,,the ,,atlantic ,,monthly4 ,a ,,magazine ,,of ,,literature1 ,,art1 ,,and ,,politics4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,vol4 ,,xii4--,,september1 #ahfc4--,,no4 ,,lxxi4 ,entered according to ,act of ,congress1 in the year #ahfc1 by ,,ticknor ,,and ,,fields1 in the ,clerk's ,office of the ,district ,court of the ,district of ,massachusetts4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,puritan ,,minister4 ,it is nine o'clock upon a summer ,sunday morning1 in the year sixteen hundred and something4 ,the sun looks down brightly on a little forest settlement1 around whose expanding fields the great ,american wilderness recedes each day1 withdrawing its bears and wolves and ,indians into an ever remoter distance1--not yet so far but that a stout wooden gate at each end of the village street indicates that there is something outside which must stay outside1 if possible4 ,it would look very busy and thriving in this little place1 to-day1 but for the ,sabbath stillness which broods over everything with almost an excess of calm4 ,even the smoke ascends more faintly than usual from the chimneys of these abundant log-huts and scanty framed houses1 and since three o'clock yesterday afternoon not a stroke of this world's work has been done4 ,last night a preparatory lecture was held1 and now comes the consummation of the whole week's life1 in the solemn act of worship4 ,in which settlement of the ,massachusetts ,colony is the great observance to pass before our eyes8 ,if it be ,cambridge village1 the warning drum is beating its peaceful summons to the congregation4 ,if it be ,salem village1 a bell is sounding its more ecclesiastic peal1 and a red flag is simultaneously hung forth from the meeting-house1 like the auction-flag of later periods1 but offering in this case goods without money and beyond price4 ,but if it be ,haverhill village1 then ,abraham ,tyler has been blowing his horn assiduously for half an hour1 a service for which ,abraham1 each year1 receives a half-pound of pork from every family in town4 ,be it drum1 bell1 or horn1 which gives the summons1 we will draw near to this important building1 the centre of the village1 the one public edifice1--meeting-house1 town-house1 school-house1 watch-house1 all in one4 ,so important is it1 that no one can legally dwell more than a half-mile from it4 ,and yet the people ride to meeting1 short though the distance be1 for at yonder oaken block a wife dismounts from behind her husband2--and has it not1 moreover1 been found needful to impose a fine of forty shillings on fast trotting to and fro8 ,all sins are not modern ones1 young gentlemen4 ,we approach nearer still1 and come among the civic institutions4 ,this is the pillory1 yonder the stocks1 and there is a large wooden cage1 a terror to evil-doers1 but let us hope empty now4 ,round the meeting-house is a high wooden paling1 to which the law permits citizens to tie their horses1 provided it be not done too near the passage-way4 ,for at that opening stands a sentry1 clothed in a suit of armor which is painted black1 and cost the town twenty-four shillings by the bill4 ,he bears also a heavy matchlock musket2 his rest1 or iron fork1 is stuck in the ground1 ready to support the weapon2 and he is girded with his bandoleer1 or broad leather belt1 which sustains a sword and a dozen tin cartridge-boxes4 ,the meeting-house is the second to which the town has treated itself1 the first having been a timber fort1 both strong and comely1 with flat roof and battlements1--a cannon on top1 and the cannonade of the gospel down below4 ,but this one cost the town sixty-three pounds1 hard-earned pounds1 and carefully expended4 ,it is built of brick1 smeared outside with clay1 and finished with clay-boards1 larger than our clapboards1 outside of all4 ,it is about twenty-five feet square1 with a chimney half the width of the building1 and projecting four feet above the thatched roof4 ,the steeple is in the centre1 and the bell-rope1 if they have one1 hangs in the middle of the broad aisle4 ,there are six windows1 two on each of the two sides1 and two more at the end1 part being covered with oiled paper only1 part glazed in numerous small panes4 ,and between the windows1 on the outside1 hang the heads of all the wolves that have been killed in the township within the year4 ,but the ,quakers think that the wolves have cheated the parish and got inside1 in sheep's clothing4 ,the people are assembling4 ,the ,governor has passed by1 with his four vergers bearing halberds before him4 ,the ,french ,popish ambassadors1 who have just arrived from ,canada1 are told the customs of the place1 and left to stay quietly in the ,governor's house1 with sweetmeats1 wines1 and the liberty of a private walk in the garden4 ,the sexton has just called for the minister1 as is his duty twice every ,sunday1 and1 removing his cocked hat1 he walks before his superior officer4 ,the minister enters and passes up the aisle1 dressed in ,geneva cloak1 black skull-cap1 and black gloves open at thumb and finger1 for the better handling of his manuscript4 ,he looks round upon his congregation1 a few hundred1 recently seated anew for the year1 arranged according to rank and age4 ,there are the old men in the pews beneath the pulpit4 ,there are the young men in the gallery1 or near the door1 with ruffs1 showy belts1 gold and silver buttons1 points at the knees1 and great boots4 ,there are the young women1 with silk or tiffany hoods or scarfs1 embroidered or needle-worked caps1 immoderate great sleeves1 cut works1--a mystery1--slash apparel1--another mystery1--immoderate great vayles1 long wings1 etc41--mystery on mystery1 but all recorded in the statutes1 which forbid these splendors to persons of mean estate4 ,there are the wives of the magistrates in prominent seats1 and the grammar-school master's wife next them2 and in each pew1 close to the mother's elbow1 is the little wooden cage for the youngest child1 still too young to sit alone4 ,all boys are held too young to sit alone also2 for1 though the emigrants left in ,holland the aged deaconess who there presided1 birch in hand1 to control the rising generation in ,sunday meetings1 yet the urchins are now herded on the pulpit- and gallery-stairs1 with four constables to guard them from the allurements of sin4 ,and there sits ,sin itself embodied in the shrinking form of some humiliated man or woman1 placed on a high stool in the principal aisle1 bearing the name of some dark crime written on paper and pinned to the garments1 or perhaps a ,scarlet ,letter on the breast4 ,oh1 the silence of this place of worship1 after the solemn service sets in6 ,people do not sneeze or cough here in public assemblies1 says one writer1 triumphantly1 so much as in ,england4 ,the warning caution1 ,be short1 which the minister has inscribed above his study-door1 claims no authority over his pulpit4 ,he may pray his hour1 unpausing1 and no one thinks it long2 for1 indeed1 at prayer-meetings four persons will sometimes pray an hour each1--one with confession1 one with private petitions1 a third with petitions for church and kingdom1 and a fourth with thanksgiving1--neither part of the quartette being for an instant confused with the other4 ,then he may preach his hour1 and1 turning his hour-glass1 may say1--but that he will not anticipate the levity to be born in a later century with ,mather ,byles1--,now1 my hearers1 we will take another glass4 ,in short1 this is the pomp and circumstance of glorious preaching4 ,woe to any one who shall disturb its proprieties6 ,it is written in the statute1 ,if any one interrupt or oppose a preacher in season of worship1 they shall be reproved by the magistrate1 and on repetition shall pay #e1 or stand two hours on a block four feet high1 with this inscription in capitals1 ',a ,wanton ,gospeller4' ,nor this alone1 but the law stands by the minister's doctrine even out of the meeting-house4 ,it is but a few days since ,nathaniel ,hadlock was sentenced to be severely whipped for declaring that he could receive no profit from ,mr4 ,h----'s preaching1--since ,thomas ,maule was mauled to the extent of ten stripes for declaring that ,mr4 ,h---- preached lies1 and that his instruction was the doctrine of devils1--since even the wife of ,nicholas ,phelps was sentenced to pay five pounds or be whipped1 for asserting that this same ,mr4 ,h---- sent abroad his wolves and bloodhounds among the sheep and lambs4 ,truly1 it is a perilous thing to attend public worship in such reverential days4 ,however1 it is equally dangerous to stay at home2 there are tithing-men to look after the absentees1 and any one unnecessarily absent must pay five shillings4 ,he may be put in the stocks or in the wooden cage1 if delinquent for a month together4 ,but we must give our attention to the sermon4 ,it is what the congregation will pronounce a large1 nervous1 and golden discourse1 a ,scriptural discourse1--like the skeleton of the sea-serpent1 all backbone and a great deal of that4 ,it may be some very special and famous effort4 ,perhaps ,increase ,mather is preaching on ,the ,morning ,star1 or on ,snow1 or on ,the ,voice of ,god in ,stormy ,winds2 or it may be his sermon entitled ,burnings ,bewailed1 to improve the lesson of some great conflagration1 which he attributes partly to ,sabbath-breaking and partly to the new fashion of monstrous periwigs4 ,or it may be ,cotton ,mather1 his son1 rolling forth his resounding discourse during a thunder-storm1 entitled ,brantologia ,sacra1--consisting of seven separate divisions or thunderbolts1 and filled with sharp lightning from ,scripture and the ,rabbinical lore1 and ,cartesian natural philosophy4 ,just as he has proclaimed1 ,in the thunder there is the voice of the glorious ,god1 a messenger comes hastening in1 as in the ,book of ,job1 to tell him that his own house has just been struck1 and though no person is hurt1 yet the house hath been much torn and filled with the lightnings4 ,with what joy and power he instantly wields above his audience this providential surplus of excitement1 reminding one irresistibly of some scientific lecturer who has nearly blown himself up by his own experiments1 and proceeds beaming with fresh confidence1 the full power of his compound being incontestably shown4 ,rising with the emergency1 he tells them grandly1 that1 as he once had in his house a magnet which the thunder changed instantly from north to south1 so it were well if the next bolt could change their stubborn souls from ,satan to ,god4 ,but afterward he is compelled to own that ,satan also is sometimes permitted to have a hand in the thunder1 which is the reason why it breaks oftener on churches than on any other buildings2 and again he admits1 pensively1 at last1 that churches and ministers' houses have undoubtedly the larger share4 ,the sermon is over4 ,the more demoralized among the little boys1 whose sleepy eyes have been more than once admonished by the hare's-foot wand of the constables1--the sharp paw is used for the boys1 the soft fur is kept for the smooth foreheads of drowsy maidens1--look up thoroughly awakened now4 ,bright eyes glance from beneath silk or tiffany hoods1 for a little interlude is coming4 ,many things may happen in this pause after the sermon4 ,questions may be asked of the elders now1 which the elders may answer1--if they can4 ,some lay brother may exercise on a text of ,scripture1--rather severe exercise1 it sometimes turns out4 ,candidates for the church may be proposed4 ,a baptism may take place4 ,if it be the proper month1 the laws against profaning the ,sabbath may be read4 ,the last town-regulations may be read2 or1 far more exciting1 a new marriage may be published4 ,or a darker scene may follow1 and some offending magistrate may be required to stand upon a bench1 in his worst garments1 with a foul linen cap drawn close to his eyes1 and acknowledge his sins before the pious people1 who reverenced him so lately4 ,these things done1 a deacon says impressively1 ,brethren1 now there is time for contribution2 wherefore1 as ,god hath prospered you1 so freely offer4 ,then the people in the galleries come down and march two abreast1 up one ile and down the other1 passing before the desk1 where in a long pue sit the elders and deacons4 ,one of these holds a moneybox1 into which the worshippers put their offerings1 usually varying from one to five shillings1 according to their ability and good-will4 ,some give paper pledges instead2 and others give other valuables1 such as a fair gilt cup1 with a cover1 for the communion-service4 ,then comes a psalm1 read1 line after line1 by some one appointed1 out of the ,bay ,psalm-,book1 and sung by the people4 ,these psalms are sung regularly through1 four every ,sunday1 and some ten tunes compose the whole vocal range of the congregation4 ,then come the words1 ,blessed are they who hear the word of the ,lord and keep it1 and then the benediction4 ,and then the reverend divine descends from his desk and walks down the aisle1 bowing gravely right and left to his people1 not one of whom stirs till the minister has gone out2 and then the assembly disperses1 each to his own home1 unless it be some who have come from a distance1 and stay to eat their cold pork and peas in the meeting-house4 ,roll aside the panorama of the three-hours' ,sunday service of two centuries ago1 lest that which was not called wearisome in the passing prove wearisome in the delineation now4 ,it needed all this accumulation of small details to show how widely the externals of ,new-,england church-going have changed since those early days4 ,but what must have been the daily life of that ,puritan minister for whom this exhausting service was but one portion of the task of life6 ,truly1 they were pious and painful preachers then1 as ,i have read upon a stone in the old ,watertown graveyard2--princely preachers ,cotton ,mather calls them4 ,he relates that ,mr4 ,cotton1 in addition to preaching on ,sunday and holding his ordinary lecture every ,thursday1 preached thrice a week besides1 on ,wednesday and ,thursday early in the morning1 and on ,saturday afternoon4 ,he also held a daily lecture in his house1 which was at last abandoned as being too much thronged1 and frequent occasional days occurred1 when he would spend six hours in the word and in prayer4 ,on his voyage to this country1 he being accompanied by two other ministers1 they commonly had three sermons a day1--one after every meal4 ,he was an universal scholar and a walking library1--he studied twelve hours a day1 and said he liked to sweeten his mouth with a piece of ,calvin before he went to sleep4 ,a fearful rate of labor2 a strange1 grave1 quaint1 ascetic1 rigorous life4 ,it seems a mystery how the ,reverend ,joshua ,moody could have survived to write four thousand sermons1 but it is no mystery why the ,reverend ,john ,mitchell was called a truly aged young man at thirty1--especially when we consider that he was successor at ,cambridge to the holy1 heavenly1 sweet-affecting1 and soul-ravishing ,mr4 ,shepard1 in continuance of whose labors he kept a monthly lecture1 wherein he largely handled man's misery by sin and made a most entertaining exposition of the ,book of ,genesis4 ,for the minister's week-days were more arduous than his ,sundays1 and to have for each parish both pastor and teacher still left a formidable duty for each4 ,he must visit families during several afternoons in every week1 sending previous notice1 so that children and domestics might be ready for catechizing4 ,he was much visited for counsel in his own home1 and must set apart one day in the week for cases of conscience1 ranging from the most fine-drawn self-tormentings up to the most unnatural secret crimes4 ,he must often go to lectures in neighboring towns1 a kind of religious dissipation which increased so fast that the ,legislature at last interfered to restrict it4 ,he must have five or six separate seasons for private prayer daily1 devoting each day in the week to special meditations and intercessions1--as ,monday to his family1 ,tuesday to enemies1 ,wednesday to the churches1 ,thursday to other societies1 ,friday to persons afflicted1 and ,saturday to his own soul4 ,he must have private fasts1 spending whole days locked in his study and whole nights prostrate on the floor4 ,cotton ,mather thought himself starved1 unless he fasted once a month at farthest1 while he often did it twice in a week4 ,then there were public fasts quite frequently1 because of sins1 blastings1 mildews1 drought1 grasshoppers1 caterpillars1 small pox1 loss of cattle by cold and frowns of ,providence4 ,perhaps a mouse and a snake had a battle in the neighborhood1 and the minister must expound it as symbolizing the conflict betwixt ,satan and ,god's poor people1 the latter being the mouse triumphant4 ,then if there were a military expedition1 the minister might think it needful to accompany it4 ,if there were even a muster1 he must open and close it with prayer1 or1 in his absence1 the captain must officiate instead4 ,one would naturally add to this record of labors the attendance on weddings and funerals4 ,it is strange how few years are required to make a usage seem ancestral1 or to reunite a traditional broken one4 ,who now remembers that our progenitors for more than a century disused religious services on both these solemn occasions8 ,magistrates alone could perform the marriage ceremony2 though it was thought to be carrying the monopoly quite too far1 when ,governor ,bellingham1 in #afda1 officiated at his own4 ,prayer was absolutely forbidden at funerals1 as was done also by ,calvin at ,geneva1 by ,john ,knox in ,scotland1 by the ,english ,puritans in the ,westminster ,assembly1 and by the ,french ,huguenots4 ,the bell might ring1 the friends might walk1 two and two1 to the grave2 but there must be no prayer uttered4 ,the secret was1 that the traditions of the ,english and ,romish ,churches must be avoided at all sacrifices4 ,doctor1 said ,king ,james to a ,puritan divine1 do you go barefoot because the ,papists wear shoes and stockings8 ,even the origin of the frequent ,new-,england habit of eating salt fish on ,saturday is supposed to have been the fact that ,roman ,catholics eat it on ,friday4 ,but if there were no prayers said on these occasions1 there were sermons4 ,mr4 ,john ,calf1 of ,newbury1 described one specimen of funeral sermon in immortal verse3-- ,on ,sabbath day he went his way1 ,as he was used to do1 ,god's house unto1 that they might know ,what he had for to show2 ,god's holy will he must fulfil1 ,for it was his desire ,for to declare a sermon rare ,concerning ,madam ,fryer4 ,the practice of wedding discourses was handed down into the last century1 and sometimes beguiled the persons concerned into rather startling levities4 ,for instance1 when ,parson ,smith's daughter ,mary was to marry young ,mr4 ,cranch1--7what graceful productions of pen and pencil have come to this generation from the posterity of that union67--the father permitted the saintly maiden to decide on her own text for the sermon1 and she meekly selected1 ,mary hath chosen the better part1 which shall not be taken away from her1 and the discourse was duly pronounced4 ,but when her wild young sister ,abby was bent on marrying a certain ,squire ,adams1 called ,john1 whom her father disliked and would not even invite to dinner1 she boldly suggested for her text1 ,john came1 neither eating bread nor drinking wine1 and ye say he hath a devil4 ,but no sermon stands recorded under this prefix1 though ,abby lived to be the wife of one ,president of the ,united ,states and mother of another4 ,the ,puritan minister had public duties also upon him4 ,new ,england being a country1 said ,cotton ,mather1 whose interests are remarkably enwrapped in theological circumstances1 ministers ought to interest themselves in politics4 ,indeed1 for many years they virtually controlled the franchise1 inasmuch as only male church-members could vote or hold office1 at least in the ,massachusetts ,colony4 ,those malecontents who petitioned to enlarge the suffrage were fined and imprisoned in #afdf1 and even in #affd the only amendment was by permitting non-church-members to vote on a formal certificate to their orthodoxy from the minister4 ,the government they aimed at was not democracy1 but theocracy3 ,god never did ordain democracy as a fit government1 said ,cotton4 ,accordingly1 when ,cotton and ,ward framed their first code1 ,ward's portion was rejected by the colony as heathen1--that is1 based on ,greek and ,roman models1 not ,mosaic1--and ,cotton's was afterwards rebuked in ,england as fanatical and absurd4 ,but the government finally established was an ecclesiastical despotism1 tempered by theological controversy4 ,in ,connecticut it was first the custom1 and then the order1 lasting as late as #agjh1 that the ministers of the gospel should preach a sermon1 on the day appointed by law for the choice of civil rulers1 proper for the direction of the town in the work before them4 ,they wrote state-papers1 went on embassies1 and took the lead at town-meetings4 ,at the exciting gubernatorial election in #afcg1 ,rev4 ,john ,wilson1 minister of the ,first ,church in ,boston1 not satisfied with taking the stump for his candidate1 took to a full-grown tree and harangued the people from among the boughs4 ,perhaps the tree may have been the ,great ,elm which still ornaments the ,common2 but one sees no chips of that other old block among its branches now4 ,one would expect that the effect of this predominant clerical influence would have been to make the aim of the ,puritan codes lofty1 their consistency unflinching1 their range narrow1 and their penalties severe1--and it certainly was so4 ,looking at their educational provisions1 they seem all noble2 looking at their schedule of sins and retributions1 one wonders how any rational being could endure them for a day4 ,communities1 like individuals1 furnish virtues piecemeal4 ,roger ,williams1 with all his wise toleration1 bequeathed to ,rhode ,island no such system of schools as his persecutors framed for ,massachusetts4 ,but the children who were watched and trained thus carefully might be put to death1 if they cursed their orderly parents after the age of sixteen2--not that the penalty ever was inflicted1 but it was on the statute-book4 ,sabbath-breaking was placed on a level with murder1--though ,calvin himself allowed the old men to play at bowls and the young men to practise military training1 after afternoon service1 at ,geneva4 ,down to #agfi not even a funeral could take place on ,sunday in ,massachusetts1 without license from a magistrate4 ,then the stocks and the wooden cage were in frequent use1 though barbarous and cruel punishments were forbidden in #afda4 ,scolds and railers were set on a ducking-stool and dipped over head and ears three times1 in running water1 if possible4 ,mrs4 ,oliver1 a troublesome theologian1 was silenced with a cleft stick applied to her tongue4 ,thomas ,scott1 in #afdi1 was sentenced for some offence to learn the chatachise1 or be fined ten shillings1 and1 after due consideration1 paid the fine4 ,sometimes offenders1 with a refinement of cruelty1 were obliged to go and talk to the elders4 ,and if any youth made matrimonial overtures to a young female without the consent of her parents1 or1 in their absence1 of the ,county ,court1 he was first fined and then imprisoned4 ,a new etymology for the word courting4 ,an exhibition of this mingled influence was in the relation of the ministers to the ,indian wars4 ,roger ,williams1 even when banished and powerless1 could keep the peace with the natives4 ,but when the brave ,miantonimo was to be dealt with for suspected treason1 and the civil authorities decided1 that1 though it was unsafe to set him at liberty1 they yet had no ground to put him to death1 the matter being finally referred to five elders1 ,uncas was straightway authorized to slay him in cold blood4 ,the ,pequots were first defeated and then exterminated1 and their heroic ,king ,philip1 a patriot according to his own standard1 was hunted like a wild beast1 his body quartered and set on poles1 his head exposed as a trophy for twenty years on a gibbet in ,plymouth1 and one of his hands sent to ,boston3 then the ministers returned thanks1 and one said that they had prayed the bullet into ,philip's heart4 ,nay1 it seems that in #afgg1 on a ,sunday in ,marblehead1 the women1 as they came out of the meeting-house1 fell upon two ,indians1 that had been brought in as captives1 and in a tumultuous way very barbarously murdered them1 in revenge for the death of some fishermen3 a moral application which certainly gives a singular impression of the style of gospel prevailing inside the meeting-house that day4 ,but it is good to know1 on the other side1 that1 when the ,commissioners of the ,united ,colonies had declared an ,indian war1 and the ,massachusetts ,colony had become afterwards convinced that the war was unrighteous1 the troops were recalled1 though already far towards the field1 and no pride or policy prevented the order from being rescinded4 ,these were some of the labors of the clergy4 ,but no human being lives without relaxation1 and they may have had theirs4 ,true1 ministers have little to joy in in this world1 wrote old ,norton2 and one would think so1 to read the dismal diaries1 printed or manuscript1 of those days4 ,i can compare with any man living for fears1 said ,hooker4 ,i have sinned myself into darkness1 said ,bailey4 ,many times have ,i been ready to lay down my ministry1 thinking ,god had forsaken me4 ,i was almost in the suburbs of hell all day4 ,yet who can say that this habit of agonizing introspection wholly shut out the trivial enjoyments of daily life8 ,who drank1 for instance1 that twelve gallons of sack and that six gallons of white wine which the ,general ,court thought it convenient that the ,auditor should send1 as a small testimony of the ,court's respect1 to the reverend assembly of ,elders at ,cambridge1 in #afdd8 ,did the famous ,cambridge ,platform rest1 like the earth in the ,hebrew cosmology1 upon the waters1--strong waters8 ,was it only the ,derry ,presbyterians who would never give up a p'int of doctrine1 nor a pint of rum8 ,it is startling to remember that in #afhe it was voted1 on occasion of a public funeral1 that some person be appointed to look after the burning of the wine and the heating of the cider1 and to hear that on this occasion there were thirty-two gallons of wine and still more of cider1 with one hundred and four pounds of that ensnaring accessory1 sugar4 ,francis ,higginson1 in writing back to the mother country that one sup of ,new ,england's air was better than a whole draught of ,old ,england's ale1 gave convincing proof that he had tasted both beverages4 ,but1 after all1 the very relaxations of the ,puritan minister were more spiritual than spirituous1 and to send forth a good ,nineteenthly from his own lips was more relishing than to have the best ,double ,x go in4 ,in spite of the dignity of this influential class1 they were called only ,elders for a long time4 ,titles were carefully adjusted in those days4 ,the commonalty bore the appellations of ,goodman and ,goodwife1 and one of ,roger ,william's offences was his wishing to limit these terms to those who gave some signs of deserving them4 ,the name ,mr4 was allowed to those who had taken the degree of ,master of ,arts at ,college1 and also to professional men1 eminent merchants1 military officers1 and mates of vessels1 and their wives and daughters monopolized the epithet ,mrs4 ,mr4 ,josiah ,plastow1 when he had stolen four baskets of corn from the ,indians1 was degraded into plain ,josiah4 ,mr4 seems to have meant simply ,my ,sir1 and the clergy were often called ,sir merely1 a title given also to college graduates1 on ,commencement programmes1 down to the time of the ,revolution4 ,and so strong was the ,puritan dislike to the idolatry of saints' names1 that the ,christian ,apostles were sometimes designated as ,sir ,paul1 ,sir ,peter1 and ,sir ,james4 ,in coming to the private affairs of the ,puritan divines1 it is humiliating to find that anxieties about salary are of no modern origin4 ,the highest compensation ,i can find recorded is that of ,john ,higginson in #afga1 who had #afj voted him in country produce1 which he was glad1 however1 to exchange for #abj in solid cash4 ,solid cash included beaver-skins1 black and white wampum1 beads1 and musket-balls1 value one farthing4 ,mr4 ,woodbridge in ,newbury at this same time had #fj1 and ,mr4 ,epes preached in ,salem for twenty shillings a ,sunday1 half in money and half in provisions4 ,holy ,mr4 ,cotton used to say that nothing was cheap in ,new ,england but milk and ministers4 ,down to #agjj1 ,increase ,mather says1 most salaries were less than #ajj1 which he thinks might account for the scanty harvests enjoyed by our farmers4 ,he and his son ,cotton both tell the story of a town where two very eminent ministers were only allowed #cj per annum and the ,god who will not be mocked made them lose #cjj worth of cattle that year4 ,the latter also complains that the people were very willing to consider the ministers the stars1 rather than the mere lamps1 of the churches1 provided they1 like the stars1 would shine without earthly contributions4 ,he also calls the terms of payment1 in one of his long words1 ,synecdotical ,pay1--in allusion to that rhetorical figure by which a part is used for the whole4 ,and apparently various causes might produce this ,synecdoche4 ,for ,i have seen an anonymous ,plea for ,ministers of the ,gospel1 in #agjf1 which complains that young ministers have often occasion in their preaching to speak things offensive to some of the wealthiest people in town1 on which occasion they may withhold a considerable part of their maintenance4 ,it is a comfort to think how entirely this source of discomfort1 at least1 is now eradicated from the path of the clergy2 and it is painful to think that there ever was a period when wealthy parishioners did not enjoy the delineation of their own sins4 ,however1 the ministerial households contrived to subsist1 in spite of rhetorical tropes and malecontent millionnaires4 ,the ,puritan divine could commonly afford not only to keep house1 but to keep horse likewise1 and to enjoy the pet professional felicity of printing his own sermons4 ,as to the last privilege there could have been no great trouble1 for booksellers were growing rich in ,new ,england as early as #afgg1--not that it is always an inevitable inference that authors are1--and ,cotton ,mather published three hundred and eighty-two different works for his own share4 ,books were abundant enough at that day1 though somewhat grim and dingy1 and two complete ,puritan libraries are preserved in the rich collection of the ,american ,antiquarian ,society at ,worcester1--without whose treasures1 let me add1 this modest monograph never could have been written4 ,as for the minister's horse1 the moral sentiment of the community protected him faithfully2 for a man was fined in ,newbury for killing our elder's mare1 and a special good beast she was4 ,the minister's house was built by the town2 in ,salem it was #ac feet stud1 #bc by #db1 four chimnies and no gable-ends1--so that the ,house with ,seven ,gables belonged to somebody else2--and the ,selectmen ordered all men to appear with teams on a certain day and put the minister's grounds in order4 ,inside the parsonage-house1 however1 there was sometimes trouble4 ,rev4 ,ezekiel ,rogers wrote in #afeg to his brother in ,england1--,much ado ,i have with my own family2 hard to get a servant who enjoys catechising or family duties4 ,i had a rare blessing of servants in ,england1 and those ,i brought over were a blessing2 but the young brood doth much afflict me4 ,probably the minister's wife had the worst of this2 but she seems to have been generally1 like the modern minister's wife1 a saint1 and could bear it4 ,cotton ,mather1 indeed1 quotes triumphantly the ,jewish phrase for a model female1--one who deserved to marry a priest2 and one of the most singular passages in the history of the human heart is the old gentleman's own narrative1 in his manuscript diary1 of a passionate love-adventure1 in his later years1 with a fascinating young girl1 an ingenious child1 as he calls her1 whom his parish thought by no means a model female1 but from whom it took three days of solitary fasting and prayer to wean him at last4 ,he was not the only ,puritan minister who bestowed his heart somewhat strangely4 ,rev4 ,john ,mitchell1 who succeeded the soul-ravishing ,shepard at ,cambridge1 as aforesaid1 married his predecessor's widow on the general recommendation of her1 and the college students were greatly delighted1 as one might imagine4 ,rev4 ,michael ,wigglesworth1 in #afia1 wooed the ,widow ,avery in a written discourse1 which ,i have seen in manuscript1 arranged under twelve different heads1--one of which treats of the prospect of his valuable life being preserved longer by her care4 ,she having children of her own1 he offers mysteriously to put some of his own children out of the way1 if necessary1--a hint which becomes formidable when one remembers that he was the author of that once famous theological poem1 ,the ,day of ,doom1 in which he relentingly assigned to infants1 because they had sinned only in ,adam1 the easiest room in hell4 ,but he wedded the lady1 and they were apparently as happy as if he had not been a theologian2 and ,i have seen the quaint little heart-shaped locket he gave her1 bearing an anchor and a winged heart and ,thine forever4 ,let us glance now at some of the larger crosses of the ,puritan minister4 ,first came a young brood of heretics to torment him4 ,gorton's followers were exasperating enough2 they had to be confined in irons separately1 one in each town1 on pain of death1 if they preached their doctrines1--and of course they preached them4 ,but their offences and penalties were light1 compared with those of the ,quakers4 ,when the ,quakers assembled by themselves1 their private doors might be broken open1--a thing which ,lord ,chatham said the king of ,england could not do to any one1--they might be arrested without warrant1 tried without jury1 for the first offence be fined1 for the second lose one ear1 for the third lose the other ear1 and for the fourth be bored with red-hot iron through the tongue1--though this last penalty remained a dead letter4 ,they could be stripped to the waist1 tied to a cart1 and whipped through town after town1--three women were whipped through eleven towns1 eighty miles1--but afterwards the number was limited to three4 ,their testimony was invalid1 their families attainted1 and those who harbored them were fined forty shillings an hour4 ,they might be turned out shelterless among wolves and bears and frosts3 they could be branded ,h for ,heretic1 and ,r for ,rogue2 they could be sold as slaves2 and their graves must not be fenced to keep off wild beasts1 lest their poor afflicted bodies should find rest there4 ,yet in this same age female ,quakers had gone as missionaries to ,malta and to ,turkey and returned unharmed4 ,no doubt the monks and the ,sultan must have looked on the plain dress much as some clerical gentlemen have since regarded the ,bloomer costume1--and the ,inquisition imprisoned the missionaries1 though the ,sultan did not4 ,but meanwhile the ,quaker women in ,new ,england might be walking to execution with their male companions1--like ,mary ,dyer in ,boston1--under an armed guard of two hundred1 led on by a minister seventy years old1 and the fiercer for every year4 ,when they asked ,mary ,dyer1 ,are you not ashamed to walk thus hand in hand between two young men8 she answered1 ,no1 this is to me an hour of the greatest joy ,i could enjoy in this world4 ,no tongue could utter and no heart understand the sweet influence of the ,spirit which now ,i feel4 ,then they placed her on the scaffold1 and covered her face with a handkerchief which the ,reverend ,mr4 ,wilson lent the hangman2 and when they heard that she was reprieved1 she would not come down1 saying that she would suffer with her brethren4 ,and suffer death she did1 at last1 and the ,reverend ,mr4 ,wilson made a pious ballad on her execution4 ,it is no wonder1 if some persons declare that about this time the wheat of ,massachusetts began to be generally blasted1 and the peas to grow wormy4 ,it is no wonder1 that1 when the witchcraft excitement came on1 the ,quakers called it a retribution for these things4 ,but let us be just1 even to the unjust4 ,toleration was a new-born virtue in those days1 and one which no ,puritan ever for a moment recognized as such1 or asked to have exercised toward himself4 ,in ,england they did not wish to be tolerated for a day as sectaries1 they claimed to have authority as the one true church4 ,they held with ,pym1 that it is the duty of legislators to establish the true religion and to punish false1--a doctrine equally fatal1 whether applied to enforce the right theology or the wrong4 ,they objected to the ,church of ,england1 not that it persecuted1 but that its persecution was wrongly aimed4 ,it is1 therefore1 equally absurd to praise them for a toleration they never professed1 or to accuse them of any inconsistency when they practised intolerance4 ,they have been so loosely praised1 that they are as loosely blamed4 ,what was great in them was their heroism of soul1 not their largeness4 ,they sought the ,american wilderness not to indulge the whims of others1 but their own4 ,they said to the ,quakers1 ,we seek not your death1 but your absence4 ,all their persecution1 after all1 was an alternative sentence2 all they asked of the ,quakers was to keep out of their settlements and let them alone4 ,moreover1 their worst penalties were borrowed from the ,english laws1 and only four offenders were put to death from the beginning2--of course1 four too many4 ,again1 it is to be remembered that the ,quaker peculiarities were not theological only1 but political and social also4 ,everything that the ,puritan system of government asserted the ,quakers denied2 they rendered no allegiance1 owned no laws1 paid no taxes1 bore no arms4 ,with the best possible intentions1 they subverted all established order4 ,then their modes of action were very often intemperate and violent4 ,one can hardly approve the condemnation pronounced by ,cotton ,mather upon a certain ,rarey among the ,friends in those days1 who could control a mad bull that would rend any other man4 ,but it was oftener the ,quakers who needed the ,rareys4 ,running naked through the public streets1--coming into meeting dressed in sackcloth1 with ashes on their heads and nothing on their feet1--or sitting there with their hats on1 groaning and rocking to and fro1 in spite of elders1 deacons1 and tithing-men3 these were the vagaries of the zealots1 though always repudiated by the main body4 ,the ,puritans found themselves reproached with permitting these things1 and so took refuge in outrageous persecutions1 which doubled them4 ,indeed1 the ,quakers themselves began to persecute1 on no greater provocation1 in ,philadelphia1 thirty years afterwards1--playing over again upon ,george ,keith and his followers the same deluded policy of fines and imprisonment from which they had just escaped2--as minorities have persecuted sub-minorities ever since intolerance began4 ,indeed1 so far as mere language went1 the minority always watched the majority4 ,grave divines did not like to be pelted with such epithets as these3 ,thou fiery fighter and green-headed trumpeter6 thou hedgehog and grinning dog6 thou mole6 thou tinker6 thou lizard6 thou bell of no metal but the tone of a kettle6 thou wheelbarrow6 thou whirlpool6 thou whirligig6 thou firebrand6 thou moon-calf6 thou ragged tatterdemalion6 thou gormandizing priest6 thou bane of reason and beast of the earth6 thou best to be spared of all mankind6--all of which are genuine epithets from the ,quaker books of that period1 and termed by ,cotton ,mather1 who collected them1 quills of the porcupine4 ,they surpass even ,dr4 ,chauncy's catalogue of the unsavory epithets used by ,whitefield and ,tennent a century later2 and it was not likely that they would be tolerated by a race whose reverence for men in authority was so comprehensive that they actually fined some one for remarking that ,major ,phillips's old mare was as lean as an ,indian's dog4 ,there is a quaint anecdote preserved1 showing the continuance of the ,quaker feud in full vigor as lately as #agje4 ,a youth among the ,friends wished to espouse a fair ,puritan maiden2 but the ,quakers disapproved his marrying out of their society1 and the ,congregationalists his marrying into theirs2 so in despair he thus addressed her3--,ruth1 let us break from this unreasonable bondage4 ,i will give up my religion1 and thou shalt give up thine2 and we will marry and go into the ,church of ,england1 and go to the ,devil together4 ,and they fulfilled the resolution1 the ,puritan historian says1 so far as going into the ,church1 and marrying1 and staying there for life4 ,but probably the ministers thought it to be another case of synecdoche4 ,with the same careful discrimination we must try to study the astonishing part played by the ministers in the witchcraft delusions4 ,it must be remembered that the belief in this visitation was no new or peculiar thing in ,new ,england4 ,the ,church1 the ,scriptures1 the medival laws1 had all made it a capital crime4 ,there had been laws against it in ,england for a hundred years4 ,bishop ,jewel had complained to ,queen ,elizabeth of the alarming increase of witches and sorcerers4 ,sir ,thomas ,browne had pronounced it flat atheism to doubt them4 ,high legal and judicial authorities1 as ,dalton1 ,keeble1 ,sir ,matthew ,hale1 had described this crime as definitely and seriously as any other4 ,in ,scotland four thousand had suffered death for it in ten years2 ,cologne1 ,nuremberg1 ,geneva1 ,paris1 were executing hundreds every year2 even in #agdi a girl was burnt alive in ,wrtzburg2 and is it strange1 if1 during all that wild excitement1 ,massachusetts put to death twenty8 ,the only wonder is in the independence of the ,rhode ,island people1 who declared that there were no witches on the earth1 nor devils1--except 7as they profanely added7 the ,new-,england ministers1 and such as they4 ,john ,higginson sums it up best3--,they proceeded in their integrity with a zeal of ,god against sin1 according to their best light and law and evidence4 ,but there is a question1 he wisely adds1 whether some of the laws1 customs1 and privileges used by judges and juries in ,england1 which were followed as patterns here1 were not insufficient4 ,cotton ,mather also declared that he observed in judges and juries a conscientious endeavor to do the thing which was right1 and gives a long list of the legal authorities whom they consulted2 observing1 finally1 that the fact of fifty confessions was1 after all1 the one irresistible vindication of their strong measures4 ,it must have been so4 ,common sense and humanity might have refuted every other evidence than that of the victims themselves4 ,but what were the authorities to do1 when1 in addition to all legal and ,scriptural precedents1 the prisoners insisted on entering a plea of guilty8 ,when ,goody ,e---- testified that she and two others rode from ,andover to a witch-meeting on a broomstick1 and the stick broke and she fell and was still lame from it1--when her daughter testified that she rode on the same stick1 and confirmed all the details of the casualty1--when the grand-daughter confirmed them also1 and added1 that she rode on another stick1 and they all signed ,satan's book together1--when ,w4 ,b----1 aged forty1 testified that ,satan assembled a hundred fine blades near ,salem ,meeting-,house1 and the trumpet sounded1 and bread and wine were carried round1 and ,satan was like a black sheep1 and wished them to destroy the minister's house1 7by thunder probably17 and set up his kingdom1 and then all would be well1--when one woman summoned her three children and some neighbors and a sister and a domestic1 who all testified that she was a witch and so were they all1--what could be done for such prisoners by judge or jury1 in an age which held witchcraft a certainty8 ,it was only the rapid rate of increase which finally stopped the convictions4 ,one thing is certain1 that this strange delusion1 a semi-comedy to us1--though part of the phenomena may find their solution in laws not yet unfolded1--was the sternest of tragedies to those who lived in it4 ,conceive1 for an instant1 of believing in the visible presence and labors of the arch-fiend in a peaceful community4 ,yet from the bottom of their souls these strong men held to it1 and they waged a hand-to-hand fight with ,satan all their days4 ,very inconveniently the opponent sometimes dealt his blows1 withal4 ,surely it could not be a pleasant thing to a sound divine1 just launched upon his seventeen-headed discourse1 to have a girl with wild eyes and her hair about her ears start up and exclaim1 ,parson1 your text is too long1--or worse yet1 ,parson1 your sermon is too long1--or most embarrassing of all1 ,there's a great yellow bird sitting on the parson's hat in the pulpit4 ,but these formidable interruptions veritably happened1 and received the stern discipline in such cases made and provided4 ,but beside ,quakers and witches1 the ministers had other female tormentors to deal with4 ,there was the perpetual anxiety of the unregenerated toilet4 ,immodest apparel1 laying out of hair1 borders1 naked necks and arms1 or1 as it were1 pinioned with superfluous ribbons1--these were the things which tried men's souls in those days1 and the statute-books and private journals are full of such plaintive inventories of the implements of sin4 ,things known as slash apparel seem to have been an infinite source of anxiety2 there must be only one slash on each sleeve and one in the back4 ,men also must be prohibited from shoulderbands of undue width1 double ruffs and cuffs1 and immoderate great breeches4 ,part of the solicitude was for modesty1 part for gravity1 part for economy3 none must dress above their condition4 ,in #afeb1 three men and a woman were fined ten shillings each and costs for wearing silver-lace1 another for broad bone-lace1 another for tiffany1 and another for a silk hood4 ,alice ,flynt was accused of a silk hood1 but1 proving herself worth more than two hundred pounds1 escaped unpunished4 ,jonas ,fairbanks1 about the same time1 was charged with great boots1 and the evidence went hard against him2 but he was fortunately acquitted1 and the credit of the family saved4 ,the question of veils seems to have rocked the ,massachusetts ,colony to its foundations1 and was fully discussed at ,thursday ,lecture1 ,march #gth1 #afcd4 ,holy ,mr4 ,cotton was utterly and unalterably opposed to veils1 regarding them as a token of submission to husbands in an unscriptural degree4 ,it is pleasant to think that there could be an unscriptural extent of such submission1 in those times4 ,but ,governor ,endicott and ,rev4 ,mr4 ,williams resisted stoutly1 quoting ,paul1 as usual in such cases2 so ,paul1 veils1 and vanity carried the day4 ,but afterward ,mr4 ,cotton came to ,salem to preach for ,mr4 ,skelton1 and did not miss his chance to put in his solemn protest against veils2 he said they were a custom not to be tolerated2 and so the ladies all came to meeting without their veils in the afternoon4 ,probably the most astounding visible result from a single sermon within the memory of man4 ,beginning with the veils1 the eye of authority was next turned on what was under them4 ,in #afge it was decided1 that1 as the ,indians had done much harm of late1 and the ,deity was evidently displeased with something1 the ,general ,court should publish a list of the evils of the time4 ,and among the twelve items of contrition stood this3 ,long hair like women's hair is worn by some men1 either their own or others' hair made into periwigs2--and by some women wearing borders of hair1 and their cutting1 curling1 and immodest laying out of their hair1 7does this hint at puff-combs87 which practice doth increase1 especially among the younger sort4 ,not much was effected1 however1--divers of the elders' wives1 as ,winthrop lets out1 being in some measure partners in this disorder4 ,the use of wigs also1 at first denounced by the clergy1 was at last countenanced by them3 in portraits later than #agjj they usually replace the black skull-cap of earlier pictures1 and in #ageb the tables had so far turned that a church-member in ,newbury refused communion because the pastor wears a wigg4 ,yet ,increase ,mather thought they played no small part in producing the ,boston ,fire4 ,monstrous ,periwigs1 such as some of our church-members indulge in1 which make them resemble the ,locusts that came out of y'e ,bottomless ,pit4 ,rev4 ix4 #g1 #h1--;and as an eminent ,divine calls them1 ,horrid ,bushes of ,vanity2 such strange apparel as is contrary to the light of ,nature and to express ,scripture4 #a ,cor4 xi4 #ad1 #ae4 ,such pride is enough to provoke the ,lord to kindle fires in all the towns in the country4 ,another vexation was the occasional arrival of false prophets in a community where every man was expected to have a current supply of religious experiences always ready for circulation4 ,there was a certain hypocritical ,dick ,swayn1 for instance1 a seafaring man1 who gave much trouble2 and ,e4,f41--for they mostly appear by initials1--who1 coming to ,new ,haven one ,saturday evening1 and being dressed in black1 was taken for a minister1 and asked to preach3 he was apparently a little insane1 and at first talked demurely1 but at last railed like ,rabshakeh1 ,cotton ,mather says4 ,there was also ,m4,j41 a ,welsh tanner1 who finally stole his employer's leather breeches and set up for a preacher1--less innocently apparelled than ,george ,fox4 ,but the worst of all was one bearing the since sainted name of ,samuel ,may4 ,this vessel of wrath appeared in #afii1 indorsed as a man of a sweet gospel spirit1--though1 indeed1 one of his indorsers had himself been a scandalous fire-ship among the churches4 ,mather declares that every one went a-,maying after this man1 whom he maintains to have been a barber previously1 and who knew no ,latin1 ,greek1 ,hebrew1 nor even ,english1--for 7as he indignantly asserts7 there were eighteen horrid false spells1 and not one point1 in one very short note ,i received from him4 ,this doubtful personage copied his sermons from a volume by his namesake1 ,dr4 ,samuel ,bolton1--,sam the ,doctor and ,sam the ,dunce1 ,mather calls them4 ,finally1 this eminent worthy stranger1 ,sam1 who was no dunce1 after all1 quarrelled with his parish for their slow payments1 and flew out like a ,dragon1 spitting this among other fire at them3--',i see1 no longer pipe1 no longer dance1'--so that they came to fear he was a cheat1 and wish they had never seen him4 ,then the guilty fellow1 having bubbled the silly neighbors of an incredible number of pounds1 on a sudden was gone1 and ,cotton ,mather sent a letter after him1 which he declares to have been the worst penalty the man suffered4 ,it is safer to say little of the theological scheme of the ,puritan ministers1 lest the present writer be pronounced a ,wanton ,gospeller1 and have no tithingman to take his part4 ,but however it may be with the regular standards of theology of that period1 every one could find a sufficient variety to suit him among its heresies4 ,eighty-two pestilent heresies were counted as having already sprung up in #afcg2 others say one hundred and six2 others1 two hundred and ten4 ,the ,puritans kept ,rhode ,island for what housekeepers call an odd drawer1 into which to crowd all these eccentricities4 ,it was said1 that1 if any man happened to lose his religious opinion1 he might be sure to find it again at some village in ,rhode ,island4 ,thither went ,roger ,williams and his ,baptists2 thither went ,quakers and ,ranters2 thither went ,ann ,hutchinson1 that extraordinary woman1 who divided the whole politics of the country by her ,antinomian doctrines1 denouncing the formalisms around her1 and converting the strongest men1 like ,cotton and ,vane1 to her opinions4 ,thither went also ,samuel ,gorton1 a man of no ordinary power1 who proclaimed a mystical union with ,god in love1 thought that heaven and hell were in the mind alone1 but esteemed little the clergy and the ordinances4 ,the colony was protected also by the thoughtful and chivalrous ,vane1 who held that water baptism had had its day1 and that the ,jewish ,sabbath should give place to the modern ,sunday4 ,all these1 and such as these1 were called generally ,seekers by the ,puritans1--who claimed for themselves that they had found that which they sought4 ,it is the old distinction2 but for which is the ship built1 to be afloat or to be at anchor8 ,such were those pious worthies1 the men whose names are identified with the leadership of the ,new-,england colonies1--,cotton1 ,hooker1 ,norton1 ,shepard1 the ,higginsons1 the ,mathers4 ,to these might be added many an obscurer name1 preserved in the quaint epitaphs of the ,magnalia3--,blackman1 in spite of his name1 a ,nazarene whiter than snow2--,partridge1 a hunted partridge1 yet both a dove and an eagle2--,ezekiel ,rogers1 a tree of knowledge1 whose apples the very children might pluck2--,nathaniel ,rogers1 a very lively preacher and a very preaching liver1 he loved his church as if it had been his family and he taught his family as if it had been his church2--,warham1 the first who preached with notes1 and who suffered agonies of doubt respecting the ,lord's ,supper2--,stone1 both a loadstone and a flint stone1 and who set the self-sacrificing example of preaching only one hour4 ,these men had mingled traits of good and evil1 like all mankind1--nobler than their descendants in some attributes1 less noble in others4 ,the most strait-laced ,massachusetts ,calvinist of these days would have been disciplined by them for insufferable laxity1 and yet their modern successor would count it utter shame1 perhaps1 to own a slave in his family or to drink rum-punch at an ordination1--which ,puritan divines might do without rebuke4 ,not one of them has left on record a statement so broad and noble as that of ,roger ,williams3--,to be content with food and raiment1--to mind1 not our own1 but every man the things of another1--yea1 and to suffer wrong1 and to part with what we judge to be right1 yea1 our own lives1 and1 as poor women martyrs have said1 as many as there be hairs upon our heads1 for the name of ,god and for the ,son of ,god's sake1--this is humanity1 this is ,christianity2 the rest is but formality and picture-courteous idolatry1 and ,jewish and ,popish blasphemy against the ,christian religion4 ,and yet the mind of ,roger ,williams was impulsive1 erratic1 and unstable1 compared with theirs2 and in what respect has the work they left behind them proved1 after the testing of two centuries1 less solid or durable than his8 ,these men were stern even to cruelty against all that they held evil1--,satan and his supposed emissaries1 witches1 ,quakers1 ,indians1 negligent parishioners1 disobedient offspring1 men with periwigs1 and women in slash apparel4 ,yet the tenderest private gentleness often lay behind this gloomy rigor of the conscience4 ,some of them would never chastise a son or daughter1 in spite of ,solomon2 others would write in ,greek characters in their old almanacs quaint little ,english verses on the death of some beloved child4 ,that identical ,priest ,wilson who made the ballad at ,mary ,dyer's execution attended a military muster one day4 ,sir1 said some one1 ,i'll tell you a great thing3 here's a mighty body of people1 and there's not seven of them all but loves ,mr4 ,wilson4 ,sir1 it was replied1 ,i'll tell you as good a thing3 here's a mighty body of people1 and there's not one of them all but ,mr4 ,wilson loves him4 ,mr4 ,cotton was a terror to evil-doers1 yet1 when a company of men came along from a tavern and said1 ,let us put a trick upon ,old ,cotton1 and one came and cried in his ear1 ,cotton1 thou art an old fool1--,i know it1 ,i know it1 retorted cheerily the venerable man1 and pungently added1 ,the ,lord make both me and thee wiser6 ,mr4 ,hooker was once reproving a boy in the street1 who boldly replied1 ,i see you are in a passion2 ,i will not answer you1 and so ran away4 ,it contradicts all one's notions of ,puritan propriety1 and yet it seems that the good man1 finding afterwards that the boy was not really guilty1 sent for him to apologize1 and owned himself to have been wrong4 ,what need to speak of the strength and courage1 the disinterestedness and zeal1 with which they bore up the fortunes of the colony on their shoulders1 and put that iron into the ,new-,england blood which has since supplied the tonic for a continent8 ,it was said of ,mr4 ,hooker1 that he was a person who1 while doing his ,master's work1 would put a king in his pocket2 and it was so with them all3 they would pocket anything but a bribe to themselves or an insult to ,god or their profession4 ,they flinched from no reproof that was needed3 ,sharp rebukes make sound ,christians was a proverb among them4 ,they sometimes lost their tempers1 and sometimes their parishes1 but never their independence4 ,i find a hundred anecdotes of conscientious cruelty laid up against them1 but not one of cowardice or of compromise4 ,they may have bored the tongues of others with a bar of iron1 but they never fettered their own tongues with a bar of gold1--as some ,african tribes think it a saintly thing to do1 and not ,african tribes alone4 ,there was such an absolute righteousness among them1 that to this day every man of ,new-,england descent lives partly on the fund of virtuous habit they accumulated4 ,and1 on the other hand1 every man of the many who still stand ready to indorse everything signed by a ,d4,d4--without even adding the commercial ,e4,e41 for ,errors ,excepted--is in part the victim of the over-influence they obtained4 ,yet there was a kind of democracy in that vast influence also3 the ,puritans were far more thorough ,congregationalists than their successors2 they recognized no separate clerical class1 and the elder was only the highest officer of his own church4 ,each religious society could choose and ordain its own minister1 or dispense with all ordaining services at will1 without the slightest aid or hindrance from council or consociation4 ,so the stern theology of the pulpit only reflected the stern theology of the pews2 the minister was but the representative man4 ,if the ministers were recognized as spiritual guides1 it was because they were such to the men of their time1 whatever they might be to ours4 ,demonax of old1 when asked about the priests' money1 said1 that1 if they were really the leaders of the people1 they could not have too much payment1--or too little1 if they were not4 ,i believe that on these conditions the ,puritan ministers well earned their hundred and sixty pounds a year1 with a discount of forty pounds1 if paid in wampum-beads1 beaver-skins1 and musket-balls4 ,what they took in musket-balls they paid back in the heavier ammunition of moral truth4 ,here is a specimen of their grape-shot3--,my fathers and brethren1 said ,john ,higginson1 this is never to be forgotten1 that our ,new ,england is originally a plantation of religion1 and not a plantation of trade4 ,let merchants and such as are making cent4 per cent4 remember this4 ,let others who have come over since at sundry times remember this1 that worldly gain was not the end and design of the people of ,new ,england1 but religion4 ,and if any man among us make religion as twelve and the world as thirteen1 let such a man know he hath neither the spirit of a true ,new-,england man1 nor yet of a sincere ,christian4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,thoreau',s ,,flute4 ,we1 sighing1 said1 ,our ,pan is dead2 ,his pipe hands mute beside the river2-- ,around it wistful sunbeams quiver1 ,but ,music's airy voice is fled4 ,spring mourns as for untimely frost2 ,the bluebird chants a requiem2 ,the willow-blossom waits for him2-- ,the ,genius of the wood is lost4 ,then from the flute1 untouched by hands1 ,there came a low1 harmonious breath3 ,for such as he there is no death2-- ,his life the eternal life commands2 ,above man's aims his nature rose3 ,the wisdom of a just content ,made one small spot a continent1 ,and tuned to poetry ,life's prose4 ,haunting the hills1 the stream1 the wild1 ,swallow and aster1 lake and pine1 ,to him grew human or divine1-- ,fit mates for this large-hearted child4 ,such homage ,nature ne'er forgets1 ,and yearly on the coverlid ',neath which her darling lieth hid ,will write his name in violets4 ,to him no vain regrets belong1 ,whose soul1 that finer instrument1 ,gave to the world no poor lament1 ,but wood-notes ever sweet and strong4 ,o lonely friend6 he still will be ,a potent presence1 though unseen1-- ,steadfast1 sagacious1 and serene3 ,seek not for him1--he is with thee4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,mr4 ,,martin',s ,,disappointments4 ,the circumstances of a first meeting so color long years of acquaintanceship1 that1 should these circumstances be comic in their nature1 the intercourse which follows partakes much of the grotesque4 ,thus1 perhaps1 it is1 that the misfortunes of ,edward ,martin1 apart from the whimsical demeanor of the man himself1 provoke in my memory a smile rather than a sigh4 ,some years ago1 journeying on foot through ,northern ,connecticut1 it became necessary for me to stop overnight at the quiet inn of ,deacon ,s----4 ,sharon ,i had visited1 fair as ,berkshire1 but less an old story2 ,i had lingered about the twin lakes of ,salisbury2 ,i had carried away many sweet memories of ,warramaug and its mountain2 and ,i now found myself in the neighborhood of ,gramley ,bridge1 eager for fresh water1 clean towels1 and the plenty of a country tea-table1--not averse to strawberry short-cake1 or the snowy delights of cottage-cheese4 ,it was rapidly growing dark1 when1 as ,i hurried on toward my cheerful welcome1 a bend in the road brought me in sight of a figure that filled me with curiosity and amazement4 ,was it a man8 ,a devil infernal8 ,an angel supernal8 ,was it were-wolf spectral1 or bear aboriginal8 ,it lived and moved1 and1 as ,i cautiously neared the spot1 ,i seemed to recognize a human being in the singular form1--stooping1 squatting1 and groping before me4 ,the man1 for such it proved1 was performing most wondrous gymnastics upon the ground1--smelling here1 smelling there1 too agile to be tipsy1 too silent to be mad4 ,i had no desire to be alone in a lonely road at nightfall with a maniac1 and ,i was not sorry when my nearer approach resolved these strange phenomena into a well-dressed pedestrian on all-fours in the middle of a dusty highway4 ,he rose as ,i approached1 and ,i smiled to see that the spectacles astride his handsome nose were minus one lens4 ,he seemed half blind and wholly bewildered4 ,i looked at once for the lost glass1 and there it lay shining at me from the very spot where he had been so industriously peering4 ,he laughed grimly as ,i handed it to him1 fitted his treasure into its wonted rim1 took out his watch1 and with a low chuckle said1-- ,twenty-five minutes is a long time to search for a bit of such small circumference4 ,thank you4 ,do you go to the ,deacon's8 ,yes4 ,so do ,i4 ,we walked on together in silence1 till we reached our journey's end1--,i too tired1 he too reserved1 too preoccupied1 or too shy1 to speak again2 but when1 at last1 we were seated with our cigars on the ,deacon's door-step1 he turned suddenly to me and asked1-- ,are you fond of the country8 ,why1 yes6 ,what else is there8 ,i answered1 laughing4 ,ah1 you are an artist6 ,i hope to be one4 ,its a bad business1 said he1 testily1--a very bad business4 ,if ,i were you1 ,i would give it up4 ,have you ever tried it8 ,tried it8 he ejaculated1 kicking the gravel-walk1--yes1 and everything else1 ,i believe4 ,if ,i thought it would do you any good1 ,i would give you the