherwise1 whether the ,venus be pure or gross1 we may not here discuss2 the public has1 and will have1 many estimates2 yet on one point there is no difference of opinion1 apparently4 ,the world willingly calls him whose hand wrought these pictures a painter4 ,it has done so as a matter of course2 and we accept the title4 ,but perhaps the title comes to us from this man's studio1 charged with a significance elevating it above the simply self-evident1 and rendering it worthy of the place we have given it as a germ proposition4 ,not every one who uses pigments can say1 ,i also am a painter4 ,to him who would make visible the ideal1 there are presented the marble1 the pencil1 and the colors2 and should he employ either of these1 just in proportion to his obedience to the laws of each will he be a sculptor1 a designer1 or a painter2 and the revelations in stone1 in light and shade1 or on canvas1 shall be his witnesses forevermore1--witnesses of him not only as an artist1 in view of his relation to the ideal world1 but as possessing a right to the especial title conferred by the means which he has chosen to be his interpreter4 ,the world has too much neglected these means of interpretation4 ,it has condemned the science which would perfect the art1 as if the false could ever become the medium of the true4 ,the art of painting has suffered especially from the influence of mistaken views4 ,nor could it be otherwise4 ,color-manifestation1 of all art-utterance1 is the least simple4 ,it requires the fulfilment of a greater number of conditions than are involved in any other art4 ,he who has selected colors as his medium cannot with impunity neglect form2 light and shade must be to him as important as they are to the designer in chiaro-scuro2 while above all are the mystery and power of color4 ,there is perplexity in this4 ,the science of form seems to be vast enough for any man's genius4 ,no more than he accomplishes is demanded of the genuine sculptor4 ,his life has been grand with noble fulfilments4 ,we1 and all generations1 hold his name in the sacred simplicity which has ever been the sign of the consummate4 ,men say1 ,phidias1 ,praxiteles1 and know that they did greatly and sufficiently4 ,yet with the science which these men had we combine elements equally great1 and still truth demands the consummate4 ,hence success in painting has been the rarest success which the world has known4 ,if we search its history page by page1 the great canvas-leaves written over with innumerable names yield us less than a score of those who have overcome the difficulties of its science1 through that1 achieving art1 and becoming painters4 ,yes1 many men have painted1 many great artists have painted1 without earning the title which excellence gives4 ,overbeck1 the apostle artist1 whose rooms are sacred with the presence of the divine1 never earned that name4 ,nor did thousands who before him wrought patiently and earnestly4 ,we think that we have among us a man who has earned it4 ,what does this involve8 ,somewhat more than the ability critically to distinguish colors and to use them skilfully4 ,although practice may discipline and develop this power1 there must exist an underlying physiological fitness1 or all study and experience will be unavailing4 ,in many persons1 the organization of the eye is such that there can be no correct perception of the value1 relation1 and harmony of hues4 ,there exists often an utter inability to perceive differences between even the primary colors4 ,the late sculptor ,bartholomew declared himself unable to decide which of two pieces of drapery1 the one crimson and the other green1 was the crimson4 ,nor was this the result of inexperience4 ,he had been for years familiar not only with ,nature's coloring1 but with the works of the best schools of art1 and had been in continual contact with the first living artists4 ,the instances of this peculiar blindness are exceptional1 yet not more so than is the perfection of vision which enables the eye to discriminate accurately the innumerable tints derived from the three primitives4 ,nothing can be finer than the sense of identity and harmony resulting from this exquisite organization4 ,we have been told that there is a workman at the ,gobelin manufactory who can select twenty-two thousand tints of the material employed in the construction of its famous tapestries4 ,this capability is1 of course1 almost wholly dependent upon rare physical qualifications2 yet it is the basis1 the very foundation of a painter's power4 ,still1 it is but the foundation4 ,an eye for color never yet made any man a colorist4 ,perhaps there can be no severer test of this faculty of perception than the copying of excellent pictures4 ,and among the few successful copies which have been produced1 ,page's stand unsurpassed4 ,the ability to perceive ,nature1 when translated into art1 is1 however1 a possession which this painter shares with many4 ,nor is he alone in the skill which enables him to realize upon his own canvas the effects which some master has rendered4 ,it is in the presence of ,nature itself that a power is demanded with which mechanical superiority and physical qualifications have little to do4 ,here the man stands alone1--the only medium between the ideal and the outward world1 wherefrom he must choose the signs which alone are permitted to become the language of his expression4 ,none can help him1 as before he was helped by the man whose success was the parent of his own4 ,here is no longer copying4 ,in the first place1 is to be found the limit of the palette4 ,confining ourselves to the external1 what1 of all the infinitude of phenomena to which the vision is related1 so corresponds to the power of the palette that it may become adequately representative thereof8 ,passing over many minor points in which there seems to be an imperfect relation between ,nature's effects and those of pigments1 we will briefly refer to the great discrepancy occasioned by the luminosity of light4 ,in all the lower effects of light1 in the illumination of ,nature and the revelation of colored surfaces1 in the exquisite play and power of reflected light and color1 and in the depth and richness of these when transmitted1 we find a noble and complete response on the palette4 ,but somewhere in the ascending scale a departure from this happy relation begins to be apparent4 ,the color-properties of light are no longer the first4 ,another element--an element the essential nature of which is absorbed in the production of the phenomena of color--now asserts itself4 ,hitherto the painter has dealt with light indirectly1 through the mediatorship of substances4 ,the rays have been given to him1 broken tenderly for his needs2--ocean and sky1 mountain and valley1 draperies and human faces1 all things1 from stars to violets1 have diligently prepared for him1 as his demands have arisen1 the precious light4 ,and while he has restrained himself to the representation of ,nature subdued to the limit of his materials1 he has been victorious4 ,turner1 in whose career can be found almost all that the student needs for example and for warning1 is perhaps the best illustration of wise temperance in the choice of ,nature to be rendered into art4 ,nothing can be finer than some of those early works wrought out in quiet pearly grays1--the tone of ,nature in her soberest and tenderest moods4 ,in these1 too1 may be observed those touches of brilliant color1--bits of gleaming drapery1 perhaps1--prophetic flecks along the gray dawn4 ,such pictures are like pearls2 but art demands amber1 also4 ,when necessity has borne the artist out of this zone1 the peaceful domain of the imitator1 he finds himself impelled to produce effects which are no longer the simple phases of color1 but such as the means at his disposal fail to accomplish4 ,in the simpler stages of coloring1 when he desired to represent an object as blue or red1 it was but necessary to use blue or red material4 ,now he has advanced to a point where this principle is no longer applicable4 ,the illuminative power of light compels new methods of manipulation4 ,as examples of a thorough comprehension of the need of such a change in the employment of means1 of the character of that change1 of the skill necessary to embody its principles1 and of utter success in the result1 we have but to suggest the name and works of ,titian4 ,but the laws which ,titian discovered have been unheeded for centuries2 and they might have remained so1 had not the mind of ,william ,page felt the necessity of their revival and use4 ,to him there could be no chance-work4 ,art must have laws as definite and immutable as those of science2 indeed1 the body in which the spirit of art is developed1 and through which it acts1 must be science itself4 ,he saw1 that1 if exact imitation of ,nature be taken as the law in painting1 there must inevitably occur the difficulty to which we have before referred1--that1 above a certain point1 paint no longer undergoes transfiguration1 thereby losing its character as mere coloring material1--that1 if the ordinary tone of ,nature be held as the legitimate key-note1 the scope of the palette would be exhausted before success could be achieved4 ,any one of ,turner's latest pictures may serve to illustrate the nature of this difficulty4 ,although in his early practice he was remarkable for his judicious restraint1 it is evident that the splendors of the higher phenomena of light had for him unlimited fascination2 and he may be traced advancing cautiously through that period of his career which was marked by the influence of ,claude1 toward what he hoped would prove1 and perhaps believed to be1 a realization of such splendors4 ,it must have been observed by those who have studied his later pictures1 that1 while the low passages of the composition are wonderfully fine and representative1 all the higher parts1 those supposed or intended to stand for the radiance of dazzling light1 fail utterly in representative capacity4 ,there is an abundance of the most brilliant pigment1 but it is still paint1--unmitigated ochre and white lead4 ,the spectator is obliged to recede from the picture until distance enables the eye to transmute the offending material and reconcile the conflicting passages4 ,to accomplish the result of rendering the quality and effect of high light was one of the problems to which ,mr4 ,page years ago turned his attention2 and he found its solution in the transposition of the scale4 ,the pitch of ,nature could not be adopted as the immutable in art4 ,that were impossible1 unless art presumed to cope with ,nature4 ,more than he1 no man could respect the properties and qualities of the visible world4 ,his ideas of the truthful rendering of that which became the subject of his pencil might seem preposterous to those who knew not the wonderful significancy which he attached to individual forms and tints4 ,yet1 in imitation1 where is the limit8 ,what is possible8 ,must there be any sacrifice8 ,evidently there must be2 and of course it follows that the less important must be sacrificed4 ,nature herself has taught the artist that the most variable of all her phenomena is that of tone4 ,other truths of ,nature have a character of permanency which the artist cannot modify without violating the first principles of art4 ,he is required to render the essential2 and to render the essential of that which art cannot sacrifice1 if it would1 and continue art1 he foregoes the non-essential and evanescent4 ,not only is this permitted1--it is demanded4 ,it is a law through which alone success is attainable4 ,in obedience to it1 ,mr4 ,page adopts a key somewhat lower than that of ,nature as a point of departure1 using his degrees of color frugally1 especially in the ascending scale4 ,with this economy1 when he approaches the luminous effects of ,nature1 he finds1 just where any other palette would be exhausted1 upon his own a reserve of high color4 ,with this1 seeking only a corresponding effect of light in that lower tone which assumes no rivalry with the infinite glory of ,nature1 he attains to a representation fully successful4 ,we would not have it understood that a mere transposition of the scale is all that is required to accomplish such a result2 only this1--that in no other way can such a result be secured4 ,to color well1 to color so that forms upon the canvas give back tints like those of the objects which have served as models1 is only half the work4 ,quality1 as well as color1 must be attained4 ,local1 reflected1 and transmitted color can be imitated2 but as in the attempt to represent light its luminousness is the element which defeats the artist1 so1 throughout ,nature1 quality1 texture1 are the elements which most severely test his power4 ,could any indispensable truth be considered secondary1 it might be assumed that rendering truthfully the qualities of ,nature is the first and highest of art4 ,the forms and colors of objects vary infinitely4 ,it might be said that the law of all existence is1 in these two particulars1 that of change4 ,from the time a human being is born until it disappears in the grave1 from the day when the first leaves break the mould to that which sees the old tree fall1 the form of each has been modified hourly4 ,but that which differentiates objects more completely than any other property is quality4 ,the sky over us1 and the waters of the earth1 are subject to infinite variations4 ,yet1 whether in the tiny drop that trembles at the point of a leaf or in the vast ocean-globe of our planet1 in the torpor of forest-ponds or in the wrath of cataracts1 water never loses its quality of wetness1--the open sky never that of dryness4 ,these two characteristics are of course entirely the reverse of each other1--as unlike as are the properties of transparency and opacity1--which they involve4 ,so1 throughout ,nature1 one truth1 that of texture1 is the distinguishing2 and this distinctive element is that which cannot be sacrificed2 for through it are ,nature's finest laws manifested4 ,and the painter finds in his obedience to her demands his highest power over the material which serves him in his efforts to embody the true and the beautiful4 ,it is1 then1 this which compels us to estimate ,mr4 ,page a painter1--a man especially organized for his profession1--chosen by its demands1--set apart1 by his wonderful adaptation to its requirements1 from all the world4 ,in virtue of this specialty1 the necessity arose early in his life to seek excellence in his department of art1--to search the depths of its philosophy and discover its vital principles1--to analyze its methods and expose its errors4 ,it led him to investigate the relation between the phenomena of ,nature and the effects of painting2 it guided him to a clear perception of the laws of art-translation2 above all1 it compelled him to practise what he believed to be the true4 ,thus much of the painter2--now what of the artist8 ,it does not necessarily follow1 that1 because a man is a great painter1 he is also a great artist4 ,yet we may safely infer1 that1 if he has been true in one department of the several which constitute art1 he cannot have been false in others4 ,should there be a shortcoming1 it must be that of a man whose mission does not include that wherein he fails4 ,fidelity to himself is all we should demand4 ,we say this for those who are disposed to depreciate what an artist actually accomplishes1 because in some one point ,turner or ,overbeck surpasses him4 ,nor do we say it apologetically4 ,the man1 who1 basing his action upon the evident purpose of the organization which ,god has given him1 fulfils his destiny1 requires no apology4 ,we have seen something of the faithfulness which has marked ,mr4 ,page's pursuit of excellence in the external of his art4 ,he has wrought that which proves his claim to a broader title than that of painter4 ,were it not for the vagueness which involves the appellation of historical painter1 it might be that4 ,even were we obliged to confine our interest and study to the portraiture which he has executed1 we might1 in view of its remarkable character1 designate it as historical4 ,than a really great portrait1 no work of art can be more truly historical4 ,we feel the subjectiveness of compositions intended to transmit facts to posterity1--and unless we know the artist1 we are at a loss as to the degree of trust which we may place in his impressions4 ,a true portrait is objective4 ,the individuality of the one whom it represents was the ruling force in the hour of its production2 and to the spirit of a household1 a community1 a kingdom1 or an age1 that individuality is the key4 ,there is1 too1 in a genuine portrait an internal evidence of its authenticity4 ,no artist ever was great enough to invent the combination of lines1 curves1 and planes which composes the face of a man4 ,there is the accumulated significance of a lifetime1--subtile traces of failures or of victories wrought years ago4 ,how these will manifest themselves1 no experience can point out1 no intuition can foresee or imagine4 ,the modifications are infinite1 and each is completely removed from the region of the accidental4 ,but1 although details and their combinations in the human face and form cannot be wrought from the imagination1 the truthfulness or falsity of their representation is instantly evident4 ,it is because of this1 that the unity of a portrait carries conviction of its truth and of the unimpeachability of its evidence1 that this phase of art becomes so valuable as history4 ,compared with the worth of ,titian's ,philip ,,ii41--the ,madrid picture1 of which ,mr4 ,wild has an admirable study1--what value can be attached to any historical composition of its period8 ,it has not been the lot of ,mr4 ,page to paint a mighty man1 so inlocked with the rugged forces of his age4 ,his sitters have come from more peaceful1 nobler walks of life1--and their portraits are beloved even more than they are admired4 ,not yet are they the pride of pompous galleries1 but the glory and saintliness of homes4 ,could we enter these homes1 and discuss freely the character of their treasures1 we would gladly linger in the presence of the more precious4 ,but so inseparably associated are they with their originals1 so much more nearly related to them than to the artist1 that no fitting analysis can be made of the representation without involving that of the individual represented4 ,three portraits have1 however1 such wonderful excellence1 and through this excellence have become so well known1 that we may be forgiven for alluding to them4 ,in a former paper1 the writer spoke of the portrait of a man in his divinest development4 ,the first of these three works is the representation of a woman1 and is truly somewhat miraculous4 ,it is a face rendered impressive by the grandest repose1--a repose that pervades the room and the soul1--a repose not to be mistaken for serenity1 but which is power in equilibrium4 ,no brilliancy of color1 no elaboration of accessories1 no intricacy of composition attracts the attention of the observer4 ,there is no need of these4 ,but he who is worthy of the privilege stands suddenly conscious of a presence such as the world has rarely known4 ,he feels that the embodiment before him is the record of a great ,past1 as well as the reflection of a proud ,present1--a ,past in which the soul has ever borne on through and above all obstacles of discouragement and temptation to a success which was its inheritance4 ,he sees1 too1 the possibilities of the near ,future2 how from that fine equipoise the soul might pass out into rare manifestations1 appearing in the sweetness and simplicity of a little child1 in the fearful tumultuousness of a ,lady ,macbeth1 in the passionate tenderness of a ,romeo1 or in the ,gothic grandeur of a ,scotch sorceress1--in the love of kindred1 in the fervor of friendship1 and in the nobleness of the truest womanhood4 ,another portrait--can it have been painted in this century8--presents a widely different character4 ,we have seen the rendering of a nature made too solemn by the possession of genius to admit of splendor of coloring4 ,this picture is that of ripe womanhood1 manifesting itself in the fulness of summer's goldenest light4 ,color1 in all its richness as color1 in all its strength as a representative agent1 in all its glory as the minister of light1 in all its significance as the sign and expression of plenitude of life1--life at one with ,nature2--thus we remember it1 as it hung upon the wall of that noble room in the ,roman home of ,crawford4 ,a later portrait1 and one artistically the finest of ,mr4 ,page's productions1 although executed in ,rome1 has found a home in ,cambridge4 ,here no grave subdual of color was called for1 nor was there any need of its fullest power1--but1 instead thereof1 we have color in the purity of its pearl expression4 ,a mild lustre1 inexpressibly clear1 seems to pervade the picture1 and beam forth the revelation of a white soul4 ,shadows there are none1--only still softer light1 to carry back the receding forms4 ,but interest in technicalities is lost in the nobler sense of sweet influences4 ,we are at peace in the presence of a peace which passeth all understanding4 ,we are holy in the ineffable light of immortal holiness4 ,we are blessed in the consciousness of complete harmony4 ,surely1 none but a great painter could have achieved such success2 surely1 no mere painter could thus have appealed to us4 ,these works we have chosen to represent the artist's power in the direction of portraiture1--not only because of their wonderful merit as embodiments of individualism1 but to illustrate a law which has not yet had its due influence in art1 but which must be the very life of its next revival1 when painting shall be borne up until it marks the century4 ,we refer to the expressional power of color1--not the conventional significance whereby certain colors have been associated arbitrarily with mental conditions4 ,this last has often violated all the principles of natural relation2 yet no fact is more generally accepted than this1--that colors1 from the intensity of the primitives to the last faint tints derived therefrom1 bear fixed and demonstrable relations to the infinite moods and phases of human life4 ,as among themselves the hues of the palette exist in immutable conditions of positive affinity or repulsion1 so are they all related to the soul as definitely in harmony or in discord4 ,there has been imperfect recognition of this at various times in the history of painting since the age of ,giotto1--the most notable examples having occurred in the ,venetian school4 ,but even in that golden age of art1 this property of color was but rarely perceived and called into use under the guidance of principles4 ,still1 the sense of the value and the harmonies of colors was so keen among the ,venetian artists1 that1 intuitively1 subjects were chosen which required an expression admitting of the most lavish use and magnificent display of color4 ,paul ,veronese1 the splendor of whose conceptions seemed ever to select the pomp and wealth of banquets and ceremonies1--,giorgione1 for whom the world revolved in an atmosphere of golden glory1--each had a fixed ideal of noble coloring2 and it is questionable whether either ever modified that ideal for the sake of any expressional purpose4 ,titian1 from whom no property or capability of color was concealed1 could not forego the power which he secured through obedience to the law of its relation to the human soul4 ,were we asked which among pictures is most completely illustrative of this obedience1 we should answer1 ,the ,entombment1 in the ,louvre4 ,each breadth of color mourns1--sky and earth and all the conscious air are laden with sorrow4 ,in portraiture1 however1 the great master was inclined to give the full perfection of the highest type of coloring4 ,that rich glow which is bestowed by the ,venetian sun did1 indeed1 seem typical of the life beneath it2 and ,titian may have been justified in bringing thither those who were the recipients of his favors4 ,one only did he not invite1--,philip ,,ii42 him he placed1 dark and ominous1 against a sky barred with blood4 ,is it in virtue of conformity to law1 and under the government of the principles of correspondence1 that ,mr4 ,page has wrought with mind and hand8 ,otherwise it cannot be2 for1 in the three portraits to which allusion has been made1 such subtile distinctions of character find expression in equally subtile differences of tint1 that no touch could have been given from vague apprehensions of truth4 ,no ambiguity perplexes the spectator2 he beholds the inevitable4 ,other works than those of portraiture have won for ,mr4 ,page the attention of the world4 ,this attention has elicited from individuals praise and dispraise1 dealt out promptly1 and with little qualification4 ,but we have looked in vain for some truly appreciative notice of the so-called historical pictures executed by this artist4 ,we do not object to the prompt out-speaking of the public4 ,so much is disposed of1 when the mass has given or withheld its approval4 ,we know whether or not the work appeals to the hearts of human beings4 ,often1 too1 it is the most nearly just of any which may be rendered4 ,usually1 the conclusions of the great world are correct1 while its reasonings are absurd4 ,its decisions are immediate and clear2 its arguments1 subsequent and vague4 ,this measure1 however1 cannot be meted to all artists4 ,a painter may appeal to some wide1 yet superficial sympathy1 and attain to no other excellence4 ,that ,mr4 ,page might have found success in this direction will not be denied by any one who has seen the engraving of a girl and lamb1 from one of his early works4 ,it is as sweet and tenderly simple as a face by ,francia4 ,but not only did he refuse to confine himself to this style of art1 as1 when that engraving is before us1 we wish he had done1--he passed out of and away from it4 ,and those phases which followed have been such as are the least fitted to stand the trial of public exhibition4 ,his pictures do not command the eye by extraordinary combinations of assertive colors1--nor do they1 through great pathos1 deep tenderness1 or any overcharged emotional quality1 fascinate and absorb the spectator4 ,much of the middle portion of this artist's professional life is marked by changes4 ,it was a period of growth1--of continual development and of obvious transition4 ,not infrequently1 the transition seemed to be from the excellent to the crude4 ,nevertheless1 we doubt not1 that1 through all vicissitudes1 there has been a steady and genuine growth of ,mr4 ,page's best artistic power1 and that he has been true to his specialty4 ,we should like to believe that the ,venetian visit of #ahec was the closing of one period of transition1 and the beginning of a new era in ,mr4 ,page's artistic career4 ,it is pleasant to think of the painter's pilgrimage to that studio of ,titian1 ,venice1--for it was all his1--not in nebulous prophetic youth1--not before his demands had been revealed to his consciousness1--not before those twenty long years of solitary1 hard1 earnest work1--but in the full ripeness of manhood1 when prophecy had dawned into confident fulfilment1 when the principles of his science had been found1 and when of this science his art had become the demonstration4 ,it was fine to come then1 and be for a while the guest of ,titian4 ,there is evidence that he began after this visit to do what for years he had been learning to do1--yet1 of course1 as is ever the case with the earnest man1 doing as a student1 as one who feels all truth to be of the infinite4 ,the result has been a series of remarkable pictures4 ,there are among these the specimens of portraiture1 a few landscapes1 and a number of ideal1 or1 as they have been called1 historical works4 ,of these last named there is somewhat to be said2 and those to which we shall refer are selected for the purpose of illustrating principles1 rather than for that of description4 ,these are all associated with history4 ,there are three representations of ,venus1 and several renderings of ,scriptural subjects4 ,if these pictures are valuable1 they are so in virtue of elements which can be appreciated4 ,to present these elements to the world1 to appeal to those who can recognize them1 is1 it is fair to assume1 the object of exposition4 ,not merely praise1 but the more wholesome meed of justice1 is the desire of a true artist2 and as we deal with such a one1 we do not hesitate to speak of his works as they impress us4 ,first of all1 in view of the artist's skill as a painter1 it is well to regard the external of his work4 ,here1 in both ,scriptural and mythological subjects1 there is little to condemn4 ,the motives have been bravely and successfully wrought out2 the work is nobly1 frankly done4 ,the superiority of methods which render the texture and quality of objects becomes apparent4 ,there is no attempt at illusion2 yet the representation of substances and spaces is faultless1--as1 for instance1 the sky of the ,venus leading forth the ,trojans4 ,nor have we seen that chaste1 pearly lustre of the most beautiful human skin so well rendered as in the bosom of the figure which gleams against the blue4 ,but there is a pretension to more than technical excellence in the mythological works2 there is a declaration of physical beauty in the very idea2 in both these and the ,scriptural there is an assumption of historical value4 ,while we believe that the problem of physical beauty can be solved and demonstrated1 and the representations of ,venus can be proved to possess or to lack the beautiful1 we choose to leave now1 as we should be compelled to do after discussion1 the decision of the question to those who raise it4 ,it is of little avail to prove a work of art beautiful1--of less1 to prove it ugly4 ,spectators and generations cannot be taken one by one and convinced4 ,but where the operation of judgment is from the reasoning rather than from the intuitive nature1 facts1 opinions1 and impressions may exert healthful influences4 ,the ,venus of ,page we cannot accept1--not because it may be unbeautiful1 for that might be but a shortcoming1--not because of any technical failure1 for1 with the exception of weakness in the character of waves1 nothing can be finer1--not because it lacks elevated sentiment1 for this ,venus was not the celestial1--but because it has nothing to do with the present1 neither is it of the past1 nor related in any wise to any imaginable future4 ,the present has no ideal of which the ,venus of the ancients is a manifestation4 ,other creations of that marvellous ,greek mind might be fitly used to symbolize phases of the present4 ,hercules might labor now2 there are other stables than the ,augean2 and not yet are all ,hydras slain4 ,armor is needed2 and a ,vulcan spirit is making the anvil ring beneath the earth-crust of humanity4 ,but ,venus1 the voluptuous1 the wanton1--no sensuousness pervading any religion of this era finds in her its fitting type and sign4 ,she1 her companions1 and her paramours1 with the magnificent religion which evolved them1 were entombed centuries ago2 and no angel has rolled the stone from the door of their sepulchre4 ,they are dead2 the necessity which called the ,deistic ideal into existence is dead2 the ideal itself is dead1 since ,paul preached in ,athens its funeral sermon4 ,as history of past conditions1 no value can be attached to representations produced in subsequent ages4 ,in this respect all these pictures must be false4 ,the best can only approximate truth4 ,yet his two pictures of ,scriptural subjects--one from the remoteness of ,hebrew antiquity1 the other from the early days of ,christianity--are most valuable even as history3 not the history of the flight from ,egypt1 nor that of the flight into ,egypt1 but the history of what these mighty events have become after the lapse of many centuries4 ,herein lies the difference between ,mythology and ,christianity3 the one arose1 culminated1 and perished1 soul and body1 when the shadow of the ,cross fell athwart ,olympus2 the other is immortal1--immortal as is ,christ1 immortal as are human souls1 of which it is the life4 ,no century has been when it has not found1 and no century can be when it will not find1 audible and visible utterance4 ,the music of the ,messiah reveals the relation of its age to the great central idea of ,christianity4 ,fr ,angelico1 ,leonardo1 ,bach1 ,milton1 ,overbeck1 were the revelators of human elevation1 as sustained by the philosophy of which ,christ was the great interpreter4 ,therefore1 to record that elevation1 to be the historian of the present in its deepest significance1 the noblest occupation4 ,dwelling1 as an artist must dwell1 in the deep life of his theme1 his work must go forth utterly new1 alive1 and startling4 ,thus did we find the ,flight into ,egypt a picture full of the spirit of that marvellous age1 hallowed by the sweet mystery which all these years have given4 ,who of those who were so fortunate as to see this work of ,mr4 ,page will ever forget the solemn1 yet radiant tone pervading the landscape of sad ,egypt1 along which went the fugitives8 ,nothing ever swallowed by the insatiable sea1 save its human victims1 is more worthy of lament than this lost treasure4 ,thus1 too1 is the grandest work of ,mr4 ,page's life1 the ,moses with hands upheld above the battle4 ,were we on the first page instead of the last1 we could not refrain from describing it4 ,yet in its presence the impulse is toward silence4 ,we feel1 that1 viewed even in its mere external1 it is as simple and majestic as the ,hebrew language4 ,the far sky1 with its pallid moon1--the deep1 shadowy valley1 with its ghostly warriors1--the group on the near mountain1 with its superb youth1 its venerable age1 and its manhood too strong and vital for the destructive years2--in the presence of such a creation there is time for a great silence4 ,,knitting ,,sale-,,socks4 ,he's took 'ith all the sym't'ms1--thet 's one thing sure6 ,dretful pain in hez back an' l'ins1 legs feel 's ef they hed telegraph-wires inside 'em workin' fur dear life1 head aches1 face fevered1 pulse at #b4dj1 awful stetch in the side1 an' pressed fur breath4 ,you guess it's neuralogy1 ,lurindy8 ,i do'no' nothin' abeout yer high-flyin' names fur rheumatiz4 ,i don't guess so6 ,but1 ,aunt ,mimy1 what do you guess8 asked mother4 ,i don' guess nothin' at all1--,i nigh abeout know6 ,well1--you don't think it's---- ,i on'y wish it mebbe the veryaloud1--,i on'y wish it mebbe4 ,but that's tew good luck ter happen ter one o' the name4 ,no1 ,miss ,ruggles1 ,i--think--it's--the raal article at first hand4 ,goodness1 ,aunt ,mimy6 what---- ,yes1 ,i du2 an' you'll all hev it stret through the femily1 every one2 you needn't expect ter go scot-free1 ,emerline1 'ith all your rosy cheeks2 an' you'll all hev ter stay in canteen a month ter the least2 an' ef you're none o' yer pertected by vaticination1 ,i reckon ,i---- ,well1 ,aunt ,mimy1 if that's your opinion1 ,i'll harness the filly and drive over for ,dr4 ,sprague4 ,lor'6 yer no need ter du thet1 ,miss ,ruggles1--,i kin kerry yer all through jest uz well uz ,dr4 ,sprague1 an' a sight better1 ef the truth wuz knowed4 ,i tuk ,miss ,deacon ,smiler an' her hull femily through the measles an' hoopin'-cough1 like a parcel o' pigs1 this fall4 ,they du say ,jane's in a poor way an' ,nathan'l's kind o' declinin'2 but1 uz ,i know they say it jest ter spite me1 ,i don' so much mind4 ,you a'n't gwine now1 be ye8 ,there's safety in a multitude of counsellors1 you know1 ,aunt ,mimy1 and ,i think on the whole ,i had best4 ,wal6 ef that's yer delib'rate ch'ice betwixt ,dr4 ,sprague an' me1 ye kin du ez ye like4 ,i never force my advice on no one1 'xcept this1--,i'd advise ,emerline there ter throw them socks inter the fire2 there'll never none o' them be fit ter sell1 'nless she wants ter spread the disease4 ,wal1 ,i'm sorry yer 've concluded ter hev thet old quack ,sprague2 never hed no more diplomy 'n ,i2 don' b'lieve he knows cow-pox from kine1 when he sees it4 ,the poor young man's hed his last well day1 ,i'm afeard4 ,good-day ter ye2 say good-bye fur me ter ,stephen4 ,i'll call ag'in1 ef ye happen ter want any one ter lay him eout4 ,and1 staying to light her little black pipe1 she jerked together the strings of her great scarlet hood1 wrapped her cloak round her like a sentinel at muster1 and went puffing down the hill like a steamboat4 ,aunt ,mimy ,ruggles wasn't any relation to us1 ,i wouldn't have you think1 though our name was ,ruggles1 too4 ,aunt ,mimy used to sell herbs1 and she rose from that to taking care of the sick1 and so on1 till once ,dr4 ,sprague having proved that death came through her ignorance1 she had to abandon some branches of her art2 and she was generally roaming round the neighborhood1 seeking whom she could devour in the others4 ,and so she came into our house just at dinner-time1 and mother asked her to sit by1 and then mentioned ,cousin ,stephen1 and she went up to see him1 and so it was4 ,now it can't be pleasant for any family to have such a thing turn up1 especially if there's a pretty girl in it2 and ,i suppose ,i was as pretty as the general run1 at that time1--perhaps ,cousin ,stephen thought a trifle prettier2 pink cheeks1 blue eyes1 and hair the color and shine of a chestnut when it bursts the burr1 can't be had without one 's rather pleasant-looking2 and then ,i'm very good-natured and quick-tempered1 and ,i've got a voice for singing1 and ,i sing in the choir1 and a'n't afraid to open my mouth4 ,i don't look much like ,lurindy1 to be sure2 but then ,lurindy's an old maid1--as much as twenty-five1--and don't go to singing-school4--,at least1 these thoughts ran through my head as ,i watched ,aunt ,mimy down the hill4--,lurindy a'n't so very pretty1 ,i continued to think1--but she's so very good1 it makes up4 ,at sewing-circle and quilting and frolics1 ,i'm as good as any2 but somehow ,i'm never any 'count at home2 that's because ,lurindy is by1 at home4 ,well1 ,lurindy has a little box in her drawer1 and there's a letter in it1 and an old geranium-leaf1 and a piece of black silk ribbon that looks too broad for anything but a sailor's necktie1 and a shell4 ,i don't know what she wants to keep such old stuff for1 ,i'm sure4 ,we're none so rich1--,i suppose ,i may as well tell the truth1 that we're nearly as poor as poor can be4 ,we've got the farm1 but it's such a small one that mother and ,i can carry it on ourselves1 with now and then a day's help or a bee1--but a bee's about as broad as it is long1--and we raise just enough to help the year out1 but don't sell4 ,we've got a cow and the filly and some sheep2 and mother shears and cards1 and ,lurindy spins1--,i can't spin1 it makes my head swim1--and ,i knit1 knit socks and sell them4 ,sometimes ,i have needles almost as big as a pipe-stem1 and choose the coarse1 uneven yarn of the thrums1 and then the work goes off like machinery4 ,why1 ,i can knit two pair1 and sometimes three1 a day1 and get just as much for them as ,i do for the nice ones1--they're warm4 ,but when ,i want to knit well1 as ,i did the day ,aunt ,mimy was in1 ,i take my best blue needles and my fine white yarn from the long wool1 and it takes me from daybreak till sundown to knit one pair4 ,i don't know why ,aunt ,jemimy should have said what she did about my socks2 ,i'm sure ,stephen hadn't been any nearer them than he had to the cabbage-bag ,lurindy was netting1 and there wasn't such a nice knitter in town as ,i1 everybody will tell you4 ,she always did seem to take particular pleasure in hectoring and badgering me to death4 ,well1 ,i wasn't going to be put down by ,aunt ,mimy1 so ,i made the needles fly while mother was gone for the doctor4 ,by-and-by ,i heard a knock up in ,stephen's room1--,i suppose he wanted something1--but ,lurindy didn't hear it1 and ,i didn't so much want to go1 so ,i sat still and began to count out loud the stitches to my narrowings4 ,by-and-by he knocked again4 ,lurindy1 says ,i1 a'n't that ,steve a-knocking8 ,yes1 says she1--why don't you go8--for ,i had been tending him a good deal that day4 ,well1 says ,i1 there's a number of reasons2 one is1 ,i'm just binding off my heel4 ,lurindy looked at me a minute1 then all at once she smiled4 ,well1 ,emmy1 says she1 if you like a smooth skin more than a smooth conscience1 you're welcome1--and went up-stairs herself4 ,i suppose ,i had ought to 'a' gone1 and ,i suppose ,i'd ought to wanted to have gone1 but somehow it wasn't so much fear as that ,i didn't want to see ,stephen himself now4 ,so ,lurindy stayed up chamber1 and was there when mother and the doctor come4 ,and the doctor said he feared ,aunt ,mimy was right1 and nobody but mother and ,lurindy must go near ,stephen1 7you see1 he found ,lurindy there17 and they must have as little communication with me as possible4 ,and his boots creaked down the back-stairs1 and then he went4 ,mother came down a little while after1 for some water to put on ,stephen's head1 which was a good deal worse1 she said2 and about the middle of the evening ,i heard her crying for me to come and help them hold him1--he was raving4 ,i didn't go very quick2 ,i said1 ,yes1--just as soon as ,i've narrowed off my toe2 and when at last ,i pushed back my chair to go1 mother called in a disapproving voice and said that they'd got along without me and ,i'd better go to bed4 ,well1 after ,i was in bed ,i began to remember all that had happened lately4 ,somehow my thoughts went back to the first time ,cousin ,stephen came to our place1 when ,i was a real little girl1 and mother'd sent me to the well and ,i had dropped the bucket in1 and he ran straight down the green slippery stones and brought it up1 laughing4 ,then ,i remembered how we'd birds-nested together1 and nutted1 and come home on the hay-carts1 and how we'd been in every kind of fun and danger together2 and how1 when my new ,portsmouth lawn took fire1 at ,martha ,smith's apple-paring1 he caught me right in his arms and squeezed out the fire with his own hands2 and how1 when he saw once ,i had a notion of going with ,elder ,hooper's son ,james1 he stepped aside till ,i saw what a nincom ,jim ,hooper was1 and then he appeared as if nothing had happened1 and was just as good as ever2 and how1 when the ice broke on ,deacon ,smith's pond1 and ,i fell in1 and the other boys were all afraid1 ,steve came and saved my life again at risk of his own2 and how he always seemed to think the earth wasn't good enough for me to walk on2 and how ,i'd wished1 time and again1 ,i might have some way to pay him back2 and here it was1 and ,i'd failed him4 ,then ,i remembered how ,i'd been to his place in ,berkshire1--a rich old farm1 with an orchard that smelled like the ,spice ,islands in the geography1 with apples and pears and quinces and peaches and cherries and plums1--and how ,stephen's mother1 ,aunt ,emeline1 had been as kind to me as one's own mother could be4 ,but now ,aunt ,emeline and ,uncle ',siah were dead1 and ,stephen came a good deal oftener over the border than he'd any right to4 ,today1 he brought some of those new red-streaks1 and wanted mother to try them2 next time1 they'd made a lot more maple-sugar on his place than he wanted2 and next time1 he thought mother's corn might need hoeing1 or it was fine weather to get the grass in3 ,i don't know what we should have done without him4 ,then ,i thought how ,stephen looked1 the day he was pall-bearer to ,charles ,payson1 who was killed sudden by a fall1--so solemn and pale1 nowise craven1 but just up to the occasion1 so that1 when the other girls burst out crying at sight of the coffin and at thought of ,charlie1 ,i cried1 too1--but it was only because ,stephen looked so beautiful4 ,then ,i remembered how he looked the other day when he came1 his cheeks were so red with the wind1 and his hair1 those bright curls1 was all blown about1 and he laughed with the great hazel eyes he has1 and showed his white teeth2--and now his beauty would be spoiled1 and he'd never care for me again1 seeing ,i hadn't cared for him4 ,and the wind began to come up2 and it was so lonesome and desolate in that little bed-room down-stairs1 ,i felt as if we were all buried alive2 and ,i couldn't get to sleep2 and when the sleet and snow began to rattle on the pane1 ,i thought there wasn't any one to see me and ,i'd better cry to keep it company2 and so ,i sobbed off to dreaming at last1 and woke at sunrise and found it still snowing4 ,next morning1 ,i heard mother stepping across the kitchen1 and when ,i came out1 she said ,lurindy'd just gone to sleep2 they'd had a shocking night4 ,so ,i went out and watered the creatures and milked ,brindle1 and got mother a nice little breakfast1 and made ,stephen some gruel4 ,and then ,i was going to ask mother if ,i'd done so very wrong in letting ,lurindy nurse ,stephen1 instead of me2 and then ,i saw she wasn't thinking about that2 and besides1 there didn't really seem to be any reason why she shouldn't2--she was a great deal older than ,i1 and so it was more proper2 and then ,stephen hadn't ever said anything to me that should give me a peculiar right to nurse him more than other folks4 ,so ,i just cleared away the things1 made everything shine like a pin1 and took my knitting4 ,i'd no sooner got the seam set than ,i was called to send something up on a contrivance mother'd rigged in the back-entry over a pulley4 ,and then ,i had to make a red flag1 and find a stick1 and hang it out of the window by which there were the most passers4 ,well1 ,i did it2 but ,i didn't hurry1--,i didn't get the flag out till afternoon2 somehow ,i hated to1 it always seemed such a low-lived disease1 and ,i was mortified to acknowledge it1 and ,i knew nobody'd come near us for so long1--though goodness knows ,i didn't want to see anybody4 ,well1 when that was done1 ,lurindy came down1 and ,i had to get her something to eat1 and then she went up-stairs1 and mother took her turn for some sleep2 and there were the creatures to feed again1 and what with putting on1 and taking off1 and tending fires1 and doing errands1 and the night's milking1 and clearing the paths1 ,i didn't knit another stitch that day1 and was glad enough1 when night came1 to go to bed myself4 ,well1 so we went on for two or three days4 ,i'd got my second sock pretty well along in that time1--just think6 half a week knitting half a sock6--and was setting the heel1 when in came ,aunt ,mimy4 ,i a'n't afeard on it1 says she2 don't you be skeert4 ,i jest stepped in ter see ef the young man wuz approachin' his eend4 ,no1 said ,i1 he isn't1 any more than you are1 ,aunt ,mimy4 ,any more 'n ,i be8 she answered4 ,don't you lose yer temper1 ,emerline4 ,we're all approachin' it1 but some gits a leetle ahead2 it a'n't no disgrace1 ez ,i knows on4 ,what yer doin' of8 ,knittin' sale-socks yet8 and1 my gracious6 still ter work on the same pair6 ,you'll make yer fortin'1 ,emerline6 ,i didn't say anything1 ,i was so provoked4 ,i don' b'lieve you know heow ter take the turns w'en yer mother a'n't by to help1 she continued4 ,can't ye take up the heel8 ,widden ev'ry fourth4 ,here1 let me6 ,you won't8 ,wal1 ,i alluz knowed you wuz mighty techy1 ,emerline ,ruggles1 but ye no need ter fling away in thet style4 ,neow ,i'll advise ye ter let socks alone2 they're tew intricate fur sech ez you4 ,mitt'ns is jest abeout 'ithin the compass uv your mind1--mitt'ns1 men's single mitt'ns1 put up on needles larger 'n them o' yourn be1 an' by this rule4 ,seventeen reounds in the wrist1--tew an' one's the best seam---- ,now1 ,miss ,jemimy1 just as if ,i didn't know how to knit mittens6 ,wal1 it seems you don't1 said she1 though ,i don' deny but you may know heow ter give 'em2 an' ez ,i alluz like ter du w'at good ,i kin1 ,i'm gwine ter show ye4 ,show away1 says ,i2 but ,i'll be bound1 ,i've knit and sold and eaten up more mittens than ever you put your hands in6 ,du tell6 ,i'm glad to ha' heern you've got sech a good digestion1 says she1 hunting up a piece of paper to light her pipe4 ,wal1 ez ,i wuz sayin'1 says she1 tew an' one's the best seam1 handiest an' 'lastickest2 twenty stetches to a needle1 cast up so loose thet the fust one's ter one eend uv the needle an' the last ter t'other eend1--thet gives a good pull4 ,i guess your smoke will hurt ,stephen's head1 said ,i1 thinking to change her ideas4 ,oh1 don't you bother abeout ,stephen's head2 ef it can't stan' thet1't a'n't good fur much4 ,wal1 an' then you set yer thumb an' knit plain1 'xcept a seam-stetch each side uv yer thumb2 an' you widden tew stetches1 one each side1--s'pose ye know heow ter widden8 an' narry8--ev'ry third reound1 tell yer 've got nineteen stetches acrost yer thumb2 then ye knit1 'ithout widdenin'1 a matter uv seven or eight reounds more1----you listenin'1 ,emerline8 ,lor'1 ,miss ,jemimy1 don't you know better than to ask questions when ,i'm counting8 ,now ,i've got to go and begin all over again4 ,highty-tighty1 ,miss6 ,you're a weak sister1 ef ye can't ceount an' chat1 tew4 ,wal1 ter make a long matter short1 then ye drop yer thumb onter some thread an' cast up seven stetches an' knit reound fur yer hand1 an' every other time you narry them seven stetches away ter one1 fur the gore4 ,dear me1 ,aunt ,mimy6 do be quiet a minute6 ,i believe mother's a-calling4 ,i'll see1 said ,aunt ,mimy1--and she stepped to the door and listened4 ,no1 says she1 coming back on tiptoe1--an' you didn't think you heern any one neither4 ,it's ruther small work fur ter be foolin' an old woman4 ,hows'ever1 ,i don' cherish grudges2 so1 ez ,i wuz gwine ter say1 ye knit thirty-six reounds above wheer ye dropped yer thumb1 an' then ye toe off in ev'ry fifth stetch1 an' du it reg',iar1 ,emerline2 an' then take up yer thumb on tew needles1 an' on t'other you pick up the stetches ,i told yer ter cast up1 an' knit twelve reounds1 an' thumb off 'ith narryin' ev'ry third---- ,well1 ,miss ,jemimy1 ,i guess ,i shall know how to knit mittens1 now6 ,ef ye don't1 't a'n't my fault4 ,when you've fastened off the eends1 you roll 'em up in a damp towel1 an' press 'em 'ith a middlin' warm iron on the wrong side4 ,there6 ,after this1 ,miss ,mimy smoked awhile in silence1 satisfied and gratified4 ,at last she knocked the ashes out of her pipe4 ,wal1 says she1 ,i must be onter my feet4 ,i'd liked ter seen yer ma1 but ,i won't disturb her1 an' you can du ez well4 ,yer ma promised me a mess o' tea1 an' ,i guess ,i may ez well take it neow ez any day4 ,why1 ,miss ,mimy1 said ,i1 there a'n't above four or five messes left1 and we can't get any more till ,i sell my socks4 ,wal1 never mind1 then1 you can le' me take one1 an' mebbe ,i kin make up the rest at ,miss ,smilers's4 ,so ,i went into the pantry to get it1 and ,aunt ,mimy followed me1 of course4 ,them's nice-lookin' apples1 said she4 ,come from ,stephen's place8 ,poor young man1 he won't never want 'em6 ,s'pose he won't hev no objection ter my tryin' a dozen1--and she dropped that number into her great pocket4 ,nice-lookin' butter1 tew1 said she4 ,own churnin'8 ,wal1 you kin du sunthin'1 ,emerline4 ,w'en ,i wuz a heousekeeper1 ,i used ter keep the femily in butter an' sell enough to ,miss ,smith--she thet wuz ,mary ,breown--ter buy our shoes1 all off uv one ceow4 ,s'pose ,i take this pat8 ,i was kind of dumfoundered at first2 ,i forgot ,aunt ,mimy was the biggest beggar in ,rockingham ,county4 ,no1 says ,i1 as soon as ,i got my breath1 ,i sha'n't suppose any such thing4 ,you're as well able to make your butter as ,i am to make it for you4 ,wal1 ,emerline ,ruggles6 ,i alluz knowed you wuz close ez the bark uv a tree2 it's jest yer father's narrer-contracted sperrit2 you don' favor yer ma a speck4 ,she's ez free ez water4 ,if mother's a mind to give away her eye-teeth1 it don't follow that ,i should1 said ,i2 and ,i won't give you another atom2 and you just clear out6 ,wal1 you kin keep yer butter1 sence you're so sot on it1 an' ,i'll take a leetle dust o' pork instead4 ,let's see you take it6 said ,i4 ,i guess ,i'll speak 'ith yer ma4 ,i shall git a consider'ble bigger piece1 though ,i don't like ter add t' 'er steps4 ,now look here1 ,miss ,mimy1 says ,i1--if you'll promise not to ask for another thing1 and to go right away1 ,i'll get you a piece of pork4 ,so ,i went down cellar1 and fished round in the pork-barrel and found quite a respectable piece4 ,coming up1 just as my head got level with the floor1 what should ,i see but ,miss ,jemimy pour all the sugar into her bag and whip the bowl back on the shelf1 and turn round and face me as innocent as ,moses in the bulrushes4 ,after she had taken the pork1 she looked round a minute and said1-- ,wal1 arter all1 ,i nigh upon forgot my arrant4 ,here's a letter they giv' me fur ,lurindy1 at the post-office2 ev'rybody else's afeard ter come up here2--and by-and-by she brought it up from under all she'd stowed away there4 ,thet jest leaves room1 says she4 ,for what8 says ,i4 ,fur tew or three uv them eggs4 ,i put them into her bag and said1 ,now you remember your promise1 ,aunt ,mimy6 ,lor' sakes6 says she1 you're in a mighty berry ter git me off4 ,neow you've got all you kin out uv me1 the letter1 'n' the mitt'ns1 ,i may go1 may ,i8 ,i niver see a young gal so furrard 'ith her elders in all my born days6 ,i think ,stephen ,lee's well quit uv ye1 fur my part1 ef he hed to die ter du it4 ,i don't 'xpect ye ter thank me fur w'at instruction ,i gi'n ye2--there's some folks ,i niver du 'xpect nothin' from2 you can't make a silk pus out uv a sow's ear4 ,w'at ye got thet red flag out the keepin'-room winder fur8 ',cause ,lurindy's nussin' ,stephen8 ,wal1 good-day6 ,and so ,aunt ,mimy disappeared1 and the pat of butter with her4 ,i called ,lurindy and gave her the letter1 and after a little while ,i heard my name1 and ,lurindy was sitting on the top of the stairs with her head on her knees1 and mother was leaning over the banisters4 ,pretty soon ,lurindy lifted up her head1 and ,i saw she had been crying1 and between the two ,i made out that ,lurindy'd been engaged a good while to ,john ,talbot1 who sailed out of ,salem on long voyages to ,india and ,china2 and that now he'd come home1 sick with a fever1 and was lying at the house of his aunt1 who wasn't well herself2 and as he'd given all his money to help a shipmate in trouble1 she couldn't hire him a nurse1 and there he was2 and1 finally1 she'd consider it a great favor1 if ,lurindy would come down and help her4 ,now ,lurindy'd have gone at once1 only she'd been about ,stephen1 so that she'd certainly carry the contagion1 and might be taken sick herself1 as soon as she arrived2 and mother couldn't go and take care of ,john1 for the same reason2 and there was nobody but me4 ,lurindy had a half-eagle that ,john had given her once to keep2 and ,i got a little bundle together and took all the precautions ,dr4 ,sprague advised2 and he drove me off in his sleigh1 and said1 as he was going about sixteen miles to see a patient1 he'd put me on the cars at the nearest station4 ,well1 he stopped a minute at the post-office1 and when he came out he had another letter for ,lurindy4 ,i took it1 and1 after a moment1 concluded ,i'd better read it4 ,what are you about8 says the ,doctor2 your name isn't ,lurindy1 is it8 ,i wish it was1 says ,i1 and then ,i shouldn't be here4 ,oh6 you're sorry to leave ,stephen8 says he4 ,well1 you can comfort yourself with reflecting that ,lurindy's a great deal the best nurse4 ,as if that was any comfort6 ,if ,lurindy was the best nurse1 she'd ought to have had the privilege of taking care of her own lover1 and not of other folks's4 ,besides1 for all ,i knew1 ,stephen would be dead before ever ,i came back1 and here ,i was going away and leaving him6 ,well1 ,i didn't feel so very bright2 so ,i read the letter4 ,the ,doctor asked me what ailed ,john ,talbot4 ,i thought1 if ,i told him that ,miss ,jane ,talbot wrote now so that ,lurindy shouldn't come1 and that he was sick just as ,stephen was1 he wouldn't let me go4 ,so ,i said ,i supposed he'd burnt his mouth1 like the man in the ,south1 eating cold pudding and porridge2 men always cried out at a scratch4 ,and he said1 ,oh1 do they8 and laughed4 ,after about two hours' driving1 there came a scream as if all the panthers in ,coos ,county were let loose to yell1 and directly we stopped at a little place where a red flag was hung out4 ,i asked the ,doctor if they'd got the small-pox here1 too2 but before he could answer1 the thunder running along the ground deafened me1 and in a minute he had put me inside the cars and was off4 ,i was determined ,i wouldn't appear green before so many folks1 though ,i'd never seen the cars before2 so ,i took my seat1 and paid my fare to ,old ,salem1 and looked about me4 ,pretty soon a woman came bustling in from somewhere1 and took the seat beside me4 ,there she fidgeted round so that ,i thought ,i should have flown4 ,miss1 says she1 at length1 will you close your window8 ,i never travel with a window open2 my health's delicate4 ,i tried to shut it1 but it wouldn't go up or down1 till a gentleman put out his cane and touched it1 and down it slid1 like ,signor ,blitz4 ,it did seem as if everything about the cars went by miracle4 ,i thanked him1 but ,i found afterward it would have been more polite not to have spoken4 ,after that woman had done everything she could think of to plague and annoy the whole neighborhood1 she got out at ,ipswich1 and somebody met her that looked just like our sheriff2 and ,i shouldn't be a bit surprised to hear that she'd gone to jail4 ,when she got out1 somebody else got in1 and took the same seat4 ,miss1 says she1 will you have the goodness to open your window8 this air is stifling4 ,and she did everything that the other woman didn't do4 ,when she found ,i wouldn't talk1 she turned to the young gentleman and lady that sat opposite1 and that looked as if there was a great deal too much company in the cars1 and found they wouldn't talk either1 and at last she caught the conductor and made him talk4 ,,ah this while we were swooping over the country in the most terrific manner4 ,i thought how frightened mother and ,lurindy'd be1 if they should see me4 ,it was no use trying to count the cattle or watch the fences1 and the birch-trees danced rigadoons enough to make one dizzy1 and we dashed through everybody's back-yard1 and ran so close up to the kitchens that we could have seen what they had for dinner1 if we had stayed long enough2 and finally ,i made up my mind that the engine had run away with the driver1 and ,john ,talbot would never have me to tend him2 and ,i began to wonder1 as ,i saw the sparks and cinders and great clouds of steam and smoke1 if those tornadoes that smash round so out ,west in the newspapers weren't just passenger-trains1 like us1 off the track1--when all at once it grew as dark as midnight4 ,now1 says ,i to myself1 it's certain4 ,they've run the thing into the ground4 ,however1 we can't go long now4 ,and just as ,i was thinking about ,korah and his troop1 ,i remembered what the ,doctor had told me about ,salem ,tunnel1 and it began to grow lighter1 and we began to go slower1 and ,i picked up my wits and looked about me again4 ,i had only time to notice that the young gentleman and lady looked very much relieved1 and to shake my shawl from the clutch of the woman beside me1 when we stopped at ,salem1 safe and sound4 ,i had a good deal of trouble to find ,miss ,talbot's house1 but find it ,i did2 and the first thing she gave me was a scolding for coming1 thinking ,i was ,lurindy1 and her tongue wasn't much cooler when she found ,i wasn't2 and then finally she said1 as long as ,i was there1 ,i might stay2 and ,i went right up to see ,john1 and a sight he was6 ,it was about three months ,i stayed and took the greater part of the care of him4 ,sometimes in the midnight1 when he was quite beside himself1 and dreaming out loud1 it was about as good as a story-book to hear him4 ,he told me of some great ,indian cities where there were men in white1 with skins swarthier than old red ,guinea gold1 and with great shawls all wrought in palm-leaves of gold and crimson bound on their heads1 who could sink a ship with their lacs of rupees2 and of islands where the shores came down to the water's edge and unrolled like a green ribbon1 and brooks came sparkling down behind them1 and great trees hung above like banners1 and beautiful women came off on rafts and skiffs loaded with fruit1--the islands set like jewels on the back of the sea1 and the sky covered them with light and hung above them bluer than the hangings of the ,tabernacle1 and they sent long rivers of spice out on the air to entice the sailor back1--islands where night never came4 ,sometimes1 when he talked on so1 ,i remembered that ,i'd felt rather touched up when ,i found that ,lurindy'd had a sweetheart all this time1 and mother knew it1 and they'd never told me1 and ,i wondered how it happened4 ,now it came across me1 that1 quite a number of years before1 ,lurindy had gone to ,salem and worked in the mills4 ,she didn't stay long1 because it didn't agree with her1--the neighbors said1 because she was lazy4 ,lurindy lazy1 indeed6 ,there a'n't one of us knows how to spell the first syllable of that word4 ,but that's where she must have got acquainted with ,john ,talbot4 ,he'd been up at our place1 too2 but ,i was over to ,aunt ,emeline's1 it seems4 ,but one night1 about this time1 ,i thought he was dying1 he'd got so very low2 and ,i thought how dreadful it was for ,lurindy never to see him again1 and how it was all my selfish fault1 and how maybe he wouldn't 'a' died1 if he'd had her to have taken care of him2 and ,i suppose no convicted felon ever endured more remorse than ,i did1 sitting and watching that dying man