,,library ,,notes ,,by ,a4 ,p4 ,,russell ,,new ,,edition1 ,,revised ,,and ,,enlarged ,,boston ,,houghton1 ,,mifflin ,,and ,,company ,the ,riverside ,press1 ,cambridge #ahhb ,entered according to ,act of ,congress1 in the year #ahgi1 by ,,addison ,p4 ,,russell1 ,in the ,office of the ,librarian of ,congress1 at ,washington4 ,all rights reserved4 ,,riverside1 ,,cambridge3 ,,stereotyped ,,and ,,printed ,,by ,h4 ,o4 ,,houghton ,,and ,,company4 ,,contents4 ,,page ,i4 ,,insufficiency #a ,,ii4 ,,extremes #cc ,,iii4 ,,disguises #fc ,,iv4 ,,standards #ij ,v4 ,,rewards #aba ,,vi4 ,,limits #aeg ,,vii4 ,,incongruity #ahg ,,viii4 ,,mutations #bad ,,ix4 ,,paradoxes #bdj ,x4 ,,contrasts #bgj ,,xi4 ,,types #bie ,,xii4 ,,conduct #cbe ,,xiii4 ,,religion #ceg ,,library ,,notes4 ,i4 ,,insufficiency4 ,it was well said by some one that in every object there is an inexhaustible meaning2 the eye sees in it what the eye brings means of seeing4 ,each one sees what he carries in his heart1 said ,goethe4 ,you will find poetry nowhere1 said ,joubert1 unless you bring some with you4 ,those who would see or feel the truth of the anatomy in the marble must bring their knowledge with them4 ,don't you think that statue indecent8 said ,boswell to ,johnson4 ,no1 sir1 was the reply1 but your remark is4 ,once1 we are told by ,hazlitt1 when a pedantic coxcomb was crying up ,raphael to the skies1 ,northcote could not help saying1 ,if there was nothing in ,raphael but what you can see in him1 we should not now have been talking of him4 ,douglas ,jerrold1 it is said1 disliked the theatre behind the scenes1 and seldom went there save to witness a rehearsal4 ,he would generally attend on the first night of the performance of his piece1 but he seldom saw the same piece twice4 ,his idea1 as realized1 generally disgusted him4 ,he saw it with all the delicate touches rubbed away1--a shadow1 or a vulgar caricature4 ,his quarrels with actors were incessant1 because they would take their idea and not his idea of a part4 ,la ,rochefoucauld1 in his ,maxims1 gives us a picture1 not of human nature1 but of its selfishness4 ,he works1 said ,sterling1 like a painter who paints the profile1 and chooses the side of the face in which the eye is blind and deformed1 instead of the other1 which is unblemished4 ,yet the picture may be a most accurate copy4 ,so do we all4 ,those of us that see at all see but a small part of anything at a time4 ,only a line upon the column is distinctly visible2 all the rest is hidden1 or obscured in the glaring light or eclipsing shadow4 ,a man1 especially1 must be looked at all around1 within1 by a fair light1 and with a good eye1 to be seen truly or judged justly4 ,we put a narrow and fine sight upon him naturally1 and can hardly avoid estimating him meanly4 ,we have too much the habit of ,fuseli1 who preferred beginning his sketch of the human figure at the lowest point1 and working from the foot upward4 ,the wisest amongst us1 said the artist and critic1 ,richardson1 is a fool in some things1 as the lowest amongst men has some just notions1 and therein is as wise as ,socrates2 so that every man resembles a statue made to stand against a wall or in a niche2 on one side it is a ,plato1 an ,apollo1 a ,demosthenes2 on the other1 it is a rough1 unformed piece of stone4 ,both1 said ,dr4 ,johnson of the remarks of ,lord ,orrery and ,delany on ,swift1 were right1--only ,delany had seen most of the good side1 ,lord ,orrery most of the bad4 ,there is a curious life of ,tiberius1 with two title-pages1 both taken from historical authorities2 two characters--one detestable1 the other admirable--of one and the same person2 made up1 both1 of recorded facts4 ,we ought not1 said ,la ,bruyere1 to judge of men as of a picture or statue1 at the first sight2 there is a mind and heart to be searched2 the veil of modesty covers merit1 and the mask of hypocrisy disguises malignity4 ,there are but few judges that have knowledge to discern aright to pass sentence2 'tis but by little and little1 and perhaps even by time and occasion1 that complete virtue or perfect vice come at last to show themselves4 ,a man1 said ,emerson1 is like a bit of ,labrador spar1 which has no lustre as you turn it in your hand1 until you come to a particular angle2 then it shows deep and beautiful colors4 ,what you think of him depends so much on how you look at him4 ,as a creature of small ways and little achievements1 he seems fit only for stopping a bung-hole2 as an embodiment of every manly trait and of every ,christian virtue1 he appears indeed a noble animal1 splendid in ashes1 and pompous in the grave4 ,the petty tyrant of a family1 he satirizes ,caesar2 the canting bigot of the church1 he brings reproach upon religion4 ,now a gentleman1 he makes you think of ,sidney2 now a beast1 of ,swift's revolting ,yahoo4 ,when truly humble and consciously ignorant1 he hath the aspect of a child of ,god2 when conceited1 dogmatic1 aggressive1 all the forgotten orthodox teachings of the fate of the hopeless come back to you with the force of apostolic thunder4 ,as the splendid immortal he is destined to be1 you hasten to apotheosize him2 as the monster he sometimes appears1 you wonder that he exists4 ,burns1 who was a master in human nature1 characterized woman as great for good1 or great for evil2 when not an angel1 she's a devil4 ,there is something still more to be dreaded than a ,jesuit1 said ,eugene ,sue1 and that is a ,jesuitess4 ,it seems to be nearly impossible to be moderate4 ,if we are calm or deliberate enough to be just1 we are almost sure to be indifferent4 ,our ignorance1 our education1 our interests1 our prejudices1 blind our eyes1 darken our minds1 or drive us to violence4 ,there is nothing half and half about us4 ,the little that we see1 we see so differently and so partially1 and ignorance finds its complement in feeling4 ,dryden said of some of the judges of his day1 that1 right or wrong1 they always decided for the poor against the rich2 and he quoted a saying of ,charles ,,ii41 that the crown was uniformly worsted in every case which was heard before ,sir ,matthew ,hale4 ,the eyes of critics1 said ,landor1 whether in commending or carping1 are both on one side1 like a turbot's4 ,truth1 as ,humanity knows it1 said ,bulwer1 is not what the schoolmen call it1 one and indivisible2 it is like light1 and splits not only into elementary colors1 but into innumerable tints4 ,truth with ,raphael is not the same as truth with ,titian2 truth with ,shakespeare is not the same as truth with ,milton2 truth with ,st4 ,xavier is not the same as truth with ,luther2 truth with ,pitt is not the same as truth with ,fox4 ,each man takes from life his favorite truth1 as each man takes from light his favorite color4 ,perhaps that which astonishes us most1 when we fairly open our eyes upon the world1 is the diversity in everything4 ,out in the forest1 under the spreading tree1 looking up at the luxuriant foliage1 you may not think of the difference between the leaves2 but pull down a limb1 and spend an hour comparing them2 you find1 much as they resemble1 that no two are precisely alike4 ,examine the plumage of the owl that you cruelly brought down with your rifle2 every feather of his beautiful dress differs from every other2 and1 what is more remarkable1 every fibre of every feather is another feather1 still more delicate1 differing from every other1 all of which together yield to the pressure of your hand like floss silk4 ,no wonder he fell upon the mischievous mole or mouse as noiselessly as the shadow of a cloud4 ,go down to the sea-shore2 the tide is out2 there is an apparent waste of white sand1 a dull extent of uniformity2 but stretch yourself on the beach1 which the innumerable differing waves have beaten to incomparable smoothness1 and examine leisurely1 with a good glass1 a few hundred of the infinite grains which you thought to be the same1 and you discover that they differ1 that each is differently shaped1 each holds the light differently1 and1 what is more wonderful than all1 each appears to be a shell1 or part of a shell1 which was once the abode of a creature1 and a different creature from every other inhabiting or that ever inhabited any other shell of the ocean4 ,look into the crowded street2 the men are all men2 they all walk upright2 they might wear each other's clothes without serious inconvenience2 but could they exchange souls8 ,clothe me as you will1 said ,sancho1 ,i shall still be ,sancho ,panza4 ,the soul is not twin-born1 but the only begotten4 ,and there never was in the world1 said ,montaigne1 two opinions alike1 no more than two hairs or two grains4 ,the most universal quality is diversity4 ,the nerve-tissue1 said an acute physiologist1 is never precisely the same in two men2 the blood of no two men is precisely alike2 the milk of no two women is identical in composition--they all vary 7within certain limits71 and sometimes the variation is considerable4 ,it is in this that depends what we call the difference of 'temperament1' which makes one twin so unlike his brother1 and makes the great variety of the human race4 ,give ,professor ,owen part of an old bone or a tooth1 and he will on the instant draw you the whole animal1 and tell you its habits and propensities4 ,what professor has ever yet been able to classify the wondrous variety of human character8 ,how very limited as yet the nomenclature6 ,we know there are in our moral dictionary the religious1 the irreligious1 the virtuous1 the vicious1 the prudent1 the profligate1 the liberal1 the avaricious1 and so on to a few names1 but the comprehended varieties under these terms--their mixtures1 which1 like colors1 have no names--their strange complexities and intertwining of virtues and vices1 graces and deformities1 diversified and mingled1 and making individualities--yet of all the myriads of mankind that ever were1 not one the same1 and scarcely alike2 how little way has science gone to their discovery1 and to mark their delineation6 ,a few sounds1 designated by a few letters1 speak all thought1 all literature1 that ever was or will be4 ,the variety is infinite1 and ever creating a new infinite2 and there is some such mystery in the endless variety of human character4 ,cicero gives an account of a man who could distinguish marks of difference amongst eggs so well1 that he never mistook one for another2 and1 having many hens1 could tell which laid a particular egg4 ,socrates asked ,menon what virtue was8 ,there is1 said ,menon1 the virtue of a man and of a woman1 of a magistrate and of a private person1 of an old man and of a child4 ,very well1 said ,socrates1 we were in quest of virtue1 and thou hast brought us a whole swarm4 ,what1 asks the great ,french essayist1 have our legislators got by culling out a hundred thousand particular cases1 and annexing to these a hundred thousand laws8 ,the number holds no manner of proportion with the infinite diversity of human actions2 the multiplication of our inventions will never arrive at the variety of examples2 add to them a hundred times as many more2 it will not1 nevertheless1 ever happen1 that1 of events to come1 there shall any one fall out that1 in this great number of thousands of events so chosen and recorded1 shall find any one to which it can be so exactly coupled and compared1 that there will not remain some circumstance and diversity which will require a variety of judgment4 ,some ask1 says ,la ,bruyere1 why mankind in general don't compose but one nation1 and are not contented to speak one language1 to live under the same laws1 to agree amongst themselves in the same customs and worship3 for my part1 seeing the contrariety of their inclinations1 tastes1 and sentiments1 ,i wonder to see seven or eight persons live under the same roof1 within the same walls1 and make a single family4 ,molecular philosophy shows interspaces betwixt atom and atom1 differing atoms1 which can hardly be said to touch2 so bodies are formed1 and so society and public opinion are compounded4 ,the single individual is to collective humanity1 says ,alger1 as the little column of mercury in the barometer is to the whole atmosphere4 ,they balance each other1 although infinitely incommensurate4 ,a quicksilver sea1 two and a half feet deep1 covering the globe1 would weigh five thousand million tons4 ,that is the heft of the air1--that transparent robe of blue gauze which outsags the ,andes and the ,alps4 ,its pressure is unfelt1 yet if that pressure were annulled all the water on the earth would immediately fly into vapor4 ,public opinion is the atmosphere of society1 without which the forces of the individual would collapse and all the institutions of society fly into atoms4 ,common sense has been defined to be the average intellect and conscience of the civilized world1--that portion of intelligence1 morality1 and ,christianity1 which has been practically embodied in life and active power4 ,it destroys pretense and quackery1 and tests genius and heroism4 ,it changes with the progress of society2 persecutes in one age what it adopts in the next2 its martyrs of the sixteenth century are its precedents and exponents of the nineteenth2 and a good part of the common sense of an elder day is the common nonsense of our own4 ,the history of human opinions1 said ,voltaire1 is scarcely anything more than the history of human errors4 ,john ,foster1 in one of his thoughtful essays1 has this suggestive passage3 ,if a reflective1 aged man were to find at the bottom of an old chest--where it had lain forgotten fifty years--a record which he had written of himself when he was young1 simply and vividly describing his whole heart and pursuits1 and reciting verbatim many passages of the language which he sincerely uttered1 would he not read it with more wonder than almost every other writing could at his age inspire8 ,he would half lose the assurance of his identity1 under the impression of this immense dissimilarity4 ,it would seem as if it must be the tale of the juvenile days of some ancestor1 with whom he had no connection but that of name4 ,said ,swift1 ,if a man would register all his opinions upon love1 politics1 religion1 learning1 etc41 beginning from his youth1 and so go on to old age1 what a bundle of inconsistencies and contradictions would appear at last4 ,says ,montaigne1 ,never did two men make the same judgment of the same thing2 and 'tis impossible to find two opinions exactly alike1 not only in several men1 but in the same men1 at different times4 ,says ,pope1 ,what is every year of a wise man's life but a censure or critique on the past8 ,those whose date is the shortest live long enough to laugh at one half of it2 the boy despises the infant2 the man1 the boy2 the philosopher1 both2 and the ,christian1 all4 ,diet1 health1 the weather1 affairs1--a thousand things1--determine our views4 ,i knew a witty physician1 says ,emerson1 who found the creed in the biliary duct1 and used to affirm that if there was disease in the liver1 the man became a ,calvinist1 and if that organ was sound1 he became a ,unitarian4 ,voltaire declared that the fate of a nation had often depended on the good or bad digestion of a prime minister2 and ,motley holds that the gout of ,charles ,v4 changed the destinies of the world4 ,our views change so often that the writer who would be consistent would never write at all4 ,the sentence that would express his thought at one time would fail at another4 ,alteration would only confuse4 ,an attempt to find words to express his thoughts upon any one thing at all times would be given up in despair4 ,voltaire once praised another writer very heartily to a third person4 ,it is very strange1 was the reply1 that you speak so well of him1 for he says you are a charlatan4 ,oh1 replied ,voltaire1 ,i think it very likely that both of us are mistaken4 ,a day or two after the production of one of ,sheridan's comedies1 a friend met the author1 and told him he had seen ,cumberland at the theatre on its representation4 ,ah1 well1 replied ,sheridan1 ,what did he say to it8 ,he wasn't seen to smile from the beginning to the end of the comedy1 said the friend4 ,come1 now1 that's very ungrateful of him1 retorted ,sheridan1 for ,i went to see his tragedy the other evening1 and laughed through the whole of it4 ,smith gives an account of a lady in weeds for her husband who came drooping like a willow to ,nollekens1 the sculptor1 desiring a monument1 and declaring that she did not care what money was expended on the memory of one she loved so4 ,do what you please1 but1 oh1 do it quickly6 were her parting orders4 ,nollekens went to work1 made the design1 finished the model1 and began to look for a block of marble to carve it from1 when in dropped the lady2 she had been absent some three months4 ,poor soul1 said the sculptor1 when she was announced1 ,i thought she would come soon1 but ,i am ready4 ,the lady came light of foot1 and lighter of look4 ,ah1 how do you do1 ,mr4 ,nollekens8 ,well1 you have not commenced the model8 ,ay1 but ,i have1 though1 returned the sculptor1 and there it stands1 finished6 ,there it is1 indeed1 sighed the lady1 throwing herself into a chair2 they looked at each other for a minute's space or so--she spoke first2 ,these1 my good friend1 are1 ,i know1 early days for this little change1--she looked at her dress1 from which the early profusion of crape had disappeared1--but since ,i saw you1 ,i have met with an old ,roman acquaintance of yours who has made me an offer1 and ,i don't know how he would like to see in our church a monument of such expense to my late husband4 ,indeed1 on second thought1 it would be considered quite enough if ,i got our mason to put up a mural tablet1 and that1 you know1 he can cut very prettily4 ,my charge1 madam1 for the model1 said the sculptor1 is one hundred guineas4 ,enormous6 enormous6 said the lady1 but drew out her purse1 and paid it4 ,the mutability of human nature6 ,change1 change is the rule4 ,flaxman1 when he was in ,rome1 lived at a sort of chocolate house kept by three girls who were so elegant as to be called the ,graces4 ,they lived to be so old that they were called the ,furies4 ,a distinguished painter has said1 that often while you are looking at a face1 and though you perceive no difference in the features1 yet you find they have undergone a total alteration of expression4 ,i have seen several pictures of ,garrick1 said ,macaulay1 none resembling another1 and ,i have heard ,hannah ,more speak of the extraordinary variety of countenance by which he was distinguished4 ,i wish the world1 ,james1 said ,christopher ,north to the ,ettrick ,shepherd1 would stand still for some dozen years--till ,i am at rest4 ,it seems as if the very earth itself were undergoing a vital change4 ,nothing is unalterable1 except the heaven above my head1 and even it1 ,james1 is hardly1 methinks1 at times1 the same as in former days or nights4 ,there is not much difference in the clouds1 ,james1 but the blue sky1 ,i must confess1 is not quite so very blue as it was sixty years since2 and the sun1 although still a glorious luminary1 has lost a leetle--of his lustre4 ,gilbert ,white1 in his ,natural ,history of ,selborne1 says he saw a cock-bullfinch in a cage1 which had been caught in the fields after it was come to its full colors4 ,in about a year it began to look dingy2 and blackening each succeeding year1 it became coal-black at the end of four4 ,its chief food was hemp seed4 ,such influence has food on the color of animals6 ,darwin1 in his ,voyage1 says that the wild cattle in ,east ,falkland ,island1 originally the same stock1 differ much in color2 and that in different parts of that one small island1 different colors predominate4 ,he remarked that the difference in the prevailing colors was so obvious1 that in looking at the herds from a point near ,point ,pleasant1 they appeared from a long distance like black spots1 whilst south of ,choiseul ,sound they appeared like white spots on the hill-sides4 ,round ,mount ,usborne1 at a height of one thousand to fifteen hundred feet above the sea1 about half of some of the herds are mouse or lead colored4 ,from the westward till you get to the river ,adur1 observed ,white1 all the flocks have horns and smooth white faces1 and white legs1 and a hornless sheep is rarely to be seen2 but as soon as you pass that river eastward1 and mount ,beeding ,hill1 all the flocks at once become hornless1 or1 as they call them1 poll-sheep2 and have1 moreover1 black faces1 with a white tuft of wool on their foreheads1 and speckled and spotted legs1 so that you would think that the flocks of ,laban were pasturing on one side of the stream1 and the variegated breed of his son-in-law1 ,jacob1 were cantoned along on the other4 ,youatt speaks of two flocks of ,leicester sheep which have been purely bred from the original stock of ,mr4 ,bakewell for more than fifty years4 ,there is not a suspicion existing in the mind of any one at all acquainted with the subject1 that the owner of either of them has deviated in any one instance from the pure blood of ,mr4 ,bakewell's flock1 and yet the difference between the sheep possessed by these two gentlemen is so great that they have the appearance of being quite different varieties4 ,we may1 in truth1 said ,voltaire1 be naturally and aptly resembled to a river1 all whose waters pass away in perpetual change and flow4 ,it is the same river as to its bed1 its banks1 its source1 its mouth1 everything1 in short1 that is not itself2 but changing every moment its water1 which constitutes its very being1 it has no identity2 there is no sameness belonging to the river4 ,said ,sir ,kenelm ,digby1 long before ,voltaire1 ,there is not one drop of the same water in the ,thames that ran down by ,whitehall yesternight2 yet no man will deny but that it is the same river that was in ,queen ,elizabeth's time1 as long as it is supplied from the same common stock1 the sea4 ,lowell1 in one of his critical essays1 says that all men are interested in ,montaigne in proportion as all men find more of themselves in him2 and all men see but one image in the glass which the greatest of poets holds up to nature1--an image which at once startles and charms with its familiarity4 ,montaigne himself says1 ,nature1 that we may not be dejected with the sight of our deformities1 has wisely thrust the action of seeing outward4 ,know thyself1 that ,apollo caused to be written on the front of his temple at ,delphi1 appeared to him contradictory4 ,we are vain of our knowledge1 vain of our virtue1 vain of everything that pertains to us4 ,reading ,la ,rochefoucauld's ,maxims at twenty1 one is a little surprised that the first and longest should be upon self-love2 at forty1 one is not astonished at the rank and importance it has in the philosopher's system4 ,in vain1 says ,xavier de ,maistre1 are looking-glasses multiplied around us which reflect light and truth with geometrical exactness4 ,as soon as the rays reach our vision and paint us as we are1 self-love slips its deceitful prism between us and our image1 and presents a divinity to us4 ,and of all the prisms that have existed since the first that came from the hands of the immortal ,newton1 none has possessed so powerful a refractive force1 or produced such pleasing and lively colors1 as the prism of self-love4 ,now1 seeing that ordinary looking-glasses record the truth in vain1 and that they cannot make men see their own imperfections1 every one being satisfied with his face1 what would a moral mirror avail8 ,few people would look at it1 and no one would recognize himself4 ,oh1 the incomparable contrivance of ,nature1 exclaims ,erasmus1 who has ordered all things in so even a method that wherever she has been less bountiful in her gifts1 there she makes it up with a larger dose of self-love1 which supplies the former defects1 and makes all even4 ,could all mankind1 says ,john ,norris1 lay claim to that estimate which they pass upon themselves1 there would be little or no difference betwixt laps'd and perfect humanity1 and ,god might again review his image with paternal complacency1 and still pronounce it good4 ,blinded as they are as to their true character by self-love1 every man1 says ,plutarch1 is his own first and chiefest flatterer1 prepared therefore to welcome the flatterer from the outside1 who only comes confirming the verdict of the flatterer within4 ,it was the habit of ,sir ,godfrey ,kneller to say to his sitter1 ,praise me1 sir1 praise me3 how can ,i throw any animation into your face if you don't choose to animate me8 ,i have heard1 says ,bulwer1 in one of his essays1 that when the late ,mr4 ,kean was performing in some city of the ,united ,states1 he came to the manager at the end of the third act and said1 ',i can't go on the stage again1 sir1 if the pit keeps its hands in its pockets4 ,such an audience would extinguish ,a,etna4' ,the audience being notified by the manager of the determination of the actor1 proved hearty enough in its applause4 ,as the favor of the audience rose1 so rose the genius of the actor1 and the contagion of their own applause redoubled their enjoyment of the excellence it contributed to create4 ,vanity1 says ,pascal1 has taken so firm a hold on the heart of man1 that a porter1 a hodman1 a turnspit1 can talk greatly of himself1 and is for having his admirers4 ,philosophers who write of the contempt of glory do yet desire the glory of writing well2 and those who read their compositions would not lose the glory of having read them4 ,we are so presumptuous as that we desire to be known to all the world2 and even to those who are not to come into the world till we have left it4 ,and1 at the same time1 we are so little and vain as that the esteem of five or six persons about us is enough to content and amuse us4 ,we censure others1 says ,sir ,thomas ,browne1 but as they disagree from that humor which we fancy laudable in ourselves1 and commend others but for that wherein they seem to quadrate and consent with us4 ,so that in conclusion1 all is but that we all condemn1 self-love4 ,we think ourselves of great importance in the eyes of others1 when we are only so in our own4 ,calmly considering it1 what can be more astonishing than vanity in a middle-aged person8 ,know as much as it is possible for a human being to know in this world1 he cannot know enough to justify him in being vain of his knowledge4 ,good as it is possible for a human being to be1 he cannot be good enough to excuse a conceit of his goodness4 ,yet how common it is for full-grown ignorance to have conceit of wisdom1 and for ordinary virtue to assume the airs of saintship4 ,how we shall one day wonder1 looking back at the world we have left1 at the nearly invisible mites1 like ourselves1 tossing their heads in pride1 and gathering their skirts in self-righteousness1 that we were ever as vain and shameless as they1 and that the little things of life ever so engrossed us4 ,alas1 to learn and unlearn is our fate2 to gather as we climb the hill of life1 to scatter as we descend it3 empty-handed alike at the end and at the beginning4 ,youth's heritage is hope1 but man's ,is retrospect of shattered plans1 ,and doubtful glances cast before4 ,all the world1 all that we are1 and all that we have1 our bodies and our souls1 our actions and our sufferings1 our conditions at home1 our accidents abroad1 our many sins1 and our seldom virtues1 says ,jeremy ,taylor1 are as so many arguments to make our souls dwell low in the valleys of humility4 ,we are not what we think ourselves1 nor are other people what we think them1 else this were a different world4 ,we know not ourselves1 nor others1 nor anything1 so well as to avoid misapprehending everything4 ,our condition is ignorance and humility1 and better it were if we kept modestly in our paths4 ,whatever we do or are1 we are of chief importance to ourselves4 ,northcote said that he often blamed himself for uttering what might be thought harsh things2 and that on mentioning this once to ,kemble1 and saying it sometimes kept him from sleep1 after he had been out in company1 ,kemble replied1 ,oh1 you need not trouble yourself so much about them2 others never think of them afterward4 ,i see you will not believe it1 said ,sydney ,smith1 but ,i was once very shy4 ,were you1 indeed1 ,mr4 ,smith8 how did you cure yourself8 ,why1 it was not very long before ,i made two very useful discoveries3 ,first1 that all mankind were not solely employed in observing me 7a belief that all young people have72 and next1 that shamming was of no use2 that the world was very clear-sighted1 and soon estimated a man at his just value4 ,this cured me1 and ,i determined to be natural1 and let the world find me out4 ,the world1 says ,thackeray1 can pry out everything about us which it has a mind to know4 ,but there is this consolation1 which men will never accept in their own cases1 that the world doesn't care4 ,consider the amount of scandal it has been forced to hear in its time1 and how weary it must be of that kind of intelligence4 ,you are taken to prison and fancy yourself indelibly disgraced8 ,you are bankrupt under odd circumstances8 ,you drive a queer bargain with your friend and are found out1 and imagine the world will punish you8 ,pshaw6 ,your shame is only vanity4 ,go and talk to the world as if nothing had happened1 and nothing has happened4 ,tumble down2 brush the mud off your clothes2 appear with a smiling countenance1 and nobody cares4 ,do you suppose society is going to take out its pocket-handkerchief and be inconsolable when you die8 ,why should it care1 very much1 then1 whether your worship graces yourself or disgraces yourself8 ,whatever happens1 it talks1 meets1 jokes1 yawns1 has its dinner1 pretty much as before4 ,depend upon it1 the world will not hunt you1 nor concern itself much about you4 ,if you want its favors you must keep yourself in its eye4 ,cicero left ,sicily extremely pleased with the success of his administration1 and flattered himself that all ,rome was celebrating his praises1 and that the people would readily grant him everything that he desired2 in which imagination he landed at ,puteoli1 a considerable port adjoining to ,baiae1 the chief seat of pleasure in ,italy1 where there was a perpetual resort of all the rich and the great1 as well for the delights of its situation as for the use of its baths and hot waters4 ,but here1 as he himself pleasantly tells the story1 he was not a little mortified by the first friend whom he met1 who asked him how long he had left ,rome1 and what news there1 when he answered that he came from the provinces4 ,from ,africk1 ,i suppose1 says another2 and upon his replying1 with some indignation1 ,no2 ,i come from ,sicily1 a third1 who stood by1 and had a mind to be thought wiser1 said presently1 ,how8 did you not know that ,cicero was quaestor of ,syracuse8 ,upon which1 perceiving it in vain to be angry1 he fell into the humor of the place1 and made himself one of the company who came to the waters4 ,this mortification gave some little check to his ambition1 or taught him rather how to apply it more successfully2 and did him more good1 he says1 than if he had received all the compliments that he expected2 for it made him reflect that the people of ,rome had dull ears1 but quick eyes2 and that it was his business to keep himself always in their sight2 nor to be so solicitous how to make them hear of him1 as to make them see him3 so that1 from this moment1 he resolved to stick close to the forum1 and to live perpetually in the view of the city2 nor to suffer either his porter or his sleep to hinder any man's access to him4 ,as capital in trade must be constantly turning to accumulate1 so intelligence must be constantly in use to be useful4 ,its value and utility and accuracy can only be known by constantly testing it4 ,a false light leads straight into the bog1 and misinformation is worse than no information at all4 ,curiosity has need to be on tip-toe1--but cautious1 nevertheless4 ,southey tells a story in his ,doctor which the ,jesuit ,manuel de ,vergara used to tell of himself4 ,when he was a little boy he asked a ,dominican friar what was the meaning of the seventh commandment1 for he said he could not tell what committing adultery was4 ,the friar1 not knowing how to answer1 cast a perplexed look around the room1 and thinking he had found a safe reply1 pointed to a kettle on the fire1 and said the commandment meant that he must never put his hand in the pot while it was boiling4 ,the very next day1 a loud scream alarmed the family1 and behold there was little ,manuel running about the room1 holding up his scalded finger1 and exclaiming1 ,oh dear6 oh dear6 ,i've committed adultery6 ,i've committed adultery6 ,i've committed adultery6 ,men are most apt to believe what they least understand4 ,what they are most ready to talk upon1 if they knew just a little more about1 they would be dumb2 or would at least betray in some degree what ,john ,buncle calls the decencies of ignorance4 ,we are told that shortly after the shock of the famous earthquake at ,talcahuano1 a great wave was seen from the distance of three or four miles1 approaching in the middle of the bay with a smooth outline2 but along the shore it tore up cottages and trees1 as it swept onward with irresistible force4 ,at the head of the bay it broke in a fearful line of white breakers1 which rushed up to a height of twenty-three vertical feet above the highest spring-tides4 ,the lower orders in ,talcahuano thought that the earthquake was caused by some old ,indian women1 witches1 who1 two years before1 being offended1 stopped the volcano of ,antuco6 ,bishop ,latimer says that ,master ,more was once sent in commission into ,kent1 to help to try out1 if it might be1 what was the cause of ,goodwin ,sands1 and the shelf that stopped up ,sandwich ,haven4 ,among others1 came in before him an old man with a white head1 and one that was thought to be little less than one hundred years old4 ,quoth ,master ,more1 ,how say you in this matter8 ,what think you to be the cause of these shelves and flats that stop up ,sandwich ,haven8 ,forsooth1 quoth he1 ,i am an old man4 ,i think that ,tenterden-steeple is the cause of ,goodwin ,sands2 for ,i am an old man1 sir1 quoth he1 and ,i may remember the building of ,tenterden-steeple1 and ,i may remember when there was no steeple at all there4 ,and before that ,tenterden-steeple was in building1 there was no manner of speaking of any flats or sands that stopped the haven1 and therefore ,i think that ,tenterden-steeple is the cause of the destroying and decay of ,sandwich ,haven6 7,the centenarian's reply crystallized at once into a proverb and synonym for popular ignorance2 but what if the old man had in his mind the half of the story omitted by ,latimer--that the obnoxious steeple had been built by a bishop with fifty thousand pounds appropriated to build a breakwater67 ,the fox that ,darwin tells us about in his ,voyage was literally lost in the presence of wonders4 ,in the evening1 says the naturalist1 we reached the island of ,san ,pedro4 ,in doubling the point1 two of the officers landed1 to take a round of angles with the theodolite4 ,a fox of a kind said to be peculiar on the island1 and very rare in it1 was sitting on the rocks4 ,he was so intently absorbed in watching the work of the officers1 that ,i was able1 by quietly walking up behind1 to knock him on the head with my geological hammer6 ,we on this globe1 said ,voltaire1 speaking of the slender acquaintance of ,europe with the ,chinese ,empire1 we on this globe are like insects in a garden--those who live on an oak seldom meet those who pass their short lives on an ash4 ,we are poor1 silly animals1 says ,horace ,walpole2 we live for an instant upon a particle of a boundless universe1 and are much like a butterfly that should argue about the nature of the seasons1 and what creates their vicissitudes1 and does not exist itself to see an annual revolution of them4 ,when ,dr4 ,livingstone returned from ,africa1 after a stay of sixteen years as a missionary1 he was induced to bring with him an intelligent and affectionate native1 ,sekwebu1 who had been of great service to him4 ,when they parted from their friends at ,kilemane1 the sea on the bar was frightful1 even to the seamen4 ,this was the first time ,sekwebu had seen the sea4 ,as the terrible breakers broke over them1 he asked1 wonderingly1 ,is this the way you go8 ,is this the way you go8 exclaiming1 ,what a strange country is this--all water together6 ,at sea1 a person's eye being six feet above the surface of the water1 his horizon is only two miles and four fifths distant2 yet his tongue will as freely wag of the world as if it were all spinning under his eye4 ,we freely discuss the ignorance of those we believe to be less intelligent than ourselves1 never thinking that we are the cause of like amusement to those who are more intelligent than we are4 ,fewer laugh with us than at us4 ,the grades are so many that contrast is more natural than comparison4 ,unfortunately1 too1 it is only in the descent that we can see1 and that but a little way4 ,we know it is up1 up1 that we would go1 but the rounds of the ladder are but vaguely visible4 ,but a small part1 indeed1 we perceive of the prodigious sweep from the lowest ignorance to possible intelligence4 ,happily1 credulity fills the empty spaces1 and1 setting itself up for original wisdom1 satisfies us with ourselves and ours4 ,thackeray1 in one of his best novels1 thus satirically screams out one of its uses3 ,oh1 ,mr4 ,pendennis6 if ,nature had not made that provision for each sex in the credulity of the other1 which sees good qualities where none exist1 good looks in donkeys' ears1 wit in their numskulls1 and music in their bray1 there would not have been near so much marrying and giving in marriage as now obtains1 and as is necessary for the due propagation and continuance of the noble race to which we belong6 ,i desire to die1 said ,horace ,walpole1 when ,i have nobody left to laugh with me4 ,i have never yet seen1 or heard1 anything serious that was not ridiculous4444 ,oh6 we are ridiculous animals2 and if angels have any fun in them1 how we must divert them4 ,i had taken1 when a child1 says ,crabb ,robinson1 a great fancy to the ,book of ,revelation2 and ,i have heard that ,i asked our minister to preach from that book1 because it was my favorite4 ',and why is it your favorite1 ,henry8' ',because it is so pretty and easy to understand6' ,robert ,robinson1 a witty and distinguished clergyman in the last century1 was addressed by a grave brother1 ,friend1 ,i never heard you preach on the ,trinity4 ,oh1 ,i intend to do so1 was the reply1 as soon as ever ,i understand it6 ,this recalls the rebuke of a clergyman to a young man1 who said he would believe nothing which he could not understand4 ,then1 young man1 your creed will be the shortest of any man's ,i know4 ,john ,foster's observations upon an atheist you remember1--one of the most daring beings in the creation1 a contemner of ,god1 who explodes his laws by denying his existence4 ,if you were so unacquainted with mankind that this character might be announced to you as a rare or singular phenomenon1 your conjectures1 till you saw and heard the man1 at the nature and the extent of the discipline through which he must have advanced1 would be led toward something extraordinary4 ,and you might think that the term of that discipline must have been very long2 since a quick train of impressions1 a short series of mental gradations1 within the little space of a few months and years1 would not seem enough to have matured such an awful heroism4 ,surely the creature that thus lifts his voice1 and defies all invisible power within the possibilities of infinity1 challenging whatever unknown being may hear him1 was not as yesterday a little child1 that would tremble and cry at the approach of a diminutive reptile4 ,but indeed it is heroism no longer1 if he knows there is no ,god4 ,the wonder then turns on the great process by which a man could grow to the immense intelligence that can know that there is no ,god4 ,what ages and what lights are requisite for this attainment6 ,this intelligence involves the very attributes of the ,divinity1 while a ,god is denied4 ,for unless this man is omnipresent1 unless he is at this moment in every place in the universe1 he cannot know but there may be in some place manifestations of a ,deity by which even he would be overpowered4 ,if he does not know absolutely every agent in the universe1 the one that he does not know may be ,god4 ,if he is not in absolute possession of all the propositions that constitute universal truth1 the one which he wants may be1 that there is a ,god4 ,if he does not know everything that has been done in the immeasurable ages that are past1 some things may have been done by a ,god4 ,thus1 unless he knows all things1 that is1 precludes another ,deity by being one himself1 he cannot know that the ,being whose existence he rejects does not exist4 ,and yet a man of ordinary age and intelligence may present himself to you with the avowal of being thus distinguished from the crowd6 ,i had one just flogging1 says ,coleridge4 ,when ,i was about thirteen ,i went to a shoemaker and begged him to take me as his apprentice4 ,he1 being an honest man1 immediately brought me to ,bowyer1 the head-master at the charity-school who got into a great rage1 knocked me down1 and even pushed ,crispin rudely out of the room4 ,bowyer asked me why ,i had made myself such a fool8 to which ,i answered that ,i had a great desire to be a shoemaker1 and that ,i hated the thought of being a clergyman4 ',why so8' said he4 ',because1 to tell you the truth1 sir1' said ,i1 ',i am an infidel6' ,for this1 without more ado1 ,bowyer flogged me1--wisely1 as ,i think1--soundly1 as ,i know4 ,any whining or sermonizing would have gratified my vanity1 and confirmed me in my absurdity2 as it was1 ,i was laughed at and got heartily ashamed of my folly4 ,at a supper-table1 when ,cottle was present1 ,coleridge spoke of the unutterable horror he felt1 when a son of ,holcroft1 7the atheist17 a boy eight years of age1 came up to him and said1 ,there is no ,god4 ,it is one thing to see that a line is crooked1 and another thing to be able to draw a straight one1 said ,conversation ,sharp4 ,it is not quite so easy to do good as those may imagine who never try4 ,says ,montaigne1 ,could my soul once take footing1 ,i would not essay1 but resolve2 but it is always leaving and making trial4 ',tis an exact and exquisite life that contains itself in due order in private4 ,every one may take a part in the farce1 and assume the part of an honest man upon the stage2 but within1 and in his own bosom1 where all things are lawful to us1 all things concealed1--to be regular1 that is the point4 ,the next degree is to be so in one's house1 in one's ordinary actions1 for which one is accountable to none1 and where there is no study or artifice4 ,we chiefly1 who live private lives1 not exposed to any other view than our own1 ought to have settled a pattern within ourselves1 by which to try our actions4 ,conscience1 cries ,sterne1 is not a law2 no1 ,god and reason made the law1 and have placed conscience within you to determine4 ,how often our virtues and benefactions are but the effects of our vices and our crimes2 and as often do our vices disguise themselves under the name of virtues4 ,we ought not1 says ,montaigne1 to honor with the name of duty that peevishness and inward discontent which spring from private interest and passion2 nor call treacherous and malicious conduct courage4 ,people give the name of zeal to their propensity to mischief and violence1 though it is not the cause1 but their interest1 that inflames them4 ,miserable kind of remedy1 to owe a man's health to his disease4 ,the virtue of the soul does not consist in flying high1 but walking orderly2 its grandeur does not exercise itself in grandeur1 but in mediocrity4 ,the greatest man is great in matters of self-conduct2 the wisest is wise in little matters of life2 the one is never little1 the other never foolish4 ,the superior man1 says ,confucius1 does not wait till he sees things1 to be cautious1 nor till he hears things1 to be apprehensive4 ,there is nothing more visible than what is secret1 and nothing more manifest than what is minute4 ,therefore1 the superior man will watch over himself when he is alone4 ,he examines his heart that there may be nothing wrong there1 and that he may have no cause for dissatisfaction with himself4 ,that wherein he excels is simply his work which other men cannot see4 ,are you free from shame in your apartment1 when you are exposed only to the light of heaven8 ,most men1 says ,alger1 live blindly to repeat a routine of drudgery and indulgence1 without any deliberately chosen and maintained aims4 ,many live to outstrip their rivals1 pursue their enemies1 gratify their lusts1 and make a display4 ,few live distinctly to develop the value of their being1 know the truth1 love their fellows1 enjoy the beauty of the world1 and aspire to ,god4 ,life is a series of surprises1 says ,emerson1 and would not be worth taking or keeping if it were not4 ,god delights to isolate us every day1 and hide from us the past and the future4 ,we would look about us1 but with grand politeness ,he draws down before us an impenetrable screen of purest sky4 ',you will not remember1' ,he seems to say1 'and you will not expect4' ,goldsmith1 in one of his delightful ,chinese ,letters1 gives this illustration of the vanity and uncertainty of human judgment3 ,a painter of eminence was once resolved to finish a piece which should please the whole world4 ,when1 therefore1 he had drawn a picture1 in which his utmost skill was exhausted1 it was exposed in the public market-place1 with directions at the bottom for every spectator to mark with a brush1 which lay by1 every limb and feature which seemed erroneous4 ,the spectators came1 and in general applauded2 but each1 willing to show his talent at criticism1 marked whatever he thought proper4 ,at evening1 when the painter came1 he was mortified to find the whole picture one universal blot2 not a single stroke that was not stigmatized with marks of disapprobation4 ,not satisfied with this trial1 the next day he was resolved to try them in a different manner1 and1 exposing his picture as before1 desired that every spectator would mark those beauties he approved or admired4 ,the people complied2 and the artist1 returning1 found his picture replete with the marks of beauty2 every stroke that had been yesterday condemned now received the character of approbation4 ,experience tells us1 says ,la ,bruyere1 if there are ten persons who would blot a thought or an expression out of a book1 there are a like number who would oppose it4 ,the most accomplished piece1 he thought1 which the age has produced would fail under the hands of the critics and censurers1 if the author would hearken to all their objections1 and allow every one to throw out the passage that pleased him the least4 ,to hear praise and dispraise on a sermon1 a piece of music1 or a picture1 and upon the very same subject to be entertained with quite opposite sentiments1 is what makes one freely conclude we may safely publish anything1 good or bad2 for the good pleases some1 the bad others1 and the worst has its admirers4 ,at a club meeting in ,london1 a nephew of ,macaulay refused to rise when the national anthem was sung2 but when he said that he did so from principle1 he was respected in it4 ,others when questioned as to why they rose said1 one because it was a hymn2 another because of loyalty to ,england2 another because he loved the queen2 another because it was the custom2 and they finally justified the refusal to rise because no two of them could agree as to why they rose4 ,irving1 in his ,knickerbocker's ,new ,york1 thus refers to the habit of criticising and complaining in the time of ,william the ,testy3 ,cobblers abandoned their stalls to give lessons on political economy2 blacksmiths suffered their fires to go out while they stirred up the fires of faction2 and even tailors1 though said to be the ninth parts of humanity1 neglected their own measures to criticise the measures of government4 ,strange6 that the science of government1 which seems to be so generally understood1 should invariably be denied to the only ones called upon to exercise it4 ,not one of the politicians in question but1 take his word for it1 could have administered affairs ten times better than ,william the ,testy4 ,socrates used to say that although no man undertakes a trade he has not learned1 even the meanest1 yet every one thinks himself sufficiently qualified for the hardest of all trades1 that of government4 ,whoever would aim directly at a cure of a public evil1 says ,montaigne1 and would consider of it before he began1 would be very willing to withdraw his hands from meddling in it4 ,pacuvius ,calavius1 according to ,livy1 corrected the vice of this proceeding by a notable example4 ,his fellow-citizens were in mutiny against their magistrates2 he1 being a man of great authority in the city of ,capua1 found means one day to shut up the senators in the palace1 and calling the people together in the market-place1 he told them that the day was now come wherein1 at full liberty1 they might revenge themselves on the tyrants by whom they had been so long oppressed1 and whom he had now1 all alone and unarmed1 at his mercy2 and advised that they should call them out one by one by lot1 and should particularly determine of every one1 causing whatever should be decreed to be immediately executed2 with this caution1 that they should at the same time depute some honest man in the place of him that was condemned1 to the end that there might be no vacancy in the senate4 ,they had no sooner heard the name of one senator1 but a great cry of universal dislike was raised up against him4 ',i see1' said ,pacuvius1 'we must get rid of him2 he is a wicked fellow2 let us look out a good one in his room4' ,immediately there was a profound silence1 every one being at a stand who to choose4 ,but one1 more impudent than the rest1 having named his man1 there arose yet a greater consent of voices against him1 a hundred imperfections being laid to his charge1 and as many just reasons being presently given why he should not stand4 ,these contradictory humors growing hot1 it fared worse with the second senator and the third1 there being as much disagreement in the election of the new1 as consent in the putting out of the old4 ,in the end1 growing weary of this bustle to no purpose1 they began1 some one way and some another1 to steal out of the assembly2 every one carrying back this resolution in his mind1 that the oldest and best known evil was ever more supportable than one that was new and untried4 ,among all animals man is the only one who tries to pass for more than he is1 and so involves himself in the condemnation of seeming less4 ,the negro king desired to be portrayed as white4 ,but do not laugh at the poor ,african1 pleads ,heine1 for every man is but another negro king1 and would like to appear in a color different from that with which ,fate has bedaubed him4 ,it is even harder1 when he is most barbarous and besotted in his ignorance1 to disturb his complacency and self-conceit4 ,it was most ludicrous1 says ,darwin1 to watch through a glass the ,indians1 as often as the shot struck the water1 take up stones1 and1 as a bold defiance1 throw them toward the ship1 though about a mile and a half distant6 ,a boat was then sent with orders to fire a few musket-shots wide of them4 ,the ,fuegians hid themselves behind the trees1 and for every discharge of the muskets they fired their arrows2 all1 however1 fell short of the boat1 and the officer as he pointed at them laughed4 ,this made the ,fuegians frantic with passion1 and they shook their mantles in vain rage4 ,at last1 seeing the balls cut and strike the trees1 they ran away1 and we were left in peace and quietness4 ,mungo ,park1 while traveling in ,africa1 once entered a region until that time unexplored by civilized man4 ,his escort of ,guinea negroes carried him to witness a gala-day jollification4 ,the sable chief was sitting on a stump in the centre of a cleared half-acre1 his face tattooed1 trinkets dangling from his nose1 ears1 chin1 etc41 and his subjects were dancing around him4 ,having sold negroes1 captured in war1 to the slave-traders on the coast1 the chief had learned to speak a little outlandish ,english4 ,when the visitor approached ,his ,majesty1--the dance suspended1--he exclaimed3 ,english8 ,yes1 said ,park1 ,i am an ,englishman4 ,way over yonder8 said the chief1 pointing westward4 ,yes1 answered ,park2 three thousand miles off4 ,what folks say 'bout me dar8 was the eager inquiry of his ,african ,majesty4 ,the half-naked barbarians of ,abyssinia claim descent from ,king ,solomon and the ,queen of ,sheba1 and boast that all other kings are but upstarts and pretenders compared to theirs4 ,reminding the reader of the most mighty emperor of ,lilliput 7six inches in height71 described in the famous state paper as the delight and terror of the universe1 whose dominions extend 7about twelve miles in circumference7 to the extremities of the globe2 monarch of all monarchs1 taller than the sons of men2 whose feet press down to the centre1 and whose head strikes against the sun2 at whose nod the princes of the earth shake their knees2 pleasant as the spring1 comfortable as the summer1 fruitful as autumn1 dreadful as winter4 ,you remember the famous contest of an eminent wit1 in ,billingsgate4 ,he was passing through the market1 as the story goes1 when he was rudely jostled and profanely addressed by a monstrous fish-woman4 ,see how ,i will bring her down without degrading myself1 whispered he to his companion4 ,looking straight at the creature1 he said to her1 deliberately and emphatically1 ,you are a triangle6 which made her swear louder than ever4 ,he then called her a rectangle6 a parallelogram6 ,that made her eloquent2 but the great man with a big voice again broke through her volubility1 screaming fiercely1 ,you are a miserable1 wicked hypothenuse6 ,that dumfounded the brute4 ,she had never heard swearing like that4 ,curran used to tell of a like ludicrous encounter between himself and a fish-woman on the quay at ,cork4 ,this lady1 whose tongue would have put ,billingsgate to the blush1 was urged one day to assail him1 which she did with very little reluctance4 ,i thought myself a match for her1 said he1 and valorously took up the gauntlet4 ,but such a virago never skinned an eel4 ,my whole vocabulary made not the least impression4 ,on the contrary1 she was manifestly becoming more vigorous every moment1 and ,i had nothing for it but to beat a retreat4 ,this1 however1 was to be done with dignity2 so1 drawing myself up disdainfully1 ,i said1 ',madam1 ,i scorn all further discourse with such an individual6' ,she did not understand the word1 and thought it1 no doubt1 the very hyperbole of opprobrium4 ',individual1 you wagabone6' she screamed1 'what do you mean by that8 ,i'm no more an individual than your mother was8' ,never was victory more complete4 ,the whole sisterhood did homage to me1 and ,i left the quay of ,cork covered with glory4 ,the discomfiture of ,miss ,pinkerton1 who attempted once to scold ,becky ,sharp in public1 is familiar to every reader of ,thackeray4 ,rebecca hit upon the plan of answering her in ,french1 which quite routed the old woman4 ,a wise man1 who lived a long life of virtue1 study1 travel1 society1 and reflection2 who read the best books and conversed with the greatest and best men2 the companion of philosophers and scientists2 familiar with all important discoveries and experiments2 after he was three-score and ten1 wrote1 ,it is remarkable that the more there is known1 the more it is perceived there is to be known4 ,and the infinity of knowledge to be acquired runs parallel with the infinite faculty of knowing1 and its development4 ,sometimes ,i feel reconciled to my extreme ignorance1 by thinking1 ,if ,i know nothing1 the most learned know next to nothing4 ,had ,i earlier known1 said ,goethe1 how many excellent things have been in existence1 for hundreds and thousands of years1 ,i should have written no line2 ,i should have had enough else to do4 ,cardinal ,farnese one day found ,michel ,angelo1 when an old man1 walking alone in the ,coliseum1 and expressed his surprise at finding him solitary amidst the ruins2 to which he replied1 ,i go yet to school1 that ,i may continue to learn4 ,in his last days1 he made a design of himself as a child in a go-cart1 with this motto under it1 ,i am yet learning4 ,rubens complained1 that just as he was beginning to understand his profession he was forced to quit it4 ,mozart declared on his death-bed1 that he began to see what may be done in music4 ,buffon told a friend that1 after passing fifty years at his desk1 he was every day learning to write4 ,macaulay1 the year before his death1 after spending some hours over his own writings1 wrote in his diary3 ,alas6 how short life and how long art6 ,i feel as if ,i had just begun to understand how to write2 and the probability is that ,i have very nearly done writing4 ,theophrastus1 one hundred and seven years old1 ,st4 ,jerome assures us1 lamented that he was obliged to quit life at a time when he just began to be wise4 ,mrs4 ,jameson once asked ,mrs4 ,siddons which of her great characters she preferred to play8 ,she replied1 after a moment's consideration1 ,lady ,macbeth is the character ,i have most studied4 ,she afterward said that she had played the character during thirty years1 and scarcely acted it once without carefully reading over the part1 and generally the whole play1 in the morning2 and that she never read over the play without finding something new in it2 something1 she said1 which had not struck me so much as it ought to have struck me4 ,dugald ,stewart said of ,bacon's ,essays that in reading them for the twentieth time he observed something which had escaped his attention in the nineteenth4 ,i do not know1 said ,newton1 what ,i may appear to the world2 but to myself ,i seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore1 and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary1 while the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me4 ,said ,bossuet1 ,the term of my existence will be eighty years at most1 but let us allow it an hundred4 ,what ages have rolled before ,i had my being6 ,how many will flow after ,i am gone6 ,and what a small space do ,i occupy in this grand succession of years6 ,i am as a blank2 this diminutive interval is not sufficient to distinguish me from that nothing to which ,i must inevitably return4 ,i seem only to have made my appearance for the purpose of increasing the number2 and ,i am even useless--for the play would have been just as well performed1 had ,i remained behind the scenes4 ,wrote ,voltaire1 ,i am ignorant how ,i was formed1 and how ,i was born4 ,i was perfectly ignorant1 for a quarter of my life1 of the reasons of all that ,i saw1 heard1 and felt1 and was a mere parrot1 talking by rote in imitation of other parrots4 ,when ,i looked about me and within me1 ,i conceived that something existed from all eternity4 ,since there are beings actually existing1 ,i concluded that there is some being necessary and necessarily eternal4 ,thus the first step which ,i took to extricate myself from my ignorance overpassed the limits of all ages--the boundaries of time4 ,but when ,i was desirous of proceeding in this infinite career1 ,i could neither perceive a single path1 nor clearly distinguish a single object2 and from the flight which ,i took to contemplate eternity1 ,i have fallen back into the abyss of my original ignorance4 ,heads of capacity1 and such as are not full with a handful1 or easy measure of knowledge1 think they know nothing till they know all2 which being impossible1 they fall1 said ,sir ,thomas ,browne1 upon the opinion of ,socrates1 and only know they know not anything4 ,hiero1 tyrant of ,sicily1 asked old ,simonides to tell him what ,god is4 ,the poet answered him that it was not a question that could be immediately answered1 and that he wanted a whole day to think upon it4 ,when that term was over1 ,hiero asked the answer2 but ,simonides desired two days more to consider of it4 ,this was not the last delay he asked2 he was often called on to give an answer1 and every time he desired double the time he had last demanded4 ,the tyrant1 wondering at it1 desired to know the reason of it4 ,i do so1 answered ,simonides1 because the more ,i examine the matter1 the more obscure it appears to me4 ,after reading all that has been written1 says the poet ,poe1 and all that can be thought1 on the topics of ,god and the soul1 the man who has a right to say that he thinks at all1 will find himself face to face with the conclusion that1 on these topics1 the most profound thought is that which can be the least easily distinguished from the most superficial sentiment4 ,i am a fragment1 and this is a fragment of me1 says ,emerson4444 ,i am very content with knowing1 if only ,i could know4444 ,to know a little1 would be worth the expense of this world4 ,you read of but one wise man1 says ,congreve1 and all that he knew was--that he knew nothing4 ,the curiosity of knowing things has been given to man for a scourge4 ,if ,god1 said ,lessing1 held all truth shut in his right hand1 and in his left nothing but the restless instinct for truth1 though with the condition of forever and ever erring1 and should say to me1 ,choose6 ,i would bow reverently to his left hand1 and say1 ,father1 give6 ,pure truth is for ,thee alone6 ,,ii4 ,,extremes4 ,in man1 it has been said1 there will be a layer of fierce hyena1 or of timid deer1 running through the nature in the most uncertain and tortuous manner4 ,nero is sensitive to poetry and music1 but not to human suffering3 ,marcus ,aurelius is tolerant and good to all men but ,christians4 ,the ,tlascalans of ,mexico loved1 and even worshiped1 flowers2 but they were cruel to excess1 and sacrificed human victims with savage delight4 ,the body of the sacrificed captive1 we are told by ,prescott1 was delivered to the warrior who had taken him in battle1 and by him1 after being dressed1 was served up in an entertainment to his friends4 ,this was not the coarse repast of famished cannibals1 but a banquet teeming with delicious beverages and delicate viands1 prepared with art1 and attended by both sexes1 who conducted themselves with all the decorum of civilized life4 ,the ,aztec priests were more wild and ferocious than the soldiery1 their hair was long and matted1 and their garments were stained with human blood4 ,the good and the evil lie close together2 the virtues and the vices alternate2 so is human power accumulated2 alternately the metals and the rags2 a terrible ,voltaic pile4 ,in the well-bred animal the claw is nicely cushioned2 the old ,adam is presentable4 ,overhear a beautiful young woman swear1 and meet her an hour afterward1 all smiles and loveliness1 in the drawing-room4 ,speak with unreserved kindness of one lady to another1--both of them very lovely creatures1 so far as you know1--and receive in reply1 ,don't6 ,she1 of all persons ,i know1 is the only one ,i hate to hear praised4 ,lady ,mary ,wortley ,montagu said of the ,duchess of ,marlborough1 ,we continue to see one another like two persons who are resolved to hate with civility4 ,it goes far to reconcile me to being a woman1 she said on another occasion1 when ,i reflect that ,i am thus in no danger of ever marrying one4 ,madame de ,maintenon and ,madame de ,montespan met in public1 talked with vivacity1 and1 to those who judged only by appearances1 seemed excellent friends4 ,once when they had to make a journey in the same carriage1 ,madame de ,montespan said1 ,let us talk as if there were no difference between us1 but on condition that we resume our disputes when we return4 ,pietro ,della ,valle says that when the ,ecce ,homo was exposed during the sermon in the ,jesuit church at ,goa1 the women used to beat their servants1 if they did not cry enough to please them4 ,saint-,simon relates of the ,marechale de la ,ferte and her sister1 both beautiful women1 but very dissolute1 that upon one occasion they heard a sermon on penitence which terrified them4 ,my sister1 one said on their return1 it was all true2 we must do penance or we are lost4 ,but1 my sister1 what shall we do8 ,after having well turned it over1 ,my sister1 replied the other1 ,this is what we must do--we must make our servants fast4 ,when ,moore's ,life of ,byron first appeared1 it was in two large1 quarto volumes1 and the first came out alone4 ,murray told ,leslie that a lady said to him1 ,i hear it is dull2 and he told her the scandal was all to be in the second volume4 ,and is the second volume to be had separately8 asked the lady4 ,i was once1 says a writer1 passing through ,moorfields1 with a young girl1 aged about nine or ten years1 born and educated in ,portugal1 but in the ,protestant faith2 and1 observing a large concourse of people assembled around a pile of fagots on fire1 ,i expressed a curiosity to know the cause4 ,she very composedly answered1 ,i suppose that it is nothing more than that they are going to burn a ,jew4 ,isabella the ,catholic was wont to rejoice and give thanks at the sight of a gallows with a man hanging therefrom4 ,charlotte ,cushman related an incident that occurred at a theatre4 ,a man in the gallery made such a disturbance that the play could not proceed4 ,cries of ,throw him over1 arose from all parts of the house1 and the noise became furious4 ,all was tumultuous chaos until a sweet and gentle female voice was heard in the pit1 exclaiming1 ,no6 ,i pray you don't throw him over6 ,i beg of you1 dear friends1 don't throw him over1 but--kill him where he is4 ,it is recorded that after the massacre of ,st4 ,bartholomew the ladies of the court of ,paris went out to examine the long row of the bodies of the ,huguenot cavaliers who had been slain during the tumult1 and curiously turning them over1 when half-stripped of their garments1 said to each other1 ,this must have been a charming lover2 that was not worth looking at2 and when a fanatic assassin was brought out in the square of the ,louvre to undergo during four hours the most frightful tortures which human ingenuity or malignity could devise1 or the human frame endure1 all the ladies of the court assembled to witness the spectacle1 and paid high prices for seats nearest the scene of agony4 ,in the ,conciergerie1 during the ,reign of ,terror1 a corridor was common in the day-time to both sexes1 and here1 it is stated1 there was as much dressing1 talking1 flirting1 and love-making as in the salons of ,paris4 ,most of the women contrived to change their dress three times a day1 though in the interval they had often to wash or mend the garment they were about to put on4 ,the tone of conversation was gay and animated1 and the people seemed bent on proving that though the ,reign of ,terror might imprison and kill them1 it could not make them dull or disagreeable4 ,it is related that ,della ,valle1 the distinguished ,italian traveler1 had such an absorbing fondness for his wife that1 when she died1 on the shore of the ,persian ,gulf1 he embalmed her body1 and spent one whole year conveying it back through ,india to ,rome1 where he celebrated her obsequies by pronouncing a funeral oration1 during the delivery of which his emotions became so violent as to choke his utterance4 ,not long after1 in a fit of anger1 he killed his coachman1 in the area before ,st4 ,peter's1 while the pope was pronouncing a benediction4 ,i remember1 says ,patmore1 in his personal recollections of ,hazlitt1 having occasionally played at whist with a person who1 on any occurrence of extraordinary ill-luck1 used to lay his cards down deliberately1 and bite a piece out of the back of his hand6 ,this person was1 under ordinary circumstances1 the very ideal of a 'gentleman'--bland1 polished1 courteous1 forbearing1 kind1 and self-possessed to an extraordinary degree2 and his personal appearance in every respect corresponded with his manners and bearing4 ,hazlitt's passions sometimes produced similar results4 ,i have seen him more than once1 at the ,fives ,court in ,st4 ,martin ,street1 on making a bad stroke or missing his ball at some critical point of the game1 fling his racket to the other end of the court1 walk deliberately to the centre1 with uplifted hands imprecate the most fearful curses on his head1 for his stupidity1 and then rush to the side wall and literally dash his head against it6 ,shortly before the ,chinese ,emperor's death1 a gigantic image1 the goddess of small-pox1 was paraded round the city of ,pekin in solemn procession1 and then taken into the bedroom of the dying youth1 where it was worshiped and honored with many propitiatory offerings4 ,as1 however1 the goddess continued obdurate1 she was subjected to a severe flogging1 and finally burned4 ,in the early history of ,new ,england the law compelled the people to attend church1 the services commencing at nine o'clock and continuing six to eight hours4 ,near the church edifice stood the stocks and the whipping-post1 and a large wooden cage1 in which to confine offenders against the laws4 ,the congregation had places assigned them upon the rude benches1 at the annual town-meeting1 according to their age and social position4 ,a person was fined who occupied a seat assigned to another4 ,the boys were ordered to sit upon the gallery-stairs1 and three constables were employed to keep them in order4 ,prominent before the assembly1 some wretched male or female offender sat with a scarlet letter on the breast1 to denote some crime against the stern code4 ,fleeing the mother-country for peace and freedom1 the descendants of the ,puritans persecuted the ,quakers1 and burnt the incorrigible eccentrics of society for witches4 ,john ,howe's method of conducting public fasts was as follows3 ,he began at nine o'clock with a prayer of a quarter of an hour1 read and expounded ,scripture for about three quarters of an hour1 prayed an hour1 preached another hour1 then prayed half an hour2 the people then sang for about a quarter of an hour1 during which he retired and took a little refreshment2 he then went into the pulpit again1 prayed an hour more1 preached another hour1 and then1 with a prayer of half an hour1 concluded the services4 ,the clergy1 too1 were sometimes victims4 ,an instance3 ,the rector of ,fittleworth1 in ,sussex1 was dispossessed of his living for ,sabbath-breaking2 the fact proved against him being1 that as he was stepping over a stile one ,sunday1 the button of his breeches came off1 and he got a tailor in the neighborhood presently to sew it on again4 ,we are told that at the time ,ireland was called the ,isle of ,saints1 when a child was immersed at baptism1 it was customary not to dip the right arm1 to the intent that he might strike a more deadly and ungracious blow therewith2 and under an opinion1 no doubt1 that the rest of the body would not be responsible at the resurrection for anything which had been committed by the unbaptized hand4 ,thus1 too1 at the baptism1 the father took the wolves for his gossips1 and thought by this profanation he was forming an alliance1 both for himself and the boy1 with the fiercest beasts of the woods4 ,the son of a chief was baptized in milk2 water was not thought good enough1 and whisky had not then been invented4 ,they used to rob in the beginning of the year as a point of devotion1 for the purpose of laying up a good stock of plunder against ,easter2 and he whose spoils enabled him to furnish the best entertainment at that time was looked upon as the best ,christian2 so they robbed in emulation of each other2 and reconciling their habits to their conscience1 they persuaded themselves that if robbery1 murder1 and rape had been sins1 ,providence would never put such temptations in their way3 nay1 that the sin would be1 if they were so ungrateful as not to take advantage of a good opportunity when it was offered them4 ,in ,north ,wales1 it is stated1 when a person supposes himself highly injured1 it is not uncommon for him to go to some church dedicated to a celebrated saint1 as ,llan ,elian in ,anglesea1 and ,clynog in ,carnarvonshire1 and there to offer his enemy4 ,he kneels down on his bare knees in the church1 and offering a piece of money to the saint1 calls down curses and misfortunes upon the offender and his family for generations to come1 in the most firm belief that the imprecations will be fulfilled4 ,sometimes they repair to a sacred well instead of a church4 ,mrs4 ,gaskell1 in her biography of ,charlotte ,bronte1 tells of a squire of distinguished family and large property1 who died at his house1 not far from ,haworth1 not many years ago4 ,his great amusement and occupation had been cock-fighting4 ,when he was confined to his chamber with what he knew would be his last illness1 he had his cocks brought up there1 and watched the bloody battle from his bed4 ,as his mortal disease increased and it became impossible for him to turn so as to follow the combat1 he had looking-glasses arranged in such a manner around and above him1 as he lay1 that he could still see the cocks fighting4 ,and in this manner he died4 ,qualities1 says ,helps1 are often inserted in a character in the most curious and inharmonious way2 and the end is that you have a man who is the strangest mixture of generosity and meanness1 of kindness and severity1 even of dishonesty and nobleness4 ,then the passions enter4 ,sometimes these just fit in1 unfortunately1 with good points of character1--so that one man may be ruined by a passion which another and a worse man would have escaped unhurt from4 ,then there are the circumstances to which a character is exposed1 and which vary so much that it hardly seems that people are living in the same world1 so different are to them the outward things they have to contend with4 ,altogether1 the human being becomes such a complicated creature1 that though at last you may know something about some one specimen1--what it will say and what it will do on a given occasion1--you never know enough about the creature to condemn it4 ,neither the vices nor the virtues of man1 says ,taine1 are his nature2 to praise or to blame him is not to know him2 approbation or disapprobation does not define him2 the names of good or bad tell us nothing of what he is4 ,put the robber ,cartouche in an ,italian court of the fifteenth century2 he would be a great statesman4 ,transport this nobleman1 stingy and narrow-minded1 into a shop2 he will be an exemplary tradesman4 ,this public man1 of inflexible probity1 is in his drawing-room an intolerable coxcomb4 ,this father of a family1 so humane1 is an idiotic politician4 ,change a virtue in its circumstances1 and it becomes a vice2 change a vice in its circumstances1 and it becomes a virtue4 ,regard the same quality from two sides2 on one it is a fault1 on the other a merit4 ,the essential of a man is found concealed far below these moral badges4 ,a character is a force1 like gravity1 weight1 or steam1 capable1 as it may happen1 of pernicious or profitable effects1 and which must be defined otherwise than by the amount of weight it can lift or the havoc it can cause4 ,it is therefore to ignore man1 to reduce him to an aggregate of virtues and vices2 it is to lose sight in him of all but the exterior and social side2 it is to neglect the inner and natural element4 ,the character of the ,french nation1 says ,de ,tocqueville1 is so peculiar that the study of human nature in general does not embrace it2 those even who have most studied it are continually taken by surprise2 for our nation is gifted beyond any other with capacity to appreciate great things1 and even to do them2 it is equal to any single effort1 however extraordinary1 but unable to remain strung up to a high pitch for any length of time2 because we act upon impulse1 not on principle1 and our instincts are better than our moral qualities2 we are the most civilized people in the world1 and yet1 in certain respects1 we have retained more of the savage than any other nation2 for the great characteristic of the savage is1 to be influenced by the sudden impressions of the present1 without recollection of the past or thought of the future4 ,recollect that village of the ,limousin1 said a member of the ,national ,convention during the ,reign of ,terror1 from the top of whose steeple the tri-color flag suddenly disappeared4 ,a violent disturbance was instantly raised2 search was made for the daring offender1 who could not be found1 and in consequence a dozen persons were instantly arrested on suspicion4 ,at length the fragments of the flag were discovered suspended from the branches of a tree1 and it was found that a magpie had made its nest with the remains of the national color4 ,oh6 the tyrannical bird6 they seized it1 cut off its head1 and transmitted the evidence of the act to the ,convention4 ,we received it without bursting into laughter2 had any one ventured to indulge himself in that way1 he would have run the risk of perishing on the public scaffold4 ,in all the courts of ancient philosophy this is to be found1 says ,montaigne1 that the same lecturer there publishes the rules of temperance1 and at the same time discourses of love and wantonness4 ,i know not1 said the courtesan ,lais1 what they talk of books1 wisdom1 and philosophy2 but these men knock as often at my door as any others4 ,says ,bayle1 in his ,critical ,dictionary1 ,it was reported that ,pericles turned out his wife1 and lodged with the famous ,aspasia1 and plunged himself into lewdness1 and spent a great part of his estate upon her4 ,she was a woman of so great parts that ,socrates went to see her1 and carried his friends with him2 and1 to speak more clearly1 she taught him rhetoric and politics4 ,that which is most strange is1 that those who frequented her carried their wives to her house1 that they might hear her discourses and lectures1 though she kept several courtesans at home4 ,pericles went to see ,aspasia twice a day1 and kissed her when he went in and when he came out2 which was before he married her4 ,she was accused of two crimes by the comedian ,hermippus4 ,he made himself a party against her in due form1 and accused her before the judges of impiety1 and of drawing women into her house to satisfy the lust of ,pericles4 ,during the trial of ,aspasia1 ,pericles used so many entreaties with the judges1 and shed so many tears1 according to ,a,eschines1 that he obtained her absolution4 ,the ,athenians said that ,phidias1 the most excellent sculptor in the world1 and surveyor-general of all the works which ,pericles ordered to be made for the ornament of the city1 drew in the ladies under pretense of showing them the works of the greatest masters2 but in truth to debauch and deliver them to ,pericles4 ,the golden statue of ,minerva1 it should be remembered1 was the workmanship of ,phidias1 and his name was inscribed upon the pedestal4 ,through the friendship of ,pericles he had the direction of everything1 and all the artists received his orders4 ,for this1 said ,plutarch1 the one was envied1 and the other slandered4 ,good and bad men are each less so than they seem4 ,when man's first incense rose above the plain1 ,of earth's two altars1 one was built by ,cain4 ,as there is1 said ,coleridge1 much beast and some devil in man1 so is there some angel and some ,god in man4 ,the beast and the devil may be conquered1 but in this life never destroyed4 ,i have ever delighted1 said ,boswell1 in that intellectual chemistry which can separate good qualities from evil in the same person4 ,the first lesson of history1 says ,emerson1 is the good of evil4 ,good is a good doctor1 but ,bad is sometimes a better4 ',tis the oppressions of ,william the ,norman1 savage forest-laws1 and crushing despotism1 that made possible the inspirations of ,magna ,charta under ,john4 ,edward ,i4 wanted money1 armies1 castles1 and as much as he could get4 ,it was necessary to call the people together by shorter1 swifter ways1--and the ,house of ,commons arose4 ,to obtain subsidies1 he paid in privileges4 ,in the twenty-fourth year of his reign he decreed1 'that no tax should be levied without consent of ,lords and ,commons2' which is the basis of the ,english ,constitution4 ,plutarch affirms that the cruel wars which followed the march of ,alexander1 introduced the civility1 language1 and arts of ,greece into the savage ,east2 introduced marriage2 built seventy cities2 and united hostile nations under one government4 ,the barbarians who broke up the ,roman empire did not arrive a day too soon4 ,schiller says1 the ,thirty ,years' ,war made ,germany a nation4 ,rough1 selfish despots serve man immensely1 as ,henry ,,viii4 in the contest with the pope2 as the infatuations no less than the wisdom of ,cromwell2 as the ferocity of the ,russian czars2 as the fanaticism of the ,french regicides of #aghi4 ,the frost which kills the harvest of a year1 saves the harvests of a century1 by destroying the weevil or the locust4 ,wars1 fires1 plagues1 break up immovable routine1 clear the ground of rotten races1 and dens of distemper1 and open a fair field to new men4 ,there is a tendency in things to right themselves1 and the war or revolution or bankruptcy that shatters a rotten system1 allows things to take a new and natural order4 ,steam was1 till the other day1 the devil which we dreaded4 ,every pot made by any human potter or brazier had a hole in its cover1 to let off the enemy1 lest he should lift pot and roof1 and carry the house away4 ,but the ,marquis of ,worcester1 ,watt1 and ,fulton bethought themselves1 that1 where was power1 was not devil1 but was ,god2 that it must be availed of1 and not by any means let off and wasted4 ,could he lift pots and roofs so handily8 he was the workman they were in search of4 ,it is related of ,hart1 a ,baptist minister1 that he was so good a preacher and so bad a liver that it was said to him once1 ,mr4 ,hart1 when ,i hear you in the pulpit1 ,i wish you were never out of it2 when ,i see you out of it1 ,i wish you were never in it4 ,one ,mr4 ,nicholls1 a ,yorkshire clergyman in the days immediately succeeding the ,reformation1 who was much addicted to drinking and company-keeping1 used to say to his companions1 ,you must not heed me but when ,i am got three feet above the earth1 that was1 into the pulpit4 ,i have heard of a witty parson1 says ,dr4 ,beattie1 who having been dismissed for irregularities1 used afterward1 in conversation1 to say1 that he thanked ,god he was not cashiered for ignorance and insufficiency1 but only for vice and immorality4 ,foster1 in a note to one of his ,essays1 refers to a ,spanish story of a village where the devil1 having made the people excessively wicked1 was punished by being compelled to assume the appearance and habit of a friar1 and to preach so eloquently1 in spite of his internal repugnance and rage1 that the inhabitants were completely reformed4 ,cotton ,mather has preserved a choice specimen of invective against ,dr4 ,owen1 by one of the primitive ,quakers1 whose name was ,fisher4 ,it was1 says ,southey1 a species of rhetoric in which they indulged freely1 and exceeded all other sectarians4 ,fisher addressed him thus3 ,thou fiery fighter and green-headed trumpeter2 thou hedgehog and grinning dog2 thou bastard1 that tumbled out of the mouth of the ,babylonish bawd2 thou mole2 thou tinker2 thou lizard2 thou bell of no metal1 but the tone of a kettle2 thou wheelbarrow2 thou whirlpool2 thou whirligig2 oh1 thou firebrand2 thou adder and scorpion2 thou louse2 thou cow-dung2 thou moon-calf2 thou ragged tatterdemalion2 thou ,judas3 thou livest in philosophy and logic1 which are of the devil4 ,mather in turn was alike severe upon the ,quakers4 ,he applied to them such language as upstart sect2 sink of all heresies2 the grossest collection of blasphemies and confusions that ever was heard of2 dangerous villains2 choke-weed of ,christianity2 the quaking which distinguished these poor creatures was a symptom of diabolical possession2 devil-driven creatures2 for pride1 and hypocrisy1 and hellish reviling against the painful ministers of ,christ1 ,i know no people can match them4 ,he was a wise and a good counsellor in ,plymouth-colony1 who propounded 'that a law might be made for the ,quakers to have their heads shaved4' ,i confess1 he said1 the punishment was in some sort capital2 but it would have been the best remedy for them2 it would have both sham'd and cur'd them4 ,he quotes some choice language of ,penn--,thou gormandizing ,priest1 one of the abominable tribe2 thou bane of reason2 thou pest1 to be spared of mankind2 thou mountebank ,priest--and says1 these are the very words 7,i wrong them not67 which they vomit out against the best men in the ,english nation1 that have been so hardy as to touch their 'light within3' but let the quills of these porcupines fly as fast as they will1 ,i shall not feel them4 ,the good ,luther was a violent saint sometimes4 ,hear him express himself on the ,catholic divines3 ,the papists are all asses1 and will always remain asses4 ,put them in whatever sauce you choose1 boiled1 roasted1 baked1 fried1 skinned1 beat1 hashed1 they are always the same asses4 ,hear him salute the pope3 ,the pope was born out of the devil's posteriors4 ,he is full of devils1 lies1 blasphemies1 and idolatries2 he is ,antichrist2 the robber of churches2 the ravisher of virgins2 the greatest of pimps2 the governor of ,sodom1 etc4 ,if the ,turks lay hold of us1 then we shall be in the hands of the devil2 but if we remain with the pope1 we shall be in hell4 ,what a pleasing sight would it be to see the pope and the cardinals hanging on one gallows1 in exact order1 like the seals which dangle from the bulls of the pope6 ,what an excellent council would they hold under the gallows6 ,and hear him upon ,henry ,,viii43 ,it is hard to say if folly can be more foolish1 or stupidity more stupid1 than is the head of ,henry4 ,he has not attacked me with the heart of a king1 but with the impudence of a knave4 ,this rotten worm of the earth1 having blasphemed the majesty of my ,king1 ,i have a just right to bespatter his ,english majesty with his own dirt and ordure4 ,this ,henry has lied4 ,the good ,calvin was alike violent4 ,he hated ,catholic and ,lutheran4 ,his adversaries are never others than knaves1 lunatics1 drunkards1 and assassins4 ,sometimes they are characterized by the familiar appellatives of bulls1 asses1 cats1 and hogs4 ,beza1 the disciple of ,calvin1 imitated his master4 ,upon a ,lutheran minister1 ,tilleman1 he bestowed these titles of honor3 ,polyphemus2 an ape2 a great ass who is distinguished from other asses by wearing a hat2 an ass on two feet2 a monster composed of part of an ape and wild ass2 a villain who merits hanging on the first tree we find4 ,as to the ,catholics1 there is no end to the anathemas and curses of the ,fathers4 ,one of the old bishops called anger the sinews of the soul4 ,it helped to fortify the rugged reformer in his conflicts1 and illuminated the perilous way he trod4 ,we oft by lightning read in darkest nights4 ,it is said the finest wine is pressed from vintages which grow on fields once inundated with lava4 ,i never work better1 said ,luther1 than when ,i am inspired by anger2 when ,i am angry ,i can write1 pray1 and preach well2 for then my whole temperament is quickened1 my understanding sharpened1 and all mundane vexations and temptations depart4 ,no one can suppose1 said ,bulwer1 that ,calvin did not deem that the angels smiled approbation when he burned ,servetus4 ,no one can suppose that when ,torquemada devised the ,inquisition1 he did not conscientiously believe that the greatest happiness of the greatest number could be best secured by selecting a few for a roast4 ,burke said1 a vigorous mind is as necessarily accompanied with violent passions as a great fire with great heat4 ,it is the strong passions1 said ,helvetius1 which1 rescuing us from sloth1 can alone impart to us that continuous and earnest attention necessary to great intellectual efforts4 ,no revolution 7in public sentiment71 civil or religious1 said ,sir ,gilbert ,elliot1 can be accomplished without that degree of ardor and passion which1 in a later age1 will be matter of ridicule to men who do not feel the occasion1 and enter into the spirit of the times4 ,the man who succeeds1 said a ,british reviewer1 is generally the narrow man1 the man of one idea1 who works at nothing but that2 sees everything only through the light of that2 sacrifices everything to that2 the fanatic1 in short4 ,by fanatics1 whether military1 commercial1 or religious1 and not by 'liberal-minded men' at all1 has the world's work been done in all ages4 ,our passions1 said ,john ,norris1 were given us to perfect and accomplish our natures1 though by accidental misapplications to unworthy objects they may turn to our degradation and dishonor4 ,we may1 indeed1 be debased as well as ennobled by them2 but then the fault is not in the large sails1 but in the ill conduct of the pilot1 if our vessel miss the haven4 ,when one commended a certain king of ,sparta for a gentle1 a good1 and a meek prince1 his colleague said1 ,how can he be good who is not an enemy even to vicious persons8 ,erasmus said of ,luther that there were two natures in him3 sometimes he wrote like an apostle1 sometimes like a raving ribald4 ,when he was angry1 invectives rushed from him like bowlder rocks down a mountain torrent in flood4 ,the same man1 said ,heine1 of ,luther1 who could scold like a fish-wife could be as gentle as a tender maiden4 ,at times he was as fierce as the storm that uproots oaks2 and then again he was as mild as the zephyr caressing the violets4444 ,the refinement of ,erasmus1 the mildness of ,melancthon1 could never have brought us so far as the godlike brutality of ,brother ,martin4 ,but there was no trace of vanity about him4 ,do not call yourselves ,lutherans1 he said2 call yourselves ,christians4 ,who and what is ,luther8 ,has ,luther been crucified for the world8 ,the ,latin tongue1 says ,montaigne1 is1 as it were1 natural to me2 ,i understand it better than ,french1 but ,i have not used to speak it1 nor hardly to write it1 these forty years2 and yet1 upon an extreme and sudden emotion1 which ,i have fallen into twice or thrice in my life1 and once on seeing my father in perfect health1 fall upon me in a swoon1 ,i have always uttered my first outcries and ejaculations in ,latin2 nature starting up and forcibly expressing itself1 in spite of so long a discontinuation4 ,nature1 says ,bacon1 will be buried a great time1 and yet revive upon the occasion or temptation2 like as it was with ,a,esop's damsel1 turned from a cat to a woman1 who sat very demurely at the board's end till a mouse ran before her4 ,a frog1 said ,publius ,syrus1 would leap from a throne of gold into a puddle4 ,in ,froissart's ,chronicles there is an account of a reverend monk who had been a robber in the early part of his life1 and who1 when he grew old1 used feelingly to lament that he had ever changed his profession4 ,he said it was a goodly sight to sally out from his castle1 and to see a troop of jolly friars coming riding that way1 with their mules well laden with viands and rich stores1 to advance toward them1 to attack and overthrow them1 returning to the castle with a noble booty4 ,layard relates an incident of the party of ,arabs which for some time had been employed to assist him in excavating amongst the ruins of ,nineveh4 ,one evening1 after their day's work1 he observed them following a flock of sheep belonging to the people of the village1 shouting their war-cry1 flourishing their swords1 and indulging in the most extravagant gesticulations4 ,he asked one of the most active of the party to explain to him the cause of such violent proceedings4 ,o ,bey6 they exclaimed almost together1 ,god be praised1 we have eaten butter and wheaten bread under your shadow1 and are content2 but an ,arab is an ,arab4 ,it is not for a man to carry about dirt in baskets1 and to use a spade all his life2 he should be with his sword and his mare in the desert4 ,we are sad as we think of the days when we plundered the ,anayza1 and we must have excitement or our hearts must break4 ,let us then believe that these are the sheep we have taken from the enemy1 and that we are driving them to our tents4 ,and off they ran1 raising their wild cry1 and flourishing their swords1 to the no small alarm of the shepherd1 who saw his sheep scampering in all directions4 ,hazlitt related an ,indian legend of a ,brahman1 who was so devoted to abstract meditation1 that in the pursuit of philosophy he quite forgot his moral duties1 and neglected ablution4 ,for this he was degraded from the rank of humanity1 and transformed into a monkey4 ,but even when a monkey he retained his original propensities1 for he kept apart from other monkeys1 and had no other delight than that of eating cocoanuts and studying metaphysics4 ,perhaps few narratives in history or mythology1 says ,carlyle1 are more significant than that ,moslem one of ,moses and the ,dwellers by the ,dead ,sea4 ,a tribe of men dwelt on the shores of that same asphaltic lake2 and having forgotten1 as we are all too prone to do1 the inner facts of ,nature1 and taken up with the falsities and other semblances of it1 were fallen into sad conditions1--verging1 indeed1 toward a certain far deeper lake4 ,whereupon it pleased kind ,heaven to send them the prophet ,moses1 with an instructive word of warning out of which might have sprung 'remedial measures' not a few4 ,but no3 the men of the ,dead ,sea discovered1 as the valet species always does in heroes or prophets1 no comeliness in ,moses2 listened with real tedium to ,moses1 with light grinning1 or splenetic sniffs and sneers1 affecting even to yawn2 and signified1 in short1 that they found him a humbug1 and even a bore4 ,such was the candid theory these men of the asphalt lake formed to themselves of ,moses1 that probably he was a humbug1 that certainly he was a bore4 ,moses withdrew2 but ,nature and her rigorous veracities did not withdraw4 ,the men of the ,dead ,sea1 when we next went to visit them1 were all changed into apes1 sitting on the trees there1 grinning now in the most unaffected manner2 gibbering and chattering very genuine nonsense2 finding the whole universe now a most indisputable humbug6 ,the universe has become a humbug to those apes who thought it one4 ,there they sit and chatter1 to this hour3 only1 ,i believe1 every ,sabbath1 there returns to them a bewildered half-consciousness1 half-reminiscence2 and they sit with their wizened1 smoke-dried visages1 and such an air of supreme tragicality as apes may1 looking out through those blinking1 smoke-bleared eyes of theirs1 into the wonderfulest universal smoky twilight and undecipherable disordered dusk of things2 wholly an uncertainty1 unintelligibility1 they and it1 and for commentary thereon1 here and there an unmusical chatter or mew1--truest1 tragicalest humbug conceivable by the mind of man or ape6 ,they made no use of their souls2 and so have lost them4 ,their worship on the ,sabbath now is to roost there1 with unmusical screeches1 and half-remember that they had souls4 ,the shark is said to have been the god the ,sandwich ,islanders1 in their savage state1 chiefly worshiped1 or sought to propitiate4 ,in their present semi-civilized1 semi-,christianized condition1 it is stated1 they pray1 and sing1 and moralize1 in fair weather2 but when they get into trouble they are apt to call upon the shark-god of their fathers for help or deliverance4 ,sir ,walter ,scott used to tell a story of a placid minister1 near ,dundee1 who1 in preaching on ,jonah1 said1 ,ken ye1 brethren1 what fish it was that swallowed him8 ,aiblins ye may think it was a shark2 nae1 nae1 my brethren1 it was nae shark2 or aiblins ye may think it was a sammon2 nae1 nae1 my brethren1 it was nae sammon2 or aiblins ye may think it was a dolphin2 nae1 nae1 my brethren1 it was nae dolphin4 ,here an old woman1 thinking to help her master out of a dead lift1 cried out1 ,aiblins1 sir1 it was a dunter 7the vulgar name of a species of whale common to the ,scotch coast74 ,aiblins1 madam1 ye're an auld witch for taking the word of ,god out of my mouth1 was the reply of the disappointed rhetorician4 ,as ,dr4 ,johnson was riding in a carriage through ,london on a rainy day1 he overtook a poor woman carrying a baby1 without any protection from the weather4 ,making the driver stop the coach1 he invited the poor woman to get in with her child1 which she did4 ,after she had seated herself1 the doctor said to her1 ,my good woman1 ,i think it most likely that the motion of the coach will wake your child in a little while1 and ,i wish you to understand that if you talk any baby-talk to it1 you will have to get out of the coach4 ,as the doctor had anticipated1 the child soon awoke1 and the forgetful mother exclaimed to it3 ,oh6 the little dear1 is he going to open his eyesy-pysy8 ,stop the coach1 driver6 shouted ,johnson2 and the woman had to get out and finish her journey on foot4 ,frederick ,william1 of ,prussia1 father of the great ,frederick1 had a way of addressing1 familiarly1 the people he met in the streets of ,berlin1 utterly indifferent1 we are told1 to his own dignity and to the feelings of others2 if he could devise something that was not quite agreeable1 it was sure to be said4 ,the fear of such encounters sometimes made nervous people indiscreetly evade the royal presence4 ,one ,jew having fairly taken to his heels1 he was pursued by the king in hot haste4 ,why did you run away from me8 said the king1 when he came up with him in breathless dudgeon4 ,from fear1 answered the ,jew1 in the most ingenuous manner2 but the rejoinder of the king was a hearty thwack with his cane1 who roared out that he wished himself to be loved and not to be feared6 ,a writer upon ,holland--its ,martyrs and ,heroes1 gives an account of ,richard ,willemson1 a worthy burgess of ,aspern1 and an ,anabaptist1 who was chased by an officer of justice4 ,it was a winter day1 and he fled across the ice4 ,the frozen surface1 however1 was so thin that the fugitive had the utmost difficulty in crossing1 and his pursuer fell through4 ,perceiving his danger1 ,willemson returned and at the risk of his own life saved his enemy4 ,touched with such generosity1 the officer would gladly have let his prisoner go2 but the burgomaster1 who witnessed the occurrence1 called out1 ,fulfil your oath1 and the good ,christian was led away to a fiery martyrdom4 ,dr4 ,livingstone1 when he first went into ,africa1 as a missionary1 attached himself to the tribe of ,bakwains4 ,their chief1 ,sechele1 embraced ,christianity1 and became an assiduous reader of the ,bible1 the eloquence of ,isaiah being peculiarly acceptable to him1 and he was wont to say1 ,he was a fine man1 that ,isaiah3 he knew how to speak4 ,but his people were not so ready for conversion1 although he calmly proposed to have them flogged into faith3 ,do you imagine1 he said1 these people will ever believe by your merely talking to them8 ,i can make them do nothing except by thrashing them2 and if you like ,i shall call my head men1 and with our litupa 7whips of rhinoceros hide7 we will soon make them believe altogether4 ,it has been stated upon authority that when a fugitive from one of the early missions in ,new ,california was captured1 he was brought back again to the mission1 where he was bastinadoed1 and an iron rod of a foot or a foot and a half long1 and an inch in diameter1 was fastened to one of his feet1 which had the double use of preventing him from repeating the attempt1 and of frightening others from imitating him4 ,southey says that one of the missionaries whom ,virgilius1 the bishop of ,salzburg1 sent among the ,slavonic people1 made the converted serfs sit with him at table1 where wine was served to them in gilt beakers1 while he ordered their unbaptized lords to sit on the ground1 out of doors1 where the food and wine was thrown before them1 and they were left to serve themselves4 ,among our ,norse forefathers1 ,king ,olaf's mode of converting ,eyvind to ,christianity was to put a pan of glowing coals on his belly1 which burst asunder4 ,wilt thou not1 ,eyvind1 believe in ,christ8 asks ,olaf1 in excellent faith4 ,another argument was an adder put into the mouth of the reluctant disciple ,rand1 who refused to believe4 ,seeing a large building1 relates an ,english gentleman1 ,i asked a man