benefit of my experience2 but you'd only laugh1 and make a good story of it to your wife4 ,alas6 ,i have no such incumbrance4 ,the worse for you1 if you have genius and the modesty of genius4 ,a true artist1 who seeks to interpret ,nature in its purest and most exquisite relations1 who penetrates the deepest temples of the woods and the silent sanctuaries of the mountains1 must be a true1 pure1 and good man4 ,he must be a happy man1--happy in a sweet and natural way4 ,a man whose life is passed in a daily delight that gently stirs without feverish excitement will be tender and most lovely to women4 ,he ought to marry4 ,did you ever write poetry8 ,i asked4 ,i began to compose when ,i was six years old4 ,i wrote a poem on the sea1 commencing1-- ',o thou earthly sea1 ,every person thinks of thee1-- ,the sailor1 and the busy bee1 ,and the ,chinese drinking tea6' ,i thought it very fine4 ,i have written many things since then1 and they seemed good to me at the time4 ,i would not venture to say how they struck others4 ,he smiled pleasantly4 ,do not be frightened by the shadow of a possible wife from unfolding your history1 said ,i4 ,chance has thrown us together2 befriend me with your experience4 ,take warning1 then1 if need be4 ,in college ,i was thought 'a very able fellow1' one 'who held the pen of a ready writer'2 and ,i graduated as vain of my supposed talents as a young miss of her first conquest4 ,my earliest literary essay was in a new magazine1 which1 as it was just rising into notice1 would be1 ,i imagined1 greatly assisted by my condescension4 ,it was a charity1 indeed1 to give my support to this fledgling1 and ,i sent to it a long article1 entitled1 ',the ,cultivated1 as ,moving and ,educational ,powers4' ,my manuscripts were returned1 with this quiet bit of advice3--',before ,x4,y4,z4 institutes any other reforms1 we would advise him to reperuse his ,english ,grammar4' ,far from having a salutary effect1 this rebuff only rankled in my soul4 ,i determined to revenge myself on the paltry malignant who dared to despise my efforts4 ,i therefore wrote a slashing criticism for one of the evening papers1 demolishing 7as ,i thought7 the delinquent periodical1 and denouncing its whole corps of writers as frivolous and almost illiterate4 ,my satire was returned1 being too personal for publication4 ,just at this time ,i chanced to fall in love with ,miss ,ellen ,wilson1 now ,mrs4 ,martin4 ,fancying my passion unrequited1 ,i poured forth my feelings in ten melancholy stanzas1 beginning1-- ',oh6 what avails it1 if the spring be bright8' ,these verses were very morbid and dreary1 but they were published in the ',tri-,weekly ,tribune1' and ',hope revived again4' ,the drama ,i next deemed worthy of my attention1 and wrote a play1 the plot of which ,i thought quite new and original4 ,a large fortune is left to my hero1 who forthwith becomes enamored of a fair damsel2 but1 fearful lest the beloved object should worship his money more than his merits1 he disguises himself in a wig and blue spectacles1 becomes tutor to her brother1 and wins her affections while playing pedagogue4 ,on her acknowledging her attachment1 he flings his disguises into the sea1 and1 in the wildness of his joy at being adored for his profundity in ,latin1 ,greek1 ,hebrew1 ,french1 ,spanish1 ,german1 ,mathematics1 ,natural ,science1 and ,civil ,engineering1 folds his loved one in his arms1 and springs into the surf1 where both are drowned4 ,this1 you see1 was quite new4 ,quite1 ,i replied1 laughing4 ,i published it at my own expense1 and ,i must say ,i have yet to receive the first remittance for this truly original work4 ,during the next season1 ,i met with ,hans ,andersen's inimitable ',mrchen1' and1 immediately setting myself to work1 ,i wrote ',uncle ,job's ,legacies1' a series of children's tales1 full1 as ,i fondly fancied1 of poetry1 pleasantry1 and information4 ,i sent them to ',the ,juvenile ,weekly1' then published in the city4 ,they were accepted with a profusion of thanks2 and in a few days ,i called1 by request1 at the office1 expecting large compensation for services so eagerly received4 ,i went up a dirty staircase1 into a mean1 slovenly back-office1 where a small1 uncleanly man sat tipped back in his chair1 picking his teeth4 ,he seemed the personification of nonchalance1 impudence1 and conceit4 ,as ,i entered1 he looked up with a lazy insolence1 which1 had ,i been a woman1 would have brought a hot flush of indignation to my face1 and1 on my mentioning my name1 he rose and extended a very dirty hand4 ',glad to see you1 ,sir1--hope you'll continue your contributions1--,uncle ,job1--good idea1 ,sir1--love the little ones8 ,so do we1 ,sir1--work very hard for them1--don't pay at all1--poor business1--pure charity1--that's all4' ',but you don't mean to say1' ,i exclaimed1 'that your contributors are expected to work from charity8' ',glad to pay them1 if we could1 but we can't afford it1--more contributions than we can use1--best authors in the country write for us1--pure love for the little ones1 ,i assure you4' ',will you give me my manuscripts8' ,i said4 ',i do not vouchsafe to bestow my time and thoughts for nothing4 ,if you do not pay1 ,i can offer them to others who do4' ',you won't find a child's paper in the ,united ,states that pays1' he growled4 ',we don't care for contributions4 ,me and my partner writes most of the articles ourselves4' ',will you give me my manuscripts8' ,i said again1 anxious to put an end to the interview1 and disgusted with the fellow's falsehood4 ',hallo6 ,mortimer1 do you know where them are8' ',sorry ,i can't oblige you1' said a fat man1 dirtier and greasier than the first1 emerging from an inner den2 'they're gone to press4' ',if you tell me any more lies1' cried ,i1 becoming furious1 ',i shall take measures that you will not at all relish4 ,if you will not give me my manuscripts1 ,i shall take them'2 and1 suiting the action to the word1 ,i snatched them from a shelf1 where they lay conspicuous1 and carried them off without further parley4 ,this cured me for a while of all literary ambition4 ,but the unquiet spirit within me would not rest1 and during the following summer ,i wrote a sentimental tale1 full of aspirations1 large adjectives1 and soft epithets4 ,it was accepted by a well-known monthly1 then supposed to be in the height of its prosperity4 ,this was a grain of comfort1 and ,i looked forward confidently to a long future of remuneration and renown1 when a letter of regret arrived from the fair editress1 returning my story1 and explaining1 that1 being unable to meet her engagements1 the magazine had been sold to pay her debts4 ,this was bad2 but my story was my own1 and ,i accordingly despatched it to ',the ,salmagundian1' a periodical of the highest reputation4 ,there it was published1 praised1 and further contributions requested4 ,several weeks passed away4 ,i indited a poem1 entitled1 ',past and ,future1 or1 ,golden and ,leaden ,hours4' ,this also appeared in print1 and my thirst for fame was beginning to be satisfied1 when a polite note reached me from ',the ,salmagundian' office1 begging for another tale1 and offering to pay me in back numbers of the magazine4 ,i wrote no more4 ,art beguiled you then1 perhaps8 ,alas1 yes1 the siren6 ,i had taken lessons from a very clever colorist1 and was thoroughly imbued with his enthusiasm4 ',i1 too1 am a painter1' ,i took for my motto2 and1 hiring a small studio in ---- ,street1 ,i bought a large canvas1 on which ,i sketched out a picture which cost me much money1 more time1 and many anxious thoughts4 ,it represented the interior of a church1 at the dim end of which a marriage was being solemnized4 ,in the foreground1 a group of ten people1 in anomalous costumes1 was gathered round a youth supposed to be a rejected and despairing lover1 who had fallen on the ground in a swoon4 ,it was very affecting1 ,i thought4--it would be very effective4 ,were she to see it1 she would be stung with remorse1--she would behold the probable effects of her present indifference1--she would relent4 ,no one knew of my painting4 ,i would keep it a profound secret1 till it was a complete and glorious success4 ,so ,i worked on in my quiet studio1 draping before a cheval-glass for my women1 attitudinizing and agonizing for my men1 until the last touches were on1 the varnish dry1 and it was all ready for the ,spring ,exhibition4 ,then came doubts and speculations4 ,would it be accepted8 ,was it good1 after all8 ,would ,ellen like it8 ,how would it seem among so many others8 ,should ,i take her to look at it8 ,should ,i tell her it was mine8 ,who would buy it8 ,i had hired my studio under an assumed name1 and under an assumed name sent my picture to the ,academy4 ,now1 when ,i went to see it1 ,i found it1 by some strange chance1 hung next to a beautiful portrait by ,huntington4 ,the juxtaposition gave me a new idea4 ,i saw at once what a villanous daub mine was1 and went away oppressed with shame and a new-found modesty4 ,some time after this ,i strolled again into the ,exhibition1 in the hope of finding ,miss ,wilson2 as ,i entered the vestibule1 ,i met her coming out4 ',oh1 ,mr4 ,martin6' she exclaimed1 ',i am just going away1 but ,i must turn back1 and show you the funniest picture6 ,so theatrical6 ,so distorted6' ',does it hang next to a lady in a purple shawl1 by ,huntington8' ',yes4 ,of course ,i might have known you would appreciate it1 you are such a good critic of pictures4 ,isn't it the very worst specimen of art you ever saw8' ,can you imagine my feelings8 ,i think ,i can4 ,this was not all1 however4 ,that afternoon ,i went to my now forsaken studio1 previous to taking my departure from it forever4 ,i was carefully packing my materials1 when ,i heard a knock at the door4 ,i opened it1 and an elderly1 shrewd-looking man walked into the room4 ',are you ,t4 ,markham ,worthington8' he asked4 ',i am a friend of his4' ',authorized to sell his picture in the ,academy1 ,number ----8' ',yes4' ',how much does he ask for it8' ',how much are you willing to give8' ',not more than twenty-five dollars1' ',that will do4 ,where shall it be sent8' ,he paid the money1 wrote the address1 and1 bowing1 left the studio4 ,twenty-five dollars just paid for the frame4 ,who had bought my picture8 ,i looked at the card3-- ',,parker ,j4 ,,sperry1 ',yankee ,pie ,depot1 '#abf ---- ,street4' ,did you ever paint again8 ,once only4 ,i made a portrait of my sister-in-law1 and sent it to her in a gorgeous frame4 ,i happened to go into her sitting-room1 one morning1 when she was out1 and found my picture hanging with its face to the wall4 ,i turned it round4 ,directly across the mouth was pasted a white label1 on which ,i saw neatly printed in ,india-ink1--',queen of the ,deplorables4' ,i took it home with me1 and hung it in my library as a lesson to me for all future time4 ,so1 said ,martin1 throwing away the of his third cigar1 you have heard my experience4 ,may you profit by it6 ,i am now in the pork-packing business1 and make a handsome income for my wife and two children4 ,to-morrow ,i go to ,new ,york1 to bring them into these wilds for change of air4 ,and now1 good night4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,robert ,,and ,,clara ,,schumann4 ,,florestan',s ,,story4 ,i4 ,in every person's memory there are niches fixed1 and in those niches are sacred persons4 ,these are such as never obtruded themselves upon you1 staining the pane through which their light shone with their own images1 but who became perfectly transparent to the word they uttered1 the song they sang1 or the work they did4 ,such a sacred person to me is the gifted woman who first interpreted for me ,schumann's ,albums4 ,many years ago it was1 as she told me1 that she one day stood unperceived in the half-open door of her master1 near the lesson-hour1 and heard him softly rendering a theme which stole far into places of her heart1 which had been awaiting its spell unconsciously4 ,presently he felt that there was a listener1 and1 hastily brushing away a tear1 he placed the music in a far corner of the room1 away from his rpertoire4 ,she confessed1 that1 afterward1 when he was not present1 she had looked on that which he evidently desired to conceal2 she saw written1 in pencil1 upon it1 ,sternenkranz4 ,thenceforth shops and catalogues were ransacked1 but no ,sternenkranz was found1--the word was evidently her master's own fancy2 so she summoned all her heroism1 one day1 when ,herr ,otto complained of her indifference to the pieces he set before her1 and informed him that she should perish at his feet1 unless he would give her ,sternenkranz4 ,of course her guilt was manifest1 and ,herr ,otto1 in a spasm of anger at prying women1 as he called them1 brought out the treasure1 and with it others of a very rare album of ,schumann's1 to which he had given no names1 leaving them to whisper their own names to each soul that could receive them3 ,star-,wreath it might be to one1 ,bower of ,lilies to another4 ,it was the same as with that white stone which the ,seer of ,patmos saw1--within it a name written which no man knoweth1 saving he that receiveth it4 ,this piece was to the lady a touch of consecration4 ,thenceforth she was known among us as the ,schumannite woman4 ,i verily believe that to-day1 next to the divine ,clara herself1 she is the best interpreter of ,robert ,schumann's works living2 and if the love she has obtained for him is not as universal1 it is just as fervent4 ,many silent and holy hours have ,i sat communing1 through her1 with him whom the ,germans love to call their ,tone-,poet2 and the music remained to clothe with the full vesture of romance the meagre paragraphs of the journals which hinted his love1 his sorrow1 and at length his insanity and death4 ,more1 however1 ,i longed to know of him1--of the wedlock of these ,brownings of music2 and more ,i came to know1 in the way which1 with this preface1 ,i now proceed to relate4 ,a bitter ,december evening found me tumbling through snow and ice to accommodate a certain lyceum in one of our ,northwestern cities4 ,cold winds from over the ,lakes made me wish that the ,modern ,athens had kept its lecture-system at home2 for it has always seemed to me1 that1 wherever this has gone1 her eastern storms have gone with it4 ,such ugly thoughts were shamed1 however1 by the beaming welcome which shone from the face of the kindest of landladies1 and at length completely thawed out of me by the glowing fire to which she introduced me1 and which animated the coziest of rooms4 ,why has not some poet celebrated the experience of thawing8 ,how deliciously each fibre of the thawee responds to the informing ray1 evolving its own sweet sensation of release until all unite in a soft choral reverie6 ,carried thus1 in a few moments1 from the ,arctic to the ,tropic1 ,i thought1 as dear ,heine says1 my sweet nothing-at-all thoughts1 until a subtile breath of music won me back to life4 ,heavens6 what is that8 ,a strain1 strong and tender1 pressed its way into the room1 soothed my temples1 then broke over me in a shower of pearls4 ,confused1 ,i started up2 and it was some moments before ,i understood that the music proceeded from the room adjoining mine in the hotel4 ,not altogether unfamiliar was the theme2 the priestess of whom ,i have spoken had once brought it from the ,holy of ,holies1 when she was appointed to stand2 and now1 remembering1 ,i broke out with the word1 ,florestan6 ,as ,i uttered it1 the music ceased with the dreary fall of an octave4 ,whether the musician had heard the exclamation1 or whether such a terrible termination was in the music1 ,i knew not3 the latter was quite probable1 for1 alas6 such fearful ,icarus-falls are not rare in poor ,schumann's music4 ,however1 ,i did not consider long1 but1 rising quickly1 passed into the hall1 and knocked gently at the door of the next room4 ,enter1 replied a voice1 eagerly1 but softly4 ,enter ,i did1 and stood before a man of about forty winters4 ,his face was so swart that ,i could see only the ,german in the blue eye1 and at once imagined that a stream of ,plutonic fire had streamed into his veins from some more ,oriental race4 ,i stammered out an apology for my intrusion1 but told him how irresistible were such subtile threads as ,schumann's ,carnival had projected through the walls which separated our rooms4 ,florestan1 ,i said1 was too much for me4 ,then his eye lighted up as might that of some ,arctic voyager1 which1 having for bleak months rested only on the glittering scales of the ice-dragon coiled about him1 is suddenly filled with the warm spread of the ,polar ,sea4 ,taking my hand1 he said1-- ,in me1 wanderer that ,i am1--in me1 with the ,heimweh in my heart never to be stilled but in that home where ,schumann has already gone1--you see ,florestan4 ,louis ,boehner6 ,filled with wonder1 and scarcely knowing what ,i did1 ,i took a little piece of paper which he unwrapped from many folds and placed in my hand4 ,on it these words were written3-- ,peace and joy attend thee1 ,louis ,boehner6 and mayst thou never want for such a friend as thou hast been to ,,robert ,,schumann4 ,i could say no word2 never have ,i felt a profounder emotion than when1 at this moment1 ,i drew so near one whose brow ,art had crowned with a living halo4 ,students of ,german music and composers will need no word to bring before them the fulness of this incident4 ,but to others ,i may briefly mention some facts connected with ,schumann's ,carnival1 or ,scnes ,mignonnes1 on ,four ,notes4 ,not by any means representing the pure depths of ,schumann's soul1 this strange medley is yet pregnant with historic associations4 ,the composer wrote it in his young days1 stringing twenty-two little pieces on four letters composing the name of ,asch1 a town of ,saxony1 whither1 according to ,sobolewski1 ,schumann's thoughts frequently strayed1 because at that time there was an object there interesting to his sensitive soul4 ,in the letters ,a1 ,s1 ,c1 ,h1 it must be remembered that the ,h in ,german stands for our ,b natural1 and ,s or es for ,e flat4 ,the ,leipsic ,neue ,zeitschrift fr ,musik was begun and for ten years edited by ,schumann1--in what spirit we may gather from his own words3--,the musical state of ,germany1 at that time1 was not very encouraging4 ,on the stage ,rossini yet reigned1 and on the piano ,herz and ,hnten excluded all others4 ,and yet how few years had passed since ,beethoven1 ,weber1 and ,schubert lived among us6 ,true1 ,mendelssohn's star was ascending1 and there were wonderful whispers of a certain ,pole1 ,chopin2 but it was later that these gained their lasting influence4 ,one day the idea took possession of our young and hot heads1--,let us not idly look on2 take hold1 and reform it2 take hold1 and the ,poetry of ,art shall be again enthroned6 ,then gathered together a ,protestant-league of music1 whose ,luther and ,melancthon in one was ,schumann4 ,the ,devil at which they threw their inkstands and semi-breves was the ,philistines1 which is the general term amongst ,german students1 artists1 poets1 etc41 for prosaic1 narrow1 hard1 ungenial1 commonplace respectabilities4 ,young ,germany was making itself felt in all cordinate directions3 forming new schools of plastic ,art in ,munich and ,dresden1--a sharp and spirited ,bohemian literature at ,frankfort1 under the lead of ,heine and ,boerne2 and now1 music being the last to yield in ,germany1 because most revered1 as it is with religion in other countries1 a new vitality brought together in ,khne's cellar in ,leipsic the revolutionists1 who talked of ,callot1 ,hoffmann1 and ,jean ,paul1 of ,beethoven and ,franz ,schubert1 and of the three foreign ,romanticists beyond the ,rhine1 the friends of the new phenomenon in ,french poetry1 ,victor ,hugo4 ,this was the ,davidsbund1 or ,league of ,david 7the last of the ,scnes ,mignonnes is named ,marche des ,davidsbndler contre les ,philistines74 ,an agreeable writer in the ,weimarer ,somitagsblatt has given us a fine sketch of this company1 which we will quote4 ,the head of the table was occupied by a lively1 flexible man of middle age1 intellectual in conversation1 and overflowing with sharp and witty remarks4 ,he was the instructor of more than one of the young musicians around him1 who all listened to his observations with profound attention4 ,he was very fond of monopolizing the conversation and suffering himself to be admired4 ,for he called many a young1 highly promising musician his pupil1 and had1 besides1 the certain consciousness of having moulded his daughter ,clara1 at that time a girl of fourteen1 into a prodigy1 whose first appearance delighted the whole world1 and whose subsequent artist-activity became the pride of her native city1 ,leipsic4 ,by his side sat a quiet1 thoughtful young man of twenty-three1 with melancholy eyes4 ,but lately a student in ,heidelberg1 he had now devoted himself entirely to music1 had removed to ,leipsic and was now a pupil of the 'old schoolmaster1' as the father of ,clara ,wieck liked to be called4 ,young ,robert ,schumann had good reason to be melancholy4 ,after long struggles1 he had only been able to devote himself entirely to music comparatively late in life1 and had been obliged to pass a part of his precious youth in studies which were as uncongenial as possible to his artist-spirit4 ,he had finally decided for the career of a virtuoso1 and was pursuing the study of the piano with an almost morbid zeal1 when the disabling of one of his fingers1 a consequence of his over-exertions1 obliged him to give up this career forever4 ,he did not yet suspect that this accident would prove fortunate for him in the end1 by directing him to his true vocation1 composition4 ,perhaps1 too1 it was the first germ of love1 in the garb of admiration for the wondrous talent of ,clara1 which made young ,robert so quiet and dreamy4 ,his companions were all the more lively4 ,there sat the eccentric ,louis ,boehner1,a who long ago had served as the model for ,e4,t4,a4 ,hoffmann's fantastic pictures4 ,here ,j4,p4 ,lyser1 a painter by profession1 but a poet as well1 and a musician besides4 ,here ,carl ,bauck1 the indefatigable1 yet unsuccessful composer of songs1--now1 in his capacity of critic1 the paper bugbear of the ,dresden artists4 ,he had just returned from ,italy1 and believed himself in possession of the true secret of the art of singing1 the monopoly of which every singing-master is wont to claim for himself4 ,c4,f4 ,becker1 too1 the eminent organist and industrious collector1 belonged to this circle1 as well as many more young and old artists of more or less merit and talent4,b ,footnote ,a3 ,the ,florestan of the ,scnes ,mignonnes2 ,chiara is ,clara herself2 ,eusebius was ,robert ,schumann4 ,footnote ,b3 ,see ,dwight's ,journal of ,music1 ,vol4 ,,viii4 ,no4 #c4 ,florestan then stood before me2 and with him1 although invisible1 stood that sacred circle1 which had unconsciously borne within it the germs of so many future sorrows and glories4 ,with him1 said ,louis ,boehner1 ,i began life1 when we were boys together at ,heidelberg2 with him ,i stood when the dawn of a better day1 which since has blessed hill and vale1 was glowing for his eye alone2 this breast held his sorrows and his hopes1 when he was struggling to reach his ,clara2 these hands saved him when in his madness he cast himself into the ,rhine2 these eyes dropped their hot tears on his eyelids when they were closed in death4 ,overcome by his emotion1 he sat down and sobbed aloud4 ,at that moment1 hearing my name called loudly in the hall1 ,i went out1 and was informed that my audience was waiting at the ,lyceum1 and had been waiting nearly fifteen minutes6 ,,ii4 ,next morning1 bright and early1 ,i was in the artist-pilgrim's room1 listening to that which it thrilled him to tell and me to hear4 ,and first he told me the story of ,schumann's love4 ,the old schoolmaster1 ,wieck1 trained his daughter more ambitiously than judiciously2 and1 indeed1 none but one of the elect would ever have survived the tasks imposed on her childhood4 ,indeed1 she had no childhood3 at the piano she was kept through all the bright days1 roving only from scale to scale1 when she should have been roving from flower to flower4 ,at length her genius asserted itself1 and she entered into her destiny2 thenceforth flowers bloomed for her out of exercise-books1 and she could touch the notes which were sun-bursts1 and those which were mosses beneath them4 ,from this training she came before the best audience in ,germany1 and stood a sad-eyed1 beautiful child of fourteen summers1 and by acclamation was crowned the ,queen of the ,piano4 ,franz ,liszt remembered his enthusiasm of that period1 and many years afterward wrote in his extravagant way1--,when we heard ,clara ,wieck in ,vienna1 fifteen years ago1 she drew her hearers after her into her poetic world1 to which she floated upward in a magical car drawn by electric sparks and lifted by delicately prismatic1 but nervously throbbing winglets4 ,at her performance of ,beethoven's ,f ,minor ,sonata1 ,grillparzer was inspired to write the following verses3-- ,a weird magician1 weary of the world1 ,in sullen humor locked his charms all up ,within a diamond casket1 firmly clasped1 ,and threw the key into the sea1 and died4 ,the manikins here tried with all their might2 ,in vain6 no tool can pick the flinty lock2 ,his magic arts still slumber1 like their master4 ,a shepherd's child1 along the sea-shore playing1 ,watches the waves1 in hurrying1 idle chase4 ,dreaming and thoughtless1 as young maidens are1 ,she dippeth her white fingers in the flood1 ,and grasps1 and lifts1 and holds it6 ',tis the key4 ,up springs she1 up1 her heart still beating higher4 ,the casket glances1 as with eyes1 before her4 ,the key fits well1 up flies the lid4 ,the spirits ,all mount aloft1 then bow themselves submissive ,to this their gracious1 innocent1 sweet mistress1 ,who with white fingers guides them in her play4 ,the first1 perhaps1 to recognize the surpassing ability of that child was the young editor of the ,zeitschrift4 ,robert ,schumann4 ,on her first appearance1 he wrote1--,others make poetry1--she is a poem4 ,and soon afterward1--,she early lifted the veil of ,isis4 ,the child looks calmly up1--the man would1 perhaps1 be dazzled by the brilliancy4 ,from this moment there was an elasticity and purpose about the young composer1 the secret of which no one knew1 not even himself4 ,like one caught in the whorls of some happy dream1 who will not pause to ask1 ,whither8 he poured out before this child the half-revealed hopes striving within him2 an equal spell was woven about her ingenuous and earnest heart1 and their souls were joined in that purple morning2 in due time they were to be rather clenched1 through pain4 ,it was under this baptismal touch of ,love that ,schumann wrote his first sonata1--,florestan and ,eusebius4 ,it gained him at once a fame with all from whom fame was graceful4 ,in the light of this period of his life must be interpreted those wonderful little pieces which mystify whilst they fascinate2 without it their meaning is as strange as their names4 ,often did he say1--,i can write only where my life is in unison with my works4 ,listen now to these1 said ,florestan1 as he opened an album and struck the piano2 these are the voices of a new life4 ,the ,alternatives1 with song1 ,my peace is o'er2 ,evening ,thoughts2 ,impromptus1 7whose first theme was written by ,clara73 these2 seemed like the emotion of some newly winged aspirant released from its chrysalis1 resting on its first flower4 ,but faster than planets through the abysses ,love moves on4 ,florestan ceased1 and there was a long silence2 and then he told the unspeakable portion of his story by performing these two3 ,sternenkranz1 ,warum4 ,who has ever scaled the rapture of the former1 or fathomed the pathos of the latter8 ,every summit implies its precipice2 and the star-wreath that crowned ,love was snatched at by the ,fate which soon burdened two hearts with the terrible questioning1 ,wherefore8 ,thus3 before these two were fully conscious of the love they bore each other1 the shrewd eye of old ,wieck had caught a glimpse of what was coming to pass4 ,he had educated this girl to be an artist to bring him fame2 alas1 it must be confessed that he thought also of certain prospective thalers4 ,willing as he was that all ,leipsic should admire his daughter1 he did not like the enthusiasm of the ,zeitschrift4 ,he then began to warn ,clara against this ,faust in modern garb1 who1 when he had gained one finger1 would soon have the whole hand1 and finally the poor soul into the bargain6 ,stupid old schoolmaster1 thou shouldst have known that it is ,mephistopheles1 and not ,faust1 that women hate6 ,the old man1 finding that his warnings were of no avail1 forbade all acquaintance1 forbade ,robert's visits to his house4 ,then1 inaugurating at once ,clara's career as a virtuoso1 he took her to ,vienna4 ,no wonder1 that1 when she appeared there1 it was to be as the priestess of ,beethoven4 ,it takes something besides an academy to train artists up to ,beethoven4 ,robert was forbidden to write to her2 but the ,schwrmibriefe of ,eusebius to ,chiara1 utterly unintelligible to the general reader of the ,zeitschrift1 who1 doubtless1 fancied that its editor had gone mad1 were quite clear to a certain little lady in ,vienna1 who consequently pined less than her father had anticipated4 ,amid all our musical soul-feasts1 he writes1 there always peeps out an angel-face1 which more than resembles a certain ,clara4 ,why art thou not with us8 7,warum67 ,and how thou wilt have thought of us last night1 from the ',meeresstille' to the flaming close of the ,a major symphony6 ,i also thought of thee then1 ,chiara1 pure one1 bright one1 whose hands are stretched towards ,italy1 whither thy longing draws thee1 but thy dreamy eye still turned to us4 ,at length a sun-burst4 ,in #ahdj appeared the first number of ,schumann's ,myrthen1 whose dedication1 ,seiner geliebten ,braut1 breaks forth in the passionate and beautiful song1--,thou my soul1 ,o thou my heart6 ,but this word ,braut means ,bride in the ,german sense of affianced2 and although the joy of this relation passed over ,schumann like the breath of a ,tropic1 bringing forth1 amongst other gorgeous fruits1 his glorious ,first ,symphony1 which some one has well called the ,symphony of ,bliss1 yet1 ere this bliss was more than an elusive vision1 the two passed through fierce wildernesses1 and drank together of bitter ,marahs4 ,but of all this1 said ,florestan1 you will know1 if you have the right to know1 from these1--his ,voice from afar1 and his ,night-,pieces4 ,neither of us dared break the silence claimed by these exquisite pieces when they ceased2 we shook hands and parted without a word4 ,,iii4 ,but another mystery about the loved and lost master1 which ,i longed to have revealed1 would not let me leave the city4 ,in the afternoon ,i sought ,boehner1 and asked him to walk with me4 ,as soon as we had alluded to the one subject that bound us together1 ,i requested him to tell me1 what had not yet been given to the world1 the details of ,schumann's insanity and death4 ,then1 as one who takes up a heavy burden to bear it1 he proceeded3-- ,the heart of ,robert ,schumann was a lyre so delicate1 and with strings so sensitive1 that the effect of his pains and his joys1 both always in extremes1 was as if you gave an olian harp to be swept now by a cold north-wind and now by a hot sirocco4 ,his spirit wore on to the confines of his flesh1 and was not warmly covered thereby1 but only veiled4 ,under his grief he seemed stronger2 but when his joy came1 when ,clara was his own1 and went through ,europe with him1 giving expression to the voices within1 which1 to him1 had been unutterable1--then we saw that the emotions which would have been safe1 had they been suffered to well up gently from the first1 could come forth now only as a fierce and perhaps devastating torrent4 ,schumann saddened his intimate friends by times of insanity1 five or six years before the world at large knew anything of it4 ,at such times he imagined himself again cruelly separated from the patient and tender being who never left his side2 and he would write pieces full of distractions1 in the midst of each of which1 however1 some touchingly beautiful theme would float up1 like a fair island through seething seas4 ,then there were longer intervals1 of seven and eight months1 in which he was perfectly sane2 at which times he would write with a wearing persistence which none could restrain3 he would put our advice aside gently1 saying1--',a long life is before me2 but it must be lived in a few years4' ,and1 indeed1 the works which have reached farthest into hearts that loved him most deeply date from these times4 ,i remember1 that1 when he sat down to compose his last symphony1 he said1--',it is almost accomplished2 but the invisible mansion needs another chamber4' ,once when ,i was at ,frankfort1 ,clara ,schumann sent me this word3 ',hasten4' ,i left all my affairs1 and came to watch for many months beside this beloved one4 ,it was not a wild delirium which had taken possession of him2 the only fit of that kind was that in which he tried to drown himself in the ,rhine1--at the time when the papers got hold of the terrible secret4 ,his insanity was manifested in his conviction that he was occupied by the souls of ,beethoven and ,schubert4 ,much in the manner of your ,american mediums1 he would be seized by a controlling power1--would snatch a pencil1 and dash out upon paper the wildest discords4 ,these we would play for him1 at his request1 from morning till night1--during much of which time he would seem to be in a happy trance4 ,of this music no chord or melody was true2 they were jangling memories of his earlier works4 ,one day he called his wife and myself1 and took our hands in his own3--',beethoven says that my earthly music is over2 it cannot be understood here2 he writes for angels1 and ,i shall write for them4' ,then1 turning to me1 he said1--',louis1 my friend1 farewell6 ,this is my last prayer for you1'--handing me the paper which ,i have shown you2 'and now leave us1 to come again and kiss me when ,i am cold4' ,then ,i left him alone with his ,clara4 ,a month from that time1 ,schumann was no more4 99 99 99 99 99 ,out under the glowing sunset1 ,i clasped hands parting with ,louis ,boehner1 and said1 as my voice would let me4--,take this paper1 and when you would have a friend1 such as you have been to ,robert ,schumann1 come and help me to be that friend4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,freedmen ,,at ,,port ,,royal4 ,two questions are concerned in the social problem of our time4 ,one is1 ,will the people of ,african descent work for a living8 and the other is1 ,will they fight for their freedom8 ,an affirmative answer to these must be put beyond any fair dispute before they will receive permanent security in law or opinion4 ,whatever may be the theses of philosophers or the instincts of the justest men1 the general sense of mankind is not likely to accord the rights of complete citizenship to a race of paupers1 or to hesitate in imposing compulsory labor on those who have not industry sufficient to support themselves4 ,nor1 in the present development of human nature1 is the conscience of great communities likely to be so pervasive and controlling as to restrain them from disregarding the rights of those whom it is perfectly safe to injure1 because they have not the pluck to defend themselves4 ,sentiment may be lavished upon them in poetry and tears1 but it will all be wasted4 ,like all unprivileged classes before them1 they will have their full recognition as citizens and men when they have vindicated their title to be an estate of the realm1 and not before4 ,let us1 then1 take the world as we find it1 and try this people accordingly4 ,but it is not pertinent to any practical inquiry of our time to predict what triumphs in art1 literature1 or government they are to accomplish1 or what romance is to glow upon their history4 ,no ,iliad may be written of them and their woes4 ,no ,plutarch may gather the lives of their heroes4 ,no ,vandyck may delight to warm his canvas with their forms4 ,how many or how few astronomers like ,banneker1 chieftains like ,toussaint1 orators like ,douglass they may have1 it is not worth while to conjecture4 ,it is better to dismiss these fanciful discussions4 ,to vindicate their title to a fair chance in the world as a free people1 it is sufficient1 and alone sufficient1 that it appear to reasonable minds that they are in good and evil very much like the rest of mankind1 and that they are endowed in about the same degree with the conservative and progressive elements of character common to ordinary humanity4 ,it is given to the people of this country and time1 could they realise it1 to make a new chapter of human experience4 ,the past may suggest1 but it can do little either in directing or deterring4 ,there is nothing in the gloomy vaticinations of ,tocqueville1 wise and benevolent as he is1 which should be permitted to darken our future4 ,the medival antagonisms of races1 when ,christianity threw but a partial light over mankind1 and before commerce had unfolded the harmony of interests among people of diverse origin or condition1 determine no laws which will fetter the richer and more various development of modern life4 ,nor do the results of emancipation in the ,west ,indies1 more or less satisfactory as they may be1 afford any measure of the progress which opens before our enfranchised masses4 ,the insular and contracted life of the colonies1 cramped also as they were by debt and absenteeism1 has no parallel in the grand currents of thought and activity ever sweeping through the continent on which our problem is to be solved4 ,in the light of these views1 the attempt shall be made to report truthfully upon the freedmen at ,port ,royal4 ,a word1 however1 as to the name4 ,civilization1 in its career1 may often be traced in the nomenclatures of successive periods4 ,these people were first called contrabands at ,fortress ,monroe2 but at ,port ,royal1 where they were next introduced to us in any considerable number1 they were generally referred to as freedmen4 ,these terms are milestones in our progress2 and they are yet to be lost in the better and more comprehensive designation of citizens1 or1 when discrimination is convenient1 citizens of ,african descent4 ,the enterprise for the protection and development of the freedmen at ,port ,royal has won its way to the regard of mankind4 ,the best minds of ,europe1 as well as the best friends of the ,united ,states1 like ,cairnes and ,gasparin1 have testified much interest in its progress4 ,an ,english periodical of considerable merit noticed at some length ,mr4 ,pierce's ,ten ,thousand ,clients4 ,in ,parliament1 ,earl ,russell noted it in its incipient stage1 as a reason why ,england should not intervene in ,american affairs4 ,the ,revue des ,deux ,mondes1 in a recent number1 characterizes the colony as that small pacific army1 far more important in the history of civilization than all the military expeditions despatched from time to time since the commencement of the civil war4 99 99 99 99 99 ,no little historical interest covers the region to which this account belongs4 ,explorations of the coast now known as that of the ,carolinas1 ,georgia1 and ,florida1 involving the rival pretensions of ,spain and ,france1 were made in the first half of the sixteenth century4 ,they were conducted by ,ponce de ,leon1 ,vasquez1 ,verrazani1 and ,soto1 in search of the fountain of perpetual youth1 or to extend empire by right of discovery4 ,but no permanent settlement by way of colony or garrison was attempted until #aefb4 ,in that year1--the same in which he drew his sword for his faith1 and ten years before the ,massacre of ,st4 ,bartholomew1 in which he fell the most illustrious victim1--,admiral ,coligny1 the great ,protestant chief1 anxious to found beyond the seas a refuge for persecuted ,huguenots1 fitted out the expedition of ,jean ,ribault1 which1 after a voyage of over three months across the ocean and northward along the coast1 cast anchor on ,may #bgth in the harbor of ,port ,royal1 and gave it the name which it retains to this day4 ,that year was also to be ever memorable for another and far different enterprise1 which was destined to be written in dark and perpetual lines on human history4 ,then it was that ,john ,hawkins sailed for ,africa in quest of the first cargo of negroes ever brought to the ,new ,world4 ,the expedition of ,ribault was the first visit of ,europeans to ,port ,royal or to any part of ,south ,carolina1 and the garrison left by him was the first settlement under their auspices ever made on this continent north of ,mexico4 ,there is not space or need to detail here the mutiny and suffering of this military colony1 their abandonment of the post1 the terrible voyage homeward1 or the perseverance of ,coligny in his original purpose4 ,nor is it within the compass of this narrative to recount the fortunes of the second garrison1 which was founded on the ,st4 ,john's1 the visit of ,john ,hawkins in #aefe with timely relief1 the return of ,ribault from ,france and his sad fate1 the ferocity of ,melendez against all heretic ,frenchmen1 and the avenging chivalry of ,dominic de ,gourges4 ,the student is baffled in attempts to fix localities for the deeds and explorations of this period1 even with the help of the several accounts and the drawings of ,le ,moyne2 and1 besides1 these later vicissitudes did not involve any permanent occupation as far north as ,port ,royal1 that region having been abandoned by the ,french1 and being then visited by the ,spanish only for trade or adventure4 ,some merchants of ,barbados1 in #affc1 sent ,william ,hilton and other commissioners to ,florida1 then including ,port ,royal1 to explore the country with reference to an emigration thither4 ,hilton's ,narration1 published in ,london the year after1 mentions ,st4 ,ellens as one of the points visited1 meaning ,st4 ,helena1 but probably including the ,sea ,islands under that name4 ,the natives were found to speak many ,spanish words1 and to be familiar enough with the report of guns not to be alarmed by it4 ,the commissioners1 whose explorations were evidently prompted by motives of gain1 close a somewhat glowing description of the country by saying1 ,and we could wish that all they that want a happy settlement of our ,english nation were well transported thither4 ,hitherto ,england had borne no part in exploring this region4 ,but1 relieved of her civil wars by the ,restoration1 she began to seek colonial empire on the southern coast of ,north ,america4 ,in #affc1 ,charles ,,ii4 granted a charter to ,clarendon1 ,monk1 ,shaftsbury1--each famous in the conflicts of those times1--and to their associates1 as proprietors of ,carolina4 ,the genius of ,john ,locke1 more fitted for philosophy than affairs1 devised a constitution for the colony1--an idle work1 as it proved4 ,in #afgj1 the first emigrants1 under ,governor ,william ,sayle1 arrived at ,port ,royal1 with the purpose to remain there2 but1 disturbed probably with apprehensions of ,spanish incursions from ,florida1 they removed to the banks of the ,ashley1 and1 after another change of site1 founded ,charleston4 ,in #afhb1 a colony from ,scotland under ,lord ,cardross was founded at ,port ,royal1 but was driven away four years later by the ,spanish4 ,no permanent settlement of the ,beaufort district appears to have succeeded until #agjj4 ,this district is divided into four parishes1 ,st4 ,peter's1 ,st4 ,luke's1 ,st4 ,helena1 and ,prince ,william1 being fifty-eight miles long and thirty-two broad1 and containing #a1bbd1ifj acres4 ,st4 ,helena parish includes the islands of ,st4 ,helena1 ,ladies1 ,port ,royal1 ,paris1 and a few smaller islands1 which1 together with ,hilton ,head1 make the district occupied by our forces4 ,the largest and most populous of these islands is ,st4 ,helena1 being fifteen miles long and six or seven broad1 containing fifty plantations and three thousand negroes1 and perhaps more since the evacuation of ,edisto4 ,port ,royal is two-thirds or three-quarters the size of ,st4 ,helena1 ,ladies half as large1 and ,hilton ,head one-third as large4 ,paris1 or ,parry1 has five plantations1 and ,coosaw1 ,morgan1 ,cat1 ,cane1 and ,barnwell have each one or two4 ,beaufort is the largest town in the district of that name1 and the only one at ,port ,royal in our possession4 ,its population1 black and white1 in time of peace may have been between two and three thousand4 ,the first lots were granted in #agag4 ,its ,episcopal church was built in #agbj4 ,its library was instituted in #ahjb1 had increased in #ahbe to six or eight hundred volumes1 and when our military occupation began contained about thirty-five hundred4 ,the origin of the name ,port ,royal1 given to a harbor at first and since to an island1 has already been noted4 ,the name of ,st4 ,helena1 applied to a sound1 a parish1 and an island1 originated probably with the ,spaniards1 and was given by them in tribute to ,saint ,helena1 the mother of ,constantine the ,great1 whose day in the calendar is ,august #ahth4 ,broad ,river is the equivalent of ,la ,grande1 which was given by ,ribault4 ,hilton ,head may have been derived from ,captain ,hilton1 who came from ,barbados4 ,coosaw is the name of a tribe of ,indians4 ,beaufort is likely to have been so called for ,henry1 ,duke of ,beauford1 one of the lord proprietors1 while ,carolina was a province of ,great ,britain4 ,the ,beaufort ,district is not invested with any considerable ,revolutionary romance4 ,in #aggi1 the ,british forces holding ,savannah sent two hundred troops with a howitzer and two field-pieces to ,beaufort4 ,four companies of militia from ,charleston with two field-pieces1 reinforced by a few volunteers from ,beaufort1 repulsed and drove them off4 ,the ,british made marauding incursions from ,charleston in #aghb1 and are said to have levied a military contribution on ,st4 ,helena and ,port ,royal ,islands4 ,there are the remains of ,indian mounds and ancient forts on the islands4 ,one of these last1 it is said1 can be traced on ,paris ,island1 and is claimed by some antiquaries to be the ,charles ,fort built by ,ribault4 ,there are the well-preserved walls of one upon the plantation of ,john ,j4 ,smith on ,port ,royal ,island1 a few miles south of ,beaufort1 now called ,camp ,saxton1 and recently occupied by ,colonel ,higginson's regiment4 ,it is built of cemented oyster-shells4 ,common remark refers to it as a ,spanish fort1 but it is likely to be of ,english construction4 ,the site of ,charles ,fort is claimed for ,beaufort1 ,lemon ,island1 ,paris ,island1 and other points4 ,the ,sea ,islands are formed by the intersection of the creeks and arms of the sea4 ,they have a uniform level1 are without any stones1 and present a rather monotonous and uninteresting scenery1 spite of the raptures of ,french explorers4 ,the creeks run up into the islands at numerous points1 affording facilities for transportation by flats and boats to the buildings which are usually near them4 ,the soil is of a light1 sandy mould1 and yields in the best seasons a very moderate crop1 say fifteen bushels of corn and one hundred or one hundred and thirty pounds of ginned cotton to the acre1--quite different from the plantations in ,mississippi and ,texas1 where an acre produces five or six hundred pounds4 ,the soil is not rich enough for the cultivated grasses1 and one finds but little turf4 ,the coarse saline grasses1 gathered in stacks1 furnish the chief material for manure4 ,the long-fibred cotton peculiar to the region is the result of the climate1 which is affected by the action of the salt water upon the atmosphere by means of the creeks which permeate the land in all directions4 ,the seed of this cotton1 planted on the upland1 will produce in a few years the cotton of coarser texture2 and the seed of the latter1 planted on the islands1 will in a like period produce the finer staple4 ,the ,treasury ,department secured eleven hundred thousand pounds from the islands occupied by our forces1 including ,edisto1 being the crop1 mostly unginned1 and gathered in storehouses1 when our military occupation began4 ,the characteristic trees are the live-oak1 its wood almost as heavy as lignum-vit1 the trunk not high1 but sometimes five or six feet in diameter1 and extending its crooked branches far over the land1 with the long1 pendulous1 funereal moss adhering to them1--and the palmetto1 shooting up its long1 spongy stem thirty or forty feet1 unrelieved by vines or branches1 with a disproportionately small cap of leaves at the summit1 the most ungainly of trees1 albeit it gives a name and coat-of-arms to the ,state4 ,besides these1 are the pine1 the red and white oak1 the cedar1 the bay1 the gum1 the maple1 and the ash4 ,the soil is luxuriant with an undergrowth of impenetrable vines4 ,these interlacing the trees1 supported also by shrubs1 of which the cassena is the most distinguished variety1 and faced with ditches1 make the prevailing fences of the plantations4 ,the hedges are adorned in ,march and ,april with the yellow jessamine1 7jelseminum17--the cross-vine 7bignonia17 with its mass of rich red blossoms1--the ,cherokee rose1 7loevigata17 spreading out in long waving wreaths of white1--and1 two months later1 the palmetto royal1 7yucca gloriosa17 which protects the fence with its prickly leaves1 and delights the eyes with its pyramid-like clusters of white flowers4 ,some of these trees and shrubs serve a utilitarian end in art and medicine4 ,the live-oak is famous in shipbuilding4 ,the palmetto1 or cabbage-palmetto1 as it is called1 resists destruction by worms1 and is used for facing wharves4 ,it was employed to protect ,fort ,moultrie in #aggf1 when bombarded by the ,british fleet2 and the cannon-balls were buried in its spongy substance4 ,the moss 7tillandsia usneoides7 served to calk the rude vessel of the first ,french colonists1 longing for home4 ,it may be used for bedding after its life has been killed by boiling water1 and for the subsistence of cattle when destitute of other food4 ,the cassena is a powerful diuretic4 ,the game and fish1 which are both abundant and of desirable kinds1 and to the pursuit of which the planters were much addicted1 are described in ,eliot's book4 ,russell's ,diary may also be consulted in relation to fishing for devil and drum4 ,the best dwellings in ,beaufort are capacious1 with a piazza on the first and second stories1 through each of which runs a large hall to admit a free circulation of air4 ,only one1 however1 appeared to have been built under the supervision of a professional architect4 ,those on the plantations1 designed for the planters or overseers1 were1 with a few exceptions1 of a very mean character1 and a thriving mechanic in ,new ,england would turn his back on them as unfit to live in4 ,their yards are without turf1 having as their best feature a neighboring grove of orange-trees4 ,one or two dwellings only appear to be ancient4 ,indeed1 they are not well enough built to last long4 ,the estates upon ,edisto ,island are of a more patrician character1 and are occasionally surrounded by spacious flower-gardens and ornamental trees fancifully trimmed4 ,the names of the planters indicated mainly an ,english origin1 although some may be traced to ,huguenot families who sought a refuge here from the religious persecutions of ,france4 ,the deserted houses were generally found strewn with religious periodicals1 mainly ,baptist magazines4 ,this characteristic of ,southern life has been elsewhere observed in the progress of our army4 ,occasionally some book denouncing slavery as criminal and ruinous was found among those left behind4 ,one of these was ,hewatt's history of ,south ,carolina1 published in #aggi1 and reprinted in ,carroll's collection4 ,another was ,gregoire's vindication of the negro race and tribute to its distinguished examples1 translated by ,warden in #ahaj4 ,these people seem1 indeed1 to have had light enough to see the infinite wrong of the system1 and it is difficult to believe them entirely sincere in their passionate defence of it4 ,their very violence1 when the moral basis of slavery is assailed1 seems to be that of a man who distrusts the rightfulness of his daily conduct1 has resolved to persist in it1 and therefore hates most of all the prophet who comes to confront him for his misdeeds1 and1 if need be1 to publish them to mankind4 ,well-authenticated instances of cruelty to slaves were brought to notice without being sought for4 ,the whipping-tree is now often pointed out1 still showing the place where it was worn by the rope which bound the sufferer to it4 ,on the plantation where my own quarters were was a woman who had been so beaten when approaching the trials of maternity as to crush out the life of the unborn child4 ,but this planter had one daughter who looked with horror on the scenes of which she was the unwilling witness4 ,she declared to her parents and sisters that it was hell to live in such a place4 ,she was accustomed to advise the negroes how best to avoid being whipped4 ,when the war began1 she assured them that the story of the masters that the ,yankees were going to send them to ,cuba was all a lie4 ,surely a kind ,providence will care for this noble girl6 ,this war will1 indeed1 emancipate others than blacks from bonds which marriage and kindred have involved4 ,but it is unpleasant to dwell on these painful scenes of the past1 constant and authentic as they are2 and they hardly concern the practical question which now presses for a solution4 ,nor in referring to them is there any need of injustice or exaggeration4 ,human nature has not the physical endurance or moral persistence to keep up a perpetual and universal cruelty2 and there are fortunate slaves who never received a blow from their masters4 ,besides1 there was less labor exacted and less discipline imposed on the loosely managed plantations of the ,sea ,islands than in other districts where slave-labor was better and more profitably organized and directed4 ,the capture of ,hilton ,head and ,bay ,point by the navy1 ,november #gth1 #ahfa1 was followed by the immediate military occupation of the ,sea ,islands4 ,in the latter part of ,december1 the ,secretary of the ,treasury1 ,mr4 ,chase1 whose foresight as a statesman and humane disposition naturally turned his thoughts to the subject1 deputed a special agent to visit this district for the purpose of reporting upon the condition of the negroes who had been abandoned by the white population1 and of suggesting some plan for the organization of their labor and the promotion of their general well-being4 ,the agent1 leaving ,new ,york ,january #acth1 #ahfb1 reached that city again on his way to ,washington on the #acth of ,february1 having in the mean time visited a large number of the plantations1 and talked familiarly with the negroes in their cabins4 ,the results of his observations1 in relation to the condition of the people1 their capacities and wishes1 the culture of their crops1 and the best mode of administration1 on the whole favorable1 were embodied in a report4 ,the plan proposed by him recommended the appointment of superintendents to act as guides of the negroes and as local magistrates1 with an adequate corps of teachers4 ,it was accepted by the ,secretary with a full indorsement1 and its execution intrusted to the same agent4 ,the agent presented the subject to several members of ,congress1 with whom he had a personal acquaintance1 but1 though they listened respectfully1 they seemed either to dread the magnitude of the social question1 or to feel that it was not one with which they as legislators were called upon immediately to deal4 ,the ,secretary himself1 and ,mr4 ,olmsted1 then connected with the ,sanitary ,commission1 alone seemed to grasp it1 and to see the necessity of immediate action4 ,it is doubtful if any member of the ,cabinet1 except ,mr4 ,chase1 took then any interest in the enterprise1 though it has since been fostered by the ,secretary of ,war4 ,at the suggestion of the ,secretary1 the ,president appointed an interview with the agent4 ,mr4 ,lincoln1 who was then chafing under a prospective bereavement1 listened for a few moments1 and then said1 somewhat impatiently1 that he did not think he ought to be troubled with such details1--that there seemed to be an itching to get negroes into our lines2 to which the agent replied1 that these negroes were within them by the invitation of no one1 being domiciled there before we commenced occupation4 ,the ,president then wrote and handed to the agent the following card3-- ,i shall be obliged if the ,sec4 of the ,treasury will in his discretion give ,mr4 ,pierce such instructions in regard to ,port ,royal contrabands as may seem judicious4 ,a4 ,,lincoln4 ,feb4 #ae1 #ahfb4 ,the ,president1 so history must write it1 approached the great question slowly and reluctantly2 and in ,february1 #ahfb1 he little dreamed of the proclamations he was to issue in the ,september and ,january following4 ,perhaps that slowness and reluctance were well1 for thereby it was given to this people to work out their own salvation1 rather than to be saved by any chief or prophet4 ,notwithstanding the plan of superintendents was accepted1 there were no funds wherewith to pay them4 ,at this stage the ,educational ,commission1 organized in ,boston on the #gth of ,february1 and the ,freedmen's ,relief ,association1 organized in ,new ,york on the #bjth of the same month1 gallantly volunteered to pay both superintendents and teachers1 and did so until ,july #ast1 when the ,government1 having derived a fund from the sale of confiscated cotton left in the territory by the ,rebels1 undertook the payment of the superintendents1 the two societies1 together with another organized in ,philadelphia on the #c;d of ,march1 and called the ,port ,royal ,relief ,committee1 providing for the support of the teachers4 ,when these voluntary associations sprang into being to save an enterprise which otherwise must have failed1 no authoritative assurance had been given as to the legal condition of the negroes4 ,the ,secretary1 in a letter to the agent1 had said1 that1 after being received into our service1 they could not1 without great injustice1 be restored to their masters1 and should therefore be fitted to become self-supporting citizens4 ,the ,president was reported to have said freely1 in private1 that negroes who were within our lines1 and had been employed by the ,government1 should be protected in their freedom4 ,no official assurance of this had1 however1 been given2 and its absence disturbed the societies in their formation4 ,at one meeting of the ,boston society action was temporarily arrested by the expression of an opinion by a gentleman present1 that there was no evidence showing that these people1 when educated1 would not be the victims of some unhappy compromise4 ,a public meeting in ,providence1 for their relief1 is said to have broken up without action1 because of a speech from a furloughed officer of a regiment stationed at ,port ,royal1 who considered such a result the probable one4 ,but the societies1 on reflection1 wisely determined to do what they could to prepare them to become self-supporting citizens1 in the belief1 that1 when they had become such1 no ,government could ever be found base enough to turn its back upon them4 ,these associations1 it should be stated1 have been managed by persons of much consideration in their respective communities1 of unostentatious philanthropy1 but of energetic and practical benevolence1 hardly one of whom has ever filled or been a candidate for a political office4 ,there was a pleasant interview at this time which may fitly be mentioned4 ,the venerable ,josiah ,quincy1 just entered on his ninety-first year1 hearing of the enterprise1 desired to see one who had charge of it4 ,i went to his chamber1 where he had been confined to his bed for many weeks with a fractured limb4 ,he talked like a patriot who read the hour and its duty4 ,he felt troubled lest adequate power had not been given to protect the enterprise1--said that but for his disability he should be glad to write something about it1 but that he was living the postscript of his life2 and as we parted1 he gave his hearty benediction to the work and to myself4 ,restored in a measure to activity1 he is still spared to the generation which fondly cherishes his old age2 and recently1 at the organization of the ,union ,club1 he read to his fellow-citizens1 gathering close about him and hanging on his speech1 words of counsel and encouragement4 ,on the morning of the #c;d of ,march1 #ahfb1 the first delegation of superintendents and teachers1 fifty-three in all1 of whom twelve were women1 left the harbor of ,new ,york1 on board the ,united ,states steam-transport ,atlantic1 arriving at ,beaufort on the #ith4 ,it was a voyage never to be forgotten4 ,the enterprise was new and strange1 and it was not easy to predict its future4 ,success or defeat might be in store for us2 and we could only trust in ,god that our strength would be equal to our responsibilities4 ,as the colonists approached the shores of ,south ,carolina1 they were addressed by the agent in charge1 who told them the little he had learned of their duties1 enjoined patience and humanity1 impressed on them the greatness of their work1 the results of which were to cheer or dishearten good men1 to settle1 perhaps1 one way or the other1 the social problem of the age1--assuring them that never did a vessel bear a colony on a nobler mission1 not even the ,mayflower1 when she conveyed the ,pilgrims to ,plymouth1 that it would be a poorly written history which should omit their individual names1 and that1 if faithful to their trust1 there would come to them the highest of all recognitions ever accorded to angels or to men1 in this life or the next1--,inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these1 ye have done it unto ,me4 ,this first delegation of superintendents and teachers were distributed during the first fortnight after their arrival at ,beaufort1 and at its close they had all reached their appointed posts4 ,they took their quarters in the deserted houses of the planters4 ,these had all left on the arrival of our army1 only four white men1 citizens of ,south ,carolina1 remaining1 and none of those being slaveholders1 except one1 who had only two or three slaves4 ,our operations were1 therefore1 not interfered with by landed proprietors who were loyal or pretended to be so4 ,the negroes had1 in the mean time1 been without persons to guide and care for them1 and had been exposed to the careless and conflicting talk of soldiers who chanced to meet them4 ,they were also brought in connection with some employs of the ,government1 engaged in the collection of cotton found upon the plantations1 none of whom were doing anything for their education1 and most of whom were in favor of leasing the plantations and the negroes upon them as adscripti gleboe looking forward to their restoration to their masters at the close of the war4 ,they were uncertain as to the intentions of the ,yankees1 and were wondering at the confusion1 as they called it4 ,they were beginning to plant corn in their patches1 but were disinclined to plant cotton1 regarding it as a badge of servitude4 ,no schools had been opened1 except one at ,beaufort1 which had been kept a few weeks by two freedmen1 one bearing the name of ,john ,milton1 under the auspices of the ,rev4 ,dr4 ,peck4 ,this is not the place to detail the obstacles we met with1 one after another overcome1--the calumnies and even personal violence to which we were subjected4 ,these things occurred at an early period of our struggle1 when the nation was groping its way to light1 and are not likely to occur again4 ,let unworthy men sleep in the oblivion they deserve1 and let others of better natures1 who were then blind1 but now see1 not be taunted with their inconsiderate acts4 ,the nickname of ,gibeonites1 applied to the colonists1 may1 however1 be fitly remembered4 ,it may now justly claim