all that long and lonely night4 ,but with the morning he was better1--they always are a great deal worse when they are getting well from it2 he laughed when the doctor came1 and said he guessed he'd weathered that gale2 and by-and-by he got well4 ,he meant to have gone up and seen ,lurindy1 after all1 but his ship was ready for sea just as he was2 and ,i thought it was about as well1 for he wasn't looking his prettiest4 ,and so he declared ,i was the neatest little trimmer that ever trod water1 and he believed he should know a ,ruggles by the cut of her jib1 7,i wonder if he'd have known ,aunt ,mimy17 and if ever he went master1 he'd name his ship for me1 and call it the ,sister of ,charity4 ,and he kissed me on both cheeks1 and looked serious enough when he sent his love to ,lurindy1 and went away2 and no sooner was he gone than ,miss ,talbot said ,i'd better have the doctor myself2 and ,i didn't sit up again for about three weeks4 ,all this time ,i hadn't heard a word from home1 and1 for all ,i knew1 ,stephen might be dead and buried4 ,i didn't feel so very light-hearted1 you may be sure1 when one day ,miss ,talbot brought me a letter4 ,it was from mother1 and it seemed ,stephen'd only had a bad fever1 and had been up and gone home for more than a week4 ,so ,i wrote back1 as soon as ,i could1 all about ,john1 and how he'd gone to sea again1 and how ,miss ,talbot1 who set sights by ,john1 was rather lonely1 and ,i thought ,i'd keep her company a little longer1 and try a spell in the mills1 seeing that our neighbors didn't think a girl had been properly accomplished till she'd had a term or two in the factory4 ,the fact was1 ,i didn't want to go home just then2 ,i thought1 maybe1 if ,i waited a bit1 my face would get back to looking as it used to4 ,so ,i worked in the piece-room1 light work and good pay1 sent mother and ,lurindy part of my wages1 and paid my board to ,miss ,talbot4 ,she'd become quite attached to me1 and ,i to her1 for all she was such an old-maidish thing2 but ,i'd got to thinking an old maid wasn't such a very bad thing1 after all4 ,fourth of ,july came at last1 and the mills were closed1 and ,i went with some of the other girls on an excursion down the harbor2 and when ,i got home1 ,miss ,talbot told me my ,cousin ,stephen had been down to see me1 and had been obliged to go home in the last train4 ,i wondered why ,stephen didn't stay1 and then it flashed upon me that she'd told him all about it1 and he didn't want to see me afterwards4 ,i knew mother and ,lurindy suspected why ,i didn't come home1 and now1 thinks ,i1 they know2 but ,i asked no questions4 ,when ,september came1 ,i saw it wasn't any use delaying1 and ,i might as well go back to knitting sale-socks then as any time4 ,however1 ,i didn't go till ,october4 ,you needn't think ,i'd stayed away from the farm all that time1 while the tender things were opening1 the tiny top-heavy beans pushing up1 the garden-sarse greening1 the little grass-blades two and two1--while all the young creatures were coming forward1 the chickens breaking the shell1 and the gosling-storm brewing and dealing destruction1--while the strawberries were growing ripe and red up in the high field1 and the hay and clover were getting in1--you needn't think ,i'd stayed away from all that had been pleasant in my life1 without many a good heart-ache2 and when at last ,i saw the dear old gray house again1 all weather-beaten and homely1 standing there with its well-sweep among the elms1 ,i fairly cried4 ,mother and ,lurindy ran out to meet me1 when they saw the stage stop1 and after we got into the house it seemed if they would never get done kissing me4 ,and mother stirred round and made hot cream-biscuits for tea1 and got the best china1 and we sat up till nigh midnight1 talking1 and ,i had to tell everything ,john did and said and thought and looked1 over and over again4 ,by-and-by ,i unpacked my trunk1 and there was a little parcel in the bottom of it1 and ,i pulled it up4 ,there1 ,lurindy1 says ,i1 ,john told me to tell you to have your wedding-dress ready against he came home1--he's gone mate1--and here it is4 ,and ,i unrolled the neatest brown silk you ever saw1 just fit for ,lurindy1 she's so pale and genteel1 and threw it into her lap4 ,i'd stayed the other month to get enough to buy it4 ,the first thing ,lurindy did1 by way of thanks1 was to burst into tears and declare she never could take it1 that she never should marry now2 and the more ,i urged her1 the more she cried4 ,but at last she said she'd accept it conditionally1--and the condition was1 ,i should be married when she was4 ,well1 says ,i1 agreed1 if you'll provide the necessary article2 because ,i can't very well marry my shadow1 and ,i don't know any one else that would be fool enough to have such a little fright4 ,at that ,lurindy felt all the worse1 and it took all the spirits ,i had to build up hers and mother's4 ,i suppose ,i was sorry to see they felt so bad1 7and they hadn't meant that ,i should17 because it gave the finishing stroke to my conviction2 and after ,i was in bed1 ,i grew sorrier still2 and if ,i cried1 't wasn't on account of myself1 but ,i saw how ,lurindy 'd always feel self-accused1 though she hadn't ought to1 whenever she looked at me1 and how all her life she'd feel my scarred face like a weight on her happiness1 and think ,i owed it to ,john1 and how intolerable such an obligation1 though it was only a fancied one1 would be2 and ,i saw1 too1 that it all came from my not going up-stairs that first time when ,stephen knocked1--because if ,i had gone1 ,i should have been there when the doctor came1 and ,lurindy 'd have gone to have taken care of ,john herself1 and it would have been her face that was ruined instead of mine2 and though it was a great deal better that it should be mine1 still she'd have been easier in her mind2--and so thinking and worrying1 ,i fell asleep4 ,next day was baking-day1 and ,stephen was coming in the afternoon1 and it was almost five o'clock when we got cleared up1 and ,i went up-stairs to change my dress4 ,i thought 't wasn't any use to trim myself out in bows and ruffles now1 so ,i just put on my brown gingham and a white linen collar2 but ,lurindy came and tied a pink ribbon at my throat1 and fixed my hair herself1 and looked down and said1-- ,well1 ,i don't see but you're about as pretty as ever you was4 ,that almost finished me2 but ,i contrived to laugh1 and got down-stairs4 ,mother 'd run over to the village to get some yarn to knit up1 for she 'd used all our own wool4 ,it was getting dark1 and ,i had just brought in another log1 and hung the kettle on the crane4 ,the log hadn't taken fire yet1 and there was only a light glimmer1 from the coals1 on the ceiling4 ,i heard the back-door-latch click1 and thought it was mother1 and commenced humming in the middle of a tune1 as if ,i'd been humming the rest and had just reached that part2 but the figure standing there was a sight too tall for mother4 ,oh1 ,stephen1 says ,i1--and my heart jumped in my throat1 but ,i just swallowed it down1 and thanked ,heaven that the evening was so dark1--is that you8 ,yes1 says he1 stepping forward1 and putting out his hands1 and making as if he would kiss me4 ,just for a minute ,i hung back1 then ,i went and gave him my hand in a careless way4 ,yes1 says he2 and ,i can't say that you seem so very glad to see me4 ,oh1 yes1 ,i answered1 ,i am glad4 ,did you drive over8 ,well1 says he1 maybe you are2 but ,i should call it a mighty cool reception1 after almost a year's absence4 ,however1 ,i suppose it's the best manners not to show any cordiality2 you've had a chance to learn more politeness down at ,salem than we have up here in the country4 ,i was a little struck up by ,stephen's running on so1--he was generally so quiet1 and said so little1 and then in such short sentences4 ,but in a minute ,i reckoned he thought ,i was nervous1 and was trying to put me at my ease1--and he knew of old that the best way to do that was to rouse my temper4 ,i ha'n't seen anybody at ,salem better-mannered 'n mother and ,lurindy1 said ,i4 ,come home for ,thanksgiving8 asked ,stephen1 hanging up his coat4 ,i kept still a minute1 for ,i couldn't for the life of me see what ,i had to give thanks for4 ,then it came over me what a cheery1 comfortable home this was1 and how ,stephen would always be my kind1 warm-hearted friend1 and how thankful ,i ought to be that my life had been spared1 and that ,i was useful1 that ,i'd made such good friends as ,i had down to ,salem1 and that ,i wasn't soured against all mankind on account of my misfortune4 ,yes1 ,stephen1 says ,i1 ,i've come home for ,thanksgiving2 and ,i have a great deal to give thanks for4 ,so have ,i1 said he4 ,stephen1 says ,i1 ,i don't exactly know1 but ,i shouldn't wonder if ,i'd had a change of heart4 ,don't know of anybody that needed it less1 says ,stephen1 warming his hands4 ,however1 if it makes you any more comfortable1 ,i sha'n't object2 except the part of it that belongs to me1--,i sha'n't have that changed4 ,the fire'd begun to brighten now1 and the room was red and pleasant-looking2 still ,i knew he couldn't see me plainly1 and ,i waited a minute1 and lingered round1 pretending ,i was doing something1 which ,i wasn't2 ,i hated to break the old way of things2 and then ,i took the tongs and blew a coal and lighted the dip and held it up1 as if ,i was looking for something4 ,pretty soon ,i found it2 it was a skein of linen thread ,i was going to wind for ,lurindy4 ,then ,i got the swifts and came and sat down in front of the candle4 ,there1 says ,i1 the swifts is broken4 ,what shall ,i do8 ,i'll hold the thread1 if that's your trouble1 says ,stephen1 and came and sat opposite to me while ,i wound4 ,i wondered whether he was looking at me1 but ,i didn't durst look up1--and then ,i couldn't1 if my life had depended upon it4 ,at last we came to the end2 then ,i managed to get a glance edgeways4 ,he hadn't been looking at all1 ,i don't believe1 till that very moment1 when he raised his eyes4 ,are folks always so sober1 when they've had a change of heart8 he asked1 with his pleasant smile4 ,they are1 when they've had a change of face1 ,i was going to say2 but just then mother came in with her bundle of yarn1 and ,lurindy came down1 and there was such a deal of welcoming and talking1 that ,i slipped round and laid the table and had the tea made before they thought of it4 ,i'd about made up my mind now that ,stephen would act as if nothing had happened1 and pretend to like me just the same1 because he was so tender-hearted and couldn't bear to hurt my feelings nor anybody's2 and ,i'd made up my mind1 too1 that1 as soon as he gave me a chance1 ,i'd tell him ,i was set against marriage3 leastwise1 ,i wouldn't have him1 because ,i wouldn't have any man marry me out of pity2 and the more ,i cared for him1 the more ,i couldn't hamper an ugly face on him forever4 ,so1 you see1 ,i had quite resolved1 that1 cost me what it would1 ,i'd say ',no1' if ,stephen asked me4 ,well1 it's a very good thing to make resolutions2 but it's a great deal better to break them1 sometimes4 ,having come to my conclusions1 ,i grew as merry as any of them2 and when mother put two spoons into ,stephen's cup1 ,i told him he was going to have a present4 ,and he said he guessed he knew what it was2 and ,i said it must be a mitten1 ,i'd heard that ,martha ,smith had taken to knitting lately2 and he confounded ,martha ,smith4 ,mother and ,lurindy were very busy talking about the yarn1 and how ,mr4 ,fisher wanted the next socks knit2 and ,stephen asked me what that dish was beside me4 ,i said1 it was lemon-pie1 and the top-crust was made of kisses1 and would he have some8 ,and he said1 he didn't care for anybody's kisses but mine1 and he believed he wouldn't4 ,and ,i told him the receipt of this came from the ,queen's own kitchen4 ,and he said1 he didn't know that the ,queen of ,england was any better than the ,queen of ,hearts4 ,then ,i said1 ,i supposed he remembered how the latter lady was served by the ,knave of ,hearts in ',mother ,goose'8 ,and he replied1 that he wasn't going to be ,jack-at-a-pinch for anybody4 ,and so on1 till mother finished tea4 ,after tea1 ,i sat up to the table and ended some barley-trimming that ,i'd just learned how to make2 and as the little kernels came tumbling out from under my fingers1 ,stephen sat beside and watched them as if it was a field of barley1 growing1 reaped1 and threshed under his eyes4 ,by-and-by ,i finished it2 and then1 rummaging round in the table-drawer1 ,i found the sock that ,i was knitting1 waiting at the very stitch where ,i left it1 'most a year ago4 ,well1 if that isn't lucky6 said ,i4 ,and ,i sat down on a stool by the fireside1 determined to finish that sock that night2 and no sooner had ,i set the needles to dancing1 like those in the fairy-story1 than open came the kitchen-door again1 and in1 out of the dark1 stepped ,aunt ,mimy4 ,good-evenin'1 ,miss ,ruggles6 says she4 ,heow d' ye du1 ,emerline8 hope yer gwine ter stay ter hum a spell4 ,why1 ,stephen1 's this you8 ,quite a femily-party1 ,i declare fur't6 ,wai1 ,miss ,ruggles1 ,i got kind o' tired settin' in the dark1 an'1 ez ,i looked out an' see the dips blazin' in yer winder1 thinks ,i1 ,i'll jest run up an' see w'at's ter pay4 ,why1 there's only one dip1 says ,lurindy4 ,wal1 thet's better 'n none1 answered ,miss ,mimy4 ,i had enough of the old ,adam left in me to be riled at her way of begging as much as ever ,i was2 but ,i saw that ,stephen was amused2 he hadn't ever happened to be round1 when ,aunt ,mimy was at her tricks4 ,no1 ,miss ,ruggles1 continued she1 ,i thank the ,lord ,i ha'n't got a complainin' sperrit1 an' hed jest ez lieves see by my neighbor's dip ez my own1 an'1 mebbe ye 'll say1 a sight lieveser4 ,and then ,miss ,mimy pulled out a stocking without beginning or end1 and began to knit as fast as she could rattle1 after she 'd fixed one needle in a chicken-bone1 and pinned the chicken-bone to her side4 ,wal1 ,emerline1 says she1 ,i s'pose ye've got so grand down ter the mills1 thet1 w'at 'ith yer looms an' machines an' tic-doloreux1 ye won't hev nothin' ter say ter the old way uv knittin' socks4 ,does this look like it1 ,aunt ,mimy8 says ,i1 shaking my needles by way of answer4 ,i'm going to finish this pair to-night4 ,oh1 says she1 you be1 be you8 ,wal1 ef ,i don't e'en a'most vum it's the same one6 ef ye ha'n't been nigh abeout a hull year a-knittin' one pair uv socks6 ,how do you know they're the same pair8 asked ,i4 ,by a mark ,i see you sot in 'em ter the top1 ef ye want ter know1 afore ,i thought it would be hangin' by the eyelids the rest uv yer days4 ,wal1 ,i never 'xpected ye'd be much help ter yer mother2 ye're tew fond uv hikin' reound the village4 ,indeed1 ,miss ,mimy1 said ,lurindy1 kind of indignant1 she's always been the greatest help to mother4 ,i don't know how ,i should have made both ends meet this year1 if it hadn't been for her wages1 said mother4 ,stephen was whittling ,miss ,mimy's portrait on the end of a stick1 and laughing4 ,i was provoked with mother and ,lurindy for answering the thing1 and was just going to speak up1 when ,i caught ,stephen's eye1 and thought better of it4 ,pretty soon ,aunt ,mimy produced a bundle of herbs from her pocket1 and laid them on the table4 ,oh1 thank you1 ,aunt ,jemimy1 says mother4 ,pennyroyal and catnip's always acceptable4 ,yes1 said ,aunt ,mimy4 ,an' ,i'll take my pay in some uv yer dried apples4 ,heow much does ,fisher give fur socks1 ,miss ,ruggles8 she asked1 directly4 ,fifty cents and ,i find1--fifteen and he finds4 ,an' ye take yer pay out uv the store8 ,varry reasonable4 ,i wuz thinkin' uv tryin' my han' myself2--business's ruther dull1 folks onkimmon well this fall4 ,heow many strings yer gwine ter give me fur the yarbs8 ,then mother went up garret to get the apples and spread the herbs to dry1 and ,lurindy wanted some different needles1 and went after her4 ,stephen'd just heaped the fire1 and the great blaze was tumbling up the chimney1 and ,miss ,mimy lowered her head and looked over her great horn-bowed spectacles at me4 ,wal1 ,emerline ,ruggles1 says she1 after a while1 going back to her work1 you've lost all your pink cheeks6 ,i suppose it took me rather sudden1 for all at once a tear sprung and fell right down my work4 ,i saw it glistening on the bright needles a minute1 and then my eyes filmed so that ,i felt there was more coming1 and ,i bent down to the fire and made believe count my narrowings4 ,after all1 ,aunt ,mimy was kind of privileged by everybody to say what she pleased4 ,but ,stephen didn't do as every one did1 always4 ,emmie's beauty wasn't all in her pink cheeks1 ,miss ,mimy1 ,i heard him say1 as ,i went into the back-entry to ask mother to bring down the mate of my sock4 ,wal1 wherever it was1 there's precious little of it left6 said she1 angry at being took up1 which maybe she never was before in her life4 ,you don't agree with her friends1 said he1 cutting in the stick the great mole on the side of her nose2 they all think she's got more than ever she had4 ,mother tossed me down the mate1 and ,i went back4 ,young folks1 said ,aunt ,mimy1 after two or three minutes' silence1 did ye ever hear tell o' ',miah ,kemp8 ,any connection of old ,parson ,kemp in the other parish8 asked ,stephen4 ,yes1 said ,aunt ,mimy1--his brother4 ,wal1 w'en ,i wuz a young gal1 livin' ter hum1--my father wuz ez wealthy ez any farmer thereabeouts1 ye know1--,i used ter keep company 'ith ',miah ,kemp4 ',miah wuz a stun-mason1 the best there wuz in the deestrik1 an' the harnsomest boy there tew1--though ,i say it thet shouldn't say it1--he hed close-curlin' black hair1 an' an arm it done ye good ter lean on4 ,wal1 one spring-night1--,i mind it well1--we wuz walkin' deown the lane together1 an' the wind wuz blowin'1 the laylocks wuz in bloom1 an' all overhead the lane wuz rustlin' 'ith the great purple plumes in the moonlight1 an' the air wuz sweeter 'ith their breath than any air ,i've ever taken sence1 an' ez we wuz walkin'1 ',miah wuz askin' me fur ter fix eour weddin'-day4 ,wal1 w'en he left me at the bars1 ,i agreed we'd be merried the fifteenth day uv ,july comin'1 an' ,i walked hum2 an' ,i mind heow ,i wondered ef ,eve wuz so happy in ,paradise1 or ef ,paradise wuz half so beautiful ez thet scented lane4 ,the nex' mornin'1 ez ,i wuz milkin'1 the ceow tuk fright an' begun ter cut up1 an' she cut up so thet ,i run an' she arter me1--an' the long an' the short uv it wuz thet she tossed me1 an' w'en they got me up they foun' ,i hedn't but one eye4 ,wal1 uv course1 my looks wuz sp'iled1--fur ,i'd been ez pretty'z ,emerline wuz1--you wuz pretty once1 ,emerline1--an' ,i sent ',miah ,kemp word ,i'd hev no more ter du 'ith him nor any one else neow4 ',miah1 he come ter see me2 but ,i wuz detarmined1 an' ,i stuck ter my word4 ,he did an' said everything thet mortal man could1--thet he loved me better'n ever1 an' thet 't would be the death uv him1 an' tuk on drefful4 ,but w'en he'd got through1 ,i giv' him the same answer1 though betwixt ourselves it a'most broke my heart ter say it4 ,i kep' a stiff upper-lip1 an' he grew desp'rate1 an' tuk all sorts uv dangerous jobs1 blastin' rocks an' haulin' stuns4 ,one night1--'t wuz jest a year from the night ,i'd walked 'ith him in thet lane1--,i wuz stan'in' by the door1 an' all ter once ,i heerd a noise an' crash ez ef all the thunderbolts in the ,almighty's hand hed fallen together1 an' ,i run deown the lane an' met the men bringin' up sunthin' on an old door4 ,they hed been blastin' ,elder ,payson's rock1 half-way deown the new well1 an' the mine hedn't worked1 an' ',miah'd gone deown ter see w'at wuz in it2 an' jest ez he got up ag'in1 off it went1 an' here he wuz 'ith a great splinter in his chist1--ef the rest uv it wuz him4 ,they couldn't kerry him no furder1 an' sot him deown2 an' there wuz all the trees a-wavin' overhead ag'in1 an' all the sweet scents a-beatin' abeout the air1 jest uz it wuz a year ago w'en he parted from me so strong an' whole an' harnsome2 all the fleowers wuz a-blossomin'1 all the winds wuz blowin' an' this lump uv torn flesh an' broken bones wuz ',miah4 ,i laid deown on the grass beside him1 an' put my lips close to hisn1 an' ,i could feel the breath jest stirrin' between2 an' the doctor came an' said 't warn't no use2 an' they threw a blanket over us1 an' there ,i laid tell the sun rose an' sparkled in the dew an' the green leaves an' the purple bunches1 an' the air came frolickin' fresh an' sweet abeout us2 an' though ,i'd knowed it long1 layin' there in the dark1 neow ,i see fur sartain thet there warn't no breath on them stiff lips1 an' the forehead was cold uz the stuns beneath us1 an' the eyes wuz fixed an' glazed in thet las' look uv love an' tortur' an' reproach thet he giv' me4 ,they say ,i went distracted2 an' ,i du b'lieve ,i've be'n cracked ever sence4 ,here ,aunt ,mimy1 who had told her whole story without moving a muscle1 commenced rocking violently back and forth4 ,i don't often remember all this1 says she1 after a little1 but las' spring it all flushed over me2 an' w'en ,i heerd heow ,emerline'd be'n sick1--,i hear a gre't many things ye do' no' nothin' abeout1 children1--,i thought ,i'd tell her1 fust time ,i see her4 ,what made you think of it last spring8 asked ,stephen4 ,the laylocks wuz in bloom1 said ,miss ,mirny1--the laylocks wuz in bloom4 ,just then mother came down with the apples1 and some dip-candles1 and a basket of broken victuals2 and ,miss ,mimy tied her cloak and said she believed she must be going4 ,and ,stephen went and got his hat and coat1 and said1-- ,miss ,mimy1 wouldn't you like a little company to help you carry your bundles8 ,come1 ,emmie1 get your shawl4 ,so ,i ran and put on my things1 and ,stephen and ,i went home with ,aunt ,mimy4 ,emmie1 says ,stephen1 as we were coming back1 and he'd got hold of my hand in his1 where ,i'd taken his arm1 what do you think of ,aunt ,mimy now8 ,oh1 says ,i1 ,i'm sorry ,i've ever been sharp with her4 ,i don't know1 said ,stephen4 ',ta'n't in human nature not to pity her2 but then she brought her own trouble on herself1 you see4 ,yes1 said ,i4 ,i don't know how to blast rocks1 says ,stephen1 when we'd walked a little while without saying anything1--but ,i suppose there is something as desperate that ,i can do4 ,oh1 you needn't go to threatening me6 thinks ,i2 and1 true enough1 he hadn't any need to4 ,emmie1 says he1 if you say ',no1' when ,i ask you to have me1 ,i sha'n't ask you again4 ,well8 says ,i1 after a step or two1 seeing he didn't speak4 ,well8 says he4 ,i can't say ',yes' or ',no' either1 till you ask me1 said ,i4 ,he stopped under the starlight and looked in my eyes4 ,emmie1 says he1 did you ever doubt that ,i loved you8 ,once ,i thought you did1 said ,i2 but it's different now4 ,i do love you1 said he1 and you know it4 ,me1 ,stephen8 said ,i1--with my face like a speckled sparrow's egg8 ,yes1 you1 said he2 and he bent down and kissed me1 and then we walked on4 ,by-and-by ,stephen said1 ,when would ,i come and be the life of his house and the light of his eyes8 ,that was rather a speech for ,stephen2 and ,i said1 ,i would go whenever he wanted me4 ,and then we went home very comfortably1 and ,stephen told mother it was all right1 and mother and ,lurindy did what they'd got very much into the habit of doing1--cried2 and ,i said1 ,i should think ,i was going to be buried1 instead of married2 and ,stephen took my knitting-work away1 and said1 as ,i had knit all our trouble and all our joy into that thing1 he meant to keep it just as it was2 and that was the end of my knitting sale-socks4 ,i suppose1 now ,i've told you so far1 you'd maybe like to know the rest4 ,well1 ,lurindy and ,john were married ,thanksgiving morning2 and just as they moved aside1 ,stephen and ,i stepped up and took ,john and ,aunt ,mimy rather by surprise by being married too4 ,wal1 says ,aunt ,mimy1 ef ever you hang eout another red flag1 't won't be because ,lurindy's nussin' ,stephen6 ,i don't suppose there's a happier little woman in the ,state than me4 ,i should like to see her1 if there is4 ,i go over home pretty often2 and ,aunt ,mimy makes just as much of my baby--,i've named him ,john--as mother does2 and that's enough to ruin any child that wasn't a cherub born4 ,and ,miss ,mimy always has a bottle of some new nostrum of her own stilling every time she sees any of us2 we've got enough to swim a ship1 on the top shelf of the pantry to-day1 if it was all put together4 ,as for ,stephen1 there he comes now through the huckleberry-pasture1 with the baby on his arm2 he seems to think there never was a baby before2 and sometimes--,stephen's such a homebody--,i'm tempted to think that maybe ,i've married my own shadow1 after all4 ,however1 ,i wouldn't have it other than it is4 ,lurindy1 she lives at home the most of the time2 and once in a while1 when ,stephen and mother and ,i and she are all together1 and as gay as larks1 and the baby is creeping round1 swallowing pins and hooks and eyes as if they were blueberries1 and the fire is burning1 and the kettle singing1 and the hearth swept clean1 it seems as if heaven had actually come down1 or we'd all gone up without waiting for our robes2 it seems as if it was altogether too much happiness for one family4 ,and ,i've made ,stephen take a paper on purpose to watch the ship-news2 for ,john sails captain of a fruiter to the ,mediterranean1 and1 sure enough1 its little gilt figure-head that goes dipping in the foam is nothing else than the ,sister of ,charity4 ,,scuppaug4 ,the crowd was decidedly a heterogeneous one on the edge of which ,i stood at eight o'clock1 ,a4,m41 one scorching ,july morning1 under an awning at the end of a rickety pier1 waiting for the excursion-steamer which was to convey us to the distant sand-banks over which the clear waters lap1 away down below the green-sloped highlands of ,neversink1--sea-shoal banks1 from which silvery fishes were warning us off with their waving fins4 ,now the crowd1 being a heterogeneous one1 as ,i have said1 had the vulgar element pervading it to a dominant extent4 ,it consisted mainly of such common people1 indeed1 that no person of exquisite refinement would have thought of feeling his way through it1 unless his hands were protected by what ,aminadab ,sleek calls little goat-gloves4 ,and yet there is another style of mitten1 a large1 unshapely1 bloated knuckle-fender1 stuffed with curled hair1 that might be far more appropriate to the operation of shouldering in among such muscular ,christians as the majority around1 on the occasion to which ,i refer4 ,in the resorts to which habitual tipplers have recourse for consolation of the spirituous kind1 a cheap variety is usually on hand to meet exigencies1--the exigency of a commercial crisis1 for instance1 when the last lonely dime of the drinker is painfully extracted from the pocket1 to be replaced by seven inconsiderable cents4 ,this abomination is termed all sorts by the publican and his indispensable sinner4 ,it is the accumulation of the drainage of innumerable gone drinks1--fancy and otherwise4 ,the exquisite in the little goat-gloves would not hob-nob with me in that execrable beverage2 no more would ,i with him2 and yet one of its components may be the aristocratic ,champagne4 ,in the social elements of a water-excursion-party may be found the all sorts of a particular kind of city-life1--the good of it and the bad of it1 with a dash of something that is very low4 ,but ,i am going to talk about the thing as ,i found it1--the rough side of the social mill-stone2 and1 seeing that ,i have suffered nothing by contact with it1 ,i suppose no harm will come to such as listen to the little ,i have got to say on the subject4 ,a benevolent desire to launch far and wide the already well-spread reputation of the ,new ,york rowdy impels the present writer to declare his conviction1 that1 should ,physiology offer a premium for the production of a perfect and unmitigated specimen of polisson1 ,experience would seek for it among the choice representatives of the class in question1--ay1 and find it1 too4 ,nor would the ardor of search be chilled by the suggestion of scarcity conveyed in the practical sarcasm of the sly old cynic1 when he scorched human nature with a horn lantern by instituting a search with it on the sun-bright highways for an unauthenticated type of man4 ,and yet the rowdy1 like many another ugly and repulsive thing1 may have his use4 ,in the ,east ,indies1 it is customary to keep a live turtle in the wayside water-tanks which are so precious in that thirsty land1 the movements of the animal1 as well as the industry with which it devours all noxious particles which chance may have conveyed into the waters1 serving to keep them in a condition of purity and health4 ,the rowdy is the turtle in the tank1--so far1 at least1 as being an ugly beast to look at and a great promoter of commotion1--by which latter service he keeps the community alive to the presence of impure particles in the social element1 if he does not assist in getting rid of them4 ,an alligator in an aquarium might furnish a better comparison for him in other respects4 ,of this class there are many branches2 but the one with which ,i have to deal at present is to be studied to most advantage by visiting some pier of the great river-frontage of ,new ,york1 to which excursion-boats rush emulously at appointed hours1 crossing and jostling each other with proper respect for their individual rights as free commoners of the well-tilled waters4 ,here1 as1 with audacious disregard of the chance-medley of smashed guards and obliterated paddle-boxes1 the great water-wagons graze wheels upon the ripple-paved turnpike of the river1 the steamboat-runner1 squalidly red from the effects of last night's carouse1 and reeking sensibly of the alcoholic morning call1 may be recognized by the native manner in which he makes the pier peculiarly his own1--by the inflammatory character--which unremitting dissipation has imparted to the inhaling apparatus of his unclassical features1--by the filthy splendor of his linen1 which a low-buttoning waistcoat1 gorgeous and dirty likewise1 unbosoms disadvantageously to the gaze of the beholder1--by the invariable diamond pin1 of gift-book style1 with which the juncture of the first-mentioned integument is effected1 if not adorned1--and1 above all1 by the massive guards and guy-chains with which his watch is hitched on to the belaying arrangements of ,chatham ,street garments1 the original texture and tint of which have long been superseded by predominant grease4 ,hand and elbow with the professional city-rowdy the steamboat-runner is ever to be found3 at the cribs1 where the second-rate men of the fancy hold their secret meetings2 clinging about the doors of the ,court of ,sessions1 where1 as eavesdroppers1--for they are known to the door-keeper1 and rejected from the friendship of that stern officer1--they strive1 with ear at keyhole1 to catch a word or two which may give them a clue to the probable fate of ,jim1 who is in the dock there1 on his trial for homicide or some such light peccadillo2 loitering round the dog-pit institutions1 where the quadrupeds look so amazingly like men and the men like quadrupeds1--especially in that one where the eye of taste may be gratified by the supernatural symmetry of the stuffed bull-terriers in glass cases1 the enormity of which specimens is accounted for by the gentlemanly proprietor1 who tells us that the man as stuffed 'em never stuffed anythink else afore1 only howls4 ,i suppose it must have been the tacit acknowledgment of some superiority by me inappreciable1 that accorded to one individual of the small assemblage of roughs under notice a decidedly influential position among the congenial spirits hovering around4 ,the superior blanchness of this person's linen would seem to indicate that his association with mere runners was but occasional and for commercial ends4 ,also might that conclusion have been deduced from the immaculacy of his cream-white ,panama hat4 ,that was a jaunty article1 with upturned brim1 the pride of which was discernible in the very simplicity with which it sat1 unadulterated by band or trimmings1 upon the closely cropped1 mole-colored head of the wearer4 ,thirty dollars1 at least1 must have been its marketable value4 ,instead of being fitted with chain-tackle1 the watch of this superior person maintained its connection with the open air by means of a broad watered ribbon plummeted straight down his leg with a seal hardly inferior in size to a deep-sea lead4 ,this daring recurrence to first principles is much to be observed1 of late1 among the choice spirits of the so-called sporting fraternity of ,new ,york4 ,this man1 as ,i supposed1 and as ,i subsequently heard from my friend ,locus1 of the police1 who came upon the pier1 was not a runner now1 but had risen from that respectable rank by large exercise of the virtues so intimately associated with it4 ,in attributing an exalted position to him ,i was right4 ,he was the keeper of a house of entertainment for emigrants in one of the down-town tributaries to ,broadway1 where tickets could also be had for ,california and most other parts of the world1 at an advance of not more than one-third on the rates charged at the regular steamboat-offices4 ,considering the respectability of this person's occupation1 ,i was surprised when ,locus referred to him1 familiarly1 as ,flashy ,joe1 adding that he was widely known1 if not respected1 and that he would1 probably1 be entitled some day to have his portrait placed in a gallery of which he1 ,locus1 knew1 but into which my aesthetic researches have not hitherto led me4 ,there was another noticeable character in the rough part of the heterogeneous crowd4 ,this man1 while on a footing of the greatest intimacy with the runners1 was far inferior to them in the matter of dress4 ,locus1 in reply to my queries1 informed me that he was a professional oyster-opener2 but1 judging from his appearance in general1 ,i should have guessed that he was a professional oyster-catcher also1--a human dredge1 employed chiefly at the bottom of the sea4 ,a perfect ,hercules in build1 ,lobster ,bob1 as ,locus called him1 made his appearance on the wharf with two enormous creels of oysters1 one balanced on each hip1 with the careless ease of unconscious strength1 ,his costume consisted solely of a ragged blue cotton shirt and trousers1 immense knobby cowskin boots white with age1 and a mouldy drab felt hat4 ,the button-less blue shirt flapped widely open from his brawny chest2 and his shirt-sleeves1 rolled up to the shoulder1 gave full display to a pair of arms of a mould not usually to be found outside the prize-ring1 and but seldom within the sanctuary of that magic circle4 ,as if in compensation for the merely nominal allowance of costume tolerated by this crustacean professor1 his chest and arms were entirely covered with a wild arabesque of tattoo-work1 in blue and red4 ,many and original artists must have been employed in the embellishment of ,robert's tawny hide4 ,the one to whose sense of the fitness of things was intrusted the illustration of his right arm had seized boldly upon the oval protuberance of the biceps1 a few skilfully disposed dots and dashes upon which had converted it into a face which was no bad reproduction of ,bob's own4 ,on the broad flexors of his sun-bronzed fore-arm there blazed a grand device which might have puzzled a whole college of heralds to interpret1--a combination of eagles and banners and shields1 coruscating with stars and radiant with stripes4 ,but more suggestive than any of these shams was the stern reality of a purple scar which ran round the back of his neck1 from ear to ear4 ,more than one man must have been hurt1 when that scar was made4 ,notwithstanding the bull-dog projection of this formidable giant's lower jaw1 there sometimes beamed on his face that good-natured expression often observable in men whose unusual muscular development places them on a footing of physical superiority to those with whom they shoulder along the road of life4 ,when the runners chaffed him1 nevertheless1 it was in a mild way1 and with manifest respect for his muscle1--a sentiment in no way diminished when he suddenly clutched one of the least cautious among them by the nape of the neck1 and held him out at arm's-length1 for some seconds1 over the drowny water that kept lazily licking at the green moss on the old stakes of the rickety pier4 ,even unto the ,prince of ,darkness1 saith proverbial philosophy1 let us concede his due4 ,if1 then1 a single ray of good illuminates at some happy moment the dark spirit of these roughs1 let it be recorded with that bare1 unfledged truth which is so much better a bird than uncandor with the finest of feathers upon him4 ,feeling his way into the circle with a stick1 there came a poor blind man1 of diminutive stature1 squeezing beneath his left arm a suffocating accordion1 which1 every now and then1 as he stumbled against the uneven planks of the wharf1 gave a querulous squeak1 doleful in its cadence as the feeble quavers evoked by ,mr4 ,william ,davidge1 comedian1 from the asthmatic clarionet of ,jem ,bags1 in the farce of the ,wandering ,minstrel4 ,come1 b'hoys6 cried ,lobster ,bob1 let's have a squeeze of music from ,billy1 afore the boat comes up2 and1 plumping down one of his creels in the middle of the crowd1 he lifted up the musician1 and seated him upon the rough1 cold oysters1--a throne fitter1 certainly1 for a follower of ,neptune than a votary of ,apollo4 ,one of the roughs danced an ungraceful measure to the music of the accordion1 mimicking1 as he did so1 the queer contortions into which the musician twisted his features in perfect harmony with his woful strains4 ,all of them were gentle to the blind man1 though1 as if his darkness had brought to them a ray of light2 and presently one of them takes off the musician's cap1 drops into it a silver dime1 and goes the rounds of the throng with many jocose appeals in favor of the owner1 to whom he presently returns it in a condition of silver lining analogous to1 but more substantial than that of the poet's cloud4 ,but now the poor music of the accordion was quite extinguished by the bellowing of the brazen horns of the cotillon band on the deck of our expected steamer1 as she rounded to from the upper piers at which she had been taking in excursionists4 ,this caused a stir in the crowd under the awning1 many of whom were fathers of families taking their wives and children out for a rare holiday4 ,the smallest babies had not been left at home1 but were there in all their primary scarletude1 set off by the whitest of lace-frilled caps trimmed with the bluest of ribbons4 ,and now came the time for these small choristers to take up the wondrous tale2 for the big horns had ceased to wrangle1 and the crushing and rushing of the crowd woke up infancy to a sense of its wrongs and a consciousness of the necessity for action4 ,there were some nice-looking girls around1 neatly dressed1 too1 though by no means in their ,sunday-best2 for la petite ,new-,yorkaise is aware of the mishaps to be encountered by those who venture far out to sea in ships4 ,they had sweethearts with them1 for the most part1 or brothers1 or cousins1 mayhap3 but they were sadly neglected by these protectors1 as we stood under the awning on the pier2 for the male mind was full of fishing1 and the male hands were employed in making up tackle with a most unscientific kind of skill4 ,and now the final rush came1 as the steamer made fast alongside the outermost of the boats already lying at the pier1 across the decks of which our heterogeneous crowd began to make its way with as little scrambling as possible1 on account of the petticoat-hoops1 which are capital monitors in a turmoil4 ,women swayed their babies like balancing-poles1 as they tottered along the gangway-plank4 ,men tried to secure themselves from being brushed into eternity by the powerful sweep of skirts4 ,my own personal reminiscence of this transit from the wharf to the gallant bark of our choice is melancholy and vague1 being marked chiefly to memory by the complicated curse bestowed upon me by a hideous old ,irish-woman1 whose oranges ,i accidentally upset in the crowd1 and by whom ,i was subsequently derided with buffo song and scurrilous dance as long as the steamer remained within hearing and sight4 ,away we are steaming down the bay1 at last1 a motley party of men1 women1 and children of all sizes and sorts3 husbands1 wives1 milliners and their lovers2 young men who have brought no young women with them1 because they have come for fishing and fishing only2 and advanced fathers1 who1 making a virtue of having brought out wife and child for a holiday1 now leave them a good deal to take care of themselves1 and devote all their energies to being pleasant as remotely from them as circumstances will allow4 ,roughs1 to the number of a dozen or so1 mostly steamboat-runners and their congeners1 are of the party1 headed by ,flashy ,joe4 ,lobster ,bob has set up his oyster-plank in a central situation4 ,venders of unfresh-looking refreshments have established themselves on board2 and the bar-keeper1 near the forecastle1 is preparing himself for the worst4 ,by-and-by ,i noticed a good-looking specimen of ,young ,new ,york on board1 and was introduced to him by a cigar4 ,he was a handsome boy1 with dark1 oval face1 and ,arabian eyes4 ,the silky black line that just marked the curve of his upper lip gave promise of a splendid moustache2 his closely crisped black hair was but just visible below the rim of his jaunty straw hat1 the band of which was a tasselled cord of crimson silk2 while his lithe figure was suggested rather than displayed by the waving lines of his loose brown jacket with tapering gigot sleeves4 ,his low-cut shirt-collar and narrow silken neck-tie were in the style called ,english1 as quite decidedly1 also1 were his cross-barred trousers of balloony build2 nor1 although thus flinging himself for diversion into the vortex of the lower crowd1 had he foregone the luxury of tan-colored kid gloves and patent-leather shoes4 ,he was a bright boy1 and precocious as a lady-killer2 for1 already1 before we had left far behind us the pleasant slopes of ,bay ,ridge1 with its peeping villa-parapets of brown and white1 and its umbrageous masses of chromatic green1 he had evidently engaged the affections of an espigle little straw-bonnet-maker1 who did her hair something like his own1 in a close-curled crop1 and had her pretty little person safely shut up in a high-necked dress4 ,that young lady had a suitor with her1 who was clearly not a sweetheart1 however1 by a good deal1 but merely a follower tolerated for the day1 and on the score of convenience only4 ,he was a tall1 gaunt1 pale young man1 with long hands and feet1 slouching shoulders and narrow chest1 and a strange1 indescribable nullity of expression dwelling upon his features4 ,he did not appear to be encouraged much by little ,straw-,goods1 whose mind was probably occupied with prospective possibilities of being led out to the festive dance by ,young ,new ,york4 ,altogether1 he was an unsatisfactory-looking young man1 his unfinished look reminding one of raw material1 though it would have been hard to say for what4 ,but the band had now ceased mellowing out the favorite medley which begins with ,casta ,diva and runs over into the lovely cadences of ,gentle ,annie2 and the abrupt transition from that mournful strain to a light cotillon air warned four hundred holiday-people that the festive dance was about to begin on the wide floor between the engine-room and the saloon4 ,cotillons are a leading pastime among the people2 and as the water was pretty smooth down the bay1 and a splendid breeze rushed aft between-decks1 many laughing girls and well-dressed matronly women now made their appearance on the floor4 ,dancing without noise is a luxury as yet uncalled for4 ,dancers must have music1 we know1--and what is music1 but wild noise caught and trained8 ,but these cotillons were unnecessarily boisterous1 on account of the roughs1 who1 looked upon as outsiders by the better-behaved portion of the throng1 got up a wild war-step of their own on the skirts of the legitimate dance1 dishonestly appropriating to their coarse movements the music intended for it alone1 as they stamped and shouted1 and wheeled round with a ludicrous affectation of grace1 in the space between the dancers and the bulkheads of the deck4 ,one of these roughs1 a drunken1 young fellow of wiry build1 whose hair1 face1 eyes1 nose1 ears1 and hands were all of the color of tomato-catchup1 might have made an excellent low comedian1 had destiny led him upon the boards4 ,he had just been complaining to his companions that his hand had been refused for the dance by a girl at whom he pointed the red finger of wrath1--a pale1 but very interesting seamstress1 who was whirling about with a much decenter young man than the red one is ever likely to be4 ,and then he nobly took his revenge by the clever1 but unprincipled way in which he caricatured the rather remarkable dancing of the young man who was the object of his hate1 and whose style of movement it would not be consistent with this writer's duty to deny was amenable to severity1 and must1 in any society1 have subjected him who indulged in it to the scorn of the flouter and the contempt of all high-minded men4 ,all through the dance1 it was a thing to be remembered1 how superior in deportment the women were to the men4 ,probably it was from a natural instinct for grace1 and abhorrence of the ludicrous1 that they merely skimmed through the figures1 without any of the demonstrations displayed by their beaux4 ,it was pleasant to look at the nice little straw-goods damsel with the boyish hair1 and to mark the contrast between her kitten glidings and the premeditated atrocities of ,raw ,material1 as he wove and unwove his ungainly legs before her1 in a manner appalling to witness4 ,she had only a common palm-leaf fan1 ,i remarked1--worth1 probably1 about two cents4 ,but ,young ,new ,york1 as he waited patiently for the deadly ocean-malady to fall upon ,raw ,material1 who was unquestionably a subject for it1 and was drinking1 besides1 drew tightly up his tan-colored gloves1 and1 twirling with finger and thumb the air just about where it must some day be displaced by the future tendrils of the coming moustache1 affirmed upon oath his intention of presenting her with a fan more worthy of her well-kept little hand1 ere kind ,fortune could have time to drop another excursion-ticket into her work-basket4 ,should the solemn question arise as to how ,i knew that one of these young women was in the straw-bonnet line1 another a milliner1 a third a dress-maker1 and so forth1 ,i will answer it by stating that the left forefinger of the seamstress1 long since vulcanized into a little file1 furnishes the infallible sign which indicates the class4 ,to the practised eye1 the varieties are known by many a token3 by the smart little close-grained cereal bonnet which little ,straw-,goods put away before she came into the dance2 by the spicy creation of silk and ribbons which roosts demurely1 like a cedar-bird1 on the back hair of the pale girl1 who is a milliner2 by the superior manner in which the hoops are disguised in the structure surrounding that blonde young wife with the pink baby1 who is a dressmaker4 ,let the lofty read studiously the signs that in the heavens are portentous of storm or of shine2 ,i1 who am of commoner clay1 must content myself with deciphering those that are of earth4 ,but a sea-change was upon us4 ,last night there was a tornado of rain and thunder and wind1 and the effects of the latter were now perceptible1 as we began to rock through the ground-swell off ,sandy ,hook1 and down past the twin light-houses on the high1 sunny ridges of ,neversink4 ,the music ceased1 the dancers deserted the 'tween-decks floor1 and1 as the rocking of the boat increased1 there arose in the direction of the ladies' cabin audible suggestions of woe4 ,and now the twin beacon-towers of ,neversink were far1 far behind1 having taken a position with regard to us which may be described1 in military phrase1 as an chelon movement upon our flank1 and we went surging through a fleet of little green fishing-boats1 manned each by a single fisherman in a red shirt1 whose two horny hands appeared to be a couple too few for the hauling in of the violet and silver porgies1 with which the well of his little green craft was alive and flapping4 ,in the middle of this fleet we rounded to1 the anchor was let go1 and we were hard and fast upon the ,fishing-,banks4 ,the first thing done1 on these excursions1 by those who come to fish1--which includes nearly all the men1--is to establish a claim somewhere along the railing of the steamer1 by attaching to it a strong whip-cord fishing-line1 with a leaden sinker and hook of moderate size1--the latter lashed on1 in most instances1 with a disregard for art which must be intensely disgusting to any man whose piscatorial memories are associated with the wily salmon and the epicurean trout4 ,triangular tin boxes are brought along by the fishermen to hold their bait1 which consists of soft clams1 liberally sprinkled with salt to keep them in a wholesome condition for the afternoon take4 ,attaching a line to any part of the rail or combings1 or to any projecting point of the boat1 establishes the droit de pche at that particular spot1--a right respected with such rigorous etiquette1 that the owner may then go his way with confidence1 to inspect the resources of the bar1 or join the gay throng of dancers between-decks4 ,there must be something singularly fascinating in this curious pastime of fishing with a hand-line from the jumping-off places of a steamboat or pier4 ,doubtless it is from a defective sympathetic organization that the writer of these pages does not himself seem to see it4 ,nevertheless1 ,i look upon the illusion with a respect almost bordering upon fear1 although not quite in that spirit of veneration which moves illogical savages to fall down and worship the stranger lunatic whom chance has led to their odorous residences4 ,dwelling one summer on the ,new ,jersey shore1 ,i used to loiter1 day after day1 upon a deserted wharf1 at the end of which was ever to be seen a broad-beamed fisherman1 sitting upon an uncomfortably wooden chair1 from which he dabbled perpetually with his whip-cord line in the shallow water that washed the slimy face-timbers of the wharf4 ,there he sat1 day after day1 and all day1 and1 for aught ,i know1 all through the summer-night1 a big-timbered1 sea-worthy man1 reading contentedly a daily paper of local growth1 and pulling up never a better bit of sea-luck than the puny1 mean-spirited fishling called by unscientific persons the burgall4 ,i would at any time have freely given ten cents for the privilege of overhauling old broad-beam's carpet-bag1 which he always placed before him on the string-piece1 with a view1 ,i suppose1 of frustrating anything like a guerrilla plunder-movement upon his widely extended rear4 ,ay1 there must be something strangely entrancing in dragging the shoal waters with a hand-line1 for unsuspicious1 easily duped members of the acanthopterygian tribe of fishes1--under which alarming denomination come1 ,i believe1 nearly all the finny fellows to be met with on these sand-banks1 from the bluefish to the burgall4 ,only think how stuck up they would be above the lowly mollusks of the same waters1 if they knew themselves as ,acanthopterygii1 and were aware that their great-grandfather was an ,acanthopteryx before them1 and so away back in the age of waters that once were over all6 ,very ancient and fish-like is their genealogy1 to be sure6 ,in the far-away days1 when ,neversink was1 but the twin beacon-towers that now watch upon its heights were not1--when ,sandy ,hook was a hook only1 and not a telegraph-station1 from which the first glimpse of an inward-bound argosy is winked by lightning right in at the window of the down-town office where ,mercator sits jingling the coins in his trousers' pockets1--in those days1 the only excursion-boats that rocked upon the ground-swell over the pale1 sandy reaches of the ,fishing-,banks were the tiny barklets that shot out on calm days from the sweeping coves1 with their tawny tarred-and-feathered crews3 for of such grotesque result of the decorative art of ,lynch doth ever remind me the noble ,indian warrior in his plumes and paint4 ,unfitted1 by the circumscribed character of their sea-craft1 their tackle1 and their skill1 for pushing their enterprise out into the deeper water1 where the shark might haply say to the horse-mackerel1--,come1 old horse1 let you and me hook ourselves on1 and take these foolish tawny fellows and their brown cockle-shell down into the under-tow1--they supplied their primitive wants by enticing from the shallows the beautiful1 sunny-scaled shoal-fish1 well named by ichthyologists ,argyrops1 the silver-eyed4 ,but the poor ,indian1 who knew no ,greek1--poor old savage1 lament for him with a scholarly eheu6--called this shiner of the sea1 in his own barbarous lingo1 ,scuppaug4 ,can any master of ,indian dialects tell us whether that word1 too1 means him of the silver eye8 ,if it does1 revoke1 ,o student1 your shrill eheu for the ,greekless and untrousered savage of the canoe1 suppress your feelings1 and go steadily into rhabdomancy with several divining-rods1 in search of the ,pierian spring which must surely exist somewhere among the guttural districts of the ,ojibbeway tongue4 ,and here there is diversion for philologist as well as fisherman2 for while the latter is catching the fish1 the former may seize on the fact1 that in this word1 ,scuppaug1 is to be found the origin of the two separate names by which ,argyrops1 the silver-eyed1 is miscalled in local vernacular4 ,true to the national proclivity for clipping names1 the fishermen of ,rhode ,island appeal to him by the first syllable only of his ,indian one1--for in the waters thereabout he is talked of by the familiar abbreviation1 ,scup4 ,but to the excursionists and fishermen of ,new ,york he is known only as ,porgy1 or ,paugie1 a form as obviously derived from the last syllable of his ,indian name as the emphatic siree of our greatest orators is from the modest monosyllable sir4 ,porgy seems to be the accepted form of the word2 but letters of the old1 unphonetic kind are poor guides to pronunciation4 ,and a beautiful1 clean-scaled fish is ,porgy1--whose g1 by-the-by1 as ,i learned from a funny man in the heterogeneous crowd1 is pronounced hard1 as in 'git eowt4' ,a lovely fish is he1 as he comes dripping up the side of the vessel from his briny pastures4 ,silver is the pervading gleam of his oval form2 but while he is yet wet and fresh1 the silver is flushed with a chromatic radiance of gold1 and violet1 and pale metallic green1 all blending and harmonizing like the mother-o'-pearl lustre in some rare sea-shell4 ,the true value of this fish is not of a commercial kind1 for he cannot be deemed particularly exquisite in a gastronomic sense2 neither is he staple as a provision of food4 ,his virtue lies in the inducement offered to him by the citizen of moderate means1 who1 for a trifling outlay1 can secure for himself and family the invigorating influence of the salt sea-breezes1 by having a run down outside the ,hook any fine day in summer1 with an object4 ,the average weight of the porgy of these banks may be set down at about a pound4 ,five minutes after we came to anchor1 there must have been at least two hundred and fifty whip-cord lines stretching out into the three-fathom water from every available rail and fender of the old boat4 ,most of the men had brought their tackle with them1 and their tin canisters of bait4 ,to those who had not1 the articles were ready at hand2 for speculators had mingled in the crowd1 one of whom affixed his shingle to a post between-decks1 setting forth1--,fishing-,lines and ,hooks1 with ,sinkers and ,bait1--the latter consisting of clams in the shell1 contained in a barrel big enough for the supply of the whole flotilla of green boats and red shirts1 which still hung around us like swallows in the wake of an osprey4 ,two or three of our excursionists--men1 perhaps1 whose minds indulged in dear memories of a brook that babbles by a mill--had fishing-rods with them1 and made great ado with scientific lunges and casts1 producing much discord1 indeed1 by flicking away wildly outside their proper sea-limits4 ,most industrious among the hand-fishers ,i remarked a small1 spare man1 who1 under the careful supervision of a buxom young wife in a loud tartan silk1 baited no hook nor broke water with his lead until he had first folded and put carefully away between the handle and lid of the family prog-basket his tight little black frock-coat1 and passed his small legs through the tough creases of a pair of stout blue ,denim overalls4 ,these1 pulled up to his neck1 and hitched on there with shoulder-straps1 served for waistcoat and trousers and all1 imparting to him the cool atmospheric effect so much admired in that curious picture of ,gainsborough's1 known to connoisseurs as ,the ,blue ,boy4 ,then he fished the waters with a will2 and it was but a scurvy remark of ,flashy ,joe1 who said that it was about an even chance whether he took porgy or porgy took him4 ,but it seems to me that this unskilled labor of fishing from a steamboat must be epidemic1 if not contagious2 for even ,young ,new ,york1 who in the early forenoon doubted visibly his discretion at having got himself into such an ugly scrape as an excursion-spree1 put off his delicate gloves1 and set to hauling1 hand over hand1 as if for a bet4 ,but ,i believe ,i have committed a breach of etiquette in giving precedence to ,scuppaug over the skipper1 a very large and thoroughly pickled old man1 who now bustled deliberately about the decks1 with as few clothes on his broad back and stern-post legs as were consistent with decorum and with the requirements of those by-laws of society which extend even to ,sandy ,hook and the rest of the ,jerseys1 as well as to the fishing-banks that shoal out from the same4 ,strictly speaking1 this old man of our part of the sea was not the captain of the boat1 but the pilot1 who takes command of her when she abandons her proper line on the rivers1 and ventures to that far ,cathay of city-navigators indefinitely spoken of as outside the ,hook4 ,the smooth-water captain of the steamer1 who was nobody to talk of now1 was a slim1 pale young man1 in a black dresscoat1 tall1 silky hat1 and shoes of a material which has long years ago been patented1 on account of its matchless ability to shine4 ,this commander remained permanently within the office1 where he was probably very poorly by himself during all this high old time4 ,the stout old pilot was the real skipper2 and now that the vessel had come to anchor1 he turned from his lighter duties to the grave pastime of the day1 and fished earnestly through a large hole in the paddlebox1--the porgies that came to his allurements arriving at their destination by a series of flapping manoeuvres from blade to blade of the wheel4 ,for so burly a man1 and one with such a chest for the stowage of sea-breezes and monsoons1 the skipper was provided with a wonderfully small voice1 suggesting1 as he lectured upon sea-fishing to the novices who were getting into snarls with their tackle hard by where he sat1 the circumstance of a tree-toad discoursing from the hollow of a brave old oak4 ,if you want to ketch good fish1 said he1 sententiously1 to ,young ,new ,york1 whose hook persisted in baiting itself with his thumb1--if you want to ketch reel snorters1 you must have a heavy line1 heavy lead1 and gimp tackle4 ,then take your own time1 haul in1 hand over hand1 and no matter what the heft1 you'll be sure to fetch him4 ,young ,new ,york produced from his breast-pocket the blue enamelled case in which reposed his ivory tablets1 and1 seating himself upon the chain-box1 wrote down with golden pencil the dictum of the sage4 ,notwithstanding the storm of yesterday1 from which the discontented foreboded a stampede of the fish to deeper waters1 porgies to an extraordinary amount were soon heaped on the decks1 at the feet of each fisherman1 the more careful of whom put them into baskets or barrels4 ,but in general they were thrown carelessly on the deck1 with a string passed through their gills to keep them from straying out of their proper lots4 ,when these bright fishes are lying the deck1 it is curious to watch them flushing and gasping there1 with that singular1 dubious expression of mouth peculiar to fishes out of water1 as if more struck by the absence of that element than by their novel position among the accessories of dry life4 ,now and then a blackfish was hauled in1--an event greeted with a loud cheer from all parts of the boat4 ,when a very large one was announced1 people came rushing from all quarters to see it2 but the greatest tribute to largeness in a fish that ,i remember anywhere to have seen was the altered expression on the face of a baby some six months old1 whose features settled permanently down into the collapse of imbecility1 from the moment of the arrival on the upper deck of a blackfish two feet long4 ,by this time the scene on the forecastle was quite a picture of the ,dutch school4 ,grouped everywhere among the fish and fishers were matronly women and unbonneted damsels1 most of them with handkerchiefs tied upon their heads2 for they had got over their sea-sickness1 now1 and were coming by twos and threes from the saloon1 to breathe a little fresh air and look on at the sport4 ,one pretty1 ,jewish-looking girl1 wrapped in a red and white shawl1 was sitting on the big anchor near the bows1 and three or four others looked quite picturesque1 as they reclined on the heavy coils of the great cable4 ,more central to the picture than was at all advantageous to it sat our friend ,raw ,material1 with his head jammed recklessly into the capstan1 abandoning himself to his misery4 ,for the inevitable malady had fallen upon him among the first2 and as he sat there1 helpless and without hope1 upon one of those life-preserving stools that remind one1 by their shape1 of the properties of ,saturn in the mythology of old1 he looked like ,languor on an hour-glass1 timing the duration of ,woe4 ,all along the bulwarks on both sides of the boat1 men and boys were crowding upon each other1 casting out and hauling in their lines with unflagging spirit4 ,slim city-children1 blistered wholesomely as to their legs1 from knee to ankle1 by the sun and the salt air1 harnessed themselves to little heaps of fish1 and were driven about the upper deck in various fashionable styles1 including four-in-hand and tandem1 by other slim city-children1 whose lower extremities had been treated in the same beneficial manner by the same eminent physicians4 ,the musicians had laid away their cornopeans and other cunningly twisted horns upon the broad disk of the big drum1 in a dark alcove between-decks1 and were fishing savagely in ,german and broken ,english1 according to the nationality with which their affairs happened to get entangled4 ,even the colored chef de cuisine1 a muscular mulatto1 with a beard of a rash disposition1 coming out on wrong parts of his face in little eruptive pustules of black wool1 sported his lines out of the galley-airholes1 and his porgies were simmering in the pan while their memories were yet green in the submarine parishes from which they came4 ,have these finny creatures their full revenge upon fishermankind1 when a smack sinks foundered into the swallowing deep8 ,do the midnight revellers in the sea-caverns call out in broad ,scuppaug to the attendant mermaid for a half-dozen large-sized jolterheads on the half monkey-jacket8 ,to these queries ,i hope that ,poetical ,justice1 if still living1 will forward a reply at her earliest convenience4 ,porgy now began to pervade the air with an astringent perfume of the sea3 none of your ,fulton ,market smells of stagnating fish1 but a clean1 wholesome1 coralline odor1 such as we may imagine supplied to the ,peris beneath the dark sea by the scaly fellows in the toilet line down there1 who are likely to keep it for sale in conch-shells1--quarts and pints4 ,porgy prevailed to that extent1 in fact1 that it came to be talked of1 by-and-by1 as a circulating medium2 and a hard-fisted mechanic averred his intention of compensating his landlady for his board with porgy1 for the week that was passing away4 ,for some time1 luck appeared to favor the starboard side of the boat1 at which the take was much greater than at the other4 ,hence1 discontent began to crawl in at the port-gangways1 and the fishermen on that side were gradually edging over to the other1 to look for a chance of stealing in their lines clandestinely between the ranks4 ,this led to an interchange of bad compliments1 as well as to a very perceptible slanting of the deck1 and the captain piped out to the hands to shift the chain-box4 ,and by this action was resolved for me a riddle with regard to the properties and uses of a prematurely stout man of fabulous girth1 who had been dimly revealed to me1 once or twice in the course of the voyage1 through some long vista of the 'tween-decks1 but seemed always to melt into air1--or1 more probably1 oil1--upon any advance being made to a closer inspection4 ,now1 as a couple of the deck-hands hauled and howled unsuccessfully at the unwieldy chain-box1 this mysterious person suddenly appeared1 as if spirited up1 and1 throwing himself stomach on to the loaded vehicle1 shot across with it to the other side of the deck with wonderful velocity1 retiring1 then1 with a gliding movement1 so as to preserve the rectitude of the deck1 which now seemed inclined to slope rather too much the other way4 ,i will not undertake to say1 for certain1 that the stout man was paid for doing this2 but1 as his hands were small and remarkably white1 indications that he toiled not with them1 and as he made his appearance on deck only when movable ballast was wanted1 ,i am bound to suppose that he secured a living by sitting heavily and throwing himself on for weight1 in circumstances under which such actions command a standard value4 ,three hours having gone by since we came to anchor1 the healthful toil of fishing in the salt sea produced its natural result1--a ravenous appetite for food and drink2 and a common consent to partake of refreshments now began to develop itself4 ,the wives had much to do with this1 as they detailed themselves along the railings1 influencing their husbands with hints about the hamper and flask4 ,for most of the family-people had brought their provisions with them2 and1 in many cases1 the basket was flanked by a stone jar which looked as if it might contain lager-beer1--as1 in several instances1 it did4 ,where there were many small children in a party1 however1 ,i noticed that the beverage obtained from the jar was milk1--real ,orange ,county cow-produce1 let us hope1 and none of that sickly town-abomination1 the vending of which ought to be made by our legislators a felony1 at least4 ,ham-sandwiches1 greatly enhanced in flavor by the circumstance of their outer surfaces being impressed with a reverse of yesterday's news1 from the contact of the pieces of newspaper in which they were wrapped up1 formed the staple of the feast4 ,large bowls of the various1 seasonable berries were also in request2 and all the shady places of the ship were soon occupied by families1 who distributed themselves in independent groups1 as people do in the sylvan localities dedicated to picnics4 ,all were hungry and happy1 all better in mind and body1--illustrating the wise providence of the instinct that whispers to the over-wrought artisan and bids him go sometimes forth on a summer's day to the woods and waters1--a move which the marine character of the subject impels me to speak of nautically1 but reverently1 as taking himself and family into the graving-dock of ,nature1 for the necessary repairs4 ,some of the girls now stole slyly about among the lines1 and popped the baits timidly into the blue water4 ,the pale seamstress1 who has quite a rose-flush on her cheek now1 has hooked a good-sized porgy1 and her screams in this terrible predicament have brought several smart young men to her rescue4 ,another girl1 pretty and well-dressed1--in the glove-making line1 as ,i guess from the family she is with1 all of whom1 from paterfamilias to baby1 are begloved in a manner entirely irrespective of expense1--is kneeling pensively on the stern-benches of the upper deck1 paying out the line with confidence in herself1 but evidently hoping for masculine assistance in the process of hauling it in4 ,and where were our dear friends1 the roughs1 all this time8 and how came it that they were so quiet8 ,they have been asleep1--snoring off the effects of last night's diversions1 and fortifying their constitutions against the influences to come4 ,ever since the music ceased playing1 these fellows have been rolled away1 singly or in heaps1 in crooked corners1 into which they seem to fit naturally4 ,but now they began to rally1 waking up and stretching themselves and yawning1--the last two actions appearing to be the leading operations of a rowdy's toilet2 and1 gathering round ,lobster ,bob1 who has been steadily employed in opening oysters for all who have a midsummer faith in those mollusks1 they commenced rapidly swallowing great quantities of the various kinds1 which they seasoned to an alarming extent with coarse black pepper and brownish salt4 ,the fierce thirst1 which1 with these men1 is not a consequence1 because it is a thing that was and is and ever will be1 was brought vividly to their minds by this unnecessary adstimulation2 and now the bar-keeper1 whose lager-beer was wellnigh exhausted1 from its connection with ham-sandwiches1 had enough to do to furnish them with whiskey1 of which stimulant there was but too large a supply on hand4 ,the consequence of this was soon apparent in the ugly hilarity with which the rowdies entered upon the enjoyment of the afternoon4 ,first1 in spite of the remonstrances of the ,teuton whose proper chattel it was1 they seized upon the large drum1 with which they made an astounding din in the public promenades of the vessel1 abetted1 ,i am sorry to say1 by some who ought to have known better1--and did1 probably1 before the whiskey had curdled their wits4 ,in this proceeding1 as in all their movements1 they were marshalled by ,flashy ,joe1 whose comparatively spruce appearance1 when he came on board in the morning1 had been a good deal deteriorated by broken slumbers in places not remote from coals1 and by the subsequent course of drinks4 ,quiet people were beginning to express some dissatisfaction with the noise made by these fellows1 who1 however1 kept pretty much by themselves1 as yet1 and had got only to the musical stage of the proceedings1 chorusing with unearthly yells a song contributed to the harmony of the afternoon by the first ruffian1 the burden of which ran1-- ,when this old hat was ny-oo1 my boys1 ,when this old hat was ny-oo-ooo6 ,no voice in this chorus dwelt more decidedly by itself than the shrill one belonging to the small1 spare man already spoken of as having a buxom young wife and blue cotton overalls4 ,during his wife's adjournment to the ladies' cabin1 this person1 ,i am obliged to record1 had become boisterously drunk1--a condition in which the contradictory elements that make up the characters of most men are generally developed to an instructive extent4 ,in his first paroxysm1 the fighting man within him was all aroused1 as is generally the case with diminutive men1 when under the influence of drink4 ,already he had tucked his sleeves up to fight a large ,german musician1 who could have put him into the bell of his brass-horn and played him out1 without much trouble4 ,but the song pacified him2 and1 with a misty sense of his importance in a convivial point of view1 on account of the manner in which he had acquitted himself in the chorus1 he now essayed a higher flight1 and treated the party to a new version of ,the ,pope1 oddly condensed into one verse1 as follows3-- ,the ,pope1 he leads a happy life1 ,he fears no married care nor strife1 ,his wives are many as be will3 ,i would the ,sultan's place1 then1 fill6 ,at this moment the buxom young wife descended suddenly from the upper deck by the forecastle-ladder1 like ,nemesis from a thunder-cloud1 and1 seizing upon the small warbler1 to whom she administered a preliminary shake which must have sadly changed the current of his ideas1 drove him ignominiously before her toward the stern of the vessel1 rapping him occasionally about the ears with the hard end of her fan1 to keep him on a straight course4 ,persons who traced the matter farther said that he was driven all the way to the upper deck1 pushed with gentle violence into a state-room1 the door locked upon him1 and the key pocketed by the lady1 who said triumphantly1 as she walked away1--,that's the ,sultan's place for him1 ,i guess6 ,the moral to this little episode is but a horn-book one1 and without any pretension to didactic force3 ,that respectable citizens1 like the small1 spare man1 would do well1 on excursion-trips or elsewhere1 to avoid whiskey and black-guards2 and that wives might be saved a deal of trouble by keeping their eyes permanently on their husbands1 when the latter are of uncertain ways4 ,this little domestic drama had hardly been played out1 when a more serious one--almost a tragedy--was enacted on the forecastle4 ,it originated in the misconduct of the red man1 who1 seized with a desire to catch porgies1 went a short way to work for tackle1 by snatching away the line of a peaceable1 but stout ,frenchman1 who was paralyzed for a moment by the novelty of the thing1 but1 immediately recovering himself1 expressed his dissent by smashing an earthen-ware dish1 containing a great mess of raw clams for bait1 upon the head of the red man1 as he stooped over the railing to fish4 ,this led to a general fight1 in which blood flowed freely1 and the roughs were getting rather the upper-hand4 ,knives were drawn by some of the ,germans and others in self-defence1 and great consternation reigned in the afterpart of the boat and the neighborhood of the ladies' cabin4 ,then the slim captain of the boat--the one in the black dress-coat--hurriedly whispered something to ,lobster ,bob1 who rushed away aft1 where the fight was now agglomerating1 headed by the red man and ,flashy ,joe1 both covered with blood1 and looking like demons1 as they wrestled and bit through the ,crowd4 ,just as they hustled past a large chest intended for the stowage of life-preservers1 ,lobster ,bob kicked the lid of it open with a bang1 and1 seizing up the red man1 neck and crop1 with his huge1 tattooed hands1 dropped him into it and shut down the lid1 which was promptly sat upon by the large1 stout1 smiling man already favorably spoken of in these pages1 who suddenly made his appearance from nowhere in particular4 ,the picture of contentment1 he sat there like one who knew how1 caressing slowly his large knees with his short1 plump hands1 until the cries from the chest began to wax feeble1 when he slowly arose1 vanished1 and ,i never saw him again4 ,the red rowdy was then dragged1 half-suffocated1 from his imprisonment1 and as much life as he ought ever to be intrusted with restored to him by the stout old skipper1 who was at hand with a couple of buckets full of cold salt-water1 with which he drenched him liberally1 as he slunk away4 ,a diversion thus effected1 the disturbance was quelled4 ,all was quiet in a short time1 and the word was passed to heave the anchor and 'bout ship for home4 ,on the way back1 we took a pleasant course inside the ,hook1 which brought the charming scenery of the ,jersey shore and of ,staten ,island before us1 as a pleasant drop-curtain on the melodrama just closed4 ,the music again struck up1 and dancing was resumed with fresh vigor1--the waltzing of all other couples being quite eclipsed by that of ,young ,new ,york and little ,straw-,goods1 who had effectually got rid of her tipsy persecutor ever since the ground-swell1 and was keeping rather in the background of late1 with a sober-minded lady whom she called aunty4 ,with the exception of the few who took to whiskey and bad company1 all appeared contented1 and the better for their sea-holiday4 ,the very musicians played with greater spirit than they did before1 owing1 perhaps1 to their remarkable success in the porgy-fishery4 ,one of the horn-players1 far too knowing to let his fish out of sight1 has propped his music-book up against a pyramid of them1 as upon a desk4 ,the good-looking man who plays upon the double-bass is equally prudent with regard to his trophies1 which he has hung up around the post on which is pinned the score to which he looks for directions when it becomes necessary to bind together with string-music the pensive interchanges of the sax-horn and bassoon4 ,and now1 as our vessel neared the wharf from which we had started while the sun was yet in the east1 ,i looked forward to see what signs of the times were astir on the forecastle4 ,all had deserted it1 and were tending aft1 with their tackle1 their fish1 and their prog-baskets1--all1 at least1 except ,raw ,material1 of whom we enjoyed now an uninterrupted view1 as he sat in his old position1 with his head jammed obstinately into the capstan4 ,but how was this8--he was round at the opposite side of it now2 and ,i puzzled myself for a moment1 thinking whether this change of bearings could be accounted for by the fact of the boat being headed the other way4 ,but ,young ,new ,york1 who is far more nautical than ,i am1 and has a big brother in one of the yacht-clubs1 derided the idea1 and said he must have gone round with the handspikes1 when the anchor was hove4 ,and there he remained1 as we went our way1--a modern ,spartan slave in a kind of marine pillory1--conveying to the red-legged children of ,gotham1 as they toddled ashore1 a useful lesson on the doubtful relations existing between whiskey and pleasure4 ,,cobbler ,,keezar',s ,,vision4 ,the beaver cut his timber ,with patient teeth that day1 ,the minks were fish-wards1 and the cows ,surveyors of highway1-- ,when ,keezar sat on the hillside ,upon his cobbler's form1 ,with a pan of coals on either hand ,to keep his waxed-ends warm4 ,and there1 in the golden weather1 ,he stitched and hammered and sung2 ,in the brook he moistened his leather1 ,in the pewter mug his tongue4 ,well knew the tough old ,teuton ,who brewed the stoutest ale1 ,and he paid the good-wife's reckoning ,in the coin of song and tale4 ,the songs they still are singing ,who dress the hills of vine1 ,the tales that haunt the ,brocken ,and whisper down the ,rhine4 ,woodsy and wild and lonesome1 ,the swift stream wound away1 ,through birches and scarlet maples ,flashing in foam and spray1-- ,down on the sharp-horned ledges ,plunging in steep cascade1 ,tossing its white-maned waters ,against the hemlock's shade4 ,woodsy and wild and lonesome1 ,east and west and north and south2 ,only the village of fishers ,down at the river's mouth2 ,only here and there a clearing ,with its farm-house rude and new1 ,and tree-stumps1 swart as ,indians1 ,where the scanty harvest grew4 ,no shout of home-bound reapers1 ,no vintage-song he heard1 ,and on the green no dancing feet ,the merry violin stirred4 ,why should folk be glum1 said ,keezar1 ,when ,nature herself is glad1 ,and the painted woods are laughing ,at the faces so sour and sad8 ,small heed had the careless cobbler ,what sorrow of heart was theirs ,who travailed in pain with the births of ,god1 ,and planted a state with prayers1-- ,hunting of witches and warlocks1 ,smiting the heathen horde1-- ,one hand on the mason's trowel1 ,and one on the soldier's sword6 ,but give him his ale and cider1 ,give him his pipe and song1 ,little he cared for church or state1 ,or the balance of right and wrong4 ',tis work1 work1 work1 he muttered1-- ,and for rest a snuffle of psalms6 ,he smote on his leathern apron ,with his brown and waxen palms4 ,oh for the purple harvests ,of the days when ,i was young6 ,for the merry grape-stained maidens1 ,and the pleasant songs they sung6 ,oh for the breath of vineyards1 ,of apples and nuts and wine6 ,for an oar to row and a breeze to blow ,down the grand old river ,rhine6 ,a tear in his blue eye glistened ,and dropped on his beard so gray4 ,old1 old am ,i1 said ,keezar1 ,and the ,rhine flows far away6 ,but a cunning man was the cobbler2 ,he could call the birds from the trees1 ,charm the black snake out of the ledges1 ,and bring back the swarming bees4 ,all the virtues of herbs and metals1 ,all the lore of the woods he knew1 ,and the arts of the ,old ,world mingled ,with the marvels of the ,new4 ,well he knew the tricks of magic1 ,and the lapstone on his knee ,had the gift of the ,mormon's goggles ,or the stone of ,doctor ,dee4 ,for the mighty master ,agrippa ,wrought it with spell and rhyme ,from a fragment of mystic moonstone ,in the tower of ,nettesheim4 ,to a cobbler ,minnesinger ,the marvellous stone gave he1-- ,and he gave it1 in turn1 to ,keezar1 ,who brought it over the sea4 ,he held up that mystic lapstone1 ,he held it up like a lens1 ,and he counted the long years coming ,by twenties and by tens4 ,one hundred years1 quoth ,keezar1 ,and fifty have ,i told3 ,now open the new before me1 ,and shut me out the old6 ,like a cloud of mist1 the blackness ,rolled from the magic stone1 ,and a marvellous picture mingled ,the unknown and the known4 ,still ran the stream to the river1 ,and river and ocean joined2 ,and there were the bluffs and the blue sea-line1 ,and cold north hills behind4 ,but the mighty forest was broken ,by many a steepled town1 ,by many a white-walled farm-house ,and many a garner brown4 ,turning a score of mill-wheels1 ,the stream no more ran free2 ,white sails on the winding river1 ,white sails on the far-off sea4 ,below in the noisy village ,the flags were floating gay1 ,and shone on a thousand faces ,the light of a holiday4 ,swiftly the rival ploughmen ,turned the brown earth from their shares2 ,here were the farmer's treasures1 ,there were the craftsman's wares4 ,golden the good-wife's butter1 ,ruby her currant-wine2 ,grand were the strutting turkeys1 ,fat were the beeves and swine4 ,yellow and red were the apples1 ,and the ripe pears russet-brown1 ,and the peaches had stolen blushes ,from the girls who shook them down4 ,and with blooms of hill and wild-wood1 ,that shame the toil of art1 ,mingled the gorgeous blossoms ,of the garden's tropic heart4 ,what is it ,i see8 said ,keezar3 ,am ,i here1 or am ,i there8 ,is it a fte at ,bingen8 ,do ,i look on ,frankfort fair8 ,but where are the clowns and puppets1 ,and imps with horns and tail8 ,and where are the ,rhenish flagons8 ,and where is the foaming ale8 ,strange things1 ,i know1 will happen1-- ,strange things the ,lord permits2 ,but that droughty folk should be jolly ,puzzles my poor old wits4 ,here are smiling manly faces1 ,and the maiden's step is gay2 ,nor sad by thinking1 nor mad by drinking1 ,nor mopes1 nor fools are they4 ,hero's pleasure without regretting1 ,and good without abuse1 ,the holiday and the bridal ,of beauty and of use4 ,here's a priest and there is a ,quaker1-- ,do the cat and the dog agree8 ,have they burned the stocks for oven-wood8 ,have they cut down the gallows-tree8 ,would the old folk know their children8 ,would they own the graceless town1 ,with never a ranter to worry ,and never a witch to drown8 ,loud laughed the cobbler ,keezar1 ,laughed like a school-boy gay2 ,tossing his arms above him1 ,the lapstone rolled away4 ,it rolled down the rugged hill-side1 ,it spun like a wheel bewitched1 ,it plunged through the leaning willows1 ,and into the river pitched4 ,there1 in the deep1 dark water1 ,the magic stone lies still1 ,under the leaning willows ,in the shadow of the hill4 ,but oft the idle fisher ,sits on the shadowy bank1 ,and his dreams make marvellous pictures ,where the wizard's moonstone sank4 ,and still1 in the summer twilights1 ,when the river seems to run ,out from the inner glory1 ,warm with the melted sun1 ,the weary mill-girl lingers ,beside the charmed stream1 ,and the sky and the golden water ,shape and color her dream4 ,fair wave the sunset gardens1 ,the rosy signals fly2 ,her homestead beckons from the cloud1 ,and love goes sailing by6 ,,the ,,first ,,atlantic ,,telegraph4 ,in the name of the ,prophet3--,figs6 ,eh1 bien1 ,sare6 wiz you ,field and ze uzzers6 ,zey is ver' good men1 sans doute1 an' zey know how make ze money2 mais--gros matrialistes1 ,i tell you1 ,sare6 ,vat zen8 ,i sall sink ,i know1 ,i6 ,oui1 ,monsieur1 ,i1 ,csar ,prvost1 who has ze honneur to stand before you1--,i am ze original inventeur of ze ,tlgraphique ,communication wiz ,europe6 ,it was about the period when1 with the fast world of cities1 ,de ,sauty was beginning to become type of an ism2 already the attention of excitement-hunters had travelled far from ,trinity ,bay1 and ,cyrus ,field had yielded his harvest4 ,nevertheless1 to me1 who had just come to town from a quiet country seclusion into which news made its entry teredo-fashion only1 the performances of the ,agamemnon and ,niagara were matters of fresh and vivid interest4 ,so ,i purchased ,mr4 ,briggs's book1 and went to ,guy's1 to cut the leaves over a steak and a bottle of ,edinburgh ale4 ,it was while ,i was thus engaged that the little ,frenchman had accosted me1 calling my attention to his wares with such perfect courtesy1 such airy grace1 that ,i was forced to look at his baskets4 ,and looking1 ,i was induced to lay down my book and examine them more closely2 for they were really pretty1--made of extremely white and delicate wood1 showing an exquisite taste in their design1 and being neatly and carefully finished4 ,then it was1 that1 having apparently noticed the title of my book1 ,m4 ,csar ,prvost had used the language above quoted1 and with such empressement of manner1 that my attention was diverted from his wares to himself4 ,i looked at him with some curiosity4 ,he was a little old ,frenchman1 lean as a haunch of dried venison1 and scarcely less dark in complexion1--though his color was nearer that of rappee snuff1 and had not the rich blood-lined purple of venison4 ,his face was wofully meagre1 and seemed scored and overlaid with care-marks4 ,nevertheless1 there was an energetic1 nervous1 almost humorsome mobility about his mouth2 while his little beady black eyes1 quick1 warm1 scintillant1 had ten times the life one would have expected to find keeping company with his fifty years4 ,in dress1 he was very threadbare1 and1 sooth to say1 not over-clean2 yet he was jaunty1 and moved with the air of a man much better clad4 ,i was impressed with his appearance1 and especially with his voice1 which was vibrant1 firm1 and excellently intoned4 ,it is my foible1 perhaps1 but ,i am always charmed with bonhommie1 ,i class originality among the cardinal virtues1 and ,i am as eager in the chase after eccentricity as a veteran fox-hunter is in pursuit of ,reynard4 ,m4 ,csar promised a compensative proportion of all three qualities1 could ,i only draw him out2 and besides1 he was not like ,mr4 ,canning's ,knife-,grinder1--for1 evidently1 he had a story to tell4 ,observing my scrutiny1 he smiled2 a singular1 ironical smile it was1 yet without a particle of bitterness or of cynicism4 ,eh1 bien6 said he2 you stare1 ,monsieur6 you sink me an excentrique4 ,vraiment6 ,i am use to zat1--,i am use to have persons smile reeseeblement1 to tap zere fronts1 an' spek of ze strait-jackets4 ,never fear1--,i am toujours harmless6 ,mais1 ,monsieur1 it is true1 vat ,i tell you3 ,i am ze original inventeur of ze ,atlantic ,telegraph6 ,you mus' not comprehend me1 ,sare1 to intend somesing vat persons call ze ,telegraph1--such like ze ,electric ,telegraph of ,monsieur ,morse1--a vulgaire sing of ze vire and ze acid4 ,mon ,dieu1 non6 far more perfect1--far more grrand1--far more original6 ,ze acid may burn ze finger1--ze vire vill become rrusty1--ze isolation subject always to ze atmosphere4 ,ah1 bah6 ,vat make you in zat event8 ,as ze pure lustre of ze diamant of ,golconde to ze distorted rays of a morsel of bottle-glass1 so my grrand invention to ze modes of ze telegraph in vogue at present6 ,monsieur1 you shall tell me about it1 said ,i1 pointing to a seat on the other side of the table2 sit down there1 and tell me about your invention1 and in your native language1--that is1 if you can spare the time to do so1 and to drink a glass of ,bordeaux with me4 ,he accepted my invitation as a gentleman would1 sipped his wine like a connoisseur1 passed me a few compliments1 such as any ,french gentleman might toss to you1 if you had asked him to join you in a glass of wine in one of his city's cafs1 and then proceeded with his story4 ,my translation gives but a faint echo of the impression made upon me by his life1 vigor1 and originality2 but still ,i have striven to do him as little injustice as possible4 ,monsieur1 it is ten years since ,i accomplished1 put in practice1 and evoked practical results from this international communication1 which your two peoples have failed to establish1 in spite of all their money1 their great ships1 and the united wisdom of their savans4 ,i am a ,frenchman1 ,monsieur1--and1 you know1 ,france is the congenial soil of ,science4 ,in that country1 where they laugh ever and se jouent de tout1 ,science is sacred2--the ,academy has even pas of the army2 honors there are higher prized than the very wreaths of glory4 ,among the votaries of ,science in ,france1 ,csar ,prvost was the humblest1--serviteur1 ,monsieur4 ,nevertheless1 though my place was only in the outermost porch of the temple1 ,i was a faithful1 devoted1 self-sacrificing worshipper of the goddess2 and therefore1 because earnest fidelity has ever its crown of reward1 it happened to me to make a grand discovery1--a discovery more momentous1 it may be1 than that of gunpowder or the telescope1--ten million hundred times more worth than the vaunted great achievement of ,m4 le ,professeur ,morse4 ,not that its whole import came to me at once4 ,no1 ,monsieur1 it is full twenty years now since the first light of it glimmered upon ,csar ,prvost's mind1 and he gave ten years of his life to it--ten faithful years--before it was perfect to his satisfaction4 ,ah1 ,monsieur1 and 'tis more than one year now that ,i have been what you see me1 in consequence of it4 ,eh1 bien6 ,i shall die so1--rightly1--but my discovery shall live forever4 ,but pardon1 ,monsieur1--,i see that you are impatient4 ,you shall immediately hear all ,i have to say1--after ,i have1 in a few words1 given you a brief insight into the nature of my invention4 ,come1 then6--,has it ever occurred to ,monsieur to reflect upon that something which we call ,sympathy8 ,the philosophers1 you know1 and the physiologists1 the followers of that coquin1 ,mesmer1 and the btes ,spiritualists1 as they now dub themselves1--these have written1 talked1 and speculated much about it4 ,i doubt not these fellows have aided ,monsieur in perplexing his brain respecting the diverse1 the world-wide ramifications of this physiological problem4 ,the limits1 indeed1 of ,sympathy have not been1 cannot be1 rightly set or defined2 and there are those who embrace under such a capitulation half the dark mysteries that bother our heads when we think of ,life's under-current1--instinct1--clairvoyance1 --trance1--ecstasy1--all the dim and inner sensations of the ,spirit1 where it touches the ,flesh as perceptibly1 but as unseen and unanalyzed1 as the kiss of the breeze at evening4 ,sans doute1 ,monsieur1 'tis very wonderful1 all this1--and then1 also1 'tis very convenient4 ,our ships must have a steersman1 you know4 ,and1 par exemple1 unless we call it sympathetic1 that strange susceptibility which we see in many persons1 detect in ourselves sometimes1 what name have we to give it at all8 ,unless we call it sympathy1 how shall we define those mysterious premonitions1 shadowy warnings1 solemn foretokens1 that fall upon us now and then as the dew falls upon the grass-leaf1 that make our blood to shiver and our flesh to quake1 and will not by any means permit themselves to be passed by or nullified8 ',t is a fact that is irrepressible2 and1 in persons with imagination of morbid tendency1 this spontaneous sympathy takes a hold so strong as to present visibly the image about which there is concern1--and1 behold6 your veritable spectre is begotten6 ,so1 again1 of your 'love at first sight1' comme on dit1--that inevitable attraction which one person exerts towards another1 in spite1 it may be1 both of reason and judgment4 ,if this be not child of sympathy1 what parentage shall we assign it8 ,and antipathy1 ,monsieur1 the medal's reverse1--your bte noire1 for instance1--expound me that6 ,why do you so shudder at sight of this or that innocent object8 ,you cannot reason it away1--'t is always there2 you cannot explain it1 nor diagnose its symptoms1--'t is a part of you1 governed by the same laws that govern your 'elective affinities' throughout4 ,but note1 ,monsieur6 ,you and ,i and man in general are not alone in this3 the whole organic world--nay1 some say the entire universe1 inorganic as well as organic--is subject to these impalpable sympathetic forces4 ,is the hypothesis altogether fanciful of chemical election and rejection1--of the kiss and the kick of the magnet8 ,your ,sensitive-,plant1 your ,dionea1 your ,rose of ,jericho1 your ,orinoco-blossom that sets itself afloat in superb faith that the ever-moving waters will bring it to meet its mate and lover1--are not these instances of sympathy8 ,and tell me by what means your eye conquers the furious dog that would bite you1--tell me how that dog is able to follow your traces1 and to find the quail or the fox for you1--tell me how the cat chills the bird it would spring upon1--how the serpent fascinates its victim with a flash of its glittering eye4 ,our 'dumb beasts' yet have a language of their own1 unguessed of us1 yet perfectly intelligible to them1--how8 ,we call this1 ,instinct4 ,eh1 bien1 ,monsieur6 what is ,instinct1 but ,sympathy8 ,bah6 it amounts to nothing1 all this1 if we only look at it in such relations4 ,for centuries have stupides bothered their brains about such matters1 seeking to account for them4 ,as well devote one's time to puzzling over ',aelia ,laelia'6 ,mysteries were not meant to be put in the spelling-books1 ,monsieur4 ,ah1 bah6 a far different path did ,csar ,prvost pursue6 ,he studied these phenomena1 not to explain them1--being too wise to dream of living par amours with such barren virgins as are ,whence and ,why 7your ,bacon was very shrewd1 ,monsieur74 ,what cared ,i about causes8 ,let ,descartes1 and ,polignac1 and ,reid1 and ,cudworth1 et id omne genus1 famish themselves in this desert2 but ask it not of ,csar ,prvost6 ,he is always considerate to the impossible4 ,he says this1 always3--,here we have certain interesting phenomena2 their causes are involved in mystery impenetrable2 their esoteric nature is beyond the reach of any microscope2--what then8 ,my ,heaven6 let us do what we can with them4 ,let us seek out their relations2 let us investigate the laws regulating their interdependence1--if there be such laws2 and aprs1 let us inquire if there be any practical results obtainable from such relations and laws4 ,you follow me1 ,monsieur8 ,eh1 bien6 ,this was the system1 and ,csar ,prvost came speedily to one law1--a law so important1 that1 like ,aaron's serpent1 it put all the rest out of sight forever1 engrossing thereafter his whole attention4 ,this law1 which pervades the entire animal economy1 and is of course important in proportion to its universality1 is as follows3--,the sympathetic harmony between animals1 other things being equal1 is ,,in ,,inverse ,,proportion to their rank in that scale of comparison in which man is taken as the maximum of perfection4 ,consequently1 man is most deficient in this instinctive something1 which1 for lack of a better term1 ,i have ventured to style 'sympathetic harmony1' while the simplest organization has it most developed4 ,this last1 you perceive1 ,monsieur1 is only inductively true2--when we get below a certain stage in the scale1 we find the difficulties of observation increase in a larger ratio than the augmented sympathy1 and so we are not compensated2 't is1 for instance1 like the telescope1 where1 after you have reached a certain power1 the deficiency of light overbalances the degree of multiplication4 ,knowing this1 my first aim was to find out what animal would suit best1--what one that could be easily observed was most susceptible1 most sympathetic4 ',t was a long labor1 ,monsieur2 ,i shall not tire you with the details4 ,enough that ,i found in the snail the instrument ,i needed1--and in the snail of the ,rocky ,mountains the most perfect of his kind4 ,you smile1 ,monsieur4 ,eh1 bien6 't is not philosophic to laugh at the means by which one achieves something4 ,smile how you will1 't is a fact that in the snail which is so common and grows to such an enormous size in the valleys and on the slopes of your great ,cordilleras ,i found an animal combining a maximum of sympathetic harmony with the greatest facility of being observed1 the best health and habits1 and the utmost simplicity of prononce manifestation4 ,but1 you ask1 what seek ,i1 then8 ,my ,heaven1 ,monsieur6 there was the grand ,idea1--the ,idea upon which ,i build my pride1--the ,idea that is mine6 ,when it came to me1 ,monsieur1 this ,idea1 a great calm filled all my soul1 and ,i felt then the spirit of ,kepler1 when he said he could wait during centuries to be recognized1 since the laws he had demonstrated were eternal and immutable as the ,great ,god ,himself6 ,yes1 ,monsieur6 ,for in that crude1 undeveloped ,idea were already germinating the wonders of an achievement grander than any of ,schwartz1 or ,guttenberg1 or ,galileo4 ,oh1 this beautiful1 grand simplicity of ,science1 which was able1 from the snail itself1 the very type and symbol and byword of torpidity and inaction1 to evolve what was to conquer time and space1--to outrun the wildest imaginings of ,puck himself6 ----,what a coltish fire of enthusiasm pranced in the worthy little ,frenchman's veins1 to be sure6 ,eh1 bien6 ,now1 distance made no matter2 it was forever subdued4 ,i could as soon send messages to the ,sun itself as to my next-door neighbor6 ,smile on1 ,monsieur6 ,csar ,prvost shall not be piqued at your incredulity4 ,he also was amazed1 prostrated1 when all the stupendous consequences of his discovery first flashed upon his mind2 and it was very long before he could rid his mind of the notion that he was become victim to the phantasms of a ridiculous dream4 ,eh1 bien6 't was very simple1 once analyzed4 ,know one fact1 and you have all4 ,and this one fact1 so simple1 yet so grand1 was just this3--,that a male and female snail1 having been once1 by contact1 put in communication with one another1 so as to become what magnetizers call en rapport the one with the other1 continue ever after to sympathize1 no matter what space may divide them4 ',t is in a nutshell1 you perceive1--and giving me the entire principle of an unlimited telegraphic communication4 ,all that was to do was to systematize it4 ,tedious work1 you may conceive1 ,monsieur2 yet ,i did not shrink from it1 nor find it irksome1 for my assured result was ever leading me onward4 ,ah1 bah6 what did ,i not dream then8--,passons6 ,i was not rich1 and so1 to save the trouble and expense of importing my snails to ,paris1--vast trouble and expense1 of course1 since my experiments were so numerous1--,i came across the ,atlantic1 and fixed myself at a point near ,st4 ,louis1 where ,i could study in peace and have the subjects of my experiments close at hand4 ,i used to pay the trappers liberally to get my snails for me1 instructing them how to gather and how to transport them2 and to divert all suspicion from my real objects1 ,i pretended to be a gourmet1 who used the snails solely for gastronomic purposes1--whereby1 ,monsieur1 said ,csar ,prvost1 with a humorous smile1 ,i was unfortunate enough to inspire the hearty garons with a supreme contempt for me1 and they used to say ,i 'vas not bettaire zan one blarsted ,digger ,injun6' ,mon ,dieu6 what martyrs the votaries of ,science have been1 always6 ,eh1 bien6 ,i shall not bother you with my experiments4 ,in brief1 let me give you only results1 so as to be just comprehensible4 ,given my law1 ,i had to find1 first1 the manner exactly in which snails manifest their sympathy1 the one for the other1--c'est dire1 how ,snail ,a tells you that something is happening to his comrade1 ,snail ,b4 ,there was a constant law for this1 hard to find1 but ,i achieved it4 ,second1 to make my telegraph perfect1 and pat my system beyond the touch of accident1 ,i had to discover how to destroy the rapport between ,snails ,a and ,b4 ,unless ,i could do this1 ,i could never be sure my instruments were perfectly isolated1 so to speak4 ',twas a difficult task1 ,monsieur2 for the snail is the most constant in its attachments of all the animal kingdom1 and ,i have known them to die1 time and again1 because their mates had died1-- ',pining away in a green and yaller melancholie1' as your grand poet has it1 ,monsieur4 ,still1 ,i succeeded1 and ,i am very proud to announce it2--'twas a great feat1 indeed--no less than to subvert an instinct6 ,third1 ,i found out the way to keep them perfectly isolated1 so as to prevent any subvention of a higher influence from weakening or destroying the previous rapport4 ,fourth1 what sort of influence brought to bear upon ,snail ,b would be sympathetically indicated most palpably in ,snail ,a4 ,so1 ,monsieur1 you may fancy ,i had my hands full4 ,but ,i succeeded1 after long labor4 ,then ,i spent much time in seeking to perfect an ,alphabetical ,system1 and also a ,recording ,apparatus1 capable of exactly setting forth the quality of the sympathy manifested1 as well as the number of the manifestations4 ,when these things were all perfected1 ,i should have a complete system of ,telegraph1 which no circumstances of time1 distance1 or atmosphere could impair1 which would put on record its every step1 and permit no opportunity for error or for accident4 ,eh1 bien6 ,man proposes1--,god disposes4 ,monsieur1 when ,i began my experiments1 when ,i devoted myself1 my energies1 and my life itself to developing and utilizing my discovery1 my motives were purely1 exclusively scientific4 ,my sole aim was to win the position of an eminent savant1 who1 by conferring a signal benefit upon the race1 should merit the common applause of mankind4 ,but1 as time wore on1 as my labors began to be successful1 as the grand possibilities of my achievement arrayed themselves before me1 other dreams usurped my brain4 ,i1 the inventor of this thing1 so glorious in its aspect1 so incomputable in its results1--was ,i to permit myself to go without reward8 ,fame8 ,ah1 bah6 what bread would ,fame butter8 ',twas a bubble1 a name1 an empty1 profitless sound1 this coquin of ,fame6 ',proximus sum egomet mihi1' says ,terence1--or1 as your ,english proverb has it1 ',charity begins at home4' ,i bethought me of the usual fate of discoverers and inventors1--neglected1 scoffed at1 ill-used1 left to starve4 ,the blesser of the world with infinite riches must nibble his crust au sixime4 ,why1 then8 ,because1 in their sublime eagerness to serve others1 they forget to care for themselves4 ,eh1 bien6 ,one must still keep his powder dry1 said your great ,protector4 ,this discovery was to double the effectiveness of men's hands1--therefore1 was grandly to enrich them4 ,but could it not be also made a notable instrument for wealth in one man's hands8 ,ah6 brave thought6 ,how1 if1 none the less resolved to give man eventually the benefit of my ,idea1 ,i should yet keep it in abeyance1 till ,i had made my own sufficient profit out of it8 ,it could be done2--surely1 to use it well were less difficult than to have invented it4 ,so dreams of wealth and luxury began to fill my brain4 ,i would enrich myself till ,i had become a power1 emphatically1--till all purchasable things were within my reach4 ,then ,i should likewise become a benefactor of the race2 for my intentions were liberal1 and intelligence sustained adequately can effect miracles4 ,then1 when ,i had made myself veritably the ,apostle of ,riches1 ,i would put the capstone to man's debt to me1 by endowing him with knowledge in the uses of this great instrument whereby ,i had made myself so great4 ,ah1 ,monsieur1 you see1 ,haroun ,alraschid had set me on his throne for an hour by way of jest1 and ,i imagined myself ,caliph in ,bagdad forever6 ,full of such purposes1 and of the fiery impatience of yearning begotten of them1 ,i hastened to bring my work to efficiency for use4 ,i had worked in silence1 alone1 secretly2 for ,i dreaded to have my discovery guessed1 my aims anticipated and foreclosed upon4 ,but1 hasten how ,i would1 the processes were too slow for my means1--and just when1 like the alchemist1 my crucible promised the grand projection1 came the dreaded explosion4 ,my money exhausted itself6 ,i found myself1 a stranger in a strange land1 without a dollar4 ,eh1 bien1 ,monsieur6 't is not in ,csar ,prvost to despair4 ,ah1 in those days1 especially1 had ,i a heart big with the strength of hope6 ,to accomplish my ends1 a partner was needed at best1 money or no money2 so now it was only necessary for me to find one who to the essential qualities of heart and brain conjoined a purse of sufficient size4 ,before long1 ,i came across the very man4 ,monsieur1 when ,i recall the past1 ,i behold many instances where ,i erred and was foolish2 but the single bitter reflection ,i have is1 that my own ruin involved the ruin of ,john ,meavy1 my partner and good comrade4 ,i remember what he was when ,i found him1--happy1 prosperous1 large-hearted1--in every sense a noble man4 ,i ruined him6 ,ah1 could ,i but--,eh1 bien6 't is too late1 now2 he is dead2 requiescat6 ,i have the bliss to know he found no fault with the end4--,passons6 ,when ,i first knew ,john ,meavy1 he was a merchant1 living with the quiet ease of a well-to-do bachelor4 ,though he had been brought up to trade1 the stain of money was not upon him4 ,generous1 charitable1 liberal of thought1 he was the gentlest enthusiast in other men's behalf that ever the sun shone on4 ,it was the fact that he possessed fifty thousand dollars and was trustworthy that first drew rue towards him2 but ,i had not known him long ere ,i gave him my ardent love1 and thereafter thoughts of wealth were pleasant to me as much for his sake as for my own4 ,john was a student1 and a lover of ,science1 as well as a man of trade2 and1 in the first moments of our intercourse1 ,i took care to let drop words that ,i knew would attract his curiosity and interest4 ,like all you ,americans1 ,john ,meavy was a man of perfect faith in all that regarded ',progress1' and especially did he believe in the infinite perfectibility of ,science in the hands of an energetic people4 ,this was the chord upon which ,i played1 and the responsive note was easily evoked4 ,he sought me out1 came to me eagerly1 and1 by degrees1 ,i divulged to him all my plans4 ,he was ambitious to work for mankind1 and ,i convinced him that ,i could give him the means to do so4 ,my faith1 ,monsieur6 that ,john ,meavy had not one least morsel of selfishness in all his character6 ,how far was he from dreaming of wealth for its own sake1 and for the voluptuous surroundings with which my fancy enlarged upon it6 ,no1 indeed1--my invention to ,john ,meavy was nothing2 but1 as a means to profit you and me and the rest of us1 't was a thing of the grandest import4 ,so1 at first1 he would not have had us keep our secret for a day2 but ,i--by a sophistry that is only sophistic when we add to the consideration man's impotent and easily perverted will--brought him into my plans1 showing him what an instrument for good vast riches would be in his hands4 ,and he was the more easily persuaded because of the very grand purity of his nature4 ,sans doute1 he felt it to be altogether true1 what ,i told him1 that1 in his hands1 a hundred million dollars would be worth more to mankind at large than the whole ,french kingdom4 ,mais1 ,monsieur1 you cannot own a hundred millions and be good4 ,as well expect to find the same virtue in ,london that prevails in a quiet country-town4 ,you cannot filter oceans1 ,monsieur1 and the dead fish in them will cause a stink4 ,but ,i did not know this till afterwards4 ,so1 having inoculated ,john1 ,i bestowed upon him my confidence without reserve2 for ,i knew he was one to appreciate such treatment1 and would repay me in kind4 ',here it all is1 mon ami1' said ,i2 'this is my invention2 these the means for reducing it to practice2 money is all ,i need4 ,if you will join me1 and provide the funds required1 we will enter into a partnership for ten years1 enrich ourselves1 and then give it to all the world4' ',ten years6 must the world wait so long8' ',the world has waited six thousand years for this century1 camarade4 ,we shall require so long to enrich ourselves4 ,and then1 remember1--the longer they are kept out of it1 the more perfect will our invention be1 and1 consequently1 the greater their profit from it4 ,science has suffered too much already by its seven-months' children1 my good friend4 ,eh1 bien6 ,what say you8 ,will you be my partner8' ',yes1 ,csar4 ',t is a noble scheme1 such as only a noble man could originate4 ,but1 ,prvost1 do not speak to me of an equal partnership4 ,i must not pattern after my country's way of overlooking the inventor4 ,let us go into business upon this basis3--,prvost one share1 ,john ,meavy one share1 ,invention one share4' ',bah6 ,john ,meavy6' ,i cried4 ',if ,i have discovered something1 so also have you1 namely3 a pocket deep enough1 a heart honest enough1 and a faith strong enough to make that something available2--,i expected sooner to find the philosopher's-stone than all these1 good friend4 ,no1 ,john ,meavy1--if you share with me1 you share equally4 ,then ,i shall be sure that you are equally interested with myself2 so we shall succeed4' ,eh1 bien6 ,we arranged it2 and that very day1 after ,i had pointed out to ,john the state of my experiments1 my noble comrade took me with him to his place of business1 put all his books open before me1 explained exactly the condition of his affairs1 and concluded by giving me a check for five thousand dollars4 ',there1' said he1 'take that1 pay your debts1 provide for yourself1 and go on and reduce your invention to the practical working you speak about4 ,meantime1 ,i will wind up my business in readiness to join you4 ,six months from now1 the firm of ,prvost and ,meavy1 established to-day1 will begin business together4' ,mon pauvre ,john ,meavy6 ,eh bien1 ,monsieur6 resumed the little ,frenchman1 after a short pause1--one cannot help one's self1 after it is too late4 ,allons1 donc6--,i had lately1 thinking over the matter in the light of my intense desire to begin a career1 and under the pressure of urgent poverty1 given up the notion of bringing my invention to absolute perfection as a system of telegraphing4 ,instead of elaborating a complete alphabet1 ,i proposed to carry into effect a substitute already perfected1 one simple almost beyond belief1 needing few preparations1 involving trifling cost1 and capable of being made immediately operative4 ,further experience has taught me that the very same means1 aided by a little deeper generalization1 and an arbitrary set of signals1 would have given me an entire alphabet4 ,but just now ,i had no time to extend my experiments1 needing all my time to make sure and acquire skill in what was already achieved4 ,i must insure against the chance of mistake2 for when we were applying our invention to the acquisition of money1 any error would necessarily be fatal4 ,the six months went rapidly by1 and before they were over ,i was all ready4 ,but ,john said1 ',wait6' ,he saw no need of hurry2 and his affairs were not quite settled4 ,eh1 bien6 ,i tranquillized my eager1 impatient soul by gaining an insight into the art of book-keeping and the theory and practice of trade4 ,at last the probationary period expired1 and1 prompt to the hour1 my comrade announced his readiness to begin our business4 ,the friends of ,john ,meavy were reluctant to have him leave ,st4 ,louis4 ,they did not know what enterprise he was about to join in2 but they heard that ,i had some share in it1 and they did not scruple to hint that ,i might be an adventurer1 who would 'diddle' him out of his money4 ,however1 ,john only smiled1 and told me all they said1 in his frank way1 as if it were some good joke4 ,so1 finally1 we took leave of ,st4 ,louis1 and came to ,new ,york1 to organize the great house of ,meavy ,prvost3 ,john bearing his share in the concern1 forty odd thousand dollars1 with many letters to persons of eminence and influence2 and ,i carefully seeing to my share1--a few scientific works1 some valuable chemical apparatus1 and two dozen jars full of ,rocky ,mountain snails6 ,eh1 bien1 ,monsieur6 my stock in trade was magnifique1 in comparison with that with which my compatriot ,girard commenced business4 ,by ,john's advice1 we began our operations in a plain1 quiet way1 as exporters of breadstuffs4 ,this we did1 first1 that the firm might make itself well enough known1 and gain the confidence of the ,bourse1 so that the doors might be open to our subsequent operations2 that ,i1 secondly1 might learn the business1 and secure the proper recognition as ,john's partner4 ,meantime1 ,john was making himself familiar with the way to practise my invention2 and both of us1 gaining daily assurance of our power by reason of the discovery1 were also daily increasing in love and confidence for each other4 ,happy days1 those1 ,monsieur6 ,eh1 bien6 had the invention only proved a fiction then6 ,in another six months we had matured our plans1 and1 as our present business seemed lamentably slow in the light of my gigantic projects1 ,i was eager enough to begin work in earnest4 ,i had proved our telegraph thoroughly1 and1 ere ,i set out for ,london1 to establish there a branch of the house of ,john ,meavy ,co41 ,i advised my good comrade to venture largely1 so as to turn our capital over as often as possible1 for there was no room for doubt or fear4 ,but ,john did not guess how high ,i dreamed of rising in fortune2 he had no ambition to rival the ,rothschilds4 ,monsieur1 let me explain to you now the system of work we had agreed upon1 and each slightest detail of which was perfectly familiar to us from constant manipulation1 so that mistake or mishap1 from any conceivable cause1 was utterly impossible4 ,our business1 nominally the buying of breadstuffs for exportation1 was really one of speculation upon the ,new ,york market as affected by the ,european markets1--a species of brokerage1 which1 ostensibly and in the eyes of the world attended by great risk1 was really a thing of specifically safe and certain profits1 thanks to the telegraphic system1 the secret of which we alone possessed4 ,in our tentative efforts1 we fixed upon flour as the best-adapted subject for our experiments1 being a commodity simple to deal with1 and requiring fewer complications in our arrangements than anything else4 ,but1 in my own private mind1 ,i had resolved1 that1 as soon as our capital had grown large enough1 and our credit was become sufficiently extensive1 we would change our business to that of buying and selling cotton1 as a better speculative2 or1 perhaps1 would enter upon that grand arena of sudden fortune and sudden ruin1 the stock-market4 ,for the present1 however1 flour suited us well enough4 ,it is well known1 that1 at that time1 much more than at present1 the price of breadstuffs in ,new ,york was regulated by the price in ,liverpool4 ,but ,monsieur is not a merchant1 ,i think8 ,eh1 bien6--then ,i must take care to make myself intelligible4 ,you know1 ,monsieur1 that1 in the stock-market especially1 and more or less in every other kind of speculation1 the greater part of the transactions are fictitious1 to a certain extent4 ,par exemple3 you buy or you sell so many barrels of flour1 at such a price1 on time1 as it is called1--that is1 you engage to receive1 or to deliver1 so many barrels1 at the prices and in the times agreed upon1 in the hope1 that1 before the period of your contract comes round1 prices will have so varied as to enable you to buy1 or sell1 the quantity bargained for1 upon terms that will give you a profit4 ,in a word1 you simply agree to run the risk of a change of prices such as to give you a profitable return4 ,the operation is identical with that of betting that such a card will be turned1 or that such a horse will win in a race1 or such a candidate be elected ,president4 ,on ',change we are charitable enough to suppose each speculator possessed of data such as to make his venture seem reasonable to himself4 ,this is the system1 and1 though very like gambling1 it has the advantage of presenting to men of small means the chance of large profits1 provided they are willing to run the risk2 since1 while with a capital of ten thousand dollars ,i could make an actual purchase of only two thousand barrels of flour at five dollars a barrel1 the profit on which1 at an advance of twenty-five cents per barrel1 would be very small1--by risking all my money upon a single venture1 and leaving myself a 'margin' of fifty cents to cover the greatest probable decline in price per barrel1 ,i may purchase 'on time' all of twenty thousand barrels1 the profit upon which1 at the same rate1 would be equal to fifty per cent of my entire capital4 ,this is the legitimate system by which such rapid fortunes are made and lost upon ',change4 ,now suppose1 that1 operating in this way1 you are in possession of a secret means of intelligence1 instantaneous1 to be relied on1 peculiar to yourself1--does not ,monsieur perceive that it insures one a fortune incalculable1 and to be made within the shortest time8 ,if ,i to-day learn that to-morrow's steamer will bring news that cotton has advanced one cent a pound1 of course ,i am justified in buying cotton to the utmost extent that my capital and credit will afford me means1 being sure of selling it to-morrow at a higher price2 and if ,i am continually in the receipt of similar information1 ,i can turn my capital over fifty times in a year1 and double it every time4 ,there is actually no limit to the possible fortune of a man who is so favored1 provided he conjoins prudence and boldness to his manner of transacting business4 ,the supplying of such secret and unshared information to the firm of ,john ,meavy ,co4 was the end of my invention1 ,monsieur4 ,i was to go to ,liverpool1 and act as signaller1 while he was to stay in ,new ,york1 receive the information1 and buy or sell in accordance with it4 ,our apparatus was very simple4 ,at each terminus of our line1 so to speak1 we had a room1 inaccessible save to ourselves4 ,these rooms1 darkened1 and carefully kept at a fixed temperature1 contained nothing1 save1 in one corner of each1 a chronometer regulated with precision1 and1 in opposite corners1 a set of boxes1 containing each a snail4 ,at the signalling end1 at a fixed hour1 which the chronometer gives with the greatest accuracy1 and when ,i know that my partner1 by agreement1 will be present at the other end to receive intelligence1 ,i go into my room1 informed as to the condition of the ,liverpool market1 and prepared to transmit particulars of the same to him4 ,here are two boxes1 divided into three compartments each1 and a male snail in each compartment4 ,if flour is down1 offering a chance for profit in ,new ,york upon 'time' sales1 ,i approach the box marked minus1 the three snails of which are called x1 y1 and z4 ,i take up a little tube1--such a one as is used by chemists to drop infinitesimal portions of any liquid2 ,i dip this into a vial marked ,no4 #a1 containing a solution of salt in water1--there is a row of these vials1 the solution in each being of a different strength1--and then1 with the moistened tube1 ,i touch snail x1 or snail y1 or snail z1 or any two of them1 or all three1 once1 twice1 three times1 or repeatedly1 according to the news ,i wish to signal1--noting the effect of the poison1 and recording the particulars in a book kept for the purpose1--recording them with a nicety of intelligent discrimination such as can be obtained only by long and practised observation4 ,i send an abstract of this record by every mail to my partner1 so as to verify our results and to detect immediately any derangement4 ,at his end of our line the brave ,john ,meavy waits before two similar boxes1 in each compartment of which is a female snail4 ,he is a skilled observer1 and his quick eve beholds snails a1 b1 c exactly 7through sympathy7 repeating the effects ,i am producing in x1 y1 z1--though the distance between them is over three thousand miles6 ,he knows the meaning of these slight effects1 and1 going upon ',change1 buys or sells with a perfect assurance of profit4 ,such was my telegraph1 in its rudest outline2 but ,i had systematized it to a degree of far greater nicety4 ,i provided entirely against man's imperfect and defective powers of observation4 ,these movements and squirmings1 which in snails x1 y1 z1 were the effect of a physical cause1 7salt-water47 were1 in snails a1 b1 c1 the result of sympathy for x1 y1 z1 as ,i have said1--a result constant1 determinate1 and always to be depended upon4 ,that is the law of their rapport1--not a theory1 but a law1 established by long1 exhaustive1 and conclusive experimentation4 ,the reason for it ,i cannot assign1--did not pretend to investigate2 but the fact ,i had ascertained3 x1 y1 z1 so touched1 squirm1 contract1 and expand their articulations1 and exude from their pores a certain slimy sweat1 of agony it may be1--anyhow1 a slimy exudation comes from them1 --and1 simultaneously1 and just as much in kind1 degree1 quality1 everything1 snails a1 b1 c repeat the process4 ,such is the law1 constant as gravitation4 ,consequently1 all that the operator has to concern himself about is1 to understand that so many touches1 with fluid of such intensity1 to so many snails1 and repeated so often1 produce such and such an effect upon them1 as1 collectively considered1 to convey1 through a1 b1 c1 a certain piece of information4 ,knowing this1 skill in manipulation and accurate memory are all the qualities he requires to conjoin to such knowledge4 ,but the observer has a much more delicate office to perform1 and1 until ,i invented my recording apparatus1 the functions of this post could be discharged only roughly and imperfectly1 so evanescent and complex the manifestations4 ,but ,i discovered a chemical observer1 employing tests that nothing could escape1 nor anything deceive4 ,the clock that indicates the hour for receipt of news puts in motion the filaments of certain delicate machinery connected with the boxes wherein are a1 b1 c4 ,these snails are placed upon a gauze-like substance1 which1 though firm enough to support them undisturbed1 permits both their natural excretions1 and their exudations under