who looked like a journeyman weaver what it was4 ,he told me a grammar-school4 ',but1 sir1' he added1 ',i think it would become you better on the ,lord's day morning to be reading your ,bible at home1 than asking about public buildings4' ,i very quickly answered3 ',my friend1 you have given me a piece of very good advice2 let me give you one1 and we may both profit by our meeting4 ,beware of spiritual pride4' ,in one of the debates on the ,catholic question1 said ,lord ,byron1 when we were either equal or within one 7,i forget which71 ,i had been sent for in great haste to a ball1 which ,i quitted1 ,i confess1 somewhat reluctantly1 to emancipate five millions of people4 ,some ladies bantering ,selwyn on his want of feeling1 in attending to see ,lord ,lovat's head cut off1 ,why1 he said1 ,i made amends by going to the undertaker's to see it sewn on again4 ,i have1 says ,heine1 the most peaceable disposition4 ,my desires are a modest cottage with thatched roof--but a good bed1 good fare1 fresh milk and butter1 flowers by my window1 and a few fine trees before the door4 ,and if the ,lord wished to fill my cup of happiness1 ,he would grant me the pleasure of seeing some six or seven of my enemies hanged on those trees4 ,with a heart moved to pity1 ,i would1 before their death1 forgive the injury they had done me during their lives4 ,yes1 we ought to forgive our enemies--but not until they are hanged4 ,some would pursue them after they are hanged4 ,our measure of rewards and punishments1 says ,thackeray1 is most partial and incomplete1 absurdly inadequate1 utterly worldly1 and we wish to continue it into the next world4 ,into that next and awful world we strive to pursue men1 and send after them our impotent party verdicts1 of condemnation or acquittal4 ,we set up our paltry little rods to measure ,heaven immeasurable1 as if1 in comparison to that1 ,newton's mind1 or ,pascal's1 or ,shakespeare's1 was any loftier than mine2 as if the ray which travels from the sun would reach me sooner than the man who blacks my boots4 ,measured by that altitude1 the tallest and the smallest among us are so alike diminutive and pitifully base that ,i say we should take no count of the calculation1 and it is a meanness to reckon the difference4 ,tertullian1 according to ,lecky1 had written a treatise dissuading the ,christians of his day from frequenting the public spectacles4 ,he had collected on the subject many arguments1 some of them very powerful1 and others extremely grotesque2 but he perceived that to make his exhortations forcible to the majority of his readers1 he must point them to some counter-attraction4 ,he accordingly proceeded--and his style assumed a richer glow and a more impetuous eloquence as he rose to the congenial theme--to tell them that a spectacle was reserved for them1 so fascinating and so attractive that the most joyous festivals of earth faded in insignificance by the comparison4 ,that spectacle was the agonies of their fellow-countrymen as they writhe amid the torments of hell4 ,what6 he exclaimed1 shall be the magnitude of that scene6 ,how shall ,i wonder6 ,how shall ,i laugh6 ,how shall ,i rejoice6 ,how shall ,i triumph1 when ,i behold so many and such illustrious kings1 who were said to have mounted into heaven1 groaning with ,jupiter their god in the lowest darkness of hell6 ,then shall the soldiers who had persecuted the name of ,christ burn in more cruel fire than any they had kindled for the saints4 ,then shall the tragedians pour forth in their own misfortune more piteous cries than those with which they had made the theatre to resound1 while the comedian's powers shall be better seen as he becomes more flexible by the heat4 ,then shall the driver of the circus stand forth to view1 all blushing in his flaming chariot1 and the gladiators pierced1 not by spears1 but by darts of fire4 ,compared with such spectacles1 with such subjects of triumph as these1 what can praetor or consul1 quaestor or pontiff1 afford8 ,and even now faith can bring them near1 imagination can depict them as present6 ,crabb ,robinson says some one at a party at which he was present1 abusing ,mahometanism in a commonplace way1 said3 ,its heaven is quite material4 ,he was met with the quiet remark1 ,so is the ,christian's hell2 to which there was no reply4 ,in the time of ,tertullian1 the angel in the ,last ,judgment was constantly represented weighing the souls in a literal balance1 while devils clinging to the scales endeavored to disturb the equilibrium4 ,the redbreast1 according to one popular legend1 was commissioned by the ,deity to carry a drop of water to the souls of unbaptized infants in hell1 and its breast was singed in piercing the flames4 ,in ,wales1 the robin is said to bear in its bill one drop of water daily to the place of torment1 in order to extinguish the flames4 ,a ,calvinistic divine1 of the name of ,petit ,pierre1 was ejected from his church at ,neufchatel for preaching and publishing the doctrine that the damned would at some future period be pardoned4 ,a member said to him1 ,my good friend1 ,i no more believe in the eternity of hell than yourself2 but recollect that it may be no bad thing1 perhaps1 for your servant1 your tailor1 and your lawyer1 to believe in it4 ,whitefield was once preaching in ,haworth1 and made use of some such expression1 as that he hoped there was no need to say much to this congregation1 as they had sat under so pious and godly a minister for so many years2 whereupon ,mr4 ,grimshaw1 the curate1 stood up in his place1 and said with a loud voice1 ,oh1 sir6 for ,god's sake do not speak so4 ,i pray you do not flatter them4 ,i fear the greater part of them are going to hell with their eyes open4 ,cowper's friend1 ,newton1 says this in one of his letters3 ,a friend of mine was desired to visit a woman in prison2 he was informed of her evil habits of life1 and therefore spoke strongly of the terrors of the ,lord1 and the curses of the law3 she heard him a while1 and then laughed in his face2 upon this he changed his note1 and spoke of the ,saviour1 and what he had done and suffered for sinners4 ,he had not talked long in this strain before he saw a tear or two in her eyes3 at length she interrupted him by saying3 ',why1 sir1 do you think there can be any hope of mercy for me8' ,he answered1 ',yes1 if you feel your need of it1 and are willing to seek it in ,god's appointed way4 ,i am sure it is as free for you as for myself4' ,she replied1 ',ah1 if ,i had thought so1 ,i should not have been in this prison4 ,i long since settled it in my mind that ,i was utterly lost2 that ,i had sinned beyond all possibility of forgiveness1 and that made me desperate4' ,monod relates that the ,moravian missionaries who carried the gospel to the ,greenlanders thought it best to prepare the minds of the savages to receive it1 by declaring to them at first only the general truths of religion2 the existence of ,god1 the obedience due to his laws1 and a future retribution4 ,thus passed away several years1 during which they saw no fruit of their labors4 ,at last they ventured one day to speak to them of the ,saviour1 and read to them the history of his passion4 ,they had no sooner done so1 than one of the hearers1 named ,kajarnak1 approached the table where the missionary ,beck was sitting1 and said to him in an earnest1 affecting tone3 ,what is that you tell us8 ,repeat that once more4 ,i too will be saved6 7,the most awfully tremendous of all metaphysical divines1 wrote an eminent ,englishman1 is the ,american ultra ,calvinist1 ,jonathan ,edwards1 whose book on ,original ,sin ,i unhappily read when a very young man4 ,it did me an irreparable mischief47 ,soon after the accession of ,james ,i4 to the throne of ,england1 writes ,lecky1 in his ,history of ,rationalism in ,europe1 a law was enacted which subjected witches to death on the first conviction1 even though they should have inflicted no injury upon their neighbors4 ,this law was passed when ,coke was attorney general1 and ,bacon a member of ,parliament2 and twelve bishops sat upon the commission to which it was referred4 ,the prosecutions were rapidly multiplied throughout the country1 but especially in ,lancashire1 and at the same time the general tone of literature was strongly tinged with the superstition4 ,sir ,thomas ,browne declared that those who denied the existence of witchcraft were not only 'infidels1 but also1 by implication1 atheists4' ,in ,cromwell's time there was still greater persecution4 ,the county of ,suffolk was especially agitated1 and the famous witch-finder1 ,matthew ,hopkins1 pronounced it to be infested with witches4 ,a commission was accordingly issued1 and two distinguished ,presbyterian divines were selected by the ,parliament to accompany it4 ,it would have been impossible to take any measure more calculated to stimulate the prosecutions1 and we accordingly find that in ,suffolk sixty persons were hung for witchcraft in a single year4 ,in #affd two women were hung in ,suffolk1 under a sentence of ,sir ,matthew ,hale1 who took the opportunity of declaring that the reality of witchcraft was unquestionable2 'for1 first1 the ,scriptures had affirmed so much2 and1 secondly1 the wisdom of all nations had provided laws against such persons1 which is an argument of their confidence of such a crime4' ,sir ,thomas ,browne1 who was a great physician1 as well as a great writer1 was called as a witness1 and swore 'that he was clearly of opinion that the persons were bewitched4' ,here is a terrible story1 perfectly well authenticated1 taken from the official report of the proceedings by an ,english historian3 ,toward the end of #aeic there was trouble in the family of the ,earl of ,orkney4 ,his brother laid a plot to murder him1 and was said to have sought the help of a notorious witch called ,alison ,balfour4 ,when ,alison ,balfour's life was looked into1 no evidence could be found connecting her either with the particular offense or with witchcraft in general2 but it was enough in these matters to be accused4 ,she swore she was innocent2 but her guilt was only held to be aggravated by perjury4 ,she was tortured again and again4 ,her legs were put in the caschilaws1--an iron frame which was gradually heated till it burned into the flesh1--but no confession could be wrung from her4 ,the caschilaws failed utterly1 and something else had to be tried4 ,she had a husband1 a son1 and a daughter1 a child seven years old4 ,as her own sufferings did not work upon her1 she might be touched1 perhaps1 by the suffering of those who were dear to her4 ,they were brought into court1 and placed at her side1 and the husband first placed in the 'long irons'--some accursed instrument1 ,i know not what4 ,still the devil did not yield4 ,she bore this2 and her son was next operated on4 ,the boy's legs were set in 'the boot1'--the iron boot you may have heard of4 ,the wedges were driven in1 which1 when forced home1 crushed the very bone and marrow4 ,fifty-seven mallet strokes were delivered upon the wedges4 ,yet this1 too1 failed4 ,there was no confession yet4 ,so1 last of all1 the little daughter was taken4 ,there was a machine called the piniwinkies--a kind of thumb-screw1 which brought blood from under the finger-nails1 with a pain successfully terrible4 ,these things were applied to the poor child's hands1 and the mother's constancy broke down1 and she said she would admit anything they wished4 ,she confessed her witchcraft1--so tried1 she would have confessed to the seven deadly sins1--and then she was burned1 recalling her confession1 and with her last breath protested her innocence4 ,there was one ,mary ,johnson try'd at ,hartford in this countrey1 says ,cotton ,mather1 in his ,magnalia ,christi ,americana1 upon an indictment of 'familiarity with the devil1' and was found guilty thereof1 chiefly upon her own confession4444 ,in the time of her imprisonment1 the famous ,mr4 ,stone was at great pains to promote her conversion from the devil to ,god2 and she was by the best observers judged very penitent1 both before her execution and at it2 and she went out of the world with comfortable hopes of mercy from ,god through the merit of our ,saviour4 ,being asked what she built her hopes upon1 she answered1 ,upon these words3 ',come unto me1 all ye that labor and are heavy laden1 and ,i will give you rest2' and these3 ',there is a fountain set open for sin and uncleanness4' ,and she dy'd in a frame extreamly to the satisfaction of them that were spectators of it4 ,in #agfh ,john ,wesley prefaced an account of an apparition that had been related by a girl named ,elizabeth ,hobson1 by some extremely remarkable sentences on the subject4 ,it is true1 likewise1 he wrote1 that the ,english in general1 and1 indeed1 most of the men of learning in ,europe1 have given up all account of witches and apparitions as mere old wives' fables4 ,i am sorry for it1 and ,i willingly take this opportunity of entering my solemn protest against this violent compliment which so many that believe the ,bible pay to those that do not believe it4 ,i owe them no such service4 ,i take knowledge that these are at the bottom of the outcry which has been raised1 and with such insolence spread through the land1 in direct opposition1 not only to the ,bible1 but to the suffrage of the wisest and best men in all ages and nations4 ,they well know 7whether ,christians know it or not7 that the giving up of witchcraft is in effect giving up the ,bible4 ,in the first year of this persecution1 ,cotton ,mather wrote a history of the earliest of the trials4 ,this history was introduced to the ,english public by ,richard ,baxter1 who declared in his preface that 'that man must be a very obdurate ,sadducee who would not believe it4' ,not content with having thus given the weight of his great name to the superstition1 ,baxter in the following year published his treatise on ,the ,certainty of the ,world of ,spirits2 in which he collected1 with great industry1 an immense number of witch cases2 reverted in extremely laudatory terms to ,cotton ,mather and his crusade2 and denounced1 in unmeasured language1 all who were skeptical upon the subject4 ,this work appeared in #afia1 when the panic in ,america had not yet reached its height2 and being widely circulated there1 is said to have contributed much to stimulate the persecutions4 ,the ,pilgrim ,fathers had brought to ,america the seeds of the persecution2 and at the same time when it was rapidly fading in ,england1 it flourished with fearful vigor in ,massachusetts4 ,cotton ,mather and ,parris proclaimed the frequency of the crime2 and1 being warmly supported by their brother divines1 they succeeded in creating a panic through the whole country4 ,a commission was issued4 ,a judge named ,stoughton1 who appears to have been a perfect creature of the clergy1 conducted the trials4 ,scourgings and tortures were added to the terrorism of the pulpit1 and many confessions were obtained4 ,the few who ventured to oppose the prosecutions were denounced as ,sadducees and infidels4 ,multitudes were thrown into prison1 others fled from the country1 abandoning their property1 and twenty-seven persons were executed4 ,an old man of eighty was pressed to death--a horrible sentence1 which was never afterward executed in ,america4 ,giles ,corey was the name of the poor victim4 ,he refused to plead1 to save his property from confiscation4 ,he urged the executioners1 it is stated by ,upham1 in his ,history of ,witchcraft1 to increase the weight which was crushing him2 he told them that it was no use to expect him to yield2 that there could be but one way of ending the matter1 and that they might as well pile on the stones4 ,calef says1 that as his body yielded to the pressure1 his tongue protruded from his mouth1 and an official forced it back with his cane4 ,the ministers of ,boston and ,charlestown drew up an address1 warmly thanking the commissioners for their zeal1 and expressing their hope that it would never be relaxed4 ,there is no more painful reading than this except the trials of the witches themselves4 ,these1 says ,lowell1 awaken1 by turns1 pity1 indignation1 disgust1 and dread1--dread1 at the thought of what the human mind may be brought to believe not only probable1 but proven4 ,but it is well to be put upon our guard by lessons of this kind1 for the wisest man is in some respects little better than a madman in a straight-waistcoat of habit1 public opinion1 prudence1 or the like4 ,skepticism began at length to make itself felt1 but it spread slowly1 and was shy of proclaiming itself4 ,the orthodox party was not backward to charge with sorcery whoever doubted their facts or pitied their victims4 ,the mob1 as it always is1 was orthodox4 ,it was dangerous to doubt1 it might be fatal to deny4 ,the spirit of party1 quaintly says ,bayle1 in his ,critical ,dictionary1 discoursing of ,margaret1 ,queen of ,navarre1 the attachment to a sect1 and even zeal for orthodoxy1 produce a kind of ferment in the humors of our body2 and hence the medium through which reason ought to behold these primitive ideas is clouded and obscured4 ,these are infirmities which will attend our reason1 as long as it shall depend upon the ministry of organs4 ,it is the same thing to it1 as the low and middle region of the air1 the seat of vapors and meteors4 ,there are but very few persons who can elevate themselves above these clouds1 and place themselves in a true serenity4 ,if any one could do it1 we must say of him what ,virgil did of ,daphnis3-- ',daphnis1 the guest of ,heaven1 with wondering eyes1 ,views in the milky-way the starry skies2 ,and far beneath him1 from the shining sphere1 ,beholds the moving clouds and rolling year4' ,and he would not have so much the appearance of a man1 as of an immortal ,being1 placed upon a mountain above the region of wind and clouds4 ,there is almost as much necessity for being above the passions to come to a knowledge of some kind of truths1 as to act virtuously4 ,how limited is human reason1 exclaims ,disraeli1 the younger1 the profoundest inquirers are most conscious4 ,we are not indebted to the reason of man for any of the great achievements which are the landmarks of human action and human progress4 ,it was not reason that besieged ,troy2 it was not reason that sent forth the ,saracen from the desert to conquer the world2 that inspired the crusades2 that instituted the monastic orders2 it was not reason that produced the ,jesuits2 above all1 it was not reason that enacted the ,french ,revolution4 ,man is only truly great when he acts from the passions2 never irresistible but when he appeals to the imagination4 ,even ,mormon counts more votaries than ,bentham4 ,let us not dream1 said ,goethe1 that reason can ever be popular4 ,passions1 emotions1 may be made popular2 but reason remains ever the property of an elect few4 ,it is not from reason and prudence that people marry1 said ,dr4 ,johnson1 but from inclination4 ,a man is poor2 he thinks it cannot be worse1 and so ,i'll e'en marry ,peggy4 ,if people1 said ,thackeray1 only made prudent marriages1 what a stop to population there would be6 ,,iii4 ,,disguises4 ,man1 poor fellow1 would be a curious object for microscopic study4 ,if it were possible to view him through powerful glasses1 what humiliating resemblances and infirmities would be discovered4 ,he would be found to have innumerable tentacula and appendages1 for protection and warning1 and especially to possess unconceived of apparatus for making his way in the dark1--necessities to him1 it would appear1 when further inspection of the creature had shown him to be--blind4 ,at last1 he finds himself obliged to rely upon such qualities and faculties as take the place of powers and eyes4 ,cowardly1 he is gregarious1 and will not live alone2 weak1 he consorts with weakness1 to acquire strength2 ignorant1 he contributes the least bit to the common stock of intelligence1 and escapes responsibility4 ,one of many1 he has the protection of the mob2 embodying others' weaknesses1 he is strong in the bundle of sticks2 joining his voice with the million1 it is lost in the confusion of tongues4 ,attacked1 he is fortified by his society2 down1 he will rise again with his fellows2 stupid with the rest1 his shame is unfelt by being diffused4 ,in any extremity1 there is safety in counsel2 in the ranks1 he cannot run2 in the crowd1 it were vain to think4 ,weary of stagnation or tired by the eddies1 he goes with the current2 unable to stand an individual1 he joins with a party2 a poor creature of ,god1 he is afraid to trust ,him on his ,word1 and flies to a sect with a creed for protection4 ,in the wake of thought1 he may be thoughtless2 voting the ticket1 he is a patriot2 a stiff bigot1 there can be no doubt about his religion4 ,he submits to be thought for as a child2 to be cared for as an invalid2 to be subordinated as an idiot4 ,unequal to a scheme of his own1 he falls into one already devised for him2 without independent views1 he relies upon his newspaper2 without implicit trust in ,god1 he leans upon a broken reed in preference4 ,thus his business1 his politics1 his religion1 are defined for him1 and are of easy reference2 indeed it may be said he knows them by heart1 so little there is of them4 ,of the laws of trade1 political economy1 essential ,christianity1 he may be as ignorant as a barbarian1 at the same time be complacent and respectable in his ignorance4 ,acting for himself1 he would be set down as eccentric by his banker2 thinking for himself1 he would be thought to be too uncertain to be trustworthy2 living virtuously1 walking humbly1 and trusting his ,creator to take care of his creature1 he would be an object of suspicion1 even if he escaped being called an infidel4 ,his tailor determines the cut of his coat2 the street defines his manners and morals2 custom becomes his law1 and compliance his gospel4 ,addison1 in ,the ,spectator1 gives an account of a gentleman who determined to live and dress according to the rules of common sense1 and was shut up in a lunatic asylum in consequence4 ,custom1 says ,carlyle1 doth make dotards of us all4 ,philosophy complains that custom has hoodwinked us from the first2 that we do everything by custom1 even believe by it2 that our very axioms1 let us boast of free-thinking as we may1 are oftenest simply such beliefs as we have never heard questioned4 ,in this great society wide lying around us1 says ,emerson1 a critical analysis would find very few spontaneous actions4 ,it is almost all custom and gross sense4 ,we play our parts so faithfully1 not to say conscientiously1 that often we have difficulty in placing ourselves1 whether with the assumed or the natural4 ,the little arts and artifices we thrive by1 become essentially a part of us2 and in the jostle and conflict--the greater to devour the lesser and the lesser the least--we seem impelled to pursue the objects and ends which long habit has somehow convinced us nature particularly suited us to pursue4 ,when an event occurs to attract attention to our follies or baseness1 it has not the effect to prompt repentance1 but to excite our cunning1 and set us to work to find excuses1 or to imagine some other course of conduct which would have been more foolish or mischievous4 ,we keep on deceiving ourselves in regard to our faults1 until we1 at last1 come to look upon them as virtues4 ,like ,selwyn1 the accomplished courtier and wit in the time of ,george ,,iii41 we get to think even our vices necessities4 ,after a night of elegant rioting and debauch1 he tumbled out of his bed at noon the next day1 and reeling with both hands upon his head to a mirror in his apartment1 gazed at himself and soliloquized3 ,i look and feel most villainously mean2 but it's life--hang it1 it's life6 ,lord ,bacon1 discoursing upon the politic knowledge of ourselves1 and the wisdom of business1 in the ,second ,book of the ,proficience and ,advancement of ,learning1 says3 ,the covering of defects is of no less importance than the valuing of good parts2 which may be done in three manners1 by caution1 by color1 and by confidence4 ,caution is when men do ingeniously and discreetly avoid to be put into those things for which they are not proper3 whereas1 contrariwise1 bold and unquiet spirits will thrust themselves into matters without difference1 and so publish and proclaim all their wants4 ,color is1 when men make a way for themselves1 to have a construction made of their faults and wants1 as proceeding from a better cause1 or intended for some other purpose3 for of the one it is well said1 ',vice often lurks in the likeness of virtue1' and therefore whatsoever want a man hath1 he must see that he pretend the virtue that shadoweth it2 as if he be dull1 he must affect gravity2 if a coward1 mildness2 and so the rest3 for the second1 a man must frame some probable cause why he should not do his best1 and why he should dissemble his abilities2 and for that purpose must use to dissemble those abilities which are notorious in him1 to give color that his true wants are but industries and dissimulations4 ,for confidence1 it is the last but surest remedy2 namely1 to depress and seem to despise whatsoever a man cannot attain2 observing the good principle of the merchants1 who endeavor to raise the price of their own commodities1 and to beat down the price of others4 ,but there is a confidence that passeth this other2 which is to face out a man's own defects1 in seeming to conceive that he is best in those things wherein he is failing2 and1 to help that again1 to seem on the other side that he hath least opinion of himself in those things wherein he is best2 like as we shall see it commonly in poets2 that if they show their verses1 and you except to any1 they will say1 that that line cost them more labor than any of the rest2 and presently will seem to disable and suspect rather some other line1 which they know well enough to be the best in the number4 ,few persons who talk of any virtue or quality1 says ,pascal1 are inwardly acquainted or affected with it4 ,we are all full of duplicity1 deceit1 and contradiction4 ,we love to wear a disguise1 even within1 and are afraid of being detected by ourselves4 ,infirmities and calamities have been made to serve important uses in the designs of men4 ,it was necessary1 says a writer upon ,mahomet1 that the religion he proposed to establish should have a divine sanction2 and for this purpose he turned a calamity with which he was afflicted to his advantage4 ,he was often subject to fits of epilepsy1 a disease which those whom it afflicts are desirous to conceal4 ,mahomet gave out1 therefore1 that these fits were trances1 into which he was miraculously thrown by ,god ,almighty1 during which he was instructed in his will1 which he was commanded to publish to the world4 ,by this strange story1 and by leading a retired1 abstemious1 and austere life1 he easily acquired a character for superior sanctity among his acquaintances and neighbors4 ,when he thought himself sufficiently fortified by the numbers and enthusiasm of his followers1 he boldly declared himself a prophet1 sent by ,god into the world1 not only to teach his will1 but to compel mankind to obey it4 ,the world not only seems to be easily deceived1 but seems to delight in deception4 ,if you wish to be powerful1 said ,horne ,tooke1 pretend to be powerful4 ,if you wish to be considered wise1 systematically pretend to be1 and you will generally be acknowledged to be4 ,we all know1 for instance1 the influence of manner1 as sometimes displayed by persons of great assumed personal dignity4 ,every neighborhood is afflicted with such pretenders4 ,among those terms1 says ,whipple1 indignantly1 which have long ceased to have any vital meaning1 the word dignity deserves a disgraceful prominence4 ,no word has fallen so readily into the designs of cant1 imposture1 and pretense2 none has played so well the part of verbal scarecrow1 to frighten children of all ages and both sexes4 ,it is at once the thinnest and most effective of all the coverings under which duncedom sneaks and skulks4 ,most of the men of dignity1 who awe or bore their more genial brethren1 are simply men who possess the art of passing off their insensibility for wisdom1 their dullness for depth1 and of concealing imbecility of intellect under haughtiness of manner4 ,their success in this small game is one of the stereotyped satires upon mankind4 ,once strip from these pretenders their stolen garments--once disconnect their show of dignity from their real meanness--and they would stand shivering and defenseless1--objects of the tears of pity1 or targets for the arrows of scorn4444 ,manner triumphs over matter2 and throughout society1 politics1 letters1 and science1 we are doomed to meet a swarm of dunces and wind-bags1 disguised as gentlemen1 statesmen1 and scholars4 ,when they open their mouths1 it is to expand themselves with a new inhalation of emptiness1 or to depreciate or belittle what they pretend is insignificant1 when it only exceeds their capacity4 ,they put up their heads and expectorate with a smirky haughtiness1 as if everything worth knowing were known to them1 when a single sensation of modesty would envelop their moony faces with blushes4 ,every one has seen such a character1--an embodied tediousness1 which society is apt not only to tolerate1 but to worship2 a person who announces the stale commonplaces of conversation with the awful precision of one bringing down to the valleys of thought bright truths plucked on its summits2 who is so profoundly deep and painfully solid1 on the weather1 or some nothing of the day2 who is inexpressibly shocked if your eternal gratitude does not repay him for the trite information he consumed your hour in imparting2 and who1 if you insinuate that this calm1 contented1 imperturbable stupidity is preying upon your patience1 instantly stands upon his dignity1 and puts on a face4 ,a certain nobleman1 some years ago1 says ,bulwer1 in one of his essays1 was conspicuous for his success in the world4 ,he had been employed in the highest situations1 at home and abroad1 without one discoverable reason for his selection1 and without justifying the selection by one proof of administrative ability4 ,yet at each appointment the public said1 ',a great gain to the government6 ,superior man6' ,and when from each office he passed away1 or rather passed imperceptibly onward toward offices still more exalted1 the public said1 ',a great loss to the government6 ,superior man6' ,he was the most silent person ,i ever met4 ,but when the first reasoners of the age would argue some knotty point in his presence1 he would1 from time to time1 slightly elevate his eyebrows1 gently shake his head1 or1 by a dexterous smile of significant complacency1 impress on you the notion how easily he could set those babblers right if he would but condescend to give voice to the wisdom within him4 ,i was very young when ,i first met this superior man2 and chancing on the next day to call on the late ,lord ,durham1 ,i said1 in the presumption of early years1 ',i passed six mortal hours last evening in company with ,lord ----4 ,i don't think there is much in him1' ',good heavens6' cried ,lord ,durham1 'how did you find that out8 ,is it possible that he could have--talked8' ,coleridge speaks of a dignified man he once saw at a dinner-table4 ,he listened to me1 says the poet1 and said nothing for a long time2 but he nodded his head1 and ,i thought him intelligent4 ,at length1 toward the end of the dinner1 some apple dumplings were placed on the table1 and my man had no sooner seen them1 than he burst forth with1--',them's the jockies for me6' ,i wish ,spurzheim could have examined the fellow's head4 ,the ,duke of ,somerset is described as one of these dignified gentlemen4 ,his second wife was one of the most beautiful women in ,england4 ,she once suddenly threw her arms around his neck1 and gave him a kiss which might have gladdened the heart of an emperor4 ,the duke1 lifting his shoulders with an aristocratic square1 slowly said1 ,madam1 my first wife was a ,howard1 and she never would have taken such a liberty6 ,if it were practicable to expose the artifice and emptiness of such characters1 the exhibition would be as amusing as the scene once presented on the stage of a theatre4 ,the comedian was enveloped in a great ,india-rubber suit1 expanded by air to give it the proper proportions to represent ,falstaff3 when just in the middle of one of the inimitable speeches of that inimitable character1 some wag of the stock insinuated a sharp-pointed instrument into the immense windful garment3 immediately the great proportions of ,falstaff began to diminish1 attended by an audible hissing noise2 and before the discomposed actor1 overwhelmed with the laughter of the uproarious audience1 could retire from the stage1 he had shrunk to an insignificant one hundred and fifty pounds avoirdupois1 with his deceptive covering hanging about his gaunt limbs in voluminous folds6 ,such persons will generally be found in possession of good moral habits--props they instinctively set up to sustain their pretenses4 ,they know by intuition that an affectation of wisdom and greatness would be intolerable if attended by vicious propensities and practices2 so they cultivate with systematic carefulness all the forms of morality and virtue4 ,they know that their good habits will always insure the respect of even those who detect and despise their emptiness4 ,but they are never heard to claim anything on the score of superior virtue2 they demand to be known as ,solons--as abridgments of all that is profound and wonderful known among men4 ,like the owl--that wise bird1 sacred of old to ,minerva--they make their pretensions respected by the most commendable propriety4 ,yorick had an invincible dislike and opposition in his nature to gravity2--not to gravity as such2--for where gravity was wanted1 he would be the most grave or serious of mortal men for days and weeks together2 but he was an enemy to the affectation of it1 and declared open war against it1 only as it appeared a cloak for ignorance1 or folly3 and then1 whenever it fell in his way1 however sheltered and protected1 he seldom gave it any quarter4 ,sometimes1 in his wild way of talking1 he would say1 that gravity was an errant scoundrel1 and1 he would add1--of the most dangerous kind too1--because a sly one2 and that he verily believed1 more honest1 well-meaning people were bubbled out of their goods and money by it in one twelvemonth1 than by pocket-picking1 and shoplifting in seven4 ,in the naked temper which a merry heart discovered1 he would say there was no danger1--but to itself3--whereas the very essence of gravity was design1 and consequently deceit2--'twas a taught trick1 to gain credit of the world for more sense and knowledge than a man was worth2 and that1 with all his pretensions1--it was no better1 but often worse1 than what a ,french wit had long ago defined it1 viz43 ,a mysterious carriage of the body1 to cover the defects of the mind3--which definition of gravity1 ,yorick1 with great imprudence1 would say1 deserved to be wrote in letters of gold4 ,men in general1 says ,machiavelli1 in his ,prince1 judge more from appearances than from reality4 ,all men have eyes1 but few have the gift of penetration4 ,every one sees your exterior1 but few can discern what you have in your heart2 and those few dare not oppose the voice of the multitude4 ,a pretension to devoutness and asceticism was one of the fashions in ,moliere's time4 ,in his play of ,le ,festin de ,pierre1 he makes ,don ,juan to say3 ,the profession of hypocrite has marvelous advantages4 ,it is an act of which the imposture is always respected2 and though it may be discovered1 no one dares do anything against it4 ,all the other vices of man are liable to censure1 and every one has the liberty of boldly attacking them2 but hypocrisy is a privileged vice1 which with its hand closes everybody's mouth1 and enjoys its repose with sovereign impunity4 ,the absorbing desire for wealth--that bad thing1 gold1 that buys all things good--like ambition1 often puts men upon doing the meanest offices3 so climbing is performed in the same posture with creeping4 ,almost every act may be a lie against the thought or motive which prompted it4 ,the great aim of the mere money-getter--to get and get forever--involves him in false pretense and practical falsehood4 ,he advises to inveigle2 he condoles and sympathizes to ruin4 ,he talks of liberalty1 and never gives4 ,he depreciates money and the love of it1 at the same time glows and dimples with the consciousness of his possessions4 ,he calls life a humbug or muck1 and proves it by a hypocritical exhibit of his gains4 ,he puts a penny in the urn of poverty1 and sees clearly how he will get a shilling out4 ,he whines for wretchedness1 forgetting the number he has made wretched4 ,he gives to religion1 and plunders her devotees4 ,he hires an expensive pew near the pulpit1 and cheats his woodsawyer and washerwoman4 ,he builds costly churches with tall steeples1 and1 writing the ,almighty in his list of debtors1 formally bargains admission to heaven4 ,he falls down and worships the god of this world1 but will have neither its pomps1 its vanities1 nor its pleasures1 for his trouble4 ,he begins to accumulate treasure as a mean to happiness1 and by a common but morbid association he continues to accumulate it as an end4 ,he lives poor to die rich1 and is the mere jailer of his house1 and the turnkey of his wealth4 ,impoverished by his gold1 he slaves harder to imprison it in his chest than his brother-slave to liberate it from the mine4 ,some men1 says ,chrysippus1 in ,athenaeus1 apply themselves with such eagerness to the pursuit of money1 that it is even related1 that a man once1 when near his end1 swallowed a number of pieces of gold1 and so died4 ,another person sewed a quantity of money into a tunic1 and put it on1 and then ordered his servants to bury him in that dress1 neither burning his body1 nor stripping it and laying it out4 ,foote1 in endeavoring to express the microscopic niggardliness of a miser of his acquaintance1 expressed a belief that he would be willing to take the beam out of his own eye if he knew he could sell the timber4 ,doubtless1 one source of the miser's insane covetousness and parsimony is the tormenting fear of dying a beggar--that fine horror of poverty1 according to ,lamb1 by which he is not content to keep want from the door1 or at arm's-length1 but he places it1 by heaping wealth upon wealth1 at a sublime distance4 7,all the arguments which are brought to represent poverty as no evil1 impatiently exclaimed ,dr4 ,johnson1 show it to be evidently a great evil4 ,you never find people laboring to convince you that you may live very happily upon a plentiful fortune4 ,so you hear people talking how miserable a king must be2 and yet they all wish to be in his place4 ,one asks1 says ,la ,bruyere1 if1 in comparing the different conditions of men together1 their sufferings and advantages1 we cannot observe an equal mixture1 and a like assortment of good and evil1 which settles them on an equality1 or at least makes one as desirable as the other3 the rich and powerful man1 who wants nothing1 may put the question1 but a poor man must answer it47 ,the hoarding habits of the miser remind one of a device of ,american boatmen1 at an early day1 before the steamboat was invented1 and when the forest was infested with savages and robbers4 ,receiving specie at ,new ,orleans for their produce1 they deposited it in a wet buckskin belt1 of sufficient length to surround the body1 which1 as it dried1 contracted and shrunk round the coin1 till no amount of shaking would cause it to jingle4 ,so may the heart and soul of the avaricious man shrink round his little heap of gold1 until all healthy circulation ceases1 and his heart never jingles with a genuine1 generous1 manly impulse4 ,disraeli1 in his ,curiosities1 gives an interesting philosophical sketch of ,audley1--the great ,audley1 as he was called in his time1--who concentrated all the powers of a vigorous intellect in the accumulation of wealth4 ,he lived in ,england in the beginning of the seventeenth century1 through the reigns of ,james ,i4 and ,charles ,i41 and1 beginning life with almost nothing1 died worth four hundred thousand pounds sterling4 ,he lived to view his mortgages1 his statutes1 and his judgments so numerous1 that it was observed1 his papers would have made a good map of ,england4 ,this philosophical usurer never pressed hard for his debts2 like the fowler1 he never shook his nets lest he might startle1 satisfied to have them1 without appearing to hold them4 ,with great fondness he compared his 'bonds to infants1 which battle best by sleeping4' ,to battle is to be nourished1 a term still retained at the ,university of ,oxford4 ,his familiar companions were all subordinate actors in the great piece he was performing2 he too had his part in the scene4 ,when not taken by surprise1 on his table usually laid open a great ,bible1 with ,bishop ,andrews' folio ,sermons1 which often gave him an opportunity of railing at the covetousness of the clergy6 declaring their religion was a 'mere preach1' and that 'the time would never be well till we had ,queen ,elizabeth's ,protestants again in fashion4' ,he was aware of all the evils arising out of a population beyond the means of subsistence1 and dreaded an inundation of man1 spreading like the spawn of a cod4 ,hence he considered marriage1 with a modern political economist1 as very dangerous2 bitterly censuring the clergy1 whose children1 he said1 never thrived1 and whose widows were left destitute4 ,an apostolic life1 according to ,audley1 required only books1 meat1 and drink1 to be had for fifty pounds a year6 ,celibacy1 voluntary poverty1 and all the mortifications of a primitive ,christian1 were the virtues practiced by this ,puritan among his money bags4 ,audley's was that worldly wisdom which derives all its strength from the weaknesses of mankind4 ,everything was to be obtained by stratagem1 and it was his maxim1 that to grasp our object the faster1 we must go a little round about it4 ,his life is said to have been one of intricacies and mysteries1 using indirect means in all things2 but if he walked in a labyrinth1 it was to bewilder others2 for the clew was still in his own hand2 all he sought was that his designs should not be discovered in his actions4 ,his word1 we are told1 was his bond2 his hour was punctual2 and his opinions were compressed and weighty2 but if he was true to his bond-word1 it was only a part of the system to give facility to the carrying on of his trade1 for he was not strict to his honor2 the pride of victory1 as well as the passion for acquisition1 combined in the character of ,audley1 as in more tremendous conquerors4 ,in the course of time he purchased a position in the 'court of wards1' which enabled him to plunder the estates of deceased persons and minors4 ,when asked the value of this new office1 he replied that 'it might be worth some thousands of pounds to him who after his death would go instantly to heaven2 twice as much to him who would go to purgatory1 and nobody knows what to him who would adventure to go to hell4' ,what he thought of a venture to the latter place1 his four hundred thousand pounds must speak4 ,many and interesting as are the disguises of avarice1 it is only in rank and ancestry that you find perfect complacency and assurance4 ,we have all heard1 says ,thackeray1 of the dying ,french duchess who viewed her coming dissolution and subsequent fate so easily1 because she said she was sure that ,heaven must deal politely with a person of her quality4 ,you recollect that other duchess1 in ,saint-,simon1 who1 on the death of a sinner of illustrious race1 said1 ,they may say what they like1 but no one shall persuade me that ,god does not think of it twice before he damns a man of his birth4 ,an old lady once said to ,de ,tocqueville1 ,i have been reading with great satisfaction the genealogies which prove that ,jesus ,christ descended from ,david4 ,it shows that our ,lord was a gentleman4 ,we are somewhat ashamed in general1 said ,senior to ,de ,tocqueville1 of ,jewish blood2 yet the ,levis boast of their descent from the ,hebrew ,levi4 ,they are proud of it1 answered ,de ,tocqueville2 because they make themselves out to be cousins of the blessed ,virgin4 ,they have a picture in which a ,duke de ,levi stands bareheaded before the ,virgin4 ',pray put your hat on1 cousin1' she says4 ',i had rather keep it off1' he answered4 ,do we not every day meet with people1 says ,xavier de ,maistre1 who fancy they are ill because they are unshaven1 or because some one has thought they have looked poorly1 and told them so8 ,dress has such influence upon men's minds that there are valetudinarians who think themselves in better health than usual when they have on a new coat and well powdered wig4 ,they deceive the public and themselves by their nicety about dress1 until one finds some fine morning they have died in full fig1 and their death startles everybody4 ,lord ,eldon was fond of relating amusing anecdotes of the famous state trials of ,hardy1 ,horne ,tooke1 and ,thelwall1 which occurred while he was attorney general4 ,every evening1 he said1 upon my leaving the court1 a signal was given that ,i was coming out1 for a general hissing and hooting of the attorney general4 ,this went through the street in which the court sat1 from one end of it to the other1 and was continued all the way down to ,ludgate ,hill and by ,fleet ,market4 ,one evening1 at the rising of the court1 ,i was preparing to retire1 when ,mr4 ,garrow said1 ',do not1 ,mr4 ,attorney1 pass that tall man at the end of the table4' ',and why not8' said ,mr4 ,law1 who stood next4 ',he has been here1' answered ,mr4 ,garrow1 'during the whole trial1 with his eyes constantly fixed on the attorney general4' ',i will pass him1' said ,mr4 ,law4 ',and so will ,i1' was my rejoinder4 ,as we passed1 the man drew back4 ,when ,i entered my carriage1 the mob rushed forward1 crying1 ',that's he1 drag him out6' ,mr4 ,erskine1 from whose carriage the mob had taken off the horses to draw him home in triumph1 stopped the people1 saying1 ',i will not go without the attorney general6' ,i instantly addressed them3 ',so you imagine1 that if you kill me1 you will be without an attorney general6 ,before ten o'clock to-morrow there will be a new attorney general1 by no means so favorably disposed to you as ,i am4' ,i heard a friend in the crowd exclaim1 ',let him alone6 let him alone6' ,they separated1 and ,i proceeded4 ,when ,i reached my home in ,gower ,street1 ,i saw1 close to my door1 the tall man who stood near me in court4 ,i had no alternative2 ,i instantly went up to him3 ',what do you want8' ,i said4 ',do not be alarmed1' he answered2 ',i have attended in court during the whole of the trial--,i know my own strength1 and am resolved to stand by you4 ,you once did an act of great kindness to my father4 ,thank ,god1 you are safe at home4 ,may ,he bless and protect you6' ,he instantly disappeared4 ,rulhiere told ,de ,tocqueville a very different story1 characteristic of a ,russian4 ,he was a man of high rank1 who had been sent to the ,french head-quarters on a mission1 and lived for some time on intimate terms with the staff1 particularly with ,rulhiere4 ,at the battle of ,eylau ,rulhiere was taken prisoner4 ,he caught the eye of his ,russian friend1 who came to offer his services4 ,you can do me1 said ,rulhiere1 an important service4 ,one of your ,cossacks yonder has just seized my horse and cloak4 ,i am dying of fatigue and cold4 ,if you can get them for me1 you may save my life4 ,the ,russian went to the ,cossack1 talked to him rather sharply1 probably on the wickedness of robbing a prisoner2 got possession of the horse and cloak2 put on the one1 and mounted the other1 and ,rulhiere never saw him again4 ,incledon1 the singer1 related to ,crabb ,robinson1 in a stage-coach1 anecdotes of ,garrick and ,foote1 which show how completely they both lost themselves in their acting4 ,garrick had a brother living in the country1 who was an idolatrous admirer of his genius4 ,a rich neighbor1 a grocer1 being about to visit ,london1 this brother insisted on his taking a letter of introduction to the actor4 ,not being able to make up his mind to visit the great man the first day1 the grocer went to the play in the evening1 and saw ,garrick in ,abel ,drugger4 ,on his return to the country1 the brother eagerly inquired respecting the visit he had been so anxious to bring about4 ,why1 ,mr4 ,garrick1 said the good man1 ,i am sorry to hurt your feelings1 but there's your letter4 ,i did not choose to deliver it4 ,not deliver it6 exclaimed the other1 in astonishment4 ,i happened to see him when he did not know me1 and ,i saw that he was such a dirty1 low-lived fellow1 that ,i did not like to have anything to do with him4 ,foote went to ,ireland1 and took off a celebrated ,dublin printer4 ,the printer stood the jest for some time1 but found at last that ,foote's imitations became so popular1 and drew such attention to himself1 that he could not walk the streets without being pointed at4 ,he bethought himself of a remedy4 ,collecting a number of boys1 he gave them a hearty meal and a shilling each for a place in the gallery1 and promised them another meal on the morrow if they would hiss off the scoundrel who turned him into ridicule4 ,the injured man learned from his friends that ,foote was received that night better than ever4 ,nevertheless1 in the morning1 the ragged troop of boys appeared to demand their recompense1 and when the printer reproached them for their treachery1 their spokesman said3 ,plase yer honor1 we did all we could1 for the actor-man had heard of us1 and did not come at all at all4 ,and so we had nobody to hiss4 ,but when we saw yer honor's own dear self come on1 we did clap1 indeed we did1 and showed you all the respect and honor in our power4 ,and so yer honor won't forget us because yer honor's enemy was afraid to come1 and left yer honor to yer own dear self4 ,immortal sermons are disguised in legends2 the most familiar objects are perpetually preaching to us4 ,ages ago1 the ,germans have it1 there went1 one ,sunday morning1 an old man into the forest to cut wood4 ,when he had made a bundle1 he slung it on his staff1 cast it over his shoulder1 and started for home4 ,on his way he met a minister1 all in his bands and robes1 who asked him1 ,don't you know1 my friend1 that it is ,sunday on earth1 when all must rest from their labors8 ,sunday on earth1 ,monday in heaven1 it is all one to me1 laughed the woodman4 ,then bear your burden forever1 said the priest2 and as you value not ,sunday on earth1 you shall have ,monday in heaven till the great day4 ,thereupon the speaker vanished1 and the man was caught up1 with cane and fagots1 into the moon1 where you can see him any clear night4 ,the ,norwegians think they see both a man and woman2 and the legend is1 that the former threw branches at people going to church1 and the latter made butter on ,sunday4 ,in the clear1 cold nights of winter they will point out the man carrying his bundle of thorns1 and the woman her butter-tub4 ,in ,norway1 the red-crested1 black woodpecker is known under the name of ,gertrud's bird4 ,its origin1 according to ,thorpe1 is as follows3 ,when our ,lord1 accompanied by ,st4 ,peter1 was wandering on earth1 they came to a woman who was occupied in baking3 her name was ,gertrud1 and on her head she wore a red hood4 ,weary and hungry from their long journeying1 our ,lord begged for a cake4 ,she took a little dough and set it on to bake1 and it grew so large that it filled the whole pan4 ,thinking it too much for alms1 she took a smaller quantity of dough1 and again began to bake1 but this cake also swelled up to the same size as the first2 she then took still less dough1 and when the cake had become as large as the preceding ones1 ,gertrud said3 ,you must go without alms2 for all my bakings are too large for you4 ,then was our ,lord wroth1 and said1 ,because thou gavest me nothing1 thou shalt for punishment become a little bird1 shalt seek thy dry food between the wood and the bark1 and drink only when it rains4 ,hardly were these words spoken when the woman was transformed to the ,gertrud bird1 and flew away through the kitchen chimney2 and at this day she is seen with a red hood and black body1 because she was blackened by the soot of the chimney4 ,she constantly pecks the bark of trees for sustenance1 and whistles against rain2 for she always thirsts and hopes to drink4 ,according to the legend1 the ,wandering ,jew is a poor shoemaker of ,jerusalem4 ,when ,christ1 bearing his cross1 passed before his house1 and asked his leave to repose for a moment on the stone bench at his door1 the ,jew replied harshly1 ,go on--go on6 and refused him4 ,it is thou who shalt go on till the end of time6 was ,christ's reply1 in a sad but severe tone4 ,lord ,cockburn1 in his ,memorials1 relates an anecdote of ,dr4 ,henry1 the historian1 as told to him by ,sir ,harry ,moncreiff1 who was the doctor's favorite younger friend4 ,the doctor was living at a place of his own in his native county of ,stirling4 ,he was about seventy-two1 and had been for some time very feeble4 ,he wrote to ,sir ,harry that he was dying1 and thus invited him for the last time--,come out here directly4 ,i have got something to do this week1 ,i have got to die4 ,sir ,harry went2 and found his friend plainly sinking1 but resigned and cheerful4 ,he had no children1 and there was nobody with him except his wife4 ,she and ,sir ,harry remained alone with him for about three days1 being his last three2 during a great part of which the reverend historian sat in his easy chair1 and conversed1 and listened to reading1 and dozed4 ,while engaged in this way1 the hoofs of a horse were heard clattering in the court below4 ,mrs4 ,henry looked out and exclaimed that it was that wearisome body1 naming a neighboring minister1 who was famous for never leaving a house after he had once got into it4 ,keep him out1 cried the doctor1 don't let the crater in here4 ,but before they could secure his exclusion1 the crater's steps were heard on the stair1 and he was at the door4 ,the doctor instantly winked significantly1 and signed to them to sit down and be quiet1 and he would pretend to be sleeping4 ,the hint was taken2 and when the intruder entered he found the patient asleep in his cushioned chair4 ,sir ,harry and ,mrs4 ,henry put their fingers to their lips1 and pointing to the supposed slumberer as one not to be disturbed1 shook their heads4 ,the man sat down near the door1 like one inclined to wait till the nap was over4 ,once or twice he tried to speak2 but was instantly repressed by another finger on the lip1 and another shake of the head4 ,so he sat on1 all in perfect silence for about a quarter of an hour2 during which ,sir ,harry occasionally detected the dying man peeping cautiously through the fringes of his eyelids1 to see how his visitor was coming on4 ,at last ,sir ,harry tired1 and he and ,mrs4 ,henry1 pointing to the poor doctor1 fairly waved the visitor out of the room2 on which the doctor opened his eyes wide1 and had a tolerably hearty laugh2 which was renewed when the sound of the horse's feet made them certain that their friend was actually off the premises4 ,dr4 ,henry died that night4 ,douglas ,jerrold speaks of a ,london tradesman of great practical benevolence4 ,it was the happiness of his temperament to recommend to the palates of babes and sucklings the homeliest1 nay1 the most disagreeable shapes1 by the lusciousness of their material4 ,the man made semblances of all things in sugar4 ,did you ever read that remarkable paper of ,lamb's1 the ,reminiscences of ,juke ,judkins1 ,esq41 of ,birmingham8 ,it is a nice1 microscopic1 philosophic study and analysis of meanness1--as common1 we dare say1 in this world1 as avarice1--and will make us wonder that ordinary gifts and traits can be so perverted and belittled by debasing uses4 ,all that is good of humanity was once united with ,divinity1 and made the best character that ever existed on earth4 ,humiliating it would be1 if not impious1 to imagine how much worse might be the devil if he would adopt the bestial qualities and worse than ,satanic traits that men are constantly exposing and cultivating in their relations with one another4 ,i was always1 says ,juke1 my father's favorite4 ,he took a delight1 to the very last1 in recounting the little sagacious tricks and innocent artifices of my childhood4 ,one manifestation thereof ,i never heard him repeat without tears of joy trickling down his cheeks4 ,it seems that when ,i quitted the parental roof 7,august #bg1 #aghh71 being then six years and not quite a month old1 to proceed to the ,free ,school at ,warwick1 where my father was a sort of trustee1 my mother--as mothers are usually provident on these occasions--had stuffed the pocket of the coach1 which was to convey me and six more children of my own growth that were going to be entered along with me at the same seminary1 with a prodigious quantity of gingerbread1 which ,i remember my father said was more than was needed2 and so indeed it was2 for1 if ,i had been to eat it all myself1 it would have got stale and mouldy before it had been half spent4 ,the consideration whereof set me upon my contrivances how ,i might secure to myself as much of the gingerbread as would keep good for the next two or three days1 and yet none of the rest in manner be wasted4 ,i had a little pair of pocket compasses1 which ,i usually carried about me for the purpose of making draughts and measurements1 at which ,i was always very ingenious1 of the various engines and mechanical inventions in which such a town as ,birmingham abounded4 ,by the means of these1 and a small penknife which my father had given me1 ,i cut out the one half of the cake1 calculating that the remainder would reasonably serve my turn2 and subdividing it into many little slices1 which were curious to see for the neatness and niceness of their proportion1 ,i sold it out in so many pennyworths to my young companions as served us all the way to ,warwick1 which is a distance of some twenty miles from this town2 and very merry1 ,i assure you1 we made ourselves with it1 feasting all the way4 ,by this honest stratagem1 ,i put double the prime cost of the gingerbread into my purse1 and secured as much as ,i thought would keep good and moist for my next two or three days' eating4 ,when ,i told this to my parents on their first visit to me at ,warwick1 my father 7good man7 patted me on the cheek1 and stroked my head1 and seemed as if he could never make enough of me2 but my mother unaccountably burst into tears1 and said 'it was a very niggardly action1' or some such expression1 and that 'she would rather it would please ,god to take me'--meaning1 ,god help me1 that ,i should die--'than that she should live to see me grow up a mean man2' which shows the difference of parent from parent1 and how some mothers are more harsh and intolerant to their children than some fathers2 when we might expect the contrary4 ,my father1 however1 loaded me with presents from that time1 which made me the envy of my school-fellows4 ,as ,i felt this growing disposition in them1 ,i naturally sought to avert it by all the means in my power2 and from that time ,i used to eat my little packages of fruit1 and other nice things1 in a corner1 so privately that ,i was never found out4 ,once1 ,i remember1 ,i had a huge apple sent me1 of that sort which they call cats'-heads4 ,i concealed this all day under my pillow2 and at night1 but not before ,i had ascertained that my bed-fellow was sound asleep1--which ,i did by pinching him rather smartly two or three times1 which he seemed to perceive no more than a dead person1 though once or twice he made a motion as he would turn1 which frightened me1--,i say1 when ,i had made all sure1 ,i fell to work upon my apple2 and1 though it was as big as an ordinary man's two fists1 ,i made shift to get through before it was time to get up4 ,and a more delicious feast ,i never made2 thinking all night what a good parent ,i had 7,i mean my father71 to send me so many nice things1 when the poor lad that lay by me had no parent or friend in the world to send him anything nice2 and1 thinking of his desolate condition1 ,i munched and munched as silently as ,i could1 that ,i might not set him a longing if he overheard me4 ,and yet1 for all this considerateness and attention to other people's feelings1 ,i was never much a favorite with my school-fellows2 which ,i have often wondered at1 seeing that ,i never defrauded any one of them of the value of a half-penny1 or told stories of them to their master1 as some little lying boys would do1 but was ready to do any of them all the services in my power that were consistent with my own well-doing4 ,i think nobody can be expected to go further than that4 ,juke1 in the course of time1 was engaged to be married to a maiden named ,cleora4 ,hear him relate the circumstance that broke off the engagement3 ,i was never1 he says1 much given to theatrical entertainments2 that is1 at no turn of my life was ,i ever what they call a regular play-goer2 but on some occasion of a benefit-night1 which was expected to be very productive1 and indeed turned out so1 ,cleora expressing a desire to be present1 ,i could do no less than offer1 as ,i did very willingly1 to squire her and her mother to the pit4 ,at that time1 it was not customary in our town for trades-folk1 except some of the very topping ones1 to sit1 as they now do1 in the boxes4 ,at the time appointed1 ,i waited upon the ladies1 who had brought with them a young man1 a distant relation1 whom it seems they had invited to be of the party4 ,this a little disconcerted me1 as ,i had about me barely silver enough to pay for our three selves at the door1 and did not at first know that their relation had proposed paying for himself4 ,however1 to do the young man justice1 he not only paid for himself but for the old lady besides2 leaving me only to pay for two1 as it were4 ,in our passage to the theatre1 the notice of ,cleora was attracted to some orange wenches that stood about the doors vending their commodities4 ,she was leaning on my arm2 and ,i could feel her every now and then giving me a nudge1 as it is called1 which ,i afterward discovered were hints that ,i should buy some oranges4 ,it seems it is a custom at ,birmingham1 and perhaps in other places1 when a gentleman treats ladies to the play1--especially when a full night is expected1 and that the house will be inconveniently warm1--to provide them with this kind of fruit1 oranges being esteemed for their cooling property4 ,but how could ,i guess at that1 never having treated ladies to a play before1 and being1 as ,i said1 quite a novice in these kind of entertainments8 ,at last1 she spoke plain out1 and begged that ,i would buy some of 'those oranges1' pointing to a particular barrow4 ,but1 when ,i came to examine the fruit1 ,i did not think the quality of it was answerable to the price4 ,in this way1 ,i handled several baskets of them2 but something in them all displeased me4 ,some had thin rinds1 and some were plainly over-ripe1 which is as great a fault as not being ripe enough2 and ,i could not 7what they call7 make a bargain4 ,while ,i stood haggling with the women secretly determining to put off my purchase till ,i should get within the theatre1 where ,i expected we should have better choice1 the young man1 the cousin 7who1 it seems1 had left us without my missing him71 came running to us with his pockets stuffed out with oranges1 inside and out1 as they say4 ,it seems1 not liking the look of the barrow-fruit any more than myself1 he had slipped away to an eminent fruiterer's1 about three doors distant1 which ,i never had the sense to think of1 and had laid out a matter of two shillings in some of the best ,st4 ,michael's1 ,i think1 ,i ever tasted4 ,what a little hinge1 as ,i said before1 the most important affairs in life may turn upon6 ,the mere inadvertence to the fact that there was an eminent fruiterer's within three doors of us1 though we had just passed it without the thought once occurring to me1 which he had taken advantage of1 lost me the affection of my ,cleora4 ,from that time she visibly cooled toward me1 and her partiality was as visibly transferred to this cousin4 ,i was long unable to account for this change in her behavior2 when one day1 accidentally discoursing of oranges to my mother1 alone1 she let drop a sort of reproach to me1 as if ,i had offended ,cleora by my nearness1 as she called it1 that evening4 ,even now1 when ,cleora has been wedded some years to that same officious relation1 as ,i may call him1 ,i can hardly be persuaded that such a trifle could have been the motive to her inconstancy2 for could she suppose that ,i would sacrifice my dearest hopes in her to the paltry sum of two shillings1 when ,i was going to treat her to the play1 and her mother too 7an expense of more than four times that amount71 if the young man had not interfered to pay for the latter1 as ,i mentioned8 ,but the caprices of the sex are past finding out2 and ,i begin to think my mother was in the right2 for doubtless women know women better than we can pretend to know them4 ,juke would have made a good tradesman under the rules laid down by ,de ,foe3 ,a tradesman behind his counter must have no flesh and blood about him1 no passions1 no resentment2 he must never be angry1 no1 not so much as seem to be so1 if a customer tumbles him five hundred pounds' worth of goods1 and scarce bids money for anything2 nay1 though they really come to his shop with no intent to buy1 as many do1 only to see what is to be sold1 and though he knows they cannot be better pleased than they are at some other shop where they intend to buy1 't is all one2 the tradesman must take it2 he must place it to the account of his calling1 that 't is his business to be ill-used and resent nothing4 ,i could give you many examples1 how and in what manner a shopkeeper is to behave himself in the way of business2 what impertinences1 what taunts1 flouts1 and ridiculous things he must bear in his trade2 and must not show the least return1 or the least signal of disgust2 he must have no passions1 no fire in his temper2 he must be all soft and smooth2 nay1 if his real temper be naturally fiery and hot1 he must show none of it in his shop2 he must be a perfect1 complete hypocrite1 if he would be a complete tradesman4 ,it is true1 natural tempers are not to be always counterfeited3 the man cannot easily be a lamb in his shop and a lion in himself2 but1 let it be easy or hard1 it must be done1 and is done4 ,there are men who have by custom and usage brought themselves to it1 that nothing could be meeker and milder than they when behind the counter1 and yet nothing be more furious and raging in every other part of life2 nay1 the provocations they have met with in their shops have so irritated their rage1 that they would go up-stairs from their shop1 and fall into frenzies1 and a kind of madness1 and beat their heads against the wall1 and perhaps mischief themselves1 if not prevented1 till the violence of it had gotten vent2 and the passions abate and cool4 ,i heard once of a shopkeeper that behaved himself thus to such an extreme that1 when he was provoked by the impertinence of the customers beyond what his temper could bear1 he would go up-stairs and beat his wife1 kick his children about like dogs1 and be as furious for two or three minutes as a man chained down in ,bedlam2 and again1 when that heat was over1 would sit down and cry faster than the children he had abused2 and1 after the fit1 he would go down into the shop again1 and be as humble1 as courteous1 and as calm1 as any man whatever2 so absolute a government of his passions had he in the shop1 and so little out of it3 in the shop1 a soulless animal that would resent nothing2 and in the family1 a madman3 in the shop1 meek like a lamb2 but in the family1 outrageous1 like a ,libyan lion4 ,the sum of the matter is1 it is necessary for a tradesman to subject himself1 by all the ways possible1 to his business2 his customers are to be his idols3 so far as he may worship idols by allowance1 he is to bow down to them1 and worship them2 at least1 he is not in any way to displease them1 or show any disgust or distaste1 whatever they may say or do4 ,the bottom of all is that he is intending to get money by them2 and it is not for him that gets money to offer the least inconvenience to them by whom he gets it3 he is to consider that1 as ,solomon says1 'the borrower is servant to the lender2' so the seller is servant to the buyer4 ,poor ,george ,dyer commenced life1 after a course of hard study1 in the ',house of ,pure ,emanuel1' as usher to a knavish1 fanatic school-master1 at a salary of eight pounds per annum1 with board and lodging4 ,of this poor stipend he never received above half in all the laborious years he served this man4 ,he tells a pleasant anecdote1 that when poverty1 staring out at his ragged knees1 sometimes compelled him1 against the modesty of his nature1 to hint at arrears1 the school-master would take no immediate notice2 but after supper1 when the school was called together to even-song1 he would never fail to introduce some instructive homily against riches1 and the corruption of the heart occasioned through the desire of them1 ending with1 ',lord1 keep thy servants1 above all things1 from the heinous sin of avarice4 ,having food and raiment1 let us therewithal be content4 ,give me ,agur's wish1'--and the like1--which1 to the little auditory1 sounded like a doctrine full of ,christian prudence and simplicity1 but to poor ,dyer was a receipt in full for that quarter's demands at least4 ,southey wrote to ,cottle from ,lisbon3 ,the ,english here unite the spirit of commerce with the frivolous amusement of high life4 ,one of them1 who plays every night 7,sundays are not excepted here71 will tell you how closely he attends to profit4 ',i never pay a porter for bringing a burden till the next day1' says he1 'for while the fellow feels his back ache with the weight1 he charges high2 but when he comes the next day the feeling is gone1 and he asks only half the money4' ,and the author of this philosophical scheme is worth two hundred thousand dollars6 ,the late grand duke1 said ,goethe to ,eckermann1 was very partial to ,merck1 so much so that he once became his security for a debt of four thousand dollars4 ,very soon ,merck1 to our surprise1 gave him back his bond4 ,as ,merck's circumstances were not improved1 we could not divine how he had been able to do this4 ,when ,i saw him again1 he explained the enigma thus3 ',the duke1' said he1 'is an excellent1 generous man1 who trusts and helps men whenever he can4 ,so ,i thought to myself1 ,now if you cozen him out of his money1 that will prejudice a thousand others2 for he will lose his precious trustfulness1 and many unfortunate but worthy men will suffer1 because one was worthless4 ,so ,i made a speculation1 and borrowed the money from a scoundrel1 whom it will be no matter if ,i do cheat2 but if ,i had not paid our good lord1 the duke1 it would have been a pity4' ,the greatest pleasure ,i know1 said ,lamb1 is to do a good action by stealth1 and to have it found out by accident4 ,,iv4 ,,standards4 ,at a glance1 it would appear that1 as a rule1 all men think all men imperfect but themselves4 ,it follows1 therefore1 that all would reform all but themselves4 ,but if every man's standard of excellence could be accounted for1 what a melancholy history of human frailties and follies might be had4 ,what sad curiosities1 perhaps1 would be our pet virtues--offspring1 alas1 too often1 of sated appetites1 spent passions1 hair-breadth escapes1 and disappointed hopes4 ,knowing all1 with what wondrous pity must ,god hear our poor prayers4 ,to seek perfect virtue or contentment is as hopeless as to try to recover a lost limb4 ,those only have it who never have thought about it4 ,the moment we feel that we wish for it1 we may be certain that it is gone forever4 ,to know how cherries and strawberries taste1 you must ask the children and the birds4 ,all things1 says ,emerson1 work exactly according to their quality1 and according to their quantity2 attempt nothing they cannot do1 except man4 ,he ventures to say that what is bad is bad1 and finds himself at war with all the world4 ,do not be so vain of your one objection4 ,do you think there is only one8 ,alas1 my good friend1 there is no part of society or of life better than any other part4 ,all our things are right and wrong together4 ,the wave of evil washes all alike4 ,probably there never was1 says ,de ,quincey1 one thought1 from the foundation of the earth1 that has passed through the mind of man1 which did not offer some blemish1 some sorrowful shadow of pollution1 when it came up for review before a heavenly tribunal2 that is1 supposing it a thought entangled at all with human interests or human passions4 ,all the progress which we have really made1 says a writer in ,blackwood1 and all the additional and fictitious progress which exists in our imagination1 prompts us to the false idea that there is a remedy for everything1 and that no pain is inevitable4 ,but there are pains which are inevitable in spite of philosophy1 and conflicting claims to which ,solomon himself could do no justice4 ,we are not complete syllogisms1 to be kept in balance by intellectual regulations1 we human creatures4 ,we are of all things and creatures in the world the most incomplete2 and there are conditions of our warfare1 for the redress of which1 in spite of all the expedients of social economy1 every man and woman1 thrown by whatever accident out of the course of nature1 must be content to wait perhaps for years1 perhaps for a life long1 perhaps till the consummation of all things4 ,all the speculations and schemes of the sanguine projectors of all ages1 says ,john ,foster1 have left the world still a prey to infinite legions of vices and miseries1 an immortal band1 which has trampled in scorn on the monuments and the dust of the self-idolizing men who dreamed1 each in his day1 that they were born to chase these evils out of the earth4 ,if these vain demi-gods of an hour1 who trusted to change the world1 and who perhaps wished to change it only to make it a temple to their fame1 could be awaked from the unmarked graves into which they sunk1 to look a little while round on the world for some traces of the success of their projects1 would they not be eager to retire again into the chambers of death1 to hide the shame of their remembered presumption8 ,it is not given to reason1 said ,vauvenargues1 to cure all the vices of nature4 ,for a reasonable1 voluntary being1 says ,sterling1 learning as he only can learn by experience1 there will always be errors behind to mourn over1 and a vista of unattainable good before1 which inevitably lengthens as we advance4 ,if we only could grieve without affectation or imbecility1 and journey on without turning aside or stopping4 ,leslie says1 in his ,recollections3 ,i remember seeing at ,howard ,payne's lodgings1 at a breakfast which he gave to a large party1 the then celebrated ,robert ,owen1 who was at that time filling the papers with his scheme for remodeling society on a plan that was to transcend ,utopia4 ,i remember ,payne telling me that when ,wilberforce1 on being urged to bring this plan before ,parliament1 replied that it was too late in the season1 ,owen exclaimed1 ,what1 sir6 put off the happiness of mankind till another session of ,parliament6 ,i overheard ,jove one day1 said ,silenus1 talking of destroying the earth2 he said it had failed2 they were all rogues and vixens1 who went from bad to worse1 as fast as the days succeeded each other4 ,minerva said she hoped not2 they were only ridiculous little creatures1 with this odd circumstance1 that they had a blur1 or indeterminate aspect1 seen far or near2 if you called them bad1 they would appear so2 and there was no one person or action among them which would not puzzle her owl1 much more all ,olympus1 to know whether it was fundamentally bad or good4 ,it is the conviction of the purest men1 that the net amount of man and man does not much vary4 ,each is incomparably superior to his companion in some faculty4 ,each seems to have some compensation yielded to him by his infirmity1 and every hinderance operates as a concentration of his force4 ,everything we do has its results4 ,but the right and prudent does not always lead to good1 or contrary measures to bad2 frequently the reverse takes place4 ,some time since1 said ,goethe1 ,i made a mistake in one of these transactions with booksellers1 and was disturbed that ,i had done so4 ,but1 as circumstances turned out1 it would have been very unfortunate if ,i had not made that very mistake4 ,such instances occur frequently in life1 and it is the observation of them which enables men of the world to go to work with such freedom and boldness4 ,when we see a special reformer1 we feel like asking him1 says ,emerson1 ,what right have you1 sir1 to your one virtue8 ,is virtue piecemeal8 ,your mode of happiness1 said ,coleridge1 talking to such an one1 would make me miserable4 ,to go about doing as much good as possible1 to as many men as possible1 is1 indeed1 an excellent object for a man to propose to himself2 but then1 in order that you may not sacrifice the real good and happiness of others to your particular views1 which may be quite different from your neighbors'1 you must do that good to others which the reason1 common to all1 pronounces to be good for all4 ,what ,i object1 said ,sydney ,smith1 to ,scotch philosophers in general is1 that they reason upon man as they would upon a divinity2 they pursue truth without caring if it be useful truth4 ,michel ,angelo's great picture of the ,last ,judgment1 in the ,sistine ,chapel1 narrowly escaped from destruction by the monastic views of ,paul ,,iv4 ,in the commencement of his reign1 we are told1 he conceived a notion of reforming that picture1 in which so many academical figures offended his sense of propriety4 ,this was communicated to ,michel ,angelo1 who desired that the pope might be told that what he wished was very little1 and might be easily effected2 for if his holiness would only reform the opinions of mankind1 the picture would be reformed of itself4 ,you must have a genius for charity as well as for anything else4 ,as for doing good1 says ,thoreau1 that is one of the professions which are full4 ,what good ,i do1 in the common sense of that word1 must be aside from my main path1 and for the most part wholly unintended4 ,men say1 practically1 ,begin where you are and such as you are1 without aiming mainly to become of more worth1 and with kindness aforethought go about doing good4 ,if ,i were to preach at all in this strain1 ,i should say1 rather1 ,set about being good4 ,as if the sun should stop when he had kindled his fires up to the splendor of a moon1 or a star of the sixth magnitude1 and go about like a ,robin ,goodfellow1 peeping in at every cottage window1 inspiring lunatics1 and tainting meats1 and making darkness visible1 instead of steadily increasing his genial heat and beneficence till he is of such brightness that no mortal can look him in the face1 and then1 and in the meanwhile too1 going about the world in his own orbit1 doing it good1 or rather1 as a truer philosophy has discovered1 the world going about him1 getting good4 ,when ,phaeton1 wishing to prove his heavenly birth by his beneficence1 had the sun's chariot but one day1 and drove out of the beaten track1 he burned several blocks of houses in the lower streets of heaven1 and scorched the surface of the earth1 and dried up every spring1 and made the great ,desert of ,sahara1 till at length ,jupiter hurled him headlong to the earth with a thunderbolt1 and the sun1 through grief at his death1 did not shine for a year4 ,there is no odor so bad1 continues the same defiant radical1 as that which arises from goodness tainted4 ,it is human1 it is divine1 carrion4 ,if ,i knew for a certainty that a man was coming to my house with the conscious design of doing me good1 ,i should run for my life1 as from that dry and parching wind of the ,african deserts called the simoom1 which fills the mouth and nose and ears and eyes with dust till you are suffocated1 for fear that ,i should get some of his good done to me1--some of its virus mingled with my blood4 ,no2 in this case ,i would rather suffer evil the natural way4 ,an officer of the government called one day at the ,white ,house1 and introduced a clerical friend to ,lincoln4 ,mr4 ,president1 said he1 allow me to present to you my friend1 the ,rev4 ,mr4 ,f41 of ----4 ,mr4 ,f4 has expressed a desire to see you and have some conversation with you1 and ,i am happy to be the means of introducing him4 ,the president shook hands with ,mr4 ,f41 and1 desiring him to be seated1 took a seat himself4 ,then1 his countenance having assumed an air of patient waiting1 he said1 ,i am now ready to hear what you have to say4 ,oh1 bless you1 sir1 said ,mr4 ,f41 ,i have nothing special to say2 ,i merely called to pay my respects to you1 and1 as one of the million1 to assure you of my hearty sympathy and support4 ,my dear sir1 said the president1 rising promptly1 his face showing instant relief1 and with both hands grasping that of his visitor1 ,i am very glad to see you1 indeed4 ,i thought you had come to preach to me6 ,my father1 said the ,attic ,philosopher1 feared everything that had the appearance of a lesson4 ,he used to say that virtue could make herself devoted friends1 but she did not take pupils2 therefore he was not anxious to teach goodness2 he contented himself with sowing the seeds of it1 certain that experience would make them grow4 ,the disease of men1 said ,mencius1 is this3 that they neglect their own fields1 and go to weed the fields of others1 and that what they require from others is great1 while what they lay upon themselves is light4 ,there are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil1 says ,thoreau1 again1 to one who is striking at the root2 and it may be that he who bestows the largest amount of time and money on the needy is doing the most by his mode of life to produce that misery which he strives in vain to relieve4 ,it is the pious slave-breeder devoting the proceeds of every tenth slave to buy a ,sunday's liberty for the rest4444 ,the philanthropist too often surrounds mankind with the remembrance of his own cast-off griefs as an atmosphere1 and calls it sympathy4 ,we should impart our courage1 and not our despair1 our health and ease1 and not our disease1 and take care that this does not spread by contagion4444 ,if anything ail a man1 so that he does not perform his functions1 if he have a pain in his bowels even1 for that is the seat of sympathy1 he forthwith sets about reforming--the world4 ,being a microcosm himself1 he discovers--and it is a true discovery1 and he is the man to make it--that the world has been eating green apples2 to his eyes1 in fact1 the globe itself is a great green apple1 which there is danger awful to think of that the children of men will nibble before it is ripe2 and straightway his drastic philanthropy seeks out the ,esquimaux and the ,patagonian1 and embraces the populous ,indian and ,chinese villages2 and thus1 by a few years of philanthropic activity1 the powers in the meanwhile using him for their own ends1 no doubt1 he cures himself of his dyspepsia1 the globe acquires a faint blush on one or both of its cheeks1 as if it were beginning to be ripe1 and life loses its crudity and is once more sweet and wholesome to live4 ,i never dreamed of any enormity greater than ,i have committed4 ,i never knew1 and never shall know1 a worse man than myself4444 ,my excuse for not lecturing against the use of tobacco is that ,i never chewed it2 that is a penalty which reformed tobacco-chewers have to pay2 though there are things enough ,i have chewed1 which ,i could lecture against4 ,if you should ever be betrayed into any of these philanthropies1 do not let your left hand know what your right hand does1 for it is not worth knowing4 ,rescue the drowning1 and tie your shoe-strings4 ,take your time1 and set about some free labor4 ,it has been observed that persons who are themselves very pure are sometimes on that account blunt in their moral feelings4 ,right1 too rigid1 hardens into wrong--even into cruelty sometimes4 ,a friend of one of these malicious philanthropists dined with him one day1 and afterward related an anecdote illustrative of his character4 ,while at the table1 the children of the refining humanitarian1 playing about the open door1 were noisy and intractable1 which caused him to speak to them impatiently4 ,the disturbance1 however1 did not cease1 and hearing one of the children cry out1 he jumped spasmodically from the table1 and demanded to know what was the matter4 ,upon being informed that one of them had accidentally pinched the finger of another1 he immediately seized the hand of the innocent offender1 and placing the forefinger at the hinge of the door1 deliberately closed it--crushing the poor child's finger as a punishment4 ,there is another equally authentic story of a reformer who hired his children to go to bed without their supper as a means of preserving their health1 and then stole their money back again to pay them for the next abstinence4 ,i have never known a trader in philanthropy1 says ,coleridge1 who was not wrong in head or heart somewhere or other4 ,individuals so distinguished are usually unhappy in their family relations3 men not benevolent or beneficent to individuals1 but almost hostile to them2 yet lavishing money and labor and time on the race1 the abstract notion4 ,this is always true of those men1 says ,hawthorne1 in his analysis of ,hollingsworth1 who have surrendered themselves to an overruling power4 ,it does not so much impel them from without1 nor even operate as a motive power from within1 but grows incorporate in all they think and feel1 and finally converts them into little else save that one principle4 ,when such begins to be the predicament1 it is not cowardice1 but wisdom1 to avoid these victims4 ,they have no heart1 no sympathy1 no reason1 no conscience4 ,they will keep no friend1 unless he make himself the mirror of their purpose2 they will smite and slay you1 and trample your dead corpse under foot1 all the more readily1 if you take the first step with them1 and cannot take the second1 and the third1 and every other step of their terribly straight path4 ,they have an idol1 to which they consecrate themselves high-priest1 and deem it holy work to offer sacrifices of whatever is most precious2 and never once seem to suspect--so cunning has the devil been with them--that this false deity1 in whose iron features1 immitigable to all the rest of mankind1 they see only benignity and love1 is but a spectrum of the very priest himself1 projected upon the surrounding darkness4 ,and the higher and purer the original object1 and the more unselfishly it may have been taken up1 the slighter is the probability that they can be led to recognize the process by which godlike benevolence has been debased into all-devouring egotism4 ,the same writer1 in one of his minor productions1 says1 ,when a good man has long devoted himself to a particular kind of beneficence1 to one species of reform1 he is apt to become narrowed into the limits of the path wherein he treads1 and to fancy that there is no other good to be done on earth but that self-same good to which he has put his hand1 and in the very mode that best suits his own conceptions4 ,all else is worthless4 ,his scheme must be wrought out by the united strength of the whole world's stock of love1 or the world is no longer worthy of a position in the universe4 ,moreover1 powerful ,truth1 being the rich grape-juice expressed from the vineyard of the ages1 has an intoxicating quality when imbibed by any save a powerful intellect1 and often1 as it were1 impels the quaffer to quarrel in his cups4 ,at a dinner-party one day1 ,madame de ,stael said to ,lady ,mackintosh1 after ,godwin was gone1 ,i am glad to have seen this man1--it is curious to see how naturally ,jacobins become the advocates of tyrants4 ,i have often blamed myself1 said ,boswell1 for not feeling for others as sensibly as many say they do4 ,sir1 replied ,johnson1 don't be duped by them any more4 ,you will find these very feeling people are not very ready to do you good4 ,they pay you by feeling4 ,a very large proportion of the men who during the ,french ,revolution proved themselves most absolutely indifferent to human suffering1 were deeply attached to animals4 ,fournier was devoted to a squirrel1 ,couthon to a spaniel1 ,panis to two gold pheasants1 ,chaumette to an aviary1 ,marat kept doves4 ,bacon has noticed that the ,turks1 who are a most cruel people1 are nevertheless conspicuous for their kindness to animals1 and he mentions the instance of a ,christian boy who was nearly stoned to death for gagging a long-billed fowl4 ,abbas1 the viceroy1 when a boy1 had his pastry-cook bastinadoed to death4 ,mehemet ,ali mildly reproved him for it1 as a ,european would correct a child for killing a butterfly4 ,he explained to his little grandson that such things ought not to be done without a motive4 ,abbe ,migne tells how one old ,roman fed his oysters on his slaves2 how another put a slave to death that a curious friend might see what dying was like2 how ,galen's mother tore and bit her waiting-women when she was in a passion with them4 ,caligula conferred the honor of priesthood upon his horse4 ,the day before the ,circensian games1 says ,suetonius1 he used to send his soldiers to enjoin silence in the neighborhood1 that the repose of the animal might not be disturbed4 ,for this favorite1 besides a marble stable1 an ivory manger1 purple housings1 and a jeweled frontlet1 he appointed a house1 with a retinue of slaves1 and fine furniture1 for the reception of such as were invited in the horse's name to sup with him4 ,it is even said that he intended to make him consul4 ,in ,egypt there are hospitals for superannuated cats1 and the most loathsome insects are regarded with tenderness2 but human life is treated as if it were of no account1 and human suffering scarcely elicits a care4 ,sydney ,smith advised the bishop of ,new ,zealand1 previous to his departure1 to have regard to the minor as well as to the more grave duties of his station--to be given to hospitality1 and1 in order to meet the tastes of his native guests1 never to be without a smoked little boy in the bacon-rack1 and a cold clergyman on the sideboard4 ,and as for myself1 my lord1 he concluded1 all ,i can say is1 that when your new parishioners do eat you1 ,i sincerely hope you will disagree with them4 ,lamb once told a droll story of an ,india-house clerk accused of eating man's flesh1 and remarked that among cannibals those who rejected the favorite dish would be called misanthropists4 ,the eternal barbarisms must not be forgotten by the reformer while he is reforming the barbarians4 ,the pagan ,frisians1 that illustrious northern ,german tribe1 afterward known as the free ,frisians1 whose name is synonymous with liberty1--nearest blood-relations of the ,anglo-,saxon race1--struggled for centuries against the dominion of the ,franks1 and were only eventually subjugated by ,charlemagne1 who left them their name of free ,frisians4 ,the ,frisians1 says their statute-book1 shall be free as long as the wind blows out of the clouds and the world stands4 ,radbod1 their chief1 was first overcome by ,pepin the younger1 and ,pepin's bastard1 ,charles the ,hammer1 with his tremendous blows1 completed his father's work2 he drove the ,frisian chief into submission1 and even into ,christianity4 ,a bishop's indiscretion1 however1 neutralized the apostolic blows of the ,christian conqueror4 ,the pagan ,radbod had already immersed one of his royal legs in the baptismal font1 when a thought struck him4 ',where are my dead forefathers at present8' he said1 turning suddenly upon ,bishop ,wolfran4 ',in hell1 with all other unbelievers1' was the imprudent answer4 ',mighty well1' replied ,radbod1 removing his leg1 'then will ,i rather feast with my ancestors in the halls of ,woden1 than dwell with your little starveling band of ,christians in heaven4' ,entreaties and threats were unavailing4 ,the ,frisian declined positively a rite which was to cause an eternal separation from his buried kindred1 and he died as he had lived1 a heathen4 ,tomochichi1 chief of the ,chickasaws1 said to ,wesley1 ,i will go up and speak to the wise men of the nation1 and ,i hope they will hear4 ,but we would not be made ,christians as the ,spaniards make ,christians2 we would be taught before we are baptised4 ,he felt the want unconsciously acknowledged by the ,king of ,siam1 spoken of by ,john ,locke in his chapter on ,probability4 ,a ,dutch ambassador1 when entertaining the king with the peculiarities of ,holland1 amongst other things told the sovereign that the water in ,holland would sometimes in cold weather be so hard that men walked upon it1 and that it would bear an elephant if he were there4 ,to which the king replied1 ,hitherto ,i have believed the strange things you have told me1 because ,i looked upon you as a sober1 fair man1 but now ,i am sure you lie4 ,but ,tomochichi had an eye that saw the faults of the colonists1 if he did not understand their religion4 ,when urged to listen to the doctrines of ,christianity he keenly replied1 ,why1 these are ,christians at ,savannah6 these are ,christians at ,frederica6 ,christian much drunk6 ,christian beat men6 ,christian tell lies6 ,devil ,christian6 ,me no ,christian6 ,this recalls the pathetic story of the ,west ,indian cazique1 who1 at the stake1 refused life1 temporal or eternal1 at the price of conversion1 asking where he should go to live so happily4 ,he was told--in heaven2 and then he at once refused1 on the ground that the whites would be there2 and he had rather live anywhere1 or nowhere1 than dwell with such people as he had found the white ,christians to be4 ,almost the first word1 says ,dr4 ,medhurst1 uttered by a ,chinese1 when anything is said concerning the excellence of ,christianity1 is1 ,why do ,christians bring us opium1 and bring it directly in defiance of our laws8 ,the vile drug has destroyed my son1 has ruined my brother1 and well-nigh led me to beggar my wife and children4 ,surely those who import such a deleterious substance1 and injure me for the sake of gain1 cannot wish me well1 or be in possession of a religion better than my own4 ,go first and persuade your own countrymen to relinquish their nefarious traffic2 and give me a prescription to correct this vile habit1 and then ,i will listen to your exhortations on the subject of ,christianity6 ,dr4 ,livingstone says he found a tribe of men in the interior of ,africa so pure and simple that they seemed to have no idea of untruthfulness and dishonesty until they were brought into contact with ,asiatics and ,europeans4 ,some of ,dr4 ,kane's men1 while resting at ,kalutunah's tent1 had appropriated certain fox-skins1 boots1 and sledges1 which their condition seemed to require4 ,the ,esquimaux complained of the theft1 and ,dr4 ,kane1 after a careful inquiry into the case1 decided in their favor4 ,he gave each five needles1 a file1 and a stick of wood1 and knives and other extras to ,kalutunah and ,shanghu1 and after regaling them with a hearty supper1 he returned the stolen goods1 and tried to make them believe that his people did not steal1 but only took the articles to save their lives6 ,in imitation of this ,arctic morality the natives1 on their departure1 carried off a few knives and forks1 which they deemed as essential to their happiness as the fox-dresses were to the white men4 ,among the airy visions which had been generated in the teeming brain of ,coleridge1 says a writer in ,the ,london ,quarterly1 was the project of pantisocracy--a republic to be founded in the wilds of ,america1 of which the fundamental principles were an equality of rank and property1 and where all who composed it were to be under the perpetual dominion of reason1 virtue1 and love4 ,southey was inflamed by it and converted4 ,through it he saw a way out of all his troubles4 ,there he would enjoy the felicity of living in a pure democracy1 where he could sit unelbowed by kings and aristocrats4 ,you1 he wrote to his brother ,tom1 are unpleasantly situated1 so is my mother1 so were we all till this grand scheme of pantisocracy flashed upon our minds1 and now all is perfectly delightful4 ,coleridge1 contented to have delivered a glowing description of ,utopia1 did nothing further1 and departed on a pedestrian tour through ,wales1 where1 as the ridiculous will sometimes mingle itself with the sublime1 he feared he had caught the itch from an admiring democratical auditor at an inn1 who insisted upon shaking hands with him4 ,some time after1 ,southey1 having tried his panacea upon a few select pantisocratic friends1 wrote1 ,there was a time when ,i believed in the persuadability of man1 and had the mania of man-mending4 ,experience has taught me better4 ,the ablest physician can do little in the great lazar-house of society4 ,he acts the wisest part who retires from the contagion4 ,nature goes her own way1 said ,goethe1 and all that to us seems an exception is really according to order4 ,he quoted the saying of ,rousseau1 that you cannot hinder an earthquake by building a city near a burning mountain4 ,peter the ,great1 he said1 repeated ,amsterdam so dear to his youth1 in locating ,st4 ,petersburg at the mouth of the ,neva4 ,the ground rises in the neighborhood1 and the emperor could have had a city quite free from all the trouble arising from overflow if he had but gone a little higher up4 ,an old shipmaster represented this to him1 and prophesied that the people would be drowned every seventy years4 ,there stood also an old tree1 with various marks from times when the waters had risen to a great height4 ,but all was in vain2 the emperor stood to his whim1 and had the tree cut down1 that it might not be witness against him6 ,sydney ,smith said of a certain fanatical member of ,parliament1 that he was losing his head4 ,when he brings forward his ,suckling ,act1 he will be considered as quite mad4 ,no woman to be allowed to suckle her own child without medical certificates4 ,three classes1 viz41 free-sucklers1 half-sucklers1 and spoon-meat mothers4 ,mothers1 whose supply is uncertain1 to suckle upon affidavit6 ,how is it possible that an act of ,parliament can supply the place of nature and natural affection8 ,there is in nature1 said ,goethe to ,soret1 an accessible and an inaccessible4 ,be careful to discriminate between the two1 be circumspect1 and proceed with reverence4 ,the sight of a primitive phenomenon1 he said to ,eckermann1 is generally not enough for people2 they think they must go still further2 and are thus like children who1 after peeping into a mirror1 turn it round directly to see what is on the other side4 ,when one1 said he on another occasion1 has looked about him in the world long enough to see how the most judicious enterprises frequently fail1 and the most absurd have the good fortune to succeed1 he becomes disinclined to give any one advice4 ,at bottom1 he who asks advice shows himself limited2 he who gives it gives also proof that he is presumptuous4 ,if any one asks me for good advice1 ,i say1 ,i will give it1 but only on condition that you will promise not to take it4444 ,much is said of aristocracy and democracy2 but the whole affair is simply this3 in youth1 when we either possess nothing1 or know not how to value the tranquil possession of anything1 we are democrats2 but when we1 in a long life1 have come to possess something of our own1 we wish not only ourselves to be secure of it1 but that our children and grandchildren should be secure of inheriting it4 ,therefore1 we always lean to aristocracy in our old age1 whatever were our opinions in youth4 ,lord ,eldon said in his old age1 that1 if he were to begin life again1 he would be damned but he would begin as agitator4 ,i am no more ashamed of having been a republican1 said ,southey1 than ,i am of having been a child4 ,barere1 who said that the tree of liberty cannot flourish unless it is watered by the blood of kings and aristocrats--who proposed the famous decree for the annihilation of ,lyons--devoted a great part of