rank with the honored titles of ,puritan and ,methodist4 ,the higher officers of the army were uniformly respectful and disposed to coperation4 ,one of these may properly be mentioned4 ,our most important operations were in the district under the command of ,brigadier-,general ,isaac ,i4 ,stevens1 an officer whose convictions were not supposed to be favorable to the enterprise1 and who1 during the political contest of #ahfj1 had been the chairman of the ,national ,breckinridge ,committee4 ,but such was his honor as a gentleman1 and his sense of the duty of subordination to the wishes of the ,government1 that his personal courtesies and official aid were never wanting4 ,he received his mortal wound at ,chantilly1 ,virginia1 on the first of ,september following1 and a braver and abler officer has not fallen in the service4 ,notwithstanding our work was commenced six weeks too late1 and other hindrances occurred1 detailed in the second report of the agent1 some eight thousand acres of esculents1--a fair supply of food1--and some four thousand five hundred acres of cotton 7after a deduction for over-estimates7 were planted4 ,this was done upon one hundred and eighty-nine plantations1 on which were nine thousand and fifty people1 of whom four thousand four hundred and twenty-nine were field-hands1 made up of men1 women1 and children1 and equivalent1 in the usual classification and estimate of the productive capacity of laborers1 to three thousand eight hundred and five and one-half full hands4 ,the cotton-crop produced will not exceed sixty-five thousand pounds of ginned cotton4 ,work enough was done to have produced five hundred thousand pounds in ordinary times2 but the immaturity of the pod1 resulting from the lateness of the planting1 exposed it to the ravages of the frost and the worm4 ,troops being ordered ,north1 after the disasters of the ,peninsular campaign1 ,edisto was evacuated in the middle of ,july1 and thus one thousand acres of esculents1 and nearly seven hundred acres of cotton1 the cultivation of which had been finished1 were abandoned4 ,in the autumn1 ,major-,general ,mitchell required forty tons of corn-fodder and seventy-eight thousand pounds of corn in the ear1 for army-forage4 ,these are but some of the adverse influences to which the agricultural operations were subjected4 ,it is fitting here that ,i should bear my testimony to the superintendents and teachers commissioned by the associations4 ,there was as high a purpose and devotion among them as in any colony that ever went forth to bear the evangel of civilization4 ,among them were some of the choicest young men of ,new ,england1 fresh from ,harvard1 ,yale1 and ,brown1 from the divinity-schools of ,andover and ,cambridge1--men of practical talent and experience4 ,there were some of whom the world was scarce worthy1 and to whom1 whether they are among the living or the dead1 ,i delight to pay the tribute of my respect and admiration4 ,four of the original delegation have died4 ,william ,s4 ,clark died at ,boston1 ,april #beth1 #ahfc1 a consumptive when he entered on the work1 which he was obliged to leave six months before his death4 ,he was a faithful and conscientious teacher4 ,though so many months had passed since he left these labors1 their fascination was such that he dwelt fondly upon them in his last days4 ,the colony was first broken by the death of ,francis ,e4 ,barnard1 at ,st4 ,helena ,island1 ,october #ahth1 #ahfb4 ,he was devoted1 enthusiastic1--and though not fitted1 as it at first appeared1 for the practical duties of a superintendent1 yet even in this respect disappointing me entirely4 ,he was an evangelist1 also1 and he preached with more unction than any other the gospel of freedom1--always1 however1 enforcing the duties of industry and self-restraint4 ,he was never sad1 but always buoyant and trustful4 ,he and a comrade were the first to be separated from the company1 while at ,hilton ,head1 and before the rest went to ,beaufort1--being assigned to ,edisto1 which had been occupied less than a month1 and was a remote and exposed point2 but he went fearlessly and without question4 ,the evacuation of ,edisto in ,july1 the heat1 and the labor involved in bringing away and settling his people at the village on ,st4 ,helena ,island1 a summer resort of the former residents1 where were some fifty vacant houses1 were too much for him4 ,his excessive exertions brought on malarious fever4 ,this produced an unnatural excitement1 and at mid-day1 under a hot sun1 he rode about to attend to his people4 ,he died1--men1 women1 and children1 for whom he had toiled1 filling the house with their sobs during his departing hours4 ,his funeral was thronged by them1 his coffin strewn with flowers which they and his comrades had plucked1 and then his remains were borne to his native town1 where burial-rites were again performed in the old church of ,dorchester4 ,read his published journal1 and find how a noble youth can live fourscore years in a little more than one score4 ,one high privilege was accorded to him4 ,he lived to hear of the immortal edict of the twenty-second of ,september1 by which the freedom of his people was to be secured for all time to come4 ,samuel ,d4 ,phillips was a young man of much religions feeling1 though he never advertised himself as having it1 and a devout communicant of the ,episcopal ,church4 ,he was a gentleman born and bred1 inheriting the quality as well as adding to it by self-discipline4 ,he had good business-capacity1 never complained of inconveniences1 was humane1 yet not misled by sentiment1 and he gave more of his time1 otherwise unoccupied1 to teaching than almost any other superintendent4 ,i was recently asking the most advanced pupils of a school on ,st4 ,helena who first taught them their letters1 and the frequent answer was1 ,mr4 ,phillips4 ,he was at home in the autumn for a vacation1 was at the funeral of ,barnard in ,dorchester1 and though at the time in imperfect health1 he hastened back to his charge1 feeling that the death of ,barnard1 whose district was the same as his own1 rendered his immediate return necessary to the comfort of his people4 ,he went1--but his health never came back to him4 ,his quarters were in the same house where ,barnard had died1 and in a few days1 on the #eth of ,december1 he followed him4 ,he was tended in his sickness by the negroes1 and one day1 having asked that his pillow might be turned1 he uttered the words1 ,thank ,god1 and died4 ,there was the same grief as at ,barnard's death1 the same funeral-rites at the ,st4 ,helena ,church1 and his remains were borne ,north to bereaved relatives4 ,daniel ,bowe was an alumnus of ,yale ,college1 and a student of the ,andover ,theological ,seminary1 not yet graduated when he turned from his professional studies at the summons of ,christian duty4 ,he labored faithfully as a superintendent1 looking after the physical1 moral1 and educational interests of his people4 ,he had a difficult post1 was overburdened with labor1 and perhaps had not the faculty of taking as good care of himself as was even consistent with his duties4 ,he came home in the summer1 commended the enterprise and his people to the citizens and students of ,andover1 and returned4 ,he afterwards fell ill1 and1 again coming ,north1 died ,october #cjth1 a few days after reaching ,new ,york4 ,the young woman who was betrothed to him1 but whom he did not live to wed1 has since his death sought this field of labor2 and on my recent visit ,i found her upon the plantation where he had resided1 teaching the children whom he had first taught1 and whose parents he had guided to freedom4 ,truly1 the age of ,christian romance has not passed away6 99 99 99 99 99 ,on the first of ,july1 #ahfb1 the administration of affairs at ,port ,royal having been transferred from the ,treasury to the ,war ,department1 the charge of the freedmen passed into the hands of ,brigadier-,general ,rufus ,saxton1 a native of ,massachusetts1 who in childhood had breathed the free air of the valley of the ,connecticut1 a man of sincere and humane nature2 and under his wise and benevolent care they still remain4 ,the ,sea ,islands1 and also ,fernandina and ,st4 ,augustine in ,florida1 are within our lines in the ,department of the ,south1 and some sixteen or eighteen thousand negroes are supposed to be under his jurisdiction4 ,the negroes of the ,sea ,islands1 when found by us1 had become an abject race1 more docile and submissive than those of any other locality4 ,the native ,african was of a fierce and mettlesome temper1 sullen and untamable4 ,the master was obliged to abate something of the usual rigor in dealing with the imported slaves4 ,a tax-commissioner1 now at ,port ,royal1 and formerly a resident of ,south ,carolina1 told me that a native ,african belonging to his father1 though a faithful man1 would perpetually insist on doing his work in his own way1 and being asked the threatening question1 ,a'n't you going to mind8 would answer1 with spirit1 ,no1 a'n't gwine to6 and the master desisted6 ,severe discipline drove the natives to the wilderness1 or involved a mutilation of person which destroyed their value for proprietary purposes4 ,in #ahaf1 eight hundred of these refugees were living free in the swamps and everglades of ,florida4 ,there the ancestors of some of them had lived ever since the early part of the eighteenth century1 rearing families1 carrying on farms1 and raising cattle4 ,they had two hundred and fifty men fit to bear arms1 led by chiefs brave and skilful4 ,the story of the ,exiles of ,florida is one of painful interest4 ,the testimony of officers of the army who served against them is1 that they were more dangerous enemies than the ,indians1 fighting the most skilfully and standing the longest4 ,the tax-commissioner before referred to1 who was a resident of ,charleston during the trial and execution of the confederates of ,denmark ,vesey1 relates that one of the native ,africans1 when called to answer to the charge against him1 haughtily responded1--,i was a prince in my country1 and have as much right to be free as you6 ,the ,carolinians were so awe-struck by his defiance that they transported him4 ,another1 at the execution1 turned indignantly to a comrade about to speak1 and said1 ,die silent1 as ,i do6 and the man hushed4 ,the early newspapers of ,georgia recount the disturbances on the plantations occasioned by these native ,africans1 and even by their children1 being not until the third generation reduced to obedient slaves4 ,nowhere has the deterioration of the negroes from their native manhood been carried so far as on these ,sea ,islands1--a deterioration due to their isolation from the excitements of more populous districts1 the constant surveillance of the overseers1 and their intermarriage with each other1 involving a physical degeneracy with which inexorable ,nature punishes disobedience to her laws4 ,the population with its natural increase was sufficient for the cultivation of the soil under existing modes1 and therefore no fresh blood was admitted1 such as is found pouring from the ,border ,states into the sugar and cotton regions of the ,southwest4 ,this unmanning and depravation of the native character had been carried so far1 that the special agent1 on his first exploration1 in ,january1 #ahfb1 was obliged to confess the existence of a general disinclination to military service on the part of the negroes2 though it is true that even then instances of courage and adventure appeared1 which indicated that the more manly feeling was only latent1 to be developed under the inspiration of events4 ,and so1 let us rejoice1 it has been4 ,you may think yourself wise1 as you note the docility of a subject race2 but in vain will you attempt to study it until the burden is lifted4 ,the slave is unknown to all1 even to himself1 while the bondage lasts4 ,nature is ever a kind mother4 ,she soothes us with her deceits1 not in surgery alone1 when the sufferer1 else writhing in pain1 is transported with the sweet delirium1 but she withholds from the spirit the sight of her divinity until her opportunity has come4 ,not even ,tocqueville or ,olmsted1 much less the master1 can measure the capacities and possibilities of the slave1 until the slave himself is transmuted to a man4 99 99 99 99 99 ,my recent visit to ,port ,royal extended from ,march #beth to ,may #ajth4 ,it was pleasant to meet the first colonists1 who still toiled at their posts1 and specially grateful to receive the welcome of the freedmen1 and to note the progress they had made4 ,there were interesting scenes to fill the days4 ,i saw an aged negro1 ,csar by name1 not less than one hundred years old1 who had left children in ,africa1 when stolen away4 ,the vicissitudes of such a life were striking1--a free savage in the wilds of his native land1 a prisoner on a slave-ship1 then for long years a toiling slave1 now again a freeman under the benign edict of the ,president1--his life covering an historic century4 ,a faithful and industrious negro1 ,old ,simon1 as we called him1 hearing of my arrival1 rode over to see me1 and brought me a present of two or three quarts of pea-nuts and some seventeen eggs4 ,i had an interview with ,don ,carlos1 whom ,i had seen in ,may1 #ahfb1 at ,edisto1 the faithful attendant upon ,barnard1 and who had been both with him and ,phillips during their last hours1--now not less than seventy years of age1 and early in life a slave in the ,alston family1 where he had known ,theodosia ,burr1 the daughter of ,aaron ,burr1 and wife of ,governor ,alston4 ,he talked intelligently upon her personal history and her mysterious fate4 ,he had known ,john ,pierpont1 when a teacher in the family of ,colonel ,alston1 and accompanying the sons on their way ,north to college after the completion of their preparatory studies4 ,pierpont was a classmate of ,john ,c4 ,calhoum at ,yale ,college1 and1 upon graduating1 went ,south as a private tutor4 ,aunt ,phillis was not likely to be overlooked1--an old woman1 with much power of expression1 living on the plantation where my quarters had formerly been4 ,the attack on ,charleston was going on1 and she said1 ,if you're as long beating ,secesh everywhere as you have been in taking the town1 guess it'll take you some time6 ,indeed1 the negroes had somewhat less confidence in our power than at first1 on account of our not having followed up the capture of ,bay ,point and ,hilton ,head4 ,the same quaint old creature1 speaking of the disregard of the masters for the feelings of the slaves1 said1 with much emphasis1 ,they thought ,god was dead6 ,i visited ,barnwell ,island1 the only plantation upon which is that of ,trescot1 formerly ,secretary of ,legation at ,london1 a visit to whom ,russell describes in his ,diary4 ,but the mansion is not now as when ,russell saw it4 ,its large library is deposited in the ,smithsonian ,institution at ,washington4 ,its spacious rooms in the first and second stories1 together with the attics1 are all filled with the families of negro refugees4 ,from this point1 looking across the water1 we could see a cavalry-picket of the ,rebels4 ,the superintendent who had charge of the plantation1 and accompanied me1 was ,charles ,follen1 an inherited name1 linked with the struggles for freedom in both hemispheres4 ,the negro graveyards occasionally attracted me from the road4 ,they are usually in an open field1 under a clump of some dozen or twenty trees1 perhaps live-oaks1 and not fenced4 ,there may be fifty or a hundred graves1 marked only by sticks eighteen inches or two feet high and about as large as the wrist4 ,mr4 ,olmsted saw some stones in a negro graveyard at ,savannah1 erected by the slaves1 and bearing rather illiterate inscriptions2 but ,i never succeeded in finding any but wooden memorials1 not even at ,beaufort4 ,only in one case could ,i find an inscription1 and that was in a burial-place on ,ladies ,island4 ,there was a board at the head of the grave1 shaped something like an ordinary gravestone1 about three feet high and six inches wide4 ,the inscription was as follows3-- ,o,ld ,jiw de ,p,art his ,life on the #b of ,,way ,re st frow ,l,auer ,on the foot-board were these words3-- ,we ll d ,,ow ,n4 ,the rude artist was ,kit1 the son of the old man4 ,he can read1 and also write a little1 and1 like his deceased father1 is a negro preacher4 ,he said that he used to carry his father in his arms in his old age1--that the old man had no pain1 and1 as the son expressed it1 sunk in years4 ,i inquired of ,kit concerning several of the graves2 and ,i found1 by his intelligent answers1 that their tenants were disposed in families and were known4 ,these lowly burial-places1 for which art has done nothing1 are not without a fascination1 and in some hours of life they take a faster hold on the sentiments than more imposing cemeteries1 adorned with shafts of marble and granite1 and rich in illustrious dead4 ,there were some superstitions among the people1 perhaps of ,african origin1 which the teachers had detected1 such as a belief in hags as evil spirits1 and in a kind of witchcraft which only certain persons can cure4 ,they have a superstition1 that1 when you take up and remove a sleeping child1 you must call its spirit1 else it will cry1 on awaking1 until you have taken it back to the same place and invoked its spirit4 ,they believe that turning an alligator on his back will bring rain2 and they will not talk about one when in a boat1 lest a storm should thereby be brought on4 ,but the features in the present condition of the freedmen bearing directly on the solution of the social problem deserve most consideration4 ,and1 first1 as to education4 ,there are more than thirty schools in the territory1 conducted by as many as forty or forty-five teachers1 who are commissioned by the three associations in ,boston1 ,new ,york1 and ,philadelphia1 and by the ,american ,missionary ,association4 ,they have an average attendance of two thousand pupils1 and are more or less frequented by an additional thousand4 ,the ages of the scholars range in the main from eight to twelve years4 ,they did not know even their letters prior to a year ago last ,march1 except those who were being taught in the single school at ,beaufort already referred to1 which had been going on for a few weeks4 ,very many did not have the opportunity for instruction till weeks and even months after4 ,during the spring and summer of #ahfb there were not more than a dozen schools1 and these were much interrupted by the heat1 and by the necessity of assigning at times some of the teachers to act as superintendents4 ,teachers came for a brief time1 and upon its expiration1 or for other cause1 returned home1 leaving the schools to be broken up4 ,it was not until ,october or ,november that the educational arrangements were put into much shape2 and they are still but imperfectly organized4 ,in some localities there is as yet no teacher1 and this because the associations have not had the funds wherewith to provide one4 ,i visited ten of the schools1 and conversed with the teachers of others4 ,there were1 it may be noted1 some mixed bloods in the schools of the town of ,beaufort1--ten in a school of ninety1 thirteen in another of sixty-four1 and twenty in another of seventy4 ,in the schools on the plantations there were never more than half a dozen in one school1 in some cases but two or three1 and in others none4 ,the advanced classes were reading simple stories and didactic passages in the ordinary school-books1 as ,hillard's ,second ,primary ,reader1 ,willson's ,second ,reader1 and others of similar grade4 ,those who had enjoyed a briefer period of instruction were reading short sentences or learning the alphabet4 ,in several of this schools a class was engaged on an elementary lesson in arithmetic1 geography1 or writing4 ,the eagerness for knowledge and the facility of acquisition displayed in the beginning had not abated4 ,on the #beth of ,march ,i visited a school at the ,central ,baptist ,church on ,st4 ,helena ,island1 built in #ahee1 shaded by lofty live-oak trees1 with the long1 pendulous moss everywhere hanging from their wide-spreading branches1 and surrounded by the gravestones of the former proprietors1 which bear the ever-recurring names of ,fripp and ,chaplin4 ,this school was opened in ,september last1 but many of the pupils had received some instruction before4 ,one hundred and thirty-one children were present on my first visit1 and one hundred and forty-five on my second1 which was a few days later4 ,like most of the schools on the plantations1 it opened at noon and closed at three o'clock1 leaving the forenoon for the children to work in the field or perform other service in which they could be useful4 ,one class1 of twelve pupils1 read page #gjth in ,willson's ,reader1 on ,going ,away4 ,they had not read the passage before1 and they went through it with little spelling or hesitation4 ,they had recited the first thirty pages of ,towle's ,speller1 and the multiplication-table as high as fives1 and were commencing the sixes4 ,a few of the scholars1 the youngest1 or those who had come latest to the school1 were learning the alphabet4 ,at the close of the school1 they recited in concert the ,psalm1 ,the ,lord is my shepherd1 requiring prompting at the beginning of some of the verses4 ,they sang with much spirit hymns which had been taught them by the teachers1 as1-- ,my country1 'tis of thee1 ,sweet land of liberty2 also1-- ,sound the loud timbrel2 also1 ,whittier's new song1 written expressly for this school1 the closing stanzas of which are1-- ,the very oaks are greener clad1 ,the waters brighter smile2 ,oh1 never shone a day so glad ,on sweet ,st4 ,helen's ,isle6 ,for none in all the world before ,were ever glad as we1-- ,we're free on ,carolina's shore1 ,we're all at home and free6 ,never has that pure ,muse1 which has sung only of truth and right1 as the highest beauty and noblest art1 been consecrated to a better service than to write the songs of praise for these little children1 chattels no longer1 whom the ,saviour1 were he now to walk on earth1 would bless as his own4 ,the prevalent song1 however1 heard in every school1 in church1 and by the way-side1 is that of ,john ,brown1 which very much amuses our white soldiers1 particularly when the singers roll out1-- ,we'll hang ,jeff ,davis on a sour apple tree6 ,the children also sang their own songs1 as1-- ,in de morning' when ,i rise1 ,tell my ,jesus4 ,huddy oh8,a ,in de mornin' when ,i rise1 ,tell my ,jesus1 ,huddy oh8 ,i wash my hands in de mornin' glory1 ,tell my ,jesus1 ,huddy oh8 ,i wash my hands in de mornin' glory1 ,tell my ,jesus1 ,huddy oh8 ,pray1 ,tony1 pray1 boy1 you got de order1 ,tell my ,jesus1 ,huddy oh8 ,pray1 ,tony1 pray1 boy1 you got de order1 ,tell my ,jesus1 ,huddy oh8 ,pray1 ,rosy1 pray1 gal1 etc4 ,footnote ,a3 ,how d' y' do8 ,also1-- ,i would not let you go1 my ,lord1 ,i would not let you go1 ,i would not let you go1 my ,lord1 ,i would not let you go4 ,dere's room enough1 dere's room enough1 ,dere's room enough in de heab'nly groun'1 ,dere's room enough1 dere's room enough1 ,i can't stay behin'4 ,i can't stay behin'1 my ,lord1 ,i can't stay behin'1 ,i can't stay behin'1 my ,lord1 ,i can't stay behin'4 ,de angels march all roun' de trone1 ,de angels march all roun' de trone1 ,de angels march all roun' de trone1 ,i can't stay behin'4 ,i can't stay behin'1 my ,lord4 ,i can't stay behin'1 ,i can't stay behin'1 my ,lord1 ,i can't stay behin'4 ,dere's room enough1 etc4 ,other songs of the negroes are common1 as1 ,the ,wrestling ,jacob1 ,down in the lonesome valley1 ,roll1 ,jordan1 roll1 ,heab'n shall-a be my home4 ,russell's ,diary gives an account of these songs1 as he heard them in his evening row over ,broad ,river1 on his way to ,trescot's estate4 ,one of the teachers of this school is an accomplished woman from ,philadelphia4 ,another is from ,newport1 ,rhode ,island1 where she had prepared herself for this work by benevolent labors in teaching poor children4 ,the third is a young woman of ,african descent1 of olive complexion1 finely cultured1 and attuned to all beautiful sympathies1 of gentle address1 and1 what was specially noticeable1 not possessed with an overwrought consciousness of her race4 ,she had read the best books1 and naturally and gracefully enriched her conversation with them4 ,she had enjoyed the friendship of ,whittier2 had been a pupil in the ,grammar-,school of ,salem1 then in the ,state ,normal ,school in that city1 then a teacher in one of the schools for white children1 where she had received only the kindest treatment both from the pupils and their parents1--and let this be spoken to the honor of that ancient town4 ,she had refused a residence in ,europe1 where a better social life and less unpleasant discrimination awaited her1 for she would not dissever herself from the fortunes of her people2 and now1 not with a superficial sentiment1 but with a profound purpose1 she devotes herself to their elevation4 ,at ,coffin ,point1 on ,st4 ,helena ,island1 ,i visited a school kept by a young woman from the town of ,milton1 ,massachusetts1 the child of parents passed into the skies1 whose lives have both been written for the edification of the ,christian world4 ,she teaches two schools1 at different hours in the afternoon1 and with different scholars in each4 ,one class had read through ,hillard's ,second ,primary ,reader1 and were on a review1 reading ,lessons #ai1 #bj1 and #ba1 while ,i was present4 ,being questioned as to the subjects of the lessons1 they answered intelligently4 ,they recited the twos of the multiplication-table1 explained numeral letters and figures on the blackboard1 and wrote letters and figures on slates4 ,another teacher in the adjoining district1 a graduate of ,harvard1 and the son of a well-known ,unitarian clergyman of ,providence1 ,rhode ,island1 has two schools1 in one of which a class of three pupils was about finishing ,ellsworth's ,first ,progressive ,reader1 and another1 of seven pupils1 had just finished ,hillard's ,second ,primary ,header4 ,another teacher1 from ,cambridge1 ,massachusetts1 on the same island1 numbers one hundred pupils in his two schools4 ,he exercises a class in elocution1 requiring the same sentence to be repeated with different tones and inflections1 and one could not but remark the excellent imitations4 ,in a school at ,st4 ,helena village1 where were collected the ,edisto refugees1 ninety-two pupils were present as ,i went in4 ,two ladies were engaged in teaching1 assisted by ,ned ,loyd ,white1 a colored man1 who had picked up clandestinely a knowledge of reading while still a slave4 ,one class of boys and another of girls read in the seventh chapter of ,st4 ,john1 having begun this ,gospel and gone thus far4 ,they stumbled a little on words like unrighteousness and circumcision2 otherwise they got along very well4 ,when the ,edisto refugees were brought here1 in ,july1 #ahfb1 ,ned1 who is about forty or forty-five years old1 and ,uncle ,cyrus1 a man of seventy1 who also could read1 gathered one hundred and fifty children into two schools1 and taught them as best they could for five months until teachers were provided by the societies4 ,ned has since received a donation from one of the societies1 and is now regularly employed on a salary4 ,a woman comes to one of the teachers of this school for instruction in the evening1 after she has put her children to bed4 ,she had become interested in learning by hearing her younger sister read when she came home from school2 and when she asked to be taught1 she had learned from this sister the alphabet and some words of one syllable4 ,only a small proportion of the adults are1 however1 learning4 ,on the #hth of ,april1 ,i visited a school on ,ladies ,island1 kept in a small church on the ,eustis estate1 and taught by a young woman from ,kingston1 ,massachusetts4 ,she had manifested much persistence in going to this field1 went with the first delegation1 and still keeps the school which she opened in ,march1 #ahfb4 ,she taught the pupils their letters4 ,sixty-six were present on the day of my visit4 ,a class of ten pupils read the story which commences on page #hfth of ,hillard's ,second ,primary ,reader4 ,one girl1 ,elsie1 a full black1 and rather ungainly withal1 read so rapidly that she had to be checked1--the only case of such fast reading that ,i found4 ,she assisted the teacher by taking the beginners to a corner of the room and exercising them upon an alphabet card1 requiring them to give the names of letters taken out of their regular order1 and with the letters making words1 which they were expected to repeat after her4 ,one class recited in ,eaton's ,first ,lessons in ,arithmetic2 and two or three scholars with a rod pointed out the states1 lakes1 and large rivers on the map of the ,united ,states1 and also the different continents on the map of the world1 as they were called4 ,i saw the teacher of this school at her residence1 late in the afternoon1 giving familiar instruction to some ten boys and girls1 all but two being under twelve years1 who read the twenty-first chapter of the ,book of ,revelation1 and the story of ,lazarus in the eleventh chapter of ,st4 ,john4 ,elsie was one of these4 ,seeing me taking notes1 she looked archly at the teacher1 and whispered1--he's putting me in the book2 and as ,elsie guessed1 so ,i do4 ,the teacher was instructing her pupils in some dates and facts which have had much to do with our history4 ,the questions and answers1 in which all the pupils joined1 were these3-- ,where were slaves first brought to this country8 ,virginia4 ,when8 #afbj4 ,who brought them8 ,dutchmen4 ,who came the same year to ,plymouth1 ,massachusetts8 ,pilgrims4 ,did they bring slaves8 ,no4 ,a teacher in ,beaufort put these questions1 to which answers were given in a loud tone by the whole school3-- ,what country do you live in8 ,united ,states4 ,what ,state8 ,south ,carolina4 ,what island8 ,port ,royal4 ,what town8 ,beaufort4 ,who is your ,governor8 ,general ,saxton4 ,who is your ,president8 ,abraham ,lincoln4 ,what has he done for you8 ,he's freed us4 ,there were four schools in the town of ,beaufort1 all of which ,i visited1 each having an average attendance of from sixty to ninety pupils1 and each provided with two teachers4 ,in some of them writing was taught4 ,but it is unnecessary to describe them1 as they were very much like the others4 ,there is1 besides1 at ,beaufort an industrial school1 which meets two afternoons in a week1 and is conducted by a lady from ,new ,york1 with some dozen ladies to assist her4 ,there were present1 the afternoon ,i visited it1 one hundred and thirteen girls from six to twenty years of age1 all plying the needle1 some with pieces of patchwork1 and others with aprons1 pillow-cases1 or handkerchiefs4 ,though ,i have never been on the school-committee1 ,i accepted invitations to address the schools on these visits1 and particularly plied the pupils with questions1 so as to catch the tone of their minds2 and ,i have rarely heard children answer with more readiness and spirit4 ,we had a dialogue substantially as follows3-- ,children1 what are you going to do when you grow up8 ,going to work1 ,sir4 ,on what8 ,cotton and corn1 ,sir4 ,what are you going to do with the corn8 ,eat it4 ,what are you going to do with the cotton8 ,sell it4 ,what are you going to do with the money you get for it8 ,one boy answered in advance of the rest1-- ,put it in my pocket1 ,sir4 ,that won't do4 ,what's better than that8 ,buy clothes1 ,sir4 ,what else will you buy8 ,shoes1 ,sir4 ,what else are you going to do with your money8 ,there was some hesitation at this point4 ,then the question was put1-- ,what are you going to do ,sundays8 ,going to meeting4 ,what are you going to do there8 ,going to sing4 ,what else8 ,hear the parson4 ,who's going to pay him8 ,one boy said1--,government pays him2 but the rest answered1-- ,we's pays him4 ,well1 when you grow up1 you'll probably get married1 as other people do1 and you'll have your little children2 now1 what will you do with them8 ,there was a titter at this question2 but the general response came1-- ,send 'em to school1 ,sir4 ,well1 who'll pay the teacher8 ,we's pays him4 ,one who listens to such answers can hardly think that there is any natural incapacity in these children to acquire with maturity of years the ideas and habits of good citizens4 ,the children are cheerful1 and1 in most of the schools1 well-behaved1 except that it is not easy to keep them from whispering and talking4 ,they are joyous1 and you can see the boys after school playing the soldier1 with corn-stalks for guns4 ,the memory is very susceptible in them1--too much so1 perhaps1 as it is ahead of the reasoning faculty4 ,the labor of the season has interrupted attendance on the schools1 the parents being desirous of having the children aid them in planting and cultivating their crops1 and it not being thought best to allow the teaching to interfere in any way with industrious habits4 ,a few freedmen1 who had picked up an imperfect knowledge of reading1 have assisted our teachers1 though a want of proper training materially detracts from their usefulness in this respect4 ,ned and ,uncle ,cyrus have already been mentioned4 ,the latter1 a man of earnest piety1 has died since my visit4 ,anthony kept four schools on ,hilton ,head ,island last summer and autumn1 being paid at first by the superintendents1 and afterwards by the negroes themselves2 but in ,november he enlisted in the negro regiment4 ,hettie was another of these4 ,she assisted ,barnard at ,edisto last spring1 continued to teach after the ,edisto people were brought to ,st4 ,helena village1 and one day brought some of her pupils to the school at the ,baptist ,church1 saying to the teachers there that she could carry them no farther4 ,they could read their letters and words of one syllable4 ,hettie had belonged to a planter on ,wadmelaw ,island1 a kind old gentleman1 a native of ,rhode ,island1 and about the only citizen of ,charleston who1 when ,samuel ,hoar went on his mission to ,south ,carolina1 stood up boldly for his official and personal protection4 ,hettie had been taught to read by his daughter2 and let this be remembered to the honor of the young woman4 ,such are the general features of the schools as they met my eye4 ,the most advanced classes1 and these are but little ahead of the rest1 can read simple stories and the plainer passages of ,scripture2 and they could even pursue self-instruction1 if the schools were to be suspended4 ,the knowledge they have thus gained can never be extirpated4 ,they could read with much profit a newspaper specially prepared for them and adapted to their condition4 ,they are learning that the world is not bounded north by ,charleston1 south by ,savannah1 west by ,columbia1 and east by the sea1 with dim visions of ,new ,york on this planet or some other1--about their conception of geography when we found them4 ,they are acquiring the knowledge of figures with which to do the business of life4 ,they are singing the songs of freemen4 ,visit their schools2 remember that a little more than a twelve-month ago they knew not a letter1 and that for generations it has been a crime to teach their race2 then contemplate what is now transpiring1 and you have a scene which prophets and sages would have delighted to witness4 ,it will be difficult to find equal progress in an equal period since the morning rays of ,christian truth first lighted the hill-sides of ,judea4 ,i have never looked on ,st4 ,peter's1 or beheld the glories of art which ,michel ,angelo has wrought or traced2 but to my mind the spectacle of those poor souls struggling in darkness and bewilderment to catch the gleams of the upper and better light transcends in moral grandeur anything that has ever come from mortal hands4 99 99 99 99 99 ,next as to industry4 ,the laborers1 during their first year under the new system1 have acquired the idea of ownership1 and of the security of wages1 and have come to see that labor and slavery are not the same thing4 ,the notion that they were to raise no more cotton has passed away1 since work upon it is found to be remunerative1 and connected with the proprietorship of land4 ,house-servants1 who were at first particularly set against it1 now generally prefer it4 ,the laborers have collected the pieces of the gins which they destroyed on the flight of their masters1 the ginning being obnoxious work1 repaired them1 and ginned the cotton on the promise of wages4 ,except upon plantations in the vicinity of camps1 where other labor is more immediately remunerative1 and an unhealthy excitement prevails1 there is a general disposition to cultivate it4 ,the culture of the cotton is voluntary1 the only penalty for not engaging in it being the imposition of a rent for the tenement and land adjacent thereto occupied by the negro1 not exceeding two dollars per month4 ,both the ,government and private individuals1 who have become owners of one-fourth of the land by the recent tax-sales1 pay twenty-five cents for a standard day's-work1 which may1 by beginning early1 be performed by a healthy and active hand by noon2 and the same was the case with the tasks under the slave-system on very many of the plantations4 ,as ,i was riding through one of ,mr4 ,philbrick's fields one morning1 ,i counted fifty persons at work who belonged to one plantation4 ,this gentleman1 who went out with the first delegation1 and at the same time gave largely to the benevolent contributions for the enterprise1 was the leading purchaser at the tax-sales1 and combining a fine humanity with honest sagacity and close calculation1 no man is so well fitted to try the experiment4 ,he bought thirteen plantations1 and on these has had planted and cultivated eight hundred and sixteen acres of cotton where four hundred and ninety-nine and one twelve-hundredth acres were cultivated last year1--a larger increase1 however1 than will generally be found in other districts1 due mainly to prompter payments4 ,the general superintendent of ,port ,royal ,wand said to me1--,we have to restrain rather than to encourage the negroes to take land for cotton4 ,the general superintendent of ,hilton ,head ,island said1 that on that island the negroes had1 besides adequate corn1 taken two1 three1 and in a few cases four acres of cotton to a hand1 and there was a general disposition to cultivate it1 except near the camps4 ,a superintendent on ,st4 ,helena ,island said1 that1 if he were going to carry on any work1 he should not want bettor laborers4 ,he had charge of the refugees from ,edisto1 who had been brought to ,st4 ,helena village1 and who had cleared and fenced patches for gardens1 felling the trees for that purpose4 ,the laborers do less work1 perhaps1 than a ,yankee would think they might do2 but they do about as much as he himself would do1 after a residence of a few years in the same climate1 and when he had ceased to work under the influence of ,northern habits4 ,northern men have sometimes been unjust to the ,south1 when comparing the results of labor in the different sections4 ,god never intended that a man should toil under a tropical sun with the same energy and constancy as in our bracing latitude4 ,there has been less complaint this year than last of a pain in the small of the back1 or of a fever in the head1--in other words1 less shamming4 ,the work has been greatly deranged by the draft1 some features of which have not been very skilfully arranged1 and by the fitfulness with which the laborers have been treated by the military authorities4 ,the work both upon the cotton and the corn is done only by the women1 children1 and disabled men4 ,it has been suggested that field-work does not become women in the new condition2 and so it may seem to some persons of just sympathies who have not yet learned that no honest work is dishonorable in man or woman4 ,but this matter may be left to regulate itself4 ,field-work1 as an occupation1 may not be consistent with the finest feminine culture or the most complete womanliness2 but it in no way conflicts with virtue1 self-respect1 and social development4 ,women work in the field in ,switzerland1 the freest country of ,europe2 and we may look with pride on the triumphs of this generation1 when the ,american negroes become the peers of the ,swiss peasantry4 ,better a woman with the hoe than without it1 when she is not yet fitted for the needle or the book4 ,the negroes were also showing their capacity to organize labor and apply capital to it4 ,harry1 to whom ,i referred in my second report1 as my faithful guide and attendant1 who had done for me more service than any white man could render1 with funds of his own1 and some borrowed money1 bought at the recent tax-sales a small farm of three hundred and thirteen acres for three hundred and five dollars4 ,he was to plant sixteen and a half acres of cotton1 twelve and a half of corn1 and one and a half of potatoes4 ,i rode through his farm on the #ajth of ,april1 my last day in the territory1 and one-third of his crop was then in4 ,besides some servant's duty to an officer1 for which he is well paid1 he does the work of a full hand on his place4 ,he hires one woman and two men1 one of the latter being old and only a three-quarters hand4 ,he has two daughters1 sixteen and seventeen years of age1 one of whom is likewise only a three-quarters hand4 ,his wife works also1 of whom he said1 ,she's the best hand ,i got2 and if ,celia is only as smart with her hoe as ,i know her to be with her tongue1 ,harry's estimate must be right4 ,he has a horse twenty-five years old and blind in both eyes1 whom he guides with a rope1--carrying on farming1 ,i thought1 somewhat under difficulties4 ,harry lives in the house of the former overseer1 and delights1 though not boastingly1 in his position as a landed proprietor4 ,he has promised to write me1 or rather dictate a letter1 giving an account of the progress of his crop4 ,he has had much charge of ,government property1 and when ,captain ,hooper1 of ,general ,saxton's staff1 was coming ,north last autumn1 ,harry proposed to accompany him2 but at last1 of his own accord1 gave up the project1 saying1 ,it'll not do for all two to leave together4 ,another case of capacity for organization should be noted4 ,the ,government is building twenty-one houses for the ,edisto people1 eighteen feet by fourteen1 with two rooms1 each provided with a swinging board-window1 and the roof projecting a little as a protection from rain4 ,the journey-carpenters are seventeen colored men1 who have fifty cents per day without rations1 working ten hours4 ,they are under the direction of ,frank ,barnwell1 a freedman1 who receives twenty dollars a month4 ,rarely have ,i talked with a more intelligent contractor4 ,it was my great regret that ,i had not time to visit the village of improved houses near the ,hilton ,head camp1 which ,general ,mitchell had extemporized1 and to which he gave so much of the noble enthusiasm of his last days4 99 99 99 99 99 ,next as to the development of manhood4 ,this has been shown1 in the first place1 in the prevalent disposition to acquire land4 ,it did not appear upon our first introduction to these people1 and they did not seem to understand us when we used to tell them that we wanted them to own land4 ,but it is now an active desire4 ,at the recent tax-sales1 six out of forty-seven plantations sold were bought by them1 comprising two thousand five hundred and ninety-five acres1 sold for twenty-one hundred and forty-five dollars4 ,in other cases the negroes had authorized the superintendent to bid for them1 but the land was reserved by the ,united ,states4 ,one of the purchases was that made by ,harry1 noted above4 ,the other five were made by the negroes on the plantations combining the funds they had saved from the sale of their pigs1 chickens1 and eggs1 and from the payments made to them for work1--they then dividing off the tract peaceably among themselves4 ,on one of these1 where ,kit1 before mentioned1 is the leading spirit1 there are twenty-three field-hands1 who are equivalent to eighteen full hands4 ,they have planted and are cultivating sixty-three acres of cotton1 fifty of corn1 six of potatoes1 with as many more to be planted1 four and a half of cow-peas1 three of pea-nuts1 and one and a half of rice4 ,these facts are most significant4 ,the instinct for land--to have one spot on earth where a man may stand1 and whence no human being can of right drive him--is one of the most conservative elements of our nature2 and a people who have it in any fair degree will never be nomads or vagabonds4 ,this developing manhood is further seen in their growing consciousness of rights1 and their readiness to defend themselves1 even when assailed by white men4 ,the former slaves of a planter1 now at ,beaufort1 who was a resident of ,new ,york when the war broke out1 have generally left the plantation1 suspicious of his presence1 saying that they will not be his bondmen1 and fearing that in some way he may hold them1 if they remain on it4 ,a remarkable case of the assertion of rights occurred one day during my visit4 ,two white soldiers1 with a corporal1 went on ,sunday to ,coosaw ,island1 where one of the soldiers1 having a gun1 shot a chicken belonging to a negro4 ,the negroes rushed out and wrested the gun from the corporal1 to whom the soldier had handed it1 thinking that the negroes would not take it from an officer4 ,they then carried it to the superintendent1 who took it to head-quarters1 where an order was given for the arrest of the trespasser4 ,other instances might be added1 but these are sufficient4 ,another evidence of developing manhood appears in their desire for the comforts and conveniences of household life4 ,the ,philadelphia society1 for the purpose of maintaining reasonable prices1 has a store on ,st4 ,helena ,island1 which is under the charge of ,friend ,hunn1 of the good fellowship of ,william ,penn4 ,he was once fined in ,delaware three thousand dollars for harboring and assisting fugitive slaves2 but he now harbors and assists them at a much cheaper rate4 ,though belonging to a society which is the advocate of peace1 his tone is quite as warlike as that of the world's people4 ,in this store alone--and there are others on the island1 carried on by private enterprise--two thousand dollars' worth of goods are sold monthly4 ,to be sure1 a rather large proportion of these consists of molasses and sugar1 sweetening1 as the negroes call it1 being in great demand1 and four barrels of molasses having been sold the day of my visit4 ,but there is also a great demand for plates1 knives1 forks1 tin ware1 and better clothing1 including even hoop-skirts4 ,negro-cloth1 as it is called1 osnaburgs1 russet-colored shoes1--in short1 the distinctive apparel formerly dealt out to them1 as a uniform allowance1--are very generally rejected4 ,but there is no article of household-furniture or wearing apparel1 used by persons of moderate means among us1 which they will not purchase1 when they are allowed the opportunity of labor and earning wages4 ,what a market the ,south would open under the new system6 ,it would set all the mills and workshops astir4 ,four millions of people would become purchasers of all the various articles of manufacture and commerce1 in place of the few coarse1 simple necessaries1 laid in for them in gross by the planters4 ,here is the solution of the vexed industrial question4 ,the indisposition to labor is overcome in a healthy nature by instincts and motives of superior force1 such as the love of life1 the desire to be well clothed and fed1 the sense of security derived from provision for the future1 the feeling of self-respect1 the love of family and children1 and the convictions of duty4 ,these all exist in the negro1 in a state of greater or less development4 ,to give one or two examples4 ,one man brought ,captain ,hooper seventy dollars in silver1 to keep for him1 which he had obtained from selling pigs and chickens1--thus providing for the future4 ,soldiers of ,colonel ,higginson's regiment1 having confidence in the same officer1 intrusted him1 when they were paid off1 with seven hundred dollars1 to be transmitted by him to their wives1 and this besides what they had sent home in other ways1--showing the family-feeling to be active and strong in them4 ,they have also the social and religious inspirations to labor4 ,thus1 early in our occupation of ,hilton ,head1 they took up1 of their own accord1 a collection to pay for the candles for their evening meetings1 feeling that it was not right for the ,government longer to provide them4 ,the result was a contribution of two dollars and forty-eight cents4 ,they had just fled from their masters1 and had received only a small pittance of wages1 and this little sum was not unlike the two mites which the widow cast into the treasury4 ,another collection was taken1 last ,june1 in the church on ,st4 ,helena ,island1 upon the suggestion of the pastor that they should share in the expenses of worship4 ,fifty-two dollars was the result1--not a bad collection for some of our ,northern churches4 ,i have seen these people where they are said to be lowest1 and sad indeed are some features of their lot1 yet with all earnestness and confidence ,i enter my protest against the wicked satire of ,carlyle4 ,is there not here some solution of the question of prejudice or caste which has troubled so many good minds8 ,when these people can no longer be used as slaves1 men will try to see how they can make the most out of them as freemen4 ,your ,irishman1 who now works as a day-laborer1 honestly thinks that he hates the negro2 but when the war is over1 he will have no objection to going ,south and selling him groceries and household-implements at fifty per cent4 advance on ,new-,york prices1 or to hiring him to raise cotton for twenty-five or fifty cents a day4 ,our prejudices1 under any reasonable adjustment of the social system1 readily accommodate themselves to our interests1 even without much aid from the moral sentiments4 ,let those who would study well this social question1 or who in public trusts are charged with its solution1 be most careful here4 ,every motive in the minds of these people1 whether of instinct1 desire1 or duty1 must be addressed4 ,all the elements of human nature must be appealed to1 physical1 moral1 intellectual1 social1 and religious4 ,imperfect indeed is any system which1 like that at ,new ,orleans1 offers wages1 but does not welcome the teacher4 ,it is of little moment whether three dollars or thirty per month be paid the laborer1 so long as there is no school to bind both parent and child to civil society with new hopes and duties4 ,there are some vices charged upon these people1 or a portion of them1 and truth requires that nothing be withheld4 ,there is said to be a good deal of petty pilfering among them1 although they are faithful to trusts4 ,this is the natural growth of the old system1 and is quite likely to accompany the transition-state4 ,besides1 the present disturbed and unorganized condition of things is not favorable to the rigid virtues4 ,but inferences from this must not be pressed too far4 ,when ,i was a private soldier in ,virginia1 as one of a three-months' regiment1 we used to bide from each other our little comforts and delicacies1 even our dishes and clothing1 or they were sure to disappear4 ,but we should have ridiculed an adventurous thinker upon the characteristics of races and classes1 who should have leaped therefrom to the conclusion that all white men or all soldiers are thieves4 ,and what inferences might not one draw1 discreditable to all traders and manufacturers1 from the universal adulteration of articles of food6 ,these people1 it is said1 are disposed to falsehood in order to get rations and small benefits1--a natural vice which comes with slavery1 and too often attends on poverty without slavery4 ,those of most demonstrative piety are rarely better than the rest1 not1 indeed1 hypocritical1 but satisfying their consciences by self-depreciation and indulgence in emotion1--psychological manifestations which one may find in more advanced communities4 ,they show no special gratitude to us for liberating them from bonds4 ,nor do they ordinarily display much exhilaration over their new condition1--being quite unlike the ,italian revolutionist who used to put on his toga1 walk in the forum1 and personate ,brutus and ,cassius4 ,their appreciation of their better lot is chiefly seen in their dread of a return of their masters1 in their excitement when an attack is feared1 in their anxious questionings while the assault on ,charleston was going on1 and in their desire to get their friends and relatives away from the ,rebels1--an appreciation of freedom1 if not ostentatious1 at least sensible4 ,but away with such frivolous modes of dealing with the rights of races to self-development6 ,because ,englishmen may be classified as hard and conceited1 ,frenchmen as capricious1 ,austrians as dull1 and the people of one other nation are sometimes thought to be vainglorious1 shall these therefore be slaves8 ,and where is that model race which shall sway them all8 ,a people may have grave defects1 but it may not therefore be rightfully disabled4 99 99 99 99 99 ,during my recent visit1 ,i had an opportunity1 on three different occasions1 to note carefully ,colonel ,t4,w4 ,higginson's colored regiment1 known as the ,first ,regiment of ,south-,carolina ,volunteers4 ,major-,general ,hunter's first regiment was mainly made up of conscripts1 drafted ,may #abth1 #ahfb1 and disbanded ,august #aath1 three months afterwards1 there being no funds wherewith to pay them1 and the discharged men going home to find the cotton and corn they had planted overgrown with weeds4 ,on the #ajth of ,october1 ,general ,saxton1 being provided with competent authority to raise five thousand colored troops1 began to recruit a regiment4 ,his authority from the ,war ,department bore date ,august #beth1 and the order conferring it states the object to be to guard the plantations1 and protect the inhabitants from captivity and murder4 ,this was the first clear authority ever given by the ,government to raise a negro regiment in this war4 ,there were1 indeed1 some ambiguous words in the instructions of ,secretary ,cameron to ,general ,sherman1 when the original expedition went to ,port ,royal1 authorizing him to organize the negroes into companies and squads for such services as they might be fitted for1 but this not to mean a general arming for military service4 ,secretary ,stanton1 though furnishing muskets and red trousers to ,general ,hunter's regiment1 did not think the authority sufficient to justify the payment of the regiment4 ,the first regiment1 as raised by ,general ,saxton1 numbered four hundred and ninety-nine men when ,colonel ,higginson took command of it on the #ast of ,december2 and on the #aith of ,january1 #ahfc1 it had increased to eight hundred and forty-nine4 ,it has made three expeditions to ,florida and ,georgia1--one before ,colonel ,higginson assumed the command1 described in ,mrs4 ,stowe's letter to the women of ,england1 and two under ,colonel ,higginson1 one of which was made in ,january up the ,st4 ,mary's1 and the other in ,march to ,jacksonville1 which it occupied for a few days until an evacuation was ordered from head-quarters4 ,the men are volunteers1 having been led to enlist by duty to their race1 to their kindred still in bonds1 and to us1 their allies4 ,their drill is good1 and their time excellent4 ,they have borne themselves well in their expeditions1 quite equalling the white regiments in skirmishing4 ,in morale they seemed very much like white men1 and with about the same proportion of good and indifferent soldiers4 ,some ,i saw of the finest metal1 like ,robert ,sutton1 whom ,higginson describes in his report as the real conductor of the whole expedition at the ,st4 ,mary's1 and ,sergeant ,hodges1 a master-carpenter1 capable of directing the labors of numerous journeymen4 ,another said1 addressing a meeting at ,beaufort1 that he had been restless1 nights1 thinking of the war and of his people1--that1 when he heard of the regiment being formed1 he felt that his time to act had come1 and that it was his duty to enlist1--that he did not fight for his rations and pay1 but for wife1 children1 and people4 ,these men1 as already intimated1 are very much like other men1 easily depressed1 and as easily reanimated by words of encouragement4 ,many have been reluctant to engage in military service1--their imagination investing it with the terrors of instant and certain death4 ,but this reluctance has passed away with participation in active service1 with the adventure and inspiration of a soldier's life1 and the latent manhood has recovered its rightful sway4 ,said a superintendent who was of the first delegation to ,tort ,royal in ,march1 #ahfb1--;a truthful man1 and not given to rose-colored views1--,i did not have faith in arming negroes1 when ,i visited the ,north last autumn1 but ,i have now4 ,they will be not mere machines1 but real tigers1 when aroused2 and ,i should not wish to face them4 ,one amusing incident may be mentioned4 ,a man deserted from the regiment1 was discovered hidden in a chimney in the district where he had lived1 was taken back to camp1 went to ,florida in ,higginson's first expedition1 bore his part well in the skirmishes1 became excited with the service1 was made a sergeant1 and1 receiving a furlough on his return1 went to the plantation where he had hid1 and said he would not take five thousand dollars for his place4 ,but more significant1 as showing the success of the experiment1 is the change of feeling among the white soldiers towards the negro regiment1 a change due in part to the just policy of ,general ,saxton1 in part to the ,president's ,proclamation of ,january #ast1 which has done much to clear the atmosphere everywhere within the army-lines1 but more than all to the soldierly conduct of the negroes themselves during their expeditions4 ,i had one excellent opportunity to note this change4 ,on the #fth of ,april1 ,colonel ,higginson's regiment was assigned to picket-duty on ,port ,royal ,island1--the first active duty it had performed on the ,sea ,islands1--and was to relieve the ,pennsylvania ,fifty-,fifth4 ,when1 after a march of ten miles1 it reached the advanced picket-station1 there were about two hundred soldiers of the ,pennsylvania ,fifty-,fifth awaiting orders to proceed to ,beaufort4 ,i said1 in a careless tone1 to one of the ,pennsylvania soldiers1 who was looking at ,higginson's regiment as it stood in line1-- ,isn't this rather new1 to be relieved by a negro regiment8 ,all right1 said he4 ,they've as much right to fight for themselves as ,i have to fight for them4 ,a squad of half a dozen men stood by1 making no dissent1 and accepting him as their spokesman4 ,moving in another direction1 ,i said to a soldier1-- ,what do you think of that regiment8 ,the answer was1-- ,all right4 ,i'd rather they'd shoot the ,rebels than have the ,rebels shoot me2 and none of the by-standers dissented4 ,as one of the negro companies marched off the field to picket a station at the ,ferry1 they passed within a few feet of some twenty of the ,pennsylvania soldiers1 just formed into line preparatory to marching to ,beaufort4 ,the countenances of the latter1 which ,i watched1 exhibited no expression of disgust1 dislike1 or disapprobation1 only of curiosity4 ,other white soldiers gave to the weary negroes the hominy left from the morning meal4 ,the ,major of the ,fifty-,fifth1 highest in command of the relieved regiment1 explained very courteously to ,colonel ,higginson the stations and duties of the pickets1 and proffered any further aid desired4 ,this was1 it is true1 an official duty1 but there are more ways than one in which to perform even an official duty4 ,i rode back to ,beaufort1 part of the way1 in company with a captain of the ,first ,massachusetts ,cavalry1 who was the officer of the day4 ,he said he wasn't much of a negro-man1 but he had no objection to their doing our fighting4 ,he pronounced the word as spelled with two gs2 but ,i prefer to retain the good ,english4 ,colonel ,montgomery1 who had a partly filled regiment1 most of whom were conscripts1 said that on his return from ,jacksonville he sent a squad of his men ashore in charge of some prisoners he had taken4 ,some white soldiers seeing them approach from the wharf1 one said1-- ,what are those coming8 ,negro soldiers1 7word pronounced as in the former case17 was the answer4 ,damn 'em6 was the ejaculation4 ,but as they approached nearer1 ,what have they got with 'em8 was inquired4 ,why1 some ,secesh prisoners4 ,bully for the negroes6 7the same pronunciation as before17 was then the response from all4 ,so quick was the transition1 when it was found that the negroes had demonstrated their usefulness6 ,it is1 perhaps1 humiliating to remember that such an unreasonable and unpatriotic prejudice has at any time existed2 but it is never worth while to suppress the truth of history4 ,this prejudice has been effectually broken in the ,free ,states2 and one of the pageants of this epoch was the triumphal march through ,boston1 on the #bhth of ,may1 on its way to embark for ,port ,royal1 of the ,fifty-,fourth ,regiment of ,massachusetts ,volunteers1 the first regiment of negro soldiers which the ,free ,states have sent to the war4 ,on the day previous1 ,may #bgth1 a far different scene transpired on the banks of the ,mississippi4 ,two black regiments1 enlisted some months before in ,louisiana under the order of ,major-,general ,butler1 both with line and one with field officers of their own lineage1 made charge after charge on the batteries of ,port ,hudson1 and were mown down like summer's grass1 the survivors1 many with mutilated limbs1 closing up the thinned ranks and pressing on again1 careless of life1 and mindful only of honor and duty1 with a sublimity of courage unsurpassed in the annals of war1 and leaving there to all mankind an immortal record for themselves and their race4 ,i cannot here forbear a momentary tribute to ,wentworth ,higginson4 ,devoting himself heroically to his great work1 absorbed in its duties1 and bearing his oppressive responsibility as the leader of a regiment in which to a great extent are now involved the fortunes of a race1 he adds another honorable name to the true chivalry of our time4 99 99 99 99 99 ,homeward-bound1 ,i stopped for two days at ,fortress ,monroe1 and was again among the familiar scenes of my soldier-life4 ,it was there that ,major-,general ,butler1 first of all the generals in the army of the ,republic1 and anticipating even ,republican statesmen1 had clearly pointed to the cause of the war4 ,at ,craney ,island ,i met two accomplished women of the ,society of ,friends1 who1 on a most cheerless spot1 and with every inconvenience1 were teaching the children of the freedmen4 ,two good men1 one at the fort and the other at ,norfolk1 were distributing the laborers on farms in the vicinity1 and providing them with implements and seeds which the benevolent societies had furnished4 ,visiting ,hampton1 ,i recognized1 in the shanties built upon the charred ruins1 the familiar faces of those who1 in the early days of the war1 had been for a brief period under my charge4 ,their hearty greetings to one whom they remembered as the first to point them to freedom and cheer them with its prospect could hardly be received without emotion4 ,but there is no time to linger over these scenes4 99 99 99 99 99 ,such are some of the leading features in the condition of the freedmen1 particularly at ,port ,royal4 ,the enterprise for their aid1 begun in doubt1 is no longer a bare hope or possibility4 ,it is a fruition and a consummation4 ,the negroes will work for a living4 ,they will fight for their freedom4 ,they are adapted to civil society4 ,as a people1 they are not exempt from the frailties of our common humanity1 nor from the vices which hereditary bondage always superadds to these4 ,as it is said to take three generations to subdue a freeman completely to a slave1 so it may not be possible in a single generation to restore the pristine manhood4 ,one