excitement1 to filter through readily4 ,as soon as the hour comes1 the machinery moves1 and there begins to pass the recording paper1 so to speak1 which ,i invented1--a paper not meant to receive any vulgar mechanical impression1 but one which1 to the instructed eye1 and by the aid of the microscope1 sets forth in plain language the nature of the functional disturbance in each snail1 its quality1 its intensity1 and its duration4 ,i do not exaggerate1 ,monsieur4 ,this paper1 in a word1 is chemically prepared1 saturated in a substance that renders it perfectly sympathetic to whatever fluid exudes from the snail1 and thus1 and by means of its motion1 it records the quantity and quality of the impression with unvarying accuracy4 ,the observing hour over1 the clock-work stops1 the paper is examined1 and the result recorded carefully4 ,par exemple3 ,i touch snail x1 once1 twice1 three times1 with the weak solution1 ,no4 #a2 ,john ,meavy1 receiving this fact1 through the sympathetic report of snail a1 the chemical paper1 and the microscope1 reads1 as plainly as if it had been printed in pica type3 ',flour declined threepence4' ,if the fluid used is stronger1 the touches more numerous1 and bestowed upon y and z also1--then the decline or advance is proportionately great4 ,is it not a grandly simple thing1 this telegraph of mine1 ,monsieur8 ----,i was dazzled1 perplexed1--so entirely new1 strange1 incredible was all this to me2 but ,i expressed to the little ,frenchman1 in what terms ,i could command1 my profound sense of his genius and originality4 ,eh1 bien6 ,i went to ,europe1 resumed he1 and ,john ,meavy1 my brave comrade1 stayed in ,new ,york1 buying and selling flour1 and turning over his capital with a rapidity of success that surprised everybody2 while his modest demeanor1 his chivalry of manner1 and his noble generosity won the admission of all1 that ,prosperity chose well1 when she elected ,john for her favorite4 ,at the end of a year we were worth nearly half a million of dollars1 and our credit was perfect4 ,then1 however1 ,john wrote for me to come home4 ,he was engaged to be married1 he said1 wanted me to be present at the ceremony1 and wished my aid in effecting some changes in our mode of business4 ,i was not unwilling1 for ,i also had some suggestions to make4 ,i was tired of my place as operator2 ,i yearned to quit my post of simple spectator1 and to plunge head-foremost into the strife of money-getting4 ,apart from my irksome position1 ,i felt myself more fit for ,john's post than he was4 ,as the capital we worked with increased1 ,john waxed cautious1 and1 most illogically1 announced himself afraid to venture1 --as if his risk were not as great with ten thousand as with a million6 ,this did not suit me4 ,i felt myself capable of using money as mere counters1 ,i divested it of all the terrors of magnitude1 and thus ,i knew ,i could do as much in proportion with five million dollars as with five dollars4 ,and the result1 ,i was perfectly aware1 would be to those achieved by ,john as the elephant in his normal strength compares with the elephant whose strength is to his size as the flea's strength to his size4 ,john could take the flea's leap with five dollars1 but was satisfied with the elephant's leap with five million dollars4 ,so ,i took the next steamer1 reached ,new ,york safely1 and was most cordially welcomed by my noble ,john ,meavy1 who seemed exuberant with the happiness in store for him4 ,before he would say a word about business1 he insisted upon taking me to his betrothed's1 and introduced me to his lovely ,cornelia4 ,he had chosen well1 ,monsieur3 his bride was worthy a throne2 she was worthy ,john ,meavy himself1--a woman refined1 charming1 entirely perfect4 ,at ,john's solicitation1 ,i was his groomsman2 ,i accompanied him upon his wedding-tour2 and mine was the last hand he clasped1 as he stood on the steamer's deck1 on his way to ,europe to take my place at the head of the ,liverpool house4 ,how many kind words he lavished upon me6 how many a good and kindly piece of advice he murmured in my ear at that farewell moment6 ,ah6 ,i do not think ,john wished to go thither2 he was ever a home-body2 and ,i am sure his wife disliked it much4 ,but they saw it was my desire1 they seemed to regard me as the builder-up of their fortunes1 and they yielded without a murmur4 ,bte that ,i was6 ,yet ,i was not selfish1 ,monsieur4 ,building up in dreams my fortune ,babel-high1 ,i built up also ever the fortune of ,john ,meavy and his peerless wife to a point just as near the clouds4 ,eh1 bien6 it amounted to nothing in the end1 all this2 but--,i was not selfish6 ,our business was nominally the old one2 but1 in fact1 in accordance with the new arrangements ,john and ,i had agreed upon1 ,i was to begin cotton-speculation1 and ,john was to keep me informed regarding the fluctuations of the ,liverpool market in that staple4 ,my first efforts1 though successful of necessity1 were small1 ,i wished ,john to gain confidence in my mode of conducting the business1 before ,i ventured upon more extensive operations4 ,meantime1 ,john's letters put me in continual fine spirits4 ,he kept his telegraphic apparatus at home1 and so was much with ,cornelia4 ,he and his wife1 he said1 were very happy2 people could not love one another more than they did4 ,he blessed me a thousand times1 because my invention had taken him to ,new ,york1 and so had enabled him to meet ,cornelia4 ,but--ah1 these 'buts1' ,monsieur6--if you will search long enough the brightest1 the clearest blue sky1 you will always find some little speck1 some faint film of cloud1--'t is your 'but1' ,monsieur6--,john fancied his wife was not altogether so happy as it was possible for her to be4 ,she did not like the cold1 colorless ,liverpool1 nor the foggy people there4 ,she pined a little1 perhaps1 for old home-associations1 wrote ,john4 ,could ,i not think of some means to increase her content8 ,i knew the human heart so well2 ,i was such a genius1 moreover4 ,ah1 bah6 ,monsieur1 't is the old song3 ,i felt myself capable of sweeping the little cloud from the sky also1 as ,i had done everything else1--,i1 this sublime genius6 ,monsieur1 a moment look upon him1 this genius1 this triple blind fool6 ,eh1 bien6 ,i considered3--,cornelia1 like all tender1 susceptible people1 owes much to little things4 ,she will not have to remain there long2 meantime1 can ,i not revive in her mind the associations to which she is used1 and so both make her happy and bless my good comrade1 ,john ,meavy8 ,how1 then8 ,once1 during ,john's wedding-trip1 we had stopped one evening in a little country-town1 and while we were there1 talking pleasantly by the open window1 a mocking-bird1 caged before a house across the way1 had struck up a perfect symphony of his rich and multitudinous song4 ,cornelia was delighted beyond measure1 and seemed to yearn for the bird4 ,john tried to buy it2 but it was a pet2 its owners were well-to-do1 and would not sell3 so ,cornelia had to go away without it1 and ,i fancied she was greatly chagrined1 though1 of course1 she said nothing1 and seemed soon to forget it4 ,so now the notion came to me3--,i will send ,cornelia a mocking-bird4 ,its music will charm her1--its notes will recall a thousand sounds of home1--it will give her occupation1 something to think about and to care for1 until more important cares intervene1--and so it will help to banish this triste mood of ennui4 ,eh1 bien6 ,i soon had a very fine bird4 ,ah1 ,monsieur1 ,i cannot tell you what a fine bird was that fellow1--,don ,juan his name1--such an arch-rascal6 such a merry eye he had6 such a proud1 ,pompadour throat6 such volumes of song6 such splendid powers of mimicry6 ,i kept him with me a week to test his gifts1 and ,i began to envy ,cornelia her treasure1--he was so tame1 so bold1 so intelligent4 ,in that week1 by whistling to him in my leisure hours1 ,i taught him to perform almost perfectly that lively aria of ,meyerbeer's1 ',folle quei che l'oro aduna1' and also to mimic beautifully the chirping of a cricket4 ,well1 ,i sent ,don ,juan out1 and received due information of his safe arrival4 ,the medicine acted like a charm4 ,cornelia wrote me a grateful letter1 full of enthusiastic praises of 'her pet1 her darling1 the dearest1 sweetest1 cutest little bird that ever anybody owned4' ,and ,i was more than rewarded by the heartfelt thanks of my noble ,john ,meavy4 ,diantre6 had ,i only wrung the thing's neck6 ,eh1 bien6 ,the period upon which ,i calculated for my grand speculative coup had nearly arrived4 ,owing to a variety of circumstances1 the cotton-market had for some months been in a very perturbed condition2 and ,i1 who had closely scrutinized its aspects1 felt sure that before long there would be some decided movement that would make itself felt to all the financial centres4 ,this movement ,i resolved to profit by1 in order to achieve riches at a single stroke4 ,i had recommended ,john to increase his observations1 and keep me carefully preadvised of every change4 ,but ,i did not tell him how extensively ,i meant to operate1 for ,i knew 't would make him anxious1 and1 moreover1 ,i wished to dazzle him with a sudden magnificent achievement4 ,well1 things slowly drew towards the point ,i desired4 ,there was a certain war in embryo1 ,i thought1 the inevitable result of which would be to beat down the price of cotton to a minimum4 ,would the war come off8 ,a steamer arrived with such news as made it certain that another fortnight would settle the question4 ,how anxiously1 how tremulously ,i watched my telegraph then1--noting down all the fluctuations so faithfully reported to me by ,john ,meavy1--all my brain on fire with visions of unwonted1 magnificent achievement6 ,for two days the prices wavered and rippled to and fro1 like the uncertain rippling of the waters at turning of the tide4 ,then1 on the morning of the third day1 the long-expected change was announced1 and in a way that startled me1 prepared though ,i was1--so violent was the decline4 ,down1 down1 down1 down to the very lowest6 reported my faithful snails4 ,i did not need to consult the sympathetic paper1 for the agonized writhings of the poor animals spoke plainly enough to the naked eye4 ,i seized my hat1 rushed to my office1 and began my grand coup4 ,eh1 bien6 ,i shall not go into details4 ,suffice it to say1 for three days ,i was in communication with cotton men all over the country2 and1 without becoming known abroad as the party at work1 ,i sold 'on time' such a quantity of 'the staple' that my operations had the effect to put down the prices everywhere2 and if ,john ,meavy's report were correct1 our profits during those three days would exceed three millions of dollars6 ,having now done all ,i could1 and feeling completely worn out1 ,i went home1 for the first time since the news1 flung myself upon a bed1 and slept an unbroken sleep during twenty-four hours4 ,after that1 refreshed and gay1 ,i went once more to the operating-room to see what further reports had arrived since ,i had received the decisive intelligence4 ,decisive1 indeed6 ,monsieur1 when ,i looked through the glass lids into the boxes1 there lay my snails1 stiff and dead6 ,not only my faithful ones1 a1 b1 c1 but likewise the plus ones1 d1 e1 f6 ,yes1 there they lay1 plus and minus1 each in his compartment1 convulsed and distorted1 as if their last agonies had been terrible to endure6 ,stiff and dead6 ,mon ,dieu1 ,monsieur6 and ,i had pledged the name and credit of the house of ,john ,meavy and ,co4 to an extent from which there could be no recovery1 if aught untoward had happened6 ,eh1 bien4 ,monsieur6 ,csar ,prvost is fortunate in a very elastic temperament4 ,yet ,i did not dare think of ,john ,meavy4 ,however1 if the thing was done1 it was too late for remedy now4 ,eh1 bien6 ,i would wait4 ,meantime1 ,i carefully examined to see if any cause was discoverable to have produced these deaths4 ,none4 ',t was irresistible1 then1 that the cause was at ,john's end4 ,what8 ,an accident1--perhaps1 nervous1 he had dosed them too heavily2 but--,i dared not think about it1--,i would only--wait6 ,eh1 bien1 ,monsieur6 ,it would be seven days yet before ,i could get news4 ,i waited1--waited calmly and composedly4 ,mon ,dieu6 they talk of heroism in leading a forlorn hope1--,csar ,prvost was a hero for those eight days4 ,i do not think about them even now4 ,on the third day came a steamer with news of uncertain import1 but on the whole favorable4 ,by the same advice a letter reached me from my old comrade1 ,john ,meavy3 his affairs were prosperous1 he and his wife very happy1 and ,don ,juan more charming than ever4 ,monsieur1 the fourth day came1--the fifth1--the sixth1--the seventh1--finding me still waiting4 ,no one1 to see me1 could have guessed ,i had not slept for a week4 ,eh1 bien6 ,i will not dwell upon it6 ,the morning of the eighth day came4 ,i breakfasted1 read my paper1 smoked my cigar1 and walked leisurely to my counting-room4 ,i answered the letters4 ,i sauntered round to bank1 paid a note that had fallen due1 got a check cashed1 and1 having counted the money and secured it in my pocket-book1 ,i walked out and stood upon the bank-steps1 talking with a business-friend1 who inquired after ,john ,meavy4 ',t was a pleasant theme to converse about1 this1--for me6 ,a news-boy came running down ,wall ,street1 with papers under his arm4 ',here you are6' he cried4 ',extray6 ,steamer just in6 ,latest news from ,europe6 ,all 'bout the new alliance6 ,consols firm1--cotton riz6 ,extray1 ,sir8' ,i bought one1 and the boy ran off as ,i paid him and snatched the paper from his hand4 ',you gave that rascal a gold dollar for a half-dime1' said my friend4 ',did ,i8' ,a gold dollar6 ,i wondered very quaintly what he would say1 when1 in a few days1 he heard of the failure of ,john ,meavy ,co4 for three millions of dollars4 ,a gold dollar6 ,eh1 bien1 ,monsieur6 ,i shall not dwell upon it4 ,enough1--we were ruined4 ,i had played my grand coup1 and lost4 ,for myself1 nothing4 ,but--,john ,meavy6 ,oh1 ,monsieur1 ,i could not think6 ,i went to my office1 and sat there all day1 stupid1 only twirling my watch-key1 and repeating to myself1--',a gold dollar6 a gold dollar6' ,the afternoon had nearly gone when one of my clerks roused me3--',a letter for you1 ,mr4 ,prvost2 it came by the steamer to-day4' ,monsieur1 said the little ,frenchman1 producing a well-worn pocket-book1 and taking out from it a tattered1 yellow sheet1 which he unfolded before me1--,monsieur1 you shall read that letter4 ,it was this3-- ,,my ,,dear ,,cesar3-- ,you must blame me and poor ,don ,juan for the suspension of your ,telegraph4 ,i write1 myself1 to tell you how careless ,i have been2 for poor ,john is in such a state of agitation1 and seems to fear such calamities1 that ,i will not let him write2--though what evil can come of it1 beyond the inconvenience1 ,i cannot see1 nor will he tell me4 ,you must answer this immediately1 so as to prove to ,john that nothing has gone wrong2 and so give me a chance to scold this good husband of mine for his vain and womanish apprehensions4 ,but let me tell you how it happened to the poor snails1--,don ,juan is so tame1 that ,i do not pretend to keep him shut up in his cage1 but let him fly about our sitting-room1 just as he pleases4 ,the next room to this1 you know1 is the one where we kept the snails4 ,i have been helping ,john with these for some time1 and it is my custom1 when he goes on ',change1 to look after the ugly creatures1 and especially to open the boxes and give them air4 ,well1 this morning1--you must not scold me1 ,csar1 for ,i have wept enough for my carelessness1 and as ,i write am trembling all over like a leaf1--this morning1 ,i went into the snail-room as usual1 opened the boxes1 noted how well all six looked1 and then1 going to the window1 stood there for some minutes1 looking out at the people across the way preparing for the illumination to-night1 7for we are going to have peace at last1 and every one is so rejoiced67 and forgetting entirely that ,i had left open both the door of this room and that of the sitting-room also1 until ,i heard the flutter of ,don ,juan's wings behind me4 ,i turned1 and was horror-stricken to find him perched on the boxes1 and pecking away at the poor snails1 as if they were strawberries6 ,i screamed1 and ran to drive him off1 but ,i was too late1--for1 just as ,i caught him1 the greedy fellow picked up and swallowed the last one of the entire six6 ,i felt almost like killing him1 then2 but ,i could not1--nor could you have done it1 ,csar1 had you but seen the arch defiance of his eye1 as he fluttered out of my hands1 flew back to his cage1 and began to pour forth a whole world of melody6 ,my dear ,csar1 ,i know my carelessness was most culpable1 but it cannot be so bad as ,john fears4 ,oh1 if anything should happen now1 by my fault1 when we are so prosperous and happy1 ,i could never forgive myself6 ,do write to me as soon as possible1 and relieve the anxiety of ,affectionately yours1 ,,cornelia4 ,the little ,frenchman looked at me with a glance half sad1 half comical1 as ,i returned the letter to him4 ,eh1 bien1 ,monsieur6 said he1 shrugging his shoulders1--you've heard my story4 ',twas fate1--what could one do8 ,but that is not all1--,john ,meavy1--said ,i4 ,the little ,frenchman looked very grave and sad4 ,monsieur1 my brave camarade1 ,john ,meavy1 had been brought up in a stern school4 ,his ideas of credit and of mercantile honor were pitched very high indeed4 ,he imagined himself disgraced forever1 and--he did not survive it4 ,you do not mean---- ,i mean1 ,monsieur1 that ,i lost the bravest and truest and most generous friend that ever man had1 when ,john ,meavy died4 ,and that dose of ,prussic ,acid should properly have gone to me1 whose fault it all was1 instead of to him1 so innocent4 ,eh1 bien1 ,monsieur6 his lot was the happiest1 after all4 ,but ,cornelia8 said ,i1 after a pause4 ,the little ,frenchman rose1 with a quiet and graceful air1 full of sadness1 yet of courtesy2 and ,i knew then that he was no longer my guest and entertainer1 but once more the chapman with his wares4 ,monsieur1 ,cornelia is under my protection4 ,you will comprehend that--after that--she has not escaped with impunity4 ,some little strings snapped in the harp4 ,she is touche1 here1 said he1 resting one finger lightly upon his forehead1--but 'tis all for the best1 sans doute4 ,she is quiet1 peaceable1--and she does not remember4 ,she sits in my house1 working1 and the bird sings to her ever4 ',tis a gallant bird1 ,monsieur4 ,and though ,i am poor1 ,i can yet make some provision for her comfort4 ,she has good taste1 and is very industrious4 ,these baskets are all of her make2 when ,i have no other employ1 ,i sell them about1 and use the money for her4 ,eh1 bien6 'tis a small price1--fifty cents2 if ,monsieur will purchase one1 he will possess a basket really handsome1 and will have contributed something to the comfort of one of the ,good ,god's protges4 ,mille remerciements1 ,monsieur1--for this purchase1--for your entertainment1--for your courtesy6 ,bon jour1 ,monsieur6 99 99 99 99 99 ,about half an hour after this1 ,i had occasion to traverse one of the corridors of ,barnan's ,hotel1 when ,i saw a group of gentlemen1 most of whom sported ,atlantic ,cable ,charms on their watchchains1 gathered about a person who had secured their rapt attention to some story he was narrating4 ,eh1 bien1 ,messieurs6 ,i heard him say1 in a peculiar nave broken ,english1 it would be yet seven days before ,i could get ze news1--and--,i wait4 ,oui6 calmlie1 composedlie1 with insouciance beyond guess1 ,i wait-- ,i wonder1 said ,i to myself1 as ,i passed on1 ,i wonder if ,m4 ,csar ,prvost's account of his remarkable invention of the ,first ,atlantic ,telegraph have not some subtile connection with his desire to find as speedy and remunerative a sale as possible for his pretty baskets6 ,,lady ,,byron4 ,it is seldom that a woman becomes the world's talk but by some great merit or fault of her own1 or some rare qualification so bestowed by ,nature as to be incapable of being hidden4 ,great genius1 rare beauty1 a fitness for noble enterprise1 the venturous madness of passion1 account for ninety-nine cases in the hundred of a woman becoming the subject of general conversation and interest4 ,lady ,byron's was the hundredth case4 ,there was a time when it is probable that she was spoken of every day in every house in ,england where the family could read2 and for years the general anxiety to hear anything that could be told of her was almost as striking in ,continental society and in the ,united ,states as in her own country4 ,yet she had neither genius1 nor conspicuous beauty1 nor a mission1 nor any quality of egotism which could induce her to brave the observation of the world for any personal aim4 ,she had good abilities1 well cultivated for the time when she was young2 she was rather pretty1 and her countenance was engaging from its expression of mingled thoughtfulness and brightness2 she was as lady-like as became her birth and training2 and her strength of character was so tempered with modesty and good taste that she was about the last woman that could have been supposed likely to become celebrated in any way1 or1 yet more1 to be passionately disputed about and censured1 in regard to her temper and manners3 yet such was her lot4 ,no breath of suspicion ever dimmed her good repute1 in the ordinary sense of the expression3 but to this day she is misapprehended1 wherever her husband's genius is adored2 and she is charged with precisely the faults which it was most impossible for her to commit4 ,for the original notoriety she was not answerable2 but for the protracted misapprehension of her character she was4 ,she early decided that it was not necessary or desirable to call the world into council on her domestic affairs2 her husband's doing it was no reason why she should2 and for nearly forty years she preserved a silence1 neither haughty nor sullen1 but merely natural1 on matters in which women usually consider silence appropriate4 ,she never inquired what effect this silence had on public opinion in regard to her1 nor countenanced the idea that public opinion bore any relation whatever to her private affairs and domestic conduct4 ,such independence and such reticence naturally quicken the interest and curiosity of survivors2 and they also stimulate those who knew her as she was to explain her characteristics to as many as wish to understand them1 after disputing about them for the lifetime of a whole generation4 ,anne ,isabella ,noel ,milbanke 7that was her maiden name7 was an only child4 ,her father1 ,sir ,ralph ,milbanke1 was the sixth baronet of that name4 ,her mother was a ,noel1 daughter of ,viscount and ,baron ,wentworth1 and remotely descended from royalty1--that is1 from the youngest son of ,edward ,i4 ,after the death of ,lady ,milbanke's father and brother1 the ,barony of ,wentworth was in abeyance between the daughter of ,lady ,milbanke and the son of her sister till #ahef1 when1 by the death of that cousin1 ,lord ,scarsdale1 ,lady ,byron became possessed of the inheritance and title4 ,during her childhood and youth1 however1 her parents were not wealthy2 and it was understood that ,miss ,milbanke would have no fortune till the death of her parents1 though her expectations were great4 ,though this want of immediate fortune did not prove true1 the report of it was probably advantageous to the young girl1 who was sought for other things than her fortune4 ,when ,lord ,byron thought of proposing1 the friend who had brought him to the point of submitting to marriage objected to ,miss ,milbanke on two grounds1--that she had no fortune1 and that she was a learned lady4 ,the gentleman was as wrong in his facts as mischievous in his advice to the poet to many4 ,miss ,milbanke had fortune1 and she was not a learned lady4 ,such men as the two who held a consultation on the points1 whether a man entangled in intrigues and overwhelmed with debts should release himself by involving a trusting girl in his difficulties1 and whether the girl should be ,miss ,milbanke or another1 were not likely to distinguish between the cultivated ability of a sensible girl and the pedantry of a blue-stocking2 and hence1 because ,miss ,milbanke was neither ignorant nor silly1 she was called a learned lady by ,lord ,byron's associates4 ,he bore testimony1 in due time1 to her agreeable qualities as a companion1--her brightness1 her genial nature1 her quiet good sense2 and we heard no more of her learning and mathematics1 till it suited her enemies to get up a theory of incompatibility of temper between her and her husband4 ,the fact was1 she was well-educated1 as education was then1 and had the acquirements which are common in every house among the educated classes of ,english society4 ,she was born in #agib1 and passed her early years chiefly on her father's estates of ,halnaby1 near ,darlington1 ,yorkshire1 and ,seaham1 in ,durham4 ,she retained a happy recollection of her childhood and youth1 if one may judge by her attachment to the old homes1 when she had lost the power of attaching herself1 in later life1 to any permanent home4 ,when an offer of service was made to her1 some years since1 by a person residing on the ,northumberland coast1 the service she asked was that a pebble might be sent her from the beach at ,seaham1 to be made into a brooch1 and worn for love of the old place4 ,her father1 as a ,yorkshire baronet1 spent his money freely4 ,a good deal of it went in election-expenses1 and the hospitality of the house was great4 ,it was too orderly and sober and old-fashioned for ,lord ,byron's taste1 and he quizzed it accordingly2 but he admitted the kindliness of it1 and the amiability which made guests glad to go there and sorry to come away4 ,his special records of ,miss ,milbanke's good-humor1 spirit1 and pleasantness indicate the source of subsequent misrepresentations of her4 ,till he saw it1 he could not conceive that order and dutifulness could coexist with liveliness and great charms of mind and manners2 and when the fact was out of sight1 he went back to his old notion1 that affectionate parents and dutiful daughters must be dull1 prudish1 and tiresome4 ,bell was beloved as only daughters are1 but so unspoiled as to be sought in marriage as eagerly as if she had been a merry member of a merry tribe4 ,lord ,byron himself offered early1 and was refused1 like many other suitors4 ,her feelings were not the same1 however1 to him as to others4 ,it is no wonder that a girl not out of her teens should be captivated by the young poet whom the world was beginning to worship for his genius as very few men are worshipped in their prime1 and who could captivate young and old1 man1 woman1 and child1 when he chose to try4 ,as yet1 his habits of life and mind had not told upon his manners1 conversation1 and countenance as they did afterwards4 ,the beauty of his face1 the reserved and hesitating grace of his manner1 and the pith and strength of such conversation as he was tempted into might well win the heart of a girl who was certainly far more fond of poetry than of mathematics4 ,yet she refused him4 ,perhaps she did not know him enough4 ,perhaps she did not know her own feelings at the moment4 ,she afterwards found that she had always loved him4 ,his renewed offers at the close of two years made her very happy4 ,she was drawing near the end of her portion of life's happiness2 and she seems to have had no suspicion of the baselessness of her natural and innocent bliss4 ,it is probable that nobody about her knew1 any more than herself1 how and why ,lord ,byron offered to her a second time1 till ,moore published the facts in his ,life of the poet4 ,the thrill of disgust which ran through every good heart1 on reading the story1 made all sympathizers ask how she could bear to learn how she had been treated in the confidences of profligates4 ,perhaps she had known it long before1 as her husband had repeatedly tried his powers of terrifying and depressing her2 but1 at all events1 she could bear anything1--not only with courage and in silence1 but with calmness and inexhaustible mercy4 ,according to ,moore's account1 a friend of ,byron's urged him to marry1 as a remedy for the melancholy restlessness and disorder of his life2 and1 after much discussion1 he consented4 ,the next proceedings were in character with this consent4 ,byron named ,miss ,milbanke3 the friend objected1 on the grounds of her possession of learning and supposed want of fortune2 and ,byron actually commissioned his adviser to propose for him to the lady he did not prefer4 ,she refused him2 and then future proceedings were determined by his friend's admiration of the letter he had got ready for ,miss ,milbanke4 ,it was such a pretty letter1 it would be a pity not to send it4 ,so it was sent4 ,if she could have known1 as she hung over that letter1 what eyes had read lines that should have been her own secret property1 and as what kind of alternative the letter had been prepared1 what a different life might hers have been6 ,but she could not dream of being laid hold of as a speculation in that style1 and she was happy1--as women are for once in their lives1 and as she deserved to be4 ,there was another alternative1 besides that of two ladies to be weighed in the balance4 ,byron was longing to go abroad again1 and he would have preferred that to marrying2 but the importunity of his friends decided him for marriage4 ,in a short time1 and for a short time1 ,miss ,milbanke's influence was too strong for his wayward nature and his pernicious friends to resist4 ,his heart was touched1 his mind was soothed1 and he thought better of women1 and perhaps of the whole human race1 than he had ever done before4 ,he wrote to ,moore1 who owned he had never liked her1 and who boded evil things from the marriage1 that she was so good that he wished he was better1--that he had been quite mistaken in supposing her of a very cold disposition4 ,these gentlemen had heard of her being regarded as a pattern lady in the ,north2 and they had made up an image of a prude and a blue in their own minds1 which ,byron presently set himself to work to pull down4 ,he wrote against ,moore's notion of her as strait-laced1 in a spirit of justice awakened by his new satisfactions and hopes3 but there are in the narrative no signs of love on his part1--nothing more than an amiable complacency in the discovery of her attachment to him4 ,the engagement took place in ,september1 #ahad1 and the marriage in the next ,january4 ,moore saw him in the interval1 and had no remaining hope1 from that time1 that ,byron could ever make or find happiness in married life4 ,he was satisfied that love was1 in ,byron's case1 only an imagination2 and he pointed to a declaration of ,byron's1 that1 when in the society of the woman he loved1 even at the happiest period of his attachment1 he found himself secretly longing to be alone4 ,secretly during the courtship1 but not secretly after marriage4 ,tell me1 ,byron1 said his wife1 one day1 not long after they were married1 and he was moodily staring into the fire1--am ,i in your way8 ,damnably1 was the answer4 ,it will be remembered by all readers that the reason he assigned for the good terms on which he remained with his half-sister1 ,mrs4 ,leigh1 was that they seldom or never saw each other4 ,when ,moore saw him in ,london1 he was in a troubled state of mind about his affairs4 ,his embarrassments were so pressing that he meditated breaking off the match2 but it was within a month of the wedding-day1 and he said he had gone too far to retract4--,how it was that ,sir ,ralph ,milbanke did not make it his business to ascertain all the conditions of a union with a man of ,byron's reputation it is difficult to imagine4 ,every movement of the idolized poet was watched1 anecdotes of his life and ways were in all mouths2 and a prudent father1 if encouraging his addresses at all1 should naturally have ascertained the chances of his daughter having an honorable and happy home4 ,sir ,ralph probably thought so1 when there were ten executions in the house in the first few months after the marriage4 ,those difficulties1 however1 did not affect the happiness of the marriage unfavorably4 ,the wife was not the less of the heroic temperament for being a pattern young lady4 ,she was one whose spirit was sure to rise under pressure1 and who was always most cheerful when trouble called forth her energies on behalf of others4 ,liberal with her own property1 making light of privation1 full of clear and practical resource in emergency1 she won her husband's admiration in the midst of the difficulties into which he had plunged her4 ,for a time he was not ashamed of that admiration2 and his avowals of it are happily on record4 ,they were married on the second of ,january4 ,the wedding-day was miserable4 ,byron awoke in one of his melancholy moods1 and wandered alone in the grounds till called to be married4 ,his wayward mind was full of all the associations that were least congenial with the day4 ,his thoughts were full of ,mary ,chaworth1 and of old scenes in his life1 which he fancied he loved because he was now leaving them behind4 ,he declared that his poem of ,the ,dream was a true picture of his wedding-morning2 and there are circumstances1 not told in his ,life1 which render this probable4 ,after the ceremony and breakfast1 the young couple left ,seaham for ,sir ,ralph's seat at ,halnaby4 ,towards dusk of that winter-day1 the carriage drove up to the door1 where the old butler stood ready to receive his young lady and her bridegroom4 ,the moment the carriage-door was opened1 the bridegroom jumped out and walked away4 ,when his bride alighted1 the old servant was aghast4 ,she came up the steps with the listless gait of despair4 ,her face and movements expressed such utter horror and desolation1 that the old butler longed to offer his arm to the lonely young creature1 as an assurance of sympathy and protection4 ,various stories got abroad as to the cause of this horror1 one probably as false as another2 and1 for his own part1 ,byron met them by a false story of ,miss ,milbanke's lady's-maid having been stuck in1 bodkin-wise1 between them4 ,as ,lady ,byron certainly soon got over the shock1 the probability is that she satisfied herself that he had been suffering under one of the dark moods to which he was subject1 both constitutionally and as the poet of moods4 ,it is scarcely possible at our time of day to make sufficient allowance for such a woman having entered upon such a marriage1 in spite of the notoriety of the risks4 ,byron was then the idol of much more than the literary world4 ,his poetry was known by heart by multitudes of men and women who read very little else2 and one meets1 at this day1 elderly men1 who live quite outside of the regions of literature1 who believe that there never could have been such a poet before1 and would say1 if they dared1 that there will never be such another again4 ,he appeared at the moment when society was restless and miserable1 and discontented with the ,fates and the universe and all that it contained4 ,the general sensibility had not for long found any expression in poetry4 ,literature seemed something quite apart from experience1 and with which none but a particular class had any concern4 ,at such a time1 when ,europe lay desolate under the ravage and incessant menace of the ,french ,empire1--when ,england had an insane ,king1 a profligate ,regent1 an atrocious ,ministry1 and a corrupt ,parliament1--when the war drained the kingdom of its youth1 and every class of its resources1--when there was chronic discontent in the manufacturing districts1 and hunger among the rural population1 with a perpetual extension of pauperism1 swallowing up the working and even the middle classes1--when everybody was full of anxiety1 dread1 or a reactionary recklessness1--there suddenly appeared a new strain of poetry which seemed to express every man's mood4 ,every man took up the song4 ,byron's musical woe resounded through the land4 ,people who had not known exactly what was the matter with them now found that life was what ,byron said it was1 and that they were sick of it4 ,i can well remember the enthusiasm1--the better1 perhaps1 for never having shared it4 ,at first ,i was too young1 and afterwards ,i found too much of moods and too little of matter to create any lasting attachment to his poetry4 ,but the music of it rang in all ears1 and the rush of its popularity could not be resisted by any but downright churlish persons4 ,i remember how ladies1 in morning calls1 recited passages of ,byron to each other1--and how gentlemen1 in water-parties1 whispered his short poems to their next neighbor4 ,if a man was seen walking with his head down and his lips moving1 he was revolving ,byron's last romance2 and children who began1 to keep albums wrote1 in double lines on the first page1 some stanza which caught them by its sound1 if they were not up to its sense4 ,on some pane in every inn-window there was a scrap of ,byron2 and in young ladies' portfolios there were portraits of the poet1 recognizable1 through all bad drawing and distortion1 by the cast of the beautiful features and the ,corsair style4 ,where a popularity like this sprang up1 there must be sufficient reason for it to cause it to involve more or less all orders of minds2 and the wisest and most experienced men1 and the most thoroughly trained scholars1 fell into the general admiration1 and keenly enjoyed so melodious an expression of a general state of feeling1 without asking too pertinaciously for higher views and deeper meanings4 ,old ,quakers were troubled at detecting hidden copies and secret studies of ,byron among young men and maidens who were to be preserved from all stimulants to the passions2 and they were yet more troubled1 when1 looking to see what the charm was which so wrought upon the youth of their sect1 they found themselves carried away by it1 beyond all power to forget what they had read4 ,the idolatry of the poet1 which marked that time1 was an inevitable consequence of the singular aptness of his utterance4 ,his dress1 manners1 and likings were adopted1 so far as they could be ascertained1 by hundreds of thousands of youths who were at once sated with life and ambitious of fame1 or at least of a reputation for fastidious discontent2 young ladies declared that ,byron was everything that was great and good2 and even our best literature of criticism shows how respectful and admiring the hardest reviewers grew1 after the poet had become the pet and the idol of all ,england4 ,at such a time1 how should ,bell ,milbanke resist the intoxication1--even before the poet addressed himself particularly to her8 ,a great reader in the quietness of her home1 where all her tastes were indulged1--a lover of poetry1 and so genial and sympathizing as to be always sure to be filled with the spirit of her time1--how could she fail to idolize ,byron as others did8 ,and what must have been her exaltation1 when he told her that the welfare of his whole life depended upon her6 ,between her exaltation1 her love1 her sympathy1 and her admiration1 she might well make allowance for his eccentricities first1 and for worse afterwards4 ,thus1 probably1 it was that she got over the shock of that wedding-drive1 and was again the bright1 affectionate1 trusting and winning woman whom he had described before and was to describe again to his skeptical friend ,moore4 ,before six weeks were over1 he wrote to ,moore 7after some previous hankerings7 that he should go abroad soon1 and alone1 too4 ,he did not go then4 ,in ,april the death of ,lord ,wentworth occurred1 causing ,sir ,ralph and ,lady ,milbanke to take the name of ,noel1 according to ,lord ,wentworth's will1 and assuring the prospect of ultimate accession of wealth4 ,meantime1 the new expenses of his married life1 entered upon without any extrication from old debts1 caused such embarrassment1 that1 after many other humiliations had been undergone1 he offered his books for sale4 ,as ,lady ,byron maintained a lifelong silence about the sufferings of her married life1 little is known of that miserable year beyond what all the world saw3 executions in the house2 increasing gloom and recklessness in the husband2 a bright patience and resoluteness in the wife2 and an immense pity felt by the poet's adorers for his trials by a persecuting ,fate4 ,during the summer and autumn1 his mention of his wife to his correspondents became less frequent and more formal4 ,his tone about his approaching papaship tells nothing4 ,he was not likely to show to such men any good or natural feelings on the occasion4 ,in ,december1 his daughter1 ,augusta ,ada1 was born2 and early in ,january1 he wrote to ,moore so melancholy a ,heigho6 on occasion of his having been married a year1 as to incite that critical observer to write him an inquiry about the state of his domestic spirits4 ,the end was near1 and the world was about to see its idol and his wife tested in moral action of a very stringent kind4 ,by means of the only publication ever made or authorized by ,lady ,byron on the subject of her domestic life1 her vindication of her parents1 contained in the ,appendix of ,moore's ,life of the poet1 we know1 that1 during her confinement1 ,lord ,byron's nearest relatives were alarmed by tokens of eccentricity so marked1 that they informed her1 as soon as she was recovered1 that they believed him insane4 ,his confidential servant bore the same testimony2 and she naturally believed it1 when she resumed her place in the household1 and saw how he was going on4 ,on the sixth of ,january1 the day after he wrote the ,heigho6 to ,moore1 he desired his wife1 in writing1 to go to her parents on the first day that it was possible for her to travel4 ,her physicians would not let her go earlier than the fifteenth2 and on that day she went4 ,she never saw her husband again4 ,she had1 in agreement with his family1 consulted ,dr4 ,baillie on her husband's behalf2 and he1 supposing the insanity to be real1 advised1 before seeing ,lord ,byron1 that she should obey his wish about absenting herself1 as an experiment1--and that1 in the interval1 she should converse only on light and cheerful topics4 ,she observed these directions1 and1 in the spirit of them1 wrote two letters1 on the journey1 which bore no marks of the trouble which existed between them4 ,these letters were afterwards used1 even circulated1 to create a belief that ,lady ,byron had been suddenly persuaded to desert her husband1 though he at least was well aware that the fact was not so4 ,it soon appeared that he was not insane4 ,such was the decision of physicians1 relatives1 and presently of ,lady ,byron herself4 ,while there was any room for supposing disease to be the cause of his conduct1 she and her parents were anxious to use all tenderness with him1 and devote themselves to his welfare2 but when it became necessary to consider him sane1 his wife declared that she could not return to him4 ,it is not necessary to dwell on the imputations ,lord ,byron spread abroad at the time1 and his biographer afterwards1 against the parents of his wife1 and everybody belonging to them who could be supposed to have the slightest influence over ,lady ,byron's views or feelings4 ,those allegations were publicly shown by her to be false1 nearly thirty years ago4 ,i refer to them now solely because they were the occasion of the only public disclosure ,lady ,byron ever voluntarily made on any part of the subject of her married life4 ,it is needless to exhibit how different in this respect was the conduct of her husband and his friends4 ,it became known by that statement1 after some years1 that1 when ,lady ,noel went to ,london1 to see what could and ought to be done1 she obtained good legal opinions on the case1 so far as she knew it4 ,those opinions declared ,lady ,byron fully justified in refusing to rejoin her husband4 ,the parents1 however1 never knew the whole2 and it was on yet more substantial grounds that ,lady ,byron formed her resolution4 ,the facts were submitted1 as the world has since known1 as an ,a4,b4 case1 to ,dr4 ,lushington and ,sir ,samuel ,romilly2 and those able lawyers and good men peremptorily decided1 that the wife1 whoever she might be1 must never see her husband again4 ,when they learned whose case it was1 they not only gave their full sanction to her refusal to return1 but declared that they would never countenance in any way a change in that resolution4 ,dr4 ,lushington's statement to this effect appears in the ,appendix to ,moore's ,life1 as a part of ,lady ,byron's vindication of her parents4 ,it was very hard on her to be compelled to speak at all4 ,for six years she had kept silence utterly1 bearing all imputations without reply4 ,but when it was brought to her notice that her parents were charged with the gravest offences by her husband's biographer1 after the death of both1 and when no other near relative was in existence1 she had no choice4 ,she must exonerate them4 ,the testimony was1 as she said1 extorted from her4 ,the respect which had been felt for her during the first years of silence was not impaired by this disclosure2 but it was by one which occurred a few years later4 ,a statement on her domestic affairs was published1 in her name1 in a magazine of large circulation4,a ,it did not really explain anything1 while it seemed to break through a dignified reserve which had won a high degree of general esteem4 ,it was believed that feminine weakness had prevailed at last2 and her reputation suffered accordingly with many who had till then regarded her with favor and even reverence4 ,footnote ,a3 ,new ,monthly ,magazine1 #ahcf4 ,this was the climax of the hardship of her case4 ,she had no concern whatever with this act of publication4 ,it was one of poor ,campbell's disastrous pranks4 ,he could not conceive how he could have done such a thing1 and was desperately sorry2 but there was little good in that4 ,the mischief was done which could never be thoroughly repaired4 ,she once more suffered in silence2 for she was not weak enough to complain of irremediable evils4 ,nine years afterwards she wrote to a friend1 who had been no less unjustifiably betrayed1--,i am grieved for you1 as regards the actual position2 but it will come right4 ,i was myself made to appear responsible for a publication by ,campbell1 most unfairly1 some years ago2 so that1 if ,i had not imagination enough to enter into your case1 experience would have taught me to do so4 ,those who are old enough to remember the year #ahaf will easily recall the fluctuations of opinion which took place as to the merits of the husband and the wife1 whose separation was as interesting to ten thousand households as any family event of their own4 ,then1 and for a few years after1 was ,lady ,byron the world's talk1--innocently1 most reluctantly1 and unavoidably4 ,at first1 while her influence left its impression on his mind1 ,lord ,byron did her some sort of justice1--fitful and partial1 but very precious to her then1 no doubt1--and almost as precious now to the friends who understood her4 ,it was not till he was convinced that she would never return1 not till he began to quail under the world's ill opinion1 and especially1 not till he felt secure that he might rely on his wife's fidelity and mercy1 her silence and magnanimity1 that he changed his tone to one of aspersion and contempt1 and his mode of attack to that of charming1 amusing1 or inflaming the public with verses against her and her friends4 ,we have his own testimony to her domestic merits in the interval between the parting and his lapse into a state of malignant feeling4 ,in ,march1 #ahaf1 within two months after her leaving him1 ,byron wrote thus to ,moore3-- ,i must set you right in one point1 however4 ,the fault was not--no1 nor even the misfortune--in my 'choice' 7unless in choosing at all72 for ,i do not believe--and ,i must say it1 in the very dregs of all this bitter business--that there ever was a better1 or even a brighter1 a kinder1 or a more amiable and agreeable being than ,lady ,b4 ,i never had1 nor can have1 any reproach to make her1 while with me4 ,where there is blame1 it belongs to myself2 and1 if ,i cannot redeem1 ,i must bear it4 ,to us1 this is enough2 and nothing that he wrote afterwards1 in angry and spiteful moods1 can have the slightest effect on our impression of her3 but the case was otherwise at the time4 ,lord ,byron's praise of her to ,moore was not known till the ,life appeared2 whereas pieces like ,the ,chanty ,ball1 coming out from time to time1 made the world suppose that ,lady ,byron was one of those people1 satirized in all literatures1 who violate domestic duty1 and make up for it by philanthropic effort and display4 ,it is the prevalence of this impression to this day which makes it necessary to present the reality of the case after the lapse of many years4 ,during ,lady ,byron's life1 no one had a right to speak1 if she chose to be silent2 but the more modest and shrinking she was in regard to her own vindication1 the stronger is the appeal to the fidelity of her friends to see that her reputation does not suffer through her magnanimity4 ,we have guidance here in her own course in the case of her parents4 ,abhorrent as all publicity was to her1 she felt and avowed the obligation to publish those facts of her life in which their reputation was concerned4 ,the duty is far more easy1 but not less imperative1 to practise the same fidelity in regard to her1 now that the truth can be told of her without shocking her modesty4 ,we may hear some commonplaces about the feelings of the dead and the sensibilities of survivors1 as always happens in such cases3 but the sensibilities of survivors ought to relate1 in the first place1 to the fair fame of the dead2 and the feelings of the dead1 having been duly respected during life1 merge after death into the general beauty of the self-sacrificing character which would not utter the word by which the adverse judgment of the world might have been reversed in a moment4 ,while1 at this day1 she is regarded as the cause of her husband's sins1 by her coldness1 formality1 and what not1--fidelity and love to her memory absolutely require1 not fresh disclosures of a private character1 but a new presentment of the evidence long ago given to the world by herself and by her husband's very partial biographer4 ,this is what ,i have done1 after thirty years more of life have proved the quality of her mind and heart4 ,as she loved early1 she loved steadily and forever4 ,it was through that love that her magnanimity was so transcendent4 ,when ,lord ,byron was dying1 he said to his confidential servant1 ,fletcher1 ,go to ,lady ,byron1--you will see her1 and say----and here his voice faltered1 and for nearly twenty minutes he muttered words which it was impossible to catch4 ,the man was obliged to tell him that he had not understood a syllable4 ,byron's distress was great2 but1 as he said1 it was too late4 ,fletcher1 on his return to ,england1 did go to ,lady ,byron1 and did see her3 but she could only pace the room in uncontrollable agitation1 striving to obtain voice to ask the questions which were surging in her heart4 ,she could not speak1 and he was obliged to leave her4 ,to those with whom she conversed freely1 and to whom she wrote familiarly1 it was strangely interesting to hear1 or to read1 lines and phrases from ,byron's poems dropped1 like native speech1 from her tongue or her pen4 ,those well-remembered lines or phrases seemed new1 and were wonderfully moving1 when coming from her to whom they must have been so much more than to any one else4 ,how she surmounted such acts as the publication of ,fare thee well6 and certain others of his safe appeals to the public1 no one could exactly understand4 ,that she forgave them1 and loved him to the end1 is enough for us to know2 for our interest is in the greatness of her heart1 and not in the littleness of his4 ,her life thenceforth was one of unremitting bounty to society1 administered with as much skill and prudence as benevolence4 ,as we have seen1 her parents died a few years after her return to them for protection4 ,she lived in retirement1 changing her abode frequently1 partly for the benefit of her child's education and the promotion of her benevolent schemes1 and partly from a restlessness which was one of the few signs of injury received from the spoiling of associations with home4 ,she felt a satisfaction which her friends rejoiced in1 when her daughter married ,lord ,king1 at present the ,earl of ,lovelace1 in #ahce2 and when grief upon grief followed in the appearance of mortal disease in her only child1 her quiet patience stood her in good stead1 as before4 ,she even found strength to appropriate the blessings of the occasion1 and took comfort1 as did her dying daughter1 in the intimate friendship which grew closer as the time of parting drew nigh4 ,lady ,lovelace died in #aheb2 and for her few remaining years1 ,lady ,byron was devoted to her grandchildren4 ,but nearer calls never lessened her interest in remoter objects4 ,her mind was of the large and clear quality which could comprehend remote interests in their true proportions1 and achieve each aim as perfectly as if it were the only one4 ,her agents used to say that it was impossible to mistake her directions2 and thus her business was usually well done4 ,there was no room1 in her case1 for the ordinary doubts1 censures1 and sneers about the misapplication of bounty4 ,her taste did not lie in the ,charity ,ball direction2 her funds were not lavished in encouraging hypocrisy and improvidence among the idle and worthless2 and the quality of her charity was1 in fact1 as admirable as its quantity4 ,her chief aim was the extension and improvement of popular education2 but there was no kind of misery that she heard of that she did not palliate to the utmost1 and no kind of solace that her quick imagination and sympathy could devise that she did not administer4 ,in her methods1 she united consideration and frankness with singular success4 ,for one instance among a thousand3--,a lady with whom she had had friendly relations some time before1 and who became impoverished in a quiet way by hopeless sickness1 preferred poverty1 with an easy conscience1 to a competency attended by some uncertainty about the perfect rectitude of the resource4 ,lady ,byron wrote to an intermediate person exactly what she thought of the case4 ,whether the judgment of the sufferer was right or mistaken was nobody's business but her own3 this was the first point4 ,next1 a voluntary poverty could never be pitied by anybody3 that was the second4 ,but it was painful to others to think of the mortification to benevolent feelings which attends poverty2 and there could be no objection to arresting that pain4 ,therefore she1 ,lady ,byron1 had lodged in a neighboring bank the sum of one hundred pounds1 to be used for benevolent purposes2 and in order to preclude all outside speculation1 she had made the money payable to the order of the intermediate person1 so that the sufferer's name need not appear at all4 ,five-and-thirty years of unremitting secret bounty like this must make up a great amount of human happiness3 but this was only one of a wide variety of methods of doing good4 ,it was the unconcealable magnitude of her beneficence1 and its wise quality1 which made her a second time the theme of ,english conversation in all honest households within the four seas4 ,years ago1 it was said far and wide1 that ,lady ,byron was doing more good than anybody else in ,england2 and it was difficult to imagine how anybody could do more4 ,lord ,byron spent every shilling that the law allowed him out of her property1 while he lived1 and left away from her every shilling that he could deprive her of by his will2 yet she had eventually a large income at her command4 ,in the management of it she showed the same wise consideration that marked all her practical decisions4 ,she resolved to spend her whole income1 seeing how much the world needed help at the moment4 ,her care was for the existing generation1 rather than for a future one1 which would have its own friends4 ,she usually declined trammelling herself with annual subscriptions to charities1 preferring to keep her freedom from year to year1 and to achieve definite objects by liberal bounty1 rather than to extend partial help over a large surface which she could not herself superintend4 ,it was her first industrial school that awakened the admiration of the public1 which had never ceased to take an interest in her1 while sorely misjudging her character4 ,we hear much now--and everybody hears it with pleasure--of the spread of education in common things4 ,but1 long before ,miss ,coutts inherited her wealth1 long before a name was found for such a method of training1 ,lady ,byron had instituted the thing1 and put it in the way of making its own name4 ,she was living at ,ealing1 in ,middlesex1 in #ahcd2 and there she opened one of the first industrial schools in ,england1 if not the very first4 ,she sent out a master to ,switzerland1 to be instructed in ,de ,fellenburg's method4 ,she took on lease five acres of land1 and spent several hundred pounds in rendering the buildings upon it fit for the purposes of the school4 ,a liberal education was afforded to the children of artisans and laborers1 during the half of the day when they were not employed in the field or garden4 ,the allotments were rented by the boys1 who raised and sold produce which afforded them a considerable yearly profit1 if they were good workmen4 ,those who worked in the field earned wages1--their labor being paid by the hour1 according to the capability of the young laborer4 ,they kept their accounts of expenditure and receipts1 and acquired good habits of business1 while learning the occupation of their lives4 ,some mechanical trades were taught1 as well as the arts of agriculture4 ,part of the wisdom of the management lay in making the pupils pay4 ,of one hundred pupils1 half were boarders4 ,they paid little more than half the expense of their maintenance2 and the day-scholars paid three-pence per week4 ,of course1 a large part of the expense was borne by ,lady ,byron1 besides the payments she made for children who could not otherwise have entered the school4 ,the establishment flourished steadily till #aheb1 when the owner of the land required it back for building-purposes4 ,during the eighteen years that the ,ealing schools were in action1 they did a world of good in the way of incitement and example4 ,the ,poor-,law ,commissioners pointed out their merits4 ,land-owners and other wealthy persons visited them1 and went home and set up similar establishments4 ,during those years1 too1 ,lady ,byron had herself been at work in various directions1 to the same purpose4 ,a more extensive industrial scheme was instituted on her ,leicestershire property2 and not far off1 she opened a girls' school1 and an infant school2 and when a season of distress came1 as such seasons are apt to befall the poor ,leicestershire stocking-weavers1 ,lady ,byron fed the children for months together1 till they could resume their payments4 ,these schools were opened in #ahdj4 ,the next year1 she built a school-house on her ,warwickshire property2 and five years later1 she set up an iron school-house on another ,leicestershire estate4 ,by this time1 her educational efforts were costing her several hundred pounds a year in the mere maintenance of existing establishments2 but this is the smallest consideration in the case4 ,she has sent out tribes of boys and girls into life fit to do their part there with skill and credit and comfort4 ,perhaps it is a still more important consideration1 that scores of teachers and trainers have been led into their vocation1 and duly prepared for it1 by what they saw and learned in her schools4 ,as for the best and the worst of the ,ealing boys1--the best have1 in a few cases1 been received into the ,battersea ,training ,school1 whence they could enter on their career as teachers to the greatest advantage2 and the worst found their school a true reformatory1 before reformatory schools were heard of4 ,at ,bristol she bought a house for a reformatory for girls2 and there her friend1 ,miss ,carpenter1 faithfully and energetically carries out her own and ,lady ,byron's aims1 which were one and the same4 ,there would be no end1 if ,i were to catalogue the schemes of which these are a specimen4 ,it is of more consequence to observe that her mind was never narrowed by her own acts1 as the minds of benevolent people are so apt to be4 ,to the last1 her interest in great political movements1 at home and abroad1 was as vivid as ever4 ,she watched every step won in philosophy1 every discovery in science1 every token of social change and progress1 in every shape4 ,her mind was as liberal as her heart and hand1 ,no diversity of opinion troubled her2 she was respectful to every sort of individuality1 and indulgent to all constitutional peculiarities4 ,it must have puzzled those who kept up the notion of her being strait-laced1 to see how indulgent she was even to epicurean tendencies1--the remotest of all from her own4 ,but ,i must stop2 for ,i do not wish my honest memorial to degenerate into panegyric4--,among her latest known acts were her gifts to the ,sicilian cause1 and her manifestations on behalf of the antislavery cause in the ,united ,states4 ,her kindness to ,william and ,ellen ,craft must be well known there2 and it is also related in the newspapers that she bequeathed a legacy to a young ,american1 to assist him under any disadvantages he might suffer as