his later life to declaiming on the necessity of entirely abolishing capital punishments4 ,elliott1 the ,corn-,law ,rhymer1 being asked1 ,what is a communist8 answered1 ,one who has yearnings for equal division of unequal earnings4 ,idler or bungler1 he is willing to fork out his penny and pocket your shilling4 ,sir1 said ,johnson1 your levelers wish to level down as far as themselves2 but they cannot bear leveling up to themselves4 ,they would all have some people under them2 why not then have some people above them8 ,margaret ,fuller1 speaking of the greatest of ,german poets1 says1 ,he believes more in man than men1 effort than success1 thought than action1 nature than providence4 ,he does not insist on my believing with him4 ,he who would help himself and others1 says ,emerson1 should not be a subject of irregular and interrupted impulses of virtue1 but a continent1 persisting1 immovable person1--such as we have seen a few scattered up and down in time for the blessing of the world2 men who have in the gravity of their nature a quality which answers to the fly-wheel in a mill1 which distributes the motion equally over all the wheels1 and hinders it from falling unequally and suddenly in destructive shocks4 ,it is better that joy should be spread over all the day in the form of strength1 than that it should be concentrated into ecstasies1 full of danger1 and followed by reactions4 ,it only needs that a just man should walk in our streets1 to make it appear how pitiful and inartificial a contrivance is our legislation4 ,the man whose part is taken1 and who does not wait for society in anything1 has a power which society cannot choose but feel4 ,what a character was ,sir ,isaac ,newton6 ,he is described as modest1 candid1 and affable1 and without any of the eccentricities of genius1 suiting himself to every company1 and speaking of himself and others in such a manner that he was never even suspected of vanity4 ,but this1 says ,dr4 ,pemberton1 ,i immediately discovered in him1 which at once both surprised and charmed me4 ,neither his extreme great age1 nor his universal reputation1 had rendered him stiff in opinion1 or in any degree elated4 ,his modesty arose from the depth and extent of his knowledge1 which showed him what a small portion of nature he had been able to examine1 and how much remained to be explored in the same field in which he had himself labored4 ,in a letter to ,leibnitz1 #afge1 he observes1 ,i was so persecuted with discussions arising out of my theory of light1 that ,i blamed my own imprudence for parting with so substantial a blessing as my quiet1 to run after a shadow4 ,nearly a year after his complaint to ,leibnitz1 he uses the following remarkable expression in a communication to ,oldenburg3 ,i see ,i have made myself a slave to philosophy2 but if ,i get free of ,mr4 ,linus's business1 ,i will resolutely bid adieu to it eternally1 excepting what ,i do for my private satisfaction1 or leave to come out after me2 for ,i see a man must either resolve to put out nothing new1 or to become a slave to defend it4 ,his assistant and amanuensis for five years 7,humphrey ,newton7 never heard him laugh but once in all that time3 ',twas upon occasion of asking a friend1 to whom he had lent ,euclid to read1 what progress he had made in that author1 and how he liked him4 ,he answered by desiring to know what use and benefit in life that study would be to him4 ,upon which ,sir ,isaac was very merry4 ,he was once disordered with pains1 at the stomach1 which confined him for some days to his bed1 but which he bore with a great deal of patience and magnanimity1 seemingly indifferent either to live or to die4 ,he seeing me1 said his assistant1 much concerned at his illness1 bid me not trouble myself2 ',for if ,i die1' said ,sir ,isaac1 ',i shall leave you an estate1' which he then for the first time mentioned4 ,says ,bishop ,atterbury1 ,in the whole air of his face and make there was nothing of that penetrating sagacity which appears in his compositions4 ,he had something rather languid in his look and manner1 which did not raise any great expectations in those who did not know him4 ,when ,pope expressed a wish for some memoirs and character of ,newton1 as a private man1 he did not doubt that his life and manners would make as great a discovery of virtue and goodness and rectitude of heart1 as his works have done of penetration and the utmost stretch of human knowledge4 ,when ,vigani told him a loose story about a nun1 he gave up his acquaintance2 and when ,dr4 ,halley ventured to say anything disrespectful to religion1 he invariably checked him with the remark1 ,i have studied these things1--you have not4 ,when he was asked to take snuff or tobacco1 he declined1 remarking that he would make no necessities to himself4 ,bishop ,burnet said that he valued him for something still more valuable than all his philosophy1--for having the whitest soul he ever knew4 ,slowly and modestly the great in all things is developed4 ,though the mills of ,god grind slowly1 yet they grind exceeding small4 ,look at the ,netherlands4 ,three great rivers--the ,rhine1 the ,meuse1 and the ,scheldt--had deposited their slime for ages among the dunes and sand-banks heaved up by the ocean around their mouths4 ,a delta was thus formed1 habitable at last for man4 ,it was by nature a wide morass1 in which oozy islands and savage forests were interspersed among lagoons and shallows2 a district lying partly below the level of the ocean at its higher tides1 subject to constant overflow from the rivers1 and to frequent and terrible inundations by the sea4 ,here1 within a half submerged territory1 a race of wretched ichthyophagi dwelt upon mounds1 which they had raised1 like beavers1 above the almost fluid soil4 ,here1 at a later day1 the same race chained the tyrant ,ocean and his mighty streams into subserviency1 forcing them to fertilize1 to render commodious1 to cover with a beneficent net-work of veins and arteries1 and to bind by watery highways1 with the farthest ends of the world1 a country disinherited by nature of its rights4 ,a region outcast of ocean and earth wrested at last from both domains their richest treasures4 ,a race engaged for generations in stubborn conflict with the angry elements was unconsciously educating itself for its great struggle with the still more savage despotism of man4 ,in the central part of a range of the ,andes1 at an elevation of about seven thousand feet1 on a bare slope1 may be observed some snow-white projecting columns4 ,these are petrified trees1 eleven being silicified1 and from thirty to forty converted into coarsely crystallized white calcaraeous spar4 ,they are abruptly broken off1 the upright stumps projecting a few feet above the ground4 ,the trunks measured from three to five feet each in circumference4 ,they stood a little way apart from each other1 but the whole formed one group4 ,the volcanic sandstone in which the trees were imbedded1 and from the lower part of which they must have sprung1 had accumulated in successive thin layers around their trunks1 and the stone yet retained the impression of the bark4 ,it required1 says the eminent scientific man who visited the spot in #ahce1 little geological practice to interpret the marvelous story which this scene at once unfolded4 ,i saw the spot where a cluster of fine trees once reared their branches on the shores of the ,atlantic1 when that ocean1 now driven back seven hundred miles1 came to the foot of the ,andes4 ,i saw that they had sprung from a volcanic soil which had been raised above the level of the sea1 and that subsequently this dry land1 with its upright trees1 had been let down into the depths of the ocean4 ,in these depths1 the formerly dry land was covered by sedimentary beds1 and these again by enormous streams of submarine lava--one such mass attaining the thickness of a thousand feet2 and these deluges of molten stone and aqueous deposits five times alternately had been spread out4 ,the ocean which received such thick masses must have been profoundly deep2 but again the subterranean forces exerted themselves1 and ,i now beheld the bed of that ocean1 forming a chain of mountains more than seven thousand feet in height4 ,nor had those antagonist forces been dormant which are always at work1 wearing down the surface of the land2 the great piles of strata had been intersected by many wide valleys1 and the trees1 now changed into silex1 were exposed projecting from the volcanic soil1 now changed into rocks1 whence formerly1 in a green and budding state1 they had raised their lofty heads4 ,the world1 said ,goethe1 is not so framed that it can keep quiet2 the great are not so that they will not permit misuse of power2 the masses not so that1 in hope of a gradual amelioration1 they will keep tranquil in an inferior condition4 ,could we perfect human nature1 we might expect perfection everywhere2 but as it is1 there will always be this wavering hither and thither2 one part must suffer while the other is at ease4 ,it is with human things1 says ,froude1 as it is with the great icebergs which drift southward out of the frozen seas4 ,they swim two thirds under water1 and one third above2 and so long as the equilibrium is sustained you would think that they were as stable as the rocks4 ,but the sea water is warmer than the air4 ,hundreds of fathoms down1 the tepid current washes the base of the berg4 ,silently in those far deeps the centre of gravity is changed2 and then1 in a moment1 with one vast roll1 the enormous mass heaves over1 and the crystal peaks which had been glancing so proudly in the sunlight are buried in the ocean forever4 ,the secret which you would fain keep1 as soon as you go abroad1 lo6 there is one standing on the door-step to tell you the same4 ,the revolution is all at once ripe1 and the bottom is at the top again4 ,nobody and everybody is responsible4 ,it is seldom1 says ,john ,galt1 in his life of ,wolsey1 that any man can sway the current of national affairs2 but a wide and earnest system of action never fails to produce results which resemble the preexpected effects of particular designs4 ,at the gorgeous coronation of ,napoleon1 some one asked the republican general ,augereau whether anything was wanting to the splendor of the scene4 ,nothing1 replied ,augereau1 but the presence of the million of men who have died to do away with all this4 ,you remember the value1 to the cause of civil liberty and ,christianity1 of the accidental epithet of beggars1 applied to the three hundred nobles who petitioned ,margaret of ,parma for a stay of the edicts of ,philip and the ,inquisition1 about to be terribly executed upon the rebellious ,protestants under the leadership of ,william of ,orange4 ,motley1 in his ,dutch ,republic1 gives a vivid account of it4 ,the duchess was agitated and irritated by the petition4 ,the ,prince of ,orange addressed a few words to the duchess1 with the view of calming her irritation4 ,he observed that the confederates were no seditious rebels1 but loyal gentlemen1 well-born1 well-connected1 and of honorable character4 ,they had been influenced1 he said1 by an honest desire to save their country from impending danger1--not by avarice or ambition4 ',what1 madam1' cried ,berlaymont in a passion1 'is it possible that your highness can entertain fears of these beggars8 ,is it not obvious what manner of men they are8 ,they have not had wisdom enough to manage their own estates1 and are they now to teach the king and your highness how to govern the country8 ,by the living ,god1 if my advice were taken1 their petition should have a cudgel for a commentary1 and we would make them go down the steps of the palace a great deal faster than they mounted them6' ,afterward1 as the three hundred gentlemen and nobles passed by the house of ,berlaymont1 that nobleman1 standing at his window in company with ,count ,aremberg1 repeated his jest3 ',there go our fine beggars again4 ,look1 ,i pray you1 with what bravado they are passing before us6' ',they call us beggars1' said ,brederode to the three hundred banqueting with him in the ,calemburg mansion on that famous ,april night4 ',let us accept the name4 ,we will contend with the ,inquisition1 but remain loyal to the king1 even till compelled to wear the beggar's sack4' ,he then beckoned to one of his pages1 who brought him a leathern wallet1 such as was worn at that day by professional mendicants1 together with a large wooden bowl1 which also formed part of their regular appurtenances4 ,brederode immediately hung the wallet around his neck1 filled the bowl with wine1 lifted it with both hands1 and drained it at a draught4 ',long live the beggars6' he cried1 as he wiped his beard and set the bowl down4 ',long live the beggars6' ,then for the first time from the lips of those reckless nobles rose the famous cry1 which was so often to ring over land and sea1 amid blazing cities1 on blood-stained decks1 through the smoke and carnage of many a stricken field4 ,the humor of ,brederode was hailed with deafening shouts of applause4 ,the count then threw the wallet round the neck of his nearest neighbor1 and handed him the wooden bowl4 ,each guest1 in turn1 donned the mendicant's knapsack4 ,pushing aside his golden goblet1 each filled the beggar's bowl to the brim1 and drained it to the beggars' health4 ,roars of laughter and shouts of ',long live the beggars6' shook the walls of the stately mansion1 as they were doomed never to shake again4 ,the shibboleth was invented4 ,the conjuration which they had been anxiously seeking was found4 ,their enemies had provided them with a spell which was to prove1 in after days1 potent enough to start a spirit from palace or hovel1 forest or wave1 as the deeds of the 'wild beggars1' the 'wood beggars1' and the 'beggars of the sea' taught ,philip at last to understand the nation which he had driven to madness4 ,johnny ,appleseed1 by which name ,jonathan ,chapman was known in every log-cabin from the ,ohio ,river to the ,northern ,lakes1 is an interesting character to remember4 ,barefooted1 and with scanty clothing1 he traversed the wilderness for many years1 planting appleseeds in the most favorable situations4 ,his self sacrificing life made him a favorite with the frontier settlers--men1 women1 and especially children2 even the savages treated him with kindness1 and the rattlesnakes1 it was said1 hesitated to bite him4 ,during the war of #ahab1 when the frontier settlers were tortured and slaughtered by the savage allies of ,great ,britain1 ,johnny ,appleseed continued his wanderings1 and was never harmed by the roving bands of hostile ,indians4 ,on many occasions the impunity with which he ranged the country enabled him to give the settlers warning of approaching danger1 in time to allow them to take refuge in their block-houses before the savages could attack them4 ,an informant refers to one of these instances1 when the news of ,hull's surrender came like a thunderbolt upon the frontier4 ,large bands of ,indians and ,british were destroying everything before them1 and murdering defenseless women and children1 and even the block-houses were not always a sufficient protection4 ,at this time ,johnny traveled day and night1 warning the people of the impending danger4 ,he visited every cabin and delivered this message3 ',the ,spirit of the ,lord is upon me1 and ,he hath anointed me to blow the trumpet in the wilderness1 and sound an alarm in the forest2 for behold1 the tribes of the heathen are round about your doors1 and a devouring flame followeth after them6' ,the aged man who narrated this incident said that he could feel even then the thrill that was caused by this prophetic announcement of the wild-looking herald of danger1 who aroused the family on a bright moonlight midnight with his piercing cry4 ,refusing all offers of food1 and denying himself a moment's rest1 he traversed the border day and night until he had warned every settler of the impending peril4 ,johnny also served as colporteur1 systematically leaving with the settlers chapters of certain religious books1 and calling for them afterward2 and was the first to engage in the work of protecting dumb brutes4 ,he believed it to be a sin to kill any creature for food4 ,no ,brahman could be more concerned for the preservation of insect life1 and the only occasion on which he destroyed a venomous reptile was a source of long regret1 to which he could never refer without manifesting sadness4 ,he had selected a suitable place for planting appleseeds on a small prairie1 and in order to prepare the ground1 he was mowing the long grass1 when he was bitten by a rattlesnake4 ,in describing the event he sighed heavily1 and said1 ',poor fellow1 he only just touched me1 when ,i1 in the heat of my ungodly passion1 put the heel of my scythe in him1 and went away4 ,some time afterward ,i went back1 and there lay the poor fellow1 dead6' ,he was a man1 after all1--,hawthorne might have exclaimed of him1 too1--his ,maker's own truest image1 a philanthropic man6--not that steel engine of the devil's contrivance--a philanthropist6 ,john ,brown1 when he was twelve years old1 from seeing a negro slave of his own age cruelly beaten1 began to hate slavery and love the slaves so intensely as sometimes to raise the question1 ,is ,god their ,father8 ,at forty1 he conceived the idea of becoming a liberator of the ,southern slaves2 at the same time determined to let them know that they had friends1 and prepared himself to lead them to liberty4 ,from the moment that he formed this resolution1 he engaged in no business which he could not1 without loss to his friends and family1 wind up in fourteen days4 ,his favorite texts of ,scripture were1 ,remember them that are in bonds as bound with them2 ,whoso stoppeth his ear at the cry of the poor1 he also shall cry himself1 but shall not be heard2 ,whoso mocketh the poor reproacheth his ,maker1 and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished2 ,withhold not good from them to whom it is due1 when it is in the power of thine hand to do it4 ,his favorite hymns were1 ,blow ye the trumpet1 blow6 and ,why should we start and fear to die8 ,i asked him1 said a child1 how he felt when he left the eleven slaves1 taken from ,missouri1 safe in ,canada8 ,his answer was1 ',lord1 permit now thy servant to die in peace1 for mine eyes have seen thy salvation4 ,i could not brook the idea that any ill should befall them1 or they be taken back to slavery4 ,the arm of ,jehovah protected us4' ,upon one occasion1 when one of the ex-governors of ,kansas said to him that he was a marked man1 and that the ,missourians were determined1 sooner or later1 to take his scalp1 the old man straightened himself up1 with a glance of enthusiasm and defiance in his gray eye4 ',sir1' said he1 'the angel of the ,lord will camp round about me4' ,on leaving his family the first time he went to ,kansas1 he said1 ,if it is so painful for us to part1 with the hope of meeting again1 how dreadful must be the separation for life of hundreds of poor slaves4 ,he deliberately determined1 twenty years before his attack upon ,harper's ,ferry1 says ,higginson1 that at some future period he would organize an armed party1 go into a slave ,state1 and liberate a large number of slaves4 ,soon after1 surveying professionally in the mountains of ,virginia1 he chose the very ground for the purpose4 ,he said ',god had established the ,alleghany ,mountains from the foundation of the world that they might one day be a refuge for fugitive slaves4 ,visiting ,europe afterward1 he studied military strategy for this purpose1 even making designs for a new style of forest fortifications1 simple and ingenious1 to be used by parties of fugitive slaves when brought to bay4 ,he knew the ground1 he knew his plans1 he knew himself2 but where should he find his men8 ,such men as he needed are not to be found ordinarily2 they must be reared4 ,john ,brown did not merely look for men1 therefore2 he reared them in his sons4 ,mrs4 ,brown had been always the sharer of his plans4 ',her husband always believed1' she said1 'that he was to be an instrument in the hands of ,providence1 and she believed it too4' ',this plan had occupied his thoughts and prayers for twenty years4' ',many a night he had lain awake and prayed concerning it4' ,he believed in human brotherhood1 and in the ,god of ,battles2 he admired ,nat ,turner1 the negro patriot1 equally with ,george ,washington1 the white ,american deliverer4 ,he secretly despised even the ablest antislavery orators4 ,he could see 'no use in this talking1' he said4 ',talk is a national institution2 but it does no manner of good to the slave4' ,the year before his attack1 he uttered these sentences in conversation3 ,nat ,turner1 with fifty men1 held ,virginia five weeks4 ,the same number1 well organized and armed1 can shake the system out of the ,state4 ,give a slave a pike1 and you make him a man4 ,deprive him of the means of resistance1 and you keep him down4 ,the land belongs to the bondsman4 ,he has enriched it1 and been robbed of its fruits4 ,any resistance1 however bloody1 is better than the system which makes every seventh woman a concubine4 ,a few men in the right1 and knowing they are1 can overturn a king4 ,twenty men in the ,alleghanies could break slavery to pieces in two years4 ,when the bondsmen stand like men1 the nation will respect them4 ,it is necessary to teach them this4 ,about the same time he said1 in another conversation1 that it was nothing to die in a good cause1 but an eternal disgrace to sit still in the presence of the barbarities of ,american slavery4 ,providence1 said he1 has made me an actor1 and slavery an outlaw4 ,duty is the voice of ,god1 and a man is neither worthy of a good home here1 or a heaven1 that is not willing to be in peril for a good cause4 ,he scouted the idea of rest while he held a commission direct from ,god ,almighty to act against slavery4 ,after his capture1 and while he lay in blood upon the floor of the guard-house1 he was asked by a bystander upon what principle he justified his acts8 ,upon the ,golden ,rule1 he answered4 ,i pity the poor in bondage that have none to help them4 ,that is why ,i am here2 it is not to gratify any personal animosity1 or feeling of revenge1 or vindictive spirit4 ,it is my sympathy with the oppressed and the wronged1 that are as good as you1 and as precious in the sight of ,god4 ,i want you to understand1 gentlemen1 that ,i respect the rights of the poorest and weakest of the colored people1 oppressed by the slave system1 just as much as ,i do those of the most wealthy and powerful4 ,that is the idea that has moved me1 and that alone4 ,we expected no reward except the satisfaction of endeavoring to do for those in distress--the greatly oppressed--as we would be done by4 ,the cry of distress1 of the oppressed1 is my reason1 and the only thing that prompted me to come here4 ,i wish to say1 furthermore1 that you had better1 all you people of the ,south1 prepare yourselves for a settlement of this question4 ,it must come up for settlement sooner than you are prepared for it1 and the sooner you commence that preparation1 the better for you4 ,you may dispose of me very easily4 ,i am nearly disposed of now2 but this question is still to be settled--this negro question1 ,i mean4 ,the end of that is not yet4 ,in his last speech1 before sentence was passed upon him1 he said1 ,this court acknowledges1 as ,i suppose1 the validity of the law of ,god4 ,i see a book kissed here which ,i suppose to be the ,bible1 or1 at least1 the ,new ,testament4 ,that teaches me that all things 'whatsoever ,i would that men should do unto me ,i should do even so to them4' ,it teaches me further1 to 'remember them that are in bonds as bound with them4' ,i endeavored to act up to that instruction4 ,i say1 ,i am yet too young to understand that ,god is any respecter of persons4 ,i believe that to have interfered as ,i have done1 as ,i have always freely admitted ,i have done1 in behalf of his despised poor1 was not wrong1 but right4 ,now1 if it is deemed necessary that ,i should forfeit my life for the furtherance of the ends of justice1 and mingle my blood further with the blood of my children1 and with the blood of millions in this slave country whose rights are disregarded by wicked1 cruel1 and unjust enactments--,i submit3 so let it be done4 ,in a postscript to a letter to a half-brother1 written in prison1 he said1 ,say to my poor boys never to grieve for one moment on my account2 and should any of you live to see the time when you will not blush to own your relation to old ,john ,brown1 it will not be more strange than many things that have happened4 ,in a letter to his old school-master1 he said1 ,i have enjoyed much of life1 as ,i was enabled to discover the secret of this somewhat early4 ,it has been in making the prosperity and happiness of others my own2 so that really ,i have had a great deal of prosperity4 ,to another he wrote1 ,i commend my poor family to the kind remembrance of all friends1 but ,i well understand that they are not the only poor in our world4 ,i ought to begin to leave off saying our world4 ,in his last letter to his family1 he said1 ,i am waiting the hour of my public murder with great composure of mind and cheerfulness1 feeling the strong assurance that in no other possible way could ,i be used to so much advantage to the cause of ,god and of humanity1 and that nothing that ,i or all my family have sacrificed or suffered will be lost4 ,do not feel ashamed on my account1 nor for one moment despair of the cause1 or grow weary of well-doing4 ,i bless ,god ,i never felt stronger confidence in the certain and near approach of a bright morning and glorious day than ,i have felt1 and do now feel1 since my confinement here4 ,in a previous letter to his family1 he said1 ,never forget the poor1 nor think anything you bestow on them to be lost to you1 even though they may be as black as ,ebedmelech1 the ,ethiopian eunuch1 who cared for ,jeremiah in the pit of the dungeon1 or as black as the one to whom ,philip preached ,christ4 ',remember them that are in bonds as bound with them4' ,as he stepped out of the jail-door1 on his way to the gallows1 a black woman1 with a little child in her arms1 stood near his way4 ,the twain were of the despised race for whose emancipation and elevation to the dignity of the children of ,god he was about to lay down his life4 ,his thoughts at that moment none can know except as his acts interpret them4 ,he stopped for a moment in his course1 stooped over1 and with the tenderness of one whose love is as broad as the brotherhood of man1 kissed it affectionately4 ,as he came upon an eminence near the gallows1 he cast his eye over the beautiful landscape1 and followed the windings of the ,blue ,ridge ,mountains in the distance4 ,he looked up earnestly at the sun1 and sky1 and all about1 and then remarked1 ',this is a beautiful country4 ,i have not cast my eyes over it before4' ,you are more cheerful than ,i am1 ,captain ,brown1 said the undertaker1 who sat with him in the wagon4 ,yes1 answered the old man1 ,i ought to be4 ',gentlemen1 good-by1' he said to two acquaintances1 as he passed from the wagon to the scaffold1 which he was first to mount4 ,as he quietly awaited the necessary arrangements1 he surveyed the scenery unmoved1 looking principally in the direction of the people1 in the far distance4 ',there is no faltering in his step1 wrote one who saw him1 'but firmly and erect he stands amid the almost breathless lines of soldiery that surround him4 ,with a graceful motion of his pinioned right arm he takes the slouched hat from his head and carelessly casts it upon the platform by his side4 ,his elbows and ankles are pinioned1 the white cap is drawn over his eyes1 the hangman's rope is adjusted around his neck4' ',captain ,brown1' said the sheriff1 'you are not standing on the drop4 ,will you come forward8' ',i can't see you1 gentlemen1' was the old man's answer1 unfalteringly spoken2 'you must lead me4' ,the sheriff led his prisoner forward to the centre of the drop4 ',shall ,i give you a handkerchief1' he then asked1 'and let you drop it as a signal8' ',no2 ,i am ready at any time2 but do not keep me needlessly waiting4' ,give the corpse a good dose of arsenic1 and make sure work of it6 exclaimed a captain of ,virginia militia4 ,the saint1 whose martyrdom will make the gallows glorious like the cross6 exclaimed the ,massachusetts sage and seer4 ,froude's reflections upon the death of ,john ,davis1 the navigator1 one of ,england's ,forgotten ,worthies1 may well be applied to ,john ,brown3 ,a melancholy end for such a man--the end of a warrior1 not dying ,epaminondas-like on the field of victory1 but cut off in a poor brawl or ambuscade4 ,life with him was no summer holiday1 but a holy sacrifice offered up to duty1 and what his ,master sent was welcome4 ,it was hard1 rough1 and thorny1 trodden with bleeding feet and aching brow2 the life of which the cross is the symbol2 a battle which no peace follows1 this side the grave2 which the grave gapes to finish1 before the victory is won2 and--strange that it should be so--this is the highest life of man4 ,look back along the great names of history2 there is none whose life has been other than this4 ,they to whom it has been given to do the really highest work in this earth1 whoever they are1 ,jew or ,gentile1 ,pagan or ,christian1 warriors1 legislators1 philosophers1 priests1 poets1 kings1 slaves--one and all1 their fate has been the same3 the same bitter cup has been given to them to drink4 ,whether on the scaffold high1 ,or in the battle's van1 ,the fittest place where man can die ,is where he dies for man4 ,v4 ,,rewards4 ,the ,bishop of ,llandaff was standing in the ,house of ,lords1 in company with ,lords ,thurlow and ,loughborough1 when ,lord ,southampton accosted him3 ,i want your advice1 my lord2 how am ,i to bring up my son so as to make him get forward in the world8 ,i know of but one way1 replied the bishop2 give him parts and poverty4 ,poussin1 being shown a picture by a person of rank1 remarked1 ,you only want a little poverty1 sir1 to make you a good painter4 ,the advantage of riches remains with him who procured them1 not with the heir4 ,yet1 says ,froude1 ,the man who with no labor of his own has inherited a fortune1 ranks higher in the world's esteem than his father who made it4 ,we take rank by descent4 ,such of us as have the longest pedigree1 and are therefore the farthest removed from the first who made the fortune and founded the family1 we are the noblest4 ,the nearer to the fountain1 the fouler the stream2 and that first ancestor1 who has soiled his fingers by labor1 is no better than a parvenu4 ,labor1 curse though we call it1 as things are1 seems to be life's greatest blessing4 ,there is more fatigue1 says ,tom ,brown1 and trouble in a lady than in the most laborious life2 who would not rather drive a wheelbarrow with nuts about the streets1 or cry brooms1 than be ,arsennus8 7a fine gentleman74 ,when ,sir ,horace ,vere died1 it was asked what had occasioned his death2 to which some one replied1 ,by doing nothing4 ,too much idleness1 said ,burke1 fills up a man's time much more completely1 and leaves him less his own master than any sort of employment whatsoever4 ,what to do8 how to do8 become distressing questions to him1 and he finds himself in as great extremity as the man in the story of the ,persian poet3 ,i saw1 says ,saadi1 an ,arab sitting in a circle of jewelers of ,basrah1 and relating as follows3 ',once on a time having missed my way in the desert1 and having no provisions left1 ,i gave myself up for lost2 when ,i happened to find a bag full of pearls4 ,i shall never forget the relish and delight that ,i felt on supposing it to be fried wheat2 nor the bitterness and despair which ,i suffered on discovering that the bag contained pearls4' ,in the executive chamber one evening1 there were present a number of gentlemen1 among them ,mr4 ,seward4 ,a point in the conversation suggesting the thought1 the president said1 ,seward1 you never heard1 did you1 how ,i earned my first dollar8 ,no1 rejoined ,mr4 ,seward4 ,well1 continued ,lincoln1 ,i was about eighteen years of age2 ,i belonged1 you know1 to what they call down ,south the 'scrubs2' people who do not own slaves are nobody there4 ,but we had succeeded in raising1 chiefly by my labor1 sufficient produce1 as ,i thought1 to justify me in taking it down the river to sell4 ,after much persuasion1 ,i got the consent of mother to go1 and constructed a little flat-boat1 large enough to take a barrel or two of things that we had gathered1 with myself and little bundle1 down to ,new ,orleans4 ,a steamer was coming down the river4 ,we have1 you know1 no wharves on the ,western streams2 and the custom was1 if passengers were at any of the landings1 for them to go out in a boat1 the steamer stopping and taking them on board4 ,i was contemplating my new flat-boat1 wondering whether ,i could make it stronger or improve it in any particular1 when two men came down to the shore in carriages1 with trunks1 and looking at the different boats1 singled out mine1 and asked1 ',who owns this8' ,i answered1 somewhat modestly1 ',i do4' ',will you1' said one of them1 'take us and our trunks out to the steamer8' ',certainly1' said ,i4 ,i was very glad to have the chance of earning something4 ,i supposed that each of them would give me two or three bits4 ,the trunks were put on my flat-boat1 the passengers seated themselves on the trunks1 and ,i sculled them out to the steamboat4 ,they got on board1 and ,i lifted up their heavy trunks1 and put them on deck4 ,the steamer was about to put on steam again1 when ,i called out that they had forgotten to pay me4 ,each of them took from his pocket a silver half-dollar1 and threw it on the floor of my boat4 ,i could scarcely believe my eyes as ,i picked up the money4 ,gentlemen1 you may think it was a very little thing1 and in these days it seems to me a trifle2 but it was a most important incident in my life4 ,i could scarcely credit that ,i1 a poor boy1 had earned a dollar in less than a day1--that by honest work ,i had earned a dollar4 ,the world seemed wider and fairer before me4 ,i was a more hopeful and confident being from that time4 ,only such persons interest us1 it has been said1 who have stood in the jaws of need1 and have by their own wit and might extricated themselves1 and made man victorious4 ,young and old1 all of us1 have been intensely interested in knowing what ,robinson ,crusoe was to do with his few small means4 ,wonderful ,robert ,burns6 ,while his youthful mother was still on the straw1 the miserable clay cottage fell above her and the infant bard1 who both narrowly escaped1 first being smothered to death1 and then of being starved by cold1 as they were conveyed through frost and snow by night to another dwelling4 ,while he was yet a child1 the poverty of the family increased to wretchedness4 ,the cattle died1 or were lost by accident2 the crops failed1 and debts were accumulating4 ,to these buffetings of misfortune the family could oppose only hard labor and the most rigid economy4 ,they lived so sparingly that butcher-meat was a stranger in their dwelling for years4 ,the farm proved a ruinous bargain1 said the poet2 and to clinch the misfortune1 we fell into the hands of a factor1 who sat for the picture ,i have drawn of one in my tale of ,twa ,dogs4 ,my indignation yet boils at the recollection of the scoundrel factor's insolent letters1 which used to set us all in tears4 ,this kind of life--the cheerless gloom of a hermit1 with the unceasing moil of a galley-slave--brought me to my sixteenth year2 a little before which period ,i first committed the sin of rhyme4444 ,my passions1 when once lighted up1 raged like so many devils1 till they got vent in rhyme2 and then the conning over my verses1 like a spell1 soothed all into quiet4 ,edmund ,kean's early life was very wretched4 ,it was after his marriage that we find him strolling in the old misery1 giving an entertainment at ,dumfries to pay his lodging4 ,one six-penny auditor alone came4 7,once1 we are told1 he absented himself from his home in ,exeter for three days4 ,to the question of where he had been1 he replied1 grandiloquently1 ,i have been doing a noble action2 ,i have been drinking these three days with a brother actor who is leaving ,exeter1 to keep up his spirits47 ,after rehearsal1 and before his appearance at ,drury ,lane1 he exclaimed prophetically1 ,my ,god6 if ,i succeed ,i shall go mad6 ,drunk with delight1 he rushed home1 and with half-frenzied incoherency poured forth the story of his triumph4 ,the pit rose at me6 he cried4 ,mary1 you shall ride in your carriage yet6 ,charles1 lifting the child from his bed1 shall go to ,eton4 ,then his voice faltered1 and he murmured1 ,if ,howard 7his recently deceased child7 had but lived to see it6 ,among the companions of ,reynolds1 when he was studying his art at ,rome1 was a fellow-pupil of the name of ,astley4 ,they made an excursion1 with some others1 on a sultry day1 and all except ,astley took off their coats4 ,after several taunts he was persuaded to do the same1 and displayed on the back of his waistcoat a foaming waterfall4 ,distress had compelled him to patch his clothes with one of his own landscapes4 ,henderson1 the actor1 after a simple reading of a newspaper1 repeated such an enormous portion of it as seemed utterly marvelous4 ,if you had been obliged1 like me1 he said1 in reply to the surprise expressed by his auditors1 to depend during many years for your daily bread on getting words by heart1 you would not be so much astonished at habit having produced the facility4 ,amyot was a servant at college1 and studied1 like ,ramus1 by the light of burning charcoal from want of candles2 but his translations earned him a mitre as well as renown4 ,duchatel rose from being reader in a printing-office to be grand almoner of ,france2 and was paid by the king to talk to him during his meals4 ,excellence is not matured in a day1 and the cost of it is an old story4 ,the beginning of ,plato's ,republic was found in his tablets written over and over in a variety of ways4 ,it took ,virgil1 it is stated1 three years to compose his ten short eclogues2 seven years to elaborate his ,georgics1 which comprise little more than two thousand verses2 and he employed more than twelve years in polishing his ,a,eneid1 being even then so dissatisfied with it1 that he wished before his death to commit it to the flames4 ,horace was equally indefatigable1 and there are single odes in his works which must have cost him months of labor4 ,lucretius's one poem represents the toil of a whole life-time4 ,thucydides was twenty years writing his history1 which is comprised in one octavo volume4 ,gibbon wrote the first chapter of his work three times before he could please himself4 ,montesquieu1 alluding in a letter to one of his works1 says to his correspondent1 ,you will read it in a few hours1 but the labor expended on it has whitened my hair4 ,henri ,beyle transcribed his ,history of ,painting in ,italy seventeen times4 ,sainte-,beuve often spent a whole week on two or three octavo pages4 ,gray was so fastidious in polishing and perfecting his ,elegy1 that he kept it nearly twenty years1 touching it up and improving it4 ,there is a poem of ten lines in ,waller's works1 which he himself informs us1 took him a whole summer to put into shape4 ,malherbe would spoil half a quire of paper in composing and discomposing and recomposing a stanza4 ,it is reckoned that during the twenty-five most prolific years of his life he composed no more than1 on the average1 thirty-three verses per annum4 ,there is a good story told of him1 which illustrates amusingly the elaborate care he took with his poems4 ,a certain nobleman of his acquaintance had lost his wife1 and was anxious that ,malherbe should dedicate an ode to her memory1 and condole with him in verse on the loss he had sustained4 ,malherbe complied1 but was so fastidious in his composition1 that it was three years before the elegy was completed4 ,just before he sent it in1 he was intensely chagrined to find that his noble friend had solaced himself with a new bride1 and was1 consequently1 in no humor to be pestered with an elegy on his old one4 ,when dying1 his confessor1 in speaking of the happiness in heaven1 expressed himself inaccurately4 ,say no more about it1 said ,malherbe1 or your style will disgust me with it4 ,miss ,austen1 ,charlotte ,bronte1 ,hume1 and ,fox1 have all recorded the trouble they took4 ,tasso was unwearied in correcting2 so were ,pope and ,boileau4 ,the ,cambridge manuscript of ,milton's ,lycidas shows numerous erasures and interlineations4 ,pascal spent twenty days in perfecting a single letter4 ,the fables of ,la ,fontaine were copied and re-copied over and over again4 ,alfieri was laboriously painstaking in composition4 ,we are told that if he approved of his first sketch of a piece--after laying it by for some time1 nor approaching it again until his mind was free of the subject--he submitted it to what he called development--writing out in prose the indicated scenes1 with all the force at his command1 but without stopping to analyze a thought or correct an expression4 ,he then proceeded to verify at his leisure the prose he had written1 selecting with care the ideas he thought best1 and rejecting those which he deemed unworthy of a place4 ,nor did he even yet regard his work as finished1 but incessantly polished it verse by verse1 and made continual alterations4 ,moliere composed very slowly1 although he liked the contrary to be understood1 and many pieces supposed to have been written upon the spur of a royal command1 had been prepared some time previously4 ,he said to ,boileau1 ,i have never done anything with which ,i am truly content4 ,sheridan1 when urged by the publisher1 ,ridgeway1 to finish his manuscript of ,the ,school for ,scandal1 declared that he had been nineteen years endeavoring to satisfy himself with the style of it1 but had not succeeded4 ,joubert had a habit from his twentieth year to his seventieth1 of jotting down with pencil the best issues of his meditation as they arose2 and out of this chaos of notes was shaped1 many years after his death1 a full volume of ,thoughts1 which1 says the translator1 from their freshness and insight1 their concise symmetry of expression1 their pithiness1 their variety1 make a rich1 enduring addition to the literature of ,france1 and to all literature4 ,addison wore out the patience of his printer2 frequently1 when nearly a whole impression of a ,spectator was worked off1 he would stop the press to insert a new preposition4 ,lamb's most sportive essays were the result of most intense labor2 he used to spend a week at a time in elaborating a single humorous letter to a friend4 ,tennyson is reported to have written ,come into the ,garden1 ,maud1 more than fifty times over before it pleased him2 and ,locksley ,hall1 the first draught of which was written in two days1 he spent the better part of six weeks1 for eight hours a day1 in altering and polishing4 ,dickens1 when he intended to write a ,christmas story1 shut himself up for six weeks1 lived the life of a hermit1 and came out looking as haggard as a murderer4 ,his manuscripts show that he wrote with the greatest care1 and scrupulously revised his writing in order to render each sentence as perfect as might be4 ,he made his alterations so carefully that it is difficult to trace the words which he had originally written4 ,in many instances the primary words have been erased so carefully that it is next to impossible to form an idea of how the passages originally stood4 ,balzac1 after he had thought out thoroughly one of his philosophical romances1 and amassed his materials in a most laborious manner1 retired to his study1 and from that time until his book had gone to press1 society saw him no more4 ,when he appeared again among his friends1 he looked1 said his publisher1 in the popular phrase1 like his own ghost4 ,the manuscript was afterward altered and copied1 when it passed into the hands of the printer1 from whose slips the book was re-written for the third time4 ,again it went into the hands of the printer1--two1 three1 and sometimes four separate proofs being required before the author's leave could be got to send the perpetually re-written book to press at last1 and so have done with it4 ,he was literally the terror of all printers and editors4 ,moore thought it quick work if he wrote seventy lines of ,lalla ,rookh in a week4 ,kinglake's ,eothen1 we are told1 was re-written five or six times1 and was kept in the author's writing-desk almost as long as ,wordsworth kept the ,white ,doe of ,rylstone1 and kept like that to be taken out for review and correction almost every day4 ,buffon's ,studies of ,nature cost him fifty years of labor1 and he re-copied it eighteen times before he sent it to the printer4 ,he composed in a singular manner1 writing on large-sized paper1 in which1 as in a ledger1 five distinct columns were ruled4 ,in the first column he wrote down the first thoughts2 in the second1 he corrected1 enlarged1 and pruned it2 and so on1 until he had reached the fifth column1 within which he finally wrote the result of his labor4 ,but even after this1 he would re-compose a sentence twenty times1 and once devoted fourteen hours to finding the proper word with which to round off a period4 ,john ,foster often spent hours on a single sentence4 ,ten years elapsed between the first sketch of ,goldsmith's ,traveller and its completion4 ,the poet's habit was to set down his ideas in prose1 and1 when he had turned them carefully into rhyme1 to continue retouching the lines with infinite pains to give point to the sentiment and polish to the verse4 ,la ,rochefoucauld spent fifteen years in preparing his little book of ,maxims1 altering some of them1 ,segrais says1 nearly thirty times4 ,rogers showed a friend a note to his ,italy1 which1 he said1 took him a fortnight to write4 ,it consists of a very few lines4 ,we all know how ,sheridan polished his wit and finished his jokes1 the same surprising things being found on different bits of paper1 differently expressed4 ,not long before his death ,adam ,smith told ,dugald ,stewart that he wrote with just as much difficulty then as when he first began4 ,the ,benedictine editor of ,bossuet's works stated that his manuscripts were bleared over with such numerous interlineations that they were nearly illegible4 ,sterne was incessantly employed for six months in perfecting one very diminutive volume4 ,herrick was a painstaking elaborator3 with minute and curious care he polished and strengthened his work3 his airy facility1 his seemingly spontaneous melodies1 as with ,shelley1 were earned by conscious labor2 perfect freedom was begotten of perfect art4 ,it seems1 no doubt1 to many a reader of ,macaulay's ,history1 as if he wrote without effort1 and as if the charms of his style were the gift of nature rather than the product of art1 so spontaneously do they appear to flow from his pen4 ,it was the general opinion of his literary friends that he wrote with great rapidity1 and made few corrections in his manuscripts4 ,on the contrary1 we are told by his nephew and biographer1 that he never allowed a sentence to pass until it was as good as he could make it1 and would often re-write paragraphs and whole chapters that he might gain even a slight improvement in arrangement or expression4 ,after writing thus carefully1 he corrected again remorselessly1 and his manuscripts were covered with erasures4 ,he paid equal attention to proof-sheets4 ,he could not rest until the lines were level to a hair's breadth1 and the punctuation correct to a comma2 until every paragraph concluded with a telling sentence1 and every sentence flowed like running water4 ,to ,napier1 the editor of ,the ,edinburgh ,review1 he wrote from ,calcutta3 ,at last ,i send you an article of interminable length about ,lord ,bacon4 ,i never bestowed so much care on anything that ,i have written4 ,there is not a sentence in the latter half of the article which has not been repeatedly recast4 ,carlyle1 ,miss ,martineau says1 erred on the side of fastidiousness4 ,almost every word was altered1 and revise followed revise4 ,giardini1 when asked how long it would take to learn to play on the violin1 answered1 ,twelve hours a day for twenty years together4 ,buelow is reported to have said1 ,if ,i stop practice for one day1 ,i notice it in my playing2 if ,i stop two days1 my friends notice it2 if ,i stop three days1 the public notices it4 ,leonardo da ,vinci would walk the whole length of ,milan that he might alter a single tint in his picture of the ,last ,supper4 ,titian1 we are told1 after laying his foundation with a few bold strokes1 would turn the picture to the wall1 and leave it there perhaps for months1 turning it round again after a time to look at it carefully1 and scan the parts as he would the face of his greatest enemy4 ,if at this time any portion of it should appear to him to have been defective1 he would set to work to correct it1 applying remedies as a surgeon would apply them1 cutting off excrescences here1 superabundant flesh there1 redressing an arm1 adjusting or setting a limb1 regardless of the pain which it might cause4 ,in this way he would reduce the whole to a certain symmetry1 put it aside1 and return again a third or more times till the first quintessence had been covered over with its padding of flesh4 ,then came the finishing1 which was done at as many more different paintings1 to say nothing of the innumerable last touches--with his fingers as well as with his brush--of which he is said to have been particularly fond4 ,it is a received opinion that ,edmund ,kean's acting was wholly spontaneous and unstudied2 this is a mistake4 ,a contemporary1 writing of his earlier professional life1 says1 ,he used to mope about for hours1 walking miles and miles alone with his hands in his pockets1 thinking intensely on his characters4 ,no one could get a word from him2 he studied and slaved beyond any actor ,i ever knew4 ,neither did he relax his labors when he had reached the highest pinnacle of fame4 ,it is related of him1 that when studying ,maturin's ,bertram1 he shut himself up for two days to study the one line1 ,bertram has kissed the child6 ,it made one of those electrical effects which from their vividness were supposed to be merely impulsive4 ,his wife said her husband would often stand up all night before a pier glass in his chamber1 endeavoring to acquire the right facial expression for some new part4 ,john ,kemble's new readings of ,hamlet were many and strange1 and excited much comment4 ,the performance was eminently graceful1 calm1 deep studied--during his life he wrote out the entire part forty times--but cold and unsympathetic4 ,as to orators1 the greatest of antiquity were not ashamed to confess the industry of the closet4 ,demosthenes gloried in the smell of the lamp2 and it is recorded of ,cicero1 that he not only so laboriously prepared his speeches1 but even so minutely studied the effect of their delivery1 that on one occasion1 when he had to oppose ,hortensius1 the reiterated rehearsals of the night before so diminished his strength as almost to incapacitate him in the morning4 ,lord ,erskine corrected and corrected his very eloquent orations1 and ,burke literally worried his printer into a complaint against the fatigue of his continual revises4 ,indeed1 it is said1 such was the fastidiousness of his industry1 that the proof-sheet not unfrequently exhibited a complete erasure of the original manuscript4 ,whitefield's eloquence was a natural gift improved by diligent study2 and ,garrick said that each repetition of the same sermon showed a constant improvement1--as many as forty repetitions being required before the discourse reached its full perfection4 ,i composed1 says ,lord ,brougham1 the peroration of my speech for the queen1 in the ,lords1 after reading and repeating ,demosthenes for three or four weeks1 and ,i composed it twenty times over at least1 and it certainly succeeded in a very extraordinary degree1 and far above any merits of its own4 ,he says that ,erskine wrote down word for word the passage about the savage and his bundle of sticks4 ,his mind having acquired a certain excitement and elevation1 and received an impetus from the tone and quality of the matured and premeditated composition1 retained that impetus1 after the impelling cause had died away4 ,webster1 it is said1 was in the habit of writing and re-writing most of the fine passages of his senatorial and forensic speeches1 and sometimes prepared them1 in order that they might afterward be introduced when occasion should offer4 ,he was wont to say that the following passage in his speech upon ,president ,jackson's protest1 in ,may1 #ahcd1 had been changed by him twelve times1 before he reduced it to a shape that entirely met his approval4 ,perhaps it is not surpassed1 for poetical beauty1 by anything that ever fell from his eloquent lips4 ,speaking of resistance by the ,united ,states of the aggressions of ,great ,britain1 he said3 ,they raised their flag against a power1 to which1 for the purposes of foreign conquest and subjugation1 ,rome1 in the height of her glory1 is not to be compared4 ,a power which has dotted over the surface of the whole globe with her possessions and military posts--whose morning drum-beat following the sun1 and keeping company with the hours1 circles the earth daily with one continuous and unbroken strain of the martial airs of ,england4 ,as to compensation1 it is stated that ,goethe's works were not in his own time commercially successful4 ,after his return from ,italy1 the edition of his collected works1 which he had compared and revised with labor and with care1 sold1 as his publisher complained1 only very slowly4 ,coleridge gained little or no money by his writings4 ,he says1 ,i question whether there ever existed a man of letters so utterly friendless1 or so unconnected as ,i am with the dispensers of contemporary reputation1 or the publishers in whose service they labor4 ,when ,newton lectured1 a ,lucasian professor1 so few went to hear him1 that ofttimes he did1 in a manner1 for want of hearers1 read to the walls4 ,the ,paradise ,lost had a very limited sale1 till1 fifty years after its publication1 it was brought into light by the criticisms of ,addison4 ,campbell for years could not find a bookseller who would buy ,the ,pleasures of ,hope4 ,in the first thirteen years after the publication of ,boswell's ,life of ,johnson1 less than four thousand copies were sold4 ,there were only forty-five copies of ,hume's ,history sold in the first twelvemonth4 ,twelve years elapsed before the first five hundred copies of ,emerson's ,nature were purchased by the public4 ,washington ,irving was nearly seventy years old before the sale of his works at home met the expenses of his simple life at ,sunnyside4 ,it has been related that while ,madame ,titiens was receiving an ovation for her singing of ,kathleen ,mavourneen1 the author of the song sat weeping in the audience1 the poorest and obscurest man present4 ,willis1 breakfasting at the ,temple with a friend1 met ,charles and ,mary ,lamb4 ,he mentioned having bought a copy of ,elia the last day he was in ,america1 to send as a parting gift to one of the most lovely and talented women in his country4 ,what did you give for it8 said ,lamb4 ,about seven and six-pence4 ,permit me to pay you that1 said he2 and with the utmost earnestness he counted out the money upon the table4 ,i never yet wrote anything that would sell1 he continued4 ,i am the publishers' ruin4 ,fortune1 it has been truly said1 has rarely condescended to be the companion of genius2 others find a hundred by-roads to her palace2 there is but one open1 and that a very indifferent one1 for men of letters4 ,cervantes1 the immortal genius of ,spain1 is supposed to have wanted bread2 ,le ,sage was a victim of poverty all his life2 ,camoens1 the solitary pride of ,portugal1 deprived of the necessaries of life1 perished in a hospital at ,lisbon4 ,the ,portuguese1 after his death1 bestowed on the man of genius they had starved the appellation of ,great4 ,vondel1 the ,dutch ,shakespeare1 to whom ,milton was greatly indebted1 after composing a number of popular tragedies1 lived in great poverty1 and died at ninety years of age2 then he had his coffin carried by fourteen poets1 who1 without his genius1 probably partook of his wretchedness4 ,the great ,tasso was reduced to such a dilemma that he was obliged to borrow a crown from a friend to subsist through the week4 ,he alludes to his dress in a pretty sonnet1 which he addresses to his cat1 entreating her to assist him1 during the night1 with the lustre of her eyes1 having no candle to see to write his verses4 ,one day ,louis the ,fourteenth asked ,racine what there was new in the literary world4 ,the poet answered that he had seen a melancholy spectacle in the house of ,corneille1 whom he found dying1 deprived even of a little broth4 ,spenser1 the child of ,fancy1 languished out his life in misery4 ,lord ,burleigh1 it is said1 prevented the queen giving him a hundred pounds1 thinking the lowest clerk in his office a more deserving person4 ,sydenham1 who devoted his life to a laborious version of ,plato1 died in a miserable spunging-house4 ,you1 said ,goldsmith to ,bob ,bryanton1 seem placed at the centre of fortune's wheel1 and1 let it revolve ever so fast1 are insensible to the motion4 ,i seem to have been tied to the circumference1 and whirled disagreeably round1 as if on a whirligig4444 ,oh gods6 gods6 here in a garret1 writing for bread1 and expecting to be dunned for a milk-score4 ,to another1 about the same time1 he wrote1 ,i have been some years struggling with a wretched being--with all that contempt that indigence brings with it--with all those passions which make contempt insupportable4 ,what1 then1 has a jail that is formidable8 ,i shall at least have the society of wretches1 and such is to me true society4 ,cervantes planned and commenced ,don ,quixote in prison4 ,john ,bunyan wrote the first part1 at least1 of ,pilgrim's ,progress in jail4 ,both of these immortal works are the delight and solace of reading people wherever there is a literature4 ,the latter is said to have been translated into a greater number of languages than any other book in the world1 with two exceptions1 the ,bible and the ,imitation of ,christ4 ,sir ,james ,harrington1 author of ,oceana1 on pretense of treasonable practices1 was put into confinement1 which lasted until he became deranged1 when he was liberated4 ,sir ,roger ,l',estrange was tried and condemned to death1 and lay in prison nearly four years2 constantly expecting to be led forth to execution4 ,ben ,jonson1 ,john ,selden1 ,jeremy ,taylor1 and ,edmund ,waller were imprisoned4 ,sir ,walter ,raleigh1 during his twelve years' imprisonment1 wrote his best poems and his ,history of the ,world1 a work accounted vastly superior to all the ,english historical productions which had previously appeared4 ,written1 says the historian ,tytler1 in prison1 during the quiet evening of a tempestuous life1 we feel1 in its perusal1 that we are the companions of a superior mind1 nursed in contemplation and chastened and improved by sorrow1 in which the bitter recollection of injury and the asperity of resentment have passed away1 leaving only the heavenly lesson1 that all is vanity4 ,old ,george ,wither wrote his ,shepherd's ,hunting during his first imprisonment4 ,the superiority of intellectual pursuits over the gratification of sense and all the malice of fortune1 has never been more touchingly or finely illustrated1 it has been well said1 than in this poem4 ,can anything be so elegant1 asks ,emerson1 as to have few wants and serve them one's self8 ,it is more elegant to answer one's own needs than to be richly served2 inelegant perhaps it may look to-day1 and to a few1 but it is an elegance forever and to all4444 ,parched corn1 and a house with one apartment1 that ,i may be free of all perturbations1 that ,i may be serene and docile to what the mind shall speak1 and girt and road-ready for the lowest mission of knowledge or good-will1 is frugality for gods and heroes4 ,said ,confucius1 ,with coarse rice to eat1 with water to drink1 and my bended arm for a pillow1--,i have still joy in the midst of these things4 ,for my own private satisfaction1 said ,bishop ,berkeley1 ,i had rather be master of my own time than wear a diadem4 ,i would rather1 said ,thoreau1 sit on a pumpkin and have it all to myself1 than to be crowded on a velvet cushion4444 ,if you have any enterprise before you1 try it in your old clothes4 ,all men want1 not something to do with1 but something to do1 or rather something to be4 ,perhaps we should never procure a new suit1 however ragged or dirty the old1 until we have so conducted1 so enterprised or sailed in some way1 that we feel like new men in the old1 and that to retain it would be like keeping new wine in old bottles4 ,our moulting season1 like that of fowls1 must be a crisis in our lives4 ,the loon retires to solitary ponds to spend it4 ,thus also the snake casts its slough1 and the caterpillar its wormy coat1 by an internal industry and expansion2 for clothes are but our outmost cuticle and mortal coil4444 ,it is desirable that a man be clad so simply that he can lay his hands on himself in the dark1 and that he live in all respects so compactly and preparedly1 that1 if an enemy take the town1 he can1 like the old philosopher1 walk out the gate empty-handed without anxiety4 ,you see in my chamber1 said ,goethe1 near the close of his life1 no sofa2 ,i sit always in my old wooden chair1 and never1 till a few weeks ago1 have permitted even a leaning place for my head to be added4 ,if surrounded by tasteful furniture1 my thoughts are arrested1 and ,i am placed in an agreeable1 but passive state4 ,unless we are accustomed to them from early youth1 splendid chambers and elegant furniture had best be left to people who neither have nor can have any thoughts4 ,rogers1 the banker poet1 once said to ,wordsworth1 ,if you would let me edit your poems1 and give me leave to omit some half-dozen1 and make a few trifling alterations1 ,i would engage that you should be as popular a poet as any living4 ,wordsworth's answer is said to have been1 ,i am much obliged to you1 ,mr4 ,rogers2 ,i am a poor man1 but ,i would rather remain as ,i am4 ,thomson solicited ,burns to supply him with twenty or thirty songs for the musical work in which he was engaged1 with an understanding distinctly specified1 that the bard should receive a regular pecuniary remuneration for his contributions4 ,with the first part of the proposal ,burns instantly complied1 but peremptorily rejected the last4 ,as to any remuneration1 you may think my songs either above or below price2 for they shall absolutely be the one or the other4 ,in the honest enthusiasm with which ,i embark in your undertaking1 to talk of money1 wages1 fee1 hire1 etc41 would be downright prostitution of soul4 ,thomson1 some time after1 notwithstanding the prohibition1 ventured to acknowledge his services by a small pecuniary present1 which the poet with some difficulty restrained himself from returning4 ,i assure you1 my dear sir1 he wrote to the donor1 that you truly hurt me with your pecuniary parcel4 ,it degrades me in my own eyes4 ,however1 to return it would savor of affectation2 but as to any more traffic of that debtor and creditor kind1 ,i swear by that honor which crowns the upright statue of ,robert ,burns' integrity--on the least motion of it1 ,i will indignantly spurn the by-past transaction1 and from that moment commence entire stranger to you6 ,burns' character for generosity of sentiment and independence of mind will1 ,i trust1 long outlive any of his wants which the cold1 unfeeling ore can supply2 at least1 ,i will take care that such a character he shall deserve4 ,his sensitive nature inclined him to reject the present1 as proud old ,sam ,johnson threw away with indignation the new shoes which had been placed at his chamber door4 ,i ought not1 says ,emerson1 to allow any man1 because he has broad lands1 to feel that he is rich in my presence4 ,i ought to make him feel that ,i can do without his riches1 that ,i cannot be bought1--neither by comfort1 neither by pride1--and though ,i be utterly penniless1 and receiving bread from him1 that he is the poor man beside me4 ,isaac ,disraeli1 when a young man1 was informed that a place in the establishment of a great merchant was prepared for him2 he replied that he had written and intended to publish a poem of considerable length against commerce1 which was the corrupter of man2 and he at once inclosed his poem to ,dr4 ,johnson1 who1 however1 was in his last illness1 and was unable to read it4 ,coleridge1 on being offered a half share in the ,morning ,post and ,courier1 with a prospect of two thousand pounds a year1 announced that he would not give up country life1 and the lazy reading of old folios1 for two thousand times that income4 ,in short1 he added1 beyond three hundred and fifty pounds a year1 ,i regard money as a real evil4 ,professor ,agassiz1 when once invited to lecture1 replied to the munificent lecture association that he was very sorry1 but he was just then busy with some researches that left him no time to make money4 ,there is a familiar story told of ,marvell1 who is said to have so greatly pleased ,charles ,,ii4 at a private interview1 by his wit and agreeable conversation1 that the latter dispatched the lord treasurer ,danby to offer him a thousand pounds1 with a promise of a lucrative place at court1 which ,marvell refused1 notwithstanding he was immediately afterward compelled to borrow a guinea of a friend4 ,just at the time when the ,english mind was agitated upon the subject of ,american taxation1 and ,goldsmith was most needy1 an effort was made to bring him into the ministerial ranks4 ,dr4 ,scott was sent to negotiate with the poet4 ,i found him1 said ,scott1 in a miserable suite of chambers in the ,temple4 ,i told him my authority3 ,i told him ,i was empowered to pay most liberally for his exertions2 and1 would you believe it6 he was so absurd as to say1 ',i can earn as much as will supply my wants without writing for any party2 the assistance you offer is therefore unnecessary to me2' and so ,i left him in his garret6 ,sir ,john ,hawkins one day met ,goldsmith2 his lordship told him he had read his poem1 ,the ,traveller1 and was much delighted with it2 that he was going lord lieutenant to ,ireland1 and that hearing that he was a native of that country1 he should be glad to do him any kindness4 ,the honest poor man and sincere lover of literature replied that he had a brother there1 a clergyman1 that stood in need of help4 ,as for myself1 ,i have no dependence upon the promises of great men2 ,i look to the booksellers for support2 they are my best friends1 and ,i am not inclined to forsake them for others4 ,for this frank expression of magnanimity and manly self-dependence1 the pricked ,hawkins1 and the envious ,boswell1 speaking of the incident afterward1 called ,goldsmith an idiot4 ,some of ,walter ,scott's friends offered him1 or rather proposed to offer him1 enough of money1 as was supposed1 to enable him to arrange with his creditors4 ,he paused for a moment2 and then recollecting his powers1 said proudly1 ,no6 this right hand shall work it all off6 ,lady ,blessington said to ,willis1 ,disraeli and ,dr4 ,beattie being present3 ,moore went to ,jamaica with a profitable appointment4 ,the climate disagreed with him1 and he returned home1 leaving the business in the hands of a confidential clerk1 who embezzled eight thousand pounds in the course of a few months and absconded4 ,moore's misfortunes awakened a great sympathy among his friends4 ,lord ,lansdowne was the first to offer his aid4 ,he wrote to ,moore1 that for many years he had been in the habit of laying aside from his income eight thousand pounds1 for the encouragement of the arts and literature1 and that he should feel that it was well disposed of for that year if ,moore would accept it1 to free him from his difficulties4 ,it was offered in the most delicate and noble manner1 but ,moore declined it4 ,the members of ',white's' 7mostly noblemen7 called a meeting1 and 7not knowing the amount of the deficit7 subscribed in one morning twenty-five thousand pounds1 and wrote to the poet that they would cover the sum1 whatever it might be4 ,this was declined4 ,longman and ,murray then offered to pay it1 and wait for their remuneration from his works4 ,he declined even this1 and went to ,passy with his family1 where he economized and worked hard till it was canceled4 ,at one time two different counties of ,ireland sent committees to him1 to offer him a seat in ,parliament2 and as he depended on his writings for a subsistence1 offering him at the same time twelve hundred pounds a year while he continued to represent them4 ,moore was deeply touched with it1 and said no circumstance of his life had ever gratified him so much4 ,he admitted that the honor they proposed him had been his most cherished ambition1 but the necessity of receiving a pecuniary support at the same time was an insuperable obstacle4 ,he could never enter ,parliament with his hands tied1 and his opinions and speech fettered1 as they would be irresistibly in such circumstances4 ,southey was offered by ,walter the editorship of ,the ,times1 but declined it1 saying1 ,no emolument1 however great1 would induce me to give up a country life1 and those pursuits in literature to which the studies of so many years have been directed4 ,will you be created a count8 a title is sometimes useful1 said ,louis ,philippe to ,m4 ,guizot4 ,the proffered honor was declined1 and the king replied1 ,you are right2 your name alone is sufficient1 and is a higher dignity4 ,d',alembert1 when in receipt of but a limited income1--more than half of which he gave away in charity1--declined an invitation of ,frederick the ,great to reside at the court of ,berlin4 ,the ,empress ,catherine offered him the post of tutor or governor to the czarowitch1 with an income of one hundred thousand livres1 and on his refusal wrote3 ,i know that your refusal arises from your desire to cultivate your studies and your friendships in quiet4 ,but this is of no consequence2 bring all your friends with you1 and ,i promise you1 that both you and they shall have every accommodation in my power4 ,still he refused2 the powers and potentialities of the courts and royalty being insufficient to seduce his independence4 ,beranger1 the ,french ,burns1 the poet of the people1 from #ahbj to the end of his life called the real monarch of ,france1 had the same proud spirit of independence4 ,general ,sebastiani1 then minister of war1 and dangerously ill1 received one day a visit from ,beranger4 ,ah6 my dear friend1 said the old soldier to the poet1 ,i am very ill4 ,come1 my dear ,beranger1 we must do something for our friends4 ,i declare to you that ,i shall not die quietly if ,i leave you in poverty behind me4 ,madame de ,praslin has a fortune of her own2 therefore it will not be doing any injustice to my children4 ,listen2 ,i have there in my bureau a few small savings1 about two hundred thousand francs2 let us divide them4 ,it is an old friend1 an old soldier1 who offers you this2 and ,i swear1 on my cross of honor1 that no one shall know the pleasure you will have done me in accepting the small present4 ,the poet refused4 ,spinoza1 at one time1 we are informed1 did not spend six sous a day1 on an average1 and did not drink more than a pint of wine in a month4 ,nature is satisfied with little1 he used to say1 and when she is content1 ,i am so too4 ,a good friend brought him one day a present of two thousand florins4 ,the philosopher1 in the presence of his host1 civilly excused himself from accepting the money1 saying that he was in need of nothing1 and that the possession of so much money would only serve to distract him from his studies and occupations4 ,dr4 ,johnson contracted an inveterate dislike to sustained intellectual exertion1 and wondered how any one could write except for money1 and never1 or very rarely1 wrote from any more elevated impulse than the stern pressure of want4 ,who will say1 says ,richard ,cumberland1 that ,johnson himself would have been such a champion in literature1 such a front-rank soldier in the fields of fame1 if he had not been pressed into the service1 and driven on to glory with the bayonet of sharp necessity pointed at his back8 ,if fortune had turned him into a field of clover1 he would have lain down and rolled in it4 ,the mere manual labor of writing would not have allowed his lassitude and love of ease to have taken the pen out of the inkhorn1 unless the cravings of hunger had reminded him that he must fill the sheet before he saw the table-cloth4444 ,he would have put up prayers for early rising1 and lain in bed all day1 and with the most active resolutions possible1 been the most indolent mortal living4444 ,i have heard that illustrious scholar assert that he subsisted himself for a considerable space of time upon the scanty pittance of four-pence half-penny per day4 ,how melancholy to reflect that his vast trunk and stimulating appetite were to be supported by what will barely feed the weaned infant6 ,no wonder he so often screened himself when he ate1 or1 later in life1 lost his temper with ,mrs4 ,thrale when she made a jest of hunger6 ,it is related that soon after the publication of the ,life of ,savage1 which was anonymous1 ,mr4 ,walter ,harte1 dining with ,mr4 ,cave1 the proprietor of ,the ,gentleman's ,magazine1 at ,st4 ,john's ,gate1 took occasion to speak very handsomely of the work4 ,the next time ,cave met ,harte1 he told him that he had made a man happy the other day at his home1 by the encomiums he bestowed on ,savage's ,life4 ,how could that be8 said ,harte2 none were present but you and ,i4 ,cave replied1 ,you might observe ,i sent a plate of victuals behind the screen4 ,there skulked the biographer1 one ,johnson1 whose dress was so shabby that he durst not make his appearance4 ,he overheard our conversation2 and your applauding his performance delighted him exceedingly4 ,man1 said ,goethe1 recognizes and praises only that which he himself is capable of doing2 and those who by nature are mediocre have the trick of depreciating productions which1 if they have faults1 have also good points1 so as to elevate the mediocre productions which they are fitted to praise4 ,while it is so undesirable that any man should receive what he has not examined1 a far more frequent danger is that of flippant irreverence4 ,not all the heavens contain is obvious to the unassisted eye of the careless spectator4 ,few men are great1 almost as few able to appreciate greatness4 ,the critics have written little upon the ,iliad in all these ages which ,alexander would have thought worth keeping with it in his golden box4 ,nor ,shakespeare1 nor ,dante1 nor ,calderon1 have as yet found a sufficient critic1 though ,coleridge and the ,schlegels have lived since they did4 ,meantime1 continues ,margaret ,fuller1 it is safer to take off the hat and shout vivat6 to the conqueror1 who may become a permanent sovereign1 than to throw stones and mud from the gutter4 ,the star shines1 and that it is with no borrowed light1 his foes are his voucher4 ,and every planet is a portent to the world2 but whether for good or ill1 only he can know who has science for many calculations4 ,not he who runs can read these books1 or any books of any worth4 ,homer was called a plagiarist by some of the earlier critics1 and was accused of having stolen from older poets all that was remarkable in the ,iliad and ,odyssey4 ,sophocles was brought to trial by his children as a lunatic4 ,socrates1 considered as the wisest and the most moral of men1 ,cicero treated as an usurer1 and ,athenaeus as illiterate4 ,plato was accused of envy1 lying1 avarice1 robbery1 incontinence1 and impiety4 ,some of the old writers wrote to prove ,aristotle vain1 ambitious1 and ignorant4 ,plato is said to have preferred the burning of all of the works of ,democritus4 ,pliny and ,seneca thought ,virgil destitute of invention1 and ,quintilian was alike severe upon ,seneca4 ,it was a long time1 says ,seneca1 that ,democritus was taken for a madman1 and before ,socrates had any esteem in the world4 ,how long was it before ,cato could be understood8 ,nay1 he was affronted1 contemned1 and rejected2 and people never knew the value of him until they had lost him4 ,the ,northern ,highlanders1 said ,wilson1 do not admire ,waverley1 so ,i presume the ,southern ,highlanders despise ,guy ,mannering4 ,the ,westmoreland peasants think ,wordsworth a fool4 ,in ,borrowdale1 ,southey is not known to exist4 ,i met ten men at ,hawick who did not think ,hogg a poet1 and the whole city of ,glasgow think me a madman4 ,so much for the voice of the people being the voice of ,god4 ,goldsmith tells us1 speaking of ,waller's ,ode on the ,death of ,cromwell1 that ,english poetry was not then quite harmonized3 so that this1 which would now be looked upon as a slovenly sort of versification1 was in the times in which it was written almost a prodigy of harmony4 ,at the same time1 after praising the harmony of the ,rape of the ,lock1 he observes that the irregular measure at the opening of the ,allegro and ,penseroso hurts our ,english ear4 ,gray loved intellectual ease and luxury1 and wished as a sort of ,mahometan paradise to 'lie on a sofa1 and read eternal new romances of ,mirivaux and ,crebillon4' ,yet all he could say of ,thomson's ,castle of ,indolence1 when it was first published1 was1 that there were some good verses in it4 ,akenside1 too1 whom he was so well fitted to appreciate1 he thought 'often obscure1 and even unintelligible4' ,horace ,walpole marveled at the dullness of people who can admire anything so stupidly extravagant and barbarous as the ,divina ,commedia4 ,the long-continued contempt for ,bunyan and ,de ,foe was merely an expression of the ordinary feeling of the cultivated classes toward anything which was identified with ,grub ,street2 but it is curious to observe the incapacity of such a man as ,johnson to understand ,gray or ,sterne1 and the contempt which ,walpole expressed for ,johnson and ,goldsmith1 while he sincerely believed that the poems of ,mason were destined to immortality4 ,the poet ,rogers tells us that ,henry ,mackenzie advised ,burns to take for his model in song-writing ,mrs4 ,john ,hunter6 ,byron believed that ,rogers and ,moore were the truest poets among his contemporaries2 that ,pope was the first of all ,english1 if not of all existing poets1 and that ,wordsworth was nothing but a namby-pamby driveler4 ,de ,quincey speaks of ,mr4 ,goethe as an immoral and second-rate author1 who owes his reputation chiefly to the fact of his long life and his position at the court of ,weimar1 and ,charles ,lamb expressed a decided preference of ,marlowe's ,dr4 ,faustus to ,goethe's immortal ,faust4 ,dr4 ,johnson's opinion of ,milton's sonnets is pretty well known--those soul-animating strains1 alas6 too few1 as ,wordsworth estimated them4 ,hannah ,more wondered that ,milton could write such poor sonnets4 ,johnson said1 ,milton1 madam1 was a genius that could cut a ,colossus from a rock1 but could not carve heads upon cherry-stones4 ,he attacked ,swift on all occasions4 ,he said1 speaking of ,gulliver's ,travels1 ,when once you have thought of big men and little men1 it is very easy to do all the rest4 ,he called ,gray a dull fellow4 ,sir1 he was dull in company1 dull in his closet1 dull everywhere4 ,he was dull in a new way1 and that made many people call him great4 ,talking of ,sterne1 he said1 ,nothing odd will last long4 ,tristram ,shandy did not last4 ,see how ,horace ,walpole disposes of some of the gods of literature4 ,tiresome ,tristram ,shandy1 of which ,i could never get through three volumes4 ,i have read ,sheridan's ,critic2 it appeared wondrously flat and old1 and a poor imitation4 ,he speaks of wading through ,spenser's allegories and drawling stanzas4 ,chaucer's ,canterbury ,tales1 he said1 are a lump of mineral from which ,dryden extracted all the gold1 and converted it into beautiful medals4 ,dante was extravagant1 absurd1 disgusting3 in short1 a ,methodist parson in ,bedlam4 ,montaigne's ,travels ,i have been reading2 if ,i was tired of the ,essays1 what must one be of these8 ,what signifies what a man thought who never thought of anything but himself8 and what signifies what a man did who never did anything8 ,boswell's book1 he said1 is the story of a mountebank and his zany4 ,pepys1 in his ,diary1 speaks of having bought ,hudibras1 both parts1 the book now in greatest fashion for drollery1 though ,i cannot1 ,i confess1 see enough where the wit lies4 ,scaliger called ,montaigne a bold ignoramus4 ,paley used to say that to read ,tristram ,shandy was the summum bonum of life4 ,goldsmith said its author was a block-head4 ,goethe told a young ,italian who asked him his opinion of ,dante's great poem1 that he thought the ,inferno abominable1 the ,purgatorio dubious1 and the ,paradiso tiresome4 ,coleridge1 talking of ,goethe's ,faust1 said1 ,there is no whole in the poem2 the scenes are mere magic-lantern pictures1 and a large part of the work is to me very flat4 ,moreover1 much of it is vulgar1 licentious1 and blasphemous4 ,coleridge's ,ancient ,mariner1 is1 ,i think1 says ,southey1 the clumsiest attempt at ,german sublimity ,i ever saw4 ,johnson told ,anna ,seward that he would hang a dog that read the ,lycidas of ,milton twice4 ,waller wrote of ,paradise ,lost on its first appearance1 ,the old blind school-master1 ,john ,milton1 hath published a tedious poem on the fall of man2 if its length be not considered a merit1 it has no other4 ,curran declared ,paradise ,lost to be the worst poem in the language4 ,when ,harvey's book on the circulation of the blood came out1 he fell mightily in his practice4 ,it was believed by the vulgar that he was crack-brained1 and all the physicians were against him4 ,who has forgotten the fierce attack of the ,quarterly ,review on ,jane ,eyre1 in which the unknown author1 who was a clergyman's daughter1 is pronounced a person who1 with great mental powers1 combines a total ignorance of society1 a great coarseness of taste1 and a heathenish doctrine of religion8 ,if we ascribe the book to a woman at all1 continues the keen-sighted critic1 we have no alternative but to ascribe it to one who has1 for some sufficient reason1 forfeited the society of her own sex4 ,schiller's intimate friends decided against the ,indian ,death ,song1 which ,goethe afterward pronounced one of his best poems4 ,when ,andersen published his ,wonder ,stories told for ,children1 which fixed his place in literature and in popular affection1 the reviewers advised him to waste no more time over such work2 and he said1 ,i would willingly have discontinued writing them1 but they forced themselves from me4 ,warren says that the first chapter of the ,diary of a ,late ,physician--the ,early ,struggles1--was offered by him successively to the conductors of three leading ,london magazines1 and rejected1 as unsuitable for their pages1 and not likely to interest the public4 ,scott tells us that one of his nearest friends predicted the failure of ,waverley4 ,herder1 one of the most comprehensive thinkers and versatile authors of ,germany1 adjured ,goethe not to take so unpromising a subject as ,faust4 ,hume tried to dissuade ,robertson from writing the ,history of ,charles ,v4 ,montesquieu1 upon the completion of ,the ,spirit of ,laws1 which had cost him twenty years of labor1 and which ran through twenty-two editions in less than as many months after its publication1 submitted the manuscript to ,helvetius and ,saurin1 who returned it with the advice not to spoil a great reputation by publishing it4 ,wordsworth told ,robinson that before his ballads were published1 ,tobin implored him to leave out ,we are ,seven1 as a poem that would damn the book4 ,it turned out to be one of the most popular4 ,that charming and once popular ,scottish story1 ,the ,annals of the ,parish1 by ,john ,galt1 was written ten or twelve years before the date of its publication1 and anterior to the appearance of ,waverley and ,guy ,mannering1 and was rejected by the publishers of those works1 with the assurance that a novel or work of fiction entirely ,scottish would not take with the public4 ,st4 ,pierre submitted his delightful tale1 ,paul and ,virginia1 to the criticisms of a circle of his learned friends4 ,they told him that it was a failure2 that to publish it would be a piece of foolishness2 that nobody would read it4 ,st4 ,pierre appealed from his learned critics to his unlearned but sympathetic and sensible housekeeper4 ,he read--she listened1 admired1 and wept4 ,he accepted her verdict1 and will be remembered by one little story longer than his contemporaries by their weary tomes4 ,moliere made use of a person of the same class to criticise his plays4 ,i remember1 says ,boileau1 his pointing out to me several times an old servant that he had1 to whom he told me he sometimes read his comedies1 and he assured me that when the humorous passages did not strike her1 he altered them1 because he had frequently proved that such passages did not take upon the stage4 ,it would be curious to know how much chance or accident has had to do with even the best of the productions of literature4 ,wordsworth1 in a conversation with one of his friends1 gave an account of the origin of the ,ancient ,mariner4 ,it was written in ,devonshire1 where he and ,coleridge were together4 ,it was intended for the ,monthly ,magazine1 and was to pay the expenses of a journey4 ,it was to have been a joint work1 but ,wordsworth left the execution to ,coleridge1 after suggesting much of the plan4 ,the idea of the crime was suggested by a book of travels1 in which the superstition of the sailors with regard to the albatross is mentioned4 ,mark ,lemon1 it is said1 loved to tell an anecdote which related to the period when ,hood became a contributor to ,punch4 ,looking over his letters one morning1 he opened an envelope inclosing a poem which the writer said had been rejected by three contemporaries4 ,if not thought available for ,punch1 he begged the editor1 whom he knew but slightly1 to consign it to the waste-paper basket1 as the writer was sick at the sight of it4 ,the poem was signed ,tom ,hood1 and the lines were entitled ,the ,song of the ,shirt4 ,the work was altogether different from anything that had ever appeared in ,punch1 and was considered so much out of keeping with the spirit of the periodical that at the weekly meeting its publication was opposed by several members of the staff4 ,lemon was so firmly impressed1 not only with the beauty of the work1 but with its suitableness1 that he stood by his first decision and published it4 ,the ,song of the ,shirt trebled the sale of the paper1 and created a profound sensation throughout ,great ,britain4 ,scott told ,ticknor that he once traveled with ,campbell in a stage-coach alone1 and that1 to beguile the time1 they talked of poetry and began to repeat some4 ,at last ,scott asked ,campbell for something of his own1 and he said there was one thing he had written but never printed that was full of drums and trumpets and blunderbusses and thunder1 and he didn't know if there was anything good in it4 ,and then he repeated ,hohenlinden4 ,scott listened with the greatest interest1 and when he had finished1 broke out1 ,but do you know that's devilish fine2 why it's the finest thing you ever wrote1 and it must be printed6 ,scott told ,leslie that he had known a laboring man who was with ,burns when he turned up the mouse with his plow4 ,burns' first impulse was to kill it1 but checking himself1 as his eye followed the little creature1 he said1 ,i'll make that mouse immortal6 ,one meets now and then with polished men1 says ,emerson1 who know everything1 have tried everything1 can do everything1 and are quite superior to letters and science4 ,what could they not1 if only they would8 ,wrote ,byron3-- ,many are poets who have never penned ,their inspiration1 and perchance the best2 ,they felt1 and loved1 and died1 but would not lend ,their thoughts to meaner things2 they compressed ,the god within them1 and rejoined the stars ,unlaureled upon earth4 ,on my walk with ,lamb1 notes ,robinson1 he spoke with enthusiasm of ,manning1 declaring that he is the most wonderful man he ever knew1 more extraordinary than ,wordsworth or ,coleridge4 ,yet he does nothing4 ,he has traveled even in ,china1 and has been by land from ,india through ,thibet1 yet1 as far as is known1 he has written nothing4 ,my father1 said ,charles ,kingsley1 was a magnificent man in body and mind1 and was said to possess every talent except that of using his talents4 ,dr4 ,johnson lamented that those who are most capable of improving mankind very frequently neglect to communicate their knowledge2 either because it is more pleasing to gather ideas than to impart them1 or because to minds naturally great1 few things appear of so much importance as to deserve the notice of the public4 ,great constitutions1 says ,sir ,thomas ,browne1 and such as are constellated unto knowledge1 do nothing till they outdo all2 they come short of themselves1 if they go not beyond others1 and must not sit down under the degree of worthies4 ,god expects no lustre from the minor stars2 but if the sun should not illuminate all1 it were a sin in nature4 ,rogers said of ,sydney ,smith 7of whose death he had just heard71 in answer to the question1 ,how came it that he did not publicly show his powers8 ,he had too fastidious a taste1 and too high an idea of what ought to be4 ,disappointment is often felt and sometimes expressed concerning ,coleridge1 by those who hear so much of his extraordinary intellect4 ,how could he have done more8 ,his was one of those great1 homeless souls which fly between heaven and earth2 his language was only partly understood in this world1 if wholly in another4 ,his best utterances were but incoherencies to the human ears that heard them4 ,stupid ,john ,chester understood them as well as any4 ,vast objects of remote altitude1 says ,landor1 must be looked at a long while before they are ascertained4 ,ages are the telescope tubes that must be lengthened out for ,shakespeare2 and generations of men serve but as single witnesses to his claims4 ,shakespeare1 said ,coleridge1 is of no age--nor1 ,i may add1 of any religion1 or party1 or profession4 ,the body and substance of his works came out of the unfathomable depths of his own oceanic mind2 his observation and reading supplied him with the drapery of his figures4 ,the sand heaped by one flood1 says ,dr4 ,johnson1 is scattered by another2 but the rock always continues in its place4 ,the stream of time1 which is continually washing the dissoluble fabrics of other poets1 passes without injury by the adamant of ,shakespeare4 ,milton is not1 says ,de ,quincey1 an author amongst authors1 not a poet amongst poets1 but a power amongst powers2 and the ,paradise ,lost is not a book amongst books1 not a poem amongst poems1 but a central force amongst forces4 ,landor1 in his ,imaginary ,conversations1 makes ,marvell thus to address ,marten3 ,hast thou not sat convivially with ,oliver ,cromwell8 ,hast thou not conversed familiarly with the only man greater than he1 ,john ,milton8 ,one was ambitious of perishable power1 the other of imperishable glory2 both have attained their aim4 ,hazlitt and ,coleridge being together1 some comparison was introduced between ,shakespeare and ,milton4 ,coleridge said he hardly knew which to prefer4 ,shakespeare seemed to him a mere stripling in the art2 he was as tall and as strong1 with infinitely more activity than ,milton1 but he never appeared to have come to man's estate2 or if he had1 he would not have been a man1 but a monster4 ,a rib of ,shakespeare1 said ,landor1 would have made a ,milton2 the same portion of ,milton1 all poets born ever since4 ,said ,goethe1 ,would you see ,shakespeare's intellect unfettered1 read ,troilus and ,cressida1 and see how he uses the materials of the ,iliad in his fashion4 ,said ,coleridge1 ,compare ,nestor1 ,ajax1 ,achilles1 etc41 in the ,troilus and ,cressida of ,shakespeare1 with their namesakes in the ,iliad4 ,the old heroes seem all to have been at school ever since4 ,it was really ,voltaire1 said ,goethe1 who excited such minds as ,diderot1 ,d',alembert1 and ,beaumarchais2 for to be somewhat near him a man needed to be much1 and could take no holidays4 ,to have seen such a man as ,dr4 ,johnson1 said ,dr4 ,campbell1 was a thing to talk of a century hence4 ,nature1 said ,heine1 wanted to see how she looked1 and she created ,goethe4 ,were ,byron now alive1 and ,burns1 said ,hawthorne1 the first would come from his ancestral abbey1 flinging aside1 although unwillingly1 the inherited honors of a thousand years1 to take the arm of the mighty peasant who grew immortal while he stooped behind his plow4 ,generally1 thought ,goethe1 the personal character of the writer influences the public1 rather than his talents as an artist4 ,napoleon said of ,corneille1 ,if he were living now1 ,i would make him a prince1 yet he never read him4 ,i have often been amused at thinking1 says ,landor1 in what estimation the greatest of mankind were holden by their contemporaries4 ,not even the most sagacious and prudent one could discover much of them1 or could prognosticate their future course in the infinity of space6 ,men like ourselves are permitted to stand near1 and indeed in the very presence of ,milton3 what do they see8 dark clothes1 gray hair1 and sightless eyes6 ,other men have better things3 other men1 therefore1 are nobler6 ,the stars themselves are only bright by distance2 go close1 and all is earthy4 ,there is1 says ,emerson1 somewhat touching in the madness with which the passing age mischooses the object on which all candles shine1 and all eyes are turned2 the care with which it registers everything touching ,queen ,elizabeth1 and ,king ,james1 and the ,essexes1 ,leicesters1 ,burleighs1 and ,buckinghams2 and lets pass without a single valuable note the founder of another dynasty1 which alone will cause the ,tudor dynasty to be remembered1--the man who carries the ,saxon race in him by the inspiration which feeds him1 and on whose thoughts the foremost people of the world are now for some ages to be nourished1 and minds to receive this and not another bias4 ,a popular player1--nobody suspected he was the poet of the human race2 and the secret was kept as faithfully from poets and intellectual men1 as from courtiers and frivolous people4 ,bacon1 who took the inventory of the human understanding for his times never mentioned his name4 ,ben ,jonson1 though we have strained his few words of regard and panegyric1 had no suspicion of the elastic fame whose first vibrations he was attempting4 ,he no doubt thought the praise he has conceded to him generous1 and esteemed himself1 out of all question1 the better poet of the two4 ,the people of ,gascony1 who knew ,montaigne well1 says the biographer of the great essayist1 thought it very droll to see him in print4 ,he had to pay printers and publishers in ,guienne2 elsewhere they were eager to buy him4 ,horace ,walpole heard a sight-seer1 on being shown the bows and arrows in the armory at ,strawberry ,hill1 ask the housekeeper1 ,pray1 does ,mr4 ,walpole shoot8 ,one of his titled neighbors told him1 that1 having some company with her1 one of them had been to see ,strawberry4 ,pray1 said another1 who is that ,mr4 ,walpole8 ,lord6 cried a third1 don't you know the great epicure1 ,mr4 ,walpole8 ,pho6 cried the first1 great epicure6 you mean the antiquarian4 ,the only tradition a visitor could gather in ,pope's garden at ,twickenham was that a fine cedar was planted there by a famous man a long time ago4 ,an elderly1 well-to-do inhabitant of ,beaconsfield1 of whom the same person inquired where ,burke had lived1 made answer3 ,pray1 sir1 was he a poet8 ,during a pilgrimage which we are told ,rogers and his friend ,maltby made to ,gerrard ,street1 ,soho1 to discover the house once occupied by ,dryden1 they came upon a house agent1 who1 scenting a job1 eagerly responded3 ,dryden--,mr4 ,dryden--is he behindhand with his rent8 ,there is a story of an ,american who lost his way in the vain attempt to discover the residence of ,wordsworth4 ,meeting an old woman in a scarlet cloak who was gathering sticks1 he asked her the way to ,rydal ,mount4 ,she could not tell him4 ,not know1 said the ,american1 the house of the great ,wordsworth8 ,no2 but what was he great in8 ,was he a preacher or a doctor8 ,greater than any preacher or doctor--he is a poet4 ,oh1 the poet6 she replied2 and why did you not tell me that before8 ,i know who you mean now4 ,i often meet him in the woods1 jabbering his pottery 7poetry7 to hisself4 ,but ,i'm not afraid of him4 ,he's quite harmless1 and almost as sensible as you or me4 ,a ,prussian staff-officer was quartered in ,goethe's house after ,jena4 ,this officer1 being afterward much interrogated by the curious as to his impressions of the great man1 replied that he had thoroughly tested the fellow and found that he had nothing but nonsense in his head6 ,rogers told ,leslie that when the ,pleasures of ,memory was first published1 one of those busy gentlemen1 who are vain of knowing everybody1 came up to him at a party1 and said1 ,lady ---- is dying to be introduced to the author of the ,pleasures of ,memory4 ,pray1 let her live1 said ,rogers1 and with difficulty they made their way through the crowd to the lady4 ,mr4 ,rogers1 madam1 author of the ,pleasures of ,memory4 ,pleasures of what8 ,i felt for my friend1 said ,rogers4 ,no doubt the most genuine and grateful rewards which authors have received were those which came to them as surprises1 or in overheard responses1 unbidden and natural1 from the common heart of humanity4 ,mrs4 ,broderip reports of her father's pleasure in the immense popularity of his ,song of the ,shirt1 that what delighted and yet touched him most deeply was1 that the poor creatures to whose sorrows and sufferings he had given such eloquent voice1 seemed to adopt its words as their own1 by singing them about the streets to a rude air of their own adaptation4 ,bernard ,barton ends a letter descriptive of an endearing girl's village funeral1 with telling how the clergyman1 at the close of the service1 stated that1 by her wish1 a little hymn1 which was a great favorite with her1 would be sung beside her open grave1 by the school-children--some five-and-twenty little things--whose eyes and cheeks were red with crying4 ',i thought they could never have found tongues1 poor things2 but once set off1 they sang like a little band of cherubs4 ,what added to the effect of it1 to me1 was that it was a little almost forgotten hymn of my own1 written years ago1 which no one present1 but myself1 was at all aware of4' ,goldsmith1 in his college career1 wrote street ballads1 to save himself from starving1 sold them for five shillings apiece1 and stole out of college at night to hear them sung4 ,happy night to him1 worth all the dreary days6 exclaims his biographer1 ,forster4 ,hidden by some dusky wall1 or creeping within darkling shadows of the ill-lighted streets1 this poor1 neglected sizer watched1 waited1 lingered there1 for the only effort of his life which had not wholly failed4 ,few and dull1 perhaps1 the beggar's audience at first1 but more thronging1 eager1 and delighted1 as he shouted forth his newly-gotten ware4 ,cracked enough1 ,i doubt not1 were those ballad-singing tones2 very harsh1 extremely discordant1 and passing from loud to low without meaning or melody2 but not the less did the sweetest music which this earth affords fall with them on the ear of ,goldsmith4 ,,vi4 ,,limits4 ,minds1 like some seed-plants1 delight in sporting2 there is great variety in thinking1 but the few great ideas remain the same4 ,they are constantly reappearing in all ages and in all literatures1 modified by new circumstances and new uses2 though in new dresses1 they are still the old originals4 ,like the virtues1 they have great and endless services to perform in this world4 ,now they appear in philosophy1 now in fiction2 the moralist uses them1 and the buffoon2 dissociate them1 analyze them1 strip them of their innumerable dresses1 and they are recognized and identified--the same from the foundation