who expects to find in emancipated slaves perfect men and women1 or to realize in them some fair dream of an ideal race1 will meet disappointment2 but there is nothing in their nature or condition to daunt the ,christian patriot2 rather1 there is everything to cheer and fortify his faith4 ,they have shown capacity for knowledge1 for free industry1 for subordination to law and discipline1 for soldierly fortitude1 for social and family relations1 for religious culture and aspirations2 and these qualities1 when stirred and sustained by the incitements and rewards of a just society1 and combining with the currents of our continental civilization1 will1 under the guidance of a benevolent ,providence which forgets neither them nor us1 make them a constantly progressive race1 and secure them ever after from the calamity of another enslavement1 and ourselves from the worse calamity of being again their oppressors4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,no ,,and ,,yes4 ,i watched her at her spinning2 ,and this was my beginning ,of wooing and of winning4 ,but when a maid opposes1 ,and throws away your roses1 ,you say the case forecloses4 ,yet sorry wit one uses1 ,who loves and thinks he loses ,because a maid refuses4 ,for by her once denying ,she only means complying ,upon a second trying4 ,when first ,i said1 in pleading1 ,behold1 my love lies bleeding6 ,she heard me half unheeding4 ,when afterward ,i told her1 ,and blamed her growing colder1-- ,she dropped upon my shoulder4 ,had ,i a doubt8 ,that quelled it3 ,her very look dispelled it1 ,i caught her hand1 and held it4 ,along the lane ,i led her1 ,and while her cheeks grew redder1 ,i sued outright to wed her4 ,good end from bad beginning6 ,my wooing came to winning1-- ,and still ,i watch her spinning4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,the ,,mather ,,safe4 ,the service ,i was able to render an official personage connected with ----,college in ,new ,england procured me access to the library belonging to that institution4 ,in common with many of my fellow-citizens1 ,i had previously enjoyed the pleasure of responding to circulars petitioning for money to buy books for interment in this choice literary catacomb2 nay1 ,i was even allowed the satisfaction of an annual stare at them through an iron grating1 and of reading a placard to the effect that nobody was allowed to enter an alcove or take down a volume4 ,as it occurred to me that the generous donors could not object to add one more to the select half-dozen or so1 who1 by having the privilege of the shelves1 could really use the library1 ,i demanded this favor of the gentleman who desired to recompense me for what ,i had done for him4 ,the ,librarian1 who valued books as things capable of being locked up in cells like criminals1 there to figure numerically to the confusion of rival institutions1 was manifestly disturbed when ,i presented my credentials4 ,the authority1 however1 was not to be questioned2--,i was to be admitted to the library at any hour of the day2 and ,i took care to drop a civil expression to imply my estimation of the privilege and my purpose of enjoying it4 ,wanting the leisure to attempt that ponderous undertaking known as a course of reading1 it became my habit to browse about the building upon ,saturday afternoons1 and finally to establish myself1 with whatever authors ,i had selected1 in a certain retired alcove devoted to the metaphysicians4 ,this comfortable nook opens just behind ,crawford's bust of the late ,president ,t----1 and is nearly opposite the famous ,mather ,safe4 ,as it is possible that ,i am addressing some who are not graduates of ---- ,college1 nor familiar with its library1 it may be well to say a word of the history of the spacious and ancient coffer to which allusion is made4 ,the ,mather ,safe--which1 by the way1 is not of iron1 but of oak heavily bound with that metal--is said to have been among the possessions of the author of the ,magnalia4 ,its last private proprietor was a collateral descendant of the ,mathers1 an eccentric character1 popularly known as ,miser ,farrel4 ,as ,farrel was a bachelor1 and had the reputation of being enormously rich1 the ,college authorities of his day were accustomed to treat him with distinguished consideration1 and went so far1 ,i believe1 as to vote him some minor degree4 ,what effect these academic blandishments may have had upon their object cannot at present be determined4 ,for when the day came for the long-expected will to be opened1 it was found that the old gentleman had bequeathed to the ,college only his ,mather ,safe1 with certain papers carefully let into the wood-work in one corner of the same1--which papers were not to be removed or opened for a hundred years4 ,it may be conceived that this bulky benefaction was not accepted with the best grace1 particularly as the testator made no provision for considerable expense necessarily incurred in moving and setting it up in the library4 ,yet1 not satisfied with this culpable negligence1 ,mr4 ,farrel had affixed still other conditions to the acceptance of his gift4 ,he had caused two massive locks to be put upon the ,mather ,safe1 of which he enjoined that the respective keys should be forever held by the ,president and ,treasurer of the ,college1 to the end that neither could have access to its contents except in the presence of the other4 ,moreover1 he required that the ,safe should be used only as a receptacle for packages which the depositors desired to keep from the world for at least fifty years4 ,of course no right-minded corporation would have endured this posthumous fussiness1 were it not for the mysterious papers left in the ,safe1--these being considered instruments whereby immense possessions would finally come to the ,college4 ,but1 as their worthy friend1 however niggardly in other respects1 had taken care to save nothing in lawyers1 there were really no means of disregarding his wishes1 except by relinquishing all claims under the will4 ,and so1 many years ago1 the ,mather ,safe came to be opened to the public on the conditions already declared4 ,at first1 it was matter of surprise that so many persons appeared to claim the privilege of ,farrel's singular legacy4 ,carefully enveloped packages had been consigned to various periods of oblivion by all conditions of men and women4 ,these were numbered and registered in a volume kept for the purpose2 they were severally addressed1 perhaps to a specified descendant of some living person1 perhaps to the future occupant of some professor's chair or metropolitan pulpit4 ,it was near the ,mather ,safe1 as ,i have already said1 that my favorite alcove opened4 ,in the short winter afternoon1 when the twilight thickened without the building1 and the type began to blur within1 ,i would lay aside my book and muse over wild rumors of secrets borne by this messenger between the generations4 ,journals and letters1 it was said1 were there concealed1 which should change the current gossip of history1 and explode many bubble-reputations that had glittered on the world4 ,there were hints of deadly sins1 committed by men high in ,church and ,state1 which their perpetrators lacked the courage to confess before their fellows1 but which1 in the bitterness of remorse1 they had recorded in the ,mather ,safe1 to blacken their fame to future times1--thus taking a ghastly satisfaction from the knowledge that they should not always appear as whited sepulchres before men4 ,there was vague talk1 also1 of funds which had been deposited to found some professorship in the ,college1 to furnish some instruction which the age was not advanced enough to accept4 ,then1 too1 there were intimations of endowments to establish scholarships for women1 who1--so it was argued1--after the increasing enlightenment of a few score of years1 would be admitted to every privilege of culture offered to men4 ,in short1 there was matter enough to send a curdling tingle through the blood1 as this tough old ark1 buffeting slowly through the years1 entered its familiar night4 ,if there was deficiency in the testimony which consigned any special wonder to its keeping1 there was1 doubtless1 sufficient truth in common reports to justify the imagination in interpreting misty hieroglyphics of its own device4 ,during the latter part of a certain ,august--my family being established at the seaside--,i determined to devote a long day to the ,college ,library4 ,the fact was1 that a trifling domestic incident--no other than the smoking of a kitchen-chimney--had turned my attention to the conditions of atmospheric changes4 ,certain phenomena ,i had observed seemed inconsistent with the law assumed in popular text-books4 ,indeed1 as it appeared to me1 modifications of a received theory--which might be determined by a diligent comparison of existing authorities--would suggest a household economy of great practical importance4 ,certain facts1 which must have been noted by all the great voyagers of the world1 might give me data from which to establish the suspected conclusion4 ,i accordingly repaired to the library at a very early hour1 and labored through the day in collecting and committing to writing what had been observed by many eminent navigators upon the point in question4 ,four o'clock in the afternoon found me too tired to apply any process of analysis to the observations obtained4 ,i therefore retired to my accustomed seat1 took down almost the first book which came to hand1 and resigned myself to the impressions of a favorite author4 ,i had passed about an hour in a delicious state of dreamy tranquillity1 sometimes reading1 sometimes pausing to color the faded page with the brilliant hues of more modern thought1 when my attention was attracted by a familiar voice proceeding from the neighborhood of the ,mather ,safe4 ,the ,president and ,treasurer were to have been here at five o'clock4 ,i have heard nothing of it1 said the ,librarian4 ,i am sure that the ,president is out of town for the day4 ,strange6 strange6 exclaimed the ,reverend ,mr4 ,clifton1 in a very excited tone4 ,i wish to make a deposit of great importance in the ,mather ,safe4 ,i had the assurance that the ,safe should be opened at five this afternoon4 ,here1 read the solemn promise upon which ,i have come from ,foxden6 ,the ,librarian glanced at an open letter which ,clifton held out to him1 and said1 in a quiet manner1-- ,the ,president promises to meet you in the ,college ,library on the afternoon of ,thursday1 the twenty-fourth instant2 to-day is ,wednesday1 the twenty-third4 ,is it possible8 muttered the clergyman1 with a look of startled despair4 ,pardon my disturbance4 ,i have been hardly myself for these last weeks4 ,yet ,i can wait4 ,i spoke to ,mr4 ,clifton as he was about to leave the library4 ,he blenched at hearing my voice1 and strove to conceal the package beneath his arm4 ,how do my good friends in ,foxden8 said ,i1 inviting him into my alcove4 ,is it true that ,dr4 ,dastick has presented his cabinet of curiosities to the town8 ,what are you reading8 said the clergyman1 in a tone of curt authority very foreign to the mild persuasiveness of his usual professional accents4 ,i exhibited the title of the book3 it was the ,meditations of ,descartes4 ,and do you follow those who vainly seek for truth through the inner world of man1 not conforming themselves to the necessities of the outward world and the teachings of ,revelation8 ,i defended the usefulness of some acquaintance with the original and powerful thinker1 whose apologies are certainly profuse enough to satisfy the most orthodox4 ,yes2 ,i suppose you read ,spinoza1 ,hegel1 ,fichte1 the ,atheism of ,d',holbach1 ,utilitarianism ,systematized by ,auguste ,comte6 ,did you ever go fishing in a dory when the wind was off shore8 ,there was an alarm in the eye and manner of ,mr4 ,clifton1 a tremulous restlessness in his speech1 which warned me to avoid discussion1 and endeavor to soothe his agitation4 ,it was only to the last interrogatory1 therefore1 that ,i made some light reply4 ,the sea sparkles gayly1 pursued the clergyman1 in the manner of an extemporaneous preacher who strives to catch in a net of decorations some illustration which presents itself1--the boat tosses on from wave to wave1 for dories will sail before the wind4 ,soon we are miles from shore1 and throw the anchor4 ,what auspicious expansion of soul and body6 ,how we slide up and down the backs of great billows1 and cast our lines with ever-varying success6 ,but the night comes1 and with it the necessity of rowing back against wind and tide4 ,ah1 then how long the lonely ocean-leagues6 ,how distant the time when we may hope to stand confused and giddy upon solid earth6 ,some never see the land again1 but are swept out into the storm and darkness1 and are lost1--lost6 ,i presume ,i understand the significance of your similitude1 ,i replied1 a little annoyed at this inopportune indulgence of the pastoral privilege4 ,you would imply the dangerous tendency of a certain sort of philosophical speculation2 and so far we doubtless agree4 ,yet ,i ought to say1 that1 in cases where personal investigation is possible1 ,i would take neither popular clamor nor learned dogmatism as conclusive evidence against any writer's honesty and usefulness4 ,with the vulgar1 genius has always seemed a sort of madness2 and should a man rise preeminent above the teachers of his generation1 his wisdom would appear to them as foolishness4 ,a change came over the face of ,clifton as ,i said these words4 ,it was as if a mask had fallen4 ,perchance he had wished to appear to me in that character of instructor which he desired some competent person to assume to him4 ,now1 the relaxed muscles and averted eye only asked the sympathy of an equal4 ,he spoke with forced1 and almost grating1 utterance4 ,then you have used experience well enough to know that some minds may bear into the world a light1 a knowledge too fine for general perception1 too pure for even exceptional recognition4 ,i fully believe it possible1 ,i said4 ,yonder old ,safe1 if rumor says true1 holds many mystic signals which the past and present could address only to the future1--signs meaningless1 no doubt1 to you or me1 but which the freemasonry of higher intelligence shall render plain in the time hereafter4 ,and what if ,i had come1 exclaimed ,clifton1 eagerly1--what if ,i had come to add to those deposits which are not for this time1 but which may be for other times8 ,what blame to me1 if ,i am here to do this8 ,should we common men1 who find a life full of active duties presented to our acceptance1--should such as we1 ,i say1 receive this world as a pageant before which we must sit down and evolve a doctrine8 ,the conceit of external education is at present too strong to acknowledge a divine element radiating from the depths of the soul1 and finding in the mind only an awkward and imperfect instrument4 ,any extravagance is now tolerated1 but an extravagance of spirituality2 and we find altogether wanting the perception1 that1 rising from the gross symbols of language1 can know the subtile and precious emotion which in a more advanced state of being those symbols might suggest4 ,as it was evident that ,mr4 ,clifton was laboring under great nervous excitability1 ,i judged it prudent not to question the sequence of what he said1 or even demand that it be made intelligible by further explanation4 ,indeed1 ,i was sufficiently occupied in striving to identify this incomprehensible person with my familiar acquaintance1 the pastor of the ,first ,church in ,foxden4 ,it occurred to me that something had once been said of ,clifton's connection with that topsy-turvy sodality popularly known as ,the ,transcendentalists4 ,but this was many years ago2 and the world always supposed that he had outgrown his early errors1 and found1 in the liberal theology of ,new ,england1 a more genuine inspiration4 ,in meeting him in his pastoral relation1 ,i had only remarked that he was one of those men who find it very difficult to resist the social influences into which they may be thrown4 ,this was probably the case even where that influence tended to degrade him from the plane he would have occupied1 if left to himself4 ,his spiritual life seemed to lack that vigor and buoyancy so infinitely important to contemplative men4 ,he appeared to be ever yearning for something which should add robustness to his convictions4 ,after a pause of some moments1 ,clifton again addressed me4 ,recollections of moments1 months of excitement1 of intense power1 have returned6 ,they may not fade again unspoken4 ,you shall know my long-cherished secret4 ,younger in years1 you may scarcely advise2 but1 at least1 you may give sympathy that shall confirm my decision4 ,i have engaged rooms at the neighboring hotel4 ,come and pass the evening--nay1 the night--with me2 for much must be read and thought and spoken before the black veil of personality can be lifted between us4 ,it has already been observed that my family were at the seaside4 ,this circumstance left me sole disposer of my time and localities4 ,how1 then1 resist the inclination to see out the adventure upon which ,i had stumbled8 ,let me credit myself also with a worthier motive3 ,i saw that my companion was in no state to be left to himself1--and1 really1 there was no mutual friend to whom ,i could consign him4 ,accordingly ,i offered my arm in a manner to imply acquiescence in his proposal4 ,we soon reached the hotel1 and ascended to a room in the remote corner of a spacious wing4 ,clifton at once turned the key1 placed his package upon the table1 and proceeded to employ a stray bit of carpet in stopping a ventilator which communicated with the entry4 ,having satisfied himself that this passage was rendered impervious to sound1 he drew two chairs up to the table1 motioned me into one1 and planted himself in the other with the air of a man1 in popular phrase1 about to make a night of it4 ,did you ever hear of ,herbert ,vannelle8 he asked1 abruptly4 ,it can hardly be necessary to say that a substitute is here placed for the name really mentioned4 ,i replied in the negative1 and asked where the gentleman lived4 ,he lives nowhere on earth2 he is dead1--just dead4 ,a friend of yours8 ,a master once2 now a presence eluding1 haunting1 torturing4 ,he left me this manuscript2 it is a ',philosophy of the ,absolute4' 7,here ,clifton drew from a curiously contrived case of parchment a cluster of pages47 ,it has now twenty-two hours to appear in the present century4 ,you shall devote the night to reading it1 and tell me that ,i have acted well4 ,a sultry ,august evening1 a smoky boarding-house lamp1 much skirmishing of mosquitoes1 and--a manuscript system of philosophy6 ,the prospect was not inviting4 ,the reading of other people's manuscripts is surely the crucial test of a devoted benevolence4 ,there are few ways in which ,i am so little ready to oblige my fellow-men4 ,i had1 indeed1 at times1 been induced to inspect sundry romances in blotted embryo2 but1 as yet1 nobody had called upon me with a system of philosophy4 ,printed philosophy is none too easy reading4 ,but to sit there1 under the guardianship of ,clifton1 and spell out the dim dogmatism of some nebulous fanatic1--of course it was not to be thought of for a moment4 ,with a suave periphrasis of speech ,i questioned the expediency of the proposition4 ,i shall ring for candles that will burn during the night1 said ,mr4 ,clifton1 heedless of my expostulation4 ,also some refreshment4 ,you take tea1 ,i suppose8 ,you shall read the first ten pages of ,vannelle's writing4 ,it is possible you may exercise self-control enough to abandon it unfinished4 ,but you will not sleep tonight4 ,there was a confidence in the minister's tone which gave rather unpleasant emphasis to this final prophecy4 ,still1 ,i believed myself capable of the ten pages without establishing a hopelessly wakeful condition1--indeed1 it was something to be guarantied against the opposite infirmity4 ,the tea1 accompanied by a few thin shavings of toast1 presently arrived4 ,the means of procuring light were also furnished us4 ,clifton's hand lay heavily upon the manuscript until the attendant had disappeared for the last time1 and the door was locked behind him4 ,he then opened the papers before me1 and signified that the time had come4 ,i braced myself as for a serious undertaking4 ,thus ,i accepted the task4 ,how give words to the singular emotions which soon possessed me8 ,as if some charm1 some spell of magnetism1 had been given to the paper1 my whole consciousness was riveted upon it4 ,i know not how to represent this bold1 this startling attempt to establish a positive basis for metaphysical philosophy1 an exact science of all things human and divine4 ,here was a man1 perchance of more courage and conscience1 perchance of more devilish recklessness1 than any of his contemporaries4 ,but how deal with what came to me from that wondrous writing in the ambiguities of common language8 ,all thought--even supposing it embodied in a perfect form of speech--is subject to the limitations of the recipient mind4 ,my own glimpses of the writer's meaning were necessarily most indistinct4 ,i cannot attempt to transfer them4 ,i was controlled by a force not my own4 ,the shadow of a mysterious power was over me4 ,the mists of sentimental pantheism were left far below the clear-cut summits whither the reader was invited to ascend4 ,there was an interpretation of ,revelation far more removed from the apparent letter than that of ,swedenborg4 ,here was reaffirmed 7though for a widely different purpose7 what the ,romish ,church has ever declared1--that the ,scriptures1 recording spiritual truth1 cannot be comprehensible to the natural understanding1--that1 while the ,sacred ,writings contain a natural letter1 it can be translated into spiritual verity only by a few exceptional men4 ,if this scheme of philosophy was an idealism1 it nevertheless manifested itself through the plainest realities4 ,the solution of the problem seemed to come not from one point1 but from all points4 ,certainly there was a tendency towards the supersensible2 but this direction was taken through stern grappling with the actual4 ,at one time ,i struggled against the august spirit that was borne in upon me2 at another1 ,i was utterly subdued by the lofty enthusiasm of the writer1--something within me capable of absolute cognition seemed responding to his appeals4 ,but the pith and vitality of this marvel could be recognized only by long experience4 ,and here the student was required to stake his soul upon a perilous cast4 ,for1 if not pursued and fathomed to full satisfaction1 this view of things would be disturbing1 paralyzing4 ,with any half-acceptance a man might scarcely live4 ,it must fashion the mind as an artist fashions the passive metals into a musical instrument1 and then every event in time might touch it to exquisite harmony4 ,but the more ravishing the beauty which seemed offered through perfect realization of this knowledge1 the more blighting would be its effects1 if entertained in the spirit of a selfish dilettanteism4 ,for in certain passages were breathed faint suggestions1 that moral codes held sacred by the people could not bind the initiated1--nay1 that what seemed most evil might be so explained as to become wholly legitimate to the elect4 ,it was far into the night4 ,i had gone over about a third of the manuscript4 ,sharp questions assailed my ears4 ,was ,i bound to jeopard all the common good of life for the chance of--just failing to know existence from a higher plane8 ,could ,i ascend so far above the frailties of average men as to receive in purity and innocence the license which acceptance of this strange scheme would surely give8 ,dim-sighted as ,i was1 it was necessary to rise and dispel this splendid phantasm4 ,i shuddered in sudden alarm at the danger which threatened me4 ,by a spasmodic movement1 in which ,i failed to recognize any presence of my will1 the manuscript was closed and handed to ,clifton4 ,welcome existence under coarsest and harshest terms1 rather than tamper with such fearful possibilities6 ,for hours the minister had gazed into my face1 partaking the excitement to which he had subjected me4 ,he had lighted and trimmed the candles1 as was necessary1 but had never broken silence4 ,and now there came from him the deep sigh of relief from an absorbing interest2 he sighed as a little child when the fairytale is ended and the tense strain of attention may be relaxed4 ,what was this man8 ,i demanded1 hurriedly4 ,what he was is to be discovered through these writings1 if it may be found out at all4 ,what he was is not for me nor for you to know4 ,it is possible that he may meet with competent judges hereafter1 even among men4 ,look at this address4 ,clifton handed me a little memorandum relating to the ultimate disposition of the manuscript4 ,it was to remain for eighty years in the ,mather ,safe1 and was then to be consigned to the occupant of the ,chair of ,moral ,philosophy in the ,college4 ,say rather to the last minority-candidate for the professorship6 ,i exclaimed4 ,i doubt if the actual winner of that comfortable possession will feel disposed to abandon the market-worth of conventional acquirements1 and set forth as a humble student of unpopular truth4 ,the minister seemed struck with the suggestion1 and made the alteration ,i had indicated4 ,the darkest hour of the night had come4 ,every sound of human activity had long ago ceased4 ,it was the quiet time when one may most easily probe an intense experience4 ,i felt that more was to be known1--something which the minister longed to tell1--something to which what he had caused me to read was to serve as a prelude4 ,i suspected how powerless must have been this sensitive man in the presence of the ,idea which he had carried4 ,doubtless1 in one of his peculiar tendencies1 it might prevent all harmonious action1--it might ever goad the intellect1 and crush the heart4 ,as the confession trembled upon the lips of ,clifton1 ,i signified my profound sympathy4 ,it is an awful moment1 when a mature man tries to put off the solitariness of his life4 ,what was then communicated ,i can repeat only in the first person4 ,the pathetic earnestness of the speaker imprinted on my memory the very phrases that he used2 there can be few verbal changes as they now flow from the pen4 ,,ii4 ,,narrative ,,of ,,the ,,reverend ,,charles ,,clifton4 ,i am indebted for education to a bachelor uncle1 who1 after our great bereavement1 received at his house an infant sister and myself4 ,i was at that time about twelve years old4 ,my relative enjoyed a handsome annuity1 which he spent with the utmost liberality4 ,as ,i was rather a thoughtful1 though not very studious boy1 it was determined that ,i should go to college4 ,i entered with some difficulty soon after my seventeenth birthday1--an age somewhat later than the average at that time4 ,two years before me in college was the class of #ah--4 ,upon the roll of its fifty-two members stood the name of ,herbert ,vannelle4 ,rich1 an orphan1 inclined to thought and study beyond the limited academic range of those days1 endowed with personal fascinations of a very rare and peculiar kind1--there seemed only one possible shadow to darken his career4 ,in his family there had been said to exist a tendency to eccentric independence of action1 which vulgarly1 perhaps justly1 passed for insanity4 ,his father1 who died soon after ,herbert entered college1 had given much uneasiness to the wealthy and respectable city-circle with which he was socially connected4 ,upon the death of his wife he had retired to the ,vannelle homestead in the northwestern part of ,connecticut1 and there lived in studious seclusion4 ,there he insisted upon bringing up his only son1 deprived of such recreations and companionships as are suitable to youth4 ,he had1 indeed1 superintended his studies with patience and thoroughness1 and had not failed to accomplish him in the grace of physical power1 at that time little recognized as a part of education4 ,so much was known of ,vannelle when he appeared at college among the young men of the ,junior ,class4 ,and little more was known of him when he left ,america on the day his class graduated4 ,his connections with the other students had been very slight4 ,he had never cared to acquire that fluency in retailing the thoughts of others upon which college-rank depends4 ,an access to the library was all that he seemed to value in his connection with the institution4 ,and here he busied himself1 not with the openings to the solid and rational sciences1 but with the bewildering sophistries of the school-philosophies1 and their aimless wrangling over verbal conceits4 ,at that time ,i happened to be taking a young man's first enchanting rounds upon the tread-mill of metaphysics4 ,at the library ,i often encountered ,vannelle in search of some volume of which ,i had just possessed myself4 ,this led to an acquaintance4 ,i was soon fascinated by a power which streamed from his large1 expressive eyes1 and persuaded by a voice modulated in a pathos and sweetness that ,i have heard in no other person4 ,his influence upon me at this time was not unlike that which the mesmerists had just begun to exercise4 ,yet1 while he showed an interest in directing my inquiries along the paths to which they naturally tended1 he never communicated the results of his own studies1 or offered me the slightest assistance in generalizing my random observations4 ,what he thought himself1 or by what writers he was influenced1 it was not easy to fathom4 ,he was deeply acquainted with the writings of the ,new-,england ,transcendentalists1 then at their greatest notoriety1 yet never for an instant seemed giddy upon the hazy heights where those earnest spirits soared4 ,vannelle spent two years in ,germany1 and returned to ,america about the time that my college-course was finished4 ,the little ,i knew of him during his absence was from the scattered notices of newspaper-correspondents1 who intimated that ,herbert possessed the privilege of friendly intercourse with men most distinguished for knowledge in the ,old ,world4 ,just before ,class-,day1 ,i received a letter dated from ,x----1 in ,connecticut1 inviting me1 in terms which seemed almost a command1 to spend the summer at the ,vannelle homestead4 ,herbert had returned1 and thus abruptly summoned me4 ,intending to postpone until the autumn the study of a profession1 ,i promised to come to him for a few weeks1--a visit which might be extended1 were it mutually agreeable4 ,there was1 at that time1 a day of weary staging after leaving the cars1 before arriving in the village of ,x----2 there were also six rough miles of carriage-conveyance before the traveller could attain the old house by the damp river-marsh whereto ,i was destined4 ,when ,i arrived there1 ,vannelle stood at the door to greet me4 ,we have six months' concern together1 he said1 as if delivering himself of some studied speech1--we have six months' concern together2 then we may stand at the parting of the ways1--we may cleave to one another1 or separate forever4 ,a low1 dark house4 ,the south-side planted out from the sun by pines and cedars4 ,the parlors covered with well-worn ,turkey carpets1 chafed into dusty ridges4 ,the wretched window-glass breaking and distorting the pine-trees without4 ,little oval mirrors distorting the human countenance within4 ,in the living-room 7so called by those able to live in it7 loomed a rusty air-tight stove of cathedral proportion1--a ghastly altar which the bitterest enemy of the family might feel fully justified in protecting4 ,a square1 cellarless room1 about twenty feet from the house1 had been the study of the elder ,vannelle4 ,tables covered with a confused mass of writing-materials4 ,a jumble of retorts and other chemical apparatus about the floor4 ,cabinets of the ugliest pattern reached to the ceiling2--at first ,i supposed them to be made of painted wood2 afterwards ,i discovered they were of iron1 and filled with rare books and manuscripts4 ,my father built this study1 said ,vannelle1 as we passed into it4 ,he wished to get rid of those periodical clearings-up from which there is no escape in a ,new-,england household4 ,mrs4 ,brett1 the wife of our farmer1 could never resist the feminine itch to put things to rights4 ,she was always contriving to arrange papers and books in symmetrical piles where nothing could be found4 ,my father could never turn his back but she was sure to annihilate important scraps of writing that were lying about the floor1 and1 under pretence of sweeping1 invoke a simoom of dust that hours were insufficient to allay4 ,but when he built this room1 and kept the key of it1 there was no more trouble4 ,i shudder as ,i hurry through these descriptions1 for a confession which ,i hardly dare to put into words must accompany them4 ,all these surroundings1 seen by me for the first time1 had a fearful familiarity4 ,in some occult state of spiritual existence ,i seemed to have known them all4 ,i have learned that the soul may enter into communion with other minds otherwise than through the senses1--nay1 more1 it may thus take an inexplicable cognizance of material things4 ,of this ,i have had such proof as it would be infatuation to doubt4 ,i was compelled to test this startling suspicion for the first time4 ,you need not take me up-stairs1 ,herbert1 ,i said1 as we returned to the house4 ,the picture of your father1 which hangs in the large chamber projecting over the porch1 was doubtless a good likeness of the mask he wore at city club-houses and family-dinners1--but the man as you knew him here1 how little does it resemble6 ,as for the ,chinese cabinet which stands between the windows1 it has associations1 no doubt1 but it is sadly out of repair4 ,those pink tiles about the fireplace may be interesting to antiquaries2 but ,i rather prefer the blue variety1 as corresponding to the mental state in which their infinitely pretentious subjects and execrable drawing always put me4 ,the lightness of speech was painfully forced4 ,vannelle turned to me and said1 slowly1-- ,have you been here before8 ,no4 ,has any one described to you this house or its contents8 ,no4 ,then thought has been conveyed from mind to mind in unconditioned purity4 ,it is as ,i had supposed4 ,we are brothers forever4 ,the next day1 after an early breakfast1 ,vannelle summoned me to the study4 ,i glanced distrustfully at the confusion of the room1 which seemed in strange contrast with the exquisitely neat and even fashionable attire of its proprietor4 ,a smile of proud pity touched the lips of ,vannelle1 as he seemed to divine my thought4 ,then1 as if ,i had read them in letters of light1 these words seemed to answer me3-- ,shall we1 the stewards and guardians of the highest interests of mankind1 fret our souls at trifles1--we1 who are to be instruments in marshalling the race from slavery and folly to wisdom and freedom8 ,behold1 in one bound1 the hovels and palaces of earth shall be alike1 and1 floating free in spiritual space1 we will win such dominion as the highest graduates in saintship dimly perceived1 but were never able to declare6 ,these thoughts1 energizing the brain of my companion1 seemed thrown into my consciousness with far more distinctness than if they had been uttered4 ,it was with awe that this mystic correspondence between mind and mind was made plain to me4 ,one man out of this myriad-bodied humanity had sought me out1 and in his presence ,i was never more to be alone4 ,the gigantic shadow of self passed from me2 ,i was as clay in the potter's hands6 ,at length ,herbert spoke4 ,our work in this world is determined for us2 mine is allotted to me1--not by my own choice4 ,i return to this house never to leave it till ,i go to join my father1 with his great work more nearly completed than when it came to my hands4 ,at that table he died1 with some glimpses of the promised land whither he tended1--where he prayed that ,i might enter4 ,there escaped from me a feeble remonstrance1--no utterance of the heart1 but rather a dry rattling of such conventional proprieties as lingered in the memory4 ,and you intend to leave this wholesome world1--you1 whose career might be such as few have it in their power to choose8 ,you know1 you must know1 the wonderful gifts which you possess2 you cannot alone be ignorant of the fascination you might exercise over man and woman4 ,i know all these temptations1 and others that you cannot surmise1 exclaimed ,vannelle1 and ,i will conquer them1--if not through spiritual grace1 then by some bodily penance of lasting effect4 ,i discern in you certain qualities of mind that may serve to regulate the equipoise of mine4 ,i have the means to provide for us both during the high speculations in which we shall engage4 ,let us be comrades in this undertaking4 ,i seek to bridge the great gulf that separates the natural from the spiritual4 ,my father firmly believed in the possibility of obtaining an absolute ground for the philosophy which should include all things human and divine4 ,he passed onward before the inestimable gift he seemed to have won could be set forth in the symbols of the world4 ,to see is not difficult1 but only to contrive a popular adaptation through which others may discern the thought4 ,i seek the means to express the truth which he saw1 and of which ,i can catch some glimpses through such colored mythologies as represent the higher religions of the world4 ,man has found out the knowledge by which a universe was evoked from chaos3 shall he not perfect that knowledge in the ,law which includes the divine element by which the universe is informed8 ,how can we love with our whole heart what we do not know with our whole mind8 ,clifton1 ,i declare to you that knowledge of the ,law by which the ,creator is and acts is possible to man6 ,i shall seem to you weak and unstable in no common degree to have been moved by utterance like this4 ,remember that ,i can reproduce only the words1 not the wild power of that persuasive voice1 not the aspiring courage that struck me from his eye4 ,almost against my will there was produced in me a plasticity of mind that seemed to demand the impress of some foreign mould4 ,the tree of knowledge was set in the midst of the garden1 and again were audible the seductive serpent-tones3 ,your eyes shall be opened1 and ye shall be as gods1 knowing good and evil4 ,i found ,vannelle so far my superior in the knowledge of all earthly lores1 that ,i at length came to think it possible he might be the appointed instrument of communicating the singular intelligence that he sought4 ,he proposed to review the different systems built by human thought before applying himself to the problem of finding a system of philosophy which should include them all4 ,his idea was1 that from the extreme negation of the so-called transcendental position--when that position had been legitimately attained by a thoroughly conscientious thinker--some new light must break upon the mind4 ,his was no shrinking from the conflict with real things to indulge in vague yearnings after the inaccessible1 but a definite effort so to place the soul and discipline the understanding that wisdom could be realized without process or media4 ,unlike most inquirers of that time1 he had no love for the abstract and the controversial1 but entertained them freely as finally discovering some path to the concrete and the unquestioned4 ,he declared that only to superficial persons was skepticism the terminus of speculative deism4 ,let me also say this for my friend1--that his directing stimulus to action was neither ambition nor curiosity1 but what1 had it been directed to any recognized end1 the world would have called a religious principle4 ,he was never guilty of the shallow wickedness of seeking self-culture as an end2 he sought the highest self-culture only as a state of more passionate yearning for regeneration4 ,what need to tell how ,i was fascinated1 mesmerized1 into a humble companionship8 how ,i became inspired with his own mighty belief in the feasibility of the object he strove to attain8 ,we read together certain manuscripts of the elder ,vannelle1 in which1 wrapt in a gorgeous symbolism1 seemed dimly to approach a great truth1 which1 at times1 could be faintly perceived1 but never mastered4 ,there were hints1 apparently of the deepest significance1 which1 when the mind endeavored to grasp them1 vanished like a vision4 ,day after day1 almost night after night1 for five months1 ,i passed with ,vannelle in the room ,i have described4 ,and during that vivid period ,i knew an intellectual intoxication which seemed the pure ecstasy of spirit wholly delivered from the burden of the flesh4 ,vannelle talked like one inspired upon the higher problems of metaphysical research1 showing1 or appearing to show1 in what sense the speculations of the philosophers were true1 and in what sense absolutely false4 ,we seemed to have cut ourselves adrift from the human race1 and to look down upon it from a position whence its basest moral corruptions and most detestable oppressions marked the rhythm in a majestic poem4 ,the infinite vagaries of crime1 the unspeakable ecstasies of blessedness1 were equally wholesome as equally full of ,law4 ,at times it seemed impossible that any words could so mould themselves as to give distinctness to the thought which flashed through our minds4 ,at times a representation corresponding to what ,vannelle so eloquently uttered seemed embodied in every phase of opinion man had known4 ,but1 alas1 there were also periods of doubt and despair analogous to those which succeed physical intoxication4 ,the grosser systems of antiquity were not only considered1 but actually personated in our experience4 ,here it was necessary for us to penetrate into some of the darkest recesses of the human soul1 and to test how nearly allied is that which exalts man to that which degrades him1 how the noblest virtues plunge headlong into the maddest passions4 ,yet we learned to welcome these convulsions of ,chaos and ,old ,night1 as blindly bearing us onward towards our destined goal4 --,but enough of this4 ,i would only faintly express how terribly real was the delusion 7the world would so call it1 and who am ,i to gainsay it87 which has overhung my earthly life4 ,let me tell in briefest words how the spell was broken1--partially broken4 ,during those months of passionate exaltation1 letters from friends once dear to me had been thrown aside half-read1 and wholly valueless4 ,on the eleventh of ,november ,i started1--as a black seal was to be broken4 ,my uncle had suddenly died4 ,the last instalment of his annuity had been paid1 and my little sister1 an orphan and penniless1 was thrown upon me for education and support4 ,shame to me that ,i then hesitated6 ,yet it was some hours before ,i could persuade myself to put the letter into ,vannelle's hand1 and say that ,i must abandon him forever4 ,let me forget the bitter temptation4 ,of course my friend begged to provide for my sister from his own ample means1 and even offered her an asylum at his house4 ,i still retained sufficient sanity to perceive the wrong of bringing a young child to that dismal place to wither removed from all human companionship and sympathy4 ,a spirit not in a condition to be sustained and elevated by the society of ,herbert would be confused1 and finally petrified4 ,had this refined probing and questioning deadened all sense of duty8 ,was this the end of my ,absolute ,philosophy1 that the intellect should usurp the place of the conscience and the moral law8 ,shame to me that ,i could have paused to ask such questions6 yet any claim but one tittle less urgent ,i should have bantered aside4 ,i seemed to realize the torture described in the dream of ,dante1--two souls struggling together in one frail body4 ,i had been applauding good and condemning evil when it cost me nothing but the sentiment2 but when the fiery test came1 my purpose cracked and shrivelled before it4 ,yes1 ,i conquered2 but the scars that purchased the victory have ached through my life4 ,there was but one calling wherein it seemed possible for me to earn my bread2 for how could ,i descend to chaffer in the market1 to trim and huckster through the world1--,i1 who had thought to condition the ,spirit of the ,universe8 ,but there were metaphors faintly shadowing divine things1 symbols adapted to the limitations of the popular mind1 and with these ,i might do an honest work for the souls of men4 ,honest8 ,yes1--unless ,augustine was a hypocrite1 when he declared that he spoke of the ,unseen as unity in three persons1 less to say something than not to remain altogether silent4 ,to a certain order of minds among the clergy this is the daily cross1--the necessity of maintaining a fixed position1 and ever looking down from it to teach1 instead of ever yearning upward to be taught4 ,it is enough to say1 that1 supporting myself and my sister by school-teaching1 ,i achieved such courses of reading as are supposed to qualify for enrolment among the liberal clergy of ,new ,england4 ,until the time when my sister left me by marriage ,i was settled at ,n----1 on the ,connecticut4 ,soon after this event1 died old ,dr4 ,p---- of ,foxden1 and ,i received a call to his vacant parish4 ,i knew that the sort of society to be found in that place would minister to my most urgent need4 ,i craved some intellectual clanship which should never seek to rise to an equal spiritual companionship4 ,for there was only one man to whom ,i might speak freely1 and from him my path ever diverged4 ,how far apart the years had led us6 ,sometimes there came a whisper that ,i had been snatched from the hand of ,satan1 killer of souls2 sometimes my only opportunities of salvation seemed left in that sad1 damp homestead4 ,i could never return to him2 ,i could never be wholly free from him4 ,ever was ,i controlled by a shadowy force which reached me from his abundant power4 ,no occupation was so absorbing as to protect me from the invading presence of ,herbert ,vannelle4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the first ,sunday of the present month brought the twentieth anniversary of the day that ,i parted from ,vannelle4 ,in the morning ,i had preached a written sermon on those solemn words of the ,apostle1 ,whatsoever is not of faith is sin4 ,for the first time ,i shrank from the consciousness that the words uttered were true to me in a very different sense from that in which the congregation received them4 ,i found it difficult to poise in tremulous balance between ,truth and its available representation to common men4 ,it is my custom to preach extemporaneously in the afternoon4 ,upon rising1 after the introductory services1 ,i could perceive that my pulse and breathing were accelerated4 ,a certain numbness of the brain seemed pierced with convulsive1 fugitive shocks4 ,an inexplicable influence1 a command for cerebral sympathy1 seemed beating at my forehead4 ,i turned the sacred pages before me1 but could find nothing upon which to base my remarks4 ,but to my lips would come incessantly a passage from ,sir ,thomas ,browne4 ,at last ,i gave it voice3-- ,there are1 as in philosophy1 so in divinity1 sturdy doubts and boisterous objections wherewith the unhappiness of our knowledge too nearly acquainteth us4 ,more of these no man hath known than myself2 which ,i confess ,i conquered1 not in martial attitude1 but on my knees4 ,an extraordinary impetus seemed imparted to my mental powers4 ,men have said that ,i spoke with a fluency and eloquence unknown to them before4 ,indeed1 ,i was conscious of a capacity to receive and convey such portions of divine wisdom as corresponded to their needs4 ,to speak in figure1 my heavenly race was as if the ,lord of ,evil pursued my soul4 ,thoroughly exhausted by the effort1 ,i returned to my study and threw myself upon a sofa4 ,more fully than ever before1 ,i entered that state where one far distant may make himself perceived and known4 ,the occult power of foreknowing events1 the delicate perception of forbidden things1 worked their abnormal invigoration in the brain4 ,i became conscious that a carriage miles off was rolling nearer and nearer2 ,i knew that it would stop at my door4 ,i waited1 waited long into the night4 ,one by one went out the scattered village-lights4 ,another consciousness of twenty years seemed compressed into those brilliant1 bitter hours4 ,my lamp flickered4 ,i rose with effort and supplied oil2 it would now burn till morning4 ,the carriage came nearer4 ,i knew that ,vannelle was in it4 ,at last the heavy rumble ceased at the door4 ,a figure stood before me4 ,the old fascination in the eyes2 a soul burning with lofty enthusiasm looked through and kindled them4 ,but the face1--it was ghastly1 livid as the face of a leper3 it was spectral1--blanched and dried with the white flames of his exalted vigils4 ,ah1 black eyes1 well may you shine in terrible triumph6 ,the old idolatry this man demanded of me would not be repelled4 ,i gazed upon my visitor as upon a phantom from another sphere1 and knew no reckoning of time4 ,his magnetism was upon me2 ,i could only crouch into myself--and wait4 ,at length the silence was broken4 ,charles ,clifton1 teacher of the people1 listen that you may be taught6 ,for the last time ,i have come down into your world of passion and sense4 ,the impulses with which you vainly strive and wrestle are behind me4 ,alone1 alone1 ,i have risen from the abysmal depths of personality4 ,i have struggled fiercely4 ,i have also conquered4 ,the livid face showed no change4 ,it suddenly came to me1 that1 by some voluntary disfigurement of his exquisite beauty of feature1 this man had cut away the lusts for pleasure1 fame1 and influence4 ,what woman would kiss that ghastly cheek8 ,what sycophant could fawn and smirk in that chilly presence8 ,the injunctions concerning the offending eye and hand ,vannelle had interpreted literally4 ,i hold1 he continued1 the noble prize of intellectual satisfaction seized by effort4 ,multiply the self-satisfactions of earth by infinity1 and you may guess a little of the sublime contentment which wraps me round6 ,does the best stage-trick of your liberal clergy help them to anything but a plasticity of mind to be moulded into artistic forms of skepticism8 ,how can you feel the delight of a definite1 positive affirmation which accounts for and includes all creeds and lives of men8 ,how can you come out from your partial dogmas to enter ,truth and find it alone dogmatic and compulsive8 ,clifton1 ,i pity you4 ,i would rescue you from this haze of thought and feeling1--,i1 who have even now discarded ,intelligence and enthroned ,wisdom4 ,i hope to be pardoned1 ,i said1--the current of this life sets so in favor of ,utility and the ,practical2 men long to be fed with sentiment1--why try to give them ideas8 ,fulfil1 then1 forever your little round of decencies and proprieties1 exclaimed ,vannelle2 ,i judge you not4 ,perchance your weakness is the pardonable weakness of one who has done his best4 ,you may be guiltless in failing to attain the strength1 the glory1 of a true conviction4 ,is it too late8 ,i asked1 faintly4 ,it is the question ,i must put to you1 replied ,herbert4 ,i bring you in this manuscript the result of my life1--the result of two lives4 ,here is written1 as clearly as can be written in gross symbols of human language1 that which may suggest the ,absolute1 the ,alpha and ,omega1 the ,system1 not humanly built upon hypothesis1 but divinely founded upon ,law4 ,i knew that a package had been placed upon the table at my side4 ,if you can so far command the fragmentary life you lead as to give this manuscript the sober1 searching thought which it invites1 the truth may be brought to you4 ,but if these twenty years have only filled you with the pride of inventing arguments and detecting analogies1 if they have only given you the petty skill of a petty scholar1 why then dally on with a tinsel variety of superficial attainments1 and give others the blessed privilege you are not strong enough to accept4 ,take it from me1 ,i said4 ,it has haunted me too long4 ,what you may have found1 it is for your honor to promulgate4 ,the finding is enough for one life1 replied ,vannelle4 ,the spiritual manhood is indeed complete1 but the shell which enclosed it totters towards earth4 ,my responsibility in this matter is at an end3 yours will now begin4 ,a tremor ran through my frame as he spoke these words4 ,a mystery rigid as ,fate seemed to shackle me4 ,without seeing him go1 ,i knew that ,vannelle had left the room4 ,again was ,i conscious of the carriage-rumble growing fainter1 fainter1 fainter in the distance4 ,a dream of passionate excitement1 a phantasmagoria of old wishes1 old hopes1 of the life ,i might have led1 flew before me4 ,for a moment the energy of ,vannelle seemed to have transfused itself through every fibre4 ,an unquenchable thirst that ,i had never summoned struck into my brain4 ,i seized the manuscript1 and devoured page after page4 ,then ,i felt the approaches of a supreme despotism that might annihilate all ,i had been1 all ,i hoped to be1--that might compel me to denounce all that ,i had taught1 to hear all that was respectable and healthy in the world jeer at me as an impostor1 an enthusiast1 a madman4 ,it was not that ,i was simply invited to come above the ordinary doctrines of the day1 and stand supported and encouraged by a few advanced minds2 but ,i was called to place myself where the most earnest souls--unless a second birth could be granted them--would scoff with the ignorance and intolerance of the mass4 ,at last the gray light of morning shone upon me4 ,one of my deacons1 whistling sturdily1 passed along the street4 ,a physical emanation from his healthy vitality partially counteracted the influence of the night4 ,gathering up every muscle of my feeble will1 ,i closed the manuscript forever4 ,hereditary imperfections of body and mind confine me to a sphere of reputable usefulness4 ,if ,i have sinned in the past1 ,i have also suffered4 ,if1 as ,i sometimes suspect1 ,i have thrust from me the grandest opportunity ever offered to man1 the loss through all eternity will be mine4 ,in eight days ,i heard of the death of ,herbert ,vannelle4 ,,iii4 ,as the last words of his strange narration fell from ,clifton's lips1 he bowed his head and was greatly agitated4 ,the vast theologic conception over which he had so long brooded1 instead of lifting him on high1 had crushed him to the earth4 ,his moral consciousness had demanded a satisfaction which he lacked integrity of purpose to pursue and challenge4 ,a fixed conviction of the dreariest pessimism would have been better for this man than the lofty uncertainty which had tortured his days2 for in the belief that one may neither struggle nor aspire there is a certain practical drift4 ,but how shall he do any good who bears about him a quick conscience1 a skeptical understanding1 sensitive religious affections1 and a feeble will8 ,charles ,clifton had neither the leisure1 nor possibly the application1 to follow the creeping advances of systematic knowledge4 ,he had listened to a fatal persuasion1 and at the same time had sought to satisfy contradictory principles of the human mind4 ,the kindest thing ,i could do for him was soon perceived4 ,reverend ,sir1 ,i said1 you must permit me to advise you4 ,it is now six o'clock4 ,in an hour the early train leaves for ,foxden4 ,you must take it and return home4 ,any further vacuum in your daily employment will produce a crushing pressure from without that might endanger reason itself4 ,i solemnly promise to deposit this manuscript in the ,mather ,safe1--nay1 ,i will not leave town until the ,president and ,treasurer have met me this afternoon according to your agreement4 ,i pledge you my honor that the parchment shall be consigned to its resting-place with every necessary formality4 ,my companion gazed long upon vacancy before returning any answer4 ,he strove to dispel the cloud-pageantry which had sailed above him in shapeless beauty4 ,he walked up and down the chamber1 paused1 threw open the window1 and looked upon the street below4 ,i felt that every petty detail of man's daily craft struck outlines of painful vividness upon the morbid sensibility of his condition4 ,finally he spoke to this effect3 -- ,a grief has been lessened in giving it words4 ,my deepest and most solitary moments have been revealed to human sympathy1 and the relief is great4 ,it may be that ,i have been created to some wholesome end1--that some truth may shine before the world through what seems the failure of my life4 ,i will return at once to the sphere of the senses3 it is1 as you say1 all that is left me4 ,let who will inquire into the significance and purpose of the ,universe2 it is for me to work in the bondage of the flesh1 to be the humble tool of the age in which my lot is cast4 ,yet it was not easy to induce the clergyman to commit to my care the conclusion of the enterprise which had brought him to town4 ,his peculiar nervous temperament foretold a thousand accidents that might befall the precious legacy of his friend4 ,it was only by addressing his reason in repeated arguments1 and by solemnly asseverating my entire fidelity1 that ,i induced him to yield4 ,it was a gracious gift to be once more alone4 ,i seemed awakened from a dream of pining exultation1 of dark foreboding4 ,without acknowledging it to myself1 ,i had been strangely wrought upon by what ,i had read and heard4 ,as ,clifton emerged from the magical influence of ,vannelle1 was it not concentrated upon me8 ,the impulse to return to the perusal of the manuscript was almost irresistible4 ,yet it was evident1 that1 failing to receive as my very life what was there written1 ,i should become hopelessly entangled in discrepancies and contradictions4 ,a glance at the imminent peril sent me shuddering to my only safety4 ,it has been mentioned that ,i had interested myself in some inquiries tending to modify the received understanding of a certain natural law4 ,during my morning in the ,college ,library ,i had collected the records of many facts1 which1 laboriously compared1 might confirm the hypothesis ,i had conceived4 ,i now braced myself to the task of tracing an order in these random observations4 ,i was soon stimulated by perceiving that my statistics seemed to confirm the justice of the reasoning which at first roused my suspicion4 ,more and more plainly did man's experience respond to the results ,i had dared to predict4 ,trivial circumstances1 noted in remote times and disconnected places1 pointed in one direction1 and there beat the regular pulse of ,nature4 ,it is perhaps a little humiliating to mention1 what ,i afterwards discovered1 that the doctrine which ,i endeavored to reach had been already conceived and passed upon by a not very eminent scientist in one of the ,western ,states4 ,but at that time absorption in the search for attainable truth was necessary to my welfare2 and1 with very brief intervals for rest and refreshment1 ,i continued my pursuit until the afternoon-hour for visiting the library4 ,the ,president and ,treasurer entered the building at five o'clock4 ,for some minutes ,i had stood before the massive doors of the ,mather ,safe1 wondering if any of its mysterious contents could be more singular than the consignment about to be made to its keeping4 ,is ,mr4 ,clifton of ,foxden in the library8 inquired the ,president4 ,i am here to represent him1 ,i replied4 ,he made a strange mistake in the day of appointment1 and was compelled to leave town this morning4 ,the package which he wished to deposit in the ,mather ,safe ,i hold in my hand4 ,lex ,universalis ,natur2 ,,the ,,philosophy ,,of ,,the ,,absolute1 exclaimed the ,treasurer1 reading the inscription upon the outer parchment4 ,poh1 poh6 ,i thought that sort of philosophy had long ago been handed over to the limbo of fallacies4 ,by those who have neither feeling nor imagination enough to care for anything not transmutable into dollars1 perhaps it has1 ,i rejoined1 somewhat tartly4 ,come1 come6 said the ,president1 in his good-natured1 rolling tones2 since the days of the great ,jonathan1 our ,new-,england metaphysicians have generally been broken-down poets1 and should be treated with the greatest tenderness4 ,some flighty minds will prefer dangerous trips to dream-land to the rigid demonstrations of figures2 but the mass of our graduates accept the teaching of their ,alma ,mater1 that only the mathematician has the right to investigate1 and that of all philosophers only natural philosophers are competent instructors4 ,yet1 ,sir1 ,i said1 you will remember that the time was when your natural philosophers were persecuted as wizards by ,church and ,state4 ,even the mathematician is defined by an old lexicographer to be ',magus dmonum invocator'2 and ,i cannot forget that all that is of honor and respect to-day is but the actual of a once despised ideal4 ,i really marvelled at my own audacity in presuming to question the words of this distinguished and excellent gentleman4 ,indeed1 it was particularly surprising1 because 7if ,i knew myself7 ,i precisely agreed with him4 ,but there is a certain waywardness in my composition1 which loves to puncture an inflated conventionality1 even when ,i myself am most conventional4 ,in the mean time the ,treasurer1 taking the ,president's key with his own1 had opened the ,safe4 ,i looked in and beheld coffers of lead and oak1 nooks and pigeon-holes covered and sealed with the ,college seal1 little cells of glass which appeared to hold documents of the utmost importance1 and1 in short1 whatever might best defy the injuries of time4 ,the weighty book which registered the contents of the ,safe was opened before me4 ,i was told to write the number assigned to the manuscript1 to describe its present condition1 and to indicate its destination4 ,this ,i carefully did1 and was about to confide my charge to its long oblivion4 ,stay6 said the ,president4 ,you have forgotten the mottoes6 ,here is only one2 and it is our rule that every deposit in the ,mather ,safe be distinguished by three1 in as many languages4 ',alteri ,sculo4' ,the selection is good1 though it has already been adopted by a ,massachusetts statesman4 ,it is now for you to supply two others4 ,singular as it may appear1 this sudden call to perform a trifling office which ,i had not anticipated1 filled me with a conflict of emotions4 ,in choosing another's words1 ,i seemed to indorse or repudiate the strange matter with which they were to be associated4 ,i thought of ,vannelle's wondrous language1 of ,clifton's exhilaration1 and of the vivid buoyancy with which my spirit had striven to rise4 ,i even groped for some phrase which might hint what delicate arial impressions had tended to condense the soul on the supreme point of spiritual ecstasy4 ,but memory was a blank when ,i demanded words for this seeming-glorious fact in the experience of humanity4 ,success was made impossible by the very intensity of the effort to summon an appropriate message to be dropped over the abyss of ,time4 ,i was confident that there were many apt things which might be said1 if ,i could come at them1 as it were1 sideways4 ,in order that ,i might take them at this advantage1 ,i snatched a letter from my pocket1 and began to read4 ,my eye was soon caught by the impression of a seal that ,i had once given my wife4 ,it was a good woman's motto1 ,i jestingly told her2 and now it was returned to me at my sorest need4 ,six little words of the good ,pascal1-- ,le plus sr est de croire4 ,something compelled me to write them1 and a new freedom was with me when ,i had done so4 ,make haste1 make haste1 for the prayer-bell is ringing6 cried the ,president ,see1 here is a copy of ,plato's ',phdrus1'--a work which our vapory brethren are fond of quoting1 generally at second-hand2 perhaps you may pick out a sentence that will prophesy with sufficient ambiguity4 ,but it was not ,plato or his ,phdrus that then claimed my thoughts4 ,there loomed a ,rock graven with more august instruction than the sage of the ,academy was privileged to communicate1--a ,rock against which the heaving