an abolitionist4 ,all these deeds were done under a heavy burden of ill-health4 ,before she had passed middle life1 her lungs were believed to be irreparably injured by partial ossification4 ,she was subject to attacks so serious1 that each one for many years was expected to be the last4 ,she arranged her affairs in correspondence with her liabilities2 so that the same order would have been found1 whether she died suddenly or after long warning4 ,she was to receive one more accession of outward greatness before she departed4 ,she became ,baroness ,wentworth in ,november1 #ahef4 ,this is one of the facts of her history2 but it is the least interesting to us1 as probably to her4 ,we care more to know that her last days were bright in honor1 and cheered by the attachment of old friends1 worthy to pay the duty she deserved4 ,above all1 it is consoling to know that she who so long outlived her only child was blessed with the unremitting and tender care of her granddaughter4 ,she died on the sixteenth of ,may1 #ahfj4 ,the portrait of ,lady ,byron1 as she was at the time of her marriage1 is probably remembered by some of my readers4 ,it is very engaging4 ,her countenance afterwards became much worn2 but its expression of thoughtfulness and composure was very interesting4 ,her handwriting accorded well with the character of her mind4 ,it was clear1 elegant1 and womanly4 ,her manners differed with circumstances4 ,her shrinking sensitiveness might embarrass one visitor1 while another would be charmed with her easy1 significant1 and vivacious conversation4 ,it depended much on whom she talked with4 ,the abiding certainty was1 that she had strength for the hardest of human trials1 and the composure which belongs to strength4 ,for the rest1 it is enough to point to her deeds1 and to the mourning of her friends round the chasm which her departure has made in their life1 and in the society in which it is spent4 ,all that could be done in the way of personal love and honor was done while she lived2 it only remains now to see that her name and fame are permitted to shine forth at last in their proper light4 ,,getting ,,home ,,again4 ,it is a good thing1 said an aged ,chinese ,travelling ,philosopher1 for every man1 sooner or later1 to get back again to his own tea-cup4 ,and ,ling ,ching ,ki ,hi ,fum 7for that was the name of the profound old gentleman who said it7 was right4 ,travel may be the conversion of money into mind1--and happy the man who has turned much coin into that precious commodity1--but it is a good thing1 after being tossed about the world from the ,battery to ,africa1--that dry nurse of lions1 as ,horace calls her1--to anchor once more beside the old familiar tea-urn on the old familiar tea-table4 ,this is the only steamy column worth hailing with a glad welcome after long absence from home1 and fully entitled to be heartily applauded for its bubbling and loud-hissing propensities4 ,we are not a ,marco ,polo or a ,william de ,rubruquis1 and we have no wonders to tell of the ,great ,mogul or the ,great ,cham4 ,we did not sail for ,messrs4 ,pride1 ,pomp1 ,circumstance1 and ,company2 consequently1 we have no great exploits to recount4 ,we have been wrecked at sea only once in our many voyages1 and1 so far as we know our own tastes1 do not care to solicit aid again to be thrown into the same awkward situation4 ,but for a time we have been ,placed far amid the melancholy main1 and now we are among our own tea-cups4 ,this is happiness enough for a cold winter's night4 ,mid-ocean1 and mid tea-cups6 ,stupendous change1 let us tell you1 worthy friend1 who never yet set sail where sharks and other strange sea-cattle bob their noses above the brine1--who never lived forty days in the bowels of a ship1 unable to hold your head up to the captain's bluff good morning or the steward's cheery good night4 ,sir ,philip ,sidney discourses of a riding-master he encountered in ,vienna1 who spoke so eloquently of the noble animal he had to deal with1 that he almost persuaded ,sir ,philip to wish himself a horse4 ,we have known ancient mariners expatiate so lovingly on the frantic enjoyments of the deep sea1 that very youthful listeners have for the time resolved to know no other existence4 ,if the author of the ,arcadia had been permitted to become a prancing steed1 he might1 after the first exhilarating canter1 have lamented his equine state4 ,how many a first voyage1 begun in hilarious impatience1 has caused a bitter repentance6 ,the sea is an overrated element1 and we have nothing to say in its favor4 ,because we are out of its uneasy lap to-night1 we almost resemble in felicity ,richter's ,walt1 who felt himself so happy1 that he was transported to the third heaven1 and held the other two in his hand1 that he might give them away4 ,to-morrow morning we shall not hear that swashing1 scaring sound directly overhead on the wet deck1 which has so often murdered our slumbers4 ,delectable the sensation that we don't care a rope's-end how many knots we are going1 and that our ears are so far away from that eternal ,ay1 ay1 ,sir6 ,the whales1 says old ,chapman1 speaking of ,neptune1 exulted under him1 and knew their mighty king4 ,let them exult1 say we1 and be blowed1 and all due honor to their salt sovereign6 but of their personal acquaintance we are not ambitious4 ,we have met them now and then in the sixty thousand miles of their watery playing-places we have passed over1 and they are not pretty to look at4 ,roll on1 et cetera1 et cetera1--and so will we1 for the present1 at least1 as far out of your reach as possible4 ,yes1 wise denizen of the ,celestial ,empire1 it is a good1 nay1 a great thing1 to return even to so small a home-object as an old tea-cup4 ,as we lift the bright brim to our so long absent lips1 we repeat it4 ,as we pour out our second1 our third1 and our fourth1 we say it again4 ,ling ,ching1 you were right6 ,and now1 as the rest of the household have all gone up bed-ward1 and left us with their good-night tones1 ,like flowers' voices1 if they could but speak1 we dip our pen into the cocked hat of the brave little bronze warrior who has fed us many a year with ink from the place where his brains ought to be4 ,pausing before we proceed to paper1 we look around on our household gods4 ,the coal bursts into crackling fits of merriment1 as we thrust the poker between the iron ribs of the grate4 ,it seems to say1 in the jolliest possible manner of which it is capable1 ,oh1 go no more a-roaming1 a-roaming1 across the windy sea6 ,how odd it seems to be sitting here again1 listening to the old clock out there in the entry6 ,often we seemed to hear it during the months that have flown away1 when we knew that our ancient was standing sentinel for ,time in another hemisphere4 ,one night1 dark and stormy on the ,mediterranean1 as we lay wakeful and watchful in the little steamer that was bearing us painfully through the noisy tempest towards ,saint ,peter's and the ,colosseum1 suddenly1 above the tumult of the voyage1 our household monitor began audibly and regularly1 we thought1 to mark the seconds4 ,then it must have been only fancy4 ,now it is something more1 and we know that our mahogany friend is really wagging his brassy beard just outside the door4 ,we remember now1 as we lay listening that rough night at sea1 how ,milton's magic sounding line came to us beating a sad melody with the old clock's imagined tramp1-- ,the ,lars and ,lemures moan with midnight plaint4 ,let the waves bark to-night far out on the desolate1 rainy seas1--the old clock is all right in the entry6 ,landed1 and all safe at last6 our much-abused1 lock-broken1 unhinged portmanteau unpacked and laid ignobly to rest under the household eaves6 ,stay a moment1--let us pitch our inky passport into the fire4 ,how it writhes and grows black in the face6 ,and now it will trouble its owner no more forever4 ,it was a foolish1 extravagant companion1 and we are glad to be rid of it4 ,one little blazing fragment lifts itself out of the flame1 and we can trace on the smouldering relic the stamp of ,austria4 ,go back again into the grate1 and perish with the rest1 dark blot6 ,we look round our quiet apartment1 and wonder if it be all true1 this getting home again4 ,we stir the fire once more to assure ourself that we are not somewhere else1--that the street outside our window is not known as ,jermyn ,street in the ,haymarket1--or the ,via ,babuino near the ,pincio1--or ,princes ,street1 near the ,monument4 ,how do we determine that we are not dreaming1 and that we shall not wake up to-morrow morning and find ourself on the ,arno8 ,perhaps we are not really back again where there are no ,eremites and friars1 ,white1 black1 and gray1 with all their trumpery4 ,perhaps we are a flamingo1 a banyan-tree1 or a mandarin4 ,but there stands the tea-cup1 and our identity is sure6 ,here at last1 then1 for a live certainty6 ,but how strange it all seems1 resting safely in our easy slippers1 to recall some of the far-off scenes so lately present to us6 ,yesterday was it1 or a few weeks ago1 that this excellent canopy1 our modest roof1 dwelt three thousand miles away to the westward of us8 ,at this moment stowed away in a snuggery called our own2 and then--how brief a period it seems6 what a small parenthesis in time--putting another man's latch-key into another man's door1 night after night1 in a ,london fog1 and feeling for the unfamiliar aperture with all the sensation of an innocent housebreaker6 ,muffled here in the oldest of dressing-gowns1 that never lifted its blessed arms ten rods from the spot where it was born2 and only a few weeks ago lolling out of ,c4,r4's college-window at ,oxford1 counting the deer1 as they nibbled the grass1 and grouped themselves into beautiful pictures on the sward of ancient ,magdalen6 ,as we look into the red fire in the grate1 we think of the scarlet coats we saw not long ago in ,stratford1--when ,e4,f41 kindest of men and merriest of hosts1 took us to the meet4 ,we gaze round the field again1 and enjoy the enlivening scene4 ,white-haired and tall1 our kind-hearted friend walks his glossy mare up and down the turf4 ,his stalwart sons1 with sport imbrowned1 proud of their sire1 call our attention to the sparkle in the old man's eye4 ,we are mounted on a fiery little animal1 and are half-frightened at the thought of what she may do with us when the chase is high4 ,confident that a roll is inevitable1 and that1 with a dislocated neck1 enjoyment would be out of the question1 we pull bridle1 and carefully dismount1 hoping not to attract attention4 ,whereat all our jolly ,english cousins beg to inquire1 ,what's the row8 ,we whisper to the red-coated brave prancing near us1 that we have changed our mind1 and will not follow the hunt to-day1--another time we shall be most happy1--just now we are not quite up to the mark1--next week we shall be all right again1 etc41 etc4 ,one of the lithe hounds1 who seems to have steel springs in his hind legs1 looks contemptuously at the ,american stranger1 and turns up his long nose like a moral insinuation4 ,off they fly6 we watch the beautiful cavalcade bound over the brook and sweep away into the woodland passes4 ,then we saunter down by the ,avon1 and dream away the daylight in endless visions of long ago1 when sweet ,will and his merry comrades moved about these pleasant haunts4 ,returning to the hall1 we find we have walked ten miles over the breezy country1 and knew it not1--so pleasant is the fragrant turf that has been often pressed by the feet of ,nature's best-beloved high-priest6 ,round the mahogany tree that night we hear the hunters tell the glories of their sport1--how their horses1 like ,homer's steeds1 ,devoured up the plain2 and we can hear now1 in imagination1 the voices of the deep-mouthed hounds rising and swelling among the ,warwick glens4 ,neither can we forget1 as we sit here musing1 whose green ,english carpet1 down in ,kent1 we so lately rested on under the trees1--nor how we wandered off with the lord of that hospitable manor to an old castle hard by his grounds1 and climbed with him to the turret-tops1--nor how we heard him repeople in fancy the aged ruin1 as we leaned over the wall and looked into the desolate court-yard below4 ,the world has given audience to this man1 thought we1 for many a year2 but one who has never heard the sound of his laughing voice knows not half his wondrous power4 ,when he reads his ,christmas ,carol1 go far to hear him1 judicious friend1 if you happen to be in ,england1 and let us all hope together that we shall have that keen gratification next year in ,america4 ,to know him is to love and esteem him tenfold more than if you only read of him4 ,let us bear in mind1 too1 how happily the hours went by with us so recently in the vine-embowered cottage of dear ,l4,h41 the beautiful old man with silver hair1-- ,as hoary frost with spangles doth attire ,the mossy branches of an oak4 ,the sound of the poet's voice was like the musical fall of water in our ears1 and every sentence he uttered then is still a melody4 ,as we sit dreamily here1 he speaks to us again of life's morning march1 when his bosom was young1 and of his later years1 when his struggles were many and keen1 and only his pen was the lever which rolled poverty away from his door4 ,we can hear him1 as we pause over this leaf1 as we heard the old clock that night at sea4 ,he tells us of his cherished companions1 now all gone1--of ,shelley1 and ,keats1 and ,charles ,lamb1 whom he loved1--of ,byron1 and ,coleridge1 and the rest4 ,as we sit at his little table1 he hands us a manuscript1 and says it is the ,endymion1 ,john ,keats's gift to himself4 ,he reads to us from it some of his favorite lines1 and the tones of his voice are very tender over his dead friend's poem4 ,as we pass out of his door that evening1 the moon falls on his white locks1 his thin hand rests for a moment on our shoulder1 and we hear him say very kindly1 ,god bless you6 ,in ,london1 not long after this1 we meet again the bard of ,rimini1 and his discourse is still sweet as any dulcimer4 ,another old man is with him1 a poet also1 whose songs are among the bravest in ,england's ,helicon4 ,we observe how these two friends love each other1 and as they stand apart in the anteroom1 the eldest with his arm around his brother bard1 we think it is a very pleasant sight1 and not to be forgotten ever4 ,and when1 a few months later1 we are among the ,alpine hills1 and word comes to us that ,l4,h4 is laid to rest in ,kensal ,green ,churchyard1 we are grateful to have looked upon his cheerful countenance1 and to have heard him say1 ,god bless you6 ,we cry your mercy1 gayest of cities1 with your bright ,bois de ,boulogne1 and your splendid caf's6 ,we do not much affect your shows1 but we cannot dismiss forever the cheerful little room1 cloud-environed almost1 up to which we have so often toiled1 after days of hard walking among the gaudy streets of the ,french capital4 ,one pleasant scene1 at least1 rises unbidden1 as we recall the past4 ,it is a brisk1 healthy morning1 and we walk in the direction of the ,tuileries4 ,bending our steps toward the ,palace1 7it is yet early1 and few loiterers are abroad in the leafy avenues17 we observe a group of three persons1 not at all distinguished in their appearance1 having a roystering good time in the ,imperial ,garden4 ,one of them is a little boy1 with a chubby1 laughing face1 who shouts loudly to his father1 a grave1 thoughtful gentleman1 who runs backwards1 endeavoring to out-race his child4 ,the mother1 a fair-haired woman1 with her bonnet half loose in the wind1 strives to attract the boy's attention and win him to her side4 ,they all run and leap in the merry morning-air1 and1 as we watch them more nearly1 we know them to be the royal family out larking before ,paris is astir4 ,play on1 great ,emperor1 sweet lady1 and careless boy-prince6 ,you have hung up a picture in our gallery of memory1 very pleasant to look at1 this cold night in ,america4 ,may you always be as happy as when you romped together in the garden6 ,the days that are fled still knock at the door and enter4 ,we are walking on the banks of the ,esk1 toward a friendly dwelling in ,lasswade1--,mavis ,bush they call the pretty place at the foot of the hill4 ,a slight figure1 clad in black1 waits for us at the garden-gate1 and bids us welcome in accents so kindly1 that we1 too1 feel the magic influence of his low1 sweet voice1--an effect which ,wordsworth described to us years before as eloquence set to music4 ,the face of our host is very pale1 and1 when he puts his thin arm within ours1 we feel how frail a body may contain a spirit of fire4 ,we go into his modest abode and listen to his wonderful talk1 wishing all the while that the hours were months1 that we might linger there1 spellbound1 day and night1 before the master of our ,english tongue4 ,he proposes a ramble across the meadows to ,roslin ,chapel1 and on the way he discourses of the fascinating drug so painfully associated with his name in literature1--of ,christopher ,north1 in whose companionship he delighted among the ,lakes1--of ,elia1 whom he recalled as the most lovable man among his friends1 and whom he has well described elsewhere as a ,diogenes with the heart of a ,saint ,john4 ,in the dark evening he insists upon setting out with us on our return to ,edinburgh4 ,when it grows late1 and the mists are heavy on the mountains1 we stand together1 clasping hands of farewell in the dim road1 the cold ,scotch hills looming up all about us4 ,as the small figure of the ,english ,opium-,eater glides away into the midnight distance1 our eyes strain after him to catch one more glimpse4 ,the ,esk roars1 and we hear his footsteps no longer4 ,the scene changes1 as the clock strikes in the entry4 ,we are lingering in the piazza of the ,winged ,lion1 and the bronze giants in their turret overlooking the square raise their hammers and beat the solemn march of ,time4 ,as we float away through the watery streets1 old ,shylock shuffles across the bridge1--black barges glide by us in the silent canals1--groups of unfamiliar faces lean from the balconies1--and we hear the plashing waters lap the crumbling walls of ,venice1 with its dead ,doges and decaying palaces4 ,again we stir the fire1 and feel it is home all about us4 ,but we like to sit here and think of that rosy evening1 last summer1 when we came walking into ,interlachen1 and beheld the ghost-like figure of the ,jungfrau issuing out of her cloudy palace to welcome the stars1--of a cool1 bright1 autumnal morning on the western battlements overlooking ,genoa1 the blue ,mediterranean below mirroring the silent fleet that lay so motionless on its bosom1--of a midnight visit to the ,colosseum with a band of ,german students1 who bore torches in and out of the time-worn arches1 and sang their echoing songs to the full moon1--of days1 how many and how magical6 when we awoke every morning to say1 ,we are in ,rome6 ,but it grows late1 and it is time now to give over these reflections4 ,so we wind up our watch1 and put out the candle4 99 99 99 99 99 ,a ,,dry-,,goods ,,jobber ,,in #ahfa4 ,what is a dry-goods jobber8 ,no wonder you ask4 ,you have been hunting1 perhaps1 for our peripatetic postoffice1 and have stumbled upon ,milk ,street and ,devonshire ,street and ,franklin ,street4 ,you are almost ready to believe in the lamp of ,aladdin1 that could build palaces in a night4 ,looking up to the stately and costly structures which have usurped the place of once familiar dwellings1 and learning that they are1 for the most part1 tenanted by dry-goods jobbers1 you feel that for such huge results there must needs be an adequate cause1 and so you ask1 ,what is a dry-goods jobber8 ,it is more than a curious question4 ,for parents desirous of finding their true sphere for promising and for unpromising sons1 it is eminently a practical question4 ,it is a question comprehensive of dollars and cents1--also of bones and sinews1 of muscles1 nerves1 and brains1 of headache1 heartache1 and the cyclopaedia of being1 doing1 and enduring4 ,an adequate answer to such a question must needs ask your indulgence1 for it cannot be condensed into a very few words4 ,a dry-goods jobber is a wholesale buyer and seller1 for cash or for approved credit1 of all manner of goods1 wares1 and materials1 large and small1 coarse and fine1 foreign and domestic1 which pertain to the clothing1 convenience1 and garnishing1 by night and by day1 of men1 women1 and children3 from a button to a blanket2 from a calico to a carpet2 from stockings to a head-dress2 from an inside handkerchief to a waterproof2 from a piece of tape to a thousand bales of shirtings2 not forgetting linen1 silk1 or woollen fabrics1 for drapery or upholstery1 for bed or table1 including hundreds of items which time would fail me to recite4 ,all these the dry-goods jobber provides for his customer1 the retailer1 who in his turn will dispense them to the consumer4 ,a really competent and successful dry-goods jobber1 in the year of grace1 one thousand1 eight hundred and sixty-one1 is a new creation4 ,he is begotten of the times4 ,of him1 as truly as of the poet1 and with yet more emphasis1 it must be said1 ,he is born1 not made4 ,he is a poet1 a philosopher1 an artist1 an engineer1 a military commander1 an advocate1 an attorney1 a financier1 a steam-engine1 a telegraph-operator1 a servant-of-all-work1 a ,job1 a ,hercules1 and a ,bonaparte1 rolled into one4 ,exaggeration6 do you say8 ,not at all4--,you asked for information8 ,you shall have it1 to your heart's content4 ,to a youth1 for a time interrupted in his preparation for college1 ,i said1-- ,never mind2 this falls in exactly with my well-considered plan4 ,you shall go into a dry-goods store till your eyes recover strength2 it will be the best year's schooling of your life4 ,how so8 was the dubious answer2 what can ,i learn there8 ,learn8 ,everything1--common sense included1 which is generally excluded from the ,university curriculum3 for example1 time1 place1 quantity1 and the worth of each4 ,you shall learn length1 breadth1 and thickness2 hard and soft2 pieces and yards2 dozens and the fractions thereof2 order and confusion1 cleanliness and dirt1--to love the one and hate the other2 materials1 colors1 and shades of color2 patience1 manners1 decency in general2 system and method1 and the relation these sustain to independence2 in short1 that there is a vast deal more out of books than in books2 and1 finally1 that the man who knows only what is in books is generally a lump of conceit1 and of about as much weight in the scales of actual life as the ashes of the ,alexandrian library1 or the worms in any parchments that may have survived that conflagration4 ,whew6 was his ejaculation2 ,i didn't know there was so much4 ,i dare say not4 ,most of your limited days have passed under the training of men who are in the like predicament1--whose notion of the chief end of man is1 to convert lively boys into thick dictionaries1--and who honestly believe that the chief want of the age is your walking dictionary4 ,any other type of humanity1 they tell us1 won't pay4 ,much they know of what will and what won't pay6 ,this comes of partial education1--of one-sided1 of warped1 and biased education4 ,it puts one out of patience1 this arrogance of the ,university1 this presuming upon the ignorance of the million1 this assertion of an indispensable necessity to make the boy of the nineteenth century a mere expert in some subdivision of one of the sciences4 ,the obstinacy of an hereditary absolutism1 which the world has outgrown1 still lingers in our schools of learning4 ,let us admit the divine right of ,science1 admit the fitness of a limited number of our youth to become high-priests in her temple1 but no divine right of fossil interpreters of ,science to compel the entire generation to disembowel their sons and make of these living temples mere receptacles of ,roman1 ,grecian1 or ,egyptian relics4 ,we don't believe that mummy is medicinal1 the ,arabian doctor ,haly to the contrary notwithstanding4 ,if it ever was1 its day has gone by4 ,therefore let all sensible people pray for a ,cromwell1--not to pull down ,university ,science1 but to set up the ,commonwealth of ,common ,sense1 to subordinate the former to the latter1 and to proclaim an education for our own age and for its exigencies4 ,your dry-goods jobber stands in violent contrast to your ,university man in the matter of practical adaptation4 ,his knowledge is no affair of dried specimens1 but every particle of it a living knowledge1 ready1 at a moment's warning1 for all or any of the demands of life4 ,you are perhaps thinking1--,yes1 that is supposable1 because the lessons learned by the jobber are limited to the common affairs of daily life1 are not prospective2 because1 belonging only to the passing day1 they are easily surveyed on all sides1 and their full use realized at once2 in short1 a mere matter of buying and selling goods3 a very inferior thing1 as compared with the dignified and scholarly labors of the student4 ,how mistaken this estimate is will appear1 as we advance to something like a comprehensive survey of the dry-goods jobber's sphere4 ,first1 then1 he is a buyer of all manner of goods1 wares1 and materials proper to his department in commerce4 ,he is minutely informed in the history of raw materials4 ,he knows the countries from which they come1--the adaptation of soils and climates to their raising1--the skill of the cultivators1--the shipping usages1--the effect of transportation by land and sea on raw materials1 and on manufactured articles1--with all the mysteries of insurance allowances and usages1 the debentures on exportation1 and the duties on importation1 in his own and in other lands4 ,his forecast is taxed to the utmost1 as to what may be the condition of his own market1 six1 twelve1 or eighteen months from the time of ordering goods1 both as to the quantity which may be in market1 and as to the fashion1 which is always changing1--and also as to the condition of his customers to pay for goods1 which will often depend upon the fertility of the season4 ,as respects home-purchases1 he is compelled to learn1 or to suffer for the want of knowing1 that the difference between being a skilful1 pleasant buyer and the opposite is a profit or loss of from five to seven and a half or ten per cent41--or1 in other words1 the difference1 oftentimes1 between success and ruin1 between comfort and discomfort1 between being a welcome and a hated visitor1 between being honored as an able merchant and contemned as a mean man or an unmitigated bore4 ,is your curiosity piqued to know wherein buyers thus contrasted may differ8 ,they differ endlessly1 like the faces you meet on the street4 ,thus1 one man is born to an open1 frank1 friendly1 and courteous manner2 another is cold1 reserved1 and suspicious4 ,one is prompt1 hilarious1 and provocative of every good feeling1 whenever you chance to meet2 the other is slow1 morose1 and fit to waken every dormant antipathy in your soul4 ,an able buyer is1 or becomes1 observing to the last degree4 ,he knows the slightest differences in quality and in style1 and possesses an almost unerring taste1--knows the condition of the market1--knows every holder of the article he wants1 and the lowest price of each4 ,he knows the peculiarities of the seller1--his strong points and his weak points1 his wisdom and his foibles1 his very temperament1 and how it is acted upon by his dinner or the want of it4 ,he knows the estimate put upon his own note by that seller4 ,he knows what his note will sell for in the street4 ,he knows to a feather's weight the influence of each of these items upon the mind of the seller of whom he wishes to make a purchase4 ,talk about diplomacy6--there's not a man in any court in ,europe who knows his position1 his fulcrum1 and his lever1 and the use he can make of them1 as this man knows4 ,he can unravel any combination1 penetrate any disguise1 surmount any obstacle4 ,beyond all other men1 he knows when to talk1 and when to refrain from talking1--how to throw the burden of negotiation on the seller1--how to get the goods he wants at his own price1 not at his asking1 but on the suggestion of the seller1 prompted by his own politely obvious unwillingness to have the seller part with his merchandise at any price not entirely acceptable to himself4 ,the incompetent man1 on the other hand1 is presuming1 exacting1 and unfeeling4 ,he not only desires1 but asserts the desire1 in the very teeth of the seller1 to have something which that seller has predetermined that he shall not have4 ,he fights a losing game from the start4 ,he will probably begin by depreciating the goods which he knows1 or should know1 that the seller has reason to hold in high esteem4 ,he will be likely enough to compare them to some other goods which he knows to be inferior4 ,he will thus arouse a feeling of dislike1 if not of anger1 where his interest should teach him to conciliate and soothe2 and if he sometimes carry his point1 his very victory is in effect a defeat1 since it procures him an increased antipathy4 ,this the judicious buyer never does4 ,he repudiates1 as a mere half-truth1 and a relic of barbarism1 the maxim1 ,there is no friendship in trade4 ,but1 you are asking1 do only those succeed who are born to these extraordinary endowments8 ,and those who do succeed1 are they1 in fact1 each and all of them1 such wonderfully capable men as you have described8 ,if by success you mean mere money-making1 it is not to be denied that some men do that by an instinct1 little1 if at all1 superior to that of the dog who smells out a bone4 ,there are exceptions to all rules2 and there are chances in all games1 even in games of skill4 ,lord ,timothy ,dexter1 as he is facetiously called1 shipped warming-pans to the ,west ,indies1 in defiance of all geographical objections to the venture1 and made money by the shipment1--not because warming-pans were wanted there1 but because the natives mistook and used them for molasses-ladles4 ,it must be owned that a portion of the successful ones are lucky1--that a portion of them use the blunt weapon of an indomitable will1 as an efficient substitute for the finer edge of that nice tact and good manners which they lack4 ,their very rudeness seems to commend them to the rude natures which confound refinement with trickery and assume that brutality must needs be honest4 ,but there are other things to be said of buying4 ,the dry-goods jobber frequents the auction-room4 ,if you have never seen a large sale of dry-goods at auction1 you have missed one of the remarkable incidents of our day4 ,you are not yet aware of how much an auctioneer and two or three hundred jobbers can do and endure in the short space of three hours4 ,you must know that fifty or a hundred thousand dollars' worth of goods may easily change owners in that time4 ,you are not to dream of the leisurely way of disposing of somebody's household-furniture or library1 which characterizes the doings of one or two of our fellow-citizens who manage such matters within speaking distance of ,king's ,chapel3 but are rather to picture to yourself a congregation of three hundred of the promptest men in our ,atlantic cities1 with a sprinkling of ,westerners quite as wide awake for bargains1 each of them having marked his catalogue2 an auctioneer who considers the sale of a hundred lots an hour his proper rle1 and who is able to see the lip1 eye1 or finger of the man whose note he covets1 in spite of all sounds1 signs1 or opaque bodies4 ,the man of unquiet nerves or of exacting lungs would do well to leave that arena to the hard-heads and cool-bloods who can pursue their aim and secure their interests3 undisturbed either by the fractional rat-a-tat-tat of the auctioneer's ,twenty-seven af--naf--naf--naf1--who'll give me thirty8 or by the banter and comicalities which a humor-loving auctioneer will interject between these bird-notes1 without changing his key1 or arresting his sale a moment4 ,if you would see the evidence of comprehensive and minute knowledge1 of good taste1 quick wit1 sound judgment1 and electrical decision1 attend an auction-sale in ,new ,york some morning4 ,there will be no lack of fun to season the solemnity of business1 nor of the mixture of courtesy and selfishness usual in every gathering1 whether for philanthropic1 scientific1 or commercial purposes4 ,many dry-goods jobbers will attend the sale with no intention of buying1 but simply to note the prices obtained1 and1 having traced the goods to their owners1 to get the same in better order and on better terms2 the commission paid to the auctioneer being divided1 or wholly conceded by the seller to the buyer1 according to his estimate of the note4 ,a dry-goods buyer will sometimes spend a month in ,new ,york1 the first third or half of which he will devote to ascertaining what goods are in the market1 and what are to arrive2 also to learning the mood of the ,english1 ,french1 and ,germans who hold the largest stocks4 ,sometimes these gentlemen will make an early trial of their goods at auction4 ,unsatisfactory results will rouse their phlegm or fire1 and they declare they will not send another piece of goods to auction1 come what may4 ,for local or temporary reasons1 buyers sometimes persist in holding back till the season is so far advanced that the foreign gentlemen become alarmed4 ,their credits in ,london1 ,paris1 and ,amsterdam are running out2 they are anxious to make remittances2 and then ensues one of those dry-goods panics so characteristic of ,new ,york and its mixed multitude2 an avalanche of goods descends upon the auction-rooms1 and prices drop ten1 twenty1 forty per cent41 it may be1 and the unlucky or short-sighted men who made early purchases are in desperate haste to run off their stocks before the market is irreparably broken down4 ,whether1 therefore1 to buy early or late1 in large or in small quantities1 at home or abroad1--are questions beset with difficulty4 ,he who imports largely may land his goods in a bare market and reap a golden harvest1 or in a market so glutted with goods that the large sums he counts out to pay the duties may be but a fraction of the loss he knows to be inevitable4 ,in addition to the problems belonging to time and place of purchasing1 to quantities and prices1 there is a host of other problems begotten of styles1 of colors1 of assortments1 of texture and finish1 of adaptation to one market or another4 ,the profit on a case of goods is often sacrificed by the introduction or omission of one color or figure1 the presence or absence of which makes the merchandise desirable or undesirable4 ,little less than omniscience will suffice to guard against the sometimes sudden1 and often most unaccountable1 freaks of fashion1 whose fiat may doom a thing1 in every respect admirably adapted to its intended use1 to irretrievable condemnation and loss of value4 ,and when you remember that the purchases of dry-goods must be made in very large quantities1 from a month to six or even twelve months before the buyer can sell them1 and that his sales are many times larger than his capital1 and most of them on long credit1 you have before you a combination of exigencies hardly to be paralleled elsewhere4 ,the crisis of #aheg brought a general collapse4 ,scores and scores of jobbers failed2 very few dared to buy goods4 ,mills were compelled to run on short time1 or to cease altogether4 ,the country became bare of the common necessaries of life4 ,in process of time trade rallied4 ,manufacturing recommenced2 orders for goods poured in2 and for a twelve-month and more the manufacturer has had it all his own way4 ,his goods are all sold ahead1 months ahead of his ability to manufacture4 ,he makes his own price1 and chooses his customer4 ,this operates not unkindly on the jobbers who are wealthy and independent2 but for those who have but lately begun to mount the hill of difficulty1 it offers one more impediment4 ,for1 to men who have a great many goods to sell1 it is a matter of moment to secure the customers who can buy in large quantities1 and whose notes will bring the money of banks or private capitalists as soon as offered4 ,against such buyers1 men of limited means and of only average business-ability have but a poor chance4 ,there will always be some articles of merchandise in the buying or selling of which they cannot compete4 ,when a financial crisis overtakes the community1 we hear much and sharp censure of all speculation4 ,speculators1 one and all1 are forthwith consigned to an abyss of obloquy4 ,the virtuous public outside of trade washes its hands of all participation in the iniquity4 ,this same virtuous public knows very little of what it is talking about4 ,what is speculation8 ,shall we say1 in brief and in general1 that it consists in running risks1 in taking extra-hazardous risks1 on the chance of making unusually large profits8 ,is it that men have abandoned the careful ways of the fathers1 and do not confine themselves to small stores1 small stocks1 and cash transactions8 ,and do you know who it is that has compelled this change8 ,that same public who denounce speculation in one breath1 and in the next clamor for goods at low prices1 and force the jobber into large stores and large sales at small profits as the indispensable condition of his very existence4 ,those who thus rail at speculation are generally quite unaware that their own inexorable demand for goods at low prices is one of the principal efficient causes of that of which they complain4 ,they do not know that the capacious maw of the insatiable public is yearly filled with millions on millions of shirtings and sheetings1 and other articles of prime necessity1 without one farthing of profit to the jobber4 ,the outside world reason from the assumption1 that the jobber might1 but will not1 avoid taking considerable risks4 ,they do not consider1 for they do not know1 how entirely all is changed from the days and circumstances in which a very small business would suffice to maintain the merchant4 ,they do not consider1 that1 an immense amount of goods being of compulsion sold without profit1 a yet other huge amount must be so sold as to compensate for this4 ,nor do they consider that the possibility of doing this is often contingent upon the buyer's carefully calculated probability of a rise in the article he is purchasing4 ,many a time is the jobber enabled and inclined to purchase largely only by the assurance that from the time of his purchase the price will be advanced4 ,the selling of dry-goods is another department in high art about which the ignorance of outsiders is ineffable4 ,i was once asked1 in the way of courtesy and good neighborhood1 to call on a clergyman in our vicinity1--which ,i did4 ,desirous of doing his part in the matter of good fellowship and smooth conversation1 he began thus3-- ,well1 now1 ,mr4 ,smith1 you know all about business3 ,i suppose1 if ,i were to go into a store to buy goods1 nineteen men out of twenty would cheat me1 if they could2 wouldn't they8 ,no1 ,sir6 ,i answered1 with a swelling of indignation at the injustice1 a mingling of pity for the ignorance1 and a foreboding of small benefit from the preaching of a minister of the gospel who knew so little of the world he lived in4 ,no1 ,sir2 nineteen men in twenty would not cheat you1 if they could2 for the best of all reasons1--it would be dead against their own interest4 ,not a day passes but the question is asked by our youths who are being initiated in the routine of selling goods1--,is this honest8 ,is that honest8 ,is it honest to mark your goods as costing more than they do cost8 ,is it honest to ask one man more than you ask another8 ,ought not the same price to be named to every buyer8 ,isn't it cheating to get twenty-five per cent4 profit8 ,can a man sell goods without lying8 ,are men compelled to lie and cheat a little in order to earn an honest living8 ,what is the reason that these questions will keep coming up8 ,that they can no more be laid than ,banquo's ghost8 ,here are some of the reasons4 ,first1 and foremost1 multitudes of young men1 whose parents followed the plough1 the loom1 or the anvil1 have taken it into their heads1 that they will neither dig1 hammer1 nor ply the shuttle4 ,to soil their hands with manual labor they cannot abide4 ,the sphere of commerce looks to their longing eyes a better thing than lying down in green pastures1 or than a peaceful life beside still waters1 procured by laborious farming1 or by any mechanical pursuit4 ,clean linen and stylish apparel are inseparably associated in their minds with an easy and elegant life1 and so they pour into our cities1 and the ranks of the merchants are filled1 and over-filled1 many times4 ,once1 the merchant had only to procure an inviting stock1 and his goods sold themselves4 ,he did not go after customers2 they came to him2 and it was a matter of favor to them to supply their wants4 ,now1 all that is changed4 ,there are many more merchants than are needed2 buyers are in request2 and buyers whose credit is the best1 to a very great extent1 dictate the prices at which they will buy4 ,the question is no longer1 ,how large a profit can ,i get8 but1 ,how small a profit shall ,i accept8 ,the competition for customers is so fierce that the seller hardly dares ask any profit1 for fear his more anxious neighbor will undersell him4 ,in order to attract customers1 one thing after another has been made a leading article1 a bait to be offered at cost or even less than cost1--that being oftentimes the condition on which alone the purchaser will make a beginning of buying4 ,jenkins1 cried an anxious seller1 you don't buy anything of me1 and ,i can sell you as cheap as any4 ,here's a bale of sheetings now1 at eight cents1 will do you good4 ,how many have you got8 ,oh1 plenty4 ,well1 how many8 ,fifteen bales4 ,well1 ,i'll take them4 ,come in and buy something more4 ,no1 nothing more to-day4 ,there was a loss of seventy-five dollars1 and he did not dare buy more4 ,it will be obvious that the selling a part of one's goods at less than cost enhances the necessity of getting a profit on the rest4 ,but how to do this1 under the sharp scrutiny of a buyer who knows that his own success1 not to say his very existence1 depends upon his paying no profit possible to be avoided1--no profit1 at all events1 not certainly paid by some sharp neighbor who is competing with him for the same trade8 ,but is there anything in all this1 you are asking1 to preclude the jobber's telling the truth8 ,nothing4 ,anything to preclude strict honesty8 ,nothing4 ,why1 then1 do the questions you have quoted continually recur8 ,i answer3 ,in order to get his share of the best custom in his line1 the dry-goods jobber has taken a store in the best position in town1 at a rent of from three to fifty thousand dollars a year2 has hired men and boys at all prices1 from fifty dollars to five thousand1--and enough of these to result in an aggregate of from five to fifty thousand dollars a year for help1 without which his business cannot be done4 ,add to this the usual average for store-expenses of every name1 and for the family-expenses of two1 five1 or seven partners1 and you find a dry-goods firm under the necessity of getting out of their year's sales somewhere from fifteen to a hundred and fifty thousand dollars profit1 before they shall have saved one cent to meet the losses of an unfavorable season4 ,now1 though there is nothing even in all these urgencies to justify a single lie or fraud1 there is much to sharpen a man's wits to secure the sale of his goods1--much to educate him in all manner of expedients to baffle the inquiries of customers who would be offended1 if they could discover that he ever charged them the profit without which he could never meet his expenses4 ,and the jobber's problem is complicated by the folly1 universally prevalent among buyers1 of expecting some partiality or peculiarity of favor over their neighbors who are just as good as themselves4 ,every dry-goods jobber knows that his customer's foolish hope and expectation often demand three absurdities of him3 first1 the assurance that he has the advantage over all other jobbers in a better stock of goods1 better bought2 secondly1 that he has a peculiar friendship for himself2 and thirdly1 that1 though of other men he must needs get a profit1 in his special instance he shall ask little or none2 and that1 such is his regard for him1 it is a matter of no moment whether he live in ,lowell or ,louisiana1 in ,new ,bedford or ,nebraska1 or whether he pay ,new ,england bank-notes within thirty days1 or wild-cat money and wild lands1 which may be converted into cash1 with more or less expense and loss1 somewhere between nine months and nine-and-twenty years4 ,and yet the uninitiated can't understand how an honest merchant can have two prices for the same goods4 ,an honest man has but one price for the same goods1 and that is the cash price4 ,all outside of that is barter1--goods for notes4 ,his first inquiry is1 ,what is the market-value of the note offered8 ,true1 he knows that many of the notes he takes cannot be sold at all2 but he also knows that the notes he is willing to take will in the aggregate be guarantied by a reservation of one1 two1 or three per cent41 and that the note of the particular applicant for credit will tend to swell or to diminish the rate2 and he cannot afford to exchange his goods for any note1 except at a profit which will guaranty its payment when due1--which1 in other words1 will make the note equal in value to cash4 ,now it is just because all business-contingencies cannot be worked into an unvarying form1 as regular as the multiplication-table1 and as plain to the apprehension of all men1 that a vast amount of lying and of dishonesty is imputed1 where it does not exist4 ,merchants are much like other men1--wise and unwise1 far-sighted and short-sighted1 selfish and unselfish1 honest and dishonest4 ,but that they are as a class more dishonest than other men is so far from being true1 that ,i much doubt if we should overstrain the matter1 if we should affirm that they are the most honest class of men in the community4 ,there is much in their training which contributes directly1 and most efficiently1 to this result4 ,their very first lessons are in feet and inches1 in pounds and ounces1 in exact calculations1 in accounts and balances4 ,carelessness1 mistakes1 inaccuracies1 they are made to understand1 are unpardonable sins4 ,the boy who goes into a store learns1 for the first time1 that half a cent1 a quarter of a cent1 an eighth of a cent1 may be a matter of the gravest import4 ,he finds a thorough book-keeper absolutely refusing himself rest till he has detected an error of ten cents in a business of six months4 ,and every day's experience enforces the lesson4 ,it is giving what is due1 and claiming what is due1 from year's end to year's end4 ,among merchants it is matter of common notoriety1 that the prompt and exact adherence to orders insisted on by merchants1 and prompt advice of receipt of business and of progress1 cannot be expected from our worthy brethren at the bar4 7,the few honorable exceptions are respectfully informed that they are not referred to47 ,we do not expect them to weigh or measure the needless annoyance to which they often subject us1 because they have never been1 like ourselves1 trained to the use of weights and measures2 and therefore we are not willing to stigmatize them as dishonest1 though they do1 in fact1 often steal our time and strength and patience1 by withholding an answer to a business-letter4 ,none but those who are in the business know the assiduous attention with which the dry-goods jobber follows up his customers4 ,none but they know the urgent necessity of doing this4 ,the jobber may have travelled a thousand miles to make his customer's acquaintance1 and to prevail upon him to come to ,boston to make his purchases2 and some neighbor1 who boards at the hotel he happens to make his resting-place1 lights upon him1 shows him attention1 tempts him with bargains not to be refused1 prevails upon him to make the bulk of his purchases of him1 before his first acquaintance even hears of his arrival4 ,to guard against disappointments such as this1 the jobber sends his salesmen to live at hotels1 haunts the hotels himself1 studies the hotel-register far more assiduously than he can study his own comfort1 or the comfort of his wife and children4 ,of one such jobber it was said1 facetiously1--,he goes the round of all the hotels every morning with a lantern1 to wake up his customers4 ,i had an errand one day at noon to such a devotee4 ,inquiring for him in the counting-room1 ,i was told by his book-keeper to follow the stairs to the top of the store1 and ,i should find him4 ,i mounted flight after flight to the attic1 and there ,i found1 not only the man1 but also one or two of his customers1 surrounding a huge packing-case1 upon which they had extemporized a dinner1 cold turkey and tongue1 and other edibles1 taken standing1 with plenty of fun for a dessert4 ,the next time we happened to meet1 ,i said1--,so you take not only time1 but also customers1 by the forelock6 ,yes1 to be sure1 was his answer2 let 'em go to their hotel to dinner in the middle of a bill1 and somebody lights upon 'em1 and carries 'em off to buy elsewhere2 or they begin to remember that it is a long way home1 feel homesick1 slip off to ,new ,york as being so far on the way1 and that's the last you see of 'em4 ,no1 we're bound to see 'em through1 and no let-up till they've bought all they've got on their memorandum4 ,we have not yet touched the question of credit4 ,to whom shall the jobber sell his goods8 ,it is the question of questions4 ,many a man who has bought well1 who in other respects has sold well1 who possessed all the characteristics which recommend a man to the confidence and to the good-will of his fellows1 has made shipwreck of his fortunes because of his inability to meet this question4 ,he sold his goods to men who never paid him4 ,to say that in this the most successful jobbers are governed by an instinct1 by an intuitive conviction which is superior to all rules of judgment1 would be to allege what it would be difficult to prove4 ,it would be less difficult to maintain that every competent merchant1 however unconscious of the fact1 has a standard of judgment by which he tries each applicant for credit4 ,there are characteristics of men who can safely be credited1 entirely familiar to his thoughts4 ,he looks upon the man and instantly feels that he is or is not the man for him4 ,he thinks his decision an instinct1 or an intuition1 because1 through much practice1 these mental operations have become so rapid as to defy analysis4 ,not being infallible1 he sometimes mistakes2 and when he so mistakes1 he will be sure to say1--,i made that loss because ,i relied too much upon this characteristic1 or because ,i did not allow its proper weight to the absence of some other1--because ,i thought his shrewdness or his honesty1 his enterprise or his economy1 would save him3 implying that he had observed some non-conformity to his standard1 but had relied upon some excellency in excess to make up for it4 ,what are the perplexities which beset the question1 ,to whom shall the jobber sell his goods8 ,they are manifold2 and some of them are peculiar to our country4 ,our territory is very extensive2 our population very heterogeneous2 the economy and close calculation which recommend a man in ,massachusetts may discredit him in ,louisiana4 ,the very countenance is often a sure indication of character and of capacity1 when it is one of a class and a region whose peculiarities we thoroughly understand2 but coming to us from other classes and regions1 we are often at fault1--more especially in these latter days1 when all strong-mindedness is presumed to be foreshadowed in a stiff beard4 ,time was when something could be inferred from a lip1 a mouth1 a chin1--when character could be found in the contour and color of a cheek2 but that time has passed4 ,the time was1 when1 among a homogeneous people1 a few time-honored characteristics were both relied on and insisted on3 for example1 good parentage1 good moral character1 a thorough training1 and superior capacity1 joined to industry1 economy1 sound judgment1 and good manners4 ,but ,young ,america has learned to make light of some of these1 and to dispense altogether with others of them4 ,once the buyer was required to prove himself an honest1 worthy1 and capable man4 ,if he wanted credit1 he must humbly sue for it1 and prove himself deserving of it2 and no man thought of applying for it who was not prepared to furnish irrefragable evidence4 ,once1 a reference to some respectable acquaintance would serve the purpose2 and neighbors held themselves bound to tell all they knew4 ,the increase of merchants1 and fierce competition for customers1 have changed this4 ,men now regard their knowledge of other men as a part of their capital or stock-in-trade4 ,their knowledge has been acquired at much cost of labor and money2 and they hold themselves absolved from all obligation to give away what they have thus expensively acquired4 ,moreover1 their confidence has sometimes been betrayed1 and their free communications have been remorselessly used to their disadvantage4 ,alas1 it cannot be denied that even dry-goods jobbers1 with all their extraordinary endowments1 are not quite perfect6 for some of them will state the thing that is not1 and others convey their neighbor's property into their own coffers3 men who prefer gain to godliness1 and mistake much money for respectability4 ,there are very few men1 in certain sections of the country1 who will absolutely refuse to give a letter of introduction to a neighbor on the simple ground of ill-desert4 ,men dread the ill-will of their neighbor1 and particularly the ill-will of an unscrupulous neighbor2 so1 when such a neighbor asks a letter1 they give it4 ,i remember such a one bringing a dozen or more letters1 some of which contained the highest commendation4 ,the writer of one of these letters sent a private note1 through the mail1 warning one of the persons addressed against the bearer of his own commendatory letter4 ,those who had no warning sold1 and lost4 ,it would be difficult to find a man1 however unworthy1 who could not1 from some quarter1 obtain a very respectable letter of introduction4 ,one of the greatest rogues that ever came to ,boston brought letters from two of the foremost houses in ,new ,york to two firms second to none in ,boston4 ,neither of these gentlemen was in fault in the matter2 the train had been laid by some obliging cousin in a banking-house in ,london4 ,in making up our account of the difficulties with which a dry-goods jobber has to deal1 in conducting a successful business1 it must be distinctly stated1 that on no man can he count for information which will1 however remotely or slightly1 compromise the interest of the one inquired of4 ,never1 perhaps1 was it so true as now1 that the seller has need of a hundred eyes4 ,the competent jobber uses his eyes first of all upon the person of the man who desires to buy of him4 ,he questions him about himself1 with such directness or indirectness as instinct and experience dictate4 ,he learns to discriminate between the sensitiveness of the high-toned honest man and the sensitiveness of the rogue4 ,many men of each class are inclined to resent and resist the catechism4 ,strange as it may seem1 the very men who would inexorably refuse a credit to those who should decline to answer their inquiries are the men most inclined to resent any inquiry about themselves4 ,while they demand the fullest and most particular information from their customers1 they wonder that others will not take them on their own estimate of themselves4 ,the jobber next directs his attention to the buyer's knowledge of goods3 of their quality1 their style1 their worth in market1 and their fitness for his own market2 all of which will come to light1 as he offers to his notice the various articles he has for sale4 ,he will improve the opportunity to draw him out in general conversation1 so guiding it as to touch many points of importance1 and yet not so as to betray a want of confidence4 ,he sounds him as to his knowledge of other merchants at home and in the city2 takes the names of his references1--of several1 if he can get them2 puts himself in communication with men who know him1 both at his home and in the city4 ,if he can harmonize the information derived from all these sources into a consistent and satisfactory whole1 he will then do his utmost to secure his customer1 both by selling him his goods at a profit so small that he need have little fear of any neighbor's underselling him1 and also by granting every possible accommodation as to the time and manner of payment4 ,a moderately thoughtful man will by this time begin to think the elements of toil and of perplexity already suggested sufficient for the time and strength of any man1 and more than he would wish to undertake4 ,but experience alone could teach him in how many ways indulged customers can and do manage to make the profit they pay so small1 and the toil and vexation they occasion so great1 that the jobber is often put upon weighing the question1 ,should ,i not be richer without them8 ,thus1 for example1 some of them will affect to doubt that the jobber wishes to sell to them1 and propose1 as a test1 that he shall let them have some choice article at the cost1 or at less than the cost1 now on one pretext1 and now on another1--intimating an indisposition to buy1 if they cannot be indulged in that one thing4 ,if they carry their point1 that exceptional price is thenceforth claimed as the rule4 ,another day the concession will be asked on something else2 and by extending this game so as to include a number of jobbers1 these shrewd buyers will manage to lay in an assorted stock on which there will have been little or no profit to the sellers4 ,to cap the climax of vexation1 these persons will very probably come in1 after not many days1 and propose to cash their notes at double interest off4 ,only an official of the ,inquisition could turn the thumb-screw so many times1 and so remorselessly4 ,but we have yet to consider the collection of debts4 ,the jobber who has not capital so ample as to buy only for cash is expected invariably to settle his purchases by giving his note1 payable at bank on a fixed day4 ,he pays it when due1 or fails4 ,not so with his customers3 multitudes of them shrink from giving a note payable at bank1 and some altogether refuse to do so4 ,they wish to buy on open account2 or to give a note to be paid at maturity1 if convenient1--otherwise not4 ,the number of really prompt and punctual men1 as compared with those who are otherwise1 is very small4 ,the number of those who never fail is smaller still4 ,the collection-laws are completely alike1 probably1 in no two ,states4 ,some of them appear to have been constructed for the accommodation1 not of honest creditors1 but of dishonest debtors4 ,in others1 they are such as to put each jobber in fear of every other1--a first attachment taking all the property1 if the debt be large enough1 leaving little or nothing1 usually1 for those who have been willing to give the debtor such indulgence as might enable him to pay in full1 were it granted by all his creditors4 ,no jobber can open his letters in the morning in the certainty of finding no tidings of a failure4 ,no jobber1 leaving his breakfast-table1 can assure his wife and children1 sick or well1 that he will dine or sup with them2 any one of a dozen railroad-trains may1 for aught he knows1 be sweeping him away to some remote point1 to battle with the mischances of trade1 the misfortunes of honest men1 or the knavery of rogues and the meshes of the law4 ,once in the cars1 he casts his eye around in uneasy expectation of finding some one or more of his neighbors bound on the same errand4 ,while yet peering over the seats in front of him1 he is unpleasantly startled by a slap on the shoulder1 and1 ,ah1 ,john6 bound ,east8 ,what's in the wind8 ,any ducks in these days8 ,why1--yes1--no1--that is1 ,i'm going down along1--little uncertain how far1--depends on circumstances4 ,so1 so1--,i see1--mum's the word4 ,well1 neither is quite ready to trust the other1--neither quite ready to know the worst2 so long as a blow is suspended1 it may not fall2 and so1 with desperate exertions1 they change the subject1 converse on things indifferent1--or subside into more or less moody meditations upon their respective chances and prospects4 ,any jobber who has seen service will tell you stories without number of these vexatious experiences1 sometimes dashed with the comical in no common measure4 ,he will tell you of how they arrived at the last town on the railroad1 some six or seven of them2 of how not a word had been lisped of their destination2 of the stampede from the railroad-station to the tavern2 of the spirited bids for horses and wagons2 of the chop-fallen disappointment of the man for whom no vehicle remained2 of his steeple-chase a-bareback2 and of their various successes with writs and officers1 in their rush for the store of the delinquent debtor4 ,of three such ,jehus1 the story goes1 that1 two of them having bought the monopoly of the inside of the only vehicle1 and1 in so doing1 as they thought1 having utterly precluded any chance for the third1 their dauntless competitor instantly mounted with the driver1 commenced negotiations for the horse1 which speedily resulted in a purchase1 and thereupon detached the horse from the vehicle1 drove on1 and effected a first attachment1 which secured