and forever4 ,if a discriminating general reader for forty years had noted their continual reappearance in the tons of books he has perused upon all subjects1 he would be astonished at their varied and multiplied uses4 ,thinkers he would perhaps find more numerous than thoughts2 yet of the former how few4 ,the original thought of one age diffuses itself through the next1 and expires in commonplace--to be born again when occasion necessitates and ,god wills4 ,at each birth it is a new creation--to the brain it springs from and to the creatures it is to enlighten and serve4 ,if the writer or speaker could know how often it has done even hack-service in the ages before him1 he would repentantly blot it out1 or choke in its utterance4 ,in the unpleasant discovery1 that indispensable and inspiring quality1 self-conceit1 would suffer a wound beyond healing4 ,the number of those writers who can1 with any justness of expression1 says ,melmoth1 be termed thinking authors1 would not form a very copious library1 though one were to take in all of that kind which both ancient and modern times have produced4 ,epicurus1 we are told1 left behind him three hundred volumes of his own works1 wherein he had not inserted a single quotation2 and we have it upon the authority of ,varro's own works1 that he himself composed four hundred and ninety books4 ,seneca assures us that ,didymus1 the grammarian1 wrote no less than four thousand2 but ,origen1 it seems1 was yet more prolific1 and extended his performances even to six thousand treatises4 ,it is obvious to imagine with what sort of materials the productions of such expeditious workmen were wrought up3 sound thought and well-matured reflections could have no share1 we may be sure1 in these hasty performances4 ,thus are books multiplied1 whilst authors are scarce2 and so much easier is it to write than to think4 ,the same man1 said ,publius ,syrus1 can rarely say a great deal and say it to the purpose4 ,to ridicule the pervading absence of thought in common conversation1 the author of ,lothair makes ,pinto exclaim1 ,english is an expressive language1 but not difficult to master4 ,its range is limited4 ,it consists1 as far as ,i observe1 of four words3 'nice1' 'jolly1' 'charming1' and 'bore2' and some grammarians add1 'fond4' ,proverbs1 old as they are1 seem always new1 and are always smartly uttered4 ,sancho ,panza is but one of an immortal type1 and the proverbs and maxims he was always using are older than the pyramids--as old as spoken language4 ,the language of ,spain1 says ,bulwer1 in ,caxtoniana1 is essentially a language of proverbs4 ,in proverbs1 lovers woo2 in proverbs1 politicians argue2 in proverbs1 you make your bargain with your landlady or hold a conference with your muleteer4 ,the language of ,spain is built upon those diminutive relics of a wisdom that may have existed before the ,deluge1 as the town of ,berlin is built upon strata amassed1 in the process of ages1 by the animalcules that dwell in their pores4 ,aristotle was so struck by the condensed wisdom of proverbial sayings1 that he supposed them to be the wrecks of an ancient philosophy saved from the ruin in which the rest of the system had been lost by their eloquence and shortness4 ,pascal conceived that every possible maxim of conduct existed in the world1 though no individual can be conversant with the entire series4 ,there is a certain list of vices committed in all ages1 and declaimed against by all authors1 which1 says ,sir ,thomas ,browne1 will last as long as human nature2 which1 digested into commonplaces1 may serve for any theme1 and never be out of date until doomsday4 ,a proverb ,lord ,john ,russell has defined to be the wisdom of the many in the wit of one4 ,the various humors of mankind1 says the elder ,disraeli1 in the mutability of human affairs1 has given birth to every species2 and men were wise1 or merry1 or satirical1 and mourned or rejoiced in proverbs4 ,nations held an universal intercourse of proverbs1 from the eastern to the western world2 for we discover among those which appear strictly national many which are common to them all4 ,of our own familiar ones several may be tracked among the snows of the ,latins and the ,greeks1 and have sometimes been drawn from ,the ,mines of the ,east2 like decayed families which remain in obscurity1 they may boast of a high lineal descent whenever they recover their lost title-deeds4 ,the vulgar proverb1 ',to carry coals to ,newcastle1' local and idiomatic as it appears1 however1 has been borrowed and applied by ourselves2 it may be found among the ,persians2 in the ,bustan of ,saadi1 we have ',to carry pepper to ,hindostan2' among the ,hebrews1 ',to carry oil to a city of olives2' a similar proverb occurs in ,greek2 and in ,galland's ,maxims of the ,east we may discover how many of the most common proverbs among us1 as well as some of ,joe ,miller's jests1 are of ,oriental origin4 ,the resemblance of certain proverbs in different nations must1 however1 be often ascribed to the identity of human nature2 similar situations and similar objects have unquestionably made men think and act and express themselves alike4 ,all nations are parallels of each other4 ,hence all collectors of proverbs complain of the difficulty of separating their own national proverbs from those which had crept into the language from others1 particularly when nations have held much intercourse together4 ,we have a copious collection of ,scottish proverbs by ,kelly2 but this learned man was mortified at discovering that many1 which he had long believed to have been genuine ,scottish1 were not only ,english1 but ,french1 ,italian1 ,spanish1 ,latin1 and ,greek ones2 many of his ,scottish proverbs are almost literally expressed among the fragments of remote antiquity4 ,it would have surprised him further had he been aware that his ,greek originals were themselves but copies1 and might have been found in ,d',herbelot1 ,erpenius1 and ,golius1 and in many ,asiatic works1 which have been more recently introduced to the enlarged knowledge of the ,european student1 who formerly found his most extended researches limited by ,hellenistic lore4 ,perhaps the proverb from the apostolical writings in most frequent circulation1 is the one which ,st4 ,paul has adopted from ,menander1 and which1 as ,dean ,alford suggests1 may have become1 in the days of the apostle1 a current commonplace3 ,evil communications corrupt good manners4 ,what stories are new8 asks ,thackeray4 ,all types of all characters march through all fables4 ,will it be believed1 says ,max ,mueller1 in his essay ,on the ,migration of ,fables1 that we1 in this ,christian country1 and in the nineteenth century1 teach our children the first1 the most important lessons of worldly wisdom1 nay1 of a more than worldly wisdom1 from books borrowed from ,buddhists and ,brahmans1 from heretics and idolaters1 and that wise words1 spoken a thousand1 nay1 two thousand years ago1 in a lonely village of ,india1 like precious seed scattered broadcast all over the world1 still bear fruit a hundred and a thousand fold in that soil which is the most precious before ,god and man1 the soul of a child8 ,no lawgiver1 no philosopher has made his influence felt so widely1 so deeply1 and so permanently as the author of these children's fables4 ,but who was he8 ,we do not know4 ,his name1 like the name of many a benefactor of the human race1 is forgotten4 ,our obligations to genius are the greater1 says a ,british essayist1 because we are seldom able to trace them4 ,we cannot mount up to the sources from which we derive the ideas that make us what we are4 ,few of my readers may have ever read ,chaucer2 fewer still the ,principia of ,newton4 ,yet how much poorer the minds of all my readers would be if ,chaucer and ,newton had never written6 ,all the genius of the past is in the atmosphere we breathe at present4 ,the author of ,the ,eclipse of ,faith1 in one of his intellectual visions1 saw suddenly expunged--remorselessly expunged--from literature every text1 every phrase1 which had been quoted from the ,bible1 not only in the books of devotion and theology1 but in those of poetry and fiction4 ,never before1 he says1 had ,i any adequate idea of the extent to which the ,bible had moulded the intellectual and moral life of the last eighteen centuries1 nor how intimately it had interfused itself with the habits of thought and modes of expression2 nor how naturally and extensively its comprehensive imagery and language had been introduced into human writings1 and most of all where there had been most of genius4 ,a vast portion of literature became instantly worthless1 and was transformed into so much waste paper4 ,it was almost impossible to look into any book of merit1 and read ten pages together1 without coming to some provoking erasures and mutilations1 which made whole passages perfectly unintelligible4 ,many of the sweetest passages of ,shakespeare were converted into unmeaning nonsense1 from the absence of those words which his own all but divine genius had appropriated from a still diviner source4 ,as to ,milton1 he was nearly ruined1 as might naturally be supposed4 ,walter ,scott's novels were filled with lacunae4 ,i hoped it might be otherwise with the philosophers1 and so it was2 but even here it was curious to see what strange ravages the visitation had wrought4 ,some of the most beautiful and comprehensive of ,bacon's ,aphorisms were reduced to enigmatical nonsense4 ,a scholarly article upon ,homeric ,characters in and out of ,homer1 published in ,the ,london ,quarterly1 #aheg1 opens with this passage3 ,to one only among the countless millions of human beings has it been given to draw characters1 by the strength of his own individual hand1 in lines of such force and vigor that they have become from his day to our own the common inheritance of civilized man4 ,that one is ,homer4 ,ever since his time1 besides finding his way even into the impenetrable ,east1 he has found literary capital and available stock in trade for reciters and hearers1 for authors and readers of all times and of all places within the limits of the western world4 ,like the sun1 which furnishes with its light the courts and alleys of ,london1 while himself unseen by their inhabitants1 he has supplied with the illumination of his ideas millions of minds never brought into direct contact with his works1 and even millions hardly aware of his existence4 ,one of the most eminent platform orators of the time has treated the habit of borrowing1 in literature1 in a most interesting manner4 ,take1 he said1 the stories of ,shakespeare1 who has1 perhaps1 written his forty-odd plays4 ,some are historical4 ,the rest1 two thirds of them1 he did not stop to invent1 but he found them4 ,these he clutched1 ready-made to his hand1 from the ,italian novelists1 who had taken them before from the ,east4 ,cinderella and her ,slipper is older than all history1 like half a dozen other baby legends4 ,the annals of the world do not go back far enough to tell us from where they first came4 ,bulwer borrowed the incidents of his ,roman stories from legends of a thousand years before4 ,indeed1 ,dunloch1 who has grouped the history of the novels of all ,europe into one essay1 says that in the nations of modern ,europe there have been two hundred and fifty or three hundred distinct stories4 ,he says at least two hundred of these may be traced1 before ,christianity1 to the other side of the ,black ,sea4 ,even our newspaper jokes are enjoying a very respectable old age4 ,take ,maria ,edgeworth's essay on ,irish bulls and the laughable mistakes of the ,irish4 ,the tale which ,maria ,edgeworth or her father thought the best is that famous story of a man writing a letter as follows3 ',my dear friend1 ,i would write you more in detail1 more minutely1 if there was not an impudent fellow looking over my shoulder reading every word4' 7',no1 you lie2 ,i've not read a word you have written6'7 ,this is an ,irish bull1 still it is a very old one4 ,it is only two hundred and fifty years older than the ,new ,testament4 ,horace ,walpole dissented from ,richard ,lovell ,edgeworth1 and thought the other ,irish bull was the best--of the man who said1 ',i would have been a very handsome man1 but they changed me in the cradle4' ,that comes from ,don ,quixote1 and is ,spanish2 but ,cervantes borrowed it from the ,greek in the fourth century1 and the ,greeks stole it from the ,egyptians hundreds of years back4 ,there is one story which it is said ,washington has related of a man who went into an inn and asked for a glass of drink from the landlord1 who pushed forward a wine-glass about half the usual size4 ,the landlord said1 ',that glass out of which you are drinking is forty years old4' ',well1' said the thirsty traveler1 contemplating its minute proportions1 ',i think it is the smallest thing of its age ,i ever saw4' ,the same story is told of ,foote4 ,dining while in ,paris with ,lord ,stormont1 that thrifty ,scotch peer1 then ambassador1 as usual produced his wine in the smallest of decanters1 and dispensed it in the smallest of glasses1 enlarging all the time on its exquisite growth and enormous age4 ,it is very little of its age1 said ,foote1 holding up his diminutive glass4 ,that story as told is given as a story of ,athens three hundred and seventy-five years before ,christ was born4 ,why1 all these ,irish bulls are ,greek--every one of them4 ,take the ,irishman who carried around a brick as a specimen of the house he had to sell2 take the ,irishman who shut his eyes and looked into the glass to see how he would look when he was dead2 take the ,irishman that bought a crow1 alleging that crows were reported to live two hundred years1 and he meant to set out and try it2 take the ,irishman that met a friend who said to him1 ',why1 sir1 ,i heard you were dead4' ',well1' says the man1 ',i suppose you see ,i am not4' ',oh1 no1' says he1 ',i would believe the man who told me a great deal quicker than ,i would you4' ,well1 these are all ,greek4 ,a score or more of them1 of the parallel character1 come from ,athens4 ,the critics and scholiasts would have us believe that we have no very credible account of ,rome or the ,romans for more than four hundred years after the foundation of the city2 and that the first book of ,livy1 containing the regal period1 can lay claim1 when severely tested1 to no higher authority than ,lord ,macaulay's ,lays4 ,livy states that whatever records existed prior to the burning of ,rome by the ,gauls--three hundred and sixty-five years after its foundation--were then burnt or lost4 ,we are left1 therefore1 in the most embarrassing uncertainty whether ,tarquin outraged ,lucretia2 or ,brutus shammed idiotcy1 and condemned his sons to death2 or ,mutius ,scaevola thrust his hand into the fire2 or ,curtius jumped into the gulf--if there was one2 or ,cloelia swam the ,tiber2 or ,cocles defended a bridge against an army4 ,we could fill pages with skeptical doubts of scholiasts1 who would fain deprive ,diogenes of his lantern and his tub1 ,a,esop of his hump1 ,sappho of her leap1 ,rhodes of its ,colossus1 and ,dionysius the ,first of his ear2 nay1 who pretend that ,cadmus did not come from ,phoenicia1 that ,belisarius was not blind1 that ,portia did not swallow burning coals1 and that ,dionysius the ,second never kept a school at ,corinth4 ,modern chemists have been unable to discover how ,hannibal could have leveled rocks1 or ,cleopatra dissolved pearls with vinegar4 ,a ,german pedant has actually ventured to question the purity of ,lucretia4 ,hayward 7translator of ,faust71 in his article on ,pearls and ,mock ,pearls of ,history1 says1 ,we are gravely told1 on historical authority1 by ,moore1 in a note to one of his ,irish ,melodies1 that during the reign of ,bryan1 ,king of ,munster1 a young lady of great beauty1 richly dressed1 and adorned with jewels1 undertook a journey from one end of the kingdom to another1 with a wand in her hand1 at the top of which was a ring of exceeding great value2 and such was the perfection of the laws and the government that no attempt was made upon her honor1 nor was she robbed of her clothes and jewels4 ,precisely the same story is told of ,alfred1 of ,frothi1 ,king of ,denmark1 and of ,rollo1 ,duke of ,normandy4 ,another romantic anecdote1 fluctuating between two or more sets of actors1 is an episode in the amours of ,emma1 the alleged daughter of ,charlemagne1 who1 finding that the snow had fallen thickly during a nightly interview with her lover1 ,eginhard1 took him upon her shoulders1 and carried him some distance from her bower1 to prevent his footsteps from being traced4 ,unluckily1 ,charlemagne had no daughter named ,emma or ,imma2 and a hundred years before the appearance of the chronicle which records the adventure1 it had been related in print of a ,german emperor and a damsel unknown4 ,the story of ,canute commanding the waves to roll back rests on the authority of ,henry of ,huntingdon1 who wrote about a hundred years after the ,danish monarch4 ',as for the greater number of the stories with which the ana are stuffed1' says ,voltaire1 'including all those humorous replies attributed to ,charles the ,fifth and ,henry the ,fourth1 to a hundred modern princes1 you find them in ,athenaeus and in our old authors4' ,dionysius the tyrant1 we are told by ,diogenes of ,laerte1 treated his friends like vases full of good liquors1 which he broke when he had emptied them4 ,this is precisely what ,cardinal de ,retz says of ,madame de ,chevreuse's treatment of her lovers4 ,there is a story of ,sully's meeting a young lady1 veiled1 and dressed in green1 on the back stairs leading to ,henry's apartment1 and being asked by the king whether he had not been told that his majesty had a fever and could not receive that morning1 replied1 ',yes1 sire1 but the fever is gone2 ,i have just met it on the staircase1 dressed in green4' ,this story is told of ,demetrius and his father4 ,the lesson of perseverance in adversity taught by the spider to ,robert ,bruce is said to have been taught by the same insect to ,tamerlane4 ',when ,columbus1' says ,voltaire1 'promised a new hemisphere1 people maintained that it did not exist2 and when he had discovered it1 that it had been known a long time4' ,it was to confute such detractors that he resorted to the illustration of the egg1 already employed by ,brunelleschi when his merit in raising the cupola of the cathedral of ,florence was contested4 ,the anecdote of ,southampton reading ,the ,faery ,queen1 whilst ,spenser was waiting in the ante-chamber1 may pair off with one of ,louis ,,xiv4 ,as this munificent monarch was going over the improvements of ,versailles with ,le ,notre1 the sight of each fresh beauty or capability tempts him to some fresh extravagance1 till the architect cries out that if their promenade is continued in this fashion it will end in the bankruptcy of the state4 ,southampton1 after sending first twenty1 and then fifty guineas1 on coming to one fine passage after another1 exclaims1 ',turn the fellow out of the house1 or ,i shall be ruined4' ,on the morning of his execution1 ,charles ,i4 said to his groom of the chambers1 ',let me have a shirt on more than ordinary1 by reason the season is so sharp as probably may make me shake1 which some observers will imagine proceeds from fear4 ,i would have no such imputation2 ,i fear not death4' ,as ,bailly was waiting to be guillotined1 one of the executioners accused him of trembling4 ',i am cold1' was the reply4 ,frederick the ,great is reported to have said1 in reference to a troublesome assailant1 ',this man wants me to make a martyr of him1 but he shall not have that satisfaction4' ,vespasian told ,demetrius the ,cynic1 ',you do all you can to get me to put you to death1 but ,i do not kill a dog for barking at me4' ,this ,demetrius was a man of real spirit and honesty4 ,when ,caligula tried to conciliate his good word by a large gift in money1 he sent it back with the message1 ',if you wish to bribe me1 you must send me your crown4' ,george ,,iii4 ironically asked an eminent divine1 who was just returned from ,rome1 whether he had converted the pope4 ',no1 sire1 ,i had nothing better to offer him4' ,cardinal ,ximenes1 upon a muster which was taken against the ,moors1 was spoken to by a servant of his to stand a little out of the smoke of the harquebuse1 but he said again that 'that was his incense4' ,the first time ,charles ,,xii4 of ,sweden was under fire1 he inquired what the hissing he heard about his ears was1 and being told that it was caused by the musket-balls1 ',good1' he exclaimed1 'this henceforth shall be my music4' ,pope ,julius ,,ii41 like many a would-be connoisseur1 was apt to exhibit his taste by fault-finding4 ,on his objecting that one of ,michel ,angelo's statues might be improved by a few touches of the chisel1 the artist1 with the aid of a few pinches of marble dust1 which he dropped adroitly1 conveyed an impression that he had acted on the hint4 ,when ,halifax found fault with some passages in ,pope's translation of ,homer1 the poet1 by the advice of ,garth1 left them as they stood1 but told the peer that they had been retouched1 and had the satisfaction of finding him as easily satisfied as his holiness4 ,when ,lycurgus was to reform and alter the state of ,sparta1 in the consultation one advised that it should be reduced to an absolute popular equality2 but ,lycurgus said to him1 ',sir1 begin it in your own house4' ,had ,dr4 ,johnson forgotten this among ,bacon's ,apophthegms when he told ,mrs4 ,macaulay1 ',madam1 ,i am now become a convert to your way of thinking4 ,i am convinced that all mankind are upon an equal footing1 and to give you an unquestionable proof1 madam1 that ,i am in earnest1 here is a very sensible1 civil1 well-behaved fellow-citizen1 your footman2 ,i desire that he may be allowed to sit down and dine with us'8 ,boswell once said1 ,a man is reckoned a wise man1 rather for what he does not say1 than for what he says3 perhaps upon the whole ,limbertongue speaks a greater quantity of good sense than ,manly does1 but ,limbertongue gives you such floods of frivolous nonsense that his sense is quite drowned4 ,manly gives you unmixed good sense only4 ,manly will always be thought the wisest man of the two4 ,corwin1 a brilliant wit and humorist of the ,sydney ,smith stamp1 and in his time the greatest of ,american stump-orators1 was often heard to say that his life was a failure1 because he had not been1 with the public1 more successful in serious veins4 ,a friend relates that he was riding with him one day1 when ,corwin remarked of a speech made the evening before1 ,it was very good indeed1 but in bad style4 ,never make the people laugh4 ,i see that you cultivate that4 ,it is easy and captivating1 but death in the long run to the speaker4 ,why1 ,mr4 ,corwin1 you are the last man living ,i expected such an opinion from4 ,certainly1 because you have not lived so long as ,i have4 ,do you know1 my young friend1 that the world has a contempt for the man that entertains it8 ,one must be solemn--solemn as an ass--never say anything that is not uttered with the greatest gravity1 to win respect4 ,the world looks up to the teacher and down at the clown2 yet1 nine cases out of ten1 the clown is the better fellow of the two4 ,sydney ,smith is reported to have said to his eldest brother1 a grave and prosperous gentleman3 ,brother1 you and ,i are exceptions to the laws of nature4 ,you have risen by your gravity1 and ,i have sunk by my levity4 ,in one of ,steele's ,tatlers1 ,sancroft asked the question1 why it was that actors1 speaking of things imaginary1 affected audiences as if they were real2 whilst preachers1 speaking of things real1 could only affect their congregations as with things imaginary4 ,bickerstaff answered1 ,why1 indeed1 ,i don't know2 unless it is that we actors speak of things imaginary as if they were real1 while you in the pulpit speak of things real as if they were imaginary4 ,this answer1 besides being borrowed by ,betterton1 has been credited to every famous actor since ,steele printed it4 ,every reader of ,charles ,lamb remembers his amusing essay on the ,origin of ,roast ,pig4 ,the legend of the first act of oyster-eating is enough like it to remind one of it4 ,it is related that a man1 walking one day by the shore of the sea1 picked up one of those savory bivalves1 just as it was in the act of gaping4 ,observing the extreme smoothness of the interior of the shells1 he insinuated his finger that he might feel the shining surface1 when suddenly they closed upon the exploring digit1 causing a sensation less pleasurable than he anticipated4 ,the prompt withdrawal of his finger was scarcely a more natural movement than its transfer to his mouth1 when he tasted oyster-juice for the first time1 as the ,chinaman in ,elia's essay1 having burnt his finger1 first tasted cracklin4 ,the savor was delicious1--he had made a great discovery2 so he picked up the oyster1 forced open the shells1 banqueted upon the contents1 and soon brought oyster-eating into fashion4 ,nothing1 it is said1 puzzled ,bonaparte more than to meet an honest man of good sense2 he did not know what to make of him4 ,he would offer him money2 if that failed1 he would talk of glory1 or promise him rank and power2 but if all these temptations failed1 he set him down for an idiot1 or a half-mad dreamer4 ,conscience was a thing he could not understand4 ,rulhiere1 who was at ,st4 ,petersburg in #agfb1 when ,catherine caused her husband1 ,peter ,,iii41 to be murdered1 wrote a history of the transaction on his return to ,france1 which was handed about in manuscript4 ,the empress was informed of it1 and endeavored to procure the destruction of the work4 ,madame ,geoffrin was sent to ,rulhiere to offer him a considerable bribe to throw it into the fire4 ,he eloquently remonstrated that it would be a base and cowardly action1 which honor and virtue forbade4 ,she heard him patiently to the end1 and then calmly replied1 ,what6 isn't it enough8 ,lord ,orrery related as an unquestionable occurrence that ,swift once commenced the service1 when nobody except the clerk attended his church1 with1 ,dearly beloved ,roger1 the ,scripture moveth you and me in sundry places4 ,mr4 ,theophilus ,swift afterward discovered the anecdote in a jest-book which was published before his great kinsman was born4 ,in ,domenichi's ,facetiae1 and other old ,italian books1 there is this story of ,dante4 ,the famous poet1 returning home one day out of the country1 was overtaken by three gentlemen of ,florence1 his acquaintance2 who1 knowing how ready he was in his answers1 they all three resolved1 by way of proof1 to make three successive attacks upon him in the following manner4 ,the first said to him1 ,good day1 ,master ,dante2 the second1 ,whence come you1 ,master ,dante8 the third1 ,are the waters deep1 ,master ,dante8 ,to all of which1 without once stopping his horse1 or making the least pause1 he answered thus3 ,good day1 and good year2 ,from the ,fair2 ,to the very bottom4 ,not unlike this is a story of ,henry ,,iv4 of ,france1 who was overtaken upon the road by a clergyman that was posting to court2 the king1 putting his head out of his coach1 asked the man in his hasty way1 ,whence come ye8 ,whither go ye8 ,what want ye8 ,the clergyman1 without any ceremony or hesitation1 made answer3 ,from ,blois2 ,to ,paris2 ,a benefice4 ,with which the king was so well pleased1 he instantly granted his request4 ,it is related of ,raphael1 that one day1 after he had begun the ,galatea1 and was already well advanced with it1 while he was absent a visitor called to see him4 ,the scaffoldings were around the room preparatory for the other decorations1 and the visitor1 after looking at the ,galatea for a while1 mounted the ladder1 and with a fragment of charcoal drew a colossal head on the wall beneath the cornice4 ,raphael did not return1 however1 and after waiting for some time the visitor departed1 refusing to give his name to the servant1 but saying1 ,show your master that1 and he will know who ,i am4 ,some time after1 ,raphael came in1 and on inquiring if any one had been there1 his servant told him a small black-bearded man had been there and drawn a head on the wall by which he said he would recognize him4 ,raphael looked up1 saw the head1 and exclaimed1 ,michel ,angelo6 ,a similar story is told of ,apelles and ,protogenes4 ,it is told by ,pliny1 and the point of it is1 that ,apelles1 on arriving at ,rhodes1 immediately went to call upon ,protogenes1 who was then living here4 ,protogenes1 however1 was absent1 and the studio was in charge of an old woman1 who1 after ,apelles had looked at the pictures1 asked the name of the visitor to give to her master on his return4 ,apelles did not answer at first1 but observing a large black panel prepared for painting on an easel1 he took up a pencil and drew an extremely delicate outline on it1 saying1 ,he will recognize me by this1 and departed4 ,on the return of ,protogenes1 being informed of what had happened1 he looked at the outline1 and1 struck by its extreme delicacy1 exclaimed1 ,that is ,apelles--no one else could have executed so perfect a work4 ,an anecdote is told of ,sir ,george ,beaumont going in a coach to a tavern with a party of gay young men4 ,the waiter came to the coach door with a light1 and as he was holding this up to the others1 those who had already got out went round1 and getting in at the opposite coach-door came out again1 so that there seemed to be no end to the procession1 and the waiter ran into the house1 frightened out of his wits4 ,the same story is told of ,swift and four clergymen dressed in canonicals4 ,men of the world1 says ,goldsmith1 in one of the papers of the ,bee1 maintain that the true end of speech is not so much to express our wants as to conceal them4 ,how often1 said ,irving1 is this quoted as one of the subtle remarks of the fine-witted ,talleyrand6 ,every one remembers another familiar witty repartee attributed to the latter4 ,when seated between ,madame de ,stael and ,madame ,recamier1 and pouring forth gallantry1 first at the feet of one1 then of the other1 ,madame de ,stael suddenly asked him if she and ,madame ,recamier fell into the river1 which of the two he would save first8 ,madame1 replied ,talleyrand1 you could swim6 ,this pretty reply has been matched by ,mrs4 ,jameson with one far prettier1 and founded on it4 ,prince ,s4 was one day loitering on the banks of the ,isar1 in the ,english garden at ,munich1 by the side of the beautiful ,madame de ,v41 then the object of his devoted admiration4 ,for a while he had been speaking to her of his mother1 for whom he had ever shown the strongest filial love and respect4 ,afterward1 as they wandered on1 he began to pour forth his soul to the lady of his love with all the eloquence of passion4 ,suddenly she turned and said to him1 ,if your mother and myself were both to fall into this river1 whom would you save first8 ,my mother1 he instantly replied2 and then1 looking at her expressively1 immediately added1 ,to save you first1 would be as if ,i were to save myself first4 ,there is yet another variation4 ,captain ,morgan1 with whom ,leslie crossed the ,atlantic1 had a good story apropos to everything that happened1 and ,leslie has preserved a specimen of his amusing inventions4 ,single ladies often cross the water under the especial care of the captain of the ship1 and if a love affair occurs among the passengers1 the captain is usually the confidant of one or both parties4 ,a very fascinating young lady was placed under ,morgan's care1 and three young gentlemen fell desperately in love with her4 ,they were all equally agreeable1 and the young lady was puzzled which to encourage4 ,she asked the captain's advice4 ,come on deck1 he said1 the first day when it is perfectly calm1--the gentlemen will1 of course1 all be near you4 ,i will have a boat quietly lowered down2 then do you jump overboard1 and see which of the gentlemen will be the first to jump after you4 ,i will take care of you4 ,a calm day soon came1 the captain's suggestion was followed1 and two of the lovers jumped after the lady at the same instant4 ,but between these two the lady could not decide1 so exactly equal had been their devotion4 ,she again consulted the captain4 ,take the man that didn't jump2 he's the most sensible fellow1 and will make the best husband4 ,a sculptor relates an incident of ,general ,scott1 of whom he once made a bust4 ,having a fine subject to start with1 he succeeded in giving great satisfaction4 ,at the last sitting he attempted to refine and elaborate the lines and markings of the face4 ,the general sat patiently2 but when he came to see the result1 his countenance indicated decided displeasure4 ,why1 sir1 what have you been doing8 he asked4 ,oh1 answered the sculptor1 not much1 ,i confess2 ,i have been working out the details of the face a little more1 this morning4 ,details8 exclaimed the general warmly2 ---- the details6 ,why1 man1 you are spoiling the bust6 ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds once went with one of his pupils to see a celebrated painting4 ,after viewing it for a while1 the young man gave it as his deliberate opinion that the picture needed finishing4 ,finishing8 exclaimed ,sir ,joshua1 a little impatiently2 finishing would only spoil the painting4 ,judge ,rodgers related a death-bed incident of a neighbor of his1--a poor honest ,scotsman1 a woodsawyer1--whose admiration and solace1 all through his hard life1 had been ,scotia's great poet4 ,the good man1 worn out and weary1 was told by his physician that his last hour had come--that he must soon die4 ,he received the announcement philosophically1 and after naming a few things for which he expressed a desire to live1 he said to the judge--about the last thing he said on earth1 ,yes2 for these things ,i should like to live2 but--but--judge--7they had many a time read the poet together7--,i shall see--,burns6 ,socrates1 upon receiving sentence of death1 said1 amongst other things1 to his judges1 ,is this1 do you think1 no happy journey8 ,do you think it nothing to speak with ,orpheus1 ,musaeus1 ,homer1 and ,hesiod8 ,shakespeare's ,joan of ,arc1 says ,hayward1 is a mere embodiment of ,english prejudice2 yet it is not much further from the truth than ,schiller's transcendental and exquisitely poetical character of the maid4 ,the ,german dramatist has also idealized ,don ,carlos to an extent that renders recognition difficult2 and he has flung a halo round ,william ,tell which will cling to the name while ,switzerland is a country or patriotism any better than a name4 ,yet more than a hundred years ago the eldest son of ,haller undertook to prove that the legend1 in its main features1 is the revival or imitation of a ,danish one1 to be found in ,saxo ,grammaticus4 ,the canton of ,uri1 to which ,tell belonged1 ordered the book to be publicly burnt1 and appealed to the other cantons to cooperate in its suppression1 thereby giving additional interest and vitality to the question1 which has been at length pretty well exhausted by ,german writers4 ,the upshot is that the episode of the apple is relegated to the domain of the fable2 and that ,tell himself is grudgingly allowed a commonplace share in the exploits of the early ,swiss patriots4 ,strange to say1 his name is not mentioned by any contemporary chronicler of the struggle for independence4 ,sir ,a4 ,callcott's picture of ,milton and his ,daughters1 one of whom holds a pen as if writing to his dictation1 is in open defiance of ,dr4 ,johnson's statement that the daughters were never taught to write4 ,there is the story of ,poussin impatiently dashing his sponge against his canvas1 and producing the precise effect 7the foam on a horse's mouth7 which he had been long and vainly laboring for2 and there is a similar one told of ,haydn1 the musical composer1 when required to imitate a storm at sea4 ,he kept trying all sorts of passages1 ran up and down the scale1 and exhausted his ingenuity in heaping together chromatic intervals and strange discords4 ,still ,curtz 7the author of the libretto7 was not satisfied4 ,at last the musician1 out of all patience1 extended his hands to the two extremities of the keys1 and1 bringing them rapidly together1 exclaimed1 ',the deuce take the tempest2 ,i can make nothing of it4' ',that is the very thing1' exclaimed ,curtz1 delighted with the truth of the representation4 ,neither ,haydn nor ,curtz had ever seen the sea4 ,sir ,david ,brewster1 in his life of ,newton1 says that neither ,pemberton nor ,whiston1 who received from ,newton himself the history of his first ideas of gravity1 records the story of the falling apple4 ,it was mentioned1 however1 to ,voltaire by ,catherine ,barton1 ,newton's niece1 and to ,mr4 ,green by ,mr4 ,martin ,folkes1 the ,president of the ,royal ,society4 ',we saw the apple-tree in #ahad1 and brought away a portion of one of its roots4' ,the concluding remark reminds us of ,washington ,irving's hero1 who boasted of having parried a musket bullet with a small sword1 in proof of which he exhibited the sword a little bent in the hilt4 ,the apple is supposed to have fallen in #affe4 ,father ,prout 7,mahony7 translated several of the ,irish ,melodies into ,greek and ,latin verse1 and then jocularly insinuated a charge of plagiarism against the author4 ,moore was exceedingly annoyed1 and remarked to a friend who made light of the trick1 ',this is all very well for your ,london critics2 but1 let me tell you1 my reputation for originality has been gravely impeached in the provincial newspapers on the strength of these very imitations4' ,dr4 ,johnson's ,latin translation of the ,messiah was published in #agca1 and ,pope is reported to have said1 ,the writer of this poem will leave it a question for posterity1 whether his or mine be the original4 ,trench1 in a note to one of his ,hulsean lectures1 says1 ,there is a curious account of a fraud which was played off on ,voltaire1 connecting itself with a singular piece of literary forgery4 ,a ,jesuit missionary1 whose zeal led him to assume the appearance of an ,indian fakir1 in the beginning of the last century forged a ,veda1 of which the purport was secretly to undermine the religion which it professed to support1 and so to facilitate the introduction of ,christianity--to advance1 that is1 the kingdom of truth with a lie4 ,this forged ,veda is full of every kind of error or ignorance in regard to the ,indian religion4 ,after lying1 however1 long in a ,romanist missionary college at ,pondicherry1 it found its way to ,europe1 and a transcript of it came into the hands of ,voltaire1 who eagerly used it for the purpose of depreciating the ,christian books1 and showing how many of their doctrines had been anticipated by the wisdom of the ,east4 ,the book had thus an end worthy of its beginning4 ,wendell ,phillips1 in his lecture upon the ,lost ,arts1 made some remarkable statements1 to prove the superiority of the ancients in many things4 ,in every matter1 he said1 that relates to invention--to use1 or beauty1 or form--we are borrowers4 ,you may glance around the furniture of the palaces of ,europe1 and you may gather all these utensils of art or use1 and when you have fixed the shape and forms in your mind1 ,i will take you into the ,museum of ,naples1 which gathers all remains of the domestic life of the ,romans1 and you shall not find a single one of these modern forms of art1 or beauty1 or use1 that was not anticipated there4 ,we have hardly added one single line or sweep of beauty to the antique4444 ,i had heard that nothing had been observed in ancient times which could be called by the name of glass2 that there had been merely attempts to imitate it4 ,in ,pompeii1 a dozen miles south of ,naples1 which was covered with ashes eighteen hundred years ago1 they broke into a room full of glass2 there was ground glass1 window glass1 cut glass1 and colored glass of every variety4 ,it was undoubtedly a glass-makers factory4444 ,their imitations of gems deceived not only the lay people1 but the connoisseurs were also cheated4 ,some of these imitations in later years have been discovered4 ,the celebrated vase of the ,geneva cathedral was considered a solid emerald4 ,the ,roman ,catholic legend of it was that it was one of the treasures that the ,queen of ,sheba gave to ,solomon1 and that it was the identical cup out of which the ,saviour ate the ,last ,supper4 ,columbus must have admired it4 ,it was venerable in his day2 it was death at that time for anybody to touch it but a ,catholic priest4 ,and when ,napoleon besieged ,genoa it was offered by the ,jews to loan the senate three millions of dollars on that single article as security4 ,napoleon took it and carried it to ,france1 and gave it to the ,institute4 ,in a fool's night1 somewhat reluctantly1 the scholars said1 ',it is not a stone2 we hardly know what it is4' ,cicero said he had seen the entire ,iliad1 which is a poem as large as the ,new ,testament1 written on skin so that it could be rolled up in the compass of a nut-shell4 ,now this is imperceptible to the ordinary eye4 ,you have seen the ,declaration of ,independence in the compass of a quarter of a dollar1 written with the aid of glasses4 ,i have a paper at home as long as half my hand1 on which was photographed the whole contents of a ,london newspaper4 ,it was put under a dove's wing and sent into ,paris1 where they enlarged it and read the news4 ,that copy of the ,iliad must have been made by some such process4444 ,you may visit ,dr4 ,abbott's ,museum1 where you will see the ring of ,cheops4 ,bunsen puts him at five hundred years before ,christ4 ,the signet of the ring is about the size of a quarter of a dollar1 and the engraving is invisible without the aid of glasses4 ,no man was ever shown into the cabinet of gems in ,italy without being furnished with a microscope to look at them4 ,it would be idle for him to look at them without one4 ,he couldn't appreciate the delicate lines and the expression of the faces4 ,if you go to ,parma1 they will show you a gem once worn on the finger of ,michel ,angelo1 of which the engraving is two thousand years old1 on which there are the figures of seven women4 ,you must have the aid of a glass in order to distinguish the forms at all4 ,i have a friend who has a ring1 perhaps three quarters of an inch in diameter1 and on it is the naked figure of the god ,hercules4 ,by the aid of glasses you can distinguish the interlacing muscles1 and count every separate hair on the eyebrows4 ,layard says he would be unable to read the engravings on ,nineveh without strong spectacles1 they are so extremely small4 ,rawlinson brought home a stone about twenty inches long and ten inches wide1 containing an entire treatise on mathematics4 ,it would be perfectly illegible without glasses4 ,now1 if we are unable to read it without the aid of glasses1 you may suppose the man who engraved it had pretty good spectacles4 ,so the microscope1 instead of dating from our time1 finds its brothers in the ,books of ,moses--and these are infant brothers4 ,speaking of colors1 he said1 ,the burned city of ,pompeii was a city of stucco4 ,all the houses are stucco outside1 and it is stained with ,tyrian purple--the royal color of antiquity4 ,but you can never rely on the name of a color after a thousand years1 so the ,tyrian purple is almost a red4 ,this is a city of all red4 ,it had been buried seventeen hundred years1 and1 if you take a shovel now and clear away the ashes1 this color flames up upon you a great deal richer than anything we can produce4 ,you can go down into the narrow vault which ,nero built him as a retreat from the great heat1 and you will find the walls painted all over with fanciful designs in arabesque1 which have been buried beneath the earth fifteen hundred years2 but when the peasants light it up with their torches1 the colors flash out before you as fresh as they were in the days of ,st4 ,paul4 ,page1 the artist1 spent twelve years in ,venice1 studying ,titian's method of mixing his colors1 and he thinks he has got it4 ,yet come down from ,titian1 whose colors are wonderfully and perfectly fresh1 to ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds1 and1 although his colors are not yet a hundred years old1 they are fading2 the color on his lips is dying out1 and the cheeks are losing their tints4 ,he did not know how to mix well4 ,and his mastery of color is as yet unequaled4444 ,the ,french have a theory that there is a certain delicate shade of blue that ,europeans cannot see4 ,in one of his lectures to his students1 ,ruskin opened his ,catholic mass-book and said1 ',gentlemen1 we are the best chemists in the world4 ,no ,englishman ever could doubt that4 ,but we cannot make such a scarlet as that1 and even if we could1 it would not last for twenty years4 ,yet this is five hundred years old4' ,the ,frenchman says1 ',i am the best dyer in ,europe2 nobody can equal me1 and nobody can surpass ,lyons4' ,yet in ,cashmere1 where the girls make shawls worth thirty thousand dollars1 they will show him three hundred distinct colors which he not only cannot make but cannot even distinguish4444 ,mr4 ,colton1 of the ,boston ,journal1 the first week he landed in ,asia1 found that his chronometer was out of order from the steel of the works having become rusted4 ,the ,london ,medical and ,surgical ,journal advises surgeons not to venture to carry any lancets to ,calcutta2 to have them gilded1 because ,english steel could not bear the atmosphere of ,india4 ,yet the ,damascus blades of the ,crusades were not gilded1 and they are as perfect as they were eight centuries ago4444 ,if a ,london chronometer-maker wants the best steel to use in his chronometer1 he does not send to ,sheffield1 the centre of all science1 but to the ,punjaub1 the empire of the five rivers1 where there is no science at all4444 ,scott1 in his ,crusaders1 describes a meeting between ,richard ,coeur de ,lion and ,saladin4 ,saladin asks ,richard to show him the wonderful strength for which he is famous1 and the ,norman monarch responds by severing a bar of iron which lies on the floor of the tent4 ,saladin says1 ',i cannot do that2' but he takes an eider-down pillow from the sofa1 and drawing his keen blade across it1 it falls in two pieces4 ,richard says1 ',this is the black art2 it is magic2 it is the devil2 you cannot cut that which has no resistance2' and ,saladin1 to show him that such is not the case1 takes a scarf from his shoulders1 which is so light that it almost floats in the air1 and1 tossing it up1 severs it before it can descend4 ,george ,thompson saw a man in ,calcutta throw a handful of floss silk into the air1 and a ,hindoo sever it into pieces with his sabre4444 ,mr4 ,batterson1 of ,hartford1 walking with ,brunel1 the architect of the ,thames ,tunnel1 in ,egypt1 asked him what he thought of the mechanical power of the ,egyptians1 and he said1 ',there is ,pompey's ,pillar2 it is one hundred feet high1 and the capital weighs two thousand pounds4 ,it is something of a feat to hang two thousand pounds at that height in the air1 and the few men that can do it would better discuss ,egyptian mechanics4'444 ,we have only just begun to understand ventilation properly for our houses1 yet late experiments at the pyramids in ,egypt show that those ,egyptian tombs were ventilated in the most perfect and scientific manner4 ,again1 cement is modern1 for the ancients dressed and jointed their stones so closely that in buildings thousands of years old the thin blade of a penknife cannot be forced between them4 ,the railroad dates back to ,egypt4 ,arago has claimed that they had a knowledge of steam4 ,bramah acknowledges that he took the idea of his celebrated lock from an ancient ,egyptian pattern4 ,de ,tocqueville says there was no social question that was not discussed to rags in ,egypt4 ,humboldt1 in his ,cosmos1 states that the ,chinese had magnetic carriages with which to guide themselves across the great plains of ,tartary1 one thousand years before our era1 on the principle of the compass4 ,the ,romans used movable types to mark their pottery and indorse their books4 ,layard found in ,nineveh a magnifying lens of rock crystal1 which ,sir ,david ,brewster considers a true optical lens1 and the origin of the microscope4 ,experiments foreshadowing photography1 giving remarkable results1 began to be made more than three centuries ago1 and more than two and a half centuries before ,daguerre4 ,the principle of the stereoscope1 invented by ,professor ,wheatstone1 was known to ,euclid1 described by ,galen fifteen hundred years ago1 and more fully long afterward in the works of ,giambattista ,porta4 ,the ,thames ,tunnel1 thought such a novelty1 was anticipated by that under the ,euphrates at ,babylon4 ,it is usually attributed to ,aristotle1 indeed1 as his peculiar glory1 says an authority on mental philosophy1 that he should at once have originated1 and brought to perfection1 a science which1 for more than two thousand years1 has received few alterations1 found few minds capable of suggesting improvements4 ,recent labors of ,orientalists have1 however1 brought to light the fact that in ,india1 long before the palmy days of ,grecian philosophy1 logic was pursued with vigor as a study and science4 ,the ,nyaya of ,gotama holds1 in the ,indian systems of philosophy1 much the same place the ,organon of ,aristotle holds with us4 ,the two1 however1 are quite independent of each other4 ,aristotle was no disciple of ,gotama4 ,the so-called modern manifestations of spiritualism1 as table-turning and direct spirit-writing1 have been practiced in ,china from time immemorial2 they have been known there at least from the days of ,lao-tse1 and he was an aged man when ,confucius was a youth1 between five and six centuries before the ,christian era4 ,those who have read the travels in ,thibet of the two ,lazarite monks1 ,huc and ,gabet1 will recall many illustrations of spiritualism from their pages2 and here1 too1 as in ,china1 these practices date from a very remote time4 ,m4 ,tscherpanoff published1 in #aheh1 at ,st4 ,petersburg1 the results of his investigations with the ,lamas of ,thibet4 ,he attests 7having been a witness in one or two cases7 that the ,lamas1 when applied to for the recovery of stolen or hidden things1 take a little table1 put one hand on it1 and after nearly half an hour the table is lifted up by an invisible power1 and is 7with the hand of the ,lama always on it7 carried to the place where the thing in question is to be found1 whether in or out of doors1 where it drops1 generally indicating exactly the spot where the article is to be found4 ,mesmerism is not new4 ,amongst ,egyptian sculptures are people in the various attitudes which mesmerism in modern times induces4 ,the ,hebrews knew something of this science1 for ,baalam manifestly consulted a clairvoyant--a man in a trance with his eyes open4 ,the ,greeks also had a knowledge of it4 ,in ,taylor's ,plato it is said a man appeared before ,aristotle in the ,lyceum1 who could read on one side of a brazen shield what was written on the other4 ,the ,romans were not ignorant of it1 for ,plautus1 in one of his plays1 asks1 ,what1 and although ,i were by my continual slow touch to make him as if asleep8 ,as to social science1 here is the germ of ,fourierism1 in the ,confessions of ,augustine1 ,bishop of ,hippo1 fifteen hundred years before ,fourier3 ,and many of us friends1 conferring about and detesting the turbulent turmoil of human life1 had debated and now almost resolved on living apart from business and the bustle of men2 and this was to be thus obtained3 we were to bring whatever we might severally possess1 and make one household of all2 so that through the truth of our friendship nothing should belong especially to any1 but the whole1 thus derived from all1 should as a whole belong to each1 and all to all4 ,we thought there might be some ten persons in this society2 some of us very rich1 especially ,romanianus1 our townsman1 from childhood a very familiar friend of mine1 whom the grievous perplexities of his affairs had brought up to court4 ,he was the most earnest for this project2 and his voice was of great weight1 because his ample estate far exceeded any of the rest4 ,we had settled1 also1 that two annual officers1 as it were1 should provide all things necessary1 the rest being undisturbed4 ,but when we began to consider whether the wives1 which some of us already had1 and others hoped to have1 would allow this1 all that plan1 which was being so well moulded1 fell to pieces in our hands1 and was utterly dashed and cast aside4 ,thence we betook us to sighs and groans1 and to follow the broad and beaten ways of the world4 ,in this beautiful passage from the ,gulistan1 or ,rose ,garden1 of ,saadi1 written more than seven centuries ago1 will be found an incomparable recipe for a famous hot-weather drink1 much affected by ,americans4 ,heliogabalus would have given a slice of his empire for that one immortal cobbler4 ,i recollect1 says the poet1 that in my youth1 as ,i was passing through a street1 ,i cast my eyes on a beautiful girl4 ,it was in the autumn1 when the heat dried up all moisture from the mouth1 and the sultry wind made the marrow boil in the bones2 so that1 being unable to support the sun's powerful beams1 ,i was obliged to take shelter under the shade of a wall in hopes that some one would relieve me from the distressing heat of summer1 and quench my thirst with a draught of water4 ,suddenly from the shade of the portico of a house ,i beheld a female form1 whose beauty it is impossible for the tongue of eloquence to describe2 insomuch that it seemed as if the dawn was rising in the obscurity of night1 or as if the water of immortality was issuing from the land of darkness4 ,she held in her hand a cup of snow-water1 into which she sprinkled sugar1 and mixed it with the juice of the grape4 ,i know not whether what ,i perceived was the fragrance of rose-water1 or that she had infused into it a few drops from the blossom of her cheek4 ,in short1 ,i received the cup from her beauteous hand1 and drinking the contents1 found myself restored to new life4 ,the thirst of my heart is not such that it can be allayed with a drop of pure water2 the streams of whole rivers would not satisfy it4 ,how happy is that fortunate person whose eyes every morning may behold such a countenance4 ,he who is intoxicated with wine will be sober again in the course of the night2 but he who is intoxicated by the cup-bearer will not recover his senses until the day of judgment4 ,cicero maintained the doctrine of universal brotherhood as distinctly as it was afterward maintained by the ,christian ,church4 ,men were born1 he says1 for the sake of men1 that each should assist the others4444 ,nature ordains that a man should wish the good of every man1 whoever he may be1 for this very reason1 that he is a man4444 ,nature has inclined us to love men1 and this is the foundation of the law4 ,marcus ,aurelius crystallized the idea of free government in one remarkable passage3 ,the idea of a polity in which there is the same law for all1 a polity administered with regard to equal rights and equal freedom of speech1 and the idea of a kingly government which respects most of all the freedom of the governed4 ,and here is the idea of forgiveness of injuries1 by ,epictetus3 ,every man has two handles1 one of which will bear taking hold of1 the other not4 ,if thy brother sin against thee1 lay not hold of the matter by this1 that he sins against thee3 for by this handle the matter will not bear taking hold of4 ,but rather lay hold of it by this1 that he is thy brother1 thy born mate2 and thou wilt take hold of it by what will bear handling4 ,here1 too1 is the idea of the ,golden ,rule1 by ,confucius1 five hundred years before our era3 ,to have enough empire over one's self1 in order to judge of others by comparison with ourselves1 and to act toward them as we would wish that one should act toward us--that is what we can call the doctrine of humanity4 ,there is nothing beyond it4 ,and this is the prayer claimed to have been in use by religious ,jews for nearly four thousand years1 found by our ,lord1 improved by ,him1 and adopted for the use of ,christians in all time3 ,our ,father who art in ,heaven1 be gracious unto us6 ,o ,lord our ,god1 hallowed be thy name1 and let the remembrance of ,thee be glorified in heaven above and in the earth here below6 ,let thy kingdom rule over us now and forever6 ,remit and forgive unto all men whatever they have done against me6 ,and lead us not into the power 7hands7 of temptation1 but deliver us from the evil4 ,for thine is the kingdom1 and thou shalt reign in glory forever and ever more4 ,now hear the saying of ,king ,solomon--wiser than ,confucius1 or ,cicero1 or ,marcus ,aurelius1 or ,epictetus1 or any rabbi3 ,the thing that hath been is that which shall be1 and there is no new thing under the sun4 ,,vii4 ,,incongruity4 ,how contradictory it seems1 remarked ,washington ,irving1 writing of ,oliver ,goldsmith1 that one of the most delightful pictures of home and homefelt happiness should be drawn by a homeless man2 that the most amiable picture of domestic virtue and all the endearments of the married state should be drawn by a bachelor who had been severed from domestic life almost from boyhood2 that one of the most tender1 touching1 and affecting appeals on behalf of female loveliness should have been made by a man whose deficiencies in all the graces of person and manner seemed to mark him out for a cynical disparager of the sex4 ,byron thought it contradictory that the ancients1 in their mythology1 should have represented ,wisdom by a woman1 and ,love by a boy4 ,don't you know1 urged ,sydney ,smith1 as the ,french say1 there are three sexes--men1 women1 and clergymen8 ,in the old church at ,hatfield1 in ,england1 amongst the antiquities1 there is a recumbent statue1 which every one believed was a woman1 till ,flaxman1 the sculptor1 examined it1 and satisfied himself that it was a priest4 ,madame ,de ,stael's ,delphine was thought to contain a representation of ,talleyrand in the character of an old woman4 ,on her pressing for his opinion of that work1 he said1 ,that is the work--is it not8--in which you and ,i are exhibited in the disguise of females8 ,bulwer seemed to ,harriet ,martineau a woman of genius1 inclosed by misadventure in a man's form4 ,a lady1 speaking of the works of the poet ,thomson1 observed that she could gather from his writings three parts of his character3 that he was an ardent lover1 a great swimmer1 and rigorously abstinent4 ,savage1 to whom the remark was addressed1 assured her that1 in regard to the first1 she was altogether mistaken2 for the second1 his friend was perhaps never in cold water in his life2 and as to the third1 he indulged in every luxury that came within his reach4 ,holmes states1 in the preface to ,elsie ,venner1 that while the story was in progress1 he received the most startling confirmation of the possibility of the existence of a character like that he had drawn as a purely imaginary conception4 ,mrs4 ,hawthorne said that men who had committed great crimes1 or whose memories held tragic secrets1 would sometimes write to her husband1 or even come great distances to see him1 and unburden their souls4 ,this was after the publication of ,the ,scarlet ,letter1 which made them regard him as the father confessor for all hidden sins4 ,the ,swedenborgians informed ,poe that they had discovered all that he said in a magazine article1 entitled ,mesmeric ,revelations1 to be absolutely true1 although at first they were very strongly inclined to doubt his veracity1--a thing which1 in that particular instance1 he never dreamed of not doubting himself4 ,lord ,lansdowne and ,sydney ,smith1 with a companion or two1 went incognito to ,deville1 the phrenologist in the ,strand1 to have their characters read from their skulls1 and were most perversely interpreted4 ,lord ,lansdowne was pronounced to be so absorbed in generalization as to fail in all practical matters1 and ,sydney ,smith to be a great naturalist--never so happy as when arranging his birds and fishes4 ,sir1 said the divine1 with a stare of comical stupidity1 ,i don't know a fish from a bird2 and the chancellor of the exchequer was conscious that all the fiddle-faddle of the cabinet was committed to him on account of his love of what he called practical business4 ,crabb ,robinson1 on one of his visits to the ,british ,gallery1 where a collection of ,english portraits was exhibited1 was displeased to see the name of the hated ,jeffreys put to a dignified and sweet countenance1 that might have conferred new grace on some delightful character4 ,consistently enough with the delineation of the portrait1 ,evelyn recorded in his ,memoirs that he saw the ,chief ,justice ,jeffreys in a large company the night before1 and that he thought he laughed1 drank1 and danced too much for a man who had that day condemned ,algernon ,sidney to the block4 ,an eminent gentleman who inspected the portraits of ,luther and ,melancthon1 as they appear on their monuments in ,wittenberg1 describes the countenance of the latter as acute and sarcastic4 ,had subtlety and craft been his qualities1 ,i should have thought the portrait expressed them4 ,it is related of one of the philanthropists of ,france1 who at one time held no insignificant place in the government1 that when a distracted wife1 who had pleaded to him in vain for her husband's life1 in retiring from his presence1 chanced to tread on his favorite spaniel's tail1 he exclaimed1 ,good heavens1 madame1 have you1 then1 no humanity8 ,in the palace ,doria1 said ,willis1 there is a portrait of a celebrated widow 7so called in the catalogue7 by ,vandyck1--a had-been beautiful woman1 in a staid cap1 with hands wonderfully painted4 ,the custodian told the visitor that it was a portrait of the wife of ,vandyck1 painted as an old woman to mortify her excessive vanity1 when she was but twenty-three4 ,he kept the picture until she was older1 and1 at the time of his death1 it had become a flattering likeness1 and was carefully treasured by the widow4 ,lavater1 in his ,physiognomy1 says that ,lord ,anson1 from his countenance1 must have been a very wise man4 ,horace ,walpole1 who knew ,lord ,anson well1 said he was the most stupid man he ever knew4 ,until a few years ago1 it is stated1 a portrait at ,holland ,house was prescriptively reverenced as a speaking likeness of ,addison1 and a bust was designed after it by a distinguished sculptor4 ,it turns out to be the copy of a portrait of a quite different person from the great ,mr4 ,addison4 ,many a famous name1 it has been truly said1 has been indebted for its brightest lustre to things which were flung off as a pastime1 or composed as an irksome duty1 whilst the performances upon which the author most relied or prided himself have fallen still-born or been neglected by posterity4 ,thus ,petrarch1 who trusted to his ,latin poems for immortality1 mainly owes it to the ,sonnets1 which he regarded as ephemeral displays of feeling or fancy of the hour4 ,thus ,chesterfield1 the orator1 the statesman1 the ,maecenas and ,petronius of his age1 and 7above all7 the first viceroy who ventured on justice to ,ireland1 is floated down to our times by his familiar ,letters to his ,son4 ,thus ,johnson1 the ,colossus of ,literature1 were he to look up or down 7to adopt the more polite hypothesis71 would hardly believe his eyes or ears1 on finding that ,bozzy1 the snubbed and suppressed1 yet ever elastic and rebounding ,bozzy1 is the prop1 the bulwark1 the key-stone of his fame2 the salt which keeps it sweet1 the vitality which preserves it from putrefaction4 ,we have it upon the authority of old ,thomas ,fuller1 that when a ,french printer complained that he was utterly undone by printing a solid1 serious book of ,rabelais concerning physic1 ,rabelais1 to make him recompense1 made that his jesting1 scurrilous work1 which repaired the printer's loss with advantage4 ,it was impossible to tell beforehand1 said ,northcote to ,hazlitt1 what would hit the public4 ,you might as well pretend to say what ticket would turn up a prize in the lottery4 ,it was not chance neither1 but some unforeseen coincidence between the subject and the prevailing taste1 that you could not possibly be a judge of4 ,i had once painted two pictures--one of a ,fortune-teller 7a boy with a monkey7 and another called ,the ,visit to the ,grandmother2 and ,raphael ,smith came to me and wanted to engrave them1 being willing to give a handsome sum for the first1 but only to do the last as an experiment4 ,he sold ten times as many of the last as of the first1 and told me that there were not less than five different impressions done of it in ,paris2 and once1 when ,i went to his house1 to get one to complete a set of engravings after my designs1 they asked me six guineas for a proof impression6 ,this was too much1 but ,i was delighted that ,i could not afford to pay for my own work1 from the value that was set upon it4 ,cervantes1 who was fifty-eight when he published the first part of ,don ,quixote1 had1 like ,fielding1 written a considerable number of indifferent dramas which gave no indication of the immortal work which afterward astonished and delighted the world4 ,he was the author of several tales1 for which even his subsequent fame can procure very few readers1 and would certainly have been forgotten if the lustre of his masterpiece had not shed its light upon everything which belonged to him4 ,it was not till he was verging upon three-score that he hit upon the happy plan which was to exhibit his genius1 and which nothing previously sufficed to display4 ,fielding was equally ignorant of his province4 ,writing for a subsistence1 trying everything by turns1 having the strongest interest in discovering how he could lay out his powers to the best advantage1 he mistook his road1 and only found it by chance4 ,if ,pamela had never existed1 it is more than possible that ,english literature might have wanted ,joseph ,andrews1 ,tom ,jones1 and ,amelia4 ,scott's conversation about his own productions1 as recorded by ,moore in his ,diary1 is curious1 showing that he rather stumbled upon his talent than cultivated it originally4 ,had begun ,waverley long before1 and then thrown it by1 until having occasion for some money 7to help his brother1 ,i think71 he bethought himself of it1 but could not find the ,,mss4 ,when he did1 made #c1jjj pounds by ,waverley4 ,it is set down as a striking commentary upon the taste of his contemporaries that ,hogarth's six pictures of ,marriage a la ,mode were sold for nineteen pounds and six shillings1 though fifty years afterward they brought one thousand three hundred and eighty pounds4 ,the manuscript of ,robinson ,crusoe ran through the whole trade1 nor would any one print it1 though the writer1 ,de ,foe1 was in good repute as an author4 ,the bookseller who risked the publication was a speculator1 not remarkable for discernment4 ,the ,vicar of ,wakefield lay unpublished for two years after the publisher1 ,newberry1 was importuned by ,dr4 ,johnson to pay sixty pounds for it to save the author from distress4 ,paradise ,lost made a narrow escape4 ,sterne found it hard to find a publisher for ,tristram ,shandy4 ,the sermon in it1 he says in the preface to his ,sermons1 was printed by itself some years before1 but could find neither purchasers nor readers4 ,when it was inserted in his eccentric work1 with the advantage of ,trim's fine reading1 it met with a most favorable reception1 and occasioned the others to be collected4 ,cowper's first volume of poems was published by ,johnson1 and fell dead from the press4 ,author and publisher were to incur equal loss4 ,cowper begged ,johnson to forgive him his debt1 and this was done4 ,in return1 ,cowper sent ,johnson his ,task1 saying3 ,you behaved generously to me on a former occasion2 if you think it safe to publish this new work1 ,i make you a present of it4 ,johnson published it4 ,it became popular4 ,the former volume was then sold with it4 ,the profits to the publisher1 it is said1 were at least fifty thousand dollars4 ,cooper says that the first volume of ,the ,spy was actually printed several months before he felt a sufficient inducement to write a line of the second4 ,as the second volume1 he says1 was slowly printing1 from manuscript that was barely dry when it went into the compositor's hands1 the publisher intimated that the work might grow to a length that would consume the profits4 ,to set his mind at rest1 the last chapter was actually written1 printed1 and paged1 several weeks before the chapters which preceded it were even thought of4 ,the ,culprit ,fay1 we are told by the biographer of ,drake1 was composed hastily among the ,highlands of the ,hudson1 in the summer of #ahai4 ,the author was walking with some friends on a warm moonlight evening1 when one of the party remarked that it would be difficult to write a fairy poem1 purely imaginative1 without the aid of human characters4 ,when the party was reassembled two or three days afterward1 ,the ,culprit ,fay was read to them1 nearly as it is now printed4 ,drake placed a very modest estimate on his own productions1 and it is believed that but a small portion of them have been preserved4 ,when on his death-bed1 a friend inquired of him what disposition he would have made of his poems4 ,oh1 burn them1 he replied2 they are quite valueless4 ,written copies of a number of them were1 however1 in circulation1 and some had been incorrectly printed in the periodicals2 and for this reason was published the single collection of them which has appeared4 ,a mere rumor that ,erasmus' ,colloquies had got into the ,index ,expurgatorius1 sold an impression of four-and-twenty thousand copies1 and made the fortune of the publisher4 ,fenelon's ,adventures of ,telemachus1 which had hitherto remained in manuscript1 was given to the world by the dishonesty of a servant who had been employed to have the work copied1 but who sold it to a bookseller without disclosing the author's name4 ,the king1 having been told that it was from the pen of the ,archbishop of ,cambrai1 and probably sharing an unfounded suspicion then current1 that the book was a satire on the court1 took measures to suppress it2 but a few copies escaped seizure1 and an imperfect edition was printed in ,holland in #afii4 ,others followed rapidly1 and for a long time the press was unable to keep up with the public demand4 ,sir ,matthew ,hale wrote four volumes in folio1 three of which ,i have read1 says ,baxter1 against atheism1 ,sadduceeism1 and infidelity1 to prove first the ,deity1 and then the immortality of man's soul1 and then the truth of ,christianity and the ,holy ,scripture1 answering the infidel's objections against ,scripture4 ,it is strong and masculine1 only too tedious for impatient readers4 ,he said he wrote it only at vacant hours in his circuits1 to regulate his meditations1 finding1 that while he wrote down what he thought on1 his thoughts were the easier kept close to work1 and kept in a method4 ,but ,i could not persuade him to publish them4 ,one is tempted to speculate upon the books that never were published4 ,as some of the best books have been written in prison or captivity1 so some of like quality may have perished with their unfortunate authors4 ,if so many great authors1 like ,dryden and ,cervantes1 and ,le ,sage and ,spenser1 almost starved1 barely procuring a pittance for their published works1 how many good works may not1 in despair1 have been destroyed by their authors4 ,if so many great works were accidentally discovered in manuscript1 how many as great may have perished in that form4 ,the ,romans wrote their books either on parchment or on paper made of the ,egyptian papyrus4 ,the latter1 being the cheapest1 was1 of course1 the most commonly used4 ,but after the communication between ,europe and ,egypt was broken off1 on account of the latter having been seized upon by the ,saracens1 the papyrus was no longer in use in ,italy or in other ,european countries4 ,they were obliged1 on that account1 to write all their books upon parchment1 and as its price was high1 books became extremely rare1 and of great value4 ,we may judge of the scarcity of materials for writing them from one circumstance4 ,there still remain several manuscripts of the eighth1 ninth1 and following centuries1 written on parchment1 from which some former writing had been erased1 in order to substitute a new composition in its place4 ,in this manner1 it is probable1 several books of the ancients perished4 ,a book of ,livy1 or of ,tacitus1 might be erased1 to make room for the legendary tale of a saint1 or the superstitious prayers of a missal4 ,truly1 a resurrection of the unpublished1 to say the least1 would expose an interesting mass of intellectual novelties4 ,the book-tasters1 wise as they think themselves1 are very far from being unerring in their estimates of brain values1 and better things than they have approved may have gone into the basket4 ,the weather or bad chirography may have damned many a production of genius4 ,the rejection of an article for a quarterly may have snuffed out the most promising talents4 ,it is possible that some charitable reformer may have discovered a way to fuse sects and harmonize ,christians1 but was prevented from showing it to the world by the stupidity of printers6 ,the most wonderful and sublime things in nature and art are rarely appreciated at first view4 ,every visitor is disappointed at the first sight of ,niagara4 ,mountains are not appreciated till we have dwelt long among them4 ,goethe was at first disturbed and confused by the impression which ,switzerland produced on him4 ,only after repeated visits1 he said1 only in later years1 when he visited those mountains as a mineralogist merely1 could he converse with them at his ease4 ,the sea is but a dead1 monotonous waste1 till we come to feel its immensity and power4 ,london is but a great town till we have wandered in it1 lost ourselves in it1 studied it1 in fine1 till we have found it too great to be comprehended1 when its marvelous proportions are expanded into a nation1 and it is accepted as one of the great powers of the world4 ,the longer one stays in ,london1 said a temporary resident1 the more it seems a mockery to say anything about it4 ,i remember1 says an ,american traveler1 having read a glorious description of ,milan cathedral1 and a few days later ,i saw the temple myself4 ,to my first view it was only a large marble church1 fronting on an unpleasant square1 and adorned with indistinct spires4 ,i was shocked with disappointment4 ,but when ,i spent a fortnight at ,milan1 and studied the cathedral in every light and through every part1 ,i then saw that the description was far inadequate to the actuality4 ,when the visitor1 says ,hillard1 has passed into the interior of ,st4 ,peter's1 and so far recovered from the first rush of tumultuous sensations which crowd upon him as to be able to look about him1 he will be struck with1 and1 if not forewarned1 disappointed at1 the apparent want of magnitude4 ,but he will find that the windows of the church are never opened1 it is so immense as well as so complete2 that it has its own atmosphere1 and needs no supply from the world without2 that the most zealous professor of ventilation would admit that there was no work for him to do here4 ,when we dream of the climate of heaven1 we make it warmth without heat1 and coolness without cold1 like that of ,st4 ,peter's4 ,it has been mentioned as a remarkable quality in ,coleridge's mind that edifices excited little interest in him4 ,on his return from ,italy1 and after having resided for some time in ,rome1 ,i remember1 says ,cottle1 his describing to me the state of society2 the characters of the popes and the cardinals2 the gorgeous ceremonies1 with the superstitions of the people2 but not one word did he utter concerning ,st4 ,peter's1 the ,vatican1 or the numerous antiquities of the place4 ,i remember to have been with ,mr4 ,coleridge at ,york on our journey into ,durham1 to see ,mr4 ,wordsworth4 ,after breakfast at the inn1 perceiving ,mr4 ,c4 engaged1 ,i went out alone1 to see the ,york minster1 being in the way detained in a bookseller's shop4 ,in the meantime1 ,mr4 ,c41 having missed me1 set off in search of me4 ,supposing it probable that ,i was gone to the minster1 he went up to the door of that magnificent structure1 and inquired of the porter1 whether such an individual as myself had gone in there4 ,being answered in the negative1 he had no further curiosity1 not even looking into the interior1 but turned away to pursue his search6 so that ,mr4 ,c4 left ,york without beholding1 or wishing to behold1 the chief attraction of the city1 or being at all conscious that he had committed1 by his neglect1 high treason against all architectural beauty6 ,northcote mentioned a conceited painter of the name of ,edwards1 who went with ,romney to ,rome1 and when they got into the ,sistine chapel1 turning round to him1 said1 ,egad1 ,george6 we're bit6 ,raphael's ,transfiguration1 says ,willis1 is agreed to be the finest picture in the world4 ,i had made up my mind to the same opinion from the engravings of it1 but was painfully disappointed in the picture4 ,i looked at it from every corner of the room1 and asked the custodian three times if he was sure this was the original4 ,the color offended my eye1 blind as ,raphael's name should make it1 and ,i left the room with a sigh1 and an unsettled faith in my own taste1 that made me seriously unhappy4 ,my complacency was restored a few hours after on hearing that the wonder was entirely in the drawing--the colors having quite changed with time4 ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds says he was informed by the keeper of the ,vatican that many of those whom he had conducted through the various apartments of that edifice1 when about to be dismissed1 had asked for the works of ,raphael1 and would not believe that they had already passed through the rooms where they are preserved4 ,i remember very well1 he says1 my own disappointment when ,i first visited the ,vatican4 ,all the indigested notions of painting which ,i had brought with me from ,england were to be totally done away with and eradicated from my mind4 ,it was necessary1 as it is expressed on a very solemn occasion1 that ,i should become as a little child4 ,nor does painting in this respect differ from other arts4 ,a just and poetical taste1 and the acquisition of a nice1 discriminative musical ear1 are equally the work of time4 ,even the eye1 however perfect in itself1 is often unable to distinguish between the brilliancy of two diamonds1 though the experienced jeweler will be amazed at its blindness4 ,the musician by profession1 said ,goethe1 hears1 in an orchestral performance1 every instrument1 and every single tone1 whilst one unacquainted with the art is wrapped up in the massive effect of the whole4 ,a man merely bent upon enjoyment sees in a green or flowery meadow only a pleasant plain1 whilst the eye of a botanist discovers an endless detail of the most varied plants and grasses4 ,gainsborough says that an artist knows an original from a copy1 by observing the touch of the pencil2 for there will be the same individuality in the strokes of the brush as in the strokes of a pen4 ,those who can at once distinguish between different sorts of handwriting are yet often astonished at the possession of the faculty when it is exercised upon pictures4 ,no engraver1 in like manner1 can counterfeit the style of another4 ,his brethren of the craft would not only immediately detect the forgery1 but would recognize the distinctive strokes of the forger4 ,hogarth and ,reynolds1 it is said1 could not do each other justice4 ,hogarth ranked ,reynolds very low as a painter4 ,johnson said ,tristram ,shandy did not last2 and ,goldsmith noticed the faults of ,sterne only4 ,they may each have looked with some feeling of envy to the far greater immediate success than either of themselves had enjoyed2 but it does not follow that ,hogarth1 ,johnson1 and ,goldsmith were so dishonest as to deny the existence of the excellences they saw4 ,unfortunately1 persons engaged in the same departments of literature or art generally dislike one another4 ,it is one of the drawbacks of genius4 ,voltaire and ,rousseau hated each other2 ,fielding despised ,richardson2 ,petrarch1 ,dante2 ,michel ,angelo sneered at ,raphael2 but fortunately their reputations did not depend upon one another4 ,envy and hatred aside1 it was impossible for them to judge one another justly2 they were too near4 ,a painter once confessed to ,dr4 ,johnson that no professor of the art ever loved a person who pursued the same craft4 ,the whole class of underlings who fed at the table of ,smollett1 and existed by his patronage1 traduced his character and abused his works2 and1 as they were no less treacherous to one another than to their benefactor1 each was eager to betray the rest to him4 ,at the beginning of the last century1 says ,southey1 books which are now justly regarded as among the treasures of ,english literature1 which are the delight of the old and the young1 the learned and the unlearned1 the high and the low1 were then spoken of with contempt2 the ,pilgrim's ,progress as fit only for the ignorant and the vulgar1 ,robinson ,crusoe for children2 if any one but an angler condescended to look into ,izaak ,walton1 it must be for the sake of finding something to laugh at4 ,it will never be forgotten1 in the history of ,english poetry1 that1 with a generous and just though impatient sense of indignation1 ,collins1 as soon as his means enabled him1 repaid the publisher of his poems the price which he had received for their copyright1 indemnified him for the loss in the adventure1 and committed the remainder1 which was by far the greater part of the impression1 to the flames4 ,but it should also be remembered that in the course of one generation these poems1 without any adventitious aids to bring them into notice1 were acknowledged to be the best of their kind in the language4 ,the very existence of the works of ,william ,dunbar has been mentioned as a signal proof of the immortality of real merit2 for we know not at what precise time he was born1 nor when he died1 and his very name is not1 with one solitary exception1 to be met with in the whole compass of ,english literature for two hundred years2 nor was it till after the lapse of three centuries that his poems were collected and published--to secure him the reputation1 among his own countrymen1 of being one of the greatest of ,scotland's poets4 ,this neglect or inability to acknowledge contemporary genius was humorously hinted at by ,coleridge in one of his lectures4 ,the lecture being extemporaneous1 he now and then took up scraps of paper on which he had noted the leading points of his subject1 and made use of books that were about him for quotation4 ,on turning to one of these 7a work of his own71 he said1 ,as this is a secret which ,i confided to the public a year or two ago1 and which1 to do the public justice1 has been very faithfully kept1 ,i may be permitted to read you a passage from it4 ,tom ,taylor's anecdote of ,bott1 the barrister1 illustrates the uncertainty of literary recognition4 ,bott occupied the rooms opposite to ,goldsmith's in ,brick ,court2 he lent the needy author money1 drove him in his gig to the ,shoemakers' ,paradise1 eight miles down the ,edgeware ,road1 and occasionally periled both their necks in a ditch4 ,reynolds painted this good-natured barrister1 who runs a better chance of reaching posterity in that gig of his alongside of ,goldsmith1 than by virtue of the ,treatise on the ,poor ,laws which ,goldsmith is said to have written up for him4 ,and as if the uncertainty of literary fame were not great enough1 authors themselves sometimes strive to increase it by most extraordinary means4 ,you remember ,southey's attempt to hoax ,theodore ,hook regarding the authorship of ,the ,doctor4 ,at ,hook's death a packet of letters was found addressed to him1 as the author of ,the ,doctor1 and acknowledging presentation copies--one from ,southey among the rest4 ,they had been forwarded from the publisher1 and were intended1 it is presumed1 if they were intended for anything1 as a trap for ,hook's vanity4 ,sydney ,smith positively denied all connection with the ,plymley ,letters in one edition1 and published them in a collection of his acknowledged works some months after4 ,sir ,walter ,scott1 being taxed at a dinner-table as the author of ,old ,mortality1 not only denied being the author1 but said to ,murray1 the publisher1 who was present1 ,in order to convince you that ,i am not the author1 ,i will review the book for you in the ,quarterly1--which he actually did1 and ,murray retained the manuscript after ,sir ,walter's death4 ,the novelty of a real work of genius is sufficient to decry it with the incredulous public4 ,all new things1 much out of the ordinary way1 must make a struggle for existence4 ,it is but the way of the world4 ,the ,jesuits of ,peru introduced into ,protestant ,england the ,peruvian bark2 but being a remedy used by ,jesuits1 the ,protestant ,english at once rejected the drug as the invention of the devil4 ,paracelsus introduced antimony as a valuable medicine2 he was prosecuted for the innovation1 and the ,french ,parliament passed an act making it a penal offense to prescribe it4 ,dr4 ,groenvelt first employed cantharides internally1 and no sooner did his cures begin to make a noise1 than he was at once committed to ,newgate by warrant of the ,president of the ,college of ,physicians4 ,lady ,mary ,wortley ,montagu first introduced into ,england the practice of inoculation for the small-pox1 by which malady she had lost an only brother and her own fine eye-lashes4 ,she applied the process1 after earnest examination1 to her only son1 five years old2 and on her return to ,england1 the experiment was tried1 at her suggestion1 on five persons under sentence of death4 ,the success of the trial did not prevent the most violent clamors against the innovation4 ,the faculty predicted unknown disastrous consequences1 the clergy regarded it as an interference with ,divine ,providence1 and the common people were taught to look upon her as an unnatural mother1 who had imperiled the safety of her own child4 ,although she soon gained influential supporters1 the obloquy which she endured was such as to make her sometimes repent her philanthropy4 ,jenner1 who introduced the still greater discovery of vaccination1 was treated with ridicule and contempt1 and was persecuted1 prosecuted1 and oppressed by the ,royal ,college of ,physicians4 ,after nearly twenty years of patient and sagacious study and experiment1 he went to ,london to communicate the process to the profession1 and to endeavor to procure its general adoption4 ,his reception was disheartening in the extreme4 ,not only did the doctors refuse to make trial of the process1 but the discoverer was accused of an attempt to bestialize his species by introducing into the system diseased matter from a cow's udder2 vaccination was denounced from the pulpit as diabolical1 and the most monstrous statements respecting its effects upon the human system were disseminated and believed4 ,early in the fourteenth century a law was passed making it a capital offense to burn coal within the precincts of ,london4 ,in the reign of ,edward ,i4 a man was actually executed for the commission of the crime4 ,the prejudice continued to the close of the sixteenth century4 ,not more than three quarters of a century ago1 an ambassador at ,paris issued cards for a large party1 and found1 to his dismay1 that only gentlemen attended1 the ladies having absented themselves on hearing that his lordship warmed his house by means of ,english coal4 ,the use of forks was at first much ridiculed in ,england2 in one of ,beaumont and ,fletcher's plays1 your fork-carving traveler is spoken of very contemptuously2 and ,ben ,jonson has also ridiculed them in one of his comedies4 ,on the invention of scissors1 says ,voltaire1 what was not said of those who pared their nails and cut off some of their hair that was hanging down over their noses8 ,they were undoubtedly considered as prodigals and coxcombs1 who bought at an extravagant price an instrument just calculated to spoil the work of the ,creator4 ,what an enormous sin to pare the horn which ,god himself made to grow at our fingers' ends6 ,it was absolutely an insult to the ,divine ,being himself4 ,when shirts and stockings were invented1 it was far worse4 ,it is well known with what warmth and indignation the old counselors1 who had never worn socks1 exclaimed against the youthful magistrates who encouraged so dreadful and fatal a luxury4 ,the fashion of plaiting shirts began in ,rabelais' time2 and it was said that the gathers were fit for nothing but to harbor lice and fleas4 ,robespierre's first important cause was a defense of the introduction of ,franklin's lightning-rods against the charge of impiety4 ,when threshing-machines were first introduced into ,england1 there was such an opposition to them1 and arson became so common in consequence1 that such farmers as had them were obliged to surrender them1 or expose them broken on the high-road4 ,the fashion of wearing boots with pointed toes was supposed to have been peculiarly offensive to the ,almighty1 and was believed by many to have been the cause of the black death1 which carried off1 it is estimated1 in six years1 twenty-five millions1 or a fourth part of the population of ,europe4 ,another opinion1 we are informed1 gained ground1 that the ,jews were responsible for the ravages of the plague4 ,it was claimed that the ,rabbi of ,toledo had sent out a venomous mixture concocted of consecrated wafers and the blood of ,christian hearts to the various congregations1 with orders to poison the wells4 ,the ,pope himself undertook to plead for their innocency1 but even papal bulls were powerless to stay the popular madness4 ,in ,dekkendorf a church was built in honor of the massacre of the ,jews of that town1 and the spot thus consecrated has remained a favorite resort of pilgrims down to the present time4 ,amongst the curiosities of literature is a narrative extracted from ,luther's writings1 of the dialogue related by ,luther himself to have been carried on between him and the devil1 who1 ,luther declares1 was the first who pointed out to him the absurdity and evil of private mass4 ,of course it is strongly pressed upon the pious reader that even ,luther himself confesses that the ,father of ,lies was the author of the ,reformation2 and a pretty good story is made out for the ,catholics4 ,john ,galt1 in his ,life of ,wolsey1 says1 ,those pious ,presbyterians1 who inveigh against cards as the devil's books1 are little aware that they were an instrument in the great work of the ,reformation4 ,the vulgar game about that time was the devil and the priest2 and the skill of the players consisted in preserving the priest from the devil2 but the devil in the end always got hold of him4 ,mighty means indeed trifles have sometimes proved4 ,the foolish ballad of ,lilli ,burlero1 treating the ,papists1 and chiefly the ,irish1 in a very ridiculous manner1 slight and insignificant as it now seems1 had once a more powerful effect than the ,philippics of either ,demosthenes or ,cicero2 it contributed not a little toward the great revolution in #afhh2 the whole army and the people in country and city caught it up1 and sang a deluded prince out of three kingdoms4 ,percy has preserved the ballad in his ,reliques1 but who remembers the air8 ,my ,uncle ,toby1 it seems1 was about the last to whistle it4 ,the most popular song ever written in the ,british ,islands1 that of ,auld ,lang ,syne1 is anonymous1 and we know no more of the author of the music than we do of the author of the words4 ,much of ,burns' great fame rests upon this song1 in which his share amounts only to a few emendations4 ,the ,last ,rose of ,summer is said to be made up in great part of an old ,sicilian air1 originating nobody knows when4 ,old ,hundred1 they say1 was constructed out of fragments as old as music itself--strains that are as immortal as the instinct of music4 ,home1 ,sweet ,home was written in a garret in the ,palais ,royal1 ,paris1 when poor ,payne was so utterly destitute and friendless that he knew not where the next day's dinner was to come from4 ,it appeared originally in a diminutive opera called ,clari1 the ,maid of ,milan4 ,the opera is seldom seen or heard of now1 but the song grows nearer and dearer as the years roll away4 ,more than once the unfortunate author1 walking the lonely streets of ,london or ,paris amid the storm and darkness1 hungry1 houseless1 and penniless1 saw the cheerful light gleaming through the windows of happy homes1 and heard the music of his own song drifting out upon the gloomy night to mock the wanderer's heart with visions of comfort and of joy1 whose blessed reality was forever denied to him4 ,home1 ,sweet ,home was written by a homeless man4 ,lamartine1 in his ,history of the ,girondists1 has given an account of the origin of the ,french national air1 the ,marseillaise4 ,in the garrison of ,strasburg was quartered a young artillery officer1 named ,rouget de l',isle4 ,he had a great taste for music and poetry1 and often entertained his comrades during their long and tedious hours in the garrison4 ,sought after for his musical and poetical talent1 he was a frequent and familiar guest at the house of one ,dietrich1 an ,alsacian patriot1 mayor of ,strasburg4 ,the winter of #agib was a period of great scarcity at ,strasburg4 ,the house of ,dietrich was poor1 his table was frugal1 but a seat was always open for ,rouget de l',isle4 ,one day there was nothing but bread and some slices of smoked ham on the table4 ,dietrich1 regarding the young officer1 said to him with sad serenity1 ,abundance fails at our boards2 but what matters that1 if enthusiasm fails not at our civic fetes1 nor courage in the hearts of our soldiers4 ,i have still a last bottle of wine in my cellar4 ,bring it1 said he to one of his daughters1 and let us drink ,france and ,liberty6 ,strasburg should have its patriotic solemnity4 ,de l',isle must draw from these last drops one of those hymns which raise the soul of the people4 ,the wine was brought and drank1 after which the officer departed4 ,the night was cold4 ,de l',isle was thoughtful4 ,his heart was moved1 his head heated4 ,he returned1 staggering1 to his solitary room1 and slowly sought inspiration1 sometimes in the fervor of his citizen soul1 and anon on the keys of his instrument1 composing now the air before the words1 and then the words before the air4 ,he sang all and wrote nothing1 and at last1 exhausted1 fell asleep1 with his head resting on his instrument1 and woke not till day-break4 ,the music of the night returned to his mind like the impression of a dream4 ,he wrote it1 and ran to ,dietrich1 whom he found in the garden1 engaged with his winter lettuces4 ,the wife and daughters of the old man were not up4 ,dietrich awoke them1 and called in some friends1 all as passionate as himself for music1 and able to execute the composition of ,de l',isle4 ,at the first stanza1 cheeks grew pale2 at the second1 tears flowed2 and at last1 the delirium of enthusiasm burst forth4 ,the wife of ,dietrich1 his daughters1 himself1 and the young officer threw themselves1 crying1 into each other's arms4 ,the hymn of the country was found4 ,executed some days afterward in ,strasburg1 the new song flew from city to city1 and was played by all the popular orchestras4 ,marseilles adopted it to be sung at the commencement of the sittings of the clubs1 and the ,marseillaise spread it through ,france1 singing it along the public roads4 ,from this came the name of ,marseillaise4 ,it was the song for excited men under the fiery impulse of liberty4 ,those melodies for little children1 just as immortal1 owe their existence to circumstances just as accidental4 ,we mean the melodies of ,mother ,goose4 ,the story of this ,iliad of the nursery is told as follows3 ,the mother-in-law of ,thomas ,fleet1 the editor1 in #agca1 of the ,boston ,weekly ,rehearsal1 was the original ,mother ,goose--the ,mother ,goose of the world-famous melodies4 ,mother ,goose belonged to a wealthy family in ,boston1 where her eldest daughter1 ,elizabeth ,goose1 was married by ,cotton ,mather1 in #agae1 to ,fleet1 and in due time gave birth to a son4 ,like most mothers-in-law in our own day1 the importance of ,mrs4 ,goose increased with the appearance of her grandchild1 and poor ,mr4 ,fleet1 half distracted with her endless nursery ditties1 finding all other means fail1 tried what ridicule could effect1 and actually printed a book1 with the title ,songs for the ,nursery1 or ,mother ,goose's ,melodies for ,children1 printed by ,t4 ,fleet1 at his printing house1 ,pudding ,lane1 ,boston4 ,price1 ten coppers4 ,mother ,goose was the mother of nineteen children1 and hence we may easily trace the origin of that famous classic1 ,there was an old woman who lived in a shoe2 she had so many children she didn't know what to do4 ,as to the plays of the stage1 we all know how some of them have gradually1 in the long years1 grown to be there1 from additions by actors and managers1 so wholly different from what they are in literature1 that in important parts they would hardly be recognized as the same4 ,sheridan's ,critic1 with the numerous gags by ,jack ,bannister1 ,king1 ,miss ,pope1 ,richard ,jones1 ,liston1 ,mrs4 ,gibbs1 ,charles ,mathews1 and other great actors1 is a famous instance of the kind4 ,and as to playing1 ,mathews says it is possible for a man1 absurd as it may seem1 to obtain favor with the public by merely attending to the mechanical portion of the profession1 without any exertion of his intellect beyond committing his words to memory1 and speaking to his cues at the right moment and with the proper emphasis4 ,he gives a remarkable illustration of this strange possibility4 ,when ,douglas ,jerrold's play of the ,bubbles of the ,day was produced at ,covent ,garden ,theatre1 there was a long-experienced actor1 standing exceedingly well with the public1 and an undoubted favorite1 who played one of the parts so admirably that he met with unqualified success with the audience1 and was a prominent feature in the piece1 highly praised by the press1 and complimented by the author himself1 as having perfectly embodied his conception4 ,after the play had run for some ten or fifteen nights1 he one day came to ,mathews and asked him as a favor that he would let him have the manuscript of the piece for a short time4 ,certainly1 said ,mathews2 but what do you want it for8 ,why1 said he1 ,i was unfortunately absent from the reading2 and ,i have not the slightest idea what it is about1 or who and what ,i am in it4 ,he had literally1 according to ,mathews1 played his part admirably for many nights to the gratification of the public1 the press1 and the author2 and he had never even had the curiosity to inquire in what way he was mixed up with the plot4 ,he had seized the instructions given him by ,jerrold during the rehearsals1 and adopted his suggestions so correctly that he was able to fulfill all the requirements of the character assigned to him without the least idea of what he was doing1 or of the person whom he represented4 ,so it would seem that ignorance is not always a hinderance to success2 on the contrary1 it is sometimes the very foundation of what passes for knowledge4 ,take the wise doctor's remedies4 ,they are adopted for the number that recover who use them1 not for the numbers that die1 who used them also4 ,the sun gives light to their success1 and the earth covers their failures4 ,if your physician1 says ,montaigne1 does not think it good for you to sleep1 to drink wine1 or to eat such and such meats1 never trouble yourself2 ,i will find you another that shall not be of his opinion4 ,heine1 during the eight years he lay bed-ridden with a kind of paralysis1 read all the medical books which treated of his complaint4 ,but1 said he to some one who found him thus engaged1 what good this reading is to do me ,i don't know1 except that it will qualify me to give lectures in heaven on the ignorance of doctors on earth about diseases of the spinal marrow4 ,what is often accepted as high moral truth is only a small part of what the philosopher has thought--the result less of faith than of skepticism2 the two being in about the proportion of ,falstaff's