surface of human opinion had chafed and broken in vain4 ,tossed to and fro upon the tide of life1 who has not sometimes listened to the wrangling voices which shouted1 ,mystical ,interpretation1 ,absolute ,fiction1 ,huge ,conglomerate of ,myths8 ,whose eye has never been caught by the sparkling tinsel of modern philosophies1 with their ,seers1 ,heroes1 ,missions1 ,developments1 ,insights1 ,principles of ,nature1 ,clairvoyance1 and ,magnetic ,currents8 ,happy those who are able to return to that one channel through which magnetic currents have indeed descended from an unseen sphere1 and touched the noblest hearts6 ,for there is a certain mediation between the necessities and aspirations of man1--an assured deliverance from the gross and sordid surroundings of his earthly life4 ,there came before me one simple period from a familiar ,book4 ,most direct and confident is the solemn statement4 ,i wrote it as the final motto4 ,,now ,,the ,,serpent ,,was ,,more ,,subtile ,,than ,,any ,,beast ,,of ,,the ,,field ,,which ,,the ,,lord ,,god ,,had ,,made4 ,,the ,,tertiary ,,age1 ,,and ,,its ,,characteristic ,,animals4 ,in entering upon the ,tertiaries1 we reach that geological age which1 next to his own1 has the deepest interest for man4 ,the more striking scenes of animal life1 hitherto confined chiefly to the ocean1 are now on land2 the extensive sheets of fresh water are filled with fishes of a comparatively modern character1--with ,whitefish1 ,pickerel1 ,perch1 ,eels1 etc41--while the larger quadrupeds are introduced upon the continents so gradually prepared to receive them4 ,the connection of events throughout the ,tertiaries1 considered as leading up to the coming of man1 may be traced not only in the physical condition of the earth1 and in the presence of the large terrestrial ,mammalia1 but also in the appearance of those groups of animals and plants which we naturally associate with the domestic and social existence of man4 ,cattle and ,horses are first found in the middle ,tertiaries2 the grains1 the ,rosace1 with their variety of fruits1 the tropical fruit-trees1 ,oranges1 ,bananas1 etc41 the shade- and cluster-trees1 so important to the comfort and shelter of man1 are added to the vegetable world during these epochs4 ,the fossil vegetation of the ,tertiaries is1 indeed1 most interesting from this point of view1 showing the gradual maturing and completion of those conditions most intimately associated with human life4 ,the earth had already its seasons1 its spring and summer1 its autumn and winter1 its seed-time and harvest1 though neither sower nor reaper was there2 the forests then1 as now1 dropped their thick carpet of leaves upon the ground in the autumn1 and in many localities they remain where they originally fell1 with a layer of soil between the successive layers of leaves1--a leafy chronology1 as it were1 by which we read the passage of the years which divided these deposits from each other4 ,where the leaves have fallen singly on a clayey soil favorable for receiving such impressions1 they have daguerreotyped themselves with the most wonderful accuracy1 and the ,oaks1 ,poplars1 ,willows1 ,maples1 ,walnuts1 ,gum- and ,cinnamon-trees1 etc41 of the ,tertiaries are as well known to us as are those of our own time4 ,it was an eventful day1 not only for science1 but for the world1 when a ,siberian fisherman chanced to observe a singular mound lying near the mouth of the ,river ,lena1 where it empties into the ,arctic ,ocean4 ,during the warmer summer-weather1 he noticed1 that1 as the snow gradually melted1 this mound assumed a more distinct and prominent outline1 and at length1 on one side of it1 where the heat of the sun was greatest1 a dark body became exposed1 which1 when completely uncovered1 proved to be that of an immense elephant1 in so perfect a state of preservation that the dogs and wolves were attracted to it as by the smell of fresh meat1 and came to feed upon it at night4 ,the man knew little of the value of his discovery1 but the story went abroad1 and an ,englishman travelling in ,russia1 being curious to verify it1 visited the spot1 and actually found the remains where they had been reported to lie1 on the frozen shore of the ,arctic ,sea1--strange burial-place enough for an animal never known to exist out of tropical climates4 ,little beside the skeleton was left1 though parts of the skin remained covered with hair1 showing how perfect must have been the condition of the body when first exposed4 ,the tusks had been sold by the fisherman2 but ,mr4 ,adams succeeded in recovering them2 and collecting all the bones except those of one foot1 which had been carried off by the wolves1 he had them removed to ,st4 ,petersburg1 where the skeleton now stands in the ,imperial ,museum4 ,the inhabitants of ,siberia seem to be familiar with this animal1 which they designate by the name of ,mammoth1 while naturalists call it ,elephas primigenius4 ,the circumstance that they abound in the frozen drift of the great northern plain of ,asia1 and are occasionally exposed in consequence of the wearing of the large rivers traversing ,siberia1 has led to the superstition among the ,tongouses1 that the ,mammoths live under ground1 and die whenever1 on coming to the surface1 the sunlight falls upon them4 ,illustration ,had this been the only creature of the kind found so far from the countries to which elephants are now exclusively confined1 it might have been believed that some strange accident had brought it to the spot where it was buried4 ,but it was not long before similar remains were found in various parts of ,europe1--in ,russia1 in ,germany1 in ,spain1 and in ,italy4 ,the latter were readily accounted for by the theory that they must be the remains of the ,carthaginian elephants brought over by the armies of ,hannibal1 while it was suggested that the others might have been swept from ,india by some great flood1 and stranded where they were found4 ,it was ,cuvier1 entitled by his intimate acquaintance with the anatomy of living animals to an authoritative opinion in such matters1 who first dared to assert that these remains belonged to no elephant of our period4 ,he rested this belief upon structural evidence1 and insisted that an ,indian elephant1 brought upon the waves of a flood to ,siberia1 would be an ,indian elephant still1 while all these remains differed in structure from any species existing at present4 ,this statement aroused research in every direction1 and the number of fossil ,mammalia found within the next few years1 and proved by comparison to be different from any living species1 soon demonstrated the truth of his conclusion4 ,illustration ,shortly after the discovery of fossil elephants had opened this new path of investigation1 some curious bones were found by some workmen in the quarries of ,montmartre1 near ,paris1 and brought to ,cuvier for examination4 ,although few in number1 and affording but very scanty data for such a decision1 he at once pronounced them to be the remains of some extinct animal preceding the present geological age4 ,here1 then1 at his very door1 as it were1 was a settlement of that old creation in which he could pursue the inquiry1 already become so important in its bearings4 ,it was not long before other bones of the same kind were found1 though nothing as yet approaching an entire skeleton4 ,however1 with such means as he had1 ,cuvier began a comparison with all the living ,mammalia1--with the human skeleton first1 with ,monkeys1 with the larger ,carnivora and ,ruminants1 then with all the smaller ,mammalia1 then with the ,pachyderms2 and here1 for the first time1 he began to find some resemblance4 ,he satisfied himself that the animal must have belonged to the family of ,pachyderms2 and he then proceeded to analyze and compare all the living species1 till he had collected ample evidence to show that the bones in question did not correspond with any species1 and could not even be referred to any genus1 now in existence4 ,at length there was discovered at ,montmartre an upper jaw of the same animal1--next a lower jaw1 matching the upper one1 and presently a whole head with a few backbones was brought to light4 ,these were enough1 with ,cuvier's vast knowledge of animal structure1 to give him a key to the whole skeleton4 ,at about the same time1 in the same locality1 were found other bones and teeth also1 differing from those first discovered1 and yet equally unlike those of any living animal4 ,the first evidently belonged to some stout and heavy animal1 the others were more slender and of lighter build4 ,from these fragments1 ample evidence to him of his results1 he drew the outlines of two animals3 one which he called the ,palotherium1 7old animal17 a figure of which is given in the above wood-cut1 and the other ,anoplotherium1 7animal without fangs74 ,he presented these figures with an explanatory memoir at the ,academy1 and announced them as belonging to some creation preceding the present1 since no such animals had ever existed in our own geological period4 ,such a statement was a revelation to the scientific world3 some looked upon it with suspicion and distrust2 others1 who knew more of comparative anatomy1 hailed it as introducing a new era in science2 but it was not till complete specimens were actually found of animals corresponding perfectly to those figured and described by ,cuvier1 and proving beyond a doubt their actual existence in ancient times1 that all united in wonder and admiration at the result obtained by him with such scanty means4 ,it would seem that the family of ,pachyderms was largely represented among the early ,mammalia2 for1 since ,cuvier named these species1 a number of closely allied forms have been found in deposits belonging to the same epoch4 ,of course1 the complete specimens are rare2 but the fragments of such skeletons occur in abundance1 showing that these old-world ,pachyderms1 resembling the ,tapirs more than any other living representatives of the family1 were very numerous in the lower ,tertiaries4 ,there is1 however1 one animal now in existence1 forming one of those singular links before alluded to between the present and the past1 of which ,i will say a few words here1 though its relation is rather with a later group of ,tertiary ,pachyderms than with those described by ,cuvier4 ,on the coast of ,florida there is an animal of very massive1 clumsy build1 long considered to be a ,cetacean1 but now recognized1 by some naturalists at least1 as belonging to the order of ,pachyderms4 ,in form it resembles the ,cetaceans1 though it has a fan-shaped tail1 instead of the broad flapper of the ,whales4 ,it inhabits fresh waters or shoal waters1 and is not so exclusively aquatic as the oceanic ,cetaceans4 ,its most striking feature is the form of the lower jaw1 which is bent downward1 with the front teeth hanging from it4 ,this animal is called the ,manatee1 or ,sea-,cow4 ,there are three species known to naturalists1--one in ,tampa ,bay1 one in the ,amazon1 and one in ,africa4 ,in the ,tertiary deposits of ,germany there has been found an animal allied in some of its features to those described by ,cuvier1 but it has the crown of its teeth folded like the ,tapir1 while the lower jaw is turned down with a long tusk growing from it4 ,this animal has been called the ,dinotherium4 ,a part of the head1 showing the heavy jaws and the formidable tusk1 is represented in the subjoined wood-cut4 ,illustration ,its hanging lower jaw1 with the protruding tusk1 corresponds perfectly to the formation of the lower jaw and teeth in the ,manatee4 ,some resemblance of the ,dinotherium to the ,mastodon suggested a comparison with that animal as the next step in the investigation1 when it was found that at the edge of the lower jaw of the latter there was a pit with a small projecting tooth1 also corresponding exactly in its position to the tusk in the ,dinotherium4 ,the ,elephant was now examined2 and in him also a rudimentary tooth appeared in the lower jaw1 not cut through1 but placed in the same relation to the jaw and the other teeth as that of the ,mastodon4 ,it would seem1 then1 that the ,manatee makes one in this series of ,dinotherium1 ,mastodon1 and ,elephant1 and represents the aquatic ,pachyderms1 occupying the same relation to the terrestrial ,pachyderms as the ,seals bear to the terrestrial ,carnivora1 and1 like them1 lowest in structure among their kind4 ,the announcement of ,cuvier's results stimulated research1 and from this time forward ,tertiary ,mammalia became the subject of extensive and most important investigations among naturalists4 ,the attention of collectors once drawn to these remains1 they were found in such numbers that the wonder was how they had been so long hidden from the observation of men4 ,they remind us chiefly of tropical animals2 indeed1 ,tigers1 ,hyenas1 ,rhinoceroses1 ,hippopotamuses1 ,mastodons1 and ,elephants had their home in countries which now belong to the ,cold ,temperate ,zone1 showing that the climate in these latitudes was much milder then than it is at present4 ,bones of many of these animals were found in caverns in ,germany1 ,france1 ,italy1 and ,england4 ,perhaps the story of ,kirkdale ,cave1 where the first important discovery of this kind was made on ,english soil1 may not be so well known to ,american readers as to forbid its repetition here4 ,it was in the summer of #ahba that some workmen1 employed in quarrying stone upon the slope of a limestone hill at ,kirkdale1 in ,yorkshire1 came accidentally upon the mouth of a cavern4 ,overgrown with grass and bushes1 the mouth of this cave in the hill-side had been effectually closed against all intruders1 and it was not strange that its existence had never been suspected4 ,the hole was small1 but large enough to admit a man on his hands and knees2 and the workmen1 creeping in through the opening1 found that it led into a cavern1 broad in some parts1 but low throughout4 ,there were only a few spots where a man could stand upright2 but it was quite extensive1 with branches opening out from it1 some of which have not yet been explored4 ,the whole floor was strewn1 from one end to the other1 with hundreds of bones1 like a huge dog-kennel4 ,the workmen wondered a little at their discovery1 but1 remembering that there had been a murrain among the cattle in this region some years before1 they came to the conclusion that these must be the bones of cattle that had died in great numbers at that time2 and1 having so settled the matter to their own satisfaction1 they took little heed to the bones1 but threw many of them out on the road with the common limestone4 ,fortunately1 a gentleman1 living in the neighborhood1 whose attention had been attracted to them1 preserved them from destruction2 and a few months after the discovery of the cave1 ,dr4 ,buckland1 the great ,english geologist1 visited ,kirkdale1 to examine its strange contents1 which proved indeed stranger than any one had imagined2 for many of these remains belonged to animals never before found in ,england4 ,the bones of ,hyenas1 ,tigers1 ,elephants1 ,rhinoceroses1 and ,hippopotamuses were mingled with those of ,deer1 ,bears1 ,wolves1 ,foxes1 and many smaller creatures4 ,the bones were gnawed1 and many were broken1 evidently not by natural decay1 but seemed to have been snapped violently apart4 ,after the most complete investigation of the circumstances1 ,dr4 ,buckland convinced himself1 and proved to the satisfaction of all scientific men1 that the cave had been a den of ,hyenas,a at a time when they1 as well as ,tigers1 ,elephants1 ,rhinoceroses1 etc41 existed in ,england in as great numbers as they now do in the wildest parts of tropical ,asia or ,africa4 ,the narrow entrance to the cave still retained the marks of grease and hair1 such as one may see on the bars of a cage in a menagerie against which the imprisoned animals have been in the habit of rubbing themselves constantly1 and there were marks of the same kind on the floor and walls4 ,footnote ,a3 ,among the other facts showing that ,kirkdale ,cave had been the den of these animals1 and not tenanted as their home by any of the other creatures whose remains occurred there1 were the excrements of the ,hyenas found in considerable quantity by ,dr4 ,buckland1 and identified as such by the keeper of a menagerie4 ,any one who may wish to read the whole history of ,dr4 ,buckland's investigations of this matter1 showing the patience and sagacity with which he collected and arranged the evidence1 will find a full account of ,kirkdale ,cave and other caverns containing fossil bones in his ,reliqui ,diluvian4 ,it was evident that the ,hyenas were the lords of this ancient cavern1 and the other animals their unwilling guests2 for the remains of the latter were those which had been most gnawed1 broken1 and mangled2 and the head of an enormous ,hyena1 with gigantic fangs found complete1 bore ample evidence to their great size and power4 ,some of the animals1 such as the ,elephants1 ,rhinoceroses1 etc41 could not have been brought into the cave without being first killed and torn to pieces1 for it is not large enough to admit them4 ,but their gnawed and broken bones attest1 nevertheless1 that they were devoured like the rest2 and probably the ,hyenas then had the same propensity which characterizes those of our own time1 to tear in pieces the body of any dead animal1 and carry it to their den to feed upon it apart4 ,illustration ,while ,kirkdale ,cave was evidently the haunt of ,hyenas chiefly1 other caverns in ,germany and ,france were tenanted in a similar manner by a gigantic species of ,bear4 ,their remains1 mingled with those of the animals on which they fed1 have been found in great numbers in the ,cavern of ,gailenreuth1 in ,franconia4 ,the subjoined wood-cut shows the head of this formidable beast1 which must have exceeded in size any ,bear now living4 ,indeed1 although there were many smaller kinds1 and the other types of the ,animal ,kingdom in the ,tertiaries seem to approach very nearly both in size and general character their modern representatives1 yet1 on the whole1 the earlier ,mammalia were giants in comparison with those now living4 ,the ,mastodon and ,mammoth1 as compared with the modern ,elephant1 the ,megatherium1 as compared with the ,sloths of present times1 the ,hyenas and ,bears of the ,european caverns1 and the fossil ,elk of ,ireland1 by the side of which even the ,moose of our ,northern woods is belittled1 are remarkable instances in proof of this4 ,one cannot but be struck with the fact that this first representation of ,mammalia1 the very impersonation of brute force in power1 size1 and ferocity1 immediately preceded the introduction of man1 with whose creation intelligence and moral strength became the dominant influences on earth4 ,illustration ,among these huge ,tertiary ,mammalia1 one of those most common on the ,north-,american continent seems to have been the ,mastodon4 ,the magnificent specimens preserved in this country are too well known to require description4 ,the remains of the ,rhinoceros occur also in the recent ,tertiary deposits of ,north ,america1 though as yet no perfect skeletons have been found4 ,the ,edentata1 now confined to ,south ,america and the western coast of ,africa1 were also numerous in the ,southern ,states during that time2 their remains have been found as far north as the ,salt ,lick in ,kentucky4 ,but we must not judge of the ,tertiary ,edentata by any now known to us4 ,the ,sloths1 the ,armadillos1 the ,ant-,eaters1 the ,pangolins1 are all animals of rather small size2 but formerly they were represented by the gigantic ,megatherium1 the ,megalonyx1 and the ,mylodon1 some of which were larger than the ,elephant1 and others about the same size of the ,rhinoceros or ,hippopotamus4 ,the subjoined wood-cut represents a ,mylodon in the act of lifting himself against the trunk of a tree4 ,illustration ,they were clumsy brutes1 and though their limbs were evidently built with reference to powerful movements1 perhaps climbing1 or at least rising on their hind quarters1 the act of climbing with them cannot have had anything of the nimbleness or activity generally associated with it4 ,on the contrary1 they probably were barely able to support their huge bodies on their hind limbs1 which are exceedingly massive1 and on the stiff1 heavy tail1 while they dragged down with their front limbs the branches of the trees1 and fed upon them at leisure4 ,the ,zological ,museum at ,cambridge is indebted to the generosity of ,mr4 ,joshua ,bates for a very fine set of casts taken from the ,megatherium in the ,british ,museum4 ,they are now mounted1 and may be seen in one of the exhibition-rooms of the building4 ,large ,reptiles1 but very unlike those of the ,cretaceous and ,jurassic epochs1 belonging chiefly to the types of ,turtles1 ,crocodiles1 ,pythons1 and ,salamanders1 existed during the ,tertiary epochs4 ,the wood-cut below represents a gigantic ,salamander of the ,tertiary deposits4 ,it is a curious fact1 illustrative of the ignorance of all anatomical science in those days1 that1 when the remains of this reptile 7,audrias1 as it is now called7 were first discovered toward the close of the seventeenth century1 they were described by old ,professor ,scheuchzer as the bones of an infant destroyed by the ,deluge1 and were actually preserved1 not for their scientific value1 but as precious relics of the ,flood1 and described in a separate pamphlet1 entitled1 ,homo ,diluvii ,testis4 ,among the ,tertiary ,reptiles the ,turtles seem to have been a very prominent type1 by their size as well as by their extensive distribution4 ,their remains have been found both in the far ,west and in the ,east4 ,the fossil ,turtles of ,nebraska are well known to ,american naturalists2 but the ,oriental one exceeds them in size1 and is1 indeed1 the most gigantic representative of the order known thus far4 ,a man could stand under the arch of the shield of the old ,himalayan ,turtle preserved in the ,british ,museum4 ,illustration ,illustration ,it would carry me too far1 were ,i to attempt to give anything more than the most cursory sketch of the animals of the ,tertiary age2 and1 indeed1 they are so well known1 and have been so fully represented in text-books1 that ,i fear some of my readers may think even now that ,i have dwelt too long upon them4 ,monkeys were unquestionably introduced upon earth before the close of the ,tertiaries2 some bones have been found in ,southern ,france1 and also on ,mount ,pentelicus in ,greece1 in the later ,tertiary deposits2 but these remains have not yet been collected in sufficient number to establish much more than the fact of their presence in the animal creation at that time4 ,i do not offer any opinion respecting the fossil human bones so much discussed recently1 because the evidence is at present too scanty to admit of any decisive judgment concerning them4 ,it becomes1 however1 daily more probable that facts will force us sooner or later to admit that the creation of man lies far beyond any period yet assigned to it1 and that a succession of human races1 as of animals1 have followed one another upon the earth4 ,it may be the inestimable privilege of our young naturalists to solve this great problem1 but the older men of our generation must be content to renounce this hope2 we may have some prophetic vision of its fulfilment1 we may look from afar into the land of promise1 but we shall not enter in and possess it4 ,illustration ,illustration ,illustration ,the other great types of the ,animal ,kingdom are very fully represented in the ,tertiaries1 and in their general appearance they approach much more closely those of the present creation than of any previous epochs4 ,professor ,heer has collected and described the ,tertiary ,insects in great number and variety2 and the ,butterflies1 ,bugs1 ,flies1 ,grasshoppers1 ,dragon-,flies1 ,beetles1 etc41 described in his volumes1 would hardly be distinguished from our own1 except by a practised entomologist4 ,among ,crustacea1 the ,shrimp-like forms of the earlier geological epochs have become much less conspicuous1 while ,crabs and ,lobsters are now the prominent representatives of the class4 ,among ,mollusks1 the ,chambered ,shells1 hitherto so numerous1 have become1 as they now are1 very few in comparison with the naked ,cephalopods4 ,the ,nautili1 however1 resemble those now living in the ,pacific ,ocean2 and some fragments of the ,paper-,nautilus have been found1 showing that this delicate shell was already in existence4 ,there is one very peculiar type of this class1 belonging to the ,tertiaries1 which should not be passed by unnoticed4 ,it partakes of the character both of the ,cretaceous ,belemnites and of the living ,cuttle-,fish1 and is known as the ,spirulirostra4 ,another very characteristic group among the ,tertiary ,shells is that of the ,nummulites1 formerly placed by naturalists in immediate proximity with the ,ammonites1 on account of their internal partitions4 ,this is now admitted to have been an error2 their position is not yet fully determined1 but they certainly stand very low in the scale1 and have no affinity whatever with the ,cephalopods4 ,the subjoined wood-cut represents one of these ,shells1 so numerous in the ,tertiaries that large masses of rock consist of their remains4 ,the ,univalve ,shells or ,gasteropods of the ,tertiaries embraced all the families now living1 including land and fresh-water ,shells as well as the marine representatives of the type4 ,some of the latter1 as1 for instance1 the ,cerithium1 are accumulated in vast numbers4 ,the limestone quarries out of which ,paris is chiefly built consist wholly of these ,shells4 ,the fresh-water basins were filled with ,helices1 one of which is represented in the following wood-cut1 with ,planorbis1 ,limnus and other ,shells resembling those now so common in all our lakes and rivers1 and differing from the living ones only by slight specific characters4 ,the ,bivalves also have the same resemblance to the present ones1 including fresh-water ,mussels as well as the marine ,clams and ,oysters4 ,among ,radiates1 the higher ,echini 7,sea-,urchins7 have become numerous1 while the other ,echinoderms of all families abound4 ,corals include1 for the first time1 the more highly organized ,madrepores4 ,illustration ,in the ,tertiaries we see the dawn of the present condition of things1 not only in the character of the animals and plants1 but in the height of the mountains and in the distribution of land and sea4 ,let us give a glance at the continents whose growth we have been following1 and see what these more recent geological epochs have done for their completion4 ,in ,europe they have filled the basin in ,central ,france1 and converted all that region into dry land3 they have filled also the channel between ,france and ,spain2 they have united ,central ,russia with the rest of ,europe by the completion of ,poland1 and have greatly enlarged ,austria and ,turkey2 they have completed the promontories of ,italy and ,greece1 and have converted the inland sea at the foot of the ,jura into the plain of ,switzerland4 ,but this fruitful period in the progress of the world1 when the character of organic life was higher and the physical features of the earth more varied than ever before1 was not without its storms and convulsions4 ,the ,pyrenees1 the ,apennines1 the ,alps1 and with them the whole range of the ,caucasus and ,himalayas1 were raised either immediately after the ,cretaceous epoch1 or in the course of the ,tertiaries4 ,indeed1 with this most significant passage in her history1 ,europe acquired all her essential characters4 ,there remained1 it is true1 much to be done in what is called by geologists modern times4 ,the work of the artist is not yet finished when his statue is blocked out and the grand outline of his conception stands complete2 and there still remained1 after the earth was rescued from the water1 after her framework of mountains was erected1 after her soil was clothed with field and forest1 processes by which her valleys were to be made more fruitful1 her gulfs to be filled with the rich detritus poured into them by the rivers1 her whole surface to be rendered more habitable for the higher races who were to possess it4 ,we left ,america at the close of the ,carboniferous epoch4 ,a glance at the geological map will show the reader that during the ,permian1 ,triassic1 and ,jurassic epochs little was added to the ,united ,states1 though here and there deposits belonging to each of them crop out4 ,in the ,cretaceous epoch1 however1 large tracts of land were accumulated1 chiefly in the ,south and ,west2 and during the ,tertiaries the continent was very nearly completed1 leaving only a narrow gulf running up to the neighborhood of ,st4 ,louis to be filled by modern detritus1 and the peninsula of ,florida to be built by the industrious ,coral-,workers of our own period4 ,the age of the ,alleghany chain is not yet positively determined1 but it was probably raised at the close of the ,carboniferous epoch4 ,up to that time1 only the ,laurentian ,hills1 the northern side of that mountainous triangle which now makes the skeleton1 as it were1 of the ,united ,states1 existed4 ,the upheaval of the ,alleghanies added its eastern side1 raising the central part of the continent so as to form a long slope from the base of the ,alleghanies to the ,pacific ,ocean2 but it was not until the ,tertiary ,age that the upheaval of the great chain at the ,west completed the triangle1 and transformed that wide westerly slope into the ,mississippi ,valley1 bounded on one side by the ,alleghanies1 and on the other by the ,rocky ,mountains4 ,it is my belief1 founded upon the tropical character of the ,fauna1 that a much milder climate then prevailed over the whole northern hemisphere than is now known to it4 ,some naturalists have supposed that the presence of the tropical ,mammalia in the ,northern ,temperate ,zone might be otherwise accounted for1--that they might have been endowed with warmer covering1 with thicker hair or fur4 ,but ,i think the simpler and more natural reason for their existence throughout the ,north is to be found in the difference of climate2 and ,i am the more inclined to this opinion because the ,tertiary animals generally1 the ,fishes1 ,shells1 etc41 in the same regions1 are more closely allied in character to those now living in the ,tropics than to those of the ,temperate ,zones4 ,the ,tertiary age may be called the geological summer2 we shall see1 hereafter1 how abruptly it was brought to a close4 ,one word more as to the relation of the ,tertiary ,mammalia to the creation which preceded them4 ,i can only repeat here the argument used before3 the huge quadrupeds characteristic of these epochs make their appearance suddenly1 and the deposits containing them follow as immediately upon those of the ,cretaceous epoch1 in which no trace of them occurs1 as do those of the ,cretaceous upon those of the ,jurassic epoch4 ,i would remind the reader that in the central basin of ,france1 in which ,cuvier found his first ,palotherium1 and which afterwards proved to have been thickly settled by the early ,mammalia1 the deposits of the ,jurassic1 ,cretaceous1 and ,tertiary epochs follow each other in immediate1 direct1 uninterrupted succession2 that the same is true of other localities1 in ,germany1 in ,southern ,europe1 in ,england1 where the most complete collections have been made from all these deposits2 and there has never been brought to light a single fact leading us to suppose that any intermediate forms have ever existed through which more recent types have been developed out of older ones4 ,for thirty years ,geology has been gradually establishing1 by evidence the fulness and accuracy of which are truly amazing1 the regularity in the sequence of the geological formations1 and distinguishing1 with ever-increasing precision1 the specific differences of the animals and plants contained in these accumulations of past ages4 ,these results bear living testimony to the wonderful progress of the kindred sciences of ,geology and ,palontology in the last half-century2 and the development-theory has but an insecure foundation so long as it attempts to strengthen itself by belittling the geological record1 the assumed imperfection of which1 in default of positive facts1 has now become the favorite argument of its upholders4 ,,the ,,new ,,sangreal4 ,show me the ,sangreal1 ,lord6 ,show me ,thy blood6 ,thy body and ,thy blood6 ,give me the ,quest6 ,lord1 ,i am faint and tired2 my soul is sick ,of all the falseness1 all the little aims1 ,the weary vanities1 the gasping joys1 ,the slow procession of this satiate world6 ,dear ,lord1 ,i burn for ,thee6 ,give me ,thy ,quest6 ,down through the old reverberating time1 ,i see ,thy knights in wonderful array ,go out to victory1 like the solemn stars ,fighting in courses1 with their conquering swords1 ,their sad1 fixed lips of purity and strength1 ,their living glory1 their majestic death4 ,give me ,thy ,quest6 ,show me the ,sangreal1 ,lord6 ,he lay upon a mountain's rocky crest1 ,so high1 that all the glittering1 misty world1 ,all summer's splendid tempests1 lay below1 ,and sudden lightnings quivered at his feet2 ,so still1 not any sound of silentness ,expressed the silence1 nor the pallid sun ,burned on his eyelids2 all alone and still1 ,save for the prayer that struggled from his lips1 ,broken with eager stress4 ,then he arose4 ,but always1 down the hoary mountain-side1 ,through whispering forests1 by soft-rippled streams1 ,in clattering streets1 or the great city's roar1 ,still from his never sated soul went up1 ,give me ,thy ,quest6 ,show me the ,sangreal1 ,lord6 ,through all the land there poured a trumpet's clang1 ,and when its silvery anger smote the air1 ,men sprang to arms from every true man's home1 ,and followed to the field4 ,he followed1 too1-- ,all the mad blood of manhood in his veins1 ,all the fierce instincts of a warring race ,kindled like flame in every tingling limb1 ,and raging in his soul on fire with war4 ,he heard a thousand voices call him on3 ,lips hot with anguish1 shrieking their despair ,from swamps and forests and the still bayous ,that hide the wanderer1 nor bewray his lair3 ,from fields and marshes where the tropic sun ,scorches a million laborers scourged to work2 ,from homes that are not homes2 from mother-hearts ,torn from the infants lingering at their breasts2 ,from parted lovers1 and from shuddering wives2 ,from men grown mad with whips and tyranny2 ,from all a country groaning in its chains4 ,nor sleep1 nor dream beguiled him any more2 ,he leaped to manhood in one torrid hour1 ,and armed1 and sped to battle4 ,now no more ,he cried or prayed1--,show me the ,sangreal1 ,lord6 ,so in the front of deadly strife he stood2 ,the glorious thunder of the roaring guns1 ,the restless hurricane of screaming shells1 ,the quick1 sharp singing of the rifle-balls1 ,the sudden clash of sabres1 and the beat ,of rapid horse-hoofs galloping at charge1 ,made a great chorus to his valorous soul1 ,the dreadful music of a grappling world1 ,that hurried him to fight4 ,he turned the tide1 ,but fell upon its turning4 ,over him ,fluttered the starry flag1 and fluttered on1 ,while he lay helpless on the trampled sward1 ,his hot life running scarlet from its source1 ,and all his soul in sudden quiet spent1 ,as still as on the silent mountain-top2 ,so still that from his quick-remembering heart ,burst that old cry1--,show me the ,sangreal1 ,lord6 ,then a bright mist descended over him1 ,and in its central glory stood a shape1 ,wounded1 yet smiling4 ,with ,his bleeding hands ,stretched toward that bleeding side1 ,his eyes divine ,like a new dawn1 thus softly spake the ,lord3-- ,the blood poured out for brothers is my blood2 ,the flesh for brothers broken is my flesh2 ,no more in golden chalices ,i dwell1 ,no longer in a vision1 angel-borne3 ,here is the ,sangreal1 here the ,holy ,quest4 ,thy prayer is heard1 thy soul is satisfied3 ,come1 my belovd6 ,i am come for thee4 ,as first ,i broke the bread and poured the wine1 ,so have ,i broken thee and poured thy life1 ,so do ,i bless thee and give thanks for thee1 ,so do ,i bear thee in my wounded hands4 ,smiling1 ,he stooped1 and kissed the tortured brow1 ,and over all its anguish stole a smile2 ,the blood-sealed lips unclosed2 the dying breath ,sighed1 like the rain-sound in a summer wind1 ,sobbing1 but sweet1--,i see the ,sangreal1 ,lord6 ,,thomas ,,de ,,quincey4 ,in the notice of so memorable a man1 even the briefest prelusive flourish seems uncalled for2 and so indeed it would be1 if by such means it were meant simply to justify the undertaking4 ,in regard to any of the great powers in literature there exists already a prevailing interest1 which cannot be presumed to slumber for one moment in any thinking mind4,a ,by way of notification1 there is no need of prelude4 ,yet there are occasions1 as1 for example1 the entrances of kings1 which absolutely demand the inaugural flourish of arms1--which1 like the rosy flood of dawn1 require to be ushered in by a train of twilight glories4 ,and there are lives which proceed as by the movements of music1--which1 must therefore be heralded by overtures3 majestic steppings1 heard in the background1 compel us1 through mere sympathy with their pomp of procession1 to sound the note of preparation4 ,footnote ,a3 ,in any thinking mind4 ,yet it must be confessed that there does exist a woful ignorance or negligence concerning ,de ,quincey in quarters from which better things might be expected4 ,misappreciation it cannot be called1 where no trouble has been taken to estimate claims that needed only to be weighed to be truly valued4 ,up to this time1 there has never been published in ,england a single essay on the life or the genius of ,de ,quincey that indicated even a good acquaintance1 on the part of the writer1 with that author's works2 and in such a case1 of course1 not much could be looked for in the way of just interpretation4 ,gilfillan did him gross injustice3 indeed1 from what he condescended to say of the man1 it would be difficult to conjecture that a greater than ,gilfillan was there4 ,and1 will the reader believe it8 in ,professor ,craik's ,english ,literature--a work of great excellence--the name of ,de ,quincey is not mentioned6 ,sam ,johnson1 says ,craik1 was the last king that sat upon the throne of ,english prose literature4 ,let it be that ,sam was a proper king2 yet it is just as true that ,de ,quincey was legitimately his successor4 ,first1 in the matter of time3 ,sam died in #aghd1 and ,de ,quincey was born in #aghe1 just in time to continue the regal line4 ,what was it1 again1 that entitled ,johnson to kingly honors8 ,was it learning8 ,de ,quincey was as erudite4 ,was it his style8 ,there is no writer in the language who in that matter may look down on ,de ,quincey4 ,if there ever was a writer damned with faint praise1 it was ,de ,quincey4 ,some stupid writer for the ,london ,athenum1 for instance1 dared to compliment the poor opium-chewer after the following style3--,he possessed taste1 but he lacked creative energy2 and his subtle and highly refined intellect was ingenious and acute rather than powerful4 ,this reminds me of a criticism once passed upon ,shakspeare by a mere pedagogue1 to the effect that the great poet had considerable genius1 but very little taste6 ,else ,i should plunge in medias res upon a sketch of ,de ,quincey's life2 were it not a rudeness amounting to downright profanity to omit the important ceremony of prelibation1 and that at a banquet to which1 implicitly1 gods are invited4 ,the reader will assuredly unite with me in all such courtesies1-- ,neu desint epulis ros2 particularly as the shade we deal with can be evoked only by peculiar incantations1--only the heralding of certain precise claims will this monarch listen to as the just inferi1 the fitting sacrifice or hecatomb of our homage4 ,the key-note of preparation1 the claim which preminently should be set forth in advance1 is this3 that ,de ,quincey was the prince of hierophants1 or of pontifical hierarchs1 as regards all those profound mysteries which from the beginning have swayed the human heart1 sometimes through the light of angelic smiles lifting it upwards to an altitude just beneath the heavens1 and sometimes shattering it1 with the shock of quaking anguish1 down to earth4 ,as it was the function of the hierophant1 in the ,grecian mysteries1 to show the sacred symbols as concrete incarnations of faith1 so was it ,de ,quincey's to reveal in open light the everlasting symbols1 universally intelligible when once disclosed1 which are folded in the involutions of dreams and of those meditations which most resemble dreams2 and as to the manner of these revelations1 no ,roman pontifex maximus1 were it even ,csar himself1 could have rivalled their magisterial pomp4 ,the peculiarities of his life all point in the direction here indicated4 ,it was his remarkable experience which furnished him the key to certain secret recesses of human nature hitherto sealed up in darkness4 ,along that border-line by which the glimmerings of consciousness are1 as by the thinnest1 yet the most impervious veil1 separated from the regions of the unexplored and the undefinable1 ,de ,quincey walked familiarly and with privileged eye and ear4 ,many a nebulous mass of hieroglyphically inscribed meanings did he--this ,champollion1 defying all human enigmas1 this ,herschel1 or ,lord ,rosse1 forever peering into the obscure chasms and yawning abysses of human astronomy--resolve into orderly constellations1 that1 once and for all1 through his telescopic interpretation and enlargement1 were rendered distinct and commensurable amongst men4 ,the conditions of his power in this respect are psychologically inseparable from the remarkable conditions of his life1 two of which are especially to be noticed4 ,first1 a ruling disposition towards meditation1 constituting him1 in the highest sense of the word1 a poet4 ,secondly1 the peculiar qualities which this singular mental constitution derived from his use of opium1--qualities which1 although they did not increase1 or even give direction to his meditative power1 at least magnified it1 both optically1 as to its visual capacity1 and creatively1 as to its constructive faculty4 ,these two conditions1 each concurrent with the other in its ruling influence1 impart to his life a degree of psychological interest which belongs to no other on record4 ,nor is this all4 ,the reader knows how often a secondary interest will attach to the mightiest of conquerors or to the wisest of sovereigns1 who is not merely in himself1 and through his own deeds1 magnificent1 but whose glory is many times repeated and piled up by numerous reverberations of itself from a contemporary race of ,titans4 ,thus1 doubtless1 ,charles ,v41 although himself ,king of ,spain1 ,germany1 the ,netherlands1 and a portion of ,italy1 gloried in the sublime empery of the ,turkish ,solyman1 as by some subtile connection of fate sympathetic with his own4 ,a secondary interest of this nature belongs to the life of ,de ,quincey1--a life which inclosed1 as an island1 a whole period of ,english literature1 one1 too1 which in activity and originality is unsurpassed by any other1 including the names of ,scott and ,dickens1 of ,wordsworth1 ,coleridge1 ,lamb1 and ,southey1 of ,moore1 ,byron1 ,shelley1 and ,keats4 ,his connection with very many of these was not simply that of coxistence1 but also of familiar intercourse4 ,between ,de ,quincey's life and his writings it is impossible that there should be any distraction of interest1 so intimately are the two interwoven3 in this case more so than in that of any known author4 ,particularly is this true of his more impassioned writings1 which are a faithful rescript of his all-impassioned life4 ,hierophant we have called him1--the prince of hierophants1--having reference to the matter of his revelations2 but in his manner1 in his style of composition1 he is something more than this3 here he stands the monarch amongst rhapsodists4 ,in these writings are displayed the main peculiarities of his life and genius4 ,but1 besides these1 there is a large section of his works1 the aim of which is purely intellectual1 where feeling is not at all involved2 and surely there is not1 in either ancient or modern literature1 a section which1 in the same amount of space1 exhibits the same degree of intense activity on the part of the analytic understanding1 applied to the illustration of truth or to the solution of vexed problems4 ,this latter class is the more remarkable from its polar antithesis to the former2 just as1 in his life1 it is a most remarkable characteristic of the man1 that1 rising above all other men through the rhapsodies of dreams1 he should yet be able truly to say of himself that he had devoted a greater number of hours to intellectual pursuits than any other man whom he had seen1 heard of1 or read of4 ,a wider range is thus exhibited1 not of thought merely1 but also of the possible modes of expressing thought1 than is elsewhere to be found1 even in writers the most skilled in rhetorical subtilty4 ,the distance between these two opposites ,de ,quincey does not traverse by violent leaps2 he does not by some feat of legerdemain evanish from the fields of impassioned eloquence1 where he is an unrivalled master1 to appear forthwith in those of intellectual gymnastics1 where1 at least1 he is not surpassed4 ,he is familiar with every one of the intervening stages between the rhapsody and the demonstration1--between the loftiest reach of aspirant passion1 from which1 with reptile instinct1 the understanding slinks downwards to the earth1 and that fierce antagonism of naked thoughts1 where the crested serpent mounts and burns4 ,his alchemy is infinite1 combining light with warmth in all degrees1--in pathos1 in humor1,a in genial illumination4 ,let the reader1 if he can1 imagine ,rousseau to have written ,dinner1 ,real and ,reputed1 or the paper on ,the ,essenes1 in both of which great erudition is necessary1 but in which erudition is as nothing when compared to the faculty of recombining into novel forms what previously had been so grouped as to be misunderstood1 or had lacked just the one element necessary for introducing order4 ,to have written these would have entitled ,rousseau to a separate sceptre4 ,or1 moving into a realm of art totally distinct from this1 suppose him to have been the author of ,murder considered as one of the ,fine ,arts3 that would mount a new plume in ,rousseau's hat4 ,but ,i happen just now to be reminded of another little paper1 numbering about six pages1 entitled1 ,on the ,knocking at the ,gate1 in ,macbeth3 give him that1 too4 ,why1 the little ,french king is beginning to assume an imperial consequence6 ,we beg the reader's pardon for indulging in comparisons of this nature1 which are always disagreeable2 but we have this excuse1 that the two writers are often mentioned as on the same level1 and with no appreciation of that unlimited range of power which belongs to ,de ,quincey1 but not at all to ,rousseau4 ,all but one of the trophies which we have hypothetically transferred to the ,frenchman adorn a single volume out of twenty-two1 in the ,boston edition4 ,nor is this one imperial column adorned by these alone3 there are1 besides1--alas for ,rousseau6--two other spolia opima by which the ,french master is1 in his own field1 proved not the first1 nor even the second1--proximus1 sed non secundus1--so wide is the distance between ,de ,quincey and any other antagonist4 ,these two are the essays respectively entitled1 ,joan of ,arc1 and ,the ,english ,mail-,coach4 ,footnote ,a3 ,of ,de ,quincey's humor1 a friend once remarked to me1 that it always reminded him of an elephant attempting to dance4 ,now1 without any doubt1 an elephant could dance after an elephantine fashion2 but surely you would never catch him going through the movements of a jig or a ,virginia breakdown4 ,he never lets you forget that he is an elephant4 ,so with ,de ,quincey4 ,levity is an element farthest removed from his humor2 in fact1 whenever he allows himself to indulge in humor at all1 you may be sure that murder is going on somewhere in the vicinity1 a tragedy of pretty frequent occurrence in ,de ,quincey's works4 ,there was sufficient humor in ,de ,quincey to have endowed a dozen ,aristophaneses4 ,there was something1 too1 in its order1 by which it resembled the gigantesque features of the old ,greek master4 ,i will illustrate my meaning by a single instance from each4 ,in ,aristophanes's ,clouds1 ,strepsiades is being initiated into the ,socratic ,phrontisterium1 and in the course of the ceremony ,socrates directs his pupil's attention to the moon for certain mysterious purposes4 ,but the moon only reminds ,strepsy of numerous imperturbable duns that storm about his ears with lunar exactness1 7literally so1 since the ,greeks paid1 or refused to pay1 regularly on the last day of the month17--and here it is that the opportunity is offered for a monstrous stroke of humor2 for1 at this crisis1 ,strepsy is made to exclaim1 ,some magic is it1 ,o ,socrates1 about the moon8 ,well6 since you are up to that sort of thing1 what do you say1 now1 to a spell by which ,i could snap the old monster out of her course for a generation or so8 ,now for the parallel case from ,de ,quincey4 ,it is from his paper on ,california1 a politico-economical treatise4 ,the author's object is to illustrate the fact that scarcity of gold is not due to its non-existence1 but to the difficulty of obtaining it4 ,emeralds and sapphires1 says he1 are lying at this moment in a place which ,i could indicate1 and no policeman is on duty in the whole neighborhood to hinder me or the reader from pocketing as many as we please4 ,we are also at perfect liberty to pocket the anchors of ,her ,majesty's ship the ,victoria1 7one hundred and twenty guns17 and to sell them for old iron4 ,pocket them by all means1 and ,i engage that the magistrate sitting at the ,thames police-office will have too much respect for your powers to think of detaining you4 ,if he does1 your course is to pocket the police-office1 and all which it inherits4 ,the man that pockets an anchor may be a dangerous customer1 but not a customer to be sneezed at4 ,this strikes us as very similar to ,strepsiades's bagging the moon4 ,it is impossible to be exhaustive upon such a subject as that which ,i have undertaken4 ,i shall select1 therefore1 two prominent centres1 about which the thoughts which ,i wish to present naturally revolve3 ,de ,quincey's childhood1 and his opium-experiences4 ,thomas de ,quincey--hierophant1 rhapsodist1 philosopher--was born at ,greenhay1 then a suburb of ,manchester1 in ,lancashire ,county1 ,england1 on the #aeth of ,august1 #aghe4 ,according to his own account1 the family of the ,de ,quinceys was of ,norwegian origin2 and after its transfer to ,france1 in connection with ,william the ,norman1 it received its territorial appellation from the village of ,quincy1 in ,normandy4 ,thence1 at the time of the ,norman ,invasion1 it was transplanted to ,england1 where1 as afterwards in ,scotland1 it rose to the highest position1 not merely in connection with a lordly title and princely estates1 but chiefly on account of valuable services rendered to the ,state1 and conferring preeminence in baronial privilege and consideration4 ,so sensitive was ,de ,quincey1 even at the early age of fifteen1 on the point of his descent1 lest from his name he might be supposed of ,french extraction1 that1 even into the ears of ,george ,,iii4 7that king having1 in an accidental interview with him at ,frogmore1 suggested the possibility of his family having come to ,england at the time of the ,huguenot exodus from ,france7 he ventured to breathe the most earnest protest against any supposition of that nature1 and boldly insisted upon his purely ,norman blood1--blood that in the baronial wars had helped to establish the earliest basis of ,english constitutional liberty1 and that had flowed from knightly veins in the wars of the ,crusades4 ,robert ,de ,quincey came into ,england with ,william the ,conqueror1 uniting with whose fortunes1 he fared after the ,conquest as a feudal baron1 founding the line of ,winchester2 and that he was a baron of the first water is evident from the statement of ,gerard ,leigh1--that his armorial device was inscribed 7and how inscribed1 if not memorially and as a mark of eminent distinction87 on the stained glass in the old church of ,st4 ,paul's4 ,and here it is proper that the reader's attention should be momentarily diverted to the ,american branch of this family1 at the head of which stands the ,hon4 ,josiah ,quincy1 7the aristocratic ,de being omitted17--a branch which fled from ,england in the early part of the seventeenth century1 to avoid a strife which had then become too intense and fiery to admit of reconciliation1 and which1 indeed1 a few years after their withdrawal1 culminated in civil war4 ,as illustrating the inevitableness of any great moral issue1 no matter how vast the distance which at a critical moment we may put between it and ourselves1--as indicating how surely the ,nemesis1 seemingly avoided1 but really only postponed1 will continue to track our flying footsteps1 even across the barren wastes of ocean1 that ought1 if anything could1 to interpose an effectual barrier between us and all pursuers1 and1 having caught up with us in our fancied retreat1 will precipitate upon our devoted heads its accumulated violence1--as demonstrating thus the melancholy persistence with which that ugly ,sphinx who impersonates ,justice in our human affairs doggedly insists on having her questions answered1 and1 coming by a circuitous route upon those who by good luck have escaped her direct path1 through an incarnation of unusual terror compels her dread alternative1--it is interesting to note how this same family1 separated by over seven generations from one political revolution1 the momentous crisis of which was by them successfully evaded1 are now1 after an interval of unsound and hollow peace1 compelled to witness the precise reiteration of that storm1 in the very land to which they fled for refuge1--a reiteration that repeats1 only on a different stage1 and under an aggravation of horror as to minute details1 not merely two antagonistic races corresponding on either side to those which met in battle on ,marston ,moor1 but also interests far outweighing any that could possibly attach to a conflict between royalty and democracy4 ,but the ,earls of ,winchester1 in ,england1 whatever may have been their prosperity during the nine or ten generations after the ,conquest1 came suddenly to an abrupt termination1 abutting at length on some guilty traitor in the line1 who1 like a special ,adam for the family1 involved in his own ruin that prosperity which would else have continued to his successors4 ,the dissevered fragments of the old feudal estate1 however1 remained in possession of separate members of the family1 as ,de ,quincey tells us1 until the generation next preceding his own1 when the last vestige slipped out of the hands of the one sole squire who1 together with the name1 held also some relic of its ancient belongings4 ,but above the diluvial wreck of the ,winchester estates there has arisen an estate far more royal and magnificent1 and beneath a far-reaching bow of promise1 sealed in magical security against a similar disaster4 ,for just here1 where every hold is lost upon the original heritage1 is the family freshly grounded upon a second heritage1--one sublime in its order above that of all earthly possessions1 one that is forever imperishable1--namely1 the large domain which the gigantic intellect of ,thomas ,de ,quincey has absolved from aboriginal darkness and brought under distinct illumination for all time to come4 ,these are the vast acres over which human pride must henceforth soar1--acres that have been1 through the mighty realizations of human genius1 built out into the mysterious ocean-depths of chaotic ,nature1 and that have in some measure bridged over infinite chasms in thought1 and by just so far have extended the fluctuating boundaries of human empire4 ,and for ,de ,quincey himself1 in view of that monumental structure which rises above the shattered wrecks of his poor1 frail body1 as above the mummied dust of ,egyptian kings remain eternally the pyramids which they wrought in their lifetime1 we find it impossible to cherish a single regret1 that1 possibly1 by the treasonable slip of a predecessor1 he may have been robbed of an earldom1--or even that1 during a life which by some years overlapped the average allotment to humanity1 and through which were daily accumulating the most splendid results in the very highest departments of philosophy and art1 these accumulations nevertheless went on without any notable recognition from a court the most liberal in all ,europe2 no badge of outward knighthood coming to him through all these years1 as formerly to ,sir ,thomas ,browne for his subtile meditations1 and to ,sir ,william ,hamilton for his philosophic speculations4 ,the absence of such merely nominal titles excites in us no deep regret2 there is in them little that is monumental1 and the pretty tinsel1 with which they gild monuments already based on substantial worth1 is easily1 and without a sigh1 exchanged for that everlasting sunshine reflected from the loving remembrances of human hearts4 ,but at the same time that we so willingly dispense with these nominal conditions in the case of ,de ,quincey1--though1 assuredly1 there was never a man upon earth whom these conditions1 considered as arial hieroglyphs of the most regal pomp and magnificence1 would more consistently fit1--we cannot thus easily set aside those other outward conditions of affluence and respectability1 which1 by their presence or absence1 so materially shape and mould the life1 and particularly in its earliest tendencies and impulses1--in that season of immature preparation when the channels of habit are in the process of formation1 and while yet a marvellous uncertainty hangs and broods over the beginnings of life1 as over the infant rivulet yet dandled and tended by its mountain-nurses4 ,for1 although there are certain elements which rigidly and by a foreseen certainty determine its course1 as1 for instance1 an extraordinary vantage-height of source1 securing for it the force and swiftness of a torrent1--yet how shifting are the mountain-winds1 chilling into frosty silence or quickening with ,favonian warmth1 and how shifting the flying clouds1 which1 whether marshalled in mimic tournament above it1 or in the shock of a real conflict1 forever sway its tender fountains6 ,thus1 even in inexperienced childhood1 do the scales of the individual destiny begin1 favorably or unfavorably1 to determine their future preponderations1 by reason of influences merely material1 and before1 indeed1 any sovereignty save a corporeal one 7in conjunction with heavenly powers7 is at all recognized in life4 ,for1 in this period1 with which above all others we associate influences the most divine1 with trailing clouds of glory1 those influences which are purely material are the most efficiently operative4 ,against the former1 adult man1 in whom reason is developed1 may battle1 though ignobly1 and1 for himself1 ruinously2 and against the latter oftentimes he must struggle1 to escape ignominious shipwreck4 ,but the child1 helpless alike for both these conflicts1 is1 through the very ignorance which shields him from all conscious guilt1 bound over in the most impotent 7though1 because impotent and unconscious1 the least humiliating7 slavery to material circumstance1--a slavery which he cannot escape1 and which1 during the period of its absolutism1 absorbs his very blood1 bone1 and nerve4 ,to poverty1 which the strong man resists1 the child succumbs2 on the other hand1 that affluence of comfort1 from which philosophy often weans the adult1 wraps childhood about with a sheltering care2 and fortunate indeed it is1 if the mastery of ,nature over us during our first years is thus a gentle dealing with us1 fertilizing our powers with the rich juices of an earthly prosperity4 ,and in this respect ,de ,quincey was eminently fortunate4 ,the powers of heaven and of earth and--if we side with ,milton and other pagan mythologists in attributing the gift of wealth to some ,plutonian dynasty--the dark powers under the earth seem to have conjointly arrayed themselves in his behalf4 ,whatever storms were in the book of ,fate written against his name they postponed till a far-off future1 in the mean time granting him the happiest of all childhoods4 ,really of gentle blood1 and thus gaining whatever substantial benefits in constitutional temperament and susceptibilities could be thence derived1 although lacking1 as ,pope also had lacked1 the factitious circumstance and airy heralding of this distinction1 he was1 in addition to this1 surrounded by elements of aristocratic refinement and luxury1 and thus hedged in not merely against the assault1 in any form1 of pinching poverty1 7as would be any one in tolerably comfortable circumstances17 but even against the most trivial hint of possible want1--against all necessity of limitation or retrenchment in any normal line of expenditure4 ,he was the son of a merchant1 who1 at the early age of thirty-nine1 died1 leaving to his family--a wife and six children--an estate yielding annually an income of sixteen hundred pounds4 ,and as at his father's death ,de ,quincey was seven years old1 we may reasonably infer1 that1 during this previous period1 while his father was still living1 and adding to this fixed a fluctuating income from his yearly gains1 7which to a wholesale merchant of his standing were considerable17 the family-fortunes were even more auspicious1 amounting to the yearly realization of between two and three thousand pounds1 and that at a time when ,napoleon had not as yet meddled with the financial affairs of ,europe1 nor by his intimidations caused even pounds and shillings to shrink into less worth and significance than they formerly had1--in view of which fact1 if we are to charge ,alexander the ,great 7as in a famous anecdote he was charged7 with the crime of highway-robbery1 as the snapper-up of unconsidered trifles in the way of crowns and a few dozen sceptres1 what a heinous charge must be brought against this ,corsican as universal pickpocket6 ,this pecuniary depreciation ,de ,quincey himself realized some years later1 when1 determining to quit school1 he thought himself compelled,a to cut off all communication with his guardians1 and gave himself up to a ,bohemian life among the ,welsh mountains1 wandering from one rustic valley to another with the most scanty means of support1--for just then the ,allies were in full rig against ,france1 and the shrinkage of guineas in our young wanderer's pocket became palpably evident in view of the increased price of his dinner4 ,footnote ,a3 ,but afterwards he discovered his mistake1 and that it was only by the lack on his part of that frankness which the kindness of his guardians deserved that he had brought so much misery upon himself in after-life4 ,his younger brother1 ,richard1--the ,pink of the ,autobiographic ,sketches1--made the same mistake1 a mistake which in his case was never rectified1 but led to a life of perilous wanderings and adventures4 ,the time did come at length when the full epos of a remarkable prosperity was closed up and sealed for ,de ,quincey4 ,but that was in the unseen future4 ,to the child it was not permitted to look beyond the hazy lines that bounded his oasis of flowers into the fruitless waste abroad4 ,poverty1 want1 at least so great as to compel the daily exercise of his mind for mercenary ends1 was stealthily advancing from the rear2 but the sound of its stern steppings was wholly muffled by intervening years of luxurious opulence and ease4 ,i dwell thus at length upon the aristocratic elegance of ,de ,quincey's earliest surroundings1 7which1 coming at a later period1 ,i should notice merely as an accident17 because1 although not a potential element1 capable of producing or of