his debt4 ,the occurrence of a bad year compels many a jobber to abandon his store and home for one1 two1 or three months together1 and visit his customers scattered all over the land1 to make collections4 ,then it is that the power of persuasion1 if possessed1 is brought into efficient use2 discrimination1 too1 is demanded2 good judgment1 and power of combination4 ,for a debt that cannot be paid in money may possibly be paid partly in money1 or in merchandise of some sort1 and in part secured2 and1 among the securities offered1 to choose those which will involve the least delay is generally no easy matter4 ,to those who1 without experience1 are commencing a jobbing-business1 a capital of thirty1 forty1 or fifty thousand dollars seems an inexhaustible fund4 ,experience teaches that an incautious and unskilful man may easily bury even the largest of these sums in a single season4 ,if not actually lost1 it has in effect ceased to be capital1 because it cannot be collected1 and the notes he has taken are such as will not be discounted4 ,success in the jobbing-business makes such demand on talent and capacity as outsiders seldom dream of4 ,half-a-dozen ,secretaries of ,state1 with a ,governor and a ,president thrown in1 would not suffice to constitute a first-class jobbing-firm4 ,the general or special incompetency of these distinguished functionaries in their several spheres may probably be covered by the capacity of their subordinates4 ,the ,president of these ,united ,states--of late years1 at all events--is not supposed to be in a position to know whether the will is or is not a self-determining power4 ,but no jobbing-firm can thus cloak its deficiencies1 or shirk its responsibilities4 ,goods must be bought1 and sold1 and paid for2 and a master-spirit in each department1 capable of penetrating to every particular1 and of controlling every subordinate1 cannot be dispensed with4 ,he must know that every man to whom he delegates any portion of his work is competent and trustworthy4 ,he must be able to feel that the thing which he deputes to each will be as surely and as faithfully done as though done by his own hand4 ,no criticism is more common or more depreciatory than that ,such a one will not succeed1 because he has surrounded himself with incompetent men4 ,it is much to be regretted that it cannot be said1 that no man can succeed in the jobbing-business who is not a model of courtesy4 ,unhappily1 our community has not yet reached that elevation4 ,but this may with truth be affirmed1--that many a man fails for the want of courtesy1 and for the want of that good-will to his fellows from which all real courtesy springs4 ,there is small chance for any man to succeed who does not command his own spirit4 ,there is no chance whatever for an indolent man2 and1 in the long run1 little or no chance for the dishonest man4 ,the same must be said for the timid and for the rash man4 ,nor can we offer any encouragement to the intermittent man4 ,from year's end to year's end1 the dry-goods jobber finds himself necessitated to be studying his stock and his ledger4 ,he knows1 that1 while men sleep1 the enemy will be sowing tares4 ,in his case1 the flying moments are the enemy1 and bad stock and bad debts are the tares4 ,to weed out each of these is his unceasing care4 ,and as both the one and the other are forever choking the streams of income which should supply the means of paying his own notes1 his no less constant care is to provide such other conduits as shall insure him always a full basin at the bank4 ,nobody but a jobber can know the vexation of a jobber who cannot find money to cash his notes when they are beginning to be thrown into the market at a price a shade lower than his neighbor's notes are sold at4 ,in conclusion1 a few material facts should be stated4 ,as a general proposition1 it is not to be denied1 that those who are in haste to get rich will find in the dry-goods jobbing-business many temptations and snares into which one may easily fall4 ,a young man who is not fortified by a faithful home-training1 and by sound religious principle1 will be likely enough to degenerate into a heartless money-maker4 ,while the young man who has been well trained at home1 who appreciates good manners1 good morals1 and good books1 will derive immense advantage in acquiring that quick discernment1 that intuitive apprehension of the rights and of the pleasure of others1 and that nice tact1 which characterize the highest style of merchants1--he who has not been thus prepared will be more than likely to mistake brusquerie for manliness1 and brutality for the sublime of independence4 ,as in a great house there are vessels unto honor and also unto dishonor1 so in the purlieus of the dry-goods trade there are gentlemen who would honor and adorn any society1 and also men whose manners would shame ,hottentots1--whose language1 innocent of all preference for ,worcester or ,webster1 a terror to all decent ideas1 like scarecrows in corn-fields1 is dressed in the cast-off garments of the refuse of all classes4 ,success in retailing does not necessarily qualify a man to succeed in the dry-goods jobbing-business4 ,the game is played on a much larger scale2 it includes other chances1 and demands other qualifications1 natural and acquired4 ,instances are not wanting of men who1 in the smaller towns1 had made to themselves a name and acquired an honorable independence1 sinking both capital and courage in their endeavors to manage the business of a city-jobber4 ,it should be well remembered1 that1 while it is not indispensable to success in the jobbing-business that each partner should be an expert in every department of the business1 in buying1 selling1 collecting1 paying1 and book-keeping1 it is absolutely necessary that each should be such in his own department1--and that the firm1 as a unit1 should include a completely competent man for each and every one of these departments4 ,the lack of the qualities which are indispensable to any one of these may1 and probably will1 prove an abyss deep enough to ingulf the largest commercial ship afloat4 ,finally1 to avoid disappointment1 the man who would embark in the dry-goods trade should make up his mind to meet every variety of experience known to mortals1 and to be daunted by nothing4 ,he will assuredly find fair winds and head winds1 clear skies and cloudy skies1 head seas and cross seas as well as stern seas4 ,a wind that justifies studding-sails may change1 without premonition1 to a gale that will make ribbons of top-sails and of storm-sails4 ,the best crew afloat cannot preclude all casualties1 or exclude sleepless nights and cold sweats now and then2 but a quick eye1 a cool head1 a prompt hand1 and indomitable perseverance will overcome almost all things4 ,,the ,,old ,,homestead4 ,the wet trees hang above the walks ,purple with damps and earthish stains1 ,and strewn by moody1 absent rains ,with rose-leaves from the wild-grown stalks4 ,unmown1 in heavy1 tangled swaths1 ,the ripe ,june-grass is wanton blown2 ,snails slime the untrodden threshold-stone1 ,along the sills hang drowsy moths4 ,down the blank visage of the wall1 ,where many a wavering trace appears ,like a forgotten trace of tears1 ,from swollen caves the slow drops crawl4 ,where everything was wide before1 ,the curious wind1 that comes and goes1 ,finds all the latticed windows close1 ,secret and close the bolted door4 ,and with the shrewd and curious wind1 ,that in the arched doorway cries1 ,and at the bolted portal tries1 ,and harks and listens at the blind1-- ,forever lurks my thought about1 ,and in the ghostly middle-night ,finds all the hidden windows bright1 ,and sees the guests go in and out1-- ,and lingers till the pallid dawn1 ,and feels the mystery deeper there ,in silent1 gust-swept chambers1 bare1 ,with all the midnight revel gone2 ,but wanders through the lonesome rooms1 ,where harsh the astonished cricket calls1 ,and1 from the hollows of the walls ,vanishing1 stare unshapen glooms2 ,and lingers yet1 and cannot come ,out of the drear and desolate place1 ,so full of ruin's solemn grace1 ,and haunted with the ghost of home4 ,,the ,,professor',s ,,story4 ,,chapter ,,xxvi4 ,,the ,,news ,,reaches ,,the ,,dudley ,,mansion4 ,early the next morning ,abel ,stebbins made his appearance at ,dudley ,venner's1 and requested to see the man o' the haouse abaout somethin' o' consequence4 ,mr4 ,venner sent word that the messenger should wait below1 and presently appeared in the study1 where ,abel was making himself at home1 as is the wont of the republican citizen1 when he hides the purple of empire beneath the apron of domestic service4 ,good mornin'1 ,squire6 said ,abel1 as ,mr4 ,venner entered4 ,my name's ,stebbins1 'n' ,i'm stoppin' f'r a spell 'ith ol' ,doctor ,kittredge4 ,well1 ,stebbins1 said ,mr4 ,dudley ,venner1 have you brought any special message from the ,doctor8 ,y' ha'n't heerd nothin' abaout it1 ,squire1 d' ye mean t' say8 said ,abel1--beginning to suspect that he was the first to bring the news of last evening's events4 ,about--what8 asked ,mr4 ,venner1 with some interest4 ,dew tell1 naow6 ,waal1 that beats all6 ,why1 that 'ere ,portagee relation o' yourn 'z been tryin' t' ketch a fellah 'n a slippernoose1 'n' got ketched himself1--that's all4 ,y' ha'n't heerd noth'n' abaout it8 ,sit down1 said ,mr4 ,dudley ,venner1 calmly1 and tell me all you have to say4 ,so ,abel sat down and gave him an account of the events of the last evening4 ,it was a strange and terrible surprise to ,dudley ,venner to find that his nephew1 who had been an inmate of his house and the companion of his daughter1 was to all intents and purposes guilty of the gravest of crimes4 ,but the first shock was no sooner over than he began to think what effect the news would have on ,elsie4 ,he imagined that there was a kind of friendly feeling between them1 and he feared some crisis would be provoked in his daughter's mental condition by the discovery4 ,he would wait1 however1 until she came from her chamber1 before disturbing her with the evil tidings4 ,abel did not forget his message with reference to the equipments of the dead mustang4 ,the' was some things on the hoss1 ,squire1 that the man he ketched said he didn' care no gre't abaout2 but perhaps you'd like to have 'em fetched to the mansion-haouse4 ,ef y' didn' care abaout 'em1 though1 ,i shouldn' min' keepin' on 'em2 they might come handy some time or 'nother3 they say1 holt on t' anything for ten year 'n' there'll be some kin' o' use for't4 ,keep everything1 said ,dudley ,venner4 ,i don't want to see anything belonging to that young man4 ,so ,abel nodded to ,mr4 ,venner1 and left the study to find some of the men about the stable to tell and talk over with them the events of the last evening4 ,he presently came upon ,elbridge1 chief of the equine department1 and driver of the family-coach4 ,good mornin'1 ,abe1 said ,elbridge4 ,what's fetched y' daown here so all-fired airly8 ,you're a darned pooty lot daown here1 you be6 ,abel answered4 ,better keep your ,portagees t' home nex' time1 ketchin' folks 'ith slippernooses raoun' their necks1 'n' kerryin' knives 'n their boots6 ,what 'r' you jawin' abaout8 ,elbridge said1 looking up to see if he was in earnest1 and what he meant4 ,jawin' abaout8 ,you'll find aout 'z soon 'z y' go into that 'ere stable o' yourn6 ,y' won't curry that 'ere long-tailed black hoss no more2 'n' y' won't set y'r eyes on the fellah that rid him1 ag'in1 in a hurry6 ,elbridge walked straight to the stable1 without saying a word1 found the door unlocked1 and went in4 ,th' critter's gone1 sure enough6 he said4 ,glad on't6 ,the darndest1 kickin'est1 bitin'est beast th't ever ,i see1 'r ever wan' t' see ag'in6 ,good reddance6 ,don' wan' no snappin'-turkles in my stable6 ,whar's the man gone th't brought the critter8 ,whar he's gone8 ,guess y' better go 'n ask my ol' man2 he kerried him off las' night2 'n' when he comes back1 mebbe he'll tell ye whar he's gone tew6 ,by this time ,elbridge had found out that ,abel was in earnest1 and had something to tell4 ,he looked at the litter in the mustang's stall1 then at the crib4 ,ha'n't at b't half his feed4 ,ha'n't been daown on his straw4 ,must ha' been took aout somewhere abaout ten 'r 'leven o'clock4 ,i know that 'ere critter's ways4 ,the fellah's had him aout nights afore2 b't ,i never thought nothin' o' no mischief4 ,he's a kin' o' half ,injin4 ,what is 't the chap's been a-doin' on8 ,tell 's all abaout it4 ,abel sat down on a meal-chest1 picked up a straw and put it into his mouth4 ,elbridge sat down at the other end1 pulled out his jackknife1 opened the penknife-blade1 and began sticking it into the lid of the meal-chest4 ,the ,doctor's man had a story to tell1 and he meant to get all the enjoyment out of it4 ,so he told it with every luxury of circumstance4 ,mr4 ,venner's man heard it all with open mouth4 ,no listener in the gardens of ,stamboul could have found more rapture in a tale heard amidst the perfume of roses and the voices of birds and tinkling of fountains than ,elbridge in following ,abel's narrative1 as they sat there in the aromatic ammoniacal atmosphere of the stable1 the grinding of the horses' jaws keeping evenly on through it all1 with now and then the interruption of a stamping hoof1 and at intervals a ringing crow from the barnyard4 ,elbridge stopped a minute to think1 after ,abel had finished4 ,who's took care o' them things that was on the hoss8 he said1 gravely4 ,wal1 ,langden1 he seemed to kin' o' think ,i'd ought to have 'em1--'n' the ,squire1 he didn' seem to have no 'bjection2 'n' so1--wal1 ,i cal'late ,i sh'll jes' holt on to 'em myself2 they a'n't good f'r much1 but they're cur'ous t' keep t' look at4 ,mr4 ,venner's man did not appear much gratified by this arrangement1 especially as he had a shrewd suspicion that some of the ornaments of the bridle were of precious metal1 having made occasional examinations of them with the edge of a file4 ,but he did not see exactly what to do about it1 except to get them from ,abel in the way of bargain4 ,wal1 no1--they a'n't good for much 'xcep' to look at4 ',f y' ever rid on that seddle once1 y' wouldn' try it ag'in1 very spry1--not 'f y' c'd halp y'rsalf4 ,i tried it1--darned 'f ,i sot daown f'r th' nex' week1--at all my victuals stan'in'4 ,i sh'd like t' hev them things wal enough to heng up 'n the stable2 'f y' want t' trade some day1 fetch 'em along daown4 ,abel rather expected that ,elbridge would have laid claim to the saddle and bridle on the strength of some promise or other presumptive title1 and thought himself lucky to get off with only promising that he would think abaout tradin'4 ,when ,elbridge returned to the house1 he found the family in a state of great excitement4 ,mr4 ,venner had told ,old ,sophy1 and she had informed the other servants4 ,everybody knew what had happened1 excepting ,elsie4 ,her father had charged them all to say nothing about it to her2 he would tell her1 when she came down4 ,he heard her step at last1--a light1 gliding step1--so light that her coming was often unheard1 except by those who perceived the faint rustle that went with it4 ,she was paler than common this morning1 as she came into her father's study4 ,after a few words of salutation1 he said1 quietly1-- ,elsie1 my dear1 your cousin ,richard has left us4 ,she grew still paler1 as she asked1-- ,is he dead8 ,dudley ,venner started to see the expression with which ,elsie put this question4 ,he is living1--but dead to us from this day forward1 said her father4 ,he proceeded to tell her1 in a general way1 the story he had just heard from ,abel4 ,there could be no doubting it2--he remembered him as the ,doctor's man2 and as ,abel had seen all with his own eyes1--as ,dick's chamber1 when unlocked with a spare key1 was found empty1 and his bed had not been slept in1 he accepted the whole account as true4 ,when he told of ,dick's attempt on the young schoolmaster1 7,you know ,mr4 ,langdon very well1 ,elsie1--a perfectly inoffensive young man1 as ,i understand17 ,elsie turned her face away and slid along by the wall to the window which looked out on the little grass-plot with the white stone standing in it4 ,her father could not see her face1 but he knew by her movements that her dangerous mood was on her4 ,when she heard the sequel of the story1 the discomfiture and capture of ,dick1 she turned round for an instant1 with a look of contempt and of something like triumph upon her face4 ,her father saw that her cousin had become odious to her4 ,he knew well1 by every change of her countenance1 by her movements1 by every varying curve of her graceful figure1 the transitions from passion to repose1 from fierce excitement to the dull languor which often succeeded her threatening paroxysms4 ,she remained looking out at the window4 ,a group of white fan-tailed pigeons had lighted on the green plot before it and clustered about one of their companions who lay on his back1 fluttering in a strange way1 with outspread wings and twitching feet4 ,elsie uttered a faint cry2 these were her special favorites1 and often fed from her hand4 ,she threw open the long window1 sprang out1 caught up the white fan-tail1 and held it to her bosom4 ,the bird stretched himself out1 and then lay still1 with open eyes1 lifeless4 ,she looked at him a moment1 and1 sliding in through the open window and through the study1 sought her own apartment1 where she locked herself in1 and began to sob and moan like those that weep4 ,but the gracious solace of tears seemed to be denied her1 and her grief1 like her anger1 was a dull ache1 longing1 like that1 to finish itself with a fierce paroxysm1 but wanting its natural outlet4 ,this seemingly trifling incident of the death of her favorite appeared to change all the current of her thought4 ,whether it were the sight of the dying bird1 or the thought that her own agency might have been concerned in it1 or some deeper grief1 which took this occasion to declare itself1--some dark remorse or hopeless longing1--whatever it might be1 there was an unwonted tumult in her soul4 ,to whom should she go in her vague misery8 ,only to ,him who knows all ,his creatures' sorrows1 and listens to the faintest human cry4 ,she knelt1 as she had been taught to kneel from her childhood1 and tried to pray4 ,but her thoughts refused to flow in the language of supplication4 ,she could not plead for herself as other women plead in their hours of anguish4 ,she rose like one who should stoop to drink1 and find dust in the place of water4 ,partly from restlessness1 partly from an attraction she hardly avowed to herself1 she followed her usual habit and strolled listlessly along to the school4 99 99 99 99 99 ,of course everybody at the ,institute was full of the terrible adventure of the preceding evening4 ,mr4 ,bernard felt poorly enough2 but he had made it a point to show himself the next morning1 as if nothing had happened4 ,helen ,darley knew nothing of it all until she had risen1 when the gossipy matron of the establishment made her acquainted with all its details1 embellished with such additional ornamental appendages as it had caught up in transmission from lip to lip4 ,she did not love to betray her sensibilities1 but she was pale and tremulous and very nearly tearful when ,mr4 ,bernard entered the sitting-room1 showing on his features traces of the violent shock he had received and the heavy slumber from which he had risen with throbbing brows4 ,what the poor girl's impulse was1 on seeing him1 we need not inquire too curiously4 ,if he had been her own brother1 she would have kissed him and cried on his neck2 but something held her back4 ,there is no galvanism in kiss-your-brother2 it is copper against copper3 but alien bloods develop strange currents1 when they flow close to each other1 with only the films that cover lip and cheek between them4 ,mr4 ,bernard1 as some of us may remember1 violated the proprieties and laid himself open to reproach by his enterprise with a bouncing village-girl1 to whose rosy cheek an honest smack was not probably an absolute novelty4 ,he made it all up by his discretion and good behavior now4 ,he saw by ,helen's moist eye and trembling lip that her woman's heart was off its guard1 and he knew1 by the infallible instinct of sex1 that he should be forgiven1 if he thanked her for her sisterly sympathies in the most natural way1--expressive1 and at the same time economical of breath and utterance4 ,he would not give a false look to their friendship by any such demonstration4 ,helen was a little older than he was1 but the aureole of young womanhood had not yet begun to fade from around her4 ,she was surrounded by that enchanted atmosphere into which the girl walks with dreamy eyes1 and out of which the woman passes with a story written on her forehead4 ,some people think very little of these refinements2 they have not studied magnetism1 and the law of the square of the distance4 ,so ,mr4 ,bernard thanked ,helen for her interest without the aid of the twenty-seventh letter of the alphabet1--the love labial1--the limping consonant which it takes two to speak plain4 ,indeed1 he scarcely let her say a word1 at first2 for he saw that it was hard for her to conceal her emotion4 ,no wonder2 he had come within a hair's-breadth of losing his life1 and he had been a very kind friend and a very dear companion to her4 ,there were some curious spiritual experiences connected with his last evening's adventure1 which were working very strongly in his mind4 ,it was borne in upon him irresistibly that he had been dead since he had seen ,helen1--as dead as the son of the ,widow of ,nain before the bier was touched and he sat up and began to speak4 ,there was an interval between two conscious moments which appeared to him like a temporary annihilation1 and the thoughts it suggested were worrying him with strange perplexities4 ,he remembered seeing the dark figure on horseback rise in the saddle and something leap from its hand4 ,he remembered the thrill he felt as the coil settled on his shoulders1 and the sudden impulse which led him to fire as he did4 ,with the report of the pistol all became blank1 until he found himself in a strange1 bewildered state1 groping about for the weapon1 which he had a vague consciousness of having dropped4 ,but1 according to ,abel's account1 there must have been an interval of some minutes between these recollections1 and he could not help asking1 ,where was the mind1 the soul1 the thinking principle1 all this time8 ,a man is stunned by a blow with a stick on the head4 ,he becomes unconscious4 ,another man gets a harder blow on the head from a bigger stick1 and it kills him4 ,does he become unconscious1 too8 ,if so1 when does he come to his consciousness8 ,the man who has had a slight or moderate blow comes to himself when the immediate shock passes off and the organs begin to work again1 or when a bit of the skull is pried up1 if that happens to be broken4 ,suppose the blow is hard enough to spoil the brain and stop the play of the organs1 what happens then8 ,a ,british captain was struck by a cannon-ball on the head1 just as he was giving an order1 at the ,battle of the ,nile4 ,fifteen months afterwards he was trephined at ,greenwich ,hospital1 having been insensible all that time4 ,immediately after the operation his consciousness returned1 and he at once began carrying out the order he was giving when the shot struck him4 ,suppose he had never been trephined1 when would his intelligence have returned8 ,when his breath ceased and his heart stopped beating8 ,when ,mr4 ,bernard said to ,helen1 ,i have been dead since ,i saw you1 it startled her not a little2 for his expression was that of perfect good faith1 and she feared that his mind was disordered4 ,when he explained1 not as has been done just now1 at length1 but in a hurried1 imperfect way1 the meaning of his strange assertion1 and the fearful ,sadduceeisms which it had suggested to his mind1 she looked troubled at first1 and then thoughtful4 ,she did not feel able to answer all the difficulties he raised1 but she met them with that faith which is the strength as well as the weakness of women1--which makes them weak in the hands of man1 but strong in the presence of the ,unseen4 ,it is a strange experience1 she said2 but ,i once had something like it4 ,i fainted1 and lost some five or ten minutes out of my life1 as much as if ,i had been dead4 ,but when ,i came to myself1 ,i was the same person every way1 in my recollections and character4 ,so ,i suppose that loss of consciousness is not death4 ,and if ,i was born out of unconsciousness into infancy with many family-traits of mind and body1 ,i can believe1 from my own reason1 even without help from ,revelation1 that ,i shall be born again out of the unconsciousness of death with my individual traits of mind and body4 ,if death is1 as it should seem to be1 a loss of consciousness1 that does not shake my faith2 for ,i have been put into a body once already to fit me for living here1 and ,i hope to be in some way fitted after this life to enjoy a better one4 ,but it is all trust in ,god and in his ,word4 ,these are enough for me2 ,i hope they are for you4 ,helen was a minister's daughter1 and familiar from her childhood with this class of questions1 especially with all the doubts and perplexities which are sure to assail every thinking child bred in any inorganic or not thoroughly vitalized faith1--as is too often the case with the children of professional theologians4 ,the kind of discipline they are subjected to is like that of the ,flat-,head ,indian pappooses4 ,at five or ten or fifteen years old they put their hands up to their foreheads and ask1 ,what are they strapping down my brains in this way for8 ,so they tear off the sacred bandages of the great ,flat-,head tribe1 and there follows a mighty rush of blood to the long-compressed region4 ,this accounts1 in the most lucid manner1 for those sudden freaks with which certain children of this class astonish their worthy parents at the period of life when they are growing fast1 and1 the frontal pressure beginning to be felt as something intolerable1 they tear off the holy compresses4 ,the hour for school came1 and they went to the great hall for study4 ,it would not have occurred to ,mr4 ,silas ,peckham to ask his assistant whether he felt well enough to attend to his duties2 and ,mr4 ,bernard chose to be at his post4 ,a little headache and confusion were all that remained of his symptoms4 ,later1 in the course of the forenoon1 ,elsie ,venner came and took her place4 ,the girls all stared at her1--naturally enough2 for it was hardly to have been expected that she would show herself1 after such an event in the household to which she belonged4 ,her expression was somewhat peculiar1 and1 of course1 was attributed to the shock her feelings had undergone on hearing of the crime attempted by her cousin and daily companion4 ,when she was looking on her book1 or on any indifferent object1 her countenance betrayed some inward disturbance1 which knitted her dark brows1 and seemed to throw a deeper shadow over her features4 ,but1 from time to time1 she would lift her eyes toward ,mr4 ,bernard1 and let them rest upon him1 without a thought1 seemingly1 that she herself was the subject of observation or remark4 ,then they seemed to lose their cold glitter1 and soften into a strange1 dreamy tenderness4 ,the deep instincts of womanhood were striving to grope their way to the surface of her being through all the alien influences which overlaid them4 ,she could be secret and cunning in working out any of her dangerous impulses1 but she did not know how to mask the unwonted feeling which fixed her eyes and her thoughts upon the only person who had ever reached the spring of her hidden sympathies4 ,the girls all looked at ,elsie1 whenever they could steal a glance unperceived1 and many of them were struck with this singular expression her features wore4 ,they had long whispered it around among each other that she had a liking for the master2 but there were too many of them of whom something like this could be said1 to make it very remarkable4 ,now1 however1 when so many little hearts were fluttering at the thought of the peril through which the handsome young master had so recently passed1 they were more alive than ever to the supposed relation between him and the dark school-girl4 ,some had supposed there was a mutual attachment between them2 there was a story that they were secretly betrothed1 in accordance with the rumor which had been current in the village4 ,at any rate1 some conflict was going on in that still1 remote1 clouded soul1 and all the girls who looked upon her face were impressed and awed as they had never been before by the shadows that passed over it4 ,one of these girls was more strongly arrested by ,elsie's look than the others4 ,this was a delicate1 pallid creature1 with a high forehead1 and wide-open pupils1 which looked as if they could take in all the shapes that flit in what1 to common eyes1 is darkness1--a girl said to be clairvoyant under certain influences4 ,in the recess1 as it was called1 or interval of suspended studies in the middle of the forenoon1 this girl carried her autograph-book1--for she had one of those indispensable appendages of the boarding-school miss of every degree1--and asked ,elsie to write her name in it4 ,she had an irresistible feeling1 that1 sooner or later1 and perhaps very soon1 there would attach an unusual interest to this autograph4 ,elsie took the pen and wrote1 in her sharp ,italian hand1 ,elsie ,venner1 ,infelix4 ,it was a remembrance1 doubtless1 of the forlorn queen of the ,aeneid2 but its coming to her thought in this way confirmed the sensitive school-girl in her fears for ,elsie1 and she let fall a tear upon the page before she closed it4 ,of course1 the keen and practised observation of ,helen ,darley could not fail to notice the change of ,elsie's manner and expression4 ,she had long seen that she was attracted to the young master1 and had thought1 as the old ,doctor did1 that any impression which acted upon her affections might be the means of awakening a new life in her singularly isolated nature4 ,now1 however1 the concentration of the poor girl's thoughts upon the one object which had had power to reach her deeper sensibilities was so painfully revealed in her features1 that ,helen began to fear once more1 lest ,mr4 ,bernard1 in escaping the treacherous violence of an assassin1 had been left to the equally dangerous consequences of a violent1 engrossing passion in the breast of a young creature whose love it would be ruin to admit and might be deadly to reject4 ,she knew her own heart too well to fear that any jealousy might mingle with her new apprehensions4 ,it was understood between ,bernard and ,helen that they were too good friends to tamper with the silences and edging proximities of love-making4 ,she knew1 too1 the simply human1 not masculine1 interest which ,mr4 ,bernard took in ,elsie2 he had been frank with ,helen1 and more than satisfied her that with all the pity and sympathy which overflowed his soul1 when he thought of the stricken girl1 there mingled not one drop of such love as a youth may feel for a maiden4 ,it may help the reader to gain some understanding of the anomalous nature of ,elsie ,venner1 if we look with ,helen into ,mr4 ,bernard's opinions and feelings with reference to her1 as they had shaped themselves in his consciousness at the period of which we are speaking4 ,at first he had been impressed by her wild beauty1 and the contrast of all her looks and ways with those of the girls around her4 ,presently a sense of some ill-defined personal element1 which half attracted and half repelled those who looked upon her1 and especially those on whom she looked1 began to make itself obvious to him1 as he soon found it was painfully sensible to his more susceptible companion1 the lady-teacher4 ,it was not merely in the cold light of her diamond eyes1 but in all her movements1 in her graceful postures as she sat1 in her costume1 and1 he sometimes thought1 even in her speech1 that this obscure and exceptional character betrayed itself4 ,when ,helen had said1 that1 if they were living in times when human beings were subject to possession1 she should have thought there was something not human about ,elsie1 it struck an unsuspected vein of thought in his own mind1 which he hated to put in words1 but which was continually trying to articulate itself among the dumb thoughts which lie under the perpetual stream of mental whispers4 ,mr4 ,bernard's professional training had made him slow to accept marvellous stories and many forms of superstition4 ,yet1 as a man of science1 he well knew that just on the verge of the demonstrable facts of physics and physiology there is a nebulous border-land which what is called common sense perhaps does wisely not to enter1 but which uncommon sense1 or the fine apprehension of privileged intelligences1 may cautiously explore1 and in so doing find itself behind the scenes which make up for the gazing world the show which is called ,nature4 ,it was with something of this finer perception1 perhaps with some degree of imaginative exaltation1 that he set himself to solving the problem of ,elsie's influence to attract and repel those around her4 ,his letter already submitted to the reader hints in what direction his thoughts were disposed to turn4 ,here was a magnificent organization1 superb in vigorous womanhood1 with a beauty such as never comes but after generations of culture2 yet through all this rich nature there ran some alien current of influence1 sinuous and dark1 as when a clouded streak seams the white marble of a perfect statue4 ,it would be needless to repeat the particular suggestions which had come into his mind1 as they must probably have come into those of the reader who has noted the singularities of ,elsie's tastes and personal traits4 ,the images which certain poets had dreamed of seemed to have become a reality before his own eyes4 ,then came that unexplained adventure of ,the ,mountain1--almost like a dream in recollection1 yet assuredly real in some of its main incidents1--with all that it revealed or hinted4 ,this girl did not fear to visit the dreaded region1 where danger lurked in every nook and beneath every tuft of leaves4 ,did the tenants of the fatal ledge recognize some mysterious affinity which made them tributary to the cold glitter of her diamond eyes8 ,was she from her birth one of those frightful children1 such as he had read about1 and the ,professor had told him of1 who form unnatural friendships with cold1 writhing ophidians8 ,there was no need of so unwelcome a thought as this2 she had drawn him away from the dark opening in the rock at the moment when he seemed to be threatened by one of its malignant denizens2 that was all he could be sure of2 the counter-fascination might have been a dream1 a fancy1 a coincidence4 ,all wonderful things soon grow doubtful in our own minds1 as do even common events1 if great interests prove suddenly to attach to their truth or falsehood4 --,i1 who am telling of these occurrences1 saw a friend in the great city1 on the morning of a most memorable disaster1 hours after the time when the train which carried its victims to their doom had left4 ,i talked with him1 and was for some minutes1 at least1 in his company4 ,when ,i reached home1 ,i found that the story had gone before that he was among the lost1 and ,i alone could contradict it to his weeping friends and relatives4 ,i did contradict it2 but1 alas6 ,i began soon to doubt myself1 penetrated by the contagion of their solicitude2 my recollection began to question itself2 the order of events became dislocated2 and when ,i heard that he had reached home in safety1 the relief was almost as great to me as to those who had expected to see their own brother's face no more4 ,mr4 ,bernard was disposed1 then1 not to accept the thought of any odious personal relationship of the kind which had suggested itself to him when he wrote the letter referred to4 ,that the girl had something of the feral nature1 her wild1 lawless rambles in forbidden and blasted regions of ,the ,mountain at all hours1 her familiarity with the lonely haunts where any other human foot was so rarely seen1 proved clearly enough4 ,but the more he thought of all her strange instincts and modes of being1 the more he became convinced that whatever alien impulse swayed her will and modulated or diverted or displaced her affections came from some impression that reached far back into the past1 before the days when the faithful ,old ,sophy had rocked her in the cradle4 ,he believed that she had brought her ruling tendency1 whatever it was1 into the world with her4 ,when the school was over and the girls had all gone1 ,helen lingered in the school-room to speak with ,mr4 ,bernard4 ,did you remark ,elsie's ways this forenoon8 she said4 ,no1 not particularly2 ,i have not noticed anything as sharply as ,i commonly do2 my head has been a little queer1 and ,i have been thinking over what we were talking about1 and how near ,i came to solving the great problem which every day makes clear to such multitudes of people4 ,what about ,elsie8 ,bernard1 her liking for you is growing into a passion4 ,i have studied girls for a long while1 and ,i know the difference between their passing fancies and their real emotions4 ,i told you1 you remember1 that ,rosa would have to leave us2 we barely missed a scene1 ,i think1 if not a whole tragedy1 by her going at the right moment4 ,but ,elsie is infinitely more dangerous to herself and others4 ,women's love is fierce enough1 if it once gets the mastery of them1 always2 but this poor girl does not know what to do with a passion4 ,mr4 ,bernard had never told ,helen the story of the flower in his ,virgil1 or that other adventure which he would have felt awkwardly to refer to2 but it had been perfectly understood between them that ,elsie showed in her own singular way a well-marked partiality for the young master4 ,why don't they take her away from the school1 if she is in such a strange1 excitable state8 said ,mr4 ,bernard4 ,i believe they are afraid of her1 ,helen answered4 ,it is just one of those cases that are ten thousand thousand times worse than insanity4 ,i don't think1 from what ,i hear1 that her father has ever given up hoping that she will outgrow her peculiarities4 ,oh1 these peculiar children for whom parents go on hoping every morning and despairing every night6 ,if ,i could tell you half that mothers have told me1 you would feel that the worst of all diseases of the moral sense and the will are those which all the ,bedlams turn away from their doors as not being the subjects of insanity6 ,do you think her father has treated her judiciously8 said ,mr4 ,bernard4 ,i think1 said ,helen1 with a little hesitation1 which ,mr4 ,bernard did not happen to notice1--,i think he has been very kind and indulgent1 and ,i do not know that he could have treated her otherwise with a better chance of success4 ,he must of course be fond of her1 ,mr4 ,bernard said2 there is nothing else in the world for him to love4 ,helen dropped a book she held in her hand1 and1 stooping to pick it up1 the blood rushed into her cheeks4 ,it is getting late1 she said2 you must not stay any longer in this close school-room4 ,pray1 go and get a little fresh air before dinner-time4 ,,chapter ,,xxvii4 ,a ,,soul ,,in ,,distress4 ,the events told in the last two chapters had taken place toward the close of the week4 ,on ,saturday evening the ,reverend ,chauncy ,fairweather received a note which was left at his door by an unknown person who departed without saying a word4 ,its words were these3-- ,one who is in distress of mind requests the prayers of this congregation that ,god would be pleased to look in mercy upon the soul that he has afflicted4 ,there was nothing to show from whom the note came1 or the sex or age or special source of spiritual discomfort or anxiety of the writer4 ,the handwriting was delicate and might well be a woman's4 ,the clergyman was not aware of any particular affliction among his parishioners which was likely to be made the subject of a request of this kind4 ,surely neither of the ,venners would advertise the attempted crime of their relative in this way4 ,but who else was there8 ,the more he thought about it1 the more it puzzled him2 and as he did not like to pray in the dark1 without knowing for whom he was praying1 he could think of nothing better than to step into old ,doctor ,kittredge's and see what he had to say about it4 ,the old ,doctor was sitting alone in his study when the ,reverend ,mr4 ,fairweather was ushered in4 ,he received his visitor very pleasantly1 expecting1 as a matter of course1 that he would begin with some new grievance1 dyspeptic1 neuralgic1 bronchitic1 or other4 ,the minister1 however1 began with questioning the old ,doctor about the sequel of the other night's adventure2 for he was already getting a little ,jesuitical1 and kept back the object of his visit until it should come up as if accidentally in the course of conversation4 ,it was a pretty bold thing to go off alone with that reprobate1 as you did1 said the minister4 ,i don't know what there was bold about it1 the ,doctor answered4 ,all he wanted was to get away4 ,he was not quite a reprobate1 you see2 he didn't like the thought of disgracing his family or facing his uncle4 ,i think he was ashamed to see his cousin1 too1 after what he had done4 ,did he talk with you on the way8 ,not much4 ,for half an hour or so he didn't speak a word4 ,then he asked where ,i was driving him4 ,i told him1 and he seemed to be surprised into a sort of grateful feeling4 ,bad enough1 no doubt1--but might be worse4 ,has some humanity left in him yet4 ,let him go4 ,god can judge him1--,i can't4 ,you are too charitable1 ,doctor1 the minister said4 ,i condemn him just as if he had carried out his project1 which1 they say1 was to make it appear as if the schoolmaster had committed suicide4 ,that's what people think the rope found by him was for4 ,he has saved his neck1--but his soul is a lost one1 ,i am afraid1 beyond question4 ,i can't judge men's souls1 the ,doctor said4 ,i can judge their acts1 and hold them responsible for those1--but ,i don't know much about their souls4 ,if you or ,i had found our soul in a half-breed body1 and been turned loose to run among the ,indians1 we might have been playing just such tricks as this fellow has been trying4 ,what if you or ,i had inherited all the tendencies that were born with his cousin ,elsie8 ,oh1 that reminds me1--the minister said1 in a sudden way1--,i have received a note1 which ,i am requested to read from the pulpit to-morrow4 ,i wish you would just have the kindness to look at it and see where you think it came from4 ,the ,doctor examined it carefully4 ,it was a woman's or girl's note1 he thought4 ,might come from one of the school-girls who was anxious about her spiritual condition4 ,handwriting was disguised2 looked a little like ,elsie ,venner's1 but not characteristic enough to make it certain4 ,it would be a new thing1 if she had asked public prayers for herself1 and a very favorable indication of a change in her singular moral nature4 ,it was just possible ,elsie might have sent that note4 ,nobody could foretell her actions4 ,it would be well to see the girl and find out whether any unusual impression had been produced on her mind by the recent occurrence or by any other cause4 ,the ,reverend ,mr4 ,fairweather folded the note and put it into his pocket4 ,i have been a good deal exercised in mind lately1 myself1 he said4 ,the old ,doctor looked at him through his spectacles1 and said1 in his usual professional tone1-- ,put out your tongue4 ,the minister obeyed him in that feeble way common with persons of weak character1--for people differ as much in their mode of performing this trifling act as ,gideon's soldiers in their way of drinking at the brook4 ,the ,doctor took his hand and placed a finger mechanically on his wrist4 ,it is more spiritual1 ,i think1 than bodily1 said the ,reverend ,mr4 ,fairweather4 ,is your appetite as good as usual8 the ,doctor asked4 ,pretty good1 the minister answered2 but my sleep1 my sleep1 ,doctor1--,i am greatly troubled at night with lying awake and thinking of my future1--,i am not at ease in mind4 ,he looked round at all the doors1 to be sure they were shut1 and moved his chair up close to the ,doctor's4 ,you do not know the mental trials ,i have been going through for the last few months4 ,i think ,i do1 the old ,doctor said4 ,you want to get out of the new church into the old one1 don't you8 ,the minister blushed deeply2 he thought he had been going on in a very quiet way1 and that nobody suspected his secret4 ,as the old ,doctor was his counsellor in sickness1 and almost everybody's confidant in trouble1 he had intended to impart cautiously to him some hints of the change of sentiments through which he had been passing4 ,he was too late with his information1 it appeared2 and there was nothing to be done but to throw himself on the ,doctor's good sense and kindness1 which everybody knew1 and get what hints he could from him as to the practical course he should pursue4 ,he began1 after an awkward pause1-- ,you would not have me stay in a communion which ,i feel to be alien to the true church1 would you8 ,have you stay1 my friend8 said the ,doctor1 with a pleasant1 friendly look1--have you stay8 ,not a month1 nor a week1 nor a day1 if ,i could help it4 ,you have got into the wrong pulpit1 and ,i have known it from the first4 ,the sooner you go where you belong1 the better4 ,and ,i'm very glad you don't mean to stop half-way4 ,don't you know you've always come to me when you've been dyspeptic or sick anyhow1 and wanted to put yourself wholly into my hands1 so that ,i might order you like a child just what to do and what to take8 ,that's exactly what you want in religion4 ,i don't blame you for it4 ,you never liked to take the responsibility of your own body2 ,i don't see why you should want to have the charge of your own soul4 ,but ,i'm glad you're going to the ,old ,mother of all4 ,you wouldn't have been contented short of that4 ,the ,reverend ,mr4 ,fairweather breathed with more freedom4 ,the ,doctor saw into his soul through those awful spectacles of his1--into it and beyond it1 as one sees through a thin fog4 ,but it was with a real human kindness1 after all4 ,he felt like a child before a strong man2 but the strong man looked on him with a father's indulgence4 ,many and many a time1 when he had come desponding and bemoaning himself on account of some contemptible bodily infirmity1 the old ,doctor had looked at him through his spectacles1 listened patiently while he told his ailments1 and then1 in his large parental way1 given him a few words of wholesome advice1 and cheered him up so that he went off with a light heart1 thinking that the heaven he was so much afraid of was not so very near1 after all4 ,it was the same thing now4 ,he felt1 as feeble natures always do in the presence of strong ones1 overmastered1 circumscribed1 shut in1 humbled2 but yet it seemed as if the old ,doctor did not despise him any more for what he considered weakness of mind than he used to despise him when he complained of his nerves or his digestion4 ,men who see into their neighbors are very apt to be contemptuous2 but men who see through them find something lying behind every human soul which it is not for them to sit in judgment on1 or to attempt to sneer out of the order of ,god's manifold universe4 ,little as the ,doctor had said out of which comfort could be extracted1 his genial manner had something grateful in it4 ,a film of gratitude came over the poor man's cloudy1 uncertain eye1 and a look of tremulous relief and satisfaction played about his weak mouth4 ,he was gravitating to the majority1 where he hoped to find rest2 but he was dreadfully sensitive to the opinions of the minority he was on the point of leaving4 ,the old ,doctor saw plainly enough what was going on in his mind4 ,i sha'n't quarrel with you1 he said1--you know that very well2 but you mustn't quarrel with me1 if ,i talk honestly with you2 it isn't everybody that will take the trouble4 ,you flatter yourself that you will make a good many enemies by leaving your old communion4 ,not so many as you think4 ,this is the way the common sort of people will talk3--',you have got your ticket to the feast of life1 as much as any other man that ever lived4 ,protestantism says1--',help yourself2 here's a clean plate1 and a knife and fork of your own1 and plenty of fresh dishes to choose from4' ,the ,old ,mother says1--',give me your ticket1 my dear1 and ,i'll feed you with my gold spoon off these beautiful old wooden trenchers4 ,such nice bits as those good old gentlemen have left for you6' ,there is no quarrelling with a man who prefers broken victuals4' ,that's what the rougher sort will say2 and then1 where one scolds1 ten will laugh4 ,but1 mind you1 ,i don't either scold or laugh4 ,i don't feel sure that you could very well have helped doing what you will soon do4 ,you know you were never easy without some medicine to take when you felt ill in body4 ,i'm afraid ,i've given you trashy stuff sometimes1 just to keep you quiet4 ,now1 let me tell you1 there is just the same difference in spiritual patients that there is in bodily ones4 ,one set believes in wholesome ways of living1 and another must have a great list of specifics for all the soul's complaints4 ,you belong with the last1 and got accidentally shuffled in with the others4 ,the minister smiled faintly1 but did not reply4 ,of course1 he considered that way of talking as the result of the ,doctor's professional training4 ,it would not have been worth while to take offence at his plain speech1 if he had been so disposed2 for he might wish to consult him the next day as to what he should take for his dyspepsia or his neuralgia4 ,he left the ,doctor with a hollow feeling at the bottom of his soul1 as if a good piece of his manhood had been scooped out of him4 ,his hollow aching did not explain itself in words1 but it grumbled and worried down among the unshaped thoughts which lie beneath them4 ,he knew that he had been trying to reason himself out of his birthright of reason4 ,he knew that the inspiration which gave him understanding was losing its throne in his intelligence1 and the almighty ,majority-,vote was proclaiming itself in its stead4 ,he knew that the great primal truths1 which each successive revelation only confirmed1 were fast becoming hidden beneath the mechanical forms of thought1 which1 as with all new converts1 engrossed so large a share of his attention4 ,the peace1 the rest1 which he had purchased1 were dearly bought to one who had been trained to the arms of thought1 and whose noble privilege it might have been to live in perpetual warfare for the advancing truth which the next generation will claim as the legacy of the present4 ,the ,reverend ,mr4 ,fairweather was getting careless about his sermons4 ,he must wait the fitting moment to declare himself2 and in the mean time he was preaching to heretics4 ,it did not matter much what he preached1 under such circumstances4 ,he pulled out two old yellow sermons from a heap of such1 and began looking over that for the forenoon4 ,naturally enough1 he fell asleep over it1 and1 sleeping1 he began to dream4 ,he dreamed that he was under the high arches of an old cathedral amidst a throng of worshippers4 ,the light streamed in through vast windows1 dark with the purple robes of royal saints1 or blazing with yellow glories around the heads of earthly martyrs and heavenly messengers4 ,the billows of the great organ roared among the clustered columns1 as the sea breaks amidst the basaltic pillars which crowd the great cavern of the ,hebrides4 ,the voice of the alternate choirs of singing boys swung back and forward1 as the silver censer swung in the hands of the white-robed children4 ,the sweet cloud of incense rose in soft1 fleecy mists1 full of penetrating suggestions of the ,east and its perfumed altars4 ,the knees of twenty generations had worn the pavement2 their feet had hollowed the steps2 their shoulders had smoothed the columns4 ,dead bishops and abbots lay under the marble of the floor in their crumbled vestments2 dead warriors1 in their rusted armor1 were stretched beneath their sculptured effigies4 ,and all at once all the buried multitudes who had ever worshipped there came thronging in through the aisles4 ,they choked every space1 they swarmed into all the chapels1 they hung in clusters over the parapets of the galleries1 they clung to the images in every niche1 and still the vast throng kept flowing and flowing in1 until the living were lost in the rush of the returning dead who had reclaimed their own4 ,then1 as his dream became more fantastic1 the huge cathedral itself seemed to change into the wreck of some mighty antediluvian vertebrate2 its flying-buttresses arched round like ribs1 its piers shaped themselves into limbs1 and the sound of the organ-blast changed to the wind whistling through its thousand-jointed skeleton4 ,and presently the sound lulled1 and softened and softened1 until it was as the murmur of a distant swarm of bees4 ,a procession of monks wound along through an old street1 chanting1 as they walked1 ,in his dream he glided in among them and bore his part in the burden of their song4 ,he entered with the long train under a low arch1 and presently he was kneeling in a narrow cell before an image of the ,blessed ,maiden holding the ,divine ,child in her arms1 and his lips seemed to whisper1-- ,sancta ,maria1 ora pro nobis6 ,he turned to the crucifix1 and1 prostrating himself before the spare1 agonizing shape of the ,holy ,sufferer1 fell into a long passion of tears and broken prayers4 ,he rose and flung himself1 worn-out1 upon his hard pallet1 and1 seeming to slumber1 dreamed again within his dream4 ,once more in the vast cathedral1 with throngs of the living choking its aisles1 amidst jubilant peals from the cavernous depths of the great organ1 and choral melodies ringing from the fluty throats of the singing boys4 ,a day of great rejoicings1--for a prelate was to be consecrated1 and the bones of the mighty skeleton-minster were shaking with anthems1 as if there were life of its own within its buttressed ribs4 ,he looked down at his feet2 the folds of the sacred robe were flowing about them3 he put his hand to his head2 it was crowned with the holy mitre4 ,a long sigh1 as of perfect content in the consummation of all his earthly hopes1 breathed through the dreamer's lips1 and shaped itself1 as it escaped1 into the blissful murmur-- ,ego sum ,episcopus6 ,one grinning gargoyle looked in from beneath the roof through an opening in a stained window4 ,it was the face of a mocking fiend1 such as the old builders loved to place under the eaves to spout the rain through their open mouths4 ,it looked at him1 as he sat in his mitred chair1 with its hideous grin growing broader and broader1 until it laughed out aloud1-- such a hard1 stony1 mocking laugh1 that he awoke out of his second dream through his first into his common consciousness1 and shivered1 as he turned to the two yellow sermons which he was to pick over and weed of the little thought they might contain1 for the next day's service4 ,the ,reverend ,chauncy ,fairweather was too much taken up with his own bodily and spiritual condition to be deeply mindful of others4 ,he carried the note requesting the prayers of the congregation in his pocket all day2 and the soul in distress1 which a single tender petition might have soothed1 and perhaps have saved from despair or fatal error1 found no voice in the temple to plead for it before the ,throne of ,mercy6 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,great ,,lakes4 ,if1 as is believed by many statisticians1 the census of #ahfj should show that the centre of population and power in these ,united ,states is steadily advancing westward1 and that by the year #ahhj it will be at some point on the ,great ,lakes1 then1 certainly1 the history and resources of those inland seas cannot fail to be interesting to the general reader4 ,it happens that the ,indian traditions of this region possess more of the coherence of history than those of other parts of the country2 and1 as preserved by ,schoolcraft and embalmed in the poetry of ,longfellow1 they show well enough by the side of the early traditions of other primitive peoples4 ,the conquest of the ,lake-shore region by ,san-ge-man and his ,ojibwas may be as trustworthy a tale as the exploits of ,romulus and ,remus2 and when we emerge into the light of ,european record1 we find the ,jesuit missionaries preaching the gospel at ,st4 ,ignace and the ,sault ,st4 ,mary almost as early as the so-called ,cavaliers were planting tobacco at ,jamestown1 or the ,pilgrims smiting the heathen at ,plymouth4 ,the first white persons who penetrated into the ,upper ,lake region were two young fur-traders who left ,montreal for that purpose in #afed1 and remained two years among the ,indian tribes on those shores4 ,we are not informed of the details of this journey2 but it appears that they returned with information relative to ,lake ,superior1 and perhaps ,lake ,michigan and ,green ,bay2 for in #afei the fur-traders are known to have extended their traffic to that bay4 ,the first settlement of ,wisconsin may be dated in #affe1 when ,claude ,allouez established a mission at ,la ,pointe on ,lake ,superior4 ,this was before ,philadelphia was founded by ,william ,penn4 ,the first account we have of a voyage on ,lake ,michigan was by ,nicholas ,perrot1 who1 accompanied by some ,pottawattomies1 passed from ,green ,bay to ,chicago1 in #afgj4 ,two years afterwards the same voyage was undertaken by ,allouez and ,dablon4 ,they stopped at the mouth of the ,milwaukie ,river1 then occupied by ,kickapoo ,indians4 ,in #afgc1 ,fathers ,marquette and ,joliet went from ,green ,bay to the ,neenah or ,fox ,river1 and1 descending the ,wisconsin1 discovered the ,mississippi on the #agth of ,june4 ,in #afgi1 ,la ,salle made his voyage up the ,lakes in the ,griffin1 the first vessel built above the ,falls of ,niagara4 ,this vessel1 the pioneer of the great fleet which now whitens those waters1 was about sixty tons burden1 and carried five guns and thirty-four men4 ,la ,salle loaded her at ,green ,bay with a cargo of furs and skins1 and she sailed on the #ahth of ,september for ,niagara1 where she never arrived1 nor was any news of her ever received4 ,the ,griffin1 with her cargo1 was valued at sixty thousand livres4 ,thus the want of harbors on ,lake ,michigan began to be felt nearly two hundred years ago2 and the fate of the ,griffin was only a precursor of many similar calamities since4 ,about #agfj was the end of what may be called the religious epoch in the history of the ,northwest1 when the dominion passed from ,french to ,english hands1 and the military period commenced4 ,this lasted about fifty years1 during which time the combatants were ,french1 ,english1 ,indians1 and ,americans4 ,much blood was shed in desultory warfare4 ,detroit1 ,mackinac1 and other posts were taken and retaken2 in fact1 there never was peace in that land till after the naval victory of ,perry in #ahac1 when the command of the ,lakes passed to the ,americans4 ,our military and naval expeditions in the ,northwest were1 however1 remarkably unfortunate in that war4 ,for want of a naval force on the ,lakes1--a necessity which had been pointed out to the ,government by ,william ,hull1 then ,governor of the ,northwest ,territory1 before the declaration of war1--the posts of ,chicago1 ,mackinac1 and ,detroit were taken by the ,british and their ,indian allies in #ahab1 and kept by them till the next year1 when the energy and perseverance of ,perry and his ,rhode-,islanders created a fleet upon ,lake ,erie1 and swept the ,british vessels from that quarter4 ,in #ahad1 an ,american squadron of six brigs and schooners sailed from ,lake ,erie to retake the post of ,mackinac4 ,colonel ,croghan commanded the troops1 which were landed under cover of the guns of the squadron4 ,they were attacked in the woods on the back of the island by the ,british and ,indians4 ,major ,holmes1 who led the ,americans1 was killed1 and his men retreated in confusion to the ships1 which took them on board and sailed away4 ,the attack having failed1 ,captain ,sinclair1 who commanded the squadron1 returned to ,lake ,erie with the brigs ,niagara and ,saint ,lawrence and the schooners ,caledonia and ,ariel1 leaving the ,scorpion and ,tigress to operate against the enemy on ,lake ,huron4 ,the ,british schooner ,nancy1 being at ,nattawasaga1 under the protection of a block-house mounting two twenty-four pounders1 the ,american schooners proceeded to attack her1 and1 after a short action1 destroyed the vessel and the block-house1 the ,british escaping in their boats4 ,soon1 after1 the ,american schooners returned to the neighborhood of ,st4 ,joseph1 where they were seen by some ,indians1 who reported at ,mackinac that they were about five leagues apart4 ,an expedition was directly fitted out to capture them2 and ,major ,dickson1 commander of the post1 and ,lieutenant ,worsley1 who had retreated from the block-house above-mentioned1 started with one hundred men in four boats4 ,on the third of ,september1 at six o'clock1 ,p4,m41 they found the ,tigress at anchor1 and came within one hundred yards unobserved1 when a smart fire of grape and musketry was opened upon them4 ,they advanced1 and1 two boats hoarding her on each side1 she was carried1 after a short contest1 in which the ,british lost seven men1 killed and wounded1 and the ,americans1 out of a crew