bread to his sack4 ,to get away from the ideal to the physical1 what can at first blush be so absurd as the climatic changes believed by some to be produced by railroads8 ,the desert of ,western ,america has been transformed into a fertile plain3 the railroad1 they say1 has brought rain4 ,no element1 we are told1 was wanting in the earth itself1 nor was aught in excess to enforce sterility1 but everywhere there was drought4 ,in the hot dust nothing grew but stunted hardy grass and sage brush4 ,all seemed desolation and utter hopelessness4 ,wherever irrigation was tried1 its success exceeded expectation in developing an almost miraculous productiveness in the soil4 ,no enthusiast dared1 however1 to dream of the possibility of artificial irrigation over all that enormous expanse4 ,rivers entering there would soon have been drunk up by the thirsty earth and sky4 ,yet man's work1 it would seem1 has irrigated that whole desert by unexpected means4 ,the railroad brought rain4 ,year by year1 since the ,union ,pacific ,railroad has been operated through1 the rain-fall had steadily increased until the summer of #ahgc1 when it became1 to the operators of the road1 a positive nuisance4 ,icicles1 paradoxical as it may seem1 are formed1 science tells us1 by the process of freezing in sunshine hot enough to melt snow1 blister the human skin1 and even1 when concentrated1 to burn up the human body itself4 ,they result from the fact that air is all but completely transparent to the heat rays emitted by the sun--that is1 such rays pass through the air without warming it4 ,only the scanty fraction of rays to which air is not transparent expend their force in raising its temperature4 ,in the ,alps1 ,tyndall tells us1 when the liquefaction is copious and the cold intense1 icicles grow to an enormous size4 ,over the edges 7mostly the southern edges7 of the chasms hangs a coping of snow1 and from this depend1 like stalactites1 rows of transparent icicles1 ten1 twenty1 thirty feet long1 constituting one of the most beautiful features of the higher crevasses4 ,an icicle would be incomprehensible if we did not know that the solar beams may pass through the air1 and still leave it at an icy temperature4 ,one of the contradictions of ice is1 that1 formed at a temperature of twenty-five to thirty degrees ,fahrenheit1 it is as different from that which is formed when the temperature has ranged for some time between ten degrees and one degree1 as chalk is from granite4 ,the ice at the lower temperature is dense and hard as flint4 ,it strikes fire at the prick of a skate4 ,in ,st4 ,petersburg1 in #agdj1 when masses of it were turned and bored for cannon1 though but four inches thick1 they were loaded with iron cannon-balls and a charge of a quarter of a pound of powder1 and fired without explosion4 ,the warm-blooded1 fur-covered cat is just as contradictory--in one peculiarity at least4 ,gilbert ,white says1 ,there is a propensity belonging to common house-cats that is very remarkable2 that is1 their violent fondness for fish1 which appears to be their most favorite food3 and yet nature in this instance seems to have planted in them an appetite that1 unassisted1 they know not how to gratify2 for of all quadrupeds cats are the least disposed toward water2 and will not1 when they can avoid it1 deign to wet a foot1 much less to plunge into that element4 ,and there is quite as curious a fact pertaining to the rat4 ,naturalists say that his propensity to gnaw must not be attributed altogether to a reckless determination to overcome impediments4 ,the never-ceasing action of his teeth is not a pastime1 but a necessity of his existence4 ,the ceaseless working of his incisors against some hard substance is necessary to keep them down1 and if he did not gnaw for his subsistence he would be compelled to gnaw to prevent his jaw being gradually locked by their rapid development4 ,and there is the tortoise4 ,the same delightful naturalist we have quoted had a pet one1 of whose habits he made many curious notes4 ,he says no part of its behavior ever struck him more than the extreme timidity it always expressed with regard to rain2 for though it had a shell that would secure it against the wheel of a loaded cart1 yet did it discover as much solicitude about rain as a lady dressed in all her best attire1 shuffling away on the first sprinklings1 and running its head up in a corner4 ,but man1 at last1 is the creature fullest of contradictions1 and his vanity is at the bottom of most of them4 ,what a sensible and agreeable companion is that gentleman who has just left us1 said the famous ,charles ,townshend to the worthy and sensible ,fitzherbert2 ,i never passed an evening with a more entertaining acquaintance in my life4 ,what could entertain you8 the gentleman never opened his lips4 ,i grant you1 my dear ,fitz1 but he listened faithfully to what ,i said1 and always laughed in the right place4 ,darwin1 speaking of one of his walks in ,new ,zealand1 says1 ,i should have enjoyed it more1 if my companion1 the chief1 had not possessed extraordinary conversational powers4 ,i knew only three words--'good1' 'bad1' and 'yes2' and with these ,i answered all his remarks1 without1 of course1 having understood one word he said4 ,this1 however1 was quite sufficient2 ,i was a good listener1 an agreeable person1 and he never ceased talking to me4 ,john ,chester was a delightful companion to ,coleridge1 on the same principle4 ,this ,chester1 says ,hazlitt1 was one of those who was attracted to ,coleridge's discourse as flies are to honey1 or bees in swarming-time to the sound of a brass pan4 ,he gave ,hazlitt his private opinion1 though he rarely opened his lips1 that ,coleridge was a wonderful man6 ,he followed ,coleridge into ,germany1 where the ,kantian philosophers were puzzled how to bring him under any of their categories4 ,when he sat down at table with his idol1 ,john's felicity was complete2 ,sir ,walter ,scott's1 or ,blackwood's1 when they sat down at the table with the king1 was not more so4 ,once he was astonished1 continues ,hazlitt1 that ,i should be able to suggest anything to ,coleridge that he did not already know6 ,demosthenes ,taylor1 as he was called 7that is1 the editor of ,demosthenes71 was the most silent man1 said ,dr4 ,johnson to ,boswell1 the merest statue of a man1 that ,i have ever seen4 ,i once dined in company with him1 and all he said during the whole time was not more than ,richard4 ,how a man should say only ,richard1 it is not easy to imagine4 ,but it was thus3 ,dr4 ,douglass was talking of ,dr4 ,zachary ,grey1 and was ascribing to him something that was written by ,dr4 ,richard ,grey4 ,so1 to correct him1 ,taylor said 7imitating his affected sententious emphasis and nod7 ',richard4' ,demosthenes must have been a sensible and agreeable companion4 ,that one word was to the point1 and was more effective than a dozen would have been to a man like ,johnson4 ,two words1 however1 if we are to believe the story chronicled by ,john of ,brompton of the mother of ,thomas a ,becket1 performed a still more memorable service4 ,his father1 ,gilbert a ,becket1 was taken prisoner during one of the ,crusades by a ,syrian emir1 and held for a considerable period in a kind of honorable captivity4 ,a daughter of the emir saw him at her father's table1 heard him converse1 fell in love with him1 and offered to arrange the means by which both might escape to ,europe4 ,the project only partly succeeded2 he escaped1 but she was left behind4 ,soon afterward1 however1 she contrived to elude her attendants1 and after many marvelous adventures by sea and land arrived in ,england1 knowing but two ,english words1 ,london and ,gilbert4 ,by constantly repeating the first1 she was directed to the city2 and there1 followed by a mob1 she walked for months from street to street1 crying as she went1 ,gilbert6 ,gilbert6 ,she at last came to the street in which her lover lived4 ,the mob and the name attracted the attention of a servant in the house2 ,gilbert recognized her2 and they were married6 ,but there remains one to be spoken of who gained immortal reputation for his sayings1 who may be said to have never said anything at all of his own4 ,joe ,miller1 whose name as a wit is now current wherever the ,english language is spoken1 was1 when living1 himself a jest for dullness4 ,according to report1 ,miller1 who was an excellent comic actor1 but taciturn and saturnine1 was in the habit of spending his afternoons at the ,black ,jack1 a well-known public-house in ,london1 which at that time was frequented by the most respectable tradesmen in the neighborhood1 who from ,joe's imperturbable gravity1 whenever any risible saying was recounted1 ironically ascribed it to him4 ,after his death1 having left his family unprovided for1 advantage was taken of this badinage4 ,a ,mr4 ,motley1 a well-known dramatist of that day1 was employed to collect all the stray jests then current on the town4 ,joe ,miller's name was affixed to them1 and from that day to this the man who never uttered a jest has been the reputed author of every jest4 ,,viii4 ,,mutations4 ,swift left some thoughts on various subjects--acute and profound--which it would appear were jotted down at different periods of life1 and in different humors4 ,in his most prosperous days1 when he dreamed of becoming a bishop1 he might have written hopefully1 ,no wise man ever wished to be younger4 ,at a much later time in life he might have written1 sagely and sadly1 ,every man desireth to live long1 but no man would be old4 ,we can imagine that he wrote the former just after he received the deanery of ,st4 ,patrick1 and the latter just after he returned from the walk in the neighborhood of ,dublin1 referred to by the author of ,night ,thoughts4 ,perceiving he did not follow us1 says ,young1 ,i went back1 and found him fixed as a statue1 and earnestly gazing upward at a noble elm1 which in its uppermost branches was much decayed4 ,pointing at it1 he said1 ',i shall be like that tree2 ,i shall die at the top4' ,bolingbroke1 writing to ,swift1 says1 ,it is now six in the morning2 ,i recall the time--and am glad it is over--when about this hour ,i used to be going to bed surfeited with pleasure1 or jaded with business2 my head often full of schemes1 and my heart as often full of anxiety4 ,is it a misfortune1 think you1 that ,i rise at this hour refreshed1 serene1 and calm3 that the past and even the present affairs of life stand like objects at a distance from me1 where ,i can keep off the disagreeable1 so as not to be strongly affected by them1 and from whence ,i can draw the others nearer to me8 ,de ,foe moralizes in memorable language3 ,i know too much of the world to expect good in it1 and have learned to value it too little to be concerned at the evil4 ,i have gone through a life of wonders1 and am the subject of a vast variety of providences4 ,i have been fed more by miracles than ,elijah when the ravens were his purveyors4 ,i have some time ago summed up the scenes of my life in this distich3-- ',no man has tasted differing fortunes more2 ,and thirteen times ,i have been rich and poor4' ,in the school of affliction ,i have learnt more philosophy than at the academy1 and more divinity than from the pulpit4 ,in prison ,i have learnt that liberty does not consist in open doors and the egress and regress of locomotion4 ,i have seen the rough side of the world as well as the smooth2 and have in less than half a year tasted the difference between the closet of a king and the dungeon of ,newgate4 ,i have suffered deeply for cleaving to principles1 of which integrity ,i have lived to say1 none but those ,i suffered for ever reproached me with4 ,we are told by ,middleton that before ,cicero left ,sicily1 at the end of his term as quaestor1 he made the tour of the island1 to see everything in it that was curious1 and especially the city of ,syracuse1 which had always made the principal figure in its history4 ,here his first request to the magistrates1 who were showing him the curiosities of the place1 was to let him see the tomb of ,archimedes1 whose name had done so much honor to it2 but to his surprise1 he perceived that they knew nothing at all of the matter1 and even denied that there was any such tomb remaining2 yet as he was assured of it beyond all doubt1 by the concurrent testimony of writers1 and remembered the verses inscribed1 and that there was a sphere with a cylinder engraved on some part of it1 he would not be dissuaded from the pains of searching it out4 ,when they had carried him1 therefore1 to the gate where the greatest number of their old sepulchres stood1 he observed1 in a spot overgrown with shrubs and briers1 a small column1 whose head just appeared above the bushes1 'with the figure of a sphere and a cylinder upon it2 this1 he presently told the company1 was the thing they were looking for2 and sending in some men to clear the ground of the brambles and rubbish1 he found the inscription also which he expected1 though the latter part of all the verses was effaced4 ,thus1' says he1 'one of the noblest cities of ,greece1 and once likewise the most learned1 had known nothing of the monument of its most deserving and ingenious citizen1 if it had not been discovered to them by a native of ,arpinum4' ,anaxagoras knew the short memory of the people1 and chose a happy way to lengthen it1 and at the same time to perpetuate himself4 ,when the chief persons of the city paid him a visit1 and asked him whether he had any commands for them1 he answered that he only desired that children might be permitted to play every year during the month in which he died4 ,his request was respected1 and the custom continued for ages4 ,ruins1 in the impressive language of ,alger1 symbolize the wishes and fate of man2 the weakness of his works1 the fleetingness of his existence4 ,who can visit ,thebes1 in whose crowded crypts1 as he enters1 a flight of bats chokes him with the dust of disintegrating priests and kings2 see the sheep nibbling herbage between the fallen cromlechs of ,stonehenge2 or confront a dilapidated stronghold of the ,middle ,ages1 where the fox looks out of the window and the thistle nods on the wall1 without thinking of these things8 ,they feelingly persuade him what he is4444 ,tyre was situated of old at the entry of the sea1 the beautiful mistress of the earth1 haughty in her purple garments1 the tiara of commerce on her brow4 ,now the dust has been scraped from her till she has become a blistered rock1 whereon the solitary fisher spreads his nets4 ,a few tattered huts stand among shapeless masses of masonry where glorious ,carthage stood2 the homes of a few husbandmen where voluptuous ,corinth once lifted her splendid array of marble palaces and golden towers4 ,many a nation1 proud and populous in the elder days of history1 like ,elephanta1 or ,memphis1 is now merely a tomb and a shadowy name4 ,pompeii and ,herculaneum are empty sepulchres1 which that fatal flight before the storm of ashes and lava cheated of their occupants2 the traveler sees poppies blooming in the streets where chariots once flashed4444 ,tigers foray in the palace yards of ,persepolis1 and camels browse in ,babylon on the site of ,belshazzar's throne2 at ,baalbec1 lizards overrun the altars of the ,temple of the ,sun1 and in the sculptured friezes1 here the nests of obscene birds1 there the webs of spiders4 ,the ,roman ,emperor ,hadrian1 philosophizes ,hillard1 after many years of care and conquest1 with a marked taste for architecture1 and the resources of the whole civilized world at his command1 resolved to surround his declining life with reproductions of all the striking objects which he had seen in the course of his world-wide wanderings4 ,he selected for the site of this gigantic enterprise a spot singularly favorable to his objects4 ,it was a range of gently undulating hills1 of about three miles in extent1 with a natural boundary1 formed in part by a winding valley1 and partly by walls of rock4 ,on the east1 it was overlooked by the wooded heights of the ,sabine ,mountains2 and1 on the west1 it commanded a view of the ,campagna and the ,eternal ,city1 whose temples and obelisks1 relieved against the golden sky of sunset1 must have soothed the mind of its imperial master with thoughts of duties performed and of repose1 earned by toil4 ,the natural inequalities and undulations of the site1 which furnished heights1 plains1 valleys1 and glens1 aided and lightened the tasks of the architect and the landscape gardener4 ,the emperor is said to have inclosed a space of eight or ten miles in circuit1 so that1 if the statement were true1 the villa and its appurtenances occupied an area greater than that of ,pompeii4 ,here he set to work with armies of laborers and mountains of gold1 and1 in an incredibly short space of time1 the ground was covered with an amazing number of costly and extensive structures1 which had risen like exhalations from the soil4 ,besides the imperial palace1 there was a library1 an academy1 a lyceum1 numerous temples1 one or more theatres1 a covered walk or portico1 and spacious barracks for the accommodation of the ,praetorian guards4 ,besides these1 a glen through which a stream flowed was made into a miniature likeness of the vale of ,tempe2 a flowery plain was called by the name of the ,elysian ,fields2 and an immense cavern1 filled with sunless waters1 recalled the gloom of ,tartarus4444 ,the ruins1 at the present time1 seen hastily and without the interpretation of an intelligent guide1 are a confused mass of decay1 revealing very little of their former destination or structure4444 ,a considerable portion of the space formerly occupied by the villa is now under cultivation1 and nature1 aided by a soft sky and a productive soil1 has been busy in healing the gaping wounds of time1 and covering unsightly ruin with a mantle of bloom and beauty4444 ,the whole scene is now a broad page on which is stamped an impressive lesson of the vanity of human wishes4 ,the great emperor1 even while his last workmen were gathering up their tools to depart1 was attacked by a mortal disease2 and1 seventy years after his death1 ,caracalla began the work of spoliation by carrying off its most costly marbles to decorate the baths whose ruins are in turn monuments to his name in ,rome4 ,a recent ,french traveler states that a species of syringa1 which ,hadrian brought from the ,east and planted here1 still sheds its fragrance over these ruins2 this delicate and fragile flower1 a part of the perennial life of ,nature1 remaining faithful to the emperor's memory1 while stone1 marble1 and bronze have long since betrayed their trust4 ,neither the troubles1 ,zenobia1 mused ,la ,bruyere1 which disturb your empire1 nor the war which since the death of the king1 your husband1 you have so heroically maintained against a powerful nation1 diminish anything of your magnificence4 ,you have preferred the banks of the ,euphrates to any other country1 and resolved to raise a stately fabric there4 ,the air is healthful and temperate2 the situation charming2 that sacred wood makes an awful shade on the west2 the ,syrian gods1 who sometimes dwell on earth1 could not choose a finer abode4 ,the plain about it is peopled with men who are constantly employed in shaping and cutting1 going and coming1 transporting the timber of ,lebanon1 brass1 and porphyry4 ,their tools and engines are heard in the air2 and the travelers who pass that way to ,arabia expect on their return home to see it finished with all the splendor you design to bestow on it1 ere you or the princes your children make it your dwelling4 ,spare nothing1 great queen1 nor gold1 nor the labor of the most excellent artists2 let the ,phidiases and ,zeuxises of your age show the utmost of their art on your walls and ceilings4 ,mark out vast and delicious gardens1 whose beauty shall appear to be all enchantment1 and not the workmanship of man4 ,exhaust your treasures1 and tire your industry on this incomparable edifice1 and after you have given it the last perfection1 some grazier or other1 who lives on the neighboring sands of ,palmyra1 enriched by taking toll on your rivers1 shall buy with ready money this royal mansion1 to adorn it1 and make it worthy of him and his fortune4 ,gibbon thus concludes his review of the entire series of ,byzantine emperors3 ,in a composition of some days1 in a perusal of some hours1 six hundred years have rolled away1 and the duration of a life or reign is contracted to a fleeting moment2 the grave is ever beside the throne3 the success of a criminal is almost instantly followed by the loss of his prize2 and our immortal reason survives and disdains the sixty phantoms of kings who have passed before our eyes1 and faintly dwell on our remembrance4 ,i went to-day1 said ,cobbett1 to see the house ,i formerly occupied4 ,how small6 ,it is always thus3 the words large and small are carried about with us in our minds1 and we forget real dimensions4 ,the idea1 such as it was received1 remains during our absence from the object4 ,when ,i returned to ,england in #ahjj1 after an absence from the country parts of it for sixteen years1 the trees1 the hedges1 even the parks and woods1 seemed so small6 ,it made me laugh to hear little gutters1 that ,i could jump over1 called rivers6 ,the ,thames was but a 'creek6' ,but when1 in about a month after my arrival in ,london1 ,i went to ,farnham1 the place of my birth1 what was my surprise6 ,everything was become so pitifully small6444 ,there is a hill not far from the town called ,crooksbury ,hill1 which rises up out of a flat in the form of a cone1 and is planted with ,scotch fir-trees4 ,here ,i used to take the eggs and young ones of crows and magpies4 ,this hill was a famous object in the neighborhood4 ,it served as the superlative degree of height4 ',as high as ,crooksbury ,hill' meant1 with us1 the utmost degree of height4 ,therefore the first object that my eyes sought was this hill4 ,i could not believe my eyes6 ,literally speaking1 ,i for a moment thought the famous hill removed1 and a little heap put in its stead2 for ,i had seen in ,new ,brunswick a single rock1 or hill of solid rock1 ten times as big1 and four or five times as high4444 ,what a change6 ,what scenes ,i had gone through6 ,how altered my state6 ,i had dined the day before at a secretary of state's1 in company with ,mr4 ,pitt1 and had been waited upon by men in gaudy liveries6 ,i had had nobody to assist me in the world4 ,no teachers of any sort4 ,nobody to shelter me from the consequences of bad1 and no one to counsel me to good behavior4 ,i felt proud4 ,the distinctions of rank1 birth1 and wealth1 all became nothing in my eyes2 and from that moment--less than a month from my arrival in ,england--,i resolved never to bend before them4 ,we read in the ,memoirs of ,moore1 says a writer on ,m4 ,guizot1 in the ,london ,quarterly1 #ahed1 that in #ahbj he was present at a performance in ,paris1 of ,tarare1 an opera of ,beaumarchais1 which was written in #aghg1 at a period when the promulgation of liberal ideas1 with a certain infusion of science1 was the fashion in ,paris4 ,accordingly1 while ,nature and the ,genius of ,heat are trilling in a duet the laws of gravitation1 ,tarare 7a virtuous soldier7 defends his wife from the assaults of the monarch of ,ormuz1 who1 being finally defeated1 kills himself1 and ,tarare is proclaimed king in his place4 ,only three years afterward ,louis ,,xvi41 having become a constitutional sovereign1 and ,bailly 7who had shortly to pay with his head for his patriotic illusions7 being ,maire of ,paris1 ,tarare was not allowed to be acted in its original form4 ,beaumarchais fitted it to the altered circumstances1 and in its remodeled shape1 ,tarare becomes a constitutional king4 ,under the ,republic1 ,tarare was not allowed to be a monarch at all2 and when the opera was performed in #agie1 the victorious soldier indignantly refuses the crown4 ,under ,bonaparte1 ,tarare was again recast to bring it into harmony with the delusion of the hour2 and lastly1 when in #ahbj the performance was witnessed by ,moore1 ,tarare1 become more monarchal than ever1 displays his loyalty by defending the king of ,ormuz from a popular insurrection1 and ultimately falls with emotion at the feet of the tyrant1 who has the magnanimity to restore his wife to him4 ,st4 ,austin1 with his mother ,monica1 was led one day by a ,roman praetor to see the tomb of ,caesar4 ,himself thus describes the corpse3 ,it looked of a blue mould1 the bone of the nose laid bare1 the flesh of the nether lip quite fallen off1 his mouth full of worms1 and in his eye-pit a hungry toad1 feasting upon the remnant portion of flesh and moisture3 and so he dwelt in his house of darkness4 ,a traveler in ,ceylon1 who visited the ruins of ancient ,mahagam1 says that one of the ruined buildings had apparently rested upon seventy-two pillars4 ,these were still erect1 standing in six lines of twelve columns4 ,this building must have formed an oblong of three hundred feet by two hundred and fifty4 ,the stone causeway which passed through the ruins was about two miles in length1 being for the most part overgrown with low jungle and prickly cactus4 ,the first we hear of this city is #bhf ,b4 ,c42 but we have no account of the era or cause of its destruction4 ,the records of ,ceylon give no satisfactory account of it4 ,the wild elephants come out of the jungles and rub their backs against the columns of this forgotten temple1 as the naked ,indians gamble with forked sticks on the desolate ruins of ,central ,america4 ,but a few years sometimes change the whole face of a country4 ,sir ,woodbine ,parish informed ,darwin that during the three years' drought in ,buenos ,ayres1 beginning in #ahbg1 the ground being so long dry1 such quantities of dust were blown about that in the open country the landmarks became obliterated1 and people could not tell the limits of their estates4 ,but what shall we say of the instability of human greatness8 ,the career and end of ,pompey furnish a striking example4 ,he who a few days before commanded kings and consuls1 and all the noblest of ,rome1 was sentenced to die by a council of slaves2 murdered by a base deserter2 cast out naked and headless on the ,egyptian strand2 and when the whole earth1 as ,velleius says1 had scarce been sufficient for his victories1 could not find a spot upon it at last for a grave4 ,his body was burnt on the shore by one of his freedmen1 with the planks of an old fishing-boat2 and his ashes1 being conveyed to ,rome1 were deposited privately by his wife ,cornelia in a vault of his ,alban villa4 ,aristotle1 that prince of all true thinkers1 loaded with immortal glory1 was compelled to flee suddenly and by stealth to ,chalcis1 in order to save his life1 and spare1 as he said1 the ,athenians a new crime against philosophy4 ,there1 it is believed1 the great man1 in his old age1 wearied with persecutions1 poisoned himself4 ,the venerable ,hildebrand1 the greatest of all the popes1 after the herculean labors of his self-devoted and mighty career1 crushed by an accumulation of hardships1 said1 ,i have loved justice and hated iniquity2 therefore ,i die in exile4 ,the ceremony of ,galileo's abjuration1 says ,sir ,david ,brewster1 in his biography of that great man1 was one of exciting interest and of awful formality4 ,clothed in the sackcloth of a repentant criminal1 the venerable sage fell upon his knees before the assembled cardinals2 and1 laying his hands upon the ,holy ,evangelists1 he invoked the divine aid in abjuring and detesting1 and vowing never again to teach1 the doctrine of the earth's motion and of the sun's stability4 ,he pledged himself that he would never again1 either in words or in writing1 propagate such heresies2 and he swore that he would fulfill and observe the penances which had been inflicted upon him4 ,at the conclusion of this ceremony1 in which he recited his abjuration word for word1 and then signed it1 he was conveyed1 in conformity with his sentence1 to the prison of the ,inquisition4 ,all because it had been said that the sun runneth about from one end of heaven to the other1 and that the foundations of the earth are so firmly fixed that they cannot be moved4 ,think of this in connection with the fact that in five years ,charles ,,ii4 touched twenty-three thousand six hundred and one of his subjects for the evil2 that the bishops invented a sort of heathen service for the occasion2 that the unchristianlike1 superstitious ceremony was performed in public2 and that1 as soon as prayers were ended1 the ,duke of ,buckingham brought a towel1 and the ,earl of ,pembroke a basin and ewer1 who1 after they had made obeisance to his majesty1 kneeled down till his majesty had washed4 ,dr4 ,wiseman1 an eminent surgeon of that period1 in writing on scrofula1 says1 ,however1 ,i must needs profess that his majesty 7,charles ,,ii47 cureth more in any one year than all the chirurgeons of ,london have done in an age4 ,and think at the same time of the trial of a mother and her daughter1 eleven years old1 before the great and good ,sir ,matthew ,hale1 then ,lord ,chief ,baron1 for witchcraft2 and their conviction and execution at ,bury ,st4 ,edmunds1 principally on the evidence of ,sir ,thomas ,browne1 one of the first physicians and scholars of his day4 ,in ,fuller's ,church ,history there is a curious fact1 showing the power of superstition over even such a man as ,wolsey4 ,the great cardinal in his life-time was informed by some fortune-tellers that he should have his end at ,kingston4 ,this his credulity interpreted of ,kingston-on-,thames2 which made him always avoid the riding through that town1 though the nearest way from his house to the court4 ,afterward1 understanding that he was to be committed by the king's express orders to the charge of ,sir ,anthony ,kingston1 it struck to his heart2 too late perceiving himself deceived by that father of lies in his homonymous prediction4 ,but credulity seems to have had a foundation place in the characters of some of the world's greatest men4 ,there1 for instance1 is ,hooker1 author of that great work1 ,ecclesiastical ,polity1--according to ,hallam the finest as well as the most philosophical writer of the ,elizabethan period2 according to ,lecky the most majestic of ,english writers4 ,being appointed to preach a sermon at ,st4 ,paul's ,cross1 ,london1 he lodged at the ,shunamite's house1 a dwelling appropriated to preachers1 and was skillfully persuaded by the landlady that it was best for him to have a wife that might prove a nurse to him1 such an one as might prolong his life1 and make it more comfortable1 and such an one as she could and would provide for him if he thought fit to marry4 ,the unsuspecting young divine agreed to abide by her choice1 which fell upon her own daughter1 who proved to be not only a silly1 clownish woman1 but a very ,xantippe4 ,izaak ,walton1 in his biography of ,hooker1 thus philosophizes upon this remarkable marriage3 ,this choice of ,mr4 ,h4 7if it were his choice7 may be wondered at2 but let us consider that the prophet ,ezekiel says1 ',there is a wheel within a wheel2' a secret1 sacred wheel of ,providence 7not visible in marriages71 guided by his hand1 that 'allows not the race to the swift1' nor 'bread to the wise1' nor good wives to good men2 and ,he that can bring good out of evil 7for mortals are blind to this reason7 only knows why this blessing was denied to patient ,job1 to meek ,moses1 and to our as meek and patient ,mr4 ,hooker4 ,farther on1 by way of explanation and apology1 old ,izaak quaintly says1 ,god and nature blessed him with so blessed a bashfulness1 that as in his younger days his pupils might easily look him out of countenance1 so neither then1 nor in his age1 did he ever willingly look any man in the face3 and was of so mild and humble a nature1 that his poor parish clerk and he did never talk but with both their hats on or both off at the same time3 and to this may be added1 that though he was not purblind1 yet he was short or weak sighted2 and where he fixed his eyes at the beginning of his sermon1 there they continued till it was ended3 and the reader has a liberty to believe1 that his modesty and dim sight were some of the reasons why he trusted ,mrs4 ,churchman to choose his wife4 ,his anger is said to have been like a vial of clear water1 which1 when shook1 beads at the top1 but instantly subsides1 without any soil or sediment of uncharitableness4 ,nobody knows1 to say truth1 how much the great1 modest ,hooker was benefited by what appeared to his friends his calamitous marriage4 ,there is no great evil1 said ,publius ,syrus1 which does not bring with it some advantage4 ,calamities1 we know1 have often proved blessings4 ,there are cases where blows on the head have benefited the brain1 and produced extraordinary changes for the better4 ,mabillon was almost an idiot at the age of twenty-six4 ,he fell down a stone staircase1 fractured his skull1 and was trepanned4 ,from that moment he became a genius4 ,dr4 ,prichard mentioned a case of three brothers1 who were all nearly idiots4 ,one of them was injured on the head1 and from that time he brightened up1 and became a successful barrister4 ,wallenstein1 too1 they say1 was a mere fool1 till he fell out of a window1 and awoke with enlarged capabilities4 ,here is an instance noted by ,robinson in his ,diary3 ,after dinner called on the ,flaxmans4 ,mrs4 ,flaxman--wife of the sculptor--admitted me to her room4 ,she had about a fortnight before broken her leg1 and sprained it besides1 by falling down-stairs4 ,this misfortune1 however1 instead of occasioning a repetition of the paralytic stroke which she had a year ago1 seemed to have improved her health4 ,she had actually recovered the use of her hand in some degree1 and her friends expect that she will be benefited by the accident4 ,there is ,cowper4 ,but for his mental malady the world would have had much less of good poetry and fewer perfect letters4 ,the thought of a clerkship in the ,house of ,lords made him insane6 ,innocent1 pious1 and confiding1 he lived in perpetual dread of everlasting punishment3 he could only see between him and heaven a high wall which he despaired of ever being able to scale2 yet his intellectual vigor was not subdued by affliction4 ,what he wrote for amusement or relief in the midst of 'supreme distress1' surpasses the elaborate efforts of others made under the most favorable circumstances2 and in the very winter of his days1 his fancy was as fresh and blooming as in the spring and morning of his existence4 ,the ,diverting ,history of ,john ,gilpin1 the production of a single night1 was1 curious to say1 written by a man who lived in perpetual dread of eternal punishment2 and while it was being read by ,henderson1 the actor1 to large audiences in ,london1 all through ,lent1 at high prices1 its author was raving mad4 ,the ballad1 which had become the town talk1 was reprinted from the newspaper1 wherein it had lain three years dormant4 ,gilpin1 passing at full stretch by the ,bell at ,edmonton1 was to be seen at all print-shops4 ,one print-seller sold six thousand4 ,what had succeeded so well in ,london was repeated with inferior ability1 but with equal success1 on provincial stages1 and the ballad became in the highest degree popular before the author's name became known4 ,the last reading to which ,cowper listened appears to have been that of his own works4 ,beginning with the first volume1 ,mr4 ,johnson went through them1 and he listened to them in silence till he came to ,john ,gilpin1 which he begged not to hear4 ,it reminded him of cheerful days1 and of those of whom he could not bear to think4 ,the grinners at ,john ,gilpin1 he said1 little dream what the author sometimes suffers4 ,how ,i hated myself yesterday for having ever wrote it6 ,on his death-bed1 when the clergyman told him to confide in the love of the ,redeemer1 who desired to save all men1 ,cowper gave a passionate cry1 begging him not to give him such consolations4 ,to our ignorant eyes it looks strange that the author of our best and most popular hymns should have thought his sins unpardonable2 should have believed himself already damned4 ,one of ,cowper's visitors and pensioners at ,olney was a poor school-master 7,teedon7 who thought himself specially favored by ,providence1 and to whom ,cowper communicated his waking dreams1 and consulted1 as a person whom the ,lord was pleased to answer in prayer4 ,this recalls a similar fact of the illustrious ,tycho ,brahe4 ,when he lived in ,uraniberg he maintained an idiot of the name of ,lep1 who lay at his feet whenever he sat down to dinner1 and whom he fed with his own hand4 ,persuaded that his mind1 when moved1 was capable of fore-telling future events1 ,tycho carefully marked everything he said4 7,striking instances1 it may be observed1 of the tribute which intelligence and science unconsciously pay to faith47 ,it is pathetic to think1 says ,alger1 how many great men have1 like ,homer and ,milton1 had the windows of their souls closed4 ,galileo1 in his seventy-third year1 wrote to one of his correspondents1 ,alas6 your dear friend has become irreparably blind4 ,these heavens1 this earth1 this universe1 which by wonderful observation ,i had enlarged a thousand times past the belief of past ages1 are henceforth shrunk into the narrow space which ,i myself occupy4 ,so it pleases ,god2 it shall1 therefore1 please me also4 ,haendel passed the last seven years of his life in total blindness1 in the gloom of the porch of death4 ,how he and the spectators must have felt when the great composer1 in #agec1 stood pale and tremulous1 with his sightless eyeballs turned toward a tearful concourse of people1 while his sad song from ,samson1 ,total eclipse1 no sun1 no moon1 was delivered6 ,leigh ,hunt said of ,haendel3 ,he was the grandest composer that is known to have existed1 wielding1 as it were1 the choirs of heaven and earth together4 ,mozart said of him1 that he struck you1 whenever he pleased1 with a thunderbolt4 ,his hallelujahs open the heavens4 ,he utters the word wonderful1 as if all their trumpets spoke together4 ,beethoven was afflicted with dense and incurable deafness long before he had composed his greatest works4 ,he said1 ,i was nigh taking my life with my own hands4 ,but art held me back4 ,i could not leave the world until ,i had revealed what lay within me4 ,he occupied for a long time a room in a remote house on a hill1 and was called the ,solitary of the ,mountain1 where he heard1 no doubt1 more distinctly the voices1 than if he had been blest with the best of ears4 ,when he produced his mighty opera1 ,fidelio1 it failed4 ,in vain he again modeled and remodeled it4 ,he went himself into the orchestra and attempted to lead it2 and the pitiless public of ,vienna laughed4 ,his work so far surpassed the appreciation of many of his contemporaries as to be condemned as the vagaries of a madman4 ,haydn and ,mozart1 as was said1 had perfected instrumental music in form2 it remained for deaf ,beethoven to touch it1 so that it became a living soul4 ,it does seem that ,god in his mystery has sometimes put out the eyes of poets and stopped the ears of musicians to admit them to glimpses of his own glories and whisper to them his own harmonies4 ,homer and ,milton had inward poetic visions which light and sight alone never gave to man4 ,beethoven1 unable from defective hearing to conduct an orchestra1 produced celestial harmonies out of the silence of divine meditation4 ,the philanthropy of ,john ,howard was so prodigious that it rendered him incapable of ordinary enjoyments4 ,his faculties were so absorbed by his great humanity that he was voted a bore by the liveliest and cleverest of his contemporaries4 ,but the mere men of taste1 says ,john ,foster1 ought to be silent respecting such a man as ,howard2 he is above their sphere of judgment4 ,the invisible spirits1 who fulfill their commissions of philanthropy among mortals1 do not care about pictures1 statues1 and public buildings2 and no more did he1 when the time in which he must have inspected and admired them would have been taken from the work to which he had consecrated his life4 ,the curiosity which he might feel was reduced to wait till the hour should arrive when its gratification should be presented by conscience1 which kept a scrupulous charge of all his time1 as the most sacred duty of that hour4 ,if he was still at every hour1 when it came1 fated to feel the attractions of the fine arts but the second claim1 they might be sure of their revenge2 for no other man will ever visit ,rome under such a despotic consciousness of duty as to refuse himself time for surveying the magnificence of its ruins4 ,such a sin against taste is far beyond the reach of common saintship to commit4 ,it implied an inconceivable severity of conviction1 that he had one thing to do1 and that he who would do some great thing in this short life must apply himself to the work with such a concentration of his forces as to idle spectators1 who live only to amuse themselves1 looks like insanity4 ,look a little over his wonderful life1 by the aid of a few facts set down by the encyclopedist3 ,at about the age of twenty-five he experienced a severe attack of illness1 and upon his recovery testified his gratitude to the woman who had nursed him1 and who was nearly thirty years his senior1 by marrying her4 ,moved by the accounts of the horrors of the earthquake at ,lisbon1 he embarked for that place with a view of doing something to alleviate the calamity4 ,on the voyage he was taken prisoner by a ,french privateer and carried into ,brest1 where he became a witness of the inhuman treatment to which prisoners of war were subjected4 ,designing to visit the new lazaretto of ,marseilles1 he endeavored in vain to procure a passport from the ,french government1 which was incensed against him for having published a translation of a suppressed ,french account of the interior of the ,bastile4 ,he therefore traveled through the country in various disguises1 and after a series of romantic adventures and several narrow escapes from the police1 who were constantly on his track1 succeeded in his purpose4 ,he proceeded thence to ,malta1 ,zante1 ,smyrna1 and ,constantinople1 visiting prisons1 pest-houses1 and hospitals1 and in the two latter cities gratuitously dispensing his medical services1 often with great benefit to the poor4 ,the freedom with which he exposed his person in infected places1 whither his attendants refused to follow him1 was characteristic of his fearless and self-sacrificing character2 but as if by a miracle he escaped all contagion4 ,his most daring act1 however1 has yet to be recorded4 ,feeling that he could not speak with authority on the subject of pest-houses until he had experienced the discipline of one1 he went to ,smyrna1 sought out a foul ship1 and sailed in her for ,venice4 ,after a voyage of sixty days1 during which by his energy and bravery he assisted the crew in beating off an attack of pirates1 he arrived at his destination1 and was subjected to a rigorous confinement in the ,venetian lazaretto1 under which his health suffered severely4 ,in the preface to one of his numerous works1 he announced his intention to pursue his work1 observing1 ,should it please ,god to cut off my life in the prosecution of this design1 let not my conduct be imputed to rashness or enthusiasm1 but to a serious conviction that ,i am pursuing the path of duty4 ,he died of camp-fever1 which he contracted from a patient at ,kherson1 ,russia1 on the ,black ,sea1 having expended nearly the whole of his large fortune in various benefactions4 ,in a speech to the electors of ,bristol1 ,edmund ,burke thus eloquently sums up the public services of ,howard3 ,he has visited all ,europe1 not to survey the sumptuousness of palaces1 or the stateliness of temples2 not to make accurate measurement of the remains of ancient grandeur1 nor to form a scale of the curiosity of modern art2 not to collect medals or collect manuscripts2 but to dive into the depths of dungeons2 to plunge into the infections of hospitals2 to survey the mansions of sorrow and pain2 to take the gauge and dimensions of misery1 depression1 and contempt2 to remember the forgotten1 to attend to the neglected1 to visit the forsaken1 and to compare and collate the distresses of all men in all countries4 ,in persons of genius1 defects sometimes appear to take the place of merits1 and weaknesses to act the part of auxiliaries4 ,the plastic nature of the versatile faculty is such that common laws do not govern it1 nor common standards judge it4 ,men of genius1 says an acute historian and critic of literature and literary men1 have often resisted the indulgence of one talent to exercise another with equal power2 some1 who have solely composed sermons1 could have touched on the foibles of society with the spirit of ,horace or ,juvenal2 ,blackstone and ,sir ,william ,jones directed that genius to the austere studies of law and philology which might have excelled in the poetical and historical character4 ,so versatile is this faculty of genius1 that its possessors are sometimes uncertain of the manner in which they shall treat their subject1 whether to be grave or ludicrous4 ,when ,brebeuf1 the ,french translator of the ,pharsalia of ,lucan1 had completed the first book as it now appears1 he at the same time composed a burlesque version1 and sent both to the great arbiter of taste in that day1 to decide which the poet should continue4 ,the decision proved to be difficult4 ,hence it is that men of genius and their productions are often enigmas to the world4 ,the hero1 says ,carlyle1 can be poet1 prophet1 king1 priest1 or what you will1 according to the kind of world he finds himself born into4 ,i confess ,i have no notion of a truly great man that could not be all sorts of men4 ,the poet who could merely sit on a chair1 and compose stanzas1 would never make a stanza worth much4 ,he could not sing the heroic warrior1 unless he himself were at least a heroic warrior too4 ,i fancy there is in him the politician1 the thinker1 legislator1 philosopher2 in one or the other degree1 he could have been1 he is1 all these4444 ,shakespeare1--one knows not what he could not have made in the supreme degree4 ,it is notorious1 says ,macaulay1 that ,niccolo ,machiavelli1 out of whose surname they have coined an epithet for a knave1 and out of his ,christian name a synonym for the devil1 was through life a zealous republican4 ,in the same year in which he composed his manual of kingcraft1 he suffered imprisonment and torture in the cause of public liberty4 ,it seems inconceivable that the martyr of freedom should have designedly acted as the apostle of tyranny4 ,the real object and meaning of his celebrated book1 ,the ,prince1 have been subjects of dispute for centuries4 ,one old critic says1 ,machiavel is a strenuous defender of democracy2 he was born1 educated1 and respected under that form of government1 and was a great enemy to tyranny4 ,hence it is that he does not favor a tyrant3 it is not his design to instruct a tyrant1 but to detect his secret attempts1 and expose him naked and conspicuous to the poor people4 ,do we not know there have been many princes such as he describes8 ,why are such princes angry at being immortalized by his means8 ,this excellent author's design was1 under the show of instructing the prince1 to inform the people4 ,another says1 ,i must say that ,machiavel1 who passed everywhere for a teacher of tyranny1 detested it more than any man of his time2 as may easily appear by the tenth chapter of the first book of his ,discourses1 in which he expresses himself very strongly against tyrants4 ,nardi1 his contemporary1 calls his works panegyrics upon liberty4 ,bayle says1 ,the ,jesuit ,porsevin1 who had not read ,the ,prince1 was nevertheless the cause of its being condemned by the ,inquisition4 ,he charges ,machiavel with such things as are not in ,the ,prince4 ,his charges were made upon passages from a work1 published anonymously1 entitled ,anti-,machiavel1 and not from ,the ,prince4 ,the ,prince was published about the year #aeae1 and dedicated to ,lorenzo de' ,medici1 nephew to ,leo ,x4 ,it did not prejudice the author with this pope1 who nevertheless was the first who threatened those with excommunication that read a prohibited book6 ,a critic says of ,la ,rochefoucauld3 ,the author of the ,maxims was apparently the least selfish public man of his land and age4 ,saith one of his biographers1 not untruly1 ',he gave the example of all the virtues of which he would appear to contest the existence4' ,he ridicules bravery as a madness2 and as ,madame de ,maintenon1 who could have had no predilection for his system1 curtly observes1 'he was1 however1 very brave4' ,the proofs of his bravery do not rest on ,madame de ,maintenon's assertion4 ,a scorn of danger1 preeminently ,french1 as it became the inheritor of so great a ,french name to exhibit1 was sufficiently shown at the siege of ,bordeaux and the battle of ,st4 ,antoine4 ,madame de ,sevigne speaks of ,la ,rochefoucauld with an admiration which she rarely bestows except on her daughter2 and says that in his last agonizing illness he thought more of his neighbor than himself4 ,cardinal de ,retz1 in the portrait he has left of the brilliant duke1--a portrait certainly not flattered1--tells us that this philosopher1 who reduced all human motives to self-interest1 did not feel the little interests which were never his weak point1 and did not understand the great interests which were never his strong point2 and1 finally1 this acute critic of contemporaneous celebrities1 after assuring us that ,la ,rochefoucauld 'had never been a good party-man1' tells us that in the relations of common life ,la ,rochefoucauld was the honestest man of the age4 ,sir ,john ,denham1 according to ,count ,grammont1 was one of the brightest geniuses ,england ever produced for wit and humor1 and for brilliancy of composition2 satirical and free in his poems1 he spared neither frigid writers nor jealous husbands1 nor even their wives2 every part abounded with the most poignant wit1 and the most entertaining stories2 but his most delicate and spirited raillery turned generally against matrimony2 and as if he wished to confirm1 by his own example1 the truth of what he had written in his youth1 he married1 at the age of seventy-nine1 ,miss ,brook1 aged eighteen1 a favorite of ,king ,charles ,,ii41 and mistress of his brother1 the ,duke of ,york1 afterward ,king ,james ,,ii4 ,as no person entertained any doubt of his having poisoned her 7on account of jealousy71 the populace of his neighborhood had a design of tearing him in pieces as soon as he should come abroad2 but he shut himself up to bewail her death1 until their fury was appeased by a magnificent funeral1 at which he distributed four times more burnt wine than had ever been drank at any burial in ,england4 7,you remember the plea ,denham urged in behalf of old ,george ,wither1 the ,puritan poet1 when he was taken prisoner by the ,cavaliers1 and a general disposition was displayed to hang him at once4 ,sir ,john saved his life by saying to ,charles1 ,i hope your majesty will not hang poor ,george ,wither1 for as long as he lives it can't be said that ,i am the worst poet in ,england47 ,literature is full of such facts as at first blush appear incredible4 ,consider1 that although the soil of ,sweden is not rich in either plants or insects1 and many of its feathered tribes are but temporary visitants1 leaving it at stated periods in quest of milder climes1 nevertheless it was amidst this physical barrenness that the taste of ,linnaeus for his favorite pursuit broke out almost from his earliest infancy1 and found the means1 not only of its gratification1 but of laying a basis of a system which soon spread its dominion over the whole world of science4 ,almost within the ,arctic circle1 this enthusiast of nature felt all those inspirations which are generally supposed to be the peculiar offspring of warmer regions4 ,he traveled over the greater part of ,lapland1 skirting the boundaries of ,norway1 and returning to ,upsala by the ,gulf of ,bothnia1 having passed over an extent of about four thousand miles4 ,nothing but the enthusiasm of genius would have made him1 night and day1 wade the cold creeks and treacherous bogs1 and climb the bleak mountains of ,lapland--eating little but fish1 unsalted1 and crawling with vermin4 ,he considered his labor amply remunerated by the information he had gained1 and the discovery of new plants in the higher mountains1 with the payment of his expenses1 amounting to about ten pounds6 ,and reflect1 that on a bulk1 in a cellar1 or in a glass-house1 among thieves and beggars1 was to be found the author of ,the ,wanderer1 the man of exalted sentiments1 extensive views1 and curious observations2 the man whose remarks on life might have assisted the statesman1 whose ideas of virtue might have enlightened the moralist1 whose eloquence might have influenced senates1 and whose delicacy might have polished courts4 ,and see what ,bishop ,burnet1 in his ,history of his ,own ,times1 says of the vile ,lord ,rochester3 ,in the last year of his life ,i was much with him1 and have writ a book of what passed between him and me3 ,i do verily believe he was then so changed that if he had recovered he would have made good all his resolutions4 ,of this book1 mentioned by the bishop1 ,dr4 ,johnson said1 ,it is one which the critic ought to read for its eloquence1 the philosopher for its arguments1 and the saint for its piety4 ,soame ,jenyns1 a friend of ,johnson and ,goldsmith and ,reynolds1 is thus spoken of by ,cumberland3 ,he came into your house at the very moment you had put upon your card2 he dressed himself to do your party honor in all the colors of the jay2 his lace indeed had long since lost its lustre1 but his coat had faithfully retained its cut since the days when gentlemen wore embroidered figured velvet1 with short sleeves1 boot-cuffs1 and buckram skirts2 as nature had cast him in the exact mould of an ill-made pair of stiff stays1 he followed her so close in the fashion of his coat that it was doubted if he did not wear them3 because he had a protuberant wen just under his poll1 he wore a wig1 that did not cover above half his head4 ,his eyes were protruded like the eyes of the lobster1 who wears them at the end of his feelers1 and yet there was room between one of these and his nose for another wen that added nothing to his beauty2 yet ,i heard this good man very innocently remark1 when ,gibbon published his history1 that he wondered anybody so ugly could write a book6 ,it has been remarked as an interesting fact1 that ,wilberforce at the age of twenty-five1 and ,wendell ,phillips at the same age1 were the two persons who seemed the least likely of all their respective contemporaries to become world-renowned as advocates of the cause of antislavery4 ,wilberforce was returned to parliament at twenty-one1 when1 according to his biographer1 he became the idol of the fashionable world1 dancing at ,almack's1 and singing before the ,prince of ,wales4 ,at twenty-five1 he abandoned his gayeties1 entered upon a new life1 and took up the great cause which he advocated during the remainder of his long career4 ,wendell ,phillips1 at the age of twenty-two1 was a ,boston lawyer1 aristocratic1 wealthy1 handsome1 polished1 and sought after2 colonel of a city militia company1 and a lover of blooded horses1 of fencing and boxing4 ,he was born on ,beacon ,street1 and his father was one of the most popular mayors ,boston ever had4 ,at ,harvard ,university1 where he graduated1 he was president of the exclusive society known as the ,gentleman's ,club1 and in fact he was the leader of the aristocratic party among the students4 ,at twenty-five he abandoned his practice of law1 gave up the fashionable world1 and espoused the cause of the slave4 ,robespierre1 anarchist and philanthropist1 and ,frederick of ,prussia1 despot and philosopher1 were both bitter and vitriolic natures2 yet both1 in their youth1 exceeded ,exeter ,hall itself in their professions of universal beneficence4 ,frederick indeed wrote early in life a treatise called the ,anti-,machiavel1 which was1 says his biographer1 an edifying homily against rapacity1 perfidy1 arbitrary government1 unjust war2 in short1 against almost everything for which its author is now remembered among men4 ,the grand ,descartes1 modestest of men1 who1 observes ,bulwer1 wished to live in a town where he should not be known by sight1 felt so keen an anguish at the snubbings and censures his writings procured him1 that he meditated the abandonment of philosophy and the abjuration of his own injured identity by a change of name4 ,happily for mankind1 some encouraging praises came to his ears1 and restored the equilibrium of his self-esteem1 vanity 7if all pleasure in approbation is to be so called7 reconciling him once more to the pursuit of wisdom4 ,gray's diffidence1 or fastidiousness1 according to ,hazlitt1 was such as to prevent his associating with his fellow-collegians1 or mingling with the herd1 till at length1 like the owl1 shutting himself up from society and daylight1 he was hunted and hooted at like the owl whenever he chanced to appear1 and was even assailed and disturbed in the haunts in which he held his solitary reign4 ,he was driven from college to college1 and was subjected to a persecution the more harassing to a person of his indolent and retired habits4 ,but he only shrunk the more within himself in consequence1 read over his favorite authors1 corresponded with his distant friends1 was terrified out of his wits at the bare idea of having his portrait prefixed to his works1 and probably died from nervous agitation at the publicity into which his name had been forced by his learning1 taste1 and genius4 ,such was the author of the immortal ,elegy1 which ,daniel ,webster died repeating1 and of which ,wolfe said he would rather be the author than be conqueror of ,quebec4 ,washington ,irving's modesty and diffidence did not make him shut himself up from society and daylight1 but it made him a stranger to many of his neighbors1 and even to the boys about ,sunnyside4 ,it will be a surprise to many to know that one morning he was ordered out of a field he was crossing--belonging to a neighbor of his1 a liquor dealer1 who threatened1 if he found the old vagabond on his premises again1 he would set his dogs on him6 ,it will also be a surprise to know that the distinguished author of ,the ,sketch ,book was a confessed orchard thief4 ,once1 when picking up an apple under a tree in his own orchard1 he was accosted by an urchin of the neighborhood1 who1 not recognizing him as the proprietor1 offered to show him a tree where he could get better apples than those4 ,but1 urged the boy1 we must take care that the old man don't see us4 ,i went with him1 said ,irving1 and we stole a dozen of my own apples6 ,,ix4 ,,paradoxes4 ,is there anything more curious or remarkable in fiction than the simple fact expressed by ,thucydides1 that ignorance is bold and knowledge reserved8 or that by ,thomas ,fuller1 that learning has gained most by those books by which the printers have lost8 or that by ,pascal1 that it is wonderful a thing so obvious as the vanity of the world is so little known1 and that it is a strange and surprising thing to say that seeking its honors is a folly8 or that by ,john ,selden1 that of all actions of a man's life his marriage does least concern other people1 yet of all actions of his life 'tis most meddled with by other people8 or that by ,goldsmith1 that the most delicate friendships are always most sensible of the slightest invasion1 and the strongest jealousy is ever attendant on the warmest regard8 or that by ,hazlitt1 that every man1 in his own opinion1 forms an exception to the ordinary rules of humanity8 or that by ,emerson1 that the astonishment of life is the absence of any appearance of reconciliation between the theory and practice of life8 or that by ,foster1 that millions of human beings are at this very hour acting in violation of the laws of goodness1 while those laws are clearly admitted1 not only as impositions of moral authority but as the vital principles of their own true self-interest8 or that by ,prescott1 that in every country the most fiendish passions of the human heart are those kindled in the name of religion8 ,strange6 that labor is so scarce in ,china that vast tracts of land lie waste because there are no laborers to reclaim them4 ,that in the pontifical army1 not long before ,victor ,emanuel1 ,spain--the bones of whose children for centuries had whitened every battle-field where she found it necessary to defend her religion--was represented by but thirty-eight soldiers1 while ,holland--which protected the ,reformation by its ,princes of ,orange1 and introduced liberty of religious opinion into the modern world--was represented by hundreds and hundreds of volunteers4 ,that the best building in ,iceland is the jail at ,reikiavik1 which1 during the many years since its erection1 has never contained a prisoner4 ,that in the ,arctic region a smaller proportion of fuel is consumed than in any other habitable part of the globe4 ,that the next use of the ,mayflower1 after carrying the ,pilgrims1 was to transport a cargo of slaves to the ,west ,indies4 ,that the plant papyrus1 which gave its name to our word paper--first used for writing between three and four thousand years ago--of more importance in history than cotton and silver and gold--once so common in ,egypt--has become so scarce there that ,emerson in his late visit searched in vain for it4 ,that house-building1 which ought to be among the most perfect of the arts1 after the experience and efforts of myriads in every generation1 has produced no stereotyped models of taste and convenience4 ,that the founder and editor of one of the great ,london periodicals never wrote a line for his journal2 and when he died1 the review which he had built up by his individual ability made not the slightest mention of the event4 ,that the three books which have been so widely read1 and which have exercised incalculable influence upon morals and politics1--,the ,imitation of ,christ1 ,the ,whole ,duty of ,man1 and the ,letters of ,junius1--are of unknown or disputed authorship4 ,that the ,bible1--incomparably the wisest and best book1 the ,book of books1 the guide of life1 the solace in death1 the way to heaven1--is so little read by the many and so little understood by the few4 ,that the one subject 7religion7 which is by general consent proscribed in general society is that which by general consent is allowed to be the most important1 and which one might therefore suppose to be the most interesting4 ,that the brain1 in subordination to the mind1 the physical centre of all sensation1 is insensible to the wounds which are torture to the skin1 and which wounds the brain alone enables us to feel4 7,it is as insensible1 says ,sir ,charles ,bell1 as the leather of our shoe1 and a piece may be cut off without interrupting the patient in the sentence that he is uttering47 ,that the heart1 to which we refer our joys1 our sorrows1 and our affections1 when grasped with the fingers1 gives no information of the fact to the possessor1 unmistakably responding at the same time to the varied emotions of his mind4 7,the famous ,dr4 ,harvey examined1 at the request of ,charles ,i41 a nobleman of the ,montgomery family1 who1 in consequence of an abscess1 had a fistulous opening into the chest1 through which the heart could be seen and handled4 ,the great physiologist was astonished to find it insensible4 ,i then brought him1 he says1 to the king that he might behold and touch so extraordinary a thing1 and that he might perceive1 as ,i did1 that when he touched the outer skin1 or when he saw our fingers in the cavity1 this young nobleman knew not that we touched the heart47 ,that one of our modern ,english poets1 who has written lyrics so passionate as to be hounded down for their immorality1 has so lived1 according to a fellow-poet1 as never to have kissed any one but his mother4 ,that the one man who can read the ,eliot ,bible is getting tired of his distinction1 just as a veteran poet1 it is declared1 hated to hear praised one of the productions of his youth1 at eighty not having surpassed1 in popular estimation1 a school-boy poem1 written at eighteen4 ,that the man whom ,walter consulted in the management of the ,times newspaper1 and who in ,walter's absence1 according to ,robinson1 decided in the dernier resort1 was at the time1 and until the end of his life1 an inhabitant of the ,king's ,bench ,prison1 and when he frequented ,printing ,house ,square it was only by virtue of a day rule4 7,combe was his name3 ,old ,combe1 as he was familiarly called4 ,he was the author of the famous ,letters of a ,nobleman to his ,son1 generally ascribed to ,lord ,lyttelton4 ,he was a man of fortune when young1 and traveled in ,europe1 and even made a journey with ,sterne4 ,walter offered to release him from prison by paying his debts4 ,this he would not permit1 as he did not acknowledge the equity of the claim for which he suffered imprisonment4 ,he preferred living on an allowance from ,walter1 and was1 he said1 perfectly happy47 ,how difficult it is to realize that ,dr4 ,johnson1 the great ,cham of ,english literature1 spent more than one half of his days in penury2 that the moral1 pious ,johnson1 and the gay1 dissipated ,beauclerc1 were companions2 that they ever spent a whole day together1 half-seas over1 strolling through the markets1 cracking jokes with the fruit and fish women1 on their way to ,billingsgate4 ,it is hard to believe that that great moralist ever wandered whole nights through the streets of ,london1 with the unfortunate1 gifted ,savage1 too miserably poor to hire lodgings4 ,and it is still harder to believe that the best biography of that great man1 and the best biography in our language1 was written by a gossiping1 literary bore--the bear-leader to the ,ursa ,major1 as ,irving calls him--whom ,johnson pretended to despise1 and of whom he once said1 if he thought ,boswell intended to write his 7,johnson's7 life he would take ,boswell's4 ,we wonder that the great1 strong-minded ,luther ever flung an inkstand at the devil's head4 ,we cannot conceive that ,wesley and ,johnson and ,addison believed in ghosts4 ,it looks strange to us that ,socrates1 who taught the doctrines of the one ,supreme ,being and the immortality of the soul1 bowed down to a multiplicity of idols2 and after he had swallowed the fatal hemlock1 directed the sacrifice of a cock to ,a,esculapius4 ,we cannot credit the fact that ,marlborough1 at the moment he was the terror of ,france and the glory of ,germany1 was held under the finger of his wife by the meanest of passions1 avarice4 ,we utterly refuse to believe the complaint of ,burns1 the greatest of lyric poets1 that he could never get the art of commanding respect4 ,it seems incredible that ,goldsmith ever talked like poor ,poll1 when he wrote like an angel4 ,it appears strange enough that ,sir ,george ,mackenzie wrote an elegant and eloquent treatise in favor of solitude1 while living a most active life2 and still more strange that his arguments were triumphantly answered by ,evelyn1 who passed his days in tranquillity and solitude4 ,we only believe when we are compelled by authority1 that ,tycho ,brahe changed color1 and his legs shook under him1 on meeting with a hare or a fox4 ,that ,dr4 ,johnson would never enter a room with his left foot foremost4 ,that ,caesar ,augustus was almost convulsed by the sound of thunder1 and always wanted to get into a cellar1 or under-ground1 to escape the dreadful noise4 ,that ,talleyrand trembled when the word death was pronounced4 ,that ,marshal ,saxe ever screamed in terror at the sight of a cat4 ,that the smell of fish sent ,erasmus into a fever4 ,that ,scaliger shivered at the sight of water-cress4 ,that ,boyle was convulsed at the falling of water from a tap4 ,that ,peter the ,great could never be persuaded to cross a bridge2 and though he tried to master the terror1 he failed to do so4 ,that ,byron would never help any one to salt at the table1 nor be helped himself4 ,that an air that was beneficial to ,schiller acted upon ,goethe like poison4 7,i called on him one day1 said ,goethe to ,soret1 and as ,i did not find him at home1 and his wife told me that he would soon return1 ,i seated myself at his work-table to note down various matters4 ,i had not been seated long before ,i felt a strange indisposition steal over me1 which gradually increased1 until at last ,i nearly fainted4 ,at first ,i did not know to what cause ,i should ascribe this wretched and1 to me1 unusual state1 until ,i discovered that a dreadful odor issued from a drawer near me4 ,when ,i opened it1 ,i found to my astonishment that it was full of rotten apples4 ,i immediately went to the window and inhaled the fresh air1 by which ,i felt myself instantly restored4 ,in the meantime his wife had reentered1 and told me that the drawer was always filled with rotten apples1 because the scent was beneficial to ,schiller1 and he could not live or work without it47 ,that ,queen ,elizabeth issued proclamations against excessive apparel1 leaving three thousand changes of dress in the royal wardrobe4 ,that ,bayle1 the faithful compiler of impurities1 resisted the corruption of the senses as much as ,newton4 ,that ,smollett1 who has so grossly offended decency in his novels1 had an immaculate private character4 ,that ,cowley1 who boasts with so much gayety of the versatility of his passion amongst so many sweethearts1 wanted the confidence even to address one4 ,that ,seneca philosophized so wisely and eloquently upon the blessings of poverty and moderate desires1 while usuriously lending his seven millions1 and writing his homilies on a table of solid gold4 ,that ,sir ,thomas ,more1 who1 in his ,utopia1 declares that no man should be punished for his religion1 was a fierce persecutor1 racking and burning men at the stake for heresy4 ,that ,young1 the author of the sombre ,night ,thoughts1 was known as the gayest of his circle of acquaintance4 ,that ,moliere1 the famous ,french humorist and writer of comedies1 bore himself with habitual seriousness and melancholy4 ,that he married an actress1 who made him experience all those bitter disgusts and embarrassments which he himself played off at the theatre4 ,that the cynicism and bitterness exhibited in the writings of ,rousseau were in consequence of an unfortunate marriage to an ill-bred1 illiterate woman1 who ruled him as with a rod of iron4 ,that ,addison's fine taste in morals and in life could suffer the ambition of a courtier to prevail with himself to seek a countess1 who drove him contemptuously into solitude and shortened his days4 ,that the impulsive and genial ,steele married a cold1 precise ,miss ,prue1 as he called her1 from whom he never parted without bickerings4 ,that ,shenstone1 while surrounding himself with the floral beauties of ,paradise1 exciting the envy and admiration and imitation of persons of taste throughout ,england1 lived in utter wretchedness and misery4 ,that ,swift1 with all his resources of wit and wisdom1 died1 to use his own language1 in a rage1 like a poisoned rat in a hole4 ,that the thoughtful1 cast-iron essays of ,john ,foster were originally written as love epistles to the lady who became his wife4 ,that the only person who could make ,george ,washington laugh was an officer in the army so obscure in rank and character as not to be even mentioned in popular history4 ,that the man whom ,daniel ,webster pronounced the best conversationalist he ever knew1 is now unknown or forgotten outside of his neighborhood4 ,that the pious ,cowper attempted suicide2 and had as intimate associate the swearing ,lord ,chancellor ,thurlow1--with whom1 he confesses1 he spent three years1 giggling and making giggle4 ,that ,lord ,chancellor ,eldon1 who1 while simple ,john ,scott1 son of a ,newcastle coal-fitter1 ran away with ,bessy ,surtees1 daughter of a prosperous banker of the same town1 and who was so proud of the exploit that he never tired of referring to it1 when his eldest daughter1 ,lady ,elizabeth1 gave her hand1 without his consent1 to an ardent lover of respectable character and good education1 but not of much wealth1 permitted years to roll away before he would forgive her4 ,that not long after the elopement referred to1 while a law student at ,oxford1 having been appointed to read to the class at a small salary1 the lectures of one of the professors who was then absent in the ,east ,indies1 it happened that the first lecture he had to read was upon the statute 7#d #e ,p4 ,m4 c4 #h7 ,of young men running away with maidens4 7,fancy me1 he said1 reading1 with a hundred and forty boys and young men all giggling47 ,that ,lord ,chancellor ,thurlow1 who was never married at all1 was so outraged at the love marriage1 against his consent1 of his third and favorite daughter1 that though he became reconciled to her1 he never would consent to see her husband4 ,that1 according to ,john ,lord ,campbell1 so many of the most important points in the law of real property have been settled in suits upon the construction of the wills of eminent judges4 ,that the religious1 the moral1 the immaculate ,sir ,matthew ,hale1 when chief justice of the king's bench1 allowed the infamous ,jeffreys1 who was not redeemed from his vices by one single solid virtue1 to gain1 in the opinion of ,roger ,north1 as great an ascendant over him as ever counsel had over a judge4 ,that the gentle ,charles and ,mary ,lamb were confined in a mad-house1 and that the latter cut the throat of her mother at the dinner-table4 ,that ,tasso lamented the publication of ,jerusalem ,delivered1 and that its publication was the one great cause of his insanity4 ,that ,thomson1 the poet of the ,seasons1 composed so much of his classic and vigorous verse in bed2 or was seen in ,lord ,burlington's garden1 with his hands in his waistcoat pockets1 biting off the sunny sides of the peaches4 ,that ,king ,solomon1 who wrote so wisely of training children1 had so wicked a son as ,rehoboam4 ,that the good stoic1 ,marcus ,aurelius1 of proverbial purity1 had so doubtful a wife as ,faustina1 and so vicious a son as ,commodus4 ,that that good old ,roman emperor1 whose ,meditations rank with the best works of the greatest moralists1 breathing and inculcating the spirit of ,christianity1 was the bitter persecutor of the ,christians in ,gaul4 ,that his graceless heir1 ,commodus1 left the ,christians wholly untroubled1 through the influence of his mistress ,marcia4 ,that the ,english-reading world is directly indebted to the ,reign of ,terror--the horrors of ,robespierre's tyranny--for the most popular translation of ,st4 ,pierre's sweet story of ,paul and ,virginia4 ,that the author of the ,marseillaise first heard of the great fame of his piece in the mountains of ,piedmont1 when fleeing from ,france as a political refugee2 and upon the return of the ,bourbons to power wrote an anthem which is characterized as the most anti-republican ever penned4 ,that that ode to temperance1 ,the ,old ,oaken ,bucket1 was written by ,woodworth1 a journeyman printer1 under the inspiration of brandy4 ,that so many of the exquisite letters of ,lady ,mary ,wortley ,montagu were destroyed by her mother1 who did not approve that she should disgrace her family by adding to it literary honors4 ,that the famous speech of ,pitt1 in reply to ,walpole's taunt of being a young man1 was composed by ,dr4 ,johnson4 ,that ,johnson1 looking at ,dilly's edition of ,lord ,chesterfield's miscellaneous works1 laughed and said1 ,here are now two speeches ascribed to him1 both of which were written by me3 and the best of it is1 they have found out that one is like ,demosthenes1 and the other like ,cicero4 ,that many of the sermons of famous contemporaneous clergymen were the productions of the same laborious ,grub ,street drudge1 forty or more of which have been reclaimed and published1 and conceded to have been written by the inexhaustible ,johnson4 ,that the only paper of ,the ,rambler which had a prosperous sale1 and may be said to have been popular1 was one which ,johnson did not write--,no4 #ig1 written by ,richardson4 ,that the essays of ,the ,rambler1 elaborate as they appear1 were written rapidly1 seldom undergoing revision1 whilst the simple language of ,rousseau1 which seems to come flowing from the heart1 was the slow production of painful toil1 pausing on every word1 and balancing every sentence4 ,that ,burke's ,reflections on the ,revolution in ,france1 which has the free and easy flow of extemporaneous eloquence1 was polished with extraordinary care1--more than a dozen proofs being worked off and destroyed1 according to ,dodsley's account1 before he could please himself4 ,that the winged passages in ,curran's speeches1 which seem born of the moment1 were the results of painstaking1 protracted labor4 7,my dear fellow1 said he to ,phillips1 the day of inspiration has gone by4 ,everything ,i ever said which was worth remembering1 my de bene esses1 my white horses1 as ,i call them1 were all carefully prepared47 ,that the ,essay on ,man1 according to ,lord ,bathurst1 was originally composed by ,lord ,bolingbroke1 in prose1 and ,pope did no more than to put it into verse4 ,that those brilliant wits and prolific dramatists1 ,peele1 ,greene1 and ,marlowe1 the associates of ,shakespeare1 to whom the great dramatist was so much indebted1 were all wretched and unsuccessful1--the first dying in utter want1 the second of excessive pickled herring1 at the point nearly of starvation1 the third being stabbed in the head in a drunken brawl at a tavern by his own dagger in his own hand4 ,that ,shakespeare married at eighteen1 had three children at twenty1 removed to ,london at twenty-three1 begun writing plays at twenty-seven1 and1 a little more than twenty years after1 returned to his native town1 rich and immortal4 ,that but a few signatures--differently spelled--is all of his handwriting that has been preserved4 ,that so many critics should believe1 and some ingenious books have been printed to prove1 that the authorship of the plays of ,shakespeare belongs to ,bacon--the only man then living1 they claim1 who knew enough to write them4 ,that the great ,bacon was unable to grasp the great discoveries of his time--rejecting the ,copernican system to the last1 and treating not only with incredulity1 but with the most arrogant contempt1 the important discoveries of ,gilbert about the magnet4 ,that ,apuleius1 author of the ,metamorphosis of the ,golden ,ass 7a paraphrase1 according to ,bayle1 of what he had taken from ,lucian1 as ,lucian had taken it from ,lucius1 one of the episodes of which--,psyche--furnished ,moliere with matter for one of his dramas1 and ,la ,fontaine materials for a romance71 who did not1 to use his own language1 make the least scruple of expending his whole fortune in acquiring what he believed to be more valuable1 a contempt of it1 married a woman more than twice his own age1 thirteen years a widow1 to procure for himself1 as he acknowledged1 a large settlement1 and an easy condition of life4 ,that ,pythagoras1 the first of the ancient sages who took the name of philosopher2 who made himself so illustrious by his learning and virtue2 who proved so useful in reforming and instructing the world2 whose eloquence moved the inhabitants of a great city1 plunged in debauchery1 to avoid luxury and good cheer1 and to live according to the rules of virtue2 who prevailed upon the ladies to part with their fine clothes1 and all their ornaments1 and to make a sacrifice of them to the chief deity of the place2 who engaged his disciples to practice the most difficult things1 making them undergo a novitiate of silence for at least two years1 and extending it to five years for those whom he knew to be more inclined to speak1--peremptorily ordered his disciples to abstain from eating beans1 choosing himself rather1 as some authorities have it1 to be killed by those that pursued him1 than to make his escape through a field of beans1 so great was his respect for or abhorrence of that plant4 ,that ,luther1 the greatest of the reformers1 and ,baxter1 the greatest of the ,puritans1 and ,wesley1 the greatest religious leader of the last century1 believed in witchcraft4 ,that ,dr4 ,johnson1 who thought ,swift's reputation greater than he deserved1 questioning his humor1 and denying him the authorship of the ,tale of a ,tub1 could take into his confidence1 and reverence for his piety1 ,george ,psalmanazar1 who deceived the world for some time by pretending to be a native of the island of ,formosa1 to support which he invented an alphabet and a grammar4 7,i should1 said ,johnson1 as soon think of contradicting a bishop47 ,that ,coleridge was able to depict ,mont ,blanc and the ,vale of ,chamouni at sunrise in such an overpowering manner1 when he had never seen the ,alps2 while half-oriental ,malta and classical ,italy1 both of which he had seen1 gave him no fruits of poetry4 ,that ,schiller wrote his ,william ,tell without ever seeing any of the glories of ,lake ,lucerne4 ,that ,scott1 who told how to see fair ,melrose aright1 never saw the famous ,abbey by moonlight4 7,talking of ,scott at a dinner-party1 ,moore said1 ,he was the soul of honesty4 ,when ,i was on a visit to him1 we were coming up from ,kelso at sunset1 and as there was to be a fine moon1 ,i quoted to him his own rule for seeing 'fair ,melrose aright1' and proposed to stay an hour and enjoy it4 ',bah6' said ,scott1 ',i never saw it by moonlight4' ,the truth was1 says ,sir ,david ,brewster1 ,scott would not go there for fear of bogles47 ,that ,lalla ,rookh1 rich1 melodious1 and glowing with a wealth of imagery which wearies by its very excess1 is the production of one who never visited the people or scenes he therein describes4 7,so true1 nevertheless1 were its pictures of ,eastern life that ,colonel ,wilks1 the historian of ,british ,india1 could not believe that ,moore had never traveled in the ,east2 and the compliment which ,luttrell paid him1 when he told him that his lays are sung444 by moonlight in the ,persian tongue along the streets of ,ispahan1 is literally true1 the work having been translated into ,persian1 and read with avidity among many ,oriental nations47 ,that ,kant1 who startled an ,englishman with a description of ,westminster ,bridge1 so minutely detailed that his listener in amazement asked him how many years he had lived in ,london1 was never out of ,prussia--scarcely out of ,koenigsberg4 ,that ,barry ,cornwall1 although the author of one of the most stirring and popular sea songs in the language--,the sea1 the sea1 the open sea6--was very rarely upon the tossing element1 having a great fear of being made ill by it4 7,i think he told me1 said a visitor1 that he had never dared to cross the ,channel even1 and so had never seen ,paris4 ,he said1 like many others1 he delighted to gaze upon the waters from a safe place on land1 but had a horror of living on it even for a few hours4 ,i recalled to his recollection his own lines--',i'm on the sea6 ,i'm on the sea6 ,i am where ,i would ever be2' and he shook his head1 and laughingly declared ,i must have misquoted his words1 or that ,dibdin had written the piece and put ,barry ,cornwall's signature to it47 ,that ,michelet1 who wrote a book on ,the ,sea1 had a like horror of it4 7,i love the sea1 he said1 but as in the case of a crowd1 ,i love it at a distance47 ,that ,vathek1 that splendid ,oriental tale1 was written by a young man of twenty-two who had never visited the countries whose manners he so vividly described2 and that of all the glories and prodigalities of the ,english ,sardanapalus1 his slender romance1 the work of three days1 is the only durable memorial4 ,that ,beckford's father1 while ,lord ,mayor of ,london1 became especially famous for a speech that was never delivered--the speech in reply to the king1 written after the event by ,horne ,tooke1 and engraved on the pedestal of a statue of ,beckford erected in ,guildhall4 ,that ,michel ,angelo1 unconsciously1 laid the first stone of the ,reformation4 7,history tells us that ,julius ,,ii4 gave him an unlimited commission to make a mausoleum1 in which their mutual interests should be combined4 ,the artist's plan was a parallelogram1 and the superstructure was to consist of forty statues1 many of which were to be colossal1 and interspersed with ornamental figures and bronze basso-rilievos1 besides the necessary architecture1 with appropriate decorations to unite the composition into one stupendous whole4 ,to make a fitting place for it1 the pope determined to rebuild ,st4 ,peter's itself2 and this is the origin of that edifice1 which took one hundred and fifty years to complete1 and is now the grandest display of architectural splendor that ornaments the ,christian world4 ,to prosecute the undertaking1 money was wanted1 and indulgences were sold to supply the deficiency of the treasury2 and a monk of ,saxony1 opposing the authority of the church1 produced this singular event1 that whilst the most splendid edifice which the world had ever seen was building for the ,catholic faith1 the religion to which it was consecrated was shaken to its foundation47 ,that the erection of one of the pyramids has been ascribed to a ,pharaonic princess1 of great beauty1 who1 like ,aspasia and ,thargelia1 became ambitious in her intimacies4 7,the story is that she was one day taunted by her father with the inutility of the admiration that she excited4 ,pyramid-building was then the fashion in the family1 and she vowed that she would leave behind her a monument of the power of her charms as durable as her august relations did of the power of their armies4 ,the number of her lovers was increased by all those who were content to sacrifice their fortunes for her smiles4 ,the pyramid rose rapidly2 with the frailty of its foundress1 the massive monument increased2 her lovers were ruined1 but the fair architect became immortal1 and found celebrity long afterward in ,sappho's song47 ,that ,gulliver's ,travels1 the severest lampoon upon humanity1 is the favorite fairy tale of the nursery4 ,that the distinction of the wreath of poet's laurel which crowned the heads of ,petrarch and ,tasso1 in both cases was obtained by inferior productions3 ,scipio ,africanus and ,gerusalemme ,conquistata4 ,that ,napoleon1 with a million armed men under his command1 and half ,europe at his feet1 sat down in rage and affright to order ,fouche to send a little woman over the frontiers lest she should say something about him for the drawing-rooms of ,paris to laugh at4 ,that ,faraday1 who at first begged for the meanest place in a scientific workshop1 at last declined the highest honor which ,british science was capable of granting4 ,that the ,jews of ,amsterdam1 exiles from ,spain and ,portugal1 who owed their existence to flight from repeated persecutions1 persecuted ,spinoza1 excommunicating him with the anathema wherewith ,joshua cursed ,jericho1 with the curse which ,elisha laid upon the children1 and with all the curses which are written in the law4 ,that the son of ,charles ,wesley1 born and bred in ,methodism1 and bound to it by all the strongest ties of pride and prejudice1 became a ,papist4 ,that ,cowper was mad so great a part of his life1 when he is the sanest of ,english poets3 of fine frenzy in his writings there is little or none4 ,that ,burke1 who1 in his youth1 wrote on the emotions produced by mountains and cascades2 by the masterpieces of painting and sculpture2 by the faces and necks of beautiful women1 in the style of a parliamentary report1 in his old age1 discussed treaties and tariffs in the most fervid and brilliant language of romance4 ,that ,lord ,brougham1 when chancellor1 on the bench1 hearing cases1 wrote to ,sir ,david ,brewster several letters on light1 one of them fourteen pages long4 ,that a fourth part of ,chalmers's ,astronomical ,discourses1 which rivaled the ,waverley novels in popularity1 were penned in a small pocket-book1 in a strange apartment1 where he was liable every moment to interruptions2 for it was1 we are told1 at the manse of ,balmerino1 disappointed in not finding the minister at home1 and having a couple of hours to spare--and in a drawing-room at the manse of ,kilmany1 with all the excitement of meeting for the first time1 after a year's absence1 many of his former friends and parishioners--that he penned paragraph after paragraph of a composition which1 as his son-in-law and biographer1 ,dr4 ,hanna1 says1 bears upon it the aspect of high and continuous elaboration4 ,that the author of ,auld ,robin ,gray kept the authorship of her immortal ballad a secret for fifty years4 ,that the title of ,the ,man of ,feeling adhered to ,mackenzie ever after the publication of that novel2 the public fancying him a pensive1 sentimental ,harley1 whereas he was1 according to ,cockburn1 a hard-headed1 practical man1 as full of worldly wisdom as most of his fictitious characters are devoid of it4 ,that ,dryden1 who was personally more moral than any of the reigning wits at the commencement of the ,restoration1 was1 in the beginning of his career1 the most deliberately and unnaturally coarse as a writer--absolutely toiling and laboring against the grain of his genius1 to be sufficiently obscene to please the town4 ,that three great wits--,gay1 ,pope1 and ,arbuthnot--joined in the production of a play which was condemned the first night it was acted4 ,that ,abernethy1 who was so bold in the practice of his profession1 suffered for so many years from extreme diffidence in the lecture-room--an unconquerable shyness1 a difficulty in commanding at pleasure that self-possession which was necessary to open his lecture2 and that much as he sometimes forgot the courtesy due to his private patients1 he was never unkind to those whom charity had confided to his care4 7,leaving home one morning for the hospital when some one was desirous of detaining him1 he said1 ,private patients1 if they do not like me1 can go elsewhere2 but the poor devils in the hospital ,i am bound to take care of47 ,that ,godwin1 who wrote against matrimony1 was twice married2 and while he scouted all commonplace duties1 was a good husband and kind father4 ,that ,mrs4 ,radcliffe had never been in ,italy when she wrote ,the ,mysteries of ,udolpho1 yet her paintings of ,italian scenery1 and of the mountains of ,switzerland1 for truth and richness of coloring1 have never been surpassed by poet or painter--not even by ,byron4 ,that ,professor ,wilson1 whose fame in great part rests upon ,noctes ,ambrosianae1 was indebted to ,lockhart for the idea1 who wrote the first of those famous papers1 and gave them their name4 7,i have known ,lockhart long1 said ,wilson to a visitor2 we used to sup together with ,blackwood1 and that was the real origin of the ,noctes4 ',at ,ambrose's8' ',at ,ambrose's4' ',but is there such a tavern really8' ',oh1 certainly4 ,anybody will show it to you4 ,it is a small house1 kept in an out-of-the-way corner of the town1 by ,ambrose1 who is an excellent fellow in his way1 and has had a great influx of custom in consequence of his celebrity in the ,noctes4 ,we were there one night very late1 and had all been remarkably gay and agreeable4 ',what a pity1' said ,lockhart1 'that some short-hand writer had not been here to take down the good things that have been said at this supper4' ,the next day he produced a paper called ,noctes ,ambrosianae1 and that was the first4 ,i continued them afterward47 ,that in ,robespierre's desk1 after his death1 were found ,david's plans of academies for infancy and asylums for age3 being just about to inaugurate the ,reign of ,love when the conspiracy against him swept him down the closing abyss of the ,reign of ,terror4 ,that ,lamartine1 the ,french orator1 poet1 and political leader1 when at the zenith of his popularity1 was rejected as a witness in court where he had offered himself1 the reason of the rejection being that in his youth he had been convicted of a theft4 ,that ,mallet1 although pensioned for the purpose1 never1 according to ,dr4 ,johnson1 wrote a single line of his projected life of ,marlborough1--groping for materials1 and thinking of it1 till he exhausted his mind4 ,that ,robert ,morris1 the superintendent of finance during the ,american ,revolution1 who1 on his personal responsibility1 borrowed large sums of money for the use of the government1 which1 on account of the known state of the treasury1 could not have been procured in any other way2 who refused the post of secretary of the treasury offered to him by ,washington--naming ,alexander ,hamilton for the station--in his old age1 having lost his fortune1 was confined in a ,philadelphia prison1 for debt4 ,that in ,america1 in the ,province of ,pennsylvania1 it was enacted by the ,council1 ,william ,penn presiding1 that the laws should not be printed2 and ,william ,bradford was summoned before the ,governor and ,council for printing the ,charter or ,frame of ,government of the ,province2 and ,joseph ,growden1 who caused the printing of the same1 with some remarks thereon1 was censured by ,governor ,blackwell1 not only for that it was false1 but for that the ,proprietor 7,william ,penn7 had declared himself against the use of the printing-press4 ,that ,beau ,brummell1 who was for many years the associate of royalty and leader of fashion in ,england1 died1 poverty-stricken and miserable1 in a ,french hospital for lunatic mendicants4 ,that the great and good ,dr4 ,johnson1 that majestic teacher of moral and religious wisdom1 when he was in ,edinburgh1 although personally acquainted with the celebrated ,dr4 ,robertson1 declined going to hear him preach1 because he would not be seen in a ,presbyterian church2 and upon being asked by ,boswell where ,john ,knox was buried1 burst out1 ,i hope in the highway4 ,that ,wordsworth earnestly defended the ,church ,establishment1 saying he would shed his blood for it1 when he had confessed that he knew not when he had been in a church in his own country4 7,all our ministers1 he said1 are so vile47 ,that the vanity of ,sir ,philip ,francis1 in the opinion of ,moore1 led him to think that it was no great addition to his fame to have the credit of ,junius1 having done1 according to his own notion1 much better things4 7,this1 said the poet1 gets over one of the great difficulties in accounting for the concealment2 and it must have been1 at all events1 either some very celebrated man who could dispense with such fame1 or some very vain man who thought he could47 ,that ,august von ,kotzebue1 the idol of the mob1 was despised if not hated by the great poets of his country4 7,one of his plays1 ,the ,stranger1 said an eminent ,englishman1 ,i have seen acted in ,german1 ,english1 ,spanish1 ,french1 and1 ,i believe1 also in ,italian47 ,that ,lavater1 with all his real and pretended knowledge of human nature1 was duped by ,cagliostro4 ,that ,hogarth had the impression1 which his reputation as a satirist could never disturb1 that historical painting was his true vocation4 ,that the mild ,melancthon approved of the burning of ,servetus4 ,that ,joseph ,scaliger1 who perfectly understood thirteen languages1 was deeply versed in almost every branch of literature--perhaps one of the greatest scholars that any age has produced--found so much perplexity1 not in acquiring1 but in communicating his knowledge1 that sometimes1 like ,nero1 he wished he had never known his letters4 ,that ,chillingworth1 the constant study of whose works was recommended by ,locke1 for attaining the way of right reasoning1 and of whom it was affirmed that he had such extraordinary clear reason1 that if the great ,turk or devil could be converted1 he was able to do it1 contracted1 according to ,lord ,clarendon1 such an irresolution and habit of doubting1 that at last he was confident of nothing4 ,that ,gray's ,elegy1 taking the author's own word for it1 was not intended for the public2 the poet's sole ambition being to gratify a few of his friends2 his own family1 even1 were not made a party to his writings1 and his fond mother lived and died in ignorance of his immortal verse4 ,that ,playfair1 when racked on his death-bed with pain1 and a relation wishing to amuse him by reading one of ,scott's novels1 of which he was very fond1 dissuaded it1 saying1 he would rather try the ,principia4 ,that ,horace ,walpole1 who was greedy to excess of praise1 and keenly sensitive to criticism1 professed a strong aversion to being considered a man of letters2 and that with all his avowed contempt for literary fame1 left fair copies of his private correspondence1 with copious notes1 to be published after his decease4 ,that ,mirabeau1 who came into the world with a huge head1 a pair of grinders1 one foot twisted1 and tongue-tied1 disfigured when three years old by confluent small-pox1 called1 as he grew up1 a monster1 a disheveled bully1 as ugly as the nephew of ,satan1 turned out to be the ,demosthenes of ,france1 and the idol of beautiful ,parisian women4 ,that ,sanson1 the hereditary ,french executioner1 who officiated at the decapitation of ,louis ,,xvi41 founded1 before he died1 a perpetual anniversary mass for the repose of the monarch's soul2 and wrote his ,memoirs in the style of a philanthropist1 whom fate had condemned to officiate at the guillotine4 ,that ,rousseau1 the chief article of whose rather hazy creed was the duty of universal philanthropy1 fancied himself the object of all men's hatred4 ,that ,cowper1 who held that the first duty of man was the love of ,god1 fancied himself the object of the irrevocable hatred of his ,creator4 ,that the very name of the ,cross was forbidden by the ,french ,republic at the very time when it had proclaimed unbounded religious freedom4 ,that the charge of plagiarism against ,sterne rests in great part upon his plagiarizing an invective against plagiarism4 ,that ,george ,crabbe gave the leisure of more than twenty of his ripest years to writing three novels1 which he afterward burned4 ,that ,francois ,huber1 who wrote the extraordinary ,treatise on the ,economy of ,bees1 which for general information on the subject has never been superseded1 was from the sixteenth year of his age totally blind1--all the curious remarks and inferences involved in his observations being founded on fifty years of careful researches which he directed others1 and particularly a favorite servant1 to make4 ,that eighteen years elapsed after the time that ,columbus conceived his enterprise before he was enabled to carry it into effect1--most of that time being passed in almost hopeless solicitation1 amidst poverty1 neglect1 and taunting ridicule2 when ,amerigo ,vespucci1 the pickle-dealer at ,seville1 who went out1 in #adii1 a subaltern with ,hojeda1 and whose highest naval rank was boatswain's mate in an expedition that never sailed1 managed in this lying world to supplant ,columbus1 and baptize half the earth with his dishonest name4 ,that ,montaigne1 who considered cruelty the extreme of all vices1 was a friend of the ,guises and of the blood-stained ,mont-luc3 he was also for many years a member of a parliament which had much innocent blood on its head1 and always spoke with reverence and affection of those who carried out the ,st4 ,bartholomew4 ,that ,la ,fontaine1 who in his ,fables makes animals1 trees1 and stones talk1 was in his conversation proverbially dull and stupid4 ,that ,corneille1 whom ,la ,bruyere describes as plain1 timorous1 and tiresome in his conversation1 taking one word for another1 and judging not of the goodness of his own writings but by the money they brought him1 in his books is as great as ,augustus1 ,pompey1 ,nicomedes1 and ,heraclius2 he talks like a king2 is a politician and a philosopher2 he undertakes to make heroes speak and act2 he describes the ,romans1 and they are greater and more ,romans in his verse than in their history4 ,that ,john ,howard1 the philanthropist and prison reformer1 introduced the system of solitary confinement1 and recommended its application to refractory boys4 7,for which1 said the gentle ,charles ,lamb1 ,i could spit on his statue47 ,that ,bruce1 the traveler1 after all his perils by flood and by field1 from wars1 from wild beasts1 from deserts1 from savage natives1 broke his neck down his own staircase at home1 owing to a slip of the foot1 while seeing some visitors out whom he had been entertaining4 ,that ,diogenes1 who was so fond of expressing his contempt for money1 in his younger days