adding one single iota to the essential character of genius1 it is yet a negative condition--a sine qua non--to the displays of genius in certain directions and under certain aspects4 ,by misfortune it is true that power may be intensified4 ,so may it by the baptism of malice4 ,but1 given a certain degree of power1 there still remains a question as to its kind4 ,so deep is the sky3 but of what hue1 of what aspect8 ,wine is strong1 and so is the crude alcohol but what the mellowness8 ,and the blood in our veins1 it is an infinite force3 but of what temper8 ,is it warm1 or is it cold8 ,does it minister to ,moloch1 or to ,apollo8 ,will it shape the ,madonna face1 or the ,medusa8 ,why1 the simple fact that the rich blue sky over-arches this earth of ours1 or that it is warm blood which flows in our veins1 is sufficient to prove that no malignant ,ahriman made the world4 ,just here the question is not1 what increment or what momentum genius may receive from outward circumstances1 but what coloring1 what mood4 ,here it is that a ,mozart differs from a ,mendelssohn4 ,the important difference which obtains1 in this respect1 between great powers in literature1 otherwise cordinate1 will receive illustration from a comparison between ,de ,quincey and ,byron4 ,for both these writers were capable1 in a degree rarely equalled in any literature1 of reproducing1 or rather1 we should say1 of reconstructing1 the pomp of ,nature and of human life4 ,in this general office they stand together3 both wear1 in our eyes1 the regal purple2 both have caused to rise between earth and heaven miracles of grandeur1 such as never ,cheops wrought through his myriad slaves1 or ,solomon with his fabled ring4 ,but in the final result1 as in the whole modus operandi1 of their architecture1 they stand apart toto coelo4 ,byron builds a structure that repeats certain elements in ,nature or humanity2 but they are those elements only which are allied to gloom1 for he builds in suspicion and distrust1 and upon the basis of a cynicism that has been nurtured in his very flesh and blood from birth2 he erects a ,pisa-like tower which overhangs and threatens all human hopes and all that is beautiful in human love4 ,who else1 save this archangelic intellect1 shut out by a mighty shadow of eclipse from the bright hopes and warm affections of all sunny hearts1 could have originated such a ,pandemonian monster as the poem on ,darkness8 ,the most striking specimen of ,byron's imaginative power1 and nearly the most striking that has ever been produced1 is the apostrophe to the sea1 in ,childe ,harold4 ,but what is it in the sea which affects ,lord ,byron's susceptibilities to grandeur8 ,its destructiveness alone4 ,and how8 ,is it through any high moral purpose or meaning that seems to sway the movements of destruction8 ,no2 it is only through the gloomy mystery of the ruin itself1--ruin revealed upon a scale so vast and under conditions of terror the most appalling1--ruin wrought under the semblance of an almighty passion for revenge directed against the human race4 ,thus1 as an expression of the attitude which the sea maintains toward man1 we have the following passage of schylian grandeur1 but also of schylian gloom3-- ,thou dost arise ,and shake him from thee2 the vile strength he wields ,for earth's destruction thou dost all despise1 ,spurning him from thy bosom to the skies1 ,and send'st him1 shivering in thy playful spray1 ,and howling1 to his gods1 where haply lies ,his petty hope in some near port or bay1 ,and dashest him again to earth3 there let him lay6 ,who but this dark spirit1 forever wooing the powers of darkness1 and of darkness the most sullen1 praying to ,nemesis alone1 could1 with such lamentable lack of faith in the purity and soundness of human affections1 have given utterance to a sentiment like this3-- ,o love6 no habitant of earth thou art1-- ,an unseen seraph we believe in thee8 or the following3-- ,who loves1 raves1--'tis youth's frenzy1 etc48 and again3-- ,few--none--find what they love or could have loved1 ,though accident1 blind contact1 and the strong ,necessity of loving having removed ,antipathies8 ,this1 then1 is the nearest approach to human love1--the removal of all antipathies6 ,but even these recur erelong1 ,envenomed with irrevocable wrong3 ,and circumstance--that unspiritual god ,and miscreator--makes and helps along ,our coming evils with a crutch-like rod1 ,whose touch turns hope to dust1--the dust which all have trod4 ,de ,quincey1 on the other hand1 in whose heart there was laid no such hollow basis for infidelity toward the master-passions of humanity1 repeated the pomps of joy or of sorrow1 as evolved out of universal human nature1 and as1 through sunshine and tempest1 typified in the outside world1--but never for one instant did he seek alliance1 on the one side1 with the shallow enthusiasm of the raving ,bacchante1 or1 on the other1 with the overshadowing despotism of gloom2 nor can there be found on a single page of all his writings the slightest hint indicating even a latent sympathy with the power which builds only to crush1 or with the intellect that denies1 and that against the dearest objects of human faith fulminates its denials and shocking recantations solely for the purposes of scorn4 ,whence this marked difference8 ,to account for it1 we must needs trace back to the first haunts of childhood the steps of these two fugitives1 each of whom has passed thence1 the one into a desert mirage1 teeming with processions of the gloomiest falsities in life1 and the other--also into the desert1 but where he is yet refreshed and solaced by an unshaken faith in the genial verities of life1 though separated from them by irrecoverable miles of trackless wastes1 and where1 however apparently abandoned and desolate1 he is yet ministered unto by angels1 and no mimic fantasies are suffered to exercise upon his heart their overmastering seductions to ,allure1 or terrify1 or undermine4 ,whether the days of childhood be our happiest days1 is a question all by itself4 ,but there can be no question as to the inevitable certainty with which the conditions of childhood1 fortunate or unfortunate1 determine the main temper and disposition of our lives4 ,for it is underneath the multitude of fleeting proposals and conscious efforts1 born of reason1 and which1 to one looking upon life from any superficial stand-point1 seem to have all to do with its conduct1 that there runs the undercurrent of disposition1 which is born of ,nature1 which is cradled and nurtured with us in our infancy1 which is itself a general choice1 branching out into our specific choices of certain directions and aims among all opposite directions and aims1 and which1 although we rarely recognize its important functions1 is in all cases the arbiter of our destiny4 ,and in the very word disposition is indicated the finality of its arbitraments as contrasted with all proposition4 ,now1 with respect to this disposition3 ,nature furnishes its basis2 but it is the external structure of circumstance1 built up or building about childhood1--to shelter or imprison1--which1 more than all else1 gives it its determinate character2 and though this outward structure may in after-life be thoroughly obliterated1 or replaced by its opposite1--porcelain by clay1 or clay by porcelain1--yet will the tendencies originally developed remain and hold a sway almost uninterrupted over life4 ,and1 generally1 the happy influences that preside over the child may be reduced under three heads3 first1 a genial temperament1--one that naturally1 and of its own motion1 inclines toward a centre of peace and rest rather than toward the opposite centre of strife2 secondly1 profound domestic affections2 and1 thirdly1 affluence1 which1 although of all three it is the most negative1 the most material condition1 is yet practically the most important1 because of the degree in which it is necessary to the full and unlimited prosperity of the other two4 ,for how frequent are the cases in which the happiest of temperaments are perverted by the necessities of toil1 so burdensome to tender years1 or in which corroding anxieties1 weighing upon parents' hearts1 check the free play of domestic love6--and in all cases where such limitations are present1 even in the gentlest form1 there must be a cramping up of the human organization and individuality somewhere2 and everywhere1 and under all circumstances1 there must be sensibly felt the absence of that leisure which crowns and glorifies the affections of home1 making them seem the most like summer sunshine1 or rather like a sunshine which knows no season1 which is an eternal presence in the soul4 ,as regards all these three elements1 ,de ,quincey's childhood was prosperous2 afterwards1 vicissitudes came1--mighty changes capable of affecting all other transmutations1 but thoroughly impotent to annul the inwrought grace of a pre-established beauty4 ,on the other hand1 ,byron's childhood was1 in all these elements1 unfortunate4 ,the sting left in his mother's heart by the faithless desertion of her husband1 after the desolation of her fortunes1 was forever inflicted upon him1 and intensified by her fitful temper2 and notwithstanding the change in his outward prospects which occurred afterwards1 he was never able to lift himself out of the ,trophonian cave into which his infancy had been thrust1 any more than ,vulcan could have cured that crooked gait of his1 which dated from some vague infantile remembrances of having been rudely kicked out of heaven over its brazen battlements1 one summer's day1--for that it was a summer's day we are certain from a line of ,paradise ,lost1 commemorating the tragic circumstance3-- ,from morn till noon he fell1 from noon till dewy eve-- ,a summer's day4 ,and this allusion to ,vulcan reminds us that ,byron1 in addition to all his other early mishaps1 had also the identical clubfoot of the ,lemnian god4 ,among the guardians over ,byron's childhood was a demon1 that1 receiving an ample place in his victim's heart1 stood demoniacally his ground through life1 transmuting love to hate1 and what might have been benefits to fatal snares4 ,over ,de ,quincey's childhood1 on the contrary1 a strong angel guarded to withstand and thwart all threatened ruin1 teaching him the gentle whisperings of faith and love in the darkest hours of life3 an angel that built happy palaces1 the beautiful images of which1 and their echoed festivals1 far outlasted the splendor of their material substance4 ,we1--the children of the house1-- says ,de ,quincey1 in his ,autobiographic ,sketches1 stood1 in fact1 upon the very happiest tier in the social scaffolding for all good influences4 ,the prayer of ,agur--',give me neither poverty nor riches'--was realized for us4 ,that blessing we had1 being neither too high nor too low4 ,high enough we were to see models of good manners1 of self-respect1 and of simple dignity2 obscure enough to be left in the sweetest of solitudes4 ,amply furnished with all the nobler benefits of wealth1 with extra means of health1 of intellectual culture1 and of elegant enjoyment1 on the other hand we knew nothing of its social distinctions4 ,not depressed by the consciousness of privations too sordid1 nor tempted into restlessness by privileges too aspiring1 we had no motives for shame1 we had none for pride4 ,grateful1 also1 to this hour ,i am1 that1 amidst luxuries in all things else1 we were trained to a ,spartan1 simplicity of diet1--that we fared1 in fact1 very much less sumptuously than the servants4 ,and if 7after the manner of the ,emperor ,marcus ,aurelius7 ,i should return thanks to ,providence for all the separate blessings of my early situation1 these four ,i would single out as worthy of special commemoration3 that ,i lived in a rural solitude2 that this solitude was in ,england2 that my infant feelings were moulded by the gentlest of sisters1 and not by horrid pugilistic brothers2 finally1 that ,i and they were dutiful and loving members of a pure1 holy1 and magnificent church4 ,let the reader suppose a different case from that here presented4 ,let him suppose1 for instance1 that ,de ,quincey1 now arrived at the age of seven1 and having now at least one pugilistic brother to torment his peace1 could annul his own infancy1 and in its place substitute that of one of the factory-boys of ,manchester1 of the same age1 7and many such could be found17 among those with whom daily the military predispositions of this brother brought him into a disagreeable conflict4 ,instead of the pure air of outside ,lancashire1 let there be substituted the cotton-dust of the ,lancashire mills4 ,the contrast1 even in thought1 is painful4 ,it is true that thus the irrepressible fires of human genius could not be quenched4 ,nay1 through just these instrumentalities1 oftentimes1 is genius fostered4 ,we need not the instance of ,romulus and ,remus1 or of the ,persian ,cyrus1 to prove that men have sometimes been nourished by bears or by she-wolves4 ,nevertheless1 this is essentially a ,roman nurture4 ,the ,greeks1 on the contrary1 laid their infant heroes on beds of violets1--if we may believe the ,pindaric odes1--set over them a divine watch1 and fed them with angels' food4 ,and this ,grecian nurture ,de ,quincey had4 ,and not the least important element of this nurture is that of perfect leisure4 ,through this it is that we pass from the outward to the subjective relations of ,de ,quincey's childhood2 for only in connection with these has the element just introduced any value1 since leisure1 which is the atmosphere1 the breathing-place of genius1 is also cap and bells for the fool4 ,in relation to power1 it is1 like solitude1 the open heaven through which the grandeurs of eternity flow into the penetralian recesses of the human heart1 after that once the faculties of thought1 or the sensibilities1 have been powerfully awakened4 ,sensibility had been thus awakened in ,de ,quincey1 through grief occasioned by the loss of a sister1 his favorite and familiar playmate1--a grief so profound1 that he1 somewhere1 in speaking of it1 anticipates the certainty of its presence in the hour of death2 and thought1 also1 had been prematurely awakened1 both under the influence of this overmastering pathos of sorrow1 and because of his strong predisposition to meditation4 ,both the pathos and the meditative tendencies were increased by the halcyon peace of his childhood4 ,in a memorial of the poet ,schiller1 he speaks of that childhood as the happiest1 of which the happiness has survived and expressed itself1 not in distinct records1 but in deep affection1 in abiding love1 and the hauntings of meditative power4 ,his1 at least1 was the felicity of this echoless peace4 ,in no memorial is it so absolutely requisite that a marked prominence should be given to its first section as in ,de ,quincey's4 ,this is a striking peculiarity in his life4 ,if it were not so1 ,i should have seriously transgressed in keeping the reader's attention so long upon a point which1 aside from such peculiarity1 would yield no sufficient1 at least no proportionate value4 ,but1 in the treatment of any life1 that cannot seem disproportionate which enters into it as an element only and just in that ratio of prominence with which it enters into the life itself1 ,no stream can rise above the level of its source4 ,no life1 which lacks a prominent interest as to its beginnings1 can ever1 in its entire course1 develop any distinguishing features of interest4 ,this is true of any life2 but it is true of ,de ,quincey's above all others on record1 that1 through all its successive arches1 ascending and descending1 it repeats the original arch of childhood4 ,repeats1--but with what marvellous transformations6 ,for hardly is its earliest section passed1 when1 for all its future course1 it is masked by a mighty trouble4 ,no longer does it flow along its natural path1 and beneath the open sky1 but1 like the sacred ,alpheus1 runs ,through caverns measureless to man1 ,down to the sunless sea4 ,yet1 amid the briny tides of that sea1 amid turmoil and perplexity and the saddest of mysteries1 it preserves its earliest gentleness1 and its inward1 noiseless peace1 till once more it gushes up toward the sweet heaven through the ,arethusan font of death4 ,easily1 then1 is it to be seen why ,de ,quincey himself continually reverted1 both in his conscious reminiscences and through the subconscious relapses of dreams1 from a life clouded and disguised in its maturer years1 to the unmasked purity of its earliest heaven4 ,and what from the vast desert1 what from the fatal wreck of life1 was he to look back upon1 for even an imaginary solace1 if not upon the rich argosies that spread their happier sails above a calmer sea8 ,we are forcibly reminded of the dream which ,milton,a gives to his ,christ in the desert1 hungry and tired3-- ,there he slept1 ,and dreamed1 as appetite is wont to dream1 ,of meats and drinks1 ,nature's refreshment sweet4 ,him thought he by the brook of ,cherith stood1 ,and saw the ravens with their horny beaks ,food to ,elijah bringing even and morn1 ,though ravenous1 taught to abstain from what they brought3 ,he saw the prophet also1 how he fled ,into the desert1 and how there he slept ,under a juniper1 then how1 awaked1 ,he found his supper on the coals prepared1 ,and by the angel was bid rise and eat1 ,and eat the second time after repose1 ,the strength whereof sufficed him forty days2 ,sometimes that with ,elijah he partook1 ,or as a guest with ,daniel at his pulse4 ,footnote ,a3 ,paradise ,regained1 ,book ,,ii4 ,if the splendors of divinity could be so disguised by the severe necessities of the wilderness and of brutal hunger as to be thus solicited and baffled even in dreams1--if1 by the lowest of mortal appetites1 they could be so humiliated and eclipsed as to revel in the shadowy visions of merely human plenty1--then by how much more must the human heart1 eclipsed at noon1 revert1 under the mask of sorrow and of dreams1 to the virgin beauties of the dawn6 with how much more violent revulsion must the weary1 foot-sore traveller1 lost in a waste of sands1 be carried back through the gate of ivory or of horn to the dewy1 flower-strewn fields of some far happier place and time6 ,the transition from ,de ,quincey's childhood to his opium-experiences is as natural1 therefore1 as from strophe to antistrophe in choral antiphonies4 ,henceforth1 as the reader already understands1 we are not permitted to look upon a simple1 undisguised life1 unless we draw aside a veil as impenetrable as that which covers the face of ,isis or the poppy-sceptred ,demeter4 ,under this papaverian mask it is likely to be best known to the reader2 for it is under the title of ,opium-,eater that he is most generally recognized4 ,it was through his ,opium-,confessions1 popular both as to matter and style1 that he first conciliated and charmed the reading public1--and to such a degree that great expectations were awakened as to anything which afterwards he might write4 ,this expectation heightens appreciation2 and in this case it helped many a metaphysical dose down the voracious throat of the public1 without its being aware of the nauseating potion1 or experiencing any uncomfortable consequences4 ,the flood of popularity produced by the ,opium-,confessions among that large intellectual class of readers who1 notwithstanding their mental capacity1 yet insist upon the graces of composition and upon a subject of immediate and moving interest1 was sufficient to float into a popular haven many a ship of heavier freightage1 which might else have fallen short of port4 ,the general interest which is manifested in ,de ,quincey personally is also very much due to the fact that he was an opium-eater1 and an opium-eater willing to breathe into the public ear the peculiarities of his situation and its hidden mysteries1 or suspiria de profundis4 ,this interest is partly of that vulgar sort which connects itself with all mysterious or abnormal phenomena in ,nature or in the human mind1 with a ,what is it8 or a spiritual medium1 and which is satisfied with a palpable exhibition of the novelty2 and partly it is of a philosophical order1 inquiring into the causes and modes of the abnormal development4 ,it is rarely the case that human vision is especially or deliberately directed to the sun or the moon1 except at the marvellous season of eclipse1 when interest is awakened by the novelty of the appearance among the vulgar1 and among philosophers by the unusual nature of the phenomenon1 demanding explanation4 ,then it is that the people inhabiting this globe are excited by something which calls off their attention from terrestrial trifles to that which connects them with unknown worlds4 ,if we had been born ,hindoos1 we should1 at such times1 exhibit our skittish tendencies1 shying at the sun-eating monster with nervous apprehension1 and should doubtless do our best1 through horrid yells and tintinnabulations1 towards getting up a tremendous counter-irritation upon the earth that should tell mightily on the nerves of this umbratilous tiger in the heavens4 ,but since we are neither ,hindoos nor ,egyptians1 nor skittish heathen of any sort1 we take defiant attitudes and look through smoked glasses4 ,at any rate1 it is only at such times that we pay particular attentions1 by way of courtesy1 to foreign worlds4 ,and of all the creatures of ,god which come within the circle of human knowledge or notice1 which is it that may be said to enjoy the most continuous round of attentions1 and to live in excitement the most nearly approaching to perpetual8 ,it is the comet1 which no sooner gets out of reach of our flying compliments than she becomes the pet of ,jupiter's magnificent citizens1 or calls forth deprecating murmurs from our shy sister ,venus1 and ,mercury1 our milder brother1 who1 from all such mischiefs1 creeps as nearly as possible under the paternal wings of the ,sun4 ,no one of these erratic visitors can remember the time when she was not making a stir somewhere in the universe1 or when a cloudy night1 intercepting her from vision1 would not have been as surely execrated as are the colds which afflict prima donnas4 ,strikingly similar to our interest in these heavenly bodies is that which we manifest in mortal men4 ,here1 too1 it is the darkened orb or the eccentric comet that bespeaks especial notice4 ,judged by this interest1 considered in its vulgar aspects1 ,de ,quincey would suffer gross injustice4 ,externally1 and at one period of his life1 ,i am certain that he had all the requisite qualifications for collecting a mob about him1 and that1 had he appeared in the streets of ,london after one of his long sojourns amongst the mountains1 no unearthly wight of whatever description1 no tattered lunatic or ,botany-,bay convict1 would have been able to vie with him in the picturesque dshabill of the whole turnout4 ,picture to yourself the scene4 ,this king of shreds and patches--for1 to the outward sense1 he seems that now--has been at large for days1 perhaps for two or three weeks2 he has been unkennelled1 and1 among the lawless mountains1 has felt no restraint upon his own lawlessness1 however ,cyclopean4 ,doubtless he has met with panthers and wolves1 each one of whom will to its dying day retain impressive recollections of the wee monster1 from which they fled as a trifle too uncanny even for them4 ,as to his subsistence during these rambles1 it would be very difficult to say how he managed that affair1 at these1 or indeed at any other times2 and it may be that the prophetic limitation of a fast to forty days is now the urgent occasion of his return from vagabondism4 ,one thing we may be sure of1--that he has made plentiful use of a certain magical drug hid away in his waistcoat-pocket4 ,like ,wordsworth's brook1 he has been wandering purposely and at his own sweet will1 or rather where his feet have taken him2 and he has laid him down to sleep wherever sleep may have chanced to find him4 ,the result we have here1 in this uncouth specimen of humanity1 in the matted hair1 the soiled garments1 and the straggling gait2 and what gives the finishing touch to this grotesque picture is his utter unconsciousness of the ludicrous features of his situation1 as they appear to other eyes4 ,soon1 it is true1 he will go through an son-like rejuvenation2 for1 in a certain cottage1 there are hearts that anxiously await his return1 and hands ready to fulfil their oft-repeated duties in the way of refitting him out for another tramp4 ,but1 before this transformation is effected1 let us suppose the case of his being set down in the streets of ,london1 somewhere in the vicinity of ,cheapside4 ,what an eddying of stragglers about this new-found focus of attraction6 what amazement1 and curiosity to find him out1 if1 indeed1 he be find-out-able1 and not1 as the unmistakable papaverian odor suggests1 some ,stygian bird1 hailing from the farther side of ,lethe4 ,but1 ,stygian or not1 neither ,hermes nor ,pan 7nor ,panic1 his namesake7 could muster such a rabble at his heels1 supposing him to appear on ,cheapside6 ,in his innermost sensibilities he would have shrunk from this vulgar notice as from pollution itself4 ,it would be monstrous to conceive of him in such situations1 except for the purpose of showing that he had very much in his outward habit that would readily attract such a notice4 ,in the same light we are to regard some illustrations which ,j4 ,hill ,burton has given in ,the ,book-,hunter of similar features in his character1 and which ,i take the liberty of introducing here2 for1 although they have appeared in ,blackwood1 and more lately in a book-form1 they are still unpublished to many of my readers4 ,thus1 we have him pictured to us as he appeared at a dinner1 whereto he was seduced by the false pretence that he would there meet with one who entertained novel and anarchical views regarding the ',golden ,ass' of ,apuleius4 ,the festivities of the afternoon are far on1 when a commotion is heard in the hall1 as if some dog or other stray animal had forced its way in4 ,the instinct of a friendly guest tells him of the arrival2 he opens the door1 and fetches in the little stranger4 ,what can it be8 ,a street-boy of some sort8 ,his costume1 in fact1 is a boy's duffle great-coat1 very threadbare1 with a hole in it1 and buttoned tight to the chin1 where it meets the fragments of a party-colored belcher handkerchief2 on his feet are list shoes1 covered with snow1 for it is a stormy winter night2 and the trousers1--some one suggests that they are inner linen garments blackened with writing-ink1 but that ,papaverius never would have been at the trouble so to disguise them4 ,de ,quincey1 led on by the current of his own thoughts1--though he was always too courteous to absorb the entire conversation1--talks on till it is far into the night1 and slight hints and suggestions are propagated about separation and home-going4 ,the topic starts new ideas on the progress of civilization1 the effect of habit on men in all ages1 and the power of the domestic affections4 ,descending from generals to the specials1 he could testify to the inconvenience of late hours3 for was it not the other night1 that1 coming to what was1 or what he believed to be1 his own door1 he knocked and knocked1 but the old woman within either couldn't or wouldn't hear him1 so he scrambled over a wall1 and1 having taken his repose in a furrow1 was able to testify to the extreme unpleasantness of such a couch8 ,shall ,i try another sketch of him1 when1 travel-stained and foot-sore1 he glided in on us one night like a shadow1 the child by the fire gazing on him with round eyes of astonishment1 and suggesting that he should get a penny and go home1--a proposal which he subjected to some philosophical criticism very far wide of its practical tenor4 ,how far he had wandered since he had last refreshed himself1 or even whether he had eaten food that day1 were matters on which there was no getting articulate utterance from him4 ,how that wearied1 worn little body was to be refreshed was a difficult problem3 soft food disagreed with him2 the hard he could not eat4 ,suggestions pointed at length to the solution of that vegetable unguent to which he had given a sort of lustre1 and it might be supposed that there were some fifty cases of acute toothache to be treated in the house that night4 ,how many drops8 ,drops6 nonsense6 ,if the wineglasses of the establishment were not beyond the ordinary normal size1 there was no risk1--and so the weary is at rest for a time4 ,at early morn1 a triumphant cry of ',eureka6' calls me to his place of rest4 ,with his unfailing instinct he has got at the books1 and lugged a considerable heap of them around him4 ,that one which specially claims his attention--my best-bound quarto--is spread upon a piece of bedroom-furniture readily at hand1 and of sufficient height to let him pore over it as he lies recumbent on the floor1 with only one article of attire to separate him from the condition in which ,archimedes1 according to the popular story1 shouted the same triumphant cry4 ,he had discovered a very remarkable anachronism in the commonly received histories of a very important period4 ,as he expounded it1 turning up his unearthly face from the book with an almost painful expression of grave eagerness1 it occurred to me that ,i had seen something like the scene in ,dutch paintings of the ,temptation of ,st4 ,anthony4 ,i cannot refrain from quoting from ,mr4 ,burton one more example1 illustrative of the fact that ,de ,quincey1 in money-matters1 considered merely the immediate and pressing exigencies of the present4 ,he arrives very late at a friend's door1 and on gaining admission1--a process in which he often endured impediments1--he represents1 with his usual silver voice and measured rhetoric1 the absolute necessity of his being then and there invested with a sum of money in the current coin of the realm1--the amount limited1 from the nature of his necessities1 which he very freely states1 to seven shillings and sixpence4 ,discovering1 or fancying he discovers1 that his eloquence is likely to prove unproductive1 he is fortunately reminded1 that1 should there be any difficulty in connection with security for the repayment of the loan1 he is at that moment in possession of a document which he is prepared to deposit with the lender1--a document calculated1 he cannot doubt1 to remove any feeling of anxiety which the moat prudent person could experience in the circumstances4 ,after a rummage in his pockets1 which develops miscellaneous and varied1 but as yet by no means valuable1 possessions1 he at last comes to the object of his search1 a crumpled bit of paper1 and spread it out1--a fifty-pound bank-note6 ,all sums of money were measured by him through the common standard of immediate use2 and1 with more solemn pomp of diction than he applied to the bank-note1 might he inform you1 that1 with the gentleman opposite1 to whom he had hitherto been entirely a stranger1 but who happened to be the nearest to him at the time when the exigency occurred to him1 he had just succeeded in negotiating a loan of two-pence4 ,these pictures1 though true to certain phases of ,de ,quincey's outward life1 are yet far from personally representing him1 even to the eye4 ,they satisfy curiosity1 and that is about all4 ,as to the real character of the man1 they are negative and unessential2 they represent1 indeed1 his utter carelessness as to all that1 like dress1 may at pleasure be put on or off1 but the human child incarnate is not thus brought before us4 ,for1 could we but once look upon his face in rest1 then should we forget these inferior attributes2 just as1 looking upon the ,memnonian statues1 one forgets the horrid nicknames of ,shandy and ,andy which they have received from casual travellers1 observing merely their grotesque features4 ,features of this latter sort dislimn and yield1 as the writing on palimpsests1 to the regal majesty of the divine countenance1 which none can look upon and smile4 ,let me paint ,de ,quincey's face as at this moment ,i seem to see it4 ,it is wrinkled as with an ,homeric antiquity2 arid it is1 and sallow1 as parchment4 ,through a certain ,bedouin-like conformation1--which1 however1 is idealized by the lofty1 massive forehead1 and by the prevailing subtilty of the general expression1--it seems fitted to desert solitudes2 and in this respect it is truly ,memnonian4 ,in another respect1 also1 is it ,memnonian1--that1 whenever should rest upon its features the morning sunlight1 we should surely await its responsive requiem or its trembling jubilate4 ,by a sort of instinctive palmistry 7applied1 not to the hands1 but to the face7 we interpret symbols of ineffable sorrow and of ineffable peace4 ,these1 too1 are ,memnonian1--as is also that infinite distance which seems to interpose between its subtile meanings and the very possibility of interpretation4 ,this air of remoteness1 baffling the impertinent crowd not less effectually than the dust which has gathered for centuries about the heads of ,sphinxes1 is due partly to the deeply sunken eyes beneath the wrinkled1 overarching forehead2 partly it arises from that childlike simplicity and sweetness which lurk in gentle undulations of the features1--undulations as of happy wavelets set in motion ages since1 and that cannot cease forever2 but chiefly it is born of a dream-like1 brooding eternity of speculation1 which we can trace neither to the eye alone1 nor to the mouth1 but rather to the effect which both together produce in the countenance4 ,this is the face which for more than half a century opium veiled to mortal eyes1 and which refuses to reveal itself save through hints the most fugitive and impalpable4 ,here are draperies and involutions of mystery from which mere curiosity stands aloof4 ,this is the head which we have loved1 and which in our eyes wears a triple wreath of glory3 the laurel for his ,apollo-like art1 the lotos-leaf for his impassioned dreams1 and roses for his most gentle and loving nature4 ,how much of that which glorified ,de ,quincey was due to opium8 ,very little as to quality1 but very much as to the degree and the peculiar manner in which original qualities and dispositions are developed1 for here it is that the only field of influence open to abnormal agencies lies4 ,coleridge1 as an opium-eater1 is the only individual worthy of notice in the same connection4 ,had he also confessed1 it is uncertain what new revelations might have been made4 ,it is certain that opium exercised a very potent effect upon him2 for it was generally after his dose that his remarkable intellectual displays occurred4 ,these displays were mostly confined to his conversations1 which were usually long-winded metaphysical epics1 evolving a continued series of abstractions and analyses1 and1 for their movement1 depending upon a sort of poetic construction4 ,a pity it is that we must content ourselves with empty descriptions of this nature4 ,here1 doubtless1 if anywhere1 opium was an auxiliary to ,coleridge4 ,for a laudanum negus1 whatever there may be about it that is pernicious1 will1 to a mind that is metaphysically predisposed1 open up thoroughfares of thought which are raised above the level of the gross material1 and which lead into the region of the shadowy4 ,show us the man who habitually carries pills of any sort in his waistcoat-pocket1 be they opium or whatever else1 and we can assure you that that man is an arobat1--that somehow1 in one sense or another1 he walks in the air above other men's heads4 ,whatever disturbs the healthful isolation of the nervous system is prosperous to metaphysics1 because it attracts the mental attention to the organism through which thought is carried on4 ,numerous are the instances of men who would never have been heard of as thinkers or as reflective poets1 if they had had sufficient muscular ballast to pull against their teeming brains4 ,the consequence of the disproportion has been that the superfluous brain has exhaled1 as a mere necessity4,a ,if ,tacitus had fared in any sort like his brother1--if there had been anything like an equitable division between them of muscle and brain1 it is more than probable that we should have lost the illustrious historian4 ,footnote ,a3 ,it has been adduced as an important proof of the soul's immortality1 that frequently1 as physical power declines1 the mind exhibits unusual activity4 ,but the argument moves in the opposite direction4 ,for of what sort is this unusual activity8 ,that which results from unbalanced nerves2 and the indications are that not only are the physical harmonies disturbed1 but that the same disturbing cause has impaired the delicate adjustments of thought itself4 ,sometimes there is manifested1 towards the near approach of death1 an almost insane brilliancy2 as1 for instance1 in the case of a noted theologian1 who occupied the last minutes of his ebbing life with a very subtile mathematical discourse concerning the exceeding1 the excruciating smallness of nothing divided into infinitesimal parts4 ,and strange as it may seem1 ,i once heard this identical instance cited as a triumphant vindication of the most sublime article of either ,pagan or ,christian faith4 ,nay1 from the lips of a theological professor1 the fragmentary glimmerings of a maniac's mind have been adduced for precisely the same purpose4 ,coleridge was indolent from temperament1 a disposition which was increased by opium4 ,hence ,de ,quincey was of the opinion that it injured ,coleridge's poetic faculties2 which probably was the case1 since in genuine poetry the mind is prominently realistic1 its motions are all outward1 and therefore excessive indolence must of necessity be fatal4 ,de ,quincey's physical system1 on the contrary1 seemed preconformed to opium3 it demanded it1 and would be satisfied with nothing else4 ,no temptation so strong could have been presented to ,coleridge4 ,de ,quincey really craved the drug4 ,his stomach was deranged1 and was still suffering from the sad results of his youthful wanderings in ,london4 ,it seems almost as if fate had compelled the unfortunate course into which he finally drifted4 ,the craving first appeared in the shape of a horrid gnawing at the stomach2 afterwards this indefinite yearning gave place to a specific one1 which was unmistakable in its demands4 ,daily1 like the daughters of the horse-leech1 it cried1 ,give1 give6 ,toward the last1 this craving became1 in ,de ,quincey's solemn belief1 an animal incarnate1 and the opium-eater reasoned after the following fashion3--,it is not ,i that eat1 it is not ,i that am responsible either for the fact of eating or the amount2 am ,i the keeper of this horrid monster's conscience8 ,he even carried the conceit so far as to consider a portion of each meal as especially devoted to this insane stomachic reveller1 just as a voracious ,greek or ,roman would have attributed no small part of his outrageous appetite to the gods1 as eating by proxy through the mouths of mortals4 ,this is almost as bad as the case reported of ,stonewall ,jackson1 who1 it is said1 religiously believed that whatever he ate was1 by some mysterious physiological economy1 conveyed into his left leg4 ,no less was ,de ,quincey psychologically preconformed to opium4 ,the prodigious mental activity so early awakened in him counteracted the narcotic despotism of the drug1 and made it a sort of ally4 ,the reader sees from this how much depends upon predispositions as to the effect of opium4 ,de ,quincey himself says that the man whose daily talk is of oxen will pursue his bovine speculations into dreams4 ,opium originates nothing2 but1 given activity of a certain type and moving in a certain direction1 and there will be perhaps through opium a multiplication of energies and velocities4 ,what was ,de ,quincey without opium8 is1 therefore1 the question preliminary to any proper estimate as to what in him was due to opium4 ,this question has already been answered in the remarks made concerning his childhood4 ,his meditative tendencies were especially noticed as most characteristic4 ,there was besides this a natural leaning toward the mysterious1--the mysterious1 ,i mean1 as depending1 not upon the terrible or ghostly1 or upon anything which excites gloom or fear1 but upon operations that are simply inscrutable as moving in darkness4 ,take1 for example1 the idea of a grand combination of human energies mustered together in secret1 and operating through invisible agencies for the downfall of ,christianity1--an idea which was conveyed to ,de ,quincey in his childhood through the ,abb ,baruel's book exposing such a general conspiracy was existing throughout ,europe3 this was the sort of mystery which arrested and engrossed his thoughts4 ,similar elements invested all secret societies with an awful grandeur in his conception4 ,so1 too1 the complicated operations of great cities such as ,london1 which he call the ,nation of ,london1 where even ,nature is mimicked1 both in her strict regularity of results1 and in the seeming unconsciousness of all her outward phases1 hiding all meaning under the enigmas that defy solution4 ,in order to this effect it was absolutely necessary that there should be not simply one mystery standing alone by itself1 and striking in its portentous significance2 there must have been more than this1--namely1 a network of occult influences1 a vast organization1 wheeling in and out upon itself1 gyrating in mystic cycles and epicycles1 repeating over and again its dark omens1 and displaying its insignia in a never-ending variety of shapes4 ,to him intricacy the most perplexing was also the most inviting4 ,it was this which lent an overwhelming interest to certain problems of history that presented the most labyrinthian mazes to be disinvolved3 for the demon that was in him sought after hieroglyphics that by all others had been pronounced undecipherable2 and not unfrequently it was to his eye that for the first time there seemed to be an unknown element that must be supplied4 ,such a problem was presented by the religious sect among the ,hebrews entitled the ,essenes4 ,admitting the character and functions of this sect to have been those generally ascribed to it no special importance4 ,but the idea once having occurred to ,de ,quincey that the general assumption was the farthest removed from the truth1--than there was an unknown x in the problem1 which could be satisfied by no such meagre hypothesis1--that1 to meet the urgent demands of the case1 there must be substituted for this ,jewish sect an organization of no less importance than the ,christian ,church itself1--that this organization1 thus suddenly brought to light1 was one1 moreover1 that1 from the most imperative necessity1 veiled itself from all eyes1 uttering its sublime articles of faith1 and even its very name1 to itself only in secret recesses of silence3--from the moment that all this was revealed to ,de ,quincey1 there was thenceforth no limit to his profound interest4 ,two separate essays he wrote on this subject1,a of which he seemed never to tire4 ,footnote ,a3 ,yet1 marvellous as it may seem1 he wrote the second without being distinctly conscious of having written a previous one4 ,it was no uncommon thing for him to forget his own writings4 ,in one case it is known that for a long time he persisted in disowning his production4 ,his ,american editor--a fact which is little known--selected1 from among the mass of periodical writings in the various magazines for which ,de ,quincey wrote1 those which1 having no other clue to guide him than1 their peculiar style1 he judged to have proceeded from ,de ,quincey's pen4 ,in one instance1--as to the ,traditions of the ,rabbins1--after considerable examination1 he still hesitated1 and finally wrote to ,de ,quincey1 to set himself right4 ,the latter disowned the essay3 he had forgotten it4 ,mr4 ,f41 however1 after another examination1 concluded1 that1 notwithstanding ,de ,quincey's denial of the fact1 he must have written it2 accordingly1 at his own risk1 he published it4 ,afterwards ,de ,quincey owned up1 and ever after that referred all disputed cases of this nature to his ,boston publishers4 ,klosterheim is from beginning to end only the development1 through regular stages1 of an intricately involved mystery of this subtile nature4 ,oftentimes ,de ,quincey deals with the horrid tragedy of murder2 but the mere fact of a murder1 however shocking1 was not sufficient to arrest him4 ,with the celebrated ,williams murders1 on the contrary1 he was entirely taken up1 since these proceeded in accordance with designs not traceable to the cursory glance1 but which tasked the skill of a decipherer to interpret and reduce to harmony4 ,here were murders that revolved musically1 that modulated themselves to master-principles1 and that at every stage of progress sought alliance with the hidden mysteries of universal human nature4 ,i know of no writer but ,de ,quincey who invests mysteries of this tragic order with their appropriate drapery1 so that they shall1 to our imaginations1 unfold the full measure of their capacities for striking awe into our hearts4 ,this sort of mystery is always connected with dreams4 ,they owe their very existence to darkness1 which withdraws them from the material limitations of every-day life2 they are shifted to an ideal proscenium2 their dramatis person1 however familiar nominally1 and however much derived from material suggestions1 are yet in all their motions obedient to an alien centre as opposite as is possible to the ordinary centre about which the mere mechanism of life revolves4 ,we should therefore expect beforehand in ,de ,quincey an overruling tendency towards this remote architecture of dreams4 ,the careful reader of his ,autobiographic ,sketches will remember1 that1 at the early age of seven1 and before he knew of even the existence of opium1 the least material hint which bordered on the shadowy was sufficient to lift him up into arial structures1 and to lead his infant footsteps amongst the clouds4 ,such hints1 after his little sister's death1 were furnished by certain expressions of the ,litany1 by pictures in the stained windows of the church1 and by the tumult of the organ4 ,nor were the dreams thus introduced mere fantasies1 irregular and inconsistent4 ,throughout1 they were self-sustained and majestic4 ,the natural effects of opium were concurrent with prexisting tendencies of ,de ,quincey's mind4 ,if1 instead of having his restless intellect1 he had been indolent1--if1 instead of loving the mysterious1 because it invited a ,titanic energy to reduce its anarchy to order1 he had loved it as simply dark or obscure1--if his natural subtilty of reflection had been less1 or if he had been endowed with inferior powers in the sublime architecture of impassioned expression1--then might he as well have smoked a meerschaum1 taken snuff or grog or any other stimulant1 as to have gone out of his way for the more refined pleasures of opium4 ,the reader will indulge us in a single philosophical distinction1 at this point1 by which we mean to classify the effects of opium under two heads3 first1 the external1 and1 secondly1 the internal4 ,properly speaking1 all the positive effects of opium must be internal2 for all its movements are inward in their direction1 being refluent upon the focal centres of life4 ,thus1 one of the most noticeable phenomena connected with opium-eating is the burden of life resting back upon the heart1 which deliberately pulsates the moments of existence1 as if the most momentous issues depended upon each separate throb4 ,but this very reflux of sensibility will produce great effects at the surface1 which are purely negative4 ,this latter class of effects ,homer has indicated with considerable accuracy1 in the ninth ,odyssey1 7#hb-aje17 where he notices specifically an air of carelessness regarding external things1--carelessness as to the mutual interchange of conversation by question and answer1 and as to the ordinary pursuits of life as disturbing an inward peace4 ,the same characteristics are more fully developed in ,tennyson's ,lotos-,eaters3-- ,branches they bore of that enchanted stem1 ,laden with flower and fruit1 whereof they gave ,to each2 but whoso did receive of them1 ,and taste1 to him the gushing of the wave1 ,far1 far away1 did seem to mourn and rave ,on alien shores2 and if his fellows spake1 ,his voice was thin1 as voices from the grave2 ,and deaf-asleep he seemed1 yet all awake1 ,and music in his ears his beating heart did make4 ,by causing the life to flow inward upon a more ideal centre1 opium deepens the consciousness1 and compels it to give testimony to processes and connections that in ordinary moments escape unrecorded4 ,it is as if new materials were found for a history of the individual life1--materials which1 like freshly discovered records1 sound the deepest meanings of the present and measure the abysses of the past4 ,thus it is that the fugitive imagery of sense is interpreted as a scroll which hides infinite truths under the most fleeting of symbols1--symbols which are not sufficiently enduring to call them words1 or even syllables of words1 since the most trivial hint or whisper of them has hardly reached us ere they have perished4 ,thus it is that even the still more intangible record of memory1 where are preserved only images and echoes of that which undeniably has perished1 is revivified and enlarged4 ,there is1 then1 in the opium-eater a most marked1 a polar antithesis between his every-day life and the central manifestations of his genius4 ,in the latter1 there is beautiful order1 as in a symphony of ,beethoven's2 but in the former1 looked upon from without1 all seems confusion4 ,there is the same antithesis in every meditative mind2 but here opium has heightened each part of the contrast4 ,the more we admire the encentric harmonies of inwrapt power1 the more do we find to draw forth laughter in the eccentricities of outward habit4 ,the very same agencies which undisguised and unveiled the deep1 divine heaven1 masked the earth with desert sands2 and ,de ,quincey's outward life was thus masked and rendered abnormal1 that the blue heaven in which he revelled might be infinitely exalted4 ,thus is it possible for the seemingly ludicrous to harmonize with transcendent sublimity4 ,we smile at ,de ,quincey's giving in copy on the generous margins of a splendid ,somnium ,scipionis2 but the precious words1 that might perhaps have found some more fit vehicle to the composer's eye1 could have found no deeper place in our hearts4 ,we look at the hatless sleeper among the mountains3 his face seems utterly blank and meaningless1 and to all intents and purposes he seems as good as dead2 but let us ascend with him in his dreams1 and we shall soon forget that under ,god's heavens there exists mortality or the commonplace uses of mortality4 ,as we ascend from grotesque features to such as are more intellectual1 that peculiarity of his character which most strikes us is his inimitable courtesy4 ,mr4 ,f41--to whom ,i am indebted for the most novel and interesting portions of this memorial1--from his own personal interviews with the man1 among many other things1 retains this chiefly in remembrance1--that ,de ,quincey was the perfectest gentleman he had ever seen4 ,i take the liberty here of particularizing somewhat in regard to one visit which this friend of ,de ,quincey's paid him1 particularly as it introduces us to the man towards the last of his life 7#ahea74 ,mr4 ,f41 curious as it may seem1 found but one person in ,edinburgh who could inform him definitely as to ,de ,quincey's whereabouts4 ,in return to a note1 giving ,de ,quincey information of his arrival1 etc41 the latter replies in a letter which is very characteristic1 and which may well be highly prized1 so rarely was it that any friend was able to obtain from him such a memento4 ,the style1 perhaps1 is as familiar as it was ever his habit to indulge in2 and it shows how impossible it was for him1 even on the most temporary summons1 to dispense with his usual regularity of expression or with any logical nicety of method4 ,the letter runs thus3-- ,thursday evening1 ,august #bf1 #ahea4 ,my dear ,sir1--,the acccompanying billet from my daughter1 short at any rate under the pressure of instant engagements1 has been cut shorter by a sudden and very distressing headache2 ,i1 therefore1 who 7from a peculiar nervousness connected with the act of writing7 so rarely attempt to discharge my own debts in the letter-writing department of life1 find myself unaccountably1 ,i might say mysteriously1 engaged in the knight-errantry of undertaking for other people's4 ,wretched bankrupt that ,i am1 with an absolute refusal on the part of the ,commissioner to grant me a certificate of the lowest class1 suddenly1 and by a necessity not to be evaded1 ,i am affecting the large bounties of supererogation4 ,i appear to be vaporing in a spirit of vainglory2 and yet it is under the mere coercion of 'salva necessitas' that ,i am surprised into this unparalleled instance of activity4 ,do you walk8 ,that is1 do you like walking for four hours 'on end'--7which is our archaic expression for continuously78 ,if ,i knew that1 ,i would arrange accordingly for meeting you4 ,the case as to distance is this4 ,the ,dalkeith railway1 from the ,waverley station1 brings you to ,esk ,bank4 ,that is its nearest approach1--its perihelion1 in relation to ourselves2 and it is precisely two and three-quarters miles distant from ,mavis ,bush1--the name of our cottage4 ,close to us1 and the most noticeable object for guiding your inquiries1 is ,mr4 ,annandale's ,paper-,mills4 ,now1 then1 accordingly as you direct my motions1 ,i will--rain being supposed absent--join you at your hotel in ,edinburgh any time after #aa ,a4,m4 and walk out the whole distance1 7seven miles from the ,scott monument17 or else ,i will meet you at ,esk ,bank2 or1 if you prefer coming out in a carriage1 ,i will await your coming here in that state of motionless repose which best befits a philosopher4 ,excuse my levity2 and believe that with sincere pleasure we shall receive your obliging visit4 ,ever your faithful servant1 ,,thomas ,,de ,,quincey4 ,in order to appreciate the physical powers of him who proposed a walk of the distance indicated in the letter1 we must remember that he was then just sixty-six years plus ten days old4 ,he was now living with his daughters1 in the utmost simplicity4 ,on his arrival1 ,mr4 ,f4 found ,de ,quincey awaiting him at the door of his cottage1--a short man1 with small head1 and eyes that were absolutely indescribable as human features1 with a certain boyish awkwardness of manner1 but with the most urban-like courtesy and affability4 ,from noon till dark1 the time is spent in conversation1 continued1 various1 and eloquent4 ,what a presence is there in this humble1 unpretending cottage6 ,and as the stream of ,olympian sweetness moves on1 now in laughing ripples1 and again in a solemn majestic flood1 what a past do we bring before ourselves6 what a present6 ,for this is he that talked with ,coleridge1 that was the friend of ,wilson1--and--what furnishes a more sublime suggestion--this is he that knows by heart the mountain-fells and the mysterious recesses of hidden valleys for miles around2 and we think1 if he could convey us from the haunts of this ,lasswade of his old age to those which glorified the ,grasmere of his youth1 what new chords he might touch1--of human love1 for there it was that the sweetness of his wedded life had been buried and embalmed in a thousand outward memorials of happy hours long gone by1--and of human sadness1 for there it was that he had experienced the reversal of every outward fortune1 and the alienations of friendships which he most highly valued4 ,but the remembrances of ,grasmere and of youth seem now to have been removed as into some other life3 the man of a past generation walks alone1 and amid other scenes4 ,and yonder is the study in which he spends hours that are most holy1--hours consecrated to what specific employments is known to none1 since across its threshold no feet save his have passed for years4 ,now and then some grand intellectual effort proceeds forth from its sacred precincts2 but that only happens when pecuniary necessities compel the exertion4 ,how is it that the time not thus occupied is spent8--in what remembrances1 in what hidden thoughts1 what passing dreams8 ,as it grows dark1 ,de ,quincey's guest1 having spent most precious moments which he feels ought never to cease1 signifies the necessity of his taking his departure4 ,to take leave of this strange man1 however1 is not so easy a matter as one might rashly suppose4 ,there is a genius of procrastination about him4 ,was he ever known to make his appearance at any dinner in season1 or indeed at any entertainment8 ,yes1 he did once1 at the recital of a ,greek tragedy on the ,edinburgh stage2 but that happened through a trick played on him by an acquaintance1 who1 to secure some remote chance of his seeing the performance1 told him that the doors opened at half-past six1 whereas1 in fact1 they opened at seven4 ,how preposterous1 then1 to suppose that he would let an opportunity pass for procrastinating other people1 and putting all manner of snares about their feet6 ,it is dangerous with such a man to hint of late hours2 for just that lateness is to him the very jewel of the thing4 ,in mentioning the circumstance1 you only suggest to him the infinite pleasure connected with the circumstance4 ,perhaps he will deliberately set to work to prove that candle-light is the one absolutely indispensable condition to genial intercourse1--which would doubtless suggest a great contrast1 in that respect1 between the ancient and modern economy1--and where1 then1 is there to be an end8 ,all attempts to extricate yourself by unravelling the net which is being woven about you are hopelessly vain2 you cannot keep pace with him4 ,the thought of delay enchants him1 and he dallies with it1 as a child with a pet delicacy4 ,thus1 he is at the house of a friend2 it storms1 and a reasonable excuse is furnished for his favorite experiment4 ,the consequence is1 that1 once started in this direction1 the delay is continued for a year4 ,late hours were particularly potent to draw out ,de ,quincey2 and1 understanding this1 ,professor ,wilson used to protract his dinners almost into the morning1 a tribute which ,de ,quincey doubtless appreciated4 ,so that it is better to be on the sly about saying ,good bye to this host of yours4 ,when1 however1 it was absolutely necessary to be gone1 ,de ,quincey forthwith insisted on accompanying his guest4 ,what1 then1 was to be done8 ,ominously the sky looked down upon them1 momently threatening a storm4 ,no resource was there but to give the man his way1 and accept his offer of companionship for a short distance1 painfully conscious though you are of the fact that every step taken forwards must1 during this same ,august night1 be retraced by the weary-looking old man at your side1 who now lacks barely four years of life's average allotment4 ,thus you move on3 and the heavens move on their hurricanes by nearer approaches1 warnings of which propagate themselves all around you in every sound of the wind and every rustle of the forest-leaves4 ,meanwhile1 there is no rest to the silvery vocal utterances of your companion3 every object by the way furnishes a ready topic for conversation4 ,just now you are passing an antiquated old mansion1 and your guide stops to tell you that in this house may have been committed most strange and horrible murders1 that1 in spite of the tempestuous mutterings heard on every side1 ought now and here to be specially and solemnly memorialized by human relation4 ,a woman passes by1 a perfect stranger1 but ,de ,quincey steps entirely out of the road to one side1 takes off his hat1 and in the most reverent attitude awaits her passage1--and you1 poor astonished mortal that you are1 lest you should yourself seem scandalously uncourteous1 are compelled to do likewise4 ,in this incident we see what infinite majesty invested the very semblance of humanity in ,de ,quincey's thoughts3 and something of the same remarkable courtesy was manifested by ,rufus ,choate1 who uniformly addressed the lowest of women in the witness-box as if they were every one of them worthy of the most queenly consideration4 ,onward you proceed1--one1--two1--three miles1 and you can endure no longer the thought that your friend shall go on farther1 increasing thus at every step the burden of his journey back4 ,you have1 reached the ,esk bank and the bridge which spans the stream2 the storm so long threatened begins now to let loose its rage against all unsheltered mortals4 ,here ,de ,quincey consents to bid you good-bye1--to you his last good-bye2 and as here you leave him1 so is he forever enshrined in your thoughts1 together with the primal mysteries of night and of storm1 of human tragedies and of the most pathetic human tenderness4 ,but this paper1 already sufficiently prolonged1 should draw to a close4 ,it is a source of great mortification to me that ,i cannot find some very disagreeable thing to say of ,de ,quincey1 merely as a matter of poetic justice2 for assuredly he was in the habit of saying all the malicious things he could about his friends4 ,if there was anything in a man's face or shape particularly uncouth1 you might trust ,de ,quincey for noticing that4 ,even ,wordsworth he could not let off without a ,parthian shot at his awkward legs and round shoulders2 ,dr4 ,parr he rated soundly on his mean proportions2 and one of the most unfortunate things which ever happened to the ,russian ,emperor ,alexander was to have been seen in ,london by ,de ,quincey1 who1 even amid the festivities of national and international congratulation on the fall of ,napoleon1 could not forget that this imperial ally was a very commonplace-looking fellow1 after all4 ,but1 in regard to physical superiority1 ,de ,quincey lived in a glass house too fragile to admit of his throwing many stones at his neighbors4 ,the very fact that he valued personal appearance at so low an estimate takes away the sting from his remarks on the deformities of other people3 he could not have meant any detraction1 but simply wished to present a perfect picture to the eye1 preserving the ugly features with the faultless1 just as we all insist on doing in regard to those we love4 ,de ,quincey and myself1 therefore1 are likely to part good friends4 ,surely1 if there was anything which vexed the tender heart of this man1 it was the little love and the infinite hate which went to make up the sum of life4 ,if morbid in any direction1 it was not in that of spite1 but of love2 and as an instance of almost unnatural intensity of affection1 witness his insane grief over little ,kate ,wordsworth's grave1--a grief which satisfied itself only by reasonless prostrations1 for whole nights1 over the dark mould which covered her from his sight4 ,it only remains for us to look in upon ,de ,quincey's last hours4 ,we are enabled to take almost the position of those who were permitted really to watch at his bedside1 through a slight unpublished sketch1 from the hand of his daughter1 in a letter to an ,american friend4 ,i tremble almost to use materials that personally are so sacred2 but sympathy1 and the tender interest which is awakened in our hearts by such a life1 are also sacred1 and in privilege stand nearest to grief4 ,during the few last1 days of his life ,de ,quincey wandered much1 mixing up real and imaginary1 or apparently imaginary things4 ,he complained1 one night1 that his feet were hot and tired4 ,his daughter arranged the blankets around them1 saying1 ,is that better1 papa8 when he answered1 ,yes1 my love1 ,i think it is2 you know1 my dear girl1 these are the feet that ,christ washed4 ,everything seemed to connect itself in his mind with little children4 ,he aroused one day1 and said suddenly1--,you must know1 my dear1 the ,edinburgh cabmen are the most brutal set of fellows under the sun4 ,i must tell you that ,i and the little children were all invited to supper with ,jesus ,christ4 ,so1 as you see1 it was a great honor4 ,i thought ,i must buy new dresses for the little ones2 and--would you believe it possible8--when ,i went out with the children1 these wretches laughed at their new dresses4 ,of my brothers he often spoke1 both those that are dead and those that are alive1 as if they were his own brothers4 ,one night he said1 when ,i entered the room1-- ',is that you1 ,horace8' ',no1 papa4' ',oh1 ,i see6 ,i thought you were ,horace2 for he was talking to me just now1 and ,i suppose has just left the room4' ,speaking of his father1 one day1 suddenly and without introduction1 he exclaimed1--,there is one thing ,i deeply regret1 that ,i did not know my dear father better2 for ,i am sure a better1 kinder1 or juster man could never have existed4 ,when death seemed approaching1 the physician recommended that a telegram should be sent to the eldest daughter1,a who resided in ,ireland1 but he forbade any mention of this fact to the patient4 ,de ,quincey seemed to have a prophetic feeling that she was on her way to him1 saying1 ,has ,m4 got to that town yet1 that we stopped at when we went to ,ireland8 ,how many hours will it be before she can be here8 ,let me see1--there are eight hours before ,i can see her1 and three added to that6 ,his daughter came sooner than the family expected2 but the time tallied very nearly with the computation he had made4 ,on the morning his daughter arrived occurred the first intimation his family had seen that the hand of death was laid upon him4 ,he had passed a quiet1 but rather sleepless night1 appearing much the same1 yet more than ordinarily loving4 ,after greeting his child1 he said1 ,and how does mamma's little girl like her leaving her8 ,oh1 they were very glad for me to come to grandpapa1 and they sent you this kiss1--which they did of their own accord4 ,he seemed much pleased4 ,it was evident that ,m4 presented herself to him as the mother of children1 the constant theme of his wanderings4 ,once when his daughter quitted the room1 he said1 ,they are all leaving me but my dear little children4 ,i heard him call1 one day1 distinctly1 ',florence6 ,florence6 ,florence6'--again1 ',my dear1 dear mother6'--and to the last he called us 'my love1' and it sounded like no other sound ever uttered4 ,i never heard such pathos as there was in it1 and in every tone of his voice4 ,it gave me an idea of a love that passeth all understanding4 ,footnote ,a3 ,de ,quincey1 at his death1 had two sons and three daughters4 ,the1 eldest of the daughters became the wife of ,robert ,craig of ,ireland4 ,it was this one1 and the youngest1 who were present during his last hours4 ,the second daughter1 ,florence1 was with her husband 7a colonel of the ,british army7 in ,india4 ,the two sons were both absent3 one in ,india1 a captain in the army2 the other1 a physician1 in ,brazil4 ,during the next night he was thought dying1 but he lingered on and on till half past nine the next morning4 ,he told me something about 'to-morrow morning1' and something about sunshine2 but the thought that he was talking about what he would never see drove the exact idea out of my head1 though ,i am sure it was morning in another world he was talking of4 ,there was an extraordinary appearance of youth about him1 both for some time before and after death4 ,he looked more like a boy of fourteen1 and very beautiful4 ,we did not like to let in the morning light1 and the candle was burning at nine o'clock1 when the post brought the following letter1 which my sister and myself glanced over by the candle-light1 just as we were listening to his decreasing breath4 ,at the moment it did not strike me with the astonishment1 at such an extraordinary coincidence1 that when we came to read it afterwards it did4 ',brighton1 ,dec4 #gth1 #ahei4 ',my ,dear ,de ,quincey1--,before ,i quit this world1 ,i most ardently desire to see your handwriting4 ,in early life1 that is1 more than sixty years ago1 we were school-fellows together and mutually attached2 nay1 ,i remember a boyish paper 7,the ,observer7 in which we were engaged4 ,yours has been a brilliant literary career1 mine far from brilliant1 but ,i hope not unuseful as a theological student4 ,it seems a pity we should not once more recognize one another before quitting the stage4 ,i have often read your works1 and never without remembering the promise of your talents at ,winkfield4 ,my life has been almost a domestic tragedy4 ,i have four children in lunatic-asylums4 ,thank ,god1 it is now drawing to a close2 but it would cheer the evening of my days to receive a line from you1 for ,i am1 with much sincerity1 ',your old and attached friend1 ',e4,h4,g4' ,i do not remember the name of ,g41 but the name of ,edward constantly recurred in his wanderings4 ,half an hour after the reading of that letter we heard those last pathetic sighs1 so terrible from their very softness1 and saw the poor1 worn-out garment laid aside4 ,just before he died1 he looked around the room1 and said very tenderly to the nurse1 the physician1 and his daughters1 who were present1 ,thank you1--thank you all6 ,sensible thus to the very last of kindness1 he breathed out his life in simple thanks1 swayed even in death by the spirit of profound courtesy that had ruled his life4 ,,mrs4 ,,lewis4 ,a ,,story ,,in ,,three ,,parts4 ,,part ,i4 ,i4 ,here's something ,gus ,lewis would like to send by you1 mother1 said my hasty boy ,john1 plunging into the room at nine in the evening1 and stumbling over two trunks1 three valises1 and bandboxes countless4 ,the floor was strewn with bundles1 and the mantel-piece adorned with letters1 directed to ,springfield1 ,hartford1 ,new ,haven1 and ,new ,york4 ,oh6 ah6 yes4 ,any packages1 if not too large1 said ,i1 wistfully eying the box1 7a foot square17 full of fresh maple-sugar1 with its card of direction to ,mrs4 ,lulu ,l41 by the politeness of ,mrs4 ,prince4 ,boy-like4 ,first of all1 my ,john1 go you to bed1 where ,charley has been this half-hour1 and say good-bye1 for we shall be off before you are up4 ,see1 then1 father1 if you are6 retorted the wide-awake youth1 going out of the room in ground and lofty tumbling1 and up-stairs in somersets4 ,i don't see1 said ,i1 pettishly1 how ,i am to get this bundle into my trunk1 nor where in the world this great box of sugar is to go4 ,see6 not a direction6 but ,i suppose she is in ,new ,york somewhere4 ,we shall see her at all events1 which is something4 ,i should like to know what she is like1--not to look after her boy for two mortal years1 said the ,dominie4 ,i hope not like ,gus4 ,he'd make an ugly woman1 with his black hair and heavy eyebrows1 and his big1 black eyes always staring4 ,he don't look like an ,american child4 ,if we could only say what an ,american type is4 ,at present1 it is a little of everything4 ,i mean a ,new-,englander1--an original ,american4 ,well1 he don't4--,what do you say to these trunks8 ,shall we try again to compress the gigantic genie into the copper vessel8 ,i thought it was a dangerous move1 that last one of yours1 taking out ,tirzah ,white's quilted coat4 ,and what's to be done with these three packages8 ,well6 we can't sit here6 said ,i1 briskly2 half-past nine already1 and only one trunk packed6 ,never mind4 ,you can put these three bundles in with your clothes4 ,bursting the lock1 now4 ,how easy 'tis to pack other people's things6 ,but what1 then1 have you in there1--,i mean1 besides your shirts1 etc48 ,imprimis4 ,eight volumes of ,scott's ,commentaries1 brought by ,deacon ,boardman4 ,i am to exchange them4 ,they are imperfect4 ,item4 ,a dozen of ',sinbad the ,sailor1' sent by mistake to the ,association1 instead of ,doddridge4 ,these books won't press nor give1 more than sound doctrine2 and ,i must have room for my gown1 without which ,i am nothing4 ,the clock struck ten1 and we were still struggling with unabated ardor to compress ,lorana ,briggs's shawl1 and the flat packages from ,burt's1 into the largest carpet-bag1 that there might be room for the seventeen letters on top of the minister's luggage1 inside the sanctuary of his silk gown4 ,we can carry a good deal in your coat-pocket1 my dear1 said ,i1 cheerfully2 for really we seemed to be coming to daylight1 a little4 ,full4 ,the knocker sounded4 ,my galoches at last6 ,deacon1 ,i can't ask you to come in1 we are so untidy2 but ,i couldn't pack as ,i meant to1 this afternoon4 ,how we dreaded his coming in1--half deacon1 half shoemaker1 and two-thirds missionary1 with his ,panoplist sticking out of his coat-pocket1 and his ears evermore pricked up for the latest news from ,bombay6 and how angry ,i had been for three weeks because ,i couldn't get those indispensable galoches6 ,it seemed as if he never would go from the half-open door4 ,he reckoned the ,york folks would stare to see so many patches2 he expected ministers down to ,york warn't quite so carfle and troubled about many things1 as they be to ,weston2 but he added1 with a grim joyfulness1-- ,we took up a good collection1 though1 last ,sabbath6 eight dollars and fifteen cents1 clear6 ,yes1 ,deacon1 responded the minister1 with as much heartiness as he could muster1 between the pushings1 puffings1 and pressings at the carpet-bag2 a cup of cold water shall in no wise lose its reward1 we're told4--,these carpet-bags stretch well6 ,them poor1 dear heathen6 groaned the ,deacon4 ,oh1 dreadful6 chimed ,i2 give me that biggest shawl1 will you8--no1 the other1--,ursula ,drury's6 ,shall we ever finish packing8 ,s'pose ye'll see th' ,a4,b4,c4,f4,m46--,lucina ,rand's put in 'the avails of a hen1'--and ,semela ,briggs sold the silver thimble her aunt gin her4 ',t all helps the good work4 ,i told the ,widow ,rand she'd ough' to do somethin' for the heathen1 so she's gone to raisin' mustard4 ,she said she hadn't more 'n a grain o' that to spare1 she was so poor2 but ,i told her 't would be blest1 ,i guessed4 ,widow ,rand's rather worldly-minded1 ,i'm afraid4 ,a minute more and we should have had ,hindostan1 ,harriet ,newell1 and ,juggernaut4 ,happily1 somebody came for the ,deacon1 and we were left to our packing again4 ,,ii4 ,this was the second week in ,may1 in the year #ahcj4 ,we were a promising country1 but had not yet performed4 ,neither railroads1 telegraphs1 nor cheap postage had been established4 ,enthusiastic inventors yet sucked their fingers in garrets1 waiting for the good time coming2 and philanthropic statesmen aired their vocabularies in vain1 in ,congressional halls1 built in defiance of acoustics4 ,their words rose1 their fine sentiments curled up and down the pillars of the temple of eloquence1 and fell flat to the floor4 ,meanwhile human nature travelled by stage-coaches2 and postage for over a hundred miles rose to eighteen cents4 ,not a lover's sigh for a cent less2 and it took a fortune for persons of sensibility to exchange sentiments4 ,the consequence to country-people of this last-mentioned fact was1 that everybody who went anywhere took everybody's letters1 and1 as there were no expresses1 added1 of course1 everybody's packages and messages4 ,and the consequence of this was1 that everybody made everybody's purchases1 whether gowns1 books1 bonnets1 or what not4 ,it mattered little who did errands1 so only they were done4 ,generally1 the one store-keeper bought our bonnets when he went to ,boston for his yearly stock of goods1 and our one bonnet lasted in those days a year1 being retrimmed for winter weather4 ,i remember1 too1 when our one store-keeper1 mingling in the sthetic conversation at one of our parties1 where ,art was on the tapis1 made a comical mistake1 but one natural enough1 too1--stating that he could buy1 and had bought1 ,vandykes for ten dollars4 ,we were not thinking of exactly the same kind of ,vandyke that he was4 ,many a time have ,i carried in my trunk more letters than the mail-bag did to ,boston1 and conscientiously finished all the parish's business before touching my own4 ,a certain amount of self-complacency and satisfaction is felt1 and laudably earned1 by being intrusted with commissions2 and ,i flatter myself few persons ever set off for ,new ,york with such an array of them as ,i did on this occasion4 ,looking over my list1 ,i must confess to a flush of real enjoyment at finding carte blanche for a scarf4 ,now1 that is something like6 said ,i4 ,i can see now how pleasantly an artist feels1 or would feel1 at an order for a picture1--'your own subject1--your own terms4' ,miss ,patty ,jones knows what is what1 and shall be my patroness4 ,and did ,i not vindicate triumphantly ,miss ,patty's confidence8 ,i knew better than to buy her a gray and brown thing1 merely because she1 too1 was gray and brown4 ,i wreathed her with lilies and hyacinths and ,french green leaves1 and she blossomed under it like a rose4 ,if she were not the garland1 she wore it1 and so borrowed bloom and gay freshness4 ,she extolled my taste to all ,weston4 ,then ,mrs4 ,eben ,loring had concluded on the whole that ,i should buy her a hat1 in ,maiden ,lane1 at the very tip-top milliner's4 ,the thought of my return was somewhat embittered by the prospective necessity of carrying two very large bandboxes in my lap1 in case of rain4 ,rain might not unreasonably be expected in the course of a three days' journey4 ,think of all the bandboxes that in such a case would be put in at the coach-window by the driver1 to be held in the hapless laps of the nine passengers6 ,almost ,i was persuaded to leave my own black satin bonnet1 and perambulate the streets of ,new ,york in my travelling-calash1 which looked exactly like1 and was nearly of the size of1 a bellows-top shay4 ,i was thinking of this last sacrifice1 when my husband said1 in a dreamy1 bewildered way1-- ,here are five boxes1 mother1 two bundles1 and the rest of these books4 ,i give up6 ,give up8 ,not ,i6 ,now1 where a man's energies are exhausted1 a woman's just begin to show themselves4 ,first and foremost1 lock this trunk1 and let me put the key in my pocket4 ,that's one thing done1 and can't be undone4 ,he stepped back from the trunk4 ,what's this8 all your clothes on the floor6 ,well1 yes1 my dear1 most of 'em4 ,you see1 ,i couldn't leave ,zipporah ,haven's shawl out1 which she sends to her grandmother2 and ,i must put in these bundles of the ,burts's1 and ,mary ,skinner's box of linen thread4 ,if my own things are lost1 why1 they must be replaced1 you know1 my dear2 that is all4 ,and we must keep a good lookout1 ourselves1 that our bandboxes and bundles don't fall off behind1 replied the ,dominie1 faintly4 ,yes2 and you can put the small trunk under my feet1 and the big basket under your own1 and you will keep an eye on my red shawl1--and pray don't lose the umbrella1 nor your great-coat1 nor your cane4 ,i will1 on my part1 see to these three small bundles1 and my parasol4 ,doubtless we shall go on smoothly as need be1 only ,i am afraid you won't be able to think up many sermons on the highway4 ,there6 ,i forgot the jar of currant-jelly to go to ,ruth ,hoyt's aunt6 ,however1 we must manage somehow4 ,you are sure our names are down at the stage-office8 ,but1 like ,charles ,,xii41 after ,pultowa's dreadful day1 when the tale-teller listened for his sympathy1 ,the king had been an hour asleep4 ,i am ashamed to say that ,i must have lost myself after that1 though ,i thought ,i was only thinking of the ,day of ,judgment4 ,but ,i must have dreamed it1 or how should ,i have thought it the last trumpet1 when it was only the stage-driver's warning knock8 ,it was delightful to hear the knock1 and the simultaneous clang of pots and pans which assured us1 that1 though night had been no night to us1 the dark morning would usher in our breakfast with coffee by the faithful ,polly4 ,the driver coming in again before we had finished1 we seduced him without scruple into taking a cup of boiling comfort1 while we guiltily collected the waifs and strays of our multifarious luggage4 ,many a time ,i have waited1 myself1 in the coach1 while similar orgies were going on among the unready1 so ,i know just how vexed and impatient the passengers were4 ,but what use to go on without the driver8 ,at last we squeezed into the full stage4 ,,iii4 ,no sooner in than out1 however4 ,i was determined not to die before my time1 as ,i was sure to do on the back-seat of an overloaded stage1 with nine passengers1 besides numerous1 because gratuitously earned1 children4 ,for who1 as it was sometimes pertinently asked1 would charge anything for a poor little innocent child8 ,the younger1 the more innocent1 of course1 and the more numerous4 ,if you'll set up here 'long o' me1 ,miss ,prince1 there's a plenty o' room1--and for you1 too1 ,parson1 said the good-natured driver4 ,extricating ourselves from the ,black ,hole1 we delightedly clambered to the heights above1 regardless of risk1 and catching at wheel and step like ,alpine hunters4 ,how comfortable the seat was1 with the fresh1 early morning air blowing freely in our faces6 ,how small the horses looked in the dim light of three o'clock6 ,how oddly the wheel-horses looked1 all backs and no legs6--and how mysteriously many were the reins that were tied round and round the iron lantern-rod6 ,just let me put the mail-bag under your feet1 ,miss ,prince4 ,here we are1 now1 all right1 and nothin' to do but go along6 ,now1 then6 ,come up6 come6 come6 ,but in vain were caresses2 in vain were chirrups1 duckings1 and kisses1 wafted to the nigh leader4 ,like the rebellious ,south of to-day1 he had taken his attitude1 and stood now on four legs1 now on two1 pawing only the dark air1 and regardless of the general welfare behind him4 ,now what will you do1 driver8 said cowardly ,i1 who1 always mortally afraid of horse-flesh1 felt on this occasion a strange confidence3 partly in the staid1 heavy mass of determination beside me1 who looked so calm and good-natured2 and partly in the queer1 elfin look of the beast1 who seemed so far off as to have no necessary connection with our safety or ultimate progress4 ,it seemed quite possible for us to get on with the other three pulling1 while our demoniacal friend ornamented the occasion by plunges1 rearings1 and kickings4 ,still gathering the reins lightly in his large hand1 the stable and sure intelligence beside me calmly chirruped1 and then as calmly switched his long whip at the distant rebel brute4 ,how the switching and snapping galled his proud neck6 ,how his black back curved1 and his small head tossed6 ,still1 he would not pull an ounce1 but just pawed like a fairy horse1 or as if he were born to tread on clouds alone1 or to herald in the morning4 ,he'll start by-'m-by1--he's a devil of a spirit in him1 when he doos start1 remarked our ,phoebus1 composedly1 giving1 through the darkness1 the unerring switch every half minute4 ,what acted on the capricious thing at last1--whether the ,inevitability behind him1 or the folly exhausting itself1 nobody knows2 but the beautiful disdain left his black back and tossing mane in a moment1 and he buckled down to his work with an energy worthy of the cause1 and with a good-will that was an example to the other three4 ,there6 you see he can do well enough1 'f he's jest a mind to6 nothin' wantin' but the will6 ,there's a pair on 'em1 said the driver1 but ,i won't never drive 'em together4 ,staples drove the pair last summer4 ,he says they'd run till they dropped down dead4 ,i guess they would4 ,he's a putty critter enough1 and well made1 but dreadful ugly4 ,now1 ,i like that 'ere wheeler6--he pointed his whip towards the horse below my foot4 ,she's kind1--that mare is2 and she's fast enough1 and handsome4 ,broad back1--short legs1--goes like a duck6 ,in such pleasant chat 7and why not8 for wasn't the driver a cousin of my own8--a man of means1--owning his team1--and with more knowledge of his district than most members of ,congress have8 ,indeed1 ,i believe he's in ,congress this minute67 we pulled up hill and tore down dale4 ,nobody knows a hill by experience but ,new-,hampshire travellers4 ,the ,green ,mountains are full of comparatively gentle slopes1 and verdure crowns their highest and tallest tops2 but the hills of ,new ,hampshire are ,alpine in their steepness and barrenness1 and the roads of old time made by the ,puritans took the ,devil by the horns4 ,there was no circuitous1 soothing1 easy passage4 ,the road ran straight over mountains and pitched deep down ravines1 the surveyors having evidently kept only in view the shortest air-line between places4 ,sometimes we chained the wheels1 but not often4 ,oftenest we ran down a steep place1 and the impetus carried us up the opposite hill4 ,at the foot of a long hill1 of a two-mile stretch1 the driver generally stopped1 to indicate the propriety of the male passengers1 at least1 ascending the hill on foot4 ,and often the whole stage-load gladly availed itself of the permission4 ,it was handy for the owners of bandboxes1 to pick them up from the rocky road1 as they tumbled off now and then2 and the four beasts1 like those in ,revelation1 said ,amen to the kindly impulse of humanity that lightened their load1 and left them to scramble comfortably from one side to the other of the still ascending path4 ,when they did get to the top of some of those ,walpole hills1 would they could have taken in the living glory and beauty of the far-reaching and most magnificent landscape6 ,,iv4 ,we had the mails to change at the post-offices1 and a seemingly inexhaustible store1 intrusted to the care and courtesy of the driver1 and surrounding him like a rampart1--of newspapers1 bundles1 cans1 pillow-cases full of dried apples1 and often letters4 ,at the red house near the mill below ,surrey1 a sweet-looking girl ran out1 as we passed1 holding her hand forward for a letter1 which our driver pretended to drop half a dozen times1 on purpose to tantalize her4 ,it was pretty to see her blushing1 sparkling face1 as the blood danced to her brow with hope1 and back with the baffled expectancy to her heart4 ,neouw1 ,sil1 be still6 give to me1 yeouw6 ,if it hadn't been ,yankee1 it was soft and melodious enough for an ,italian peasant4 ,as picturesque1 too1 was her short1 blue woollen petticoat1 and white short-gown1 that half hid and half revealed the unconstrained grace of healthy mountain-nature2 and more modest the happy look with which she received the letter at last1 and flew with it like a bird back to the red nest4 ,a love-letter1 ,i suppose1 said ,i1 answering the twinkle of the driver's good-natured eye4 ,wal1 ,i expect 's likely4 ,they've been sparking now over a year4 ,and it's a pity1 too1 such a real clever girl as that is6 ,she a'n't so dreadful bright1 but she's real clever1 and ough' to hev a better chance 'n ,jim ,ruggles4 ,a bad match for her8 ,wal1 ,jim's a good feller enough1 but he drinks4 ,i don't mean to say nothin' agin moderate drinkin'4 ,i drink myself moderately4 ,but ,jim's a real sponge4 ,he'd drink all day hard and never show it1 without it is bein' cross1 maybe1 and paler 'n common4 ,now ,i say1--and ,i a'n't no 'reformed inebriate1' nor ,father ,matthew sort1--but ,i do say1 and will hold to it1 such a man at twenty-one makes a poor beginnin'4 ,if he lives1 he'll be a poor shote1 and no mistake4 ,i'm sorry for the gal4 ,somebody ought to tell her4 ,why not you8 ,wal1 what's the good on 't8 ,she wouldn't hear a word4 ,when a woman's once sot her mind1 don't do no good to talk4 ,for that matter1 talkin' never did do much1 ,i'm thinkin'1--exceptin' preachin'4 ,we're bound to hear that1 ,parson1 he added1 laughing1 and with a nod which might seem respectful4 ,in three hours we had driven thirteen miles4 ,pretty good progress this of a warm day1 and with a full complement of passengers4 ,we had watched the sun rise over ,walpole hills1 and the specks in the distance where the early farmers were ploughing and sowing4 ,the breaking day1 the bursting spring1 and all the outward melodies with which the welcoming day rings as we toil on1 are so many incentives to appetite1 and we are all sharp for the ready breakfast1 at six o'clock4 ,then1 as ,i am talking of the past1 and not of the present1 there was time enough3 time enough for the comfortable discussion of breakfast1 for the changing of raiment among the babies1 for chatting in the bar-room1 for the interchange of news among the men1 and even for glasses of milk-punch4 ,tell it not in modern ,gath that even the ,dominie spiced his half-mug of flip with an anecdote1 and that every man and woman took cider as well as coffee4 ,how can ,i describe the events and vicissitudes that befell us during this journey of three days and a half to ,new ,york8 ,modern travellers1 who are1 or are not1 as it happens1 run off the track1 smashed up1 or otherwise suddenly and summarily disposed of1 have little notion of our successive and amusing accidents1 and of how they diversified and occupied the mind1 so as entirely to preclude the ennui which comes from railroad-travelling1 with its ninety-nine chances of safety to one of accident4 ,that we were tipped out and over repeatedly1--that one of the leaders had fits1 7which amiable weakness was understood and allowed for by our driver1 who was in hopes the critter wouldn't have 'em that day17--that the coach wholly collapsed once1 letting all the patient passengers into a promiscuous heap of unbroken bones1--this1 and such as this1 will be easily believed by any ,new-,england traveller who remembers thirty years back4 ,but how we fell so softly that the brains were never damaged1--why falling into ditches at night wasn't an unhealthy process1--and1 above all1 how the driver's stock of leathern straps1 strings1 and nails should always prove exhaustless1 and be always so wonderfully adapted to every emergency1--that was a wonder1 and is a wonder still to me4 ,no amount of mechanical skill1 though the ,yankee has made machines that almost think1 and altogether do1 for him1 has superseded or exhausted his natural tact1 expediency1 and invention4 ,with string and nail in his pocket1 ,i would defy the horses of ,phoebus to get away from a ,yankee1 or his chariot to get out of gear2 and if ,phaeton had only been a ,vermonter1 the deserts of ,ethiopia might to this day have been covered with roses instead of sand4 ,our driver1 though he didn't know his own powers1 knew all about ,phoebus1 and had read ,virgil and ,ovid by the light of a pine-knot in his father's kitchen4 ,this rude culture is the commonest fact among our mountaineers4 ,we stopped over one day in ,hartford1 to see the deaf-mutes4 ,their bright1 concentrated1 eager looks haunted me long after4 ,i should like to know who would stop anywhere now to see anything6 ,one might as well be put into a gun and fired off to ,new ,york as go there now by steam-cars4 ,line a gun with red plush1 and it is not unlike a resonant steam-eagle4 ,and you would see as much in one as in the other4 ,but travelling in #ahcj enlarged your mind4 ,a journey then was one as was a journey4 ,you saw people1 you made their acquaintance1 you entered their hearts and took lodgings1--sometimes for life4 ,then the country6 ,you saw that1 too1--not the poorest part of it1 scooting round wherever it is most level1 till you pronounce the whole way flat1 and are glad to shut your eyes and listen to the engine1 rather than have them ache with seeing everything you would never wish to look at6 ,all these days were full of great1 beautiful pictures4 ,from the time we leave the ,granite ,state1 with it a wild1 fierce grandeur1 its long1 dreary reaches of unfertile pastures1 and its wealth of stone wall1--so abundant that travellers wonder where the stones came from to build it1 seeing no lack in the road or field1--from the time we enter on trim1 well-kept ,massachusetts1 the panorama shifts with ever new interest and beauty4 ,we leave the pretentious brick houses1 or the glaring white ones1 which mark the uncultivated taste of the ,american ,switzerland1 and enter for the first time regions impressed with the necessary element of fine landscape1 maturity4 ,with and under the old oaks and birches rest the sad-colored houses that have held life and experience1--birth1 death1 and old historic adventure4 ,looking over the broad meadows that skirt the ,connecticut by ,hadley and ,northampton1 one seems to see under the distant oaks spectral shapes of ,indian struggle1 or wandering regicides1 hiding their noble heads in caves1 or bursting out like white spirits to lead and avenge4 ,the air is peopled with traditions far back from the present1 but with which the grave1 imposing1 characteristic landscape seems still to sympathize4 ,in two days we emerged from the brown chrysalis of a ,new-,hampshire spring into the exultant richness of the winged butterfly1--into white1 fragrant fields of blossoming fruit1 and the odor of tree-lilacs4 ,in my enchantment at the bounteous panorama that spread out before me in ever varying abundance1 ,i forgot to cultivate any interest in my fellow-passengers1 and1 except in listening to some communicative old women1 might really1 as far as society was concerned1 as well have been travelling in the style of to-day4 ,beyond the casual acquaintances ,i made when rain compelled me to indoor chat1 ,i saw nobody who interested me until we reached ,springfield4 ,there1 at the top of the first short hill outside the town1 after looking back on the white houses standing in the river-mist like so many ghosts in white muslin1 ,i saw somebody whom my prophetic soul announced as a companion1 looking wholly unlike a ghost1 and very unlike a mist4 ,he raised his hand1 just as we were about passing him1 as if signalling an omnibus1 and our driver suddenly reined in his team4 ,a full1 hearty voice1 not a bit nasal1 but fresh from the broad chest1 showed us a traveller by the road-side1 waiting to be taken up4 ,he sprang with two bounds to the top of the coach1 and made room for himself just above us among the countless boxes4 ,don't let me disturb you1 ,madam ,all right4 ,just room for my bag4 ,go on1 driver4 ,fine day1 said we4 ,a warm morning4 ,i have been walking for the last fifteen miles1--but the sun is too hot for me4 ,he took off his travelling-hat of weather-beaten ,panama1 and dried his broad brow with his handkerchief4 ,then he looked at us with clear blue eyes1 and tossed back his curling brown hair4 ,he had a gray travelling-dress1 such as everybody wears now1 but which was then a novelty2 and something in his curt1 clear accents1 and his crimson lips1 and the fresh life in his limbs and action1 betrayed that he was not an ,american4 ,so much the better4 ,v4 ,i said he looked sharply at us two4 ,he seemed to have a habit of investigating1 at least to a certain extent2 and he took us in at once1 evidently4 ,a country-parson and his wife4 ,if ,i say his pretty wife1 ,i will promise faithfully that it shall be the last time ,i will refer to myself or my prettiness1 the whole way1 further than may be absolutely necessary2 and it isn't every woman who will do as much4 ,for with this man and his belongings ,i came to have much to do in the course of the next five years4 ,little thought ,i1 as ,i heard him chatting soberly with my husband1 and nodding from time to time gravely at me1 as ,if to take me into the conversation1--little thought ,i of the shadow he would one day cast over both of our lives6 ,he showed us his travelling-apparatus for making a cup of tea in ten minutes1 toasting bread1 and boiling eggs4 ,it was like a doll's cooking-stove six inches square1 a curious invention1 new then1 and a wonderful convenience4 ,with my tea and this1 said he1 ,i can go over the ,united ,states4 ,good bread and sweet butter ,i can always get at your farm-houses1 and ,i often walk fifty miles together4 ,we looked and spoke our ,new-,english astonishment4 ,in our part of the world nobody walked anywhere4 ,everybody1 however poor1 had a wagon1 if not a chaise2 and he must be miserable indeed who did not own at least one horse4 ,nobody in his sober senses demeaned himself to walking4 ,perhaps it was the climate4 ,perhaps our fathers instituted the custom1 to be as unlike the ,british as possible1--as they did of making their houses like lanterns1 to show they had no window-tax to pay4 ,this man's hearty voice and healthy frame1 charged1 as it seemed1 with fresh air1 jollity1 and strength1 made us think better of walking4 ,we looked at his six feet of height1 his broad chest1 and his firmly knit limbs1 and fancied how ,antaeus gained supernatural vigor from natural contact3 he trod the earth with a loving and free step1 as a child approaches and caresses his mother4 ,so1 too1 his voice1 and the topics he chose in talking1 gave us the feeling of out-door existence always connected with him3 of singing-birds1 and the breeze of mountain-tops1 of great walnut- and chesnut-trees1 and children gathering nuts beneath2 never of the solemn hush of pines1 or twilight1 or anything sough-ing or whispering3 no1 all about him sounded like the free1 dashing1 rushing water4 ,so were his bright blue eyes1 merry lips1 and wind-crimsoned cheeks1 interpreters of his nature4 ,they linked him firmly to the outward4 ,the man's soul was made up of joyfulness1 strength1 and a sort of purposeless activity1--energy for its own sake4 ,while his energies harmonized with the right1 or were exercised in the pursuit of knowledge1 one felt that he would have much power for good4 ,but suppose his activities to take a wrong direction1 all his powers would help him to be and enjoy the wrong4 ,in either case1 his nature would have the same harmonious energy1 and the moral part of him would not disturb the balance of his character4 ,he had no special liking for evil1 ,i am sure2 yet1 according to all the theories1 his intense love of ,nature ought to have elevated and refined him far more than it had done4 ,before we had been an hour together1 ,i had also observed that he was good-natured1 impulsive1 and1 in a sort1 kindly1--that he loved himself and his own enjoyment too well ever knowingly to annoy or distress another4 ,there is a little difference between this and kindness4 ,no matter how ,i found him out4 ,he who runs may read1 if he looks sharply enough2 and in travelling1 people betray and assert character continually4 ,i was also as sure as ,i was years afterwards1 that he would walk rough-shod over heart-violets and -daisies1 nor once notice them bleeding under his heel4 ,it was in the grain of the man's nature4 ,he had lived at least thirty-five years1 and was too old to be made over into anything else by any experience4 ,his bag was half full of tulip-bulbs which he had bought and begged1 he said4 ,he had a passion at present for cultivating tulips1 and was quite sure1 that1 if he had lived in the seventeenth instead of the nineteenth century1 he would have ruined himself twenty times over for a favorite bulb1 even without being a ,dutchman4 ,his dominant idea1 to which for the first hour he sacrificed without scruple every other1 was flowers4 ,i had a mischievous pleasure in professing a similar passion1 on purpose to confound him with a description of a ,weston flower-garden4 ,if he talked of jessamine and ,daphne odora1 ,i talked of phlox and bachelor's-buttons4 ,if he raved of azaleas and gladioluses1 ,i told him of our ,china-asters1 sunflowers1 and hollyhocks4 ,ah1 now ,i see you are laughing at me6 said he1 good-humoredly1 after ,i had said1 that1 after all1 ,i could not get up an admiration for day-lilies or tulips2 promise me that ,i may show you my tulips1 and ,i will promise you that you shall like botany hereafter4 ,we agreed at last to bury the hatchet at the foot of a rose-bush1 which ,i said ,i would allow1 excused the existence of other flowers4 ,the bulbs he gave me on the top of the stage-coach that day made a revolution in the taste of ,weston2 and some climbing plants1 from his house afterwards1 took root in our rude homes1 and have displaced the old glaring colors with soft beauty and grace4 ,before ,i left ,weston1 which happened in time1 we had prairie-roses1 honeysuckles1 and woodbine clambering over half the houses in the place1 and bouncing-,bets were extinguished forever4 ,i forgot that we had never heard this man's name1 though it did not matter at all4 ,he was a cultivated gentleman1 and we had no occasion for introduction4 ,we met freely on that platform1 and it was pleasant to us to talk on so many subjects outside of personal interest4 ,he had travelled1 and gave us results1 in a sketchy1 off-hand way1 of much that he had observed that was extremely entertaining in foreign manners4 ,suddenly his loud1 cheery voice rang out1-- ,halloo1 old boy1 get up here6 ,he did get up1 a languid1 pale man1 with sharp features1 and a frame so attenuated that ,i involuntarily placed a soft bag for him to lean against1 and removed a cane and umbrella that seemed likely to hurt his bones4 ,it was about half an hour before ,i saw that the new man was not at all an invalid1 but of the natural gaunt frame and pallid complexion of my countrymen4 ,my eyes had become so full of the fresh1 rosy life of the ,englishman's face1 that the new man's face was bleached and unhealthy to me4 ,i happened to glance back from him to the ,dominie1 and saw1 that1 allowing for green spectacles1 they were both of a color4 ,we were so arranged on the top of the coach1 that with reasonable twisting of necks we were able to maintain an animated conversation1 and soon found our account in the new element4 ,well1 ,remington6 ,well1 ,lewis6 ,where from now8 ,from ,niagara1 and home by the ,white ,hills4 ,and what of the last1 or of both8 ,miss ,rugg has fallen into the one1 and ,miss ,somebody has been to the top of the other4 ,had to be brought down1 though4 ,women shouldn't climb mountains4 ,there has been some talk of a road1 or practicable path at least1 to the top of ,mount ,washington4 ,never'll be done4 ,impossible on the face of the thing4 ,nothing is impossible to ,yankees1 ,remington4 ,this is4 ,and now1 ,lewis1 whence come you1 and whither go8 ,from ,weston1 and to ,new ,york4 ,here was a denouement6 ,we looked at him with new interest1 and saw at once1 such was the force of imagination1 the very eyes and eyebrows of ,gus ,lewis4 ,however1 it proved afterwards to be only imagination4 ,when we told him we came from ,weston only two days and a half before1 the conversation assumed the native style of ,new ,england1 and for the next quarter of an hour we talked of each other and each other's affairs4' ,mr4 ,lewis was delighted to see us1 had stayed only an hour in ,weston1 and there heard of our trip from ,auguste1--profanely called ,gus1--took the box of maple-sugar in charge at once1 laughed at the boy-like direction without even a surname1 and ended with recommending us to go at once to ,miss ,post's1 on ,broadway1 where himself and his wife were at present boarding4 ,all the particulars of life1 character1 and relative interests were discussed between ourselves and ,mr4 ,lewis with the relish and zest of compatriots4 ,i had forgotten how close a tie was that of ,yankee birth1 and how like an unknown tongue our talk was to the ,englishman1 till we stopped and turned to him to say something1 and found him fast asleep4 ,then ,i was glad that he hadn't heard my satirical description of donation-parties at ,weston1 nor the account ,i gave of our two boys1 our salary of five hundred dollars1 and the various comical shifts we had to make to live comfortably on that sum and support aged parents and graceless relations4 ,little touches told ,mr4 ,lewis the whole story4 ,i knew very well that ,mr4 ,remington would be entirely abroad about such a social existence as ours in ,weston1 travel he ever so long or widely4 ,mr4 ,lewis had black eyes and hair1 and bent like an habitual student4 ,he had a scar on his right eyebrow1 which he had got by a fall1 and by which he had saved the life of ,mr4 ,remington1 who was a connection of his wife's4 ,this he told us1 afterwards1 and ,i amused myself with drawing parallels between his face and his mind4 ,one side was gentle1 sweet-humored1 sentimental1 with a touch of melancholy4 ,the other1 disfigured with the scar1 seemed to have been turned harsh1 suspicious1 proud1 reserved1 and unrelenting4 ,these were many qualities1 all to depend on a scar1 to be sure2 but they generally herd together1 and he might be one man or another1 as life presented its dark or sunny side to him4 ,to me1 he was very interesting1 from the first2 and my husband was delighted with him4 ,the ,dominie starved in ,weston for congenial intellectual nutriment4 ,nobody but myself could tell what a drain it was on him always to impart1 always to simplify1 to descend1 to walk on the ground with wings folded flat to his back1 and the angel in him habitually kept out of view4 ,the most he could do was to insinuate now and then a thought above the farming interest1 and in a direction aside from ,bombay4 ,more than that exposed him to suspicion1 and hindered his usefulness in ,cos ,county4 ,somehow1 we got talking of ,mr4 ,remington1 which we might well do1 seeing him there before us1 sleeping like a baby4 ,that he could always do1 like ,napoleon1 said ,mr4 ,lewis1 and so can accomplish much without fatigue4 ,is he married8 said ,i4 ,yes4 ,his wife is in delicate health4 ,i was surprised to hear that he was married4 ,he hasn't a married look1 has he8 ,you are talking about me1 said ,remington1 waking up4 ,i felt it mesmerically4 ,and1 to give you a good opportunity1 ,i will walk a mile or two4 ,give me a good character1 ,lewis4 ,hold up1 driver6 ,springing down1 he went on1 laughing1 before us1 now and then calling back to ask if we were nearly through8 ,he has not the 'subdued domestic smile upon his features mild'1 that marks the man who has a wife at home1 said ,i4 ,no4 ,he is a man1 however1 born under a lucky star1 and his cup filled with good-fortune to the brim4 ,his self-lordship has been to him no heritage of woe1 thus far4 ,a certain happiness1 but necessarily of a poor quality1 comes from being able to gratify our wishes4 ,if he has no more1 it is poor enough4 ,do you mean that pleasure must be an outgrowth of pain to be properly appreciated8 said ,mr4 ,lewis4 ,somewhat1--mostly1 said the minister2 since the insensibility that protects one from pain prevents also delicate picture4 ,i think1 indeed1 a rational being must suffer in order to enjoy1 after infancy4 ,his eyes don't look as if they had been in training of any sort1 said ,i1 without knowing what my words implied1 till ,i saw the harsh expression on ,mr4 ,lewis's face4' ,i mean that they have a sort of undisciplined expression1 as if he had never been tamed by suffering or sorrow of any sort1 said ,i4 ,that sadness is the true human look1 said the minister1 the look that redeems us from the mere animal expression of enjoyment4 ,it is the stamp ,god puts on those ,he loves4 ,he chastens them2 after that1 they are no more servants1 but sons of the house4 ,i saw by ,mr4 ,lewis's eyes that he understood and felt this4 ,also1 that from his nature he bought his enjoyments every step of the way of life4 ,how differently his cousin laid hold on the cornucopia of enjoyment1 and covered himself with bountiful beauty1 drinking in at every sense pleasure6 ,the former1 as could be seen too1 held his title to happiness by the most uncertain tenure2 the nervous quiver betraying1 and the sensitive blood witnessing1 how keenly he felt and how dearly he paid for every passing pleasure4 ,i remember1 as ,i saw his purple1 thrilling face1 that ,i hoped his home-life was happy1 feeling that to such a man it must be everything4 ,yet ,i was sure1 from what he did not say1 with eye or lips1 that he had not learned religious trust4 ,still1 he did not listen to the mere minister1 but to the friend2 and there sprang up between the two the corresponding interest and respect belonging to natures kindred in depth and sensibility1 though of widely differing experience4 ,in after-years1 he who had already attained was able frequently to hold out a helping hand to his younger brother2 but now1 only a smile and a look told much4 ,this acquaintance of the soul is very fascinating4 ,in the two or three steps we take together1 with cognizance and measure of each other1 what a long path opens before us of alternate shade and sunshine1 and how imagination borders every step of the way with richest heart-blossoms6 ,in friendship1 all is glowing and enriching4 ,as it has not the depth of love1 it neither anticipates nor requires sacrifice4 ,we do not think of doing or suffering for a friend2 but the friend ministers to our weakness1 and exalts our strength4 ,he sympathizes gently with our self-love1 he magnifies every excellence4 ,he is perpetually charmed1 alike with the novelty and the similarity of our experience1 and unwearied in comparing thoughts and balancing opinions4 ,all1 and more1 that he gives us1 he receives2 and so an incipient friendship is one of the most intoxicating delights of life4 ,what long leaps in acquaintance we took during our first hour1 and while ,mr4 ,remington still walked up-hill before us6 ,you will probably have an opportunity to see and judge for yourselves of ,mr4 ,remington1 as we are together a great deal1 and he is a cousin of ,mrs4 ,lewis's4 ,this will be better than for me to attempt a description1 ,i think1 and1 on the whole1 more satisfactory4 ,he annoys me1 and offends me frequently2 and then ,i am not just to him1 of course4 ,but he is a fine fellow1 honorable and agreeable2 and with a love of natural science that leads him1 for the time1 like a dog4 ,just now1 he is wild with floriculture4 ,last year1 it was geology4 ,you will see4 ,and then1 as if he feared to trust himself with his cousin's character1 or that it was a distasteful subject for some reason1 he turned to the minister1 and began talking about ,cherry ,mountain and the scenery in ,cos4 ,mr4 ,remington called out1 at the top of the hill1-- ,now it is my turn6 ,let me ride1 and ,i will give your character6 ,oh6 we don't need it1 ,i assure you1 said ,i2 we understand him entirely4 ,not a bit of it6 said he1 shaking his brown curls2 ,i am the transparent one4 ,he stepped up on the wheel-hub to get his bag1 and to say he should strike off for ,middleton on foot4 ,he would see us very soon in ,new ,york1 and claim our promise to visit him4 ,being relieved from the fascination of personal beauty and presence1 with only the impression of character remaining1 ,i was a little ashamed to find how much ,i had liked1 without being at all able to esteem him4 ,it was with a very different feeling that ,i looked at ,mr4 ,lewis1 whose ugly1 positively ugly face was being perpetually transfigured with emotion and variety4 ,without grace of feature or figure1 he impressed one as a living soul2 and this inward light gave a translucent beauty to the frail1 chance-shapen vase1 which all ,mr4 ,remington's personal advantages of form and color failed to impress us with4 ,only dark eyes of un-sounded depth1 and a voice whose rich cadences had an answering rhythm in the inward man1 showed what his attractions might be1 or were1 to a woman4 ,we became curious to see ,mrs4 ,lewis1 of whom we gained no idea from his casual references to her4 99 99 99 99 99 ,,lyrics ,,of ,,the ,,street4 ,,vi4 ,,play4 ,from yon den of double-dealing1 ,with its ,devil's host1 ,come ,i1 maddened out of healing3 ,all is lost6 ,so the false wine cannot blind me1 ,nor the braggart toast2 ,but ,i know that ,hell doth bind me3 ,all is lost6 ,where the lavish gain attracts us1 ,and the easy cost1 ,while the damning dicer backs us1 ,all is lost6 ,blest the rustic in his furrows1 ,toil- and sweat-embossed2 ,blest are honest souls in sorrows4 ,all is lost6 ,wifely love1 the closer clinging ,when men need thee most1 ,shall ,i come1 dishonor bringing8 ,all is lost6 ,babe in silken cradle lying1 ,to low music tossed1 ,will they wake thee for my dying8 ,all is lost6 ,yonder where the river grimly ,whitens1 like a ghost1 ,must ,i plunge and perish dimly2 ,all is lost6 ,,interesting ,,manuscripts ,,of ,,edmund ,,burke4 ,macaulay opens his most remarkable article on ,milton by saying1 ,the dexterous ,capuchins never choose to preach on the life and miracles of a saint1 till they have awakened the devotional feelings of their auditors by exhibiting some relic of him1--a thread of his garment1 a lock of his hair1 or a drop of his blood4 ,if we were in the mood1 we might take advantage of interesting manuscripts of ,edmund ,burke1 which are now before us1 to say something of this remarkable character4 ,but we shall confine ourselves for the present to a passing glance at the manuscripts which have strayed across the ,atlantic4,a ,footnote ,a3 ,these manuscripts are now in the possession of the ,hon4 ,charles ,sumner1 who is also the fortunate owner of the ,album ,amicorum containing the autograph of ,john ,milton4--,,ed4 ,the authentic manuscripts of ,burke have passed through several hands4 ,on his death1 they were intrusted to the eminent civilian1 ,dr4 ,french ,lawrence1 of ,doctors' ,commons1 and to ,dr4 ,king1 afterwards ,bishop of ,rochester4 ,to these two gentlemen we are indebted for the first eight volumes of the ,london octavo edition of ,burke's ,works4 ,the career of ,dr4 ,lawrence was cut short by death in #ahji4 ,his associate had the exclusive charge of the papers till #ahab1 when the venerable widow of ,burke died at ,beaconsfield1 and by her last will gave to ,earl ,fitzwilliam1 the ,bishop of ,rochester1 and the ,right ,honorable ,william ,elliott the entire direction of the printing and publishing of such parts of the works of her late husband as were not published before her decease1--bequeathing to them all the printed and manuscript papers for this purpose4 ,eight more volumes were published by the ,bishop1 who died in #ahbh1 a few months after the publication of the fifteenth and sixteenth volumes4 ,mr4 ,elliott had already died in #ahah4 ,the papers now came into the sole possession of ,earl ,fitzwilliam1 the distinguished nobleman associated with the latter portion of ,burke's life1 from whom they descended to his son1 the late ,earl ,fitzwilliam1 who1 in conjunction with ,sir ,richard ,bourke1 published1 in #ahdd1 the four volumes of correspondence1 with a few notes of unpublished speeches4 ,we have personal reason to know that there are yet other unpublished manuscripts of ,burke in the hands of ,lord ,fitzwilliam1 some of which it was our fortune many years ago to inspect4 ,mr4 ,macknight1 it appears1 applied to the present ,earl for permission to publish some of those which are preserved in the archives of ,wentworth ,house1 but1 out of obedience to the expressed wish of his father1 who published all he thought necessary1 he declined to sanction any further publication of these documents4,a ,footnote ,a3 ,macknight's ,life of ,burke1 ,vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #gcg4 ,there are also letters of ,burke which from time to time have seen the light1 as they were communicated by their possessors4 ,among these none equals in interest that addressed to ,pitt with regard to his pension1 which has been printed recently by ,lord ,stanhope1 in his small1 but rich and rare collection1 entitled ,miscellanies4 ,this important letter came to light among the papers of ,pitt1 and has been described by ,macaulay as interesting and very characteristic4 ,the manuscripts now before us are none of these4 ,they have a history of their own4 ,they constitute a thin volume in folio1 neatly bound1 having a book-mark1 and arms with the name of ,fillingham4 ,here are four familiar autograph-letters from ,burke to his amanuensis1 ,swift1 all of them written from ,margate1 on the sea-shore1 and bearing ,burke's frank as a member of ,parliament4 ,according to habit with us1 the frank of a member of ,congress is written in the right-hand upper corner of the superscription1 while the old ,english frank is in the left-hand lower corner4 ,but ,english law1 while the privilege of franking existed1 required also that the name of the place where the letter was pasted1 and the day on which it was posted1 written at length1 should appear in the superscription4 ,take1 for instance1 the following frank of ,burke in this collection3-- ,margate ,july seventeenth1 #agia ,mr ,swift1 ,mr ,burke's ,chambers #d ,stone ,buildings ,lincoln's ,inn ,london4 ,edm4 ,burke4 ,these letters have been recently published by ,mr4 ,macknight1 who says of them that they show how kind and familiar ,burke was to the humblest dependants with whom he was thrown into any human relationship2 they also show the statesman1 when at the height of literary fame1 as busy and anxious in sending his sheets through the press1 and making corrections and alterations1 as any young author with his first proofs2 and he adds1 ,these letters seem to me quite as important1 as illustrations of ,burke's private character1 as those which he wrote to the ,nagles in former years4 ,it seems that the amanuensis to whom they were addressed had at his death other similar letters in his possession2 but his wife1 ignorant of their value1 deliberately committed them to the names1 and the four now before us are all that were saved4 ,mr4 ,macknight adds1 in a note1--,these letters ,i owe to the kindness of ,john ,fillingham1 ,esq41 of ,hoxton1 who allowed me to inspect and copy the originals4,a ,footnote ,a3 ,life of ,burke1 ,vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #daj4 ,of one of these letters there is an accurate fac-simile1 which will be found in the third volume of ,mr4 ,macknight's elaborate biography of ,burke4 ,but the main paper in the collection is none other than the manuscript of the ,observations on the ,conduct of the ,minority1 being the identical copy from which the surreptitious publication was made which disturbed the last hours of ,burke4 ,the body of it is in the handwriting of the amanuensis to whom the familiar letters were addressed2 but it shows the revision of ,burke1 and on several pages most minute and elaborate corrections and additions1 with changes of sections4 ,of one of these pages there is an accurate fac-simile in the third volume of ,mr4 ,macknight1 who says that the manuscript was given by ,swift's sister1 after his death1 to the gentleman who kindly permitted him to inspect it4 ,a ,footnote ,a3 ,lifo of ,burke1 ,vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #gjj4 ,these manuscripts--both the letters and the ,observations--all concern the closing period of ,burke's life1 after the unhappy feud between himself and ,fox1 to which they directly relate4 ,in order to appreciate their value1 we must glance at the scene by which the memorable friendship of these men was closed4 ,few political events in ,english history are read with more interest than the separation of ,burke and ,fox4 ,they had been friends and allies2 but the ,french ,revolution1 which separated so many persons in ,france1 reached across the ,channel to separate them4 ,they differed so radically with regard to this portentous1 undeveloped movement1 that their relations1 both political and personal1 were rudely severed4 ,burke1 in the ,house of ,commons1 openly announced this result4 ,he was most earnestly inveighing against ,france1 when he said1 ,it may be indiscreet in me at my time of life to provoke enemies1 and give occasion to friends to desert me4 ,fox whispered1 ,there is no loss of friends4 ,burke for a moment paused1 and then exclaimed1 ,yes1 there is a loss of friends2 ,i know the price of my conduct4 ,i have done my duty at the expense of my friend4 ,our friendship is at an end4 ,as he finished1 ,burke walked across the floor of the ,house1 and squeezed himself between ,pitt and ,dundas on the ,treasury ,bench4 ,fox rose to reply1 while tears streamed down his face4 ,in the course of his remarks he intimated that ,burke had heaped upon him the most ignominious terms4 ,burke at once said that he did not recollect having used any2 when ,fox replied1 ,my right honorable friend does not recollect the epithets4 ,they are out of his mind4 ,then they are completely and forever out of mine4 ,i cannot cherish a recollection so painful2 and from this moment they are obliterated and forgotten4 ,but the difference was too intense4 ,a few days later it broke forth again4 ,i complain1 said ,burke1 of being obliged to stand upon my defence by the right honorable gentleman1 who1 when a young man1 was brought to me and evinced the most promising talents1 which ,i used my best endeavors to cultivate2 and this man1 who has arrived at the maturity of being the most brilliant and powerful debater that ever existed1 has described me as having deserted and abandoned every one of my principles6 ,fox replied1 but alluded to ,burke no longer as friend1 but as the right honorable gentleman1 and said1 in a taunting style1 that all he had to do was to repent1 and his friends would be ready to receive him back and love him as they had previously done4 ,burke was indignant4 ,he said1--,i have gone through my youth without encountering any party disgrace1 and though in my age ,i have been so unfortunate as to meet it1 ,i do not solicit the right honorable gentleman's friendship1 nor that of any other man1 either on one side of the ,house or the other4 ,a ,this most important and historic friendship was at an end4 ,footnote ,a3,parliamentary ,history ,vol4 ,,xxix4 p4 #dbf4 ,the larger part of the ,whigs at that time sided with ,fox4 ,but ,burke turned away from ,parliament and politicians in one of the most masterly productions of his pen1 entitled1 ,an ,appeal from the ,new to the ,old ,whigs4 ,one of the autograph-letters in the collection before us1 addressed to the amanuensis1 ,swift1 relates to the last corrections of this tract1 and contains the title1 arranged for the printer4 ,it is the letter of which a fac-simile is given by ,mr4 ,macknight4 ,meanwhile1 the difference between the two statesmen became more fixed and intense4 ,the ,whig ,club declared1 that their confidence in ,mr4 ,fox was confirmed1 strengthened1 and increased by the calumnies against him4 ,burke and some forty-five noblemen and gentlemen withdrew from the club4 ,it was then that ,burke1 in justification of himself and his friends1 took the pen1 and drew up what his biographer ,prior calls the famous paper1 entitled1 ,observations on the ,conduct of the ,minority1 particularly in the ,last ,session of ,parliament1 addressed to the ,duke of ,portland and ,lord ,fitzwilliam1 #agic1 which will be found in the third volume of ,bonn's edition of his ,works4 ,this paper presents1 in fifty-four articles1 duly numbered1 objections to the course and policy of ,fox4 ,it was1 in brief1 an arraignment of that distinguished gentleman4 ,but it was not intended for publication1 at least at that time4 ,it was transmitted to the ,duke of ,portland1 with a letter1 asking that it might not even be read at once1 but that the ,duke would keep it locked in the drawer of his library-table1 and when a day of compulsory reflection came1 then be pleased to turn to it4 ,communicated thus in confidence1 it might have remained indefinitely1 if not always1 unknown to the public1 locked in the ducal drawer1 if the amanuensis whom ,burke employed in copying it had not betrayed him4 ,this was none other than ,swift1 to whom the familiar letters were addressed4 ,unknown to his employer1 he had appropriated to himself a copy in his own handwriting1 with corrections and additions by ,burke1 which seems to have come between the original rough draught and the final copy transmitted to the ,duke of ,portland4 ,some time afterwards1 while ,burke was in his last illness1 feeble and failing fast1 this faithless scrivener communicated this copy to an equally faithless publisher1 by whom it was advertised as ,fifty-,four ,articles of ,impeachment against the ,eight ,honorable ,c4,j4 ,fox4 ,when this was seen by ,mrs4 ,burke1 she felt it her duty to keep all newspapers and letters from her husband1 that he might know nothing of the treachery1 at least until it was relieved so far as it could be4 ,dr4 ,lawrence and ,dr4 ,king1 assisted by the affidavit of ,mr4 ,rivington1 succeeded in obtaining an injunction against the publisher on the very day when the tract appeared4 ,but two thousand copies had already stolen abroad4 ,it was not until ,mrs4 ,burke1 on opening a letter from ,dr4 ,lawrence to her husband1 learned that the injunction had been obtained1 that1 at two o'clock in the afternoon of the #aeth of ,february1 #agig1 she delivered to him his newspapers and correspondence for the past week4 ,he was less disturbed than had been expected4 ,this affair does vex me1 he said2 but ,i am not in a state of health at present to be deeply vexed at anything4 ,had ,i intended it for the public1 ,i should have been more exact and full4 ,many temperaments and explanations there would have been1 if ever ,i had had a notion that it should meet the public eye4 ,he was justly indignant at the knavish publisher1 whose conduct surpassed that of the ,dublin pirates1 or ,edmund ,curll4 ,but he was at a loss to know how the publisher obtained a copy4 ,he did not suppose that the ,duke of ,portland had given up his1 and he remembered only the rough and incorrect papers constituting the first draught1 which1 it seems1 ,dr4 ,lawrence1 about a year before1 had paid the false ,swift a guinea to deliver back4 ,he had forgotten the intermediate copy made by ,swift and corrected by himself4 ,this illicit publication1 especially under such a title1 was calculated to attract attention4 ,its author was dying1 so that it seemed to be his last words4 ,pitt read it with delight1 and declared it to be a model in that style of composition4 ,but his latest biographer says of it1 that it may1 perhaps1 be regretted that ,burke ever wrote the ',observations on the ,conduct of the ,minority4' ,it is certainly the least pleasing of all his compositions4,a ,in style1 it is direct1 terse1 and compact1 beyond any other composition of ,burke's4 ,perhaps1 as it was not intended for the public1 he was less tempted to rhetorical indulgence4 ,but the manuscript now before us exhibits the minute care with which it was executed4 ,here also may be traced varieties of expression1 constituting the different forms which a thought assumed1 not unlike the various drawings of ,raffaelle for the same wonderful picture4 ,footnote ,a3 ,macknight1 ,vol4 ,,iii4 p4 #ecb4 ,but we must stop4 ,it is only as a literary curiosity that we are now dealing with this relic4 ,,harvard',s ,,heroes4 ,the stranger who enters the nave of ,st4 ,paul's ,cathedral in ,london cannot fail to notice the superb pulpit which stands at the angle of the choir4 ,it is composed of rare and costly marbles and other precious stones4 ,but1 beautiful and fitting as it is1 its greatest value lies in the circumstance which placed it there4 ,it is a memorial1 the tribute of affection4 ,it was erected by his surviving comrades in arms to a noble officer of the ,indian army4 ,yet this1 from its position a ,greek3 ktma es aei1 is only one among numberless like monuments which the traveller in ,england meets at every turn4 ,in public squares1 in parish churches1 in stately cathedrals1--wherever the eye of the wayfarer can be arrested1 whereever the pride of country is most deeply stirred1 wherever the sentiment of loyalty is consecrated by religion1--the ,englishman loves to guard from oblivion the names of his honored dead4 ,there is in this both a cause and a consequence of that intense local pride and affection by which the men of ,great ,britain are bound to the scenes of their early lives4 ,it will never do for us to be beaten1 said the ,duke at ,waterloo2 think what they will say of us at home6--and this simple sentence went straight to the heart of every man who heard4 ,what they will say at home is the prevailing thought in each young soldier's heart as he goes into his first fight4 ,and home does not mean for him so much broad ,england as it does the little hamlet where he was born1 the school where he was trained1 the county in which his forefathers were honored in times gone by4 ,he thinks of his name1 henceforward linked with a glorious victory6 whispered around among the groups who linger in the church-yard after the morning service4 ,he trusts1 that1 if he fall