of twenty-eight1 had three killed and two wounded4 ,the prisoners having been sent to ,mackinac1 the ,tigress was got under way the next day1 still keeping the ,american colors flying1 and proceeded in search of the ,scorpion4 ,on the fifth1 they came in sight of her1 and1 as those on board knew nothing of what had happened to the ,tigress1 were suffered to approach within two miles4 ,at daylight the next morning1 the ,tigress was again got under way1 and running alongside her late consort1 the ,british carried her by boarding1 after a short scuffle1 in which four of the ,scorpion's crew were killed and wounded1 and one of the ,british wounded4 ,the schooners were fine new vessels1 of one hundred tons burden each1 and had on board large quantities of arms and ammunition4 ,this account of the earliest naval action on the ,upper ,lakes is taken from a ,british source2 for1 as may well be imagined1 it has never found its way into any ,american ,naval ,history or ,fourth of ,july ,oration4 ,it appears as if the ,american ,government1 during the ,war of #ahab1 either from ignorance of the value of the ,northwest1 or1 as some think1 from a fear lest it might1 if conquered1 become free territory1 were very inefficient in their efforts in that direction4 ,as1 however1 the same imbecility was displayed in other quarters1 for example1 at ,washington1 where they allowed the capital to be taken by a handful of ,british troops1 and as the ,yankee who was in the fight said1 ,they didn't seem to take no interest1 we must acquit the administration of ,mr4 ,madison of anything worse than going to war without adequate preparation4 ,after the ,war of #ahab was over1 the ,northwestern ,territory was held by our ,government by a kind of military occupation for some twenty years1 when1 the ,indian title having been extinguished1 white settlers began to occupy ,northern ,illinois and ,wisconsin4 ,the ,sacs and ,foxes1 having repented of their surrender of this fair country1 reentered it in #ahcb1 but after a short contest were expelled and driven westward1 and the working period commenced4 ,large cities have sprung up on the ,lake shores1 and the broad expanse of ,lake ,michigan is now whitened by a thousand sails2 and even the rocky cliffs of ,superior echo the whistle of the propeller1 instead of the scream of the bald eagle4 ,perhaps the ship-owners of the ,atlantic cities are hardly aware of the growth of this ,lake commerce within the last twenty years1 and that it is now nearly equal in amount to the whole foreign trade of the country4 ,before entering on the statistics of this trade1 however1 we will give a brief description of the ,lakes themselves4,a ,footnote ,a3 ,we are indebted for our facts and details to ,lapham's ,wisconsin1 ,foster and ,whitney's ,report1 ,agassiz's ,lake ,superior1 and works of similar character4 ,lake ,superior1 the largest expanse of fresh water on the globe1 is #cee miles in length1 #afj in breadth1 with a depth of #ijj feet4 ,it contains #cb1jjj square miles of surface1 which is elevated #fbg feet above the surface of the ocean1 while portions of its bed are several hundred feet below it4 ,its coast is #aejj miles in extent1 with irregular1 rocky shores1 bold headlands1 and deep bays4 ,it contains numerous islands1 one of which1 ,isle ,royale1 has an area of #bcj square miles4 ,the shores of this lake are rock-bound1 sometimes rising into lofty cliffs and pinnacles1 twelve or thirteen hundred feet high4 ,where the igneous rocks prevail1 the coast is finely indented2 where the sandstones abound1 it is gently curved4 ,lake ,superior occupies an immense depression1 for the most part excavated out of the soft and yielding sandstone4 ,its configuration on the east and north has been determined by an irregular belt of granite1 which forms a rim1 effectually resisting the further action of its waters4 ,the temperature of the water in summer is about #dj4 ,lake ,huron connects with ,superior by the ,st4 ,mary's ,river1 and is #bfj miles long and #afj broad2 its circumference is #aajj miles1 its area #bj1djj4 ,georgian ,bay1 #agj miles long and #gj broad1 forms the northeast portion1 and lies within ,british jurisdiction4 ,saginaw1 a deep and wide-mouthed bay1 is the principal indentation on the western coast4 ,the rim of this lake is composed mostly of detrital rocks1 which are rarely exposed4 ,in the northern portion of the lake1 the trap-rocks on the ,canada side intersect the coast4 ,the waters are as deep as those of ,superior1 and possess great transparency4 ,they rarely attain a higher temperature than #ej1 and1 like those of ,superior1 have the deep-blue tint of the ocean4 ,the northern coast of ,lake ,huron abounds in clusters of islands2 ,captain ,bayfield is said to have landed on #aj1jjj of them1 and to have estimated their number at #cj1jjj4 ,lake ,michigan1 called by the early voyagers ,lac des ,illinois1 is next in size to ,superior1 being #cbj miles in length and #ajj in breadth1 with a circumference1 including ,green ,bay1 of #acjj miles4 ,it contains #bb1jjj miles of surface1 with a depth of #ijj feet in the deeper parts1 though near the shore it grows gradually shoal4 ,the rocks which compose its rim are of a sedimentary nature1 and afford few indentations for harbors4 ,the shores are low1 and lined in many places with immense sand-banks4 ,green ,bay1 or ,bale des ,puans of the ,jesuits1 on the west coast1 is #ajj miles long and #bj broad4 ,great and ,little ,traverse ,bays occur on the eastern coast1 and ,great and ,little ,bays des ,noquets on the northern4 ,one cluster of islands is found at the outlet of the main lake1 and another at that of ,green ,bay4 ,lake ,michigan is the only one of the ,great ,lakes which lies wholly within ,american jurisdiction4 ,lake ,erie is #bdj miles in length1 #fj in breadth1 and contains an area of #i1fjj square miles4 ,it lies #efe feet above the sea-level1 and is the shallowest of all the ,lakes1 being only #hd feet in mean depth4 ,its waters1 in consequence1 have the green color of the sea in shallow bays and harbors4 ,it is connected with ,lake ,huron by the ,st4 ,clair ,river and ,lake1 a shallow expanse of water1 twenty miles wide1 and by ,detroit ,river4 ,lake ,ontario is #ahj miles in length and #ee in breadth1 containing #f1cjj square miles4 ,it is connected with ,lake ,erie by the ,niagara ,river1 and also by the ,welland ,canal1 which admits the passage of vessels of large burden4 ,this lake lies at a lower level than the others1 being only #bcj feet above the sea4 ,it is1 however1 about #ejj feet in depth4 ,the whole area of these lakes is over #ij1jjj miles1 and the area of land drained by them1 #cce1eae miles4 ,the presence of this great body of water modifies the range of the thermometer1 lessening the intensity of the cold in winter and of the heat in summer1 and gives a temperature more uniform on the ,lake coasts than is found in a corresponding latitude on the ,mississippi4 ,the difference between the temperature of the air and that of the ,lakes gives rise to a variety of optical illusions1 known as mirage4 ,mountains are seen with inverted cones2 headlands project from the shore where none exist2 islands clothed with verdure1 or girt with cliffs1 rise up from the bosom of the lake1 remain awhile1 and disappear4 ,hardly a day passes1 during the summer1 without a more or less striking exhibition of this kind4 ,the same phenomena of rapidly varying refraction may often be witnessed at sunset1 when the sun1 sinking into the lake1 undergoes a most striking series of changes4 ,at one moment it is drawn out into a pear-like shape2 the next it takes an elliptical form2 and just as it disappears1 the upper part of its disk becomes elongated into a ribbon of light1 which seems to float for a moment upon the surface of the water4 ,thunder-storms of great violence are not unusual1 and sudden gusts of wind spring up on the ,lakes1 and those who navigate them pass sometimes instantaneously from a current of air blowing briskly in one direction into one blowing with equal force from the opposite quarter4 ,the lower sails of a vessel are sometimes becalmed1 while a smart breeze fills the upper4 ,the storms which agitate the ,lakes1 though less violent than the typhoons of the ,indian ,ocean or the hurricanes of the ,atlantic1 are still very dangerous to mariners2 and1 owing to the want of sea-room1 and the scarcity of good harbors1 shipwrecks are but too common1 and frequently attended with much loss of life4 ,a short1 ugly sea gets up very quickly after the wind begins to blow hard1 and subsides with equal celerity when the wind goes down4 ,the fluctuations in the level of the waters of these lakes have attracted much attention among scientific observers2 and as early as #afgj1 ,father ,dablon1 in his ,relations1 says1--,as to the tides1 it is difficult to lay down any correct rule4 ,at one time we have found the motion of the waters to be regular1 and at others extremely fluctuating4 ,we have noticed1 however1 that at full moon and new moon the tides change once a day for eight or ten days1 while during the remainder of the time there is hardly any change perceptible4444 ,three things are remarkable3 #ast4 ,that the currents set almost constantly in one direction1 namely1 towards the ,lake of the ,illinois1 ,michigan1 which does not prevent their ordinary rise and fall2 #b;d4 ,that they almost invariably set against the wind1--sometimes with as much force as the tides at ,quebec1--and we have seen ice moving against the wind as fast as boats under full sail2 #c;d4 ,that among these currents we have discovered the emission of a quantity of water which seems to spring up from the bottom4 ,father ,dablon is of opinion that the waters of ,lake ,superior enter into the ,straits by a subterranean passage4 ,this theory1 he says1 is necessary to explain two things1 namely3 #ast4 ,without such a passage1 it is impossible to say what becomes of the waters of ,lake ,superior4 ,this vast lake has but one visible outlet1 namely1 the ,river of ,st4 ,mary2 while it receives the waters of a large number of rivers1 some of which are of greater dimensions than the ,st4 ,mary4 ,what1 then1 becomes of the surplus water8 #b;d4 ,the difficulty of explaining whence come the waters of ,huron and ,michigan4 ,very few rivers flow into these lakes1 and their volume of water is such as to fortify the belief that it must be supplied through the subterranean river entering the ,straits4 ,a large number of facts have been collected by ,messrs4 ,foster and ,whitney on the subject of these oscillations of the ,lake level2 and1 in fact1 these phenomena have been for a long time familiar to the residents on the ,lake shores4 ,they are generally attributed by scientific men to atmospheric disturbances1 which1 by increasing or diminishing the atmospheric pressure1 produce a corresponding rise or fall in the water-level4 ,these are the sudden and irregular fluctuations4 ,the gradual fluctuations are probably caused by the variable amount of rain which falls in the vast area of country drained by the ,lakes4 ,thus1 at ,fort ,brady1 where the mean of five years' observations is #bi4fh inches1 the extremes are #cf4ib and #bb4dd4 ,an idea has been long prevalent among the old residents1 derived from the ,indians1 that there is a variation of the ,lake surface which extends over a period of fourteen years1--that is1 the ,lakes rise for seven years1 and fall for seven years4 ,the records kept by accurate observers at various points on the ,lakes for the last ten years do not seem to confirm this theory2 but it has been well established by the recent observations of ,colonel ,graham1 at both ends of ,lake ,michigan1 that there is a semi-diurnal lunar tide on that lake of at least one third of a foot4 ,the evaporation from this great water-surface must be immense4 ,it has been estimated at #aa1hjj1jjj1jjj1jjj cubic feet per annum2 and in this way alone can we account for the difference between the volume of water which enters the ,lakes and that which leaves them at the ,falls of ,niagara4 ,immense as is the quantity of water which pours over the ,falls1 it is small in comparison with the floods which combine to make up the ,upper ,lakes4 ,in the year #ahcb1 about the close of the ,black ,hawk ,war1 the tonnage of the ,lakes was only #g1jjj tons4 ,in #ahde it had increased to #acb1jjj tons1 and in #aheh it was #djd1cja tons4 ,or1 if we take ,chicago1 the chief city of the ,lakes1 we find that her imports and exports were1-- ,imports4 ,exports4 ,in #ahcf1 #cbe1bjc #a1jjj #ahea1 #bd1daj1djj #e1cie1dga #ahei1 estimated #fj1jjj1jjj #bd1bhj1hij ,in the year #aheh1 there were on the ,lakes1-- ,american vessels1 #a1aid4 ,tonnage1 #cii1ddc ,canadian #cba4 #ei1ehj ,value of ,american tonnage on the ,lakes1 #af1jjj1jjj ,value of ,lake commerce1 import and exports1 #fjj1jjj1jjj ,number of seamen employed1 #ac1jjj ,taking the island of ,mackinac as the geographical centre of this navigation1 we find the distances as follows3-- ,miles4 ,from ,mackinac to head of ,lake ,superior #eej ,chicago #cej ,east end of ,georgian ,bay #cjj ,buffalo #gjj ,gulf of ,st4 ,lawrence #a1fjj ,or ninety thousand miles of lakes and rivers1 extending half across the continent4 ,the following table shows the amount of tonnage belonging to different cities in #aheg3-- ,tons4 ,tons4 ,new ,york1 #a1cgg1dbd ,charleston1 #ef1dcj ,boston1 #ddg1iff ,detroit1 #eg1gjg ,bath1 #ahi1icb ,new ,bedford1 #aeb1gii ,baltimore1 #aia1fah ,new ,orleans1 #agc1afg ,providence1 #ae1aeb ,cleveland1 #fc1cfa ,philadelphia1 #baa1chj ,chicago1 #fg1caf ,buffalo1 #ajj1bbf ,milwaukie1 #bb1cci ,this shows that ,chicago had in #aheg1 being then twenty-five years old1 a larger tonnage than ,charleston1 the capital of the ,palmetto ,kingdom2 and ,milwaukie1 still younger than ,chicago1 owned a larger amount of tonnage than the old and wealthy city of ,providence4 ,in #aheg1 the export of grain from the ,lake ports was sixty-five million bushels2 in #ahfj1 it was estimated at one hundred millions4 ,the coal-trade of ,cleveland1 in #aheh1 was #abi1jjj tons4 ,a large amount was also shipped from ,erie4 ,in #aheh1 the salt-trade of the ,lakes amounted to more than six hundred thousand barrels1 most of which was shipped from the port of ,oswego on ,lake ,ontario4 ,the lumber received at ,chicago in #aheh amounted to3 ,boards1 #bgc1jjj1jjj feet2 shingles1 #bed1jjj1jjj2 lath1 #de1jjj1jjj3 worth #b1ddb1ejj4 ,the present navigable outlets to this great commerce are three in number4 ,first1 the ,erie ,canal1 from ,buffalo to ,albany1 which1 in its enlarged form1 takes probably two-thirds of the productions of the ,lake regions4 ,second1 the ,river ,st4 ,lawrence1 which1 by means of the ,welland ,canal1 secures a good share of the trade4 ,third1 the ,illinois and ,michigan ,canal1 which conveys large quantities of lumber1 salt1 and other heavy goods to the ,illinois ,river and the ,mississippi4 ,of course1 more or less produce is taken to the seaboard by the railroads2 but1 even if they could compete in price with water-carriage1 it is evident that they are incapable of moving the surplus grain of the ,northwest1 as it now is4 ,another great navigable outlet to the ,lakes is needed1 so that vessels of the largest class may sail from the elevators of ,chicago to the ,liverpool docks without breaking bulk2 and in reference to this1 a survey has recently been made by ,thomas ,c4 ,clarke1 under the direction of the ,canadian ,government1 for a ship-navigation between ,montreal and ,lake ,huron1 by way of the ,ottawa ,river1 ,lake ,nipissing1 and ,french ,river4 ,the ,report shows that the cost of the work for vessels of one thousand tons burden would be twelve million dollars1--and that it would cut off a distance nearly equal to the whole length of ,lakes ,erie and ,ontario1 thus saving from three hundred and fifty to four hundred miles of navigation4 ,in view of the fact that the navigation of ,st4 ,clair and ,erie is the most troublesome and dangerous part of the voyage1 this plan certainly deserves attention4 ,it is easy to see what a prolific nursery of seamen this ,lake commerce must be1 and how valuable a resource in a war with any great naval power4 ,it is a resource which was wholly wanting to us in the ,war of #ahab1 when ,commodore ,perry had to bring his sailors from the seaboard with great difficulty and expense4 ,in any future war with ,england1 supposing such an unhappy event to take place1 our great numerical superiority upon the ,lakes in both vessels and sailors would not only insure our supremacy there1 but also afford a large surplus of men for our ocean marine4 ,but it may be said that these men are only fresh-water sailors1 after all1 and are not to be relied upon for ocean-navigation4 ,we know there used to be a notion prevailing1 that neither ,lake vessels nor ,lake men would do for salt water2 but in #ahef1 the schooner ,dean ,richmond took a cargo of wheat from ,chicago to ,liverpool1 beating a large fleet of ocean craft from ,quebec across the ,atlantic1 and otherwise behaving so well as to cause the sale of the vessel in ,england4 ,this voyage encouraged others to try the experiment1 and in #ahei from thirty to forty ,lake vessels loaded for ocean ports4 ,that this trade will be very much increased there is no doubt1 since it affords occupation for the ,lake marine in the winter1 when the ,lake ports are closed by ice4 ,on the western shore of ,lake ,michigan there are large settlements of ,norwegians and ,swedes1 many of whom follow the ,lakes as fishermen and sailors4 ,descendants of the old ,northern sea-kings1 they are as hardy and adventurous here as in their ,scandinavian homes1 and run their vessels earlier and later in the season than other men are willing to do4 ,science might have anticipated1 however1 that vessels built for fresh-water navigation1 and loaded at ,lake ports1 would have an advantage on the ocean over those loaded on salt water4 ,as is the density of the water of any sea1 so is the displacement1 or the sinking of the vessel therein4 ,therefore a vessel can carry a larger cargo in salt water than she can in fresh2 and so1 a ,lake craft1 loading at ,chicago as deep as she can swim1 will find herself1 when she reaches the ocean1 much more buoyant and lively4 ,so1 also1 as1 the more sail a vessel carries1 the deeper she penetrates the water1 it follows1 that1 the more dense the water1 the more sail she can carry4 ,in proof of these statements1 the ,merchants' ,magazine tells us1 that ,english vessels bound up the ,black ,sea take smaller cargoes than those going to the ,mediterranean1 because1 the former being much less salt than the latter1 vessels are less buoyant thereon1 and can carry less4 ,this difference in buoyancy will probably be enough to offset the higher seas and rougher weather of the ,atlantic4 ,thus it appears that this great basin extends through so many degrees of latitude that its lakes and streams connect with the mineral regions and pine forests of the ,north1 the wheat- and corn-lands and cattle-ranges of the ,middle ,states1 and the cotton-and sugar-plantations of the ,south4 ,the pine forests of ,maine1 it is well known1 have been for some time failing1 under the great demand upon them2 and the only resource will soon be in those of ,wisconsin1 ,minnesota1 and ,michigan1 from which many cargoes have been already sent to the ,atlantic ports4 ,the amount of lumber made in these pineries in #ahfj is estimated at twelve hundred million feet1 worth between eight and nine millions of dollars4 ,most of this goes to the country west of the ,lakes1--to ,chicago1 to ,st4 ,louis1 and even down the river to ,new ,orleans4 ,since railroads have penetrated the great prairies and made them habitable1 the demand for pine lumber has greatly increased both for building and fencing2 and it has been estimated1 that1 if every quarter-section of land in ,iowa and ,illinois were surrounded with a three-board fence1 it would consume every foot of pine-timber in ,michigan4 ,as to the copper and iron mines of ,lake ,superior1 many dabblers in fancy stocks are but too well acquainted with them1 and many burned fingers testify against those investments of capital4 ,still1 the amount of mineral is immense1 and the quality of the purest2 and these mines will no doubt pay well1 if worked with skill and capital4 ,since #ahde1 one hundred and sixteen copper-mining companies have been organized in ,michigan1 under the general law of the ,state2 and the amount of capital invested in them is estimated at six millions of dollars4 ,most of this is lost4 ,on the other hand1 the ,cliff and ,minnesota mines have returned over two millions of dollars in dividends4 ,the latter is said to have paid1 in #aheh1 a dividend of #cjj1jjj on a paid-up capital of #ff1jjj4 ,mining is a lottery1 and this brilliant prize cannot conceal the fact that blanks fall to the lot of by far the more numerous part of the ticket-holders4 ,the opening of the ,sault ,canal has very much aided in developing the resources of the ,upper ,peninsula4 ,in #ahde1 the ,lake ,superior fleet consisted of three schooners4 ,in #ahfj1 one hundred vessels passed through the canal1 loaded with supplies for the mining country1 and returned with cargoes of copper and iron ore and fish4 ,the copper is smelted in ,detroit1 ,cleveland1 and ,boston4 ,in #ahei1 #c1jjj tons were landed in ,detroit1 producing from #fj to #gj per cent of ingot copper1 being among the purest ores in the world4 ,the iron ore of this region is also of extraordinary purity2 and for all purposes where great strength and tenacity are required1 it is unrivalled1 as the following table1 showing the relative strength1 per square inch1 as compared with other kinds of iron1 will prove3-- ,best ,swedish 444444 #eh4ahd ,english cable444444 #ei4aje ,essex ,co41 ,n4,y44444 #ei4ifb ,lancaster1 ,pa444444 #eh4ffa ,common ,english 4444 #cj4jjj ,best ,russia 4444444 #gf4jfi ,lake ,superior 44444 #hi4ehb ,with such iron to be had of ,american manufacture1 why should we use a rotten ,english article for car-wheels and boiler-plates1 and so sacrifice the lives of thousands every year8 ,because1 by an unwise legislation1 the foreign article is made a little cheaper to the ,american consumer4 ,there are ten large forges in operation in ,michigan1 with a capital of over two millions of dollars2 and the shipments of ore from ,marquette in #ahei were over #ge1jjj tons4 ,the country back of ,marquette is full of mountains of iron ore1 yielding #fj or #gj per cent1 of pure metal1 sufficient to supply the world for ages4 ,traces have been found1 through the whole of this copper-region1 of a rude species of mining practised here long before it became known to the whites4 ,the existing races of ,indians had not even a tradition by whom it was done2 and the excavations were unknown to them1 until pointed out by the white man4 ,messrs4 ,foster and ,whitney1 in their survey of the copper-lands1 found a pine-stump ten feet in circumference1 which must have grown1 flourished1 and died since the mound of earth upon which it stood was thrown out4 ,mr4 ,knapp discovered1 in #ahdh1 a deserted mine or excavation1 in which1 under eighteen feet of rubbish1 he found a mass of native copper weighing over six tons1 resting on billets of oak supported by sleepers of the same material4 ,the ancient miners had evidently raised the mass about five feet1 and then abandoned it4 ,around it1 among the accumulation of rubbish1 were found a large number of stone hammers1 and some copper chisels1 but no utensils of iron4 ,in some instances1 explorers have been led to select valuable mining-sites by the abundance of these stone hammers found about the ground4 ,traces of tumuli have also been found in these regions1 which would seem to indicate some connection between these ancient miners and the mound-builders of the ,mississippi ,valley1--especially as in those western mounds copper rings have frequently been found4 ,the economical value of the ,lake fisheries is considerable4 ,the total catch of white-fish1 trout1 and pickerel1 the only kinds which are packed1 to any extent1 was estimated for #ahei at #aaj1jjj barrels1 worth about #hhj1jjj4 ,these find a market through the ,states of ,ohio1 ,kentucky1 ,indiana1 and ,illinois2 besides a large quantity which are consumed in a fresh state1 in the ,lake cities and towns4 ,the ,white-,fish1 7,coregonus ,albus17 which is the most valuable of all1 somewhat resembles the shad in appearance and taste4 ,it is taken in seines and other nets1--never with the hook4 ,the white-fish of ,lake ,superior are larger1 fatter1 and of finer flavor than any others4 ,in this lake they have sometimes been taken weighing fifteen pounds4 ,at the ,sault they are taken in the rapids with dip-nets1 by the ,chippewas who live in that vicinity1 and are of very fine flavor2 those of ,detroit ,river and the ,straits of ,mackinac are also very good2 but when you go south1 into ,lake ,erie or ,michigan1 the quality of the fish deteriorates4 ,few travellers ever taste a white-fish in perfection4 ,as eaten upon hotel-tables at ,buffalo or ,chicago1 it is a poor and tasteless fish4 ,but1 as found at the old ,french boarding-houses at ,mackinac or the ,sault1 or1 better still1 cooked fresh from the icy waters on the rocky shores of ,superior1 it is1 to our thinking1 the best fish that swims1--better than the true salmon or brook-trout4 ,the famous fish once so plenty in ,otsego ,lake1 but now nearly extinct1 was a ,coregonus1 and first cousin to this one of the ,great ,lakes4 ,so ,sebago ,lake1 near ,portland1 some fifty years ago1 boasted of a delicious red-fleshed trout1 of large size1 which has in these latter times1 from netting or some other improper fishing1 nearly or quite disappeared from those waters1 leaving upon the palates of old anglers the remembrance of a flavor higher and richer than anything now remaining4 ,the ,lake ,trout1 or ,mackinac ,salmon1 is the largest of the family of ,salmonidoe1 growing1 it is said1 sometimes to the weight of one hundred pounds4 ,from twenty to thirty pounds is not uncommon1 which is much larger than the average of ,salmo ,salar1 the true salmon4 ,truth compels us to add1 however1 that our salmon of the ,lakes is inferior to his kinsman of the salt water2 though1 as in the case of the white-fish1 he has been slandered by ignorant people1 such as newspaper letter-writers1 and the like4 ,when taken from the clear1 cold waters of ,lake ,huron or the ,straits1 and boiled as nearly alive as humanity will permit1 ,salmo ,namaycush is nearly equal to the true salmon2 but after two or three days in ice1 how stale1 flat1 and unprofitable6 ,the ,muskelunge 7,esox ,estor7 is peculiar to this basin1 and is the largest of the pickerels1 weighing from ten to eighty pounds4 ,it is a very handsome and game fish1 and is the king1 or tyrant1 of the water1 devouring without mercy everything smaller than itself2 though its favorite food is the white-fish1 which1 perhaps1 accounts for the superior flavor of this huge pike1 which is one of the very best of fresh-water fishes4 ,another excellent fish for the table is the ,pike-,perch1 7,lucio-,perca7 or ,glass-,eyed ,pike1 from his large1 brilliant eyes4 ,in ,ohio1 it is called the salmon1 and by the ,canadians the pickerel1 while1 with singular perversity1 they persist in calling our pickerel a pike4 ,it is a very firm1 well-flavored fish1 weighing from two to ten pounds1 and is found in all the ,great ,lakes4 ,professor ,agassiz was the first to describe a large and valuable species of pike1 which he found in ,lake ,superior1--the ,northern ,pike 7,esox ,boreus74 ,this is the most common species of pike in the ,st4 ,lawrence basin1 though usually confounded with the common pickerel 7,esox ,reticulatus74 ,it grows to the size of fifteen or twenty pounds1 and is a better table-fish than ,esox ,reticulatus4 ,it may be distinguished by the rows of spots sides1 of a lighter color than the ground upon which they are arranged4 ,it differs from the ,muskelunge in having the lower jaw full of teeth2 whereas in the ,muskelunge the anterior half of the lower jaw is toothless4 ,all the streams which empty into ,lake ,superior1 those of the north shore of ,lake ,huron1 the west shore of ,lake ,michigan as far as ,lake ,winnebago1 and all the streams of ,lake ,ontario1 contain the ,speckled ,trout 7,salmo ,fontinalis72 while they are not found in the streams on the southern coasts of ,lake ,michigan1 or 7so far as we know7 in the streams of ,lake ,erie4 ,what can determine this limitation of the range of the species8 ,it cannot be latitude1 since trout are found in ,pennsylvania and ,virginia4 ,it is not longitude1 since they occur in the head-waters of the ,iowa rivers4 ,so ,professor ,agassiz found that ,lake ,superior contained species which were not to be found in the other lakes1 and that the other lakes1 again1 contained species which did not occur in ,lake ,superior4 ,he says1 in his work on ,lake ,superior1 ,it is the great question of the unity or plurality of creations2 it is not less the question of the origin of animals from single pairs or in large numbers2 and1 strange to say1 a thorough examination of the fishes of ,lake ,superior1 compared with those of the adjacent waters1 is likely to throw more light upon such questions1 than all traditions1 however ancient1 however near in point of time to the epoch of ,creation itself4 ,in ,lake ,superior is likewise found that remarkable salmon1 the ,siscowet1--which is so fat and luscious as to be uneatable in a fresh state1 and requires to be salted to render it fit for food4 ,it commands a much higher price by the barrel than the lake-trout or white-fish1 and is rarely to be met with out of the ,lake cities4 ,in this basin is also found the ,gar-,pike1 7,lepidosteus17 a singular animal1 which is the only living representative of the fishes that existed in the early ages of the earth's history1--and which1 by its formidable array of teeth1 its impenetrable armor1 and its swiftness and voracity1 gives us some idea of the terrible creatures which peopled the waters of that period4 ,we have thus hastily sketched the character and indicated the resources of that great ,northwest1 which1 little more than fifty years ago a wilderness1 is now a cluster of republics holding more than the balance of power in the ,union4 ,idle speculatists1 terrified by the violence of ,south ,carolina1 and believing that on her withdrawal the sky is to fall1 are already predicting the dismemberment of ,east and ,west4 ,but we think the chance of it is growing less1 year by year4 ,the two are now bound indissolubly together by lines of railroad1 which1 during a part of the year1 are the most convenient outlet of the ,west toward the sea4 ,those ,states1 just as they are arriving at a controlling influence in the affairs of a great and powerful nation1 are hardly likely to seclude themselves from the rest of the world in what would1 from its position1 be at best an insignificant republic4 99 99 99 99 99 ,e ,,pluribus ,,unum4 ,we do not believe that any government--no1 not the ,rump ,parliament on its last legs--ever showed such pitiful inadequacy as our own during the past two months4 ,helpless beyond measure in all the duties of practical statesmanship1 its members or their dependants have given proof of remarkable energy in the single department of peculation2 and there1 not content with the slow methods of the old-fashioned defaulter1 who helped himself only to what there was1 they have contrived to steal what there was going to be1 and have peculated in advance by a kind of official post-obit4 ,so thoroughly has the credit of the most solvent nation in the world been shaken1 that an administration which still talks of paying a hundred millions for ,cuba is unable to raise a loan of five millions for the current expenses of ,government4 ,nor is this the worst2 the moral bankruptcy at ,washington is more complete and disastrous than the financial1 and for the first time in our history the ,executive is suspected of complicity in a treasonable plot against the very life of the nation4 ,our material prosperity for nearly half a century has been so unparalleled1 that the minds of men have become gradually more and more absorbed in matters of personal concern2 and our institutions have practically worked so well and so easily1 that we have learned to trust in our luck1 and to take the permanence of our government for granted4 ,the country has been divided on questions of temporary policy1 and the people have been drilled to a wonderful discipline in the manoeuvres of party-tactics2 but no crisis has arisen to force upon them a consideration of the fundamental principles of our system1 or to arouse in them a sense of national unity1 and make them feel that patriotism was anything more than a pleasing sentiment1--half ,fourth of ,july and half ,eighth of ,january1--a feeble reminiscence1 rather than a living fact with a direct bearing on the national well-being4 ,we have had long experience of that unmemorable felicity which consists in having no history1 so far as history is made up of battles1 revolutions1 and changes of dynasty2 but the present generation has never been called upon to learn that deepest lesson of politics which is taught by a common danger1 throwing the people back on their national instincts1 and superseding party-leaders1 the peddlers of chicane1 with men adequate to great occasions and dealers in destiny4 ,such a crisis is now upon us2 and if the virtue of the people make up for the imbecility of the ,executive1 as we have little doubt that it will1 if the public spirit of the whole country be awakened in time by the common peril1 the present trial will leave the nation stronger than ever1 and more alive to its privileges and the duties they imply4 ,we shall have learned what is meant by a government of laws1 and that allegiance to the sober will of the majority1 concentrated in established forms and distributed by legitimate channels1 is all that renders democracy possible1 is its only conservative principle1 the only thing that has made and can keep us a powerful nation instead of a brawling mob4 ,the theory1 that the best government is that which governs least1 seems to have been accepted literally by ,mr4 ,buchanan1 without considering the qualifications to which all general propositions are subject4 ,his course of conduct has shown up its absurdity1 in cases where prompt action is required1 as effectually as ,buckingham turned into ridicule the famous verse1-- ,my wound is great1 because it is so small1 by instantly adding1-- ,then it were greater1 were it none at all4 ,mr4 ,buchanan seems to have thought1 that1 if to govern little was to govern well1 then to do nothing was the perfection of policy4 ,but there is a vast difference between letting well alone and allowing bad to become worse by a want of firmness at the outset4 ,if ,mr4 ,buchanan1 instead of admitting the right of secession1 had declared it to be1 as it plainly is1 rebellion1 he would not only have received the unanimous support of the ,free ,states1 but would have given confidence to the loyal1 reclaimed the wavering1 and disconcerted the plotters of treason in the ,south4 ,either we have no government at all1 or else the very word implies the right1 and therefore the duty1 in the governing power1 of protecting itself from destruction and its property from pillage4 ,but for ,mr4 ,buchanan's acquiescence1 the doctrine of the right of secession would never for a moment have bewildered the popular mind4 ,it is simply mob-law under a plausible name4 ,such a claim might have been fairly enough urged under the old ,confederation2 though even then it would have been summarily dealt with1 in the case of a ,tory colony1 if the necessity had arisen4 ,but the very fact that we have a ,national ,constitution1 and legal methods for testing1 preventing1 or punishing any infringement of its provisions1 demonstrates the absurdity of any such assumption of right now4 ,when the ,states surrendered their power to make war1 did they make the single exception of the ,united ,states1 and reserve the privilege of declaring war against them at any moment8 ,if we are a congeries of mediaeval ,italian republics1 why should the ,general ,government have expended immense sums in fortifying points whose strategic position is of continental rather than local consequence8 ,florida1 after having cost us nobody knows how many millions of dollars and thousands of lives to render the holding of slaves possible to her1 coolly proposes to withdraw herself from the ,union and take with her one of the keys of the ,mexican ,gulf1 on the plea that her slave-property is rendered insecure by the ,union4 ,louisiana1 which we bought and paid for to secure the mouth of the ,mississippi1 claims the right to make her soil ,french or ,spanish1 and to cork up the river again1 whenever the whim may take her4 ,the ,united ,states are not a ,german ,confederation1 but a unitary and indivisible nation1 with a national life to protect1 a national power to maintain1 and national rights to defend against any and every assailant1 at all hazards4 ,our national existence is all that gives value to ,american citizenship4 ,without the respect which nothing but our consolidated character could inspire1 we might as well be citizens of the toy-republic of ,san ,marino1 for all the protection it would afford us4 ,if our claim to a national existence was worth a seven-years' war to establish1 it is worth maintaining at any cost2 and it is daily becoming more apparent1 that the people1 so soon as they find that secession means anything serious1 will not allow themselves to be juggled out of their rights1 as members of one of the great powers of the earth1 by a mere quibble of ,constitutional interpretation4 ,we have been so much accustomed to the ,buncombe style of oratory1 to hearing men offer the pledge of their lives1 fortunes1 and sacred honor on the most trivial occasions1 that we are apt to allow a great latitude in such matters1 and only smile to think how small an advance any intelligent pawn-broker would be likely to make on securities of this description4 ,the sporadic eloquence that breaks out over the country on the eve of election1 and becomes a chronic disease in the two houses of ,congress1 has so accustomed us to dissociate words and things1 and to look upon strong language as an evidence of weak purpose1 that we attach no meaning whatever to declamation4 ,our ,southern brethren have been especially given to these orgies of loquacity1 and have so often solemnly assured us of their own courage1 and of the warlike propensities1 power1 wealth1 and general superiority of that part of the universe which is so happy as to be represented by them1 that1 whatever other useful impression they have made1 they insure our never forgetting the proverb about the woman who talks of her virtue4 ,south ,carolina1 in particular1 if she has hitherto failed in the application of her enterprise to manufacturing purposes of a more practical kind1 has always been able to match every yard of printed cotton from the ,north with a yard of printed fustian1 the product of her own domestic industry4 ,we have thought no harm of this1 so long as no ,act of ,congress required the reading of the ,congressional ,globe4 ,we submitted to the general dispensation of long-windedness and short-meaningness as to any other providential visitation1 endeavoring only to hold fast our faith in the divine government of the world in the midst of so much that was past understanding4 ,but we lost sight of the metaphysical truth1 that1 though men may fail to convince others by a never so incessant repetition of sonorous nonsense1 they nevertheless gradually persuade themselves1 and impregnate their own minds and characters with a belief in fallacies that have been uncontradicted only because not worth contradiction4 ,thus our ,southern politicians1 by dint of continued reiteration1 have persuaded themselves to accept their own flimsy assumptions for valid statistics1 and at last actually believe themselves to be the enlightened gentlemen1 and the people of the ,free ,states the peddlers and sneaks they have so long been in the habit of fancying4 ,they have argued themselves into a kind of vague faith that the wealth and power of the ,republic are south of ,mason and ,dixon's line2 and the ,northern people have been slow in arriving at the conclusion that treasonable talk would lead to treasonable action1 because they could not conceive that anybody should be so foolish as to think of rearing an independent frame of government on so visionary a basis4 ,moreover1 the so often recurring necessity1 incident to our system1 of obtaining a favorable verdict from the people1 has fostered in our public men the talents and habits of jury-lawyers at the expense of statesmanlike qualities2 and the people have been so long wonted to look upon the utterances of popular leaders as intended for immediate effect and having no reference to principles1 that there is scarcely a prominent man in the country so independent in position and so clear of any suspicion of personal or party motives1 that they can put entire faith in what he says1 and accept him either as the leader or the exponent of their thoughts and wishes4 ,they have hardly been able to judge with certainty from the debates in ,congress whether secession were a real danger1 or only one of those political feints of which they have had such frequent experience4 ,events have been gradually convincing them that the peril was actual and near4 ,they begin to see how unwise1 if nothing worse1 has been the weak policy of the ,executive in allowing men to play at ,revolution till they learn to think the coarse reality as easy and pretty as the vaudeville they have been acting4 ,they are fast coming to the conclusion that the list of grievances put forward by the secessionists is a sham and a pretence1 the veil of a long-matured plot against republican institutions4 ,and it is time the traitors of the ,south should know that the ,free ,states are becoming every day more united in sentiment and more earnest in resolve1 and that1 so soon as they are thoroughly satisfied that secession is something more than empty bluster1 a public spirit will be aroused that will be content with no half-measures1 and which no ,executive1 however unwilling1 can resist4 ,the country is weary of being cheated with plays upon words4 ,the ,united ,states are a nation1 and not a mass-meeting2 theirs is a government1 and not a caucus1--a government that was meant to be capable1 and is capable1 of something more than the helpless please don't of a village constable2 they have executive and administrative officers that are not mere puppet-figures to go through the motions of an objectless activity1 but arms and hands that become supple to do the will of the people so soon as that will becomes conscious and defines its purpose4 ,it is time that we turned up our definitions in some more trustworthy dictionary than that of avowed disunionists and their more dangerous because more timid and cunning accomplices4 ,rebellion smells no sweeter because it is called ,secession1 nor does ,order lose its divine precedence in human affairs because a knave may nickname it ,coercion4 ,secession means chaos1 and ,coercion the exercise of legitimate authority4 ,you cannot dignify the one nor degrade the other by any verbal charlatanism4 ,the best testimony to the virtue of coercion is the fact that no wrongdoer ever thought well of it4 ,the thief in jail1 the mob-leader in the hands of the police1 and the murderer on the drop will be unanimous in favor of this new heresy of the unconstitutionality of ,constitutions1 with its ,newgate ,calendar of confessors1 martyrs1 and saints4 ,falstaff's famous regiment would have volunteered to a man for its propagation or its defence4 ,henceforth let every unsuccessful litigant have the right to pronounce the verdict of a jury sectional1 and to quash all proceedings and retain the property in controversy by seceding from the court-room4 ,let the planting of hemp be made penal1 because it squints toward coercion4 ,why1 the first great ,secessionist would doubtless have preferred to divide ,heaven peaceably1 would have been willing to send ,commissioners1 must have thought ,michael's proceedings injudicious1 and could probably even now demonstrate the illegality of hell-fire to any five-year-old imp of average education and intelligence4 ,what a fine world we should have1 if we could only come quietly together in convention1 and declare by unanimous resolution1 or even by a two-thirds' vote1 that edge-tools should hereafter cut everybody's fingers but his that played with them1--that1 when two men ride on one horse1 the hindmost shall always sit in front1--and that1 when a man tries to thrust his partner out of bed and gets kicked out himself1 he shall be deemed to have established his title to an equitable division1 and the bed shall be thenceforth his as of right1 without detriment to the other's privilege in the floor6 ,if secession be a right1 then the moment of its exercise is wholly optional with those possessing it4 ,suppose1 on the eve of a war with ,england1 ,michigan should vote herself out of the ,union and declare herself annexed to ,canada1 what kind of a reception would her ,commissioners be likely to meet in ,washington1 and what scruples should we feel about coercion8 ,or1 to take a case precisely parallel to that of ,south ,carolina1--suppose that ,utah1 after getting herself admitted to the ,union1 should resume her sovereignty1 as it is pleasantly called1 and block our path to the ,pacific1 under the pretence that she did not consider her institutions safe while the other ,states entertained such unscriptural prejudices against her special weakness in the patriarchal line4 ,is the only result of our admitting a ,territory on ,monday to be the giving it a right to steal itself and go out again on ,tuesday8 ,or do only the original thirteen ,states possess this precious privilege of suicide8 ,we shall need something like a ,fugitive ,slave ,law for runaway republics1 and must get a provision inserted in our treaties with foreign powers1 that they shall help us catch any delinquent who may take refuge with them1 as ,south ,carolina has been trying to do with ,england and ,france4 ,it does not matter to the argument1 except so far as the good taste of the proceeding is concerned1 at what particular time a ,state may make her territory foreign1 thus opening one gate of our national defences and offering a bridge to invasion4 ,the danger of the thing is in her making her territory foreign under any circumstances2 and it is a danger which the ,government must prevent1 if only for self-preservation4 ,within the limits of the ,constitution two sovereignties cannot coexist2 and yet what practical odds does it make1 if a ,state becomes sovereign by simply declaring herself so8 ,the legitimate consequence of secession is1 not that a ,state becomes sovereign1 but that1 so far as the ,general ,government is concerned1 she has outlawed herself1 nullified her own existence as a ,state1 and become an aggregate of riotous men who resist the execution of the laws4 ,we are told that coercion will be civil war2 and so is a mob civil war1 till it is put down4 ,in the present case1 the only coercion called for is the protection of the public property and the collection of the federal revenues4 ,if it be necessary to send troops to do this1 they will not be sectional1 as it is the fashion nowadays to call people who insist on their own rights and the maintenance of the laws1 but federal troops1 representing the will and power of the whole ,confederacy4 ,a danger is always great so long as we are afraid of it2 and mischief like that now gathering head in ,south ,carolina may soon become a danger1 if not swiftly dealt with4 ,mr4 ,buchanan seems altogether too wholesale a disciple of the laissez-faire doctrine1 and has allowed activity in mischief the same immunity from interference which is true policy only in regard to enterprise wisely and profitably directed4 ,he has been naturally reluctant to employ force1 but has overlooked the difference between indecision and moderation1 forgetting the lesson of all experience1 that firmness in the beginning saves the need of force in the end1 and that forcible measures applied too late may be made to seem violent ones1 and thus excite a mistaken sympathy with the sufferers by their own misdoing4 ,the feeling of the country has been unmistakably expressed in regard to ,major ,anderson1 and that not merely because he showed prudence and courage1 but because he was the first man holding a position of trust who did his duty to the nation4 ,public sentiment unmistakably demands1 that1 in the case of ,anarchy vs4 ,america1 the cause of the defendant shall not be suffered to go by default4 ,the proceedings in ,south ,carolina1 parodying the sublime initiative of our own ,revolution with a ,declaration of ,independence that hangs the franchise of human nature on the kink of a hair1 and substitutes for the visionary right of all men to the pursuit of happiness the more practical privilege of some men to pursue their own negro1--these proceedings would be merely ludicrous1 were it not for the danger that the men engaged in them may so far commit themselves as to find the inconsistency of a return to prudence too galling1 and to prefer the safety of their pride to that of their country4 ,it cannot be too distinctly stated or too often repeated1 that the discontent of ,south ,carolina is not one to be allayed by any concessions which the ,free ,states can make with dignity or even safety4 ,it is something more radical and of longer standing than distrust of the motives or probable policy of the ,republican ,party4 ,it is neither more nor less than a disbelief in the very principles on which our government is founded4 ,so long as they practically retained the government of the country1 and could use its power and patronage to their own advantage1 the plotters were willing to wait2 but the moment they lost that control1 by the breaking up of the ,democratic ,party1 and saw that their chance of ever regaining it was hopeless1 they declared openly the principles on which they have all along been secretly acting4 ,denying the constitutionality of special protection to any other species of property or branch of industry1 and in #ahcb threatening to break up the ,union unless their theory of the ,constitution in this respect were admitted1 they went into the late ,presidential contest with a claim for extraordinary protection to a certain kind of property already the only one endowed with special privileges and immunities4 ,defeated overwhelmingly before the people1 they now question the right of the majority to govern1 except on their terms1 and threaten violence in the hope of extorting from the fears of the ,free2 ,states what they failed to obtain from their conscience and settled convictions of duty4 ,their quarrel is not with the ,republican ,party1 but with the theory of ,democracy4 ,the ,south ,carolina politicians have hitherto shown themselves adroit managers1 shrewd in detecting and profiting by the weaknesses of men2 but their experience has not been of a kind to give them practical wisdom in that vastly more important part of government which depends for success on common sense and business-habits4 ,the members of the ,south ,carolina ,convention have probably less knowledge of political economy than any single average ,northern merchant whose success depends on an intimate knowledge of the laws of trade and the world-wide contingencies of profit and loss4 ,such a man would tell them1 as the result of invariable experience1 that the prosperity of no community was so precarious as that of one whose very existence was dependent on a single agricultural product4 ,what divinity hedges cotton1 that competition may not touch it1--that some disease1 like that of the potato and the vine1 may not bring it to beggary in a single year1 and cure the overweening conceit of prosperity with the sharp medicine of ,ireland and ,madeira8 ,but these ,south ,carolina economists are better at vaporing than at calculation4 ,they will find to their cost that the figure's of statistics have little mercy for the figures of speech1 which are so powerful in raising enthusiasm and so helpless in raising money4 ,the eating of one's own words1 as they must do1 sooner or later1 is neither agreeable nor nutritious2 but it is better to do it before there is nothing else left to eat4 ,the secessionists are strong in declamation1 but they are weak in the multiplication-table and the ledger4 ,they have no notion of any sort of logical connection between treason and taxes4 ,it is all very fine signing ,declarations of ,independence1 and one may thus become a kind of panic-price hero for a week or two1 even rising to the effigial martyrdom of the illustrated press2 but these gentlemen seem to have forgotten1 that1 if their precious document should lead to anything serious1 they have been signing promises to pay for the ,state of ,south ,carolina to an enormous amount4 ,it is probably far short of the truth to say that the taxes of an autonomous palmetto republic would be three times what they are now4 ,to speak of nothing else1 there must be a military force kept constantly on foot2 and the ministers of ,king ,cotton will find that the charge made by a standing army on the finances of the new empire is likely to be far more serious and damaging than can be compensated by the glory of a great many such spirited charges as that by which ,colonel ,pettigrew and his gallant rifles took ,fort ,pinckney1 with its garrison of one engineer officer and its armament of no guns4 ,soldiers are the most costly of all toys or tools4 ,the outgo for the army of the ,pope1 never amounting to ten thousand effective men1 in the cheapest country in the world1 has been half a million of dollars a month4 ,under the present system1 it needs no argument to show that the ,non-slaveholding ,states1 with a free population considerably more than double that of the ,slave-holding ,states1 and with much more generally distributed wealth and opportunities of spending1 pay far more than the proportion predicable on mere preponderance in numbers of the expenses of a government supported mainly by a tariff on importations4 ,and it is not the burden of this difference merely that the new ,cotton ,republic must assume4 ,they will need as large1 probably a larger1 army and navy than that of the present ,union2 as numerous a diplomatic establishment2 a postal system whose large yearly deficit they must bear themselves2 and they must assume the main charges of the ,indian ,bureau4 ,if they adopt free trade1 they will alienate the ,border ,slave-,states1 and even ,louisiana2 if a system of customs1 they have cut themselves off from the chief consumers of foreign goods4 ,one of the calculations of the ,southern conspirators is to render the ,free ,states tributary to their new republic1 by adopting free trade and smuggling their imported goods across the border4 ,but this is all moonshine2 for1 even if smuggling could not be prevented as easily as it now is from the ,british ,provinces1 how long would it be before the ,north would adapt its tariff to the new order of things8 ,and thus thrown back upon direct taxation1 how many years would it take to open the eyes of the poorer classes of ,secessia to the hardship of their position and its causes8 ,their ignorance has been trifled with by men who cover treasonable designs with a pretence of local patriotism4 ,neither they nor their misleaders have any true conception of the people of the ,free ,states1 of those white slaves who in ,massachusetts alone have a deposit in the ,savings ,banks whose yearly interest would pay seven times over the four hundred thousand dollars which ,south ,carolina cannot raise4 ,but even if we leave other practical difficulties out of sight1 what chance of stability is there for a confederacy whose very foundation is the principle that any member of it may withdraw at the first discontent8 ,if they could contrive to establish a free-trade treaty with their chief customer1 ,england1 would she consent to gratify ,louisiana with an exception in favor of sugar8 ,some of the leaders of the secession movement have already become aware of this difficulty1 and accordingly propose the abolition of all ,state lines1--the first step toward a military despotism2 for1 if our present system have one advantage greater than another1 it is the neutralization of numberless individual ambitions by adequate opportunities of provincial distinction4 ,even now the merits of the ,napoleonic system are put forward by some of the theorists of ,alabama and ,mississippi1 who doubtless have as good a stomach to be emperors as ever ,bottom had to a bottle of hay1 when his head was temporarily transformed to the likeness of theirs1--and who1 were they subjects of the government that looks so nice across the ,atlantic1 would1 ere this1 have been on their way to ,cayenne1 a spot where such red-peppery temperaments would find themselves at home4 ,the absurdities with which the telegraphic column of the newspapers has been daily crowded1 since the vagaries of ,south ,carolina finally settled down into unmistakable insanity1 would give us but a poor opinion of the general intelligence of the country1 did we not know that they were due to the necessities of ,our ,own ,correspondent4 ,at one time1 it is ,fort ,sumter that is to be bombarded with floating batteries mounted on rafts behind a rampart of cotton-bales2 at another1 it is ,mr4 ,barrett1 ,mayor of ,washington1 announcing his intention that the ,president-elect shall be inaugurated1 or ,mr4 ,buchanan declaring that he shall cheerfully assent to it4 ,indeed6 and who gave them any choice in the matter8 ,yesterday1 it was ,general ,scott who would not abandon the flag which he had illustrated with the devotion of a lifetime2 to-day1 it is ,general ,harney or ,commodore ,kearney who has concluded to be true to the country whose livery he has worn and whose bread he has eaten for half a century2 to-morrow1 it will be ,ensign ,stebbins who has been magnanimous enough not to throw up his commission4 ,what are we to make of the extraordinary confusion of ideas which such things indicate8 ,in what other country would it be considered creditable to an officer that he merely did not turn traitor at the first opportunity8 ,there can be no doubt of the honor both of the army and navy1 and of their loyalty to their country4 ,they will do their duty1 if we do ours in saving them a country to which they can be loyal4 ,we have been so long habituated to a kind of local independence in the management of our affairs1 and the ,central ,government has fortunately had so little occasion for making itself felt at home and in the domestic concerns of the ,states1 that the idea of its relation to us as a power1 except for protection from without1 has gradually become vague and alien to our ordinary habits of thought4 ,we have so long heard the principle admitted1 and seen it acted on with advantage to the general weal1 that the people are sovereign in their own affairs1 that we must recover our presence of mind before we see the fallacy of the assumption1 that the people1 or a bare majority of them1 in a single ,state1 can exercise their right of sovereignty as against the will of the nation legitimately expressed4 ,when such a contingency arises1 it is for a moment difficult to get rid of our habitual associations1 and to feel that we are not a mere partnership1 dissolvable whether by mutual consent or on the demand of one or more of its members1 but a nation1 which can never abdicate its right1 and can never surrender it while virtue enough is left in the people to make it worth retaining4 ,it would seem to be the will of ,god that from time to time the manhood of nations1 like that of individuals1 should be tried by great dangers or by great opportunities4 ,if the manhood be there1 it makes the great opportunity out of the great danger2 if it be not there1 then the great danger out of the great opportunity4 ,the occasion is offered us now of trying whether a conscious nationality and a timely concentration of the popular will for its maintenance be possible in a democracy1 or whether it is only despotisms that are capable of the sudden and selfish energy of protecting themselves from destruction4 ,the ,republican ,party has thus far borne itself with firmness and moderation1 and the great body of the ,democratic ,party in the ,free ,states is gradually being forced into an alliance with it4 ,let us not be misled by any sophisms about conciliation and compromise4 ,discontented citizens may be conciliated and compromised with1 but never open rebels with arms in their hands4 ,if there be any concessions which justice may demand on the one hand and honor make on the other1 let us try if we can adjust them with the ,border ,slave-,states2 but a government has already signed its own death-warrant1 when it consents to make terms with law-breakers4 ,first restablish the supremacy of order1 and then it will be time to discuss terms2 but do not call it a compromise1 when you give up your purse with a pistol at your head4 ,this is no time for sentimentalisms about the empty chair at the national hearth2 all the chairs would be empty soon enough1 if one of the children is to amuse itself with setting the house on fire1 whenever it can find a match4 ,since the