was driven out of the kingdom of ,pontus for counterfeiting the coin4 ,that the mighty ,dr4 ,johnson was at times so languid as not to be able to distinguish the hour upon the clock4 ,that the ready and voluminous ,de ,quincey1 during the four years he was under the ,circean spells of opium1 seldom could prevail on himself to write even a letter2 an answer of a few words to any that he received was the utmost that he could accomplish2 and that1 often1 not until the letter had lain weeks1 or even months1 on his writing-desk4 ,that out of the name of ,epicurus was coined a synonym for indulgence and sensuality1 when that virtuous philosopher placed his felicity not in the pleasures of the body1 but the mind1 and tranquillity thereof2 who was contented with bread and water2 and when he would feast with ,jove1 desired no other addition than a piece of ,cytheridian cheese4 ,that ,phidias made his sitting statue of ,jupiter so large that if he had risen up he had borne up the top of the temple4 ,that ,canova1 whenever the conversation turned upon sculpture1 exhibited a freshly-bedaubed tablet1 with a smile of paternal pride4 ,that ,goethe undervalued himself as a poet1 claiming only superiority over his century in the difficult science of colors4 ,that ,jerrold was ambitious to write a treatise on natural philosophy4 ,that ,paul ,jones1 the hero of desperate sea-fights1 was enamored of ,thomson's ,seasons4 ,that ,bonaparte1 who overran ,europe with his armies1 recreated himself with the wild rhapsodies of ,ossian4 ,that ,john ,wesley1 who set all in motion1 was himself 7as described by ,robert ,hall7 perfectly calm and phlegmatic--the quiescence of turbulence4 ,that ,persius1 whose satires are most licentious1 sharp1 and full of bitterness1 is described as very chaste1 though a beautiful young man3 sober1 as meek as a lamb1 and as modest as a young virgin4 ,that ,luis de ,camoens1 the greatest of the ,portuguese poets1 for a long time was supported by a devoted ,javanese servant1 ,antonio1 who collected alms for him during the night1 and nursed him during the day4 ,that ,paulo ,borghese1 pronounced almost as good a poet as ,tasso1 was master of fourteen trades1 and died because he could get employment in none4 ,that ,bentivoglio1 whose comedies will last with the ,italian language1 having dissipated a noble fortune in acts of charity and benevolence1 and fallen into misery in his old age1 was refused admittance into a hospital which he himself had erected4 ,that ,demosthenes threw down his arms when he came within sight of the enemy1 and lost that credit in the camp which he gained in the pulpit4 ,that ,socrates1 by the oracle adjudged to be the wisest of mortals1 when he appeared in the attempt of some public performance before the people1 faltered in the first onset2 and did not recover himself1 but was hooted and hissed home again4 ,that ,plato1 the philosopher1 was so dashed out of countenance by an illiterate rabble as to demur1 and hawk1 and hesitate1 before he could get to the end of one short sentence4 ,that ,theophrastus was such another coward1 who1 beginning to make an oration1 was presently struck down with fear1 as if he had seen some ghost or hobgoblin4 ,that ,isocrates was so bashful and timorous1 that though he taught rhetoric1 yet he could never have the confidence to speak in public4 ,that ,cicero1 that master of ,roman eloquence1 begun his speeches with a low1 quivering voice1 just like a school-boy afraid of not saying his lesson perfect enough to escape whipping4 ,that ,pope1 who had the courage in his ,dunciad to attack a whole generation of scholars and wits1 acknowledged his inability to face a half-dozen persons to make a statement or relate an incident of considerable length4 ,that ,plutarch1 the greatest of biographers1 is without a biography1--none of the eminent ,roman writers who were his contemporaries even mention his name4 ,that of ,correggio1 who delineated the features of others so well1 there exists no authentic portrait4 ,that of ,romanianus1 whom ,augustine speaks of as the greatest genius that ever lived1 there is nothing known but his name4 ,that the epitaph of ,gordianus1 though written in five languages1 proved insufficient to save him from oblivion4 ,that ,domitian1 after he had possessed himself of the ,roman ,empire1 turned his desires upon catching flies4 ,that ,hazlitt1 because his face was as pale and clear as marble1 was pointed at as the 'pimpled ,hazlitt2' and because he never tasted anything but water1 was held up as an habitual gin-drinker and a sot4 ,that ,robert ,burns in early life was thought to be insensible to music4 7,murdock1 the teacher of ,burns and his brother ,gilbert1 says that he tried to teach them a little sacred music1 but found this impracticable1 there being no music in either of their souls4 ,as for ,robert1 his ear was so completely dull that he could not distinguish one tune from another1 and his voice was so untunable that he could not frame a note1 and was left behind by all the boys and girls of the school47 ,that ,sir ,isaac ,newton1 though so deep in algebra and fluxions1 could not1 according to ,spence1 readily make up a common account1 and whilst he was master of the mint1 used to get somebody to make up the account for him4 ,that ,socrates1 according to ,plato1 gave occasion of laughter1 at the expense of his own reputation1 to the ,athenians1 for having never been able to sum up the votes of his tribe to deliver it to the council4 ,that ,prime ,minister ,gladstone1 upon being asked how he employed his mind when duty compelled him to sit on the bench of the ministers while a tory was delivering himself of a dull three hours' harangue1 made answer1 ,last evening1 when ,mr4 ---- was speaking1 ,i turned ,rock of ,ages into the ,greek1 and had half an hour to spare4 ,that the great and wise and pious ,chalmers so far adopted and became impressed with the views of ,malthus as to urge the expediency of a restraint upon marriage1 and that the same be inculcated upon the people as the very essence of morality and religion by every pastor and instructor throughout ,england4 ,that ,the ,admirable ,crichton1 master of a dozen languages1 after disputing for six hours with eminent doctors of ,padua on topics of science1 delighting the assembly as much by his modesty as by his wonderful learning and judgment1 at the conclusion1 gave an extemporaneous oration in praise of ignorance with so much ingenuity that he reconciled his audience to their inferiority4 ,that the ,duke of ,marlborough1 who1 while an ensign of guards1 received from the ,duchess of ,cleveland1 then favorite mistress of ,charles ,,ii41 five thousand pounds1 with which he bought an annuity for his life of five hundred pounds1--the foundation of his subsequent fortune1--afterward1 when he was famous as well as rich1 and the ,duchess was wretched and necessitous1 refused the common civility of lending her twenty guineas4 ,that although ,sir ,isaac ,newton was of opinion that he excelled particularly in making verses1 no authentic specimen of his poetry has been preserved4 ,that the first public speech of ,john ,randolph1 three hours in length1 and which established his reputation as an orator1 was made in reply to the last ever delivered by the venerable ,patrick ,henry1--the former in his twenty-sixth year1 a self-announced candidate for ,congress1 and the latter in his sixty-third year1 the candidate of ,george ,washington for a place in the ,virginia legislature4 ,that but a few years after ,john ,brown's defeat and execution in ,virginia1 ,congress enacted a law and the president approved it1 by which a portion of the ,harper's ,ferry buildings1 including the famous engine-house1 so nobly defended by the old hero1 and to capture which from his little garrison ,robert ,e4 ,lee and the ,united ,states marines had to be sent for1 was presented by the government as a free gift to the ,storer ,college1 an institution expressly designed for the education of colored men4 ,that ,henry ,a4 ,wise1 who1 as governor of ,virginia1 hung ,john ,brown1 a few years afterward1 fled ,richmond1 the capital of ,virginia1 at the head of a ,confederate division of white troops1 closely followed by a division of loyal black troops1 singing1 ,john ,brown's body lies mouldering in the grave1 but his soul is marching on4 ,that a daughter of ,john ,brown taught a free school of emancipated slave children in the deserted drawing-room of ,henry ,a4 ,wise4 ,that about the same time1 at ,lumpkin's ,jail1 which was the slave-market1 there was established a theological seminary for colored young men4 ,that ,richard ,realf1 one of ,john ,brown's trusted men1 was appointed assessor of internal revenue for the district of ,edgefield1 ,south ,carolina4 ,that the first ,confederate officer in ,south ,carolina who officially met an officer of colored troops under a flag of truce was ,captain ,john ,c4 ,calhoun4 ,that one of ,jefferson ,davis's old slaves became a lessee of ,jefferson ,davis's old plantation4 ,that ,foote1 the celebrated actor1 died with the dropsy1 never in his life1 as he said1 having drank a drop of water4 ,that the great ,neander1 sometimes called the second ,john1--the son of thunder and the son of love1--had his mind first turned in the direction in which he afterward found truth and peace1 by a passage in ,plutarch's ,pedagogue4 ,that ,plutarch1 who wrote so voluminously and excellently upon morals1 great personages1 and great influences1 made no mention in any of his books of ,christ or ,christianity4 7,if we place his birth1 says ,archbishop ,trench1 at about the year ,a4 ,d4 #ej1 then long before he began to write1 ,st4 ,peter and ,st4 ,paul must have finished their course4 ,all around him--at ,rome1 where he dwelt so long2 in that ,greece where the best part of his life was spent2 in ,asia ,minor1 with which ,greece was in constant communication2 in ,macedonia--there were flourishing churches4 ,christianity was everywhere in the air1 so that men unconsciously inhaled some of its influences1 even where they did not submit themselves to its positive teaching4 ,but for all this1 no word1 no allusion of ,plutarch's1 testifies to his knowledge of the existence of these churches1 or to the slightest acquaintance on his part with the ,christian books4 ,suetonius1 a contemporary of ,plutarch1 calls the ,christians a sort of people who held a new and impious superstition4 ,pliny1 another contemporary1 pronounces the ,christian religion a depraved1 wicked1 and outrageous superstition2 ,tacitus1 a foreign and deadly superstition47 ,that ,john ,stuart ,mill1 who found time and space in his autobiography to make careful lists of the incredible number of books he read between the ages of three and fourteen1 to note the languages and sciences he acquired in the same time1 as well as his associations and relations with his father1 his brothers1 and his sisters2 who accepted his wife1 during her life-time1 as his divinity1 and1 after her death1 confessed her memory to have been his religion1--omitted to say one word about his mother4 ,that ,jonathan ,edwards1 the great theologian and thinker1--in the opinion of ,robert ,hall1 the greatest of the sons of men1--never had the degree of doctor of divinity or doctor of laws conferred on him1 while they were showered on scores of his commonplace contemporaries4 ,that ,sir ,john ,suckling and ,richard ,lovelace1 so famous as courtiers and poet cavaliers1 the pets of the king and the people1 the much admired and adored by the female sex1 died in wretchedness and despair1--the former taking poison1 and the latter dying in rags in a miserable alley in ,london4 ,that ,milton1 advanced in years1 blind1 and in misfortune1 entered upon the composition of his immortal epic1 achieving it in six years4 ,that ,scott1 also advanced in years1 his private affairs in ruin1 undertook to liquidate1 by intellectual labors alone1 a debt of more than half a million of dollars1 nearly accomplishing it in the same time4 ,that ,dr4 ,lardner published a treatise to prove that a steamboat could never cross the ,atlantic 7the steamship ,sirius1 which crossed soon after1 carrying over his pamphlet71 and staked his reputation as a man of science to a committee of the ,house of ,commons that no railway train could ever be propelled faster than ten miles in an hour1 as the slightest curve would infallibly throw it off the rails4 ,that ,babinet1 the ,french calculator1 also risked his reputation upon the declaration that no telegram would ever be transmitted through the ,atlantic to ,america4 ,that ,renous1 a ,german collector in natural history1 having left in a house in ,san ,fernandino1 ,chili1 some caterpillars under charge of a girl to feed that they might turn into butterflies1 was arrested upon returning to the house1 his extraordinary conduct having been rumored through the town till it reached the padres and governor1 who consulted together and determined to punish the pernicious heresy4 ,that ,socrates learned music1 ,cato the ,greek language1 ,plutarch ,latin1 and ,dr4 ,johnson ,dutch1 after they were seventy years old4 ,that ,robert ,hall sought relief in ,dante from the racking pains of spinal disease2 and ,sydney ,smith resorted to the same poet for comfort and solace in his old age4 ,that ,de ,foe1 the author of two hundred and ten books and pamphlets--some of them immortal--died insolvent4 ,that ,sheridan got ,woodfall to insert in his paper a calumnious article1 and neglected to answer it afterward1 as he intended--expending1 according to ,moore1 all his activity in assisting the circulation of the poison1 and not having industry enough left to supply the antidote4 ,that ,hugh ,miller1 who had such healthy views of life1 as shown in his autobiography1 voluntarily left it by means of a pistol4 ,that ,lloyd1 one of the early friends and literary associates of ,lamb and ,coleridge1 took lodgings at a working brazier's shop in ,fetter ,lane1 to distract his mind from melancholy and postpone his madness4 ,that ,hazlitt said that ,mary ,lamb was the wisest and most rational woman he had ever known4 ,that ,professor ,wilson1 soon after he was selected to fill the moral philosophy chair at ,edinburgh1 and the poet ,campbell1 were seen one morning leaving a tavern in that city1 both haggard and red-eyed1 hoarse and exhausted1 having sat tete-a-tete for twenty-four hours discussing poetry and wine to the top of their bent4 ,that ,richard ,baxter1 the stern ,calvinist1 and author of one hundred and sixty-eight works upon theology1 wrote at the end of his long life1 ,i now see more good and more evil in all men than heretofore ,i did4 ,i see that good men are not so good as ,i once thought they were1 and ,i find that few are so bad as either malicious enemies or censorious separating professors do imagine4 ,that ,theodore de ,beza1 the apostle of ,john ,calvin1 put to press at the same time his coarse amorous poems 7,juvenilia7 and his intolerant apology for the trial and execution of ,servetus4 ,that the mighty ,dr4 ,hill1 who was not a very delicate feeder1 could not make a dinner out of the press till by a happy transformation into ,hannah ,glass he turned himself into a cook1 and sold receipts for made dishes to all the savory readers in the kingdom--the press then acknowledging him second in favor only to ,john ,bunyan2 his feasts kept pace in sale with ,nelson's fasts1 and when his own name was fairly written out of credit1 he wrote himself into immortality under an alias4 ,that ,madame de ,montespan1 who found it for her interest and vanity to live in habitual violation of the seventh commandment1 was so rigorous in her devotions as to weigh her bread in ,lent4 ,that ,cardinal ,bernis1 the most worthless of abbes1 who owed his advancement in the church to ,madame de ,pompadour1 the most worthless of women1 refused to communicate in the dignity of the purple with a woman of so unsanctimonious a character4 ,that ,rousseau1 whose preaching made it fashionable for women of rank to nurse their own children1 sent his own1 as soon as born1 to the foundling hospital4 ,that ,coleridge and ,goldsmith wrote ,the ,house that ,jack ,built and ,goody ,two ,shoes3 more than all it is curious1 and wonderful1 that these two simple trifles seem destined to outlive their more elaborate productions--,the ,ancient ,mariner and ,the ,vicar of ,wakefield4 ,christabel and ,the ,deserted ,village may hardly be preserved amongst the curiosities of literature1 when the famous nursery rhymes--joyously ringing upon the tongues of silver-voiced children--will be immortally fresh and new4 ,x4 ,,contrasts4 ,the world will never be tired reading and talking of the peculiarities and struggles of some of its literary worthies1 they seem so incredible4 ,poor ,goldsmith1 for example3 every incident relating to him is interesting1 even if colored by envy--as most of the contemporaneous gossip about him was4 ,i first met ,goldsmith1 says ,cumberland1 at the ,british ,coffee ,house4 ,he dined with us as a visitor1 introduced by ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds1 and we held a consultation upon the naming of his comedy1 which some of the company had read1 and which he detailed to the rest after his manner with a great deal of good-humor4 ,somebody suggested ,she ,stoops to ,conquer1 and that title was agreed upon4444 ',you and ,i1' said he1 'have very different motives for resorting to the stage4 ,i write for money1 and care little about fame4'444 ,the whole company pledged themselves to the support of the poet1 and faithfully kept their promise to him4 ,in fact1 he needed all that could be done for him1 as ,mr4 ,colman1 then manager of ,covent ,garden ,theatre1 protested against the comedy1 when as yet he had not struck upon a name for it4 ,johnson at length stood forth in all his terror1 as champion for the piece1 and backed by us1 his clients and retainers1 demanded a fair trial4 ,colman again protested1 but1 with that salvo for his own reputation1 liberally lent his stage to one of the most eccentric productions that ever found its way to it1 and ,she ,stoops to ,conquer was put into rehearsal4 ,we were not over-sanguine of success1 but perfectly determined to struggle hard for our author2 we accordingly assembled our strength at the ,shakespeare ,tavern in a considerable body for an early dinner1 where ,samuel ,johnson took the chair at the head of a long table1 and was the life and soul of the corps3 the poet took post silently by his side1 with the ,burkes1 ,sir ,joshua ,reynolds1 ,fitzherbert1 ,caleb ,whitefoord1 and a phalanx of ,north ,british predetermined applauders1 under the banner of ,major ,mills1 all good men and true4 ,our illustrious president was in inimitable glee1 and poor ,goldsmith that day took all his raillery as patiently and complacently as my friend ,boswell would have done any day or every day of his life4 ,in the meantime1 we did not forget our duty1 and though we had a better comedy going1 in which ,johnson was chief actor1 we betook ourselves in good time to our separate and allotted posts1 and waited the awful drawing up of the curtain4 ,as our stations were preconcerted1 so were our signals for plaudits arranged and determined upon in a manner that gave every one his cue where to look for them and how to follow them up4 ,we had amongst us a very worthy and sufficient member1 long since lost to his friends and the world at large1 ,adam ,drummond1 of amiable memory1 who was gifted by nature with the most sonorous1 and1 at the same time1 the most contagious1 laugh that ever echoed from the human lungs4 ,the neighing of the horse of the son of ,hystaspes was a whisper to it2 the whole thunder of the theatre could not drown it4 ,this kind and ingenuous friend fairly forewarned us that he knew no more when to give his fire than the cannon did that was planted on a battery4 ,he desired1 therefore1 to have a flapper at his elbow1 and ,i had the honor to be deputed to that office4 ,i planted him in an upper box1 pretty nearly over the stage1 in full view of the pit and galleries1 and perfectly well situated to give the echo all its play through the hollows and recesses of the theatre4 ,the success of our manoeuvres was complete4 ,all eyes were upon ,johnson1 who sat in a front row of a side box1 and when he laughed everybody thought themselves warranted to roar4 ,in the meantime1 my friend followed signals with a rattle so irresistibly comic that1 when he had repeated it several times1 the attention of the spectators was so engrossed by his person and performances that the progress of the play seemed likely to become a secondary object1 and ,i found it prudent to insinuate to him that he might halt his music without any prejudice to the author2 but1 alas1 it was now too late to rein him in2 he had laughed upon my signal where he found no joke1 and now unluckily he fancied that he found a joke in almost everything that was said2 so that nothing in nature could be more malapropos than some of his bursts every now and then were4 ,these were dangerous moments1 for the pit began to take umbrage2 but we carried our play through1 and triumphed1 not only over ,colman's judgment1 but our own4 ,it is related that ,goldsmith1 during the performance of the comedy1 walked all the time in ,st4 ,james's ,park1 in great uneasiness2 and when he thought it must be over1 he hastened to the theatre4 ,his ears were assailed with hisses as he entered the green-room1 when he eagerly inquired of ,mr4 ,colman the cause4 ,pshaw6 ,pshaw6 said ,colman1 don't be afraid of squibs1 when we have been sitting on a barrel of gun-powder these two hours4 ,the fact was1 that the comedy had been completely successful1 and that it was the farce which had excited those sounds so terrific to ,goldsmith4 ,a scene very different from that occurred at another first acting--as remarkable if not as famous4 ,it was on the occasion of the first presentation of ,lamb's farce of ,mr4 ,h41 thirty years later1 at ,drury ,lane4 ,that acute dramatic scholar and critic had written a tragedy1--,john ,woodvil1--the fate of which his friend ,procter has pleasantly narrated3 ,it had been in ,mr4 ,kemble's hands for about a year1 and ,lamb naturally became urgent to hear his decision upon it4 ,upon applying for this he found that his play was--lost6 ,this was at once acknowledged1 and a 'courteous request made for another copy1 if ,i had one by me4' ,luckily1 another copy existed4 ,the 'first runnings' of a genius were not1 therefore1 altogether lost1 by having been cast1 without a care1 into the dusty limbo of the theatre4 ,the other copy was at once supplied1 and the play very speedily rejected4 ,it was afterward facetiously brought forward in one of the early numbers of the ,edinburgh ,review1 and there noticed as a rude specimen of the earliest age of the drama1 'older than ,a,eschylus4' ,but the condemnation of his tragedy did not discourage him2 he now tried his genius upon a farce4 ,its acceptance1 ,talfourd says1 gave ,lamb some of the happiest moments he ever spent4 ,he wrote joyously to ,wordsworth about it1 even carrying his humorous anticipations so far as to indulge in a draft of the orders he should send out to his friends after it had had a successful run3 ,admit to ,boxes4 ,mr4 ,h4 ,ninth ,night4 ,charles ,lamb4 ,hear what he says about it to his friend ,manning1 then in ,china3 ,the title is ,mr4 ,h41 no more2 how simple1 how taking6 ,a great ,h-- sprawling over the play-bill1 and attracting eyes at every corner4 ,the story is a coxcomb appearing at ,bath1 vastly rich--all the ladies dying for him--all bursting to know who he is--but he goes by no other name than ,mr4 ,h42 a curiosity like that of the dames of ,strasburg about the man with the great nose4 ,but ,i won't tell you any more about it4 ,yes1 ,i will2 but ,i can't give you any idea how ,i have done it4 ,i'll just tell you that after much vehement admiration1 when his true name comes out1--',hogsflesh1'--all the women shun him1 avoid him1 and not one can be found to change her name for him--that's the idea3 how flat it is here1 but how whimsical in the farce6 ,and only think how hard upon me it is that the ship is dispatched to-morrow1 and my triumph cannot be ascertained till the ,wednesday after2 but all ,china will ring of it by and by4444 ,i shall get two hundred pounds from the theatre if ,mr4 ,h4 has a good run1 and ,i hope one hundred pounds for the copyright4444 ,mary and ,i are to sit next the orchestra in the pit1 next the dweedle dees4 ,the ,wednesday came1 the wished-for evening1 which decided the fate of ,mr4 ,h4 ,great curiosity1 says ,talfourd1 was excited by the announcement2 the house was crowded to the ceiling1 and the audience impatiently awaited the conclusion of the long intolerable opera by which it was preceded4 ,at length the hero of the farce entered1 gayly dressed1 and in happiest spirits1--enough1 not too much1 elated1--and delivered the prologue with great vivacity and success4 ,the farce began2 at first it was much applauded2 but the wit seemed wire-drawn2 and when the curtain fell on the first act1 the friends of the author began to fear4 ,the second act dragged heavily on1 as second acts of farces will do2 a rout at ,bath1 peopled with ill-dressed and over-dressed actors and actresses1 increased the disposition to yawn2 and when the moment of disclosure came1 and nothing worse than the name ,hogsflesh was heard1 the audience resented the long play on their curiosity1 and would hear no more4 ,lamb1 with his sister1 sat1 as he anticipated1 in the front of the pit2 and having joined in encoring the epilogue1 the brilliancy of which injured the farce1 he gave way with equal pliancy to the common feeling1 and hissed and hooted as loudly as any of his neighbors6 ,away went the poet's fame1 and the hoped-for three hundred pounds6 ,not even the autocratic countenance of ,johnson1 and the big1 contagious laugh of ,drummond1 could have saved them4 ,the next morning's play-bill contained a veracious announcement1 that the new farce of ,mr4 ,h41 performed for the first time last night1 was received by an overflowing audience with universal applause1 and will be repeated for the second time to-morrow2 but the stage lamps never that morrow saw6 ,an amusing1 sad spectacle the whole thing was2 ,lamb1 especially1--the dramatic scholar1 critic1 and wit1 the theatre-goer1 the associate of playwrights and actors1--hissing and hooting his own bantling6 ,in a letter afterward to ,manning1 he labors to be amusing over the catastrophe in this ghastly and extravagant manner3 ,so ,i go creeping on since ,i was lamed by that cursed fall from off the top of ,drury ,lane ,theatre into the pit1 something more than a year ago4 ,however1 ,i have been free of the house ever since1 and the house was pretty free with me upon that occasion4 ,hang 'em1 how they hissed6 ,it was not a hiss neither1 but a sort of a frantic yell1 like a congregation of mad geese2 with roaring sometimes like bears2 mows and mops like apes2 sometimes snakes1 that hissed me into madness4 ',twas like ,st4 ,anthony's temptations4 ,mercy on us6 that ,god should give his favorite children1 men1 mouths to speak with1 to discourse rationally1 to promise smoothly1 to flatter agreeably1 to encourage warmly1 to counsel wisely1 to sing with1 to drink with1 and to kiss with1 and that they should turn them into mouths of adders1 bears1 wolves1 hyenas1 and whistle like tempests1 and emit breath through them like distillations of aspic poison1 to asperse and vilify the innocent labors of their fellow-creatures who are desirous to please them6 ,heaven be pleased to make the teeth rot out of them all1 therefore6 ,make them a reproach1 and all that pass by them to loll out their tongues at them6 ,blind mouths6 as ,milton somewhere calls them4 ,poor ,elia6 ,of crazy stock2 himself in a mad-house for six weeks at the end of his twentieth year2 his sister insane at intervals throughout her life2 his mother hopelessly bed-ridden till killed by her daughter in a fit of frenzy2 his father pitifully imbecile2 his old maiden aunt home from a rich relation's to be nursed till she died--all dependent upon him1 his more prosperous brother declining to bear any part of the burden2 his work for more than thirty years monotonous1 and most of it performed at the same desk in the same back office2 pinched all the time by adversity2 with no ear for music2 the list of his few friends1 to use his own words1 in the world's eye1 a ragged regiment1--including the poet ,lloyd1 who died insane1 and the scholar ,dyer1 who was so absent-minded as at one time to empty the contents of his snuff-box into the tea-pot when he was preparing breakfast for a hungry friend1 at another1 with staff in hand1 and at noonday1 to walk straight into the river1--the humor1 we say1 of dear1 wretched1 gentle ,charles ,lamb must stand a wonder in ,english literature4 ,not less incredible was the steady growth of the prodigious genius of ,charlotte ,bronte1 under circumstances hardly less awfully depressing4 ,think of the woful life of that suffering prodigy1 in that cheerless village of forbidding stone houses1 whose grim architecture illustrated the rigid hardness of their inhabitants4 ,above1 below1 all around1 were rocks and moors1 where neither flowers nor vegetables would flourish1 and where even a tree of moderate dimensions might be hunted far and wide2 where the snow lay long and late2 and where often1 on autumnal and winter nights1 the four winds of heaven seemed to meet and rage together1 tearing round the houses as if they were wild beasts striving to find an entrance4 ,stone dikes were used in place of hedges4 ,the cold parsonage1 at the top of the one desolate street1 with its stone stairs and stone floors in the passages and parlors1 was surrounded on three sides by the great old church-yard1 which was terribly full of upright tomb-stones1 and which poisoned the water-springs of the pumps4 ,the funeral bells1 tolling1 tolling1 and the chip1 chip of the mason1 as he cut the grave-stones in a shed close by1 were habitual sounds4 ,the pews in the old church were of black oak1 with high divisions1 with the names of the owners painted in white letters on the doors4 ,her father1 the clergyman1 harsh1 hard1 and unsocial2 at all times denying flesh food to his puny children2 at dinner permitting them only potatoes1 and rarely or never taking his meals with them2 with a temper so violent and distrustful as to cause him always to carry a pistol1 which he was in the habit of discharging from an upper window whenever in a fit of passion2 who burned the little colored shoes of his children1 presented by their mother's cousin1 lest they should foster a love of dress2 who cut in strips the silk gown of his wife because its color was not suited to his puritanical taste--at the time1 too1 when she was slowly dying of an internal cancer4 ,sent from home to be educated at a miserable school provided for the daughters of clergymen1 where were bad air and bad food1 and which caused the speedy death of both her elder sisters4 ,so short-sighted that she always seemed to be seeking something1 moving her head from side to side to catch a sight of it4 ,having no visitors2 visiting1 during her childhood1 but at one house1 and that for but a short time4 ,her only intimate associates her two younger sisters4 ,wonderful trio6 ,at nine o'clock they put away their work1 and began to pace the room backward and forward1 up and down1 over the stone floors1--as often with the candles extinguished1 for economy's sake1 as not1--their figures glancing in the firelight1 and out into the shadow1 perpetually4 ,at this time they talked over past cares and troubles2 they planned for the future1 and consulted each other as to their plans4 ,in after years1 this was the time for discussing together the plots of their novels4 ,and again1 still later1 this was the time for the last surviving sister 7,charlotte7 to walk alone1 from old accustomed habit1 round and round the desolate room1 thinking sadly upon the 'days that were no more4' ,is there anything in books more sad and touching8 ,her only pet was a fierce bull-dog1 and her only male associate her brilliant1 drunken brother 7who willfully died upon his feet1 in an upright position1 to fulfill an oft-declared purpose71 a continual disgrace and terror as long as he lived4 ,and much of the time1 poor thing1 in an agony about the fate of her soul6 ,how the little1 pinched victim of all this misery and wretchedness could have written a narrative which at once took its place1 in spite of faithless and unsympathizing critics1 and securely kept it1 too1 amongst the highest and best productions of the age1 is a startling marvel in literature4 ,out of her own life she wrought her wonderful works4 ,the fiery imagination that at times eats me up1 she wrote to her friend4 ,in her stories she but told her own agonies1 as ,cowper noted the progress of his insanity1 and the ,french physiologist his ebbing pulse under the deadly influence of burning charcoal4 ,but1 recurring to ,lamb and his set1 what impossible1 incomprehensible characters it included3 ,elton ,hammond1 for instance1 a contemporary if not an associate4 ,he inherited his father's tea business in ,milk ,street4 ,in order1 he said1 to set an example to the world how a business should be carried on1 and that he might not be interfered with in his plans1 he turned off the clerks and every servant in the establishment1 which soon wound up the business altogether4 ,for a while he had no other society than a little child1 which he taught its letters1 and a mouse1 that fed out of his hands4 ,he journalized his food1 his sleep1 his dreams4 ,he had a conviction that he was to have been1 and ought to have been1 the greatest of men1 but was conscious in fact that he was not4 ,the reason assigned by him for putting an end to his life was that he could not condescend to live without fulfilling his proper vocation4 ,he said to one of his friends that he was on the point of making a discovery which would put an end to physical and moral evil in the world4 ,he quarreled with another of his friends for not being willing to join him in carrying a heavy box through the streets of ,london for a poor woman4 ,he refused a private secretaryship to ,rough1 a colonial chief justice1 on the ground of the obligation involved to tell a lie and write a lie every day1 subscribing himself the humble servant of people he did not serve1 and toward whom he felt no humility4 ,here are a few things he wrote3 ,when ,i was about eight or ten ,i promised marriage to a wrinkled cook we had1 aged about sixty-five4 ,i was convinced of the insignificance of beauty1 but really felt some considerable ease at hearing of her death1 about four years after1 when ,i began to repent of my vow4444 ,i always said that ,i would do anything to make another happy1 and told a boy ,i would give him a shilling if it would make him happy2 he said it would1 so ,i gave it to him4 ,it is not to be wondered at that ,i had plenty of such applications1 and soon emptied my purse4 ,it is true ,i rather grudged the money1 because the boys laughed rather more than ,i wished them4 ,but it would have been inconsistent to have appeared dissatisfied4 ,some of them were generous enough to return the money1 and ,i was prudent enough to take it1 though ,i declared that if it would make them happy ,i should be sorry to have it back4444 ,it is not pain1 it is not death1 that ,i dread1 it is the hatred of a man2 there is something in it so shocking that ,i would rather submit to any injury than incur or increase the hatred of a man by revenging it4444 ,the chief philosophical value of my papers ,i conceive to be that they record something of a mind that was very near taking a station far above all that have hitherto appeared in the world4444 ,it is provoking that the secret of rendering man perfect in wisdom1 power1 virtue1 and happiness1 should die with me4 ,i never till this moment doubted that some other person would discover it2 but ,i now recollect that when ,i have relied on others ,i have always been disappointed4 ,perhaps none may ever discover it1 and the human race has lost its only chance of eternal happiness4444 ,i believe that man requires religion4 ,i believe that there is no true religion now existing4 ,i believe that there will be one4 ,it will not1 after eighteen hundred years of existence1 be of questionable truth and utility1 but perhaps in eighteen years be entirely spread over the earth1 an effectual remedy for all human suffering1 and a source of perpetual joy4 ,it will not need immense learning to be understood1 it will be subject to no controversy4444 ,another sufficient reason for suicide is1 that ,i was this morning out of temper with ,mrs4 ,douglas 7for no fault of hers74 ,i did not betray myself in the least1 but ,i reflected to be exposed to the possibility of such an event once a year was evil enough to render life intolerable4 ,the disgrace of using an impatient word is to me overpowering4444 ,i am stupefied with writing1 and yet ,i cannot go my long journey without taking leave of one from whom ,i have received so much kindness1 and from whose society so much delight4 ,my place is booked in ,charon's boat to-night at twelve4 ,diana kindly consents to be of the party4 ,this is handsome of her4 ,she was not looked for on my part4 ,perhaps she is willing to acknowledge my obedience to her laws by a genteel compliment4 ,good4 ,the gods1 then1 are grateful4 ,to the coroner and his jury he wrote1 ,let me suggest the following verdict1 as combining literal truth with justice3 ',died by his own hand1 but not feloniously4' ,if ,i have offended ,god1 it is for ,god1 not you1 to inquire4 ,especial public duties ,i have none4 ,if ,i have deserted any engagement in society1 let the parties aggrieved consign my name to obloquy4 ,i have for nearly seven years been disentangling myself from all my engagements1 that ,i might at last be free to retire from life4 ,i am free to-day1 and avail myself of my liberty4 ,i cannot be a good man1 and prefer death to being a bad one1--as bad as ,i have been and as others are4 ,and there was ,blake--artist1 genius1 mystic1 or madman8 ,probably all1 thought ,robinson1 one of his warmest admirers2 for he had admirers1 and some of them were eminent4 ,coleridge knew him1 and talked finely about him4 ,wordsworth thought he had in him the elements of poetry much more than either ,byron or ,scott4 ,lamb liked his poems4 ,hazlitt said of them1 ,they are beautiful1 and only too deep for the vulgar4 ,his genius as an artist was praised by ,flaxman and ,fuseli4 ,his countenance is described as ,socratic1 with an expression of great sweetness2 when animated he had about him an air of inspiration4 ,though in great poverty1 he was ever a gentleman2 with genuine dignity and independence1 he scorned all presents4 ,he wrote songs1 composed music1 and painted1 at the same time he pursued his business as an engraver4 ,among his friends he gave out that his pictures were copied from great works revealed to him1 and that his lessons in art were given him by celestial tongues4 ,when he spoke of his visions1 it was in the ordinary unemphatic tones in which we speak of every-day matters4 ,he conversed familiarly with the spirits of ,homer1 ,moses1 ,pindar1 ,dante1 ,shakespeare1 ,voltaire1 ,sir ,william ,wallace1 ,milton1 and other illustrious dead1 giving repeatedly their very words in their conversations4 ,sometimes1 too1 he wrangled with demons4 ,his books 7and his ,,mss4 are immense in quantity7 are dictations from the spirits4 ,he possessed1 it was said1 the highest and most exalted powers of the mind1 but not the lower4 ,he could fly1 but he could not walk2 he had genius and inspiration1 without the prosaic balance-wheel of common sense4 ,in poetry1 it was observed1 he most enjoyed the parts which to others are most obscure4 ,his wife ,katherine1 good soul1 believed in him1 and was invaluable to him4 ,she was ever sitting by his side1 or assisting him at the press4 ,you know1 dear1 she said1 believingly1 the first time you saw ,god was when you were four years old1 and he put his head to the window1 and set you a-screaming4 ,both believed that his pictures were veritable visions transferred to the canvas or the plate4 ,sixteen of his mystical designs are illustrations of ,the ,gates of ,paradise1 one hundred of ,jerusalem1 and twenty-seven singular1 but powerful drawings disclose the mysteries of hell4 ,he wrote to ,flaxman1 addressing him as ,dear ,sculptor of ,eternity1 and saying1 in his strange1 wild way1 ,in my brain are studies and chambers filled with books and pictures of old1 which ,i wrote and painted in ages of eternity1 before my mortal life2 and these works are the delight and study of archangels4 ,a friend said to him1 ,you express yourself as ,socrates used to do4 ,what resemblance do you suppose there is between your spirit and his8 ,the same as between our countenances1 he answered4 ,after a pause he added1 ,i was ,socrates2 and then1 as if correcting himself1 said1 a sort of brother4 ,i must have had conversations with him4 ,so ,i had with ,jesus ,christ4 ,i have an obscure recollection of having been with both of them4 ,once he said1 ,there is no use in education4 ,i hold it to be wrong4 ,it is the great sin4 ,it is eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil4 ,this was the fault of ,plato4 ,he knew of nothing but the virtues and vices1 and good and evil4 ,there is nothing in all that4 ,everything is good in ,god's eyes4 ,being asked about the moral character of ,dante1 in writing his ,vision1--was he pure8 ,pure1 said ,blake1 do you think there is any purity in ,god's eyes8 ,the angels in heaven are no more so than we4 ',he chargeth his angels with folly4' ,he afterward represented the ,supreme ,being as liable to error4 ,did he not repent him that he had made ,nineveh8 ,though he spoke of his happiness1 he also alluded to past sufferings1 and to suffering as necessary4 ,there is suffering in heaven1 for where there is the capacity of enjoyment1 there is also the capacity of pain4 ,comparing moral with natural evil1 he said1 ,who shall say that ,god thinks evil8 ,that is a wise tale of the ,mahometans1 of the angel of the ,lord that murdered the infant 7alluding to the ,hermit of ,parnell74 ,is not every infant that dies of disease murdered by an angel8 ,i saw ,milton1 he said on one occasion1 and he told me to beware of being misled by his ,paradise ,lost4 ,in particular he wished me to show the falsehood of the doctrine1 that carnal pleasures arose from the ,fall4 ,the ,fall could not produce any pleasure4 ,he spoke of ,milton as being at one time a sort of classical atheist1 and of ,dante as being now with ,god4 ,his faculty of vision1 he said1 he had had from early infancy4 ,he thought all men partook of it1 but it is lost for want of being cultivated4 ,i assert for myself1 said he1 that ,i do not behold the outward creation1 and that to me it is hinderance and not action4 ',what6' it will be questioned1 'when the sun rises1 do you not see a disc of fire somewhat like a guinea8' ,oh no1 no1 no6 ,i see an innumerable company of the heavenly host1 crying1 ',holy1 holy1 holy is the ,lord ,god ,almighty4' ,i question not my corporeal eye any more than ,i would question a window concerning a sight4 ,i look through it1 and not with it4444 ,i have written more than ,voltaire or ,rousseau4 ,six or seven epic poems as long as ,homer1 and twenty tragedies as long as ,macbeth4444 ,i write when commanded by the spirits1 and the moment ,i have written ,i see the words fly about the room in all directions4 ,it is then published1 and the spirits can read4 ,my ,,ms4 is of no further use4 ,i have been tempted to burn my ,,mss41 but my wife won't let me4444 ,men are born with a devil and an angel4444 ,i have never known a very bad man1 who had not something very good about him4444 ,i should be sorry if ,i had any earthly fame1 for whatever natural glory a man has is so much taken from his spiritual glory4 ,i wish to do nothing for profit ,i wish to live for art4 ,i want nothing whatever4 ,i am quite happy4 ,for the greater part of his life1 he lived in a garret1 on crusts of bread4 ,death he considered as nothing but going from one room to another4 ,he died with his pencil in his hand1 making a likeness of his wife1 and chanting pleasant songs4 ,died1 she said1 like an angel4 ,and ,george ,dyer--a pet acquaintance of ,lamb's--what a character was he6 ,a bundle of contradictions if ever there was one4 ,poor and always struggling1 but never envious1 and utterly without hatred of the rich4 ,a poet whose poetry was to himself as good as anybody's1 and anybody's as good as his own4 ,a bachelor1 his life was solitary1 but he never thought of his solitude1 till it was suggested to him by an observing1 sympathizing widow1 who kindly and generously consented to share it with him--her fourth husband6 ,he is characterized by one of his literary friends as one of the best creatures morally that ever breathed4 ,he was a ripe scholar1 but to the end of his days 7and he lived to be eighty-five7 he was a bookseller's drudge4 ,he made indexes1 corrected the press1 and occasionally gave lessons in ,greek and ,latin4 ,simple and kind1 he repeatedly gave away his last guinea4 ,he was the author of the ,life and ,writings of ,robert ,robinson1 which was pronounced by ,wordsworth and ,samuel ,parr one of the best biographies in the language4 ,the charm of the book is that ,robinson's peculiar humor was wholly unappreciated by the simple-minded biographer4 ,robinson was a fine humorist2 ,dyer had absolutely no sense of humor4 ,it was when he was on his way from ,lamb's to ,mrs4 ,barbauld's1 that1 in his absent-mindedness1 he walked straight into ,new ,river1 and was with difficulty saved from drowning4 7,young1 one of ,fielding's intimate friends1 who sat for the portrait of ,parson ,adams1 was another such character4 ,he also supported an uncomfortable existence by translating for the booksellers from the ,greek1 overflowed with benevolence and learning1 and was noted for his absence of mind4 ,he had been chaplain of a regiment during ,marlborough's wars2 and meditating one evening upon the glories of nature1 and the goodness of ,providence1 he walked straight into the camp of the enemy2 nor was he aroused from his reverie till the hostile sentinel shouted1 ',who goes there8' ,the commanding officer1 finding that he had come among them in simplicity and not in guile1 allowed him to return1 and lose himself1 if he pleased1 in meditations on his danger and deliverance47 ,it is said that certain roguish young ladies1 ,dyer's cousins1 lacking due reverence for learning and poetry1 were wont to heap all sorts of meats upon the worthy gentleman's plate at dinner1 he being lost in conversation until near the close of the repast1 when he would suddenly recollect himself and fall to till he had finished the whole4 ,talfourd1 speaking of ,lamb and ,dyer1 says1 ,no contrast could be more vivid than that presented by the relations of each to the literature they both loved1--one divining its inmost essences1 plucking out the heart of its mysteries1 shedding light on its dimmest recesses2 the other devoted with equal assiduity to its externals4 ,books1 to ,dyer1 'were a real world1 both pure and good2' among them he passed1 unconscious of time1 from youth to extreme old age1 vegetating on their dates and forms1 and 'trivial fond records1' in the learned air of great libraries1 or the dusty confusion of his own1 with the least possible apprehension of any human interest vital in their pages1 or of any spirit of wit or fancy glancing across them4 ,his life was an academic pastoral4 ,methinks ,i see his gaunt1 awkward form1 set off by trousers too short1 like those outgrown by a gawky lad1 and a rusty coat as much too large for the wearer1 hanging about him like those garments which the aristocratic ,milesian peasantry prefer to the most comfortable rustic dress2 his long head silvered over with short yet straggling hair1 and his dark gray eyes glistening with faith and wonder1 as ,lamb satisfies the curiosity which has gently disturbed his studies as to the authorship of the ,waverley ,novels1 by telling him1 in the strictest confidence1 that they are the works of ,lord ,castlereagh1 just returned from the ,congress of ,sovereigns at ,vienna4 ,off he runs1 with animated stride and shambling enthusiasm1 nor stops till he reaches ,maida ,hill1 and breathes his news into the startled ear of ,leigh ,hunt1 who1 'as a public writer1' ought to be possessed of the great fact with which ,george is laden6 ,or shall ,i endeavor to revive the bewildered look with which just after he had been announced as one of ,lord ,stanhope's executors and residuary legatees1 he received ,lamb's grave inquiry whether it was true1 as commonly reported1 that he was to be made a lord8 ',oh dear1 no1 ,mr4 ,lamb1' responded he with earnest seriousness1 but not without a moment's quivering vanity4 ',i could not think of such a thing2 it is not true1 ,i assure you4' ',i thought not1' said ,lamb1 'and ,i contradict it wherever ,i go4 ,but the government will not ask your consent2 they may raise you to the peerage without your ever knowing it4' ',i hope not1 ,mr4 ,lamb2 indeed--indeed1 ,i hope not4 ,it would not suit me at all1' responded ,dyer1 and went his way musing on the possibility of a strange honor descending on his reluctant brow4 ,or shall ,i recall the visible presentment of his bland unconsciousness of evil when his sportive friend taxed it to the utmost by suddenly asking what he thought of the murderer ,williams1 who1 after destroying two families in ,ratcliffe ,highway1 had broken prison by suicide1 and whose body had just before been conveyed in shocking procession to its cross-road grave8 ,the desperate attempt to compel the gentle optimist to speak ill of a mortal creature produced no happier success than the answer1 ',why1 ,i should think1 ,mr4 ,lamb1 he must have been rather an eccentric character4' ,honest1 simple soul6 ,my ,uncle ,toby over again1 for all the world4 ,what a contrast with all these ailing souls was the magnificent ,christopher ,north6 ,you remember the scene of his triumph on the occasion of his first lecture to the moral philosophy class in the ,university of ,edinburgh4 ,it deserves to be thought of along with the trial scenes we have been reviewing4 ,the contest for the professorship had been bitterly fought over a period of four months1 with ,sir ,william ,hamilton for competitor1--,sir ,james ,mackintosh and ,mr4 ,malthus being only possible candidates4 ,austerity and prejudice--essential and saintly elements in all good ,scotsmen--instinctively combined against him1 and inveterately pursued him4 ,when it was found useless to gainsay his mental qualifications for the office1 or to excite odium on the ground of his literary offenses1 the attack was directed against his moral character1 and it was broadly insinuated that this candidate for the chair of ethics was himself a man of more than doubtful morality2 that he was1 in fact1 not merely a 'reveler1' and a 'blasphemer1' but a bad husband1 a bad father1 a person not fit to be trusted as a teacher of youth4 ,a bad husband to the good woman he thus memorably characterized in a letter to one of his friends3 ,i was this morning married to ,jane ,penney1 and doubt not of receiving your blessing1 which1 from your brotherly heart1 will delight me1 and doubtless not be unheard by the ,almighty4 ,she is gentleness1 innocence1 sense1 and feeling1 surpassed by no woman1 and has remained pure1 as from her ,maker's hands2 the mother of all those children he loved so1--the death of whom1 in his ripe manhood and in the bloom of his fame1 nearly broke his heart6 ,sir ,walter and other powerful friends repelled the slanders4 ,wilson triumphed4 ,still he was pursued2 his enemies determined he should be put down1 humiliated1 even in his own class-room4 ,an eye-witness thus describes the scene on the occasion of the delivery of the professor's first lecture3 ,there was a furious bitterness of feeling against him among the classes of which probably most of his pupils would consist1 and although ,i had no prospect of being among them1 ,i went to his first lecture1 prepared to join in a cabal1 which ,i understood was formed to put him down4 ,the lecture-room was crowded to the ceiling4 ,such a collection of hard-browed1 scowling ,scotsmen1 muttering over their knobsticks1 ,i never saw4 ,the professor entered with a bold step1 amid profound silence4 ,every one expected some deprecatory or propitiatory introduction of himself and his subject1 upon which the mass was to decide against him1 reason or no reason2 but he began in a voice of thunder right into the matter of his lecture1 kept up unflinchingly and unhesitatingly1 without a pause1 a flow of rhetoric such as ,dugald ,stewart or ,thomas ,brown1 his predecessors1 never delivered in the same place4 ,not a word1 not a murmur escaped his captivated1 ,i ought to say his conquered audience1 and at the end they gave him a downright unanimous burst of applause4 ,those who came to scoff remained to praise4 ,the ruling classes in educational matters could not conceive of the fitness of a man like ,wilson for the moral philosophy chair in a university4 ,the giant he was physically1 with appetites and passions to match1 he was a reproach to the feeble1 a terror to the timid1 and a horror to the unco guid1 or the rigidly righteous4 ,the truth of him was such an exaggeration of the average man that the scholars and pedagogues and parsons could only look upon him as a monster1 with a character as monstrous as his nature4 ,he is described as long-maned and mighty1 whose eyes were 'as the lightnings of fiery flame1' and his voice like an organ bass2 who laid about him1 when the fit was on1 like a ,titan1 breaking small men's bones2 who was loose and careless in his apparel1 even as in all things he seemed too strong and primitive to heed much the niceties of custom4 ,in his youth1 he ran three miles for a wager against a chaise1 and came out ahead4 ,somewhat later he gained a bet by walking1 toe and heel1 six miles in two minutes within the hour4 ,when he was twenty-one1 height five feet eleven inches1 weight eleven stone1 he leaped1 with a run1 twenty-three feet on a slightly inclined plane1 perhaps an inch to a yard1 and was admitted to be 7,ireland excepted7 the best far leaper of his day in ,england4 ,he could jump twelve yards in three jumps1 with a great stone in each hand4 ,with him the angler's silent trade was a ruling passion4 ,he did not exaggerate to the ,shepherd in the ,noctes1 when he said that he had taken 'a hundred and thirty in one day out of ,loch ,aire1' as we see by his letters that even larger numbers were taken by him4 ,of his pugilistic skill1 it is said by ,de ,quincey that there was no man who had any talents1 real or fancied1 for thumping or being thumped1 but he had experienced some preening of his merits from ,mr4 ,wilson4 ,meeting one day with a rough and unruly wayfarer1 who showed inclination to pick a quarrel concerning right of passage across a certain bridge1 the fellow obstructed the way1 and making himself decidedly obnoxious1 ,wilson lost all patience1 and offered to fight him4 ,the man made no objection to the proposal1 but replied that he had better not fight with him1 as he was so and so1 mentioning the name of a 7then not unknown7 pugilist4 ,this statement had1 as may be supposed1 no effect in dampening the belligerent intentions of the ,oxonian2 he knew his own strength1 and his skill too4 ,in one moment off went his coat1 and he set to upon his antagonist in splendid style4 ,the astonished and punished rival1 on recovering from his blows and surprise1 accosted him thus3 ',you can only be one of the two3 you are either ,jack ,wilson or the devil4' ,his pedestrian feats were marvelous4 ,on one occasion1 writes an old classmate of ,wilson's at ,oxford1 having been absent a day or two1 we asked him1 on his return to the common room1 where he had been4 ,he said1 ,in ,london4 ,when did you return8 ,this morning4 ,how did you come8 ,on foot4 ,as we all expressed surprise1 he said1 ',why1 the fact is1 ,i dined yesterday with a friend in ,grosvenor 7,i think it was7 ,square1 and as ,i quitted the house1 a fellow who was passing was impertinent and insulted me1 upon which ,i knocked him down2 and as ,i did not choose to have myself called in question for a street row1 ,i at once started1 as ,i was1 in my dinner dress1 and never stopped until ,i got to the college gate this morning1 as it was being opened4' ,now this was a walk of fifty-eight miles at least1 which he must have got over in eight or nine hours at most1 supposing him to have left the dinner-party at nine in the evening4 ,some years later1 he walked--his wife accompanying him--three hundred and fifty miles in the ,highlands1 between the #eth of ,july and the #bfth of ,august1 sojourning in divers glens from ,sabbath unto ,sabbath1 fishing1 eating1 and staring4 ,mrs4 ,wilson returned from this wonderful tour bonnier than ever1 and ,wilson himself1 to use his own phrase1 strong as an eagle4 ,one of their resting-places was at the school-master's house in ,glenorchy4 ,while there his time was much occupied by fishing1 and distance was not considered an obstacle4 ,he started one morning at an early hour to fish in a loch which at that time abounded in trout1 in the ,braes of ,glenorchy1 called ,loch ,toila4 ,its nearest point was thirteen miles distant from his lodgings at the school-house4 ,on reaching it1 and unscrewing the butt-end of his fishing-rod to get the top1 he found he had it not4 ,nothing daunted1 he walked back1 breakfasted1 got his fishing-rod1 made all complete1 and off again to ,loch ,toila4 ,he could not resist fishing on the river when a pool looked inviting1 but he went always onward1 reaching the loch a second time1 fished round it1 and found that the long summer day had come to an end4 ,he set off for his home again with his fishing-basket full1 and confessing somewhat to weariness4 ,passing near a farm-house whose inmates he knew 7for he had formed acquaintance with all71 he went to get some food4 ,they were in bed1 for it was eleven o'clock at night1 and after rousing them1 the hostess hastened to supply him2 but he requested her to get him some whisky and milk4 ,she came with a bottle full1 and a can of milk1 with a tumbler4 ,instead of a tumbler1 he requested a bowl1 and poured the half of the whisky in1 along with half the milk4 ,he drank the mixture at a draught1 and while his kind hostess was looking on with amazement1 he poured the remainder of the whisky and milk into the bowl1 and drank that also4 ,he then proceeded homeward1 performing a journey of not less than seventy miles4 ,prodigious6 ,it beat the achievement of ,phidippides1 who1 according to tradition1 ran from ,athens to ,sparta1 one hundred and twenty miles1 in two days4 ,but here is a street scene1 related to his daughter by a lady who saw it1 which illustrates the tremendous professor of moral philosophy still further4 ,one summer afternoon1 as she was about to sit down to dinner1 her servant requested her to look out of the window1 to see a man cruelly beating his horse4 ,the sight not being a very gratifying one1 she declined1 and proceeded to take her seat at table4 ,it was quite evident that the servant had discovered something more than the ill-usage of the horse to divert his attention1 for he kept his eyes fixed on the window1 again suggesting to his mistress that she ought to look out4 ,her interest was at length excited1 and she rose to see what was going on4 ,in front of her house 7,moray ,place7 stood a cart of coals1 which the poor victim of the carter was unable to drag along4 ,he had been beating the beast most unmercifully1 when at that moment ,professor ,wilson1 walking past1 had seen the outrage and immediately interfered4 ,the lady said that from the expression of his face1 and vehemence of his manner1 the man was evidently 'getting it1' though she was unable to hear what was said4 ,the carter1 exasperated at this interference1 took up his whip in a threatening way1 as if with the intent to strike the professor4 ,in an instant that well-nerved hand twisted it from the coarse fist of the man as if it had been a straw1 and walking quietly up to the cart he unfastened its trams1 and hurled the whole weight of coals into the street4 ,the rapidity with which this was done left the driver of the cart speechless4 ,meanwhile1 poor ,rosinante1 freed from his burden1 crept slowly away1 and the professor1 still clutching the whip in one hand1 and leading the horse in the other1 proceeded through ,moray ,place to deposit the wretched animal in better keeping than that of his driver4 ,another of his interferences occurred during vacation time1 in the south of ,scotland1 when the professor had exchanged the gown for the old sporting jacket4 ,on his return to ,edinburgh1 he was obliged to pass through ,hawick1 where1 on his arrival1 finding it to be fair-day1 he readily availed himself of the opportunity to witness the amusements going on4 ,these happened to include a 'little mill' between two members of the local 'fancy4' ,his interest in pugilism attracted him to the spot1 where he soon discovered something very wrong1 and a degree of injustice being perpetrated which he could not stand4 ,it was the work of a moment to espouse the weaker side1 a proceeding which naturally drew down upon him the hostility of the opposite party4 ,this result was to him1 however1 of little consequence4 ,there was nothing for it but to beat or be beaten4 ,he was soon 'in position2' and1 before his unknown adversary well knew what was coming1 the skilled fist of the professor had planted such a 'facer' as did not require repetition4 ,another 'round' was not called for2 and leaving the discomfited champion to recover at his leisure1 the professor walked coolly away to take his seat in the stage-coach1 about to start for ,edinburgh4 ,is it any wonder that such a gigantic specimen of human nature was thought by the steady-going and saintly ,edinburghers1 who tried men by mathematics and the catechism1 to be preposterously unfit for the chair of ethics in their hallowed university8 ,they did not know then that the monster they hunted was capable of producing a description of a fairy's funeral--one of the most exquisite bits of prose composition in literature1 which is said to have so impressed ,lord ,jeffrey's mind that he never was tired of repeating it4 ,read it1 and say you if anybody but ,christopher ,north could have written it3 ,there it was1 on a little river island1 that once1 whether sleeping or waking we know not1 we saw celebrated a fairy's funeral4 ,first we heard small pipes playing1 as if no bigger than hollow rushes that whisper to the night winds2 and more piteous than aught that trills from earthly instrument was the scarce audible dirge6 ,it seemed to float over the stream1 every foam-bell emitting a plaintive note1 till the fairy anthem came floating over our couch1 and then alighting without footsteps among the heather4 ,the pattering of little feet was then heard1 as if living creatures were arranging themselves in order1 and then there was nothing but a more ordered hymn4 ,the harmony was like the melting of musical dew-drops1 and sang1 without words1 of sorrow and death4 ,we opened our eyes1 or rather sight came to them when closed1 and dream was vision4 ,hundreds of creatures1 no taller than the crest of the lapwing1 and all hanging down their veiled heads1 stood in a circle on a green plat among the rocks2 and in the midst was a bier1 framed as it seemed of flowers unknown to the ,highland hills2 and on the bier a fairy lying with uncovered face1 pale as a lily1 and motionless as the snow4 ,the dirge grew fainter and fainter1 and then died quite away2 when two of the creatures came from the circle1 and took their station1 one at the head1 the other at the foot of the bier4 ,they sang alternate measures1 not louder than the twitter of the awakened woodlark before it goes up the dewy air1 but dolorous and full of the desolation of death4 ,the flower-bier stirred2 for the spot on which it lay sank slowly down1 and in a few moments the greensward was smooth as ever1 the very dews glittering above the buried fairy4 ,a cloud passed over the moon2 and1 with a choral lament1 the funeral troop sailed duskily away1 heard afar off1 so still was the midnight solitude of the glen4 ,then the disenthralled ,orchy began to rejoice as before1 through all her streams and falls2 and at the sudden leaping of the waters and outbursting of the moon1 we awoke4 ,,xi4 ,,types4 ,it never rains but it pours1 is the pat proverb of all the world to express its belief in the inevitableness and omnipotence of extremes4 ,carlyle has enlarged upon it significantly1 in that famous passage in which he likens men collectively to sheep4 ,like sheep1 he says1 are we seen ever running in torrents and mobs1 if we ever run at all4 ,neither know we1 except by blind habit1 where the good pastures lie3 solely when the sweet grass is between our teeth1 we know it1 and chew it2 also when the grass is bitter and scant1 we know it1--and bleat and butt3 these last two facts we know of a truth1 and in very deed4 ,thus do men and sheep play their parts on this nether earth2 wandering restlessly in large masses1 they know not whither2 for most part1 each following his neighbor1 and his own nose4 ,nevertheless1 not always2 look better1 you shall find certain that do1 in some small degree1 know whither4 ,sheep have their bell-wether1 some ram of the folds1 endued with more valor1 with clearer vision than other sheep2 he leads them through the wolds1 by height and hollow1 to the woods and water-courses1 for covert or for pleasant provender2 courageously marching1 and if need be leaping1 and with hoof and horn doing battle1 in the van3 him they courageously1 and with assured heart1 follow4 ,touching it is1 as every herdsman will inform you1 with what chivalrous devotedness these woolly hosts adhere to their wether2 and rush after him1 through good report and through bad report1 were it into safe shelters and green thymy nooks1 or into asphaltic lakes and the jaws of devouring lions4 ,even also must we recall that fact which we owe ,jean ,paul's quick eye3 ',if you hold a stick before the wether1 so that he1 by necessity1 leaps in passing you1 and then withdraw your stick1 the flock will nevertheless all leap as he did2 and the thousandth sheep shall be found impetuously vaulting over air1 as the first did over an otherwise impassable barrier4' ,society is always swaying backward and forward--vibrating1 like the pendulum1 from one extreme to another2 for a moment only1 now and then1 is it upright1 and governed by reason4 ,moderation is hateful to it4 ,there is a pretty passage in one of ,lucian's dialogues1 where ,jupiter complains to ,cupid that1 though he has had so many intrigues1 he was never sincerely beloved4 ,in order to be loved1 says ,cupid1 you must lay aside your aegis and your thunder-bolts1 and you must curl and perfume your hair1 and place a garland on your head1 and walk with a soft step1 and assume a winning1 obsequious deportment4 ,but1 replied ,jupiter1 ,i am not willing to resign so much of my dignity4 ,then1 replied ,cupid1 leave off desiring to be loved4 ,he wanted to be ,jupiter and ,adonis at the same time4 ,it is natural1 says ,brackenridge1 in ,modern ,chivalry1 to distrust him who proposes to stop short of what seems a complete reform4 ,we are right1 say the people4 ,you are right1 says the man of prudence4 ,we were wrong1 say the people4 ,you were wrong1 says the same man4 ,the majority rules4 ,in the grove of ,gotama lived a ,brahman1 who1 having bought a sheep in another village1 and carrying it home on his shoulder to sacrifice1 was seen by three rogues1 who resolved to take the animal from him by the following stratagem3 ,having separated1 they agreed to encounter the ,brahman on his road as if coming from different parts4 ,one of them cried out1 ,o ,brahman6 why dost thou carry that dog on thy shoulder8 ,it is not a dog1 replied the ,brahman2 it is a sheep for sacrifice4 ,as he went on1 the second knave met him1 and put the same question2 whereupon the ,brahman1 throwing the sheep on the ground1 looked at it again and again4 ,having replaced it on his shoulder1 the good man went with mind wavering like a string4 ,but when the third rogue met him and said1 ,father1 where art thou taking that dog8 the ,brahman1 believing his eyes bewitched1 threw down the sheep and hurried home1 leaving the thieves to feast on that which he had provided for the gods4 ,the world grows tired of admiring1 and delights to limit its admiration4 ,garrick1 said ,hazlitt1 kept up the fever of public admiration as long as anybody1 but when he returned to the stage after a short absence no one went to see him4 ,the old ,earl of ,norwich1 who1 said ,sir ,william ,temple1 was esteemed the greatest wit in ,charles the ,first's reign1 when ,charles the ,second came to the throne was thought nothing of4 ,happy if the world's favorite to-day be not its victim to-morrow4 ,traveling through ,switzerland1 ,napoleon was greeted with such enthusiasm that ,bourrienne said to him1 ,it must be delightful to be greeted with such demonstrations of enthusiastic admiration4 ,bah6 replied ,napoleon1 this same unthinking crowd1 under a slight change of circumstances1 would follow me just as eagerly to the scaffold4 ,i have1 said an eminent ,american general to ,baron de ,huebner1 the greatest horror of popular demonstrations4 ,these very men who deafen you with their cheers to-day are capable of throwing stones and mud at you to-morrow4 ,mirabeau1 on a famous occasion1 amid the threatening clamors of an angry crowd1 said1 ,a few days ago ,i too was to be carried in triumph1 and now they are bawling through the streets1 'the great treason of the ,count of ,mirabeau4' ,this lesson was not necessary to remind me that the distance is short between the ,capitol and the ,tarpeian ,rock4 ,what throngs6 what acclamations1 exclaimed the flatterers of ,cromwell1 when he was proclaimed ,protector of the ,commonwealth of ,england4 ,cromwell replied1 ,there would be still more1 if they were going to hang me4 ,the multitudes that went before and that followed ,christ into ,jerusalem1 crying1 ,hosanna to the ,son of ,david3 ,blessed is he that cometh in the name of the ,lord3 ,hosanna in the highest1 cried out again1 ,crucify him4 ,then ,pilate said unto them1 ,why1 what evil hath he done8 and they cried out the more exceedingly1 ,crucify him4 ,madame ,roland wrote from her prison-cell to ,robespierre1 ,it is not1 ,robespierre1 to excite your compassion1 that ,i present you with a picture less melancholy than the truth4 ,i am above asking your pity2 and were it offered1 ,i should perhaps deem it an insult4 ,i write for your instruction4 ,fortune is fickle2 and popular power is liable to change4 ,society1 said ,macaulay1 writing of ,byron1 capricious in its indignation1 as it had been capricious in its fondness1 flew into a rage with its froward and petted darling4 ,he had been worshiped with an irrational idolatry4 ,he was persecuted with an irrational fury4 ,junius1 in the celebrated letter1 warns the king that while he plumes himself upon the security of his title to the crown1 he should remember that1 as it was acquired by one revolution1 it may be lost by another4 ,the ,jews1 said ,luther1 have a story of a king of ,bashan1 whom they call ,og2 they say he had lifted a great rock to throw at his enemies1 but ,god made a hole in the middle1 so that it slipped down upon the giant's neck1 and he could never rid himself of it4 ,causes of good or evil seem to accumulate1 when a very slight thing is the beginning of a succession of blessings or curses4 ,all things conspire1 till the recipients of blessings are smothered1 or the victims of curses are crushed4 ,till the cup is full1 overflowing2 till the burden is unbearable1 merciless2 till good becomes satiety1 or evil cruelty1 all the world seems to delight in contributing or robbing1 deifying or anathematizing4 ,never stoops the soaring vulture ,on his quarry in the desert1 ,on the sick or wounded bison1 ,but another vulture1 watching ,from his high aerial lookout1 ,sees the downward plunge and follows2 ,and a third pursues the second1 ,coming from the invisible ether1 ,first a speck1 and then a vulture1 ,till the air is dark with pinions4 ,so disasters come not singly2 ,but as if they watched and waited1 ,scanning one another's motions1 ,when the first descends1 the others ,follow1 follow1 gathering flock-wise ,round their victim1 sick and wounded1 ,first a shadow1 then a sorrow1 ,till the air is dark with anguish4 ,what a noise out-of-doors6 exclaimed ,souvestre's ,philosopher from his attic in ,paris4 ,what is the meaning of all these shouts and cries8 ,ah6 ,i recollect3 this is the last day of the carnival1 and the maskers are passing4 ,christianity has not been able to abolish the noisy bacchanalian festivals of the pagan times1 but it has changed the names4 ,that which it has given to these 'days of liberty' announces the ending of the feasts1 and the month of fasting which should follow2 'carn-a-val' means literally 'down with flesh meat6' ,it is a forty days' farewell to the 'blessed pullets and fat hams1' so celebrated by ,pantagruel's minstrel4 ,man prepares for privation by satiety1 and finishes his sins thoroughly before he begins to repent4 ,why1 in all ages and among every people1 do we meet with some one of these mad festivals8 ,must we believe that it requires such an effort for men to be reasonable1 that the weaker ones have need of rest at intervals4 ,the monks of ,la ,trappe1 who are condemned to silence by their rule1 are allowed to speak once in a month1 and on this day1 they all talk at once from the rising to the setting of the sun4 ,it is reported of ,scaramouche1 the first famous ,italian comedian1 that being in ,paris1 and in great want1 he bethought himself of constantly plying near the door of a noted perfumer in that city1 and when any one came out who had been buying snuff1 never failed to desire a taste of them3 when he had by this means got together a quantity made up of several different sorts1 he sold it again at a lower rate to the same perfumer1 who1 finding out the trick1 called it snuff of a thousand flowers4 ,the story further tells us that by this means he got a very comfortable subsistence1 until1 making too great haste to grow rich1 he one day took such an unreasonable pinch out of the box of a ,swiss officer as engaged him in a quarrel1 and obliged him to quit this ingenious way of life4 ,i remember1 says ,cumberland1 in his ,memoirs1 the predicament of an ingenious mechanic and artist1 who1 when ,rich the harlequin was the great dramatic author of his time1 and wrote successfully for the stage1 contrived and executed a most delicious serpent for one of those inimitable productions1 in which ,mr4 ,rich1 justly disdaining the weak aid of language1 had selected the classical fable1 if ,i rightly recollect1 of ,orpheus and ,eurydice1 and1 having conceived a very capital part for the serpent1 was justly anxious to provide himself with a performer who could support a character of that consequence with credit to himself and his author4 ,the event answered his most ardent hopes3 nothing could be more perfect than his entrances and exits2 nothing ever crawled across the stage with more accomplished sinuosity than this enchanting serpent2 every one was charmed with its performance2 it twirled and twisted1 and wriggled itself about in so divine a manner1 that the whole world was ravished by the lovely snake2 nobles and non-nobles1 rich and poor1 old and young1 reps and demi-reps1 flocked to see it and admire it4 ,the artist1 who had been the master of the movement1 was intoxicated with his success2 he turned his hand and head to nothing else but serpents2 he made them of all sizes2 they crawled about his shop as if he had been chief snake-catcher to the furies2 the public curiosity was satisfied with one serpent1 and he had nests of them yet unsold2 his stock lay dead upon his hands1 his trade was lost1 and the man was ruined1 bankrupt1 and undone4 ,lecky observes that when1 after long years of obstinate disbelief1 the reality of the great discovery of ,harvey dawned upon the medical world1 the first result was a school of medicine which regarded man simply as an hydraulic machine1 and found the principle of every malady in imperfections of circulation4 ,in the ,arctic region1 says ,dr4 ,kane1 the frost is so intense as to burn4 ,sudden putrefaction of meat takes place at a temperature of thirty-five degrees below zero4 ,the ,greenlanders consider extreme cold as favorable to putrefaction4 ,the ,esquimaux withdraw the viscera immediately after death1 and fill the cavity with stones4 ,dr4 ,kane was told that the musk ox is sometimes tainted after five minutes exposure to great cold4 ,in ,italy1 south of the great alluvial plain of ,lombardy1 and away from the immediate sea-coast1 the lakes occupy the craters of extinguished volcanoes4 ,in ,arabia1 travelers declare1 the silence of the desert is so profound that it soon ceases to be soothing or solemn1 and becomes absolutely painful1 if not appalling4 ,in ,java1 that magnificent and fearful clime1 the most lovely flowers are found to conceal hidden reptiles2 the most tempting fruits are tinctured with subtle poisons2 there grow those splendid trees whose shadow is death2 there the vampire1 an enormous bat1 sucks the blood of the victims whose sleep he prolongs1 by wafting over them an air full of freshness and perfume4 ,darwin1 in his ,voyage1 speaks of the strange mixture of sound and silence which pervades the shady parts of the wood on the shore of ,brazil4 ,the noise from the insects is so loud that it may be heard even in a vessel anchored several hundred yards from the shore2 yet within the recesses of the forest a universal silence appears to reign4 ,at ,syracuse1 an ,english gentleman was taken to a dirty cistern2 seventy women were washing1 with their clothes tucked up1 and themselves standing in a pool1--a disgusting scene4 ,what do you bring me here for8 said he to the guide4 ,why1 sir1 this is the ,fountain of ,arethusa4 ,in the ,fourth ,circle of ,dante's ,hell are the souls of the ,prodigal and the ,avaricious3 they are forever rolling great weights1 and forever smiting each other4 ,to all eternity1 says the poet1 they shall continue butting one another4 ,a dung-hill at a distance1 said ,coleridge1 sometimes smells like musk1 and a dead dog like elder-flowers4 ,scargill declared that an ,englishman is never happy but when he is miserable2 a ,scotchman is never at home but when he is abroad2 an ,irishman is at peace only when he is fighting4 ,the melancholy1 says ,horace1 hate the merry1 the jocose the melancholy2 the volatile dislike the sedate1 the indolent the stirring and vivacious2 the modest man generally carries the look of a churl4 ,meyer1 in conversation with ,goethe1 said he saw a shoemaker in ,italy who hammered his leather upon the antique marble head of a ,roman emperor4 ,the lark1 that sings out of the sky1 purifies himself1 like the pious ,mussulman1 in the dust of the ground4 ,the nightingale1 they say1 sings with his breast against a thorn4 ,the fragrant white pond lily springs from the same black mud out of which the yellow lily sucks its obscene life and noisome odor4 ,an elephant1 that no quadruped has the temerity to attack1 is said to be the favorite victim of a worm that bores into his foot and slowly tortures him to death4 ,a gnat1 according to a tradition of the ,arabs1 overcame the mighty ,nimrod4 ,enraged at the destruction of his gods by the prophet ,abraham1 he sought to slay him1 and waged war against him4 ,but the prophet prayed to ,god1 and said1 ,deliver me1 ,o ,god1 from this man1 who worships stones1 and boasts himself to be the lord of all beings2 and ,god said to him1 ,how shall ,i punish him8 ,and the prophet answered1 ,to ,thee armies are as nothing1 and the strength and power of men likewise4 ,before the smallest of thy creatures will they perish4 ,and ,god was pleased at the faith of the prophet1 and he sent a gnat1 which vexed ,nimrod night and day1 so that he built a room of glass in his palace1 that he might dwell therein1 and shut out the insect4 ,but the gnat entered also1 and passed by his ear into his brain1 upon which it fed1 and increased in size day by day1 so that the servants of ,nimrod beat his head with a hammer continually1 that he might have some ease from his pain2 but he died1 after suffering these torments for four hundred years4 ,the grandiose statues of ,michel ,angelo1 said a traveler1 descanting upon the art and architecture of old ,rome1 appear to the greatest advantage under the bold arches of ,bramante4 ,there--between those broad lines1 under those prodigious curves--placed in one of those courts1 or near one of the great temples where the perspective is incomplete--the statues of ,michel ,angelo display their tragic attitudes1 their gigantic members1 which seem animated by a ray from the divinity1 and struggling to mount from earth to heaven4 ,bramante and ,michel ,angelo detested but completed each other4 ,thus it is often in human nature4 ,those two men knew not that they were laborers in the same work4 ,and history is silent upon such points till death has passed over her heroes4 ,armies have fought until they have been almost annihilated on the field of battle2 men have hated and injured one another by their calumnies2 the learned and powerful persecute and seek to blot their fellows from the earth1 as if there was not air and space for all2 they know not1 blinded by their passions1 and warped by the prejudices of envy1 that the future will blend them in the same glory1 that to posterity they will represent but one sentiment4 ,bramante and ,michel ,angelo1 enemies during life1 are reconciled in immortality4 ,see how the extremes in morals and legislation met during the few years of ,english history covering the ,protectorate and the ,restoration4 ,puritanism and liberty of conscience1 whose exponents were ,cromwell and ,milton1 met licentiousness and corrupted loyalty1 with ,charles ,,ii4 and ,wycherley for representatives4 ,cromwell was ,puritanism armed and in power2 ,milton was its apostle and poet4 ,charles ,,ii4 was kingcraft besotted2 ,wycherley its jester and pimp4 ,cromwell--farmer1 preacher1 soldier1 party leader1 prince--radical1 stern1 hopeful2 ,charles--debauchee1 persecuting skeptic1 faithless ruler2 ,milton--lofty in his ,paradise2 ,wycherley--nasty in his ,love in a ,wood1 and ,country ,wife4 ,a larger soul never dwelt in a house of clay1 said one who had been much about ,cromwell1 after his death1 when flattery was mute4 ,old ,goat was the name given to ,charles by one who knew him best4 ,cromwell1 after all his battles and storms1 and all the plots of assassins against his life1 died of grief at the loss of his favorite daughter1 and of watching at her side4 ,charles went out of life in a fit1 the result of his horrible excesses1 if not of poison1--as said and believed by many1 administered by one of his own numerous mistresses4 ,first1 the ,puritans1 says ,macaulay1 interdicted1 under heavy penalties1 the use of the ,book of ,common ,prayer1 not only in churches1 but in private houses4 ,it was a crime in a child to read by the bedside of a sick parent one of those beautiful collects which had soothed the griefs of forty generations of ,christians4 ,severe punishments were denounced against such as should presume to blame the ,calvinistic mode of worship4 ,clergymen of respectable character were not only ejected from their benefices by thousands1 but were frequently exposed to the outrages of a fanatical rabble4 ,churches and sepulchres1 fine works of art and curious remains of antiquity1 were brutally defaced4 ,the ,parliament resolved that all pictures in the royal collection which contained representations of ,jesus or of the ,virgin ,mother should be burned4 ,sculpture fared as ill as painting4 ,nymphs and graces1 the work of ,ionian chisels1 were delivered over to ,puritan stone-masons to be made decent4 ,against the lighter vices the ruling faction waged war with a zeal little tempered by humanity or by common-sense4 ,public amusements1 from the masks which were exhibited at the mansions of the great down to the wrestling matches and grinning matches on village greens1 were vigorously attacked4 ,one ordinance directed that all the ,may-poles in ,england should forthwith be hewn down4 ,one of the first resolutions adopted by ,barebone's ,parliament was that no person should be admitted into the public service till the house should be satisfied with his real godliness4 ,suddenly the wheel turned4 ,the same people who1 by a solemn objurgation1 had excluded even the posterity of their lawful sovereign1 exhausted themselves in festivals and rejoicings for his return4 ,restored royalty made it a crime to attend a dissenting place of worship4 ,a single justice of the peace might convict without a jury1 and might1 for a third offense1 pass sentence of transportation beyond the sea1 or for seven years4 ,the whole soul of the restored church was in the work of crushing the ,puritans1 and of teaching her disciples to give unto ,caesar the things which were ,caesar's4 ,she had been pillaged and oppressed by the party which preached an austere morality4 ,she had been restored to opulence and honor by libertines4 ,little as the men of mirth and fashion were disposed to shape their lives according to her precepts1 they were yet ready to fight knee-deep in blood for her cathedrals and palaces1 for every line of her rubric and every thread of her vestments4 ,if the debauched cavalier haunted brothels and gambling-houses1 he at least avoided conventicles4 ,if he ever spoke without uttering ribaldry and blasphemy1 he made some amends by his eagerness to send ,baxter and ,howe to jail for preaching and praying4 ,the ribaldry of ,etherege and ,wycherley was1 in the presence and under the special sanction of the head of the church1 publicly recited by female lips in female ears1 while the author of the ,pilgrim's ,progress languished in a dungeon for the crime of proclaiming the gospel to the poor4 ,then came those days never to be recalled without a blush--the days of servitude without loyalty1 and sensuality without love1 of dwarfish talents and gigantic vices1 the paradise of cold hearts and narrow minds1 the golden age of the coward1 the bigot1 and the slave4 ,the caresses of harlots and the jests of buffoons regulated the manners of a government which had just ability enough to deceive1 and just religion enough to persecute4 ,the principles of liberty were the scoff of every grinning courtier1 and the ,anathema ,maranatha of every fawning dean4 ,crime succeeded to crime1 and disgrace to disgrace1 till the race1 accursed of ,god and man1 was a second time driven forth to wander on the face of the earth1 and be a by-word and a shaking of the head to the nations4 ,the morality of the court was exhibited in the character of the sovereign1 according to whose ethics every person was to be bought2 but some people haggled more about their price than others2 and when this haggling was very obstinate and very skillful1 it was called by some fine name4 ,the chief trick by which clever men kept up the price of their abilities was called integrity4 ,the chief trick by which handsome women kept up the price of their beauty was called modesty4 ,the love of ,god1 the love of country1 the love of family1 the love of friends1 were phrases of the same sort1 delicate and convenient synonyms for the love of self4 ,a great licentiousness1 says ,emerson1 treads on the heels of a reformation4 ,how many times in the history of the world has the ,luther of the day had to lament the decay of piety in his own household6 ,doctor1 said his wife to ,martin ,luther1 one day1 how is it that1 whilst subject to papacy1 we prayed so often and with such fervor1 whilst now we pray with the utmost coldness and very seldom8 ,the courtiers of ,charles ,,ii4 were very dissolute because the ,puritans were too strict2 ,addison and ,steele were respectable because ,congreve and ,wycherley were licentious2 ,wesley was zealous because the church had become indifferent2 the revolution of #aghi was a reaction against the manners of the last century1 and the revolution in running its course set up a reaction against itself4 ,the drawing a certain positive line in morals1 says ,hazlitt1 beyond which a single false step is irretrievable1 makes virtue formal1 and vice desperate4 ,puritanism1 says ,taine1 had brought on an orgie1 and fanatics had talked down the virtues4 ,to what a place you come in search of knowledge6 exclaimed a bitter republican to ,castelar1 in the streets of ,rome1 during the reign of the pope1 not long before ,victor ,emanuel4 ,here everybody is interested about lottery tickets2 no one for an idea of the human brain4 ,the commemoration of the anniversary of ,shakespeare has been prohibited in this city of the arts4 ,her censorship is so wise that when a certain writer wished to publish a book on the discoveries of ,volta1 she let loose on him the thunders of the ,index1 thinking it treated of ,voltairianism--a philosophy which leaves neither repose nor digestion to our cardinals4 ,on the other hand1 a cabalistic and astrological book1 professing to divine the caprices of the lottery1 has been printed and published under the pontifical seal1 as containing nothing contrary to religion1 morals1 or sovereign authority4 ,rabelais knew this city--,rabelais4 ,on arriving1 in place of writing a dissertation on dogmas1 he penned one on lettuces1 the only good and fresh articles in this cursed dungeon4 ,and priest though he was1 a priest of the sixteenth century1 more religious than our generation1 he had a long correspondence with the pious ,bishop of ,maillezais on the children of the pope2 for the reverend prelate had especially charged him to ascertain whether the ,cavaliere ,pietro ,luis ,farnese was the lawful or illegitimate son of his holiness4 ,believe me1 ,rabelais knew ,rome4 ,an old letter-writer1 inditing from ,paris1 said1 ,nakedness is so innocent here6 ,in a refined city1 one gets back to the first chapter of ,genesis2 the extremes meet1 and ,paradise and ,paris get together4 ,what opposite characters were the leaders in the ,reformation4 ,the monks said the egg was laid by ,erasmus1 hatched by ,luther4 ,on the other hand1 says ,motley1 he was reviled for not taking side manfully with the reformer4 ,the moderate man received much denunciation from zealots on either side4 ,he soon clears himself1 however1 from all suspicions of ,lutheranism4 ,he is appalled by the fierce conflict which rages far and wide4 ,he becomes querulous as the mighty besom sweeps away sacred dust and consecrated cobwebs4 ',men should not attempt everything at once1' he writes1 'but rather step by step4 ,that which men cannot approve they must look at through the fingers4 ,if the godlessness of mankind requires such fierce physicians as ,luther1 if man cannot be healed with soothing ointments and cooling drinks1 let us hope that ,god will comfort1 as repentant1 those whom he has punished as rebellious4 ,if the dove of ,christ--not the owl of ,minerva--would only fly to us1 some measure might be put to the madness of mankind4' ,meantime1 the man whose talk is not of doves and owls1 the fierce physician1 who deals not with ointments and cooling draughts1 strides past the crowd of gentle quacks to smite the foul disease4 ,devils1 thicker than tiles on house-tops1 scare him not from his work4 ,bans and bulls1 excommunications and decrees1 are rained upon his head4 ,the paternal emperor sends down dire edicts1 thicker than hail upon the earth4 ,the ,holy ,father blasts and raves from ,rome4 ,louvain doctors denounce1 ,louvain hangmen burn1 the bitter1 blasphemous books4 ,the immoderate man stands firm in the storm1 demanding argument instead of illogical thunder2 shows the hangmen and the people1 too1 outside the ,elster gate at ,wittenberg1 that papal bulls will blaze as merrily as heretic scrolls4 ,erasmus was a philosophical thinker2 ,luther a bold actor4 ,the former would reform by the slow processes of education2 the latter by revolution4 ,without ,erasmus1 says ,froude1 ,luther would have been impossible2 and ,erasmus really succeeded--so much of him as deserved to succeed--in ,luther's victory4 ,erasmus said1 ,there is no hope for any good4 ,it is all over with quiet learning1 thought1 piety1 and progress2 violence is on one side and folly on the other2 and they accuse me of having caused it all4 ,if ,i joined ,luther ,i could only perish with him1 and ,i do not mean to run my neck into the halter4 ,popes and emperors must decide matters4 ,i will accept what is good1 and do as ,i can with the rest4 ,peace on any terms is better than the justest war4 ,luther said1 ,i take ,erasmus to be the worst enemy that ,christ has had for a thousand years4 ,intellect does not understand religion1 and when it comes to the things of ,god it laughs at them4 ,whenever ,i pray1 he said1 ,i pray for a curse upon ,erasmus4 ,melancthon was as different from ,luther as ,erasmus4 ,he was the theologian of the three1--so much so that the scholars were all jealous of him4 ,sir ,thomas ,more wrote to ,erasmus that ,tyndale had seen ,melancthon in ,paris2 that ,tyndale was afraid if ,france should receive the word of ,god by him1 it would be confirmed in the faith of the ,eucharist contrary to the sect of the ,wickliffites4 ,i have been born1 said ,luther1 to war and fight with factions and devils1 therefore my books are stormy and warlike4 ,i must root out the stumps and stocks1 cut away the thorns and hedges1 fill up the ditches1 and am the rough forester1 to break a path and make things ready4 ,but master ,philip walks gently and silently1 tills and plants1 sows and waters with pleasure1 as ,god has gifted him richly4 ,when ,melancthon arose to preach on one occasion1 he took this for a text3 ,i am the good shepherd4 ,in looking round upon his numerous and respectable audience1 his natural timidity entirely overcame him1 and he could only repeat the text over and over again4 ,luther1 who was in the pulpit with him1 at length impatiently exclaimed1 ,you are a very good sheep6 and telling him to sit down1 took the same text1 and preached an excellent discourse from it4 ,coming down to later times1 and to characters more purely literary1 what could more beautifully illustrate the harmony of opposites1 so often observable in literature and life1 than the intimacy which existed between ,professor ,wilson and ,dr4 ,blair8 ,the course and habit of ,dr4 ,blair's life were like the smooth1 deep water2 serene1 undisturbed to outer eye2 and the very repose that was about him had a charm for the restless1 active energy of his friend1 who turned to this gentle and meek nature for mental rest4 ,i have often seen them sitting together1 says ,mrs4 ,gordon1 in the quiet retirement of the study1 perfectly absorbed in each other's presence1 like school-boys in the abandonment of their love for each other1 occupying one seat between them1 my father1 with his arm lovingly embracing 'the dear doctor's' shoulders1 playfully pulling the somewhat silvered locks to draw his attention to something in the tome spread out on their knees1 from which they were both reading4 ,such discussions as they had together hour upon hour6 ,shakespeare1 ,milton--always the loftiest themes--never weary in doing honor to the great souls from whom they had learnt so much4 ,their voices were different1 too3 ,dr4 ,blair's soft and sweet as that of a woman2 the professor's sonorous1 sad1 with a nervous tremor3 each revealing the peculiar character of the man4 ,godwin and ,rough 7to whom some of ,lamb's most amusing letters were written7 met at a dinner-party for the first time4 ,the very next day1 it is stated1 ,godwin called on a friend 7a fellow-guest7 to say how much he liked ,rough1 adding3 ,by the way1 do you think he would lend me fifty pounds just now1 as ,i am in want of a little money8 ,he had not left his friend an hour before ,rough came with a like question4 ,he wanted a bill discounted1 and asked whether his friend thought ,godwin would do it for him4 ,the habit of both was so well known that some persons were afraid to invite them1 lest it should lead to an application for a loan from some acquaintance who chanced to be present4 ,northcote mentioned to ,hazlitt an instance of some young country people who had to sleep on the floor in the same room1 and they parted the men from the women by some sacks of corn1 which served for a line of demarcation and an inviolable partition between them4 ,hazlitt spoke of a countrywoman1 who1 coming to an inn in the west of ,england1 wanted a bed2 and being told they had none to spare1 still persisted1 till the landlady said in a joke1 ,i tell you1 good woman1 ,i have none1 unless you can prevail with the ostler to give you half of his4 ,well1 said she1 if he is a sober1 prudent man1 ,i shall not mind4 ,the ,princess ,borghese 7,bonaparte's sister71 who was no saint1 sat to ,canova for a model1 and being asked1 ,if she did not feel a little uncomfortable1 answered1 ,no1 there was a fire in the room4 ,in the same character opposite faculties and qualities are sometimes so blended as to give very mysterious results4 ,every reader knows how difficult it often is to separate the irony and seriousness of ,swift and ,de ,foe1 so very nicely they run together4 ,pure imagination is so realistic as to appear indubitable truth4 ,the ,history of the ,plague is an example2 and ,robinson ,crusoe3 what boy ever doubted the truth of the narrative8 or1 while he was reading them1 the adventures of ,lemuel ,gulliver1 incredible as they are8 ,there is a story of a peasant and ,the ,vicar of ,wakefield4 ,the dull rustic was a slow reader1 and could get through but a few pages in a long evening2 yet he was absorbed by the story1 and read it as if it were a veritable history4 ,a wag in the family1 discerning the situation1 thought to amuse himself by putting back the book-mark each morning nearly to the point the man had read from the previous evening1 so that it turned out he was all winter getting through the little volume4 ,when he had finished it1 the wag asked him his opinion of it4 ,he answered that it was good1--that he had no doubt every word of it was true1--but it did seem to him there was some repetition in it6 ,a clergyman's widow of eighty1 the mother of the first ,sir ,david ,dundas--at one time commander-in-chief of the ,british army--is thus described by ,cockburn3 ,we used to go to her house in ,bunker's ,hill1 ,edinburgh when boys1 on ,sundays1 between the morning and afternoon sermons1 where we were cherished with ,scotch broth and cakes1 and many a joke from the old lady4 ,age had made her incapable of walking1 even across the room2 so1 clad in a plain black-silk gown1 and a pure muslin cap1 she sat half-encircled by a high-backed1 black leather chair1 reading1 with silver spectacles stuck on her thin nose1 and interspersing her studies and her days with much laughter1 and not a little sarcasm4 ,what a spirit6 ,there was more fun and sense round that chair than in the theatre or the church4 ,i remember one of her grand-daughters stumbling1 in the course of reading the newspapers to her1 on a paragraph which stated that a lady's reputation had suffered from some indiscreet talk on the part of the ,prince of ,wales4 ,up she of fourscore sat1 and said with an indignant shake of her shriveled fist and a keen voice1--',the dawmed villain6 does he kiss and tell6' ,in the ,barberini palace is the celebrated portrait of ,beatrice ,cenci1 by ,guido4 ,the melancholy and strange history of this beautiful girl has been told in a variety of ways1 and is probably familiar to every reader4 ,guido saw her on her way to execution1 and has painted her as she was dressed1 in the gray habit and head-dress1 made by her own hands1 and finished but an hour before she put it on4 ,there are engravings and copies of the picture all over the world1 but none that ,i have seen1 said ,willis1 give any idea of the excessive gentleness1 and serenity of the countenance4 ,the eyes retain traces of weeping1 the child-like mouth1 the soft1 girlish lines of features that look as if they had never worn more than the one expression of youthfulness and affection1 are all in repose1 and the head is turned over the shoulder with as simple a sweetness as if she had but looked back to say a good-night before going to her chamber to sleep4 ,she little looks like what she was--one of the firmest and boldest spirits whose history is recorded4 ,after murdering her father for his fiendish attempts upon her virtue1 she endured every torture rather than disgrace her family by confession1 and was only moved from her constancy1 at last1 by the agonies of her younger brother on the rack4 ,who would read capabilities like these1 in those heavenly and child-like features8 ,there is related an incident of the ,american civil war which illustrates how ignorance and superstition sometimes give birth to eloquence4 ,an army officer had been speaking of the ideas of power entertained by the poor negro slaves4 ,he said they had an idea of ,god1 as the ,almighty1 and they had realized in their former condition the power of their masters4 ,up to the time of the arrival among them of the ,union forces1 they had no knowledge of any other power4 ,their masters fled upon the approach of the federal soldiers1 and this gave the negroes a conception of a power greater than that exercised by them4 ,this power they called ,massa ,linkum4 ,their place of worship was a large building which they called the praise house2 and the leader of the meeting1 a venerable black man1 was known as the praise man4 ,on a certain day1 when there was quite a large gathering of the people1 considerable confusion was created by different persons attempting to tell who and what ,massa ,linkum was4 ,in the midst of the excitement the white-headed leader commanded silence4 ,brederin1 said he1 you don't know nosein' what you're talkin' 'bout4 ,now1 you just listen to me4 ,massa ,linkum1 he eberywhar4 ,he know eberyting4 ,then1 solemnly looking up1 he added1 ,he walk de earf like de ,lord6 ,curran1 who was so merry and charming in conversation1 was also very melancholy4 ,he said he never went to bed in ,ireland without wishing not to rise again4 ,it seems to be a law of our nature that as high as we have mounted in delight1 in our dejection do we sink as low4 ,burns expresses it1 ,chords that vibrate sweetest pleasure1 thrill the deepest notes of woe2 and ,hood1 ,there's not a string attuned to mirth1 but has its chord in melancholy2 and ,burton1 ,naught so sweet as melancholy1 naught so damned as melancholy2 and ,king ,solomon1 ,i said of laughter1 ,it is mad4 ,it is narrated that one day ,philip ,,iii41 ,king of ,spain1 was standing in one of the balconies of his palace observing a young ,spanish student1 who was sitting in the sun and reading a book1 while he was bursting out into fits of laughter4 ,the farther the student read1 the more his gayety increased1 until at last he was so violently excited that he let the book fall from his hands1 and rolled on the ground in a state of intense hilarity4 ,the king turned to his courtiers and said1 ,that young man is either mad1 or he is reading ,don ,quixote4 ,one of the guards of the palace went to pick up the book and found that his majesty had guessed rightly4 ,yet ,miguel ,cervantes1 the author of this book which is so amusing1 had dragged on the most wretched and melancholy existence4 ,he was groaning and weeping while all ,spain was laughing at the numerous adventures of the ,knight of ,la ,mancha and the wise sayings of ,sancho ,panza4 ,the biographer of ,grimaldi speaks of the devouring melancholy which pursued the celebrated clown whenever he was off the stage1 or left to his own resources2 and it is well known that ,liston1 whose face was sufficient to set an audience in a good humor1 was a confirmed hypochondriac4 ,it is said he used to sit up after midnight to read ,young's ,night ,thoughts1 delighting in its monotonous solemnity4 ,the gravest nations1 says ,landor1 have been the wittiest2 and in those nations some of the gravest men4 ,in ,england1 ,swift and ,addison2 in ,spain1 ,cervantes4 ,rabelais and ,la ,fontaine are recorded by their countrymen to have been reveurs4 ,few men have been graver than ,pascal2 few have been wittier4 ,robert ,chambers tells in one of his essays of a person residing near ,london1 who could make one's sides ache at any time with his comic songs1 yet had so rueful1 woe-begone a face that his friends addressed him by the name of ,mr4 ,dismal4 ,nothing remains of ,butler's private history but the record of his miseries2 and ,swift1 we are told1 was never known to smile4 ,burns confessed in one of his letters that his design in seeking society was to fly from constitutional melancholy4 ,even in the hour of social mirth1 he tells us1 my gayety is the madness of an intoxicated criminal under the hands of the executioner4 ,the most facetious of all ,lamb's letters was written to ,barton in a fit of the deepest melancholy4 ,the elaboration of humor1 said ,irving1 is often a very serious task2 and we have never witnessed a more perfect picture of mental misery than was once presented to us by a popular dramatic writer whom we found in the agonies of producing a farce which subsequently set the theatre in a roar4 ,moliere was a grave and silent man4 ,there is a story told of a lady of distinction who invited him to meet a party1 thinking that he would entertain them with his wit2 he came1 but throughout the evening scarcely opened his lips4 ,at ,pezenas they used to show a chair in a barber's shop1 where he would sit for hours without speaking a word4 ,jerrold was a little ashamed of the immense success of the ,caudle ,lectures1 many of which were written to dictation on a bed of sickness1 racked by rheumatism4 ,as social drolleries they set nations laughing4 ,he took their celebrity rather sulkily4 ,he did not like to be talked of as a funny man4 ,his mixture of satire and kindliness reminded one of his friends of those lanes near ,beyrout1 in which you ride with the prickly-pear bristling alongside of you1 and yet can pluck the grapes which force themselves among it from the fields4 ,there is an account of a singer and his wife who were to sing a number of humorous couplets at a restaurant in ,leipsic4 ,the wife made her appearance there at the appointed hour1 but1 owing to the unexplained absence of her husband1 she was compelled to amuse the visitors by singing couplets alone4 ,while her droll performance was eliciting shouts of laughter1 her husband hung himself in the court-yard of the restaurant4 ,some one said to ,dr4 ,johnson that it seemed strange that he1 who so often delighted his company by his lively conversation1 should say he was miserable4 ,alas6 it is all outside1 replied the sage2 ,i may be cracking my joke and cursing the sun3 sun1 how ,i hate thy beams6 ,are we to think ,pope was happy1 said he1 on another occasion1 because he says so in his writings8 ,we see in his writings what he wished the state of his mind to appear4 ,dr4 ,young1 who pined for preferment1 talks with contempt of it in his writings1 and affects to despise everything he did not despise4 ,the author of ,john ,gilpin said of himself and his humorous poetry1 ,strange as it may seem1 the most ludicrous lines ,i ever wrote have been when in the saddest mood1 and but for that saddest mood1 perhaps1 would never have been written at all4 ,sir ,walter ,scott1 in the height of his ill-fortune1 was ever giving vent in his diary or elsewhere to some whimsical outburst or humorous sally1 and after an extra gay entry in his journal just before leaving his dingy ,edinburgh lodgings for ,abbotsford1 he follows it up next day with this bit of self-portraiture3 ,anybody would think from the fal-de-ral conclusion of my journal of yesterday that ,i left town in a very good humor4 ,but nature has given me a kind of buoyancy--,i know not what to call it--that mingles with my deepest afflictions and most gloomy hours4 ,i have a secret pride--,i fancy it will be most truly termed--which impels me to mix with my distress strange snatches of mirth which have no mirth in them4 ,the ,grand ,duke of ,weimar1 entertaining an ,american author at his table1 spoke of ,poe1 whose poem of ,the ,raven he had never heard of until the evening previous4 ,the conception is terrible1 he said4 ,of course the ,raven can only symbolize ,despair1 and he makes it perch upon the bust of ,pallas1 as if ,despair even broods over ,wisdom4 ,the ,chronicle of ,lueneburg1 says ,heine1 records that during the year #adhj there were whistled and sung throughout all ,germany certain songs1 which for sweetness and tenderness surpassed any previously known in ,german realms4 ,young and old1 and the women in particular1 were quite bewitched by these ballads1 which might be heard the livelong day4 ,but these songs1 so the chronicle goes on to say1 were composed by a young priest who was afflicted with leprosy and lived a forlorn1 solitary life1 secluded from all the world4 ,you are surely aware1 gentle reader1 what a horrible disease was leprosy during the ,middle ,ages1 and how the wretched beings afflicted with this incurable malady were driven out from all society1 and from the abodes of men1 and were forbidden to approach any human being4 ,living corpses1 they wandered to and fro1 muffled from head to foot1 a hood drawn over the face1 and carrying in the hand a bell1 the ,lazarus-bell1 as it was called1 through which they were to give timely warning of their approach1 so that every one could avoid their path4 ,the poor priest1 whose fame as a lyric poet the chronicle praised so highly1 was such a leper2 and while all ,germany1 shouting and jubilant1 sang and whistled his songs1 he1 a wretched outcast1 in the desolation of his misery sat sorrowful and alone4 ,there have been times in my life1 said ,goethe1 when ,i have fallen asleep in tears2 but in my dreams the most charming forms have come to console and to cheer me4 ,after ,scott began the ,bride of ,lammermoor1 he had one of his terrible seizures of cramp1 yet during his torment he dictated that fine novel2 and when he rose from his bed1 and the published book was placed in his hands1 he did not1 ,james ,ballantyne explicitly assured ,lockhart1 recollect one single incident1 character1 or conversation it contained4 ,jean ,paul wrote a great part of his comic romance 7,nicholas ,margraf7 in an agony of heart-break from the death of his promising son ,max4 ,he could not1 one of his biographers says1 bear the sight of any book his son had touched2 and the word philology 7the science in which ,max excelled7 went through his heart like a bolt of ice4 ,he had such wonderful power over himself as to go on with his comic romance while his eyes continually dropped tears4 ,he wept so much in secret that his eyes became impaired1 and he trembled for the total loss of sight4 ,wine1 that had previously1 after long sustained labor1 been a cordial to him1 he could not bear to touch2 and after employing the morning in writing1 he spent the whole afternoon lying on the sofa in his wife's apartment1 his head supported by her arm4 ,washington ,irving completed that most extravagantly humorous of all his works--the ,history of ,new ,york--while he was suffering from the death of his sweetheart1 ,matilda ,hoffman1 which nearly broke his heart4 ,he says1 in a memorandum found amongst his private papers after his death1 ,she was but about seventeen years old when she died4 ,i cannot tell what a horrid state of mind ,i was in for a long time4 ,i seemed to care for nothing2 the world was a blank to me4 ,i went into the country1 but could not bear solitude1 yet could not enjoy society4 ,there was a dismal horror continually in my mind1 that made me fear to be alone4 ,i had often to get up in the night1 and seek the bedroom of my brother1 as if the having a human being by me would relieve me from the frightful gloom of my own thoughts4444 ,when ,i became more calm and collected1 ,i applied myself1 by way of occupation1 to the finishing of my work4 ,i brought it to a close1 as well as ,i could1 and published it2 but the time and circumstances in which it was produced rendered me almost unable to look upon it with satisfaction4 ,still it took with the public1 and gave me celebrity1 as an original work was something remarkable and uncommon in ,america4444 ,i seemed to drift about without aim or object1 at the mercy of every breeze2 my heart wanted anchorage4 ,i was naturally susceptible1 and tried to form other attachments1 but my heart would not hold on2 it would continually roam to what it had lost2 and whenever there was a pause in the hurry of novelty and excitement1 ,i would sink into dismal dejection4 ,for years ,i could not talk on the subject of this hopeless regret2 ,i could not even mention her name2 but her image was continually before me1 and ,i dreamt of her incessantly4 ,heine1 for several years preceding his death1 was a miserable paralytic4 ,all that time1 it is stated1 he lay upon a pile of mattresses1 racked by pain and exhausted by sleeplessness1 till his body was reduced below all natural dimensions1 and his long beard fell over the coverlet like swan's down or a baby's hair4 ,the muscular debility was such that he had to raise the eyelid with his hand when he wished to see the face of any one about him2 and thus in darkness1 he thought1 and listened1 and dictated1 preserving to the very last his clearness of intellect1 his precision of diction1 and his invincible humor4 ,the wretchedness of poor ,scarron1 at whose jests1 burlesques1 and buffooneries all ,france was laughing1 may be guessed at from his own description4 ,his form1 to use his own words1 had become bent like a ,z4 ,my legs1 he adds1 first made an obtuse angle with my thighs1 then a right and at last an acute angle2 my thighs made another with my body4 ,my head is bent upon my chest2 my arms are contracted as well as my legs1 and my fingers as well as my arms4 ,i am1 in truth1 a pretty complete abridgment of human misery4 ,his head was too big for his diminutive stature1 one eye was set deeper than the other1 and his teeth were the color of wood4 ,at the time of his marriage 7to the beautiful and gifted ,mademoiselle d',aubigne1 afterward ,madame de ,maintenon1 the wife for thirty years of ,louis ,,xiv467 he could only move with freedom his hand1 tongue1 and eyes4 ,his days were passed in a chair with a hood1 and so completely the abridgment of man he describes himself1 that his wife had to kneel to look in his face4 ,he could not be moved without screaming from pain1 nor sleep without taking opium4 ,the epitaph which he wrote on himself is touching from its truth3-- ,tread softly--make no noise ,to break his slumbers deep2 ,poor ,scarron here enjoys ,his first calm night of sleep4 ,balzac said of him1 ,i have often met in antiquity with pain that was wise1 and with pain that was eloquent2 but ,i never before saw pain joyous1 nor found a soul merrily cutting capers in a paralytic frame4 ,he continued to jest to the last2 and seeing the bystanders in tears1 he said1 ,i shall never1 my friends1 make you weep as much as ,i have made you laugh4 ,many of ,hood's most humorous productions were dictated to his wife1 while he himself was in bed from distressing and protracted sickness4 ,his own family was the only one which was not delighted with the ,comic ,annual1 so well thumbed in every house4 ,we1 ourselves1 writes his son1 did not enjoy it till the lapse of many years had mercifully softened down some of the sad recollections connected with it4 ,fun and suffering seemed to be natural to him1 and to be constantly helping each other4 ,when a boy1 he drew the figure of a demon with the smoke of a candle on the staircase ceiling near his bedroom door1 to frighten his brother4 ,unfortunately he forgot that he had done so1 and1 when he went to bed1 succeeded in terrifying himself into fits almost--while his brother had not observed the picture4 ,joke he would1 suffering as he might be4 ,it is recorded of him1 that upon a mustard plaster being applied to his attenuated feet1 as he lay in the direst extremity1 he was heard feebly to remark that there was very little meat for the mustard4 ,but if his wit was marvelous1 so was his pathos--tender beyond comparison4 ,his first child scarcely survived its birth4 ,in looking over some old papers1 says his son1 ,i found a few tiny curls of golden hair1 as soft as the finest silk1 wrapped in a yellow and time-worn paper1 inscribed in my father's handwriting3-- ',little eyes that scarce did see1 ,little lips that never smiled2 ,alas6 my little dear dead child1 ,death is thy father1 and not me2 ,i but embraced thee soon as he6' ,here are a few sentences from the long letters which the author of the ,bridge of ,sighs wrote to the children of his friend1 ,dr4 ,elliot1 then residing at ,sandgate1 almost from his death-bed3 ,my dear ,jeanie1--,so you are at ,sandgate6 ,of course1 wishing for your old play fellow to help you to make little puddles in the sand1 and swing on the gate4 ,but perhaps there are no sand and gate at ,sandgate1 which1 in that case1 nominally tells us a fib4444 ,i have heard that you bathe in the sea1 which is very refreshing1 but it requires care2 for if you stay under water too long1 you may come up a mermaid1 who is only half a lady1 with a fish's tail--which she can boil if she likes4 ,you had better try this with your doll1 whether it turns her into half a 'doll-fin4'444 ,i hope you like the sea4 ,i always did when ,i was a child1 which was about two years ago4 ,sometimes it makes such a fizzing and foaming1 ,i wonder some of our ,london cheats do not bottle it up and sell it for ginger-pop4 ,when the sea is too rough1 if you pour the sweet oil out of the cruet all over it1 and wait for a calm1 it will be quite smooth--much smoother than a dressed salad4444 ,do you ever see any boats or vessels8 ,and don't you wish1 when you see a ship1 that somebody was a sea-captain instead of a doctor1 that he might bring you home a pet lion1 or calf-elephant1 ever so many parrots1 or a monkey from foreign parts8 ,i knew a little girl who was promised a baby-whale by her sailor-brother1 and who blubbered because he did not bring it4 ,i suppose there are no whales at ,sandgate1 but you might find a seal about the beach2 or at least a stone for one4 ,the sea-stones are not pretty when they are dry1 but look beautiful when they are wet--and we can always keep sucking them6 ,to ,jeanie's brother1 among other things he writes1 ,i used to catch flat-fish with a very long string line4 ,it was like swimming a kite4 ,once ,i caught a plaice1 and seeing it all over red spots1 thought ,i had caught the measles4 ,to ,mary ,elliot1 a still more youthful correspondent1 he says1 ,i remember that when ,i saw the sea1 it used sometimes to be very fussy and fidgety1 and did not always wash itself quite clean2 but it was very fond of fun4 ,have the waves ever run after you yet1 and turned your little two shoes into pumps1 full of water8 ,have you been bathed yet in the sea1 and were you afraid8 ,i was the first time1 and the time before that2 and1 dear me1 how ,i kicked and screamed--or1 at least1 meant to scream2 but the sea1 ships and all1 began to run into my mouth1 and so ,i shut it up4 ,i think ,i see you being dipped into the sea1 screwing your eyes up1 and putting your nose1 like a button1 into your mouth1 like a button-hole1 for fear of getting another smell and taste4 ,did you ever try1 like a little crab1 to run two ways at once8 ,see if you can do it1 for it is good fun2 never mind tumbling over yourself a little at first4444 ,and now good-by2 ,fanny has made my tea1 and ,i must drink it before it gets too hot1 as we all were last ,sunday week4 ,they say the glass was eighty-eight in the shade1 which is a great age4 ,the last fair breeze ,i blew dozens of kisses for you1 but the wind changed1 and1 ,i am afraid1 took them all to ,miss ,h----1 or somebody that it shouldn't4 ,you remember the anecdote ,southey repeats in his ,doctor1 of a physician who1 being called in to an unknown patient1 found him suffering under the deepest depression of mind1 without any discoverable disease1 or other assignable cause4 ,the physician advised him to seek for cheerful objects1 and recommended him especially to go to the theatre and see a famous actor then in the meridian of his powers1 whose comic talents were unrivaled4 ,alas6 the comedian who kept crowded theatres in a roar was this poor hypochondriac himself6 ,,xii4 ,,conduct4 ,hazlitt1 in one of his discursive essays1 says1 ,i stopped these two days at ,bridgewater1 and when ,i was tired of sauntering on the banks of its muddy river1 returned to the inn and read ,camilla4 ,so have ,i loitered my life away1 reading books1 looking at pictures1 going to plays1 hearing1 thinking1 writing on what pleased me best4 ,i have wanted only one thing to make me happy2 but wanting that have wanted everything4 ,alas6 who has not wanted one thing8 ,fortunatus had a cap1 which when he put on1 and wished himself anywhere1 behold he was there4 ,aladdin had a lamp1 which if he rubbed1 and desired anything1 immediately it was his4 ,if we each had both1 there would still be something wanting--one thing more4 ,donatello's matchless statue of ,st4 ,george wanted one thing1 in the opinion of ,michel ,angelo2 it wanted the gift of speech4 ,the poor widow in ,holland that ,pepys tells us about in his ,diary1 who survived twenty-five husbands1 wanted one thing more1 no doubt--perhaps one more husband4 ,hadst thou ,samson's hair1 ,milo's strength1 ,scanderbeg's arm1 ,solomon's wisdom1 ,absalom's beauty1 ,croesus's wealth1 ,caesar's valor1 ,alexander's spirit1 ,tully's or ,demosthenes's eloquence1 ,gyges's ring1 ,perseus's ,pegasus1 and ,gorgon's head1 ,nestor's years to come1 all this1 saith ,burton1 would not make thee absolute1 give thee content and true happiness in this life1 or so continue it4 ,proverbially1 we never are1 but always to be1 blest4 ,a child1 said the good ,sachs1 thinks the stars blossom on the trees2 when he climbs to the tree-tops1 he fancies they cluster on the spire2 when he climbs the spire1 he finds1 to reach them1 he must leave the earth and go to heaven4 ,there is an old ,german engraving1 in the manner of ,holbein1 which represents an aged man near a grave1 wringing his hands4 ,death1 behind1 directs his attention to heaven4 ,in the palace ,sciarra is a very expressive picture by ,schedone4 ,on the ruins of an old tomb stands a skull1 beneath which is written--,i1 too1 was of ,arcadia2 and1 at a little distance1 gazing at it in attitudes of earnest reflection1 stand two shepherds1 struck simultaneously with the moral4 ,what we have is nothing1 what we want1 everything4 ,all worldly things1 says ,baxter1 appear most vain and unsatisfactory1 when we have tried them most4 ,the prize we struggled for1 which filled our imagination1 when attained was not much2 worthless in grasp1 priceless in expectation4 ,the one thing we want is one thing we have not--that we have not had4 ,i saw the little boy1 ,in thought how oft that he ,did wish of ,god1 to scape the rod1 ,a tall young man to be4 ,the young man eke that feels ,his bones with pain opprest1 ,how he would be a rich old man1 ,to live and lie at rest3 ,the rich old man that sees ,his end draw on so sore1 ,how he would be a boy again1 ,to live so much the more4 ,this hunger1 this hope1 this longing1 is our best possession at last1 and fades not away1 unsubstantial as it may seem4 ,it builds for each one of us magnificent castles4 ,all the years of our youth and the hopes of our manhood are stored away1 like precious stones1 in the vaults2 and we know that we shall find everything convenient1 elegant1 and splendid1 when we come into possession4 ,curtis1 in one of his exquisite sketches1 treats this element of us as no other author has4 ,he calls it his ,spanish property4 ,i am the owner1 he says1 of great estates2 but the greater part are in ,spain4 ,it is a country famously romantic1 and my castles are all of perfect proportions1 and appropriately set in the most picturesque situations4 ,i have never been to ,spain myself1 but ,i have1 naturally1 conversed much with travelers to that country1 although1 ,i must allow1 without deriving from them much substantial information about my property there4 ,the wisest of them told me that there were more holders of real estate in ,spain than in any other region he had ever heard of1 and they are all great proprietors4 ,every one of them possesses a multitude of the stateliest castles4 ,from conversation with them you easily gather that each one considers his own castles much the largest and in the loveliest positions4444 ,it is remarkable that none of the proprietors have ever been to ,spain to take possession and report to the rest of us the state of our property there4 ,i1 of course1 cannot go1 ,i am too much engaged4 ,so is ,titbottom4 ,and ,i find that it is the case with all the proprietors4 ,we have so much to detain us at home that we cannot get away4 ,it is always so with rich men4444 ,it is not easy for me to say how ,i know so much as ,i certainly do about my castles in ,spain4 ,the sun always shines upon them4 ,they stand large and fair in a luminous1 golden atmosphere1 a little hazy and dreamy1 perhaps1 like the ,indian summer1 but in which no gales blow and there are no tempests4 ,all the sublime mountains1 and beautiful valleys1 and soft landscapes1 that ,i have not yet seen1 are to be found in the grounds4 ,they command a noble view of the ,alps2 so fine1 indeed1 that ,i should be quite content with the prospect of them from the highest tower of my castle1 and not care to go to ,switzerland4 ,the neighboring ruins1 too1 are as picturesque as those of ,italy1 and my desire of standing in the ,coliseum and of seeing the shattered arches of the aqueducts1 stretching along the ,campagna1 and melting into the ,alban ,mount1 is entirely quenched4 ,the rich gloom of my orange groves is gilded by fruit as brilliant of complexion and exquisite of flavor as any that ever dark-eyed ,sorrento girls1 looking over the high plastered walls of ,southern ,italy1 hand to the youthful travelers1 climbing on donkeys up the narrow lane beneath4 ,the ,nile flows through my grounds4 ,the ,desert lies upon their edge1 and ,damascus stands in my garden4 ,i am given to understand1 also1 that the ,parthenon has been removed to my ,spanish possessions4 ,the ,golden ,horn is my fish preserve2 my flocks of golden fleece are pastured on the plain of ,marathon1 and the honey of ,hymettus is distilled from the flowers that grow in the vale of ,enna--all in my ,spanish domains4 ,from the windows of these castles look the beautiful women whom ,i have never seen1 whose portraits the poets have painted4 ,they wait for me there1 and chiefly the fair-haired child1 lost to my eye so long ago1 now bloomed into an impossible beauty4 ,the lights that never shone glance at evening in the vaulted halls1 upon banquets that were never spread4 ,the bands ,i have never collected play all night long1 and enchant the brilliant company1 that was never assembled1 into silence4 ,in the long summer mornings the children that ,i never had1 play in the gardens that ,i never planted4444 ,i have often wondered how ,i shall ever reach my castles4 ,the desire of going comes over me very strongly sometimes1 and ,i endeavor to see how ,i can arrange my affairs so as to get away4 ,to tell the truth1 ,i am not quite sure of the route1--,i mean1 to that particular part of ,spain in which my estates lie4 ,i have inquired very particularly1 but nobody seems to know precisely4444 ,will you tell me what you consider the shortest and safest route thither1 ,mr4 ,bourne8 for1 of course1 a man who drives such an immense trade with all parts of the world will know all that ,i have come to inquire4' ',my dear sir1' answered he1 wearily1 ',i have been trying all my life to discover it2 but none of my ships have ever been there--none of my captains have any report to make4 ,they bring me1 as they brought my father1 gold-dust from ,guinea2 ivory1 pearls1 and precious stones from every part of the earth2 but not a fruit1 not a solitary flower1 from one of my castles in ,spain4 ,i have sent clerks1 agents1 and travelers of all kinds2 philosophers1 pleasure-hunters1 and invalids1 in all sorts of ships1 to all sorts of places1 but none of them ever saw or heard of my castles1 except one young poet1 and he died in a mad-house4'444 ,at length ,i resolved to ask ,titbottom if he had ever heard of the best route to our estates4 ,he said that he owned castles1 and sometimes there was an expression in his face as if he saw them4444 ',i have never known but two men who reached their estates in ,spain4' ',indeed1' said ,i1 'how did they go8' ',one went over the side of a ship1 and the other out of a third story window1' answered ,titbottom4 ',and ,i know one man that resides upon his estates constantly1' continued he4 ',who is that8' ',our old friend ,slug1 whom you may see any day at the asylum1 just coming in from the hunt1 or going to call upon his friend the ,grand ,lama1 or dressing for the wedding of the ,man in the ,moon1 or receiving an embassador from ,timbuctoo4 ,whenever ,i go to see him1 ,slug insists that ,i am the pope1 disguised as a journeyman carpenter1 and he entertains me in the most distinguished manner4 ,he always insists upon kissing my foot1 and ,i bestow upon him1 kneeling1 the apostolic benediction4 ,this is the only ,spanish proprietor in possession1 with whom ,i am acquainted4'444 ,ah6 if the true history of ,spain could be written1 what a book were there6 ,gayly bedight1 ,a gallant knight1 ,in sunshine and in shadow1 ,had journeyed long1 ,singing a song1 ,in search of ,eldorado4 ,but he grew old1 ,this knight so bold1 ,and o'er his heart a shadow ,fell as he found ,no spot of ground ,that looked like ,eldorado4 ,and as his strength ,failed him at length1 ,he met a pilgrim shadow3 ',shadow1' said he1 ',where can it be-- ,this land of ,eldorado8' ',over the ,mountains ,of the ,moon1 ,down the ,valley of the ,shadow1 ,ride1 boldly ride1' ,the shade replied1 ',if you seek for ,eldorado6' ,steele1 in a paper of ,the ,spectator1 dilates in this vein4 ,i am1 he says1 one of that species of men who are properly denominated castle-builders1 who scorn to be beholden to the earth for a foundation1 or dig in the bowels of it for materials2 but erect their structures in the most unstable of elements1 the air2 fancy alone laying the line1 marking the extent1 and shaping the model4 ,it would be difficult to enumerate what august palaces and stately porticoes have grown under my forming imagination1 or what verdant meadows and shady groves have started into being by the powerful feat of a warm fancy4 ,a castle-builder is ever just what he pleases1 and as such ,i have grasped imaginary sceptres1 and delivered uncontrollable edicts1 from a throne to which conquered nations yielded obeisance4 ,there is no art or profession1 whose most celebrated masters ,i have not eclipsed4 ,wherever ,i have afforded my salutary presence1 fevers have ceased to burn and agues to shake the human fabric4 ,when an eloquent fit has been upon me1 an apt gesture and proper cadence has animated each sentence1 and gazing crowds have found their passions worked up into a rage1 or soothed into a calm4 ,i am short1 and not very well made2 yet upon sight of a fine woman1 ,i have stretched into proper stature1 and killed with a good air and mien4 ,these are the gay phantoms that dance before my waking eyes1 and compose my day-dreams4 ,i should be the most contented happy man alive1 were the chimerical happiness which springs from the paintings of fancy less fleeting and transitory4 ,but alas6 it is with grief of mind ,i tell you1 the least breath of wind has often demolished my magnificent edifices1 swept away my groves1 and left no more trace of them than if they had never been4 ,my exchequer has sunk and vanished by a rap on my door1 the salutation of a friend has cost me a whole continent1 and in the same moment ,i have been pulled by the sleeve1 my crown has fallen from my head4 ,the ill consequence of these reveries is inconceivably great1 seeing the loss of imaginary possessions makes impressions of real woe4 ,besides1 bad economy is visible and apparent in builders of invisible mansions4 ,my tenants' advertisements of ruins and dilapidations often cast a damp on my spirits1 even in the instant when the sun1 in all his splendor1 gilds my ,eastern palaces4 ,alas6 cries ,heine1 in his ,confessions1 fame1 once sweet as sugared pine-apple and flattery1 has for a long time been nauseous to me2 it tastes as bitter to me now as wormwood4 ,with ,romeo ,i can say1 ',i am the fool of fortune4' ,the bowl stands full before me1 but ,i lack the spoon4 ,what does it avail me that at banquets my health is pledged in the choicest wines1 drunk from golden goblets1 if at the same time ,i1 with all that makes life pleasant denied to me1 may only wet my lips with an insipid1 disagreeable1 medicinal drink8 ,what benefit is it to me that enthusiastic youths and maidens crown my marble bust with laurel wreaths1 if meanwhile the shriveled fingers of an aged hired nurse press a blister of ,spanish flies to the back of my head8 ,what does it avail me that all the roses of ,sharon tenderly glow and bloom for me8 ,alas6 ,sharon is two thousand miles away from the ,rue d',amsterdam1 where ,i in the dreary solitude of my sick-room have nothing to smell1 unless it be the perfume of warmed-over poultices4 ,when ,i look around me1 said ,goethe1 and see how few of the companions of earlier years are left to me1 ,i think of a summer residence at a bathing-place4 ,when you arrive1 you first become acquainted with those who have already been there some weeks1 and who leave you in a few days4 ,this separation is painful4 ,then you turn to the second generation1 with which you live a good while1 and become really intimate4 ,but this goes also1 and leaves us lonely with the third1 which comes just as we are going away1 and with which we have1 properly1 nothing to do4444 ,i have ever been considered one of ,fortune's chiefest favorites2 nor can ,i complain of the course my life has taken4 ,yet1 truly1 there has been nothing but toil and care2 and in my seventy-fifth year1 ,i may say that ,i have never had four weeks of genuine pleasure4 ,the stone was ever to be rolled up anew4 ,what a multitude of past friends can ,i number amongst the dead6 exclaimed another venerable worthy in literature4 ,it is the melancholy consequence of old age2 if we outlive our feelings we are nothing worth2 if they remain in force1 a thousand sad occurrences remind us that we live too long4 ,it was ,sir ,william ,temple's opinion that life is like wine2 who would drink it pure must not draw it to the dregs4 ,dr4 ,sherlock thought the greatest part of mankind have great reason to be contented with the shortness of life1 because they have no temptation to wish it longer4 ,de ,tocqueville said1 ,man is a traveler toward a colder and colder region1 and the higher his latitude1 the faster ought to be his walk4 ,the great malady of the soul is cold4 ,it must be combated by activity and exertion1 by contact with one's fellow-creatures1 and with the business of the world4 ,in these days one must not live upon what one has already learnt1 one must learn more2 and instead of sleeping away our acquired ideas1 we should seek for fresh ones1 make the new opinions fight with the old ones1 and those of youth with those of an altered state of thought and of society4 ,the following authentic memorial was found in the closet of ,abdalrahman1 who established the throne of ,cordova1 and who1 during his life1 enjoyed thousands of wives1 millions upon millions of wealth1 and was the object of universal admiration and envy3 ,i have now reigned above fifty years in victory or peace2 beloved by my subjects1 dreaded by my enemies1 and respected by my allies4 ,riches and honor1 power and pleasure1 have waited on my call1 nor does any earthly blessing appear to have been wanting to my felicity4 ,in this situation ,i have diligently numbered the days of pure and genuine happiness which have fallen to my lot3 they amount to fourteen4 ,o man1 place not thy confidence in this present world6 ,voltaire makes ,candide sit down to supper at ,venice with six strangers who were staying at the same hotel with himself1 and as the servants1 to his astonishment1 addressed each of them by the title of your majesty1 he asked for an explanation of the pleasantry4 ,i am not jesting1 said the first1 ,i am ,achmet ,,iii42 ,i was sultan several years2 ,i dethroned my brother1 and my nephew dethroned me4 ,they have cut off the heads of my viziers2 ,i shall pass the remainder of my days in the old seraglio2 my nephew1 the ,sultan ,mahmoud1 sometimes permits me to travel for my health1 and ,i have come to pass the ,carnival at ,venice4 ,a young man who was close to ,achmet spoke next1 and said1 ,my name is ,ivan2 ,i have been ,emperor of all the ,russias2 ,i was dethroned when ,i was in my cradle2 my father and my mother have been incarcerated2 ,i was brought up in prison2 ,i have sometimes permission to travel attended by my keepers1 and ,i have come to pass the ,carnival at ,venice4 ,the third said1 ,i am ,charles ,edward1 ,king of ,england2 my father has surrendered his rights to me2 ,i have fought to sustain them2 my vanquishers have torn out the hearts of eight hundred of my partisans2 ,i have been put into prison2 ,i am going to ,rome to pay a visit to my father1 dethroned like my grandfather and myself1 and ,i have come to pass the ,carnival at ,venice4 ,the fourth then spoke1 and said1 ,i am ,king of ,poland2 the fortune of war has deprived me of my hereditary states2 my father experienced the same reverses2 ,i resign myself to the will of ,providence1 like the ,sultan ,achmet1 the ,emperor ,ivan1 and the ,king ,charles ,edward1 to whom ,god grant a long life2 and ,i have come to pass the ,carnival at ,venice4 ,the fifth said1 ,i am also ,king of ,poland2 ,i have lost my kingdom twice1 but ,providence has given me another in which ,i have done more good than all the kings of ,sarmatia put together have ever done on the banks of the ,vistula4 ,i also resign myself to the will of ,providence1 and ,i have come to pass the ,carnival at ,venice4 ,there remained a sixth monarch to speak4 ,gentlemen1 he said1 ,i am not as great a sovereign as the rest1 but ,i1 too1 have been a king4 ,i am ,theodore1 who was elected ,king of ,corsica2 ,i was called 'your majesty1' and at present am hardly called 'sir2' ,i have caused money to be coined1 and do not now possess a penny2 ,i have had two secretaries of state1 and have now scarcely a servant2 ,i have sat upon a throne1 and was long in a prison in ,london1 upon straw1 and am afraid of being treated in the same manner here1 although ,i have come1 like your majesties1 to pass the ,carnival at ,venice4 ,the other five kings heard this confession with a noble compassion4 ,each of them gave ,king ,theodore twenty sequins to buy some clothes and shirts4 ,candide presented him with a diamond worth two thousand sequins4 ,who1 said the five kings1 is this man who can afford to give a hundred times as much as any of us8 ,are you1 sir1 also a king8 ,no1 your majesties1 and ,i have no desire to be4 ,bacon's contemporary and cousin1 ,sir ,robert ,cecil1 who was principal secretary of state to ,queen ,elizabeth and ,james ,i41 and ultimately lord high treasurer1 when he was acknowledged to be the ablest1 as he appeared the most enviable1 statesman of his time1 wrote to a friend1 ,give heed to one that hath sorrowed in the bright lustre of a court and gone heavily over the best seeming fair ground4 ,it is a great task to prove one's honesty1 and yet not spoil one's fortune4444 ,i am pushed from the shore of comfort1 and know not where the winds and waves of a court will bear me2 ,i know it bringeth little comfort on earth2 and he is1 ,i reckon1 no wise man that looketh this way to heaven4 ,bacon himself says1 in one of his ,essays1 ,certainly great persons have need to borrow other men's opinions to think themselves happy2 for if they judge by their own feeling they cannot find it2 but if they think with themselves what others think of them1 and that other men would fain be as they are1 then they are happy as it were by report1 when1 perhaps1 they find the contrary within2 for they are the first that find their own griefs1 though they be the last that find their own faults4 ,madame de ,stael1 surrounded by the most brilliant men of genius1 beloved by a host of faithful and devoted friends1 the centre of a circle of unsurpassed attractions1 was yet doomed to mourn the solitude of life4 ,a short time before her death1 she said to ,chateaubriand1 ,i am now what ,i have always been--lively and sad4 ,the illustrious ,madame ,recamier1 after forty years of unchallenged queenship in ,french society1 constantly enveloped in an intoxicating incense of admiration and love won not less by her goodness and purity than by her beauty and grace1 writes thus from ,dieppe to her niece3 ,i am here in the centre of fetes1 princesses1 illuminations1 spectacles4 ,two of my windows face the ball-room1 the other two front the theatre4 ,amidst this clatter ,i am in a perfect solitude4 ,i sit and muse on the shore of the ocean4 ,i go over all the sad and joyous circumstances of my life4 ,i hope you will be more happy than ,i have been4 ,madame de ,pompadour1 recalling her follies1 serious matters they were to her1 said to the ,prince de ,soubise1 ,it is like reading a strange book2 my life is an improbable romance2 ,i do not believe it4 ,gray hairs had come on like daylight streaming in1--daylight and a headache with it4 ,pleasure had gone to bed with the rouge on her cheeks4 ,ah6 wrote also ,madame de ,maintenon to her niece1 alas that ,i cannot give you my experience2 that ,i could only show you the weariness of soul by which the great are devoured--the difficulty which they find in getting through their days6 ,do you not see how they die of sadness in the midst of that fortune which has been a burden to them8 ,i have been young and beautiful2 ,i have tasted many pleasures2 ,i have been universally beloved4 ,at a more advanced age1 ,i have passed years in the intercourse of talent and wit1 and ,i solemnly protest to you that all conditions leave a frightful void4 ,coleridge sums up all more wisely4 ,i have known1 he says1 what the enjoyments and advantages of this life are1 and what the more refined pleasures which learning and intellectual power can bestow2 and with all the experience that more than three-score years can give1 ,i now1 on the eve of my departure1 declare to you that health is a great blessing1--competence obtained by honorable industry a great blessing1--and a great blessing it is to have kind1 faithful1 and loving friends and relatives2 but that the greatest of all blessings1 as it is the most ennobling of all privileges1 is to be indeed a ,christian4 ,we are born and we live so unhappily that the accomplishment of a desire appears to us a falsehood1 the realization of hope a deception1 as if our sad experience had taught us the bitter lesson that in the world nothing is true but sorrow4 ,who ordered toil1 says ,thackeray1 as the condition of life1 ordered weariness1 ordered sickness1 ordered poverty1 failure1 success1--to this man a foremost place1 to the other a nameless struggle with the crowd2 to that a shameful fall1 or paralyzed limb1 or sudden accident2 to each some work upon the ground he stands on1 until he is laid beneath it4 ,nature1 says ,pliny1 makes us buy her presents at the price of so many sufferings1 that it is dubious whether she deserves most the name of a parent or a step-mother4 ,solomon and ,job judged the best and spake the truest1 thought ,pascal1 of human misery2 the former the most happy1 the latter the most unfortunate of mankind2 the one acquainted by long experience with the vanity of pleasure1 the other with the reality of affliction and pain4 ,we must patiently suffer1 says ,montaigne1 the laws of our condition2 we are born to grow old1 to grow weak1 and to be sick1 in spite of all physic4 ',tis the first lesson the ,mexicans teach their children2 so soon as ever they are born1 they thus salute them3 ',child1 thou art come into the world to endure1 suffer1 and say nothing4' ,half the miseries of human life1 thought ,hazlitt1 proceed from our not perceiving the incompatibility of different attainments1 and consequently aiming at too much4 ,we make ourselves wretched in vainly aspiring after advantages we are deprived of2 and do not consider that if we had these advantages it would be quite impossible for us to retain those which we actually do possess1 and which1 after all1 if it were put to the question1 we would not consent to part with for the sake of any others4 ,men of true wisdom and goodness1 says ,fielding1 are contented to take persons and things as they are1 without complaining of their imperfections1 or attempting to amend them2 they can see a fault in a friend1 or relation1 or an acquaintance1 without ever mentioning it to the parties themselves or to any others2 and this often without lessening their affection3 indeed1 unless great discernment be tempered with this overlooking disposition1 we ought never to contract friendships but with a degree of folly which we can deceive2 for ,i hope my friends will pardon me when ,i declare1 ,i know none of them without a fault2 and ,i should be sorry if ,i could imagine ,i had any friends who could not see mine4 ,forgiveness of this kind we give and demand in turn3 it is an exercise of friendship1 and perhaps none of the least pleasant1 and this forgiveness we must bestow without desire of amendment4 ,there is1 perhaps1 no surer mark of folly1 than an attempt to correct the natural infirmities of those we love3 the finest composition of human nature1 as well as the finest china1 may have a flaw in it2 and this1 ,i am afraid1 in either case1 is equally incurable1 though nevertheless the pattern may remain of the highest value4 ,in short1 says ,bulwer1 ,i suspect that every really skilled man of the world--as the world exists for its citizens in this nineteenth century--who1 at the ripe age of forty1 looks from the window of his club on the every-day mortals whom ,fourier has hitherto failed to reform1 has convinced him that1 considering all the mistakes in our education and rearing1--all the temptations to which flesh and blood are exposed--all the trials which poverty inflicts on the poor--all the seductions which wealth whispers to the rich1--men1 on the whole1 are rather good than otherwise1 and women1 on the whole1 are rather better than the men4 ,let a man examine his own thoughts1 says ,pascal1 and he will always find them employed about the time past or to come4 ,we scarce bestow a glance upon the present2 or1 if we do1 'tis only to borrow light from hence to manage and direct the future4 ,the present is never the mark of our designs4 ,we use both past and present as our means and instruments1 but the future only as our object and aim4 ,thus we never live1 but we ever hope to live2 and under this continual disposition and preparation to happiness1 'tis certain we can never be actually happy1 if our hopes are terminated with the scene of this life4 ,the ,thracians1 according to ,pliny1 estimated their lives mathematically1 making careful study and count of each day before any event of it was forgotten4 ,every day they put into an urn either a black or a white pebble1 to denote the good or bad fortune of that day2 at last they separated these pebbles1 and upon comparing the two numbers together1 they formed their judgment of the whole of their lives4 ,but time1 past or present1--time1 what is it8 ,who can readily and briefly explain this8 inquired ,st4 ,augustine4 ,who can even in thought comprehend it1 so as to utter a word about it8 ,but what in discourse do we mention more familiarly and knowingly1 than time8 ,and we understand1 when we speak of it2 we understand1 also1 when we hear it spoken of by another4 ,what then is time8 ,if no one asks me1 ,i know2 if ,i explain it to one that asketh1 ,i know not2 yet ,i say boldly1 that ,i know that if nothing passed away1 time passed were not2 and if nothing were coming1 a time to come were not2 and if nothing were1 time present were not4 ,those two times then1 past and to come1 how are they1 seeing the past now is not1 and that to come is not yet8 ,but the present1 should it always be present1 and never pass into time past1 verily it should not be time1 but eternity4 ,if1 therefore1 time present1 in order to be time at all1 comes into existence only because it passes into time past1 how can we say that that is in existence1 whose cause of being is that it shall not be8 ,how is it that we cannot truly say that time is1 but because it is tending not to be8 ,comprehend this1 and you see how easy a thing it was for the ,thracians to form a judgment of the whole of their lives--to strike a nice balance between their happiness and their misery4 ,but happiness is as illusive as time1 and is proved as perspicuously to be but a thing of memory1 by the same venerable saint4 ,where1 then1 and when1 he says in his famous ,confessions1 did ,i experience my happy life1 that ,i should remember and love and long for it8 ,nor is it ,i alone1 or some few besides1 but we all would fain be happy2 which1 unless by some certain knowledge we knew1 we should not with so certain a will desire4 ,but how is this1 that if two men be asked whether they would go to the wars1 one1 perchance1 would answer that he would1 the other that he would not2 but if they were asked whether they would be happy1 both would instantly1 without any doubting1 say they would2 and for no other reason would the one go to the wars1 and the other not1 but to be happy4 ,is it1 perchance1 that as one looks for his joy in this thing1 another in that1 all agree in their desire of being happy1 as they would agree1 if they were asked1 that they wished to have joy1 and this joy they call a happy life8 ,although1 then1 one obtains the joy by one means1 another by another1 all have one end1 which they strive to attain1 namely1 joy4 ,which being a thing which all must say they have experienced1 it is1 therefore1 found in the memory1 and recognized whenever the name of a happy life is mentioned4 ,now do you know1 perhaps1 what happiness is4 ,coming down from ,augustine to ,helps1--,the wonder is that we live on from day to day learning so little the art of life4 ,we are constantly victims of every sort of worry and petty misery1 which it would seem a little bit of reflection and sensible conduct would remove4 ,we constantly hang together when association only produces unhappiness4 ,we know it1 but do not remedy it4444 ,we have no right to expect to meet many sympathetic people in the course of our lives4 ,to get human beings together who ought to be together1 said ,sydney ,smith1 is a dream4 ,if1 said ,de ,tocqueville1 to console you for having been born1 you must meet with men whose most secret motives are always actuated by fine and elevated feelings1 you need not wait1 you may go and drown yourself immediately4 ,but if you would be satisfied with a few men1 whose actions are in general governed by those motives1 and a large majority1 who from time to time are influenced by them1 you need not make such faces at the human race4 ,man with his vices1 his weaknesses1 and his virtues1 strange combination though he be of good and evil1 of grandeur and of baseness1 is still1 on the whole1 the object most worthy of study1 interest1 pity1 attachment1 and admiration in the world2 and since we have no angels1 we cannot attach ourselves1 or devote ourselves to anything greater or nobler than our fellow-creatures4444 ,it is when estimating better one's fellow-men1 one reckons them not by number but by worth2 and this makes the world appear small4 ,then1 without regard to distance1 one seeks everywhere for the rare qualities which one has learned to appreciate4 ,the pleasant man to you is the man you can rely upon2 who is tolerant1 forbearing1 and faithful4444 ,again1 the habit of over-criticism is another hinderance to pleasantness4 ,we are not fond of living always with our judges2 and daily life will not bear the unwholesome scrutiny of an over-critical person4 ,the petty annoyances and wanton bitternesses of life make us1 in our impatience1 sometimes wish to fly from all companionship2 and contributed1 no doubt1--he himself could not tell how much1--to make the author of the ,genius of ,solitude exclaim1 with so much feeling1 ,happy is he who1 free from the iron visages that hurt him as they pass in the street1 free from the vapid smiles and sneers of frivolous people1 draws his sufficingness from inexhaustible sources always at his command when he is alone6 ,blest is he who1 when disappointed1 can turn from the affectations of an empty world and find solace in the generous sincerity of a full heart4 ,to roam apart by the tinkling rill1 to crouch in the grass where the crocus grows1 to lie amid the clover where the honey-bee hums1 gaze off into the still deeps of summer blue1 and feel that your harmless life is gliding over the field of time as noiselessly as the shadow of a cloud2 or1 snuggled in furs1 to trudge through the drifts amidst the unspotted scenery of winter1 when ,storm unfurls his dark banner in the sky1 and ,snow has camped on the hills and clad every stone and twig with his ermine1 is pleasure surpassing any to be won in shallowly consorting with mobs of men4 ,the longer ,i live1 said ,maurice de ,guerin1 and the clearer ,i discern between true and false in society1 the more does the inclination to live1 not as a savage or a misanthrope1 but as a solitary man on the frontiers of society1 on the outskirts of the world1 gain strength and grow in me4 ,the birds come and go1 and make nests around our habitations2 they are fellow-citizens of our farms and hamlets with us3 but they take their flight in a heaven which is boundless2 the hand of ,god alone gives and measures to them their daily food2 they build their nests in the heart of the thick bushes1 and hang them in the height of the trees4 ,so would ,i1 too1 live1 hovering round society1 and having always at my back a field of liberty vast as the sky4 ,a strange instance of abandonment of the world for a solitary life is given in the history of ,henry ,welby1 the ,hermit of ,grub ,street1 who died in #afch1 at the age of eighty-four4 ,this example affords an eccentric illustration of one of those phases of human nature out of which the anchoretic life has sprung4 ,when forty years old1 ,welby was assailed1 in a moment of anger1 by a younger brother1 with a loaded pistol4 ,it flashed in the pan4 ',thinking of the danger he had escaped1 he fell into many deep considerations1 on the which he grounded an irrevocable resolution to live alone4' ,he had wealth and position1 and was of a social temper2 but the shock he had undergone had made him distrustful and meditative1 not malignant nor wretched1 and engendered in him a purpose of surpassing tenacity4 ,he had three chambers1 one within another1 prepared for his solitude2 the first for his diet1 the second for his lodging1 the third for his study4 ,while his food was set on the table by one of his servants1 he retired into his sleeping-room2 and1 while his bed was making1 into his study2 and so on1 until all was clear4 ',there he set up his rest1 and1 in forty-four years1 never upon any occasion issued out of those chambers till he was borne thence upon men's shoulders4 ,neither1 in all that time1 did any human being--save1 on some rare necessity1 his ancient maid-servant--look upon his face4' ,supplied with the best new books in various languages1 he devoted himself unto prayers and reading4 ,he inquired out objects of charity and sent them relief4 ,he would spy from his chamber1 by a private prospect into the street1 any sick1 lame1 or weak passing by1 and send comforts and money to them4 ',his hair1 by reason no barber came near him for the space of so many years1 was so much overgrown at the time of his death1 that he appeared rather like an eremite of the wilderness than an inhabitant of a city4' ,welby must have possessed the jewel which this incident1 related by ,izaak ,walton in his ,angler1 discovers to be so indispensable4 ,i knew a man1 he says1 that had health and riches and several houses1 all beautiful and ready furnished1 and would often trouble himself and family to be removing from one house to another2 and1 being asked by a friend why he removed so often from one house to another1 replied1 ',it was to find content in some one of them4' ',content1' said his friend1 'ever dwells in a meek and quiet soul4' ,it's no in titles nor in rank2 ,it's no in wealth like ,lon'on bank1 ,to purchase peace and rest2 ,it's no in making muckle mair3 ,it's no in books2 it's no in lear1 ,to make us truly blest3 ,if happiness hae not her seat ,and centre in the breast1 ,we may be wise1 or rich1 or great1 ,but never can be blest3 ,nae treasures1 nor pleasures1 ,could make us happy lang2 ,the heart aye's the part aye1 ,that makes us right or wrang4 ,out of mud1 say the ,orientalists1 springs the lotus flower2 out of clay comes gold and many precious things2 out of oysters the pearls2 brightest silks1 to robe fairest forms1 are spun by a worm2 bezoar from the bull1 musk from the deer1 are produced2 from a stick is born flame2 from the jungle comes sweetest honey4 ,as from sources of little worth come the precious things of earth1 even so is it with hearts that hold their fortune within4 ,they need not lofty birth or noble kin4 ,their victory is recorded4 ,a rain-drop1 they say1 fell into the sea4 ,i am lost6 it cried2 what am ,i in such a sea8 ,into the shell of a gaping oyster it fell1 and there was formed into the orient pearl which now shines fairest in ,britain's diadem4 ,humility creates the worth it underrates4 ,by two things1 says the author of the ,imitation1 a man is lifted up from things earthly1 namely1 by simplicity and purity4 ,a pure heart penetrateth heaven and hell4 ,such as every one is inwardly1 so he judgeth outwardly4 ,if there be joy in the world1 surely a man of a pure heart possesseth it4444 ,let not thy peace depend on the tongues of men2 for whether they judge well of thee or ill1 thou art not on that account other than thyself4 ,he that careth not to please men1 nor feareth to displease them1 shall enjoy much peace4444 ,he enjoyeth great tranquillity of heart1 that careth neither for the praise nor dispraise of men4 ,if thou consider what thou art in thyself1 thou wilt not care what men say of thee4 ,man looketh on the countenance1 but ,god on the heart4 ,man considereth the deeds1 but ,god weigheth the intentions4 ,will you not be very glad to know1 wrote ,eugenie de ,guerin to her brother1 in ,paris1 that ,i have just been spending a pleasant quarter of an hour on the terrace-steps1 seated by the side of an old woman1 who was singing me a lamentable ballad on an event that occurred long ago at ,cahuzac8 ,this came about apropos of a gold cross that has been stolen from the neck of the blessed ,virgin4 ,the old woman remembered her grandmother telling her that she had heard in olden times of this same church being the scene of a still more sacrilegious robbery1 since it was then the blessed sacrament that was carried off one day when it was left exposed in the empty church4 ,a young girl came to the altar while everybody was busy in the harvest1 and1 mounting upon it1 put the pyx into her apron1 and went and placed it under a rose-tree in a wood4 ,the shepherds who discovered it told where it was1 and nine priests came in procession to adore the blessed sacrament under the rose-tree1 and to carry it back to the church4 ,but for all that1 the poor shepherdess was arrested1 tried1 and condemned to be burned4 ,just when about to die1 she requested to confess1 and owned the fact to a priest2 but it was not1 she said1 because of any thievish propensities she took it1 but that she wanted to have the blessed sacrament in the forest4 ',i thought that the good ,god would be as satisfied under a rose-tree as on an altar4' ,at these words an angel descended from heaven to announce her pardon1 and to comfort the pious criminal1 who was burnt on a stake1 of which the rose-tree formed the first fagot4 ,there is a tradition that one night1 ,gabriel1 from his seat in paradise1 heard the voice of ,god sweetly responding to a human heart4 ,the angel said1 ,surely this must be an eminent servant of the ,most ,high1 whose spirit is dead to lust and lives on high4 ,the angel hastened over land and sea to find this man1 but could not find him in the earth or heavens4 ,at last he exclaimed1 ,o ,lord1 show me the way to the object of thy love6 ,god answered1 ,turn thy steps to yon village1 and in that pagoda thou shalt behold him4 ,the angel sped to the pagoda1 and therein found a solitary man kneeling before an idol4 ,returning1 he cried1 ,o master of the world6 hast thou looked with love on a man who invokes an idol in a pagoda8 ,god said1 ,i consider not the error of ignorance3 this heart1 amid its darkness1 hath the highest place4 ,anaxagoras1 whose disciples were ,socrates and ,pericles and ,euripides1 in reply to a question1 said he believed those to be most happy who seem least to be so2 and that we must not look among the rich and great for persons who taste true happiness1 but among those who till a small piece of ground1 or apply themselves to the sciences1 without ambition4 ,the fairest lives1 in my opinion1 said ,montaigne1 are those which regularly accommodate themselves to the common and human model1 without miracle1 without extravagance4 ,if some great men1 said ,mandeville1 had not a superlative pride1 and everybody understood the enjoyment of life1 who would be a lord chancellor1 a prime minister1 or a grand pensionary8 ,there is in existence a precious old album containing the handwriting of many renowned men1 such as ,luther1 ,erasmus1 ,mosheim1 and others4 ,the last-mentioned has written1 in ,latin1 the following remarkable words3 ,renown is a source of toil and sorrow2 obscurity is a source of happiness4 ,does he not drink more sweetly that takes his beverage in an earthen vessel1 asks ,jeremy ,taylor1 than he that looks and searches into his golden chalices1 for fear of poison1 and looks pale at every sudden noise1 and sleeps in armor1 and trusts nobody1 and does not trust ,god for safety8 ,the world1 said ,goethe1 could not exist1 if it were not so simple4 ,this ground has been tilled a thousand years1 yet its powers remain ever the same2 a little rain1 a little sun1 and each spring it grows green again4 ,everything has its own limits1 says ,hazlitt1 a little centre of its own1 round which it moves2 so that our true wisdom lies in our keeping in our own walk in life1 however humble or obscure1 and being satisfied if we can succeed in it4 ,the best of us can do no more1 and we shall only become ridiculous or unhappy by attempting it4 ,we are ashamed because we are at a loss in things to which we have no pretensions1 and try to remedy our mistakes by committing greater4 ,an overweening vanity or self-opinion is1 in truth1 often at the bottom of this weakness2 and we shall be most likely to conquer the one by eradicating the other1 or restricting it within due and moderate bounds4 ,in the ,imaginary ,conversations1 ,aspasia asks ,pericles3 ,is there any station so happy as an uncontested place in a small community1 where manners are simple1 where wants are few1 where respect is the tribute of probity1 and love is the guerdon of beneficence8 ,from my tutor1 said the good emperor ,marcus ,aurelius1 ,i learnt endurance of labor1 and to want little1 and to work with my own hands1 and not to meddle with other people's affairs1 and not to be ready to listen to slander4 ,ah6 exclaimed the ,attic ,philosopher1 if men but knew in what a small dwelling joy can live1 and how little it costs to furnish it6444 ,does a man drink more when he drinks from a large glass8 ,from whence comes that universal dread of mediocrity1 the fruitful mother of peace and liberty8 ,ah6 there is the evil which1 above every other1 it should be the aim of both public and private education to anticipate6 ,if that were got rid of1 what treasons would be spared1 what baseness avoided1 what a chain of excess and crime would be forever broken6 ,we award the palm to charity1 and to self-sacrifice3 but1 above all1 let us award it to moderation1 for it is the great social virtue4 ,even when it does not create the others1 it stands instead of them4 ,socrates used to say that the man who ate with the greatest appetite had the least need of delicacies2 and that he who drank with the greatest appetite was the least inclined to look for a draught which is not at hand2 and that those who want fewest things are nearest to the gods4 ,milton says that the lyric poet may drink wine and live generously1 but the epic poet1 he who shall sing of the gods1 and their descent unto men1 must drink water out of a golden bowl4 ,have you never noticed1 said ,hiero1 all the multitudinous contrivances which are set before tyrants1 acid1 and harsh1 and sour2 and whatsoever else there can be of the same kind8 ,to be sure ,i have1 said ,simonides2 and all these things appeared to me to be very contrary to the natural taste of any man4 ,and do you think1 said ,hiero1 that these dishes are anything else but the fancies of a diseased and vitiated taste2 since those who eat with appetite1 you well know1 have no need of these contrivances and provocatives8 ,michel ,angelo seldom partook of the enjoyments of the table1 and used to say1 ,however rich ,i may have been1 ,i have always lived as a poor man4 ,said ,seneca1 ,he that lives according to nature cannot be poor1 and he that exceeds can never have enough4 ,epicurus said1 ,i feed sweetly upon bread and water1 those sweet and easy provisions of the body1 and ,i defy the pleasures of costly provisions4 ,cardinal ,mancini staying once on a visit to ,poussin till it was dark1 the artist took the candle in his hand1 lighted him down-stairs1 and waited upon him to his coach4 ,the prelate was sorry to see him do it himself1 and could not help saying1 ,i very much pity you1 ,poussin1 that you have not one servant4 ,and ,i pity you more1 my lord1 replied ,poussin1 that you have so many4 ,no man needs to flatter1 said ,jeremy ,taylor1 if he can live as nature did intend4 ,he need not swell his accounts1 and intricate his spirit with arts of subtlety and contrivance2 he can be free from fears1 and the chances of the world cannot concern him4 ,all our trouble is from within us2 and if a dish of lettuce and a clear fountain can cool all my heats1 so that ,i shall have neither thirst nor pride1 lust nor revenge1 envy nor ambition1 ,i am lodged in the bosom of felicity4 ,prosperity1 says ,froude1 in one of his essays1 is consistent with intense worldliness1 intense selfishness1 intense hardness of heart2 while the grander features of human character1--self-sacrifice1 disregard of pleasure1 patriotism1 love of knowledge1 devotion to any great and good cause1--these have no tendency to bring men what is called fortune4 ,they do not even necessarily promote their happiness2 for do what they will in this way1 the horizon of what they desire to do perpetually flies before them4 ,high hopes and enthusiasms are generally disappointed in results2 and the wrongs1 the cruelties1 the wretchedness of all kinds which forever prevail among mankind1--the short-comings in himself of which he becomes more conscious as he becomes really better1--these things1 you may be sure1 will prevent a noble-minded man from ever being particularly happy4 ,i should rather say1 he says in another essay1 that the ,scots had been an unusually happy people4 ,intelligent industry1 the honest doing of daily work1 with a sense that it must be done well1 under penalties2 the necessaries of life moderately provided for2 and a sensible content with the situation of life in which men are born--this through the week1 and at the end of it the ,cotter's ,saturday ,night--the homely family1 gathered reverently and peacefully together1 and irradiated with a sacred presence4 ,happiness6 such happiness as we human creatures are likely to know upon this world will be found there1 if anywhere4 ,on the ,simplon1 says a ,german traveler1 amid the desert of snow and mist1 in the vicinity of a refuge1 a boy and his little sister were journeying up the mountain by the side of our carriage4 ,both had on their backs little baskets filled with wood1 which they had gathered in the lower mountains1 where there is still some vegetation4 ,the boy gave us some specimens of rock crystal and other stone1 for which we gave him some small coins4 ,the delight with which he cast stolen glances at his money1 as he passed by our carriage1 made upon me an indelible impression4 ,never before had ,i seen such a heavenly expression of felicity4 ,i could not but reflect that ,god had placed all sources and capabilities for happiness in the human heart2 and that1 with respect to happiness1 it is perfectly indifferent how and where one dwells4 ,a man1 says ,cumberland1 who is gifted with worldly qualities and accommodations is armed with hands1 as a ship with grappling-irons1 ready to catch hold of1 and make himself fast to everything he comes in contact with1 and such a man1 with all these properties of adhesion1 has also the property1 like the polypus1 of a most miraculous and convenient indivisibility2 cut off his hold--nay1 cut him how you will1 he is still a polypus1 whole and entire4 ,men of this sort still work their way out of their obscurity like cockroaches out of the hold of a ship1 and crawl into notice1 nay1 even into kings' palaces1 as the frogs did into ,pharaoh's2 the happy faculty of noting times and seasons1 and a lucky promptitude to avail themselves of moments with address and boldness1 are alone such all-sufficient requisites1 such marketable stores of worldly knowledge1 that1 although the minds of those who own them shall be1 as to all the liberal sciences1 a rasa tabula1 yet knowing these things needful to be known1 let their difficulties and distresses be what they may1 though the storm of adversity threatens to overwhelm them1 they are in a life-boat1 buoyed up by corks1 and cannot sink4 ,these are the stray children turned loose upon the world1 whom ,fortune1 in her charity1 takes charge of1 and for whose guidance in the by-ways and cross-roads of their pilgrimage she sets up fairy finger-posts1 discoverable by those whose eyes are near the ground1 but unperceived by such whose looks are raised above it4 ,genial manners are good1 says ,emerson1 and power of accommodation to any circumstance2 but the high prize of life1 the crowning fortune of a man1 is to be born with a bias to some pursuit1 which finds him in employment and happiness1--whether it be to make baskets1 or broad-swords1 or canals1 or statues1 or songs4 ,wordsworth's man-servant1 ,james1 was brought up in a work-house1 and at nine years of age was turned out of the house with two shillings in his pocket4 ,when without a six-pence1 he was picked up by a farmer1 who took him into his service on condition that all his clothes should be burnt 7they were so filthy72 and he was to pay for his new clothes out of his wages of two pounds ten shillings per annum4 ,here he stayed as long as he was wanted4 ,i have been so lucky1 said ,james1 that ,i was never out of a place a day in my life1 for ,i was always taken into service immediately4 ,i never got into a scrape1 or was drunk in my life1 for ,i never taste any liquor4 ,so that ,i have often said1 ,i consider myself as a favorite of fortune6 ,this is like ,goldsmith's cripple in the park1 who1 remarking upon his appealing wretchedness1 said1 ',tis not every man that can be born with a golden spoon in his mouth4 ,arrogance1 said ,goethe1 is natural to youth4 ,a man believes1 in his youth1 that the world properly began with him1 and that all exists for his sake4 ,in the ,east1 there was a man who1 every morning1 collected his people about him1 and never would go to work till he had commanded the sun to arise4 ,but he was wise enough not to speak his command till the sun of its own accord was ready to appear4 ,at the outset of life1 says ,hazlitt1 our imagination has a body to it4 ,we are in a state between sleeping and waking1 and have indistinct but glorious glimpses of strange shapes1 and there is always something to come better than what we see4 ,as in our dreams the fullness of the blood gives warmth and reality to the coinage of the brain1 so in youth our ideas are clothed1 and fed1 and pampered with our good spirits2 we breathe thick with thoughtless happiness1 the weight of future years presses on the strong pulses of the heart1 and we repose with undisturbed faith in truth and good4 ,as we advance1 we exhaust our fund of enjoyment and of hope4 ,we are no longer wrapped in lamb's-wool1 lulled in ,elysium4 ,as we taste the pleasures of life1 their spirit evaporates1 the sense palls1 and nothing is left but the phantoms1 the lifeless shadows of what has been6 ,there was a time when meadow1 grove1 and stream1 ,the earth1 and every common sight1 ,to me did seem ,apparel'd in celestial light1 ,the glory and the freshness of a dream4 ,it is not now as it has been of yore2 ,turn wheresoe'er ,i may1 ,by night or day1 ,the things which ,i have seen ,i now can see no more4 ,the rainbow comes and goes1 ,and lovely is the rose2 ,the moon doth with delight ,look round her when the heavens are bare2 ,waters on a starry night ,are beautiful and fair2 ,the sunshine is a glorious birth2 ,but yet ,i know1 where'er ,i go1 ,that there hath passed away a glory from the earth4 ,why1 asks ,souvestre1 is there so much confidence at first1 so much doubt at last8 ,has1 then1 the knowledge of life no other end but to make it unfit for happiness8 ,must we condemn ourselves to ignorance if we would preserve hope8 ,is the world1 and is the individual man1 intended1 after all1 to find rest only in an eternal childhood8 ,if the world does improve on the whole1 said ,goethe1 yet youth must always begin anew1 and go through the stages of culture from the beginning4 ,but1 'tis a great advantage of rank1 said ,pascal1 that a man at eighteen or twenty shall be allowed the same esteem and deference which another purchaseth by his merit at fifty4 ,here are thirty years gained at a stroke4 ,the whole employment of men's lives1 said the same thinker1 is to improve their fortunes2 and yet the title by which they hold all1 if traced to its origin1 is no more than the pure fancy of the legislators3 but their possession is still more precarious than their right1 and at the mercy of a thousand accidents3 nor are the treasures of the mind better insured2 while a fall1 or a fit of sickness1 may bankrupt the ablest understanding4444 ,caesar was too old1 in my opinion1 to amuse himself with projecting the conquest of the world4 ,such an imagination was excusable in ,alexander1 a prince full of youth and fire1 and not easy to be checked in his hopes4 ,but ,caesar ought to have been more grave4 ,knowledge has two extremities1 which meet and touch each other1 says ,pascal1 again4 ,the first of them is pure1 natural ignorance1 such as attends every man at his birth4 ,the other is the perfection attained by great souls1 who1 having run through the circle of all that mankind can know1 find at length that they know nothing1 and are contented to return to that ignorance from which they set out4 ,ignorance that thus knows itself is a wise and learned ignorance4 ,that is ever the difference1 said ,emerson1 between the wise and the unwise3 the latter wonders at what is unusual1 the wise man wonders at the usual4 ,it has been said that the visitor1 climbing the white roof of the ,milan cathedral1 and gazing on the forest of statues1 feels as though a flight of angels had alighted there and been struck to marble4 ,at the top of his mind1 says ,alger1 the devout scholar has a holy of holies1 a little pantheon set round with altars and the images of the greatest men4 ,every day1 putting on a priestly robe1 he retires into this temple and passes before its shrines and shapes4 ,here he feels a thrill of awe2 there he lays a burning aspiration2 farther on he swings a censer of reverence4 ,to one he lifts a look of love2 at the feet of another he drops a grateful tear2 and before another still1 a flush of pride and joy suffuses him4 ,they smile on him3 sometimes they speak and wave their solemn hands4 ,always they look up to the ,highest4 ,purified and hallowed1 he gathers his soul together1 and comes away from the worshipful intercourse1 serious1 serene1 glad1 and strong4 ,men1 says ,st4 ,augustine1 travel far to climb high mountains1 to observe the majesty of the ocean1 to trace the sources of rivers1 but they neglect themselves4 ,admirable reasoning6 admirable lesson6 exclaimed ,petrarch1 as he closed the ,confessions upon the passage when on the summit of the ,alps4 ,if1 said he1 ,i have undergone so much labor in climbing this mountain that my body might be nearer to heaven1 what ought ,i not to do in order that my soul may be received into those immortal regions8 ,hear this lofty strain of the old heathen emperor1 ,marcus ,aurelius3 ,short is the little which remains to thee of life4 ,live as on a mountain4 ,let men see1 let them know1 a real man1 who lives as he was meant to live4 ,if they cannot endure him1 let them kill him4 ,for that is better than to live as men do4 ,as soon as a man1 says ,max ,mueller1 becomes conscious of himself as distinct from all other things and persons1 he at the same moment becomes conscious of a ,higher ,self1 a higher power1 without which he feels that neither he nor anything else would have any life or reality4 ,to live1 indeed1 says ,sir ,thomas ,browne1 is to be again ourselves1 which being not only a hope but an evidence in noble believers1 'tis all one to lie in ,st4 ,innocent's church-yard1 as in the sands of ,egypt2 ready to be anything in the ecstasy of being ever1 and as content with six feet as the moles of ,adrianus4 ,at the age of seventy-five1 said ,goethe1 one must1 of course1 think frequently of death4 ,but this thought never gives me the least uneasiness1 ,i am so fully convinced that the soul is indestructible1 and that its activity will continue through eternity4 ,it is like the sun1 which seems to our earthly eyes to set in night1 but is in reality gone to diffuse its light elsewhere4 ,the soul's dark cottage1 battered and decayed1 ,lets in new light thro' chinks that time has made2 ,stronger by weakness1 wiser men become ,as they draw near to their eternal home4 ,leaving the old1 both worlds at once they view ,that stand upon the threshold of the new4 ,amongst the poems of ,mrs4 ,barbauld is a stanza on ,life1 written in extreme old age4 ,madame ,d',arblay told the poet ,rogers that she repeated it every night4 ,wordsworth once said to a visitor1 ,repeat me that stanza by ,mrs4 ,barbauld4 ,his friend did so4 ,wordsworth made him repeat it again4 ,and so he learned it by heart4 ,he was at the time walking in his sitting-room at ,rydal1 with his hands behind him1 and was heard to mutter to himself1 ,i am not in the habit of grudging people their good things1 but ,i wish ,i had written those lines4 ,life6 we've been long together1 ,thro' pleasant and thro' cloudy weather3 ',tis hard to part when friends are dear1 ,perhaps 'twill cost a sigh1 a tear3 ,then steal away1 give little warning1 ,choose thine own time2 ,say not good-night1 but in some brighter clime ,bid me good-morning4 ,,xiii4 ,,religion4 ,ah6 sighed ,shelley to ,leigh ,hunt1 as the organ was playing in the cathedral at ,pisa1 what a divine religion might be found out if charity were really made the principle of it instead of faith4 ,in the seventeenth century1 said ,dean ,stanley1 in one of his ,lectures on the ,church of ,scotland1 the minister of the parish of ,anworth was the famous ,samuel ,rutherford1 the great religious oracle of the ,covenanters and their adherents4 ,it was1 as all readers of his letters will remember1 the spot which he most loved on earth4 ,the very swallows and sparrows which found their nests in the church of ,anworth were1 when far away1 the objects of his affectionate envy4 ,its hills and valleys were the witnesses of his ardent devotion when living2 they still retain his memory with unshaken fidelity4 ,it is one of the traditions thus cherished on the spot1 that on a ,saturday evening1 at one of those family gatherings whence1 in the language of the good ,scottish poet1-- ',old ,scotia's grandeur springs1' when ,rutherford was catechising his children and servants1 that a stranger knocked at the door of the manse1 and begged shelter for the night4 ,the minister kindly received him1 and asked him to take his place amongst the family and assist at their religious exercises4 ,it so happened that the question in the catechism which came to the stranger's turn was that which asks1 ',how many commandments are there8' ,he answered1 ',eleven4' ',eleven6' exclaimed ,rutherford2 ',i am surprised that a man of your age and appearance should not know better4 ,what do you mean8' ,and he answered1 ',a new commandment ,i give unto you1 that ye love one another2 as ,i have loved you1 that ye also love one another4 ,by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples1 if ye have love one to another4' ,rutherford was much impressed by the answer1 and they retired to rest4 ,the next morning he rose early to meditate on the services of the day4 ,the old manse of ,anworth stood--its place is still pointed out--in the corner of a field1 under the hill-side1 and thence a long1 winding1 wooded path1 still called ,rutherford's ,walk1 leads to the church4 ,through this glen he passed1 and1 as he threaded his way through the thicket1 he heard amongst the trees the voice of the stranger at his morning devotions4 ,the elevation of the sentiments and of the expressions convinced him that it was no common man4 ,he accosted him1 and the traveler confessed to him that he was no other than the great divine and scholar1 ,archbishop ,usher1 the ,primate of the ,church of ,ireland1 one of the best and most learned men of his age1 who well fulfilled that new commandment in the love which he won and which he bore to others2 one of the few links of ,christian charity between the fierce contending factions of that time1 devoted to ,king ,charles ,i4 in his life-time1 and honored in his grave by the ,protector ,cromwell4 ,he it was who1 attracted by ,rutherford's fame1 had thus come in disguise to see him in the privacy of his own home4 ,the stern ,covenanter welcomed the stranger prelate2 side by side they pursued their way along ,rutherford's ,walk to the little church1 of which the ruins still remain2 and in that small ,presbyterian sanctuary1 from ,rutherford's rustic pulpit1 the archbishop preached to the people of ,anworth on the words which had so startled his host the evening before3 ',a new commandment ,i give unto you1 that ye love one another2 as ,i have loved you1 that ye also love one another4' ,in a legend which ,st4 ,jerome has recorded1 and which1 says the same writer1 in his ,essays on the ,apostolic ,age1 is not the less impressive because so familiar to us1 we see the aged ,apostle 7,john7 borne in the arms of his disciples into the ,ephesian assembly1 and there repeating over and over again the same saying1 ,little children1 love one another2 till1 when asked why he said this and nothing else1 he replied in those well-known words1 fit indeed to be the farewell speech of the beloved disciple1 ,because this is our ,lord's command1 and if you fulfill this1 nothing else is needed4 ,an acceptance of the sentiment of love throughout ,christendom for a season1 says ,emerson1 would bring the felon and the outcast to our side in tears1 with the devotion of his faculties to our service4 ,love would put a new face on this weary old world1 in which we dwell as pagans and enemies too long1 and it would warm the heart to see how fast the vain diplomacy of statesmen1 the impotence of armies and navies and lines of defense1 would be superseded by this unarmed child4 ,we do not believe1 or we forget1 that the ,holy ,ghost came down1 not in the shape of a vulture1 but in the form of a dove4 ,rogers' stories of children1 of which he told many1 were very pretty4 ,the prettiest was of a little girl who was a great favorite of every one who knew her4 ,why does everybody love you so much8 ,she answered1 ,i think it is because ,i love everybody so much4 ,a strong argument1 thought ,poe1 for the religion of ,christ is this--that offenses against charity are about the only ones which men on their death-beds can be made--not to understand--but to feel--as crime4 ,tell me1 gentle traveler1 who hast wandered through the world1 and seen the sweetest roses blow1 and brightest gliding rivers1 of all thine eyes have seen1 which is the fairest land8 ,child1 shall ,i tell thee where nature is most blest and fair8 ,it is where those we love abide4 ,though that space be small1 ample is it above kingdoms2 though it be a desert1 through it runs the river of paradise1 and there are the enchanted bowers4 ,we ought1 says the author of ,ecce ,homo1 to be just as tolerant of an imperfect creed as we are of an imperfect practice4 ,everything which can be urged in excuse for the latter may also be pleaded for the former4 ,if the way to ,christian action is beset by corrupt habits and misleading passions1 the path to ,christian truth is overgrown with prejudices1 and strewn with fallen theories and rotting systems which hide it from our view4 ,it is quite as hard to think rightly as to act rightly1 or even to feel rightly4 ,and as all allow that an error is a less culpable thing than a crime or a vicious passion1 it is monstrous that it should be more severely punished2 it is monstrous that ,christ1 who was called the friend of publicans and sinners1 should be represented as the pitiless enemy of bewildered seekers of truth4 ,how could men have been guilty of such an inconsistency8 ,by speaking of what they do not understand4 ,men in general do not understand or appreciate the difficulty of finding truth4 ,all men must act1 and therefore all men learn in some degree how difficult it is to act rightly4 ,the consequence is that all men can make excuse for those who fail to act rightly4 ,but all men are not compelled to make an independent search for truth1 and those who voluntarily undertake to do so are always few4 ,to the world at large it seems quite easy to find truth1 and inexcusable to miss it4 ,and no wonder6 ,for by finding truth they mean only learning by rote the maxims current among them4 ,maxims and first principles1 says ,pascal1 are subject to revolutions2 and we are to go to chronology for the epochs of right and wrong4 ,a very humorsome justice this1 which is bounded by a river or a mountain3 orthodoxy on one side of the ,pyrenees may be heresy on the other4 ,let there1 begs the ,spanish ,president ,castelar1 be no more accursed races on the earth4 ,let every one act according to his conscience1 and communicate freely with his ,god4 ,let thought be only corrected by the contradiction of thought4 ,let error be an infirmity1 and not a crime4 ,let us agree in acknowledging that opinions sometimes take possession of our understandings quite independent of our will or desire4 ,let us be so just as to be enabled to see even to what degree each race has contributed to the universal education of humanity4 ,every new idea1 says a writer in ,the ,quarterly ,review1 creates an enthusiasm in the minds of those who have first grasped it1 which renders them incapable of viewing it in its true proportions to the sum total of knowledge4 ,it is in their eyes no new denizen of the world of facts1 but a heaven-sent ruler of it1 to which all previously recognized truths must be made to bow4 ,as time goes on1 truer views obtain4 ,the new principle ceases to be regarded either as a pestilent delusion or as a key to all mysteries4 ,its application comes to be better defined and its value more reasonably appreciated1 when both idolators and iconoclasts have passed away1 and a new generation begins to take stock of its intellectual inheritance4 ,the truth1 said ,goethe1 must be repeated over and over again1 because error is repeatedly preached among us1 not only by individuals1 but by the masses4 ,in periodicals and cyclopedias1 in schools and universities1 everywhere1 in fact1 error prevails1 and is quite easy in the feeling that it has quite a majority on its side4 ,public opinion1 of which we hear so much1 said a writer in ,blackwood1 long ago1 is never anything else than the reecho of the thought of a few great men half a century before4 ,it takes that time for ideas to flow down from the elevated to the inferior level4 ,the great never adopt1 they only originate4 ,their chief efforts are always made in opposition to the prevailing opinions by which they are surrounded4 ,thence it is that a powerful mind is always uneasy when it is not in the minority on any subject which excites general attention4 ,if you discover a truth1 says an unknown author1 you are persecuted by an infinite number of people who gain their living from the error you oppose1 saying that this error itself is the truth1 and that the greatest error is that which tends to destroy it4 ,there arose no small stir at ,ephesus on account of ,paul's preaching4 ,for a certain man named ,demetrius1 a silversmith1 which made silver shrines for ,diana1 brought no small gain unto the craftsmen2 whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation1 and said1 ,sirs1 ye know that by this craft we have our wealth3 moreover1 ye see and hear1 that not alone at ,ephesus1 but almost throughout all ,asia1 this ,paul hath persuaded and turned away much people1 saying that they be no gods which are made with hands4 ,so that not only this our craft is in danger to be set at naught2 but also that the temple of the great goddess ,diana should be despised1 and her magnificence should be destroyed1 whom all ,asia and the world worshipeth4 ,and when they heard these sayings1 they were full of wrath1 and cried out1 saying1 ,great is ,diana of the ,ephesians4 ,thomas ,aikenhead1 a student of eighteen1 was hanged at ,edinburgh1 in #afig1 for having uttered1 says ,macaulay1 in his ,history1 free opinions about the ,trinity and some of the books of the ,bible4 ,his offense was construed as blasphemy under an old ,scotch statute1 which was strained for the purpose of convicting him4 ,after his sentence he recanted1 and begged a short respite to make his peace with ,god4 ,this the privy council declined to grant1 unless the ,edinburgh clergy would intercede for him2 but so far were they from seconding his petition1 that they actually demanded that his execution should not be delayed4 ,imagine1 if you can1 says ,froude1 in one of his essays1 a person being now put to death for a speculative theological opinion4 ,you feel at once that1 in the most bigoted country in the world1 such a thing has become impossible2 and the impossibility is the measure of the alteration which we have all undergone4 ,the formulas remain as they were1 on either side1--the very same formulas which were once supposed to require these detestable murders4 ,but we have learned to know each other better4 ,the cords which bind together the brotherhood of mankind are woven of a thousand strands4 ,we do not any more fly apart or become enemies because1 here and there1 in one strand out of so many1 there are still unsound places4 ,it was in the ,star ,chamber 7during the reign of ,charles ,i41 after ,christ1 sixteen hundred and thirty-seven years7 that ,leighton1 a clergyman1 for coarse invectives against prelacy and prelates1 received the sentence by which he was severely whipped in public1 was put in the pillory1 had one ear cut off1 one side of his nose slit1 and one cheek branded with the letters ,s4 ,s41 to denote that he was a sower of sedition4 ,on that day week1 says ,laud 7then ,archbishop of ,canterbury71 who instigated the prosecution1 the sores upon his back1 ear1 nose1 and face being not cured1 he was whipped again at the pillory1 and there had the remainder of his sentence executed upon him1 by cutting off the other ear1 slitting the other side of his nose1 and branding the other cheek4 ,he was1 in addition1 degraded from his ministry1 fined ten thousand pounds1 and ordered to be retained in confinement for life4 ,there is a violent zeal1 says ,fenelon1 that we must correct2 it thinks it can change the whole world1 it would reform everything1 it would subject every one to its laws4 ,the origin of this zeal is disgraceful4 ,the defects of our neighbor interfere with our own2 our vanity is wounded by that of another2 our own haughtiness finds our neighbor's ridiculous and insupportable2 our restlessness is rebuked by the sluggishness and indolence of this person2 our gloom is disturbed by the gayety and frivolities of that person1 and our heedlessness by the shrewdness and address of another4 ,if we were faultless1 we should not be so much annoyed by the defects of those with whom we associate4 ,if we were to acknowledge honestly that we have not virtue enough to bear patiently with our neighbors' weaknesses1 we should show our own imperfection1 and this alarms our vanity4 ,we therefore make our weakness pass for strength1 elevate it to a virtue and call it zeal2 an imaginary and often hypocritical zeal4 ,for is it not surprising to see how tranquil we are about the errors of others when they do not trouble us1 and how soon this wonderful zeal kindles against those who excite our jealousy1 or weary our patience8 ,we reprove our friends' faults1 said ,wycherley1 more out of pride than love or charity2 not so much to correct them as to make them believe we are ourselves without them4 ,simonides satirizes the same infirmity in a fable1 to be found in the treasures of ,athenaeus3-- ,with his claw the snake surprising1 ,thus the crab kept moralizing3-- ,out on sidelong turns and graces1 ,straight's the word for honest paces6 ,it was ,dean ,swift who said1 ,we have just enough of religion to make us hate1 but not enough to make us love1 one another4 ,your business1 said ,hunt1 is to preach love to your neighbor1 to kick him to bits1 and to thank ,god for the contradiction4 ,the falsehood that the tongue commits1 said ,landor1 is slight in comparison with what is conceived by the heart1 and executed by the whole man1 throughout life4 ,if1 professing love and charity to the human race at large1 ,i quarrel day after day with my next neighbor2 if1 professing that the rich can never see ,god1 ,i spend in the luxuries of my household a talent monthly2 if1 professing to place so much confidence in his word1 that1 in regard to worldly weal1 ,i need take no care for to-morrow1 ,i accumulate stores even beyond what would be necessary though ,i quite distrusted both his providence and his veracity2 if1 professing that 'he who giveth to the poor lendeth to the ,lord1' ,i question the ,lord's security1 and haggle with him about the amount of the loan2 if1 professing that ,i am their steward1 ,i keep ninety-nine parts in the hundred as the emolument of my stewardship3 how1 when ,god hates liars1 and punishes defrauders1 shall ,i1 and other such thieves and hypocrites1 fare hereafter8 ,in one of his chapters on the ,study of ,sociology1 ,herbert ,spencer remarks that it would clear up our ideas about many things1 if we distinctly recognized the truth that we have two religions4 ,these two religions ,mr4 ,spencer designates as the religion of amity and the religion of enmity4 ,of course1 he says1 ,i don't mean that these are both called religions4 ,here ,i am not speaking of names2 ,i am speaking simply of things4 ,nowadays men do not pay the same nominal homage to the religion of enmity that they do to the religion of amity--the religion of amity occupies the place of honor4 ,but the real homage is paid in large measure1 if not in the larger measure1 to the religion of enmity4 ,the religion of enmity nearly all men actually believe4 ,the religion of amity most of them merely believe they believe4 ,the ,church of ,rome1 said ,f4 ,w4 ,robertson1 in his sermon on ,the ,tongue1 hurls her thunders against ,protestants of every denomination2 the ,calvinist scarcely recognizes the ,arminian as a ,christian2 he who considers himself as the true ,anglican excludes from the church of ,christ all but the adherents of his own orthodoxy2 every minister and congregation has its small circle1 beyond which all are heretics2 nay1 even among that sect which is most lax as to the dogmatic forms of truth1 we find the ,unitarian of the old school denouncing the spiritualism of the new and rising school4 ,sisters of ,charity refuse to permit an act of charity to be done by a ,samaritan2 ministers of the gospel fling the thunder-bolts of the ,lord2 ignorant hearers catch and exaggerate the spirit2 boys1 girls1 and women shudder as one goes by1 perhaps more holy than themselves1 who adores the same ,god1 believes in the same ,redeemer1 struggles in the same life-battle--and all this because they have been taught to look upon him as an enemy of ,god4 ,particular churches and sects1 says ,sir ,thomas ,browne1 usurp the gates of heaven1 and turn the keys against each other2 and thus we go to heaven against each others' wills1 conceits1 and opinions4 ,the church of the future1 in the opinion of ,father ,hyacinthe1 will know nothing of such divisions1 such discordances1 and she will uphold the freedom of theologies and the diversity of rites in the unity of one faith and of one worship4 ,as soon1 said ,goethe1 as the pure doctrine and love of ,christ are comprehended in their true nature1 and have become a vital principle1 we shall feel ourselves as human beings1 great and free1 and not attach especial importance to a degree more or less in the outward forms of religion3 besides1 we shall all gradually advance from a ,christianity of words and faith to a ,christianity of feeling and action4 ,could we1 said ,dean ,young1 but once descend from our high pretenses of religion to the humility that only makes men religious1 could we but once prefer ,christianity itself before the several factions that bear its name1 our differences would sink of themselves2 and it would appear to us that there is more religion in not contending than there is in the matter we contend about4 ,do you remember1 asks the author of ,the ,eclipse of ,faith1 the passage in ,woodstock1 in which our old favorite represents the ,episcopalian ,rochecliffe and the ,presbyterian ,holdenough meeting unexpectedly in prison1 after many years of separation1 during which one had thought the other dead8 ,how sincerely glad they were1 and how pleasantly they talked2 when1 lo6 an unhappy reference to 'the bishopric of ,titus' gradually abated the fervor of their charity1 and inflamed that of their zeal1 even till they at last separated in mutual dudgeon1 and sat glowering at each other in their distant corners with looks in which the ',episcopalian' and ',presbyterian' were much more evident than the ',christian3' and so they persevered till the sudden summons to them and their fellow-prisoners1 to prepare for instant execution1 dissolved as with a charm the anger they had felt1 and ',forgive me1 ,o my brother1' and ',i have sinned against thee1 my brother1' broke from their lips as they took what they thought would be a last farewell4 ,i sometimes1 says ,froude1 in impatient moments1 wish the laity would treat their controversial divines as two gentlemen once treated their seconds1 when they found themselves forced into a duel without knowing what they were quarreling about4 ,as the principals were being led up to their places1 one of them whispered to the other1 ',if you will shoot your second1 ,i will shoot mine4' ,benjamin ,lay1 a violent enthusiast and harsh reformer--contemporary with ,john ,woolman--was1 it is said1 well acquainted with ,dr4 ,franklin1 who sometimes visited him4 ,among other schemes of reform he entertained the idea of converting all mankind to ,christianity4 ,this was