nobly1 there will be for him the memorial window through whose blazoned panes the sunlight will fall softly across the squire's pew1 where as a boy he knelt and worshipped1 or touch with a crimson and azure gleam the marble effigies of his knightly sires recumbent on their tombs4 ,or he thinks of a place among the lettered names high up on the old oaken wall of the school-room at ,winchester or ,harrow or ,westminster1--that future boys1 playing where he played1 shall talk of him whom they never knew as one of ours4 ,for he is well aware that he is making fame not for himself alone1 but to be prized where he himself has been most loved and happiest4 ,we1 in this new land of ours1 have but a very faint experience of the intense working of such influences upon a people in whom the local association and sentiment are ingrained4 ,we are but just beginning where ,englishmen began eight centuries and more ago4 ,hence our glorifying of the past has been a little indiscriminate1 and withal has sought to commemorate events more than individuals4 ,but the last two years have taken us through one of those great periods which1 in their concentrated energy1 compress the work of years into days1 and which mark the water-sheds of history4 ,the ,united ,states of #ahfe will be as unlike the same land in #ahee as the youth is unlike the child4 ,life is measured by action1 not duration4 ,the brilliant epoch of the first ,persian invasion was more to ,greece than its slumbering centuries under ,turkish rule1 and fifty years of ,europe more than a cycle of ,cathay4 ,we shall look back upon a past4 ,we shall have a truly national existence4 ,it will be but natural1 as it will be most wise1 that we take heed of those elements which have ever been so potent in strengthening national character4 ,one of these has been briefly hinted at above4 ,yet it may be undesirable to perpetuate the memory of events in which the whole country cannot participate1 which will not for the remainder of this century be thought of by one section without shame and confusion of face1 and which will only tend to keep alive the sad old jealousies and hates4 ,we shall be very loath to place our monumental columns upon the fields of ,antietam and ,gettysburg4 ,we should not tolerate them upon the slopes of ,manassas or the bluffs of ,edwards' ,ferry4 ,when the war is ended1 and the best guardian of our internal commerce is the loyalty of the returning citizens to their old allegiance1 we shall do wisely to level the earthworks of ,vicksburg and ,port ,hudson4 ,in the city where mob-violence is crushed under the force of armed law1 no one cares to keep for a day the crumbling walls and the shattered barricade1 though they may have witnessed heroism as splendid as ,arcola or ,wagram1 for they witness also to a wickedness and a terror which all would gladly forget4 ,the only memorial that a wise and high-souled nation can erect after this war will be the single monument which shall commemorate the hour of peace restored4 ,but while we are debarred from thus recording upon tablets more lasting than brass the story of our mournful triumphs over erring brethren1 we are doubly bound in gratitude to keep green the memory of the men who have deserved well of their country in the hour of utmost need4 ,we ought to do this also in that temper which shall look most singly to the noble end of forming heroic traditions for the youth of our future land4 ,i know no place where this can be more fitly carried out than in ,new-,england's foremost university4 ,coeval with the commonwealth itself1 the starry roll of its heroes links it with all the fortunes of our history4 ,men who sat in the ,long ,parliament1 and who may have seen the ,battles of ,worcester and ,dunbar1 took their early degrees upon ,harvard's first ,commencement-stage4 ,her sons fought against ,king ,philip1 were colonels and captains in the old ,french ,war1 went forth in the days of ,wolfe and ,amherst1 and exchanged the lexicon for the musket in the eight years' struggle which gave to the ,thirteen ,colonies their independence4 ,alumni still survive who did military duty in the second war with ,england4 ,the men of ,harvard were with ,taylor at ,buena ,vista1 and helped ,scott in his victorious march upon the ,aztec capital4 ,of these the only record is in the annual necrology and the quaint ,latin of the ,triennial4 ,for the young heroes who dropped the oar and took up the sword1 who laid aside the gown for the sash and shoulder-strap1 who1 first in the bloodless triumphs of the regatta and in capital training for the great race of life where literary and professional fame are the prizes1 went forth to venture all for honor and country1 the ,alma ,mater surely should have a special commemoration4 ,for her own sake1 because of her high responsibility in the education of ingenuous youth1 she can do no less4 ,i will venture to say that not a ,harvard man1 among all the loyal thousands of her surviving ,alumni1 but feels his heart beat quicker as he reads the story of her children amid their baptism of fire4 ,there is a notable peculiarity about this the most purely ,new-,england of our colleges1--the continual recurrence of familiar patronymics4 ,i take up the last semi-annual catalogue1 and there among the five hundred names ,i can almost make out my own classmates of twenty years ago4 ,abbots1 ,bigelows1 ,lawrences1 ,masons1 ,russells1--they come with every ,commencement-season4 ,some families have had for every generation in a hundred and fifty years a representative in her halls4 ,there is a patent of nobility in this1 such peerage as a republic can rightly confer1 the coronet which marks the union of birth and worth4 ,we cannot1 we1 the ,alumni1 suffer these our brothers to sleep unhonored4 ,those who shall come after us1 who shall fill our places in dear ,old ,harvard1 shall occupy our ancient rooms in ,hollis and ,massachusetts and ,stoughton and ,holworthy1 have a right not only to count the academic wreaths which have been won in past days by their namesakes1 but also to be taught the inspiring lesson of holy love of country1 of highest courage and truth and soldierly virtue4 ,and how shall this be done8 ,let these few remaining lines suggest at least one plan4 ,harvard's chief want is a hall for her ,alumni1 one worthy1 in architecture and convenience1 of her children's fame1 which ,harvard ,hall is not4 ,that long1 awkward room1 very hot and cramped to dine in at midsummer1 hotter and more cramped still for the ,class-day dances1 is just fit for one purpose1--the declamation-exercises of the ,sophomore year4 ,let us have a hall fit for ,commencements1 for ,alumni and ,phi-,beta orations1 for our annual dinners1 worthy of the ,doctor's poems and the ,general's speeches1 with a wainscot1 not of vulgar plaster1 but of noble oak1 against which ,copley's pictures and ,story's busts may properly be placed4 ,then let its windows be filled1 as in the glorious halls and chapels of ,england1 with memorial glass4 ,let one of these1 if no more1 be formed1 of the costliest and most perfect workmanship our art can compass1 to the memory of the ,heroes of ,harvard4 ,it shall be the gift of every class which counts among its members one of these4 ,there1 amid the gorgeous emblazonry1 shall be read their names1 their academic year1 their battles4 ,or1 if this may not be1 because our ,alma ,mater is still too poor or too humble to offer to her returning children such banqueting-place1--if there is no ,wykcham or ,waynflete or ,wolsey to arch for us the high-embowed roof1 let us place our memorial in the ,library1 along its shaded alcoves and above its broad portals4 ,there the bright shadows shall sleep and pass with the sliding day1 where the young scholars mused and studied4 ,there the future student1 as he walks1 shall read as noble a lesson as he can glean from any of the groaning shelves and dusty tomes4 ,there shall be for ,harvard her ,libro d',oro wherein she has written the names of her best-beloved4 ,some token let us have that they are unforgotten4 ,it was no quarrel of vulgar ambition in which they fell4 ,it was the sacred strife for which the mother armed them when she sent them forth4 ,for her they fought1 for culture1 generous learning1 noble arts1 for all that makes a land great and glorious1 against the barbarism of anarchy and the baseness of a system founded upon wrong and oppression4 ,we cannot1 indeed1 forget them while we live to come up to our annual gathering1 and see the vacant places amid familiar ranks4 ,there will then be question and reply1 saddening1 but proud4 ,he fell at ,port ,hudson1 cheering on the forlorn hope4 ,he lies beneath the forest-trees of ,chancellorsville4 ,he was slain upon the glacis of ,fredericksburg4 ,he died in the foul prisons of ,richmond4 ,we cannot forget them1 and we would fain leave the memorial of them to future generations4 ,their fame belongs to ,harvard2 for what they learned there could not be other than noble1 inspiring1 manly4 ,let ,harvard make the plan1 and give the call1 and all of us1 from our distant homes and according to our ability1 will offer our gifts with gladness4 ,let the graduates who have leisure and taste and means1 and who are still dwelling under the pleasant shades of the ,cambridge elms1 come together and take up the matter while love and gratitude and pride are fresh4 ,,who ,,is ,,roebuck8 ,an inquiring ,american mind1 seeking the solution of this momentous question1 would naturally turn to ,appleton's ,new ,cyclopdia1 ,vol4 ,,xiv41 page #aca4 ,the inquiring mind would be enlightened in a somewhat bewildering manner by the description there laid down of a little animal1 some of whose qualities are thus set forth in the first article on the page indicated above3-- ,,roebuck4 ,a small ,european deer of the genus ,capreolus4444 ,the skull has a very small1 shallow suborbital pit1 444 tear-bag indistinct1 hoofs narrow and triangular4444 ,the color in summer is reddish brown1 in winter olive1 with paler shades2 inside of the ears fulvous1 and a black spot at the angles of the mouth4444 ,it is about four feet long4444 ,the horns are used for knife-handles4444 ,they congregate in small families1 but not in herds4444 ,from their strong scent they are easily hunted2 though they frequently escape by their speed1 doublings1 springing to cover1 and other artifices4444 ,the roebucks are represented in ,north ,america by the ,virginia deer4 ,inquiring mind1 not wishing for researches in the direction of ,natural ,history1 albeit the subject of parallelisms is a somewhat curious study and in special cases infinitely amusing1 passes on to the next article in the ,cyclopdia4 99 99 99 99 99 ,it is sufficiently obvious that it requires neither fame nor greatness to excite public curiosity4 ,a notorious criminal or an unusually eccentric lunatic frequently gives rise to a larger share of newspaper-comment and general discussion than the wisest and most virtuous of mankind4 ,it must be well remembered by those who have read ,tom ,taylor's ,life of ,haydon that a dwarf was attracting thousands to the ,egyptian ,hall in ,piccadilly1 ,london1 while the historical painter1 stung to madness by the neglect of the frivolous crowd1 committed the hideous and ghastly suicide which threw a tragic darkness over the close of his strange and troubled existence4 ,the desperate and dangerous frequently succeed in placing themselves on a bad eminence1 from which they are conspicuous enough2 and if to be talked of and pointed at be the sole object of their ambition1 they can1 of course1 be congratulated on their success4 ,virtue may sit in humble and obscure usefulness at a thousand quiet firesides1 while the work of the incendiary may be seen to spread widely1 and the tumult of his mischief be heard from afar4 ,and so any public man or politician1 whose taste is so morbidly depraved and whose aim in life is so debased as to prefer notoriety to honest1 useful service1 may revel in the questionable enjoyment of being the especial theme of public debate and private conversation4 ,hence it happens that so many of our fellow-countrymen are at this moment asking the question with which we head these pages1--,who is ,roebuck8 ,an unhappy culprit1 who combined with an innocent taste for green peas a thievish method of acquiring their usual savory accompaniment1 is reported to have been addressed by an ,english judge in the following felicitous terms3--,prisoner at the bar1 ,providence has endowed you with health and strength1 instead of which you go about the country stealing ducks4 ,providence has endowed ,john ,arthur ,roebuck1 member of the ,parliament of ,great ,britain1 with fair talents and some power of speech1 instead of which 7to use the accurate judicial ellipsis7 he goes about using violent and vulgar words of menace against those who have never offended him1 and scattering firebrands as if there were no gun-powder anywhere to ignite and explode4 ,this would be a mean and mischievous occupation for the dullest man2 but for one who has proved by his very failures that he is not devoid of intellect or energy1 it is a monstrous perversion of mental gifts1 even if they are small4 ,a portion of the fiery heat of his nature may be traced1 perhaps1 to the fact that he was born at ,madras2 but as on the mother's side he is descended from the poet ,tickell1 the friend of ,addison1 it would not be altogether unreasonable to have expected in him some few of the amenities of the liter humaniores4 ,he soon1 however1 exchanged the torrid scenes of ,oriental life for the snows of ,canada1 where he received his education2 and when we remember what the bizarre oddities of his subsequent career have been1 it might be interesting1 if we had the materials for the purpose1 to inquire what that education was4 ,the ,british ,provinces1 however1 were not deemed a sufficiently ample theatre of action for the energy of the capacious soul that dwelt in that not over-capacious body2 and so1 at the age of twenty-three1 he repaired to ,england and commenced his studies for the profession of the law4 ,he was called to the bar in #ahcb4 ,he had1 however1 by no means paid an exclusive attention to the study of the law1 or his success in his profession might have been greater1 and the world might have had a good lawyer instead of a bad politician4 ,the period of his ,inner-,temple student-life was a very stirring time in ,england4 ,old principles were dying out1 and wrestling in death-struggle with newer and wider theories of human liberty and human progress4 ,the young ,east-,indian ,canadian rushed with natural impetuosity into the arena1 and was one of the most reckless and noisy debating-club spouters of the day4 ,in speaking of the ,reform ,bill at a meeting at a tavern in ,london1 he said1 that1 if the bill did not pass1 he for one should like to wade the streets of the capital knee-deep in blood4 ,it was consoling to reflect1 even at the time1 that the atrocious aspiration was mitigated by the reflection that it would not require a deluge of gore to reach the knees of such a ,zacchus as ,roebuck4 ,pretty wicious that for a child of six6 said the amiable ,mr4 ,squeers on one occasion2 and pretty sanguinary that1 say we1 for a rising little demagogue of thirty4 ,as ,england was at that time in a seething ferment of excitement1 men who were unscrupulous in their language were at a premium in the political market1 and the respectable constituency of the pleasant watering-place of ,bath1 in ,somersetshire1 elected the fierce little man as their representative in the ,imperial ,parliament4 ,this was a great start in life for the new-fledged barrister1 and1 had he moderated his overweening vanity1 and studied wisely1 and with some self-abnegation and honest adherence to party1 he might have risen to some useful position1 and been saved1 at least1 from the indignity of fetching and carrying for the ,emperor of ,austria1 and from the impertinence of intruding himself into the august presence of ,mr4 ,kinglake's amiable and virtuous friend1 the ,emperor of ,france4 ,the ,english nation might then possibly have pointed to his portrait in their historical gallery as that of an efficient public servant who had deserved well of his country1 and he might have escaped a ludicrous immortality as the ,dog ,tear-'em1 in the recent admirable sketch in ,punch4 ,but1 in the words of a political song1-- ,there weren't no such luck ,for ,john ,a4 ,roebuck1 ,and he thought he would teach the whole nation ,that the ,tories were fools1 ,and the ,whigs only tools1 ,but ,roebuck was ,england's salvation4 ,and he1 according to this programme1 set himself to reform the ,constitution and protect the ,colonies4 ,nullius addictus jurare in verba magistri1 he was an eclectic in politics1--acknowledged no leader1 had himself no followers4 ,a chief without a party1 an apostle without disciples1 a critic without the merest ordinary penetration1 a cynic whose bitterness was not enlivened by wit or humor1 a spouter whose arguments1 when he had any1 were usually furnished from the mint1 ,john ,arthur ,roebuck was for many years that impersonation of terrific honesty1 glaring purity1 and indignant virtue1 known in ,english politics as an ,,independent member of ,parliament4 ,when party-spirit runs high1 and many party-men are disposed to be unscrupulous in the measures and artifices by which they win or retain place and power1 such a position1 occupied with judgment and fortified by modesty and good sense1 is a most powerful and a most beneficent one2 but it is useless when seized on by one whose obtrusive egotism and more than feminine vanity disqualify him for any serious or permanent influence on his fellow-men4 ,when a ,pocket-,diogenes rolls his little tub into the ,house of ,commons1 and complains that everybody is standing between him and the sun1--why1 in an assembly of educated and sensible men the sham is soon discovered1 the pseudo-cynic seen through1 and his affected misanthropy deservedly gains for him universal derision and scorn4 ,some years after he entered ,parliament1 ,mr4 ,disraeli1 with whom he had many encounters1 in which he was invariably worsted1 made the ,house roar with laughter by taunting ,roebuck with his ,sadler's ,wells sarcasms and melodramatic malignities1 and drew a most amusing picture of him as a solitary sentinel pacing round the deserted citadel of his own opinions4 ,he who surpasses or subdues mankind ,must look down on the hate of those below2 but as ,mr4 ,roebuck has done neither the one nor the other1 his only chance of not being utterly forgotten1 instead of being feared or hated1 by his contemporaries1 is to continue his work of mischief1 and merely change the object of his puny attacks as one becomes more prominent than another1 and as he can manage to maintain his own quasi-importance by attaching his name to great questions4 ,he had no special dislike for this country2 so far from that1 he admired and praised us1 as by an extract from one of his books we will presently prove2 but since he has become a self-appointed lackey1 has donned imperial livery1 and as a volunteer does the dirty work of despots1 he must have lost all sympathy with and all regard for an independent1 free1 and brave people4 ,we hope and believe that this country vastly prefers his censure to his praise1 and1 as far as it has leisure at the present crisis for any serious consideration of his erratic pranks1 would rather have his enmity than his friendship4 ,non tali auxilio6 ,but we must recur to his inconsistent and rather uninteresting career1 and so satisfy1 and perhaps weary1 the curiosity of any reader who is still disposed to ask the momentous question1 ,who is ,roebuck8 ,in #ahce1 he was appointed the agent--the paid agent--of the ,house of ,assembly of ,lower ,canada1 during the dispute then raging between the ,executive ,government and the ,house of ,assembly4 ,as ,englishmen especially plume themselves on the fact that the members of their legislative bodies are unremunerated1 it is somewhat difficult to understand how this exception was made in ,john ,arthur's favor4 ,as a precedent it is to be hoped that it has not been followed2 for it is obvious that such an arrangement1 however advantageous or pleasant to individual members1 might throw grave suspicions on the purity of public men1 and introduce a wholesale venality into public life4 ,if such a system is permitted1 any foreign monarch or any foreign government may secure the services of a ,british senator as his agent and representative4 ,it is quite appalling to think that the chivalrous ,earl of ,derby or the conscientious ,mr4 ,gladstone should be shocked by the offer of a handsome annual salary paid quarterly1 7not deducting the income-tax17 made by the ,king of ,dahomey for an eloquent defence of his humane and enlightened rule1 or by an equally munificent donative from the famous and merry monarch of the ,cannibal ,islands for the support of himself and his loyal subjects in their copious consumption of human flesh4 ,we should be sorry wantonly to raise so dreadful a suspicion2 but if ,british ,m4,p4s are permitted1 according to the ,roebuck precedent1 to be ,,paid agents1 why has not ,southern money found its way into senatorial pockets8 ,greedy ,mr4 ,laird1 and unscrupulous1 money-loving ,mr4 ,lindsay1,a always resolutely grubbing for the main chance1 are perhaps sufficiently paid by indirect1 though heavy gains in shipbuilding4 ,needy ,mr4 ,roebuck may be salaried by the ,emperor of ,austria1 though there is nothing to prove1 except his own open-mouthed and loud-tongued professions of purity1 that he is not paid agent of the ,confederate ,government4 ,the indulgence of the evil feelings of malice and uncharitableness may1 however1 sufficiently recompense him2 and to him1 perhaps1 his virtue may be its own reward4 ,but if paid agencies are not permitted1 a very serious suspicion fastens on that hard-mouthed1 rising lordling1 ,robert ,cecil1 son of the ,marquis of ,salisbury1 and one of the most active and energetic champions of the slave-mongers of the ,south4 ,the young lord1 it is well known1 stepped down from the lofty pedestal of a bad pedigree to marry the fair1 but portionless daughter of an ,english judge2 his father is proverbially mean and stingy1 and the young lord himself proportionately poor2 and in the intervals of his strenuous advocacy of the claims of the ,rebels to ,european recognition he laudably ekes out his very narrow income by writing articles for the ,london newspapers and reviews2 and rumor says that he communicates gossiping letters1 full of piquant and satirical sketches of the proceedings of the ,house of ,commons to two or three of the provincial papers4 ,he is under these circumstances peculiarly open to suspicion4 ,if the proceeding in question is a usual one1 why does he not openly avow it8 ,if it is unusual or improper1 why does he not deny the soft impeachment so much credited both in this country and in his own8 ,it is really refreshing to contemplate1 that ,roebuck1 after being the paid agent of the ,canadian ,house of ,assembly1 should have become such a purist as to drag poor ,mr4 ,isaac ,butt before the notice of the ,commons1 and scream for the censure on him on a mere suspicion that he had touched the yellow and handsome gold coins of one of the innumerable ,indian princes and rajahs who come to ,england with complaints of grievances1 sometimes real1 and sometimes fictitious1 against the ,british ,government4 ,footnote ,a3 ,lindsay's fawning1 plastic sycophancy is well known this side the water4 ,after shrewdly filling his coffers with profits from ,northern business-transactions1 he now turns about1 kicks his old friends1 who always half suspected his knavish propensities1 bows1 cap in hand1 to visionary cotton-bales1 and hopes to turn some honest pounds1 shillings1 and pence by advocating the slave-drivers' rebellion4 ,a fool's gudgeon will surely reward his laborious endeavors for ,southern gold1 that article growing beautifully less every day4 ,during the period of the paid agency ,roebuck was tolerably industrious with his pen2 but in literature and journalism he proved his utter incapacity for joining in any combined action4 ,such was his dogged self-assertion and indomitable egotism that none of the ordinary channels would answer his purpose2 and so he issued a series of political papers1 entitled ,pamphlets for the ,people1 to which the curious may sometimes refer1 but which have now lost all their significance and interest4 ,his quarrels with editors and publishers were notorious2 and an altercation with ,mr4 ,black1 the well-known editor of the ,morning ,chronicle1 eventuated in a duel so bloodless as to be ridiculous4 ,david's pebble did not reach ,goliath1 and ,goliath was equally merciful to ,david4 ,in these pamphlets he violently assailed the whole body of editors1 sub-editors1 reporters1 etc41 of most of the papers of any note4 ,and the more accustomed he became to the ,house of ,commons1 the greater liberties did he take with the conventional fairness and courtesy of debate4 ,his personality and scurrility were so indiscriminating and excessive that he was perhaps at this time the most unpopular member of the ,house4 ,in #ahcg he lost his election for ,bath1 but was reelected in #ahda4 ,in a subsequent contest at ,bath he was successfully opposed by ,lord ,ashley1 the present ,earl of ,shaftesbury4 ,on this occasion he exhibited even more than his usual bad temper and bad taste4 ,he declined to accept ,lord ,ashley's proffered hand2 and in the chagrin and vexation occasioned by unexpected defeat he uttered a rabid invective against the ,non-,conformist ministers of the place1 to whose influence he rightly attributed his rival's success4 ,lord ,ashley was a well-known philanthropist1 and his consistent support and patronage of many religious and charitable societies had naturally given him popularity among the ,protestant clergy of all denominations1--a popularity heightened in the case of the ,evangelical and ,calvinistic ministers by his ,lordship's strict ,sabbatarianism and his belief in cold dinners on ,sunday4 ,on the other hand1 ,mr4 ,roebuck was openly accused of private professions of skepticism in matters of religion2 and this report1 so dangerous to the repute of any public man in ,england1 7where theology and politics so frequently cross each other17 considerably damaged his chance of success4 ,lord ,ashley1 however1 was in no way responsible for the rumor2 and the difference between the conduct of the two during the contest was this1 that ,lord ,ashley behaved like a gentleman and ,mr4 ,roebuck did not4 ,during his retirement into private life1 after this defeat in #ahdg1 he wrote his work entitled ,the ,history of the ,whig ,ministry of #ahcj1--;a book in the preparation of which he is said to have received considerable and valuable assistance from no less a person than ,lord ,brougham4 ,despite the aid that he received1 it is amusing to find in his preface a characteristic vaunting of his entire difference with ,lord ,brougham about the character of ,king ,william ,,iv4 ,lord ,brougham1 he writes1 is accustomed to describe ,william ,,iv as frank1 just1 and straightforward4 ,we believe him to have been very weak and very false1 a finished dissembler1 and always bitterly hostile to the ,whig ,ministry and their great measure of ,reform4 ,this is ,roebuck all over4 ,he would infinitely rather argue that white was black than quietly coincide in any generally received opinion4 ,while on the subject of his writings1 we will mention the book in which he vouchsafed to praise those whom he now so elaborately vilifies4 ,in #ahdi he published an octavo volume of two hundred and forty-eight pages on ,the ,colonies of ,england4 ,speaking 7page #hd7 of the vast and rapid progress made by this country1 he says3-- ,we are led to inquire by what machinery1 by what favoring circumstances1 such a result has been brought about4 ,the people1 be it remarked1 are the same as ourselves1--the original ,thirteen ,states were the work of ,englishmen4 ,english heads1 ,english hearts1 ,english hands brought those new communities into existence4 ,no longer connected by government with us1 they nevertheless retained the characteristics of the race from which they sprang1 and proceeding in the great work to which they were destined1 they strode across the continent1 the fairest portion of which they could now call their own4 ,in planting new settlements they were aided by our own people1--the very elements out of which we endeavor to frame colonies1 and with which we do produce sickly1 miserable communities that can only be said to exist1 and to linger on in a sort of half-life1 without the spirit of a young1 or the amenities and polish of an old community1 and1 above all1 without any spirit of independence4 ,again1 speaking of colonization ,in this country as opposed to ,canada and other ,english colonies1 he writes 7page #hh73--;,certain adventurous persons1 the 'pioneers' of civilization1 wishing to make new settlements beyond the boundaries of ,pennsylvania and ,virginia1 upon wild lands belonging to the ,united ,states1 made formal application to the ,government of the ,united ,states at ,washington1 who1 being bound to afford all possible facility1 thereupon take steps to have the land surveyed and laid out into counties1 townships1 parishes4 ,the roads are also indicated1 and at once the law exists2 and security1 guarantied by the authority of the ,united ,states1 immediately follows1 both for person and property2 and all the machinery known to the ,common ,law1 and needed for the maintenance of this security1 and the enforcement of the law's decrees1 is at once adopted4 ,a municipal authority comes into existence2 a court-house1 a jail1 a school-room1 arise in the wilderness2 and although these buildings be humble1 and the men who exercise authority in them may appear to be in some degree rude1 yet is the law there in all its useful majesty4 ,to it a reverent obedience is rendered2 and the plain magistrate1 who1 in a hunter's frock1 may1 in the name of the ,united ,states1 pronounce the law's decree1 commands an obedience as complete and sincere as that which is paid to the ,chief-,justice of the ,supreme ,court at ,washington1 or to the ermined judge who presides in the courts of our ,lady the ,queen in ,westminster ,hall4 ,this in #ahdi2 but what a very different tone has he thought fit to adopt now6 ,was any agency then expected which has not been forthcoming8 ,or1 having degenerated from being a supporter of liberal opinions in his youth to being the fond and fatuous admirer of autocrats in his old age1 does he think that it is absolutely necessary that the firm friend of ,austrian despotism should be the malignant assailant of the ,government and people of the ,united ,states8 ,the man is consistent in nothing but his spiteful vindictiveness and love of mischief4 ,he is now the general object of deserved ridicule and contempt for his flunkyistic attendance at the ,tuileries4 ,at the time of ,louis ,napoleon's visit to ,london1 ,roebuck raved and ranted about his perjured lips having kissed the ,queen of ,england4 ,he has1 on some occasions1 put himself prominently forward1 and in such a way as to make himself an influential member of ,parliament4 ,he moved the vote of confidence in the ,whig ,government in #ahej1 when the great debate ensued in which the late ,sir ,robert ,peel made his last speech1 and they were kept in office by a poetical majority of nine4 ,but the speech with which ,roebuck introduced the motion was entirely eclipsed by the magnificent declamation of ,sir ,alexander ,cockburn1 the present ,lord-,chief-,justice of ,england4 ,on another great occasion1 in ,january1 #ahee1 he brought forward in the ,house of ,commons a motion for inquiry into the conduct of the ,crimean ,war4 ,lord ,aberdeen's ,government was defeated by an immense majority1 and1 of course1 resigned4 ,mr4 ,roebuck was chairman of the ,committee of ,inquiry2 but the cabinet that came in discreetly declined to give him any official post in their ranks4 ,they knew too well the terrible uncertainty and inconsistency of the man's conduct4 ,they could place no reliance either on his temper or his discretion4 ,in #ahee he was one of the numerous candidates for the chairmanship of the ,metropolitan ,board of ,works1 but failed to inspire the electors with any confidence in his capacity for the post4 ,in the following year he became the chairman of the ,administrative ,reform ,association1 and although the league had at first been highly successful1 and aided much in awaking public attention to the miscarriages and mismanagement in the ,crimea1 yet1 under this fatal presidency1 it became speedily and ingloriously defunct4 ,this was his last great failure1 before abdicating all his early liberal principles4 ,he has of late years endeavored to solace himself for the now irretrievable blunders of his career by an exaggerated indulgence in his idiosyncratic waywardness1 paradox1 and eccentricity4 ,he is proud of being considered the acquaintance of the ,emperor of ,austria1 and rather pleased than otherwise at being assailed on this account4 ,he affects the society and friendship of conservative members of the ,house of ,commons4 ,he has become tolerant of lords4 ,he may be seen sitting next to ,lord ,robert ,cecil1 indulging in ill-natured jocosities1 from which his ,lordship probably borrows when he indites ill-natured articles for the misguided ,saturday ,review4,a ,he hates the ,manchester school of politicians1 because their liberality and their sympathy with the cause of freedom and civilization in this country remind ,roebuck of his own deflection from the right path4 ,footnote ,a3 ,this journal is now owned by ,mr4 ,alexander ,james ,beresford ,beresford-,hope1 7we dare not omit any portion of this august name17 who has ample means to enlist the talents of reckless1 smart young men in search of employment for any work he may require1 no matter how unprincipled the job in hand4 ,his private undertakings have not been more fortunate than his public acts4 ,he was chairman of a bank1 which was unsuccessful1 to say the least of it4 ,he has been connected with other enterprises1 which soon courted and obtained failure4 ,what he has recently said and done in reference to this country is too fresh in our memories to require that we should recite or recapitulate it here4 ,his past career1 as we have reviewed it1 may account for the now intolerable acerbity of temper and the ludicrous vanity which disgrace him4 ,never was a ,nemesis more just than that which has for the present consigned him to a melancholy obscurity4 ,the political extinguisher has certainly dropped upon his head1 and this burning and shining light has gone out with an unpleasant odor into utter darkness4 ,in summing up his character1 it is evident that excessive vanity is his besetting sin4 ,he is not too clever or too honest to act in union with other people1 but he is too vain4 ,he is by no means too good for the rest of the world2 but he is too conceited and self-opinionated to condescend to coperate with them4 ,as1 at some of the minor theatres1 a single actor may play an army1 so1 in the ,house of ,commons1 ,roebuck is a host in himself1--is his own party1 and leads it4 ,his occasional popularity in his own country is due to the fact1 that1 in his own character1 he1 to a certain extent1 represents and crystallizes a few of the good and many of the bad qualities of ,englishmen4 ,he has their courage and audacity1 their independence and pride1 their generally defiant front to the rest of the world2 but he is also vain1 obstinate1 bigoted1 prejudiced1 narrow in his views1 and boastful in his language4 ,his vulgar swagger1 for instance1 about the navy sweeping the seas1 would have been condemned here1 if it had been addressed by the most violent of demagogues to the most ignorant of ,irish mobs4 ,we have heard him speak in the ,house of ,commons in his palmier days1 before he was as decrepit in mind as he is in body4 ,he had great fluency1 some power of invective1 and a vast stock of assurance4 ,we listened to him upon one occasion1 when1 without the slightest provocation1 he used the most undignified personalities to the late ,sir ,robert ,peel1--to which ,sir ,robert1 very wisely1 never replied4 ,we cannot say that we feel any profound interest as to his future4 ,he has compared himself to a dog1--but1 on behalf of that faithful and valued companion of man1 we protest against the similitude4 ,he has the kind of pugnacity which prompts a cur or a puppy to attack a ,newfoundland or a mastiff4 ,he has not the fidelity and many other good qualities of the canine race4 ,at any rate1 he has become a mischievous dog1--and a dull dog1--and will soon be a sad dog4 ,we would venture to suggest1 that he should at once be raised to the peerage1 under the title of ,baron ,tear-'em4 ,he might then aid the good cause of the slave-mongers of the ,south1 and act in unison with that just1 generous1 moral1 and virtuous nobleman1 the ,marquis of ,clanricarde4 ,we ought to apologize to our readers for so lengthy an account of so undeserving a person1--but1 at any rate1 they ought by this time to know ,who is ,roebuck8 ,,reviews ,,and ,,literary ,,notices4 ,six ,months in the ,federal ,states4 ,by ,,edward ,,dicey4 ,in ,two ,volumes4 ,london and ,cambridge3 ,macmillan ,co4 ,this is a very gentlemanly book4 ,whatever excellence of commendation belongs to the adjective we have ,italicized must be awarded to ,mr4 ,dicey4 ,and it is ill-adapted to the manufactures of most ,british tourists who have preceded him4 ,for1 to make no mention of the vulgar buffooneries of ,bunn or ,grattan1 we hold that neither the exalted and irrepressible prosiness of ,dr4 ,charles ,mackay1 nor the cleverish magic-lantern pictures of that good-natured book-maker1 ,mr4 ,anthony ,trollope1 would be perfectly fitted with this polite addition4 ,it is no mean praise to say that the word gentlemanly naturally applies itself to a traveller's work4 ,and it is necessary to allow that the majority of ,americans who have printed their impressions of a scamper over ,europe have fallen as hopelessly below it as a few have risen far above it4 ,some word of deeper meaning must characterize the sterling sentences of ,english ,traits2 some epithet of more rare and subtile significance is suggested by those exquisitely painted scenes of foreign life with which ,hawthorne is even now adorning the pages of the ,atlantic4 ,but after the manner in which such a well-informed1 modest1 humane man as we would emphatically credit as an ,american gentleman might speak of six months in ,england1 so has ,mr4 ,dicey spoken of his six months in the ,federal ,states4 ,and1 at this present time1 far better than all curious delineations or stereographic descriptions are the sober testimonies concerning us which ,mr4 ,dicey offers to his countrymen4 ,to such loyal ,americans as these volumes may reach they will give a heart not to be found in ,dr4 ,russell's pictorial neutrality1 in the dashing effects of popular ,mr4 ,trollope1 nor even--making all allowance for the sanative influence of counter-irritation--in the weekly malignity of that ex-,moral ,minstrel whom the ,london ,times has sent to the aid of our insurgent slave-masters4 ,for1 instead of gloating over objections and picking out what petty enigmas may not be readily soluble1 ,mr4 ,dicey has a manly1 ,english way of accepting the preponderant evidence concerning the crisis he came to study4 ,he seldom gets entangled in trivial events1 but knows how to use them as illustrations of great events4 ,it is really refreshing to meet with a ,british traveller who is so happily delivered from the haunting consciousness of a personal identity4 ,the reader is not called upon to bemoan the tribulations of temperance-taverns1 the hardships of indiscriminate railroad-carriages1 nor the rapacity of ,new-,york hackmen4 ,there is scarcely an offence against good taste or good feeling in ,mr4 ,dicey's volumes2 and whatever ,american homes may have been opened to him would doubtless reopen far more readily than to most publishing tourists from the mother-land4 ,mr4 ,dicey clearly exhibits the bearing of the ,rebellion upon the fate of the servile population of the ,south1 and confesses that his deep sympathy with the ,federal cause came from the conviction that the supremacy or overthrow of ,slavery was intimately connected with the success or failure of ,secession4 ,in acknowledging the necessity that was upon loyal ,americans of defending the fundamental law of their society1 he is not disposed to adopt the lamentation of some of our foreign well-wishers who are troubled by the fear of a military despotism in the ,free ,states4 ,he has the sagacity to perceive that the genius and development of the graduates of ,northern school-houses are totally opposed to a military rule4 ,mr4 ,dicey cordially recognizes the democratic idea which sanctifies our convulsion1 and displays a careful observation in noting the self-restraint1 the moderation1 and the patience of the ,american people in the conduct of the people's war4 ,he is not over-disturbed because this same people loved law and order more than freedom itself1 and with few murmurs committed high principles to the championship of whatever petty men happened to represent them4 ,indeed1 one of the best sayings he reports is that of an old ,polish exile1 who congratulates himself that there will be no saviours of society1 no fathers of their country1 to be provided for when the war is over4 ,throughout these two volumes ,british readers may discern something more than the barren facts of our struggle3 they may catch glimpses of its energy and movement2 they may see it as reflected from the most generous ,american minds4 ,for it seems to have been ,mr4 ,dicey's good fortune in this country to have gained admission to the society of men and women of high intelligence1 in whom the religious sentiment was living and powerful2 and he appears to estimate the full weight of testimony such persons offered in sending their loved ones to ,virginia to fall beneath the rifle of some ,southern boor4 ,it is this silent public opinion of the ,north which our foreign critics have generally failed to comprehend4 ,they have been so long accustomed to parody the rhetorical elation of our third-rate political speakers1 and to represent this as a universal ,american characteristic1 that they signally failed to estimate the genuine emotion with which it is never connected4 ,when the cherished barbarism of slaveholders arose and threatened our ,western civilization1 those who most felt and have best wrought for their country were cautious in their speech4 ,they knew that the principle underlying the struggle must submit itself to the checks and counter-checks of constitutional law4 ,while the fire of liberty burned at the heart of citizens of abiding loyalty1 it seemed best1 that1 like the ,psalmist1 they should hold their peace even from good words4 ,many thought it an act of necessary self-restraint to dwell only upon the ,union as a symbol of that universal freedom which they felt the ,union must finally represent4 ,the dread of overleaping the restraints of law1 which1 perchance1 has prolonged the conflict1 has been most creditable to the genuine democracy we have represented4 ,we are proud to remember many intelligent soldiers who used no language of passionate denunciation towards the guilty institution which called them to the field1 yet who knew the end when they gave their lives to a cause utterly antagonistic to its despotic claims4 ,by the representations of ,secessionists encountered in the ,free ,states1 as well as from disloyal newspapers which the ,lincoln despotism never sought to suppress1 ,mr4 ,dicey was convinced that the sole purpose of the ,rebellion was to get possession of the vast regions which lie west of the ,mississippi1 wherein to establish ,slave ,states and ,territories4 ,the ,north1 he declares1 is fighting against1 the ,south is fighting for1 the power of extending slavery across the ,american continent2 and if this was all that could be said1 it is clear on which side must be the sympathies of any one who really and honestly believes that slavery is an evil and a sin4 ,but it is not here that ,mr4 ,dicey rests the case of the ,north as appealing to the ,christian sentiment of the world4 ,he shows that the inexorable logic of facts must work the overthrow of slavery where it now exists4 ,the suppression of the slave-trade1 the recognition of ,hayti1 abolition in the ,district of ,columbia1 and finally the ,proclamation of ,january have one tendency and can have but one result4 ,we state these views as one more confirmation of the fact1 that1 whether agreeable to us or not1 the sympathies of liberal men in ,europe are to be had on the sole ground that ours is an anti-slavery war4 ,mr4 ,dicey's predilections lead him to make a generous1 although discriminating1 estimate of those men who1 in time past1 have endeavored to serve their country by leaving the level commonplaces of respectable citizenship4 ,it is no slight praise to say that his chapter upon the ,new-,england ,abolitionists is clear and just4 ,their points of disagreement with the ,republican party are stated with no common accuracy4 ,careful sentences give the precise position of ,garrison and his adherents3 the intrinsic essence of the movement of these reformers is divested of the subordinate and trivial facts so often put forward to misrepresent it4 ,although ,mr4 ,dicey endeavors not to commit himself upon the vital differences in the agitation of anti-slavery sentiments by the ,abolitionists and by the ,republican party1 it is very evident that he inclines to the belief that the former1 in their advocacy of disunion1 acted not from a perverse and fanatical philosophy1 but from the logical compulsions of a critical understanding1 stimulated by an intense conviction of the national sin4 ,we have dwelt thus upon ,mr4 ,dicey's views of the war1 and of the great moral question with which it is connected1 because these portions of his volumes are most pertinent to us1 as well as creditable to him4 ,his sketches of public characters are good common-sense grasps at them1 which generally get their externals1 and occasionally something more4 ,the description of the ,president is forcible1 though a little too graphic for perfect courtesy4 ,caleb ,cushing impresses the traveller as one of the ablest of our public men1 and ,wendell ,phillips as by far the most eloquent speaker he ever heard4 ,general ,butler1 however1 is not to ,mr4 ,dicey's taste4 ,indeed1 he is hardly behind the ,saturday ,review in the terrible epithets he bestows upon the man who he acknowledges was associated with the grandest triumph of the ,federal arms1 and by some means or other preserved ,new ,orleans to the ,union with but little cost of either men or money4 ,it is rather late to renew discussion about the notorious order relating to the women of the subjected city4 ,but ,mr4 ,dicey chooses to express his belief in an infamous intention of ,general ,butler at the time of its issue1--though he declares that the strictest care was taken lest the order should be abused1 and that the ,southern ladies 8 were grossly insulting in their behavior to the ,union soldiers1 using language and gestures which1 in a city occupied by troops of any other nation1 would have subjected them1 without orders1 to the coarsest retaliation4 ,to which we have only to reply1 that ,general ,butler may be a villain1 but that he is certainly not a fool4 ,nobody doubts that he has military or civil aspirations for the future1 and1 for such ends1 if for nothing else1 wishes the approbation of his loyal countrymen4 ,now ,mr4 ,dicey testifies to the almost morbid sentiment of ,americans in the ,free ,states with regard to women3 he tells us that it renders them ridiculously susceptible to female influences2 also1 that this same sentiment among us protects women from the natural consequences of their own misconduct4 ,these characteristics of his countrymen are just as familiar to ,general ,butler as they are patent to ,mr4 ,dicey2 and we hold it to be simply incredible that one who is at least a very shrewd politician used language which he intended should convey a meaning that must necessarily consign his future career to privacy and infamy4 ,it is perhaps not wonderful that men who have deluged their country in blood1 to propagate a system which consigns unborn millions to enforced harlotry1 should put an evil interpretation upon the indignant stigma applied to acts which1 in civilized ,states1 come from one class of women1 and are designed for one purpose4 ,neither is it very astonishing that such persons as have been employed to pump the ,new-,york sewers into the cloaca maxima which sets towards us from ,printing-,house ,square should share the sensitive chastity of the slave-masters whose work they are put to do4 ,but it is passing strange that a gentleman so fair and reasonable as ,mr4 ,dicey1 one so appreciative of the moral tone which ,northern society demands of its representatives1 should join in an accusation whose absurdity is only lost in its infinite offence4 ,there are small inaccuracies1 as well as occasional instances of carelessness or repetition1 in these volumes1 which1 had circumstances allowed time for revision1 might have been avoided4 ,it would require the ,pathfinder himself to discover ,fremont ,street in the city where we write2 the ,courier is not the most largely circulated of any ,boston paper2 and our ,ex-,mayor ,whiteman requires no fanciful orthography to free his name from the obloquy of an over-devotion to the interests of colored citizens4 ,these are local illustrations of mistakes which are excusable in view of the commendable expedition with which the work was issued1--for1 in the late crisis of our affairs1 an ,englishman who had any good words to give us fulfilled the proverb by giving twice in giving quickly4 ,but1 whatever trifling details might be subjected to criticism1 the total impression of what ,mr4 ,dicey has written bears honorable testimony to the accuracy of his observation1 as well as to his powers of comparison and judgment4 ,as has been already remarked1 we cannot be blind to the fact that our only supporters in ,england are those men who recognize at the heart of our contest that genuine principle of ,liberty which is not to be limited to caste or to race4 ,and it is only by hastening to justify their confidence that we can win to our cause the great people they address4 ,if we cannot gain the national sympathy of ,england1 we must do without the true sympathy of any nation4 ,it was1 indeed1 remarked by ,de ,tocqueville1 that1 in the eyes of the ,english1 the cause which is most useful to ,england is always the cause of justice4 ,but the rare insight of the philosopher assigns the phenomenon1 not to a political ,machiavelism1 but to a laudable desire to connect the actions of one's country with something more stable than interest4 ,the ,english have a peculiar gift of fixing their whole attention upon certain traits or single circumstances which they desire to see4 ,we doubt not that a portion of their sympathy with the energy and endurance of those in arms against their country is estimable according to its light4 ,but as the dignity of our mission in this struggle becomes more and more apparent1 the moral intelligence of ,england will be forced to unite itself with the ,government of the ,united ,states4 ,let that day come when it will1 posterity will remember its obligations to those ,englishmen who did so much to avert the hideous calamity of a war between the two liberal powers of the world4 ,and to us of this present generation it is grateful to know that our brave and generous young men have not died wholly unrecognized in the land of their ancestors4 ,mill1 ,ellison1 ,hughes1--what need to name the rest8--have stood up to report them and their cause aright to the unsatisfied3 in which roll of the honorable and honored we are glad to write the name of ,edward ,dicey4 99 99 99 99 99 ,hospital ,transports4 ,a ,memoir of the ,embarkation of the ,sick and ,wounded from the ,peninsula of ,virginia in the ,summer of #ahfb4 ,compiled and published at the ,request of the ,sanitary ,commission4 ,boston3 ,ticknor and ,fields4 ,if pure benevolence was ever organized and utilized into beneficence1 the name of the institution is the ,sanitary ,commission4 ,it is a standing answer to ,samson's riddle1 ,out of the strong came forth sweetness4 ,out of the very depths of the agony of this cruel and bloody war springs this beautiful system1 built of the noblest and divinest attributes of the human soul4 ,amidst all the heroism of daring and enduring which this war has developed1 amidst all the magnanimity of which it has shown the race capable1 the daring1 the endurance1 and the greatness of soul which have been discovered among the men and women who have given their lives to this work shine as brightly as any on the battle-field1--in some respects even more brightly4 ,they have not the bray of trumpets nor the clash of swords to rouse enthusiasm1 nor will the land ever resound with their victories4 ,theirs is the dark and painful side1 the menial and hidden side1 but made light and lovely by the spirit that shines in and through it all4 ,glimpses of this agency are familiar to our people2 but not till the history of its inception1 progress1 and results is calmly and adequately written out and spread before the public will any idea be formed of the magnitude and importance of the work which it has done4 ,nor even then4 ,never1 till every soldier whose last moments it has soothed1 till every soldier whose flickering life it has gently steadied into continuance1 whose waning reason it has softly lulled into quiet1 whose chilled blood it has warmed into healthful play1 whose failing frame it has nourished into strength1 whose fainting heart it has comforted with sympathy1--never1 until every full soul has poured out its story of gratitude and thanksgiving1 will the record be complete2 but long before that time1 ever since the moment that its helping hand was first held forth1 comes the ,blessed ,voice1 ,inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren1 ye have done it unto me4 ,an institution asking of ,government only permission to live and opportunity to work1 planting itself firmly and squarely on the generosity of the people1 subsisting solely by their free-will offerings1 it is a noble monument of the intelligence1 the munificence1 and the efficiency of a free people1 and of the alacrity with which it responds when the right chord is rightly touched4 ,it is1 however1 not unnatural that doubts should exist as to the success of a plan so far-reaching in its aims and hitherto so untried4 ,stories have been circulated of a mercenary disposition of its stores and trickery among its officers4 ,where these stories have found considerable credence1 they have been tracked to their source and triumphantly refuted2 but it would indeed be hardly less than miraculous1 if an institution ramifying so widely1 with agents so numerous1 and resources so extensive1 should have no knaves among its servants1 and no waste in its circulation4 ,the wonder is1 that more leakage has not been proved than has ever been suspected4 ,all that is necessary to remove floating doubts1 to convince all heads of the wisdom which projected this ,commission1 and to warm all hearts up to its continued and sufficient support1 is a knowledge of what it has done1 is doing1 and purposes to do4 ,this information the ,commission has1 at different times1 and by piecemeal1 furnished3 necessarily by piecemeal1 since1 as this book justly remarks1 the immense mass of details which a circumstantial account of its operations in field and hospital must involve would prove nearly as laborious in the reading as in the performance4 ,in this little volume we have1 photographed1 a single phase of its operations4 ,it consists simply of extracts from letters and reports4 ,there is no attempt at completeness or dramatic arrangement2 yet the most elaborate grouping would probably fail to present one-half as accurately a picture of the work and its ways as these unpretending fragments4 ,it delights us to see the--we can hardly say cheerful1 as that savors too much of the self-sacrifice which benevolence sometimes tarnishes by talking about--but1 rather1 the gay1 lively1 merry manner in which the most balky matters are taken hold of4 ,men and women seem to have gone into the service with good-will and hearty love and buoyant spirits4 ,it refreshes and strengthens us like a tonic to read of their taking the wounded1 festering1 filthy1 miserable men1 washing and dressing them1 pouring in lemonade and beef-tea1 and putting them abed and asleep4 ,there is not a word about devotion or ministering angels1 7we could wish there were not quite so much about ladies17 but honest1 refined1 energetic1 able women1 with quick brains and quick hands1 now bathing a poor crazy head with ice-water1 to be rewarded with one grateful smile from the parting soul1--now standing in the way of a procession of the slightly wounded1 to pour a little brandy down their throats1 or put an orange into their hands1 just to keep them up till they reach food and rest1--now running up the river in a steam-tug1 scrambling eggs in a wash-basin over a spirit-lamp as they go1--now groping their way1 at all hours of the night1 through torrents of rain1 into dreadful places crammed with sick and dying men1 calling back to life those in despair from utter exhaustion1 or again and again catching for mother or wife the last faint whispers of the dying1--now leaving their compliments to serve a disappointed colonel instead of his dinner1 which they had nipped in the bud by dragging away the stove with its four fascinating and not-to-be-withstood pot-holes2--and let the sutler's name be wreathed with laurel who not only permitted this1 but offered his cart and mule to drag the stove to the boat1 and would take no pay6 ,the blessings of thousands who were ready to perish1 and of tens of thousands who love their country and their kind1 rest upon those who originated1 and those who sustain1 this noble work4 ,let the people's heart never faint and its hand never weary2 but let it1 of its abundance1 give to this ,commission full measure1 pressed down1 shaken together1 and running over1 that1 wherever the red trail of war is seen1 its divine footsteps may follow1--that1 wherever the red hand of war is lifted to wound1 its white hand may be lifted to heal1--that its work may never cease until it is assumed by a great ,christian ,government1 or until peace once more reigns throughout the land4 ,and even then1 gratitude for its service1 and joy in its glory1 shall never die out of the hearts of the ,american people4 99 99 99 99 99 ,the ,history of the ,supernatural1 in all ,ages and ,nations1 and in all ,churches1 ,christian and ,pagan1 demonstrating a ,universal ,faith4 ,by ,,william ,,howitt4 ,philadelphia3 ,j4,b4 ,lippincott ,co4 ,there has been a great change of late years in connection with the science of ,pneumatology and with the manner of treating it4 ,there was a revolution of opinion on this subject in the middle of the last century2 there is a counter-revolution to-day4 ,the superstitions and credulities of the ,middle ,ages eventuated1 during the course of the eighteenth century1 in the ,encyclopdism of ,french philosophy4 ,the grounds upon which the ,church based her doctrine of the supernatural were fiercely attacked4 ,the proofs brought forward to prove the insufficiency of such grounds were assumed to prove more than lack of logic in the ,church2 they were taken as proofs1 that1 in the nature of things1 there is no evidence for the supernatural1 in any sense of the term2 in other words1 that there is no knowledge within the reach of mortals1 except that which relates to the physical1--to this earth1 as the only phase of existence1--to the vital body1 as the all of the human being4 ,emotional and intellectual phenomena were but results of material organization1 as heat is the result of combustion3 they exhibited themselves so long as vitality continued2 they disappeared when death supervened1 as the warmth from a fire dies out with the cessation of combustion4 ,no hypothetical soul was needed to account for the thousand phenomena of thought or of sensation4 ,pneumatology was no science1 but the mere fancy of an excited imagination4 ,not to the literature and the social life of ,france alone was this materialistic influence confined4 ,the mind of ,germany1 of ,england1 and1 more or less1 of the rest of ,europe1 and of ,america1 was pervaded by it4 ,the tendency1 all over the civilized world1 was towards unbelief1 not merely in miracles1 but in all things spiritual4 ,science1 with her strict tests and her severe inductions1 lent her aid in the same direction4 ,it does not seem to have occurred to the philosophers of the ,encyclopdian school that a doctrine is not necessarily false because an insufficient argument is brought forward to prove it4 ,it does not appear to have occurred to skeptical physicists that there may be laws of ,nature regulating ultramundane phenomena1 as fixed1 as invariable1 as those which decide the succession of geological phenomena and the products of chemical combinations4 ,here is a theory which is worth considering4 ,may it not be that ,god adapts the proofs of that which it is important that man should know to the intellectual progress of mankind8 ,is it certain that the same evidence which sufficed for the foundation of religious faith five hundred years ago will suffice equally well to-day8 ,truths are eternal2 laws of ,nature vary not4 ,but of the world's thoughts there is a childhood1 a youth1 a manhood2 and there may be various classes of arguments suited to various stages of progress4 ,again1 assuming that the materialist takes a contracted view of the economy of human life1 ignoring every portion of it except its present phase1 7that phase being but the preparation for another and a higher17 may it not be1 that1 as the world advances1 men may gradually be permitted1 occasionally and to a limited extent1 to become aware of influences exerted from a more advanced phase of existence over this8 ,may it not be that the links connecting the two phases of existence are gradually to become more numerous and apparent8 ,such are the general views which ,william ,howitt's work is intended to illustrate and enforce4 ,he selects1 as a title-page motto1 an axiom from ,butler's ,analogy1--,there are two courses of ,nature3 the ordinary and the extraordinary4 ,by the supernatural he does not mean phenomena out of the course of ,nature1 but such comparatively rare phenomena as are governed by laws with which we are unacquainted1 and as are1 therefore1 to us something extraordinary1 something to be wondered at1--miracles4 ,the author travels over a vast extent of ground1--more1 we think1 than can be properly explored in the compass of two duodecimo volumes4 ,all ages1 all countries1 all faiths1 furnish their quota towards his collection4 ,it is curious1 interesting1 suggestive1 rather than conclusive4 ,it exhibits more industry than logic4 ,it consists rather of abundant materials for others to use1 than of materials worked up by the collector4 ,it gives evidence of learning1 research1 and a comprehensive study of the subject4 ,it is a thesaurus of pneumatological knowledge1 collected with ,german assiduity4 ,it will set many to thinking1 though it may convince but few1 except of the one truth1 that the faith in the supernatural has been a universal faith1 pervading all nations1 persisting through all ages4 ,the number of those who take an interest in the subject treated of in ,mr4 ,howitt's book1 and who believe that great truths underlie popular superstitions1 increases day by day2 and the work will probably have a wide circulation4