election of ,mr4 ,lincoln1 not one of the arguments has lost its force1 not a cipher of the statistics has been proved mistaken1 on which the judgment of the people was made up4 ,nobody proposes1 or has proposed1 to interfere with any existing rights of property2 the majority have not assumed to decide upon any question of the righteousness or policy of certain social arrangements existing in any part of the ,confederacy2 they have not undertaken to constitute themselves the conscience of their neighbors2 they have simply endeavored to do their duty to their own posterity1 and to protect them from a system which1 as ample experience has shown1 and that of our present difficulty were enough to show1 fosters a sense of irresponsibleness to all obligation in the governing class1 and in the governed an ignorance and a prejudice which may be misled at any moment to the peril of the whole country4 ,but the present question is one altogether transcending all limits of party and all theories of party-policy4 ,it is a question of national existence2 it is a question whether ,americans shall govern ,america1 or whether a disappointed clique shall nullify all government now1 and render a stable government difficult hereafter2 it is a question1 not whether we shall have civil war under certain contingencies1 but whether we shall prevent it under any4 ,it is idle1 and worse than idle1 to talk about ,central ,republics that can never be formed4 ,we want neither ,central ,republics nor ,northern ,republics1 but our own ,republic and that of our fathers1 destined one day to gather the whole continent under a flag that shall be the most august in the world4 ,having once known what it was to be members of a grand and peaceful constellation1 we shall not believe1 without further proof1 that the laws of our gravitation are to be abolished1 and we flung forth into chaos1 a hurlyburly of jostling and splintering stars1 whenever ,robert ,toombs or ,robert ,rhett1 or any other ,bob of the secession kite1 may give a flirt of self-importance4 ,the first and greatest benefit of government is that it keeps the peace1 that it insures every man his right1 and not only that1 but the permanence of it4 ,in order to this1 its first requisite is stability2 and this once firmly settled1 the greater the extent of conterminous territory that can be subjected to one system and one language and inspired by one patriotism1 the better4 ,that there should be some diversity of interests is perhaps an advantage1 since the necessity of legislating equitably for all gives legislation its needful safeguards of caution and largeness of view4 ,a single empire embracing the whole world1 and controlling1 without extinguishing1 local organizations and nationalities1 has been not only the dream of conquerors1 but the ideal of speculative philanthropists4 ,our own dominion is of such extent and power1 that it may1 so far as this continent is concerned1 be looked upon as something like an approach to the realization of such an ideal4 ,but for slavery1 it might have succeeded in realizing it2 and in spite of slavery1 it may4 ,one language1 one law1 one citizenship over thousands of miles1 and a government on the whole so good that we seem to have forgotten what government means1--these are things not to be spoken of with levity1 privileges not to be surrendered without a struggle4 ,and yet while ,germany and ,italy1 taught by the bloody and bitter and servile experience of centuries1 are striving toward unity as the blessing above all others desirable1 we are to allow a ,union1 that for almost eighty years has been the source and the safeguard of incalculable advantages1 to be shattered by the caprice of a rabble that has outrun the intention of its leaders1 while we are making up our minds what coercion means6 ,ask the first constable1 and he will tell you that it is the force necessary for executing the laws4 ,to avoid the danger of what men who have seized upon forts1 arsenals1 and other property of the ,united ,states1 and continue to hold them by military force1 may choose to call civil war1 we are allowing a state of things to gather head which will make real civil war the occupation of the whole country for years to come1 and establish it as a permanent institution4 ,there is no such antipathy between the ,north and the ,south as men ambitious of a consideration in the new republic1 which their talents and character have failed to secure them in the old1 would fain call into existence by asserting that it exists4 ,the misunderstanding and dislike between them is not so great as they were within living memory between ,england and ,scotland1 as they are now between ,england and ,ireland4 ,there is no difference of race1 language1 or religion4 ,yet1 after a dissatisfaction of near a century1 and two rebellions1 there is no part of the ,british dominion more loyal than ,scotland1 no ,british subjects who would be more loath to part with the substantial advantages of their imperial connection than the ,scotch2 and even in ,ireland1 after a longer and more deadly feud1 there is no sane man who would consent to see his country irrevocably cut off from power and consideration to obtain an independence which would be nothing but ,donnybrook ,fair multiplied by every city1 town1 and village in the island4 ,the same considerations of policy and advantage which render the union of ,scotland and ,ireland with ,england a necessity apply with even more force to the several ,states of our ,union4 ,to let one1 or two1 or half a dozen of them break away in a freak of anger or unjust suspicion1 or1 still worse1 from mistaken notions of sectional advantage1 would be to fail in our duty to ourselves and our country1 would be a fatal blindness to the lessons which immemorial history has been tracing on the earth's surface1 either with the beneficent furrow of the plough1 or1 when that was unheeded1 the fruitless gash of the cannon-ball4 ,when we speak of coercion1 we do not mean violence1 but only the assertion of constituted and acknowledged authority4 ,even if seceding ,states could be conquered back again1 they would not be worth the conquest4 ,we ask only for the assertion of a principle which shall give the friends of order in the discontented quarters a hope to rally round1 and the assurance of the support they have a right to expect4 ,there is probably a majority1 and certainly a powerful minority1 in the seceding ,states1 who are loyal to the ,union2 and these should have that support which the prestige of the ,general ,government can alone give them4 ,it is not to the ,north or to the ,republican ,party that the malcontents are called on to submit1 but to the laws1 and to the benign intentions of the ,constitution1 as they were understood by its framers4 ,what the country wants is a permanent settlement2 and it has learned1 by repeated trial1 that compromise is not a cement1 but a wedge4 ,the ,government did not hesitate to protect the doubtful right of property of a ,virginian in ,anthony ,burns by the exercise of coercion1 and the loyalty of ,massachusetts was such that her own militia could be used to enforce an obligation abhorrent1 and1 as there is reason to believe1 made purposely abhorrent1 to her dearest convictions and most venerable traditions2 and yet the same ,government tampers with armed treason1 and lets ,i dare not wait upon ,i would1 when it is a question of protecting the acknowledged property of the ,union1 and of sustaining1 nay1 preserving even1 a gallant officer whose only fault is that he has been too true to his flag4 ,while we write1 the newspapers bring us the correspondence between ,mr4 ,buchanan and the ,south ,carolina ,commissioners1 and surely never did a government stoop so low as ours has done1 not only in consenting to receive these ambassadors from ,nowhere1 but in suggesting that a soldier deserves court-martial who has done all he could to maintain himself in a forlorn hope1 with rebellion in his front and treachery in his rear4 ,our ,revolutionary heroes had old-fashioned notions about rebels1 suitable to the straightforward times in which they lived1--times when blood was as freely shed to secure our national existence as milk-and-water is now to destroy it4 ,mr4 ,buchanan might have profited by the example of men who knew nothing of the modern arts of ,constitutional interpretation1 but saw clearly the distinction between right and wrong4 ,when a party of the ,shays rebels came to the house of ,general ,pomeroy1 in ,northampton1 and asked if he could accommodate them1--the old soldier1 seeing the green sprigs in their hats1 the badges of their treason1 shouted to his son1 ,fetch me my hanger1 and ,i'll accommodate the scoundrels6 ,general ,jackson1 we suspect1 would have accommodated rebel commissioners in the same peremptory style4 ,while our government1 like ,giles in the old rhyme1 is wondering whether it is a government or not1 emissaries of treason are cunningly working upon the fears and passions of the ,border ,states1 whose true interests are infinitely more on the side of the ,union than of ,slavery4 ,they are luring the ambitious with visionary promises of ,southern grandeur and prosperity1 and deceiving the ignorant into the belief that the principles and practice of the ,free ,states were truly represented by ,john ,brown4 ,all this might have been prevented1 had ,mr4 ,buchanan in his ,message thought of the interests of his country instead of those of his party4 ,it is not too late to check and neutralize it now4 ,a decisively national and patriotic policy is all that can prevent excited men from involving themselves so deeply that they will find returning as tedious as go o'er1 and be more afraid of cowardice than of consequences4 ,slavery is no longer the matter in debate1 and we must beware of being led off upon that side-issue4 ,the matter now in hand is the restablishment of order1 the reaffirmation of national unity1 and the settling once for all whether there can be such a thing as a government without the right to use its power in self-defence4 ,the ,republican ,party has done all it could lawfully do in limiting slavery once more to the ,states in which it exists1 and in relieving the ,free ,states from forced complicity with an odious system4 ,they can be patient1 as ,providence is often patient1 till natural causes work that conviction which conscience has been unable to effect4 ,they believe that the violent abolition of slavery1 which would be sure to follow sooner or later the disruption of our ,confederacy1 would not compensate for the evil that would be entailed upon both races by the abolition of our nationality and the bloody confusion that would follow it4 ,more than this1 they believe that there can be no permanent settlement except in the definite establishment of the principle1 that this government1 like all others1 rests upon the everlasting foundations of just ,authority1--that that authority1 once delegated by the people1 becomes a common stock of ,power to be wielded for the common protection1 and from which no minority or majority of partners can withdraw its contribution under any conditions1--that this ,power is what makes us a nation1 and implies a corresponding duty of submission1 or1 if that be refused1 then a necessary right of self-vindication4 ,we are citizens1 when we make laws2 we become subjects1 when we attempt to break them after they are made4 ,lynch-law may be better than no law in new and half-organized communities1 but we cannot tolerate its application in the affairs of government4 ,the necessity of suppressing rebellion by force may be a terrible one1 but its consequences1 whatever they may be1 do not weigh a feather in comparison with those that would follow from admitting the principle that there is no social compact binding on any body of men too numerous to be arrested by a ,united ,states ,marshal4 ,as we are writing these sentences1 the news comes to us that ,south ,carolina has taken the initiative1 and chosen the arbitrament of war4 ,she has done it because her position was desperate1 and because she hoped thereby to unite the ,cotton ,states by a complicity in blood1 as they are already committed by a unanimity in bravado4 ,major ,anderson deserves more than ever the thanks of his country for his wise forbearance4 ,the foxes in ,charleston1 who have already lost their tails in the trap of ,secession1 wished to throw upon him the responsibility of that second blow which begins a quarrel1 and the silence of his guns has balked them4 ,nothing would have pleased them so much as to have one of his thirty-two-pound shot give a taste of real war to the boys who are playing soldier at ,morris's ,island4 ,but he has shown the discretion of a brave man4 ,south ,carolina will soon learn how much she has undervalued the people of the ,free ,states4 ,because they prefer law to bowie-knives and revolvers1 she has too lightly reckoned on their caution and timidity4 ,she will find1 that1 though slow to kindle1 they are as slow to yield1 and that they are willing to risk their lives for the defence of law1 though not for the breach of it4 ,they are beginning to question the value of a peace that is forced on them at the point of the bayonet1 and is to be obtained only by an abandonment of rights and duties4 ,when we speak of the courage and power of the ,free ,states1 we do not wish to be understood as descending to the vulgar level of meeting brag with brag4 ,we speak of them only as among the elements to be gravely considered by the fanatics who may render it necessary for those who value the continued existence of this ,confederacy as it deserves to be valued to kindle a back-fire1 and to use the desperate means which ,god has put into their hands to be employed in the last extremity of free institutions4 ,and when we use the term ,coercion1 nothing is farther from our thoughts than the carrying of blood and fire among those whom we still consider our brethren of ,south ,carolina4 ,these civilized communities of ours have interests too serious to be risked on a childish wager of courage1--a quality that can always be bought cheaper than day-labor on a railway-embankment4 ,we wish to see the ,government strong enough for the maintenance of law1 and for the protection1 if need be1 of the unfortunate ,governor ,pickens from the anarchy he has allowed himself to be made a tool of for evoking4 ,let the power of the ,union be used for any other purpose than that of shutting and barring the door against the return of misguided men to their allegiance4 ,at the same time we think legitimate and responsible force prudently exerted safer than the submission1 without a struggle1 to unlawful and irresponsible violence4 ,peace is the greatest of blessings1 when it is won and kept by manhood and wisdom2 but it is a blessing that will not long be the housemate of cowardice4 ,it is ,god alone who is powerful enough to let ,his authority slumber2 it is only ,his laws that are strong enough to protect and avenge themselves4 ,every human government is bound to make its laws so far resemble ,his1 that they shall be uniform1 certain1 and unquestionable in their operation2 and this it can do only by a timely show of power1 and by an appeal to that authority which is of divine right1 inasmuch as its office is to maintain that order which is the single attribute of the ,infinite ,reason that we can clearly apprehend and of which we have hourly example4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,reviews ,,and ,,literary ,,notices4 ,personal ,history of ,lord ,bacon1 ,from ,unpublished ,papers4 ,by ,,william ,,hepworth ,,dixon1 of the ,inner ,temple4 ,boston3 ,ticknor ,fields4 #abmo4 pp4 #dbd4 ,the life of ,bacon1 as it has been ordinarily written1 presents contrasts so strange1 that thoughtful readers have been compelled either to doubt the accuracy of the narrative1 or to admit that in his case ,nature departed from her usual processes1 and embodied antithesis in a man4 ,the character suggested by the events of his life has long been in direct opposition to the character impressed on his writings2 and ,macaulay1 who gave to the popular opinion its most emphatic and sparkling expression1 increased this difference by exaggerating the opposite elements of the human epigram1 and ended in manufacturing the most brilliant monstrosity that ever bore the name of a person4 ,lord ,campbell followed with a biography having all the appearance of conscientious research and judicial impartiality1 but which was really nothing more than a weak translation of ,macaulay's vivid sentences into such ,english as it had pleased ,god to endow him withal4 ,bacon1 to all inquiring men1 still remained outside of the statements of both2 and after the lapse of nearly two centuries1 the slight biographical sketch by his chaplain1 ,dr4 ,rawleigh1 conveyed a juster idea of the man than all the biographies by which it had been succeeded1 but not superseded4 ,mr4 ,dixon's ,personal ,history of ,lord ,bacon is the first attempt to vindicate his fame by original research into unpublished documents4 ,it is a mortifying reflection to all who speak the ,english tongue1 that this task should have been deferred so long4 ,there has been no lack of such research in regard to insignificant individuals who have been accidentally connected with events which come within the cognizance of ,english historians2 but the greatest ,englishman among all ,english politicians and statesmen since the ,norman ,conquest has heretofore been honored with no biographer who considered him worthy the labor which has been lavished on inferior men4 ,the readers of ,macaulay's four volumes of ,english history have often expressed their amazement at his minute knowledge of the political mediocrities of the time of ,james ,,ii4 and ,william ,,iii4 ,he spared neither time nor labor in collecting and investigating facts regarding comparatively unknown persons who happened to be connected with his subject2 but in his judgment of a man who1 considered simply as a statesman1 was infinitely greater than ,halifax or ,dauby1 he depends altogether on hearsay1 and gives that hearsay the worst possible appearance4 ,in his article on ,bacon1 he not merely evinces no original research1 but he so combines the loose statements he takes for granted1 that1 in his presentation of them1 they make out a stronger case against ,bacon than is warranted by their fair interpretation4 ,indeed1 leaving out the facts which ,macaulay suppresses or is ignorant of1 and taking into account only those which he includes1 his judgment of ,bacon is still erroneous4 ,long before we read ,mr4 ,dixon's book1 we had reversed ,macaulay's opinion merely by scrutinizing1 and restoring to their natural relations1 ,macaulay's facts4 ,but ,mr4 ,dixon's volume1 while in style and matter it is one of the most interesting and entertaining books of the season1 is especially valuable for the new light it sheds on the subject by the introduction of original materials4 ,these materials1 to be sure1 were within the reach of any person who desired to write an impartial biography2 but ,mr4 ,dixon no less deserves honor for withstanding the prejudice that ,bacon's moral character was unquestionably settled as base1 and for daring to investigate anew the testimony on which the judgment was founded4 ,and there can be no doubt that he has dispelled the horrible chimera1 that the same man can be thoroughly malignant or mean in his moral nature and thoroughly beneficent or exalted in his intellectual nature4 ,while we do not doubt that depravity and intelligence can make an unholy alliance1 we do doubt that the intelligence thus prompted can exhibit1 to an eye that discerns spirits1 all the vital signs of benevolence4 ,if1 in the logic of character1 ,iago or ,jerry ,sneak be in the premises1 it is impossible to find ,bacon in the conclusion4 ,the value of ,mr4 ,dixon's book consists in its introduction of new facts to illustrate every questionable incident in ,bacon's career4 ,it is asserted1 for instance1 that ,bacon1 as a member of ,parliament1 was impelled solely by interested motives1 and opposed the government merely to force the government to recognize his claims to office4 ,mr4 ,dixon brings forward facts to prove that his opposition is to be justified on high grounds of statesmanship2 that he was both a patriot and a reformer2 that great constituencies were emulous to make him their representative2 that in wit1 in learning1 in reason1 in moderation1 in wisdom1 in the power of managing and directing men's minds and passions1 he was the first man in the ,house of ,commons2 that the germs of great improvements are to be found in his speeches2 that1 when he was overborne by the almost absolute power of the ,court1 his apparent sycophancy was merely the wariness of a wise statesman2 that ,queen ,elizabeth eventually acknowledged his services to the country1 and1 far from neglecting him1 repeatedly extended to him most substantial marks of her favor4 ,this portion of ,mr4 ,dixon's volume1 founded on state-papers1 will surprise both the defamers and the eulogists of ,bacon4 ,it contains facts of which both ,macaulay and ,basil ,montagu were ignorant4 ,of ,bacon's relations with ,essex we never had but one opinion4 ,all the testimony brought forward to convict ,bacon of treachery to ,essex seemed to us inconclusive4 ,the facts1 as stated by ,macaulay and ,lord ,campbell1 do not sustain their harsh judgment4 ,a parallel may be found in the present political condition of our own country4 ,let us suppose ,senator ,toombs so fortunate as to have had a wise counsellor1 who for ten years had borne to him the same relation which ,bacon bore to ,essex4 ,let us suppose that it was understood between them that both were in favor of the ,union and the ,constitution1 and that nothing was to be done to forward the triumph of their party which was not strictly legal4 ,then let us suppose that ,mr4 ,toombs1 from the impulses of caprice and passion1 had secretly established relations with desperate disunionists1 and had thus put in jeopardy not only the interests1 but the lives1 of those who were equally his friends and the friends of the ,constitution4 ,let us further suppose that he had suddenly placed himself at the head of an armed force to overturn the ,united ,states government at ,washington1 while he was still a ,senator from ,georgia1 sworn to support the ,constitution of the ,united ,states1 and that his cheated friend and counsellor had just left the ,president of the ,united ,states1 after a long conference1 in which he had attempted to show1 to an incredulous listener1 that ,senator ,toombs was a devoted friend to the ,union1 though dissatisfied with some of the members of the ,administration4 ,this is a very faint illustration of the political relations between ,essex and ,bacon1 admitting the generally received facts on which ,bacon is execrated as false to his friend4 ,mr4 ,dixon adduces new facts which completely justify ,bacon's conduct4 ,if ,bacon1 like ,essex1 had been ruled by his passions1 he would have been a far fiercer denouncer of ,essex's treason4 ,he had every reason to be enraged4 ,he was a wise man duped by a foolish one4 ,he was in danger of being implicated in a treason which he abhorred1 through the perfidy of a man who was generally considered as his friend and patron1 and who was supposed to act from his advice4 ,as ,bacon doubtless knew what we now for the first time know1 every candid reader must be surprised at the moderation of his course4 ,essex would not have hesitated to shoot or stab ,bacon1 had ,bacon behaved to him as he had behaved to ,bacon4 ,but we pardon1 it seems1 the most hateful and horrible selfishness which springs from the passions2 our moral condemnation is reserved for that faint form of selfishness which may be suspected to have its source in the intellect4 ,in regard to the other charges against ,bacon1 we think that ,mr4 ,dixon has brought forward evidence which must materially modify the current opinions of ,bacon's personal character4 ,he has proved that ,bacon1 as a practical statesman1 was in advance of his age1 rather than behind it4 ,he has proved that his philosophy penetrated his politics1 and that he gave wise advice1 and recommended large1 liberal1 and humane measures to a generation which could not appreciate them4 ,he has proved that he did everything that a man in his situation could do for the cause of truth and justice which did not necessitate his retirement from public life4 ,the abuses by which he may have profited he not only did not defend1 but tried to reform4 ,among the statesmen of his day he appears not only intellectually superior1 but conventionally respectable1--a fact which would seem to be established by the bare statement1 that he died wretchedly poor1 while most of them died enormously rich4 ,but ,mr4 ,dixon1 in his advocacy of ,bacon1 overlooks the circumstance1 that no man could hold high office under ,james ,i41 without complying with abuses calculated to damage his reputation with posterity4 ,we have no doubt that ,bacon's compliance was connected with considerations which ,mr4 ,dixon entirely ignores4 ,far from discriminating between ,bacon the philosopher and ,bacon the politician1 we have always thought that they were intimately connected4 ,bacon's ,method1 the thing on which1 as a philosopher1 he especially prided himself1 was defective4 ,it left out that power by which all discoveries have since his time been made1 namely1 scientific genius4 ,its successful working depended on an immense collection of facts1 which no individual1 and no society of individuals1 could possibly make4 ,he himself was never weary of asserting that the ,method could never produce its beneficent effects1 unless it were assisted by the revenues of a nation4 ,of the course which physical science really followed he had no prevision4 ,copernicus1 ,kepler1 ,galileo1 ,gilbert1 he never appreciated4 ,he was an intellectual autocrat1 who had matured his own scheme of interpreting ,nature1 and thought1 that1 if it were systematically carried out1 the inmost secrets of ,nature could he mastered4 ,his desire to be ,lord ,chancellor of ,england was subsidiary to his larger desire to be ,lord ,chancellor of ,nature herself4 ,he hoped1 by managing ,james and ,buckingham1 to flatter them into aiding1 by the revenues of the ,state1 his grand philosophical scheme4 ,combine the facts which ,mr4 ,dixon has disinterred with the facts which every thoughtful reader of ,bacon's philosophical works already knows1 and the vindication of ,bacon as a man is complete4 ,we are inclined to think that he failed in both of the objects of his highest ambition4 ,his philosophic ,method is demonstrably a failure2 his attempt to convert ,james and ,buckingham to his views resulted in his own unjust disgrace with contemporaries and posterity4 ,the truth is1 that1 cool1 serene1 comprehensive1 and unimpassioned as he appears1 he was from his youth actuated by a fanaticism which seems less intense than the fanaticism of a man like ,cromwell only because it was infinitely more broad4 ,had he succeeded in the design he proposed to himself1 his intellectual domination would not be confined to ,england1 or the kingdoms of the civilized world1 but would be commensurate with the whole domain of ,nature and man4 ,we are so grateful to ,mr4 ,dixon for what he has done1 that we are not disposed to quarrel with him for what he has left undone4 ,he has added such a mass of incontrovertible facts to the materials which must enter into the future biography of ,bacon1 that his book cannot fail to exact cordial praise from the most captious critics4 ,bacon1 in his aspirations and purposes1 was a very much greater man than he appears in ,mr4 ,dixon's biography2 but still to ,mr4 ,dixon belongs the credit of rescuing his personal reputation from undeserved ignominy4 ,if we add to this his vivid pictures of the persons and events of the ,elizabethan age1 and his bright1 sharp1 and brief way of flashing his convictions and discoveries on the mind of the reader1 we indicate merits which will make his volume generally and justly popular4 ,the letters of ,lady ,ann ,bacon1 the mother of the philosopher and statesman-letters for which we are indebted to ,mr4 ,dixon's exhaustive research--would alone be sufficient to justify the publication of his interesting book4 ,autobiography of ,dr4 ,alexander ,carlyle1 ,minister of ,inveresk4 ,with ,memorials of the ,men and ,events of his ,time4 ,boston3 ,ticknor ,fields4 #abmo4 pp4 #dhj4 ,who was he8 and what was he like8--,sir ,walter ,scott answered these interrogatories more than thirty years ago1 in this wise4 ,he says1 in his ,review of the ,life and ,works of ,john ,home1--,dr4 ,carlyle was1 for a long period1 clergyman of ,musselburgh2 his character was as excellent as his conversation was amusing and instructive2 his person and countenance1 even at a very advanced age1 were so lofty and commanding1 as to strike every artist with his resemblance to the ,jupiter ,tonans of the ,pantheon4 ,sixty years ago1 this old ,scottish clergyman sat down1 one ,january day1 in ,musselburgh1 and began to write his ,autobiography4 ,he had lived seventy-nine years among scenes of great interest1 and had known men of remarkable genius4 ,he wrote and died4 ,the manuscript he left has been often read and enjoyed by clever men and women1 who in their turn have gone to the churchyard to sleep with the venerable old man the story of whose life they had perused4 ,sir ,walter himself once caught a glimpse of the time-stained sheets4 ,all are now dead who could by any chance he pained by the publication of facts in which their relatives look part long years ago4 ,so the world has now another volume to add to the store of biography1 and the future historian will have another treasury of facts from which to illumine his pages4 ,himself the son of a clergyman1 ,alexander ,carlyle had a good school-drilling in ,prestonpans1 where he was born4 ,one of the stories of his childhood is very amusing1 inasmuch as it pictures a dozen old women listening to young ,alexander1 aged six1 who reads the ,song of ,solomon to them in a graveyard1 he all the while perched on a tombstone4 ,my ,lord ,grange was the principal man in ,prestonpans parish2 and ,master ,carlyle1 with his excellent father1 had great reverence for the patron who had been the cause of the family's transplantation from ,annandale4 ,my ,lady was a very lively person1 daughter of the man who shot ,president ,lockhart in the dark because he had infuriated him in an arbitration case in the court4 ,this great family attracted the boyish wonder of young ,carlyle1 and some of the gossiping stories that he heard in his father's house made his juvenile ears tingle4 ,poor ,lady ,grange6 ,quarrelling with her husband one day1 on his return from ,london1 where pretty ,fanny ,lindsay1 who kept a coffee-house in the ,haymarket1 had bewitched him1 she never knew peace again4 ,her temper1 never very soothing or placable1 got entire possession of her life1 and she rained stormy gusts of passion on her guilty lord4 ,he trembled and endured1 till he found a razor concealed under his wife's pillow1 and then he determined to remove his violent helpmeet to a safe seclusion4 ,by main force1 with the aid of accomplices1 he seized the lady in his house in ,edinburgh1 and bore her through ,stirling to the ,highlands4 ,thence she was taken to ,st4 ,kilda's desolate island1 far off in the ,western ,ocean1 and there kept for the remainder of her days1 scantily furnished with only the coarsest fare4 ,her condition was most wretched to the last4 ,in those days1 licentiousness and religious enthusiasm were not incompatible associates1 and ,lord ,grange frequently spent his evenings with the ,minister of ,prestonpans1 praying1 and settling high points of ,calvinism with the old pastor4 ,good ,mrs4 ,carlyle used to complain that they did not part without wine1 and that late hours were consequent upon the claret they liberally imbibed after their pious discussions4 ,dr4 ,doddridge's famous ,colonel ,gardiner came to reside in ,minister ,carlyle's parish1 and told the story of his remarkable conversion1 with his own lips1 to the clergyman4 ,the hook which turned him from his wicked career was ,gurnall's ,christian ,armor1 a volume placed many years before1 by a mother's hand1 in his trunk1 and until then neglected4 ,young ,carlyle hoard ,gardiner tell the story of his change of life several times to different sets of people1 and he thought ,doddridge had marred the tale by introducing the incident of a blaze of light1 which the ,colonel himself never spoke of having seen1 when he related his conversion4 ,when ,alexander was eleven years old1 he took a little journey with his father and another clergyman by the name of ,jardine2 and the two pious1 elderly gentlemen1 having a great turn for fun and buffoonery1 made sport wherever they went4 ,turning their wigs hind-part foremost1 and making faces1 they delighted in diverting the children they encountered on the way4 ,of many of the incidents of the ,porteous ,mob young ,carlyle was a witness4 ,he was in the ,tolbooth ,church1 at ,edinburgh1 when ,robertson1 a condemned smuggler1 who was brought in to listen to the discourse and prayers before execution1 made his escape4 ,the congregation were coming into church while all the bells were ringing1 when the criminal1 watching his opportunity1 sprang suddenly over a pew1 and was next heard of in ,holland4 ,when1 a few weeks afterwards1 ,wilson1 another smuggler1 was executed1 ,carlyle1 with some of his school-fellows1 was in a window on the north side of the ,grass-,market1 and heard ,porteous order his guard to fire on the people4 ,a young lad1 who had been killed by a slug entering his head1 was brought into the house where the boys were on that occasion4 ,in the summer of #agcg1 young ,carlyle might have been seen during the evening hours walking anxiously about the ,prestonpans fields4 ,that season he had lost one of his fellow-pupils and dearest friends1 and they had often agreed together that whichever might die first should appear there to the other1 and reveal the secrets beyond the barrier4 ,and so the survivor paced the meadows1 hoping to meet his old companion1 who never appeared4 ,in ,november of that year he was at college1 and his acquaintance with ,robertson1 afterwards the eminent historian1 then began4 ,john ,home1 celebrated at a later period as the author of ,douglas1 also became an intimate friend4 ,he now decided to choose a profession1 and had wellnigh concluded an agreement with two surgeons to study theirs1 when he became disgusted with the meanness of the doctors1 who had bought for dissection the body of a child of a poor tailor for six shillings1 the price asked being six shillings and sixpence1 from which they made the needy man abate the sixpence4 ,turning from the niggardly surgeons1 he enrolled his name as a student of divinity1 and was frequently in ,edinburgh attending the lectures at ,divinity ,hall4 ,wonderfully cheap was the living in those days1 when1 at the ,edinburgh ordinaries1 a good dinner could be had for fourpence1 small beer included4 ,john ,witherspoon1 years after a member of the ,american ,congress1 then a frank1 generous young fellow1 was a companion of ,carlyle at this period1 and they often went fishing together in the streams near ,gifford ,hall4 ,the city of ,glasgow1 whither young ,carlyle had gone to pursue his studies1 was at this time far inferior in point of commerce to what it afterwards became4 ,the tobacco-trade with the ,american colonies and the traffic in sugar and rum with the ,west ,indies were the chief branches of business4 ,carlyle did not find the merchants of those days interesting or learned people1 though they held a weekly club1 where they discussed the nature and principle of trade1 and invited ,alexander to join it4 ,but he found life in ,glasgow very dull1 and was constantly complaining that there was neither a teacher of ,french nor of music in the town4 ,there was but one concert during the two winters he spent there4 ,post-chaises and hackney-coaches were unknown1 their places being supplied by three or four old sedan-chairs1 which did a brisk business in carrying midwives about in the night1 and old ladies to church and the dancing-assemblies4 ,the principal merchants began their business early in the morning1 and took dinner about noon with their families at home4 ,afterwards they resorted to the coffee-house1 to read the newspapers and enjoy a bowl of punch4 ,until an arch fellow from ,dublin came to be master of the chief coffee-house1 nine o'clock was the hour for these worthy mercantile gentlemen to be at home in the evening4 ,the seductive ,irish stranger began his wiles by placing a few nice cold relishing things on the table1 and so gradually led the way to hot suppers and midnight symposia4 ,towards the end of his college-session1 ,carlyle was introduced to a club which gave him great satisfaction4 ,the principal member was ,robert ,simson1 the celebrated mathematician4 ,simson was a great humorist1 and was particularly averse to the company of ladies4 ,matthew ,stewart1 afterwards ,professor of ,mathematics at ,edinburgh1 was a constant attendant at this club4 ,on the breaking out of the ,rebellion of #agde1 the young divinity-student1 having returned to ,edinburgh1 joined the ,volunteers1 and entered warmly into all the bustle and business of those exciting days4 ,in the ,battle of ,prestonpans he took part1 and was active to the end4 ,when ,prince ,charles ,edward issued a proclamation of pardon to the ,volunteers1 ,carlyle went down to the ,abbey ,court to see him4 ,the ,prince mounted his horse1 while the young man stood by1 and rode away to the east side of ,arthur's ,seat4 ,charles was at that time a good-looking gentleman1 of about five feet ten inches1 with dark red hair and black eyes4 ,one ,monday morning in ,october1 a hundred and fifteen years ago1 young ,carlyle set out for ,rotterdam1 on his way to ,leyden1 to join the ,british students there4 ,among them he found ,charles ,townshend and ,john ,wilkes1 names afterwards famous in ,english politics4 ,with ,wilkes he became intimate1 and many a spirited talk they had together in their daily rambles4 ,but we cannot dwell upon the incidents of ,carlyle's student-life on the ,continent4 ,soon after his return to ,scotland he made acquaintance with ,smollett1 whose lively1 agreeable manners rendered him universally popular4 ,thomson1 the author of ,the ,seasons1 and ,armstrong the poet1 were also at this time among his friends4 ,in #agdf he preached his first sermon before the ,presbytery of ,haddington1 and got universal approbation1 especially from one young lady1 to whom he had been long attached4 ,robertson the historian and ,home the dramatist were now among his neighbors1 and no doubt used their influence in getting the young clergyman a living4 ,he finally settled at ,inveresk1 where his life was a very pleasant round of cares and duties4 ,hume1 ,adam ,smith1 ,blair1 ,smollett1 and ,robertson now figure largely in his personal record1 so that he had no lack of genial companions4 ,adam ,smith he describes as a very absent man in society1 moving his lips1 talking to himself1 and smiling1 in the midst of large companies4 ,robertson was a very different person1 and held all the conversation-threads in his own fingers1 forgetting1 alas6 sometimes1 that he had not been present in many a scene which he described as an eye-witness4 ,carlyle went some distance on the way toward ,london with ,home1 when he carried his tragedy of ,douglas for examination to the critics4 ,six other clergymen1 accompanied the precious manuscript on that expedition1 and the fun was prodigious4 ,garrick read the play and pronounced it totally unfit for the stage6 ,douglas was afterwards brought out in ,edinburgh with unbounded success4 ,david ,hume ran about crying it up as the first performance he world had seen for half a century4 ,carlyle's visit to ,shenstone is very graphically described in the ,autobiography4 ,the poet was then a large1 heavy1 fat man1 dressed in white clothes and silver lace4 ,one night in ,edinburgh1 ,dr4 ,robertson gave a small supper-party to the celebrated ,dr4 ,franklin1 and ,carlyle met him that evening at table4 ,they came together afterwards several times4 ,but we must refer our readers to the book itself1 our limits not allowing more space for a glance at one of the most entertaining works in modern biography4 ,the ,laws of ,race1 as connected with ,slavery4 ,by the ,author of ,the ,law of the ,territories1 ,rustic ,rhymes1 etc4 ,philadelphia3 ,w4,p4 ,hazard4 #ahfj4 #hvo4 pp4 #gj4 ,there is no lack of talk and writing among us on political topics2 but there is great lack of independent and able thought concerning them4 ,the disputes and the manoeuvres of parties interfere with the study and recognition of the active principles which silently mould the national character and history4 ,the double-faced platforms of conventions1 the loose manifestoes of itinerant candidates for the ,presidency1 the rhetorical misrepresentations of campaign documents1 form the staple of our political literature4 ,the writer of the pamphlet before us is one of the few men who not only think for themselves1 nut whose thoughts deserve attention4 ,his essay on ,the ,law of the ,territories was distinguished not more by its sound reasoning than by the candor of its statements and the calmness of its tone and temper4 ,if his later essay1 on ,the ,laws of ,race1 as connected with ,slavery1 be on the whole less satisfactory1 this is to be attributed1 not to any want in it of the same qualities of thought and style as were displayed in his earlier work1 but to the greater complexify and difficulty of the subject itself4 ,the question of ,race1 so far as it affects actual national conditions1 is one of the deepest and most intricate which can be presented to the student of politics4 ,it is impossible to investigate it without meeting with difficulties which in the present state of knowledge cannot be solved1 or without opening paths of speculation which no human foresight can trace to their end4 ,this is1 indeed1 no reason for not attempting its discussion2 and ,mr4 ,fisher1 in treating it in its relation to ,slavery1 has done good work1 and has brought forward important1 though much neglected considerations4 ,he endeavors to place the whole subject of the relations of the white and the black races in this country on philosophic grounds1 and to deduce the principles which must govern them from the teachings of ethnological science1 or1 in other words1 from natural laws which human device can neither abrogate nor alter4 ,from these teachings he derives the three following conclusions4 ,the white race must of necessity1 by reason of its superiority1 govern the negro1 wherever the two live together4 ,the two races can never amalgamate1 and form a new species of man1 but must remain forever distinct1--though mulattoes and other grades always exist1 because constantly renewed4 ,each race has a tendency to occupy exclusively that portion of the country suited to its nature4 ,if true1 these conclusions are of the utmost importance4 ,they are higher laws1 which must rule our politics and our destiny1 either by the ,constitution or over it1 either with the ,union or without it2 and no wit or force of man is strong enough to resist them4 ,it is to the exposition of the results which follow from these conclusions1 assuming them to be true1 that the larger part of the present essay is devoted4 ,that these propositions express1 or at least point the way to essential truths1 we are fully persuaded4 ,but we are not ready to accept all the inferences which the author draws from them1 or to admit that they afford sufficient basis for some of his minor assumptions4 ,arguing from his first conclusion1 the author draws the inference that slavery is the necessary result of the nature of the black and of the white man4 ,the negro is by nature indolent and improvident4 ,he is also ignorant4 ,he requires restraint and guidance2 otherwise he would sink into helpless1 hopeless vice1 idleness1 and misery4 ,but in these words1 and in others to the same purport1 ,mr4 ,fisher assumes that the nature of the black is incapable of such improvement as to make what he calls the necessary condition of servitude needless in the interest of either race4 ,we are surprised that so good a reasoner should speak of the ignorance of the black as a natural disqualification for independence1 and the more so1 because1 in another passage1 ,mr4 ,fisher says1 with truth1 ,we darken his mind with ignorance4 ,that some form of subjection of the negro may be necessary for a time that extends far into the future is a point we will not dispute2 but that slavery1 as that word is generally understood1 is the necessary result of his nature and of our nature we believe to be utterly untrue4 ,the whole history of ,american slavery1 far from exhibiting the negro as incapable of improvement1 shows him making a slow and irregular advance in the development of intellectual and moral qualities1 under circumstances singularly unfavorable4 ,it is the plea of the advocates of the slave-trade1 that the black is civilized by contact with the white4 ,the plea is not without truth4 ,it is the universal testimony of slave-owners1 and the common observation of travellers1 that the city and house slaves1 that is1 those who are brought into most constant and close relations with the whites1 show higher mental development than those who are confined to the fields4 ,the experiment of education1 continued for more than one generation1 has never been tried4 ,the black is in many of his endowments inferior to the white2 but until he and his children and his children's children have shown an incapacity to be raised by a suitable training1 honestly given1 to an intellectual and moral condition that shall fit them for self-dependence1 we have no right to assert that slavery is a necessary condition1 if in the meaning of necessary we include the idea of permanence4 ,it is not needful to present here other objections to this sweeping assertion4 ,they are old1 well-known1 and unanswerable4 ,but leaving this and other points on which we find ourselves at issue with ,mr4 ,fisher1 we come to what we regard as the most important part of his pamphlet1--the results which he shows to follow from the law1 that each race has a tendency to occupy exclusively that portion of the country suited to its nature4 ,in the ,states that lie on the ,gulf of ,mexico the negro has found a congenial climate and obtained a permanent foothold4 ,the negro multiplies there2 the white man dwindles and decays4 ,we should be glad to quote at length the striking pages in which ,mr4 ,fisher shows the prospect of the ultimate and not distant ascendency of the black race in this new ,africa4 ,the considerations he presents are of vital consequence to the ,south1 of consequence only less than vital to the ,north4 ,but by the side of ,new-,africa are ,states and ,territories in which the black race has little or no foothold4 ,free1 civilized1 and prosperous communities are brought face to face1 as it were1 with the mixed and degenerating populations of the ,slave country4 ,in the ,free ,states the white race is increasing in numbers and advancing in prosperity with unexampled rapidity4 ,in the ,slave ,states the black race is growing in far greater proportion than the white1 the most important elements of prosperity are becoming exhausted1 and the forces of civilization are incompetent to hold their own against the ever-increasing weight of barbarism4 ,shall this new ,africa push its boundaries beyond their present limits8 ,shall more territory be yielded to the already wide-spread ,african1 race8 ,it is not the question1 whether the unoccupied spaces of the ,south and ,west shall be settled by ,northern white emigrants with their natural property1 or by ,southern white emigrants with their legal property1--and there an end2 but it is the question1 whether ,new ,england or ,new ,africa shall extend her limits1--whether the country shall be occupied a century hence by a civilized or by a barbarous race4 ,every rood of ground yielded to the pretensions of the masters of slaves is so much of the heirloom of freedom and of civilization lost without hope of recovery4 ,slavery is transient4 ,as an institution1 such as it has developed itself in our ,southern ,states1 it has already1 given tokens of decay4 ,but the qualities of race are so slowly affected by change as to admit of being called constant and permanent4 ,the predominant influence of the blacks in the ,cotton ,states is already 7even putting aside the results of slavery7 exhibiting itself in the lowering of the whites4 ,these ,states are becoming uninhabitable for the whites1--not by reason of climate1 or of slavery as an institution1 but by reason of the operation of the inevitable increase of the slaves4 ,they must have the land1 and the stronger race will be driven out by the weaker1 on account of the preponderance of their numbers and the vis inertice of their natures4 ,there is no room in the ,united ,states1 or in any of their unsettled territory1 for the expansion of this transatlantic ,africa4 ,where the black race is now settled it will stay1 but it must be confined within its present limits4 ,we do not look upon the simple secession of the ,slave ,states1 or of any one of them1 as dangerous1 so far as the extension of slavery is concerned1--rather1 on the contrary1 as likely to end the great debate by securing all unoccupied territory to the ,north1 to freedom1 and to the white races4 ,it is only1 if an attempt should be made1 for the sake of what is miscalled peace1 and for the sake of the ,union1 to conciliate the misguided and unfortunate people of the ,south by compromise or concession1 that we fear the consequences4 ,the responsibility under which we are to act is not for our own moral convictions alone1 but also for the happiness of all future times4 ,there is no room for concession1 no space for compromise1 in the settlement of the question of the prevalence of the black or of the white race on this continent1--in other words1 the prevalence of liberty and ,christianity and all their attendant blessings1 or that of ignorance and barbarism with their train4 ,we will decide this question1 says ,mr4 ,fisher1 whose words were written before the necessity for decision was so distinctly presented as at present1 we will decide it1 if we can1 as a united people2 but if we cannot1 if cotton and slavery and the negro have already weakened our ,southern brethren by their spells and enchantments1 so that the ,south cannot decide according to the traditions and impulses of our race1 then we of the ,north will still decide it1 as by right we may1--by right of reason1 of race1 and of law4 ,the ,conduct of ,life4 ,by ,r4,w4 ,,emerson ,boston3 ,ticknor ,fields4 #afmo4 pp4 #bhh4 ,it is a singular fact1 that ,mr4 ,emerson is the most steadily attractive lecturer in ,america4 ,into that somewhat cold-waterish region adventurers of the sensation kind come down now and then with a splash1 to become disregarded ,king ,logs before the next season4 ,but ,mr4 ,emerson always draws4 ,a lecturer now for something like a quarter of a century1 one of the pioneers of the lecturing system1 the charm of his voice1 his manner1 and his matter has never lost its power over his earlier hearers1 and continually winds new ones in its enchanting meshes4 ,what they do not fully understand they take on trust1 and listen1 saying to themselves1 as the old poet of ,sir ,philip ,sidney1-- ,a sweet1 attractive1 kind of grace1 ,a full assurance given by looks1 ,continual comfort in a face1 ,the lineaments of gospel books4 ,we call it a singular fact1 because we ,yankees are thought to be fond of the spread-eagle style1 and nothing can be more remote from that than his4 ,we are reckoned a practical folk1 who would rather hear about a new air-tight stove than about ,plato2 yet our favorite teacher's practicality is not in the least of the ,poor ,richard variety4 ,if he have any ,buncombe constituency1 it is that unrealized commonwealth of philosophers which ,plotinus proposed to establish2 and if he were to make an almanac1 his directions to farmers would be something like this3--,,october3 ,indian ,summer2 now is the time to get in your early ,vedas4 ,what1 then1 is his secret8 ,is it not that he out-,yankees us all8 that his range includes us all8 that he is equally at home with the potato-disease and original sin1 with pegging shoes and the ,over-soul8 that1 as we try all trades1 so has he tried all cultures8 and above all1 that his mysticism gives us a counterpoise to our super-practicality8 ,there is no man living to whom1 as a writer1 so many of us feel and thankfully acknowledge so great an indebtedness for ennobling impulses1--none whom so many cannot abide4 ,what does he mean8 ask these last4 ,where is his system8 ,what is the use of it all8 ,what the deuse have we to do with ,brahma8 ,well1 we do not propose to write an essay on ,emerson at the fag-end of a ,february ,atlantic1 with ,secession longing for somebody to hold it1 and ,chaos come again in the ,south ,carolina teapot4 ,we will only say that we have found grandeur and consolation in a starlit night without caring to ask what it meant1 save grandeur and consolation2 we have liked ,montaigne1 as some ten generations before us have done1 without thinking him so systematic as some more eminently tedious 7or shall we say tediously eminent87 authors2 we have thought roses as good in their way as cabbages1 though the latter would have made a better show in the witness-box1 if cross-examined as to their usefulness2 and as for ,brahma1 why1 he can take care of himself1 and won't bite us at any rate4 ,the bother with ,mr4 ,emerson is1 that1 though he writes in prose1 he is essentially a poet4 ,if you undertake to paraphrase what he says1 and to reduce it to words of one syllable for infant minds1 you will make as sad work of it as the good monk with his analysis of ,homer in the ,epistolae ,obscurorum ,virorum4 ,we look upon him as one of the few men of genius whom our age has produced1 and there needs no better proof of it than his masculine faculty of fecundating other minds4 ,search for his eloquence in his books and you will perchance miss it1 but meanwhile you will find that it has kindled all your thoughts4 ,for choice and pith of language he belongs to a better age than ours1 and might rub shoulders with ,fuller and ,browne1--though he does use that abominable word1 reliable4 ,his eye for a fine1 telling phrase that will carry true is like that of a backwoodsman for a rifle2 and he will dredge you up a choice word from the ooze of ,cotton ,mather himself4 ,a diction at once so rich and so homely as his we know not where to match in these days of writing by the page2 it is like homespun cloth-of-gold4 ,the many cannot miss his meaning1 and only the few can find it4 ,it is the open secret of all true genius4 ,what does he mean1 quotha8 ,he means inspiring hints1 a divining-rod to your deeper nature1 plain living and high thinking4 ,we meant only to welcome this book1 and not to review it4 ,doubtless we might pick our quarrel with it here and there2 but all that our readers care to know is1 that it contains essays on ,fate1 ,power1 ,wealth1 ,culture1 ,behavior1 ,worship1 ,considerations by the ,way1 ,beauty1 and ,illusions4 ,they need no invitation to ,emerson4 ,would you know1 says ,goethe1 the ripest cherries8 ,ask the boys and the blackbirds4 ,he does not advise you to inquire of the crows4 ,,recent ,,american ,,publications ,,received ,,by ,,the ,,editors ,,of ,,the ,,atlantic ,,monthly4 ,struggle for ,life4 ,by the ,author of ,seven ,stormy ,sundays1 etc4 ,boston4 ,walker1 ,wise1 ,co4 #abmo4 pp4 #caa4 #a4jj4 ,the ,laws of ,race1 as connected with ,slavery4 ,by the ,author of ,the ,law of the ,territories1 etc4 ,philadelphia4 ,willis ,p4 ,hazard4 #hvo4 paper1 pp4 #gj4 #ch cts4 ,on the ,study of ,words4 ,lectures addressed 7originally7 to the ,pupils of the ,diocesan ,training-,school1 ,winchester4 ,by ,richard ,chenevix ,trench1 ,d4,d4 ,a ,new ,edition1 enlarged and revised4 ,new ,york4 ,w4,j4 ,widdleton4 #abmo4 pp4 #bdi4 #ge cts4 ,sermons preached in ,westminster ,abbey4 ,by ,richard ,chenevix ,trench4 ,new ,york4 ,w4,j4 ,widdleton4 #abmo4 pp4 #cfh4 #a4jj4 ,kormak1 an ,icelandic ,romance of the ,tenth ,century4 ,in ,six ,cantos4 ,boston4 ,walker1 ,wise1 ,co4 #afmo4 pp4 #aah4 #ge cts4 ,optimism1 the ,lesson of ,ages4 ,a ,compendium of ,democratic ,theology4 ,written by ,benjamin ,blood4 ,boston4 ,bela ,marsh4 #abmo4 pp4 #acb4 #fj cts4 ,ninety ,days' ,worth of ,europe4 ,by ,edward ,e4 ,hale4 ,boston4 ,walker1 ,wise1 ,co4 #afmo4 pp4 #bbd4 #ge cts4 ,result of ,some ,researches among the ,british ,archives for ,information relative to the ,founders of ,new ,england1 made in the ,years #aheh1 '#ei1 and '#fj4 ,by ,samuel ,g4 ,drake4 ,boston4 ,published at the ,office of the ,new ,england ,historical ,register4 ,small #dto4 pp4 #aca4 #a4ej4 ,the ,new ,american ,encyclopaedia3 a ,popular ,dictionary of ,general ,knowledge4 ,edited by ,george ,ripley and ,charles ,a4 ,dana4 ,volume ,,xi ,mac to ,moxa4 ,new ,york4 ,d4 ,appleton ,co4 #hvo4 pp4 #ghh1 vii4 #c4jj4 ,the ,silver ,penny ,series4 ,comprising ,six ,volumes1 neatly put up in a ,box1 for ,children4 ,boston4 ,walker1 ,wise1 ,co4 #bdmo4 #be cts4 each4 ,the ,odyssey of ,homer1 with the ,hymns1 ,epigrams1 and ,battle of the ,frogs and ,mice4 ,literally translated1 with ,explanatory ,notes1 by ,theodore ,alois ,buckley1 ,b4,a4 ,new ,york4 ,harper ,l ,brothers4 #afmo4 pp4 #dcb4 #ge cts4 ,herodotus4 ,recensuit ,josephus ,williams ,blakesley1 ,s4,t4,b4 ,new ,york4 ,harper ,brothers4 #cbmo4 #b vols4 pp4 #cfb and #cfd4 #a4ej4 ,hymns for ,mothers and ,children4 ,compiled by the ,author of ,violet1 ,daisy1 etc4 ,boston4 ,walker1 ,wise1 ,co4 #abmo4 pp4 #bhg4 #a4be4 ,martin's ,natural ,history4 ,translated from the ,thirty-,fifth ,german ,edition4 ,by ,sarah ,a4 ,myers4 ,containing ,two ,hundred and ,sixty-,two beautifully-colored ,illustrations4 ,second ,series4 ,new ,york4 ,phinney1 ,blakeman1 ,mason4 #abmo4 pp4 #dij4 #a4ej4 ,history of ,latin ,christianity2 including that of the ,popes1 to the ,pontificate of ,nicolas ,v4 ,by ,henry ,hart ,milman1 ,d4,d4 ,vol4 ,,iii4 ,new ,york4 ,sheldon ,co4 #abmo4 pp4 #ebe4 #a4ej4 ,studies from ,life4 ,by the ,author of ,john ,halifax1 etc4 ,new ,york4 ,harper ,brothers4 #afmo4 pp4 #bij4 #ge cts4 ,hallam's ,middle ,ages4 ,boston ,library ,edition4 ,boston4 ,crosby1 ,nichols1 ,lee1 ,co4 ,crown #hvo4 #c vols4 #c4ge4 ,the ,printer-,boy2 or1 ,how ,ben ,franklin made his ,mark4 ,an ,example for ,youth4 ,by ,william ,m4 ,thayer4 ,boston4 ,j4,e4 ,tilton ,co4 #ahmo4 pp4 #bfa4 #ge cts4 ,the ,diary of ,george ,washington1 from #aghi to #agia2 embracing the ,opening of the ,first ,congress1 and his ,tours through ,new ,england1 ,long ,island1 and the ,southern ,states1 together with his ,journal of a ,tour to the ,ohio1 in #agec4 ,edited by ,benson ,j4 ,lossing4 ,new ,york4 ,charles ,b4 ,richardson ,co4 #abmo4 pp4 #bdh4 #a4jj ,songs for the ,sorrowing4 ,by ,h4,n4 ,with an ,introduction1 by ,wm4 ,r4 ,williams1 ,d4,d4 ,new ,york4 ,phinney1 ,blakeman1 ,mason1 #abmo4 pp4 #bhd4 #a4jj4 ,chambers's ,encyclopaedia4 ,a ,dictionary of ,universal ,knowledge for the ,people4 ,part #bb4 ,new ,york4 ,d4 ,appleton ,co4 #hvo4 paper1 pp4 #fc4 #ae cts4 ,men and ,times of the ,revolution2 or1 ,memoirs of ,elkanah ,watson1 including his ,journal of ,travels in ,europe and ,america1 his ,journals of ,travels from the ,year #aggg to #ahdb1 and his ,correspondence with ,public ,men1 and ,reminiscences and ,incidents of the ,american ,revolution4 ,edited by his ,son1 ,whinlow ,c4 ,watson4 ,new ,york4 ,d4 ,appleton ,co4 #abmo4 pp4 #eeg4 #a4ej4 ,up the ,river4 ,by ,jacob ,abbott4 ,new ,york4 ,harper ,brothers4 #ahmo4 pp4 #aib4 #ej cts4 ,coins1 ,medals1 and ,seals1 ,ancient and ,modern4 ,illustrated and described by ,w4,c4 ,prime4 ,new ,york4 ,harper ,brothers4 ,small #dto4 pp4 #bib4 #c4jj4 ,principles of ,physics2 or1 ,natural ,philosophy4 ,designed for the ,use of ,colleges and ,schools4 ,by ,benjamin ,silliman1 ,jr4 ,philadelphia4 ,h4,c4 ,peck ,theodore ,bliss4 #abmo4 pp4 #gjj4 #b4jj4 ,what we ,eat4 ,an ,account of the most ,common ,adulterations of ,food and ,drink1 with ,simple ,tests by which many of them may be detected4 ,by ,thomas ,h4 ,hoskins1 ,m4,d4 ,boston4 ,t4,o4,h4,p4 ,burnham4 #abmo4 pp4 #bah4 #fc cts4 ,correspondence of ,frulein ,gnderode and ,bettine von ,arnim4 ,boston4 ,t4,o4,h4,p4 ,burnham4 #abmo4 pp4 #cdd4 #a4jj4 ,the ,personal ,history of ,lord ,bacon4 ,from ,unpublished ,documents4 ,by ,w4 ,hepworth ,dixon1 of the ,inner ,temple4 ,boston4 ,ticknor ,fields4 #abmo4 pp4 #dbd1 xx4 #a4be4 ,the ,autobiography of ,rev4 ,dr4 ,alexander ,carlyle1 ,minister of ,inveresk4 ,with ,memorials of the ,men and ,events of his ,times4 ,boston4 ,ticknor ,fields4 #abmo4 pp4 #dhj4 #a4ej4 ,the ,life and ,times of ,philip ,schuyler4 ,by ,benson ,j4 ,lossing4 ,new ,york4 ,mason ,brothers4 #abmo4 pp4 #ejb4 #a4ej4 ,the ,works of ,francis ,bacon4 ,collected and edited by ,james ,spedding1 ,m4,a41 ,robert ,leslie ,ellis1 ,m4,a41 and ,douglas ,denon ,heath4 ,volume ,,xiii4 ,being ,volume ,,iii4 of the ,literary and ,professional ,works4 ,boston4 ,brown ,taggard4 #abmo4 pp4 #dah4 #a4ej4 ,twelve ,discourses4 ,by ,henry ,m4 ,dexter4 ,boston4 ,printed for the ,pine ,street ,fair4 #afmo4 pp4 #bai4 #a4be4