to be done by three persons--himself and two other enthusiasts1 assisted by ,dr4 ,franklin4 ,but on their first meeting at the doctor's house1 the three chosen vessels got into a violent controversy on points of doctrine1 and separated in ill-humor4 ,the philosopher1 who had been an amused listener1 advised the three sages to give up the project of converting the world until they had learned to tolerate each other4 ,man1 says ,harrington1 in his ,political ,aphorisms1 may rather be defined a religious than a rational creature1 in regard that in other creatures there may be something of reason1 but there is nothing of religion4 ,if you travel through the world well1 says ,plutarch1 you may find cities without walls1 without literature1 without kings1 moneyless1 and such as desire no coin2 which know not what theatres or public halls of bodily exercise mean2 but never was there1 nor ever shall there be1 any one city seen without temple1 church1 or chapel2 without some god or other2 which useth no prayers nor oaths1 no prophecies and divinations1 no sacrifices1 either to obtain good blessings or to avert heavy curses and calamities4 ,nay1 methinks a man should sooner find a city built in the air1 without any plot of ground whereon it is seated1 than that any commonwealth altogether void of religion and the opinion of the gods should either be first established1 or afterward preserved and maintained in that estate4 ,this is that containeth and holdeth together all human society2 this is the foundation1 prop1 and stay of all4 ,the holy ,nanac on the ground one day1 ,reclining with his feet toward ,mecca1 lay2 ,a passing ,moslem priest1 offended1 saw1 ,and flaming for the honor of his law1 ,exclaimed3 ,base infidel1 thy prayers repeat6 ,toward ,allah's house how dar'st thou turn thy feet8 ,before the ,moslem's shallow accents died1 ,the pious but indignant ,nanac cried3 ,and turn them1 if thou canst1 toward any spot1 ,wherein the awful house of ,god is not6 ,how striking a proof is it1 says a writer on ,the ,religions of ,india1 of the strength of the adoring principle in human nature--what an illustration of mankind's sense of dependence upon an unseen ,supreme--that the grandest works which the nations have reared are those connected with religion6 ,were a spirit from some distant world to look down upon the surface of our planet as it spins round in the solar rays1 his eye would be most attracted1 as the morning light passed onward1 by the glittering and painted pagodas of ,china1 ,borneo1 and ,japan2 the richly ornamented temples and stupendous rock shrines of ,india2 the dome-topped mosques and tall1 slender minarets of ,western ,asia2 the pyramids and vast temples of ,egypt1 with their mile-long avenues of gigantic statues and sphinxes2 the graceful shrines of classic ,greece2 the basilicas of ,rome and ,byzantium2 the semi-oriental church-domes of ,moscow2 the ,gothic cathedrals of ,western ,europe3 and as the day closed1 the light would fall dimly upon the ruins of the grand sun-temples of ,mexico and ,peru1 where1 in the infancy of reason and humanity1 human sacrifices were offered up1 as if the ,all-,father were pleased with the agony of his creatures6 ,moral rules1 says ,matthew ,arnold1 in his ,essay on ,marcus ,aurelius1 apprehended as ideas first1 and then rigorously followed as laws1 are and must be for the sage only4 ,the mass of mankind have neither force of intellect enough to apprehend them clearly as ideas1 nor force of character enough to follow them strictly as laws4 ,the mass of mankind can be carried along a course full of hardships for the natural man1 can be borne over the thousand impediments of the narrow way1 only by the tide of a joyful and bounding emotion4 ,it is impossible to rise from reading ,epictetus or ,marcus ,aurelius without a sense of constraint and melancholy1 without feeling that the burden laid upon man is well-nigh greater than he can bear4 ,honor to the sages who have felt this1 and yet have borne it6444 ,for the ordinary man1 this sense of labor and sorrow constitutes an absolute disqualification2 it paralyzes him2 under the weight of it he cannot make way toward the goal at all4 ,the paramount virtue of religion is that it has lighted up morality2 that it has supplied the emotion and inspiration needful for carrying the sage along the narrow way perfectly1 for carrying the ordinary man along it at all4 ,even the religions with most dross in them have had something of this virtue2 but the ,christian religion manifests it with unexampled splendor4 ,the ,duke de ,chaulnes once said to ,dr4 ,johnson that every religion had a certain degree of morality in it4 ,ay1 my lord1 answered he1 but the ,christian religion alone puts it on its proper basis4 ,it is ,christianity alone1 said ,max ,mueller1 which1 as the religion of humanity1 as the religion of no caste1 of no chosen people1 has taught us to respect the history of humanity as a whole1 to discover the traces of a divine wisdom and love in the government of all the races of mankind1 and to recognize1 if possible1 even in the lowest and crudest forms of religious belief1 not the work of demoniacal agencies1 but something that indicates a divine guidance1 something that makes us perceive1 with ,st4 ,peter1 'that ,god is no respecter of persons1 but that in every nation he that feareth ,him and worketh righteousness is accepted with ,him4' ,there is a principle1 said ,john ,woolman--the man who1 it is said1 in all the centuries since the advent of ,christ1 lived nearest to the ,divine pattern--there is a principle1 said that ,christian man1 which is pure1 placed in the human mind1 which in different places and ages hath had different names2 it is1 however1 pure1 and proceeds from ,god4 ,it is deep and inward1 confined to no forms of religion nor excluded from any1 when the heart stands in perfect sincerity4 ,in whomsoever this takes root and grows1 they become brethren4 ,the turning-point1 remarks ,frances ,power ,cobbe1 between the old world and the new was the beginning of the ,christian movement4 ,the action upon human nature1 which started on its new course1 was the teaching and example of ,christ4 ,christ was he who opened the age of endless progress4 ,the old world grew from without1 and was outwardly symmetric4 ,the new one grows from within1 and is not symmetric1 nor ever will be2 bearing in its heart the germ of an everlasting1 unresting progress4 ,the old world built its temples1 hewed its statues1 framed its philosophies1 and wrote its glorious epics and dramas1 so that nothing might evermore be added to them4 ,the new world made its art1 its philosophy1 its poetry1 all imperfect1 yet instinct with a living spirit beyond the old4 ,to the ,parthenon not a stone could be added from the hour of its completion4 ,to ,milan and ,cologne altar and chapel1 statue and spire1 will be added through the ages4 ,christ was not merely a moral reformer1 inculcating pure ethics2 not merely a religious reformer1 clearing away old theological errors and teaching higher ideas of ,god4 ,these things ,he was2 but ,he might1 for all we can tell1 have been them both as fully1 and yet have failed to be what ,he has actually been to our race4 ,he might have taught the world better ethics and better theology1 and yet have failed to infuse into it that new tide which has ever since coursed through its arteries and penetrated its minutest veins4 ,what ,christ has really done is beyond the kingdom of the intellect and its theologies2 nay1 even beyond the kingdom of the conscience and its recognition of duty4 ,his work has been in that of the heart4 ,he has transformed the law into the gospel4 ,he has changed the bondage of the alien for the liberty of the sons of ,god4 ,he has glorified virtue into holiness1 religion into piety1 and duty into love4 ,his was a religion1 says ,jeremy ,taylor1 that taught men to be meek and humble1 apt to receive injuries1 but unapt to do any2 a religion that gave countenance to the poor and pitiful1 in a time when riches were adored1 and ambition and pleasure had possessed the heart of all mankind2 a religion that would change the face of things and the hearts of men1 and break vile habits into gentleness and counsel4 ,christianity has that in it1 says ,steele1 in the ,christian ,hero1 which makes men pity1 not scorn the wicked2 and1 by a beautiful kind of ignorance of themselves1 think those wretches their equals4 ,great and multiform1 observes ,lecky1 in his ,history of ,european ,morals1--summing up some of the results of ,christianity1--great and multiform have been the influences of ,christian philanthropy4 ,the high conception that has been formed of the sanctity of human life1 the protection of infancy1 the elevation and final emancipation of the slave classes1 the suppression of barbarous games1 the creation of a vast and multifarious organization of charity1 and the education of the imagination by the ,christian type1 constituted together a movement of philanthropy which has never been paralleled or approached in the pagan world4 ,if there be any good in thee1 says the author of the ,imitation1 believe that there is much more in others1 that so thou mayest preserve humility4 ,it hurteth thee not to submit to all men2 but it hurteth thee most of all to prefer thyself even to one4 ,sir ,henry ,wotton being asked if he thought a ,papist could be saved1 replied1 ,you may be saved without knowing that4 ,be assured1 said ,dean ,young1 there can be but little honesty without thinking as well as possible of others2 and there can be no safety without thinking humbly and distrustfully of ourselves4 ,it is easy1 said ,peterborough1 in ,imaginary ,conversations1 to look down on others2 to look down on ourselves is the difficulty4 ,the character of a wise man1 says ,confucius1 consists in three things3 to do himself what he tells others to do2 to act on no occasion contrary to justice2 and to bear with the weaknesses of those around him4 ,treat inferiors as if you might one day be in the hands of a master4 ,i recollect1 says ,saadi1 the verse which the elephant-driver rehearsed on the banks of the river ,nile3 ',if you are ignorant of the state of the ant under your foot1 know that it resembles your own condition under the foot of the elephant4' ,the stable of ,confucius being burned down1 when he was at court1 on his return he said1 ,has any man been hurt8 ,he did not ask about the horses4 ,of the death of ,sir ,roger de ,coverley1 his butler 7,addison himself7 wrote to ,the ,spectator3 ,i am afraid he caught his death the last county-sessions1 where he would go to see justice done to a poor widow woman1 and her fatherless children1 that had been wronged by a neighboring gentleman2 for you know1 sir1 my good master was always the poor man's friend4 ,fenelon had a habit of bringing into his palace the wretched inhabitants of the country1 whom the war had driven from their homes1 and taking care of them1 and feeding them at his own table4 ,seeing one day that one of these peasants eat nothing1 he asked him the reason of his abstinence4 ,alas6 my lord1 said the poor man1 in making my escape from my cottage1 ,i had not time to bring off my cow1 which was the support of my family4 ,the enemy will drive her away1 and ,i shall never find another so good4 ,fenelon1 availing himself of his privilege of safe-conduct1 immediately set out1 accompanied by a servant1 and drove the cow back himself to the peasant4 ,a literary man1 whose library was destroyed by fire1 has been deservedly admired for saying1 ,i should have profited but little by my books1 if they had not taught me how to bear the loss of them4 ,the remark of ,fenelon1 who lost his in a similar way1 is still more simple and touching4 ,i would much rather they were burnt than the cottage of a poor peasant4 ,lord ,peterborough said of ,fenelon1 ,he was a delicious creature4 ,i was obliged to get away from him1 or he would have made me pious4 ,the influence of such a character brings to mind another passage from ,saadi4 ,one day1 he says1 as ,i was in the bath1 a friend of mine put into my hand a piece of scented clay4 ,i took it1 and said to it1 ',art thou of heaven or earth8 for ,i am charmed with thy delightful scent4' ,it answered1 ',i was a despicable piece of clay2 but ,i was some time in company of the rose3 the sweet quality of my companion was communicated to me2 otherwise ,i should have remained only what ,i appear to be1 a bit of earth4' ,if thou canst not make thyself such an one as thou wouldst1 quoting the ,imitation of ,christ1 how canst thou expect to have another in all things to thy liking8 ,we would willingly have others perfect1 and yet we amend not our own faults4 ,we would have others severely corrected1 and will not be corrected ourselves4 ,the large liberty of others displeaseth us2 and yet we will not have our own desires denied us4 ,we will have others kept under by strict laws2 but in no sort will ourselves be restrained4 ,and thus it appeareth how seldom we weigh our neighbor in the same balance with ourselves4 ,recalling the apologue from ,phaedrus1 paraphrased by ,bulwer3-- ,from our necks1 when life's journey begins1 ,two sacks1 ,jove1 the ,father1 suspends1 ,the one holds our own proper sins1 ,the other the sins of our friends3 ,the first1 ,man immediately throws ,out of sight1 out of mind1 at his back2 ,the last is so under his nose1 ,he sees every grain in the sack4 ,addison1 in one of the papers of ,the ,spectator1 enlarges upon the thought of ,socrates1 that if all the misfortunes of mankind were cast into a public stock1 in order to be equally distributed among the whole species1 those who now think themselves the most unhappy would prefer the share they are already possessed of before that which would fall to them by such a division--by imagining a proclamation made by ,jupiter1 that every mortal should bring in his griefs and calamities1 and throw them in a heap4 ,there was a large plain appointed for this purpose4 ,he took his stand in the centre of it1 and saw the whole human species marching one after another1 and throwing down their several loads1 which immediately grew up into a prodigious mountain1 that seemed to rise above the clouds4 ,he observed one bringing in a bundle very carefully concealed under an old embroidered cloak1 which1 upon his throwing into the heap1 he discovered to be poverty4 ,another1 after a great deal of puffing1 threw down his luggage1 which1 upon examining1 he found to be his wife4 ,he saw multitudes of old women throw down their wrinkles1 and several young ones strip themselves of their tawny skins4 ,there were very great heaps of red noses1 large lips1 and rusty teeth1--in truth1 he was surprised to see the greatest part of the mountain made up of bodily deformities4 ,observing one advancing toward the heap with a larger cargo than ordinary upon his back1 he found upon his near approach that it was only a natural hump1 which he disposed of with great joy of heart among the collection of human miseries4 ,but what most surprised him of all was that there was not a single vice or folly thrown in the whole heap2 at which he was very much astonished1 having concluded with himself that every one would take this opportunity of getting rid of his passions1 prejudices1 and frailties4 ,passions1 prejudices1 and frailties6 ,there is no man so good1 says ,montaigne1 who1 were he to submit all his thoughts and actions to the laws1 would not deserve hanging ten times in his life4 ,talleyrand1 when ,rulhiere said he had been guilty of only one wickedness in his life1 asked1 ,when will it end8 ,we are so far from being good men1 according to the laws of ,god1 that we cannot be so according to our own2 human wisdom never yet arrived at the duty that it had itself prescribed2 and could it arrive there1 it would still prescribe itself others beyond it1 to which it would ever aspire and pretend2 so great an enemy of consistency is our human condition4 ,of prejudice it has been truly said by ,basil ,montagu1 in a note to one of his publications1 that it has the singular ability of accommodating itself to all the possible varieties of the human mind4 ,some passions and vices are but thinly scattered among mankind1 and find only here and there a fitness of reception4 ,but prejudice1 like the spider1 makes everywhere its home4 ,it has neither taste nor choice of place1 and all that it requires is room4 ,there is scarcely a situation1 except fire and water1 in which a spider will not live4 ,so let the mind be as naked as the walls of an empty and forsaken tenement1 gloomy as a dungeon1 or ornamented with the richest abilities of thinking2 let it be hot1 cold1 dark or light1 lonely or inhabited1 still prejudice1 if undisturbed1 will fill it with cobwebs1 and live1 like the spider1 where there seems nothing to live on4 ,if the one prepares her food by poisoning it to her palate and her use1 the other does the same2 and as several of our passions are strongly characterized by the animal world1 prejudice may be denominated the spider of the mind4 ,we are all frail1 but do thou esteem none more frail than thyself4 ,those many that need pity1 says ,jeremy ,taylor1 and those infinities of people that refuse to pity1 are miserable upon a several charge1 but yet they almost make up all mankind4 ,lord1 what is man--what the best of men--but man at the best6 exclaimed the impassioned and pious ,whitefield4 ,then gently scan your brother man1 ,still gentler sister woman2 ,though they may gang a kennin wrang1 ,to step aside is human3 ,one point must still be greatly dark1 ,the moving why they do it3 ,and just as lamely can ye mark1 ,how far perhaps they rue it4 ,who made the heart1 'tis ,he alone ,decidedly can try us1 ,he knows each chord--its various tone1 ,each spring--its various bias3 ,then at the balance let's be mute1 ,we never can adjust it2 ,what's done we partly may compute1 ,but know not what's resisted4 ,it is said that when ,leonardo da ,vinci had finished his celebrated picture of the ,last ,supper1 he introduced a friend to inspect the work privately1 and give his judgment concerning it4 ,exquisite6 exclaimed his friend2 that wine-cup seems to stand out from the table as solid1 glittering silver4 ,thereupon the artist took a brush and blotted out the cup1 saying1 ,i meant that the figure of ,christ should first and mainly attract the observer's eye1 and whatever diverts attention from him must be blotted out4 ,could we poor mortals just as readily blot out of our lives whatever diverts attention from the real good that is in us1 how differently would we appear to others4 ,artists1 says ,hawthorne1 are fond of painting their own portraits2 and in ,florence1 there is a gallery of hundreds of them1 including the most illustrious1 in all of which there are autobiographical characteristics1 so to speak2 traits1 expressions1 loftinesses1 and amenities1 which would have been invisible had they not been painted from within4 ,yet their reality and truth are none the less4 ,a good woman1 who had bred a large family1 and led a long life of devotion and self-sacrifice--worn out by care1 and weary of her burdens--came at length to what was supposed to be her death-bed4 ,a clergyman in the neighborhood thought it to be his duty to call upon her4 ,he asked her in usual language if she had made her peace with her ,maker2 to which she replied that she was not aware that there had been any trouble4 ,the most important thing in life1 said ,pascal1 is the choice of a profession2 and yet this is a thing purely in the disposal of chance4 ,we1 however1 take little or no account of the effects of particular professions or occupations upon the mind and character1 holding all alike responsible for opinions and conduct4 ,it does not occur to us as possible that even suicide and murder may primarily result from vocation4 ,roesch and ,esquirol affirm from observation that indigo-dyers become melancholy2 and those who dye scarlet1 choleric4 ,cottle1 the bookseller1 wrote with a pencil some lines on the wall of the room in ,bristol1 ,newgate1 where poor ,savage died1 which were admired by ,coleridge4 ,these are two of them3-- ,if some virtues in thy breast there be1 ,ask if they sprang from circumstance or thee4 ,so much1 alas1 must be known to judge of a human life4 ,could we only know that we cannot know enough to judge one another1 to say nothing of the indispensable wisdom that surpasses all knowledge4 ,happily1 ,god is ,judge4 ,knowledge1 in the common sense1 as commonly acquired1 what is it8 ,some need much time to know a little2 others know at a glance all that they can4 ,cumberland said ,bubb ,doddington was in nothing more remarkable than in ready perspicuity and discernment of a subject thrown before him on a sudden4 ,take his first thoughts then1 and he would charm you2 give him time to ponder and refine1 you would perceive the spirit of his sentiments and the vigor of his genius evaporate by the process2 for though his first view of the question would be a wide one1 and clear withal1 when he came to exercise the subtlety of his disquisitional powers upon it1 he would so ingeniously dissect and break it into fractions1 that as an object1 when looked upon too intently for a length of time1 grows misty and confused1 so would the question under his discussion when the humor took him to be hypercritical4 ,coleridge said ,horne ,tooke had that clearness which is founded on shallowness4 ,he doubted nothing1 and therefore gave you all that he himself knew1 or meant1 with great completeness4 ,thucydides said of ,themistocles that he had the best judgment in actual circumstances1 and he formed his judgment with the least deliberation4 ,quick or deliberate1 shallow or profound1 all are apt to assume to know all1 when they may be little wiser1 in truth1 than ,a,esop's two travelers who had visited ,arabia1 and were conversing together about the chameleon4 ,a very singular animal1 said one1 ,i never saw one at all like it in my life4 ,it has the head of a fish1 its body is as thin as that of a lizard1 its pace is slow1 its color blue4 ,stop there1 said the other1 you are quite mistaken1 the animal is green2 ,i saw it with my two eyes4 ,i saw it as well as you1 cried the first1 and ,i am certain that it is blue4 ,i am positive that it is green4 ,and ,i that it is blue4 ,the travelers were getting very angry with each other1 and were about to settle the disputed point by blows1 when happily a third person arrived4 ,well1 gentlemen1 what is the matter here8 ,calm yourselves1 ,i pray you4 ,will you be the judge of our quarrel8 ,yes2 what is it8 ,this person maintains that the chameleon is green1 while ,i say that it is blue4 ,my dear sirs1 you are both in the wrong2 the animal is neither one nor the other--it is black4 ,black6 you must be jesting6 ,not at all1 ,i assure you2 ,i have one with me in a box1 and you shall judge for yourselves4 ,the box was produced and opened1 when1 to the surprise of all three1 the animal was as yellow as gold6 ,in one of the ,hindoo books we are told that in a certain country there existed a village of the blind men4 ,these men had heard that there was an amazing animal called the elephant1 but they knew not how to form an idea of his shape4 ,one day an elephant happened to pass through the place2 the villagers crowded to the spot where this animal was standing4 ,one of them got hold of his trunk1 another seized his ear1 another his tail1 another one of his legs1 etc4 ,after thus trying to gratify their curiosity1 they returned into the village1 and1 sitting down together1 they began to give their ideas of what the elephant was like2 the man who had seized his trunk said he thought the elephant was like the body of the plantain-tree2 the man who had felt his ear said he thought he was like the fan with which the ,hindoos clean the rice2 the man who had felt his tail said he thought he must be like a snake1 and the man who had seized his leg thought he must be like a pillar4 ,an old blind man of some judgment was present1 who was greatly perplexed how to reconcile these jarring notions respecting the form of the elephant1 but he at length said1 ,you have all been to examine this animal1 it is true1 and what you report cannot be false4 ,i suppose1 therefore1 that that which was like the plantain-tree must be his trunk2 that which was like a fan must be his ear2 that which was like a snake must be his tail1 and that which was like a pillar must be his body4 ,once upon a time a pastor of a village church adopted a plan to interest the members of his flock in the study of the ,bible4 ,it was this3 ,at the ,wednesday evening meeting he would announce the topic to be discussed on the ensuing week1 thus giving a week for preparation4 ,one evening the subject was ,st4 ,paul4 ,after the preliminary devotional exercises1 the pastor called upon one of the deacons to 'speak to the question4' ,he immediately arose1 and began to describe the personal appearance of the great apostle to the ,gentiles4 ,he said ,st4 ,paul was a tall1 rather spare man1 with black hair and eyes1 dark complexion1 bilious temperament1 etc4 ,his picture of ,paul was a faithful portrait of himself4 ,he sat down1 and another prominent member arose and said1 ',i think the brother preceding me has read the ,scriptures to little purpose if his description of ,st4 ,paul is a sample of his ,bible knowledge4 ,st4 ,paul was1 as ,i understand it1 a rather short1 thick-set man1 with sandy hair1 gray eyes1 florid complexion1 and a nervous1 sanguine temperament1' giving1 like his predecessor1 an accurate picture of himself4 ,he was followed by another who had a keen sense of the ludicrous1 and who was withal an inveterate stammerer4 ,he said1 ',my bro-bro-brethren1 ,i have never fo-found in my ,bi-ble much about the p-per-personal ap-pe-pearance of ,st4 ,p-p-paul4 ,but one thing is clearly established1 and tha-that is1 ,st4 ,p-p-paul had an imp-p-pediment in his speech4' ,having lived long1 said ,dr4 ,franklin1 ,i have experienced many instances of being obliged1 by better information1 or fuller consideration1 to change opinions even on important subjects1 which ,i once thought right1 but ,i found to be otherwise4 ,it is1 therefore1 that the older ,i grow1 the more apt ,i am to doubt my own judgment1 and to pay more respect to the judgment of others4 ,most men1 indeed1 as well as most sects in religion1 think themselves in possession of all truth1 and that whenever others differ from them1 it is so far error4 ,steele1 a ,protestant1 in a dedication tells the pope that 'the only difference between our two churches1 in their opinions of the certainty of their doctrines is1 the ,romish ,church is infallible1 and the ,church of ,england never in the wrong4' ,but1 though many private persons think almost as highly of their own infallibility as that of their sect1 few express it so naturally as a certain ,french lady who1 in a little dispute with her sister1 said1 ',i don't know how it happens1 sister1 but ,i meet with nobody but myself that is always in the right4' ,i could never1 says ,sir ,thomas ,browne1 divide myself from any man upon the difference of an opinion1 or be angry with his judgment for not agreeing with me in that from which1 perhaps1 within a few days1 ,i should dissent myself4 ,whoever shall call to memory how many and many times he has been mistaken in his own judgment1 says the great ,french essayist1 is he not a great fool if he does not ever after distrust it8 ,beware1 said ,john ,wesley1 of forming a hasty judgment4 ,there are secrets which few but ,god are acquainted with4 ,some years since ,i told a gentleman1 ',sir1 ,i am afraid you are covetous4' ,he asked me1 ',what is the reason of your fears8' ,i answered1 ',a year ago1 when ,i made a collection for the expense of repairing the ,foundry1 you subscribed five guineas4 ,at the subscription made this year you subscribed only half a guinea4' ,he made no reply2 but after a time asked1 ',pray1 sir1 answer me a question4 ,why do you live upon potatoes8' 7,i did so between three and four years47 ,i replied1 ',it has much conduced to my health4' ,he answered1 ',i believe it has4 ,but did you not do it likewise to save money8' ,i said1 ',i did1 for what ,i save from my own meat will feed another that else would have none4' ',but1 sir1' said he1 'if this be your motive1 you may save much more4 ,i know a man that goes to the market at the beginning of each week4 ,there he buys a pennyworth of parsnips1 which he boils in a large quantity of water4 ,the parsnips serve him for food1 and the water for drink1 the ensuing week1 so his meat and drink together cost him only a penny a week4' ,this he constantly did1 though he had then two hundred pounds a year1 to pay the debts which he had contracted before he knew ,god6 ,and this was he ,i had set down for a covetous man4 ,we shall have two wonders in heaven1 said the wise and gentle ,tillotson2 the one1 how many come to be absent whom we expected to find there2 the other1 how many are there whom we had no hope of meeting4 ,there is significance in the epitaph by ,steele1 in ,the ,spectator3 ,here lieth ,r4 ,c41 in expectation of the last day4 ,what sort of a man he was that day will discover4 ,it would seem that1 as things are1 there is nothing so natural as intolerance2 and it is not to be wondered at that the language to express toleration should be of modern invention4 ,coleridge was of opinion that toleration was impossible till indifference made it worthless4 ,dr4 ,king had a different view2 he said1 ,the opinion of any one in this world1 except the wise and good1 who do not aspire to be even tolerant1--who are too modest to be tolerant1 since toleration implies superiority1--is of little consequence4 ,hunt said of ,lamb1 that he had felt1 thought1 and suffered so much1 that he literally had intolerance for nothing4 ,palgrave1 in his ,travels through ,central and ,eastern ,arabia1 relates of ,abd-el-,lateef1 a ,wahabee1 that one day seeing a corpulent ,hindoo1 he exclaimed1 ,what a log for hell-fire6 ,this follower of ,mahomet had not only the intolerance1 but the conceit of super-excellence that the poor sectarian followers of ,christ too often have4 ,when he was preaching one day to the people of ,riad1 he recounted the tradition according to which ,mahomet declared that his followers should divide into seventy-three sects1 and that seventy-two were destined to hell-fire1 and only one to paradise4 ,and what1 ,o messenger of ,god1 are the signs of that happy sect to which is insured the exclusive possession of paradise8 ,whereto ,mahomet had replied1 ,it is those who shall be in all comformable to myself and my companions4 ,and that1 added ,abd-el-,lateef1 lowering his voice to the deep tone of conviction1 that1 by the mercy of ,god1 are we1 the people of ,riad4 ,upon the subject of toleration and charity1 read a part of the remarkable dialogue from ,arthur ,helps' ,friends in ,council3-- ,,dunsford4--,it is hard to be tolerant of intolerant people2 to see how natural their intolerance is1 and in fact thoroughly to comprehend it and feel for it4 ,this is the last stage of tolerance1 which few men1 ,i suppose1 in this world attain4 ,,midhurst4--,tolerance appears to me an unworked mine4444 ,,milverton4--,there is one great difficulty to be surmounted2 and that is1 how to make hard1 clear1 righteous men1 who have not sinned much1 have not suffered much1 are not afflicted by strong passions1 who have not many ties in the world1 and who have been easily prosperous1--how to make such men tolerant4 ,think of this for a moment4 ,for a man who has been rigidly good to be supremely tolerant would require an amount of insight which seems to belong only to the greatest genius4 ,i have often fancied that the main scheme of the world is to create tenderness in man2 and ,i have a notion that the outer world would change if man were to acquire more of this tenderness4 ,you see at present he is obliged to be kept down by urgent wants of all kinds1 or he would otherwise have more time and thought to devote to cruelty and discord4 ,if he could live in a better world1 ,i mean in a world where nature was more propitious1 ,i believe he would have such a world4 ,and in some mysterious way1 ,i suspect that nature is constrained to adapt herself to the main impress of the character of the average beings in the world4 ,,ellesmere4--,these are very extraordinary thoughts4 ,,dunsford4--,they are not far from ,christianity4 ,,milverton4--,you must admit1 ,ellesmere1 that ,christianity has never been tried4 ,i do not ask you to canvass doctrinal and controversial matters4 ,but take the leading precepts2 read the ,sermon on the ,mount1 and see if it is the least like the doctrines of modern life4 ,,dunsford4--,i cannot help thinking1 when you are all talking of tolerance1 why you do not use the better word1 of which we hear something in ,scripture1--charity4 ,,milverton4--,if ,i were a clergyman1 there is much that ,i should dislike to have to say 7being a man of very dubious mind72 there is much also that ,i should dislike to have to read2 but ,i should feel that it was a great day for me when ,i had to read out that short but most abounding chapter from ,st4 ,paul on charity4 ,the more you study that chapter1 the more profound you find it4 ,the way that the apostle begins is most remarkable2 and ,i doubt if it has been often duly considered4 ,we think much of knowledge in our own times2 but consider what the early ,christian must have thought of one who possessed the gift of tongues or the gift of prophecy4 ,think also what the early ,christian must have thought of the man who possessed all faith4 ,then listen to ,st4 ,paul's summing up of these great gifts in comparison with charity4 ,dunsford1 will you give us the words8 ,you remember them1 ,i dare say4 ,,dunsford4--7#a ,cor4 ch4 xiii47 ,though ,i speak with the tongues of men and of angels1 and have not charity1 ,i am become as sounding brass1 or a tinkling cymbal4 ,and though ,i have the gift of prophecy1 and understand all mysteries1 and all knowledge2 and though ,i have all faith1 so that ,i could remove mountains1 and have not charity1 ,i am nothing4 ,,milverton4--,you will let me proceed1 ,i know1 if it is only to hear more from ,dunsford of that chapter4 ,i have said that the early ,christian would have thought much of the man who possessed the gift of tongues1 of prophecy1 of faith4 ,but how he must have venerated the rich man who entered into his little community1 and gave up all his goods to the poor6 ,again1 how the early ,christian must have regarded with longing admiration the first martyrs for his creed6 ,then hear what ,st4 ,paul says of this outward charity1 and of this martyrdom1 when compared with this infinitely more difficult charity of the soul and martyrdom of the temper4 ,dunsford will proceed with the chapter4 ,,dunsford4--,and though ,i bestow all my goods to feed the poor1 and though ,i give my body to be burned1 and have not charity1 it profiteth me nothing4 ,,milverton4--,pray go on1 ,dunsford4 ,,dunsford4--,charity suffereth long1 and is kind2 charity envieth not2 charity vaunteth not itself1 is not puffed up1 ,doth not behave itself unseemly1 seeketh not her own1 is not easily provoked1 thinketh no evil2 ,rejoiceth not in iniquity1 but rejoiceth in the truth2 ,beareth all things1 believeth all things1 hopeth all things1 endureth all things4 ,charity never faileth3 but whether there be prophecies1 they shall fail2 whether there be tongues1 they shall cease2 whether there be knowledge1 it shall vanish away4 ,,milverton4--,that is surely one of the most beautiful things that has ever been written by man4 ,it does not do to talk much after it4 ,channing closes his ,essay upon the ,means of ,promoting ,christianity with this remarkable passage3 ,if1 in this age of societies1 we should think it wise to recommend another institution for the propagation of ,christianity1 it would be one the members of which should be pledged to assist and animate one another in living according to the ,sermon on the ,mount4 ,how far such a measure would be effectual we venture not to predict2 but of one thing we are sure1 that1 should it prosper1 it would do more for spreading the gospel than all other associations which are now receiving the patronage of the ,christian world4 ,at the ,white ,house1 on an occasion ,i shall never forget1 said a visitor1 the conversation turned upon religious subjects1 and ,lincoln made this impressive remark3 ,i have never united myself to any church1 because ,i have found difficulty in giving my assent1 without mental reservation1 to the long1 complicated statements of ,christian doctrine which characterize their articles of belief and confessions of faith4 ,when any church will inscribe over its altar1 as its sole qualification for membership1 he continued1 the ,saviour's condensed statement of the substance of both law and gospel1 ,thou shalt love the ,lord thy ,god with all thy heart1 and with all thy soul1 and with all thy mind1 and thy neighbor as thyself1 that church will ,i join with all my heart and all my soul4 ,you may remember1 says ,farrar1 in his ,silence and ,voices of ,god1 how1 in the old legend1 ,st4 ,brendan1 in his northward voyage1 saw a man sitting upon an iceberg1 and with horror recognized him as the traitor ,judas ,iscariot2 and the traitor told him how1 at ,christmas time1 amid the drench of the burning lake1 an angel had touched his arm1 and bidden him for one hour to cool his agony on an iceberg in the ,arctic sea2 and when he asked the cause of this mercy1 bade him recognize in him a leper to whom in ,joppa streets he had given a cloak to shelter him from the wind2 and how for that one kind deed this respite was allotted him4 ,let us reject the ghastly side of the legend1 and accept its truth4 ,yes1 charity1--love to ,god as shown in love to man--is better than all burnt-offering and sacrifice4 ,in thy face1 said the dying ,bunsen to the wife of his heart1 bending over him1 in thy face have ,i seen the ,eternal4 ,when ,abraham1 according to another old legend1 sat at his tent door1 as was his custom1 waiting to entertain strangers1 he espied coming toward him an old man1 stooping and leaning on his staff1 weary with age and travail1 who was a hundred years of age4 ,he received him kindly1 washed his feet1 provided supper1 caused him to sit down2 but observing that the old man eat1 and prayed not1 nor begged for blessing on his meat1 he asked him why he did not worship the ,god of heaven4 ,the old man told him that he worshiped the fire only1 and acknowledged no other ,god4 ,at which answer ,abraham grew so zealously angry that he thrust the old man out of his tent1 and exposed him to all the evils of the night and an unguarded condition4 ,when the old man was gone1 ,god called to ,abraham1 and asked him where the stranger was4 ,he replied1 ,i thrust him away because he did not worship ,thee4 ,god answered him1 ,i have suffered him these hundred years1 although he dishonored me2 and couldst not thou endure him one night8 ,ah6 poor things that we are4 ,we are all sore with many bruises and wounds4 ,the marvel is that our own tenderness does not make us tender to all others4 ,he shall be immortal who liveth till he be stoned by one without fault4 ,i saw in ,rome1 once1 ,anstiss1 said ,hope1 an old coin1--a silver denarius1--all coated and crusted with green and purple rust4 ,i called it rust2 but ,aleck told me it was copper2 the alloy thrown out from the silver1 until there was none left4 ,within1 it was all pure4 ,it takes ages to do it2 but it does get done4 ,souls are like that1 ,anstiss4 ,something moves in them1 slowly1 till the debasement is all thrown out4 ,sometime1 the very varnish shall be taken off4 ,day by day ,i think ,i read more plain1 ,this crowning truth1 that1 spite of sin and pain1 ,no life that ,god has given is lived in vain2 ,but each poor1 weak1 and sin-polluted soul ,shall struggle free at last1 and reach its goal1-- ,a perfect part of ,god's great perfect whole4 ,,index ,abernethy1 a timid lecturer1 #bee4 ,abd-el-,lateef1 anecdote of1 #chc4 ,addison1 on living and dressing according to the rules of common sense1 #fd2 his care in composition1 #abg2 reputed portrait of1 #ahi2 his belief in ghosts1 #bdc2 his marriage1 #bdf2 enlarges on a thought of ,socrates1 #cgd4 ,advice1 on asking and giving1 #ajd4 ,a,eschines1 of ,pericles and ,aspasia1 #da4 ,a,esop1 fable of the travelers and the chameleon1 #cgi4 ,agassiz1 had no time to make money1 #aci4 ,aikenhead1 hanged for free religious opinions1 #cfb4 ,alfieri1 how he composed1 #abf4 ,alfred1 ,king of ,denmark1 story of1 #afe4 ,alger1 public opinion the atmosphere of society1 #g2 most men live blindly1 #bc2 ruins1 and what they symbolize1 #baf2 on the blindness or ,homer1 ,milton1 ,galileo1 and ,haendel1 #bbh2 on the happiness of solitude1 #cdb2 his account of the hermit of ,grub ,street1 #cdc2 the forest of statues on the roof of ,milan cathedral1 #ced2 the scholar's pantheon at the top of his mind1 #ced4 ,amyot1 his poverty and success1 #abe4 ,anaxagoras1 a request made by1 #baf2 whom he believed to be most happy1 #cdf4 ,andersen1 advice to1 #adh4 ,anecdote of a singer and his wife in ,leipsic1 #caf2 of a hypochondriacal comedian1 #cbc4 ,angelo1 ,michel1 confesses his ignorance1 #bi2 on reforming mankind1 #ic2 anecdote of1 #afh2 and ,raphael1 #aga2 a gem once worn on the finger of1 #agh2 and the ,reformation1 #beb2 the statues of1 #cjc2 and ,bramante1 #cjc2 of ,donatello's statue1 #cbe2 a saying of his commending moderation1 #cdh4 ,annals of the ,parish1 why rejected1 #adh4 ,anson1 ,lord1 different opinions of1 #ahi4 ,appleseed1 ,johnny1 character and career of1 #aab4 ,apelles and ,protogenes1 #aga4 ,apuleius1 a curious fact relating to1 #bdi4 ,arago1 his claim for ancient ,egypt1 #aha4 ,arbuthnot1 ,pope1 and ,gay1 fate of a joint play of1 #bee4 ,archimedes1 the tomb of1 #bae4 ,arctic morality1 #ajb4 ,arctic region1 small proportion of fuel used in the1 #bda2 effect of frost in the1 #cja4 ,arethusa1 ,fountain of1 #cjb4 ,aristotle1 on proverbs1 #aei2 logic known before1 #ahb2 fate of1 #bbc4 ,arnold1 ,matthew1 moral rules for the sage only1 #cfi4 ,artist1 an1 in serpents1 #cjj4 ,aspasia and ,pericles1 #da4 ,atterbury1 ,bishop1 what he said of ,newton1 #ajg4 ,augereau1 at the coronation of ,napoleon1 #aaj4 ,augustine1 ,st41 and the idea of ,fourierism1 #ahb2 subtleties on the question1 ,what then is time8 #cci2 on a happy life1 #cdj2 a passage from his ,confessions1 #ced4 ,auld ,lang ,syne1 #bjd4 ,auld ,robin ,gray1 its authorship a secret for fifty years1 #bed4 ,aurelius1 ,marcus1 tolerant and good to all but ,christians1 #cc2 his idea of free government1 #ahe2 his doubtful wife and bad son1 #bdg2 what he learnt from his tutor1 #cdg2 a lofty thought of1 on the sacredness of life1 #cee4 ,babinet1 his opinion of a submarine telegraph1 #bfg4 ,bacon1 on nature reviving--,a,esop's damsel1 #dh2 of policy and craft1 #fe4 ,bailly1 story told of1 #afg4 ,balzac1 his care in composition1 #abh4 ,barbauld1 ,mrs41 passage from1 #bif2 lines by1 #cef4 ,barere1 views and conduct early and late in life1 #ajd4 ,barry1 ,michael ,j41 some lines by1 #abj4 ,barton1 ,bernard1 his surprise at a funeral1 #aef4 ,bathurst1 ,lord1 and the ,essay on ,man1 #bdi4 ,baxter1 a believer in witchcraft1 #bej2 his views at the end of life1 #bfh2 the result1 after a trial of worldly things1 #cbf4 ,bayle1 on ,pericles and ,aspasia1 #da2 on the spirit of party1 #fa2 on ,machiavelli's ,prince1 #bcc2 the purity of1 #bde4 ,beattie1 ,dr41 of a witty parson1 #dc4 ,beaumarchais1 adaptations of ,tarare1 #bba4 ,becket1 ,thomas a1 story of the mother of1 #bab4 ,beckford1 and his romance1 ,vathek1 #beb4 ,bentivoglio1 misfortunes of1 #bfb4 ,beranger1 refuses a legacy1 #ada4 ,berkeley1 ,bishop1 on being master of one's time1 #acf4 ,bernis1 ,cardinal1 and ,madame de ,pompadour1 #bfh4 ,betterton1 a borrower from ,steele1 #afi4 ,beyle1 ,henri1 a laborious writer1 #abe4 ,beza1 one of his invectives1 #de2 his coarse1 amorous poems1 #bfh4 ,bible1 the1 in literature1 #afa2 a reference to1 #bda4 ,billingsgate1 fish-woman of1 #bh4 ,blackwood's ,magazine on diversity1 #e2 on the inevitable and irremediable1 #ia2 on public opinion1 #cfa2 on the adoring principle in human nature1 #cfh4 ,blake1 ,william1 artist1 genius1 mystic1 madman1 #bha4 ,blessington1 ,lady1 relating to ,moore1 #adj4 ,boileau1 an unwearied corrector1 #abf2 relating to ,moliere1 #adi4 ,bolingbroke to ,swift1 #bad4 ,books never published1 #aid4 ,boots with pointed toes believed to be the cause of the plague1 #bjc4 ,borghese1 ,paulo1 poverty of1 #bfa4 ,borghese1 ,princess1 anecdote of1 #caa4 ,bossuet1 confesses his insignificance1 #cj2 appearance of his manuscript1 #abi4 ,boswell1 and intellectual chemistry1 #db2 on being reckoned wise1 #afh2 the bulwark of ,johnson's fame1 #aij2 ,johnson's pretended contempt of1 #bdc4 ,boyle1 effect of falling water upon1 #bdd4 ,brackenridge1 distrust of moderation natural1 #bif4 ,brahe1 ,tycho1 and the idiot ,lep1 #bbh2 his terror of a hare or fox1 #bdd4 ,brain1 insensibility of the1 #bdb4 ,bramah1 origin of the idea of his lock1 #aha4 ,brewster1 ,sir ,david1 and the story of the falling apple1 #age2 on ,galileo's abjuration1 #bbc4 ,bronte1 ,charlotte1 a painstaking writer1 #abf2 life and genius of1 #bgf1 #bgg1 #bgh4 ,brougham1 how he composed one of his speeches1 #acb2 a curious fact of1 #bed4 ,brown1 ,john1 utterances and incidents of1 #aac2 and the old engine-house1 #bfd2 and the governor of ,virginia1 #bfd2 a daughter of1 #bfe2 one of his trusted men1 #bfe4 ,brown1 ,tom1 a remark of1 #aba4 ,browne1 ,sir ,thomas1 on self-love1 #ad2 confesses his ignorance1 #ca2 on a neglect of the great1 #aea2 on maxims that will never be out of date1 #aei2 his faith in witchcraft1 #bbd2 a lofty thought of1 on the immortality of life1 #cee2 on usurping the gates of heaven1 #cff2 his distrust of his own judgment1 #cha4 ,bruce1 and the story of the spider1 #afe2 death of1 #bfj4 ,brunel1 a remark of1 relating to ,pompey's ,pillar1 #aha4 ,brunelleschi1 and the story of the egg1 #aff4 ,buffon1 his manner of composing1 #abh4 ,buelow1 effects of his stopping practice1 #acj4 ,bulwer1 on truth1 #d2 anecdote of ,kean1 #ac2 relating to ,calvin and ,torquemada1 #df2 his description of a superior man1 #fh2 on the ,english language1 #aeh2 on the language of ,spain1 #aeh2 on ,la ,rochefoucauld1 #bcd2 of ,descartes1 #bch2 looking from the window of his club1 #cch2 paraphrase from ,phaedrus1 #cgd4 ,bunsen1 dying exclamation of1 #chg4 ,bunyan1 wrote ,pilgrim's ,progress in prison1 #ace4 ,burke1 no great fire without great heat1 #df2 a remark of on idleness1 #abb2 how he worried his printer1 #acb2 at ,beaconsfield1 #aed2 his tribute to ,john ,howard1 #bca2 his great care as a writer1 #bdi2 his style in youth and old age1 #bed4 ,burnet1 ,bishop1 his estimate of ,newton1 #ajg2 on ,lord ,rochester1 #bcf4 ,burns1 characterizes woman1 #c2 remarks of and by1 #abc2 his poverty and pride1 #acg2 advised to imitate ,mrs4 ,john ,hunter1 #ade2 confidence in his own powers1 #aej2 tribute of ,hawthorne to1 #aec2 the ,scotsman's religion1 #agd2 a complaint of himself1 #bdd2 pronounced incapable of music1 #bfc2 on sensibility1 #cad2 his constitutional melancholy1 #cae2 lines by1 #cdd2 his gospel of charity1 #cgf4 ,burton1 naught so sweet as melancholy1 naught so damned as melancholy1 #cad2 on content and true happiness1 #cbe4 ,butler1 misery of1 #cae4 ,byron1 some lines by1 #aej2 criticises mythology1 #ahg2 a peculiarity of1 #bdd4 ,caesar1 ,augustus1 his fear of thunder1 #bdd4 ,caesar1 ,julius1 the corpse of1 #bbb2 ambition of1 criticised by ,pascal1 #cec4 ,cagliostro1 ,lavater duped by1 #beh4 ,calamities sometimes blessings1 #bbf4 ,caligula and his horse1 #ii4 ,caliph1 memorial of an illustrious1 #ccc4 ,callcott1 his picture of ,milton and his daughter1 #age4 ,calvin1 occasional violence of1 #de4 ,camoens1 poverty of1 #acd1 #bfa4 ,campbell1 his difficulty in finding a bookseller1 #acc2 ,scott and ,hohenlinden1 #aej2 and ,prof4 ,wilson1 #bfh4 ,candide's supper at ,venice with the six kings1 #ccc4 ,canova exhibiting his paintings1 #bfa4 ,canute1 the story of1 #aff4 ,captain of ,virginia militia1 exclamation of1 #aai4 ,carlyle1 legend of ,moses and the ,dead ,sea people1 #di2 on the effects of custom1 #fd2 fastidiousness as a writer1 #acj2 his opinion of a hero1 #bcb2 compares men to sheep1 #bie4 ,cashmere shawls1 #ahj4 ,castelar1 a republican's opinion of ,rome1 #cjg2 on the unhappiness of life1 #ccg2 pleads for universal toleration1 #cfa4 ,cato1 how he was estimated by contemporaries1 #add2 learned ,greek after he was seventy1 #bfg4 ,cecil1 sorrowed in the bright lustre of a court1 #ccd4 ,cervantes1 poverty of1 #acd2 planned and commenced ,don ,quixote in prison1 #ace2 a curious fact of1 #aia2 his wretchedness and melancholy1 #cae4 ,chalmers1 as to certain of his compositions1 #bed2 and the views of ,malthus1 #bfc4 ,change1 anecdotes and facts illustrating1 #i1 #aj1 #aa4 ,channing1 on establishing a new society1 #chf4 ,chapman1 ,jonathan1 known as ,johnny ,appleseed1 #aab4 ,charlemagne1 a story of the daughter of1 #afe4 ,charles ,i41 a story told of1 #afg4 ,charles ,,ii41 his criticism of ,sir ,matthew ,hale1 #c2 touching for the evil1 #bbd2 and ,cromwell1 #cjd2 and ,wycherley1 #cjd2 the name given him by one who knew him1 #cjd2 manner of his death1 #cjd2 character of1 drawn by ,macaulay1 #cjf4 ,charles ,,xii41 of ,sweden1 anecdote of1 #afg4 ,charity1 ,christian1 a story illustrating1 #ceg4 ,chaulnes1 ,duke de1 and ,johnson1 #cgj4 ,chaumette1 devoted to an aviary1 #ii4 ,cheops1 ring of1 #agh4 ,chesterfield1 a remark on1 #aij2 speeches of1 written by ,johnson1 #bdh4 ,chillingworth1 at last confident of nothing1 #beh4 ,china1 scarcity of labor in1 #bdj4 ,chinese rebuke of ,christians1 #aja4 ,chrysippus1 of misers1 #gb4 ,cicero1 of the man and his eggs1 #f2 his experience at a watering-place1 #af2 how laboriously he prepared his speeches1 #aca2 the diminutive copy of the ,iliad he saw1 #agh2 on universal brotherhood1 #ahe2 hunting the tomb of ,archimedes1 #bae2 timidity of1 #bfb4 ,clairvoyance1 very old1 #ahc4 ,coal1 a man executed for burning it1 #bjb4 ,cobbe1 ,frances ,power1 on the ,christian movement1 #cgj4 ,cobbett1 revisits the scenes of his boyhood1 #bbj4 ,cockburn1 ,lord1 anecdote of ,dr4 ,henry1 #hj4 ,coleridge1 one just flogging he received1 #ba2 horrified by the exclamation of a boy1 #bb2 some devil and some god in man1 #db2 anecdote of a dignified man1 #fi2 on doing good1 #ic2 of traders in philanthropy1 #ig2 project of pantisocracy1 #ajb2 fears he has caught the itch1 #ajc2 gained little by his writings1 #acc2 what he thought a sufficient income1 #ach2 of ,goethe1 #adg2 intellect of1 #aea2 comparison of ,shakespeare with ,milton1 #aeb2 on ,shakespeare and ,homer1 #aeb2 at ,york minster1 #aif2 a remark of1 in one of his lectures1 #bjj2 and ,john ,chester1 #baa2 curious facts relating to1 #bej2 and the ,house that ,jack built1 #bfh2 on certain smells1 #cjb2 his summing up of life1 #ccf2 remark on ,horne ,tooke1 #cgh2 remark on toleration1 #chc4 ,columbus1 and the egg1 #aff2 fact relating to1 #bei4 ,commodus1 tolerant to ,christians1 #bdg4 ,common sense defined1 #g4 ,communist1 a1 defined1 #aje4 ,conciergerie1 flirting and love-making in the1 #ce4 ,confucius1 describes the conduct of the superior man1 #bc2 his joy in frugality1 #acf2 and the ,golden ,rule1 #ahe2 anecdote of1 #cgc4 ,congreve1 what the one wise man knew1 #cb4 ,conscience1 #bb4 ,corey1 ,giles1 pressed to death1 #fj4 ,corneille1 his poverty1 #acd2 what ,napoleon said of him1 #aec2 tiresome in conversation1 #bfj4 ,cornwall1 ,barry1 his fear of the sea1 #bea4 ,correggio1 no portrait of1 #bfb4 ,corwin1 ,thomas1 anecdote of1 #afh4 ,cottle1 ,joseph1 relating to ,coleridge1 #bb2 of ,coleridge at ,york minster1 #aif2 lines by1 admired by ,coleridge1 #cgh4 ,couthon1 devoted to a spaniel1 #ii4 ,cowley1 a curious fact of1 #bde4 ,cowper1 his poems and their publisher1 #aib2 his mental malady1 #bbf2 the ballad of ,john ,gilpin1 #bbg2 the poor school-master1 ,teedon1 #bbh2 his attempt at suicide1 #bdf2 his giggling with ,thurlow1 #bdf2 the sanest of ,english poets1 #bed2 fancied himself hated by his ,creator1 #bei2 a melancholy confession of1 #cag4 ,crabbe1 wrote and burned three novels1 #bei4 ,credulity1 #bj1 #bbd4 ,creed1 in the biliary duct1 #h2 referred to in the rebuke of a clergyman1 #bj4 ,crichton1 curious achievement of1 #bfd4 ,cromwell1 his distrust of popular applause1 #bih2 and ,charles ,,ii41 #cjd2 and ,milton1 #cjd2 how estimated when flattery was mute1 #cjd2 manner of his death1 #cjd4 ,crowne1 ,john1 reading by lightning1 #df4 ,cumberland1 and ,sheridan1 #i2 describes ,soame ,jenyns1 #bcf2 ,goldsmith and his comedy1 #bgj2 the dinner at the ,shakespeare tavern1 #bga2 predicament of an artist in serpents1 #cjj2 a reflection on old age1 #ccb2 on a man gifted with worldly qualities1 #cej2 remark on ,bubb ,doddington1 #cgh4 ,curing public evils1 #be4 ,curiosity1 #ag1 #cb4 ,curran1 contest with the fish-woman1 #bh2 remark to ,phillips about his speeches1 #bdi2 melancholy nature of1 #cad4 ,curtis1 ,george ,william1 castles in ,spain1 #cbg4 ,cushman1 ,charlotte1 anecdote related by1 #ce4 ,custom1 doth make cowards of us all1 #fd4 ,daguerre1 his discovery anticipated1 #aha4 ,damascus blades of the ,crusades1 #ahj4 ,dante1 a story told of1 #agj2 the prodigal and the avaricious together1 #cjb4 ,d',arblay1 ,madame1 and ,mrs4 ,barbauld's stanza on ,life1 #cef4 ,darwin1 cattle in ,east ,falkland ,island1 #aj2 earthquake at ,talcahuano1 #ag2 a curious fox on the island of ,san ,pedro1 #ah2 conduct of the ,fuegians1 #bg2 petrified trees on the ,andes1 #ajh2 conduct of the ,new ,zealand chief1 #baa2 the three years' drought in ,buenos ,ayres1 #bbb2 sound and silence in the forest of ,brazil1 #cja4 ,d',alembert1 declines the favors of royalty1 #ada4 ,de ,coverley1 ,sir ,roger1 cause of the death of1 #cgc4 ,de ,foe1 rules from the ,complete ,english ,tradesman1 #hf4 ,de l',isle and the ,marseillaise1 #bje1 #bdh4 ,della ,valle1 conduct of the women at ,goa1 #cd2 his own strange conduct1 #ce4 ,demetrius1 and his father1 #aff2 a story told of1 #afg4 ,democritus1 thought to be a madman1 #add4 ,demosthenes1 gloried in the smell of the lamp1 #aca2 timidity of1 #bfb4 ,denham1 curious facts relating to1 #bce2 anecdote of1 #bce4 ,de ,quincey1 no thought without blemish1 #ij2 his estimate of ,goethe1 #adf2 of ,milton1 #aeb4 ,descartes1 modesty of1 #bch4 ,de ,retz1 statement of1 #bcd4 ,desert1 painful silence of the1 #cja4 ,de ,stael1 ,madame1 criticism of ,godwin1 #ih2 and ,madame ,recamier1 #agb2 ,talleyrand's reply to1 #ahg2 ,napoleon's hatred of1 #bec2 mourns the solitude of life1 #cce4 ,de ,tocqueville1 character of the ,french1 #dj2 remark of an old lady to1 #ge2 story told to by ,rulhiere1 #gg2 on old age1 #ccc2 some wise observations on life1 #cda4 ,devil1 the ,reformation and the1 #bjd2 the priest and the1 #bjd4 ,dickens1 his care in composition1 #abh4 ,digby1 an illustration from1 #aa4 ,dignity1 assumed1 described1 and satirized1 #fg1 #fh1 #fi1 #gj4 ,diminutive writing and printing1 #agh4 ,diogenes1 banished for counterfeiting1 #bfj4 ,dionysius1 story of1 #aff4 ,disraeli1 ,isaac1 his sketch of ,audley1 #gc2 anecdote of1 #ach2 on proverbs1 #aei2 on men of genius1 #bcb4 ,disraeli1 ,benjamin1 on the limits of human reason1 #fb4 ,diversity1 #d1 #e4 ,doddington1 ,bubb1 characterized by ,cumberland1 #cgh4 ,doing good1 ,lamb on1 #hi2 difficulty of1 #ic2 remark of ,coleridge1 #ic2 passages from ,thoreau1 #ic4 ,domitian1 amused himself catching flies1 #bfc4 ,drake1 and the origin of the ,culprit ,fay1 #aic4 ,drummond1 the sonorous laugher1 #bga4 ,dryden1 criticises the judges of his day1 #c2 anecdote relating to1 #aed2 a curious fact of1 #bee4 ,duchatel1 his poverty and renown1 #abe4 ,dunbar1 neglect of the poems of1 #aii4 ,dutch ,ambassador and the ,king of ,siam1 #aja4 ,dyer1 ,george1 his experience while usher1 #hh2 an associate of ,lamb's1 #bhd2 his biography of ,robinson1 #bhd2 his absent-mindedness1 #bhd2 anecdotes of1 #bhe1 #bhf4 ,eckermann1 describes a scene on the ,simplon1 #cej4 ,edwards1 ,jonathan1 effect of his work on ,original ,sin1 #ef2 curious fact relating to1 #bff4 ,egypt1 hospitals for cats in1 #ii2 ventilation in the pyramids of1 #aha2 the railroad dates back to1 #aha2 social questions discussed to rags in1 #aha4 ,eldon1 ,lord1 an anecdote he was fond of relating1 #gf2 a remark in old age1 #ajd2 and ,bessy ,surtees1 #bdf2 his daughter's elopement1 #bdf2 a curious experience of1 at ,oxford1 #bdf4 ,elizabeth1 ,queen1 a curious fact of1 #bde4 ,elliot1 ,sir ,gilbert1 passion necessary to revolution1 #df4 ,elliott1 the ,corn-,law ,rhymer1 defines a communist1 #aje4 ,eloquence1 a rude specimen of1 #cac4 ,emerson1 a man like a bit of ,labrador spar1 #c2 the soul not twin-born1 #e2 life a series of surprises1 #bd2 confesses his ignorance1 #cb2 on the good of evil1 #dj2 few spontaneous actions1 #fd2 on reforming1 #ij2 is virtue piecemeal8 #ic2 of one that would help himself and others1 #aje2 the martyrdom of ,john ,brown1 #aai2 advantages of riches not with the heir1 #aba2 personal independence1 #ach2 of ,shakespeare1 #aec2 of the theory and practice of life1 #bdj2 the plant papyrus1 #bda2 relating to ,columbus1 #bei2 the difference between the wise and the unwise1 #ced2 effects of an acceptance of the sentiment of love1 #cei4 ,epictetus1 on forgiving injuries1 #ahe4 ,epicurus1 his name a synonym for sensuality1 #bfa2 his moderation1 #cdi4 ,erasmus1 on self-love1 #ab2 two natures in ,luther1 #dg2 of the ,colloquies of1 #aic2 effect of the smell of fish upon1 #bdd2 and ,luther1 #cjh2 what he said of ,luther1 #cji4 ,erskine1 a severe corrector1 #acb4 ,essay on ,man1 curious statement relating to1 #bdi4 ,esquirol1 effects of occupation1 #cgh4 ,euclid1 stereoscope known to1 #aha4 ,evelyn1 observation on ,jeffreys1 #ahi2 his argument against solitude1 #bdd4 ,evil1 ceremony of touching for the1 #bbd4 ,extremes1 law of1 #bie2 meeting of in morals and legislation1 #cjd4 ,fairy's funeral1 description of a1 #bic4 ,falstaff1 dress to represent1 #fi4 ,faraday1 curious fact relating to1 #bec4 ,farrar1 legend of ,st4 ,brendan and ,judas ,iscariot1 #chg2 of the purification of souls1 #chh4 ,faustina1 wife of ,marcus ,aurelius1 #bdg4 ,fenelon1 and the publication of ,telemachus1 #aic2 on a violent zeal that we must correct1 #cfc2 anecdotes of1 #cgc4 ,fielding1 a curious fact relating to1 #aia2 and ,richardson1 #aii2 on our faults1 and the difficulty of amending them1 #cch4 ,fittleworth1 rector of1 how he lost his living1 #cg4 ,fitzherbert and ,townshend1 #baa4 ,flaxman1 of the ,graces and the ,furies1 #aj2 determines the sex of a statue1 #ahg2 strange fact of the wife of1 #bbf4 ,foote1 how he took off the ,dublin printer1 #gh2 a story of1 #afd2 a remark on the death of1 #bfe4 ,forster1 relating to ,goldsmith1 #aef4 ,foster1 record of a reflective aged man1 #g2 analysis of an atheist1 #ai2 story of the devil turned preacher1 #dc2 on self-idolizing dreamers1 #ia2 care in composition1 #abi2 tribute to ,john ,howard1 #bbi2 on a violation of the laws of goodness1 #bdj2 origin of his essays1 #bdf4 ,fournier1 devoted to a squirrel1 #ii4 ,fox1 fastidious in composition1 #abf4 ,francis1 ,sir ,philip1 and ,junius1 #beg4 ,franklin1 ,dr41 his advice to the three sages1 #cfg2 doubted his own judgment as he grew older1 #cha4 ,frederick the ,great1 a story told of1 #afg2 and ,robespierre1 #bch4 ,frederick ,william1 canes a ,jew in a street of ,berlin1 #ea4 ,froissart1 of a reverend monk1 #dh4 ,froude1 terrible story related by1 #eg2 human things and icebergs1 #aji2 a reflection of1 applied to ,john ,brown1 #aai2 of fortune and rank1 #aba2 prosperity consistent with worldliness1 #cdi2 the ,scots a happy people1 #cej2 on putting to death for a speculative theological opinion1 #cfc2 how the laity should treat the controversial divines1 #cfg4 ,fuller1 ,margaret1 on ,goethe1 #aje2 few great1 few able to appreciate greatness1 #adc4 ,fuller1 ,thomas1 statement relating to ,rabelais1 #aij2 curious fact relating to ,wolsey1 #bbd2 the ,holy ,ghost came down not in the shape of a vulture1 #cei2 he shall be immortal who liveth till he be stoned by one without fault1 #chh4 ,fuseli1 a habit of in sketching1 #b4 ,gainsborough1 a remark on painting and engraving1 #aih4 ,galileo1 ceremony of abjuration1 #bbc2 blindness of1 #bbh4 ,galt1 an observation by1 #aaj2 ,annals of the ,parish1 #adh4 ,garrick1 variety of his countenance1 #aj2 a story of his acting1 #gh2 the public grew tired of admiring him1 #big4 ,gaskell1 account of the death of a cock-fighting squire1 #ch2 anecdote of ,grimshaw1 #ee4 ,gay1 ,pope1 and ,arbuthnot1 fate of a joint play of1 #bee4 ,gems1 imitations of1 #agg2 cabinet of in ,italy1 #agh4 ,genius1 our obligations to1 #afa4 ,geoffrin1 ,madame1 and ,rulhiere1 #agj4 ,gertrud bird1 #gi4 ,giardini1 of playing the violin1 #acj4 ,gibbon1 his fastidiousness as a writer1 #abe2 review of the series of ,byzantine emperors1 #bai4 ,gladstone1 interesting reply of1 #bfc4 ,glass in ,pompeii1 #agg4 ,godwin1 ,madame de ,stael's criticism of1 #ih2 a good husband and kind father1 #bee2 and ,rough1 #caa4 ,goethe1 confesses his ignorance1 #bi2 reason can never be popular1 #fb2 anecdote of ,merck and the grand duke1 #hi2 to know how cherries and strawberries taste1 #ij2 a fortunate mistake of1 #ib2 nature1 #ajc2 giving advice1 #ajd2 aristocracy and democracy1 #ajd2 the world cannot keep quiet1 #aji2 his works commercially1 #acc2 objections to luxurious furniture1 #acg2 of ,dante's great poem1 #adg2 advised against writing ,faust1 #adh2 genius of ,shakespeare1 #aeb2 influence of ,voltaire1 #aec2 a staff officer's opinion of1 #aee2 first impression of ,switzerland1 #aie2 critical remark of1 #aih2 on a peculiarity of ,schiller1 #bdd2 disparaged himself as a poet1 #bfa2 pleasant dreams after falling asleep in tears1 #cah2 compares life to a residence at a watering-place1 #ccb2 the simplicity of the world1 #cdg2 arrogance natural to youth1 #ceb2 remark of at the age of seventy-five1 #cee2 truth and error1 #cfa2 of a ,christianity of feeling and action1 #cff4 ,goldsmith1 of the vanity of human judgment1 #bd2 ten years composing the ,traveller1 #abi2 to ,bob ,bryanton1 #ace2 proud reply to ,hawkins1 #aci2 reply to ,dr4 ,scott1 #aci2 criticises ,waller1 ,pope1 and ,milton1 #ade2 opinion of ,tristram ,shandy1 #adg2 his street ballads1 #aef2 a saying of credited to ,talleyrand1 #agb2 relations with ,bott1 the barrister1 #bjj2 friendship and jealousy1 #bdj2 as a talker and as a writer1 #bdd2 ,goody ,two ,shoes1 #bfh2 at the ,british ,coffee ,house1 #bgj2 first acting of ,she ,stoops to ,conquer1 #bgj2 conduct during1 #bga4 ,goodness tainted1 #id4 ,gordianus1 epitaph of1 #bfc4 ,grammont1 ,count1 on ,sir ,john ,denham1 #bce4 ,gray1 twenty years touching up his ,elegy1 #abf2 criticises ,thomson and ,akenside1 #ade2 diffidence and fastidiousness of1 #bch2 his ,elegy not intended for the public1 #beh4 ,greene1 ,peele1 and ,marlowe1 #bdi4 ,grimaldi1 devouring melancholy of1 #cae4 ,groenvelt1 ,dr41 persecution of1 #bja4 ,guerin1 ,eugenie de1 her story of the poor shepherdess1 #cde4 ,guerin1 ,maurice de1 on a solitary life1 #cdb4 ,guido1 and the portrait of ,beatrice ,cenci1 #cac4 ,guizot1 declines a title1 #ada4 ,hadrian's villa1 #bag4 ,hale1 ,sir ,matthew1 criticised by ,charles ,,ii41 #c2 unpublished writings of1 #aid2 trials before for witchcraft1 #bbd2 influenced by ,jeffreys1 #bdg4 ,hall1 ,robert1 sought relief in ,dante1 #bfg4 ,hallam1 his opinion of ,hooker1 #bbe4 ,hammond1 ,elton1 #bgh4 ,haendel1 blindness of1 #bbh2 his hallelujahs open the heavens1 #bbi4 ,harrington1 imprisonment of1 #ace2 man a religious creature1 #cfh4 ,harvey1 effects of his discovery1 #adg1 #cja4 ,hawthorne1 on men who surrender themselves to an overruling power1 #ig2 on special reformers1 #ih2 distinction between a philanthropic man and a philanthropist1 #aac2 ,byron and ,burns1 #aec2 of the ,scarlet ,letter1 #ahh2 statement relating to the ,mayflower1 #bda2 of artists who have painted their own portraits1 #cgg4 ,haydn1 a story told of1 #age4 ,hayward1 passages from1 #afd1 #afe1 #agd4 ,hazlitt1 his violence at times1 #cf2 legend of a ,brahman turned into a monkey1 #dh2 of two pictures by ,northcote1 #aij2 of ,coleridge and ,john ,chester1 #baa2 the poet ,gray1 #bch2 every man an exception1 #bdj2 strange facts about1 #bfc2 opinion of ,mary ,lamb1 #bfg2 of ,garrick1 #big2 wanting one thing1 he wanted everything1 #cbe2 on aiming at too much1 #ccg2 on keeping in our own walk in life1 #cdg2 life1 at the beginning and the end1 #ceb4 ,heart1 insensibility of the1 #bdb4 ,heine1 pleads for the negro king1 #bg2 of ,luther1 #dg2 when he would forgive his enemies1 #ec2 tribute to ,goethe1 #aec2 ignorance of doctors1 #bjh2 of the leper-poet1 #cah2 a paralytic1 #cbj2 fame nauseous to1 #cca4 ,helps1 ,arthur1 the nature of man1 #cc2 you never know enough about a man to condemn him1 #ci2 the art of life1 #cda2 dialogue on toleration and charity1 #chc4 ,helvetius1 of the passions1 #df2 advice to ,montesquieu1 #adh4 ,henderson1 faculty of getting words by heart1 #abe4 ,henry ,,vi4 of ,france1 a story of1 #aga4 ,henry1 ,patrick1 his last speech1 #bfd4 ,hercules1 a diminutive figure of1 #agh4 ,herder1 advice to ,goethe1 #adh4 ,herrick1 a painstaking elaborator1 #abi4 ,hiero1 questions ,simonides1 #ca1 #cdh4 ,hildebrand1 ,pope1 fate of1 #bbc4 ,hill1 ,dr41 and ,hannah ,glass1 #bfh4 ,hillard1 on ,hadrian's villa1 #bag4 ,history and fiction1 #afd4 ,hogarth1 relating to the sale of certain pictures1 #aib2 his estimate of ,reynolds1 #aih2 impressions as to his true vocation1 #beh4 ,hogg1 his neighbors thought him no poet1 #ade4 ,holbein1 ,german engraving in the manner of1 #cbf4 ,hood1 origin of the ,song of the ,shirt1 #adi2 what delighted him1 #aee2 a victim of distress and melancholy1 #cba2 anecdotes of1 #cba2 lines on his dead child1 #cbb2 passages from letters to little children1 #cbb1 #cbc4 ,hook1 attempt of ,southey to hoax1 #bjj4 ,hooker1 circumstances of his marriage1 #bbd2 character of1 by ,izaak ,walton1 #bbe4 ,home1 ,sweet ,home1 #bje4 ,homer1 called a plagiarist1 #add2 effect of his character and genius1 #afb4 ,horace1 a laborious writer1 #abe2 passage from1 #cjb4 ,howard1 ,john1 humanity of1 #bbi2 and solitary confinement1 #bfj4 ,howe1 ,john1 his method of conducting public fasts1 #cg4 ,huber1 ,francois1 blindness of1 #bei4 ,human things compared to icebergs1 #aji4 ,humboldt1 credits the ,chinese with magnetic carriages1 #aha4 ,hume1 his care in composition1 #abf2 his history slow of sale at first1 #acc2 advice to ,robertson1 #adh4 ,humility illustrated by the rain-drop1 #cdd4 ,hunt1 ,leigh1 tribute to ,haendel1 #bbh2 on pseudo-,christianity1 #cfd2 remark on ,lamb1 #chc4 ,hyacinthe1 the church of the future1 #cff4 ,hypocrite1 profession of1 #ga4 ,ice1 curious facts relating to1 #baj4 ,iceland1 the best building in1 #bda4 ,icicles1 formation of1 #bji4 ,ideas1 the few great1 remain about the same1 #aeg4 ,ignorance1 #ag1 #ah1 #ai1 #bj1 #bg1 #bh1 #bi1 #cj1 #ca1 #cb1 #bdj1 #ceb4 ,incledon1 stories of ,garrick and ,foote1 #gg4 ,indian cazique1 story of1 #aja4 ,intellectual chemistry1 #db4 ,invective1 a primitive ,quaker's1 #dd4 ,ireland1 baptisms in1 #cg4 ,irving1 on the habit of criticising government1 #be2 small returns from his writings1 #acc2 an observation on ,goldsmith1 #ahg2 modesty and diffidence of1 #bci2 called a vagabond by a neighbor1 #bci2 stealing his own apples1 #bci2 of elaborating humor1 #caf2 circumstances under which he composed the ,history of ,new ,york1 #cai4 ,isocrates1 timidity of1 #bfb4 ,jameson1 ,mrs41 a story related by1 #agb4 ,java1 flowers1 fruits1 and trees of1 #cja4 ,jeffreys1 portrait and conduct of1 #ahi2 influence over ,sir ,matthew ,hale1 #bdg4 ,jenner1 persecution of1 #bjb4 ,jenyns1 described by ,cumberland1 #bcf4 ,jerome1 ,st41 legend of ,st4 ,john recorded by1 #cei4 ,jerrold1 ,douglas1 his dislike of the theatre behind the scenes1 #a2 of the practical benevolence of a ,london tradesman1 #ha2 ambitious to write a treatise on philosophy1 #bfa2 the ,caudle ,lectures1 #caf4 ,jews1 curious persecution of the1 #bjc4 ,joan of ,arc1 ,shakespeare's and ,schiller's1 #agd4 ,johnson1 reply to ,boswell as to the indecency of a statue1 #a2 his opinion of remarks by ,orrery and ,delany on ,swift1 #b2 his hatred of baby-talk1 #ej2 a remark on marriage1 #fb2 opinion of feeling people1 #ih2 opinion of levelers1 #aje2 ,life of1 at first slow of sale1 #acc2 ,cumberland on1 #adb2 how he was once made happy1 #adc2 opinion of ,milton's sonnets1 #adf2 criticises ,swift1 ,gray1 and ,sterne1 #adf2 opinion of ,lycidas1 #adg2 a neglect of the great1 #aea2 of ,shakespeare1 #aeb2 ,dr4 ,campbell's estimate of1 #aec2 remark to ,mrs4 ,macaulay1 #afh2 version of ,pope's ,messiah1 #agf2 reviewer's remark on1 #aij2 painter's confession to1 #aii2 of ,demosthenes ,taylor1 #bab2 tribute to ,savage1 #bcf2 poverty and companionships of1 #bdc2 belief in ghosts1 #bdc2 a peculiarity of1 #bdd2 a famous speech of ,pitt1 #bdh2 speeches of ,chesterfield1 #bdh2 collected sermons1 #bdh2 a number of the ,rambler1 #bdh2 ,ramblers written rapidly1 #bdh2 confidence in ,psalmanazar1 #bej2 bigotry of1 #beg2 learned ,dutch after he was seventy1 #bfg2 first acting of ,goldsmith's comedy1 #bgj2 melancholy of1 #caf2 of ,pope and his writings1 #cag2 of ,young and his writings1 #cag2 of the ,christian religion1 #cgj4 ,jones1 ,paul1 and ,thomson's ,seasons1 #bfa4 ,joubert1 a thought of1 #a2 his habit as a writer1 #abg4 ,journalism1 impersonal1 #bda4 ,judkins1 ,juke1 reminiscences of1 #ha4 ,junius1 warns the king1 #bih4 ,jupiter and ,cupid1 #bif2 imaginary proclamation by1 #cgd4 ,kane1 ,dr41 curious experience with the ,esquimaux1 #ajb2 of frost in the ,arctic region1 #cja4 ,kant1 a curious fact of1 #bea4 ,kean1 ,edmund1 wretchedness of his early life1 #abd2 how he studied and slaved1 #aca4 ,kemble1 ,john1 reply to ,northcote1 #ae2 as to his new readings of ,hamlet1 #aca4 ,kempis1 ,thomas a1 of simplicity and purity1 #cde2 of charity and humility1 #cgb2 of amending our own faults1 #cgd4 ,king1 ,dr41 on toleration1 #chc4 ,kinglake1 care in the composition of ,eothen1 #abh4 ,kingsley1 ,charles1 of his father1 #aea4 ,kneller1 ,sir ,godfrey1 remark to a sitter1 #ac4 ,knives and forks1 ridiculed by ,ben ,jonson and ,beaumont and ,fletcher1 #bjb4 ,knowledge reserved1 #bdj4 ,kotzebue1 relating to1 #beg4 ,labor1 life's blessing1 #aba4 ,la ,bruyere1 of judging men1 #b2 of diversity1 #f2 some thoughts of1 #bd2 on the mixture of good and evil1 #gc2 eloquent passage of1 #bai4 ,la ,fontaine1 always copying and recopying1 #abf2 dull and stupid in conversation1 #bfj4 ,lais1 the courtezan1 saying of1 #da4 ,lamartine1 a strange statement relating to1 #bef4 ,lamb1 remark on covetousness1 #gc2 dissection of meanness1 #ha2 anecdote of ,george ,dyer1 #hh2 doing good by stealth1 #hi2 story of an ,india-house clerk1 #ajj2 care in composition1 #abg2 anecdote of1 #acd2 criticises ,faust1 #adf2 tribute to ,manning1 #aej2 essay on the ,origin of ,roast ,pig1 #afi2 could spit upon ,howard's statue1 #bfj2 first acting of ,mr4 ,h41 #bgb2 hopeful letter to ,manning1 #bgc2 hisses his own bantling1 #bgd2 another letter to ,manning1 not so hopeful1 #bge2 poor ,elia1 #bge2 constitutional melancholy of1 #caf4 ,lamb1 ,mary1 ,hazlitt's estimate of1 #bfg4 ,landor1 eyes of critics on one side1 #d2 of ,shakespeare and ,milton1 #aeb2 of ,cromwell and ,milton1 #aeb2 of the estimation of the great by their contemporaries1 #aec2 of ,swift1 ,addison1 ,rabelais1 ,la ,fontaine and ,pascal1 #cae2 of ,aspasia and ,pericles1 #cdg2 the falsehood of life1 #cfd2 of looking down on ourselves1 #cgb4 ,lansdowne1 phrenologist's judgment of1 #ahh4 ,lardner1 curious facts of1 #bff4 ,la ,rochefoucauld1 his ,maxims criticised by ,sterling1 #b2 reference to his ,maxims1 #ab2 care in composition1 #abi2 an unselfish1 brave1 humane man1 #bcd4 ,last ,rose of ,summer1 #bjd4 ,latimer1 ,tenterden-,steeple and ,goodwin ,sands1 #ah4 ,laud1 cruelty of1 #cfc4 ,lavater1 judgment of ,lord ,anson1 #ahi2 duped by ,cagliostro1 #beh4 ,lay1 ,benjamin1 an enthusiast1 anecdote of1 #cfg4 ,layard1 nature breaking out in a party of ,arabs1 #dh2 engravings on ,nineveh1 #agh2 lens found in ,nineveh1 #aha2 tradition of ,nimrod and the gnat1 #cjb4 ,lecky1 witchcraft in ,england1 #ef2 opinion of ,hooker1 #bbe2 great and multiform influences of ,christian philanthropy1 #cgb4 ,legends and parables3 a ,brahman turned into a monkey1 #di2 ,moses and the dwellers by the ,dead ,sea1 #di2 the redbreast1 and how it was singed1 #ee2 the man in the moon1 #gi2 man and woman in the moon1 #gi2 ,gertrud bird1 the woodpecker1 #gi2 the ,wandering ,jew1 #hj2 the ,brahman and the three rogues1 #bif2 ,og1 a king of ,bashan1 #bih2 ,nimrod and the gnat1 #cjb2 ,gabriel and the idol-worshiper1 #cdf2 ,st4 ,john in the arms of his disciples1 #cei2 blind men and the elephant1 #cgi2 ,st4 ,brendan and ,judas ,iscariot1 #chg2 ,abraham and the old man who worshiped the fire only1 #chh4 ,leighton1 a clergyman1 persecution of1 #cfc4 ,le ,notre and ,louis ,,xiv41 #afg4 ,le ,sage1 poverty of1 #acd4 ,leslie1 anecdote of ,owen and ,wilberforce1 #ib4 ,lessing1 the restless instinct for truth1 #cb4 ,levelers1 remark of ,johnson on1 #aje4 ,life1 every year of a wise man's1 #h2 a series of surprises1 #bd2 knowledge of1 #cec2 beginning and end of1 #cec2 stanza on1 #cef4 ,lilli ,burlero1 ballad of1 #bjd4 ,lilliput1 the mighty emperor of1 #bh4 ,lincoln1 his dislike of being preached to1 #id2 how he earned his first dollar1 #abb2 idea the slaves had of him1 #cad2 the reason he gave for not uniting himself to any church1 #chf4 ,linnaeus1 curious facts relating to1 #bce4 ,liston1 a confirmed hypochondriac1 #cae4 ,livingstone1 exclamation of ,sekwebu at seeing the sea1 #ai2 tribe of good ,africans1 #ajb4 ,livy1 on curing public evils1 #bf4 ,llandaff1 ,bishop of1 anecdote of1 #aba4 ,lloyd1 his remedy for madness1 #bfg4 ,locke1 of the king of ,siam1 #aja4 ,lockhart1 wrote the first of the ,noctes papers1 #bee4 ,longfellow1 lines from ,hiawatha1 #bii4 ,lovelace and ,suckling1 #bff4 ,lowell1 definition of common sense1 #g2 ,montaigne and ,shakespeare1 #ab2 witchcraft1 #fa4 ,lucian1 a pretty passage in one of his dialogues1 #bif4 ,lucretius1 his one poem1 #abe4 ,luther1 a violent saint sometimes1 #de2 what ,heine said of him1 #dg2 what he said of himself1 #dg2 and the devil1 #bjd2 believed in ghosts1 #bdc2 relations with ,erasmus1 #cjh2 opinion of ,erasmus1 #cji2 with ,melancthon in the pulpit1 #caj4 ,mabillon1 a genius by an accident1 #bbf4 ,macaulay1 conduct of a nephew of1 #be2 a laborious writer1 #abi2 ,machiavelli1 #bcc2 ,byron1 #bih2 times of ,cromwell and ,charles ,,ii41 #cjd1 #cje1 #cjf2 ethics of ,charles ,,ii42 hanging of ,aikenhead1 #cfb4 ,machiavelli1 of judging by appearances1 #ga2 a zealous republican1 #bcc2 curious facts relating to1 #bcc4 ,mackenzie1 ,henry1 his advice to ,burns1 #ade2 a hard-headed1 practical man1 #bee4 ,mackenzie1 ,sir ,george1 an advocate of solitude1 #bdd4 ,mahagam1 ruins of1 #bbb4 ,mahomet1 turns a misfortune to advantage1 #ff4 ,maintenon1 ,madame de1 to her niece1 #ccf4 ,maistre1 ,xavier de1 on self-love1 #ab2 of people fancying themselves ill1 #gf4 ,malherbe1 how he composed #abf2 anecdotes of1 #abf4 ,mallet1 a curious fact relating to1 #bef4 ,man1 like a certain statue1 #b2 like a bit of ,labrador spar1 #c2 a noble animal1 #c2 his own chiefest flatterer1 #ac2 most apt to believe what he least understands1 #ag2 lives blindly1 #bc2 tries to pass for more than he is1 #bg2 a terrible ,voltaic pile1 #cc2 some devil and some ,god in him1 #db2 who succeeds1 #df2 a curious object for microscopic study1 #fc2 a natural reformer1 #ij2 persuadability of1 #ajc2 when he is powerful1 #aje2 the fittest place where he can die1 #abj2 when he becomes conscious of a higher self1 #cee2 naturally religious1 #cfh4 ,mandeville1 an observation by1 #cdf4 ,man-mending1 mania of1 #ajc4 ,marat1 kept doves1 #ii4 ,marlborough1 avarice of1 #bfd2 meanness of1 #bfd4 ,marlowe1 ,peele1 and ,greene1 #bdi4 ,marseillaise1 origin of the1 #bje4 ,marvell1 pride and independence of1 #aci4 ,mather1 ,cotton1 epithets he applied to the ,quakers1 #dd2 account of the trial of ,mary ,johnson for witchcraft1 #eh2 the panic he created in ,new ,england1 #fj4 ,mathews1 curious anecdote by1 #bjg4 ,mayflower1 a slave-ship1 #bda4 ,meanness1 a study and an analysis of1 #ha4 ,medhurst1 ,chinese opinions of ,christians reported by1 #aja4 ,melancthon1 approved of the burning of ,servetus1 #beh2 with ,luther in the pulpit1 #caj4 ,melmoth1 on thinking authors1 #aeh4 ,menander1 proverb from1 quoted by ,st4 ,paul1 #afj4 ,mencius1 on the disease of men1 #ie4 ,merck1 and the ,grand ,duke1 #hi4 ,mercury and ,jove1 #ib4 ,mesmerism1 very old1 #ahc4 ,meyer1 curious fact related by1 #cjb4 ,michelet1 his horror of the sea1 #beb4 ,middleton1 stories of ,cicero1 #af1 #bae4 ,migne1 ,abbe1 curious cruelties referred to by1 #ii4 ,milan cathedral1 #aif4 ,mill1 curious omission of1 #bff4 ,miller1 strange fact relating to1 #bfg4 ,mills of ,god1 #ajg4 ,milton1 his care in composition1 #abf2 and ,paradise ,lost1 #adg2 ,de ,quincey's estimate of1 #aeb2 of lyric and epic poets1 #cdh4 ,mirabeau1 ugliness and attractiveness of1 #bei2 his distrust of popular applause1 #big4 ,miser1 characterized by ,colton1 #gb2 a saying of ,foote1 #gb2 effect of his hoarding habits illustrated1 #gc2 an observation of ,lamb1 #gc4 ,misfortunes never come singly1 #bii4 ,moliere1 on the profession of hypocrite1 #ga2 his slowness as a writer1 #abg2 used one of his servants as critic1 #adi2 a grave and silent man1 #caf4 ,money-getter analyzed1 #ga1 #gb4 ,monod1 of the conduct of certain missionaries1 #ef4 ,montagu1 ,basil1 prejudice1 the spider of the mind1 #cgf4 ,montagu1 ,lady ,mary ,wortley1 of the ,duchess of ,marlborough1 #cd2 her criticism of women1 #cd2 obloquy she endured1 #bja4 ,montaigne1 difference in opinions1 #e2 of laws and events1 #f2 action of seeing outward1 #ab2 a pattern within ourselves1 #bb2 the virtue of the soul1 #bc2 curing public evils1 #be2 conduct of lecturers in the courts of philosophy1 #da2 nature starting up1 #dg2 how estimated by his neighbors1 #aed2 faith in physicians1 #bjh2 the fairest lives1 in his opinion1 #cdf2 the thoughts and actions of man1 #cge2 on distrusting our own judgments1 #chb4 ,montespan1 ,madame de1 to ,madame de ,maintenon1 #cd2 rigorous devotion of1 #bfh4 ,montesquieu1 a laborious writer1 #abe4 ,moore1 the lady and the second volume of the ,life of ,byron1 by1 #ed2 seventy lines a week's work for1 #abh2 pride and independence of1 #adj2 story of the jeweled lady1 #afe2 trick of ,father ,prout at the expense of1 #agf2 of ,scott and ,waverley1 #aia2 and the opera of ,tarare1 #bba2 and ,lalla ,rookh1 #bea2 of the authorship of the ,junius letters1 #beg2 statement relating to ,sheridan1 #bfg4 ,more1 ,hannah1 her opinion of ,milton's sonnets1 #adf4 ,more1 ,sir ,thomas1 a fierce persecutor1 #bde2 ,morris1 ,robert1 imprisoned for debt1 #bef4 ,mosheim1 a sentence from an old album1 #cdg4 ,mother ,goose's ,melodies1 #bjf4 ,motley1 effects of the gout of ,charles ,v41 #h2 ,luther when angry1 #dg2 ,radbod and ,bishop ,wolfran1 #ajj2 the ,netherlands1 #ajg2 long live the beggars6 #aaj2 ,erasmus and ,luther1 #cjh4 ,mozart1 declaration of1 #cj2 his estimate of ,haendel1 #bbh4 ,mueller1 ,max1 of children's fables1 #afj2 when a man becomes conscious of a higher self1 #cee2 of ,christianity1 #cgj4 ,nanac1 the holy1 and the ,moslem priest1 #cfh4 ,napoleon1 what he said of ,corneille1 #aec2 a thing that puzzled him1 #agj2 and ,madame de ,stael1 #bec2 his fondness for ,ossian1 #bfa2 remark to ,bourienne1 #big4 ,nature1 goes her own way1 #ajc4 ,neander1 and ,plutarch's ,pedagogue1 #bfe4 ,nero1 sensitive to poetry and music1 #cc4 ,netherlands1 the1 ,motley's description of1 #ajg4 ,newton1 ,sir ,isaac1 confesses his ignorance1 #cj2 his character illustrated1 #aje1 #ajf1 #ajg2 neglected as a lecturer1 #acc2 the story of the falling apple1 #agf2 a poor accountant1 #bfc2 as a poet1 #bfd4 ,newton1 ,john1 to the woman in prison1 #ee4 ,nicholls1 a sensual clergyman1 #dc4 ,nimrod and the gnat1 #cjb4 ,nollekens and the widow1 #i4 ,norris1 ,john1 self-love1 #ac2 our passions1 #dg4 ,northcote1 and the pedantic coxcomb1 #a2 blaming himself to ,kemble1 #ae2 of two of his pictures1 #aij2 of the conceited painter in the ,sistine ,chapel1 #aig4 ,olaf's mode of converting ,eyvind1 #eb4 ,old ,hundred1 #bjd4 ,old ,oaken ,bucket1 #bdh4 ,opinions1 no two alike1 #e2 human1 the history of1 #g2 bundles of contradictions1 #h2 of the same men at different times1 #h4 ,orrery1 ,lord1 story of ,swift1 #agj4 ,owen1 ,robert1 reply to ,wilberforce1 on putting off the happiness of mankind1 #ib4 ,oyster-eating1 first act of1 #afi4 ,paley1 what he thought of ,tristram ,shandy1 #adg4 ,palgrave1 anecdotes of ,abd-el-,lateef1 #chc4 ,panis1 devoted to pheasants1 #ii4 ,pantisocracy1 ,coleridge's ,utopia1 #ajb4 ,paracelsus1 persecution of1 #bja4 ,paradise and ,paris1 #cjh4 ,paradise ,lost1 slow sale of1 #acc4 ,park1 ,mungo1 and the sable chief1 #bg4 ,pascal1 of vanity1 #ac2 on our love of wearing disguises1 #ff2 maxims of conduct1 #aei2 twenty days perfecting one letter1 #abf2 vanity of the world1 #bdj2 ,solomon and ,job on human misery1 #ccg2 the present never the mark of our designs1 #cci2 a great advantage of rank1 #cec2 remark on the ambition of ,caesar1 #cec2 the two extremities of knowledge1 #ced2 maxims and first principles subject to revolution1 #cfj2 the choice of a profession1 #cgg4 ,paul1 ,st41 effects of his preaching at ,ephesus1 #cfb4 ,paul1 ,jean1 a curious fact about sheep1 #bif2 his comic romance1 ,nicholas ,margraf1 #cah4 ,paul and ,virginia1 pronounced a failure1 #adh2 origin of an ,english translation of1 #bdh4 ,payne1 and ,home1 ,sweet ,home1 #bje4 ,peele1 ,greene1 and ,marlowe1 #bdi4 ,penn1 a curious statement relating to1 #beg4 ,pepys1 his opinion of ,hudibras1 #adf2 the poor widow in ,holland1 #cbe4 ,pericles and ,aspasia1 #da4 ,persian1 passage from the1 #cdd4 ,persius1 chastity and modesty of1 #bfa4 ,peruvian bark1 an invention of the devil1 #bja4 ,peterborough1 of ,fenelon1 #cgc4 ,petrarch1 his sonnets1 #aij2 despised ,dante1 #aii2 a curious fact of1 #bec2 an exclamation of1 #cee4 ,petrified trees in the ,andes1 #ajh4 ,phaedrus1 apologue of the two sacks1 #cgd4 ,phidias1 his reported service to ,pericles1 #da2 his sitting statue of ,jupiter1 #bfa4 ,philanthropic man1 a1 not a philanthropist1 #aac4 ,philanthropists1 malicious1 anecdotes of1 #if1 #ig4 ,philanthropy1 traders in1 wrong in head or heart1 #ig4 ,philip ,,iii4 and ,don ,quixote1 #cad4 ,phillips1 ,wendell1 on borrowing in literature1 #afb2 on the lost arts1 #agg2 curious statements relating to1 #bcg4 ,philosophy1 molecular1 #f4 ,pitt1 authorship of a famous speech of1 #bdh4 ,plague1 curious superstitions as to the cause of the1 #bjc4 ,plato1 evidence of great care in the composition of his ,republic1 #abe2 accused of envy1 lying1 etc41 #add2 timidity of1 #bfb4 ,playfair1 a strange fact of1 #beh4 ,plays of the stage and of literature1 #bjg4 ,pliny1 opinion of the ,christian religion1 #bff2 questions nature1 #ccg2 a custom of the ,thracians1 #cci4 ,plutarch1 of self-love1 #ac2 without a biography1 #bfb2 strange omission of1 #bfe2 learned ,latin after he was seventy1 #bfg2 on the universality of religion1 #cfh4 ,poe1 of ,god and the soul1 #cb2 and the ,swedenborgians1 #ahh2 the grand duke of ,weimar's criticism of the ,raven1 #cag2 lines by1 #cbi2 what he thought a strong argument for the religion of ,christ1 #cei4 ,pompadour1 ,madame de1 and ,cardinal ,bernis1 #bfh2 her life an improbable romance1 #ccf4 ,pompey1 career and end of1 #bbb4 ,pontifical army1 soldiers of the1 #bda4 ,pope1 of every year of a wise man's life1 #h2 opinion of ,newton1 #ajg2 an unwearied corrector1 #abf2 tradition of at ,twickenham1 #aed2 anecdote of1 #afh2 ,johnson's ,latin version of his ,messiah1 #agf2 and ,gay and ,arbuthnot1 fate of a joint play of1 #bee2 timidity of1 #bfb4 ,poussin1 reply to a person of rank1 #aba2 story told of1 #age2 reply to ,cardinal ,mancini1 #cdi4 ,poverty1 fine horror of1 #gc2 and parts1 #aba2 necessary to success #aba2 amusing evidence of1 #abd4 ,prayer1 the1 said to have been in use by the ,jews for four thousand years1 #ahe4 ,preaching1 remarks of ,thoreau on1 #id2 ,lincoln's horror of being preached to1 #id2 virtue takes no pupils1 #ie4 ,presbyterian ,holdenough and ,episcopalian ,rochecliffe1 #cff4 ,prescott1 of the ,aztec priests1 #cc2 a statement of1 #bdj4 ,procter1 of ,lamb's tragedy1 #bgb4 ,protogenes1 and ,apelles1 #aga4 ,prout1 ,father1 and ,moore1 #agf4 ,psalmanazar and ,johnson1 #bej4 ,public opinion1 #ga1 #cfa4 ,publius ,syrus1 sayings of1 #dh1 #aeh1 #bbf4 ,puritanism in ,new ,england1 #cf4 ,pyramids1 story of the erection of one of them1 #bec4 ,pythagoras1 a curious statement relating to1 #bej4 ,rabelais1 a strange fact relating to1 #aij2 knew ,rome1 #cjh4 ,racine and ,louis ,,xiv41 #acd4 ,radbod1 at the baptismal font1 #ajj2 declines the ,christian's heaven1 #ajj4 ,radcliffe1 ,mrs41 an interesting fact of1 #bee4 ,railroads and rain1 #bji4 ,raleigh1 ,sir ,walter1 #ace4 ,randolph1 ,john1 his first public speech1 #bfd4 ,raphael1 story of and ,michel ,angelo1 #aga2 his ,transfiguration1 #aig4 ,rawlinson1 the stone he brought from ,nineveh1 #agi4 ,recamier1 ,madame1 and ,madame de ,stael1 #agb2 sits and muses on the shore of the ocean1 #ccf4 ,reformers1 stories of1 #if1 #ig4 ,reign of ,terror1 incident during the1 #dj4 ,religion1 a subject proscribed in general society1 #bdb2 if charity were made the principle of it instead of faith1 #ceg2 two religions1 the religion of amity and the religion of enmity1 #cfe4 ,renous and his caterpillars1 #bfg4 ,reynolds1 ,sir ,joshua1 story related of1 #agd2 his colors fading1 #agi2 inquires in the ,vatican for the works of ,raphael1 #aig2 critical remark of1 #aig2 and ,hogarth1 #aig2 his portrait of ,bott1 alongside of ,goldsmith1 #bjj4 ,richard ,coeur de ,lion and ,saladin1 #ahj4 ,richardson1 man's resemblance to a statue made to stand against a wall1 #b4 ,right1 too rigid1 hardens into wrong1 #if4 ,robertson1 ,f4 ,w41 from his sermon on the ,tongue1 #cfe4 ,robertson1 advised against writing his history of ,charles ,v41 #adh4 ,robespierre1 defends ,franklin's lightning-rods1 #bjc2 and ,frederick1 #bch2 what was found in his desk1 #bef2 ,madame ,roland to1 #bih4 ,robinson1 ,henry ,crabb1 his partiality for the ,book of ,revelation1 #bj2 how he reconciled himself to his ignorance1 #bi2 rebuke of spiritual pride1 #eb2 the ,mahometan's heaven and the ,christian's hell1 #ee2 his opinion of ,edwards' ,original ,sin1 #ef2 ,jeffrey's portrait1 #ahi2 at the ,fountain of ,arethusa1 #cjb4 ,robinson1 ,robert1 remark of relating to the ,trinity1 #bj2 ,dyer's biography of1 #bhd4 ,rochester1 ,lord1 the last year of the life of1 #bcf4 ,rodgers1 ,judge1 the dying ,scotsman's tribute to ,burns1 #agd4 ,rogers1 his care in composition1 #abi2 his proposition to ,wordsworth1 #acg2 remark on ,sydney ,smith1 #aea2 anecdote of relating to ,dryden1 #aed2 amusing incident of1 #aee2 pretty story of a little girl1 #cei4 ,roland1 ,madame1 to ,robespierre1 #bih4 ,rollo1 ,duke of ,normandy1 story told of1 #afe4 ,roman emperor1 curious use of the marble head of a1 #cjb4 ,romanianus1 with only a name1 #bfb4 ,rome1 a bitter republican's opinion of1 #cjg4 ,roesch1 on effects of occupation on the mind1 #cgh4 ,rough and ,godwin1 #caa4 ,rousseau1 a saying of1 #ajc2 and ,voltaire1 #aih2 cause of his cynicism1 #bde2 a painstaking writer1 #bdh2 fancied himself the object of all men's hatred1 #bei2 his preaching and his practice1 #bfh4 ,rubens1 a complaint of1 #cj4 ,rulhiere1 story of a ,russian friend of1 #gg2 and ,madame ,geoffrin1 #agj2 guilty of only one wickedness1 #cge4 ,ruskin to his students1 #agi4 ,russell1 ,lord ,john1 his definition of a proverb1 #aei4 ,rutherford1 ,samuel1 and ,archbishop ,usher1 #ceg4 ,saadi1 the traveler and the bag of pearls1 #abb2 description of a drink1 #ahd2 verse of the elephant-driver1 #cgb2 reply of the piece of scented clay1 #cgc2 ,abraham and the old man who worshiped the fire only1 #chg4 ,sachs1 of earth and heaven1 #cbe4 ,sainte-,beuve1 fastidiousness as a writer1 #abf4 ,saint ,simon1 story of two sisters1 #cd2 of the dying duchess1 #ge4 ,saladin and ,richard ,coeur de ,lion1 #ahj4 ,sanson1 the hereditary executioner1 #bei4 ,saurin1 advice to ,montesquieu1 #adh4 ,savage1 corrects a lady's judgment of ,thomson1 #ahh2 tribute of ,johnson to1 #bcf2 with ,johnson all night in ,london streets1 #bdc4 ,saxe1 ,marshal1 his terror of a cat1 #bdd4 ,scaliger1 his opinion of ,montaigne1 #adg2 a peculiarity of1 #bdd2 difficulty in communicating his knowledge1 #beh4 ,scaramouche1 snuff of a thousand flowers1 #cjj4 ,scargill1 of the ,english1 ,scotch and ,irish1 #cjb4 ,scarron1 wretchedness of1 #cbj4 ,schedone1 of a painting by1 #cbf4 ,schiller1 ,indian ,death ,song1 #adg2 ,joan of ,arc1 ,don ,carlos1 and ,tell1 #agd2 the scent of rotten apples a necessity to1 #bdd2 a curious fact relating to1 #bea4 ,scott1 story of a placid minister near ,dundee1 #ej2 how estimated by his neighbors1 #add2 failure of ,waverley predicted1 #adh2 ,campbell and ,hohenlinden1 #aej2 ,burns and the mouse1 #aej2 meeting of ,richard and ,saladin1 #ahj2 how he discovered his talents1 #aia2 the authorship of ,old ,mortality1 #bja2 never saw ,melrose ,abbey by moonlight1 #bea2 remarkable industry of1 #bff2 a sad bit of self-portraiture1 #cag2 a strange fact relating to the ,bride of ,lammermoor1 #cah4 ,scott1 ,general1 a sculptor's story of1 #agc4 ,seeing1 limits to1 #ab2 action of seeing outward1 #ab4 ,selden1 a remark on marriage1 #bdj4 ,selwyn1 his reply on being charged with a want of feeling1 #ec2 of vices becoming necessities1 #fe4 ,seneca1 an usurer with seven millions1 #bde2 a maxim of1 #cdi4 ,shakespeare1 ,johnson's tribute to1 #aeb4 ,sharp1 on the difficulty of doing good1 #bb4 ,shelley1 sighs to ,leigh ,hunt1 #ceg4 ,shenstone1 splendid misery of1 #bdf4 ,sheridan1 sarcasm upon ,cumberland1 #h2 fastidiousness as a writer1 #abg2 how he elaborated his wit1 #abi2 a curious fact of1 #bfg4 ,sherlock1 consolation for the shortness of life1 #ccb4 ,siddons1 ,mrs41 confesses her ignorance1 #cj4 ,sidney1 ,algernon1 remark of ,evelyn relating to1 #ahi4 ,silenus1 of ,jove and ,mercury1 #ib4 ,simonides1 replies to ,hiero1 #ca1 #cdh2 fable of the crab and the snake1 #cfd4 ,small-pox1 goddess of1 worshiped and burned in ,china1 #cf4 ,smith1 ,adam1 a laborious writer1 #abi4 ,smith1 ,sydney1 how he was cured of shyness1 #ae2 his objection to ,scotch philosophers1 #ic2 advice to the ,bishop of ,new ,zealand1 #ii2 the ,suckling ,act1 #ajc2 remark to his brother1 #afi2 a phrenologist pronounces him a great naturalist1 #ahh2 authorship of the ,plymley ,letters1 #bja2 resorted to ,dante for solace1 #bfg2 on getting human beings together who ought to be together1 #cda4 ,smollett and his dependents1 #aii2 private character of1 #bde4 ,socrates1 reply to ,menon1 #f2 the hardest of all trades1 #be2 called illiterate1 #add2 to his judges1 #agd2 idolatry of1 #bdc2 timidity of1 #bfb2 a poor accountant1 #bfc2 learned music after he was seventy1 #bfg2 enlargement of a thought of1 #cgd4 ,solomon1 there is no new thing1 #ahf2 his wicked son1 #bdg2 what he said of laughter1 #cad4 ,somerset1 duke of1 #fi4 ,sophocles1 considered a lunatic1 #add4 ,soul1 purification of the1 illustrated by the old coin1 #chh4 ,southey1 story of ,vergara and the seventh commandment1 #ag2 to ,cottle of the meanness of an ,englishman at ,lisbon1 #hh2 not ashamed of his radicalism1 #ajd2 declines the editorship of the ,times1 #ada2 unknown to his neighbors1 #ade2 on certain famous literary works1 #aii2 attempt to hoax ,hook1 #bjj4 ,souvestre1 virtue takes no pupils1 #ie2 philosophizes on the carnival1 #bii2 the small dwelling joy can live in1 #cdh2 awards the palm to moderation1 #cdh2 rest in an eternal childhood1 #cec4 ,spencer1 the religion of amity and the religion of enmity1 #cfe4 ,spenser1 poverty of1 #acd2 story told of1 #aff4 ,spinoza1 declines a present1 #adb2 persecuted by the ,jews1 #bed4 ,spiritualism1 very old1 #ahb4 ,stanley1 ,dean1 story of ,rutherford and ,usher1 #ceg4 ,statue1 doubtful sex of a1 #ahg4 ,st4 ,bartholomew1 conduct of ladies at the massacre of1 #ce4 ,steele1 one of his ,tatlers referred to1 #afi2 ,miss ,prue1 #bdf2 castle-builders1 #ccj2 on ,christianity1 #cgb2 epitaph by1 #chb4 ,sterling1 criticises ,rochefoucauld's ,maxims1 #b2 on seeking perfect virtue1 #ij2 there will always be errors to mourn over1 #ia4 ,sterne1 conscience not a law1 #bb2 on the affectation of gravity1 #gj2 an incessant corrector1 #abi2 the sermon in ,tristram ,shandy1 #aib2 the charge of plagiarism against1 #bei4 ,story of the lady and her three lovers1 #agc4 ,st4 ,peter's1 first view of1 #aif4 ,st4 ,pierre1 and ,paul and ,virginia1 #adh4 ,stewart1 ,dugald1 remark of1 on ,bacon's ,essays1 #cj4 ,suckling and ,lovelace1 #bff4 ,sue1 ,eugene1 a ,jesuitess more to be dreaded than a ,jesuit1 #c4 ,suetonius1 of ,caligula's horse1 #ii2 how he regarded ,christians1 #bff4 ,sully1 story told of1 and the veiled lady1 #aff4 ,surrey1 ,earl of1 lines by1 #cbf4 ,swift1 on men's opinions1 #h2 story of and four clergymen in canonicals1 #agb2 ,bolingbroke to1 #bad2 some thoughts of1 #bad2 anticipates his death1 #bad2 to ,bolingbroke1 #bdf2 irony and seriousness of1 #cab2 never known to smile1 #cae2 just religion enough to make us hate1 #cfd4 ,sydenham1 poverty of1 #ace4 ,tacitus1 his opinion of the ,christian religion1 #bff4 ,taine1 defines a character1 #dj2 of ,puritanism1 #cjg4 ,talfourd1 and ,lamb's farce of ,mr4 ,h41 #bgc2 anecdotes of ,dyer1 #bhe1 #bhf4 ,talleyrand1 his reply to ,madame de ,stael1 #agb2 trembled when the word death was pronounced1 #bdd2 his reply to ,rulhiere1 #cge4 ,tamerlane and the spider1 #aff4 ,tasso1 an unwearied corrector1 #abf2 poverty of1 #acd2 a curious fact relating to1 #bdg2 cause of his insanity1 #bdg4 ,taylor1 ,demosthenes1 ,johnson's story of1 #bab4 ,taylor1 ,jeremy1 arguments for humility1 #ad2 earthen vessels better than golden chalices1 #cdg2 our trouble from within1 #cdi2 the religion of ,christ1 #cga2 those that need pity and those that refuse to pity1 #cgf2 of ,abraham and the old man who worshiped the fire only1 #chg4 ,tell1 ,william1 relating to1 #age4 ,temple1 ,sir ,william1 of the old earl of ,norwich1 #big2 compares life to wine1 #ccb4 ,tennyson1 his care in composition1 #abg4 ,tertullian1 his mode of dissuading ,christians from frequenting public spectacles1 #ed2 ideas of justice and mercy in his day1 #ee4 ,thackeray1 the world can pry us out1 but it don't care1 #ae2 credulity of the sexes1 #bj2 our paltry little rods to measure heaven immeasurable1 #ec2 a reflection on marriage1 #fb2 of the dying ,french duchess1 #ge2 a reflection of1 applied to ,madame de ,pompadour1 #ccf2 toil1 the condition of life1 #ccg4 ,themistocles1 ,thucydides' remark on1 #cgi4 ,theophrastus1 a lament of1 #cj2 timidity of1 #bfb4 ,thompson1 ,george1 what he saw in ,calcutta1 #ahj4 ,thomson1 a lady's opinion of1 gathered from his writings1 #ahh2 luxurious indolence of1 #bdg4 ,thoreau1 on doing good1 #ic2 goodness tainted1 #id2 hacking at the branches of evil1 #ie2 personal independence of1 #acf4 ,threshing-machines1 first effect of1 #bjc4 ,thucydides1 how he toiled on his history1 #abe2 ignorance bold and knowledge reserved1 #bdj2 a remark on ,themistocles1 #cgi4 ,thurlow1 and his daughter1 #bdg4 ,tiberius1 life of1 with two title-pages1 #b4 ,tillotson1 two wonders in heaven1 #chb4 ,titian1 how he painted1 #acj2 colors of1 compared with ,reynolds'1 #agi4 ,tomochichi1 would be taught before he was baptized1 #aja2 what he thought of the colonists1 #aja4 ,tooke1 ,horne1 how to be powerful1 #fg2 ,beckford's speech1 #beb2 a remark on1 by ,coleridge1 #cgh4 ,torquemada1 and the ,inquisition1 #df4 ,townshend1 ,charles1 and ,fitzherbert1 #baa4 ,trench1 of the fraud played off on ,voltaire1 #agf4 ,truth1 as humanity knows it1 #d2 the difficulty of finding it1 #cfj2 it must be repeated over and over again1 #cfa2 the infinite number who persecute it1 #cfb4 ,tyndall1 of the formation of icicles1 #bji4 ,tyrian purple1 #agi4 ,tytler1 a remark by1 on ,raleigh's ,history1 #ace4 ,value of an epithet1 #aaj4 ,vandyck1 portrait of a celebrated widow by1 #ahi4 ,vanity of human judgment1 #bd2 of the world1 #bdj4 ,vanvenargues1 on curing the vices of nature1 #ia4 ,vere1 ,sir ,horace1 what caused his death1 #aba4 ,vespasian1 a story told of1 #afg4 ,vicar of ,wakefield and the peasant1 #cab4 ,vinci1 ,leonardo da1 his conscientiousness as a painter1 #acj2 anecdote of1 #cgg4 ,virgil1 his care in composition1 #abe2 what ,pliny and ,seneca thought of him1 #add4 ,virtue1 of the soul1 #bc2 takes no pupils1 #ie4 ,voltaire1 the history of human opinions1 #g2 upon what the fate of a nation has often depended1 #h2 anecdote of1 #h2 compares us to a river1 #aa2 we on this globe like insects in a garden1 #ah2 confesses his ignorance1 #ca2 of the story of ,newton and the apple1 #agf2 the forged ,veda1 #agf2 invention of scissors1 shirts1 and socks1 #bjc2 ,candide's supper at ,venice with the six kings1 #ccc4 ,vondel1 poverty of1 #acd4 ,wallenstein1 faculties of1 improved by a fall1 #bbf4 ,waller1 a laborious writer1 #abf2 his opinion of ,paradise ,lost1 #adg2 lines by1 #cee4 ,walpole1 ,horace1 compares man to a butterfly1 #ai2 man a ridiculous animal1 #bj2 opinion of the ,divina ,commedia1 #ade2 contempt of ,johnson and ,goldsmith1 #ade2 criticises ,sterne1 ,sheridan1 ,spenser1 ,chaucer1 ,dante1 ,montaigne1 ,boswell1 and ,johnson1 #adf2 and ,strawberry ,hill1 #aed2 opinion of ,lord ,anson1 #ahi2 a curious fact of1 #beh4 ,walton1 ,izaak1 quaint passages from1 relating to ,hooker1 #bbe2 reply to the discontented man1 #cdd4 ,warren1 ,samuel1 how the critics misjudged his first work1 #adh4 ,washington1 a story related by1 #afc2 his remarkable gravity1 #bdf4 ,webster1 ,daniel1 wrote and re-wrote his fine passages1 #acb2 the best talker he ever heard1 #bdf4 ,weighing souls in a literal balance1 #ee4 ,wesley1 ,charles1 his son a papist1 #bed4 ,wesley1 ,john1 on witchcraft1 #ei2 and ,tomochichi1 #aja2 his belief in ghosts1 #bdc2 his quiescent turbulence1 #bfa2 his story of a parishioner who lived on boiled parsnips1 #chb4 ,white1 ,gilbert1 effect of certain food on a bullfinch1 #aj2 differences in flocks of sheep1 #aa2 a strange propensity of cats1 #baj2 peculiarity of the tortoise1 #baa4 ,whitefield1 always improving his discourses1 #acb2 an exclamation of1 #cgf4 ,whipple1 on an affectation of dignity1 #fg2 of the mother of ,thomas a ,becket1 #bab4 ,wilberforce1 and ,owen's scheme of reform1 #ib2 and ,wendell ,phillips1 #bcg4 ,willemson1 ,richard1 martyrdom of1 #ea4 ,wilson1 ,prof41 to the ,ettrick ,shepherd1 #aj2 thought to be a madman in ,glasgow1 #ade2 the idea of the ,noctes not his1 #bee2 tete-a-tete with the poet ,campbell1 #bfg2 contest for the professorship1 #bhg2 first lecture in the university1 #bhh2 achievements in running1 leaping1 etc41 #bhi2 encounter with a pugilist1 #bhi2 pedestrian feats1 #bij2 scene in an ,edinburgh street1 #bia2 interferes at a prize-fight1 #bib2 describes a fairy's funeral1 #bic2 his relations with ,dr4 ,blair1 #caj4 ,witchcraft1 ,sir ,matthew ,hale's belief in1 #eg2 ,sir ,thomas ,browne's opinion of1 #eg2 terrible punishment of1 #eg2 ,john ,wesley's belief in1 #ei2 ,richard ,baxter a believer in1 #ei2 a passage from ,lowell on1 #fa4 ,wither1 ,george1 wrote his ,shepherd's ,hunting in prison1 #acf4 ,wolsey1 credulity of1 #bbd4 ,woman1 characterized by ,burns1 #c2 reply of a good1 #cgg4 ,woodworth and his famous song1 #bdh4 ,woolman1 ,john1 eulogium upon1 and passage from1 #cgj4 ,wordsworth1 his care in composition1 #abh2 his reply to ,rogers1 #acg2 ,tobin's advice to1 #adh2 origin of the ,ancient ,mariner1 #adi2 thought to be a fool by some of his neighbors1 #aee2 his defense of the church1 and his opinion of the clergy1 #beg2 his man-servant ,james1 #cea2 lines by1 #ceb2 what he said of ,mrs4 ,barbauld's stanza on ,life1 #cef4 ,world1 the1 #ai2 on reforming it1 #ij2 it cannot keep quiet1 #aji4 ,wotton1 ,sir ,henry1 his reply to a bigot1 #cgb4 ,wycherley1 on reproving faults1 #cfd4 ,ximenes1 ,cardinal1 a story told of1 #afg4 ,york minster1 not appreciated by ,coleridge1 #aif4 ,youatt1 differences in flocks of sheep1 #aa4 ,young1 ,mr41 the prototype of ,parson ,adams1 #bhe4 ,young1 an incident of ,swift1 related by1 #bad2 gayety of1 #bde4 ,young1 ,dean1 passages from his sermons1 #cff1 #cgb4 ,zeal1 a violent1 that we must correct1 #cfc4 ,zenobia1 temple of1 idealized by ,la ,bruyere1 #bai4